Contributors:
camgoeswild (Document Owner And Moderator)
Speckle21 (A few screws loose of a working engine) (also basically wrote the whole thing)
/r/mylittlepony Weekly Collaborative FanFicton: Week 6
“It Was So Dark”
“April Fools!” Rainbow Dash laughed, pointing at a much less amused Twilight.
If Twilight wasn’t an alicorn now she would have fallen straight through the clouds. But her current safety did little to assuage her surprise and twinge of anger at walking out of Golden Oaks Library directly into Cloudsdale.
She stood back several dozen feet from the library to see it planted firmly in a cloud right in the middle of a busy intersection of the pegasi community. Luckily Spike was already staying with Rarity so he was in no danger of absent mindedly walking out and falling through.
Twilight didn’t notice the small gathering of pegasi hovering behind her as they took in their new princess. Not sure whether to bow in reverence or greet her casually like Rainbow Dash most just opted to stay out of sight. Their fears were seemingly confirmed when she yelled out with the volume of the royal Canterlot voice:
“HOW DID YOU GET THE LIBRARY UP HERE WHILE I WAS STILL IN IT???!?!?! AND WHY ISN’T IT FALLING THROUGH?!?!?!” Twilight shouted as her mane ignited in flames and her coat burned with a searing white light.
Frightened little pegasi hid behind their parents and asked if all alicorns could transform like that.
“Well...” Rainbow Dash started, “I...”
-2 hours ago-
“I am are not sure this is a good idea Rainbow Dash.” Luna said.
“Trust me! She’ll love it! You do want to repay her for helping you out on nightmare night right?” Rainbow Dash explained.
Luna had enveloped the Golden Oaks library in a bubble and the two flight-capable ponies were pushing it up into the sky towards Cloudsdale. Although normally it would have weighed a ton Luna had used her magic to make it extremely light and capable of being supported with clouds.
“Well yes... But are you certain Twilight Sparkle will appreciate cloudfront property? Perhaps we should ask first.” Luna flew up to the front door and was about to knock before Rainbow Dash pulled her back down.
“No! It’s uhhh... surprise gift! Trust me, Twilight loves surprises!” Rainbow Dash covered.
“Well... if you insist...” The dark alicorn submitted uneasily.
They continued pushing the bubble containing the Golden Oaks Library onto Cloudsdale.
-Present-
“You tricked LUNA into helping you with this prank? You do realize that if she finds out you’ll wish we left her on the moon... assuming you live long enough to have that thought.” Twilight admonished.
“Oh relax, Luna won’t find out, you love me too much to tell her and let her get angry with me....” Rainbow Dash laughed.
Twilight did have to admit that if given the chance she indeed probably *wouldn’t* tell Luna for fear of Rainbow Dash’s possible punishment.
Rainbow Dash continued “...besides I sent her off to get a rain cloud to water the tree. She won’t be back for awhile.”
“DID YOU FORGET I CAN TELEPORT?” Luna shouted in the royal Canterlot voice.
Rainbow nearly turned white as Luna stood right behind her on the rain cloud she ordered Luna to bring. Luna looked less than amused at being taken for a chump.
This time all the pegasi knew exactly what the official protocol was and most of them immediately bowed in reverence while a few lesser steeled ones flew away in blind panic. Celestia may be loved but Luna was feared, and rightfully so when she was so powerful it took a strategic weapon just to imprison her and another shot to finally defeat her.
Rainbow Dash was always brave and kept her cool but having the full fury of Nightmare Moon bare down on her broke even her resolve: “I just wanted to prank twi-”
“YOU MANIPULATED THE FEELINGS OF A ROYAL PRINCESS TO PLAY A PRANK ON ANOTHER PRINCESS AND MY DEAR CLOSE FRIEND?” Luna blared, the sheer might of her voice alone almost pushing the cowering pegasus further into the cloud.
Twilight Sparkle felt a shimmer of pride knowing that Luna considered her a close friend but the scariness of the situation quickly redirected her priorities.
Luna’s mane was shifting and growing as it seemed to flow outward toward Rainbow Dash, it also darkened to a jet black featureless mass as it got closer.
“I-I’m s-s-sorry?” Rainbow Dash cowered.
“YOU WILL NOT DECEIVE OTHERS FOR SUCH PRANKS EVER AGAIN! UNDERSTAND?” As Luna spoke her jet black mane seemed to cover Rainbow Dash completely as a chilling silence came over the pegasus. It was only a moment but it seemed like an eternity before Twilight could intervene.
“STOP! Luna! This is not like you! You’re not Nightmare Moon!” Twilight shouted running up to Luna and trying to shake her out of her blind rage.
