01: Full of Life, Full of Love
Clouds are comfortable. Like, really comfortable.
It's something only a pegasus can experience, really. Sure, unicorns can cast a cloud-walking spell with their fancy pants magic, but they'll never know the same soft, fluffy feeling beneath their hooves. Something so sturdy it can hold our weight, yet soft enough to be manipulated easily.
I suppose this is why I made my bed out of clouds. No, scratch that, my entire house out of clouds.
It's early in the morning, which, as everypony knows, it definitely not my time of day. Thankfully, there's no weather clearing duties this morning, so I'm free to sleep in. And sleep in I will. Probably until about three o'clock.
Unfortunately, fate would have it that I'm not that lucky. A sharp knock on the door wakes me. I perk my ears up, annoyed at the disturbance. Who in the wide world of Equestria would want to disturb me at this hour? Still, I couldn't just ignore whoever was out there, as much as I wanted to, so I pull myself up and out of bed, yawning and giving my wings a stretch as I make my way towards the front door.
I pull it open to reveal a cheerful looking stallion. The mail-stallion, to be precise. "Good morning, Rainbow Dash!" he exclaims in his unnervingly happy tone. "I have a letter for you!"
Really? The mail-stallion has a letter? I would never have guessed. "Thanks," I mutter, trying my best to smile back at him despite my tiredness. I close the door, as he nods and flies away, and pop the letter down on a table. I briefly consider going back to bed, but I figure it isn't worth it since I was already up and about. I can always have a nap later, anyway.
The letter can wait for now, though. The first order of business is coffee. I don't think I could ever get up properly in the morning without one. I hover into the kitchen and switch on the machine, yawning again as it starts to whir loudly. Is it just me, or does that thing get louder every time I use it? I have had it for years, so I probably need a new one. I add the thought to a mental checklist of things to do as I grab some milk from the fridge. I make the coffee and, in my haste to feel fresh and woken up, nearly down the whole mug of scalding hot liquid down my throat. Luckily, I don't. That would've hurt. A lot.
My coffee in one hoof, I hover out onto my balcony. From here I can see all of Ponyville, and it sure is a sight to behold. Sure, Cloudsdale is where I was born, and where my mom and dad live, so it'll always have a special place in my heart, but Ponyville is the only place I can truly call home. It's where all of my friends are, the ones I love the most.
Well, it's where most of my friends are, anyway.
My thoughts drift towards Twilight Sparkle, the newly crowned Princess of Friendship. Back when I first met her, I just thought she was yet another Canterlot egghead, but she turned out to be one of my best friends. Now she's back in Canterlot, dealing with all the political mumbo jumbo that comes with being a princess. She says she's coming back to live in Ponyville, but with all the stuff she has to deal with, Celestial knows how long that'll be. Still, I'll have a new flying partner when she does. That's going to be awesome!
I stare out at the town for quite a while, just thinking about stuff. The past, mostly, as well as what lies ahead. Then I realise my coffee's getting cold. I down the rest of the mug and decide it's time to get down to today's business. First off, that letter. I trot back into the lounge and pick it up, examining the envelope. It was sealed with the official royal seal, like when Spike receives letters from the princess. Maybe it's from Twilight? I rip it open to find out.
I smile widely and my morning gets a whole lot better as I find out I'm right. Of course I skipped ahead to see who had written it, but now I was actually going to read the thing.
My dearest friends,
I'm sorry that I could not return to Ponyville sooner, but the political implications of being a new princess are a lot to deal with. That, and I now have access to the archives and knowledge in Canterlot that I couldn't before. On that note, I want you all to visit. I've discovered a very exciting spell, with endless possibilities, and I'd like you to see it.
Your friend,
Twilight Sparkle.
I put the letter down again, still smiling. Truth be told, I really don't like going to Canterlot that much. All of the snobby ponies get on my nerves. But this was to catch up with my friend, so of course I was going to be on the first ride there.
