“I told you! I don’t know what happened to Rainbow Dash!”
The relative peace of Ponyville’s library was broken by the raised voice of Twilight Sparkle. The young unicorn sat at a table, her head resting on the tabletop in despair. Applejack sat by her, resting a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.
Twilight was far from her usual go-getting attitude. She had been remarkably quiet the last few days, not leaving her library, not letting anypony in to see her. Her usual good looks had suffered for it too. Her usually straight mane hung knotted and lank from her head and neck, and her eyes wore the telltale signs of one who had not slept for many a night.
She rested her chin on the surface of the table in front of her, as Applejack reached out a hoof to pet her gently on the head.
“It’s alright, sugarcube. Ah understand… You’ve had a rough time, huh?”
Twilight nodded slightly. The last few days had been rough indeed.
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It all started when Fluttershy had been tending to her cottage, near the edge of the Everfree Forest. As she watered the flowers that bloomed by her doorstep, she had felt a tug at her mane from her bunny-friend, Angel.
“What is it? Is there something wrong?” Fluttershy asked as she lowered her head to the bunny’s level. Angel nodded frantically, beckoning for her to follow.
The bunny scampered off, over the fence of the cottage and down the path. Fluttershy followed swiftly behind. As she wondered to herself what Angel could be leading her to, she saw for herself.
Angel came to a halt at the base of a small ridge. In the side of the ridge there gaped the entrance to what appeared to be an underground cave. For some reason, there were loose stones and piles of dirt all around the mouth of the cave, as if it had been sealed at one time, but the seal had been broken open.
But Fluttershy’s attention was drawn away from the cave entrance, to the semi-conscious pony lying prone before it.
“Ohmygosh! Twilight!” The young Pegasus cried as she ran to the side of the young unicorn. Her striped mane and cutie mark were unmistakeable. It was Twilight.
Fluttershy had ordered Angel to stay by Twilight’s side, while she took to the sky and flew back towards Ponyville as fast as her wings could carry her. She had run into Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity easily enough, and together they hurried
back to the cave entrance where Fluttershy and Angel had found her.
Twilight awoke soon enough, after her friends had carried her back to her home in the Library. Whenever they questioned her over what happened, Twilight would tell them of how she and Rainbow Dash had headed out together from Ponyville, the previous evening, to check out a cave that Twilight meant to map out for her studies. But every time she would falter
as she recalled when the pair had reached the cave. After that, she said “It’s just all a haze…I remember waking up in the morning after, outside the cave. I’m not sure where Rainbow went… or what happened at all the night before…”
No matter how many times her friends questioned her, her reply was the same. As the days past, she became more and more quiet and reclusive, helping only those who came to visit her, remaining in the library. After a week, she began to shun any company at all, locking the door to the library and refusing any visitors.
And there was no sign of Rainbow Dash. The ponies went about their daily business, assuming the Pegasus had headed out of town for a visit. But as the days turned into weeks, and there was still no sign of Dash, the citizens of Ponyville became more concerned. Messengers were sent to all the nearby towns, but none had seen the young pegasus. A search was mounted in and around Ponyville, but no trace of Rainbow Dash was ever found.
The musings of the gathered ponies was broken as the door opened and Rarity strode in. In the curls of her tail she gripped a small bottle.
“Here we are. Zecora said it should help.” She said as she joined her friends around the table.
She placed the bottle on the table before them. Inside it was a cloudy brown liquid. Twilight eyed it with suspicion.
“What’s this?”
“A special tea Zecora made for us” Applejack replied “S’posed to help memory or somethin’.”
“We thought that if you drink some of this, it might help you remember what happened that night, so we can finally figure out what happened to Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy added.
Twilight raised her head “I…guess we could try it… you sure it’s safe?”
“When has Zecora ever let us down before?” Rarity replied.
Applejack nodded “She knows her way round herbal remedies alright.”
Twilight nodded. “Alright then…” If it’ll help me remember what happened…what happened to Rainbow Dash, I’ll try anything! “Let’s do it.”
Steadying the bottle with her hooves, the unicorn gripped the cork in her teeth and yanked it out with a satisfying pop. Putting the bottle to her lips, she tilted her head back, drinking down the drink in one go.
It had a strange, bitter taste. But also slightly minty, like aniseed. But Twilight was too anxious to care about the taste. Gulping down the drink, she put the empty bottle down on the table.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The other ponies watched, leaning forwards with baited breath. Twilight stayed quiet for a while, until Rarity spoke up:
“Well?”
Her eyes opened “It…it’s starting to come back to me…”
A peculiar feeling had begun to flow slowly through her head. As if warm water was being poured through her skull. Her mind went diligently to work and Twilight began to relate the memory as it returned.
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“It was just around the time when the sun was going down. I had asked her to help me with a surveying job I needed to do for my studies. You see, I’d found this cave on an old map in the Library. There was just the entrance, but no details about the inside. Now, most of the caves around here are mapped out, but not this one. Naturally, I was curious about it, so…so I decided to map it out myself. Rainbow Dash agreed to help me out, and so off we went…”
It was about sunset when we reached the cave entrance and set down our supplies. I had all my mapmaking equipment, Rainbow had some digging gear, and both of us had a helmet with a lantern on it. As we switched them on, I looked around the area for a moment. Even for a dark cave on the edge of the Everfree Forest, this place looked especially creepy. But I wasn’t going to let creepiness keep me from my work. I’d dealt with worse before…so I shrugged it off and turned back to the cave entrance.
So, we cleared the rubble and weeds from the front of the cave…it was pretty overgrown…and took a peek in. Even with our torches, the cave seemed to go on forever!
I remember, Rainbow Dash was eager to go in first, to check if it was safe. I was pretty uneasy about the idea myself. Anypony going into that cave all alone, it just didn’t feel safe. But she was pretty insistent.
