I spent the morning going over my options as Pinkie did her best to comfort me. The latest nightmare was the most disturbing by far. I knew Twilight was hiding something, but so far I couldn’t prove anything. Last night, I was certain she tried to knock me out and drag me away to Celestia knows where.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” I asked.
Pinkie stopped brushing my mane. “Well gee, Dash. I think so, but where are we going to find a revolving door and twenty pounds of silly putty?”
I moaned and rolled my eyes. “No, Pinkie. I need a way to prove to everypony Twilight is messing with my brain. I’m going to break into her lab.”
“Oh,” she replied. Pinkie smiled and started brushing again. “That makes much more sense.”
“What were you going to do with twen—” I caught myself and bit my lip. Sending her on a tangent wouldn’t get me anywhere. “On second thought, don’t tell me.” I sat up and put my hooves over the edge of the bed. “Can you distract Twilight while I sneak in? With, say, a surprise party or something?”
She tilted her head sideways. “But we just had a party, Dash.”
“Yeah? So throw another one.” I tossed my hooves in the air. “It’ll be just like the time you threw a party for Gummy and we all avoided you—bad example. Just uh. . . make something up?”
Pinkie pulled a checklist out of her mane. “Hmm. . . Coltmus day, Litmus day, Labor day, Arbor day, Princess’ day, Mare’s day, Easter, Hearthswarming Eve.” She smiled widely. “Spike’s birthday! That’s today!”
I took a deep breath and tried to bite my tongue. Don’t ask. Don’t ask how she keeps pulling things out of her hair, it’ll only lead to troub— “Pinkie, how’d you pull that out of your mane?” Damn.
Smiling, she shoved it back in and pulled out a diagram. “It’s easy! I keep it extra poofy so I can fit more stuff inside it. See? I drew a diagram to help me remember where I put everything! One time I hid cupcakes in my mane for a whole week!”
“Um. . . okay.” I hopped off the bed and walked towards the window. It was a sunny day outside, yet for once I wished it was stormy to match my mood. “How long will it take you to get a surprise party ready, and distract Twilight and Spike?”
“That depends.” Pinkie whipped a notepad and pen out of her mane. “Did you want a chocolate cake, marble cake, or neapolitan?”
There it is. There’s that headache I haven’t felt for a couple days. “Pinkie, I really don’t care. I’m gonna be breaking into the laboratory, remember? You could make it a mud pie if you want.”
“Oh that’d be so much fun!” She threw the notepad away, and began bouncing up and down. “A mud pie for Spike, and maybe some ruby sprinkles, an—Dash?”
I pushed myself back from the window. “Huh?”
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Pinkie walked over and smiled, offering me a lollipop.
“Seriously?” I shook my head. “I’m fine.”
“Remember when I thought you were all going to abandon me, and I had that after birthday party with a bucket of turnips? You were there for me. You knew I wasn’t okay.” Pinkie put the lollipop away and hugged me. “I know you, Dash, and you’re not okay. Just remember I’ll always be here to help you, okay?”
“Thanks, I will.” I glanced back out the window and wished it weren’t so damn sunny for a change. There was too much wrong in my life for all this saccharine happiness.
Pinkie ran over to a trunk in the corner and began pulling streamers out of it. “All set! Give me an hour and I’ll ambush Spike and Twilight with a birthday party! You should go check on Tank. I bet he’s worried because you keep spending the night with your friends.”
Pushing the window open, I took a deep breath of the fresh air. It was warm and humid, and I found myself longing for some rain. “Sure thing, Pinkie. One hour to get ready. Bring an umbrella—I have a feeling it’s going to rain.”
I leapt out the window and flew up into the sky towards the Ponyville weather station. It was a small building on the outskirts of town, and served as our hangout before and after a hard day of work. It didn’t take long for Thunderlane to spot me. I flew up above the building to chat with him.
“Hey, Dash. Better late than never?” Thunderlane quipped.
“Laugh it up, featherbrain.” I rolled my eyes and scoffed at him. “Look, thanks for keeping the sky clear while I took a break from stuff. I need a favor, though.”
He smiled and looked at me attentively. “Sure, what can I do for you?”
Smiling, I pointed out over the Everfree where some wild clouds sat ready to be harvested. “I’d like it to rain today, and I want it to be a doozy. I think the town is due for a good shower.”
Thunderlane laughed. “I thought you didn’t want any thunder on account of you trembling like a school fi—”
I glared at him. “Finish that sentence, and you’ll be working night shift for a month! So go ahead, I dare you.”
“Whoa, your secret is safe with me, Dash.” He held his hooves up in surrender. “Just thought you’d feel a little better if we acted like old times.”
“You’re right.” Exhaling deeply I relaxed a little. Looking over the Everfree I knew the storm would buy me more time at Twilight’s home. “Thunder, lightning, whatever. I just feel like a good downpour to match my gloomy mood. Can you guys handle that for me and have it ready in an hour?”
