Into the Dashieverse

Rainbow Dash and her new friends waited outside the “cells” where they had Shadow Dash. It had been a few hours, and there was a tense feeling hovering around the trio as they were all seemingly unsure of what would happen to their new friend. Zap Apple, who, despite being the least concerned for her, growled, “This shouldn’t be taking so long.”

“What if they’re torturing her!?” Rainbow Skies cried out. Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes. "They aren’t torturing her; that’s crazy."

“But they could be! We don’t know what they’re doing!”

Zap Apple threw his hooves over his chest and gruffed, “Well, I don’t like her one bit, but we should check on her just in case.”

Rainbow Dash was now feeling a bit worried about remembering what she said and how the other Rainbow Dash treated her. She didn't want to anger the others, but she wasn't going to leave until she knew Shadow Dash was ok. She then got up and said, “Let’s go.”

The others got up and followed her and they all trotted through the cells until they heard yelling reverberating across the halls of the Rainbow crystal-like walls.

“You’re finally getting what you want!”

“This isn’t what I want! I wanted you to help me! You’re so frustrating!”

Shadowbolt bucked her hooves into the bars and cried out in pain as Shadow Dash stood back. " Listen, I did what I wanted to, but I almost messed everything up. If I had lost my fight with Nightmare Moon or that Discord Dash, I would have doomed Rainbow Bite’s world. As you said, I'm too much of a loose cannon to be an agent, and I want to see Mom and Dad again and tell them that we're okay.”

Shadowbolt eyed her, “This isn’t like you at all; what’s gotten into you?”

Rainbow Dash was glad to see the two “sisters” were ok, but their arguing was trotted over and asked, “What’s going on?”

Shadowbolt threw a hoof, “My sister wants to go home forever.”

Rainbow looked abit confused, seeing that was the solution everypony was coming to, and said, “I mean, isn’t that a good thing? Doesn’t she have the spell to save your friends?”

“Yes, and I want to see them so badly! But I was thinking she would go to our world and then come back, not stay there!”

Rainbow Dash blinked, confused. Again, this entire time, she thought Shadowbolt and the others all wanted this for the rogue Dash and added, “Um, isn’t that what you wanted?”

Shadowbolt was tearing her mane as she shouted, “Yes! But it’s not what she wants! She’s just doing it because she feels guilty! I'm not trying to make her feel guilty!”

Shadow Dash lowered her head and whispered, "Seriously, guys, you're overthinking this. I…I feel bad for how I left things with Rainbow Bite, and I don’t want to be a burden anymore.”

Rainbow Dash was fuming abit; she knew that now this Dash was self-defeating, and she wouldn’t let her feel that way! She then flew over to the cell and snapped, “Shadow! You are not a burden. Rainbow Bite wanted to thank you for helping her! And she doesn’t blame you; She wants to work things out, and when things die down in her world she wants you to come back!”

Shadow Dash was starting to cry, tears welling up. " That’s great. Um, just tell her if you can. I…I…I want to see her again, okay?”

“You will, but please, come back once you save your friends. Your powers are super cool, and you can do much with them. Just…don’t give up, okay?”

“Ok, I won’t.”

Shadowbolt flew back to the cell and opened it, “Fine, but when you get back, tell Mom and Dad I’m fine and will be back soon. They’re probably worried sick,”

“Of course.”

“Also, let Scootaloo know I’m ok.”

“Yes, mam,” Shadow Dash replied sarcastically.

“And Tank! Make sure he’s fine.”

“I'm sure Mom and Dad are doing a good job caring for him.”

They both looked at each other for a second, hugged, and then Shadowbolt tapped on her bracelet as a portal appeared. Shadow Dash trotted towards it and took a hoof through it as she did; Rainbow Dash didn’t hesitate as she jumped through. Shadow Dash cried, “Hey!” and they tumbled through the swirling magical gate together.

After tumbling through the magical gateway the two then landed right into Rainbow Dash’s childhood home, and Shadow Dash got up, shouting, “What was that for?”

“Sorry, I had to come make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m fine! You didn’t ha-”

“Rainbow, is that you!?”

They both turned to see a massive blue-coated stallion with a small crop of rainbow-colored mane and a smaller older blue-coated pegasus mare with a crop of orange mane and tail. They both flew over, shouting, “Rainbow, Shadow your back!”

They then threw the two into a hug and started crying as the two Dashs struggled to get out of their embrace. Eventually, they did as Rainbow Dash wheezed, “Wait, hold on, you got the wrong Dash.”

“Yeah, um, that one is a friend of mine from another dimension.”

The couple took a moment to collect their thoughts and said, “Oh, sorry.”

