Chapters ~Mae'r Adenydd Caledfwlch~
Chapter One: The Summoning
Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk.
Davesprite moaned and turned over in his bed--or, well, more accurately, Twilight's guest bed. He was obviously none too happy about this mysterious, ear-grating sound reverberating through the wooden interior of the Ponyville Library. "Twi-light!" he yelled, drawing out the "light" part for as long as he could. "What in the frick-friggin' name of Hades in a haystack is that godawful noise?!" he shouted, his cursing lacking in intensity due to the language barrier and his slowly-forming headache.
"Sorry!" Twilight's voice called back, not from the bed on the other side of the room as D.S. had expected, but from the "downstairs" portion of the room. "That, ahaha, ahem , that would be me. Sorry."
Davesprite could almost smell her sheepish expression through the very fabric of space and time. It was one of her top five most common expressions. It apparently always had been. He sat up in the bed and yawned. "Eh, it's okay, I guess," he admitted, stretching his forelegs. "I suppose I can't exactly sleep forever, no matter how badly I want to. That party yesterday took the piiii... uh... well, it took a lot out of me, is basically what I'm trying to say here," he explained meaninglessly.
"I gathered that much," Twilight replied, chuckling a little. "Does the voice skipping really bother you that much?"
"It's irritating," he responded, rolling himself out of bed and catching his upper body with his two legs. "I don't even get why that one's blocked by your magical censor bleeps. You said it was to stop the more mean or demeaning ones, right?"
"I did, yes, but I suppose it's just meant to, well, reduce vulgarity?" Twilight said, seeming unsure of the reason herself. "You'd have to ask Princess Celestia herself."
"Oh, well, that sounds easy," Davesprite noted, cracking his neck and stretching his muscles a little more. "I'll just walk right up to the Goddess-slash-Queen of the whole dang horse nation and ask her why the P-Word isn't allowed. Sounds like a plan I'd make, anyway," he added, smirking to himself.
"It certainly does," Twilight said, shaking her head and continuing her rummaging.
Davesprite walked/floated down the steps and was surprised to see the place in such a chaotic state. At least he realized what all the noise was about. "Holy crap," he said, glad that the word "crap" was apparently not vulgar enough to be magi-banned, "what in the world have you done to all the poor books?"
He was of course, referring to the "poor books" scattered all across the library's floor, apparently tossed from their shelves by Twilight's magic.
"Oh, er, yeah, I was planning to get that cleaned up before you came down here, but I guess that's not happening now," Twilight commented, quickly flipping through the pages of yet another book. "I'm usually more organized than this, but I just... I have to find out what it means!"
"What?" D.S. asked, feeling a bit out of the loop. "Find out what... what means, exactly?"
"It's... it's nothing, I guess," Twilight sighed, placing the book back on its shelf. "At least, nothing I can find in here. Quite frankly, I'm just surprised that it's not in any of my books," she said, almost pouting. She shook her head and ruffled her wings, and then turned to her scattered books. She telekinetically lifted them off the floor, adjusted them to make sure there were no tears or breaks in them, and placed them neatly back in their shelves, sorting them carefully by alphabetical order.
"Dang," came Davesprite's exclamation of approval. He tapped his hoofed forelegs on the ground a few times in mock-applause before trotting over to the violet alicorn. "That was pretty cool."
Twilight's face flushed ever so slightly and she shook her head. "No, no, it was just a simple levitation spell. Nothing 'cool' about it," she explained, scuffing her hoof on the floor.
"Oh, shut up and take the compliment," Davesprite replied, rolling his eyes and smirking ever so smugly. "You can't take praise very well, y'know, considering you're a big-shot Princess."
Twilight laughed. "So I've been told. And, well, thank you, Dave."
He still wasn't used to hearing that. Before he was able to even think about correcting her, however, the two suddenly heard the sound of the library's front door slamming open. They glanced at each other, both wearing the same confused expression. Twilight shrugged and decided to go check it out, Davesprite following close behind.