Luna realized what she was doing and her mane snapped back to the usual dark blue and sparkling color it was famous for. But Rainbow Dash did not return to normalcy so easily. She still lay in her spot, most of the color drained away from her coat and mane, leaving a horribly terrified pegasus shaking uncontrollably. Twilight ran to her friend and Luna followed close behind.
“It-t-t-t-t w-w-wwa-waa-sss s-s-so-so d-dd-ark-kk-k.” Rainbow Dash stuttered between jitters.
“What did you do to her?” Twilight hissed at Luna.
Luna grabbed the pegasus and hugged her in desperation: “No please! Do not be afraid, I’m so sorry, I’m very very sorry. I did not mean to harm you like that.” Tears streamed down Luna’s face as Rainbow Dash continued to twitch, completely oblivious to what was going on around her.
Twilight watched them both and didn’t know who to feel more sorry for: Rainbow Dash who had just been unfairly punished in some gruesome and as of yet unknown fashion, or Luna, who was punishing herself with regret whose weight only an immortal god-like being could know.
At the hospital Luna, Twilight and the rest of her friends had gathered. Rainbow Dash was still catatonic, shaking uncontrollably and whispering “It was so dark” every now and then. Taking this just as badly was Luna herself who was visibly broken by her actions. Luna stroked Rainbow Dash’s forehead and continued to lightly sob.
Finally one of the ponies spoke. “Lighten Up, Dashie!” Pinkie interjected in her usual oblivious optimism. “Whenever I’m sad, I just SMILE!” she beamed leaning over Rainbow Dash and making an alarmingly large grin.
“I think you best step back, Pinkie,” Applejack said. “What she needs now is some rest and some time alone.”
“Aww..” Pinkie sighed, snuffing out the already lit fuse on her Party Cannon. It’s wheels squeaked as she rolled out the door.
“No please! Stay with her! Don’t leave her alone!” Luna pleaded.
“What did you do exactly?” Twilight asked.
An even greater weight seemed the come down on Luna as the once proud and overwhelmingly powerful princess appeared to shrink from her guilt: “I... touched her with my loneliness.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow: “You did what now?”
“I was imprisoned for a thousand years. And I suffered terrible rejection both long before and a bit after. It was very lonely... and very dark...” Luna’s sobs intensified, “... I touched Rainbow Dash with that memory. I was angry that Rainbow Dash would drive away her friends so I touched her mind with the memory of a life without friends.” Luna nearly broke down, “But I am sorry! I know from Twilight Sparkle that pranks can be fun and even though I still do not fully understand them I should not have acted in such a way. I want to help Rainbow Dash!” Luna pleaded.
“You don’t seem to be catatonic from your loneliness.” Applejack observed. It was a bit blunt and severely lacked tact, but the element of honesty made a good point.
“I have much more life experience to deal with such emotions, but Rainbow Dash has been forced to endure it all at once. Her mind was simply not prepared.” Luna explained.
“What can we do to help the poor dear?” Rarity asked.
Luna thought for a moment: “We help her through these feelings of loneliness. Above all else we cannot let her feel alone.”
“Ah don’t think she even knows we’re here.” Applejack observed.
“We can enter her dreams.” Luna explained, “If we enter her mind you can be with her and let her know you are there for her. I will take back my... loneliness.”
“It sounds dangerous.” Fluttershy said.
“To all of us it will not be, it will be as safe as going to sleep. But if we are not careful, or leave too soon, Rainbow Dash may feel rejected and more lonely, and she’ll never come back.” Luna explained.
“Let’s do it.” Twilight commanded.
Spike had brought Tank along with him to Canterlot where all the rest of the ponies were gathered. Luna had said anyone close to Rainbow Dash could help if they wanted. The bed chambers of princess Luna had all the necessary spells, runes and magical amplifiers for dreamwalking. On Luna’s bed lay the shaking Rainbow Dash surrounded by her friends. Celestia had also come when she heard of what had happened and insisted on joining the expedition into Rainbow Dash’s mind. Her motives were a bit unclear as she was not a personal friend of Rainbow Dash. Nonetheless no one thought that her presence would be detrimental or unwelcomed.
“I must insist that whatever anyone sees or experiences is not to be mentioned ever again to anypony for any reason. We are entering the most private thoughts of an individual, they are not to be shared over lunch.” Luna warned.
“We understand, and we’ll be respectful.” Fluttershy replied.
“Twilight Sparkle? Dear Sister? We are ready.” Luna reported.
