//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Back to reality // Story: The Tale of KyuubiDash // by TheLunarArmy //------------------------------// Chapter 6: Back to reality Written by TheLunarArmy Edited by Ezn Applejack and Rarity were walking through Ponyville at a moderate pace, heading straight towards the town library. Both ponies had woken up particularly early that morning in hopes of dedicating all their effort towards Rainbow Dash for the entire day. "I hope Twilight didn't overexert herself last night," pondered Rarity, "I hardly know her, but she seems like a very pedantic pony." "Shucks Rarity. You shouldn't be saying those harsh things; she seemed awfully guilty about this whole mess." "Oh, I know, I know. But you have to admit, she did seem to overreact. I, for one, have great faith in Princess Celestia's capabilities." Applejack couldn't help but agree with Rarity's comment. Twilight was being too harsh on herself, but judging by her reactions during the whole Nightmare Moon fiasco, Applejack could see that unicorn did not really know how to deal with new friendships. The two mares reached the large tree house’s entrance. The guards slowly shifted away from their posts, allowing Rarity to open the door. As the ponies walked inside they could hear sobbing coming from upstairs. It only took a subtle eye-lock between Applejack and Rarity for both ponies to run up the wooden staircase into Twilight's bedroom. Both ponies froze at the door leading into the room. They saw Spike bracing Pinkie Pie, who was sobbing in the dragon's arms. He was stroking the back of her mane in attempt to comfort the distressed pony. He looked up to meet Applejack's eyes. She suddenly felt her spine chill all the way to her flank. "You... you... guys should go into the next room..." said Spike as he scurried off, his eyes to the floor. The two mares continued into the adjacent room. Fluttershy was at the window, covering her face with her one wing and Rainbow Dash with the other. The rainbow pegasus was standing on her own four hooves, staring out into the horizon. Fluttershy moved her wing to reveal a smile across her tear-covered face. Both Rarity and Applejack's expressions changed to match that of the joyful pegasus. "... Fluttershy," said Applejack, "...is she?" Dash slowly turned around to meet all the ponies’ expressions. She let out a soft sigh and then stood in her typical proud Rainbow Dash pose. "Hi guys! Did'ya miss me?" <>--<> Celestia stood in front of four very shocked masters. Their minds were racing with questions. The serene white light from the morning sun caused the emerald castle to flood with a green luminescent glow. The ponies blandly stared into Celestia's magenta eyes, utterly stunned with news of an inter-dimensional demon inside Equestria. It took a good four minutes of shell shock before Poly Cure finally broke the awkward silence. "Celestia, if you knew of this demon... why did you not stop it from inhabiting the Elements of Harmony?" Celesta stared daggers at the black stallion. She expected to be scrutinized, but not this soon. She tapped her hoof on the cold floor before responding. "Over a thousand years ago, I had to call upon the Elements of Harmony's power to banish Nightmare Moon. During our battle I only had a fraction of each Element's true power." Celestia took a moment to recall the story. "It was at this time that I saw the demon, a fox, sitting in a cage inside Loyalty. Although I had to focus on the battle at hand, I saw great evil flowing from outside its prison, but I needed all the power I could... so I... accepted its existence.” The council remained quiet, both in shock and intrigue. “It s-s-spoke to me,” stuttered Celestia, “I retained my concentration on Nightmare Moon, but in the back of my mind I could hear it whispering my name.” The princess was obviously very dis hearted by revealing this secret. Her eyes glimmered across the room, with soft sigh she then continued. “Although I did not aspire for the demon’s power, it was there for the taking. I realized the magnitude of problems that Equestria would face in eternal darkness. So I... I accepted his offer. With the power of the Elements and this demon’s strength I was finally able to banish Nightmare to the moon.” "So you harnessed the power of a demon? This is heresy, Celestia!" "Silence, Ginger Blitz, you have no right accuse me or heresey!" snapped Celestia, "If I hadn't seal Nightmare Moon, then her darkness would caused famine, death and chaos across the country! Do you think that would have been a better solution the problem?" The unicorn quickly backed down after seeing Celesta’s fury, a grim sight to behold. Their teachings forebode