Outside Canterlot Castle, it truly was the perfect day for the swarm of changelings descending upon the hapless citizens of Equestria. Chrysalis surveyed the glorious chaos that would put even Discord to shame. Her love-thirsty minions happily terrorized their spoils of war. Before them, a free fount of constant renewable love energy for the entire hive was at their beck and call, just waiting to be extracted. All that was left to do was round up their new food source and move on to phase—

Something was wrong, terribly wrong. In her moment of triumph, she felt a terrifying build-up of powerful emotion shaking her entire being. It tasted of love, pure and strong, but the aura had the strangest tinge of powerful magic woven through it. It was luxuriously sweet, but the pressure it exuded felt like steel cords ensnaring the changeling queen. The very air strangled the nape of her neck like a noose. Chrysalis’ slit eyes darted around the castle grounds, hoping to find the source. She had subdued Celestia and the other royals herself. Barring a certain slumbering night princess, there couldn’t possibly be anypony left capable of producing such emotional strength!

Unbeknownst to her, six pairs of eyes were enthralled by the beautiful spectacle of lights unveiling before them. Princess Cadence and Shining Armor were wrapped in beautiful arcane light. Ribbons of magical energy ebbed and danced around the royal lovers. Exchanging knowing looks, the couple closed their eyes as their energies fused into one with mystical power lifting them skyward. Reaching their apex, they flashed a brilliantly pure white.

BOOM!

Chrysalis tore herself away from the window to see the blinding, shimmering wave of energy surging from her royal prey. ‘Impossible!’ she thought as an overwhelming fusion of love and raw magical power never before witnessed burst into an aurora of pinks, purples, and white. To the changeling queen, it was like staring down the throat of an erupting volcano. Chrysalis braced herself, casting her eyes away as if trying to wish it all out of existence.

However, under all the alarming screams of her loyal drones ringing through her head, there was a muted whisper of a changeling already encapsulated in the explosion. Chrysalis mind caught the shreds of a sleeping mental thread, somepony long dead and forgotten. It took only a moment for Chrysalis to perceive the changeling magic of her own design, a presence far more powerful than any other of her brood. Her mind’s sight was cut short as the titanic force smashed into her, ejecting Chrysalis from the castle. Under her own agonizing cries, Chrysalis managed to spit a single, venomous word into the depths the suppressed consciousness.

Traitor…

The magical light dimmed as Cadence and Shining gently floated down from their tantalizing spell. Twilight’s friends all smiled as the two ponies basked in the glorious affirmation of their love, all except for the awestruck Applejack. Their most recent victory thrilled her to bits, yes, but among the onslaught of deafening magical forces and changeling screams, Applejack could’ve sworn she heard somepony else. Before she mulled further, Twilight galloped past her to Celestia’s side, ensuring the safety of their benevolent ruler.

Applejack curbed her excitement to take in her surroundings. She knew something wasn’t quite right, but she couldn’t put her hoof on it. Candace and Shining Armor were nuzzling on the altar, Celestia and Twillight Sparkle were having a heart-to-heart, Pinkie Pie was bouncing around in a daze after staring directly at the blinding magic, Fluttershy and Rarity were locked in a friendly embrace, and Rainbow Dash was—

“Uhh, pardon me for breakin’ up our little celebration,” Applejack apologized as she trotted towards Twilight and Celestia, “but have any of y’all seen Rainbow?”

Twilight glanced over AJ’s shoulder to the gap in their ring of friends. “Wasn’t she next to you, Applejack?”

Rarity released Fluttershy also having noticed the absence of one of their group. “Oh dear, she was right there a second ago. Did either of you see where she went?” Rarity asked Pinkie and Fluttershy.

“I can’t see anything past all these pretty stars,” Pinkie replied, frantically waving her hooves about her face, failing to catch the delicious looking spots darting around her blurred vision.

“Oh, I’m sorry, no. I didn’t see her either,” Fluttershy added meekly.

“Well, shoot. Where’d she get to?” Applejack pondered, raising a hoof to her chin. She turned her attention towards the bride and groom. “Hey Princess Mi Amore Cadenza—“

“Just ‘Cadence’ is fine,” the pink alicorn offered.

