Equestria Girls: Remembering Your Names

The darkness was like old TV static, and static sounds could be heard. Within it, Dashie could see someone.

"Aunty...Spark?"

Standing there in the darkness was Rainbow Spark, Dashie's aunt, and Blitz's older sister. Spark looked at her hand, which she had made into a fist, and spoke.

"Nothing is a mistake; no matter what, I'll keep moving forward. No one deserves a sad fate, no matter who it is. Everyone deserves a happy ending. Screw you! You don't control anyone's destiny! If you want to, then you will have to go through me! I'll make sure everyone has a happy ending! EVERYONE!" Spark squeezed her fist harder. "Every spark won't ever go out! Because it's filled with friendship, dreams, love, and so much more! Every spark lights up the darkness and keeps it away! It keeps YOU away!"

Spark looked up, making Dashie look up, and saw a golden tree in the darkness. Above that tree was the brightest white star as it got closer to the tree. "But hers? It's so much more! It's the brightest thing I saw! Her spark burns brighter than my own! It's filled more than what I stated..." She smiled. "It's filled with hope. That rainbow spark of hers has that whiteness within it, and no matter what you do, it will keep growing and becoming more powerful. I made a promise to myself...to everyone that they won't be alone. I'm not her, but SHE can do it." Spark smiled as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Dashie walked toward her, but Spark's image started to glitch out. She was replaced by the girl she had seen before, standing there in the same pose as Spark.

"I'm not her. I know that. When I put on this rainbow jacket, I hoped to be like her and keep her memory and hope alive. Keep that spark burning for everyone and everything in the multiverse. I tried to copy her and be strong, but I realized how wrong it was to think I could do that. I can't replace her. I can't replace Spark. I can't be the one to save everyone..." the girl started to cry as she placed her fist on her forehead. "She always told me that my spark is special! That it burns brighter than her own, but it isn't! I can't light up the darkness and make it shine bright. My spark is so small! So weak... I'm not strong enough."

Dashie could see the poor girl sobbing as she stood there. Something made Dashie feel heartbroken as if she had heard this speech before. She took another step forward, telling the girl something.

"You put a lot of burden on your shoulders, thinking you must live up to someone's legacy. Even if you promise them or yourself that you are worth taking up their legacy...their names. I'm here to tell you that it's okay to let them down because that's what life is about—living without worrying about what others think. I can't tell you how to light up the darkness and make it shine bright. No one can tell you how to do it. What I can do, though, is that I will do what I can and take away all the pain you feel for trying to live up to someone." Dashie felt like she had said this before as she reached out her hand to the girl. "Let's share that burden. Let's..." She took another step, feeling tears falling. "Hope together."

The girl heard Dashie words and shut her eyes. She slowly smiled, and as she did so, her purple hair slowly filled with whiteness. Dashie felt like she had seen this before but so many times. Soon, the girl vanished into light and returned to the white-haired girl she had been before, who smiled at Dashie when she opened her eyes. She then looked at her fist, speaking as if her hopeful smile had never left her.

"I'm not strong enough; I will always doubt myself because, at the end of the day, I'm not her...but that's okay." The girl looked at Dashie. "As long as I have you and my friends, that's enough. That's all I need to keep my spark bright and strong. It will never outshine her warm spark, but like I said, that's okay. I'm not her, and I don't want to be." She looked back at her fist, and the darkness slowly became white. "But I will try my best to be strong and live up to all the hope she left behind. I'll be my own person. I'll be the rainbow spark she told me about. I'll be the new spark! I'll light the darkness for everyone and keep it lit." She started to cry, not in sadness but in happiness. "My rainbow spark will never die out because of hope!"

The whiteness started to blind Dashie, forcing her to shut her eyes. She could feel herself being eaten away by the whiteness, but she could hear the girl's voice one last time...

"Nothing is a mistake; no matter what, I'll keep moving forward. No one deserves a sad fate, no matter who it is. Everyone deserves a happy ending. Screw you! You don't control anyone's destiny! If you want to, then you will have to go through me! I'll make sure everyone has a happy ending! EVERYONE! Every spark won't ever go out! Because it's filled with friendship, dreams, love, and...hope!"

Loud static sounds soon drained out the girl's voice. Dashie opened her eyes and found herself on top of someone, and they were in the mud. They were in a weird-looking town.

"Nng..."

Dashie heard the hurt moan under her. She quickly stood up and realized it was the white girl from before, but her hair was normal. Her outfit was a black shirt, dark purple cargo pants, and black boots.

Dashie chuckles sheepishly. "Uh, 'scuse me?" She chuckles again as her worry increases. She can hear the girl's grumbles as she is covered in mud. Dashie wasted no time, flew off, and got a grey cloud. "Lemme help you." Dashie starts to hop on it, making the clouds rain all over the girl and getting the mud off, but in doing so, it gets her all wet. Dashie realizes this, and for some odd reason, she finds it funny. She falls backward on the cloud, laughing her ass off. "Oops, I guess I overdid it."
The girl started to curse under her breath.

Dashie stopped laughing and sat back up, looking down at the girl. She jumped off and landed next to her. Seeing the poor girl wet and once curled with puffy short hair become straight and shining from the sun made Dashie feel something inside her. Her heart was racing as she blushed. She did a nervous chuckle. "Um, uh, how about this? My very own patented Rain-Blow Dry!" Dashie spun around the girl like a rainbow tornado. When she stopped, Dashie slowly flew back to the ground, her chest out as if proud of what she had done. "No, no, don't thank me. You're quite welcome...huh?" she noticed how puffy the girl's hair had become, causing Dashie to lose it as she fell backward, laughing her ass off again.

