The sun beamed through the clouds, hitting Rainbow Dash's goggles and waking her up from her nap. "Ugh, already?" she said groggily, sitting up and putting her goggles on. She could see her two Wonderbolt teammates as they were talking among themselves as they waited for the Princess of Friendship to walk out of the Cloudeseum main stage, as this is the first year she'll be doing the judging of the Best Young Flyer Competition. Rainbow and her team mates will be coming down from the clouds above and doing a few tricks, finishing it with her sonic rainboom, and landing in front of the Princess.
Rainbow looked at the stage; she could see someone walking out, and the crowd started to cheer. Rainbow could see a purple unicorn pony with a lavender mane. She wore a purple and golden crown on her head. A few minutes passed, and the princess was ready to announce the start of the competition. Rainbow smiled, seeing how popular static is with the ponies in Cloudsdale. Rainbow was happy her friend was loved by the other pegasus.
"Ponies, are you ready?"
The crowd cheered, as they're excited for the competition to start.
"Alright! Let the games begin!" Princess said happily, and the competitors came flying onto the stage and watching the sky above as Dash realized this was the cue to start.
"Okay, this is it! Remember, we are representing the Wonderbolts here. So let's put our best hooves forward." Lightning Dust said as she flew downward.
"You got it, boss!" The rest of the Wonderbolts replied and followed Dash. Dash began doing loopty loops and twirling around in the air before stopping midway and letting her two fellow Wonderbolts perform some stunts of their own before flying under her. Rainbow was getting ready to perform her Sonic Rainboom, as she had to time her move at just the right moment. As she reached the peak of her altitude, Rainbow took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and flapped her wings, creating a loud sonic boom and
Static filled the memory as Dashie was running in the cold rain, as she was the only person on the school track field. She was running to cool off after what happened earlier today. She had a fight with Static about not wanting any scholarships for track and field; she didn't want to run all her life. She's going to be the only one not going to college, and she was okay with that. She knew her parents wouldn't be too pleased about it, but she has the money for it; it's not the money that's the problem.
The real problem is that she does not know what to do with her life after school. Dashie didn't know what she wanted to be. Her parents and her teachers are worried about her. She had the talent and the skill, but she didn't know what to do. She ran. She ran in the cold rain until she could feel like the rain had stopped, like she was running so fast that she was passing through the rain storm, but she slowed down and stopped as she felt something was placed on her head.
Dashie could hear someone say something; it sounded like a female voice. She couldn't tell; she was exhausted.
"What?!" She yelled, turning her head around, and could feel it was a towel. She was confused; no one should be on the track field.
"It's a towel," the voice said.
"I can see that, but where are you?" Dashie said that the rain was coming down much harder now.
"Here, let me help," yelled the voice as she put an umbrella over her.
Dashie saw "her" with the umbrella and could feel the girl drying her head while holding the umbrella in her other hand.
"You're going to catch a cold!" the girl said.
"Thanks." Dashie said, smiling, feeling the towel being wrapped around her and the girl drying her.
"What are you doing, running in the rain?" The girl asked,
"Cooling off..." blushed Dashie as she faced away from her, but the girl pushed back under the umbrella and was drying her hair again.
"No! Stay here! We need to talk about what you're doing!" the girl said, a little worried about her.
"You mean about not knowing what I want to do?" Dashie sighed
"Yeah, you can be the greatest runner ever!"Why don't you want that?" the girl asked, a little confused about her decision.
"Because I don't know what I want! That's why!" Dashie yelled, pulling away from her.
"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" the girl asked as she pulled the towel around her, trying to dry her more.
"You won't understand," Dashie replied.
"I will if you tell me. You never open up about things," the girl said as she hugged her.
Dashie sighed, and she could feel herself blushing a bit. "I just don't know what I want in life," she finally said.
"It's not like you'll be the only one not going to a university or having a job. Everyone's worried about you, and so am I." The girl said, a little hurt, thinking Dashie was ignoring her feelings.
"I know. It's just that my friends already know what they're going to do. And I have no idea." Dashie explained as she was still facing away from her.
"That doesn't mean you can ignore everyone who cares about you! Including me!" the girl said, trying to hold her tears and hugging her more.
