"W-Where am I?" you asked yourself as you stared into the vast abyss before you. You couldn't see anything, only a vast expanse of blackness.

Had you died? Again?

Surely not. You were still in your pony body. Atleast when you looked down, you could see your own hoofs standing in the abyss.

"Rainbow? Anypony?" you called out, but you had a feeling nopony was going to answer you.

All the pain you had been feeling had completely dispersed, as if completely wiped from you. It was as if you had never felt anything at all, even if you could recall every second of it.

It wouldn't be long until you found the cause of that excruciating pain.

"If anypony is here, please say something!" you called, hoping that Princess Luna would reply. For a brief moment, there was no sound. Just...

Silence.

...

"Greetings, Storm." a voice said, in a calm, yet deep tone. Despite it's calmness, the voice still managed to unnerve you.

You were about to ask for whoever had spoken to reveal themselves, but you didn't yet realise that they already had. Before you stood a large black unicorn, atleast twice your size. He had glowing yellow eyes, but everything else was the exact same shade as the endless void you stood in, "It's about time you saw my physical form."

At first, you had no clue what he was talking about, unless...

"You're... That thing that took the form of my friends!" you exclaimed, not seeming angry, but also not friendly. At the most, you felt neutral towards this pony.

The Entity gave you a toothy grin, "Yes... I am. But I'm now I'm better known as... Null."

You felt your heart sink down into your chest. All this time Null had been communicating with you through you mind, watching you through the Observer's eyes. But how was he here? Luna had told you that he had no physical form, but simply existed in the dreamscape in the form of the Observers.
So how is it that he is here talking to you?

"Impossible. You don't have a physical form." you said, refusing to believe that this pony was the very creature that had been after your magic all along.

Null shrugged, "True, I don't have a physical form. But the mind can do some wonderful things!"

He gave you a sinister smirk, before his form vanished into black clouds of smoke. As the smoke cleared, at least a dozen Observers came rushing towards you, stacked ontop of each other in the shape of a large pony. He wasn't even really there...
He was just an illusion.

"You're not even real!" you exclaimed, jumping out of the way of the charging spider ponies. You watched as the black smoke concentrated on one point once again, returning Null to his original form.

"I'm very real, but maybe not in this form just yet," he explained, "But soon, I'll be able to take any form I want!"

He gestured to his side, and there you saw you element hovering next to him. Long, black strings held it in place, as if siphoning its energy.
That was what had been hurting you.

"No... Luna said-" you began, before being interrupted.

"Luna lied. She wanted you to feel safe, but see what that did? You were unprepared." Null mocked, a sly smirk on his face.

"Then how about you come to the real world, where you can't steal my energy, and see how you hold up there!" you said, in a futile attempt at weakening his moral.

Null face palmed a little, "You really are dumb, aren't you? That is exactly why I need your element. Without determination, I can't exist. The power that comes with it is just a bonus."

With that explanation, he didn't sound that evil. He simply needed determination to survive.

"And then I take over Equestria with the power of your element!" he exclaimed.

Ok, never mind. He was definitely evil. You figured that he had originally wanted to use determination magic alone to take over, which resulted in his banishment to the dream world.

"You didn't get away with it last time, did you?" you asked, "Princess Luna will stop you again, just like she did last time!"

Null stared at you, as if actually worried by what you had said, but that quickly turned into a smile.

"Where could she banish me to this time? The moon?" he joked. Despite the circumstances of the current situation, you found what he had just said rather ironic, "Nopony can do anything! All those warnings I gave you, all of them I gave you to slowly wither away your determination. To make you fear a threat that didn't exist."

You remembered the first time that Null had ever appeared to you. The time that he took the form of Rainbow Dash and Twilight.
He had warned you of a coming storm, but in reality, that storm was him. Now you were in the eye of it, waiting for it to hit again.

"All that time you spent building bonds with your friends, training your magic... All that time I was slowly building up the chains around your element." he explained. You truelly felt like there was nothing you could do.

Noticing your silence, Null siezed the moment and gave you one final mental blow.

"Go and enjoy your life, because when your element is mine, there will only be one pony able to use determination." he said, giving you a serious stare.

You tried your hardest to not give in to the pressure and helplessness you currently felt, and returned the stern stare. You didn't want to show that you were afraid, as that would give Null an even greater chance to attack you.
His stare turned into a smile, as he knew that he had defeated you this time. You couldn't leave this place on that note. You had to say something back. You had to prove that you were not afraid.

"You're right about one thing," you began, "There will only be one pony able to use determination. And that pony will be me."

Null's smirk of victory dissapeared, turning into a frown of annoyance as you grinned at him, proudly. He wouldn't have time to respond; you could already feel the real world beckoning.

The evil unicorn faded away into the void, glaring at you as he did so. As soon as you awoke, you needed too tell the princesses about what had just happened.
You just had too. This wasn't a battle you could fight alone.

