Memories:

The morning sun broke over the horizon like a glorious yellow and orange wave. Brian groaned and rolled on to his back. Every muscle ached and his every movement made them cry out in agony. He tried to gather himself and sit up. His back was having none of it. Lying back down he looked over at his daughter. She slept soundly lying on her side. Taking a deep breath, Brian forced himself to sit up. A groan of pain escaped his lips. Reaching around himself he rubbed his lower back in a vain attempt to relieve the pain. Dashie awoke to a groaning sound. She looked around and took sight of her father rubbing his back.

“Over did it yesterday didn’t ya?”

“Oh my God Dash… I hurt all over.” He laughed a little. “I afraid to stand up.”

She nodded knowingly and stood up on all four, stretched her legs and wings.

“YOU didn't stretch at all did you?”

“No...” he replied quietly.

“Aren't gonna do that again are ya?”

Chuckling he said that he’ll never forget again.

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings rapidly and began her morning workout routine. She bolted up and over the water. Banking around in a tight circle she began to do laps around the lake.

Brian groaned and complained as he stood up, halting only once as his legs slowly came back to life. Pointing himself towards the woods he tottered and weaved his way to the edge of the forest for his morning business. He came back to see Dashie having set up breakfast for them both.

“Oh fantastic Dash, I’m starving.” He said with eagerness in his voice. He sat in the sand grunting as he did so.

“You sure took a while in there. I was afraid I was gonna have to call SaR.” She teased.

“Ha-HA.” He said dryly. “Can you bring some TP next time?”

Dash snorted and giggled. “Sure dad. I’ll see what I can do.” Then looking at him with a grin she asked, “Leaves?”

“Leaves.” He said nodding.

Through a mouth full of breakfast, Dashie mentioned that she would be back at lunch with more food. Gulping the last of her meal she hugged her pops warmly and headed off to work.

Brian ate slowly and restarted the fire. Staring into the fire bleary eyed he thought. What I wouldn't give for a cup of coffee. Finally, he finished eating, stood up and gathered his tools. Today he would need to gather rocks and if he was quick about it he wanted to cut down some trees. That meant going into the forest. He glanced towards the Everfree with trepidation. Dashie’s words of warning about the forest echoed in his head. His mind began weaving together weird scenarios about what could be living in the forest. Imaginations played and danced in his brain. The many ways he could get killed, maimed or mutilated played their macabre visions in his mind’s eye. Banishing these foolish ideas, Brian did the best thing he could; he decided that caution was going to be the order of the day… and his axe.

Work was slow to begin with; his body ached and complained in a symphony of pain and cramps. Rocks were bountiful in and around the lake though. He gathered them in a slow but constant pace. As morning wore on, the speed of his endeavor increased. Gradually his muscles stopped their incessant whining and complaining. Late-morning saw the fruit of his labors. A large pile of stones to use as a foundation, all he needed now was some mortar or cement to bind them together. Pondering this he recalled that mud could be used in place of proper mortar. Glancing at the lake he smiled and set about digging a hole to mix mud and sand. This might work. The stones are large enough that their weight should hold them together. The mud would act as filler. Heck yeah! Everything is coming up Brian! He filled the hole with muddy clay from the lake. He mixed it with sand and did his best to get a good thick consistency. Satisfied that the mixture would work, he started to build the foundation. Pulling rocks from the pile he would check the shape and decide where to put it. He’d laid a hundred stone or so, and realized that it was going to take far more than he had originally thought. He sighed and resigned himself to the idea he might not make a sojourn into the forest today.

A noise from the forest caused him to pause. It didn’t sound like the birds or rustling of leaves in the wind; this had a distinct quality to it. It sounded like a footfall. Perhaps something had taken notice of the activity and wanted to find out if he was good to eat. Setting down the rock in his hands, he grabbed his axe and listened closely. An instinct seemed to take over, he wasn’t thinking as much as reacting to the perceived threat. He held his axe close to his chest and stared intently at the surrounding forest. No longer a fun place to hide out in, it had taken on the shape of a forbidding place that in all honesty could cause him harm or death. These weren’t natural woods after all. When no more unusual sounds presented themselves he relaxed more and more. Finally settling down, he laid his axe on the ground nearby and resumed his examination of the stones and sorting through them by size and shape. He had to remind himself that while he was relatively safe here, he needed to be careful; this was not a place to let your guard down, axe or no. Yeah… I’m not going in there today.

In the forest, just beyond his sight, the figure with teal eyes seemed to relax as Brian decided to stay away from the woods that day.

Dash felt better today as she plowed north to assist a newer weather team. They had been recently commissioned by the weather service and although well trained they lacked experience. She had volunteered to show them some of the more advanced techniques she had honed over the years. The volunteer work also came with a bonus for her at the end of the week, a three day weekend. Meeting the new team was a chance for her to really dig into her work and shove a lot of the weirdness of the past few days to the back of her mind.

