“What the heck happened to your mane?” Spike asked, pointing at Rainbow Dash with a raised eyebrow and a curious look on his face. “Why’s it all pink and purple?”
Rainbow poked at the now bright pink locks hanging haphazardly just over her eyes. “We wanna cause as little disturbance as possible on this trip, right? Well, suddenly seeing princess Rainbow Dash arriving in Manehattan unannounced would be a pretty big disturbance, don’t you think?” she explained simply before glancing back at her tail, which had received a similar color treatment. Both her mane and tail were now predominantly pink with a deep purple streak in them. “But, gonna be honest… I can’t wait for us to get back so I can wash all of this out.”
Twilight smiled lightly, trotting up to Rainbow and patting her on top of her head. “Hey, for what it’s worth, I think you look good with it.” she said simply. Rainbow snorted and moved out from under Twilight’s appendage.
“I’d have preferred maybe a dark blue or something, but eh. Beggars can’t be choosers.”
“Oh, come now darling!” Rarity said encouragingly, gesturing at the mane. “It looks fabulous! It’s also not nearly as hard on the eyes as your mane usually is.”
Rainbow shot Rarity a sour look. “That’s a matter of opinion. Can we just go now?”
“Just as soon as the train shows up,” Applejack replied while sauntering up to Rainbow Dash. “In the meantime… pink?”
Rainbow groaned in irritation. “Can we not? Please?”
“Ooh! Are we poking fun at Dashie?!” Pinkie chimed in with an enormous grin appearing on her face. She glanced at Rainbow’s mane, blinked and then slumped a bit. “Aw, shoot. I can’t poke fun at you. I’m Pink. Making fun of your pink mane would be like making fun of me.”
“You know Pinks,” Rainbow began with a roll of her eyes. “We don’t need to make fun of you. You’re fun enough as it is.”
Pinkie proceeded to tackle hug Rainbow Dash while squeeing adorably. “EEEE! You always know just what to say!”
“She does?” Twilight asked, genuinely curious about that remark. “I could have sworn she-”
“Twi!” Rainbow snapped, drawing Twilight’s attention. “Shut up and let me have this.”
Everypony giggled at that before the sound of the train whistle cut through the air in the distance, drawing closer.
“About time,” Spike grumbled while reaching for Rarity’s stack of luggage. “I’m kinda hoping to get in a nap on the train. I did not get enough sleep last night…”
“You and me both, little guy,” Rainbow replied while disengaging from her hug with Pinkie. “You and me both.”
“There will be no way for you to change it…”
The voice of Starlight Glimmer rang in Rainbow’s ears, eliciting an uneasy shutter from her. She was standing in that white void again, the ribbon of multi-colored magic still weaving through it. In front of her, Rainbow saw an endless bridge of multi-colored crystal, it’s edges emitting small wisps of color and dust that swirled away into the void almost as soon as they formed. She took another step and then another along this infinite walkway, her legs feeling as if they were full of lead.
“What’s so special about your friends… who knows what will really happen…?” Starlight’s words echoed all around Rainbow, the void shuddering as if struck. “How could a group of friends… be so important?”
Rainbow wanted to speak, but her words wouldn’t come. It was as if her voice had been stolen, caught among the disintegrating dust around her. The ribbon of energy shook again, this time with a deep, thunderous boom ripping across the void and into Raibow’s ears. She felt her heart sink when, along one point, the ribbon was suddenly severes.
“How do I know if it will end the same way… who knows what will really happen… Either way... there will be no way for you to change it.”
The ribbon began to shatter and crumble along its length from where it had been cut. All around Rainbow Dash, the pale void began to turn dark. She opened her mouth to cry out, but all that came was a long, pitiful breath. She fell to her haunches before lifting her hooves up to her face. They, too, were crumbling and vanishing into fog and dust. She felt her heart rate spike and her mind became clouded with fear and desperation.
She looked up, desperate to just scream and call for help.
“HELP ME!!!” her words came to her suddenly, echoing across the darkness that now surrounded her. Beneath her hooves, the crystals crumbled and gave way. Gasping in fear, she gave her wings a quick and powerful flap, relieved when there was enough air in this void to keep herself aloft. She looked up and around uneasily at the endless void, now turned dark.
“Nightmares again?” a gentle and feminine voice drifted down from above her. Looking up, Rainbow squinted when, like a lightbulb, the moon flickered into existence above her. Her back hooves brushed against something soft but sturdy. Clouds. She let herself fall back to her hooves as a sea of clouds began to appear. Above her, gradually filling the sky, were thousands upon thousands of tiny points of light. Stars.
“Aunt Luna… is that you?” Rainbow asked in a shaking voice while turning and looking around.
“Indeed it is,” came the reply, the glow of the moon briefly intensifying. Rainbow looked up and visibly relaxed as the midnight blue alicorn slowly drifted down to stand with her on the clouds. Her wings folded behind her back, and she raised her head to stand tall. Already Rainbow Dash could see that the magical flow of Luna’s mane had spread. No longer did just the tips drift in an unfelt breeze. The second half of the length of her mane and tail hairs were adrift, flowing lazily but beautifully. “I was about to turn in for the morning and resume my slumber. But your nightmare…” she looked around and frowned. “I could not well leave you to such a thing. You are my niece, after all.”
Rainbow smiled warmly while stepping forward. “Wow… thanks, Luna.” her smile slowly faded to a far more despondent look. “You won’t be waking up again for a while, huh?”
“A week at least,” Luna nodded solemnly. “I will not be able to enter the dream realm as I can now. I’ll be but another dreamer… with my own trials to face. But I can spare the time to help you right now.” she slowly stepped forward and touched a hoof to Rainbow’s chin, lifting her head so they could look each other in the eyes.
