One choice to change the course of somepony’s entire life. Even when memories plague me, history depends on me to determine the outcome. My name is Rainbow Dash, and there is only one path to take whether you choose to take it or not: It’
[Being Revised] [Hiatus]
My name is Rainbow Dash, and all I have left are memories. Memories of my life, my amazing life. After everything I’ve done, I suddenly find myself stuck inside a white room surrounded by endless darkness with no recollection of how I ended up here. There didn’t seem to be any way out, but one day, somepony came with an escape. Of course, there was a catch: I must decide the fate of somepony’s entire life, which undoubtedly may change the course of history.
I never liked closed spaces, always felt they kept me from flying. The vanilla room was nothing spectacular. Don’t get me wrong, I was always fond of white walls -- reminds me of clouds, you see -- but it was the place itself I didn’t like. You see, the room occupied a dark void, and kept my only light source alit. Some may say that the void was the end of all things, swallowing up everything and anything. The lamp on the ceiling was the only reason for the room’s current existence and my survival against the darkness. It was eternal sunlight as if it were Princess Celestia’s sun giving off heat and warmth.
After some time examining my new room, I began exploring. My bed rested against a wall beside a bookcase carrying almost every book known to ponykind. I wouldn't know if it did because I really haven’t taken the time to actually read any of those books. Two doors stood across from the bookcase. They were simple, yet beckoned to me. There could be anything behind those doors. I walked towards them, and stared for quite a while until finally opening the left one. That one led to a pantry stocked with delicious pastries, red apples, glasses and a keg of water. It’d be nice if it was a keg of cider, but eh, you get what you get.
I took a glass and poured myself some water before heading over to the next door. This one led to a restroom. I took a step inside, taking a large gulp of water as I noticed the interior. It was the same color as the main room, but instead it had a toilet, a shower, a sink, and even a mirror to go with it. Everything looked exactly like a cloud, which was fine by me. It made it more like home to be honest.
I walked in front of the sink, staring in the mirror while taking another gulp of water. The mirror looked like any old one. It wasn’t that big, but you could still see all the bookcases in the back. There was just one problem: where was I? I couldn’t see myself in the mirror, only the background. I patted around myself, feeling for my eyes, mane, coat, and hooves. They were all there, which brought up another question. Why didn't I have a reflection?
I stumbled backwards, fighting to keep the water down, and knocked into something behind me. Frightened, I lost my balance and fell forward into the sink. I gasped, and tried to grab onto something, but my head collided with the counter. Darkness and small patches of light surrounded me as I groaned weakly from the pain. I weakly rubbed my head at the point of impact, trying to see how serious the injury was. I felt a cut and looked down at my hoof. There was no blood. Judging by the size of the incision, there definitely should have been, but there wasn’t. I sighed in relief, knowing that no blood leaked out. Wait, no blood? Why wasn't there any blood?
That’s when I discovered something even I would never suggest in my entire life. I didn’t have any blood anymore. But how could I not have blood? Without it, I shouldn’t even be alive... but, here I was. To be sure, I felt my chest, and looked for a heartbeat. There was none.
How could this be? How could I figure this out? Well, there were a bunch books lying about, maybe that could help me. I was never a reader, but when all you have are books, then you might as well deal with it. Each book I read seemed to get progressively worse and worse than the last. Every ten minutes, I’d turn the page and groan in frustration from boredom. Waiting just wasn’t my style and that feeling grew until I finally slammed my head against one of the books. Good thing pegasi have hard heads or I would’ve knocked myself out.
In the end, the time I had spent reading paid off. What I discovered was the entire history of our world -- the beginning and the end -- right in front of me. I would’ve thought it boring a long time ago, but the world’s knowledge was the only thing keeping me going. All that was fine, but nothing in my readings mentioned anything about not having blood.
After some time reading, I began asking myself questions. Why was I even here? Did something happen to me? Where’s everyone else? I had no idea to be honest. I was never the smartest cookie of the group. That title belonged to Twilight Sparkle, a bright unicorn with incredible talent. She became the leader of our group, the town librarian, and one of the bestest friends I’ve ever known. The last time I saw her, she was leaving for Canterlot on an important trip with the Princesses. I can still picture it as if it were yesterday, her once lavender coat now dulled to a grayish-purple, waving goodbye to all five of us on the Ponyville Express. A smile escaped her lips as she shouted words that I will always remember as long as I live:
“Goodbye! I’ll see you girls real soon!”
Every time I thought of those words, my heart felt like a knife had gone straight through it. I didn’t know why... maybe the fact that Twilight probably wasn’t coming back from Canterlot Castle now that she was a princess and all. I wasn’t quite sure, but that didn’t stop me from hoping against all odds for her return. The only problem is how can I hope if I’m stuck in this little prison of mine filled with dictionaries, history books, and novels? It’s like this prison is filled with everything I never bothered with until now.
Even with all that, my readings began getting longer and longer up to the point that I couldn’t tell whether I was losing track of time or not. Months passed like hours, weeks into minute, and days seemingly slipped by in mere seconds. It was just so hard keeping track nowadays, but I was sure I would be able to survive my imprisonment.
My brain began filling up with all sorts of ideas, and wanted to see how I could give them substance and perfect them. It was at this point that I began questioning my sanity since my behavior had slowly started to become more erratic. I think I was losing it... No, I knew I was losing it. The problem was how to keep my mind stabilized now. I took down a few quick solutions from my books and wrote them on the walls, using them as a whiteboard to help me organize myself and stay sane for as long as possible. So far, taking deep breaths seemed to be the most successful strategy. Everything seemed to have a solution, but not all things have a solution you can find.
