"Ugh, my head," he groaned, slowly bringing himself to a sitting position and resting his forehead against a hoof. He scratched the fur above his eyes briefly before running his hoof through his mane. The stallion smiled at the feeling; it had been awhile since he felt his own fur and hair with his hooves. Wait, feeling?

"Huh?" Phantom looked down at his black tipped, midnight blue legs. There was no ice covering them! Elating in joy, he bounced to a standing position, glad to once again be able to feel the grass beneath him. But that was something else that was different: he was standing on grass, not snow, not ice. In fact, he wasn't even cold; he was warm. A cool breeze ran through his mane that he closed his eyes to enjoy. Birds even sang happily in the distance. All of his senses told him that this was spring; the sounds, feeling, sights, smell.

Feeling his stomach growl, he bent his head towards the fresh smelling, luscious green grass below and took several bites. It was easily the best field grass he had ever tasted in his life. And that was saying something. Being a guard, he had traveled all around Equestria and other nations and had to eat grass right out of the ground. Normally he would have been keeping a lookout for any danger as he did so, especially since he was all alone. But something about this place told him that it was perfectly safe to let his guard down. A feeling that betrayed him.

His ears perked up at the sound of something shuffling nearby. Phantom froze in his place, mid chew, listening to see if it would happen again. After what he estimated was half a minute later, he heard it again. The noise sounded like paper being over turned, something he didn't at all expect in this open field. He dropped the grass out of his mouth, picking his head up and looking around.

The pegasus was standing in the middle of rolling, grassy hills with a few spots of light colored flowers here and there. A fair walking distance in front of him was the leading edge to a peaceful looking forest, its trees apparently regaining their leaves after losing them for a winter. He had expected sounds, if any, to have been coming from there. But the one he heard had come from behind him, on the other side of a small hill. Despite the danger, Phantom wondered to himself how fun these hills would be during winter.

Phantom crouched low to the ground, so much so that the grass was rubbing up agains his underbelly. His wings were flared out, controlled by his subconscious in a primal effort to make himself look bigger and more opposing to any potential threats. Phantom raised an eye brow, crinkled his nose and raise a corner of his mouth as he turned to look over his shoulder at his right wing. Just like the left wing, it was fully extended outwards.

My wing... its... its healed? To test it, he moved his wing around in a circle, folded and unfolded it, and flapped it a few times. A grin slowly plastered itself on his face. I can fly again! He bent down and prepared to take off into the air as fast as he could. He would have, too, had he not heard the sound of paper rustling again. Remembering that something was just over the hill, Phantom kept in control his flight instincts, remaining on the ground.

Phantom practically crawled up the hill, keeping his eyes trained for any sight of danger. His ears also swiveled around in a practiced motion so he could hear everything possible. As he reached the top of the small hill, her heard the paper-y sound again. Ducking behind a small collection of roses and violets, Phantom parted them with his hooves so that he could see on the other side.

He couldn't believe what he saw. It was Rainbow Dash. A very, yellow, Rainbow Dash. She looked like someone had painted over her coat, mane, tail, and cutie mark with canary-colored paint. Several things about her were even more striking that how she was colored. Her mane had been put up in a pony tail in the back, she was wearing a pair of thin, black framed glasses, and she was glued to a book that was held in her forehooves. The Rainbow Dash laying in the middle of a quite field, reading? No way...

"Dash?" Phantom said, bringing himself to stand at the top of the hill. "Dash? Is that you?" He made his way towards her on a rather indirect path, making sure to keep a safe distance, at least until he looped around enough so he was in front of her. Part of him reasoned that the only way to tell if this was actually Rainbow Dash, however unlikely, would be by looking at her eyes. When he stopped about fifteen feet in front of her, he braced himself, ready for anything. "You feeling okay?"

"Hang on, Phantom," she replied. He half expected her voice to be Boreas', but instead he was delightfully surprised; it was her voice. Now if only she could see her eyes...

"Reading, give me a second." While he waited a few moments, Phantom looked around to make sure nothing was sneaking up behind him. The sound of a page turning brought his attention back to her. She placed a book mark in the crease of the book, and folded the top cover of the book. Phantom barely got a glance at the title: The Advanced Cosmology of the Universe(s); Volume VII. Phantom considered himself an above average pony when it came to intellectual abilities, as condescending as that sounded, and even the title of the book made his head hurt.

Rainbow Dash finally looked up, giving Phantom an excellent view of her eyes. Thankfully, they were hers, even though they were yellow hued.

"I'm sure you have some fairly significant inquires..." Rainbow Dash's voice trailed off as she took her glasses off, folding the supports on them and resting them on the book. She remained in her laying position behind the book, looking up at him with a slight smile as she crossed her forehooves over the book.

The yellow mare adjusted herself slightly before taking in a breath. "Yes, I'm Rainbow Dash. Yes, I'm feeling okay. Now, I'm sure you're confused—"

"Of course you are... Mister I'm-a-guard-and-I'm-independent-and-perfectly-fine-on-my-own. Which, as we both know, is a lie." Phantom squinted his eyes. He just couldn't figure out what was going on with Rainbow Dash. "Oh well, your loss. Anyway, you're in Rainbow Dash's, or mine, if you prefer, mind. To be specific, her sub-conscious. I am a piece of her personality, one of the traits she exhibits, however little she does..." The yellow Rainbow Dash growled the last part. "To be exact, I represent Knowledge, which is why I appear in a way she would describe as an 'egg-head'."

Phantom stood gaping, a thousand yard stare ever present in his eyes. His jaw hanged open slightly, twitching up and down in a failed effort to communicate. It didn't take long before he fell onto his haunches. Rainbow covered her tittering with one of her hooves.

"I always knew it was easy to throw you off balance," she said. "Anything you're confused about? Or should I just try again?"

"I... I think I miss heard you. Did you say we were inside Rainbow Dash's mind?"

"Technically her subconscious, but in Layman's terms, yes. Like I said, I'm a piece of her personality."

"Correct. We each represent an emotion, and said emotion's appropriate color. I am Knowledge, so I am yellow. There is also Red, her rage, or anger. Orange, rudeness, selfishness. Green, bravery, courage, and sometimes ignorance..." The tension in her voice when she talked about green signaled to Phantom that there was tension between these two... personalities... if they ever spoke to one another. "Blue, calm and hope. Violet is Rainbow Dash's love, her happiness." The yellow pony put her glasses back on and stood up. She picked the book up with a hoof. Throwing it into the air, it vaporized into millions of extremely small but bright particles that spread throughout the sky.

Phantom was so captivated by the brilliant display that he barely caught when the yellow Rainbow Dash began speaking again. "And Violet never showed herself much around here until you showed up that day in Ponyville."

"She is quite infatuated with you, actually. I wonder where she is..." The mare put a hoof against her chin and looked around. "Haven't talked to her in sometime."

"Don't yours? Personalities talk to one another all the time. It's why we have emotional conflicts, and are often torn between decisions."

"You can call me Kay. Neither Yellow nor Knowledge are practical names, so I decided that Kay would suffice. Unfortunately I'm the only one who makes any active attempts to contact the other personalities, and thus they apparently have yet to create names for themselves. To counter this issue, I have given them verbal designations of my own. I refer to the personality representative of Rainbow Dash's rudeness as, well, Rude."