Normally Luna could do this herself but the help of two additional alicorns ensured a stronger connection and be less stressful. The three alicorns knelt down beside Rainbow Dash and lit their horns. As the spell was activated everyone in the room gently drifted off to sleep.
Everyone found themselves standing on clouds in a dreamy version of Cloudsdale. But it was gloomy and dark and devoid of ponies. Even more surprising was when they looked at each other to see they weren’t exactly as before.
“Celestia! Your mane! It’s pink!” Twilight observed.
“And you’re a full unicorn.” Celestia replied.
“You are as you see yourself here.” Luna explained.
Twilight realized she was right, although Twilight had wings she still thought of herself as a unicorn and that the wings were accessories, not really a part of her. Twilight remembered most depictions of Celestia in the ancient past showed only a pink mane. The extra color was just her age showing and Celestia still thought of herself as a much younger princess.
“What do we do now?” Rarity asked.
“Find dreams where Rainbow Dash is lonely and be a part of them. There will be many. Do not worry about interfering with events, these are dreams, not memories, make them good ones.” Luna explained.
Before anyone could say anything further Pinkie Pie darted off and jumped off a cloud to the ground below.
“Pinkie!” Rarity called out.
“She is safe, it is a dream.” Luna explained again with a hint of annoyance as she rolled her eyes.
At this point a giant tortoise many time’s Celestia’s size hobbled past them at high speed to a rock pile. It was clear Tank saw himself very differently than he actually was.
Soon everyone split up to help their friend Rainbow Dash.
Fluttershy found a young Rainbow Dash being shown how to fly by her father. A stallion with a rainbow mane just like Rainbow Dash. It was a happy memory and Fluttershy didn’t want to disturb it.
“Sorry kiddo but daddy needs to go to work.” Rainbow Dash’s father explained.
“But I want to fly!” the young filly whined.
To Fluttershy’s surprise and fear a dark atmosphere seemed to descend on the scene. The father vanished leaving the young filly still begging the darkness: “I want to fly!”
Tears streamed down Rainbow Dash’s face as she sat with her tiny wings unable to carry her. Fluttershy knew what she had to do. She trotted up to the little pony to introduce herself but she didn’t have to.
“Fluttershy!” the little filly squealed with excitement.
Fluttershy wondered how Rainbow Dash could know her at this point in time but realized it wasn’t actually the past, it was a dream.
“Uhm, yes Rainbow Dash?”
“Can you help me fly? Dad has to go work.” Rainbow Dash whined trying to hide her tears.
“Sure.” Fluttershy smiled and picked up the tiny filly in her hoof. Fluttershy flew while the filly flapped her wings and stretched out her hooves mimicking flight as Fluttershy carried her. Fluttershy remembered years back in flight school how Rainbow Dash used to help her to fly by holding her hoof. It was nice that she could return the favor, even if only in a dream.
The darkness seemed to fade away as they made their way around dream Cloudsdale. Pegasi returned and the sound of activity was restored.
“It was so dark.” Rainbow Dash said.
Fluttershy was a bit shocked and worried, that was exactly what she said while catatonic.
“... but it’s bright now.” Rainbow Dash smiled.
Fluttershy smiled too and continued flying.
Twilight Sparkle trotted along in what seemed like a cemetery. Tombstones as far as the eye could see stretched out before her in every direction. Rainbow Dash sat sobbing in front of five large ones. Twilight Sparkle came up to her and looked at the tombstones. The names on the tombstones were their own. Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, even Twilight Sparkle saw her own name which was a bit unnerving but she knew it was just a dream. The dates of death put them at some point in the future. The cause of death was likely old age.
“They’re all gone Twilight, you’re all gone.” Rainbow Dash sobbed.
Twilight was a bit annoyed at the logic break of Rainbow Dash talking to someone whom she thought was dead but Twilight just decided to go with it.
“We’re not gone yet. We still have a lot of time.” Twilight replied.
“But you will be! and I’ll be alone!” Rainbow Dash cried.
“Maybe you’ll go first?” Twilight answered morbidly.
“But what if I don’t? What if I’m last? I don’t want to be alone!” Rainbow Dash broke down in another fit of tears.
Twilight realized it wasn’t death Rainbow Dash was afraid of, but losing her friends and the loneliness that came with it. She would never actually admit to that fear, but this was a dream.
Twilight hugged Rainbow Dash: “I’ll always be here, I promise I won’t go.”
Twilight couldn’t see it directly, but she was certain her alicorn wings had reappeared on her.
“You promise?” Rainbow Dash asked between sobs.
“I’m immortal now, I promise I won’t go.” Twilight assured her.
“Thanks Twilight, you’re a good friend.”