I continued reading through more books, leaving them in a pile or open in case there was something relevant about my problem. The more I tried, the more it seemed impossible to find. Even after searching for so long, I was starting to lose hope and wondered if I was going to be stuck here like this forever. The mere thought of it all made me consider if I was in a horrible nightmare. It didn’t seem possible, but here I was in some weird place with a book in front of me. All I really wanted was to go back to Ponyville and hang out with my best friends once more.
A single tear slid down my snout, dropping onto the book below me. This was a rare occasion, but I didn’t care. There wasn’t anybody around to see it anyway. I slowly collapsed, my body shuddering and curled into a ball on the floor. I really don’t know long I was lying there, but finally something broke the silence that had been my constant companion.
“Child.”
Startled, I raised my head and took a quick look at my surroundings, searching for the source of the voice. There wasn’t anything around other than the mountain of books and the bed -- The room couldn’t supply me with a comfy cloud. I missed my fluffy cloud back home in Ponyville, and I missed my friends more than I had realized. Tears welled up in my eyes once more as happy memories appeared one after another.
“Child, please stop your crying.”
I looked up, wiping the hot tears from my stinging eyes and looked up at the ceiling. The source seemed to be coming from there; it had to be. There was only one way to find out.
“H-hello? Who’s there? Whoever you are, come out now before I... oh nevermind,” I asked before sulking back onto the wet ground.
“You seemed troubled, my child. Pray tell what bothers you so?” the soothing voice spoke.
Her words brought warmth and seemed to lighten up the room. Something about her voice was familiar, but I couldn’t place where I had heard it before. Whoever this pony was, she was probably in the same situation as I was. Finally, somepony I could talk to. I gently rubbed one of my eyes, still stinging from earlier and cleared my throat.
“I’m all alone in this place. Where is everypony?” I asked, hoping for an answer.
“They are not gone my dear child. Just unable to reach this place by simple means.”
“Simple means? What do you mean by that? Who are you anyway?”
A soft chuckle enveloped the room, echoing off the walls. “That depends on who you think I am. I am known by some as the creation of life, but not everypony calls me that. My more common name is Princess Celestia, but it is also Princess Luna and another that I dare not say.”
My eyes widened, and quickly realized who I was talking to. “Princess Celestia?” I took a small bow, showing respect for royalty.
“Yes, my child. I am part of Celestia and Luna, twin alicorn sisters and rulers of Equestria. As for your other question, this place is unique in its own way and can be accessed only when you reach a certain stage in your life,” she said, both of the Princesses’ voices responding in perfect harmony.
“What stage would that be?” I asked, my curiosity growing.
“That, my child, is the ascendence, or as you ponies call it: Death.”
My mouth dropped open. I was dead?! A shiver went up my spine. How could I be dead? I stood frozen on the spot as sweat dripped from my face. There were so many questions to be asked in so little time. “I-I’m dead?” I sputtered out.
“Why yes child, your death was quite unfortunate, but no matter. You’ve become even greater than your former shell. You are now magic.”
The last word confused me. I knew what ‘magic’ was, but not what she meant by it. I looked down at my hooves, and tared at them as if they weren’t mine. I poked at my hoof, curiously testing out my hypothesis. Everything still felt normal -- Nothing out of the ordinary as far as I could tell. There was no doubt that my appendage was real, and I certainly didn’t feel any different... So how was I magic?
The voice chuckled, drawing my attention back to her. “If you perceive yourself to be real flesh and blood, the magic will reflect that. Over time you can learn to control it. Everypony eventually learns that for themselves,” she spoke calmly.
“Alright, so you’re saying that I’m a magical essence now? Like my spirit or something? Because I really have no idea what you’re talking about.” That was the best explanation I could come up with, but it sounded too far-fetched to believe. Even my head was hurting from thinking about it.
“Precisely,” Princess Luna’s voice replaced Celestia's. “Thou art a magical essence, which thy become after death. As we explained it before, it is ascendance, the last stage in life that all must complete and the most important.”
“Now I’m lost. What do you mean by the last stage in life and what exactly do I have to complete?”
“One question at a time, my child. For your first one, it is basically as I say it is. The final stage, the beginning of the end,” Princess Celestia answered. “As for the second, that is a question I cannot answer. It is something that you must discover for yourself.”
“Myself? How exactly am I supposed to do that? I’m stuck here in this room with nothing else to do other than read books,” I asked, frowning at the books lying in a pile nearby.
“It’s quite simple. You’re going to do your job,” both sisters spoke at the same time.
“My job? Isn’t being the captain of the Wonderbolts a bit awkward for finding an answer?” I asked, remembering the time when I used to dream of being a Wonderbolt. That chance finally came after years of practice and hard work. Then a few more years passed before Spitfire, friend and leader of the Wonderbolts, approached me about becoming the new captain. I must’ve fangasmed a lot because the only thing I remember saying was “Ohmaigosh!” over and over again.
The voice chuckled again, but this time sounded closer than before. I felt a sudden touch on my shoulder. I jumped away and quickly whirled around towards my attacker and crouched close to the ground, ready for a fight. Instead, I found myself face-to-face with a white alicorn, a golden regal crown resting atop her flowing celestial mane. I gasped, jumping up into the air and used my wings to stop myself before I crashed into the floor. It was none other than Princess Celestia herself!
Except it wasn’t her. Her white coat and celestial mane looked remarkably like the Princess’s, but something about it wasn’t quite right. Maybe it was because of the glowing hooves beneath her. “Sorry if I startled you. Just trying to get in form,” the alicorn spoke, looking at herself. “Very nice, it seems that I’ve done an excellent job as always. Unlike Luna’s form, I can’t believe she let herself go after a thousand years being banished on the moon.”
