A Dash of Friendship

Chapters

Prologue
A Smidge of Trouble
A Speck of Jealousy
A Pinch of Danger

Prologue

The wind whipped through the cyan pegasus' mane, causing the multi-coloured hair follicles to trail behind her in the air. Her wings flapped ferociously, causing her speed to increase exponentially, creating a kaleidoscope of rainbow light to trail behind her. She smashed through clouds, which dissipated instantly on impact as she continued her daily routine of clearing the sky for everypony below.

"Faster, faster! I need to finish this quicker!" Rainbow Dash yelled with excitement, barely able to contain her enthusiasm as she began flying quicker, smashing through numerous more clouds that stood between her and her desires. "This is gonna be so… awesome!" She span around and kicked the final, large fluffy cloud in front of her with her back hoof and cheered when she realized that her job was finally over.

She turned tail and sped as fast as she could over to the familiar tree which served as both the library of ponyville yet also the abode for a certain violet Alicorn known simply as Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow, going way too fast for her own good, was unable to slow her decent when she saw the tree and crashed through the circular window in the top floor. The glass shattered into thousands of tiny pieces which peppered the air. The splintered shards littered the carpet and covered Rainbow from head to toe, causing small cuts and blood to come oozing out.

"Rainbow! Oh my Celestia, what happened to you?" Twilight asked, concern and worry floating on her words as she rushed into the room.

"He, he, oh, that. My bad. I guess I just don't know how super-fast I can get some times," she grinned, rubbing the back of her neck with her hoof.

"What if you missed the window?" Twilight asked, her mind running wild. "And then what if you smashed into the tree? And then you might have gotten knocked out! And what if I wasn't here to help you? And you were unconscious and bleeding and then nopony would know where you were and what if…"

"Twi, stop," Rainbow shouted, cutting through Twilight's ramblings. She stopped blabbering and tried to control her rapid breathing, taking long, deep breaths to calm herself. "I'm alright, everything is okay," Rainbow smiled. A small smile crept onto the alicorn's face as she blushed crimson, apologizing to the cyan Pegasus. She concentrated, a magenta colour illuminating from her horn as the glass shrapnel that stuck into Rainbow were each expertly pulled out of her and fell to the floor with a crash. She then focused her attention on bandages which hovered through the air and were placed over the open cuts.

"Thanks, Twi. I don't know what I would do without you," Rainbow grinned sheepishly. Twilight tried to contain the blush that began to appear on her face again.

"It was nothing, really. So what brings you here, Rainbow?" Twilight asked, changing the subject.

"The new Daring Do book is out today and I thought we could… maybe… y'know… read it together?" Dash asked, getting slightly nervous towards the end of her questions.

"Sure thing," Twilight confirmed. "Let me just go find it first," she trotted off into the next room.

"This is gonna be so awesome!" Rainbow squealed in delight, doing a summer sault in midair. "I wonder what adventures she will have this time!"

The bell for Canterlot high rang out through the air, signaling the end of the school day. All the students waved goodbye to each other, returning to their homes for the weekend.

"I'll see you at Rainbow Dash's place at about 8, darling," Rarity spoked into her phone before pressing the hang up button with her index finger. 'Now I need to figure out what I'm going to wear for the sleepover tonight,' she thought to herself excitedly. Thinking about the different assortments of dresses, each with specific colours and adorned with a multitude of accessories always made Rarity feel overjoyed.

"Hey Rarity, got a second?" A boy with blue, spikey hair and a guitar strapped over his back ran up to her, waving. He stopped beside her in front of the wondercolt statue outside the front of the school.

"Oh, hello Flash. What can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering if you… heard any word from Twilight recently," he asked, running his hands through his hair to starve off the embarrassment that he was feeling.

"I'm sorry darling but I haven't hear from our dear friend since she left after the battle of the bands. I'm terribly sorry," Rarity admitted.

"Oh, that's okay."

"I'll see you around, I simply must go and get ready for tonight. Goodbye," she waved as she ran off in the opposite direction.

Flash turned to face the statue, looking into the side of it where the portal to Equestria normally inhabits, wishing that Twilight would come see him again. He missed her very much. Suddenly, as if his prayers were answered, the side of the statue began to shine. The stone used to carve the wondercolt standing above the slab began to ripple and a white light, followed by a billowing misty hand started to emerge from the portal.

"Twilight? Is that y-" Flash was cut off when the white light wrapped around his ankle and pulled him to the ground. It began receding back into the statue at a fast pace, pulling Flash through the portal. He began to flail his arms and legs wildly, searching around for anything that he could grab.

As his legs and body began to be dragged through the portal, he wrapped his fingers around the side of the statue, gripping the corner tightly and began pulling against the strange essence that was trying so desperately to pull him through the portal. Another white mist in the shape of a hand emerged and engulfed his hand, causing a strange heat to fall across his skin, burning him. He screamed in pain as his searing and sizzling fingers were forced to unfurl from the immense pain and the rest of his body was pulled through the statue.

"Twilight, help!" he managed to scream before his whole body was completely sucked through the portal, leaving not a trace of him, or the impact that there was ever a struggle in the first place.

Author's Note

Sorry that it was kind of short but it is simply a prologue to introduce you to the main characters (Bar Fluttershy) and get the main plot started. The other chapters will be longer and have more meat to them. Please comment and let me know what you thought about the start. Did I write the characters well? Were they believable? Were they in character?

Thanks in advance - TwoTailedFox

A Smidge of Trouble

“And that’s when the lady started to change. Replacing her pearly whites were monstrous fangs. Her well-groomed hair grew long, beginning to cover her whole body as it’s pristine blue colouring was covered in a black as dark as tar, developing severe split ends!”

“Not split ends!” Rarity screamed in fear, her over dramatization of Rainbow’s story causing an annoyed frown to show itself over Rainbow’s face.

“Ahem. Can I finish?” Rainbow asked, glaring at Rarity.

“Oh, of course,” Rarity responded, closing her eyes and swiveling her head as to not be seen by Rainbow, trying to mask the embarrassment that she felt. She lifted her hand up to her hair, fluffing it back into place, as was the pale girl’s habit as of late.

“Anyway,” Rainbow Dash began, a hint of annoyance still floating with each word before it fully dissipated away when the cyan girl continued to get more and more caught up and enthralled by the story she was spewing. “The werewolf stalked the young, innocent girl down the street…”

Fluttershy hid under the bed, cowering in fear as Rainbow continued her story, adopting a sinister tone to convey the malice of her tale. The yellow skinned girl covered her eyes with her hands, visibly shaking in fear as she silently begged for the story to be over.

