Done by a Single Night

"Ohmigoshohmigoshohmigoshohmigosh!" I said, somehow able to say that without passing out. I felt near ready to. "OMG Spitfire! I'm such a fan of the Wonderbolts! Well..." I said, voice slowing down a ridiculous lot, looking down a bit. "Most of them, at least..."

She blinked. "Hey, I know you... you're Rainbow Dash, aren't ya? Best Young Flyer, saved my life, and you... used to date Soarin', right?"

I flinched at the name.

"Hey, sorry for bringing that up." She pat me on the back. "So, what brings you here?"

"I should be asking you that? Why would you visit here, of all places?"

"Oh, our old headquarters burned down. Something about how Foehn Fast tried cooking Soarin' a pie to cheer up him while he was in jail." She shook her head, smiling. "Tried to put a file in there, eh..." she muttered.

"Wait, what?!" I was incredulous. "Soarin's in jail?" In the back of my mind, I was chanting over and over 'bastard got what he deserved. Bastard got what he deserved.'

"Yeah... two reasons. First, as you can see, he forged paperwork," I remembered the letter I received. "And also, apparently, he had some suspicious dealings with other mares. If you'd been with him any longer he might of... ya know what, how 'bout I stop talking. Anyways, we definitely fired Foehn. City life is too fast. Too crowded. Figured it'd be better to come out somewhere peaceful, yeah?"

I desperately commanded for my brain to reboot and start understanding words. "So... you guys are moving here? Permanently?"

She laughed. "Yeah, as long as my other teammates remember that nail files aren't legitimate cooking ingredients."

"A-a-awesome!"

"Well, I need to go commission some new outfits." She pointed to Rarity's boutique. "See ya round, RD!"

I waved her goodbye. I couldn't believe what had happened. The Wonderbolts... coming here... to my town?! YES!

I flew ailerons on the way home. Crashed into bed first thing, like normal. It was actually getting pretty dark outside.

Hey! Guess what extremely original and unpredictable thing happened! Yes, that's right! I woke up at the Velvet Room.

In the corner, Lexis was twirling a pencil. Next to her, Canvas was painting a glen, with two ponies in it. Leaves literally were coming off the easel. One fell to the floor in front of me. It was damn real.

My weird painting chair came out of the floor, and I sat down on it. Lexis was shuffling cards.

"So, anything new happen lately?" She said it with a smirk, as if she already knew. Which she did.

"Well, I was eating a fish, then-"

"Yes. Well, no. You know what it is, but that's not what caused it. Do you still have the deck Canvas made?"

I looked over at him. He was still attacking the easel furiously.

"Er, yeah, why?"

Just to watch me squirm, Lexis made said deck fall from the sky... again. It landed on the table with an impossibly loud crash. It still succeeded to scare me.

"C-can you stop doing that?"

"Doing what, this?" A folding chair, frying pan, and a shipping crate all fell by Canvas, who dropped his brush. He shook his hoof madly at Lexis.

"Yes! That!"

By the look of her now devious grin, I was scared. "I don't know... maybe..." She laughed. "So, back to the deck. Its a standard, seventy-eight card Bridle Wake deck. Now, you only have to worry about twenty-two of these cards. Let's take a look at them.

She spread part of the deck on the table with her hooves. Twenty two cards, like she said.

"So, each of these cards is part of what is called the Major Arcana. A standard Tarot deck has both the Major and Minor Arcanae. But for now, lets just focus on the Major one.

"There are twenty-two cards in it. And the only one you have to care about is this one." She pulled out the card I saw before. The Magician. "Well, for now. Anyways, each card is represented by a pony, somewhere out there in Equestria. And you'll have to find all twenty-two of them."

"WHAT?!"

"Don't fret!" She put up her hooves in a surrendering pose. "Its guaranteed you'll meet every single one of them, eventually. You see, there is no definite pony for each one. Its just the fact you'll eventually find somepony who represents each card the best. Anyways, when you meet one of these ponies, you establish what is called a Social Link with them. Their Arcana is powered by it, and through this you can power up your Persona."

"I... don't understand."

