I suppose there was something therapeutic about the hooficure, even if every brush against the frog of my hoof made me flinch and laugh. By the time it was done my hooves felt better than I could ever remember.
Is this the best my hooves have felt, or did I just forget the last time? It is odd to remember something like how Fluttershy got her cutie mark, but not whether or not we’ve seen each other since the accident. She says I’ve seen her several times, but as far as I can recall this is the first.
Either way, when the nightmares began that night I woke up to find her next to me in bed. I hate to admit it, but I cried myself to sleep in her arms.
The worst part isn’t the nightmares. It’s the feeling that there’s something wrong with me. I go through all the motions: I cry, slam a door, or smile in front of other ponies. Each time it feels hollow. She had me wrapped up, sang me a lullaby, and I just lay there staring at the wall. I didn’t feel sad, or safe, I just felt. . . nothing. It was a refreshing, I suppose, because I slept through the night without another nightmare.
When morning came, I ate a few oatcakes and tofu-bacon. The syrup didn’t seem as sweet as I remembered. It was a quiet breakfast and we didn’t talk much. With all that was on my mind, I found it easier to just ignore Fluttershy and the animals, and finished breakfast quickly. As my mind wandered I opened the front door and walked out. I ran muzzle-first into Derpy as she was delivering mail. Seeing her, I wondered if she could help me get some straight answers. She was a pony who liked helping others face and overcome their own adversity.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you there,” Derpy said.
My lungs expanded as I inhaled deeply, taking in the crisp morning air. “No, that was my fault, Derpy. I’ve had a lot on my mind. Are you headed back to town on your mail route?”
“Sure am, Dash. Rough night?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“You want to talk about it?”
“Actually, yeah.” I followed her after she dropped off Fluttershy’s mail and headed back towards town. “I suppose there are a few things, but it all started with my accident. Did you see what happened?”
“Oh.” Derpy looked away for a second, appearing unsure if she should say anything at all.
“Please! Ponies are treating me like I’m different now, like if they tell me what happened I’ll snap!” I looked up from the road and into her eyes. “I need to know, why are they treating me different?”
Derpy looked back with a slight smile on her face. “Well, if you really want to know, I’ll tell you.” I nodded at her to continue. “You called out all your friends, the weather team, and the fillies to watch your new stunt. You’d been practicing for weeks and were finally ready to do it at full speed.”
“Sounds like me, then what happened?” I asked.
“Well. . . you were hit by lightning after doing a sonic rainboom. It happened so fast—the stunt was supposed to involve you making a thunderhead and beating the thunder out of the cloud. All I saw was a black streak falling from the cloud, and heard you crash near some of the other spectators.”
I frowned and tried to imagine what it would feel like to hit the ground going that fast. There had been several occasions where I had crashed, but never at that speed. As we crossed the bridge into town, I could see the field where I did most of my stunt practice.
“Then there were just so many ponies running to help you, and Twilight asked us to step back. It didn’t look like you were moving or breathing. The next time I saw you, you were in a coma. . . is this helping any?”
I looked back at Derpy and smiled for her. “Yeah, I just needed to hear it from someone who wouldn’t sugarcoat it. You ever have ponies who won’t tell you stuff because they think it’ll hurt you?”
Derpy and I headed down the road to the central marketplace. “Of course. Sometimes it’s the lies they tell to protect us that hurt the most.” She stopped in front of the post office, and pulled a muffin out of her saddlebag. “Here, I’ve got to go but you need this more than I do.”
I smiled and looked at the muffin, licking my lips. “Hey, thanks!”
Grabbing the muffin, I bit into it. I spat the muffin out as soon as I tasted it. “Ew! I hate blueberries.”
Derpy frowned. “But they’ve always been your favorite.”
The muffin in my hoof mocked me. It was my favorite flavor, according to a pony who hadn’t been hit on the head recently, and yet it tasted awful. I took another defiant bite, determined to prove it was my favorite, and once again the horrid taste of blueberries assaulted my taste buds.
“Sorry, Derpy. I don’t like them anymore. Thanks anyway.”
She just shrugged and popped the rest of the muffin into her mouth before getting back to work. After waving goodbye, I spotted Applejack across the marketplace. I approached her to put a new theory to the test.
“Howdy, Dash. Glad ta see ya. How are ya today?” Applejack asked.
“Great.” I smiled and leaned against the apple stand. “You remember that you said I could talk to you about anything?”
Applejack smiled and adjusted her stetson. “Of course, sugar cube, what’s on your mind?”
“I want to hear it from you, how bad was my crash?”
She glanced around quickly before looking back at me. “Dash, ya hit the ground goin’ fast. What more is there to know? Ah ain’t a stunt pony so ah don’t know why it happened.”
“How about this: what was the stunt?” I asked. “Was I breathing after the crash?”
“Y’all were just doin’ a rainboom, and of course ya were breathin’, you’re here, aren’t ya? Why the sudden interest?”
I grimaced and furrowed my brow. I wanted to feel angry, yet I couldn’t seem to get that spark. She was lying to my face, being disloyal, and all I felt was apathy.
“It matters because you're treating me like a filly. You’re the Element of Honesty, and you can’t even admit I did a rainboom, got struck by lightning, and hit the ground so hard I stopped breathing!”
