Chapter 1: Disturbing Nightmares
The purple unicorn Twilight Sparkle was sitting inside her treehouse mumbling to herself. She had recently discovered a strange new potion and she was trying to figure out what it did. She couldn't test it on anypony out of fear that the effects would be harmful. She flipped through a few pages of one of her books in an attempt to find an answer. Her search was futile since this was the first time such a potion was created. She heard a knock on her door and sighed. She closed her book and went to open the door and greet her guest.
"Hi Twilight!" Pinkie Pie said eagerly.
"Hey Pinkie." Twilight Sparkle replied cheerfully. "Are you here to pick up the secret ingredient for the frosting for your new batch of cupcakes?"
Pinkie Pie nodded and Twilight Sparkle told the energetic pink pony that the frosting's secret ingredient was in the kitchen. The unicorn left Pinkie Pie to her business and went back to reading her book. She hardly heard Pinkie Pie's farewell as she walked out of the unicorn's treehouse. Twilight Sparkle had allowed her friend Pinkie Pie to leave her secret ingredient at her treehouse since SugarCube Corner had run out of room for ingredients. Thinking that she had an idea, Twilight Sparkle placed a bookmark on the page that she was reading and closed her book. She walked into the kitchen and opened up the bottle. When she opened it she knew instantly that something was wrong.
This was not the potion that she had left sitting on the counter. This was Pinkie Pie's secret ingredient. That could only mean one thing.
"Oh no." the unicorn whispered. She quickly ran out of her treehouse and sprinted towards SugarCube Corner, hoping beyond hope that she wouldn't be too late.
Meanwhile at SugarCube Corner, Pinkie Pie was just about to put the frosting on her first batch of cupcakes.
"Come on Pinkie." her friend Rainbow Dash pleaded. "I wanna try these cupcakes." The pegasus had agreed to be Pinkie Pie's taste tester for the pony's new batch of sweets.
"There we go." Pinkie Pie said happily. She presented the first cupcake to Rainbow Dash and the pegasus picked it up eagerly. Then at that moment Twilight Sparkle burst into the room. The unicorn saw the cupcake just inches away from the pegasus' mouth and she tried to shout a warning. Unfortunately she was too late. Rainbow Dash ate the cupcake whole and swallowed it down.
"Rainbow are you okay?" Twilight Sparkle asked her friend urgently.
"Course I am." the pegasus replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because Pinkie Pie grabbed the wrong bottle." the unicorn said. She launched into an explanation about how she was researching a potion that she had made and that Pinkie Pie had grabbed it instead of her secret ingredient.
"What should I do?" Rainbow Dash asked in a concerned tone.
Twilight Sparkle took her time to respond.
"I'd say just try to have a normal day." she said. "Let me know if you feel different."
Rainbow Dash nodded and walked out of SugarCube Corner. Twilight Sparkle turned to Pinkie Pie, who had a sad expression on her face.
"Pinkie." Twilight Sparkle whispered. "This is not your fault. Do you have any more of the potion you grabbed?"
Pinkie Pie nodded and handed the bottle to Twilight Sparkle. Roughly half of the original potion remained in the bottle.
"Pinkie I'm sorry but you need to get rid of that frosting." Twilight Sparkle said. "We can't let anypony eat that."
The duo then disposed of the frosting so that nopony would experience whatever Rainbow Dash was about to go through. Then they walked back to Twilight Sparkle's treehouse where Pinkie Pie grabbed the right bottle and made up a new batch of frosting.
Throughout the day Rainbow Dash tried to act as she normally would. The potion wasn't doing anything yet but she couldn't be sure. Night came and then the pegasus went back to her cloud castle for some sleep. Unfortunately for her, she was not going to have a peaceful sleep that night.
Rainbow Dash's nightmare began rather well. At first she was a hero. She had a fan club that felt that she was the most awesome pony ever. She had saved a filly that had fallen down a well. The townsponies praised her for her heroism. She had stopped a runaway baby carriage from falling off of a cliff. A platform that was holding a party had broken away from the house that it was attached to. Rainbow Dash saved the ponies on board from injury by slowing the platform down and gently lowering it to the ground. She had done so many amazing things for the town. Many ponies were even asking for autographs. However nightmares aren't called nightmares for no reason. Soon enough a pony known as the Mysterious Mare Do Well began to show her up.
