Given all that had happened lately, my friends were a little reluctant to leave me alone again wandering Canterlot. The hearing had finished and more than anything I felt like getting some exercise to feel better. Dash had come with me to the Canterlot Royal Gardens, and agreed to wait for me at the entrance.
This seemed like an excellent place for some reflection and exercise, so I found my way to the statue of Discord and took a seat on a park bench. The bushes here were at least six feet tall and perfectly trimmed. They were all in bloom with an array of orange and red flowers, which I was tempted to taste if not for my past experiences eating unknown flowers.
I shielded my eyes and looked up at Discord, whose head was silhouetted by the setting sun. He had caused me a lot of trouble, but had been taken care of in the end, and now I had to pick up the pieces of my life. I wondered if I’d ever get them all back into place, wishing that somepony else could just fix it all for me.
I got the feeling that I was being watched and looked away from the statue, noticing Celestia standing in the walkway between two of the hedge bushes.
“Hello Dawn, may I ask what you were thinking about?” Celestia asked.
I shrugged and looked back at the statue. “Where to start? But I suppose at this exact moment, wondering why someone couldn’t just magic all my problems away for me. But a thought occurred to me before I noticed you there.”
“Oh, what was it?”
“Well I had my share of problems back on Earth but I never let it stop me. If it hadn’t been for a couple friends with a very high tolerance for pain I’d never have passed my nursing exams for drawing blood.”
Celestia walked over next to the bench and sat down, her head still about twice as high from the ground as mine. “So you’re feeling like it’s somehow different here, and your hard work isn’t enough?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” I looked over to see how she looked today, and if there were any outward signs of happiness or anything else to help me gauge her mood. She was as stoic as ever, and the multi-colored mane gently waving in the breeze was the only part of her body that moved as she sized me up.
“Well, Dawn, you have been through a lot here that’s for sure, and you know I love and care for every one of my ponies. You should know I count you among them, which is why I think it proper to tell you that you’re not trying hard enough.”
I continued to stare at her as I pictured and measured my response. Luckily I wasn’t the kind of human who would punch a princess in the face. “Excuse me?”
“I think you’ve taken a rather passive approach, blaming our very alien world and laws and the sheer overwhelming nature of the odds against you as an excuse to not act at all… the only way past inaction is to act, and the only way to stop being overwhelmed is to break your problems down into smaller more easily-handled parts.”
Celestia offered me a smile and nodded to Discord. “I bring more than advice though, anypony could give you that. Perhaps I can help you get your new life in order by offering to solve one of your problems for you?”
I looked to Discord, weathered and covered in a few stains where the bird droppings weren’t washed off in time leaving dark splotches. I returned my gaze to her, a sharp edge still present in my voice. “Oh? And since I can’t handle things myself just what exactly are you going to dive in and help me with after all this time watching from atop your throne?”
She kept her gaze forward on Discord, giving me the sense I were having a clandestine meeting in the park and she didn’t want anypony watching from a distance to think she was talking to me, so much as at the dingy old statue. “Just nod your head and tonight Soarin will vanish from prison. He’ll get no statue or memorial, just a little trip to check on Discord for me.”
While her poker face left no sign of emotion, mine was the kind that’d scream I’ve got a royal flush! at the top of my lungs. My jaw hung open and my eyes were wide, and beginning to water in the harsh sunlight, as I heard her offer. “Did…. did you just offer to make my problem go away?”
“Living for eons can make one very detached, can make it difficult to relate, but let’s say your… circumstances of arriving here got me invested emotionally in a way few ponies can. You could count on your hooves the number of ponies I care about enough to make such an offer to.”
I blinked a few more times as I stared at her, a million thoughts going through my head.
This could be a trick, some kind of test, and even if it wasn’t what if ponies found out what happened to Soarin? He deserves to burn though, or is that better than he deserves? A quick death? Would I rather him be in jail? Do I want to keep looking over my shoulder wondering if every stallion of the right height and build is him sneaking up on me?
