Prologue: Dreaming of beasts
Prologue: Dreaming of beasts
Rainbow Dash hummed a small but catchy tune as she flew home from a long day of helping out at the factory, providing delicate and fluffy clouds for pegasi to sink in to. She was content and at peace, savouring the crisp air as it intermingled with her relaxed attitude. The song she was humming came to a sudden and abrupt stop as Rainbow Dash tried to remember what came next. Come to think of it, the pegasus couldn't remember exactly where she'd picked the sweet melody up from but she eventually gave up and started from the beginning. She hummed once more and let the song trail off and then begin from the start.
She surveyed the streets of Ponyville idly, eyes flicking in a lazy pattern from one pony to the next. She waved to some she was acquainted with like Lyra Heartstring and called out greetings to those she knew well. "Heya Scoots! Keep up with that special talent, okay?"
"Hi Dinks! Tell your Mom I liked those muffins she gave me. They were the best!"
She grinned as she was met with pleased smiles. Nothing like a relaxing fly home. The sincerity of the world around her was nice; autumn colours blending nicely together to create a nice atmosphere for all of Equestria. A leaf delicately fell from a tree and was blown upwards by a gust of wind. It brushed against Rainbow Dash, causing her to jump slightly out of her relaxed stupor. She watched it twirl to the ground and the sudden desire to find someone named Russel hit her, implanting itself within her mind. Rainbow Dash's nose scrunched up in confusion. Who the hay was Russel? Rustling Leaves, perhaps? Then again, Rainbow hadn't heard from him since Flight School Graduation Day. The desire quickly faded and Rainbow Dash shrugged it off as her brain needing her to rest. She was quite sleepy. Rainbow continued to fly home, deciding that she'd just rest and not fret to Twilight about it.
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Later that night, Rainbow Dash found herself plummeting in to a peculiar dream. A hoard of voices all cheered a name that sounded foreign to her ears. Blight, was it? Suddenly a pair of blue eyes appeared before her with a voice screeching "Heya Blythe! What's up? Wanna see my latest creation?"
"Wha..?" Rainbow could only stutter. She half expected the eyes to belong to Pinkie Pie except they were too small and the voice they belonged to hadn't called her Dashie. They'd called her that weird name. The thing before her laughed as it was propelled forward and faded like a ghostly vision. The laugh sounded demonic and echoed, tarnishing the sweetness that had begun in it. The mare stood definitely, glaring at whatever else lurked in the darkness. "Who's there? Show yourself!" She demanded. There was a wheezy chuckle.
"All in good time, Miss Dash." A voice whispered before more eyes rose up and angry chatter buzzed angrily around her. Rainbow Dash found herself being swarmed by dark energy that pinned her down. The many pairs of eyes morphed in to one gigantic pair that had glowing crimson irises. A snout prodded in to her face as razor sharp teeth snapped at her as the face came closer. The teeth were about to pierce her flesh as –
The mare screamed as the dream shattered before her. Rainbow Dash bolted upright in her bed, sweat pooling off her brow and shaking body. Her heart thrashed loudly against her chest- desperately trying to escape the spooked pegasus it inhabited- and her lungs wheezed whilst they tried to match the pace the mare was choking down oxygen. She closed her eyes and let the majority of her fear shudder out of her like a brief chill. Her eyes opened and stared up at the celling. Resting herself back down, Rainbow Dash whispered "It was just a dream, it was just a dream." over and over again to herself like a pattern of doubt.
This hadn't been the first time a dream like this had happened. Over the course of the month, Rainbow Dash had been experiencing dreams of creatures that wailed a name that sounded alien. Then the beast came to devour her. Tonight, the beast had been extremely close to her. The mare swallowed at the memory of its teeth. The teeth that had almost caught her. The teeth that had glinted quietly now shone like a fresh pair of fresh pair of knives. The knives that…
She closed her eyes and tried to reassure herself again. "It was just a dream. It was just a dream. It was just a dream…"
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Rainbow Dash zoomed through Ponyville; she needed Twilight now. There was no way she was going to suffer through these nightmares. They had to be more than just dreams. There was something surreal about them. Spotting the glittering castle, Rainbow Dash almost crashed with how desperate she was to get in. She landed with a skid and banged frantically on the door. "Twilight, Twilight!" she cried in a quiet voice, trying not to panic aloud. A light flickered on. A few moments later, an incredibly annoyed Twilight Sparkle opened the door to a grovelling Rainbow Dash. "You've gotta help me!" the usually tough mare pleaded, eyes darting frantically in paranoia. Twilight rubbed her eyes.
"Rainbow Dash, what could you possibly want this time of night?" she asked tiredly.
"You don't understand Twilight! It's urgent!"
Twilight sighed. "Alright. Come on in and tell me what's wrong. If this turns out to be one of your late night pranks, I'm going to kick your flank out of the door faster than you can fly." The princess gave her friend a warning look to which Rainbow Dash shook her head vigorously against.
