Disclaimer: This story was inspired by “My Little Dashie” written by ROBCakeran53. It is a possible continuation of what happened in the first story, and picks up where the first story left off. I am not trying to take any credit from ROBCakeran53 for their story; I am simply writing this to give an ending that has a little more closure, and a happier ending. Any copy write violations in this story are by accident and credit will be given if necessary. This story is told in a different way, seeing as it is written through the father and Dashes perceptions of what they are seeing. With that said, again, please remember this is a personal idea of what may have transpired after the first story, and is not to be considered the “actual” sequel to the story. All characters named in this story are © of Hasbro, HUB, and the show My Little Pony; Friendship is Magic.
Chapter 1: Sorrow
It’s been three days, three long days, since my Dashie was taken from me and returned to her home. I was expecting myself to be wallowing in sorrow after what happened, and for the first couple of nights I was. I couldn’t sleep; for fear that dreams and memories of my daughter would come up and barrage my mind. So now I’m out here, after several years, taking a walk. I don’t really know how long I’ve been out here, but I don’t really care. It’s not like I have anything better to do. It’s an extended weekend, after all, so I can’t really go to work. I hear thunder crack loudly overhead and look up, seeing that dark clouds have started moving towards our house… I mean my house. I guess it’s my house now. I’ve never really thought of it like that though, it’s always been me and Dashie’s since we moved in there.
Anyway, as I saw the thunderheads moving in, I decided to turn around and start heading home. It was a familiar feeling as I felt raindrops starting to land on me, bringing back memories of that fateful night under that tree. The night my daughter came back to me. I let the thoughts flow through my head, the memories that Princess Celestia was kind enough to let me keep. I smile when I think about the first time she said she loved me, it causing a tear to form and fall from my eye, to get lost in the many droplets of rain that fell around me.
I was soaked to the core by this point, but I could see my house on the horizon. I started to walk a little faster, if not for the simple fact that it was September and the rain was freezing. When I got to the door, I fumbled to get my keys from my pocket, the cold wind and water having numbed my hands. As I got inside I gave a small sigh of relief as the warmth of the house’s heater hit me. However it is short lived as I open my eyes, seeing the house almost empty, hearing nothing but the sound of the heater on. I close my eyes and sigh once more, but not out of relief, but out of heartache. I still wasn’t used to the house being so quiet and empty; it was usually a lot noisier as Dash would usually be up to something or watching TV. But now with her gone, it was quiet, peaceful… empty.
I change and go clean myself up, putting on some sweatpants and a t-shirt and go downstairs to watch some television. I see that, of course, My Little Pony is on the Hub station. I quickly move away from that on the guide, not being able to bare the sight of that right now. I find that an episode of SpongeBob on and decide to switch to it. As I watch it, I start to chuckle every now and then, the show making me feel a little better. But then I look to my side and I realize Dash isn’t there watching it with me. I blink as I could have sworn she was there for a moment, but I guess my imagination was trying to cheer me up. I turn off the TV after the episode and go upstairs to my bedroom, thinking maybe I could sleep tonight.
It’s worth a shot, I guess, I thought to myself as I lay down and flicked off the lamp, closing my eyes.
Chapter 2: Do I Belong?
I opened my eyes after I felt Twilights magic dissipating and I groaned a little, reaching a hoof up to rub my head. I took a look around as the pain in my head started to dissipate and I realized I’m inside what appeared to be a carved out tree.
Where am I? I thought to myself, This place looks familiar but… it’s also not.
“Rainbow Dash?” a voice called from beside me.
I turned my head to look at the source of the voice, and my eyes went wide for a second as I saw the tall, almost blindingly white pony standing in front of me.
“Do you know who I am?” The pony said, looking down at me with a curious expression on her face.
“Yeah… Princess… Celestia, right?” I asked, seeing her smile at my response, and I looked beside her, seeing a bunch of other ponies of different colors. “And you’re… Twilight Sparkle… Pinkie Pie, Applejack… Fluttershy… and Rarity.” I said as I pointed to each of the ponies with a hoof and named them. They all seemed to smile as I recalled their names, and Pinkie jumped up and huged onto me.
“YAAAY! She remembers us now! Ohhh, I’m so happy!” The pink pony said with glee.
I quickly pushed her off and looked at them all with a bit of a confused look, as they all looked at me with a similar expression. I finally spoke up “I know your names, and where we are… but the rest is a little hazy.” As I said these things I look up and saw the princess nod and lean down.
“That is a normal effect of the spell we used on you, Rainbow Dash. Give it time, and your memories will start to return to you.” She said in her authoritative, yet comforting voice. After she said this I nodded and looked at the other ponies around me, who all had smiles on their faces again, though not as big. “I would recommend not doing any flying until your memories return, though. The high altitudes could make it hard for your mind to recall your memories.” The Princess finished.
“She could stay with me.” Twilight offered, “It would allow me to keep an eye on her and record her progress.”
