• Published 3rd Oct 2011
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Rainbow in the sky - Shiron



Rainbow Dash meets a pony who lives in the Everfree Forest. Is he a friend or an enemy?

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Chapter 6: The Winter Moon Festival

The big day has finally arrived. Months of preparations, changes and planning had been made for this one day. She knew what she had to do today and she also had finished her opening speech but nevertheless she was afraid. Princess Luna sighed and was looking out of the window of her room in the castle. There still were a few hours until the Winter Moon Festival would begin but yet Luna couldn’t help but feel uncertain about today. Would her subject accept her? Would they forgive her for what she had done as Nightmare Moon?

Luna walked away from her window back to her desk and tried reread her speech but she wasn’t really able to concentrate. Her mind was too focused on all the bad things that could that tonight. Her ponies might boo her from the stage or no one could come to the festival at all. They could start a revolution and banish her to the wastelands or they…

Stop it Luna! she commanded herself before her mind made up an image of a meteor falling from the sky to destroy all of Equestria. Luna left her room and walked toward her balcony. This was an important night for her and she wouldn’t allow her fears, no matter how unrealistic they were, to ruin her best chance of redemption. She had to clear her minds from all hear fears and flying was the best way for her.

She closed her eyes and jumped from her balcony, her wings unfolded. With a few flaps of her wings she flew high in the sky while she was enjoying the wind in her face. Maybe it was not princess-like to just fly for no reason but no matter what ponies thought or said, Luna and her sister still were ponies, just like everypony else and sometimes you just have to be yourself and not what others want you to be. That’s what Celestia had taught her long ago. Luna realized that she may have forgotten about it over the years and that it was one of the reasons why she had become Nightmare Moon. She had been too focused on her title that she started to be jealous at the only pony who had always loved her.

Luna may have made many mistakes in her life, she may have lost everyone she had known in her old life in the Everfree Forest but one thing would never change. Her big sister would always love and support her. It was this thought that gave her strength and even if today would be a disaster, then she would just try again and again. With Celestia by her side, she would never give up to prove her subjects, and herself, that she has changed.


Shiron, Spike and the girls were standing outside of the Carousel Boutique and waited for the two missing members of their group, Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Although today was a party and not a formal event like the Grand Galloping Gala, Rarity had insists to make a new outfit for her friends – fitting dresses for the girls and a tuxedo for the boys. All of the outfits had tiny moons, stars or other elements fitting for the theme of the Winter Moon Festival and the moon princess. It had taken some time to convince her friends, especially AJ and Rainbow, to actually wear dresses during a festival but Rarity didn’t give up until her friends accepted her gift, even if it was with an annoyed eye-roll by Dash.

Rarity had already prepared outfits for all her friends but she had put most of her effort in making the outfits for Rainbow and Shiron. Of course she didn’t neglect any of the other outfits but the fashion pony had a plan and no pony was going to ruin it. The Winter Moon Festival was perfect for her plan and, even if they wouldn’t agree with her, Rainbow and Shiron would thank her for everything at the end of the day. Those two ponies just needed to spend some time alone to realize they are meant for each other, even if she had to force them. It will be the most romantic night for them Rarity daydreamt. What worked in her romantic novels would also work in the real world. It would definitely not end in a disaster.

“What’s taking them so long?”, Rarity heard Applejack complaining outside. She loved her friend, but AJ really had to understand how fashion and the style of her art were working. Those things needed time to do their magic.

“You know how Rarity is. She always wants everything to be absolutely perfect” Twilight added; at least one pony who understood her.

Making the last adjustments, Rarity was surprised how professional Rainbow Dash was. For at least an hour she was standing still, just how Rarity asked her to, and didn’t even complain how boring this fashion stuff was, how Dash liked to call it.

“You are doing an excellent job, darling”, Rarity compliment her rainbow maned friend. “Could you now please move your head a little to the left?” she asked Dash while levitating the final peace of her friends outfit. No reaction.

“You know, I can’t finish if you don’t move, Rainbow darling” Rarity said with a chuckle. “Uhm, Rainbow Dash…” Rarity said, wanting to encourage her Pegasus friend when her friendly face turned blank.

The professional Pegasus pony was not standing still because she was patiently waiting for Rarity to finish her work. No, her friend had just fallen asleep. That explained why Rainbow hadn’t complained while Rarity had done all the hard work to make the perfect dress. Resisting the urge to do an unladylike facehoof, Rarity calmly tried to wake her friend up. However, she wasn’t able to suppress a sigh. At least they now were able to go outside to present Rainbow’s new dress.


Shiron still wasn’t sure why Rarity had insists on the new outfits since it was more of a party than a formal event, but luckily his outfit and even the dresses weren’t too long, so that they still can do all the fun stuff. The last thing Rarity wanted was that one of her friends’ dresses got stuck in any of the attractions of the Winter Moon Festival. She even was able to add the necklace he got from Celestia to his tuxedo.

When the door of Carousel Boutique finally opened, all eyes focused on the last members of their group. Shiron was able to see Rarity but Rainbow was still missing. “Fillies and Gentlecolts” Rarity announced with a satisfied smile before stepping out of the way, “Rainbow is here.”

