Reconnection

Pinkie Pie

Pinkie Pie woke up the next morning, head bursting with so many things that needed to be done, she didn't know where to begin. The previous night they had settled on a basic strategy; get Twilight out of the picture through some kind of frame-up. But then she went home and there was still so much to think about.

Being from the future her and Applejack had a good idea of what was going to happen as time went on. They should already be planning, coming up with ideas, anything to keep Rainbow Dash from dying! With that in mind, Pinkie Pie quickly made her way to Sugarcube Corner, where she told the Cakes she was too sick to work that day. She didn't like lying, but it had to be done. She tried to be as realistic as possible as she threw herself on the floor pretending to be ill, but it was hard to not have fun with it. In the end though, she got out of work that day, reminding the Cake's that there was nothing worse than a sick pony in a bake shop.

With the her job out of the way, at least in the meantime, Pinkie Pie hopped herself over to Sweet Apple Acres.

Once there, it wasn't too hard to find both Big Macintosh and Applejack, who were out doing who knew what with the apple trees. As soon as she got close Big Mac sighed.

"A.J., I thought we were just gonna sit tight for a while."

Applejack glanced back and forth between Pinkie Pie and her brother. "I didn't call Pinkie Pie here," she said finally.
Pinkie Pie took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry I just thought we needed to talk more because there's so much we still need to talk about, like when would be a good time to get Twilight, because you know we can talk about that because we know the future and also we should really talk about - "

Suddenly she gasped, because something really important just occurred to her.

"What about Fluttershy and Rarity!"

Applejack gave her a confused look before her eyes widened in understanding.

"You think they could be here too?" Pinkie Pie nodded. "But what about Rainbow Dash, you said she didn't remember nothing. And...you know, maybe they made it out okay?" She said that last bit in little more than a whisper.

"We should still check!" said Pinkie Pie. "And the sooner the better!" Pinkie Pie tried to put on her most convincing face.

"Just one more day of this, then we can lay low! Just one itty bitty day?" She looked to both Applejack and Big Mac in turn. Applejack looked really conflicted. Big Mac rolled his eyes, but then sobered as he caught sight of his sister's face.

Finally Applejack said, "okay, one more day. But that's it. As much as I'd love to, my brother's right when he says we can't put our lives completely on hold for this."

Pinkie Pie jumped in the air in excitement.

"Great, we can split up! Who do you want to check up on, Fluttershy, or Rarity?"

Rainbow Dash

It was morning, and Rainbow Dash felt like attacking someone. Anyone, it didn't matter. But her she'd just about had it.

The morning started off frustratingly confusing. Looking at what weather was scheduled up for the day she couldn't help but notice the date was wrong. The calendar was almost two years old and the day and month completely wrong too. Thinking it was just some sort of lame prank, Rainbow Dash pointed it out. But just like the day before she just got a bunch of strange looks, and ponies telling her, no, she was wrong, and was she feeling alright, and she'd been acting strange lately.

The worst thing was that some part of her couldn't help but think they were right. Something was wrong. She'd been feeling it ever since her miraculous survival. And she couldn't figure out what it was.

The other ponies had just picked up on it, and Rainbow Dash was just being resentful. She knew she shouldn't feel so frustrated, but she couldn't help it.

So she took the day off. She didn't want to, but deep down she knew it was for the best. The other ponies all looked relieved which only served to make her more annoyed.

So here she was, flying aimlessly, morning sun glowing in the sky being obstructed by clouds she wasn't helping to move.
She groaned in annoyance. She really needed to get over whatever was bugging her.

Looking down she saw a familiar form walking slowly along. Remembering that she had nothing to do and her attempts to be by herself the previous day hadn't gone well, she landed.

"Heya Spike!" she said, trying her best to sound normal. "You're up early."

Spike looked up and Rainbow Dash noticed he was frowning deeply.

"Hey Rainbow Dash," he said, sounding not at all happy. "I'm sorry, but I'm kind of not in the mood right now."

Rainbow Dash finally had somebody she knew here to be with, she wasn't about to let him go that easily.

"That makes two of us," she said, following along as Spike began to walk forward. "But I really need some company right now. And if you're sad, maybe you could use some too?"

Spike sighed as he lowered his head. "I guess."

They walked in silence for a while before Rainbow Dash asked, "What's got you so down?"

Spike didn't look back up as he said, "Princess Celestia's transferring me. I'm not going to be Twilight's assistant anymore. I'm leaving Ponyville."

Rainbow Dash shouted, "What?!" She felt her wings open involuntarily. "Why would the princess go and do a thing like that?"

"She says Twilight doesn't need me anymore, and that there are other ponies who do. So I'm being sent back to Canterlot to help some other pony I've never met before. A chariot's coming tomorrow to take me back. Twilight said we'd keep in touch but...I don't know, something about the way she said it makes me think she doesn't mean it. I thought we were good friends, you know? But...I don't know. I think I was wrong."

