Void: Simple Solution

When we truly realize that we are all alone is when we need others the most. -Ronald Anthony

  It was nearly a day like any other to Rainbow Dash. The sky was blue, the grass was tall and coated a lush, and warm green. The only problem Rainbow Dash had, was the distance Fluttershy had seemed to grow. She was sad, because her best friend was usually always open when she had the chance to get help for something. Rainbow wasn't sure WHY she was sad, she just knew she was sad. She groaned, and flipped onto her stomach, pushing her head into her forearms in annoyance. She had been lying on a white fluffy cloud, trying to take a nap. Of course, she hadn't been able to fall asleep, with her fillyhood friend in mind.

  She spoke outloud, saying, "That's it!", and quickly dashed off of her cumulus cloud. She started to think, and 'Hmmm'ed in thought. She really wanted to help her friend, but she couldn't help unless she knew what the problem was. Rainbow Dash decided that she would just go and try to ask Fluttershy what was wrong herself, and in a couple of minutes she landed on the dirt path leading to Fluttershy's cottage.

  Rainbow Dash mumbles, "Now or never, I guess.", and slowly begins to walk up to the door. She found herself stopping, and just looking around. Birds flew from tree to tree, and every once and a while, an animal would skitter out from a bush and enter another. The forest was calm. She immediately thought of Fluttershy, and rolled her eyes, "Not exactly surprising.", her mind comments. She continued walking, and finally knocked three times on the door that led to the interior of Fluttershy's cottage.

  "Just a minute!", she heard Fluttershy's voice, and grinned slightly, and continued to wait for her yellow friend to open the door. Once she did, Rainbow Dash heard Fluttershy say, "Oh! Hi, Rainbow Dash!"

  "Hey Fluttershy. What's up?", Rainbow Dash said.

  "Um... Well, nothing really... We didn't have something scheduled, did we? Oh my, I'm so sorry! I didn't see anything on my calender, and-- and--", Fluttershy stopped once a blue hoof found itself on her muzzle.

  "Nah, it's cool. I just stopped by to visit. Nothin' planned.", Rainbow Dash removed her hoof from Fluttershy's muzzle, and shrugged slightly.

  "I see. Well, it's very nice of you to stop by.", Fluttershy said, smiling appreciatively towards Rainbow Dash.

  "It's no problem, really! Gotta see my Number One Flier sometimes, y'know?", Rainbow Dash winked, before continuing, "Movin' on though... 'Shy, you've been... Really, uh, quiet lately. I dunno how to explain it? I mean, you're usually pretty quiet already... Heh heh... But, I mean, you've just been... Distant, I guess."

  "Um... I'm fine. Don't worry about it.", Fluttershy quickly said, her pupils seeming to shrink exponentially, as she tried to face away from Rainbow Dash.

  "Fluttershy, pal... C'mon. I'm kinda worried about you. I don't like seeing you like this, alright? You trust me, right?", Rainbow Dash said, slowly putting her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. The shy mare faced back towards Rainbow Dash, and then spoke...

  "I'm sorry... I trust you, Rainbow... I really do. I trust you more than anypony else, but I'm not sure I want to talk about it right now...", Fluttershy finished, and her eyes were closed. Tears were clearly building up in her eyes, and Rainbow Dash suddenly felt awful.

  "But... Fluttershy...", Rainbow Dash sighed, and then said, "Alright. But when you're willing to talk, I'll be there to talk to you. Just... Please don't think you have to go through whatever is bothering you alone. I'll always be open to listening, 'Shy. The others are too, I'm sure of it. I wouldn't recommend talking to Pinkie Pie though, but y'know..."

  Rainbow Dash sighed, and walked out of the cottage. She quietly closed the door behind her, and then walked off, facing down towards the ground in thought.

  "I really want to help her... Usually she opens up really quickly. What could be wrong? Did I do something? I don't THINK I did anything. I'm sure she's fine. Right?... That's it! Twilight's smart, she'll know what to do.", Rainbow Dash thought, and brightened at her sudden idea. The pegasus quickly leaped off the ground, and flew off to Twilight's castle. She looked down into Ponyville, observing the peaceful yet chaotic town in action. Ponies went through their days, with cheery smiles on most of their faces. Rainbow Dash sighed, thinking about Fluttershy's current state, but the thought was quickly abolished by the thought of Rainbow Dash helping Fluttershy. She was quick to find herself approaching her destination.

  Once Rainbow Dash landed, she trotted towards the large crystal doors. Rainbow pushed the heavy door open, and walked inside.

  "Hello, Rainbow Dash! What brings you here today?", Twilight Sparkle spoke, clearly in a good mood.

  "Hey, Twilight. I got a question for ya.", Rainbow Dash decided to quickly get the information she needed. Even though she wasn't exactly sure what sort of info she had been searching for.

