By One's Own Merit

by SolvableSphinx

Chapter 3: Present

Dear Princess Celestia,

It appears as though, as usual, your mastery of understatement far exceeds my own. You stuff a settlement full of criminals, exiled nobility, war profiteers, and vigilantes and dare to simply call it ‘politically sensitive’?

Rainbow Spectrum is perhaps the most glaring example. You’ve taken one of the most notorious villainesses of our day, a mare who’s whole purpose in life was to turn the proper social order on its head by any means necessary, and not only give her refuge, but a job as a weather mare? And then stuck her alongside her archnemisis and one of the most controversial solicitors in Equestrian history?

And with what you did to these ponies? Memory magic was never meant to be used that way. This is clearly an abuse of power, and the masses would want ponies hung if they ever found out.

Baroness Morning Star, MP, etc.

0.0

The basement room was just one of many, if the doors leading from it were any indication. And, like so many basements, it was filled with items that it’s owner had no immediate use for, but which were considered too valuable to get rid of. Most of it was in boxes, labeled with such exciting titles as ‘Tax returns 997 ACE’, ‘Environmental Impact Studies’, and ‘Research Evaluates’, and so on. A few even had such scandalous names as ‘Employee Peer Review No. 245’.

These things were not of interest to Rainbow Dash, however. Instead she stared at a newspaper, preserved behind glass and hung up on a wall. She was an awkward mare in those days, on the verge of being a fully grown adult in body as well as in mind. She was hugging Rarity, who was similarly dressed and happy though not quite as enthusiastic. Derpy stood to the side, looking plain compared to the other two. Above them was a banner which read “Spectrum Industries”, and around them various serious looking ponies caught up in the serious business of celebration.

“Do you remember now?” Rarity asked.

“Not everything,” Rainbow Dash replied. “I remember when I was just Rainbow. Helping you rule over a village. Discovering the joys of SCIENCE… Derpy…”

“So not everything afterwards?” Rarity asked.

“A little bit,” Rainbow Dash replied, staring at the picture. “What happened to me?”

“You became… well…” Rarity said, giggling a little as she tried to step around the subject.

“You were Rainbow Spectrum, the evil CEO of Spectrum Industries and achnemesis of Supermare?” Sweetie Belle asked, wide eyed. Rainbow Dash stared at her, unsure of what to say to that particular revelation. “That’s amazing! You made so many cool things!”

“I guess I did,” Rainbow Dash replied, still unsure, as Sweetie Belle continued to rummage through the stored items around them. “Rarity…”

“You’re breaking through a lot magic and chemicals. Worst of all, what I just did can get us all into a lot of trouble,” Rarity said, biting her lip a little bit, eyes crossing as she thought about it. Her countenance then suddenly brightened, as though she had a great revelation. “Unless I activate the ‘health and wellness’ subclause. Yes, I might be able to build up case where…”

“Rarity, what happened to my hair?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Rarity was caught off guard, her face reddening through her white fur in obvious embarrassment. “Oh, well, um… I might have been… dyingandbrushingitwhileyouwereasleep.”

Rainbow Dash stared at her friend, open mouthed, only capable of uttering a single word. “What?”

“But I had prior consent,” Rarity said with a bright, innocent smile. “The rainbow mane was your idea, after all.”

“This isn’t natural?!” Rainbow Dash said, shocked.

“Yes, Rainbow Dash. Your mane, which was previously white, being a rainbow color is indeed not natural,” Rarity deadpanned.

“Holy crap we’re rich!” Sweetie Belle screamed in joy, drawing a look of ire from Rarity.

“LANGUAGE!” Rarity yelled, trotting over to where the young filly was. She was nose deep in a ledger book.

“But it says here, ‘evil lawyer’,” Sweetie Belle began. “That means we’re loaded, right?”

Rarity sighed. “Sweetie Belle, that was the cost for hiring an evil lawyer. I never passed the Equestrian bar exam, so I’m not a lawyer.”

“What were you?” Sweetie Belle asked, genuinely confused.

“The Evil Consultant,” Rarity replied, with more than a little pride. This prompted confused looks from both Sweetie Belle and Rainbow Dash, which sent her on the defensive.. “It was good money! And those villains just looked so dreadful in those capes and spandex.”

