• Published 26th Dec 2013
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Fragments of Memories - Starwin



After surviving a spell that merged Twilight and Dash into a single being, the two mares are still struggling to get back to as normal a life as they can have. Except, didn’t they used to have more friends? Why is it so hard to remember…

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Chapter 03 - Flying Down

Fragments of Memories
By Starwin


Chapter 03 – Flying Down


The knocking from downstairs was what woke them up the first time. For a moment everything was fuzzy and unfocused. They remembered lifting their head and mumbling something about five more minutes before drifting back into unconsciousness.

The second time they woke was to the sound of a voice calling their name. At first the name was nothing more than a sound, echoing in the farthest reaches of their awareness. But whomever was saying their name, kept saying it.

“TD!” the voice called again. “Hey! Wake up! Twilight, Dash!” They shifted in their cloud bed, turning their head away from the sound. “Come on! Get up, your friends are down stairs!”

“Five more minutes,” yawned Twilight Dash.

“You’ve already said that, a bunch of times!” cried Spike. “And nopony knows the joys of sleeping in like I do, but I thought you wanted to fly today!”

As if the word ‘fly’ had been some kind of alarm, Twilight Dash was suddenly wide awake. Their eyes flicked to the window. It was well into the day. They had overslept and were now completely off schedule! Or, at least they would have been had they actually prepared a schedule. Part of them really wished they had at least a checklist to give them some direction and structure.

“Spike!” cried Twilight Dash, turning in the cloud bed so they could see him. “Why didn’t you get us up earlier!”

“I tried,” protested Spike. “But you kept saying five more minutes. And it’s not like I could really reach you all the way up there.” Indeed, their bed had decided to float up near the ceiling again.

Twilight Dash gave the bed a kick and it dropped like a stone. With a thud and a cry of surprise, the bed slammed against the floor. Luckily, the cloud absorbed most of the impact, but they sunk into it, like a deep mattress.

The two of them struggled to get their body free but they were all tangled up in the soft tufts. All they managed to do was wrap themself deeper in the cloud. The floating bed bumped against the ground as they fought their way out. They kicked their hoof, hoping to buck free. However, the sudden motion sent the bed skidding across the floor instead.

Twilight Dash let out a cry of surprise as the cloud dragged them helplessly along. With a wail of distress, Spike turned and ran as the bed chased after him. At the last moment he leapt out of the way. The cloud zoomed over his head before colliding with the wall a moment later.

With a spring-like sound the cloud bounced off the wall before sailing back to the center of the room. The bed flipped over and unceremoniously dumped Twilight Dash onto the floor.

“Ouch! Stupid bed!” shouted Twilight Dash, shaking a hoof at the uncooperative cloud as it floated away. “It’s not the bed’s fault. We should have waited for Spike.” “But we’re late! We should have been up hours ago!”

“Are you guys okay?” asked Spike, approaching with an outstretched claw.

“Yeah, nothing broken,” answered Twilight Dash. “At least we don’t think so.” They flexed a wing, it seemed to be fine. “Help us up.” “Please.”

It took some doing, but eventually, Spike managed to get them back on their hooves. They could hear the upbeat voices of ponies down in the main library and their sense of urgency returned.

Their morning tasks would have to be cut short. Brushing their teeth would have to wait until later. They could shower when they got home. And combing their mane could be put off… They spared a quick glance towards a mirror hung on the wall between two shelves.

Yeah, it was just the way they liked it, wild. The front was swept upwards like the swish of a cloud, while the back cascaded down like a waterfall.

“Absolutely not!” cried Twilight Dash in horror. “What, it looks cool.” They ran a hoof over their untamed rainbow mane. “Besides, I like it this way.” “Well I don’t!”

Their eyes moved to the hairbrush sitting on a nearby dresser. They stared at it for a long moment, half expecting it to zoom up into the air and fix the mess atop their head. And yet… at the same time, they didn’t seem to expect it to move at all.

“Are we going to do this, or not?” scowled Twilight Dash impatiently. “…” “Fine, if you don’t want to, let’s just…”

“I can do it,” offered Spike. He hurried to pick up the wooden brush. “I’ve seen Twilight comb her mane every morning, except when she’s studying… or reading… or taking notes… or organizing her notes…”

“Spike,” warned Twilight Dash, a note of irritation in their voice. He grabbed the brush off the dresser, blushing slightly in embarrassment.