"Spike?" Twilight asked, seeing the small dragon panting heavily just inside the door. He appeared to have some kind of scroll wrapped tightly in one of his little claws. "What are you doing back so soon? I thought you were going over to the Carousel Boutique, to see Rarity?"
Davesprite merely snickered and winked at the blushing, heavily breathing baby dragon.
"I... I was, but... then, this came!" he explained, holding up the scroll and waving it around. "It's from... the Princess! Er, well, Princess Celestia, I mean... but you... probably already knew that."
"Another one?" Twilight asked, levitating the scroll to herself. "She just sent that other letter this morning. The one about the...," she trailed off, unable to focus on reading the letter and explaining herself at the same time. After a few minutes of quiet reading, she lowered the scroll, fire in her eyes, and an unusually grim look on her face.
"Twilight?" Davesprite and Spike inquired, in almost perfect unison.
"Spike, go gather up the girls. Princess Celestia wishes to meet with the seven of us at once," Twilight replied simply.
"Seven?" Spike questioned. "Why do I have to go?"
"Not you, Spike," she explained, turning to Davesprite. "She wants to see you , Dave."
Davesprite blinked, then began to chuckle, which gradually turned into full-blown hysteric laugh. He moved his shades aside and wiped tears from his eyes, sighing contentedly. "Well... guess I get to ask her about the P-Word after all, don't I?"
----
"So, uhm, not that I don't love a free trip to Canterlot from time-to-time, but why exactly did Princess Celestia summon the seven of us here?" Rarity wondered aloud as the six mares and the pegastallicrowst slowly approached the large, regal doors of the Canterlot Castle.
"She didn't exactly explain," Twilight said, keeping her eyes forward and her posture stiff, tall, and befitting one of her title. "She only told me she wanted to see all of us, and she went out of her way to tell me to make sure that I brought Dave along with us."
"The heck? Well, I did think it was kinda weird that you brought him along with you, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said, flying above the group. "I just figured you two were a thing now," she concluded, shrugging.
Davesprite laughed from the rear of the group. "Man, we would make quite the pair, wouldn't we? The Princess and the... Whatever I Am. Could make a neat Disney movie, I suppose," he said, closing his eyes and smiling. "But I'm pretty sure Egghead McNerdlight's got somebody else in mind. Don't you, Twilight?"
The other five mares almost snapped their necks looking back at Twilight, various eyebrows raised here and there.
"I... I do not!" she denied as the blush making its way onto her entire muzzle began seeping into her vocal chords, causing her to stutter uncontrollably. "H-He's just making fun of me!"
"Sure I am," Davesprite whispered, still smiling towards the sky. Suddenly, the sun seemed to go out. He opened his eyes and discovered that the seven of them had finally entered the glorious castle. It had seemed to take forever. He took the time to admire his surroundings, as castles weren't exactly commonplace for him. The halls were gloriously decorated, and many ponies of many sizes and races stood manned in the halls, clad in either silver or gold armor, most like corresponding to Princesses Luna and Celestia, respectively. Most, if not all of them, were stallions. Apparently, this is where the entire male Equestrian population's been hiding, he thought to himself.
"Oh boy, we're almost there!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed in her usual, bubbly tone. "The hall with all the stained glass pictures where we always get our super cool mission briefings!"
Davesprite quirked an eyebrow and quickly lifted his hooves and propelled himself forward to walk side-by-side with Applejack. "What's she talking about?" he asked the somewhat startled farm pony.
"Oh! Well, t'be honest, it's kinda embarrassin'. Y'see, there's this hall comin' up with a buncha stained-glass windows that show off some o' the stuff we've all gone and done for the sake of Equestria. 's not exactly a quiet place t' live," she explained, fiddling with her Stetson in the process.
"Huh," Davesprite said, turning his eyes forward. "That's... pretty impressive," he said, frowning a little. I never got a stained-glass window for anything I did... he thought. He knew it was a childish thought, but he was still a little jealous.
