Chapter 3
Rainbow Dash flew through the sky at an incredible rate, practicing her flips and tricks. The green grass of the ground below swayed in the wind and stretched on for miles. Looking around, Rainbow found that she was completely alone. Not a single pony, or even a town, could be seen. All there was to see was large plains filled with grass.
“I must have flown past the Everfree Forest,” she said to herself, not remembering if that was actually true. How did she even get here anyways? All she could remember at that moment was flying. The exact location and nature of her flight were unknown to her. As she tilted her flight upwards to ascend above the clouds, she recalled her Sonic Rainboom attempt in front of Twilight. That must have been why she was here. She wanted to practice the Rainboom away from where anyone could see her. She increased her speed and continued her rapid ascent. Once she felt she was at an acceptable height, she halted her flight and looked down at the ground. She figured that the height she was at would allow her to see Ghastly Gorge or even the Everfree Forrest. She did not see them. All she saw was green. No gorges, no trees, and no towns.
She shrugged to herself and began to dive. She folded her wings to the side and began to rapidly gain speed. The barrier appeared at a much quicker rate than her previous attempt. It was already coning around her. She gave herself another push, flaring her wings slightly and giving them a powerful thrust. Her speed continued to increase. She was so close. Just one more push.
The barrier broke.
Her vision went temporarily white as her body smashed through the barrier. A huge array of colors exploded out from the broken barrier. The colors expanded and covered the sky as if some kind of rainbow colored nuclear device went off. Trailing behind her was a rainbow, tracing a line wherever she flew. She looked behind herself and saw the colors. A wide grin formed on her face, and she started screaming in joy.
“Yes! Finally! I did it again!”
Keeping her speed from the Rainboom constant, she began a small routine consisting of flips, barrel rolls, banked turns, and much more with precision. She had perfect control over her flight. She closed her eyes and began laughing. This is what she was all about. Stunt flying at incredible speeds, feeling the wind rip past her face. The only thing she needed now was an audience. She straightened out her flight, holding her speed, and looked down at the ground. She expected to see the same green field of grass she saw before, though she hoped she had flown far enough to reach Ponyville. She saw neither.
Instead, she saw an extremely rocky desert. The sand stretched on for miles, broken apart by a large number of cliffs and huge protruding rock formations. She quickly slowed her flight to a stop, confused as to where she was now. Did her Rainboom bring her all the way past Ghastly Gorge and into the San Palomino Desert? That was the only explanation she had, but it was quickly shot down when she realized that she had been flying north, not south.
“Maybe I over shot it. Like, by a lot.”
She decided to continue flying, hoping to find some sort of familiar landmark. To the north, she could vaguely make out a small building surrounded by piles of mangled metal and trash. Two neon signs could be seen near the building. From her distance, she saw the first one that was flashing yellow said “L’s.” The other one she couldn’t quite make out. The green light emanating from it, combined with the dust in the wind, made it so that she could only make out the first letter. “E.” She figured it must have been some sort of local dump or scrap yard. She turned to the west to see a small town of some sort built on top of a small cliff, surrounded by the protruding rock formations.
She headed towards the town, hoping she would be able to find some information there. She had so many questions. Where was she? Where was Ponyville? Was she even still in Equestria? The last question she felt she already knew the answer to. She was no geographer, but even she knew that Equestria held no place such as this. The San Palomino Desert, save for its large mountainous structure in the center, was pretty much nothing but sand dunes. This area was extremely rocky. Plus, as she had deduced earlier, she had not been flying towards that direction. Maybe she was in the deserts bordering Saddle Arabia? She wouldn’t know unless she asked. If only Twilight were here, as she would probably be able to answer that question.
As she grew closer to the town, she heard a muffled feminine scream come from somewhere within.
She entered the dingy town and landed on the ground in the center of a sort of cul-de-sac of buildings. Everything seemed to be built using salvaged scrap metal and garbage. There was a volleyball net next to where she landed. At that moment, strange thoughts began to fill her mind. Suddenly, she knew why she was there. She was looking for something. Something important. Something she knew would help her find her way home. How could she forget about that? After all, she had been looking for it for quite a while now. Her eyes widened as she remembered that she wasn’t the only one looking for it. Someone was with her. But where was that someone?