Dashie turned her head toward her and could see tears running down her face. Dashie sighed and turned around, hugging her and wiping the tears off.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ignore or hurt you." Dashie said, looking into her prism eyes and smiling.
"Your going to catch a cold! Come on! Let's go inside!" the girl said as they walked inside the building, heading towards the lockers. but stopped as the rain finally stopped. The girl noticed something on the track and pointed to Dashie's head. Dashie touched her hair and could see her dyed hair bleeding off, and she somehow left a rainbow trail around the track.
The rainbow track quickly glitched to Dash Rainboom, where Dash landed in front of the princess and bowed to her.
"Come on, Rainbow, you don't have to do that." Princess laughed.
"Yes, I have. You're a princess, and you're my friend, too." Rainbow said as she stood up and smiled.
"I'm happy for you, Rainbow; you followed your dream and made it. I'm so happy to be here as well, front row seats to your dream becoming true." The princess smiled as she hugged her.
"Yea. It was hard, but I'm glad it all paid off. Now, I can live my dream of being a wonderbolt. Thanks to you, static."Rainbow said as she hugged her back.
"I didn't do anything." the princess said.
"Of course you did! Without you always being there for me, like helping me study or cheering me on, I would never become a wonderbolt." Rainbow said, smiling.
"Oh, please, you're a natural. You proved yourself," the princess said, a little embarrassed.
"Well, whatever happens, I'll always be thankful to you." Rainbow said, smiling.
"Me too. You'll always be my friend and a hero to others. Thank you, Dashie." The princess said, looking at the rain in the sky.
"Your welcome, -static-. Always." Rainbow smiled.
The memory glitched again, and the sound was filled with static. Dash and Dashie were flickering between the two as they found themselves back in the garden with the big tree, but this time the tree was burned and the grass was dead. The building was destroyed, and everything beyond as well. They looked up in the burning red sky, and there in the sky was a sonic rainboom, but not one but five, as they rang out across the fiery sky. They looked down, and they could see the alicorn, as she was lifeless in their arms. They started to cry for no reason.
"Remember..." said a voice.
"Who's there?!" Dash yelled, looking around.
"Remember..." the voice said again.
"Remember what?" Dashie said, looking around.
"Her..." the voice replied.
"Whose her?!" Dash yelled.
"Remember her...remember..." The voice faded as a bright rainbow appeared in the middle of the raindrops as it flew towards them and slammed the garden, destroying it as the voice screamed in pain as everything became static and prism colors: "THE PAIN OF NOT SAVING HER!"
Dash quickly shot up from the bed, screaming as she remembered the nightmare and sweating a storm. She looked around and could see she was in a glass cell, surrounded by darkness, and the only light was the lamp above her. She removed the blanket and froze as she noticed her lower body was disappearing. She screamed again. "Ahhhh! What's happening to me??"She said she was scared.
"I see you awake," said a cold voice from the darkness.
"Who's there? Where am I? What did you do to me?" Dash asked as she tried to get up.
"I did nothing; I found you like that," the voice said, walking closer to the glass.
"What do you mean?" Dash asked.
"The real question is, how did you get here?" The voice asked
Dash quickly realized what the voice meant, and she quickly explained everything.
"Hmm. Interesting," the voice asked.
"Who are you?" Dash asked, looking at the direction of the voice.
"My name is..." The voice said, walking closer to the glass and the light revealing a woman wearing a bat theme outfit, "Nightmare."
"Nice outfit. Are you a superhero?" Dash asked, wondering if she should know her.
"Sort of," Nightmare replied.
"Where are we?" Dash asked.
"My batcave." Nightmare replied.
"Batcave?" Dash repeated.
"Yes, it's a place where I store my gadgets, information, and other things." Nightmare explained.
"How did I get here?" Dash asked.
"After Superpony disappeared, I found this weird reading in space, and a few days later, the same reading appeared over my city, and I tracked it down and found you two." Nightmare explained.
"Two? Where's Dashie?" demanded Dash as she flew to the glass and met Nightmare face-to-face.
"She's right there." Nightmare said, pointing behind as the batcave lights turned on, revealing Dashie in the same cell but across from them, but she was wheezing and sweating heavily.
