The lone town hall in Ponyville was very quiet at late dusk. Most of the politicians and town officials had left for home as the sun began to set on the horizon. The only light still present in the dark halls emanated from Mayor Mare's office. The grey mare was focused on the parchment in front of her; some new bill had caught her attention.

A swinging door in the hallway interrupted her concentration. She took off her glasses as the sound of hooves resonated throughout the room. Something must have happened in town. That would be the only reason for this kind disturbance. She got up from her desk and walked over to the door, slowly peering into the dark corridor.

Twilight Sparkle, Applejack and Rarity were running at full speed down the long passage, obviously headed straight for the her office. They bore very serious expressions and both unicorns had a light spell at the tip of their horns. Mayor Mare walked outside to greet the three exhausted ponies.

"Applejack! Rairity! Miss Sparkle! What is the meaning of this?" she asked with a slight startle in her voice.

"Mayor Mare, we have an urgent letter from the Princess you must read," explained Twilight.

"Something has happened Rainbow Dash which has caused a great stir in Canterlot, please read it with post haste", continued Rarity.

Applejack opened the saddlebag on her back. Inside sat two neatly rolled scrolls, bearing the royal sun insignia. One had been opened and the other had not. Twilight levitated the unsealed scroll out of the bag and presented it to the Mayor, who had placed her reading glasses back on. She cautiously broke the seal and began murmuring the words as she read.

Dear Mayor Mare,

My gracious congratulations to the year's Summer Sun celebration, even with the return of Nightmare Moon and my abrupt disappearance from the initial festivities I feel that Ponyville, as hosts, handled the situation excellently. Now I must call on this service once again.

What you are about to read is highly classified and may only be known by yourself, my faithful student Twilight Sparkle, her associates and her assistant. As much as it pains me to write this, disclosing any information to the public is punishable by death.

Mayor Mare stopped to look at the ponies. They all seemed very stressed which causes her to start sweating as well. She continued.

My sister, Princes Luna, was not defeated by my magic this time, but by the Elements of Harmony absorbed by Twilight and her friends. All six ponies bravely stood against Nightmare Moon and managed to vanquish her evil spirit. Each of these ponies are guardians of the Elements now and will remain, hidden, in Ponyville. They may not reveal their power to others and you are to see that this order is carried out to the letter.

However, a problem which requires your immediate attention has already arisen. Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, has gone into a near-coma state and does not seem to be recovering. It seems obvious that a higher magic is at work here and may be controlling the beloved pegasus. As of this writing I am already setting off to the mystical city of Bronkonia to consult with the council of unicorn magic. Until my return to Ponyville you are to ensure that Rainbow Dash and her friends stay safe and monitor her condition. My sister will patrol the night skies, so internal security will be handled by the the royal guards at your disposal.

Let us all hope for Rainbow Dash's well being.

Signed
HRH Princess Celestia of Equestria

Mayor Mare's eyes looked up at Twilight. She turned around, walked into her office and spoke.

The three ponies walked into the dimly-lit office and noticed the Mayor placing the scroll inside her safe. She turned around and the four ponies started discussing the current situation. The moon was in full view through the bay windows, and a dark figure was seen flying across the night sky.

Rainbow Dash felt exhausted from the trek across the dark lake. Her mane was soaking wet and her magenta eyes were focused on the rippled water in front of her; even her feathery wings had started to drag alongside her worn body. The ominous feeling of being watched had never left, in fact, she almost felt comforted by its presence. At least she wouldn't feel so lonely anymore.

The orange light began to grow closer, but it still appeared distant. The pegasus stopped to take another glimpse of it. The bright glow and warm heat it radiated gave her stamina to push forward. Now she definitely felt closer. Another chill started to creep its way across her flank, towards her back and through her mane. Not this time, she thought.

Dash leaped up into the air, spreading her wings to take flight. However, the dark water lashed out and dragged her back down.

The pegasus's warm body and tattered spirit had affected her judgement greatly. She searched the sky with her bewildered eyes, unable to see anything. A defeated Dash sank into herself; she no longer felt the strength that she had had a few moments ago. The depressing feelings of loneliness and anguish ripped through her mind. At last she cried in her own brow.