"Let me guess...you are[static]?"

Dashie heard the static and sat up, ready to ask the girl if she had heard that, but she found herself in another place. She was sitting on a cloud, and next to her was the girl again, but this time, she had wings, too. The girl was looking and holding up a photo frame; she didn't look too happy.

"Wow...what a great gift. Can't think of anything better than a framed picture of your face," the girl replied sarcastically, looking at her.

For some odd reason, Dashie felt embarrassed when she heard the girl's sarcastic reaction. It didn't help that the girl looked so upset, but at the same time, she looked charming.

"Hey, don't make fun of my gift. It's a custom-made, one-of-a-kind picture of yours truly, the most amazing person in Equestria." She looked away. "And..." she started to mutter something that the girl couldn't hear too well, but Dashie remembered what she muttered. "And I know we'll not be around forever, leaving you all alone for so long. So..." She looked at the girl again, smiling at her. "If you ever feel alone or down, look at the photo." She patted the girl's back hard, almost making her drop the gift. "I mean really look at it! You might remember something about it! That's the real gift!"
The girl was puzzled by what she said but smiled and looked down at the picture.

"I will, and I love it. Thank you,[static]."

Dashie held her head, the static becoming louder. She closed her eyes, hoping the loud static would go away, and it did. She opened her eyes and found herself on the grassy ground. Her heart was beating like crazy, and it felt like a heart attack—no, it was a heart attack. She grabbed her chest and tried to flip over, but her glasses fell off when she did.

"GRANDMA!"

Dashie looked up and was confused. She could see her cousin, Black Star Dawn, a unicorn. She had only met her twice: once when they were young and once after Twilah's death. Why was she here?

"Kiddo, listen to me. Grandma is going to sleep for a while, okay? Can you get your mother's and [static]? Don't cry, okay? Whatever happens, this wasn't your fault. Okay?"

Black Star wiped her tears and nodded.

"I'll be right back!" Star said, running off.

Dashie closed her eyes and breathed heavily. She was scared, more scared than when the Multiverse was ending. She was going to die...but why was she seeing someone else's life before her eyes? She could see the girl in them. In fact, why was she having these weird memories? These weren't her memories at all but someone else's. She started to cry; nevertheless, whoever had these memories she could feel the sadness that they had.

"I don't want to leave you. You are my love. We've been through so much together. We raised our daughter together, and now I have to go? No. No! I don't want to!" she tried to fight it, but her vision was slowly blacking out. "...wait for me...I'll find you again, as I promise you. I'm not going to let us be separated. I won't. I...I...I love..." Dashie's vision was black now, but she could hear familiar voices screaming her name as they were getting closer to her. One voice was the girl's. "...remember...the photo of......me............."

Dashie found herself back in the darkness. She shut her eyes and soon felt something wet fall on her face. She opened her eyes and saw the girl looking at her, but she was much younger now, like five years old. She was crying her eyes out as the world around them looked dead.

"NO! I DON'T BELIEVE YOU! HER SPARK! BELIEVE IN IT, YOU WILL BE SAVED!"

Dashie sadly looked at her. She could tell the girl didn't want to believe in the truth.

"Big horn, I'll never see her, as I'll die here."

"Stop talking like that. You'll live."

"No, I won't, and you know it." Dashie placed her hand over the girl's longhorn, touching it softly. "Like I said, I love and admire your big horn. It's one of a kind, unique, and beautiful," she smiled at her, crying. "I love you...I don't want to leave you, but promise to find you again. We will meet again, my friend, no matter what."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, " the girl said, looking at her with hope. "Do you?"

Dashie could feel tears falling down her cheek as she replied, "I mean it."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Dashie was getting weaker and weaker, but she smiled and told her, "Now go, Big Horn. Leave this world. I'll be waiting for you. When we meet again, I'll tell you how much I love you."

The girl smiled and nodded, "Yeah. I'll be waiting for you..."

Dashie smirked, and her eyes slowly closed. But she could hear unbearable loud static this time. This made her open her eyes, and she found herself inside a golden chamber. The girl, her hair entirely white this time, was holding onto her, crying her eyes out.

"No! We finally found each other again! I can't lose you, Dashie!"

Dashie slowly looked at her own body, seeing a hole in her chest. Her slime was bleeding out, but it wasn't healing itself. Instead, it just oozed out and became a lifeless puddle around her. Dashie smiled. It was an odd smile, though, filled with sadness and worry.

"It's okay..." Dashie whispered, breathing heavily. "You won't be alone. Our friends are still here." She placed her hand over the girl's cheek. "You did it! You beat her and can finally put this cycle to rest, and when the time comes, you'll find me."

The girl kept sobbing, holding Dashie closer. "I don't want to lose you!"

"Don't cry. We said our goodbyes so many times before. What's one last goodbye, huh?" she smirked at her, hoping to make her feel better.

The girl shook her head as she rested on Dashie's chest. "I hate when you do that! You always act so tough when I'm sad!" she sobbed harder. "Stop acting so cool! Stop!" she begged.

"Hahaha!" Dashie chuckled, smiling at her. "Wow, finally admitting that I'm cool, huh? I should be offended that it took me to be dying to get you to admit it."

The girl sniffled, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "Oh, don't be so full of yourself, Dashie. I have no idea why I put up with you!" a small smile formed on her face but quickly faded away.

Dashie could see the girl looking behind, which was a golden book that was floating above a golden pedestal, and crawling to it was a badly wounded white hair adult woman wearing a black cloak. Dashie told the girl to end it.