"You hear that, Tank?" I call out to my pet turtle- uh, I mean, tortoise, who has just entered the room. "I'm off to Canterlot!"
My heart drops a little as I see his face droop. Slowly. Feeling sorry for him, I fly over and scoop him up in the cuddle. "Aw, don't worry little guy, I'll be back before you know it." He rubs his cheek against mine. You better not tell anypony about this, dang it. "Besides, Scoots will look after you while I'm gone." He smiles slightly, looking up at me.
“Come on,” I say, scooping him up. “Let’s get you over there right now.” If I’m not mistaken, the other girls will have the same mindset as me. Heck, I’m not even going to bother packing. Still smiling, I pick up Tank and fly over to where I keep his flying harness. I slip it on for him and lead him out if the house, gliding down into the town below.
***
Of all the places she could have arranged to meet us, I should have known it would have been the castle's library. Twilight may be a princess now, but some things never change.
I roll my eyes but nonetheless smile and hug my friend as I see her again. Geez, it's been way too long. She's not wearing any of her fancy jewellery like she was at the coronation, unlike the other princesses. I guess she doesn't like to make it appear as though she's better than anypony else. Yep, it's definitely still the Twilight I know and love.
The rest of our friends are here as well, all saying hello. We catch up for a while, talking about the little things in our day-to-day lives, before Rarity decides to break the ice.
"So, Twilight dear, what is this exciting spell you were telling us about?" she asks. "The one you were talking about in the letter?"
Twilight's face lights up like a Hearth's Warming tree. "Oh, of course!" The magic in her horn ignites and a dusty old book comes floating over. "Now, the information in this book is technically classified, but Princess Celestia said I can show you girls, so long as you promise never to tell anypony else. Can you do that?"
We all nod eagerly, crossing our hooves across our chests. I don't really get why everything is all secretive, but it's important to the princesses and my friend, and I'm not about to break a promise.
Twilight smiles again and lifts the cover of the book with her magic. "Tell me, girls. What's the first thing that comes to your mind when I say 'parallel universes'?"
Well, that was a weird question.
The five of us look at each other, and then back to her. I don’t think any of us are sure what to say at this point. We stutter for a few seconds, trying to come up with an answer, before Applejack speaks.
“Uh, what are ya gettin’ at here, sugarcube?” She tips back her hat. “Seems like a mighty strange question to be askin’.”
Twilight rolled her eyes, but her brief disappointment was soon overcome with her obvious excitement and enthusiasm. She trots over to a nearby table and opens the book to a bookmarked page, motioning for us to gather round. We surround the table as she starts to explain.
"You've all heard the theories, right?” she starts. “Every single decision that gets made creates a parallel universe, opposite to the choice that you made in this one.” She turns to me suddenly. “Dash, what did you have for breakfast yesterday?”
It takes me a few seconds to process the sudden question. “Uh... just some toast.”
“Then a parallel universe was created the moment you made the decision to eat toast.” She tells us quickly, her excitement obvious in her speech.
“So, what you’re saying is, in a parallel universe, I ate cereal instead or something?”
Twilight nods happily. “Exactly!” She picks up the book again and shows it to us. “The thing is, this spell will allow us to see these parallel universes!” Confused, but curious, I look closer at the page. It’s old, and the text is faded, but I can still make out what it says. There’s a picture of a unicorn, looking into some sort of bright light. The text is written in some old form of language that I can’t quite understand, but I got gist of it. Using the spell, you could look into a parallel universe, but, from the looks of it, you couldn't choose which one.
“Imagine the possibilities of this!” Twilight takes the book back and looks at it again.
“Sounds a might interestin’, Twi,” Applejack says, “But what would you use this spell for?”
“Anything!” she exclaims. “Come on, this is exciting, isn’t it?”
The rest of us look at each other for a second, before smiling and nodding. Twilight always got excited over this kind of stuff, it was hard not to find it adorable, in a way. Still, the whole thing could be kinda interesting, so we decided to press on.
