Rainbow Dash found herself unable to fly as shadowy entrails wrapped around her figure. She opened her mouth widely to let out a silent scream. Tears coursing down her face as the shadowy tentacles squeezed tighter.
"Help me, Rainbow Dash..." she heard Twilight Sparkle's broken voice plead to her. Even though she wasn't anywhere near her, it sounded very close. Rainbow Dash could've sworn she felt her breath brush against her fur. "Help me, Dashy... Help me... Please..."
"T-Twilight..." Rainbow Dash gagged as a dark entrail wrapped itself around her neck and squeezed it.
Images suddenly flashed before her eyes. Images of Twilight curled up in the floor in a fetal position with her hooves covering her head. Even though she couldn't hear it, Rainbow Dash knew she was screaming. A loud, chilling laughter suddenly echoed throughout the darkness. Rainbow Dash found it harder to breath as the entrails squeezed her fragile body tighter. She thought she heard one of her ribs break. A pair of crimson irises, surrounded by green, suddenly appeared in the darkness with whisps of purple smoke coming out from the corners.
"Somebody help me, please!" Rainbow Dash managed to choke out.
A the same chilling laughter replied. "No pony can save you." the dark voice said dangerously. "Even if they wanted to, they will never reach you. You will break. Shatter. Allowing the darkness to claim what remains of your broken soul. Just how I did to your beloved friend..."
"W-what are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash squeaked. The eyes suddenly disappeared along with the entrails.
Rainbow Dash's eyes snapped open as soon as the entrails released her body. She was greeted by a few silhouettes that were gathered around her. She lifted her arm up to shield her eyes from the sunlight as her vision settled.
"Dash?" one of them, Scootaloo, asked worriedly.
"Is everything alright?" another one, Strongheart's, added.
"Maybe she's still asleep." she heard Sweetie Belle's voice say.
"Ponies don't sleep with their eyes open, dummy!" she heard Apple Bloom say in a know-it-all tone.
"Hey! You don't know that!" Sweetie Belle protested.
"Ladies, ladies." a male voice said gently. "There's no reason to fight right now. Rainbow Dash needs all of us right now."
"Ok, Mr. Star Knight." Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle murmured in unison.
Rainbow Dash suddenly came to life. "Star Knight?" she asked, quickly sitting up. The white pegasus smiled warmly at her. His brilliant green and blue shaded mane flowing lightly in the wind like a multicolored waterfall falling sideways.
"In the flesh." he said. He grunted in surprise when Rainbow Dash suddenly tackled him in a tight hug. "Woah! Easy there, girl." he chuckled as he hugged her back.
"I'm sorry." Rainbow Dash said as she pulled away from him, "It's been so long since I've last seen you. The last time we saw each other was after our release from the hospital three months ago. How's your wing?"
"Much better, actually." Star Knight replied while folding and unfolding his healed wing. "I learned how to fly again, too. But I'm afraid I'm not as fast as I use to be."
"It's alright." Rainbow Dash smiled. "At least you can fly again." Both Pegasi soon got back on their hooves and Rainbow Dash turned her attention over to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "What happened?" she asked, "How did you guys find me?"
"The girls and I were teaching Strongheart how hide 'n go seek tag when Scootaloo found you sleeping underneath this tree." Apple Bloom explained. "Speaking of which. Why were you sleeping underneath a tree in the first place?"
"Oh. I must've dozed off." Rainbow Dash sighed as she rubbed the side of her face. "I've been having trouble sleeping lately, so I came here to think."
"We can see why." Strongheart added softly. "When we found you, you acted as though somepony was choking you. You were crying out for help and we got scared. We didn't know what to do. We were afraid to wake you up."
"But then Mr. Star Knight came along and helped us out!" Scootaloo grinned, "He's the one who shook you a few times until you finally woke up."
"Really now." Rainbow Dash looked over to her friend with an expectant smile. "What are you doing here in Ponyville anyway?"
"I came by to see how you were doing." Star Knight said. "I asked around to find where you were until I found these little cuties gathered around you." He fondly patted Scootaloo on the head.
"Well thanks for coming." Rainbow Dash said. "I could actually use somepony to talk to right now." And good timing, too.
Rainbow Dash spent the next hour and a half explaining her dreams to Star Knight while the Cutie Mark Crusaders happily played in the field. It brought warmth to Rainbow Dash's heart that Strongheart was actually making progress. According to Applejack, she even started helping out around the farm. It's going to be a great pain when the buffalo calf would have to leave. But they know she can't stay in Ponyville forever.
"So that's pretty much it, really." Rainbow Dash sighed while resting her head on her arms. Gazing up at the white clouds that floated by. "And they just won't stop! I haven't had a good sleep in ages."
"Nightmares can be a real pain in the flank." Star Knight chimed as he stared up at the sky as well. "Sometimes they actually tell us messages. Dreams are amazing that way."
Rainbow Dash turned her head over to the stallion. "Messages?" she asked, "How?"
Star Knight shrugged. "No pony really knows actually. Ponies have been trying to figure out dreams for ages, and still haven't figured out what they really are. Some dreams are known to give out messages. Sort of like premonitions, but in reverse. It's really hard to explain without getting a migraine from it."
