My Little Dashie: The Aft5rlife

by Rdasher12

Chapter 9: It's a Lot Like Moving

The weather here these last few weeks have been absolutely wonderful, today especially. I have an idea or two regarding why. Maybe the afterlife has its own sort of seasons and this one just so happened to be as lovely as it is? Or possibly the weather reflects the kind of mood that everyone's in?

These are both plausible explanations. It is the afterlife, Equestria's afterlife, after all. Some pretty amazing things can happen in Equestria, so who knows what kind of spectacular things can happen here?

Right now, I'm actually outside enjoying this amazing weather, while also working on preparations for Dashie's arrival. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I might be nearly done! It's surprising, to say the least.

The things I've managed to put together up here would probably be next to impossible to do in Equestria, much less Earth. It's given me a feeling of accomplishment. Then again, I guess that's not saying much when it comes to me, it's not like I accomplished much of anything back on Earth. At least, not until I found Dashie.

Finding her back on my cruel, dark, and horrid world was hands down the most significant thing that'd ever happened to me. Before that, the most that I'd ever accomplished in my life was landing a full-time job at my local Walmart, and last time I checked, that certainly doesn't beat raising a child to adulthood, much less a filly to a mare in a world not even meant to house her.

As much as I love thinking about all of this, it's probably better for me to focus on the task at hand. I need to get as much done with what I can do on my own so it's easy work by the time everypony else gets here.

I guess that leads me to my answer on why the weather's been so nice lately. Along with this weather, has come a lot of woodland creatures.

There are birds chirping, squirrels galavanting, hedgehogs burrowing, caterpillars snacking on leaves, which then turn into what's likely the most important creature here of them all, butterflies. You name it, it's probably around here somewhere.

As I say that, three sets of flapping wings catch my attention and I look up from my thinking to see three butterflies fluttering past. I don't think I've ever seen three together, certainly not three flying in unison. They begin to fly towards something across the plaza.

Well, when I say "plaza", It's really more like a small, flat, grass trimmed field with a circle of hard light brown dirt in the middle. I'm not sure what else you'd expect, there's hardly anyone here at all, so who needs a fancy plaza with our numbers? In time our population will increase and I'm sure we'll make something fantastic out of it, but I think it's alright for now.

I'm getting massively off track. It's a shame they don't have any pills for ADD here. Thinking about my ADD opens up another good question, but I'm only digging a hole for myself at this point, so I'm not going to get into it.

The butterflies descend and land on one of the fold-out tables I've crafted. I look above the table and that's when I figure out not only why three butterflies would be flying in unison, but the weather as well. Her pure presence here must reflect on the whole environment, and frankly, I like it this way. I mean, who wouldn't? It's absolutely stunning!

The pony I was talking about seems to be having a conversation with the butterflies. "Oh, why thank you so much, you adorable darlings! Do you really think that my mane looks lovely in the sunlight today? It's been so long since I've felt this young, I'm not used to it!"

Hearing that gives me a big smile. I too felt so young and energetic for the first few weeks of living here, and I still do, although I've gotten used to it after nearly a year. You just can't beat the feeling you get when you're first here. It's indescribable! I'm glad that Fluttershy gets to be surrounded by her favorite animals, and the environment is similar to Equestria's as well.

I walk over to her and greet her with a grin. "Having a good morning, I see?"

"Oh, it's the greatest! How couldn't it be when I get greeted by the most exotic butterflies I've ever seen?" She continues to gaze wondrously at the butterflies. She's got a point about the whole exotic thing, each one is patterned with its own exuberant colors, pink, blue, green, purple and white all splatter against each butterfly’s wings, without a doubt the coolest looking ones I've ever seen. Not that I keep track of that.

I reply with a jokingly positive tone, "Well, that sounds lovely, Fluttershy. But I think that only happens to you."

The closest that I've ever gotten to being greeted by butterflies was when flies swarmed me as I walked out the door every summer before work. Seldom would I see butterflies going to and from my job, even during the spring months.

I decide to change the subject before she tries to teach me how to talk to animals. As awesome as that would be, it's a lost cause.

"So how was sleeping in the new cottage last night?"

Even though she's been here for nearly three weeks, she's had some trouble adjusting to her new surroundings and spent the first few nights with me and my parents.

I questioned why she would need that much time to adjust, figuring simply because she was Fluttershy. But looking back on it, it's not like I ever slept in an empty house while I've been here. Thinking about doing that doesn't sound too comfortable anyway. So even though I didn't actually say anything, I still feel bad about judging her.

Fluttershy quickly responds to my question, almost as if she had rehearsed it.

