Another day passed, and it went as slow as it possibly could. Rainbow did not stay at the hospital over night, as she was busy taking care of her house for when you returned.

Even when you slept, it felt as if time was slow. Sleep felt especially draining, as you also met with Princess Luna. The two of you exchanged farewells for the time being, and then she was gone, locked away in thoughts.

You just hoped she would be able to put up fight until you were ready to take down Null once and for all.

After you had said your farewells to Luna, your sleep was filled with nothing but darkness. No dreams. No visions. Nothing at all.
Even those creepy dreams of your apartment from Earth had ceased.

Of course, now you knew the cause of those strange dreams. It was Null scrounging through your memories, searching for your weaknesses so he could reach your element easier.

It was safe to say that your final night in the hospital was the single worst night's sleep you had ever had. Even when compared to your first encounter with Null at the Golden Oak Library, you still ended up getting more sleep that night.

Several times during that night, you had woken up due to strange sounds interrupting your dreamless sleep; the sounds of battle, and the sound of magic, all converging into one unexplainable sound.
Every so often this eerie sound would interrupt your sleep, awakening you with a chill down your spine.

You had never been so relieved when the morning came. It felt as if that night would never end, and all you wanted to do was go home to see Rainbow.
It felt like it had been an incredibly long time since you had last seen here, when in reality it had only been a single day.

By today's standards, a day was quite a long time, but if you were to rewind back to a month ago, you sometimes went a full week without seeing Rainbow Dash.
Hell, you didn't even meet her until a few days after you had arrived.

As much as you wanted to see her, however, you still had to tell her about everything. She needed to know about Null, your nightmares, and Luna's potential sacrifice.

Not only that, but the others had to know too.

Perhaps you had been hiding too much from them? It seemed like almost everyday you found out something new that you had to hide from them.
You had to promise yourself that this was the last secret you would ever keep from them. Being an element of harmony yourself, you had to trust them. You just didn't like the thought of worrying them.

You didn't want to focus on that right now, though. First, you actually had to get home. Triumphantly, you left the hospital and took in a deep breath of air. You hadn't been outside for who knows how long.

Then you realised that hadn't flown in even longer.

It felt like you were just learning how to fly again, as you stretched out your wings for the first time in a while. You just hoped they wouldn't let you down, literally and metaphorically.

Thankfully, they seemed to work just like they used too, as you soared into the air at a high speed. You had considered taking it slow at first, but that seemed pretty boring.
You just wanted to get home as fast as you could.

As you flew over Ponyville, the usual magical sense of peace and security you usually had was... missing.

Well, it wasn't missing so to say. It was definitely still there, but it felt off. It was as if a form of dread was hanging over the whole town.
Perhaps you were the only one who could feel it, but if that were to be the case, you knew exactly why. You just hated the fact that you would have to share this dread with your friends.

Pretty soon, you could see Rainbow's house coming into view. It had felt like an eternity since you had last been here, even if you had been unconscious for most of it.

You landed and gave her front door a few knocks. Almost instantly, the door was practically thrown open by Rainbow Dash.

"About time!" she exclaimed, as she pulled you into a mid-air hug, "When you said a day, I didn't think you meant a whole 24 hours!"

You rubbed the back of your head sheepishly, "Yeah, sorry. I didn't get that much sleep."

Truthfully, you were able to leave whenever you wanted, but the strange sounds in your head constantly broke your sleep. You wanted to atleast get a few hours of sleep before you came back home.

"Eh, it's fine! Come in!" she commanded. She seemed pretty excited to have you back, even though it had only been a few days.
Even Tank seemed happy to see you, as he flew up to you and gently licked one of your forelegs. That seemed more like a dog thing to do, but you didn't want to question it.

"So did anything happen while I was away?" you asked, taking a seat on the comfy cloud couch that you had came to know so well.

"Not really. I mean, I was with you in the hospital most of the time." she explained, "Do you have anything you wanna do now though?"

You could tell that she pretty eager to go do something with you. It had been three days she had last had a real conversation with you, after all.

You thought for a second, but nothing came to mind. Well... Aside from telling her that Luna is currently fighting a dream demon in your mind.

"We could finish that race! I've been wanting to show you that I'm the faster flyer for a while now!" she exclaimed, but you didn't think that was a very good idea.

"I don't think we should do that, since I've just got out of the hospital." you said. You could fly perfectly fine, but if your rematch with her went anything like your last one, one of you was gonna get hurt.

"Yeah, right. Sorry," she replied, apologetically, "Well, we could... Y'know..."

She glanced towards the staircase, rubbing the back of her head nervously. You understood what she meant. If this was any other time, then you would've been all for it, but considering the news you had for her, it just wouldn't feel right.

"I've actually got to tell you something. And it's important." you said, a serious look on your face.

Rainbow Dash let out a sigh, as if tired of all the strange surprised you kept unveiling. First it was that you couldn't fly, then that you were from another reality, then that you were an element of harmony. You could understand if she was getting tired of it.

