Overwhelming. That was the only word that could be used to describe Moon Dancer's current situation. To begin with, there were flames everywhere. Everything that was flammable was being consumed. That alone wouldn't have been too hard to deal with, but there was also smoke filling her lungs with every breath, making it impossible to even think about casting any type of spell. The pale green unicorn staggered about, searching for a refuge from this torture. "I need to... I need..." the mare couldn't form a straight thought, so she paused to think hard. As she did this, the fur on her leg ignited. After several long seconds, she noticed that her leg was completely ablaze. Before she was completely devoured, a simple thought occurred; "How did I even get here?"
Moon Dancer awoke with a start. "What a weird dream. Geez, I'm thirsty though", she dragged herself out of bed and to the bathroom. With a yawn, she used her magic to turn on the faucet and poured herself a glass of water. She took a large swig and walked out to the balcony. "I wonder what time it is?” she thought out loud as she stared into the beautiful night sky.
"Four thirty two", a deep, yet familiar voice said out of the shadows. Moon Dancer whirled and lit her horn, only to find that nobody was there. Something was off, however. She felt slightly unsteady, even queasy. "Figured out who I am yet?" the voice said again.
Moon Dancer was teetering from side to side, and her thoughts were blurry. "Who- who are you?” she slurred.
The shadows darkened and formed into the shape of a stallion "I'm disappointed in you, forgetting your own family like that." "Family?” with a thud, Moon Dancer collapsed. Barely conscious, she thought she heard the word brother. Then, there was darkness.
Three Days Later
Twilight Sparkle spread her wings and nervously looked off of the edge of the cloud. "Do you really think I can do this? I'm still getting used to having wings, you know." she said, taking a step back.
"Of course I think you can do it, all good flyers have to be able to go through trees at high speeds!" Rainbow Dash said enthusiastically.
"I'm not sure, it's not like I'm going to be racing anytime soon", Twilight took another hesitant step back. Instead of gracing this comment with a response, the cyan pegasus spread her wings and flew straight up a good thirty feet. Before Twilight could ask what was happening, Rainbow went into a steep dive and rammed the cloud Twilight was standing on, effectively dispersing it.
Twilight fell at an alarming rate, and was considering ending this madness when she thought, "May as well get this over with now". The trees were rapidly approaching. Rainbow Dash watched from above, silently praying. Just as Twilight passed the thick canopy, she pulled up. And flew smack into a large evergreen.
Rainbow flew down as quickly as she could to check on her friend, who she found caught on a tree branch. Rainbow Dash burst into uncontrollable laughter and almost dropped to the ground. The alicorn was not very pleased. "It's not funny, Rainbow-ow-Dash!” she said angrily.
Rainbow could barely form a sentence. "Nono, you did well for your first time!" she squeezed through the giggles.
"I've had enough for today", Twilight said. Before Rainbow could argue, Twilight cast a teleporting spell and left the pegasus to laugh at her friend.
Later in the evening the weather had turned and rain was pouring from the sky in torrents. Spike was relaxing after a hard day's work of reorganizing the whole library when he received a letter. "Twilight, you've got a letter from the princess" Spike called into the kitchen.
"Could you read it for me? I've got my hooves full", Twilight yelled back, distracted by levitating pots and pans. There was an uncomfortable long silence. "Well?" Twilight asked expectantly.
"You remember Moon Dancer? From back when you studied in Canterlot?" Spike asked sadly, "She was reported missing three days ago. The police think that it was a kidnapping, but they can't be sure". Twilight opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, there was a strange noise at the door, like somepony was rubbing against it. Twilight used her magic to open the door, and in tumbled the soaked body of a white unicorn.
Twilight rushed over to the pony on the floor and quickly said, "Oh my goodness! Are you alright?"
The white pony slowly looked up. Twilight gasped. The unicorn had a black eye and a long cut on her face. The unicorn weakly muttered, "Do I look alright?” as her head dropped back to the floor. "Spike, get a bed ready then go get Fluttershy as fast as you can!” Twilight said quickly. "Already on it!" Spike replied as he ran upstairs. "What's your name?” Twilight asked. All the unicorn could muster the strength to do was whisper, so Twilight leaned in close. "Ice Dancer".
About half an hour later Fluttershy arrived with all sorts of medical paraphernalia, ranging from herbal poultices to store-bought . Even though she wasn't a doctor, Twilight knew that Fluttershy would know best how to handle this situation. When Spike had returned with Fluttershy, Twilight let him have some well-earned rest. By this time, Twilight had gotten a good look at Ice Dancer. Her mane was a mix of light and dark blue, as was her tail. She had startlingly icy eyes and her cutie mark appeared to be wind blowing snowflakes through the air. "Well, I can understand the 'Ice' part in her name" she joked to herself. "What do you think happened to her?" Twilight asked after Fluttershy had bandaged the strange pony up and had gotten some medicine down her throat.
"Well, I'm not sure, but I think something attacked her" Fluttershy said quietly, obviously worried. "What I don't understand is why somepony would do this. I haven't even seen her in town before"
Twilight, not wanting to know the answer, replied. "Well, thanks for coming over. I don’t know what I would've done without you." Fluttershy looked at Twilight ashamedly, "Um, Twilight? If it's not too much to ask, could you maybe walk me home? I'm worried that the pony who did this may still be out there and..." her voice trailed off. "You know what? You can stay here for the night. I'm not going to make you walk home in the rain." Twilight said, already thinking of places where Fluttershy could sleep. Fluttershy opened her mouth to thank her, but was interrupted by a sudden scream.
Ice Dancer screamed for a solid five seconds before stopping to breathe. Twilight, after recovering from shock, ran to check on the hyperventilating unicorn. Fluttershy had let out a squeal and actually fainted on the spot (Rarity would be proud). When Twilight reached the panicking mare, the pair of icy blue eyes snapped into focus, seemingly staring into Twilight's soul. Then, so quick that it would have made Rainbow Dash proud, the white unicorn's horn lit with a blinding light blue aura and released a blast of energy that sent Twilight sprawling. Then, with shaking hooves, Ice Dancer staggered to her feet and stumbled towards the door. Upon reaching the exit of the tree house, Ice Dancer flung open the door telekinetically and ran outside. Her freedom was short lived and she slipped in a puddle from the rain. Rather than getting up again and running, the unicorn sat in the rainwater and burst into sobs.
By this time, Twilight had recovered and galloped to the door. She saw the distressed mare and levitated her inside. Between the sobs, Twilight heard the Ice Dancer screech "Who am I?" over and over again. Not knowing how to handle the situation, Twilight thought of the way Princess Celestia had comforted her when she had gotten a scrape of encountered a particularly challenging magical theory that left her in a pouty mood. Unsure she was doing it right, Twilight extended a wing over Ice Dancer and pulled her close for an embrace. Using her wings as a blanket, Twilight held the crying mare until eventually she wore herself out and fell asleep. It was in this position that Spike found Twilight, still holding Ice Dancer the next morning.
Author's Note
Please, please, please! Tell me what you thought of the story! Any ways I can improve or suggestions or grammar corrections. This is the first pony fic I've actually put effort into. Much appreciated!
