Ponyville was in a bit of chaos after the events of the night before. All the lights and monster cries coming from the castle had caught more than a few ponies' attention, and something had to be said to ease the townsfolk’s worries. So after a brief meeting with the Mayor, ‘Sunny Skies’ and Twilight announced a meeting in front of Town Hall, which many ponies were quick to answer to and soon the square was filled with almost everyone in town.

“Hello everypony.” Twilight said from her podium to the assembled crowd of Ponyvillians. Everypony either looked confused or worried as they gave her their full attention. “As you are probably aware, there was an… incident… at the castle last night. In order to clear up any questions you might have, or any ridiculous rumors that might have sprung up, I have come before you to offer up an apology in place of the real culprit of last night’s excitement.” Twilight suddenly looked very annoyed as she went into her explanation. “You see, our ‘friend’ Discord wanted a playmate, and decided to summon up a Giant Salamander in the middle of the Castle Courtyard.”

Groans and sighs of irritation echoed through the crowd along with the occasional shout of negativity towards the Draconequus, who unbeknownst to everyone was actually in the crowd. Under the guise of ‘Scrawl’ he glared up at Twilight with his own look of annoyance.

“Please settle down everypony,” Twilight continued. “Rest assured, Discord has already apologized to me personally and promised to repair the damage his pet did to the castle. Nopony was injured, and the creature has since been sent back to where it came from.”

“Throw that troublemaker out!” yelled one of the ponies in the crowd.

“Turn him back to stone!” Yelled another near where ‘Scrawl’ was standing.

“He’s already been dealt his punishment.” Twilight said calmly. “Please be patient with us everypony. Neither I nor Princess Celestia expected him to be reformed in a day, but he IS making progress. Now if there aren’t anymore questions, that is all.”

“What about the earthquakes?” A pony nearer to Twilight asked.

“The earthquakes are nothing to be worried about. None of the one’s yesterday or last month were strong enough to do any damage to any building in Ponyville.”

“Why is there still a shield encasing the castle?”

“Unnecessary precautions directed to me from Canterlot. I assure you that I’m not aware of the reason for this order other than because they wanted it. Anything else?”

“Do you know where Princess Celestia has gone?”

“Vacation. Didn’t say where.” The questions halted there and, after a few more minutes, Twilight bowed to the crowd and bid them farewell. She and ‘Sunny Skies’ turned and went back inside Townhall, where Wayfarer was waiting. A few minutes more and Discord stepped inside.

“When in doubt. Blame Discord.” He said with a sneer. “What great friends you are.”

“I’m sorry Discord.” Celestia said. “But what else were we going to tell them?”

“The truth? That there’s a hive of monsters right under their hooves? No I guess it’s better just to throw me under the chariot and just add to my horrible reputation.”

“I’m sorry! But we can’t tell them!”

“Why not? They seem to do just fine living next to the Everfree Forest.”

“Nothing’s trying to get out of Everfree though! Whatever lives in there tends to stay in there!”

Both ponies trotted right up into each others faces to continue yelling at one another. Eventually Mayor Ivory Scroll walked in with her assistants and saw the cause of the commotion. She looked as though she was about to interrupt before Twilight looked her in the eye and did a sweeping motion with her hoof across her neck. Getting the message, Ivory and her cohorts quickly left the room, leaving Celestia and Discord to blow off steam.

“How long do you think they’ll go at it?” Wayfarer asked Twilight

“Don’t know,” she answered. “I’ve never seen either of them act like this.”

“Please.” Discord said rolling his eyes. “We both know you want for chaos just as much as I do. I see it in your eyes, you’re bored of your life, and quite frankly I don’t blame you.”

“You don’t know thing one about me you insufferable pest!” Celestia shot back.

“Why don’t we just leave them to it.” Wayfarer suggested, moving for the front door.

“Y-yeah.” Twilight said, following behind him. The crowd had wondered away at that point, save for Twilight's other friends. All of them stood at the bottom of the steps to Town Hall, looking rather apprehensive at the moment.

"Twilight." Applejack said. "Was any of what you said the truth?"

Twilight pursed her lips and sighed. "It's... as close to the truth as I can tell you." Applejack looked on the verge of anger as her eyes shifted to Wayfarer. Shorting in frustration, she shook her head and looked back to Twilight.

"I've got a barrel of apples that me and Granny Smith need to make into pies," Applejack said. "You... You want one?"

"Uhmm, sure AJ,” Twilight responded.

Applejack nodded and started to walk in the direction of her orchard. "I'll bring it by later." The group watched as the farm mare trotted away, with her head hung low.

"I think she's still upset about Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy said.

"It's been almost a month." Rarity said. "Few more days and she'll be comindeering the hot air balloon."

"Rainbow Dash will come back." Pinkie said confidently. "Give her a day or two. She said she'd be back in a month, and if anypony could keep a promise like that it's Dashie."

"I hope your right Pinkie." Twilight said as she and Wayfarer descended the stairs. "She still hasn't taught me how to fly, and apparently I'm supposed to for the Summer Sun Celebration."

