//-------------------------------------------------------// Dreams of Darkness -by Venomous_Vinyl- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Dreams of Darkness //-------------------------------------------------------// Dreams of Darkness "No way am I going there!"screeched Fluttershy,"There could be d-d-dragons!" "Yeah ah don't know, Ah gotta get lots of work done at the farm."Applejack muttered In her southern accent. "Aw, come you guys. It'll be fun!" replied Rainbow Dash as she folded the picture she had of a rather large cavern she discovered near Canterlot, "Apple Jack, you can get Big Mackintosh to do your chores for you. And Fluttershy I highly doubt that there will be dragons because it isn't even Dragon season." "I'll think of it" they both replied in sync. "Good" Rainbow Dash smiled as she flew to find the rest of her friends. The skies were clear on this beautiful mid-summer day, the birds were chirping, and you could hear the chattering of ponies all around the nice little community of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash went to Twilight Sparkles house next, the wind went through her rainbow coloured mane as she flew, the wind tickled her. She enjoyed the feeling of flying. She loved the rush of adrenaline she would get each time. The faster the better, she thought. Once Rainbow Dash arrived at Twilight Sparkles tree-like house she knocked on the door and of course Spike, a young, purple dragon opened it. Rainbow Dash asked him,"Twilight Sparkle here?" "Yeah one sec I'll go get her!" After a few minutes of waiting, Rainbow Dash grew impatient and stomped her left hoof repeatedly, after another minute she yelled, "Twilight, hurry up I need to talk to you!" In a couple of seconds Rainbow Dash heard footsteps coming down the stairs and Twilight Sparkle, a young purple unicorn appeared in the door frame,"Oh hello Rainbow Dash, I wasn't expecting you here" "Didn't Spike tell you I was here?" "No. Was he supposed to?" "Yeah well at-" Spike then walked behind Twilight munching on a gem and interrupted Rainbow Dash, "Oh sorry Rainbow Dash, I guess... I forgot "You think?" Rainbow Dash replied as her blood boiled with rage. Twilight chimed in,"So did you need anything, Rainbow?" "Well actually I was wondering if you wanted to come exploring with me and maybe a few others?" Asked Rainbow Dash "Umm, actually I'm falling behind on my Magic Studies but before I come to a final conclusion. May I ask where we will explore?", Twilight Sparkle replied. "I found a cool looking cave near Counterlot. I wanted to go in it, but I decided to bring a few of my best friends with me and thought we could camp there and look around." Rainbow Dash pulled out the picture she took of the cave she found. Twilight Sparkle rubbed her straight, dark purple mane with a pink streak, and stuck out her lower lip with a wondering look in her eye. After a couple of minutes she finally spoke up,"aw, what the hay, I could see if there's any ancient artifacts in the cave, it looks like a neat place to explore. Spike pack your bags we are-" Rainbow Dash put her arm around Twilight Sparkle and whispered,"I don't know if we should bring Spike." "Why not?"murmured Twilight. "Well, the cave is probably pretty cold and Spikes delicate scales couldn't really handle it. You know Dragons aren't really that durable in the cold" "Nonsense! Remember when we went up that mountain to stop the Dragon from snoring. It was freezing up there but the dragon seemed to be cozy." "Well that dragon was a... bit bigger and older than Spike besides if Fluttershy decides to come along we need him to take care of her animals." "Well I guess it might be best if we keep him here just in case she does need an animal-sitter." Whispered Twilight, then she yelled,"Spike! Scratch packing your bags, we might need you to look after Fluttershy's animals" "B-but Twilight-" Muttered Spike. "No buts Spike" Twilight Exclaimed with a reassuring smile,"We need you here, maybe Fluttershy will give you a gem if you take care of her pets". Spike licked his lips,"Oh boy I could use another gem, I only have two left. I guess I'm okay with staying." "I gotta go, Twi, I'm gonna see if Rarity and Pinkie Pie want to come, too." "Wait! When are we going!" "Umm, tomorrow at 12 pm. I'll come here to get you!" "That's a bit short notice, don't you think?" "Nah" yelled Rainbow Dash with a slight smirk as she flew away. As Rainbow Dash headed to sugar cube corner she had a huge smile on her face, she was really happy that Spike wasn't coming, she really didn't want that pain in the neck to come. Rainbow Dash felt a shiver crawl up her spine as she flew through the chilly wind, the warm day just seemed to change to a cold within seconds. She found this kind of strange but didn't really think much of it. A few moments later, she arrived at Sugar Cube Corner. She walked in and was greeted by the joyful faces of Mr. and Mrs.Cake. Mrs.Cake beamed,"Hello Rainbow Dash! How can we help you?" Rainbow Dash Replied,"umm, is Pinkie Pie here?" "Of course, would you like me to get her for you?" "Yes Please." "Once second," and with that Mrs.Cake was off. "So how has life been treating ya?"asked Mr.Cake. "Not bad, how 'bout you?" "It's been great, hasn't been overly busy here at Sugar Cube Corner." Rainbow Dash heard a cheerful, high pitched voice,"Hi". Rainbow Dash saw the pink earth pony hop towards her. "Hey, Pinkie Pie.", Rainbow Dash greeted. "What's happening?" Asked Pinkie Pie. "Nothing overly exciting." Rainbow Dash got right to the point, knowing that Pinkie Pie doesn't listen too long. "How would you like to come exploring and possibly camp in a cave I found near Counterlot, tomorrow"? Rainbow Dash asked. "Ooh, sounds like fun, I'll go of course" squealed Pinkie."I mean if its okay with the Cakes." Pinkie Pie looked over at the cakes for their approval. "We're okay with it", Mrs.Cake replied with a nod from her husband, "Just be safe." "Okey dokey lokey" "I gotta go Pinkie, bye!" "Bye, bye" When Rainbow Dash walked out of Sugar Cube Corner, she felt another chill run down her back. She noticed that nopony was outside and she never heard any noises. The World almost seemed... grey. Hmm, well thats boring, thought Rainbow Dash. The sky was beginning to darken as Luna began her shift, it's really eery outside, Rainbow Dash noticed as she walked slowly down the street to the Carousel Boutique. She kept getting more weird shivers but she began to ignore them. After a few minutes of the eeriness Rainbow Dash sped up her pace. She was beginning to kind of freak out. The wind started to blow a lot more than before. Rainbow Dash began to fly as fast as she could until she saw the Carousel Boutique, she slowed down there because she didn't want to get caught being frightened