Big woke up well rested early the next morning. She assessed her surroundings and noticed that Rainbow Dash was still occupying the left side of the bed, while Big occupied the right. Rainbow was facing away from her sound asleep in the dim light of early morning. Big carefully maneuvered out of the bed slowly as to not awaken her identical twin to her early escape. Once Big was out of bed, without waking her double, she turned toward the bedroom door and headed toward it slowly as to not wake the sleeping mare. Big got to the door and slowly spun it to the right so the sound wasn’t abrupt and invasive in the noiseless room.

Finally, Big pulled on the doorknob and slowly opened the old creaky door. Big maneuvered herself on the other side and slowly spun the doorknob to the left so it wouldn’t snap back into position. She closed the door behind her, but made sure to keep the knob so the tooth wouldn’t snap into position when the door closed completely. Big was now on the other side of the door and turned a left to go down the dark hallway before Puppet Master interrupted her actions.

“Wait. I think you should give her some closure before you go. You’ve connected deeply and I think that you leaving so suddenly, would make it a little harder on her.”

“But I really don’t want to see anypony at the moment.” Rainbow thought solemnly.

“Yes, but this is a little sudden.”

“What would you have me do?”

“…”

After no response from Puppet Master, Big continued her trek through Rainbow’s dimly lit home. Big trotted slowly so her hooves wouldn’t beat down on the wood and wake her double too early and she’d have to speak to her. She would fly, but the current home was too small and she’d likely hit the ceiling. Taking a left down the stairs, Big went down those just as cautiously as the hallway. She reached for the front door and was abruptly stopped by a voice.

“Wait.” Puppet Master calmly remarked. “I have an idea.”

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Rainbow Dash woke on her own time that very morning. She investigated the other side of the bed and was heartbroken to find it missing a houseguest on the left side of the bed. Rainbow frowned at the empty space, before deciding to start the day by sitting up and nearly tumbling out of her bed. She scanned her room for any sign of her larger double, before her eyes fell on a sticky note that hung on the blank wall in front of her. She trotted closer to it to read the text.

“Paint sky blue” it simply read.

Rainbow Dash smiled, and shook her head from side to side as she turned right to face the door. She trotted forward and swung it open passively to leave her room, stopping abruptly when she saw another one across the hall, on the other door. She trotted forward, forgetting to close the door to her room and looked at the next sticky note that also had text on it.

“Throw out holiday junk”

Rainbow smiled warmly at the sticky note as she reflected on Big’s disapproval for the way she liked to live. She left the note and turned left down the hall. She saw a sticky note on the door on the left side that connected to the bathroom and she smiled again as she trotted down the hall to get a morning shower. When Rainbow passed the staircase, she looked down to see there was also a sticky note on the front door.

She stopped at the top of the stairs and tried to read it but decided against it, thinking it was the next note she was to read and she didn’t want to mess up their order. Rainbow trotted to the bathroom door and looked at the sticky note that adorned its wood surface.

“Don’t forget to brush your mane.”

Rainbow Dash cocked her head to the side and found the statement written for her was odd and out of character of her athletic double. She quickly trotted back down the hallway and looked into her room and to the left, at the makeup table that her comb rested on. She saw a sticky note on top of it that she missed on her way out and she trotted up to it to read its content.

“THROW THIS OUT!!!”

Rainbow Dash smiled widely when she read the sticky note and shook her head from side to side like when she read the first one that still hung on the opposite wall of her room. She abruptly turned back and walked through her door out of her bedroom and trotted down the hall back to the bathroom door. She turned the knob and walked inside and was greeted by the normalcy of her simple bathroom. She trotted slowly into the bathroom carefully scanning for any more sticky notes, until her eyes fell onto the closed shower curtains.

“Seriously? Use a cloud!”

The sticky note had the same reoccurring theme of Big’s simple and short rants. Rainbow Dash decided to pay it no mind, and made sure she had a towel next to the bathtub and found a yellow towel next to the sink that was folded up nicely. Rainbow smiled and turned back to the tub and turned the hot water on and put her hoof under the running water. When she felt the water gain temperature she pulled the shower faucet handle out so the shower head would turn on.

She waited for the water from the shower head to be warm enough to step inside of, and she instantly put her right hoof over and into the tub. She then put her left hoof inside while the water started to beat down on her head and flatten her mane as she placed her hind hooves into the bathtub. She moved the curtains to cover the whole tub and concealed her from the rest of the bathroom.