"Oh dear, that's coming up soon isn't it?" Rarity said. "Well there are plenty of other pegasi in Ponyville darling, perhaps one of them could teach you?" Rarity then jerked her head in the direction of Fluttershy, who saw this and quickly began shaking her head.

"Oh no! I... I couldn't!” Fluttershy said. “I'm not that good a flyer anyway! I couldn't possibly teach you how to fly!"

"Fluttershy." Twilight said with amusement. "You're a great flyer. I think you more than proved that when you helped get the rainwater to Cloudsdale during the last Rainy Season. But if you don't feel comfortable teaching me, I understand. As long as Rainbow Dash gets back in the next few days, we'll have plenty of time to work with these things." Twilight gave her wings a few experimental flaps, lifting herself a few inches off the ground before landing a little unsteadily. She blushed a little before turning to look at Wayfarer.

"Guess that explains why I've never seen you use them before." He said with a shrug.

Twilight's blush deepened as she looked away. "You noticed?"

"Didn't really think much on it to be honest, just thought you were more comfortable on the ground."

"Well I am. How I was able to fly after the Coronation is a bigger mystery then Pinkie's Pinkie Sense."

"Well duh! Silly!" Pinkie Pie explained. "Didn't you feel the gust of wind Celestia gave you with her magic when you lept off the castle in your excitement? You nearly gave all of us a heart attack when you did that by the way!"

"I-I DID?!"

"You did darling." Rarity said with a nod. "For one heart stopping moment I honestly thought you were going to have the shortest rule of any monarch ever." Twilight's face now looked like a freshly picked tomato, and Wayfarer looked like he was about to burst into uproarious laughter before she turned and hit him.

"You keep quite!" She said angrily. "I'd like to see you do any better when you find yourself with a new pair of wings!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He said, allowing himself to chuckle a bit as he rubbed the spot where her hoof had collided with him.

"What a filthy place!" Blueblood declared as he followed his spectral guide through the tunnels long since stripped of their precious jewels. "Why are we meeting your 'friends' in such a deplorable location!"

"Secrecy and subtlety are the keys to the beginning and end of every great kingdom." The empty cloak said. "No pony loyal to the current regime would dare come down here. Thus it is the perfect location for us to conduct our business."

"But WHY must we go so deep!" Blueblood shot back. "We have been traversing these mines for hours now and I'm tired of it! No Kingdom is worth this!"

"You are quite right,” The Cloak said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Any Kingdom worthy of greatness should be built on being lazy and unwilling to make any sort of sacrifice."

"I do not care for the tone of your voice, now answer my question."

"My friends live deep in the earth, where the light cannot reach them. They thrive on darkness, but even the thinest ray of light will sap them of their strength."

"Then what good are they?" Blueblood responded viciously. "Equestria lives in the light of my aunt's Sun."

"Perhaps during the day." The Cloak said with a hint of mirth. "But in the night, Equestria's only light is the Moon and stars. And though their power is strong, their wielder is weak. Luna shall be the first to fall to our rule, and then we'll see where that gets Celestia and her precious sun loving subjects."

"Hmph, you wouldn't happen to be one of those insane cultists who follow Nightmare Moon would you?” Blueblood asked, laughing under his breath. “Not a very good role model if you ask me. Defeated by peasants, what a disgrace." The Cloak turned around violently, coming within inches of Blueblood's face as he flinched backwards.

"Nightmare Moon," The figure growled "Deserved her crown more than you. You sniveling greedy coward!"

"How DARE you!" Blueblood responded. "I am not afraid of you! I am not afraid of Celestia! I fear no pony or shade that walks on this earth!" The cavern seemed to explode with laughter at that. The echoes bounding off of Blueblood's ear drums until he tried to flatten the outer lobe against the side of his head, and even then it did nothing to block out the horrible sounds of mirth coming from every where around him. "Who is that!?"

"My friends." The Cloak said, pulling away from Blueblood and into the shadows.

"Wait a minute!"

"What a pig." came an etherial voice as the laughter died down. "Thinks he can woo any mare who catches his eye just because he's a prince? Well maybe, if he didn't treat them so poorly when he finally got them."

"Prince? What exactly is he a prince of?" Came another voice. "Prince of greed and lechery perhaps, I'd hate to see what would happen if he was given any REAL power. Thank Celestia she's kept him down all these years."

"WHO IS SAYING THAT!?" Blueblood yelled. "I'LL HAVE YOU HUNG FOR SUCH INSOLENCE!"

"Celestia should never have taken him in." Came a voice familiar to the enraged prince. "He's rude, insensitive, and cares nothing for anypony but himself. He's a horrible prince, not like my Shining Armor."

"Cadence?" Blueblood murmured as his rage continued to build.

"How could Celestia be related to that... thug!" came the voice Blueblood recognized as the former Captain of the guard, Shining Armor. "To think that he's got alicorn blood running through his veins. What a waste of power, that it be given to someone with no concept of responsibility."

"FOOLS!" Blueblood shouted. "I was born into royalty! I deserve every bit of power I gain! You two should be bowing to ME!"

