//------------------------------// // Repairing the Past // Story: The Winds of Change: Fog of War // by AgentSnail //------------------------------// Repairing the Past Jason's ears rang, his eyes struggling to close as the black turned into millions of colors, spreading out into the far reaches of space before coming back together, reforming into the dark. He felt that same pressure in his forehead before the world went white, forming as the lightning cleared from his view. His horn flared as time slowed, and his hooves started to move through the movements he'd practiced so many times. The light from the elements was nearly blinding, burning into his eyes as he caught sight of where Dash should be, her silhouette obvious, and jumped into the air. Jason held the shield up, seeing the spear come in slow motion out of the light, making contact with the polycarbonate. It scratched as the spear sheared off to the side, striking a gash in his side as it moved by. The thing about moving objects in slow time was that they still had all their momentum, and all the force they normally possessed was just applied more slowly. Jason hit the ground a moment later as time sped back up, catching Dash in his arms as the elements powered down and she dropped, passing out. He hardly held back a sob as he set her down, before looking around as the light disappeared for Evening. Maybe five seconds gone so far. He galloped over as she showed signs of life, pulling her upright and knocking his horn against hers. Her mouth opened and closed a few times as he transferred the memories, watching as her eyes came back into focus and her face lit up. "Get Scoots." He said. "No questions, just get her." "You better explain this." She said before galloping off into the brush. Jason turned again and watched as he-that was weird to think about, started to heal Pinkie as the last of the six started to wake back up. Dash was to her feet, already over to past Jason as new memories of their following hug moved into his head. He had to go faster, or he might just disappear because he no longer existed. He locked eyes with himself and trotted over, looking over at the pained look on his own face from his broken foreleg. "Are you- me?" He asked, and Jason nodded, tossing a pad of paper onto the ground. "That should explain everything. But since I know it really won't..." He shifted forward and grabbed his own head, pushing his horn against his own. These pronouns were getting annoying. "What did you do?!" Dash asked, looking more than a little concerned as past Jason took a few steps away and threw up. Evening trampled her way back into the clearing, practically throwing Scoots over. He caught the filly and touched the corresponding hoof to her forehead as she saw the other Jason, her face stuck in surprise as he transferred back her memories. He was hit to the side as Dash bucked him away, catching Scoots as he let go. "Get the fuck away from my daughter! You aren't him!" "I'm transferring back their memories! You died!! Why do you think I came back?! I loved you, I couldn't just- I had to try everything." "You did WHAT?!" Twilight yelled, giving him a death glare. "Do you have any idea what could have happened?!" "Yeah, I brought my mare friend back to life and kept all the elements together! Fuck off, you weren't any help!" He felt the spell start to end, and ran back over to himself, hugging with Dash after he'd finished throwing up. Jason shoved his muzzle close to past Jason's ear and started to whisper. "You better fucking propose to her." He said, stepping back a few feet as lightning started to fly and streak through the air and the other ponies started to disappear. A deafening bang sounded as he disappeared, the ball like shape of blue light going with him as some residual bolts arced across the ground. ________________________________________________________ Jason stared at the smoldering ground slack jawed, as if his future self would come back and tell him it was all a joke. But the memories running through his head, he knew they were genuine. And that scared him he couldn't believe that Dash had died, and yet- he could see her bleeding out on the ground, in almost perfect clarity. "Jason, Scoots, say something!" Dash yelled, watching as tears streamed down their faces and they silently looked back on the memories. "He-" Jason cleared his throat. "He gave me everything. You- you died. It was terrible." His leg bent and he fell, sobbing into the ground. "Why would I do that to myself?!" "Because we asked for it." Evening said, walking up sadly. "When we were trying to get the spell working. We all wanted this." "But why?" The pad of paper landed just in front of him as Evening dropped it. In big, prominent letters it said 'For my eyes only.' "I didn't read anything, don't worry." Jason sat up, only to get knocked back over as Dash wrapped him in a hug. "I missed you so much! This whole stupid nightmare thing..." She sobbed into his shoulder, finally allowing herself to break down and