"Finish it! The ending is in sight! The happy ending we all want is in sight! It's our destiny! This is the time to make it a reality!"

The girl looked back at her, seeing how weak she was getting. She then looked back at the wounded woman, who finally reached the book and started to write something. The girl shook her head, saying no to Dashie.

"This isn't the true happy ending, Dashie."

Dashie could feel herself dying as she asked what she meant by that. The girl smiled at her as the whiteness from her hair and jacket drained away.

"There is no happy ending without my rainbow!"

She started to cry as the whiteness slowly drained from her hair and formed into a bright white light humanoid pony with angel wings.

"I'll gladly keep doing this until no bad endings happen. It doesn't matter if I die, win or lose. It'll always be worth it." her hopeful smile started to break down. "I want you in my life again! I now understand why she's doing this...losing someone you love so dear to you and putting all that hope into someone else's hands..." she slightly turned back, seeing the humanoid touching her head, stroking it. Not being mad at the girl's choice. "it must be hard." She then smiled, trying to be brave. "But it's okay! It's not going to end this way. Not ever! There will be no more different version of this or the other endings! The one true happy ending is out there!" Dashie could see a rainbow spark, a colorful star burning brightly on the girl's chest. Soon, its bright light lost all its color and became... "I'll find it! We will find it! No more saying goodbyes! Just have...HOPE!"

The girl smiled as different versions of herself glitched in and out, taking each other place. Some versions were even that of her aunty, Spark, but Dashie swore she saw someone else.

"The next rewrite will be the last...I promise. Our friends, family, and...you...hope...keep hope alive..."

Dashie slowly opened her eyes, and the whiteness faded out of her vision. She found herself back in her room. She couldn't remember what she was dreaming, but one thing she remembered was a white-haired girl dressed in all-white, telling her about a promise.

"Keep hope alive..."

Dashie sat up and rubbed her eyes. It was early morning, hours before she had to get up and prepare for school. She sat at the edge of the bed and remembered everything that happened a few weeks ago during the mall incident.

"That's right. Mom saved me from drowning by doing CPR on me." She closed her eyes, remembering how she woke up and saw her crying mother's face. Not only that, but she remembers seeing her other mothers there, worried as well, the same with her half-sisters. She stood up and walked out of the bedroom.

Dashie looked down the hall and saw her parents' bedroom door open. She walked over to it and saw no one inside. Now, as she turned to the stairs, she remembered seeing a faint glow of light. She went downstairs and saw that the living room lights were half on and that Lucy, her mother, was sleeping on the sofa.

"...right," Dashie whispered, remembering how her Mother, Blitz, moved out after Lucy did something awful to her...

A few days after the mall incident

"Mom..."

Dashie dropped her suitcase and watched as Blitz placed her things next to Sunny, who was waiting and ready so she could teleport them away to her house.

Blitz turned to Dashie, seeing her daughter look upset about what was happening. She walked over and kneeled to her, placing both hands on her shoulders.

"Sweet pea, listen to me. I know this is sudden, but we can't stay here." Dashie could see her mother looking past her, giving a cold stare to her other mother. "Not after what she said about us!" she shouted, ensuring Lucy had heard her. She then took a deep breath, calming herself before continuing. "I know this is hard, but it will get better. I promise."

Dashie remembered what her mother had told her, telling her how Lucy saw them as 'things' and would never be loved by anyone. Dashie didn't want to believe it, Lucy said, and did weird things but never did anything hurtful to others or them. But Lucy told her it was the truth, that she regretted saying that, but she indeed said it.

Dashie looked slightly back, seeing her mother at the doorway, just standing there...looking so dead inside as she lost family, and there was nothing she could say or do to get them back. She made her bed and needed to lie in it.

"Mom..."

Dashie suddenly saw someone in her mother's place. It was the white-haired girl she had kept dreaming about. She was staying there, all alone. Her hopeful smile and aura were gone. The only thing left was her dead eyes and the aura of hopelessness. This didn't sit right with Dashie as she shook her head and turned back to Blitz.

"I can't leave her alone, mom! I don't care if she said those things. We can talk it out; we can forgive her and forget it!"

"No, sweetie! Lucy said those things about us, and we can't forgive her for it."

Dashie pushed Blitz back with such strength that Blitz transformed into her anthro form, shocked by her daughter's strength.

"Maybe you can't, but I can!" Dashie screamed, her slime wing branching out from her back but not fully forming. "GRANDMA ALWAYS SAID THAT YOU SHOULD FORGIVE PEOPLE FOR THEIR MISTAKES. IF YOU DON'T, THEN YOU WILL LIVE YOUR LIFE FEELING HATEFUL! I DON'T WANT TO FEEL THAT WAY! I WANT TO STAY WITH MOM! I WANT HER TO WORK ON HERSELF! I WON'T RUN AWAY LIKE YOU ARE DOING!"

Sunny helped Blitz up. "Blitz, Dashie is right. Maybe you should stay and try to mend things with her."

"NO!" Blitz pushed Sunny off. "I know what's right for my family!" She marched up to her daughter and grabbed her by the hand, but no matter how hard she tried to pull, Dashie wasn't budging. "You don't know anything, Dashie! I know what is best for you!"

Dashie slapped her mother's hand off of her. Her eyes were crying out rainbow tears. "You think you do, but you fucking don't! Mom, this is my home! This is where I was born! I won't leave my mother all alone in that house!"

Blitz could see her daughter giving her a stubborn look, and it made her so mad she screamed at her, "WHY ARE YOU BEING SO DAMN HARDHEADED? I'M YOUR MOM! YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO ME!"