Shiron already saw many of Rarity’s outfits, like the Rainbow’s from the Grand Galloping Gala she had showed him once. It had been amazing just like the outfits she had made for today. However, when he saw the new dress Rainbow was wearing, he wasn’t able to say anything. He was sure he looked silly, just standing there with mouth agape.

Rainbow Dash was wearing a beautiful dark blue dress with light blue stars at the bottom. Tiny jewels in all the different colors of the rainbow were perfectly spread in two rows from the back to the end dress, making it almost look as if she was wearing the night sky. On top of that she also had a beautiful necklace with crescent moon. All in all it was the perfect dress, not only for mentally supporting Princess Luna during her speech, but also to make every stallion and mare speechless.

When she was walking toward the rest of the group, it almost looked like a scene out of a movie; the stunning mare walking almost in slow motion and by coincidence the wind made her mane flowing while some sort of song was playing in the background. Of course there wasn’t a song in the background, at least this time there wasn’t one, and Rainbow wasn’t walking in slow motion. However, her mane was actually flowing with the wind. If he wouldn’t have been too focused on Rainbow Dash then Shiron might have seen Pinkie Pie using a fan to make Dash’s mane move but he didn’t notice Pinkie at all. All he was seeing was this beautiful mare before him.

“So, how do you like my new dress?” Rainbow asked her friends, smiling a cute smile. Seeing all of them, especially the boys, speechless seemed to be the perfect answer to her.

“Damn” was all Shiron was able to say. He tried to think of anything else but his brain wasn’t working right now.

“Damn” he heard Spike agreeing. Shiron knew Spike only had eyes for Rarity, all of Ponyville knew that, but hearing such a comment proved that Rarity had outdone herself with Rainbow’s new outfit.

A last “Damn” was said and when everyone looked at its source, Fluttershy already had covered her muzzle with her hooves, trying her best to hide a blush.

If Shiron would have turned around, he would have seen his fellow weather pony friend Thunderlane flying in the background. Well, flying wasn’t the right word, because as soon as he spotted his boss in her new outfit, he had forgotten where he was flying and ended up in a nearby tree.

“I’ll take that as a ‘You are looking awesome’ “Dash finally said, satisfied with the reactions of her friends.


Watching Shiron’s reaction made Rarity smile. It seemed that her plan was working. Making a pony speechless was always a good sign, especially if you were trying to play matchmaker. What a coincidence that there was a perfect breeze Rarity thought to herself, before she spotted Pinkie hiding behind a bush.

“Pinkie, what are you doing?” she silently asked her pink friend who was using a fan.

“Well duh, I’m giving Rainbow a stunning entrance to help Shiron falling in love with her” Pinkie said as if it wasn’t obvious.

“Wait, could you repeat that, darling, because it almost sounded as if you were trying to play matchmaker here” the unicorn whispered to Pinkie so the others couldn’t hear them.

“Of course I am. Didn’t you see how cute they act around each other?” Pinkie answered, “Not to mention that I can throw them an awesome party when they’ll get together” she added with glee.

“Not too loud” Rarity tried to keep her friend silence. “but I agree with you. If we team up, we can definitely help them to become a couple. However, we will follow my plan darling, ok?”

Pinkie Pie seemed to think about Rarity’s words before she answered “Okey dokey lokey” with a big grin.


When Luna peeked between the curtains of the stage, she saw an ocean of ponies. Luna didn’t know how many of her subjects had arrived, but by the look of it, it must have been at least all ponies of Canterlot and Ponyville. She tried to stay calm, but she wasn’t used to stand in front of so many ponies, let alone talking to them. However, when she felt the calming wing of her big sister on her back, she knew that it would work out…somehow.

After a last peek, she also saw her good friends Twilight Sparkle and the other Elements of Harmony. The alicorn princess was glad to see the ponies that saved her sitting in the prepared VIP lounge. They even wore outfits with moons and stars, as if they wanted to support her. It feels good to have friends Luna realized. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and exhaled to prepare herself. It was time to start.


The ponies were happily chatting with each other and waited for the show to begin. None of them actually knew what was going to happen except that their princess was going to raising the moon for them just like Celestia always raises the sun during the Summer Sun Celebration. When the lights on the stage went off, all the glazes were focused on it. Within a minute all of the ponies stopped talking and focused their attention on the upcoming show. Then they heard Princess Luna’s voice from the speakers.

“Once upon a time there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the elder sister, Princess Celestia, used her magic to raise the sun at dawn.” The speech started with fitting pictures in the background, the same ones as in the ancient books Twilight had read before Nightmare Moon’s return.

“The younger sister, Princess Luna, brought out the moon to begin the night. Together the sisters watched over their land and their subjects. However, one fateful day, jealousy had corrupted the heart of the younger sister – my heart.” Luna said, showing a picture of Nightmare Moon. Some ponies started to whisper but after a brief break Luna continued.

