Your Name Across The Multiverse -DASH SIDE-by DATONETWIxDASHFANChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8: Your NameChapter 1Author's Note 5/17/24 edit: hey, FINALLY, I edited this fic with Grammarly! I fixed a lot of stuff thanks to the old grammar bot. Yeah, Grammarly is way better, lol Chapter 1 "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" screamed both Dash and Dashie as they were tossed through a colorful cylinder with mirror-like exteriors. Within those mirrors, other versions of themselves passed by without them knowing. Before they knew it, they were tossed out and floating above a beautiful, huge, neon city. As they free-fell, the Rainbow Shard fell between them. Dashie grabbed it, but Dash opened her wings and stared in awe at the busy night city. "Wow!" said Rainbow Dash as she flapped her wings, but she quickly heard Dashie screaming as she kept falling. "Hold on, I'm coming!" yelled Dash as she dove toward her human version. Dashie screamed until she felt a pair of hooves wrapping around her waist and pulling her into a hug. "It's okay, I got you," said Dash as she smiled down at her. "What are you?" asked Dashie as she looked up at the pegasus and down at the other buildings. "Where are we? Why am I up here?" she asked again and again. "Hold on tight!" said Dash as she flew faster towards a large building's rooftop. "AHH!" yelled Dashie as she felt Dash's hooves leaving her waist and felt herself falling. "AAAAAHHHHH!" screamed Dashie until she planted her face into the roof's floor. "Sorry," said Dash as she helped her up. "I could have died!" screamed Dashie as she rubbed her sore head and noticed the shard in her hand was still intact. "It's a good thing you didn't," smiled Dash as she walked away and looked over the roof's edge. "I still could have broken my bones or neck. Who knows how high we were?" said Dashie as she turned to the pony. "You wouldn't have died," replied Dash. "And how are you so sure?" asked Dashie in anger. "Because I'm the fastest pony in Equestria! Saving ponies from falling to their deaths is pretty common, " said Dash as she turned to her weird-looking double. "But never mind that; who are you? That other creature called you "Dashie," right?" asked Dash. "Um, yeah. My name is Dashie. Dashiell Reinbold." Dashie proudly said as she pounded her chest but quickly let out, "Wait another creature?" "Dashie, huh? It sounds like the nickname Pinkie gave me. My name is Rainbow Dash, but everyone calls me Rainbow or Dash," Dash said as she walked toward her human version. "Really? Penny gave me that nickname after that party for my old childhood friend, who turned out to be a bully, but we're cool now." Dash froze as she heard that. She sat down and asked Dashie a quick question: "Do you have a nickname called "Rainbow Crash?" Dashie started to freak out a bit as she answered the question. "Reinbold Crashie..." softly replied Dashie as she approached the blue pony. "My bullies gave me that nickname. How many friends do you have?" "Four best friends, AJ, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy, you?" asked Dash as she looked at her human version in confusion. "Same, but my friends are AJ, Penny, Rachel, and Faith," answered Dashie until she realized her friends' names almost sounded the same. She needed to be sure about something. Both started to talk at the same time. "Apple farm girl/pony, party and hyper girl/pony, clothes designer girl/unicorn, shy and animal-loving girl/pegasus!" they said at the same time. Both were shocked to hear each other's friend's personality and looked at each other. "Wait a second," said Dashie. "How is that possible?" asked Dash. Dashie and Dash started talking about their friendship, where they met, and why they became friends with those girls, and both realized the others and themselves were from a different universe. "I don't get it; how is this possible?" asked Dash. "I think our universes are from the multiverse, which can be anything like a big tree with many branches, a net, a ball of yarn, and many more," explained Dashie. "Oh no, I believe in the whole multiverse theory; like, I'm talking to another version of me right now. What I don't understand is how this happened," said Dash. Dashie remembered the shard in her hand and showed it to Dash, who was confused. "I think this has something to do with it," said Dashie as she explained how, when she touched it, she remembered seeing her pony self. "Yeah. When I touched it, I saw you!" said Dash. "I don't understand why us?" asked Dashie. "Maybe the Rainbow Comet has magical properties. So, when it landed in the forest, it created some portal or something. If only she were here...wait, who?" questioned Dash as she tried to remember that pony she was with. "I was with some pony; why can't I remember?" "What are you doing?" asked Dashie as she saw her double staring at nothing and walking in circles. "I'm trying to remember who I was with. It was a female unicorn, I think?" questioned Dash to herself. Dashie remembered back as well, and she, too, realized something. She was with someone else, but just like Dash, she couldn't remember her name, not even her face. "You're right. I remember someone I was with, but I'm drawing a blank. I don't remember her name either. It's like someone wiped her from my memory," explained Dashie as she walked away in frustration and confusion. "Hey. Let's focus on getting back to our worlds first and figure out later why we can't remember them," said Dash "That's not going to be easy; I don't think this shard is sending us back home; it looks all dull now. Maybe if we found whoever you were with, she might know," said Dashie. "If she knows, how will we find her since we're not in your world or mine? I have never seen this city before. Have you?" asked Dash. Dashie looked around and noticed everything was so strange, so she shook her head. "So, how are we going to find our way back home?" asked Dash. "I don't know," sadly said Dashie. Both walked closer to the edge and looked at the neon city, where everything was different. There were very tall buildings, flying cars, and ships as they passed through the city's buildings. "I don't recognize anything here. This doesn't even look like a place that belongs in my world," said Dash. Dashie nodded in agreement and said, "I'm afraid we're not in Kansas anymore." "What?" asked Dash. "Uh, nothing," said Dashie. Suddenly, a passing airship flew by with a large screen on it, revealing a news report with a male voice on the speaker: "Just in, our former hero and savior, Tara Brave, was captured a few days ago and is going to pay for her crimes." Soon, a picture of Tara Brave appeared on the screen, revealing a purple-skinned woman with purple hair wearing a prisoner outfit. Dashie noticed the shard started glowing. "Whoa," said Dash as she and Dashie saw the news. "What the?! Who is that?" asked Dashie. "Dunno, but there's something about her," said Dash as she looked at the woman. "Me too; it's like I know her," said Dashie. As they continued watching, they heard the reporter talking again: "Brave is being taken to the prison section of the city; in a few hours, she will be killed for bringing the alien threat to our doorstep."May Aura have mercy on her soul... Remember, you can still buy the virtual tickets to the live execution and get a virtual goodie bag," happily explained the reporter. "Killed?" yelled Dash. "Aliens?" said Dashie. They watched as the report ended, leaving a still image of Tara on screen, but both girls noticed the Rainbow Shard around her neck, and then the ship continued its route. "Hey, she has a rainbow shard!" said Dash as she pointed it. "Okay?" replied Dashie. "Don't you remember how we touched the shard? We ended up here. Since touching our current shard did nothing, there might be a good chance if we touch her shard," explained Dash. "We'll get sent back," finished Dashie. "Exactly," said Dash, flapping her wings and looking down over the building edge. "Wait, what are you doing?" asked Dashie, a bit confused. "You're the one with the shard. Don't you remember it glowing when the shard appeared on screen? We can use it to find her. Like a tracker!" said Dash. "And we will; I just don't like heights, and jumping off the building is not a good idea. So, let's think of a better way to get down." cowardly explained Dashie. "Just come here!" said Dash as she moved behind Dashie and wrapped her front legs around her. "WAIT!" yelled Dashie as she was picked up and was screaming. "Hold on!" said Dash. "AHHHH!" yelled Dashie as they took off. "This isn't so bad. Right?" smiled Dash as she looked down. "I'm going to puke," groaned Dashie as she covered her mouth. Dash couldn't believe Dashie was from another universe. She was nothing like her, and Dash wouldn't get scared by heights. "I hate this. I can't look down," said Dashie as she covered her eyes. "Well, tough it out," replied Dash. Dashie opened her eyes for a bit but quickly covered them again and screamed. "You know, I never expected the version of me to be such a scaredy cat. You aren't cool, you know?" laughed Dash. Dashie uncovered her eyes and asked. "A what?" "Scaredy cat. It's what the ponies in my world call creatures like you," answered Dash. "Screw you! In my world, we call you a cun-" yelled Dashie before she quickly covered her mouth as she felt like she was throwing up again. Dash laughed at her response. They flew through the city, following the shard as it was glowing brighter to the north. They kept going until a flying police ship appeared behind them. "This is the Aura City Police. Cease flight and land! "Wait, is that a flying pony?" questioned one of the officers. Dash stopped flying and hovered in place with a smirk on her face. "You're not thinking of taking them on. Are you?" asked Dashie, but watched as Dash did more of a smug smile. "Oh god, you are!" "Come and catch me!" yelled Dash as she flew off, and the ship quickly followed them. "Rainbow! Don't be a show-off!" screamed Dashie. "I'm not, just having fun!" replied Dash. "I hate you!" yelled Dashie. The officers continued to shoot warning shots at them, but Dash kept changing direction. "You have got to be kidding me," thought Dashie. Dash wasn't dodging the shots, and he started to mock them. "Hey, is that the best you got? A little filly could aim better than that," laughed Dash. The police officers were getting annoyed and ordered no more warning shots. "No more warning shots? Really?" thought Dash in a panic. "RAINBOW! They're going to shoot us! AGAIN! For real this time!" screamed Dashie. Dash noticed the ship's gun was pointing right at them, with laser sights pointing at her head. "Crap," whispered Dash. "Told you so," replied Dashie. "Shut it!" said Dash as she flew as fast as she could, barely dodging the shots. "HOLD STILL FLYING PONY!" ordered the officer. "Rainbow. Do something!" yelled Dashie. "I can't; they're right behind me. I can't dodge and do sharp turns with you in my hooves. Are you sure you can't fly??" replied Dash. "DON'T JOKE ABOUT THAT!" "Sorry." grin Dash They kept flying for a few minutes and, nearing the end of the chase, Dash flew between narrow buildings as the ship was getting ready to take another shot at them. "You have a plan or something?" asked Dashie. "Working on it!" said Dash as she dodged another shot. "Work faster! The ship is getting closer!" yelled Dashie. "Oh, please. I can easily lose these guys. These bozos aren't so tough," said Dash. "Really? Because it doesn't seem like it, WITH ALL THE BULLETS!" questioned Dashie. "Trust me," said Dash. "Famous last words," whispered Dashie. The ship continued to fire on them as they exited narrow ways. They were about to take the final shot when they saw a shadow above them and were suddenly knocked into by something. "What the hell was that?" said one of the officers. "Whatever it was, it was huge. Like the size of a building!" yelled the pilot. "We got the same thing here," replied a voice on the radio. The police ship returned and soon noticed endless waves of alien-looking ships. Dash also stopped and watched as the city unleashed its mecha army, and the police force joined in as the alien ships released their mecha army. "Holy cow!" said Dash. The battle soon started, and the Aura city mecha shot and destroyed the alien ships, which returned the fire. "Let's go. We're running out of time here! Are we getting close?" asked Dash. "The shard is getting brighter! Keep heading to that large dome building ahead of us!" yelled Dashie. As they flew closer, the city was in flames, with several buildings being destroyed and the ground littered with rubble and mecha bodies. "Look out!" yelled Dashie. The duo dodged a falling mecha, which crashed into a nearby building and continued flying. "This isn't looking good! This city isn't last for much longer!" said Dash. "Rainbow, look!" said Dashie. "Oh, crap! Not another one," said Dash as she saw another wave of smaller ships appear above them. "Rainbow! Head that way, hurry!" said Dashie. "Alright! Hang on tight, girl!" yelled Dash. Dash quickly turned around, dodging a falling ship, and headed towards the giant dome. "There! That's it!" pointed Dashie as the shard was glowing much more complicated now. "Just get us inside; the shard is glowing like crazy now!" said Dashie. "On it." "You think we're going to make it?" "With me flying, yeah." "Yeah, but I will be sick if you keep showing off." "That's your problem." Dash dodged another ship; the prison was only a few yards away. "We're almost there!" "Yeah, but so are those ships. I hope you have a plan to get inside because I don't see a way inside from here." "Trust me, I'm full of great plans." "That's what I'm afraid of." They were getting closer when a sizeable alien ship suddenly blasted a massive laser at the dome, destroying half of it. "Hold on," said Dash as she dove into the destroyed section of the dome and headed straight down. "Where are we going?" asked Dashie. "Just trust me." "Yeah, like that's going to happen." As they flew deeper inside the prison, they came across a large hall where they found the prisoners in their cells. Many started to scream for help as they saw the girls, but before they could do anything for them, the cell door closed, and they moved underground. "We better hurry; they're moving them somewhere else. Where to now?" asked Dash. Dashie held the shard up and moved it around them until it started to glow brightly in the western part of the hall. "This way. I'm sure she's somewhere down that hall," explained Dashie. Dash nodded and flew to the west hall, where many more cells were seen, but unlike the others, they were empty. They looked inside each other as they flew until they came across a corner hallway, where they could hear voices. "Here, put me down, quietly whispered Dashie as she stood on the edge of the corner. "Be quiet." Dash placed her down and joined in the eavesdropping. "Sunburst, you got to let me out! Everyone is dying out there!" cried a female voice. "You're not going anywhere, Brave. You brought this upon us," replied Sunburst. "You know that's not true, Sunburst. I had no idea the magick could even send that beacon when I found it all those years ago!" replied the female voice. "Liar!" replied Sunburst. "I'm telling you the truth! If the beacon had been active the whole time I had it, I would have known the aliens were coming." "It doesn't matter. You are the reason they're here, so you will be the reason we win this fight. We're going to use magic." "How is that possible, Sunburst? You know Magick won't be active for anyone other than me!" "We'll find a way. Goodbye, Brave." "No! Please! I beg you, let me out, damn it!" "Not happening, Brave," coldly said Sunburst. "If only Aura were still around, things could have been different." The girls heard the footsteps getting near them, so they stepped back into the shadows of the hallway and watched as a tall, light-orange-skinned woman with short, messy yellow hair and wearing a black officer cloak walked out and didn't notice the girls as they disappeared into another hallway, where the sounds of an elevator opening and closing could be heard. "That was Sunlight Shimmer, wasn't it?" thought Dash as she stepped out of the shadows. "Sunburst. Whoever she was talking to, she was the one we were looking for. Tara Brave," replied Dashie as she walked out of the shadow as well and into the hallway where Tara was. They both looked at the cell door and saw the purple-haired woman banging on the glass as she saw Dashie. "Hey. How do we open the door?" asked Dash as he ran to the glass cell door and touched it. The woman jumped back in surprise, as they thought it was someone she knew, but it wasn't; it was a talking flying horse, but she realized it was trying to open the door. "Who are you two? Why is there a talking horse?" asked Tara in confusion and awe. "I'm Rainbow Dash, and this is Dashie. We're here to rescue you and to help us," Dash explained as she flew to eye level with Tara. "You're also a flying horse," quickly replied Tara in a deadpan way. "Yes, and you're Tara Brave. So, what's the hold-up?" said Dash. "Then hold up. If you haven't noticed, I'm behind this shock-proof glass cell door. "How are you going to get past that?" "Oh, no big deal. Watch and learn, babe," cocky replied Dash as she started to flap her wings very quickly until the air around her began to blast around the hallway. "What!? Are you insane?" yelled Tara as she backed away from the glass. Dashie backed away from Dash, bumped into the control panel, and noticed a key card. She took it and used it on the control panel screen. As she did it, the glass door opened, and Dash blasted into the cell room, crashing into the cell wall and slowly sliding down it. "Hey, are you okay? Said Tara as she worried about the miniature horse. "Never...better," mumbled Dash. "Are you alright, Rainbow?" said Dashie. Dash shook her head and slowly got up, her eyes spinning. "I'm okay, I think. How did the door open?" "Oh, you know. A little magic, a little luck," said Dashie, waving the key. Card. "Where did you get that?" asked Tara. "It was lying on that control panel," replied Dashie. "Sunburst, did you leave it on purpose?" mumbled Tara as she stepped out of the cell. "Whatever, hey Tara, do you have a rainbow-looking shard on you?" asked Dash as she flew over to her. "Yes. It was a gift from Aura, as she found it while digging around in some robot ruins," replied Tara. "Perfect. Can you hand it over, please?" "Why? And if I did have it to hand it over, I couldn't; Sunburst has it. She took it from me." "Don't worry about it; we're getting it back," said Dashie with a smile. Tara led the girls down the hall, listening to their story. She didn't want to believe the whole different universe thing, but the talking horse did point out there were aliens, so anything that could happen made her come around. They stopped at the storage area for the prisoner's things, and Tara dug through the room to find her clothes. She stepped out wearing clothes and holding a power drill. "Okay, we'll find Sunburst, get the shard back, and get you two back home! Then save my world!" "Great, where's Sunburst?" asked Dash. "I guess she's going underground; I heard rumors of colony ships being made. We need to hurry, though!" explained Tara as rubble fell near her. "This building isn't going to last for much longer." "I can get us there with my speed, but I don't have the strength to carry you two," said Dash. "Don't worry about that! Good thing no one knows about this!" smiled Tara as she turned on her power drill, which quickly changed size and became a small purple mecha head with a drill on its forehead. "Spark here can carry me. Just follow me!" explained Tara as she got into the mecha head, drilled into the floor, and disappeared into the darkness. "Wow, a drill head. That's awesome," cheered Dash. "She has a point, though, Rainbow. This building isn't going to stay together much longer. Let's follow her before the aliens destroy this place." "Right!" Dash picked up Dashie and flew down the hole and into the darkness. It was completely dark until the Tara mecha drill. It started to glow, revealing a colossal hanger bay and the colony ship. "Whoa! Look at the size of this place and that ship!" Dash said in awe as he hovered in place. "Yeah, this place is huge. I'm surprised Sunburst made this place over the years," replied Tara. Dashie took out the shard, and it started to glow as it pointed to the tunnel bridge connecting the ship. The group took off for the tunnel bridge until two mechas flew before them. Their designs were a white-looking rabbit and a purple dragon. "Tara, I need you to stand down!" ordered a female voice from the white rabbit as it pointed its orange sword at the group. "Angel! You got to let me pass!" yelled Tara. "That voice," whispered both Dashes as the white mecha's chest cockpit opened to reveal a yellow-skinned, super-short, pink-haired girl wearing a tight white suit. "Fluttershy?" said Dash as she stared at Angel. "She doesn't look like Faith, but her voice does match," thought Dashie. "I'm sorry, Tara, but we can't! You ruined our world; we won't let you ruin our only escape. Please stand down." Angel cried as she closed the cockpit and prepared her sword. "Damn it! I don't want to fight you two! Blade, say something!" cried Tara at the purple mecha, but it was ready for its flame thrower weapon. "What are we going to do?" asked Dashie. Spark eyes glowed white, and drills came out from the left side of its body. "I'll take these two on. Head to the tunnel bridge!" "Got it!" yelled Dash. The duo took off and headed straight for the bridge while Tara and the mechas clashed. "Blade, please don't make me fight you!" cried Tara. The mecha didn't respond and fired its flame thrower. "Oh, crap! I don't want to do this! Spark, let's show them what we can do." Spark eyes glowed white again, and drills popped out everywhere. They charged the mecha while Tara grabbed and turned the handle. Then, around and launched into the air, the mecha following close behind her. "Angel, Blade! Stop! You're both my best friends, and I don't want to fight you!" pleaded Tara. "I'm sorry, Tara. But you're going to have to go through us!" cried Angel as her mecha charged at her. "I don't want to, please!" cried Tara as her drills clashed with Angel's sword. Dash and Dashie reached the outside of the bridge wall but turned around to see a huge explosion coming from the battle that Tara was in. They turned back to the wall and watched as the metal walls started to rise, revealing Sunburst and soldiers on the other side. The two took Sunburst aback. "Hold on tight!" yelled Dash as she flew back and rammed into the glass with great speed, shattering the window and landing inside the bridge. Dashie, like always, was screaming in fear. Still puzzled by the two, Sunburst took out her gun and aimed it at them. Soon, her soldiers joined in, pointing their weapons at them. "Who are you two?" asked Sunburst as she stepped forward, but as she did, reality around them started breaking down, cracks formed, and a bright rainbow light beamed out of her pocket. "It's the shard!" yelled Dashie as she covered her eyes. Her shard started to glow just as brightly. The cracks became more extensive, and prism-like effects soon appeared around them. The soldiers started panicking as they fell back from Sunburst, who removed the shard by its chain. "What the hell is happening?" yelled Sunburst as the shard floated. "I don't know. This is what happened when our shards first came into contact," replied Dashie, her eyes still covered. The shards flew to each other, and the moment they did, a rainbow pillar shot into the air. Memories flashed in both girls' minds as they could see a field of grass and a figure in the distance. In another flash, they could see a blue hoof reaching out. Both girls did the same without realizing it and started to cry. Both could hear a voice calling out to them. "Hurry up!" said the female voice. "Who are you!" cried both girls. "You forgot her name?" said another voice, a voice that they knew too well—their own. Soon, both girls could feel like their very beings were being fused as one; they could hear their voices all around them, telling them to remember her name. "What's going on!" screamed Dash as tears fell down her face. "I don't know, but I'm scared," cried Dashie. "Her name...remember...her name is..." said the voice as both girls could feel the pain disappearing and the female voice fading away out of their minds. "Please remember her!" cried the voice one last time as both girls woke up from the trance and soon found themselves in a sizeable open-space locker room. The shards lay on the floor between them as they slowly absorbed each other, making the shard much more prominent, but it wasn't glowing anymore as it went dim. "Where the hell are we now?" asked Dash as she stood up. "I don't know, but did you have that weird dream? Vision? Whatever that was, " "Yeah, we were told to remember her name. What was it? Does this have to do with the girl I can't remember? Ugh, this is bothering me now." "Rainbow...?" whispered Dashie as she saw for a split second that Dash was see-through before being normal again. Dash turned to her and was surprised to see Dashie wearing a different jacket. "Uh...Dashie?" "Yeah, Rainbow?" "Do you notice anything different?" "No, why?" "Because you're wearing a different jacket now." "Wait, what?" Dashie looked down and gasped in surprise. "What the hell? Where did this jacket come from?" Dashie wore a puffy hoodie jacket. The arms and hood were orange, and the back had a rainbow going across it. Before they could question why the change happened, the ground underneath them rose, revealing it as a platform as the ceiling opened above them. "Whoa, what's going on now?" The platform started to lift into the air and move upward. Soon, both could hear cheering from above. The platform stopped, and a spotlight was shined upon them. The girls noticed they were in an open arena. "This is so weird. Hey, look." "Huh, where are we now? Oh, wow! Look at this place. It's packed with people!" said Dashie. The arena was packed; thousands were cheering, and the girls noticed there were many races and creatures they had never seen before all around them. "It's a stadium," explained Dash as she posed for the cheering fans. "Stadium? I don't think we're back home; why didn't the shards take us back home?" asked Dashie as she picked up the shard and looked over it. Before Dash could answer, a female voice spoke through the arena speakers: "Attention, ladies and gentlemen. Our next match will begin! She fought her way here to my domain to battle my sweet daughter! Flashing Rainboom!" A screen lit up above the girls, and they soon could see themselves on it. However, it was quickly cut off as a dark blue anthro alicorn appeared on the screen and got closer to it. "Princess Luna!" yelled Dash as she watched Luna move away from the screen and sit back on her throne, revealing her black dress. "Whoa, wait! It seems Flash is naked and on all fours. She also got herself a teammate! "An ugly one, too." laughed Luna. "It doesn't matter, though; she can't win against Pike the Moon Dragon!" The stadium ceiling opened up, revealing earth in the far distance. Slowly entering the stadium was a large anthro female dragon. She wore battle gear armor, and her skin color was purple. Her fins were green. The dragon was massive; its wings were as broad as the stadium walls. It had long claws and sharp teeth. "What the heck is that!" cried Dashie as her body shook. "A dragon, an enormous dragon," answered Dash as she watched the dragon land in the stadium. The impact made the platform shake a little. "This is Dragoon City pride and joy, ladies and gentlemen! She's the strongest dragon around!" boasted Luna as she stood up, her wings stretched out, and the throne lights shone upon her, showing her incredible figure. "LET'S THIS LUNAR BATTLE BEGIN! FIGHT!" The crowd cheered as the dragon roared, its wings spreading out. Dashie fell back in fear while Dash stood still and was ready to fight. The screen turned dark, and Luna sat back in her seat and laughed. "I'm glad you didn't chicken out on me, Flash. I want to see what you can do against Pike, and maybe, just maybe, you can face off, my sweet daughter!" smiled Luna as she turned to the throne room window, which overlooked the arena, and standing there was another anthro alicorn. "Right? Midnight Dusk?" "Right," nodded Midnight Dusk. She has a solid muscular build and purple skin. Her dark purple hair was in a ponytail, going past her back and stopping near her tail. She was wearing a dark blue karate outfit. Her purple eyes were lifeless as she stared down at the upcoming battle. She placed her hand on the window, which had a friendship bracelet around the wrist, and tied to it was another rainbow shard that was glowing dimly. end of chapter 1 Chapter 2Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 3 Even though she has always seen the moon from Earth, Dashie never thought she was in space itself. Looking closely at it, she was amazed to see it looked like another Earth. The same was true for her companions as they looked around, even seeing space stations around the moon and Earth. The trailer was hovering in the distance of the moon as Alex and the other girls watched the duo while eating hotdogs, and the ship was on autopilot. "Amazing, isn't it?" asked Poppy. "Yes," answered Dashie. "We were all in awe of it the first time we were in space, like you guys," added Fae. "How did you guys manage to get here?" asked Dash. "Well, after Alex told us of the plan to save our master, we came up with some cash and got these old space trailer homes. Of course, Alex got out here first since hers wasn't broken. Ours did break down a few times," answered Poppy. "Yeah, we had some good and bad moments getting up here," added Fae. "You did, didn't you? Hah!" laughed Rebecca as she pointed out she was the second one to enter space. "Hey, hey, don't forget, you lost control of your ship for the first time, causing the engine to break, making it spin and hit ours, and it caused us to repair the hulls!" pointed out Fae. "That did happen," laughed Rebecca as she remembered the day. Dashie looked around and finally asked them something: "Don't mind asking, but why is the ship looking like this? Like a trailer home?" "It was cheaper than the space RV's. Plus, the only way we could afford to get into space," replied Alex. "And it was a nice deal. It came with a mystery box!" added Poppy as she removed a box from her hair. "A mystery box?" asked Dashie. "Yep, it's a mystery box; we didn't know what was in it, and the sales guy gave it to us for an extra 500 bits," Poppy replied. "We didn't want it, but Poppy bought it on the spot," sighed Alex as she raised her palm at the memory. "So, what was in it?" asked Dash. "An expired coupon for buy two and get one shampoo," sighed Fae as they all laughed. "Hey, I got a question myself," said Dash as she looked out the window at the moon. "Why is there life on the moon? You said Lunar rules over it?" "Yes, long ago, there were two alicorn tribes on Earth: the Earthun tribe and the Moon tribe. They were at war with each other until two warriors from each side fell in love and started a family. When both tribes found out, the moon tribe welcomed the family and wanted peace, but the sun tribe didn't. The Sun tribe created a magical weapon that would banish the Moon tribe to the moon. As it went down, the family from before saved the Moon tribe as they were teleported to the moon. That barrier you saw before came from them. The elements of peace are one of six magical stones that created air on the moon and allowed farm life. The moon and sun tribes vanished, only leaving behind Lunar and her family." explained Alex. "Elements of Peace? Like the Elements of Harmony?" thought Dash as she turned to the moon, seeing the barrier slowly appear to them. "Wow, I wonder where the tribes went?" said Dashie. "Nobody knows," answered Fae as she petted Dashie for being cute. "Anyway, enough of history; we're going through the barrier; once inside, we'll..." Before Alex could finish, loud warning sounds could be heard from the console. Alex quickly checked on them, turned to everyone, and said, "Hold on to something!" Everyone grabbed onto something as the trailer's back end blew up, and the force was strong enough to send the trailer spinning into the moon's barrier. "What's going on, darling?" screamed Rebecca as her body lost shape and splashed around the spinning room. "Something fast was coming right at us! I think it was a missile!" cried Poppy. "A missile?" yelled Dash. "Yes! Someone is trying to shoot us down! Hold on!" yelled Alex. The trailer started to spin faster as it was about to hit the barrier. Everyone braced themselves as the trailer was now in the barrier, slowly passing through it. Once through, it revealed a city on the moon's surface once more, and the trailer was heading straight to the city. "What do we do now, darling?" screamed Rebecca. "We gotta get out!" yelled Fae as she opened the door. "Wait! There's a!" cried Poppy as her poppy sense went off, and suddenly, the trailer stopped spinning. Everyone looked at the doorway, and floating there was Midnight. She raised her hand and was about to unleash a powerful magic attack but was stopped by Fae. She took out her sword and stabbed her in the hand. "Ahhhhhh! You little-!" yelled Midnight as she could not use her magic. "Alex, we have a situation!" cried Fae before she was grabbed and tossed out of the trailer, falling to the city below. "FAE!" screamed Poppy as she jumped out of the trailer and tried to save Fae, but the two disappeared. "Going to kill you all!" demanded Midnight as she removed the sword, healing her wounds and turning towards the rest. Dashie felt something was wrong, as her vision started to be filled with static and prism colors. She fell to her knees and saw something glowing around her midnight wrist. She felt something warm in her pocket. Both glows started to get so strong that the area around them began to fall apart as cracks appeared. Dashie turned to Dash, who was suffering too. "What is this?" asked Midnight as she tried to dispel the magic before her, but it wasn't working. "It's no use; whatever this magic, I can't dispel it," growled Midnight as she started to spin the trailer and lunge it away, miles away from her. Whatever was happening to her finally stopped as the prism colors vanished. She looked back at where she tossed the trailer and saw smoke coming from a building. The trailer landed through the apartment building and was now deep within it. Fire was everywhere, and people were screaming as they ran out of the burning area. The destroyed trailer was engulfed in flames, but a shadow of a giant ball came bouncing out, and once it landed out of the fire, it tossed out Alex and both Dashes. "Ow," moaned Alex. She slowly got up and saw Dash and Dashie unconscious, and she could see who had saved them. Rebecca tried to turn back to her body form but couldn't, as the heat was too much. She was melting too quickly. "Rebecca, hang on," said Alex as she ran over to her friend but stopped as she could sense "her" coming this way. "Darling, you have to save the others. I'll hold her off; don't worry," pleaded Rebecca as she pushed her friend away. "Find Flash! Find master!" she screamed as she blasted her slime out of the burning hole of the building, blocking a magical energy ball coming at them. "GO!" "Right, don't die on me, Rebecca!" yelled Alex as she carried the other Dashes and started to run. "Not a chance, darling," smirked Rebecca as she saw another magical energy ball coming right at her and exploding on contact, causing her slime to splatter and vanish as the upper building was gone from the attack. Midnight slowly landed and looked around but quickly dodged a sharp object. "You think you're clever, don't you? You're a worthless being." "Hahaha, I've been called the worst," replied Rebecca as she started to turn into a huge, demonic-looking version of her normal body. Readying her giant fist, she stared down at her old friend. "Let's end this," smirked Midnight as the two ran at each other, and a massive battle began. As the two powerful beings battled it out, Alex ran through the building stairs, carrying the girls. She looked back and could see the fight above her. She kept running until she opened a door, only to see a small hallway and a single door at the end. She ran towards the door, kicked it open, and found herself in the back of a clothing store. "Is this building connected to a mall?" she thought as she heard sirens going off and knew the building and the area were about to lock down. "We have to move!" Alex ran to the store door and used her fist to force it open, as she could feel the heat outside. Once she stepped through, the fire alarm went off, and the sprinklers came on, soaking everything in the area. "Oh, great," groaned Alex as she was soaked. "What's going on now?" Standing before her was Dark Shield; his sword was beaming with intense heat as he faced down Alex. "I see; of course, you will be with her." "Yes, I will not allow you to leave," smirked Shield. "We'll see about that," said Alex as she held Dashie in one arm and Dash in her other hand, threw them into a shopping cart, and kicked it away. "Wait, what are you doing?" yelled Shield as he turned to the shopping cart and tried to chase but was stopped as Alex teleported behind him. Alex smiled as she took a deep breath. "Here we go." Her whole body started to glow red as her strength increased. She grabbed Shield and slammed him to the ground. The attack was so strong that the floor underneath him broke apart, and they both fell through it. "What the hell?" yelled Shield as he saw Alex falling near him. "I was going to save this power for her, but now is a good time." "I'm not done yet," growled Shield as he prepared his sword and flew at her. Alex didn't move, as her whole body was glowing brighter. Shield was inches away from her when he stopped. "What the?!" he screamed. Alex was now hovering in the air, engulfing her whole body in a giant ball of red and yellow flames. The fire was so intense that Shield couldn't even get close to her, and he couldn't even see her. "What is this? What are you?" yelled Shield. "I'm just someone who has power and will use it," said Alex as the fire around her exploded and sent a powerful energy wave throughout the area, breaking all windows and the surrounding area and sending Shield flying back. "GAAAAAHHHH!" screamed Shield, as the wave was so strong that he couldn't get away. He was slammed into walls, through them, and finally tossed outside and into the streets. Alex slowly appeared, with the flames burning bright as she stormed at him with a burning punch, knocking him far and landing him on a building that crumbled under his weight. "Gah, dammit!" groaned Shield as he got up. "I see now; that's why my aunt took you in? You carry some of the Sun tribe blood, don't you?" Alex said nothing as she walked towards him, readying another punch. "This won't stop me," growled Shield as he removed his upper armor, and a burning, dark, magical energy engulfed his exposed body. Alex felt something was wrong and quickly flew back as she dodged a wave of energy. His attack was so strong that it cut through the buildings like paper, sending a massive shock wave that created a large dust cloud, blocking everything. "What the hell was that!?" thought Alex as she could see the damage the attack did and could sense a power increase coming from the dust cloud. Alex could see a glowing black orb within the cloud as Shield stepped out of the smoke. "So, that's the "Element of Power"? You fused with it!" asked Alex. "It's time to end this," said Shield as his whole body was glowing with dark energy, and he charged at her. "Bring it!" Both dashed at each other and created a shock wave as they clashed. Meanwhile, the shopping cart crashed into a wall, waking the two from their sleep as the cart fell over. "Huh? Where are we?" asked Dash. "No idea, hey, are you okay, Dash?" asked Dashie as she got up. "Yeah, I'm fine; my head hurts though." "Mine too; what happened? Did we crash or something?" "We did; let's look around," said Dash as she got out of the cart and helped herself. "I hope everyone is okay," said Dashie. "Same here. Hey, what's that?" The two looked up and saw a giant ball of fire as it came crashing down near them. As the smoke cleared, they could see a giant unicorn holding Alex down as she was severely beaten. He reached out to her throat and started to crush it. "Alex!" cried the two dashes as Dash flew to her quickly. "No, stay back; run, you idiot!" coughed Alex "Let her go, you monster!" yelled Rainbow Dash as she slammed into Shield and carried him up above, gathering all the speed she had. "This is for hurting AJ!" shouted Dash, breaking the sound barrier and unleashing her sonic rainboom. The colorful shock wave blasted across the night sky, and a bright rainbow light came back down. On the destroyed apartment building, Midnight, she watched the event unfold as she held the top half of Rebecca's body. She started to shed a tear without knowing it as she jumped off the building and flew to the rainbow light. Dash crashed into the street near the others, and she was on top of Shield, who was passed out. Dash posed for them. "Awesome, right?" she smirked as she hopped off and walked over to the awe-stricken self. "Yeah, awesome!" said Dashie as she tackled and hugged herself. "Hey, where's Alex?" "I'm here," said Alex as she sat on the ground. "Are you alright?" asked Dashie. "No, but I'll be fine, thanks to you," smiled Alex. "No problem, so what do we do now?" asked Dash. "Find Poppy and Fae." "What about him?" asked Dashie. "Leave him," sighed Alex as she stood up. "Sure, he might get up and come after us," replied Dash. "That's not the problem right now," said Alex as she turned around and could see Rebecca hitting the floor. The others turned, and they could see Midnight standing there. "It's been a while since I saw the rainboom." "Midnight," moaned Alex. "Both of you, what-" stopped Alex. She could see them holding on to their heads as a rainbow glow came from Dashie's pocket. "This again!" thought Midnight as she tried to cover her eyes. "What's going on?" cried Dash. "I don't know!" said Dashie as they started to see memories coming to them, and their minds were filled with static. "I'll end this now!" yelled Midnight as she tried to fire off a magical beam at them but was stopped as a rainbow light slammed into her and tried to push her. She looked down and saw it was her. "Who are you? Who ARE?YOU!?" cried Dash as she kept pushing as hard as she could, her eyes static. Midnight raised her hand and forced Dash into the ground, knocking her out. With her done, Midnight looked back at her remaining prey but saw they escape. It didn't matter to her; she got what she wanted as she picked Dash up, but to her horror, it wasn't the person she was after. This creature looked like her but wasn't at the same time. Was Flash fooling her? She turned to her brother before teleporting away without him. Alex ran as fast as she could, carrying Rebecca and Dashie. She didn't want to leave Dash, but she didn't have a choice with everyone's condition right now. She looked down at Dashie and could see she was still passed out; the same was true of Rebecca. "Hold on, you two, just a little more," said Alex. She turned a corner and saw an abandoned building. She found a way in and set the two on the floor. She hid near the window and peeked out. I saw or sensed no one in the area coming for them. "Okay, it's safe." Rebecca's body slowly started to recover itself. She was unconscious and was breathing slowly, as she was still hurt, but Alex knew she would live and wasn't in danger. Dashie, however, was still knocked out and could feel something was wrong. Her body was slightly bugging out as she flashed different colors until it finally passed, and she was normal again. Alex couldn't understand what was happening but was glad she was okay. She sat down, watched the two, and waited until she heard someone entering the building. "I knew you'd find us," said Alex as she watched Poppy enter the room. "Things are not going well, I see." "Nope, they found us after we escaped from Midnight. What I don't understand is how they found us."Alex said to herself as she put her hand on her chin. Poppy said nothing as she checked on her friends and continued to listen. "I wasn't using my powers to be sensed by Shield. Dash and her friend don't have any magical power level to be sensed with." Poppy got up and turned to Alex as she put on her blood-covered gloves. "Someone told them...where's Fae, Poppy? Did you kill her? Are you going to kill us too?" angrily asked Alex as she could see Poppy smiling with such disturbing glee, "Why?" "It's what our queenQueened! She showed me the way on that day when she attacked the school. You should meet her and see the way too." answered Poppy, as her eyes were lifeless. Alex caught on and realized what happened to her friends. "Midnight didn't join her; she was brainwashed, wasn't she? Just like you!" called out Alex as she tried to stand up, but she had no more strength from the fighting from before. "We didn't need much; we only need a few words and a little help. Now, we are servants to the Queen and will continue serving her until the end. Join us or die like Fae," said Poppy as she readied her gloves. "I would rather die." "Your loss, then," smirked Poppy as she got closer. She wDashie stopped herhe jumped on Poppy's back. "You will not touch her!" yelled Dashie. "Get off me, you pest!" screamed Poppy as she threw the girl off her, slamming her to the ground and quickly grabbing her head. "Gah, I will not fail the Queen!" "Stop!" screamed Dashie as she tried to push Poppy away. "NO!" cried Alex as she tried to move. Poppy slammed down her fist, but the blunt side of a sword stopped it. She quickly looked up and saw the badly beaten Fae, as she was engulfed in pure rage. "You dare strike this wonderful and cute creature!" screamed Fae as her eyes glowed and her body was covered in a white and yellow aura. "Fae!" cried Alex. "What the, you're alive!" yelled Poppy. "And very mad," growled Fae as she bashed Poppy's forehead with the blunt end of the sword. She grabbed her and tossed her into a nearby wall, shattering it and falling to the floor as she was knocked out. "Fae!" coughed Dashie. "It's alright, sweetie, I'm fine," said Fae as she dropped her sword and fell to her knees. She watched as Dashie got up and hurried to her. "So cute!" she whispered as she passed out on top of her. After Dashie tied up Poppy with the chains she found, she was caught up in what happened to Dash and Poppy. "What now?" "I don't know. Everyone is out of commission, and since Flash never showed up like she always does, I get the feeling something did happen to her." sighed Alex. "You think the Queen got her?" "It's the only thing that makes sense; she must've taken her by surprise and took her." "Then, what are we going to do? How are we supposed to defeat her without Flash or the others?" Dashie asked as her legs shook. "I don't know," sighed Alex. "But I know this: Midnight has a Rainbow Shard. I noticed your reaction to it. It also affects both of you, doesn't it?" "I guess? I wasn't like this before, but when we see Midnight, something fills our minds. We hear a voice. Something about remembering someone we forgot." "Really?" asked Alex as she started to think. "Yes, we keep seeing memories of this person, like they were part of our lives, but aren't? It isn't obvious! We want to remember her! I! I want to remember her so much... It hurts," said Dashie as her eyes were watering. "Oh, it's okay," said Alex as she patted her head. "I see why Fae took a liking to you." "Huh?" "Anyway, you need to find Dash, and with my magical senses, Midnight headed to the stadium, and you'll find her there. You told me what would happen if two shards met. You need to remove it from Midnight's wrist and then escape." "But I can't do it alone, and I can't leave you guys like this!" "You're not alone. You have Dash; a girl can handle her own. Plus, whoever you forgot as well. They are with you in spirit. When you talked about them, you were hurting so much. Whoever it is, they're essential to you. Get back home and find them," smiled Alex. "Alex..." "Don't worry about us; we will find a way out of here. So, hurry and go; we will be fine," said Alex Dashie wanted to say no and stay, but the way Alex was looking at her, she couldn't help but nod her head as she ran off out of the building and into the streets. "Be safe, girl," whispered Alex. She weakly got up and watched the doorway; the darkness was filled with light from a glowing, burning sword. "Get home..." A while later, Dashie was running to the stadium after finding the location. "Come on, faster," said Dashie as she picked up speed, and she could feel the warmth of the shard in her pocket and take it out. She felt the Rainbow Shard was trying to reach out to the other shard and could feel the voice in her head getting louder. "Just a little bit more," she huffed. She turned the corner, saw the entrance, and hurried inside as she skipped through the gate guards, using the shard to guide her. She ran down the stairs and could see the glow was getting intense. "Hold on, Dash," said Dashie. Dashie found herself in the stands with other creatures, and suddenly, there was a large explosion above her. She watched as Midnight flew out of the smoke and landed on the ring. Soon to follow her was Rainbow Dash as she tried to grab the shard from her. Dashie tried to call out to her, but there was another explosion from the same area. She looked up and could see the Queen, who was chasing a white anthro pony. Before this whole event happened, Dash woke and found herself in a jail cell. She quickly got up, looked around, and saw her empty cell. "Hello? Dashie? Anyone?" called out Dash. There was no answer. "Darn it!" cursed Dash. "I see you awake, little one," came a voice from another cell beside her. "Huh?" wondered Dash, as she knew that caring voice. "Over here," said the voice as a white hand poked out of its cell and waved but was taking damage and returning to where it came from. Dash walked up to her cell bars and saw them glowing with magical energy. "I'm guessing this is magical?" "It is, so we can't break out of them," said the voice. "Well, that's not cool," said Dash. "I know, isn't it?" "Can you move closer so I can see you?" "I would, but if I come any closer, this field will shock me," the voice said. "Oh, right," said Dash. "That's alright; it's not your fault," said the voice. "So, why are you here?" Rainbow asked as she walked away from the bars and sat beside the cell wall. "I was trying to save someone important to me, and I failed," sighed the voice. "I'm sorry." "There is no need to apologize again; the fault was mine. I couldn't protect her because I was too weak to do what must be done." "What are you talking about? I don't understand." "Let me tell you something, little one: no matter the obstacle, no matter the foe, no matter the cost, protect those you love. If you can do that, you have truly succeeded." "Yeah, I like that, but I still don't get what you're talking about." "Don't worry, little one; you will know soon enough." "So, what's your name, anyway?" "Oh, forgive me, my name is Sunny." "That's a nice name." "Thank you." "No problem. I'm Rainbow Dash." "Rainbow Dash? Now, that's a cool name." "I know," smiled Dash. The two talked for a bit, and it seemed that time went by fast as the door suddenly opened. They saw Midnight coming in and walking up to Dash's cell. "I see you up." "Yeah, I am, and if you're thinking about touching my friend again, you got another thing coming girl!" yelled Dash as she tried not to make eye contact because every time she did, her mind became weird. "You have spirit; you look alike," said Midnight. "Look alike? Oh, you thought I was Flash this whole time?" "It was until now; you two are different up close." "Yeah, yeah, I get that a lot since getting here," laughed Dash as she slowly moved toward the cell bars, still careful not to stare at her as she noticed the shard on her wrist. "I don't get your joke, but it doesn't matter." "I'm glad because I wasn't making one anyway. Can I ask you something?" "What?" "Who gave you that shard around your wrist?" asked Dash. Midnight rubbed the shard as she looked at it and tried to hold back her smile. "The person...I want..." she started to say as her lifeless eyes slowly filled with life again. "Hey, are you alright?" questioned Dash. "I want to kill," said Midnight as she shook her head and turned her eyes back to normal. "What just happened?" wondered Dash. "You have a lot of nerve asking me questions." "Maybe I do, maybe I don't, but hey, I'm curious; besides, what else are we going to do in a place like this, right?" "Fair point, but I want answers. Where is Flash? Why do you almost look like her? Why did you take her place?" "That's a lot of questions. Let me see, Flash. I don't know where. I was told I look like her because I do, because, well, how can I say this without sounding crazy to a crazy pony? Well, because I am her, I'm from another universe. Happy?" smiled Dash. "Another Universe? Is this a joke?" "Do I look like a joking type of pony? Besides, what reason would I have to lie about this? I don't even know where I am, and all the creatures I know are gone now." "Fine, if you say true, why are you here?" "I was tossed into this universe." "By whom?" "I have no idea. Look, I'm just a pony who wants to go home." "Home?" "Yeah, you know, a place I belong, the people who are important to me and want to be with." "Home?" whispered Midnight as she turned to Sunny, who was listening the whole time. "That's right, home," replied Dash as she approached the shard. She quickly pretended to be doing something else, as she could tell Midnight was looking her way. "What's your home like?" asked Midnight. "Oh, man, I don't even know where to start," said Dash as she sat down and leaned her back against the cell wall. "Tell me everything," demanded Midnight. "Okay, well, first, there's my friends, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity, and then my number one fan, Scootaloo," smiled Dash. "Who's this Scootaloo?" asked Midnight. "Scootaloo is a young Pegasus, a sweetheart, a bit hyper, and my biggest fan. She is so awesome and always cheers me on." "Sounds like a wonderful girl." "Yeah, she is, always making me happy and smiling. Always following me and trying to be me. Sometimes, I'm a bad influence on her, but she's like, " "A sister..." chimed in Sunny as she finally spoke up. "Exactly!" yelled Dash. "Sometimes, others say I'm like a mom to her." "A mother..." Midnight walked away from Dash's cell and faced her former mother. "You don't deserve to be called "mother" or anything." "Maybe I don't, but my love for you is real. my daughter." "If it weren't for my real mother, I would have killed you!" said Midnight. "That's a lie, isn't it?" "No! No, it's not; if it weren't for my real mother, I wouldn't hesitate to end you." "Really?" "Yes, because if you were dead, I would no longer feel this weird pain and sadness when I look at you! Same when I think about "her"!" Sunny said nothing as Midnight returned to the doorway and turned to them. "You don't deserve to live, and it would have been best for everyone if you had died,' she said, and she walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. "Are you okay?" asked Dash. "She said she was your daughter, right? Doesn't that mean you are the master of Alex and the others?" Dash could hear her getting up and was now near the wall, as her voice was more extended and rewarding. Dash 100% knew who it was and made sense with Luna of this world. "Yes, you met Alex back in that match." "You were the one who saved us, wasn't it?" "Indeed, it was, and I'm glad you and the others made it out." "Thanks." "You're welcome. Now, let's get back to what you were telling Midnight. Are you really from another universe?" "Yeah, I am. I was thrown into this world after finding another." "That Rainbow Shard?" finished Sunny as she started to understand. "Yep. We found the shard in another universe and were sent here; after that, we were found by Alex and the others." "So, the Rainbow Shard brought you here, and it's the thing that can send you home?" "Maybe the other universe we came from wasn't our own." "So you are hoping this time it does?" "Yeah, exactly. You seem to understand and are taking this whole thing very well. Alex and your students didn't immediately believe it as they questioned it." "Ah, well, I'm sure your story is farfetched, but you look and sound like Flash, but you are not her. A mother knows her child. Even though Flash and the others are my students, they're like daughters to me." "So, you believe me?" "I do. It's the only explanation I can think of." "Thanks." "You're welcome." "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad Midnight locked you up." "Why is that?" "Because it gave us a chance to talk, and I think you're a pretty cool lady." "Oh, stop, you're making me blush," laughed Sunny. "So, what will we do about midnight?" asked Dash. "I'm afraid we can't do anything as long as we're in these cells," explained Sunny as she passed her hand through the bars, quickly stunned by the magical energy. Dash put her hoof on the bar but wasn't stunned by it. "Strange, it didn't hurt me." She swung her whole arm around the bars, and nothing was happening. "What!? Questioned Sunny as she quickly stood and tried to look. "Maybe it's because you don't have a magical power level? You can break free then!" Dash grinned as she backed away from the bars and flapped her wings. Dash flew out of her cell with one strong tackle, crashing into the wall. She recovered and quickly tackled Sunny into the cell, freeing her. Dash could see her for the first time and was right—it was this world, Celestia. "Nice going!" happily spoke Sunny as she helped Dash exit her cell. "Thanks. Now, let's get out here!" "No, I came here to face my sister and make Midnight return home. Plus, it would be best to have that shard to get home. Our world conflict isn't your own to begin with. You don't need to help us any further." "Nah, I don't care; my other self and I will help. After all, no matter how you guys look, you are still people I care about." "Such loyalty coming from a small person; thank you, Rainbow Dash!" cried Sunny as she petted her head. "Just like my Flash." "Hey, no problem, that's what I do," said Dash. "Now, let's hurry before we're caught," said Sunny as she took a pair of new sunglasses and put them on. "Right!" Dash and Sunny left the stadium's holding cells and quickly went upstairs. They found themselves in the locker room area, which was empty. They kept running and turned another corner, and they were now in a large hallway that headed further up the stadium. "How big is this place?" wondered Dash. "Very large. It's designed for the audience to view the fight. The VIP area should be in this section, as I scouted this area before your match happened." Sunny said as she led the way. They ran up the flight of stairs and stopped when they saw a large door ahead of them with two large rhinos. "It's right behind those doors. We must get in and pass the hallway security before we can reach the throne room. Once there, we can end this madness once and for all," explained Sunny. "How? How are we going to do that if there are guards?" "Leave that to me," Sunny said, walking and stopping in front of the two guards. "Halt! No one is allowed in!" said the left guard before realizing who it was. She tried to grab her weapon but was punched in the gut and tossed to the side, while the other guard was kicked through the door and crashed into the hallway where other guards protected each VIP door. They all noticed Sunny and came at her with their weapons, but they were all taken out in seconds and crashed into each other. Dash was amazed at how Sunny could do that and followed her inside the hallway. "Whoa, nice moves. That was awesome!" glee Dash said as she flew around Sunny. They started to head down the hallway. As they walked past, Dash could see nobles or rich folks poking their heads and wondering what the noise was. Dash could tell some of them were noble folks from her world. She even thinks that the blue cat woman is Trixie. "Are you ready?" asked Sunny as she was getting ready to kick down the door. "Yep!" nodded Dash as she landed on the floor. "Good, then, here we go!" Sunny kicked the door down, and both ran in. It was a large room with a giant chandelier on the ceiling, red carpet on the floor, and many paintings. Lunar was drinking her wine, and Midnight was standing there looking at them. Dash quickly covered her eyes from Midnight, as she didn't want to lose herself again. "Faker and the fake mother," she said as she stepped forward. "I don't know what she did to you, but I'm going to get you back, Midnight, and for you, dear sister, I should have killed you rather than run away with Midnight all those years ago." "You knew she had the Moon tribe's greatest element within her, didn't you, dear sister?" Lunar said as she got up and stepped forward. "The element of true magic The orb we thought we lost that night when we fused it with her was lying dormant for all this time. Isn't that right?" "You were going to use her like a weapon!" yelled Sunny. "Of course, that is our family goal, and it's the only reason I kept her alive all these years," laughed Lunar as she walked over to Midnight, touching her face. "Knowing full well that she would come in handy, We can finally take over the earth and rule it." "That's not going to happen, sis. I won't allow it." "Ha, and who's going to stop me, you? Don't make me laugh. You always hated that I was better than you in magical combat, and the only reason I haven't killed you is because you're still of use to me," said Lunar as her eyes glowed black as the night aura and runes appeared around her. "I'm going to make you my slave, just like Midnight here!" "Enslaved person!? You brainwashed her!" yelled Sunny as her anger released her Sun tribe magical energy. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" cried out Sunny. "Kill me?" smiled Lunar. "You can't be serious; it's your fault for running off with her and hiding her from me." "Enough; I won't listen to any of this. I'm going to beat you down until you have nothing but a lifeless body!" "Ha, I don't have to listen to you," smiled Lunar. "Kill the faker, and I'll handle my dear sister, my sweet Midnight." "As you wish, mother," smiled Midnight. Lunar and Midnight's magic started to fill the air as Dash felt the pressure of the magic. This was a lot of magic, making her feel uneasy. She carefully watched Midnight's legs as she flew right at her. She didn't have time to move or dodge as she was sent crashing into a wall, knocking the wind out of her. She coughed as she hit the ground. She looked up and saw what Midnight was looking at; her eyes were lifeless and cold. "Nothing happened?" thought Dash, as she wasn't losing it like before. "Does it have to do with the shards?" Midnight quickly pinned her down with her foot, and Dash couldn't move as she was kicked in the side, rolling across the ground and hitting another wall. She could feel the pain and knew she needed to fight back. "Dash!" yelled Sunny in fear, but she had to block an attack from her sister's magic. Dash looked and saw Lunar and Sunny were battling, and both were going all out. She couldn't see their fight because they were moving so fast and sending attacks. Their magic was flying everywhere, shattering things and hitting the walls. She quickly turned, dodged another attack, and flew up, avoiding a magical beam from Midnight. "You quick, I'll give you that," said Midnight as she fired more beams. "I am the fastest pony in Equestria!" proudly declared Dash as she flew past her. She had an idea and flew over to Midnight, quickly going under her and tackling her from behind, sending them both into the wall and holding her down as she started picking speed. "You're lucky! Hardly did this move in years! The Buccaneer Blaze!" yelled Dash as the room flashed with white beams, creating a large explosion and a huge hole. Midnight flew down to the ring as the smoke was still around, and Dash followed her and tried to grab the shard but was punched away. "I won't let anyone beat me! Not even a fake like you!" yelled Midnight, her fist engulfing purple flames. Dash quickly dodged the punch, and the whole area was blown away, destroying the arena. Dash had to cover her face as the blast was huge, and it took a moment for her to realize what happened. "If she lands on me like that, I'm dead!" thought Dash as she had to dodge another attack quickly. "I can't keep this up forever." As Dash flew around trying to avoid her, the shard started to shine bright. She felt her mind getting weirder, and her eyes widened when she realized what was happening to her. She could hear it. "You must protect her at all costs!" said a voice. "What the heck?" thought Dash as she tried to concentrate and avoid another attack. "Remember her," repeated the voice as Dash's mind fogged. "No! What's happening to me?" "Remember!" repeated the voice as Dash was feeling tired. "Remember, but" cut off Dash as she fell to the ground, holding her head. Midnight took notice and walked up to her. She was about to finish her off when she could see that reality around her was falling apart. She looked around and noticed the creature from before, as it was running up to the faker. "Stop!" said Dashie as she kept her eyes covered. "Don't do this! Alex told me, You need to fight the brainwash spell!" "I don't need to!" yelled Midnight as she walked up to her, but looking at her closer, she reminded her of someone. He reminds her of "her," but why? "I can't. I need..." "You can! Fight back!" cried Dashie as she tried to grab her hand. "You aren't alone. Think about your friends! They came to save you! Your mother, too! Even her!" "Her? Her!" thought Midnight, as her mind was a mess. "I notice now that every time you ask for her, you have sadness in your eyes. You want her to save you, don't you?" "Save me? Her?" "Your best friend!" "My what? Flash? She's the one I hate!" said Midnight as she held her head. "But why?" "Why do you hate her? Think about it! Don't you remember your fun with her and the others?" "Others? The girls...they...no! said Midnight as her head started to hurt. "Don't fight it! Let the memories return!" "I can't. I can't," cried Midnight as she remembered hurting her friends, her best friends in the whole world, and how they were trying to save her. She remembered the pain she felt when she was hurting Rebecca. "Rebecca, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" "That's it. You're coming back," smiled Dashie, her mind feeling weird as she slowly moved her hand away from her eyes and grabbed Midnight's hand fully. "I don't want to fight. I don't want to hurt my friends!" cried out Midnight as she started to cry. "Flash! Why didn't you save me? I needed you! You promise!" "She did. She did come and save you, didn't she?" asked Dashie. "Huh?" asked Midnight as her eyes started to return with life in them, and the runes on her horn began to spark. "We're not here, but yet, we are here. We're here now, and we're going to save you." Dashie trailed off as her eyes were filled with static. She dropped to her knees as her shard floated out of her pocket, and Midnight's own shard tried to float to it but was chained to the friendship bracelet. "Flash?" whispered Midnight as she touched it and smiled. Right, you told me you would always be with me." Midnight Horn blasted purple energy, removing the runes and freeing her. "Thank you," said Midnight as she looked at Dashie and Dash. She let go of the bracelet as the shard floated to the other shard and became one, creating a pillar of rainbow light and covering the whole area. The light vanished as a static and glitchy landscape appeared and soon took the form of a park with a running track, and not too far from it was a baseball field and stands. Dashie was sleeping on the stands, wearing jogging clothes. It was a perfect sunny day; the sun was high, and a gentle breeze flowed through the park. As Dashie slept, she was slowly awakened by the bleachers shaking and someone saying, "Oh, shoot." Dashie opened her eyes and saw a short black-haired girl whose face was covered in prism colors but wearing the same middle school uniform. She was trying to pass her without being too noisy but failing. "Sorry, did I wake you?" asked the girl. "Um, yeah, but it's okay; I was planning on getting up anyway," replied Dashie as she sat up. "You sure? You look exhausted; I can let you get some more rest." "Yeah, I'm good," yawned Dashie as she got up, stretched her left arm up, and could feel the warmth of the afternoon. "Okay," said the girl. Dashie rubbed her eyes and saw the girl sitting a few spots away from her and reading a book. "So, what brings you here on a nice afternoon like this? To just read a book?" asked Dashie. "Yeah, I like reading while relaxing." "Sounds boring," teased Dashie. The girl looked up and smiled. "Boring? This isn't boring; it's great!" "Well, what are you reading, if you don't mind me asking?" asked Dashie. "Well, I was planning on reading this," said the girl, holding up a thick book with a blue cover and gold letters, "but I just started reading this one." Dashie looked closer and could see it was some science-looking book. "Um, that doesn't look like a normal book." "Oh, well, it's not; it's a textbook on quantum mechanics." "Quantum...mechanics, you lost me at quantum," laughed Dashie. "Sorry, but it's cool!" "Yeah, yeah, so what's your name?" asked Dashie, as she was curious about this girl. "It's..." but before the girl could say her name, static filled the area, and Dashie flickered to Dash as if she was in another place but didn't question it. She was on the ground laughing as the purple unicorn mane was all messed up, and just like the other girl, her face was covered in prism colors. "Let me guess, you're Rainbow Dash?" the unicorn questioned. "The one and only. Why have you heard of me?" Dash proudly said as she pounded her chest. "I heard you were supposed to be keeping the sky clear," sighed the unicorn as she approached Dash. "I'm..." Again, another static flashed. Dash and Dashie flickered between the two as she found herself in the bar, fighting off a group of male ponies as they were wearing biker outfits. "Hey, hooves off!" yelled Dash as she punched the male pony. "Hey, why you little bitch?" yelled the male pony. The group of ponies started to beat down Dashie. She fought back but was soon taken down and held by a big white-earth pony. "You think you can challenge us? This is our turf!" said the biker. "Yeah, yeah, let me go, you big brute," yelled Dashie. "Big brute?" asked the biker as he tightened his hold on Dashie. Dash started to laugh and smile at him. "Hey, no hard feelings, right?" "Feeling? What are you talking about?" asked the biker as he released his grip a little and could feel Dashie's foot smacking his balls. "That!" laughed Dash as she quickly took the biker out and started to beat down the others. "You fucking cunt!" yelled a blue unicorn male as he cast a fireball spell, which Dashie quickly dodged. "Ha, is that all you got?" The unicorn male was pissed off and charged at her, casting more fireballs, and soon the entire bar was burning. Dashie could feel the heat of the fires but didn't care and continued to beat down the unicorns. "You're the worst!" cried the unicorn as he and the others exited their burning bar. "THIS IS MY TURF!" screamed Dash as she jumped out of the burning bar, shaking her hoof at them before grabbing her sides. She was laughing so hard but in great pain. She walked off as she could hear the police and fire truckers coming. She ran down the street, and rain started to fall. She ran into an alley and sat on a crate. "Damn, that was awesome! I'm so awesome." she proudly said. Dashie laid her head back and closed her eyes, and the sound of rain helped her relax. She thought she was going to rest but was interrupted as a police car could be heard stopping at the entrance. She quickly bolted further down the alley and saw an open door. She hurried in and locked it. She rested her head against the door and could still feel the rain landing on her. She looked up and could see the dark gray clouds, realizing this was some open flower garden with a big tree in the middle as she scanned the area. "I better stay low for a while," she thought. She walked over to the large tree and was about to sit down when she saw a purple alicorn reading a book, who quickly took notice of her and screamed. Unlike the others, though, she could make out her face. "Who are you?" asked the alicorn as she picked up her book and was ready to use it as a weapon. "It's Dash/Dashiell..." weakly replied both. They were flickering between each other, and they finally passed out from the pain and landed in front of the alicorn. Static filled their minds again, and before disappearing, they could see the rainbow comet before them and the same big tree, and standing near it was the alicorn. They raised their arms, and both didn't realize it, but instead of flickering between each other's bodies, it was one body, Dashie's hand was blue as she tried to reach out to the alicorn before both opened their eyes. They found themselves on a grassy hill, and looking down from it, they saw a small town. Above the town were chibi magical girls of Dash's friends, standing on their hind legs rather than on all fours as they were fighting a shadow monster. "Ugh, cried Dash as she fell backward on the hill while Dashie joined her. Unknown to them, Dash vanished from her lower half before it returned to normal. A small front piece of Dashie's hair became yellow, orange, and a bit of green in the back, and her jacket changed once more. end of chapter 3 Chapter 4 Dashie opened her eyes, revealing her new pink eyes. She saw the night sky above her and felt the breeze around her. Her eyes widened as she slightly tilted her head up. She could see Dash sleeping beside her, and she lowered her head back down. Dashie was happy but also upset. She was hoping she was dreaming of this multiverse adventure she was having, but no, it was all real. 'Is there any way I can go home or at least tell my friends where I am? I wonder how long we have been here and when we head home.' Dashie thought to herself. "Well, I told myself I wanted something more than running," Dashie said with a sigh, looking up at the sky and closing her eyes. "But I didn't think it would be like this. I can't be mad about it, not now anyway. I mean, this is something no one will ever experience." Dashie added as she tried to drift off to sleep again, unaware that something was watching her within the cracking sky as it fully healed. Rainbow Dash woke up to Dashie's movements, yawned, and slowly opened her eyes to find that the human form of herself was awake. She quickly stood up as she noticed the changes that Dashie had now, and it wasn't just the new jacket, which was pure blue now, but that hair was different colors. "Hey, what's up with your hair and eyes?" Dash asked as Dashie turned her head around to face her. She didn't understand what she meant, so she pulled down a few strains of her hair to look at them and saw they were colored differently than her normal dyed blue hair. "What the hell!" said Dashie as she noticed the orange and yellow streaks of hair. She pulled the back of her hair on her shoulder, and she could see green and purple streaks. "What the..." Dashie said in confusion. "Oh, that's so cool!" said Rainbow Dash with a smile. "You have streaks of my colored mane in your hair! Your eyes are the same color as mine, too!" Rainbow said in awe, looking closely at the human's hair and eyes. "That's great, but I do not like this. It's freaking me out a little bit." Dashie said, looking at Rainbow Dash. "Don't worry, it's awesome; trust me. You look a lot better and cooler than you did before." Rainbow Dash said, grinning. "Gee, thanks," Dashie said it sarcastically. "You're welcome." Rainbow Dash replied, still smiling. Dashie rolled her eyes and laid back down. "Was it the shard that changed my hair and eyes?" Dashie asked herself. "I don't know, maybe? Probably." Rainbow said, shrugging. Dashie put her hands on her eyes and suddenly remembered the day she dyed her hair a rainbow. It was a year ago. It was Pride Month, and school had just ended for the year. It was summer, and Dashie was excited about it. She and her friends were at a mall and walked into a hair store. "Wow, this is such a huge hair store. They got Everything," said Penny. "Yeah, I know, right, Darling? There's so much stuff to buy. And the prices are so cheap. It's amazing," replied Rachel, picking up a bottle of purple dye and showing it to her friends. "Check this out. This is called "Lavender Luscious." "Luscious Lavender. Cool." Dashie said, walking over. "It's not lavender. It's Luscious. Look." Rachel pointed to the words written on the front. "Oh, sorry," Dashie said as she rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, it's fine," Rachel replied, patting Dashie on the back. "Okay. So, are we going to buy anything today or not? 'Cause I'm getting bored," said AJ as she was ready to go home rather than stay in this rich, people-looking store much longer. "Alright, alright. Just relax." Rachel said as she placed the bottle of dye back and allowed Dashie to look at every color they had, "Darling, I'm shocked you're going to dye your beautiful chestnut hair into a rainbow. Why?" "Because it's not enough, you know. It's plain. I need something, anything, to make it a bit more interesting. I want to be colorful. Even more so for this month," trailed Dashie as she grabbed a bottle of black hair dye. "Hmm, black? No, no, no. Put that down, Darling. How about you try the green and purple ones, but not the black ones? Black isn't part of the Rainbow. We don't want you to be all dark and emo-looking now?" Rachel asked, smirking. "I'm not going to be dark and emo. What's wrong with black? It's part of the Rainbow, isn't it?" Dashie said, looking at the bottle. "Well, not the one you're holding, silly. It's not a part of the Rainbow," said Rachel as she grabbed the bottle from Dashie's hands and replaced it with a bottle of purple and green dye. "Oh, alright then," said Dashie as she looked at the new bottle of dye. "Hey, if you want, you can buy the bottle I'm holding. It's called "Blue Berry Blush." I'm sure it would look great on you." Rachel said, smiling. "Really?" Dashie said as she looked up from the bottle and looked at Rachel. "Of course. If you don't like it, you can always buy a different one. But this one would look good with the other dyes." Rachel said as she put the bottle in the hand cart. "OOOOOOOO, how about this one, too?" Penny said as she grabbed indigo and violet dye bottles. "Alright, alright. Don't grab all of the colors," said Rachel, laughing as she saw Penny taking more than they needed. "Oh, too much?" Penny said, looking at the bottle she was holding. "Yes, Dash is just dying her hair, not painting a barn house," laughed AJ as she helped Penny return the bottles she took. "Sorry," Penny said, putting the bottle back. "Don't worry, it's fine," Rachel replied. Faith, who was in the back of the group and quiet, picked up a bottle of red and orange brand dye and very quietly told the girls, "I think... these look pretty good." "That's perfect, Faith," Rachel said as she put the red and orange dye bottle in the cart, making Faith smile. "That's it! Let's buy these, return home, and get your hair done. We can't wait all day." "Finally," said AJ. "Woo-hoo!" said Penny. "I'm so excited! We're going to have so much fun, Darling."Rachel said as she walked towards the counter. "Yeah, we sure are," said Dashie, looking at the bottle of dyes and smiling. "Come on, come on. Hurry up." Rachel said as everyone was in line and getting the dyes paid for. "Hold your horses," Dashie said. "I'm holding it. That's why I'm telling you to hurry up." Rachel replied, giggling. "Alright, alright," said Dashie, smiling and rolling her eyes as the group left the store. The group finally arrived at Dashie House, which was two stories and white with blue trims. They went inside, upstairs, and into the bathroom. "Alright, it's time to get your hair dyed. Get ready for a lot of fun," said Rachel as she removed the plastic covering the bottles and started pouring the colors into small bowls. "Okay. Can you help me out? I have never dyed my hair different colors before," Dashie said. "Of course. We'll help you out," said Rachel as she finished mixing the dyes. "Thank you," said Dashie, smiling. "Alright, sit on the chair and lean your head back," Rachel said as she put on gloves and a hair cap. "Okie dokie," said Dashie as she sat on the chair and leaned her head back. "Now, close your eyes. I'm going to start now." Rachel said. "Let's do this!" Dashie replied. "Here we go," Rachel said as she poured a purple color onto Dashie's hair. "No." Penny was awed at the colors, making Dashie open her eyes slightly. "Don't peek. It could ruin your eyes. Stay still." Rachel said, smirking. "I got it," said Dashie as she closed her eyes tightly. "Good. Alright, now I'm going to use the green. Here we go," said Rachel as she started applying the green color. "Yay!" Penny cheered. "How's it going, Dash?" AJ asked as she was leaning in the doorway. "Pretty good. My scalp is itchy, though." Dashie replied, smiling. "Aww." Rachel cooed, giggling. "Okay, now for the orange and red," Rachel said as she began applying the last two colors. "Almost there, Darling. Almost there. There, all done," said Rachel as she placed the bottles and bowls away. "Really?" Dashie said. "Yep," Rachel replied, removing the gloves. "So, I can open my eyes now?" Dashie asked. "Sure, but keep them closed for a minute," Rachel said as she put the hair cap on Dashie's head and covered her eyes. "Okay," Dashie replied as she sat patiently in the chair. "Okay, all done," Rachel said, removing the hair cap. "Alright, I can open my eyes," Dashie said as she opened her eyes. "Ta-da! What do you think, Darling?" Rachel asked as she and her friends moved out of the way, revealing the mirror. Dashie could see that her long chestnut hair was now rainbow-colored. "Wow!" Dashie said, smiling widely. "It looks awesome!" Penny shouted with joy. "It looks amazing," AJ added. "Yeah, you look pretty cool," said Faith. "Beautiful," chimed in Rachel as she took a photo of Dashie on her phone. "Wow, you can rock that Rainbow look! Girl, Pride month was truly made for you," said Penny, making the group laugh. "Thanks. Thank you all." Dashie said as she got up from the chair. "You're welcome, Darling. Now, we're not going to wash the colors out. We're going to let it stay. It will stay the same for three days." Rachel explained. "Got it," said Dashie, grinning. "So, what are we going to do next?" Penny asked. "Oh, I know what?" Rachel suggested. "Like what?" AJ asked. Rachel slowly slid in on Dashie's side with a big smile, making Dashie sweat slightly. "Let's have a girl talk." "A girl talks, really?" said Dashie, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, a girl talks," Rachel repeated. "...like wha-," but before Dashie could finish, Rachel quickly said what she wanted since Dashie asked her about dying her hair like a rainbow. "This is for "her," isn't it?" Dashie blushed, looked down, and didn't answer the question, but the answer was clearly yes. "Oh, my gosh, I knew it. I'm a love guru, after all," said Rachel as she did a victory dance. "What are you talking about?" AJ said, confused. "Dash has a crush on -static-., Rachel replied, smiling. "Whoa, really?" said AJ as she smiled at her friend. "Good for you." "Oh, static did say she loves the rainbows. "The refraction of light through a prism was cool," whispered Faith. "So, are you going to tell her?" asked Penny, hopping around Dashie in the small bathroom. "Well, I don't know," Dashie replied, stuttering. "Why not?" asked AJ. "Yeah, why not?" said Faith. "Yeah, Darling, why not? She's a great person. She's fun to be around." "Yeah, she's smart, pretty damn awesome, her nerdy side is cute, she's beautiful, and she has a nice attitude." Dashie cut herself as she covered her mouth and looked away from the girls, her face bright red. "Whoa, she has it bad," replied AJ in shock. "Can you blame her? Static has junk in the trunk!" added Penny as she pointed at her butt and shook it a bit. "Oh my god, Penny," Dashie said, blushing more. "Darling, if you're not going to tell her, at least hint at her or give her some clue that you're interested in her," Rachel suggested. "Maybe..." "Well, we have nothing better to do. So, we can help," said AJ. "Really?" said Dashie, returning her attention to her friends. "Yes. So, what's the plan?" Rachel asked. "Uhhh..." Dashie stuttered, scratching the back of her head. Before Dashie could answer the question, she could hear her mother calling out to her. That static was here. She started to freak out as the girls just laughed at her. She took the dye bottles to her room and looked for a hat to hide her hair when "she" walked in. Dashie turned to the door and blushed as she was there, but she realized something. She looked at the girl's face, which was covered in prism effects. "Dashie?" "Who are you?" whispered Dashie as Everything around her glitched out, and her bedroom was replaced with clouds. She found herself flying in the air and could hear the same voice from before as she was right behind her. "Rainbow, I'm sorry about all that! We didn't mean to overwhelm you!" "It's okay. You were trying to help. It's just too bad I'm too dumb to learn anything." Sadly, said Dashie as she slowed down and saw a flying purple unicorn with her face covered with prism effects. As they kept flying, the memory quickly flashed back to Dashie's world, where she was walking and flying with the girl from before, before it flashed back to them flying. "You are not dumb! You learn differently!" "If by "differently" you mean "not at all," then you're right." "No, that's wrong!" the alicorn correctly said as she put her hoof on Dashie's side. See? Wrong again." Dashie sighed as if she was being stupid again. "I don't know anyone who's read more Daring Do books than you." "Well, that won't get me into the Wonderbolts." The alicorn started to panic at Dashie's response, "And your knowledge of jokes and pranks is only rivaled by Pinkie." "Great. My years as a class clown prevented me from learning how to learn!" Dashie yelled as she threw her hand in the air. "That's not what I meant. You're smart, creative, inventive, and—" softly said the alicorn before another static flashed between Dash and Dashie's worlds. Dashie was back in her world, but it was nighttime as they walked down a sidewalk. She stopped as the girl jumped in front of her with her arms out so Dashie wouldn't pass her. "Cool! You are amazing; you can run like the wind! When you do, that's when I see you being you. Nothing can hold you back. It's beautiful. You're beautiful," softly cried the girl as she lowered her arms. You are smart. You'll pass the test. I know you can. So please stop saying you're dumb or useless."The girl started to cry. That's not like you." Dashie's heart started to beat fast as she was lost for words; she started to tear up. "...-static-..." Suddenly, the memory glitched out as the world became a large garden with a massive tree in the middle. Dashie found herself all beat up again, but this time, the purple alicorn, whose face wasn't covered by prism effects, was treating her wounds. "This isn't like you, you know?" said the alicorn as she put the ice pack on Dash's face and flickered between Dashie and herself. "Why are you doing the whole "this is my turf" stuff again?" Dashie said nothing as she hid her face under the ice pack. "Not going to tell me? Be like that!" angrily said the alicorn as she stormed off. "Because I can't stand to see you get hurt. Because you are the one pony that means Everything to me," quietly said Dash as she peeked out of the ice pack. "No freaking gang, heck, not even the world is going to ruin this wonderful place." Static. Strong static filled the memory as someone or something was behind the tree as it peeked its head out; its eyes were glowing and dripping white liquid, and its body was glitchy rainbow effects. Its neck started to stretch, and its head loomed over Dashie's head, which began to flicker between herself and Dash until it attacked them with its large mouth... "What the!" shouted Dashie as she quickly sat up from the ground and was covered in a cold sweat. She turned to Rainbow to tell her what she saw, but she could also see Rainbow freaking out as she backed away from her. "What was that just now?" yelled Rainbow, breathing heavily. "You saw it too?" Dashie replied, panting. "Freaking, yeah!" Rainbow responded, "Everything! Seeing your versions of my friends, her, then that thing—those white eyes—weird! Then there's that place with the tree. It's not like anything I've ever seen!" "Right? I've never seen anything like it, either." Dashie said, trying to calm herself. "What's happening to us?" asked Dash as she calmed down. "I have no idea..." said Dashie, calming herself down. "It was so...so...real," said Dash, holding her head, trying not to get a headache. "Yeah, I thought we were still asleep," said Dashie, holding her head as well. "But we were awake! That was the freaky part. It felt so real." Dash responded, shivering. "Yeah, I've had dreams before. But nothing like this." Dashie added, nodding her head. "Me neither." "Do you think it's the shard?" asked Dashie, looking at the shard, which was still dim. "It's got to be," said Dash, nodding. "Maybe," Dashie said, getting up and stretching as she noticed it was noon now. "We're not sure how or why, but this thing's having some strange effects on us." "Yeah, well, that's for sure," replied Dash, nodding. "Maybe it's the reason we can't remember those girls?" Dashie turned to her and nodded back. "Yeah, for some reason, they're important to us. We need to remember them. What they look like and their names. Dashie grabbed her chest softly and blushed. "I think...she's my world." "Your world?" "Yeah, the only person I want to spend the rest of my life with. My other half, My soulmate. What about you? Since we're different versions of ourselves, it means that you love that alien." Dash blushes at the word love. "W-well, she's nice and pretty cool. She's smart and pretty good with magic, and she's a good leader and kind of a control freak, but not in a bad way." "Wow, you do love her," Dashie said, blushing more, as she was right—they're the same person no matter how different they look. "Whoa, I don't like her like that! We're friends, right?" explained Dash as she held her head. "Wait, where did all that come from?" "It's not a bad thing. It's the truth. You need to realize that." Dashie said, smirking. "N-no... I don't love her. We're friends! Nothing more!" shouted Dash, denying it. "Whatever, we should get ready to leave and look for the shard in this universe," Dashie said, rolling her eyes. Dash mumbled as they started to walk to the nearby town, but Dash quickly flew up to Dashie's face and smiled. "Soooooooo, you are into butts too, huh?" Dashie blushed bright red. "What?! No, no, no. I'm not a bad person. Nope, nope, nope." "Sure, you aren't," teased Dash as she laughed. "I saw that memory of you as you were remembering and checking out that girl's butt. You were drooling a bit, you know." "I was not! It was a natural bodily reaction! Besides..." Dashie looked away as her ears got red. "It was a nice view." "Wow, your AJ was right; you have it bad, huh?" teased Dash as she slapped Dashie's butt. "Ah!" yelled Dashie. "Hey!" "Come on, let's get going," said Dash, giggling, flying to the nearby town. "Yeah, whatever," said Dashie as she walked towards the town. Every pony in the town looked on in awe as they watched the two standing at the gates. Some quickly ran away, while others took photos. Standing there were two giant creatures; one was a pony like them but was on all fours rather than on its hind legs, had wings, and very much looked like a certain magical girl, while the other was a very tall creature that no one had ever seen before. "Um, where should we start?" asked Dashie, looking at the small town and the chibi ponies. "Let's just walk and see what happens," said Dash as she floated into the air, carefully not damaging anything below her. "Just don't step on anyone, okay?" "Gotcha," replied Dashie, who was tipping toes around the buildings but was also careful not to knock anything over. "What's wrong with that big pony and the weird creature?" shouted a small pony child as he pointed to the giants. "We're scaring the children!" whispered Dashie, looking slightly scared. "Just keep moving, and everything will be fine," said Dash, floating near her ear. "Easy for you to say. You can fly!" whispered Dashie as she kept walking, causing the crowd to follow her. "So, is the shard glowing or whatever?" Dashie looked out the shard from her pocket, which was still dim like before. "No." "Oh, well, let's keep going," said Dash, looking around. As they kept walking, Dash spotted a familiar building and quickly approached it. It was a baker's shop, like the Cake shop back home. "Dash, are you hungry or something?" asked Dashie, slowly nearing her head. "Huh, oh, no. I just thought this shop looked like the one Pinkie works out in," Dash replied as she stared at the building. "Wait, is this building?" asked Dashie as she looked closer. "Yeah, they're the same; it's like looking at a photo. Just the same," said Dash, looking a little sad. "Are you okay?" "No, no, no. It's just that... Pinkie has great baking and cooking skills; it's nice to see something similar once." As the two were talking, a white-earth pony with a yellow mane stepped out as she noticed the crowd of people. "Excuse me, can I help you with anything?" asked the white pony to the group, but everyone pointed to the giants as she followed the pointing, "Huh?" The white pony gasped loudly as she saw the two. "Whoa, are you two like new monsters in town?" "Huh, monsters?" replied Dashie. "The last two weren't that scary, but these ones are." "Last two monsters? What does she mean?" asked Dash, turning to Dashie. "I don't know. Maybe she was talking about the monster we saw as we got here?" said Dashie, shrugging her shoulders. "This looks like a job for the magical element fruits!" shouted the white pony. "Which isn't me? Bye!" she said as she zipped into the shop, only for a pink glow to appear inside. Quickly stepping out was Pinkie Pie, wearing a pink dress and a different-looking gummy at her side. "Someone called for pink peach pie!" she shouted as she did a cute pose. "Pink peach pie?" quietly said the two in unison. "I am Pink Peach Pie, and this is my pal, gummy!" Pinkie said, holding the alligator as it smiled at them. "Uh, hello, there," replied Dashie, awkwardly waving at the earth pony. "Hello!" greeted Gummy, and the girls screamed in surprise, except for Pink. "Your alligator can talk?" shouted Dashie, pointing to Gummy. "Yup! He's a magical gummy lizard." Pink giggled. "Magical, huh?" Dash said, looking at the lizard and noticing a faint pink aura around it. "Yep. It's his superpower! He can talk!" exclaimed Pink, holding a gummy in her arms. "Also this," said Gummy as he started to cough up something. "Wait, give me a minute!" "It's okay, Gummy," said Pink as she held him in her arms. Gummy then coughed out a very long cannon gun and pointed it at Dash, whose eyes went wide. "Whoa, what's that for?" Dash asked, floating back a little. "Don't worry, Gummy is just playing around," assured Pink. "Yeah, but," said Dashie, worried about the gun. "Gumball cannon!" shouted Gummy as he fired, and a bunch of pink peach cream came shooting out and blasting Dash away from the town and into the distant forest. "Dash!" screamed Dashie as she quickly ran after her, but she was stopped by Pink Peaches and Gummy floating in front of her. "Oh, you want some too?" asked Gummy, cocking the gun. "No!" shouted Dashie as she slid backward in fear, but she quickly remembered there were ponies under her. She tried to catch her fall, but something held her with two hooves. "Trying to crush the town folks, I see!" said a female voice. "That voice, AJ?" thought Dashie as she felt lifted and tossed into the town square, where no one was around. She landed and could see an orange-earth pony on a roof. She was wearing a magical girl cowboy outfit and dressed in red as a dog standing next to her. "Red Apple Crisp won't allow you to hurt anyone here!" said Red as she did a cowboy pose. "What's going on? I don't want to fight anyone." Dashie said, feeling a little scared. "Well, you're about to get some, darling!" said a new voice as a white and purple-dressed unicorn landed next to Red and did a fancy pose with lights, which made Red facepalm. "White Blackberry Cobbler is here!" Soon, a cat landed on her head and began yawning. "Great," groaned Red as she kicked away the lights. "What's going on? I have no idea what's happening!" cried Dashie, backing away from the two magical girls. "You're going down, big girl," said Red as she jumped from the roof. "I don't want to fight anyone!" repeated Dashie, trying to back away more, but Red was quick as she grabbed her foot and slammed her down. "I'll teach you to attack this town and hurt the people I care about!" shouted Red as she jumped on top of her, punching her repeatedly. "Ow! Ow! Stop!" pleaded Dashie, trying to grab her, but Red was too fast. "Hey! Leave some for me, darling!" shouted White as she joined the punching. "Ahh!" shouted Dashie in pain. "You're not so tough, are you?" shouted Red, continuing the punches. "Stop, please!" begged Dashie. "Not until you're defeated," said Red, stopping the punches and removing a red rope with a star at the end. "Aww, is the big, mean monster crying?" teased White, giggling. "No, please!" cried Dashie, trying to crawl away, but the rope tied her feet. "It's Time for you to go back where you came from," said Red, grabbing the star, which began to glow red. "Wait!" pleaded Dashie, but Red pulled the star, and a giant red hole opened up and sucked her in. "Welp, another day as a magical girl," said Red, putting her hooves on her hips. "Another day," repeated White, nodding her head. "Goodbye, big scary monster!" shouted Pink Peach Pie, waving at the hole as she arrived but turning to her friends. "You think we should have listened to her?" "Nah, she was lying," said Red, waving it off. "Well, time to go home," said White, walking away. "I should bake some cupcakes," said Pink, skipping after her. "Good idea, you two, but we got to clean up the mess," said Red, following after them. Gummy and the other pets were the last ones left as they were looking into the hole with their vision, and they could see Dashie floating in the red void. "She's not like the other monsters," questioned Winona. "Agreed, I think we should listen to her," replied Opalescence as she hopped into the red hole, followed by Winona. "I'll stay here and shallow this gun back down," said Gummy as he tried to push the cannon back down his throat, creeping out other ponies as they walked past. Meanwhile, Dash woke up and saw she had landed in an open field with a waterfall and a small lake. She knew this place as she stood and shook the peach cream off her body. "Isn't this Fluttershy's animal sanctuary?" Dash asked, looking around and noticing the waterfall. "Yeah, it looks the same as the one back home," said Dash, looking up at the sky and seeing a colorful bird flying above. She quickly remembered what had just happened to her and that she needed to protect Dashie from this world, Pinkie, but she suddenly saw someone at the top of the waterfall. Dash could see it was Fluttershy wearing a yellow dress, and next to her was Angel. "You dare to hurt my animals, you monster!" shouted Fluttershy as she did a cute pose and blushed red. "Yellow Banana Cream is here!" "Oh, great," grumbled Dash, rolling her eyes. "How dare you hurt innocent animals? Prepare to die!" shouted Yellow as she fired a giant banana cream pie at her, which exploded on her, making a cloud of cream. "Oh, no. Did I overdo it?" said Yellow, covering her mouth in shock. "Ugh, is that the best you got, Fluttershy?" complained Dash as she came out of the smoke, wiping the cream off her body. Yellow sighed with relief but quickly blushed as she shouted, "It wasn't like I worried about you or anything! Baka!" "Uh, okay?" replied Dash, confused about what was happening. "Come on, Angel," said Yellow, jumping down and Angel following her. "Um, wait a second," said Dash, trying to call her but being interrupted. "Yellow Banana Cream will be your executioner!" said Yellow as she jumped in the air and spun her body around to do a drill kick. "Whoa!" said Dash as she flew out of the way. "Fluttershy, what are you doing?" "Die, you monster!" yelled Yellow, kicking her. "Okay, okay. That's it." Dash said, having enough and pinning the mare down, "Fluttershy, stop attacking me! It's me, Rainbow Dash." "Liar! Blue Berry Rainbow isn't large!" cried Yellow, trying to escape but being held tight. "Fluttershy, I know this sounds crazy, but I'm not the same Rainbow Dash. I'm from another universe and came here when a comet fell," Dash explained. "What?" exclaimed Yellow, unsure if she should believe her. "Yeah, the comet has this magic, I guess, and it transported me, well, us—not us, but me and another version of me—here, and the only way back home is using a rainbow shard from this universe." "That does sound crazy, but I'll give you a chance, big Rainbow. But if you're lying, you'll be sorry, " said Yellow, still holding while Angel kicked Dash back. "Fine by me, just stop attacking me, okay?" Dash replied, releasing her. "Okay," said Yellow, standing up. "So, what's with the outfit?" asked Dash. "It's my magical girl uniform," answered Yellow. "Right." "So, what are we looking for exactly?" asked Yellow, walking around Dash. "A rainbow piece. We think we'll find one if we follow our rainbow shard."Dash stopped and remembered about Dashie, who had the shard. "Oh, no. Dashie!" "Who's Dashie?" questioned Yellow. "Remember what I said before? Well, a different version of myself. We were separated after Pinkie attacked us!" "Oh, dear," said Yellow, but she quickly blushed as she faced away. "It's not that I'm worried about your other self or anything! BAKA!" "Okay? Let's hope Pinkie doesn't send her flying as well." Dash said, flying back to town. "Wait!" said Yellow as she tried to catch up. "What is it?" asked Dash, turning back to her. "Um, I mean, if I can help in any way, please let me," requested Yellow, looking down. "You're helping already, Fluttershy. Just by believing me," said Dash. "I don't know. You are a large stranger, after all," said Yellow, looking nervous. "Yeah, I can't argue with you, but trust me. You can always trust Rainbow Dash." Dash said, flying back to the town, and Yellow smiled as she knew her Rainbow would act like this. Back in the town, Red and White were still cleaning up the village from the attack, and White was annoyed about having to work so much, even if the work wasn't hard. "You're so lazy," groaned Red, shaking her head. "I know, darling," whined White, not moving from her spot. "Get back to work," ordered Red. "Fine, fine," grumbled White, getting back to cleaning. "Good. The sooner we finish, the sooner you can go home or whatever," said Red, returning to the square. "Yeah, yeah," replied White, not caring. Suddenly, White and Red could see a rainbow light heading to town. "Is that blueberry?"She's coming fast," asked White. "I don't think that's blue! It's too big!" exclaimed Red. They watched as the rainbow blur flew over their heads and finally stopped in the air. Both magical girls were confused as they were staring at Dash. "Is that blue?" asked Red. "Maybe she got bigger?" questioned White. "I'm not sure," said Red. "It doesn't matter! She's a threat!" said White, changing her broom into a sizeable white hammer. "White! Stop looking!" shouted Red. "Hi, everyone!" shouted Yellow as she waved from her position on Dash's head while Dash landed next to the girls. "Is that blue?" asked Red. "What happened to her?" exclaimed White. "Guys, calm down. This is," said Yellow, but was interrupted. "Blue? Are you okay?" asked Red, ignoring her. "She's not blue!" shouted Yellow in pure rage. "She's right, short story; I'm from another universe and might look like your rainbow," said Dash. "I'm not from here or a monster; I'm looking at myself."Did you see her anywhere? She's just as big as me." Red and white both looked at each other with worry. "We saw her, but..." said White, remembering that event. "Where?" asked Dash. "We sent her to the pocket universe." finished Red. "What now?" questioned Dash, unsure what a pocket universe was. "We'll explain," said Red as she and White explained the pocket universe to Dash. Meanwhile, Dashie was falling down and could feel like she was falling forever until she saw a flash of light and landed on a soft, rubber floor. She could see a rainbow path in front of her and saw it lead to a forest, and far in the distance was a castle. All the objects looked normal size, too. "This way, huh?" said Dashie, starting her way down the path. As she traveled down the path, she could feel something watching her. She turned around, seeing nothing behind her, but she continued. Finally, she reached the castle before her, and the sky was full of rainbows. "Weird," said Dashie, unsure how to get inside the castle. She could see the big door but tried to push it open. "Come on, open!" Dashie continued to push the door, but it was no use. She started to think and came up with an idea, raising her hands and shouting, "Open sesame!" Nothing happened "Welp, I tried everything I could do!" shouted Dashie as she walked away. She stopped when she heard a voice. "Hey, come back!" shouted the voice. "Huh?" questioned Dashie as she looked around and couldn't find anyone. "Up here!" shouted the voice again. She looked up and saw a small purple alicorm in a window above the door. "Sorry I didn't see you there," said Dashie. "What are you?" asked the alicorn. "What are you?" repeated Dashie. "An alicorn, duh. What's your excuse?" "I'm a human." "You look strange." "I'm not strange! I'm cool! Don't you forget it?" "You remind me of someone. She's less cocky, though." explained the alicorn as she took off her glasses and wiped them clean. "Whatever, why are you here?" "I need a way out; can you help?" "Maybe...come on in." Dashie was about to open the door, but it suddenly opened, allowing her to walk inside. She could see she was in a living room—a standard, plain living room. "Come sit," said the alicorn. Dashie entered the living room and saw the alicorn sitting on a chair. "What's your name?" asked the alicorn. "I'm Dashiell, but friends call me Dashie, and yours?" "I'm Purple Grape Jelly, the Magical Element Fruits leader." "What's that?" "It's an organization to help out ponies in trouble. You know, save the day." "Ah." "You want a cupcake?" "Sure." Purple handed Dashie a cupcake with blue frosting, and Dashie started to eat it. "Mm, this is good. You made this?" "Nah, Blue Berry did. She's top-notch in my cupcakes." "That's cool. I can't bake." "Really? That's weird; you're a girl, right?" "Hey, don't judge me." "Alright, alright. So, tell me why you're here." "Well, short story: a comet from space crashed and sent me and my other self here, and the only way to go home is to get a rainbow shard. Do you know where we can find a rainbow shard?" Purple looked over the person before her until she walked to the window. "Rainbow shard? Like this one?" Dashie watched as Purple lowered her collar, revealing a rainbow shard embedded in her chest. "Yes, that's it!" shouted Dashie, jumping off her seat. "Great, you can have it, but..." "But, what?" "Removing this shard will end my life. Do you have the heart to kill me?" "What, no way!" "Why?" "That's not me. I'm not a killer." "Then you'll never leave." "There has to be another way." "This is the only way for you to get home. What will you do?" "I won't kill you; there has to be another way. I don't remember her name or face, but she said this to me when things looked bad in that basketball match, and it sounds cheesy: "Never give up! Friendship always finds a way!" There has to be another way, and I'm not hurting someone I just met." Purple could see that this being cared about her values and was blue in a different form. "Alright, you passed the test. Congratulations." "The what!?" "The test." "Test, what kind of test?" "The test is to see if you're a good creature. It's simple: you can get the shard if you're willing to kill me for it, but you care more about me than getting it. Protecting someone's life was more important than going home." "Well, it's a no-brainer when you put it like that." "Yup, you are the Blue Berry alt version, alright. It wasn't just me, by the way. You can all come out," said Purple as the living room suddenly changed into a large dome room. In the middle was a large circle table. Sitting at each seat were the pets that Dashie had seen before. "Whoa!" gasped Dashie. "You did great; congratulations," said Winona. "You were honest to the bone. I'm Winona, the avatar of the element of honesty." "You spared her life by giving up a way home," said Opalescence. "Name is opalescence, the avatar of the element of generosity." Sitting at the head chair was an owl who flew up and landed in front of Dashie and spoke, "You carry a great spark within you, a magic that only appears with friendship." The owl said, "My name is Owlowiscious, the avatar of the element of magic." "Wow," said Dashie, not sure what else to say. "We noticed a weird magical aura yesterday and realized Blue Berry and Tank, avatars of loyalty, were missing," explained Owlowiscious as he flew back to his chair. "If you arrive here, it believes me you swap places with her." "Swap?" whispered Dashie as her eyes went wide. "That will explain what happened to another version of "me" named Flashing; she was missing too. We must have switched places with her and now with Blue Berry," explained Dashie. "Interesting. Maybe a universe can't have another version of "you" in it, so it swapped you for the other. Maybe having two versions of you can be very dangerous." explained Purple "But I came here with a pony version of me. Nothing bad happened." "Well, it depends. How did you two get here? You said something about a comet?" "I looked at the rainbow comet until a piece fell off and landed in the woods. I went to see where it landed, and once I touched it, I saw my pony version, which was almost like a mirror. She, too, was touching it, and Everything started to break down around us. Soon, we were blasted into another universe," explained Dashie. "The Rainbow Comet? That comet is a legendary comet that flies near our planet every year. So the shards are from that?" Dashie watched as Purple opened a gateway back to Ponyville and faced her. "I know where to find a shard; come with me." Dashie, Purple, and all the pets jumped through the portal and landed on the ground. They could see everyone watching Pink pull out the cannon gun from Gummy's mouth. "I can just pull it out, you know?" sighed Dash as she floated over and was about to pull the cannon out of Gummy's mouth. She stopped when she saw Dashie walking out of a portal and returning big again. "Dashie!" shouted Dash as she flew over to her and hugged her. "Hey, Rainbow," replied Dashie. "Wow, you got bigger," said Purple as she scanned both girls. "Or maybe we're just smaller than other universes." "Who's this?" asked Dash. "This is the leader of the magical element fruits, purple grape jelly," said Dashie. "What's up?" replied Dash, nodding her head. Purple nodded back, turned to her team, and ordered them to come over. "These two aren't monsters; they're good creatures, just trying to get home. I need to head to my house and get something. Protect these two while I'm gone," ordered Purple. "No problem, ma'am," said Yellow. "I can protect myself, you know?" asked Dash. "Not against "her," said Red, remembering her." "Wait, who's "her"?" asked Rainbow Dash. "The Queen of all Monsters," explained Purple. "What now?" "A monster who's more powerful than the rest and is a threat to this world." "She's dangerous," replied White. "I'm off; stay safe!" Everyone watched as Purple flew off to her castle outside of the town. Everyone stood there until Pink finally pulled the cannon out and landed behind them. "It's out!" Everyone sighed... Half an hour later, the group talked until Dash pulled Dashie away from Pink unless she asked questions. "What's up?" "Hey, remember the purple one?" "Yeah?" "Didn't she look like Midnight and Tara?" "Now that you mention it, yeah. She looks a bit like them." "Remember when we saw Midnight? We were having those weird visions." "Yeah, I remember. What are you trying to say?" "Do you think who we're looking for is "our" version of "her"?" "Could be, but it could just be a coincidence, or maybe the shards? Remember, Midnight had it on her? The first time it happened, Tara wasn't there." "Right..." "Don't worry, we'll figure this out." "Hope so; it's confusing." Suddenly, everyone could see a significant, dark smoke forming before them. They could hear a voice coming from it. "It's her! Get ready, everyone!" shouted Red as she summoned her magical whip. The group stood their ground and saw a sizeable purple hoof reaching out and banishing the smoke away, revealing Nightmare Moon but wearing a dark blue magical girl dress. "Prepare to die!" greeted Nightmare Moon "Get back; it's monster Queen, Dark Blue Plum. Cookie said Red as she attacked Plum with a whip, but she easily dodged it. She quickly took notice of the two giants and looked on in awe. "Wait, hold up, who are these two?" asked Plum as she did a time-out pose with her hooves. "Don't let your guard down; she's a trickster," said Red. "Whoa, chill, I was just asking a question." "It's not a trick; she wants to know who we are," said Dashie, looking down at Plum. "Who are you two?" asked Plum, curious. "I'm Rainbow Dash," said Dash. "Dashiell or Dashie," spoke Dashie "Wow, I won't lie; I feel insecure with my monsters. You make them look small," said Plum as she stared at the girls. "Thanks?" replied Dash, unsure what to say. The rest of the magical girls and avatars looked on in confusion as Plum sat on the ground, defeated. "I guess my plans are ruined now; there is not much I can do. I had the biggest monster to release, but seeing you two? Forget it." spoke Plum "Sorry?" said Dashie, unsure what was going on. "Nah, not your fault; you are just doing you. So what are you here for? Looking to crush a town or something?" "Crush a town?" "Oh, come on, you're a monster. What are you going to do? Play hopscotch?" "Nah, we're just trying to find our way home. We're not like that," laughed Dashie. Red and the others huddled together as they watched them talk. "Hey, what's going on?"Was she always that chill?" asked White "No, not at all. Something's not right," replied Red. "Are you sure? I don't know; she seems to be having a good time," added Pink "Maybe she's not evil? But it's not like I'm worried about Plum or anything! BAKA!" shouted Yellow as her face turned red. "Uh, are you okay?" asked White, backing up. "We must stay focused and ensure she doesn't try to release a monster. That's what we do," said Red. "You guys want some snacks? I have plenty!" said Plum as she was in the group huddle, freaking everyone out. "How'd you get in here?" "I walked over," replied Plum, waving her hooves. "Okay, that's enough. We have a business to attend to. If you're not here to hurt anyone, leave," ordered Red, cracking her whip. "What's your problem, girl? We're just hanging out; it's no big deal. What's wrong with making new friends? Not like we're trying to take over the world or something...oh right," laughed Plum as she scratched the back of her head. "Girls, she's cool, really," said Dash. "Why are you trusting her?" asked Red. "Because she's nice," said Dashie. "Nice, she's a monster." "Hey! I'm not a monster like my babies here!" said Plum as she held her tiny cloud monsters in her arms. Red and her gang couldn't understand what was going on anymore. Plum walked over to Dashie and sat on her lap. "So, what are you guys waiting for?" questioned Plum as she bit her cookie. Before they could answer, Purple returned and held a rainbow shard in her hooves but quickly dropped it as she saw Plum. She was ready for battle but stopped as Plum was waving at her. "Yo Grape! How are you? You see these two! Awesome, right!?" "What's going on?" whispered Purple to her gang. "We don't know as well," said everyone. Before Purple could say anything else, the shard on the ground started to glow and floated up into the air. Everyone watched as the shard from Dashie's pocket came out, and reality was breaking around them with a large flash. The shards slowly met each other and fused as one giant pillar appeared and wiped Everything away. "What happened? Where did my gal pals go?" Plum asked as she noticed the giants were gone. "Home...hopefully," said Purple as she joined Plum. "Hey, are you okay? You look worried." "I just don't understand. If the universe doesn't allow two versions of the same pony in the universe, Why are these two allowed to be together? Something is not right, and I'm having a bad feeling about this." explained Purple to herself. Plum had no idea what she was talking about, but she nodded and handed her a cookie to cheer her up. Both girls fell into a back alley and were knocked out again. The area around them was a nighttime city alley, and there was no sign of any ponies. The dark city looked run-down and filled with an evil and dark aura on the streets. On a nearby rooftop, a dark figure saw what fell and grappled to the alleyway. He slowly walked up to the girls and watched as Dash's body was fading away, much stronger now, and Dashie's hair was now wholly rainbow-like Dash's, as her jacket changed once more. The figure narrowed its white eyes and stepped into the light of a nearby light pose. "Flare?" end of chapter 4 Chapter 5 The sun beamed through the clouds, hitting Rainbow Dash's goggles and waking her up from her nap. "Ugh, already?" she said groggily, sitting up and putting her goggles on. She could see her two Wonderbolt teammates talking among themselves as they waited for the Princess of Friendship to walk out of the Cloudeseum main stage, as this was the first year she'd be judging the Best Young Flyer Competition. Rainbow and her teammates will be coming down from the clouds above and doing a few tricks, finishing it with her sonic rainboom and landing in front of the Princess. Rainbow looked at the stage; she saw someone walking out, and the crowd started cheering. Rainbow could see a purple unicorn pony with a lavender mane. She wore a purple and golden crown on her head. A few minutes passed, and the Princess was ready to announce the start of the competition. Rainbow smiled, seeing how popular Static is with the ponies in Cloudsdale. Rainbow was happy the other pegasus loved her friend. "Ponies, are you ready?" The crowd cheered as they were excited for the competition to start. "Alright! Let the games begin!" Princess said happily, and the competitors came flying onto the stage and watching the sky above as Dash realized this was the cue to start. "Okay, this is it! Remember, we are repreOkaying the Wonderbolts here. So let's put our best hooves forward." Lightning Dust said as she flew downward. "You got it, boss!" The rest of the Wonderbolts replied and followed Dash. Dash began making loopy loops and twirling around in the air before stopping midway and letting her two fellow Wonderbolts perform some stunts of their own before flying under her. Rainbow was getting ready to perform her Sonic Rainboom, as she had to time her move at the right moment. As she reached the peak of her altitude, Rainbow took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and flapped her wings, creating a loud sonic boom and Static filled the memory as Dashie was running in the cold rain, as she was the only person on the school track field. She was running to cool off after what happened earlier today. She fought with Static about not wanting any scholarships for track and field; she didn't want to run all her life. She will be the only one not attending college, and she was okay with that. She knew her parents wouokayt be too pleased about it, but she has the money for it; it's not the money that's the problem. The real problem is that she does not know what to do with her life after school. Dashie didn't know what she wanted to be. Her parents and her teachers are worried about her. She had the talent and skill but didn't know what to do. She ran. She ran in the cold rain until she could feel like the rain had stopped like she was running so fast that she was passing through the rain storm, but she slowed down and stopped as she felt something was placed on her head. Dashie could hear someone say something; it sounded like a female voice. She couldn't tell; she was exhausted. "What?!" She yelled, turning her head around, and could feel it was a towel. She was confused; no one should be on the track field. "It's a towel," the voice said. "I can see that, but where are you?" Dashie said that the rain was coming down much harder now. "Here, let me help," yelled the voice as she put an umbrella over her. Dashie saw "her" with the umbrella and could feel the girl drying her head while holding the umbrella in her other hand. "You're going to catch a cold!" the girl said. "Thanks," Dashie said, smiling. She felt the towel being wrapped around her and the girl drying her. "What are you doing, running in the rain?" The girl asked, "Cooling off..." blushed Dashie as she faced away from her, but the girl pushed back under the umbrella and was drying her hair again. "No! Stay here! We need to talk about what you're doing!" the girl said, a little worried about her. "You mean about not knowing what I want to do?" Dashie sighed "Yeah, you can be the greatest runner ever!"Why don't you want that?" the girl asked, a little confused about her decision. "Because I don't know what I want! That's why!" Dashie yelled, pulling away from her. "Why didn't you say anything earlier?" the girl asked as she pulled the towel around her, trying to dry her more. "You won't understand," Dashie replied. "I will if you tell me. You never open up about things," the girl said as she hugged her. Dashie sighed, and she could feel herself blushing a bit. "I just don't know what I want in life," she said. "It's not like you'll be the only one not going to university or having a job. Everyone's worried about you, and so am I," the girl said, a little hurt, thinking Dashie was ignoring her feelings. "I know. It's just that my friends already know what they will do, and I have no idea," Dashie explained, still facing away from her. "That doesn't mean you can ignore everyone who cares about you! Including me!" the girl said, holding her tears and hugging her more. Dashie turned her head toward her and saw tears running down her face. Dashie sighed and turned around, hugging her and wiping the tears off. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ignore or hurt you." Dashie said, looking into her prism eyes and smiling. "You're going to catch a cold! Come on! Let's go inside!" the girl said as they walked inside the building, heading towards the lockers. But stopped as the rain finally stopped. The girl noticed something on the track and pointed to Dashie's head. Dashie touched her hair and could see her dyed hair bleeding off, and she somehow left a rainbow trail around the track. The rainbow track quickly glitched to Dash Rainboom, where Dash landed before the Princess and bowed to her. "Come on, Rainbow, you don't have to do that." Princess laughed. "Yes, I have. You're a princess, and you're my friend, too." Rainbow said as she stood up and smiled. "I'm happy for you, Rainbow; you followed your dream and made it. I'm also so happy to be here, with front-row seats to help your dream come true." The Princess smiled as she hugged her. "Yea. It was hard, but I'm glad it all paid off. Now, I can live my dream of being a wonderbolt. Thanks to you, static."Rainbow said as she hugged her back. "I didn't do anything." the Princess said. "Of course you did! Without you always being there for me, like helping me study or cheering me on, I would never become a wonderbolt." Rainbow said, smiling. "Oh, please, you're a natural. You proved yourself," the Princess said, a little embarrassed. "Well, whatever happens, I'll always be thankful to you," Rainbow said, smiling. "Me too. You'll always be my friend and a hero to others. Thank you, Dashie." The Princess said, looking at the rain in the sky. "You're welcome, -static-. Always." Rainbow smiled. The memory glitched again, and the sound was filled with static. Dash and Dashie were flickering between the two as they found themselves back in the garden with the big tree, but this time, the tree was burned, and the grass was dead. The building was destroyed, and everything beyond as well. They looked up in the burning red sky, and there in the sky was a sonic rainboom, but not one but five, as they rang out across the fiery sky. They looked down, and they could see the alicorn as she was lifeless in their arms. They started to cry for no reason. "Remember..." said a voice. "Who's there?!" Dash yelled, looking around. "Remember..." the voice said again. "Remember what?" Dashie said, looking around. "Her..." the voice replied. "Whose her?!" Dash yelled. "Remember her...remember..." The voice faded as a bright rainbow appeared in the middle of the raindrops. It flew towards them and slammed the garden, destroying it. The voice screamed in pain as everything became static and prism-colored: "THE PAIN OF NOT SAVING HER!" Dash quickly shot up from the bed, screaming as she remembered the Nightmare and sweating a storm. She looked around and could see she was in a glass cell, surrounded by darkness, and the only light was the lamp above her. She removed the blanket and froze, noticing her lower body was disappearing. She screamed again. "Ahhhh! What's happening to me??"She said she was scared. "I see you awake," said a cold voice from the darkness. "Who's there? Where am I? What did you do to me?" Dash asked as she tried to get up. "I did nothing; I found you like that," the voice said, walking closer to the glass. "What do you mean?" Dash asked. "The real question is, how did you get here?" The voice asked Dash quickly realized what the voice meant, and she quickly explained everything. "Hmm. Interesting," the voice asked. "Who are you?" Dash asked, looking in the direction of the voice. "My name is..." the voice said, walking closer to the glass, the light revealing a woman wearing a bat-themed outfit. "Nightmare." "Nice outfit. Are you a superhero?" Dash asked, wondering if she should know her. "Sort of," Nightmare replied. "Where are we?" Dash asked. "My batcave," Nightmare replied. "Batcave?" Dash repeated. "Yes, it's where I store my gadgets, information, and other things." Nightmare explained. "How did I get here?" Dash asked. "After Superpony disappeared, I found this weird reading in space, and a few days later, the same reading appeared over my city, and I tracked it down and found you two." Nightmare explained. "Two? Where's Dashie?" demanded Dash as she flew to the glass and met Nightmare face-to-face. "She's right there," Nightmare said, pointing behind as the batcave lights turned on. They revealed Dashie in the same cell but across from them, but she was wheezing and sweating heavily. "What's wrong with her?" Dash asked, seeing her condition. "I don't know; when I found her, she was like that. She won't wake up." Nightmare explained. "We have to help her!" Dash yelled. "Relax. I've been testing her body, and the bat computer should tell me what's wrong." Nightmare said, pressing a few buttons. "How long were we out?" Dash asked. "Three weeks," Nightmare replied. "Three weeks?!" Dash said, surprised. "I had to put you both in the same cell, as I had no idea what could happen at first, but I noticed it was getting worse between the two of you, so I put you two in your cells. It's working for now." Nightmare said. "What's happening between us?" Dash asked, flying to the glass again. "I don't know, not yet," said Nightmare as she started to walk away. "Wait, where are you going?" Dash asked as she pressed her face against the glass. She watched her walk up a fleet of stairs and disappear into the darkness. "HEY! COME BACK HERE!" Rainbow sat down, waiting for Nightmare to return, and looked at the bat computer, wondering what could be wrong with Dashie as the screen flashed numbers and charts. Dash sat on the floor and closed her eyes, remembering the Nightmare and the voice about not saving her. Was it about this? She closed her eyes and waited for the only person to help them. An hour had passed, and Nightmare returned with a plate of food, primarily apples and hay. As she's going off by the horse's looks, she guesses she wouldn't eat any meat. "Here, it's not much, but I'll get my maid to cook more if you want." Nightmare said as she gave the plate to her by sliding it into the food hole. "No thanks," Dash said as she looked at the hay and apples. "Don't worry, it's not poison." Nightmare said. "Why should I trust you? You are keeping us locked up like animals." Dash asked. "Because your body needs nutrients," Nightmare replied, walking to the computer and sitting down. Dash didn't want to eat, but the smell was too good, so she quickly ate the whole thing. "Well, it looks like your body was starved for three weeks." Nightmare said. "So, can I ask some questions?" Dash asked. "Go ahead." Nightmare said, pressing a few buttons on her computer and scanning something she took out of her pocket. "Why are you dressed as a bat?" asked Dash as she was licking the plate. "I'm a bat," Nightmare replied. "I can tell, but why are you dressed as one?" Dash asked, curious. "Because people can fear a bat. If they see a human, they will not be afraid, not scared, but a bat is another story." Nightmare explained. "People are not that stupid," Dash said. "Trust me, they are," Nightmare replied. "You can't force someone to fear something just because you dress up as a bat." Dash debated "People will fear something if it's the only thing they ever see. You don't know how cruel humans are." Nightmare said, not looking at her. "Well, not everyone is like that," Dash said, smiling. "You sound like her," Nightmare said. "Sounds like who?" Dash asked. "Superpony," Nightmare replied, still pressing buttons. "What happened to her?" Dash asked. "We don't know," Nightmare replied. "Can't you use a tracker to find her?" Dash asked. "That would make sense, but none of the trackers are showing she's not in this solar system or any other solar system. I'm starting to believe she's not in this universe anymore, even more so because she looks alive here with me and what you told me beforehand." Nightmare said as she turned her chair towards her. "You think we did something to her?" Dash suggested. "Maybe I don't know." "But we didn't do anything! I swear." Dash yelled, flying to the glass and pressing her face against the glass, all sad. "Calm down. I didn't say that." Nightmare said as she got up. "Then why do you say that?" Dash asked. "Remember what I said when she disappeared? You three have the same energy readings. I searched for all the recorded energy that I could find and found nothing. I believed you swapped places with Superpony." Nightmare explained. "Swap places?" Dash asked. "Yes, I still don't know why, but maybe this shard has some answers." A nightmare was suggested, holding up a glowing crystal. "Where did you get that?" Dash asked. "Your friend was holding it when I found you. I had to take it." Nightmare explained. "Give me the shard. NOW!" Dash demanded. "Why should I? This could answer my questions. You even told me what it's used for." Nightmare asked, curious. "It doesn't belong to you, though. Give it back now or else." Dash threatened. "Or else what? You're locked in there; I can do whatever I want with this shard." Nightmare smirked as she walked up to the cell. "I can still fly and hit the glass!" Dash threatens, showing her wings. "And do what? Break the glass. How can you do that if you can't break through the glass?" Nightmare asked, tapping her glass cell. "Huh?" Dash asked, confused. "This glass is made out of diamonds. It's the hardest rock,; almostnothing can break it, not even the strongest metal or your fists." Nightmare explained. "You don't have any right to keep us locked up!" Dash yelled, hitting the glass and hurting herself. "I'm not. I'm keeping you both safe." Nightmare said as she walked back to the computer. "Safe from what?!" Dash demanded. "You two are different from my world. You have powers, and your bodies are changing. I can't let anyone know, or someone can use you for the wrong reasons." Nightmare explained. "What about my friend?" Dash asked. "What about her?" Nightmare asked, not looking at her. "When is she going to wake up?" Dash asked, flying to the side of her cell, where she had a clear view of Dashie. "I don't know. Her body was changing faster than yours but completely stopped." Nightmare explained that as she pressed a few buttons on her wrist, the lights were turned off, and a hologram appeared between them. "This is her body; as you can see, something is changing her DNA in every cell." "What does that mean?" Dash asked, looking at the hologram. "She's turning into..." stopped Nightmare as she pressed another button on the computer, revealing Dash's body. "You. More "you." She's another version of you; isn't that what you said to me, right?" Nightmare switched to Dash's disappearing body in the hologram. "Now your..." "What?" Dash said, confused. "Your body, along with your cells, is disappearing, but it's almost halted to a stop as well." Nightmare explained that pressing a few buttons showed a different view. "Is it reversible?" Dash asked, looking at what was left of her legs. "Maybe." Dash banged on the glass as she got her useless answer. She was getting mad with all the "Maybes," this crazy Batwoman said. Nightmare noticed this and walked up to her, taking out the shard. "I believe my universe is causing this. If we can find the shard in my world and send you to another universe, maybe it will undo this."Nightmare said, holding the shard. "Do you know how many times you have said "maybe"? It's not helping!" Dash yelled, flying away from the glass. "I know, and I'm sorry," Nightmare replied, walking up to the glass. Dash slowly turned around and looked at her. There was sadness hidden in that neutral face of hers. She had never met someone like her—so cold and distant but also a bit caring, like Princess Luna. Maybe there's some hope for her after all. "So, are you going to look for the shard alone?" "No, I just scanned the shard to make a tracker, but the computer can't pick anything from it. You told me the shard starts to glow when another shard is nearby, correct?" "Yeah." "Then I just need to fly around the world until it starts glowing." "Fly? You can fly." "No, I'm a normal human, after all. But I have this," Nightmare explained as she pressed another button. The upper part of the cave lit up, revealing a bat-shaped jet. "Woah! That's so cool! I would love to fly that."Dash said, amazed. The jet lowered itself with its autopilot as the boosters came to life and opened its cockpit, allowing Nightmare to jump inside and turn on a radio. "Raven, meet me at Gotthold's tallest building; we're going on a mission." "Roger, that boss!" replied a young female voice, which sounded like Spike, as if he were a girl to Dash. "Hold, are you going to leave me alone?" "No, someone's going to be with you soon; she's a great maid; she'll take care of you." Nightmare closed the cockpit, and the jet flew away as the lights turned off, leaving just the batcomputer and Dash. She wondered if she should trust this woman, but her heart told her to. She sat on the bed and watched over Dashie, who was still in pain. "Hang in there, Dashie; everything will be alright." Dash thought as she kept watching. After a few hours, Dash could hear a door opening at the top of the stairs, and someone was walking down it until it stopped. Soon, all the lights turned on, revealing the cave fully and the objects it held, like a giant penny or the playing card with Trixie's face on it. The person, wearing a white and black maid uniform, walked towards the computer while carrying a plate with food and drinks. Dash could tell it was Celestia, but she was old, and her mane was completely gray. The maid put apples, hay, and water on a white plate, walked up to Dash, and placed the food in the slot. "Thanks," Dash said, looking at the food. "My pleasure. How is your friend?" the maid asked. "No change." "I hope she will be alright." "So do I." "If you want to ask me something, I'm right here." The maid said as she walked to a wall and pressed a button, and a seat appeared. "Well, since you're going to be here, What's your name?" "I'm Cindy Nickle." "Cindy, where are we exactly?" "In the Batcave, Miss Nightmares is home." "I can tell that, but where is the Batcave located?" "I can't say; I'm sworn to secrecy." "I can't blame you. Can you tell me anything about this place?" "Hmm, Miss Nightmares, the owner and leader of the Element League." "Element League? What's that?" "They are a group of superheroes who work together to stop the criminals, like here in the city." "What kind of criminals?" "Evil kind." "Ah, okay..." "Is there something wrong?" "Yeah, are they heroes or something?" "Miss, did you just doubt the league?" "No, no, no. I wonder, is that all?" "They are the greatest; they stopped a giant spider last week." "Okay." "And they defeated a monster just a month ago." "Alright." "They even stop the evil Doctor Discord by throwing him into the sun." "I get it. So they are heroes; I'm sorry for doubting them." "I can understand, miss. I will leave you with your meal. If you want something, tell me." "Okay, thanks." Cindy nodded, took out the okay newspaper, and started to read it. Dash flew up to the plate, grabbed an apple, and began to eat it. "Applejack would love this; it's so sweet," Dash thought, smiling. "So, is the food good?" Cindy asked. "Yes, it's the best," Dash replied, returning to bed. "I'm glad that that old apple tree was useful, and Nightmare wanted to cut it down. But I convinced her that apples can be useful." Cindy said. "She didn't like apples, huh." Dash joked. "She hated them." "Well, it's her loss then." "Yeah, you are right." Dash ate her apple and drank the water while watching over Dashie. Cindy took notice, put her paper down, and pressed a switch on the computer, opening both cells. Dash was confused, but Cindy waved at her to go to her friend's side. "Thank you!" cried Dash as she flew to Cindy and hugged her. "You're just as kind as my Cindy." Cindy patted Dash back and watched as Dash flew to Dashie's side and held her hand. "Sorry if this is rude, but what are your names?" asked Cindy as she joined Dash. "Rainbow Dash, and she's called Dashiell Reinbold." Cindy nodded and started to clean the place up. It was peaceful until both heard the roar of the jet. She quickly turned around and saw the batjet flying down and slowly landing in its spot. Dash promptly flew back into her cell and told Cindy to close it, as she didn't want her to get into trouble. Cindy followed orders and shut it down. Nightmare and a female teenager wearing an all-black bird suit were walking behind her. "Wow, you weren't joking about the disappearing pony," said the teenage girl, whose voice was muffled by the mask. "Of course, Raven. Why would I lie to you?" "I dunno, never thought I'd hear you say "talking pony" in my life." "Just be quiet, please." Nightmare walked up to Cindy and spoke about how Dash and his friend were doing before she finally walked over to Dash's cell and took out the shard. "With Pink Bolt, we searched the whole world, and we-" Nightmare was cut off as Dash flew to her and spoke about finding another shard, but Nightmare cut her off. "We didn't find anything. The shard never shines once." Dash's face became sad as she slowly hovered to the ground and thought about what was said to the shard, which was not on this planet. Maybe there weren't any shards in the universe? She started to worry until the food slot was opened, and the shard fell in front of her and started to glow. She looked up and saw Nightmare touching her chin. "Just as I thought, the shard will only glow for you and your friend. With it already glowing, it tells me it's in my city. That's why you landed here." Nightmare said. "Wait, it's here?" asked Dash happily. "Yes, it's here, somewhere." Nightmare said, nodding. "So, we got to look at the whole city?" asked Raven as she walked up to Nightmare. "I guess we have to; Pink Bolt is dealing with a problem in her city, so she can't help us right now." "That will take us ages." "I can help," said Dash. "How?" asked Nightmare. "I'm the fastest pegasus in my world. I bet I can find the shard in ten seconds flat." "That would help." "Wait, you're not considering letting her help?" asked Raven. "Yes." "But-" "No buts." "What?" "We can discuss this later. Now go and help her in the jet. I need to talk to Cindy," ordered Nightmare as she walked back to her maid, who was dusting the penny. I got an alarm that the cell was opened by the computer. You let her out?" asked Nightmare as she stood behind her, finally removing her mask. "Yes, she was worried for her friend and wanted to stay by her side," Cindy explained that she was still cleaning. "..." "Also, you can trust her; oh, by the way, her name is Dash, and her friend's name is Dashie." "..." "She won't cause any problems...maybe." "..." "She was just scared and wanted to help her friend. Please give her a chance." "...fine." "Thank you, Mistress Brice." Nightmare nodded as she put her mask back on and returned to the jet, leaving Cindy alone with a smile. "It's so weird talking to her without her mask on," thought Cindy as she continued her work. Dash was waiting for her as Raven and herself sat on the back chair in the cockpit. She was getting impatient and banged on the glass. "Are we leaving or what?" Dash yelled as she hit the glass again. "Yea, yea, I'm coming," Nightmare replied, annoyed, as she opened the hatch and jumped inside. "Finally," said Dash. "Can we just go already? It's almost morning, and I'm tired," complained Raven. "Sure, the jet is fully charged, and we can search the whole city." "Cool, let's go already!" Nightmare pushed a button on her wrist, activating the jet boosters, and started to fly up as the cave ceiling opened and let them out. It was a night, but the city was full of bright lights and busy roads. There were also many tall buildings, like one that had a giant "S" logo, a big "A" building, a clock tower, and the highest building, which had a giant "K" on it. "Wow, this is a beautiful sight," said Dash, amazed. "So, are we just going to sit here and gawk, or will we find the shard?" complained Raven. "Raven, can you do me a favor and shut up for once?" Nightmare asked. "Fine, I'll stay quiet, but you'll have to explain things when I wake up." "Sure, just don't make a sound." Raven nodded and started to yawn as she rested her head on the jet's window. Nightmare shook her head and turned the plane as the shard began to glow more. "I wonder if that kid is still mad." I thought, pressing the booster. The shard's glow became brighter as the jet flew through the city. Nightmare pressed another button, revealing a radar showing the shard's position. She was getting closer, so she flew lower and lower until she found an empty ally. She flew the jet, landed it on a nearby roof, and shut it off. "The shard should be in this area." Nightmare explained and opened the cockpit. "Sweet," replied Raven as she got out. Nightmare did the same and started to walk to the edge, looking over the alley and the nearby buildings and trying to find the shard. Rainbow Dash pointed the shard everywhere. "Maybe the shard isn't on the streets; maybe it's in one of those buildings." Nightmare said. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's check them out." Dash said. "Yeah, let's check them out," replied Raven. "Hold on, we need to go about this the smart way, or the shard will end up in the wrong hands." Nightmare said. "How are we going to do that, boss?" "..." "Boss, what are you planning?" "..." "You know I hate it when you're quiet." "..." "Come on, tell me." "..." "Stop ignoring me and just say it." "..." "Please." "..." "I will follow your orders if you tell me." "..." "Don't make me say please again." "..." "PLEASE!" Dash tried to hold back her laughter as she watched this little back-and-forth. Yeah, this was Spike, but if he was a girl, "Okay, just stop. I'll tell you." "TOkay you." "We will break into those buildings and search them with Dash since the shard only glows for her." "Roger that boss!" Dash flew over to the building and waited for the other two, who glided to the building and entered it with her. Unknown to them, a craze of laughter could be heard inside the building as the cameras watched the group enter the building. "Little Oh Bat found my hideout. This is going to be fun!" end of chapter 5 Chapter 6 Dash, Nightmare, and Raven were slowly walking around the dark room. Dash held the shard and looked around for any sign of it while Nightmare used her mask to detect anything. "Anything, boss?" "No, nothing." "Well, I see some weird things in here." "Like what?" "First, the place is filled with toys and junk, and second, a camera." Nightmare quickly turned and looked at the camera, which pointed at her. She glared at it and started to walk to the camera before a high-pitched voice came from a speaker. "Welcome, little oh bat and birdy, welcome." the voice said. "Who are you?" Nightmare asked. "You mean, you don't know me That hurts me, little oh bat Oh wait, I have the wrong settings on." said the voice as the group could hear noises in the background before a female could be heard "Testing testing, is it working?" Nightmare quickly readies herself as she knows that voice. "Trickster!" she yelled. "Trickster, who's that?" asked Dash. "One of the most dangerous people on the planet." Nightmare explained. "Oh, batty, you always give me too much credit!" laughed the voice. "Why are you here? Thought you were still locked up." "I escaped and decided to take a vacation and play with the city a bit Speaking of the city, you are ruining my plans I was planning to gas the city with my great and powerful laughing gas!" "How did you make it?" "Oh, let's just say an old friend gave me the recipe, and I made the stuff. Now, I only need a good way to spread the gas around." "Where did you put the gas?" "In the vents?" "Where is it?" "In the basement?" "..." "You can get to it through a hidden entrance, by the way," said Trickster as she flipped a switch. The switch revealed a clown door that said hidden door entrance with arrows pointing to it. "Why did you show me that?" asked Nightmare. "So you can find the entrance, DUH!" "..." Dash was lost for words. It was like those comics that Spike always read. It was like she was living them right now. She couldn't believe her luck. "Oh, by the way, bats, when you got yourself a disappearing blue horse?" "None of your business." "Oh, so I am right; she is there. Thank heaven. I thought the gas was making me more crazy. HA. HAHA!" Suddenly, the gas shot through the vents, filling the room. "Oh no," said Raven. "Everyone, hold your breaths," ordered Nightmare. Dash flew down and cover her mouth with her hoof and the three of them held their breath, as they ran to the hidden door They entered it and door shut itself, as the gas entered the hallway and spread everywhere The trio held their breaths, as they ran down the hall, avoiding the gas As they did, the gas slowly filled the building, causing the people outside seeing gas coming out of the broken windows. "Hey, is that gas?" a random person asked. "It is; it's the trickster's gas!" a cop yelled as he pulled his gun out. "What's the gas do?" "It makes the person laugh hard; their hearts can't take it and explode." "Oh my god, everyone evacuates." As the people screamed and ran away, Nightmare and her crew were in the basement, running down the hallway. She was using her radar to find the room with the gas. As they ran, she found it, and the trio ran into it. Inside, there was a big metal container that had a pipe connected to the vent and a machine pumping the gas into the vent. "This is the gas," said Nightmare as she looked at the canister. "How can we stop it?" asked Dash. "By destroying the machine If we don't, the gas will spread everywhere and kill everyone in the city." "What?!" screamed Dash "What should we do, boss?" "You'll stay here and cover me while I get rid of the machine." "Right." "Wait, I'll come with you," said Dash "Why?" "You said you need to get rid of the gas, right?" "Yes." "Let me help; I'm the fastest one here." Nightmare nodded as Dash followed her. They ran to the machine, and Nightmare took a laser pen and cut off the pipes, releasing the gas, and then turned her attention to the machine. "Okay, Dash, do what you have to do!" "Got it." Dash flew up and started to lift the machine, causing sparks to fly and the machine malfunctioning as Dash pulled it off the floor. "Keep going!" "Okay!" Dash began to lift the machine above her head. With one strong flap of her wings, she bolted out of the basement, crashing through the ceilings of each floor and finally out of the building and into the gloomy night sky. "What should I do with it now?" thought Dash. She saw no safe place to throw it, but she quickly had an idea. She started spinning it with all her might, sending the machine into outer space. Back in the basement, Nightmare turned on a hologram from her mask. It showed the city in real-time, and she could see Dash tossing the gas into outer space. "Nice throw, Dash," said Nightmare, smirking. "Oh boo, that's cheating Using a pony to stop my plan I was hoping for more fun!" whined Trickster as her voice was heard over the speaker. "So, what will we do about her?" asked Raven. "Simple, we find her and take her down like always." "Oh, that will be fun, bats," replied Trickster. "Maybe I should-" the voice stopped as a shadow appeared behind Nightmare and a gun pointing at her. "Fun!" smiled Trickster as she fired the gun, but Nightmare suddenly vanished. A blue blur grabbed her, and Trickster could see Nightmare next to Raven and the blue pony. Now this made Trickster smiled as she held the gun up and water came shooting out as she finally stepped out of the shadows, she's was wearing a blue tuxedo, and her face was white like a clown make up, and her light blue hair was all a mess. "It's been a while since we met in person, " said Trickster. "It's has," Nightmare replied, glaring at the crazy woman. "Now, how should we start this? I could-" Trickster was stopped when a glowing beam shot out of her pocket, and Dash shard also started to glow. "Oh, what's happening? My mood rock, which I found weeks ago, is going off like crazy...LIKE ME!" laughed Trickster as she pulled out a real gun and fired it at Nightmare, who dodged the bullet and threw a Batarang at Trickster, who ducked as the Batarang hit the wall behind her and stuck to it. "Dash, She has the shard. We need—" yelled Nightmare as she and others took cover behind some boxes. However, she was cut off as Dash replied to her. "Okay!" Dash replied, and she quickly flew at Trickster "What Stop!" ordered Nightmare, but it was too late. Dash tried to punch the crazed woman, but Trickster was able to grab her hoof and smile. Electricity filled Dash's body, and she screamed and fell as Trickster revealed her hand buzzer. "Dash!" yelled Raven as she jumped out of cover, took out a fighting stick, and tried to hit Trickster. Trickster moved her head, and the fighting stick slammed into the ground. "Aww, the little birdy wants to play too. Sure!" said Trickster, taking a knife from her pocket and slashing at Raven, who barely blocked the attack with her stick and continued to block Trickster's attack until Trickster tripped her, making Raven fall. Trickster held her knife over her, but Nightmare quickly appeared and kicked Trickster, who jumped back as Nightmare helped Raven up. "Oh, it's nice of you to join us bats." Trickster giggled as she took a step closer and Nightmare pulled her cape over her body and covered her and Raven, as a cloud of smoke appeared around them As the smoke filled the room, Dash was picked up by Nightmare and disappeared into the darkness. "Where are you, bats?!" Trickster yelled, "And your little bird and horse!" Nightmare, carrying Dash, and Raven jumped out of the hole that Dash created minutes before and quickly exited the building Outside the building, the cops and paramedics were checking on the people who close to the building and might have in hale the gas. "Sir, you have to calm down." said a medic. "How can I That gas nearly killed me!" cried a man. "Well, you're not dead, so that's a good sign." "How is that a good sign? I could have died; I could have been a statistic; I could have-" the man rambled before a police officer ran up to them and ordered them to move away from the building. Nightmare put Dash down near the Batjet and checked her pulse. "She's alive," she said. "Is she gonna be okay?" asked Raven. "Yeah, she'll be fine. We should leave her here." "Leave her?" "We have a bad guy to catch, and if she wakes up, she'll slow us down and get in the way again. Besides, Trickster has the shard we're looking for; she isn't needed anymore." coldly said Nightmare as she took the shard from Dash's hoof and put it in her belt pocket. "That's kind of a cold thing to say." "This is not the time to care about the feelings of a random person...pony, Raven This is the time to focus on catching Trickster." "Roger that, sir." Nightmare pressed a button, and back in the Batcave, Cindy was washing the bat car until it turned on and sped off down the tunnel, leaving Cindy sighing as the water was dripping at nothing. "Master Brice, always when I'm clearing the car." Nightmare and Raven waited as the batcar blasted down the street with its rocket engine and finally stopping in the alleyway The roof opened up and Nightmare, holding Dash, jumped down and placed Dash in the back seat and shut the roof and locked it. "Let's go, buddy." Nightmare and Raven ran off back into the building to find the Trickster. Dash opened her eyes found herself in something that looks like the batjet but different She could see that she was on the ground level now. "Where am I? How did I get here?" she wondered as she rubbed her head before realizing, "Nightmare, she left me, That jerk. Who does she think she is? She's not my boss." Dash started to think as she remembered the crazy chick had a shard, realizing her own shard was missing. "Did Nightmare take the shard, or did she hide it somewhere?" Dash started to look for the shard in the car, finding nothing but buttons Curiosity got the best of her and she pushed the button She could hear a noise and looked behind her and could see a large cannon coming out of the truck. "A cannon?!" thought Dash as she pressed another button. The cannon fired, destroying an empty trash can and leaving a huge hole in the wall. "Oops." Dash could see a red light flashing and a sign saying lock down Dash was worried and saw the door was still locked and quickly moved to the driver's seat. "Come on, come on," begged Dash as she punched the window, hoping to break it and free herself, but the windows were shockproof. "What's happening?" said Cindy as her face appeared on the dashboard screen. "Hey, lady, Can you unlock the car?" asked Dash. "I'm sorry, but no one but Master Brice can unlock the car once it goes into lockdown mode." "I need to get out; that crazy chick has another shard." "Crazy chick?" "Yea, the trickster, I think Nightmare called her." "Oh, that crazy chick. Hold on." Cindy disappeared as the screen went black, leaving Dash all alone She placed her face on the streeling wheel and closed her eyes. "Come on, please come back, please come back, please," she begged. Meanwhile, Nightmare and Raven were fighting Trickster in the building Trickster was firing her guns at the two and Nightmare was throwing batarangs at Trickster, as Raven threw a small ball at her Trickster jumped and the ball exploded, creating a smoke bomb. "Missed me, bats and birdy." giggled Trickster as the smoke cleared and the woman was nowhere in sight. "Where did she go?" asked Raven. "Look out!" warned Nightmare as a gun appeared from the ceiling aimed at them. "Oh boy," gulped Raven as she jumped out of the way. Nightmare grabbed her and rolled out of the way, and the gun fired but missed them. "Where is she?" asked Raven. "She could be anywhere," said Nightmare as the two slowly walked back-to-back, keeping their eyes on everything. "What are we going to do, boss?" "The only thing we can do." "Which is?" "Survive." Suddenly, Trickster appeared from the ceiling, firing her gun. The two ran, and Trickster's bullets hit the walls and floors. As Nightmare and Raven ran down the hallway, the bullets destroyed it. "Keep going," ordered Nightmare. "Got it," said Raven. Trickster stopped firing, as a giant metal wall started to close and crush the two heroes, if they didn't make it out As they ran, Nightmare could see the metal wall closing in and the distance between them and the end of the hallway was getting shorter. "Come on," she thought as she and Raven kept running, the wall coming down behind them. They reached the end of the hallway, and the wall slammed down, almost crushing them. "That was close." sighed Raven, panting. "No, this is." smiled Trickster as she pointed her gun at the two heroes and pulled the trigger, but nothing came out. "Oh no," she whispered, as she checked the gun and realized she was out of ammo. "Looks like you're out of ammo, trickster," smirked Nightmare. "Oh no, it's a good thing I have more." Trickster dropped her empty gun and pulled out a new one, loaded with bullets, and began to fire at them, forcing them to hide As they did, Nightmare suddenly got a call from Cindy as she answered it. "Yes?" "Sir, your little pony friend is causing trouble in the batmobile and placed it in lock down mode and the bat cannon is active Any reason she's in the car?" "I'll tell you later I'm a little busy right now Bye." "But wait!" Cindy cried as Nightmare hung up on her. On the screen, Dash was pressing random buttons, the car was shaking, and the headlights were going off and on. "Come on, why won't you work?!" whined Dash as she banged the steering wheel with her hoof. Cindy sighed as she placed her hand on her head. She didn't sign up for this, but she tilted her head as she heard a weak voice calling out to Dash Cindy. She turned around and could see the girl had awakened and was trying to get up. "What's...going...on?" asked Dashie weakly. "Stay still," said Cindy, walking over to her and helping her sit up. "Where...am I?" "You in the Batcave." "Batcave?" "The headquarters of my master." "Who's your master?" "Her name is Nightmare." Dashie soon heard Dash on the computer screen and asked what was happening. "It seemed the master had left her in the car while she was fighting her archenemy." "Who is this enemy?" "Trickster, she's dangerous woman Now lay back down and I'll get you some food, you been out for weeks." Dashie was about to do what she was told. Still, she suddenly heard Dash talk again about how she needed to get that shard that the crazy woman had and how maybe jumping into another universe could stop her from disappearing and make Dashie better. "Disappear?" Dashie thought, looking down at the screen and seeing Dash's lower half gone. That's when it hit her, as she remembered what Grape Jelly said to her about how the universe won't allow two of the same person in the same universe. "Oh no...Quick, I need to talk to this Nightmare person, Please!" "But you need to rest," argued Cindy. "This is more important." Cindy wanted to argue again but decided against it and called Nightmare. Nightmare and Raven were now fighting Trickster on the rooftop, and the fight was now getting intense as Nightmare threw a Batarang and cut Trickster's arm. "Ow!" she yelled, rubbing her wound. "I'm going to make you pay for that!" Trickster ran to Nightmare and kicked her, sending her flying backward and into the brick wall. Trickster laughed as Nightmare tried to get up and punched her, making her fall. Trickster picked her up and threw her to the ground. Nightmare tried to get back up, but Trickster punched her again, knocking her out. "Now, who's next?" asked Trickster, turning to Raven, who was hiding. Raven quickly fired her grapple hook at a nearby building and flew up as Trickster shot at her, and the bullet missed her. "Why won't you just die?!" screamed Trickster, as she aimed her gun again but was kicked in the leg as Nightmare wasn't out yet. "I'm not done." she groaned, punching Trickster and throwing her on the ground. "You're not the only one who's not done." smiled Trickster as she dropped her gun. She stood up, took out a knife, and ran at Nightmare. Nightmare tried to dodge the attack, but Trickster was able to get her and stab her in the shoulder. "Argh." moaned Nightmare as blood came from the wound. "Nightmare!" cried Raven as she jumped and fired a rope from her hand, tying Trickster's feet together. "What's this?" asked Trickster, cutting the rope and laughing as she ran at Raven and punched her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her and throwing her across the roof and onto the ground. "Not so strong now, huh?!" laughed Trickster as she kicked Nightmare and held her over the roof's ledge, showing the city below. "Well, I'll see you at the bottom." giggled Trickster, holding her tight as she was ready to drop her before something happened She noticed the Batcar was doing weird things "Hey bats, your car is acting up?" giggled Trickster until the car cannon slowly aimed up and right at them It fired and hit the floor under them, making them fall into the destroy room Trickster got up and limped away, while Nightmare took out a spray and blasted her wound with it, until Cindy voice could be heard through the mask radio system. "Nightmare, the girl has awaken." "Great, but I'm kind of busy right now Trickster got away, she's wounded, so she's heading towards the exit Alert the cops that are outside and have them be ready for her." "Understood, but she wants to talk to you Here." Cindy then told Dashie on the mic to tell Nightmare about the only one-person rule for the universe. "Listen, the universe is trying to eliminate Dash because we're the same person. Someone from the last universe told me this: It's why we switch with whoever is our counterpart in this universe. If we jump again, Dash is going to die. You need to keep the shards away from us. If we're close to it, we'll jum-" suddenly Dashie body started to feel hot and in great pain as she held her stomach Her skin was slowly turning blue "AHHHH!!!" screamed Dashie, as prism effects were beaming out of her before passing out again. "What's happening?" asked Nightmare "I don't know. The girl is glowing, and it looks like she's in pain," Cindy said. What do I do?" "Keep an eye on her until I return." "Okay." As Cindy ended the call, Trickster was leaving the building and could see the police surrounding the place. "Oh no." she thought, hiding behind a nearby dumpster as the police were looking for her She slowly pass her way through the cops and were in the alley way and realize she was in the same alley as the batty car She walked a corner and could see the car, as it blasted music and jumping up and down She couldn't stop laughing at the funny sight and walked over, with her knife at the ready but stopped as she knew "she" was behind her She turned her head and could see Nightmare and Raven the girl wonder as they landed behind her. "Give it up, Trickster," said Nightmare. "Yeah, you can't get away," added Raven. "Oh no, I'm so scared." Trickster charged at Nightmare and was about to slice her, but Nightmare quickly blocked her attacks and knocked the knife out of her hand, kicking her in the chest. Nightmare held her tight, as Trickster could not move, and placed a device on her face. It shocked her, but she laughed it off. "Nice buzzer bats!" Trickster headbutted Nightmare, kicked her off, and rolled away as Raven slammed her metal pole into the ground where Trickster was. She stood up and blocked Raven's pole with her arms, quickly grabbed Raven's weapon away from her, and smacked Raven in the head with it, tossing her to the ground and leaving her dazed. "Raven, get up," ordered Nightmare. "I'm trying." Nightmare and Trickster continued their fight, as Trickster was getting the upper hand since Nightmare was still hurt from the stabbing. As the two were fighting, Trickster got a quick shot at Nightmare and kicked her to the hood of the bat car and, using Raven's metal staff, started to choke her to death. In the car, Dash was seeing all this on the screen and was worried. "Come on, do something Don't let that lady kill her!" thought Dash as she looked around and press the button to call Cindy again. "Cindy, you still there?" "Yes, I am." "Good, listen, Nightmare is in trouble Trickster is choking her to death You need to open this thing or she's going to die!" cried Dash. Cindy turned on the car's roof camera and could see it was true. She quickly lifted the lockdown, opening everything, including the car's roof. This allowed Dash to fly out and up into the air and promptly back down as she swooped near Trickster, grabbing her and flying off back into the air. "Let me go!" yelled Trickster, kicking and hitting Dash. "If you say so," said Dash as she took the shard from Trickster's pocket and dropped it into a dumpster near a group of cops. "There she is." shouted a cop. "Get her." ordered another. "Ahh!" screamed Trickster, as the police grabbed her and took her away, as the other cops cheered and celebrated as they waved at Dash, thinking she was Superpony. Dash flew back down and landed next to the batcar and could see the two were tired and bloody Nightmare sat on the hood of the car. "Thanks," said Nightmare as she held her hurt shoulder, which was bleeding a bit. "No problem." said Dash, holding the shard she got and looking at her "Do you have the other shard?" Nightmare removed the shard from her belt, and both shards started to glow, but nothing else. "We need to head back and get out of this universe so Dashie can get better," said Dash as she flew to get the shard but suddenly felt dizzy and fell on the ground. Nightmare and Raven could see her body was starting to fade again. "What's happening?" asked Dash as she started flicking between Dashie's body and her own. "Your friend woke up and told me something, it seems both of you can't be in the same universe and it's trying to erase you Seems it's trying to do the same with your friend." explained Nightmare as she picked Dash up and placed her in the back seat of the batcar and then telling Raven to go in the batjet and return with it. "Is she okay?" Dash said weakly as Nightmare got in the car, placed the shards on the passenger seat, and started the car. "No." "Please...save her." Nightmare didn't drive off; instead, she removed her mask and turned her head to Dash, who smiled as if she had seen that face before in a past universe. "She also told me that you'll disappear for good if you two jump again. Maybe this is a passing attack, and you two might-" said Nightmare as she stopped as Dash raised her hoof. "Take me there. Let me save her. She's a good kid; she's me, after all." smiled Dash "You'll die." "Yeah. As long as she lives, that's what matters." "What about your family!?" said Nightmare as for once, her cold emotionless face was filled with sadness "Friends People who love you?" Dash looked up and, through the car window, could see the morning sun peeking through the night sky. "What about hers She's still young, she has more things to do and finding that girl she loves I lived a good life and I know the mare I'm looking for, will hate me for this but I'm not letting someone die for me Please, take me there." Nightmare looked away, thinking for a moment, and nodded as she drove off, heading for the cave. "Thank you." After some time, Nightmare and Dash made it back to the cave. Nightmare got out and saw Rav wearing her mask off, revealing her purple dragon skin and short green hair, and running up to her. "It's bad; she's getting worse." Nightmare went inside the Batcave and saw Cindy by the bat computer, with Dashie on the bed, coughing and sweating. "Her fever is high," said Cindy Nightmare looked at the shard in her hand, placed it on Dashie's bed, returned to the bat car, took Dash out, who was holding the other shard, and carried her to Dashie. That's when the reality around the cave started to break down as they got closer to Dashie and the other shard. "Put me down next to her," ordered Dash as her chest and wings started to vanish. Nightmare did what she was told, and the moment she was put down, both Dash and Dashie started to glow again, and the shards glowed and started to hover above them. Dashie opened her eyes and began to cry as she saw Dash and the shards floating. "Why..." whispered Dashie as tears fell down her face. "To save you." said teary eyed Dash, as she used the little energy she had to pet Dashie head The moment they touched, both shards fused and the cave was enveloped by the pillar of rainbow colors and the moment Nightmare and the others opened their eyes, the pillar and both girls were gone. "They're gone..." whispered Raven as she started to cry. "What happened?" Cindy asked as Nightmare walked past her, sitting in the chair and opening a folder on the bat computer. "Brice?" Cindy called out, but Nightmare ignored her and was working on something. Soon Cindy took Raven up the stairs and to her room to rest, while Nightmare working on her computer She was searching for something as she was going over records of comets and she found something There was a report of a passing Rainbow comet three weeks ago, the same time Flare disappeared She remembered Flare talking about getting a sample of a comet She scanned the solar system with the league's space station radar and trying to find the comet but it was no where to be found She sat back in her chair and look at the picture of the comet She felt on unease about something. "Where are you, Flare?? The feeling is that something bad is going to happen soon..." Dashie could see her memories flashing in her mind as she saw them being played out: meeting Faith when she was getting bullied, going to her first marathon and watching her mother running in it, doing her first run and releasing a sonic rainboom, getting her cutie mark, moving to Ponyville, meeting AJ, Rarity, and Pinkie, saving the world, taking down gangs and protecting her turf from them, protecting her beloved... "No...that's not right..." said Dashie as she grabbed her head in pain. "What's not right?" "Who's talking?" asked Dashie, looking around her but unable to see her memories. "Wait, this isn't right...this never happened." "Of course not." "Huh?" said Dashie "That was a different reality She's trying to change you two The real you." "I don't get it Who are you?" asked Dashie, and then a familiar voice rang out as the memories were replaced with the garden and the big tree from before Leaning on the tree, was the purple alicorn, as she looked up and waved at her. "Welcome back!" "You?" said Dashie in shock and awe as she blushed deeply "Me." smiled the alicorn. "Where am I? What's going on?" "Your home." "Home?" "Our home, Our reality." "That doesn't make sense My reality isn't here I need to get home Back to Equestria I need to find...her..." said Dashie. "That was her reality This is yours The real one." "This is mine?" "Yes." "Then why can't I remember this? Can't remember her? ...You?" "She's trying to erase her and make you into "her"." "Her. Who are you talking about?" "That pony that you think is you." "But I'm a pony I'm Rainbow B...." "No, you're not." "Yes, I am." The alicorn was quiet for a moment before turning her head to Dashie. She looked sad as the garden started to glitch out with static. "I'm sorry. She's taking over. She'll erase everything you are and make you into "her" if you allow her plan to work. You two need to remember her name. When you do, you'll return where it all started. Others are there; they're also trying to stop her, but they don't know it yet. You can stop her, too. Only "us" can stop it." "Wait!" cried Dashie as the glitching grew worst "How do we stop her!?" "Just remember her name." smiled the alicorn. The static took over, and she was gone. The garden was gone, and Dashie could feel herself falling into the prism light. As she fell, the light revealed three bodies: her human self and two pony bodies. Dashie opened her eyes and saw the bright blue sky above her and the white clouds. She slowly rose and saw that she was in a flower field. She was a bit confused, not remembering the last few minutes. "Where am I? How did I get here?" She sat up and held her blue hand before her face as the sun's rays hit her eyes. "Am I dreaming?" She took a moment to let it sink in as she could see airships in the sky Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice that spoke from the distance. "You!" She turned and could see two men wearing red and green knight armor as they arrived with their horses and pointed their swords at Dashie. "What did you do with the princess? You are a blue-skinned demon!" said the red knight. "Where's Lady Eirika!" shouted the green knight as he pointed his spear at her. "Woah, Woah Slow down I'm not a demon!" shouted Dashie. "Lies Only demons are blue and have different color hair!" yelled the red knight. Dashie stood up and could see a large group heading towards them, among the large group were wizards, healers, more knights, heavy armor knights, archers, and so on She saw a female child running up to her and then transforming into a large baby dark blue skin dragon. "Hi, What's your name!" "My name?" said Dashie as the two knights moved back as the dragon got closer to her "What are you?" asked the red knight as he looked at the weird get-up that Dashie was wearing "Your skin Are you a dragon too!?" said the dragon, as she sniffed and licked Dashie. "Oh You taste like a candy!" smiled the dragon. "Kuu, don't go licking strangers!" said a black mage wearing a purple robe and hat and long purple hair as she approached the group. "May we have your name?" Dashie pointed her thumb at herself and smiled. "Rainbow Rainbow Dashiell!" end of chapter 6 Chapter 7 "Rainbow Dashiell," smiled the black mage as she put her hand out for a handshake. "My name is Twila Sparkflow, a black mage in training." "Twila?" said Dashie, as she felt she had seen this girl before. The feeling she knew was creeping up in her mind, and she didn't like it. "I see you met the Divine Moon dragon, Kuu. Forgive her; she's a bit naive and hyperactive. A little weird with the licking," said Twila with a soft smile that made Dashie feel funny. "May I ask where you're from?" "Oh, umm," said Dashie, having trouble coming up with an answer and not knowing why, like she was lost in her beauty. I'm from...umm." "From where exactly?" "I'm from," but before she could finish, a weird black aura filled the area, making everyone look behind her. Dashie looked too and could see a burned man with an open wound on his stomach as he was casting a dark magical spell. "Ah! It's that monster again!" screamed Kuu. "He's alive!" shouted a female thief with a full-coverage mask and hood as she took out her daggers. "What's going on?" asked Dashie. "This cult leader transformed into a monster and teleported away with our leader. We were tracking them, then we saw the light and thought she won, but..." answered Twila as she took out a tome and was ready for a battle. "I will take back what was promised to me!" said the burned cult leader as the dark aura spread out more, creating a dark circle in front of him. "He's going to open a portal! Everyone, ready for battle!" said a female Pegasus knight as she prepared her sword, but Dashie noticed the knight was missing an arm. "Wait, that's not a portal!" realized Twila as she quickly used her tome to create a counter spell, but the cult leader was faster, made a giant ball of darkness, and started to suck in the group with great force. "Damn it! Everyone, grab hold of each other!" yelled the big red knight. "No! I can stop it!" said Twila as she grabbed her book bag and looked for something until she found it—a glowing purple horn. She tried to use it but couldn't right away, as the suction pulled her off the ground and pulled her into the orb. Everyone was screaming for Twila as she was flying away, but Dashie quickly dashed to her and grabbed her hand, and with all her might, she tried to pull her back. "Hold on!" "My lady! The horn!" shouted the one-armed Pegasus knight as she grabbed Dashie by her jacket collar and pulled them. But she, too, started to get sucked in. "Hold on!" yelled a small female axe fighter as she grabbed the light grayish heliotrope horsetail. She was soon joined by the big beefy red knight, the thief from before, a pink-haired white mage, a light green armor female knight, and finally, Kuu as she grabbed everyone and tried to fly away but couldn't. "No, Kuu! Everyone!" shouted the green male knight. He and the remaining group watched in horror as their friends vanished into the black void. As they were gone, the spell ended, and the burned man laughed as he turned to black dust. Dashie could hear screaming within the darkness as they all fell into the void, and she could feel a strong gust of air as it hit her face. It was so black that she couldn't see anything. Soon, the screams of the others vanished, and Dashie realized she was alone—or was she? She could see a purple light in the darkness and started to move towards it. As she got closer, she could see the outline of the black mage. She was chanting something, had the horn near her forehead, and was glowing. "Twila!?" Twila could hear a faint voice behind her and turned her head towards it to see Dashie, but only for them to headbutt each other. Both girls screamed in pain, and they could feel blood coming from their foreheads and falling on each other as they fell together in the darkness. "Ugh, my head," groaned Twila as she wiped her forehead and could see a bit of blood. "I'M SORRY, SORRY!" cried Dashie as she tried to wipe the blood with her sleeve, but everything went dark again as the purple light disappeared. Both noticed that the horn had dropped and vanished behind them. "The horn thingy!" "No!" cried Twila as the wind picked up once more. Soon, the darkness faded, and they could see an old, ruined kingdom within the void. They were going to spit on the brick streets below. Twila grabbed Dashie by her waist and started to scream. "Help us! Where are you, Eirika?" As they were going to make an impact, Dashie could feel something as she held Twila in her arms. She remembers something—a fading memory. A girl fell off a roof as Dashie tried to reach out to save her. She looked down at her and felt a sense of deja vu. "Not this time," whispered Dashie. She used her strength to turn herself around, and Dashie's back faced the ground. She could see the fear in Twila's eyes as the wind rushed against her face. She closed her eyes, grabbed Dashie's chest, and repeated, "I'm sorry." "It's okay..." "Huh?" "You'll be okay. I'll protect you. Just like I promised, Twil-," said Dashie as the bricks were getting closer. Dashie closed her eyes and waited for impact. "Huh? Wh—" said Twila, but her voice was cut off as they landed on the bricks. A rainbow explosion of light engulfed the smoke cloud, creating a crater. Soon, the smoke faded, and there were blue feathers around the girls as they lay in the crater. Twila looked around and could see Dashie was hurt and unconscious as she was bleeding. "We...landed?" said Twila, a bit shocked that they had landed and were alive. "Thank you. I'm not sure how that happened, but thank you." But Dashie didn't respond and breathed heavily, as her breathing became more labored. "No, you're going to be fine. It's not that bad. Please don't die!" cried Twila as tears fell, and she tried her best to stop the bleeding with her cloak. She took a deep breath and placed her head on her chest. "Eirika! What will Eirika do?" That was the last thing that Dashie heard as she closed her eyes, as her blurry vision could see a white moon getting closer to them. Dashie slowly opened her eyes, and she could see a white ceiling above her and hear someone talking nearby. She blinked a few times, could listen to the voices a bit clearer, and could see two women sitting in a nearby chair. She slowly raised her body and could see it was her mother and a girl—the same girl she had seen before, but like always, her face was covered in prism colors. She tried to sit up but could feel the pain and fell back down. "Honey! Stay down!" said her mother as she could feel her mom's hands on her shoulders. "What...happened?" asked Dashie as she touched her bandage head. "You've been out for days. We were worried that you had brain damage or something, but thankfully, that wasn't the case. You were hurt badly." "Oh, right," said Dashie, as her memory was a bit foggy. The last thing she remembered was saving someone—this girl? "How are you feeling, honey?" "Fine, mom. My head hurts, but I'm fine." "Good," said her mother. "Do you remember the fall?" "I was in an accident." "Yes. The doctors said it was a miracle that you were only hurt and not dead." "Wait, where's the girl I was with?" "What?" "There was a black-haired girl with me. She was bleeding." The girl quickly went to her side, crying, and placed her face on Dashie's shoulder. "I'm fine!" said the girl. "Who..." whispered Dashie as her head started to hurt and flashes of her memory filled her mind. She was on the roof of the house, helping her dad fix it. The girl came over and went up to Dashie's room, where she spoke about something. "Anyone thirsty? I can get some drinks," said her dad, putting down his tool and turning to the girls. "What about you?" "Oh, I'm fine, sir," said the girl as she waved her hand and was sitting on Dashie's bed as Dashie was cleaning her window from the work they were doing. "What about you, kiddo?" "Hmm, just water, dad." "Alright, be right back." As her dad descended the ladder and entered the house, Dashie felt her hands touching the wet rag and had a weird sensation. She looked at her hands and saw them changing into blue fur. "W-What's happening?" Dashie said as her hands turned back into flesh. "Are you okay, Dashie?" asked the girl, as she noticed something was up. "Yeah, it's nothing," said Dashie as she returned to cleaning the area around the window. "Dashie, do you need help with the cleaning out there?" the girl asked as she poked her head out of the window. "No, no, it's okay." "Come on, Dashie. It's not a big deal." "I know, but you're my guest. I'll do it. Just relax and enjoy this hard-working girl in her element!" replied Dashie as she flexed her muscles. "Pfft, sure." "Seriously, I'll clean it. You go and relax or something." "I'm helping!" said the girl as she stepped onto the roof through the window, moved next to Dashie, and could see the sun blasting the roof. "Okay, just be careful. We'll clean it together then." "Sure," smiled the girl. As the sun's rays hit the girl's face, Dashie could see the girl's skin was purple for a few seconds before returning to normal. "Are you okay?" asked Dashie. "Yeah, why do you ask?" "It's nothing." Dashie could see the sun getting hotter as she felt her body sweating more. She was about to take her hat off when she noticed the girl was about to step on the nail. "Wait! There's a." "Ahh!" "Look out!" The girl could move back but stepped on a wet rag and fell. Everything went slow for Dashie, as she could see the girl was about to fall off the roof. She tried her best to grab her arm but couldn't. Dashie acted on her feet, jumped off, and quickly grabbed her. Dashie spun her body around. She would use her own body to break the fall for the girl. The girl closed her eyes and could feel Dashie's arms around her. Dashie was scared and didn't know what to expect, but she felt the sun's warmth as it covered them, and she could feel the hot driveway on her back and nothingness. "Dashie!" "Huh?" Dashie said as she was brought back to reality and was confused by what had just happened. "Are you okay?" "I'm fine. Wait," said Dashie as she tried to get up but could feel a sharp pain, and her head felt like it was spinning. Everything started to glitch out, and suddenly, things were different. She was still in bed, but her skin was blue again, and everyone in the room was gone. "Hi, Rainbow Dash!" Dashie looked to the door and saw the girl from before, but her skin was purple, and she was holding a board game. "Uhhh." "I brought your favorite board game! I know how much you like to win." "Win...board games?" said Dashie. "Who are you?" "It's me, static." "What was that?" said Dashie, who couldn't hear the name. "It's me, static." "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you." "It's me, static." "What? Who are you?" asked Dashie as her head was screaming with pain, but she couldn't hear the name again. "It's me!" static got loud. "AH!" yelled Dashie as she held her head in pain and could feel the pain going away as she felt a hand on her leg. She looked down and saw her crying, as she looked hurt. "Dashie, why can't you remember who I am?" the girl asked, tears falling from her prism-covered face. "I'm sorry," said Dashie, her voice cracking and tears falling down her face. Her heart was breaking. This girl was her world, her everything, but she couldn't remember anything. "It's me -faint static-." "Please tell me. Who are you? I'm trying. I'm trying to remember you. Tell me." "It's me, T." Everything glitched out, and Dashie was back in the garden. "Who's