The Things We Fear

That was one heck of a dream... Rainbow Dash thought, her senses slowly returning to her through the fog of deep sleep. It's dark... Must be night already. Dash opened her eyes slightly, taking in the scene around her. A ceiling? Wait... I fell asleep on a cloud, didn't I? The pegasus groaned, opening her eyes as far as she could will them to, slowly turning her head to the right. "F-Fluttershy?" She aked tiredly, looking up at the timid pegasus. Rainbow's eyes widened a bit more. Her friend wore a black dress. But Fluttershy never wears black... Rainbow thought, trying to think of an explanation. Looking up, Rainbow found herself staring into her friend's eyes, red and puffy, tears streaming from them. She'd been crying. Hard. However, her freind was now wide-eyed, backing away slowly from where Rainbow lay. "What's going on?" She asked, moving a bit before realising she was also wearing a dress. The dress was exquisitely made, even moreso than her Gala dress had been. It was obvious that no expense had been spared in it's making, and the use of jewels sporting all of her trademark colors made it easy to figure out it's designer. Rainbow rolled over, plummeting to the floor from whatever she'd been laying on before. Fluttershy, who had by now backed away to the other end of the cottage, bolted out the door, slamming it shut and speeding down the road toward Ponyville. "Wierd... Very wierd..." Rainbow said, groaning and rubbing the back of her head as she stood up. It felt like she'd been asleep for days. She gazed around the cottage, discerning that she was in the back room, which Fluttershy had turned into a makeshift medical bay. Her eyes came to a halt over a clear bag, filled with scarlet liquid, an unused IV extending from underneath it. A strange desire came over her, pulling her toward the blood-filled bag. She shook her head. "It's blood... It's metallic and salty, bitter..." Dash said, turning away from the packet on the wall. "But, I am a bit thirsty..."

*****

"Dear, that has to be the most rediculous thing I've ever heard of. You checked her pulse yourself, didn't you?" Rarity trotted along next to Fluttershy, dressed in a similar black dress, her purple mane styled as perfectly as always.

"Y-Yes... But I could've swor-"

She was cut off by the fashiontista as they neared the cottage, who entered and headed toward the back room "Dear, you must be seeing things." She said, opening the door to the back room. "As unfortunate as it is, Rainbow Dash is clearly not..." Rarity gestured inside of the room, her eyes following her hoof as it came to a stop over a certain rainbow-maned pegasus staring at the door, a look of surprise on her face. In front of her, a blood packet lay on the ground, drained of it's contents. "A-Aliiiive!" Rarity shrieked, bolting out the door, and over Fluttershy, in a panicked frenzy. Dash took this opportunity, pinning Fluttershy to the floor of the cottage with two firm hooves on each of her shoulders. The pink-maned pegasus squeezed her eyes shut, turning her head from Rainbow and whimpering, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Woah, Shy'... Calm down. I just want to talk..." Rainbow said, taking her hooves off of Fluttershy's shoulders. A small squeak could be heard as the timid pegasus opened one eye slightly, looking at the cyan mare. Rainbow stamped her hoof, giving a frustrated sigh. "Why is everypony acting so wierd? You've never acted like this around me, Shy'. What's going on? And why are you dressed like you're going to a..." Dash paused, her eyes widening in realisation as the truth dawned on her. "Funeral..." The brightly colored dress, Rarity screaming, Fluttershy's surprise when Dash had woken up... It all made sense... "No... This can't... This is just a joke, right?" Dash chuckled nervously, grabbing her oldest friend by the shoulders and bringing her face-to-face. "Right?"

Fluttershy shook her head slowly "N-no... R-Rainbow, three days ago, you were pronounced dead."

The cyan pegasus' eyes widened in shock "What are you talking about, Shy'? Didn't you check my pulse or something before setting up a bucking funeral?" Panic began to rise in Rainbow's voice.

"D-Dash... You didn't have any blood to make one."

Rainbow released her freind, stepping back. "B-But... I'm not dead... This isn't funny anymore... Pinkie? I-I know you're in on this!" Rainbow yelled, looking around, hoping to see the pink party pony hop out of the shadows, laughing at Dash's gullability. Rainbow Dash looked back at her oldest friend hopefully, waiting for her to say that this was just a joke... The look on her face said everything. This wasn't a joke. She had come close to being buried alive, and her best friend, who had been there for her since foalhood, was standing there in front of her, telling her that she shouldn't be alive...

"Uh... Rainbow?" Fluttershy spoke again, breaking the intense silence that had filled the room.

"Y-Yeah?" Rainbow whimpered, looking up.

Fluttershy simply pointed to the ground near the daredevil pegasus. Following her hoof, Rainbow's eyes found what she was pointing at. The drained blood packet still lay on the floor, a hole ripped in it. "I... Uh... Erm..." Dash fumbled, trying to find words to explain herself. "I got thirsty." She finally said, giving a sheepish grin. Fluttershy's eyes widened a bit more.

"Um..." Fluttershy brought her hoof to her own mouth, running it along her upper lip. Rainbow followed her example, her hoof coming to a stop over an abnormally long member of her teeth. Rushing out of the room to a mirror, Rainbow smiled widely, examining her upper mouth. Two long teeth, pointed at the tips, protruded from each side of her gums. Rainbow Dash stumbled back from the mirror, a cream-colored hoof the only thing stopping her from falling over. She reached up, pulling at the teeth, praying that they were fake... They wouldn't budge.

"W-We need to go see Twilight about this..." Rainbow Dash said, moving toward the door and opening it, walking out into the sun. A sharp gasp, almost a yelp, came from the cyan pegasus before she rushed back inside the cottage, gasping.

"What's wrong?" Fluttershy flew over, examining her friend. "What happened?"

"I can't go out there..." Dash said, staring at the door fearfully.

"What? Why not?" This was strange... Dash had never had a problem with the sun. In fact, she loved it most of the time. Everything about this day has been strange. Fluttershy thought. Maybe it was just a dream... All of it. Maybe she'd never found Dash dead on a cloud, almost every drop of blood drained out of her body... Maybe she hadn't started screaming at her friend, ordering her to wake up, crying until she couldn't anymore. Maybe- Fluttershy stopped mid-thought, realising she'd been staring at Rainbow. The rainbow-maned pegasus simply stared back, a look of confusion and terror in her eyes. "What happened?" Fluttershy asked at last, breaking the silence.

Her friend shook her head. "I... I don't know. It's like I could see into another dimension... And it was awful." Rainbow shook her head once again, trying to rid her mind of the nightmarish images that were now engraved into her memory. Something fell around her shoulders.

"Will this help?" She heard Fluttershy ask. Rainbow looked down at the thing that had been draped around her shoulders. It was a simple, hooded cloak. Very old, and judging from the lack of jewels, obviously not made by Rarity. Rainbow fastened it around herself, standing and pulling the hood up over her face.

"I hope so..." She said, walking out into the sun once again. This time, however, she was not greeted by nightmarish visions. The cloak was working. She was, however, greeted by everything being much brighter than it had been before. Squinting, Rainbow began moving down the road toward Ponyville, Fluttershy in persuit.