“And that’s when, after it finally finished devouring its last prey, the werewolf slowly skulked back into woods. However, some say it is still out there today. Silently running down the streets, targeting urban houses with the lights on late into the night. Just… like… this one!” Rainbow Dash quickly jumped up, shouting loudly and flailing her hands above her head, intent on scaring the living daylights out of her two friends that were spending the night with her.

Rarity and Fluttershy joined together in a chorus of shouts and screams that would rival the intensity of a thousand screeching chimpanzees in the jungle. Rainbow Dash fell over onto her back, holding her sides tightly as she tried to sedate the pain that she felt in her sides from the large quantities of immeasurable laughter that was escaping her mouth. Tears of joy flowed freely from her ducts as she rolled around on her back.

“Y…you should have s…seen the look on you faces,” she managed to say between fits of laughter.

“That wasn’t very funny,” Fluttershy piped up after her bunny managed to calm her nerves a little by hopping into her lap.

“You’re right, you’re right. It wasn’t funny,” Rainbow admitted, gaining some composure as she sat up. “It was hilarious!” She couldn’t stop the giggles from escaping her mouth and she fell back down into hysterical laughter for the second time.

“Well, that’s quite enough of that for one night,” Rarity said, dusting off Rainbow’s spit from her expensive pajama bottoms. “I think we have tortured poor Fluttershy enough for one night.”

“C…can we just, maybe, talk about something else. You know, if it's okay with both of you,” Fluttershy asked sheepishly, still cowering behind her long, pink hair that was expertly styled to allow her to hide her face behind her long, flowing locks.

“I think that is a marvelous idea, darling,” Rarity agreed, smiling warmly at the girl.

“Whatever,” Rainbow agreed finally, pouting slightly as she blew a bit of air from her mouth up her face, causing her Rainbow coloured hair to shift to the side due to the wind current. “What about, Shy?”

“um… okay… I wonder when Twilight will return again. I heard…” Fluttershy trailed off when Rainbow suddenly interrupted her.

“Why? Did she say she was returning? Did Sunset get a response from her freaky book thingy?” Her features perked up and her mood improved. She seemed incredibly excited at the thought of their violet Alicorn princess turned high school student friend to return to them so soon.

“Somebody seems a little too enthused for a return from our Twilight,” Rarity teased, noticing the sudden change in tone of voice and body language from the normal cool Rainbow.

“Psh, as if,” Rainbow scoffed, raising a hand to Rarity and waving her notion away as quick as it came up. Rarity refused to back down, enjoying watching Rainbow get flustered as much as all her other friends. Although they all considered Rainbow their best friend, they could all admit that her obnoxious, arrogant personality.

“I think you were a little too sad to see her leave last time. The hug you two shared lingered on a little too long if you ask me,” Rarity smirked.

“Well nobody did ask you. And we are just friends, that’s all. I can’t help if Twilight hugged me longer than any of you. She must just miss me more than any of you,” Rainbow beamed, puffing out her chest. Rarity rolled her eyes sarcastically at that remark.

“Well maybe I won’t tell you the secret message that Twilight asked me to give to you,” Rarity mentioned, pretending to turn her attention to elsewhere although she was watching how Rainbow would respond with determined eyes.

“What is it? What did she say?” Rainbow asked quickly, her face perking up again as she sat up and crawled over to Rarity.
“Ha, caught you,” Rarity gloated, poking Rainbow’s chest with her finger.

“Nah-uh,” Rainbow shook her head in response. Fluttershy’s spirits slowly lowered further and further throughout the whole display. Although she wasn’t quite sure why, she couldn’t watch Rarity torment Rainbow any further, and especially not about liking Twilight. She decided that she had to speak up and end this.

“Um… can we… maybe… talk about something else, if you want that is,” Fluttershy sighed, slowly losing a demanding tone throughout her sentence until it came out as a shy question which was the very reason why most of the students at Canterlot high stepped all over the shy girl.

“Whatever, I’m going to bed,” Rainbow responded stubbornly, rolling over in her mattress and dragging the covers over her head, obscuring Fluttershy’s view of the girl.

“Same here,” Rarity scoffed, mimicking Rainbow’s actions.

‘At least they stopped talking about Rainbow liking Twilight,’ Fluttershy sighed to herself before crawling into her bed and snuggling under the covers herself. “Goodnight,” she squeaked but when she wasn’t met with a reply, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Sunset Shimmer walked from student to student down the halls, asking the same question to each of them and getting the same, confused answer.

‘This is useless,’ she sighed to herself, placing the palm of her hand over her face and letting it run down her features. ‘Nobody knows a thing about where Flash is.’ She thought harder about her conundrum. A student doesn’t just go missing into thin air all of a sudden. Sunset was convinced that Equestrian magic was involved, just like it always was. She rolled her eyes, a small smile crossing her face as she thought this.

Suddenly, her something in her mind clicked as she raced down the winding hallways, heading to her locker. Her red and orange tinged hair danced behind her in the wind, swaying much like a crackling fire. She screeched to a stop in front of her locker and frantically searched the confines, not stopping until she pulled out a small journal with a blazing sun plastered on the front of it.

‘I’ll just write a note to Princess Twilight and she can help me solve this,’ her mind decided as she picked up a pen and began scribbling a quick letter in the pages of the book that would inevitably appear in a similar book back in Twilight’s castle.

“Hey Sunset, what ah ya doing?” A rustic voice asked from behind her. Sunset swiveled her head to see a confused, blonde haired girl wearing a denim skirt and long boots behind her.

“Oh, hey Apple Jack, just writing a note to Twilight.”

“What went wrong this time?” Apple Jack asked curiously.

As Sunset began to recount the events of the morning, stressing that not a single soul had heard, let alone seen, Flash since yesterday afternoon. Just as she was finishing her story, a pink haired girl bounded around the corner.

“Hey guys, Whatcha talking about?” Pinkie asked enthusiastically.

“Flash went missin’ and we need ya help,” Apple Jack replied. “I’m gonna text the girls to come over to help us,” she finished.

“Don’t worry silly, I already text them all 37 times while you told me what was happening,” Pinkie smiled. Apple Jack and Sunset Shimmer looked at each other, confused before Sunset shrugged her shoulders. Although it seemed improbable that anybody would be able to do things so quickly, they learnt not to question Pinkie.

“Hey A.J and Sunset, I got Pinkie’s message. What do you need me for?” Rainbow asked, sprinting through the school doors, sweat pouring down her face.

“Oh, hey Rainbow. It’s not that important,” Sunset admitted, running a hand through her fiery hair.

“Are you kidding me? Pinkie said it was urgent! I got out of bed early for this!” Rainbow complained.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up. We just had an issue that we need to solve.”

“A magical issue,” Pinkie added helpfully, putting emphasis on the word magical whilst waving her individual fingers through the air to symbolize the whimsy behind it.

