It started with hoarse laughter, low and cackling.
Rainbow's left ear flinched. Then her right. She opened her fuzzy eyes to a fuzzy world. The bliss of the mare's slumber only proved itself with how terribly uncomfortable it was to leave it.
All around her, the bodies of the Herald slowly rose and fell with quiet, gentle breathing.
Rainbow blinked. She looked at the soft gray splotch that was Ariel a few paces away. She took note of the shadows of Flynn, Kepler, and Logan fast asleep in their tents. Off in the distance, Wildcard perched atop a rock, forming a silent sihlouette against the twilight canvas above.
All was silent.
Rainbow Dash's eyes twitched... fluttered... and finally closed. She nestled her fuzzy chin back into the pliable surface of her sleeping mat.
And once again, she drifted.
And drifted...
...until a shifting sound disturbed her hearing yet again. It was a singular rustling at first, but soon grew more and more pronounced with rhythmic purchase. Like breathing. Snorting. Chuckling.
And then...
...a voice.
"Heh heh heh heh... a 'Herald', they call themselves..."
Rainbow's forehead tensed.
"...and not everypony has wings. Pfffft... so much for 'angelic.'"
The petite pegasus opened one eye.
All was still... save for a shadow. Darting. Slithering.
"Don't you just hate a nice day's work that sows chaos all on its own? No effort required. No fun."
Rainbow's heart froze. She sat up straight, ruby eyes darting around. There was a flicker to her right—a sign of reflected twilight being interrupted. She looked to see Scootaloo's goggles; both lenses were reflecting a wall of moving goat hair.
"I guess this is what happens when I'm forced into early retirement."
Rainbow jolted in place. The voice shifted, shuffling to her left. Panting, she turned her head the opposite way.
The Herald kept sleeping. Meanwhile, the folded spectacles resting just outside Kepler's tent reflected dragonscales. Within seconds, an antler'd shadow rose above the dwindling fireplace. There were limbs. Leather wings and blue feathers.
"Not that it matters. Seems like the most twisted labyrinths are the ones we've made for ourselves..."
Rainbow's gaze rose up... up. Her muzzle hung agape.
"Rather ironic, wouldn't you say?"
The shadow turned around, its nebulous hues unraveling with lavender glee. A pair of eyes rested in the center, flickering red on yellow. A one fang'd smirk loomed as he hovered in midair, peering down at Rainbow Dash with a devil-may-care grin.
"Why, hello there, Sparky." The fang glinted.
All of the hairs on Rainbow's neck had bristled by now. She spread her wings and hollered violently into the Dark Side. "Raaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaugh!"
Wildcard shot up with a start.
His body blurred as he faced the direction of Rainbow's bloody roar.
The air around him echoed, disturbing Seraphimus awake.
The hellish reverberations of Rainbow's scream hadn't dissipated, and already the dragonequus was casually stroking his beard.
"What? What's the matter?"
He plucked his skull clean off while his eyes remained hovering in place to study the cranium in his lion's paw.
"Is there something caught in my flavor-savor?"
"Rrrrrrrrrgh—!" Rainbow Dash charged at full gallop, clenching her teeth until they nearly cracked. She hurled herself skyward with a murderous rising hoof-kick. "HAAAAAUGH!"
Her blue body streaked pathetically through her target. Phasing through, she slammed into a random stalagmite positioned behind. The impact was so thunderous that it sent pebbles showering across the camp site.
"Hey! Rude, much?" He plopped his skull back on and hovered backwards with his arms folded. "What did that rock ever do to you?!"
"You..." Rainbow Dash heaved in mid-air, shaking all over. Veins showed in her eyes as she spat with each bombastic syllable: "I killed you!"
"I know, right?" He reclined lazily as he glided over a tent or two. "But you don't see me foaming at the mouth over it—"
"Aaaaaaaaaaugh!" Rainbow Dash sailed straight for him.
