//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: This Empty Castle // Story: Waiting For You // by Rainb0w Dashie //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash stood on the cargo platform and shivered in the cold air. Outside the train, a small group of foals huddled for warmth as the rest were guided down from the boxcar by a stoic-looking stallion in conductor's clothing. Behind them were lights pointed at the train, blinding the pegasus to the point where she had to shield her eyes; but only then could she see the vauguest of shadows. The lights were extremely bright, not like any standard torch or lantern. They burned with a white intensity that didn’t seem to come from any real source and reminded her of the stage lights that illusionist unicorns would cast during their performances. “Were you followed?” Said a voice from behind the lights. “Did any of them see you?” “No, your highness.” the conductor responded. “The scouts have done well to ensure I’d come in undetected.” “Very good. Are there any more?” “I have another shipment coming in from South Saddleboro” The conductor helped down the second-to-last foal from the train. “Should run about six, six-and-a-half hours.” “Don’t let us keep you then, your swiftness is of the utmost importance.” The voice said with a grave seriousness. The conductor bowed and walked towards the front of the train and then the voice began addressing Rainbow Dash herself; the only pony still standing on the platform of the train-car. “Come child, we mustn’t dally, we need to join the others.” Rainbow Dash had many questions crossing her mind, but before she could even articulate a thought she felt herself become weightless as she was lifted with magic and carried through the air away from the train. The lights faded just as fast, leaving the pegasus’ eyes to adjust, and when the world came back into view she could see the train begin to depart. A loud hiss of air could be heard as the breaks were released and soon followed the familiar chug from the engines. But what struck Rainbow Dash the most was that there was only a single box-car attached to the train engine. She rubbed her eyes, thinking it might’ve been a trick of light from the moon-shine, but when she looked back up the train had disappeared. Rainbow Dash was set down next to the other foals who were walking in lockstep down a swath of forest land. She stumbled and fell, her hooves having not re-adjusted to gravity yet, and had to run in order to catch up with the others foals who were too gripped with fear and confusion to even stop to help her up. They just kept walking, almost marching, along. The moon had cast its pale glow over the forest, illuminating the eyes of the creatures that dwelled within. Mist intermingled with the trees and hung low to the ground. Unsettling noises broke the silence of night, animals called out from within the darkness. Several of the foals cried loudly while most only whimpered softly. “Do not fear the forest my children,” A voice had called from the front of the pack, belonging to a tall, shadowy figure. The voice commanded authority, strength, and a sense of earnest that made Rainbow Dash feel oddly safe. “No creature in this wood shall harm you, not even the darkness itself. There is no reason to be afraid. Everything will be fine.” The figure was right, there was no reason to be afraid. Rainbow Dash wasn’t afraid of a dark forest, she’d explored caves and forests much darker than then one she was currently in, but for some reason she couldn’t help but feel slightly unnerved. She felt small. The trees towered over her and faded into the oily black of the night sky. She walked, but she barely felt like she was covering any ground; and she could scarcely see over the tops of the heads of the other foals. She tried to slow down but felt something tug on her wing that kept her moving forward. Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder to see the feathers of her wing interlaced with those of the yellow filly she'd seen on the train; walking next to her and holding her wing. There was no doubt in Rainbow's mind that this filly was Fluttershy. It had to be her. But the longer Rainbow Dash looked at this filly, the more different she looked. Instead of long pillowy strands of pink hair that tapered down into a swirl, this filly's mane was cut short, like a tomboy, and came to an end in abrupt, split strands just above her shoulders. Her demeanor was different as well. Instead of expressing shyness or timidity, her countenance displayed more confidence and self assurance, but Rainbow Dash could also see fear, confusion, and bewilderment as this filly looked around the forest, not knowing Rainbow Dash had been staring at her for quite some time. "You don't need to be scared." The filly said, calling Rainbow Dash a name that sounded foreign. "Dear mother said everything was going to be fine. She said we don't need to be afraid." "Dear mother?" Rainbow thought. The narrow path led them far away from where the cargo train had dropped them off. The figure at the front of the pack created a small illuminating light with her horn, and as they pressed forward, the dirt path soon melted back into the thickness of the forest. As they went