//------------------------------// // Ch 9: Like a Rainbow in the Dark // Story: There Is Nothing New Under The Sun // by chasethebrony //------------------------------// Ch 9: Like a Rainbow in the Dark Dream on The power coursing through my veins filled me with a destructive euphoria. I created mountains, cities, civilizations. And then I crushed them. The cries of hundreds of thousands of petty mortals were music to my ears. Armies were raised against me and I crushed them with mere thought. Their bones littered the ground I tread upon. Some worshiped me and I let them follow in my footsteps, creating my army of chaos. A light voice echoes through the back of my mind. “We could be powerful...” As I walked through my domain I came upon my house. My wife and children came out, but their faces quickly turned from joy to horror at what I had become. Facing them, I raise my hand and summon my power.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This time when I wake up I can’t even scream. The afterimages of my dream haunt my consciousness, and tears begin to form. Curled into a fetal position I don’t notice the passing of time. Eventually the door opens and I hear a pony enter the room. I stay in the bed just wanting to be left alone in my misery. A quiet voice fills the room. “Umm... Jake? I have something for you...” Why is Fluttershy here? Deciding to peek over, I see that she has a small tray balanced on her back. “I uhh, thought you might like some fresh food" she whispered timidly. Looking at the ground, she slowly edges towards me as if I am about to bite her. I slowly face her and sit up on my bed. When she sees me move, she freezes in place. I just sit there watching her. After what I did to her, I am honestly surprised she is willing to face me at all. I am also really curious as to what she was bringing me. Looking at the tray I see that it has a bunch of fresh looking vegetables and fruits on it. My stomach growls impatiently. I stand up and walk over to the yellow pegasus. She stares at me, frozen in sudden fear. She watches as I move over to her, unable to move other than to track me with her eyes. Reaching over, I grab an apple and a carrot. Sitting back down on my bed, I eat the apple first. Normally, everyday things like food fail to leave a lasting impression on me, but as soon as I took a bite of this apple I had a bit of a spiritual moment. This apple is the perfection of everything an apple could be. Slightly dry and crisp like a Winesap, it also had a good undertone of sweetness similar to a Fugi. Then the flavors fade into a slight pleasantly sour aftertaste reminiscent of a Granny Smith. I sit there dumbstruck at the mixture of flavors racing across my tongue with every chew. Finishing the apple, I start on the carrot next. To my surprise, it’s just as good as the apple. Closing my eyes I just savored the first real food in several days. After several days, oatmeal and water gets really bland. After finishing the food, I opened my eyes and the timid Pegasus was gone. Staring at the door I just whispered "thank you." Like a Rainbow in the Dark Rainbow dash was in her house preparing for war. She was wearing a black skintight suit, and had her face and wings smudged black with soot. Tossing a loop of rope around her neck, she looked at herself in the mirror, made sure she was ready and leaped out the window into the night sky. If anyone were to know where to look in the sky, all they would have seen is a quickly moving black dot hugging the contours of the ground stealthily fleeting over the trees towards Sweet Apple Acres. Coming over a hilltop, Rainbow saw the (now smaller) military encampment on the emptily land between Sweet Apple Acres and Ponyville. Giving the camp a relatively wide birth, she landed in a grove of trees within sight of the Apple family barn. Just downhill from the structure was a small trapdoor with two guards in front of it. She also took note of the sentries on the roof of the barn and the pairs of guards patrolling the area. Waiting until just the right moment, Rainbow Dash launched herself into the air and flew straight into a small skylight near the roof of the barn. Her eyes rapidly adjusting to the dark, she looked around to see if anypony had noticed her. The Cows were resting in their sleeping quarters on the south end of the barn, and there were two guards playing cards on a table by north entrance. Silently, she moved across the rafters until she was situated right over a seemingly random haystack in the middle of the western wall. Waiting until the guards had started their next hoof of cards, she dove straight into the haystack. “Hey Starlight, you hear that?” “Hmm?” “I think I just heard something move over by the cows” “Well, it was probably the cows then. Are you going to raise me now or just fold like a foal?” “No, seriously. I think I heard something.” “Fine. If it makes you feel better about yourself, we can go look for your mystery sound. But if I catch you even thinking about looking at my cards, I will end you.” Rainbow watched the two get up and start walking over by her haystack. Holding perfectly still, she waited as they walked past her, looked behind her haystack and then made a big loop around the barn and returned to their table. “See, told you so!” “Shaddup....” The moment of crisis over, rainbow began to wiggle her way to the bottom of the stack. Back when everyone had been setting up Pinkie Pie’s surprise birthday party in the barn, Rainbow had gotten bored and had been snooping around looking for anything interesting. While searching, she had found an old trap door that led to an old root cellar under the floor. Never one to give away the location of a perfect napping spot, she had kept its location a secret (though Applejack probably knew about it anyways). Opening the trapdoor, the black pegasus dropped into the darkness. After moving to the back of the area, she began to dig a small hole down into the ground. Like a Churchmouse I was on the floor doing a small workout when I heard a light scratching sound coming from above me. Pausing for a second, I listened intently. Hearing nothing for a couple seconds I began to continue my pushups. Then the sounds came again, though louder this time. Flipping around onto my back for situps, I was wondering what could have possibly been making that noise when the ceiling above me opened up and a black shape fell onto my chest, knocking the wind out of me. Gasping for breath, I watched as the thing rolled off of me and reached over its shoulder for something. Before I could say ‘not the ropes!’ I felt a coarse cord bind me ankles and wrists. However, after a while I felt something next to me struggling. Getting my breath back I looked over to see that the shape had accidentally tied itself to me. “Darn it, I should have taken those knot classes from AJ while I still had the chance.” Well it looks like my would-be-capturer was stuck with me for the time being. Clearing my throat, I break the short silence “Uh, who are you and why exactly are you falling out of my ceiling?” Feeling the pony take a deep intake of breath, I could feel it struggling like it was trying to achieve some sort of pose. “I am Rainbow Dash, the best flyer in Equestria!” “Apparently not the best wrangler though...” I mutter under my breath. Then a hoof came out of nowhere and knocked me on the head. “Hey! That was uncalled for!” I cried out. Laughing, the pony behind me told me in no uncertain terms that it was what I deserved. “Nopony mocks The Rainbow Dash! Nopony!” Maniacal laughter filled the room for a minute. “Seriously though, don’t insult strangers. It’s not nice.” “So ‘Rainbow Dash’, why pray tell did you jump on me from the ceiling for?” “Weeeell, I was going to tie you up and make you confess your sins against Nature and Fluttershy; but I think that plan isn’t going to happen now.” “Seriously? You were going to torture me?” I asked unamusedly. “Not really... Ok, maybe just a little... All right, I just wanted to try and reenact a scene from a book I read once. But I really did want to find out what you really did to Fluttershy.” “You really want to know?” “Well I didn’t sneak all the way in here for nothing” “Hmm... how about you tell me what you think happened, and then I tell you what really happened.” A large intake of breath, and she began to spout one of the most ridiculous tales I have ever heard....