//------------------------------// // Chapter 16 // Story: Shadow of the Sun // by Starwin //------------------------------// Shadow of the Sun By Starwin Chapter 16 Rainbow Dash watched helplessly as Twilight plummeted backward into the looming darkness below. Chunks of the ceiling had come loose and cascaded down in a shower of stone all around Twilight. “Rarity!” shouted Rainbow. Rainbow knew what she had to do. She didn’t turn to see, she didn’t wait to hear. In one great arching motion, Rainbow spun in the air. Spike let out a wail of surprise as Rainbow hurtled him at the other ponies on the ledge thirty hooves away. Then Rainbow Dash dove down into the falling rocks, racing headlong after Twilight. Behind her she heard Rarity call out to Spike. Rainbow hoped that the unicorn had been quick enough to catch him. The others shouted for her and for Twilight as well. But Rainbow couldn’t make out their words. She didn’t have time to look back or heed their pleading shouts. The glowing light of Twilight’s element guided Rainbow as she sped downwards. The pegasus flew so fast that the falling rocks seemed to be floating in the air all around her. With expert skill and speed she wove through the cascade of stone towards her friend. In a moment more, Rainbow caught up with Twilight and wrapped her hooves around the unicorn. Twilight was not as heavy as Rainbow had expected. She could easily have slowed their fall, but she did not. Instead, Rainbow beat her wings harder, making them fall faster, pushing them through the rocks. They obviously couldn’t stay where they were. Going up was way too dangerous with the rocks tumbling all around them. Going down was even more dangerous as any moment the ground might rise up to meet them. Using her wings, Rainbow turn them, picking a direction that seemed to have less obstacles than the rest. Slowly, Rainbow began to pull up, keeping just enough speed that the rocks weren’t racing past her. With the other mare in her forelegs, maneuvering was much more difficult, but Rainbow managed to avoid hitting anything. Falling debris tumbled all around them with no end in sight. Rainbow didn’t know how far down this place went but it couldn’t go on forever. The sooner they were flying level the better. Rainbow felt the sharp sting of stone as a jagged piece of rock bit into her wing. They turned sharply in an uncontrolled spiral. Twilight let out a fresh scream of terror that was lost in the stone fall. Rainbow struggled to regain her stability. After a brief moment she was able to break them out of the spin. Although she couldn’t flap the hurt wing she was still able to glide on it. It was painful to extend the wing out all the way but she didn’t have a choice. She had to get them out of the rain of rocks before something larger hit them, something big enough that there would be no recovery. The momentary lapse in concentration had turned them around. Rainbow didn’t know which way she had been flying or which way to go now. Picking at random, Rainbow continued to race through the stone. She wove and dodged with near misses zooming past her head. It was difficult to see. The only light was coming from Twilight’s tiara. The soft purple glow was weak, giving them less than a dozen hooves of light in any direction. Unfortunately, wherever the light did shine, its beams found only more falling stone and no clear direction of escape. The second and third strikes came in rapid succession. One slammed into the back of Rainbow’s neck and the other into her flank. She bit back a yelp as hot pain surged through her body. With a powerful flap that sent a fresh wave of agony through her, Rainbow at last propelled them out of the falling rocks. They were still descending, but at least they weren’t falling with the rocks anymore. She still couldn’t tell how far down the ground was but she knew they were going way too fast. There was no other option. She couldn’t slow them down just by gliding. Rainbow flapped her wings again and gritted her teeth. Her right wing had been hit hard. Her instinct was to bring it to her side and protect it. She struggled with all her might to keep it extended. Retracting it would drop them out of the air like a.... stone. She flapped again, slowing them further. It was still not enough. They needed to lose more speed. Rainbow banked, using the change in direction to slow them down some more. She wasn’t sure how far ahead the walls were and just going straight might cause them to crash. There was only blackness around them. The rock fall, while she could still hear it, was no longer visible. The two mares glided down in slow looping circles, the never ending darkness below them. It felt like they had been falling for hours, that their descent was without end. Twilight looked downwards but the light from her element did not shine far enough. Both of the friends were tense as they spun slowly downwards into the dark, unable to see where they were headed. At last, the pale reflection of the ground shined below them. It looked to be flat and smooth. Rainbow had been worried they would find a field of pointed rocks. But this flat surface would make a perfect landing area. Giving another