The darkness lifted and the tombstones vanished. Around them danced ghostly apparitions of all of Rainbow Dash’s friends. The sunshine was bright and the scenes joyful as Rainbow Dash imagined all the fun things they had yet to do.
“It was so dark.” Rainbow Dash said,”but I’m glad you’re with me Twilight.”
Twilight smiled and they continued hold each other as Rainbow Dash never wanted to let go.
Tank stomped along toward the rock pile as giant bunny rabbits and vicious beavers attacked his impenetrable shell. He knew his mission and would see it to the bitter end. The rock pile loomed before him as tall as the eye could see but he remained undeterred. With great effort and ungodly strength he pushed a rock aside. The pile destabilized at points but he kept going. Rock by rock, by rock, he moved them until he could hear tiny pleas from inside the pile. He moved more rocks until finally a blue hoof was uncovered. With stoic determination and epic resilience he continued moving the rocks to fully free the rest of his goal. It was grueling work but eventually he managed to rescue his pet blue thing!
The blue thing was shaking and traumatized from being trapped so long. Tank nuzzled his pet and hoped to calm it down. The blue thing nuzzled back and seemed much happier for the affection. The skies parted and a sunbeam shined down on the intrepid duo.
“It was so dark.” It commented, “thanks for rescuing me Tank.”
The blue thing was pleased, perhaps it would gather extra treats for Tank. But for now the blue thing still needed more help from its injuries so Tank gently crawled beneath the blue thing and carefully rolled it onto his shell. As the blue thing recovered Tank carried it to their next great and epic adventure. Tank would never leave behind his pet blue thing.
The noise of many ponies cheering faintly rolled over the hill as Applejack crossed it. Applejack found the source of the noise as she reached the crest of the hill. A large and ornate stadium was just over the ridge. It was strange, all the lights which normally illuminated the track in the center of the stadium were all off and the track was covered with a gloomy haze. Despite her proximity, the cheering remained only a barely audible and faint moan, like background noise. The stands were packed with cheering ponies but they all seemed grey and faded.
A large sign above the stadium read, “Appearing Tonight: Wonderbolts!” Applejack looked toward the track, where the grey, ethereal Wonderbolts raced through the darkened track. A streak of color caught Applejack’s eye, seeing as it was the only thing with any color around here. Around the track, amongst the Wonderbolts, a rainbow raced through the haze. Applejack wasn’t too surprised to see that Rainbow Dash was having a dream where she was a Wonderbolt. Applejack worked her way into the ghostly audience to get a better view.
Before long, the race was over and all the Wonderbolts including Rainbow Dash took a bow on the podium in the center of the stadium. The muffled cheer increased in volume slightly. After bowing, the other Wonderbolts trotted toward the edge of the ring to the audience and instinctively found their friends among the grey, blurred mass that was the crowd. Rainbow Dash looked through the crowd and, failing to notice Applejack, looked down toward the ground.
“Why bother even looking?” Rainbow mumbled to herself. Despite her distance, for some reason Applejack was still able to hear Rainbow Dash clearly. “All of my friends are too busy to ever come to one of my shows.”
Rainbow Dash began slowly walking down the track toward the exit. Applejack saw her chance. Pushing her way toward the railing, she leaned over it just as Rainbow Dash shambled by.
“Hey! Rainbow Dash! Great show!” she shouted, extending a hoof to the solemn mare. As Rainbow looked up, the faint cheering began to grow louder.
“Applejack!” Rainbow shouted. Her voice squeaked slightly in her excitement. At this moment, all the lights in the stadium turned on, flooding the field with light. The once distant murmurs erupted into a fantastic uproar and everypony in the audience began to shine in all sorts of different colors.
“RAINBOW DASH! RAINBOW DASH!” The crowd cheered in unison.
“I’m so glad you could make it, Applejack.” Rainbow Dash squeaked, wiping back a tear that Applejack had only just noticed in the new light.
“Are you kidding?” Applejack replied, “I wouldn’t miss one of your shows for the world!”
“It was so dark.” Rainbow said, looking up toward the nearly blinding stadium lights. “But the lights are back on. Everything’s better now.”
Rarity trotted across Cloudsdale and eventually ran into a darkened coliseum. She immediately recognized it as the coliseum where Rainbow Dash performed her Sonic Rainboom. It was also the same coliseum where Rarity had nearly got herself killed in a terribly embarrassing incident with the butterfly wings Twilight sparkle had given her.