“Right… uh… how, exactly?” Rainbow asked after a moment.
Luna turned and gestured around them. “Until I intervened, you were in the depths of a horrific nightmare. Whether you felt it’s intensity or not, I do not know, but the darkness it created was some of the darkest I have ever seen,” she then turned her eyes back to Rainbow’s. “And, worse yet, I have seen it from you twice now.”
Rainbow’s ears fell and she looked away. “Y-yeah… I’ve been having nightmares…”
“About somepony who scares you? A lilac unicorn?” Luna asked gingerly while moving around to Rainbow’s side.
“...Is it really okay for me to talk about it here?” Rainbow questioned uneasily. “W-wont it hurt other dreams nearby if I’m, y’know, feeling bad?”
“Not so long as I am here to contain and wash away the darkness those feelings create. Speak freely, my niece.” Luna assured gently before draping a wing over Rainbow’s back and slowly laying down on her belly. Rainbow followed along, soon looking up at the moon in thought.
“Right… the unicorn is named Starlight Glimmer…” Rainbow finally began, looking unsure of herself. She looked down, her forehooves fidgeting with one another. “Mom told you about the changes to history, right?”
“Our sister gave us a summary, though details were scarce.” Luna nodded along before frowning slightly. “My sister gave me. Ugh…”
Rainbow chuckled lightly before continuing. “Well, this Starlight mare is one of two who came back from the original timeline. The other was Twilight- you remember her?”
“Of course I do. She is the element of magic and was the lynchpin to undoing the clutches my jealousy had on me.” Luna nodded with a solemn frown appearing on her face.
“Yeah… well, anyways, I know Twilight, and to a lesser extent, I know what her future self was like. She wouldn’t have been trying to rewrite history. She was probably trying to preserve it. Well… I don’t know about Starlight. All I know is that she came back, and… she was angry. She was actively trying to undo everything. Twilight talked her out of it, but I… I saw them. I was there when they were having their struggle.”
“You weren’t supposed to see them, correct?” Luna commented softly while nuzzling Rainbow atop the head in reassurance.
“I guess not. It was just by me seeing them that time changed… and now I’m worried that she might go back and do it again. I’m scared of what might happen if she goes back in time and tries to change things again…” Rainbow admitted, curling up slightly. “Just seeing those two made things change so much… my parents…”
“Shh,” Luna whispered gently when Rainbow began to shake. “You don’t have to say any more. I think I understand…”
Rainbow took in a shaky breath, then nodded.
Luna was silent for several moments before she hummed in thought. “This nightmare of yours was born from a very deep place… not only of fear or grief, but anger as well.”
Rainbow stiffened slightly, briefly remembering what Discord had done to her before they turned him back to stone.
Make her pay…
“I-it’s nothing,” Rainbow commented quickly, refusing to look at Luna. “The anger, I mean. It’s just leftover from Discord’s magic…”
Luna frowned, unconvinced. “Are you sure about that?”
“I’m sure, Aunt Luna.” was Rainbow’s short response. For several seconds, the two were quiet.
Luna sighed softly before retracting her wing. “I’m afraid I must leave shortly. But before I go, may I offer you some advice?”
Rainbow nodded, still unwilling to meet her adoptive aunt’s gaze.
“...Do not let your fear control you, Rainbow Dash. Nor your grief or anger. And do not be afraid to turn to those around you for aid. From what I have seen of them, you are fortunate to have such a wonderful circle of friends. Do not be afraid to lean on them for support.”
Rainbow smiled softly while finally raising her eyes back to Princess Luna. “I’ll keep that in mind… thank you, Aunt Luna.”
Luna nodded while the clouds beneath her hooves vanished. Her wings spread and she began to lift up towards the moon. She twitched then, as if remembering something at the last moment. “Oh, and also!”
“Yeah?”
“...Pink? What happened to the other colors?” Luna asked in a slightly teasing voice, smirking when Rainbow pouted.
“Not you, too!”
“I bet there is a story behind it, but it shall have to wait for another time. Until then, my niece… farewell.”
The dream then ended.
Rainbow woke up very slowly. The rolling of the train and the soft white noise of the wheels and engines were soothing, making her drowsy mind unwilling to return to the waking world just yet. But when some sunlight hit her eyelids, all remaining hopes of falling back to sleep were demolished. With a gentle inhale, Rainbow’s eyes fluttered open. She was sitting in a very relaxed position next to the window on the train. Her first sight was the slowly descending plains and, if she looked closely, she thought she could see the dark blue of the ocean in the distance.
“Rise and shine, sleepyhead.” Twilight said gently from her said. Rainbow looked over while rubbing the remnants of the sand mare’s visit from her eyes.
“Ey,” she mumbled before a yawn worked its way out of her. “What’d I miss?”
“Not much. You were out for a few hours there. Feeling better?” Twilight asked, now speaking at a somewhat more casual volume.
“Uh-huh. How much longer before we’re at Manehattan?” Rainbow asked while getting up to stretch.
“Another hour, roundabouts,” Applejack answered, turning around in her seat and looking back at Twilight and Rainbow. “Howdy, sugarcube. Yer were out like a light fer a while there.”
“So I’ve been told.” Rainbow said before looking out the window.
"Did you have another nightmare?” Twilight asked more gently while putting a hood to Rainbow’s back. “You were mumbling to yourself not all that long ago.”
“Kinda… I got some help with it, though.” Rainbow nodded along, smiling softly as the train continued its journey to Manehattan.