"Take your friend Twilight for example. Though you have known her for quite a while, you haven't actually legitimately established an Arcana link with her. Her Arcana is..." she shuffled the deck as if it would help her figure out. "The Magician. Anyways, Canvas now has stronger magic."

"Hmm... I guess I get it."

"Each link levels up by getting to know the pony. But its not like knowing their favorite pie flavor will do it. You need to legitimately understand something about them. Now, say, if their family was known for piemaking, that may work. It all will come in time. So, there are ten levels the link can go through. Currently, you only have the Magician link, and it is only level one. But I trust you will find more ponies in time. Now, go forth. Your friends await you."

Instead of sucking me out the door again, Lexis made a really big rock drop from above. It sent out a shockwave that managed to launch me up to the sky. Instead of dreaming of falling, I was dreaming of rising. I woke up with a start and banged my head on something hard.

"Ow!" Twilight yelled.

"Sorry! Wait, why are you here?"

"The Dark Hour will be upon us soon."

"Why can't I just sleep through it?"

"Your house isn't a safe spot," Fluttershy explained. "And also, we need you." It made me happy to know my friends cared that much for me.

We walked to my balcony. I still had no idea how they got here. The fact they stormed into my bedroom kind of creeped me out. Luckily it was two ponies, not just one. That would have been awkward. Well, I guess you could argue that with tw- wait, what am I saying?!

Ponyville underfoot was asleep. Except for the occasional pony or two, nopony else was present. Which was probably a good thing. "Oh, I forgot," Twilight said. "Here, have this." she handed me one of the metal bomb things, just like hers. It came with a strap, that fit over my shoulder to my waist. And Fluttershy gave me a belt that she'd put Canvas's sword on.

"So, today," Twilight began. "We will try to train you. First, lets find a Shadow for you to solo."

Twilight jumped off the balcony and somehow landed on the ground without a hitch. I wonder if she has a groundwalking spell too, that lets her walk on the- I mean, makes the ground softer. Me, I jumped off and was about to spread my wings when I realized what would happen. But I was already off, and I fell on my face. So graceful. Its amazing.

Looking around Ponyville, I began to notice what they meant by the Veil. I could see some areas where it looked a bit blurry and distorted. I still didn't see any Shadows however.

We kept walking a bit until Fluttershy froze in her tracks. "There!"

I looked in the direction of her hoof, and saw, by Sugarcube Corner, a... floating chair?

"Shadows sometimes possess objects for defense, mobility, and other things," Twilight explained. "This one seems rather weak however, to have to possess such a sturdy object. It should be easy for you to take down."

"You guys aren't coming with me?"

"Its best if one learns by themself. If we were there, it'd be harder for you to learn anything, right?"

"Okay..."

I snuck over, something I normally wouldn't be able to do because of Pinkie living there. I pressed my body against the side of Sugarcube Corner, peeking around it. The chair still didn't seem to see me. Unsheathing my sword extremely slowly, I quickly turned the bend, jumped up, and brought the sword down in an arc, straight down onto it from above.

Now, if the Shadow didn't die, the chair would at least have been cut in two. But, looking at my luck, that didn't happen. Instead, I was blown back. I landed on the ground, on my side, about eight bodylengths away. My head hurt. I couldn't see out of my left eye. There was something in it. I put a hoof up to it and rubbed the substance off. It was my own blood. I felt really like just sleeping there; my body hurt all over. In the corner of my eye, I could see Twilight and Fluttershy rushing over.

The chair had obviously seen me by now. Damn chair. I noticed that on the back of it, it was wearing a blue mask, like the one the first Shadow had. Except this one had large, empty black eyes, and a glossy blue sheen to the face. At least, I thought it was blue through the red light filter I got on my eyes.

Twilight was going over in the direction of the Shadow, and Fluttershy came over to me. She pulled out her summoner thingy and stepped on it. "Virga! I summon thee! Come forth and lend me thine aid!" The form of a pegasus mare surfaced in midair above her, like Canvas for me.

