Angel sighed happily as consciousness slowly returned to her. She snuggled more deeply into her pillow, content to doze for a few more minutes. She wasn't sure why she'd woken up before her phone's alarm had gone off, but she was planning to take full advantage of her comfortable bed.

*BANG BANG BANG*

She let out another sigh, this one of annoyance, and lifted her head to glare at the hotel room's door. Who the hell is knocking at... She reached over to her phone and looked at the screen, jumping straight up as she saw the time. Eleven thirty?! what the hell! She jumped off her bed, grateful that she'd slept in her costume for some reason. The contest's at noon! She thought, quickly grabbing a pop-tart from her backpack and running to the door as she stuffed it in her mouth. If I hurry, I can make it. I just have to...

Rainbow mumbled in her sleep, smiling happily as she dreamed of the Wonderbolts. She rolled over, landing her head in the one patch of sunlight that had managed to pierce the veil of her curtains. She grimaced as she awoke, shielding her eyes and cursing Celestia for bringing the sun out at the unfaustly hour of - she looked over at the clock on the wall - 11:25. She didn't have to be anywhere until 3:00 that afternoon, and couldn't understand why something so unimportant as the regular path of the sun should be allowed to interrupt her sleep. Groaning as she got up, she stretched out her back before jumping out of bed and gliding the familiar path down to her kitchen.

"Let's see," she muttered, rummaging through her fridge. "Hm. Lots of ingredients, but I'm really not in the mood to cook this morning. No leftovers to heat up... screw it." She slammed the fridge closed, kicking downward to disperse the cloud right beneath her hooves. "I'm going to Sugarcube Corner," she muttered, quickly turning her free-fall into a glide as she glanced around for any nearby clouds to patch up the new hole in her floor. "She did say she was working on a new muffin recipe. I hope she still has some left. I swear, if Derpy got to them all again, I'm gonna..."

She trailed off as she noticed something strange in the field beneath her house. When she'd moved to Ponyville from Cloudsdale, she'd chosen this field specifically because there was nothing in it. No houses, no roads, and it was far enough away from town that nopony would accidentally wander into it. All of which meant that there should be no reason for there to be a weirdly cuboidal cottage sitting right beneath her house.

"What the hay?" she muttered, flying down. The closer she got, the less the building looked like a house. If anything, it looked like somepony had cut out one of those cramped apartments from Manehattan and stuck it in the middle of the field. The walls were undecorated and bland, with only a tall door on one side and a window on the other. The roof was completely flat, too, a poor design for Ponyville which got reasonably heavy snowfalls every winter. Her curiosity peaked, Rainbow flew up to the door and knocked, determined to find out just who would park such a weird box house right in the middle of her field.

There was a moment of silence as Rainbow hovered there before she caught the sound of a large gasp and some frantic scrambling on the other side of the door. Rainbow darted back slightly as the door slammed open, revealing the strangest creature she'd ever seen.

Huh. So that's what it feels like when you realize that you're dreaming. Angel stared at the polychromatic maned pegasus hovering outside her door, her pop-tart still stuffed in her mouth. Yes. A dream. That must be it. After all, there's no way that that's actually Rainbow freaking Dash outside. Huh. She shrugged, biting off the piece of pastry in her mouth before quickly chewing and swallowing. She cleared her throat and casually leaned against the doorway. First impressions were very important after all, even in a dream. I think? "Yo. Rainbow Dash, right?"

Rainbow blinked, eyeing Angel wearily. "Yeeeah," she replied, drawing out the word, suspicion obvious in her voice. "But how did you know that? And who are you, anyway? Heck, what are you?"

"Name's Angel," Angel replied. "Human being. As for how I knew you, that's obvious. How could I not recognize best pony?"

Rainbow's suspicion and shock were quickly replaced with pride. She casually buffed a hoof against her chest. "Yeah, well, don't go stating the obvious too much."