"I swear on my wings that this is something serious..." Rainbow Dash replied as Twilight closed the door gently with her magic. Twilight sat and waited for her friend's explanation. The pegasus licked her dry lips nervously before she spoke. "I keep having these weird dreams and i-"
Twilight gave a small giggle. "Nightmares? That's what's gotten your feathers in a flurry? Honestly, Rainbow Dash, there's nothing to be scared of. After all, they're –"
"-just dreams. I know but I think they might be more than that. You see, they keep having things that keep repeating themselves like these creatures or something that keep calling me this weird name and there's this thing that keeps coming to eat me and…" Rainbow Dash broke out in to heavy panting as she pictured the monster that lurked within her subconscious. Twilight hugged her friend quickly as the mare began to quiver. Rainbow Dash hugged back.
"I'm sure it's really nothing to worry about. Although, the way you described things repeating themselves is very strange. It's best just to check and make sure." Twilight reasoned. Rainbow Dash could only nod as she followed Twilight.
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Twilight led Rainbow to a library labelled 'Psychology' to which the pegasus stared at, awe-filled. "How can there be an entire library for this stuff?!" Rainbow exclaimed, unable to imagine what they could find. Twilight laughed.
"It's an incredibly broad topic, Rainbow. There's bound to be thousands of books on it."
"We're not gonna have to read through all of those thousands, are we?" Rainbow whined. Twilight shook her head.
"Only a few. I remember a few titles that I need to refresh myself on…" With these words, Twilight pulled a book off of a shelf and flipped through it. Rainbow slowly grabbed one and turned through it, puzzled by its content. "Oh, that's the 'Advanced study of Psychology'. Here, read this one." Twilight swapped books with Rainbow Dash and together the pair began to shift through information.
An hour and three mass piles of books later, Twilight yelled "AHA!" as she viewed a page in a thick volume entitled "Psychology for inspiring psychologists". Rainbow Dash flew to Twilight's side and peered over her shoulder. "Here it is! To understand the dreams of your client, you must ask them questions about them and refer to their meanings."
Rainbow Dash frowned as she asked "So you just need to ask me questions and explain my dreams then they'll stop?" Twilight nodded.
"That's the gist of it, yes. Are you willing to go through with that?"
"If it'll stop those nightmares then I'm prepared for anything. After all, we've saved Equestria loads of times so this should be a piece of cake, right?" Rainbow Dash's face lit up in a smirk as she settled herself down on the ground.
"In that case, we'll begin now…"
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"Does the monster look similar to the previous monsters we have faced?" Twilight questioned as she looked up from her notes. Rainbow thought for a moment. She gulped down the bile that rose in her throat. "N-not really. I can't see it clearly. Only the eyes and the teeth…"
"Uh-huh, uh-huh. Do the voices resemble anyone you know?" Twilight scribbled rapidly as she wrote down Rainbow Dash's answers.
"Nope. They sound kinda similar though." There was pause and then Rainbow added "Twilight, I don't think just talking about it is gonna work..." Twilight put down her notepad and pencil and looked at the forlorn mare before her.
"Are you sure? Some of the answers you've given could be explained…"
"Yeah. Thanks for trying though…"
Rainbow Dash got up and was about leave when Twilight called out "Wait!" Rainbow Dash turned back around with an eyebrow raised in confusion.
"The book talks about a spell that causes the pony experiencing unnatural experiences within their dreams to be able to view them consciously and get rid of the source of the trouble. " Rainbow Dash thought for a moment before replying.
"Alright. Go for it."
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Chapter 1: Through another's eyes
Chapter 1: Through another's eyes
Now then, Rainbow Dash, this may feel odd at first with a light pain but once the dream starts it'll go away. From there, we'll decipher why you're having these bizarre dreams. Are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this?" Twilight paused her anxious pacing to look towards Rainbow Dash with a concerned and questioning look. Rainbow nodded. Although she didn't show it, she was relieved to finally be overcoming the dreams that had been dragging her down lately. "I'm sure Twilight."
The alicorn sighed before grinning reassuringly at Rainbow. "In that case, stand back. This spell will take a lot of energy and time to get going..." Twilight closed her eyes and her horn lit up in a pinkish-violet colour and sparked with magical energy. Face screwed up in concentration, Twilight pictured the outcome she wanted and Rainbow Dash was enveloped in a tornado of Twilight's magic, slowly being lifted off the ground. The pegasus suddenly felt a searing pain scorching within her brain like a raging inferno. Rainbow Dash yelled as she clutched her head. "Are you alright?" Twilight called; the spell faltered a little.