"I will NEVER give him a chance." This voice was one that Blueblood couldn't place, yet still he recognized it. "How dare he think that I was destined to be his bride! What an outrageous assumption! Rarity was right, no good could ever come from being around him. And to think, she actually had a thing for him! Well as far as I'm concerned, he's no prince, and he's certainly not MY prince!"

Every mussell in Blueblood's face seemed determined to tear as he scowled at the shadows. "You... you're the NEW princess! The one who doesn't know her place! Well I'll show you, I'll show ALL of you!!"

"I never thought I'd admit it to myself." Said the voice of Celestia. "I always thought I might be able to change him. But Blueblood... is a disgrace to his ancestors."

"Shut up..."

"He doesn't deserve his title."

"Shut up!"

"He needs to be removed."

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

"Is that all you can say?"

Blueblood turned around to find his own face smirking at him.

"How childish. Whining and complaining about how horrible your life is when the only REAL problem is that horrible monster looking back at you in the mirror."

"What in Tartarus? Who are you?!"

The Shadow laughed and smiled at his other self. "I'm you. Your Shadow. I know everything about you. I know how much you yearn for power, but you have no ambition to use it to its fullest. You only see it as a means to get what you want, but power means more than just material goods. Power means control over the ponies below you. Power means responsibility. And we both know that you fear responsibility above all other things. But the two are not mutually exclusive. To have one is to have the other. Quite a conundrum eh?"

Blueblood fell to his haunches as the Shadow approached him, his mouth opening and closing in shock as he tried to find the words to discredit this imposter.

"Well? Cat got your tongue?"

"SHUT UP!"

Again the Shadow laughed at Blueblood. "Aww, is the poor spoiled brat afraid of his own shadow? Face it, you wanted to rule, to have power, but you're too afraid of what that truly means because you've never experienced actual power before in your life. So stop throwing tantrums and just live your easy life in the castle, away from the politics and the glamor that being royalty gives you. Because that's all you really want right? The easy life? Where you don't have to sacrifice anything? Where you can be as lazy as you want? Doesn't that sound like a nice and fulfilling life? And hey, who knows, maybe Celestia will take back what she said about you being a disgrace to your ancestors. After all, if you're locked in your room for the rest of your pathetic existence than you can't POSSIBLY embarrass them any more!" The Shadow now stood over the whimpering and huddled mass that was Prince Blueblood, staring down at him with an amused and satisfied smirk. "Well? Gonna just lie there like a pissant and cry some more?"

"How DARE you..." Blueblood mumbled as shook. He raised his face up enough to look himself in those cold yellow eyes. "You... You are not me..."

The look of victory and arrogance on his own face was the last thing Blueblood saw before the caverns fell into darkness.

Pinkie Pie was banging on the door at rapid speed that morning. She seemed so determined to get somepony to answer the door that when Wayfarer groggily opened it she didn't even slow down her assault and proceeded to start knocking on Wayfarer's head for a few seconds before she noticed what she was doing.

"Oops." She said meekly, backing away from the now open door. "Sorry."

"That's okay Pinkie." Wayfarer groaned, lifting a hoof up to rub at what was undoubtably going to be a future bump on his noggin. "What's got you so excited that you had to drop by and give me a concussion at five in the morning?"

"Ooh! Right! So remember yesterday when I bet that Dashie would be back any day now? Well I would have won that bet! Dashie just got home five minutes ago!"

"And you know this how? It's almost five minutes from here to Sugarcube Corner."

"Knee twitch and an itchy back means somepony who's been gone a while has come home now! And who else do we know who's been gone for a while? So come on! Go wake up Twilight and Spike! We've got a Welcome Home Party to throw!" Pinkie zipped off at that, leaving a very confused Wayfarer to go and rouse the others from their sleep.

"Couldn't have waited another two or three hours?" He mumbled to himself.

Around half an hour later, Wayfarer, Celestia, Twilight, and the rest of Rainbow Dash's close circle of friends were headed down the road to an area just outside of Ponyville. It wasn't the same route that Wayfarer had taken a month ago, but he assumed that as a cloud house, Rainbow's home tended to move around a lot.

Pinkie Pie was carrying a saddle bag bursting at the seems with more party supplies than Wayfarer could possibly imagine getting stuffed into that tiny little space. When he asked her about it, she'd mentioned something about a party cannon... which Wayfarer couldn't see anywhere and couldn't have possibly fit in her bags.

"Sigh... It's Pinkie Pie... don't question it..." he thought with some degree of trepidation. When they arrived at Dash's home, Twilight summoned up a large magical platform and beckoned everyone onto it.

"Sure you'll be able to lift all of us?" Celestia whispered to her.

"It's only about a hundred feet up, I'm sure I can get it." Twilight said with confidence.

Pinkie was bouncing about the platform in excitement once everypony was on and it started to rise up. Everypony could tell she was holding back a great big 'hello Rainbow Dash' in her attempt to keep their arrival a surprise. Once the magical lift was even with the path in the cloud leading to the front door. Pinkie of course was the first off, then everypony else followed. Wayfarer and Twilight were the last off, but as he stepped onto the cloud Wayfarer felt gravity pull him straight through it.

