A Rainbow Over Myst

by Moon Flame

The Star Fissure

Rainbow Dash had her eyes riveted at the open page and the linking window inside it. She tried to imagine herself spending eight years inside a prison book, the half-crazy smile of the man inside envisioning who she will be at that time.

“And what if I refuse?” She asked, the anger burning in her eyes.

“If you refuse,” Catherine closed the book and walked up to a square object. She grabbed the cover and tore it away, revealing a smaller cage with a familiar rainbow mane inside. She picked up a stick that sparkled with electricity

“We’ll do this the hard way.”

Catherine pressed the stick against the sleeping stallion. The shock woke him up. Bow Hothoof screamed in pain.

“Dad!?” Rainbow Dash wailed.

“Rainbow Dash?!” Bow Hothoof shouted in disbelief. He remembered when he foolishly screamed out his location at the recorder. Regret filled his heart. “I am so sorry Dashie that I lead you here.”

“It’s alright dad. I’ll get you out of there!”

Catherine gave him another shock. The electricity caused his wings to flicker before he crumbled to the ground.

“Hey, you leave my dad alone!” Rainbow Dash roared.

Catherine didn’t answer. She walked up to Rainbow Dash’s cage and put the linking page against the bars.

Rainbow Dash’s red pupils glared at Catherine. Catherine’s apathetic face showed no sign of flinching while the realization suddenly hit her. This rainbow pony would be to stubborn to ether use the book or accept that she had the upper hand.

“Fine. Then we’ll switch.” Catherine said darkly.

Catherine took the book away from the bars and turned to Bow Hothoof.

Rainbow Dash saw Catherine looking at Bow Hothoof when the taser suddenly came. Rainbow Dash felt all her muscles pull at once. She crumbled to the ground. Her raspy scream made the prison bars rumble around her, Bow Hothoofs desperate pleading buried somewhere behind it. The electricity stopped.

“I have all day.” Catherine said. Rainbow Dash pulled herself together.

“No dad, she hasn’t! Atrus will realize that something is wrong! He will come and…” Rainbow Dash gasped when the taser suddenly came again. She felt her hooves stretch out by the tensions.

“Don’t…Do…. It!” Rainbow Dash managed.

“No! STOP HURTING MY DAUGHTER!” Bow Hothoof cried out. Catherine pulled away the taser from the ruffled-up Pegasus pony.

“I’ll do it!” Hothoof agreed with a broken voice.

“No dad.” Rainbow Dash managed.

Catherine walked up to Bow Hothoofs cage. She pressed the linking window against it.

“But you must promise to release her!” He demanded.

“I have no reason to keep her. I’ll let her loose in the woods somewhere later.” Catherine promised. Bow Hothoof looked at Rainbow Dash.

“It will be alright Dashie.”

Rainbow Dash wanted to scream out to her dad. She wanted to tell him that she loved him. But the lagging pain from the shocks made her tongue jam. She watched Bow Hothoof touch the linking book and disappear out of thin air. As he did Gehn appeared inside the pony only cage. He squatted in an embarrassing position.

“Let me out of here!” He blasted.

Catherine took out the key chain and unlocked the cage, using the wrong key several times before managing.

“Come on, I feel like a chimpanzee in here!”

Catherine grabbed Gehns arm and helped him out of the cage. She folded her arms around him and started crying.

“For so long I waited, for so long.”

“It’s all right now Catherine. I promise things will be different. Soon the whole family will be together.” Gehn said.

“Even Atrus?”

“Even Atrus, just as I promised. Neither he or I may like it, but for once in our lives we will find a way.”

Catherine tightened her grip around her father in law. She buried her face in his shoulders, feeling every worry about the future disappear. Finally, things would be as Atrus always intended but never had the means to achieve.

Suddenly Catherine felt pierced by her emotions, literally. She gasped and raised her shaking arms. She looked at Gehn with her mouth open, his cold gaze of remorselessness floating inside his pupils.

“But, you promised.” Catherine managed.

“I promised that our family would be together. But with our history, only in death will that be possible, my dear Catherine.”

Gehn pulled out his arm. There was a squeaking sound when Catherine’s hands pressed against Gehns chest while sliding down. She crumbled to the floor. The rebel knife in Gehns hand sparkled red with blood. Rainbow Dash looked on in disbelief.

“I am sorry that you had to whiteness that Rainbow Dash, I really do.” Gehn spoke punctually with a clear voice. “There is no reason to lie, there was a time when I would have called this moment a chance for the D’ni dynasty to rise once again. But now, quite frankly, I don’t really care anymore.”

Gehn was alarmingly straight to the point. He put the knife in his pocket. Rainbow Dash looked at the floor and caught sight of Catherine’s fading eyes, regret swimming inside them. She reached out her hand and flung the key chain into Rainbow Dash’s cage.

