Chapters It was a peaceful and sunny day in Ponyville. Everypony was feeling happy, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were on their adventures trying to find their cutie marks like always, Lyra and Bon-Bon were shopping and Berry Punch was fixing her hot air balloon. On the floor, they could see Tank, still recovering from the crash. Granny Smith was taking her afternoon walk and Big Macintosh could be seen fixing the barn back at Sweet Apple Acres. It was the fifth time this month that the barn's wall was crushed, making the life of Apple family even tougher than it is already.
On a green hill, right outside Ponyville, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy could be seen having fun, spending the day just like they want. Rarity, as always, had to bring something for her to sit on because she refused to sit on the grass like all the others. Fluttershy had brough a bag of animal food and was feeding every single critter she could find, too bad some weren't even hungry. Pinkie Pie was being random like always, jumping around, rolling on the floor and even baking some muffins.... like I said, random. Twilight was talking with Applejack, telling her to be more careful when bucking apples so that the barn's wall doesn't collapse. Applejack was still a bit embarrassed by that, she just wanted to break her own record but ended up kicking a rock that crossed the barn's wall.
Rainbow Dash was bragging about her new stunts and how the Wonderbolts were going to ask her to join them once they saw them. Everypony else just kept staring asking her how that would even work. They all doubted it would be so simple, but then again they were convinced that Dash could easily pull them off.
"Are you sure it's that simple? These things take time, it's not like they'll automatically call you a Wonderbolt once they see those new stunts", said Twilight.
"Hey, my new stunts are amazing, don't even doubt that! They've never seen anything like that, so they will have to ask me to join them as soon as they see the stunts."
"And what stunts are you exactly talking about?", said Rarity
"Do you remember the Sonic Rainboom? Of course you do. Now i can perform the Sonic Rainboom while flying upwards."
"WOW! Sounds cool! Is it like the one you performed at the wedding?", asked Pinkie Pie
"Actually, this one is performed by flying straight upwards"
Upon hearing that, they all looked at Rainbow Dash, some looked surprised and others showed disbelief on their looks, mostly disbelief.
"Really? But is that even possible? I mean, the Sonic Rainboom requires a lot of momentum, so much that it requires for you to reach the speed of sound. Not only gravity would slow you down, you also need strong wings that are able of propelling you at ridiculously high speeds.", said Twilight, trying to bring some logic into Rainbow's statement.
"Hey! If I say that I can do it, that means I can"
"But have you even tried?"
"Of course! You still doubt me? Then sit down because I'm gonna show it to you all", said Rainbow Dash, confident that her first time performing an upwards Sonic Rainboom would be successful.
Rainbow Dash prepared herself to perform the Sonic Rainboom and all the others sat down on the floor. All but Rarity, who used magic to bring a couch so that she could sit down and watch her friend performing the stunt.
"How about sitting on the grass like the rest of us?", asked Applejack, feeling a bit sick of Rarity's snob atitudes.
Nonetheless, they all stared at Rainbow Dash, looking forward to see that amazing upwards Sonic Rainboom. They were all pretty excited and they really wanted to see something that was considered to be scientifically impossible happen. Rainbow Dash postioned herself, she didn't want this to fail, even though she was pretty sure it would.
Dash took off and, surprisingly enough, she managed to reach a speed that was high enough for an air cone to form around her. Her speed increased at each second and eventually she performed the Sonic Rainboom while flying upwards. It was a gorgeous view from down there, at least while they could still see something. The light grew bigger and brighter, ending up blinding everypony that looked straight at it.
That bright light ended up fading completely, leaving only an orb of light in the place where Rainbow Dash performed the Sonic Rainboom, the only problem is that Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen.
Twilight and the rest of the gang couldn't believe what they just saw, Rainbow Dash vanished out of thin air. Pinkie Pie even grabbed a megaphone and shouted, hoping that Rainbow Dash was hiding in a cloud or some sort of cruel prank to scare them.
"RAINBOW DASH! WHERE ARE YOU!?", shouted Pinkie Pie using the megaphone, creating winds strong enough to push a small colt.
Twilight approached Pinkie Pie and tried to calm her down.
"Pinkie Pie, I think she's gone", said Twilight in a sad tone.
"Gone where? Where is she? Tell me!"
Pinkie Pie started freaking out, thinking that she had just lost one of her best friends.
"Gone into the dark realm", said a mysterious voice that surprised the five ponies.
All of them turned around and saw Princess Celestia coming from straight from Canterlot's palace. She landed next to the five ponies on the hill, looked at the orb of light and then spoke.