As if on cue Rarity saw a dark pony with butterfly wings fly past her on her way to a waiting room. Rarity realized she was seeing a memory of that day. She ran after her counterpart to the waiting room and peering around the corner she found Rainbow Dash overcome with anxiety surrounded by darkened dream versions of the contestants. Dream-Rarity wished Rainbow Dash good luck but was oblivious to Rainbow Dash’s feelings.
“Was I really that self-absorbed?” Rarity said to herself.
As dream-Rarity came back around the corner Rarity came face to face with her counterpart. Rarity remembered how dreadfully vain she was and how she neglected her friend. She looked at her counterpart and knew what to do.
“Don’t look down.” Rarity advised sarcastically as she ripped off the butterfly wings of her counterpart.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, the counterpart still reacted consistently with physics and she plummeted straight through the cloud deck. Rarity wondered if this was suicide or murder (or was it anything at all, seeing as it was just a memory) but didn’t spend too much time dwelling on it. She rounded the corner to meet Rainbow Dash. She didn’t have wings and no good explanation for why she could walk on clouds other than “this is a dream” but Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to notice.
“Rarity? What are you doing here? You should be practicing.” Rainbow Dash said.
“You seem to be nervous, would you tell me what’s wrong dear?” Rarity asked even though she already knew the answer.
“What if I can’t make the sonic rainboom? Everyone out there is watching! I’m going to look like a fool!” Rainbow Dash explained.
“You can do this Rainbow Dash, I know you can!” Rarity assured her.
“But if I fail everyone will hate me!” Rainbow Dash retorted.
“You won’t---” Rarity realized that was precisely the wrong thing to say and stopped herself. “Darling, we know you’re trying your absolute best, and if you succeed we’ll love you, if you don’t... we’ll still love you. How can you think differently of us?”
Rainbow Dash seemed to calmed down a bit. “You sure?”
Rarity held her hoof: “Have I ever lied to you dear?”
Rainbow Dash smiled and with a new sense of confidence she got out to perform. The stadium brightened a bit and thousands of ponies appeared in the stands. Rainbow Dash made her ascent and then shot straight back down at blinding speed. But something went wrong, the Sonic Rainboom never materialized. In this dream Rainbow Dash truly did not believe she could do it. Rarity waited for Rainbow Dash to return to the stadium but she never did. Concerned, Rarity jumped off the cloud deck and landed in a darkened Ponyville to find Rainbow Dash sulking.
“I failed.” Rainbow Dash said when Rarity approached.
“Darling you did a fine job. Want to come over to my place for tea?” Rarity smiled.
“You still want to have tea with me?” Rainbow Dash asked incredulously.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Rarity dismissed as if it was the most preposterous question in the world.
Rainbow Dash perked up with joy and Ponyville lit up in an explosion of color. The Carousel Boutique seemed to have an aura of sparkles and grandeur as the two ponies made their way there for tea.
“It was so dark up there, I’m glad I can still have tea with you down here.” Rainbow Dash said.
“You’re always welcomed for tea.” Rarity replied.
Just then the duo came upon a small crater containing very dead dream-Rarity in the center with an audacious costume.
Rarity turned to Rainbow Dash and smiled nervously: “Could you first help me bury that?”
Pinkie Pie skipped merrily through the dream world, not stopping much to think of the gravity of the situation. She was experiencing her friend’s dreams. Her innermost and most private thoughts all went unnoticed as Pinkie giggled at the idea of walking through the ethereal plane. Before long, Pinkie came across a jungle. Now, Pinkie did stop and think for a bit.
“Why would Rainbow Dash be dreaming of a jungle?” She wondered. “There isn’t even a single tree up in Cloudsdale.”
Pinkie didn’t dwell on this for long and quickly resumed skipping into the brambles of the jungle. Pinkie didn’t stop skipping until she ran straight into a large, stone pillar. Looking up, she noticed an ancient pyramid towering above the trees of the jungle. “Oh!” Pinkie figured. “This must be from all those books that she reads all the time. What an egghead.” Looking closely, she noticed a figure ascending the steps up the gargantuan ruin. Pinkie could make out a hat and vest like the one that Daring Do wore, but she also noticed a Rainbow mane protruding from underneath the hat. “Hmm. Daring Do Rainbow Dash ... ooh! Daring Dash!” Pinkie chuckled at her own little pun and began to follow her.
Daring Dash was nearing the top of the pyramid when she and Pinkie both heard a loud “SNAP!” Jumping back, Daring looked down toward her hooves in horror to see the severed cable of a freshly triggered tripwire. A low rumbling grew louder as the gigantic stones moved to open up beneath the adventuring mare. She disappeared into the newly opened, dark abyss. Before the stones slammed shut again with a loud “CRUNCH!”