“I wasn’t startled. You just caught me off-guard,” I said quickly, huffing in response.
“Of course,” she said. “Anyway, to answer your question, your job won’t be the Wonderbolt captain because another pegasus will be working that job.”
“Another pegasus?” I asked incredulously. “What other pegasus could possibly be good enough to take my place?”
“Why Scootaloo of course,” Celestia said, smiling.
Scootaloo. It has been a while since I’ve heard that name and one I will never forget. She was the little orange filly that looked up to me. She still did, but she wasn’t little anymore. Now a Wonderbolt, she would’ve become my replacement once I retired. I guess she was named the new captain after all. Still, I don't understand what she had to do with all of this. I rubbed my head, puzzled by what she just said. “Um, I don’t understand. What exactly are you asking of me and how does Scootaloo fit into all of this?”
“It’s very simple, Rainbow Dash. You will take care of Scootaloo,” Celestia answered. “To put it in simpler terms, your job is to guide her through her life. When I say life, I mean everything she did during your past life. There’s just one catch: You cannot reveal your true identity to anypony, including yourself.”
“Wait, what?!” I shouted. “How am I supposed to guide her when I can’t reveal my identity? That sounds practically impossible!”
“Practically, but not impossible. Basically, all you’re doing is heading back in time to help somepony you loved dearly. It’s every magical essence’s, or what you ponies call ‘Guardian Angels,’ duty to help others through their lives. In some rare cases, one must go through their own life and help themselves, which is difficult. Only a few have succeeded, but that’s not the point. The point is are you prepared to go through that yourself?” Celestia asked.
“Forget it! I’m not about to go on a suicide mission to guide Scootaloo through her own life. I don’t want to go ruin somepony else's life, especially hers!” I answered, crossing my hooves and glared at the alicorn.
“Suit yourself.” Celestia walked over beside me, flicking her tail against my face. It was true what they said about her tail. It felt like the softest silk in the world and smelled of bright sunshine. I sneezed, wiping my nose with my hoof and watched the princess’ horn glow before a flash blinded me. It felt as if the sun was burning its way through my skin, fire surrounding my body. When the light faded, a piece of cake hovered in the air, surrounded by Celestia’s magic. It was a bright white with golden frosting all over. I smacked my lips, and drooled as Celestia took a bite. Even my stomach seemed to what some of that cake.
Celestia looked over, and smiled before resting the cake on the floor in front of me. I grinned happily, taking ahold of the plate and began gobbling down the cake. The white foamy inside and the ridiculously sweet frosting tasted amazing compared to the crackers I had been eating. I swallowed it all down, and licked my lips of the frosting before feeling the sugar enter my system.
“That was awesome!” I grinned. “I haven’t had a cake that great since Pinkie Pie’s.”
“Exactly,” Celestia responded, patting my head. “Now, how would you like to reconsider? Every pony must go through this no matter how they feel about it.”
I scratched my chin, and considered all of the information I had just learned about the task. There was so much at stake here, I mean Scootaloo’s life could be ruined based on my own decisions. Would I really want to be responsible for her life? I really don’t know to be honest. My gut told me not to go through with this because it could be a trap, but my heart longed to see the greatest friends anypony could have asked for.
I looked at Celestia, standing straight and puffed out my chest. “Princess, I’m the Element of Loyalty. My heart lies with the friends who stuck by me no matter what. If I’m able to see them again, then yes I’ll do the job.”
Princess Celestia smiled, and placed a hoof around me. “Excellent, I knew you would do it. Now, if you would please follow me,” she asked, leading me off into the surrounding darkness. As I walked, I thought of something that I hadn’t in a long time:
Princess Celestia’s horn lit up through the empty darkness and took a step out of the room, placing a hoof on the ground. When it seemed stable, she nodded that it was safe and walked out into the abyss. I reluctantly followed after her, also checking the ground in case I stepped off the trail. Thankfully, the Princess told me we were free to move anywhere just as long as I stayed by her side. I took another step forward, now completely in the shadows, and glanced back at my safe haven. A small doorway stood wide open and marked where we had just left. Inside, the books still lay out on the floor in a messy manner. It was then that the clearing slowly grew smaller as the darkness surrounded it until it was no more. For some reason, I felt I would see that room again.
I moved through the dark misty wilderness, feeling a sudden chill go over my head that sent shivers down my spine. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but realized from my shivering body that it was getting colder by the minute. I rubbed my hooves together and blew into them, letting my breath warm up my forelegs. It didn’t last long, leaving me cold again as the intense feeling gradually built up. I wasn’t supposed to feel this cold because Pegasi were used to the chilly atmospheric temperatures, but I guess this mist had something to counter that. I continued onwards and followed after the Princess while the chills gradually increased.
“Geez, when did we walk into a blizzard,” I murmured, my teeth chattering between each word.
I trudged forward, my legs moving slower after each step until they finally couldn’t move another foot. I looked down at my legs, and barely noticed the icy frost covering them. I tried to push my limbs out from under me, grunting as I strained my muscles, but my hooves felt numb and wouldn’t budge. Before I could try anything else, a radiant wave of energy burst forth from the darkness blinded my view and all I could do was close my eyes. It had a similar effect as the wave of cold, but this time it brought needed warmth and the chills slowly dispersed from the heat. When it faded, Celestia stood in front of me, a warm smile on her face.
“Feeling better now?” she asked, her horn providing a light source.
I lifted a hoof to my cheek, only feeling my warm fur bristle with each touch and no sign of the cold. “Much better, thanks,” I said with a grin, flashing my teeth.
