My Little Pony: Through Space and Time

by Magic Step

Midnight Meeting

Nopony said anything for a very long while. Captain Dash just stared at the unmoving body of Scootaloo, while Aunt Jackie glared at her, shaking with rage.

"This is your fault, you know," said Aunt Jackie.

Captain Dash raised her eyes to stare at the orange earth pony.

"You can't blame nopony but yourself," Aunt Jackie repeated.

Captain Dash didn't respond.

Tears streamed down Aunt Jackie's face.

"She was just a little filly!" Aunt Jackie shouted. "She loved you and admired you more than anypony ever did! You were her hero! And you abandoned her!"

Captain Dash turned away.

"It's your fault she became a twisted cruel monster! Ah know where my precious Apple Bloom is- she's up in heaven, with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, being rewarded for everything she ever did on this earth. Do you know where the filly who worshiped you- the filly you didn't give a flick of your wings for- do you know where she is now?"

Captain Dash's shoulders shook.

"In the fires of hell, where she'll roast for all eternity! And you put her there, Rainbow Dash! You not only killed her, you damned her for all of eternity! Scootaloo was a better pony than you were!"

"That's enough," said Princess Twilight, her horn glowing.

Aunt Jackie's mouth kept moving, but no sound came out.

Princess Twilight strode regally up to Captain Dash. "You have done your duty well," she said. "Scootaloo also. She will not be forgotten."

Captain Dash didn't respond, just shuddered and turned away.

"In the meanwhile," Princess Twilight said, turning back to the pegasi guards, "please make sure the dungeons have ample room for all our new arrivals."

---

Flames engulfed everything. All that could be heard was the anguished screams of ponies.

Scootaloo lay near by, chained to a rock. She turned and looked at the approaching pony.

"This is all your fault, Rainbow Dash. All. Your. Fault!"

Applejack woke up.

She was still in prison, where Princess Twilight was holding her and her five friends until she 'felt up to' performing a memory erase and creating a portal. After thinking over her dream and saying a quick prayer, she went over to the bars of the cell.

"Hey, there a guard out there?" she called.

A moment later a dark blue earth pony in a guard uniform approached the cell. "Something wrong?"

"Ah have a message for the captain, if you can get it to her," said Applejack.

The guard's darted his eyes around while he considered the question. "Er, what is it?"

Applejack took a deep breath. "Tell her that if she wants to talk to me about her dream, I have something to say to her. If she's asleep, don' wake her up; jist ignore me."

The guard hesitated. "I'll see what I can do." He left.

It was late at night, so none of Applejack's friends were awake. She lay back down and thought about what she was going to say.

After what seemed like an eternity, the guard came back and opened the cell door. "The Captain wants to see you," he said.

He lead Applejack through the dark and quiet castle. Their footsteps echoed on the tile floors as they crossed patches of moonlight streaming in the windows. It felt almost like Applejack was still dreaming; she had never before seen Canterlot castle when it wasn't lit up and filled with ponies. It felt like some kind of metaphor for their future selves.

One relatively short staircase later, the guard let Applejack into a small library. A small dim lamp gave the room a warm glow. Inside were two red cushioned armchairs next to a coffee table. Captain Dash sat in one of the chairs with a heavy blanket wrapped around her and a mug in one hoof. Another identical mug was on the table.

"Milk?" Captain Dash asked, her voice soft.

Applejack nodded slowly. "Sounds good." She sat in the other armchair and took a sip of the warm milk. Neither of them said anything for a while.

Captain Dash broke the silence. "So, you wanted to talk to me about... my dream?"

Applejack settled back in her armchair. "Yer worried that Scootaloo's in hell and it's yer fault."

"An educated guess," said Captain Dash.

"Yer tryin' to intimidate me with long words," said Applejack. "Yer not a pony for superstition, yer a pony for action, but this is still shakin' you."

Captain Dash didn't say anything, and her face seemed to be struggling with what expression to display.

"An' yer unhappy that Ah'm dead right about yer feelings," said Applejack.

"What do you think?" said Captain Dash.

They fell silent again. Captain Dash turned away and stared at the door.

"So is she in hell?" she asked softly.

Applejack didn't respond. "Ah can' say Ah'm an expert theologian. Maybe we'll both get a happy surprise when we head up to glory... but Ah'd have to say, my best guess is that, yes, she is."

Captain Dash's expression didn't change. "Oh." She took another sip of milk.

"But it ain't yer fault," said Applejack.

"Not my fault?" said Captain Dash. "Not my fault?!" She slammed her mug down on the table and stood up, glaring at Applejack. "How can it not be my fault? I'm the pony to blame for her insanity! I'm the pony who let her remain in that state! I'm the pony who- who..." Captain Dash gritted her teeth and glared at the floor. "I brought the only doctor who could have cured her to his execution. I did it for... Twilight." Her breath became shaky. "I did everything Twilight ever asked of me. I was devoted, and I earned her devotion. I was... I am... Loyalty." She raised her head. There were tears in her eyes.

"So why did this happen?" Captain Dash demanded. "Why?! I've been faithful to my Element! But the universe couldn't have a pony succeeding at this faithfulness thing, oh, no. It just had to throw me a curveball. I could either be loyal to Applejack or to Twilight. Whatever I did, I was cursed! What was I expected to do? How could this happen? What did I do wrong?"

Applejack didn't respond for a while.

Captain Dash repeated, softer, "What... did I... do... wrong?"

Applejack sighed deeply. "Ah don' know the whole story here," she said. "Ah can' tell you whether Scootaloo's insanity was yer fault, but Ah know her death wasn't. If Scootaloo had wanted to, she coulda found a way to preserve her life, don' think she couldn't. An'... she coulda found a way... to not become a monster. If she really wanted to. Ya certainly may have aided her transformation, but ya sure as hay didn' force it on her. Ah've heard... Ah've even seen... ponies stand up against pressure to lose themselves, to become something nopony should have to become... Ah've seen ponies with enough force of will to do that. An' I don' know what happened to Scootaloo exactly, but the Scootaloo I know coulda stood up to you if she wanted. So yes, Scootaloo is probably in hell." She rested her foreleg on Captain Dash's shoulder. "But no, it ain't yer fault. It's nopony's fault but Scootaloo's."

Captain Dash took a few deep breaths. "Thank... thank you... for talking with me." She went over to the door before Applejack could reply. "Guards?" she called.

The dark blue earth pony was waiting outside. "Yes, captain?"

"Please show Applejack back to her cell," said Captain Dash.

The guard bowed. "Yes, captain, and... I hope you sleep well."

The two ponies started back down the stairs.