“Your group leaves the city, headed North,” Twilight’s voice says. “Far away from the stretches of civilization lies a wild, untamed land, filled with horrifying creatures and monsters…”
“The North Zone,” Daring cuts in. We’re suddenly standing on a mountainside, overlooking a very dark valley. It looks like there’s a city or something down there, but it keeps fading in and out of view.
Redblood frowns. “The North Zone? Why are we here, Daring?”
“We need to find three keys to unlock the temple of Pentagony,” Daring explains. “One of the keys is located somewhere here, in the Valley of Shadows.”
“What’s so dangerous about the North Zone?” I ask, confused.
Daring sighs. “It’s inhabited by Shadows, weird beings who can phase through objects. They’re almost impossible to fight physically, which is why I asked for assistance.”
“Another acquaintance of yours?” Redblood asks.
“Think more like you and less like Cobble Iron,” my sister smirks.
“Oh, if I were anything like Redblood I think I’d kill myself!” We all turn to see a blue unicorn heading towards us. She’s wearing some more traditional armor, with red and gold highlights on it. Judging by the sword hanging from her side, I’d say she’s a royal guard.
Daring smiles and trots over to her. They exchange a quick hug.
“Minute Maker,” Redblood says neutrally. “You’re still alive.”
“Same to you, you old nag!” The mare named Minute Maker then turns to me. “And who’s this?”
“This is Rainbow Dash, my sister,” Daring replies. “She’s going to help us. Do you have a plan?”
Minute Maker just smiles. “Oh, don’t I always? Pleasure to meet you. So what’s it like, living with a legend like Daring?”
I blink. “Huh?”
“Hasn’t Daring told you about all of the things she’s done? Remember that one time in--”
“Don’t listen to her,” Daring cuts in. She glares at Minute. “She likes to talk.”
Minute just grins. “You should ask her about her adventures sometimes. Anyways, yes. I do have a plan!” She turns her attention to the city far below. “We can’t just run into the city blindly. That would be a death sentence since it would get the attention of every Shadow in the North Zone. I might be powerful, but I’m not that good. Luckily for you, being in the guard means that I’ve got some tricks in store.”
Redblood scoffs. “They haven’t kicked you out yet?”
“What can I say? I have the discretion to do whatever I want. Perks of being a free agent.”
Redblood rolls her eyes. “I refuse to believe that you make more bits than me,” she grumbles.
Minute reaches a hoof to her ear, and I realize she’s wearing some sort of earpiece. She presses a button on the side, and her horn lit up. An almost invisible beam shot out of it, landing somewhere in the city. “Warthog, this is Ground, requesting flyover on my mark.”
“This is Warthog, good copy. Strike inbound.”
Minute smirks. “You might want to cover your ears.”
“Why?” I ask. Minute just shrugs and gazes up at the sky. Squinting, I see two forms flying high in the sky, just below the clouds. They dive lower and lower until they’re almost above the city.
Then the sky explodes.
Or, that’s what it feels like. There’s a roaring noise that destroys my ears. From up above, lasers shoot out of the two figures, striking the city. Everywhere they hit, a massive tunnel of fire erupts, sending deafening explosions rocketing across. The ground shakes like a dragon just fell out of the sky.
I only flinch a little bit. “Geez,” Redblood says. “For everything Daring says about you, you scream like a filly.”
Okay, so maybe it caught me a little off guard. Daring laughs and walks over to me. “Get off the ground, Dash.”
She offers me a hoof, but I swat it away. I get up, waiting for the ringing in my ears to go fade before I speak. “What the hay was that?!”
Minute just grins at me. “That, my friend, is the power of the royal guards. Or, to be more technical, a specialized rig on a very fast pair of pegasi that just so happens to have two mounted weapons.”
Redheart gives a hoof-pump. “Now that’s what I’m talking about!”
Okay, she’s right, that was pretty awesome.
“Nothing like an air strike to get the adrenaline going,” Minute says. “That bought us some time by drawing the Shadows’ attention. We should move before they lose interest.”
Daring nods. “Right, let’s get a move on.” With that, she leads the way down the mountain, towards the town.
I pick myself off the floor and follow. Somehow, Minute Maker falls in step with me.
“Your sister is a pretty cool pony, you know!”
I scoff and roll my eyes. “Maybe. She’s not as cool as me though. Don’t you know I’m like the most awesomest pony in Equestria?”
Minute giggles. She winks at me. “Don’t let her hear that! Daring hates it when somepony cooler than her shows up!”