“I’m going to remember this next time I have something that is ‘urgent’,” Rainbow muttered, annoyed, acting out the air quotes around the word urgent. Sunset wanted to ask more and apologize again but their other friends turned up and she decided to turn her attention back to the problem at hand.

“I’m glad you’re all here. I need your help,” Sunset began.

“We’re your friends, sugarcube, we're always here to help,” Apple Jack smiled in reply. Sunset walked past the group of friends, making her way down the stone steps of the school and into the yard. Her flat soled shoes crunched on the individual blades of grass that danced about in the morning breeze. The girl’s shoes absorbing the dew drops that were created from the cold temperatures brought upon by the moon. Sunset traced her finger along the statue, stopping at the frame that faced the school. She placed the palm of her hand against the cold stone as the heat that she emitted was dissipated from her due to the greedy pull of the sculpture. Small ripples began to appear on the surface, much like how ripples of water occur after a delicate leaf is blown from its branch by a powerful wind and had floated down to land upon the unbroken surface of a lake.

“This was where he was last seen. Do you think he was taken through the portal?” Sunset asked to nobody in particular. As if the inanimate object towering above her had heard her calls, something began to stir inside the portal.

All the girls looked on eagerly, sparkles in their eyes not dissimilar to the symbol that adorned the backside of a certain violet alicorn. However, their enthusiasm turned to horror when a hand, a ghostly shade of white appeared from the portal, wrapping itself around the midriff of Sunset instead of Twilight emerged. The colour drained from Sunset’s face, being replaced by a pale white identical to that of the hand. Fear pumped through her system, releasing adrenaline through her veins that traveled around inside of her.

Sunset immediately reached out her hand, pleading for her friends to help her. It was Rainbow, always the alert one in the group, that leaped into action before the seriousness of the situation had fully been absorbed by the others. Cyan met orange as Rainbow clasped her hand around Sunset’s. She steadied her stance, pushing with all her force onto the soles of her shoes so that she wasn’t also pulled into the portal by the fantastical force.

Rainbow heaved with all her might. She was in the middle of the most intense game of tug of war with the hand of a phantom in which the prize was the life of Sunset.

“Guys… a little… help here,” Rainbow grunted, refusing to loosen her grip on the panicking girl in front of her. Apple Jack, followed by Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy all wrapped their arms around Rainbow’s waist and began to pull, adding their force to that of Rainbow’s.

Slowly, Sunset inched further and further away from the statue. Finally when her leg had completely emerged from the portal did the hand give up its attack and retreat back into the mysterious realm on the other side of the portal. With the sudden lack of opposite momentum, the girls all fell backwards suddenly, taking Sunset with them. They all landed in a heap on the lawn, laughing from sheer relief.

“Get off of me, Sunset,” Rainbow yelled happily, pushing the flaming haired girl off of her. Sunset turned and immediately gave all of them a great bit hug, thanking them for their help. Little did they know that, whilst focused on making sure Sunset was alright, the misty white hand had begun to emerge from within the portal again.

With little warning the hand seized Sunset for the second time, taking all six of the females completely off guard, and wrenched her off of her feet. Rainbow dived forward, trying to grab ahold of Sunset’s boots but she missed by a nose, watching in horror as the hand pulled Sunset into the portal.

Just as the last finger of Sunset began to get swallowed up to the statue, a bright light emanated from the portal, bathing the surroundings in a heavenly glow. Rainbow rubbed her eyes, trying to gain the ability to see again after the burning light seared her retinas. When she finally was able to open her eyelids without pain, she noticed the blurry silhouette of two girls standing before her. As her sight adjusted and the hazy images began to focus, she noticed Sunset, standing on the grass beside her without a single scratch. And next to her, standing in all her glory, was Twilight Sparkle.

“Twilight!” Rainbow cheered with joy, rushing over to the violet skinned girl and picking her up in her arms, twirling her around in the air with a big smile on her face.

“H…hey Rainbow. Nice to see you…too,” Twilight managed to say, confused by the sudden outburst. Rainbow Dash, realizing what she was doing, quickly put Twilight down and rubbed the back of her neck, fighting off the encroaching blush that threatened to cover her cheeks.

“Heh, heh, sorry Twi. It’s… been a while,” Rainbow muttered, laughing allowed to dispel the embarrassment. Although all the other girls seemed extremely happy, each running up to greet Twilight for themselves, one pouted silently, feeling a sudden emotion that she had never felt before.

Fluttershy watched on, letting this emotion consume her as she viewed Rainbow Dash twirling around Twilight, beaming with joy from just seeing her again. Fluttershy gasped silently to herself when she realized what was happening. Although she had no clue why she was feeling this way, she did know that she was feeling an emotion she had never experienced before. Resentment. She resented Twilight.

Author's Note

Thanks for all the favourites and likes, i'm glad you're enjoying the story :)

A Speck of Jealousy

Chapter 2
A Speck of Jealousy

Twilight greeted all of her friends one by one. First, it was Sunset who rushed up to her, thanking her for the save. Pinkie rushed up to her, bounding on top of her and knocking the violet female over. Her hug was so tight that it could break a steel pole clean in two. Twilight coughed, struggling to breathe but her windpipe was consumed that she couldn’t speak up to let Pinkie know that she was being strangled to death.

“Pinkie, ah think that you’re killing the poor girl. Maybe you should let her go a bit,” Apple Jack added.

“Oopsie poopsie,” Pinkie laughed, jumping off of Twilight.

“You alright, sugarcube?” A.J asked, lending her outstretched hand to Twilight who slipped her hand in A.J’s with thanks, getting lifted off the ground by the farm girl’s strength.

“Yeah, thanks Apple Jack,” Twilight thanked, brushing the dust off of her skirt.

“Darling that just won’t do,” Rarity shrieked, shoving Apple Jack off to the side and whipped out her portable kit that she keeps on her in her backpack at all times. She quickly pulled out some hairspray, letting the cloud of toxins and CFC’s spray out of the nozzle and settle in Twilight’s hair. Rarity grabbed out her comb and allowed it to slide through her hair, catching up the dirt from the ground and removing the split-ends.

Twilight coughed and wheezed, breathing in the toxins which affected her windpipe, causing her spattering’s. Rainbow saw Twilight’s struggles and spoke up, gaining Rarity’s attention. “She looks perfect now. You really did wonders, Rarity!”

“You really think so? Well, you do look amazing now, darling!” Rarity placed her equipment back into her bag and marveled at her work. Twilight sidestepped around the pale girl and up to Rainbow, wrapping her arms around the cyan skinned girl’s waist.

“Thanks for the help,” Twilight smiled at her. A visible shade of crimson crept its way onto Rainbow’s face as she became visibly flustered.

