Rainbow Dash sighed and nodded. After a moment of Twilight doing a pregnancy scan, she switched to casting the spell which only took a few moments. No sooner did Twilight finish that Rainbow nodded to Luna who lit her horn and covered Rainbow in a black orb.

Darkness. Darkness was all that Rainbow saw. Could, lonely, empty darkness. She shivered in a ball as she drifted in the void with her wings wrapped around herself. It wasn't long before she heard voices whispering to her. Promises of power. Of being with her lover. Promises of so many things that she desired.

She felt herself slowly sink deeper with each promise the voices told her. She felt alone. For the first time in many years. She was alone. No friends. No lover. No one.

She hated it. She hated being alone. She felt weak, useless, lame. She felt like she was back in flight school again. Slow, pathetic and a joke.

The darkness promised to take that feeling away. To take away all the pain. It promised that she would never feel this way again.

It felt wrong. But Rainbow couldn't help but to sink deeper. It was so tempting. Such an alluring idea. And yet… a part of her knew she wasn't alone. Her friends were waiting for her. The princess was looking over her. Her lover… no… her mate was with her.

She had to get out of the darkness. She didn't know which way was out. But she had to keep fighting. "I am Rainbow Dash!" She shouted to the darkness. "The element of loyalty! And the fastest pegasus in Equestria!!!" Her wings shot open in defiance.

The voices continued making promises. And even praised her for what she said and everything she had done. Adding more promises about her skills and future.

It was becoming too much for her to fight. The darkness knew her too well. Even as one part of her reached out for help. She felt herself sink more.

Just as she felt her strength fade, a different sound reached her. A soft, familiar and soothing tone. She turned toward the voices and reached out to it. The closer she got, the warmer she felt. She knew the song. She had heard it every night when she rested in the cave. It chased away her nightmares. It was the voice of her mate.

Even as the darkness pulled harder on her, refusing to let her go without a fight. She knew she wasn't alone. He was still there. More importantly, he knew she needed him. She hadn't noticed it till now. But he had become her strength. With him, she felt strong, wanted, faster than ever, awesome. She grabbed hold of the voice, and felt it wrap around her as the song continued.

Closing her eyes, she let the voice pull her closer. Slowly she felt the darkness slip away, but she knew her time in the darkness had changed her. However she didn't know how she changed. And feared how or when she would learn. But with her mate and friends at her side. She wasn't worried about how it'd turn out.

Mod and Limestone made it outside and Limestone quickly ordered the unicorns to seal the building until they could undo what happened to the ponies inside. Mod on the other hoof simply went right past them to a teleportation circle the unicorns set up for the victims and stepped through.

Once she appeared in Canterlot, Mod went up to one of the guards. "Princess. Now." She ordered in her normal yet somehow threatening tone.

Gulping, the guard nodded and led her to where Celestia was waiting with Pinkie. Celestia looked over with a grateful smile that quickly turned to concern at seeing Mod was alone.

"What happened?" She asked. Hearing the concern in her voice, Pinkie looked over.

"Mod? Did you find them?" Pinkie asked.

"It was a trap." Mod replied. "A unit was caught. Limestone and I almost didn't make it out."

"Then we're back to square one." Celestia sighed.

"Not quite. I did notice the carbonate sedimentary that lined the walls and the extrusive igneous floor. Likely built within the past hundred moons." Mod replied, causing Celestia's eyes to widen and Pinkie to gasp.

"You mean you know where they are?" Pinkie asked cheerfully.

"There's not many places that were built with that combination that would be a good place to hold ponies without outsiders hearing their screams for help." Mod replied before going over to the map.

Celestia turned to the guard. "Send for our best mages and send them to the old hut to help deal with the problem! And contact the Wonderbolts. We may need their assistance with this. Make sure Spitfire knows what has happened and the threat they will face." With a confirming nod, the guard rushed off. Celestia turned back to the map ready for war.

Author's Note

Looks like Rainbow is dealing with more than what most may know. And the rescue party needs to put together a new plan. I wonder how dangerous things are really going to get.