“And what? Ya want my advice so ya can pull off the stunt better next time? Or tellin’ ya how bad ya scared me when ya nearly killed yourself over a stupid trick. Will that make ya feel better?” Applejack shook her head, using the opportunity to wipe a couple tears from her face.
“No!” I hit my hoof on the stand when she tried to shield her eyes with the brim of her stetson. “Every day I know there is something wrong but I can’t figure out what. Every night I have nightmares. Then all of you, my friends, treat me like I’m not alright, like I’m not Dash! I want you to treat me normal, like before the crash. I want you to treat me as the only pony who could kick your flank in the Iron Pony competition and do a rainboom in under ten seconds flat! Stop treating me like I’m gonna run off and hurt myself over some stupid stunt!”
Applejack swallowed and took a few breaths. She kept her eyes locked with mine. “Ah’m sorry, okay? If ya want the truth ah’ll give it to ya, ah won’t sugarcoat it anymore. How can we settle this, Dash? Ah want us to go back to the way things used ta be too, but how can ah convince you that you’re fine, when ya can’t convince yourself?”
Sighing, I slumped on the stand in defeat. “Dang it, I wish I knew.”
Her hoof gently touched my shoulder and she whispered into my ear. “Look, sugar cube, you’ve had a lot of excitement lately. Why don’t ya just go home and relax, and we’ll worry about gettin’ things back to normal later, okay?”
“You’ve got a point.” I lifted my head up and stopped slouching over her apple stand.
Looking around, I spotted a few ponies waiting behind me in line to buy apples. They were comical as they gazed in every direction other than at me. I wanted to be angry with them for making a spectacle out of it; to be able to laugh at them for pretending there wasn’t a fully grown mare breaking down at an apple stand.
I shook my head and took to the air, leaving the marketplace behind me. It never took long to get to my house since it floated over central Ponyville. I knocked my hooves against the clouds outside to get the dirt off, and walked inside.
Tank was sitting by the food bowl in the kitchen, and I was quick to get him some of the turtle food Fluttershy supplied me with. I found a piece of lettuce that was still fresh and tossed that to him also. With a few taps on the back of his shell, I left him to eat while I went and flopped down on the couch.
My aches and pains faded away as I sank into the couch and sighed. A day of relaxation might be just what the doc—what I needed. The weather team hadn’t hunted me down that morning, so they likely handled today’s weather without me.
My eyes fell to the coffee table which had several Daring Do books that were scattered across it. Leaning forward allowed me to browse the titles of the books in front of me. After scanning them, I settled on reading one that didn’t look familiar: Daring Do and the Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
So I began to read. For a while, it was very relaxing, until I began to realize what was being done to Daring Do and the fillies she was trying to rescue. Count Vlad was planning to take over Daring’s hometown of Los Pegasus. He had found a way to replace ponies with doppelgangers under his control. They were sort of like changelings, but could only change once and that was when they replaced a pony. They were perfect copies of the pony until called upon by their master.
My mind began to race at the implications, and soon I found myself taking notes from the book. On a small, yellow pad I scribbled down all the signs that Daring Do was using to determine if a pony had been replaced. She had to capture each one before they could escape and rescue the impersonated ponies.
My list was getting long by the time I reached the last chapter of the book, and Daring came face to face with Vlad. There was an epic battle where it was revealed that Daring Do had actually been a doppelganger all along. Vlad said he killed the original Daring Do, planning to make her copy his ally. There had been an accident that had removed her programming. Now the clone of Daring was just as heroic as the original and wanted to bring Vlad to justice.
I didn’t finish the book. I couldn’t. My heart was racing and for the first time that day, I was glad to feel emotionally numb. I looked down at the list on the coffee table.
1. Daring found medical records being tampered with, and ponies were replaced before leaving the hospital in Los Pegasus.
2. Ponies absorbed the memories of the victim, but had trouble with new memories after that. Daring couldn’t remember when she cut her leg and her blood was the wrong color.
3. Doppelgangers have orange blood.
4. Daring caught Vlad because the copies didn’t understand emotion.
5. Doppelgangers are afraid of lightning, because Vlad created them using it.
6. Daring was a copy all along, and her original was kill—
I had stopped writing as little pieces in my mind began to click into place. It was ridiculous to think I was a changeling because I did not need to feed on emotions. In fact, I barely felt them; the only emotions that felt real were fear and frustration. Both of those feelings were focused on Twilight and hospitals. At least the lightning was something I could see, but the things they could do to me when I was unconscious scared me far more.
It took me half an hour to work up the courage, but I finally decided I had to use this checklist to find out if I’d been replaced. At the very least, knowing I wasn’t a doppelganger would help me sleep better for a couple nights.
The most readily available, surefire way, was to cut myself and see what color my blood was. According to the book, if my blood was red then I was a pony and if it was orange I was a doppelganger.
I walked into the kitchen, careful not to step on Tank as he got some exercise. I realized he hadn’t gotten to fly in a while and I made a mental note to take him out again soon.
I rummaged around until I found the roll of bandages Fluttershy had once given me, and a knife. The blade was sharp, and I wasted no time picking it up and placing it above my left forearm, right above the hoof.
I counted to three nervously and closed my eyes. The blade slid across my flesh. It stung, and I bit my lip to muffle a grunt of pain as it opened the shallow wound. Reluctantly, I opened an eye to see what color my blood was. It was red.