by the delicate Rarity. She slowly walked up and rang the doorbell. She heard Rarity yell from behind the door,"hold on, I just have to finish with this thread!", A few minutes later the door open, and Rainbow Dash saw the beauty of the white unicorn shine, she flipped her purple, wavy mane and greeted Rainbow Dash,"hello, dear what are you doing here at this late hour?" "Hey Rarity, I'm here to ask you if you want to go,um, exploring and maybe camping with a few friends tomorrow at a cave I discovered near Canterlot?" "Dear, you know camping is not my thing.", Rarity responded Rainbow Dash knew that it would take a lot of convincing to get Rarity to come. "Why not?", asked Rainbow Dash. "It's just quite unladylike"muttered Rarity. "Come on Rarity, please." "I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, but my final answer is no" Rainbow Dash stood at Rarity's doorstep for a while not knowing what to say when an idea came to her mind... "But Rarity, there could be priceless gems in there." Rarity's ears perked up,"gems?" She squealed. "Yes gems, maybe even diamonds" Rarity had an ear to ear grin,"Well actually, I think I can manage to fit this in my schedule." "That's awesome , I'll talk to you tomorrow." Yelled Rainbow Dash as she flew off at top speed, not wanting to get caught in the eeriness of the night. Rainbow Dash heard the sounds of the night; the hoo's of the owls, the crickets chirping and the wolves howling. It was nearly pitch black outside and very chilly. Darkness seemed to chase her as she flew. Endless shivers gave Rainbow Dash goosebumps. After what felt like forever Rainbow Dash finally arrived at her beautiful large house above the Ponyvillle area. She trotted in it tosee the nice carpet of her living room floor. She laid down on the couch and turned on her large flatscreen television. She had her original channel she normally watches already on, it was all about what the wonderbolts, her idols! Rainbow Dash decided to change the channel for tonight, on the wonderbolts channel it was just a repeat so she didn't mind missing it. She repeatedly surfed through her channels to notice nothing good was on. She frowned. Typical wednesday night, she thought. Rainbow Dash decided to turn off the tv and try to get to bed early which is unusual for her. She went to her room and jumped on to her large bed. She sighed, sleeping has been a pain for her in the last few days. She didn't know why but she kept having horrible nightmares. It was like a tornado going through her mind, tearing every memory to shreds and replacing them with horrifying ones and when she woke up she would here voices... Oh the voices. They hurt, made Rainbow Dash feel horrible about hers. Each day they would get worst enough to drive any normal pony into madness. She closed her eyes and laid there twisting to get comfortable. After about twenty minutes of not being able to fall asleep... Rainbow Dash sat up and rubbed the bit of sweat she developed from the heat of her blanket off her forehead and looked up where her window was. It was dull and grey outside. Then, out of nowhere, Rainbow Dash saw a shadow go flying by her window. She dove under her blankets and shuttered. Normally Rainbow Dash wouldn't be afraid of this but she's been seeing the exact same shadow pass every night for the past three weeks. She wasn't sure if this was her imagination or just a passing cloud but every time she saw this it gave her a weird feeling that she never felt before. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and tried to sleep, she was short of breath from being under the blankets and excited to go to the cave tomorrow so it was hard to sleep but after about an hour of laying there thinking she managed to fall asleep. All of a sudden Rainbow Dash sat strait up and had a feeling something was watching her, it was still dark. She was out of breath and was sweating like crazy. She looked around and held her blanket up to her face, just enough to cover her snout. Rainbow Dash, as her eyes began to adjust, turned her head slowly, to see if anything or anyone was in her room. When she saw the lower right corner of her room she nearly had a heart attack, there was this weird slimy white creature with a red stain to it that kind of looked like old blood. It had four limbs that were really long and skinny it was just crouched down and looked like it was scratching at the wall. Rainbow Dash shouted in fear,"What are you and why are you in my room?!" The creature turned its head in a 180 degree angle instantly and opened its mouth showing giant, sharp teeth; it had no eyes but huge nostrils that opened up wide as it breathed. it got up in a crawling position and its back touched the roof, the creature was way bigger than Rainbow Dash expected. It started crawling towards Rainbow Dash in a quickened pace. Rainbow Dash felt like an ant under a hoof, the creature was about to pounce at her, she closed her eyes. Rainbow Dash kept her eyes closed for about a minute and after nothing happened she opened them warily and she was laying in her bed safe and the sun shone through her window. "Thank Celestia, it was only a dream" Rainbow Dash muttered with a yawn. She looked at her clock to see it was already 10:24 am. The voices began to start up,"You'll never be a wonderbolt... You're horrible at everything... You should just die. "Stop!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she covered her ears. That never helped the whispers keep coming,"You're nothing, Why did-" The voices stopped instantly. Rainbow Dash shook off the voices, . She quickly got ready and packed a bag for the cave. All she took was a tooth brush and a sleeping bag. It was all she really needed. Once she was done she checked the time and it was already 11. Rainbow Dash hurried out the door and flew to Twilight Sparkle's house. The morning light shone in her eyes, she squinted. This morning was way less eery and spooky than yesterday's evening. Rainbow Dash let out a sigh of relief, she hated the mood of yesterday. The wind whistled through the leaves. It was a hot day and the breeze made it perfect. Rainbow Dash spotted Twilight Sparkles house and dashed towards it. When she got to the door she went right in and yelled,"Twilight!". Rainbow Dash heard a soft voice murmur,"Hello?". "You ready, Twi?" "Yeah one sec, why so early?", Twilight Sparkly replied. "Early bird, catches the worm.", Rainbow Dash saw Twilight Sparkle appear around the corner carrying a rather large bag. "Hey, where are the others?