//------------------------------// // Uncharted Territory // Story: End of the Beginning: Darkness Falls // by NerdyByrd //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash open her eyes. She was in a forest. Yup, she thought, totally a dream. She gazed across the...... strange forest. The bark of the trees were completely black, and the leaves were a dark green. There was an abundance of plants that were black or dark grey. They mostly blend into their surroundings except they had patches of bright colors in complex patterns. She looked up and saw a full moon way up into the sky. Suddenly, she heard something rustling in the bushes "Hello", she called out," Who's there?" A young colt stood up out the bushes. His coat was dark grey, and his mane was light grey. His mane also appeared kind of smokey. The young colt had small portion of his mane that was rainbow. What surprised Rainbow Dash the most was that the colt was an alicorn. The colt looked her straight in the eye. His emotions were unreadable. "Who are you", Rainbow Dash asked calmly, glad he wasn't a terrifying monster. "Smoke", he said. Their was something about his voice. Something familiar. Then it hit her. She knew who he was. "You're that colt from my last dream!" "Secret", Smoke whispered. He took off into the forest, not even looking back. "Hey", Rainbow Dash yelled after him, but another voice caught her attention. "Rainbow Dash", the voice called. Before Rainbow Dash knew it she was plunged into darkness. *** Rainbow Dash cracked her eyes open. Her nose was instantly flooded with a smell; earth and some type of flower. She looked up at her dad who was smiling down at her. Rainbow Dash could never pinpoint exactly what the flower was. She did know it had a sweet, smokey smell to it. She also knew it was flower for sure because it had that flowery smell to it. She let out a yawned. "Were you having a dream", her dad asked. "Yeah", Rainbow Dash answered. Rainbow Dash cocked her head in curiosity," How did you know?" "You were muttering something while you were sleeping", he simply replied. Rainbow Dash looked around the room she was in. It was her old room, and everything was where she left. The see-through blue curtains were closed tightly to keep the sunlight out. The walls were covered in Wonderbolt posters. There was a little table that had little knickknacks on it. A microscope, a trophy from flight camp, and it had a chaotic pile of comic books and novels. The one thing she didn't like telling anypony was that she loved reading. Love reading such as learning history. Rainbow Dash love learning how thing became the way they are now. She never told anypony because the fact that she love reading kinda made her feel like a nerd. Especially because of a certain group of bullies. "Wanna come down for breakfast", he asked gently. "Yeah, be down in a second", Rainbow Dash said smiling. As soon as her dad left, Rainbow Dash jumped up out of bed. She went to the bathroom to splash some water on her face. Just to refresh herself. Rainbow Dash looked into the mirror. She saw herself, slightly bruised and one forelegs wrapped in gauze. Then for a split second, she saw a young, bright eye filly with two braids down her back. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but grin. Her memories of her childhood were bliss. Before Rainbow Dash knew what she was doing, her hair was in two long braids. The braids kind of looked okay on her. In fact, they looked great on her. Rainbow Dash exited the bathroom, and began to go down stairs when she heard her little brother Lightening Bolt. "So you're really the captain of the Wonderbolts?!" "Yep", Spitfire replied proudly. Rainbow Dash walked into the kitchen, and began to help herself to a stack of pancakes. Her entire family was there. Her brothers Hope, Wisp, Lighting, and Colby, along with her sister Shadow was sitting at the table. Both her parents were just starting to make their plates. She continued to listen to Lightening and Spitfire's conversation. "What's it like being the captain", Lighting asked excitedly. "A lot of work, but it's a great honor", Spitfire said happily. Lighting was a light brown colt with a rainbow mane and tail that turn into a dark brown around the edges. He had electric blue eyes, and a camera with a blue lightening bolt on the side for a cutie mark. As soon as Rainbow Dash sat down, Lightening jumped into her lap, and began to attack her questions. "Dashie, Dashie! I missed you so much! Where have you been?" Rainbow Dash laughed," Whoa Lighting I missed you too!" Lighting looked at Rainbow Dash's wound," Are you okay?" . Soarin opened his mouth to say something, but Rainbow Dash quickly stopped him. "It's was just an accident. Nothing to worry about!" Lighting's ears perked up. Soarin gave her an odd look, but Rainbow Dash ignored him. Everything was going smoothly so far. Her parents hadn't brought up anything embarrassing. Her siblings hadn't shared anything personal. Everything was great! "So, when did Dash get her head stuck in metal fence", Soarin asked slyly. Everything was awful! "Oh", Hope cried with pure joy. Hope was a canary yellow stallion with a rainbow mane, which the back was smoothed down. He also was gifted with a pair of emerald eyes, and tri-colored flame cutie mark, similar to Rainbow Dash's. "It was most hilarious thing of the century! Me and Dash were racing each other! She thought she could out fly me but, as if the universe