"If you want, Spike, I'll keep in touch with you," said Rainbow Dash without thinking. "I've never had a pen-friend before."

Spike raised his head at that. "Really?" he said, sounding a bit confused. "But we barely know each other."

Rainbow Dash thought about it then. Her and Spike had never really hung out, but she didn't think they were that distant. And if Spike felt that they were, and he was leaving, then she definitely keep in touch.

"Maybe you're right Spike, but that's all the more reason for us to stay in contact!" said, relaying her thoughts to the dragon.

"Aw gee Rainbow Dash," said Spike. Rainbow Dash felt herself smile a bit at the light blush that formed on the dragons cheeks. "That's nice to hear. Okay then, I'll make sure to write you after I leave."

Suddenly Rainbow Dash had an idea.

"I'd hate to leave you just know Spike, but I gotta go do something! But don't worry, I'll see you again before tomorrow!"
And with that she took to the sky, flying towards Sugarcube Corner, feelings of frustration and anger only barely bothering her. Being with a friend seemed to be helping, and an opportunity to be with even more friends had shown itself. There was no way she was going to waste it.

Rainbow Dash dropped down in front of Sugarcube Corner. She went through the open door.

"Hi there Mr. And Mrs. Cake. Pinkie Pie around?"

Mrs. Cake dropped the whisk she was holding so she could say, "Pinkie Pie took the day off today. She said she hasn't been feeling well, and there's nothing worse than a sick pony in a bake shop." She said that last bit as if she was quoting someone, rolling her eyes as she did so.

Rainbow Dash thought about it for a moment. As far as she knew, Pinkie Pie had never asked for a day off work. But hey, there was a first time for everything.

As Rainbow Dash turned around, something caught her eye. A calendar was hanging on the wall by the front door. She could feel her chest knot as she saw the date and year. There was no way the Cake's would be pulling the same "prank" on her. And unless Pinkie Pie was getting way more into things than she normally did, the calendar couldn't be blamed on her either.

"Uh, Mrs. Cake," said Rainbow Dash, glancing back. "Is that calendar right?" She pointed a hoof at the offending item.
Mrs. Cake dropped the whisk again, and squinted in the direction of the calendar. "Yes, yes that's right. Why? Is it an important day for you?"

Rainbow Dash couldn't understand what was going on, but now she knew there really was something to worry about.
"No," Rainbow Dash heard herself say. "Nothing important."

Twilight Sparkle

Spike still hadn't come back yet. Twilight Sparkle was annoyed.

The longer he stayed out the more she was going to have to work to console him, and the more annoying it was going to be to make him believe that she did care for him and that everything was going to be okay. She scoffed to herself at the idea. It'd been so long since she had to pretend to be inviting and friendly to the others, she really didn't want to have to start doing it again. But alas, this was just the hoof she was dealt.

What was going to be even worse was establishing a quick and fast method of communication between herself and Princess Celestia now that Spike would be leaving. Truth be told, she was certain she could do it. But it'd take some time, and then she might have to explain to Celestia how she suddenly was so very advanced in magic.

Twilight shook her head. It was a problem, but not insurmountable.

In the meantime Twilight put her thoughts back to work on solving the Fluttershy problem. She knew Fluttershy had to be first this time around. But how best to do it without anypony knowing something was up?

Suddenly, it clicked. Twilight was astonished at how fast the answer came to her. Quickly, she began writing down a short list of things she'd need, written magically so nopony else would be able to see it.

Finishing that up she began to look around for a certain book before remembering she probably didn't even have it yet. Suddenly, her eyes found her old reference guide to the Elements of Harmony, a book she hadn't opened in a very long time. Why would she, she had memorised everything in it a long time ago, and there were better guides out there. She sighed.

Better guides she didn't have any more.

It was then that she felt a very strange urge to give this old, out-dated book another look-see. It was a silly feeling, she'd read it cover to cover, and knew everything it had to say by heart. Still....

She sighed and opened the book, starting at the beginning. She would just read the whole thing again. It wasn't like there was anything else to do until Spike was gone forever.

Pinkie Pie

Pinkie Pie bounced into Rarity's boutique without so much as a knock. It was okay, because Rarity watched her do it and hadn't said anything before Pinkie entered.

"I know we're friends dear, but you could have knocked first," said Rarity as Pinkie moved closer. She sat down in front of her table, looking at some designs full of measurements and numbers Pinkie couldn't understand because she wasn't a fashion designer. The drawings looked pretty though, and she supposed that was the point. But this wasn't the time for that.

"Hey Rarity, I wanted to ask you something!" said Pinkie Pie!