accepting assistance from evil beings, however after reflecting on Celestia’s reasoning for a few moments the zealot pony actually accepted the princess’ resolution. The princess took a few moments to regain her composure, but soon continued. "After the banishment spell was complete, the Elements returned to their stone state, making it impossible for me to access the Element of Loyalty again. It and the others remained untouched until three nights ago." Although she was a new addition to the council, Faerie Fyre finally scavenged up enough courage to enter the conversation. This would be her first time to make an impression with her new teammates. "How strong is this demon, Celestia? And if it’s trapped inside the Element of Loyalty, then surely it poses no real threat?" "We cannot make that assumption, my dear. As for its true power: I don't know. All I can say is that this demon is obviously very dangerous." "From my studies I can tell that it would be very difficult to unseal Princess," included Daylight ,"So why the rush all the way from Canterlot?" "I'm afraid the demon may be manifesting itself in the new Element of Loyalty bearer: a pegasus from Ponyville named Rainbow Dash. I believe the demon is trying to talk to her. Possibly trying to weaken her will, I wonder what his true intentions may be..." The meeting was suddenly interrupted by the appearance of a spiral of green smoke in the middle of the room. A scroll suddenly appeared and opened itself in front of Celestia. She quickly read the scribbled text, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Its seems things may have turned for the better, friends. I just received message from my faithful student's assistant, saying that Rainbow Dash has snapped out of her comatose state." "This is excellent news, Princess!" smiled Faerie Fyre, "Maybe the demon didn't affect her after all..." "Another assumption we cannot afford to make, Faerie. But I agree, the news is excellent!" "We should observe Rainbow Dash to check for any anomalies," explained Poly Cure. “Better safe then sorry.” Under normal circumstances Celestia would agree with such a proposition, but she knew what happened to ponies under "observation" . It’s not a pretty thought. The fear of constantly being followed would surely only provoke Dash into submission. No! She could not stand the thought of doing that to Twilight Sparkle’s new friend. There had to be another way. "Poly Cure, I have a better idea," explained Daylight Scribble, as if she was reading Celestia’s mind ,"Why don’t we simply use a protection potion to seal away any demonic energies that may be within the pegasus? That way we can spare her life from ruin while avoiding disaster." The dark stallion raised a hoof to his short stubby beard, giving a few strokes and then opening his eyes on the unicorn’s prospect. "It could work, but that potion will only last for a year! What will we do once it expires?" "Then we should have enough time to prepare for any threat," Ginger Blitz said confidently. "I agree with Blitz," said Faerie Fyre, garnishing a thanking nod from the Princess. All the unicorns seemed to agree as well, and Poly Cure focused his horn on his summoning spell. With another puff of smoke, a bright blue bottle appeared in the middle of the room. "Pour this potion on the bearer's coat, Celestia, and it should seal any demonic energies within her for one whole year," he said. Celestia thanked the council and concluded the meeting. "I need to get back to Canterlot right away so I'd best make haste." The council agreed and, one by one, scattered back to their respective quarters, all except Ginger Blitz. The orange unicorn watched closely Celestia as put her coat back on. She cautiously approached the lone alicorn. "I meant to tell you something Celestia,” she began. “I recently discovered a faint communication signal on one of the crystal balls in the laboratories.” The alicorn halted in her tracks. Could it actually be possible? Celestia turned to Ginger and gave her her full attention. “It seems to be reflecting from one of the nearby stars, but it we cannot focus on its frequency to get a clear response. If we were able to do this then we may be able to contact celestial beings. We may finally prove your theory of the existence of other sentient life." "After all those years of wondering, do you think it could actually be true?" enquired Celestia, “Although I have more pressing matters to attend to, I’m sure I can help. What do you need Ginger?” "A project assistant mentioned remembering one of her peers from your School for Gifted Unicorns had a natural affinity for long distance communication. Maybe we could... uh... borrow him? His special talent may