It was getting late. Celestia's sun had set a few hours ago, and Luna's moon shone on the icy land. Rainbow Dash loved the way the ice glistened in the moon light. Celestia's day was more important, but Luna's night was always more beautiful, especially in the winter.
She had been flying since earlier that afternoon, and it was almost midnight. The new armor Luna gave Dash kept her warm, even in the sub-zero temperatures. During the flight, she was trying to understand an enemy she hadn't even met.
'According to the princesses, we don't know her mental stability... Her threat level is black, but... Don't know how she will react to certain emotions or events... Been on her own for nearly 15 years... Can kill without blinking an eye... Anything she holds on to or loves... Is it murder or self-defense? ... How do I beat her?' “Argghhh. This is impossible,” Dash thought out loud, frustrated.
Constant thoughts swam in her head at all times. She hated not knowing anything about her target. It infuriated her to not have all the info. That was her specialty - she was the soldier who couldn't be beaten. She knew everything about her target: their strengths, weaknesses, need, desires, every little detail.
Then there was Twilight Sparkle. No one knew anything about her, only that she has no fear of killing.
Rainbow reached into a pocket in her armor. She pulled out a glossed piece of paper. A photograph. She looked at it and calmed down, a warm smile spreading across her face.
It was a picture of her and three others after her graduation from the military academy for the royal guard. Standing in the center was Rainbow, pride shining through her eyes, happy that she had achieved her goals. Standing off to her right was none other than Princess Luna, her mentor and friend. To Dash’s left was a soft butterscotch pegasus with a pink mane. One half of her face hid behind her mane, like a curtain. Fluttershy had a small smile on her face. Standing in front of Dash, in between her front hooves, was a small orange filly with a light purple mane whose mane and tail always reminded Dash of a chicken. Scootaloo.
She always carried this picture whenever she was upset or anxious. It reminded her of whom she was doing all this for. Her only friends.
Dash looked up and saw a soft light in the distance. She had finally arrived. She tucked the photo away into a safe pocket, and grinned like a daredevil. 'I just hope I’m not too late,' she thought to herself, before blasting off towards the town.
=
While Dash was speeding towards the winter town, Luna was doing her own searching. As Princess of the Night, she was also the princess of dreams and nightmares. She could find anypony’s mind and enter it. Anypony’s but one. When Twilight first disappeared, Luna tried to find her in the dream realm but could not, leading her and her sister to believe the young filly was dead.
But now she was going to try again. She had told her sister she what she was going to do, and her sister agreed. Luna walked into her room and ordered the guards outside to allow no one in for any reason. “I don't care if Discord is back,” was what she told the guards.
She walked to her balcony and drew a curtain over the doorway. She turned and picked up four candles with her magic. The wax sticks were solid black and sat in deep blue dishes. She used a match and lit the candles. Instead of a warm yellow light, they shone with a pitch black tone. As the anti-candles grew bigger, the light and sound in the room lowered. Soon, the entire room was pitch-black.
This was not a problem, since Luna could see perfectly in the dark. She moved to the center of the room and sat on her haunches. She slowly closed her eyes. When she reopened them, she was floating in darkness. Not darkness just as the absence of light - darkness as simply nothing. Surrounding her were tiny white lights. Each light represented a pony and his or her mind, but there was one in particular she was looking for.
She swam through the darkness, scanning each orb, looking for Twilight's mind. Swimming on and on in this world, for what seems like hours, is only minutes in the conscious world. Luna continued, searching and sensing for anything unfamiliar.
'If she is alive, her consciousness must be here. If I can't find it, this could mean that she is possessed, or she's so far insane she doesn't have a conscious state,' Luna thought, searching for some salvation to come. After what seemed like days, she was almost ready to give up when she stopped.
Just in front of her was one orb, slightly bigger than the rest. But the colors were wrong. The others had been shades of white. This orb was a mix of white, black, blood red,
Luna stared at the mind of Twilight Sparkle for a moment before setting her jaw in decision. She floated towards it and touched her horn to the orb, letting her magic flow into it. When she reopened her eyes, she was standing in a hallway.
She immediately noticed the walls. On her right were simple, white marble walls with no specific pattern to them. On her left, however, the walls were decayed and seemed to be made from yellow sandstone. Black veins ran under the walls, leaving huge indentations.
On the right wall, there was a door a few feet away. It was a mahogany door, with no other designs. The door on the left was an old and worn down steel door, covered in rust and mold. The veins under the walls sprouted out and covered the door. They were thick black tendrils, similar to the ones Luna saw wrapped under the walls.
Luna walked over to the mahogany door and slowly opened it. Inside was a room filled with toys and stuffed animals. The room reminded her of a nursery for foals. She walked in, leaving the door open, and explored the room.
The room was large, at least 30 feet long and 20 feet wide. Scattered everywhere were toys and other things to keep a small child busy.
“Would you like some tea?”
Luna turned her head and saw a young filly sitting at a table with some stuffed toys.
The filly was Twilight Sparkle.
At least, it was how Luna had last seen Twilight.
She just had her plain lavender coat; no cutie mark. She had a short mane and tail with stripes of magenta, dark pink, and dark blue. A smile was plastered across her face, one that shone with the innocence of a child.