"I DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO YOU!" Dashie shouted back, feeling her sadness turn into anger. She could see flashes of the white hair girl. "I WANT TO LISTEN TO MY HEART! IT'S TELLING ME NOT TO DO THIS! I WON'T ABANDON MY MOTHER, AND I'M NOT LEAVING!"

Blitz took another deep breath to calm herself. She looked at her daughter with sad eyes, seeing her like this. Blitz couldn't help but picture herself being so stubborn when Spark tried to push her and Braver away and not save her. Not only that, but she also saw Dashiell in Dashie, as Twilah always commented on how the two were always alike. Blitz sighed, giving up.
"Okay, you win. You can stay..."

Dashie opened her eyes in shock and looked up at her mother, who gave her a sad smile. "Really?"

"Yes, but..." Blitz kneels, hugging her daughter tight. "If she says or does anything to hurt you, call me, and I'll be here in ten seconds flat. Even if I'm saving the world, I'll drop it and come flying to you. You are my world. Okay? You can also sleep over at Wallflower or Sunny's places as well. You have more than one home, you know."

Dashie nodded and hugged her back. "Okay..." she said, smiling. "I love you, Mom."

Blitz kissed her daughter's cheek and stood, looking down at her. "I love you too, sweet pea..." she playfully punched her daughter in the cheek. "Stubbornness and loyalty you have...never change, okay?"

Dashie smiled, rubbing her cheek. "Okay, I won't."

Blitz nodded and looked back at Lucy, standing there, not reacting to what had just happened. Seeing her like that made Blitz not want to leave, but remembering the hurtful things, Lucy said not only to her but to Sunny and Wallflower. She couldn't forgive her until Lucy worked on her issues first so they could find a way to live together. She had no clue how long it would take her to do so. Blitz hugged her daughter and walked over to Sunny, who teleported themselves away.

Dashie breathed in, never thinking that her emotions would get the better of her. She initially felt terrible, but she knew that standing up was the right thing to do. She turned her attention to her mother, who was still standing at the front doorway, looking at the ground. She hurried over to her and surprised her.

"Dashie?"

Dashie ran up to her mother, hugging her. Lucy looked at her daughter, shocked, and could only stand there and hug her back, tears forming in her eyes.

"Sweetie...I'm sorry..."

Dashie walked up to the sofa and woke her mother up.

"Mom, you should be sleeping in the bed. Not on the sofa again."

Lucy faced away from her daughter, not wanting to wake up. She answered her in a sleepy tone.

"I don't want to be alone in that bed..."

Dashie stood there, realizing her mother must feel alone as Blitz had been gone these past few weeks. She only calls her and not Lucy, asking if she is doing fine. Even when Dashie wants to hand the phone to Lucy, her mother says she has to go. Seeing Lucy like this made her feel so sad. She could see empty ice cream buckets and fast food all over the living room floor.

"Do you want to sleep in my bed?"

Looking at her weirdly, Lucy chuckled, "Sweetie, I can handle sleeping in my own bed... it's just..." She trailed off and sat up. She was fully up now and started working on the following pages of her new manga as her deadline approached.

With nothing to do, Dashie hopped onto the sofa and sat next to her. "Let me help, mom. I can ink something or-"

Lucy quickly grabbed a page out of Dashie's hands, as she was bright red. Her manga wasn't safe for work, and her daughter didn't need to see it, especially when it was naughty.

"NO! You don't want to see that stuff! It's gross." She tried to get another page back from her daughter, but Dashie held it close. "Sweetie, don't look! It's not-" She cringed as she saw her daughter's eyes widen as she looked over the manga page.

Dashie tried not to react but couldn't stop from feeling something. This made Lucy take the page back and quickly hid the folder away from her daughter's eyes, but what she heard from her daughter confused her.

"I never thought porn art could look so..." she blushed harder. "AWESOME!"

"Awesome?" Lucy looked at her daughter, puzzled and somewhat happy. She was pleased that her daughter didn't see her work or herself as perverted or gross. "Really?"

Dashie nodded, going through the finished pages. "Yeah! I always thought it was weird and disgusting! Like, I mean, come on! There is weird pron out there, but these..." She blushed at what she saw and looked away. "The details are so well done!"

Lucy blushed and felt a little bit proud.

"Thank you, sweetie, but...it's not art for you."

Dashie looked at her mother with confusion, almost not understanding what she meant until she did. She put the pages down.

"Right, but let me help, Mom. I always wanted to learn how to draw since I was never good in that department."

"Sweetie..." Lucy said, getting her daughter's attention. "You've never said that about your drawing skills before. I always figured you could draw with no problems. Like, you take after Twilah to be the best at everything. So, I just assumed you were great at it."

"Well, I'm not. Everyone is bad at something. I'm bad at drawing," Dashie replied. Lucy gave a cold stare and saw her daughter drawing an almost perfect anime girl. "...okay, I guess I'm just decent at drawing. It's just I want to learn how to draw something..." She picked up a pen again and a blank sheet of paper. She started to draw the face of the white-haired girl from her dreams, but the details weren't as good as Lucy's drawings. "See? It's terrible."

Lucy looked at her daughter's drawing and chuckled. "It's not, sweetie. You need to fine-tune the details."
Dashie gave her mother a look, knowing she was saying that to make her feel better, but Lucy sensed this and shook her head. "No, really, Sweetheart. You need to learn to draw in real detail, but what you can already do is fabulous! It took me years before I could reach this level! Trust me!" She smiled and asked a simple question. "By the way, who's the hybrid pony girl? I feel like I've seen that face somewhere before..."

Dashie shrugged. "I have been dreaming of her but can't remember them well enough...I know, though, that I made a promise to her before...I think?" she said, unsure. "I don't know."