be what we need to solve this conundrum." The princess took a moment to remember all the ponies that were in Twilight's peer group. She smiled upon realizing who the unicorn was; she was sure he would like the challenge too. The alicorn then responded to Ginger. "I'll see what I can do." <>--<> Twilight Sparkle and Luna were walking through Canterlot castle’s main corridor. The princess was quite tired after staying up all evening, but she felt obliged to escort Twilight to the awaiting chariot. She could see the young mare was still feeling rather sad and decided to give her one last word of advice. "Twilight," said Princess Luna, "Before you go, I need to tell you the tale of Nightmare Moon and myself." The unicorn froze in place, curiously attaching her concentration on Luna's statement. "The sense of control can really diminish a pony's sense of reality, Twilight. The real reason I became Nightmare Moon was because of the jealousy that developed in my saddened heart. I wanted all the ponies to love and enjoy the night. I wanted to control how they spend their time. It is this sense of control that caused me to become Nightmare Moon." The unicorn could do very little but close her eyes and nod. Luna had really struck a chord with her there. Thinking back, Twilight realized how out of control she had really been. Breaking the law? Sacrificing her own safety to use black magic? Actually hurting an innocent pony? Twilight couldn't help but feel guilty and, in doing so, finally understood what the princess meant. Her sudden epiphany made her turn Luna and give a grateful response. "Princess, you’re right. I am very, very sorry for what I did, and I appreciate your advice." Twilight blushed a little, causing her to cover her face with a hoof. "Would you like to be my friend too?" Luna froze midway into taking her next step. It had been over a thousand years since another pony, beside her sister, had asked for her friendship. Her heart melted at Twilight's small proposition. Looking into Twilight's eyes, the mighty alicorn's face was smeared by a joyful smile. She lit up her horn causing a small gold ring to appear in front of her... "Why, of course Twilight," said Luna, as she handed the ring to Twilight, "If you ever feel like sending me letters, just place a wax seal on the parchment using this ring." Twilight gratefully accepted the Princess' gift as the two ponies reached the main door of the castle. "Well, have a safe trip back to Ponyville, Twilight..." yawned Luna. "I need to get some sleep. You certainly provided some excitement this evening." Twilight hugged the alicorn before hopping onto the chariot. "Thanks for everything Princess! Expect to hear from me soon!" With that the guards took off, leaving Princess Luna to stare after her new friend as she disappeared into the clouds. <>--<> Back in Ponyville, the library's usual serine and quiet hallways were alight with laughter and music. It had taken almost no time for Pinkie Pie to arrange balloons, streamers, confetti, punch and cupcakes in celebration of Dash’s recovery. All five ponies - and also Spike - were having a fun time playing various games and enjoying each others’ company. Everypony was overjoyed to see Rainbow Dash back to her normal self, and even though the ruby was still firmly stuck around her neck, it was as if nothing had happened. Dash was also happy to be out of the nightmare of her own subconscious. If those mysterious ropes had not saved her, she would shot past sanity's edge. She was so happy that she lit slide her usual facade of "coolness" and joined in playing Pinkie Pie's silly party games. "We should really wait for Twilight, don't ya'll think?" laughed Applejack. "Of course we should, but the guard outside said she went over to Canterlot quickly. She should be back soon." replied Rarity. "Also, this punch is absolutely divine!" "And there's lots and lots of cupcakes to go around!" giggled Pinkie Pie who was happily munching on said cupcakes. Rainbow Dash walked over to Spike and gave him a small nudge with her hoof. "Hey, uhh, Spike, was it? Why did Twilight rush off to Canterlot anyway?" "To be honest, I don't really know. She seemed very worried about that rock around your neck. I think she may have felt a little responsible for the entire episode. My guess is that she rushed back to our library in Canterlot to fetch the books on pony anatomy she left behind." Dash couldn't help but smile upon hearing the dragon's reply. Wow, she dropped everything she was doing to help me? Twilight Sparkle looks like an amazing friend to have! Even if she's a bit of an... egghead. A loud knock on the front door broke the party atmosphere. All the ponies, bar Dash, rushed to the