“I had started to think that our subjects would only love the day my sister gave them and that they would hate me and my night. My sister had tried to help me but soon my jealousy had changed into bitterness and hatred. In a moment of weakness these emotions had corrupted me and an evil creature was born…”

Blue smoke covered the stage and the light of the spotlight focused on the growing blue and sparkling mist. Then the dark alicorn mare appeared “…Nightmare Moon” Luna said with the same voice she had as her evil self.

Just as she expected, some ponies started to shriek in fear while others started to whisper. However, just as Luna hoped, none of them ran away. Maybe it was because out of fear or it was of curiosity but Luna still had their attention. With a glowing horn she lowered the sun and it became dark. Right now, neither the moon nor the stars were covering the sky over Ponyville.

“As Nightmare Moon I had attack my sister and tried to bring everlasting night. With the power of darkness I had become much stronger. Celestia hadn’t been able to save me from my sorrow and so she had to use the Elements of Harmony. However, the Elements had been to strong and my sister had been too young to fully control their power all on her own. The Elements had banished me into the moon for a millennium and although she tried everything, my sister hadn’t been able to prevent it.” Luna continued, still looking like Nightmare Moon. She took a few steps into the centre of the stage.

“Soon I had become a myth, nothing more than an old pony-tale. Everyone had forgotten me and the name Princess Luna.” She said, taking a brief look at her sister, who was waiting at the edge of the stage, sitting in the VIP lounge next to the Elements of Harmony. “Everyone, except my big sister.”

“For thousand years she had looked to the moon every night. I was able to hear her voice and I felt her love. For thousand years she had searched for a way to save me and she had never given up her hope. After the time had passed I was freed from my prison but Nightmare Moon had still the control over me.”

“However in the hour of darkness, six brave ponies, sent by my sister, found and used the Elements of Harmony and saved me from Nightmare Moon.“ Six spotlights went on, each of them with the color and the cutie mark of each of the Elements of harmony.

The six lights moved toward Nightmare Moon and when all six of them encircled the dark alicorn mare, white cracks appeared on Nightmare Moon’s body. With an explosion the evil mare exploded and tiny pieces of the former villain flew into the sky. The stars had just been born and the ponies adored the star-spattered sky.

“The evilness of Nightmare Moon had disappeared…” in the centre of the explosion reappeared Princess Luna “…and I had returned as the princess of night, Princess Luna”. In the background the flag of Equestria with the princesses, the sun and the moon appeared.

“I know that many ponies still fear me for what I did as Nightmare Moon. I understand them and I don’t expect that you love me as much as my sister.” Luna continued. “Although my sister forgave me, I know that it will take time until you all will trust me and accept me as a princess. I’ll do my best to earn your trust and I hope that someday you all will forgive me my weakness.”

Luna took a few steps closer to her subjects” I might be a princess and maybe even powerful alicorn but beyond this, I’m a pony like you. I’m not perfect and, just like everypony else, I make mistakes. However, I’ll show you that I care for my subjects and that I love Equestria.

Last Nightmare Night had been the first step to show you the real me and now I’ll give you all the Winter Night Festival. From this day on, on the longest night of each year, I’ll raise the moon for you and open this festival.“ Luna spread her wings and with a glowing horn took off. With only a few flaps of her wings, the moon started to rise and the night has officially begun.

“My dear subjects, now I declare that the very first Winter Moon Festival shall begin and I hope you all will have fun.”

The ponies started to cheer and Luna couldn’t help but smile when she saw all happy faces of her subjects. It took her all of her might to not start crying out of happiness. Luna left the stage and once again felt the wing of her big sister on her back who hugged her “I’m proud of you Luna and I’m sure that you’ll soon get the love of all our subjects.”

“Thank you big sister” Luna answered, no longer being able to hold back her tears.

With a grin and a wink Celestia added “See, no giant meteor has destroyed Equestria” and both sisters started to laugh.


“Wow, that speech was awesome” Rainbow said when she and her friends left the lounge after a short talk with the princesses.

“Yes, especially how Luna used her magic to bring out the stars with Nightmare Moon's body” Shiron agreed.

“So everypony, what are we going to do first?” Twilight asked but her grumbling tummy was the first to answer.

“Well, how about we grab some snacks” Dash said giggling, looking at her blushing friend while the others joined laughing.

Together the friends started to explore the stalls of the Winder Moon Festival. Of course none of them knew about the plan Rarity and Pinkie had. When they arrived at a stall that sold some corncobs, Rainbow noticed that her bits had gone missing. Although she searched for her bag of bits in her new dress, she just couldn’t find it.

“I’m terribly sorry darling” Rarity apologized to her Pegasus friend. “I fear I accidently forgot to put your money back when I made some last minute adjustments on your dress.” However, Rarity didn’t mentioned, that she forgot that on propose, hoping that their alicorn friend would turn out as a real gentlecolt. Her Pegasus friend sadly let her head hung but luckily Rarity’s instinct was right.

“Don’t worry; I’ll pay for you tonight Dash” Shiron offered his hungry friend when he saw how sad she looked. That quickly made the Pegasus mare happy again and after a quick hug she was happily nomming on her corncob. With a wink to Pinkie, Rarity signaled her friend that their plan seemed to work.