sob. Jason wet her neck as they hugged, stroking her back with his good hoof before he noticed the pressure on his broken one. "I'll tell you everything, just get off my arm!" He yelled, grimacing in pain as she pulled him back upright and Scoots hugged at the two of them, sobbing herself. "I want-" He groaned and straightened the bone. "I need to ask you something. Before anything else happens, before we get into everything or something gets in the way." Jason stuck his good hoof into her saddlebag, pulling out the back box as it retreated. "I know it's not romantic and this moment isn't without its flaws, but-" He pushed her back a step, kneeling awkwardly as he opened the box and her face lit up. "Will you marry me?" A slight squeak escaped her mouth as she stared, taking an agonizingly long moment to reply. "Of course!" She cried, hugging around him and wetting his shoulder as his heart soared, making him forget about the pain in his hoof for a glorious moment. Dash let go after a few minutes and leaned back, kissing him deeply before she carefully took the box out of his hoof and looked at the ring. Her heart skipped a beat as she stared, twisting it around slightly. "How did you even do this?" She asked, handing it back with wet eyes as Pinkie tackled her. "Dashie's getting married!" Pinkie yelled, hugging at her friend. "I can help with the wedding! And as soon as Jason's better, wended to have a party!" Jason felt Scoots hit his side and he hugged the filly back, smiling as his eyes met those of the others. They seemed to approve, which was just icing on the cake at this point. But he honestly wouldn't have cared it they didn't. Maybe the only ones he cared about were Luna or Cadance, and they seemed to approve just as much. "So how did you make it look like that?" She asked, pointing at the large, flat gem inset into the golden band of the ring. "I'm guessing you're asking how your cutie mark shows on a big gem like that?" He asked, watching her splay out her wing invitingly while she nodded. Jason slid the ring onto a few of her primaries, gem up, and kissed her again. "It's just bending the light towards other gems. You can thank Ferris for getting it how I wanted. Because it shouldn't really be possible." "Or I could thank you for making me such a happy mare." "I'm just glad that everything worked out. Judging by what future me said and all these fucking memories, it didn't the first time." He sighed. "But I kinda want to fix this arm, if that's okay..." "Oh yeah! Sorry..." She helped him up and put his injured hoof over her back, smiling wider than he'd ever seen as Scoots fluttered onto her back. "I love you." Jason whispered into her ear, nipping at it as he pulled his head away and levitated the pad of paper along. "I think I took you for granted, at least a little." He started, a tear landed on her neck. "Maybe I'll never be the guy you deserve, but I really- you mean so much to me." "I'm not dead, you don't need to act like this." She replied, shaking her wing slightly and checking for the weight the ring held. "I already knew that anyway." She continued with a grin, caressing his cheek lightly with a hoof. "Yeah, but-" A hoof covered his mouth, as the rest of Dash's friends finally converged, talking excitedly and sharing hugs with the mare, telling her how much she was missed. It made Jason slightly annoyed, the fact that despite their attempts, they clearly weren't over him being like this. And judging the stares at Evening, they weren't going to accept that either. But at the moment that didn't matter. He was finally home, with Scoots with Dash, with- more memories went through his head. So Scoots had a colt friend then. Jason looked over at the happy filly, figuring that he wouldn't screw up the moment- wait, if future Jason'd given Scoots her old memories, then that meant that she kew that he'd been told, which meant that only Rumble didn't know which was ironic since he'd said it in the first place. "How did you get so lucky with your attempt at a time spell, Twilight?" "What do you mean?" She asked, giving him a slight look that betrayed her otherwise happy expression. "Well you created a loop that didn't create a different future, it just kept going around and around." "Luck, I guess? I'm not sure how pliable the past is before it changes." "Yeah, alright. Cuz this says I have to go back and do what I just did again so that Dash stays alive. Otherwise I'm back to square one." "Oh, I wrote that!" Evening yelled, back in her pony form. Jason transformed as well, dawning the disguise of an orange earth pony with a red mane. "Do you just do those at random?" Rarity asked, looking at him with disgust. "Yeah, why?" "Those colors look simply horrid together!" Jason sighed, hearing Dash laugh before he changed his fur to a light blue. "You happy now?" He asked, smirking. "Darling, you should know by now that I'm never happy." She said, walking over and throwing a punch across his face. __________________________________________________ "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Jason yelled, sitting up in bed and throwing a hoof to his cheek, which was un-cracked, and his arm still painfully broken under a new cast. He felt a quick wave of deja vu. "What happened?!?!" Dash yelled, as Scoots and Evening jolted awake. Or out of a snooze, they hadn't been in that dream. "Just- when did I fall asleep there?" "Like halfway back. You transformed and then just kinda passed out. I was pretty worried." She said, leaning over and kissing him. He kissed back for a moment before she broke away, her eyes sparkling. "But we're back together, and I can't tell you how happy I am that we're getting married. It feels weird, like I can't be sure whether I'm dreaming or not." "We better not be, that would mean I lived in that other reality." He shivered. "You- oh my god I wish you hadn't died." "How bad was it?" She asked. Must be strange asking about her own death, he mused offhandedly. "You got clipped, right as the elements fired or whatever. I got to you a minute or so later, I think, and Cadance already had this blood soaked rag on your neck. I-" He choked. "I knew you were dying. Your neck healed and everything, but you only got out a few sentences before you stopped breathing." "Jason, it's okay, I'm here now." "Yeah, but these memories are so strong, it's like I'm seeing them for the first time." He buried his head in her shoulder and sobbed. Scoots looked like she was on the verge too, camped out on Dash's chest. She hugged a hoof around his back, resting her chin atop his head. "Is this a bad time?" Luna asked as she walked in, stopping a few steps inside. "No, not at all, princess! Well, maybe a little." Dash said with a sigh. "But go on, he's just, well, did you hear what happened?" "Yes, I'm sure he knows that I've done something much like it." "Wait, how did you know that you said that?" Jason asked, as Luna responded with a giggle. "I'm not as straightforward as you think, Jason. You'd be surprised the ways I have for working around spells like this. Starswirl may have rediscovered my time spell, but he's only scratching the surface." "How did you do that?" Jason asked, wiping his eyes. "How did you even get past moving your memories?" "A backup plan." She smirked. "You'd be surprised just what you can do with Soul Magic, Jason." "Yeah, I guess so." He replied, trying to figure out how that was possible, before his blood chilled with a sudden realization. "Does that guy know?" "You assume I taught him all I know. He's gotten stronger over the years, but I doubt he'd have reason to move into things like that." "If you say so." Dash breathed, looking slightly annoyed that there were still things in their way. "Do not forget to go back again," Luna warned. "The magic only keeps things this way for so long, and then it's back to the way things should have been." "I know, I don't forget." Jason replied, smiling. "Well then I'll just leave you, I'm sure you don't want us-" The princess sighed, shaking her head. "ME, being depressing like this. After all, I can't think of a better couple. If it means anything, you have my blessing." "Thanks." Jason said. "It definitely does, coming from you." Luna nodded and turned to leave, stopping herself before she arrived at the doorway. "I almost forgot, you've got a hefty bank account now, full of your pay from the last month. A little extra for the five days that never happened." She put up a hoof as they went to thank her. "No words of thanks, you earned your money. Good luck on the days ahead." Luna left, and her hoofsteps slowly disappeared down the hall as they were left in silence. "So what was it like? The Nightmare, I mean?" "I dunno, it was like having a real voice in my head. Not much else to it, besides that I kinda pissed him off all the time." "Only you, Jason. Only you could piss off a millenniums old thing like that." She paused. "So, do you know what happened to the others?" "While I was leaving, the Nightmare kinda- He destroyed the throne room. While Tank and Morning Rain were still inside." "What?" She asked, her face turning angry. "That thing couldn't just effect us, huh?" She swore under her breath. "Did you see them die?" "No, but that was a huge building." "I'm not assuming anything until I see the bodies." She said, kissing his muzzle. "It's not your fault." They hugged closer together, listening as several more hoofsteps came down the hall and Pinkie jumped through the open window and sat down on the floor. "I beat you!" She yelled as the others walked in, flailing her hooves around. Jason waited a moment until all of the exact same ponies as last time piled in. "Yes the crusaders can come." He said, watching Twilight lower her hoof, confused. "And while they get in here, yes, I apparently gave you the full story, and yes, I can tell it again." Jason was attacked by the foals again, noticing that at some point he'd lost his disguise. If things were still this similar, the past must be fairly pliable. "So, um, I guess we