Angel grinned, holding back a fangirlish squeal. She wasn't as into My Little Pony as some of her other Otaku friends, but she'd always loved the fast, cool and awesome Rainbow Dash. Although, she thought, there is one other pony I'd really like to meet. "Hey," she said, drawing Rainbow's attention away from her own ego, "do you think you could introduce me to Fluttershy?"

"Um, sure?" said Rainbow, thrown off a bit by the change in topic. "But, why do you want to- wait! How do you even know who Fluttershy is? I mean, I guess it's kind of obvious that you would know who I am, what with how awesome I am, but how do you know Fluttershy?"

Damn it, dream! Angel thought, rolling her eyes. Why'd you have to give me season one Rainbow? Any reply she might have given was cut off as a high pitched whine reached their ears. They both turned to see a mangy brown dog limping around the corner of Angel's hotel-room-turned-cottage. "Um, that's why," said Angel. "My dog... spot is hurt, and I was told that Fluttershy would be able to help him.

Rainbow fluttered over to the dog, looking him over for a bit before nodding to Angel. "Alright, I'll go and get her." She zipped back up, placing a hoof on Angel's chest. "But don't think this means I trust you. Your house showed up out of nowhere, and you were a bit too slow remembering your own dog's name. I've got my eye on you."

Angel rolled her eyes as Rainbow zoomed off. "Yeah, season one Rainbow Dash, alright." She sighed and turned to look at the dog. "Guess that was pretty cool of my dream, though. I want to see Fluttershy, and I get a reason for her to show up. Huh, I wonder." She looked at her arm, holding it sideways in front of her. Well, I am dressed as Angel. "Guard Skill - Hand Sonic." In a flash of light and a chiming of electronic notes, a blade appeared over her hand. "Niiiice," she said, swinging her new blade around. "Geeze, I think I can actually feel things with this. I wonder... Guard Skill - Angel Wings." The flash and chime repeated as two large white wings appeared on her back. She stared in awe over her shoulder, flexing them experimentally.

"Okay, this is really trippy," she said giving a few flaps and reaching up to feel along the edge of it with her hand, shivering as she did so. "Wow, I can definitely feel that. And how do I know how to control these things anyway? Eh," she shrugged, glancing down at "Spot". "That's what makes it a dream, I guess. Though I wish my brain had given me a better dog than this mutt. Seriously, would it have been too much for my subconscious to spring for a german shepherd or something?" She looked over her shoulder again, eyeing her wings critically. "Well, I know that they couldn't actually fly in the anime, but, well, this is a dream, right? Anything I can imagine. Hm, better get a good jumping spot, first, though. That's supposed to help, right?" She looked around, her gaze landing on her new cottage. A smile crept onto her face. "That'll do."

"Come on! This way! Hurry uuuuuup!"

"Rainbow Dash, would you just be quiet for one cotton-pickin' minute? Some of us don't have wings, you know!"

Rainbow groaned as her friends struggled to keep up with her. She'd flown straight to Fluttershy's cottage only to find Rarity there as well talking with her about some frou-frou spa stuff. She'd sent them over to her house and taken a side trip to Sweet Apple Acres, figuring that having Applejack there might be a good idea just in case this "Angel" was dangerous. Not that she wouldn't be able to take her on by herself - she was Rainbow Danger Dash, after all - but it was always a good idea to have backup. They'd caught up with Fluttershy and Rarity just as they'd run into Twilight Sparkle in Ponyville, and now all of them were running for her house along with Pinkie Pie who had turned up... sometime. That mare was a weird one.

Unfortunately for Rainbow, they were running, and while Applejack was quick enough for Rainbow to get excited for the Running of the Leaves in a couple of month, the rest of the girls weren't nearly as fast.

"I just don't want to to disappear," said Rainbow. "We have to hurry. Her house appeared out of nowhere last night. Who knows if it will move again?"

"Rainbow Dash, calm down," said Twilight, rolling her eyes. "I highly doubt this 'Angel' is going to up and vanish along with her house. Performing a teleport that powerful would take a complex spell array which would require at least 20 square yards of level ground, not to mention the hours it would take to work out the calculations and draw out the necessary formulas. Even the Princess, er, Princess Celestia wouldn't be able to work that quickly."