We fled the area before either of us could suffer the same frozen prison I had almost endured. The shadows continued forming around us and we would have been overtaken if not for Celestia’s magic. I made sure not to stray too far from her and followed along at her pace. Before long, the dark wilderness brought a new surprise. A wave of black mist swirled around us and came from the shadows themselves. I remembered reading something about this from my books back at the haven. There were two kinds of mists. One was white, which preserved the good nature of ponies and supposedly held the magic of the righteous. Then, there was the black, which preserved the bad nature of ponies and held the magic of the wicked. I’m not sure if there is any truth in what I read, but this seemed to perfectly match the description of the black mist: a ghost-like mist, almost the color of charcoal.
“I see you’ve noticed the black magical mists,” Celestia said, walking over to my side and looked at the roiling cloud of sable fog.
I nodded, and watched the mists’ performance as strands of it intertwined with each other and danced around us. “Yeah, they seem vaguely familiar from a book I read. A guide about mystical magic or something, I don’t remember.”
“You must mean the Ancient Book of Magical Mysteries,” Celestia answered, apparently surprised, judging by the tone of her voice. “It is a tome of great knowledge written by Starswirl the Bearded himself. The book has been hidden away from the eyes of ponies for many reasons, one for what the book contains. Apparently, it wasn’t hidden well enough or perhaps I misplaced it. I blame Luna.”
“Oh! You mean that old wizard guy Twilight always talked about?” I asked, remembering the countless times Twilight had told us about the ancient wizard’s greatness and power. To be honest, she was exaggerating his legacy.
Twilight looked up from her book on her desk in the Golden Oaks Library and looked shocked at what she just heard. “But Rainbow! How can you say he isn’t a great wizard? He created most of the spells we use today!” Twilight argued, raising her hooves as emphasis to prove her point.
“Right, and I think you’re making this too difficult,” I had muttered from the book I had grabbed from one of the library’s shelves. It was the sixth of the planned eight books in the Daring Do series. Of course, I had to read it because who doesn’t love Daring Do?
The argument was about whether Starswirl the Bearded was a great wizard or not. Quite frankly, he didn’t seem as great as a unicorn Twilight made him out to be. How did I know this? Well, a month before this conflict, she gave a large book Spike didn’t want and asked me to read it. This book had a large blue cover, adorned with a golden trimming to go along with the font. It was “Starswirl the Bearded: A History,” written by Slight Stroke or something, I don’t even remember anymore.
Why did Twilight give me such a large book without even considering whether I’d want to read it or not? I’m not sure to be honest, but I decided to give the book a try since Twilight kept going on about how awesome he was with magic and how she wanted to give me more books to read. At that moment, Spike had returned back from his errand, giving me time to escape with my heavy cargo before she could give me anymore reading material. When I got back home, I went through the book slowly and read until I fell asleep on top of it. I was on page twenty-seven, which ended up covered in drool thanks to my nap, but Twilight didn’t need to know about that. I continued reading over the next two weeks, and tried to overcome one of my greatest challenges since learning the Buccaneer Blaze: Finishing this long and boring book.
After a number of long and frustrating days, I finally finished the book and went back to the library, hoping to return it. When I went inside, Twilight was reading a large book and it took her a moment to realize that I was there. She smiled, and we chatted for a bit, talking about our mornings until the conversation turned to the book in front of her; it was about Starswirl, much to my annoyance. That’s what ended up starting an argument between me and my egghead friend.
Twilight grumbled and stomped her hoof on the wooden floor. “Are you even listening to me?”
“Nope, I’m kind of reading right now,” I said nonchalantly and turned to the next page. That’s when my book was suddenly pulled from my grasp and lifted itself into the air by a purple aura. Twilight stood next to it, and stared at me with a frown on her face.
“Can you please answer my question now?” Twilight asked, narrowing her eyes on me.
“Ugh, fine,” I grumbled, crossing my hooves. “I think he isn’t a great wizard because one wouldn’t abandon friends over their own work. They wouldn’t use them for personal gain and self-entertainment.” Twilight’s mouth hung open, and stared at me in shock. “Yeah, I read that History of Starswirl the Bearded book you gave me. You didn’t think I’d read it because of how huge it was?” She replied with a slow nod before blushing slightly, causing me to sigh. “Well, you’re technically right, Twilight, but I read it and you know what I think. I think you’re a better unicorn than he was, and you know why? Because you care about your friends and always try your best to solve problems, even if they aren’t your own.”
“Rainbow... You really mean that?” Twilight asked, her eyes brimming with tears.
“Of course I do! What would you expect from the most loyal and awesomest pony you know?” I replied smugly with a grin. “But please, don’t ever make me read about him again.” Twilight nodded and smiled, quickly rushing over and to give me a huge hug. I was taken by surprised for a moment, and felt a few tears drop from the unicorn’s face, but returned the hug a few seconds later.
That was a few years ago, if memory serves me right. It felt great remembering these amazing events, but they only worsened the situation I was in.
“That’s why black magic affects the magical boundaries tha-” Celestia stopped speaking. “Rainbow? Are you alright? You seem... distracted.”
I didn’t look directly at her, and kept my gaze towards the ground. My eyes began stinging slightly and my head began hurting severely for some odd reason. I clutched my temple, gritting my teeth in pain. I had to withstand this or else the princess would know that something was wrong with me. I didn’t want to look like a sap in front of the princess; not to somepony THAT important. If that ever happened, then I might as well turn in my Daredevil’s license. “Yeah, I’m fine, Princess. Nothing to worry about,” I lied, standing normally while I continued gritting my teeth. I didn’t want to worry the Princess over such troubles. It’s my problem, not hers.
