As Twilight climbed onto a metal platform attached to one of the tubes, she began to think of her next move. Here she was, out in the middle of the ocean with nopony at her side. A dire situation indeed, but she had to continue. Hopefully Cappers Intel was correct, and Rainbow dash was somewhere inside the facility.

The faint sounds of hoofsteps could be heard across metal, and shortly after they stopped, Twilight saw a flying vehicle heading west, possibly toward Kludgetown. The technology of this new world seamed to get stranger by the minute. Flying machines, hoofheld laser beams, what other wonders, and horrors, did new Equestria have in store? Twilight couldn't think of that right now. A much more important task was at hoof.

She flew around the metal tube, and came across a ventilation grate. Once it was open, she saw what looked like a bottomless pit. It most likely lead to the base down below.

"Keep it together Twilight, you can do this."

As she began her decent, Twilight cast a spell to emit light from her horn. The tunnel was cold and dark, and the spell didn't seam to light up much. With every yard that the alicorn passed, the more uneasy she became. Was she even going the right way?

After what felt like miles of darkness, Twilight saw a faint light coming from the wall below her. Another grate, just a few feet above a pool of water. One in which Twilight had no interest in swimming in. She opened the grate, and found herself in a cold room with numerous stains against the walls. Water dripped from the ceiling, and the smell of the ocean flooded Twilights nostrils, and well as the stench of something rotten. Numerous crates and barrels were in the room, and chains were mounted on the walls.twilight couldn't make out exactly what this room was meant for, but she didn't want to find out.

She held her breath, and went to the door. Upon opening it, the purple alicorn gasped for air, as she didn't want to breathe in that foul aroma. She followed the hallway and arrived at a door to her left. Upon opening it, Twilights eyes widened. Right in front of her was a large containment tank, with Rainbow dash inside. She looked so peaceful, despite the fact that she might be going through mental torture. Were these machines able to keep thier captives immobilized in their slumber? Twilight then hugged the tank with a sad but grateful look on her face.

"Don't worry Rainbow.. I'm gonna get you out of here."

She had remembered what Luna had told her before her mission, on how to properly get rainbow to awaken, just like how Twilight woke from her nightmare.

"A special ability of the Shadow Striker is to enter the dreams of a sleeping pony. However you don't have access to the entire dream realm like I do. Therefore, you must go to where Rainbow dash is being held physically, and enter her dream. Once inside, you must convince her to wake up. It will not be easy, as I'm not sure what you'll encounter, but you must succeed. Equestria depends on it!"

Twilight lied down next to the containment tank, lit up her horn, and closed her eyes, ready to face what awaited her.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

As Twilight opened her eyes, she was no longer inside the grey room, suggesting that she entered Dashes dream. The alicorn glanced around and saw clouds everywhere. Roads, structures, and buildings all made of clouds. Cloudsdale, that's where she was. Yet everything Twilight saw looked normal, but so did everything in her dream when she was still contained. A group of pegasai then ran past Twilight, catching her attention.

"Come on! We don't want to miss the empresses speech!"

Empress? That certainly didn't sound normal. If Twilight was going to find Rainbow, that speech was her best lead. Doing her best not to draw too much attention, she went down the same road that the young foals ran down, hoping to find answers at its end.

At the edge of town stood a large castle. In front of it, was a massive crowd of pegasi ponies, all looking up at a balcony. If this empress was going to show up, she would be there. Twilight flew up to a nearby roof so that she could scan the crowd for any signs of Rainbow dash. Yet the crowd was so big, and not one pony had a rainbow colored mane.

Twilight could only guess that Dash was somewhere else. But where? Was she locked in a dungeon, held captive by this empress? Or maybe she was banished from this city that she once called home? Multiple possible scenarios ran through Twilights mind. Which were then interrupted by the sound of horns playing some music. The crowd was silent as a pony then flew up in front of the balcony facing the crowd.

"Citizens of Cloudsdale! Please stomp your hooves for the empress of the Great Pegasi Republic!"

A pony wearing a gold crown with wings attached to it, and a white robe walked onto the balcony and flashed her wings, causing a cheer from the audience. Twilight recognized the pony all too well. It was somepony who she never expected. This empress was one of her friends. It was Rainbow dash.

A new wave of questions flooded Twilights mind. If Rainbow dash was the empress, then how exactly was this a nightmare for her? Perhaps the simulation designed itself to be a normal dream to stop the user from wanting to leave. After all, since Twilight was so dedicated to escaping, it would make sense to make sure her other friends didn't want to get similar ideas.

"Thank you all loyal citizens!" Dash exclaimed.

"It has been two months since our succession from equestria, and in those months, we have only grown stronger!" Succession from equestria? Was she leading a rebellion?

"Soon, we pegesai will rule as the master race! And all other ponies will bow before us! Glory to the Great Pegesai Republic!"