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "I still have to get them but now that i think of it, meeting at the town square would be better? Say one?" "Yeah of course that sounds good, I'll be there". "Good", Rainbow Dash flew off to persuade Apple Jack to come on the trip. About five minutes later, Rainbow Dash arrived at Apple Jacks Farm to see Apple Jack milking a cow. Rainbow Dash frowned, since Apple Jack is working now it probably meant that she wont be coming. Rainbow Dash went to her and murmured,"hi." Apple Jack looked up at Rainbow Dash and smiled,"oh, hey Rainbow, how are ya?" "I'm alright, so you coming?",replied Rainbow Dash. "To the cave place? Well ah asked Big Mackintosh and he said he's okay with covering for me for a while so ah suppose ah can go. When do we leave". "We meet at town square at about one this afternoon?" "Sheesh Rainbow, ah gotta go pack" "Sure I'm gonna go now" "See ya later" That went better than Rainbow Dash expected. Thank goodness for Big Macintosh! After that Rainbow told Rarity and Pinkie Pie where to meet her and then she went to Fluttershy's little cottage to see her leading some ducklings to a small pond. Rainbow Dash went up to her and said,"hey!" rather loudly. Fluttershy screamed and the ducklings scattered everywhere. She looked at Rainbow Dash and had a sigh of relief,"Oh Rainbow Dash don't sneak up on me like that" "Sorry I didn't mean to"murmured Rainbow Dash. "It's okay" Fluttershy smiled,"it's not the first time I got scared". Rainbow Dash laughed,"that's for sure, but I was wondering if you decided if you were going to the cave yet?" "Oh, Rainbow, I don't know, I really don't want to die". "How will you die? It's just a cave, nothing can hurt you there." "But Rainbow Dash, who knows what's in there, there could be bears, lions or even m-monsters." "Don't be silly, Fluttershy, anyways all of our friends will be there and will keep you safe." "Well... I guess if everyone else is going I should go too... As long you promise nothing will hurt me." Rainbow Dash smiled,"I promise, just meet me at the town square in....,"Rainbow Dash checked the time,"in twenty minutes" "Oh okay" Fluttershy muttered as she gathered up the ducklings. "Bye, Fluttershy I'm gonna start heading to town square now" "Okay bye Rainbow Dash, see you in a bit". Rainbow Dash flew to town square and got there in about one minute. There was a bunch of ponies everywhere, chatting. Rainbow Dash laid down on a bench, at the corner of her eye she thought she saw the same shadow she saw last night but she decided that it was probably her imagination. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and drifted asleep and awoke to Pinkie Pie poking her. Rainbow Dash jumped,"Ahh, Pinkie Pie! You scared the living crap out of me!" "Hi" screeched Pinkie Pie innocently. Rainbow Dash looked around and saw that everypony that was coming were there. "Wha-what time is it?" Asked Rainbow Dash as she rubbed her eyes. "About 2:30, we never wanted to wake you up but Pinkie Pie got impatient." Twilight Sparkly answered. "Oh darn, we're late, we better hurry and check when the next train to Canterlot is!", Yelled Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash looked around and saw everypony had a medium sized bag, except for Rarity who of course over packed. "Hey Rarity, what do you have packed." Asked Rainbow Dash. "Well dear, I got my finest perfume and ten extras just in case, five designer dresses, a nice warm fur jack-..." "Okay, we get it." Interrupted Apple Jack. Everyone giggled. All the Ponies started walking towards the train station. Fluttershy begged,"are you sure we can't just go to the royal castle or do something not scary?" "Nah, we gotta do this, it's the cool thing to do!",Replied Rainbow Dash. "Pretty please?"Fluttershy squeaked. "No Fluttershy. Sorry." "So what's so great 'bout this cave anyways", asked Apple Jack. "Well for started its cool, also we might be the first ponies to explore it", Rainbow Dash stated. Twilight Sparkle argued,"it's extremely unlikely that we are the first to explore it, there were thousands of generations before us and although it seems untouched it was probably explored a long time ago." Rainbow Dash laughed,"Hah, egghead!" Ahead of everyone there was Pinkie Pie bouncing without a care in the world and you could hear the faint sound of her humming. She screamed,"hey you guys, I can see the train station!" And she bounced over to it quickly. "Ugh, I hope I don't get too messy." Rarity sighed. At that time Rainbow Dash heard a terrifying voice snarl, it was really deep but the loudness of it hurt Rainbow Dash's ears. "What was that?" Asked Rainbow Dash. "What was what?" Replied Twilight Sparkle. "Yeah ah never heard anything."Apple Jack muttered. "You don't look so good..." Fluttershy murmured. "I-I'm fine, I just thought I heard a voice..." Rainbow Dash was scared and confused. The voice sounded so clear, it couldn't have been her imagination. She had a dark shudder crawl across her body. They finally arrived at the train station to see Pinkie Pie yelling at the train booth worker,"What do you mean the next train to Counterlot arrives at six! That's way too long of a wait!". "Sorry m'am, I don't make the schedule."muttered the train worker. "Well fix i-" Apple Jack exclaimed,"it's okay Pinkie, we can wait!" Pinkie Pie argued,"Maybe you guys can but I can't!." "Well dear you will have to learn about patience a bit better."Rarity stated. "Fine" Pinkie Pie groaned as she sat down on a bench and pouted. Rainbow Dash laid down to get a bit more sleep due to the bad night she had. She told everypony that she was going to have a nap. She laid there thinking about what has been happening the past few weeks and shuttered. What was wrong with her? Why was all this happening? Could she stop it? She closed her eyes and saw the strange shadow she's been seeing try to fight off the beast she saw in her dream last night... The shadow had no chance against it as it tried to block the beast but the beast just pushed it aside and ran toward Rainbow Dash, she opened her eyes and was still safe on the bench. She asked Twilight Sparkle what time it was and Twilight told her that it was 5:00. Rainbow sat up and patiently waited she looked around and saw that Rarity and Fluttershy were sleeping and Pinkie Pie was playing with a bouncy ball. "Have a good sleep?" Asked Apple Jack. "It was alright." Replied Rainbow Dash. The time dragged by but soon enough a really old worn out train came. Black smoke puffed out of it and it made a high pitched screeching noise. The conductor yelled,"all aboard to Canterlot!" "Ugh, what is this, how does that thing even work still?"sighed Rarity. Apple Jack muttered,"at least it has some experience, ah guess...." Rainbow Dash didn't really care, as long as it worked. Everypony slowly moped onto the train as the sky slowly darkened into an eery night. The train had an odd rusty smell, it gave Rainbow Dash a slight headache. Pinkie Pie perked up,"ooh, look games!". Rainbow Dash