Sounds just like she usually does, I thought to myself, but it makes sense. I don’t really feel like flying after what just happened, anyway…
“I’m ok with that” I stated, and the Princess nods
“Very well, you shall stay here until Twilight deems you fit to fly.” She says, then walks out the door after giving her goodbyes, a bright flash occurs, and the princess was gone from the doorway she was standing in.
The other five ponies each came up to me, welcoming me back, hugging me, and say their goodbyes. After they all leave, I looked at twilight and blinked.
“So um… where will I be sleeping?” I asked, twilight chuckling at the question as if it was a joke.
“Why, where you always stay when you’re over here!” She said, and I just looked at her with a puzzled look. She blinked then pinned her ears back against her head, “Oh, right… Um, follow me.” She said, starting to trot upstairs, and I followed her slowly.
“Before you left, you used to stay over here a lot. You found a fascination with reading the ‘Daring Do’ series, and started actually staying the night to read them. So, we set up a bunk for you to stay in when you stayed over.” She explained, and I gave an understanding nod.
“’Daring Do’… That rings a bell.” I said, and Twilight looked back with a smile, simply saying “Good.”
As we got upstairs, I saw this little purple… thing standing next to the bookshelf. As it turned to look at me I see it looks kind of like a pudgy lizard.
“Rainbow! Your back!” it said to me in a child-like tone and ran up, hugging onto my leg. I quickly shook it off and stepped back. He fell back with a thud and rubbed his head, “oowww, what’d you do that for?” he asked, looking up at me. Twilight went down and helped him up, explaining to the creature what happened.
“… So you see, she needs time to get her memories back in order. Just give it some time, and she’ll remember you, but for now it’s probably best to introduce yourself.” She said to the creature which I can only assume is a dragon or big lizard.
“Oh. Well, uh, ok.” He said, walking up to me and holding out a claw “Hi, I’m spike, Twilights assistant.” As he finished I reached out with my hoof and he took it and shook.
“Ok, Spike, Rainbow needs her rest.” Twilight said, and the dragon nods and heads downstairs.
“Uh…. I’m really not that tired.” I said to the purple pony, and she nodded and her horn glowed. Suddenly a book appeared floating in front of my snout and I fall back from the startle. She chuckled at me and I scowled, getting up on my hooves again.
“Here, perhaps reading this will make you tired, but also help you remember.” She said to me, the book appearing to be one of those “Daring Do” books she had mentioned earlier.
I nodded and took the book in my mouth, hopping up into the bunk that was set up. I slipped under the covers and opened the book, starting to read.
“Oh, also,” Twilight started, me lowering the book to look at her, and her horn was glowing, “you left this downstairs. You seemed pretty determined to bring it with you.” She said, and then I saw a small shoebox float into the room and onto my lap.
“Oh, right. Thanks Twilight.” I said, lowering the book. She smiled and left the room, closing the door. As I heard her trot away, I looked into the box, and suddenly all the memories of where I was only about an hour ago started flooding back. I looked through it, seeing my Indie 500 ticket. I pulled it out and looked at it, my eyes starting to water up a little. But then I looked back down. Amongst the seemingly random assortment of items is a photo. I reached in with my snout, pulled it out, and I looked at it, completely frozen.
In my hooves I held a photo of the last fifteen years of my life. Not all of them at once, but the link to the memory of them. By this point tears had started to fall from my cheeks as I stared at the picture of me and a tall man holding me, me hugging onto him with a wide smile on my face, and him doing the same. The camera was on a timer, I think, because he never let me meet anyone for fear of what might happen, and I couldn’t blame him. But in that single picture I saw the memories of my home. My home? I thought to myself, but this place is my home… Right? It’s where I belong… Right?
I stopped thinking about it and shook my head to clear it of those thoughts, and I looked back down at the photo. “I love you, dad…” I said, and slowly put the picture back into the box, and then gently slipped it under the bed. I go back to the book, but it was only a short time before I got tired and eventually fell asleep.
Chapter 3: Dreams
I had another nightmare last night. I was in my living room, and I saw all the ponies there again, and my Dash was sitting there on the floor looking at me with tears streaking down her cheeks. “How could you let this happen?” I heard her say to me in a grieving, but irate tone, “How could you just let them take me?” Her voice was haunting, almost ghostly. I was broken out in tears as well as I tried to respond “Dash, I…” She cut me off, “I thought you wanted me! I thought you loved me!” She yelled at me, and I broke down in tears as I reached out for her, but as I reached she drifted away. Suddenly the entire area was drifting away and I’m being engulfed in darkness. I tried to scream, I tried to yell her name, I tried to stop it. “IM SORRY, DASH!” I suddenly yelled as I woke up. I looked around my room and gave a sigh as I laid my head down on the pillow and rub my forehead. “Just another nightmare,” I told myself, “Just another damn nightmare…”
It’s been a two weeks since Dash was taken, and I’m still being haunted by the memories of her. At first I thought it a blessing to have the memories safe, but as of late they have gotten to be a burden. Don’t get me wrong, I would never want to give them up, but I wish they didn’t come with so much heartache. I’ve been doing well at hiding my feelings at work, which isn’t that hard. It’s an electronic technician position, so there’s not a lot of human interaction. As I drove home, I looked out the window at the bright, cyan sky, and the wispy, white clouds drifting along. It puts a small smile on my face, imagining seeing my little Dashie on one of those clouds, or performing some spectacular stunt in the skies.