“Right, Cadence, what the hay was that pretty light show of yours just now?” Applejack asked.

Shining Armor and Cadence looked at each other in uncertainty, Shining offering only a shrug. “I guess it was some sort of repulsion field, at least that’s what it felt like. All I wanted to do was put my shield up and push those changelings out of Canterlot,” he chuckled, “but I guess it went a little overboard with Cadence’s help.” Shining turned towards his fiancé, nuzzling her affectionately for her quite literal loving support.

Rarity gasped as she hopped onto Applejack’s train of thought, “Applejack, you don’t think poor Rainbow got caught in the blast do you?” she yelped, jumping to the worst possible conclusion. “I mean, we all saw how far it sent that wretched queen! What if—”

Shaking her head, Cadence interrupted Rarity’s fearful deduction. “I don’t think so. I’m not sure how to describe it since it was kind of spur of the moment, but it didn’t feel like we hit anything but the changelings and their magic…” She tapered off briefly. “At least I hope we didn’t hurt your friend, Twilight.”

“What about another changelin’?”  Applejack suggested, still wandering the room for any sign of Dash. “I don’t think there were any in here aside from her royal pain, but maybe one of ‘em managed to grab Rainbow before they got sent packin’.”

“It would be best not idle here in speculation,” Celestia stated warmly, her regal tone barely masking her own exhaustion. “Not just Rainbow Dash, but many ponies may be missing or injured in light of what has transpired today. Shining Armor, I am sorry to ask this of you having just reunited with Cadence, but please reassemble the guard and begin searching for any lost ponies, including Rainbow Dash. They are not to rest until everypony has been found,” she ordered with a calming maternal care. She paused before amending her instructions to the weary captain. “Oh before that, please escort Princess Cadence to the medical wing. Once your men have their orders, please report there as well.”

“Right away, Princess! Thank you, Princess.” Shining saluted emphatically, wincing as his hoof accidentally brushed against his sore horn.

Shining embraced his exhausted fiancé as she leaned against Armor for support. Her captivity along with bolstering her groom’s shield spell had taken their toll on the poor princess. They began making their way out of the wedding chamber.

“Princess, if it’s okay with you, I think we should start looking for Rainbow Dash,” Twilight requested as she rejoined her friends.

“I couldn't agree more. Also, I think I will be accompanying Cadence in the infirmary,” Celestia replied, glancing up towards her majestically singed horn. She wrapped an enormous wing around her faithful student showering Twilight with parental pride before making her way to the doors. “Please meet us there when you have found Rainbow Dash.”

Twilight and her friends bowed respectfully as the royal presence left the room. The five friends gathered around Twilight. “Alright girls, Dash couldn’t have gotten far. Unless something really did catch her before the blast…” Twilight trailed off, slightly shuddering at the possibility. “But Cadence said it didn’t affect anypony else, so it shouldn’t have hit Rainbow Dash. Let’s stick together and find our friend.”

“Yeah!” everypony quickly shouted in reply.

The last of the lingering sparkles flickered out from the massive repulsion spell. A tapestry of the sun and moon wafted over the head of an unconscious Rainbow Dash, who was just starting to come around.

“AJ… you gotta watch where you buck those trees,” Rainbow Dash groggily mumbled as she slipped out of her slumber. The room wobbled into focus around her as she took in her surroundings. Ornate pillars, stained glass windows, plush carpet: was she in the castle? Her momentary amnesia passed as her adrenaline kicked back in throwing her memory into high gear, “Oh ponyfeathers! Changeling invasion, KO’d Celestia, Queen Chrysalis! W-what happened?!”

Trying to connect the dots, Rainbow recalled only moments ago she had shut her eyes in anticipation of an awesomely-spectacular, elements of harmony-like super magic blast that’d probably save the day. What she wasn’t expecting was the blinding flash to knock her upside the head harder than her catapult into Twilight’s tree house. She then noticed the lack of a frilly wedding chamber around her. In fact, she was nowhere near it. Instead, she was slumped against a pillar in a hallway somewhere near the archives on the total opposite side of the castle. She found herself gazing at an imprint in a nearby wall of a familiar pony shape. Luckily the tapestry was hanging over the damage, partially obscuring the marred marble she’d left behind.