left..." ______________________________________________________ "...and that's when I got back here." Jason finished, letting out a sigh after the long monologue. "So, questions then?" The room was silent for a few seconds, as Applejack raised a hoof to say something and then lowered it again. "That happened to y'all over only the last couple weeks?" "Yup." Jason said, watching Dash nod as well. "Did you have to kill them?" Fluttershy asked. Jason fought to keep his eyes from rolling, although surprisingly Dash answered instead. "Fluttershy, look at it this way." She paused, thinking her response through. "I'm assuming your question is more to the extent of, why did we pursue them into their own territory, as opposed to just defending our own land?" The yellow mare nodded. "Okay then, what would happen later when they decide to attack again? Well, hopefully we'd fare better, but there would still be a large margin of civilian casualties." Dash's friends had begun to look at her strangely. "And the thing is, it's much easier to organize the attack of a nation than the defense of our own, with such a large border." "So it's still self defense?" "Yeah." She shrugged. "Pretty much. You have a thing like that, right Jason?" He scratched his head. "Yeah, we had wars like that. It's smart, you keep the war off your soil, minimize the costs. Obviously it's harder because the attacker isn't familiar with the land, but with satellite technology that doesn't matter too much." "When you say satellite, Jason, what do you mean exactly?" Twilight asked, a notepad out. "I figured I'd already mentioned this, but they're things that revolve around the planet. They track weather, planes, run through cell phone calls, provide military intel..." "And how do they put the things up there?" "Rockets. I'm not really sure how those work in space though, I think as they burn they put off oxygen to keep them burning... something like that." He paused. "So anyway, other questions?" "So what's the ring for?" Lyra asked. "Did you propose, Jason?" "Yeah, I did. I don't know how much you know about anything, but apparently Dash died and I went back to change the past. You were there, which reminds me, I have something for you later." "Oh, a gift!" She squealed, before looking considerably less happy. "But I didn't get you anything." Jason burst into laughter. "You said that the first time!" "He's not crazy, right?" She whispered audibly over to Twilight, who shook her head. "Not unless we all are." The lavender mare responded. "That's not something I've ruled out though." A doctor pushed his way inside, looking around at the ponies. "Hey, listen. Visiting hours are over, so all of you that aren't family, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave within a couple minutes." He left again, making Jason suddenly realize that he must've spent a lot more time on the story to run out of time like this. Several goodbyes rained down as the room started to clear, and Jason reached out to grab at Rumble, who looked back like he'd been caught in the act of murder. "Hey guy, I know about you and my daughter." He paused, watching the foal's face for a moment. "And it's fine with me." "Wait, but-" Dash started, before he looked over at her. "Scoots told me everything, it's fine, Dash." Jason turned back to the foal. "But I want to meet you, however that shakes out. And you better not harm my little girl." He whispered, leaning in closer, before he sat back up and smiled. "Now off with you." Jason continued with a chuckle, ruffling Rumble's mane. "Jason, why'd you do that?" Scoots asked as one of the most confused foals he'd ever seen trotted away. "Well, if he really likes you, he'll get over his fear. And if he doesn't, well..." Jason felt a punch on his arm, to which he responded with a chuckle. "I'm way more lenient than Sky, I don't want to see you complaining." "Fine." The filly said, crossing her arms. "So how's the arm?" A doctor asked, walking inside. "I'm good to go? Is that what you said?" Jason asked, smirking as he made to look like he was getting up. "It's been twelve hours, how could you be healed from a broken leg?" "Well it feels healed. I mean, you want me to punch something?" "No! Just, can't you at least stay the night?" "But I want to go to my actual house." Jason said, attempting to look pouty. Evening's look and snicker said that he was probably not doing too well. "Fine." He said. "This is really stupid of me, but you two helped save my son, if you know it's healed enough to walk I can let you go. But nothing serious until tomorrow, alright?" Jason nodded. "But when did we save your son?" "He was a hostage, I believe. I appreciate it more than you know." "Yeah, I'm glad the guy that gets to fix me when I'm passed out is at least friendly." The doctor chuckled. "And saving your son was no problem, I'm just glad I could do something good like that. Killing things kinda starts to get old after a while." "I'm a doctor, it doesn't exactly hold the same weight. Trying to keep ponies