“Of course!” He puffed out his chest and laughed. “If corporate comes to check on why we’re having unscheduled storms, should I tell them the usual? ‘We tried but couldn’t stop it!’ ”
“Yeah, rogue weather from the Everfree.” I looked back at Thunderlane and noticed him staring at my flank. “Eyes up here, sailor.”
“Sorry, boss, it’s just—” Thunderland was suddenly looking down at the ground and fidgeting in the air. “It’s nothing.”
“Well, out with it. You already mounted me with your eyes.” I crossed my forearms to make it clear I wasn’t going anywhere until he spit it out.
“It’s just—” He took a deep breath, and then quickly spit it out. “Well before the crash I was gonna ask you out to dinner, but I thought if I ask now, you’d get mad and think I was just doing it to be nice and. . .”
His voice trailed off as I tried not to blush, unsure what to say as he blindsided me. After a moment I realized he was staring at me waiting for some sort of response.
“Look, Thunderlane. I got some stuff to do today, but how about coffee and donuts tonight?” I smiled and saw him sigh in relief. “As friends!” I quickly added. “I’ve got enough crazy going on right now, but what the hay? Just clear up the storm by then.”
“Yeah, sure thing! I uh—well look at the time, I have a storm to build!” He flew off in a hurry towards the Everfree.
“What a weirdo.” I shook my head and wondered what his angle was. “I better get home.”
The humid air was making me feel sweaty as I returned home. Tank was waiting in the living room for me to return.
“Hey there, Tank, sorry to keep you waiting. I’ve been hanging out with my friends.”
Tank slowly smiled and began to walk towards the kitchen. His food bowl was still full, and he had water. Then I saw him pull out his gyrocopter from behind the doorway.
“Oh, that’s right! I promised we’d go flying. Look, I don’t have much time but let me find the harness, okay? You can fly around the house while I’m gone.”
I galloped upstairs to get his flight harness so I could start preparing to break into Twilight’s laboratory. It should have been somewhere in my room. First I checked a pile of socks and pajamas in the corner that needed washed. It wasn’t under my bed, or in my closet. There was an old pizza box with a couple of slices still in it. I tossed the box into the trash to deal with later.
The last place to check was my nightstand. I opened up the drawer, and saw the harness sitting on top of the dream journal Twilight had given me.
“That’s right,” I muttered to myself. “I’m supposed to write nightmares and stuff in here. What the hay, it can’t hurt.”
I pulled the book and a pen out, and began to write down the visions of the void I had last night. Then I took notes on the last few days before putting it away. Looking at the nearby clock I realized there were only thirty minutes left until I was due at Twilight’s.
The flight harness for Tank was in good condition, so I carried it downstairs. After Tank was strapped in, he began to buzz around the house. Twilight had enchanted it to allow Tank to fly as much as he wanted.
Memories of Twilight began to come, unbidden, to me. I recalled the many times she had been there for me, and how she always seemed to do the right thing. She had known from the start I should have picked a pet like Tank, and not something awesome and cool. She had also brought the girls up to cloudsdale to cheer me on in the best young flyers contest. Could Twilight still be my friend and yet hide something from me at the same time?
“You go ahead and practice laps of the living room, and don’t knock any lamps over this time!” The little guy still couldn’t steer that well. Luckily however, the cloud house was a perfectly soft training environment.
Tank saluted with his front leg, and zoomed past me. Seconds later, I heard a crash, and turned around. He was smiling innocently from next to a lamp he had knocked over.
With a sigh, I walked over and put the lamp back. “Hey, you’re getting better; at least I have shatterproof lamps now.” I nuzzled him on the nose and walked towards the door. Grabbing my saddlebags, I put a few odds and ends in them, but left them mostly empty to collect evidence.
Once on the porch, I could see Twilight’s library in the distance. The weather team was also out in force, whipping up an unexpected downpour. A bouncing pink dot ran into the purple dots that were Twilight and Spike, and ushered them into Sugarcube Corner.
“Alright, operation Blue Falcon is a go!” I cheered. “Time to find out what you’re really hiding from me, Twiliar Jerkle!” Pulling my flight goggles into place, I stretched out and jumped off the porch.
Flying to the library took no time at all. As I slowed my descent I aimed for the attic window. No sooner had I lined up my approach to fly through it, a large roll of thunder filled the air. I found myself curling up into a ball reflexively. The window flew open with a loud bang as I plowed through it, scattering dusty old books everywhere.
Lightning flashed into the attic, illuminating the many shelves. On each shelf were tons of old editions of books. The ones nearest me had dates from over fifty years ago. I sneezed as all the dust reached my nose, and shook my head. The stairs to the lower level were across the room.