painful flap, Rainbow slowed them one last time and warned Twilight what was about to happen. They were still going too fast so they would have to gallop as they landed. Rainbow came low to the ground and released Twilight. Her friend almost stumbled when her hooves hit the stone, but Twilight recovered and galloped along the ground for a long while before finally slowing to a stop. With Twilight safely on the ground, Rainbow lowered herself down. Her hooves hit the stone with an impact she could feel in her bones. She ran as hard as she could. Gradually, Rainbow slowed her speed before making a sharp turn and circling back towards Twilight. Rainbow folded her injured wing against her side. It hurt quite a lot and she wondered how bad the damage really was. She couldn’t really see her wing in this low light. Even still, it didn’t feel like she would be flying on it any time soon. “Are you okay?” asked Rainbow, reaching her friend and examining Twilight for any injuries. Twilight nodded and then her eyes widened as she saw Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow!” cried Twilight in concern. “Ah, it’s nothing,” said Rainbow extending her wing and wincing slightly. “With any luck it should be good as new in…” “No!” exclaimed Twilight. “Your element! Where did your element go!?” Rainbow felt a little taken aback. She lifted a hoof and touched the spot where the necklace should have been, however, she didn’t find it there. She moved her hoof around her neckline desperately, searching for it as if the jewelry had just been pushed to the side. But it was gone. “One of the rocks that hit me must have knocked it off,” said Rainbow, glancing around trying to spot it. If it had indeed fallen off, maybe it was still glowing. In this darkness any light would be easy to spot. She couldn’t see it, if only she could fly… “Oh, this is bad, this is bad,” chanted Twilight. She trotted worryingly in place as though the ground was too hot to stand on. Rainbow looked at Twilight in slight puzzlement, not sure what was bad, until the burning pain engulfed her body. The pegasus let out a wail of distress, that came out like a terrible screech. Rainbow felt the flames beginning to crawl up her leg. She was changing back into a nightmare! Without the element to keep herself in check the monster inside was about to burn through. “Run, Twilight,” urged Rainbow Dash as the flames spread across her body. “Run from me before I lose who I am.” To Rainbow’s complete surprise, Twilight did run, but not away. The unicorns forelegs wrapped around Rainbow, hugging her tightly. The flames began to dwindle until they were all but gone. However Twilight did not let her friend go. “I won’t abandon you,” said Twilight. “We will find your element and then figure out how to get back to the others.” Twilight glanced up through the darkness above them and Rainbow did the same. Very, very, high above, the distant ceiling was dotted with hundreds of small glowing crystals, no bigger than fireflies. “Somehow.” Twilight was getting used to being carried, even if she didn’t much like it, but there was no other option. Without her element, Rainbow needed constant hug therapy to combat the nightmare inside her. Twilight hadn’t been sure that the temporary solution discovered by Pinkie Pie would work on Rainbow again. The last time, it had required strong magic to even be able to hold her. All the same it seemed to be working. Perhaps Twilight had been able to catch it early enough that magic wasn’t needed... yet. However, the flames hadn’t gone completely. Rainbow’s hooves blazed with fire and already it was slowly crawling up her front legs. While Twilight’s hugs had managed to slow the transformation, it had not stopped it. The fire was still spreading, albeit slowly. With her injured wing Rainbow’s ability to fly was limited. She was sure she could manage a short flight if she absolutely had to, but neither of them wanted to see just how far she could go. They were traveling by hoof towards the glowing red light in the distance. In this darkness the light of the other element was easy to spot. Even if the glow was weak it was still visible whenever Twilight covered her own element, plunging them in to blackness. At the moment the tiara was back on Twilights head. It continued to glow in slow steady pulses, casting a ghostly purple light in a circle around them. Unlike the last cave they had been in, this cave appeared to have no deep crevasses or mazes of stalagmites. It also had no light what-so-ever, save for the distant red glow and the twinkling crystals high above that almost looked like the night sky. The slow strobe from Twilight’s element was all they had to light the way. For all they could see in the dimness, there might be a bottomless drop not far to their left, or a forest of gems just to their right. But within their little sphere of light, there was nothing more than flat, smooth, stone. “I need to stop for a few minutes,” said Rainbow Dash. Twilight was surprised to hear the fatigue in her friend’s voice. “Of course,” replied Twilight. “Rainbow, what’s wrong?” “Nothing,” said Rainbow in a tone that implied her words weren’t entirely honest. The