Rainbow grabbed a bottle of shampoo and held it over her head while squeezing it to get an adequate amount of grime cleansing liquids on her mane before placing it back down on the flat edge of the tub. She then maneuvered her hooves through her mane and rubbed down her neck to clean her coat from all the intolerable germs and dirt. She also made sure to get the shampoo into her wings, so they wouldn’t be left out from being washed.

Rainbow Dash then grabbed her tail and began washing the suds out of her mane and made sure they got to her tail where she reapplied it to make her completely clean. Rainbow then let all the suds run down her body and into the drain. When she was finished with her mane, tail, and wings she grabbed the sponge and put a small amount of hair shampoo on it and began rubbing her chest.

She maneuvered the sponge up and down her forelegs. She moved it up and down her chest and belly before moving onto her teats and then to her hind legs. She passionately rubbed her cutie mark that depicted a cumulous and looked at it for a few seconds. She began to feel heartbroken that she didn’t share her talent with her alternate self, but she was still grateful that she had a talent all together.

Rainbow wrung out the sponge and placed it next to the shampoo bottle while she stood back up to leave the shower. She turned off the water and stepped out of the bathtub and pulled aside the curtain. She stepped over the bathtubs walls and stood on the bath mat. She looked over to the sink and groaned in frustration when she realized she didn’t put the towel on the towel hanger next to the shower.

She walked over to the sink and picked up the towel and began drying herself. She first quickly dried her mane and tail, then moved to her wings and quickly got all the water out of them. She wrapped the towel around her mane and shook furiously to dry it out. She would’ve wrapped her mane and tail with the towel, but she wasn’t planning on going anywhere today, considering she wanted to hang with Big and she had no plans. But she knew Big had already left to go on some new adventure, that she wouldn’t know about.

Just then she looked at the bathroom door and noticed yet another sticky note that she missed upon entry of the bathroom. She trotted up to it while throwing the towel on the sink to deal with later and she stopped in front of the door.

“You smell like wet dog.” the text read.

Rainbow was racked with suspicion that her double was able to become invisible and wrote these while she was showering, but quickly brushed it off as foresight and careful planning. Her immediate thought was that Big had to get up really early to be able to plan all this, or at least get help from a third party. Since Big was in contact with Puppet Master, she thought the latter probability was more likely than the former.

She turned the door knob and left the bathroom and took a right. She was about to pass by the stairs and walk into her room to brush her mane until she noticed that next sticky note still on the front door. Curiosity got the better of her and she went down the stairs to read the sticky note. She got to the front door and looked at the note’s contents intently, and read it to herself.

“I love you like my own sister.”

Rainbow found that oddly sweet of her daredevil counterpart, but dismissed the sentiments as likely and mutual. She took a left and walked into the dining room where the large family sized table stood in the center while a book shelf was propped up against the far wall. Rainbow maneuvered around the table and into the kitchen where she found yet another sticky note on the fridge. She cantered up to it and read it.

“Eat a good breakfast.”

She began to think her counterpart was just making things up now, but it showed she cared so that’s all Rainbow needed to know. She smiled and opened the refrigerator door and saw a sticky note on the milk.

“Drink your milk, weakling!”

Rainbow chuckled out loud and pulled out the milk with celery following shortly behind, and placed it in her mouth. She ate in front of the fridge because of the lack of company and the comfort of the cool refrigerated air coming from the fridge. She finished her breakfast and poured herself a glass of milk as the sticky note that still is attached to the milk demands. She pulls it off and places the milk back in the fridge.

She then walks through the dining room again and walks to the front door, but takes another look for any other sticky note she may have missed. She then looked at her blue hat and smiled, she picked it up and placed it on her head thinking the terror of the sticky notes was over. But she felt something under her hat and she raised an eyebrow and took it off. She peered inside of her hat and smiled again with the sheer creativity of note placement.

“Leave the fashion to Rarity.”

Rainbow complied and placed her favorite blue hat back on the coat hanger. She then smiled to herself and walked into the living room and looked a little more thoroughly for any other sticky notes. She then turned back to the front door and noticed one on the stair case that was only visible from the living room since it was just below the guard rail. She smiled an approached it.

“I realize by now you’re searching for my notes. I love you dearly, and I’ll remember you on my adventures."

Rainbow gave that sticky note an affectionate smile since Big wasn’t around. At this point she was almost absolutely sure Big was still in the house placing notes, as she moves around oblivious to the hiding places Big is using to keep out of her sight. Rainbow decides now will be a good time to make plans with friends and start the day off with smiles. She moved to the front door and stood in front of it and reread the sticky note. She opened the door and was genuinely surprised when she saw not one, but several sticky notes on the other side of it.