Step by step, Rarity and Pinkie were able to decrease the number of their group. If you want to get two ponies closer to each other, they needed to have some time alone after all. Although it would have been fun to spend the time with all their friends, giving to ponies a special night was a difficult task. That’s why Rarity had made some preparations.

When the group of friends met Twilight’s parents by coincidence, it wasn’t difficult to convince Twilight and Spike to spend the rest of the night with them. Although Twilight wasn’t sure about leaving her friends, Rarity assured that they would understand if she and Spike wanted to spend some time with their family. After all, it had been some time since the Sparkle family had spent some time together since Twilight had moved to Ponyville. Everyone seemed to believe Rarity but Applejack looked at her with a raised brow, as if she knew that something was going on.

Without Twilight and Spike, the group now only had six members left. However, for their plan to work, Rarity wanted Shiron and Dash to be all alone. That meant that Rarity still needed to distract Fluttershy and Applejack, before could actually start the matchmaking with Pinkie’s help.

As much as Fluttershy loved to spend time with her friends she still didn’t really like to visit big parties or festivals with too many other ponies. Although Rarity wanted to get her two friends some alone time, she didn’t want Fluttershy to leave the festival without having a little fun. Knowing what kinds of attractions Twilight had planned for this festival, Rarity knew what would make her shy friend happy.

Together the group of friends visited some of the more harmless attractions that seemed to be more fitting for Fluttershy, like a slow waterslide or claw cranes with pink, fluffy unicorns and other plush toys. Much to the surprise of all her friends, Fluttershy seemed to have a good hoof in claw cranes and quickly won a plush bunny. As much as she loved to show two ponies that they were made for each other, making her friends happy by sharing a good time with them was more important to Rarity. However, although the night still was young, it didn’t take long until Fluttershy got tired and wished her friends a good night before she walked home.

With another member of the group left, it seemed as if the farm pony took notice that most of the things Rarity said might had a special goal. However, not only Rarity’s behavior was different than usual. Pinkie also seemed to focus most of her attention to the other two members of their little group. That’s when Applejack realized what was going on and although she wasn’t sure if it was a good idea or not, she knew that there was no way to talk Rarity and Pinkie out the idea of matchmaking. When it came to love, Rarity was even more stubborn than Applejack herself. Yes, that actually was possible.

So Applejack just played along, hoping nothing bad would happen although she had a bad feeling. When she gave Rarity a knowing smile, the unicorn became nervous that her friend would spoil the plan. However, as soon as Applejack saw her brother on a stall, she excused herself, giving the fashionista a knowing wink when neither Shiron nor Rainbow was paying attention.

Walking toward her brother, AJ noticed that tonight even the princesses seemed to be able to have a more or less normal night of fun. Right now, Celestia was having a hoof wrestling with Big Macintosh who, by the look of things, was about to lose to the sun princess. Behind Celestia was her younger sister, tasting her very first cotton candy.

After Rarity and Pinkie Pie also excused themselves, they tried to guide their two targets to a very special attraction. It was time to start the next phase of their plan.


“Well, seems like just the two of us are left” Dash said to Shiron. Nudging her friend, she added with a grin “but hey, more fun for us.”

“Yep. So, what do you want to do next?” Shiron asked Dash. The Winter Moon Festival seemed to be a huge success, not just for Princess Luna but also for everypony.

“How about that stall?” Dash said while pointing at a stall with many plushies including some Wonderbolts. All the ponies had to do was to throw two balls and make all the cans fall. Of course magic was forbidden in this and similar games and the owner of the stall paid good attention for any signs of unicorn or alicorn magic.

After giving Dash some bits she tried her best to make all the cans fall but it seemed that today wasn’t her lucky day, either because of a breeze at the wrong time or because of the sound of a flugelhorn. After she failed a second time, Dash gave up.

Usually she would have tried again and again until she would win, but since she wasn’t using her own money, she didn’t want to waste more of Shiron’s bits. With a sigh she was about to leave, when Shiron gave the stall owner some more bits. With his first try, he made half of the caps fall while the other half was still there.

More to the left a female voice, which almost sounded like Pinkie Pie, whispered. When Shiron scanned the surroundings for his pink friend, he only saw two barrels next to the stall but no Pinkie Pie. Shrugging, Shiron thought that it couldn’t hurt and aimed a little to the left and, as if the voice had some sort of magic sense, the remaining cans fell and Rainbow Dash was the proud owner of a new Wonderbolts pluschie. Forgetting her coolness for a moment she gave Shiron a big hug, thanking him for the pluschie before she once again tried to act as cool as possible. However, looking cool instead of cute wasn’t easy when you had a pluschie riding on your back.

The next stop for the two ponies was a Ferris wheel. Although both friends had wings and were able to fly higher than any Ferris wheel, it still had some sort of special magic. Dash and Shiron were both sitting alone in their cabin and were looking out of the window. The lights of the festival were a beautiful sight and thanks to the cloudless sky, the two friends were also able to see Canterlot in the distance. It was kind of relaxing to sit in this cabin and enjoy the sight.