exclaimed,"let's play them so I can beat you!" She smiled. They got out a game called snakes and ladders. The game had a huge crack through it and there were no dice, and only two game pieces. Everypony sighed, this train ride was horrible, luckily it was only another half an hour. Rainbow Dash looked out the window and saw that the sun was nearly under the horizon. She sighed, they would have to stay in a hotel tonight, she was hoping that they could at least get to the cave tonight but it was already too dark out, if she were alone she would would go but most of her friends were too scared and worrisome. After a wait that felt like forever they arrived in Counterlot. "Well shall we find a hotel?", Rainbow Dash stammered. "Yes, I could use some beauty sleep and a nice shower"Rarity beamed. Twilight frowned,"I'm just going to warn you guys now that all the good hotels are usually reserved already." Rarity shuddered,"W-well a not so good hotel could be alright,too, guess?" "Well, it's only tonight until we go to the cave, so it shouldn't be too bad, I hope" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Apple Jack muttered with a slight smile,"it can't be worst than a barn." Twilight Sparkle beamed,"I have a tent, why don't we go a bit out of town and set it up? I think that would be best." "But it's dark and spooky out!"murmured Fluttershy. "The hotel could be worst, I heard most old hotels are haunted" Rainbow Dash yelped. "H-haunted? I-I guess I can deal with outdoors.." " So is everybody willing to go?" asked Twilight. Everypony nodded their heads. By the time they got outside the city, blackness swallowed the day sky. They walked for about a mile, the scenery was dull, and untouched until then saw a perfect little place to set up a tent. It was by a beautiful, clear creek, the grass was short but uneven as if somepony was eating there. "Ouch" groaned Rarity as she slapped her side," The insects out here are horrible". "ah agree with that" moaned Apple Jack," hey Twi, you got that tent" "Yes, Applejack,"Twilight muttered. Rainbow Dash looked over at Twilight Sparkle to see her trapped under a tent. Rainbow dash fell to her back and started laughing really hard,"N-need a hand Twilight?" Rainbow Dash slowly stood up and wiped her brow with her hoof. Twilight shook her head," I don't understand I read several books on camping." "Pffffft" Rainbow Dash bit her bottom lip trying to hold in her laughter. Applejack went over to Twilight and helped her from under the tent and started setting the tent up, herself. In about two minutes she already had the tent perfectly set up, she wiped her forehead,"there we go, all-" before she could finish Pinkie Pie bounced into the tent,"ooh roomy!" She squealed. Fluttershy who was hiding behind Rarity, galloped to the tent next, along with the rest of the ponies except for Rainbow Dash. Twilight Sparkle asked,"Rainbow, are you coming?" "No Twi, I just need time to think."Replied Rainbow Dash. "About what? "Well, nothing to much." "Oh come on just tell me." "It's just been these dreams I've been having, and things I've been seeing and hearing?" "Like what?" "It's hard to explain, just I've been seeing this one horrific beast in my dreams, It's the one thing I'm afraid of. I just don't know what to do, it has gotten to the point where every time I close my eyes I see it by me showing its huge teeth off." "It's probably nothing, you just imagined it before you fell asleep and now that you saw it in your dream once, you will keep seeing it for a while. "I hope that's the case" "I'm going to hit the hay, goodnight Rainbow." "Night." Rainbow sat by the creek staring at the beautiful full moon. Crickets chirped, wolves howled. Then Rainbow Dash heard a soft, majestic feminine voice behind,"Rainbow Dash, you must not take your friends to the cave, for, there is a danger far beyond your understanding." Rainbow Dash looked behind her to see Princess Celestia. Rainbow Dash quickly got up to bow. Princess Celestia whispered,"at ease, my little pony." "What're you doing here?"asked Rainbow Dash. "I'm here to warn you, you need to get help somewhere, you have to stay away from civilation until you get the needed help." "W-what I f-feel fine though". "It's in your mind..." Rainbow Dash rubbed her eyes and when she her view recovered the princess was gone. Not again, she thought, These dreams are driving me crazy. Rainbow Dash went to the the tent and fell asleep as soon as she hit the pillow. "Rainbow, we gotta go its ten o'clock" Rainbow Dash opened her eye to see Applejack shaking her. "Ugh, one sec" she moaned. "Well, hurry up!" Rainbow Dash smiled, she had a good sleep without seeing anything too scary in her dreams. She slowly got up with a large yawn. She thought about what the Princess said to her in her dream. Should she still take her friends on this trip or should they turn back? Well, it was just a dream it couldn't mean anything, she thought, I hope it doesn't. Even if it did mean something, all of Rainbow Dash's friends were looking forward to this trip and she couldn't let them down by turning back and they were only about two hours away from their destination. As Rainbow Dash got up as Pinkie Pie ran into the tent,"Hurry up Dashie! My arms twitching, and my heads shaking! That means a storms coming!" "Oh no!"groaned RainbowDash as she slapped her forehead and ran her hoof down her face."do you know when it's coming?" "I don't know my Pinkie Keen only tells me what's going to happen, it could happen two minutes from now or it could happen tomorrow.", Pinkie Pie shrugged. "Well I guess we better get going!" Rainbow Dash went outside of the tent and squinted as her eyes adjusted to the outside brightness. Everypony greeted her with smiles. Fluttershy walked up to her and muttered,"I made dandelion soup, would you like some" "Oh thanks Fluttershy, that'd be great." Rainbow Dash glanced at the sun as it slowly climbed up the sky. She sighed, Rainbow Dash hated dreams at the moment, the way they just come in and ruin her life. Fluttershy carefully handed Rainbow Dash her soup. "Thanks, Fluttershy" Rainbow Dash said as she slurped up her soup. Rainbow Dash finished the soup as fast as she could and handed her bowl to Fluttershy, Fluttershy went to the creek to wash the bowl. Apple Jack was putting away the tent. Twilight Sparkle and Rarity were talking about something,"I don't...if....okay....scaring...." Is all Rainbow Dash could make out, she shrugged, not really caring what they were saying. Approximately two minutes later Fluttershy came back and stuffed the bowl in her small back pack. Rainbow Dash muttered,"We better get going if this storm is gonna hit". "Lead the way!" Beamed Twilight Sparkle. As they walked, the terrain kept getting odder. The tree's shifted from