"Heh. Still gettin' used to there bein' two princesses, Sugarcube?"

Twilight sighed, shaking her head. "To be honest, yes. It's still hard to imagine Princess Celestia not ruling by herself. I mean, I'm sure Princess Luna will do fine once she gets caught up on modern Equestria, but it does take some getting used to."

"Oh I understand completely, darling," said Rarity. "Why, the fashion world has been in an uproar ever since Princess Luna returned. Everything making even a passing reference to 'royalty' or 'princess' has had to be renamed to specify Princess Celestia. And don't get me started on everything that's been done to compensate for a new princess to make sure she's not getting slighted. It's been just so hectic!"

"Really?" asked Fluttershy. "I mean, not to doubt you or anything, but all the magazines I've read have said that everypony has been celebrating. They say that another Princess just gives them more inspiration and more to work with, and that they're finally able to market darker colors." Seeing Rarity's appraising look, she ducked back under her bangs. "I-I mean, that's just what I've heard."

"Yes, well, appearances are very important in the fashion industry," Rarity replied. "It's been a very quiet panic. But believe me, while everypony says that they're calm and collected, they're loosing their minds behind closed doors trying to out-do each other, or just trying to keep up. Honestly, it makes me a little relieved that all I have is my small shop here in Ponyville. I'd absolutely hate to be a big name in the middle of this crisis."

"Ugh!" shouted Rainbow, dragging her hooves down her face. "Would you two please stop talking about clothes and start picking up the pace?"

"Aw, don't worry Dashie!" said Pinkie, pronking along beside her friends and somehow keeping pace. "There's no way she'll disappear that quickly. Trust me, it'll be at least two seasons before she leaves."

"Two seasons?" asked Twilight, raising an eyebrow.

"Well sure," said Pinkie. "Ponyville's absolutely beautiful in the fall. You'd have to be crazy to move out then! And everypony knows how hard it is to move in the middle of winter. Whoever she is, she's here to stay at least until spring!"

"Oh," said Twilight. "I just thought it might have something to do with, you know..."

"My Pinkie Sense?" Twilight nodded, looking away sheepishly while Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Twilight, not everything I know comes from my Pinkie Sense. I do have other sources."

"Who cares about how Pinkie Pie does or knows things?!" shouted Rainbow. "Come on, let's move! Mysterious creature! Strange house!" A slightly evil grin found its way onto her face as she glanced at Fluttershy. "Hurt dog."

*GASP* "Oh my gosh!" shouted Fluttershy, almost rising to normal speaking levels. "You're right! We need to hurry!"

"You know, I kind of thought that I'd see something more surreal from up here."

Angel stood on the roof of her room, looking around at the field and what lay beyond. There, not too far away, was the town from the show: Ponyville. Then of course there was the dark and rather foreboding wood that could only be the Everfree Forest. Angel felt a shudder run down her spine as she looked at the trees.

"Ugh, even in my dreams that place is creepy. Definitely season one, back when that place was still scary." She walked up to the edge of the roof and turned around, spreading her wings wide. "Well, no time like the present!" She crouched down, getting ready to run, and noticed a group of ponies approaching from the direction of Ponyville. "Ah, the Mane 6 approach. Well, let's give them a show!" She took of running across the roof, jumping off as she reached the edge and spreading her wings wide, flapping with all of the strength she could muster. For just a moment, she felt the ecstatic joy of flight, her body stretched out and her wings carrying her through the air.

That moment passed as she began to descend, the ground rushing up to meet her. Confusion reigned in her mind, the relatively short fall leaving no time for fear to set in. The last thing she saw was her arms hitting the ground, her forearms snapping and her still extended hand sonic rushing up to her face.

Fluttershy gasped as she saw the strange creature hit the ground and go tumbling. She rushed forward, flying as fast as her wings could carry her. She landed by Angel's side, turning her over onto her back and shrieking at the sight.