"Welcome, My Little Ponies," came the regal, yet gentle, almost silky voice of Equestria's ruler herself, Princess Celestia. "I'm glad you were able to respond so quickly to my abrupt summons," she continued, almost apologetically. "But I needed to see you. All of you. Especially a certain somepony in this little ensemble," she added, gesturing to Davesprite and giving him a warm, welcoming smile.
"... well, that explains why Twilight's so fond of you," he said quietly, staring at the regal figure before him. He nodded and bowed his head as a sign of respect. He figured if he should show respect to anyone, it should be the monarch of an entire country. "Nice to make your acquaintance, Your Highness."
She laughed softly, as if her voice were a gentle breeze on a summer day. "Come now, Mr. Strider. You know as well as I do that flattery most certainly does not suit you," she stated, her smile as warm as ever.
Davesprite froze in place. He looked up at the Princess and raised his shades so that they rested upon his head. He stared into her soft, magenta eyes with his bright, almost blindingly yellow ones. His expression hardened and his eyebrows lowered. "Why do you know that name?" he asked.
"It's my duty to know all about my kingdom and its subjects," Celestia explained, her eyes losing a bit of their twinkle as she noticed the orange pegasus' hostility. "Including those who come from far, far away."
"Cut the crap," he shot back at her, shocking the other six in his group. "I know all about being pointlessly cryptic, and I also know it's f---ing stupid. Just give me a straight answer. How do you know that name? " he asked again, frustration written all over his face.
She sighed. "Because I know you, Dave Strider. I know all about you."
"Then you also obviously f---ing know that's not who I am," he spit, the words flying from his mouth like a snake's venom.
She eyed him sadly, the smile from before, now devoid of warmth, lingering on her face. "I know that's what you think," she replied.
He scowled and turned his back to the Princess. "You don't know anything. How about you just... just tell Twilight and the others what you need them to know. I'll be somewhere else, doing whatever the f--- I feel like doing," he mumbled darkly, walking briskly towards the door that led to the previous hallway. He moved his shades from the top of his head down to his eyes quietly.
No one could see him cry.
No one.
----
Davesprite laid quietly on a bench, somewhere in the middle of the Palace Garden. He tapped his shades a few times, trying for the thirty-fourth time to access the Internet. Apparently Equestria didn't come with unlimited, magic Wi-Fi. He knew this already, but he wanted to make it seem like he was busy with something.
"Now doesn't that look like a swell time," a deep voice remarked casually from somewhere in front of Dave. He shut his iShades down and found himself face-to-face with some sort of being that looked like the product of a first grader having a little bit too much fun with the teacher's new crayons.
"What do you want?" Davesprite asked bitterly. He didn't exactly want to talk to anyone at the moment.
"Oh, nothing!" the creature said, snapping his fingers and summoning a large cotton candy cloud to recline on. "I just wanted to know if it was you who those six little rascals are out hunting for," he said, pulling a bush out of the ground and biting the roots clean off.
"Probably," Davesprite said flatly, not exactly in the mood any of the being's nonsensical antics.
"Well, aren't you chatty," the creature remarked sarcastically, shaking a few pigs out of the bush he had been eating before tossing it behind him, where it suddenly sprouted a pair of wings and ascended into the sky. "You're almost as boring as the Guards. And they don't even do anything!"
"Don't really care."
"Ugh!" the creature exclaimed, tossing his mismatched arms up in defeat. "I give up, I'm not going to sit here and waste my time with you. I'll just tell Fluttershy I couldn't find you, or something," he muttered, disappearing along with his cloud chair in a flash of white light.
Davesprite grunted something unintelligible and sighed. He laid his head down on the cold bench and gazed out at the plants and statues and whatever else he could see dotted across the landscape.
That was a bit cold, don't you think?
Not you again, he thought, scrunching his face together and frowning. I thought you were gone, already.
Guess you were wrong. So, why all the harshness? He was only trying to help, and apparently at the request of the cute, yellow one.
