Dashie: Twenty Percent Cooler

by Kieva Lynn


Four

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own MLP, nor am I in any way affiliated with the author of the story this fic is based upon.

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Chapter Four

Equestria: Day Twenty-One: In the middle of the night Twilight Sparkle was torn from her dreams by the sound of heavy beating on the library door. Grumbling to herself, she rose from bed and trotted down the stairs half asleep. All sleep evaporated from her mind in an instant when she opened the door to find Rainbow Dash, her face a heartbreaking mix of sadness and rage. “How could you!?” Dash bellowed when she saw her friend.

“Dash, I...” Twilight began, “You... You remember everything,don't you?”

“You're bucking right I remember!” Rainbow screamed. “How could you take me away like that? How could you take my memories? You're supposed to be my friend Twilight!”

“I, I am your friend... I didn't wanna hurt you, but the Princess...”

“Yeah! The Princess can't be wrong can she!?” Rainbow shouted. She fell to a sitting position, crying openly but still yelling in anger. “I had family Twilight! Family!”

“You... You have your family here Rain...”

“What family!? Don't you remember? I was raised in an orphanage here! Birth to adulthood, no one wanted to adopt the loud little tomcolt! No one here anyway. He did. He took me into his home and cared for me like I was really his daughter! I had a Father, I had someone who loved me and then you came and stole me away from him and didn't even let me remember it!” Rainbow's body shuddered as she was overcome with grief.

Crying now as well, Twilight said “I couldn't disobey the Princess Rainbow. I just couldn't... And you are loved here, we're your friends and we all love you...”

“Friends don't do what you did Twilight. Royal order or not. Friends are loyal. But then, I guess that's why I'm loyalty and not you.”

Twilight stepped back, deeply hurt by her friend's words. Rainbow simply shook her head. “I... I can't handle this right now...” She spread her wings and flew away as fast as she could, ignoring Twilight's tormented calls for her to come back.

Shuddering in grief and fear for her friend, Twilight walked to her desk and began composing a letter to Celestia, detailing what had just occurred.

Dear Princess Celestia,
I am writing to inform you that Rainbow Dash's memories have returned.
She just left my home after yelling at me and saying some truly terrible
things. I do not blame her for the things which she said; she is in pain, and not
thinking clearly. I am in fact afraid for her, for I don't know what she might do
in her current state of mind. If there is any way that you can help her,
I plead with you to do so. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

After finishing the letter, Twilight woke Spike long enough to send it, then tried to go back to bed. She couldn't sleep at all...

XXXXXXX

Earth: Day Ninety: Miri sat in the diner she and Brian had frequented, in the booth they usually chose, staring into an untouched milkshake. She really wasn't sure what she should do. She hadn't told anyone about what she had found out about Brian. For one thing, it wouldn't do any good. No matter how disturbed he might be to be believing this 'pony-daughter' fantasy she didn't think he was dangerous. That just wasn't Brian. Which was good, except that it meant that she couldn't get anyone to make him get the help he needed. In fact, all speaking up, even to just one person, would do was to let everyone know. Small towns are like that after all. And she didn't want to make it worse by causing there to be idiots making fun of him.

And for another thing, in spite of all this she still loved him. He was smart, considerate, caring, funny... Not bad looking either, she thought with a grin. A bit old for her, she knew her mother would say, but they were both adults and she had seen such relationships work before. “He's not insane, not crazy.” Miri thought to herself. “He's just, I dunno, mixed up. He must have really, really loved that adopted daughter of his.” She wondered to herself just what the girl's real family was like, that they wee so cruel to not let Brian have any contact with the girl at all. She grew angry at them for that, but then another thought crossed her mind;

“Was I so different? What the hell kind of girlfriend am I anyway, that I walked out on him in his hour of need?” She let her head slump down onto the table. “What kind of heartless witch walks out on her boyfriend when he needs her? How could I do that!?” Miri sat that way for a long time, going over the same thoughts in her mind, trying to work out what she should do. Eventually, she sat back up and looked around the diner. The place was reasonably full, lots of customers and employees, and a thought came to her. “I sat there with my head on the table for at least twenty minutes. And not one person here even asked if I was okay. What's up with that? Are we really that cold? Well I won't be. I refuse to be. I'm gonna do something for Brian. I've just got to figure out what...

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Equestria: Day Twenty-One: High above the surface of Equestria, Rainbow Dash sat on a cloud, watching the night sky. Thinking. She didn't know how to unravel her feelings. This was her world. She had grown up here. But she had also grown up on Earth. Twilight and the others were her family. But so was Daddy. Twilight was her friend. But Twilight had caused this whole mess.

Finding no answers in the starry sky, Rainbow hung her head and closed her eyes. She didn't notice that she was no longer alone until a familiar voice said “Will you be troubled if I join you?” Rainbow looked up in surprise to find a sleepy-eyed Princess Celestia sitting next to her. The Princesss yawned. “Forgive me, I'm not usually awake this early.”

“P...Princess!” Rainbow stammered, rushing to turn and bow.

Celestia stopped her. “There is no need for that. I am not here as your Princess. I am here as your friend.”

“With respect, I'm not sure right now if I really have any friends. I assume Twi wrote to you? I'm sorry for the things I said to her, but I just...”

“Apology accepted, though not necessary given what you are going through.”

“What... What am I supposed to do Princess? How am I supposed to deal with this?”

Celestia extended a wing and draped it over Rainbow's back. “For what it's worth, I've realized I was wrong. There may be a way to set things right soon, though.”

“How? A day here is a year there. Princess, he's in his sixties by now. Three weeks for me, twenty-one years for him! Another week or two here and he'll be...” Rainbow shuddered.