I quickly put my focus back on the road. I’ve driven the road home so many times, that I could practically do it blind, and there is never anyone else on this road so the chances of getting in a wreck were slim. Still, it was best for me to stay focused on the road instead of the past. Best to keep my mind off of Dashie… At least until I was home.
As I approached the house I looked out the window once more, looking out to the forest on my property. Perhaps a walk through the forest would be nice, I thought to myself, give me a chance to clear my head and listen to something other than a heater or television. As I got inside, I quickly changed and put on a pretty heavy jacket. I walked outside, feeling the brisk, cold air hit my face. It made me smile and take a deep breath, and then I started walking off to the forest of the trees.
The trees were pretty resilient ones, seeing as they still had their green leaves after how cold it’s been. As I walked through the trees, I breathed deeply through my nose, taking in all the smells of the trees, the cool air, and the fruits of some of the apples on the trees. Yeah, some of the trees were apple trees, and Dashie always loved to come out here when they were in bloom and snack on them. Sometimes I would come out with her. I’m not a big fan of apples, but I did it more to spend time with Dashie and see her happy. I think, in a way, she did it for the same reasons, seeing as most of the time we ended up playing rather than eating apples. But when she did eat, she seemed to love them.
I had no way of knowing if Rainbow Dash was able to keep her memories of me. She took a shoebox of memories with her, but I had no idea if they went with her, or if they just disappeared like the rest of her belongings. I, of course, hoped she had it and hoped she remembered me. I hoped she remembered all the years we had, all the milestones we went passed together. Her first bath, her first words, her getting her cutie mark… But at the same time I hoped she didn’t. I hoped she had the freedom of not having the memories, of not having the painful thoughts of us being taken away from each other.
But I didn’t know. I had no way of knowing. She was off in a completely different world now. Her world… Her home. And all I wanted was for her to be happy, and to be living her life happily and free. Free to fly where she wants, when she wants, and not having to avoid people as she does. She is in a better place, and I should be happy about that. But I couldn’t help but feel like she’s not happy. That she feels like things aren’t right. Heh… that’s weird. I thought to myself, now I’m saying I can feel her...
Chapter 4: There Must Be A Way
I walked through the front door of the tree library. “Hey, Twi, it’s me!” I called, letting her know who was there. I heard her respond with “Ok, welcome back!” and I started walking up the stairs.
“You didn’t do any flying while you were out right?” I hear her voice call from downstairs in the lobby.
I give an irritated groan and roll my eyes “No, Twilight, I didn’t.” I say with a bit of a tone, but not enough of one for her to notice.
“Good. Now, there are ingredients in the fridge for some sandwiches if you get hungry.” She said, still re-arranging her shelves. I just simply gave an “ok” for an answer and go upstairs, closing the door. Once I closed the door, I went straight over to my bunk and pulled my box out from under the bunk.
I set the box on my bunk and start going through it again. I’ve gone through it every day since I got back. If I recall its only ben about 4 days. Which means… Gosh, it must have been four years for him… I can’t imagine that… Does he still remember me? I pushed those thoughts from my head and pulled the ticket out and look at it again, it bringing a smile to my snout as I kiss it and set it aside, and I pulled out my beloved picture of us. I could stare at that picture for hours. I just looked at it and remembered everything, every year coming back to me every time (not that I ever forgot them) and I close my eyes as I get lost in the memories.
I must have been looking at the picture for a while because all the sudden I heard a voice beside me.
“You really miss him, huh?” Twilight said, and as she spoke my cheeks flushed and I quickly put the picture away and looked at her with a half-smile and a tear in my eye.
“Uh… yeah… yeah, I do.” After I said these words, Twilight came over and hugged me
“I understand… Come on, I got something I want to show you.” I blinked at those words and got to all fours and started following her downstairs.
When the lobby came into view, I saw books scattered about as usual, but there appeared to be a whole set of books all open in a circle on the table. Twilight walked over to these and motioned for me to come over. I did, and as I approached I see one of the books titled “Communication through magic.” When I saw that title, my heart jumped in my chest. Could she really…? I shook my head as to not get my hopes up and just walked over to Twilight.
“What did you want to show me?” I asked, sitting on my flank next to her, and she looked at me with the biggest grin on her face.
“I think I found something that might interest you, something about communicating between worlds with someone.” She says, and as she speaks those words my eyes light up and I stand on all fours again.
“You mean…?” I didn’t have to finish my sentence as Twilight nodded to me and started reading. “According to this book on magical communications, It’s possible to communicate with another pony- or in this case, man- in a different world using a mixture of chemicals, a bit of magic, and a source of a memory of the person you are wanting to contact. We could easily have Zecora mix together the chemical part, and I could provide the magic… But you’ll need to sacrifice something, Dash.” She said, and looked up at me with a slightly concerned face.
