//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: The Deadly Dance of Shadows // by Skijarama //------------------------------// “Wow. We got done fast...” Rainbow Dash muttered absently as she went over the weather schedule for that day on the clipboard she was holding. Clear skies was scheduled for the rest of the day. Glancing left,right, up and down, the airborne Pegasus couldn't spot a single stray cloud within their work areas. The Everfree Forest had a few clouds looming over it in the distance, but that was outside of just about all of the weather teams range of influence, save for the emergency reserves in the towns that rested around the Everfree. “Hey! Stormchaser!” Rainbow called down to the Pegasus below her. “Yes?” Stormchaser answered, glancing up. “I've got a few things to take care of. Come get me if something goes wrong, alright?” “You got it, boss!” Stormchaser turned and zoomed off to a position where she could keep a better eye on things. With that, Rainbow tilted in mid-air, and made a swift descent, landing gracefully on the ground. Rainbow Dash looked around, and a single, solitary question entered her mind. It was an important question, so she simply decided to voice it. “Well... now what?” She looked around a bit more, and discerned where in Ponyville she was. It was a quieter part of town, she would have to give it that. The buildings were small two-story abodes, and the streets were a little tight. The cobblestone road was a little dirty, and a couple of ponies were nearby on a bench chit-chatting away. Dash recognized them as Lyra and Bon-Bon. There weren’t many other ponies out on the street right now, given the hour. Rainbow figured that they were all likely working on making dinner. Rainbow sniffed slightly, and did catch a slight whiff of cooking food. She was a bit hungry, she noted, but she could satiate that later. She was actually fairly close to Scootaloos house, now that she thought about it. With that in mind, Rainbow started trotting without any immediate destination. She looked around mindlessly, just letting her thoughts wander. At one point, she heard the sound of a breaking pot in a nearby alley as she moved by. She turned her head to look, and saw a shadow retreating around the corner. “Foals.” Rainbow muttered, rolling her eyes absently. The minutes ticked by until Dash came up to Scootaloos house. Simple yet well decorated, Rainbow had to admit, even if she didn’t normally care. She paused in front of it, thinking for maybe a second before shrugging. “Ah, what the heck.” She knocked on the door without a second thought. “Coming!” She heard called by the little purple and orange filly from the other side of the door. Dash assumed a casual stance, given that she was no longer on immediate flight duty. She didn't realize it till now but she was pretty tense. There was a lot to do today, she supposed, and they got it all done in record time. The door popped open, pulling her thoughts back to reality. Scootaloo looked up at Rainbow Dash, and her eyes widened for a moment, before she came to her senses. “R-Rainbow Dash?!” She yelped in joyous surprise, her wings buzzing slightly. “How are ya, Scoots?” Rainbow asked casually, ruffling Scootaloos mane with her hoof. “I’m doing great! What about you? I thought you had weather duty?” “Yeah, but I finished early. I figured I’d chill with you until I hafta head home. That cool with you?” Rainbow asked, smiling broadly at the now ecstatic little orange filly. “Is it cool? It’s AWESOME! Come on in!” Scootaloo practically squealed as she stepped aside to let her idol in. Rainbow smiled at her as she entered. “So, where are your folks?” Rainbow asked casually, looking around. The place was neater than when she was last here. “They’re out for the time being. They ought to be back by tomorrow morning.” Scootaloo replied, jumping up on the couch that rested against the far wall of the room. “Works for me. So, what’cha wanna do?” Rainbow asked, causing Scootaloo to brighten up even more. “I’ve got a few ideas…” <><><><><> “You sure you gotta go?” Scootaloo asked miserably, basically begging Dash to stick around a bit longer. “Yeah, sorry. It's almost night, and I need to catch some Z's. But don't worry, I'll drop by tomorrow.” Rainbow replied as she headed for the door. “Oh, okay. See you then, Dash!” Scootaloo called, sounding much more chipper now then just a moment ago. “Alright, see ya around, squirt.” Rainbow Dash called as she trotted out of Scootaloos house. The sun was setting on the horizon, shrouded slightly by clouds, casting a dim orange glow on everything. Rainbow breathed in the air, enjoying the summer freshness that always seemed to invigorate her. After several moments of standing still, Rainbow started a slow canter in the direction of her cloud house. It was just on the outskirts of Ponyville, and normally she’d fly to get there, but she’d let her legs go a bit this week. She figured that walking until she came underneath her house would be sufficient Exercise The sun inched its way closer and closer to being set, and with every moment, the shadows it cast from the mountains expanded out further. Rainbow