I laughed as the nervous energy faded away, and thrust my injured forearm in front of Tank in excitement. “It’s red! I’m not a copy!” Tank tilted his head and raised an eyelid. “Come on, Tank, that means there’s only four more to check off!”
Looking down at the list, I realized I couldn’t really check off emotion, electricity, or the final clue. The only one I could investigate next was if my medical records had been altered.
Perhaps I could ask a nurse to see them this time and compare what they brought me to what I had seen when I snuck in.
I picked up the yellow roll of bandage Fluttershy had given to me. It even had some small pink butterflies on it, which left me wondering why she’d give me a fillies’ bandage. We had always been as close as sisters, so I shrugged it off as coincidence.
I wrapped the gauze around my leg three times then stuck it to itself. With the dressing in place, I put my list in a saddle bag and left for the hospital. The sun had nearly set, and I realized that the book had taken all day to read. I made it to the hospital and walked through the front doors to see Nurse Redheart working the front desk.
The double doors swung closed as I turned around to look outside. Did I space out on the way here? For some odd reason I couldn’t remember if I’d walked or flown here. I was pretty sure I landed near the center of town and walked, but my hooves weren’t dirty.
“Good evening, Dash, what brings you in tonight?” she asked.
I smiled, and pointed at the sign at the side of the desk listing patient rights. “I’d like to see my medical record.”
Redheart looked as though I was just another boring patient asking another boring question. It was a good thing I have never played poker with her.
“Alright, Ms. Dash, I’ll be right back.”
After Redheart left I congratulated myself. Either they’d bring back my real record, with all that doctor mumbo-jumbo in it, or they’d bring me a fake that lied about the surgery. I would finally get my answers, yet suddenly I wasn’t sure that was a good thing. If they’re fake, that means I am an imposter! It’s okay. . . maybe they’re going to be real and I just hit my head after all!
While I waited for her to return I began to stare at the clock, watching it tick. With each tick I could imagine a memory vanishing, or an emotion I would no longer feel. The more I imagined myself as some sort of robot, the more convincing my nightmares became.
Redheart returned while I was in a staring contest with the clock. “Here you go, Ms. Dash.”
“Oh, thanks.” I grabbed the records in my mouth and flew to the nearby chair, unfolding it into my legs, and using my front hooves to look through it.
The opening pages looked much like I remembered. Stuff about me being brought in, my injuries, and all the numbers from the labs. There used to be some squiggly lines on graph paper, but those were gone now. I think it was called an EVG, or EGE, or something that definitely had E’s in it. Where did it go?
Continuing on, I noticed the small notes from Nurse Redheart were gone too. I knew it had said I went to surgery, that was the whole point of breaking in! Now that note was nowhere to be found. According to the new note she had written, I had spent a month in a coma, and then miraculously awoken after a visit from Twilight.
The rest of the record contained some flight physicals and the one time I’d injured my wing. Usually I was mare enough to walk off any injuries I got.
I frowned, feeling the weight of their betrayal crashing down. I slumped forward and dropped the record to the floor. The hospital had lied. Twilight had lied. They not only had hidden stuff from me, they changed what was left to fit their lies. Now I had proof they’d removed the graphs and the note from Redheart. Even the illegible writing of the doctors was suddenly neat and tidy.
My gaze drifted to my bandage, which had a large orange stain on it. “Oh no!” I shouted.
“Dash, are you okay?” Redheart asked. She walked around the counter towards me with wide eyes, and a concerned smile.
“Stay back!” I screamed. “My blood is orange! I’m not real!”
Redheart pushed a button on the wall. “Dash, please calm down. Tell me what’s wrong.”
I continued to pace backwards away from her. “You lied, Redheart! That’s not my real medical record! And, my blood is orange, just like in the boo—no, wait! There’s still the rest of the list.”
“Dash, please, you’re not making sense. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.” She had been joined by a unicorn doctor. He was eyeing me, and standing ready to pounce.
“Lightning, no I’m definitely afraid of lightning. What about emotions? Does fear count? Or is this anger? Maybe they feel emotions but they don’t know what they are!” I shifted my gaze between the two ponies. “Why won’t you tell me?! What am I?!”
The door opened behind me and I spun around. Two large orderlies blocked the exit of the hospital.
“Restrain her!” Redheart shouted.
The ponies closed in on me. The Earth ponies by the door were the first to lunge. I still had my back to them so I bucked the nearest one in the face; launching myself off him and flying over Redheart.
The doctor’s horn was glowing, so I spun, feeling my back hooves hit him in the face. The move allowed me to reverse course easily, simultaneously disrupting his spells. The exit now only had one Earth pony in front of it. I easily swooped around him and out of the hospital.
I could hear the medical staff running after me. There wasn’t a pegasus among them, but they would expect me to go home. I had to go somewhere else before they got one who could keep up with me. I flew into town at full speed, losing them. I landed abruptly and loudly in the dirt in front of Sugarcube Corner.
My breaths were quick and ragged. This can’t be happening, it’s got to be a mistake. It’s just a book. Twilight must have done something illegal to save me, and got scared. I bet that’s why the medical record changed! And the blood, it’s not orange—it was probably the lights! Or that freaky bandage!
I looked up to the sky, recalling my inability to create thunderstorms anymore.
No, I’m not afraid of lightning, I’m afraid of dying! Derpy said I got struck by lightning! Please, I don’t want to be a copy!
At that moment, as I was about to walk into Sugarcube Corner, the door flew open. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle trotted out, with a bouncing Pinkie Pie behind them. “Her party is going to be fun—Fun! Fun! Fun!—FUN! FUN! FUN!”
“Get back! All of you!” I shouted.
“FUN! FUN! FUN!”
There were at least two dozen Pinkie Pies running all around the watering hole. One of them bounced onto my umbrella, and I had to shake her off. She was trying to get inside and get me!
Everyone one of them continued chanting “Fun! Fun! Fun!” as they bounced around. They destroyed the tire swing, the chair I had brought, and knocked the cooler holding my drinks over.
As far as my eyes could see there was nothing but Pinkie Pie’s. Swimming, jumping, sleeping, climbing, shouting. . . and chanting fun.
“Hey, Dash! Come out and play!”
I pulled the umbrella down and hid.
“Dash! Wake up, Dash!”
Something hit me in the nose, snapping me out of my flashback. “Dash! What are you staring at? Is it a game? Is there a leprechaun in my nose?” Pinkie asked.
“I’m a copy. I’m from the mirror pool,” I said despondantly.
Pinkie jumped circles around me. “Oh, a mystery game! Hmm... You can’t be a copy because we closed the mirror pool. Maybe you’re a changeling! We should go find some black paint an—”
I grabbed Pinkie by the mane and brought her muzzle to mine. “How did you know?”
Pinkie tilted her head. “Know what, silly filly?”
I pointed towards town hall. “When we rounded up all the Pinkie’s. How did you know if you were a clone from the mirror pool or the real Pinkie? How did you know Twilight wouldn’t send you back?!”
Pinkie frowned and slouched her shoulders. “Oh, Dash. . . I didn’t. I just had to try my hardest and hope for the best. Are—Dash are you okay?”
“Pinkie, I think I’m from the mirror pool.”
Pinkie giggled. “But, Dash, there’s only one of you.”
I let her go and took a deep breath. “You saw me crash Pinkie?” She nodded. “And I died, didn’t I? I bet Twilight made a copy of me, somehow, before I died!”
Pinkie frowned and her hair began to flatten out. “I—did you try giggling at it?”
A small laugh escaped my lips without humor. “No, it slipped my mind, Pinkie.”
“You’re my friend, Dash. You’re the only Dash, and I’ll do whatever it takes to help you prove it!” Pinkie hugged me, nearly choking me. I turned my head to the side and saw Redheart and Doctor Stable in the distance, talking to a few ponies on the street as they were walking past them. I saw one point in our direction.
“You’ll do anything, Pinkie?”
Pinkie let go, and I pushed her inside of Sugarcube Corner. “Why, of course, Dash. That’s what friends do.”
My heart was still racing as I glanced around the empty store. “Pinkie Promise you won’t let them take me! I don’t want them to zap me back to the mirror pool, or erase me, or whatever it is they do!”
“But you’re not a—”
I spun around and looked directly into her eyes. “What if I am a clone? Or, what if they think I am and zap me anyway! Promise me, or I’m leaving.” I turned to push my way out the front door and take off.
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” She tapped her closed eye with her hoof, then looked at me. “I don’t know what’s wrong, but you’re safe with me. Nopony hurts my friends.”
I turned around to look at Pinkie. She had a wide smile despite the dull, flat mane hanging down her side. Before her Pinkie Sense could go off, I had pulled her into the biggest hug I’d likely ever given anypony. “Oh, thank you.”
Pinkie lit back up when she saw my smile. “Come on, let’s go to my room! You’ll be safe with Gummy!”
We ran up the stairs to the top floor. The entire top floor of the house was Pinkie’s room. It was like a tower in a medieval castle, only with much more pink and boxes full of party supplies. She locked the door behind us.
Pinkie had bunk beds, which was odd since I don’t recall anypony sleeping over with her before; she was prepared for anything. “You can take the top bunk, Dash.”
I flew onto the top bunk and curled up on the bed sheet. She tossed Gummy up, and he crawled over and lay down against my leg.
In the safety of Pinkie’s room I finally opened up and began to cry. Pinkie must have rummaged through my stuff, because she bounced onto the bed with my yellow notepad. “Hey, it’ll be okay, Dash. Lookie at your list! You can’t be a doppelganger because your blood is red, silly!”
I looked at my leg as she pulled the yellow bandage off, revealing the red blood still oozing beneath. I looked at the orange spot on the bandage and chuckled.
“Plus, I think I’d remember if we killed you and replaced you with your evil twin! You don’t even have a moustache. Everypony knows that evil twins have moustaches! Plus, your list says they don’t have emotions, but you’re super emotional right now.”
The more she rambled on about why I really was her best friend, the better I began to feel. I even found myself believing her, and smiled.
“And that first one is just silly!” Pinkie threw the notepad in the air with a dash of confetti. “Who would want to alter your medical re—”
“Pinkie Pie!” A familiar voice shouted. “Open up. I need to talk to Dash.”
Update posted, curling up in bed with my Fluttershy plushy, and hoping everypony doesn't hate my new chapter. I may give Twilight a run for her money in the "obsessive need to win the approval of others" category.
paranoid much?
also this chapter moved a bit too fast
Oh my god... them plot twists.... love em'
i still think she died and they replaced her soul with another pony.