“I-it was nothing… really,” Rainbow replied, surprising Twilight by her humbleness as she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly with her hand. Fluttershy slowly shrunk further behind her long flowing pink locks, raising the hood of her jumper over her head and pulling on the strings to make the gap grow tighter.

“Are you alright?” Fluttershy heard a voice perk up behind her as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around to see the flame haired girl smiling warmly at her.

“Oh, it’s nothing, really,” Fluttershy lied, mimicking Rainbow but Sunset just nodded in reply, making a mental note to keep an eye out for Fluttershy. Although the small girl wouldn’t admit it, Sunset knew that something was going on and that it had something to do with Rainbow Dash.

“Umm, I don’t mean to be a burden but once again, I don’t have a place to stay tonight. Would it be alright with anypony if I could stay with them?” Twilight asked, not wanting to be a bother but also noting that she didn’t want to have to stay in that cramped library, and especially not when she didn’t have her faithful dragon assistant Spike around with her.

“Ah, Twilight. You know we aren’t in Equestria. We say everyone, not everypony,” Apple Jack laughed, joined in by her other friends. Twilight felt quite embarrassed by all the laughter being directed her way but knew better than to take it personally, knowing that her friends were just making a joke.

“Okay then, would anyone like to host me tonight,” she corrected herself, making sarcastic emphasis on the word one.

“I’ll do it!” Rainbow yelled enthusiastically. When she noticed that all eyes turned to her, surprised by her sudden outburst she quickly deflected the attention. “Heh, heh, I mean… I have a free house and my parents are away tonight so it would be really easy if you just came to stay at mine. Besides, we haven’t got to hang out as much as you and the others.” She finished.

“That sounds fair enough to me,” Rarity chimed in and was met with a mirror of nods from her friends. Although Fluttershy felt a wave of disappointment crash down on her at the thought of Rainbow and Twilight spending the night together, she was too scared to pipe up so just watched as the two began to walk away.

After Rainbow and Twilight disappeared from view, Apple Jack finally perked up, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had been slowly encroaching on the seven friends. “Hey y’all, is anyone free to help me on a cider delivery tonight?”

“I’d be delighted to, darling. A new surrounding would surly encourage some desperately needed inspiration. I can just imagine the new designs that I would come up with now!” Rarity replied excitedly, grabbing Apple Jacks arm and rushing off.

“See y’all ‘round,” A.J called back, waving to her friends as the two girls disappeared into the school.

“I’d love to stay and talk but I Pinkie promised Granny Smith that I would help her get some food ready for school next week,” Pinkie giggled. “And I never, ever break a Pinkie promise,” she added, staring intensely at the two girls, adopting a strangely out of character seriousness about her.

This startled Fluttershy slightly so Sunset decided to intervene to make the poor girl feel a bit more comfortable. “Why are you helping her, Pinkie?”

“To make the food test yumlicious!” Pinkie shouted in glee, bouncing up and down on the spot. “Psst, don’t tell anybody but the secret is little bits of Candy that I’m going to slip into the food,” a mischievous yet innocent grin crossing her face as she spoke. “I’ll see you around,” she cheered as she quickly dived into a nearby bush and out of sight.

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand that girl,” Sunset added after the watched Pinkie scurry around a corner, sticking to the walls similarly to how a burglar would sneak into an off limits area. Fluttershy just nodded sheepishly, her mind still thinking about Twilight and Rainbow.

She only just realized today her true feelings for the Rainbow haired girl and all the small details about her life recently began to fit into place like the final pieces of a puzzle. The extra glances, the feeling of emptiness when she wasn’t with Rainbow and the increased feeling of anxiety when she was around her. It all made sense.

“Sunset to Fluttershy, come in Flutters!” Sunset remarked, waving a hand in front of Fluttershy’s dead panned eyes. She suddenly shook her head, snapping out of her daydream.

“Oh, sorry about that. I just zoned out a bit. What were you saying?” Fluttershy asked, slightly embarrassed.

“Since everyone else is busy, do you mind if I crash the night at your place? We could have a slumber party too seeing as all the others are busy,” Sunset offered, hatching a scheme in her mind to get to the bottom of why Fluttershy seemed so distant recently.

“Um… sure… we can-” but before Fluttershy could finish her through, Sunset linked their arms together and set off to the shy girls house, mentally preparing herself for that night.

…

“Ate dinner, check. Brushed teeth, check. Made pull-out bed, check.” Twilight listed off the things that she had done out loud, placing down her extended fingers one by one as she said the word check.

“Finished the boring checklist, check,” Rainbow teased as she walked into the room but nothing but a white towel rapped around her, barely covering her parts.

“Rainbow, it’s not bor…” Twilight began to interject but was rendered stunned and speechless when she turned to see Rainbow, standing in all her glory. Some remaining water from her wet, damp hair fell off in a small drop and landed on her chest, dissipating instantly.

“What?” Rainbow asked quizzically when she saw Twilight staring at her. “You can stop staring now, Twi,” Rainbow laughed in a slightly arrogant yet playful tone. Twilight closed her mouth, shaking her head as she turned to avoid Rainbow’s gaze, half in embarrassment that she got flustered just by seeing Rainbow in a towel and half to hide the blush that was very visible on her face. She cursed how obvious the red blush was in contrast to her violet skin in this world.

“Maybe you should put some pajamas on?” Twilight asked, still staring at the wall. “I can leave the room if you-”

“Nah it’s alright. I don’t mind if you’re in the room. Just look away at it’s all good,” Rainbow interrupted, slipping off the towel and letting it fall in a crumpled heap on the floor. She reached into her drawers and pulled out some dark blue P.J bottoms with white speckles dotting them and threw on a white t-shirt with red sleeves and a cloud letting a rainbow lighting strike emerge from it on the front, not dissimilar to her Equestrian parallels cutie mark. “You can turn around now,” Rainbow laughed, hopping into her bed and sliding the covers up over her neck, dispelling the cold from her body. It was a freezing cold night that winter evening.

Twilight mirrored Rainbow’s actions by getting in her own bed and wrenching the covers over her delicate figure. “So, how’s it been since the battle of the bands?” Twilight asked, swiveling her body to face Rainbow.

Rainbow did the same, resting her head on her hand. “It’s been pretty boring without you here, honestly,” Rainbow admitted.

“Can’t the brave and strong Rainbow Dash have fun without me?” Twilight responded in a joking tone, mocking the somewhat cocky voice that Rainbow often adopts when talking about her soccer or guitar playing skills.

“What? No, of…of course not. I just mean that, like, whenever you show up we always have magical battles and save the world, y’know?” Rainbow tried to convince Twilight.

“Don’t worry Rainbow, I know what you mean,” Twilight replied reassuringly.

‘No, you don’t know what I mean. That’s not what I meant at all. I really did miss you,’ Rainbow sighed in her head, mentally scouring herself for being a coward.

