The Rainbow Crusade

by TheRainbowDashShow

Chapter 13

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes slowly drifted open as they adjusted to the misty morning light. The glowing orange embers from the fire that charred into blackness slowly faded, a steady stream of hazy gray smoke wafting towards her, stinging at her eyes. She pried herself up from the cold tile floor, and carefully trotted herself away from the huddle of sleeping ponies, being cautious to not step on any manes or tails.

After several minutes of stumbling, she successfully navigated herself away from her other slumbering friends and headed into Rarity’s well-kept kitchen. Everything was exceptionally tidy and had its own place. Everything, that was, with the exception of a rather large pile of protective spell books Twilight had retrieved from the library just minutes prior to her arrival. Rarity had protested quite vocally at the strewn out tomes that littered her mahogany table she claimed to have designed herself.

Eventually, Twilight managed to hush the complaining pony but by the time she had finished that task, she was far too tired to study and search for a protective barrier that she thought might actually be of some use. The words had become muddled in her mind from her desire to sleep and had settled for a simple ‘Pleasant Dreams’ spell on her friends. She had on occasion used upon herself whenever she was feeling anxious about an upcoming test. She hoped that the charm would be enough to shield the others from the nightmares that could be brought on as they slept.

Taking the musty crimson tome from atop the pile of books resting on the table she began to quietly flip through the pages. All the spells she came across seemed limited to something simple, like keeping out para-sprites. Any of the barrier spells she thought may be powerful enough, seemed far too complicated and surpassed her magical abilities well beyond what she believed she would be capable of even in the next five years.

A growing pain in Twilight’s stomach vocalized itself in the form of a low growl. She sighed and placed the book down. “How am I supposed to get any work done if I can’t even focus?” Twilight grumbled to herself. Her muscles ached dully as she scouted the cupboard for Rarity’s stash of Frosted Oats. Lifting the small clear bag seared her. She had been so tense the past few days with everything that was happening, her entire body was cramping up from the stress.

It felt unfair to her. All of her friends were relying on her to protect them from constant lurking pony that threatened them. She didn’t understand what every pony expected her to do about the situation. She knew just as much about what was going on as they did. Sitting down at the mahogany table, she scanned across the room before eying a cupboard.

Twilight’s horn flickered its’ pale lavender glow but the light quickly died out. Another irritated grumble escaped her, “Great…” She tiredly picked herself back up and trotted towards the cupboard and slid a bowl out from inside it. “I can’t even move basic household items, let alone conjure up some kind of protective barrier. How can every pony expect me to keep them safe?” She hissed, the agitation in her voice steadily growing.

Shaking her head and discarding the thought, she lowered her neck and bit down into the crunchy, sweet bowl of crisp oats. The light sugary frosting brought a gentle surge of energy back through her, instantly making her feel more revitalized and cheerful.

“Whoever came up with Frosted Oats was brilliant” She mumbled happily to herself as she continued eating. As she chewed she looked past her pile of books and towards the pile of still sleeping ponies. She wondered what crazy dream Pinkie Pie must be having at that moment. While pondering the thought, allowing silly images of Pinkie Pie devouring every cupcake in Ponyville, a silent alarm began to ring inside her head.

Hopping up quickly from her seat she galloped back into the other room and stamped her hooves onto the ground, sliding to a halt. She backed away slightly and counted, then re-counted. She then stopped counting and did a mane check only to see no fluffy pink manes hidden anywhere within the bunch. There wasn’t a single pink mane tucked away beneath the other ponies. Even if Pinkie Pie was sleeping in some obscure spot that hid her from eye-sight, there was still another pony missing.

Twilight Sparkle quickly began to shake every pony awake and repeatedly asking “Have you seen Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy,” as she awoke them. After much groaning and yawning, every pony was soon as wide awake as Twilight was. Now that every pony was here mentally, she decided to ask them one last time as a group, “Has any pony seen Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy since last night?”

The ponies blinked and looked left and right at one another. Finally they broke the silence and quietly said “No” while they scraped their hooves gently at the ground. Applejack stepped forward, “When was the last time any of y’all saw them?” She asked.