after you? What does she want from you?" cried the purple alicorn as she held Dashie, who was bleeding from chest wounds, close to her chest. "What?" "What is the name of the pony that did this to you?" "I-." "Please...tell me! Why do you keep things to yourself?" "I'm not-." "Why can't you tell me, Rainbow?" "I don't...know..." said Dashie as she found herself back on the rooftop, looking at the setting sun as if it was in the middle of five rainboom halos. The town she lived in was on fire; everything was burning as far as the eye could see. "What is happening?" "Dashie." Dashie could hear a different voice, but her body didn't want to move; she just kept watching the sunset. "Remember her. Remember her. Please...please." "Her..." "Dashie, please." "I'm trying..." "We're running out of time. Everything's going to run out of time." "Running out of time?" "Time...you're running out of time. Dashie. I'm begging you. We promised her. Please." "Who are you?" asked Dashie, as she felt the tears fall down her face. "You know who I am." Tears kept falling as she watched the sun increase in size and engulf the whole world in endless flames. Dashie could feel something warm on her body. She opened her eyes and saw Kuu in her dragon form, as she was on top of her with her tongue out. Both girls stared at each other until Kuu did a big lick on her face, leaving it all wet. "Ku-kuu!" "Ew," said Dashie, wiping her face. She could see she was next to a campfire, and sitting not too far away from them was Twila. She laughed at the funny sight as she watched Kuu try to lick her again. Dashie was happy that Twila was safe, but her memories were a bit foggy; the last thing she could remember was that they landed on the brick ground. "Hey, how am I not dead?" said Dashie. "To be honest, I have no idea how we survived the fall, but you were badly hurt. Lucky for us, Kuu was behind us and healed you," Twila explained as she petted Kuu. "Thanks for saving me, but my next question is, Where are we?" "We're still in the Fallen City of the Void." "What?" "A city that fell to the demon dragon in the first war. A curse was placed on it—to drag anyone into it and never get out." "O-Oh," whispered Dashie, with little clue as to what she was talking about. "So, there's no way of escaping this place?" "There was, but I lost the Horn of Spark Magic." "Oh, that purple horn... that I made you drop when I bumped into you. Sorry about that!" blushed Dashie as she bowed. And repeated sorry to her. "It's not your fault. It's mine. I should've paid more attention." "No, it was my fault." "No, it's not. I'm the one who is responsible for everything." The two kept saying it was their fault, which made Kuu raspberry their pointless back-and-forth argument. "Kuu wanna keep licking candy girl!" happily shouted Kuu as she tried to lick Dashie again, but she wasn't quick enough, and Dash was able to avoid her. "Kuu! Stop it!" yelled Twila as she bopped Kuu with her staff. "Sorry about her. She's not like this when Eirika is around." "Eirika tastes like cotton candy!" cheered Kuu as she returned to her human form and ran around the two. That name again; who is that?" "Princess Eirika is the future Queen of Equestria. She's the commander of our small group. By the way, have you seen her? She headed to that area where we found you and that cult leader, who we fought a few times before," asked the mage as she sat down and put Kuu on her lap. "...she's missing? Hey, does she have rainbow hair like mine?" "No, just normal blue hair, but her Pegasus has a colorful mane. Now I look at you better; you look like Aero." "Aero?" "Her horse." "...I see. Hey, this is going to be weird, but let me explain why I'm here," said Dashie as she started to tell her story. After the long talk, Dashie waited for Twila and Kuu's reactions as she sat there, worried. "I see you are from another world! So the different world's theory was real! Amazing!" smiled Twila as she got up, her hands on her shoulders. "Tell me! Is there magic in your world?" "Are there more candy-looking people?" chimed Kuu, who was in her human form, as she started to drool, making Dashie worry a bit. "Magic, well, not really... I think so, but we have a lot of technology and candy-looking people. Uh, not really, but there are many weird and interesting-looking people. My world is very different from yours." "Wow, a world with this "technology," what would that look like? Oh, how can I get to your world?" asked Twila, as she started to shake her. "Uhh." "I want to visit the candy people!" "Uhh." "Kuu, calm down. We have to help Dashie first, then we can explore her world." "That's not how it works, sadly. When I found the shard, I was only teleported away, but at least Eirika would return to this world." "That's true. That means she'll be stuck in your world if we don't find this rainbow shard. I'm not sure what will happen to her." "That's right," said Dashie. "But if you can help me, I'll try my best to help you back. If we survived our fall, the others must have. I'll help you find them." "Sounds like a deal. Come on, Kuu," said Twila as she held out her hand and grabbed Dashie's hand. "We can also search for the horn and escape this place." "Okay, let's do this." The trio walked away from the camp and entered the dark, dead city. The night sky was pitch black, and there were no stars or a moon. The three kept their guards up as they entered a dark alleyway. "This alleyway is too narrow," said Twila, as she noticed how small the alley was. "Do you want to walk through?" asked Dashie. "No, let's keep going." They went forward and could see the dead end. "A dead end," sighed Dashie. "Not really. This looks like a door," said Twila as she inspected a brick wall. "It looks like it's been sealed off by magic." "What's this?" asked Dashie, as she could see some symbols on the door. "These are ancient symbols, it says. The path will only open if a curse reveals their markings and accepts another marking to their flesh." "Cursed?" "It's not a surprise a doorway has this. After all, it is the fallen city of the void. Anything can happen in the darkness that the demon dragon cast." "Right, so what does that mean for us?" "It's asking for the cursed one. I have a solution to this." "How?" "You'll see," said Twila as she started removing her robe. "Wait, what are you doing?" panicked Dashie, as her face was red from seeing Twila take off her clothes. Then she saw a white bra with a blue and yellow ribbon around the neck and matching white pants. She was stunned by the sight of her; she could see Twila was more fit than she believed and had a bit "more" down "there. But she noticed markings around her body. "I'm the key," said Twila as she showed her markings. "Uhh, why? And why are you undressing yourself?" "Because the answer is my curse, silly. The symbols of the cursed one are these runes, and they can only be held by the cursed ones like myself," Twila explained. "Okay, but why are you stripping yourself?" "You don't know. You're not from this world. A curse is like a living disease, as it can be spread through physical contact and by touching another curse item. I need to feel the brick wall and take the curse for myself. "Ahhh! That means we won't be cursed, as the curse will see your body and only target you." "That's correct." "Wait, why are you cursed?" Dashie asked. Kuu went behind her back when she noticed something moving under Dashie's jacket. "Let's just say I did something I shouldn't have, and now I'm paying for it. I'm a bad person and deserve this." "What was it?" "I don't want to talk about it." "But." "It's fine. Here, take this," said Twila as she handed her clothes, bag, and staff. Soon, her underwear "Wait," shuttered Dashie as she turned around and beaming red. "Hmm?" "Are you okay with being like this?" Dashie asked as she started to feel something inside. "Yes." "I see. Just making sure." "Let's go," said Twila as she approached the door. She placed her hand on the brick wall, making it glow black, as the runes slowly crept up her hand and onto her body, leaving a new set on her back. The path was opened now, and she turned to Dashie for her stuff back. "Come, let's keep going." The three walked through the brick door, which revealed a small pathway. The brick walls were tall and close together, making it impossible to see what was up above. They reached the end of the path, revealing a dark, pitch-black hallway. The three entered it and walked further in until a few torches came to life. "Woah." The trio noticed the hallway wasn't that long, but there was something weird about it. They kept walking forward and could see a room up ahead. The room looked old and empty. Once they reached the room, it was a big, circular room. There was nothing but the floor, as the walls had nothing on them. "We're in a room?" "That's strange. There should be a door, but I can't see any doors or windows," said Twila, as she could see the wall had nothing but brick, and even the ceiling had nothing but the same bricks. "Dead end?" "Hmm, maybe not. Let's go around." The three walked further in, hoping to find a way out. Dashie walked around the room, looking up and down, searching for a way out, while Twila used her magic to try and detect a way out. Kuu skipped in front of her. "Nothing here," said Dashie. "Hmm...let's see. There has to be something here," said Twila as she stopped looking around the room. "Is there?" "Let's take a rest. My mana is a bit low," said Twila, leaning against the wall as she sat down. "Good idea," said Dashie as she sat beside her. Kuu started to play with herself as she hopped around the place. "So, do you have any family and friends back home?" asked Twila as she took a mana potion from her bag. "Well, I do have a family. It's just parents, though; there are no sisters and brothers," said Dashie. "You're an only child?" "Yep, just me and my folks. And friends, well, I do have a group of great friends...and there's one person, but..." said Dashie, as the memories were still foggy, and she knew something was missing. "Someone important to you?" "I believe so. She's my everything." "Sounds like you love her," smiled Twila. "I'm pretty sure I do... I can't just remember her name or who she is..." "You don't remember her name or who she is?" "Yeah...it's sad. It sometimes breaks my heart, you know? I have these memories of her and what we did, but I don't remember those events. Sometimes, I can feel her presence, like she's right here with me." said Dashie as she turned to Twila and looked deep into her eyes. "Other times, it feels like she's miles away, and I can't reach her. It's frustrating." "I can see that..." frowned Twila as she could see how much she was suffering "It's like...we had something between us, but now, it's all gone. Everything just faded away," said Dashie as a tear came down her cheek. "Hey, it's going to be okay. You're going to find her, I promise," said Twila, giving Dashie a small smile while she wiped the tears from her face. "Thanks," said Dashie as she smiled back. "It's going to be fine. You'll remember everything one day." "You think so?" "I know so," said Twila, gently grabbing Dashie's hand and holding it. "Now, let's get out of here." The two stood up, letting go of each other's hands, but Dashie didn't want to let go for some reason. She looked at Twila and felt something as she looked at her. She remembers these feelings when meeting other girls with the same hairstyle. Why was that? She wanted to know, but she was confused. "Hey, Twila, there's something hidden on the floor." pointed Kuu as she kicked a brick and could see something under it. "Let's take a look," said Twila as she and Dashie moved the bricks and found a large hole with a grill cover, almost the size of Kuu in her dragon form. "Is that a hole?" asked Dashie as Twila pulled the grill off, took out a stick from her bag, and threw it down. "Let's see." "It's deep." "It's really deep. It must lead to a room below us," said Twila as she pulled out a glowing stone and tossed it down. "Let's see." The light slowly faded away, and they could hardly see anything below. "Looks like a room indeed," said Twila. "Should we check it out?" "Yes. Kuu, can you carry us down there?" "Okay!" said Kuu as she shifted into her dragon form. Dashie took notice of the Dragon. The Dragon was the size of a large bear but looked almost like a horse. Her scales were dark blue. She had one long horn that curled upward from her forehead, and her tail was thick and long. She was a magnificent dragon. "Ready!" smiled Kuu as she lowered herself to the ground, allowing the girls to get on. As they got on, Kuu jumped down the hole and slowly flapped down, using her horn to light up the hole. The three slowly descended, and the deeper they got, the bigger the hole got until they reached the bottom. "We're here," said Kuu as she lowered herself. "Wow," said Dashie as the three got off. She looked at Kuu and fully realized there was a dragon in front of her. "You're amazing, Kuu." "Ehehe. Thanks," smiled Kuu as she returned to her human form. "What is this place?" asked Twila as the three looked around. "A library?" asked Dashie. The three quickly looked around the place and saw it was a library with many books and papers lying around. They could see shelves lined up against the walls or fallen, dozens of books everywhere about. There were also tables scattered throughout the room and several desks placed on the door like they were used to keep something from coming in. The walls were stone, and the floors were covered with wooden planks. There was no light source other than the light coming from the Kuu horn. This place was giving off an eerie feeling. "It seems this was a secret chamber or someone's study," said Twila. "Why are the books all over the place?" "They might've been thrown around during a fight," Twila explained as she picked a random book and noticed claw markings. It looks like something attacked in here. It might explain the desks that are blocking the door. It looks like they chased it outside before blocking the doorway." "Who will be so mean and hurt all these books!?" cried Kuu "Maybe a beast? Or a demon. But that's just a guess. Honestly, now I think about it, why haven't we seen any monsters? I heard the Fallen City had monsters before being sealed away in the void." "That's a good question," said Dashie. The group was still on edge, and the atmosphere was getting worse. Kuu ran up to the block-off door and could see the outside through a tiny broken hole. She looked around and saw a large courtyard. "It looks safe outside. Nothing out there," said Kuu. "Good," said Twila. "Come on, let's leave this place. I have a bad feeling about this place. We better get going." "Okay." The three approached the door, pushed the desks out of the way, and stepped outside, inhaling fresh air. "Much better." Suddenly, they all heard something as they looked around. They were still standing in the courtyard, surrounded by crumbling buildings and a starless sky. The wind blew and whistled, making the atmosphere more eerie. The sound came from behind the group, who were slowly looking around and saw a giant monster hanging on the tower wall. "Shit! Monster!" said Dashie. "Get ready, everyone. Stay close and be careful," said Twila as the three prepared themselves. "It's coming!" said Kuu as the enormous creature jumped from the tower and landed on the ground with a loud thud. It looked like a giant lizard but had many arms, each armed with sharp claws. Its face had many mouths and eyes, with a long tongue hanging out of one of the mouths. It roared, and the three could feel the vibrations in their chests. "It's a mutated creature!" "A what?" "It's a mutated creature. Something that has mutated over the years has now turned into something else. They are very dangerous since they're created through the curse that is in the city. It is very likely to be a demon or a fiend." "It's a fiend. I can tell," said Kuu, as she could identify the monster. The fiend got up from the ground and ran towards the group. "Let's deal with it. Dashie, stay behind me and be ready to move." "Understood." The fiend charged at the group, but smoke bombs quickly intercepted it. The girls looked where the bombs came from, and they could see a flying Pegasus and its rider, along with two others. The one who threw the bombs jumped from the flying horse, landed on the monster's back, and stabbed it with her daggers. She wore a black hood, and her cloak flapped behind her as she slashed at the creature. The monster roared in pain and tried to get the girl off, but it was too late as the Pegasus swooped down, allowing the thief to grab on and escape. The horse flew towards Dashie and the others and landed. The group could see the thief and knight arguing with each other as the thief and white mage jumped off the horse. "What the hell is your problem, Vaida?! You were supposed to wait until I gave the signal!" yelled the knight. "You're too slow, Isadora. They needed help," replied Vaida as she faced Isadora. "I'll show you," said Vaida, pointing her blade at her. "Oh yeah? Bring it one arm, knight!" "Girls, please stop. We are in the middle of a fight." said the white mage as she got between the two "I'm sorry, Flora. We will settle this later, you dishonorable thief! Twila, are you and Kuu alright?" "Yes, we're fine," said Twila as she and the others prepared for the coming fight. "Let's finish it then." The monster stood up and shook off the blood from its wounds. It roared and ran towards the group. It was faster than expected, but the knight ordered her Pegasus to jump into the air and block its attack with its body. The Pegasus pushed the monster back and away from the others, allowing the thief to sneak behind it and stab its legs. It howled and fell to the ground, unable to stand. The Pegasus jumped back, and the knight charged at the creature, stabbing it in the face with her sword. "We almost have it! Everyone attack!" ordered Isadora as she pulled out the blade from the monster's bleeding face. The others joined her and attacked the fiend. Kuu charged up her mana and unleashed a powerful black lightning strike, followed by a barrage of fireballs from Twila. The monster was engulfed in flames and electricity, causing it to cry in pain and anger. It tried to swat them away, but its attacks were easily dodged. The two girls kept their distance as they continued their assault. Dashie wanted to help, but she was no fighter and had no weapon to use; she could only watch with the white mage, as she was staying behind but ready to use healing magic if someone got hurt. The battle raged on, but the fiend was growing weak. It was on its last leg, and it could barely stand. Isadora, Vaida, and Kuu charged at the fiend while Twila took out her tome, and dark green energy appeared around her. She unleashed a powerful blast of magical wind energy and struck the monster head-on. The air explosion sent the three girls flying back, but they were fine as they watched the head of the monster slide off its neck and onto the ground, dead on the spot. The white mage was healing Kuu and the others while Twila checked up on Dashie. "Wow! That was so cool!" said Dashie. "Thanks. How are you doing?" asked Twila. "Fine, just I could have done something," admitted Dashie as she watched the group check on the monster and confirm it was dead. "Don't worry, not everyone is a fighter. Not a lot of people are, and that's fine." "I know, but... it's just that I don't like being useless." "You're not useless. You're a person who is helping us. Everyone has their roles, and everyone has their place. You have your place, and that's helping me find the others and the horn." smiled Twila as she gently took hold of Dashie's hand, which caused Dashie's heart to beat faster. "Twila!" said the knight as she and the other returned to the group. "Are you okay? We feared the worst, as you didn't unleash the magical disable spell from the Horn of Spark. You had us worried sick." "Sorry, but I lost the horn mid-flight, but Dashie here saved me. We were searching for it with her help," explained Twila, who explained Dashie's story and how she got here. "Is that true?" "Yeah," said Dashie nervously. "Well then, my apologies." "We thought you were a blue-skinned demon, but saving and helping Twila, who is a stranger to you as you came from another world, With such great loyalty and kindness, you are no demon. Forgive us for judging you by your skin. Could you keep joining us in finding the horn if you could?" "Sure," said Dashie. "Very well," smiled Isadora. "I don't know; I still don't trust her. It was still odd that she was there while Eirika was nowhere to be seen, and that cult asshole was still alive." Vaida said it in the most cold tone as she crossed her arms. "Vaida, I'm sure she's a fine person. You can trust her, can't you?" Flora softly said. "We can't trust her fully until we get to know her better. We can't take any risks, not now. We're nearly ending the demon dragon's life and saving the land. I will not let anything or anyone stop us," said Vaida, as her tone changed into a serious one. She looked very menacing and intimidating, making Flora shrug back in fear as she pulled down her white hood. "Vaida!" shouted Isadora as she was finally done with her shit, but her horse stepped between the two. "Starlight? What is it?" "Something's not right," said the white mage, Flora, as she looked around. "We should go. I don't want to fight anymore." "She's right," said the knight, as she could hear a soft sound. "Starlight, go search for the others." The horse nodded, opened her wings, took off into the sky, and flew randomly. "What's going on?" asked Dashie. She joined them as they hurried out of the courtyard and into the connected building. "Dashie, can't you hear something?" asked Twila. "Not really. Why?" "There's something wrong," said Kuu, as her ears twitched and she looked around. Her eyes were glowing dark blue. "It's faint, but I can hear growling. They're coming." "What's coming?" "Monsters," said Vaida as she took point, and Ninja ran. They must've sensed the fiend's death and are now coming after us." "That's not good. How many of them?" asked Dashie The group soon found themselves on an open, windowless hallway bridge; they all stopped as they saw it. Outside nearby buildings was almost a sea of monsters, as their red eyes glowed with evil. They were all types of monsters. Zombies, skeletons, ghouls, goblins, orcs, ogres, wolves, lizards, and other unidentified monsters. It was an army—a horde, one can say. They were crawling and moving towards the group as the building started to shake from the number of monsters beginning to fill up. "Does that answer your question, Blue?" "This isn't good," said Dashie, as they all could see the monsters were coming. "We need to leave, fast," said the white mage. "We'll have to make a run for it. Dashie, Twila, and Flora follow me. Vaida and Kuu, take the rear and hold off the horde," ordered Isadora. "Understood," said Vaida as she was about to turn her back but stopped and hesitated. "Be careful, everyone. Don't die; I don't want a repeat." "We won't, Vaida. Same to you, my dishonorable friend. See you soon," smiled Isadora. "Yeah, whatever, miss One arm. Come on, Dragon," VDragonaid said as they took up their position and waited for the horde to approach their building. "Come on, girls. Stay close," said Isadora as they quickly made a break for it. "Why did we leave them alone!" yelled Dashie, who was easily keeping up with the group. "Kuu is a divined dragon; she can hold her own in a battle like that, and Vaida is very skilled in horde battles. She won't be killed easily. They'll catch up later after we find a safe spot." explained Twila Dashie was following the three. She looked back and saw Kuu shooting her breath attacks from the top of the building, holding off the horde. As they were running, a group of creatures tried to cut them off, but Isadora was able to deal with them before they could stop them. However, the monsters were not letting up and were now starting to catch up with them. "They're getting closer. What are we going to do?" asked Flora, hearing the growls and screams of the monsters, who were now running down the hallway toward the group. "Don't worry. We have this handled," said Isadora as the four reached a door. The knight opened the door and allowed the three to go in first, then shut the door. The group found themselves in a large room with several pillars and a huge hole in the floor. "Isadora, where are we?" asked Dashie. "Some kind of warehouse, I think," answered the knight as she looked around. "There's a door on the other side of the room. Let's go." The group made their way across the room but was soon stopped as a giant armor hand emerged from the hole. It pulled itself up and stood; there was a large knight as smoke came out of its armor's cracks. "What the hell is that?" screamed Dashie. "An undead titan knight," replied Isadora. "A what?" "It's an undead monster created by the curse." "How do we kill it?" "It's not strong, but it's big and armored," said the knight. "I can take care of it," said Flora, as her hands started to glow white. "What are you going to do?" asked Dashie as she could sense a white aura around Flora. "I'm going to make it weak." The knight nodded and ordered the others to back up as Flora stood her ground and raised her hands. A magic circle appeared below the titan as it started to glow. "Let's hope this works," said Flora as the light was getting brighter. "What's going on?" asked Dashie, as the room was becoming blinded by light. "Her magic is draining its strength." The knight's words were soon proven right as the light faded, weakening the titan knight. Its body was now fragile and had a hard time standing, and it soon fell backward and crashed onto the ground as the shock wave caused the building to shake. "It's all yours, Isadora," said Flora as she lowered her hands. "With pleasure. Stay here; I'll be back," said the knight as she raised her sword. The knight ran towards the titan as the others stayed back. She jumped into the air and landed on the titan's chest. With a single blow, the armor shattered, and the body was revealed. It was a skeleton wearing a full-body suit of black armor rather than an undead zombie. The knight was about to finish it, but the skeleton had other ideas and pushed the knight off it and threw her across the room. The knight's body crashed into a pillar and fell to the ground. "Isadora!" shouted Twila as she rushed over to the knight. "I'm okay. I can still fight," said the knight as she struggled to stand up. "No, you're hurt. I'll deal with this," said Twila as she stood in front of her friend and raised her staff up in the air. A green energy circle appeared. "Be careful, Twila. It's a skeleton, which means it can't be cut by wind magic," warned Isadora. "Yes. I know. Dashie and Flora, come over here." "Coming," said Dashie and Flora as the two were about to join Twila. The skeleton was walking towards the group, but it was stopped as it stared at the sealed door that others came from. Everyone notices something. There was no sound—no monsters scratching at the door or even the noises of the horde. Complete quiet...until a musical harp note was heard behind the door. With a flash, the door was cut down, and slowly walking into the room was a caped light green knight; her long hair came out of her helmet, and the horn on it glowed with great green magic. A sword floated behind her and stopped as it was in front of the knight. "Who the hell is that?" asked Dashie. "She survived!" cheered everyone The knight's eyes glowed a dark green under the face mask as her sword was raised. Within seconds, it dashed at the monster, and with each blow, a musical harp note played. It sliced the monster's body, arms, and legs and finally pierced its head, causing the skull to explode. The sword stopped in front of her, and she turned her attention to the group and started to walk towards them. "Who is she?" "Her name is Sir Lyra, the Harp-String Wind Knight," explained Isadora in the most honorable voice as she bowed to the passing knight, who walked over to a fallen weapon shelf and sat down in the unique way she found comfy. She opened her face, masked, and smiled at everyone. "What's up?" Lyra said it in the most chill and carefree tone. "And the most unique knight in our group..." softly explained Isadora as she looked over to the weirdly sitting knight and sighed. "Nice to see you, Lyra. You have a habit of making a dramatic entrance," said Flora as she walked to her teammate. "Sorry. It was getting annoying to hear those things on the other side. So, how's everyone doing?" asked Lyra "We're fine. I just had some problems," said Dashie, now feeling comfortable with these people. "What's up, new girl? Guess you can be trusted if you're with the others," smiled Lyra as she looked over to the knight. "Hey, Starry, what's the sitch?" "We're escaping the horde, as you can see, and don't call me that," sighed the knight. "Cool, cool. I'll help out." Lyra summoned her sword and tossed it out of the building. Soon, the group could hear dying screams in the distance, and just as quickly, the blade returned and was deeply covered in blood and guts. "Okay, problem solved," smiled Lyra. "You just killed all of the hordes?" asked Dashie. "Nah, I doubt it. Those things are tough to kill. I just took care of the ones that were near the building. The rest will come, but I think they'll get the idea to stay away for a while. Okay, let's do whatever you guys were doing!" said Lyra as she got up and clapped her hands. "Right. We were running from the horde, but since that's not a problem right now, we better head back where we came from and meet up with Kuu and Vaida," Twila said, as the others agreed. The group returned the way they came and headed back to the bridge. Soon, they could see the two as they were with Starlight, who had returned. Starlight took notice of the coming group and flew towards them. She landed next to her rider and started pushing her face all over Isadora's. "Easy, girl. Easy. I'm fine. Everything is okay," chuckled the knight. "It's good to see you too, Isadora," Kuu said as she flew towards them, and she smiled before licking the knight's face. "We're all glad you're all safe, one arm," smiled Vaida as she landed near them and noticed Lyra. "I knew it was you. Who else could use a magical sword like that?" Lyra and Vaida gave each other a high-five and then did a fist bump. "So, I'm guessing you were with the others?" asked Vaida. "Nope! I landed by myself. I was sitting on a bench waiting for anyone to show up until I heard the horde and followed a group chasing something. That was how I found Twila and the others," explained Lyra. "I see. Glad to see you safe and well, at least." "Same. So, guessing the sibling duos are still missing?" asked Lyra. "Yup," said Vaida. "You didn't see them, Starlight?" asked Isadora as she hopped on her horse, who shook her. "Then we better find. Come, let's go." As they were all about to leave, Lyra said to stop, as she was looking at Dashie with an odd look. "So, did you always have a rainbow tail?" asked Lyra. "Uh...what?" asked Dashie as she looked behind and could see a rainbow tail coming out above her butt area. She was confused by this as her flashes of memories filled her eyes before she turned back to the group with a smile. "Well, yeah, I always had a tail." "Interesting," said Lyra, now wondering what happened to this human. "Are you okay, Dashie?" asked Twila. "Yup, never better. Now let's go find the others and get out of this place." smiled Dashie as she ran past everyone with surprised speed, almost like she was the wind as she ran off. "She seems odd. She acted like nothing was wrong when she had a tail now—not a bad tail, mind you. It's just strange she has one now or that she's not questioning her speed," said Lyra. "Yeah, hey Twila, how did she save you again?" asked Flora. "Uhhh, she took the impact from the fall for me, but it was weird. I didn't see or feel any magic. I remember seeing blue feathers, though. She was also hot; I mean, her clothes!" panicky corrected Twila as she went red in the face, but the others didn't notice it. "That doesn't make sense. She wasn't using magic or had a transformation item on her like Kuu has," said Lyra to herself, but it was quickly explained where Dashie came from. "I see, but it still doesn't make sense about her body." "Lyra, we need to go. If you want to talk about her later, that's fine, but for now, we need to find the others and leave," said Isadora. "Okie dokie!" happily said Lyra as she hurried past the group and chased after Dashie at the same speed as she ran off. "Why am I surrounded by weird, colorful people?" sighed Isadora as she ordered Starlight to give chase, and everyone followed. The group was now running, or in this case, flying, trying to catch up with the blue human girl. Kuu was carrying Twila and Flora on her back, while Isadora and her horse were flying not too far from them. Vaida was in the back, running on the wall until they finally exited the building and were in the open streets, allowing Vaida to start running on the rooftops. Lyra was almost near Dashie as she called out to her. "Hey, Blue. You can run fast," smiled Lyra. "Yeah." "I'm faster," said Lyra as she was beside her, her armor glowing green with wind magic. "Oh yeah?" asked Dashie with a competitive smile. "Yeah," smiled Lyra, as she suddenly started to run faster and left Dashie behind, laughing. "Hey, get back here," laughed Dashie as she gave a big jump and ran at great speed to catch up. She was leaving behind a rainbow trail. "I guess there's a few people like that. Even in other worlds," chuckled Isadora. The group soon made it to the center of the city, where they saw the two siblings lying low in the city square building and quickly noticed Lyra and the blue-skinned girl running laps around the square. "Lyra, is that you?" shouted the axe fighter, as she was wearing a checker pattern shirt with a small red scarf and blue shorts with boots. "Hey, buddy. Long time no see," waved Lyra as she stopped before the small woman and her big brother. "What's going on? Why are you running around here?" asked the red knight as he limped out of the building. "Just racing with Blue here," smiled Lyra as Dashie stopped beside her. "And winning!" laughed Dashie. "Yeah, right. You wish," chuckled Lyra. Both siblings stared at each other, confused. Soon enough, the rest of the group arrived and explained everything. Flora sat the red knight down as she started to heal his broken leg. "AJ and Big Matthew, how did you survive the fall?" asked Twila, as she could see how badly hurt Matt was. "It was pure luck, Twila," explained AJ. "When we were falling, Big Matt grabbed me and saw a giant pool of water in a building, and we landed there. Matt broke his leg when he broke the water's surface. "If it weren't for that, we would have been flat pancakes, I tell you what." "You're lucky that you survived, sir Matthew," sighed Isadora. If we lost you or your sister, your father, Johnny Appleseed, would have had my head. I promised him that I'd make sure you two returned to him alive and in one piece. "Yeah, well, that's life, ain't it?" sighed Matt, as he could feel his pain being taken away by Flora's magic. He removed his helmet, revealing his white beard and hair despite looking young. "I'm so happy you're all safe," cried Twila as she hugged both siblings. "Thanks, Twila. We're glad you're all safe, too," said AJ as she hugged Twila back. Dashie poked Lyra's side, asking what their story was. In fact, what's everyone's story? She wanted to know everyone here. "Okay. Let me explain since I'm the fastest. This is AJ, short for Abby Jasmine Appleseed. She might be small, but she's very skilled with an axe, and over there is her older brother, Big Matthew, or Matt for short. He's a big guy but a sweetheart. They're both from a well-known marketing group called Apple Core. Starry knows their father, a former knight, before quitting and starting his band of knights. AJ wants to be like her father and wants to prove it. Matthew joined us after we saved his sister from the living forest." explained Lyra "The living forest?" "It's where the forest is alive, filled with sentient trees that will crush anything or anyone that steps in their territory." Dashie pictured it in her mind, and she suddenly flashed the Everfree Forest and nodded as she knew what Lyra was talking about. "Starry, there is a well-known knight from the sky kingdom of Torna. She lost her arm years ago in a duel with her former lover. She doesn't want to explain that further. She joined us after we saved the floating kingdom from falling into the mountains." Lyra pointed to Flora next. "She's pretty new. She's a wandering healer who overhears a plot to kill Princess Eirika during the knight race tournament in Winterfall Kingdom. She joined us as their bounty on her head now." "Who is after her?" "The Church of the Demon Dragon. Remember that loser? He was one of its cult leaders." Lyra turned her attention to Kuu next, who was trying to lick the siblings but failing. "This is Kuu. She's the divine moon dragon. She's the last of the divine dragon clan and a baby sister to the Sol dragon goddess, Helios. Princess Eirika found her in an underground cave, saving her from a cult leader she was following. She has a weird habit of licking people. Said I tasted like mint?" laughed Lyra "You do taste like mint," said Kuu, as she was standing next to her and licking her armored hand. "Right...Moving on. We don't know why she was in that underground cave, but after Eirika and the group she befriended, Kuu returned to the holy mountain of Sol before I came along. I was told that Eirika was chosen to save our world from the returning Demon Dragon and to seek out the holy weapons," explained Lyra as she pointed to herself. "Now, this is my story." Lyra did a drama pose and spoke in a cool voice: "I'm a magical knight from the Windrunner kingdom. I was on vacation, enjoying my time off from protecting my kingdom, until I met Eirika and her group. They were fighting the cult and trying to save a baby holy bear after its mother was on a rampage. I joined them and have been with them since." Lyra pointed to Vaida next, as she was on the rooftop and keeping watch. "Vaida there. She's the leader of the Black Sun, a famous group of thieves. The cult hired her and her gang to steal an ancient scroll that would allow them to find the key to remove the demon dragon seal. However, once Vaida read what was written on the scroll, she and her gang refused the contract and tried to stop the cult." Dashie could see Lyra becoming sad as she went on. "Her whole gang was killed, but we saved her, and she joined us. It wasn't until a week later that we entered a cult hideout, where she found her dead husband's body. He didn't know about her second life, and she blamed herself for everything. She's a nice woman. Just misunderstood with the anger she has." Lyra moved on and pointed to Twila. "And Twila, the first person to join Eirika on her quest with Kuu, was captured at a very young age and was tested with different curses by the cult for years. But she was saved by Eirika. She's a very kind, smart, and caring person. She's friendly to anyone or anything. She learned that she could use magic and was trained by the great wizard of the Xeno tower, as Eirika was there to deal with its "rat" problem." explained Lyra as she put her arm around Dashie's shoulder, got closer to her face, and whispered, "Also, she has a nice butt, right?" "What?!" "I know you were staring at her butt." chuckled Lyra as Dashie turned bright red. "I'm guessing you like her. It's okay. She's pretty, smart, and kind. I would like her if I were you. She's a keeper." "I have no idea what you're talking about," panicked Dashie. "It's okay. It's okay. Your secret is safe with me. We butt lovers got to stick together!" laughed Lyra as Dashie couldn't look away from Twila's butt and felt something warm inside her. Her heart was pounding, and that warmth was building up until she thought it exiting out of her back. "What!" shouted Lyra in awe and confusion as she and everyone else turned to Dashie. They saw two enormous, beautiful blue wings blasting through her jacket and standing tall and stiff. "Whoa, that's amazing," awed Flora as she finished healing Matt's leg, and he was now looking at the wings as amazed as everyone else. "How did this happen?" asked Lyra. "What?" said Dashie as she looked behind herself and saw the wings. That's when memories flashed in her eyes. "I always had these," replied Dashie before quickly turning red as she tried to lower them. But Starlight hurried over and pushed Lyra away, using her own wing to hide Dashie behind it. Dashie could see Starlight's disappointed face, which read "Pervert." "You had wings this whole time and never knew it? What happened to you and your memories?" asked Lyra, as Starlight was still covering Dashie with her wing and not letting anyone close. "I'm sorry, guys, but she needs some space. Something is going on with her. Let her process what's happening, and hopefully, she'll explain. But for now, let her have some space." Twila said as Starlight nodded, slowly moved her wing away, pushed Dashie, guided her to an alleyway, and left the group. "What was that all about?" questioned AJ, scratching her head. "Maybe she has amnesia?" suggested Flora. "It would make sense. When I talked to her earlier, she said she didn't have any memories of someone or remember her name," added Twila. Vaida jumped down from the rooftops and stood in front of the group. "I don't trust her at all! Even more now! We should push for more information!" Vaida started to walk to the area where Dashie went, but Isadora stopped by putting her hand on her shoulder. Vaida could see the knight blushing and asked what was wrong. "I believe she's some form of Pegasus race in her world. Going by Starlight's actions, it's best we wait for them," said Isadora, her face turning red and her eyes looking away. "Why?" Isadora sighed and whispered something to Vaida, who quickly turned red. "Right! Let's wait for her!" nervously said Vaida, while Matt and Lyra understood and nodded, leaving the others confused. It wasn't until a few minutes later that Dashie, with her wings finally down, and Starlight returned. Everyone could see Dashie hanging her head in shame while Starlight was making angry horse noises as she returned to her master's side and was still giving the same look to Dashie. Whoever wanted to die as she sat on the ground couldn't face anyone. "Are you okay?" Twila asked as she stood in front of Dashie. She was worried because she noticed her face was still red. Dashie looked up at her and could feel her heart beating again. Her wings were slowly moving up again, so she quickly slammed her back on the ground floor and pointed two thumbs at her with a bit of pain in her voice. "GOOD! I'M GOOD!" Twila was confused by this, but before she could ask, everyone but Dashie could feel something in the air—something evil—as they prepared themselves and searched the area for it. "I can feel a dark aura. It's solid. Whatever it is, it's not friendly," said Flora as she prepared her staff. "I can feel it as well. This isn't normal. It's too powerful. Whatever it is, it must have a huge mana level." added Lyra. "Isadora, what should we do?" asked Matt as he stood beside his little sister and got his sword ready. "We need to stay calm. Whatever it is, we can feel our fear," stated Isadora as her armor started glowing, as she was charging up her magic and ready to defend her allies. Kuu, feeling the dark aura, was frightened and quickly jumped behind Twila and cried. Twila held her tightly and whispered to her, "Don't worry. We're here." Vaida, being an expert thief who trained her senses for danger, could hear something moving in the shadows and quickly drew her two blades. "Everyone, prepare yourself. It's coming." Everyone readied themselves and waited for the incoming enemy. The air around them was becoming heavier and darker. Everyone could feel the cold breeze, which made their skin crawl. "It's here," said Vaida deeply as she stared down at a man wearing a cloak. Everyone knew who it was—it was the cult leader, as he approached them with an evil smile. "Long time, no see. You all seem well," greeted the cult leader as he stopped just a few feet away, and everyone was ready to fight. "We have nothing to talk about. Leave, or you'll regret it," demanded Vaida. "You are in no position to give orders, thief. In fact, no one is. All you worms need to listen to his voice, the real and true ruler of our world," replied the cult leader as he held something in his hand, and Twila quickly noticed what it was. "The Horn of Spark!" "That's correct. I won't allow you to escape this void! Not until what was promised to me! You'll stay here forever as our Lord takes back what was his. The world!" shouted the cult leader as he lifted the horn and crushed it with his hand. As the horn broke into dust, the ground began to shake, and everyone tried to stay balanced. The cult leader laughed as shadow hands broke through the ground and grabbed him. "Yes! Thank you, my Lord! Give me the power so I can strike her down!" shouted the mad cult leader as he pointed at Twila. "So I can free her! FREE MY DAU," but before he could finish, he was dragged into the ground by the shadow hands, and with a mighty earthquake, the square scattered as a giant demonic light darkish blue unicorn came out. "I WILL NOT BE STOPPED BY MORTAL FOOLS! My daughter shall be set free! No matter the price!" roared the demonic unicorn as it stomped the ground, making a giant earthquake. "Daughter?" whispered Twila. "Twila!" shouted Vaida as she jumped at her and knocked her out of the way of the falling building behind her. "Thanks," said Twila. "Be careful!" shouted Flora, casting a protective barrier around the group as the shadows were attacking the barrier. "What is that thing?!" shouted Lyra. "A holy unicorn?" said Isadora. "No. This one looks too demonic and has a mane made out of shadows," replied Matt as he pointed at the mane. He was right, as the mane was made out of shadows. "What should we do?" asked Vaida, as the group was stuck between a giant demon and shadow hands. "Everyone, let me, Lyra, and Starlight take care of it," stated Isadora as she got on Starlight's back and raised her sword in the air, making it shine with light. "I'll keep us protected!" added Flora as she raised her staff and began to cast another spell. "Let's take the shadows down," said Matt as he charged toward the nearest shadow and sliced through it. "Yee-haw! Right behind you, brother!" shouted AJ as she ran towards a shadow and chopped it with her axe. Lyra leaped on Starlight's back and summoned her sword. "Starlight, let's go!" ordered Isadora as the trio took off toward the demonic unicorn, and with a mighty roar, the battle began. "I WILL END YOU!" "We won't let you, pal!" The unicorn opens its mouth and shoots a large energy ball at the trio, who easily dodge it. "Starlight, charge the horn, and attack!" Starlight nodded and flew towards the demon while Isadora and Lyra got ready to strike. "Take this!" shouted Lyra as she rocketed her sword at the unicorn horn, which bounced off, and a small crack appeared. "Nice one, Lyra! It can hurt!" said Isadora. However, the demon wasn't finished, and it used its crack horn to cast a lightning spell. Isadora and Starlight barely dodged it, but it didn't help much, as Lyra fell off but could summon her sword and use it as a hoverboard. "We're not finished!" shouted Isadora as Starlight flew back towards the demon and charged at the unicorn, allowing Isadora to slash its forehead. The monster roared in pain as a big gash was seen. "Isadora!" shouted Lyra as she saw many shadow hands going after her. Isadora saw the shadow hands and used magic to blast them away with a magic wave from her sword. "Nice job!" smiled Lyra as she was near them. "I couldn't have done it without your warning, Lyra." "We're not done yet! Let's take that ugly demon down!" "Agreed! Let's get it, Starlight." Starlight nodded as she and the duo charged at the demon while the others dealt with the shadows. "AJ, Matt, we're running low on mana. We can't keep this up," warned Flora. "Can you blast them? Since these things are weak to light magic?" asked Matt. "I would if I could, but we're surrounded. There's too many of them." "We'll have to take them down ourselves then," stated AJ. She sliced through a shadow, and Matt followed suit as they fought. "Keep fighting! We got to hold out until Isadora and Lyra can take that unicorn down!" ordered Vaida as she tossed paper bombs at a group of shadows trying to grab Twila and the others. "Kuu! Keep watch over Twila and the horny one!" ordered Vaida, as Kuu was shaking in fear but nodded as she stood between the two, trying her best not to be scared. "Don't worry. We're safe. Nothing can get past her," smiled Twila as she hugged Kuu and whispered, "Thank you." "Gonna be brave! Just like Eirika!" Kuu said as she shook her head, and her body was glowing with a small amount of moonlight. "That's right. Remember what she told you when she left?" smiled Twila. "No matter what, no matter the time or situation, you'll be brave! Brave enough to shine through the darkness!" roared Kuu as she shot out a sea of night sky-looking flames and burned any shadows that came near. Twila chuckled as she hugged her. "Be the light that the people need." Dashie could only watch as everyone was doing their best, while she watched from the backline. She hated this, hated not helping anyone, as something inside of her was growing. She looked up and saw the fight happening above them. Isadora was exhausted, as the demon was too much for her and Lyra. "We can't win," whispered Isadora as a magic wave hit her and almost fell off Starlight. "Isadora!" shouted Lyra as the magical knight caught her from falling while the duo was able to dodge the next attack. "We're not going to last long. We're losing too much mana. We can't get close anymore." "Don't give up, Isadora! We can do this! We can win! For our friends, family, and loved ones! If you give up, all that's going to happen is that the demon is going to destroy everything and kill our friends." Isadora sighed. "You're right, Lyra. Let's do this! Together!" Lyra smiled as they charged again at the unicorn, which was charging a significant magic attack. "Starlight! Dodge! It's preparing to attack!" ordered Isadora as Starlight nodded and avoided the magical beam, but it wasn't the end of it. "WHAT THE-" shouted Lyra in surprise as the magic attack changed direction and was heading towards the others on the ground. "NO!" screamed Twila as she tried to cast a spell to protect the others. The attack was about to hit them, but something stopped the magical attack. Everyone was stunned at what they were looking at. "This girl..." smirked Lyra. She could see Dash holding the beam in place with one hand while her wings were up, and a rainbow halo was behind her back. "Dashie...?" whispered Twila. "I've had it! I'm not going to be useless!" snarled Dashie as she tossed the magic attack up and soared into the air, quickly passing Isadora and Lyra, amazed by the supersonic speed. "That speed!" awed Isadora. "That girl can move! Can you put us Wind Knights to shame?" smirked Lyra. "Hey, ugly demon! Let's go, pal!" shouted Dashie as the unicorn looked at her, while the others on the ground were shocked by the bravery Dashie was showing. "How dare you, fool? To stand in my way when you should be bowing before the demon dragon teachings!" roared the unicorn. "You may have a big horn and be powerful, but that will not scare me, pal! I fought way more ugly monsters!" "Insolence, fool!" "Enough talking! Time for the main show!" Dashie quickly dodged the unicorn's attacks, while the demon grew annoyed with her as its attacks weren't working. "You're fast. But that's not going to stop me!" "Not bad, pal! You got some speed, but not enough to catch me!" "ENOUGH OF THIS FILTHY FOOLS MOCKERY!" The unicorn's body was now engulfed in a dark flame, while its horn was glowing with a powerful magic attack. "Is it casting a high magic spell!" asked Twila, worried about Dashie. "That's a powerful magic spell! Dashie's not going to survive!" panicked Isadora. "KID! RUN!" screamed Lyra as she tried to reach her. "DAMN IT! I WON'T REACH HER! SHE WON'T GET AWAY IN TIME!" Dashie, floating in the air with her arms crossed, was staring at the demon as it was charging up its most potent magical attack. The unicorn fired a magical beam covered in black flames, and Dashie quickly raised her hands and pushed back the beam with super strength and speed. Everyone was shocked by the feat as she made the demon's attack back, showing no signs of struggle. "Glad this sugar cube is on our side," said AJ. "Eeyup," replied Big Matt. "Amazing," gasped Flora. "Incredible," whispered Twila, as she could only stare in awe. "I can't believe it! She's pushing back the attack! WITHOUT MUCH TROUBLE!" screamed Isadora, who was also in shock. "This power," muttered the demon. "What are you, brat?" "Oh, you want to know my name, pal?" smirked Dashie. "DON'T PUSH YOUR LUCK!" "The name is Rainbow Dashiell! One of the protectors of my world! And you're going to lose, pal!" With one final push, Dashie could push the beam away from her and the group, sending it into the air, and it disappeared. The demon was now starting to grow nervous, as this 'Rainbow Dashiell' was a threat, and she could counter its magic attack with ease and speed. "This is my chance! Rainbow, we got this!" said Lyra as she and Isadora flew beside her. "Good timing. You two will get the best seats!" smirked Dashie as she blasted off, leaving the two in the dust. "Hey, ugly! You wanted me! I'm right here!" taunted Dashie as she raced around the demon, making it dizzy. "ENOUGH!" The demon was about to fire another magical beam but was suddenly punched in the chest by Dashie and was being pushed into the sky. "I won't lose!" shouted the demon as it was pushing back. "We'll see, pal! This is just the start! Get ready for my best move!" Rainbow Dashie then increased her speed until the sound barrier cracked with multiple colors. The unicorn monster could feel its body being crushed by the G force. "THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! I JUST WANTED TO SET HER FREE!" "Enjoy my Sonic Rainboom!" Rainbow Dash then released her full strength, breaking the sound barrier and unleashing her Sonic Rainboom. This sent the monster into the sky while the rainbow circle blasted across the void of nothingness. "This...power," groaned the demon. "You're going to regret messing with me, pal!" The two kept going until they slammed into the void ceiling, but that didn't stop Dashie as she kept pushing. "I won't die here! I must live, for her sake!" "Sorry, pal, but the show is over!" "IT'S NOT OVER YET!" "IT IS!" Dashie took all her power, and with one big push, she blasted through the ceiling, Scattering the void and freeing the dead city as a blue sky appeared. The rainbow light went further up, and the monster could feel its body breaking apart as the rainbow energy was now burning it. "I'M FALLING APART! THIS ISN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! THIS ISN'T HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO!" "Too bad, pal. Now you're going down!" The rainbow energy was now burning away the demon's body as it screamed in agony. "IT'S HURTS! Make it stop! PLEASE! DON'T BURN ME!" "Sorry, but you've messed with the wrong girl! So, good night." "IT HURTS! I CAN'T TAKE THIS PAIN! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? WHAT HAVE I DONE TO YOU?!?" "Because you threaten my friends! That is reason enough!" The demon's body was now being destroyed as it screamed, crying in pain. "WHY! What have I done to deserve this?" "For being a jerk." "I ONLY WANTED TO FREE HER!" "I'm not hearing an apology, pal!" "SORRY!" "Louder!" "I'M SORRY!" "Now, you're going home!" The demon screamed in terror as its body was burned away by the rainbow energy until nothing was left of it. Rainbow Dashie, on the other hand, was fine. She finally stopped and floated there. She turned around and could see nothing but a beautiful sun. She smiled at it but noticed it was getting closer and more significant. "Wait a sec. Suns are not supposed to get that big, and why does it feel so warm rather than hot?" Suddenly, the sun became a super-large white female dragon before turning into a human, and to Dashie, it was this version of Celestia. "CELESTIA?! YOU'RE HUGE!" "Well, hello. You have done well. You saved this city and set free the cursed people who lived here, as they were the monsters in this ruinous kingdom. I, Helios, thank you." "Uhh, you're welcome. So, where are we?" "My dimension. The sun realm, and it's just me. Tell me, otherworldly hero, what do you wish for?" "I need to get home; can you send me back?" Helios shook her head, as she didn't have the power to break the wall in between. "Then, can you show me where the rainbow shard is?" "I'll do you one better," smiled Helios as her eyes glowed with yellow light. The rainbow shard appeared in front of Dashie. Like always, her shard started to glow and floated out of her pocket. Both watched as the shards slowly became one as reality broke down. "Go, little one. I pray that you return home and help my chosen one. You and they are running out of time. Here, take this orb. She's going to need it when you return home," said Helios as she handed Dashie a rainbow orb and placed it in her pocket. "Who? Do you mean this Eirika person? And what do you mean, I'm running out of time?" asked Dashie, but Helios said nothing as she vanished, and Dashie fell into a bright void as the shards were still fusing. The bright light engulfed the city as Twila and her friends covered their eyes. "They're back!" shouted a crossed-eyed archer as Twila and the others saw they were back in the field. Both groups were celebrating, but Twila looked around and didn't see Dashie anywhere. "Where's Dashie?" asked Twila, as Lyra and Isadora could only shake their heads. "She was fighting the demon, but I lost sight of her after the explosion," explained Isadora. "What!? Are you saying she might have died?" shouted Twila, as she was trying not to cry. "There's no way; she died. If anything, the explosion probably killed that cult asshole. Bet Blue is fine," reassures Lyra. "Right, but where is she? We can't leave her behind!" "Twila, it's okay. She's," said Flora, but she was cut off as everyone shouted to look at the sky. The sonic rainboom was still there but slowly faded into the sea of clouds. In the middle, they could all see a falling rainbow star. "It's her!" cried Twila as she turned to the group. Isadora, on Starlight, quickly hurried over to Twila and got on. "Starlight! Go!" ordered Isadora as the Pegasus opened its wings and took off. The two quickly went through the clouds and could see Dashie, slowly falling and being surrounded by rainbow energy as she held something. "Dashie! Don't worry, I got you!" cried Twila as she reached out her arms, as Starlight was flying faster. "Just a bit more!" cried Isadora. "Almost there!" shouted Twila as she and Isadora almost caught Dashie but were blasted away by a pillar of rainbow light. Twila could see Dashie disappearing into the light and could not reach her. "DASHIE!" cried Twila, tears coming from her eyes. Dashie opened her eyes and could see Twila, Isadora, and Starlight. Soon, she could see Kuu, Lyra, and other Pegasus knights that were part of the Eirika's group flying behind Lyra. "See you around..." cried Dashie as she gave Twila and the others a see you later hand gesture and disappeared into the light. "DASHIE!" shouted Twila, but she was too late; the rainbow pillar disappeared, and the sky was returning to normal. "Dashie..." cried Twila. She shed a tear before looking back into the sky, and a rainbow appeared between the clouds. "I hope you find and remember her. See you around," smiled Twila as Lyra and the others arrived. Lyra put her hand on her shoulder, letting her cry some more. Dashie opened her eyes, and she found herself back in the garden. The alicorn was there as she looked at her. "They're not going to last for much longer. Do you remember her yet?" "No, but memories of her... I think I'm remembering the time I had with her. I think I'm starting to remember her face." explained Dashie as she held her chest as she was crying again. The alicorn closed her eyes, and the garden was freaking out as Dashie could see a black ooze pony with bright white eyes behind the alicorn. "Please, hurry. If not, everything and everyone is doomed." "Don't worry; I'm not going to forget you. You and I are the same; I remember that now." Dashie smiled, causing the alicorn to open her eyes and shake. "Wait, do you remember?" But she was cut off as everything disappeared into the rainbow light, but Dashie smiled as she floated within it. "I'm not letting you go again. I'll save you this time, even if I'm not really "me." Right, Dash and Dashie." softly whispered Rainbow Dashie as she flickered between Dashie, Dash, and a third Dash wearing a dark blue jacket. The rainbow light disappeared, and Dashie could feel herself floating without falling. She opened her eyes and saw a purple moon as it started to glow brightly and blow up with great force. She could see the earth before her as the moon chucks disappeared. She realized she was in space. She closed her eyes and felt herself pushed back into the planet. Her body was hot as she re-entered and fell towards an island. She crashed face-first into the grassy field. She wasn't in pain, and she didn't know why. She could hear voices, and she slowly looked up and could see Pony AJ, Pegasus Pinkie Pie, wearing a red dress, and Scoots as a griffon. "Who is she? Where's Bolt?" asked Pinkie Scoots took out a tablet and scanned Dashie, and he was surprised by the readings. "Can't be? The readings are a match for Bolt! This is Bolt the Pegasus!" Dashie stood up, and unknown to her, her human ears were replaced with pony ears. Her face looked more like a pony now, while her body remained human. "My name isn't Bolt. My name is Rainbow, Rainbow Dash!" end of chapter 7 Chapter 8: Your NameSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter 1Author's Note 5/17/24 edit: hey, FINALLY, I edited this fic with Grammarly! I fixed a lot of stuff thanks to the old grammar bot. Yeah, Grammarly is way better, lol Chapter 1 "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" screamed both Dash and Dashie as they were tossed through a colorful cylinder with mirror-like exteriors. Within those mirrors, other versions of themselves passed by without them knowing. Before they knew it, they were tossed out and floating above a beautiful, huge, neon city. As they free-fell, the Rainbow Shard fell between them. Dashie grabbed it, but Dash opened her wings and stared in awe at the busy night city. "Wow!" said Rainbow Dash as she flapped her wings, but she quickly heard Dashie screaming as she kept falling. "Hold on, I'm coming!" yelled Dash as she dove toward her human version. Dashie screamed until she felt a pair of hooves wrapping around her waist and pulling her into a hug. "It's okay, I got you," said Dash as she smiled down at her. "What are you?" asked Dashie as she looked up at the pegasus and down at the other buildings. "Where are we? Why am I up here?" she asked again and again. "Hold on tight!" said Dash as she flew faster towards a large building's rooftop. "AHH!" yelled Dashie as she felt Dash's hooves leaving her waist and felt herself falling. "AAAAAHHHHH!" screamed Dashie until she planted her face into the roof's floor. "Sorry," said Dash as she helped her up. "I could have died!" screamed Dashie as she rubbed her sore head and noticed the shard in her hand was still intact. "It's a good thing you didn't," smiled Dash as she walked away and looked over the roof's edge. "I still could have broken my bones or neck. Who knows how high we were?" said Dashie as she turned to the pony. "You wouldn't have died," replied Dash. "And how are you so sure?" asked Dashie in anger. "Because I'm the fastest pony in Equestria! Saving ponies from falling to their deaths is pretty common, " said Dash as she turned to her weird-looking double. "But never mind that; who are you? That other creature called you "Dashie," right?" asked Dash. "Um, yeah. My name is Dashie. Dashiell Reinbold." Dashie proudly said as she pounded her chest but quickly let out, "Wait another creature?" "Dashie, huh? It sounds like the nickname Pinkie gave me. My name is Rainbow Dash, but everyone calls me Rainbow or Dash," Dash said as she walked toward her human version. "Really? Penny gave me that nickname after that party for my old childhood friend, who turned out to be a bully, but we're cool now." Dash froze as she heard that. She sat down and asked Dashie a quick question: "Do you have a nickname called "Rainbow Crash?" Dashie started to freak out a bit as she answered the question. "Reinbold Crashie..." softly replied Dashie as she approached the blue pony. "My bullies gave me that nickname. How many friends do you have?" "Four best friends, AJ, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy, you?" asked Dash as she looked at her human version in confusion. "Same, but my friends are AJ, Penny, Rachel, and Faith," answered Dashie until she realized her friends' names almost sounded the same. She needed to be sure about something. Both started to talk at the same time. "Apple farm girl/pony, party and hyper girl/pony, clothes designer girl/unicorn, shy and animal-loving girl/pegasus!" they said at the same time. Both were shocked to hear each other's friend's personality and looked at each other. "Wait a second," said Dashie. "How is that possible?" asked Dash. Dashie and Dash started talking about their friendship, where they met, and why they became friends with those girls, and both realized the others and themselves were from a different universe. "I don't get it; how is this possible?" asked Dash. "I think our universes are from the multiverse, which can be anything like a big tree with many branches, a net, a ball of yarn, and many more," explained Dashie. "Oh no, I believe in the whole multiverse theory; like, I'm talking to another version of me right now. What I don't understand is how this happened," said Dash. Dashie remembered the shard in her hand and showed it to Dash, who was confused. "I think this has something to do with it," said Dashie as she explained how, when she touched it, she remembered seeing her pony self. "Yeah. When I touched it, I saw you!" said Dash. "I don't understand why us?" asked Dashie. "Maybe the Rainbow Comet has magical properties. So, when it landed in the forest, it created some portal or something. If only she were here...wait, who?" questioned Dash as she tried to remember that pony she was with. "I was with some pony; why can't I remember?" "What are you doing?" asked Dashie as she saw her double staring at nothing and walking in circles. "I'm trying to remember who I was with. It was a female unicorn, I think?" questioned Dash to herself. Dashie remembered back as well, and she, too, realized something. She was with someone else, but just like Dash, she couldn't remember her name, not even her face. "You're right. I remember someone I was with, but I'm drawing a blank. I don't remember her name either. It's like someone wiped her from my memory," explained Dashie as she walked away in frustration and confusion. "Hey. Let's focus on getting back to our worlds first and figure out later why we can't remember them," said Dash "That's not going to be easy; I don't think this shard is sending us back home; it looks all dull now. Maybe if we found whoever you were with, she might know," said Dashie. "If she knows, how will we find her since we're not in your world or mine? I have never seen this city before. Have you?" asked Dash. Dashie looked around and noticed everything was so strange, so she shook her head. "So, how are we going to find our way back home?" asked Dash. "I don't know," sadly said Dashie. Both walked closer to the edge and looked at the neon city, where everything was different. There were very tall buildings, flying cars, and ships as they passed through the city's buildings. "I don't recognize anything here. This doesn't even look like a place that belongs in my world," said Dash. Dashie nodded in agreement and said, "I'm afraid we're not in Kansas anymore." "What?" asked Dash. "Uh, nothing," said Dashie. Suddenly, a passing airship flew by with a large screen on it, revealing a news report with a male voice on the speaker: "Just in, our former hero and savior, Tara Brave, was captured a few days ago and is going to pay for her crimes." Soon, a picture of Tara Brave appeared on the screen, revealing a purple-skinned woman with purple hair wearing a prisoner outfit. Dashie noticed the shard started glowing. "Whoa," said Dash as she and Dashie saw the news. "What the?! Who is that?" asked Dashie. "Dunno, but there's something about her," said Dash as she looked at the woman. "Me too; it's like I know her," said Dashie. As they continued watching, they heard the reporter talking again: "Brave is being taken to the prison section of the city; in a few hours, she will be killed for bringing the alien threat to our doorstep."May Aura have mercy on her soul... Remember, you can still buy the virtual tickets to the live execution and get a virtual goodie bag," happily explained the reporter. "Killed?" yelled Dash. "Aliens?" said Dashie. They watched as the report ended, leaving a still image of Tara on screen, but both girls noticed the Rainbow Shard around her neck, and then the ship continued its route. "Hey, she has a rainbow shard!" said Dash as she pointed it. "Okay?" replied Dashie. "Don't you remember how we touched the shard? We ended up here. Since touching our current shard did nothing, there might be a good chance if we touch her shard," explained Dash. "We'll get sent back," finished Dashie. "Exactly," said Dash, flapping her wings and looking down over the building edge. "Wait, what are you doing?" asked Dashie, a bit confused. "You're the one with the shard. Don't you remember it glowing when the shard appeared on screen? We can use it to find her. Like a tracker!" said Dash. "And we will; I just don't like heights, and jumping off the building is not a good idea. So, let's think of a better way to get down." cowardly explained Dashie. "Just come here!" said Dash as she moved behind Dashie and wrapped her front legs around her. "WAIT!" yelled Dashie as she was picked up and was screaming. "Hold on!" said Dash. "AHHHH!" yelled Dashie as they took off. "This isn't so bad. Right?" smiled Dash as she looked down. "I'm going to puke," groaned Dashie as she covered her mouth. Dash couldn't believe Dashie was from another universe. She was nothing like her, and Dash wouldn't get scared by heights. "I hate this. I can't look down," said Dashie as she covered her eyes. "Well, tough it out," replied Dash. Dashie opened her eyes for a bit but quickly covered them again and screamed. "You know, I never expected the version of me to be such a scaredy cat. You aren't cool, you know?" laughed Dash. Dashie uncovered her eyes and asked. "A what?" "Scaredy cat. It's what the ponies in my world call creatures like you," answered Dash. "Screw you! In my world, we call you a cun-" yelled Dashie before she quickly covered her mouth as she felt like she was throwing up again. Dash laughed at her response. They flew through the city, following the shard as it was glowing brighter to the north. They kept going until a flying police ship appeared behind them. "This is the Aura City Police. Cease flight and land! "Wait, is that a flying pony?" questioned one of the officers. Dash stopped flying and hovered in place with a smirk on her face. "You're not thinking of taking them on. Are you?" asked Dashie, but watched as Dash did more of a smug smile. "Oh god, you are!" "Come and catch me!" yelled Dash as she flew off, and the ship quickly followed them. "Rainbow! Don't be a show-off!" screamed Dashie. "I'm not, just having fun!" replied Dash. "I hate you!" yelled Dashie. The officers continued to shoot warning shots at them, but Dash kept changing direction. "You have got to be kidding me," thought Dashie. Dash wasn't dodging the shots, and he started to mock them. "Hey, is that the best you got? A little filly could aim better than that," laughed Dash. The police officers were getting annoyed and ordered no more warning shots. "No more warning shots? Really?" thought Dash in a panic. "RAINBOW! They're going to shoot us! AGAIN! For real this time!" screamed Dashie. Dash noticed the ship's gun was pointing right at them, with laser sights pointing at her head. "Crap," whispered Dash. "Told you so," replied Dashie. "Shut it!" said Dash as she flew as fast as she could, barely dodging the shots. "HOLD STILL FLYING PONY!" ordered the officer. "Rainbow. Do something!" yelled Dashie. "I can't; they're right behind me. I can't dodge and do sharp turns with you in my hooves. Are you sure you can't fly??" replied Dash. "DON'T JOKE ABOUT THAT!" "Sorry." grin Dash They kept flying for a few minutes and, nearing the end of the chase, Dash flew between narrow buildings as the ship was getting ready to take another shot at them. "You have a plan or something?" asked Dashie. "Working on it!" said Dash as she dodged another shot. "Work faster! The ship is getting closer!" yelled Dashie. "Oh, please. I can easily lose these guys. These bozos aren't so tough," said Dash. "Really? Because it doesn't seem like it, WITH ALL THE BULLETS!" questioned Dashie. "Trust me," said Dash. "Famous last words," whispered Dashie. The ship continued to fire on them as they exited narrow ways. They were about to take the final shot when they saw a shadow above them and were suddenly knocked into by something. "What the hell was that?" said one of the officers. "Whatever it was, it was huge. Like the size of a building!" yelled the pilot. "We got the same thing here," replied a voice on the radio. The police ship returned and soon noticed endless waves of alien-looking ships. Dash also stopped and watched as the city unleashed its mecha army, and the police force joined in as the alien ships released their mecha army. "Holy cow!" said Dash. The battle soon started, and the Aura city mecha shot and destroyed the alien ships, which returned the fire. "Let's go. We're running out of time here! Are we getting close?" asked Dash. "The shard is getting brighter! Keep heading to that large dome building ahead of us!" yelled Dashie. As they flew closer, the city was in flames, with several buildings being destroyed and the ground littered with rubble and mecha bodies. "Look out!" yelled Dashie. The duo dodged a falling mecha, which crashed into a nearby building and continued flying. "This isn't looking good! This city isn't last for much longer!" said Dash. "Rainbow, look!" said Dashie. "Oh, crap! Not another one," said Dash as she saw another wave of smaller ships appear above them. "Rainbow! Head that way, hurry!" said Dashie. "Alright! Hang on tight, girl!" yelled Dash. Dash quickly turned around, dodging a falling ship, and headed towards the giant dome. "There! That's it!" pointed Dashie as the shard was glowing much more complicated now. "Just get us inside; the shard is glowing like crazy now!" said Dashie. "On it." "You think we're going to make it?" "With me flying, yeah." "Yeah, but I will be sick if you keep showing off." "That's your problem." Dash dodged another ship; the prison was only a few yards away. "We're almost there!" "Yeah, but so are those ships. I hope you have a plan to get inside because I don't see a way inside from here." "Trust me, I'm full of great plans." "That's what I'm afraid of." They were getting closer when a sizeable alien ship suddenly blasted a massive laser at the dome, destroying half of it. "Hold on," said Dash as she dove into the destroyed section of the dome and headed straight down. "Where are we going?" asked Dashie. "Just trust me." "Yeah, like that's going to happen." As they flew deeper inside the prison, they came across a large hall where they found the prisoners in their cells. Many started to scream for help as they saw the girls, but before they could do anything for them, the cell door closed, and they moved underground. "We better hurry; they're moving them somewhere else. Where to now?" asked Dash. Dashie held the shard up and moved it around them until it started to glow brightly in the western part of the hall. "This way. I'm sure she's somewhere down that hall," explained Dashie. Dash nodded and flew to the west hall, where many more cells were seen, but unlike the others, they were empty. They looked inside each other as they flew until they came across a corner hallway, where they could hear voices. "Here, put me down, quietly whispered Dashie as she stood on the edge of the corner. "Be quiet." Dash placed her down and joined in the eavesdropping. "Sunburst, you got to let me out! Everyone is dying out there!" cried a female voice. "You're not going anywhere, Brave. You brought this upon us," replied Sunburst. "You know that's not true, Sunburst. I had no idea the magick could even send that beacon when I found it all those years ago!" replied the female voice. "Liar!" replied Sunburst. "I'm telling you the truth! If the beacon had been active the whole time I had it, I would have known the aliens were coming." "It doesn't matter. You are the reason they're here, so you will be the reason we win this fight. We're going to use magic." "How is that possible, Sunburst? You know Magick won't be active for anyone other than me!" "We'll find a way. Goodbye, Brave." "No! Please! I beg you, let me out, damn it!" "Not happening, Brave," coldly said Sunburst. "If only Aura were still around, things could have been different." The girls heard the footsteps getting near them, so they stepped back into the shadows of the hallway and watched as a tall, light-orange-skinned woman with short, messy yellow hair and wearing a black officer cloak walked out and didn't notice the girls as they disappeared into another hallway, where the sounds of an elevator opening and closing could be heard. "That was Sunlight Shimmer, wasn't it?" thought Dash as she stepped out of the shadows. "Sunburst. Whoever she was talking to, she was the one we were looking for. Tara Brave," replied Dashie as she walked out of the shadow as well and into the hallway where Tara was. They both looked at the cell door and saw the purple-haired woman banging on the glass as she saw Dashie. "Hey. How do we open the door?" asked Dash as he ran to the glass cell door and touched it. The woman jumped back in surprise, as they thought it was someone she knew, but it wasn't; it was a talking flying horse, but she realized it was trying to open the door. "Who are you two? Why is there a talking horse?" asked Tara in confusion and awe. "I'm Rainbow Dash, and this is Dashie. We're here to rescue you and to help us," Dash explained as she flew to eye level with Tara. "You're also a flying horse," quickly replied Tara in a deadpan way. "Yes, and you're Tara Brave. So, what's the hold-up?" said Dash. "Then hold up. If you haven't noticed, I'm behind this shock-proof glass cell door. "How are you going to get past that?" "Oh, no big deal. Watch and learn, babe," cocky replied Dash as she started to flap her wings very quickly until the air around her began to blast around the hallway. "What!? Are you insane?" yelled Tara as she backed away from the glass. Dashie backed away from Dash, bumped into the control panel, and noticed a key card. She took it and used it on the control panel screen. As she did it, the glass door opened, and Dash blasted into the cell room, crashing into the cell wall and slowly sliding down it. "Hey, are you okay? Said Tara as she worried about the miniature horse. "Never...better," mumbled Dash. "Are you alright, Rainbow?" said Dashie. Dash shook her head and slowly got up, her eyes spinning. "I'm okay, I think. How did the door open?" "Oh, you know. A little magic, a little luck," said Dashie, waving the key. Card. "Where did you get that?" asked Tara. "It was lying on that control panel," replied Dashie. "Sunburst, did you leave it on purpose?" mumbled Tara as she stepped out of the cell. "Whatever, hey Tara, do you have a rainbow-looking shard on you?" asked Dash as she flew over to her. "Yes. It was a gift from Aura, as she found it while digging around in some robot ruins," replied Tara. "Perfect. Can you hand it over, please?" "Why? And if I did have it to hand it over, I couldn't; Sunburst has it. She took it from me." "Don't worry about it; we're getting it back," said Dashie with a smile. Tara led the girls down the hall, listening to their story. She didn't want to believe the whole different universe thing, but the talking horse did point out there were aliens, so anything that could happen made her come around. They stopped at the storage area for the prisoner's things, and Tara dug through the room to find her clothes. She stepped out wearing clothes and holding a power drill. "Okay, we'll find Sunburst, get the shard back, and get you two back home! Then save my world!" "Great, where's Sunburst?" asked Dash. "I guess she's going underground; I heard rumors of colony ships being made. We need to hurry, though!" explained Tara as rubble fell near her. "This building isn't going to last for much longer." "I can get us there with my speed, but I don't have the strength to carry you two," said Dash. "Don't worry about that! Good thing no one knows about this!" smiled Tara as she turned on her power drill, which quickly changed size and became a small purple mecha head with a drill on its forehead. "Spark here can carry me. Just follow me!" explained Tara as she got into the mecha head, drilled into the floor, and disappeared into the darkness. "Wow, a drill head. That's awesome," cheered Dash. "She has a point, though, Rainbow. This building isn't going to stay together much longer. Let's follow her before the aliens destroy this place." "Right!" Dash picked up Dashie and flew down the hole and into the darkness. It was completely dark until the Tara mecha drill. It started to glow, revealing a colossal hanger bay and the colony ship. "Whoa! Look at the size of this place and that ship!" Dash said in awe as he hovered in place. "Yeah, this place is huge. I'm surprised Sunburst made this place over the years," replied Tara. Dashie took out the shard, and it started to glow as it pointed to the tunnel bridge connecting the ship. The group took off for the tunnel bridge until two mechas flew before them. Their designs were a white-looking rabbit and a purple dragon. "Tara, I need you to stand down!" ordered a female voice from the white rabbit as it pointed its orange sword at the group. "Angel! You got to let me pass!" yelled Tara. "That voice," whispered both Dashes as the white mecha's chest cockpit opened to reveal a yellow-skinned, super-short, pink-haired girl wearing a tight white suit. "Fluttershy?" said Dash as she stared at Angel. "She doesn't look like Faith, but her voice does match," thought Dashie. "I'm sorry, Tara, but we can't! You ruined our world; we won't let you ruin our only escape. Please stand down." Angel cried as she closed the cockpit and prepared her sword. "Damn it! I don't want to fight you two! Blade, say something!" cried Tara at the purple mecha, but it was ready for its flame thrower weapon. "What are we going to do?" asked Dashie. Spark eyes glowed white, and drills came out from the left side of its body. "I'll take these two on. Head to the tunnel bridge!" "Got it!" yelled Dash. The duo took off and headed straight for the bridge while Tara and the mechas clashed. "Blade, please don't make me fight you!" cried Tara. The mecha didn't respond and fired its flame thrower. "Oh, crap! I don't want to do this! Spark, let's show them what we can do." Spark eyes glowed white again, and drills popped out everywhere. They charged the mecha while Tara grabbed and turned the handle. Then, around and launched into the air, the mecha following close behind her. "Angel, Blade! Stop! You're both my best friends, and I don't want to fight you!" pleaded Tara. "I'm sorry, Tara. But you're going to have to go through us!" cried Angel as her mecha charged at her. "I don't want to, please!" cried Tara as her drills clashed with Angel's sword. Dash and Dashie reached the outside of the bridge wall but turned around to see a huge explosion coming from the battle that Tara was in. They turned back to the wall and watched as the metal walls started to rise, revealing Sunburst and soldiers on the other side. The two took Sunburst aback. "Hold on tight!" yelled Dash as she flew back and rammed into the glass with great speed, shattering the window and landing inside the bridge. Dashie, like always, was screaming in fear. Still puzzled by the two, Sunburst took out her gun and aimed it at them. Soon, her soldiers joined in, pointing their weapons at them. "Who are you two?" asked Sunburst as she stepped forward, but as she did, reality around them started breaking down, cracks formed, and a bright rainbow light beamed out of her pocket. "It's the shard!" yelled Dashie as she covered her eyes. Her shard started to glow just as brightly. The cracks became more extensive, and prism-like effects soon appeared around them. The soldiers started panicking as they fell back from Sunburst, who removed the shard by its chain. "What the hell is happening?" yelled Sunburst as the shard floated. "I don't know. This is what happened when our shards first came into contact," replied Dashie, her eyes still covered. The shards flew to each other, and the moment they did, a rainbow pillar shot into the air. Memories flashed in both girls' minds as they could see a field of grass and a figure in the distance. In another flash, they could see a blue hoof reaching out. Both girls did the same without realizing it and started to cry. Both could hear a voice calling out to them. "Hurry up!" said the female voice. "Who are you!" cried both girls. "You forgot her name?" said another voice, a voice that they knew too well—their own. Soon, both girls could feel like their very beings were being fused as one; they could hear their voices all around them, telling them to remember her name. "What's going on!" screamed Dash as tears fell down her face. "I don't know, but I'm scared," cried Dashie. "Her name...remember...her name is..." said the voice as both girls could feel the pain disappearing and the female voice fading away out of their minds. "Please remember her!" cried the voice one last time as both girls woke up from the trance and soon found themselves in a sizeable open-space locker room. The shards lay on the floor between them as they slowly absorbed each other, making the shard much more prominent, but it wasn't glowing anymore as it went dim. "Where the hell are we now?" asked Dash as she stood up. "I don't know, but did you have that weird dream? Vision? Whatever that was, " "Yeah, we were told to remember her name. What was it? Does this have to do with the girl I can't remember? Ugh, this is bothering me now." "Rainbow...?" whispered Dashie as she saw for a split second that Dash was see-through before being normal again. Dash turned to her and was surprised to see Dashie wearing a different jacket. "Uh...Dashie?" "Yeah, Rainbow?" "Do you notice anything different?" "No, why?" "Because you're wearing a different jacket now." "Wait, what?" Dashie looked down and gasped in surprise. "What the hell? Where did this jacket come from?" Dashie wore a puffy hoodie jacket. The arms and hood were orange, and the back had a rainbow going across it. Before they could question why the change happened, the ground underneath them rose, revealing it as a platform as the ceiling opened above them. "Whoa, what's going on now?" The platform started to lift into the air and move upward. Soon, both could hear cheering from above. The platform stopped, and a spotlight was shined upon them. The girls noticed they were in an open arena. "This is so weird. Hey, look." "Huh, where are we now? Oh, wow! Look at this place. It's packed with people!" said Dashie. The arena was packed; thousands were cheering, and the girls noticed there were many races and creatures they had never seen before all around them. "It's a stadium," explained Dash as she posed for the cheering fans. "Stadium? I don't think we're back home; why didn't the shards take us back home?" asked Dashie as she picked up the shard and looked over it. Before Dash could answer, a female voice spoke through the arena speakers: "Attention, ladies and gentlemen. Our next match will begin! She fought her way here to my domain to battle my sweet daughter! Flashing Rainboom!" A screen lit up above the girls, and they soon could see themselves on it. However, it was quickly cut off as a dark blue anthro alicorn appeared on the screen and got closer to it. "Princess Luna!" yelled Dash as she watched Luna move away from the screen and sit back on her throne, revealing her black dress. "Whoa, wait! It seems Flash is naked and on all fours. She also got herself a teammate! "An ugly one, too." laughed Luna. "It doesn't matter, though; she can't win against Pike the Moon Dragon!" The stadium ceiling opened up, revealing earth in the far distance. Slowly entering the stadium was a large anthro female dragon. She wore battle gear armor, and her skin color was purple. Her fins were green. The dragon was massive; its wings were as broad as the stadium walls. It had long claws and sharp teeth. "What the heck is that!" cried Dashie as her body shook. "A dragon, an enormous dragon," answered Dash as she watched the dragon land in the stadium. The impact made the platform shake a little. "This is Dragoon City pride and joy, ladies and gentlemen! She's the strongest dragon around!" boasted Luna as she stood up, her wings stretched out, and the throne lights shone upon her, showing her incredible figure. "LET'S THIS LUNAR BATTLE BEGIN! FIGHT!" The crowd cheered as the dragon roared, its wings spreading out. Dashie fell back in fear while Dash stood still and was ready to fight. The screen turned dark, and Luna sat back in her seat and laughed. "I'm glad you didn't chicken out on me, Flash. I want to see what you can do against Pike, and maybe, just maybe, you can face off, my sweet daughter!" smiled Luna as she turned to the throne room window, which overlooked the arena, and standing there was another anthro alicorn. "Right? Midnight Dusk?" "Right," nodded Midnight Dusk. She has a solid muscular build and purple skin. Her dark purple hair was in a ponytail, going past her back and stopping near her tail. She was wearing a dark blue karate outfit. Her purple eyes were lifeless as she stared down at the upcoming battle. She placed her hand on the window, which had a friendship bracelet around the wrist, and tied to it was another rainbow shard that was glowing dimly. end of chapter 1
Chapter 3 Even though she has always seen the moon from Earth, Dashie never thought she was in space itself. Looking closely at it, she was amazed to see it looked like another Earth. The same was true for her companions as they looked around, even seeing space stations around the moon and Earth. The trailer was hovering in the distance of the moon as Alex and the other girls watched the duo while eating hotdogs, and the ship was on autopilot. "Amazing, isn't it?" asked Poppy. "Yes," answered Dashie. "We were all in awe of it the first time we were in space, like you guys," added Fae. "How did you guys manage to get here?" asked Dash. "Well, after Alex told us of the plan to save our master, we came up with some cash and got these old space trailer homes. Of course, Alex got out here first since hers wasn't broken. Ours did break down a few times," answered Poppy. "Yeah, we had some good and bad moments getting up here," added Fae. "You did, didn't you? Hah!" laughed Rebecca as she pointed out she was the second one to enter space. "Hey, hey, don't forget, you lost control of your ship for the first time, causing the engine to break, making it spin and hit ours, and it caused us to repair the hulls!" pointed out Fae. "That did happen," laughed Rebecca as she remembered the day. Dashie looked around and finally asked them something: "Don't mind asking, but why is the ship looking like this? Like a trailer home?" "It was cheaper than the space RV's. Plus, the only way we could afford to get into space," replied Alex. "And it was a nice deal. It came with a mystery box!" added Poppy as she removed a box from her hair. "A mystery box?" asked Dashie. "Yep, it's a mystery box; we didn't know what was in it, and the sales guy gave it to us for an extra 500 bits," Poppy replied. "We didn't want it, but Poppy bought it on the spot," sighed Alex as she raised her palm at the memory. "So, what was in it?" asked Dash. "An expired coupon for buy two and get one shampoo," sighed Fae as they all laughed. "Hey, I got a question myself," said Dash as she looked out the window at the moon. "Why is there life on the moon? You said Lunar rules over it?" "Yes, long ago, there were two alicorn tribes on Earth: the Earthun tribe and the Moon tribe. They were at war with each other until two warriors from each side fell in love and started a family. When both tribes found out, the moon tribe welcomed the family and wanted peace, but the sun tribe didn't. The Sun tribe created a magical weapon that would banish the Moon tribe to the moon. As it went down, the family from before saved the Moon tribe as they were teleported to the moon. That barrier you saw before came from them. The elements of peace are one of six magical stones that created air on the moon and allowed farm life. The moon and sun tribes vanished, only leaving behind Lunar and her family." explained Alex. "Elements of Peace? Like the Elements of Harmony?" thought Dash as she turned to the moon, seeing the barrier slowly appear to them. "Wow, I wonder where the tribes went?" said Dashie. "Nobody knows," answered Fae as she petted Dashie for being cute. "Anyway, enough of history; we're going through the barrier; once inside, we'll..." Before Alex could finish, loud warning sounds could be heard from the console. Alex quickly checked on them, turned to everyone, and said, "Hold on to something!" Everyone grabbed onto something as the trailer's back end blew up, and the force was strong enough to send the trailer spinning into the moon's barrier. "What's going on, darling?" screamed Rebecca as her body lost shape and splashed around the spinning room. "Something fast was coming right at us! I think it was a missile!" cried Poppy. "A missile?" yelled Dash. "Yes! Someone is trying to shoot us down! Hold on!" yelled Alex. The trailer started to spin faster as it was about to hit the barrier. Everyone braced themselves as the trailer was now in the barrier, slowly passing through it. Once through, it revealed a city on the moon's surface once more, and the trailer was heading straight to the city. "What do we do now, darling?" screamed Rebecca. "We gotta get out!" yelled Fae as she opened the door. "Wait! There's a!" cried Poppy as her poppy sense went off, and suddenly, the trailer stopped spinning. Everyone looked at the doorway, and floating there was Midnight. She raised her hand and was about to unleash a powerful magic attack but was stopped by Fae. She took out her sword and stabbed her in the hand. "Ahhhhhh! You little-!" yelled Midnight as she could not use her magic. "Alex, we have a situation!" cried Fae before she was grabbed and tossed out of the trailer, falling to the city below. "FAE!" screamed Poppy as she jumped out of the trailer and tried to save Fae, but the two disappeared. "Going to kill you all!" demanded Midnight as she removed the sword, healing her wounds and turning towards the rest. Dashie felt something was wrong, as her vision started to be filled with static and prism colors. She fell to her knees and saw something glowing around her midnight wrist. She felt something warm in her pocket. Both glows started to get so strong that the area around them began to fall apart as cracks appeared. Dashie turned to Dash, who was suffering too. "What is this?" asked Midnight as she tried to dispel the magic before her, but it wasn't working. "It's no use; whatever this magic, I can't dispel it," growled Midnight as she started to spin the trailer and lunge it away, miles away from her. Whatever was happening to her finally stopped as the prism colors vanished. She looked back at where she tossed the trailer and saw smoke coming from a building. The trailer landed through the apartment building and was now deep within it. Fire was everywhere, and people were screaming as they ran out of the burning area. The destroyed trailer was engulfed in flames, but a shadow of a giant ball came bouncing out, and once it landed out of the fire, it tossed out Alex and both Dashes. "Ow," moaned Alex. She slowly got up and saw Dash and Dashie unconscious, and she could see who had saved them. Rebecca tried to turn back to her body form but couldn't, as the heat was too much. She was melting too quickly. "Rebecca, hang on," said Alex as she ran over to her friend but stopped as she could sense "her" coming this way. "Darling, you have to save the others. I'll hold her off; don't worry," pleaded Rebecca as she pushed her friend away. "Find Flash! Find master!" she screamed as she blasted her slime out of the burning hole of the building, blocking a magical energy ball coming at them. "GO!" "Right, don't die on me, Rebecca!" yelled Alex as she carried the other Dashes and started to run. "Not a chance, darling," smirked Rebecca as she saw another magical energy ball coming right at her and exploding on contact, causing her slime to splatter and vanish as the upper building was gone from the attack. Midnight slowly landed and looked around but quickly dodged a sharp object. "You think you're clever, don't you? You're a worthless being." "Hahaha, I've been called the worst," replied Rebecca as she started to turn into a huge, demonic-looking version of her normal body. Readying her giant fist, she stared down at her old friend. "Let's end this," smirked Midnight as the two ran at each other, and a massive battle began. As the two powerful beings battled it out, Alex ran through the building stairs, carrying the girls. She looked back and could see the fight above her. She kept running until she opened a door, only to see a small hallway and a single door at the end. She ran towards the door, kicked it open, and found herself in the back of a clothing store. "Is this building connected to a mall?" she thought as she heard sirens going off and knew the building and the area were about to lock down. "We have to move!" Alex ran to the store door and used her fist to force it open, as she could feel the heat outside. Once she stepped through, the fire alarm went off, and the sprinklers came on, soaking everything in the area. "Oh, great," groaned Alex as she was soaked. "What's going on now?" Standing before her was Dark Shield; his sword was beaming with intense heat as he faced down Alex. "I see; of course, you will be with her." "Yes, I will not allow you to leave," smirked Shield. "We'll see about that," said Alex as she held Dashie in one arm and Dash in her other hand, threw them into a shopping cart, and kicked it away. "Wait, what are you doing?" yelled Shield as he turned to the shopping cart and tried to chase but was stopped as Alex teleported behind him. Alex smiled as she took a deep breath. "Here we go." Her whole body started to glow red as her strength increased. She grabbed Shield and slammed him to the ground. The attack was so strong that the floor underneath him broke apart, and they both fell through it. "What the hell?" yelled Shield as he saw Alex falling near him. "I was going to save this power for her, but now is a good time." "I'm not done yet," growled Shield as he prepared his sword and flew at her. Alex didn't move, as her whole body was glowing brighter. Shield was inches away from her when he stopped. "What the?!" he screamed. Alex was now hovering in the air, engulfing her whole body in a giant ball of red and yellow flames. The fire was so intense that Shield couldn't even get close to her, and he couldn't even see her. "What is this? What are you?" yelled Shield. "I'm just someone who has power and will use it," said Alex as the fire around her exploded and sent a powerful energy wave throughout the area, breaking all windows and the surrounding area and sending Shield flying back. "GAAAAAHHHH!" screamed Shield, as the wave was so strong that he couldn't get away. He was slammed into walls, through them, and finally tossed outside and into the streets. Alex slowly appeared, with the flames burning bright as she stormed at him with a burning punch, knocking him far and landing him on a building that crumbled under his weight. "Gah, dammit!" groaned Shield as he got up. "I see now; that's why my aunt took you in? You carry some of the Sun tribe blood, don't you?" Alex said nothing as she walked towards him, readying another punch. "This won't stop me," growled Shield as he removed his upper armor, and a burning, dark, magical energy engulfed his exposed body. Alex felt something was wrong and quickly flew back as she dodged a wave of energy. His attack was so strong that it cut through the buildings like paper, sending a massive shock wave that created a large dust cloud, blocking everything. "What the hell was that!?" thought Alex as she could see the damage the attack did and could sense a power increase coming from the dust cloud. Alex could see a glowing black orb within the cloud as Shield stepped out of the smoke. "So, that's the "Element of Power"? You fused with it!" asked Alex. "It's time to end this," said Shield as his whole body was glowing with dark energy, and he charged at her. "Bring it!" Both dashed at each other and created a shock wave as they clashed. Meanwhile, the shopping cart crashed into a wall, waking the two from their sleep as the cart fell over. "Huh? Where are we?" asked Dash. "No idea, hey, are you okay, Dash?" asked Dashie as she got up. "Yeah, I'm fine; my head hurts though." "Mine too; what happened? Did we crash or something?" "We did; let's look around," said Dash as she got out of the cart and helped herself. "I hope everyone is okay," said Dashie. "Same here. Hey, what's that?" The two looked up and saw a giant ball of fire as it came crashing down near them. As the smoke cleared, they could see a giant unicorn holding Alex down as she was severely beaten. He reached out to her throat and started to crush it. "Alex!" cried the two dashes as Dash flew to her quickly. "No, stay back; run, you idiot!" coughed Alex "Let her go, you monster!" yelled Rainbow Dash as she slammed into Shield and carried him up above, gathering all the speed she had. "This is for hurting AJ!" shouted Dash, breaking the sound barrier and unleashing her sonic rainboom. The colorful shock wave blasted across the night sky, and a bright rainbow light came back down. On the destroyed apartment building, Midnight, she watched the event unfold as she held the top half of Rebecca's body. She started to shed a tear without knowing it as she jumped off the building and flew to the rainbow light. Dash crashed into the street near the others, and she was on top of Shield, who was passed out. Dash posed for them. "Awesome, right?" she smirked as she hopped off and walked over to the awe-stricken self. "Yeah, awesome!" said Dashie as she tackled and hugged herself. "Hey, where's Alex?" "I'm here," said Alex as she sat on the ground. "Are you alright?" asked Dashie. "No, but I'll be fine, thanks to you," smiled Alex. "No problem, so what do we do now?" asked Dash. "Find Poppy and Fae." "What about him?" asked Dashie. "Leave him," sighed Alex as she stood up. "Sure, he might get up and come after us," replied Dash. "That's not the problem right now," said Alex as she turned around and could see Rebecca hitting the floor. The others turned, and they could see Midnight standing there. "It's been a while since I saw the rainboom." "Midnight," moaned Alex. "Both of you, what-" stopped Alex. She could see them holding on to their heads as a rainbow glow came from Dashie's pocket. "This again!" thought Midnight as she tried to cover her eyes. "What's going on?" cried Dash. "I don't know!" said Dashie as they started to see memories coming to them, and their minds were filled with static. "I'll end this now!" yelled Midnight as she tried to fire off a magical beam at them but was stopped as a rainbow light slammed into her and tried to push her. She looked down and saw it was her. "Who are you? Who ARE?YOU!?" cried Dash as she kept pushing as hard as she could, her eyes static. Midnight raised her hand and forced Dash into the ground, knocking her out. With her done, Midnight looked back at her remaining prey but saw they escape. It didn't matter to her; she got what she wanted as she picked Dash up, but to her horror, it wasn't the person she was after. This creature looked like her but wasn't at the same time. Was Flash fooling her? She turned to her brother before teleporting away without him. Alex ran as fast as she could, carrying Rebecca and Dashie. She didn't want to leave Dash, but she didn't have a choice with everyone's condition right now. She looked down at Dashie and could see she was still passed out; the same was true of Rebecca. "Hold on, you two, just a little more," said Alex. She turned a corner and saw an abandoned building. She found a way in and set the two on the floor. She hid near the window and peeked out. I saw or sensed no one in the area coming for them. "Okay, it's safe." Rebecca's body slowly started to recover itself. She was unconscious and was breathing slowly, as she was still hurt, but Alex knew she would live and wasn't in danger. Dashie, however, was still knocked out and could feel something was wrong. Her body was slightly bugging out as she flashed different colors until it finally passed, and she was normal again. Alex couldn't understand what was happening but was glad she was okay. She sat down, watched the two, and waited until she heard someone entering the building. "I knew you'd find us," said Alex as she watched Poppy enter the room. "Things are not going well, I see." "Nope, they found us after we escaped from Midnight. What I don't understand is how they found us."Alex said to herself as she put her hand on her chin. Poppy said nothing as she checked on her friends and continued to listen. "I wasn't using my powers to be sensed by Shield. Dash and her friend don't have any magical power level to be sensed with." Poppy got up and turned to Alex as she put on her blood-covered gloves. "Someone told them...where's Fae, Poppy? Did you kill her? Are you going to kill us too?" angrily asked Alex as she could see Poppy smiling with such disturbing glee, "Why?" "It's what our queenQueened! She showed me the way on that day when she attacked the school. You should meet her and see the way too." answered Poppy, as her eyes were lifeless. Alex caught on and realized what happened to her friends. "Midnight didn't join her; she was brainwashed, wasn't she? Just like you!" called out Alex as she tried to stand up, but she had no more strength from the fighting from before. "We didn't need much; we only need a few words and a little help. Now, we are servants to the Queen and will continue serving her until the end. Join us or die like Fae," said Poppy as she readied her gloves. "I would rather die." "Your loss, then," smirked Poppy as she got closer. She wDashie stopped herhe jumped on Poppy's back. "You will not touch her!" yelled Dashie. "Get off me, you pest!" screamed Poppy as she threw the girl off her, slamming her to the ground and quickly grabbing her head. "Gah, I will not fail the Queen!" "Stop!" screamed Dashie as she tried to push Poppy away. "NO!" cried Alex as she tried to move. Poppy slammed down her fist, but the blunt side of a sword stopped it. She quickly looked up and saw the badly beaten Fae, as she was engulfed in pure rage. "You dare strike this wonderful and cute creature!" screamed Fae as her eyes glowed and her body was covered in a white and yellow aura. "Fae!" cried Alex. "What the, you're alive!" yelled Poppy. "And very mad," growled Fae as she bashed Poppy's forehead with the blunt end of the sword. She grabbed her and tossed her into a nearby wall, shattering it and falling to the floor as she was knocked out. "Fae!" coughed Dashie. "It's alright, sweetie, I'm fine," said Fae as she dropped her sword and fell to her knees. She watched as Dashie got up and hurried to her. "So cute!" she whispered as she passed out on top of her. After Dashie tied up Poppy with the chains she found, she was caught up in what happened to Dash and Poppy. "What now?" "I don't know. Everyone is out of commission, and since Flash never showed up like she always does, I get the feeling something did happen to her." sighed Alex. "You think the Queen got her?" "It's the only thing that makes sense; she must've taken her by surprise and took her." "Then, what are we going to do? How are we supposed to defeat her without Flash or the others?" Dashie asked as her legs shook. "I don't know," sighed Alex. "But I know this: Midnight has a Rainbow Shard. I noticed your reaction to it. It also affects both of you, doesn't it?" "I guess? I wasn't like this before, but when we see Midnight, something fills our minds. We hear a voice. Something about remembering someone we forgot." "Really?" asked Alex as she started to think. "Yes, we keep seeing memories of this person, like they were part of our lives, but aren't? It isn't obvious! We want to remember her! I! I want to remember her so much... It hurts," said Dashie as her eyes were watering. "Oh, it's okay," said Alex as she patted her head. "I see why Fae took a liking to you." "Huh?" "Anyway, you need to find Dash, and with my magical senses, Midnight headed to the stadium, and you'll find her there. You told me what would happen if two shards met. You need to remove it from Midnight's wrist and then escape." "But I can't do it alone, and I can't leave you guys like this!" "You're not alone. You have Dash; a girl can handle her own. Plus, whoever you forgot as well. They are with you in spirit. When you talked about them, you were hurting so much. Whoever it is, they're essential to you. Get back home and find them," smiled Alex. "Alex..." "Don't worry about us; we will find a way out of here. So, hurry and go; we will be fine," said Alex Dashie wanted to say no and stay, but the way Alex was looking at her, she couldn't help but nod her head as she ran off out of the building and into the streets. "Be safe, girl," whispered Alex. She weakly got up and watched the doorway; the darkness was filled with light from a glowing, burning sword. "Get home..." A while later, Dashie was running to the stadium after finding the location. "Come on, faster," said Dashie as she picked up speed, and she could feel the warmth of the shard in her pocket and take it out. She felt the Rainbow Shard was trying to reach out to the other shard and could feel the voice in her head getting louder. "Just a little bit more," she huffed. She turned the corner, saw the entrance, and hurried inside as she skipped through the gate guards, using the shard to guide her. She ran down the stairs and could see the glow was getting intense. "Hold on, Dash," said Dashie. Dashie found herself in the stands with other creatures, and suddenly, there was a large explosion above her. She watched as Midnight flew out of the smoke and landed on the ring. Soon to follow her was Rainbow Dash as she tried to grab the shard from her. Dashie tried to call out to her, but there was another explosion from the same area. She looked up and could see the Queen, who was chasing a white anthro pony. Before this whole event happened, Dash woke and found herself in a jail cell. She quickly got up, looked around, and saw her empty cell. "Hello? Dashie? Anyone?" called out Dash. There was no answer. "Darn it!" cursed Dash. "I see you awake, little one," came a voice from another cell beside her. "Huh?" wondered Dash, as she knew that caring voice. "Over here," said the voice as a white hand poked out of its cell and waved but was taking damage and returning to where it came from. Dash walked up to her cell bars and saw them glowing with magical energy. "I'm guessing this is magical?" "It is, so we can't break out of them," said the voice. "Well, that's not cool," said Dash. "I know, isn't it?" "Can you move closer so I can see you?" "I would, but if I come any closer, this field will shock me," the voice said. "Oh, right," said Dash. "That's alright; it's not your fault," said the voice. "So, why are you here?" Rainbow asked as she walked away from the bars and sat beside the cell wall. "I was trying to save someone important to me, and I failed," sighed the voice. "I'm sorry." "There is no need to apologize again; the fault was mine. I couldn't protect her because I was too weak to do what must be done." "What are you talking about? I don't understand." "Let me tell you something, little one: no matter the obstacle, no matter the foe, no matter the cost, protect those you love. If you can do that, you have truly succeeded." "Yeah, I like that, but I still don't get what you're talking about." "Don't worry, little one; you will know soon enough." "So, what's your name, anyway?" "Oh, forgive me, my name is Sunny." "That's a nice name." "Thank you." "No problem. I'm Rainbow Dash." "Rainbow Dash? Now, that's a cool name." "I know," smiled Dash. The two talked for a bit, and it seemed that time went by fast as the door suddenly opened. They saw Midnight coming in and walking up to Dash's cell. "I see you up." "Yeah, I am, and if you're thinking about touching my friend again, you got another thing coming girl!" yelled Dash as she tried not to make eye contact because every time she did, her mind became weird. "You have spirit; you look alike," said Midnight. "Look alike? Oh, you thought I was Flash this whole time?" "It was until now; you two are different up close." "Yeah, yeah, I get that a lot since getting here," laughed Dash as she slowly moved toward the cell bars, still careful not to stare at her as she noticed the shard on her wrist. "I don't get your joke, but it doesn't matter." "I'm glad because I wasn't making one anyway. Can I ask you something?" "What?" "Who gave you that shard around your wrist?" asked Dash. Midnight rubbed the shard as she looked at it and tried to hold back her smile. "The person...I want..." she started to say as her lifeless eyes slowly filled with life again. "Hey, are you alright?" questioned Dash. "I want to kill," said Midnight as she shook her head and turned her eyes back to normal. "What just happened?" wondered Dash. "You have a lot of nerve asking me questions." "Maybe I do, maybe I don't, but hey, I'm curious; besides, what else are we going to do in a place like this, right?" "Fair point, but I want answers. Where is Flash? Why do you almost look like her? Why did you take her place?" "That's a lot of questions. Let me see, Flash. I don't know where. I was told I look like her because I do, because, well, how can I say this without sounding crazy to a crazy pony? Well, because I am her, I'm from another universe. Happy?" smiled Dash. "Another Universe? Is this a joke?" "Do I look like a joking type of pony? Besides, what reason would I have to lie about this? I don't even know where I am, and all the creatures I know are gone now." "Fine, if you say true, why are you here?" "I was tossed into this universe." "By whom?" "I have no idea. Look, I'm just a pony who wants to go home." "Home?" "Yeah, you know, a place I belong, the people who are important to me and want to be with." "Home?" whispered Midnight as she turned to Sunny, who was listening the whole time. "That's right, home," replied Dash as she approached the shard. She quickly pretended to be doing something else, as she could tell Midnight was looking her way. "What's your home like?" asked Midnight. "Oh, man, I don't even know where to start," said Dash as she sat down and leaned her back against the cell wall. "Tell me everything," demanded Midnight. "Okay, well, first, there's my friends, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity, and then my number one fan, Scootaloo," smiled Dash. "Who's this Scootaloo?" asked Midnight. "Scootaloo is a young Pegasus, a sweetheart, a bit hyper, and my biggest fan. She is so awesome and always cheers me on." "Sounds like a wonderful girl." "Yeah, she is, always making me happy and smiling. Always following me and trying to be me. Sometimes, I'm a bad influence on her, but she's like, " "A sister..." chimed in Sunny as she finally spoke up. "Exactly!" yelled Dash. "Sometimes, others say I'm like a mom to her." "A mother..." Midnight walked away from Dash's cell and faced her former mother. "You don't deserve to be called "mother" or anything." "Maybe I don't, but my love for you is real. my daughter." "If it weren't for my real mother, I would have killed you!" said Midnight. "That's a lie, isn't it?" "No! No, it's not; if it weren't for my real mother, I wouldn't hesitate to end you." "Really?" "Yes, because if you were dead, I would no longer feel this weird pain and sadness when I look at you! Same when I think about "her"!" Sunny said nothing as Midnight returned to the doorway and turned to them. "You don't deserve to live, and it would have been best for everyone if you had died,' she said, and she walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. "Are you okay?" asked Dash. "She said she was your daughter, right? Doesn't that mean you are the master of Alex and the others?" Dash could hear her getting up and was now near the wall, as her voice was more extended and rewarding. Dash 100% knew who it was and made sense with Luna of this world. "Yes, you met Alex back in that match." "You were the one who saved us, wasn't it?" "Indeed, it was, and I'm glad you and the others made it out." "Thanks." "You're welcome. Now, let's get back to what you were telling Midnight. Are you really from another universe?" "Yeah, I am. I was thrown into this world after finding another." "That Rainbow Shard?" finished Sunny as she started to understand. "Yep. We found the shard in another universe and were sent here; after that, we were found by Alex and the others." "So, the Rainbow Shard brought you here, and it's the thing that can send you home?" "Maybe the other universe we came from wasn't our own." "So you are hoping this time it does?" "Yeah, exactly. You seem to understand and are taking this whole thing very well. Alex and your students didn't immediately believe it as they questioned it." "Ah, well, I'm sure your story is farfetched, but you look and sound like Flash, but you are not her. A mother knows her child. Even though Flash and the others are my students, they're like daughters to me." "So, you believe me?" "I do. It's the only explanation I can think of." "Thanks." "You're welcome." "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad Midnight locked you up." "Why is that?" "Because it gave us a chance to talk, and I think you're a pretty cool lady." "Oh, stop, you're making me blush," laughed Sunny. "So, what will we do about midnight?" asked Dash. "I'm afraid we can't do anything as long as we're in these cells," explained Sunny as she passed her hand through the bars, quickly stunned by the magical energy. Dash put her hoof on the bar but wasn't stunned by it. "Strange, it didn't hurt me." She swung her whole arm around the bars, and nothing was happening. "What!? Questioned Sunny as she quickly stood and tried to look. "Maybe it's because you don't have a magical power level? You can break free then!" Dash grinned as she backed away from the bars and flapped her wings. Dash flew out of her cell with one strong tackle, crashing into the wall. She recovered and quickly tackled Sunny into the cell, freeing her. Dash could see her for the first time and was right—it was this world, Celestia. "Nice going!" happily spoke Sunny as she helped Dash exit her cell. "Thanks. Now, let's get out here!" "No, I came here to face my sister and make Midnight return home. Plus, it would be best to have that shard to get home. Our world conflict isn't your own to begin with. You don't need to help us any further." "Nah, I don't care; my other self and I will help. After all, no matter how you guys look, you are still people I care about." "Such loyalty coming from a small person; thank you, Rainbow Dash!" cried Sunny as she petted her head. "Just like my Flash." "Hey, no problem, that's what I do," said Dash. "Now, let's hurry before we're caught," said Sunny as she took a pair of new sunglasses and put them on. "Right!" Dash and Sunny left the stadium's holding cells and quickly went upstairs. They found themselves in the locker room area, which was empty. They kept running and turned another corner, and they were now in a large hallway that headed further up the stadium. "How big is this place?" wondered Dash. "Very large. It's designed for the audience to view the fight. The VIP area should be in this section, as I scouted this area before your match happened." Sunny said as she led the way. They ran up the flight of stairs and stopped when they saw a large door ahead of them with two large rhinos. "It's right behind those doors. We must get in and pass the hallway security before we can reach the throne room. Once there, we can end this madness once and for all," explained Sunny. "How? How are we going to do that if there are guards?" "Leave that to me," Sunny said, walking and stopping in front of the two guards. "Halt! No one is allowed in!" said the left guard before realizing who it was. She tried to grab her weapon but was punched in the gut and tossed to the side, while the other guard was kicked through the door and crashed into the hallway where other guards protected each VIP door. They all noticed Sunny and came at her with their weapons, but they were all taken out in seconds and crashed into each other. Dash was amazed at how Sunny could do that and followed her inside the hallway. "Whoa, nice moves. That was awesome!" glee Dash said as she flew around Sunny. They started to head down the hallway. As they walked past, Dash could see nobles or rich folks poking their heads and wondering what the noise was. Dash could tell some of them were noble folks from her world. She even thinks that the blue cat woman is Trixie. "Are you ready?" asked Sunny as she was getting ready to kick down the door. "Yep!" nodded Dash as she landed on the floor. "Good, then, here we go!" Sunny kicked the door down, and both ran in. It was a large room with a giant chandelier on the ceiling, red carpet on the floor, and many paintings. Lunar was drinking her wine, and Midnight was standing there looking at them. Dash quickly covered her eyes from Midnight, as she didn't want to lose herself again. "Faker and the fake mother," she said as she stepped forward. "I don't know what she did to you, but I'm going to get you back, Midnight, and for you, dear sister, I should have killed you rather than run away with Midnight all those years ago." "You knew she had the Moon tribe's greatest element within her, didn't you, dear sister?" Lunar said as she got up and stepped forward. "The element of true magic The orb we thought we lost that night when we fused it with her was lying dormant for all this time. Isn't that right?" "You were going to use her like a weapon!" yelled Sunny. "Of course, that is our family goal, and it's the only reason I kept her alive all these years," laughed Lunar as she walked over to Midnight, touching her face. "Knowing full well that she would come in handy, We can finally take over the earth and rule it." "That's not going to happen, sis. I won't allow it." "Ha, and who's going to stop me, you? Don't make me laugh. You always hated that I was better than you in magical combat, and the only reason I haven't killed you is because you're still of use to me," said Lunar as her eyes glowed black as the night aura and runes appeared around her. "I'm going to make you my slave, just like Midnight here!" "Enslaved person!? You brainwashed her!" yelled Sunny as her anger released her Sun tribe magical energy. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" cried out Sunny. "Kill me?" smiled Lunar. "You can't be serious; it's your fault for running off with her and hiding her from me." "Enough; I won't listen to any of this. I'm going to beat you down until you have nothing but a lifeless body!" "Ha, I don't have to listen to you," smiled Lunar. "Kill the faker, and I'll handle my dear sister, my sweet Midnight." "As you wish, mother," smiled Midnight. Lunar and Midnight's magic started to fill the air as Dash felt the pressure of the magic. This was a lot of magic, making her feel uneasy. She carefully watched Midnight's legs as she flew right at her. She didn't have time to move or dodge as she was sent crashing into a wall, knocking the wind out of her. She coughed as she hit the ground. She looked up and saw what Midnight was looking at; her eyes were lifeless and cold. "Nothing happened?" thought Dash, as she wasn't losing it like before. "Does it have to do with the shards?" Midnight quickly pinned her down with her foot, and Dash couldn't move as she was kicked in the side, rolling across the ground and hitting another wall. She could feel the pain and knew she needed to fight back. "Dash!" yelled Sunny in fear, but she had to block an attack from her sister's magic. Dash looked and saw Lunar and Sunny were battling, and both were going all out. She couldn't see their fight because they were moving so fast and sending attacks. Their magic was flying everywhere, shattering things and hitting the walls. She quickly turned, dodged another attack, and flew up, avoiding a magical beam from Midnight. "You quick, I'll give you that," said Midnight as she fired more beams. "I am the fastest pony in Equestria!" proudly declared Dash as she flew past her. She had an idea and flew over to Midnight, quickly going under her and tackling her from behind, sending them both into the wall and holding her down as she started picking speed. "You're lucky! Hardly did this move in years! The Buccaneer Blaze!" yelled Dash as the room flashed with white beams, creating a large explosion and a huge hole. Midnight flew down to the ring as the smoke was still around, and Dash followed her and tried to grab the shard but was punched away. "I won't let anyone beat me! Not even a fake like you!" yelled Midnight, her fist engulfing purple flames. Dash quickly dodged the punch, and the whole area was blown away, destroying the arena. Dash had to cover her face as the blast was huge, and it took a moment for her to realize what happened. "If she lands on me like that, I'm dead!" thought Dash as she had to dodge another attack quickly. "I can't keep this up forever." As Dash flew around trying to avoid her, the shard started to shine bright. She felt her mind getting weirder, and her eyes widened when she realized what was happening to her. She could hear it. "You must protect her at all costs!" said a voice. "What the heck?" thought Dash as she tried to concentrate and avoid another attack. "Remember her," repeated the voice as Dash's mind fogged. "No! What's happening to me?" "Remember!" repeated the voice as Dash was feeling tired. "Remember, but" cut off Dash as she fell to the ground, holding her head. Midnight took notice and walked up to her. She was about to finish her off when she could see that reality around her was falling apart. She looked around and noticed the creature from before, as it was running up to the faker. "Stop!" said Dashie as she kept her eyes covered. "Don't do this! Alex told me, You need to fight the brainwash spell!" "I don't need to!" yelled Midnight as she walked up to her, but looking at her closer, she reminded her of someone. He reminds her of "her," but why? "I can't. I need..." "You can! Fight back!" cried Dashie as she tried to grab her hand. "You aren't alone. Think about your friends! They came to save you! Your mother, too! Even her!" "Her? Her!" thought Midnight, as her mind was a mess. "I notice now that every time you ask for her, you have sadness in your eyes. You want her to save you, don't you?" "Save me? Her?" "Your best friend!" "My what? Flash? She's the one I hate!" said Midnight as she held her head. "But why?" "Why do you hate her? Think about it! Don't you remember your fun with her and the others?" "Others? The girls...they...no! said Midnight as her head started to hurt. "Don't fight it! Let the memories return!" "I can't. I can't," cried Midnight as she remembered hurting her friends, her best friends in the whole world, and how they were trying to save her. She remembered the pain she felt when she was hurting Rebecca. "Rebecca, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" "That's it. You're coming back," smiled Dashie, her mind feeling weird as she slowly moved her hand away from her eyes and grabbed Midnight's hand fully. "I don't want to fight. I don't want to hurt my friends!" cried out Midnight as she started to cry. "Flash! Why didn't you save me? I needed you! You promise!" "She did. She did come and save you, didn't she?" asked Dashie. "Huh?" asked Midnight as her eyes started to return with life in them, and the runes on her horn began to spark. "We're not here, but yet, we are here. We're here now, and we're going to save you." Dashie trailed off as her eyes were filled with static. She dropped to her knees as her shard floated out of her pocket, and Midnight's own shard tried to float to it but was chained to the friendship bracelet. "Flash?" whispered Midnight as she touched it and smiled. Right, you told me you would always be with me." Midnight Horn blasted purple energy, removing the runes and freeing her. "Thank you," said Midnight as she looked at Dashie and Dash. She let go of the bracelet as the shard floated to the other shard and became one, creating a pillar of rainbow light and covering the whole area. The light vanished as a static and glitchy landscape appeared and soon took the form of a park with a running track, and not too far from it was a baseball field and stands. Dashie was sleeping on the stands, wearing jogging clothes. It was a perfect sunny day; the sun was high, and a gentle breeze flowed through the park. As Dashie slept, she was slowly awakened by the bleachers shaking and someone saying, "Oh, shoot." Dashie opened her eyes and saw a short black-haired girl whose face was covered in prism colors but wearing the same middle school uniform. She was trying to pass her without being too noisy but failing. "Sorry, did I wake you?" asked the girl. "Um, yeah, but it's okay; I was planning on getting up anyway," replied Dashie as she sat up. "You sure? You look exhausted; I can let you get some more rest." "Yeah, I'm good," yawned Dashie as she got up, stretched her left arm up, and could feel the warmth of the afternoon. "Okay," said the girl. Dashie rubbed her eyes and saw the girl sitting a few spots away from her and reading a book. "So, what brings you here on a nice afternoon like this? To just read a book?" asked Dashie. "Yeah, I like reading while relaxing." "Sounds boring," teased Dashie. The girl looked up and smiled. "Boring? This isn't boring; it's great!" "Well, what are you reading, if you don't mind me asking?" asked Dashie. "Well, I was planning on reading this," said the girl, holding up a thick book with a blue cover and gold letters, "but I just started reading this one." Dashie looked closer and could see it was some science-looking book. "Um, that doesn't look like a normal book." "Oh, well, it's not; it's a textbook on quantum mechanics." "Quantum...mechanics, you lost me at quantum," laughed Dashie. "Sorry, but it's cool!" "Yeah, yeah, so what's your name?" asked Dashie, as she was curious about this girl. "It's..." but before the girl could say her name, static filled the area, and Dashie flickered to Dash as if she was in another place but didn't question it. She was on the ground laughing as the purple unicorn mane was all messed up, and just like the other girl, her face was covered in prism colors. "Let me guess, you're Rainbow Dash?" the unicorn questioned. "The one and only. Why have you heard of me?" Dash proudly said as she pounded her chest. "I heard you were supposed to be keeping the sky clear," sighed the unicorn as she approached Dash. "I'm..." Again, another static flashed. Dash and Dashie flickered between the two as she found herself in the bar, fighting off a group of male ponies as they were wearing biker outfits. "Hey, hooves off!" yelled Dash as she punched the male pony. "Hey, why you little bitch?" yelled the male pony. The group of ponies started to beat down Dashie. She fought back but was soon taken down and held by a big white-earth pony. "You think you can challenge us? This is our turf!" said the biker. "Yeah, yeah, let me go, you big brute," yelled Dashie. "Big brute?" asked the biker as he tightened his hold on Dashie. Dash started to laugh and smile at him. "Hey, no hard feelings, right?" "Feeling? What are you talking about?" asked the biker as he released his grip a little and could feel Dashie's foot smacking his balls. "That!" laughed Dash as she quickly took the biker out and started to beat down the others. "You fucking cunt!" yelled a blue unicorn male as he cast a fireball spell, which Dashie quickly dodged. "Ha, is that all you got?" The unicorn male was pissed off and charged at her, casting more fireballs, and soon the entire bar was burning. Dashie could feel the heat of the fires but didn't care and continued to beat down the unicorns. "You're the worst!" cried the unicorn as he and the others exited their burning bar. "THIS IS MY TURF!" screamed Dash as she jumped out of the burning bar, shaking her hoof at them before grabbing her sides. She was laughing so hard but in great pain. She walked off as she could hear the police and fire truckers coming. She ran down the street, and rain started to fall. She ran into an alley and sat on a crate. "Damn, that was awesome! I'm so awesome." she proudly said. Dashie laid her head back and closed her eyes, and the sound of rain helped her relax. She thought she was going to rest but was interrupted as a police car could be heard stopping at the entrance. She quickly bolted further down the alley and saw an open door. She hurried in and locked it. She rested her head against the door and could still feel the rain landing on her. She looked up and could see the dark gray clouds, realizing this was some open flower garden with a big tree in the middle as she scanned the area. "I better stay low for a while," she thought. She walked over to the large tree and was about to sit down when she saw a purple alicorn reading a book, who quickly took notice of her and screamed. Unlike the others, though, she could make out her face. "Who are you?" asked the alicorn as she picked up her book and was ready to use it as a weapon. "It's Dash/Dashiell..." weakly replied both. They were flickering between each other, and they finally passed out from the pain and landed in front of the alicorn. Static filled their minds again, and before disappearing, they could see the rainbow comet before them and the same big tree, and standing near it was the alicorn. They raised their arms, and both didn't realize it, but instead of flickering between each other's bodies, it was one body, Dashie's hand was blue as she tried to reach out to the alicorn before both opened their eyes. They found themselves on a grassy hill, and looking down from it, they saw a small town. Above the town were chibi magical girls of Dash's friends, standing on their hind legs rather than on all fours as they were fighting a shadow monster. "Ugh, cried Dash as she fell backward on the hill while Dashie joined her. Unknown to them, Dash vanished from her lower half before it returned to normal. A small front piece of Dashie's hair became yellow, orange, and a bit of green in the back, and her jacket changed once more. end of chapter 3
Chapter 4 Dashie opened her eyes, revealing her new pink eyes. She saw the night sky above her and felt the breeze around her. Her eyes widened as she slightly tilted her head up. She could see Dash sleeping beside her, and she lowered her head back down. Dashie was happy but also upset. She was hoping she was dreaming of this multiverse adventure she was having, but no, it was all real. 'Is there any way I can go home or at least tell my friends where I am? I wonder how long we have been here and when we head home.' Dashie thought to herself. "Well, I told myself I wanted something more than running," Dashie said with a sigh, looking up at the sky and closing her eyes. "But I didn't think it would be like this. I can't be mad about it, not now anyway. I mean, this is something no one will ever experience." Dashie added as she tried to drift off to sleep again, unaware that something was watching her within the cracking sky as it fully healed. Rainbow Dash woke up to Dashie's movements, yawned, and slowly opened her eyes to find that the human form of herself was awake. She quickly stood up as she noticed the changes that Dashie had now, and it wasn't just the new jacket, which was pure blue now, but that hair was different colors. "Hey, what's up with your hair and eyes?" Dash asked as Dashie turned her head around to face her. She didn't understand what she meant, so she pulled down a few strains of her hair to look at them and saw they were colored differently than her normal dyed blue hair. "What the hell!" said Dashie as she noticed the orange and yellow streaks of hair. She pulled the back of her hair on her shoulder, and she could see green and purple streaks. "What the..." Dashie said in confusion. "Oh, that's so cool!" said Rainbow Dash with a smile. "You have streaks of my colored mane in your hair! Your eyes are the same color as mine, too!" Rainbow said in awe, looking closely at the human's hair and eyes. "That's great, but I do not like this. It's freaking me out a little bit." Dashie said, looking at Rainbow Dash. "Don't worry, it's awesome; trust me. You look a lot better and cooler than you did before." Rainbow Dash said, grinning. "Gee, thanks," Dashie said it sarcastically. "You're welcome." Rainbow Dash replied, still smiling. Dashie rolled her eyes and laid back down. "Was it the shard that changed my hair and eyes?" Dashie asked herself. "I don't know, maybe? Probably." Rainbow said, shrugging. Dashie put her hands on her eyes and suddenly remembered the day she dyed her hair a rainbow. It was a year ago. It was Pride Month, and school had just ended for the year. It was summer, and Dashie was excited about it. She and her friends were at a mall and walked into a hair store. "Wow, this is such a huge hair store. They got Everything," said Penny. "Yeah, I know, right, Darling? There's so much stuff to buy. And the prices are so cheap. It's amazing," replied Rachel, picking up a bottle of purple dye and showing it to her friends. "Check this out. This is called "Lavender Luscious." "Luscious Lavender. Cool." Dashie said, walking over. "It's not lavender. It's Luscious. Look." Rachel pointed to the words written on the front. "Oh, sorry," Dashie said as she rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, it's fine," Rachel replied, patting Dashie on the back. "Okay. So, are we going to buy anything today or not? 'Cause I'm getting bored," said AJ as she was ready to go home rather than stay in this rich, people-looking store much longer. "Alright, alright. Just relax." Rachel said as she placed the bottle of dye back and allowed Dashie to look at every color they had, "Darling, I'm shocked you're going to dye your beautiful chestnut hair into a rainbow. Why?" "Because it's not enough, you know. It's plain. I need something, anything, to make it a bit more interesting. I want to be colorful. Even more so for this month," trailed Dashie as she grabbed a bottle of black hair dye. "Hmm, black? No, no, no. Put that down, Darling. How about you try the green and purple ones, but not the black ones? Black isn't part of the Rainbow. We don't want you to be all dark and emo-looking now?" Rachel asked, smirking. "I'm not going to be dark and emo. What's wrong with black? It's part of the Rainbow, isn't it?" Dashie said, looking at the bottle. "Well, not the one you're holding, silly. It's not a part of the Rainbow," said Rachel as she grabbed the bottle from Dashie's hands and replaced it with a bottle of purple and green dye. "Oh, alright then," said Dashie as she looked at the new bottle of dye. "Hey, if you want, you can buy the bottle I'm holding. It's called "Blue Berry Blush." I'm sure it would look great on you." Rachel said, smiling. "Really?" Dashie said as she looked up from the bottle and looked at Rachel. "Of course. If you don't like it, you can always buy a different one. But this one would look good with the other dyes." Rachel said as she put the bottle in the hand cart. "OOOOOOOO, how about this one, too?" Penny said as she grabbed indigo and violet dye bottles. "Alright, alright. Don't grab all of the colors," said Rachel, laughing as she saw Penny taking more than they needed. "Oh, too much?" Penny said, looking at the bottle she was holding. "Yes, Dash is just dying her hair, not painting a barn house," laughed AJ as she helped Penny return the bottles she took. "Sorry," Penny said, putting the bottle back. "Don't worry, it's fine," Rachel replied. Faith, who was in the back of the group and quiet, picked up a bottle of red and orange brand dye and very quietly told the girls, "I think... these look pretty good." "That's perfect, Faith," Rachel said as she put the red and orange dye bottle in the cart, making Faith smile. "That's it! Let's buy these, return home, and get your hair done. We can't wait all day." "Finally," said AJ. "Woo-hoo!" said Penny. "I'm so excited! We're going to have so much fun, Darling."Rachel said as she walked towards the counter. "Yeah, we sure are," said Dashie, looking at the bottle of dyes and smiling. "Come on, come on. Hurry up." Rachel said as everyone was in line and getting the dyes paid for. "Hold your horses," Dashie said. "I'm holding it. That's why I'm telling you to hurry up." Rachel replied, giggling. "Alright, alright," said Dashie, smiling and rolling her eyes as the group left the store. The group finally arrived at Dashie House, which was two stories and white with blue trims. They went inside, upstairs, and into the bathroom. "Alright, it's time to get your hair dyed. Get ready for a lot of fun," said Rachel as she removed the plastic covering the bottles and started pouring the colors into small bowls. "Okay. Can you help me out? I have never dyed my hair different colors before," Dashie said. "Of course. We'll help you out," said Rachel as she finished mixing the dyes. "Thank you," said Dashie, smiling. "Alright, sit on the chair and lean your head back," Rachel said as she put on gloves and a hair cap. "Okie dokie," said Dashie as she sat on the chair and leaned her head back. "Now, close your eyes. I'm going to start now." Rachel said. "Let's do this!" Dashie replied. "Here we go," Rachel said as she poured a purple color onto Dashie's hair. "No." Penny was awed at the colors, making Dashie open her eyes slightly. "Don't peek. It could ruin your eyes. Stay still." Rachel said, smirking. "I got it," said Dashie as she closed her eyes tightly. "Good. Alright, now I'm going to use the green. Here we go," said Rachel as she started applying the green color. "Yay!" Penny cheered. "How's it going, Dash?" AJ asked as she was leaning in the doorway. "Pretty good. My scalp is itchy, though." Dashie replied, smiling. "Aww." Rachel cooed, giggling. "Okay, now for the orange and red," Rachel said as she began applying the last two colors. "Almost there, Darling. Almost there. There, all done," said Rachel as she placed the bottles and bowls away. "Really?" Dashie said. "Yep," Rachel replied, removing the gloves. "So, I can open my eyes now?" Dashie asked. "Sure, but keep them closed for a minute," Rachel said as she put the hair cap on Dashie's head and covered her eyes. "Okay," Dashie replied as she sat patiently in the chair. "Okay, all done," Rachel said, removing the hair cap. "Alright, I can open my eyes," Dashie said as she opened her eyes. "Ta-da! What do you think, Darling?" Rachel asked as she and her friends moved out of the way, revealing the mirror. Dashie could see that her long chestnut hair was now rainbow-colored. "Wow!" Dashie said, smiling widely. "It looks awesome!" Penny shouted with joy. "It looks amazing," AJ added. "Yeah, you look pretty cool," said Faith. "Beautiful," chimed in Rachel as she took a photo of Dashie on her phone. "Wow, you can rock that Rainbow look! Girl, Pride month was truly made for you," said Penny, making the group laugh. "Thanks. Thank you all." Dashie said as she got up from the chair. "You're welcome, Darling. Now, we're not going to wash the colors out. We're going to let it stay. It will stay the same for three days." Rachel explained. "Got it," said Dashie, grinning. "So, what are we going to do next?" Penny asked. "Oh, I know what?" Rachel suggested. "Like what?" AJ asked. Rachel slowly slid in on Dashie's side with a big smile, making Dashie sweat slightly. "Let's have a girl talk." "A girl talks, really?" said Dashie, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, a girl talks," Rachel repeated. "...like wha-," but before Dashie could finish, Rachel quickly said what she wanted since Dashie asked her about dying her hair like a rainbow. "This is for "her," isn't it?" Dashie blushed, looked down, and didn't answer the question, but the answer was clearly yes. "Oh, my gosh, I knew it. I'm a love guru, after all," said Rachel as she did a victory dance. "What are you talking about?" AJ said, confused. "Dash has a crush on -static-., Rachel replied, smiling. "Whoa, really?" said AJ as she smiled at her friend. "Good for you." "Oh, static did say she loves the rainbows. "The refraction of light through a prism was cool," whispered Faith. "So, are you going to tell her?" asked Penny, hopping around Dashie in the small bathroom. "Well, I don't know," Dashie replied, stuttering. "Why not?" asked AJ. "Yeah, why not?" said Faith. "Yeah, Darling, why not? She's a great person. She's fun to be around." "Yeah, she's smart, pretty damn awesome, her nerdy side is cute, she's beautiful, and she has a nice attitude." Dashie cut herself as she covered her mouth and looked away from the girls, her face bright red. "Whoa, she has it bad," replied AJ in shock. "Can you blame her? Static has junk in the trunk!" added Penny as she pointed at her butt and shook it a bit. "Oh my god, Penny," Dashie said, blushing more. "Darling, if you're not going to tell her, at least hint at her or give her some clue that you're interested in her," Rachel suggested. "Maybe..." "Well, we have nothing better to do. So, we can help," said AJ. "Really?" said Dashie, returning her attention to her friends. "Yes. So, what's the plan?" Rachel asked. "Uhhh..." Dashie stuttered, scratching the back of her head. Before Dashie could answer the question, she could hear her mother calling out to her. That static was here. She started to freak out as the girls just laughed at her. She took the dye bottles to her room and looked for a hat to hide her hair when "she" walked in. Dashie turned to the door and blushed as she was there, but she realized something. She looked at the girl's face, which was covered in prism effects. "Dashie?" "Who are you?" whispered Dashie as Everything around her glitched out, and her bedroom was replaced with clouds. She found herself flying in the air and could hear the same voice from before as she was right behind her. "Rainbow, I'm sorry about all that! We didn't mean to overwhelm you!" "It's okay. You were trying to help. It's just too bad I'm too dumb to learn anything." Sadly, said Dashie as she slowed down and saw a flying purple unicorn with her face covered with prism effects. As they kept flying, the memory quickly flashed back to Dashie's world, where she was walking and flying with the girl from before, before it flashed back to them flying. "You are not dumb! You learn differently!" "If by "differently" you mean "not at all," then you're right." "No, that's wrong!" the alicorn correctly said as she put her hoof on Dashie's side. See? Wrong again." Dashie sighed as if she was being stupid again. "I don't know anyone who's read more Daring Do books than you." "Well, that won't get me into the Wonderbolts." The alicorn started to panic at Dashie's response, "And your knowledge of jokes and pranks is only rivaled by Pinkie." "Great. My years as a class clown prevented me from learning how to learn!" Dashie yelled as she threw her hand in the air. "That's not what I meant. You're smart, creative, inventive, and—" softly said the alicorn before another static flashed between Dash and Dashie's worlds. Dashie was back in her world, but it was nighttime as they walked down a sidewalk. She stopped as the girl jumped in front of her with her arms out so Dashie wouldn't pass her. "Cool! You are amazing; you can run like the wind! When you do, that's when I see you being you. Nothing can hold you back. It's beautiful. You're beautiful," softly cried the girl as she lowered her arms. You are smart. You'll pass the test. I know you can. So please stop saying you're dumb or useless."The girl started to cry. That's not like you." Dashie's heart started to beat fast as she was lost for words; she started to tear up. "...-static-..." Suddenly, the memory glitched out as the world became a large garden with a massive tree in the middle. Dashie found herself all beat up again, but this time, the purple alicorn, whose face wasn't covered by prism effects, was treating her wounds. "This isn't like you, you know?" said the alicorn as she put the ice pack on Dash's face and flickered between Dashie and herself. "Why are you doing the whole "this is my turf" stuff again?" Dashie said nothing as she hid her face under the ice pack. "Not going to tell me? Be like that!" angrily said the alicorn as she stormed off. "Because I can't stand to see you get hurt. Because you are the one pony that means Everything to me," quietly said Dash as she peeked out of the ice pack. "No freaking gang, heck, not even the world is going to ruin this wonderful place." Static. Strong static filled the memory as someone or something was behind the tree as it peeked its head out; its eyes were glowing and dripping white liquid, and its body was glitchy rainbow effects. Its neck started to stretch, and its head loomed over Dashie's head, which began to flicker between herself and Dash until it attacked them with its large mouth... "What the!" shouted Dashie as she quickly sat up from the ground and was covered in a cold sweat. She turned to Rainbow to tell her what she saw, but she could also see Rainbow freaking out as she backed away from her. "What was that just now?" yelled Rainbow, breathing heavily. "You saw it too?" Dashie replied, panting. "Freaking, yeah!" Rainbow responded, "Everything! Seeing your versions of my friends, her, then that thing—those white eyes—weird! Then there's that place with the tree. It's not like anything I've ever seen!" "Right? I've never seen anything like it, either." Dashie said, trying to calm herself. "What's happening to us?" asked Dash as she calmed down. "I have no idea..." said Dashie, calming herself down. "It was so...so...real," said Dash, holding her head, trying not to get a headache. "Yeah, I thought we were still asleep," said Dashie, holding her head as well. "But we were awake! That was the freaky part. It felt so real." Dash responded, shivering. "Yeah, I've had dreams before. But nothing like this." Dashie added, nodding her head. "Me neither." "Do you think it's the shard?" asked Dashie, looking at the shard, which was still dim. "It's got to be," said Dash, nodding. "Maybe," Dashie said, getting up and stretching as she noticed it was noon now. "We're not sure how or why, but this thing's having some strange effects on us." "Yeah, well, that's for sure," replied Dash, nodding. "Maybe it's the reason we can't remember those girls?" Dashie turned to her and nodded back. "Yeah, for some reason, they're important to us. We need to remember them. What they look like and their names. Dashie grabbed her chest softly and blushed. "I think...she's my world." "Your world?" "Yeah, the only person I want to spend the rest of my life with. My other half, My soulmate. What about you? Since we're different versions of ourselves, it means that you love that alien." Dash blushes at the word love. "W-well, she's nice and pretty cool. She's smart and pretty good with magic, and she's a good leader and kind of a control freak, but not in a bad way." "Wow, you do love her," Dashie said, blushing more, as she was right—they're the same person no matter how different they look. "Whoa, I don't like her like that! We're friends, right?" explained Dash as she held her head. "Wait, where did all that come from?" "It's not a bad thing. It's the truth. You need to realize that." Dashie said, smirking. "N-no... I don't love her. We're friends! Nothing more!" shouted Dash, denying it. "Whatever, we should get ready to leave and look for the shard in this universe," Dashie said, rolling her eyes. Dash mumbled as they started to walk to the nearby town, but Dash quickly flew up to Dashie's face and smiled. "Soooooooo, you are into butts too, huh?" Dashie blushed bright red. "What?! No, no, no. I'm not a bad person. Nope, nope, nope." "Sure, you aren't," teased Dash as she laughed. "I saw that memory of you as you were remembering and checking out that girl's butt. You were drooling a bit, you know." "I was not! It was a natural bodily reaction! Besides..." Dashie looked away as her ears got red. "It was a nice view." "Wow, your AJ was right; you have it bad, huh?" teased Dash as she slapped Dashie's butt. "Ah!" yelled Dashie. "Hey!" "Come on, let's get going," said Dash, giggling, flying to the nearby town. "Yeah, whatever," said Dashie as she walked towards the town. Every pony in the town looked on in awe as they watched the two standing at the gates. Some quickly ran away, while others took photos. Standing there were two giant creatures; one was a pony like them but was on all fours rather than on its hind legs, had wings, and very much looked like a certain magical girl, while the other was a very tall creature that no one had ever seen before. "Um, where should we start?" asked Dashie, looking at the small town and the chibi ponies. "Let's just walk and see what happens," said Dash as she floated into the air, carefully not damaging anything below her. "Just don't step on anyone, okay?" "Gotcha," replied Dashie, who was tipping toes around the buildings but was also careful not to knock anything over. "What's wrong with that big pony and the weird creature?" shouted a small pony child as he pointed to the giants. "We're scaring the children!" whispered Dashie, looking slightly scared. "Just keep moving, and everything will be fine," said Dash, floating near her ear. "Easy for you to say. You can fly!" whispered Dashie as she kept walking, causing the crowd to follow her. "So, is the shard glowing or whatever?" Dashie looked out the shard from her pocket, which was still dim like before. "No." "Oh, well, let's keep going," said Dash, looking around. As they kept walking, Dash spotted a familiar building and quickly approached it. It was a baker's shop, like the Cake shop back home. "Dash, are you hungry or something?" asked Dashie, slowly nearing her head. "Huh, oh, no. I just thought this shop looked like the one Pinkie works out in," Dash replied as she stared at the building. "Wait, is this building?" asked Dashie as she looked closer. "Yeah, they're the same; it's like looking at a photo. Just the same," said Dash, looking a little sad. "Are you okay?" "No, no, no. It's just that... Pinkie has great baking and cooking skills; it's nice to see something similar once." As the two were talking, a white-earth pony with a yellow mane stepped out as she noticed the crowd of people. "Excuse me, can I help you with anything?" asked the white pony to the group, but everyone pointed to the giants as she followed the pointing, "Huh?" The white pony gasped loudly as she saw the two. "Whoa, are you two like new monsters in town?" "Huh, monsters?" replied Dashie. "The last two weren't that scary, but these ones are." "Last two monsters? What does she mean?" asked Dash, turning to Dashie. "I don't know. Maybe she was talking about the monster we saw as we got here?" said Dashie, shrugging her shoulders. "This looks like a job for the magical element fruits!" shouted the white pony. "Which isn't me? Bye!" she said as she zipped into the shop, only for a pink glow to appear inside. Quickly stepping out was Pinkie Pie, wearing a pink dress and a different-looking gummy at her side. "Someone called for pink peach pie!" she shouted as she did a cute pose. "Pink peach pie?" quietly said the two in unison. "I am Pink Peach Pie, and this is my pal, gummy!" Pinkie said, holding the alligator as it smiled at them. "Uh, hello, there," replied Dashie, awkwardly waving at the earth pony. "Hello!" greeted Gummy, and the girls screamed in surprise, except for Pink. "Your alligator can talk?" shouted Dashie, pointing to Gummy. "Yup! He's a magical gummy lizard." Pink giggled. "Magical, huh?" Dash said, looking at the lizard and noticing a faint pink aura around it. "Yep. It's his superpower! He can talk!" exclaimed Pink, holding a gummy in her arms. "Also this," said Gummy as he started to cough up something. "Wait, give me a minute!" "It's okay, Gummy," said Pink as she held him in her arms. Gummy then coughed out a very long cannon gun and pointed it at Dash, whose eyes went wide. "Whoa, what's that for?" Dash asked, floating back a little. "Don't worry, Gummy is just playing around," assured Pink. "Yeah, but," said Dashie, worried about the gun. "Gumball cannon!" shouted Gummy as he fired, and a bunch of pink peach cream came shooting out and blasting Dash away from the town and into the distant forest. "Dash!" screamed Dashie as she quickly ran after her, but she was stopped by Pink Peaches and Gummy floating in front of her. "Oh, you want some too?" asked Gummy, cocking the gun. "No!" shouted Dashie as she slid backward in fear, but she quickly remembered there were ponies under her. She tried to catch her fall, but something held her with two hooves. "Trying to crush the town folks, I see!" said a female voice. "That voice, AJ?" thought Dashie as she felt lifted and tossed into the town square, where no one was around. She landed and could see an orange-earth pony on a roof. She was wearing a magical girl cowboy outfit and dressed in red as a dog standing next to her. "Red Apple Crisp won't allow you to hurt anyone here!" said Red as she did a cowboy pose. "What's going on? I don't want to fight anyone." Dashie said, feeling a little scared. "Well, you're about to get some, darling!" said a new voice as a white and purple-dressed unicorn landed next to Red and did a fancy pose with lights, which made Red facepalm. "White Blackberry Cobbler is here!" Soon, a cat landed on her head and began yawning. "Great," groaned Red as she kicked away the lights. "What's going on? I have no idea what's happening!" cried Dashie, backing away from the two magical girls. "You're going down, big girl," said Red as she jumped from the roof. "I don't want to fight anyone!" repeated Dashie, trying to back away more, but Red was quick as she grabbed her foot and slammed her down. "I'll teach you to attack this town and hurt the people I care about!" shouted Red as she jumped on top of her, punching her repeatedly. "Ow! Ow! Stop!" pleaded Dashie, trying to grab her, but Red was too fast. "Hey! Leave some for me, darling!" shouted White as she joined the punching. "Ahh!" shouted Dashie in pain. "You're not so tough, are you?" shouted Red, continuing the punches. "Stop, please!" begged Dashie. "Not until you're defeated," said Red, stopping the punches and removing a red rope with a star at the end. "Aww, is the big, mean monster crying?" teased White, giggling. "No, please!" cried Dashie, trying to crawl away, but the rope tied her feet. "It's Time for you to go back where you came from," said Red, grabbing the star, which began to glow red. "Wait!" pleaded Dashie, but Red pulled the star, and a giant red hole opened up and sucked her in. "Welp, another day as a magical girl," said Red, putting her hooves on her hips. "Another day," repeated White, nodding her head. "Goodbye, big scary monster!" shouted Pink Peach Pie, waving at the hole as she arrived but turning to her friends. "You think we should have listened to her?" "Nah, she was lying," said Red, waving it off. "Well, time to go home," said White, walking away. "I should bake some cupcakes," said Pink, skipping after her. "Good idea, you two, but we got to clean up the mess," said Red, following after them. Gummy and the other pets were the last ones left as they were looking into the hole with their vision, and they could see Dashie floating in the red void. "She's not like the other monsters," questioned Winona. "Agreed, I think we should listen to her," replied Opalescence as she hopped into the red hole, followed by Winona. "I'll stay here and shallow this gun back down," said Gummy as he tried to push the cannon back down his throat, creeping out other ponies as they walked past. Meanwhile, Dash woke up and saw she had landed in an open field with a waterfall and a small lake. She knew this place as she stood and shook the peach cream off her body. "Isn't this Fluttershy's animal sanctuary?" Dash asked, looking around and noticing the waterfall. "Yeah, it looks the same as the one back home," said Dash, looking up at the sky and seeing a colorful bird flying above. She quickly remembered what had just happened to her and that she needed to protect Dashie from this world, Pinkie, but she suddenly saw someone at the top of the waterfall. Dash could see it was Fluttershy wearing a yellow dress, and next to her was Angel. "You dare to hurt my animals, you monster!" shouted Fluttershy as she did a cute pose and blushed red. "Yellow Banana Cream is here!" "Oh, great," grumbled Dash, rolling her eyes. "How dare you hurt innocent animals? Prepare to die!" shouted Yellow as she fired a giant banana cream pie at her, which exploded on her, making a cloud of cream. "Oh, no. Did I overdo it?" said Yellow, covering her mouth in shock. "Ugh, is that the best you got, Fluttershy?" complained Dash as she came out of the smoke, wiping the cream off her body. Yellow sighed with relief but quickly blushed as she shouted, "It wasn't like I worried about you or anything! Baka!" "Uh, okay?" replied Dash, confused about what was happening. "Come on, Angel," said Yellow, jumping down and Angel following her. "Um, wait a second," said Dash, trying to call her but being interrupted. "Yellow Banana Cream will be your executioner!" said Yellow as she jumped in the air and spun her body around to do a drill kick. "Whoa!" said Dash as she flew out of the way. "Fluttershy, what are you doing?" "Die, you monster!" yelled Yellow, kicking her. "Okay, okay. That's it." Dash said, having enough and pinning the mare down, "Fluttershy, stop attacking me! It's me, Rainbow Dash." "Liar! Blue Berry Rainbow isn't large!" cried Yellow, trying to escape but being held tight. "Fluttershy, I know this sounds crazy, but I'm not the same Rainbow Dash. I'm from another universe and came here when a comet fell," Dash explained. "What?" exclaimed Yellow, unsure if she should believe her. "Yeah, the comet has this magic, I guess, and it transported me, well, us—not us, but me and another version of me—here, and the only way back home is using a rainbow shard from this universe." "That does sound crazy, but I'll give you a chance, big Rainbow. But if you're lying, you'll be sorry, " said Yellow, still holding while Angel kicked Dash back. "Fine by me, just stop attacking me, okay?" Dash replied, releasing her. "Okay," said Yellow, standing up. "So, what's with the outfit?" asked Dash. "It's my magical girl uniform," answered Yellow. "Right." "So, what are we looking for exactly?" asked Yellow, walking around Dash. "A rainbow piece. We think we'll find one if we follow our rainbow shard."Dash stopped and remembered about Dashie, who had the shard. "Oh, no. Dashie!" "Who's Dashie?" questioned Yellow. "Remember what I said before? Well, a different version of myself. We were separated after Pinkie attacked us!" "Oh, dear," said Yellow, but she quickly blushed as she faced away. "It's not that I'm worried about your other self or anything! BAKA!" "Okay? Let's hope Pinkie doesn't send her flying as well." Dash said, flying back to town. "Wait!" said Yellow as she tried to catch up. "What is it?" asked Dash, turning back to her. "Um, I mean, if I can help in any way, please let me," requested Yellow, looking down. "You're helping already, Fluttershy. Just by believing me," said Dash. "I don't know. You are a large stranger, after all," said Yellow, looking nervous. "Yeah, I can't argue with you, but trust me. You can always trust Rainbow Dash." Dash said, flying back to the town, and Yellow smiled as she knew her Rainbow would act like this. Back in the town, Red and White were still cleaning up the village from the attack, and White was annoyed about having to work so much, even if the work wasn't hard. "You're so lazy," groaned Red, shaking her head. "I know, darling," whined White, not moving from her spot. "Get back to work," ordered Red. "Fine, fine," grumbled White, getting back to cleaning. "Good. The sooner we finish, the sooner you can go home or whatever," said Red, returning to the square. "Yeah, yeah," replied White, not caring. Suddenly, White and Red could see a rainbow light heading to town. "Is that blueberry?"She's coming fast," asked White. "I don't think that's blue! It's too big!" exclaimed Red. They watched as the rainbow blur flew over their heads and finally stopped in the air. Both magical girls were confused as they were staring at Dash. "Is that blue?" asked Red. "Maybe she got bigger?" questioned White. "I'm not sure," said Red. "It doesn't matter! She's a threat!" said White, changing her broom into a sizeable white hammer. "White! Stop looking!" shouted Red. "Hi, everyone!" shouted Yellow as she waved from her position on Dash's head while Dash landed next to the girls. "Is that blue?" asked Red. "What happened to her?" exclaimed White. "Guys, calm down. This is," said Yellow, but was interrupted. "Blue? Are you okay?" asked Red, ignoring her. "She's not blue!" shouted Yellow in pure rage. "She's right, short story; I'm from another universe and might look like your rainbow," said Dash. "I'm not from here or a monster; I'm looking at myself."Did you see her anywhere? She's just as big as me." Red and white both looked at each other with worry. "We saw her, but..." said White, remembering that event. "Where?" asked Dash. "We sent her to the pocket universe." finished Red. "What now?" questioned Dash, unsure what a pocket universe was. "We'll explain," said Red as she and White explained the pocket universe to Dash. Meanwhile, Dashie was falling down and could feel like she was falling forever until she saw a flash of light and landed on a soft, rubber floor. She could see a rainbow path in front of her and saw it lead to a forest, and far in the distance was a castle. All the objects looked normal size, too. "This way, huh?" said Dashie, starting her way down the path. As she traveled down the path, she could feel something watching her. She turned around, seeing nothing behind her, but she continued. Finally, she reached the castle before her, and the sky was full of rainbows. "Weird," said Dashie, unsure how to get inside the castle. She could see the big door but tried to push it open. "Come on, open!" Dashie continued to push the door, but it was no use. She started to think and came up with an idea, raising her hands and shouting, "Open sesame!" Nothing happened "Welp, I tried everything I could do!" shouted Dashie as she walked away. She stopped when she heard a voice. "Hey, come back!" shouted the voice. "Huh?" questioned Dashie as she looked around and couldn't find anyone. "Up here!" shouted the voice again. She looked up and saw a small purple alicorm in a window above the door. "Sorry I didn't see you there," said Dashie. "What are you?" asked the alicorn. "What are you?" repeated Dashie. "An alicorn, duh. What's your excuse?" "I'm a human." "You look strange." "I'm not strange! I'm cool! Don't you forget it?" "You remind me of someone. She's less cocky, though." explained the alicorn as she took off her glasses and wiped them clean. "Whatever, why are you here?" "I need a way out; can you help?" "Maybe...come on in." Dashie was about to open the door, but it suddenly opened, allowing her to walk inside. She could see she was in a living room—a standard, plain living room. "Come sit," said the alicorn. Dashie entered the living room and saw the alicorn sitting on a chair. "What's your name?" asked the alicorn. "I'm Dashiell, but friends call me Dashie, and yours?" "I'm Purple Grape Jelly, the Magical Element Fruits leader." "What's that?" "It's an organization to help out ponies in trouble. You know, save the day." "Ah." "You want a cupcake?" "Sure." Purple handed Dashie a cupcake with blue frosting, and Dashie started to eat it. "Mm, this is good. You made this?" "Nah, Blue Berry did. She's top-notch in my cupcakes." "That's cool. I can't bake." "Really? That's weird; you're a girl, right?" "Hey, don't judge me." "Alright, alright. So, tell me why you're here." "Well, short story: a comet from space crashed and sent me and my other self here, and the only way to go home is to get a rainbow shard. Do you know where we can find a rainbow shard?" Purple looked over the person before her until she walked to the window. "Rainbow shard? Like this one?" Dashie watched as Purple lowered her collar, revealing a rainbow shard embedded in her chest. "Yes, that's it!" shouted Dashie, jumping off her seat. "Great, you can have it, but..." "But, what?" "Removing this shard will end my life. Do you have the heart to kill me?" "What, no way!" "Why?" "That's not me. I'm not a killer." "Then you'll never leave." "There has to be another way." "This is the only way for you to get home. What will you do?" "I won't kill you; there has to be another way. I don't remember her name or face, but she said this to me when things looked bad in that basketball match, and it sounds cheesy: "Never give up! Friendship always finds a way!" There has to be another way, and I'm not hurting someone I just met." Purple could see that this being cared about her values and was blue in a different form. "Alright, you passed the test. Congratulations." "The what!?" "The test." "Test, what kind of test?" "The test is to see if you're a good creature. It's simple: you can get the shard if you're willing to kill me for it, but you care more about me than getting it. Protecting someone's life was more important than going home." "Well, it's a no-brainer when you put it like that." "Yup, you are the Blue Berry alt version, alright. It wasn't just me, by the way. You can all come out," said Purple as the living room suddenly changed into a large dome room. In the middle was a large circle table. Sitting at each seat were the pets that Dashie had seen before. "Whoa!" gasped Dashie. "You did great; congratulations," said Winona. "You were honest to the bone. I'm Winona, the avatar of the element of honesty." "You spared her life by giving up a way home," said Opalescence. "Name is opalescence, the avatar of the element of generosity." Sitting at the head chair was an owl who flew up and landed in front of Dashie and spoke, "You carry a great spark within you, a magic that only appears with friendship." The owl said, "My name is Owlowiscious, the avatar of the element of magic." "Wow," said Dashie, not sure what else to say. "We noticed a weird magical aura yesterday and realized Blue Berry and Tank, avatars of loyalty, were missing," explained Owlowiscious as he flew back to his chair. "If you arrive here, it believes me you swap places with her." "Swap?" whispered Dashie as her eyes went wide. "That will explain what happened to another version of "me" named Flashing; she was missing too. We must have switched places with her and now with Blue Berry," explained Dashie. "Interesting. Maybe a universe can't have another version of "you" in it, so it swapped you for the other. Maybe having two versions of you can be very dangerous." explained Purple "But I came here with a pony version of me. Nothing bad happened." "Well, it depends. How did you two get here? You said something about a comet?" "I looked at the rainbow comet until a piece fell off and landed in the woods. I went to see where it landed, and once I touched it, I saw my pony version, which was almost like a mirror. She, too, was touching it, and Everything started to break down around us. Soon, we were blasted into another universe," explained Dashie. "The Rainbow Comet? That comet is a legendary comet that flies near our planet every year. So the shards are from that?" Dashie watched as Purple opened a gateway back to Ponyville and faced her. "I know where to find a shard; come with me." Dashie, Purple, and all the pets jumped through the portal and landed on the ground. They could see everyone watching Pink pull out the cannon gun from Gummy's mouth. "I can just pull it out, you know?" sighed Dash as she floated over and was about to pull the cannon out of Gummy's mouth. She stopped when she saw Dashie walking out of a portal and returning big again. "Dashie!" shouted Dash as she flew over to her and hugged her. "Hey, Rainbow," replied Dashie. "Wow, you got bigger," said Purple as she scanned both girls. "Or maybe we're just smaller than other universes." "Who's this?" asked Dash. "This is the leader of the magical element fruits, purple grape jelly," said Dashie. "What's up?" replied Dash, nodding her head. Purple nodded back, turned to her team, and ordered them to come over. "These two aren't monsters; they're good creatures, just trying to get home. I need to head to my house and get something. Protect these two while I'm gone," ordered Purple. "No problem, ma'am," said Yellow. "I can protect myself, you know?" asked Dash. "Not against "her," said Red, remembering her." "Wait, who's "her"?" asked Rainbow Dash. "The Queen of all Monsters," explained Purple. "What now?" "A monster who's more powerful than the rest and is a threat to this world." "She's dangerous," replied White. "I'm off; stay safe!" Everyone watched as Purple flew off to her castle outside of the town. Everyone stood there until Pink finally pulled the cannon out and landed behind them. "It's out!" Everyone sighed... Half an hour later, the group talked until Dash pulled Dashie away from Pink unless she asked questions. "What's up?" "Hey, remember the purple one?" "Yeah?" "Didn't she look like Midnight and Tara?" "Now that you mention it, yeah. She looks a bit like them." "Remember when we saw Midnight? We were having those weird visions." "Yeah, I remember. What are you trying to say?" "Do you think who we're looking for is "our" version of "her"?" "Could be, but it could just be a coincidence, or maybe the shards? Remember, Midnight had it on her? The first time it happened, Tara wasn't there." "Right..." "Don't worry, we'll figure this out." "Hope so; it's confusing." Suddenly, everyone could see a significant, dark smoke forming before them. They could hear a voice coming from it. "It's her! Get ready, everyone!" shouted Red as she summoned her magical whip. The group stood their ground and saw a sizeable purple hoof reaching out and banishing the smoke away, revealing Nightmare Moon but wearing a dark blue magical girl dress. "Prepare to die!" greeted Nightmare Moon "Get back; it's monster Queen, Dark Blue Plum. Cookie said Red as she attacked Plum with a whip, but she easily dodged it. She quickly took notice of the two giants and looked on in awe. "Wait, hold up, who are these two?" asked Plum as she did a time-out pose with her hooves. "Don't let your guard down; she's a trickster," said Red. "Whoa, chill, I was just asking a question." "It's not a trick; she wants to know who we are," said Dashie, looking down at Plum. "Who are you two?" asked Plum, curious. "I'm Rainbow Dash," said Dash. "Dashiell or Dashie," spoke Dashie "Wow, I won't lie; I feel insecure with my monsters. You make them look small," said Plum as she stared at the girls. "Thanks?" replied Dash, unsure what to say. The rest of the magical girls and avatars looked on in confusion as Plum sat on the ground, defeated. "I guess my plans are ruined now; there is not much I can do. I had the biggest monster to release, but seeing you two? Forget it." spoke Plum "Sorry?" said Dashie, unsure what was going on. "Nah, not your fault; you are just doing you. So what are you here for? Looking to crush a town or something?" "Crush a town?" "Oh, come on, you're a monster. What are you going to do? Play hopscotch?" "Nah, we're just trying to find our way home. We're not like that," laughed Dashie. Red and the others huddled together as they watched them talk. "Hey, what's going on?"Was she always that chill?" asked White "No, not at all. Something's not right," replied Red. "Are you sure? I don't know; she seems to be having a good time," added Pink "Maybe she's not evil? But it's not like I'm worried about Plum or anything! BAKA!" shouted Yellow as her face turned red. "Uh, are you okay?" asked White, backing up. "We must stay focused and ensure she doesn't try to release a monster. That's what we do," said Red. "You guys want some snacks? I have plenty!" said Plum as she was in the group huddle, freaking everyone out. "How'd you get in here?" "I walked over," replied Plum, waving her hooves. "Okay, that's enough. We have a business to attend to. If you're not here to hurt anyone, leave," ordered Red, cracking her whip. "What's your problem, girl? We're just hanging out; it's no big deal. What's wrong with making new friends? Not like we're trying to take over the world or something...oh right," laughed Plum as she scratched the back of her head. "Girls, she's cool, really," said Dash. "Why are you trusting her?" asked Red. "Because she's nice," said Dashie. "Nice, she's a monster." "Hey! I'm not a monster like my babies here!" said Plum as she held her tiny cloud monsters in her arms. Red and her gang couldn't understand what was going on anymore. Plum walked over to Dashie and sat on her lap. "So, what are you guys waiting for?" questioned Plum as she bit her cookie. Before they could answer, Purple returned and held a rainbow shard in her hooves but quickly dropped it as she saw Plum. She was ready for battle but stopped as Plum was waving at her. "Yo Grape! How are you? You see these two! Awesome, right!?" "What's going on?" whispered Purple to her gang. "We don't know as well," said everyone. Before Purple could say anything else, the shard on the ground started to glow and floated up into the air. Everyone watched as the shard from Dashie's pocket came out, and reality was breaking around them with a large flash. The shards slowly met each other and fused as one giant pillar appeared and wiped Everything away. "What happened? Where did my gal pals go?" Plum asked as she noticed the giants were gone. "Home...hopefully," said Purple as she joined Plum. "Hey, are you okay? You look worried." "I just don't understand. If the universe doesn't allow two versions of the same pony in the universe, Why are these two allowed to be together? Something is not right, and I'm having a bad feeling about this." explained Purple to herself. Plum had no idea what she was talking about, but she nodded and handed her a cookie to cheer her up. Both girls fell into a back alley and were knocked out again. The area around them was a nighttime city alley, and there was no sign of any ponies. The dark city looked run-down and filled with an evil and dark aura on the streets. On a nearby rooftop, a dark figure saw what fell and grappled to the alleyway. He slowly walked up to the girls and watched as Dash's body was fading away, much stronger now, and Dashie's hair was now wholly rainbow-like Dash's, as her jacket changed once more. The figure narrowed its white eyes and stepped into the light of a nearby light pose. "Flare?" end of chapter 4