beautiful, tall and bright green to dead, short and thick. The dead grass was nearly up to everypony's neck. All of a sudden thunder boomed behind them."eep"yelped Fluttershy as she ran to the front of the group, beside Rainbow Dash. "It's okay, Fluttershy, the storms behind us we can get to the cave before the storm catches us." Laughed Rainbow Dash. "Oh I know, I just don't like loud noises." Replied Fluttershy. "I guess I could of inferred that". After a few short moments, Fluttershys face grew serious as she looked at Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, you haven't really been yourself lately, normally you aren't so... quiet.". Not wanting Fluttershy to worry, Rainbow Dash moaned,"Yeah... I'm fine." "You sure." "Yeah" "Really, really sure." "Yes i'm positive now stop bothering me!" Rainbow Dash yelled, surprised at the fierceness in her own voice, her voice then changed to a small whimper"S-sorry". Rainbow Dash looked at the yellow Pegasus and saw that tears filled her eyes."I-it's okay, Rainbow Dash, I'm sure you didn't mean it." Fluttershy walked away and hung her head. Rainbow Dash didn't mean to yell at Fluttershy, her rage just kind of slipped. Fluttershy clearly was hurt, she was slightly sobbing not too noticeably though. Applejack shot at Rainbow Dash,"what in tarnation was that about?" Rainbow Dash let out a sigh,"I-I didn't mean it, it just slipped." Apple Jack shook her head and walked away and said something under her breath as she went. "Are we there yet?"yelled Pinkie Pie. "Not quite, dear." Replied Rarity. "Rainbow Dash, how much longer?" "Not too much longer!" In about ten minutes they arrived at there destination. "I-I don't like the looks of this." Fluttershy murmured. The caves entrance had a couple cobwebs on it. As they entered they heard the barely audible squeak of bats. The stony walls of the cave were mossy. They entered and there was one large room and a bunch of different paths. "Is this place safe?", Asked Twilight Sparkle. "It should be." Rainbow Dash replied."Do you know the time?" Out of the bloom, Rarity let out a huge scream followed by a,"get it off, GET IT OFF!" There was a rather large spider that had landed on Rarity's mane. "Oh don't worry, that's just a Daddy longlegs, it won't hurt you, in fact it's not even a spider." Fluttershy reassured. "I don't care what it is just get it away from me!" Fluttershy gently reached towards the Daddy longlegs, and took it off Rarity and went outside the cave to let it free. "I want to leave!", Rarity yelled. "Give it a bit more of a chance.", Rainbow Dash argued. "No, dear I simply can't stand it here, my manes already a mess." "What are you talking about, your manes perfectly fine". "Ugh! Look at the grease forming its disgusting!" "You'll be fine, just please give it a bit more of a try!", Rainbow Dash pleaded. "I suppose, just because we're friends... I'll try it. "Shall we go explore!" Screeched Pinkie Pie. "Yeah, let's go!" Yelled everypony but Twilight. "Hold on, girls, I just need to get a bit more prepared." Twilight Sparkle exclaimed as she dug in her bag. "Hurry, er' up there, Twi, Ah wanna see what's in this cave." Apple Jack murmured as she sunk her teeth into an apple. "One sec... Just gotta... Find it. Oh here it is!", Twilight Sparkle pulled out a thick ball of yarn. "Whatcha need that for", Asked Rainbow Dash. "Just so we don't get lost", replied Twilight,oh and I almost forgot here's some flashlights." Twilight handed everypony an oversized flashlight. Rainbow Dash nodded her head,"we ready now?" "Yup, lets go!" Gleamed Twilight Sparkle The cave was like a maze, good thing Twilight brought that thing of yarn or they would get lost for sure. Pinkie Pie was humming a song that Rainbow Dash didn't recognize when all of a sudden Rainbow Dash heard a large snarl echo through the cave. Tell me you guys hear that!"Yelped Rainbow Dash. "Here what?" Everypony asked "That growl, it seemed so real, I think I might have supersonic hearing... Awesome." Twilight sparkle then interrupted,"should we go check it out" "N-n-no" Fluttershy muttered. "Oh come on Fluttershy, you didn't even hear anything." Rainbow Dash moaned. "I'll stay here with Fluttershy", I don't want to risk getting even more dirty!", Rarity muttered. "How about we all stay here", Fluttershy stammered. "If its okay with everypony else, maybe it'd be best if just me and Applejack went." Rainbow Dash said confidently. "Yeah maybe that would be best." Everypony but Pinkie Pie nodded their heads,"I wanna go and see what you were hearing though." "You can come after we just need to make sure it's safe." Rainbow Dash exclaimed "Fine", Pinkie groaned. "See you in a bit." Rainbow Dash shouted with a wave as Apple Jack and her began walking. After a few minutes Rainbow Dashes head started to pound, it wasn't bad when it started but it began to really hurt, eventually Rainbow Dash couldn't take it anymore. She fell down and screamed as she held her head. The pain was horrific. "What's wrong?",Apple Jack asked. Rainbow Dash screamed,"I-it's my head, it's killing me." "Here", Apple Jack handed applejack a caplet,"it's a Tylenol it should help a bit." Rainbow Dash popped the Tylenol in her mouth and avoided touching it with her tongue so she never had to taste it. "Thanks", Rainbow Dash sighed. "No problem". They walked for a few moments in silence when Apple Jack asked,"So about earlier today-" "I don't wanna talk about it..", Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Alright, but I know something's not right". At that moment Rainbow Dash realized it wasn't only her dreams making her this way, it was her mind. Playing tricks on her, all the noises she's been hearing, all the voices in her head. The pounding headache. "I think the snarl was just in my head, maybe we should just head back." Rainbow Dash suggested. "You sure?" "Ye-wha- what? Run!" "Why?" "Just run!" Above Apple Jack was the beast Rainbow Dash saw I'm her dream.... It can't be real, Rainbow Dash thought, it's just a dream. At the risk of this actually being real, she kept running, she heard Apple Jack galloping behind her. When all of a sudden the galloping stopped. Rainbow Dash looked behind her to see Apple Jack being dragged by the horrific, slimy beast. Rainbow Dash wanted to go back to help Apple Jack, but she knew it was useless and she had to warn the rest of her friends. "No, no p-please don't do this, I just - ahhhhhhh!" Apple Jack yelled. Rainbow Dash cringed as she heard the crunching of bones and knew she was dead. Tears ran down Rainbow Dash's face as she kept running. How could that be real! It wasn't... Was it? Soon Rainbow Dash reached the rest of her friends, they greeted her calmly then they had a concerned look in their face. "What's wrong Rainbow Dash, you're crying?", Asked Pinkie Pie. "We gotta get out of here."Bawled Rainbow Dash. "Where's Apple Jack" asked Twilight Sparkle in a serious tone. "We h-have to go!" Pinkie Pie slapped Rainbow Dash. "Get a hold of yourself!" Rainbow Dash shook her head."T-the b-b-be-beast got her. "What?