The Quill of Eternity

by Written Dreams

Chapter 19 - Aftermath

“Girls! First aid kit! NOW!” The crusader’s eyes widened as Written Dreams burst into the clubhouse, Sweetie Belle levitating a white box with a red cross on it over to him as he laid Rainbow Dash on the floor. Scootaloo’s expression turned to one of horror and she rushed over to Rainbow Dash’s side, tears welling in her eyes as she stared down at the mangled pegasus,

“R-Rainbow Dash?! Wake up!” Written Dreams turned his attention to the filly, giving her a nod before he looked back to Rainbow Dash,

“Scootaloo please get the bandages from the first aid kit and give them to me. Applebloom, I need you to tear up some rags and soak them in water!” Both fillies nodded and Applebloom went to a few drawers, taking out a few older pieces of fabric and began making rags before she fetched a bowl of water from the water the three had in the clubhouse and began soaking them.

Scootaloo also did as instructed, a rather determined look on her face as she tried to combat her feelings of despair. She quickly handed the bandages to Written Dreams who nodded and took the wet rags from Applebloom as she brought them over to him as well. The crusaders then stood back in silence, waiting for Written Dreams to request anything else of them and watched as he began cleaning her wounds with the rags before pressing them hard to stop the bleeding, “Stay with me Dash…” Minutes turned to an hour as Written Dreams began dressing her wounds in bandages, splinting her broken wing with a few thin boards the girls had provided him with before he bandaged that up as well. He then fell silent as he looked down at her, his eyes slowly closing as he laid his head down against her chest. His eyes then snapped open, “No heartbeat…” The crusaders’ eyes widened at what Written Dreams had said, tears beginning to well up in their eyes before they all jumped back hearing him let out a yell, “Dammit you‘re not dying on me!!” A look of anger and determination filled the pegasus’ eyes as he reared up on his hind legs and pushed his front hooves down hard on her chest, repeating this multiple times before he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, breathing deep breathes into her mouth before repeating the process of pushing on her chest, “Rainbow Dash!!” He went back to blowing deep breaths into her mouth, tears having began to slide down his face as he continued the process, back and forth for the next ten minutes, the three girls behind him, their ears drooping as they silently wept.

Written Dreams had began panting as he stood next to Rainbow Dash. Simply staring at her bandaged form before he hung his head not looking at the fillies, “I… I‘m sorry girls…” Written Dreams slowly turned towards Scootaloo and the other two, his ears low as he shook his head, “We couldn‘t…”

“…You should know better then to count me out…” The four pony’s ears perked and they all quickly looked back to Rainbow Dash, seeing one of her eyes open as she stared at them, her usual tomboyish grin on her face. Scootaloo instantly ran to Rainbow Dash, hugging her tightly and Rainbow Dash paused, blinking before she brought her hoof around the little filly,

“Rainbow Dash we were so worried about you! When mister Dreams said your heart wasn‘t beating I… we…” Scootaloo held her head into Rainbow Dash’s dusty coat, crying loudly as Rainbow Dash held her in a weak embrace,

“Easy there squirt… I‘m still pretty banged up. Take it easy…” Rainbow Dash was wincing in pain every time Scootaloo moved and the filly got off of her, wiping her eyes before sniffing and looked at her with a happy smile,

“Sorry Rainbow Dash.” Written Dreams looked to the crusaders and smiled softly seeing happy and relieved looks on their faces,

“Girls. Rainbow Dash is going to need a lot of rest so she can recover. It‘s late girls so I think it‘s time for you to head off to bed. Don‘t worry about Rainbow Dash I‘ll be keeping an eye on her tonight.” It took a good fifteen minutes for the girls to agree to head off to their beds but eventually they went into another room where their sleeping bags were. Written Dreams laid down next to Rainbow Dash, sighing as he looked towards her, a pillow now resting under her head that she seemed genuinely happy to have there as she was nuzzling it a bit with her eyes closed. She paused after a moment and opened her eyes again, looking over to him with a soft smile,

“I… really thought I was going to die… I even had one of those flashback moments of a whole bunch of things when I was falling…” Written Dreams slowly nodded as he examined her bandaged form,

“A lot of bones are broken but you‘re alive and that‘s all that matters right now. Rainbow Dash… what happened? I can only assume you fell after your wing broke.” Rainbow Dash laid her head down on the pillow again and let out a sigh,

“The sun was just about setting when Gilda… she‘s a griffon… she showed up and said she was there to kill us. I fought her on my own… but at the end she broke my wing and dropped me…” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened for a moment and she stared at Written Dreams, “Wait! Nngh…” Rainbow cringed in pain and closed her eyes again, “Where… are Twilight and Applejack…? What happened to Gilda…?”