Another great chapter. Your pacing of Dash's paranoia is very believable, without a lot of the dramatic weaseling around you sometimes see in these kinds of stories. I'm eager to start finding out what the nature of the big secret really is, and more importantly what Dash will think it is (as she spirals into paranoid madness perhaps?). I sense emotional distress in her future.
Downvote, unfollow, forget story exists...Nah jk this is pretty good. Lotta this probably should have been spaced out a bit more (feels like you went from the opening straight to the beginning of the climax in this one chapter), but it's not to the point of that :p
I think it's coming along nicely!
Mirror Pool Clone and memory transfer does seem very possible.
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This seemed relevant
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I never come to fast! I mean... An author is never to fast, we
comepace our story exactly right! Was a Daring Do book really the key to the twist? Or did our poor paranoid heroine just shift into second gear, on a freeway named insanity-66, with a speed limit of seventy?2753559
As someone who is paranoid, I hope the varied pacing imitates the kind of paranoia real crazy people have. Luckily, Nixon says I'm not crazy at all, and that he stopped the reds from coming to get me.
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It was your soul they used. You are nothing but an empty husk, rotting in a corpses shell...
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I love Dash's plot too. The twists are a bonus.
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Your comment is the most hurtful of all... I saw you in my backyard with a torch when I was putting the broom in the sliding glass door track, to ensure it can't be forced open. I can smell the smoke. I'm not paranoid, your standing rig--oh god! Where did he go?!
I don't know if you can ruin this. When I read this fic, I think I know what's going on, but I'm never entirely sure. (That's a good thing, by the way. )
That kind of irrational thinking is changeling talk Prism.
Are you bleeding Orange anywhere?
Are people unicorns following you?
If so drink less Fanta and take some photos
I'm really liking the way Dash's dilemma is being explored. We see things from her viewpoint, and it's never entirely clear whether she's a bit crazy, or there's a genuine conspiracy, or just enormous miscommunication and bad luck. Makes things interesting!
I still love you. ^_^ Really curious to see how much is in Dash's head or Twilight just not realizing what she's doing to protect Dash isn't helping things. A bit of both I'm guessing.
Throwing the golden safety line I see? Some may think that this story will have a happy ending, but after some of your previous stories I'm not quite sure.
I love you!
Feel better?
This story is quite interesting and has me very intrigued.
How about now?
Number one, or number two?
One, or two?
You COULD boost your popularity by being "that author" who updates his/her story very quickly.
Just sayin.
You don't have to worry about me joining that microscopic army that surrounds your house and smokes you out. I'll be the army that surrounds your house and smokes you out. As in, every member will be a clone of me. Or maybe I'll pull a Slender Man and start sending clones to stalk you? Or maybe I'll do something entirely different, and won't reveal what it is in this comment...
In all seriousness, this story is getting good. You've had me hooked since the first chapter, and I usually only read funny or otherwise happy stories, so kudos to you. I will be eagerly awaiting the next chapter.
Now, it's time for another crazy theory. My previous theory was that Twilight had Scienced (that's a word now) part of Spike's brain into Rainbow to save her and it was trying to reaffirm Spike's personality, but I have a new theory. This Rainbow is actually the Rainbow Dash from an alternate dimension. The real RD and the Alt!RD were both doing the same stunt. The force of two Rainbooms going off at once, in dimensions that were so similar and yet so different, caused the two Rainbows to enter the other's dimension. Twilight somehow figured this out, and implanted the memories of the real RD into the Alt!RD. This is why her memories are all wonky. She's simultaneously remembering some events happening in two different ways. And her fear of lightning? Alt!RD developed a fear of lightning when she was a filly., whereas the real RD didn't.
You haven't ruined ANYTHING! And if you are afraid and need to talk message me and we can! I promise nothing that you don't want me to tell anyone about I won't. You can trust me. And that's a pinkie promise:)
way to go. the author just royall fucking pissed me off by insulting me. w00t.
Oh my god this story just got more epic!!! It's already epic but it just got even more epic! And I had to triple check if red and yellow make Orange(at least I think it does right? RIGHT??? SOMEONE SAY RIGHT!!!!!) Anyways keep the chapters coming and one more thing freaking cliffhangers
Off topic for second, this fic just me realize something. How the hell does tank live with RD?
as for the story i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/1922398464/h4E37FC7B/
I must say, it's quite odd thinking of my favorite character as the antagonist of the story...At least as it seems now. Hopefully, that changes, though that's simply personal preference. I'm wondering though, how long is this story planned to be?
I don't think Dash is a copy, personally. I just think that she is...unnatural, somehow. I think that Dash was, at some point, dead, and that Twilight had the best of intentions, but was forced to do something very immoral to bring Rainbow Dash back, or perhaps to save her life if she wasn't dead in the first place. My best guess is that Twilight, with the help of the Princess, brought Dash back to life with some kind of magic, combined with surgery to repair her injuries. Beyond that, I couldn't guess at the means.
I don't exactly have have any evidence to back this up, other than the fact that Dash was apparently clinically brain dead at some point, but it seems to me like Dash was, for all intents and purposes, dead, and that Twilight somehow brought her back to life. However, Dash knows that something is off, and Twilight couldn't wipe away her new phobias, leaving her with unexplained and confusing fears, not to mention nightmares of the surgery, causing her to jump to conclusions to explain them without considering the evidence (or lack thereof).