Of course, none of the both ponies noticed the empty cabin behind them although there had been many ponies who wanted to enjoy the Ferris wheel, too. Dash didn’t know why, but being all alone with Shiron tonight was something she could get used to, even if she couldn’t explain why. Right now, she just wanted to enjoy this night, so that she didn’t even notice that there had been a white unicorn horn visible for a few seconds.

When the two friends left the Ferris Wheel, Dash convinced Shiron to try the mirror room. Together, the two entered a room with many different mirrors. Some had been enchanted while others had been processed in a special way to make them look bigger or smaller. Laughing, they tried different mirrors until Dash declared “I’m Princess Rainbow Dash, the princess of awesomeness”.

When Shiron was looking at the mirror, he was able to see that the reflection showed Rainbow Dash being as tall as Celestia with a blue horn on her head. Next to the new alicorn princess, Shiron was able to see that he now also was as big as Rainbow Dash. Giggling, they inspected the next mirror and Dash fall on her back, laughing. Instead on an alicorn reflection, Shiron was now able to see himself as a mare.

“Buahaha, that’s too much,” Dash said laughing, while she was lying on her back “I …. I can’t stop laughing.”

It took the two some time to stop laughing and continue their way through the room and all the funny reflections. Some showed them with a different age, pony kind or even a different species like griffins or dragons, while other mirrors made them look taller or bigger. It was fun but like all good things, they soon reached the end of the mirror room.

Still laughing, Rainbow and Shiron continued their way through the festival. When they walked pass a tent an old mare spoke to them, “Young ones, do you want to hear what the future holds for you?”

The mare was wearing a purple and red dress with golden stars on it. She had chandelier earrings, golden bracelets with rare gems and a golden jeweled necklace around her neck. On hear head she was wearing a long scarf with its tied end hanging down her back. Her tent, similar to her outfit, mostly consists of red, purple and golden fabrics with many golden relics and jewels in it. In front of the mare was a table with a crystal ball. Although neither Shiron nor Dash was able to see her cutie mark of the mare, it seems as if she wasn’t a pony but a zebra.

“I’m not sure about this” Shiron said nervous. He didn’t really know what to think of fortune tellers or someone who claimed to predict the future, but he didn’t want to press his luck by letting some stranger figuring out he was actually remembering about his past. Of course he knew he would have to tell his friends the truth sooner or later but not tonight and definitely not like this .

Before he was able to say, the zebra mare added “Fear not young alicorn, only your destiny I will predict,” giving him an all-knowing look. Whoever this zebra was, she might actually know about his past. On the other hoof, maybe all zebras had a mysterious charisma that made them look like they knew about everything. After all, Zecora was almost the same.

“You know, I don’t really believe in all this fortune telling stuff” Dash responded to the older mare but before she was able to walk away, the zebra answered “My little pony, you don’t have to believe in my words, but maybe it will help you to save a friend.” That got Dash’s attention. If not for herself, she was at least listening to the fortune teller if it was for a friend’s sake.

“My little friends, I can see your future as clear as a crystal” the mare started. With a look at Shiron she continued “I can feel ancient magic being sealed inside you, magic as old as the alicorns themselves. While the other two were born from the sky and the magic itself, you were born from the earth.” Looking at her crystal ball, the zebra mare once again raised her voice “A rainbow will decide your destiny while another rainbow will keep you away from it. Only the right decision will lead to your future.”

Without giving him an explanation, the fortune teller was now looking at Dash, “You, my rainbow colored friend, will have to be careful. A friend of yours will be caught in nightmares and darkness.” With a more mysterious voice the mare continued “When the darkness will be launched at you, you need to enter the darkness. This, my little pony, will be the only way to save your friend.”

“Wait, what do you mean with saving a friend?” Dash wanted to know, but the zebra just answered “I’m merely the voice of the stars and magic. All I know is that, when the time is right, you have to listen carefully.”

Realizing that the zebra mare wasn’t going to give any more details, Shiron gave her some bits and the two friends left the tent. He tried to figure out what the old mare meant with her prophesy. He was born from the earth while the others were born from the sky and magic? It was most likely that she meant Princess Celestia and Princess Luna but why the sky and magic?

Did she mean the three types of ponies? Unicorns representing the magic, Pegasus ponies the sky and earth ponies the earth. However, Celestia and Luna were sisters, so they had the same parents. The more he started to think about it, the more his head started to hurt and he didn’t even want to start with what the old zebra meant with two different rainbows.

Of course, Rainbow Dash changed his life for the better. She gave him a new life and maybe she also gave him a destiny. He didn’t know what he would do with his life, but after this year of loneliness he at least he got back his desire to live. So many things had changed thanks to Rainbow Dash, but why would she, or a second Rainbow, would hurt him?

Looking at his confident friend, he could see that she was also lost in her thoughts. She most likely tried to figure out what the fortune teller meant. However, before they were able to talk about the things the old zebra just told them, they ran into Pinkie Pie and Rarity.

