PART III: THE RESURGENCE
On the way back to Twilight’s library we apologized to each other. Me for “resisting arrest” and they for, well, knocking me down and keeping me in a grip against my will. They also told me about themselves. I was apparently correct on my nicknames of these ponies. Applejack was a farmer, Rarity seemed very satisfied as I said that I had earlier thought of her as the “lady” since she had dreams about living in Canterlot with other “noble” ponies and Fluttershy was indeed shy. The pink one was so random and joyful as she loved parties and baking, which most likely explained her sugary smell.
I also noticed that they all had tattoos on their flank, just like Twilight. Applejack had apples, Fluttershy had butterflies, Rarity had diamonds and Pinkie Pie had balloons. When I asked them why and how they all got it, Rarity replied: “You don’t remember anything, do you? Anyways, these are not ‘tattoos’, silly. They are called cutiemarks. They display that certain something that makes us special. But we do not get them until we find out what that special something is which normally happens very early in a pony’s life. Applejack has apples because she loves apples. I have diamonds as I love fashion. Fluttershy has butterflies because she loves small animals and Pinkie Pie has balloons…”
“…because she like parties?” I guessed.
“Correct. Cutiemarks are very important as they mark what our personality stands for and… Huh? What are you doing?” Rarity looked at me but I had stopped listening to what she was saying as my eyes had just noticed the movements in the sky. My eyes kept moving along with the daring speeds of this creature as she took elegant but still dangerous movements displaying her magnificent tricks. There she was, with the cyan blue fur and her wings beautifully cruising along with the wind blowing in her multicolored main. I was stunned. The tricks, the elegance and the quick but genius turns, I had seen it all before. But where?
Rarity turned and looked at the direction my eyes had so clearly been pointing at;
“Oh no! It’s Rainbow Dash. She can’t see him! We have to do something!” Applejack looks furiously around for a solution. “I’m terribly sorry for this, sugarcube.” She swung her body and pushed me into a puke-green bush, “…but it’s the best for both of you. Stay there and don’t make noises.”
You would think that landing in a bush would give you scratches and hurt but the colorful, green bushes in this world didn’t hurt. They were… soft. As I quickly adjusted position to get comfortable I heard as “Rainbow Dash” flew up to the rest of the ponies just outside the bush. Rainbow Dash, her name, her tricks, her colors, her agility, why was it all so familiar?!
“Hi guys!” a voice said. I assumed it to be her. It was also familiar…“Who’s in the bush?” she continued. She knew I was here?!
“Oh uhm…” Applejack responded.
“It’s Opal.” Rarity continued where Applejack left off. “He is marking his territory in there. I recommend that you do not look.” The group started laughing for a bit. Then Rainbow Dash’s voice spoke again.
“Opal… That is your cat right, Rarity?”
“Yes. I’m glad you remembered! By the way, how is your memory coming along?”
“Oh, I think I’ve got the most back now. I’m fine thanks. I was just checking if I could still perform my tricks. What do you guys think?”
She has had a memory loss too? As the group continued to chat my mind was in deep thinking. My thoughts were fighting an endless struggle, one part of me kept mentioning theories and the other kept debunking them.
+ What if she “teleported” here together with me from another world?
- But she is a pony too.
+ She has wings.
- So does Fluttershy.
+ But she never uses them.
What if it was just a coincidence? Yeah, she probably hit her head while performing one of her stunts and lost her memory just in time as I came here and lost mine. But that does not explain why she seems to connect to my deep memories…
I wonder if she would feel the same about her memories if she saw me…
“Well, I gotta go and keep practicing. You have fun, you guys!” was the last thing I heard of Rainbow Dash’s voice. Then the sound of a violent but fast take-off took over my eardrums, but I waited for an indication to that the coast was clear before I stepped out. About ten seconds later, someone kicked the bush which I assumed to be that sign.
“Now I want to know what the heck is going on! Who was she?!” I was not planning to tell them about how she somehow “connected” to me just yet, but I at least wanted some answers.
They looked around, ignorantly, all waiting for someone else to take care of that question. I had them cornered, there were no distractions in sight and they had to give me an answer this time. As they all waited, it was Rarity that lost the game of silence and spoke first;
“Well, that was Rainbow Dash…” she cleared her throat, looking like she was preparing the world’s largest lie. “She is also one of ours and Twilight’s friends. The reason why we didn’t want her to see you was because she has a terrific fear of you… humans.” Applejack and Pinkie Pie looked at her for a second, then turned back to me to await my reaction.