Working with the new weather team taxed her patience but over all they were good at what they were doing and learned quickly. The team lead was a capable head strong mare. Dash liked her almost immediately. She had chosen an older stallion as her number two, what he lacked in experience he made up for in raw power. She had decided to show them more efficient ways of moving large cloud banks. They had wrangled together a number of smaller cloud clusters into a large mass and were waiting for her to direct them when she seemed to ‘zone out’ and stopped talking.

“Ms. Dash? Are you alright?” The team leader asked. Dash hovered there seemingly unaware that she had been asked a question. The team lead flew over to Dash and asked again. When no response was forthcoming, she looked to the others on the team. They came over to her and began asking her if she was hurt or needed help. For a very long minute Dash stared off into space. Unblinking, unmoving apart from her wings keeping her aloft. When it became obvious that she was unresponsive the team lead took it upon herself to handle this situation, after all this was something she had trained for.

“We need to get her out of here.” She ordered her second in command to escort Rainbow Dash to the local WMMO office, and seek medical attention. Training would have to wait for another day.

“Now get into position!” Dashie yelled, startling the others. The weather team stared at her mostly in shock. Glancing around, Dash furrowed her brow at the scene.

“What are you all doing floating around for? This isn’t a pic-nic ladies!” In her mind Dash tried to place what she was doing with this weather team she’d never met before, and why she felt like she needed to be yelling at them. Silently she started to panic. Getting a hold of herself, she studied the situation. It clearly looked like a training exercise. A voice broke her train of thought.

“Ma’am are you okay?” The Team lead asked.

“Of course, why wouldn't I be?”

“It’s just… well ma’am… you just stopped talking and stared off into space for a long time…”

Dash looked uneasy. She had to play it cool and confident. She shoved her rising embarrassment aside and took a mildly aggressive attitude.

“Don’t worry about it. You have training to get too.” She stated with mock confidence. “Now get back out there!”

The weather team tentatively took their positions and waited for orders, each having differing degrees of uncertainty about the great Rainbow Dash. Dash guided them and tried to instruct them as best she could. The stress of her situation had taken its toll on her ability to concentrate. But she was Rainbow Dash and she wasn't about to let a few little lapses in memory keep her from doing her job. Refocusing her efforts she carefully gave them the benefits of her years of experience. Concentrating on the task at hand made time pass quickly for her, the day was nearly at and end when it occurred to her that these pegasi weren't half bad. They paid attention and followed her instructions to the letter. She was feeling better about them now. These guys were gonna be pretty darn good. After all they had her to show them the ropes. Dash smiled to herself in pride.

The weather team thanked her for her time and invited her to dinner, as a way of showing their gratitude for the training. She pondered this for a few moments, Yeah... Dinner sounds really good right now. Then it struck her like a ton of bricks. Her mind twisted and flipped like it had never before, grabbing at her head she gasped and lost control of her wings. She fell. Surprised at the turn of events, the team lead and her number two dived after the out of control Rainbow Dash. Coming alongside the tumbling pony, they carefully grabbed her and slowed her decent bringing her into a hover. She was mostly limp but struggling feebly.

“It’s okay Ms. Dash we have you. We are taking you to hospital.” The team lead said. The other members of the weather team arrived and surrounded Rainbow Dash. Quiet mumbling became louder and louder. Dash woke up and looked around. Blinking a few times she saw what was going on and struggled free of the other ponies. Popping open her wings she took control of her flight.

“Ma’am what is the matter?” the team lead asked, staring her in the face. Worry was written across Dash’s visage. Then it was gone.

“Nothing is the matter!” Dash stated hesitantly. Thinking quickly she followed up her statement with a cleaver cover story.

“That was the last part of your training! Aerial rescue and recovery.” Dash looked at their faces to see if any of them were buying it.

“Aerial rescue and recovery?” Number two questioned, unsure if he believed her.

“Yep, real world situation right there! You are just flying along and BAM! Somepony falls out of the sky. You guys did well too. I didn’t fall very far at all before you had me. I’m gonna put in a good word with your super about this.” Dash was on roll now.

The weather team seemed to start to buy it after the ‘good word’ was mentioned. After a few pointers on the ‘proper’ way to recover a falling Pegasus, Dash had the team convinced it was a health and safety drill and that it was something they spring on weather ponies from time to time.