I don't want his "help," Davesprite thought forcefully at the voice. I don't want anyone's help. I'm not some friggin' five-year old who needs to be tucked in and told a story or some other stupid nonsense.
Yet here I am. You've gone right back to needing me here with you to keep you in check.
I don't need you. You just show up whenever the heck you want, Davesprite pointed out, confident he'd won this totally sane argument happening inside his head.
I show up whenever the heck * you** want, genius. I thought I'd already explained all this to you.*
"Dave!" a familiar voice called. "Dave, where are you?!"
Well, that sounds like my cue to head on out. Get it? Head? Because you're a lunatic and this is all inside your head? It's actually hilarious. And maybe almost ironic. We both know how you love your irony.
Shut the hell up.
"I'm over here, Twilight," Davesprite called, rolling off the bench and walking slowly in the direction the voice had come from. He turned the corner and opened his mouth to say something...
And took a blow from a speeding, purple bullet right to the side of his face.
Davesprite blinked, the world having suddenly become brighter. He moved his stiff neck slightly to see his iShades on the ground, a good two or three feet away. He almost mechanically walked over to them and picked them up. He brushed away any dust that may have accumulated on the lenses, placed them back over his golden eyes, and slowly turned around.
"S'up, Twilight?"
"Don't you * 's'up'** me, you... you... you insensitive jerk !"* the alicorn screamed, tears of rage welling up in her eyes. "What in the world was all of that about!? What in the hoof came over you!? * How could you do such a thing?!*"
Davesprite's expression remained calm. His mouth and lower jaw did, anyway. He was suddenly more relieved than ever before that his eyes were unreadable behind his glasses. "I...," he began slowly. "... I have no idea what you're talking about."
Twilight's eyes grew wider and she opened her mouth to speak. Then closed it. Then opened it again. After a few more moments of this, she decided not to say anything, after all. She closed her eyes, letting the tears continue to flow, and shook her head. She turned and walked away from Davesprite, leaving him to his thoughts once again.
Well, that was certainly something.
Shut. The. * Hell.** Up.*
What? I was only trying to--
"SHUT UP , ROSE!" Davesprite snapped, unable to contain himself any longer. "JUST... just... shut up," he repeated softly. "Please."
There was no reply.
Not this time.
~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."
~Mae'r Adenydd Caledfwlch~
Chapter Two: The Truth - Part Two
"... and then he was all, 'angst-angst, anger, groan, BLECH' like usual," the draconnequus sighed, leaning against the outer wall of the castle. "He's absolutely no fun at all. I'm surprised the six of you can even stand that insufferable buffoon."
"Pretty much the same way we 'stand' you, Discord," Rainbow Dash deadpanned, rubbing her temples with her hooves. "So where did you say he went again? In less words and, you know, complaints this time, please?"
"Those were most certainly not complaints, Rainbow. They were merely my astute observations regarding your irritable little orange friend, if you even still think of him as such," he shrugged. "I mean, that explosion of his regarding your fair Princess Celestia would have been punishable by 1000-plus years' imprisonment, back in my day," he muttered bitterly.
"Discord!" scolded Fluttershy, frowning. "Of course he's still our friend. Just like you are, and hopefully always will be."
Discord scoffed and turned his head away from Fluttershy, hiding his slight blush. "Oh, spare me with the lovey-dovey friendship talk, I get it." He sighed again, and turned his mismatched body towards Twilight. "Should I go out and find him again? Maybe bring him back this time?"
"No, I don't think that would be the best idea," she replied, shaking her head. "He hasn't exactly rolled out the welcome wagon for you yet, and knowing him, he probably never will. We should just go back to hunting him down without your help. Thank you for trying, though," she concluded, offering Discord a smile.
"Suit yourselves," he responded, shrugging and cracking his back. He snapped a claw and a pair of sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt materialized on his person. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go back to my vacation."
