Night Terrors

If you lived in Ponyville, odds are you would know the local weather manager Rainbow Dash. If you know about Rainbow Dash, then you would probably know two things. One that she's one of the most skilled flyers in the sky and two that she is infamously lazy. When she's not practicing a new trick she is likely napping in some tree branch or on a stray cloud. What most ponies don't know both activities are key to Rainbow's formula for success.

All of Rainbow's best moves were born in her sleep. Her dreams were her personal playground of experimentation. There she can plan and practice her maneuvers without fear of injury, exhaustion, or worse interruption. The pegasus couldn't count the number of times her training sessions were stopped short for one of her friends. Not that she minded, she was always willing to help out, but it did cut into her own time. Within her dreams she didn't have to worry about anypony disturbing her.

Rainbow Dash was grateful for this as she soared through her dreamscape. She was just about to unlock an awesome new move. She could tell.

Rainbow started by climbing straight up at full speed. As she rose her momentum was slowly lost. When she finally reached the peak, of her ascent, she locked her wings together and went into free fall. She kept her body narrow to minimize her air resistance. When she reached terminal velocity she locked eyes on a tuft of cloud far below her. She silently counted down as she approached her target.

three... two... one... The pegasus flipped around at the last second and contacted the cloud, her rear hooves first. She could almost feel the cool mist of the cloud bend tight against her. She opened her wings and took off with the recoil of the cloud. Her speed was instantly doubled. Rainbow smiled to herself. This was way faster than her normal take off and it was way cooler than having Applejack jump on a catapult.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash noticed a dark figure shoot past her a breakneck speed. Not to be outrun, Rainbow picked up the pace to catch up to the mysterious figure. Getting closer did not reveal anything more about the stranger. It was obviously a pegasus with a similar build to Rainbow Dash, but there was nothing else distinguishable. It was as if it were made completely out of shadow and blackness.

The shadow turned it's head to Rainbow. "Is that the best you can do, Rainbow Dash? I could do better with one wing tied behind my back," it taunted.

Rainbow growled at the insult, "oh you want to go? We'll go right now. Nopony can beat me up here."

The shadow laughed, "We'll see. Catch me if you can." The shadow took off like a rocket, leaving dark streak behind it.

"Two can play at that game," Rainbow yelled as she shot after the black pegasus. Across the skyline they raced. Rainbow went as fast as she could, but every time she got close to the shadow it kicked in another burst of speed.

Every time they got close the shadow had some snarky insult. Which were really starting to piss Rainbow off. One time the shadow was lazily flying backwards like it didn't even care. Rainbow on the other hoof, was panting like crazy. She struggled to even stay aloft. The shadow laughed at her again, "Your tired already!? I really expected more from you Rainbow. Well I guess that's what happens when your weighed down by so called friends."

"Hey you leave them out of this."

"Why not? Just look at what your loyalty earned you. Second place, second fiddle, and second rate!" They shadow shot ahead once more.

Rainbow Dash whinnied, "I'll show you who's second rate." She climbed into the sky as fast as she could. Once she gained enough altitude she dove towards the shadow at mach speeds. In a matter of moments she made a sonic rainboom and accelerated to light speed. Rainbow chuckled, "I'd like to see if you can be that!"

But Rainbow was surprised to find that she still didn't overtake the shadow. She must have been going thousands of miles a second and the mysterious pony was still ahead. "Oh come on! How can you still be ahead of me?"

The shadow looked back, but for once didn't say anything. Instead it dived down below the tree tops dodging back and forth between the boughs. "Your not getting away from me, "shouted Rainbow Dash. That pegasus never knew how to quit, especially when she's behind. She followed right after the shadow.

Rainbow never flew so fast this close to the ground before, even in her dreams. She managed to avoid a few branches, but quickly crashed directly into the trunk of an oak tree. She tore right through the tree so her head and fore hooves stuck out the other end.

As she tried to push herself out of her trap, the shadow flew up to her. Of course it was cackling like a hyena. "That was awesome! You hit that like a train engine. You should have seen your face."

Rainbow gave up when she realized her situation. She had lost and now she was humiliated. Her normal adrenaline rush disappeared and was replaced with despair. "I lost," She mused, "how could I not catch you?"

Rainbow didn't know if it was the proximity or something else, but she could now see the dark figure in all it's glory. Instead of pure black, the figure had a black and purple color scheme eerily similar to the Wonderbolts. The shadow's cutie mark was a winged pony skull. Its mane was a bright rainbow pattern. If Rainbow didn't know better, she would say she was looking at her evil twin sister.

Then the Shadowbolt removed her goggles to reveal a pair of magenta eyes, Her eyes. This wasn't a twin, it was her. Rainbow could see it. All the same experiences and memories flashed behind them. Rainbow was often told she was a narcissist, but this was something else entirely.

The shadow Rainbow Dash grinned, "Shadows always run before the light my friend. If you want to beat 'em you must become them."