As you opened your eyes, all you were met with was a blinding white light. You definitely weren't in the Golden Oak Library anymore.
Maybe you were back at Rainbow's house.

"Storm?" you heard a familiar voice say from besides you. You sat up, realising that you were in a bed, but it wasn't made from clouds, "Ohmigosh, you're awake!"

Rainbow said that with so much excitement and relief. How long had it been?

Now that you were sat up, you looked around the room you were in. Instantly, you recognised it as a hospital room, and surprisingly, it seemed pretty similar to those that were on Earth.
That is, if you were remembering it right. Recently, your memories of Earth had been getting worse and worse. It had always been happening, but recently it seemed more intense.

"What happened?" you asked, your voice full of energy despite just waking up. You could still feel panic within you, due to the events that had just unfolded within your dreams.

"Y-You were unconscious for three days. I was... worried about you..." she said, her eyes full of fear. You could remember everything that had happened to you before you had passed you out, and it must have been uncomfortable to watch. Especially for her.

The only thing that felt reasonable to do on this situation was to comfort her, so that was exactly what you did, "Don't worry, I'm fine now."

You gave her a confident smile to reassure her further, to which she responded to with her own smile. She pushed her face against yours and nuzzled you, sending sparks through your entire body.

As she moved away, you heard several pairs of hoofsteps moving through the doorway of your room.

"Guys, he's awake!" Rainbow exclaimed. You slowly turned to face the ponies who had just entered, and were pleasantly surprised when you saw Twilight and Fluttershy standing at the other end of the room.

"Oh my goodness, Storm!" Fluttershy exclaimed, seemingly surprised at your awakening. You could recall coughing up quite a lot of blood before passing out. If you witnessed something like that happen, you'd be surprised if they woke up within three days too.

Too your surprise, Twilight hadn't said anything just yet, and instead walked to the opposite side of your bed from where Rainbow Dash stood.

"Are you ok, Storm?" she asked, in a concerned tone. You nodded your head in response, even though it hurt to do so. Although the cause of your pain was nothing to do with your physical body, movement still hurt.

Twilight glanced down at the floor awkwardly, before speaking up again, "I think I found what caused you so much pain."

Your eyes widened with surprise. How did she know about Null?

"When excessive amounts of determination is used for the first time, it may cause intense side effects up to a day later." she explained, quoting an information book she had read. It seemed that although not much was known about determination magic, enough was known that a book could be made about it.

You appreciated that she went out of her way to find out the cause of your pain, even if she wasn't entirely right. That may have been a part of your pain, but Null draining your element definitely played a major part in it.

"Y-Yeah! Maybe!" you exclaimed, going along with it. You didn't want anypony to know about Null just yet, as to not worry them. Your main course of action was to tell the princesses, and then follow their lead from there, "You know, That reminds me! I need to go and see the princesses!"

You slowly climbed out of your bed, grunting with pain as you did so. As much as you wanted to stay and chat, you couldn't rest easy knowing that Null was slowly draining your life energy away from you.

"Woah, there!" Rainbow said as you took a step away from the bed, only to lose your balance. She quickly flew over to you, lifting you back in the direction of your bed.

Fluttershy gave you a frown, "I think you should stay here. You aren't well enough to go out just yet."

As much as you wanted her to be wrong, Fluttershy was by far the best out of the Mane 6 when it came to health. She did care for a ridiculous number of animals, after all.

"We can get the princesses for you! They're in the hospital right now, actually!" Twilight exclaimed, trying to be optimistic. You had to admit, it was pretty convenient that they happened to be in the hospital at the same time as you.
Almost as if they knew...

"What do you need the princesses for, anyway?" Rainbows asked, crossing her hoofs. Usually, Rainbow could be pretty pushy when it came to this kinda thing, but due to your condition, you hoped she would lay off.

"Uh..." you said. But before that, you needed to actually find a convincing lie, "I wanna talk to them about my element."

Hopefully that would surfice.

"We have elements! We could help with that!" Twilight suggested. If that was the real reason you needed the princesses, then you would've been all for it.

"Can I please just see them?" you pleaded. With the condition you were in, what else could you do?

The three of them glanced at each other, worriedly. You were worried that they knew something was going on with you. By now, Rainbow and Twilight both knew you well enough to tell when something was wrong.
Fluttershy didn't know you quite as well, but thanks to her knowledge, she could probably see through a lie anyway.

Speaking of Fluttershy, she was the first to adhere to your request, "Ok, Storm. We'll go and get the princesses."

You smiled warmly at her, as if silently thanking her. Twilight also smiled, giving her a nod of approval.

"We'll talk to you when the princesses leave, okay Storm?" Rainbow said, placing a comforting hoof on one of your forelegs. Oh, she could definitely tell something was wrong.