were granting my wish, she went smack! Right into Jewlie's fence!" "I beat Shadow in a race once", Lighting said, attempting to change the topic. "You cheated", Shadow shouted, pointing an accusing hoof at Lightening. Shadow was a turquoise filly with a mane that was half rainbow, half black. She had turquoise eyes and a needle and thread for a cutie mark. "Really, how", Lighting asked. "I don't know! Magic! Pony aren't supposed to grow three inches overnight!" Even though Shadow was being a little over dramatic, Lighting was tall for a colt his age. All her younger siblings were about the same age as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the CMC's would probably be two-thirds his size. "Your just jealous", he shouted back at her. "If anypony should be jealous, it should be me", Colby said quite sadly. Colby was a white colt with an orange mane that had a small portion of it rainbow. He had the same emerald eyes as Hope, and a color pencil drawing a scribble as a cutie mark. Colby, unlike Lighting, was a short for his age. When ponies said he was short, he took this very personally. Rainbow Dash gave Colby a soft smile. She didn't like seeing him sad. "Hey Dash, what with the braids",Fleetfoot asked. "Oh, they-" "She likes putting her hair in braids", Wisp said. This shocked Rainbow Dash. Wisp doesn't like to talk to strangers. Wisp was white with a rainbow mane. The back of his mane stuck straight up. He had bright yellow orbs for eyes. There was no pupil. The doctors thought he was blind at first, but he could see just find. Then Wisp shared a very important secret with Rainbow Dash. He claimed he could see little, faint orbs inside of ponies. At first she thought he was making it up, but then he grew very serious about it. Sometimes, she wished she could see what he saw. At first they all stared at Wisp strangely; a treatment he got a lot. Silverlining stood up and announced," I going to see if the train's here." She went to leave, but Rainbow Dash's dad called out," Don't bother." Silverlining turn around and gave him a strange look. Rainbow Dash's dad began to explain himself," Train shows up every three days. So unless you plan on walking home, better get comfortable." "Crap", Soarin said. Crap. Crap indeed, Rainbow Dash thought to herself. She knew exactly what was going to happen next. Her mother stood up went directly to the bookshelf. Spitfire looked up at Rainbow Dash's dad and smiled. "Thank you so much Mr.-", but Spitfire was interrupted by her dad's laughing. "Just call me Thunder Dash", he said with a smile," My wife's Raindrop." "Ah, here it is", Mom called out. "Nooooooo", Rainbow Dash groaned. "Now Rainbow Dash, let's see friends think of your baby photos", Mom cried with triumph. "Why Mom, why?!" "Blame my mother", Mom said smiling," She said when I had kids, I could torture them. Now, this photo of Rainbow Dash when she was born." "Awwww", Spitfire, Soarin, and Fleetfoot whispered in harmony. "Let me see." "I wanna see." "She's adorable." "I just wanna hold a baby Dashie now." Rainbow Dash didn't know who was saying what, and frankly, she didn't care. She just felt every ounce of self respect had, every strip of dignity, wash away. She was sure she was going to die right on the spot. She knew her face was turning red. This can not be happening. This just can't. Rainbow Dash ran out of there as fast as her legs could carry her. She found herself in her room; crying. It wasn't because of her mom. This had happened to her before, and it hadn't bothered her. It was because of those stupid bullies! They picked on her so much she actually became ashamed of who she was. Cloudsdale sent her into shock. Like being dumped into a freezing lake kind of shock. They were her first bullies, and they made feel downright terrible. Now, she's living a double life. The real her and the one everypony just likes. There some things that are real, like her sarcastic humor, or her loyalty to others. But Rainbow Dash, the bragging, boundless, cool, awesome pony, was just traits she took from her friends and her brother, Hope. Rainbow Dash, best flyer in all of Equestria, was made up. Not real. Rainbow Dash, the history interested, chemistry loving, flying obsessed pony, was real. All in all, she was nopony. And she cried. She felt better after crying. Rainbow Dash didn't know why, but crying always helped. That's right. Get out of your system. Rainbow Dash almost jumped right out of her skin. She didn't know what just happen, but that wasn't her thoughts. "Who's there", Rainbow Dash asked out loud. Just think the sentence in your head, don't say it out loud. Ponies will think your crazy. Who's there? Better. I'm a friend. My name is Smoke. I can help. But not right now. Smoke! I know you! Tell me what's going on! Nothing. He was gone. Rainbow Dash knew she was going crazy at this point. She ran to the bathroom to splashed water onto her face, and began to reach blindly for a towel. She looked up a the mirror, and to her horror she saw her refection was beat up, cut up, and looked half starved. She stumbled backward, into the tub pulling the shower curtains on top of herself. Rainbow Dash looked around frantically. "Rainbow Dash", she heard Dad yell. Her vision slowly grew black around the edges. She felt hot and dizzy. Rainbow Dash swear she saw Smoke standing in front of her. You will be fine. I highly doubt that," Rainbow dash whispered, as the darkness swallowed her whole.