“I…. I d-don’t know,” I stuttered. “He certainly deserves it… but how can you ask me that and expect me to just not jump on the opportunity for revenge? It’d solve one problem but create others when I have to explain it to everypony else…”
“Mmhmm,” Celestia smiled slightly. “It is easy to think there is a magic solution to every problem that is quick, painless, and leaves everypony happy. Take it from me, no solution is every quick, painless, nor does it leave everypony happy. The cost of choosing my subjects over my sister led me into centuries of depression. I would still do it again, since the only meaningful solutions are the ones you face and come up with on your own.”
I sighed in relief at the ethical dilemma diverted. A soft handkerchief floated in Celestia’s magic, wiping away some tears I hadn’t felt as I struggled for composure at all the thoughts Soarin’s name had dug up inside me. “I knew it was a test. You said that just to make me realize I need to tackle my problems myself and not expect an easy solution?” I looked away from her, ”that’s actually pretty fucked up.”
“If you can find the strength to resist the instant gratification of watching him burn, you can find the strength to do anything… admit your feelings to Dash and Fluttershy, find a job, raise a foal… you will have a happy life in Equestria, Dawn, and Luna and I will watch over you to prevent any more suffering… but only you can choose to accept and fight for the life you want.”
I nodded passively, still not making eye contact with her. “Does everypony here minor in psychology?”
Celestia chuckled. “Just so you don’t think I’m all tough love, my offer was genuine... though the lesson learned may have varied. Have a nice flight home, Dawn.”
I tilted my head and turned to face Celestia, but she was gone. There was an indent in the grass just off the cobblestone path where she had sat, but that was it.
“There you are!” Dash landed in front of me, causing me to jerk backwards in shock.
“What?!” I gasped.
“We’re gonna miss the train to Ponyville!” She grabbed my foreleg and pulled me forward. “Come on, let’s try to catch it and get away from this creepy statue, I can swear it’s eyes are following me!”
She took off, giving me a firm yank forward and forcing me to flap my wings and take off after her, or find out what the grass tasted like. “Sheesh! I’m coming!” We flew off towards the train station, and I could see the smoke stack from across town as the train left the station.
“Crap,” Dash stopped in mid-air, and I flew up next to her. “Well we can still catch up to it. Fluttershy got our luggage on board.”
“Dash, relax. Let’s go get a bite to eat, then catch the train.”
“Hmm,” her stomach rumbled. “Well I am pretty hungry as long as it doesn’t take to long. Fluttershy’s probably wondering why we missed the train… how did you lose track of time anyway?”
“Oh, Celestia was feeling talkative I guess.” I shrugged, and looked towards a nearby hotel chain I recognized. “And I don’t think Fluttershy will want what I have in mind. Tell me, have you heard of a BLT?”
Dash looked at me and I pointed down to the griffon hotel. She followed my gaze to the hotel, then back to me and we both had smiles slowly spread across our faces.
“Please tell me the B is for bacon!”
Nice to see an update still following the story
7751176
Yay, plus you're the first comment!
Okay, that was nice. See you in a couple years!
No, but seriously, it was nice to get an update to this, even if it was only just over a thousand words or so--gotta ease your way back in. I wasn't sure where you'd take this, but I think this chapter here was pretty good. Nice chat between Celestia and Dawn that seemed to have the same charm and style as the rest of the series, with some nice advice and a good bit with Dash at the end there.
I await your next update, but don't rush if it isn't ready yet.
I get it!
Also holy shit this updated. Yay
i missed this so glade it updated
Well Dawn still has to deal with his/her feelings on both of them, and dealing having a foal and off course the trial.
I know that I should have been expecting this based on your blog posts, but I didn't expect it this soon! I really wasn't sure what the next step would be once Soarin was out of the picture. Celestia daring Dawn to be proactive about solving her problems is a good way to show a path forward. I need to reread the story to remind myself how everything went up to this point, but I hope that things have turned a corner for Dawn, although a story without conflict can be a bit boring. . .
Regardless it is nice to see an update!
I guess if anyone asks, they could just blame the strange bacon craving on their pregnancies. I mean, that's normal, right?