"What's wrong with her?" Dash asked, seeing her condition.
"I don't know; when I found her, she was like that. She won't wake up." Nightmare explained.
"We have to help her!" Dash yelled.
"Relax. I've been doing tests on her body, and the bat computer should tell me what's wrong." Nightmare said, pressing a few buttons.
"How long were we out?" Dash asked.
"Three weeks," Nightmare replied.
"Three weeks?!" Dash said, surprised.
"I had to put you both in the same cell, as I had no idea what could happen at first, but I noticed it was getting worse between the two of you, so I put you two in your own cells. It's working for now." Nightmare said.
"What's happening between us?" Dash asked, flying to the glass again.
"I don't know, not yet," said Nightmare as she started to walk away.
"Wait, where are you going?" Dash asked as she pressed her face against the glass as she watched her walk up a fleet of stairs and disappear into the darkness. "HEY! COME BACK HERE!"
Rainbow sat down, as she was waiting for Nightmare to come back, and looked at the batcomputer, wondering what could be wrong with Dashie as the screen was flashing numbers and charts. Dash sat on the floor and closed her eyes, remembering the nightmare and the voice talking about not saving her. Was it about this? She closed her eyes and just waited, waiting for the only person who could help them.
An hour had passed, and Nightmare returned with a plate of food, mostly apples and hay. As she's going off by the horse's looks, she wouldn't eat any kind of meat, she guesses. "Here, it's not much, but I'll get my maid to cook more if you want." Nightmare said as she gave the plate to her by sliding it into the food hole.
"No thanks." Dash said as she looked at the hay and apples.
"Don't worry, it's not poison." Nightmare said.
"Why should I trust you? You are keeping us locked up like animals." Dash asked.
"Because your body needs nutrients." Nightmare replied, walking to the computer and sitting down.
Dash didn't want to eat, but the smell was too good, so she quickly ate the whole thing. "Well, it looks like your body was starved for three weeks." Nightmare said.
"So, can I ask some questions?" Dash asked.
"Go ahead." Nightmare said, pressing a few buttons on her computer and scanning something that she took out of her pocket.
"Why are you dressed as a bat?" asked Dash as she was licking the plate.
"I'm a bat," Nightmare replied.
"I can tell, but why are you dressed as one?" Dash asked, curious.
"Because people can fear a bat. If they see a human, they will not be afraid, not scared, but a bat is another story." Nightmare explained.
"People are not that stupid," Dash said.
"Trust me, they are." Nightmare replied.
"You can't just force someone to fear something just because you dress up as a bat." Dash debated
"People will fear something if it's the only thing they ever see. You don't know how cruel humans are." Nightmare said, not looking at her.
"Well, not everyone is like that." Dash said, smiling.
"You sound like her," Nightmare said.
"Sounds like who?" Dash asked.
"Superpony," Nightmare replied, still pressing buttons.
"What happened to her?" Dash asked.
"We don't know," Nightmare replied.
"Can't you use a tracker to find her?" Dash asked.
"That would make sense, but none of the trackers are showing she's not in this solar or any other solar system. I'm starting to believe she's not in this universe anymore, even more so with her look alive here with me and what you told me before hand." Nightmare said as she turned her chair towards her.
"You think we did something to her?" Dash suggested.
"Maybe I don't know."
"But we didn't do anything! I swear." Dash yelled, flying to the glass and pressing her face against the glass, all sad.
"Calm down. I didn't say that." Nightmare said as she got up.
"Then why do you say that?" Dash asked.
"Remember what I said when she disappeared? You three have the same energy readings. I searched for all the recorded energy that I could find and found nothing. I believed you swapped places with Superpony." Nightmare explained.
"Swap places?" Dash asked.
"Yes, I still don't know why, but maybe this shard has some answers." A nightmare was suggested, holding up a glowing crystal.
"Where did you get that?" Dash asked.
"Your friend was holding it when I found you. I had to take it." Nightmare explained.
"Give me the shard. NOW!" Dash demanded.
"Why should I? This could answer my questions. You even told me what it's used for." Nightmare asked, curious.
"It doesn't belong to you, though. Give it back now or else." Dash threatened.