deeper, the thickets and brambles of the underbrush began to get thicker as well. Rainbow Dash could barely walk a meter without some offshooting vine wrapping around her hooves and pulling her face down into the dampness and decay of the forest floor. Branches of neighboring trees bent and twisted around each other from every height and angle, scratching at Rainbow Dash , drawing blood, as she struggled to keep up with the group. Just when the forest was at its thickest, when it felt like Rainbow Dash was being consumed by the very forest itself, did the group finally enter a clearing, stumbling out of the forest as if crossing over from one world to the next. Before them was a large patch of neatly manicured grass and a crooked cobblestone path that led the foals to an enormous building made of thick grey stone neatly concealed inside the forest clearing. The tall figure opened the large oaken double doors that marked the entrance and ushered the foals inside. "This is a safe place," The figure said with a familiar voice. "Far away from the horrors of war and cruelties of the world." The figure paused, looking up at the building. Her mane waving in an unseen breeze. "Welcome home, my children." ---- Rainbow Dash yawned and stepped inside Twilight’s castle. She hadn't slept well the night before. In fact, she hadn't been sleeping well for the better half of the month now. Much to her dismay but predictably so, she ended up over-sleeping for the third time this week. When she had finally awoken, she only had enough time to eat a hoof-full of oats, step in and out of the shower without washing much of anything, and finally fly down to Ponyville. However, now that her morning energy had worn off, she was already starting to feel the sour tinge of lethargy pulling at her body. She felt limp when she landed on the castle's step, like wet laundry hung on a clothesline. The muscles in her wings tingled and her hooves felt like they were filled with molasses. It took a considerable amount of effort for her to simply put one in front of the other, and she knew that if she stood still for too long she would surely collapse. Her body needed rest but her mind needed her body to keep moving in order to burn the lethargy away. "It's not so bad" The blue pegasus tried to reassure herself as she lumbered through the entrance hall of the castle. "I just have to find Twilight, help arrange her new furniture, go with Applejack to get the new banners from Rarity... Fly to Manehattan to get Twilight's new books... Help move those heavy thrones around to Twilight's Liking..." Rainbow Dash let out a sigh, which quickly turned into a moanish whine. She hadn't realized just how much work she had agreed to help with. But now that she was sleep deprived though, each tasked seemed monumentally more difficult, and she felt overwhelmed just running the list through her mind. "Those throne's have to be at least two hundred pounds," Rainbow Dash complained to herself, pulling her hooves over her eyes." And Twilight wants us to move all six!" Rainbow Dash looked up from her hooves, realizing she was the only pony in the hallway, and continued on her way before pushing through the double-doors leading into the throne room. "Twilight?" She called out. "Twilight? I'm here to help out." The only response she got was from her own voice echoing throughout the empty castle. Even though Twilight had been the Princess of Friendship for some time  now, many of the rooms still laid barren and unfurnished. Twilight simply couldn't find a use for all of them. It was eerie, the way sounds un-abatedly bounced around the castle, and Rainbow could understand why Twilight wanted to furnish it so badly. "Twilight!" Rainbow called again, growing annoyed. "Twilight where are you?" Rainbow Dash emerged back into the hall and trotted towards the front of the castle. Her hooves cast soft echoes as she looked around at the many glass windows that lined the hall. Rainbow wondered to herself if Twilight was going to decorate them to highlight their many adventures, just like in Celestia’s castle. She took a moment to imagine herself, stained onto one of the glass windows, and reveled in the thought; waving her hooves in the air and cheering at an imaginary crowd that had gathered just for her. "You're the best, Rainbow Dash!" The crowd would say. "There's nopony more awesome-er than you" Rainbow Dash did a sweeping, dramatic bow, but after a while her imaginary crowd had disappeared, leaving the cyan equine alone again in her friend's empty castle. Rainbow Dash huffed, and began checking rooms; searching for the purple alicorn. From the hall, Rainbow Dash stepped into a what she believed to be a bedchamber or a boudoir. Although for all she knew, the room could've been a closet or a cabinet or could have even be one of the kitchen's store-rooms given how unfurnished it was. She exited back into the hall and stepped into another smaller room which it’s only purpose seemed to be that of a bridge between the hallway that lead to the throne room and  the larger, circular, great hall that ran a perimeter around the outermost edge of the castle. This hallway had even more rooms and every room looked almost exactly the same. Same solid crystal walls, same