“Evil consultant? Seriously? I don’t remember that,” Rainbow Dash said. “I thought we were autocrats.“

“We were until we abdicated,” Rarity said, sighing. “Now those days are long gone. As are our glamerous lives in Manehatten.”

“What happened?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“You got into a fight with Applejack, and destroyed half the city with your giant walker and her superpowers,” Rarity began. “You probably don’t remember it, but it got so bad that Princess Celestia personally intervened. She then gave you an ultimatum: Rainbow Spectrum must die for her crimes.”

Rainbow Dash was shocked by that last little revelation. Shocked and angry. “She was going to kill me?!”

“If she truly wanted to kill you, she would have done so,” Rarity said, trying to keep the mare across from her from getting more outraged then she already was. “One does not simply say no to a living goddess, Rainbow. Especially when she has a point. You were far too destructive, Rainbow. Your final battle left a lot of ponies hurt, a few dead even. Your anti-monarchist politics made enemies of the House of Lords, and the people turned against you. You couldn’t be left alive. But Princess Celestia was lothed to kill you.”

Sweetie Belle was the one to hold up a newspaper. ‘MAD MARES RAMPAGE ACROSS MANHATTEN, DOZENS DEAD’ read the headline.

“You elected to become somepony else. Princess Celestia offered to perform a memory spell, and you consented to it. You designed your own backstory, adopted your mother’s name, and commissioned the medicine you were taking. The Princess even gave you job as a weathermare to keep you afloat after your company was nationalized and dismantled.

“And yet here you are. In my bunker, hearing everything. So, what are you going to do?” Rarity asked.

“I… I don’t know…” Rainbow Dash replied, now more than a little depressed. She began to walk out of the basement.

“Rainbow,” Rarity called out after her.

“I just need time to think, okay,” Rainbow Dash replied sullenly. “I’m going for a walk.”

It was an awkward few moments as she made her way up the stairs. Only after she left did Sweetie Belle ask an innocent question in a hushed tone of voice.

“So… does she know about the giant robot in the huge empty room?”

Twilight looked outside her window, seeing a depressed Rainbow Dash walking by.

“Spike, I’m worried about Rainbow Dash. She’s just been so… so…”

“So Twilight?” Spike interjected helpfully, turning in his small bed.

“Out of character,” Twilight replied, doing her best not to give the baby dragon a glare. “This is kind of a friendship problem. Maybe I should write to the Princess about it?”

“Twilight, give it a rest,” Spike said. “Maybe more importantly, give me a rest.”

“Spike,” Twilight began, getting ready to explain why she was right and he was wrong. Only this time the baby dragon was already fully asleep. With a frown, she walked over to the place where Rainbow Dash was sitting, using her magic to levitate the book before her.

She could begin to understand the equations, but what they implied was what sent her head spinning. Light being both a wave and a particle? It was utter nonsense. Not just utter nonsense, utterly useless nonsense. Physicists were always like that, studying esoteric questions that were the equivalent to “how many angels could dance on the tip of a needle”, when much more useful magic and alchemy were just sitting right there for them to learn and study.

In fact, she was pretty sure that if there was a use, Derpy wouldn’t be a mail mare. The mare was her peer, but often times seemed so much older, and content to serve others in some abstract way. Just as Twilight’s thoughts wandered over to Derpy, Derpy wandered into her library.

“Hi Twilight,” Derpy said as she walked in.

“Hi Derpy. What can I help you with?” Twilight asked.

“I was wondering if you got the new optics book in. I’m wanting to check my theory so that when I grind my telescope’s mirrors I don’t…” Derpy’s good eye noticed the book laying on the floor, which darkened her countenance. “Twilight, why is a valuable book on the floor?”

“What? Oh, that,” Twilight said, using her magic to pick it up. “Rainbow Dash was here. She was acting very strange too. One moment she was wanting science books, and the next she was yelling to Rarity about remembering things.”

“Wait… this Is our Rainbow Dash right? As in, normal Rainbow Dash came in here to read about science, and not some Rainbow Dash shaped changeling that didn’t get all of her behaviors right?” Derpy asked, her scowl turning into hopeful joy.

“I think so?” Twilight said with uncertainty.

“What did she think of my book?!” Derpy asked, suddenly standing nose to nose with Twilight, face filled with joy and wings outstreached.

“She said it was light reading,” Twilight replied. Derpy then squeed in joy, now bouncing around the library like a foal on Heart’s Warming Eve.