"Fluttershy!" yelled Twilight as the rest of the girls rushed forward. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Stay back!" shouted Fluttershy, turning to face them, eyes full of tears. "Don't look! It's... oh it's just too horrible!"

"Fluttershy, what are you... oh." Heedless of Fluttershy's warning, Rainbow had rushed forward and was now looking down at Angel, a blade embedded in her face. "Tha- that's um... uh, wow. I... I think I'm gonna be-" She didn't get to finish as she landed on the ground, retching out last night's dinner.

"F-Fluttershy?" asked Rarity, voice wavering as she and the rest of the girls kept their distance. "Is... is she..." Her white face went even paler at Fluttershy's nod.

"Y-yeah," rasped Rainbow, looking pointedly away from the carnage. "It um, it looks like she got a sword somehow and uh, decided to headbutt it. Edge first."

Silence reigned for a moment, broken only be Fluttershy's sobs and Rainbow's coughs as she tried to clear the last of the sic from her throat. Finally, Applejack stepped forward, sparing Angel's body a sickened glance before placing a foreleg around Fluttershy's shoulders. "Come on, Sugarcube. Let's get you away from this."

Fluttershy shook her head, sniffing and wiping her eyes with her forehoof. "We- we can't just l-leave her here like this. A-and there's still a d-dog that needs h-help."

Applejack looked down at the body, grimacing before she swept off her hat. She placed it over Angel's face, covering the worst of the damage before turning to Rainbow. "You good enough to help me haul a cart over from the farm?"

Rainbow looked over, shuddering as her gaze landed on Angel's body, a small pool of blood beginning to form around it. "Y-yeah. Sure. Guess we shouldn't just leave her here."

"I'll come with you!" Rarity volunteered hastily. "I mean, if we're going to do this right, we should have some sort of cover for her, right? I- I may have some old fabric that I could use to- to cover her." Rarity turned and ran for town while Rainbow and Applejack rushed to Sweet Apple Acres.

"Why don't you let me watch over her, Fluttershy," said Twilight, sitting down beside her. "You and Pinkie can go and find that dog and help him."

"O-oh no," said Fluttershy, slowly gaining control again. "I couldn't ask you to do that. I mean, I have some experience with this from... from other animals..." She whimpered, bursting into fresh tears.

"Don't worry about me," said Twilight, pulling Fluttershy into a tight hug. "I... I have a bit of experience with this sort of thing too." She shuddered, thinking back to Canterlot. "Princess Celestia always presided over the funerals of any of the guard who died on duty. There haven't been a lot, only three since I became her student, but one of them was..." She shook her head, trying to clear out the mental image of the body that had been found on the edge of the Everfree. "A-anyway, I'll be fine. Go and find that dog with Pinkie."

"Yeah, come on Fluttershy," said Pinkie, trying to maintain a cheerful attitude even as her mane began to deflate. "Let's go find that puppy wuppy and help him feel all better. Won't that be nice?"

Fluttershy looked back and forth between Twilight, Pinkie and the body before nodding. Giving Twilight one last squeeze, she stood up and headed off with Pinkie to start checking in and around the strange house nearby. Twilight watched them walk off, feeling her gaze drawn to the body several times before she snapped her eyes back up, either watching for Fluttershy and Pinkie to return, or watching Ponyville for any sign of the others. Finally, after the eleventh time she caught herself looking at the body, she gave in to her curiosity. Lighting her horn and making sure that nopony had come back yet, she lifted the hat off of Angel's face to see the damage for herself.

Angel's expression of shock and confusion was bisected by the blade that ran from her chin to her forehead, just slightly at an angle. Blood had stopped pouring from the wound, but what had already flowed out now coated her mane and face, a face smashed by the impact. Twilight's magic cut out almost immediately, dropping the hat back into place as she turned away from the grisly sight. Unfortunately, the rest of the corpse still lay semi-exposed for her to see. Angel's clothes covered the actual wounds, but her limbs, especially her arms, bent at sharp angles at places where Twilight was fairly certain there weren't supposed to be joints.

She had no further problem keeping her eyes off the body until Applejack and Rainbow returned.