"Rainbow Dash isn't gone, but she does need your help"
"What do you mean by that, princess?", Twilight.asked
"It seems like the Sonic Rainboom triggered some sort of residual magic. This magic seems to be extremely unstable, so it opened a rift that your friend seems to have crossed."
"A rift? Like something that allows you to cross dimensions? Does that mean that Rainbow Dash is in another dimension?", Twilight asked again.
"Yes. That orb of light you can see there is the rift still open, if we're lucky, we might be able of opening it again so one of use can cross it and save Rainbow Dash."
While she explained what had just happened, Celestia used her magic on the orb of light and it started freaking out. Eventually, the orb expanded, creating some sort of portal.
"Now, only one of us can go, and it must be a unicorn so that you can open a portal from the other side, that's your only way of getting back."
"I'll go", Twilight said as she took one step forward.
"Rainbow Dash is counting on us, so we need to hurry"
"That is very noble of you, Twilight, but are you sure you're capable of coming back?" Celestia asked to her pupil, hoping to get the right answer.
"All I know is that we can't just sit here waiting for something to happen. Rainbow Dash has saved us countless times, we can't just let her down like this.", said Twilight in a more assertive tone.
"Very well, I shall keep this rift open for you as long as I can, don't waste this opportunity"
"Understood. Fluttershy! I need you to carry me up there so i can cross the rift."
"Okay, I'll do it if that's ok with you."
Fluttershy grabbed Twilight and lifted her up into the sky. Fluttershy was struggling because she wasn't used to carrying anything heavier than a critter, but she didn't just gave up and pulled harder, eventually ending up right over the rift.
"Are you ready, Twilight?"
"Yes, let me go!"
Fluttershy then dropped Twilight and she began to fall. She almost missed the rift completely, but she managed to touch it and, by doing so, crossing it into the other side...... into the Dark Realm.
It has been a few seconds since Twilight crossed the portal. All she saw was an endless tunnel of light that somehow seemed to be taking her somewhere. She also noticed that she was going even faster than before, like if the tunnel itself was making her go faster. She even wondered if this was gonna harm her, probably a good idea to have considered this before crossing the rift.
Suddenly, she heard voices, many voices. She didn't recognize them, but it seemed like those voices were trying to talk to her. Even though it wasn't possible to understand what they were saying, it seemed like this wasn't an accident at all, like if those voices wanted this to happen. Twilight knew she had to find Rainbow Dash and get out of there as soon as she could, that was her main priority, but curiosity was getting the best of her.
The tunnel eventually faded and she landed on solid ground. Twilight felt that she was on hostile grounds, but she was happy to see that there was still a chance to save Rainbow Dash after all.
Twilight checked her surroundings and all she saw was a barren land without anypony in sight. No signs of civilization too, just ground, rocks and mountains. The second thing Twilight noticed is that the sun was gone. Not gone like in "it's night time", but really gone! Twilight couldn't see either the sun OR the moon on the sky, it was just an empty void.
"Seems like Celestia and Luna don't have the control over this realm", said Twilight.
"Snap out of it, this is no time to be studying this wicked world, I must hurry and find Rainbow Dash while I still can."
Twilight then started walking, looking for signs of Rainbow Dash or any trail that might lead her in the right direction. She crossed the land, got past between two mountains and the only thing she saw was an empty world, with nothing ahead of her but grey earth, this time she didn't even saw rocks, it's like the world had ended and there was nothing left for her to see there.
Twilight was running out of hope. It seemed like Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be found, she even considered the thought that she had landed on the wrong dimension and that Rainbow Dash was lost forever in another world out of her reach. Luckly, Twilight looked to her left and saw the body of a blue pegasus. She quickly ran towards her to see if she was ok. At this point, all she wanted was for her to be alive so that they could go back to Equestria and resume their normal lives.
"Rainbow Dash, are you okay?", Twilight asked to make sure Rainbow Dash was still alive.
Twilight checked for any life signs and noticed that she was still breathing. Twilight then felt relieved and decided to wait for Rainbow Dash to wake up so that they could get back to their world.
While she waited for Rainbow Dash to wake up, she had time to look around and think about the world where they are. it was a dark world without any signs of life, the lands are empty and barren, the atmosphere feels incredibly depressing and the sun was nowhere to be seen. However, she had the feeling that they weren't alone and that somepony or something was watching them.