Rarity looked up from her designs, but then looked right back down again and she said absent-mindedly "Yes, what is it Pinkie Pie?"

Pinkie took a deep breath and exhaled. "You don't remember dying and then coming back to relive your life do you?" she said very quickly.

Rarity stopped what she was doing. Slowly, she raised her head and looked into Pinkie's eyes. Finally, she began to laugh. It wasn't a huge laugh, but it was the laugh of genuine amusement.

"Oh my dear," she began, "that was quite a funny question! You sure do say the strangest things sometimes." She smiled awkwardly. "I mean no disrespect of course!" She put her arm on Pinkie's shoulder.

Pinkie Pie stepped back, ready to leave.

"Well, that's all I wanted to know Rarity, I'll see you later!" Pinkie Pie bounced back out of the boutique, thinking about how easy that turned out to be.

As she trotted along to Waffles Honey's breakfast house, a familiar form dropped down from the sky and landed a few feet in front of her.

"I've been looking everywhere for you Pinks!" said Rainbow Dash, walking towards her. "Listen, I got to talk to you."
Pinkie's curiosity was peaked, and she allowed herself to get sidetracked, but only for a moment.

"Sure, what's going on Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow Dash leaned in really close. "I need your help to throw a going-away party for Spike. It needs to be tonight."

Pinkie Pie was confused. "Why do you want to throw a going-away party for Spike? Where's he going?"

Rainbow Dash took a step back. It looked like she wanted the party to be a secret, but whatever she was about to say wasn't.

"Spike's been reassigned to somepony else. He's not going to be Twilight's assistant anymore. He's going to be leaving Ponyville."

Pinkie Pie was about to shout out "sure," but what Rainbow Dash said caught up to her. Spike had been...reassigned? That had never happened before. When Spike left, it was because he became a big dragon that needed to go find his own place in life, not because he was a little baby dragon getting moved to some other pony.

Still, if he was leaving, he needed a party. Pinkie Pie would just have to bring it up with Applejack and Big Macintosh later.
"Sure Rainbow Dash," she said. "I'll help, but I gotta do some stuff first! Meet me at Sugarcube Corner - "

"We can't go there, the Cake's think you're sick!" said Rainbow Dash, nudged Pinkie Pie playfully in the shoulder. "Honestly Pinkie Pie, I didn't think you were one to skip out on work!"

Pinkie chuckled nervously. "Well, how about your place?"

"You can't fly Pinks. And neither can Spike, and the party's for him. Why don't we just tell Twilight and -"

"NO!" shouted Pinkie Pie before she could help it. A few ponies who were walking by stopped to look at her, but only for a moment. Soon they went back to whatever it was they were doing. Pinkie chuckled again. "I mean, well, no!" She stomped her front hoof, wanting to show Rainbow Dash that she was serious. "Rainbow, we're friends right?" she said seriously.

"Uh, yeah?"

"And we've been friends for years right? You trust me right?"

Rainbow Dash nodded.

"Then please please please trust me now! Try not to hang around Twilight. She's a really bad pony and she doesn't want anything good for us! Please, just trust me on this!"

Pinkie frowned as she looked into Rainbow Dash's eyes, hoping against hope that she would believe her and be wary of Twilight.

"But Pinkie, Twilight's our fri-"

"She is not our friend," said Pinkie, slowly. She tried to wipe her eyes, they had gotten watery somehow. "She's only pretending." A few more seconds passed. "Please, trust me on this."

Finally, Rainbow Dash just nodded dumbly. "Okay Pinkie Pie, if you say so. But Spike still needs a party, and we still need a place to have it."

Pinkie finished drying her eyes. She looked up, smiling, and said, "How about Sweet Apple Acres? They have all that space, we can have it outside, under the stars and everything."

"That sounds like a great idea Pinkie!"

Pinkie Pie smiled wide, happy the conversation had finally gotten back to something that wasn't terribly sad.

"Okay, I'll meet you at your house in about an hour and a half! I still have some things I need to do!"

Rainbow Dash nodded as she took to the skies. Pinkie Pie watched her fly off for a while before finally returning on her way to the Breakfast House.

Applejack

Applejack hoofed at the ground nervously. Which was a mighty strange thing to be doing in front of Fluttershy of all ponies.

"How...how you doing there, Fluttershy?" she said finally. Fluttershy seemed to notice something was up and tried to hide under her own wing, before thinking better of it.

"Hi...Applejack. Is something wrong?" She spoke with the same slow and shy rhythm she always did. Applejack wondered if the wording she used was an invite to plunge right in and explain things or not. Of course, she decided not to.

"I was just wondering Fluttershy," Applejack began, "how you've been holding up...these past few days?"

Fluttershy took a while before replying. "I've been just fine, Applejack."