"Vacation?" Rainbow asked, eyebrow raised. "We found you hanging off the ceiling like a bat in Twilight's old room, rearranging all of her books by 'How Much You Liked Them,' which for some reason isn't a real organization method. How does that count as a 'vacation?'"
"Shut up, that's how," was Discord's simple reply. He snapped his claw again and vanished in a flash of white light.
"He's always such a diamond mine of information, isn't he?" Rarity commented, rolling her eyes.
Applejack looked at Rarity, a confused expression on her face. "I thought th' phrase was 'gold mine' o' information, not 'diamond mine.' I mean, I know yer a big fan o' diamonds an' all, but I've just never heard that 'fore."
"Eheh, sorry, that's become a favorite phrase of Sweetie Belle's as of late. In fact, she's been talking very highly of mining in general, lately. I'm not quite sure why."
"Okay, girls, maybe we can save discussing Rarity's sister's sudden fascination with the mining industry for some other time?" Twilight suggested, interrupting the conversation before it got out of hoof. "We do have a certain orange bird-pony to find, after all."
"Yeah, yeah, I got'cha, Twi'."
"Quite right you are, Twilight."
"Um, girls?" Fluttershy asked, looking around the room. "D-Did anypony see where Pinkie Pie ran off to?"
The four other mares, suddenly acknowledging the absence of their sixth party member, looked around in confusion.
Rainbow Dash groaned and smacked herself in the face with a hoof. "She was here just a minute ago! You know, probably! Where could she have possibly gone in the whole two seconds she must have had to leave!?"
"Maybe she went to go find Dave," Fluttershy offered quietly, scuffing the floor a little with her hoof.
"Why would she bother going off on her own to do that? None of us know where he went off to," Dash replied, furrowing her brow in thought.
A metaphorical light bulb flickered and then went off in Twilight's head. "Or... maybe she does know. I have an idea. Follow me, girls!" Twilight exclaimed, running out the door, leaving her friends confused.
----
An orange hoof kicked a ripple in the pond water as its owner sighed. He stared at his reflection again for a few moments and shook his head. "God, I look ridiculous," he stated, rubbing his face with the aforementioned appendage. "With these massive eyes and these disproportionate wings, and this dumb horse muzzle."
"I don't think you look ridiculous," a bright voice responded happily.
"Oh, there you are, Jade," Davesprite sighed, kicking his reflection in the water again. "I was wondering when you'd show up. Rose and Dave have already given me the business, as you should very well know already. You think it's weird that I keep talking to you guys, even though you're all just fucking voices inside my head?"
"No, not really. Though, that's mostly because I like to talk to the voices in my head, too! They usually don't 'give me the business,' though! That probably means you're being too hard on yourself, silly!"
Davesprite sighed again and turned to see Pinkie Pie standing exactly where the voice had just been coming from. "Hey," he greeted weakly, putting on a small smile. "Didn't see you there."
"Obviously!" Pinkie said, laughing. "So who's Jade, anyway? I know you're Dave, and your sister is Rose, but I don't think I've heard that name yet."
"I'm not... oh, whatever. Jade was the girl I mentioned earlier," Davesprite replied, turning his head back to the still water. "The one I was in love with."
"Oh, right. So, um... Davey?" Pinkie asked tentatively, walking up beside him and sitting on her haunches. "Why is it that you keep saying that you aren't 'The Real Dave?' I mean, of course you're real! I couldn't be talking to you right now if you weren't!"
He kicked the water again, sending a ripple across the surface. "You can talk to me because I exist . Not because I'm real . There's a pretty sizable difference between those two concepts. I mean, hell, I know for a fact that the voices in my head aren't real , but I talk to them anyway. I can do that because they exist within my mind."
"That seems like a sad way to look at things," Pinkie replied, watching the tiny waves spread out from their point of origin. "Why can't you exist and be real? I think I'd like that a lot more. You would too, I bet."
"Yeah, I probably would. Too bad life doesn't work like that."