Lucy wasn't sure what her daughter meant by all that, but she looked back at the art. The more she looked at it, the more she truly felt she had seen this girl before.

"...I know her...but from where?" she whispered, still looking at the drawing. "I've met her before, but why can't I remember?"

Hours later, Dashie headed for school with her little sisters, but she didn't like how the two had been acting around her since what had happened in the mall. An old man walked near Dashie but only to be spooked by Sol, who got between them.

"BETTER KEEP MOVING BUDDY! IF YOU TOUCH OR EVEN LOOK AT MY BIG SISTER IN A WEIRD WAY, I'LL FUCKING BASH YOUR HEAD IN!"

The old man hurried away, and Dashie sighed. She was going to tell Sol to stop it, but she suddenly felt herself being wrapped up by plants and vines. Dahlia was keeping Dashie safe from anything that looked like it could be a threat to her big sister. Dashie sighed, thinking of how weird these past few weeks had been and how soon this week would be, but she remembered why they were acting like this...

"Come on, sweet pea!" Blitz cried, pumping her daughter's chest and then blowing air into her lungs. "Come on, baby girl! Stay alive!" She started to breathe heavily, her face showing that she was trying so hard not to cry. "Please...breathe...just breathe..."

Blitz found Dashie floating on the surface of the underground lake and quickly flew her back to the ground surface of the mall. The copies were all gone, and everyone was walking out. Blitz had set her daughter on the floor and saw she wasn't breathing, so she started to do CPR on her, blowing into her lungs and giving chest compressions. Blitz started to cry.

"Breathe, sweet pea...come on! Breathe..."

Blitz kept giving her CPR, but nothing happened. She started to fear the worst, and her heart sank when she heard her other daughters screaming out for their big sister. She looked up and saw Sol and Dahlia rushing over to them. Both girls were crying and begging Dashie not to die. Blitz didn't know what to do, even more so when Sunny arrived and pushed her out of the way.

"Don't die on us!" Sunny used her magic to sense where the water was in Dashie's lungs and forced it out with her magic. "Don't die on us, Dashie!"

Dashie coughed out the water, and Sunny returned to normal, crying that Dashie was alive. Sol and Dahlia cried out and hugged their big sister tight. Blitz hugged Sunny and kissed her, thanking her for saving her daughter.

"I love you!" Blitz sobbed as she kept kissing Sunny, who was crying and smiling. "You saved her...you saved her!" She then kissed Sunny again and held her close. "I love you..." she cried again, almost making Sunny cry again. "I love you so much!"
Wallflower walked over and was surprised when Blitz pulled her into the hug and kissed her. Both she and Sunny were confused when Blitz started to say things. "She was wrong. You two still love us!"

As the parents were hugging, Dashie sat up and felt her sisters hugging the life out of her. Sol was the worst one, though, as she let her magic out and squeezed Dashie, almost breaking her in two. Dashie tapped the ground.

"SOL! YOU ARE GOING TO KILL ME!"

Sol stopped, and Dahlia let go. Sol didn't want to let her go. "We almost lost you! I thought you died! I don't want you to die!"

Dahlia joined in the hug again but was sobbing; her words were hard to hear as she spoke. "I...I don't want to be alone!"

Dashie smiled, hugging her sisters tight. "You won't be. I promise."

As Dashie tried calming her sisters down, she noticed Adagio and her sisters among the crowd. They had the same sad and worried expressions on their faces. Dashie tried to signal at them, but Sol and Dahlia took notice and glared at the three sisters.

"YOU CAUSED THIS!" Sol screamed, her arms up, protecting Dashie from the three.

While Dahlia's bangs moved, revealing her cold and crazed eyes. "Stay away from her, or I'll kill you!"

Dashie didn't like how her sisters were acting and shouted at them to stop that, but the two little sisters fought back against her, telling Dashie that if Adagio and her sisters never befriended her, she wouldn't be here and almost died from drowning.

"Stop it, you two! They're my friends! You don't get to make that call for me!"

As her sisters kept fighting with her, Dashie could see Adagio, Sonata, and Aria walking away, not saying a word. Dashie tried to stand, but her sisters held her down. She watched her three friends disappear into the crowd.

"QUEEN!? SONATA!? LUPA!?"

She called out to them but to no avail. They were just...gone...

Following what happened at the mall, Sol and Dahlia became too overprotective around Dashie, and Adagio and her sisters ignored Dashie for odd reasons.

Dashie sighed as she sat in the stairway and ate her food. It was lunch period for her, but she was hiding from her sisters. She thought that whenever she tried to speak to Adagio in the gym and Aria in music class, they would ignore her and never talk to her. Dashie was going through different scenarios and finding ways to speak to them within her head. She wasn't going to give up on them. Dashie hoped she would finally have a chance to talk to Adagio during gym class today, as it would be team-up day. She quickly ate her sandwich and hurried to gym class as the next period started.

"I'm not letting our friendship end like this, you three!" Dashie said to herself as she jumped to the bottom of the steps and waited for all the girls to leave the girl's locker room. She spotted Adagio walking among the girls as they headed upstairs to gym class. I don't know why you three are acting like this, but it's not right!" She quickly darted into the girls' locker room and started to change. "I'm not going to lose this friendship!"

Dashie rushed into the gym, and after roll call, her mother started explaining the team-up exercises today.