"Or else what? You're locked in there; I can do whatever I want with this shard." Nightmare smirked as she walked up to the cell.
"I can still fly and hit the glass!" Dash threatens, showing her wings.
"And do what? Break the glass. How can you do that if you can't break through the glass?" Nightmare asked, tapping her glass cell.
"Huh?" Dash asked, confused.
"This glass is made out of diamonds. It's the hardest rock, and almost nothing can break it, not even the strongest metal or even your own fists." Nightmare explained.
"You don't have any right to keep us locked up!" Dash yelled, hitting the glass and hurting herself.
"I'm not. I'm keeping you both safe." Nightmare said as she walked back to the computer.
"Safe from what?!" Dash demanded.
"You two are different from my world. You have powers, and your bodies are changing. I can't let anyone know or someone can use you for the wrong reasons." Nightmare explained.
"What about my friend?" Dash asked.
"What about her?" Nightmare asked, not looking at her.
"When is she going to wake up?" Dash asked, flying to the side of her cell, where she has a clear view of Dashie.
"I don't know. Her body was changing faster than yours, but completely stopped." Nightmare explained that as she pressed a few buttons on her wrist, the lights were turned off and a hologram appeared between them. "This is her body; as you can see, something is changing her DNA, down to every cell."
"What does that mean?" Dash asked, looking at the hologram.
"She's turning into..." stopped Nightmare as she pressed another button on the computer, revealing Dash's body. "You. More "you". She's another version of you; isn't that what you said to me, right?" Nightmare switched to Dash's disappearing body in the hologram. "Now your..."
"What?" Dash said, confused.
"Your body, along with your cells, is disappearing, but it's almost halted to a stop as well." Nightmare explained that pressing a few buttons showed a different view.
"Is it reversible?" Dash asked, looking at what's left of her legs.
"Maybe."
Dash banged on the glass as she got her useless answer. She was getting mad with all the "Maybes" that this crazy batwoman was saying. Nightmare took notice of this and walked up to her, taking out the shard.
"I believe my universe is causing this. If we can find the shard in my world and send you to another universe, maybe it will undo this."Nightmare said, holding the shard.
"Do you know how many times you have said "maybe"? It's not helping!" Dash yelled, flying away from the glass.
"I know, and I'm sorry." Nightmare replied, walking up to the glass.
Dash slowly turned around and looked at her. There was sadness hidden in that neutral face of hers. She never met someone like her—so cold and distant but also a little bit caring, a bit like Princess Luna. Maybe there's some hope for her after all. "So, are you going to look for the shard alone?"
"No, I just scanned the shard to make a tracker, but the computer can't pick anything from it. You told me the shard starts to glow when another shard is nearby, correct?"
"Yea."
"Then I just need to fly around the world until it starts glowing."
"Fly? You can fly."
"No, I'm a normal human after all. But I have this." explained Nightmare as she pressed another button and the upper part of the cave lit up, revealing a bat-shaped jet.
"Woah! That's so cool! I would love to fly that."Dash said, amazed.
The jet lowered itself with its autopilot as the boosters came to life and opened its cockpit, allowing Nightmare to jump inside and turn on a radio.
"Raven, meet me at Gotthold's tallest building; we're going on a mission."
"Roger, that boss!" replied a young female voice, which to Dash sounded like Spike if he were a girl.
"Hold, are you going to leave me alone?"
"No, someone's going to be with you soon; she's a great maid; she'll take care of you."
Nightmare closed the cockpit, and the jet flew away as the lights turned off, and it was just the batcomputer and Dash. She was wondering if she should trust this woman, but her heart told her to. She sat on the bed and just watched over Dashie, as she was still in pain.
"Hang in there, Dashie; everything will be alright." Dash thought as she kept watching.
After a few hours, Dash could hear a door opening at the top of the stairs, and someone was walking down it until it stopped, and soon, all the lights turned on, revealing the cave fully and the objects it held, like a giant penny or the playing card with Trixie's face on it. The person, wearing a white and black maid uniform, started to walk towards the computer while carrying a plate with food and drinks. Dash could tell it was Celestia, but she was old and her mane was completely gray. The maid put some apples, more hay, and even water on a white plate, walked up to Dash, and placed the food in the food slot.