Wayfarer gave a panicked yelp in surprise as his vision was obscured by a puffy white void. His hooves flailed to find something to grab hold of, but nothing came within reach. Thoughts of becoming uncomfortably intimate with the ground a hundred feet below were starting to rush through his mind when he realized he wasn't falling anymore. Something had grabbed hold of his back legs and now he was rising back up out of the white death trap.

"I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY!!" Twilight frantically yelled as her magic lifted Wayfarer. "I completely forgot about the Cloud Walking spell! I'd already casted it once on everypony else but never on you! I'm so so SO SORRY!"

Twilight was almost on the verge of tears as Wayfarer waved his hooves back and forth, trying to get her to calm down. "It's alright Twilight! I'm alright!" He kept saying.

"It's NOT alright! You could have been killed and it would have been all my fault! I'm so STUPID!"

"Twilight! The blood's rushing to my head! Just cast the spell and let me down already!" Twilight froze in her hysterics, then sighed and casted the cloud walking spell on Wayfarer before setting him down gently on the cloud's surface. Wayfarer took a few steps around to make sure the spell actually worked, then turned back to Twilight with a slight blush and smile. "Thanks for the save Twilight."

Twilight blushed as well and let her eyes dart back and forth. Behind Wayfarer, the rest of the group were either giggling under their breath or putting a hoof over their chest as they sighed in relief. Celestia was doing a pained combination of both.

"Some pony want to tell me what you all are doing here?" Came a voice from the front of the house. Everypony turned to see a very tired looking yet good spirited Rainbow Dash.

"RRRAAAIIINNNBOOOWWW DAAAAASSSHHHH!!!" Pinkie Pie cried as she literally launched herself at her friend. Dash looked positively terrified for a moment before she and Pinkie disappeared into the house. A loud clatter signaled their landing as the rest of them rushed inside to see the damage that had been done. For Wayfarer that was a little easier said than done, as the entire place looked as though it hadn't been taken care of in months, even BEFORE Dash had left. So telling the mess that Dash and Pinkie had just made of Dash's kitchen from the rest of the mess proved to be almost impossible. Wayfarer even noticed Rarity's eyes widen a bit as she surveyed the room.

"I missed you SOOOOOOO MUCH Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie yelled as she attempted to squeeze the air out of her captive.

"I -urk- I missed you too Pinks,” Dash said through the imbrace. “But could you PLEASE loosen up before my eyes pop out of my skull!"

"Oh, umm, sorry."

The remainder of Dash's friends gathered around the two. Wayfarer and Celestia stood back a ways and gave the six ponies plus Spike a chance to enjoy being reunited again. Then Pinkie released Dash and went for her bag.

"I hope you don't mind an early morning Welcome Home Party Dashie!" She shouted as she pulled a cannon out of her saddle bags, causing Wayfarer's mouth to just fall to the floor and Celestia's eyes to widen slightly. Pinkie then placed the cannon on the floor and aimed it into the front room, which she and Dash had flown through on their way in, and pulled the cord on the back, sending confetti, streamers, and numerous other party favours around the room, landing perfectly on tables and couches as if they'd been placed there by hoof. She pulled the cannon around and fired it again across the kitchen, where food and a cake landed equally perfectly on the table.

"I'm done." Wayfarer said to himself as he sat down in the corner of the room to try and contemplate the idea of a world where a pony could so casually defy the laws of physics.

The party went on much like a smaller version of Wayfarer's own party when he first came to Ponyville. Rainbow Dash mingled with her friends, trying to catch up on a month's worth of events, and yet being strangely tight lipped about her own month. Everypony seemed to notice this, but no one brought it up, although Applejack was defiantly the most intent on needling something out of her fellow athlete.

"Soooo RD?" The Farmer said to Dash at one point. "Did ya'll manage to 'sort things out' while you were in Cloudsdale?"

"Umm, yeah. Guess you could say that." Rainbow Dash said before shoving a ton of cake in her mouth.

Applejack waited patiently for Dash to VERY slowly chew through and swallow her cake before asking a follow up question. "What sort of 'things' needed sort'n out?"

"Oh, you know." Dash said staring at Applejack's forehead instead of her eyes. "This and that."

"Didn't think 'This an that' was worth make'n the little filly that looks up to ya'll mighty upset that you weren't at the 'Sisterhooves Social' last month."

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth briefly before she shut it and looked away ashamedly.

"Applejack." Fluttershy said in the tone of a mother scolding a child. "That wasn't very nice."

"Ah agree!" Applejack said. "So if she has any common decency, she'll go find Scootaloo today and apologize to her. But right now I'D like some sort of explanation, thank you very much!" The entire room was silent at this point. Everypony was looking at either Applejack or Rainbow Dash, save for Pinkie, who was looking at the floor. Dash lifted her head up and looked at each of her friends, before sighing and admitting defeat.

