The Revenge of Dr. Negative

~~~~~Manehatten University Labs~~~~~

Rainbow Dash had woken up in a lot of ways in her life. She'd woken up sleepy, and went back to bed. She'd woken up bright and perfectly ready, and gone out to do the things of the day. But as Dash's eyes opened up and saw the moonlight streaming through the window, she realize she hadn't ever woken up quite like this, nor had she done so on a bed quite like this... nor had she ever woken up next to the mare who had so often invaded her dreams - many of which had featured her waking up... just like this. Dash was frozen, paralyzed with disbelief and uncertain for the first time in her life if she'd actually woken up or if she was still dreaming.

Yet the sweet scent of Twilight's mane was unmistakable in her nose, and the gentle pattern of breathing was just like the real thing. Dash swallowed silently, taking in the sight of the sleek purple form curled up next to her - looking up just briefly to check something. Yep, Twilight's bed had also been rather messed up. That was probably what had awoken Dash - the feel of somepony else clambering into her bed. That confirmed, her eyes came back down. Asleep like this, Twilight looked so vulnerable, peaceful. Dash couldn't help herself - she reached over, very gently, and pulled herself closer to Twilight, gently holding her even as she slept.

Why can't I say anything when I'm around you? Rainbow Dash thought, running a hoof silently through Twilight's mane. Why is it every time I look at you my throat dries up and my tongue turns into a knot? Twilight didn't answer... or read minds, Dash was pretty sure. That was a good thing, considering how all of those dreams she'd had about this particular mare sharing a bed with her had all ended... Well enough of those thoughts. I wish Rarity was here. Heck, I even wish Pinkie Pie was here. Both of them, Dash could talk to about this. Rarity was a bona-fide expert on romance and Pinkie Pie had had so many marefriends... and coltfriends, come to think of it... that surely she had some idea of how to talk to them. Sure, they'd probably tease her for the rest of her life about the subject - but Dash was beginning to think that was preferable to this emotional stalemate.

It wasn't that Dash didn't have the courage to tell Twilight, it was... well, she really just didn't know how to say it. Especially not to somepony like Twilight who would probably over analyze the heck out of anything Dash told her. Right, Like I can just waltz on up to her and with no preamble say 'Hi Twilight, I've been secretly in love with you and everything about you ever since you saved my worthless flank from Discord, and I'd love to have a nice long sloppy make out session with you right now.' Ugh. Dash damn near facehoofed at that long and overly complicated thought. She'd give me that eye-twitchy look and stammer something about math and then run off. And I'd never be able to look her in the eye again.

Worse still, Twilight was too damn smart and observant that even when Dash was trying to be all subtle and suggestive, Twilight completely misinterpreted it. She'd tried everything she could think of - Taking Twi out to dinner, helping out at the library, going with Twilight to every possible freakin thing, she'd bought gifts, she'd brought flowers for pities sake!  And then that stupid argument over Daring Do and Rosetta... what in Equestria had Dash been thinking? Just cuz you wish you were Daring and...damnit, Twilight! Why can't this just be *easy?***

Dash sighed quietly, and tucked a hoof around Twilight. There was no point in getting mad about it. Twilight was Twilight, and Dash truly wouldn't have her any other way... Even when Twilight was being so dense she wanted to smack her with a pillow. Dash would figure something out, eventually.. she just hoped she wouldn't be too late. Dash closed her eyes, determined to get a little more sleep. At least I can pretend for just a little while that she's my marefriend, and we're cuddling up together for the night... she thought, reveling in the soft feel of Twilight's coat against her as she drifted back off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~

Twilight's eyes slowly creaked open as her body registered something... different. She'd been unable to sleep in the cold, quiet bed... with no sound of Spike snoring or the wind blowing gently up against her tree. This silence was unnerving for some reason... so... she'd done the only thing that made logical sense. She'd slipped over to Dash's bed, and promptly fallen asleep to the gentle sounds of her breathing.