"Well... why not? I mean, well...," Pinkie stopped and rubbed her chin with a hoof. "Okay, hang on, Davey. Answer this question for me. What makes the other Dave real that you, apparently, don't have?"
Davesprite kicked the water again, harder this time. "His lack of wings and tail. His not-orange skin. His stupid fucking cape. All of that, and more."
Pinkie raised an eyebrow at her friend. "Wait, so what you're saying is that, and stop me if I'm wrong here, the other Dave is more real than you because of how he looks ?"
Davesprite slammed his hoof in the pond, splashing water on both himself and the pink mare. "No! Yes! I... I don't know! Maybe that is it! He doesn't look like some sort of mutant freak , so he's the real deal! Wow, looks like we solved a fucking mystery and a half right there, didn't we?!" he snapped, whipping his head around towards Pinkie, nostrils flared.
She didn't even flinch. "So you feel like... you're a reflection of Dave. And that nobody wants you. Because all they want is the 'real you' back?"
He spun slowly back to the water and looked again at the distorted picture.
"I think I know how you feel," she continued, walking up right beside him and staring into the pool.
Davesprite scoffed. "Yeah, right. Pulled that line right out of the Big Book of Clichés, didn't you?"
Pinkie shook her head rapidly in response. "No, no, no! I really mean it! I mean it and I do know how you feel because I was in your exact situation, once!"
The orange pegastallicrowst chuckled mirthlessly, much to Pinkie's chagrin. "I doubt it. There's only one Pinkie Pie."
"... Except for that time I messed around with The Mirror Pool," she stated simply.
Davesprite, attention piqued, glanced at the pink mare beside him. "Mirror Pool?" he asked, looking back at the pond before them. "What's that supposed to be?"
"Well, it was a legend. I guess it isn't really anymore, since it was true. Can legends be true? I don't know, but that's not the important thing here. Anyway, the legend said that there was this pool, right? And, and, if you recited this special poem and walked into the water, you could make copies of yourself! Or, I guess. reflections of yourself! See, the name makes sense, right?"
"I guess," Davesprite replied halfheartedly. He didn't really get where this little storytime session was going.
"So basically, I decided to make copies, or, er, one copy, of myself because I really wanted to hang out with all of my friends so we could all have fun at the same time and I wouldn't have to choose between any of them! I mean, it almost kinda worked out at first, but then the copy I made said she couldn't choose either, so we went back to make two more copies, one for each of us! Cool, right? Four Pinkies! Almost enough to cover all of my friends! But er... the other three decided they wanted to make even more copies. That's where the real problem started," Pinkie continued, unfazed by Davesprite's less-than-enthusiastic tone.
"There's that word again," he muttered quietly.
"The mirror Pinkies were all like, reflections of reflections, so you know, it's like when you have clones of clones! They're not exactly... right. They all wanted to have fun, sure! But that's, well, all they wanted. They didn't care who got in their way or if anyone else got put in a bind, because they were all having such a great time... ruining Ponyville, basically," she explained sheepishly. "And so nopony wanted to talk to any of the Pinkies because they were all being super irritating, and so there I was, all alone and sad. See, all I really want in my life is to make other ponies happy. But I can't do that when nopony even wants to be around me, you know?"
Davesprite blinked. "Um. I guess?"
"Anyway, so eventually I came up with an idea while I was being all sad and mopey about not being with my friends. The idea? Give the Pinkies a test! A test that would be really hard for Pinkie Pie to do! Whoever failed got sent back to the Mirror Pool! That way, only the Pinkie who wanted to stay with her friends badly enough would be left, and that would mean that she was the real Pinkie Pie!"
Realization dawned on the orange male's face.
"So let me ask you, Davey," Pinkie stated seriously, turning to face her companion. "If you had the chance to go back, would you still save your friends, or would you stay with your sister?"
He thought for a moment, then sighed. "I would... I would still save them. I would know that my period of usefulness was long gone, but they would still be able to go on and fulfill their great and mighty destinies, or whatever."
"So?"
"So what?"
