Mae'r Adenydd Caledfwlch

~Mae'r Adenydd Caledfwlch~

Chapter Two: The Truth - Part One

"I'm... I'm sure he had his reasons, Twilight," Fluttershy whispered as she embraced her distraught friend. "We've known him for months now, and he's never acted like this before. He'll come back soon, and he'll apologize, and everything... everything will be okay," she continued, choking up a little.

Twilight sniffed and smiled at the yellow pegasus. She was proud of Fluttershy for being as strong as she was. "Yeah. Yeah, you're probably right. Everything's going to be fine."

"I don't understand," Pinkie said, her mane much droopier than usual. "Why...," she began, but stopped herself.

"Why what?" Rainbow Dash cut in, stamping a hoof on the ground. "Why is Dave being such a massive jerk? Why did he yell at the Princess like he did? Why did Twilight run back bawling her eyes out? Why didn't we know about the whole 'Strider' thing or whatever it was that made him so mad in the first place?" she asked, her eyes narrowing with every question.

"... why was he so sad?" Pinkie finished, looking up at Rainbow Dash, a massive frown plastered to the front of her face.

"What?" Rainbow questioned, raising a brow. "What the heck are you talking about? What do you mean 'sad'? He tore into Princess Celestia and booked it, and then pretended he didn't know why Twilight was upset with him! Even if he is sad, he doesn't have any right to be!"

Pinkie didn't respond. She merely looked down sadly at her hooves.

"That stupid stallion is gonna get a piece of my mind if he shows his stupid face around here again!" Rainbow barked, looking around as if she were hunting for the pony in question.

"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack shouted, startling everypony in the room. "Lookie here, Rainbow. I don't like what 'Sprite did much either, but that ain't no reason to hunt 'im down like a Timberwolf! 's like Fluttershy said, he prob'ly has a good reason for actin' this way an' lashin' out at everypony!"

"Why are you taking his side?" Rainbow retorted, giving Applejack a confused look. "He verbally assaulted the Princess and he doesn't even care about how Twilight feels! I don't know about you, but from now on, that 'Dave' kid is no friend of mine!" she declared, stamping her hoof again to add emphasis.

"I'm not, huh?"

Six heads turned in unison to see an orange pegasus waltz into the room as if he owned the place, a wide smirk on his visage, pearly-white teeth almost flashing.

"Isn't that just a damn shame?" he asked Dash, the crooked smile's unnaturalness and the way he spoke significantly disturbing the blue mare. "I think it is. It's a damn shame. I can say that now, by the way. Why? Pfft, better question: who the hell cares?! I just think it's swell."

"D-Dave?" Rainbow Dash asked, her bravado fading quicker than she could ever hope to fly.

"Dave. Sprite," he corrected forcefully. "My name is Davesprite. It's not that difficult of a fucking concept," he said brightly, smiling ever wider.

The other six ponies were silent.

"So, you said I have no right to be upset, didn't you Dash?" he continued. "Well, while that's an interesting little thought, it's also bullshit. You want to know exactly why? Well, haha, sit the fuck down, strap in, and let me tell you a goddamn story," he commanded.

So that's exactly what she did.

It all started with a boy. A teenage boy, just recently turned thirteen, in fact. This boy's name was Dave. Dave Strider. This boy loved to rap, chat with his online friends, and drink apple juice. But what he loved most of all? Irony. The art of irony, yes, it drew this boy into its mighty grasp, courtesy of the boy's "Bro."

