Author's Notes:

Sorry this took so long to get out! I'm trying to readjust to my usual schedule of typing, but it will take a bit. This chapter is shorter than I would have liked, so I kind had to put it in parts, sorry about that. Anyway, enjoy! And thanks for being patient with me!

Fear.

That's what Twilight and her friends felt right now, but especially Twilight. For as long as anyone could remember, Equestria has been a peaceful utopia, with the exception of the occasional criminal. Sure, there have been horrible crises, like Discord or Nightmare Moon, but no one had actually been hurt!

But this was different, this could be war! Sombra enslaved his entire city, Chrysalis was powerful and was the queen of an entire race of love-hungry shapeshifters, and now they were allies! They could be a huge threat to all of Equestria! And it was down to the main si-five, main five to save it! But all problems they've faced before could be solved with friendship, not counting the whole changeling incident. Now? That might not have been an option, both because not all six of them were exactly friends, and this situation might not be able to be solved by friendship.

But uncertainty was only a factor in their fear, it was also all their roles. Fluttershy was doing everything she could to put the animals somewhere safe, not even considering the option of using them to help. Applejack was doing the same, but with her family. Rarity was...surprisingly well organized, she was helping Fluttershy and Applejack find safe places. Twilight, since her family already lived in Canterlot, she went straight to researching ways to defeat Sombra, wanting to help her friends, but felt like she'd get in the way. They all promised after everyone was safe, they'd help however they can.

Rainbow Dash was...doing something. Her family's in Cloudsdale, a safe place for anything that can fly. Sadly, that included Changelings. But, Cloudsdale was home to The Wonderbolts, and was full of exceptional fliers. Cloudsdale was up there with Canterlot in on of the best-defended places in Equestria, it would be stupid to attack there first.

"Ugh! This doesn't say anything either! Spike! Give me History of The Crystal Empire Volume 4!"

Twilight sighed, this was beyond frustrating! She had gone into The Royal Canterlot Library with Spike, doing what she does best, research. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, the answers how to defeat their enemies didn't just show up for any of their previous enemies. Why would this be different? But, this was all she could do. If she just stood by and did nothing...Wait a minute, where was Spike?!

"Spike!"

Spike had, at some point, fallen asleep. He lay on a nearby table, laying on his stomach, sleeping soundly without a care in the world. Twilight felt a little envious, at least someone wasn't stressed about the situation.

"Man Twilight, you're pretty loud for an egghead."

"Rainbow Dash! You're ba-"

Twilight's voice caught in her throat, her face going from to excitement to worry and surprise. Rainbow's eyes were bloodshot, her cheeks were stained with tears, her mane was in a mess, she had been crying.

"Rainbow, what ha"

"We should throw a party."

Her voice sounded almost forced, it was hoarse from sobbing, and her enthusiasm was obviously faked, she was trying. This was bad, ever since Pinkie, Rainbow had been the happiest of the five. She had always been outgoing and kept spirits up, not that they were unhappy. But with Pinkie gone, there were more sad moments than they cared to admit. But now? She looked...damaged.

"A party?"

Twilight didn't want to push her, if she didn't want to talk about it right now, she didn't have to. But she would talk about, ignoring your problems didn't make them go away, it just left them to fester.

"Yeah! A party. With this whole Sombra-Chrysalis thing going on, and considering we really haven't had a good party in a long time, why not? If things are really going to be that crazy, then we need to get together before it does! The five of us, unwinding, spending time together, you know, having fun?"

While her reasoning made sense, that wasn't why she wanted to do it. She was desperate. She needed friends, all her friends. She needed this, Twilight couldn't say no, if she had...

"I think you should do it."

A third voice came from behind her, she would have been startled, but she recognized the voice.

"Spike?"

He was usually a heavy sleeper, so either he was pretending, or he wasn't that deep in his sleep. He got off the table, landing on the floor with a thump. He looked at Twilight and Rainbow, he looked almost...sad.

"I'm scared, Twilight. Not just of Sombra and The Changelings, I'm scared for you. You guys are my friends! But, you all seem so...sad, like your missing something. I don't want you to be sad, but there's nothing I can do to fix it. And, I'm afraid that if this keeps up, you guys might not be friends anymore! And I don't want that to happen, so please, have this party. I...I want to see you happy again, all of you!"

Spike pleaded with her, tears in the corners of his eyes. She hadn't realized how much this had been affecting him, had she really not been paying that much attention? Pinkie was his friend too, she was everyone's friend. She should have noticed this, how could she be so stupid?!

"I-I don't know if my schedule can..."

She looked back at Rainbow Dash, her eyes begging Twilight. How could she say no to that? Twilight sighed, she was going to have to rearrange her schedule later.

"Fine, I'll contact the others. Just don-"

"Yes! Thank you thank you thank you, Twilight!"

