My Little Dashie: The Return

by Brony MACH

Chapter 4

As always, Twilight Sparkle was hard at work in her library. Being the star pupil of Princess Celestia herself, Twilight charged herself with the mission of finding and gathering knowledge, whether about magic, friendship, history, or mythology. The Ponyville library’s vast collection of books was the perfect place to carry out her quest, and thus she took up residence here.

Twilight walked toward her desk and stared hard at the objects in front of her. Among them included a cardboard shoebox. There were strange markings on the outside and seemed oddly shaped. Then again, this shoebox wasn’t from Ponyville, or Equestria even. The box lay on the corner of the desk, top open, and its contents were spread out across the desktop. Twilight’s eyes perused over the miniature items. Using her magic, she picked up a toy racecar and inspected it closely. She then placed it back into the box and examined what appeared to be a ticket to an event named “Indy 500.” Twilight jotted some notes down and placed the ticket back into the box as well.

knock knock

Twilight dropped a photograph she was looking at and walked toward the library door. “I’m coming!” she shouted. She turned the main lock and slowly inched the door open. Twilight stuck her head out and was greeted by the sight of her blue pegasus friend.

“Hi Rainbow Dash. How may I be of assistance?” Twilight asked.

“Hey, are you busy? I need to talk to you about something.” replied Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, ummm…I’m kind of occupied right now. I’ve been trying to finish up my studies so I can get a head start on next week’s assignment.” said the unicorn as she furtively glanced back at the still open box on her desk.

Rainbow Dash locked eyes with Twilight. “Please,” she said, “It’s very important.”
Twilight stole another glance at her desk and considered the possible risks of letting her friend in. “Alright, just one moment please.” she said as she closed the front door.

Twilight summoned her magic and quickly replaced all the items back into the box. She then ran to her back bookshelf and concealed the box behind the books on the top. After a quick inspection to make sure the box was out of sight, she walked back to the front door to welcome her awaiting friend.

Twilight opened the door wide open. “Please, come in, Rainbow Dash.” she said cordially.

“Thanks.” replied the blue pegasus as she entered the library. The door closed behind her as she and Twilight walked to the middle of the common room.

“So, what’s troubling you?” asked Twilight.

“Well…it’s…ummm…weird. I’m not quite sure what’s wrong myself. Even if I knew, I’m not sure you’d believe me,” she said, stumbling over her words out of nervousness.

“Ah, don’t fret Rainbow Dash. As your friend, I am committed to helping you through your problems. Please, don’t feel afraid to let it all out,” replied Twilight with a smile on her face.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and sighed. “Ok, here it goes…” The mare proceeded to recount the events of the past two days. She explained her experiences during her preparations with the weather team. She explained her unusually realistic dream during the night. She explained the phantom voice that followed her into Sugarcube corner as she helped Pinkie Pie with her duties. She even explained her feelings of confusion and fear as a result of these weird occurrences

By the time Rainbow Dash was done explaining, Twilight had taken several pages of notes. “I see, interesting…” she muttered to herself.
“See? It’s all very crazy. I’m probably imagining the entire thing. Am I going insane?” said Rainbow Dash with a worried tone.

“Nonsense!” Twilight snapped back. “There must be a reasonable explanation for
this.”

“Maybe it’s because of the accident?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Twilight pondered for a moment over her friend’s question. Perhaps the memory spell had abnormal side effects, but Twilight was not willing to face an inconvenient truth.

Twilight scanned the bookshelf to her right. “Nah, it’s been over a week since you recovered, and nothing like this happened earlier,” said Twilight, before eyeing a particular volume. Using her magic, she dragged it in front of her and dusted it off. Pony Psychology: The Essential Readings was written in large gold letters across the cover. “Hmmmmm,” mumbled Twilight as she turned through the pages of the book. “Ah! According to previous studies, your symptoms may be indicative of exposure to extreme cold.”

“But it’s Spring.” said Rainbow Dash with a confused look.

“Or…your symptoms may have been a result of prolonged exposure to high altitudes.” said Twilight as she continued reading through the volume.

“Well, I was up in the sky all day yesterday. But I got over altitude sickness way back in Junior Flight Camp. Besides, I’ve never had altitude sickness for this long.” replied Rainbow Dash skeptically.