“Hehe, sorry,” apologized Spike. He hurried over to them. They lowered their head so that he could run the brush through their tangled mane.

It took a few minutes of fighting to get the stubborn strands into place. As it turned out, rainbow-streaked hair was much more difficult to style than other manes. Trying to organize the colors proved to be an unexpected challenge.

Twilight Dash could feel themself starting to grow impatient as Spike muttered to himself about the colors not matching up. They were just about to tell him to give up… or to finish… or maybe to keep going… the important part was... something… important…

“All done,” announced Spike. They glanced at the mirror. It was… dozens of thoughts collided in their head. It was great, it was weird, it was okay, not quite right, perfect, strange… The opinions kept coming, overlapping into a jumbled mess of half realized ideas. “So, what do you think?” asked Spike eagerly.

“It’s fine,” said Twilight Dash after a moment. “Yeah, it’s fine. Now, come on. We’ve wasted enough time!”

Spike’s excited expression faltered slightly. He returned the brush to its place before helping them make their way across the room.

It was still slow going. Whatever harmony they had found the night before seemed to have completely left them this morning. Their balance was all off and they felt like they might tip over at any moment. Everything was out of whack again. Each leg that Spike indicated for them to step with was a surprise. Finally, they made it to the bedroom door. It felt like it had taken forever to travel the short distance.

They stepped out into the main room. From the upstairs landing they could see all of the library below. A group of four ponies were gathered near the door, talking quietly with one another as they waited. Among them were her friends Applejack and Rarity, but they didn’t know the others.

“Today, we are going to fly!” announced Twilight Dash, drawing the attention of the group below. “Also, good morning.” “Yeah, that too, I guess.” Spike continued to help them make their way down the stairs.

“You’re gonna what now?” cried Applejack in alarm.

“Darling, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” added Rarity. “I mean, you are still having some difficulty walking. Flying might be just a bit much.”

“Well, I think it’s a great idea!” cried a strange pink pony they had never seen before. “Flying is just what TD needs!” She even knew their name, their nickname no less… had they met her somewhere? There was something almost familiar about her.

The fourth pony in the room remained silent, not seeming to have anything to add. She was a pegasus and also a new face. Maybe she was here to give them flying instructions? But if any pony was going to help them, why wasn’t it Fluttershy? Granted she wasn’t the best flyer, but she was still a good friend.

And for that matter where was Pinkie Pie to cheer them on? Were they both too busy to stop by? It felt like they hadn’t seen them in ages. In fact, Twilight Dash couldn’t clearly recall the last...

A sudden panicked alertness yanked them out of their thoughts. They felt the world slip sideways as their hoof missed the last step. With a yelp, the mixed-up mare toppled forward, unable to steady themself. Feebly, Spike grabbed their tail trying to hold them up, but he simply wasn’t strong enough.

They all tumbled forward, landing in a heap at the foot of the stairs.

“Oh my are you alright!” cried Rarity, hurrying forward. The other ponies had also come to their aid.

“Just a little bump,” said Twilight Dash, looking up from the floor. All the ponies above them were dancing slightly. They shook their head and the ponies stopped moving.

“Maybe this really isn’t a good idea,” suggested the yellow pegasus in a very soft voice. “I don’t want them to get injured. And flying can be very dangerous.”

“Look,” interjected Spike, still laying across Twilight Dash’s back. “I agree they might not look like they are in the best shape at the moment. But I think TD really needs this. They need to get out of the house and they need to start flying again. And I think we should at least try.”

“But what if they hurt themselves?” asked Rarity. As she spoke her horn glowed and she lifted Spike back up. “I mean, themself… is that even a real word?” She tapped her mouth thoughtfully with a hoof.

Spike helped Twilight Dash back to their hooves.

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” answered the strange pink pony happily. “If anything goes wrong, we’ll be there to catch them! Just like Spike!”

Applejack and Rarity exchanged uncertain glances.

“Uh, he didn’t exactly catch them,” said Applejack hesitantly. “But, I guess gettin out of the house is a good thing. Just ain’t gotta push too hard. If it don’t work, it don’t work. You don’t need ta force it.”

“Maybe we should go to the meadow just outside of town,” suggested the unfamiliar yellow pegasus. Her voice was soft, almost like she didn’t want anypony to hear her suggestion. “The grass there is really soft, and there aren’t very many trees to crash into. That’s where I take baby birds to fly when they’re just learning. I mean, um, if that’s okay with everypony else.”

