stands. I didn't even have to get her a ticket, but she needs some sort of reminder of her visit. I'm sure she will have a blast, and though I don't expect this to make everything right, I can only hope it cheers her up some. With some time, I'm sure she will relax and settle down about her being in the cartoon. She's a smart mare, and knows she is real, not that made up pony from the cartoon. I can only help push her to believing that, and hope she does the same to me. There is a point in every parents life when they have to let their child go. Whether it be for the better or for the worst, it must happen at some point. I now sit here in my living room, by myself, sulking over photographs of my distant memories of me and Dashie. On her twentieth birthday, I had planned a special outing to go see a flight show. As we prepared to leave, there was a knocking at the door. Never in the years we have lived there had anyone knocked at the door. Hell, we hadn't even made arrangements if someone did show up. I simply told her to go to her room while I took care of it. Once I heard her door shut, calmly and collectively I asked who it was knocking, expecting some stranger possibly lost on his or her travels. A female voice spoke in such a elegant, yet attention grabbing tone I felt myself listening to her with the utter most attention. She asked if she may come in; a question I'd normally refuse within a heartbeat, and yet something about her voice was reminiscent. I couldn't help but walk over and open the door. When I first saw the figure standing on my porch, I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or hallucinating. Standing there, was the radiant and majestic Princess Celestia. I was at a loss of words; fighting both emotions of pegasister excitement which I had only felt when I first found Dashie, and emotions of sorrow for I knew what this meant. She stood there another second looking at me; we matched each other in eye level, her body being the size of a nearly full grown horse. I stepped back, and allowed her to enter. What caught me off guard next, was the five other ponies that followed suit. First Twilight Sparkle, then the rest of the gang: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and lastly Pinkie Pie bounced in. "Ooooh, so this is what an alien house looks like on the insi- OH MY! YOU HAVE A KITCHEN! I'm starving, are you starving? I can make us some-" She was stopped by Applejack's hoof, "Easy there sugarcube. We're jus' here fer Rainbow, so we ain't got no time for any eatin'." Applejack's stomach growled, "No matter how hungry we are." I still wasn't sure how to completely react to all this, but not wanting to be rude I offered some left overs, "Uh, we have some left overs from dinner last night. You're more than welcome to some." Pinkie took that as an "ok" and ran into the kitchen with much vigor. It seemed I did not even need to tell her where anything was; she instantly knew where everything was placed. Factor it to either dumb luck or it simply being Pinkie Pie... I chose the latter. "Ah'll go keep an eye on her," Applejack said, walking to join the hyper pony. As she passed, she tipped her hat to me. I was finding it odd the ponies were not more hesitant around a creature such as me. Then again, the same could be said for myself, but having Dashie for fifteen years I grew used to having such a thing around me. Now, I have five other ponies and a full sized goddess horse looking at me with the same amount of curiosity that I held for them. There was a moment of silence as I watched the two mares enter my kitchen and begin to rummage through my fridge. "I'm quite surprised," Celestia began, "I had expected a little more resistance to us entering." "Why? I know who you all are." Celestia nodded, "Ah, so you do know then." "That you are fictional characters from a childrens T.V show, then yes. Otherwise why you are all here I've no clue." The last part I lied, hoping to keep my mind at ease. I knew the reason, but I wanted to ignore it. "Oh, I think you do know." My heart fell into the pits of my stomach. I did know, and she was straight to the point about it. During all these years, I had anticipated this moment, but as time drug on that thought slowly dispelled until it was just nothing more than a minor nip in my mind. That's when it always happens, you know; when everything is finally perfect and you don't have to worry anymore. "Um, excuse me sir," Twilight began, "But from what we could figure out Rainbow Dash should be here. Is she?" I looked to the purple mare; I wanted to tell her no, but I knew it was fruitless. "She's up stairs in her room." "In, her room?" Rarity asked surprised. "Yes, Dashie is in her room. I wasn't sure who was knocking and didn't want her to be spotted." "Dashie? My my, you're that friendly with her already?" Rarity continued. I wanted to punch that pony so hard right then; how she responded insulted me, "Friendly? That's not even the beginning of it. And I should be asking you ponies as to what the hell you did?" Celestia raised a brow, taken back by my change of tone, "You see, my student-" "I know who she is, get to the chase," I was very short with her. As furious as I was, I wanted to know why they'd send Dashie as a filly to some other world. Twilight bit her lip, as her teacher continued, "Yes, of course. Ahem, she was working on a spell to help the weather team with some storm development. Well, they made slightly too large of a storm, and when Twilight used her magic to try and dispel it, it shot a lightning bolt meeting her magic. Rainbow Dash was unfortunate enough to be within reach of the blast, and it engulfed her and sent her to, well, here. So, we are here to retrieve her, simple enough I'd imagine." Before I could answer, Dashie called from her bedroom, "Mom? Is everything alright?" That second my heart stopped beating as I looked from pony to pony. Each one's face was in pure shock and confusion. They recognized the voice of their Rainbow Dash, but she said "Mom." "Uh... 