The broken pony lay crippled in the dark lake. Her tears struck the murky water, causing the mixed fluids to create bright orange smoke that hazed across its surface. Dash's closed eyes did not see the smoke. As more smoke was being made, faint laughter started to echo from across the peninsula. Dash was finally able to hear the sinister chuckle through her own snickering. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see that the dark pool of water had been replaced by a bright room.

The cyan pegasus, still crouched and soaking wet, looked around the stone room with her swollen eyes. The walls to her sides and behind her had no real distinctive features, besides a few chains and torches that burned with bright orange flames. She still stood in the pool of water, but it had an orange tint about it; an improvement over the blackened sludge she had been trekking through earlier. However, these distractions were only masking the real feature, a large cage that spanned the entire wall in front of her.

Large wooden pillars stretched from the floor to the ceiling and were firmly braced with horizontal beams. In the middle was a large white sign, covered in strange markings. Dash walked closer to the paper to try and make out the scribblings, however, it was written in a language she couldn't understand. The paper seemed old and a small tear protruded from the top downward, about half a hooves length. Behind the large gate was a dark void, similar to the one she was walking in. It appeared to be a prison and Dash immediately felt shaken by the thought of being imprisoned.

"I...I.. am Rainbow Dash! And I'm not afraid of anypony! Show yourself!" she replied.

Its dark billowing made Dash cringe but she stood her ground. "Rainbow Dash, was it? Yes... yes... Rainbow Dash... bwhaha... Do you know who I am?"

"Yeah. You're the perverted creep who kept touching me while I was walking through this horrible muck."

From the darkness a set of large white eyes opened to reveal the voice's figure. The eyes were not of any pony Dash ever saw, they had bright red irises with black pupils slicing through them; they looked very similar to Spike's eyes. Underneath the eyes, a set of pearl white teeth appeared; they were razor sharp, perfectly aligned and formed a large smile. Dash was certainly scared of the creature's mysterious face. She slowly backed away from the cage.

The creature licked its teeth before narrowing its eyes and continuing to speak.

Canterlot. Princess Celestia was hurrying down the one of the large passage ways that lead from the royal court towards the castle's entrance. She was followed by two of her royal guards and what appeared to be personal assistant of some sort - a beige unicorn with bright red mane and a closed eye for a cutie mark. The unicorn was levitating a scroll in front of her face and quickly scribbling down instruction Celestia was whispering to her.

"One final note, Copper," said the Princess, "My trip to Bronkonia is to stay a secret; even the royals are to remain unaware of this situation."

"Of course, your highness. But what of Luna and the guards?" Copper said, looking up to the mighty alicorn who was magically creating a white cloak around her body.

"Even though it has only been one day since my sister's return, I can feel her heart is back to where it once was, before she was corrupted by Nightmare Moon. So, in my absence, she is to take full control over the castle and any responsibilities that come with it. The guards are to follow her orders without question."

The unicorn bit her lip as she scribbled the final sentence onto the parchment. The four ponies reached the door to the castle. The guards opened the door and bowed as the Princess stepped into the dark night; Luna ensured that the crescent moon reflected no light from the sun that evening. Celestia turned back to Copper.

"If anything goes wrong, or if you hear anything about Rainbow Dash, please contact me as soon as possible."

The unicorn nodded and bade farewell before the princess lit up her horn and dissipated into the darkness of the night. As Copper and the guards were slowly walking back to the main throne room they came across Princess Luna, who was staring at the stars through one of the palace’s many large windows. Copper cautiously approached the alicorn and cleared her throat. However, before she could say a word, Luna sparked a conversation.

Copper felt pinned against the wall, but luckily remembered one of the letters that Celestia had given her earlier that morning. With a bright red spark, the unicorn revealed an unsealed scroll in front of Luna.

"This is a letter from your sister's personal student, Twilight Sparkle. She wrote a detailed report on all the friends she met in Ponyville. It’s quite a co-incidence that each of them became a guardian for the Elements of Harmony."

