Chapter One-
Rainbow Dash's eyes opened. She was laying on her side. A mist the colour of blood was all around her. She couldn't see or make out anything around her. Dash slowly rose to her feet, and as she did the mist suddenly closed tight around her body, as if it was sentient, and didn't want her to stand up. Dash retracted a little from the sudden movement of the swirling mass. There wasn't any wind, right? How in Equestria did the mist do that? Where the hell was she?
Try as she might, she was unable to recall any memory's of how she got to this place. The only thing she could remember was her name, yet even this was a shaky fact. It brought with it no memory's, no emotions. It was a flat word, nothing special. Yet for some reason, this was the only thing she knew about herself.
She could remember things like where she lived, what type of pony she was, and that she was cyan blue with a vibrant mane and tail. But whenever she tried to recall something personal, her mind fogged over, as if something was blocking her brain from accessing those memory's. It was like she was looking at someone else's memory's through an old photo album, like she was an intruder in her own mind.
As Dash was lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice that the swirling mass of crimson mist that had previously been around her had completely retreated from her shivering form, leaving her standing alone, In what appeared to be a large, empty plain. The ground beneath her looked exactly like grass, but it was the colour of ash, and felt almost slippery on her hooves. There was no apparent light source to be found, but, in a way that rainbow could not fathom, there was light. It was like the light was filling up the space that she existed in. The sky over head was dark and smooth. She could make out no edges or curves of what should of been clouds. It was as if the sky, or what she thought was the sky, was flat and two dimensional, like a ceiling.
'What is this place'? Dash wondered as she took in her surroundings. As she turned her head, she saw what appeared to be a building of some description. It was a dark grey colour, much like that of the sky. She could tell from first glance that the building that had now materialised was a church. Had it been there the last time she looked? Dash couldn't remember. She knew that she would of noticed something like that. It was the only thing that she could see in this whole place.
The church in question wasn't very large. It was more of a small chapel than anything else. The spire at the far end rose sharply up into the air, where it was engulfed by the crimson mist that had been clinging to dash earlier. The mist slowly circled the spire, like a slow moving whirlpool. The spire was the same colour and material as the rest of the building; dark grey with small lines which looked to be where the bricks separated from each other. Absolutely NOTHING about this building was inviting to Dash, yet, as if by some force unknown to science, she found herself drawn to it.
As she got closer to the church, she was able to finally get a good, close up look at the building. It was made of stone blocks that where almost the same size as her. They looked dusty, as if they hadn't been touched in century's. The doorway was made of more intricate stonework. It was carved into a rectangle shape, with a semi-circular top. There was two ridges running the entire way from one side to another. The door looked to be made of some dark, aged oak wood. There was black, metal studs embedded into the door in vertical lines, and the handle was a simple black metal ring on a hinge. There was a knocker above the handle. This is what caught Dash's eye the most out of all the features. It was painted black, just like the handle, but instead of something simple like said handle, the knocker looked just like a pony's head.
That wasn't the disturbing part about it though. The face of the knocker looked as if it was twisted in pain. It's eyes where slammed shut, and the face making an expression that Dash could only explain as pure terror, mixed in with unthinkable pain. 'What the hell'!? Dash thought to herself as she recoiled from the sight. 'What pony in their right mind would have something like that on their door'?!
'What the hell is this place? Where am I'?
Dash shuddered in pure horror from the sight of the door knocker, and the implications that it could have, yet, She couldn't drag herself away from the door step. She stayed still for what seemed like an eternity, wondering what was behind the heavy, oak door, and why she was in this strange land in the first place. Was she being punished? Was she dead? She didn't feel dead. She was breathing. She could move. To move was to live, wasn't it?
As these thoughts where running through her head, she found that her hoof had unconsciously moved to the door handle, and was now in the process of lifting up the hinge. The handle turned easily, despite looking like it had never been used, and the door swung open slowly. Inside the church, she could make out a long hallway which was flanked at all sides by 4 rows of wooden pews. At the front of the church, there was an alter, which had a long, rectangular box upon it.
