Soren woke up to the bright new day shining in his face through the window. He jumped off his bed and stretched his body before walking to the dining car for some breakfast. When he arrived, he was surprised to see Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash already eating. Twilight waved Soren over to the table when she saw him enter the car. He smiled and sat down in front of his friends.
"How'd ya sleep last night, Soren?" Applejack asked. Soren yawned and answered her.
"Alright, I guess. I just woke up a few minutes ago."
Twilight frowned a little. "I beg to differ. By the way you sound, I would guess you didn't get much sleep at all."
"No, no, I'm..." Soren yawned again "...fine. Just need some food to wake me up." Soren got up and walked over to the food across the car. The mares looked at each other before returning their gazes to Soren, who was already asleep on some seats by the time they looked back.
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Soren was walking through Ponyville in the middle of the day. He looked around at the ponies going about their business. As he looked upon the residents of the small town, the ground started to shake slightly. It slowly built up until it was like an earthquake. Before Soren could take flight, a portion of the ground shot upwards, bringing him with it. As he sky-rocketed upwards, the sky grew darker and clouds began to form.
When it stopped, Soren looked at the section of the earth that formed a tall mesa. He looked over the edge but he couldn't see Ponyville below. All he saw were clouds and the night sky. Pretty soon, he heard laughter. Soren turned around to see the Nightmare Guardian and another alicorn standing side by side. Upon a closer look, he noticed it was Luna standing next to her, laughing! The two alicorn mares walked closer to Soren as their horns began glowing. Soren readied himself but he was too afraid to focus on any spells. The mares continued to laugh as they shot magic at him.
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"Night Wing!" Soren woke up and screamed a name. He was laying on his stomach in the passenger car. He was panting then felt a hoof on his foreleg. He looked over to see Rainbow Dash (with her hoof on his foreleg) and Applejack smiling at him sincerely. Twilight was pointing her glowing horn at him. Remembering the attacking alicorns, he nearly scooted away with his head down in fear, but Rainbow's hoof told him to relax. Twilight Sparkle ended her spell and gave Soren a small smile. He began to relax as he looked back up. Taking a deep breath, Soren spoke first.
"What happened?"
Twilight chuckled. "You fell asleep before you could even reach the food. We were worried about you so we brought you back here. And since we were worried, I used a spell to witness whatever dream you were having...and it wasn't pretty." Soren shuddered at the memory of that dream. Luna and the Nightmare Guardian...working together. Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder to comfort him.
"I yelled 'Night Wing' when I woke up," Soren stated. "Why?"
"From what I saw in your dream, Night Wing had to have been the Nightmare Guardian's real name. Are you going to be alright?" Soren nodded.
"I feel more rested than before, but that dream is going to stay with me for awhile."
"Don't you worry 'bout a thing," Applejack said happily. "Just remember what we came here for. By tha way, why were y'all tired to begin with? Ah thought you didn't have a problem sleepin'." Soren chuckled a little.
"I usually don't. I guess it was what happened to me last night..." Soren then began to explain the events that took place last night. The further in the story he got, the more nervous his friends became. When he finished, Soren finally got out of bed and stood up.
"Hey, don't worry about it, Soren," Rainbow Dash assured. "I'm sure it was nothing. How about you relax today? We got one heck of day tomorrow." Soren smiled and walked towards the dining car again, his friends right behind him. He completely forgot that he was hungry. First he planned on eating, then he planned on relaxing the day away.
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Why are the days always relaxing but the nights aren't? thought Soren as he lay in bed. He woke up in the middle of the night. Groaning, Soren realized he shouldn't try to sleep right away, so instead he went to the roof of the train again, except this time he just went to the middle of the train.
Soren looked at the nighttime horizon as he sat on his haunches. He stared at the glowing crescent moon and the shining stars. A fluttering of wings and the sound of hooves landing resonated next to him. He was not interrupted but was instead joined by the pegasus. Without even looking at the pony, Soren could tell it was Rainbow Dash. Even though she was a fast flyer, she was noisy sometimes. The two of them just sat there and enjoyed each other's company while looking at the night sky. Rainbow Dash was the first to speak.
"Couldn't sleep?" Even without looking, Rainbow Dash knew Soren shook his head. "At least nothing bad happened. You're just out here enjoying the view."
"Heh, I guess so," Soren finally said. "But peaceful moments like these make me a little sad. When I'm relaxed like this, my mind wanders. And when that happens, some sad thoughts seep in." Soren paused and finally looked at his rainbow-maned friend. "Rainbow Dash..." She turned her head towards him. "...is it bad for me to not want to remember my past?" The look on Rainbow's face showed that she never would have expected Soren to ask that question.
"I don't know," she sighed. "I've never been in that position, so I can't give you an answer. But if you prefer your new life in Ponyville then I guess that's your choice." She paused. "Can I be honest with you?"
"Of course."
"Remember the day we first met?" Soren nodded. "How I was mean to you right off the bat? Well, after the seven of us became good friends, I started to feel...guilty about how I treated you. And I don't know why, but I still feel a little guilty even to this day. Can you explain that?"
"Rainbow Dash..." Soren shifted over to be right beside her. "I understand why you feel that way, but the past is the past." Soren paused and whispered again. "The past is the past." He smiled. "I think I just answered my own question as well as yours. Anyway, don't feel bad about our first day. I forgave you that very same day if you remember." Rainbow Dash smiled and gave him a doubtful look.
"Really?"
"Yes, really. I'm a very forgiving pony. Plus, I aim to make all my friends as happy as possible, and I'll forgive them for almost anything to make that happen. I just wish it was possible for me to accomplish that goal." Rainbow Dash got closer to Soren and just stared at him. When he looked back at her, she spoke up.
"Well, you made at least one friend pretty happy." That was when the unthinkable happened: Rainbow Dash leaned in and kissed Soren. Soren broke the kiss almost instantly. As he blushed and his wings extended unintentionally, Soren stood up and took a step back. Rainbow also stood up, looking surprised as well; her wings were also extended. "Sorry about that." She flapped her wings, winked at Soren, and then flew back into the train.
Soren just stood there, dumbstruck, as he stared in the direction of the caboose. Rainbow Dash... he thought. But she knows I'm with Luna. And she would never try to purposely ruin that, would she? No. And that kiss. Why did I...? He trailed off that last thought. He didn't like where his mind was going. He flew back into the train, went back into the passenger car, and got in bed to sleep. Although his mind continued to process just what the hay happened up there, Soren managed to force himself to fall asleep.