"The morning after the sleep over,” Dash explained. “The last night of the Starfall Festival, I asked Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy and Wayfarer if they knew any of the Wonderbolts besides Spitfire. They all said no, and I realized something. That even if I became a full fledged Wonderbolt, nopony is going to know my name save for the very VERY die hard fans like myself." She looked back to the floor and continued. "That's not what I wanted. And so I... I..."

At first, Wayfarer thought he heard Rainbow Dash crying as she struggled to tell them what she'd done. Then he realized that the sobs he was hearing were actually restrained fits of laughter. Rainbow Dash lifted her head up, a very manic smile plastered on her face as she proclaimed her actions loudly and proudly to all of her friends.

"I quit the Wonderbolts."

Anypony who was holding something, whether it be food or party favours, immediately dropped it in shock. Nopony moved, or even breathed, they just stared at Rainbow Dash as if she'd just confessed to committing treason against the crown. For once, Pinkie Pie wasn't the first to do something as Applejack finally broke the silence.

"You did WHAT?!?!" She yelled. "How could you DO something like that?! Being a Wonderbolt is your dream! It has been ever since Ah met you!"

"Well not anymore!" Rainbow Dash said with overt enthusiasm.

"But, WHY?!" Twilight asked.

"Why?" Dash laughed, as if the answer was obvious. "Do you know how many pegasi are members of the Wonderbolts? Officially, and not probationary?"

"Uhmm..."

"Since its induction," Celestia suddenly said. "The Wonderbolts have had a total of 1368 members, only five hundred and twenty-three of which have been flight leaders, and fourty-five of those have been head of the organization, which is the position currently held by Spitfire."

"Exactly!" Dash proclaimed. "Hundreds of ponies have already done it, and done it better!" She snorted in irritation and slumped to the floor. "Why should I try so hard to be 'the best' when so many others have already been 'the best'."

"That's a load of horse apples and you know it Rainbow Dash!" Applejack said. "You have a DREAM! You have something to shoot for! That's a lot more than what some ponies can claim!"

"And what are the chances they'll ever get there huh? Or that somepony will do it first?"

"Why does that even matter?"

"IT MATTERS!" Dash yelled as she stood up and got right up in Applejack's face. "You of all ponies should know how awful it feels getting second place!"

Applejack looked like she was about to blow a gasket, but she didn't respond. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but nothing came out.

"C-come on girls." Pinkie Pie said trying to get between the two. "So what if Dash doesn't want to be a Wonderbolt anymore! That just means she can spend more time here in Ponyville! You know, with her friends!"

"I'm not so sure this one is my friend anymore." Rainbow Dash said, glaring at Applejack. "It seems like she thinks I'm some sort of idiot for making my own choices! That or she WANTED me gone from Ponyville."

"Consarn it Dash!" Applejack yelled as she tried to push Pinkie out of the way. "I care about you! Why would I EVER try and come between you and what you want?"

"You're doing a pretty good job of that right now!"

"You're a darn foal! I bet your folks were just as shocked and disappointed as us when you told them you gave up on your dreams!"

"My Mom didn't give two bits and my Dad actually supported what I did!"

"Then both of them are horrible Parents!"

Wayfarer only barely caught what happened next as once again two ponies were launched through the front door. Rainbow Dash had gone from zero to thirty when she tackled Applejack into the front lawn, sending the two of them tumbling.

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity cried as she and the others rushed out of the house. "Stop that at once! Stop it I say!"

"Get off of it you two!" Wayfarer yelled as Fluttershy just shook her head and cried.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Twilight screamed as she grabbed both of them in her magic and pulled them apart.

"Take it back!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "TAKE IT BACK! JUST BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE ANY-" Dash froze mid sentence as she realized what she'd just said. Applejack, who had let Twilight pull her away from Dash without resistance, suddenly tried to break free and get back to fighting.

"AH'M GONNA BUCK YOU IN TWO RAINBOW DASH!"

"I SAID ENOUGH!" Twilight yelled again, forcing her two friends to the cloud and pinning their limbs against the soft surface. "What in Equestria has gotten into you two?! You're supposed to be friends! Now start acting like it and apologize!"

Applejack simply grunted as she tried to turn her head to look at Rainbow Dash. Dash just looked horrified as she twitched her eyes from Twilight to Applejack and back again.

"WELL?!" Twilight asked impatiently. Dash was gone half a second later as she sunk right through the cloud. "What the- HEY!" Everyone save for Applejack galloped to the edge of the cloud just in time to see Rainbow Dash pull out of a dive and fly off at full speed over the country side.

"Where is she!?" Applejack yelled from her still pinned position. "Where'd that rotten, no good, cloud headed, feather brain go?!"

"She's gone... again." Twilight said, ears flopping down. She then turned around and walked over to Applejack, releasing the spell as she went. "You mind telling me why you thought pestering her like that was a good idea?"

"Ah wanted answers!"

"We all did! But we were at least tactful enough to wait for when she was ready to tell us!"

"Why come back at all if she wasn't ready?!"