Dave had a pretty good, almost normal life for a long time, but it wasn't meant to last. One day, his friends and he decided they wanted to play a game together. Sounds like a fun time, right? Haha, in your *fucking** dreams. This game was destined to be an absolute nightmare right from the get-go. Even the start-up went horribly! Getting the disk went horribly! Can you believe that? But that wasn't even the worst of it. Because once they started the game, the four friends simultaneously began the Apocalypse. Yes, as in the "End of the Fucking World" Apocalypse. That one. FUN TIMES, RIGHT?*

But oh no, that couldn't be the end of it. Not only were they four of the only eight humans left in the universe, but this game *could** and would kill you if you let it. And it did. It killed two of his best friends. They were destroyed and the session was doomed to eternal failure. For four months, Dave and his sister Rose were the only two left, struggling for their lives. For what, exactly? Well, that's just it. Nothing. They fought for nothing. There was nothing left to even fight for.*

But then, they had an idea. Dave, who was gifted with the *fucked up** power of time travel, decided to go back in time, to moments before he had allowed Jo--his friend to die. Unfortunately, this meant that Rose would fade from existence. They both knew this. So for the last few moments of her existence, Rose just spoke to Dave. They talked, just like they always did. And then she was gone. Forever.*

And then Dave, that *stupid son of a bitch*, who just had to go and be the hero, popped in just in the nick of time. He dropped all of his equipment right in front of his past self and hopped in the Sprite, becoming Past Dave's spirit guide, and saving Dave's friend. Everything was exactly as it should have been.

Only it wasn't.

Because now Dave was just the Sprite. He was the orange bird guy with the spooky ghost tail. He wasn't the *Real Dave. He was just the **copy. His sister didn't talk to him anymore, because she had the Real Dave. His friend whose life he had saved didn't need him anymore because he had the Real Dave. And his other friend, who he had fallen in love with? She didn't give him a second glance, because she was in love with the Real Dave. Dave Strider.*

Getting the picture yet, Speedy? Are you?!

But no, no that's *still** not the end. It's never the goddamn end. Remember Dave's brother? Turns out he was actually his biological father. And when Dave finally found him again, they were attacked. You wanna know how that went? Dave lost a wing, more than a few feathers, and...*

And his brother.

...

I'm done. *The End.***

Davesprite finished his story and stared bitterly at the blue pegasus. His false grin was gone, replaced once again by an unreadable thin line where his mouth had been.

"Da--" she began, but was instantly cut off by the other pegasus.

"Save it. All I came here to do was tell you the truth. I'm gone," he stated bluntly, turning his back on the other six ponies, each wearing an equally horrified look on their faces. "I won't bother any of you again. And I'll figure out how to get back where I came from by myself."

He left without another word, leaving the six mares to stare blankly after him.

"What just... happened?" Rainbow Dash asked, turning slowly back to her friends, worry, fear, and confusion in her eyes.

"He... he told us the 'truth,' apparently," Rarity replied, shaking her head slowly.

Pinkie and Applejack said nothing. They merely looked at each other, ears pointed back.

Fluttershy was still shaking. "I-I-I... I d-didn't know he could be so... so scary," she said quietly, nuzzling Twilight and burying her face in the alicorn's chest.

"Neither did I," Twilight agreed, feeling her own heart pounding. Her own tears had long since subsided, but now she had to switch roles and comfort Fluttershy, who had only just begun to cry. "I can't believe that's what he was hiding from me," she added, much more quietly.

"What was that?" Rainbow Dash asked, her ears perking up. "Twilight, what did you just say?"

"I said... I said that I can't believe that's what he was hiding from me," she said again, much louder this time around. "I mean, I knew he came from another world, but I didn't know he had been through all of that. The only thing he did tell me was that he'd become that 'Sprite' thing years ago," she concluded.

"So he's been dragging all that baggage with him for like, several, actual three-hundred-sixty-five day-long years?" Rainbow asked, her brows furrowing as she put the pieces together. "Then why didn't he just, oh I dunno, tell somepony? See a therapist?"

"From what he just told us in that story o' his," Applejack spoke up, "he didn't have anypony--or anyone, fer that matter--to talk to. They all abandoned him 'cause they had...," She trailed off, as if she were about to say the foulest word in the history of language itself. "The 'Real' Dave."

"That did seem to be a recurring theme in his little tale," Rarity chimed in. "The whole 'Real Dave' bit. He was considered to be the 'real' one because he wasn't the orange creature we've come to know, apparently. Our Dave just wasn't what they wanted."

