Into the Night

A thousand and one years and six months later...

RAINBOW DASH LAY in her bed, awake but unmoving. The sheet was pulled up to her shoulders, and she relished the warmth, for it was late January, and Ponyville was still covered with a blanket of snow. At length, the faint sound of a rooster crowing the dawn’s arrival wafted into her cloud home, and she stirred lazily. Just another Saturday morning...she thought with a happy sigh.

Then her eyes popped open and she sat bolt upright in bed. “Just another Saturday?!” she repeated aloud, aghast. “Seriously, brain?!”

Rainbow Dash leaped out of bed, stretching her wings and flapping over to the calendar. Today’s the...twenty-fifth.

Dash grinned broadly, for the twenty-fifth of January had been circled with a fat red marker. Inside, in pen, she had written the second she had gotten the calendar:

Blitz Thunderbolt and the Dragon of Shadows comes out today!

Rainbow squeed in delight. Blitz Thunderbolt and the Dragon of Shadows was a new book by A.K. Yearling, aka Daring Do, and Dash had been waiting for it for a very long time. Now, at last, it was coming out!

“Aww yeah!!” she whooped, doing a double loop-de-loop and soaring out the door. She was about to shoot straight for Golden Oak Library, where she hoped Twilight Sparkle had the first copy of Blitz, when her stomach let out a loud growl.

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “I guess I’ll have to get some breakfast first.” With that, she took off, flying towards Donut Joe’s. I bet everypony in town will be eating donuts for breakfast now, she thought happily as she disappeared over the horizon in a rainbow streak.

A single blue feather floated behind her, landing harmlessly on the ground in front of her home. As it lay there, quivering gently in the breeze, a waft of shadowy mist drifted forth. It quickly reached out a tendril and snatched the feather up, tucking it into itself so it couldn’t be seen. Then the shadow floated away

***

A PLEASANT MELODY filled the air in Golden Oak Library as Twilight Sparkle dusted a shelf with a fluffy duster, humming a song she had often sung to Spike when he was an infant dragon. As she moved along the shelf, the hum abruptly stopped as Twilight noticed a huge dust bunny that had materialized on one side of the duster. Silly dust, she thought, and raised her duster.

At that moment, Spike opened his eyes and saw what Twilight was about to do. “No!” he cried. “Don’t do –”

Too late. Twilight Sparkle gave the dust bunny a tremendous whack, and dust poofed everywhere. Coughing and sneezing, she dispelled the dust with a simple spell and sighed.

“...that,” Spike finished.

“Who knew a dust bunny that small could have so much dust?” Twilight exclaimed, and she sounded excited, rather than annoyed, as she should have. Spike mentally groaned, knowing what was coming.

“Spike, get a duster. It’s time to EXPERIMENT!!”

The young dragon heaved a deep sigh and turned over on his other side, pulling the pillow over his head. “Leave me outta this, Twilight.”

“But wouldn’t this be so much fun?” Twilight asked, her eyes gleaming. “We could turn this into a scientific theory! And maybe, ponies all over Equestria would be so enthralled by the idea that they would experiment too, and it could become A SCIENTIFIC LAW!! Spike, doesn’t that sound simply amazing? Spike? ...Spiiike?”

Spike had gone back to sleep; his snores were muffled by the pillow that was still over his head.

Twilight sighed. “I guess someone doesn’t appreciate science as much as I do.” She was about to return to dusting when there came a knock on the door.

“Who is it?” she called out.

“Rainbow Dash!” came the response.

Twilight Sparkle went to the door, and it opened to reveal a very animated Rainbow Dash, who was bouncing on her hooves anxiously.

“Uhhh...do you have to go to the bathroom?” Twilight asked in confusion.

“IS THE BLITZ THUNDERBOLT BOOK HERE?!” Dash blurted out, leaning forward with her wings extended in her excitement.

“Oh! Well, uh, no, actually,” Twilight informed her suddenly crestfallen friend. “The mailpony hasn’t arrived yet.”

“What?! It was supposed to be here yesterday!” Rainbow cried.

“I know. I hope it wasn’t delayed!”

Rainbow Dash’s mouth hung open. “DELAYED?!” she repeated in shock. “What if it is?! I’ve waited almost a freaking year for this book!!”

“I know, I’ve been waiting for it too,” Twilight said kindly, putting a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder in a gesture she hoped would calm her friend down somewhat. “But we can wait a little longer if we need to.”

Dash was about to say something more, but swallowed it and sighed.

Twilight Sparkle searched her brain for anything to cheer her up. “Hey, Rainbow Dash. Have you heard about the Wonderbolts Conference?”

“The what?” Rainbow repeated dumbly.

“The Wonderbolts Conference!” Twilight smiled hopefully. “You know, that meeting that Spitfire, Soarin and the rest of the Wonderbolts have every year. They’re holding it in Ponyville this year, so I’m told.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes lit up, but then her head drooped. “I better not get my hopes up...if I do, it’ll be canceled,” she said bitterly.

“It happens tomorrow afternoon at three o’ clock,” Twilight resumed as though her friend hadn’t said anything. “Not much can happen between now and then.”

Rainbow Dash looked doubtful. “You really think so?” she asked dubiously.

Twilight nodded. “I’m confident that nothing will go wrong.”

A knock on the door interrupted the two mares, and Dash gasped. “What if it’s the mailpony?!” She flew quickly to the door and opened it eagerly.

On the doorstep stood, not a mailpony, but a white royal guard. His wings were open and he looked serious. “Is Princess Twilight Sparkle here?” he asked.

Rainbow Dash looked startled and slowly moved aside. “Y-yeah, she’s here. Why do you look like something’s terribly wrong?” she inquired nervously, getting no response.

Twilight came forward. Upon seeing the expression on the guard’s face, she did a double take. “What’s wrong?” She feared the worst.

“Princess Celestia has called you to Canterlot, on a matter of great importance. We must leave right away. I will wait for you to be ready.” He bowed and moved aside to wait just outside the library.

Twilight Sparkle gulped. As Rainbow Dash followed concernedly, she flew upstairs to her loft and took her saddlebag down from its nail on the wall, levitating a few things inside it.

“I wonder what that ‘matter of great importance’ is,” Rainbow said, watching her friend pack. She wanted to help, but knew that Twilight would be on her way faster if she did everything herself.

“I promise that if for some reason I can’t return right away, I’ll send you girls a letter telling you what’s going on,” Twilight promised as she brought her crown from where it sat in its own satchel under her bed, and set it on her head, securing it with a spell that would keep it from falling off. She then prodded Spike, who had slept through the whole thing.

“Spike! SPIKE! Wake up! We have to get to Canterlot!”

“What? Huh?” Spike mumbled as she pulled the pillow off his head. “Canterlot? Why?”

“I’ll explain later. For now, we have to hurry!” Twilight’s urgent tone woke Spike up completely, and he scrambled onto her back, aided by her magic.

“Oh, hi, Rainbow Dash. Bye, Rainbow Dash!” Spike called as Twilight rushed out the door.

Rainbow hovered, already far behind her friend. “Bye, Twilight! I’ll tell the others you said goodbye!”

Twilight nodded, already in the air beside the guard. “I’ll see you...soon!” she shouted back as the pair flew onwards. Looking up, Rainbow Dash watched Spike fasten an out-of-place seatbelt. Where the hay did that come from? she wondered, then dismissed it as just one of those things. She gazed at Twilight Sparkle and her guard escort as they faded out of sight.