“Of course it is, Twilight,” Rarity reassures her. “Why don’t you give us a demonstration?”
Twilight takes a deep breath, and smiles. “Okay, why not?” She looks back at the book, double-checking every step and procedure, before stepping away from the table. “Ready, girls?”
I grin and nod alongside the rest of our friends. Twilight’s horn starts to glow, lighting up the whole room in a bright purple glow. Wow, this is going to be awesome! Twilight warns us to step back, which we do. The light is even brighter now, and I think I can make out some sort of portal, or window, growing from Twilight’s horn. Squinting through the increasingly bright light, I see what looks like another version of Ponyville, but I can’t see much.
There’s a loud crack, like a clap of thunder, and I immediately realise that something’s wrong. Twilight cries out, and I look over to see her panicking. Maybe the spell went wrong, or she can’t handle it. Either way, I try to gallop over and help her out. Big mistake. She calls out to me, but before I can register it, I’m caught in some sort of invisible force field. What do I do? I’m utterly helpless as I’m dragged towards Twilight, or rather, the portal her horn is creating. Aw, buck it! My friends cry out as I’m flung through the portal, and I black out.
***
“Hey, are you alright?”
Uh, what the hay just happened? I feel as though I’ve been bucked in the head by Applejack. By Celestia, I hate headaches.
I open up my eyes to see a small pegasus colt standing over me. Isn’t that Rumble, Thunderlane’s little brother? Either way, I was in too much pain to really care. I sit up, and look at him. “Hey Rumble,” I manage to mutter. “What’s going on?”
“Not much, RD,” he replies. “I was playing in the park when I saw you sleeping, and I wanted to see if you were okay.”
I manage to stand up and stretch, sighing with relief as my bones crack into place. “Thanks, kid.”
“You know, I haven’t seen you around in a while, Rainbow Dash,” he says, still looking up at me. “Where have you been?”
Huh? I remember seeing him a couple of days ago, when I bumped into his brother. I tell him this, and he looks at me like I've just grown a horn.
“What are you talking about? Me and my brother didn't go out on Tuesday.”
Oh yeah, of course. Alternate universe or whatever. Just great. I apologise and give him the excuse that I wasn't thinking straight before trotting towards the exit of the park. Ponyville looks pretty much the same as I remember. Sugarcube Corner’s still there, and I can still hear the Cake twins wailing inside. I look up at the sky and see my house, still floating there. I notice a tavern out of the corner of my eye, and suddenly realise that I’m really thirsty, so I make my way towards it. The only thing that seems out of the ordinary is that there are quite a few squads of Royal Guards lingering around, but I chalk it down to some sort of incident that happened recently.
The distinct smell of apple cider hits me as soon as I step inside the place. It’s pretty dark, with only a few lamps giving light to the place. Not many ponies are in here either, with only a few lowly stallions drinking in the darker corners of the room. I decide to ignore them as they stare at me and instead trot over to the bar, eager for something to drink.
“Morning, miss,” the bartender says as I hop onto a barstool. “What can I get you?”
“A cider, thanks,” I mumble, wondering what I’m going to do next.
“Hard cider?” he asks, cleaning out a shot glass.
“No, thanks,” I tell him, idly staring off into space.
He chuckles. “Saving it for later, huh? Alright then. That’ll be three bits.”
I reach into my saddlebags, which somehow survived the journey, and toss the money onto the counter. He smiles creepily, and turns around to pour my drink. I stare at my hooves, wondering how I’m going to get out of whatever mess I've gotten myself into. I hope that I can just find this universe’s version of Twilight to send me back, but then I think. What if, in this universe, Twilight isn't a princess anymore? What if I never met Twilight at all?
The glass sides towards me and I catch it almost instantly, lifting the glass to my mouth and taking a swig. I relish the sweetness of it as it rolls down my tongue. Heck, I didn't know I was this thirsty. Still, it's a welcome relief, and it'll give me time to plan on what I'm going to do next.
