Written by Quadraginta
***
Rainbow Dash flew faster. Faster than she ever had in her whole life. She was already well past Sonic Rainboom speeds. As she was flying, she could hear a voice from behind her. It was calling for her.
"Rainbow Dash. Come to me."
Rainbow Dash did not heed the instruction of the voice. Instead, she flew even faster than before, pushing her body well beyond it's limits. Exhaustion threatened to take hold, but her strong will allowed her to stay conscious.
"Rainbow Dash. Come to me." The voice said again. It sounded closer this time.
Oh no! thought Rainbow Dash. It's going to get me! Her hopes of escape were dashed.....and then they immediately sprung back up.
Directly in front of her was a giant labyrinth constructed out of solid clouds. It was an obstacle course labyrinth, used by all the pegasi of Cloudsdale. Rainbow Dash knew this labyrinth better than she knew the back of her hoove. Surely, if she flew through this labyrinth, she would lose the entity. It was worth a try.
Rainbow Dash dipped low mid-flight and flew through the entrance of the labyrinth. She turned many corners, flew down many corridors, quickly flying through many of the obstacles, never stopping, never looking back. She never looked back, until she burst through the other side of the labyrinth.
She stopped mid-flight to check on her pursuer. She was gone.
Rainbow Dash breathed a sigh of relief, and then turned to begin her journey back home to Ponyville. But then, something happened. Something she never expected.
As she turned around in mid-air, she wasn't paying attention to where she was turning, causing her to turn right into her pursuer.
"Rainbow Dash. Come to me." said Rainbow Dash's pursuer.
Rainbow Dash never got a good look at her pursuer, and she never knew why it pursued her in the first place. She just had a strange urge to get away from it. Whatever it was.
But now that she was practically in her's pursuer's arms, she could see just who it was.
It was Fluttershy. But she looked....wrong. Her body was completely transparent, and even though she was clearly floating in the air, her wings weren't beating. There was something about the way she looked that was so....so wrong. So broken. She was like a-
"Ghost!" yelled Rainbow Dash in fear as she backed away slowly from Fluttershy. Surely this couldn't be Fluttershy. Surely, this couldn't be her wonderful marefriend whom she loved.
"Oh, but Rainbow Dash, it is me." said the apparition, as if it could read Rainbow Dash's mind. But she refused to believe it. This couldn't be her. True, Fluttershy had been missing for a couple of days, but this couldn't, this could NOT be-
"But, Dashy. It IS me." The apparition raised it's arms, begging for an embrace. "Come to me, Rainbow Dash. Please. Come to me. We'll be together. Forever."
Rainbow Dash wept heavily, her tears streaming down her face and falling to the surface of Equestria. What was she to do? Throw herself into the arms of this apparition that claimed to be her lover? Or continue living, not sure of whether she would ever get to see Fluttershy ever again?
And then, Rainbow Dash made her decision. She flung herself into the arms of the apparition. Despite the way it looked, Fluttershy was quite solid. She wrapped her arms around Rainbow Dash, and then they both disappeared in a flash of blinding light. Never to be seen again.
Little did Rainbow Dash know, though......the pink-maned pegasus slept peacefully in a changeling pod, awaiting her saviour that, now, would never come.
Ever.