"Again?" she sighed, flying over to the couch to take a seat next to you. She sat down and waited for you to explain everything to her.

Well, there was no point in delaying it any further, no matter how much it may worry her.

"Since I arrived in Equestria, I've been having these strange dreams, and I never knew what was causing-" you had only just started talking, before Rainbow cut you off.

"Yeah, yeah, just get to the important stuff." She seemed way more laid back and impatient than usual. One hoof was slung over the back of the couch casually, as if waiting for you to finish talking.

"There's an evil pony in my head and he's draining my element's power." you explained, quickly. Rainbow stared at you wide-eyed, as if not knowing whether to take you seriously or not, "And Luna has locked herself in my thoughts so she can hold him off."

Rainbow's jaw dropped in disbelief as she stared at you, confused.

"Why is there always so much going on with you?" she asked, hovering up from the couch, "We've gotta tell the others about this!"

You couldn't agree more. You gave her a nod, getting up from the couch with her. Maybe one of them might know what you could do to help.

"Let's go." you said, realising that time was not something you had to waste. No matter how much time you had before Null drained your element, you knew that it wasn't infinite.

You followed Rainbow out of the front door of her house, and set off in a burst of speed towards Twilight's home.

"Everypony!" Rainbow called as she bucked open Twilight's front door with incredible urgency. She could sense the importance of the situation.

Looking into the library, everypony that you needed to talk to was already present, and each of them looked worried about something.

Pinkie Pie looked less hyper than usual.

Fluttershy looked even more shy than usual.

And Twilight...

Twilight was busy flipping through a book in the corner of the library, Spike standing besides her. She was flipping through it so fast that it didn't even seem like she was reading the pages, but was simply flipping them to relieve stress.

"What's wrong?" you asked as you cautiously stepped into the place you once called home.

At first nopony responded. Rainbow slowly flew into the room, worriedly looking around at all of her friends. What had happened?

"Princess Celestia told us about everything that's been happening with this 'Null' character, and Princess Luna." Rarity explained, sadly.

Celestia had already told them?

"Wait, what?" Rainbow exclaimed, "Why didn't she tell me?"

"She figured that we'd tell ya'll, or Storm would. He told you, right?" Applejack asked. You were thankful that you had told her when you did, because she almost definitely would have gotten mad at you right now.

"Yeah, he did, but..." Rainbow said, not quite able to understand what was happening. You had gave her a vague idea about what was happening, but she didn't really know the entire story.

It felt like everypony except for Rainbow Dash was mad at you for not telling them about this. They were justified, of course, but it wasn't a very nice feeling to have.

"We're not mad at you, you know." Fluttershy said, quietly. You appreciated that, but you couldn't shake the feeling.

"Yeah, you were in the hospital. It's not like you could've told us even if you wanted too." Spike said, trying to make you feel a little better.

Next to him, Twilight was still sat facing a wall, but she had stopped flipping through her book.

"Hey, Spike, is she ok?" Rainbow asked, looking worriedly at Twilight. Spike looked up to her, but didn't say anything in response.

Silence fell for a few seconds, but finally, Twilight said something.

"How can you all be so calm during this?" she muttered, her voice shaky. Everypony looked at her sadly, including you, "So many weird things have been happening, and I can't explain any of them."

Everypony decided it best to just let her vent for the time being. Considering everything that had been happening, it wouldn't hurt to let off some steam.

"First, a pony from another world appears, who just so happens to be a seventh element of harmony," she said, pointing a hoof towards you, "And now some evil pony is taking the power of that element so he can take over Equestria!"

That felt like a jab towards you, but for now, you didn't want to mention it.

"Hey, it's not Storm's fault all of this is happening!" Rainbow exclaimed, jumping to your defence, "For all we know this has been happening since long before he arrived!"

Twilight turned around, now seeming to be getting a little angry. It wasn't often that you saw Twilight like this, but when she was angry, things were going to get nasty.

"I didn't say it was his fault, but for all we know he's been keeping this a secret since he arrived!" she exclaimed. That hurt, even though you knew that it was far from the truth. You had been hiding things, sure, but only to not worry your friends.

When Rainbow didn't reply, Twilight turned to you. It felt horrible seeing the pony that once cared for you turn on you like this, but stress and fear could do some horrible things to a pony, "Do you even care, Storm? Princess Luna is risking her life in your mind, but do you really care about us?"

"Twilight, I think that's quite-" Rarity attempted to say, but was quickly silenced by Twilight's magic. You had never seen Twilight act like this before.

Every word that Twilight said stung like tiny daggers, but you knew that you were going to have to defend yourself.

"Of course I care. I couldn't sleep last night because all I could think about was Luna's wellbeing. So don't you ever say that I don't care about you again." you said, maintaining a serious and somewhat intimidating stare throughout.