  "I'm all ears. I'm sure I could help you. Infact, I could probably get you some books on--", Twilight stopped speaking, when she saw boredom growing on Rainbow Dash's face. "Right... Sorry. What's your question?"

  "Do you know what's been up with Fluttershy lately?", Rainbow Dash asked.

  "No. Wait, did something happen?", Twilight asked, interest forming on her face.

  "Kinda. Ever since last week's picnic, she's been sort of quiet and stuff.", Rainbow Dash answered.

  "Quiet?... I'm not sure you should be surprised, Rainbow.", Twilight said, with a confused eyebrow, raised up her face.

  "No, I mean... She's more quiet than usual, and distant."

  "Oh... Distant?... I think I see what you mean, but I'm sure it's nothing. She seemed fine last I saw.", Twilight assured, with a nod.

  "I tried talking to her about it earlier, and she didn't want to talk about it. She usually trusts me with anything!", Rainbow Dash quickly responded, a slim amount of fear present upon her face.

  "Maybe she just doesn't want to talk about it. If she wanted to, she would have. Atleast, I THINK she would have...", Twilight attempted to reassure Rainbow Dash, but to no avail, it didn't seem to help the situation any.

  "Can you do any magic that could maybe help me figure out what's wrong?", Rainbow Dash asked.

  "I... I don't know. What if she just wants privacy?", Twilight asked, sighing.

  "But she's not acting like... She usually would! Look, I'm not gonna stop bugging you until you help me.", Rainbow Dash urged.

  "Well... Okay... I guess I'm sort of concerned now too... Should we let the others know?"

  "No. I don't think Fluttershy would like that, she might get the wrong idea. She might think we're pressuring her to tell us, and I wouldn't feel comfortable with her thinking that...", Rainbow Dash quickly spoke.

  "Oh, you're right. Come with me, I think I have a perfect spell to help us, but it could be really dangerous.", Twilight Sparkle said, somewhat hoping that Rainbow would decide against it.

  "You kidding me? Danger IS my middle name. But uh... I'd do anything to see Fluttershy happy and back to normal again.", Rainbow Dash proudly spoke, following her purple friend into a large library. She glanced at her horn glowing, and then three books were levitated from shelves, and then she looked inquisitively at the covers. When she was done, only one remained.

  The title read, "Probably Really Dangerous Spells: Mind-Management Edition"

  Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, and Twilight sighed, "I'm basically asking you to go into her mind and then you'll find out what's wrong, or you should be able to, in theory...", Twilight stared at the floor in thought, and then cleared her throat, "But anyways, are you really sure you want to do this? You'll be let out in about three real time days, but I'm not sure how it'll feel in her mind. Could even feel like an hour, depending on... Well... Alot of different things. It could be really dangerous..."

  Twilight's face had displayed support, but a look of unsurety had also been plastered upon her.

  "Yeah... I'm sure of it, I mean, what kinda friend would I be if I didn't take a few risks to help my best friend out every once and while?", Rainbow Dash spoke, grinning madly.

  "The risks are... Well, very risky... You're very brave, Rainbow Dash. I'm not sure how I'll get you in her mind, but I have an idea of how... If you could get her to come over here, but she might get suspicious... Oh! I know! Rainbow, what do you think about doing it at this weeks picnic?", Twilight said.

  "Yeah, that could work."

  "Well, I could do it then. It probably won't affect her visually at all, and I'll just have to say that you couldn't make it to the picnic.", Twilight suggested.

  "Good idea! So, tomorrow?"

  "Right. I'll see you then, Rainbow! If you want to back out of this, it's not too late...", Twilight nodded at Rainbow, and then walked to a table, and opened the book she held in her magical grasp. Rainbow Dash left the building, and flew off. Dash felt as though a thousand weights were taken off of her shoulders.

  Rainbow Dash was ready. She had spent the whole previous night mentally preparing to help her closest friend in any way she could. She didn't know what to expect, but she knew one thing: She would only stop once she found out how to help Fluttershy. She sat upon a tree branch, waiting over a picnic blanket. Twilight had brought her over early, so she could prepare to do what she so wished to achieve. Rainbow Dash wasn't going to back out of it, as she waited on the tree branch. She directed her ear down towards the picnic.

  "I'll be right back, Fluttershy. If the others get here before I'm back, tell them I'll be right here.", Twilight spoke, walking off and out of sight.

  Fluttershy sighed, and put her head on the ground, lying on her side. Rainbow Dash then felt a fuzzy feeling around her body, and then...

  Everything went black. When she regained her vision, she felt... Confused. Rainbow Dash awoke on a small concrete block, with a black void behind her. She stared into it for a few moments, before saying... "Huh?", outloud. Rainbow's voice echoed throughout the hall, and she looked back towards a door ahead of her.