“Like you?”
“Well of course not! Daring would never hate me, I’m her friend!”
Redblood mumbles something and shoves past us.
Minute just sticks her tongue out at her. That gets a chuckle out of me. “Royal Guards, huh?”
“At your service! Well, I technically am a royal guard, but I’m a free agent. That just means I can do whatever I want.” A cold wind blows through my fur, sending some bits of snow flying around. The path down the mountain is lined with tall trees, all capped with white snow.
A twig snaps under my hoof. “How does that work?”
She winks at me again. “I can’t tell you! That’s classified!”
“Sounds like a cop-out to me,” grumbles Twilight’s voice. “The royal guards don’t have any sort of position resembling that...”
Minute Maker just giggles. “There she goes again. She never changes, does she?”
I blink in surprise. “You can hear her?”
She grins mischievously. “Why, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” With that, she swishes her tail and trots to catch up with Daring.
“..may resemble the position of an infiltrator, but that post was formally commissioned by Captain Battle Axe shortly after--”
“Twilight,” I hiss.
“Hm? Oh, sorry.” She clears her throat. “Soon your group approaches the city, which is eerily empty. Your group hears howling and the sound of wind, while strange shadows flicker in and out of reality.”
The city itself looks pretty normal, until the buildings start fading away. They reappear shortly after though, in this weird black haze. The mountains and trees surrounding the city stay still, moving slightly in the wind.
“Alright,” Minute says. Her tone suddenly goes from light to serious. “These things can seriously mess you up. Everypony needs to stay alert, and if you see something, let me deal with it.”
Redblood looks annoyed, but she only offers a grunt. Daring nods. “Don’t worry, Minute, I trust you.”
Something about that rubs me the wrong way, but I can’t really place it. I guess it bothers me that I’ve just met these ponies, and Daring trusts them more than she trusts me. But it makes sense, doesn’t it? After all, these are some of her close friends. Of course she’d trust them. So why is that making me… mad?
Minute’s face lights up again at that. “Alrighty! You know where you’re going?”
Daring nods. “I’ll know it when I see it.”
“Good enough for me.” Minute leads the way as we maneuver down the streets.
There’s a cold wind blowing through the town. It’s not a natural wind either. That much I can tell. Out of the corner of my eye I swear I see something move, but when I turn to look it’s gone. “What the hay is this place?”
“It’s said to be the City of Drifting. Once upon a time it was ruled by two powerful mages. Then there was a falling out between them, one left and the city fell apart. The citizens turned into spectres, shadows of who they once were,” Daring says grimly.
That sends a shiver down my spine. It’s probably the wind, but it just might be because this story just took a weird, dark turn.
All of a sudden something appears in the street. It’s like it just floated out of the ground. Minute stops suddenly, her horn glowing. It turns around, looking at us with hollow, cold eyes.
It looks like a pony, but it’s partially transparent. There’s a weird light behind its eyes that seem to fade in and out. It stares at us for a long time, before it turns and drifts down the street.
Minute exhales in relief. I didn’t even realize she was holding her breath. “Close one. Come on, let’s go.”
She leads us down the streets and alleyways, littered with trash and strange black objects. I swear I hear whispering around us, and I feel something staring at me from a building window. Of course, when I look there’s nothing there. Eventually we stop at some run-down building. There’s a huge iron fence around it, but the gates are wide open.
“Here’s the building,” Daring says. “Wait out here, this won’t take long.”
“No way, I’m going with you,” I say.
She holds up a hoof. “No, Rainbow, it’s dangerous.”
I shake my head. “So? I’ve faced worse! I beat Nightmare Moon for Celestia’s sake.”
Redblood snarls. “Listen here, there’s no time to act like a foal!”
“Who asked you?!”
“Hey!” We all flinch as Daring suddenly raises her voice. “Redblood’s right, we don’t have time to argue. If she wants to come, let her.”
Redblood opens her mouth to interject, but Daring cuts her off. “Red, I’ll be fine, trust me. I need you to hold the perimeter with Minute.” She shoots her a reassuring grin. “Please, Red. Trust me.”
Minute lays a hoof on Red’s shoulder. “Come on, Red. She’ll be fine, and we’ll be right here if she needs us.”
Redblood’s ears droop. “Fine. But I’m not dragging your body out of there if you die, alright?”
Daring just laughs and trots through the gate.
Something about that conversation rubs me the wrong way. I glance back to see Minute saying something to Redblood. Redblood shoots me a dirty look. I roll my eyes back at her and set off after my sister.