"If you care so much, then why didn't you tell us about this?" Twilight retorted, getting incredibly close to you. Her intimidating stare went straight through you.

"Twilight, he was in-" Fluttershy whispered, but just like Rarity, she was silenced by Twilight's unicorn magic.

From the corner of your eye, you could see Rainbow Dash getting visibly frustrated. Her hoofs were crossed, but she couldn't say anything or she would be muted just like Fluttershy and Rarity.

The only thing you could do in this situation was prove to Twilight that you cared.

"You know what, Twilight? Cast a sleep spell on me, and I will gladly go and risk my life for Luna." you said, glaring at her. Twilight's eyes widened a little, as if shocked by what you had said.

"What? No!" Rainbow exclaimed. She understandably didn't want you to do that, but if that was what it would take to persuade Twilight that you cared, then you would do it, "Twilight, if you do that, I'll..."

She was unable to find the words to finish. Twilight looked at Rainbow with a hint of remorse in her eyes, but then she looked back at you, her horn beginning to glow purple.

"Twilight." Rainbow growled, but it didn't stop her.

Her horn began to glow purple as her eyes closed. If this was going to be the last time you saw your friends, it wasn't a very good last impression.

"Twilight!" Rainbow screamed, causing everyone in the room to gasp. The glow on Twilight's horn vanished into thin air as she looked up to her with a surprised and regretful look.

"I'm..." Twilight whispered, quietly. Rainbow looked down at her angrily, whilst the purple Alicorn stared down at the floor in shame, "I'm sorry everypony. Especially to you, Storm."

This was the Twilight that you had come to know. It was honestly scary seeing her like that, but you felt like you understood her reasoning behind it.

"It's ok. I get that all of this has stressed you out," you said, calmly, "But I've actually got an idea."

Everypony looked at you, expectantly. Truthfully, you had already told them your idea, but you figured you would have to repeat it to them in a less... hostile environment.

"I was being serious about that sleep spell thing, you know?" you said. If you were to fall asleep, you could theoretically find Princess Luna and help her, but you only wanted to do so whilst surrounded by your friends.
You wanted them to be there in the event that something went wrong.

"Ugh! Storm, no! It's too dangerous!" Rainbow exclaimed, worried about your safety.

True, it was dangerous. But without danger you never would've ended up in Equestria anyway. Without the threat of death lurking around every corner, you would still be on Earth right now.

"Yeah, it's dangerous. But if it means that Equestria will be safe, I'll do it." you said, giving her a determined stare.

For once, she didn't say anything in response. Instead, she simply stared back in fear. Out of everypony in the room, you were the one she was afraid of losing the most.

"Well..." Applejack began, interrupting the silence, "Have ya'll ever fought anypony before? Ah'm kinda hopin' you haven't."

You couldn't say that you had fought anypony. You did accidentally kill a golem in the Everfree Forest, but all you really did back then was distract it.
And besides, if you were to fight Null, you were going to use your magic. Or at least attempt to.

"No, I don't think so." you replied, realising that you might not be that much help in a fight.

"Well, in that case, we're gonna need to show you how to use your magic... Offensively!" Twilight announced, seemingly returning to her usual self.

You hadn't really thought of using your magic as an attack before. You had considered trapping Null with your magic, but never directly attacking him.

"But... How are you gonna teach me that? I thought barely anything was known about determination!" you exclaimed, noticing a large flaw with this plan.

Rarity shrugged, "I'm sure it can't be that different from normal magic."

That was slightly reassuring, but you couldn't recall normal unicorn magic being able to enhance your speed and practically freeze time.

"This calls for a montage!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, excitedly. You were aware of her constant fourth wall breaks in the show, but how would that translate into life?
Perhaps she was just saying it out of force of habit? Nevertheless, you decided to humour her.

"We could, or we could take our time and make sure I actually understand how to attack with magic." you said, not directly opposing her idea, nor agreeing with it.

"Eh. I'm sure the time will fly anyway!" she replied, happily. It was nice to see that she had also returned to her usual bubbly self when compared to how she was when you arrived.

"So, what exactly are we gonna do to help Storm's magic?" Rainbow asked. That was a question you found yourself wondering too.
In reality, they knew just as much as you did about your magic.

Twilight looked up towards Rainbow, "I've got a few ideas."

Author's Notes:

This chapter got done a lot faster than I expected. Much like the last chapter, this one was a lot of fun to write due to the argument that happens towards the middle of it. I haven't really had a full blown argument between any of the ponies yet, so this felt pretty unique.

There was also something I've been wondering and wanted to get your opinions on. For a while I've felt like this story has been becoming unnecessarily long. Would you rather I continue at the pace I am now, or cut out some slice-of-life, potentially filler chapters to get to the point faster?
Either way, I don't mind. While I'd love to write more slice-of-life chapters, I don't want this story to get most of its length from filler (cough Pokémon TV Show cough) if that makes any sense.