“Sacrifice what, exactly?” I asked with a bit of concern in my voice as well.
“According to this book it has to be something that brings back memories of him. It could be anything that reminds you of him… But it will be gone forever when you use it.” She said, pinning her ears back as she looked at me with a worried expression now.
I sat back down and stared at the floor, my mind thinking as I had a mournful look on my face “so… I’d have to give up one of my items from my box.” I said, and she nodded and walked over to me, and rested a hoof on my shoulder. “Hey, isn’t it worth it to be able to speak with him again? And it only needs to be sacrificed the first time. You can communicate with him at any time afterwards.” She said, and that brightened my spirits somewhat.
“Alright, I’ll be right back…” I said with a small smile as I trotted up the stairs and grabbed my box. I come back down and start going through it… and I pulled out the Indie 500 ticket. I looked over to Twilight while I wiped my eye, “Will this work?” I asked.
“Does it remind you of him?” Twilight asked and I nodded. She shrugged, a very uncommon gesture from her, and simply said “Then I don’t see why it wouldn’t.” At those words I smiled brightly, and that seemed to make her happy as she smiled too and laughed a little. “Hehe… alright, I’ll go see Zecora and see if she can help with the mixture, I’ll be back soon.”
“Can I come with you?” I asked, a pleading look on my face, “Please? I might be able to do it over there instead of having you have to come back here.” As I said that she chuckled and gestured for me to follow, which I happily did with the ticket in my mouth.
Chapter 5: Contact
This had to be the longest month of my life. It was now mid-October, and the leaves on the trees were gone, and the grass had turned brown. At least I don’t have to worry about cutting the grass, I thought to myself. That used to be so much easier and quicker with Dash’s wings. I sighed some at that thought, but quickly came back. I’d been thinking of Dashie every day, as usual. She had the biggest smile on her face the day I showed her the lawn-mower that I modified for her. She was so excited to start working that she didn’t even wait for me to tell her how it worked. Of course she fell forward into the ground before it even started and we both laughed after the initial “are you ok?”
She was always a tough mare. Yeah, she was tough in the show, but she was tough here too. She seemed to be almost invulnerable to serious harm, which was a very good thing. I can’t imagine what I would have done if she had broken something. I mean, it’s not like I could call a vet! I guess I should just be thankful that that was one thing I didn’t need to worry about when she was around.
I decided to eat my first meal with meat that I’ve had in years. Once Dash started speaking, I stopped eating meat so I could eat with her, and not have her question what it was. Anyway, I decided to have chicken, which turned out to be a bad idea. After you haven’t have meat for so many years, you tend to forget things, like how to cook it. The heat must have been too high, because the outside was charred black, and the inside was still raw. Well, I guess I should have expected that.
It’s ok; I still had plenty of vegetables and fruits in the fridge, so I just made a big salad. I had the TV on in the main room, so that there could be some background noise. It helped me think Dash was still in there, watching TV. I was about halfway through my meal as I heard the TV get to a loud part. “Hey, Dash, could you turn that down a little, please?” There was no response.
I closed my eyes and dropped my fork in the salad bowl, holding my head in my hands. “God, now I’m starting to think she’s actually here…” I said out loud. That was the sign to me that I was actually starting to lose it and I took my bowl to the sink to rinse it out after I ate the last few leaves. That’s when I heard it.
“… Dad…?”
I thought I was going insane and I froze at the sink, closing my eyes and trying to suppress the voice I had heard, thinking it was in my head. Stop it, brain, she’s gone! Why won’t you let me accept that? I was now arguing with my own mind over what was real and what wasn’t. But then I heard it again, this time from behind me.
“… Dad, can you hear me?”
It was much clearer this time, and I turned around, and I dropped my bowl to the floor, it shattering into several pieces as they scattered across the floor. I paid no attention to the broken bowl as my eyes were as wide as ever over what I was seeing.
“D… Dashie?” I asked.
“Heh… uh… Hey, Dad” Dashie said through the glowing portal in front of me. I could clearly see three ponies gathered around the circle, appearing to be looking down into a pot or bowl of some kind. I could clearly see the other two ponies as being Twilight Sparkle and Zecora the Zebra. I swore I was dreaming this, so I pinched myself without taking my eyes off the portal, and twitched a little as I felt a twinge of pain.
“H… How are you…? What’s going on…?” I ask, grabbing onto the counter as I felt my legs growing weak. This was really happening, I thought, that much I know for sure.
“Well… Twilight here helped me find a way to talk to you.” Dash said, reaching over and nudging twilight on the shoulder with a wide smile.
“Well,” Started Twilight, “I just couldn’t bear to see Rainbow Dash so depressed. She really missed you.” She said, looking down at me with a pleasant smile.
“It is true,” Spoke Zecora, “Rainbow Dash was missing you.”