The scream was heard again, this time followed by the sounds of maniacal laughter.
Rainbow Dash turned her head towards the source of the noise. She slowly trotted over to one of the buildings, looking for an entrance to the half-cylindrical structure. She rounded the corner and came to a large opening. The laughter grew louder. She looked inside to see another one of those strange bipedal creatures with his back facing her. He was topless, showing off toned muscles and cracked skin. He wore orange pants with multiple straps and large gray boots. In his hand was a bloody ax, which was in motion towards the ground. It struck something. Red liquid sprayed out in all directions. Rainbow Dash stared past the man trying to make out whatever object the ax had struck. She saw a lavender figure lying on the ground.
“NO!” the pegasus cried.
The man ceased his assault and raised his head. In a flash, the man turned towards the cyan pegasus. Her jaw dropped as she stared into the man’s white mask, tears in her eyes. The man’s piercing blue gaze stared right back at her, boring a hole into her psyche.
“ANOTHER LITTLE PONY TO JOIN MY CAROUSEL! THE CHILDREN WILL BE SO PLEASED!”
---
Rainbow Dash shot upwards in her bed with a loud gasp. Her breathing was uncontrollably fast. The rumbling of the train speeding across Equestria did nothing to calm her hyperventilation. She quickly looked around and took stock of where she was. She was still on the train to Ponyville from Canterlot. The darkness of the room despite the open curtains on the windows indicated it was still night, or at least, very early in the morning. She looked around from her bottom bed bunk at the other snoozing ponies, apparently not disturbed from Rainbow’s sudden waking. Her nerves calmed significantly when she caught sight of a purple alicorn sleeping soundly in her bed. She let out a relieved sigh.
Just a dream, calm down.
Rainbow quietly got out of bed and headed towards the caboose of the train. There was no way she was going to be able to get back to sleep after that. First the strange vision back at the castle, and now this dream? It was too much for her. She looked back towards Twilight’s sleeping figure as she reached the exit to the sleeping compartment. Her mind wouldn’t let go of the last few moments of the dream. The sound of the ax impacting skin. The dread she felt when she realized what was happening. The soul crushing stare of the crazed man wearing that intimidating white mask. It felt way too real. She figured a quick night flight would help clear her head. She made her way to the caboose and exited the train, taking flight into the night sky.
---
Twilight awoke to a voice coming from the train’s intercom.
“The train will be arriving in Ponyville in five minutes. Please gather your belongings and prepare for arrival.”
The sleeping compartment was empty, save for the alicorn princess. She found it odd that she of all ponies was the last one to wake up. The events of yesterday must have been much more tiring than she had thought. Twilight made her way out of bed and into the next compartment over, where she saw Rarity and Fluttershy sitting on a bench. Their conversation ended as they made notice of Twilight and waved her over.
“Good morning, darling,” Rarity exclaimed. “Sleep well?” Twilight nodded.
“Like a rock. Where are the others?” Rarity held a hoof to her chin in thought.
“Well, Pinkie Pie and Applejack went to the dining compartment for breakfast. As for Rainbow Dash, well quite honestly I’m not sure where she went. I don’t think anyone has seen her since last night. She wasn’t in her bed when I woke up in any case. Perhaps she went for a flight?” Fluttershy nodded in agreement.
“Oh, yes,” the pegasus began softly. “She always goes out for a flight in the mornings.” Twilight frowned. It wasn’t hard to believe that Rainbow Dash would go out for a flight, but it was a little harder to believe that she had woken up before everyone else. If her attitude from yesterday morning was any indication, Twilight figured that Rainbow was anything but a morning pony. Her sluggish nature on the way to the train station indicated that she did not wake up as easily as other ponies. Her stomach growled in hunger, cutting off her thoughts.
“Well, I think I should try to grab something to eat before we arrive.” Before Twilight could start heading towards the dining compartment, a door opened in the back revealing Rainbow Dash. The pegasus entered the compartment and looked over at her friends. She trotted over to them and flashed them a smile.
“Hey gals, what’s up?”
“Hi, Rainbow Dash. Where did you go?” Twilight asked curiously. Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head.