"Okay, everyone!" Blitz tossed the clipboard behind her like always. "Today's team-up exercises involve two people teaming up. Pick your pa-" Blitz didn't have a chance to finish as Dashie ran toward Adagio and shouted to be her partner. Blitz shook her head as she knew something was up with her daughter and Adagio these past few weeks, as Adagio seemed to be ignoring her daughter. "Did Dashie do wrong and is trying to fix things?" Blitz wondered. She could see Adagio blushing as everyone was watching them now. "Dashie, yelling like that will make you look desperate," she thought and soon sighed as she clapped her hands loudly. Blitz turned to the rest of the students, speaking to them. "Why are you watching? Go pick your partners already!"

Adagio looked away from Dashie and tried to find someone else to be her partner, but Dashie would get in front of her view, blocking her sight of any other girl or boy. No matter where she looked around, Dashie was there.

"Be my partner!"

"I don't want you as a partner!"

Dashie pointed, showing everyone already found their partners, leaving the two without one. "Too bad! You don't get to say no! I'm not leaving until you agree to be my partner!"

Adagio started to grumble, but Dashie wasn't backing down and had no choice but to be her partner. "Fine!" She stood there as Dashie rushed to her side, waiting for Blitz to explain the first exercises.

"Okay, the first exercise is Traveling Tango Lunge!" Blitz got into a standing stance with her hands up in front of her. "Stand facing your partner with about two feet between you and your palms touching at chest height. Keep your front knees behind your front toes and your shoulders over your hips, and lunge forward with your left leg as your partner lunges backward with her right leg." she started to do it, showing what it looked like. "Bend both knees 90 degrees, then extend your legs. Next, you lunge backward with your left leg as your partner lunges forward with her right leg. Continue to alternate between forward and backward lunges." she stopped and stood up straight. "Okay, get started and do at least thirty!" she clapped, signaling the class to get started.

Dashie quickly stood in front of Adagio, touching each other palms and starting the exercise. Dashie could see that Adagio was looking away from her, and she wanted to comment why Adagio didn't want to look at her, but her thoughts quickly pushed out as she realized how soft Adagio's palms were. Dashie tried to keep her thoughts straight as she had to focus on talking to her, but her mind kept wandering as she noticed Adagio's chest and stomach when Dashie lunged backward. Her chest was pretty big, not like Sonata's, but still pretty big. It also didn't help that Adagio's chest made her shirt being lifted, exposing a bit of her stomach. Dashie could see Adagio's chubby belly; she wasn't fat but a little bit of pudge...

"So, why are you avoiding me?" Dashie asked, forcing herself to stay focused.

Adagio kept doing the exercise. "I'm not!" She lunged forward and continued to move with Dashie.

Dashie lunged backward again, and again, she could see Adagio's belly. Her thoughts soon went to places she felt ashamed of thinking. She wanted to grab that soft belly of Adagio's and smush it. She wanted to feel that soft, squishy belly in her hands, maybe even on her face.

"Well, you and your sisters don't talk to me after what happened in the mall." Dashie moved her fingers between Adagio's, trying to hold onto her hands. This caused Adagio to blush deeply. "Please, talk to me. I want to talk to you."

Both were deep red. They kept looking at each other as they stood back up and faced each other. With each lung forward, the two got closer and closer. If they kept it up, their faces would be touching.

Adagio's expression became a sad one. "There's nothing to talk about..." Dashie could see that she was holding back tears. "It was our fault that you got hurt. We had no idea what happened after the cave-in nor how to get through it; we headed back to the surface and looked for help. That's when we saw you somehow got back to the surface of the mall, but..." Adagio couldn't finish as she remembered seeing Dashie on the floor, not breathing as Mrs. Reinbold was giving CPR to her daughter, crying. It was an awful sight to see.

"...Queen," Dashie whispered, stopping and wanting to say or do something. Not wanting to see Adagio looking so sad, Blitz clapped her hands before she had the chance and moved on to the next exercise.

"Okay, next is the High Knee Plus Squat Hold!" Blitz started to squat. "Face your partner. Keeping your chest high and knees behind your toes, bend your knees about 45 degrees and extend your arms straight forward. As you hold this position, your partner." Blitz stood straight and started to run in place, her knees going up to hip height. "Your partner jogs in place, raising her knees to hip height. Switch roles after a minute. Okay, get started!" she clapped her hands and watched everyone doing it, but she couldn't help but turn to her daughter and Adagio, smiling at the sight. Her daughter was the one jogging in place but at a fast pace. "That running spirit of hers comes in handy for this, hahaha!" she chuckled.

Dashie didn't realize she was jogging at a breakneck pace; she only focused on Adagio, trying to cheer up and not blame herself for what happened. "That wasn't your fault! What happened to me was-"

But Adagio didn't let her finish. "It was! If I hadn't tried to drink from the lake...that monster copy of myself wouldn't have appeared, and you wouldn't have been hurt! I'm sorry!" she cried, looking down as she kept squatting. "I'm sorry, Dashie! I'm sorry!"

Dashie stopped jogging and switched places with Adagio. She squatted while Adagio was jogging. Dashie wanted to tell her it wasn't her fault, but her focus went to the gutter as she felt Adagio's meaty legs tapping her palms. She remembered how meaty and soft they were; this would be the third time she touched them.

"Whoa..." Dashie noticed Adagio's curvy legs and couldn't believe she had never noticed it before. Sure, she remembered how fat Adagio's ass was and how meaty her thighs were, but why didn't she notice how curvy her legs were? How firm and big they are. Her butt was huge but not enough to call it fat; she had a good amount of meat, not a lot. Then, her belly. Dashie gulped as she saw the squishy, fat belly moving up and down from Adagio's fast pace. Dashie licked her lips and started to blush, feeling excited and ashamed.