polished crystal floors, same polished crystal ceilings. The rooms looked so alike, in fact, that Rainbow Dash was sure she would've gotten herself lost save for the fact that the great hall was curving around to the left. After what seemed like an hour of searching empty rooms and calling out for her friend, Rainbow Dash wanted to go home. She was tired, annoyed, and a little bit hungry, but more than anything she felt bad. She felt bad, not only for arriving late but for arriving late and blowing off her promises on top of that. Rainbow Dash wanted to stay and help, but she just hated being alone in this empty castle. It wasn't because it was unpleasant to be in or anything like that. The dark purple crystal and stone motifs of the castle were pleasant to look at. There were many windows that let in a great deal of natural light that would bend and refract inside the crystals of the castle; casting a rainbow of colors across the floor and walls and created colorful motes of blue and white light that would hang in the air. The castle looked fine to Rainbow Dash, cool even. Beautiful if she'd dare to say. But all and all the castle didn't feel beautiful. Sure, the air was charged from being around so much crystal, she’d try to reason with herself. Standing in the castle often gave her the same feeling as would a gentle breeze blowing through a meadow in the springtime. But it was the underlying emptiness that was always present but hard to notice if she weren’t paying any particular attention to it. It was a tiny inkling in the back of her mind when she would first set hoof into the castle. It would grow in size when she’d get caught up in a conversation with Rarity as they walked through the halls. It would become too hard to ignore when Pinkie pie would tell a joke that didn’t connect well and the awkward silence would go on for a little too long. The emptiness was always there in the castle. In every room, in every hallway, in every high arch and windowsill; and it filled Rainbow Dash with anxiety and dread. Not so much because it was an emptiness made from absent things, things that are no longer there, but things that weren't there yet, things that could be there. Compared to the hundreds of cottages in Ponyville, each one paling in comparison to the size of Twilight castle, a pony could step into a cottage and instantly get a sense of the energy in the home. Who lived there, what they're personalities were like, what they did on a day to day basis; things that felt familiar. In the same way that the castle's throne room or the kitchen felt familiar since that's where Rainbow and her friends spent most of their time; but those are just tiny bubbles of familiarity beset by the constricting, vacuous emptiness of the castle. "Oh Rainbow Dash, you're here!" Twilight Sparkle said gleefully as she saw her friend exiting her castle. The purple alicorn was trotting down the path towards the castle levitating many bags of decorating supplies in her magic. “I thought you weren’t going to show up today so I already sent the others out on their errands.” "Oh, hehe, yeah." Rainbow Dash laughed nervously. "Sorry I'm late Twilight, I didn't get much sleep last night and ended up missing my alarm." “Were you up reading the newest Daring Do book again?” Twilight said playfully. “I know you’re in the book and all but don’t you think twenty-three times is a little much?” "No, it wasn't that." Rainbow Dash let out a little smile. "It's just..." "Just what?" "I've just been having trouble sleeping." Rainbow Dash said. “Trouble sleeping?” Twilight asked. “But you sleep all the time. How long have you been having trouble sleeping?” "For weeks now.” Rainbow Dash said. “I mean, I can fall asleep no problem, but I'll toss and turn all night like I'm sleeping on concrete or something, or I'll wake up with my hooves in the air like I'm reaching out for somepony. And lately... Lately I've been having these really weird dreams, and no matter what I do I just sleep right past my alarm." “Bad dreams, eh? You know, back at the old library, I had several books on dream therapy and interpretation.” Twilight said with a grin that suggested her services were available. “What were you dreaming about?” "Well it's more like the same dream actually." Rainbow said. "like, they continue off of each other.” She made a circular motion with her hooves for emphasis. “Sometimes where the others left off or other times it's the same exact dream but it just goes on for a little longer." "Hmm... interesting." Twilight furrowed her brow. "Would you mind telling me about one of these dreams? Like, what happens from start to finish?" "Well.." Rainbow started. "The dream I've been having recently is this one where I'm in this dark cargo train with a bunch of foals. like, ten to twenty of them. The train's moving incredibly fast, faster than any train I've ever been on, like so fast it's about to crash! And when it finally stops, this tall mysterious figure opens the cargo door and leads us through the woods to this old orphanage type building. I don't know if it's actually an orphanage or not but that's what it feels like in the dream." Rainbow Dash looked around ponderously. “It's very fuzzy after that, but that’s pretty much the gist of it. Oh! There was this one dream of me fighting a three-headed manticore, but I don’t think that one meant anything... I actually kinda liked that one.” “Hmm…” Twilight rubbed her hoof to her chin, thinking. “To dream that you are in an orphanage signifies your sense of belonging or the lack thereof. You might feel that you are alone in the world. Perhaps you think nopony understands what you are going through or how you are feeling?” “Well that doesn’t sound right.” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “I’m feeling more awesome than ever, who couldn’t understand that feeling?” Twilight set down her decorating supplies and contorted her face into one of intense thought. “Well...” the Alicorn Princess said. “To dream that you are on a train symbolizes your life's journey. It suggests that you are on the right track in life and headed in the right direction. Alternatively, the dream means that you have a tendency to worry needlessly over a situation that will work out in the end.” “That doesn’t sound right either.” Rainbow Dash said, losing her patience a little more quickly than she usually would. “I don’t have a thing to worry about, except for maybe you wasting my time with this silly dream interpretation nonsense.” “Rude.” Twilight said flatly. “I was only trying to help.” “I’m sorry.” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing the back of her head. “I’m just a little irritable, ya know?” “Irritability, a common symptom of sleep deprivation.” Twilight said matter-of-factly, looking slightly hurt at her friend’s harshness. Rainbow Dash didn’t say anything, she only pursed her lips. “It's alright,” Twilight said throwing a hoof around her tired friend. “I know that feeling all too well. I couldn't tell you how many nights I stayed up past my bedtime reading a good book or two just to wake up cranky the next day.” Rainbow Dash dug her hoof into the ground, looking for a way to change the subject. "Hey Twilight." Rainbow Dash said as the purple alicorn princess picked up her decorating supplies. "Have you ever considered maybe, I don't know, getting some servants for your castle? The whole places feels kinda, sorta..." "Empty? Oh it's dreadfully empty." Twilight said quickly. "So empty that I almost don't want to leave the throne room or the library because it feels like the whole castle is closing in on me. it's even worse at night. I've actually considered installing a bed in the library just so I don't have to go through all those hallways just to get back to the bedchambers." "But you never considered getting some servants?" Rainbow Dash cut back in. "I'm a little uncomfortable with idea of having servants to be honest." Twilight said. "I don't feel like I'm important enough." "But you are important. "Rainbow dash said confidently. "You're a princess." "Well I know that." Twilight said. "I know I'm a princess and I know princesses are supposed to have servants. It's just that Spike and I have managed just fine on our own for so long now that it doesn't feel like we need servants.” Rainbow dash looked at Twilight questioningly. "And besides," Twilight continued. " If I had servants to do everything for me then I wouldn't get to spend as much time with you and the others as I do." "Yeah, I guess you have a point there." Rainbow Dash said. "Speaking of the others, you said you already sent them out on their errands right? She asked with a hint of relief, hoping there weren’t any chores left, but she spoke otherwise. “Is there anything you wanted me to do?” "Well we tried to wait for you this morning," Twilight said as she levitated a small checklist from her bundle of supplies. “Hmm, let's see..” She said whilst looking over the list. “Applejack is out getting the banners from Rarity. Rarity is, of course, making the banners. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy are working on lunch before we move the thrones around in the afternoon. Starlight Glimmer is spending the day with Trixie. And Discord? Well, I try not to keep tabs on him, he’s confusing.” “So, nothing for me then?” Rainbow Dash didn’t even try to hide her enthusiasm. “Well, I still need you to get my new books from Manehattan,” Twilight said, levitating another list out of her supplies, this one written exclusively with names of spell books and tomes that Twilight wanted from the big bookstore in Manehattan. “But with those bags under your eyes you might bring me back the wrong books!” Twilight was obviously joking, but Rainbow Dash didn’t take it as a joke. Shooting Twilight an unamused glare, the Alicorn quickly corrected herself. “I’m kidding of course, but I'll tell you what.” Twilight gave the list to Rainbow Dash. “Go home and get some sleep, we’ll be waiting for you in the afternoon when it’s time to move the thrones. If you wake up in time, please try to get at least a few of my books, if you don't, it's no big deal. We can always get them later.” Rainbow Dash looked down at the list, then back up at her friend who was simply smiling at her. Suddenly, the pegasus felt ashamed for her irritability and impatience. “Twilight, I…” Rainbow Dash stammered out a response, but was stifled by her friend pulling her into a tight embrace. “Go get some sleep, you’ll feel better after a nap.”