At that last line I couldn’t help but give a little chuckle. “Wow, you really do speak in rhymes!” I said, and we all started laughing loudly and I smiled at them. I don’t know if I was accepting what was happening so quickly or if I was just playing it off as another sign of me going insane, but I didn’t care. If it was a dream, it was the best dream I’ve had in a long time. “Hey um… Twilight? Zecora? Do you think you could give us a moment alone?” I asked politely. They both nodded and stepped back, and then I saw they cyan pony looking at me with a big smile and a couple tears rolling down her cheeks.
“So… How you been, dad?” Dash said, and I had to chuckle a little. “Hmmm,” I started “well, it’s certainly been quieter around here with you gone.” I said, and she laughed but then blinked.
“Wait… Dad, How long has it been for you over there?” She asked, sounding kind of serious. So, I cleared my throat and looked at the date. “Um,” I said, “about a month, Why?” When I said those words, a shocked expression appeared on her face, and Twilight popped back into view. “Only a month?!” she exclaimed with a shocked voice.
“Uh, well, yeah,” I said, confused by her shock, “Why? How long has it been for you guys?”
“Four days,” said Twilight. My jaw dropped and my eyes went wide, then I rubbed my forehead and leaned more forward as I took a seat. “So… are you saying,” I responded, “that the time differences between our worlds are getting closer together?” She simply nodded and pondered.
“I thought that you said you took Rainbow Dash to prevent changes to our worlds from happening?” I asked, slightly irritated, “That was princess Celestia’s whole reasoning behind why Dash couldn’t stay, or allow me to come with you guys.”
“I know, and I’m wondering the same thing.” She said, sounding genuinely concerned and curious at the same time. She seemed to be thinking and sighed to herself “I need to go speak with the princess. Oh! Before I go, Sir, this portal will stay open after I leave, and Rainbow can contact you whenever she wants. So you will be able to talk to her again.” She said with a comforting smile and darted off, leaving me and Rainbow again.
Chapter 6: Reminiscing
“I’ve missed you, Dashie,” I started, “I’ve thought about you every day.”
“I’ve missed you too, daddy,” Dash said, causing me to get a tear in my eye again as she called me daddy, “I’ve been getting my memories of this place back. Handling clouds is coming back to me, and I can’t tell you how much fun it is to fly wherever I want!” She said with a bright smile and I just rolled my eyes and laughed. I could listen to her talk about her antics all day and she probably wouldn’t mind the attention, but she wanted to hear me talk too as she stopped and looked at me expectantly.
“Hmhmhm, well, it sounds like your starting to fit in nicely!” I said with a wide smile on my face now too as she laughs. I look over to the calendar and get an Idea. “You know, it’s getting pretty close to Halloween here, Dash. If I remember that was your favorite holiday.” I said, and her face lit up. She had always loved Halloween, the decorations, the costumes, the candy… It was a holiday she always looked forward to.
“Are you serious?! Oh, man, I can’t wait to see what your costume is gonna be!” she says with a giddy smile. I blinked at her and she looked back at me with a confused look. “You DO have a costume, don’t you?” In all honesty, I hadn’t thought about what my costume is going to be. I hadn’t really felt like celebrating this year, but now that I’ve heard my little Dashie’s voice again and her sounding so excited about it, I had to find something. “Uhh… y-yeah! I just got a few finishing touches to make.”
“Oh! Also, dad,” Dashie started up again, “This portal thing is only one of the options. Twilight said something about being able to speak to you mentally, without the portal… But I wanted to actually see you.” She said, smiling.
“Heh… So I’m gonna have voices in my head all the time now?” I said, and of course she laughed at it as usual. I think any joke I would have made right now she would have laughed at. We were just happy to see each other again. “Well, I think you should contact me like that first whenever you want to talk, and I can tell you if it’s ok to open the portal, ok?” I said, and she nodded in agreement.
I noticed dash look to the door and nod, someone was apparently in the door and telling her something, and she looked down with a smile and a tear in her eye again. “I gotta go,” she said and my heart couldn’t help but sink. “No, not yet!” I thought, “We just started talking!” But I nodded with a big forced smile and wiped my eyes. “Ok, Dash… Don’t be afraid to contact me whenever you want, ok?” I said and she nodded, still brightly smiling. “One more thing, dad,” She said and went off the screen of the portal for a moment, then came back with something in her mouth and she smiled, holding it into her hooves and facing it towards me.
As I saw what she was showing me, I froze in my chair. It was a picture of us together, smiling and laughing on the day she got her cutie mark. I know the fad of My Little Pony is long over, and I’m sure the meme’s are starting to die out if they aren’t dead already, but dammit it happened again. My heart exploded. Twice. She had actually taken a picture. I had hoped that she did, but I never knew if she did or not, because none of our pictures together from the photo album were missing. But there it was, in her hooves and looking at me through the portal.
“I kept this picture of us in my shoebox… To remind me of you.” She said then put it away, and looked back up at me and waved her hoof “Bye dad! I love you!”