“Ummm…Oh! Maybe your symptoms are indicative of a deep passionate desire to find true love.” suggested Twilight.

Rainbow Dash gave Twilight the dirtiest, most scathing look she could conjured up. “Okay then,” said Twilight with a nervous smile as she quickly shut the book. “That’s definitely an inaccurate diagnosis. Rainbow Dash, I really want to help you, but I’m running out of ideas. Are you sure you’ve told me everything? Even tiny details could be of utmost importance.”

Rainbow Dash pondered over her memories once more. “Come to think of it, the voice from the park sounded very much like the voice in the dream and the bakery. It might just be one voice, his voice.” said Rainbow Dash

“Interesting, interesting…anything else?” inquired Twilight.

“Well, there is one more thing, but it really is a small detail. Most of the ponies in Ponyville call me Rainbow, or Rainbow Dash. You guys sometimes call me Dashie, but not extremely often…” began Rainbow Dash. Twilight listened intently and nodded her head. “…but he always calls me Dashie. In fact, he called me ‘my little Dashie’ one time. Nothing big though, just something I thought was extra weird.”

“He calls you Dashie? That’s odd, only people that know you call you Da-“ Twilight stopped midsentence.

All this time, Twilight’s mind had been searching for the solution to Rainbow Dash’s troubles. The unicorn tried to recall any ailments with symptoms as describe by her friend. She desperately tried not to believe that the memory spell had anything to do with Rainbow Dash’s experiences, but that last statement suddenly put everything into context. Twilight’s mouth hung open and her eyes widened as it all came together.

The inconvenient truth hit Twilight like a stack of books. It tore through her mind and left scars of shock all over her brain. Every single muscle in her body tensed a little and a tingly sensation ran down her backside. A single bead of sweat formed on her forehead as she glanced about nervously. Of all the possible explanations for Rainbow Dash’s experiences, only one was plausible.

The memory spell was dying.

“Is there something wrong Twilight?” asked Rainbow Dash with a concerned look. “Have you figured out what’s wrong with me?”

Twilight did her best to regain her composure before facing her friend. “Nothing’s wrong, everything’s A-ok! I just realized that my report on…uh…duck migration patterns is due to Princess Celestia tomorrow, and I haven’t even started!” said Twilight energetically with a frown on her face.

Rainbow Dash became confused by her friend’s sudden mood swing. “Duck migration pat-…?”

“It’s extremely important, and I need to start now. I promise Rainbow Dash that I’ll keep looking for answers to your questions. In the meantime, I really need you to leave so I can get started.” interrupted Twilight, as she started nudging her friend to the open front door.

Rainbow Dash stepped outside and turned around to bid Twilight farewell. “Alright, I’ll see you later. Thanks for-…” The door closed in the pegasus’ face with a slam. Rainbow Dash’s expression turned solemn as she walked away from the library, not quite sure what just happened. She looked up into the sky and saw the sun starting to set in the west. Although she was very dissatisfied with the answers she got from Twilight, Rainbow Dash decided it was best to call it a day. She spread her wings and took off in the direction of her cloud home.

* * *

“Spike! Spike! Spike, where are you???” shouted Twilight Sparkle. The purple unicorn dashed all over the library, looking for her small assistant. She burst into her bedroom, body full of sweat, frantically scanning the room for Spike.

“Spike!” shouted Twilight Sparkle as she ran up to a small basket on the floor, in which a purple baby dragon was sound asleep. “SPIKE, WAKE UP!!” screamed the distraught unicorn.

“Ahh!!...huh, what’s…what’s going on Twilight?” the startled and now awake Spike asked.

“Quickly, take a letter.” said Twilight sternly.

“Wait…right now?”

“Yes, right now!”

“But didn’t we send a report to the Princess just this morning?”

“Yes, but I need you to take a letter!”

“About what?”

“SPIKE, TAKE A LETTER!!!!” screamed Twilight, nearly knocking Spike on his back.

“Okay, okay, I’ll take a letter. Geez, don’t need to be all antagonistic toward me,” retorted Spike as he quickly grabbed a quill, a bottle of ink, and a roll of parchment from a nearby drawer. “What’s so important that it must be sent to the Princess at this very second?”

“This isn’t for the princess.” replied Twilight. “Spike, are you ready?”