“Erm, well I kinda woke up pretty early and couldn’t get back to sleep. So, I figured I’d do some flying before we got to Ponyville.” Well, that answered that.
“Right, well, are you hungry?” Twilight asked. “I was just about to go get some food.” Rainbow nodded.
“Sure, I could go for some good eats. Let’s go!” Twilight turned to Rarity and Fluttershy.
“Do you two wanna come?” she asked. Rarity and Fluttershy shook their heads in unison.
“No thank you, darling,” Rarity replied. “We already ate.” Twilight motioned for Rainbow Dash to follow. They headed into the next compartment and stopped short when they heard another announcement through the intercom.
“Now arriving in Ponyville. Please be sure that you have gathered all of your belongings and prepare to exit the train when it comes to a complete stop. Thank you for riding the Equestrian Transit System and have a nice day!” Twilight groaned in disappointment, her hunger eating at her mood.
“Well, so much for breakfast,” Twilight muttered. She felt Rainbow Dash pat her on the back with a hoof.
“Don’t worry Twi,” Rainbow said. “We’ll go to that café in Ponyville to get some food. My treat!” Twilight eyed her friend suspiciously. She seemed far too happy this morning, especially considering the talk they had last night. Twilight decided not to think about it too much for the time being. They had a lot to talk about, and she was sure that her questions would be answered soon enough. She put on her saddlebags and grabbed the small chest containing the artifact with her magic, preparing to exit the train.
The six ponies, plus one dragon, made their way off the train and into the town of Ponyville. They broke off from each other, citing work responsibilities and such. Twilight had asked Spike to go with Rarity to help her with anything she needed, a task which he was all too happy to accept. She felt slightly bad about keeping him out of the loop, but at the moment, Twilight wanted to speak with Rainbow Dash alone. She didn’t think her pegasus friend would want to talk with multiple people. After the group split off into different directions into the town, Twilight and Rainbow Dash went their own direction towards the café. When they arrived, the earth pony hostess in front of the building took one look at Twilight and her eyes widened.
“Oh my goodness, Princess Twilight Sparkle! What an honor to have you here! Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get the absolute best seating in the house!” Twilight blushed heavily. She never liked getting special treatment due to the nature of her position. She didn’t feel like she was any different to the rest of the ponies. She began to stammer.
“U-um, that’s okay. Just a private booth inside would be nice.”
“Certainly!”
They were lead over to a booth in the corner of the café, away from the rest of the patrons. The place was relatively quiet which was strange considering it was almost lunch time. Still, both Twilight and Rainbow Dash were relieved at the lack of ponies. They took off their saddlebags and placed them under the table. Twilight slid the chest next to her saddlebags. The hostess handed the two mares menus as they sat down, telling them that the waiter would be with them shortly. Rainbow Dash quickly turned all her attention to the menu in front of her. Twilight, however, was staring at Rainbow Dash. Was now a bad time to talk to her? She honestly couldn’t tell. The strangely chipper mood Rainbow had been in all day worried her. It was a complete change from last night. She wanted to break the silence.
“So…” Twilight trailed off, unsure of how to begin. Rainbow Dash was still staring down at her menu, apparently trying to figure out what she wanted. Her eyes were still, though, and she made no indication that she heard Twilight. Twilight decided to go straight to the matter. “Do you want to talk now?” Rainbow looked up from her menu and met Twilight’s eyes with a slightly sad stare. She nodded her head.
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Did something happen yesterday at the castle?” Rainbow paused in thought. Twilight sat in silence, eagerly anticipating Rainbow’s answer.
“Well, it’s like, I mean I dunno.” Rainbow seemed to be having trouble gathering her thoughts. “Something happened, but I can’t tell if something actually happened or if it’s just my imagination.” She looked away from Twilight and continued. “When I picked up that, um, thing, I sorta saw something. Like a vision or whatever.”
“A vision?” Twilight gasped. This wasn’t what she was expecting at all. Rainbow Dash nodded to Twilight and continued.
“Yeah. It was like, once I touched it there was a bright flash, and I started seeing these things. Like, a bunch of places flashing in my mind or something. Deserts, caves, mountains, volcanoes,” Rainbow begin to trail off.
“Did you recognize any of them?” Twilight asked.
“No.”