"You're telling me." Rainbow Dash started to feel a headache come up and she started to rub her head. "I'm starting to feel a headache come up."
Star Knight let out a laugh and he slapped the ground. "Oh, Rainbow Dash, you crack me up sometimes!"
Rainbow Dash blushed slightly. She trailed her eyes down until they rested on his cutie mark. She's been wanting to ask him how he got it, but never had the chance. "How did you get your cutie mark?" she asked, gesturing to it.
"This thing?" Star Knight asked before he gently tapped his cutie mark. A small, fond smile appeared on his face as memories of the night he got his cutie mark came rushing back. "I got this thing while I was still a colt, actually. When I was younger, my older brother and I use to play in the dark. We loved the night, you see. Most ponies referred to us as "night owls"."
"I never knew you had a brother." Rainbow Dash rolled onto her side to look at him better. Her ears perked up with interest.
"I don't talk about him very much." Star Knight said. "One night, my brother and I decided to take a hike in the nearby woods. Looking back now I realise how much of a dumbass we both were. We've been hiking in those woods many times before, and we thought we could get home without problem. But we eventually got lost."
"How did you find your way back?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I remembered learning about using the starts as a sort of map to guide us. I looked at a few constellations and eventually found one that led in the direction back to town. On our way back, though, we were suddenly attacked by some hungry looking wolves. Being colts at the time we didn't know how to completely fly yet. So we were practically fucked. One of the wolves lunged for my brother, but I defended him. I attacked the wolf with a fallen branch. Wielding it like a sword in a way. Eventually we managed to scare them away. It was my brother who first noticed my cutie mark. It appeared after our encounter with the wolves."
Star Knight paused a bit and smiled. "I guess... Since I used the stars to guide us home, and fought like a warrior, that's how I must've earned it."
"That's amazing." Rainbow Dash said.
"What about you? How did you get your cutie mark?"
"Well..." Rainbow Dash patted her cutie mark softly. "Long story short, I achieved something very great during my foalhood." she replied.
Star Knight chuckled and rolled onto his side. Propping his head up with one hoof and giving her a playful smile. "What achievement would that be?"
"Oh, something like...being the first to perform a sonic rainboom as a filly." Rainbow Dash replied proudly. Star Knight's green eyes suddenly widened with awe and he sat up.
"You're kidding me." he said.
"Nope! It's all true." Rainbow Dash said, sitting up as well.
"That's incredible!" Star Knight grinned, "For somepony to perform a sonic rainboom at such a young age is hard to believe. To be honest, I didn't believe you at first."
"You're not the first." Rainbow Dash chuckled. "But it's something I'm gonna be proud of for the rest of my life."
"No kidding." Star Knight smiled. Both Pegasi then layed back down on the grass and stared up at the sky.
"Star Knight." Rainbow Dash said, breaking the brief silence between them. "You mentioned that you barely talk about your brother. Why is that?" she turned her head over to the stallion and noticed he had a sad expression on his face.
Star Knight closed his eyes slowly and sighed heavily. "I'd...rather not talk about it..." The stallion quickly shook the frown on his face and looked back at Rainbow Dash with a smile. "Let's not dilly dally on the past too long, and concentrate on the future instead. How have you been feeling? Since the incident in Cloudsdale..."
"What? Oh..." Rainbow Dash felt herself shiver slightly when the memory popped up in her mind. "I'm good now. Although I've become a bit distant from my friends. I started to spend time more to myself than anything else, really."
Star Knight fell silent for a bit. "I'm...really sorry about what happened back there." he said softly, "How he tried to..."
"Hey." Rainbow Dash playfully punched his shoulder. "There's no need to apologize. You were injured. And there was no way we could've predicted it. It's my fault for forcing you to take me along in the first place."
Star Knight smiled a small smile. "It's no pony's fault." he finally said. "But next time...I'm going to fight back. Just to protect you if anypony tries to pull something off."
"You do that." Rainbow Dash smiled back.
Meanwhile the Cutie Mark Crusaders were watching from a distance. Giggling to one another from the sight.
"You think they're in love?" Sweetie Belle giggled.
"Looks like it." Scootaloo snickered, "We just have to wait and see how things play out." The girls giggled again before Scootaloo moved her eyes over to Apple Bloom. Someday, she thought to herself, I'm going to tell her...
"What's that?" Strongheart suddenly asked.
"What's what?" Apple Bloom asked back.
The buffalo calf suddenly pointed her hoof towards a black shape in the sky. The girls focused their gaze at the shape until Scootaloo suddenly perked up her ears. "It looks like a bird of some kind." she said, "But I've never seen its kind around these parts.
"I wonder where it's going..." Apple Bloom said in a dreamy tone as thet watched the bird fly off in the distance.
Crystal Empire P.O.V
Radiant Hope paced back and forth in her room anxiously. She clenched gently in between her teeth. Radiant Hope sat right by the window and look at the crystal castle covered in dark crystal..
"Sombra, I hope your safe.." she leaned in to take a closer peak and looked at the ponies in chains.
"What have you done," Radiant Hope hoped that Sombra will soon realize what he's doing. "I miss you" she looked at the gloomy skies and wonder what other ponies hat aren't in the Crystal Empire are doing...