//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Cloudsdale: Metropolis // by Anonymous XXX //------------------------------// Cloudsdale: Metropolis Rainbow Dash flew through the corridor, feeling her rapid, panicked heartbeat pounding against her chest. The dark, stone hall was dimly lit by flickering torches, held in place by grimy golden sconces. Dash could see their light fly past, leaving bright lines in the corners of her vision, but she had no choice but to press onward. A vibrant rainbow traced her path as she rounded a tight corner. Dash nearly flew into the wall when she came to an intersection. Her panic-stricken eyes darted back and forth between the two corridors, but she soon made up her mind and sped down the right hall. She could feel the walls slowly begin to move closer together, threatening to crush her body into a pancake. She put on an extra burst of speed. Suddenly, the open corridor disappeared, replaced by solid stone wall. It was a dead end! Rainbow Dash frantically pushed against the wall in an effort to move it, but the task proved impossible. Her pupils dilated as she looked back to see the walls closer than ever. She sank down onto the frayed red carpet that ran down the center of every corridor and curled up, wide eyed, waiting for the end. She felt the pressure of the walls pushing on her from all sides, slowly but surely snapping her ribs and ending her life… Rainbow Dash sat bolt upright in her bed, her chest heaving. It took her a few moments to realize where she was. Her eyes landed on her massive poster of the Wonderbolts, and it all came flooding back. It was all just a dream. Dash dragged her tired body out of bed. She hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in weeks with these horrible nightmares. Her mane was a complete mess; the once-beautiful rainbow had become limp and tangled. She didn’t bother to groom it today. She was still shaken from her dreams. When her bowl of oats fell to the floor and shattered, leaving shards of glass and piles of oats for her to clean up, Dash realized that she desperately needed help. Twilight Sparkle, she thought to herself. She’ll know what to do. Not even bothering to clean up her kitchen, Rainbow Dash took off from her home in the clouds and flew towards the library. ~ Twilight Sparkle was lost in her studies, just as she was every day. As she pored over a large volume (Advanced Meta-Psychology Through the Ages), she began to notice a low sound coming from upstairs. The unicorn marked her page and made her way upstairs. “Spike!” exclaimed Twilight as she saw the young dragon snoring in his bed. “We’re supposed to be studying! This is no time for sleep!” “Mhrhmhmmrmnn…” Spike mumbled, rolling over and falling right back to sleep. A loving smile appeared on Twilight’s face. She would let him sleep for now. He had worked hard all through the night. Of course he would be tired! On her way back to her studies, Twilight briefly stopped to look out the window at the horizon. The sun was just beginning to push into the sky, setting the entire scene on fire with brilliant reds and yellows. It was the most beautiful sunrise she had ever seen, and although Twilight knew, scientifically, what caused the sun to rise, and why the colors of the air changed, the beauty of it was not lost on her. As she stared into the horizon, a dark comet shot in front of the sun. Intrigued, the unicorn began to watch its progress. Instead of flying downward and fizzling out, the comet seemed to stop in mid-air, just in front of the sun. It was lost in the blaze of light from the sun for a moment, but it reappeared, seeming to grow larger and larger until it covered the sun. “Rainbow Dash…?” asked Twilight, confused. CRASH!! The cyan pegasus smashed through the window in an explosion of rainbows and glass. Twilight Sparkle unleashed a force field to protect herself from the flying shards and hurried down to the main library, where Rainbow Dash had landed. “Dash! Are you okay?” asked Twilight. “Yeah, I’m alright, Twilight,” muttered Rainbow Dash. Glass fell to the floor around her as she rose to her feet. “Are you sure?” pressed Twilight. Her gaze fell on Dash’s bloodshot eyes, made worse by the dark circles under them, and on her twisted, tangled mane. “You look awful.” “Well…” replied Dash slowly. “I’ve been having trouble sleeping… You know, nightmares and stuff.” Twilight brightened up instantly. “Oh, nightmares? I know just what you need!” she declared. “Spike! Wake up!” A sleepy voice echoed from upstairs. “Twilight?” Spike yawned loudly. “What do you want?” “Come down here, Spike!” called Twilight. Spike, still wearing his nightcap, stumbled downstairs as he rubbed his tired eyes. He yawned again and asked, “What is it, Twilight?” “I need you to find a book for me, Spike,” stated Twilight, with her usual air of studiousness. “It’s called ‘Five Hundred Cures for Insomnia (Plus Thirteen Bonus Cures for the Avid Bookworm).” Spike immediately climbed up the ladder and grabbed a massive, faded volume. It immediately flew from his hands and Twilight summoned it to her and opened to the first page. “Thank you, Spike! Now, let’s see… First up, cookies and hot chocolate!” said Twilight as she read. “The book says that it’s ‘A Sure-Fire Cure for Standard Insomnia.’ Let’s try it out!” “Sounds awesome!” shouted Rainbow Dash. Twenty minutes later, Dash was curled up in the bed in Twilight’s spare bedroom, warm and full of cookies and hot chocolate. Twilight smiled as she watched her friend sleeping soundly, feeling proud of herself for solving Dash’s problem so easily. Suddenly, Twilight noticed a change in her friend. Dash’s smile began to fade, quickly replaced with a look of terror. Her wings unfurled and beat against the bed, and her whole body shook violently. Twilight Sparkle quickly woke Dash from her nightmare. It was pointless to allow her to suffer. “Eh… Let’s try something else,” suggested Twilight with a look of apology. She summoned the massive book once more. “Hmm… How about this? ‘Aromatherapy: Nature’s Calming Scent.’ Sounds reasonable enough.” Her pegasus friend, even more tired from her last nightmare, yawned and replied, “Okay, Twilight. Let’s give it a shot.” Twilight returned to her book. “It gets pretty complicated, but for simple insomnia, the book calls for Essence of Lavender,” she read. “It’s supposed to create a calm, soothing environment. Perfect for sleeping!” “Calm and soothing sounds nice,” replied Rainbow Dash, stifling another yawn. The spare bedroom was quickly filled with purple, sweet-smelling candles glowing with flames provided by Spike. The scent permeated the room, and soon the library, calming everypony (and Spike) in no time at all. Dash curled up for another try at sleep. After Rainbow Dash woke up in tears from her nightmare, Twilight Sparkle tried everything the book had to offer. She read bedtime stories, made Dash perform tiring exercises, showed Michael Mare documentaries, and told her to count sheep. She even asked Fluttershy to come and sing a lullaby. Nothing seemed to work, and the book was out of ideas. Dash’s nightmares would not leave her alone. “I’m sorry, Dashie…” apologized Twilight, hanging her head low with embarrassment. “That’s the end of the book…” Rainbow Dash looked worse than she had when she first sought Twilight’s help. The dark circles under her eyes had grown larger, and she could barely stand from lack of rest. But she was determined to make sure Twilight knew that it wasn’t her fault. She yawned and replied, “It’s okay, Twilight. I’ll be alright. Just don’t worry about me, kay?” Twilight flipped through the book miserably. “I just don’t know why it didn’t work… My books have never failed me before…” Spike was sitting beside Twilight as she combed the pages in hopes for another solution. Suddenly, he noticed something. “Twilight, is that page stuck to the back cover?” he asked. “What?” said Twilight in confusion. “Oh! Spike, you’re right!” She pried the page from the back cover and read it. It was a list of related books on the topic. Rainbow Dash stumbled over to read the list. They read all the way down the list. The final book on the list caught their eyes, and they looked at each other. “Hypno-therapy?”