As soon as Twilight said that, Rainbow Dash flew towards her, grabbing her in a hug. Twilight tried getting out of it, but her grip was too strong! She teleported out of it, landing beside Spike, who had a huge smile on his face.

"Your welcome! Just, no more bear hugs! Anyway, how and where are you even going to host a party?"

Rainbow Dash looked at her, a smile on her face.

"Pshh! That's easy! I know a few ponies who have the stuff I need, shouldn't be too hard. And as for where, well, Ponyville, of course! There's nopony there right now, it would be perfect for the five of us! You go ahead and tell the others, I'm going to go set it up."

Rainbow Dash began to walk out, but she stopped suddenly as her eyes widened, as if she forgot something.

"Oh, and Spike is invited!"

Rainbow began to walk out of the library happily, singing some sort of giddy tune as she did.

"Dash,"

Rainbow stopped, hearing Twilight call her name.

"Yes?"

Twilight hesitated, she was probably going to regret this.

"I know we've all been down about it, but you were closer to her than most of us. So if whatever happened was about Pinkie, then I-"

"Don't!"

Rainbow's voice echoed throughout the library, making Twilight and Spike flinch.

"I don't need to talk about it, ok?! I just need time, and I'll be fine. So please, just...leave it alone."

Rainbow Dash didn't say another word, she turned her back and flew out of the room before Twilight could say anything else. Spike tried to run after her, but Twilight stopped him, putting a hoof in front of him.

"No Spike, leave her be."

Spike wanted to run after her, but even if he did, he wouldn't be able to catch up, he didn't have wings, yet.

But what neither of them noticed, was there was a third pony in the room. One who hid behind one of the tall bookshelves, listening to their conversation, a malicious smile on their face.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Mom! Dad! Did you like the party!? Huh? Didya? Didya?"

Pinkie Pie bounced around her parents with joy and a huge smile on her face, her curly and tangled hair bouncing with her. Her voice was full of pride and happiness, her eyes almost sparkled as she waited for their response. Igneous and Cloudy had smiles on their faces, the couldn't seem to stop themselves from giggling, to the point where they were struggling to talk.

"Oh yes! I've never experienced a tingly feeling like this before, it's...words can't explain it!"

Igneous exclaimed, barely able to hold back his laughter. Cloudy seemed to be laughing too, laughter truly was contagious.

"It was amazing! Pinkie, what was it you called it?"

Pinkie walked beside them, well, bounced. Her smile, like her bouncing, never faltered. Inkie and Blinkie, after the party, had run ahead to the house. They said they had some sort of surprise for her, which was strange, because the party was kind of just impulse.

"A party silly! It's when a bunch of friends get together and have fun! This place is always so sad, it lacks excitement! So, after seeing that magical rainboom thingy, I decided I wanted to throw a party!"

Pinkie seemed to defy physics for a second as she floated in the air, extending her arms outward as she said party. But her parents either didn't notice, or were too busy giggling to say anything.

"Mom! Dad! Pinkie! Hurry up, We can't wait anymore!"

"Yeah, come on! You're going to love it!"

Inkie and Blinkie were standing in the doorway to their old, beat up house. It was a two-story house that consisted of brown and gray, a chimney made of rocks was the first thing most ponies noticed. But, to Pinkie and her family, it was home.

Faster than she had expected, Igneous and Cloudy sprinted past them, almost like they couldn't wait to see what the surprise was. Pinkie couldn't wait either, she bounced forward, getting closer and closer to the door. But suddenly, it shut in her face.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!"

She said as she pounded on the door, not appreciating not being able to see the surprise. But, there was no response, just giggling from the other side.

"You really don't want to go in there."

A quiet voice said behind her, barely more than a whisper. Pinkie turned around quickly, surprised someone could sneak up on her, that was hard to do in such a barren place. The person behind was someone she hadn't recognized at first, she was a foot or two taller than Pinkie, her gray coat fit in the surroundings, her violet mane was straight and went down to her neck at her sides, almost as if it was combed that way. Her bangs certainly were, her turquoise eyes were dull, her eyelids covered half of them, it made her look like she was half asleep. She wore what looked like a dark blue dress, no wrinkles or anything that suggested it was old, it covered her entire body except her hooves, a black band around the middle of it was the only thing on it.

Pinkie Pie didn't recognize this person at first, but the way that mane looked and her eye color could only belong to one pony.

"Maud? Is that you?"

Maud looked down at her, not responding. Something in her eyes bothered Pinkie, it was sad, she looked like she was worried about something. That wasn't a look Pinkie was familiar with, especially with Maud.