Except now something had changed. Something was different. Twilight's eyes slowly cracked open and her mind began to register what things she was physically feeling... one of which was Dash's forehoof wrapped around her body, and another thing was Dash's body pressed up against hers. Those were not things she'd been feeling when she fell asleep. Instantly, Twilight's heart leapt from a nice resting heart rate to a rhythm better associated with drum lines in marching bands.  For a brief moment, she could not breathe and could not speak - she feared if she did, she would scream and that would cause all sorts of problems.

After a few long moments though, the surge of adrenalin slowly faded away and her heart resumed its normal beating patterns. Twilight could barely see Dash's face in the darkness of the room, yet what she saw deeply concerned her. There was a need there - a fear that Twilight had no name for. She was not so much holding Twilight as clinging to her, obviously desperate for some physical comfort. Once again, the feelings came instantly to Twilight - in this case, guilt. She'd been just a little unnerved at the silence, but what in Equestria had been going through Dash's mind?

Whatever it had been, it had to have been distressing her pretty badly. Twilight shifted her position a little and moved in closer, now nearly lips-to-lips with the rainbow-maned pegasus. Twilight's mind was waking up a little bit, and until it calmed down there would be no hope for sleep. So she took the time she had to study her friend as she slept. Much unlike when she was awake, Dash's muscles and body were well and truly relaxed as she slept. There was no wound up tension in the shoulders, ready to spring into flight at a moments notice - nor any of the subtle strength of her heavily developed wing joint muscles that rippled a little when she walked, disguised by her soft coat.

Not that Twilight paid attention to such things.

Or at least, that's what she kept telling herself in the dark of the night. Even if it was just another blatant lie in a long and storied line of the blatant lies Twilight often told herself. Like how she was perfectly okay with not having a very special somepony, or how it was alright that she was still a virgin even when everypony else she knew was at least modestly experienced. Or perhaps biggest of all, the lie that surely Rainbow Dash couldn't possibly be attracted to a bookish and dowdy mare like her. It was a lie that had gotten increasingly more difficult to believe, and with every day that passed Twilight was beginning to wonder if maybe she ought to say something.

Oh, but what would she say? She had no idea what the proper thing to say to someone for a romance was, and worse still she had no access to her all-powerful Library which might contain the answer.  Of course, this was Rainbow Dash she was thinking about - the most brash and tomcoltish pony Twilight knew. Who knew if she'd even like the proper romantic things to say? Twilight hardly even knew if Romance (with a capital R) was even something Dash thought of, or if it was just some kind of extension on how she'd view Twilight as a friend?

Love was amongst the most confusing subjects in all of creation, even Cadence had long ago admitted that. More critically, What exactly did Twilight want? She wasn't sure. She wasn't even sure she knew how to find out. All she knew... all she knew was that there was something there fit to make her heart burst.  Seeing Sweetie Belle today had been the wakeup call of a lifetime. They had all been changed by that transit through to this world, but how deeply had Rarity been changed? Or herself? Or Dash? Was Rarity even still alive?

More and more, Twilight was beginning to realize that Dash might be the only pony she had now. And in spite of all of the incredible fear from that thought... it was also one filled with a fierce joy Twilight could not describe. If she was stranded in a strange Equestria, with no obvious or easy way to get home...

Twilight was glad that at least she was stranded here with Rainbow Dash.

Twilight wished she could talk to Cadence right now, or even Shiny. They'd both had surprisingly superb advice on the subject of romantic attraction before and if anypony knew what the right things were to do in this situation, it would have been them. Twilight's eyes traced across that stubborn jaw, that soft blue coat, those strong wings with more than enough power to hold the world up on their feathers. She sighed and softly tucked her head up under Dash's chin. Maybe sleep would help her think up the right words. Maybe the morning sun would inspire brilliance into her tongue as it had so often inspired her mind.