“Are you sure?” the sun alicorn asked, not entirely convinced. By the tone of her voice, she sounded worried about my condition, but I really didn’t want to seem like a burden. Sure, it’s great to have the attention of other ponies, but to have that because they’re worried about me? No, I didn’t want anybody to feel bad about me, especially the Princess. Besides, I was fine, right?
“Yeah, totally fine,” I responded, lifting my head up and gave her a weak smile. No, something wasn’t right. Ever since we moved through these dark mists, I had been receiving terrible headaches that only brought back amazing, yet painful memories of my past life. That was the only logical reason I could think up on the spot without making my brain hurt.
Celestia didn’t say another word on the subject and moved on ahead with me following right behind. By now, we moved away from the mists, watching as they faded from their dark charcoal color to a smoky gray. Also, my headaches slowly withered away, but held a constant throbbing once in awhile. The Princess began explaining more about the evils of the dark mists even though I had missed most of her previous explanation. She said that when you conjure dark magic, your regular aura will turn a darker shade or simply become black.
Another memory popped up: an image of King Sombra, highlighting the moment when he tried to get the Crystal Heart. His steel armor and robe made him look even more sinister, but that wasn’t the point. It was the horn, which glowed a dark black.
“This is easy to notice when a unicorn tries wielding dark magic. With pegasi and earth ponies, however, it is difficult,” Celestia went on with her explanation.
“How exactly?” I asked, interested to learn more about magic from all three races.
“Well, you see, unicorns have a horn which is the main source of their magic. They channel it through the air, which the living can’t see, and use either the white or dark mists to help them. Basically, magic is divided between the light and dark side, but there are a few simple spells that are balanced in-between, such as teleportation and levitation,” Celestia explained, which jogged a memory from one of those books I read. It was something about the elemental schools of magic, but I hadn’t paid much attention since I found it very boring and had grabbed a book on pegasi instead.
“Anyway, since pegasi and earth ponies don’t have horns, they channel magic differently. For example, you have your speed and agility in flying as most pegasi are known for. Just like horns, your wings channel magic by helping you speed up or perform tasks such as aerial tricks, and manipulating the weather,” Celestia continued, extending her own wings as an example. “They won’t glow, but you can still feel when you’re using magic. The same goes for the earth ponies, who use their strengths in most of the hard-working jobs. These are the jobs such as agriculture, construction, medicine, education, and whole lot of other jobs all over Equestria.”
I nodded as Celestia closed her wings. “That makes sense, but I have one question: How do I control the magic to do what I want?”
“An excellent question, Rainbow Dash,” Celestia answered, slowly making her way through the remaining gray mists and into a newer area filled with white mists. “You see, you’ll have to study these spells thoroughly in order to use them properly unless you want to teleport yourself through a wall, be my guest then. It has been quite some time since somepony has done that. Funny how Luna ended up doing that on her first try, but that’s not important. Now,” She came to a halt, turning to face me. “Watch what I do.”
I watched attentively as Celestia’s horn lit up, glowing a familiar golden color. Her eyes were closed, concentrating while swirls of white mist moved towards her channeling source. At first, it seemed as if the mists were gradually forming to create one gigantic ball, but I realized that they were slowly fading away from magical usage. If Twilight was here right now, she’d had been ecstatic to see magic in its true form. She’d probably take some notes down and write at least an entire an entire journal of them. This was an egghead’s dream to find out how magic worked.
“Wow, so that’s how unicorns use magic?” I said, impressed by the performance Celestia had given. “I always thought they had some within their own bodies. You know, an energy?”
“Indeed, you are correct. Both unicorns and alicorns have a special gland that helps us gather more ‘energy’ or else we’d tire ourselves out and collapse. I assume Twilight Sparkle told you about this specific function,” Celestia replied, smiling while she said that.
“Yeah, Twi said something like that too... She would always go to great lengths to tell me every single little detail about stuff. Then again, what do you expect from an egghead unicorn who has probably studied every single book known to ponykind,” I chuckled, remembering the way Twilight would explain things. Another memory to dishearten myself even more than I already was.
“Do I hear sadness in your voice? If so, you may speak your mind freely,” Celestia said, the same worried tone and expression appearing once again.
I shook my head in protest. “No... it’s fine, Princess. I’ll manage.”
Celestia narrowed her eyes, and stared hard into my own. I kept my composure, trying not to look discouraged.. If I had failed to hide it, the Princess didn’t say anything. All she did was give a slight nod in respect of my wishes and continued onwards into the mists. I sighed, and knew it was getting harder for me to control my emotions, but for a pony who recently found out that she had died and wouldn’t be able to reveal herself to her friends, I thought I was doing pretty well. I hoped that I would slowly get used to this and I’d be able to accept my new situation. If not, then I promised myself I’d be strong until the end.
Before she could get too far ahead, I followed after Celestia. She didn’t speak another word through the rest of the trip, only glancing back and giving me a once-over before we reached a door. It was a dark gray with a hint of red rust in between the hinges. There were some weird ancient designs inscribed all over the surface, but what they meant was beyond me.
Celestia titled her horn towards the lock, whispering a few words that didn’t make any sense and the door suddenly swung open. She motioned me inside, but I stayed frozen in place, peering into the unlit room. When she motioned again, I reluctantly stepped inside, feeling the cold air swirl around me. As soon as I did, the lights flickered on, revealing a small cauldron in the middle of the room surrounded by vials of clear liquid. Great big banners of two alicorns, one symbolizing the moon and the other, the sun, draped the walls in honor of Celestia and Luna. The Princess entered after me, the door shutting behind her as she made her way towards the pot.