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "T-there was a b-beast, horrible, huge a-and slimy." Rainbow Dash huffed."it t-t-took... Apple Jack." "We gotta go get her!" Yelled Twilight Sparkle as tears formed in her eyes. "It's u-useless I h-h-heard her bones snap and...I know she's gone." Fluttershy was huddled on the ground and kept repeatedly said,"n-no",to her self. The rest of the ponies broke out in tears. Rainbow Dash sniffled,"we n-need to get out I here, we just have to follow t-the yarn." "Y-you're right" They walked along the yarn in silence, all you could here was sniffling from everypony. Fluttershy never had any tears under eyes at all though, she was clearly in shock. Twilight Sparkle screamed from ahead,"n-no it can't be! The yarns cut and the other side is missing!" "W-what! No way! We can just find our way out." Rarity Faltered. "It's useless, we can try but this place is like a maze, we'll just get more lost." Rainbow Dash declared. Everypony sat down, sulking the loss of their friend, knowing they were all in great danger and there was little they could do about it. They sat there for about ten minutes when Rainbow Dash got up more determined than ever,"We aren't just gonna sit and mumble, I get that Apple Jack most likely died, but that doesn't mean we have to... Lets get out of here!" "What's the point?"asked Twilight Sparkle,"We'll never get out of here" "Yeah, I don't think I can move on, anymore and-" groaned Rarity. Fluttershy interrupted, "Guys stop, we need to at least try, as scared as I am, we need to work together!" Pinkie Pie sat up,"Yessiree, she's right, we need to look ahead of what just happened and not make things worst." Twilight Sparkle and Rarity groaned and got to their feet. "I'm doing this for you guys.", Twilight Sparkle murmured,"maybe my magic can help, I'll see what I can do... But do you mind if we go to sleep for the night first... I just want to get well rested, first." "Yeah, yeah of course." Rainbow Dash replied. "Are we safe to?"asked Fluttershy. "I hope..." Rainbow Dash shuddered, she hated the thought of death, she had so many question that couldn't be answered. She hoped that death wasn't just it, the end, and instead she went somewhere else, a great place, but she wasn't sure what would happen. "We'll stay close, so if anything happens we should be able to hear it", suggested Twilight Sparkle. "Good idea", replied Rainbow Dash. The quickly got out their sleeping bags and laid them side by side, making a perfect line. Things got silent after they got into their sleeping bags, you could hear the dripping of water echo through the cave. "Well, goodnight... I guess" Rarity stammered. "Night", Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie replied. "Wait!", yelled Twilight Sparkle,"Shouldn't we have somepony on watch, I'll volunteer to do it first." "Good thinking, I'll take second shift," Rainbow Dash whispered. "Okay, goodnight then, girls." Twilight yawned. Rainbow Dash attempted to get more comfy in her sleeping bag as she turned to her side. She sniffled, it was her fault everyone was in this situation. She but her bottom lip trying not to cry out loud. It was too much to bare. She thought, next time I see the beast, I'm going to do something about it. After a while she began asking her self a bunch of questions, What if Apple Jack was still alive, Could she have stopped the beast, what exactly was the beast? Rainbow Dash thought for about twenty minutes about Apple Jack, then asked,"is anyone awake?". No answer... "Twilight Sparkle?", Still no answer. Something dripped on Rainbow Dash. She slowly looked up and saw right above her the slimy, hairless beast, staring right at her. Rainbow Dash screamed and sat up. When she sat up, she realized it was only a dream. She sighed of relief. "You okay, dear?", Rarity murmured, half asleep. "Yeah, it was just a dream." Rainbow Dash replied Rarity began breathing deeply, it was obvious she fell asleep again. "Twilight... You awake?" Whispered Rainbow Dash."Twilight?". Rainbow Dash grabbed a flashlight near by and shone it in the direction she thought Twilight Sparkle was. She wasn't there. She looked around and sure enough, far down a path laid Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow Dash flew towards Twilight Sparkle,"Twilight you fell asleep," She yelled, just to wake her up,"Twilight?". As she got closer it dawned on her... The creature killed her. Rainbow Dash picked up speed, and tears began to crawl out of her eyes. "T-twilight?"She cried out one last time. Rainbow Dash finally got to Twilight Sparkle. Her head was bashed on a jagged rock, blood oozed down the rock. It looked really fresh. Her eyes were wide open, and pupils were small, Her mouth was wide open and her tongue was sticking out. It looked like Twilight Sparkle put up quite the fight, as her horn still had a faint glow to it. Rainbow Dash sat down next to Twilight Sparkle carcass and closed Twilights eyes with with her hooves. Rainbow Dash put her head into her hooves and closed her eyes as tears slowly dripped out of her eyes. She had a feeling this was going to happen. Rainbow Dash let out a large depressive moan. She opened her eyes to see if Twilight was still there and of course she was. Rainbow Dash sighed, she never knew if she should let the rest of her friends know or if she should let them sleep first. Rainbow Dash started hearing footsteps come towards her. She stood up with her flank up and head lowered. "Show-" she said in crackly voice, she coughed a bit to get the croak out her throat,"Show yourself", she growled in a much more threatening voice. "It's just me, no need to worry", mumbled an soft voice. Rainbow Dash made out Fluttershy's gentle figure. "F-Fluttershy, Twilight, i-is-." Fluttershy gasped as she covered we mouth with her hoof. Her eyes widened and tears began to form. "Rainbow y-you didn't!" She stuttered. "N-No, of course I didn't, I just found her like this." Fluttershy ran towards Rainbow Dash... Thinking Fluttershy was going to attack, Rainbow Dash braced her self, she wasn't going to cause any harm to Fluttershy. But instead of attacking Fluttershy dove into a hug and started crying into Rainbow Dash's shoulders. "Oh, Rainbow, why is this happening? Why can't we just be happy in Ponyville right now." "I don't know, Fluttershy, I just don't know. But we'll get through it, just we won't see... Twilight or Apple Jack again" "I just don't know,"sniffled Fluttershy,"Twilight Sparkle was our only