Dash already knew what was inside. With dread in her heart, and shaky steps she slowly made her way into the church, to see what, or more likely who, was in the coffin. As she made her way slowly up the isle, she glanced up to find that the crimson fog was in the church also. It hung about the rafters, high up in the ceiling, and seemed to react to her presence in the building by swirling in between the large wooden roof supports. The windows of the church where elongated, and they almost reached the ceiling in height. They had green stained glass in them, like a deep emerald green. Dash thought she recognised that colour, and the felt slightly better when she saw it.
Before she realised it, Dash had made her way to the front of the church. She stood directly beneath the alter, praying to Celestia, Luna, Any pony that the body she was bound to find in the coffin was not her own, yet, even as she prayed, She knew that it was hopeless. Dash took a deep breath, steadied herself, and slowly walked up the steps to the coffin. Her eyes desperately wanted to shed tears but Dash refused to let them. She would face this head on, and would not let her emotions get the better of her.
Dash took a step. Then another. And she looked down into the coffin.
'What'? Rainbow thought out loud in pure confusion. She was not in the coffin. No pony was. Instead, there was a single rose. It was white, with a slightly pinkish purple tint to it. Why was there a rose in the coffin? Was this some sort of sick mind game? Why was there a rose there?
' Well, what where you expecting to find'?...
A voice.
Dash spun around, hooves raised up into a defensive stance and hovered slightly in the air. There, stood a few paces away from her, at the start of the central isle of the building was another pony.
He was tall and thin. His body was a pale, almost translucent blue, and made a stark contrast to his black mane and tail, which hung limply to the sides.. His mane fell down to about his shoulders, and his eyes where a deep green colour, almost like emeralds. He has an angular face, and Dash could make out two silver bands around his front hooves. He looked to be about the same age as dash, but his face looked worn down, and tired,despite his youthful appearance.
She had a whole array of questions that she wanted to ask the stallion, but that would make her seem vulnerable, and nothing she saw about the stallion made Dash think that He was trustworthy. So instead, She asked the question that was inevitable.
'Who are you'?
The stallion looked at Dash, and as he did, she had to fight back the terrible urge to squirm, and run away. It was as if when he looked at her, he could see things. Things that Dash showed no one. Despite feeling quite exposed by the young stallion, Dash stayed where she was, but she lowered back down on to four hooves again, and tried to avert her eyes from the stallion's gaze.
'That's not the question that you want answered first' he said.
The stallion had a strange voice. It was as if he was whispering in her ear, so that she could hear every syllable of each word, each inhalation and exhalation. Dash recoiled a little from the voice's intimacy, not expecting it. She looked back up at the stallion, but she could form no words to reply.
It was true, that wasn't the most important question that dash wanted answered.
'The question that you want angered is whether you are dead or alive'.
Dash's lips felt dry, as if she hadn't had a drink in weeks.
'yes' she replied weakly.
'Yes. you live' he put plainly. 'He does not'...
Chapter Two-
Rainbow was so intent on the stallions face that she at first failed to notice that the light all around her had changed. The church was gone, and had instead been replaced with Someponys bedroom. It was a small room. The walls where painted a bright blue colour, much like that of Rainbow's coat. There was a queen sized bed, with the covers slightly crumpled, and a desk, which had a few books, some paper and quills littered on and around it. There was one bookshelf, which was half filled with books. The higher up sections where crowded with trophy's of all shapes and sizes.
Dash looked around frantically for the stallion, and she found him standing next to her. Feeling very disorientated, Dash put her hoof out as if to steady herself, but there was nothing within reach but the shoulder of the stallion. Dash's front hooves clung to the stallions shoulder, and it tensed at her touch. It was reassuringly solid. He was real, not some figment. How did they get here?
The stallion looked down at Dash, and shook his head.'' I am not to be touched'' he said.
It wasn't angry. It was more of a soft spoken warning. It was said with what may of been regret, but absolute conviction. Dash withdrew her hooves, and mumbled an apology. Then she noticed something that she didn't notice on her first look around the room. There where two doors.