Pinkie gasped. “Oh no! I have to save her!” Her mind raced, thinking of ways she could get in there. But there was nothing that could get through solid stone. She would have to go in the conventional way. The actual (not trapped) entrance into the pyramid loomed overhead. Just a few feet past the now shredded tripwire. Pinkie had no idea what perils were inside, but it had to lead to saving Rainbow Dash. She slowly walked inside.
As soon as her hoof passed the threshold of the gate, a giant stone slab slid in, blocking the exit. Suddenly, as if by magic, the torches in the long stone corridor lit themselves, illuminating the path. A slow trot soon turned to a run as Pinkie heard the distinctive clicks and groans of thousand-year-old traps coming to life within the walls. Pinkie ran through the dungeon dodging darts, knives, axes, spiders and anything the dungeon could throw at her. She had to save Rainbow Dash.
“Hang on, Rainbow!” she shouted. “I’m comin-ACK! Twitchy Tail!” as she nimbly jumped to the side just in time to dodge a massive boulder that fell from the ceiling.
Meanwhile, inside the chamber, a stunned Rainbow Dash looked around. It was hard to see anything in the darkness. Not that there was much to be seen. Four walls a ceiling and a cold floor was all that occupied the room. Starting to panic, Rainbow Dash scanned the walls. There had to be a switch somewhere. But there wasn’t, just cold, flat stone. “HELP!” she shouted and began banging on the walls. It was no use. She was trapped. Trapped and alone. Especially alone. She sat, defeated, in the center of the room and began to cry.
Pinkie kept running until she came to a stone door at the end of a corridor, which she ran straight through. As the door crumbled, torchlight filled the darkened chamber. In the middle was Rainbow Dash, still dressed as the intrepid archaeologist. She turned her head to see the source of the noise and was surprised to see a pink mare standing triumphantly where the door had once been.
“What? Who are-”
“I’m here to rescue you!” the mare interrupted and, grabbing the adventurer by the tail, ran out. She didn’t stop running until they had reached the exit, which was still blocked. But as Pinkie approached it, it slowly began to creak open. The sound of the grinding stone filling the chamber and the sunlight pouring through on the other side. At last! They were outside and Pinkie put Rainbow Dash down.
“It’s so good you’re safe, Rainbow Dash.” she said.
“What?” the explorer replied. “Rainbow who? I’m Daring Do!” she said, confused.
“Oh right! Silly me!” Pinkie chuckled to herself.
“Anyway,” Rainbow interjected, “It was so dark in there. Thank you for saving me.”
“Well that’s one dream saved!” Pinkie laughed. And, leaving a confused Daring Dash behind, set off into the jungle in search of more depressing dreams to lighten up.
Pinkie Pie pranced along what seemed like a twisted cross between Canterlot, Cloudsdale and Ponyville, when she noticed Rainbow Dash surrounded by dark figures. The darkness in this region was particularly thick and manifested much more horrifically than anywhere else.
“What’s up Rainbow Crash!” The figures mocked. Many of them were bullying Rainbow Dash.
“Hey leave her alone!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she approached.
The figures seemed to respond and more of them formed out of the darkness surrounding Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie tried to push her way through but was overwhelmed. The figures became more violent and started physically harming Rainbow Dash who struggled in vain to repel them. It was clear in this dream Rainbow Dash was fighting a hopeless battle.
“Somepony please help me!” Rainbow Dash cried out.
The despair and helplessness in her voice made Pinkie Pie almost tear up and strengthened her resolve to get to her. Remembering she had some experience in lucid dreaming Pinkie Pie focused her thoughts to get something useful. She turned around to find her party cannon loaded at ready.Overjoyed, Pinkie Pie pulled the cord and blasted a path clean to Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie jumped forward and landed beside her friend.
“Pinkie pie! I thought no one would come.” Rainbow Dash admitted.
“And miss this party? NEVER!!!” Pinkie Pie replied.
The figures surged forward and tried to separate the two ponies. Pinkie Pie desperately tried to push them away but they kept coming. More help was needed and they needed it now. Pinkie tried to think of something Rainbow Dash could use.
Dream-Gilda punched out one of the figures and threw another one into a nearby tower. Gilda was a bully, but she was also Rainbow Dash’s friend once, and right now they needed tough friends to fight off the horde, even if they were former friends.
“Get lost dweebs!” Dream-Gilda shouted at the figures as she tackled one into another.
As dream-Gilda held them off Pinkie Pie could finally examine Rainbow Dash. She looked terrible with her feathers nearly shredded along with multiple bruises and scratches.