"Mayday! Mayday!" he chortled as her body phased through his hairy jigsaw figure. "Incoming easthorse at Dumb O'clock!"
Th-Thwumppp! Rainbow's body barreled through a tent, collapsing it. Flynn and Logan were fast awake, struggling to fight their way out of the tent. Rainbow Dash inadvertently knocked them into each other with her desperate attempt to fly at her target again.
A few paces down, Kepler shimmied out of his tent and awkwardly slapped his spectacles on. "What in Goddess' worrd...?" He flinched as Wildcard streaked past him.
Breathless, Wildcard took a flying leap, glided, and landed right at Rainbow's side. Cl-Clakkkk! He brandished Bard's staff in his one talon and looked every which way for an intruder.
"Nnnghhh..." Ariel groggily awoke, blinking confusedly at all of the commotion. "What... what's going on—?"
"Ariel!" Rainbow hollered as the figure coasted towards her. "Move! Get away!"
"What?!" Ariel's eyes widened as she shot up with a gasp. "Get away from what—?!"
"Discord!" Rainbow's voice cracked as her ears and tail drooped. "He's... he's b... he's b-b..."
"Discord?!" Ariel spun around a full circle as the dragonequus phased through her. "The Hell is a Discord?!?"
"Rather clueless, is she?" He smirked, reaching out to "pinch" the confused Heraldite's gray cheek. "Guess it makes sense. After all, she's pretty much blonde on the inside—"
"Stop it!" Rainbow galloped, drawn forward by a hellish frown. "Leave her alone!"
"Rainbow—!" Ariel flinched and ducked down low. "Aaack!"
Rainbow barely flew over her—flying through the dragonequus' laughing figure. WHUD! She slammed into another rock structure—this time causing it to tilt dramatically and crumble to pieces.
Ariel—frightened—threw Rainbow Dash a wide-eyed look.
Meanwhile, Logan and Flynn finally fought their way out of their tent—courtesy of the bigger stallion utilizing his axe. Riiiiiiiiip! Big Show burst out with a grunt, looking all over.
"...the Hell...?"
"Are we being attacked or—?"
"It's Rainbow Dash!" Ariel stammered, pointing at the crazed pegasus. "I-I think she senses something—"
"I think she senses something!" Discord imitated, his eyelashes growing three times as long for a brief second. "Eugh! Tra-la-la-la gag the girl!"
"I will NOT let you touch another one of my friends!" Rainbow shouted, propelling herself skyward yet again.
"Hahahaha!" He merely grinned at her as she flew towards him. "Do you even hear yourself—"
"SHUT UP!" Rainbow Dash punched and kicked and thrashed at the air. "Rrrrgh—SHUT! UP!"
Flynn grimaced.
Logan gripped his axe while looking all around. "What... wh-what's she even fighting?! What is this?!"
"I don't know—"
"I can't even sense a thing!"
"Rrainbow One! Please! You must calm down!"
Seraphimus' charcoal brown eyes reflected the distant shape flailing in mid-air. Rainbow's yelling voice echoed over the desolate stone.
"He's right here! Discord! He's back! Tell me that you see him! Rrrrngh—Dang it! Tell me that you see him!!!"
"Rainbow, you're punching at nothing—"
"There's nopony there!"
"We prromise you that you arre safe! Please! Come down at once—"
"No... No! Rrrrrrghh—You dang stupid coward! I killed you once—I can kill you again!"
Seraphimus' beak hung open as her eyes narrowed. A cold, disgusted breath left her throat. "She's mad..."
Discord yawned, his body rippling in lavender streaks upon each thrown punch of Rainbow's forelimbs. "Really... is this how you've carried on all this time? I mean—sure—I caught brief glimpses and snapshots but... heheh... I guess it's really true what they say..." He grinned slyly. "The feature presentation rarely ever lives up to the previews."
"Shut up!" Rainbow panted and panted, her voice growing ragged as she overexerted herself. "Just... sh-shut up!"