Deciding to deal with her impressionistic contribution to Canterlot Castle’s decor later, Rainbow took to the air to rejoin her friends. She furiously flapped her wings, speeding off as fast as she could to make sure she wasn’t missing out on any possible changeling flank-kicking. Rounding a corner, the walls began fading into a blurred mess colors. She tried pushing past the disorientation, but the spinning forced her to shut her eyes and refocus. Upon reopening them, she found herself staring at the crater she’d left behind the tapestry again. She hadn’t moved an inch.

'What the…' she rasped as she tried to take to the air again, but nothing happened. She tried waving her forelegs around only to feel phantoms of movements. Rainbow grunted trying to thrust her chest forward, flap her wings, simply blink, but nothing happened no matter how hard she thrashed in her head. Reality began creeping in as she realized her mind was aware, but her body was rigid and lifeless. Not even her eyes were moving, they were transfixed on that stupid spot on the wall.

‘Okay-okay-okay. Don’t panic Rainbow. You couldn’t have hit the wall that hard.’ she thought she had said to reassure herself, but no words came out of her limp mouth. ‘I mean, you crashed w-a-a-a-y harder when you broke your wing in that practice session a month or two ago. You couldn’t have hit the wall so hard that you—gulp—completely paralyzed yourself, right?’ she quavered as her breathing became more erratic, or rather, it should have as she tried panicking. Her failure to physically hyperventilate wasn’t helping.

Her terror nearly resounded throughout the abandoned halls as her scream had come out as a silent muffle. She saw she was clasping her hooves over her mouth, stifling her shriek. Upon further inspection, she realized she was airborne, having nearly jumped out of her horseshoes in fright. She lowered herself to the ground, looking up and down her body making sure things were on the up and up. Hooves clopping, ears flopping, wings flapping, eyes blinking: everything checked out as she tested her own motor control. To her amazement, she looked even better than she did after her earlier tussle with the changelings, even her mane was pristine, for once.

“Okay, that was weird,” Rainbow said aloud, “but at least everything is fine—” a fear-filled jolt ran up her back, reinstating her panic, “or not!” jumping at her newfound fear. She frantically searched her surroundings trying to find what had spooked her, only to find herself alone in the empty hallway.

“No, it’s not fine! I mean, I didn’t hurt myself, but I need to find the girls—” Rainbow started saying before another emotional wave crawled up her spine. It was an odd sensation to say the very least. There was something, a stitch hammering at the back of her head, voiceless, but completely comprehensible. As she tried to question it, another stern wave of concern washed over her.

“No, not the girls? Oh right, just Fluttershy,” Dash nodded in agreement before widening her eyes in disbelief. She found herself at a loss with her own impulses. “Wait, just Fluttershy?” she remarked incredulously. “She’d be more scared of me being scared of… whatever it is I’m scared of! What could she possibly—“

Dash felt a torrential wash of emotion flood her mind, a jumbled mix of terror and oppressive hostility forcing Rainbow Dash to comply with her own strange demands. “Alright! I get it! Just Fluttershy!” She acquiesced while gripping her throbbing head. “I need to find Fluttershy alone and… wait alone? Why alo—okay, okay alone! Sheesh!”

Rainbow found an odd pleasure with her surrendering to her own strange plans. It was like her conscience had developed a weird mind of its own, but not. Rainbow’s thoughts felt like hers, but they ran through a filter before popping out. However, anytime she tried pondering its existence, she’d forget about it before she could even try processing what was going on in her head.

Perplexed, Rainbow began to skulk uncharacteristically around the shadows, darting quickly between pillars to avoid any possible detection. She didn’t know why she was doing it, but she found it impossible to resist. Only one notion remained at the forefront of her mind, the need to stay out of sight. The very moment she considered darting at full speed, her conscience would immediately dispel the notion with controlled caution and fear. When she tried to question it, she’d forget how to ask.