Twilight tried not to think about what kind of pony would be raising that sun as she drifted off into sleep. After all of the strange and terrifying changes she'd already seen in just one pony that had been her friend on another world, she almost did not wish to know what had happened to the rest of them. So she cuddled in closer to Dash - and felt Dash's wing unconsciously extend and wrap warmly around her shoulder. And in that moment, she felt safe for the first time since she'd ran into Rarity's shop.

Sleep followed not long after.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the sun finally rose again upon Equestria, after a long night of danger and sadness alike, two ponies awoke almost simultaneously in a way neither of them quite expected to. Their eyes opened together, and gazed into each other with only a tiny hint of disbelieving bleariness. They said nothing, for neither of them had the words - but neither did they shrink from the embrace they had wrapped themselves into. Twilight gently nuzzled up against Dash's cheek, and the small physical touch was soon reciprocated. There they stayed, laying in one anothers hooves in silence as the first warm rays of light spread down over them. For a few moments at least, they could ignore the needs of the world outside of those sheets.

But only for a few moments.

"Dash... I... We..." Twilight stammered softly, and Dash simply continued to hold her - obviously wanting nothing more than for that moment to simply go on forever... until both of their stomachs growled quite convincingly. And loudly. Twilight paused and Dash actually laughed weakly. "We'll talk soon." Twilight whispered. "I promise." She finished, and Dash felt her heart hammer quite firmly... before nodding hurriedly. "We'd better go get some breakfast first though... before Daring or Scooter come in here looking for us." Twilight gently continued.

Rainbow Dash contemplated the consequences of Daring Do or Rosetta or Scooter finding them like this... and decided that just this once, she'd listen to the voice of reason. "Mkay, Twilight." She said softly, and flicked the sheets away from them with her wing, and rolled out of the bed in a tumble of wings and limbs. "Oof!" she proclaimed as all four hooves hit the ground together, and she shook out her mane. "Ugh, I'm going to need a really good workout today or everything's gonna get stiff on me." Dash muttered as she stretched out her limbs and back, pushing herself up and out with her muscles until a series of little cracks told her she'd stretched properly, then she went to work on getting her wings flared out and back into shipshape as she stumbled a bit around the bed - where Twilight was predictably making the bed with her magic as she went to work on her mane with her brush.

That got her a raised eyebrow from Rainbow Dash, who fluffed and then flapped her wings repeatedly before being satisfied that they were in good enough shape to see her through the day and left a fairly substantial pile of wing fluff behind her. "Twi, leave it. It's a college dorm, it's supposed to be messy." She said with a slight grin as she trotted her way to the door. She'd probably need to preen before doing anything bad, but she could handle that after she'd gotten something into her belly. Preferably something substantial. I'm so hungry I could eat fish! She thought with a chuckle of good humor, as Twilight let out an exasperated sigh... and then followed in her wake.

A few minutes later, Dash hoofed open the door to Rosetta's combination of Laboratory and home and trotted in with a cheerful sort of whistle. "Morning, everypony!" She proclaimed as bright and chipper as she ever was. After all, she'd just woken up in what was possibly the most fantastic way ever. What did she have to be glum about? Sure, there was a mad scientist to foil, crazy evil gangsters and weird racists at every turn - but who gave a buck? Twilight had nuzzled her! That was an event fit for a celebratory parade through Canterlot so far as Dash was concerned.

Rosetta and Daring Do sat at the table in the little kitchenette, neither of them wearing their outfits and apparently enjoying a nice big glass of OJ and two big steaming bowls of oatmeal. Good breakfast to boot? Something had to go wrong now. If things kept getting better, Dash was going to start suspecting that she was still dreaming - and she really, really hoped she wasn't. "Morning, Miss Dash." Replied Rosetta, and held up a sheaf of black and white paper with a smile. "You made the front page of the Manehatten Times. Congratulations." She said with a chuckle, tossing the thing onto the table - where a blurry picture of her rainbow streaking away from the visible blast of rainbow energy sat below the headline "Mysterious Pegasus performs Sonic Rainboom!"  Dash picked it up in awe, and mouthed the words of it slowly. Rosetta's face split into a slow grin. "I was actually called to consult this morning on the event - apparently, they wanted to make certain it wasn't a hoax before the Times went to print."