"I'm f-fine! Just. Keep. Going!" Rainbow pleaded, her eyes watering from the pain . Courageously, she withstood her ground, desperate to fix her dreams. She would be glad to finally be back to normal or at least well enough to not worry about what she'd have to face in her dreams through out the night.
Twilight complied with her friend's request, pushing herself further. The strain that she was pushing against started to crumble before at least give way and finish the spell. Twilight grinned widely as the last bits of magic she'd used for the spell faded in to small particles of glitter and fell to the floor, sweeping the air as they burst. However, her friend was still struggling and floating. Twilight frowned, puzzled by the fact that the spell was slightly delaying itself. She flipped through the pages that explained it telling Rainbow to "Hold on as best you can. I'm just looking at the side effects..." Twilight dropped the book, now in a panic, as Rainbow screamed out in agony.
"Twilight, I-" The mare pleaded before she was struck down by the burning sensation that encased her mind. Her pupils constricted and her eyes glowed a pure white colour. Twilight flicked quickly though book after book, now frightened of the spell she had casted. "There's gotta be an counter spell somewhere in these books. Where is it? Where is it?" She cried, now chucking volumes aside and levitating multiple books at once.
Suddenly, an angry scream broke out. Twlight looked at Rainbow Dash to see the magic appearing to choke her. Rainbow felt her soul being ripped from her body and yanked out by some greater force. The mare flopped ungracefully to the ground with a loud smack. The eyes closed and the movement stopped.
Unseen and unheard, Rainbow Dash, in the form of a soul, hovered around Twilight. She called out to her but she soon realised she'd get know response . Twilight was cradling the body and was whispering "Rainbow Dash, please be okay. C'mon..." The princess looked so heartbroken at the thought she'd lost one of her best friends and it made Rainbow reach desperately out to Twilight but was ripped away in a backwards motion.
As she passed through Ponyville, Rainbow Dash saw ponies begin to awaken as the sun rised. They were so innocently and blissfully unaware of the events that had taken place inside the castle throughout the last hours of Luna's night. The force roughly dragged Rainbow's soul upwards and towards the tip of the sky, reaching towards the sun. She cried out, expecting to by burnt before releasing she was without a vessel.
Rainbow Dash watched as everything got smaller and smaller until she was just drifting in space itself, almost drowning in the darkness. Suddenly, there was a sucking sound and Rainbow saw a swirling mass of colours, twisting violently. She tried to kick against the force that held her to no avail. With one last cry, she plunged in to the vortex and was whisked through colours.
They blurred together until they became a bright light. Rainbow Dash felt herself falling deeper and deeper in to the light until it got to bright and the light went out.
Muffled pieces of sound buzzed together and images blurred ahead of Rainbow, lightly dimmed. Suddenly the beast that haunted her dreams pounced, scattering the vauge outlines of pictures like they were pieces of dust complied together. Its eyes were hungry and its mouth was snapping viciously. Rainbow couldn't move as it dawned closer and closer to her. A breathless voice cackled. "Look at where your impatient nature has gotten you, Miss Dash. Foolishness is the price to pay for it."
A burning sensation broke out as the beast froze mid-strike - face twisted horribly in anger but still unreadable in the darkness - and Rainbow felt light crack through the darkness as it would if she was awakening from a dream. The light burned and Rainbow felt herself drift out in to the dark again, mute and unvoicing her screams of terror.
Darkness was the first thing Rainbow saw ; people talking echoed throughout the room. Deciding to open her eyes, she was met with a blur of visions that were too quick for her to see. Snapping her eyes shut, Rainbow Dash realised that the visions had stopped but the voices hadn't. Tentatively, Rainbow opened her eyes to a peculiar place with wide windows and various pet items. A pet shop?
Sitting up, she was surprised to see many multicoloured pets before her, looking worried. "BLYTHE!" They all yelled, causing Rainbow's jaw to drop. They all clambered on to her, hugging tightly. Rainbow screamed and they all leapt off looking scared and puzzled at the same time.
"What's the matter?" A hedgehog began and Rainbow flinched.
"H-how are you doing that?" She whimpered. The hedgehog looked hurt, moving towards Rainbow Dash.
"What do you mean, Blythe? Doing what?"
"Russel, do you think maybe she's broken again?" A pink monkey piped up in concern, running over.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Rainbow Dash cried, squeezing her eyes shut and turning away.
"Woah! Blythe must have hit her head harder than we thought! She's caught ambrosia!" A gecko exclaimed, walking up to the hedgehog and monkey.
"Do you mean amnesia?" The hedgehog corrected flatly. The gecko face lit up in a grin, nodding.
Rainbow Dash tentatively opened her eyes. All the animals were all screamed again and scrambled backwards. She looked behind her to see how far her
could go before she could fly away and panicked as she saw no wings and no hooves. WHAT?! "Where? What? My.. My wings..." She whimpered. Her head snapped back to the creatures advancing towards her and she glared sharply at them.