Turns out, I'm not too lucky today.
"There she is," I hear a gruff voice whisper from across the room. My ears perk up, and I put my glass down, ready for action. I'm the only mare in here, so he must be talking about me. What would he want with me anyway?
I turn around to see a group of Royal Guards standing by the door. "You there!" the leader shouts. "Stop! You're under arrest!"
Under arrest?! "What? Why?" I splutter, thinking there must be some sort of mistake. The guards keep moving towards me, surrounding me on all sides.
"Don't play dumb with me!" the leader barks, grabbing me suddenly. "We know what you did!"
What the hay is going on? The rest of the guards form a tight circle around me as the rest of the ponies in the bar look on in fear. I try to struggle, but he just shoves a hoof into my back and forces me forward. Darn it, that hurt! I turn to look up at him.
"Wait a sec. Can't we just talk about this?"
The leader chuckles darkly. "Not a chance. It'll be the gallows for you, traitor."
Oh, buck. That's not good. I need to get out of here, right now.
Another one of the guards turns to look at his boss. "These rebels are just dropping like flies, huh captain?" He sounds young, barely old enough to be out of high school.
"Keep your mouth shut and don't speak out of turn!" the captain reprimands harshly, before adding, "You're right though. Damn stupid is what they all are."
That's it, I've had enough. I've got to stand up to this.
The leader seems taken off guard when I slam the back of my head right into his face. He staggers back, clutching his snout, and a see a chance to strike. I leap into the air, forcing my hindlegs as hard as I can into his chest. The powerful kick connects, and the guard is flung back onto a table, which smashes under his weight. The force of the kick pushes me back onto the floor, and I'm forced to scramble away quickly before one of them jams his spear into me.
Another one leaps towards me quickly, but I react quicker. I turn and kick him back, before picking up a nearby stool and throwing it at him. It smashes across his face, knocking him out cold. Even in the midst of the fight, I start to think. How in the world do I know how to do this? I've never been trained to fight before, not like this! The most I've dealt with is a few scraps with bullies back at Summer Flight Camp. Whatever it is, whatever's going on, it has me worried.
There's only three guards left now, and one is still trying to pry his spear lose from the floor after he tried to stab me. I jump at the opportunity, yanking the spear from him and smacking him across the face with it. He sprawls across the ground, but I stomp his face in before he can react. Right, two to go.
In a fit of rage, one of them starts to charge at me with his spear. I'm ready for it, so I sidestep and grab him, throwing him to the floor. He rolls into his friend, also knocking him to the ground. Acting quickly, I stomp my hoof into one of their heads, before swiftly bucking the other one to sleep just before he struggles to his hooves.
And, just like that, it's over.
The tavern is silent for a few seconds, with the only sounds heard being my ragged breathing, and the quiet whimpers of the other stallions in the bar. Slowly, I manage to look away from the unconscious bodes lying across the floor and up at the bartender, who's staring at me with a mixture of what I can only assume is fear and admiration.
"You okay?" I ask.
"I'm fine, just a little shaken up." He peeks over the bar to take a look at the guards. "Thanks for teaching them a lesson. Those louts never paid anyway." Both of our ears perk up as we hear shouting in the distance. Oh no, what have I done? What am I going to do?
"You better get out of here fast, Dash," he says. Wait, how does he know my name? I look up at him quizzically. "I figured it was you," he answers my unspoken question. "No other mare in town fights like that. Anyway, get galloping girl. And say hi to Applejack for me!"
I heed his warning, and sprint towards the door and out into the open air. The shouts are getting louder. I need a place to hide, and fast. I'm confused as to why he mentioned Applejack, but right now my mind doesn't have time to wonder. It's probably just something to do with this whole 'alternate universe' thing anyway.
Dear Celestia, what have I gotten myself into?
