Home Alone

by protractror

Head in the clouds

The door opened and Rainbow Dash lost herself. It had been a problem for her ever since she got back to Ponyville. She had tried to keep her memories separate, and for the most part it had worked. Rainbow could go for hours without even thinking about her life on Earth. It wasn't even all that tough she thought. There wasn't anything around her that really reminded her of her old home. No cars or human houses, especially no humans. But every once in a while she would see something, maybe a blanket, a photo, a proud dad out with his foal... and the damn would burst. It would all come flowing back too her like it had never even left. What Rainbow was looking at of course didn't have anything to do with Earth, let alone Equestria even. It was quite simply an impossible box. It was bigger on the inside. Impossibly big.

That by itself was enough to drain Rainbow of all of her cockiness, but it brought back a horrible feeling. It was the feeling of truly not comprehending what was going on. The last time she had felt this emotion, or really ever was on her final day back in Earth. The day she saw Princess Celestia, the fictional child's toy, who had the presence of a god, stroll through her house. And right behind her came five other little ponies, fictional and foreign. She barely knew their names, but Rainbow knew what this meant. She had told herself for so many years that this wasn't true, but one look made it all disappear. Weirdly, it wasn't the image of the horses wandering through her living room that stayed in her mind. It was the look of her dad. While Dashie was still trying to wrap her head around it all, her dad knew that his years as a parent were over. He knew that she was going to leave, that he couldn't come with her and that he had to accept that. It was the toughest fact that he ever had to swallow. And that look in his eyes, Rainbow could never forget. So glazed over, so sad but most of all lost in thought. Rainbow figured it was nostalgia, but for all she knew it could have been him thinking of the future. His future. She hoped it was nostalgia.

And so Rainbow Dash's mind was stampeded by the seemingly endless flow of memories from the past. Her home, her shows, her bed. Her Dad. The food she ate, the sky she flew, the life she had. Her Dad. Fights, hugs, parties, milestones. All with her dad. In hindsight it had been a lonely life she had lived. Maybe that was why it was so easy to pack away most of the time. But it wasn't his fault, he was her only friend. He was the only guy she trusted, and he was always there for her. He may have been her only relationship, but he would be damned if she ever had the time to notice.

Before she could get fully wrapped up in her trot down memory lane though The Doctor piped back up. For once Rainbow was glad he never seemed to stop talking, because she needed to keep her eyes on the prize. She could cry later. "When I'm dead." she thought to herself. Just because she was talking to herself didn't mean she needed to be a total wimp about it.

"Well, say it. Its bigger on the inside!" Rainbow could only nod in bewilderment.Apparently though that was exactly the reaction the Doctor had been looking for.
"Come in, come in, it wont bite. Well it can't even. That's not to say a Tardis can't bite you, but this one certainly wont. Its been stuck as a blue British police box for god only knows how long. Oh, I guess you wouldn't know what that means. Well rest assured that it wont bite. Nor would it have any reason too. For you see a Tardis..." The Doctor was rambling again. Rainbow wasn't listening anymore. To be honest she didn't think he even expected her too. No one could walk into this box and not stop and stare. And a long rambling story makes for a lot better time than a giant awkward pause.

The "Tardis" as he called it was huge. She couldn't tell just how big due to the walls and halls and doors, but Rainbow has never seen anything like it. The closest thing would be Canterlot Castle, and if this place was as big as a castle than..."whoa" This colt wasn't just a madman in a box. He was a madman in the box. Sadly that seemed all that Rainbow was able of understanding in the massive room. It was big, and in every corner lay something either impossible or nonsensical. But Rainbow had a problem, and when even Celestia said it couldn't be fixed this was exactly what she was looking for. Impossible nonsense.

Meanwhile the Doctor was still prattling on about the Tardis and what it ate for fuel. Rainbow decided that if she was going to get back into this "conversation" she was going to have to cut him off. Was she usually this rude? Dash really hoped she was correct in assuming that he wanted to be cut off, because otherwise she must have been coming off as a huge tool.
"Interesting Doc, really I mean it. but I sort of want to talk about something more important. Like Earth and how your going to take me there." Dash said as nice as she could manage. She didn't want to strongarm him into flying her back to her second home so she really laid on the charm. This was the type of speech she only ever used when she needed something, like gala tickets. But the Doctor didn't seem to hear it.
"There you go again with Earth. Where did you ever get the idea its even real, let alone I can go there." The Doctor said, trying to put on an air of confusion. But to the Doctor's chagrin for once, the Doctor always had an air of knowledge.