“Hope you two are also having fun” Dash greeted her two friends. “I know we two have” she added with a grin.

“The Winter Moon Festival is delighting darling” Rarity responded, “but I really would have preferred to skip that dreadful Nightmare Ride.”

“Oh, come on Rarity, it was fun” Pinkie said happily. For some reason it seemed, as if she was trying to suppress laughter, although neither Rainbow nor Shiron knew why. “You two really should give it a try. Don’t let the swan boats fool you, it really is scary.”

“Trust me darling, you shouldn’t” Rarity tried to convince her two friends to skip the Nightmare Ride. “It is dreadful. Horrible. Downright hideous.” With every word Dash’s grin just got wider while Shiron seemed, as if he actually wanted to skip that attraction.

What was that? Shiron asked himself when he looked at Rarity. The more exited Rainbow got by Rarity’s description, the happier Rarity and Pinkie seemed to become. It almost looked as if Rarity actually was smiling for the blink of an eye when Rainbow exclaimed that she wanted to give it a try together with Shiron. However, before he was able to say something, Dash already started to run to the place where the Nightmare Ride was. Of course, the exited Pegasus also had decided to drag the surprised alicorn along with her and a few minute later they were both sitting in one of the not so scary swan boats…


Damn you Rarity and Pinkie Pie Rainbow Dash silently cursed her two friends as soon as she realized that this wasn’t a scary or dreadful Nightmare Night. Somehow they had managed to trick Shiron and herself into the Tunnel of Love without even realizing it. However, Dash had just been too excited to question the look of the attraction compared to the description her two friends had given them.

She knew that Pinkie loved pranks as much as she did but this wasn’t a typical Pinkie Pie prank. In other words, it had been Rarity who had planned this although Rainbow Dash didn’t know why. Rarity didn’t play ponies any pranks since pranks weren’t ladylike to Rarity, but Rainbow Dash hadn’t a better explanation for this.

Now she was alone with Shiron and there was no way to escape. They were both sitting in a swan boat in a dark tunnel, in the background she heard some stupid romantic music and wherever she was looking she saw pink hearts and pictures of pink Pegasus ponies with bows and arrows that had hearts as arrow heads. To make it even worse the boat was way too slow for the speed loving Pegasus.

Both ponies were silent and avoided eye contact. Carefully Rainbow Dash looked at Shiron. Just like herself, it looked like he disliked this place. He looked at the water but it was too dark for Rainbow Dash to see his face. His strong, white wings were on his body, the crystal on his necklace sparkled in the darkness when it reflected the pink light of one of the few spotlights and once more Rainbow Dash had to admire that Shiron was a handsome stallion; especially in the outfit Rarity had made for him.

Hey, it could be worse she thought with a soft blush, wondering where this thought had come from. Shaking her head she quickly turned her look away from Shiron, back to the water, and tried to focus on flying and the Wonderbolts but Dash’s mind had other plans.


Oh my gosh, oh my gosh Shiron thought again and again. He had no idea how but somehow Rarity and Pinkie Pie had managed it to trick them. It’s a very good nightmare ride they had told them. Neither he nor Rainbow had guessed Rarity’s and Pinkie’s plan until it was too late. Pinkie trying to suppress laughing, Rarity trying to hide a smile… How could I’ve been so stupid? Shiron cursed himself. A nightmare ride with a swan board…

Since they had entered the first room of the Tunnel of Love, no one had said a word. The silence was like a torture and this music and the sparsely light of the pink hearts only made it worse. Slowly Shiron turned his head at Rainbow Dash. Her look was focused on the water but even without looking her in the eyes he was sure that she hated this place. Her cyan coat and her rainbow mane were beautiful, even in this darkness.

Shiron loved to watch Rainbow Dash flying or practicing new tricks. Her perfect wings looked like they were able to do even the hardest and most complex tricks without any problem. She was a keen flyer and no matter what kind of trick she was doing, she was always dazzling. The beautiful rainbow she always left behind, her passion for flying or the loyalty to her friends; everything made her absolutely graceful and beautiful.

Shiron shock his head to get these thoughts out of his head but this place made it impossible for him. He didn’t know why but suddenly he wished he could look Rainbow Dash deep into her strong rose eyes. In his mind he was slowly moving his hoof to Rainbow Dash’s face. She would look at him with the most beautiful eyes in all of Equestria…


…and his hoof would gently touch her face while his brown eyes would look deep into her own eyes. He would stroke her face with a warm smile. Rainbow Dash was deeply blushing by her own thoughts but because of this cursed place she couldn’t stop her brain.

In her mind Rainbow was slowly moving closer to Shiron and he put one of his forelegs around her while she would rest her head against his shoulder. He would hold her for awhile and she would feel save. Then she would move her head close to Shiron’s while she would look him deep in his eyes which would be full of love…


…and with her soft voice she would say these magical three words. I love you.

The swan board had already reached the deepest and darkest part of the Tunnel of Love. The light of the pink hearts had disappeared and the music had become quieter. However, Shiron didn’t notice it. He was too focused on his thoughts about a moment that would never happen.