Chapter 5 The sun beamed through the clouds, hitting Rainbow Dash's goggles and waking her up from her nap. "Ugh, already?" she said groggily, sitting up and putting her goggles on. She could see her two Wonderbolt teammates talking among themselves as they waited for the Princess of Friendship to walk out of the Cloudeseum main stage, as this was the first year she'd be judging the Best Young Flyer Competition. Rainbow and her teammates will be coming down from the clouds above and doing a few tricks, finishing it with her sonic rainboom and landing in front of the Princess. Rainbow looked at the stage; she saw someone walking out, and the crowd started cheering. Rainbow could see a purple unicorn pony with a lavender mane. She wore a purple and golden crown on her head. A few minutes passed, and the Princess was ready to announce the start of the competition. Rainbow smiled, seeing how popular Static is with the ponies in Cloudsdale. Rainbow was happy the other pegasus loved her friend. "Ponies, are you ready?" The crowd cheered as they were excited for the competition to start. "Alright! Let the games begin!" Princess said happily, and the competitors came flying onto the stage and watching the sky above as Dash realized this was the cue to start. "Okay, this is it! Remember, we are repreOkaying the Wonderbolts here. So let's put our best hooves forward." Lightning Dust said as she flew downward. "You got it, boss!" The rest of the Wonderbolts replied and followed Dash. Dash began making loopy loops and twirling around in the air before stopping midway and letting her two fellow Wonderbolts perform some stunts of their own before flying under her. Rainbow was getting ready to perform her Sonic Rainboom, as she had to time her move at the right moment. As she reached the peak of her altitude, Rainbow took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and flapped her wings, creating a loud sonic boom and Static filled the memory as Dashie was running in the cold rain, as she was the only person on the school track field. She was running to cool off after what happened earlier today. She fought with Static about not wanting any scholarships for track and field; she didn't want to run all her life. She will be the only one not attending college, and she was okay with that. She knew her parents wouokayt be too pleased about it, but she has the money for it; it's not the money that's the problem. The real problem is that she does not know what to do with her life after school. Dashie didn't know what she wanted to be. Her parents and her teachers are worried about her. She had the talent and skill but didn't know what to do. She ran. She ran in the cold rain until she could feel like the rain had stopped like she was running so fast that she was passing through the rain storm, but she slowed down and stopped as she felt something was placed on her head. Dashie could hear someone say something; it sounded like a female voice. She couldn't tell; she was exhausted. "What?!" She yelled, turning her head around, and could feel it was a towel. She was confused; no one should be on the track field. "It's a towel," the voice said. "I can see that, but where are you?" Dashie said that the rain was coming down much harder now. "Here, let me help," yelled the voice as she put an umbrella over her. Dashie saw "her" with the umbrella and could feel the girl drying her head while holding the umbrella in her other hand. "You're going to catch a cold!" the girl said. "Thanks," Dashie said, smiling. She felt the towel being wrapped around her and the girl drying her. "What are you doing, running in the rain?" The girl asked, "Cooling off..." blushed Dashie as she faced away from her, but the girl pushed back under the umbrella and was drying her hair again. "No! Stay here! We need to talk about what you're doing!" the girl said, a little worried about her. "You mean about not knowing what I want to do?" Dashie sighed "Yeah, you can be the greatest runner ever!"Why don't you want that?" the girl asked, a little confused about her decision. "Because I don't know what I want! That's why!" Dashie yelled, pulling away from her. "Why didn't you say anything earlier?" the girl asked as she pulled the towel around her, trying to dry her more. "You won't understand," Dashie replied. "I will if you tell me. You never open up about things," the girl said as she hugged her. Dashie sighed, and she could feel herself blushing a bit. "I just don't know what I want in life," she said. "It's not like you'll be the only one not going to university or having a job. Everyone's worried about you, and so am I," the girl said, a little hurt, thinking Dashie was ignoring her feelings. "I know. It's just that my friends already know what they will do, and I have no idea," Dashie explained, still facing away from her. "That doesn't mean you can ignore everyone who cares about you! Including me!" the girl said, holding her tears and hugging her more. Dashie turned her head toward her and saw tears running down her face. Dashie sighed and turned around, hugging her and wiping the tears off. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ignore or hurt you." Dashie said, looking into her prism eyes and smiling. "You're going to catch a cold! Come on! Let's go inside!" the girl said as they walked inside the building, heading towards the lockers. But stopped as the rain finally stopped. The girl noticed something on the track and pointed to Dashie's head. Dashie touched her hair and could see her dyed hair bleeding off, and she somehow left a rainbow trail around the track. The rainbow track quickly glitched to Dash Rainboom, where Dash landed before the Princess and bowed to her. "Come on, Rainbow, you don't have to do that." Princess laughed. "Yes, I have. You're a princess, and you're my friend, too." Rainbow said as she stood up and smiled. "I'm happy for you, Rainbow; you followed your dream and made it. I'm also so happy to be here, with front-row seats to help your dream come true." The Princess smiled as she hugged her. "Yea. It was hard, but I'm glad it all paid off. Now, I can live my dream of being a wonderbolt. Thanks to you, static."Rainbow said as she hugged her back. "I didn't do anything." the Princess said. "Of course you did! Without you always being there for me, like helping me study or cheering me on, I would never become a wonderbolt." Rainbow said, smiling. "Oh, please, you're a natural. You proved yourself," the Princess said, a little embarrassed. "Well, whatever happens, I'll always be thankful to you," Rainbow said, smiling. "Me too. You'll always be my friend and a hero to others. Thank you, Dashie." The Princess said, looking at the rain in the sky. "You're welcome, -static-. Always." Rainbow smiled. The memory glitched again, and the sound was filled with static. Dash and Dashie were flickering between the two as they found themselves back in the garden with the big tree, but this time, the tree was burned, and the grass was dead. The building was destroyed, and everything beyond as well. They looked up in the burning red sky, and there in the sky was a sonic rainboom, but not one but five, as they rang out across the fiery sky. They looked down, and they could see the alicorn as she was lifeless in their arms. They started to cry for no reason. "Remember..." said a voice. "Who's there?!" Dash yelled, looking around. "Remember..." the voice said again. "Remember what?" Dashie said, looking around. "Her..." the voice replied. "Whose her?!" Dash yelled. "Remember her...remember..." The voice faded as a bright rainbow appeared in the middle of the raindrops. It flew towards them and slammed the garden, destroying it. The voice screamed in pain as everything became static and prism-colored: "THE PAIN OF NOT SAVING HER!" Dash quickly shot up from the bed, screaming as she remembered the Nightmare and sweating a storm. She looked around and could see she was in a glass cell, surrounded by darkness, and the only light was the lamp above her. She removed the blanket and froze, noticing her lower body was disappearing. She screamed again. "Ahhhh! What's happening to me??"She said she was scared. "I see you awake," said a cold voice from the darkness. "Who's there? Where am I? What did you do to me?" Dash asked as she tried to get up. "I did nothing; I found you like that," the voice said, walking closer to the glass. "What do you mean?" Dash asked. "The real question is, how did you get here?" The voice asked Dash quickly realized what the voice meant, and she quickly explained everything. "Hmm. Interesting," the voice asked. "Who are you?" Dash asked, looking in the direction of the voice. "My name is..." the voice said, walking closer to the glass, the light revealing a woman wearing a bat-themed outfit. "Nightmare." "Nice outfit. Are you a superhero?" Dash asked, wondering if she should know her. "Sort of," Nightmare replied. "Where are we?" Dash asked. "My batcave," Nightmare replied. "Batcave?" Dash repeated. "Yes, it's where I store my gadgets, information, and other things." Nightmare explained. "How did I get here?" Dash asked. "After Superpony disappeared, I found this weird reading in space, and a few days later, the same reading appeared over my city, and I tracked it down and found you two." Nightmare explained. "Two? Where's Dashie?" demanded Dash as she flew to the glass and met Nightmare face-to-face. "She's right there," Nightmare said, pointing behind as the batcave lights turned on. They revealed Dashie in the same cell but across from them, but she was wheezing and sweating heavily. "What's wrong with her?" Dash asked, seeing her condition. "I don't know; when I found her, she was like that. She won't wake up." Nightmare explained. "We have to help her!" Dash yelled. "Relax. I've been testing her body, and the bat computer should tell me what's wrong." Nightmare said, pressing a few buttons. "How long were we out?" Dash asked. "Three weeks," Nightmare replied. "Three weeks?!" Dash said, surprised. "I had to put you both in the same cell, as I had no idea what could happen at first, but I noticed it was getting worse between the two of you, so I put you two in your cells. It's working for now." Nightmare said. "What's happening between us?" Dash asked, flying to the glass again. "I don't know, not yet," said Nightmare as she started to walk away. "Wait, where are you going?" Dash asked as she pressed her face against the glass. She watched her walk up a fleet of stairs and disappear into the darkness. "HEY! COME BACK HERE!" Rainbow sat down, waiting for Nightmare to return, and looked at the bat computer, wondering what could be wrong with Dashie as the screen flashed numbers and charts. Dash sat on the floor and closed her eyes, remembering the Nightmare and the voice about not saving her. Was it about this? She closed her eyes and waited for the only person to help them. An hour had passed, and Nightmare returned with a plate of food, primarily apples and hay. As she's going off by the horse's looks, she guesses she wouldn't eat any meat. "Here, it's not much, but I'll get my maid to cook more if you want." Nightmare said as she gave the plate to her by sliding it into the food hole. "No thanks," Dash said as she looked at the hay and apples. "Don't worry, it's not poison." Nightmare said. "Why should I trust you? You are keeping us locked up like animals." Dash asked. "Because your body needs nutrients," Nightmare replied, walking to the computer and sitting down. Dash didn't want to eat, but the smell was too good, so she quickly ate the whole thing. "Well, it looks like your body was starved for three weeks." Nightmare said. "So, can I ask some questions?" Dash asked. "Go ahead." Nightmare said, pressing a few buttons on her computer and scanning something she took out of her pocket. "Why are you dressed as a bat?" asked Dash as she was licking the plate. "I'm a bat," Nightmare replied. "I can tell, but why are you dressed as one?" Dash asked, curious. "Because people can fear a bat. If they see a human, they will not be afraid, not scared, but a bat is another story." Nightmare explained. "People are not that stupid," Dash said. "Trust me, they are," Nightmare replied. "You can't force someone to fear something just because you dress up as a bat." Dash debated "People will fear something if it's the only thing they ever see. You don't know how cruel humans are." Nightmare said, not looking at her. "Well, not everyone is like that," Dash said, smiling. "You sound like her," Nightmare said. "Sounds like who?" Dash asked. "Superpony," Nightmare replied, still pressing buttons. "What happened to her?" Dash asked. "We don't know," Nightmare replied. "Can't you use a tracker to find her?" Dash asked. "That would make sense, but none of the trackers are showing she's not in this solar system or any other solar system. I'm starting to believe she's not in this universe anymore, even more so because she looks alive here with me and what you told me beforehand." Nightmare said as she turned her chair towards her. "You think we did something to her?" Dash suggested. "Maybe I don't know." "But we didn't do anything! I swear." Dash yelled, flying to the glass and pressing her face against the glass, all sad. "Calm down. I didn't say that." Nightmare said as she got up. "Then why do you say that?" Dash asked. "Remember what I said when she disappeared? You three have the same energy readings. I searched for all the recorded energy that I could find and found nothing. I believed you swapped places with Superpony." Nightmare explained. "Swap places?" Dash asked. "Yes, I still don't know why, but maybe this shard has some answers." A nightmare was suggested, holding up a glowing crystal. "Where did you get that?" Dash asked. "Your friend was holding it when I found you. I had to take it." Nightmare explained. "Give me the shard. NOW!" Dash demanded. "Why should I? This could answer my questions. You even told me what it's used for." Nightmare asked, curious. "It doesn't belong to you, though. Give it back now or else." Dash threatened. "Or else what? You're locked in there; I can do whatever I want with this shard." Nightmare smirked as she walked up to the cell. "I can still fly and hit the glass!" Dash threatens, showing her wings. "And do what? Break the glass. How can you do that if you can't break through the glass?" Nightmare asked, tapping her glass cell. "Huh?" Dash asked, confused. "This glass is made out of diamonds. It's the hardest rock,; almostnothing can break it, not even the strongest metal or your fists." Nightmare explained. "You don't have any right to keep us locked up!" Dash yelled, hitting the glass and hurting herself. "I'm not. I'm keeping you both safe." Nightmare said as she walked back to the computer. "Safe from what?!" Dash demanded. "You two are different from my world. You have powers, and your bodies are changing. I can't let anyone know, or someone can use you for the wrong reasons." Nightmare explained. "What about my friend?" Dash asked. "What about her?" Nightmare asked, not looking at her. "When is she going to wake up?" Dash asked, flying to the side of her cell, where she had a clear view of Dashie. "I don't know. Her body was changing faster than yours but completely stopped." Nightmare explained that as she pressed a few buttons on her wrist, the lights were turned off, and a hologram appeared between them. "This is her body; as you can see, something is changing her DNA in every cell." "What does that mean?" Dash asked, looking at the hologram. "She's turning into..." stopped Nightmare as she pressed another button on the computer, revealing Dash's body. "You. More "you." She's another version of you; isn't that what you said to me, right?" Nightmare switched to Dash's disappearing body in the hologram. "Now your..." "What?" Dash said, confused. "Your body, along with your cells, is disappearing, but it's almost halted to a stop as well." Nightmare explained that pressing a few buttons showed a different view. "Is it reversible?" Dash asked, looking at what was left of her legs. "Maybe." Dash banged on the glass as she got her useless answer. She was getting mad with all the "Maybes," this crazy Batwoman said. Nightmare noticed this and walked up to her, taking out the shard. "I believe my universe is causing this. If we can find the shard in my world and send you to another universe, maybe it will undo this."Nightmare said, holding the shard. "Do you know how many times you have said "maybe"? It's not helping!" Dash yelled, flying away from the glass. "I know, and I'm sorry," Nightmare replied, walking up to the glass. Dash slowly turned around and looked at her. There was sadness hidden in that neutral face of hers. She had never met someone like her—so cold and distant but also a bit caring, like Princess Luna. Maybe there's some hope for her after all. "So, are you going to look for the shard alone?" "No, I just scanned the shard to make a tracker, but the computer can't pick anything from it. You told me the shard starts to glow when another shard is nearby, correct?" "Yeah." "Then I just need to fly around the world until it starts glowing." "Fly? You can fly." "No, I'm a normal human, after all. But I have this," Nightmare explained as she pressed another button. The upper part of the cave lit up, revealing a bat-shaped jet. "Woah! That's so cool! I would love to fly that."Dash said, amazed. The jet lowered itself with its autopilot as the boosters came to life and opened its cockpit, allowing Nightmare to jump inside and turn on a radio. "Raven, meet me at Gotthold's tallest building; we're going on a mission." "Roger, that boss!" replied a young female voice, which sounded like Spike, as if he were a girl to Dash. "Hold, are you going to leave me alone?" "No, someone's going to be with you soon; she's a great maid; she'll take care of you." Nightmare closed the cockpit, and the jet flew away as the lights turned off, leaving just the batcomputer and Dash. She wondered if she should trust this woman, but her heart told her to. She sat on the bed and watched over Dashie, who was still in pain. "Hang in there, Dashie; everything will be alright." Dash thought as she kept watching. After a few hours, Dash could hear a door opening at the top of the stairs, and someone was walking down it until it stopped. Soon, all the lights turned on, revealing the cave fully and the objects it held, like a giant penny or the playing card with Trixie's face on it. The person, wearing a white and black maid uniform, walked towards the computer while carrying a plate with food and drinks. Dash could tell it was Celestia, but she was old, and her mane was completely gray. The maid put apples, hay, and water on a white plate, walked up to Dash, and placed the food in the slot. "Thanks," Dash said, looking at the food. "My pleasure. How is your friend?" the maid asked. "No change." "I hope she will be alright." "So do I." "If you want to ask me something, I'm right here." The maid said as she walked to a wall and pressed a button, and a seat appeared. "Well, since you're going to be here, What's your name?" "I'm Cindy Nickle." "Cindy, where are we exactly?" "In the Batcave, Miss Nightmares is home." "I can tell that, but where is the Batcave located?" "I can't say; I'm sworn to secrecy." "I can't blame you. Can you tell me anything about this place?" "Hmm, Miss Nightmares, the owner and leader of the Element League." "Element League? What's that?" "They are a group of superheroes who work together to stop the criminals, like here in the city." "What kind of criminals?" "Evil kind." "Ah, okay..." "Is there something wrong?" "Yeah, are they heroes or something?" "Miss, did you just doubt the league?" "No, no, no. I wonder, is that all?" "They are the greatest; they stopped a giant spider last week." "Okay." "And they defeated a monster just a month ago." "Alright." "They even stop the evil Doctor Discord by throwing him into the sun." "I get it. So they are heroes; I'm sorry for doubting them." "I can understand, miss. I will leave you with your meal. If you want something, tell me." "Okay, thanks." Cindy nodded, took out the okay newspaper, and started to read it. Dash flew up to the plate, grabbed an apple, and began to eat it. "Applejack would love this; it's so sweet," Dash thought, smiling. "So, is the food good?" Cindy asked. "Yes, it's the best," Dash replied, returning to bed. "I'm glad that that old apple tree was useful, and Nightmare wanted to cut it down. But I convinced her that apples can be useful." Cindy said. "She didn't like apples, huh." Dash joked. "She hated them." "Well, it's her loss then." "Yeah, you are right." Dash ate her apple and drank the water while watching over Dashie. Cindy took notice, put her paper down, and pressed a switch on the computer, opening both cells. Dash was confused, but Cindy waved at her to go to her friend's side. "Thank you!" cried Dash as she flew to Cindy and hugged her. "You're just as kind as my Cindy." Cindy patted Dash back and watched as Dash flew to Dashie's side and held her hand. "Sorry if this is rude, but what are your names?" asked Cindy as she joined Dash. "Rainbow Dash, and she's called Dashiell Reinbold." Cindy nodded and started to clean the place up. It was peaceful until both heard the roar of the jet. She quickly turned around and saw the batjet flying down and slowly landing in its spot. Dash promptly flew back into her cell and told Cindy to close it, as she didn't want her to get into trouble. Cindy followed orders and shut it down. Nightmare and a female teenager wearing an all-black bird suit were walking behind her. "Wow, you weren't joking about the disappearing pony," said the teenage girl, whose voice was muffled by the mask. "Of course, Raven. Why would I lie to you?" "I dunno, never thought I'd hear you say "talking pony" in my life." "Just be quiet, please." Nightmare walked up to Cindy and spoke about how Dash and his friend were doing before she finally walked over to Dash's cell and took out the shard. "With Pink Bolt, we searched the whole world, and we-" Nightmare was cut off as Dash flew to her and spoke about finding another shard, but Nightmare cut her off. "We didn't find anything. The shard never shines once." Dash's face became sad as she slowly hovered to the ground and thought about what was said to the shard, which was not on this planet. Maybe there weren't any shards in the universe? She started to worry until the food slot was opened, and the shard fell in front of her and started to glow. She looked up and saw Nightmare touching her chin. "Just as I thought, the shard will only glow for you and your friend. With it already glowing, it tells me it's in my city. That's why you landed here." Nightmare said. "Wait, it's here?" asked Dash happily. "Yes, it's here, somewhere." Nightmare said, nodding. "So, we got to look at the whole city?" asked Raven as she walked up to Nightmare. "I guess we have to; Pink Bolt is dealing with a problem in her city, so she can't help us right now." "That will take us ages." "I can help," said Dash. "How?" asked Nightmare. "I'm the fastest pegasus in my world. I bet I can find the shard in ten seconds flat." "That would help." "Wait, you're not considering letting her help?" asked Raven. "Yes." "But-" "No buts." "What?" "We can discuss this later. Now go and help her in the jet. I need to talk to Cindy," ordered Nightmare as she walked back to her maid, who was dusting the penny. I got an alarm that the cell was opened by the computer. You let her out?" asked Nightmare as she stood behind her, finally removing her mask. "Yes, she was worried for her friend and wanted to stay by her side," Cindy explained that she was still cleaning. "..." "Also, you can trust her; oh, by the way, her name is Dash, and her friend's name is Dashie." "..." "She won't cause any problems...maybe." "..." "She was just scared and wanted to help her friend. Please give her a chance." "...fine." "Thank you, Mistress Brice." Nightmare nodded as she put her mask back on and returned to the jet, leaving Cindy alone with a smile. "It's so weird talking to her without her mask on," thought Cindy as she continued her work. Dash was waiting for her as Raven and herself sat on the back chair in the cockpit. She was getting impatient and banged on the glass. "Are we leaving or what?" Dash yelled as she hit the glass again. "Yea, yea, I'm coming," Nightmare replied, annoyed, as she opened the hatch and jumped inside. "Finally," said Dash. "Can we just go already? It's almost morning, and I'm tired," complained Raven. "Sure, the jet is fully charged, and we can search the whole city." "Cool, let's go already!" Nightmare pushed a button on her wrist, activating the jet boosters, and started to fly up as the cave ceiling opened and let them out. It was a night, but the city was full of bright lights and busy roads. There were also many tall buildings, like one that had a giant "S" logo, a big "A" building, a clock tower, and the highest building, which had a giant "K" on it. "Wow, this is a beautiful sight," said Dash, amazed. "So, are we just going to sit here and gawk, or will we find the shard?" complained Raven. "Raven, can you do me a favor and shut up for once?" Nightmare asked. "Fine, I'll stay quiet, but you'll have to explain things when I wake up." "Sure, just don't make a sound." Raven nodded and started to yawn as she rested her head on the jet's window. Nightmare shook her head and turned the plane as the shard began to glow more. "I wonder if that kid is still mad." I thought, pressing the booster. The shard's glow became brighter as the jet flew through the city. Nightmare pressed another button, revealing a radar showing the shard's position. She was getting closer, so she flew lower and lower until she found an empty ally. She flew the jet, landed it on a nearby roof, and shut it off. "The shard should be in this area." Nightmare explained and opened the cockpit. "Sweet," replied Raven as she got out. Nightmare did the same and started to walk to the edge, looking over the alley and the nearby buildings and trying to find the shard. Rainbow Dash pointed the shard everywhere. "Maybe the shard isn't on the streets; maybe it's in one of those buildings." Nightmare said. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's check them out." Dash said. "Yeah, let's check them out," replied Raven. "Hold on, we need to go about this the smart way, or the shard will end up in the wrong hands." Nightmare said. "How are we going to do that, boss?" "..." "Boss, what are you planning?" "..." "You know I hate it when you're quiet." "..." "Come on, tell me." "..." "Stop ignoring me and just say it." "..." "Please." "..." "I will follow your orders if you tell me." "..." "Don't make me say please again." "..." "PLEASE!" Dash tried to hold back her laughter as she watched this little back-and-forth. Yeah, this was Spike, but if he was a girl, "Okay, just stop. I'll tell you." "TOkay you." "We will break into those buildings and search them with Dash since the shard only glows for her." "Roger that boss!" Dash flew over to the building and waited for the other two, who glided to the building and entered it with her. Unknown to them, a craze of laughter could be heard inside the building as the cameras watched the group enter the building. "Little Oh Bat found my hideout. This is going to be fun!" end of chapter 5
Chapter 6 Dash, Nightmare, and Raven were slowly walking around the dark room. Dash held the shard and looked around for any sign of it while Nightmare used her mask to detect anything. "Anything, boss?" "No, nothing." "Well, I see some weird things in here." "Like what?" "First, the place is filled with toys and junk, and second, a camera." Nightmare quickly turned and looked at the camera, which pointed at her. She glared at it and started to walk to the camera before a high-pitched voice came from a speaker. "Welcome, little oh bat and birdy, welcome." the voice said. "Who are you?" Nightmare asked. "You mean, you don't know me That hurts me, little oh bat Oh wait, I have the wrong settings on." said the voice as the group could hear noises in the background before a female could be heard "Testing testing, is it working?" Nightmare quickly readies herself as she knows that voice. "Trickster!" she yelled. "Trickster, who's that?" asked Dash. "One of the most dangerous people on the planet." Nightmare explained. "Oh, batty, you always give me too much credit!" laughed the voice. "Why are you here? Thought you were still locked up." "I escaped and decided to take a vacation and play with the city a bit Speaking of the city, you are ruining my plans I was planning to gas the city with my great and powerful laughing gas!" "How did you make it?" "Oh, let's just say an old friend gave me the recipe, and I made the stuff. Now, I only need a good way to spread the gas around." "Where did you put the gas?" "In the vents?" "Where is it?" "In the basement?" "..." "You can get to it through a hidden entrance, by the way," said Trickster as she flipped a switch. The switch revealed a clown door that said hidden door entrance with arrows pointing to it. "Why did you show me that?" asked Nightmare. "So you can find the entrance, DUH!" "..." Dash was lost for words. It was like those comics that Spike always read. It was like she was living them right now. She couldn't believe her luck. "Oh, by the way, bats, when you got yourself a disappearing blue horse?" "None of your business." "Oh, so I am right; she is there. Thank heaven. I thought the gas was making me more crazy. HA. HAHA!" Suddenly, the gas shot through the vents, filling the room. "Oh no," said Raven. "Everyone, hold your breaths," ordered Nightmare. Dash flew down and cover her mouth with her hoof and the three of them held their breath, as they ran to the hidden door They entered it and door shut itself, as the gas entered the hallway and spread everywhere The trio held their breaths, as they ran down the hall, avoiding the gas As they did, the gas slowly filled the building, causing the people outside seeing gas coming out of the broken windows. "Hey, is that gas?" a random person asked. "It is; it's the trickster's gas!" a cop yelled as he pulled his gun out. "What's the gas do?" "It makes the person laugh hard; their hearts can't take it and explode." "Oh my god, everyone evacuates." As the people screamed and ran away, Nightmare and her crew were in the basement, running down the hallway. She was using her radar to find the room with the gas. As they ran, she found it, and the trio ran into it. Inside, there was a big metal container that had a pipe connected to the vent and a machine pumping the gas into the vent. "This is the gas," said Nightmare as she looked at the canister. "How can we stop it?" asked Dash. "By destroying the machine If we don't, the gas will spread everywhere and kill everyone in the city." "What?!" screamed Dash "What should we do, boss?" "You'll stay here and cover me while I get rid of the machine." "Right." "Wait, I'll come with you," said Dash "Why?" "You said you need to get rid of the gas, right?" "Yes." "Let me help; I'm the fastest one here." Nightmare nodded as Dash followed her. They ran to the machine, and Nightmare took a laser pen and cut off the pipes, releasing the gas, and then turned her attention to the machine. "Okay, Dash, do what you have to do!" "Got it." Dash flew up and started to lift the machine, causing sparks to fly and the machine malfunctioning as Dash pulled it off the floor. "Keep going!" "Okay!" Dash began to lift the machine above her head. With one strong flap of her wings, she bolted out of the basement, crashing through the ceilings of each floor and finally out of the building and into the gloomy night sky. "What should I do with it now?" thought Dash. She saw no safe place to throw it, but she quickly had an idea. She started spinning it with all her might, sending the machine into outer space. Back in the basement, Nightmare turned on a hologram from her mask. It showed the city in real-time, and she could see Dash tossing the gas into outer space. "Nice throw, Dash," said Nightmare, smirking. "Oh boo, that's cheating Using a pony to stop my plan I was hoping for more fun!" whined Trickster as her voice was heard over the speaker. "So, what will we do about her?" asked Raven. "Simple, we find her and take her down like always." "Oh, that will be fun, bats," replied Trickster. "Maybe I should-" the voice stopped as a shadow appeared behind Nightmare and a gun pointing at her. "Fun!" smiled Trickster as she fired the gun, but Nightmare suddenly vanished. A blue blur grabbed her, and Trickster could see Nightmare next to Raven and the blue pony. Now this made Trickster smiled as she held the gun up and water came shooting out as she finally stepped out of the shadows, she's was wearing a blue tuxedo, and her face was white like a clown make up, and her light blue hair was all a mess. "It's been a while since we met in person, " said Trickster. "It's has," Nightmare replied, glaring at the crazy woman. "Now, how should we start this? I could-" Trickster was stopped when a glowing beam shot out of her pocket, and Dash shard also started to glow. "Oh, what's happening? My mood rock, which I found weeks ago, is going off like crazy...LIKE ME!" laughed Trickster as she pulled out a real gun and fired it at Nightmare, who dodged the bullet and threw a Batarang at Trickster, who ducked as the Batarang hit the wall behind her and stuck to it. "Dash, She has the shard. We need—" yelled Nightmare as she and others took cover behind some boxes. However, she was cut off as Dash replied to her. "Okay!" Dash replied, and she quickly flew at Trickster "What Stop!" ordered Nightmare, but it was too late. Dash tried to punch the crazed woman, but Trickster was able to grab her hoof and smile. Electricity filled Dash's body, and she screamed and fell as Trickster revealed her hand buzzer. "Dash!" yelled Raven as she jumped out of cover, took out a fighting stick, and tried to hit Trickster. Trickster moved her head, and the fighting stick slammed into the ground. "Aww, the little birdy wants to play too. Sure!" said Trickster, taking a knife from her pocket and slashing at Raven, who barely blocked the attack with her stick and continued to block Trickster's attack until Trickster tripped her, making Raven fall. Trickster held her knife over her, but Nightmare quickly appeared and kicked Trickster, who jumped back as Nightmare helped Raven up. "Oh, it's nice of you to join us bats." Trickster giggled as she took a step closer and Nightmare pulled her cape over her body and covered her and Raven, as a cloud of smoke appeared around them As the smoke filled the room, Dash was picked up by Nightmare and disappeared into the darkness. "Where are you, bats?!" Trickster yelled, "And your little bird and horse!" Nightmare, carrying Dash, and Raven jumped out of the hole that Dash created minutes before and quickly exited the building Outside the building, the cops and paramedics were checking on the people who close to the building and might have in hale the gas. "Sir, you have to calm down." said a medic. "How can I That gas nearly killed me!" cried a man. "Well, you're not dead, so that's a good sign." "How is that a good sign? I could have died; I could have been a statistic; I could have-" the man rambled before a police officer ran up to them and ordered them to move away from the building. Nightmare put Dash down near the Batjet and checked her pulse. "She's alive," she said. "Is she gonna be okay?" asked Raven. "Yeah, she'll be fine. We should leave her here." "Leave her?" "We have a bad guy to catch, and if she wakes up, she'll slow us down and get in the way again. Besides, Trickster has the shard we're looking for; she isn't needed anymore." coldly said Nightmare as she took the shard from Dash's hoof and put it in her belt pocket. "That's kind of a cold thing to say." "This is not the time to care about the feelings of a random person...pony, Raven This is the time to focus on catching Trickster." "Roger that, sir." Nightmare pressed a button, and back in the Batcave, Cindy was washing the bat car until it turned on and sped off down the tunnel, leaving Cindy sighing as the water was dripping at nothing. "Master Brice, always when I'm clearing the car." Nightmare and Raven waited as the batcar blasted down the street with its rocket engine and finally stopping in the alleyway The roof opened up and Nightmare, holding Dash, jumped down and placed Dash in the back seat and shut the roof and locked it. "Let's go, buddy." Nightmare and Raven ran off back into the building to find the Trickster. Dash opened her eyes found herself in something that looks like the batjet but different She could see that she was on the ground level now. "Where am I? How did I get here?" she wondered as she rubbed her head before realizing, "Nightmare, she left me, That jerk. Who does she think she is? She's not my boss." Dash started to think as she remembered the crazy chick had a shard, realizing her own shard was missing. "Did Nightmare take the shard, or did she hide it somewhere?" Dash started to look for the shard in the car, finding nothing but buttons Curiosity got the best of her and she pushed the button She could hear a noise and looked behind her and could see a large cannon coming out of the truck. "A cannon?!" thought Dash as she pressed another button. The cannon fired, destroying an empty trash can and leaving a huge hole in the wall. "Oops." Dash could see a red light flashing and a sign saying lock down Dash was worried and saw the door was still locked and quickly moved to the driver's seat. "Come on, come on," begged Dash as she punched the window, hoping to break it and free herself, but the windows were shockproof. "What's happening?" said Cindy as her face appeared on the dashboard screen. "Hey, lady, Can you unlock the car?" asked Dash. "I'm sorry, but no one but Master Brice can unlock the car once it goes into lockdown mode." "I need to get out; that crazy chick has another shard." "Crazy chick?" "Yea, the trickster, I think Nightmare called her." "Oh, that crazy chick. Hold on." Cindy disappeared as the screen went black, leaving Dash all alone She placed her face on the streeling wheel and closed her eyes. "Come on, please come back, please come back, please," she begged. Meanwhile, Nightmare and Raven were fighting Trickster in the building Trickster was firing her guns at the two and Nightmare was throwing batarangs at Trickster, as Raven threw a small ball at her Trickster jumped and the ball exploded, creating a smoke bomb. "Missed me, bats and birdy." giggled Trickster as the smoke cleared and the woman was nowhere in sight. "Where did she go?" asked Raven. "Look out!" warned Nightmare as a gun appeared from the ceiling aimed at them. "Oh boy," gulped Raven as she jumped out of the way. Nightmare grabbed her and rolled out of the way, and the gun fired but missed them. "Where is she?" asked Raven. "She could be anywhere," said Nightmare as the two slowly walked back-to-back, keeping their eyes on everything. "What are we going to do, boss?" "The only thing we can do." "Which is?" "Survive." Suddenly, Trickster appeared from the ceiling, firing her gun. The two ran, and Trickster's bullets hit the walls and floors. As Nightmare and Raven ran down the hallway, the bullets destroyed it. "Keep going," ordered Nightmare. "Got it," said Raven. Trickster stopped firing, as a giant metal wall started to close and crush the two heroes, if they didn't make it out As they ran, Nightmare could see the metal wall closing in and the distance between them and the end of the hallway was getting shorter. "Come on," she thought as she and Raven kept running, the wall coming down behind them. They reached the end of the hallway, and the wall slammed down, almost crushing them. "That was close." sighed Raven, panting. "No, this is." smiled Trickster as she pointed her gun at the two heroes and pulled the trigger, but nothing came out. "Oh no," she whispered, as she checked the gun and realized she was out of ammo. "Looks like you're out of ammo, trickster," smirked Nightmare. "Oh no, it's a good thing I have more." Trickster dropped her empty gun and pulled out a new one, loaded with bullets, and began to fire at them, forcing them to hide As they did, Nightmare suddenly got a call from Cindy as she answered it. "Yes?" "Sir, your little pony friend is causing trouble in the batmobile and placed it in lock down mode and the bat cannon is active Any reason she's in the car?" "I'll tell you later I'm a little busy right now Bye." "But wait!" Cindy cried as Nightmare hung up on her. On the screen, Dash was pressing random buttons, the car was shaking, and the headlights were going off and on. "Come on, why won't you work?!" whined Dash as she banged the steering wheel with her hoof. Cindy sighed as she placed her hand on her head. She didn't sign up for this, but she tilted her head as she heard a weak voice calling out to Dash Cindy. She turned around and could see the girl had awakened and was trying to get up. "What's...going...on?" asked Dashie weakly. "Stay still," said Cindy, walking over to her and helping her sit up. "Where...am I?" "You in the Batcave." "Batcave?" "The headquarters of my master." "Who's your master?" "Her name is Nightmare." Dashie soon heard Dash on the computer screen and asked what was happening. "It seemed the master had left her in the car while she was fighting her archenemy." "Who is this enemy?" "Trickster, she's dangerous woman Now lay back down and I'll get you some food, you been out for weeks." Dashie was about to do what she was told. Still, she suddenly heard Dash talk again about how she needed to get that shard that the crazy woman had and how maybe jumping into another universe could stop her from disappearing and make Dashie better. "Disappear?" Dashie thought, looking down at the screen and seeing Dash's lower half gone. That's when it hit her, as she remembered what Grape Jelly said to her about how the universe won't allow two of the same person in the same universe. "Oh no...Quick, I need to talk to this Nightmare person, Please!" "But you need to rest," argued Cindy. "This is more important." Cindy wanted to argue again but decided against it and called Nightmare. Nightmare and Raven were now fighting Trickster on the rooftop, and the fight was now getting intense as Nightmare threw a Batarang and cut Trickster's arm. "Ow!" she yelled, rubbing her wound. "I'm going to make you pay for that!" Trickster ran to Nightmare and kicked her, sending her flying backward and into the brick wall. Trickster laughed as Nightmare tried to get up and punched her, making her fall. Trickster picked her up and threw her to the ground. Nightmare tried to get back up, but Trickster punched her again, knocking her out. "Now, who's next?" asked Trickster, turning to Raven, who was hiding. Raven quickly fired her grapple hook at a nearby building and flew up as Trickster shot at her, and the bullet missed her. "Why won't you just die?!" screamed Trickster, as she aimed her gun again but was kicked in the leg as Nightmare wasn't out yet. "I'm not done." she groaned, punching Trickster and throwing her on the ground. "You're not the only one who's not done." smiled Trickster as she dropped her gun. She stood up, took out a knife, and ran at Nightmare. Nightmare tried to dodge the attack, but Trickster was able to get her and stab her in the shoulder. "Argh." moaned Nightmare as blood came from the wound. "Nightmare!" cried Raven as she jumped and fired a rope from her hand, tying Trickster's feet together. "What's this?" asked Trickster, cutting the rope and laughing as she ran at Raven and punched her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her and throwing her across the roof and onto the ground. "Not so strong now, huh?!" laughed Trickster as she kicked Nightmare and held her over the roof's ledge, showing the city below. "Well, I'll see you at the bottom." giggled Trickster, holding her tight as she was ready to drop her before something happened She noticed the Batcar was doing weird things "Hey bats, your car is acting up?" giggled Trickster until the car cannon slowly aimed up and right at them It fired and hit the floor under them, making them fall into the destroy room Trickster got up and limped away, while Nightmare took out a spray and blasted her wound with it, until Cindy voice could be heard through the mask radio system. "Nightmare, the girl has awaken." "Great, but I'm kind of busy right now Trickster got away, she's wounded, so she's heading towards the exit Alert the cops that are outside and have them be ready for her." "Understood, but she wants to talk to you Here." Cindy then told Dashie on the mic to tell Nightmare about the only one-person rule for the universe. "Listen, the universe is trying to eliminate Dash because we're the same person. Someone from the last universe told me this: It's why we switch with whoever is our counterpart in this universe. If we jump again, Dash is going to die. You need to keep the shards away from us. If we're close to it, we'll jum-" suddenly Dashie body started to feel hot and in great pain as she held her stomach Her skin was slowly turning blue "AHHHH!!!" screamed Dashie, as prism effects were beaming out of her before passing out again. "What's happening?" asked Nightmare "I don't know. The girl is glowing, and it looks like she's in pain," Cindy said. What do I do?" "Keep an eye on her until I return." "Okay." As Cindy ended the call, Trickster was leaving the building and could see the police surrounding the place. "Oh no." she thought, hiding behind a nearby dumpster as the police were looking for her She slowly pass her way through the cops and were in the alley way and realize she was in the same alley as the batty car She walked a corner and could see the car, as it blasted music and jumping up and down She couldn't stop laughing at the funny sight and walked over, with her knife at the ready but stopped as she knew "she" was behind her She turned her head and could see Nightmare and Raven the girl wonder as they landed behind her. "Give it up, Trickster," said Nightmare. "Yeah, you can't get away," added Raven. "Oh no, I'm so scared." Trickster charged at Nightmare and was about to slice her, but Nightmare quickly blocked her attacks and knocked the knife out of her hand, kicking her in the chest. Nightmare held her tight, as Trickster could not move, and placed a device on her face. It shocked her, but she laughed it off. "Nice buzzer bats!" Trickster headbutted Nightmare, kicked her off, and rolled away as Raven slammed her metal pole into the ground where Trickster was. She stood up and blocked Raven's pole with her arms, quickly grabbed Raven's weapon away from her, and smacked Raven in the head with it, tossing her to the ground and leaving her dazed. "Raven, get up," ordered Nightmare. "I'm trying." Nightmare and Trickster continued their fight, as Trickster was getting the upper hand since Nightmare was still hurt from the stabbing. As the two were fighting, Trickster got a quick shot at Nightmare and kicked her to the hood of the bat car and, using Raven's metal staff, started to choke her to death. In the car, Dash was seeing all this on the screen and was worried. "Come on, do something Don't let that lady kill her!" thought Dash as she looked around and press the button to call Cindy again. "Cindy, you still there?" "Yes, I am." "Good, listen, Nightmare is in trouble Trickster is choking her to death You need to open this thing or she's going to die!" cried Dash. Cindy turned on the car's roof camera and could see it was true. She quickly lifted the lockdown, opening everything, including the car's roof. This allowed Dash to fly out and up into the air and promptly back down as she swooped near Trickster, grabbing her and flying off back into the air. "Let me go!" yelled Trickster, kicking and hitting Dash. "If you say so," said Dash as she took the shard from Trickster's pocket and dropped it into a dumpster near a group of cops. "There she is." shouted a cop. "Get her." ordered another. "Ahh!" screamed Trickster, as the police grabbed her and took her away, as the other cops cheered and celebrated as they waved at Dash, thinking she was Superpony. Dash flew back down and landed next to the batcar and could see the two were tired and bloody Nightmare sat on the hood of the car. "Thanks," said Nightmare as she held her hurt shoulder, which was bleeding a bit. "No problem." said Dash, holding the shard she got and looking at her "Do you have the other shard?" Nightmare removed the shard from her belt, and both shards started to glow, but nothing else. "We need to head back and get out of this universe so Dashie can get better," said Dash as she flew to get the shard but suddenly felt dizzy and fell on the ground. Nightmare and Raven could see her body was starting to fade again. "What's happening?" asked Dash as she started flicking between Dashie's body and her own. "Your friend woke up and told me something, it seems both of you can't be in the same universe and it's trying to erase you Seems it's trying to do the same with your friend." explained Nightmare as she picked Dash up and placed her in the back seat of the batcar and then telling Raven to go in the batjet and return with it. "Is she okay?" Dash said weakly as Nightmare got in the car, placed the shards on the passenger seat, and started the car. "No." "Please...save her." Nightmare didn't drive off; instead, she removed her mask and turned her head to Dash, who smiled as if she had seen that face before in a past universe. "She also told me that you'll disappear for good if you two jump again. Maybe this is a passing attack, and you two might-" said Nightmare as she stopped as Dash raised her hoof. "Take me there. Let me save her. She's a good kid; she's me, after all." smiled Dash "You'll die." "Yeah. As long as she lives, that's what matters." "What about your family!?" said Nightmare as for once, her cold emotionless face was filled with sadness "Friends People who love you?" Dash looked up and, through the car window, could see the morning sun peeking through the night sky. "What about hers She's still young, she has more things to do and finding that girl she loves I lived a good life and I know the mare I'm looking for, will hate me for this but I'm not letting someone die for me Please, take me there." Nightmare looked away, thinking for a moment, and nodded as she drove off, heading for the cave. "Thank you." After some time, Nightmare and Dash made it back to the cave. Nightmare got out and saw Rav wearing her mask off, revealing her purple dragon skin and short green hair, and running up to her. "It's bad; she's getting worse." Nightmare went inside the Batcave and saw Cindy by the bat computer, with Dashie on the bed, coughing and sweating. "Her fever is high," said Cindy Nightmare looked at the shard in her hand, placed it on Dashie's bed, returned to the bat car, took Dash out, who was holding the other shard, and carried her to Dashie. That's when the reality around the cave started to break down as they got closer to Dashie and the other shard. "Put me down next to her," ordered Dash as her chest and wings started to vanish. Nightmare did what she was told, and the moment she was put down, both Dash and Dashie started to glow again, and the shards glowed and started to hover above them. Dashie opened her eyes and began to cry as she saw Dash and the shards floating. "Why..." whispered Dashie as tears fell down her face. "To save you." said teary eyed Dash, as she used the little energy she had to pet Dashie head The moment they touched, both shards fused and the cave was enveloped by the pillar of rainbow colors and the moment Nightmare and the others opened their eyes, the pillar and both girls were gone. "They're gone..." whispered Raven as she started to cry. "What happened?" Cindy asked as Nightmare walked past her, sitting in the chair and opening a folder on the bat computer. "Brice?" Cindy called out, but Nightmare ignored her and was working on something. Soon Cindy took Raven up the stairs and to her room to rest, while Nightmare working on her computer She was searching for something as she was going over records of comets and she found something There was a report of a passing Rainbow comet three weeks ago, the same time Flare disappeared She remembered Flare talking about getting a sample of a comet She scanned the solar system with the league's space station radar and trying to find the comet but it was no where to be found She sat back in her chair and look at the picture of the comet She felt on unease about something. "Where are you, Flare?? The feeling is that something bad is going to happen soon..." Dashie could see her memories flashing in her mind as she saw them being played out: meeting Faith when she was getting bullied, going to her first marathon and watching her mother running in it, doing her first run and releasing a sonic rainboom, getting her cutie mark, moving to Ponyville, meeting AJ, Rarity, and Pinkie, saving the world, taking down gangs and protecting her turf from them, protecting her beloved... "No...that's not right..." said Dashie as she grabbed her head in pain. "What's not right?" "Who's talking?" asked Dashie, looking around her but unable to see her memories. "Wait, this isn't right...this never happened." "Of course not." "Huh?" said Dashie "That was a different reality She's trying to change you two The real you." "I don't get it Who are you?" asked Dashie, and then a familiar voice rang out as the memories were replaced with the garden and the big tree from before Leaning on the tree, was the purple alicorn, as she looked up and waved at her. "Welcome back!" "You?" said Dashie in shock and awe as she blushed deeply "Me." smiled the alicorn. "Where am I? What's going on?" "Your home." "Home?" "Our home, Our reality." "That doesn't make sense My reality isn't here I need to get home Back to Equestria I need to find...her..." said Dashie. "That was her reality This is yours The real one." "This is mine?" "Yes." "Then why can't I remember this? Can't remember her? ...You?" "She's trying to erase her and make you into "her"." "Her. Who are you talking about?" "That pony that you think is you." "But I'm a pony I'm Rainbow B...." "No, you're not." "Yes, I am." The alicorn was quiet for a moment before turning her head to Dashie. She looked sad as the garden started to glitch out with static. "I'm sorry. She's taking over. She'll erase everything you are and make you into "her" if you allow her plan to work. You two need to remember her name. When you do, you'll return where it all started. Others are there; they're also trying to stop her, but they don't know it yet. You can stop her, too. Only "us" can stop it." "Wait!" cried Dashie as the glitching grew worst "How do we stop her!?" "Just remember her name." smiled the alicorn. The static took over, and she was gone. The garden was gone, and Dashie could feel herself falling into the prism light. As she fell, the light revealed three bodies: her human self and two pony bodies. Dashie opened her eyes and saw the bright blue sky above her and the white clouds. She slowly rose and saw that she was in a flower field. She was a bit confused, not remembering the last few minutes. "Where am I? How did I get here?" She sat up and held her blue hand before her face as the sun's rays hit her eyes. "Am I dreaming?" She took a moment to let it sink in as she could see airships in the sky Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice that spoke from the distance. "You!" She turned and could see two men wearing red and green knight armor as they arrived with their horses and pointed their swords at Dashie. "What did you do with the princess? You are a blue-skinned demon!" said the red knight. "Where's Lady Eirika!" shouted the green knight as he pointed his spear at her. "Woah, Woah Slow down I'm not a demon!" shouted Dashie. "Lies Only demons are blue and have different color hair!" yelled the red knight. Dashie stood up and could see a large group heading towards them, among the large group were wizards, healers, more knights, heavy armor knights, archers, and so on She saw a female child running up to her and then transforming into a large baby dark blue skin dragon. "Hi, What's your name!" "My name?" said Dashie as the two knights moved back as the dragon got closer to her "What are you?" asked the red knight as he looked at the weird get-up that Dashie was wearing "Your skin Are you a dragon too!?" said the dragon, as she sniffed and licked Dashie. "Oh You taste like a candy!" smiled the dragon. "Kuu, don't go licking strangers!" said a black mage wearing a purple robe and hat and long purple hair as she approached the group. "May we have your name?" Dashie pointed her thumb at herself and smiled. "Rainbow Rainbow Dashiell!" end of chapter 6
Chapter 7 "Rainbow Dashiell," smiled the black mage as she put her hand out for a handshake. "My name is Twila Sparkflow, a black mage in training." "Twila?" said Dashie, as she felt she had seen this girl before. The feeling she knew was creeping up in her mind, and she didn't like it. "I see you met the Divine Moon dragon, Kuu. Forgive her; she's a bit naive and hyperactive. A little weird with the licking," said Twila with a soft smile that made Dashie feel funny. "May I ask where you're from?" "Oh, umm," said Dashie, having trouble coming up with an answer and not knowing why, like she was lost in her beauty. I'm from...umm." "From where exactly?" "I'm from," but before she could finish, a weird black aura filled the area, making everyone look behind her. Dashie looked too and could see a burned man with an open wound on his stomach as he was casting a dark magical spell. "Ah! It's that monster again!" screamed Kuu. "He's alive!" shouted a female thief with a full-coverage mask and hood as she took out her daggers. "What's going on?" asked Dashie. "This cult leader transformed into a monster and teleported away with our leader. We were tracking them, then we saw the light and thought she won, but..." answered Twila as she took out a tome and was ready for a battle. "I will take back what was promised to me!" said the burned cult leader as the dark aura spread out more, creating a dark circle in front of him. "He's going to open a portal! Everyone, ready for battle!" said a female Pegasus knight as she prepared her sword, but Dashie noticed the knight was missing an arm. "Wait, that's not a portal!" realized Twila as she quickly used her tome to create a counter spell, but the cult leader was faster, made a giant ball of darkness, and started to suck in the group with great force. "Damn it! Everyone, grab hold of each other!" yelled the big red knight. "No! I can stop it!" said Twila as she grabbed her book bag and looked for something until she found it—a glowing purple horn. She tried to use it but couldn't right away, as the suction pulled her off the ground and pulled her into the orb. Everyone was screaming for Twila as she was flying away, but Dashie quickly dashed to her and grabbed her hand, and with all her might, she tried to pull her back. "Hold on!" "My lady! The horn!" shouted the one-armed Pegasus knight as she grabbed Dashie by her jacket collar and pulled them. But she, too, started to get sucked in. "Hold on!" yelled a small female axe fighter as she grabbed the light grayish heliotrope horsetail. She was soon joined by the big beefy red knight, the thief from before, a pink-haired white mage, a light green armor female knight, and finally, Kuu as she grabbed everyone and tried to fly away but couldn't. "No, Kuu! Everyone!" shouted the green male knight. He and the remaining group watched in horror as their friends vanished into the black void. As they were gone, the spell ended, and the burned man laughed as he turned to black dust. Dashie could hear screaming within the darkness as they all fell into the void, and she could feel a strong gust of air as it hit her face. It was so black that she couldn't see anything. Soon, the screams of the others vanished, and Dashie realized she was alone—or was she? She could see a purple light in the darkness and started to move towards it. As she got closer, she could see the outline of the black mage. She was chanting something, had the horn near her forehead, and was glowing. "Twila!?" Twila could hear a faint voice behind her and turned her head towards it to see Dashie, but only for them to headbutt each other. Both girls screamed in pain, and they could feel blood coming from their foreheads and falling on each other as they fell together in the darkness. "Ugh, my head," groaned Twila as she wiped her forehead and could see a bit of blood. "I'M SORRY, SORRY!" cried Dashie as she tried to wipe the blood with her sleeve, but everything went dark again as the purple light disappeared. Both noticed that the horn had dropped and vanished behind them. "The horn thingy!" "No!" cried Twila as the wind picked up once more. Soon, the darkness faded, and they could see an old, ruined kingdom within the void. They were going to spit on the brick streets below. Twila grabbed Dashie by her waist and started to scream. "Help us! Where are you, Eirika?" As they were going to make an impact, Dashie could feel something as she held Twila in her arms. She remembers something—a fading memory. A girl fell off a roof as Dashie tried to reach out to save her. She looked down at her and felt a sense of deja vu. "Not this time," whispered Dashie. She used her strength to turn herself around, and Dashie's back faced the ground. She could see the fear in Twila's eyes as the wind rushed against her face. She closed her eyes, grabbed Dashie's chest, and repeated, "I'm sorry." "It's okay..." "Huh?" "You'll be okay. I'll protect you. Just like I promised, Twil-," said Dashie as the bricks were getting closer. Dashie closed her eyes and waited for impact. "Huh? Wh—" said Twila, but her voice was cut off as they landed on the bricks. A rainbow explosion of light engulfed the smoke cloud, creating a crater. Soon, the smoke faded, and there were blue feathers around the girls as they lay in the crater. Twila looked around and could see Dashie was hurt and unconscious as she was bleeding. "We...landed?" said Twila, a bit shocked that they had landed and were alive. "Thank you. I'm not sure how that happened, but thank you." But Dashie didn't respond and breathed heavily, as her breathing became more labored. "No, you're going to be fine. It's not that bad. Please don't die!" cried Twila as tears fell, and she tried her best to stop the bleeding with her cloak. She took a deep breath and placed her head on her chest. "Eirika! What will Eirika do?" That was the last thing that Dashie heard as she closed her eyes, as her blurry vision could see a white moon getting closer to them. Dashie slowly opened her eyes, and she could see a white ceiling above her and hear someone talking nearby. She blinked a few times, could listen to the voices a bit clearer, and could see two women sitting in a nearby chair. She slowly raised her body and could see it was her mother and a girl—the same girl she had seen before, but like always, her face was covered in prism colors. She tried to sit up but could feel the pain and fell back down. "Honey! Stay down!" said her mother as she could feel her mom's hands on her shoulders. "What...happened?" asked Dashie as she touched her bandage head. "You've been out for days. We were worried that you had brain damage or something, but thankfully, that wasn't the case. You were hurt badly." "Oh, right," said Dashie, as her memory was a bit foggy. The last thing she remembered was saving someone—this girl? "How are you feeling, honey?" "Fine, mom. My head hurts, but I'm fine." "Good," said her mother. "Do you remember the fall?" "I was in an accident." "Yes. The doctors said it was a miracle that you were only hurt and not dead." "Wait, where's the girl I was with?" "What?" "There was a black-haired girl with me. She was bleeding." The girl quickly went to her side, crying, and placed her face on Dashie's shoulder. "I'm fine!" said the girl. "Who..." whispered Dashie as her head started to hurt and flashes of her memory filled her mind. She was on the roof of the house, helping her dad fix it. The girl came over and went up to Dashie's room, where she spoke about something. "Anyone thirsty? I can get some drinks," said her dad, putting down his tool and turning to the girls. "What about you?" "Oh, I'm fine, sir," said the girl as she waved her hand and was sitting on Dashie's bed as Dashie was cleaning her window from the work they were doing. "What about you, kiddo?" "Hmm, just water, dad." "Alright, be right back." As her dad descended the ladder and entered the house, Dashie felt her hands touching the wet rag and had a weird sensation. She looked at her hands and saw them changing into blue fur. "W-What's happening?" Dashie said as her hands turned back into flesh. "Are you okay, Dashie?" asked the girl, as she noticed something was up. "Yeah, it's nothing," said Dashie as she returned to cleaning the area around the window. "Dashie, do you need help with the cleaning out there?" the girl asked as she poked her head out of the window. "No, no, it's okay." "Come on, Dashie. It's not a big deal." "I know, but you're my guest. I'll do it. Just relax and enjoy this hard-working girl in her element!" replied Dashie as she flexed her muscles. "Pfft, sure." "Seriously, I'll clean it. You go and relax or something." "I'm helping!" said the girl as she stepped onto the roof through the window, moved next to Dashie, and could see the sun blasting the roof. "Okay, just be careful. We'll clean it together then." "Sure," smiled the girl. As the sun's rays hit the girl's face, Dashie could see the girl's skin was purple for a few seconds before returning to normal. "Are you okay?" asked Dashie. "Yeah, why do you ask?" "It's nothing." Dashie could see the sun getting hotter as she felt her body sweating more. She was about to take her hat off when she noticed the girl was about to step on the nail. "Wait! There's a." "Ahh!" "Look out!" The girl could move back but stepped on a wet rag and fell. Everything went slow for Dashie, as she could see the girl was about to fall off the roof. She tried her best to grab her arm but couldn't. Dashie acted on her feet, jumped off, and quickly grabbed her. Dashie spun her body around. She would use her own body to break the fall for the girl. The girl closed her eyes and could feel Dashie's arms around her. Dashie was scared and didn't know what to expect, but she felt the sun's warmth as it covered them, and she could feel the hot driveway on her back and nothingness. "Dashie!" "Huh?" Dashie said as she was brought back to reality and was confused by what had just happened. "Are you okay?" "I'm fine. Wait," said Dashie as she tried to get up but could feel a sharp pain, and her head felt like it was spinning. Everything started to glitch out, and suddenly, things were different. She was still in bed, but her skin was blue again, and everyone in the room was gone. "Hi, Rainbow Dash!" Dashie looked to the door and saw the girl from before, but her skin was purple, and she was holding a board game. "Uhhh." "I brought your favorite board game! I know how much you like to win." "Win...board games?" said Dashie. "Who are you?" "It's me, static." "What was that?" said Dashie, who couldn't hear the name. "It's me, static." "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you." "It's me, static." "What? Who are you?" asked Dashie as her head was screaming with pain, but she couldn't hear the name again. "It's me!" static got loud. "AH!" yelled Dashie as she held her head in pain and could feel the pain going away as she felt a hand on her leg. She looked down and saw her crying, as she looked hurt. "Dashie, why can't you remember who I am?" the girl asked, tears falling from her prism-covered face. "I'm sorry," said Dashie, her voice cracking and tears falling down her face. Her heart was breaking. This girl was her world, her everything, but she couldn't remember anything. "It's me -faint static-." "Please tell me. Who are you? I'm trying. I'm trying to remember you. Tell me." "It's me, T." Everything glitched out, and Dashie was back in the garden. "Who's after you? What does she want from you?" cried the purple alicorn as she held Dashie, who