Dash was violently jerked awake as she was pulled across the castle floor.
“What gives?!” she demanded, looking up a Strider who was now carrying her as he rushed towards the door.
When Strider didn’t answer, Dash looked back and saw a pair of glowing eyes in the still ever present fog staring back at her.
“The pony of shadows is real!?” Dash examined.
Dash brought her attention back to what was in front of them when Strider suddenly changed directions. Out past the doors, Dash could see several more sets of eyes glowing in the fog. Before she had any time to process what was happening, Dash suddenly found herself in the air as Strider threw her over one of the broken walls. As Dash managed to catch herself, she saw Strider climb over the same wall, and a moment later the two of them fled into the fog.
Moving through the dark, fog filled forest was anything but easy. Numerous times Dash had collided with, or been entangled by branches and vines, the pegasus could only imaged what it would be like if she didn’t have her wings and was forced to run across the uneven ground; and to make matters worse, everywhere she turned, Dash could see the glowing eyes following her.
As Dash circled around the seventh tree, she suddenly realized that Strider was no longer with her. As she frantically scanned the area for any trace of him, Dash noticed that the fog was finally beginning to thin, and the first rays of Celestia's sun began to shine over the horizon.
“Finally, something going right.” she smiled. “Now, all I have to do is find Strider and get back to Ponyville.”
Her excitement quickly turned sour as she realized that the fog was not dispersing, but was gathering in a single spot. A spot with angry, glowing eyes. As the fog coalesced it slowly took on a pony-like form. It’s head, torso and tail were all there, but its legs simply stopped just below the knee, tailing off into vapor, giving the creature a haunting, ghost-like visage.
The creature opened its mouth as if it was screaming, only no sound came out. A second fog-pony appeared next to the first, and was quickly joined by a third. As the three fog-ponies spread out to surround Dash, the pegasus drew her stone knife.
“Rainbow Dash isn’t the kind of pony that goes down without a fight.” Dash said around the knife in her mouth.
The three fog-ponies suddenly all charged forwards simultaneously. Instinctively Dash ducked and shot forwards. Rolling as she when, Dash’s knife grazed the lead fog-pony. Landing hard, Dash spun to face the creatures. Studying her foes, Rainbow realized that the cut she had made had actually damaged the creature; the wound remained visible and whips of fog slowly bled out from it. Realizing that she had a way to fight the fog-ponies, Dash readied herself for their next attack.
The wounded fog-pony rushed forwards while the other two held back. Colliding with Dash, the two tumbled across the ground. The fog-pony bore down on Dash, trying to bite her. Squirming in the creature’s grasp, Dash lashed out with the knife in an attempt to end the fight quickly. As she landed on her back, Dash blindly thrust the knife upwards and somehow connected with her foe. Her opponent's weight vanished as the fog-pony dissipated.
Rolling to her hooves, Dash quickly scanned her surroundings only to find that she was now alone. Even though she was unsure of where the other creatures might have gone, Dash didn’t let fear creep into her thoughts. Instead Dash focused all of her energy into finding her missing friend.
Weaving through the trees, Dash flew through patches of lingering fog. While she was in the fog patches, Dash could feel the fog-ponies watching her. In the clear spots, there was clear signs of a struggle. The upturned dirt, broken branches, and occasional splattering of blood fueled her desire to find Strider.
Entering a small area where the fog cleared, Dash found Strider; trapped between three of the fog-ponies and a long drop over a cliff edge. Before she could react, the fog-ponies all launched themselves forwards.
“Strider!” Dash screamed as the fog-ponies connected and knocked her friend backwards over the cliff. Putting all of her energy into one all or nothing flap, Dash launched herself forwards.
I’m not going to make it! She screamed to herself.
Just as Strider passed out of her sight something wrapped itself around one of Dash’s hooves, Strider had miraculously managed to grab hold of her. Straining under his added weight, Dash flapped her wings as hard as could, but it was to no avail; and soon the pair were falling.
Risking a downwards glance, Dash could see the river racing up towards them. As she tucked her wings in, Dash felt Strider wrap one of his arms around her. A moment later, they hit the water. Despite both their efforts, the impact and current pulled the pair apart. As she tumbled through the water, Dash watched in vain as Strider was pushed towards a series of large rocks before losing sight of him completely.
Choking on the water as she tried to breath, Dash soon found the world around her getting darking. Her hooves failing, in a futile attempt to swim against the overpowering current. Her hooves brushed up against something, and she instinctively grabbed a hold of it just as the darkness overtook her.