"Listen here, I don't know what you did to me and how you took away my wings but if you don't change me back, right now I'll... I'll..." Rainbow faltered for a moment, biting the new lips she had suddenly been forced to have. Her eyes darted around the room and watched as the pets' (that's what Rainbow Dash assumed that was what they were) faces looked distraught and scared, eyes glistening with emotions. She couldn't threaten them...
No! They could have been pretending so they could get to her, a thought that unnerved Rainbow Dash. Sighing, she looked at the pets. "Listen, I'm sure you don't want any trouble and quite frankly, neither do I so if you don't mind changing whatever you did then I'll leave you alone..."
A panda let tears flow from her eyes in streams staining her fur. "B-but Blythe, I-I-I thought y-you were our... our... friend!" She wailed loudly. The pets darted to her aid.
"There, there Penny Ling. It'll be alright! What about I tell ya a joke?" The grey skunk beamed at her Ling shook her head.
"No -HIC- thanks Pepper. It'll take more than -HIC- jokes to make me better..."
Rainbow rubbed her eyes, bewildered at how they were all conveying speech as if they'd been born with it. Suddenly, Pepper - the skunk- was up in Rainbow's face, glaring intently with the other pets, minus Penny Ling, glaring behind her in Rainbow's direction. "Listen here Blythe. I don't know what's gotten into you just now but I don't like it! So, I suggest you clean up the act otherwise I'll clear the room!" With these words, Pepper stuck her rear end in to Rainbow's face, causing her to cringe.
"Would ya back off?! I kinda don't want a butt in my face.."
The pink monkey spoke again. "Leave her alone Pepper. It's obvious Blythe had a bad day and so she's tired. Her mind is starting to make her funny and not in the good kind..." The hard glare had melted ages ago and was replaced by gentle shimmering of pity perhaps?
"Alright Minka. I'm still keeping an eye on you..." Pepper threatened,leaning in close to Rainbow, face first and finger firmly pointed. The others watched as Pepper ascended from the lap with her tail still stuck up rigidly in disgust.
Eyes sharply staring, the pets walked away taking their thoughts with them to be discussed. Minka turned back and waved goodbye before being yanked away by the hedgehog. Rainbow pulled her head down and clamed her eyes shut. "This is just a dream, this is just a dream..." She repeated, fumbling on words in nervousness.
"Blythe, honey, are you okay?" A male voice asked and Rainbow Dash was even more surprised to see a weird creature with peach coloured skin and on two legs! Gawking at the thing before her, she tried to stand on four legs until realizing she could not. Her gaze was fixed upon the claw like things where her hooves should have been and she was shaking. "Awh, Blythy - Shmoo, I think you've been working yourself silly these past few days with these pets! C'mon, I'll carry you upstairs so you can get some rest..." Scooping Rainbow Dash up, the thing started to care her out of the daycare and past the shop to some stairs.
"But I...-" Rainbow protested.
"Mrs T won't mind. You need a rest." After opening up a door, the creature placed her down on a bed. He kissed Rainbow's forehead, confusing her even more. "Get some rest Blythe. See ya soon!" The creature walked away,humming a little tune as he closed the door.
Rainbow peered at her new surroundings. The walls were blue but were decorated with designs Rarity would have envied to make ; the floor was the same blue yet looked softer ; there was a mirror too in which a creature like the one that carried her here stared back, blinking with the same surprise. "Is that... Me?" She managed to whisper, stumbling to get words out of shock. The skin was lighter as were the eyes and her chocolate brown hair was in two plaits. Rainbow undid the plaits, finding them too girly, before running the claw things through her hair. It was soft but some bits were knotted and made her claws snag. She sighed, giving up. The attire was new to her too : a blue top with a pair of black leggings and a black skirt. There were black boots too but they had flowers on so Rainbow didn't really like them much.
Wondering how she could have become this, Rainbow rolled over and looked up at the blank ceiling, missing her cloud one. Her thoughts pounded, screaming suggestions at her. "It was those animals and that.. Thing. They did this to me."
"Twilight's spell might have gone wrong. She did try and undo it."
"Maybe Discord is messing with me and this is some prank of his." Rainbow closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift to her home, picturing the cloud house with the cloud bed and cloud furniture. She imagined her friends all laughing with her and their pets played around them. Tank flew higher and higher, trying to reach her. Then, the dream darkened as her friends grew distraught and Rainbow faded away. Pinkie was sobbing loudly ad her mane deflated ; Rarity ate tubs of ice cream and lounged on her fainting couch; Fluttershy cried inside her house and never left; Applejack tried to comfort everyone but was unsure if her words were true. As for Twilight, she lost sleep as she tried to get Rainbow back.
Rainbow awoke and hugged herself, seeking comfort in the only one present. A few stray tears escaped her eyes as she mumbled "What happened to me?"
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