From the little bits and pieces of what I remember from Flight School, I could deduce that this pony was indeed part of the Pre-Commander Hurricane Era Cloudsdalean Military. Third Dynasty. She was probably a General even. I vaguely remember the name Virga Mist... wow, I actually remembered something from Flight School. And not only that, but in actually pretty decent detail. I should get hit upside the head more often. "Dia!" Fluttershy yelled. From somewhere above me, a shining light came down. How typical. I felt better, all of a sudden. But it didn't evaporate my blood or anything. It did close the gash, I think. Shakily, I stood up.

"Thanks 'Shy."

She blushed and muttered something that sounded like "You're welcome." I looked over the the chair. Twilight had burned it to ashes. Above her, an Earth pony wearing really stupid-looking scholar robes. In one hoof, he held a clear crystal orb that seemed to be filled with black murky ink, and countless stars. His hat made me really angry for no apparent reason. He wore really long white robes. Resting on top of them was a weird colored medallion. His other hoof clutched a book. In his belt, sheathed like a sword, was what appeared to be a wand. "Kitalpha! Return!" Twilight's Persona disappeared.

"Do we have to yell all this stupid stuff when we summon our Personas?"

"Generally no," Fluttershy answered.

"Then why are we-"

"I have no idea." Good enough of an answer for me. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Pretty horrible..."

Fluttershy laughed. "You'll feel better soon. Now let's go check on Twilight."

We went over to her. She was still breathing quickly and staring at the ashes. "That was... th... that was... unusual..."

"What was?" I asked.

She stopped to catch her breath. "Physical attacks not only didn't work on it, but they were reflected."

"So um, in essence, I just slashed myself in the skull?"

"Er, yeah..."

"So, how did you kill it?"

"I killed it with fire."

"I mean, how did you do that?"

"So, there are some spoken words that can cast spells. Like, Fluttershy's Dia for example." A light began falling from the sky onto us. Twilight shook her hoof at it. "Quit it damnit!" The light quickly faded. "Anyways, my fire spell is a- wait a second."

She picked up a stick and threw it into the air. "Ahi!" It quickly burned and faded. "Okay, that would have been bad if I didn't have a target."

"Why?"

"It would burn whatever was directly in front of me."

"Ah, yes... that would probably have been not the best idea. Anyways, can I try?"

"Erm, sure." She handed me another twig. "Ahi!" Nothing. "Ahi! Ahiahiahiahiahiahiahiahiahiahiahiahiahiahi!" Still nothing. "Ahi damnit!" A small flame began to burn on the twig. It quickly died. "What the heck was the problem?"

"You have to say it with conviction," Fluttershy explained. "Like this. AHI!" The twig flared up and burned in a second, leaving nothing behind.

I tried again. And again. Eventually I was able to get a small flame to get going on my first try, but it was puny, and would probably be put out with any turn of the wind. "How are you two so good?!" I protested.

"I um... practice?" Fluttershy said humbly, with a squee.

Twilight sat and thought. "Hmm... maybe, we could get you something that could help amplify your powers, like, a magic wand!"

"Are you bucking kidding me?"

"Err, no, actually. Close your eyes, no peeking!"

I did as she instructed. "Okay... perfect! Now you can open them!"

Looking around, I noticed Twilight was holding something. She gave it to me. "Ta-da! Your brand new wand!"

"Umm, Twilight..."

"Yes?"

"This is a rock tied to a stick with a piece of string."

"Oh, it really doesn't matter what its made of. You just have to believe it will work, that there is magic in it. As there is magic in everything. You just have to amplify and bring it out. For example, instead of saying 'ahi,' you could in theory just say 'fire'. Its just the fact that you don't believe saying that would work. If you truly did, then it'd be hard for you to talk. But now that you don't believe this wand will work, it might as well be broken."

She snapped it in half and threw it over her shoulder before snapping a twig off a dead branch on the ground. "Here. Take this."

"I still don't think its very magical."

"Fine. Maybe later we can get Rarity to make you a more magical looking one, with jewels or something. I don't know. Would it help if I wrote spells on the stick?" She was sarcastic.

"Actually, to be honest, yes..."

"Hmph. Fine. Fluttershy, can I borrow your knife?" She took it out and began to whittle the stick.

"Also, just for the record, I actually am going to ask Rarity for another wand..."