"Like that girl he mentioned," Pinkie Pie added. "The one he like, fell in love with? It sounds like he knew that he wasn't the one she'd fallen for. Do you think that's what hurt him so bad? Being rejected?"

"No," Twilight replied, shaking her head. "This, well, for lack of a better term, 'inferiority complex' he suffers from is not the result of any one event. It has to have been caused by all of the events occurring almost simultaneously. And the anger and resentment he feels, which is definitely why he's been acting the way he has, stems from his brother's... passing. That's what I think, anyway. He's angry and sad and he can't properly express his emotions. He only knows how to hide them until they build up so fiercely inside that he lashes out at anyone he can. It's actually quite depressing."

"I think we could have figured that last part out ourselves, Twilight," Rainbow sighed. "Anyway, we should, uh," she stammered, turning her head to the still-open door. "We should probably go after him, shouldn't we?" she asked, turning back to Twilight.

For a moment, Twilight wanted nothing more than to say "no," and just forget the whole thing. But she just couldn't.

"Yes. Yes, we should," she responded, after a moment's hesitation. "The quicker, the better."

----

Well. That was certainly a thing that happened.

"Shut the fuck up, Rose. I'm not in the mood right now."

Well, you definitely seem like you're in the mood to talk to me as if I were actually real. You're using your out loud words and everything.

"Because you won't leave me alone! I don't need you anymore!"

Then why am I here? Dave, we both know that I can't--

"I'M NOT DAVE!"

There was a brief moment of absolute silence, permeated by the distant sound of birds fluttering away from the noise.

Hm. You know what? I think I'm starting to believe you. You know why? Because the Dave I know wouldn't bitch and whine about how terrible everything is all the time, and do *literally nothing** else. I mean come on, you insulted a fucking horse goddess who can control the sun. The Dave I know wouldn't be that irrevocably stupid.*

Davesprite stood still for a few minutes, waiting for the voice to continue. "Well?" he called out to no one in particular. "Is that all? You've got nothing else to say to me, Rose? What about you, John? Jade? No? None of you have anything left to say?! Well, isn't that just splendid! What a surprise! Nothing new here!"

The silence was back. There were no more voices. None but his own, desperately crying out into the sky. But then it was over.

god youre pathetic

"No. Not you."

oh ho, but it is me isnt it?

"Get... get out of my head!"

nah, i like it up here. its nice and spacious, since you apparently dont seem to have a fuckin brain

"What do you want, anyway? Haven't you done enough to me as it is?"

done enough? oh come on, we both know i havent done anything at all; thats all just in your imagination, which you seem to keep pretty well hidden. maybe its behind all the voices in your head tormenting your every waking moment? thatd be a clever hiding spot

"I don't have anything to say to you. Fuck off," Davesprite replied curtly.

you know why you dont have anything to say to me? because you know that if you talk to *this** voice for more than five minutes you might actually come to some kind of sensible conclusion for once in your life*

Davesprite decided not to respond at all this time.

oh my god youre such a friggin brat, no wonder you flipped out at those girls. yknow whats really fuckin funny? you said that you went back there to tell them all the truth, when you dont even know your *own** truth. guess youve gotten even better at this irony thing than i though*

"My own... what?" Davesprite asked, suddenly intrigued.

However, it was the voice who decided not to respond this time around. Davesprite felt anger boil up in him again and stamped his hooves on the ground in agitation.

"Dave!" he called. "Dave, you ass, get back here and tell me what the hell that even means!" he shouted, his voice again echoing throughout the garden.

"Wow, and I thought you had issues before," a familiar voice stated. "This though? This is just ridiculous!" it continued.

Davesprite turned and once again found himself face-to-face with the unusual creature he'd met in the garden. He scowled at it and turned away again, only to find that it was somehow still right in front of him. "Leave me alone," he growled, zipping around the being.

"Ugh, still as angst-ridden and boring as ever, I see," the creature moaned. One familiar flash of light later, he was gone.

Davesprite stopped in place. He chuckled mirthlessly and closed his eyes.

"Ain't that the truth."