“I think that’s a fantastic idea Fluttershy,” said Rarity exuberantly.

A sharp pain made Twilight Dash wince. For a moment they felt dazed, like something had struck them in the head. What had Rarity just said? They could remember the words but somehow it didn’t seem to make any sense. They knew the word, they had heard it. And yet, when they tried to repeat it to themself they found the letters to be hollow and the meaning absent.

Rarity had called this new pegasus… something, but the name was impossible. This pony didn’t look anything like Fluttershy. She was more like… and her mane was… and…

Nothing. There was nothing attached to the name. It was like looking at an empty picture frame that had once held their favorite photo. They could almost recall details, but when they tried to remember specifics the image would slip away.

“Are you alright sugarcube?” asked Applejack. Twilight Dash was suddenly snapped out of their internal dilemma. Everypony seemed to be looking at them with concern.

“Uh, yeah, just nerves I… we, guess,” replied Twilight Dash.

“Alright,” said Applejack, not looking entirely convinced. “Let me go grab a cart so ya’ll don’t have ta walk.”

Twilight Dash barely heard Applejack and they hardly registered her departure. Their attention was fully devoted to the new pegasus. They looked at her, really looked at her. So much was familiar about her and yet... the moment they looked away, they found they simply couldn’t recall anything about her.

“Um… is everything alright?” asked the pegasus. Twilight Dash felt a sudden rush of embarrassment. They had completely forgotten anypony else was there.

“Did you… uh… do something with your mane?” asked Twilight Dash quickly trying to shift the focus to something else.

“Oh, yes, thank you for noticing,” said the shy pegasus, blushing slightly. “I brushed the end a little to the left today instead of the right. I didn’t think any pony would notice…”

“It looks great,” said Twilight Dash with a half-hearted smile.

A loud whistle from outside signaled Applejack’s return. The group made their way out the door, with Twilight Dash bringing up the rear. Spike guided them outside with careful taps on each leg. When they reached the cart, he helped them climb in.

The pink pony hopped in too. She claimed it would make the trip more fun and also that she loved riding in carts. There was just enough room in the back for two ponies, so Spike decided to walk with the rest of the group.

The cart bumped forward as Applejack began to pull. They were on their way. This was really happening. They were going to fly! All the other worries, doubts, and clutter in their mind was abruptly pushed aside and forgotten.

Soaring through the clouds became the prominent thought in their head once more. Excitement raced through their body like a bolt of electricity. At the same time, a cold sensation settled in their chest. Both feelings had the same result, fear.

All the things that could possibly go wrong flashed through their thoughts. All the things that might happen were laid out in horrible detail. All the things their friends might think when they flapped their wings and nothing happened weighed heavy on their heart. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.

“Wow! It sure looks like it’s going to be a great day for flying!” cried the strange pink pony that had climbed in with them. Her voice seemed to oddly put them at ease. If Pinkie Pie couldn’t be here today, at least they had this very enthusiastic pony to take her place. “Although, I’m not really sure when wouldn’t be a great day for flying. A cloudy day really doesn’t change the ‘greatness’ of the day. I guess if you had a giant storm, with hail, and lightning, and wind, that might not be a great day. Maybe just an okay day?”

Twilight Dash was sure the pony hadn’t taken a breath anywhere in her rambling. Even now she was still going, although they weren’t paying as much attention to her.

Casually, they glanced around. Of course Applejack was pulling the cart, although she did glance back to smile. They returned the gesture, glad that she had come along. Rarity was walking alongside Applejack. The two of them were talking to each other about something but Twilight Dash couldn’t make out what.

Rarity too spared a smile for them when she noticed they were watching her. Spike was walking just a few steps behind Rarity. He didn’t seem to be able to look anywhere else other than upon the white unicorn.

Behind the cart, trotting along at a safe distance with her head down and her pink mane partially hiding her face, was that quiet new pegasus. What had her name been? The pony had told them yesterday…

No. That was wrong. They had only just met her this morning… hadn’t they? Yet… they felt like they had met her long before that. They almost felt like they almost knew her.

The pony looked up and smiled bashfully at them, before looking away quickly.

“… and cakepie!” exclaimed the strange pink pony. The sudden break in the cadence of her long winded story made Twilight Dash jump with a little start.