They both looked to be made of wood, and where painted white just like the ceiling of the small room. One was closed, and the other was just slightly ajar. There was a small sliver of light the width of a pencil escaping the room, and it ran along the floor, then up the wall next to the bookshelf.The curtains where open, and as Dash looked out, she could make out a small street of cloud houses. There where other Pegesi flying about the place, and she could see the sun setting just behind the houses across from the one she was in.
Suddenly, Dash found that she wasn't in the small bedroom anymore. She was in what appeared to be a small bathroom, maybe the one that was behind the open door of the room that she was just in.
It was a mess.
There where towels, toiletry's and the like scattered everywhere. It looked like a hurricane had passed through the small room. One cabinet door was hanging open, and in the middle of the mess, lay a pony.
They weren't breathing.
Dash gasped.
The pony was a Pegasus. They had a orange mane, which looked as if it alternated in stripes between darker and lighter shades of the colour, and their fur was turquoise, and they had a lightning bolt with 3 stars on the bottom as a cutie mark. The pony in question was sprawled out on the floor, lying face down. There was a half empty bottle of some type of painkiller by her hooves, with half of the contents scattered on the floor.
Dash knew what had happened here without having to ask.
She staggered backwards, and lent against a wall for support. Why was this happening? This had to be some bad dream, right? Why would I be having a dream about some poor pony killing themselves?
It was at this point the stoic stallion spoke up again.
''Lightning Dust. Dead by her own hand''. He said.
'' I don't like this dream'' Dash said weakly, fighting down her own panic. She looked back up at the stallion, and noticed that his expression had changed. His pale lips trembled. A muscle in his jaw twitched. He looked down at Dash trembling on the floor.
He crossed abruptly-his first sudden movement-to the worktop that was by the sink. There was a tooth brush, an almost empty tube of toothpaste, and a small black notebook. It looked like it had a few pages missing. The stallion looked down at the piece of paper and said nothing. He looked at is for far longer than it would of taken to read the few words that where written there. It read-
I love you all so much. I'm sorry, but I can't do this anymore.
-Dust
Dash found that she could not look up from those few words that where scrawled down on the note. If she looked away, she would see the dead mare, and she didn't want to see her. She had still been alive when she wrote these words. Then Rainbow realised that the stallion was looking at her.
''Why is this happening'' Dash asked him. ''Why am I here''? She asked more forcefully.
''The same reason we are all here,'' the stallion said. ''To learn''.Dash looked back to the dead girl. 'This has to be a dream' She thought to herself. 'This isn't happening to me'.
''Rainbow Dash'' he said, though she had not ever mentioned his name. ''This is not a dream''.
'What is it then!' Dash said almost angrily. '' What is this and what are you'?
'' I am..'' He began,, then hesitated. '' I am the messenger''.
''The messenger eh? Whats your message, showing me this poor mare? I never wanted to see that!''.
'' My message?''. The stallion seemed almost amused by Dash's question. '' My message is that a price must be paid. A price paid with terror''.
Dash reached out her hooves to angrily grab him, but he moved easily out of range. She was aiming to grab his throat, but had completely missed and had instead reached for one of his front legs. It wasn't that Dash blamed him for what was happening, she just desperately wanted to hurt someone, to lash out at something because of what she had seen, and what she had felt ever since awakening to find herself in the mist. Dash wanted to scream, to kick things, to shout and then to cry. To save that poor mare. To wipe the memory of her lifeless corpse from her mind.
"Your the messenger"? She asked in nasty, mocking tone. "And your message is to be afraid?"
The stallion was unmoved by Rainbows emotional outburst. "Yes Dash" he said with finality in his tone of voice. "I am the messenger. The messenger of fear".
Having spent quite a lot of her anger just before hand, Dash took a few deep breaths, being a lot calmer now than she was before, and proceeded to look back towards Lightning Dust, laying lifeless on the floor.
"Why did she do it" Rainbow asked in a quiet whisper.
"We shall see" messenger replied