“Well... here we are, my child. This is the place where your journey will begin.”
“Alright, I won’t complain, but why is it so cold in here?” I asked, rubbing my hooves together to warm my shivering body. It wasn’t just cold, it was freezing in here! Even the Great Blizzard that froze my wings and left me stranded in the Everfree Forest didn’t compare to the rigorous winds in the room.
“The low temperature is required for time teleportation spell in the cauldron. If it isn’t just right, then the liquid will dissipate and the entire process will be ruined,” Celestia answered, her horn lighting up for a moment. “There, that should suffice for now.”
A wave of heat slowly warmed up my body, but I was still slightly chilly. “Thanks Princess, that feels much better.”
Celestia smiled. “Anytime my child. Now then, what you see on this table are vials. They may seem like ordinary vials, but they are filled with magic or liquid mist, two essential components of the delicate process.”
“Oh really?” I asked, my interest piqued at how this specific type of mist was liquefied. It was almost like a raincloud filled with water. I grabbed one of the clear vials on the table, examining its contents thoroughly. There was nothing interesting about the liquid other than how it was moving around the space it occupied. “I don’t see anything special about it. All I see is another type of mist.”
“Allow me to demonstrate then, Rainbow.” Celestia took the vial from my hooves, pouring it into the cauldron. I lifted myself up, hovering up to her eye level and examined the results. The liquid already inside of the cauldron combined with the newer one, emitting an eerie glow that shone brightly and seemed to match the temperature of the air. When most of the glow subsided, the liquid seemed to shimmer somewhat, but otherwise looked like ordinary water. I reached inside to poke at it, only for my hoof to be slapped away by Celestia.
“Hey, what gives?” I rubbed the red mark on my hoof, grumbling about a similar event between touching mysterious and strange objects just to have somepony such as Twilight or Applejack slap my hoof and tell me not to touch it. I can’t help it if I have an adventurous personality; it’s just who I am.
“Just a moment, Rainbow. I know how eager you are, but please, wait patiently this time?” Celestia asked, narrowing her eyes. I weakly chuckled, grinning. “Good, now let me add a few things.” She turned away, levitating a few vials and bowls over her head and onto the table. One of the vials came up to her face and she squinted at the name before throwing it off into the abyss. She levitated another vial to her side and repeated the action until she came up with a bright blue bottle. I watched quizzically as she worked, but my mind still rested on why she didn’t let me touch the cauldron. Maybe she wouldn’t mind if I took one small peek without her noticing?
Celestia looked busy, throwing vials aside and grabbing new ones, pouring some of them into whatever she was making. Making up my mind, I slowly sidestepped my way over to the cauldron, unfurling my wings and flapped upwards to get a better view. The water still shimmered the same as before, untouched. I glanced back, making sure the Princess wasn’t watching. She wasn’t.
I grinned down at the cauldron and outstretched my hoof, breaking the surface of the liquid. Nothing interesting happened. I felt the water licking my hoof, sending a cooling sensation all over my body. There seemed to be nothing wrong with the liquid, other than being the right temperature even though it was very cold in the room. It was just like ordinary water.
Just as I was about to remove my hoof, something grabbed onto it and I was suddenly pulled forward, falling head first into the cauldron. I opened my mouth to scream, but the words were garbled in-between gulps of clear liquid, filling up my lungs. I tried swimming upwards, but my body didn’t move and only sank lower. Sure, swimming is one thing, but when you’re pegasi deep underwater, then that’s a huge emergency. Going underwater is a common fear for many pegasi because our wings won’t operate properly, and we’d have to rely on our leg muscles. I had amazing, powerful muscles, but I only kept sinking faster. More water filled my lungs, my vision fading from consciousness as I watched myself float around and flailed my arms in the cauldron.
The space around seemed to expand, the black walls growing outward. I continued trying to swim out to no avail. A bright light appeared up top and I pushed my way towards it in hopes of getting out. My body moved slightly upwards, but I still remained where I was, drowning. I knew I couldn't die, but did that also mean I couldn't drown? I didn't know, yet I did know I had a filly to protect. I took in one last gulp of water, using whatever strength I had left to push myself. It wasn’t enough.
“I’m sorry Scootaloo...” I thought before looking up at the light shining down above me before finally losing conscious.
Next thing I knew, there was a sharp pain aching within my body. It felt like my insides were being scrambled by a mixer, but much worse. I groaned weakly and tried to move my forelegs to clutch my stomach. I couldn’t feel them at all, feeling completely immobilized. I tried opening my eyelids and even with my struggles, they stayed shut, leaving me blind in whatever state I was currently in. The only thing I could feel was a soft surface below me; a feather bed or a cloud, perhaps. On further inspection, it seemed that my ears hadn’t been affected by any outside forces, judging by the incessant beeping of a machine nearby. Even with all this, I had no idea where I was or how I got here. The last thing I remembered was drowning in a pool of water before losing consciousness.
I knew I had to get out of here, but first I needed to find out where I was for my own sake. No, for Scootaloo’s sake. I had to find her before something terrible happened to her. Then again, I had no idea if she was even around here.
I rolled my eyes in my eye sockets, making sure they were still there in case I was permanently blind. Again, I tried to force my eyelids open to no avail. I grumbled in thought, and winced as I put more effort into it and tried once more. This time, a bright light pierced through the dark cloud that covered my sight, which gave me some hope.
I slowly opened my eyes, but they had been closed for too long and I quickly shut them as they were exposed to the searing light. Quite frankly, it was getting frustrating since this was the third time that had happened so far. The burn gradually ceased and I reopened my eyes after deeming it safe. There was a slight blur as they readjusted, but I was finally able to take my first look at my new surroundings to get my bearings straight.