"Because she probably wanted to see us again! And why did you think it was necessary to insult her like that? You've been increasingly agitated and impatient with everyone lately, maybe it's not just Dash who is a little feather brained right now."

"Or maybe those two just need to stop listening to the little voices in their heads." came a call from around the side of the house. Looking at each other in confusion, all of them walked around the cloud structure to find Discord in a golf cap and vest swinging a 9 iron around at several floating golf balls. One swing found its mark and sent a ball flying into Ponyville. Discord whistled and lifted his cap as he watched the sphere go, until it hit town hall and turned the entire building pink.

"Strike!" He yelled triumphantly, pumping his lion fist and turning to face the rest of them. "I think I might just join the Equestrian Games now."

"Discord..." Twilight mumbled. "What are you doing here?"

"Heard there was trouble in paradise." Discord said as he swung at the remaining golf balls, which all seemed very intent on not being hit. "Thought I'd drop by and see if there was anything a good friend like myself could do to help."

"Good friend? Hardly." Rarity huffed, rolling her eyes.

"Any help you could give would be appreciated Discord." Fluttershy said. "You know, as long as it's actually helpful."

"How do we know he isn't the cause of this?" Applejack accused. "He could have discorded Rainbow Dash at some point!"

"You are as blind as you are deaf Applejack." Discord mused as he sent another golf ball soaring through the air. "Rainbow Dash is as colourful as ever. I had nothing to do with her sudden lack of motivation in life. Perhaps you should ask the voices what they think?"

"What voices?"

"Oh come now,”Discord said. “I'm sure YOU'RE hearing them. I've been hearing them, Twilight and Pinkie Pie have heard them, and I'm pretty sure half the town has been hearing them too." Applejack turned and looked at Pinkie and Twilight in turn, while both of them shot a glance at each other. She ignored this for the moment and tossed her head back at Discord.

"I'm not hearing anything!" She furiously denied.

"Really? You don't hear them when you're baking with your grandmother? Or when ever someone is obviously keeping secrets from you?"

Applejack's eyes widened briefly before she snorted and turned around. "Ah have no idea what you're talk'n about. Twilight, can you get me off this cloud now? I need to go home and start on my chores."

"Yes, take your friends home Twilight." Celestia said, not taking her eyes off of Discord. "I think the Spirit of Chaos and I need to talk." Everyone looked at each other in confusion for a moment before shrugging and walking over to the edge of the cloud.

"Except you Wayfarer." Discord said before Wayfarer could get on the magic platform as Twilight created it. "I like having you around, you're a really good listener." Wayfarer turned to Twilight and, after a moment, rolled his eyes and went over to join Discord and Celestia. Twilight looked worried at the three before stepping on the platform herself and lowering it downward. As she did so, she mentally did a head count and realized they were one short.

"Hey, where's Pinkie?"

Celestia didn't immediately start asking questions once the platform was gone. Instead waiting until Discord decided to explain himself.

"You are forgiven for your outburst yesterday." Discord said casually. "Though I'm still miffed about taking the fall for the fiasco of the other night." Celestia remained silent. "I know it must burn you up not being able to see every little thing that's happening to your kingdom, but I'm afraid no pony has that sort of power, not even me."

"Discord."

"You want to know what I meant by the voices, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Very well. If you recall, those charming ponies in the blue suits mentioned that the Shadows like to feed on emotions and then use them against their victims by whispering things to them. Things that make those emotions even stronger."

"That can't possibly be happening to Rainbow Dash and Applejack!” Celestia said. “They've been nowhere near the Castle!"

"True, but it's not like they need to be."

"...no... that's impossible... that would mean..."

"The Beast's influence is growing,” Discord said. “And from what I've been feeling over the last week, its power grew exponentially roughly two nights ago."

"When we fought that Shadow..."

"Correct."

"But how? Nopony has been taken by the Shadows yet."

"Not here at least. I told you I didn't have the power to see everything in your kingdom, but I can see somethings." He quickly grabbed a golf ball that had hovered too close to his face and then lifted it up in between his fingers, revealing it to now be a simple white egg. "And I can see that your dear Equestria, isn't looking too good." The egg suddenly cracked as Discord applied pressure. "Where there's one crack, there are bound to be more."

Celestia stood in silence as once again the weight of the world suddenly made itself known to her. "By my Grandmother's Light." She whimpered.

"Are you getting all of this Wayfarer?" Discord asked as he tossed the egg over the side of the cloud.

"I guess." Wayfarer said. "But if there are other cracks in the earth where Shadows could get out, then why haven't we heard of them till now?"

"Now there's the happy news to this little tale of misery and woe! Tell me, why hasn't anypony in Ponyville found out about what's happening?"

"Because we've been covering it up and saving ponies that get kidnapped... wait, are you saying-"

"Yes I am! My little Persona users, I propose to you that you are not alone in your pointless struggles. There is more than likely a ragtag group of ponies watching out for the huddled masses. Unfortunately they either don't have enough staff on hoof or are unaware of some openings in the earth that our enemies are using to feed their master." This revelation put a spark of life back into Celestia and Wayfarer's eyes. At last, some GOOD news. However...

