My Little Dashie - Just Once More

by Lyra_H_Strings

The Years...

Author's Note:

My first story on Fimfiction! I hope you enjoy it, and a special thanks to RobCakeran53 for creating such a great story!

It had been five years since my little Dashie departed this world, and went back to hers. Every day I wondered how she was doing, if she even remembered me. I knew the drastic time difference between our two worlds; 1 day to her was an entire year to me, and 1 year to her was… 365 to me. If either of us was going to forget the other, it would be me.

I knew I would never forget, though. And she never would, or would she? Could I trust Celestia? Or even Twilight? They didn't have a reason to leave my memories intact, but yet they did. They let me keep my scrapbook, let me keep Dashie’s note, even the pictures.

I had human friends, now, both in the real world, and contacts on the Internet. I had only told one other person about Dashie, and the others. My wife, Jasmine . She was also a My Little Pony fan, and she watched it when it first came out.

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We had met each other not shortly after Dashie left. I hadn't gone outside for a week, essentially having lost my daughter, the love of my life. I moped around in my country house, eating, sleeping. I considered watching the new My Little Pony, but I had heard it wasn't like it used to be.

But one night, I decided to try and get over it. I did something I hadn't done in a while.

I took a walk.

After cleaning myself up, eating a bowl of cereal, and putting some comfortable clothes on, I set out on my walk, locking the door behind me.

As usual, I wasn't walking anywhere in particular, just simply walking. I walked in the general direction of the city, not caring about the 100 mile distance. I walked for what felt like hours, along the side of the dead road, until I came to a crossroads. On the other side of the crossing road, my road continued, stretching on and on for miles.

Directly in front of me was a highway, with cars filled with people, who all had their own ambitions, their own goals.

To the west, I could see the lights of the city glistening off of the clouds, the pollution hanging heavy over it. The sunset was pretty, though. Vibrant reds, oranges, and pinks. The setting of the sun almost brought a smile to my face, almost thinking of Princess Luna getting ready to take over from her older sister, and let the darkness of night sweep over the land. The cold, beautiful night.

Then, I came to my senses, and recalled my schooling. About how, in our world, the Sun and Moon rise and set on their own, how the Sun is just a star, and the Moon just a natural satellite orbiting Earth. A sigh of disappointment escapes my lips, and I make the choice to walk towards the city.

I didn't notice the car that pulled off the road, and drove up behind me. Maybe I did, and my mind rejected the thought of anyone trying to help me.

“Hey, mister, you need a ride?” a woman’s voice calls out. I kept walking.

“Hey, guy! You alright?” she repeats. “You want some help?”

My mind finally registered her kind words, and made me stop walking.
I turned around, surprised that someone would help me. This restored my faith in the world, but, more importantly, in the people who live in it. Sure, most of them were corrupt, greedy, and jerks, but maybe I hadn't been looking hard enough.

“Yeah, actually. I do need a ride. Back to my home.” I say, not sure where home was anymore.

“Do you live in the city?” she asks.

“No.” I reply. “I live in the country, but that’s not where home is.”

“Hey, you okay?” she says, concerned.

“I… recently lost someone.” I reply, getting in the passenger seat of her truck, and closing the door. The truck was clean as you could get it, and it smelled faintly of jasmine.

“Oh, I'm sorry for your loss. Pardon me for asking, but who was it? Daughter?” she says curiously.

“Daughter. I called her Dashie.” I said softly, almost choking up on the last word.

“I understand how hard it is to lose someone you love. I, too, recently suffered the death of a loved one. My mother. Her name was Michelle.” She, too, holds back a sob.

“Are you a married man?” she asks innocently, but with a hint of hesitation in her voice.

“No. I know what you're thinking, ‘How could this man have a daughter if he never married?’ It's complicated, if you want to know.” I reply, unsure of her intentions with the question. Was she trying to hit on me? Was she disapproving at my having… procreated without first being married? Either way, I was over-analyzing which, being locked in a house where the only thing I ever did was sit and think, had apparently become a habit.

“You want to go to my place and try to cheer each other up?” I venture.

“Sure. Where is your house, though?” she asks, starting up her truck, and driving it to the edge of the highway, right in front of a crossover road.

“Eastbound, until you reach the part where it degrades into only two lanes. There's a dirt road, County Road 43. Turn left, and keep going for about 20 miles until you see the house with the…” Trampoline. My voice falters, remembering how Dash loved to bounce off of the trampoline to get some extra height for her takeoff.