"No, it doesn't make sense," Kay acknowledged, "but she doesn't like it very much and I quite frankly find that to be an entertaining notion. An eye for an eye and whatnot. The Rage personality I call Red, for the obvious reasons of her appearance. Green, the personality of Bravery, I refer to as Em; as in Emerald. She insists that she's green, which she's not technically incorrect, but she's not right either. I continue to contest that she is an emerald color, and thus call her Em.

"Then there's Hope, the blue personality with calming and hopeful qualities. She seems taken with that name, so that's what I use. And then the personality that represents Love and Happiness I've named Violet."

"I see... But as much as I enjoy talking to this side of Rainbow Dash, I would like to meet the entire Rainbow Dash. The one I got to know and love."

"Yeah. I assumed since you're the knowledgable one, after all, you'd be able to help me."

"First off, don't assume, it rarely works out. Deduce instead, it usually ends better. Secondly, I'll help. I really have no choice; Boreas is slowly consuming this place. Rainbow's consciousness as already been compromised and we're running out of time. I've been trying to gather the personalities in an effort to stop him, but a few aren't really being helpful. With you here, though, there may be a chance."

Kay opened her wings. "We find the others, and bring them to Rainbow Dash. Only she can vanquish Boreas from these realms. Follow me." With a single flap, the yellow pegasus took to the sky. She banked to her left, flying towards the wooded area he had seen earlier.

Phantom hesitated before remembering that he was healed; he could fly. With great haste and joy, he spread his wings. In a well practiced flap, he shot himself into the air, easily catching up to Kay. Though if she had any of the physical attributes as the full Rainbow Dash, then she was merely letting him catch up to her. Without even blinking she could take off at super sonic speeds, leaving him behind.

The pair flew several good, relaxing miles into the forest. Phantom had to control himself to keep a steady flight path rather than soar. It had been ages since he had taken a peaceful flight, and never had he gone on one with Rainbow Dash, even though it was just one part of her. Phantom watched her out of the corner of his eye with a coy smile, enjoying what he could take. That is, until her expression changed from one of peace to one of alertness. Her ears perked up, even against the resistance created by the wind.

"What is it?" Phantom asked, his guard instincts taking in. While he awaited a reply, he began scanning the sky and ground around the two pegasi for any potential dangers, particularly those in the form of a interdeminsional god that could control ice.

"Outside? Like, the real world outside? How do you know? What's happening out there?"

"I... I'm not sure. I just know that we are no longer in the same position we were when we began this conversation. Somepony, or something has moved us. Unfortunately, I am only vaguely aware of it and cannot provide any other details. It is doubtful that the other personalities have picked up on the change; they are not as acute to Rainbow Dash's senses as I."

"This is a possibility, one that I hope is true. It is impossible to tell, though; Rainbow Dash is knocked out and now resides in her own consciousness, in what you would call a dream. Well, what she is experiencing now would be better described as a nightmare."

"She cannot. Boreas remains alive, and has encased Rainbow's mind in some kind of shield. The only way you were able to get in was because you were touching the Element of Loyalty when it connected with the Conduit. The two counteracting magical energies temporarily disabled one another and you were sucked in. Come on, we're here."

Kay banked right, with Phantom staying in formation at her side. She led him towards a small shack in the forest, smoke floating from its chimney. It seemed unassuming enough to the stallion. Nothing came to mind as to why this would be important. The pair landed in front of the unpainted wooden door.

"Rude is on the other side," Kay said. "You can imagine why she will likely be a hoofful. Her temper and attention span is about as same as Red, so be warned. I wish you luck." She motioned towards the door with a sweeping hoof.

Phantom looked at the door and put his hoof on the knob. "Are you coming with—" he looked to the side and noticed that Kay was no where to be seen, "—me? Guess not." He sighed and looked back at the door. "Well... Tally-ho!"

Phantom opened the door and quickly stepped through, unsure of what laid on the other side.

The experienced guard was forced to take a step back with sensory overload. A bright contrast of light blinded him. He tucked his ears as low to his head as he could in an effort to protect them from going from a silent environment to an incredibly noisy one. Strong smells wafted into his nose, giving the stallion an instant migraine. Finally, his body was able to adjust and return to a state of equilibrium. Taking in his environment, he couldn't believe where he was. Although considering what he's already been through in the past ten minutes alone should have left him open to any and all possibilities that might have shown themselves.

Phantom Knight stood on the side of a busy street in what appeared to be a densely populated metropolitan city. Earth ponies and unicorns alike traveled about at brisk paces in seemingly random paths. High above, pegasi criss crossed with one another at higher rates of speed than they should have been. He turned around and saw that he had emerged from a small, unmarked shop. The door had already closed behind him.

Looking around, Phantom noticed that everypony was a dark grayscale. This'll be easy, he thought, bright orange in this crowd? Piece of cake.

"Not quite." Phantom jumped at the sudden appearance of a feminine voice. He instinctively hovered several feet in the air and face the pony who had startled him.

"Oh, hello, Kay," he said, dropping back down to the ground next to the yellow mare. She still had her glasses, and no book. "What'd you mean by 'not quite'? Wait, can you read my mind?"

"How so? Everypony else is gray, and she's orange, right? It'll be easy to find her."

Phantom rolled his eyes, sighing heavily. "Great. Whelp let's get started, then."

Phantom let out a grunt as he ran into something fairly solid, specifically somepony. "Ow..." he groaned, picking himself up off of the cobblestone street. Rubbing his head to clear his vision, he saw that there was color to the mare he had run into. An orange color.

"Watch it, bud!" The mare hissed. She looked exactly like Rainbow Dash, but an orange hue to everything about her, except for the jet black sunglass that covered her probably orange eyes.

"Dash?" Phantom asked the orange pegasus. He had never seen her with those sunglasses before, which wasn't surprising since he's never see Rainbow Dash as portrayed by Kay before, either.

"The greatest one," Rude replied. "Now I'm busy, buzz off." She shoved her way between Phantom and Kay, following her original course. The pegasus seemed to completely ignore the presence of any other pony around her, hissing insults left and right as "they bumped into her" and not the other way around.

Kay spread her yellow wings, taking flight. Phantom was quick to follow and within moments the two pegasi were hover above the crowd beside Rude.

"Rude, Rainbow Dash is in trouble, we have to help her!" The intelligent pony pleaded.

Rude stopped where she was in the middle of the street and looked up at Kay with a quirked eyebrow.

"Why should I?" she demanded. "She's never done anything for me." Not bothering to wait for a reply, she continued to push her way through ponies.

Kay seemed dumbfounded for a brief moment, hovering in place and staring in the place Rude had just occupied. She sighed and rolled her eyes, then chased after orange pegasus. Phantom stayed with her, waiting for any point where he may be able to help.

"She's never done anything for you?" Kay said. "Rude, she is you! Look, something's happening and if we don't do something about it neither one of us will be around long enough to say anything in protest!"

"Yeah, right. Is this like that trick you were trying to get me to fall for earlier? No thanks! I'm the king of pranks, remember? I can see through your lies."

