The Pegasus Paradox

“So how’d it go?” asked Rainbow Dash as the stallions returned to the TARDIS.

The Doctor shook his head.

“He wouldn’t listen.”

“I’m not surprised.” Dash had crossed her arms and was now hovering in place.

“At least Discord’s reformed in the present…” Twilight offered, hopefully.

“I’m afraid the jury’s still out on that.” He replied, glumly.

“So…what’s the plan?” asked Shining Armor.

“We return to Ponyville in the present; Twilight and Rainbow Dash need to rest and check in on their pets and loved ones, in the morning I’ll take you back to the Crystal Empire with the TARDIS.”

“You mean you’re just going to leave us?” Dash demanded.

“I have a feeling that this is far more than a single time paradox and I’m going to need both you and Twilight to get to the bottom of it, but you won’t be much help if you’re worn out and worried about how things are going at home.”

“But, you know so much more about time travel than us-how could we possibly help solve something like this?” pressed Twilight.

“Yeah,” Dash added. “And I’m not exactly an egghead, either.”

“You two really shouldn’t sell yourselves short-Twilight, your brain is filled with encyclopedic knowledge of dates and historical facts about Equestria which I still know next to nothing about.”

He turned to face the Pegasus.

“And Rainbow Dash, you’re more important than your realize; your fast, strong, and loyal...I can’t think of anyone else more suited to travel with me.”

“But…what about the Elements of Harmony?” protested Twilight. “If Discord begins acting up again…or some other disaster befalls Equestria while we’re gone?”

“I’m sure Fluttershy can handle him,” The Doctor replied confidently. “Celestia can handle just about anything thrown at her and even if they can’t…we have a time machine, remember?”

“And why do think any of what’s happened has anything to do with Rainbow Dash?” demanded Shining Armor as the trio exchanged glances.

“Because I’m a Time Lord, I can feel these things in my bones. I’m not saying that she’s the cause but, she’s definitely connected in some way.”

“Now,” he placed a hoof on a lever of the TARDIS. “As I said earlier, we need to go back to Ponyville and rest up for are next adventure.”

“But, first…” he pulled the lever hurling the machine through time and space.

“Where are we now?” asked Twilight.

“Cloudsdale,” he replied. “Eighty years into the future.”

“Rainbow Dash, come with me.” He ordered.

“But, Doctor!” protested Twilight. “If Rainbow Dash sees or learns anything about her future self, couldn’t it interfere with the timeline?”

“Yes,” he acknowledged. “But, this is a very special case and I know she won’t believe me until she sees this for herself.”

“And what do we do while your gone?” asked Shining Armor, impatiently.

“You stay right here in the TARDIS where it’s safe, until we get back.”

Rainbow Dash reluctantly looked back at Twilight before following The Doctor outside, she was surprised to see blinding fluorescent lights the second she stepped out of the TARDIS.

“Where are we?” she asked, raising her hoof to shield her eyes from the drastic change of light intensity.

“Cloudsdale Medical Center.”

“What!? Why?” she demanded. “And if we’re really in Cloudsdale, then how come you haven’t fallen through the floor?”

“Because in the future they found a way to solidify the floors of emergency service centers like police stations, fire departments, and hospitals after a few unicorns who cast the Cloud-Walking spells on themselves had a few accidents and at the worst possible time they wore off.” He explained.

“But, why are we here?” she pressed impatiently.

“Ah! Here we are!” he burst out, ignoring the question.

He burst into a room at the end of the fourth floor, where Rainbow Dash was getting fed up with being strung along, until the sight of the patient in the hospital bed stopped her.

“What!?”

The old mare seemed to be in pretty bad shape, her wrinkled body was covered in ugly bruises, there were dark circles under her eyes, and her formerly luscious rainbow mane had degenerated into thin graying strands, she was wearing an oxygen mask and various tube stuck into her arm.

“Is…is that…ME!?” exclaimed a shocked and horrified Rainbow Dash.

“Yes, but I didn’t just bring you here to show you yourself on your deathbed.”

“DEATHBED!?” she shrieked.

“Calm down,” he whispered before moving towards future Dash’s bedside, who had awakened at her past self’s outburst with her eyes following the stallion as he moved, taking off her mask.

“Doctor…what took you so long?”

“I’m sorry, but I can fix everything-I promise-I just need you to tell us what happened…and how did you get like this?”

“She’s like a hundred years old!” Rainbow Dash shouted, throwing her arms up.

“No,” The Doctor replied, “At this time period, medical technology has advanced to the point where in an equine’s lifespan, one hundred and twenty years old is considered middle-aged.”