Catherine then died.

“I will now use this linking book.” Gehn brought up the Tomahna book from Catherine’s bag. “Once I am in Tomahna I will kill Atrus and I will kill Yeesha. I will then rid me of myself. In three days everything, every suffering that my train wreck of a family has endured, all of it will be over. As long as you don’t get in my way you have nothing to fear. I am regretful for your father, I really am. I pray that you will find a solution. Maybe you can switch place now and then?”

“Or how about you getting back into prison where you belong, murderer?!” A raspy voice demanded.

Gehn turned around. Rainbow Dash was out of her cage, glaring at him with determined red eyes. Gehn smiled

“Well, then let’s get this over with!” He blasted, almost merrily.

Gehn reached into a corner behind the door. He brought out two sheets with swords in them. He tossed the first sword with sheet and everything in front of Rainbow Dash’s hooves. He then took out his own sword and charged the Pegasus pony without warning.

Rainbow Dash reached down and grabbed the sword handle with two hooves, no time to un-sheet before being forced to block. There were the sound of metal slamming against plastic. Rainbow Dash flung Gehns sword sideways, causing her own sword to un-sheet. The sheet went flying across the room.

“Waaaa!” Gehn roared and stabbed.

Rainbow Dash moved sideways and dodged it. She tossed her sword up into the air and grabbed it with her mouth, allowing her to strike Gehns exposed flank. But Gehns human hand was way more agile with a sword than a pony mouth or hoof. He turned his hand and blocked it. He then leaned forward pressed it against his attacker, causing the locking blades to slide right in front of Rainbow Dash’s horrified face.

But the hooves of the pony was way more stable than the two legs of the human. Rainbow Dash used all four of hers and pressed him back, forcing him to stretch his back leg not to fall backwards. He rose his blade and hurled Rainbow Dash sideways, allowing him to detach his blade. He then swung it randomly through the air. Rainbow Dash backed away and heard the cutting sound of the blade swooshing. A globe on the table had its base cut, causing it to loosen and roll down to the floor in a bump.

Gehn and Rainbow Dash kept coming at each other. The room filled with the clinging of their swords. Glasses were shattered by the flinging blades. Curtains were cut so that their other half’s barely connected at their bottoms. Gehn kicked Rainbow Dash in the flank, causing her to gasp and crumble, the sword sliding against the floor. Gehn raised his sword to stab her on the ground. Rainbow Dash pushed her hooves forward and rocketed toward Gehn, past his blade and rammed him in the chest.

They both grumped and crumbled into a table. Rainbow Dash raised her hooves to smack the smug tyrant in the face. Gehn managed to grab her hoof and render her unable, all while throwing his own punch. Rainbow Dash felt her eye burn by Gehns fist. She had it closed while allowing the grogginess to lay itself. Gehn reached down into his pockets and brought out the rebel knife, still covered in Christine’s blood. Rainbow Dash got up on her hooves and backed away from the mad general, her eye blue by his punch. They both breathed heavily while studying each other.

“I have to admit pony, you have fighting spirit, and you are strong. So far you have shown yourself to be a much better son than Atrus ever was.”

“He’s a much better father than you’ll ever be!” Rainbow Dash blasted and charged Gehn, faster than he was able to stab her with his knife.

They both fell onto a bookshelf, causing all the books to fall down. Gehn was able to push Rainbow Dash away. His legs shook while Rainbow Dash’s pony hooves showed no sign of tiring. Gehn grumped and ran to the table. He grabbed the Tomahna linking book and opened it.

Rainbow Dash spotted an open book with a linking window lying on the floor. She grabbed it with her mouth and galloped toward Gehn. She folded her hooves around him and pressed her hoof against it.

Both Gehn and Rainbow Dash disappeared out of thin air, along with several other books they were standing on. The book Rainbow Dash linked with fell to the floor. Its title read in capital letters.

‘RIVEN’

———————————

The blackness of space widened infinitely around Rainbow Dash and Gehn as they floated. Even though this was space Rainbow Dash was able to breath the air inside the Star Fissure as she tried to stop herself from spinning. She growled in frustration while trying in vain to use her wings that were still tied to her back. Rainbow Dash could see a green and blue planet. She guessed the planet was Earth. All around her the Star Fissure widened like salt dots on a black surface. The air swooshed with the remainder of the crumbled age Riven that were nothing more now than a creek of small rocks flying in circles.

Rainbow Dash spotted the prison book containing her father flying ahead. The Tomahna linking book that would take her to Atrus flew beside it. It was the only way out of here. She paddled her hooves and felt herself gradually gaining speed. She felt stirring to her right. Gehn was having the same idea. He sailed past her with his much better swimming arms. But he was tired, Rainbow Dash could hear it. She paddled her hooves faster. She gained in on him. She kept her eyes riveted on the Tomahna linking book.