“I couldn’t fight them alone.” Rainbow Dash sobbed.
“We’ll fight them together.” Pinkie Pie replied as the figures seemed to multiply and overwhelm dream-Gilda. “Do you know anypony or other creature that can help?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“I wish Fluttershy were here, she’s very strong when she’s angry.” Rainbow Dash thought aloud.
Pinkie Pie focused for a moment and the faintest shout could be heard from somewhere behind the onslaught.
“You hurt my friends, you meet your end!” the tiny voice shouted.
Fluttershy bucked a nearby tower and destroyed its load bearing wall. The tower toppled over onto a large portion of the horde. They continued to swarm ever more but the ponies and the griffon were holding their ground. Fluttershy jumped into the fray and viciously carved out a path to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.
“What’s going on? I was helping Rainbow Dash fly and then she vanished, then I saw these things attack her. I came to help.” Fluttershy asked as she bucked another figure.
“I summoned you here, we need to protect Rainbow Dash.” Pinkie Pie replied.
“How did you do that?” Fluttershy asked.
“By punching and kicking!”
“I mean summon me.” Fluttershy clarified.
“I don’t know.” Pinkie Pie smiled.
“Could you bring Discord or Celestia here?” Fluttershy asked.
“I tried, I think it only works with her friends.” Pinkie replied.
“Bring everyone!”
Fluttershy fought off another wave alongside dream-Gilda as Pinkie focused on bringing in more of Rainbow Dash’s friends.
Applejack bucked a figure shaped like a changeling into another figure shaped like a hydra.
“I think we might be outnumbered.” Applejack observed as the swarm surged forward.
Dream-Derpy pushed in a giant thundercloud and stomped on it electrocuting a large portion of the horde. She continued stomping until the cloud was depleted and flew off to retrieve another cloud.
A giant tortoise nearly as big as the palace itself stomped the horde and ground the figures into dust. It positioned itself right beside Rainbow Dash and with its sheer size it funneled the dark figures to the other ponies.
Dream-Scootaloo picked up her scooter and brandishing it like a club she malevolently bludgeoned the dark figures. As one fell she jumped over and began hacking away at another one.
Rarity landed a precise kick at a Discord-shaped figure and backflipped off into the fray. With martial arts moves not seen since the incident with the changelings Rarity swiftly chopped, parried, kicked, punched, evaded and dodged her way through the invasion leaving a massacre in her wake.
“I do believe Rainbow Dash needs more help.” she said while back to back with Pinkie Pie who was pounding away at a dark-changeling.
Twilight Sparkle flew in from above and hit the ground with a powerful magical pulse that radiated outward and incinerated thousands of the figures in its path. She flapped her wing and a wave of energy ripped across the dreamscape cutting into onslaught.
“Just leave me here, save yourselves!” Rainbow Dash ordered as she lay broken.and bloody.
“Can’t do that sugarcube.” Applejack replied as she obliterated a dark-timberwolf.
“There’s got to be an infinite number them!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“You’re absolutely right, we should handicap ourselves to make it a fair fight.” Twilight joked as she unleashed another wave of energy that ripped apart an entire quadrant of the figures.
“WE WILL NOT LET YOU FIGHT THEM ALONE!!!.” Fluttershy shouted in maniacal rage.
“We can’t win!” Rainbow Dash concluded.
“Then we aim to lose very, very slowly!” Pinkie Pie retorted as she fired her party canon again.
Rainbow Dash watched as her friends fought off the relentless assault. Their unending loyalty to the bitter end touched her heart and filled her with new resolve. The odds were clearly hopeless, but if they could fight this hard for her then she had to push on for them. With great effort she rolled over and got up. As her determination grew her injuries and wounds faded away and her feathers rearranged to pristine condition. The pegasus conjured a tornado as she flew up and unleashed it into the fray.
Hovering above her friends she had to tell them: “It was so dark, but I can fight it off if you’re all fighting with me... Thanks.”
As a giant dark-dragon loomed over them Rainbow Dash launched herself at high speed and ripped through it with a sonic rainboom.
Luna flew across the dreamscape searching for her target. The darkness stretched out before her like a vast ocean of suffering. In the distance she saw brilliant patches of light flare up and restore the dreamscape to its natural beauty and innocence: Rainbow Dash’s friends were successful in holding back the flood. Luna pressed on to find the source of the darkness.
Finally it came into view before her, a memory. But this memory was not Rainbow Dash’s, it was Luna’s. The sickening dark moon got larger and larger as Luna flew ever closer. Luna loved the moon and this orb was her passion, but for a long time it was also her prison. As she approached she saw Nightmare Moon standing atop the sphere radiating the darkness that enveloped it. It was of course not the actual Nightmare Moon but a passive statue, a symbol of the suffering that Luna endured.