"Ah yes," replied Luna. "My memories of the whole encounter are still a bit fuzzy, but I do remember this blue pegasus's loyalty: very admirable."

Luna was quite surprised to see the scroll nearly reached the floor: it was indeed very detailed. Each pony had a physical description, psychiatric analysis and strengths/flaws section.

Luna resealed the scroll and made it disappear. "It's time I took to the skies. See you in the morning, Copper."

The blue alicorn walked out onto a nearby balcony and took off, quickly disappearing into the night sky and leaving the beige unicorn to her duties.

The half-moon provided almost no radiance over Ponyville, so it came as no surprise that all the lanterns in town were burning furiously to provide suitable lighting for the dark streets. The library in the middle of town was under heavy lock and key. Royal guards were situated outside the door and others were patrolling around town. The noticeboards around town, usually littered with outdated posters and advertisements, were cleaned to make room for the new decree that Mayor Mare had posted only moments ago.

To all citizens of Ponyville.

Her royal highness, Princess Celestia, has put Ponyville into a state of emergency until further notice. Please do not be alarmed by the armed forces in town, they are merely there for your own safety. Please cooperate with the authorities and carry on with your daily lives. That is all.

Mayor Mare, Mayor of Ponyville.

Applejack, Rarity and Twilight entered the library. They were the only ponies allowed to enter and leave the premises unquestioned, so naturally they felt a little intimidated by the armed guards standing outside the door. Twilight walked over to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, who hae passed out next to Spike (fast asleep in his basket). The three of them snuggled closely by the base of the stairs, shivering slightly due to the cool evening frost.

"Twilight," said Applejack. "Don't worry too much ya' hear. I'm sure the Princess will find a way to cure Dash."

The unicorn almost didn't hear the earth pony as she pulled a blanket over her sleeping friends. She turned to face Applejack, hoping some inspiration could make her fib about her true emotions. However this was the Element of Honesty; lying now would just be a contradiction. Rarity walked over to Twilight and gave her a hug.

"Don't think for a second that this is your fault, Twi," said Rarity comfortingly.

Twilight turned away before finally speaking: "No, no, no. I'm sorry you guys, but you're wrong. If I hadn't come to Ponyville... if I hadn't met you... then none of this would be happening."

"Yeah, but then Nightmare Moon would have taken over all of Equestia!" replied Applejack. "We couldn't let our new friend take on a mystical being on her own."

Rarity also added "... This was much our own doing as anypony else’s Twilight. There is no need to be so hard on yourself."

All three ponies stopped to look at Dash, who was still motionless in the middle of the room. It had been a long and eventful day and everypony started to feel exhausted.

"Look Twi, we did everything we could today. Let's leave Dash in the princess's hooves now and get some shut eye. Tomorrow is another day," said Applejack.

Rarity nodded with her friend's resolution before turning towards the exit. "Please get some sleep Twilight."

Twilight tracked Applejack as the door closed behind her, however she could not help but stare at the idle Dash. Her eyes were watering again. How would she live with herself if Dash never recovered? Why would her mentor react to the situation like this? Why all the armed forces? Twilight's mind was spinning. The poor unicorn, disregarding Applejack's kind words, convinced herself she was to blame. This was her first time having actual friends and now she bound one of them inside a magical prison? This pushed her even deeper into thought. I need to help Dash right now. Mystical elements? Stone-like coma? Introduction of magic to a non-magical being?

Then it hit her. The dark magic section within Celestia's private library in Canterlot! Although Twilight was not supposed to know about that forbidden collection of books, she hadn't been able to help flipping through one of the dusty ledgers a few months ago while waiting for her mentor to meet her. She could recall that the index mentioned a cure for magic aftershock.

It took about three minutes for the unicorn to jump into action. She fetched her saddlebag, grabbed a coat and galloped out the library, only to momentarily look back at Dash and whisper: "I will fix this, no matter what the cost."

Once outside she addressed one of the guards patrolling the road: "I need to get to Canterlot right away, please."

To be continued...

The Tale of KyuubiDash

by TheLunarArmy

Chapter 3: A dark night