Anyway, nice to see this one pop up again on my watch list. Been wondering for a while now if something was going to eventually go Dawn's way or not.
I suppose that's the main reason why I've kept it on my watch list. There's just unresolved things that I'm interested in seeing come to a conclusion. What happens to Sorin? Is Dawn's foal his or Fluttershy's? (And similar to that, I don't feel they've really talked much on the fact that Dash's foal is Sorin's, other than Dash basically saying 'nope, it's not' and just ignoring that fact. I wouldn't think it's that simple, but who knows...) And is Dawn going to conquer this new fear of stallions or go nutzo the next time one looks at her the wrong way?
Feels like there's plenty of loose ends still laying about.
7751197
I made 4 bullet points for chapter 9 and the chat with Celestia was only one of them Yeah I need to ease into the other 3 and remember how to plan ahead again. At least I got the charm right, the worst part of writing after a year is trying to keep my characters in-character since they're out-of-character from show canon by this point to reflect my own thoughts about them. (Plus Tirek was like 3 seasons ago now?)
7751247
I loved Re-reading Dash of Humanity. DoH2 not as much and DoH3 I was like "Wow I'm a bastard." I think I can turn a corner and focus more on the slice of life like I planned but still have some conflict.
I'm too tired to think of anything clever so I'm just going to post this weird video
A slice of bacon a day keeps the mental trauma away.
Everybody loves bacon even vegins. Glad to see your back at it tis been awhile.
No, do not resist the path of TD.
Give in to your desires to punch princesses in the face.
It leads to enlightenment.
Trust me <.<
A Phoenix Wright style trial would be nice... just a suggestion...
Honestly I thought you dropped off the face of the world glad to know you was doing charity work and life didn't Cripple you.
7751406
Yep! Charity work. Nothing mundane and monotonous for this pony. But the not falling off the face of the Earth part is true and I am glad you're glad I'm back!
7751402
OBJECTION! I haven't played one of those games so I don't know how to write it. Now, if you're volunteering... or can recommend which one to watch a Let's Play of.
7751399
This pony gets it. I'm sure I can work it into a dream sequence
7751339 7751307
I think Bacon is the one food that's literally good on anything... it's like 80% fat 20% meat, what's not to love?
7751434
I GOT U FAM
...only case 1 is needed for your purposes, but this is the full game in 1 vid
Slice of life is good too. Doesn't all have to be crashing headlong to exploding helicopters.
Thanks!
Daaaaaaaaaaaamn its been forever since I've seen this update... like, fucking hell man.
Soarin doesn't burn? Please, I would like him to burn... severely, horribly, I wish to hear his screams as he begs Dawn to stop the pain. end him...
I have other thoughts I would absolutely love to comment about regarding Soarin, Dawn, and the unborn one, but I feel that'll start a flame war so I shall not do so.
Nicely done man... and awesome work.
Good to see you're still alive and kicking.
I wonder who would be...?
I would like to make a suggestion to get back in the swing of things. It might give you some perspective and improve on your writing at the same time. Here it goes, I think you should go back and edit/ expand on chapters especially in the DoH2 and DoH3. I loved your first story but the ones preceding it I felt lack certain details, felt rushes, so I couldn't get in to them. I miss the really in depth look at Don's, Rainbow's mind and their relationship together. Now you have Fluttershy you can really flesh out too. Anyway, just a suggestion, bring on the hate and down votes. I would be surprised if anyone agrees with me, it is really hard to articulate and identify why I feel this way and what I want you to do without sounding like a critic. Good luck, and I am glad you are back.
Good story keep it up
7751617
TD who else.
I think you mean ever
Let's see here
This
And
This
first welcome back Kaidan.
ok this chapter is really good.
Celestia has given Dawn so much to think about and helped her / him to revel if only to him her self at this point feeling that really need to be talked about to Dash and Fluttershy how Dawn handles this is going to be vary interesting.
7751800
Short answer, yes.
Just reread all the stories in one sitting, made me remember why I love these stories.
Love this story. I'm not feeling the romancing with fluttershy though. Dawn and Dash have just been through so much. Still a good read though.