"Thanks," Dash said, looking at the food.
"My pleasure. How is your friend?" the maid asked.
"No change."
"I hope she will be alright."
"So do I."
"If you want to ask me something, I'm right here." The maid said as she walked to a wall and pressed a button, and a seat appeared.
"Well, since you're going to be here, What's your name?"
"I'm Cindy Nickle."
"Cindy, where are we exactly?"
"In the batcave, Miss Nightmares is home."
"I can tell that, but where is the batcave located?"
"I can't say; I'm sworn to secrecy."
"I can't blame you. Can you tell me anything about this place?"
"Hmm, Miss Nightmares, the owner and leader of the Element League."
"Element League? What's that?"
"They are a group of superheroes who work together to stop the criminals, like here in the city."
"What kind of criminals?"
"Evil kind."
"Ah okay..."
"Is there something wrong, miss?"
"Yeah, are they really heroes or something?"
"Miss, did you just doubt the league?"
"No, no, no. I just wonder, is that all?"
"They are the greatest; they stopped a giant spider last week."
"Okay."
"And they defeated a monster called the Lich just a month ago."
"Alright."
"They even stop the evil Doctor Discord by throwing him into the sun."
"I get it. So they are heroes; I'm sorry for doubting them."
"I can understand, miss. I will leave you with your meal. If you want something, just tell me."
"Ok, thanks."
Cindy nodded, took out a newspaper, and started to read it. Dash flew up to the plate, grabbed an apple, and started to eat it. "Applejack would love this; it's so sweet." Dash thought, smiling.
"So, is the food good?" Cindy asked.
"Yes, it's the best." Dash replied, flying back to her bed.
"I'm glad; that old apple tree was useful after all, and Nightmare wanted to cut it down. But I convinced her that apples can be useful." Cindy said.
"She didn't like apples, huh." Dash joked.
"She hated them."
"Well, it's her loss then."
"Yeah, you are right."
Dash ate her apple and drank the water while watching over Dashie. Cindy took notice, put her paper down, and pressed a switch on the computer, opening both cells. Dash was confused by this, but Cindy waved at her to go to her friend's side.
"Thank you!" cried Dash as she flew to Cindy and hugged her. "You're just as kind as my Cindy."
Cindy patted Dash back and watched as Dash flew to Dashie's side and held her hand.
"Sorry if this is rude, but what are your names?" asked Cindy as she joined Dash.
"Rainbow Dash, and she's called Dashiell Reinbold."
Cindy nodded and started to clean the place up. It was peaceful until both heard the roar of the jet. She quickly turned around and saw the batjet flying down and slowly landing in its spot. Dash quickly flew back into her cell and told Cindy to close it, as she didn't want her to get into trouble. Cindy followed orders and shut it down. Just then, Nightmare and a female teenager, wearing an all-black bird suit, were walking behind her.
"Wow, you weren't joking about the disappearing pony," said the teenage girl, whose voice was muffled by the mask.
"Of course, Raven. Why would I lie to you?"
"I dunno, never thought I'd hear you say "talking pony" in my life."
"Just be quiet, please."
Nightmare walked up to Cindy and spoke about how Dash and his friend were doing and so on, before she finally walked over to Dash's cell and took out the shard. "With Pink Bolt, we searched the whole world, and we-" Nightmare was cut off as Dash flew to her and spoke about finding another shard, but Nightmare cut her off as well. "We didn't find anything. The shard never shines once."
Dash's face became sad as she slowly hovered to the ground as she thought about what was said to her. Was the shard not on this planet? Maybe there weren't any shards in the universe? She started to worry until the food slot was opened and the shard fell in front of her and started to glow. She looked up and saw Nightmare touching her chin.
"Just as I thought, the shard will only glow for you and your friend. With it already glowing, it tells me it's in my city. That's why you landed here." Nightmare said.
"Wait, it's here?" asked Dash happily.
"Yes, it's here, somewhere." Nightmare said, nodding.
"So, we got to look at the whole city?" asked Raven as she walked up to Nightmare.