"Trust me Doc, I know that its real. You could say I'm quite well acquainted with it. And I know from your fantastic poker face that you are familiar with it too. From what I can tell the only thing possible of getting between dimensions is Celestia. At least reliably." Rainbow knew that Twilight was the one who sent her there in the first place, but Rainbow wasn't exactly in the mood to wake up in a box with a blank flank. "So unless you are a citizen of her court all the way in this, uhm, Tardis? I don't think that's the case is it? I think you have a way to get too Earth. And when you stop denying it we can finally get going!" Rainbow didn't like how forceful she was being, but she didn't like being called crazy. Especially by a madman in a box!

But Rainbow had put the Doctor in the corner. He was quickly realizing that he wasn't going to be able to laugh this problem away. He wasn't even going to be able to observe it from a far. Rainbow Dash didn't feel like sharing her story, she felt like flying. The Doctor did not, and although he never used violence he was a stallion that should never be put in a corner. For he had tricks that could stop an avalanche in its track. And right now he needed to take back control of the situation. If his gizmos and magic weren't cutting it than he was going to have to use an old standby. He calmed down and suddenly the posture of the friendly if senile pony was gone. Before her stood a force.

"Look Into my Eyes Rainbow Dash. These eyes are old eyes-" But for what must have been the umpteenth time that day he was cut off by the most headstrong of ponies.
"No, how about you look into these eyes!" And they both looked into each others eyes. It wasn't romantic, but that stare connected them in a way that neither had expected. For Rainbow saw the eyes which had the worry and age of an eon. But the Doctor saw the beautiful magenta eyes of the young pegasus, with the unmistakable wisdom of an age she should never have reached. They might not of understood each other, but they knew that now.

What seemed like a hour later, the Doctor knew that Rainbow wasn't some thrill seeker who had stumbled upon him and earth. And Rainbow knew that the Doctor wasn't a silly old man to be pushed into taking her across the cosmos. But the Doctor wasn't going to let this change show if he could help it.
"And what pretty eyes they are my dear Rainbow," he said after a pause. "I would love to see some different angles of them if you would care to join me for lunch. If you are to tell me just how you saw earth we should probably do it on a full stomach. And maybe for desert I can tell you what this Tardis stands for. Again of course, because I assume you weren't listening earlier"

Well, if the Doctor was going to act like nothing had changed, Rainbow would just have to one up him in her nonchalance. As the Doctor Trotted off to fix up lunch, Rainbow pulled up a chair and Settled down.
"Thanks. I hope you have enough for two, at least, because I'm hungry and this is going to take a while." Rainbow Dash slouched back in her chair while for the first time that day the Doctor truly listened.

Comments

[Zanzibar]

Interesting story. It'll be fun to see your take on this ending.

I'm not one of those who thought "My Little Dashie" was a perfect story, or had a perfect ending. It was full of flaws. It did have one thing in abundance however: Emotion.
And really, that's why I read fanfics. For the emotion, literary flaws I can gladly accept if a story has character.

You have a creative idea going here as well, I do look forward to the next chapter. I recommend getting an editor or proofreader before you post it though. There's some rough spots, and a few easily noticed spelling errors and redundant lines, but I'll still be happy to read more.

[Sweetie_Belle_Derelle]

15292

I agree completely, but for some reason, I find endings like that unsettling.

Like I want everything to work out for everyone.

[Zyggy]

14458
I am confuzzled.
How am I the first in your books.

[protractror]

nvm Zyggy. nvm.

[Sweetie_Belle_Derelle]

WaNt MoAr!1!1!1!1

20617
I agree.

[TheMagicMicrowave]

20617
More Please ?

[protractror]

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted here in a while. Thank you for the requests for moar even after I haven't updated in like two months, that always makes me feel awesome. So as thanks for that I'll tell you guys where I'm at. Originally, I started writing the next chapter and I hit a block because I figured I sucked at dialogue. Than I wasn't sure if it was alright doing this fanfic of a fanfic, and eventually I just shelved the whole project.
Looking back on it now most of those reasons for not continuing from an idealogical stand point are gone, but I am pretty busy right now. What does that mean? Some day I'll pick this fic up again. Maybe christmas break, maybe earlier or maybe way later. However, where I left this just isn't fair to anyone who actually read this, and seeing how this fic is more popular than everything else I've written combined, I think it deserves an ending.
So, yeah. tl:dr? Its not dead. Check back in a month and maybe it will be alive again.