“She lost her memory too?” I continued. Rarity looked at Applejack for support but only to receive a nod meaning “continue” in response.
“Oh that! That is just a coincidence, dear. She hit her head yesterday while performing one of her tricks.”
That was my theory, but coming out of her luxurious lips it sounded like a complete lie. I wanted to keep interrogate them, but I knew it was hopeless. These ponies may be great wrestlers but they were ridiculously horrible at lying. It was just embarrassing…
Don’t get me wrong. I had nothing against them at all, I just wanted the truth. But I realized it was pointless to keep trying to squeeze it out of these ponies and not worth the effort. So I decided to end the examination there and switch to a more… polite topic; “Okay then. I’m glad we had that sorted out. Is there any food around? I’m starving!”
They all sighed in relief as Pinkie Pie quickly took over the conversation with her crazy, light and happy voice. “I know! We can eat at sugarcube corner!”
Applejack responded; “I’m sorry to burst your bubble there, sweetheart, but it was probably a good idea of Twiligh’ to keep him hidden. We should go back to the library and wait for Twiligh’ to return.”
“Come on, Applejack!” Pinkie Pie responded in a complaining tone, yet still somehow retained her positive attitude, “Don’t be such a downer! He said she wouldn’t come back until sundown. Wasn’t that so?”. She turned to me, and as I nodded back she continued, “Rainbow Dash is far off training her stunts and with creatures such as Spike, Opal and Winona running around Ponyville I don’t think the other ponies will care too much about him!”. Applejack tried to interrupt but Pinkie kept spraying her arguments in her face, “Besides, he is probably bored to death since he’s been staying in Twilight’s library for so long.” I would’ve ignored her arguments but she actually had a point on that last thing. I mean, sure the library has some fascinating books but I would love to come outside and see more of this town.
Applejack turned to me to hear my opinions. As I smiled she returned to Pinkie with a defeated expression; “Sure, why not?”
Pinkie Pie’s initial reaction was jumping and screaming but I thought I could also see a hint of pride and tears of joy somewhere in there. Looking at the other ponies careless expressions I assumed this to be standard behavior from her.
About 15 minutes later, we arrived.
She had been talking to me about “cupcakes” for the whole trip since when I told her I did not remember what it was. Apparently, that was a disaster. She had now been naming every flavor in the universe and of course, promising me to be able to taste every single one of them in a soon future.
I did not mind her endless speech since her attitude was so joyful and it put my mind to other thoughts then Rainbow Dash for once.
Forget the tree house library; “Sugarcube corner” had now topped my list of weird creations. The bottom of it looked like a normal, 18th century, building. But the roof looked like it was made out of gingerbread and frosting. Seriously, the whole building looked like a gingerbread house! On the roof it had a “tower” that looked like it was made from a giant, pink cupcake. I could only dare myself and hope it was not real.
They led me inside and luckily, the interior wasn’t made of chocolate. It was normal wooden walls but with decorations all over the place in the shape of treats. Lollipops, cupcakes and candy canes all over the place, decorating what else would have been normal yellow or brown walls. There were tables inside, some for people to sit and dine and some were set up to show off the piled up cupcakes of various colors. Hansel and Gretel would crap their pants if they saw this.
Each pony went and did what they found was interesting. Fluttershy and Rarity went to mingle; studying the different treats that where piled up on the shelves and tables. Applejack took her time and tasted a cupcake that was set to display a small, rounded wooden table in the corner and I was left standing in the doorway. I did not notice Pinkie Pie until something pushed me forward from my back.
I quickly turned around as the big, fluffy and pink main was tickling my back.
“You are going to help me make cupcakes!” she said as I was stumbling forward towards the kitchen. As I was walking into the kitchen with Pinkie Pie she kept talking as if someone had given her time limit to how fast she could talk, making her squeeze as many words in an as short time period as possible. She kept reminding me how this was going to be “so amazing!” and talking about her own experiences about making cupcakes, one crazier than the other. She only gave me time to respond with single words such as “Oh.”, “Yes.”, “Uhuh?”, and/or “Really?”.
“While I beat up the eggs you can slice up the correct amount of butter!” Pinkie Pie told me and put a pound of butter on a desk in front of me. “We need 2/3’s of a cup of butter. Use this!” was the words she said before she put it down in front of me, a simple instrument to slice up the correct amount of butter. But in my mind it had a way different meaning.