“She’s back she’s back she’s back she’s back,” Derpy said, over and over again.

“Who’s back?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Mistress!” Derpy replied with glee. She then gasped, as though she realized something. “I gotta find her before her genius leads her to science and other minions!”

She then tried to fly out of the library, only to hit into a well polished pane of clear glass. Twilight sighed, opening the door for the confused mail mare, which she promptly flew out of.

“Minions, huh?” Twilight said quietly, looking thoughtfully at Spike. She then shrugged. “Never saw the appeal.”

Rainbow Dash quickly found out that although she felt like she was in the dumps, the world outside was still irritatingly cheerful and sunny. Indeed, everypony seemed to be happy but her, going about with their happy work, their joyful family relationships, and perhaps one or two potentially scandalous dates.

It was then that Rainbow Dash sighed. The clouds above the town were white and fluffy, the best sort to lay around in like a bum. The tree boughs, though hard and sometimes knotty, were cool and shaded. The earth below was soft, the grass offering it’s own unique bed.

But the more Rainbow Dash thought about it, the more she felt restless. It was a peculiarly unpleasant sort of feeling, knowing that you cannot sleep yet desiring to do so. It was in this state that she stumbled upon Applejack.

“Well howdy-do there, RD. Why’re ya’ bein’ so down ‘n the dumps today?” Applejack asked, concerned for her friend.

Rainbow Dash looked up at her friend, a dour look on her face. It was unusual, since she was normally so energetic and ready to either sleep or carry out some half brained scheme to turn a normal day into an exercise in awesome.

“Applejack, you used to live in Manehatten, right?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Well yeah, Ah did,” Applejack reply, giving an indifferent shrug. “Didn’ like it too much, though. All tall buildin’s an’ fru-fru city folk. Can hardly tell that the Oranges used t’ be orchard folk. Why ya’ ask?”

“Applejack, did we know each other in Manehatten?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Applejack was quiet then. It was then that Rainbow Dash knew that she caught the orchard tending mare. Rainbow Dash was loyal, to her minions, her employees, her people… all to a fault. But Applejack wasn’t loyal, at least not in any way that would be exceptional for a pony. She was, however, honest.

So when she grimaced, Rainbow Dash knew exactly what sort of relationship they had now.

“You’re in on the conspiracy, aren’t ya?” Rainbow Dash accused.

“Ah haven’t lied ‘bout anything yet,” Applejack replied, not lying, but clearly trying to dance around the truth.

“So, are you a conspirator, or are you a victim?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Ah’m one of the orchard folk. Was raised that way. We don’t go ‘round thinkin’ ourselves as victims, or th’ opprosed prolitariate, or any other way ‘sides maybe temporarily embarrassed rich folk. Stars above we live a rich ‘nough life already,” Applejack said.

“You aren’t telling me the truth!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“Ah’m tellin’ you the exact truth. Ah ain’t anything special. Least not anymore. Ah can work and live and love without worryin’ ‘bout if Ah buck too hard or if mah hugs end up crackin’ ribs. An’ Ah would honestly prefer t’ keep it that way. Ah ain’t special no more, and Ah have you, specifically you Rainbow Dash, t’ thank for that,” Applejack replied, not quite at a yell, but clearly on the verge of a rant.

It was at that point that Derpy came flying out of the sky, tackle-hugging Rainbow Dash.

“Mistress! You’re here! You’re back! You’ve really come back, just like you said you would! I never had any doubts, none at all!” Derpy replied, as she held Rainbow Dash in a bear hug that was clearly beginning to crush the life out of her.

“Damn it… minion… need… air… breathe…” Rainbow Dash struggled to say, before Derpy realized what was going on and let Rainbow Dash go. There was a brief moment, when their eyes met…

They weren’t sisters. They were not friends. They certainly weren’t lovers, though their relationship was certainly as intement without the physical and frankly disease prone process. It was an intellectual and emotional relationship of a purely platonic nature. They were two highly dysfunctional beings, each with gifts in the extremes, that complimented each other.

At the end of the day, Spike would grow up and leave, and Twilight would be okay with it. But Derpy and Rainbow Dash could never leave each other. Because Rainbow Dash was still Rainbow, scientist, eccentric genius, potentially mad mare, and charismatic mistress. And Derpy was the minion, loyal to a fault, highly intelligent, not as creative but certainly less manic and tied to the ground. It was a strange sort of codependence, and that really was all there was to comfortably say on the matter.