Phantom was sure that Kay's face would be red with anger by now. Even though it didn't change from the canary yellow, she was clinching her teeth with glaring at the orange mare with soul splitting eyes. He took a mental note to not bring that side out of Rainbow Dash very often. Kay grabbed hold of Phantom's hoof, dragging him in front of Rude and forcing him to land, and making the orange pony look at him. Rude's expression was a plain one; she was bored.

"Yes, Rude, big deal!" Kay said, landing at his side and pointing at him. "He's not a product of Rainbow Dash's, our, mind. He's from the outside world! The real world! Boreas' magic and the Element of Loyalty brought him here. We need him to save Rainbow."

Rude wrapped a hoof around Kay's neck, bringing their faces in close. "Kay," she said with a faked tone of concern, "maybe you should see a shreek."

"Yeah what ever. Either way, you need some serious help. I don't think those books are doing anything for you."

"Dash," Phantom said, interjecting himself between the two personalities. "Or Rude, or whatever your name is! Listen to me. Kay is right. I'm not apart of Dash's imagination; I'm real!" As if to emphasis this, he grabbed hold of one of her orange hooves and put it up against his chest. He waited a moment for his heart to beat. Its pulse was strong and healthy, powerful enough to move Rude's hoof, however slightly.

This seemed to have some kind of an effect on her. Rude physically relaxed. Phantom let go of her hoof.

"Listen," he said, looking into her eyes, pleading with her, "we've got to save Rainbow Dash. If not for my sake, or her friends' sake, then yours!" Phantom and Kay waited several silent moments for some kind of a reply from Rude. The orange pony merely stood and blinked, her eyes shifting back and forth in careful thought.

"Nah," Rude shrugged, pushing her way between the two other pegasi, "I'll manage on my own."

"Is she always like that?" Phantom asked, craning his neck around so that he could watch Rude shove her way through the crowd and away from him.

"Personalities conflict, interact, suppress, and amplify one another. Normally this personality of Rainbow Dash is mitigated by Calm and I, although we don't do a great job, admittedly."

Phantom and Kay quickly caught up with Rude. Instead of being passive as she was before, Kay dropped down in front of Rude and wrapped her hooves around Rude's forelegs. With several powerful flaps of her wings, she dragged the pony into the sky with her. Despite screams of protest from the orange pony, Kay continued on until they were both well above the tallest sky scrapper. Phantom was quick to join them in their hover over the city, which seemed to stretch on beyond the horizon.

"Look!" Kay said, turning Rude around in her arms and forcing her to look in a particular direction. Looming on the horizon, a wall of white clouds stretched from the lowest point on the ground to as high as he could see in the sky. At this altitude, the pegasi could acutely sense the low pressure the wall brought with it. The wind carried its powerful and cold breeze. Lightning leapt from one part of the cloud wall to another, its thunder reaching the ponies almost a full minute later.

Rude's jaw hung open as her ears fell flat against her head. "What... what the hay is that?!"

"That is what Boreas is doing to Rainbow Dash! To us! That is what her conscious mind is already like. Our Rainbow Dash, is trapped inside that storm!" Now that Kay was explaining what it was they were looking at, Phantom felt a pit growing in his stomach.

Phantom floated in front of Rude so that she was looking into his eyes instead of the approaching storm.

Rude sighed, bowing her head and looking at the distant ground below them. "Alright," she said, much to the joy of Phantom and Kay. "I'll help."

"That's great to hear!" Kay cheered, spinning the orange pegasus around and bringing her in for a close embrace.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. C'mon, let's get this over with. The less time I spent with you guys the better."

Rude pushed herself away from Kay. She flew back down towards the busy city streets, the two ponies following close behind. She landed in what looked like a small park, decorated with grass, bushes and various kinds of trees. Phantom and Kay were quick to join her on the ground next to a magnificent looking fountain.

"Where's the portal, Rude?" Kay asked, scanning the area. "We need to get moving and get the others."

"Oh," Rude said with a coy smile. She turned her focus on Phantom. "Good luck with that."

With a flick of her hips, Rude bumped into Phantom, knocking him off balance and pushing him into the fountain. Underwater, he could hear her snickering. Not having enough time to prepare to be submerged, the pegasus was short of air. In a desperate bid to swim to the surface he found that he sank with each stroke. The light of the sky was quickly fading, along with the colors of the yellow and orange ponies leaning over the fountain. Phantom tried to scream for help, but only a few bubbles and a muffled sound escaped his mouth. Within moments, he was surrounded by blackness.

Phantom opened his eyes. Everything around him was dark, cold. There was a heavy pressure pushing against his ear drums. He felt like he was floating upside down in the air. Opening his mouth to say something, he immediately shut it, feeling a rush of cool liquid fill the space. Phantom moved his hooves, an action that took more effort than normal. All over his fur he felt cold, wet, even. Then it clicked. Memories of what had occurred seconds before came rushing back to mind. He was underwater!

For a moment he panicked, trying to figure out which way was up and which was down. Something told him to calm down; a voice that wasn't his own. Phantom blamed the voice as a part of his mind playing tricks on him as it starved for oxygen. He decided to go for broke and swim in a single direction. Flapping his wings provided him with some assistance in moving. However, the more he pushed forward, the more it felt like he went back.

No you won't. Rude decided it would be funny to trap you between her portal inside the fountain and another. Hang on, I will see about getting you out.

Phantom did as told, relaxing his muscles and clearing his mind. He immediately felt the pressure on his ears and lungs clear away. Somehow, air was drawn into his lungs. The water around the submerged pegasus began to move in a vortex. It pulled at his tail and hind legs. Panicked by the sudden flurry of activity, Phantom lost all concentration, panic returning to his nerves. With a muffled scream and a copious amount of bubbles escaping his mouth, he was dragged downwards...

Looking down to see what was dragging him, Phantom noticed a pinprick of light. He couldn't be sure of its distance given the current stress-filled circumstances. But one thing was obvious: it was getting closer. Within moments it filled his vision with a blinding light that forced him to squint his eyes. Around the edges he could see a light blue. The further he was pulled, the warmed the water got, and the thinner it felt.

His hind legs breached the surface of the water first, quickly followed by his barrel, then the rest of him. For a brief moment the pegasus hung upside down in the air with his muzzle just a few inches from the water. Whatever force had dragged him here surrendered him back to the bonds of gravity. With only a minor splash, Phantom found himself back under water. But this time he was able to resurface under his own power.

He hungrily took in a selfish amount of air. Breathing out and repeating the process several times replaced his panicked nerves with calm ones. Feeling the warmth of a bright sun, Phantom's eyes opened on impulse. A world far from anything he had yet seen was revealed to him. One that he hasn't experienced even in the real world in several years.

Sand... Phantom growled in his own mind, looking around at the desert around him. He appeared to be in the middle of a small oasis pond, with a few rocks and a single palm tree gathered on what he guessed could be called the shore. I hate sand...

"Get used to it!" Kay called out, this time not within Phantom's head. She was laying on her back atop a white and blue striped beach chair. In one hoof she held, not surprisingly, the same book from before. In the other was a champagne coupe filled with a dark yellow liquid that was foaming at the rim. She sipped at it with a pink silly straw, not even looking up from her book to acknowledge the stallion's presence.