hope, we might as well give up." "No! Don't say that!" Rainbow Dash scolded,"We will get out, I promise!" Fluttershy sighed, "I sure hope you're right." Fluttershy walked back to where Rarity and Pinkie Pie were as tears began dry in her soft yellow coat. Rainbow Dash still sat there, still taking in the fact that this is real. She looked at Twilight Sparkles stiffened body and sighed. The faint glow of her horn was now faded. The blood began to dry in the ground, leaving a permanent stain. Rainbow Dash had a weird unexplainable feeling in her head. Rainbow Dash got up to break the news to the others. As she was getting up she heard a growl. She looked behind her where the growl was coming from... Nothing was there but rocks. Rainbow Dash slowly walked to her friends. When she got to their little camp area she saw Fluttershy laying down, staring blankly at Pinkie Pie and Rarity. "Um, Fluttershy... So should we wake them up or what?", Asked Rainbow Dash Fluttershy sighed,"Look at how peacefully they are sleeping, maybe we should let just let them sleep for now." "Alright, sounds good." Rainbow dash muttered as she sat down, on watch so no more of her friends got hurt. The damp smell of the cave made it difficult to breath at the moment. Rainbow Dash began to get hungry. "Umm, Fluttershy you got any food?" "Well no, didn't Apple Jack have all the food?" Asked Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash facehooved, how could she forget,"um, maybe Twilight had some, I'll go check quickly, yell for me if anything happens." Rainbow Dash quickly trotted over to Twilights deteriorating body, along the way she heard the voices in her head. It sounded like a million whispers at once. It hurt, Rainbow tried to ignore it but it kept getting worst. When she got by Twilight the voices faded. That was odd, she thought. She looked at Twilights body, it was disgusting. The smell of what Rainbow assumed was rotting flesh came across her nose, she gagged and a lump formed in her throat. It seemed a bit soon for her flesh to be rotting, Rainbow Dash thought, but that must what the smell is. Twilights bag of supplies was under Twilights body. Dammit. Rainbow Dash's eyes began to burn. She looked away and reached for Twilights bag. She accidentally poked Twilight Sparkle's body. It was really stiff now, and her fur was clumpy. Rainbow Dash felt odd this was her closest experience with death, she never saw even saw a real dead pony before. It sickened her. Rainbow Dash quickly grabbed the bag and got out of there. Once Rainbow reached Fluttershy she checked the bag. There were batteries, flint and steel and sure enough, two granola bars. Rainbow Dash opened a granola bar and split it in half, and handed half over to Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash declared "We'll give the other one to Pinkie Pie and Rarity. You cold?" "Kind of," Fluttershy squeaked. "Alright. This flint and steel will come in handy. Any fire materials around here?" "Not that I know of." "Well should we try using Twilights sleeping bag? It should burn a bit." "Yeah, no point keeping it." Rainbow Dash grabbed the sleeping bag and pulled it about five metres away from Pinkie and Rarity, Who were somehow still asleep. She put the sleeping bag inside out due to the inside being more flammable. She slid the flint over the steel but there was only sparks. She tried a few more times, and eventually a small fire started, burning slowly through the sleeping bag. Rainbow Dash grinned, "It won't last long, but at least we have a few moments of warmth." Fluttershy went closer to the fire and had a faint smile on her face," thanks, Rainbow." "Don't mention it." They sat there in silence, thinking over the loss of their friends. When there was a yawn of somepony waking up. They looked over and saw Pinkie Pie,"Ooo fire!" She beamed as she ran over and sat in between Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Right after Pinkie Pie sat down Rarity murmured,"do you have to be so loud, Pinkie?" Pinkie Pie whispered,"Oh sorry." "It's fine my dear." Rarity brought herself up,"is everypony okay?" Fluttershy shuddered,"Well...umm.. You see-" Rainbow Dash saw Fluttershy was having a hard time so she interrupted," Twilight Sparkle didn't make it, but she put up quite the fight." Pinkie Pies hair deflated from her puffy, lively look to flat and dull. "Oh" she sniffled. Rarity put her head inside her hooves and began weeping. Seeing this made Rainbow Dash want to cry again but she held it in, Fluttershy had tears slowly running down her face. After a few moments of this Rarity asked,"w-where is she?" Rainbow Dash responded,"she's down that path." She pointed to where Twilight was,"you won't wanna see her, it's pretty bad." Rarity nodded. Rainbow Dash asked,"you guys hungry?" "K-kinda", Pinkie Pie murmured. "Me as well." Rarity muttered. Rainbow Dash split the granola bar and handed them each a piece. "Thank you" they both said. "It's all we have so make the most of it." Thirst wasn't much of an issue as there were many little pond areas around the cave. Rainbow knew that they would have to start going soon if they were ever going to get out so she asked,"you guys almost ready to leave?" "Not really, but it has to happen sometime, so I guess now is as good of time as any." Rarity suppressed. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie nodded. They rolled up their sleeping bags and put them into their backpacks. Pinkie Pie sighed. As they began to walk. "So what do we do now?" Asked Pinkie Pie. "Just try to find our way out, it's our only hope." Rainbow Dash replied. They walked further and further into the cave, the further they went the more lost they became. Rainbow Dash's legs and wings began to ache after a while. "Hey guys do you mind if we sit down for a while."She asked. "Thank goodness, my legs have been killing me."Rarity moaned. "I'm fine but if you insist."Pinkie Pie muttered. Rainbow Dash looked back,"hey you guys? Where's Fluttershy?" "Oh dear I thought she was right behind me this whole time!" Rarity screeched. Pinkie Pie gulped,"umm she can't be too far back, we should just go back. She's probably fine." Rainbow Dash's eyes started to swell as a lump grew in her throat. Pinkie Pie and Rarity were in denial but Rainbow Dash knew that she was probably not okay. She began to fly backwards at extreme speed. "Fluttershy!" She yelled,"Fluttershy!" Then she whispered to herself,"please be okay..." As she was flying the whispers began to go in her head again. They were horrible it sounded like a million souls being tortured, now. They were all moaning in pain and screaming for help. Rainbow Dash fell to the ground in pain, she screamed as it gave her a horrible headache. Pinkie Pie and Rarity came galloping towards her. "Rainbow