There was an awkward moment of silence, as mad scientist and minion realized what their antics might bring upon them. They looked towards Applejack, staring at her with confusion and a little fear. The orange mare sighed, a most common form of expression this day it seemed.

“Well, can’t say I didn’t see this happenin’ eventually,” Applejack said.

“You’re not… mad… are you?” Rainbow Dash asked cautiously.

“That’ll be dependin’ on what you’re plannin’. ‘Sides, it’s not like I’m half the mare I used to be. Or a quarter. Or an eight…”

It appeared as though Applejack was having her own problems. Rainbow Dash looked at Derpy, and the mailmare dutifully got off of her mistress. Rainbow Dash walked over to Applejack, placing a foreleg across her shoulders.

“We’re friends, right?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Depends on who ya’ are right now,” Appleack said. “Ya’ ain’t in the madness place… YET.”

“Because of Rainbow Spectrum,” Rainbow Dash asked, getting a nod. “I’m not sure I’m her anymore.”

“So then you’re still Rainbow Dash,” Applejack said, a little hopefully.

“I’m… not sure about that either,” Rainbow Dash said. “At least… I’m not sure if I’m going to be the same Rainbow Dash. A lot of things have happened, right? I’m still coming off the drugs and spells.”

“And there may be permanent brain damage,” Derpy added, prompting a stare from the other two. “What? I keep up with things.”

“What things?” Applejack asked, suspiciously.

“Depends,” Derpy replied without any particular commitment.

“Derpy, I just have one question. And it’s a very important one,” Rainbow Dash began. “Are there any other scientists in Ponyville? Is Applejack one of them? Rarity said we got into a fight back in Manehatten and everything, so…”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! I ain’t one of ya’ll science types. Ya’ll be too busy t’ dissect me for that,” Applejack replied, backing up more than a little bit. As if ready to run.

“Tell her about Miss Manos,” Derpy demanded, suddenly.

“Wait, who?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Miss Manos. She’s got a minion too and everything,” Derpy said with a wide grin. He clapped her hooves as she sat on the ground. “Tell us that story please. It would explain a lot about the ponies around here, and you.”

“Ah don’t know,” Applejack said, clearly nervious. “Ah mean, we could get into a lot of trouble for it.”

“Rarity said something about being in trouble for remembering it,” Rainbow Dash said.

Applejack looked between the two, Derpy looking like a foal being read a story, and Rainbow Dash looking confused. She then gave a sighed.

“Ahm ‘fraid a can’t,” she said, immediately seeing their disappointment. Applejack turned around and began to trot away.

“Hold on,” Rainbow Dash said, taking to the sky and heading Applejack off on the ground.

“Rainbow Dash, Rainbow… you’re mah friend. But ya’ ain’t family, an’ Ahm not gettin’ mah kin folk in trouble on your account, ‘specially not Mac or Applebloom,” Applejack replied.

Rainbow Dash leaned forward, almost whispering in Applejack’s ear. “They got your family? They’re threatening them? I have a very particular set of talents… I can help you. You don’t need to do this alone.”

“It ain’t like that, RD, it’s…” Applejack began, before noticing the look on Rainbow Dash face. As though she was ready to go to the ends of the Earth, through Tatarus and back, all with little more then the wings on her back and grim determination to get through for her friend’s sake.

“It’s not like that,” Applejack said, a little too quickly.

“Are you sure?” Rainbow Dash asked, pressing on.

“… if Ah tell ya’ the story, will ya’ back off?” Applejack asked.

“I promise,” Rainbow Dash replied.

Applejack nodded a little. “Alright. Well, it started off like this…”

Author's Note:

I'll be doing minor editing when I'm not so tired. This story also now has a Space Battles thread. It's not a full return to Space Battles, just going in to update my stories and such.

SpaceBattles thread: [MLP:FiM] By One's Own Merit

Comments

[StormtrooperSteven1]

:D

[TheSkaBouncer]

This is getting good!
I wonder who this Miss Manos persona is...

[FanOfMostEverything]

So, Manos...
The Hooves of Fate?

Well, this certainly helps the previous chapter make more sense. Dash was pony Lex Luthor? Very cool. How did they disempower AJ? How much has Derpy saved from the bad old days? So many questions...

Looking forward to more.