“Gilda is dead.” Written Dreams lowered his head as he spoke those words, letting out a slow sigh, “I can only guess that she was under Discord‘s influence because when I found her she told me that if you were still alive… to say she was sorry.” Rainbow Dash was silent as she laid there, her breathing remaining rather slow for a few moments,

“I wish I could tell her that I forgive her… it wasn‘t her fault…” Her eyes then slowly opened again and she gazed at Written Dreams, “It‘s Discord‘s fault this happened… he has to be stopped…” Written Dreams slowly nodded as he shifted his hoof over to her, running his hoof down her dirty mane slowly as he sighed,

“I only wish it were that easy… every time I think I‘m going to find the quill it seems to slip from my grasp once again… it just seems like there‘s no end to the clues…” Rainbow Dash was silent, a gentle smile on her face as a blush painted her cheeks as Written Dreams stroked her mane. After a few minutes she opened her eyes again and looked up at him, very slowly moving her head to get a better angle,

“Do… Twilight and AJ know that I‘m okay…?” Written Dreams was silent for a few moments as he thought and slowly nodded,

“Well, yes and no. I wrote a quick note when I found you telling them that I was going to do all I could but… not really more then that. As long as you make it through the night, I‘ll send them a letter in the morning, okay?” Rainbow Dash’s smile faded a little as she took in Written Dreams’ words and let out a slow sigh as she closed her eyes again,

“I‘ll make it, I always do…” The dark blue pegasus looked at her with a hint of concern as his head slightly tilted,

“You‘re going to have to stay fairly still for the next few days Rainbow Dash. You can‘t strain yourself okay? And definitely no flying till your wing is fully healed. As long as you give yourself all of the time you need to recover then you‘re going so be up and about, breaking the sound barrier again before you know it!” Written Dreams gave a happy smile as he looked down at Rainbow Dash, who let out a light laugh before groaning,

“Nngh… hopefully I‘ll be able to laugh again soon without it hurting too much. Hey… I just had a thought.” Rainbow Dash opened an eye as she looked back up to him, her smile returning to her face,

“Twilight‘s been piecing together the story of your travels bit by bit but you could reveal all the rest since they‘re about you anyway…” Written Dreams raised an eyebrow as he looked at Rainbow Dash, letting out a laugh as he smiled brightly,

“So, you‘re interested in some story time are you?” Rainbow Dash gave a slow nod before Written Dreams brought a hoof to his chin and looked back to her, “Well… first off what parts have you heard so far? I can do my best to put them in the correct order for you at least.” Rainbow Dash thought for a moment before she smiled up at him once again,

“Well… first Twilight told us about her own encounter with you in the library… Then your first meeting with Zecora, your experiences in Sunny Town, your second meeting with Zecora, your trip to Appaloosa and then both of the times you were here at the clubhouse.” Written Dreams seemed to pause for a few moments as he looked at Rainbow Dash with a bit of an odd look,

“Well it seems you‘ve heard of quite a few of my encounters but you‘re missing a good deal of them. But something you said strikes me as odd Rainbow.” Rainbow Dash tilted her head a little as she stared at him,

“What do you mean?”

“Well when you spoke of Twilight‘s encounter with me… do you mean she only told you of the first time we met?” Rainbow Dash’s eyes seemed to widen for a moment before she blinked, staring at him for a few moments,

“She… said she only met you the one time though.” Written Dreams paused again, bringing a hoof to his chin before he chuckled,

“Oh that‘s right… she ended up casting a memory spell on herself so that her memories would be locked away…” Rainbow Dash’s expression of curiosity only grew deeper as she continued to stare at him,

“I don‘t understand… why would Twilight get rid of her memories like that? I mean… she seems…” Rainbow Dash gave a sly smirk as she looked at him, “Really interested in you.” Written Dreams fell silent for a few moments, scratching the back of his head as he let out a rather nervous laugh before his expression turned a bit more serious,

“Have you looked into her eyes while she hears those stories about me? Because among the fascination is pain. I‘m sorry Rainbow Dash but I don‘t feel I should say any more about it.” Written Dreams then smiled softly towards her, “You really need to rest now though. Get some of your strength back. I can tell you a story tomorrow when you‘ve woken up.” Rainbow Dash then closed her eyes again, nuzzling the pillow beneath her head a little before a warm smile spread across her face, the feeling of a warm blanket being draped over her and the rainbow pegasus soon fell into a deep sleep. Written Dreams remained laying at her side, occasionally examining her sleeping form for the next six hours before he eventually passed out next to her, laying his head against the cool wood of the clubhouse, a scroll addressed to Twilight laying in front of him.

Twilight Sparkle let out a slow yawn as her eyes slowly opened the next morning, the early morning sunlight peeking in through the cave’s mouth. Suddenly there was a bright flash of silver light and a scroll appeared on the ground in front of her, the unicorn’s head slowly tilting before her horn became shrouded in a billowing aura and the scroll raised from the ground and unfurled, Twilight’s eyes sliding from side to side slowly as she read the contents of the message, “Dear Twilight Sparkle, I am writing you this message to confirm with you that Rainbow Dash is alright, although she has suffered many injuries in her fight she managed to pull through in the end. Gilda, although her ties with Discord were severed in the end, was not so fortunate. You will not have to worry about her coming after you. Twilight, I believe that for the time being it may he beneficial to allow Discord to believe that Rainbow Dash is dead for the reason that his sense of fair play may come into effect and also, gives us the option to opt for a sneak attack in the future.

I‘m sorry that we haven‘t been able to meet in person for the longest time but rest assured that, whilst I am taking care of Rainbow Dash it will not be difficult for both you and Applejack to catch up to me as far as the clues go. Discord went too far this time and must be punished but for now we must be both patient and aware of our surroundings. Your friend, Written Dreams.” Twilight felt a warm and grateful smile spread across her face as her horn glowed softly with a billowing aura and the scroll rolled up before sliding into her bag that she had placed off to the side as she slept, using the other as a pillow, “Written Dreams… I owe you so much.”

“Did ya get another letter from that feller Written Dreams? Is Rainbow okay?” Twilight turned her head to the farm pony, seeing her laying down with her head up, looking towards the unicorn with a look of deep worry and concern,

“Yeah, Rainbow pulled through in the end. But Gilda…” Twilight looked down as she fell silent, her eyes simply scanning the rocks below her hooves for a few moments, “It‘s more important now that we find the Quill of Eternity so that we can stop Discord and get back our friends and the Elements of Harmony! Gilda wouldn‘t have died if it hadn‘t been for him and Rainbow Dash wouldn‘t be in the state she‘s in right now.” Applejack and Twilight took a few more minutes, eating some of the food they had in their bags before they both got up and continued down the trail, determined looks on their faces as they ran.

“So from the stories you‘ve heard I can put them in this order: Me meeting Twilight, me meeting Zecora for the first time, my trip to Sweet Apple Acres for food from Applejack, meeting the crusaders for the first time, Sunny Town, Zecora again, then Appaloosa, back to the crusaders and then our time together Rainbow.” Rainbow Dash chuckled a little, her head still resting against her pillow as she looked up at Written Dreams who was still laying next to her. The crusaders weren’t in the clubhouse, having left after Sweetie Belle teleported Written Dreams’ letter to Twilight,

“Turns out Twilight saw the aurora we made… man I‘m still really curious about what happened between you two.” The colt gave a light laugh before shaking his head and grinning to Rainbow Dash,

“Sorry Rainbow, maybe when Twi and I are together again and she releases that lock on her memories she‘ll be willing to talk about it although, we had quite a fun time together. You know, I really think she‘s a lot like me in a lot of ways.” His smile seemed to slowly soften, a very faint blush painting the dark blues of his coat as his gaze was down to the side,

“It sounds like you guys were…”

“Rainbow Dash.” Written Dreams locked eyes with her, his expression a mix of seriousness but he also wore a calm smile, “Traveling as much as I do, I meet many mares and colts throughout my travels and in the end, some become more important to me then others. For example, just from my searching for the Quill of Eternity I‘ve met many like you, Twilight, and the rest of your friends, Mitta, Luna, Princess Celestia and a few others. My point is that some of the mares I‘ve encountered, we‘ve developed a closer bond then that but sometimes my leaving causes that individual too much pain. When I look into your eyes I see that we have that connection but that there‘s no desire for anything past that, am I right?” Rainbow Dash gave a bit of a smirk as she took in Written Dreams’ words,