pegasus halted where she was before lowering herself down to the stone with a grunt of effort. “Do you want me to get off you?” asked Twilight. She was still on Rainbow’s back with her forelegs wrapped around her friend. “Can you get off and still hug me?’ asked Rainbow. “Not really…” answered Twilight after a moment. The two lay in silence for a long while. The darkness pressed in against them as the weak light of Twilight’s element faded in and out. Twilight was not tired. The fall had put so much adrenaline in her that she might never sleep again. For the last week she had practically been casting magic almost non-stop. First in Ponyville while delivering supplies, then while on the road to Hoofington and again while traveling to Canterlot. Today however, she had hardly cast anything. It felt… odd. Her eyes wandered upwards towards where they had fallen from. The tiny crystals sparkled and Twilight wondered what her friends high above were doing. Had they continued on to Canterlot? Were they sitting there waiting for her and Rainbow to return? Maybe they were formulating a plan to come and rescue them… And… had that glowing crystal just moved? Twilight squinted her eyes. Yes, she was right. A tiny point of light was moving high above. It was almost impossible to see at such a great distance and with so many other little points of light up there… actually… a lot more little points of light… had there been that many glowing crystals before? “Alright, let’s keep going,” announced Rainbow Dash. With a sudden jolt, she got back to her hooves. Twilight had to tighten her grip to keep from falling off. “Rainbow,” asked Twilight, her focus returning to her friend. “Are you sure you’re alright? “Yeah, I’m just a little exhausted from the fall,” replied Rainbow as she trotted on. “And, not to sound mean or anything, but you’re not exactly light as a feather. I can’t believe Pinkie carried you all the way from Hoofington.” “Yeah, me neither,” answered Twilight. “She’s always full of surprises… Rainbow,” asked Twilight again, redirecting their conversation, “when was the last time you slept?” Rainbow missed a step but recovered. “I don’t…” began Rainbow, but she didn’t even have to see Twilight’s face to know the look her friend was giving her. “Ponyville…” “Rainbow, that was days ago!” exclaimed Twilight. “I know,” replied Rainbow. “But I can’t sleep… bad dreams… More than you can imagine,” added Rainbow quietly. “What do you mean?” asked Twilight confused by her friend’s words. If Rainbow wasn’t sleeping, how could she have had any bad dreams? “At first I just wasn’t tired,” explained Rainbow. “But when we got to Hoofington, something changed… I changed. I just couldn’t sleep while we were there. “When we left from Hoofington, something followed us,” continued Rainbow. She glanced up. “Lots of somethings.” Twilight looked at the glowing points of light high above too. She felt her eyes widen. There weren’t just a few more of them this time, there were a lot more of them. What had been a small sprinkling of tiny dots now looked more like the daytime sky. “Nightmares…” whispered Twilight. “There must be thousands…” “Yeah… a lot of them for sure,” said Rainbow finally looking away. “Every time you guys go to sleep, they’ve tried to come and feed on you.” “Feed on us?” exclaimed Twilight in horror. Rainbow nodded. “On your fears,” explained Rainbow. “I’ve been keeping them away.” “How?” asked Twilight in surprise. “It’s hard to explain,” said Rainbow. “But there is this place, it’s not really a place, between being awake and being asleep. Ever since I started to change I can go there, although I don’t really go anywhere. When I was wearing the element it was a lot harder to do. Like I said, it’s hard to explain. “Anyhow, while I’m there everything is different. Distance doesn’t mean anything. Time doesn’t move. And I can go in and out of others’ dreams like they were clouds floating by.” “The æther,” whispered Twilight. “The what?” asked Rainbow, turning her head to glance back at Twilight. “The æther,” repeated Twilight. “It’s... well, it’s magic. Pure tangible magic. Magic without shape or form, just waiting to become something. Sometimes, in dreams you can see it, or touch it. We are actually in it right now, although we cannot see it. Unicorns can feel it, draw from it.” Twilight paused for a moment. “Nightmares must be able to travel through it, to invade the dreams of others.” “Yeah, well, not while I’m here they won’t,” said Rainbow, she smiled. Twilight looked up again, she couldn’t help it, there were so many of them. “What are they all doing here?” wondered Twilight out loud. Rainbow shrugged, or rather tried too, but with Twilight holding on to her, she couldn’t. “You said they were after my element back in Hoofington,” said Rainbow. “Maybe they came to get the one here?” “I hope not,” said Twilight, her worry for her friends high above increasing. Two nightmares had been more than enough. This time, there would be thousands. And Twilight couldn’t see any water around to put them out. “Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash. There was something sad in her voice. “When I… when I change into one of them…” “You