are you-" A high pitch ringing took over Rarity's voice. Rainbow Dash howled in pain,"No stop! Please go!" She looked up and everything was blurry but she saw the horrible creature go behind her friends, it picked the both up and threw them. They screamed as they flailed through the air. Blood gushed out of Pinkie Pies neck as she slowly closed her eyes. Rarity's eyes were widened and she looked more surprised than hurt. The ringing in Rainbow Dash's head was horrible enough to drive anypony insane. Rarity laid there looking at the beast and said something,"Please... No, not like this. Don't do thi-." The beast hit it her with a rock instantly killing her. Rainbow Dash tried to get up but something kept pulling her down. She closed her eyes and became unconscious. While being unconscious she had a dream. It was horrible... The high pitched ringing was coming from the beast as it ran at her, she couldn't move or do anything as if she was paralyzed. The beast slowly cut her with its huge sharp claw, it wasn't enough to kill her but to make her suffer. After the beast left she woke up. She looked around and Pinkie Pie and Rarity were still there, both surely dead. "No, this can't be" as tears began to roll out of her eyes. She was going to say her final good byes, but quickly disregarded it as she had to be fast. There was a small chance that Fluttershy was alive so she had to look around. Rainbow Dash had one good question, why didn't the creature kill her, it had many chances to but it seemed to ignore her. The fact that it was in her dream before she came here was strange enough, but why not kill her? Did it want her to suffer. Rainbow Dash flew all over calling for Fluttershy. She knew it was useless. She sat down and sobbed. Tears went down the side of her face as she thought about her past with her friends. Like all the times they were there for her, helping her reach far beyond her limits. They always supported her, no matter how stupid her ideas were. Her cry turned into low sniffles. She sat there thinking for another ten minutes when she heard it, "Rainbow,Pinkie, Rarity! Where are you?" Rainbow Dash thought it was her mind playing tricks on you so she shook it off. "You guys? Can you here me?" Rainbow Dash couldn't believe it,"Fluttershy!" She yelled as loud as she could. "Rainbow Dash? Oh my goodness! Where are you?" "I have no idea. Just keep coming in the direction of my voice, you're getting louder!" Soon Rainbow saw a flashlight beam peer around the corner. Rainbow Dash galloped towards it and then Fluttershy appeared. Rainbow Dash ran up to her and hugged her. Fluttershy looked horrible, bags were under her eyes. She collapsed once Rainbow Dash got by her. "Fluttershy, I can't believe you're okay!" "I can't believe I'm okay too! But where are the others?" Rainbow Dash sighed. Fluttershy sniffled,"N-no! How are you still alive?" "That's what I've been trying to figure out, the creature seems to be ignoring me." "W-well th-that's good right?" "I gu- Fluttershy behind you!" The creature quickly tackled Fluttershy and held a rock over her head about to smash it down. The ringing started up in Rainbows head again. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes when Fluttershy yelled,"D-don't do this Rainbow!" "W-what?" Rainbow Dash stammered. The ringing just stopped instantly. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and she was over Fluttershy, holding a rock. Then a bunch of Flashbacks came, showing her kill each of her... Friends. It was horrible, she didn't want to believe it, but she was... the creature. But how, She wondered, I had no control of what I was doing, I didn't even know who I was. Rainbow Dash quickly got off of Fluttershy and put the rock down. She laid down a few metres away from Fluttershy. She felt sick, her head was pounding and there was no way of stopping it. She closed her eyes and saw a shadow, a deep but soft voice murmured,"Don't be afraid of death." Rainbow Dash muttered one last, "I'm sorry" to Fluttershy and went into a deep eternal rest. Fluttershy laid there, weak from hunger. She gave up all hope in getting out and accepted her fate. All her best friends were dead, and she wasn't sure she even wanted to live anymore. The sooner she died the better, she thought. She sniffled a bit. As Fluttershy sat there, she thought about her animals back home, and hoped they'd be alright, she wondered what death would be like. Then she heard a deep, gruff voice,"I heard the yelling here, Chuck." "Hm, is anypony here?", A male voice, Fluttershy assumed was Chuck yelled. Fluttershy tried to speak but what she said only came in a rasp, hardly hearable whisper. "It doesn't seem anyponies here, Brune." Fluttershy began to crawl towards the voices. "I could've sworn I heard somepony. Can anypony hear me? Brune yelled. Fluttershy tried crawling faster whispering,"Help" with all the strength she had. "Lets go, Brune, we outta get back to work soon." "Wait did you here that? It sounded like a whisper." "It was nothing, lets go" Fluttershy kept going and finally got to the corner the voices were coming from, she had no breath left. She looked around the corner and saw... Nothing, nopony. She sighed. Then something grabbed her Foreleg. She looked over and right beside her was a tall, strong earth pony. He had a brown coat and a black mane. He gently helped her up and took out a brown bag and handed it to her. "It's my lunch, don't be shy take it. My names Brune Leaf and this is my brother Chuck" , Chuck had a dark blue coat and a blonde curly mane. He was shorter than Brune but looked a lot stronger. Brune calmly said,"we mine here, we're gonna get you out of here. Okay?" Fluttershy nodded. Brune lifted up Fluttershy and put her on his back and began to trot. "Th-thank you" Fluttershy managed in a soft whisper. "Shh, save you're strength." Fluttershy began eating a sandwich that was in the bag, it was delicious. When she was done she closes her eyes and fell asleep. She dreamt about her life before all this happened, Of all her Friends and her having a great time. She awoke and squinted her eyes as she could actually see... Daylight. "Almost out" Chuck beamed quietly . Soon they were out of the cave, it was a different entrance then the one she entered in. "Do you need a lift to Canterlot?" Brune asked. "Yes, if you don't mind." "Of course I don't mind." Fluttershy smiled and looked back at the cave. Then she heard a bunch of whispers in her head it sounded like horrible, almost like... hell? In the cave entrance she saw, crouched there, a white creature with red bloodstains. Four long skinny limbs and huge teeth, with no eyes. A beast. The end. Author's Note Hey,thanks for reading. This is my first story I published and constructive criticism is encouraged!