“... blue trampoline. There's an apple tree out front.” I directed her, as she had already started to follow the instructions I gave out.

“So, since we’re obviously going to be great friends, we should probably do introductions properly. Hi, my name is Jasmine. What's yours?” she says, sticking out her right hand in a handshake.

“Jake. Haha, friendship is like magic, right? Barely know a person one moment, and now we know each other’s names.” I chuckle, and take her hand and shake it gently, not wanting to upset her driving. I didn't even realize what I had just said until she broke out into laughter. Her laugh almost reminded me of Dashie’s, short and sweet, a laugh that my face couldn't help smiling to.

“You’re a brony?” she asks, finally realizing my secret.

“Yeah, I loved the show. Don’t you think the new episodes are kind of lacking, though? They don't have the same character as the old seasons used to have.”

“Yeah, I have the same opinion. Luckily, I have seasons 1 through 5 stored on my laptop behind your seat, there.” she says, waving her hand.

“Wow, never knew we had so much in common. You know, I'm glad it was you who picked me up, and not some old guy, who's car smells like beer and old cigarettes, or something like that. We are going to be good friends.” I say, leaning back in the seat, confident I had dragged myself out of a depression phase. 13 years ago, I would've kept on walking. Now, it's a different story.

After she took me home that night, we watched half of season 1 of My Little Pony together, after hooking up her laptop to my TV. We ate dinner, I cooked a chicken and cheese casserole, with a side of steamed green beans. I gave her the grand tour of my house, the 2 bathrooms, living room, combination dining room, small-ish kitchen, the master bedroom, and-

“Was this your daughter’s room?” she inquired.

“Yeah. She loved racing, and planes. I took her posters down, though. Anything that reminded me of her. Bedsheets… put white ones in instead of her NASCAR ones. The room had a single bed, with plain white sheets, and a big brown blanket. The pillows were simple. White, with solid cloth. A window took up most of the eastern wall, with blinds that were closed, covering it up.

“She would use that as her alarm clock. When the Sun hit her eyes in the morning, it woke her right up.”

A small bedside table with a table lamp, currently off, stood by the bed. The western wall was entirely covered in bookshelves, with books of all kinds adorning the shelves. Mostly adventure stories, and books about flight.

“That... girl loved to read. You're welcome to read the books if you wish.” I say, the words just coming out. My mind had gotten so used to the idea of her being here, it didn't stop to consider what it was about to make me say.

“Moving a bit fast, aren't we?” she says with a smile, and that laugh, again.

“I mean, uh, w-well, that is if you ever want to live here.” I say, stammering. A faint blush came to my face.

“I don't have anywhere else to go, really. The only things I really own right now is what I have in my truck, but even the truck won’t last forever. The payment is due by the end of this month, and I can't scrape together enough money to pay it off. Will you take me in?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-oOo-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, I said yes. She moved in, and she got to keep her truck, when I used some of my funds to pay it off. I got her a place in my job, and we started getting money. Eventually, we had developed our relationship to the point where it was passionate. We decided, after 6 months of being together, that we should get married. So, we did.

Not many people were there, just a few old friends, some relatives I've never even met, and her dad. I had talked to her dad over the phone before, mostly to ask if I had his blessings. (The answer was yes!) But today was the first time we met in person. Jasmine had a lot of friends and relatives, and while they were unsure around me at first, they soon warmed up to me, and pretty soon we were laughing and joking like we had known each other for years.

I tried to imagine what Dash would have thought about this. I would assume she would be happy for me… no. I can't let that thinking go to my head, the horrible power of, “What If?” It only leads you to dark days of regret and sadness. Thoughts of what could have been.

At this point, Jasmine knew my parents had died, they had been murdered when I was 18. Just old enough to have to take full responsibilities, but not ready for the real world. As we said our vows, we came upon the part where it says that we must not withhold secrets from the other, I felt guilty, and realized that I must tell Jas about Rainbow Dash.

“Jake Smith, do you take Jasmine Faust as your loving wife?” the man said.

“I do.” I said, smiling at my Jazzie.

“Jasmine Faust, do you take Jake Smith as your loving husband?” he continued.

“I do.” she said, meeting my gaze as we interlocked our fingers.

“Then you may now kiss the bride, Mr. Smith.”