“Yep, I’m ready.”

* * *

Once again, Rainbow Dash was extremely tired. Her confidence in her mental health had decreased substantially as a result of the bakery incident and her hopes of finding answers from Twilight had been crushed. Now that it was the end of the day, Rainbow Dash looked forward to sleeping and temporarily forgetting all of her worries. She tucked herself into her comfy cloud bed and closed her eyes, eagerly awaiting her exciting dreams. Those dreams of Wonderbolts, cheering crowds and fast-paced acrobatics never arrived; Rainbow Dash was greeted with quite a different vision:

* * *

Rainbow Dash found herself in a large and spacious room. Judging by the layout of the furniture, she assumed it to be the living room of somebody’s dwelling. In addition, the color of the walls and the floor suggested that it might even belong to the same stallion in the previous dream. There was a couch in the middle of the room, along with several other miscellaneous pieces of furniture. Blankets, magazines, and a couple of brushes were also strewn on the floor.

Rainbow Dash also saw some photographs hanging on the walls. They were fairly small, some only a square foot in size. Half of the pictures looked like they were taken inside the building. Others looked as if they were taken outside in various environments.

The one thing Rainbow Dash noticed about these pictures, however, was that she was in every single one. In some she was smiling peacefully, in others she was making rather funny faces. Rainbow Dash also noticed that another figure appeared on some of the photographs. Its face was extremely difficult to make out, but she could tell that it was not a pony. She carefully examined each photograph, curious as to who took them and for what reason.

Rainbow Dash had little time to process this before a group of familiar ponies appeared in front her. They were her friends; Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, and even the Princess were there.

“Hey, what are you guys doing here?” asked Rainbow Dash with a smile. It probably wasn’t a particularly useful question, since this was just a dream, and these were not her real friends. In any case, the other ponies said nothing. Instead, they gazed at her with sad expressions, some with tears in their eyes. Pinkie Pie in particular seemed ready to break down into sobs. Twilight and the Princess maintained a stone complexion and stared straight forward. “What’s wrong guys?” asked Rainbow Dash with a confused look. It was at that moment that a voice from her side spoke.

“These have been the best years of my life. So, if anything, I feel quite the opposite; I wish to thank you, Twilight, and the rest of you. Thank you, for what you did, though not intentional. Thank you, for all that came out of this. And finally thank you, for all my years, my life, and my love...with Dashie.”

Rainbow Dash gasped. It was not just any voice. It was his voice.

Rainbow Dash quickly turned to her right. Her eyes were greeted by a towering figure, almost twice the height of an average pony. “So he’s the one I’ve been hearing” Rainbow Dash thought to herself. She was taken aback by the odd appearance of this stranger, but proceeded to inspect him closely: this being clearly wasn’t a stallion. He stood up on two rather long legs, and instead of hoofs at the end of each limb he had hands and feet. In this sense, he was very similar to the monkeys that Rainbow Dash saw in the Canterlot circus once. But monkeys don’t wear clothes, and monkeys don’t speak. Rainbow Dash looked up intently at this being. It was difficult to make out his face, but she could see tears dripping down his chin. His hands were shaking, and he sniffled once or twice as he continued to look at the group of ponies across for them. It was then that the Princess spoke.
"No need for thanks, good sir. Instead, I wish to thank you, for taking care of one of my little ponies. She would have never made it without someone much like yourself."

Rainbow Dash got the sense that “one of my little ponies” was in reference to her. “Wait! What do you mean, Princess?” she suddenly asked. The pegasus then turned to the figure on her right. “Who are you? Why have you been following me around?”

Rainbow Dash then turned to the incarnations of her friends. “Girls, what’s going on? Twilight, who is he?” inquired Rainbow Dash frantically. She was more confused now than she had been in the past two days, and her futile attempt to get answers frustrated her greatly. Then again, she realized that she was still dreaming, and that if she herself didn’t know the answers to her questions, they sure wouldn’t appear in her dreams.

Suddenly, a bright light filled the room. Rainbow Dash had to squint to keep her eyes open. Her surroundings faded into white. Her friends and the princess slowly disappeared from view. The figure from her side also started to drift away. Soon, Rainbow Dash was staring into empty white space.

“I love you, my little Dashie.” was the last thing she heard before she woke up.