She stuck out her tongue to me playfully. After just carving it for about five minutes, she handed it back. There were weird swirly designs all down it. "Umm, these are just- you know what, I'll just take it."

I picked up my sword and looked at the broken remains of the old wan- stick on the ground. I pointed the sti- wand at it. And focused hard. Real hard. With conviction. Right. "Ahi!" the twig burst into flames. And the ground underneath it was on fire also. Which is probably a bad thing. I stepped back. "Okeey... well that was... thorough."

"That was... amazing," Twilight said, staring at the fire as if it was just handed down from Prometheus himself. "For a first timer too. Its strange though..."

"What is?"

"You were extremely weak empty-hooved, but you managed to use a wand as a catalyst. Not only that, but to ridiculously amplified extents..."

"Um, maybe I'm just lucky?"

"Hmm... maybe..."

For the rest of the night, I trained with Fluttershy and Twilight, before heading home to my bed.

When I woke up, I was in a dense fog. Like, really dense. Dense-you-can't-see-your-hoof-wave dense. I blundered through it like an idiot, feeling the walls of a labyrinth wrap me. Eventually, the fog began to clear, and I was standing in the ancient castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.

"Thou art I, and I am thou." I'd recognize those lines anywhere. Except whoever was saying these lines was putting a kind of sarcastic, mocking tone to them. I was yet to figure out who was saying them however.

"I hath surfaced from thine mind." Okay, well, now its getting off-script.

"I challenge thee." What?

"I challenge thee, Rainbow Dash." Challenge me to what?

"I challenge thee, daughter of-" I covered my ears. There was no way I wanted to hear those accursed names again.

"I challenge thee, sister to Fluttershy, sister to Moonbow Corona." Not exactly sisters... unless she means honorary, yeah. Moonbow... been some time since I heard that name... good times, we had.

"I challenge thee, bringer of the reborn." Who got reborn? Also, where have I heard that voice before?

"I challenge thee, mother of myself." Wait, I may have had my fill in Flight School but I am not a- wait, I know who that voice is.

In front of me, as if being formed by shadows (the non-vicious kind) out of the ground, was an image of myself. She gave off a dark aura however. "I challenge thee, mineself. I hath arrived, and thine duel is to start." Okay. I've seen weirder things, I decided. I looked to where my belt should've been, but there was nothing there. Luckily, she didn't have weapons, so I have a fighting chance, right?

Okay, I was wrong. Shadow RD banged her hooves together with a clop and something fell down from the sky. It impaled itself into the ground with a loud thud. Who does she think she is, Lexis? Well, I guess Lexis is me, and she is me, so... ah, never mind.

She grabbed it with her hooves and yanked it out with a grunt. It was a large scythe, glowing purple and black, like a universe being brought into existence. I could literally see shadows dripping off of it. All of a sudden, she began to run at me. Which isn't easy when you are carrying a scythe, thankfully.

I jumped back and flew. She followed suit. I decided it would be best to have a land battle, as a downward slash from a scythe would be generally not a good thing to handle. Crashing into the ground, I dusted myself off and began to ran.

If I want at least a chance to live, I needed a good weapon. What around could serve as such?

There was nothing to be seen. Maybe I should make a dash for the door...

She beat me. That happens when you choose the door farthest away from you. Another clop with her hooves- I mean, of the sound variety- wait, that didn't improve it at all. A glowing purple bar like her scythe appeared, inside the handles so I couldn't open it.

I chose a smarter door this time. It didn't open however. As I was busy opening it, Shadow RD jumped up and brought the scythe down in a deadly arc, like I tried to before on that Shadow. Ha, irony. Except here, I knew she wouldn't miss.

Somehow, I managed to dodge, luckily, and ran. She had her scythe impaled in the door, and was trying to yank it free. "I'll get you, you just wait!" Yes, I think you can definitely get me while you are busy trying to- gah, me and my big mouth.

Running towards the center of the room. Probably not the best idea, but hey, if I could get on top of the stone podium thingy, that'd be good. Maybe I could wrench the scythe out of her hooves somehow without cutting myself.

SLICE! Okay, scratch that... hmm. Well, back to the old plan.

I jumped off and ran in a large arc around the room. The door she impaled was now open, split in half. But she saw my plan before I did.