After several clandestine scuttles through the corridors, her thoughts drifted back to the harrowing moment she saw Shining Armor on the altar. She remembered the void in his eyes staring off into space, his irises had glowed a sickly green from Chrysalis’s domination spell. Her furtive glances spotted a decorative mirror across the hallway. Forcing herself to look into her reflection, see saw her full-sized magenta irises shining back at her. Something felt off seeing as she was spotless from head to hoof, but questions like that could wait. Rainbow “Danger” Dash didn’t waste valuable time on stupid mirror gawking when it could be spent fighting rogue changeli—finding Fluttershy. It was a moot point anyway, she reassured herself. Rainbow knew full well that if that she was being controlled, her higher awareness would be greatly stifled to provide optimal conditions for coercion and manipulation for the domination spell.

“Wait, what?” she asked herself as a hot wash of embarrassment doused her inquiry. “Oh right, as if hayseed cereal could even come close to waffles,” she chuckled, waffles being obviously morning entree. She shook her head. Why had she been passionately debating breakfast entrees with herself for the past ten minutes when there were far more important things to do?

A few quick stealth fly-bys later, Rainbow was hovering outside grand door to the ornate wedding chamber. ‘Geez, how did I get so far from here in the first place?’ She pondered for a moment before eyeing Fluttershy on the other side of the room.

Rainbow felt a near irresistible urge to swing down and hug her most precious friend since filly-hood until a familiar regal tone brushed her ears.

“Please meet us there when you have found Rainbow Dash.” Celestia requested of her faithful student and company.

There stood the ever-shining avatar of the sun in all her regal glory. Celestia was the pinnacle of leadership having lived several lifetimes leading the way for her precious ponies. The older half of the embodiment of cosmic harmony, she was strong, courageous, fair, beautiful, and benevolent, wielding power over the daystar in the sky.

And Rainbow Dash was absolutely terrified.

“Oh horseapples!” Rainbow squeaked as she dashed into hiding. She wedged herself as far as she could into the top corner of the hallway, quickly shuffling her mane behind her head, not letting a single color-filled follicle hang loosely in the shadows.

Rainbow held her breath as entourage of royals trotted through the hallway. Her conscience was wracked with overwhelming irrational fear that Rainbow could barely contain. The gnawing at the back of her head rattled as the pain bobbed up and down like a sea of agony. Rainbow’s imagination rushed with thousands of varying horrific nightmares, each analyzing the results of Celestia catching even the faintest glimpse of her. Each scenario ended with Rainbow burning alive with the white-hot intensity of a solar flare.

As the royals rounded the corner out of sight, the migraine subsided allowing Rainbow to gather her thoughts again. She wiped away her blurred vision with her foreleg, surprised to find her face was moist. “Danger” Dash had been silently sobbing in fear. Among the myriad of emotions from her apparent brush with death, Rainbow pinged with guilt. In her heart, she knew Celestia would never do something like that to even her worst enemy.

Forcing herself past the momentary breakdown, Rainbow watched and waited as her friends began wandering the castle halls searching for the missing mare. Staying closely behind the group, she stalked Fluttershy, hoping to find a good chance to pull her aside.

As time marched on without incident, nerves began to fray as nopony had seen mane or tail of Rainbow Dash. Dash herself was surprised she hadn’t been spotted. Being a proud spectrum of color, she was never one to do much sneaking outside of the occasional practical joke. However, even during the closest of calls while trailing her friends for the last hour, they couldn’t catch the faintest glimpse of her cerulean flank. She followed in the shadows, deftly drifting between the group’s blind spots, easily avoiding detection. Rainbow couldn’t remember when she had become so adept at hiding. After all, training for the Wonderbolts never called for subtlety.

“You haven’t seen her either?” Twilight asked a passing unicorn maid. She cowered behind her broom when Twilight vented a loudly in frustration. “Where could she have gone? Somepony should have at least seen her by now!” she exclaimed furiously.

“I know! Maybe she’s waiting to prank us!” Pinkie remarked.

Applejack couldn’t help rolling her eyes. “Sugarcube,” she replied incredulously, “I know Rainbow's one for pulling our legs, but I don’t think even she’d be dumb enough to try to pull a fast one after what we’ve been through today.”