“Umm…” Raven Flame continued looking around her, “I think the last time we saw her was at the ruins.”

A gentle tapping emanated from the shop’s thin wooden door. The soft sound echoed against the cold polished tiles floating softly into Sweetie Belle’s perked up ears. The knocking seemed to go unnoticed from every pony else. Reluctantly, after a failed attempt to get some pony’s attention, she ventured towards the door and pried it open a crack.

The weight of an unconscious pony pushed open the door further as Fluttershy crashed downward towards the unsuspecting filly. Sweetie Belle let out a surprised yelp and hopped out of the way. The others rushed towards the aid of both the cowering Sweetie Belle and a pale Fluttershy lying nearby.

Twilight gently nudged the Pegasus with a hoof, “Fluttershy, are you okay?”

Fluttershy gave no response. Her labored and shallow breathing continued and her eyes remained shut.

Applebloom trotted forward shaking her head. She approached the unconscious pony vigorously, “C’mon Fluttershy, yah gotta wake up!” She commanded.

Applejack quickly scooped Applebloom up and pulled her away, “And what did yah think that was ‘sposed tah accomplish?” She hissed quietly after retreating to the back of the group.

Rarity stared inquisitively, “Twilight, what’s wrong with her? She looks absolutely dreadful!”

Twilight groaned agitatedly as she felt the pressure of everyone looking to her for answers once again. “How should I know?” She replied back, trying to keep herself calm. “Fluttershy is the one who usually knows what to do when somepony is sick or…” she pointed at the sleeping pony, “Or whatever this is.”

Scootaloo suddenly charged from the back of the room with a small bucket of water and tipped it over the pony. With the exception of chattering teeth and shivers the condition still stayed unchanged. Everypony stared irritably at the orange filly.
“Sorry,” Scootaloo said with a quiet chuckle and an innocent grin as she too returned to the back of the group.

Twilight used all of her self-restraint to stop herself from planting a hoof on her face. “Any pony else have any ideas they’d like to try out?”

Every pony remained quiet.

“Any pony at all?”

There was still no answer.

“Okay then!” Twilight’s horn illuminated in its purple glow and encased the Pegasus in a similar aura. Fluttershy began to hover for a few short moments before the light flickered and vanished altogether and once again the pony came crashing down to the floor. Another groan escaped Twilight’s lips. “Some pony help me carry her to Rarity’s bed.”

Rarity almost gasped, “My bed? Why does it have to be my bed?” She whined.

Twilight rolled her eyes and stared at her almost dumbfounded. Shaking away her gaze, she ignored the question and returned her attention back to Fluttershy. She kneeled down and scooted the pony partially onto her back. Applejack followed suit and the two slowly trotted into the bedroom.

“What do yah reckon is wrong with her?” Applejack asked as she brushed Fluttershy off of her and onto the plush bed.

“I don’t know.” Twilight said feeling a little defeated. She couldn’t stand it. Everypony was coming to her for answers and she didn’t have any.

The two quietly sat beside the bed, every hour on the hour, they made an effort to wake her up. Occasionally one of the gang would come inside and check up on Fluttershy, or bring news that there was a lack of news about the missing Pinkie Pie.

As the small hand of Rarity’s clock began to approach the six for its second rotation that day, Raven Flame marked her place in the book she held, shut it and pulled herself up and ventured into the bedroom bringing the book with her.

Raven Flame stood quietly behind Twilight Sparkle, “I had an idea, Twilight,” She announced after clearing her throat.
Twilight turned around and perked up an ear. It was a pleasant change for some pony to calmly tell her something, rather than breaking out into hysteria. “What is it, Raven?”

Raven Flame glanced towards Applejack, whom took the hint and left the room. The door shut quietly behind the orange pony and the obsidian filly took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to say anything in the other room because I didn’t want to make the others any more worried than they already are.”

Twilight tilted her head closer, “What is it?”