"Wait." Wayfarer said. "You mentioned that Rainbow Dash and Applejack were hearing voices, why just them and not Rarity and Fluttershy?"

"Who says they aren't," Discord said.

"...what exactly does that mean for them?"

"It makes them prime targets for the Pony in the cloak you and Celestia saw kidnap Pinkie Pie," Discord answered. Wayfarer and Celestia looked to each other in horror, then turned back to Discord in anger.

"You couldn't have mentioned this sooner?" Celestia yelled. "Rainbow Dash is out there all on her own! She could be getting taken right now as we speak!"

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that." Discord said smuggly. "Our pink little ball of fire flew after her in some sort of whirligig when no pony was looking."

"Pinkie Pie went after her?" Wayfarer asked. "The LEAST experienced Persona user we have is protecting her?!"

Discords face drooped slightly at that. "Well now that you mention it, maybe we DO have a reason to worry."

Rainbow Dash had flown all the way to Rainbow Falls, near the peak of a mountain several miles out of Ponyville. It was a place she usually only visited when she needed a reminder of how awesome she was, but now it didn't seem to be any comfort to her what so ever. She'd thought that her friends would understand what she had done and why, but none of them offered a word of encouragement to her, or told her that she'd done the right thing. And Applejack, possibly her best friend in the whole world, had gone so far as to get into a hoof fight over if with her.

"Maybe I should have stayed in Cloudsdale." Rainbow Dash mumbled to herself from her spot on the edge of one of the larger pools of rainbows.

She watched as the bright colours swirled around each other, never mixing into one solid hue. It was a mesmerizing sight, which was why this place, despite being somewhat secluded, was a popular spot for hikers to visit. Rainbow Dash remembered the last time she was here, it had been with Rarity, Applejack, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. It had been a lot of fun spending time with all of them, especially after she made her promise to Scootaloo. Rainbow, shoved her face into her hooves and groaned at herself. She'd messed up a lot in the past, but not going to the Sisterhooves Social with Scootaloo was probably the biggest blunder of her life.

"Some big sister I turned out to be."

She wanted to disappear, to just fade out of existence. Anything would have been better than wallowing in this endless stream of confusion and uncertainty. Everything she'd ever done up to this point in her life was called into question, all the wonders of what she should or shouldn't have done pounding down upon her head. Tears started to leak out of her eyes as she yearned for things to start making sense again, for somepony to tell her what she needed to do. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't even notice when somepony else joined her at the edge of the multicoloured pool.

"Good Morning." said a voice. Rainbow Dash looked up to see a pony in a black cloak sitting next to her. The pony chuckled a bit as she looked down into the water. "Been a while since I ever said that with any degree of honesty." Rainbow Dash was about to tell the pony to go away, but something about her new companion stayed her tongue. She huffed and set her head back in her forelegs, looking away from the cloaked pony. "Something on your mind?"

"Why do you care?" Rainbow Dash asked bitterly.

"Who said I did?" The pony laughed. "But you seem lost, so I thought I'd ask."

"I'm not lost."

"Oh? Well then where are you?"

Rainbow hesitated for a moment before answering "Uhm... here?"

"Where's here?" The cloaked pony asked.

"Rainbow Falls."

"Ahh yes... rather apt name if you ask me." Again the cloaked pony laughed, something about it sending a slight chill down Dash's spine. "Tell me... are you falling Rainbow Dash?" Dash whipped her head about to look at the pony next to her, who was now looking directly at her. Under the pony's hood was a mask, the right half of which was completely black and featureless, save for a small opening for the eye to see out, the other side being a dark blue, with the shape of a crescent moon surrounding the eye opening.

"H-How do you know my name?" Rainbow stammered.

"Oh Miss Rainbow Dash, I've known you for so long now. I've seen your heart, and I know what you want, what you desire." The Cloaked pony stood and Rainbow Dash looked down to see that the pony had no legs. At this revelation, Dash also stood up and backed away, not taking her eyes off what she now thought was a ghost of some kind.

"W-who are you? What do you want?"

"I am The Moon. And I am here to guide you through the Darkness."

"What?"

"You are lost in a sea of uncertainty, tension, anxiety, and fear. And try as you might, the waves continue in their attempts to drag you down. Let me light the way towards the shore, is that not what you want?" Dash just gaped at The Moon, waiting for her to continue, but she just stood there, staring from behind her mask. She gulped heavily, the inability to see this mysterious pony's eyes made her quite nervous. But still, she couldn't think of a reason not to hear this pony out.

"What exactly are you offering?"

"What ever you want Rainbow Dash." The Moon said in a soothing voice, slowly drifting towards Dash as she did so. "Fame? Fortune? A throne to call your own? I can get it for you. All you need to do, is ask."

Dash stared back at the unseen eyes, not even reacting to the figure's sudden approach. "What's the catch?" she asked.