“Thanks AJ. You’re a real pal,” Rainbow bemoaned under her breath at the backhanded compliment.

“I guess you’re right. Even if Dashie was planning some super-spectacular prank, she’d probably have pulled it by now,” Pinkie reaffirmed, bouncing contently with her own explanation until her ridiculous musings stopped her dead in her tracks. “Unless pulling the plug on the prank was the real prank all along! Maybe she pranked us into pranking ourselves with an elaborate double prank!” Pinkie lauded in awe of Rainbow’s brilliance “Good one Dashie! You really had me going there!”

“Well, silly prank or not, she had better turn up quickly or I’m not going to have time to redo Cadence’s wedding dress,” Rarity pouted begrudgingly. Her friends’ scowls gave away their combined disbelief. “What? I worked hard on that commission only for it to be burned by that masquerading insect. Not only that, but she completely ruined the very idea of that ensemble for me. Honestly, if I don’t start from scratch, I’m going to have bugs on the brain the entire wedding!”

“Let’s just focus on finding Rainbow first, Rarity,” Applejack asserted, attempting to refocus the group’s effots, “then we can start sweating the small stuff. I know I got a whole lotta desserts to bake again seein’ all those tables flipped over a while back.”

“Ooo! Ooo! And I have to refill my cannon after the party we had with those changelings, otherwise we’re won’t have enough streamers for the reception,” Pinkie bubbled with an odd hint of seriousness.

“Pinkie that wasn’t a…” Twilight trailed off submitting to the futility of reasoning with Pinkie.

The day was drawing to a close as the sun began its final descent in the west. The hallowed hallways providing little results, Twilight seemed to be losing her composure more and more with the team’s lack of progress. Rainbow noted the higher influx of castle ponies trotting about. They went about the corridors and rooms fixing damages caused by the invasion as well as searching for any missing ponies. They still weren’t quite good enough to spot Dash, but she was having more difficulty dodging the vigilant eyes of the guards.

“Come on, think-think-think!” Twilight fretted, bonking her horn with her hoof as if trying to spark an idea. “We’ve searched most of the castle already. Maybe we should split up?” she inquired aloud.

“Yes-yes-yes-yes!” Rainbow silently cheered, hoof-pumping as her opportunity to grab Fluttershy had arrived. Her victory was short-lived, however, as her target quickly shook her head.

“Oh, no-no-no-no!” Fluttershy quavered, hunching down in fear. “Anypony could be a changeling, right? What if somepony is really just a changeling in disguise and they... attack.” Her eyes darted around the room catching the attention of the hall-wandering stallions and mares. Everypony began looking at each other with nervous concern at Fluttershy’s paranoid, but valid point.

“Oh come on!” Rainbow almost yelled, stifling her frustration with a quick hoof clamp around her muzzle.

“I know, I know, but we can’t start suspecting everypony of being changeling,” Twilight replied astutely making sure she was heard. “If we did, then we can’t trust anypony anywhere anymore. Even finding Rainbow Dash would be questionable since she could’ve easily been replaced while we’ve been looking for her. I’d rather assume that my brother’s and Cadence’s spell worked and sent any would-be imposters flying over the Everfree Forest.”

“Speakin’ of that,” Applejack chimed in, “even if there were any bugs left in the castle when that repo-thing hit, seein’ how far it shot that big one, they’d probably be flatter than a mosquito flyin’ in front of the Appleloosa Express.” Fluttershy winced at the morbid imagery. Most of the castle-goers nodded with the group’s logic, but they continued their tasks with a lingering trepidation.

Rainbow was getting fed up with all this stupid stealth nonsense. Sneaking behind these girls was wearing down her patience and wings, sore from all the slow and subtle hovering. She was quick to blame most of her wing fatigue on her impactful run-in with the wall earlier. After all, there’s no way the best flier in all of Equestria would admit to being drained after following her friends at a snail’s pace.