“What was that all about?” I ask.
“Redblood just cares a lot about my safety,” Daring answers. “Come on, I don’t want to stay here any longer than I have to.” With that, she leads the way down the hall.
The building’s dark and dusty, with the windows boarded up and weird stains all over the floors. I can barely make out some dark shapes covered in sheets, tucked away into the corners of the hallway. We enter a room at the far end of the hallway. “We’re looking for a simple metal key. Keep an eye out.”
“Uh, sure.” There’s a few boxes scattered about the place, along with some more weird covered objects and a desk at the far end of the room. The room looks eerily familiar. Daring moves to my right and pulls one of the sheets off to reveal an old faded couch underneath.
She tosses aside the cushions, then runs a hoof along the bottom of the couch.
“What’re you doing?” I ask.
“Checking for hidden compartments,” she says. “I don’t know where exactly it’s hidden, I just know that it’s here somewhere.”
“Didn’t you write this story? How do you not know where it is?”
Daring just gives a noncommittal shrug. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know what’s going on anymore.”
I open one of the cardboard boxes and peer inside. Nothing. “What does that mean?”
“It means that I honestly have no idea what’s going on. You were right. I shouldn’t know that I’m dead. I’m not even supposed to be Daring Dash, I’m supposed to be Daring Do. And yes, there’s a difference.” She goes over to the next sofa and whips off the cover.
“What’s the difference?” I ask.
“The difference is that Daring Do doesn’t have a sister, Daring Do isn’t useless, and Daring Do didn’t die in some stupid accident three years ago.” She gives the couch a frustrated kick.
I give her a nervous glance. Where did all that anger come from? “So… you’re saying that you’re not supposed to know about your death?”
Daring sighs, turning her attention over to the wall. “I don’t know anymore. My research mainly said that the strength of the spell depended on the belief of the audience. So in essence, I’m who you want to see me as. And you apparently want to see me as more than some random pony who looks like your sister.”
“Wait, so you’re saying you know because I wanted you to know?”
“I’m saying that you want me to be real because… well I have no idea. But I’m not real. And that’s bothering me.” She pauses in front of a painting on the wall. “Ah.” Daring takes it off and sets it aside, revealing a small box hidden in a hole behind it. She takes out the box and opens it to reveal a small metal key. “Well, there we go.”
“Good,” I say. “So we can get out of here now?”
Daring looks up and suddenly freezes, her eyes going wide. “Rainbow, don’t move.”
I blink. “Why?” Suddenly I feel a shiver on my back. Instinctively I turn around, only to see one of the shadow-things standing right behind me. I lock eyes with it, staring into the empty white pits on its face.
Then the room around me starts fading away. There’s a noise that sounds like wind mixed with one of Pinkie’s balloons deflating as the Shadow stares into me. I try to move, to yell, but I can’t. I’m frozen in place. Then the shadow starts moving closer to me. The noise gets louder, and I can feel my heart beating like crazy.
The Shadow gets closer and closer, and with every step it gets bigger. The hissing becomes howling, and I swear it sounds like this thing is laughing at me. Through the noise I hear a voice. “Tell me, are you afraid of death?”
“Oh, buck you,” I think. I grunt, trying desperately to do something, but the shadow gets closer and closer. Its mouth starts opening, the jaw getting lower and lower until it touches the ground.
Before anything else can happen, there’s a flash of light and the shadow is blasted to its side. It lets out a screech before scrambling to its hooves. I stumble backwards, suddenly in control of my own body again.
Minute Maker stands in the doorway, her horn glowing. She scowls at the Shadow as it screeches at her. With another spell she knocks it back down. This time, instead of getting back up, the shadow stays down before melting into the floor.
Daring’s at my side. “Rainbow! Are you alright?”
“I-I think so,” I mutter. “Kind of dizzy. What was that?”
She sighs. “You’re not supposed to look into their eyes. I should have warned you. Sorry about that--”
Minute glances out the door and interrupts. “Daring, we’re out of time. We need to go, now.”
She nods. “Yeah. We got the key. Let’s get out of here.”
The two mares head for the exit. I start to follow but hesitate, giving the dark and dusty room one last glance before leaving. Suddenly I remember why it looks so familiar: it’s our living room. The painting that Daring took off the wall catches my eye. It shows two proud pegasus parents, standing with their two daughters. The glass is cracked and the frame is damaged.
“Rainbow, come on!”
I turn away from the room, trotting after them, a million questions in my mind.