Luna approached the avatar as it continued to stare blankly forward leaking darkness onto the moon in a repulsive haze. Luna’s guilt magnified as she realized this was but of a tiny fraction of the actual darkness inside her but it had nonetheless nearly destroyed the mind of another pony.
“It’s alright.” Celestia reassured her, seemingly appearing from nowhere, “we can fix this.”
“You did not come for Rainbow Dash did you?” Luna asked.
Celestia smiled: “No, I came for you.”
Luna looked back at the statue of Nightmare Moon and touched it. The avatar dissolved and the darkness drew itself back into Luna as it receded from the dreamscape. It didn’t hurt her, it was a miniscule fragment of a memory compared to all her other ones, but she still teared up at recalling it.
“It was so dark...” The words that Rainbow Dash had spoken were not her own, they were actually Luna’s, “...because it was so lonely.”
The darkness was gone and Luna found herself being embraced by her sister.
“I won’t let you go this time.” Celestia assured her.
The moon flared up to a brightness exceeding the sun and illuminated the entire dreamscape.
Everyone awoke to find Rainbow Dash calm and fully restored to her natural blue coat and rainbow mane. She started to stir, yawn and stretch but then went right back to sleep. Twilight Sparkle gently nudged her but was rebuffed.
“... five more minutes...” Rainbow Dash said as she waved off Twilight with her hoof.
A great sigh of relief came over the ponies seeing Rainbow Dash behave exactly like she always had. As she turned over to pull the blanket over her she felt the unfamiliar texture of Luna’s sheets and realized something wasn’t right. She jolted herself awake to find all the ponies staring at her and Tank nuzzling her leg.
The unfamiliar room was the first thing she commented on: “Where am I?”
“Are you alright?” Luna asked softly, trying her best not to use her royal Canterlot voice.
Rainbow Dash almost turned white again at seeing Luna and started to apologize profusely: “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I won’t trick you again Princess Luna! Please don’t banish me to the moon!” She pleaded.
Instead Luna was also apologizing: “I’m very sorry! I did not mean to overreact! I vow never to do that again! Please do not flee in terror!” Luna pleaded.
Twilight finally interjected: “Rainbow Dash, do you remember what happened?”
Rainbow Dash stared at Luna recalling the incident: “Luna was yelling at me and I kinda blacked out. I had these really weird dreams where I was alone but then I wasn’t... and then I woke up here.”
Luna actually looked a bit relieved, Rainbow Dash just thought she had blacked out during their altercation. It was much better than knowing Luna had almost driven her to total mental breakdown with a mere thought.
Luna tried to apologize again: “I, overreacted, can you forgive me?”
Rainbow Dashed looked away sheepishly while rubbing her hooves: “Yeah... I do.”
Luna was not sure if Rainbow Dash really did forgive her or if she was too terrified to say no, but it was a start.
“SLUMBER AFTER PARTY!!!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed pulling the trigger on her party canon and littering the bed chamber with decorations, confetti, and sweets.
“Pinkie pie! We can’t just throw a party in the Princess’s room without her permission!” Applejack explained.
“No please! Stay!... have... fun....” Luna said.
The ponies crowded Rainbow Dash, overjoyed everything was back to normal. There was still the matter of returning the Golden Oaks Library back to Ponyville and they joked about ever crazier schemes to do so.
“I’m in Luna’s BED?” Rainbow Dash suddenly realized and quickly flailed her way out. Everypony looked around for Luna’s reaction but she had already slipped out.
Luna made her way to the palace gallery as she reflected on the recent events. She was glad it was all over but still felt guilty. She had levitated with her a bundle of sweets that she picked off the floor after Pinkie. They were amusing in their own way, tiny little pieces of happiness. She came upon the statue of Nightmare Moon in the palace gallery and recalled the story on Nightmare Night that an offering of sweets appeased Nightmare Moon and kept her away for another year. It was a silly story and Luna happily participated in the celebrations but she still wondered.
She looked up at the giant statue and left the bundle of sweets at the base before returning to her bed chamber.
Author's Note
Please direct any compliments you might have toward Speckle21, as they wrote almost the whole thing. The imagination of the people involved in these stories never ceases to blow me away. When I wrote the first sentence of the story, I thought, "That should make for a pretty light-hearted story. There's no way people can turn that into something dark and depressing." The last thing I expected was a dark story with some serious Inception/Psychonauts vibes. But it still turned out to be a great story.