The audience stomped thier hooves once again. This is not the rainbow dash that Twilight knew. Maybe there was another Rainbow dash that was the real one, possibly branded as a traitor.

"Hey! Who the hay is that!?" Dash pointed a hoof directly at Twilight, and all of the ponies in the crowd looked right at her. She had been spotted. "Rainbow dash! I'm your friend Twilight! You have to stop what you are doing! This entire world isn't..." "She's got a horn!" One of the crowd ponies shouted.

"Crossbreed!" Another shouted.

"I don't remember being friends with a crossbreed like you! As far as I'm concerned, you're a spy for Celestia!"

The audience looked at Twilight with disgust.

"But we are friends! Just like Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack are as well!"

The audience started to laugh.

"I've had enough of your crazy talk. Guards! Seize this crossbreed!"

Twilight made an attempt to fly away, but was caught by a net that halted her flight. A Pegasus on the ground reeled the net in as the alicorn struggled in it. Within a minute, she was captured and taken away.

Twilight found herself in a jail cell inside a long hallway. Most of the other cells were filled with non Pegasus ponies, likely prisoners of war. They all had looks of sadness on thier faces, some sat in corners, others held onto the bars with thier ears and heads hung low.

"Why would Rainbow dash do something like this?" Twilight asked herself.

"You tell me." A voice came from the back of the cell. In the corner was a young filly sitting upright.

"Scootaloo? What are you doing here?" Twilight asked

"I was imprisoned during the siege of Ponyville. Clearly they don't like pegasai making friends with non pegasai."

Twilight was sure that Rainbow dash would never lock up her biggest fan like this. Was this the nightmare dash was stuck in? Being a ruthless tyrants to the point of enslaving her friends, and worst of all, she couldn't control herself? That had to be the key. All Twilight had to do was show dash her true friends, and it would certainly trigger her memories.

"Don't worry Scootaloo. I know how to fix this."

Scootaloo didn't look any happier. But Twilight knew it wasn't really Scootaloo, just something that Twilight could use to her advantage, this was just a dream after all. The alicorn teleported through the bars and into the hallway. Everypony looked up in surprise.

"How did you do that? I thought for sure they drained you of your magic!" Scootaloo asked.

Twilight smiled, and cast a spell that erased all the jail bars, prompting the prisoners to run free.

"I'm not an ordinary Alicorn." Twilight claimed.

"I am the shadow striker! And I come to free you from your darkest nightmares!"

In the dream world, the shadow striker had unlimited power, and Twilight was going to use everything she could think of to tear this dream apart.

Twilight ran through the halls vaporizing every guard in her path. The tried to fight back, but they were instantly overwhelmed. Multiple guards flew into walls and others were bound by magical rope that Twilight had created, making them immobile. The alicorn reached the outside of the prison, noticing that it was on a cloud separate from the rest of cloudsdale. She conjured up three giant books, all of them using thier pages as wings.

"Go my minions! Destroy this foul city!"

The books flew off towards cloudsdale, shooting laser beams made of letters and words.

"One more thing first..."

Twilight charged up a laser in her horn, and after a few seconds, unleashed it upon the prison, erasing it from existence. She hadn't fired a spell that powerful since her battle with Tierk. This dream was no longer a nightmare, it was a power fantasy.

"How is all of this happening!? What in tarturus are my guards doing!?"

Rainbow dash raged throughout the hallway, furious at the current state of cloudsdale, her pride.

Destruction reined throughout the city, and buildings were going down left and right. As dash got to the main chamber, a purple alicorn crashed through a large stained window of dash looking over equestria, and landed right in front of her.

The Pegasus gave a nasty glare.

"You... Do you have any idea what you've done!?"

Twilight didn't respond, just looking at her with a disappointed look.

"Cloudsdale is in RUINS because of you! Everything I have built and accomplished over the years, all gone! I swear I'm going to....."

She was interrupted by a smack across her face.

"Listen to yourself Dash, this is not the pony you are."

"You have no idea what kind of pony I am! I'm more powerful and influential that you can imagine!"

Twilight didn't pay attention to her, and instead spawned Scootaloo in front of her. Dashes state of rage was nearly wiped at the sight of her largest fan.

"Hello dash... All of what you've done lead to my imprisonment and suffering. Did any of that occur to you?"

Dash was at a loss for words.

"Scootaloo..? I.. I.."

Twilight then conjured up her remaining four friends. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity. All of them looked at Rainbow Dash right in her eyes, sending shivers down her spine. Bruises and injury marks were all over them, only adding to the feelings of pain and regret.

"You are not the same Pegasus I grew up with..." Fluttershy said.

"This is no Competition I wanted no part of..." Applejack Claimed

"If this was supposed to be a prank of some sort, it was NOT funny!" Pinkie said in an upset tone.

Rarity didn't say anything, and simply gave a "Hummf" to Dash.

After a couple seconds of contemplating things, dash started to tear up. "What... What have I done..?" She begun to remember her true friends, the ones she had forgotten during her time as empress. Twilight then walked up to Dash and hugged her close.

