Dusk Village

Move. Always move. Have to keep moving. step by step. One hoof in front of the other. Moving where? Who knows. It all looks the same. Yet it's always different. Different, but the same. Behind that tree is another tree. Beside that rock is another rock. Have I been here before? Is this new? Am I lost? Was I ever not lost? Where am I going? Where did I come from?

These are the thoughts that frequently populated the mostly vacant mind of Rainbow Dash, as she trudged along in this unfamiliar forest. The time that had passed since Paragon returned and ruined everything had, well... ruined everything. Rainbow Dash had awoken hours after being knocked out, only to find that she was alone. When she raced back to Ponyville, she found the place occupied by Paragons soldiers, the monster himself nowhere to be found. Anypony who hadn't been killed was a captive; soon to be a slave. Despite her shock, she carefully searched the town over the course of a few days. Maree was gone.

After that, Dash fled from the town, emotionally broken, in what she had feared right from the beginning to be a vain search for her daughter and her friends. She set off in any old direction, walking for hours every day, sleeping when she needed to. She almost immediately lost her sense of direction, and could only eat what she found. And usually that wasn't much. And all of that happened two years ago. two years.

Rainbow Dash might not have even realized how long she'd been away if she hadn't counted every agonizingly slow day she was away from her child. The endless travel and horrendous conditions of living alone and on the move had taken it's toll on Dash, physically and mentally. Once, in her glory, she had been a top notch athlete, and able to take on just about anything. Some might have even thought she had a certain beauty even. Now, she was nothing more than a cynical parody of her former self; a walking ghost of something once living, now very much dead in many ways. Malnutrition had worn away at her body to the point that she was very little more than skin and bone, her cheeks deeply sunken and her legs as thin as twigs. It was a wonder she could even stand upright. Her coat and her mane were messy and tangled nearly beyond recognition. Many times, her mane had gotten caught on branches or bushes, and she been forced to tear away; quite painfully; which left her mane an uneven, gnarled mess. Her body was covered in minor cuts and scars from the scratching of various uncooperative plants she'd been forced to navigate through over the months.

It was an endless struggle just to keep moving. Rainbow Dash did not even truly understand the reason why she kept going. She knew that the idea was that she might one day find Maree, but... after so long, she had no reason to believe it was even possible to find her anymore. For all she knew, everyone she loved... everyone she ever even knew, might be dead. And she'd have no way to prove it, or disprove it. She didn't know how to get unlost, she didn't know how to find anyone... she was gone from this world, for all intents and purposes; a revenant who wandered aimlessly in nameless, endless, repeating landscapes.

Physically sapped and suffering from heat exhaustion, Dash stumbled into a nearby clearing. Before exiting fully, she tripped on a rogue tree root. Without making any effort to catch herself, Dash plopped onto the ground, face first, and laid there, motionless. She hadn't even noticed her loss of balanced, nor had she felt the fall. She remained where she was, unmoving, uncaring. This is it. She thought. I have had enough. I've had enough of walking. I've had enough of searching. I've had enough of exhaustion, of disappointment, of hunger, of thirst. I've had enough of life. I will die here. There is nothing more that can be done...

It seemed as though Dash might keep this vow to herself. She remained on the ground, not even flinching for one hour, which soon became two, then three. Dash's mind finally wandered, and her eyes followed. She inspected her surroundings carefully, not that it mattered. She just wanted an idea of what kind of place she'd finally end up dying in. It was actually kind of pretty. This area seemed untouched by pony kind... or by any creatures, really. She didn't see a single animal in the area. Lots of tree and bushes, some of them bearing small, inedible berries.

But this place had, indeed, been touched by pony kind once. For when Dash continued to look around, she noted a stone formation in the distance. She initially believed that maybe it was a very steep hill side, but she vaguely made out that indeed, this formation was flat and flush. It was an unnatural formation; a wall. What the wall was a part of she could not tell through the brush, but her curiosity brought her back to her feet, and she set off to investigate. An unnatural formation meant that this was created by something intelligent, and intelligence was usually linked to civilization. Maybe, just maybe...