In front of me, I could see a small lamp shining down above me, swaying back and forth as the wind pushed it gently. The light wasn’t as bright as it had seemed, but I guess the dark has a huge affect on your eyes. To my left, I could see a railing keeping me inside what looked like a bed. A large rack also stood beside me and held up a clear bag filled with some sort of liquid. I couldn’t make out the words on it, but I could see a line running through the pack, leading all the way to my foreleg where an IV had been inserted. On the other side, a row of monitors displayed different kinds of lines and numbers that didn’t make sense to me other than the pulsing red line, which I knew was the heart rate monitor from my previous visits due to crashes.
Based on what I could see, I came up with two possibilities. The first sounded crazy, but it involved a mental asylum. I really hoped that wasn’t the case, but all those encounters in the room and with Celestia were reason enough for it to be a possibility. The second one was more believable than the first, which seemed to suggest a hospital theory. If that was true, that’d explain the heart rate monitor and bed. Now, if only there was a doctor to help prove my theory, then I’d be glad to know I’m not mentally insane.
“Doc!” A male’s voice yelled nearby, very close in fact. “She’s waking up!”
I moved my head in the voice’s direction where a set of light fuchsia eyes stared back. They seemed to show a sense of urgency, which didn’t suit well in my situation. I smiled weakly, hoping it’d calm him down before I began to get nervous. When the stallion noticed my smile, he began to relax a bit. He sighed, which gave me time to notice his appearance for the first time. He had a cerulean coat that went well with his white mane. His cutie mark was a cloud with rain droplets, and from his looks, he seemed to be an ordinary pegasus. A strong one at that.
A small silence followed after, but the stallion opened his mouth to say something. Before he could, the doors opened up and three ponies came waltzing in. You could easily tell which was the doctor and the nurse, but the last one was the most interesting of the bunch. She was a filly, about eight or nine by looks of it and wore a small nurse hat on top of her light pink mane with a familiar symbol on it. That same symbol matched the cutie mark on her flank, which was a red cross with four pink hearts at the corners. Yes, everything seemed to match one specific pony, but the thought left me when the group approached my bedside.
“Ah, glad to see you awake, Miss. We thought you’d be stuck in that coma for a while longer, but it’s good to see you’re okay,” the doctor, a brown stallion with a stethoscope, said.
I blinked in confusion at the statement. “H-huh? I was in a coma?” I barely managed to squeak out, my throat feeling very sore and in need of water.
The doctor nodded, taking hold of a clipboard the nurse held in her mouth. “Yup, a week in fact. You have your friend here to thank for that.” He pointed to the stallion, who only blushed when everypony began looking at him. “He carried your body out of the water and brought you to the hospital. Clinically, I believed you were a goner, but I may as well eat my own words.”
“T-thanks...” I muttered towards the stallion, smacking my lips for needed liquid. “Can I get some water?” I sighed as I bit my lip for asking. “Please?”
“OH, right. Sorry about that, Miss,” the doctor replied before turning to the filly. “Miss Redheart, I’m going to need your mommy for a bit so could you be a dear and get this nice young mare a glass of water?”
My eyes widened as Redheart nodded and gave a cute salute. “Yes, Doc Brown!”
The doctor smiled slightly at the declaration. “Um... I’d prefer Stable and not my cute nickname, Miss Redheart, but whatever floats your boat I guess? Just as long as you get that glass of water.”
Miss Redheart nodded once again before disappearing off through the doors. I blinked in shock multiple times, coming to terms with the everything unfolding before me. Here I was, lying in a bed with four ponies in a hospital room. Not only had I been in a week long coma, but a filly named Redheart was working as an assistant. That’s the same name as Nurse Redheart in my period. What makes it even weirder is that both ponies have the same cutie mark, which could only mean one thing....
I wasn’t in the present nor the future. No, I was in the past, about fifteen to twenty years ago from the present I had left, or a few years from Celestia’s disappearance and return of Nightmare Moon. That cauldron must’ve sent me back here, that was the only logical answer. I silently cursed myself for touching the liquid. I looked back at the doctor and hoped that no one had heard.
He smiled back and wrote a few more things on his clipboard before handing it back to the nurse. She took it back, her eyes going through the doctor’s writing until giving an approving nod. I tilted my head in confusion and wondered what had been written. I figured it was about me since they kept pointing at me at random intervals as they whispered.
The two continued doing so for a few more minutes. As they did, ‘Little Redheart’ as I had dubbed her, came running back into the room with a glass of water. Some of it spilled out of the glass, but I didn’t mind. It seemed like she was worried that I might die if she didn’t get the water to me as quickly as she could. I chuckled at the thought and looked down at the glass before me. Little Redheart’s eyes grew wide with anticipation, a small toothy grin on her face. I smiled weakly at her grin, providing my own. She giggled, which made it totally worth it. After she had her laugh, I thanked her for getting me water and grabbed the glass with my hoof before quickly taking a large gulp. Instantly, the water soothed my throat as it slid down my esophagus.
“Thanks kid.” I coughed into my hoof. “If you keep that up, you’ll become a fine nurse someday.”
Redheart’s eyes lit up from the comment and eagerly lifted herself up to the bedside. “Y-You really think so?”
“Think so? I know so! I bet you’ll become one of the greatest nurses this hospital has ever known. Just never give up on your dream, kid,” I said.
“Wow, thanks Miss!” Redheart grinned with happiness, but it faltered slightly. “Wait, how did you know ‘being a nurse’ was my dream?”