"Well, I was a bit restless at first, but after I got comfortable I fell asleep in a flash. A lot like how I came here."

Or at least that's how she described it. Of course, when she first got here and things finally settled down we were rather curious as to how she passed. But that's just it, she doesn’t even know herself. She told us that all she remembered from the experience was lying on her couch reading a book and all of a sudden her eyes flashed and she couldn't see a thing. Next thing she knew, she was here.

Once again, I respond in a joking manner. "So does that mean you fell down and got transported to a completely different world, too?"

It’s a lot like moving to a new home when I think about it. I remember the one time I moved back on Earth. Man, that was a rollercoaster ride of emotions kind of day.

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I believed Dashie was then fully grown. Rounding in at about three feet tall, she had reached full size. She was still only ten years old according to my math, but I figured that she was actually more along the lines of fourteen or fifteen possibly in actual years. She certainly wasn't a newborn when I'd first found her.

So, we celebrated five missed birthdays and officially moving day. That's right, moving day! We moved from my parent's house, thanks to me finally saving up enough money, plus getting lucky at a casino, which wasn't planned in the slightest. We bought a nice house a whole hundred miles away from the city. It had a lot of open land and there wasn't another house within five miles, so it was just me and her.

She could fly around all she wanted, whenever she wanted. She was happy, although she did miss the old park. It was gone at that point, along with anything else left in that area. A large business bought all the land, flattened it, and built a large factory there. It was an amazing boom to the economy, and people started building homes again! I was glad, but... it just wasn't for us. That amount of people would've hindered her going outside, and I wasn't going to force her to stay inside all day unless it was raining out.

I'd also gotten a new job at a bank, it paid much more than my old one did. From then on, I wouldn’t have to worry about just barely scraping by. Everyone has to keep some sort of budget, but I could be much more lenient with my new job.

I was going to miss my old home. The home that I'd lived in from birth all the way to thirty-two. But I was positive that the move was the best choice that I could've made at the time. It gave both of us a well deserved fresh start.

Getting to the new home was quite an enjoyable experience for Dashie. It was her first time ever riding in a vehicle! I never had one of my own. The only one my family had got destroyed in the crash. It sucked, but it's not like I ever needed it. It was only a twenty-minute walk to work every morning.

Don't forget, walking had become a second life to me. Even with the depressing scenery, walking helped me to look past all of that and see the true beauty of my surroundings. Thinking about it now, I realize that if I didn’t walk during the majority of my free time then I never would’ve found Dashie, and that makes it all worth it.

Anyway, she had to hide on top of a cloud over my house while one of my only friends helped me get the boxes into the UHAUL. It was pretty hard making sure that he didn't happen to pick up any of Dashie's boxes. That would've been a tough one to try and explain, so I made sure to put them all in the back so he wouldn't notice them as much. Fortunately, it worked. I said my thanks, gave him a goodbye hug, and that was the last time I ever saw him.

Dashie then came down from the cloud as soon as he was out of sight. "Can we go now?! I wanna get in the truck"

She then energetically hoofed the passenger door of the UHAUL, basically demanding that we get going. It didn’t bother me one bit, I expected that to happen. After all the racing she watched, of course she was going to want to get to experience the feeling of being in one for herself.

I even contemplated letting her try driving in an empty lot somewhere, but I decided against it. There was no telling how that could've turned out. As awesome as she was I didn't think her hooves would be very good at driving much of anything, much less a truck.

Not wanting her to accidentally damage the door in all of her excitement, I quickly replied. "Alright, Dashie! Yeah, we can go! Just let me open the door for you, silly!"

I quickly grabbed the door handle and swung open the passenger side. Dashie eagerly jumped in and I closed it behind her. I jogged around to the driver's side of the truck and opened the door, basically vaulting myself inside.

Somehow, Dashie had managed to get the seatbelt on all by herself. We had practiced it a few times, but I was still surprised she could do it. I wanted to make her more self-reliant, even with things you wouldn't expect her to be able to do without help. I'd say she did a pretty good job and I was proud of her, to say the least.

"Well, it looks like you're ready to go, then!" Who was I kidding? Of course, she was ready to go. She nodded vigorously and I took that as a sign to head out. So, with a crank of my wrist, I brought the car to life. I then put it into drive and off we went.

The whole way she was nothing but smiles. I had her keep her head low and made sure to stay in the right lane at all times to avoid anyone seeing her from the same side. But even with the precautions, she was loving every bit of the trip! That was the first time that she'd seen the open road. And it'd been quite a few years myself.

Her pure joy eventually got to me and soon we were both filled with happiness, her because of the new views and experiences, and me simply because I got to see my daughter happy. I wasn't much of a parent before all of that'd happened, but I knew that making your kid happy was the ultimate goal. At that point, I was passing that test with flying colors.