“It’s alright, mom, dad can we uh get something to eat?”

“Of course!” the two chimed as they were then escorted to the dinner table and sat down into chairs as if they were royalty.

“Oh, it’s so amazing to have you both for breakfast! I just wish our Dashie were here!” Windy chimed as she was hoofing out pancakes.

“Yeah, then we can see who can eat the most! but I bet our Dashie could eat you under the table!” Bow laughed as he shoveled some pancakes into his mouth.

Shadow Dash feigned a smile while taking in the food and scarfing it down. She then eyed Rainbow Dash, who was just scarfing her meal down, and she had to admit they were good, being exactly the same as her mother's cooking, and cried. “This is amazing! It tastes just like how my own parents would make it!”

Windy laughed, “of course! I guess your parents are the same as us?”

“Yeah, which isn’t surprising!”

“She looks so much like our Dashie bef-" Bow paused, then clammed up rather suddenly.

Windy paused, looking abit worried, and Shadow Dash slowly approached him and said, “Da—“ she stopped, and then the stallion smiled and said, “Hey, I told you can call me Dad, okay?”

“Please, dear, we told you you’re like a daughter to us,” Windy whispered as she hugged her. The mare looked slightly annoyed but let her mom hug her, which was wholesome to see, and it gave her a pang of regret for putting a wall between her own parents. She hadn't even told them she was a Wonderbolt yet, mostly due to how embarrassing they were. The alternate Dash then whispered, “Mom, Dad, I have a way to get Rainbow Dash’s friends back.”

“You do!” they cried.

“Yeah, not just them but Princess Celestia as well, but I have to wait until tonight when the moon is full.”

Windy, looking rather desperate, asked, “That’s wonderful news! Does that mean our baby will be back too!”

“Yeah, is she coming back!” Bow cried.

Shadow shook her head, “No,” and continued to explain, “She’ll be back once Commander Hurricane, the leader of the evil Rainbow Dashs, is captured. But yeah, after that, she should return.”

“Well, it all sounds like you girls really kicked some butt!” Windy exclaimed.

“Couldn’t be prouder of you!” Bow added.

“Yeah, thanks, so um, I just want to have fun today! You know!?”

Rainbow Dash couldn't agree more, especially if it meant getting away from alternate versions of her parents, who were friendly and cool, but she could only take so much of their antics. She then turned to Shadow and replied, “Yeah, that’s fine. So what do you want to do for fun?”

“I have a few ideas, mainly attending a Wonderbolt show and chillaxing.”

“That sounds like a great idea!” Rainbow added, throwing a hoof in the air.

“Well, I gotta go check on Tank, then we can head out!” Shadow chirped as she flew off to her room. Rainbow then turned to the alternate version of her parents, and seeing them just staring and gawking at her made her realize how similar they were to her own parents. With this in mind, Rainbow couldn't help but ask, “So, uh? Guess you guys are also obsessed with your daughter, huh?”

“Of course, how did you know!?” the two cried.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but smirk and said, “You could say that's one thing that's probably the same in every universe.”

Later that day, they all went to a Wonderbolt show and cheered them on as the flyers performed their aerial stunts; they had a wonderful time as the two were enjoying the show. Shadow Dash cheered excitedly just as much as her parents would, and it was fun but embarrassing to witness. After the show, the mare waited hours to get an autograph from them and showed off her Wonderbolt poster. “Finally! I got Soarin’s signature! Now I have a signature for every Wonderbolt on it!”

“That’s awesome!” Rainbow Dash replied, being rather happy for her friend and having done something similar in her own past.

“Yeah, I've wanted to join them since I was created! Even after we defeated Nightmare Moon, though, they told me that it wouldn't be fair to the others because I didn't have a physical body. But I still love watching the shows; they’re just so awesome!”

Rainbow Dash felt abit bad for her friend being denied to become a Wonderbolt, but considering hse was some creature made of shadow, the decision made sense and said, “Yeah, they are…though that sucks; they won’t let you join.”

“It’s fine. I got over it," Shadow replied with a wave of a hoof she then picked up the poster and said, "Anyways, my sister will love this. I’ll put it up in her room.”

Rainbow Dash paused, thinking Shadow Dash had gotten that poster and all those signatures for herself. She wondered why she would give it away and asked, “I know she’s your sister, but are you seriously giving that to her?”

“Yeah, I mean, I wo-just you know…” Shadow clammed up suddenly, then rolled the poster up and said, “It’s fine. Let’s just keep going and having fun. Don’t wana bum you out, ya know?”

“Ok, if you say so,” Rainbow Dash grumbled, eyeing her, wondering if she was still hiding something, and that thought was in the back of her mind the one about how Shadow said she didn't have much time left.