“So… how have you been?”

“Not bad. We’ve just been playing some gigs around at some bars and party’s and other venues like that. Rarity has been getting a lot more business for her dresses and now has some pretty influential clients. Apple Jack’s cider business have been booming. Sunset is slowly getting a hang of how the magic works in this universe and Fluttershy’s pet sitting business is going alone smoothly. Lastly, Pinkie is… well I don’t really know. It is Pinkie we are talking about,” Rainbow finished, out of breath as she speedily listed off what her friends have been getting up to recently.

“No, Rainbow, it wasn’t. I asked how you have been, not our friends. Although it is nice to know that things have been going so smoothly for them all. That makes me very happy,” she smiled at Rainbow which practically made her melt in her bed. She knew she couldn’t last much longer. Her stupid feelings were making her sound like an idiot in front of Twilight. She had to think of something quick.

“Well, I’m pretty tired,” Rainbow Dash said, yawning a loud, long yawn as she stretched her body. “I think I’m going to hit the hay. Night, Twi.”

“Oh, okay. Goodnight, Rainbow,” Twilight said, turning over and closing her eyes.

‘What was that?! You completely ruined the night you idiot,’ her mind scalded her. Her relentless thoughts tormented her idiocy through the night until the sweet release of sleep finally grabbed hold of her and she drifted off into the land of dreams.

…

Fluttershy pushed the food around on her plate with her fork. She stabbed pits of lettuce and skewered her cherry tomatoes with no intention of ever popping the meal into her mouth. Sunset watched begrudgingly on the other side of the table, trying to piece together in her mind what had happened to cause this sudden change in demeanor of Fluttershy. Sure, she was always timid and shy but ever since Twilight got back, something seemed off.

‘Wait, ever since Twilight got back!’ Sunset’s mind shouted at her, causing her to wince in pain by the thundering voice inside her head. She gripped her head and scrunched up her facial features, mentally shouting at herself to calm down.

“Um… is everything alright? You look in pain,” Fluttershy piped up quietly.

“Huh? Oh, no, it’s alright. Just a bit of a headache,” Sunset beamed back.

“Are you sure? Do you want me to get you anything?”

“No, I’m fine really,” Sunset insisted.

“Okay, but please don’t hesitate to ask. I don’t want to seem like a bad host.”

“Fluttershy, you could never, ever be a bad host,” Sunset confirmed, rounding the table and sitting next to the shy girl, placing her arm around Fluttershy’s shoulders and bringing her in for a quick hug. “But is something bothering you?” she asked quizzically, raising an eyebrow towards the girl.

“N…no, why would you think that?” Fluttershy asked, retreating slightly behind her hair.

“Fluttershy, I have known you for a while now and you are one of my best, if not only, friends. I know when something is bothering you. You know you can talk to me whenever you want,” Sunset smiled warmly again, making some of the anxiety wash away from Fluttershy.

“And you’re sure you won’t tell anybody?” Fluttershy asked again, wanting to make complete sure that Sunset wouldn’t tell anybody.

“I promise that I will never tell a soul what you are about to tell me. You have my word.”

“O…Okay. I… sorta… kinda have a crush on,” Fluttershy squeaked, becoming impossible to hear as her words turned into an inaudible mumble.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.”

“I have a crust on somebody,” Fluttershy said with a bit more directness and confidence.

“I thought as much. Is it of Rainbow?” Sunset asked. Fluttershy’s mouth fell to the floor as it swung, completely agape. She had no idea how Sunset could have known that. Was it that obvious? Did everybody know? Where they talking about her behind her back? All these thoughts and more ran rampant through her mind.

“H…how did you know? If you don’t mind my asking.”

“I saw the way you looked at Rainbow and Twilight whilst hugging and saw how you reacted around them. I assumed it wasn’t Twilight you liked because you hang around with Dash so much that it seemed more likely.”

“Please don’t tell anybody,” Fluttershy pleaded. She wrapped her arms around Sunset’s waist and began letting the tears flow, begging Sunset to keep it a secret.

“Hey, hey, c’mon now, don’t be sad,” Sunset hummed, raising Fluttershy’s face up to her own and wiping away the few stray tears that hadn’t already been absorbed by Sunset’s black, leather jacket with her thumb. “Everything will be okay. I won’t tell anybody that you like Rainbow and I will even help you ask her out on a date.”

“Would you really do that for me?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes growing wide with admiration.

“Of course. I may be new to this whole friendship thing but isn’t that what friends are for?” Sunset laughed, still rubbing Fluttershy’s back. Fluttershy nodded back happily.

“I like the new Sunset much, much more than that old fire breathing demon,” Fluttershy smiled. “No, offense.”

“Yeah, how about we don’t bring that up again,” Sunset blushed.

“No problem, what are friends for?”

“You’re telling me,” Sunset joked. “Now how about we finish eating and then go watch T.V or something.”

…

Fear gripped Rainbow. She felt herself falling, no, plummeting as fast as a speeding comet through space down the endless, dark abyss. There was no air whipping her face and stinging her eyes. There was no light anywhere, just darkness. She could feel nothing, taste nothing and hear nothing. Everything was black. Dark. Empty.

Rainbow tossed and turned in her sleep wildly, flinging blankets and pillows around the room which collided into many objects, causing them to fall over with a loud thud. It was a miracle that nothing broke but what surprised Twilight even more was that not once through her freak out did Rainbow Dash wake up.

Twilight sprung up, alert. Ever since Sunset first stole her crown back in Equestria, she had become a very light sleeper. She swiveled her head to see the frazzled Rainbow Dash, squirming about in her bed, clearly wrapped up in a pretty intense nightmare. Twilight cautiously tiptoed over to the flailing girl, scooping up her bright blue blanket with fluffy white clouds from the floor and placed it neatly back on the bed.

Twilight sat on the edge of the bed, balancing precariously on the side, making sure that she was neither sitting too close to the now sweating girl, nor too far off the edge that she would fall. Once Rainbow was tucked neatly back under the blanket, Twilight put a hand on her forehead and gently allowed her hand to sweep through her Rainbow hair. Almost immediately, as if the calming movements of Twilights hand had infiltrated Rainbow’s dreams, she stopped squirming and relaxed, purring slightly at the sensation.

Twilight smiled at the sleeping girl, marveling at her resting form. She watched her face slowly began to un-scrunch and focused on the soft breaths coming from her mouth and the slow rise and fall of her chest. Rainbow looked so adorable. Twilight didn’t want to leave her side, but knew she couldn’t stay for much longer because the cold was getting to her. She finally decided it was best to retire back to the warmth of her own bed but as she retreated, Rainbow latched onto Twilights outstretched hand and nuzzled her cheek on the back of her hand, making escape impossible.