I love you, too he would say to Rainbow Dash. Slowly he would move his face closer to Rainbow’s. His heart would beating faster and faster and just like Rainbow Dash he would close his eyes…


… while she would move her face closer to Shiron’s face. Her heart would happily jump when their lips would finally meet. In her mind Rainbow Dash and Shiron were hugging while they were kissing.

All the love books she had secretly read as a filly, long before the worst day of her life that made her hate books and love, and all the stories her friends had told her said that the first kiss would be a wonderful experience but that was understated.

Her imaginary kiss with Shiron was better than everything she had ever felt. It was better than flying, better than the feeling of doing a Sonic Rainboom, better than the day she got her cutie mark and even better than the whole day she had spent with the Wonderbolts. It was like she was flying with the speed of light while she would do Sonic Rainboom after Sonic Rainboom. It felt like there where thousands of butterflies in her tummy. All of the pain and suffering she had to withstand with Silverwing and Cloudburst would finally disappear. Finally, she was feeling happy and loved by an imaginary kiss that just felt so good…

...too good to be just an illusion. Shocked, she opened her eyes…


…when her lips would finally met his, Shiron would feel like he was in heaven. All his pain and sorrow, everything he had suffered would disappear during this magical moment. He would finally find a place he could call home with someone who would always help and support him. A friend he could trust and who would never betray him.

He just felt alive while he felt Rainbow Dash’s soft lips on his lips. Wait he thought. He actually felt her lips on his own. With a shock he opened his eyes at the same time as Dash.

Still hugging Rainbow Dash he looked her deep into her eyes. It took both ponies a few seconds until they realized that their minds had leaded them to a real kiss. Quickly they broke their kiss and moved back into their own corners of the swan beat, their looks focused on everything except each other while they were both deeply blushing.

Curse you Rarity and Pinkie Pie they thought in unity, unaware that the other pony was also cursing their two friends for this embarrassing moment. Just in time Rainbow and Shiron had stopped blushing when the exit and a silly smiling Rarity and a happily bouncing Pinkie came into sight.


The two ponies silently got out of the swan boats and tried to avoid looking at each other. Rainbow knew it was as embarrassing for Shiron as it was for her but somehow, it still hurt a little, especially after all the fun they had tonight. However, she was able to understand her friend.

“Sooooo, how was it?” Pinkie asked curious, a big grin on her face while Rarity was standing next to her. Both of them were looking as Shiron and Dash.

“You know, I’m very tired” Shiron started a bit nervous before Dash was able to say something, “I think I’ll call it a night. I'll....see you all tomorrow”. Before anyone was able to react, Shiron had spread his wings and flew away.

As soon as he left, Rainbow just lost it. “Are you two crazy? What the hay do you two think you were doing?”

“Darling, we were just trying to help you two,” Rarity tried to calm her angry friend, surprised by Dash’s reaction. After all, she just wanted to help her friend to find happiness after everything that happened in the past.

“By what? Tricking us into a date?” Dash asked angrily, trying her best to calm down and by Celestia, it wasn’t easy. She took a deep breath, “Listen girls, it’s nice of you that you try to make me and Shiron happy but something like love doesn’t exist. It’s only a meaningless word that’ll allow others to hurt you.”

Looking at Rarity, “At least you should know that after your encounter with your true love Blueblood,” she said more poisonous than she wanted to. “Love is nothing more than a bunch of horseapples,” Dash added, not even trying to hide her bitterness.

“Dashie, we know what happed was awful but you shouldn’t give up on love just because of Cloudburst” Pinkie said before realizing what she just said, but it was already too late. She covered her mouth with her hoof but she just had mentioned Dash’s only weakness.

Rarity winced when Pinkie mentioned Dash’s old crush. After all, she had been the one who introduced her to her old class mate when he was visiting her. She also had been the one to help Dash to impress him. If she would have known how much he had changed after he moved to Manehatten, then she would have kicked him out of Ponyville when he had visited her. Sadly, she had learned about what happened after Rainbow’s heart was crushed and now Pinkie accidently mentioned him again. Things had just changed from bad to horrible.

Taking a step back, Dash’s mind just went blank. She tried to say something in return, anything, but her mouth just opened and closed like a fish without making a sound. Her legs started to shake and tears started to run down her cheeks. She didn’t even notice Applejack who was walking toward them, wondering what was going on.

None of Dash’s friends were prepared what Dash said quietly, not fitting the brave and confident Pegasus at all, “I’m done with you two”. Without looking back, Dash took off, leaving her shocked friends alone.


When Rainbow was sure that she was all alone, she landed on a nearby cloud, starting to cry. After everything that happened, Pinkie had to mention the only thing that still hurt, even after all the years. She never had been as girly as other mares her age had been, but she was always proud to live on her own terms. No one had the right to tell her how to live her life.

Of course, hidden behind her confidence, she had also shared the same silly dream many fillies are having about finding her true love and a wedding in a beautiful dress. However, after her heart was broken twice, she woke up from that silly dream and realized that true love doesn’t exist. Dash had already lost the faith in love long ago and it was unlikely that she would someday believe in it again.