“That show really pumped me up! How about I race ya back home, to drop the poster off then we go find a place to chillax!”

“Oh, you’re so on!” Rainbow cried, and the two flapped up and sped back home as fast as their wings could carry them, zooming across clouds and busting through them as they headed back home.

Later that day, the two Dashs were chillaxing out next to a pond near Ponyville, both lying down on lawn chairs with sunglasses and drinking Cider from tall glasses with swirly straws. Rainbow didn’t want to disrupt her friend, but she needed to learn what was bothering her, and that thing she had said about not being around much longer was in the back of her mind. She then asked, “Shadow, I don’t mean to pry, but you said something before we left Rainbow Bite’s world about you not being around much longer?"

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Shadow snapped rather suddenly and angrily.

“But maybe you should?”

“I SAID I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!” Shadow shouted as she rolled to her side and grumbled, “I just want to chillax and forget about things!”

Rainbow Dash didn't want to pry further, but she had to know what was wrong, so the pegasus flapped over and landed next to her friend and said, “Sorry, but no, I won’t let this go! Something is wrong, and you're just trying to avoid it.”

“How would you know?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, pointed a hoof into her chest, and added, “Because I would be doing the same thing. Also, there is no way I would give any pony a poster with the signature of every Wonderbolt on it.”

Shadow Dash laid there for a second, then got up and said, “Let’s just go to Canterlot and talk to Princess Luna there. I’ll explain everything there, alright?”

Rainbow Dash wasn’t satisfied with that answer, but it was better than nothing, and pushing her to open up further probably wouldn’t help things. So Rainbow relented and said, “Okay, at least that’s something.”

“Well, how about one more race to Canterlot.”

Rainbow flexed her wings, seeing she won the last race, and with a smirk, replied, “You wana go two out of three?”

“Trust me, I was going easy on ya last time!”

The two then lifted off with a burst of speed, flying through the trees and soaring at top speeds once more. The adrenaline pushed them through the air, and they hurled themselves towards Canterlot.

At Canterlot, Rainbow Dash saw that things weren’t much different either, as this dimension really wasn’t much different from her own. They flew through one of the open windows and found Princess Luna in her bedroom, neck-deep in paperwork, writing things down and muttering about tax reform and how Celestia could have done this for a thousand years. As the two pegasi came through the window, she turned towards them with a smile and cried, “Shadow Dash! Rainbow Dash! You’ve returned!”

“Um, kind of,” Shadow Dash replied, “Before we have to explain things, this Rainbow Dash is from another universe. Our Rainbow Dash is still out, still fighting a bunch of evil Rainbow Dashs.”

Princess Luna blinked, looking rather confused, but gave a few nods. “I see; well and so what brought you here?”

Shadow Dash lowered her gaze and mumbled, " I found a way to get Princess Celestia and our Rainbow Dash’s friends back, and it requires a very powerful spell I recently learned.”

Luna got suddenly excited as she clapped her hooves together and whinnied like a school filly, “You did!? and Without the Elements of Harmony!”

“Yes, and it will be successful. I just need to have a full view of the full moon tonight. Once there, I will use my powers to release your sister and my sister’s friends from their prison.”

“That’s wonderful news!” Luna squealed in delight, flying over and hugging Shadow Dash. Shadow had to squirm and push the princess away as she asked dozens of questions. “Do you wish to stay here for the night? Do you need anything to eat? Do you need any components for the spell?”

Shadow waved her hooves and said, “No, I don’t need anything like that, maybe a place like a writing room; I have some letters I want write.”

Rainbow Dash was abit surprised by the request and scoffed, “Letters!? Why do you need to write letters for?”

“They’re important,” Shadow snapped again then she looked right into her friend's eyes and continued, “I need you to deliver them, ok? I know you’ll be heading back to the Society soon, so I wanted to at least let Rainbow Bite and my sister know everything is ok.”

“Yeah, ok…” Rainbow whispered, feeling something was off deep down in her gut.

A few hours passed, and now it was dusk. As the sun set, Rainbow Dash saw the stack of letters Shadow Dash had, and she hoofed them one by one: "They're all finished, so these two are for Win-I mean mom and dad, this is for my sis, this one is for Scootaloo, this one’s for Rainbow Bite, and this one is for you.”

Rainbow was surprised by that and asked again, “For me?”

Shadow stood there for a moment just looking at her, then said, “Yeah, for you; thank you for being here for me; just know you’re a good friend.”