It took all my strength to raise my hand and wave back and hold back the tears at the same time “goodbye for now, Dashie. I love you too.” And with that the portal closed and I was left there in my kitchen again, the TV still playing in the main room and me being surrounded by pieces of shattered bowl.
Chapter 7: Problems
As I looked away from Zecora’s cauldron where the portal used to be, I faced twilight as she looked at me with a look on her face as if she was being sent to the principal’s office. “Something wrong, Twi?” I ask, wiping the water from my eyes.
“No, er, that is, not really, but…” She started, but I could tell something was wrong and she sighed, “I think we need to go back to the library. A letter from the Princess is there, and it has an urgent seal stamped on it.” I could only assume she had a spell set up at the library to let her know when a letter appeared or something, but it wasn’t important. I nodded; we said our goodbyes to Zecora and headed out.
“So… any idea what this ‘urgent message’ could be?” I asked, trying to break the silence as we walked through the forest home. “I have some idea,” Twilight started, “But we won’t know until we get home.” There seemed to be a bit of a worried tone in her voice, and it made my smile disappear. We were silent the rest of the walk.
As we walked inside, Twilight went straight to spike. He gave her the letter and she started reading it quickly with her magic, but then stopped, and her eyes got big. She looked up at me and my ears pinned back. This couldn’t be good.
“She knows about what we did,” Twilight began, “And she wishes to have audience with us.” At first this didn’t sound like that big of a problem, but Twilight seemed to think otherwise. “When she asks for an audience, it is not usually a good thing.”
We both were silent through dinner. I’d come to like these daisy sandwiches, but tonight I didn’t feel much like eating. I decided to try and break up the silence and looked up at her “So uh… How exactly do I contact my dad?” I asked.
She looked up with a puzzled look, as if she had already told me, but then brought her hoof to her head. “Oh, right!” She exclaimed, “I forgot to give you the key.” And with that she walked back over to her table where she had figured this all out, and pulled out an amulet with her magic. As she moved it closer she explained, “You just need to hold this in your hoof and close your eyes, and just think normally. The man will-“, I cut her off, “My dad.” She seemed a little stunned but quickly recovered, “Er, yes, your dad. Anyway, he will be able to hear your thoughts, and you will hear his. So just think what you would say.” She finished explaining, and I seemed to get the gist of it. But then she put a hoof on my shoulder as she looked at me, “Just… Don’t be surprised if the Princess doesn’t allow you to keep it, ok?” she warned me.
I nodded and took the amulet, her sliding it over my head to rest on my neck. I looked down at it to examine it closer. It wasn’t fancy or special, just a wooden circle with some weird symbol carved in it. “Thanks Twi… Even if the Princess isn’t happy, I’m grateful for what you did.” And with that I hugged her. She seemed a little taken back by the embrace but she hugged back. “No problem, Dash. I’m happy to do it.” And with that I nodded and started going upstairs. I was strangely exhausted. Twi said that the audience could wait until tomorrow and suggested I get some rest, and I didn’t argue with her as I went upstairs, looked over my box again, and closed my eyes as I drifted off in my bunk, with a half-smile on my snout.
Chapter 8: Relief
I never thought I would be so happy to be sweeping up broken dishes, but I don’t think my smile could have been bigger. As I swept up the pieces, my mind was repeating over and over again what just happened. I was still trying to process it, but I knew it happened. My daughter, my little Dashie… she found a way to contact me.
After I threw away the pieces, I decided to look at the time. I had to rub my eyes as I looked at the clock. That conversation with Dash had taken four hours, even though it seemed like only a few minutes. I guess the time difference between worlds was affected during our meeting. Twilight DID say that it had already been four days compared to my month. What does that mean? I mean, Princess Celestia took away everything that she had here, except the photo album. I didn’t see how a few pictures could be causing time to be manipulated, so I pushed it from my mind.
Even though the fact that I had just talked to my Dash after a month was still fresh in my mind, I couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong. She left rather urgently and I had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind. Anyway, I guess I should just be happy I got to talk to her again, and I most certainly am. “Oh, Dash…” I spoke to myself with a hushed tone; “I wish you could come back, or I could join you…” and I let out a sigh and shook my head. No, I thought to myself, now is not the time for thoughts like that. I decided to try to get some sleep, seeing as it was already pretty late from the time lapse and I still needed to go to work tomorrow.
I got changed and cleaned up before I hop into bed. And for the first time for a month I felt myself smile as I drifted off thinking about Dashie, knowing that she remembered me, and more importantly can talk to me whenever she wants. I had her back in my life.
Chapter 9: A Fateful Decision
By the time the sun rose, I was already wide awake. I wasn’t able to sleep as the worry had started to creep in in the middle of the night. “What if she’ll make me give up the amulet?” I thought, “what if she’ll wipe my memories of him? What if…” The questions kept cycling through my mind, and when Twilight came up to get me, I was already clinging to my pillow and shaking a little.
“Dash, you ok?” Twilight asked me, and I cleared my throat, released the pillow and stood up, looking at her with a false smile.