“My time with you was the most exciting thing that happened to me in my life. I may be using up so many sticky notes to tell you this but… you’re all right in my book. I’m going now and I want you to know that I had a good time. (Still don’t approve of Storm Chaser...) But, I want you to know that I will always love you now and forever until the end of time. I know you’ll be as awesome as me one day.”

There was a lone sticky note near the bottom that was separate from the larger group.

“Your best friend and sister,

Big”

Rainbow stood there for five minutes rereading the last and longest note on her door, from Big. She abruptly exploded into motion and tore the final note to the floor of her home and slammed the door shut. She picked a single sticky note from the cluster of sticky notes with her teeth and galloped up the stairs. She took a hard right and went down the hall and took another right into her room and stopped in front of her makeup table and looked herself in the mirror.

She saw the adventurous spirit she saw in Big’s eyes, that she used not to see in her own eyes before now. She looked at her mane and noticed that it was now very clean like it is normally, but unkempt like the mane of her alternate self. She smiled and even notice her smile was the same as her doubles. No… herself. She smiles like Rainbow Dash. She smiles an adventurous smile that can only show up on a mare so much like Daring Doo that had just tasted victory once again.

She looked down at her comb and picked it up and raised it to her face. She looked at the note and read it one last time.

“THROW THIS OUT!!!”

Rainbow smiles to herself and tosses the comb to the side, where it bounces off the wall and lands in the trash bin.

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Rainbow Dash the fastest flier in all of Equestria and Puppet Master’s Thane. She hails from Equestria, but she serves the Red Rose Empire, as the country's goal is to unify the world through peace or power, or simply comply with the will of its king, Puppet Master. This Rainbow Dash stood atop a high mountain that Canterlot rested on and watched over most of Equestria. Rainbow looked over the edge and out to the horizon with an expressionless face that scanned the skies, as if waiting for something to appear.

As she waited for something of significance to happen the cold wind of the high mountain blew in her mane. Rainbow relished in the ability to shrug off a cold chill and not feel any effects of the freeze that would normally be the bane of so many other ponies. Even a Pegasus whose body was built for the cold weather would still need a source of warmth, to keep their body from giving out. And for Rainbow Dash, the weather this high up would be simply a cool day for her body. But as a Terrarian, she would most certainly forget about the cold weather if she didn’t mentally remind herself about it.

Minutes turned to hours, as the sun rose higher into the air completely unchallenged by any lesser body below. Rainbow almost had no true sense of time, which to a Terrarian is required because of their natural immortality. Rainbow Dash didn’t even feel bored when the sun moved across the sky and she didn’t move an inch. She was content just to stand and be part of the world that moves without her. It didn’t last forever, because of the sound of wide flaps sounded above her and a large creature landed by her side with a crunch as the snow gave way to its weight.

“Enjoying the view?” asked the entity with a warm motherly view.

“Yes… I plan on leaving soon.” responded Rainbow Dash.

“You never went to your home that I gave you. Did you find a pony that accepted you into theirs?” inquired the regal Princess Celestia.

“Yes. Myself, and I learned a lot about this world.”

“Hmm? Do you wish to tell me what you learned?”

Rainbow thought for a moment, in utter silence. The wind blew softly as it announced its presence to Celestia and her company, whom still resided at the top of the hill.

“No… In your many years on this planet you may have learned them already in your still adventures.”

“Still adventures?” asked Celestia unfamiliar with the saying.

“You sit on your throne and watch the world change around you. I kind of wish I could do that right now. But I have places to go and see, while I serve my king.”

“Your king? I thought you were a part of an organization that kept universes from being tampered with. Not a nation.” replied Celestia.

“I’m part of the Red Rose Empire. Yes, we keep worlds from being interfered with, but that isn’t our only purpose. And just saying… Puppet Master is actually the strongest member of the organization. He’s also my king, and I’ll follow him to the end.” Rainbow told her unenthusiastically.

“You don’t seem that excited about it.” Celestia noted sagely.

“No… but that’s because I’ve only seen one world right now. There is so much that I don’t know about, and the need for adventure is one of my most defining features. But to leave a world for something less familiar… I feel as if I’m leaving everything behind. Even when I make friends, it feels like it’s all for nothing when I have to go.” Rainbow drooped her ears and lowered her head, she still hadn’t looked in the direction of Celestia.

Celestia was quiet for a minute, obviously thinking about what to say next. Possibly even choosing her words carefully, as to not discourage Rainbow Dash with what she was about to say or even anger her.

