//------------------------------// // The Fabric of Nightmares // Story: Ofolrodi // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// It hung high among the stars. A pale curve. Bright and piercing. Beautiful and foreboding against the onyx fabric of space. Rainbow Dash stared up at it, dumbfounded. She wanted to get closer. So, she took a hoofstep forward. The atmosphere sang with screams and sobs. "... ... ...?" She stopped in place. She wasn't startled—merely curious. The mare looked down. She stood on a monumental strip of land: blue seas and brown mountains and green valleys. Continents and oceans loomed beneath her. Despite how impossibly small she was, it felt as though she was somehow perched across the enormity of the convex world. Holding her breath, she moved her hoof again—raising and lowering. As soon as her hoof made contact once more with the continents below, reality rippled. The sounds of millions of screaming souls echoed in every direction. Once the rippling stopped, so did the wails of anguish. All was still. So much fear and terror—and yet Rainbow Dash stood apart. Her ears flicked curiously. Boldly, she sliced her fetlock across the plane in a heavy swath. Sobs echoed in every direction. Foals called for their mothers and fathers. Souls pleaded for countless deities before fizzling into blissful silence. But this time, another noise pierced through the momentary bedlam. A solitary voice... eerily soft. Like a hiss. Inquiring. "B'lyynyl syla'thrylmm hym, W'ynlppa yln H'luun?" Rainbow blinked. She looked back up at the crescent moon. It had split in two. The pale rocks turned into glinting fangs. A body pivoted, materializing against the velvet onyx of eternal night. Accompanied by shrieks, it glided downward on a bridge of stars. Soon, the figure was marching before Rainbow Dash. Its eyes slitted. Piercing. The blackest void loomed in the center of each pupil, and it anchored Rainbow in place as the figure came within biting distance. "H'luun sy'lynna'sem thynly'm." It was a feminine voice. "Heval'saam? H'cylsialym? Lyn'drxx? M'lymwym sym N'shydym sym Sy'kymylls'ym yln Thy'mma???" Rainbow Dash blinked. Calmly, she breathed into the ether: "Austraeoh." "Hrsssssssssssssss..." Fangs glistened. "Ausssss-trayhmmm?" Rainbow inhaled. Exhaled. "I have come bearing harmony. For harmony." A stifled shriek. The figure raised two leather wings. Angrily. "The penumbral tongue." Something clicked inside its throat as velvety hairs rose on the back of its neck. "So it is H'cylsialym." Rainbow blinked. The figure leaned forward, sneering. "Then why does it carry W'ynlppa yln H'luun?" A savage tail flicked. Nostrils flared as it paced around Rainbow amidst the stars. "Why does it stand fearlessly upon the nocturnal fabric of our foaling?" Rainbow gazed back. Unflinching. "You're not really here." Her eyes narrowed. "Where are you—really?" Gritting teeth. "Who are you?" "If it is from Penumbra..." The figure spoke as if it was talking to a group of unseen ponies. "Then it must bleed starlight. Only one way to see if it was sent to destroy us." It then lunged at Rainbow, fangs-first. "Hey..." Rainbow barely lifted a hoof. "Watch it—" But before the creature could come into contact... ...a bright burst of lunar energy emanated from Rainbow's neck. FLAAAAAASH! "HSSSSSSSSSS!!!" Shrieking, the creature flew back, cocooning itself in leathery wings. There was the briefest of pale sheens, and Rainbow saw the outline of multiple velvety bodies—all mares—and they were likewise flinching. "Hrmmmfff..." Rainbow smirked devilishly, although she hardly knew why. "That's what you get..." Just as she was saying this, the fabric of the illusion was melting all around her. The stars vanished. The world dissolved. All that was left was the crescent of a moon above, flickering like a sole projector. But soon it too vanished, and Rainbow as forced to fall... "... ... ...?" Rainbow Dash's eyes popped open. She blinked. The mare was lying curled-up on a blanket inside a tent. Outside, the twilight of the night sky glinted off wet rock and polished stone. Other tents of the Herald could be seen, spread out and occupied. Rarity and Fluttershy levitated just outside the mouth of the tent. "That's what I'm trying to say, darling. If Equestria simply relaxed about its unnecessarily rigid gender coding, then my business could double by the time we get back!" "Oh, I don't think it's quite that simple, Rarity," Fluttershy said. "As much as we'd all wish it to be." "I beg to differ, Fluttershy! Why—back in Ponyville—I personally knew at least three stallions who would gladly have bought themselves dresses if only their families and close friends were more understanding—" Fluttershy perked up, looking Rainbow's way. "Oh! You're up!" "Hmmm?" Interrupted, Rarity turned around. "Ah! Rainbow!" Fluttershy flew into the tent with a warm smile. "Good morning, Rainbow Dash! Well..." She giggled delicately. "As close as we can ever get to a morning over here." "A pleasure to see you awake, dear." Rarity floated in as well. "Did you have nice dreams?" Rainbow Dash sat up, rubbing her head with a tense expression. Rarity's smile faded. "Oh. Oh dear..." "It... wasn't a nightmare, was it?" Fluttershy asked. "... ... ..." Rainbow's head icily turned towards Fluttershy. After a contemplative pause, she murmured: "A nightmare." She breathed. "They came from nightmares." Rarity and Fluttershy exchanged confused glances. "Erm..." Rarity leaned forward with a dainty hoof. "Are you feeling quite alright, darling? Do you need to rest it off a little bit more?" "I... don't think now's a good time." Rainbow rubbed her head some more. "They're still reeling from... from..." "Rainbow...!" Fluttershy pointed. Rarity and Rainbow followed her gesture. That's how they discovered that the Element of Loyalty was glowing. The little lightning bulb pulsed with ruby energy... and slowly faded. "Huh..." Rainbow nodded. "...so Luna's spell is still strong." A side snicker. "Awesome." "What... do you mean, Rainbow?" "What I mean is..." Rainbow stretched her neck and wings. She stared off into the twilight beyond her friends. "...I think somepony's been trying to contact me the last few weeks of sleep. Only now... I've finally gotten close enough for it all to make sense. Well... most of it." "Well, would you care to explain it to us?" Rarity made a face. "We'd like to make sense of it too." "First thing's first." Rainbow hopped up and trotted briskly out of the tent. "Breakfast. I'm friggin' famished." Rarity and Fluttershy merely shrugged at one another as they were dragged after their anchor by a ruby force field.