//------------------------------// // Prologue: Dreaming of beasts // Story: Shared Minds // by Tacosaurus101 //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash hummed a small but catchy tune as she flew home from a long day of helping out at the factory, providing delicate and fluffy clouds for pegasi to sink in to. She was content and at peace, savouring the crisp air as it intermingled with her relaxed attitude. The song she was humming came to a sudden and abrupt stop as Rainbow Dash tried to remember what came next. Come to think of it, the pegasus couldn't remember exactly where she'd picked the sweet melody up from but she eventually gave up and started from the beginning. She hummed once more and let the song trail off and then begin from the start. She surveyed the streets of Ponyville idly, eyes flicking in a lazy pattern from one pony to the next. She waved to some she was acquainted with like Lyra Heartstring and called out greetings to those she knew well. "Heya Scoots! Keep up with that special talent, okay?" "Hi Dinks! Tell your Mom I liked those muffins she gave me. They were the best!" She grinned as she was met with pleased smiles. Nothing like a relaxing fly home. The sincerity of the world around her was nice; autumn colours blending nicely together to create a nice atmosphere for all of Equestria. A leaf delicately fell from a tree and was blown upwards by a gust of wind. It brushed against Rainbow Dash, causing her to jump slightly out of her relaxed stupor. She watched it twirl to the ground and the sudden desire to find someone named Russel hit her, implanting itself within her mind. Rainbow Dash's nose scrunched up in confusion. Who the hay was Russel? Rustling Leaves, perhaps? Then again, Rainbow hadn't heard from him since Flight School Graduation Day. The desire quickly faded and Rainbow Dash shrugged it off as her brain needing her to rest. She was quite sleepy. Rainbow continued to fly home, deciding that she'd just rest and not fret to Twilight about it. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Later that night, Rainbow Dash found herself plummeting in to a peculiar dream. A hoard of voices all cheered a name that sounded foreign to her ears. Blight, was it? Suddenly a pair of blue eyes appeared before her with a voice screeching "Heya Blythe! What's up? Wanna see my latest creation?" "Wha..?" Rainbow could only stutter. She half expected the eyes to belong to Pinkie Pie except they were too small and the voice they belonged to hadn't called her Dashie. They'd called her that weird name. The thing before her laughed as it was propelled forward and faded like a ghostly vision. The laugh sounded demonic and echoed, tarnishing the sweetness that had begun in it. The mare stood definitely, glaring at whatever else lurked in the darkness. "Who's there? Show yourself!" She demanded. There was a wheezy chuckle. "All in good time, Miss Dash." A voice whispered before more eyes rose up and angry chatter buzzed angrily around her. Rainbow Dash found herself being swarmed by dark energy that pinned her down. The many pairs of eyes morphed in to one gigantic pair that had glowing crimson irises. A snout prodded in to her face as razor sharp teeth snapped at her as the face came closer. The teeth were about to pierce her flesh as – The mare screamed as the dream shattered before her. Rainbow Dash bolted upright in her bed, sweat pooling off her brow and shaking body. Her heart thrashed loudly against her chest- desperately trying to escape the spooked pegasus it inhabited- and her lungs wheezed whilst they tried to match the pace the mare was choking down oxygen. She closed her eyes and let the majority of her fear shudder out of her like a brief chill. Her eyes opened and stared up at the celling. Resting herself back down, Rainbow Dash whispered "It was just a dream, it was just a dream." over and over again to herself like a pattern of doubt. This hadn't been the first time a dream like this had happened. Over the course of the month, Rainbow Dash had been experiencing dreams of creatures that wailed a name that sounded alien. Then the beast came to devour her. Tonight, the beast had been extremely close to her. The mare swallowed at the memory of its teeth. The teeth that had almost caught her. The teeth that had glinted quietly now shone like a fresh pair of fresh pair of knives. The knives that… She closed her eyes and tried to reassure herself again. "It was just a dream. It was just a dream. It was just a dream…" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Rainbow Dash zoomed through Ponyville; she needed Twilight now. There was no way she was going to suffer through these nightmares. They had to be more than just dreams. There was something surreal about them. Spotting the glittering castle, Rainbow Dash almost crashed with how desperate she was to