And so I did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-oOo-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our honeymoon consisted of us taking a road trip across the U.S, from the west coast, all the way to the east coast, planning as we went. If we came across something interesting, we stopped and checked it out. Of course, we had major goals we wanted to get to, such as going to famous cities such as Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, and many others. The whole thing took us the better part of one year, and, after stopping in Washington, D.C, to see the inauguration of the next president, we drove home, finally coming to a rest.

As the garage door was closing, I swept Jasmine off of her feet, and carried her through the door to the kitchen, and set her down on the couch.

“We did it. Best honeymoon ever, am I right, my flower?” I said, hugging her tightly.

“Yep! But I'll tell you, it feels good to finally be back home. Never before have I never been more certain of something; This is home. Because home is where the heart is, and my heart’s with you.” She said, adding her laugh on the end.

“Me too, honey. Me too.” I reply, kissing her.

After we got settled in back at the house, I knew the time had come to tell her. To tell her about my Dashie.
I was going to tell her about the best years of my life with Dash, when she surprised me with the scrapbook.

“I didn't know you were into scrapbooking, we should totally add our cross-country trip in!” she exclaims, sitting on the couch next to me, and opening the scrapbook to reveal the first page. The one with pictures of my mom and dad, and embarrassing baby pictures. I knew exactly what the next pages held.

I placed my hand on the page before she flipped it, and I said, “Don’t.”

“What, are there more baby pictures?” she replied, laughing.

“You might not understand those next few pages. Which is why I'm going to tell you why, so you can. I'm going to tell you about my daughter.” I begin, and she gives me a puzzled look.

“Were you in town the day a large boom was heard, as if someone broke the sound barrier? Many places glass windows were broken, and car alarms set off. I'm pretty sure the news wrote it off as being a jet? There was a beautiful rainbow, remember?”

The sky had lit up with a glistening rainbow, bringing a splash of colour to the drab urban land. A blue streak zoomed down, leaving a trail of rainbow behind it, like some kind of projectile swab of colour.

She nodded. Carefully.

“What else breaks the sound barrier, producing a sonic boom, but also generates a rainbow? Almost like some kind of…” I lead her on.

“Uh…” she looks confused, before recognition spread across her face.

She flipped the page to reveal the pictures of my Dashie, including the sonic rainboom. A photo of her taking a bath, several photos of me and her together as she grew older. A picture of her as a filly. And one of her racing through the clouds above the drivers, mirroring their movements on her own little cloud race track.

Jasmine stared in disbelief.

“This has to be photoshopped. You're pulling my leg, here. Come on, who was your daughter, really?”

“We're not biologically related, but I took care of her until she was about 18. Found her when she was just a filly, about 5.” I explained.

“But… how… what… 13 years?” she stammers.

“Give or take.” I said, before spilling the beans on everything. About how I always wanted a Rainbow Dash, how I found her, how I raised her, how I taught her to talk, read, and write, how I taught her to fly, how she found out about My Little Pony, and how she ran away for 3 days.

And then came her 18th birthday, when she was taken away from me by the others. About how the Princess erased all evidence of her, except for my memories, and the note in the scrapbook, along with all those pictures. As we read the note together, I think that's when I sold it for her. The note was not something you just make up.

Dad,

For fifteen years you took care of me. For fifteen years you loved me, played with me, and made sure I enjoyed my life in a world not meant to house me. I'm not a mare of many words, but even though I told you this in person, I felt you needed a written version of it so you will know it was all real.

I love you daddy. You helped shape me into the mare I am now. I'm not sure what is going to happen, if I will remember any of this or not, but I want you to know that you did a darn good job of raising me, even if I was a bit stubborn at times and short with you during others.

With Celestia's permission, I hope to allow you to keep our photos; our memories, with you so that you will never forget. Again, I love you, and thank you.

Your little daughter always,
Your little Dashie forever,
Rainbow Dash.

Reading the note again brought tears to my eyes, and my wife’s, too.

She hugged me, and I hugged back, as we read the note together.

“I just wish I had another chance, just one more chance, to hug my little Dashie, to stroke her rainbow coloured mane, to tell her I love her with all of my heart just…

One

More

Time.

Comments

[Fluttershyisbestpony1234]

, and, after stopping in Washington, D.C, to see the inauguration of the next president, we drove home, finally coming to a rest.

Hmm what president is this?