A knife…
The knife…
I jumped back as I stared onto the black handle then moving on to its sharp, shiny edge. I started to sweat as my body was shaking. I was reliving feelings that I had felt before, sometime in my past. I was feeling anxious, anguish, nervousness, regret, loneliness, depression… Finally, my body was feeling relief as a tumbled back and fell flat on the ground. Fainted… Unconscious…
“What are you doing here?!” Twilight yelled as I woke up. I was back in the library, in Twilight’s bed. I turned my head slightly, putting the entire floor downstairs in my view. Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity was all looking at a really nervous Twilight standing in the doorway. She must have just arrived home with Spike as she was carrying a lot of plants and what must have been the potion ingredients. “Where is he?!” she continued.
Applejack stepped forward; “He is restin’ in the bed. He fell unconscious earlier today.” She pointed towards my location. Quickly, I closed my eyes to make them believe I was still unconscious, because I might now finally find out about the whole situation and who I am.
“Unconscious? What happened?“
“Shh! Try not t’wake him up. We don’t know. But Twiligh’, the bigger question is why he is here?! And why have you been keepin’ it a secret fum us!?”
“Well…” She let out a big sigh... “While I was trying to erase Rainbow Dash’s memories and replace them with our moments together I must have brought him here somehow. I found him in the Everfree forest, with a memory loss.”
So I WAS connected to that Rainbow Dash pony somehow! But how? And why?
“I took him here and kept it a secret because I was afraid of your reactions to my mistake. I thought I could easily teleport him back but as it turns out, it’s harder than I thought. Way harder…” Now it was her turn to ask them questions; “When did you find him?”
Pinkie Pie quickly rose up, “I know this one! It was earlier this morning, and I was curious to why you were so spooky and secret so I went to check on how you were feeling. I heard a strange male voice inside and discovered that you hadn’t locked the door…” Twilight sighed and gave herself a face palm at this mistake. “…so I assumed you were home and it was alright. Then I saw him and screamed and went out the door. I quickly gathered up you guys…” She looked around waving with her hooves to clarify that it was the just the four of them. “…and we returned. He ran away but we caught up to him and Applejack tackled him down. Then we went to sugarcube corner and he just fainted when I gave him a knife to slice the butter while we were making cupcakes!”
So the knife part really happened?! I had hoped it was just a dream. A really horrible dream…
“Wait, what?!” Twilight stopped up. “You tackled him to the ground?!”
Look who’s talking! I thought. The pony who welcomed me so gently in the first place…
“Well, we had to.” Applejack continued, “He ran and we couldn’t let Rainbow Dash find him, now could we?”
“Where is Rainbow Dash now?”
“She said she was going to practice her tricks and maneuvers.” Rarity said.
“Okay…” Twilight was now thinking, possibly for a solution or a way out of this sticky situation her lying had caused her. “Let’s just forget this small commotion and focus on the main goal we all share. To get him back as fast as possible.”
As they all came to an agreement about being even more secret and mysterious the same questions were showing up in my mind; teasing me for not knowing the answers. Why do I and Rainbow Dash have a “connection”? What type of memories did they erase from her? Why did they erase her memories? Who exactly is Rainbow Dash?!
The last question that floated up in my mind before I finally went back to sleep was:
“Who am I…”
Sometime later my body was fully rested and decided to wake me up. My forehead was feeling awfully cold and wet. As I opened my eyes I was met with Fluttershy leaning over me. Reliving the memory from first meeting Spike, Fluttershy jumped back and screamed. Her sudden scream gave me quite the shock too, but I didn’t make a noise. To find out what the chilly and wet sensation on my forehead was, I slowly moved my hand over and touched a piece of wet, cold cloth. I took it off and studied it with my, still quite, numb eyes.
“Are you feeling better?” Fluttershy said, still recovering from my awakening.
Actually, I was never feeling especially bad physically in the first place but since this was the first time Fluttershy spoke to me personally I decided to give her a positive response.
“Yes, I’m feeling a lot better. Thanks.”. I rose up and sat upright in the bed. As Fluttershy nodded back as if she was saying ‘No problem’ Rarity came up next to her.
“Fluttershy here has been taken care of you while you were passed out. She is a very good medic.” I could see Fluttershy blush and I was overwhelmed with “adorableness”. If that isn’t a real word, someone needs to make it into one so I can properly describe what I was feeling.