Dash pushed her was through the bushes, and finally broke out into a clearing where the wall was, and she was immediately struck dumb. What she had discovered was something perhaps nopony had ever seen... not in a very, very long time at least. What stood before her was a grand stone structure; a castle or temple, perhaps, once glorious and imposing, now aged and decaying. It seemed like it was made for giants; the door was more than twice her height and probably weighed a great deal. Dash was lucky it was already slightly open; she had her doubts about being able to open it herself.

Dash curiously stepped inside, holes in the building and the open gate helping to illuminate her way. The main hall was even more impressive than the outside, As Dash was immediately bombarded with ancient murals which lined a hall that seemed even larger than could be possible. Each one depicted large, winged beings; Alicorns, Dash soon realized; performing incredible feats at different points throughout history. Dash quickly came to the conclusion that these were past ancestors of Celestia and Luna, and she soon realized just how old this place must have been to have recorded these such events. Each mural was inscribed with some writing that Dash could not read; they had deteriorated over time and had become illegible.

As Dash walked along the corridor, she noticed a general pattern that the inscriptions were becoming clearer. She quickly guessed that these were newer, and had not deteriorated as much. After opening an interior door, walking into a second room which was brightly illuminated as a result of the ceiling having completely caved in some time ago,  Dash was immediately bombarded by yet another mural, this one large enough to cover an entire wall. This new mural seemed relatively newer than the others, though it was probably still hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years old. It depicted several Alicorns in a row, each one larger and more radiant than the last, with a final, majestic-looking one at the end facing outward, while the others faced left. Beneath was yet another inscription, this one much longer than all the others. It was clear enough to read; or it would be, if Dash understood it. It was written in a strange, ancient language Dash had never heard of. She thought, briefly, that one of the princesses might be able to read it. too bad, she thought, I'll probably die here, never knowing what this thing says, and no one else will ever find it.

As Rainbow Dash stood there, she heard a sound coming from the distance off to her left, in the next room over. She heard what was apparently synchronized hoof-steps, as well as muttered conversation. Someone else was here with her. Instinctively, Dash hid, knowing not to trust just anypony who walked through. Paragon was everywhere, and the odds that these ponies had something to do with him were high. Sure enough, the first pony to walk into the room Dash was in was a stall, muscular unicorn clad in the bronze armor indicative of Paragon's legion. The soldier looked around, Dash hiding among the rubble to avoid being spotted. Just a few minutes ago, Dash didn't care whether she died or not; now, having found this ancient wonder, she felt a certain obligation to stay alive as long as possible, just to tell someone about this place. Of course, it was probably an instinctual preference of life over death fueling her decision as well.

The soldier looked around the room, regarding the mural with interest. There was no curiosity on his face, only purpose. After a minute or so, he called back down the hall he had come from. "General Iron Hoof! You'd better take a look at this!"

A minute later, several other soldiers; an even blend of unicorns and pegasi; entered the room just ahead of an older, grizzled looking unicorn, about 50 years in age, who wore iron armor as opposed to the bronze standard of the other troops. His legs were exposed, all except his front right leg, which was covered completely in armor. The same leg appeared to be injured, as he walked with a slight limp on that leg.

"I believe this is the place we've been searching for, sir. This appears to be the mural Lord Paragon described." The same solider reported to Iron Hoof, gesturing towards the mural in question. General Iron Hoof regarded the mural with the same look the soldier had. After a few moments, he nodded in approval.

"Indeed it is. Well done, soldier." Iron Hoof nodded. "Keep searching, find the other murals, and make sure no one else is here with us. This place is to remain secret."

The group dispersed, and Rainbow Dash made herself as small as possible. She had to get out of here quickly. She watched warily from behind the rubble she was using for cover as the soldiers gradually filed out of the room. As soon as they were gone, she made her move. She stepped out from her cover and peered down the hallway she had come from. General Iron Hoof was there with two other soldiers, making escape from the direction she had come in from impossible. She had to find another way out.

