In the infinite expanse of space above, the stars burned brightly. Some say that they're the souls of ponies long departed, well on their journey to the fields of heaven above. Over periods of time unfathomable to all but those afflicted by immortality's double-edged blessing they flicker, burn out and finally die, the blazing trails of the departed finally finding their place amongst the golden fields of Elysium. They serve as reminders of those lost within the convoluted twists and folds of Equestrian history, lovingly guided towards their home beyond the mortal plane by the princess that raises the moon and sculpts the night sky.
It was under these stars that the cold, desolate landscape basked. A world known to nopony bar those upon which fate cast had her most hateful glance, condemned to be denied of everything that keeps a pony sane. A world which felt not the sun's loving caress, nor the charming laughter of foals rejoicing in the dawning of their day before the sobriety of adulthood dare rob them of their innocence and boundless mirth. Instead, it was a world upon which the twisted, decaying remains of life would feel at home, shunning the light to hide from the wretched stench of inevitable putrefaction the cascading warmth would bring. It was not a world for ponies; yet within one of the weeping welts which scarred this world one stirred.
"Ugh, so this is what Applejack's trees feel like after bucking season."
The cerulean mare shakily lifted herself to her hooves, forgoing opening her eyes as she took a haggard, laboured breath. Whatever had transpired to bring her to this wasteland had not treated her kindly. Her coat was matted with sweat and dust and her feathers, normally elegant in appearance, stuck out at obtuse and broken angles upon her spread wings. Screams of agony shot to her brain from the shattered instruments of flight, each feather awry the tip of a knife just puncturing her skin and digging into her flesh in time with even the most subtle movements. Unsteadily she stood, praying to some unknown entity that her legs wouldn't give way as she grimaced at what she was about to do. Then slowly she began to draw her wings to her filthy, pain-racked frame.
Rainbow Dash bit her lip tightly as she struggled to shoulder the indescribable torment. She wouldn't sob. She couldn't afford to. Not now, not ever. No matter how much every neuron in her brain screeched at her nor how violently her legs quivered and threatened to give way, it wouldn't break her. But oh, how it tried. Every fibre of her being protested against her actions, wishing for nothing more than to simply drop down into the dust and grit below her hooves and let it consume her. Her eyes were clenched shut, desperately trying to disguise the weakness she feared they would betray as hellfire followed in the wake of her waning wingspan. This was something she had to do, though. Leaving her wings open would be running the risk of permanent damage, not to mention that even the slightest breeze could send her convulsing on the ground in pain. So with morbid determination she saw her task through and her wings soon hugged her sides protectively. Every breath she took now painfully bristled her feathers but, as Rainbow Dash reasoned, 'it sure beats option B'. It was only then that she opened her eyes.
If there was anything comparable to what lay before her eyes at that very moment, Rainbow Dash couldn't think of it. Before her stood an expanse of grey that stretched on unhindered almost as far as the eye could see, crowned by a dark night sky. Far off in the distance she could just barely make out what looked like a cliff. Rocks and mounds of dirt occasionally marred the otherwise pristine surface, though they were insignificant in stature and offered her no clues about where she was. Slowly she turned her head, feeding her brain a featureless panorama which was as uniform as it was unsettling. Her brow furrowed deeply as she tried to comprehend what it was she was looking at. She came to the conclusion that it was... well, not much of anything really. The landscape was not a comforting one, however, and she couldn't pinpoint what it was that made her feel that way. She had surmised that there weren't many ponies around here when she was looking around, but that wasn't what bothered her.
No, it's something else, she thought to herself.
She sat down on her haunches, trying to recall what had led to her ending up in this place and winced as she accidentally ground her side against the inside of her right wing. She took a moment to let the pain subside and once she was comfortable she started to organise her thoughts as best she could, absentmindedly circling a hoof around in the dust as she did so. The events prior to her finding herself in this alien landscape were hazy at best, but bits and pieces flitted about in her mind. She imagined herself flying about in her own consciousness, dressed up as a Wonderbolt as she chased down the elusive pieces to her puzzle. This made her giggle a little. It was the first time she had in a long while.
"Alright Rainbow, you've gotta focus if you want to figure out what the hay is going on here!"
She got down to business. Even though her recollection of the previous twenty-four hours was muddled and probably not the most reliable, she eventually managed to piece together a series of events which made sense to her. There was an intruder in her house that night and without an ounce of fear she had leapt out of her bed and dashed down the hallway to confront the individual that had broken into her home. The intruder was somepony important apparently, because Rainbow recalled being stunned that anypony could possibly have the gall to break into the house of Equestria's best young flier. When she had encountered the intruder... she'd had a fight with them? A verbal stoush? She wasn't sure what the nature of it was, but there was definitely some heat between herself and the individual that dared to break into her house in the middle of the night. Then she woke up here. Her face was twisted with confusion.
Rainbow puzzled over these memories for a long while, her mind unaccustomed to weaving so many threads of thought into a meaningful tapestry. Not that she was stupid, of course, but she admitted even to herself that she wasn't exactly Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight Sparkle. A strange memory suddenly jumped out from her subconscious, a fragment of a conversation she had with someone:
"Look, Celestia. You can't have my turtle-"
"Tortoise."
"Whatever. You really creeped everyone out last week, you know? I don't mean to be rude or anything, but maybe you should seek some help. Like, real soon. Twilight had to wipe her own memory after the things you did, you know."
Rainbow's mind opened like a floodgate, memories of the traumatising play date and the sleepless nights she had to endure at the hands of one particularly delusional alicorn pervading every corner of her mind. She recalled spending hours trying to calm Twilight down, her friend in hysterics over the brazen display of alicorn-tortoise relations put on show by Princess Celestia. She remembered night after night of the alicorn skulking about her house in the dark, trying to catch a glimpse of the tortoise. A terrifying realisation then began to dawn on her and Rainbow Dash looked up into the night sky, her face pallid with dread. Lo and behold, against the backdrop of sempiternal starlight she saw a place that she knew and had called home all her life.
She then, in no uncertain terms, opined that Princess Celestia should go get fucked.