She was sitting in a chair next to her stuffed animals with a small plate of cookies and a small pot of 'tea'.
“You would like some? Okay,” she spoke towards the teddy bear. She tipped her head down and concentrated on the pot of tea. A moment later, her horn began to glow and encased the tea pot. The tea pot rattled and floated an inch of the table before clattering back down. She tried again, with the same results. She looked at the pot with a small frown, and Luna could tell that Twilight was about to cry.
Her eyes began to tear up, and she put her head in her hooves. A moment later, Twilight heard rattling and saw the tea pot, encased in a dark blue glow, begin to pour the 'tea' into one of the cups. She stared, astonished, and turned around to see Luna, standing tall and smiling down on her.
Her face broke out into a wide smile. “PRINCESS LUNA!” she called out. She jumped from her chair and nuzzled the chest of the alicorn. Luna bent her head down and returned the show of affection to the young unicorn.
In that moment, Luna forgot the darkness. There was no way this filly would commit such murders and travesties.
The filly pulled her head back and looked at the alicorn in confusion. “Princess? I didn't know you were coming. What are you doing here?” she asked with innocence only a child is capable of.
The princess was stunned for a moment before she responded, “I-I came to check on you.” She continued, her motherly smile returning, “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
The filly’s smile came back, and she wrapped her front hooves around the princess’ chest. “It's so great to see you again. I was going to see you soon anyway.”
Luna's eyebrows knitted together as she cocked her head at the filly. “See me soon?”
The filly looked up at her, the smile still on her face. “Yeah. You didn't know? We're all-”
“INQUIO.”
The filly and Luna turned towards the door. Standing there was a young unicorn, approximately the same age Twilight should be. She had a light yellow coat with a golden mane and tail. She was leaning against the door frame with a scolding look on her face.
“Inquio? What did I tell you about talking to strangers?”
The filly Inquio groaned. “But Benevolentia, she's not a stranger. She's the princess. I've met her before,” she argued
The golden unicorn gave Inquio a look a parent would give a child for talking about something they don't know.
“She is if I say she is, and-” She looked at Luna for a few moments, taking her in with her eyes. “-I say no. Go back to your tea party.”
The filly grumbled and looked to the princess. “Come back soon okay?” she asked, her cheery attitude returning. She sat down and munched on a cookie.
Luna turned back to the golden unicorn. She was still staring at Luna, biting her lower lip, as if not knowing what to do with the night princess.
Benevolentia set her jaw in decision. “Come with me. I'd like to introduce you to some ponies.”
[ hr ] =
Rainbow Dash dove towards the town. The air began rippling around her, threatening to break the sound barrier. A few hundred feet from striking the ground, her wings flew open like parachutes, and a few seconds later, she struck the ground.
She slowly stood and surveyed the town. The townspeople had gathered and were watching her, but she had no time for them. She walked towards the center of the town and called out to them. They looked at her confusedly, like they weren't sure if she was here to help or kill them.
Rainbow cleared her throat, ignoring their faces. “Attention, everypony. My name is Wing Commander Rainbow Dash. I am looking for a fugitive, and I have reason to believe she has or will come through your town. Her name is-”
“Twilight Sparkle.”
Rainbow looked for the voice that had called out. The crowd parted and Dasher, the shopkeeper, walked out and met her.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Rainbow confirmed. “Has she been here?” she asked the pony in front of her.
The earth pony looked at the damaged buildings, and Rainbow Dash followed his gaze. He turned back to Dash. “You should come with me.” He turned and walked to the general store, and Dash followed her.
Once inside, they took a seat at a table in front of a fireplace. Dasher put his hooves to his temples and began massaging them.
Rainbow gave one of her famous smirks. “Rough day, huh?”
The colt put his hooves on the table and wouldn't meet Rainbow's eyes. “Confusing, you could say. Twilight Sparkle?”
Rainbow grew serious. “Yes. She was here, I take it?”
The colt exhaled massively. “Yes. You could say that.”
Rainbow leaned forward. “What happened? Spare no details.”
“…In the end, her eyes went black, and she teleported away. Not just her eyes, though. The way she looked at me right before she disappeared. It's like she wasn't in control. Like she was rag doll. Not to mention that smile. It just screamed-”
“Insanity?” Rainbow asked.
Dasher gave a sullen look to the table. “That's the only thing you can call it.”
Rainbow Dash sat up. “She's a lot more powerful than I thought before. Fighting with two knives against multiple opponents is extremely difficult for most ponies. I mean, most unicorns can't even move one ball up and down and another left and right without messing up. Using 4 weapons and fighting with another is nearly impossible. The amount of concentration and power required would be massive.
“If the expenditure was enough to knock her out, even for just a few minutes, she might face serious withdrawal.” Rainbow looked out the window at the pale moon and shining ice. “You don't have a motel or anything, do you? It's best to search in the day.”
Dasher nodded and turned to a stallion at the bar. “Dusk. Hey Dusk Shine! Give this gal a room for the night.”
The stallion turned to get a set of keys.
Rainbow stood and walked past Dasher. He spoke up, “Oh, and one more thing: She had a letter with her. She sent it via magic to Canterlot. It had three violet ribbons around it, if that's of any use to you.”
Rainbow Dash continued walking. “All information is useful. I'll see you in the morning.”