A somber mood covered Sweet Apple Acres. Big Macintosh and Granny Smith had been clued in to what was currently taking up residence in their barn. Apple Bloom had meanwhile been sent into Ponyville for an impromptu sleepover at Rarity's. Fluttershy had taken the wounded german shepherd home with her while Pinkie returned home to Sugarcube Corner. Applejack, Twilight and Rainbow sat around the table in the Apple family's dining room, mulling over the situation: more specifically, what to do with the body.

Said body lay under a white sheet, still in the cart. Angel's blade had been maneuvered out of her face and her limbs straightened as much as Twilight and Fluttershy could stomach, but the bloody body was still obviously broken. A couple of rats, smelling the beginning decay, scurried onto to the cart and over to the sheet and began sniffing it curiously.

*GASP*

The two rats scurried away, startled as the figure beneath the sheet sat up, frantically running her hands over her face. Angel sighed in relief, lying back down. Just a dream. A strange, rather horribly ending dream. Heh, as if I could actually get Angel's powers and land in Equestria. She shifted around, trying to get comfortable on her hard wooden bed.

"Wait. What?"

Angel threw off the sheet, sitting up and looking around. Rather than her bed, she found that she was lying on an aged wooden cart. Large wooden walls surrounded her, rising up to meet a raftered ceiling. Various stalls and a few piles of hay told her that she was in some sort of barn, and an overwhelming fruity smell gave her a hint as to who's barn it was. Slowly, her eyes fell to her arm and the bloody sword blade that was still attached at the wrist.

"O-okay. Not a dream, then. Um, how do I make this thing-" She was cut off by a familiar flash and tone as the hand sonic disappeared, leaving no trace that it had ever been there. Angel looked over her shoulder at her wings, willing them to retract as well.

Okay, she thought as her wings vanished. Okay okay. Just... calm down, Angel. There has to be a logical, reasonable explanation for this. I mean, people don't just up and teleport into cartoons and get superpowers out of nowhere, right? She stood up, jumping out of the cart and looking towards the large doors. Well, only one way to know for sure. She walked over to the barn doors, took a deep breath, and pushed them open.

"Absolutely not! No way no how are we burryin' that thing out in the acres."

"Applejack, be practical. It's not like there's anywhere else we can take her."

"You aren't winning this one, Twi. You know how stubborn AJ can be about her farm. I still say we just toss her in the river or Ghastly Gorge and be done with it."

"Consarn it, Rainbow Dash! We can't do that to her. Whatever she was, she was a livin', thinkin' being. We need to give her the respect of a proper burial."

"Well, where are we supposed to bury her then, huh? We don't want anypony else to have to see her like that, and you're not letting us use the Acres. So unless we want to drag her into the Everfree..."

Rainbow, Applejack and Twilight shuddered at the thought of spending that much time in those sinister woods. They'd been sitting around the table in Applejack's dining room for the last ten minutes, trying to figure out what to do with Angel's body. So far, the conversation had just gone round in an endless circle.

"Well, she can't just stay in the barn," muttered Applejack. "We'll be neadin' it before too long, and I don't want Apple Bloom walkin' in on a sight like that. I still don't see why we don't just hoof her over to Fluttershy. She's got to have handled buryin' animals before."

Rainbow slammed her hooves on the table, glaring at Applejack. "Are you kidding! You saw how upset the was when she saw her. No way am I letting Fluttershy anywhere near this mess again."

"Well, what are we going to do then?" shouted Twilight. She stood up and began to pace, her mane starting to become frazzled. "We can't leave her here. We can't figure out anywhere to bury her. And we can't just throw her into the woods or the river. What are we supposed to do?"

"Um, maybe ask the person you're trying to get rid of?"

Twilight shrieked and vanished in a flash of light, appearing on the other side of the table, her coat slightly charred. She, Rainbow and Applejack stared at the bipedal figure that stood awkwardly in the doorway, rubbing one arm with the other.

Angel grinned nervously as the three ponies stared at her, jaws hanging and eyes wide. "Um... hi?"