Next she tried the door to the left side of the room where the others had come in from originally. This door led to another hallway that appeared to be clear for now. She took a right down an intersecting hallway; she started down the left again, but immediately saw two more soldiers and backed around the corner. She prayed that they hadn't seen her. She realized she hadn't really paid attention as to what direction they had been going in. Fighting a voice telling her not to risk it, she peeked back around the corner. They were walking away, and their backs were turned. Dash decided to go right instead. She was making good progress until two more soldiers rounded the corner at the far end of the hall she was currently in. Panicking as she saw no cover, Dash barged into the nearest room she could reach; right into 3 other soldiers who were noting some other murals. Her heart stopped for a moment, as all their eyes slowed turned to focus on her. Not remembering how to flee, she simply stood there, bugged eyed as the soldiers approached her with malice in their eyes. Dash finally regained control over her body, and took off as fast as her wings allowed her. Now with both the two soldiers from the hall and three from the room chasing after her, Dash moved like she hadn't for years.

"Grab her! Don't let her escape!" One of the soldiers commanded.

Rainbow Dash took off and started flying; something she hadn't done for a long time; and was immediately followed. Luckily, she could still move pretty quickly all things considered, and stayed a steady pace ahead of the other soldiers. More and more soldiers joined the pursuit as the chase went on; Dash hadn't realized just how many of them there had been.

Dash tried to recognize anything as she sped by each hallway, praying for some glimmer of familiarity that would lead her out of this maze and into an open space she could escape from, but saw nothing. Left, right, left; she no longer had any idea where she was and could already feel her wings beginning to weaken, she hadn't flown like this in years and each stroke was making it harder and harder to breath. She couldn't slow down though, she was barely ahead of the soldiers as it was and knew that that they would kill her without remorse if they caught her. As she turned again she saw something that set her spirits surging, she could see daylight coming from the next turn; she was almost out!

As she turned down the final hall toward her goal, a beam of yellow light arced from the ground toward her; she had forgotten they had unicorn soldiers! Without anything near the agility needed to evade, Dash took the blow in her right wing and began to plummet to the ground. No! Dammit, not now, I was so close...

Suddenly, Dash felt herself be hit by something in mid-air. She was no longer falling. Instead she was... flying again, but in the opposite direction she had been, and not of her own accord. She panicked, thinking she'd been caught by one of Paragon's soldiers, and was being taken captive. She looked to see who was holding her. She couldn't believe it; a face she hadn't seen for years, one that had changed so much, yet was as unmistakable as her own. It was none other than Scootaloo, once a flightless little filly, now a full grown mare carrying Dash through the air!

"Scootaloo? I... don't believe it! You... you can fly?!" Dash exclaimed.

Scootaloo smiled, a hint of smugness in her expression. "I can do a lot more than just 'fly' Dash, check this out!" As she finished her sentence, she tucked herself in, diving sharply under the flock of pegasi who had been pursuing Dash. Before any of them could react, she was already past them, literally bouncing back up behind them, kicking off the ground and flapping again with almost no loss of pace. They quickly turned around to try and catch her, just in time to see her round a corner. She was remarkably fast. Down the next hall way, two unicorns emerged firing at Scootaloo from around the corner.

"Scootaloo, watch it!" Dash warned. With seemingly little effort, Scootaloo twisted in the air, avoiding both attacks, and dove at one of the unicorns. She tackled him to the ground and gave the other a solid buck to the jaw, knocking him out. The Pegasi had finally caught up again, and Scootaloo took off once more, winging past them. As they approached the next turn, Scootaloo seemed to take no notice of it and instead aimed for the wall directly ahead of them.

"Uh, Scootaloo? You're going to... turn, right? I mean, you're not even... slowing down..."

Scootaloo just smiled, that same confidence still written all over her face. "Don't need to. Check this trick out!"

As they got close, the wall started to glow. When they were just a few feet away, Dash saw something she didn't believe; the wall opened up, parting the way to let them pass! How did she do that?! Scootaloo, with Dash in her arms, flew through the open passage, which immediately closed behind them, leaving half of the pursuing pegasi to crash into a stone wall after them.

End of chapter 7