get in. She landed with a skid and banged frantically on the door. "Twilight, Twilight!" she cried in a quiet voice, trying not to panic aloud. A light flickered on. A few moments later, an incredibly annoyed Twilight Sparkle opened the door to a grovelling Rainbow Dash. "You've gotta help me!" the usually tough mare pleaded, eyes darting frantically in paranoia. Twilight rubbed her eyes. "Rainbow Dash, what could you possibly want this time of night?" she asked tiredly. "You don't understand Twilight! It's urgent!" Twilight sighed. "Alright. Come on in and tell me what's wrong. If this turns out to be one of your late night pranks, I'm going to kick your flank out of the door faster than you can fly." The princess gave her friend a warning look to which Rainbow Dash shook her head vigorously against. "I swear on my wings that this is something serious..." Rainbow Dash replied as Twilight closed the door gently with her magic. Twilight sat and waited for her friend's explanation. The pegasus licked her dry lips nervously before she spoke. "I keep having these weird dreams and i-" Twilight gave a small giggle. "Nightmares? That's what's gotten your feathers in a flurry? Honestly, Rainbow Dash, there's nothing to be scared of. After all, they're –" "-just dreams. I know but I think they might be more than that. You see, they keep having things that keep repeating themselves like these creatures or something that keep calling me this weird name and there's this thing that keeps coming to eat me and…" Rainbow Dash broke out in to heavy panting as she pictured the monster that lurked within her subconscious. Twilight hugged her friend quickly as the mare began to quiver. Rainbow Dash hugged back. "I'm sure it's really nothing to worry about. Although, the way you described things repeating themselves is very strange. It's best just to check and make sure." Twilight reasoned. Rainbow Dash could only nod as she followed Twilight. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Twilight led Rainbow to a library labelled 'Psychology' to which the pegasus stared at, awe-filled. "How can there be an entire library for this stuff?!" Rainbow exclaimed, unable to imagine what they could find. Twilight laughed. "It's an incredibly broad topic, Rainbow. There's bound to be thousands of books on it." "We're not gonna have to read through all of those thousands, are we?" Rainbow whined. Twilight shook her head. "Only a few. I remember a few titles that I need to refresh myself on…" With these words, Twilight pulled a book off of a shelf and flipped through it. Rainbow slowly grabbed one and turned through it, puzzled by its content. "Oh, that's the 'Advanced study of Psychology'. Here, read this one." Twilight swapped books with Rainbow Dash and together the pair began to shift through information. An hour and three mass piles of books later, Twilight yelled "AHA!" as she viewed a page in a thick volume entitled "Psychology for inspiring psychologists". Rainbow Dash flew to Twilight's side and peered over her shoulder. "Here it is! To understand the dreams of your client, you must ask them questions about them and refer to their meanings." Rainbow Dash frowned as she asked "So you just need to ask me questions and explain my dreams then they'll stop?" Twilight nodded. "That's the gist of it, yes. Are you willing to go through with that?" "If it'll stop those nightmares then I'm prepared for anything. After all, we've saved Equestria loads of times so this should be a piece of cake, right?" Rainbow Dash's face lit up in a smirk as she settled herself down on the ground. "In that case, we'll begin now…" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "Does the monster look similar to the previous monsters we have faced?" Twilight questioned as she looked up from her notes. Rainbow thought for a moment. She gulped down the bile that rose in her throat. "N-not really. I can't see it clearly. Only the eyes and the teeth…" "Uh-huh, uh-huh. Do the voices resemble anyone you know?" Twilight scribbled rapidly as she wrote down Rainbow Dash's answers. "Nope. They sound kinda similar though." There was pause and then Rainbow added "Twilight, I don't think just talking about it is gonna work..." Twilight put down her notepad and pencil and looked at the forlorn mare before her. "Are you sure? Some of the answers you've given could be explained…" "Yeah. Thanks for trying though…" Rainbow Dash got up and was about leave when Twilight called out "Wait!" Rainbow Dash turned back around with an eyebrow raised in confusion. "The book talks about a spell that causes the pony experiencing unnatural experiences within their dreams to be able to view them consciously and get rid of the source of the trouble. " Rainbow Dash thought for a moment before replying. "Alright. Go for it." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX