Prologue
The wind whipped through the cyan pegasus' mane, causing the multi-coloured hair follicles to trail behind her in the air. Her wings flapped ferociously, causing her speed to increase exponentially, creating a kaleidoscope of rainbow light to trail behind her. She smashed through clouds, which dissipated instantly on impact as she continued her daily routine of clearing the sky for everypony below.
"Faster, faster! I need to finish this quicker!" Rainbow Dash yelled with excitement, barely able to contain her enthusiasm as she began flying quicker, smashing through numerous more clouds that stood between her and her desires. "This is gonna be so… awesome!" She span around and kicked the final, large fluffy cloud in front of her with her back hoof and cheered when she realized that her job was finally over.
She turned tail and sped as fast as she could over to the familiar tree which served as both the library of ponyville yet also the abode for a certain violet Alicorn known simply as Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow, going way too fast for her own good, was unable to slow her decent when she saw the tree and crashed through the circular window in the top floor. The glass shattered into thousands of tiny pieces which peppered the air. The splintered shards littered the carpet and covered Rainbow from head to toe, causing small cuts and blood to come oozing out.
"Rainbow! Oh my Celestia, what happened to you?" Twilight asked, concern and worry floating on her words as she rushed into the room.
"He, he, oh, that. My bad. I guess I just don't know how super-fast I can get some times," she grinned, rubbing the back of her neck with her hoof.
"What if you missed the window?" Twilight asked, her mind running wild. "And then what if you smashed into the tree? And then you might have gotten knocked out! And what if I wasn't here to help you? And you were unconscious and bleeding and then nopony would know where you were and what if…"
"Twi, stop," Rainbow shouted, cutting through Twilight's ramblings. She stopped blabbering and tried to control her rapid breathing, taking long, deep breaths to calm herself. "I'm alright, everything is okay," Rainbow smiled. A small smile crept onto the alicorn's face as she blushed crimson, apologizing to the cyan Pegasus. She concentrated, a magenta colour illuminating from her horn as the glass shrapnel that stuck into Rainbow were each expertly pulled out of her and fell to the floor with a crash. She then focused her attention on bandages which hovered through the air and were placed over the open cuts.
"Thanks, Twi. I don't know what I would do without you," Rainbow grinned sheepishly. Twilight tried to contain the blush that began to appear on her face again.
"It was nothing, really. So what brings you here, Rainbow?" Twilight asked, changing the subject.
"The new Daring Do book is out today and I thought we could… maybe… y'know… read it together?" Dash asked, getting slightly nervous towards the end of her questions.
"Sure thing," Twilight confirmed. "Let me just go find it first," she trotted off into the next room.
"This is gonna be so awesome!" Rainbow squealed in delight, doing a summer sault in midair. "I wonder what adventures she will have this time!"
The bell for Canterlot high rang out through the air, signaling the end of the school day. All the students waved goodbye to each other, returning to their homes for the weekend.
"I'll see you at Rainbow Dash's place at about 8, darling," Rarity spoked into her phone before pressing the hang up button with her index finger. 'Now I need to figure out what I'm going to wear for the sleepover tonight,' she thought to herself excitedly. Thinking about the different assortments of dresses, each with specific colours and adorned with a multitude of accessories always made Rarity feel overjoyed.
"Hey Rarity, got a second?" A boy with blue, spikey hair and a guitar strapped over his back ran up to her, waving. He stopped beside her in front of the wondercolt statue outside the front of the school.
"Oh, hello Flash. What can I do for you?"
"I was just wondering if you… heard any word from Twilight recently," he asked, running his hands through his hair to starve off the embarrassment that he was feeling.
"I'm sorry darling but I haven't hear from our dear friend since she left after the battle of the bands. I'm terribly sorry," Rarity admitted.
"Oh, that's okay."
"I'll see you around, I simply must go and get ready for tonight. Goodbye," she waved as she ran off in the opposite direction.
Flash turned to face the statue, looking into the side of it where the portal to Equestria normally inhabits, wishing that Twilight would come see him again. He missed her very much. Suddenly, as if his prayers were answered, the side of the statue began to shine. The stone used to carve the wondercolt standing above the slab began to ripple and a white light, followed by a billowing misty hand started to emerge from the portal.
"Twilight? Is that y-" Flash was cut off when the white light wrapped around his ankle and pulled him to the ground. It began receding back into the statue at a fast pace, pulling Flash through the portal. He began to flail his arms and legs wildly, searching around for anything that he could grab.
As his legs and body began to be dragged through the portal, he wrapped his fingers around the side of the statue, gripping the corner tightly and began pulling against the strange essence that was trying so desperately to pull him through the portal. Another white mist in the shape of a hand emerged and engulfed his hand, causing a strange heat to fall across his skin, burning him. He screamed in pain as his searing and sizzling fingers were forced to unfurl from the immense pain and the rest of his body was pulled through the statue.
"Twilight, help!" he managed to scream before his whole body was completely sucked through the portal, leaving not a trace of him, or the impact that there was ever a struggle in the first place.