“Did you see anything else?” Twilight saw Rainbow hesitate. The pegasus shifted uncomfortably in her seat and seemed to look everywhere except at Twilight.
“I-I saw…” She paused for a moment. Her face went from sad to fearful. “There was this city. It was being attacked with some kinda bombs from the sky or something. There was a lot of screaming.” Rainbow Dash took in a deep breath. “It floated in the air and disappeared.” She slammed her hoof on the table. “Just like that.”
Twilight took a moment to organize the information Rainbow Dash was giving her. It really wasn’t that much to go on and it didn’t seem to answer any questions she had about the artifact that Princess Celestia had given her.
“Anything else?” Twilight asked. Rainbow Dash shrunk into her seat. Her wings shifted tightly into her body and her ears fell downwards as if she was ashamed of something.
“There… there was this creature. He looked like one of those humans you talked about from your trip to that other world. Only he was…” Rainbow lowered her voice slightly. “I-I think he was dying. He had blood all over his body. There were others too. They were holding these… things. I’m not sure what they were, but they were pointed at that man.” Rainbow finally looked directly at Twilight with a mournful look on her face. “I think they were trying to kill him. I don’t know why.”
“Hello, madams, may I take your orders?” The waiter had taken that moment to walk up to their table. Twilight groaned internally in frustration at the interruption of Rainbow Dash’s story. However, she bit her tongue, not wanting to seem rude. She looked up at the cream colored stallion with blue hair.
“Yes,” Twilight said to him. “I’ll take a daisy sandwich and house salad, please.” The waiter scribbled the order into his notebook.
“And for you?” he motioned towards Rainbow.
“Hayburger and fries,” she said with no emotion, staring down at the table. The waiter wrote down the order, thanked the two mares and walked off to send the order to the kitchen. With the source of the interruption gone, the two mares sat in silence. Twilight mulled over her thoughts. What Rainbow Dash described was absolutely horrifying. It was not often that Twilight had to deal with the subject of death. It was a rather dark and depressing topic, so Twilight tended to stay away from it. It was the one subject she did not enjoy studying. It left a bad taste in her mouth. Pushing away those dark thoughts, she focused on figuring out the purpose of the vision. Who was the dying man? Who were the people attempting to kill him? What did any of this have to do with the artifact? And, perhaps most importantly, why had Rainbow Dash seen this vision? She looked over at her pegasus friend, who continued to avoid Twilight’s gaze.
“Oh Rainbow,” Twilight said, remorse ringing through her voice. “I’m so sorry you had to witness all of that.” Rainbow Dash shook her head.
“It’s not like it’s your fault or anything. I’m the one who decided to touch the stupid thing.” Rainbow sighed. “I’m not gonna let it bother me. I mean, it’s probably just my imagination running wild. I’ll be fine.” Twilight sincerely hoped that last sentence would turn out to be true. She didn’t like seeing Rainbow this way. She didn’t like seeing any of her friends this way.
“Is that everything you saw?” Twilight asked. “I mean, if you don’t want to go on you don’t have to. I just wish I could somehow connect all of this to the artifact.” Rainbow scrunched her face in thought before nodding. She grabbed her paper napkin and unfolded it on the table.
“You wouldn’t happen to have a quill and ink handy would you?” Twilight reached into her saddlebags with her magic and pulled out the items Rainbow had requested. Rainbow took the quill and began drawing on the napkin. When she was finished, she handed the napkin to Twilight. “I saw this symbol.”
Twilight looked at the symbol, an upside down V with a circle around it. As much as she racked her brains trying to place the symbol, she did not recognize it. She didn’t bother asking Rainbow Dash if she knew what it was, knowing what her answer would be. She used her magic to put the quill and ink back into her saddlebags, along with the drawing.
“Well, it’s not much to go off of,” Twilight said to her friend, “but I appreciate you talking to me about this. I was getting worried about you. I still am, actually.” Rainbow Dash chuckled.
“You don’t need to worry about me Twilight.” Twilight finally saw Rainbow give her that trademark smile. It was real. Genuine. It told her that she really didn’t need to worry. Rainbow Dash would be okay. She was always okay. Twilight returned the smile with one of her own.
“I guess not.”