There was an orange glint in the corner of my eye that caught my attention. I walked over, and found a large vanity mirror. Standing in the mirror was my reflection. I could see my heart racing; pushing lightly against my chest. “Heh, just a mirror. I bet there’s way worse stuff in her basement.”
The library proved to be empty, and I made my way down to the ground floor. In the back was a door to the basement. It was locked, and thus my first test began.
I recalled picking locks before, though I couldn’t remember much about the cirumstances. A part of me knew I had made clandestine trips into the homes of other ponies at night. Whether it was to hunt for spies, or find something to eat, I had no clue. Still, I was able to turn a few paper clips and a butter knife into a lock picking set. Perhaps it was nothing more than something I had read in Daring Do.
The lock wasn’t hard to force open, making me wonder if it was a trap, or if I was being spied on. Twilight always struck me as a spy. Perhaps that’s what she was hiding all along.
Shaking my head, I trotted down the stairs, closing the door behind me. Down here were my answers. I would gather them up and call all six of the Elements together. Then, we would get to the bottom of this once and for all.
The first room of the lab smelled like chemicals. Turning on the light revealed some metal discs with wires, squiggly graph paper, bulbs, and other egghead stuff. if I recall correctly, she had once hooked Pinkie up to gauge her pinkie sense.
A door on the far side of the room opened into a large workspace. The walls were made of chalkboards, and there were stacks of books organized into piles around the room. As the lights came on, my mind was overwhelmed by all the formulas and diagrams in the room.
The first board was, to the best of my knowledge, a drawing of a changeling. The formulas seemed to focus around it’s horn, wings, and heart. There was a jar of sickly green fluid and something that looked suspiciously like a changeling horn in it. I picked it up and put it in my saddlebag.
“Whatever you’re doing, Twilight, it’s creepy as Tartarus.”
The next board was full of circles with triangles in them, as well as odd looking glyphs. The only legible parts were about something called Equivalent Exchange. The rest were symbols, like C6H12O6, CO2, H2O, NaCl, and more. It almost looked like the recipe for something.
The next board had been hastily erased and rewritten, with several sections crossed out. It had pictures of cogs and gears, fancy machines, and a large portal. Next to the portal was a drawing of what looked like Celestia’s sun. There was something wrong with it that even I could identify. There was Equestria, but it was orbiting the sun. Every filly knew the Sun orbits Equestria, not the other way around! In addition to this, there were three other smaller planets next to the marked planet. Beyond those four planets were tons of little rocks.
I walked past the odd diagrams to find something chilling. It looked just like some of the medical records I had seen at the hospital. Several squiggly lines were intersecting, and going from the diagram of one pony to another. On the floor, I spotted a page from my medical record. Rolling it up, I placed it in my saddle bag.
The final chalkboard showed a dead plant being brought back to life. It had a few words about regeneration, followed by more formulas. There was also a diagram of something called a golem, that resembled a pony but according a footnote, had no soul.
“She sure lives in crazy town. Just one last door to check.”
I walked to the door in the corner of the room and opened it. I was surprised to find it was brightly lit inside, and the air smelt fresh and cool. I gasped at what I saw in front of me.
“You shouldn’t have come here, Dash.”
I spun around and saw Twilight standing in the exit from the room full of diagrams. She was levitating a two by four in the air.
“Twilight! What’d you do?” I yelled.
“You weren’t supposed to see that, Dash. Now, you have two choices. First choice: Put down the saddlebags, lay down, and let me fix you. Second choice,” she waved the plank of wood around. “I lay you down with this plank of wood, and then fix you with my magic.”
I gulped, beginning to feel my heart race in fear. This wasn’t the Twilight I knew. “How about option three?” I glanced behind me into the room I had just discovered and felt a chill go down my spine.
She raised an eyelid. “What’s that?”
Recalling a scene from a Daring Do novel, I turned around and lowered my flight goggles. “Got any gum?”
“Why on Equestria would you ask that?” She took a step forward with the plank helping her block the large doorway so I couldn’t dash through.
Smiling widely I flared my wings, ready to out-maneuver her and her fancy magic to escape. “Because I’m in the mood to kick flank and chew bubble gum—and I’m all out of gum.”
Twilight frowned. “So be it, Dash. Know that I’m only doing this because I care about you. I will not lose you again!”
The plank sailed through the air at me, missing by two feet as I took the air. I dove towards Twilight, but was forced to veer away as she shot a bolt of energy at me. Circling the room I heard the plank flying through the air behind me.
She was using the plank to help herd me into her spells. If it connected, it’d do enough damage on it’s own and I found myself running out of options.
“Dash, please! I promise this is for your own good! Stop it!”
“No!” I shouted. “You lied to me—to all of us—and I’m going to tell everypony you’re a liar!”
I lunged towards Twilight again and felt the plank of wood graze my flank. I turned at the last second with the piece of wood trailing close behind me. Before Twilight could react, the wood collided with her head, knocking her to the ground.
I doubled back and quickly flew towards the exit of the library. There was a sizzling sound and a flash behind me. Something hit me square in the back, causing my wings to go numb and twitch as I hit the ground. Tumbling to the ground, I slid into the base of the stairs and started to get back up.
Twilight was kneeling on the ground behind me, blood trickling from her nose. “You’ll ruin everything! You’ll get yourself killed!”
She wanted to kill me, and I wasn’t going to stick around and let her. Everypony had to know what she was up to. I ran up the stairs and out of the basement. Slamming the door behind me, I picked the butter knife off the floor and jammed it into the lock. I then turned around and kicked it as hard as I could, snapping the handle off.
It wouldn’t hold an alicorn who could teleport for long, but I just needed enough time to find one of my friends. Pinkie was my first choice, but she had promised to distract Twilight. If she failed, then Twilight must have done something horrible to her. Rarity was nearby, but she seemed to agree that anything was okay if it saved the life of a loved one.
That left Applejack and Fluttershy on the outskirts of town. The farm pony was far too honest for my liking, and had seemed dodgy the other day. I burst through the front door into the pouring rain, and began running towards Fluttershy’s cottage.
The cold was biting into my wings as I ran and I began to feel the tingling of nerves in my wings. Soon I was able to shake them out, and take to the air. I flew low to the ground in the rain, not feeling like my wings were fully recovered.
That was when the lightning began striking again, and I found myself flinching with each flash. The loud rolls of thunder filled the air. I suppose I couldn’t blame Thunderlane this time. Clouds from the Everfree were notorious for being nearly impossible to control.
I smelled ozone in the air, and my back began to tingle. As the hairs of my mane began to stand up, I dove for the ground in fear. My instincts told me what happened before it did. There was another flash as I rolled towards the ground and turned sideways. My left wing grazed the ground just as a lightning bolt connected with my right wing.
The electricity arced through my wings, flowing through my wings and into the ground. I tumbled hoof over head to a stop in front of Fluttershy’s cottage. Had I not acted quickly to ground myself, that lightning bolt could have hit me in the head, or passed through my heart. I had been struck before, and it was not pleasant.
I found myself too scared to unfurl my wings, and with too much pain in my back to want to. I limped to Fluttershy’s front door—not from injury, but from fear. It wasn’t enough Twilight lied then tried to knock me out. It wasn’t enough what she’d done to save me. Now I’d been struck by lightning and nearly killed, with only one pony left to turn to.
My hoof hit the door a few times before I let myself in out of the rain. My hooves tracked mud all over her clean floor, and water began to pour off my coat hair and spread. Her living room looked like a disaster zone as I trod across it.
“Hello? Who is there?”
“It’s me, D-Dash!” I answered. “I’m hurt, and I need your help!”
“Oh no!” Fluttershy raced down the stairs from her room. She took one look at me and gasped in horror, her eyes wide in disbelief. “Dash!”
“Twilight lied! She tried to kill me with a bucking two by four!” I shouted.
Fluttershy approached me and began examining my wings, as well as a couple of bruises I had gotten. There was also a gash in my flank I hadn’t noticed until she poked it. “Oh Celestia, what happened out there?”
“I just told you!” I pushed her back and looked her in the eyes. “Twilight tried to kill me! And I ran away and got struck by lightning, but now know what she’s doing! She had to kidnap ponies and experiment on them to save me! There were drawings of changelings and golems and formulas everywhere!”
“Dash, calm down, you’re scaring me,” Fluttershy backed herself towards the corner of the room, her ears flattened against her head.
“Everything scares you!” I threw my hooves up and then stomped towards her. “But I need your help, so please be brave for me, okay? Twilight’s on her way here to erase me, or my memory, or Celestia knows what. But she’s gone mad!” I hit my hoof on the floor for emphasis. “She has an entire basement full evil, twisted experiments! Twilight broke off a changeling horn, it’s right—”
I turned back to open my saddlebags and saw they were gone.
“Um, Dash?” Fluttershy asked. She was kneeling on the floor in fear, not used to seeing me so worked up.
“Buck! They were right here, I had the evidence and missing medical papers. I was going to show you, but now I have to go straight to Celestia! I’ll find someway through this storm, and she’ll stop her! Everypony needs to know what she did to—”
I paused and realized I had backed Fluttershy into a corner, and that I was scaring her. She was giving me a funny look, squinting her eyes.
“Fluttershy?” I asked
My breathing slowed and I felt relaxation flow over me. I smiled as I stared into her teal eyes. All my worries were slipping away, and then it dawned on me what was happening.
“N-no! F-flutt—”
My mind went blank and the last thing I felt were my knees collapsing.