“Easy child...” Celestia whispered. “Things may not be as you think, though I prefer to only explain them once, to all of the elements at once.”

Rainbow stared up at Celestia with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. “Really? I might... I might be able to see him again?”

Celestia nodded, but said “Let us focus for now on how you are feeling towards your friends... Tell me Rainbow Dash, what do you know of Equestria's ancient history? In particular, the age prior to the beginning of my rule?”

“I didn't know there was such a time. I thought you and Princess Luna had always been around.”

“Hardly. My sister and I are immortal, but not eternal.”

“There's a difference?”

“Indeed... The eternal has no end or beginning. The immortal also has no end but does have a beginning.”

Confusion flooded Rainbow's face. She managed only a feeble “Huh?”

Celestia chuckled. “How best to explain it? Ah! Suppose that there were two beings with you. A and B. A is eternal, and B is immortal. Now suppose you have a time machine...”

Rainbow interrupted, “Time Machine? You mean like in 'Daring Do and the Marelocks?'”

“Exactly. If you went forward in time, into the future, both A and B would always be there. You would never find a time when either of them no longer existed, no matter how far you went. But, if you went into the past... In that case, you would find the same with A. There would never be a time so long ago that the eternal wasn't there yet. But the immortal B, is a different story. At some point you would eventually find a time before B's existence.”

“Princess,” Rainbow began carefully, “Are you sure this is something you should be telling me?”

“Fear not. Though not common knowledge it is not a secret. Twilight herself suspects, but has not yet worked up the courage to ask me. In any case my point is, there was a time before Luna and I. A time when our mother, Queen Faust, ruled over Equestria. Oh, she was beautiful, and powerful. Stronger than Luna and I combined. But, like myself and my sister, she was immortal, not eternal, and there came a day when her maker declared that the time of her reign was at an end, and that she had to leave Equestria to us.”

“I... I had no idea Princess... I'm sorry... I'm sure you must miss her.”

“Indeed I do. Which is my point Rainbow Dash. I lost my mother and have not seen her for five thousand years. I lost my sister for another thousand. I make close friends like Twilight or yourself, only watch their mortality take them from me as I never age. Even dear Cadance is not immortal, though she will live far longer than normal. I know what the loss of family is. I know how you feel, and I am not coldly ignoring your feelings.”

“I'm... I'm sorry I was so mad at you.”

“As I've already said, it's forgiven.”

Rainbow nodded, then a question occurred to her. “If you don't mind me asking... Is this why you've stayed 'Princess' Celestia and not 'Queen' Celestia? You're maybe hoping your mother will be allowed to return someday?”

Celestia nodded again. “Yes. Of course, I don't really expect it anymore. I gave up any real hope of her return after the first millennium. But I've never been able to let go of that last thread...”

Princess and Element of Harmony sat side by side in silence for several minutes, before Rainbow said “If you'll excuse me Princess, I... kind of think I need to go apologize to someone.”

“Go.” Celestia smiled. “I'll see you and the other bearers again later today.” Dash flew away, leaving Celestia alone, but she was not alone for long. “How do you think I did?”

“Quite well sister.” Luna said, nuzzling Celestia warmly. “Though, I am surprised that you didn't tell her.”

“About what? My encounter with humans or mother's prophecy?”

“Both.”

“Ahh... Well, as for the former, I'll be telling her along with the others later today. No reason to tell the tale twice. And as for the prophecy, well, I'd like to keep that secret just a bit longer.”

“I understand, though it concerns me.”

“I as well. But we must be sure...”

XXXXXXX

Just before dawn, Twilight was still awake. Having given up getting back to sleep, she made tea and sat in the library, trying to distract herself from the things Rainbow had said but failing to do so. There came a soft knock at the door, and she rushed to answer, hoping it would be the Princess with good news. Instead she found herself being tackled by Rainbow Dash, who was crying again as she blurted out “Twilight I'm so sorry for the things I said I was just angry and upset and not thinking though I guess maybe I never think really but that's not the point the point is that I know you're still my friend and that nothing could ever really change that and I said thing I shouldn't have said and I hope you can forgive me 'cause see I talked to the Princess and she said that-” Rainbow finally stopped for a breath as Twilight interrupted her.

“Rainbow! Calm down! You sound like Pinkie!”

“Heh... Sorry.”

“It's okay. I'm just glad you're feeling better.” Twilight hugged her friend. “What exactly did she say to you anyway?”

Over tea and an early breakfast, Rainbow told Twilight everything she had been feeling, and all that Celestia had told her. “So, I guess we'll all be here sometime later today...” Rainbow finished.

“Yeah. You should probably just crash in the guest room here until then. We both need more sleep.” Twilight said. “But first... Hang on, I've got something for you!” She trotted out of the room, leaving Rainbow confused. A couple of minutes later, Rainbow heard Twilight's hooves on the floor as she returned, saying “You had this with you when we came back. Celestia had to leave before I could ask her about it, so I stored it away in the basement.” Twilight came into view, levitating a familiar object...

“My shoebox!” Dash exclaimed. “I've been so busy being mad I didn't even remember it!”

Twilight sat the box down on the table between them. “What's in it anyway?”

Rainbow looked at her friend in undisguised shock. “Wait a minute. Are you telling me that you, Twilight freakin' Sparkle, had a 'mystery box from another world' in your possession and you didn't open it!?” She broke into open laughter. “What is the world coming to?”

“Ha. Ha.” Twilight deadpanned. “Very funny. I'm not gonna open a friend's stuff.”

Rainbow stared at her.

“Okay okay, I was tempted... Badly... But I didn't do it!”

Rainbow laughed again. “Fair enough... Here, take a look...” She opened the box and started going through it's contents, explaining them to Twilight as she went...