Twilight trotted up behind her and craned her head over Dash's shoulder - and actually smiled quite broadly. Dash swallowed softly and looked up at the two famed ponies sitting at the table... both of them grinning at her without shame. "Can I... Um... Can I keep this?" Dash said quietly, eyes travelling back down to the picture. "I always wanted to make the front page of the Times." She whispered softly. Rosetta laughed and nodded firmly, and dash carefully tucked the paper under her wing before looking up. "So. What's on the agenda today?"

Twilight trotted over to the stovetop and returned a few moments later with two steaming bowls - which Dash promptly hopped up onto a chair for and after liberal application of butter and syrup, dug into the mass of oaty goodness. "We've got a few possible leads, but nothing very substantial. It's going to take a fairly serious bit of luck if we're going to find the Doctor in time. We're pretty sure he's somehow learned how to create some kind of teleportation technology." She gently lifted a sheaf of papers. "By exploiting that portal you two came through. Manehatten Labs has one of the most sensitive sets of instruments in all of Equestria, and they've been receiving some rather strange signals."

Twilight perked up at this, as Rosetta laid out a series of charts onto the table. Dash was paying attention... but she was pretty sure most of this was the technical crap. So for a few blissful minutes, she focused on her breakfast. After a little while though, the conversation seemed to go back to the important stuff. "...So you see, after the first big energy spike which actually happened before the events with Daring - which was the initial portal opening - there was a series of lesser spikes, the kidnapping of Silver, then Dash's arrival, and finally yours, Twilight. It took a while to find Sweetie Belle's spike, but it really was about two years ago - here.  We've also found one more spike we cannot explain... right about here." She tapped a line. "I've sent off telegraphs to every other major university in Equestria. If we are fortunate others will have detected this effect, we'll be able to use the level of energy from each spike and triangulate where the first big portal opening actually occurred."

Twilight nodded enthusiastically. "But we can't be certain the other universities have sensed it. Most of this activity has been in and around Manehatten." She noted, and tapped her hoof. "Except for the big spike. This ought to be much larger if that much energy really was expended anywhere near Manehatten proper.  There's going to be some kind of time dilation too, so we'll need to be very careful using this as our guide." Rosetta was nodding, and Dash was pleased to see Daring applying herself just as vigorously to her morning breakfast - the pair of them met eyes and smiled understandingly at one another. Nice to know even Daring Do gets bored by the fine detailing.

Rosetta sighed. "Yes, we will. Hence the comment about needing luck. Still, it will give us time to prepare and..." She paused as the sound of clattering hooves from the hallway interrupted her words. Daring stood up from her oatmeal, her gaze all business as she stared at the door. "I had thought Scooter was keeping watch outside..." Rosetta remarked softly, and a moment later a pair of oblong objects made of solid metal had floated up from under the kitchen table and pointed towards the door - Rosetta's horn glowing with magic as two little thingies on them clicked back menacingly... and Dash didn't need to know what they were to know they were lethal weapons.

Twilight herself had turned towards the door and her horn had burst into a bright and sparkling violet of barely restrained magical power. Dash wiped her mouth quickly with a napkin and turned around, flaring out her wings powerfully... feeling the strength in them that was better than ever. For a moment, no one spoke as the clattering hooves got louder and louder.... and then stopped. The door to the lab slowly swung open. Dash narrowed her eyes and then felt them widen as a pony swaggered in through the door.

He wore a slick cream colored suit with a bright red necktie and a matching Stetson hat. He wore matching trousers, which had three bright blue horse-shoes stitched onto the flank... probably a mirror of his cutie mark. Of course, Dash only knew one pony with that particular cutie mark. Twilight herself whispered it barely audibly. "Caramel?" her voice was incredulous, even as the swaggeringly confidant earth pony stopped a few paces away from the door - beyond him a crowd of tough looking earth ponies of various sizes looked inside with some obvious trepidation.