They ate in silence when their food arrived, neither one wanting to break each other’s thoughts. Every once in a while, Twilight would steal a glance over at Rainbow Dash, trying to read her thoughts. It seemed Rainbow went through quite a lot in quite a short amount of time while in Canterlot Castle. Twilight knew she wouldn’t be able to understand the full extent of the vision her friend had seen. It obviously was very traumatic to Rainbow. The change in her demeanor was proof enough of that. Though Rainbow had indeed reassured her that she was fine, Twilight was still a bit worried about her. Rainbow Dash loved to exaggerate her emotions, and she was quite good at it too. Therefore, it would be safe to say that Rainbow knew how to fake emotions. This didn’t fool Twilight in Canterlot though, and she wasn’t going to let it fool her now.
“Rainbow?” she said softly to the mare in front of her. Rainbow looked up from her frantic eating and swallowed before responding.
“Yeah, Twi?”
“I um,” Twilight looked down towards the table for a moment, trying to find the right words. “I was wondering if maybe you wanted to stay over at the castle tonight?” Rainbow raised her eyebrow.
“Sure Twi, but why?”
“Well, considering the vision you had I thought maybe you would be of some help to me tonight. I plan on starting my research as soon as possible, and maybe with your help, we can get something done.” In truth, Twilight wasn’t entirely sure that Rainbow Dash would actually be helpful. However, she didn’t really want the pegasus to go home alone with the state that she was in. The state that she was hiding from her friends. “Plus, I kind of thought you could use the company,” Twilight added rather meekly. Rainbow smiled and nodded.
“Yeah, I guess I could use some company.”
They headed straight back to Twilight’s castle after their lunch, eager to get started. Or at least, Twilight was. She wasn’t so sure that Rainbow Dash would be too eager to see the artifact again. They entered the castle and headed straight for the library. Twilight neglected to remove her saddlebags for the moment and placed the chest she had been carrying onto one of the round tables. Her magic flared as she prepared to open it until she saw Rainbow staring pensively at it. Her wings were twitching slightly. Twilight’s magic ceased.
“If you don’t want to be here for this,” Twilight said to her friend, “you don’t have to. You can go read some Daring Do books or something in the throne room if you feel uncomfortable.”
“No,” Rainbow said, shaking her head. “I’m good. Just open it.” Twilight did as she was told. She grabbed the artifact sitting snugly in the chest with her magic and placed it down onto the table. She couldn’t help but notice Rainbow’s breathing quicken in pace slightly as she subtly backed away from the object. Once again, she felt the same magic she felt back in the castle. Still unfamiliar.
“Well,” Twilight said with a sigh. “I guess the first thing to do would be to see if I can find anything in my books.” Rainbow Dash gave her friend an amused chuckle.
“Leave it to you to go straight to the books, egghead.” Twilight lightly punched her friend on the arm.
“Well, while I gather books from the library, why don’t you go find a nice adventure novel to read, other egghead,” Twilight shot back at her friend playfully. Rainbow laughed at her comeback and jumped into the air, flying into one of the book aisles. Twilight smiled and shook her head. She spent the next few minutes pulling books from their shelves. They covered a wide variety of topics ranging from magic to ancient artifacts and symbols. Hopefully, one of these books would shed light on the object sitting on the table.
After a few hours of reading, Twilight let out a frustrated groan.
“Something wrong?” Rainbow asked, looking up from her Daring Do novel and over to Twilight.
“It’s just so frustrating,” Twilight exclaimed. “I’ve already gone through this entire book on ancient artifacts and symbols and I haven’t found anything relating to this stupid rock or your drawing!” She closed the book violently and winced at the loud clap it made, hoping she didn’t damage the spine or anything.
“I don’t think we’re gonna find anything about it in books, Twi. I mean, if even the princesses couldn’t figure it out, what makes you think you’re gonna find your answers in a book?” Twilight thought about that for a moment and realized that Rainbow was right. Studying textbooks would likely do her no good here. She would need a more hooves-on approach. She thought for a brief moment about Rainbow’s vision, and how the vision started with Rainbow touching the artifact. The object in question sat innocently on the table as Twilight gave it a considering stare.
