//------------------------------// // Night // Story: Beyond the Veil // by Twi-Fi //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash pushed her back into the warmth while her stomach was nipped at by ice-cold air. Dumb blankets. She rolled over. Her nose was greeted with a musky, feral and masculine scent; it was comforting and real! Her eyes shot open to short-black hair. She was up against the stallion she thought to be a delusion. Two soft brown eyes were looking down at her. Safe, resonated in her heart, and she was overcome with the feeling of security. “I thought you weren’t real,” she chuckled. “Err, thanks for, um keeping me warm… and safe.” A wooden well sat in the middle of what appeared to be a ring of palm trees. A half-empty bucket laid next to her, which she plunged her face into, sucking down as much water as she could. Feeling some of her strength return, she stood up and stretched her wings. She noticed him eying them with interest and quickly tucked them to her side. “They aren’t much use here. I can’t fly… the air’s all wrong. It’s too heavy,” she said bitterly. She grunted and kicked at the ground. With a single blink of his eye, warmth of understanding and sympathy spread through her. “So who are you anyways?” Friend. “I know. But don’t you have a name?” He lowered his head, and with a blink of his soft-brown eyes, powerful emotions surge through her. Each emotion contained too much information for her to sort through. She saw flashes of others like him, civilizations, fire and destruction, empty deserts—everything blurred as her mind strained to keep up. Swift as the Wind echoed through each image. He was a runner, a free spirit. He had travelled across the desert many times, in search of a companion. He had lost so much. There was pain… so much pain. He was alone… the last of his kind. Dash clutched her chest. With a hoof she hastily wiped the tears from her eyes. In the span of a few seconds, she had leaned his life. And for the first time since she’s landed in the desert, she felt lonely too. You? Sky Pony… you? he asked. Although there was emotion in his question, it was more of a longing to know. It seemed he was attempting to use her language. “Sky pony? It’s Pegasus. Not that it matters… The name’s Rainbow Dash.” You? “I don’t know how to do that thing you do.” Dash focused on how she was feeling. She couldn’t be certain it worked; he gave no indication he had heard. Rest. “Rest? I can’t rest. I have to find a way home.” Home. Dash felt a sense of belonging, and she knew that as far and wide as he traveled, he was always drawn back to the oasis. It was his home. Friends... Dash thought to herself. My friends. “I can’t stay here. I have to get back to my friends who need me.” He stood up and stretched his long neck. His eye pierced into hers. Dash gasped. She felt a powerful surge of warmth and kindness as images of Twilight’s curious face, Pinkie’s giant smile, Applejack’s genuine nod of her head, Rarity’s charming smile, and Fluttershy’s empathic smile spun in her mind. The longing built up in her heart; she could never leave them. Empathy... Dash thought. He can hear my thoughts. He can feel me missing them. Help you. Dash put a hoof on his back. “I’m sorry I can’t stay; you understand now, Swift as the Wind.” Dash felt it, before she saw him react, an abrupt change in the wind. His muscles went stiff, and his eyes focused up toward the sky. For the first time since she had met the mysterious stallion, she felt fear. Her heart was his heart as they hammered in their chests in time. Fear overpowered his instinct to flee. Dash looked up to the starry sky, but saw nothing. The trees rustled, and the palm-leaves swayed as if in a gentle breeze, despite the strong wind pushing air in the opposite direction the leaves were blowing. A sound behind her made her spin like on a swivel. At first she saw nothing, then the air distorted and a strange shape materialized. It seemed to float toward her. As it got closer, Dash saw it was a four-legged, tall, faceless, apparition of shadows and smoke. It glided forward, distorting the air and ground as moved. She could feel its eyeless sockets focused on her as it drew closer. Another materialized, and then another… soon there were more than she could count. The Stallion reared. He kicked at the shadows with his powerful forelegs. He let out a primordial neigh that pierced the silence of night. Ear-piercing screams answered as the apparitions lurched forward with surprising speed. Run! Rainbow Dash bolted. The thundering in her ears told her he was right behind her. The shadow apparitions dwindled into the darkness, but she felt him still urging her to run for her life.