door in hopes of greeting Twilight. The heavy door flung open, and it was indeed Twilight Sparkle on the front porch. The unicorn was a bit shocked to see everypony in her face, jumping up and down, smiling, and trying to tell her things, but the mixed conversations made it nearly impossible for Twilight to figure out what they were saying. "Woah, woah!" yelled Twilight with a large smirk on her face. "One at a time please!" All the ponies cleared out of Twilight's way and replied, unanimously: "LOOK!" Twilight finally laid eyes on Rainbow Dash. The pegasus was standing the middle of the library, head lowered in a shy smile, and with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. It took less than ten seconds for the unicorn to drop her saddlebag and nearly crush Dash in an embrace. The unicorn's eye watered up in joy, both because Dash was okay and because her spell was success. "Thank Celestia you’re okay!" The pegasus struggled to keep her footing against the overpowering hug, and spanned her wings around Twilight's neck to hug back. "You're quite the hugger, Twilight," laughed Dash. "But you don't need to worry about me." "But I do, Dash. Your friendship is very important to me... and if anything were to happen to you..." Twilight broke off. Dash reassured her friend with another hug before the rest of group huddled together, all of them unaware of white flash that enveloped the entire room. “It looks like every pony is having fun!” exclaimed a familiar voice. The ponies all turned towards the staircase to see Princess Celestia smiling at their show of affection. Twilight quickly trotted over to her mentor's side for a reassuring greeting. “Princess! I’m so glad to see you.” “I'm very glad to see you too, Twilight. Even more so is the headstrong Rainbow Dash up on her own four hooves!” The pegasus blushed a little at that remark, but she shook her head and regained her cool stature. However, Celestia’s smile faded into a slightly dark frown. “Tell me,” asked Celestia, “What did you see on the other side?” Everypony looked intently towards Rainbow Dash. She had closed her eyes and a visible tear streaked across her cheek. This was the one question she had hoped no pony would ask. The thoughts of the hell-hole she just went through still lingered on her burdened soul. She felt like melting down, but instead bottled up her sorrow. She opened her eyes, wiped the tear off her face, and gritted her teeth in a stalwart attempt avoid facing the truth. “I was trapped in a room alone for a few hours. No big deal. I’m back now and that’s aaaall that matters.” said Dash, forcing out a smile. Princess Celestia easily saw through the pegasus’ fib, but used the opportunity to create amnesty for her friends’ sake; in the end it would be better if they didn’t know. Celestia winked at Dash’s courageous response, she knew that deep down Dash knew that the Princess knew. “I have to go soon, but I’m glad to see you’re all doing well.” Celestia smiled at the happy ponies and turned around, remembering the potion Poly Cure gave her. “Oh, I almost forgot!” She turned back levitating the sparkly bottle in front of her. “Oooh shiny!” laughed Pinkie Pie. Celestia gave a slight giggle at the party pony’s spontaneous outburst before looking back at Rainbow Dash. “This is a gift for you Rainbow Dash, made by the four unicorn masters of Bronkonia.” “What is it?” demanded Rarity with her curious demeanour. “It is a potion that will prevent this from happening again. A safety spell which will last one whole year.” Rainbow Dash’s smile grew for ear to ear. Although she tried to retain her bravado, the thought of never seeing that dreadful prison again was enough to make any pony feel safe. Celestia hovered the bottle over Dash’s wings and poured its magic contents all over her. All the ponies stared in amazement as the rainbow coloured powder streamed over Dash’s body, causing it flicker and shine before ultimately settling into her coat. After the bottle was empty, Celestia walked over to the pegasus and performed a quick scan with her shimmering horn. The potion had taken its full affect and Celestia could sense the protection barrier around her. “Excellent, now I must be off, royal duties call! Don’t forget about those letters, Twilight.” Celestia disappeared in a haze of white light, leaving all six ponies - and the dragon - to enjoy the rest of their party. <>--<> However, deep inside Dash’s heart, sat the fox. And, although barrier surrounding his cage made it difficult for him to communicate with his possessee’s conscious, he watched her movements very closely. The patient hunter was back in his familiar habitat. Waiting for the moment to strike. To be continued...