Rainbow Dash was tired. After a hard day's work of weather patrolling and training for the Wonderbolts, one wouldn't be surprised she was. Unfortunately, it was too late and she was much too far away to fly back to her home in Cloudsdale, but luckily she found a cloud just to her liking. She took flight and landed on the floating pillow, finding just the right position before drifting off to sleep. If anypony noticed, they would have to agree, she looked adorable sleeping on her soft cloud. If only they saw what was happening in her head. They would change there tune in a heartbeat.
Rainbow Dash awoke to find her self completely surrounded in darkness. She wondered if it was still late, but then realised no matter how late it was, it would never be this dark. She gazed out into the darkness, trying to see where she was. Frustrated that the only thing she could see was her hoof in front of her face, she decided to try to find somepony who could tell her where she was. Remembering she was on a cloud, she jumped then used her wings to slowly fall, only to be stopped by the same level ground she was on. This confused her. Did she fall off her cloud as she slept? If she did, why was she not feeling any pain? Considering it fortune she wasn't, she began to trot forward into the darkness.
Rainbow began to get irritated. It felt like she had been walking for hours. Why hasn't she found anyone, or anything for that matter? She remembered how she must fallen off of her cloud to wake up on level ground. This made her wonder, Did the fall somehow kill her? Was she in Heaven? No, it can't be. It's too cold and dark. She always saw Heaven like Cloudsdale, only warmer and full of nice ponies of all races. This made her worry. Was she in ... No, she was a good pony. She saved the world twice. There was no way she was in ... that place. Besides, no matter where she ended up, she would have at least found something that would give her some idea of where she was. This made her come to one conclusion. She was in Purgatory.
Shortly after Rainbow Dash came to the conclusion that she may be in Purgatory, her mind filled with new questions. What had she done to deserve this? Did she do anything at all? Is this a test to see if she deserves a second chance? As these and more questions reeled in her mind, she took a step forward, only for it to land on nothing as she fell off of an invisible cliff. She panicked for only a moment, using her wings to regain balance and fall slowly back to earth. When she landed, she berated herself for not paying attention to where she was walking, only to realize there was no way she could have paid attention. Noticing the pointlessness of her berate, she continued her adventure forward. As she was walking, she began to hear the faint sound of hoof steps behind her. She turned around only to see nopony there. Thinking she was hearing things, she trotted forward again, only to hear the hoof steps, this time much louder.
Rainbow again looked behind her, still seeing nopony there. She started to get nervous. Was somepony following her, using the darkness to its advantage? Using this as an excuse, she took flight and dashed forward in an attempt to flee from the stalker. This only seemed to make it angry as the hoof steps got louder and louder. Rainbow began to panic, But then she realized, She's Rainbow Dash! The real Dash would confront this stalker and, if necessary, beat it into submission. She stopped and landed on the ground, and when she turned to look at the stalker, she couldn't believe what she saw.
She saw her dear friend Pinkie Pie, wearing her trademark smile. Rainbow closed her eyes in relief. Maybe she didn't have to deal with this strange place alone. But when she opened her eyes, her relief changed to horror at what she saw.
Pinkie Pie was mutilated, as if mamed by a manticore. Her left eye was dangling out of it's socket. Her right eye was completely white, save for a tiny black dot. Her jaw was decimated, nearly gone, as blood dripped from the wound. Several scratches surrounded a large gash which exposed her rib cage. Rainbow was filled with terror. She didn't know what to do. She began to feel faint, and then blacked out.
Rainbow awoke with a scream. Shooting up from her bed, she looked around to see where she was. When she realized she was back in Equestria, Rainbow calmed down and sighed in relief. She laid back down in her cloud bed, looking up in the clear blue sky. She thought about what had happened in her dream, instantly regretting it as she remembered everything that had happened. She shook her head, trying to forget, but to no avail. She got up from her cloud and looked around some more. Seeing Ponyville in the distance, she contemplated on what she should do. Should she talk to Twilight, maybe try to figure out if her dream meant anything? Should she see Pinkie Pie, just to see if she was okay? She decided on the latter. Philosophical disscusions on what dreams mean can wait, right now she wanted to check if Pinkie was alright.
Rainbow took flight towards Ponyville. As she got closer, she remembered what Pinkie had looked like in her dream. Shaking her head again in a vain attempt to forget, she found herself in the front of Sugar Cube Corner. Remembering why she had come her in the first place, she slowly made her way to the door and knocked 3 times. The door flew open, and there stood, or rather hopped, Pinkie Pie looking completely normal. "Hi Dashie!" She said, her voice filled with her usual perkiness. "What are you doing here? Ooh, are you here to taste my new cupcake recipe? I call it 'Creme de la Pinkie' but I think I should change the name cuz I don't want ponies to think I'm full of myself. By the way, how can ponies be full of themselves? Are they talking about their organs and stuff? That reminds me, do you think I should make a meat flavored cupcake? I don't think-" But before Pinkie said another word, Rainbow had extended her forhooves and gripped Pinkie in a tight hug. Pinkie was surprised, but simply smiled and returned the hug. They stood there for what, to Rainbow, felt like hours, but was really only a few minutes. When she loosend her grip, Rainbow leaned back to look at Pinkie again. Still normal.
"What was that for Dashie?" Pinkie asked, still smiling. Rainbow decided to tell her the truth. "I had a bad dream, where you got hurt badly. I know it's silly, but I just needed to make sure you were okay."
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Pinkie asked.
"Maybe later. Right now, I'm just glad to see you're okay."
"Well, if you ever need anypony to talk to, I'll always be there for you Dashie." Pinkie said, her voice filled with both cheeriness and sincerity. Rainbow chuckled to herself. 'Only Pinkie could find a way to sound both cheery and sincere at the same time', she thought.
"I know you will" Rainbow brought her hooves back. "But thank you for reminding me."
"In the mean time" Pinkie started "Wanna try that cupcake I told you about? I promise it's REALLY good!" At the mention of the word cupcake, Rainbow's stomach growled.
"Sure. I'd like that"