Gehn flung his head sideways. He saw Rainbow Dash coming closer. The Tomahna linking book was just ahead. She would reach it before him in this pace, but as her flank came closer that would not matter. Gehn brought out the rebel knife. He pulled his arm backward, ready to plunge it into Rainbow Dash’s heart. She came closer, closer, closer. A silhouette of a book appeared behind the pony. The book labeled MYST opened and revealed it’s linking window in a bright flash. The flash blinded Gehn.

“Waaah!” He gasped.

Rainbow Dash wailed around and saw the knife. She hurled herself sideways and, with one strong motion of her hoof she kicked Gehn in the arm, causing Gehn to strike himself. Gehn gave a loud gasp. He looked at Rainbow Dash with his eyes and mouth open. His arms and legs stretched out like a sea star while he sailed slowly toward the blackness of the star fissure, the rebel symbol from the knife plunged in his chest sparkling as he went.

Rainbow Dash proceeded paddling for the Tomahna linking book. Once she had her hooves on it she felt the relief pour over her like warm water. At the same moment a rock came flying. It hit Bow Hothoofs prison book and caused it to rocket toward space in an accelerating speed. The water turned cold.

“Dad!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. She paddled her hooves as fast as she could. She felt her heart drop to her stomach when she realized that she would never catch up with the book, along with the hope of ever seeing her dad again.

“No! DAD!”

Rainbow Dash was just about to give up and break down when a silhouette suddenly came flying through space. The silhouette was of a human, that Rainbow Dash could tell, but who was it? The silhouette came closer. Rainbow Dash felt her breathing stop.

The silhouette was now hovering face to face with her, his own face being completely black with neither eyes or mouth. The flying silhouette should have scared Rainbow Dash to death, but for some reason she didn’t feel scared at all. Instead she felt hopeful, bordering between sadness and happiness. Was it because she was just happy sporadically, or could it be that she was just glad of finally meet him in person?

“Stranger?”

Stranger reached out the human hands, even they completely silhouetted. Rainbow Dash felt her wings unfold when Stranger tied them free.

Rainbow Dash nodded at Stranger. You nodded back.

Rainbow Dash thrusted her wings and set of for the book. Even though there were no winds in space the air velocity allowed her to gain speed. She saw the prison book grow smaller ahead.

“I’m coming dad!” Rainbow Dash flew faster. But the more speed she acquired the more speed the book seemed to gain. The book was now only a speck in space. Rainbow Dash’s eyes filled with tears.

“Dad! No dad! Don’t leave me dad!” Rainbow Dash flapped her wings faster. A membrane had started to form around her. It became bigger and bigger.

You had your eyes riveted on the fabric of space when a huge explosion suddenly filled the void. For the first time in history space had become home of a giant rainbow. It retracted outward like a breaking water surface. Out of the circle came a straight rainbow. It rocketed toward the blackness, seemingly ready to discover what laid beyond it.

You looked hopefully at its colors. For the first time since you entered this dark void you felt true happiness. For the first time you knew for certain that, even though space mostly consisted of black and white, there would always be colors painted somewhere behind it.

——————————————

Atrus suddenly became alert when he heard the familiar sound of a linking being done. He rose from his office chair and made his way to the library. Once he entered it the sun patched through its round windows. It shone of over a rainbow mane holding a book in her hooves. She looked apathetic down at its cover with her ears lowered in sadness. Atrus walked up to her and laid his hand on her head.

“Atrus.” Rainbow Dash spoke weakly.

“Rainbow Dash.” Atrus said.

“He’s trapped, Atrus.”

“Look at me Rainbow Dash.”

For the first time Rainbow Dash looked straight into Atrus face. His brown eyes laid peacefully inside his calm, bearded profile. Rainbow Dash’s red eyes sparkled as they bordered between sadness and hope.

“Can you get him out, Atrus?” She asked.

Atrus grabbed the prison book and opened it. He saw Rainbow Dash’s father looking at him with confounding eyes.

“Where is Gehn?” Atrus asked.

“Dead.” Rainbow Dash answered plainly. “And he killed Catherine to.” Rainbow Dash though she might as well say it.

“What? He killed Catherine, my wife!” Atrus wailed.

“She wanted to release him.”

“Release him?”

Rainbow Dash told Atrus what happened inside the prison and why Catherine wanted to release Gehn. Atrus stared in disbelief at the Rainbow pony.

“But can you get him out, Atrus?” Rainbow Dash asked again, her voice growing more and more desperate.

“I can try.” Atrus said. He sounded more comforting than certain. Rainbow Dash opened the prison book. She watched the unaware Bow Hothoof look at her in confusion.