"Oh my gosh! It is, isn't it?! How did you get so grown up?! Just a few minutes ago you were a filly, now it's like you had some massive growth spurt! Oh! Wait till mom and Dad see-"

Maud suddenly put a hoof over Pinkie's mouth, stopping her from saying another word. Pinkie tried to move her hoof away, but Maud stopped her with a look. Her grip was firm and her glare deadly, she was serious.

"Shut up and listen, no matter what happens, no matter what you hear, do not go in there!"

Pinkie looked up at her confused, this was unusual, even for Maud. She never got this angry before, and never towards Pinkie. Pinkie pulled away Maud's hoof, looking up at her cautiously.

"What do you mea-"

A blood-curdling scream came from the house, making Pinkie turned around quickly. That was Igneouss' voice, he was the only stallion inside. Pinkie leaped forward, trying to open the door.

"DADDY!"

Maud's hooves wrapped around Pinkie's body, pulling her away from the door. Pinkie struggled, but she was too strong. And just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. She could no longer hear her father's screaming, it was so silent, she almost questioned whether it even happened in the first place.

That was when the screaming started.

Screams come from the house, just on the other side of the door. Cloudy, Blinkie and Inkie's screams came from the house, louder than anything she's ever heard. The screams echoed everywhere, becoming the only thing she could hear. Pinkie thrashed against Maud's hooves as hard as she could, but her grip only seemed to tighten. She pushed against them as hard as she could, but she couldn't get loose.

"Please, let me go! I need to help them! Why won't you let me help them!?"

Pinkie yelled, almost sobbing as she tried as hard as she could, but she just couldn't escape.

"Because, you don't want to see what's in there, or what's behind you."

She somehow heard her voice over the screaming, her body filled with fear as she felt something drip on the back of her neck. Slowly, she turned around, the thing behind her was no longer Maud. Its face seemed to be melting, the skull under her skin could be seen on some parts of her face. The pupils of her eyes were a dark red, piercing into her soul. The sclera was a pitch black, darker than anything she's ever seen. Blood dripped from her eyes like tears, dripping down her cheeks, then to her chin, then to the ground. Pinkie could do nothing but look at her in fear, her body stopped resisting as she was in shock, the sound of the screams became louder.

"DON'T GO TO THE HOUSE! YOU NEED TO RETURN TO PONYVILLE! YOU NEED TO WAKE UP!"

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pinkamena awoke startled, her pupils constricted, breathing erratically. Her body was sweating profusely, she awoke somehow feeling even more tired than when she went to sleep. She looked around her surroundings confused, almost like she didn't remember coming here. She seemed to be in the back of a wooden carriage, completely empty except for her and her backpack. The stallion driving the carriage could only be seen as a figure in the dark, it was extremely dark out, she could barely see her hoof in front of her, she wouldn't if it wasn't for the stars and the moon.

Pinkamena tried looking at her surroundings, but there weren't any building outlines or anything, she could be in a wasteland for all she knew! Then again, it was kind of hard to concentrate when you're breathing fast enough to hyperventilate, sticky from sweat, and full of fear and confusion from a dream she barely remembered.

"Bad dream?"

Sylia's voice was weak, barely louder than a whisper. It sounded strained, like just speaking was an effort for her, a painful one.

"I'm...not sure."

Pinkamena closed her eyes, trying to focus on calming down. She could slow down her breathing, but that fear was still there! What had been in her dream that incited such fear? She could only remember chunks, a party, rocks, a door, and...something else, something important!

"Ugh! Why is this happening?! I've never had problems remembering my dreams before, so why now?!"

Pinkamena grunted in frustration, something was in that dream, something terrified her, but something important. But she didn't know what! The stallion driving the carriage either didn't notice, or didn't care, or maybe he was asleep she didn't really care.

"Maybe some part of you doesn't want to remember? It could be some sort of repressed memory or something."

Sylia suggested, her voice sounding slightly more strained before. If it hadn't been so quiet, with the exception of the rumbling of the carriage, Pinkamena probably wouldn't have heard her.

"Then why dream about it in the first place? If I didn't want to remember it, why would I bother with dreams? It doesn't make any sense!"

Pinkamena let out another sigh of frustration, laying down on her stomach with an annoyed look on her face. One of the bangs from her straight mane fell down on her face, she responded by blowing a puff of air at it. Which did nothing as it just fell back on her face, she used to her hoof to put it back with the rest of her mane. As she did, her eyes widened slightly, as if coming to some realization.

"Speaking of things not making sense, what are you doing here, Sylia? Aren't you supposed to be in some long nap to preserve your emotions, or whatever?"

Sylia didn't respond at first, whether it was because she was too weak, or something else, Pinkamena could only guess.

"Heh, yeah. But, as weird as it may sound, I get really tired of sleeping. I suspect The Voice told you while I was...out. What else did you guys talk about?"