“Wha?” asked Twilight Dash, suddenly realizing that she hadn’t heard a word the pony had been saying.

“I made cakepie for lunch,” answered the earth pony. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to make it ever since I first tasted it! It’s the most amazing, the most astounding, the most super-fantastical-terrificical thing that has every existed in the history of everything!”

“Please tell me you brought more than just desserts!” exclaimed Rarity in alarm. “Some of us have a figure to maintain!”

“Well, I did bring along some apples,” answered Applejack. “In case we want a snack.”

“Cakepie is a snack!” cried the pink pony happily. In one quick moment, the pony consumed the mixed baked good whole.

“So,” interjected Applejack, looking back over her shoulder at Twilight Dash. “Are y’all feeling nervous?”

“What? No, I’m not feeling nervous at all,” answered the pink pony before they could speak. She popped another cakepiemuffin into her mouth. “These cakepies came out perfect! What a strange thing to ask. If anypony is feeling nervous, it should be TD!”

“I was asking TD,” said Applejack, rolling her eyes.

“Oh, well, I guess that does make a lot more sense,” said the pink pony thoughtfully. “So, are you guys feeling nervous? Are you?”

“A little,” answered Twilight Dash. However, that was an outright lie. Nervous didn’t even begin to describe the feelings inside them at that moment. Something akin to complete and utter terror felt like it might overtake them any second. And yet, there was a feeling of excitement and anticipation. The familiar conflicted feeling of both wanting and not wanting the exact same thing.

“I’m sure you’ll both do fine,” said Rarity, trying to sound reassuring. “After all, Dash was the winner of the best young flyers competition. And Twilight… uh, reads a lot of books. I’m sure you must have at least browsed through one on flying.”

“Ha!” came Dash’s laugh more strongly than Twilight’s. “We’ve read every book in the library about flying!” “Some of them twice.” “Yes, some of them twice. But flying isn’t something you can get from a book, you just have to do it, you have to feel it! And we totally feel it!” They spread their wings in anticipation. “I can’t wait to get out there!”

“You mean ‘we,’” corrected the pink pony, raising an eyebrow at Twilight Dash.

“Yeah, that’s what we said,” answered Twilight Dash. The cart jerked to a halt, throwing them slightly off balance. But the pink pony reacted and kept them from toppling over.

“Alright, this looks like the place,” announced Applejack.

Spike helped them climb down from the back of the cart. The touch of the soft grass on their hooves sent a shiver up their spine. They had forgotten what grass felt like. Or maybe they had never really known. They had been inside so long that the outdoors almost felt foreign to them.

The field was large and flat, with only the slightest hills at its edges. Tall wild green grass danced in the warm afternoon breeze. There were only a scant few trees scattered across the plain and a small winding river that cut across the far edge of the area.

In the distance they could see the cloudy purple mountains. Atop the tallest one they could just barely make out the white glint of Canterlot. It had been so long since they had been there and…

Another thought crossed their mind. It was something they hadn’t figured out how to deal with yet. Something they hadn’t decided on doing. Something they just couldn’t think about right at that moment.

Later, when they were ready, when they were fixed. Then they would tell them.

Applejack had pulled the cart a safe distance away, leaving plenty of room around them. The gentle breeze blew again, as if urging them on.

The group gathered around Twilight Dash.

“Now remember, nice and easy,” said the yellow pegasus encouragingly. “You don’t have to fly very high.”

“And if something goes wrong, which it won’t, we’ll all be ready to catch you!” reminded the odd pink pony.

“Alright, we can do this,” whispered Twilight Dash to themself. “Just a gentle flap, nice and easy.” They nodded.

They spread out their wings from their sides and closed their eyes. They focused on their body, on their wings. This first motion was not meant to lift them off the ground. They were just going to get a sense for how the stroke of their wing should feel.

They let their wings flap.

The world suddenly rocketed away below them as they blasted up into the sky, the wind roaring in their ears. Then a boom like thunder echoed out behind them. They couldn’t turn their head but they could see the wake of a sonic rainboom rippling out across the sky below them. And still they were racing upwards, past the scattered clouds. They could feel the air becoming icy cold and thinning with each breath. The sky turned dark above them as clear blue became black.

Control, they had to get control. They lifted their left wing. The force of the air grabbed them like they had deployed a parachute. They were suddenly spinning sideways. Twilight Dash tumbled through the air with sky and ground and mountains all turning into an endless blur.