'scuse me sugarcube," Applejack started, returning from the kitchen, "did ah jus' hear Rainbow call ya "mom"?" Before I could answer, Celestia started up again, "Do you care to explain?" I was lost; so many things were running through my mind at once. There was only one thing I could do... and I had to do it, but I knew I wouldn't like it. "Go into the living room and make yourselves comfortable, I'll be right down with her." I didn't allow a response; I turned around and walked up the stairs slowly. "Mom?" "Yea Dashie, I'm coming up. We..." I looked back down to the group of ponies as they watched me ascend, "... we need to talk." So that's what I did. I told her who was down there, and that they were there to take her back. She had seen the cartoon every so often after some time, and found the wacky adventures entertaining. She had given up any thought that the Rainbow Dash in the show was her, and only viewed it as another cartoon. As I talked to her, and explained that those very ponies she didn't believe in were downstairs, she brushed me off with some laughs. She didn't believe me, and thought I was playing some joke on her. So, I took her down into the living room. "DASHIE!" Pinkie shouted, jumping onto her cyan friend. Dashie was quick to shove the pink pony off, "Hey, get away from me!" She was taken back by the sudden amount of ponies filling our living room. They all looked to her with worried expressions as to why she shoved her closest friend away. Pinkie's cotton candy mane went straight as she looked in confusion. "You... don't recognize me... do you?" "No, or any of you," Dashie continued. It hurt me in so many ways. I knew these were her friends, but so many things have happened differently that she didn't know the truth fully. And neither did they, so I had to explain to them. "I..." I started, "Dashie, take a seat please so I can talk to them." She did just that, in her recliner. The entire time she looked at all the ponies who occupied the couches and center rug in front of the fire place. It was time, but first I had to start with a question, "How long ago was she sent over here?" The question caught them off guard, but Twilight cleared her throat as she spoke, "About fifteen days ago, why?" I was speechless. Fifteen days ago? Shit, she's been with me for fifteen years! That means a day in their world meant a year here. "Well," I continued, "It's been a lot more time than that here." "How long?" Twilight asked. "... Fifteen years." All the ponies, besides Celestia, had their mouths agape. "That don't es'plain why she don't know us," Applejack said. "Well, that's the thing. When I found her, she was... a filly." "Come again?" "From my math, I think she was no older than four or five years old." Now Celestia looked surprised. "You mean to tell us, that you have been taking care of Rainbow Dash for fifteen years, since she was a small filly?" she asked. I simply nodded, and looked over to Dashie who wore an expressionless look on her face. "We... she is..." I started, but I couldn't hold back my tears any longer, "I know it's not true...god, I wish it was, but-" "I understand, the 'mom' now makes sense," Celestia cut me off, holding a stern look about her face. She was thinking, trying to piece together in her mind what had possibly happened. I chalked it up to the magic, being unstable possibly reverted her in age. For a few moments it was quiet, besides the breathing of seven ponies and myself. Finally, it was Dashie who broke the silence. "So what's supposed to happen now?" I looked to the princess, trying to read her face. No matter how good I had gotten at reading Dashie's face, Princess Celestia had the best poker face I had ever seen. I had no clue what she was thinking, or feeling at this moment. "Well, it's quite simple. Twilight?" Celestia looked to her pupil, who instantly perked up hearing her name, "Do you still remember that memory spell? From the Discord incident?" Twilight simply nodded, as she stood from the couch and hopped onto the floor. I knew what was going on, what Celestia had in mind. She wanted Twilight to either erase her memories and start from anew. Or, possibly, I hoped she just simply wanted to give Dashie her memories of their friendships and time in Ponyville. I wasn't sure what to do, I felt it was right. I knew it was right, and needed to be done. I had been telling myself that for fifteen years as I waited for this moment. But there was something I needed to say before it happened. These ponies were going to take my Dashie away, and I had some words to speak before that could happen. "No, wait please," I started. Twilight stopped, and looked to the sun goddess, "Just, give me a moment with her please. All I ask, since...since this is the last time we'll see each other." I had given up holding back my tears, and at this point was openly crying. The ponies could tell I was hurting, and Dashie didn't look to be faring too well either. So, figuring it wasn't good to prolong the inevitable, I walked over to the chair Dashie sat in, knelt down to meet her eye level as I spoke. "Dashie, my little Dashie. I love you with all my heart. You have done wonders to open me up from the man I once was. You..." I had to pause a moment, to settle down, "... you have brought me so much joy in my life that I can't possibly ever thank you for." At this point, Dashie too had begun to cry. That only made it worse for me. "These fifteen years we have had together, talking, playing, flying; all those have been so special to me. I just want you to know, that I will forever love you. It doesn't matter if we aren't biologically related, or of different worlds. I don't care what you may ever think of me, or if you ever even remember me, but right now, you being my Dashie, I want you," I poked her on the chest, to physically show I was talking to her, "to know that fact. If there is ever a problem that happens, and you need me, don't hesitate to find a way to get me, okay?" I tried to laugh, passing the last part off as a joke. It worked, only slightly, as we both continued to cry. I could also hear some sniffling from behind me; I could only picture Pinkie Pie crying much like she had at the end of the second episode in season one, after Luna and Celestia had been reunited. "D-d-do I have t-t-to go m-m-mommy?" It had been a few years since she had actually called me "mommy." Most of the time it was simply "mom" or "mama". It felt good, knowing she still cared for me enough to call me mommy, much like the first times she had said it to me, so many years ago. I simply nodded my head, as I stood up. Before I could fully grasp my balance, she jumped up onto me and hugged me tight. I could feel her tears on the back of my neck, and I returned the embrace. "It's your actual home, Dashie. You don't belong here. You need to go back to where you belong." "I belong here, with you!" It hurt so much to say, but I had to keep her convinced