“Rainbow Dash, where am I? What is this place?”

“It’s fine dad.” Rainbow Dash smiled. “You’ll be out soon.” She lied with a cracked voice.

Bow Hothoof looked at her bewildered when she closed the book. Rainbow Dash could only see the front cover of it when her vision went blurry with tears.

Atrus watched the shaking piece of mane in front of him. The sobbing and snorting of Rainbow Dash was accompanied by the dropping of her tears hitting the cover of the prison book. Rainbow Dash’s unfolded wings laid limply at her sides, her ears hanging down the sides of her head.

“Dad… Dad… Dad…” She kept sobbing.

Atrus fell down into the chair behind him. He felt a strange ball form inside his stomach as he listened to the pony crying over the black prison book.

“Dad.” He whispered.

Atrus rose from his seat. He went down to his knees and folded his arms around the mane of the rainbow pony. Rainbow Dash turned her teary face and let it rest over Atrus left shoulder. A minute passed. Rainbow Dash’s crying faded to snorting. Atrus grabbed the prison book and got up on his legs. He opened it and saw the second dad this book had imprisoned looking at him like he expected him to say something. Atrus then appeared to be speaking to Bow Hothoof.

“I should have been there for you when you needed me. I should have taught you what I knew and helped you help me.” Atrus closed his eyes. His voice cracked when he finished. “I’m so sorry.”

Rainbow Dash looked to her left. She saw Atrus lay his hand inside the book and disappear. The rainbow mane of her dad then had the sun send colored patches, once again.

”Dad!”

Rainbow Dash galloped to Bow Hothoof and folded her hooves around him.

“Oh dad.”

“Rainbow Dash, I found you, I finally found you!”

“But how did you get here dad?”

“Twilight Sparkle managed to use her magic and allow the linking book one more travel. Your friends were right in the middle of a discussion on which pony they would send through. While they were talking I sneaked inside the library.”

Rainbow Dash looked at her father, who grinned meanly. Rainbow Dash laughed.

“And I really need to get a lock on that library of mine.” Twilight Sparkle scolded herself.

Rainbow Dash gasped. She wailed her head around. She saw the familiar smile of, not only the alicorn princess, but also Fluttershy, Rarity, Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie. She felt a huge smile form on her face.

“Friends!” Rainbow Dash galloped forward and folded her wings around her best friends in the world.

“Eh, hello!? Egghead who sacrificed his freedom over here!” A voice sounded from the prison book.

“Atrus! I can’t believe you did that.” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“I can. I should never have made this prison book. Even though Gehn needed to be stopped it was nothing more than a stupid writing experiment. I was blind to make it, as blind as i was about my wife’s feelings,” Atrus paused, then empathized ”…and you, Rainbow Dash. I’m so sorry that I let my own hatred for my father stand in the way of the love for your own. All I ask of you now is that you find Yeesha and tell her that I love her.”

“It’s alright Atrus. We’ll take turn spending time inside the book.” Rainbow Dash proposed. There was a firm answer.

“No. I absolutely not, forbid you!” Atrus shook his finger. “I made this book, this is my prison!”

The other ponies now came into view of the linking window, a smiling lavender face being up front.

“Who are you?” Atrus asked.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight was in ecstasy, her big happy-to-meet-her-idol eyes sparkled like her name. “Oh, it’s so nice to finally meet you Atrus! Ever since I began my study in age writing I have been a huge fan of your work.”

Atrus looked bewildered at the smiling lavender pony.

“But how did you get here? Writing linking books is a lost D’ni art passed down from generations.”

“Oh, it was easy.” Twilight waved her hoof about. “Once I understood the science behind the rift between worlds, the Star Fissure as you call it, and the way our language transcribed into books can correspond to the molecules surrounded by dark matter I only needed to calculate the position of the moon divided by the distance of the northern star and measure its rotation times three and…” Twilight stopped talking when she caught sight of Atrus blank stare of disbelief. “…But then I only counted birds, hehehe.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you to Twilight. I guess I’ll turn to you now for questions about Equestria. That is, if you are willing to visit my prison book now and then.”

“Oh, there’s no need for that Atrus. I can get you out.” Twilight said confidently. There was a country accent making her input.

“Wow Twilight, way of ruining the whole father sacrificing his freedom to save another father drama.” Apple Jack said.

“What? It’s not my fault, it’s science!” Twilight blasted. Her face then grew sad. “But unfortunately, I didn’t really ruin it Apple Jack.” Twilight looked at Atrus inside the book.

“You see, for me to get you out of there using my alicorn magic I will have to create a bond between you and my world of Equestria.”

“Which means?” Atrus asked.

“Which means that I will have to turn you into a unicorn…” Twilight closed her eyes as her horn started glowing.

“…Forever.”