“Yeah, I’m ok. Are we ready to go?” I asked her, and she looked at me with a shy look, as if she was hiding something. “What is it Twilight?”
“Well, you see…” Twilight started, and I stepped closer “It uh… turns out she wanted to come see us… and is here.” As she said those words I looked at her with a very worried expression. I wasn’t expecting her to be so insistent on seeing us.
“S-shes here? N-now?!” I asked as I stepped back against my bed, wanting to do all I could to delay the inevitable. Twilight just sighed and nodded, walking up to me. “Come on,” she said, placing a hoof on my shoulder, “the sooner we talk to her, the sooner it’s over.”
Reluctantly I nodded and we slowly made our way downstairs. Princess Celestia was sitting near the table, her mane constantly flowing even with the lack of wind. I saw that there appeared to be two pegasi guards who were standing outside through the window. It didn’t take the Princess long to notice us, and she looked at us with a lack of expression on her face.
“Hello Twilight, Hello Rainbow Dash.” She started. I assumed she was just trying to be formal as usual, but we all knew she wasn’t here to chat. As Twilight bowed and greeted her, I just stayed on all fours, already getting rather defensive out of fear of what I think she may be here to do. She raised an eyebrow to me as I refused to bow, but simply nodded to twilight.
“Please, Twilight, stand,” The princess spoke. Twilight rose and looked at her with a blank expression, waiting to hear why the princess was here. “I know what you two did,” She said and we both looked at each other with worried expressions, “and that should tell you why I am here.”
We both turned to face her again and I sighed, looking down. “Let’s cut to the chase,” I said, starting to sound like my dad, “What are you planning to do? Take away the amulet? Wipe my memories?” As I said these things, the princess looked at me with a lack of surprise and simply sighed.
“No, Rainbow Dash,” She started, already catching me off guard, “What I have come for is to ask you something.” Now I was very confused. She knew Twilight and I went behind her back, and she wasn’t going to punish us? Or maybe she wants some answers before she does. I’m ok with that, gives me a little longer to keep my memories, I guess.
“What do you want to know?” I asked with my tone a little softer now.
“I will be short. Do you still feel strong feelings for the man who raised you?” She asked me, and I simply nodded and responded with “Yes, very much.”
“And does he still care for you? I know you contacted him the night before.” I nodded to this one as well and answered the best I could. “Yes, he said so.”
“I see… Very well.” I blinked and so did Twilight at this, and we both looked at her puzzled. “I have done some thinking over the situation that unfolded 5 days ago. I’ve spoken with my advisors over it as well. We have been monitoring his world after our departure, and have determined that the time differences between our words are shrinking.” At this point Twilight cut her off.
“Yes, I found out the same thing when we talked to her dad. He said it had only been a month for him, which is an extremely drastic difference.” Twilight stated, and then tucked her head back, “My apologies princess.”
“None needed, Twilight. I knew you would find out. None the less, it is happening,” The princess continued, and then looked to me, “and we believe it has to do with your bond with this man.”
As the princess said those last words to me, my heart sank and I started stepping back. “S-so what does that mean…?” I ask, and the princess… smiled? Why was she smiling? She was going to rip my memories of the past fifteen years away from me, and she was smiling?
“May I speak with him?” The princess asked, and I blinked. Why would she need to speak with him? How would he react to her after what happened the last time they met? But I could not refuse the princess and I closed my eyes. “Yeah, just give me a sec…” I said, reaching up and lifting the amulet in my hoof and I let my thoughts go.
“Dad? Can you hear me?” I asked in my mind as I waited, the feeling of darkness around me as I floated alone in the empty space of my consciousness.
“Dash? Is that you?” I recognized the voice and I gave a physical sigh of relief. I hadn’t tried out this way of communication yet, so I wasn’t sure if it would work, despite Twilights reassurances.
“Hi dad… Um, would it be safe to open a portal? Someone here wants to talk to you.”
“Uh, yeah, but who wants-“
“I think you know.”
“… Alright.”
I looked over to Twilight after I opened my eyes, “how do I open the portal?” after I asked she guided me over to the table where she had a large bowl of water set up and she said to lay the amulet in the water. As I did the familiar glowing portal opened up and I saw the face of my dad looking into it already, seeming a little distressed.
“Hey dad…” I said in a melancholy tone, and he returned it, “The Princess would like to speak to you.” After I spoke those words, I stepped to the side and the princess came into view over the portal, and my dad didn’t look too happy.
“Hello good sir,” She started, and again he returned the greeting to be civil, “I hope you are faring well?”
“I’ve fared better. Is there something I can help you with, Princess?” He sounded angry, yet polite at the same time.
“Yes, we have noticed that the time difference between our worlds has begun shrinking. So I must ask, have noticed anything strange in your world by chance, Such as sporadic weather or temperature changes? Animals acting strangely or anything that seemed different from normal?”