"So Determined!" Discord flung his arms wide. "Did you catch that capital 'D'? It stands for Dense! All hail Rainbow Dense, the Australioh! Heh heh heh..." There was a crimson glint to his pupils as he hissed: "You were always the easiest one to distract. I guess that's why I chose you."
"Rrrrrrrr—" Rainbow Dash angled her wings and made to dive straight through the villain. In a dark blue, Wildcard came up from behind and grabbed her before she could suicide plunge into the stone earth below. "Nnnghh—Let... let g-go!" She yelped and struggled. The Desperado nevertheless kept her in a vice-hold with his one good talon. With expert wings, he lowered her down to the ground—and the Herald. "I... I-I have to stop him! Don't you get it?! He's back! Discord's back and... and..."
"Rainbow!" Ariel rushed forward, grasping both of the mare's hooves and fighting with her every violent motion. "Rainbow—look at me—"
"NO!"
"Rainbow—"
"N-no!"
"There's nothing there! You're safe!" Ariel pleaded, staring her straight in the eyes as Wildcard held her still. "You're with your friends! The Herald's protecting you—"
"You don't get it!" Rainbow drowned in a cold sweat. Her pupils were the size of mustard seeds as she looked all around. "He's chaos! The lord of Chaos! None of you are safe! Cloudsdale... I-I mean..." She clenched her eyes shut. "...Ponyville... Equestria..." She fought and struggled once again with Wildcard's grip. "Rrrrrngh—friggin' melon fudge! I'll break you into a million pieces next time and toss them all into Tartarus!"
Discord merely yawned. "Yeah... well... I can see you're not yet ready to show up to the gaming table. That or you rolled a natural twenty in stupid. Either way... borrrrr-iiiiing." He snapped his fingers, and a pair of shades appeared on his snout. "I'll be back," he gluttered in a deep, thick accent... slowly dissolving backwards in a lavender pool. "Hopefully sooner than thirty hundred chapters or so. Zing!"
And just as he dissipated...
...five pastel colored shapes came bursting through the harmonic ether.
"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy gasped.
"Oh darling!" Rarity yelped, zipping towards their anchor. "What ever is the matter?"
"We heard you shrieking and crying and caterwauling!" Pinkie yelped.
"But for some reason—we couldn't get through to you!" Twilight exclaimed.
Applejack nodded as they all hovered around their friend. "We kept bangin' and buckin' against them walls of the Vanilla Zone somethin' fierce—"
"But the barrier somehow wouldn't buckle until just now!" Rarity exclaimed. "As if something was holding it in place!"
"Rainbow Dash..." Fluttershy floated close with a sympathetic expression. "You look awful!"
"What happened, Dashie?"
"Please... tell us..." Twilight looked with an urgent expression. "Did something happen just now? What's going on?"
Rainbow stared at each of her friends. Slowly, her body went limp... and gravity did the rest. Her scowl morphed into a grimace, and tears flowed rapidly. "He's back," she whimpered, her voice foalish and crumbling. "He's back, you guys. I don't know how, but he's back..."
"Back?" Pinkie's muzzle scrunched. "Who's back?"
Fluttershy looked all around. "I... I don't sense anybody..."
"Girls..." Applejack was staring dead-straight at Rainbow Dash with shrinking pupils. "This... this ain't a good thing..."
"I... I don't understand," Rarity stammered.
"Who?" Twilight looked at Applejack, then at Rainbow again. "Tell us! Who is back?"
"Oh gosh... oh no..." Rainbow sobbed and quivered. "Oh please Celestia, no... no no no no no..." She covered her muzzle with trembling hooves.
Wildcard refused to let go—instead keeping the mare anchored safely in his grasp. This gave Ariel room to lean forward and cuddle Rainbow closely.
Kepler, Logan, and Flynn formed an anxious perimeter. Their eyes continued to scan the darkness surrounding them... searching for an answer... a reprieve.
And finding none.