alive is a lot different, you know?" "Yeah, I know what you mean." He watched the doctor wave and leave, before turning to Dash. "Come on Dash, I want to sleep in our actual bed. And yes, we'll get something together for you, Evening." "Is it weird that besides Scoots and my friends, I missed that bed the most?" Dash asked. "No, you did a good job building that." "Heh, compliments. I like them." She said, smirking as Jason chuckled. "You know how much I missed you?" "Probably as much as I missed you." She replied, kissing him before nuzzling at his head. "Now let's go, I haven't slept yet today." Jason didn't respond with more than a chuckle, carefully untangling her arms from around his chest and moving Scoots away. He hopped up and transformed, testing out his leg and walking around a little. "It's nice to be back in control of my body again." He said, jumping carefully. "So, how much did you learn, all those days in the library?" "How about I show you first thing tomorrow, hmm?" He asked, nuzzling at her chin before he teleported them all outside and into the streets, quickly jumping in fear and transforming into the same, light blue stallion with a red mane, thankfully with wings at this point. "God Jason, why are you so scared that something's going to happen?" Dash asked, looking around at the ponies that seemed not to have noticed. "I dunno, being so forthright nearly got me killed before, and I still don't feel safe around medical knives." He shuddered. "Just- let's get home, I miss the place." Jason nuzzled at her neck. "And lying next to you." He took off without another word, vaulting into the sky as Dash followed, looking at the ring on her feathers like it almost wasn't real. It only took them a couple minutes to get to the right height and land, but there seemed to be a mutual need to get back to the house, whether it was to calm their nerves or just provide the solace of familiarity. Either way, Jason found himself almost thinking that the house would be a mirage as he touched down, carefully pushing open the door, not sure if there would be a disaster inside. There wasn't, and he let out a sigh of relief. Jason felt feathers mesh with his as Dash walked up next to him and threaded her wing through his, smiling broadly. "I know the fact that I'm your fiancé means today's supposed to be all special, but do you think we could just kinda move that to tomorrow?" She asked, the bags under her eyes almost seeming to expand. "Including all the alone time?" She continued, offering a tired attempt at a sultry look. "I don't want to ruin the moment, but if you could just show me a place to sleep..." Evening said, as Jason pointed to the couch. "We can get something better for you later, but that's all we have today." "That's fine, it's a cloud! How could it possibly be uncomfortable?" She jumped onto the couch and appeared to immediately pass out, a rather happy look splayed across her face as Dash walked into the kitchen, taking a few bites from an apple as she handed one to Scoots. "So, sleep?" Dash asked, walking to the stairs without waiting for a response. "Yeah, of course." Jason said, following after her as Scoots walked slightly in front of him, disappearing into her room as Jason walked past. "Night Scoots." He said, getting a mumble in response from the exhausted filly. "Dash, how're you feeling with all this? Future stuff and all?" He asked as she dropped off her saddlebag and he did the same, spreading out the wrinkled blanket that was still on the bed with his magic as she crawled under. He joined her, putting his hooves around her midsection in a way that he just- missed. She smiled, letting her head lay on his lower arm, ruffling the fur slightly. "I love you Jason." She said, rolling over and taking off the ring, setting it on the bedside table. He had luckily had the foresight to enchant the thing. "More than you know." "I'm glad." He replied, welcoming her back with open arms. "I wouldn't have proposed if I didn't feel the same." "Hey guys?" Scoots asked, her figure only slightly illuminated in the covered sunlight that was coming through the windows. "Yeah?" Jason asked, propping himself up slightly. "Can I- Sleep with you guys?" "Worried you'll get nightmares?" She nodded. "I don't see a problem with that." Dash said, grinning as the filly bounced onto the bed, ending up in a trough in the covers where she sprawled out cutely, closing her eyes as she hugged around what appeared to be a stuffed animal. "Is that new, Scoots?" Jason asked, prodding gently at the fluffy thing. "No, I've had it a long time. Found it again in the treehouse when we camped out there." She giggled slightly. "I bought it way back when, it's a plushie of Soarin', cuz I couldn't find any of you, Mom." "Jason, she just said-" "I know." Jason responded quickly, feeling a surge of love rush through his chest for the filly. "Night, guys." Scoots said, shifting slightly. Jason hardly had time to think before he passed out, finally back in Dash's arms. Finally back home.