“Relax, Twilight” She said to me. “If anything dangerous is in there, I’ll be able to run for it faster than you.”
I had to admit, she was right. So, I let her go in. But not before I gave her one of the devices I had put together beforehand. It was a strap that fitted around the collar, with a small box on one side. From the box there were two metal tubes: one that curved in front of the wearer’s mouth, and another that twisted up to point into their ear. I’d found the plans for the devices in one of my enchantment guides: It would allow us to stay in contact over long distances. So, she strapped hers on and headed in. I put mine on and waited by the entrance…
I was sitting up on the surface...It had gotten pretty dark by this time, and I was starting to get nervous about hanging around for too long. I kept the earpiece pressed to my ear, but I didn’t hear anything for about ten minutes, except Rainbow Dash breathing into the tube on the other end.
But then I…I heard a clicking in my earpiece, like there was something going on at the other end. Calling down to Rainbow, I was completely unprepared for what I heard. Rainbow’s voice, speaking to me like I’d never heard her speak before. It was like, she was nervous …no, not quite nervous… I’d say more… stunned. But hearing her speak in such a small voice…It was even worse than if she’d screamed at me!
“Oh wow… If only you could see this!”
I was too scared to reply, and she went on: “Twilight….it’s amazing…it’s unbelievable…”
I finally found my voice and cried back into my mouthpiece “What is it, Dash? What's down there?”
“I can’t say” she said back… she was starting to sound a bit desperate now. “I dunno what you’d do if you saw… Man, I never thought I’d see somethin’ like this.”
For another moment, she was silent, ignoring anything I called to her. Then I heard her again, this time she was talking in a more familiar tone; that tone of voice she gets when she’s really nervous about something, you know, really stern and frantic…
“Twilight, listen. Use your magic to block up the cave entrance and run. Don’t take anything, don’t stop for anything, just run for it!”
I was shocked. How… how could she expect me to wall her up in a dark cave all alone?! All around me it was dark, with the moonlight casting strange shadows through the trees. And below me was Rainbow Dash, and…something, that scared even her! One of the bravest ponies around!
I couldn’t leave her alone, and I was kind of insulted that she thought I’d be cruel enough to leave her like this. I called into the mouthpiece “Dash, don’t worry. I’m coming down for you...”
Then I froze as she screamed back at me “DON’T! C’mon Twilight, you don’t get it!...It’s my fault… Shouldn’t have gone in alone…No, just wall up the cave and run, Twilight! Nothin’ either of us can do…nothing anpony…”
I tried my best, but my legs wouldn’t move… I was too scared! Oh, we’ve dealt with scary things before, all six of us… But Dash would never let anypony know that she was scared of something! Whatever was down there, it was horrible!
Then I heard her voice again. She wasn’t scared or frantic anymore. She was…calm, yeah…completely calm…It was honestly even worse than when she was shouting…
“It’s no use, Twilight… Go, now! Before…before it’s too late…”
I called her name again and again, as if I knew that it would save her somehow. I heard her voice again, and this time she shouted into her mouthpiece, louder than she’d ever shouted before!
“So long, Twilight…Oh man… I never thought… Hurry Twilight! Wall it up! NOW!! DO IT!!!”
Her shout somehow got me moving, and almost without thinking, I summoned up my levitating spell, casting it on any rocks or dirt nearby. I lifted them into the air, packing them tightly into a big ball of rubble, and stuffed it right into the entrance.
As I looked at my work, I spoke into my headset one more time, “I did it… The cave’s sealed up now… Nothing can get in or out… Oh, I’m sorry Dash! I‘m so sorry!”
You can imagine, I pretty much broke down right there and then. I dunno how long I stayed there, crying, and saying sorry down to Rainbow Dash, over and over again. Then I heard another clicking sound from the headset.
I called into the mouthpiece one more time “…Dash?”
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And then…I…I heard it…it…Ohh!”
Twilight Sparkle broke down in tears, her voice faltering.
Applejack looked to her friends, but they were all sitting frozen in awed silence at the tale the young unicorn had told. Getting up, she hurried to Twilight’s side, holding her quivering form in her forelegs.
“Sshh, sshh, it’s alright, Twilight… It’s alright… You don’t have to go on if you don’t want…”
“Wait.”
Applejack turned in surprise as Fluttershy spoke up. She had been silent through the whole story, sitting in rapt attention.
“You said you…sealed up the cave?” she asked, in an unnerved tone.
Twilight nodded dumbly.
Fluttershy grew pale, as her limbs began to quiver beneath her “B-but… went I found you, the cave entrance was open… I looked like something had broken through it… f-from the inside…”
“…What? How is that…” Twilight spluttered “No creature could have gotten through that! It was solid rock and dirt…!”
For a moment, Fluttershy was silent. Then, the timid Pegasus covered her face as realisation turned to horror. Applejack turned to Twilight as the unicorn spoke up again.
“W-well… the last thing I heard before I blacked out… No, I think it was what made me black out…I swear, I heard another voice… I dunno who, or what, was speaking. It sounded like nothing I had ever heard… I can’t really describe it.
I guess it was…deep, yeah…and slimy too. It was hollow and really clear… I’m not really sure… It’s impossible to describe…”
Applejack shuddered as anticipation and horror welled up in her very body “And… what did it say…?”
Twilight buried her face in Applejack’s blonde fur for a moment as fresh food of tears overcame her. She hugged herself tight to her friend, before speaking the words as chillingly clear as she had heard them, that night by the Everfree Forest. Those words that were so chilling, so terrifying, she had fainted outright when she heard it. Those words that would haunt her memory and her dreams as long as she would live:
"You fool! Rainbow Dash is DEAD!"]