It took some time but slowly Dash started to calm down and she used a hoof to wipe away her tears. She was just glad she was all alone right now. She rolled on her back, looking at the stars and Luna’s moon. Trying to recall what had just happened and how a fun night had lead to her saying that she didn’t want to be friends with Pinkie and Rarity anymore, Dash thought back.

It all had started harmless with Pinkie and Rarity thinking that she and Shiron would have romantic feelings for each other. So they teamed up and set them up to something like a date. It had been fun to spend the night with Shiron she thought with a weak smile. Somehow, deep inside she even like the whole kissing part, but that wasn’t really why she got mad, was it?

Rainbow got up, looking at the direction of her cloud home – she even saw it. Why did she become that mad? Was it, because of the whole matchmaking? Being tricked into a date and a kiss? No, it was something different and she knew the answer. She was afraid.

After they left the tunnel of love, Shiron had suddenly left and flew home. She wasn’t mad at him and it would have been unfair if she would have been. No, he was most likely as surprised or nervous as she was. Maybe he also was afraid. Would something change between them? Would they still hang out and spend time together like before or would they start to avoid each other? That though was what she feared the most, losing a friend.

Letting her head hung Dash knew that the next few days wouldn’t be easy. Not only because of her kiss with Shiron but also because of Rarity and Pinkie. Most likely her two friends knew that Rainbow was just hurt and didn’t mean what she had said. However, telling a friend to not want to be friends with them anymore still was something you shouldn’t do. They needed to talk things out tomorrow and she also had to talk with Shiron. Rainbow Dash wouldn’t allow that their friendship would end just because of a misunderstanding.

Just when she was about to fly home, Rainbow heard a scream. She instantly knew that it had been Fluttershy’s voice and she dashed off to her friend’s home. When she landed in front of Fluttershy’s cottage, she knocked on the door, which slowly opened. Equestria was a safe place, if you don’t count the few villains or monsters from time to time, so the ponies of Ponyville didn’t really need to lock their doors.

“Fluttershy, what happened?” she asked, but the room was dark. “I’m coming in” she announced and walked into the house.

Rainbow scanned the room. Most of Fluttershy’s animals were still sleeping, while some other’s seemed to have woken up by their caretaker’s scream, looking confused at the intruder. Seeing, it was just a friend of Fluttershy, some closed their eyes again, while others still were focusing their look on Dash. Well, here I have my Nightmare Ride Dash thought, looking at all the eyes of the animals staring at her.

When she heard a sound from above, Dash quickly run upstairs, ignoring the looks of the animals. If her friend needed help, she would be there for her. A whimper came out of Fluttershy’s bedroom and Dash opened the door. “It’s me, Rainbow Dash” she said quietly, not to scare her shy friend even more.

“D..dashie?” Fluttershy asked, using Rainbow’s pet name. Rainbow saw a shaking blanket and a pair of cyan eyes looking at her from under the blanket.

“What happened? I heard you screaming” Dash said with a caring voice.

“I….uhm…“the shy Pegasus started but was too scared or embarrassed to continue.

“Come on Shy, you can talk to your old buddy Dashie” Rainbow, taking a few steps closer to her.

“I had … a bad dream” Fluttershy confessed, coming out from under her blanked. “It was so dark and I was so scared” she added, close to tears.

Rainbow knew how easy it was to scare her old friend, so she did the one thing that always helped, embracing her friend in a good, old hug. “Everything is good now. I’ll protect you.” When Fluttershy hugged her back, Dash offered her friend “If you want, I can stay here until tomorrow” which Fluttershy gladly accepted with a smile and a nod.

For some reason, Dash had to think of the old zebra mare again - A friend of yours will be caught in nightmares and darkness. Of course there wasn’t any real danger for Fluttershy’s life and there wasn’t any darkness being launched at her. However, maybe the old mare still had been right at all. At least Dash was able to help one of her friends today. Tomorrow, she would try to fix the mess that had happened.


While Rainbow Dash was at Fluttershy’s home, Shiron was lying in his bed. As soon, as he got home, he had gone to sleep. However, just like every night, it wasn’t a peaceful sleep. His horn was slowly glowing every few seconds, illuminating the room. Just like every night, the alicorn was caught in his nightmares.

Author's Note:

Finally a new chapter^^
Some things had changed since last time. Finished my apprenticeship, got a job and, after almost two years, I finally was able to deal with a bad thing. Well, I still hate a certain collection of stories but at least they aren't causing any problems anymore:pinkiesad2:

Well, I think I'll try to skip the whole pre-reader thing for the next few chapters. Doesn't make much sense with the speed I'm writing at the moment. Would be one pre-reader for every chapter

Now to the chapter itself^^ I tried to write a more or less good prophecy without actually spoiling anything that will happen. Don't know if it worked or not, but I tried my best^^

Moreover, this chapter also marks a special event for my fanfic. The next chapter will be the beginning of the main plot of the first "book" of this fanfic. I just hope you will like the ideas I have planned for the climax of the first book^^