Caramel Apple (If that was who it was) held up a placating hoof with a smile. "No need for violence, ladies. I come in peace with a message from the Big Apple herself." He proclaimed in a smooth, city-slicker Manehattenite accent which sounded just... wrong coming out of him. At least, it sounded wrong to Rainbow Dash - who began to wonder where the shy and occasionally forgetful earth pony from her world had become this smooth talker. "She'd like to extend you the courtesy of her protection until midnight tonight, and would like to invite you to join her at The Macintosh Club for a little brunch.  She very much regrets the actions of some of her subordinates the previous evening, and would like to make amends."

Dash glanced back at Daring and Rosetta - both of whom were giving each other a similar look. Rosetta raised the two strange metal objects up so their long parts face the ceiling. "You know I'm not just going to take your word for it, Caramel Apple." observed Rosetta softly. "So why don't you bring out the real underboss to deliver your message." she said, nodding to the hallway outside. "Who'd you bring, anyway?"

"That'd be me, Miz Rosie."

Dash nearly squeaked with surprise at that voice. Twilight's magic vanished into thin-air at the sound of it too, and the pair of them could only stare. A teen-aged and yellow-coated earth pony trotted in through the door, her apple-red mane tied back with a bright pink bow - she wore a similar suit to Caramel's, except hers was of a much finer cut and far more expensive materials. She walked with a purposeful, almost predatory stalk and Caramel actually doffed his hat and bowed down to her as she passed by him and walked boldly up to the table, obviously dismissive of any danger. "Ah knew you wouldn'ta believed it from anypony else, so ah came personally." She observed, her voice and accent blessedly still identifiable as Applebloom's - just older and more mature. Aside from the suit and business like shoes, the only other cosmetic difference was a thick silver ring around her left forehoof with a red gem in the shape of an apple set into it. "An' we really do come in peace, Miz Do. Mah sister is powerful embarrassed by the behavior of our Family last evenin'."

"The Little Apple herself." Daring Do said wryly. "She must be serious if she sent you here." She continued, slowly resuming her seat by the table. "Ease up girls. She might be a cold-blooded killer, but Applebloom here keeps her word. So does her sister, come to that." she noted, taking a big spoonful of the oatmeal before continuing to speak - Twilight and Rainbow Dash slowly coming out of their state of shock... Dash herself now dreading what seemed all but inevitably the truth. "So. When does the high and mighty Apple want to meet?" Daring said softly, leaning back with her hooves gently arched.

"Soon as possible, Miz Do." Applebloom cheerfully commented. "An ah think you'll agree with me when I tell ya we've got some infermation ya might be interested in." she continued, slowly pacing up to the table. "Seems we've got a mutual interest in seein' Doctor Negative wrapped up and tossed int'a the river. Th' Family'd like to offer ya our assistance in seein' that taken care of, free of charge." She grinned at something - and Dash looked around to see surprise and shock crossing Rosetta and Daring's faces.  "We got cars waitin' outside fer ya. So. You comin or what?"

~~~~~~The Macintosh Club~~~~~~

"Sorry boss." Scooter Roll muttered, shifting in her seat in the back of the very fancy vehicle. "Stupid Applebloom snuck up on me. Again!" She groaned out, burying her face in her hooves. "I swear to Solaris, I couldn't spot her if she was wearing bells and doing the Dance of the Seven Veils!" She proclaimed to the roof of the vehicle, prompting Twilight to wonder just what the dance was, and why it might make somepony easier to spot.  She decided a few moments later that she probably didn't want to know. Probably.