The three of them made their way towards the door, but before they left, Rainbow gave you one last glance. It wasn't a smile, but rather a look of worry.
You couldn't blame her though. If you saw somepony that you cared about collapse whilst coughing out blood, with seemingly no cause to any outside viewers... Why wouldn't you be worried?

For the next ten minutes, you simply lay in your bed, staring at the wall and thinking about everything that Null had said. As it stood, there was nothing you could do.
You just had to hope that Celestia and Luna had something planned.

"I'm glad you're awake, Storm." somepony said from the other side of your room. To your delight, you looked up to see both Celestia and Luna stood at the foot of your bed. It was quite weird to think that this is technically the first time you had met Luna, despite meeting her in your dreams, "I know I said we'd meet again, but I didn't expect it to be under these circumstances."

"We already know what happened to you, and Twilight believes she knows the cause. Has she told you this?" Luna inquired, moving around to the side of your bed.

You nodded your head regretfully, as you knew the true reason, "Yeah, but... She's wrong."

The two princesses stared in silence for a few seconds, as if not really knowing what to say. The only lead they had was Twilight's theory about first time use of your magic, but you had a different lead althogether.

"My element's power is being drained." you said, staring down at your bed. Celestia eyes widened, followed by Luna asking you a question in a worried tone.

"Do you know what's doing it?" she asked.

You didn't answer straight away, but you had to tell them. That was why you had brought them here, after all, "It's Null."

The two princesses gasped with shock. Luna had thought that the power of an element of harmony was strong enough to resist being drained, but as Null was once a determination user himself, that may have changed things.

"If he drains your element completely, then..." Celestia said, looking at her sister in despair. As of right now, Celestia couldn't do anything. Only Luna held the power to enter dreams and interact with Null.

"Then nothing will be able to stop him..." Luna finished, also looking her sister in the eye.

Luna knew that she was the only one here that had the ability to do something about this coming threat. Even if you were able to communicate with Null at will, you weren't going to do much with your condition.
She knew what she had do.

"Storm, I'm going to try something I have never done before." Luna said, turning to face you.

"Luna, no. It's too risky." Celestia interrupted, strictly. Whatever Luna wanted to attempt, she was having none of it.

"I have to. What other option is there? Sit here and wait for Storm to be completely drained of magic?" Luna exclaimed. You didn't understand what she was trying to do, "Storm, I'm going to lock myself in your thoughts."

Well, you definitely didn't see that coming. You weren't sure how or why that was even possible to do, but right now you didn't care. The main thought now playing on your mind was how she was going to get out.

"Luna, what if you get trapped? I had to go centuries without you! I don't want to do that again!" Celestia exclaimed, recalling the events of when her sister was banished to the moon.
It must've been a lonely rule for that duration of time.

"Once my duty is done, I can come back at any time. But remember, sister, Equestria comes first. Always." Luna explained. Celestia gulped, swallowing her love for her sister for the good of Equestria, "Storm, next time you fall asleep, expect me to be there. I'll hold Null off for as long as possible, but you should prepare just in case."

Whether she wanted you too or not, you were going to prepare anyway. You couldn't just sit there doing nothing while one of the princesses is risking her life for yours.

"Should I tell the others?" you asked, contemplating the assistance of the other elements.

Celestia nodded, "If you wish. Whenever you feel like, tell them. Friendship is magic, after all."

You gave her a smile, understanding the reference that she probably didn't intend to make.

"Well, Storm, get some rest and you'll be out of here soon. We'll be counting on you pretty soon." Luna explained, before turning to leave the room.
You were expecting a more formal goodbye, but she must've been feeling a lot more stressed than normal. Pretty soon, her life would be on the line.

"Goodbye, for now." Celestia said, trying her best to remain positive. It can't have been easy knowing what her sister was about to go through.

You said goodbye back, and with that, the twin alicorns left the room. You hadn't even left your bed yet, but already you felt more stressed out than you ever had done before.

You wanted to sleep badly. Despite being unconscious for three straight days, it felt as if you hadn't slept at all. Not long after, you could feel yourself dozing off...

"Storm, what happened?" Twilight asked as she entered the room, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy following behind. Your eyes shot open, startled by your sudden guests.

"Princess Celestia just walked by and she seemed worried about something..." Fluttershy said, sadly. Usually, the twin princesses tried to keep a positive outlook on the situation, in order the not scare the residents of Equestria, but when your sister's fate was unknown it must be pretty hard to stay positive.

"I... I don't know what's wrong. She didn't say anything when she was here." you lied. You were going to tell them eventually, but you wanted them to be all together.

Rainbow's eyes narrowed as she gave you a suspicious stare, "You're hiding something, Storm."

She quickly hovered over to your bed, maintaining the stare. Was this supposed to intimidate you into revealing the truth? If so, it wasnt really working.