During their discussion someone’s stomach growled and it reminded Dash that she had forgotten to bring dad lunch today. She quickly excused herself, apologizing that she couldn’t join them for dinner. Parting ways with the new weather team, she headed home. Mentally she was kicking herself. How could I have completely forgotten about dad’s lunch? Then it occurred to her, for most of the day she didn’t remember her father at all. A cold dread stabbed at her belly. All day? This problem was getting worse. A deep sense of alarm resounded in her. If she forgot for half a day this time, what would happen if she forgot for a few days or weeks? She started to whimper at the thought of her father cold and hungry, sitting in the woods alone wondering where she was and what had happened to her. She banished the errand thought and flew faster to Ponyville.

To her relief several shops were still open when she arrived. Trying to be as fast as she could without looking overly suspicious, she purchased a variety of foods stuffs, a newspaper and the all-important T.P. Quickly making her way out of the market and taking to the air heading for her father’s home. The flight was punctuated by a moment of clarity as she flew. For a few brief seconds her mind cleared of a fog she wasn’t even aware she was in. The obvious truth was staring her in the face. The simple fact was, she wasn’t well and she knew it. Something HAD happened when Twilight had tried to give Dash, her original memories; and she didn't know what she could do about it. For the moment she needed to play it cool and pretend nothing was wrong. She’d just keep going with the flow as she found herself in whatever situations. I’ll find a way to fix this. I’m a frikken element of harmony for crying out loud. Momentarily satisfied with this half cooked plan, she saw the lake in the distance and began her decent. Dad would be hungry and she’d still need to explain why she didn't show up at lunch like she’d said she would.

The chair wasn't a great one but it was something that he had built with his own two hands. He looked it over and felt a swell of pride at his handiwork. It really wasn't a brilliant chair; it was a rather  great stool though, with a basic back and the legs were all nearly the same length. In the sand of the beach that didn't matter much. Functioning as intended. He gave a small smile and sat down in the chair, to ‘test it’. The simple, functional structure took his weight without cracking or falling apart. He stretched and leaned back as far as he dare.

Leaning back he surveyed the work he’d finished on his dwelling. For the most part the basic structure of the foundation was complete. The lines were mostly straight and it would work for what he needed. Tomorrow he would gather trees. The thought of entering the forest was still a daunting one, but needs must as the devil drives.

Rainbow Dash slowed her decent as she approached the lake. It was clear to her that her pops had been very busy today. There was a short rectangular stone wall that marked off the perimeter of his home. He sat in a simple makeshift chair that was made from the end of a log. A small pile of firewood had been cut and stacked nearby. She landed not far from him and approached quietly. A soft snoring could be heard as the distance between them closed. A smile crossed her face. Watching him sleep she sat in the sand a meter away. She caught a whiff of him, he was absolutely filthy today and it showed.

“I have to remember soap! “ She reminded herself.

Covered in sandy clay from head to toe, he had definitely been busy. She thought fondly of him as she watched him doze. In some ways they were alike, then he did raise her as his own. She wondered what he was like before he found her. Was he happy? Did he have lots of friends? What were grandma and grandpa like? Did he love them like she loved her? He hardly ever spoke of his past. He was hard working and most importantly he was loyal. He’d never let her down if he could help it. Pondering her situation she entertained the idea of telling him everything that was happening to her. She trusted him more than she had previously realized. She knew in her heart he would do anything he could to help her, even face the princess. He’d put his own life at risk to help her. She wanted to tell him, but the concerns surrounding his even being here stopped her. She wouldn’t risk it, she wouldn’t risk him. She would have to handle this in her own way. “I guess I’m nearly as stubborn as you are old man.” Having resolved this in her heart, she drew a deep breath, stood up and poked him in the shoulder playfully.

“Hey there sleeping beauty! Dinner time.” She said smiling.

Gasping a little in shock, he blinked and let his vision focus on the single most important thing in his life. She stood there, smiling brightly at him; the pony that had brought him back from the brink. In preserving her life, he had saved his own. He yawned deeply and stretched.

“Oh hey. Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” He said still groggy.

“It’s cool pops.” Then her mood changed to embarrassment. “Sorry I didn’t stop in for lunch. I got an opportunity to teach some newbies how cloud busting was really done.”

Standing up Brian yawned again. “It’s okay. I figured you got caught up in something. What’s for dinner?” He playfully tussled her mane, intentionally getting dried mud all over it. She complained for a second before shaking the mud off. Laughing at him she bumped into his legs causing him to stumble. They went back and forth at each other, each delighting in the other’s company as father and daughter.

The two sat and chatted over dinner, mostly about the building project and where it was going and how long it would take. The sun began set and the two of them continued to talk about the various activities of the day, how Dash ‘trained’ the new weather team. How much she felt she had to teach. Brian explained how clay could be used as filer in the foundation. Their conversation wore on into the night.  When at last they had retired for the evening; the sweet, warm air helped lull them into a peaceful and well-earned sleep.