“You know Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow’s ears perked up but her posture remained the same. “I’ve been alive longer than you. I’ve learned that shutting yourself down, isn’t the answer when dealing with new places. You’ll pass up opportunities to make friends that could teach you something very valuable. I would know, even though I’ve lived for thousands of years, I still don’t know all the answers, and I still am surprised by the simple things Twilight writes to me in her letters.”

Rainbow raised her head higher up to resume her previous posture.

Celestia took this time to continue. “You should be grateful with what you have, and don’t begrudge the opportunity to meet new ponies. I would know more than anypony that I’d be much less forgiving and so much more cruel, if I didn’t have ponies that I knew would be by my side at a moment’s notice. And to let go of that from the fear of losing what you have is the most foolish thing anypony can do.”

“Yeah I guess you’re right.” Rainbow remarked, looking at the horizon. “But I have somepony that will be there for the rest of my life… and I’d like to keep him there.” she smiled warmly at the sunless horizon.

“Rainbow it’s time to let me have a turn.” interrupted Puppet Master within her mind.

Rainbow brought power into Puppet Master’s soul and expelled it from her body. Beside her in a bright flash of light a new entity appeared before the two mares. Startling the sun goddess, and getting a warm smile from the weather goddess.

“Ladies.” stated Puppet Master watching the same horizon as Rainbow Dash. He reached down and put his hand on her head, Rainbow disappeared and was placed in Puppet Master’s body alongside Isis, who hitchhiked with Rainbow’s soul. The group of three was now in the control of the only creator in the current multiverse.

Celestia didn’t take her eyes off of Puppet Master, as he ignored her scrutinizing glare. She still firmly believed that Puppet Master was powerful and dangerous to her.

“You don’t need to look at me like that.” Puppet Master told Celestia, in an unusually calm voice.

Celestia was confused with his lack of hostility. When she first met him, he came off as an aggressive character that would gladly dethrone her, if he didn’t get his way. Or at least a warlord that would relish in the sight of her cowering in fear of his might.

“Who, are you?” asked Celestia skeptically.

“I’m Puppet Master. I understand our first encounter was rather… stressful… but I never truly intended harm. I’m sorry if I scared you in any way, or came off as a tyrant in your eyes. In truth, I am many things that ponies and people alike find me aggressive or peaceful. I’m sure you’re wondering how safe you are on this hill, with me being here.”

“I am.”

“You’re safer here, than in your own castle surrounded by an army.”

“And if I don’t believe you?” she asked cautiously.

“Then I won’t needlessly try to convince you otherwise.” he replied with his neutral tone.

There was a certain air to him. Like he demanded respect, but it never came forced because of his casualness. Celestia admired this trait, but refused to show it. She was sure that if he wanted to, he could place her in mortal danger. But regardless, she accepted his excuse and watched the horizon with him.

“I may come back on day.” Celestia froze up. “Oh, I won’t be wearing my armor, but I possibly would become much more powerful between now and then. I don’t know what I might do, but I’ll come in peace I assure you.”

“But why would you visit? And for what purpose?”

“Well I’m not sure. Maybe to observe the progress Equestria has made, but of course I would need to come to you first, so I don’t startle anypony. I may bring friends other than Rainbow though.”

“And that part worries me.” noted Celestia dryly.

“So, you’d prefer for this to be the last time you see me?”

“Yes.” Celestia responded simply.

“Then I guess I can leave you alone.” at that the conversation was over. Celestia had nothing more to say, and neither did Puppet Master.

“Are you ready to go to a negative space and create your universe?” asked Isis. “I have enough power to take us there now; all you need to do is use whatever you thought up in your head, and present it.”

“I’m ready. Take us to there now.”

Puppet Master’s body began to glow and fade out of existence. Celestia noticed it instantly and watched him disappear while the last remnants of his power faded along with his body. Celestia suddenly felt a small hole in the universe that he simply went through, and it closed without incident. She was impressed that she didn’t feel the predicted ramifications that Twilight’s spell would have caused.

Celestia spread her wings wide and smiled to herself. Standing on a snowy mountain top for so long made her wings stiff and cold while chilling her coat. She flew down off the mountaintop and glided down to her capital city of Canterlot with a content smile on her face. She wanted nothing more than to return to her throne, and watch the world age while her eternal beauty will remain and remind the masses of the history she witnessed.

But a dark cloud loomed on her mind about the return of Puppet Master. Of course, she would weather these worries as time went on, but they would always be there till the end of time. And she will always remember not to meddle with the boundaries of other worlds.