"Adagio..." she whispered, trying not to get distracted by Adagio's curvy legs.

Adagio was caught off guard as Dashie never called her by her real name, not after they met. She answered with a deep blush on her face. "What is it?" she looked down, seeing her friend blushing and staring at her oddly. "Dashie, is something wrong?"

Dashie couldn't speak. She just kept staring at her friend's curvy legs and cute chubby belly, feeling guilty for getting aroused by them. Why was she feeling like this? Why was she acting like this toward a friend? Before she could recover and speak, her mother clapped her hands, signaling the next workout.

"Last workout will be Plank plus Lift! Perform a hands plank, with your body forming a straight line from the top of your head to your toes. Keeping your feet together, your partner stands behind you with their feet on either side of yours. With a flat back." Blitz started to act like she was pumping something. "Your partner bends from their waist to grasp your ankles and lift your legs off the ground as they return to standing. With control, they lower your legs back to your knee height." she signal them to get started.

Dashie was the one who was standing and holding Adagio's ankles, lifting her leg off the ground and moving it up and down back to knee height. She wanted to keep talking to her, but Dashie couldn't focus as she had a fantastic view of Adagio's ass, seeing the vast curves of it, the way the ass bulged, and how her leggings were getting tighter. Dashie could feel her own shorts getting tighter.

"Dashie, are you okay? I haven't seen you this quiet before..." Adagio questioned, feeling something was wrong.

Dashie felt dirty but the same time, horny. She couldn't control her feelings as she looked away. "I'm fine..." she whispered.

Adagio was confused but kept doing the workout. It wasn't hard for her, as Dashie was taking most of her weight off.

After a bit, the team-up workout was done, and Blitz revealed what today's class activity was all about. "Okay, girls and boys, today's activity is dodgeball! Split up into teams and take a..." She looked around, noticing something was missing. "...balls? Odd, I thought the cart of balls was here?" she then remembered what her coworker had told her before he left as she got ready for her class. "Right, he left the cart of balls outside in the storage shed." she turned to her daughter. "Sweetie, can you hurry outside and get them?"

Dashie nodded but saw this as a chance to speak with Adagio. She asked her mother if Adagio could help her. Blitz knew what Dashie was doing and allowed it. "Friends need to make up, and I bet she wants to talk to her alone," she thought as she watched her daughter and Adagio head outside. She smirked and went on to explain how dodgeball worked.

The two girls stepped outside and saw the outside storage shed. They entered it and saw the cart of balls. Adagio approached it but stopped as she heard the door closing behind her. Before she could react, she felt someone hugging her from behind. It was Dashie.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Feeling Dashie wrapping her arms around her waist.

Dashie finally could tell her what she wanted to say. "What happened to me wasn't your fault! It was my choice to fight that evil-looking copy of you!" Dashie squeezed harder, remembering how Adagio was hurt. "Seeing you getting hurt like that...I became so mad! Mad at that copy but also myself!"

Adagio could feel Dashie shaking a bit. She couldn't help but touch the arms wrapped around her stomach, hoping to calm her down.

"I became so mad at myself because I let someone I care about get hurt!"

Adagio blushed when she heard that. "W-What!?"

Dashie blushed, too, but didn't let her go. "Yeah! You, I mean...I don't want to lose you as a friend..." Adagio sighed, not happy to hear that but still somewhat happy that Dashie cared for her. "...please, let's keep being friends! Same with your sisters! I don't want to lose this...this friendship I found. I don't want to lose this friendship again. I'll do anything to have it back!"

Adagio couldn't help but smile. "...you are so stubborn and loyal, you know that, Dashie?" Dashie looked away but nodded.

"Well, you are my queen, after all! I'm your underling, remember? I'll stay loyal to you forever!" Dashie slightly let go of her hug, wanting to let go, but she stopped as she heard Adagio laughing. "Huh?"

Adagio went into Queen mode, laughing. "You better stay loyal to me! You got that, underling!?"

Dashie kept hearing her laughing, and she couldn't help but smile as she did. "Y-Yes, my Queen..." She hugged Adagio again, but as she did so, her arms went under Adagio's shirt, feeling the chubby belly. This caused Dashie's mind to head to the gutter again. "...so soft..."

Adagio talked to Dashie like a queen would say to a loyal subject but shrieked cutely when she felt Dashie's hands on her belly. "Underling!? What are you doing?"

Dashie said nothing, only rubbing her hands between the soft and plump belly. Soon, she moved one hand away from Adagio's belly and toward the thigh, rubbing up and down it until her hand slipped into the leggings. She was feeling the meaty and soft skin.

"I never realized how cute and cubby you were, my Queen." Dashie finally answered but in a whisper. "It's just...wow." she looked down, seeing Adagio's butt, seeing the curve of her body, and even the way she was standing. Dashie never realized how she was into curvy bodies as something awakened in her. "My Queen...your body is truly that of royalty."

Adagio blushed but didn't resist. "...really? I don't think it's that great. I mean, compared to Sonata's or Aria's bodies, my body and ass are..." She couldn't bring herself to say it, but Dashie did.

"Fat?" she could see Adagio nodding with sadness, even feeling her body slouch. "But to me, it's wonderful!" Dashie whispered. "You don't need to worry about weight because you look wonderful and cute. I like this body of yours!"

Adagio was shocked to hear that, but at the same time, she felt so happy that her Queen side came out. "Ha! You better like it, Underling! Worship my body and its curves!"

"I will, my Queen!" Dashie kissed Adagio's back, causing another cute shriek. "Your body is perfect and beautiful."

Adagio blushed more. "Oh!? You really think so?"