Raven Flame thought briefly, trying to think of how she could best word what she was about to say. Soon however, she noticed the exhausted purple unicorn’s face starting to grow impatient. “What if Shadow Scorn did this to her?” she asked.
Twilight grumbled. She had expected a bit more of an idea than that.

Raven started back up quickly, as to not give the pony the wrong idea. “I mean, well, obviously Shadow did this to her.” She said sounding a little embarrassed. “What I meant was…” She paused again. “Shadow has been inside our dreams, right?”
Twilight slowly nodded in agreement.

“Well, what if she locked Fluttershy away in a dream?” Raven Flame asked. “And now for whatever reason, we can’t wake her up out here.”

An idea sparked in Twilight’s mind, but she guessed Raven was already working her way up to suggesting what she had just thought of.

“Could you…” Raven Flame inhaled deeply and finished her thought aloud. “Could you go into her dream and find out what’s keeping her there?”

Twilight was right about sharing Raven’s idea. “I… I don’t know.” She said quietly. The idea of entering another pony’s dreams frightened her. It wasn’t something any pony should ever do. “I don’t even think I can do it” She said.
Raven Flame had expected and prepared for such an argument. She pulled open the book to a spell. “I thought you wouldn’t know how, so I found the spell for you.” She placed the book in front of Twilight and waited quietly.

“The Dream Walker?” Twilight read aloud before returning to the text and read silently to herself. The spell seemed relatively advanced compared to most of the spells that she performed. “This seems a little dangerous…” She said softly as she read on. “May result in memory loss of both the walker and the dreamer?!” She squeaked.

Raven Flame covered the warning text with her hooves, “Don’t worry about that! We don’t exactly have much of a choice. If Fluttershy really is trapped in her own dream and can’t wake up, she’s going to be missing a bit more than a few memories if we don’t wake her soon!”

Twilight gazed worriedly at the sleeping Pegasus, “I guess you’re right.” She said and returned to studying how to conjure the spell. After a few more minutes she decided that she would be ready to cast this spell as she’d ever be. She shut the book and trotted over to Fluttershy. “Raven, get me a chair.” She ordered, while gently placing the tip of her horn on the sleeping pony’s forehead.

Raven nodded and pulled up a rocking chair that sat in the corner. She dragged it slowly behind Twilight “Are you going to try it now?” She asked.

“Now is as good a time as any.” Twilight answered, trying to hush the quivering in her voice. Her horn flickered its glow briefly before cutting out once again. “Not now!” She hissed at herself. With a deep breath she pushed all of her focus, a steady stream of light emanated from her and seemed to flow into Fluttershy’s forehead.

A steady stream of sweat began to form as Twilight continued to push herself further. The chain of light began to phase in and out. “Come on…” She whispered to herself, giving one last final push. The aura grew brighter and all at once in a quick flash, there was a deafening explosion followed by a cloud of black smoke that eliminated Twilight's vision briefly.

"Raven Flame?" Twilight cried out. "Are you okay?" She coughed loudly, clearing the smoke from her throat, preventing her from hearing a response. "Raven Flame, I asked if you were okay!" She called out again.

Holding back her fit of coughing and choking she perked up her ears and listened intently. There was no response. Several moments passed and the smoke cleared. She looked around to find no pony present. Not only was she alone, but she found herself present in a room that she was completely unfamiliar with.

She gulped nervously, "Hello? Is any pony there?"

Except for the echoes of her own words all she could hear was the chattering of an unknown sound venturing closer and closer towards her.

"Hello? Where am I? Any pony?"

No response yet again. Only the continuously increasing loudness of the something coming towards her faster and faster.

"Hello?!"

Author's Note:

Omgersh! Looky! A Chapter!

Comments

[dankmememaster420]

YOUR ALIVE...........welp better call off those thugs.....

[MuffinYouSoCrazy]

Udate!?!?.......Cliffhanger!?!?............ seriously though good chapter. Cant wait to see what's happening to fluttershy

[Cthulhu Likes Ponies]

FINALLY!!!!

[cherryfeather101]

Please don't tell me this is the end...

Started reading this series earlier today...