"That's all this place is!" Rude said. The orange mare was sitting in another beach chair on Kay's left side, this one with red and white stripes. She too had the same drink as Kay, but with a blue silly straw. Between the two was a large beach umbrella, keeping the sun off of the two ponies. Despite the shade, Rude was still wearing her sunglasses.

"What's you're problem?" Phantom yelled at her, swimming towards the shore. Both ponies looked at him over the tops of their glasses. "I could have drowned!"

"Relax... I wouldn't be worried about drowning, I'd be worried about her." She nodded her head at Phantom, indicating to something behind him. Phantom turned and discovered a pair of red eyes looking down to at him. They were connected to a red scaled Rainbow Dash, one with a very mischievous smile.

"Oh boy..." Phantom's own voice was barely above a whisper. His ears fell against his head as he tried to slip below the water. However the area he was in was shallow, and he stopped when the water reached his jaw.

"Don't worry mom!" the red pegasus called back. She turned her attention back to Phantom. In one quick motion, she wrapper her hooves around the stallion's neck and lifted him up out of the water. With Phantom struggling to slip out of her grip, the red Rainbow Dash slewed over to where the other personalities were already waiting. She let go, allowing the stallion the unpleasantness of not only falling onto sand, but having said sand stick to his wet fur.

"You're Red, aren't you?" Phantom asked, to which the red pegasus nodded. "Okay, let's cut to the chase. Will you help us with saving Rainbow Dash?"

"No. I don't have to do anything for a pathetic little pony like you. If anything you should be helping me."

Phantom took several steps back, distancing himself from the personality of anger. Rude sighed to herself, turning on the beach chair so that she could stand up. With a look of boredom she marched towards Phantom and Red.

"Listen here, buddy," she started. "If we don't stop Boreas, we're all going to die. Frankly, I like life. So let's go."

"I'm not your buddy, friend," Red replied, landing and facing the orange pony. "And I'm staying. As much as this place sucks it isn't nearly bad as hanging around you"

"And I'm not your friend, pal. We are going to go with Phantom and stop all this nonsense. That way, I can go home, and you can go home, and he can go home, and we can all continue to survive."

"Look here, missy. I'm not your pal. Do you remember what he said to us, do you remember how they made you feel? We can't trust him."

Phantom positioned himself between the two mares, using a hoof to push them away from one another. "Nothing I can do can put those words back in my mouth. If I could, I would do it in a heart beat. Regardless, I love Rainbow Dash. And I will not stand by and watch her die because her own personalities couldn't work together!"

Red's wings flared. She put herself muzzle to muzzle with Phantom, looking sharply up at his eyes. "Who the hay do you think you are? Do you seriously believe you can just walk in here and be Rainbow Dash's knight in shining armor? Come in and swoop her off her hooves and to the safety of your embrace? That's not who Rainbow Dash is; she doesn't want someone to save her, she can take care of herself. She always has, she always will. Just like I'm going to go do right now; be by myself and away from you idiots."

When she turned to walk away, Phantom swore he could feel a nerve popping in his head from anger. He grabbed onto the mare's red tail. Using all of his strength he pulled her back towards him through the sand. She quickly turned in an attempt to punch him in the side of the muzzle. The stallion's guard training and instincts took over.

He ducked below the punch, batting her hoof away. She tried to punch again, but this time with her other hoof. Phantom raised his head up, allowing the hoof to pass under his jaw as he grabbed hold of it with one of his hooves. He pulled her hoof, forcing the red mare to land face first into the hot sand. Red quickly rolled over and attempted to buck Phantom's legs our from under him. To avoid this Phantom jumped, using his wings to gain an extra boost. He landed on top of the fuming mare, each of his hooves pinning down each of hers. As much as she struggled to throw him off balance and get him off of her, she couldn't. Rude and Kay stood nearby, ready to intervene should it come to that.

"Do you have an idea what's at stake?" Phantom yelled down to Red. "We're not just talking about your continued existence, or Rainbow Dash's life. We're talking about mine, too. And her friends. Equestria, and everypony else in the world. If we don't stop Boreas he'll destroy it all. He already got my sister. I... I don't want him to get you, too."

Red's breathing calmed down, and her aggressive looking eyes softened. Kay stepped up beside Phantom and looked down at the red mare still laying in the sand.

"He's right," the knowledgeable mare said in a soft tone. "If we don't stop Boreas, if we don't save Rainbow Dash, then this will happen to everypony else."

"Please," Phantom begged as the red mare turned her head away from the both of them, "please help us."

"My Loyalty is to Rainbow Dash..." Red whispered. "There's no guarantee that this plan of yours will save her."

"No, no there's not. There's never a guarantee with anything. But when I was young, my father told me something that I have never forgotten: 'Loyalty is nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice.' You have to be willing to give up everything so that other's won't have to. He lived and died by his word. That's what being Loyal is about. That's Rainbow Dash."

Red sighed. "You're right..." she looked back at Phantom. "You're right. Do you promise to try your best to save her? To save me?"

Phantom nodded and stepped off of the mare. He held out a hoof which she accepted.

"I promise on the legacy of my fallen family that I will save Rainbow Dash. But I can't do it without you. Will you help me?"

Red nodded. "The portal's that way." She indicated to a nearby sand dune on the other side of the oasis. Phantom followed her hoof to see where it was.

"Thanks," he said, turning back around, "but where is it? All I see is—" He was talking to nopony. All three personalities, including their beach relaxation supplies, had vanished. Turning towards the sand dune provided the false hope that they were merely playing a prank and had moved behind him when he wasn't looking. Even the oasis had disappeared. "—sand..."

Phantom shook himself as if he were drying wet fur. But instead of water, the stallion was shaking off sand. For the most part it worked, save for small grains stuck in his mane and tail, along with other hard-to-get-to crevasses. He used his hooves to dig the finer grains out of his ears. Beginning his trek towards the sand dune, Phantom curse under his breath.

He began his short trek. The sun beat down with its powerful rays, heating the sand to near unbearable temperatures. The sand burnt against his hooves with every step. In no time, Phantom reached the base of the sand dune. Once he took his first step he discovered that it was comprised of lose sand. His hooves sank in a few inches and slipped back almost a half foot with each step. Remembering something, the stallion pressed his face against a hoof.

Phantom spread his wings and took to the air. In just a few seconds he was at the top of the dune. The stallion landed to look at the area around, expecting to see some type of portal. Instead all he saw was sand. Sand for days...

"Oh come on!" he shouted vengefully into the air. "It's not even here! You pointed me in the wrong direction!"

"Thanks, guys. You're a big help. Reeeeaaal big help." He sighed, sitting on his haunches. Looking around brought no evidence of where he should be heading in an effort to locate this portal. Perhaps the sky?

High above him, long trails of cirrus clouds indicated powerful upper winds. To some earth pony or unicorn, they would have looked appetizing. To an experienced pegasus like Phantom, who could tell the signs of dangers jet streams, knew otherwise. His ears picked up on a quiet hissing sound. But there weren't any snakes here... were there?

Phantom searched the around around him. No, no snakes. But there was a small river of sand flowing out from under him.