“Well, while we did share my first kiss together, it‘s really that you don‘t love flying that causes me to doubt that we‘d be a good match.” Written Dreams let out a light laugh before shaking his head,

“Yeah, I‘m sure I‘d keep you grounded more then you‘d like to. In truth, while I do enjoy the times I experience closeness with those I meet I‘m unsure if I have ever found the one who I want to give my own heart to.”

“Well I‘m not really the one to talk to about mushy stuff. And hey, the crusaders are going to be here so if you want to leave and continue searching for the Quill of Eternity then don‘t let me stop you. It‘s important that we stop Discord as soon as possible.” Written Dreams thought for a moment before he shook his head looking back to the rainbow pegasus,

“Perhaps when you‘re a little more healed up. Your body is still really badly injured and if you go into critical condition like you were when I found you, the girls won‘t be able to do anything to save you… I just hope that Twilight and Applejack don‘t have any trouble at the migration grounds… when I was there it was about three days before this Discord mess happened.”

“Were there dragons there?” Written Dreams nodded slowly,

“Several actually… it was an exciting experience being among dragons to say the least and they really take quill hunters seriously. How about a story Rainbow? A short one before you rest a bit more?” Rainbow Dash gave him a nod, smiling brightly as she nestled a bit more into her pillow, “Alright. This is the story of when I first arrived in Ponyville…”

Written Dreams had been humming as he walked into the small town of Ponyville, gazing up at each house he passed whilst catching the gazes of a few ponies who hadn’t seen him there before, “What a nice little town.”

“LOOK OUT BELOW!” Written Dreams stopped instantly and looked around quickly, his eyes widened before something impacted him from the sky knocking him flat on his chest and head with his legs spread around him. As he felt the object move off of him the dark blue pegasus slowly opened his eyes hazily and stood back up shaking his head and looked around, blinking as he saw a light grey mare with a blonde mane and tail standing next to him with a sheepish grin on her face. Her cutie mark depicted several bubbles and she scratched her mane with her hoof as she stared at him, her right eye upwards whilst her left eye was a bit lower, “Erm, sorry mister. I was trying out a new flight pattern and it went kinda loopy…” Written Dreams blinked his eyes a few times, his eyes locked on the mare’s eyes for a few moments before he smiled warmly and shook some dust from his silver mane,

“Oh it‘s alright. Nothing broken. I‘m Written Dreams by the way, what‘s your name?” The mare’s face turned from an ashamed look to a neutral happiness as she grinned widely,

“My name‘s Ditzy Do but all of my friends call me Derpy Hooves.” He blinked for a moment as he took in both her name and nickname she’d gotten from some ponies around town,

“Well I would like to consider you my friend, but may I call you Ditzy? Derpy sounds kind of cruel to be honest.” Derpy then rolled her eyes, the two going back to normal as she did so,

“I think it‘s mainly because of my eyes usually being crossed but they don‘t say it meanly so I don‘t really mind. But you want to be my friend?!” Derpy gave an excited gasp as she trotted in place happily, “I love making new friends! And yeah it‘s fine if you call me Ditzy, it‘s my name after all!”

“Well it‘s settled then. We are now friends Ditzy! Now then… do you think you could possibly point me in the direction of the library? It‘s the main reason I‘m here in Ponyville.” Derpy thought for a moment, looking from right to left before she pointed,

“It‘s over in that direction mister Dreams. Say hello to the librarian for me when you get there!” Written Dreams then watched as Derpy gave a hop and flew away through the town while yelling ‘bye!’ Written Dreams slowly nodded, letting out a soft laugh before he began trotting in the direction he had been pointed in.

“And that‘s about it. Later I can tell you another story that‘s a bit longer then that one. Kind of interesting… you‘d have to randomly encounter the right ponies and ask them about me to even hear these stories.” He laughed a bit and gave Rainbow Dash’s mane another light stroke before his ears perked, hearing her breathing slow and soon the pegasus was sleeping beside him with a calm smile on her face, “Sleep well Rainbow Dash.”