“Hm, I wonder," Twilight muttered. Rainbow Dash's head perked up from her reading position and focused on her friend. Twilight trotted over to the other side of the table to get closer. She began to hold her hoof out towards the object.
“Twilight, don’t!” Twilight’s hoof stopped immediately when she heard the desperate cry of her friend. She looked over to see Rainbow staring at her, her face wearing the worry and fear she obviously felt. “Trust me, you don’t want to see what I saw.” The alicorn shook her head.
“Probably not, but if I’m going to figure this out, I might as well use all of the resources available to me.” She continued towards the object and brought her hoof over it. She let it hover over the object for a brief moment, keeping it still. Twilight closed her eyes and brought her hoof down onto the object.
…
Nothing.
She opened her eyes and looked at her hoof, which was now resting on top of the artifact. Her eyebrow raised and her face changed from worry to confusion. She picked up the object and held it in front of her face. She could feel the magic, but she did not see a vision. Rainbow Dash cautiously walked over to Twilight.
“Um, so do you see anything?” the pegasus asked softly. Twilight shook her head.
“No. Nothing.” Twilight continued to get a sense of feel for the magic coming from the artifact. She knew it fairly well by now, having kept hold of the object ever since leaving Canterlot Castle. The pulsating energy never seemed to have an off switch. It wasn’t particularly noticeable to those who weren’t actively trying to sense it, but with Twilight’s magical intuition it was impossible to ignore.
“I-I don’t understand,” Rainbow Dash croaked. “Why aren’t you seeing it? Why did I see it but you didn’t?” Twilight didn’t have an answer to Rainbow’s questions. She continued to focus her senses on the magic. Suddenly, for just a split second, Twilight felt something quite strange in the magic. She felt a small tug. It was like it was trying to pull Twilight somewhere. That or the magic in the object was connected with another magical source somewhere else. Her eyes widened as she had an idea.
“Stand back Rainbow,” Twilight warned. “I’m going to try something.”
“Twilight, don’t do anything stupid,” Rainbow pleaded.
“Don’t worry Rainbow, it’s just a simple spell.”
“I am worried,” Rainbow muttered quietly to herself. Twilight didn’t hear her though, and she turned her attention back to the object. It was a bit of a silly idea, but it kind of made sense in her head. The theory that it was connected magically with another object or place was too much to dismiss. She focused once again on the magic, concentrating on that pull she had felt earlier. She flared up her magic, intending to cast a location spell on the object. If it really was connected to somewhere else, she should be able to track the location of its source. The tendrils of magic began engulfing the artifact as she cast the spell. Once it was completely covered, a bright purple light shot out from the artifact, blinding the two ponies in the room.
“Twilight! Get away from that thing!” Rainbow screamed over the sound of energy blasting outwards from the artifact. Twilight could barely hear her, though, as her thoughts were distracted by the huge influx of magic she now felt. She found herself unable to control her magic. She wanted to scream out to Rainbow. She wanted to tell her friend to get away before something happened. She couldn’t. Her voice failed her. She couldn’t even scream, as much as she wanted to. She kept her eyes closed, hoping it would stop on its own. She opened them once more when she felt herself being physically pulled towards the artifact by an unknown force. She looked at the artifact and saw her magical aura surrounding the energy that the artifact spewed out. Her eyes widened as she felt even more magic. This magic, however, was very familiar to her. She knew exactly what it was and what was about to happen. The magic was uncontrollable, there was no way she would be able to stop it. She gasped as she felt Rainbow Dash’s hooves grab her, attempting to pull the princess away from the light. Twilight finally found her voice.
“Rainbow! You need to let go right now!” She practically screamed it into her friend’s ear. Her friend didn’t answer. Instead, she held on tighter, fighting hard against the pull of the artifact’s magic. Twilight struggled, trying to get Rainbow off of her before it was too late. The magic began to engulf both Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Twilight’s eyes widened as she screamed at the pegasus, pleading for her to let go. It was no use, though. Both ponies were now surrounded in Twilight’s magical aura. In a large explosion of energy, the room shook and was blasted with a bright purple light. Various books, papers, and furniture went flying throughout the room. When the light subsided, the room went quiet.
Over where the two ponies had stood was nothing more than a large scorch mark and a few blue and purple feathers.