The top of the dune he sat on gave way. In a shower of sand and dirt the pegasus stallion slid down the face of the dune, a much more steep and taller face than the one he had come up. Flipping head over hoof, he saw the following: sand, sky, horizon, sand, sky, horizon, sand, sky, horizon, sand, sky, rock. Wait, rock? Dirt, sand, sky, rock, rock, boulder, very large boulder! Then blackness as he came to a sudden stop.

Gee, Phantom thought, wonder where I could be this time. Judging by the last things he saw, along with the pain in the back of his head, he figured he was surrounded by rocks. He opened his eyes, blinking several times to clear his vision. Sometimes I hate being right...

The stallion was sitting up against a dark gray rock in the middle of a deep quarry. Forty foot near vertical slopes surrounded him on all sides. Signs of forestation were present, with a few leaves scattered about the quarry floor and what appeared to be tree limbs that hung over the edge far above him. Criss-crossing stairs lined the walls, providing paths of escape out of the abyss. What's worse: he wasn't alone.

Phantom stood up, shaking the stiffness and pain out of his legs. He craned his neck around in all directions, his bones rewarding him with several pleasant pops. Though while his head was sideways and facing to the left, a low growl instinctively opened his eyes. He froze, not wanting to do anything that might have provoked the beast he was looking at.

It was twice his size with a deep gray fur, paws the size of its head and claws the size of its teeth. Yellow cat-like eyes stared back at him. The creature was wearing a red vest with gems practically falling out of the pockets. A black collar was wrapped around its neck, with silver spikes. It took Phantom a few moments to search his memory for the name of the creature he was looking at. He had never encountered one or even read about one before. The only reason he was identifying it now was based off of Rainbow Dash's testimony from when she was telling him a story about her friend Rarity who had had an encounter with these creatures. Diamond Dog.

Phantom looked around with his eyes, not wanting to move his head. He saw no other Diamond Dogs around, but from the testimony he had heard he figured they usually ran in packs. His ears swiveled around, attempting to detect them if they were sneaking up on him.

"What are you doing here, pony?" the Diamond Dog questioned him in a mild yet rough voice.

"To be quite honest," Phantom said, "I haven't the slightest idea. But if you'd be willing to help then I'd be more than happy to leave—Gah!" A second Diamond Dog appeared, but not from behind him, instead it came up from below him. The newcomer wrapped a paw around the pony's neck, pushing him up against the large boulder he ran into earlier. Phantom coughed and sputtered, trying to suck in fresh air so that he could breathe.

"Oh, you'll leave," the second Diamond Dog said whilst pushing Phantom against the rock even harder. Cracks spidered out from behind him. Small bits of rock were breaking off from the larger boulder. Phantom felt like his eyes were bulging out of his head. "But not with your life."

Phantom tried telling at him to make him stop but no sounds escaped his gaping mouth. He swung and kicked with his hooves, trying to break the hold the creature had on him. The Diamond Dog merely sat there and smiled as the life was slowly sucked out of the pony in his paws. Behind him, the first Diamond Dog watched. The stallion's vision blurred. All he saw where two dark gray blobs surrounded by even more, yet lighter, gray blurs. Slowly his hearing began to fade into a single sound.

One of the dark gray blobs suddenly vanished amidst a green flash. He accredited it to his brain's lack of oxygen. That is, until the same occurred to the blob in front of him. Suddenly air returned to his lungs. Phantom fell to the ground taking in deep, ragged breaths. Small pebbles of rock would get sucked in and he would have to cough them out. He crawled forward slowly, trying to find somewhere to hide incase the Diamond Dogs came back for him.

Something kicked him onto his back. Looking with still semi-blurry eyes, Phantom could see the form of the first Diamond Dog standing above him, his sharp claws extended, ready for an attack. Just as he swung his paw he disappeared again. Phantom was able to watch him as he flew through the air. He landed almost thirty feet away where a boulder was easily crushed by both his weight and momentum. The dog was quick to stand up and whimper away from the downed pony.

Phantom groaned, turning to look up at the sky. The sun was covered by the silhouette of another creature. Much to his relief, this one wasn't a Diamond Dog. It was a pony. The newcomer was as pegasus, hovering over him. It landed at Phantom's side and extended a hoof towards him, offering assistance to his hooves. He was happy to oblige, although his legs were weak.

"Rainbow Dash?" Phantom rubbed the rest of the blurriness out of his eyes. In front of him stood the fourth Rainbow Dash he had encountered since this unimaginable trek began. This one was green scale, with no other extras to her, like how Red was. No books, no glasses, no modified mane styles. Just a normal, well, green, Rainbow Dash. Phantom tried to think of her name but couldn't. So he asked the mare.

"Kay calls me Em." It clicked in Phantom's mind. That's it! Em held a hoof to the side of her mouth and leaned in towards the stallion. "Between me and you, I think she's crazy. She seems to think that I'm an emerald green, when in fact I'm just normal green." Phantom opened his mouth to say something, but decided that since he wasn't an expert on the matter than he should just stay quiet. "Are you Phantom Knight?"

"Oh, right, sorry." Phantom rubbed a hoof against the back of his neck. "Look, I'm going to cut to the chase because we're running out of time. I need your help. Rainbow Dash needs your help."

"I know." Phantom tilted his head, quirking an eyebrow. "Kay came to me awhile ago trying to enlist my help. This was before you arrived." She sat on the ground, motioning for Phantom to do the same. He agreed. "I said no."

"Kay has the tendency to... hype things up. She might be the most powerful of us, and the most knowledgeable, but sometimes I think all of that gets to her. More often than not she shows up every day trying to get us all together to help Rainbow Dash overcome some 'periling' obstacle in her life. I think the last time she talked to me before this Boreas guy took over her mind she was trying to unite us to take on her feelings over you."

Phantom slowly found himself leaning in so that he could be sure that he heard everything Em said.

"Of course," Em continued, "most of us said no. But she was talking to Violet for a long time..." The green mare tapped a thoughtful hoof against her chin before shrugging. "We all just ignored her this time. Frankly, I thought she was losing it. I mean, other creatures from the outside world coming in here? How the hay could they do that! But then I saw the storm..." She looked up at the skies, keeping her vision fixated there while she continued to speak. "I tried to get near that wall of lightning. Its impossible; the thing swatted me out of the skies while I was still over a mile away. Very, very cold, though. Coldest thing I think I've ever felt.

"Rainbow Dash is inside that thing, isn't she? Kay was right? I mean... you're here, in Rainbow Dash's subconscious. And you're real, you're not like the other ponies that wonder around aimlessly; you have color."

Em seemed to think for a moment. "From what I've heard, and seen for myself, it's impossible. We've already lost..."

"No, it is possible! That's what Rainbow Dash does: the impossible." Em shied her head away from Phantom. "Who's the only pegasus to break the sound barrier? Who's defeated creatures once thought of only as myth? Who had the courage to stand up to her friends and kick a dragon square in the face? Who did those things?"

"Right. You did. Rainbow Dash did. So why don't you want to go into that storm?"