was bleeding from chest wounds, close to her chest. "What?" "What is the name of the pony that did this to you?" "I-." "Please...tell me! Why do you keep things to yourself?" "I'm not-." "Why can't you tell me, Rainbow?" "I don't...know..." said Dashie as she found herself back on the rooftop, looking at the setting sun as if it was in the middle of five rainboom halos. The town she lived in was on fire; everything was burning as far as the eye could see. "What is happening?" "Dashie." Dashie could hear a different voice, but her body didn't want to move; she just kept watching the sunset. "Remember her. Remember her. Please...please." "Her..." "Dashie, please." "I'm trying..." "We're running out of time. Everything's going to run out of time." "Running out of time?" "Time...you're running out of time. Dashie. I'm begging you. We promised her. Please." "Who are you?" asked Dashie, as she felt the tears fall down her face. "You know who I am." Tears kept falling as she watched the sun increase in size and engulf the whole world in endless flames. Dashie could feel something warm on her body. She opened her eyes and saw Kuu in her dragon form, as she was on top of her with her tongue out. Both girls stared at each other until Kuu did a big lick on her face, leaving it all wet. "Ku-kuu!" "Ew," said Dashie, wiping her face. She could see she was next to a campfire, and sitting not too far away from them was Twila. She laughed at the funny sight as she watched Kuu try to lick her again. Dashie was happy that Twila was safe, but her memories were a bit foggy; the last thing she could remember was that they landed on the brick ground. "Hey, how am I not dead?" said Dashie. "To be honest, I have no idea how we survived the fall, but you were badly hurt. Lucky for us, Kuu was behind us and healed you," Twila explained as she petted Kuu. "Thanks for saving me, but my next question is, Where are we?" "We're still in the Fallen City of the Void." "What?" "A city that fell to the demon dragon in the first war. A curse was placed on it—to drag anyone into it and never get out." "O-Oh," whispered Dashie, with little clue as to what she was talking about. "So, there's no way of escaping this place?" "There was, but I lost the Horn of Spark Magic." "Oh, that purple horn... that I made you drop when I bumped into you. Sorry about that!" blushed Dashie as she bowed. And repeated sorry to her. "It's not your fault. It's mine. I should've paid more attention." "No, it was my fault." "No, it's not. I'm the one who is responsible for everything." The two kept saying it was their fault, which made Kuu raspberry their pointless back-and-forth argument. "Kuu wanna keep licking candy girl!" happily shouted Kuu as she tried to lick Dashie again, but she wasn't quick enough, and Dash was able to avoid her. "Kuu! Stop it!" yelled Twila as she bopped Kuu with her staff. "Sorry about her. She's not like this when Eirika is around." "Eirika tastes like cotton candy!" cheered Kuu as she returned to her human form and ran around the two. That name again; who is that?" "Princess Eirika is the future Queen of Equestria. She's the commander of our small group. By the way, have you seen her? She headed to that area where we found you and that cult leader, who we fought a few times before," asked the mage as she sat down and put Kuu on her lap. "...she's missing? Hey, does she have rainbow hair like mine?" "No, just normal blue hair, but her Pegasus has a colorful mane. Now I look at you better; you look like Aero." "Aero?" "Her horse." "...I see. Hey, this is going to be weird, but let me explain why I'm here," said Dashie as she started to tell her story. After the long talk, Dashie waited for Twila and Kuu's reactions as she sat there, worried. "I see you are from another world! So the different world's theory was real! Amazing!" smiled Twila as she got up, her hands on her shoulders. "Tell me! Is there magic in your world?" "Are there more candy-looking people?" chimed Kuu, who was in her human form, as she started to drool, making Dashie worry a bit. "Magic, well, not really... I think so, but we have a lot of technology and candy-looking people. Uh, not really, but there are many weird and interesting-looking people. My world is very different from yours." "Wow, a world with this "technology," what would that look like? Oh, how can I get to your world?" asked Twila, as she started to shake her. "Uhh." "I want to visit the candy people!" "Uhh." "Kuu, calm down. We have to help Dashie first, then we can explore her world." "That's not how it works, sadly. When I found the shard, I was only teleported away, but at least Eirika would return to this world." "That's true. That means she'll be stuck in your world if we don't find this rainbow shard. I'm not sure what will happen to her." "That's right," said Dashie. "But if you can help me, I'll try my best to help you back. If we survived our fall, the others must have. I'll help you find them." "Sounds like a deal. Come on, Kuu," said Twila as she held out her hand and grabbed Dashie's hand. "We can also search for the horn and escape this place." "Okay, let's do this." The trio walked away from the camp and entered the dark, dead city. The night sky was pitch black, and there were no stars or a moon. The three kept their guards up as they entered a dark alleyway. "This alleyway is too narrow," said Twila, as she noticed how small the alley was. "Do you want to walk through?" asked Dashie. "No, let's keep going." They went forward and could see the dead end. "A dead end," sighed Dashie. "Not really. This looks like a door," said Twila as she inspected a brick wall. "It looks like it's been sealed off by magic." "What's this?" asked Dashie, as she could see some symbols on the door. "These are ancient symbols, it says. The path will only open if a curse reveals their markings and accepts another marking to their flesh." "Cursed?" "It's not a surprise a doorway has this. After all, it is the fallen city of the void. Anything can happen in the darkness that the demon dragon cast." "Right, so what does that mean for us?" "It's asking for the cursed one. I have a solution to this." "How?" "You'll see," said Twila as she started removing her robe. "Wait, what are you doing?" panicked Dashie, as her face was red from seeing Twila take off her clothes. Then she saw a white bra with a blue and yellow ribbon around the neck and matching white pants. She was stunned by the sight of her; she could see Twila was more fit than she believed and had a bit "more" down "there. But she noticed markings around her body. "I'm the key," said Twila as she showed her markings. "Uhh, why? And why are you undressing yourself?" "Because the answer is my curse, silly. The symbols of the cursed one are these runes, and they can only be held by the cursed ones like myself," Twila explained. "Okay, but why are you stripping yourself?" "You don't know. You're not from this world. A curse is like a living disease, as it can be spread through physical contact and by touching another curse item. I need to feel the brick wall and take the curse for myself. "Ahhh! That means we won't be cursed, as the curse will see your body and only target you." "That's correct." "Wait, why are you cursed?" Dashie asked. Kuu went behind her back when she noticed something moving under Dashie's jacket. "Let's just say I did something I shouldn't have, and now I'm paying for it. I'm a bad person and deserve this." "What was it?" "I don't want to talk about it." "But." "It's fine. Here, take this," said Twila as she handed her clothes, bag, and staff. Soon, her underwear "Wait," shuttered Dashie as she turned around and beaming red. "Hmm?" "Are you okay with being like this?" Dashie asked as she started to feel something inside. "Yes." "I see. Just making sure." "Let's go," said Twila as she approached the door. She placed her hand on the brick wall, making it glow black, as the runes slowly crept up her hand and onto her body, leaving a new set on her back. The path was opened now, and she turned to Dashie for her stuff back. "Come, let's keep going." The three walked through the brick door, which revealed a small pathway. The brick walls were tall and close together, making it impossible to see what was up above. They reached the end of the path, revealing a dark, pitch-black hallway. The three entered it and walked further in until a few torches came to life. "Woah." The trio noticed the hallway wasn't that long, but there was something weird about it. They kept walking forward and could see a room up ahead. The room looked old and empty. Once they reached the room, it was a big, circular room. There was nothing but the floor, as the walls had nothing on them. "We're in a room?" "That's strange. There should be a door, but I can't see any doors or windows," said Twila, as she could see the wall had nothing but brick, and even the ceiling had nothing but the same bricks. "Dead end?" "Hmm, maybe not. Let's go around." The three walked further in, hoping to find a way out. Dashie walked around the room, looking up and down, searching for a way out, while Twila used her magic to try and detect a way out. Kuu skipped in front of her. "Nothing here," said Dashie. "Hmm...let's see. There has to be something here," said Twila as she stopped looking around the room. "Is there?" "Let's take a rest. My mana is a bit low," said Twila, leaning against the wall as she sat down. "Good idea," said Dashie as she sat beside her. Kuu started to play with herself as she hopped around the place. "So, do you have any family and friends back home?" asked Twila as she took a mana potion from her bag. "Well, I do have a family. It's just parents, though; there are no sisters and brothers," said Dashie. "You're an only child?" "Yep, just me and my folks. And friends, well, I do have a group of great friends...and there's one person, but..." said Dashie, as the memories were still foggy, and she knew something was missing. "Someone important to you?" "I believe so. She's my everything." "Sounds like you love her," smiled Twila. "I'm pretty sure I do... I can't just remember her name or who she is..." "You don't remember her name or who she is?" "Yeah...it's sad. It sometimes breaks my heart, you know? I have these memories of her and what we did, but I don't remember those events. Sometimes, I can feel her presence, like she's right here with me." said Dashie as she turned to Twila and looked deep into her eyes. "Other times, it feels like she's miles away, and I can't reach her. It's frustrating." "I can see that..." frowned Twila as she could see how much she was suffering "It's like...we had something between us, but now, it's all gone. Everything just faded away," said Dashie as a tear came down her cheek. "Hey, it's going to be okay. You're going to find her, I promise," said Twila, giving Dashie a small smile while she wiped the tears from her face. "Thanks," said Dashie as she smiled back. "It's going to be fine. You'll remember everything one day." "You think so?" "I know so," said Twila, gently grabbing Dashie's hand and holding it. "Now, let's get out of here." The two stood up, letting go of each other's hands, but Dashie didn't want to let go for some reason. She looked at Twila and felt something as she looked at her. She remembers these feelings when meeting other girls with the same hairstyle. Why was that? She wanted to know, but she was confused. "Hey, Twila, there's something hidden on the floor." pointed Kuu as she kicked a brick and could see something under it. "Let's take a look," said Twila as she and Dashie moved the bricks and found a large hole with a grill cover, almost the size of Kuu in her dragon form. "Is that a hole?" asked Dashie as Twila pulled the grill off, took out a stick from her bag, and threw it down. "Let's see." "It's deep." "It's really deep. It must lead to a room below us," said Twila as she pulled out a glowing stone and tossed it down. "Let's see." The light slowly faded away, and they could hardly see anything below. "Looks like a room indeed," said Twila. "Should we check it out?" "Yes. Kuu, can you carry us down there?" "Okay!" said Kuu as she shifted into her dragon form. Dashie took notice of the Dragon. The Dragon was the size of a large bear but looked almost like a horse. Her scales were dark blue. She had one long horn that curled upward from her forehead, and her tail was thick and long. She was a magnificent dragon. "Ready!" smiled Kuu as she lowered herself to the ground, allowing the girls to get on. As they got on, Kuu jumped down the hole and slowly flapped down, using her horn to light up the hole. The three slowly descended, and the deeper they got, the bigger the hole got until they reached the bottom. "We're here," said Kuu as she lowered herself. "Wow," said Dashie as the three got off. She looked at Kuu and fully realized there was a dragon in front of her. "You're amazing, Kuu." "Ehehe. Thanks," smiled Kuu as she returned to her human form. "What is this place?" asked Twila as the three looked around. "A library?" asked Dashie. The three quickly looked around the place and saw it was a library with many books and papers lying around. They could see shelves lined up against the walls or fallen, dozens of books everywhere about. There were also tables scattered throughout the room and several desks placed on the door like they were used to keep something from coming in. The walls were stone, and the floors were covered with wooden planks. There was no light source other than the light coming from the Kuu horn. This place was giving off an eerie feeling. "It seems this was a secret chamber or someone's study," said Twila. "Why are the books all over the place?" "They might've been thrown around during a fight," Twila explained as she picked a random book and noticed claw markings. It looks like something attacked in here. It might explain the desks that are blocking the door. It looks like they chased it outside before blocking the doorway." "Who will be so mean and hurt all these books!?" cried Kuu "Maybe a beast? Or a demon. But that's just a guess. Honestly, now I think about it, why haven't we seen any monsters? I heard the Fallen City had monsters before being sealed away in the void." "That's a good question," said Dashie. The group was still on edge, and the atmosphere was getting worse. Kuu ran up to the block-off door and could see the outside through a tiny broken hole. She looked around and saw a large courtyard. "It looks safe outside. Nothing out there," said Kuu. "Good," said Twila. "Come on, let's leave this place. I have a bad feeling about this place. We better get going." "Okay." The three approached the door, pushed the desks out of the way, and stepped outside, inhaling fresh air. "Much better." Suddenly, they all heard something as they looked around. They were still standing in the courtyard, surrounded by crumbling buildings and a starless sky. The wind blew and whistled, making the atmosphere more eerie. The sound came from behind the group, who were slowly looking around and saw a giant monster hanging on the tower wall. "Shit! Monster!" said Dashie. "Get ready, everyone. Stay close and be careful," said Twila as the three prepared themselves. "It's coming!" said Kuu as the enormous creature jumped from the tower and landed on the ground with a loud thud. It looked like a giant lizard but had many arms, each armed with sharp claws. Its face had many mouths and eyes, with a long tongue hanging out of one of the mouths. It roared, and the three could feel the vibrations in their chests. "It's a mutated creature!" "A what?" "It's a mutated creature. Something that has mutated over the years has now turned into something else. They are very dangerous since they're created through the curse that is in the city. It is very likely to be a demon or a fiend." "It's a fiend. I can tell," said Kuu, as she could identify the monster. The fiend got up from the ground and ran towards the group. "Let's deal with it. Dashie, stay behind me and be ready to move." "Understood." The fiend charged at the group, but smoke bombs quickly intercepted it. The girls looked where the bombs came from, and they could see a flying Pegasus and its rider, along with two others. The one who threw the bombs jumped from the flying horse, landed on the monster's back, and stabbed it with her daggers. She wore a black hood, and her cloak flapped behind her as she slashed at the creature. The monster roared in pain and tried to get the girl off, but it was too late as the Pegasus swooped down, allowing the thief to grab on and escape. The horse flew towards Dashie and the others and landed. The group could see the thief and knight arguing with each other as the thief and white mage jumped off the horse. "What the hell is your problem, Vaida?! You were supposed to wait until I gave the signal!" yelled the knight. "You're too slow, Isadora. They needed help," replied Vaida as she faced Isadora. "I'll show you," said Vaida, pointing her blade at her. "Oh yeah? Bring it one arm, knight!" "Girls, please stop. We are in the middle of a fight." said the white mage as she got between the two "I'm sorry, Flora. We will settle this later, you dishonorable thief! Twila, are you and Kuu alright?" "Yes, we're fine," said Twila as she and the others prepared for the coming fight. "Let's finish it then." The monster stood up and shook off the blood from its wounds. It roared and ran towards the group. It was faster than expected, but the knight ordered her Pegasus to jump into the air and block its attack with its body. The Pegasus pushed the monster back and away from the others, allowing the thief to sneak behind it and stab its legs. It howled and fell to the ground, unable to stand. The Pegasus jumped back, and the knight charged at the creature, stabbing it in the face with her sword. "We almost have it! Everyone attack!" ordered Isadora as she pulled out the blade from the monster's bleeding face. The others joined her and attacked the fiend. Kuu charged up her mana and unleashed a powerful black lightning strike, followed by a barrage of fireballs from Twila. The monster was engulfed in flames and electricity, causing it to cry in pain and anger. It tried to swat them away, but its attacks were easily dodged. The two girls kept their distance as they continued their assault. Dashie wanted to help, but she was no fighter and had no weapon to use; she could only watch with the white mage, as she was staying behind but ready to use healing magic if someone got hurt. The battle raged on, but the fiend was growing weak. It was on its last leg, and it could barely stand. Isadora, Vaida, and Kuu charged at the fiend while Twila took out her tome, and dark green energy appeared around her. She unleashed a powerful blast of magical wind energy and struck the monster head-on. The air explosion sent the three girls flying back, but they were fine as they watched the head of the monster slide off its neck and onto the ground, dead on the spot. The white mage was healing Kuu and the others while Twila checked up on Dashie. "Wow! That was so cool!" said Dashie. "Thanks. How are you doing?" asked Twila. "Fine, just I could have done something," admitted Dashie as she watched the group check on the monster and confirm it was dead. "Don't worry, not everyone is a fighter. Not a lot of people are, and that's fine." "I know, but... it's just that I don't like being useless." "You're not useless. You're a person who is helping us. Everyone has their roles, and everyone has their place. You have your place, and that's helping me find the others and the horn." smiled Twila as she gently took hold of Dashie's hand, which caused Dashie's heart to beat faster. "Twila!" said the knight as she and the other returned to the group. "Are you okay? We feared the worst, as you didn't unleash the magical disable spell from the Horn of Spark. You had us worried sick." "Sorry, but I lost the horn mid-flight, but Dashie here saved me. We were searching for it with her help," explained Twila, who explained Dashie's story and how she got here. "Is that true?" "Yeah," said Dashie nervously. "Well then, my apologies." "We thought you were a blue-skinned demon, but saving and helping Twila, who is a stranger to you as you came from another world, With such great loyalty and kindness, you are no demon. Forgive us for judging you by your skin. Could you keep joining us in finding the horn if you could?" "Sure," said Dashie. "Very well," smiled Isadora. "I don't know; I still don't trust her. It was still odd that she was there while Eirika was nowhere to be seen, and that cult asshole was still alive." Vaida said it in the most cold tone as she crossed her arms. "Vaida, I'm sure she's a fine person. You can trust her, can't you?" Flora softly said. "We can't trust her fully until we get to know her better. We can't take any risks, not now. We're nearly ending the demon dragon's life and saving the land. I will not let anything or anyone stop us," said Vaida, as her tone changed into a serious one. She looked very menacing and intimidating, making Flora shrug back in fear as she pulled down her white hood. "Vaida!" shouted Isadora as she was finally done with her shit, but her horse stepped between the two. "Starlight? What is it?" "Something's not right," said the white mage, Flora, as she looked around. "We should go. I don't want to fight anymore." "She's right," said the knight, as she could hear a soft sound. "Starlight, go search for the others." The horse nodded, opened her wings, took off into the sky, and flew randomly. "What's going on?" asked Dashie. She joined them as they hurried out of the courtyard and into the connected building. "Dashie, can't you hear something?" asked Twila. "Not really. Why?" "There's something wrong," said Kuu, as her ears twitched and she looked around. Her eyes were glowing dark blue. "It's faint, but I can hear growling. They're coming." "What's coming?" "Monsters," said Vaida as she took point, and Ninja ran. They must've sensed the fiend's death and are now coming after us." "That's not good. How many of them?" asked Dashie The group soon found themselves on an open, windowless hallway bridge; they all stopped as they saw it. Outside nearby buildings was almost a sea of monsters, as their red eyes glowed with evil. They were all types of monsters. Zombies, skeletons, ghouls, goblins, orcs, ogres, wolves, lizards, and other unidentified monsters. It was an army—a horde, one can say. They were crawling and moving towards the group as the building started to shake from the number of monsters beginning to fill up. "Does that answer your question, Blue?" "This isn't good," said Dashie, as they all could see the monsters were coming. "We need to leave, fast," said the white mage. "We'll have to make a run for it. Dashie, Twila, and Flora follow me. Vaida and Kuu, take the rear and hold off the horde," ordered Isadora. "Understood," said Vaida as she was about to turn her back but stopped and hesitated. "Be careful, everyone. Don't die; I don't want a repeat." "We won't, Vaida. Same to you, my dishonorable friend. See you soon," smiled Isadora. "Yeah, whatever, miss One arm. Come on, Dragon," VDragonaid said as they took up their position and waited for the horde to approach their building. "Come on, girls. Stay close," said Isadora as they quickly made a break for it. "Why did we leave them alone!" yelled Dashie, who was easily keeping up with the group. "Kuu is a divined dragon; she can hold her own in a battle like that, and Vaida is very skilled in horde battles. She won't be killed easily. They'll catch up later after we find a safe spot." explained Twila Dashie was following the three. She looked back and saw Kuu shooting her breath attacks from the top of the building, holding off the horde. As they were running, a group of creatures tried to cut them off, but Isadora was able to deal with them before they could stop them. However, the monsters were not letting up and were now starting to catch up with them. "They're getting closer. What are we going to do?" asked Flora, hearing the growls and screams of the monsters, who were now running down the hallway toward the group. "Don't worry. We have this handled," said Isadora as the four reached a door. The knight opened the door and allowed the three to go in first, then shut the door. The group found themselves in a large room with several pillars and a huge hole in the floor. "Isadora, where are we?" asked Dashie. "Some kind of warehouse, I think," answered the knight as she looked around. "There's a door on the other side of the room. Let's go." The group made their way across the room but was soon stopped as a giant armor hand emerged from the hole. It pulled itself up and stood; there was a large knight as smoke came out of its armor's cracks. "What the hell is that?" screamed Dashie. "An undead titan knight," replied Isadora. "A what?" "It's an undead monster created by the curse." "How do we kill it?" "It's not strong, but it's big and armored," said the knight. "I can take care of it," said Flora, as her hands started to glow white. "What are you going to do?" asked Dashie as she could sense a white aura around Flora. "I'm going to make it weak." The knight nodded and ordered the others to back up as Flora stood her ground and raised her hands. A magic circle appeared below the titan as it started to glow. "Let's hope this works," said Flora as the light was getting brighter. "What's going on?" asked Dashie, as the room was becoming blinded by light. "Her magic is draining its strength." The knight's words were soon proven right as the light faded, weakening the titan knight. Its body was now fragile and had a hard time standing, and it soon fell backward and crashed onto the ground as the shock wave caused the building to shake. "It's all yours, Isadora," said Flora as she lowered her hands. "With pleasure. Stay here; I'll be back," said the knight as she raised her sword. The knight ran towards the titan as the others stayed back. She jumped into the air and landed on the titan's chest. With a single blow, the armor shattered, and the body was revealed. It was a skeleton wearing a full-body suit of black armor rather than an undead zombie. The knight was about to finish it, but the skeleton had other ideas and pushed the knight off it and threw her across the room. The knight's body crashed into a pillar and fell to the ground. "Isadora!" shouted Twila as she rushed over to the knight. "I'm okay. I can still fight," said the knight as she struggled to stand up. "No, you're hurt. I'll deal with this," said Twila as she stood in front of her friend and raised her staff up in the air. A green energy circle appeared. "Be careful, Twila. It's a skeleton, which means it can't be cut by wind magic," warned Isadora. "Yes. I know. Dashie and Flora, come over here." "Coming," said Dashie and Flora as the two were about to join Twila. The skeleton was walking towards the group, but it was stopped as it stared at the sealed door that others came from. Everyone notices something. There was no sound—no monsters scratching at the door or even the noises of the horde. Complete quiet...until a musical harp note was heard behind the door. With a flash, the door was cut down, and slowly walking into the room was a caped light green knight; her long hair came out of her helmet, and the horn on it glowed with great green magic. A sword floated behind her and stopped as it was in front of the knight. "Who the hell is that?" asked Dashie. "She survived!" cheered everyone The knight's eyes glowed a dark green under the face mask as her sword was raised. Within seconds, it dashed at the monster, and with each blow, a musical harp note played. It sliced the monster's body, arms, and legs and finally pierced its head, causing the skull to explode. The sword stopped in front of her, and she turned her attention to the group and started to walk towards them. "Who is she?" "Her name is Sir Lyra, the Harp-String Wind Knight," explained Isadora in the most honorable voice as she bowed to the passing knight, who walked over to a fallen weapon shelf and sat down in the unique way she found comfy. She opened her face, masked, and smiled at everyone. "What's up?" Lyra said it in the most chill and carefree tone. "And the most unique knight in our group..." softly explained Isadora as she looked over to the weirdly sitting knight and sighed. "Nice to see you, Lyra. You have a habit of making a dramatic entrance," said Flora as she walked to her teammate. "Sorry. It was getting annoying to hear those things on the other side. So, how's everyone doing?" asked Lyra "We're fine. I just had some problems," said Dashie, now feeling comfortable with these people. "What's up, new girl? Guess you can be trusted if you're with the others," smiled Lyra as she looked over to the knight. "Hey, Starry, what's the sitch?" "We're escaping the horde, as you can see, and don't call me that," sighed the knight. "Cool, cool. I'll help out." Lyra summoned her sword and tossed it out of the building. Soon, the group could hear dying screams in the distance, and just as quickly, the blade returned and was deeply covered in blood and guts. "Okay, problem solved," smiled Lyra. "You just killed all of the hordes?" asked Dashie. "Nah, I doubt it. Those things are tough to kill. I just took care of the ones that were near the building. The rest will come, but I think they'll get the idea to stay away for a while. Okay, let's do whatever you guys were doing!" said Lyra as she got up and clapped her hands. "Right. We were running from the horde, but since that's not a problem right now, we better head back where we came from and meet up with Kuu and Vaida," Twila said, as the others agreed. The group returned the way they came and headed back to the bridge. Soon, they could see the two as they were with Starlight, who had returned. Starlight took notice of the coming group and flew towards them. She landed next to her rider and started pushing her face all over Isadora's. "Easy, girl. Easy. I'm fine. Everything is okay," chuckled the knight. "It's good to see you too, Isadora," Kuu said as she flew towards them, and she smiled before licking the knight's face. "We're all glad you're all safe, one arm," smiled Vaida as she landed near them and noticed Lyra. "I knew it was you. Who else could use a magical sword like that?" Lyra and Vaida gave each other a high-five and then did a fist bump. "So, I'm guessing you were with the others?" asked Vaida. "Nope! I landed by myself. I was sitting on a bench waiting for anyone to show up until I heard the horde and followed a group chasing something. That was how I found Twila and the others," explained Lyra. "I see. Glad to see you safe and well, at least." "Same. So, guessing the sibling duos are still missing?" asked Lyra. "Yup," said Vaida. "You didn't see them, Starlight?" asked Isadora as she hopped on her horse, who shook her. "Then we better find. Come, let's go." As they were all about to leave, Lyra said to stop, as she was looking at Dashie with an odd look. "So, did you always have a rainbow tail?" asked Lyra. "Uh...what?" asked Dashie as she looked behind and could see a rainbow tail coming out above her butt area. She was confused by this as her flashes of memories filled her eyes before she turned back to the group with a smile. "Well, yeah, I always had a tail." "Interesting," said Lyra, now wondering what happened to this human. "Are you okay, Dashie?" asked Twila. "Yup, never better. Now let's go find the others and get out of this place." smiled Dashie as she ran past everyone with surprised speed, almost like she was the wind as she ran off. "She seems odd. She acted like nothing was wrong when she had a tail now—not a bad tail, mind you. It's just strange she has one now or that she's not questioning her speed," said Lyra. "Yeah, hey Twila, how did she save you again?" asked Flora. "Uhhh, she took the impact from the fall for me, but it was weird. I didn't see or feel any magic. I remember seeing blue feathers, though. She was also hot; I mean, her clothes!" panicky corrected Twila as she went red in the face, but the others didn't notice it. "That doesn't make sense. She wasn't using magic or had a transformation item on her like Kuu has," said Lyra to herself, but it was quickly explained where Dashie came from. "I see, but it still doesn't make sense about her body." "Lyra, we need to go. If you want to talk about her later, that's fine, but for now, we need to find the others and leave," said Isadora. "Okie dokie!" happily said Lyra as she hurried past the group and chased after Dashie at the same speed as she ran off. "Why am I surrounded by weird, colorful people?" sighed Isadora as she ordered Starlight to give chase, and everyone followed. The group was now running, or in this case, flying, trying to catch up with the blue human girl. Kuu was carrying Twila and Flora on her back, while Isadora and her horse were flying not too far from them. Vaida was in the back, running on the wall until they finally exited the building and were in the open streets, allowing Vaida to start running on the rooftops. Lyra was almost near Dashie as she called out to her. "Hey, Blue. You can run fast," smiled Lyra. "Yeah." "I'm faster," said Lyra as she was beside her, her armor glowing green with wind magic. "Oh yeah?" asked Dashie with a competitive smile. "Yeah," smiled Lyra, as she suddenly started to run faster and left Dashie behind, laughing. "Hey, get back here," laughed Dashie as she gave a big jump and ran at great speed to catch up. She was leaving behind a rainbow trail. "I guess there's a few people like that. Even in other worlds," chuckled Isadora. The group soon made it to the center of the city, where they saw the two siblings lying low in the city square building and quickly noticed Lyra and the blue-skinned girl running laps around the square. "Lyra, is that you?" shouted the axe fighter, as she was wearing a checker pattern shirt with a small red scarf and blue shorts with boots. "Hey, buddy. Long time no see," waved Lyra as she stopped before the small woman and her big brother. "What's going on? Why are you running around here?" asked the red knight as he limped out of the building. "Just racing with Blue here," smiled Lyra as Dashie stopped beside her. "And winning!" laughed Dashie. "Yeah, right. You wish," chuckled Lyra. Both siblings stared at each other, confused. Soon enough, the rest of the group arrived and explained everything. Flora sat the red knight down as she started to heal his broken leg. "AJ and Big Matthew, how did you survive the fall?" asked Twila, as she could see how badly hurt Matt was. "It was pure luck, Twila," explained AJ. "When we were falling, Big Matt grabbed me and saw a giant pool of water in a building, and we landed there. Matt broke his leg when he broke the water's surface. "If it weren't for that, we would have been flat pancakes, I tell you what." "You're lucky that you survived, sir Matthew," sighed Isadora. If we lost you or your sister, your father, Johnny Appleseed, would have had my head. I promised him that I'd make sure you two returned to him alive and in one piece. "Yeah, well, that's life, ain't it?" sighed Matt, as he could feel his pain being taken away by Flora's magic. He removed his helmet, revealing his white beard and hair despite looking young. "I'm so happy you're all safe," cried Twila as she hugged both siblings. "Thanks, Twila. We're glad you're all safe, too," said AJ as she hugged Twila back. Dashie poked Lyra's side, asking what their story was. In fact, what's everyone's story? She wanted to know everyone here. "Okay. Let me explain since I'm the fastest. This is AJ, short for Abby Jasmine Appleseed. She might be small, but she's very skilled with an axe, and over there is her older brother, Big Matthew, or Matt for short. He's a big guy but a sweetheart. They're both from a well-known marketing group called Apple Core. Starry knows their father, a former knight, before quitting and starting his band of knights. AJ wants to be like her father and wants to prove it. Matthew joined us after we saved his sister from the living forest." explained Lyra "The living forest?" "It's where the forest is alive, filled with sentient trees that will crush anything or anyone that steps in their territory." Dashie pictured it in her mind, and she suddenly flashed the Everfree Forest and nodded as she knew what Lyra was talking about. "Starry, there is a well-known knight from the sky kingdom of Torna. She lost her arm years ago in a duel with her former lover. She doesn't want to explain that further. She joined us after we saved the floating kingdom from falling into the mountains." Lyra pointed to Flora next. "She's pretty new. She's a wandering healer who overhears a plot to kill Princess Eirika during the knight race tournament in Winterfall Kingdom. She joined us as their bounty on her head now." "Who is after her?" "The Church of the Demon Dragon. Remember that loser? He was one of its cult leaders." Lyra turned her attention to Kuu next, who was trying to lick the siblings but failing. "This is Kuu. She's the divine moon dragon. She's the last of the divine dragon clan and a baby sister to the Sol dragon goddess, Helios. Princess Eirika found her in an underground cave, saving her from a cult leader she was following. She has a weird habit of licking people. Said I tasted like mint?" laughed Lyra "You do taste like mint," said Kuu, as she was standing next to her and licking her armored hand. "Right...Moving on. We don't know why she was in that underground cave, but after Eirika and the group she befriended, Kuu returned to the holy mountain of Sol before I came along. I was told that Eirika was chosen to save our world from the returning Demon Dragon and to seek out the holy weapons," explained Lyra as she pointed to herself. "Now, this is my story." Lyra did a drama pose and spoke in a cool voice: "I'm a magical knight from the Windrunner kingdom. I was on vacation, enjoying my time off from protecting my kingdom, until I met Eirika and her group. They were fighting the cult and trying to save a baby holy bear after its mother was on a rampage. I joined them and have been with them since." Lyra pointed to Vaida next, as she was on the rooftop and keeping watch. "Vaida there. She's the leader of the Black Sun, a famous group of thieves. The cult hired her and her gang to steal an ancient scroll that would allow them to find the key to remove the demon dragon seal. However, once Vaida read what was written on the scroll, she and her gang refused the contract and tried to stop the cult." Dashie could see Lyra becoming sad as she went on. "Her whole gang was killed, but we saved her, and she joined us. It wasn't until a week later that we entered a cult hideout, where she found her dead husband's body. He didn't know about her second life, and she blamed herself for everything. She's a nice woman. Just misunderstood with the anger she has." Lyra moved on and pointed to Twila. "And Twila, the first person to join Eirika on her quest with Kuu, was captured at a very young age and was tested with different curses by the cult for years. But she was saved by Eirika. She's a very kind, smart, and caring person. She's friendly to anyone or anything. She learned that she could use magic and was trained by the great wizard of the Xeno tower, as Eirika was there to deal with its "rat" problem." explained Lyra as she put her arm around Dashie's shoulder, got closer to her face, and whispered, "Also, she has a nice butt, right?" "What?!" "I know you were staring at her butt." chuckled Lyra as Dashie turned bright red. "I'm guessing you like her. It's okay. She's pretty, smart, and kind. I would like her if I were you. She's a keeper." "I have no idea what you're talking about," panicked Dashie. "It's okay. It's okay. Your secret is safe with me. We butt lovers got to stick together!" laughed Lyra as Dashie couldn't look away from Twila's butt and felt something warm inside her. Her heart was pounding, and that warmth was building up until she thought it exiting out of her back. "What!" shouted Lyra in awe and confusion as she and everyone else turned to Dashie. They saw two enormous, beautiful blue wings blasting through her jacket and standing tall and stiff. "Whoa, that's amazing," awed Flora as she finished healing Matt's leg, and he was now looking at the wings as amazed as everyone else. "How did this happen?" asked Lyra. "What?" said Dashie as she looked behind herself and saw the wings. That's when memories flashed in her eyes. "I always had these," replied Dashie before quickly turning red as she tried to lower them. But Starlight hurried over and pushed Lyra away, using her own wing to hide Dashie behind it. Dashie could see Starlight's disappointed face, which read "Pervert." "You had wings this whole time and never knew it? What happened to you and your memories?" asked Lyra, as Starlight was still covering Dashie with her wing and not letting anyone close. "I'm sorry, guys, but she needs some space. Something is going on with her. Let her process what's happening, and hopefully, she'll explain. But for now, let her have some space." Twila said as Starlight nodded, slowly moved her wing away, pushed Dashie, guided her to an alleyway, and left the group. "What was that all about?" questioned AJ, scratching her head. "Maybe she has amnesia?" suggested Flora. "It would make sense. When I talked to her earlier, she said she didn't have any memories of someone or remember her name," added Twila. Vaida jumped down from the rooftops and stood in front of the group. "I don't trust her at all! Even more now! We should push for more information!" Vaida started to walk to the area where Dashie went, but Isadora stopped by putting her hand on her shoulder. Vaida could see the knight blushing and asked what was wrong. "I believe she's some form of Pegasus race in her world. Going by Starlight's actions, it's best we wait for them," said Isadora, her face turning red and her eyes looking away. "Why?" Isadora sighed and whispered something to Vaida, who quickly turned red. "Right! Let's wait for her!" nervously said Vaida, while Matt and Lyra understood and nodded, leaving the others confused. It wasn't until a few minutes later that Dashie, with her wings finally down, and Starlight returned. Everyone could see Dashie hanging her head in shame while Starlight was making angry horse noises as she returned to her master's side and was still giving the same look to Dashie. Whoever wanted to die as she sat on the ground couldn't face anyone. "Are you okay?" Twila asked as she stood in front of Dashie. She was worried because she noticed her face was still red. Dashie looked up at her and could feel her heart beating again. Her wings were slowly moving up again, so she quickly slammed her back on the ground floor and pointed two thumbs at her with a bit of pain in her voice. "GOOD! I'M GOOD!" Twila was confused by this, but before she could ask, everyone but Dashie could feel something in the air—something evil—as they prepared themselves and searched the area for it. "I can feel a dark aura. It's solid. Whatever it is, it's not friendly," said Flora as she prepared her staff. "I can feel it as well. This isn't normal. It's too powerful. Whatever it is, it must have a huge mana level." added Lyra. "Isadora, what should we do?" asked Matt as he stood beside his little sister and got his sword ready. "We need to stay calm. Whatever it is, we can feel our fear," stated Isadora as her armor started glowing, as she was charging up her magic and ready to defend her allies. Kuu, feeling the dark aura, was frightened and quickly jumped behind Twila and cried. Twila held her tightly and whispered to her, "Don't worry. We're here." Vaida, being an expert thief who trained her senses for danger, could hear something moving in the shadows and quickly drew her two blades. "Everyone, prepare yourself. It's coming." Everyone readied themselves and waited for the incoming enemy. The air around them was becoming heavier and darker. Everyone could feel the cold breeze, which made their skin crawl. "It's here," said Vaida deeply as she stared down at a man wearing a cloak. Everyone knew who it was—it was the cult leader, as he approached them with an evil smile. "Long time, no see. You all seem well," greeted the cult leader as he stopped just a few feet away, and everyone was ready to fight. "We have nothing to talk about. Leave, or you'll regret it," demanded Vaida. "You are in no position to give orders, thief. In fact, no one is. All you worms need to listen to his voice, the real and true ruler of our world," replied the cult leader as he held something in his hand, and Twila quickly noticed what it was. "The Horn of Spark!" "That's correct. I won't allow you to escape this void! Not until what was promised to me! You'll stay here forever as our Lord takes back what was his. The world!" shouted the cult leader as he lifted the horn and crushed it with his hand. As the horn broke into dust, the ground began to shake, and everyone tried to stay balanced. The cult leader laughed as shadow hands broke through the ground and grabbed him. "Yes! Thank you, my Lord! Give me the power so I can strike her down!" shouted the mad cult leader as he pointed at Twila. "So I can free her! FREE MY DAU," but before he could finish, he was dragged into the ground by the shadow hands, and with a mighty earthquake, the square scattered as a giant demonic light darkish blue unicorn came out. "I WILL NOT BE STOPPED BY MORTAL FOOLS! My daughter shall be set free! No matter the price!" roared the demonic unicorn as it stomped the ground, making a giant earthquake. "Daughter?" whispered Twila. "Twila!" shouted Vaida as she jumped at her and knocked her out of the way of the falling building behind her. "Thanks," said Twila. "Be careful!" shouted Flora, casting a protective barrier around the group as the shadows were attacking the barrier. "What is that thing?!" shouted Lyra. "A holy unicorn?" said Isadora. "No. This one looks too demonic and has a mane made out of shadows," replied Matt as he pointed at the mane. He was right, as the mane was made out of shadows. "What should we do?" asked Vaida, as the group was stuck between a giant demon and shadow hands. "Everyone, let me, Lyra, and Starlight take care of it," stated Isadora as she got on Starlight's back and raised her sword in the air, making it shine with light. "I'll keep us protected!" added Flora as she raised her staff and began to cast another spell. "Let's take the shadows down," said Matt as he charged toward the nearest shadow and sliced through it. "Yee-haw! Right behind you, brother!" shouted AJ as she ran towards a shadow and chopped it with her axe. Lyra leaped on Starlight's back and summoned her sword. "Starlight, let's go!" ordered Isadora as the trio took off toward the demonic unicorn, and with a mighty roar, the battle began. "I WILL END YOU!" "We won't let you, pal!" The unicorn opens its mouth and shoots a large energy ball at the trio, who easily dodge it. "Starlight, charge the horn, and attack!" Starlight nodded and flew towards the demon while Isadora and Lyra got ready to strike. "Take this!" shouted Lyra as she rocketed her sword at the unicorn horn, which bounced off, and a small crack appeared. "Nice one, Lyra! It can hurt!" said Isadora. However, the demon wasn't finished, and it used its crack horn to cast a lightning spell. Isadora and Starlight barely dodged it, but it didn't help much, as Lyra fell off but could summon her sword and use it as a hoverboard. "We're not finished!" shouted Isadora as Starlight flew back towards the demon and charged at the unicorn, allowing Isadora to slash its forehead. The monster roared in pain as a big gash was seen. "Isadora!" shouted Lyra as she saw many shadow hands going after her. Isadora saw the shadow hands and used magic to blast them away with a magic wave from her sword. "Nice job!" smiled Lyra as she was near them. "I couldn't have done it without your warning, Lyra." "We're not done yet! Let's take that ugly demon down!" "Agreed! Let's get it, Starlight." Starlight nodded as she and the duo charged at the demon while the others dealt with the shadows. "AJ, Matt, we're running low on mana. We can't keep this up," warned Flora. "Can you blast them? Since these things are weak to light magic?" asked Matt. "I would if I could, but we're surrounded. There's too many of them." "We'll have to take them down ourselves then," stated AJ. She sliced through a shadow, and Matt followed suit as they fought. "Keep fighting! We got to hold out until Isadora and Lyra can take that unicorn down!" ordered Vaida as she tossed paper bombs at a group of shadows trying to grab Twila and the others. "Kuu! Keep watch over Twila and the horny one!" ordered Vaida, as Kuu was shaking in fear but nodded as she stood between the two, trying her best not to be scared. "Don't worry. We're safe. Nothing can get past her," smiled Twila as she hugged Kuu and whispered, "Thank you." "Gonna be brave! Just like Eirika!" Kuu said as she shook her head, and her body was glowing with a small amount of moonlight. "That's right. Remember what she told you when she left?" smiled Twila. "No matter what, no matter the time or situation, you'll be brave! Brave enough to shine through the darkness!" roared Kuu as she shot out a sea of night sky-looking flames and burned any shadows that came near. Twila chuckled as she hugged her. "Be the light that the people need." Dashie could only watch as everyone was doing their best, while she watched from the backline. She hated this, hated not helping anyone, as something inside of her was growing. She looked up and saw the fight happening above them. Isadora was exhausted, as the demon was too much for her and Lyra. "We can't win," whispered Isadora as a magic wave hit her and almost fell off Starlight. "Isadora!" shouted Lyra as the magical knight caught her from falling while the duo was able to dodge the next attack. "We're not going to last long. We're losing too much mana. We can't get close anymore." "Don't give up, Isadora! We can do this! We can win! For our friends, family, and loved ones! If you give up, all that's going to happen is that the demon is going to destroy everything and kill our friends." Isadora sighed. "You're right, Lyra. Let's do this! Together!" Lyra smiled as they charged again at the unicorn, which was charging a significant magic attack. "Starlight! Dodge! It's preparing to attack!" ordered Isadora as Starlight nodded and avoided the magical beam, but it wasn't the end of it. "WHAT THE-" shouted Lyra in surprise as the magic attack changed direction and was heading towards the others on the ground. "NO!" screamed Twila as she tried to cast a spell to protect the others. The attack was about to hit them, but something stopped the magical attack. Everyone was stunned at what they were looking at. "This girl..." smirked Lyra. She could see Dash holding the beam in place with one hand while her wings were up, and a rainbow halo was behind her back. "Dashie...?" whispered Twila. "I've had it! I'm not going to be useless!" snarled Dashie as she tossed the magic attack up and soared into the air, quickly passing Isadora and Lyra, amazed by the supersonic speed. "That speed!" awed Isadora. "That girl can move! Can you put us Wind Knights to shame?" smirked Lyra. "Hey, ugly demon! Let's go, pal!" shouted Dashie as the unicorn looked at her, while the others on the ground were shocked by the bravery Dashie was showing. "How dare you, fool? To stand in my way when you should be bowing before the demon dragon teachings!" roared the unicorn. "You may have a big horn and be powerful, but that will not scare me, pal! I fought way more ugly monsters!" "Insolence, fool!" "Enough talking! Time for the main show!" Dashie quickly dodged the unicorn's attacks, while the demon grew annoyed with her as its attacks weren't working. "You're fast. But that's not going to stop me!" "Not bad, pal! You got some speed, but not enough to catch me!" "ENOUGH OF THIS FILTHY FOOLS MOCKERY!" The unicorn's body was now engulfed in a dark flame, while its horn was glowing with a powerful magic attack. "Is it casting a high magic spell!" asked Twila, worried about Dashie. "That's a powerful magic spell! Dashie's not going to survive!" panicked Isadora. "KID! RUN!" screamed Lyra as she tried to reach her. "DAMN IT! I WON'T REACH HER! SHE WON'T GET AWAY IN TIME!" Dashie, floating in the air with her arms crossed, was staring at the demon as it was charging up its most potent magical attack. The unicorn fired a magical beam covered in black flames, and Dashie quickly raised her hands and pushed back the beam with super strength and speed. Everyone was shocked by the feat as she made the demon's attack back, showing no signs of struggle. "Glad this sugar cube is on our side," said AJ. "Eeyup," replied Big Matt. "Amazing," gasped Flora. "Incredible," whispered Twila, as she could only stare in awe. "I can't believe it! She's pushing back the attack! WITHOUT MUCH TROUBLE!" screamed Isadora, who was also in shock. "This power," muttered the demon. "What are you, brat?" "Oh, you want to know my name, pal?" smirked Dashie. "DON'T PUSH YOUR LUCK!" "The name is Rainbow Dashiell! One of the protectors of my world! And you're going to lose, pal!" With one final push, Dashie could push the beam away from her and the group, sending it into the air, and it disappeared. The demon was now starting to grow nervous, as this 'Rainbow Dashiell' was a threat, and she could counter its magic attack with ease and speed. "This is my chance! Rainbow, we got this!" said Lyra as she and Isadora flew beside her. "Good timing. You two will get the best seats!" smirked Dashie as she blasted off, leaving the two in the dust. "Hey, ugly! You wanted me! I'm right here!" taunted Dashie as she raced around the demon, making it dizzy. "ENOUGH!" The demon was about to fire another magical beam but was suddenly punched in the chest by Dashie and was being pushed into the sky. "I won't lose!" shouted the demon as it was pushing back. "We'll see, pal! This is just the start! Get ready for my best move!" Rainbow Dashie then increased her speed until the sound barrier cracked with multiple colors. The unicorn monster could feel its body being crushed by the G force. "THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! I JUST WANTED TO SET HER FREE!" "Enjoy my Sonic Rainboom!" Rainbow Dash then released her full strength, breaking the sound barrier and unleashing her Sonic Rainboom. This sent the monster into the sky while the rainbow circle blasted across the void of nothingness. "This...power," groaned the demon. "You're going to regret messing with me, pal!" The two kept going until they slammed into the void ceiling, but that didn't stop Dashie as she kept pushing. "I won't die here! I must live, for her sake!" "Sorry, pal, but the show is over!" "IT'S NOT OVER YET!" "IT IS!" Dashie took all her power, and with one big push, she blasted through the ceiling, Scattering the void and freeing the dead city as a blue sky appeared. The rainbow light went further up, and the monster could feel its body breaking apart as the rainbow energy was now burning it. "I'M FALLING APART! THIS ISN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! THIS ISN'T HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO!" "Too bad, pal. Now you're going down!" The rainbow energy was now burning away the demon's body as it screamed in agony. "IT'S HURTS! Make it stop! PLEASE! DON'T BURN ME!" "Sorry, but you've messed with the wrong girl! So, good night." "IT HURTS! I CAN'T TAKE THIS PAIN! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? WHAT HAVE I DONE TO YOU?!?" "Because you threaten my friends! That is reason enough!" The demon's body was now being destroyed as it screamed, crying in pain. "WHY! What have I done to deserve this?" "For being a jerk." "I ONLY WANTED TO FREE HER!" "I'm not hearing an apology, pal!" "SORRY!" "Louder!" "I'M SORRY!" "Now, you're going home!" The demon screamed in terror as its body was burned away by the rainbow energy until nothing was left of it. Rainbow Dashie, on the other hand, was fine. She finally stopped and floated there. She turned around and could see nothing but a beautiful sun. She smiled at it but noticed it was getting closer and more significant. "Wait a sec. Suns are not supposed to get that big, and why does it feel so warm rather than hot?" Suddenly, the sun became a super-large white female dragon before turning into a human, and to Dashie, it was this version of Celestia. "CELESTIA?! YOU'RE HUGE!" "Well, hello. You have done well. You saved this city and set free the cursed people who lived here, as they were the monsters in this ruinous kingdom. I, Helios, thank you." "Uhh, you're welcome. So, where are we?" "My dimension. The sun realm, and it's just me. Tell me, otherworldly hero, what do you wish for?" "I need to get home; can you send me back?" Helios shook her head, as she didn't have the power to break the wall in between. "Then, can you show me where the rainbow shard is?" "I'll do you one better," smiled Helios as her eyes glowed with yellow light. The rainbow shard appeared in front of Dashie. Like always, her shard started to glow and floated out of her pocket. Both watched as the shards slowly became one as reality broke down. "Go, little one. I pray that you return home and help my chosen one. You and they are running out of time. Here, take this orb. She's going to need it when you return home," said Helios as she handed Dashie a rainbow orb and placed it in her pocket. "Who? Do you mean this Eirika person? And what do you mean, I'm running out of time?" asked Dashie, but Helios said nothing as she vanished, and Dashie fell into a bright void as the shards were still fusing. The bright light engulfed the city as Twila and her friends covered their eyes. "They're back!" shouted a crossed-eyed archer as Twila and the others saw they were back in the field. Both groups were celebrating, but Twila looked around and didn't see Dashie anywhere. "Where's Dashie?" asked Twila, as Lyra and Isadora could only shake their heads. "She was fighting the demon, but I lost sight of her after the explosion," explained Isadora. "What!? Are you saying she might have died?" shouted Twila, as she was trying not to cry. "There's no way; she died. If anything, the explosion probably killed that cult asshole. Bet Blue is fine," reassures Lyra. "Right, but where is she? We can't leave her behind!" "Twila, it's okay. She's," said Flora, but she was cut off as everyone shouted to look at the sky. The sonic rainboom was still there but slowly faded into the sea of clouds. In the middle, they could all see a falling rainbow star. "It's her!" cried Twila as she turned to the group. Isadora, on Starlight, quickly hurried over to Twila and got on. "Starlight! Go!" ordered Isadora as the Pegasus opened its wings and took off. The two quickly went through the clouds and could see Dashie, slowly falling and being surrounded by rainbow energy as she held something. "Dashie! Don't worry, I got you!" cried Twila as she reached out her arms, as Starlight was flying faster. "Just a bit more!" cried Isadora. "Almost there!" shouted Twila as she and Isadora almost caught Dashie but were blasted away by a pillar of rainbow light. Twila could see Dashie disappearing into the light and could not reach her. "DASHIE!" cried Twila, tears coming from her eyes. Dashie opened her eyes and could see Twila, Isadora, and Starlight. Soon, she could see Kuu, Lyra, and other Pegasus knights that were part of the Eirika's group flying behind Lyra. "See you around..." cried Dashie as she gave Twila and the others a see you later hand gesture and disappeared into the light. "DASHIE!" shouted Twila, but she was too late; the rainbow pillar disappeared, and the sky was returning to normal. "Dashie..." cried Twila. She shed a tear before looking back into the sky, and a rainbow appeared between the clouds. "I hope you find and remember her. See you around," smiled Twila as Lyra and the others arrived. Lyra put her hand on her shoulder, letting her cry some more. Dashie opened her eyes, and she found herself back in the garden. The alicorn was there as she looked at her. "They're not going to last for much longer. Do you remember her yet?" "No, but memories of her... I think I'm remembering the time I had with her. I think I'm starting to remember her face." explained Dashie as she held her chest as she was crying again. The alicorn closed her eyes, and the garden was freaking out as Dashie could see a black ooze pony with bright white eyes behind the alicorn. "Please, hurry. If not, everything and everyone is doomed." "Don't worry; I'm not going to forget you. You and I are the same; I remember that now." Dashie smiled, causing the alicorn to open her eyes and shake. "Wait, do you remember?" But she was cut off as everything disappeared into the rainbow light, but Dashie smiled as she floated within it. "I'm not letting you go again. I'll save you this time, even if I'm not really "me." Right, Dash and Dashie." softly whispered Rainbow Dashie as she flickered between Dashie, Dash, and a third Dash wearing a dark blue jacket. The rainbow light disappeared, and Dashie could feel herself floating without falling. She opened her eyes and saw a purple moon as it started to glow brightly and blow up with great force. She could see the earth before her as the moon chucks disappeared. She realized she was in space. She closed her eyes and felt herself pushed back into the planet. Her body was hot as she re-entered and fell towards an island. She crashed face-first into the grassy field. She wasn't in pain, and she didn't know why. She could hear voices, and she slowly looked up and could see Pony AJ, Pegasus Pinkie Pie, wearing a red dress, and Scoots as a griffon. "Who is she? Where's Bolt?" asked Pinkie Scoots took out a tablet and scanned Dashie, and he was surprised by the readings. "Can't be? The readings are a match for Bolt! This is Bolt the Pegasus!" Dashie stood up, and unknown to her, her human ears were replaced with pony ears. Her face looked more like a pony now, while her body remained human. "My name isn't Bolt. My name is Rainbow, Rainbow Dash!" end of chapter 7
Chapter 8: Your NameSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