Her attention drifted back to her friends. After a short huddle, the five mares split up. Twilight galloped away to report on their lack of progress to the princesses while Pinkie Pie and Applejack headed off to cover more ground. Rarity and Fluttershy turned their attention to retrace their steps towards the wedding chamber. It was the last place they had seen Rainbow, and the group agreed it would be a likely place for her to return to. Rainbow followed closely behind, opting to tail them on the ground. Her wings felt heavier than she cared to admit.

Rarity and Fluttershy were met with vacant hallways as they approached the wedding chamber. Most everypony had fled after Celestia was shot down by the changeling queen. Aside from their search party, nopony had any reason to look around the day’s ground zero. To their dismay upon entering the massive, ornate room, they found it still utterly deserted. Rarity climbed the small stairs of the altar to see if Rainbow was outside the window. Her wandering eyes drifted to the charred remnants of the queen’s transformation burned into the rug.

Rarity clenched her teeth, grinding her molars rather than her words for venting the frustration. Kidnapping and impersonating royalty to allow a terrifying swarm of love-eaters bent on enslaving all of Equestria was bad enough, but to ruin a beautiful altar while burning a perfectly good wedding dress on top of it all was unforgivable!

“Fluttershy?” Rarity called back to the concerned pegasus while she enveloped the circular singe in the rug with her magic. “Would you be a dear and watch the door for a minute?” she politely requested while brushing back and forth, trying to salvage the once beautiful floor covering.

“I guess…” Fluttershy squeaked back.

“I should… Gah! Only be a minute or two, really!” Rarity quickly escalated as she wrestled with the rug. Of course the mark wasn’t going to be rubbed out that easily! It took her only a few more wide strokes of magic before completely losing her composure in the maddening battle for cleanliness. “For Celestia’s sake! Just turn from brown to white you stupid, overgrown coffee stain!” she screamed waiting for a reply from the lifeless burn.

Fluttershy sat under the ornate door frame, assuming her watch while Rarity waged total war against grime. Her eyes caught a terrace resting outside a westward set of windows. Her birds had nested there just before the chaos erupted at the wedding. Her worries drifted to Pietro, her soprano mockingbird, who earlier had pulled his wing on the flight to the castle gardens from Ponyville. He might’ve strained it further during the sudden commotion earlier and she really, really hoped he was okay. Fluttershy hadn’t spoken to her birdies or any of the animals since she’d been busy searching for Dash, but she knew they could handle themselves until they found the lost pegasus, probably.

She shook off her momentary fears to refocus her watch down the long hallway. Not a peep or pony was heard as she kept on high alert. It was quiet, but not too quiet. Though, either tier of silence was enough to prompt the dreading mare to nervously pull on her flowing bangs.

Fearing the empty hallway, she had almost given up on her guard duty to assist Rarity when she felt a sudden tug around her neck. Before she could eep out her best terrified yelp, she found her mouth clamped shut as she was pulled behind a pillar. She puttered a series of smothered mphf’s and mhmm’s as her abductor swiftly swung her around the corner. Her eyes watered as she prepared herself for the worst.

“Shh! Quiet Flutters! It’s me!” a familiar raspy voice silently husked at the panicking pegasus.

Fluttershy beamed with excitement with a wide smile plastered across her face. Her joyous reunion quickly faded into horror upon getting a look at her friend’s condition.

“I know, I’m sorry I freaked you out, but—“

“Rainbow Dash! What in Equestria happened to you?!” Fluttershy shrieked, slumping to her flank in disbelief and fear of the sight.

“Keep it down, Fluttershy! Do you want to wake up the whole…” Rainbow paused, trailing off for a moment, “wait what do you mean what happened to me? I feel fine.” Rainbow stated confidently, running a hoof through her perfectly combed mane.

Fluttershy could barely utter a word at the mere sight of the battered pegasus who, outside of being dead, could not have looked worse. Rainbow’s entire body was badly bruised, covered in scratches from head to hoof as if she’d lost a fight with a pack of manticores. Fluttershy inspected Rainbow’s flank, noticing her weight shifting off a broken hind leg. Judging from Rainbow’s shallow breathing, she might have a pierced lung on top of her broken nose. The dark circles of fatigue under Dash’s eyes didn’t help convince Fluttershy that her friend was feeling fine. How could she with her left wing hanging listlessly off to the side, seemingly shattered from some harrowing accident? Better yet, how was she standing at all?!