"Catch? What's the catch?" The Moon mocked. "Silly girl, I only want to put an end to your misery. You have no use for it, so why wallow in it when I can take it away?" Dash's mind was starting to become hazy and less focussed as The Moon's mask came within inches of her face. Her thoughts came back to her desire to disappear, that anything would be better than this ocean of doubt. And the more she thought, the more this cloaked apparition's offer tantalized her.

"RAINBOW DASH!" Came an echoey cry over the mountain.

Dash snapped out of the fog in her mind and looked to the sky, and through the mist she saw a familiar flying contraption whizzing ever closer.

"Pinkie Pie?"

"Ughh, I'm going to kill Emperor when I get back." The cloaked pony grumbled as she retreated backwards. "His mistake is going to be the thorn in our side."

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash said, looking from the pony next to her to Pinkie and back again.

"Don't listen to that meany!" Pinkie Pie cried as her whirligig descended for a fast and hard landing.

"Pest!" The Moon shouted. "Begone with you!"

"What's going on?" Rainbow Dash yelled. Pinkie Pie hit the ground with the force of a run away bull, gouging out a large swath of the earth before coming to a stop a few feet away from Rainbow Dash and The Moon. She hopped off her ride and gave a furious growl at the cloaked pony, who's only response was to stand perfectly still and scowl through her mask at this intrusive pink pony.

The two stared each other down for a while, neither moving while Rainbow Dash looked back and forth between the two with bewilderment before turning over to look at Pinkie.

"Uhh... Pinks? What are you-"

"Not now Rainbow Dash." Pinkie interrupted. "We're having a stare down!"

"By the tree of knowledge you are insufferable." The Moon sneered. "Go home, I'm sure your friends are waiting for another one of your ridiculous parties."

"They are! I just came to get the guest of honor! Now why don't YOU buzz off! Dashie's got better things to do then spend a week in a creepy old castle!"

"Castle? What?" Rainbow Dash said, still unsure of what was happening.

"Well it's not really old now that I think about it." Pinkie thought out loud, pursing her lips. "I guess spending a week in a creepy NEW castle doesn't sound as bad. But I'm sure Dash doesn't want to do that either."

"ENOUGH!” The Moon roared out, sending her cloak fluttering. “You are an annoyance and a mistake! One that I shall rid the world of right now!" The Moon stamped an invisible hoof down to the ground and suddenly an off putting purple glow began to radiate in a circle around her, swirling about in a vortex as a card suddenly appeared in front of her. "MELINOE!" The Moon cried out as the card shattered.

Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were blown backwards as a towering figure appeared explosively behind the cloaked pony. The figure was clad in a dark navy blue dress, speckled with white so that it looked like the night sky. The figure was split down the middle so that one side was completely black, and the other completely white. Her face was featureless and bald, save for part of the black half crossing over slightly to form the shape of a sneering mouth. She carried with her a staff topped by a replica of a full moon, with several tendrils breaking off from the main shaft to intwine around it.

Pinkie Pie looked up at the figure with fear and perplexity. "A Persona? B-but she's the bad guy! She can't have a Persona!"

"You'd best right that egregious assumption my dear." The Moon mocked as her Persona began approaching Pinkie Pie.

"L-LAETITIA!" Pinkie shouted, summoning her own Persona to her side and placing it in between herself and the oncoming enemy. Laetitia then raised her crossbow up, pointing it right at Melinoe's chest, stopping her in her tracks.

"Oh how cute!" The Moon laughed as her Persona swatted the crossbow away and then brought the same hand around to slap Laetitia in the face. Recovering quickly, Laetitia swung her crossbow around caught Melinoe in the shoulder, then pulled her back and placed a heavy punch into her stomach.

"You're not taking Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie yelled as Laetitia landed hit after hit to her opponent's gut. "I won't let you!"

"YOU LITTLE FOAL!" The Moon shrieked. Melinoe grabbed onto Laetitia's fist before it could throw another blow at her, then her staff started to spark, and then her body and Laetitia's erupted into a lightning storm.

Laetitia and Pinkie jerked about violently until the assault ended and both of them crumbled to the ground. Laetitia vanished in a flash of light, and Pinkie was left looking across the singed grass over at a stunned still Rainbow Dash, who stared back in disbelief.

"Dashie." Pinkie murmured as tried to get herself to stand. "Run away..."

"Pathetic." The Moon said as her Persona disappeared. She walked over to Rainbow Dash, then turned to look over the eastern horizon, where the sun had only just risen and was beginning its morning climb. "A new day is dawning Miss Dash." She said as her cloak began to billow and a blueish cloud began to emit from beneath it. "You should enjoy this, for it will be the last sunrise of your miserable life, and the first of something...more."

The cloud began to swirl around the Cloak and Rainbow Dash, breaking the later's stupor just long enough to try and reach out for her friend.

"PINKIE PIE!"

"RAINBOW DASH!" Pinkie cried as the last of her admittedly massive reserves of energy tried desperately to get her body to obey her commands, before Rainbow Dash disappeared and the cloud whisked her and her captor away.

"...Rainbow Dash..." Pinkie mumbled as she finally lost consciousness.

Author's Notes:

Aaaaaannnnnd we just passed the hundred thousand word milestone! Yay!