"Use her bravery to her advantage." Phantom jumped at the entrance of a new voice being whispered in his ear. Em seemed to not respond, still staring at the ground away from him. Phantom turned his head to see Kay hovering next to him, her mouth only inches away from his ear.

He dragged her to the ground, turning their backs to Em so that she could't hear what they would say.

"Sorry," Kay apologized. "Look, I'm here to help. She's the personality representative of Bravery and Courage, remember? Use that to your advantage. She doesn't like losing, and she doesn't like ponies thinking she'll lose."

Phantom nodded and turned back around to face Em, who was looking up, waiting for him to say something.

"I'm sorry... what?" Em's tone was growing hostile. Her last word was practically spat out. The green mare slowly rose to her hooves, bringer herself closer to Phantom. A fire seemed to be growing behind her eyes. "Scared? Me? Oh hay no!"

She was so close to Phantom that their muzzles were touching. The stallion was slowly being pushed backwards in his sitting position by the still approaching mare.

"I have faced dragons, manticores, demons of temptation, mythical nightmares, gods of chaos, supernatural powers that made entire empires disappear, swarms of pests that could turn into anypony they wanted to, broken the sound barrier three separate times, and been there for my friends every turn along the way. And you call me a coward? The hay have you done?!"

During her tirade, Phantom had been thrown off balance by leaning back so far and fallen onto his back. Em now stood above him, her muzzle still bushing up against his, eyes wide with dilated pupils.

"Well nothing on that magnitude..." Phantom said. He hesitantly look over at Kay, who simply nodded. "but I can probably defeat Boreas before you can."

"Very well then. Race ya there!" In a flash of green her wings opened and the mare took of into the skies, executing an Immelmann turn. Phantom rolled onto his hooves, chasing after her on the ground. Quickly spreading his wings, he streched them, then gave several powerful flaps to take to the sky. Em was leaving a green scale rainbow trail behind her, which provided an easy path for Phantom to chase after.

She had taken several twists and turns around boulders of various sizes, trying to lose the stallion behind her. But the pegasus guard, experienced and well trained in chasing down suspects no matter their flight path, was easy to stay behind the mare. She emerged through the boulders into a small clearing on the other side of the quarry. Phantom watched as she headed straight for the wall, showing no signs of pulling up. He was about to shout something to her when she tucked in her wings and legs, presenting herself as a small of a target as she could before disappearing into a tiny dark hole.

"What the?" He looked over his shoulder. Kay was laying on his back, using his head as a pillow while she nonchalantly read her book. It was strange to him there didn't seem to be any weight to her. "What are you doing? Get off!"

"Oh I'll be on my way in a moment. I just wanted to make sure you did miss that!" She rolled over and extend a hoof past Phantom's face, indicating to the rapidly approaching quarry wall. Specifically, her hoof was point at the small hole that Em had disappeared through. "That's the portal. If you miss, or get stuck inside again, I don't know if I'll be able to help you, since we're getting fairly far away from my realm."

Phantom turned back to address the yellow mare, only to discover that she had disappeared. I really hate when she does that...

Right. The hole in front of him seemed to be just bigger than he was. Compared to him trying to fit through there, Em probably didn't need to fold in as much as she did. But in order for Phantom to even make it he would probably have had to suck in his chest.

Grumbling under his breath, Phantom gave himself one final powerful flap of his wings. He tucked them and his legs in as tight as they could. Just before passing through the threshold of the portal he took in a deep breath, hoping that it would somehow help him. He shut his eyes. His ears picked up on the change in pressure as he passed through the entry way. Out of the sun, his fur quickly cooled. Opening his eyes revealed a blackness all around him. Far below there was a small pinprick of light.

Guessing that that was the exit, he rolled over and pulled down, opening and flapping his wings to fire towards it at high speed. It came to him quicker than the previous portal entrance. In moments his eyes were once again forced closed by the resounding brightness.

Phantom reemerged in the skies above another world. This one consisted of rolling grassy hills and snow capped mountains on the distant horizon. Below him, a single mountain rose up towards him, not with a snowy peak, but with a spiraled cliff that reminded him of the one at the top of Mount Crumpit in those stories he had heard as a foal. A single tree stood at the top, or at least a shell of what was once a tree. All of the leaves had since fallen off and dissolved into the earth.

Beneath it, dangerously close to the cliff edge, the fifth Rainbow Dash laid, this one with a blue-scale coloring. Next to her were a collection of pink pedaled flowers. It was difficult to tell from this altitude, but she appeared to take one of the flowers in her hooves, plucking one pedal off at a time with her other hoof. When all that remained was a stem, she held it in the air to be claimed by the wind and carried away from the cliff. Even though he couldn't see her face, something about the way she laid there and move around told Phantom that she was completely different from the other personalities he had encountered.

He slowly descended towards her in a corkscrew motion. As he neared, the sound of a soft voice drifted up towards him. Is she humming to herself? Rainbow Dash? Humming? Phantom landed softly a decent distance away from her, about twenty feet. It was impossible to discern what exactly it was she was humming, but she was swaying her head from side to side. Each pedal that she picked off fell into a pile between her legs. By his estimation, Phantom guess that she had already gone through half a dozen flowers.

His ears twitched at the sound of grass being slowly pushed down behind him. Several guesses of who it was came to mind, one outcome of which resulted in a balloon popping neck to his ear; another with him being pushed off the cliff or shoved into the tree; or nothing would happen and he would simply have company to stand by him. Fortunately for both his physical well being, and mental sanity, the last option was the one that came to pass.

Kay stepped up to Phantom's side. The stallion didn't take his eyes off of the blue Rainbow Dash in front of him, instead opting to observe Kay out of the corner of his eye.

"What's she doing?" Phantom asked in a soft voice, leaning his heads towards the yellow mare.

Kay shrugged. "Impossible to tell. It could be how this thing with Boreas turns out. She could be worrying about how this stint with the guard will go. Or, she could even be wondering about you."

"She's Hope, remember? It's what she does. Judging by the flowers, she's probably wondering about you." The two ponies turned their heads slightly so they could see each other better. Phantom raised the eyebrow nearest to Kay. "Remember what I said earlier? Rainbow Dash likes you. Right now, Hope is debating her options."

"Yup. It's not exactly the most effective method. Hay, I've tried helping her come up with better ways, like thinking about these things instead of leaving it up to chanced based on a random assortment of flowers. Apparently she ignored me, like everypony else..."

Kay sighed. "No, no you haven't. I, and Rainbow Dash, are thankful of that. Also, don't touch me unless you want to wake up with a broken leg." Phantom quickly retracted his hoof, apologizing. "It's fine. Go talk to her, but heads up, she's not like Rude, Red, or Em. If you break her feelings, I'll break you—"

She stopped mid-sentence, something that deeply concerned Phantom when ever he encountered it in anypony. He noticed that her ears were swiveling around, and she was looking around with a slightly open jaw. Phantom was about to ask what was wrong, but she was quick to shush him. A cracking sound like thunder resonated throughout the air. Looking up, Phantom's jaw dropped.

High above the cliff, where the cirrus clouds lived, a lavender colored plain floated. It stretched out far into the horizons, further than he could see. Something told him that it continued its reach even beyond that. It was hard for him to be sure, but it appeared to be falling. Unfortunately he was proven right.