Something about Sylia's voice made Pinkamena cautious, more so than usual. Her tone sounded...wrong, like she was hiding something, it was hard to explain. But somehow, it was familiar.

"Various stuff, nothing important, really. What about you? When you sleep, do you dream? Can you even dream?"

She wanted to ask Sylia what was wrong, but, it was doubtful she'd get a direct answer. Besides, somehow, she felt like The Voice had something to do with it.

"Sort of. They're not really dreams, more like memories, assuming I'm seeing anything at all. Most of the time, It's memories of my life, back when I had a body. They don't seem to be in any specific order, they just kind of happen at random. But usually, I just see-"

Sylia suddenly stopped talking, a choking noise coming from her. She was trying to speak, but something was stopping her.

"Sylia? You okay?"

Sylia's choking suddenly stopped, as if it hadn't even happened in the first place.

"Yeah, just something stuck in my throat."

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, there were so many things wrong with that.

"But, you don't have a-"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

Sylia interrupted her, surprising Pinkamena. She's never interrupted her like that before, okay, leave it alone, she got the message!

"What do you mean?"

Sylia wanted to say something, it was obvious. But something, or someone, was preventing her. She didn't like this, her suspicions were almost entirely on The Voice.

"Well, you have problems remembering your dream. Let's try recalling your activities and see if it helps, tell me everything that happened in the last few hours."

Okay...That made sense, sort of. But not in Sylia's case, she saw her memories, in fact, she probably knew what the dream was! But, if she wanted answers, she would have to indulge.

"Well, after leaving Ponyville, and what happened with Rainbow Dash,"

Pinkamena frowned, what had happened with the cyan pegasus had been...upsetting, to say the least.

"I went to Zecora's hut to get a precaution."

Pinkamena opened her mouth slightly, moving her tongue up and putting her hoof in her mouth. A second later, she pulled a small, bright blue pill from her mouth. She hovered her hoof in front of her face, looking at the blue pill on her hoof curiously.

"I know I asked for it to be as small as possible, but I still find it amusing that this little thing is a magic cure-all."

She shrugged as she put it back in her mouth, moving it around to comfortably put it under her tongue.

"And, sometime in between, The Voice convinced me to visit my family, somehow. And I found this carriage, I had the bits, so I decided I would prefer not to go on hoof that far. And, at some point, I fell asleep. Not sure how that was supposed to help me remember my dream."

Pinkamena waited for Sylia to say something, anything. But, she didn't, which was strange. She was usually talkative, despite being as tired as she was. Pinkamena couldn't even feel her presence, she had almost assumed she wasn't there. Until she spoke, her voice even more strained before, she sounded like it took every amount of energy she had just to say a single word.

"Maybe...you...shouldn't...go."

Confusion was evident on Pinkamena's face, almost matching her frustration.

"Shouldn't go where?"

Another few seconds passed in silence, then she spoke again, barely able to be heard.

"Don't...go..."

Pinkamena felt her presence leave, barely noticeable since it was so weak. But, before Pinkamena could say, or think anything, she felt another presence, one she had come to hate and like at the same time.

"Sorry about that! It's seemed Sylia pushed herself harder than she was ready to! While she's sleeping, I'd be more than happy to help you with your dream problem! Have you trie-"

"No thanks, I think I've got it figured out."

Pinkamena cut her off, her voice filled with annoyance and frustration. The Voice's disoriented and echoing voice pissed her off, it was obvious something was happening here, the timing was too perfect. It was doing something to Sylia, and its reason to do so couldn't be good.

"Really? No questions or anything? Cause I can see your dreams, I can tell you whatever you'd like!"

If Pinkamena didn't know better, she'd say it sounded disappointed.

"Nope. Can't be too important if I didn't remember it."

Pinkamena lay her head on her hooves, closing her eyes. She didn't want to go back to sleep, she doubted she even could, but she couldn't really do anything else. Then she grimaced, there was one thing she wanted to ask, but she reallydidn't want to give The Voice the satisfaction.

"Actually, there is one thing I want to ask."

She could practically feel it smirk.

"Ok, what is it? I'd be happy to answer."

She sighed, definitely hated it.

"Well, it's the only clear thing I can remember. It's a word, a name, I think."

Pinkamena held her breathe, this thing didn't have a face she could see or breathing she could hear, all she could do was listen for any change in its voice to indicate it was lying.

"Does the name 'Maud' mean anything to you?"

She felt it, for just a second, she felt it. There was a spike of fear from The Voice, not uncertainty or surprise, fear. But just like that, it was gone, and its usual bravado returned.

"Nope! Never heard of anyone named Maud! Sorry!"

Pinkamena put her head deeper in her hooves, grinding her teeth in frustration. She mumbled to herself, too low for anyone to hear, but since The Voice was in her head, she surely did.

"Liar."