“Don’t think I’m letting you escape that easily,” Rainbow yawned, turning over to face Twilight.

“You’re awake?” Twilight gasped, surprised but also slightly embarrassed.

“Yeah, I woke up to find you stroking the back of my head,” she teased, poking her tongue out at the bewildered violet girl.

“Oh, sorry about that.”

“No problem, Twi. If you wanted to get in bed with me, you should have just asked,” Rainbow giggled. The blush had grown exponentially on Twilight’s face as the vibrant red radiated from her cheeks.

“N…no, it wasn’t like that,” Twilight added, completely flustered. “I saw you were having a nightmare and I tried to help.”

“What? I don’t have nightmares,” Rainbow pouted. Twilight couldn’t help but let a small ‘aww’ escape her lips at Rainbow’s adorableness when she got stubborn like she was at that moment.

“It’s okay Rainbow, everyone has nightmares every once in a while. It’s a normal thing that you shouldn’t be afraid to admit. The important thing is that we understand what they mean and try to fix the problem that is causing us to have them so we can sleep easier in the future,” Twilight said, adopting her signature didactic tone. Although her words were filled with care, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but picture the textbook that Twilight had clearly been reciting those words from.

“Heh, you’re still such an egghead, Twi. Well, would it help if I talked to you about my nightmares?” she asked.

“I think that would be wise.”

“Twilight, I can feel you shivering. It’s cold out, why don’t you join me and I can tell you all about my nightmare?” Rainbow asked, raising the covers slightly and patted the bed next to her. Although Twilight didn’t want to admit it, she found Rainbow’s invitation quite inviting and eventually, gave in to her desires despite her better judgement and crawled in next to Rainbow. The two were immersed by the sudden rush of heat that both body was dissipating. They lay facing each other, their noses barely a hairs length apart.

“Remember, this is not cuddling or anything. This is simply me telling you about my nightmare and then you can go back and sleep in your own bed afterwards, right?” Rainbow asked, more for her own benefit than Twilights.

“Naturally. So, what was your nightmare about?” Rainbow began to detail her horrific dreams and after a short couple of minutes, she realized that Twilight had drifted off to sleep.

“I guess she was more tired than I thought,” Rainbow sighed to herself. She felt her eyelids grow heavy, like cement as she struggled harder and harder to stay awake. She eventually gave into the enticements that sleep provided and threw one of her arms over the small body of Twilight, bringing her in close as she drifted off to sleep. For the first time in a long time, Rainbow slept peacefully.

…

The moon grew high into the sky, bathing the plant life around the brick-layered school in the heavenly illumination of the blue moon. The dark sky was brought to life with the billions of twinkling stars that dotted throughout, creating patters of all descriptions between them.
“I’ll see you on Monday Granny Smith,” Pinkie called loudly to the lunch lady as she ran out of the building. She hopped onto the railing and slid down it, jumping off at the bottom and landing on two feet. “Pinkie 321, Stairs 17!” Pinkie laughed loudly, reveling in another defeat of the stairs. “Trip me once, shame on me. Trip me 17 times and I start to keep score.”

Pinkie skipped down the path and along the path when she heard a strange noise coming from the statue. It sounded like…

“Party poppers!” Pinkie cheered, rushing over to the statue to try to find the source of the noise. “Who is throwing a party without me?” Pinkie whined, circling the statue in the hopes of finding her friends crouching out of sight, ready to surprise her. Suddenly, she felt something very familiar raining down from above her. She looked up to see a kaleidoscope of coloured shreds of paper of all sizes, falling form seemingly nowhere. “Confetti?” Pinkie asked aloud in utter shock. Something strange was going on and Pinkie wanted to get to the bottom of it.

“Whoever is making all these weird things happen, I will find you and when I do, I’m going to recruit you into my party throwing business!” Pinkie jumped for joy. Little did she realize was that while her attention was focused upwards towards the sky, a white mist was billowing out of the portal, surrounding Pinkie’s legs and slowly rising up her body, passing her shins, knees and thighs. Before Pinkie realized what was going on, she felt a hand grab her waist on either side and pull her down to the ground. She reached out frantically, trying to grab some flowers in the nearby flower bed but the stem cut cleanly in half and she was pulled through the portal as her shrieks echoed through the cold, quiet night.

…

When Pinkie finally opened her eyes, rubbing her temples to relieve the immense pain that she was feeling, she was blinded by an intense bright light. She strained her pupils and scanned her surroundings. Everywhere she looked, there was nothing! Nothing but a white light that illuminated everything. There was a ground to stand on, but nothing else. No sky, no buildings or grass or plants or, most importantly, any way of escape.

“Hello? What is this place? Place, place, place,” her voice echoed throughout the wide sparse landscape of nothingness but the only sound was her words as they slowly dissipated into the air around her. “Where am I, I, I, I, I?”

Author's Note

Thanks for reading the third chapter. Let me know what you think about it so far. Also, I have just written a blog about how MLP:FIM saved me and it would mean a lot if you would all read it. I let my inner feelings about how this show has helped me out. Thanks again for the read!

A Pinch of Danger

Chapter 3
A Pinch of Danger

The sunshine struggled to break through the drawn curtains, attempting to let its light shine through the fabric barrier to illuminate the inner confines of Rainbow’s bedroom. Slowly, but surely, the sun rays sifted through the azure coloured curtains and streaked across the room, falling on the sleeping frame of the magenta skinned mare-turned-girl.

Twilight felt her eyelids flutter, straining against the harsh light of day. Slowly, they began to flicker open as she lifted her hands to her eyes and rubbed the sleep out of them. She raised her arms above her head and let out a long yawn, shaking off the remnants of sleep that hitched a ride to the world of consciousness. Twilight took in her surroundings finally when she noticed the mattress lying on the floor on the other side of the room. She froze.

Realization fell upon her as she noted the cloud covered bedsheets that were slung over her legs. She turned her head slightly and noted the sleeping frame of the cyan skinned, rainbow haired girl next to her. The only signs of life that emanated from the peaceful girl was the slow rise and fall of her chest, coupled with the slight, snuffled snores that escaped from her mouth as she breathed out. Twilight couldn’t help but notice how cute Rainbow Dash looked while she slept. She shook her head, trying to eliminate those thoughts before deciding what to do next.

‘How did I end up here?’ she thought, remembering back to the night before. ‘Rainbow began telling me about her nightmare and then… I got into her bed and must have fallen asleep. Why did she let me stay? Why did she pull the covers over me and tuck me in?’ Twilight tried to connect all the dots to arrive at a sensible conclusion but the only one she could draw indicated that Rainbow had a crush on her.

‘That’s impossible, isn’t it?’ she questioned herself, studying Rainbow’s sleeping body thoroughly. She took out her notebook from the small back pack which she took with her throughout her small detour to Equestria. She began to draw parallels between this girl and her Equestrian counterpart, noting behavior and facial expression when around Twilight.