“I can’t say I have princess. Everything has been the same as it always has here, though it is a little quieter than I’m used to.” I looked to Twilight, who seemed to be listening in on the conversation closely and she looked at me, giving me a nod. I’m assumed it was a good sign.
“I see. That is good to hear, because we fear that the bond between you and Rainbow Dash is what is drawing our two world’s times towards each other. If you were experiencing any strange anomalies or dangerous conditions, I’m afraid I would have had to…” The princess stopped herself and cleared her throat, “But it is good that nothing else seems to be being affected. Give me a moment, Sir, I need to think something over.” And with that she walked away from the pool and gestured for Twilight to follow her. As they walked off I saw them talking amongst each other, so I looked down into the pool at my dad and smiled, and he smiled back. We didn’t say anything this time, we didn’t need to. We knew how we felt, and right now we were both content.
As the Princess and Twilight started back I nodded to my dad and scooted over, and his focus shifted to the princess once more. “After consoling with my student, I have decided to extend an offer to you,” She started, and my dad became very curious, as had I, “You see… I realize that Rainbow Dash cannot live with you in your world. Your world would not accept her, and you would need to keep her hidden and away from the outside.” I sighed a little at the explanation of that and so did my dad, as he dropped his gaze. “However,” The princess started again, and he looked up once more as I too looked to her, “There is nothing I can think of that says you could not live here, with her. That is, of course, if you don’t mind a diet of mere fruits and vegetables.”
I was stunned by this at this and looked to Twilight, who had a bright smile on her face, giving me a reinforcing nod. I looked down at my dad in the pool, who also seemed to be having the same reaction. The princess was patient, giving him time to understand the offer she was giving him, and after what seemed like several minutes he finally responded.
“… Hmhm… Hey, I’ve been eating that for the past fifteen or so years. I think I can live.” After those words he smiled and looked to me, and my face lit up.
“Then it is settled,” The princess started again, “We shall transport you here within the next day. Judging by the drastic time difference between our worlds, I would say that should be a little over a week for you.”
“Princess,” He asked, getting her attention, “Why are you saying it is ok for me to come to your world now? When you were here last time you said that I could not live there, for a similar reason as to why Dash couldn’t stay with me.” The princess sighed as the question hit her and she nodded, “that is my fault, Sir. I was fearful for what the consequences would be if I was to do such a thing, how the worlds would be effected. But I did not stop to think about how Rainbow Dash had been living there for fifteen years according to you, and there seemed to be no consequences. So that is why I give you this offer now, Sir. Not only because I feel it is the best decision for you and Rainbow Dash, but also as a way to apologize to you for any pain I might have caused.” And with that, after a moment, my dad nodded.
Chapter 10/Epilogue
I don’t really know how to say it, but I’m here. Within a week’s time, Princess Celestia had come to my world once more, and this time taken me back with them. And now, I’m living my life even happier than I was before. Not only did I have my daughter back in my arms and care, but I was living in a world full of just as much color as my daughter, and 5 of her friends… My daughter has friends. That’s something I never thought she would have if she had stayed in my world.
We were living in Ponyville, close to Rarity’s shop. The princess had acquired me one of the houses that was open as a welcoming gift. I know she is royalty, but I couldn’t help but hug her. She didn’t seem to mind, and even returned it. She may have been the one who took my daughter from me in the first place, but now she was the one welcoming me and helping me to get settled in her kingdom, her world. Dashie was ecstatic and quickly claimed her room upstairs. As I walked through the cartoony cottage and acquainted myself with the scenery, I couldn’t help but feel a small touch of sorrow in my mind. The place I found Dashie, the places we went, all of our memories together were in my world. And now that’s all they are… Memories.
But those thoughts were quickly brushed aside as I was sideswiped by a flash of six colors and fell to the ground, laughing as the small cyan pony atop me shouted, “Tag, you’re it!” She jumped up and started running up stairs, I immediately chased after her, laughing all the while.
So this is my new life. Living in a world that fifteen years ago I thought could never really exist, with a daughter I never expected to have. And I don’t think either of us could be any happier. I was able to bring a few things with me, with Celestia’s permission of course. One of those items was the painting my mom had done, the one of an open field that yielded a parking garage, and the rainbow arching over it. Dashie had come to like that painting while she was with me in my world, so I had to bring it. I also brought the picture of my parents. I felt they deserved to come with me to this beautiful, colorful world. Finally the last thing I brought was the photo album with the letter Dash had written me. I didn’t need it anymore, but it still felt good to keep. To know that I have it should I ever need it.
I’ve been greeted with no hostility from the other ponies. Maybe a little fear at first, but that quickly subsided with Dashie’s help and now I feel like I’m part of the community. I’ve found myself to be useful as a carpenter, seeing as I have opposable thumbs and can use tools much easier than the ponies, even with their specially designed tools. Dash is still doing her cloud duties and practicing her stunts, which I still try to watch her do when I can. I thought living in a simple town like this would be boring, But after living in seclusion for so many years… It’s good to be part of a community who understand each other, who understand me and Dashie. And I couldn’t ask for more.
The End