won’t!” cried Twilight. Rainbow ignored her protest. “I want you to run,” said Rainbow. “Please, get as far away from me as you can. I don’t want to hurt you ever again.” “Rainbow…” whispered Twilight. “Promise me,” demanded Rainbow. “We’ll get your element before that happens,” promised Twilight, putting all the courage she had into her words. Rainbow didn’t respond. They trotted on forward. Every now and then Twilight would cover her element. They would wait while their eyes adjusted to the low light so they could check their course. Whenever they were walking, Twilight’s gaze was almost entirely focused upwards, watching the dancing stars move above them. “Twilight!” cried Rainbow. “Look!” Twilight pulled her eyes away. Rainbow was holding out a hoof pointing straight ahead. At first, all Twilight could see was darkness. But after a moment she saw the faintest flicker of red-ish light. It was only there for a moment before fading back into the dark. They were here. A thousand screeches echoed from high above. Twilight had to fight the urge to clamp her hooves over her ears. Both ponies looked up, terrified by what they saw. Descending from the ceiling was a tornado of fire. More nightmares than they could count were coming down, heading for… “The element!” shouted Twilight over the screeches. She didn’t need to say more than that. Rainbow broke out into a gallop as Twilight hung tight with all her strength. If Twilight had thought being on pony back for long periods of slow trots was bad, she had been sorely mistaken. Galloping was far worse. The world of shadows jumped up and down all around her. Something loomed up out of the darkness too fast for Twilight to comprehend. Rainbow, however, was quick enough to dodge it. Twilight glanced back, able to make out the brief shape of a giant piece of upright stone they had narrowly avoided. Yet, no sooner had they passed one than another sprang up out of the darkness and then another. They had reached the edge of the collapse. The stones glowed with a red light emanating from some place ahead. That was their destination. That was where they needed to go. Yet, if they kept up this pace they were bound to collide with something. “Slow down!” cried Twilight as Rainbow wove back and forth around the fallen stones. “Can’t!” shouted Rainbow. Twilight wanted to ask why, but a brief glance upwards told her why. The funnel of nightmare fire was almost to where they were. Suddenly the red-ish light was washed out as the area was bathed in a white glow. The nightmares were so close that the fire from their bodies lit up the ground. This change in illumination didn’t slow Rainbow down at all. With one final leap, her wings spread out and she glided into the center of the rock fall. The two ponies landed in a shallow crater, surrounded by towering stones. The stones made archways in a circle around them. It was like they were in some sort of house where the walls and roof had gone and only the stone supports remained. In the center of the crater, sticking slightly out of the ground, was Rainbow’s element. The red lighting bolt shaped gem was pulsing with light, similar to Twilight’s. Without wasting a moment, Rainbow hurried to it and yanked it from the ground. It came free easily. Twilight slid off her friend’s back and helped fasten it around Rainbow’s neck. The red gem continued to pulse weakly. “Alright, now get us out of here!” cried Rainbow. “Right!” said Twilight. She closed her eyes, getting ready to teleport. A screech made Twilight lose her concentration and stumble backwards slightly. Twilight looked up. She had thought she would have more time before the nightmares reached them. And she was right. They were getting close but they weren’t here yet. Slowly, Twilight turned her gaze downward. A terrible chill of fear ran down her spine as her eyes found Rainbow Dash. The screech had not come from above. Rainbow’s mane blazed with rainbow colored flames. Her whole body was covered in fire. Only her face and the element around her neck remained normal. Twilight’s eyes searched in panic, trying to comprehend what she was seeing. “But… I don’t understand!” cried Twilight moving towards Rainbow Dash. “The element, you’re wearing the element!” “Stay back,” cried Rainbow, taking a step away from Twilight. “Run. You have to run!” “No!” shouted Twilight. “I’m not leaving you! I can put a magic shield on myself and hug you and we can get out of here!” Hooves thundered down around them. Heat washed over Twilight from all sides. The nightmares had reached them, encircled them, trapped them. Above them the air was full of blazing nightmares. “Please,” whispered Rainbow. Twilight looked back to her friend, the fire slowly consuming the last of Rainbow’s face. Only her eyes and snout remained. “Please…” Rainbow screeched. The other nightmares echoed. Twilight covered her ears. She couldn’t look away from her friend. Or what had been her friend. Rainbow Nightmare took a step forward. Twilight closed her eyes. She couldn’t watch. The screech came again, but this time, from above her. Twilight opened her eyes. They were leaving. The nightmares were leaving. And Rainbow was leaving along with them.