Their wings flapped again. They felt the force of uncontrolled acceleration. They still didn’t have any control over their flight path. Everything they tried seemed to make their situation worse.

They were falling again. At least the world had stopped spinning. However they were dropping like a rock out of the sky. This was an experience they had felt before and something they weren’t keen on going through again. Last time Fluttershy had come to their rescue.

Despite plummeting out of the sky a strange feeling of joy welled up inside Twilight Dash. They had remembered something about their friend! It wasn’t a face, or a fact, but it was at least something.

They were so overcome with the sensation that, for a moment, they completely forgot they were tumbling towards the ground. Yet Fluttershy didn’t seem to be anywhere in sight. She hadn’t even come with them today.

The wind screaming in their ears – or maybe it was them who was screaming, they couldn’t tell – brought their attention back to the current problem. They needed a solution so as not to crash. For a moment they considered flapping their wings again. Although, pointed down, it seemed like this would only carry them faster into the ground.

A dozen ideas and plans raced through their brain. The messages collided with each other and one thought bled into another, resulting in a jumbled mess of half crafted solutions.

The ground was getting closer, yet their mind was getting further from anything remotely helpful. They were going to crash. Any moment they were going to slam into the earth at full speed and…

Twilight couldn’t think about it. She not only closed her eyes, she closed her mind, not wanting to envision their horrific fate.

In that moment, something strange and unexpected happened. Something Twilight had never felt before. She became a spectator in her own mind. Thoughts that were not hers raced past. She got glimpses of ideas, of commands, but it was like watching a galloping pony from the sidelines, she couldn’t make out very much before it had gone past.

Twilight Dash pulled up… or was it just Dash… it was hard to tell… They leveled out and slowed to a reasonable speed.

“We… I, did it,” said Dash, a slight note of surprise in her voice. Twilight was hardly aware of the words. Instead, she was more focused with what had just happened. The feeling was almost the same as to when Dash had fallen asleep, leaving Twilight alone in their mind.

This felt eerily similar and yet wholly different. It was backwards, like she was the one who was asleep. She was there, but not. It was complicated.

Twilight knew that if she thought too loudly, or tried to concentrate on flight, things would go wrong… like they had the last time Twilight had interfered with Dash flying indoors.

She hadn’t wanted it, but Twilight suddenly recalled the terrible memory. The effect was like somepony toppling over a cabinet full of fine china.

Their control faltered, their body wobbled and they began to lose altitude. They beat their wings erratically, only making the situation worse.

“Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” shouted Twilight Dash to herself. The moment of calm and separation, was shattered. They were both thrust back into the same space and their mind began to conflict with itself once again.

They managed a long, unsteady turn. Below, they could see Applejack, Rarity, Spike, and two strangers down on the field. Both their thoughts lined up with getting back to their friends, but how to do that seemed to be the conflict. As one suggestion would pop up, so would a second, changing part of the plan.

Such that they had: fly towards their friends and crash into them. Or lift the left wing higher so they could do a loop to impress the ponies below with their flying skills. Or their least logical, fly up to get back down.

Twilight Dash tried to find their moment of clarity. They wanted to reach back into being Dash and Twilight for just a little longer, just until they were safely on the ground.

However, whatever they had done before to focus their thoughts, they couldn’t seem to do it again. At nearly full speed, they dropped out of the air, hurtling towards the ponies below. It seemed like ‘crash into their friends’ was the winning option.

Yet, the sudden painful impact they had expected did not come. A softly shimmering aura of magic cushioned their fall, slowing them almost to a stop. The light faded and they landed softly on the ground next to their friends. The new pink pony had been right. Their friends were indeed there to catch them, at least the two that had come out to watch them.

Author's Note:

First (and most importantly) a HUGE thank you to the beta readers who helped improve the quality of this chapter (in no particular order)

CDRW
Midnight Spark
Shpadoinkle
DPV111
InMyMind

It's been a really fun experience for me to have others provide insight along the way (and I hoped they enjoyed it as well). Thank you all again for your hard work, dedication and great advice on improving this story! It really means a great deal to me that you were willing to give me some of your time to make my work better!

I might do it again with the next chapter, we'll just have to see when we get there.

Beyond that, not too much to comment on for this one. So, I hope to see you all back next time!

And as always, thank you for reading!