"Oh, come on!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Think about it for like, ONE second! You would do anything for your friends, even if it's something that's really hard for you! You should already know what that means!"
cmon man, put two and two together already before she starts literally spelling it out to you
"Davey! Come on! Tell me what it means! You know what it is!" she continued, her cries almost turning into pleas.
youre gonna make her cry, asshat
The orange pegasus lifted a hoof and looked at it for a while, because apparently it was the most intriguing thing in the world to him, at the moment. "What it means? Well, if your line of thinking and the nagging voice inside my head are on the same page, then you seem to be implying that the truth of the matter is that..." he paused. "Is that those feelings make me just as real as any other Dave," he finished.
"Exactly!" Pinkie shouted, grinning happily at Davesprite. "Finally, you reali--"
"But I'm not buying it."
are you fucking * serious***
"You're... not buying it? Not buying what? There aren't even any shops nearby."
He shook his head in reply. "No, Pinkie. Thing is, there's a difference between our stories. Y'see, if my story went like that, then I wouldn't be the Pinkie who won. I'd be one of the fakes shot back into the Pool. That's just how it is."
**you * dont even believe you anymore! why are you so intent on keeping up this stupid self pity act!?*
"Ugh! That wasn't even the point!" Pinkie shouted, gritting her teeth at Davesprite. He had to admit, she could almost be considered something akin to terrifying if she wanted to be. "You were supposed to realize that you're real because your feelings are real ! You aren't just some static emotionless force, or anything like that! You are a living, breathing pony with a heart and you feel happiness and love and sadness and anger! That's what makes you real ! And having wings doesn't make you any less real !"
Davesprite stood in stunned silence for a matter of seconds, then shook his head rapidly. "I don't..."
oh my god, * shut the hell up***
"... if I'm so real, then why don't they care?"
"The only one who cares about your stupid definition of what makes something 'real' is you !" Pinkie shot back, obviously done with the giggles and sunshine for now. "Why can't you just get it through your head that you're just as real as any of us, and that you have people who care about you!? Why is that so hard for you to understand? And I swear, if you give me some stupid, fakey-lakey sarcastic answer, I'm gonna... do something! Something... I don't know!"
The other pony really had nothing to say for a while. He stared into the wide, shiny blue eyes of the pink pony behind his dark sunglasses. He sighed in defeat. "Fine. Fine, okay? I have real emotions. I have real friends. I'm real. But you know what? You know why I keep saying I'm not? Because it's never really been about me being real. It's been about me being the real Dave . That's why I can't stand this. Because no matter what I do or how I do it, I'm going to forever be the real Davesprite . Not the real Dave. And god, do I miss being Dave. I miss being me."
Pinkie's expression had returned to one of sympathy. "I'm sorry."
"I know. You shouldn't be, though. It's not your problem. It's mine."
"But I really, truly am."
"Yeah. It... we should go back. We did come here for a reason, and who the hell am I to screw this whole thing up for everyone else?"
----
"Pinkie! Dave!" Twilight called off happily as the two came into view around a corner.
Pinkie returned Twilight's wave enthusiastically while Davesprite continued to wear a somber, sullen expression. Twilight looked back and saw mixed expressions on the rest of her friends' faces. She sighed.
"Guys," Davesprite began suddenly, calling all attention to himself. "I know this isn't even remotely enough to make up for how I snapped at you earlier, not to mention your friggin' monarch, for god's sake, but I'm so fucking sorry right now that I just... don't know what else to say. I'm just... sorry."
"Well, I'm glad to see somepony's learned to control himself. And you even noticed I broke your little language barrier, too. You catch on quick, my little pony."
The six mares and Davesprite looked over in shock as Celestia seemed to emerge from behind a solid wall, smiling warmly at the group. "And just so you know, Dave: I forgive you with all of my heart. I understand that I brought up a sore subject, and I deeply apologize as well."
Davesprite's mouth hung open in apparent shock.
"Now come, you seven. I have something to show you."