Dash would still have those issues either way, it's to be expected really, but the real problem is that she was never intended to know about the surgery, but she was partially aware during it, something that's rather unpleasantly common in the real world. As a result, Dash knows that they did something to her, and her unexplained phobias are actually normal, but fuel her rising paranoia and serve as evidence that her friends are lying about her accident.
I think her lack of emotions isn't necessarily anything to do with what happened to her, so much as the revelation that her friends are deceiving her and that something very bad happened to her. She's undergoing a mental crisis, and that's affecting her emotions. Since she can't get her mind off any of it, she feels frustrated and afraid, and little else. Her mistrust of her friends, especially Twilight, is making it worse.
My personal theory is that the 'resurrection' went off without a hitch - Dash would have been perfectly normal, if not for two things. Firstly, she was aware of the surgery, so they weren't able to convince her that the accident wasn't serious. Secondly, her phobias, which would generally be expected after such a traumatic accident as the one she experienced, are serving as further evidence that not all is well. In short, Dash's own mental state is as much her enemy as anything, perhaps even more so.
Heh, sorry for just summarizing everything. But I've been thinking along these lines for a while now, and I can't help but dwell on solving the mystery here, even if I don't have all the evidence yet. So author, throw me a bone, hm? Am I warm?
Did they just put parts of RD's brain inside another pony who was mostly brain dead?
AJ just LIED. I feel sick.
Did Twilight really think making a pony THINK she was RD would somehow make that pony embody loyalty as an ideal?
I think RD's perchance for believing whatever she's told (a safety measure installed, not properly thought out?) is shown here as she takes what's read in the book for fact.
… Is anything of this REAL? Or is it just comatose RD's mind trying to create a narrative to her confusing thoughts and memories she's suffered from brain damage?
My gaze drifted to my bandage, which had a large orange stain on it.
I'm guessing that's cause red and yellow make orange.
I REALLY WISH all of this could just be explained away by RD's brain damage addled mind, but there are too many pieces of confusion here.
There is the cliche that RD is STILL in a coma and this is all just to keep her mind active as her body recovers.
"You took the real me, erased my memories, and then gave me everything you knew about Rainbow Dash! Hoping it would just make me her didn't you?!" Is the theory I'm running with.
DOES RD STILL HAVE HER CUTIE MARK?
NO two ponies have perfectly identical cutie mark, because no two ponies have perfectly identical souls. I suggest RD should figure out if it's a tattoo, or what, or if it's real.
What if RD was actually Lightning Dust, was at the hospital by fate for some random reason, and was chose due to being the nearest pegasus, and was used as some fresh 'hardware' to try and deformat her brain, then download an emultation of pieces of RD's mind.
My theory is that this Rainbow Dash is actually Scootaloo somehow.
-She saw an orange reflection at some point. (fuzzy, out-of-the-corner-of-the-eyes, fleeting. Unreliable? maybe. What the author wants us to think? Probably)
-Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom without Scoots? Planning some kind of party for "her"? Hmmm.
My keen eyes are watching. I see your hints.
(Or I'm just falling for the thinly-veiled misdirection and missing the actual hidden secrets. Who the heck knows? I sure don't. )
Hey Rainbow...are you a spy?
I hope you're kidding right. Please say you're kidding. I didnt think id get sucked into this fic but im loving it
Now, ill do all that stuff if you abandon it! Thats a promise!
2755118 The red herring is a spy!
2755043 The red herring is a red herring!
2755010
So many theories! And at least one of them is right. Let the hunt begin!
2754438
Because magic. . . and the magical helicopter Twilight built him. . . and the magical magic arcane floaty-turtle spell?
2754326
Red and Yellow make Blue. It is known.
25.media.tumblr.com/dbaef9c6fe1b0b79f521f0f35f57a232/tumblr_mlp3rhDNPU1rrl16lo1_500.gif
2754272
Author just thought your grumpy avatar was cute. I'm sowwy.
encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSELLHNScuvdZq_C5J2sbPuB4WkrNn38rEAbXyw0QoQwHveaIfv7Q
2754183
Well, I've never had my heart broken by a giant Vinyl plushy... so I think I can trust you.
2754129
Aside from a few hiccups, I've never gone more than 3 days without posting an update. It's not always to the same story, but I publish 2-3 chapters a week
Yay, I'm that author! (Plus, I blog ridiculously, but people seem to like watching me make a fool of myself. Who am I to disagree?)
2753908 Yay! I'm already writing the next scene, in which King Sombra and Discord mount their light cycles and fight to the death in Dash's brain for control of her hippocampus.
2753882
. . . they're about the same. Should—if I squint, maybe number one? Is that an R or an F?
2753873
Not sure what the golden safety line is. . . but I will say this: This is the last port of call before we set sail to the island of misanthropy, depression, and sacrafice.
2753787
Ciggarettes are bad, mmmm'kay?
A little column A, a little column B. How much would you do for your friend? And, if you broke the law, how would you burry the secret? Personally, I prefer a shovel, a tarp, and some lime.
2753688
Cutie Mark Crusader First Person Unreliable Narrators Yay!
2753671
Dash is chasing Puff the magic dragon. If she catches him, he'll give her a belly rub and make everything better.