We eventually arrived at our new home in the middle of nowhere. Dashie helped me get the boxes out, but it still took the rest of that day and we were absolutely exhausted by the time we finished. We almost had to sleep on the floor, but I managed to slide a couch into our future living room.

I picked her up and laid her down on the couch. I then rummaged through a few boxes and eventually stumbled upon a comforter. Bringing it over to the couch, I sat next to her sleepy body and covered her up.

A few moments passed and I was about to doze off to sleep as well, but then I heard her voice.

"Goodnight, Daddy. I love you." My heart exploded, twice. It'd been a few months since she had last called me "Daddy". Usually, it was simply "Dad" or "Pops". She even added in "I love you."

The first time this happened on her birthday six years ago, I nearly freaked out because I didn't know what to do. But this time around I was quicker to react.

"Goodnight, my little Dashie. I love you, too." With that, I bent over and kissed her on the forehead, and we both dozed off into sweet dreams.

I still couldn't believe that I had her for ten years at that point. My God, time went so fast... I wished that it would slow down, so that I could've had more time with her. I didn't know when, but I had the sudden feeling that our time together was running out. All of it had been too good to be true.

----------

I slowly come back to what’s actually happening. Although, to be honest, reliving that old memory made me happier than I've been in a while. I wouldn't mind not coming to for a while, but it was no use as I felt a strong breeze that shook me straight out of it.

All of the animals surrounding Fluttershy and most likely talking to her notice this breeze as well. They perk up and scatter towards the trees.

Startled, Fluttershy turns to the fleeing animals in confusion, "Wait. Why are all of you running off so soon?"

As swiftly as the breeze came through it turned into a steady wind. In the back of my mind, I have a pretty good idea as to what's going on, as much as I hate to think about it. I hope with all of my heart that I'm wrong, but unfortunately for me, seldom is my gut feeling ever wrong about anything.

Instead of waiting for the wind to pick up, I swiftly gather all of my tools and stuff them under a tarp that was tied down so that nothing could get blown away.

"Fluttershy, I think we should head back home before the wind gets any worse. I hate to say it, but I think I know what's going on.”

As I start the short trek home, Fluttershy is soon following. "Well, if you don't mind me asking. Whatis going on?"

I don't want to tell her in a way that might frighten her, so I come up with a better way of putting it. "Let's just say we might have a new pony moving into the neighborhood.”

She looks at me quizzically, but eventually catches on.

There isn't another word said as we walk to the house. The wind didn't pick up at all like it had last time. But we go inside the house just to be safe.

Several minutes pass before the wind dies down enough to go outside. I question if what I think is going on is really happening or not, but what else could it possibly be? There's never been any more wind than a slight breeze here. At least not until Fluttershy showed up.

A few more minutes later and I'm wanting to go look around to see if I can confirm my suspicions. I half-jog my way around the plaza, expecting to see a random pony that I may or may not have ever seen before. Either way, I’d be in for a depressing day. I'd have to go through hearing the story of their entire life and how they passed, and that's never something you want to hear.

More than anything I just hope it's nopony that I'm close to. Not Dashie, nor any of her friends. I may sound selfish when I say that I don't want them here because I'm not done with preparations yet. But I'm really just trying to lighten the mood before it inevitably gets dreary.

What I see coming out of the much larger portal with an incredible mix of colors surprises, confuses, and saddens me all in one brutal hit. My eyes go narrow as I stare at not just one, but four different ponies in the distance. I honestly don't think that I'm right in the mind at this point. I can't believe my eyes.

Author's Note:

Hey, guys. So, if any of you were confused on what happened at the end of the last chapter (which I'm sure some of you were) this more or less gives you your answer. Unfortunately, this will be the only chapter I get out during my spring break. I'm not sure who's on it and who's not or if you're even still in school. But I can say a Happy Easter to everyone.

P.S. Happy 4 years 7 months to the MLD timeline (April 17th, 2017). Time goes by... so fast. I just wish it would slow down.

Rdasher12

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

7987919 A self-insert story is when you put yourself in a story with you as the main character. Is there going to be a sixth story?

[Rdasher12]

8100635 Oh sorry, didn't know that.

And no way XD. And that's simply because by the end of this one the span of these 5 stories starts with Dashie being a 5 year old filly, and I'm sure you can figure out where she'll be in the end of this one. This story itself is kind of milking it a bit too much, but I enjoy doing it. Anything beyond this would be overkill. There really wouldn't be any interesting plot left to explore. The most I'd expect is a few short stories taking place in the Afterlife.