began to bounce slightly with her steps, even if only because she just got done having a really nice visit with Scootaloo. The moon was started to rise on the other horizon, mixing with the fading glows of the sunlight to create the dusk hours. Rainbow continued her trot, but came to a sudden stop when she caught movement to her left. Glancing that way, she saw somepony's shadow drawing back behind a house. Rainbow quirked an eyebrow, and tilted her head curiously. She was about to go look into it when logic got the best of her. “Just some foals, I guess.” She mumbled, before continuing on her way. As she went, the shadows behind the house grew dark for a moment, before lightening back to normal. The shadows in the alleys started moving, swimming silently between the buildings, following Dash as she made her way to the edge of Ponyville. Dash came to a stop at the edge of town, smiling upwards at her home. Perfectly white, as always. Having a house made of clouds was a nice reminder of Cloudsdale. “Ah, home sweet home.” She muttered to herself. She spread her wings, and was ready to take flight when an unfamiliar sensation tingled across her forelegs and belly. The feeling vaguely reminded her of insects crawling under her fur and on her skin. She shuddered from a bad memory, before glancing down. Her eyes widened as she saw shadows spreading rapidly up from her belly, and also up from where her hooves connected with the grass. “What the?!” Dash exclaimed, and flapped her wings hard. But much to her horror, nothing happened. She stayed rooted to the ground. Vulnerable. In the next moment, the shadows covered her entire body, and her vision darkened. She thrashed frantically, about ready to panic as she felt her belly starting to split open, along with her side. It split so easy, as though cut open by a razorblade. She tried flapping her wings again and again, and every time she was met with no luck. She growled in frustration as she tried to move her legs, only to find that they too were paralyzed. She thrashed again, when suddenly she heard a sickening snap from her back, followed almost instantly by another. Her pupils shrank as a tidal wave of pain flooded her system. Her wings had been snapped. “HELP ME!” She screamed, unable to move, and completely unable to think straight. The moment her mouth opened, the shadows darted in there too, flowing easily down her throat. It felt as though she had just swallowed burning tar, just without the sticky sensations. The burning in her throat was indescribable, but her voice still came freely. She let out an agonized, terrified scream before she fell silent. The shadows retracted, and let her fall limply to the ground. Rainbow coughed once, a splatter of blood leaving her mouth before the shadows retreated completely, seeming to fade away into the surrounding night time environment. Rainbow could feel blood in her throat. A lot of it. She coughed again, blood flying freely from her mouth as she started to spasm, unable to breathe. Lights were flickering on in the nearby houses, not like she noticed. Her vision was starting to tunnel, colors fading out. She gurgled in agony, trying in vain to get herself to scream out again. Another series of violent, bloody coughs assaulted her. Through what little vision she had left, Rainbow could see ponies crowding around her. Somepony called out for help, before all sound faded away. Moments later, Dash fell silent and still. <><><><><> Nurse Redheart looked over the unconscious Pegasus with concern. Rainbow Dash was in pretty bad shape. Her throat had a small hole in it, but it was in such an exact spot that she almost bled-out before they got her here. Her belly had a sizable gash in it that looked like the skin had been shredded, same with the side of her barrel, along with several other minor injuries. Whoever did this was good at being quick, and must have been damn strong. Nopony, with maybe the exception of Applejack, was capable of matching Rainbow Dash as far as Nurse Redheart was concerned. Redheart checked Dash’s bandages, and determined that they would hold until morning. She groaned quietly as she went to a counter on the other side of the room to start setting up some pain medication and laying out the mornings bandages and gauze. None of this made all that much sense. Rainbow Dash wounded outside of an accident, and the severity of the wounds, plus no signs at the scene of the attack that could give any possible ideas on who or what attacked. Returning to Rainbows side, Redheart looked carefully over the report on the clip-board, trying to see if she missed anything. It was almost as if Dash had just randomly started growing wounds. Redheart knew there was something familiar about these wounds, she had seen them before, she knew it. She just couldn’t remember from where. With a heavy, frustrated sigh, she made sure everything was going to be good until morning, and then stepped out into the hallway, flicking off the light switch as she closed the door, plunging the room into darkness. Nopony saw this, but off in one of the corners, a single, reptilian yellow eye blinked once, then faded away into the shadows.