"I guess we have too; Pink Bolt is dealing with a problem in her city, so she can't help us right now."
"That will take us ages."
"I can help," said Dash.
"How?" asked Nightmare.
"I'm the fastest pegasus in my world. I bet I can find the shard in ten seconds flat."
"That would help."
"Wait, you're not actually thinking of letting her help?" asked Raven.
"Yes."
"But-"
"No buts."
"What?"
"We can discuss this later; now go and help her in the jet; I need to talk to Cindy," ordered Nightmare as she walked back to her maid, who was dusting the penny. "I got an alarm that the cell was opened by the computer. You let her out?" asked Nightmare as she stood behind her, finally taking her mask off.
"Yes, she was worried for her friend and wanted to stay by her side." Cindy explained that she was still cleaning.
"..."
"Also, you can trust her; oh, by the way, her name is Dash and her friend's name is Dashie."
"..."
"She won't cause any problems...maybe."
"..."
"She was just scared and wanted to help her friend. Please give her a chance."
"...fine."
"Thank you, Mistress Brice."
Nightmare nodded as she put her mask back on and returned to the jet, leaving Cindy alone with a smile.
"It's so weird talking to her without her mask on," thought Cindy as she continued her work.
Dash was waiting for her as Raven and herself sat on the back chair in the cockpit. She was getting impatient and banged on the glass.
"Are we leaving or what?" Dash yelled as she hit the glass again.
"Yea, yea, I'm coming." Nightmare replied, annoyed, as she opened the hatch and jumped inside.
"Finally," said Dash.
"Can we just go already? It's almost morning, and I'm tired," complained Raven.
"Sure, the jet is fully charged, and we can search the whole city."
"Cool, let's go already!"
Nightmare pushed a button on her wrist, activating the jet boosters, and started to fly up as the cave ceiling opened up and let them out. It was a dark night, but the city was full of bright lights and busy roads. There were also many tall buildings, like one that has a giant "S" logo, a big "A" building, a clock tower, and the highest building, which had a giant "K" on it.
"Wow, this is a beautiful sight," said Dash, amazed.
"So, are we just going to sit here and gawk, or are we going to find the shard?" complained Raven.
"Raven, can you do me a favor and shut up for once?" Nightmare asked.
"Fine, I'll stay quiet, but you'll have to explain things to me when I wake up."
"Sure, just don't make a sound."
Raven nodded and started to yawn as she rested her head on the jet's window. Nightmare shook her head and turned the jet as the shard started to glow more. "I wonder if that kid is still mad." I thought, pressing the booster.
As the jet flew through the city, the shard's glow got brighter and brighter. Nightmare pressed another button, revealing a radar, which showed the shard's position. She was getting closer, so she flew lower and lower until she found an empty ally. She flew the jet, landed it on a nearby roof, and shut it off. "The shard should be in this area." Nightmare explained and opened the cockpit.
"Sweet," replied Raven as she got out.
Nightmare did the same and started to walk to the edge, looking over the ally and the nearby buildings, trying to find the shard as Rainbow Dash pointed the shard everywhere.
"Maybe the shard isn't on the streets; maybe it's in one of those buildings." Nightmare said.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's check them out." Dash said.
"Yeah, let's check them out," replied Raven.
"Hold on, we need to go about this the smart way, or the shard will end up in the wrong hands." Nightmare said.
"How are we going to do that, boss?"
"..."
"Boss, what are you planning?"
"..."
"You know I hate when you're quiet."
"..."
"Come on, tell me."
"..."
"Stop ignoring me and just say it."
"..."
"Please."
"..."
"I will follow your orders if you tell me."
"..."
"Don't make me say please again."
"..."
"PLEASE!"
Dash was trying to hold back her laughter as she watched this little back and forth. Yeah, this was Spike, but if he was a girl,
"Okay, just stop. I'll tell you."
"Thank god."
"We will break into those buildings and search them with Dash, since the shard only glows for her."
"Roger that boss!"
Dash flew over to the building and waited for the other two as they glided to the building and entered it with her. Unknown to them, inside the building, a craze of laughter could be heard as the cameras watched the group enter the building.
"Little Oh Bat found my hideout. This is going to be fun!"
end of chapter 5