Wait, what was your comment? People unicorns? Yeah, definitly high.
2753667
No one suspects that Dash is a changeling, and that changeling was a human trapped in equestria, and that human was the recipient of the first ever brain transplant, and that brain was from a horse, and that horse was the same horse the old lady swallowed to get rid of the goat, and she swallowed the goat to get rid of a dog, and she swallowed the dog to get rid of a cat, and she swallowed a cat to get rid of a bird, and she swallowed a bird to get rid of a mouse, and she swallowed that mouse to get rid of a spider, that wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her, and she swallowed that spider to get rid of a fly, and she swallowed that fly for reasons unknown by I. Perhaps she'll die.
2754735
I can neither confirm not deny the validity of your hypothesis, but your line of reasoning is sound.
You've put all the pieces of the lego death star together in the right order so far.... only once you finish, will you find out whether you have two dozen extra pieces you forgot to use, or if the death star is really a borg cube!
2754159
It's just convolute enough to work! To the trans-dimensional body-swappanator 9000!
2755345
You say that now, but Dash and I know you're all lying to us. Tell us the truth! Who drank the last of the milk and put the empty carton back in the fridge?
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2755403 oh right I-i knew that (looks around and hides until next chapter comes out) I'm so weird
2754735
Oh, and right now I've got 10 chapter outlines. They're not chronological, with most of them landing around the middle and end. The beginning is open enough I can add more and have some fun. Probably twenty total chapters, asthat seems a good number to aim for.
And of course, sequel everything!
Watching Dash spiral slowly into insanity is strangely both heartbreaking and morbidly amusing. I don't know if it's your writing or I'm just very strange, but either way I say well done. You haven't disappointed on the promised premise.
As for theories, it might just be as simple as brain damage, caused by the crash and hypoxia during a brief period of death. There are reports of people suffering serious head injuries, going into comas, and waking up with completely different personalities.
That, or she's the disembodied head of Richard Nixon, hastily grafted onto the inside of the real Dash's skull.
2755118 i2.ytimg.com/vi/eRdF79KrfbI/mqdefault.jpg
dude it's not even 420 and your already thinking of being smoked out, dude far out.
really tho you have nothing to worry about the towns too busy to issue a permit for an angry mob and the supply store is out of pitchfork, they have pitchsporks but.... yeah its just not the same.
Personally, I think it has something to do with the way she reached critical injury, as well as just reaching critical injury itself. Getting struck by lightning whilst rainbooming would probably do something on its own, besides just making you fall unconscious at those speeds. Eh, it's one idea at any rate, but if we take that into account, then there really could be an infinite number of possibilities, seeing as we don't know what getting struck by lightning while rainbooming does to you, and what effect Twilight's magic would have on those effects. An effect's effect upon effects. This is starting to make my brain hurt.
Silly Pinkie. If evil twins have moustaches, then what does that make Flim and Flam?
I don't want to read the comments! I fear that one of the theories will actually end up making sense to me and I will stick to it until Kaidan ruins everything as he reveals the actual truth, which is nothing like that theory, shattering all I knew!
Doesn't stop me from the one thing I like doing the most: Taking stuff apart. It's the thing I kinda do, ya know?
Let's get started.
So RD wakes up next to Fluttershy. I've read too many ship fics.
She also doesn't say goodbye as she walks out.
I like the insertion of Derpy, even though she behaves normal and not like the slightly clumsy pony we know and love. Not to say it's bad, but it's unusual. Funny how there were no direct references to her eyes.
There is something about the scene in which RD spits out that muffin that doesn't feel quite right though. She claims she hates blueberry in an almost threatening tone ("Ew! I hate blueberries."), yet Derpy is all cool. I'm not sure, if I was given a muffin by some random dude, even though it's a flavor I don't like, I wouldn't rant, since it's still a gift. A little bit more sympathy from Dash's side would've been my wish.
Usually AJ is displayed as being a terrible liar, yet she seems somewhat convincing here.
Twice in only a few paragraphs, Dash has problems at being angry. Just something I found very interesting.
"...what the doc—what I needed.", uhm, if you meant that as a sentence cut-off, be sure to put a space after the hyphen, as I didn't quite get what it was supposed to mean. It gives the impression of "what the doctor needed", which is wrong of course.
Kinda weird how an on-going book series has its main character killed and simply replaced by a 'doppelganger' (love that word, because it's German). Daring getting lost or being imprisoned would've made much more sense in my eyes. Unless that was going to be in the end of the book, which Dash skipped.
Generally, that entire book scene feels a little bland. The idea of her randomly picking up just THAT book and seeing connections in there. Dash also didn't feel to me like she was emotionally taken away, even though that was clearly the goal.
At this point, Dash thinking she was a doppelganger, was of course a clear sign for her to finally drive insane. Especially because she got the idea from a freaking novel. Cutting herself intentionally just tops it of.
"...careful not to step on Tank as he got some exercise.", now what is it a tortoise does for exercise? He might as well just have been taking a nap or something.
Okay, Dash is officially going insane. "My blood isn't orange! Borderline party hard! Wohoo!!"
Fluttershy has her own brand of bandages (yellow with butterflies)? Damn, talk about a doctor selling out.
I'm not quite sure what the point of that "Did I fly or walk here?" scene is.
