Rainbow Dash glanced nervously about the room she suddenly found herself in. Red mist emanated from the grated floor beneath her hooves. In the middle of the room, there stood a narrow shaft. A faint noise came from the shaft, as though someone were moving very quickly up a stairwell. Dash couldn’t find any way in or out of this room, so she began to trot about nervously. She called out for help; no answer.

The noises coming from the shaft were getting louder. Dash cautiously moved closer to investigate, and found that on one side of the shaft there was an opening leading to a stairwell. The footsteps (they were definitely footsteps, Dash thought) were growing louder now. Whoever or whatever it was drew closer. Dash backed away from the stairwell. Panic began to overwhelm her.

Dash hesitated for a moment, then turned and took a few steps away from the shaft. A large, disfigured earth pony came barrelling up the stairwell, crashing into the wall in front of it. Dash whipped around, taking a quick glance at the pony before the creature reared up on its hind legs to charge at Dash. Gasping, she leapt out of the way, but the creature whipped its massive head around and bit down on one of the Pegasus pony’s outspread wings.

The vile beast swung Dash around by her wing, flinging her headlong into a nearby wall. Dash yelped loudly in pain, falling to the floor. The hideous earth pony galloped over to where Dash lay, mercilessly slamming a hoof down into her vulnerable stomach. Before Dash could even let out a cry of anguish, the mutant pony hurled her across the small room once again by her wing, nearly tearing it off in the process. Dash slammed against the opposite wall, attempting this time to land on her hooves. She managed to stand with some struggle, and turned to face her aggressor.

"I..I’m not afraid of..." she growled weakly, but the beast careened towards her once again, knocking her swiftly to the ground with a massive, clubbed hoof. As Dash hit the ground, she was met with a flurry of kicks to her stomach. She cried out in agony with each blow. Eventually, her screaming subsided, replaced by quiet sobs, interspersed with hacking coughs. The hacking grew more violent, and Dash realized to her horror that she had been coughing up blood. As the blood dripped through the metal slats, the red mist in the room seemed to grow heavier.

Dash continued to endure the relentless assault, her weak sounds of protest resonating throughout the chamber. Her assailant suddenly stopped, his head darting upwards in fright. Then came a torrent of screams. Thousands of ponies screaming in unison, some in terror, some in anger, all in fright. Rainbow Dash tried to shut them out, weakly bringing her hooves to her ears, but it was no use. The monstrous earth pony joined in the chorus of wailing, his own voice filled with unrelenting agony.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes flew open. She scrambled backward, her head darting around like a frightened mouse. She was lying just outside of her cloudtop home above Ponyville. The moon shone brightly overhead, and the only sounds were those of distant insects. She began to weep quietly, the terrifying screams still echoing distantly in her head. She turned her head up to stare into the night sky, deciding that she would stay up to see the sunrise.

Just tonight.