I took the time to have a look around. Indeed, I was in the library. Rarity must have noticed my eyes rapid movements as she said:
“You fainted over at sugarcube corner, so we thought it would be best to take you over here so you could rest while we were awaiting Twilight. You should thank Applejack; she was the one who carried you all the way over here.”
I had another, closer look around. I couldn’t see her, only Fluttershy, Rarity and Twilight now walking up the stairs towards me.
“Where is she? And Pinkie Pie?”.
Twilight took the time to answer that question.
“As I came back we agreed to do what we can together to get you home. Applejack and Pinkie has work to do, so that’s why they aren’t here. Applejack has apples to buck for the season and Pinkie Pie has costumers to serve at the sugarcube corner.”
“So… what happens now?”.
“You need to eat something.” Fluttershy the medic took a bowl with some liquid from a table and put it in on my knees.
“Here, I made you some soup. You need it.”. As I took my first sip from the extraordinary and tasty soup, Twilight continued.
“What happened yesterday? When you fainted.”
I swallowed, it really helped clearing my throat.
“I don’t know… I don’t remember... it just happened so fast.”. That was a lie. That was a complete lie. I knew what it was, the knife. But it was linked to my memories in the worst possible way so I didn’t dare to think about it again, even less talk about it.
After breakfast Twilight, Rarity and Spike left again, this time to retrieve a gemstone needed for my transportation. Rarity was an expert in finding gemstones using her magic, Twilight knew which rare gemstone was needed and Spike was going to dig it up.
I was alone with Fluttershy for a few hours. Towards the beginning she was very nervous and uncomfortable with the situation but as we started talking I could notice the symptoms of her being nervous slowly cease. When she wasn’t shy she was very nice, actually. She lived in a house, quite far away from town and she said she liked it that way, since she was shy. She also talked about small animals and how much she loved taking care of them. We became and were good friends by the time Applejack came two hours later, she had finished her chores and decided to drop by as I was about to leave.
---
Towards the evening we were all set. Pinkie Pie had arrived to say goodbye as well and Twilight was done with the preparations.
This is how I was going to get home:
First, I needed to drink a potion that would assure that nothing happened to my body during the trip.
Second, Twilight casts a spell on the gemstone currently lying on the floor which turns it into a portal.
Third, I have about 60 seconds to step in the portal and finish the transportation. The coordinates were set to around my house which Twilight seemed to know more about than me.
All of the steps were prepared but before we started we all took the time to say goodbye. Applejack tipped her hat to me, Fluttershy and Pinkie started to cry together, Rarity told me it’s been really nice spending time with me and when I gave them all each a giant hug Twilight whispered in my ear: “It’s for the best, remember that.”
I took a deep breath and accepted the soup-like potion that Twilight handed to me. It was disgusting, but I took it down in one hit. Quite impressive. I looked into the ponies eyes one more time as to say goodbye when the door opened.
It was the sixth pony; it was the pony that had been messing with my mind for so long, it was Rainbow Dash.
“So this is where you are all at? I have been looking everywhere and when I asked Applebloom she said you were he-“ Rainbow Dash stopped right in her tracks as she met my eye contact.
Time was slowed down to nothing but fragments of its original playback speed. Everything surrounding the two of us was slowly melting away. Soon, it was just the two of us, alone in an empty space. Nothing else mattered, nothing else was important. According to the look on her face, she felt the exact same way.
I studied her body closer, she had light blue fur and a rainbow colored main with a matching rainbow colored tail. She had purple iris, kind of like Twilight, and she had wings. She didn’t have any horn and Twilight didn’t have any wings. Spike had told me that there are three kinds of ponies; Unicorns (Twilight), Earth ponies and Pegasus. This was a beautiful Pegasus. I looked at her flank for a cutiemarks and there it was. It was a cloud shooting a rainbow themed lightning. Everything about her I had seen before. It was all so clear in my memories, but I still couldn’t reach them.
That’s right, still blank. You had to experience your memories to remember them. She was right there! How could this not be experiencing it? What cruel lord has decided to put me in such mental suffering?! I looked at her eyes again and I could feel the energy in them as I knew she was reliving her past. She was given the valuable memories I was so far spared from. She was remembering…
Her eyes made rapid movements back and forth, clearly showing how she was jumping from memories in her past and I even started to notice tears building up. On my side, it was empty. Why couldn’t I remember? What is happening to me? What has happened to me? What is happening to her?