Twilight also considered the idea of not being able of coming back and being stuck there forever. That idea haunted her in the deepest corner of her mind. There was so many things she wanted to do with her life and she didn't want this to ruin her big life plans. But she did it for Rainbow Dash, so as long as their friendship remains, she couldn't care about anything else, those six ponies went through a lot together, so she's willing to give up her life for her friends.
After a little while, minutes, maybe even hours, Rainbow Dash woke up and Twilight felt even more relieved than she did before.
"Wha- What happened?", Rainbow Dash asked, confused and dizzy because of the crash.
"Rainbow Dash, I'm so glad you're awake, your Sonic Rainboom opened a rift that left you unconscious in this dark realm"
"Dark Realm?", Rainbow Dash asked, even more confused than before.
"Yes, another world besides Equestria that has no life whatsoever. Take a look at the horizon, there's nothing there, and that's all there is in this world. You may find a few rocks on the way, but I haven't seen anypony, signs on civilization or life whatsoever, it's like this place is completely dead."
"What about the others? Are they here too?", Rainbow Dash asked again.
"No, they're all waiting for us back in Equestria."
"And how are we exactly gonna get back?", Rainbow Dash asked one last time.
"I don't know, I saw Celestia using a spell to open a portal to this world, maybe i can pull it off too"
Twilight focused as hard as she could, trying to copy Celestia's spell by trying to remember the demonstration. Celestia didn't had time to teach her the spell or to explain her how it worked, but she had to pull it off. In her mind, all she could think of was getting back home with Rainbow Dash safe and sound, nothing else. Suddenly, her horn started glowing and she was blinded by the strong glow.
When twilight regained her vision, she found herself in a completely dark void without anything in sight. She also noticed that Rainbow Dash was gone. Suddenly, she heard a voice.
"Twilight Sparkle! The time for you to fulfill your destiny is approaching!", said the mysterious voice.
"What?! Who are you? Show yourself!, said Twilight in an assertive yet intimidated tone.
"For now, you must find the power within this land that allows you to seal the deal"
Twilight held her voice for a brief moment, "the power to seal the deal" he said? What was that supposed to mean? Did she had to find something hidden in that dark realm? But that world was empty, there's nothing that could be considered useful.
A light started shining, blinding Twilight again.
Many hours have passed and Twilight still keeps walking. She saw rocks, mountains, cliffs and even a rock formation that looked just like a building, but nothing that looked like a power source. She was starting to feel homesick and was getting tired because of that trip.
With time, the sun started setting, bringing back the darkness that Twilight experienced when she first arrived in this realm.
Twilight was starting to give in to the darkness around her. There was nothing ahead of her after all those hours of walking, she felt like if there was no way of accomplishing her goal. The sun was the timer and her time was coming to an end.
Twilight stopped, she looked at sun one last time before closing her eyes and shedding a single tear. She didn't want to see her last hope of returning home going away, she wasn't brave enough to see that with her own eyes.
The sun was almost gone and the darkness was rising, there were only a few seconds left untill the sun was completely gone. Those seconds passed quickly and soon that world was filled with darkness again. Twilight was standing still in the middle of nothing, too scared to open her eyes. She decided to let fate decide what to do with her instead of fighting it.
Suddenly, Twilight's horn started glowing, but this time it was a really strong glow, so big that it automatically started firing a beam towards outer space, leaving twilight scared and unable of moving.
Twilight was confused, she didn't know what was going on. She felt that all her magic was drained back there, yet she's unleashing devastating waves of magic. She's also really scared. She doesn't know what's happening, but she decides to not fight it and simply accepting it and see where it goes.
Suddenly a spectral figure appears right in front of her. Is it a unicorn? No. Is it a pegasus? No. It was an Alicorn that looked just like Twilight.
The spectral Alicorn walked towards Twilight and, from it, she could hear a voice saying,
"I can now be with you"
The voice sounded familiar, something that Twilight had heard somewhere else, but she couldn't really tell who that figure was.
She thought that the magic would eventually settle down, but it didn't. Instead, it grew stronger, clearing the area of all the darkness and blinding Twilight..... again.
In a white void, she could hear another voice saying "The deal was sealed".
Times of change are approaching
Time changes everything. Nothing ever stays the same. Destiny is something that, even though unavoidable, can be quite unpredictable at some points. One day we can be enjoying the afternoon with out friends and the next day our house could be on fire, forcing us to look for a new home. And it's amazing how that devastating fire could have started from a small lighter.
It was a normal day in the land of Equestria. The skies were blue, the sun was bright and everypony was enjoying the sunny day, everypony but Celestia.