I can't help but feel that 'mare enough' is a little weird. I mean, if that means 'man enough' in the MLPverse, does being a stallion automatically make you a sissy?
"Maybe they feel emotions...", who is they all of the sudden?
The Betrayal. Sorry, I couldn't refuse to think of this. Turn down your speakers.
"She was trying to get inside and get me!", brain, oh god, BRAIN, STOP IT!! AAAARGH!!!!
Evil twins always have a mustache... I love you Kaidan.
And immediately stop thinking I love you, because... GOD DAMMIT THAT CLIFF HANGER! CURSES ON YOU!
That does it for content.
I told myself I wouldn't comment on grammar and spelling mistakes, since 3 editors + author were actually more than enough to give me comfort that this chapter is flawless. Well, you guys suck.
...
Of course, I mean that with all good intentions and love you all; but god damned, you guys suck.
Despite grey areas - things which didn't seem wrong, but still questionable - there were a bunch of simple mistakes. But also things which simply weren't clear for me, as to why they were written that way. Apologies if they were just my misinterpretations, in which case you can may simply ignore them.
"...than I can ever remember...", shouldn't that be 'could'?
"I spit the muffin out...", spat?
"4. Daring caught Vlad...", two spaces after the 4.
"I picked up up...", two ups.
"I know it said...", knew?
"What am I ?!", the space between I and ? is redundant.
"Pinkie Pie's", shouldn't pluralization on names still NOT have an apostrophe? Or is it okay to make exceptions here? You English people with your not sense-making language...
"I'd likely every given anypony", ever.
"...my room! you'll...", capitalization.
You said 6 times 'up' in only four sentences in a row.
One question I have in general, is the format
"Words here," he said. <line break>
correct? I mean, because of that comma. I know, if the person in question is going to continue saying something after that in the same line, it's okay, but as a standalone I'm always confused.
Final thoughts: You can't believe how much anticipation you build up with that simple last sentence. Definitely not a boring chapter and now, more than before, I'm waiting for a new one to appear as soon as possible.
As always: Comment 100% proof-reading free!
2755403 Y-you're not my mom! I should know, I'm all, tough Scootaloo orphan and and stuff! Lol ;-)
Yeah I kinda figured, it's the column B that has me worried. Dash has some brain issues and well, that hits me in the feels. I would say that, as long as Twilight restores Dash again, in the end I wouldn't blame her in the LEAST to do anything to save her life...ok, short of actually killing someone in a cold blooded act of pure homicidal...homocidalnessess...something.
The onluy other issue I would have is that, when dash figured out something was up...I think she has the right to know...unless Twilight really DID try to put Dash's conciousness into a changeling body...cause that sort of thing can mess a filly up, lol.
2755776 HOLD IT! One of them as a mustache! An its pretty awesome!
2755403 you can! And that's also a pinkie promise. Let me know if you need help.
2755776
Evil twins.
2754735 My guess is that Rainbow has no problem with copies or whatever, but has suffered traumatic frontal lobe damage to her brain. Patients with lobe damage would have personality changes and affected judgement. Is this story about some reverse Capgras delusion? In those who experience Capgras syndrome after frontal lobe damage, believe that an identical “replacement” has taken the identity of a close friend, relative, or other person and is posing as that person. This effect is seen mostly in schizophrenic patients who also have a neurological disorder in the frontal lobe. It may be some twisted up version where she believes herself to be affected.
That's just my theory. If I accidentally ruin it for everyone they will "surround my house and smoke me out"
I'm really intrigued by this story, and it's great that you're able to update it with such frequency. Looking forward to more :3 nice job.
Do you have a specific ending in mind?
This part reminded me of the Meet The Spy Vid from TF2. Skip to 2:00 for the part I'm talking about.
(Graphic Violence Included)
Just Saying.
Why have fear that all of us will hate your story? It was posted on the home page, and there will always be one to support your story.
No need to worry, it's good stuff. I doubt you could drive me away with a bad twist or anything like that to be honest. I enjoy these kind of mindfuck stories.
The only problem I have, is that I'm not sure how it can last past "THE REVEAL". Whatever is going on, I'm pretty sure Rainbow Dash is, at least partially, right. Something WEIRD happened to her. Something worth altering medical records for. Something being hidden from her.
So, the question is...what. (I doubt this is going to be a 'Rainbow Dash is just going crazy' fic So, the question is WHAT the reveal is.) Also, how long can it last up TO the reveal. This is definitely a fic I'd either marathon, or skip ahead in things.
And I can forgive Dash for spitting the blueberries out. Sudden "Food I hate" can get a quick response. Normally, it's the kind of thing you apologize and cover for. "Thanks for the sentiment, I...just can't eat this." But, Rainbow dash is going nuts, and there's also the "Wait, it's my favorite?" Thing. (I'm a picky eater...and can't eat some foods, period)
This story is so good that if I wasn't naked right now i'd take off all my clothes and dance around.
SOOOO PUMPED for the next chapter!!
2756217 So Flam is an evil twin then. But would that make Flim the good twin, or does being an evil twin of an evil twin remove the moustache?
And is Flam just the evil twin of the moustacheless one, or is he the evil twin of the moustacheless evil twin of the regular evil twin?
Is Flim the good twin, the evil-evil twin, or the evil-evil-evil-evil twin?
And is Flim- OH GOD MAKE IT STOP!
Twilight.... what are you hiding?....