With a jump, she managed to clear the room and slam her scythe down across the door. It barred me in, but now she couldn't use it'; the blade was in too deep.

"A hoof fight you want?" she said, turning around slowly. "Fine, your game."

Okay, maybe now I can win. Maybe.

Shadow RD ran at me, but she was much faster than me. Faster than she was before, by a lot. She nailed me across the muzzle.

Now, it didn't hurt physically, but mentally the hit was taking its toll. I began to feel like giving up. All optimism was fading, and I was feeling very tired.

No.

I can't give up now! Quick, how can you kill that bastard?

Maybe I can take her scythe and-

Are you crazy? That thing's about two hooves deep into the wall!

Yeah, but it went in, so it can go out, right?

Well... ah screw it, go knock yourself out.

So, I ran around the circumference of the room like a deranged headless chicken. Shadow RD just stared at me blankly as if I was a foal who'd just figured out that fire is actually somewhat hot. Realizing this would further delay her, I kept up the shenanagins.

"Ah! It burns! Its stings! Aaaaah!"

"..."

"It really really hurts! Ow! Ow! I am in pain right now!"

"...um, er, yes... right?"

"Ow! I am totally not pulling a quick one on you right now!"

"No, you are not an- wait a second..."

I yanked the scythe out of the door with a grunt. Damn this thing is a lot heavier than it looks.

"Y- you don't know what that does." Shadow RD looked damn scared right now. I could see why Lexis enjoyed dropping soda cans with such fervor.

I inched closer to her.

"Do y- do you not accept the full consequences of using that?"

Ever still closer. She backed up into the corner.

"I-I'm warning you. Drop it now, and we can settle this like gentlecolts."

Ahaha, no. She backed up even further, scrunching into the wall a ridiculous amount.

"P-please drop that!"

I reeled back for a swing.

"Aah!"

She shut her eyes closed, as if sheer mental willpower could avert the blow. Seeing her powers, she probably could actually do that. But looking at how scared she was, maybe not.

I brought the scythe down in a deadly arc, cutting her across the ribs.

For a few seconds, I thought I'd done it. Shadow RD collapsed, golden ichor spilling from her chest.

"Y-you don't know what you've done..." she coughed out.

I stood there, trying to look cool and all, when I felt something trickling down my side. Right there, where Shadow RD was wounded, was a large cut of my own. They looked identical, even.

Well, it wasn't long before I collapsed beside her. The scythe skid out of my hooves, blood still fresh on it.

"F-finish what you've started."

"What?"

She gestured to the weapon. "End this... Please."

Eventually, after a long time, I got up. Then I slipped on my blood and fell again.

Crawling on my stomach, I inched closer and closer to the scythe. I rested one hoof on it.

Bit by bit, I slowly rose, dragging the weapon. It was even heavier with the lack of strength.

I got closer to Shadow RD. She just stared off into the distance, away from me.

I rose the scythe, and let go, letting gravity carry it down to her neck.

Yes it hit. No it did not go all the way through. Now my neck hurts a lot.

She writhed in pain, but said nothing. Another rise and fall. Still not done. By now the floor is a mosaic of gold and red.

One final pass. I brought it up, and let it fall. Well, all I can say is that I don't think her neck survived. But I wasn't there to see it.

Darkness. Nothing but darkness. And an awful lot of fog. And another labyrinth. And me blundering through it like an idiot. Was this designed by Lexis's sister or something? Does trolling run in her family? I don't know.

Eventually, I came back to the Royal Pony sister's castle. The door was still split. There were still blood starbursts on the floor. But two things were new.

First off, there was a big trapdoor on the floor that just opened up. But that wasn't important.

In front of me, staring out the window, was Shadow RD. She still had a head. Which was good, because it meant I did also.

"Thou hast proven thyself worthy, Rainbow Dash." she smiled, as if we'd shared a private joke.

Slowly, casually, as if she were a classy buisnessmare selling some random thing, she turned around. "I reveal my true self."

Sands, from somewhere on the floor, began to lift up and swirl her. When they settled, she was a whole different pony.

Oh.

That's where I knew that voice.

But that can't be her.

There's no way-