Dashie nodded and started kissing her back again. "I'll worship every part of you. Every inch of you...your thighs, your butt, and...your belly..."

Without warning, Dashie forced Adagio onto the ground, flipping her over, seeing the exposed belly. She started to grope it and looked Adagio in the eyes, seeing her looking away in embarrassment. She couldn't resist anymore and gave a big kiss to Adagio's belly, kissing all over it as she was still groping the fat flesh. Adagio laughed cutely, feeling ticklish from the kisses.

"So that's her rewrite, huh?" said a voice that went unnoticed by Dashie or Adagio.

The purple-cloaked woman who appeared years ago was sitting on the cart of balls. She had her book out, reading it and flipping a page.

"Spark will be dealt with, but in doing so, it created another problem for her, and no matter how much she tries to change her fate, the spark of hope will always be there to face her." She lowered her book, watching the scene before her, seeing Dashie acting like a horny animal. "But for that white spark of hope to be awakened, a rainbow must be there, sparking it." Her attention is on her book. "With love, but what happens if that love isn't there?" she flipped a page. "That's what you have done to her. Making her fall in love with another one." She paused and took out her feather pen. "I won't let you mess with their love story."

As the woman was about to write in her book, she froze. She could see a glitching prism light over Dashie, which made her smile as she put away her pen.

"...looks like your theory was right, Dashie."

Dashie moved closer to Adagio's face while still groping her belly. She placed her hand over Adagio's cheek. She leaned in, wanting to kiss her as Adagio closed her eyes, moving her lips to tell Dashie to kiss her. As Dashie got closer, she blinked and stopped.

Laying there wasn't Adagio anymore, but the white-haired girl from her dreams, but the girl's hair surface was shining with a rainbow hue. Dashie looked around and saw she wasn't in the storage room anymore but in someone's room. It was a mess with all the books and scrolls scattered everywhere. The bed had weird plushies on it, all looking like ice cream with cute faces on them. Dashie was trying to understand what was happening, but she felt a warm hand on her cheek, making her look back down. She could see herself, and the girl was naked, but Dashie could feel the blanket covering them, the shadows hiding their naked bodies from each other.

"Dashie..." whispered the girl, smiling so hopefully. "I." Static filled the new memory, seeing a different version of the girl, her white hair becoming less and less. "Love." The static becomes heavier as the girl becomes a purple pony unicorn. "You." The image changed between another girl with the same hairstyle, but Dashie had never seen this girl before, who was naked but wearing a red jacket, and finally back to the white-haired girl whose skin wasn't purple but white as snow, who started looking worried.

"Dashie?"

Dashie wasn't sure what was going on; her head was hurting as she could see Adagio within the static of where the girl was lying. The girl's form was glitching worse and worse until, finally, a sharp pain ran through Dashie's head.

"NO!" she shouted, grabbing the sides of her head and getting off of whoever was under her. "This feels...WRONG!"

Dashie could remember her lovemaking with that girl, remembering how special and meaningful it felt. She wanted to stay with her and keep that love alive, but she felt herself starting to forget who that girl was. It made Dashie panic. She couldn't let this happen, but the more she tried to remember, the more the memories faded away...until she heard a weak voice...

"...D-Dash... that...what...y-you..."

Dashie looked up and saw she was in darkness—nothing but darkness as far as her eyes could see. She looked around, and she could hear the girl's voice.

"Meant...by...where are you?"

Dashie wanted to scream that she was here, but she couldn't.

"I don't see you...you promise you'll find me again..."

Dashie felt her heart break as she broke down in tears. She wanted to scream out to the girl of her dreams, but nothing came out of her mouth, no matter how hard she tried.

"Don't cry..."

"Huh?"

Dashie could see a glowing white star hovering before her. She reached out to it and heard the new voice again.

"That's unlike you. I mean, I'm still with you. Right here..."

Dashie could see something within the whiteness, seeing two people. One is on the ground, while the other is holding that person. She could hear crying and another new voice.

"You could have lived and still be with me...but now..."

Everything changed with static and glitching. Dashie found herself back in that golden chamber. She could see herself holding the white-haired girl as she lay there dying.

"No matter how much pain, anger, or sorrow you feel, it will be alright. Just let it all out; don't keep it bottled up."

Dashie watched herself express her feelings as she cried on the white-haired girl's chest. The girl's hand is petting the head, comforting Dashie's other self.

"I'll always be with you and always..."

Dashie could see different versions of herself and the girl. She looked at her hand, seeing how different it looked as different fading images of the two were reflected. It continued until Dashie was covered in darkness while the girl was covered in whiteness. Above them were two glowing stars,

one black and another white.

"Always find you again."

"DASHIE!?"

Adagio screamed as Dashie fell backward, twitching because she was having a bad nosebleed and soon coughing up blood. Adagio got off the floor, wanting to help her, but seeing so much blood made her run outside, screaming for Blitz or anyone who could hear her.

"MRS. REINBOLD! ANYONE! HELP!"

As Dashie lay there, twitching and coughing blood, she could see the white-haired girl again, smiling at her with the warmest smile she had ever seen. The girl looked so happy but also sad. Dashie tried to reach and touch her, but her hand couldn't get any closer as it dropped. She fell unconscious from all the blood she was coughing.

The cloaked figure lowered her hand, frowning in what she saw.

"If there are so many rewrites, then at some point, one should start remembering one's old life..." She sat back down and started reading again. "That's what you told her, wasn't it, Dashie?" She removed her hood, revealing who she was, as her twilight-shaded mane and rainbow-striped hair were melting with whiteness.

"What you told my daughter."

...it was Spark.

End of Chapter 9