“It was a just a few years after Twilight’s coronation after Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, that one from the Crystal Empire…and a few others; enough time passed that it seemed like the world no longer needed the Elements of Harmony.” She explained.

“Twilight moved to Canterlot to take up her role as the ruler of Equestria once Celestia passed away in one thousand and four, Rarity moved there as well to open up a new dress shop, and I finally got accepted into the Wonderbolts-it took me a decade of working my flank off to earn the rank of Captain, because Spitfire’s successor was a total b-”

“Rainbow Dash!” The Doctor shouted, “The Elements!”

“All right,” she sighed. “Not too long afterwards, there was some kind of emergency, Rarity was easy to get a hold of since she and Twi both lived in the city; AJ, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all stayed in Ponyville, so it was easy to get the word out to them.”

“And what about you?” asked The Doctor.

“I was on the other side of the world, touring with the Wonderbolts, by the time I heard anything about it-I was too late.”

“Too late for what?” asked the Rainbow Dash from the present.

“Look out the window,” instructed The Doctor.

The sky was covered in a dark cloud layer with thunder strikes of what appeared to be rays of twilight cracking overhead.

“THUNDERSTORMS!?” exclaimed Dash. “How is that even possible? We are in Cloudsdale!”

“It’s just as I suspected…” The Doctor muttered.

“What?”

“You and your friends drifted apart and you can’t really seem to recall the precise reasons why, correct?” he asked, turning back to the elder Rainbow Dash.

“Yes,”

“What about our relationship with Twi?” Younger Rainbow Dash cut in.

“We broke up shortly after she moved to Canterlot, once Celestia passed away she buried herself in her work-she felt like she’d be letting her down otherwise.”

“I though Celestia was supposed to be immortal,” The Doctor commented.

“She was, until the sky ripped open, wreaking chaos and disharmony down onto the world, and…as ashamed as I am to admit it, I feel that this is very important for you to know, Doctor-Rarity, Twilight, and I-we…didn’t want to come back or use the Elements of Harmony.”

“But, I thought you said that by the time we heard about all this, it was already too late?” pointed out Rainbow Dash.

“Yes,” her future self sighed, “But, afterward the thought had occurred to either Pinkie of Fluttershy…I can’t quite seem to remember, maybe it was both? Even though we still have no idea who or what is behind this, they pointed out that we could still use the Elements to restore the damage that had been caused and then investigate it’s source.”

“But?” pried The Doctor.

“But, while the three of us had achieved our lifelong dreams, we were by no means happy, but somehow content with how things were and perhaps on some subconscious level we feared that we’d be forced to talk to each other again, to look each other in the eyes and confess what we’d done.”

She looked her past self in the eyes and spoke softly.

“I’m not sure how things are working out in your timeline, but in this one we used to each other to achieve our life’s goals and not too long after that began to get irritated by each other, seeing the others as dead weights, holding us back from our full potential-we no longer had time for friends.”

Rainbow Dash’s heart was caught in her throat at what she was hearing.

Could it really have been true?

Would the accomplishments everything they’d worked for in there lives really drive them apart and cause them to hate each other?

To no longer have time for each other?

The fear that had gripped her seemed to have tightened around her lungs, making it even more difficult to breathe once another thought occurred to her, but she had to know.

“What about Pinkie, Fluttershy, and AJ?” she asked, barely above a whisper.

“They stayed behind in Ponyville and still seemed quite happy there when I last saw them…but, that was about seventy-five years ago…”

For a minute her heart stopped.

Seventy-five years.

It had been seventy-five years since her future self had any contact with her friends…

“A-and Squirt?” she asked timidly, although she feared she already knew the answer.

“Scootaloo…” the older mare sighed. “When I got accepted into the Wonderbolts, she was happy for me-at first. But, when she realized that meant we would no longer be able to spend time together, with the tours, pres releases, the Gala, and trying to train and pick out new recruits from the academy, I just had to cut all personal attachments out of my life.”

“You what?” Rainbow Dash growled, uncharacteristically silently, her tone filled with underlying rage.

“Listen to me,” she continued, keeping the same tone.

“Our friends…our family…is way more important than we are…even becoming a Wonderbolt is secondary to them and their needs, I don’t know who you are-but, you are not me.”

With that, she curtly turned around.

“Let’s go, I’m sick of this place.” She spat, before heading back to the TARDIS with The Doctor reluctantly following behind and leaving her older self in a state of shock at how absolutely disgusted her past self seemed to be at her for doing what they’d always wanted.