The plain was semi-translucent and passed through the ponies and the cliff with an electronic-like buzzing sound. For a brief moment it seemed to touch the ponies' hooves, then rise to their heads and back down to their hooves before continuing down, disappearing below the earth far below.

"Trouble. That was a magical scan from an outside force. What ever it was, it took readings on us, and the storm."

"Alright." Phantom jogged up to the blue mare in front of him, slowing down to a soft walk when he was only a few feet away as to not disturb her or what she was doing.

"Hey Phantom," Hope said. Now that she knew he was there, for how long he couldn't be certain, he walked up parallel to her side and laid down, mimicking her position. She continued to pluck away at the pedals of the flowers, not paying the stallion any direct attention. He noticed that there was a pink flower placed between her left ear and her mane.

"Hello," Phantom said, using a soft, kinder voice than his default. "You're Hope, right?"

"That's what Kay calls me. It's an alright name I guess, fits, at least." There came a silence between the two ponies. Hope hummed something to herself as she plucked the last pedal off of the flower. Phantom tried to listen to what she was saying as she threw the stem off of the cliff and picked up a new flower.

"So uh..." Phantom scratched the top of one of his hooves with the other. "What're you doing?"

"Debating my options." She plucked the first pedal on the new flower. "I could either help you." Then she plucked another. "Or not." Another pedal. "We could either succeed," then again, "or not. The fate of Rainbow Dash, Equestria, rests on us."

"Rests on you." For emphasis, Phantom motioned towards her with a hoof. "There's no way in tartarus I can do this on my own without you, all of you."

"So long as I'm alive, we. Will. Not. Fail. I will not let Boreas do to other ponies what he did to my sister. Especially not to you. We can stop him."

"We can only hope so..." Again, she plucked a pedal off of the pink flower. Not seeing any pony in letting her continue, Phantom grabbed what was left of it and placed it in front of him, out of her reach. She tried to grab another from the pile but Phantom was quick to sweep them out of the way with his wing. He could sense Kay stalking up behind him, a reminder to be careful.

"No... we can do more than hope. We can act. We can prevent this I'm sure of it!"

"Have you seen that storm?" She point a hoof out in front of her. Phantom followed it with his eyes and felt his heart sink. The storm that Kay had shown Rude earlier was directly in front of him. Still probably fifty some miles away, but still closer than the last time he saw it, and much closer than he would have liked. At the same time its cold winds struck the cliff, blowing back the manes of the ponies. The tree behind them groaned with each sway. "How do we stop that?!"

Phantom stood up, taking a single step forward. He craned his neck around to look at Hope, who was still laying on the ground, looking up at him.

Hope leveled her head, turning her focus back on the storm. Several bolts of blue lightning leapt across its surface. The intensity of the thunder that it emitted was enough that it shook the entire mountain they stood on, even crumbling away at the edge of the cliff where Phantom stood. Hope covered her ears from the deafening noise, letting out a shy yelp. Phantom watched with curiosity as the tree was literally turned to dust that then floated away in the powerful breeze. Had he more time, he may have noticed how poetic the scene was.

But he didn't have time. The mare in front of him had began acting like a scared filly, cowering as low as she could as to not be threatened by the storm. Phantom leaned down towards her, nuzzling her cheek. She seemed to calm down.

"You're right," she said, he resolve hardening. The blue mare wiped away from her eyes what appeared to be tears.

Looking back, Hope nodded. With Phantom's continued encouraging, she managed to be coaxed to her hooves. She stood against the wind in a pose that should have belong to a gallant statue, her mane and tail flowing like a flag. Overall it was a very confident looking pose that inspired even him, and he was the one supposed to be doing the inspiring at this point!

"Yes." Hope was staring at the storm defiantly. For a moment Phantom thought that her gaze alone would be enough to destroy it. "I'll help." She bent down and scooped up a cluster of the pink pedals in her hoof.

"Alright, so where to do I need to go next?" Phantom looked around, hoping that Kay would be there to answer his question and provide some guidance like how she had been. The canary-yellow mare was no where to be found. He turned back to Hope to ask her the same question. Before he could, the blue mare blew the pedals in his face. In an instant his vision was filled until everything went black and quiet.

The smell of fresh baked hayfries wafted into Phantom's nostrils. A smile grew on his face. It had been so long since he had himself a nice plate of them. He slowly opened his eyes, taking in the brand new environment around him.

Phantom was sitting in what appeared to be an indoor café booth. The seat consisted of soft green cushions. In front of him was an oak table. On top of which sat a steaming plate of hayfries, along with napkins, a drink, and other assorted condiments. Looking around he room provided more evidence that he was indeed in a café. Well, a restaurant would be a better way of describing it. It was bustling with waitresses moving between tables and the kitchen, levitating trays in their magic, or on their backs or wings. The scene outside the restaurant however, could only be described as chaos.

It looked like a winter hurricane was moving through the streets. Snow was blowing sideways with the wind, picking up anything that wasn't tied down and throwing them into nearby shops. Pegasi toppled through the air while earth ponies attempted to take cover in the protective shields the unicorns were deploying. Ice was spreading through everything that the snow touched. Interestingly enough, Phantom couldn't hear any of the commotion from outside. Everypony inside the restaurant seemed to ignore it. Something about the storm gave him a bad feeling.

"Ahem." The sudden introduction of a mare's cough startled him, physically flinching in his seat. It brought his attention to somepony who was sitting in the booth across from him. The sixth and final, according to Kay, Rainbow Dash. This one had a violet or purple-scale coloring. She sat with her chin resting on both her hooves, staring dreamily into Phantom's eyes. "Hi there!" Her voice was a chipper one, reminding the stallion of Pinkie Pie.

"Hello?" Phantom quirked an eyebrow, unsure of how to handle this side of Rainbow Dash. "Violet, I presume?"

"Oh, okay!" And like that, the conversation appeared to be over. Violet dug into a plate of hayfries sitting in front of her, washing them down with a large glass of what looked like cider. Half way through her plate she froze, looking up at Phantom mid-chew. "Aren't you going to eat?"

Phantom looked down at the hayfries in front of him. Realizing what she said and that this was actually for him, he was more than happy to take his fair share of bites from them. The salt began to sting at his throat, so to counter it he took a sup from his drink, which also turned out to be cider. Thankfully not hard cider. Since his last drunken incident with Stryker and Archer that resulted with the three of them in jail, he had sworn off alcohol.

"What are we doing here again, exactly?" Phantom asked, wiping his mouth off with a napkin.

"We're on a date!" Violet was beaming a smile from ear to ear. Phantom gaped at her. "Didn't you know that?"

"Surprise!" The mare threw her hooves in the air. After a confetti fell out of the ceiling she returned to what he guessed was a normal pose for her. "So were are we going after dinner?"

"After dinner... I... I don't know? I hadn't exactly planned on taking you on a date, particularly under these circumstances."

"Oh..." Violet seemed to deflate. "So you don't want to go on a date with me then, huh?"