“Fluttershy? You’re kinda freaking me out,” Rainbow whispered, leaning in to her frightened friend.

“Freaking you out?! We need to get you to a hospital, now! Oh dear, you must be in so much pain. Wait here, I’ll go get the girls!” Fluttershy shouted, nearly speeding off faster than a Wonderbolt until Rainbow pulled her back down to earth with her last good hoof.

“No! No girls, no hospitals!” Rainbow implored. Fluttershy tried to raise an objection, but her retort was cut off. “I need you to just sit down and listen, okay? I’ve been following you around for the past couple of hours because I need to—“

“You were following us in your condition?” Fluttershy squeaked before Rainbow, again, clamped her mouth shut.

“I’m sorry, but just shut up, alright?” Rainbow pleaded as Fluttershy nodded, barely maintain her own composure. “I know it’s crazy, and I wanted to fly down and tell you, I really did! But I was… scared for some reason. I don’t know why, but I was scared, okay? Especially when Celestia…” Rainbow trailed off, shivering having nearly brought back nightmares.

Fluttershy muffled her cries with her hooves as Rainbow somehow started pacing back and forth nervously, seemingly unaware of her grave injuries. “Anyway, I was flying around the hallways waiting for you to be alone, because I needed to tell you something. Something very important. And only to you. Nopony else! … Right?” Rainbow paused, glancing around as if waiting for an answer. Before the confused Fluttershy could offer a reply, Dash answered, “Yeah that sounds about right.”

“Now listen closely, very closely.” Rainbow leaned towards her silently sobbing friend, tears flowing from her unflinching gaze at the battered mare. “I’m awake.”

Fluttershy nodded furiously in agreement, unsure how Rainbow was still conscious, but she was definitely awake. Rainbow paused curiously as if waiting for some kind of big moment that never came.

“Wait, that was it?” Rainbow exclaimed pausing briefly. Fluttershy tilted her head slightly in confusion causing the back of Rainbow’s head to throb in disbelief. “No way! You don’t get it?! But, I said it right, ‘I’m awake Fluttershy!’ You’re supposed to know what that means!” Rainbow pointed indignantly down at her horrified friend as she took to the air on a mangled wing. “Maybe I should’ve told Rarity—no? Oh come on, I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this in the first place! Please, you’ve gotta know Fluttershy!” Fluttershy could only muster a slow disagreeing headshake, silently pleading for Rainbow to land.

Rainbow gritted her teeth while stamping the ground in frustration. Fluttershy’s muzzle was starting to fall asleep from the force of pressing her own mouth closed. Her thoughts raced a million miles a minute desperately trying to come to terms with what she was witnessing. Rainbow Dash clearly wasn’t in the right state of mind from whatever had happened to her. Not knowing what to do, Fluttershy’s eyes darted around the hall trying to find some way to calm the mare on death’s door down.

Rainbow’s stern hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder caught the panicking mare’s attention once again. She couldn’t have forgotten, no. It was impossible for her to forget this. It was far too important for her to have forgotten about it, whatever it was. She stared into the Fluttershy’s eye’s with a power rivaling Flutter’s own.

“Look, I’m only going to say this one more time, so you gotta promise to pay super-close attention!” Rainbow demanded.

Before she could repeat her mysterious message, Rainbow felt the room suddenly spin out of control. The lights blurred as millions of sharp pains coursed through her entire body. In an instant, Rainbow felt like she’d be run through the entirety of a Cloudsdale cloud factory three times over. Overwhelmed by the intensity, Rainbow Dash blacked out.

Fluttershy waited for her friend to repeat herself. Each second dotted a shallow breath from Dash. Fluttershy reached out to touch the nearly dead mare when suddenly Rainbow forced her eyes open. Glaring upon Fluttershy with ferocious intensity, Rainbow’s irises flared to a burning deep scarlet. She punctuated sternly in a powerful, distorted voice.

“I. Am. Awake!” Next Chapter: Chapter 02: A Dreamweaver's Nightmare Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 30 Minutes