Sky slowly got out of her bed and saw that the time was 5:00. Strange. Usually the sun would be peeking over the edge of the horizon. She disregarded this and climbed down the creaky stairs. She stuck to the sides, as there would be more of a foundation there to hold her weight. She walked through the dark kitchen, grabbing an apple as she went through, past the darkened photos of Big Macintosh, Applebloom, Granny Smith (Sky was just speculating here, as she hadn’t met Granny Smith as of yet.) and Applejack. She swung the door open quickly, to avoid it ominously creaking open. She closed it just as quickly, being careful not to slam it. She spread her wings and flew off at a leisurely pace towards Rainbow Dash’s cloud palace. She went slow on purpose, so she could think about what to say.
I could say that thing about love at first sight, or I could just come right out and say it, or I could build up to it, or... AUGH! This is so hard. But... For some reason my mind feels clear. Clearer than it’s been since I had that nightmare. The first one, that is. I wonder what it could have been? It just felt like my mind was in chaos, like there was some parasite on it, pumping... Venomous... Thoughts... CRAP! Chrysalis! She must have been doing it! And... Now that I think about it, I was having some really weird thoughts last night. And that dream didn’t involve Chrysalis. Maybe she thought she had beaten me? Hah! I’ll prove her wrong! I can’t believe I was thinking of never telling Rainbow how I feel! I love Rainbow Dash, and even if she doesn’t love me back, nothing will stop me telling her! Her train of thought was derailed yet again, as a familiar grey pony collided with her and threw her off course.
“Ohh! Soorry! I wasn’t watching where I’m going!” She flew away unsteadily, her saddlebags filled with mail, some of which was floating softly to the ground. Sky shook her head and continued in the direction of Rainbow’s place. She could feel her heart beating faster. What if she likes me too? What would I do? Would I kiss her? Hug her? Give her a slightly amorous high-hoof? Whatever I did do before I lost my memory, it definitely wasn’t romantic. Sky started to feel a sense of apprehension, and slowed to a stop. But... If she doesn’t like me? What then? Would I just leave? Would I beg for her to like me? I should think about this. This could change my friendship with ‘Dash forever. Sky blinked. How could she go from so confident to nervous in such a short--
“CHRYSALIS! GET THE HAY OUT OF MY HEAD!”
A few early rising weather pegasi looked around in shock. Sky realised she had said this out loud.
Ah. You have figured out my little scheme. Never mind. I don’t need to keep it up anyway. It was fun while it lasted though. Although Sky could tell the voice was intended to be smug, she could practically feel the heat of the barely restrained anger the Queen was trying to hide. Then the presence faded. Sky hovered for a few seconds, then decided to continue heading for Rainbow’s place. She decided to tell Twilight about it later. For now, she just wanted to tell Rainbow how she felt, then she would go straight to the library and tell Twilight. She was apprehensive though, but not about the impending confession. If anything, it was because she knew, somewhere in her mind, that Chrysalis would not give up that easily. This wasn’t over. She just shook her head, dislodging the thoughts, chalking them up to Chrysalis residue. As she arrived at ‘Dash’s house, though, she knew something was wrong. Whether it was the eery feeling the place was giving off, or the pitch-dark interior, or the screams from--
Wait, screams? Oh hell! RAINBOW DASH! Sky flew forward through the front door, blowing it off of it’s hinges. She went straight to the bedroom and saw Rainbow struggling to escape the blankets on her bed, all while she was unconscious. Obviously this was a pretty bad nightmare, so Sky just let her instincts take over, and jumped over to the bed and lay her arms over Rainbow, so the cyan mare didn’t hurt herself with her struggling. Then, without thinking, she put her forehead against Rainbow’s. She could feel the fear and pain her friend was feeling. She almost recoiled from the strength of it, but she persisted. She agonisingly pushed past her friends mental defenses and how she knew how to was beyond her. As she neared the center of Rainbow’s mind, she saw the cyan pegasus struggling to get away, as if she had been tied down.
“STOP IT! I DON’T WANT TO SEE ANY MORE!” Sky almost retreated there and then, hearing her friend screaming so, but it was for the same reason that she pushed on, with more determination. When she reached what could be called Rainbow’s ‘Inner Sanctum’ of her mind, she saw Chrysalis standing over her, her hooves pushing against ‘Dash’s forehead. She noticed vaguely that it looked like a large cloud, stretching out in infinite directions. “SSSTOOOP IIIT!” It tore Sky apart to hear her friend screaming like that. She moved her attention back to the struggling pegasus.
“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Sky screamed this, and the mindvision of Chrysalis flickered for a moment. “STOP HURTING HER!” Chrysalis looked over at Sky and smiled.
“Why should I? I’m having fun!”
“If you keep hurting her, I will destroy you, Chrysalis. I will fight my way through your army barehanded and tear you into millions of pieces if you hurt the mare I love. Even if she doesn’t love me back, I will kill you if you hurt her.” Chrysalis just laughed.
“Ohh, I’m so terrified. But I think I’ll keep going. This one has so many feelings to toy with.”
The way Chrysalis said this made Sky look at ‘Dash. Her eyes were slightly open.
“S-S-Sky? Wh-what are y-y-you d-doing here? What did you j-just say?” Her voice was so weak, Sky went from terrified worry to volcanic fury in record time. She charged Chrysalis, and before she could react, Sky had smashed into her, and knocked her over. The queen yelled in her fury;
“Grr. THIS IS NOT OVER! I WILL SEE YOU PAY SKY BLUE!”
“Maybe I’ll pay for your funeral. Then again, there won’t be much left of you to bury.” Chrysalis actually looked scared for a moment when Sky said this. Her voice had been so low, and yet so powerful at the same time.
“You will pay Sky. This is not over.” Chrysalis flickered into nothingness. Sky looked at Rainbow one more time, walked over to her, stroked her mane, and then she pulled out of Rainbow’s mind, not wishing to intrude any longer. It was bad enough she had said that she loved Rainbow. She had hoped at least for some kind of build up. Now Rainbow knew, and it was time to find out how she felt.