"Even if I was, I wouldn't tell you. That'd defeat the purpose of hiding it." you said, smirking at her. Rainbow groaned, realising that her attempt was in vain.

"So did you find out everything you need?" Twilight asked, giving you a friendly smile. You responded with a clueless 'huh?', as you weren't sure what she was talking about, "About your element?"

Oh, right. You had lied about why you needed to talk to the princesses too.

"O-oh, yeah! Luna said I need to practice using my magic more." you explained. Now that wasn't a lie, even if you hadn't told her the reason.

"Are you sure? If Twilight's right, then using your magic lead to this." Rainbow reminded you, gesturing at the hospital bed you lay in.

Even though you knew that wasn't the truth, you had to play along for the time being, "It's only the first time I use it, right?"

Twilight nodded, easing Rainbow Dash's worries about you using your magic again. The last thing she wanted was for you to be hospitalised twice in a row.

"Do you know how long you'll be in here?" Fluttershy asked. Thankfully, Celestia and Luna had given you a good space of time during which you could expect to get out.

"Eh, only a day or two probably." you said, causing a happy smile to appear on all three of their faces.

"Well in that case, I should probably go home and prepare!" Rainbow exclaimed, preparing to take flight in the direction of the door.

"Why do you need to prepare?" Twilight asked, smiling awkwardly.

Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head nervously, "Well, I, uh... I've only been home once a day to feed Tank, so my house is a mess!"

"Then where have you been sleeping?" Fluttershy asked, worried for her wellbeing.

Rainbow pointed a hoof towards a small chair in the corner of the room. She had really been sleeping on a chair for three straight days?
Surely that wasn't healthy.

"You slept here to keep an eye on me?" you asked, feeling an unusual happiness that you hadn't really ever felt before. She nodded in response, rubbing a foreleg with the other, "What for?"

It was at that moment when all of her nervousness vanished completely, replaced by her reaction to your dumb question, "Because I care about you, duh!"

Everypony laughed, including you. You didn't realise how stupid of a question that was until after it had left your mouth.

"Thanks." you said, giving her a smile.

"Don't mention it," she replied, giving you her own smile back. She suddenly took a few quick glances around her, realising that she was being watched by Twilight and Fluttershy, "I-I, uh... See you guys later!"

She suddenly flew towards the door, making her way quickly towards the exit. It didn't seem safe to fly that fast in a hospital, but you didn't want to question it.

"That was nice." Fluttershy whispered, smiling timidly at you.

"I've never seen Rainbow act like that before," Twilight said, looking at the door she had just left through, "You really are special to her, you know?"

That meant a lot to hear. Rainbow wasn't the type of pony to admit that kind of thing to somepony, but hearing it from Twilight was almost the same.
Twilight didn't seem like she would lie about this kind of thing.

"Anyway, I have some things to do in the Library. Spike burnt some books and I still haven't cleaned it up!" Twilight exclaimed, causing both you and Fluttershy to laugh slightly, "I'll see you when you've recovered, Storm."

Twilight gave you a warm smile, before beginning to make her way towards the door of your room. Before leaving, she took one last glance towards you.
It still must've been pretty strange to have a seventh element of harmony, especially one as... unique as yours. Even without the whole 'magic being drained' part of it, there was still the fact that your element was bound to you spiritually, rather than physically.

"I should probably go too." Fluttershy said, timidly. You weren't expecting her to give you a reason, so you weren't offended when she left without a real goodbye.
Much like Twilight, she too gave you one last look, but you felt like this was more to do with the fact that Rainbow Dash had finally found somepony she could truly be herself with. They had been friends for a long time, after all, so it was only natural that she cared about her a lot.

After she had left, you were alone once again. The only thing you could do now was reflect while you awaited sleep. You couldn't exactly go anywhere.

On the plus side, your bond with the Mane 6 felt stronger than it ever have been, especially with Rainbow. You hadn't talked to Pinkie Pie or Rarity nearly as much as the others, but you still felt as if you could call them your friends.

Perhaps after you had prepared for Null's potential arrival, you could spend some time with them. That would be nice.

Speaking of Null...

When were you going to tell them?

Author's Notes:

This is the longest chapter yet, and the only chapter so far to pass 4,000 words. Despite the length, I had a lot of fun writing this, probably due to the change in setting. Most of the chapters so far have been in familiar places (I.E. Golden Oak Library, Cloudomonium, Sweet Apple Acres), so that may be why I enjoyed writing this chapter, as well as the race in the Ghastly Gorge so much.

In the next chapter, I may have Storm tell the Mane 6 about Null. As of right now, I haven't decided as to wether only Rainbow Dash will find out, or the entire Mane 6. I guess we'll see based on the length of it.

P.S. I couldn't think of a name for this chapter, so I just used the first chapter's name but changed it slightly. This is a pretty lore-heavy chapter, so I gave it a pass.