‘They clearly both act and feel the same way as each other,’ she concluded. ‘But what that feeling is, I can’t say for sure without some further research.’ Twilight then began to reflect on her own feelings for the athlete. It was true that she had begun to suspect that her feelings for the soaring Pegasus back in Equestria had grown stronger than mere friendship. She had originally thought that it was simply because Rainbow Dash had transcended that barrier and had gained best friend status, but now, Twilight began to doubt her assertions on this.

‘My knees grow week when she arrives to read Daring Do with me. My stomach fills with a strange feeling that I can only describe as butterflies flying around inside of me. My cheeks grow red and hot and I feel woozy and unsure of myself when the time comes to talk to Rainbow,’ she thought to herself. Twilight had read through some books on how to know if you are in love with somebody and she showed signs of it but her mind had still not accepted this conclusion.

Rainbow stirred in her sleep, turning over so that she was on her side, facing Twilight. Her eyes were still firmly shut tight but she seemed restless, slowly crossing the threshold from sleep to awake. Twilight knew that the athlete would awaken soon and if she wanted to test her theory, her time would soon be out. Twilight steeled herself for the worst, closed her eyes and began to lean down with puckered lips. However, when she was mere centimeters away from the alluring lips of Rainbow, the girl stirred again, banging her head into that of Twilight. Rainbow’s eyes shot open as she clutched her head in pain, screeching out in pain. Twilight mirrored her actions, trying to sedate her own throbbing pain that emanated from her forehead.

“What happened?” Rainbow asked.

“Um, Uhhh,” Twilight stammered, pushing past the pain to search for an adequate excuse. “You must have stirred in your sleep and smashed into me. Thanks for waking me, jerk,” she punched Rainbow’s arm playfully, putting on a small smirk.

“Heh, guess I’m a pretty restless sleeper. Sorry, Twi,” Rainbow laughed. That was the closest Twilight was going to get to an apology, despite the fact that it was her fault but Rainbow didn’t need to know that. “By the way, what are you doing in my bed?” the rainbow haired girl asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“I don’t quite recall,” Twilight lied.

“Oh, I remember! I was telling you a story and you fell asleep. I just decided it would be rude to wake you so I let you get some much needed shut-eye,” Rainbow replied, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand. “Hope you didn’t mind.”

“No, it was… good. The sleep, I mean,” she corrected herself suddenly. They both stared at each other, eyes fixated on each other for seemingly hours when in actuality they had been lost in their intense gaze for only a few seconds. The buzzing of Rainbow’s phone was the catalyst that led to a break in the moment.

“Oh crap, it’s rare. We need to get to school,” Rainbow sighed hastily, shooting off a reply to their fashionista friend.

…

Rarity and Apple Jack waited around on the steps of the brick-layered high school, chatting away with nonsensical small talk whilst keeping an eye out for their friends.

“Ah don’t think they are coming,” Applejack decided to speak after a short silence fell upon the two girls.

“This is horrible behavior. I shan’t begin to imagine what they must be doing but this is no excuse!” Rarity exclaimed. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her small phone, wrapped in a case that had been encrusted with a variety of magnificent gemstones of all shapes and colours.

“Ah’ll never get used to that ol’ case you have there,” Apple Jack mocked.

“Some people just can’t appreciate the beauty in the finer things in life,” Rarity scoffed, winking at Apple Jack as she flipped her hair backwards, turning her attention to her phone. Her thumbs moved at rapid fire speeds as she shot off a quite annoyed message to her compatriots.

Rarity: This is not appropriate behavior! Apple Jack and I have been waiting at school for ages and none of you decide to show up. I won’t stand for this.

Rainbow: Sorry Rare, Twi and I just woke up. Be there in 15

Sunset: Fluttershy and I stopped at a small coffee shop to indulge ourselves to a small treat.

Fluttershy: Sorry we didn’t invite you guys. I’d love it if you joined us next time, you know, if you want to.

Rainbow: You even text shy, Shy :P

Fluttershy: Sorry

Rainbow: Don’t apologize. I think it is kinda cute

Sunset: Rainbow? Are you feeling okay?

Rarity: Did you just call Fluttershy cute?

Apple Jack: Rainbow’s got a crush!

Apple Jack couldn’t help but retrieve her phone and join in on the group conversation after learning of the sudden development.

Rainbow: No! That was auto-correct. I meant to type cool. COOL!

Rarity: Whatever you say Darling

Rainbow: Look, we are going to be late so just go to class. We’ll meet up at lunchtime.

Sunset: Sounds good.

Sunset smiled at Fluttershy who noticeably radiated heat, displaying a deep, crimson red on her cheeks.

“I told you everything would turn out fine,” Sunset laughed, placing an arm around Fluttershy. “You just need to talk to her. If you do then I’m sure you’ll be dating in no time.”

“But she said it was a typo,” Fluttershy said in dismay, staring down at her shoes.

“C’mon Fluttershy, you know she was lying to get out of the embarrassment,” Sunset smiled at the tentative girl as the duo picked up their things and began the rest of the trip to the school.

…

The cafeteria was surprisingly bare that afternoon. Most students were nowhere to be seen and had unexplainably disappeared from class that day. Sunset noticed the two girls enter the room, both holding trays stacked high with all sorts of food from the multitude of food groups. She waved them over, patting the seat next to them. Sunset jumped up and threw her hands around the two, giving them a hug, much to their surprise.

“Nice to see you girls,” she cooed, whilst expertly led them to the table, she made sure to position Rainbow Dash next to the pink haired girl.
“Hey Shy,” she winked as she sat down at the table and began hastily munching down on her sandwich.

“Couldn’t you be a little more… civilized?” Rarity remarked, turning her head in disgust.

“I need my energy,” Rainbow retorted. Small bits of bread and meat surfing on balls of spit flew out of her mouth as she spoke. Fluttershy couldn’t help but stifle a small laugh, noting how cute Rainbow was when she ate.

“It’s just gross.”

“You don’t think I’m gross, do you Fluttershy?” Rainbow turned to the shy girl who shook her head slightly in response, concentrating on hiding the blush that threatened to emerge on her cheeks.

“That’s not fair. Fluttershy always takes your side,” Rarity sighed in an exaggerated fashion.

“Sorry to break up this riveting conversation but has anybody seen Pinkie Pie lately?” Twilight asked, ceasing the argument in its entirety.

“Ah didn’t see her in any of my classes today,” Apple Jack chimed in.

“No sign of her on my end,” Sunset added.

“You gals stay here, Ah’ll go look for her. She might be in the school kitchen again. You know how she gets.” The group nodded in agreement as Apple Jack waltzed out of the room in search of the pink girl.