*GASP* It's alive!
Yay update
As for the story itself, I have to unfortunately agree with Kaidan. Right now it is very hard to see where it can go further from now and here.
Eeeeee..... Just throw changelings into in and you will be fine. Large black pony-shaped bugs fix everything.
Ave regina Chrysalis
Mother of the HIve
Missing comma.
This "one" is unneeded.
This is the wrong "led". This is the lead for pencils and poisonous metals. Or the "you can lead a horse to water" long e sound lead.
This quotation mark is in the wrong spot, after "her" instead of before "that's".
Missing comma.
Is that what was in those meat pies you fed me?
I am glad to see you come back. You updated a couple stories I follow. I read this one first because I am a little afraid to read the other one. But I am going to read that one next.
Thank you for updating this.
~KBO.
ALIVE!
ALIVE I SAY!
ALIVE!!!!
"Finally!"
Although I still want Luna to offer to adopt her.
Omake: The not so distant future.
What started as a dream come true ended with me being tortured, raped and pregnant. Granted a lot more stuff than that happened but whatever.
It was so nice from the Princesses to sent Soarin to Tartarus instead of normal jail. Granted that's not the official story, but considering that maniac was a Wonderbolt and he could have easily end killing Rainbow Dash or something...
Yeah, the bastard can stay there for a while.
Now that the trial is finally over with, I have to keep going to therapy to figure what I will do with my life and... so I don't blame my baby or something stupid like that.
And to prepare for something I never thought I would never have to do since I was born male.
Being a mother.
There is also... Luna offer to consider. She basically made my body... so... tegnicaly she is my mother.
Lady Dawn, uh? I have to talk this with the others. I can't be given the title of Princess because it would get damn confusing, but I would have the same political power and influence Prince Blueblood has.
That's if I accept. It would be way easier for me and my future baby to just live in Ponyville instead on Canterlot. So I want to say no, but what does Fluttershy wants? How would Luna feel? What would give my child the best future?
There is also the fact that my body is basically a magical construct, having Luna close by would be useful in case something goes wrong. Or goes wrong with my... with me and Fluttershy baby.
But I don't want a song and dance with Rarity making a lady out of me! Sadly, being a future parent and a wife means that I can't just do what I want.
You know what? I will try to get Rainbow Dash to name her baby Enchantra, if its a girl, just to see what happens. She lost that poker game we had a few weeks ago anyway.
Nice to see you updating Kaiden, it's been too long
The story is showing things getting better and from this point soarin is pretty much done for, Dawn is starting to lead a good life despite some emotional issues. The story is pretty much a happy ending already without even making it to the end. It would be predictable and less enjoyable if it did end happy. That being said adding a final conflict to fuck dawn up one more time could end the story on a more sad or not-so -good ending, nobody would expect, as well as open up for a fourth installment in the series. Parhaps soarin excapes jail? Or maybe Dawn miscarries, or somepony close to him dies unexpectedly? Just some ideas and input.
7752476
thank you!
7751637
I felt the same way re-reading them, it's obvious when I didn't plan out the chapters well enough and either rushed or improvised sections. It was at the tail end of my writing at the time too so I was in a hurry to be done with ponies in general, now would be a good time to maybe polish some of the older stuff.
7751800 7751843
Yep a mare until someone can figure out how to turn him back into a stallion without killing his baby (or maybe they can abort it, have a cockatrice stone it, and keep it as a trophy?)
7751992
rereading them all reminded me why I loved the first one so much. If only all my stories/sequels were that focused and polished and well-planned.
7755300
Yeah, considering the last story was supposed to be an easy-going slice of life, this is a super-delayed chance to actually change the stories into slice of life... but there can still be conflict, I just need to slow down the Dawn-abuse.
I forgot about the Bacon Scene! That was awesome~
7756683 I dont think the trains bathroom can handle the both of them dotn they remember what happend last time I remember the smell of death
Oh my gosh I'm so happy to see more of this story
8171769
Don = 0
TD = 568??
I really like this Celestia. A simple nod and he's gone to see Discord. Oh ho ho . That's great.