I began to notice her lips moving, trying hard to shape a word, but she failed. She gave it another try, this time she looked up into my eyes which gave her the push she needed as she slowly whispered a word. It wasn’t loud, but it was still so clear, more than anything ever in my past. She whispered:
“Dad…”
Dad?! Did she call me her dad?! There is no possible way for me to be her biological father! What the hell was she talking about?! If I really was her father, why did we have to be separated? Why couldn’t I even know of her existence? Why couldn’t she know of my existence?
“Oh no, she is remembering! Hey, the portal is open! You have to go! NOW! Ignore her!” Twilight yelled. We were back in the library, from the mindless world that my moment together with Rainbow Dash had brought us to. Applejack and Twilight were now holding my so called “daughter” in a firm grip, barely allowing her to struggle. And she did. She kicked, squirmed, yelled and was now openly crying.
“DAD!!! DON’T GO! DON’T LEAVE ME!! NOOOOOOO!!!” The tears were flooding her cute, puffy and light-blue cheeks. It truly was a devastating sight.
“YOU HAVE TO GO NOW!!!” Twilight shouted while attempting to contain her panicking, cyan blue friend.
“Just go, partner! She will be fine!” Applejack was struggling just as much as Twilight, Rainbow Dash was very strong.
I turned around and the portal came into my focus. It was a large blue oval, just a bit taller than me and about 3 feet in width. I wanted to stop. I wanted to turn around and run into the arms of my “daughter” and never let go. But she wasn’t my daughter; she was another pony who had somehow a deep connection to my memories. I could slowly feel my feet starting to move forward in the direction of the portal. I could only hear the bruised screams coming from her; they went straight into my mind, piercing everything on its way. It was driving me insane. This creature was sharing an unlimited amount of love for me. She would be willing to sacrifice herself for me. She yelled the word dad over and over from a sore throat with only the sobbing of pure sadness stopping her. She loved me, but I could not say the same for her. What was wrong with me not to remember? WHY CAN’T I REMEMBER?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!
My fingers touched the warm surface of the dark blue portal and time seemed to slow down as I was noticing every detail of this room. The clock on the left side, making clear noises “Tick, tock, tick, tock”, the glass of water on the table next to me, whose contents are splashing back and forth from all of the commotion going on behind me, the tears dropping onto the floor. A tear drop fell on my foot, soaking into my sock. My cheek was wet, I was crying too. My frustration of not knowing my own name, my own past, my own family, had driven me to tears. Something broke the silence in my mind, a sound, a voice. A voice made it through the desperate barrier my mind had set up and reached into my conscious, my heart and my soul. It was Rainbow Dash’s sore and dry voice yelling straight into the deepest part of my mind. What had only been sobs before was now a clear and full sentence.
“DADDY, I LOVE YOU!!!” It was her last effort into changing my mind as her body collapsed to the floor, strained from the struggling, the crying and the emotional disorientation. She broke down into tears and Applejack and Twilight did their best in comforting her. But I didn’t pay attention to that. I froze, time froze, and the world stopped spinning for a few seconds as my mind was being reset. Finding the box, putting the small and warm body into my jacket, the cute little creature crawling up into my bed, her first bath, her first birthday, her first words, her small and adorable body flying for the first time only to break the sound barrier a few months later, all leading up to that night. The night were I, like many others, tucked her into bed and she said those words to me for the first time. That was the night I also realized that I really was her daddy.
My mind continued putting through one of the most beautiful montages I have ever seen; her first computer, her first tickets to the Indy 500, the many other racing and flying performances we viewed together and her many birthdays. The smiles and tears of joy she gave me in return for the items I gave her to express my love for her, my daughter. The birthdays only counted up to 20 though. Something happened that day, she left, seemingly forever. But now here she was, behind me, crying like never before and honestly, my eyes were leaking just as much by now.
The glass of water was lifted from its wobbly place on the wooded table. Its content was poured all over the gemstone and the portal disappeared in a blue and smelly steam. My hand was holding the cup, I did that. My shocking actions continued as, before Twilight could make a single noise in protest, I turned around, jumping towards my daughter and yelling:
“I love you too, my little Dashie!”
Applejack and Twilight stepped back, realizing it was game over. I had retrieved all of my memories, I was at last together with Dashie and they would have to beat me down to the bone to be able to separate us two again.
We were hugging, crying and sobbing. Most importantly, we did it together.