"Ease up kid." Daring Do soothed, adjusting her helmet on her head and patting Scooter on the back. "I didn't expect her to be showing up either. We'll just have to be more careful from now on. Speaking of which." She turned her eyes towards Twilight and Dash - the former wearing one of the formal teacher’s uniforms that Rosetta habitually wore, and Dash wearing the vest-and-cap from the night before. "You two need to know a few things before we get to the club.  There are two iron-clad things you can say about the Apple Mob - When they give their word, they keep it - and they believe really, really strongly in home-style courtesy."

Dash blinked a little, and Twilight titled her head quizzically. Rosetta sighed and then spoke firmly, adjusting her cravat as she did. "What Daring here means is that so long as you're under one of her roofs and she's promised to protect you, she'll treat you like family. She'll offer you drink, food, other home comforts." Rosetta paused, eyeballing the interior of the limousine they were riding along in. "I recommend not outright refusing any of them.  If she's really bringing us here to apologize to us, she'll be laying the generosity pretty thickly. She'll be speaking casually, but don't be fooled by that. She's as sharp as anypony I've ever met, and she's got a sixth sense for lies."

Daring cut in a moment later. "Most importantly of all, if she asks you a question - answer it. Truthfully if you can, or keep it evasive if you can't. There isn't anything about you that she can't find out if she wants to spend the time and resources." She nodded her head firmly. "Still, I'm getting worried. If the Doc is crazy enough to go pissing off the Apple's, he's got to have some kind of powerful allies we don't know about... and that could mean big trouble." She looked up as the motion of the vehicle began to slow and exhaled a deep breath... not for the first time, Twilight wondered just what was going through her head in times like this. "Alright, let's do this."

Twilight hopped out of the vehicle first - followed by Daring, Dash and Rosetta - and Scooter slumped out behind all of them, still looking a little dejected. A little wooden sign hung above a pair of large and heavy wooden doors - the sign read "The Macintosh Club - An Apple Family Establishment" and a burly looking earth pony in a dark red suit leaned up against the outside of the doorway. He flicked a glance at them as Applebloom marched up to the doorway, having exited a second vehicle. "Mah sis here?" She queried of the guard, who nodded minutely. "C'mon everypony, best not to be keepin' her waitin." She continued, and the knot of ponies traversed the steps and passed through the doorway.

Twilight was immediately struck with a powerful wave of apple scent... a scent that was at once immediately familiar to her. It was the smell of the famous Apple Family cider, perfectly preserved from one universe to the next. The entire room was also powerfully familiar - decorated in the same style as the Apple home back in Ponyville - hoof crafted wooden furniture passed down through the generations, barnyard related kitsch hanging on the walls, even fully grown and viable Apple trees growing out of large pots.

And there in the center of the circular room, a single pony sat waiting. As she had done with Miss Kitty and Rosetta, Twilight immediately went searching for the little differences to the mare who awaited them now. But truthfully? Aside from that candy-apple red suit she wore - with no tie, Twilight noted - and the thick looking boots that adorned her rear hooves, currently laid up on the table - Twilight could not see a single speck of physical difference. The same hat, the same straw-golden blonde mane, the same orange coat. The same freckles.

As they approached the table, Applebloom's voice piped up from besides them - rich with good humor and wry teasing. "Lazin' about already, big sis? It's hardly even noon yet!" she proclaimed - and a soft and rich chuckle smoothly exited from the pony in the room - a chuckle utterly lacking in that Apple Family accent Twilight noted. It sounded... odd coming out of her. Very odd. "We got guests, big sis. Two new ponies that ah don't recognize too."

The slick and thick boots swung off the table, and the voice that came out was pure Manehatten sophisticate. "Well now, I'd better introduce myself then, shan't I?" She proclaimed and stood up with her forehooves pressed to the table. A pair of vibrant green eyes swept across the four ponies that now stood in a row and smiled softly, slowly... Speculating, Twilight might have said. "Good morning, Daring. Good morning Rosetta. And a good morning to you two ponies. My name is Miss Applejack. I'm the Big Apple around these parts. We've got quite a few things we need to discuss. Why don't you all have a seat?"