“Of course! If you need anything else, let me know!” Rainbow chirped. She then flew out the window and went to deliver the letters. She found Scootaloo coming out of school and giving her one of the letters; then she returned to Cloudsdale and came back to her childhood home to find Windy and Bow, who looked worried seeing she came back alone. Rainbow Dash then hoofed them the letters, and they opened them up and started to read them instantly. To her surprise, their happy, cheerful demeanor changed. They both began to tremble, and tears came down their cheeks. Windy looked up and said, “Rainbow, have you read any of these?”

Rainbow Dash was now looking rather concerned asked, “What, no, what’s wrong?”

Bow stifled back tears, “Our daughter Shadow, she’s going to sacrifice herself to save them!”

Rainbow Dash was taken aback by what her alternate version of her dad said, so she opened her letter and started reading it.

Dear Rainbow Dash

Thank you for the wonderful day today. I had a lot of fun, more so than almost any other, and it was the closest thing I had to what my sister must’ve felt before Nightmare Moon sealed her friends away. Let me be honest: I was a weapon designed to hurt you. I never meant to exist, and the magic holding me here has been slowly ebbing away for quite some time. I may have a few weeks or days left, so I thought it’s best to end this by sacrificing what’s left of my life to save others. I appreciate everything you did for me and trust me when you barely even knew who I was, and I know deep down it will be you who will defeat Commander Hurricane; you will be a hero; you’re so much braver and stronger than me, and you’re the most loyal Rainbow Dash I’ve ever met. I am happy to have met you, and I only wish we had gotten to hang out for a bit longer.

Goodbye, friend, from Shadow Dash

Rainbow Dash was in tears as she finished reading the last words, cursing at herself. How could she have not seen this coming? Everything she did and how she acted led to this, and she was too stupid to notice. Then she shouted, “No! I won’t let her!”

She then shot out of her family home, bursting through the room and soaring into the sky. Without thinking, she gathered speed to perform a Rainboom, which exploded around her as she shot herself toward Canterlot at top speeds, ripping through clouds and the air itself! She was going to get to Shadow before she did something stupid and save her life!

It was now nearing midnight as Shadow Dash drifted towards the full moon. She threw out her wings and felt the breeze go through her mane. This was the last time she felt the wind over her mane and through her wings. It was a feeling that sent shivers down her spine, “Mom, Dad, I’m sorry. I would’ve flown back to hug you one last time, but if I did, I don’t think I would have the strength to do this.”

She then roared, transforming into her alicorn form once more. She then threw out her wings and stared right into the moon. “I wish I got to at least see your friends, sis. I would’ve liked to have met them.”

She then threw herself into her, gaining speed and sending herself to the moon. Out of nowhere, a pegasus slammed into her, and they were sent to the ground, picking up a massive cloud of dust and dirt around them. Rainbow got up, heaving angrily as she shouted, “What are you thinking!”

“What does it look like!? I'm saving my sister’s friends and Princess Celestia!”

“And you think any of them would want you sacrificing yourself to do it!?”

“I…I have to. At least I'm going out on my terms, not wasting away! So let me die!”

She shot a beam at Rainbow and nimbly dodged out of the way as she flew up and said, “Shadow! If these ponies were anything like the ponies I knew, they would be saddened and horrified knowing somepony I cared about sacrificed themselves for their sakes. You have to find another way to free them.”

“How else!? I need more energy from the nightmare realm! and I barely have enough to keep going!”

“We can find it! But you have to give us time, and you need to know you're not alone!”

She then pointed to the sky, and Shadow saw silhouettes coming down from the night sky. She saw the forms of Princess Luna, her parents, and even Scootaloo hopping off her dad’s back and running over to her. Shadow Dash's form shrank back down to her smaller pegasus body, and she stood there paralyzed for a second and asked, “Why do you all care for me? I’m not real; I’m just a weapon.”

“No, you’re our daughter!” her parents cried as they hugged her, pulling each other into a tight hug.

“You’re my big sister!” Scootlaoo cried, joining in the hug.

They all held each other as Shadow hugged them back, feeling so stupid for thinking nopony cared for her.

Seeing the situation being handled, Princess Luna gave a relaxed sigh and whispered, “Thank goodness I came in time. I had no idea she was going to sacrifice herself. I was so blinded by the idea of seeing my sister again I should’ve known or sensed her plans.”

The pegasus turned towards the princess of the night, shook her head, and said, “No, it’s me who should be sorry; I should have seen the signs.”

Luna peered up at the moon, seeing the silhouette of her sister and six other ponies, and cried, “I'm happy Shadow is ok, but they will have to wait abit longer now.”

“Don’t worry, princess; we’ll free them without sacrificing anypony!" Rainbow shouted as she flew up towards the moon, pointed a hoof right at it, and proclaimed, “That will be our next mission!"