“I’ll go with her,” Sunset said as she got up to rush after the country girl. She swiftly motioned towards Fluttershy as a slight nudge of encouragement as she exited the room, leaving the four girls to talk.

…

“Apple Jack, wait up,” Sunset called out, waving her hand frantically in order to slow down the blonde haired girl. Apple Jack, upon hearing the frantic calls of the exhausted, orange and red haired girl, stopped in her tracks and turned around to see who was calling.

“Oh, hey Sunset, you coming to join me?” Apple Jack asked, standing with her arms folded. Sunset slowed to a walk as she tried to slow her rapid breathing. Apple Jack, smiling as Sunset made her way over to her, leant against the Wonder Colt statue to rest. It had been a tiring night’s work and she had gotten little sleep.

“Apple Jack, look out!” Sunset screamed, her eyes widening in horror as she noticed some sneaky, white mist billow around Apple Jack’s ankles which was billowing out of the portal.

“Wha?” Apple Jack screeched as she felt an incredibly strong force grip her and slam her down to the ground. Sunset broke into an incredible sprint that could rival that of the fastest runners in all of Equestria. However, she was far too slow to save Apple Jack who watched on in horror as she felt herself be pulled ferociously into the portal, her screams muffled by the marble that she had been pulled into.

Sunset arrived just too late to save her flailing friend. Yet, danger hadn’t left as a second smoky hand whipped out of the portal and wrapped itself around Sunset’s arm. Sunset, in a panicked state, ripped off her black, leather jacket and began slapping the misty hand. She pulled and tugged with all her might as she continued her onslaught of barrages onto the tangible hand which seemed to be made up of a solidified mass although had the visible properties of a gas.

Sunset sighed in relief as she broke free of the creatures grasp and bolted up the nearby stairs and into the main building of the school and across the hallway into the cafeteria, not looking back as the mist retreated back into the portal.

…

“Girls, stand back,” Twilight commanded, adopting a leadership role in the group, like usual, as she stood between the others and the glowing portal with arms outstretched. She studied the frantic and faltering state of the un-contained portal, noting its patterns.

“Do you know what’s wrong?” Sunset queried, stepping forward to join Twilight in front of the people.

“Where have our friends gone?” Rarity added.

“I think I understand what is going on here,” Twilight concluded, spinning around to face the four remaining girls. The four faces looked up to her, searching her facial features for any sign of happiness, sadness, regret, disappointment or hopelessness. Twilight steeled her emotions as she began to speak to her audience, adopting a didactic tone in an attempt to eliminate any fear that was highly present in her presentation of both body and voice.

“The portal is growing unstable. Ever since the incident with the Sirens, we have been able to keep a constant connection between the two worlds required a lot of energy which our two words could not supply. This created a rift between our two worlds, a space between spaces, if you would.

“So some sort of purgatory?” Sunset asked. Twilight nodded in agreement.

“Clearly, someone or something has taking this chaotic energy and is using it to kidnap students and ponies alike!” Twilight finally finished, catching her breath in the process.

“We need to stop this!” Rainbow rallied, stepping forward towards the portal. Fluttershy, knowing full well of her friend’s stubborn and quick acting nature, rushed forward too and gripped Rainbow’s arm.

“What are you doing, Shy? Our friends need our help!” Rainbow protested.

“No, Dashie! We can’t let anybody else get captured until we think of a plan. I can’t lose you too!”

“What… what do you mean, Shy?” Rainbow tilted her head. All eyes of the remaining girls were fixated on this conversation, especially those of a certain violet skinned one.

“I mean… you know… we have lost so many friends already and I don’t want anyone else to be lost.” Sunset raised her palm to her forehead, shaking her head vigorously in disappointment of Fluttershy backing down.

‘Just tell her!’ Sunset’s mind screamed but she dared not move in case she ruined it for her tentative friend. Rainbow thought for a moment before she wrapped her arms around Fluttershy and brought her closer, allowing the two a brief hug before breaking apart.

“I know, Shy. I wouldn’t want to lose you either, but we can’t just sit around here and do nothing, you understand?” Rainbow admitted finally, staring into the eyes of Fluttershy. The shy girl had an urge to look away in fear but was unable to because of the overwhelming beauty of the athlete’s pupils, causing her to get lost inside Rainbow’s eyes.

Twilight cleared her throat loudly, interrupting the intimate moment as she began to speak. Sunset took much notice of this strange behavioral display, jumping to her quick conclusion that made her sigh in annoyance.

“I need time to think of a plan. Until then, we all must stay as far away from this portal as possible.” The others all nodded in agreement and set off to their own homes.

“Um, Rainbow?” Twilight piped up, rushing up to the cyan skinned girl as she set off in the direction of her home.
“Yeah Shy, what’s up?” she replied nonchalantly.

“I just wanted to see if you, maybe, wanted to come stay at my house for a bit, you know, until Twilight came up with a plan. It would be… um… safer, maybe.” Twilight hid her flushed cheeks behind her long, pink coloured hair to avoid any further embarrassment.

“Oh, sorry Shy. I’d love to but Twilight is staying at my place and I’m going to try to help her figure this out. How about we chill when this all blows over, k?” Rainbow winked before racing off to catch up to Twilight.

“O…Okay,” Fluttershy sighed, casting her gaze to the ground below.

…

“Rarity,” a malicious voice cooed, startling her. Rarity sat down at her large bedroom mirror, applying some more makeup when a mysterious voice seemed to speak from nowhere.

“Who is there?” Rarity inquired, but no answer came.

“Rarity,” the voice repeated again finally.

“Look, this isn’t funny. I don’t know what is there but this is definitely not the time to pull such a heinous and poorly timed joke!” Rarity lectured in anger, flipping her hair angrily.

“I thought it was pretty funny. Just like how you thought it was pretty funny when Twilight and her little friends of her, which includes you, decided to ruin my plans,” the voice continued. Rarity followed the sound of the voice until she noticed the shadowy figure of somebody standing in the corner of her room.

“YOU!” she gasped in horror and anger, running up to the figure. “I should have known that you were the culprit!” The figure simply stepped out of the way, revealing a small, white hole in Rarity’s bedroom corner. It was unlike anything the fashionista had ever seen in her life. It was as if the air itself had been slashed by a sharp blade, opening up a wound in the fabric of reality. However, instead of blood oozing out of the wound, a white mist seemed to billow out, filling up her room.

“Let’s see Twilight stop me this time now that her little friends are out of the equation,” the voice bellowed in triumph. The figure’s laughs drowned out Rarity’s screams as she was slowly pulled into the dead space between the worlds, never to be heard from again.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be up whenever I have a chance to write it. Please let me know if you're liking the fic so far or not!
Also, who do you think is the figure who is using this strange energy/magic?