"No..." she paused tried to think of a way to bring this up without really bringing it up. "No bad dreams or nothing? No...thoughts on the future at all? Everything just fine and dandy on your end?" She hoped that would be enough.
Fluttershy just looked even more awkward than normal.

"I don't know what you mean...is there something I should know? Is something bad going to happen?"

Applejack decided that was enough.

"Now don't you worry darling, nothing's gonna happen. I was just wondering about you is all."

Applejack didn't want to linger any longer and ran off without saying goodbye. She thought to herself she was being a little rude, but really, hers was a difficult situation to be in.

Applejack didn't stop until she made it to the Breakfast House, where Pinkie Pie and her had agreed to meet. It was always crowded here, nobody would overhear them talking.

Applejack sat down with a glass of apple juice and waited. And waited. And waited some more. She was on her fourth glass before Pinkie Pie finally came crashing in.

Sitting down, across from Applejack, Pinkie Pie said, "I've found out something important."

Applejack forced herself to not bring up the lateness of Pinkie's arrival before saying, "is it about Rarity?"

Pinkie Pie shook her head.

"No, it's about Spike! He's being reassigned!"

"What does that mean?"

"It means he's leaving Ponyville! Rainbow Dash told me when I was on my way here, she wants us to throw a party for him. Also, we're having the party at Sweet Apple Acres, I hope you don't mind."

Applejack didn't really care about no parties.

"I don't, but why is this important? Wait."

The gears in Applejack's mind began to turn, and suddenly she realised; this hadn't happened before. Spike was still with Twilight when she died, and if Pinkie was right, wasn't supposed to leave for a long time after Applejack's death.

Which made Applejack really wonder what could have caused this. She sighed, annoyed that things were getting more complicated. Really, all she wanted to do was kill Twilight and be done with it. But events just weren't rolling that way.

"So, what are we going to do about it? Besides throw a party. And what about that party anyway? I don't want...her, anywhere near my farm unless it's to hang."

Pinkie Pie giggled.

"See I already thought of that, we'll just not invite her, and if she comes and asks us why she wasn't invited we'll say we did invite her, the invitation just must have gotten lost in the mail!"

"Seems good enough to me. I'll talk to Big Macintosh about the party, I'm sure he won't mind either. Granny Smith for sure won't care."

"Great! I gotta go tell Rainbow Dash then. I'm supposed to meet her at her house soon. After we get all the supplies we need we'll come by with Spike as quick as a really quick thing!"

Rainbow Dash

Rainbow Dash's head was a whirl of thoughts and worries for the hour she was alone waiting for Pinkie Pie.

She now knew for sure her strange feelings were actually well founded. She just didn't know exactly what was going on, but she was sure something was going on. First was the date. There was no denying it, she was in the past. Something told her though she wouldn't have to worry about running into another Rainbow Dash anywhere like in comics or stories. She was probably in her own old body.

And the why came at her as quick and painful as lighting. No miracle happened. Well, not a preferable miracle. She had died out there, in those tornadoes. Those tornadoes that were probably still whirling around in the future. And somehow, here she was. But really, how did that happen.

She just didn't know.

And now there were other things to worry about. She was really in the past, but things weren't happening like they should. Pinkie never lied to get out of work, and Spike was never reassigned.

And what about Twilight? Pinkie Pie had looked deadly serious when she said Twilight was not their friend.

Putting it all together and Rainbow Dash just couldn't make any sense out of it at all. She was still missing something, she knew it. And she would have to find out what it was. She looked around just to make extra sure she was alone in her house before nodding to herself, and deciding what she would have to do. She'd have to go out and start keeping an eye on Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle. Pinkie Pie because she was acting oddly, and Twilight because Pinkie had said so, and it wasn't like Rainbow Dash had any other options.

Really, it felt very strange to decide you had to start spying on your friends.

Twilight Sparkle

Night had fallen and Spike still wasn't back yet. At this point, Twilight was beyond caring.

She had just finished her impromptu read-through of her old book. And for some reason, it all sounded like utter garbage to her now. Something was wrong.

It wasn't just the book. As magical facts and knowledge flew through her mind, the entire process she'd been taught to sever elements just seemed so stupid. And she didn't know why. All the books agreed, the conclusions were undeniable.

And yet, a there was a niggle, the same sort of niggle that started her to read that stupid book again. She would have to think hard about it.

Maybe they were wrong. Maybe nopony with her magical knowledge and insight had come forward before, to do the thing she needed to do.

But of course that was silly. Her process had worked. She had gotten more powerful with each severing, and her power had caused her to be flung back in time for another chance. But no, that wasn't right.

Twilight yelled in frustration, throwing her book across the room.

She was once again glad that Spike would be gone by tomorrow. Something was wrong, and she needed time to herself to work it out.