I procured a sly grin. “Just a lucky guess...” And you told me while I was stuck recovering from a concussion. “Now run along, squirt. I believe the Doc has something to tell me.” Redheart nodded and gave a wide smile before jumping off the bed and back to the nurse. Dr. Stable’s gaze followed the little filly, but it was short lived and he trotted forward with the clipboard now in his grasp again.
“Well, I have good news and bad news. Which would you prefer?”
I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Ugh, good news, bad news. I really don’t care as long as you say them.”
Stable huffed and adjusted the lenses on his face. “Very well. The bad news is that your recovery is coming at a slow rate so you’ll have to spend a few more days at the hospital. It’s just a necessary precaution in case you have trauma, a concussion, or anything else that might put your life at risk.”
“Figures... I may as well read a book or something if you got any.” I thought for a moment, an idea coming to mind. “You wouldn’t happen to have any Daring Do books, would you?”
Stable looked at me, a blank expression on his face. “Um, not that I know of. Is that a new book?”
I blinked once and realized that Daring Do hadn’t been written yet. It’d be roughly seven years until that happened. “What about any Wonderbolt books? You’ve gotta have at least one, right?”
“I don’t believe we do, sorry. It’d be nice to have some though,” Stable replied.
“It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door?”
“Never heard of it.”
“I, Changeling?”
“Nope.”
“Fifty Shades of Friendship?”
“Wait, what now?”
I sighed loudly and grabbed my head before I could make an outburst. I probably shouldn't lose my temper when I barely know anything about this place yet. “Fine, what about Iron Mare or any of those comic books with awesome flank kicking action? I’m pretty sure you guys have those.”
His expression stayed the same. “Comic books? You mean those new picture books with ponies in masks and suits?” I nodded and hoped they had some, at least one on their shelf. “Nope, can’t say we have those. We do have these classic books for long reading enjoyment if you’d like them.”
I shook my head and gritted my teeth. They didn’t have a single book I liked. How is that even possible?! Steam came out of my ears, but made an effort to bite back the shock and surprise in my throat, including the anger that I really wanted to release. “Thanks for nothing...” I took a long pause to gather myself up. “I’ll just sit here and rest, bored out of my mind.”
“Okay?” Dr. Stable said, standing awkwardly to the side as he shuffled his way back to the door. "I guess I’ll leave you here with this fine young stallion and we’ll be on ou-”
The stallion huffed. “In case you forgot, I’m married, genius.”
Wow, way to make it even more awkward.
“Oh, my bad. Um, yeah... I think I’m going to go and check on the other patients.” Stable rubbed the back of his neck, turning red as he did.
“Might be for the best,” I added, letting my hooves drop to the bed. I turned toward Little Redheart climbing on top of the nurse, much to her disappointment. “I’ll catch you around, kid. If I can.”
Little Redheart stopped in-between her climb and turned around, another grin on her face. “Bye Miss whatever your name is! I hope I get to see you again!” She waved a tiny white hoof back at me before the nurse carried her back outside where the doc was doing the same. He came to a halt after opening the door slightly and came back around towards me.
“You never did tell us your name, Miss...? We kinda need it for our records in case you get in another serious accident.” Stable lifted the clipboard to his face, a pen in his mouth as he waited for my name.
I gulped and realized that I hadn’t though about a new name. I couldn’t use my real name, that was for sure. That’d only draw suspicions later on when the other Rainbow Dash vists in another eight to nine years or so. There was no way I’m about to consider the other me the real Dash when I’m still kicking. Even then, it’d be hard to trick myself if I ended up face-to-face with her. Hopefully, that wouldn’t be the case.
“Your name please?” Dr. Stable asked more forcefully this time.
I snorted. “Geez, can’t you just wait a bit? I’m trying to remember.” I started to panic a bit as I desperately tried to come up with a name that didn’t sound ridiculous. Dashing... no. Raindrops? Nope, that’s taken. Rainbow Crash? Oh geez, definitely not that. Mayb-
“Well, think harder. I have other patients to treat you know and I rea-”
“Give the mare a damn break, Stable.” We both turned towards the cerulean stallion, who now had a pair of goggles on his head. How had I missed that? I had no idea. It made him look more like a racing kind of pony, which made me think of all the known racing ponies of this period. None that I knew matched his description, but you never know who you'll meet.
“She’s already in a bad way. You don’t want her looking worse than she is now, right?” When Stable shook his head, the stallion smirked. “Then, why don’t you wait patiently instead of rushing her. Unless... those rumors are true.”
Dr. Stable frowned at the stallion, who moved closer with a cheeky grin on his face. He grumbled something inaudible before sighing. “Fine, I’m sorry. I just have too many patients to deal and much too little time. You know how it is when you’re trying to rush through everything all at once.”
“All too clearly,” the stallion sighed. I also thought of the phrase, knowing how hard it was to clear the weather a few times and train the new Wonderbolts when it was needed.
“So now that we got that out of the way, how about that name?” Stable asked through the pen in his mouth. It still rested on the paper, waiting to be written with whatever name I chose. I thought quickly and remembered the colors of my mane. They were like a colorful spectrum every time I flicked my tail or flipped my mane. I looked up, barely noticing that the colors were gone and replaced with vanilla white. Yes, that was it. That’d be the name I’d pick.
I chuckled and grinned slightly. I realized that the magic must be working if my mane color had changed, which only made me giggle even more at the thought of my new name. The two stallions looked at me strangely and waited to hear my answer.
“Name's Spectrum: awesome speedster, daredevil, and one of most all-around, coolest ponies you'll ever meet. At your service.”