"Twilight... I'm... So sorry... I don't know how.. Or why I abandoned my friends...."

Twilight just continued to comfort dash.

"It's ok dash. I'm here."

"How is this Ok!?" Dash asked.

"I've let down you, and everypony else..!"

"No you haven't. All of this isn't really happening. My actions here have shattered your illusion. All you need to do is wake up."

Dash looked at Twilight still trying to hold back tears.

"I don't want to be here anymore... I want to be back with you.. And the others.."

A portal then opened next to the two mares, and without warning, Twilight jumped right inside, taking Rainbow with her.

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Twilight awoke, still next to dashes containment tank. A red light blinked on accompanied by an activation noise. Dash begun to regain consiousness as her tank started to empty it's gel. Within moments, the tank was empty, leaving rainbow dash suspended by the cables attached to her.

Once the pod opened, Twilight climbed in, and detached the cables from Dash. The blue pegasus begun to feel fear as she took in her suroundings, not knowing where she was. As the last cable popped from dashes body, she was embraced by a hug from Twilight.

"Where... are we Twilight...?" Dash asked as she was repulsed by being covered in red gel.

"We are in a lab of some sort. There are a group of evil ponies who are keeping all of our friends trapped in places like this one all over Equestria. But right now we have to..."

She was cut off by an alarm that startled the two, Dash especially.

"WARNING! THE FACILITY HAS SUFFERED CRITICAL DAMAGE! THE REACTOR WILL SELF DESTRUCT IN T-MINUS 10 MINUTES! EVACUATE IMMIDEATLY!!"

"We have to go. Now!"

Twilight and dash ran out of the room and down the hall, back to the room that was connected to the pipe. To Twilights surprise, the door to the connecting room was damaged and wouldn't open. They would have to find a new way out. As the two ponies ran throughout the hallways, they noticed that there was alot of damage done to the place. Dead NEM guards littered the halls, rooms were trashed with clutter all over, and burn marks, possibly from powerful offensive magic, marked the walls. Had Twilight done all this in her sleep?

Thankfully, nopony came to stop Dash and Twilight as they made thier escape.

"Who were those ponies Twilight? Were they the ones keeping me here!?" Dash asked frantically.

"Yes! But lets focus on getting out of here!" After much hasteful, running, the two ponies came across what looked like elevator doors, that were closed. With all her might, Twilight pryed the doors open with her magic. Friction between the doors and their tracks emited a loud screech that hit her eardrums.

Once the doors were open enough to allow passage, Rainbow and Twilight fell back in surprise as the elevator car shot down the shaft it was built into, and hit the ground below it with a loud crash.

"Come on Dash! We have to fly upwards here!"

Dash was a bit nervous about going up the same shaft she had just seen a car come falling from.

"DETENATION IN T-MINUS 5 MINUTES!" That annoncement was more than enough to get dash to follow Twilight up the shaft.

As the two mares flew upward, rumbling echoed throughout the vertical tunnel. Tiny bits of debre feel past them, and the walls started to leak water from the sea outside. Upon reaching the top of the shaft, Twilight had noticed that the elevator doors were thankfully already open. It would have been determental if Twilight had to pry open a second set of doors, espically at the top of an elevator.

Dash and Twilight flew out onto the floor and ran out another set of doors that led outside. The large steel towers and buildings on the platform begun to crumble around the two as they took to the skies. The blue pegasus was shocked at what she saw. All around her were nothing but miles and miles of ocean.

"How.... How did I get here? Was I kidnapped?"

Twilight didn't answer as she looked around and spoted a boat with somepony shooting a signal spell from it's deck.

"Twily! Rainbow! Over here!"

The two mares flew in the direction of the boat, and landed on the deck next to Shining Armor.

"Shining Armor..?" Rainbow asked.

"What are you doing here?"

"No time to explain! We have to get out of here!"

Shining started up the boats motor, which really surprised dash. Never before had she seen a boat being opperated by motor. As the boat made it's way west twoards the mainland, the facility colapsed and emited a large explosion, sending the structure into the sea. However the large boom emited a large wave, and it was heading right twoards the boat!

"Everypony hold on!" Twilight shouted.

Shining held onto a handle with one forehoof, and to Twilight with the other. Twilight tried to shield the boat with her magic, and Dash held onto Twilight. The boat was lifted into the air by the force of the wave, extering pressure onto the hull, which the three ponies instanly fell. Afterwhich, the boat came down on the other side of the wave with a large force of gravity pulling it down, giving the feeling of going over a hill on a rollercoaster.

Once the force had settled, Shining armor losened his grip, and Twilight dispelled her shield. The Prison that held Dash was gone, and the NEM was sure to take notice that another Element had gotten away, and now knew what had happened to Equestria.

"Twiliy, what did you do back there?" Shining asked.

"I... Saved Dash from becoming something she hated."