"It's not like that. I mean I would like to take you on a d ate, yeah, but I just..." Phantom sighed, planting his face on a hoof. How he managed to get roped in to this one, or how he would get out of it with his life, he didn't know. Although he had never really dated anypony, primarily because he didn't have much time due to his full time guard job, he had heard stories. One of which, from Archer in particular, is that mares could be quite hostile if you did what they thought was the wrong thing on a date. For example, forgetting that you were on a date, or not having any plans afterwards. Essentially the scenario Phantom found himself in right now.

"Here's your check, sir," another mare stepped up to the booth. Unlike all the ponies who were Rainbow Dash that Phantom had seen in his time in her subconscious who were gray-scale, this mare was yellow. She was wearing a white button-up blouse with a little black book in one of the front pockets, and balancing several trays on her outstretched wings. Kay set the check down on the table with her hoof in front of Phantom. "I would advise that you make sure it's correct." She winked at the stallion.

Okay? Kay turned and walked away, disappearing in the kitchen. Apparently Violet had been so focused on staring at Phantom that she hadn't noticed the arrival of the personality of knowledge. Recalling what Kay just said, Phantom held up the check to examine it. The front gave the prices of the food and drinks the ponies had consumed, while on the back there was a note.

Phantom, Violet is the personality representative of Hope and Love.
She'll cling onto every word you say and
everything you do, and she'll do the same. If you really love her,
then it'll be easy to convince her to go on a date
with you to destroy Boreas and save Rainbow Dash.

Violet seemed to perk up. "Oh! With what? Planning another date? A party? Oh we could invite so many ponies! You're friends, my friends, maybe even a bunch of other ponies that could potentially turn into our fri—" Phantom pushed a hoof against her mouth, silencing the rambling mare.

"No, it's not her birthday, but she does need our help. It's Rainbow Dash." Phantom took a breath. "There's someone else, too, named Boreas."

"So it'll be a double party?!" Violet was practically sitting on the edge of her seat.

"... Sort-of...? See, Boreas and Rainbow Dash aren't exactly... friends. And Boreas has been hurting Rainbow Dash pretty badly."

"Right? Anyway, we need to get together with all of your friends to stop him, and make him leave. It's the only way Rainbow Dash will start feeling better about herself."

"Which friends?" Violet point a hoof to a booth across from Phantom's and her's on the opposite wall of the restaurant. "Those friends?"

The booth she was pointing at was filled with five other ponies. Specifically, the five other personalities of Rainbow Dash that Phantom had previously encountered. Most of them were eating away at various food, but all drinking the same drink: Cider. Phantom had some inkling that that was the only drink in this real. Which considering the apparent love for Cider that she possessed, it wasn't all that surprising. Kay was the only one not eating. She was instead reading a newspaper while drinking her cider. The headline of the newspaper read:

Kay was watching Phantom out of the corner of her eye, making sure that the stallion saw, and read, the headline. She tapped her hoof as if she were motioning towards a watch. Then she rolled her other hoof in a circular motion, essentially telling Phantom to hurry up.

"Yeah, those friends," he said, turning back to face Violet. "Please, I really need your help on this. It... it would mean a lot for me."

She leaned in with a coy smile, propping herself up on the table with her elbows.

Phantom looked down, taken aback by her request. Was she talking about herself as Violet, the personality of Love and Happiness? Or was she talking about the actual Rainbow Dash? Considering that this was Rainbow Dash's own subconscious after all, it was entirely possible that she would have no only a major influence here, but also some awareness of what was happening. Either way, he already knew his answer.

"I promise," he said, looking up. Violet sat back, he coy smile turning into a sincere one.

Something interesting began to happen. Phantom was forced to rub his eyes clear of any debris to make sure that it was actually happening. The tops of Violet's ears were disintegrating to small bright purple orbs, about the size of rain drops. These orbs were hovering the same spots they formed, giving the appearance that her ears were still kind-of there. The phenomenon continued to spread down her head. Even her eyes turned to orbs, although they were white. Black orbs were created where her pupils were. Eventually the entire mare consisted of millions of these bright orbs.

Just as Phantom was about to say something about it, the even began to occur with everything, and everypony, else. The entire restaurant had turned into hundreds of millions of these bright orbs. The ponies had been turned into gray orbs that seemed to lag as they moved, a bunch of the orbs would stay behind and then rubber-band back into position. Even Kay and the other personalities had turned into these colors of their respective colors.

A gust of wind blew through, pushing away all of the orbs except for the ones belonging to Rainbow Dash's personalities. Phantom found himself floating in darkness with them. The five other personalities who were sitting at the other table floated over towards Phantom in separate groups that resembled swarms of bees. With each twitch of moment, the orbs affected would briefly flash brighter than the others who weren't moving. They formed up around him in the vague shapes of ponies standing on their hind legs.

Soon, all but the yellow orbs, which Phantom assumed was Kay, rose up above him. They spun around in a circle several times before following one another towards his left. It didn't take long for them to fade out of his view. A massive white flash burst out from where he lost saw the orbs. When it faded, a large white portal was revealed, with tendrils of all the colors of the spectrum extending out in all directions. Part of Phantom's mind wanted to believe that he was staring at the eye of the universe.

Phantom twirled around in the zero gravity, facing the orbs that made up Kay floating behind him.

"What happened?" Phantom's voice echoed through the open space, quite severely at that.

"Rainbow Dash's personalities have been united," Kay replied, her voice also echoing. Although she had no mouth to move, with every syllable that was spoke the orbs that made would flash. "That's the portal that leads to Rainbow Dash's conscious mind; the one that Boreas has consumed."

"Essentially. Though I just wish it were really that simple. Boreas is powerful, very powerful. I... I just don't want to see you get hurt..."

Phantom placed a hoof on what he guessed would have been her shoulder. Although his hoof passed right through her. To compensate, he merely held it over her shoulder.

"Even if I get hurt, there's one thing I'll guarantee: I will save Rainbow Dash."

Kay moved floated forward and hugged the stallion, catching him off guard. Her yellow orbs embraced him in the slight form of a pony. Phantom couldn't help but return the gesture as best as he could.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice still echoing slightly. "For everything. You've come so far during this and adapted so well to a situation that nopony would have been able to conceive of. Not even Luna. And you did it all for me; for us." Kay pulled her head back and positioned it directly in front of Phantom, his muzzle inches away from what was represented as her muzzle. With one of her 'hoofs' she managed to brush away part of his mane on his forehead. "I'm so proud of you. If—"

The orbs moved in closer. Phantom thought he felt something soft touch his lips briefly before pulling away, but couldn't be completely sure with the physical state of the mare in front of him. Thought he happily accepted the notion that it was a kiss.

A vortex-like sensation that reminded him of the one from the pond earlier returned, pulling at his back. Before he could say anything, Phantom was sucked away towards the portal. Seeing no use in fighting it he turned himself around and opened his wings. Even though it didn't feel like flapping his wings helped, he did it anyway out of habit. He pushed a hoof out in front of him in the hopes that it would provide an aerodynamic advantage for when he broke through the portal.

Now far behind him, Kay continued to float, watching Phantom fly away. He didn't hear her whisper to herself.

"Be safe..." A single white orb feel from the others in her head, falling downwards into the dark abyss. "Please..."

Broken Feathers: Frozen North

by That Avi Nerd

Prism to the Soul