Celestia was lost in her thoughts, with countless ideas coming into her head. She was sitted on the balcony of the throne room, looking at the horizon. In front of her, she could see the tall mountains, the green forests and the town of Ponyville. Luna noticed that Celestia was too quiet as she entered the room. The room was filled with ancient artifacts and paintings that portrayed the history of Equestria. There was a black book lying on a table next to the balcony, like if Celestia had just read that book and was thinking about it's content.
Luna had to say something.
"Is everything okay, sister?", said Luna, breaking Celestia out of her dream.
Celestia opened her eyes and turned around to face Luna. Celestia's face didn't look happy, but she also didn't look sad, she looked like if all life and emotions had been sucked out of her and all that was left was an empty shell.
"No. Everything may seem okay, but it's far from that. Something is about to change and I still don't know what", said Celestia.
"But how do you know that, exactly?"
Celestia looked at the window for a brief time before facing Luna again. Through the window, she could see Ponyville, where everypony was working and enjoying the day.
"I am feeling something..... a mysterious energy. Something like magic, but not our magic. Maybe an entity, but I'm sure of one thing, this isn't the first time I've felt this."
There were no words that could describe the shock Luna was going through. She knew exactly what Celestia was talking about.
"Do you mean that it's THAT time again? Another pony has showed potential?", said Luna, still shocked by what she heard.
"Yes, if they came to our world again, there must be a reason for that. Another pony with the potential is the most probable reason."
"Do you even know who is that pony? Do yo- do you think it's her?", said Luna, trying to process the thought that was going through her head.
Celestia looked around, she took a deep breath and then opened her mouth to answer Luna's question.
"We do not know that yet. Only time will tell."
The light disappeared and Twilight regained her vision. She was back at the spot where she found Rainbow Dash lying on the ground, except that, this time, Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be found. Twilight panicked, she dared to think all the possible things that could have happened to her. She considered the idea of Rainbow Dash being taken away by that mysterious entity while she was stuck in that dark void. Twilight shouted, hoping for Rainbow Dash to hear her, but there was no response.
After a few minutes she finally calmed down and realized that there was nothing she could do right now for Rainbow Dash, she had to go back home and face the consequences of losing one of her best friends.
Twilight tried to cast that spell again, but it was no use, nothing happened, not even the glow from before. It felt like Twilight had her magic drained.
Twilight then had a realization. She HAD her magic drained! She wasn't able of casting any spells whatsoever. She tried a light spell, nothing, levitation, nothing, teleportation, the spell she relied the most during her past adventures, nothing, they were all gone.
Twilight knew that entity was somehow involved in all of this, he wanted her to do something, but what? The only thing she recalls him saying was to find the power inside the dark realm that is able of sealing the deal. But what power? Where's that power? And what deal?
Twilight's mind was starting to be filled with despair, untill she looked at the horizon and saw the sun rising. She thought that there was no sun in this world, but apparently she was wrong. She then realized that the sun was probably leading her towards where the power is located, so she started her journey towards the place where the sun came from, hoping to find something there.
Twilight opened her eyes and she saw that she was back in Equestria, in the hill where she and her friends were enjoying a sunny day. She looked to her sides and she saw her friends, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Princess Celestia and Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash was right next to her, Like if they got out of that place at the same time. Maybe that's what happened, maybe the rest was all a dream, maybe time was frozen, who knows, all that matters is that they got home safe and sound.
Celestia looked around for a few moments to see if that residual magic was still there and she said that there wasn't, Whatever they did in that world fixed the problem and closed the rift between the two worlds. Celestia then said goodbye and walked away.
Twilight hasn't forgotten what she saw in there. Losing her friends, being alone, surrounded by darkness, it was an experience that she wouldn't like to repeat, but she was still quite intrigued about that mysterious voice and the spectral Alicorn that she saw. She just pretended that it was nothing and ignored it, it was probably just a dream.
Back in Canterlot, Celestia was spending the night looking at the horizon from the balcony, again. Luna came into her room to see if she was already asleep.
"Go to sleep, sister, I can take care of the night.", said Luna.
"Yes, I do know you can take care of the night, but that's not why I'm still awake."
"It's not? Is it still because of what happened today?", Luna asked.
"Yes, something happened in that world that sealed the deal."
"So, it is THAT time again, right?"
"Yes, Twilight proved herself worthy of fulfilling her destiny", said Celestia.
" And when will it exactly happen?"
" Only time will tell, sister, only time will tell."