  "Is this... Fluttershy's mind?...", Rainbow Dash asked, confused, and disoriented. The air felt... Dry, and lackluster. She couldn't feel any air blowing against her, or anything. It was stagnant. Rainbow Dash grunted slightly, standing up onto her four legs. Once she was up, she walked ahead and pushed the door open.

  Rainbow Dash looked into a long hallway. There were orange lines trailing against the wall, and only one existed. It was thin, and above and below it there had been concrete. The floor was concrete, and even the pillars wedged in the wall were concrete. Everything was concrete around her. She stopped when she walked out into a large white room, emitting a light hum. She stared up, viewing up towards the endless limits of each direction.

  "Woah. I don't get it...", Rainbow tried to make sense of her situation, but she couldn't. She returned focus to the center of the large void, and saw a large circular glass case. The case held a set of stairs, going in a downwards spiral constantly. Rainbow Dash found herself stepping down onto the set of stairs, and she quickly trotted down.

  "What exactly am I gonna do? I mean, I don't really know what to do... Maybe I'm being brought somewhere. It makes sense, right?...", Rainbow Dash thought, becoming uneasy in her current situation. Rainbow Dash tried to yelp in fear, when everything went black around her. But she couldn't make any noise. She heard her delayed yelp when she found herself in a warm room, with walls painted a warm shade of tan, and a wooden floor.

  "Jeez, Fluttershy. I woulda thought your mind might've asked politely to move me first...", Rainbow Dash wryly grinned, but the grin turned into confusion and disturbance when she saw the figure of a pony. The pony was purely black, and lightly transparent around the edges. The pony seemed smoky, the blackness jumping around the form, but never leaving the form of a pony.

  "Well.. Thiiis is kinda... Uh... Creepy.", Rainbow Dash slowly spoke outloud, as she approached the form. When she got near it, the form did nothing. It remained in position, and Rainbow Dash decided to walk past it after a few moments of hesitation. She reached a small dropoff, viewing down into a pit of a large concrete room. The room lost the warm feeling it had previously obtained, and suddenly felt very cold.

  Rainbow Dash suddenly stopped, and her eyes widened, once she realized that a shadowy figure next to her was saying something. She brought her ear closer to the form, and it had lightly mumbled in a voice that was hardly audible, yet sounded very similar to Fluttershy.

  "Can anypony hear me?", the form lightly spoke, and it seemed to echo, but of course truly didn't. The form seemed to continue to ask the same question, but Rainbow Dash stepped back a few times, completely confused and disturbed.

  "Uhhh, this has officially become REALLY creepy...", she slowly lifted up off the ground, and flew down the staircase, holding a strict expression of clear unease.

  She passed by multiple of the forms, catching what they said. They all sounded eerily like Fluttershy, yet remained cold and the happiness one could obtain from hearing her soft voice just didn't exist.

  "Hello?", one spoke, staring off into space.

  "Speak to me... Please?", the next said.

  "Alone.", one simply stated, and Rainbow Dash side stepped past it, as the form seemed to glare into her soul.

  "Maybe I shouldn't have... No. I gotta find out what's wrong... Unless, maybe... No, that doesn't make sense! She's got me, and our friends. If she feels lonely, she knows she can come see us.", Rainbow Dash said outloud, walking into a small corridor. She continued to follow the linear pathway. The path held the cold air of the previous room, and it made Rainbow Dash think...

  "Why exactly is this here? I mean, I AM in Fluttershy's mind, so... Is this how she feels?.. Maybe she really IS lonely...", Rainbow Dash thought, walking along the path.

  Rainbow Dash stopped, and waited for the form to speak.

  "I need someone to talk to...", it said, before mumbling incoherently once again. Rainbow Dash tried to make sense of the mumbling, but found she couldn't. When she tried, she just felt as though she couldn't think straight. It messed with her mind.

  Rainbow Dash spent what felt like forever walking through the corridor, passing by the hushed voices that the voids emitted. She found herself at a large door, and the voices ceased completely. When she turned around, she noticed that they were all gone. As though they had up and left. The cold turned to... Nothing. It wasn't cool, nor warm. It just felt... Inbetween. She realized that all the sound was gone. All Rainbow Dash could hear was her own heartbeat, and breathing.

  "...Alright, Fluttershy. I uh... I guess I'll go through the door... Please don't be so creepy this time?", Rainbow Dash hopefully asked outloud, opening the door, and walking into a long hall, full of the smoky void-ponies. She cringed as she walked inside, hearing whispers.

"Are you there?"

  "Please, say something!"

  "It can be ANYTHING! Please, just speak to me!"

  "Talk to me!"

  "Speak!"

  "Please!"

  Rainbow Dash stepped back, and felt fear gripping at her chest. She tried to speak, but words wouldn't leave her muzzle as she spun around looking at the forms pleading. It might not have been so bad, but to hear it in Fluttershy's voice tore at her deeply. The fear overtook her, and she panicked. Rainbow Dash dropped down on the floor, covering her ears.

  And then everything went black.