Every time anypony was in danger, Rainbow Dash tried her best to help. A vehicle carrying a group of ponies had gone out of control. Rainbow Dash tried to help them but the Mysterious Mare Do Well used her hind legs to stop the carriage.
A dam had been about to burst and Rainbow Dash tried to plug it but it burst anyway. The Mysterious Mare Do Well then used magic to block up the dam and save Ponyville. Then she even had the nerve to do a fly by afterwards.
A construction site had an unfortunate accident and the Mysterious Mare Do Well showed up again. She had bounded all over the place saving almost all of the workers by herself. Rainbow Dash had only managed to save one of the workers and the pony didn't even thank her.
Rainbow Dash tossed and turned as her nightmare only got worse.
Nopony cared anymore that she had been a hero to them. Rainbow Dash quickly faded from their minds as they now preferred the Mysterious Mare Do Well. Rainbow Dash had tried to prove that she was still awesome but nopony paid her any attention.
Rainbow Dash started doing extremely mundane tasks in an attempt to earn praise. She tried to help Granny Smith cross the street but instead of thanking the pegasus, the old mare smacked Rainbow Dash with her purse. She tried to help a unicorn open a jar but nopony cared. Out of desperation, Rainbow Dash mowed a lawn in an attempt to gain some recognition but she was unsuccessful. Rainbow Dash was thoroughly miserable.
That was when the light blue pegasus woke with a start. Rainbow Dash instantly sat up in her bed. Her mind was racing out of control. Her heart was pounding at over a hundred miles an hour. Her face was dripping in sweat and she was breathing as fast as if she had just flown all around Equestria.
Rainbow Dash got out of her bed and walked into the bathroom. She was alone in the house. Well almost. She did have a new friend. Rainbow Dash walked past her pet tortoise Tank as he floated with his helicopter in his sleep. The pegasus entered the bathroom and filled a glass with cold water. Then she splashed the cold water all over her face. She needed to calm down.
Is this all because of that potion? Rainbow Dash wondered. I should definitely tell Twilight about this.
Rainbow Dash tried to go back to sleep but her nightmare still haunted her.
The next day Rainbow Dash woke up and she instantly walked over to Twilight Sparkle's treehouse. The pegasus had told Twilight Sparkle that she needed to talk to her and the unicorn understood.
Rainbow Dash laid down on Twilight Sparkle's couch as the purple unicorn sat down next to her with a quill and a clipboard. She had a pair of glasses on her face and she was staring at Rainbow Dash intently.
The pegasus launched into explanation about her nightmare from the previous night. She told Twilight Sparkle everything that she remembered down to the tiniest detail. Twilight Sparkle nodded and made some notes but she remained silent until Rainbow Dash finished her story.
"Do you think that potion gave me that nightmare?" Rainbow Dash asked her friend urgently.
Twilight Sparkle looked uncertain as she replied.
"I don't know Rainbow." she said. "I'm still trying to figure out what that potion is. Hopefully by now it should be out of your system."
"So that nightmare was a one time thing?" Rainbow Dash asked hopefully.
"In all likelihood yes." Twilight Sparkle replied. "But if it happens again please let me know okay?"
Rainbow Dash nodded in response and left her friend's home. Twilight Sparkle watched her go and then she turned her attention back to the potion.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was determined to have a perfectly normal nightmare free day. She did her job of controlling the weather and then she took to the skies to clear her head. Flying always did help her when she was having a tough day. For Rainbow Dash, flying was somewhat of a stress release and she was feeling a lot of stress from the previous night's dream.
When nighttime came, Rainbow Dash went back to her cloud castle and laid down for some much needed peaceful sleep. Unfortunately for her, her rest was going to be just as uneasy as the previous night's.
Rainbow Dash had another nightmare that night. It wasn't the same as the one from before. Rather it seemed like a continuation of the previous night's dream. However, unlike her previous nightmare, this one seemed rather blurry. It was like Rainbow Dash was looking at the event through a window that needed a good cleaning. She could make out the general picture but not the details.
Rainbow Dash's second nightmare started with the pegasus brooding on a storm cloud. She was all by herself and she was miserable. She was angry that the townsponies had forgotten her so quickly over the much preferred Mare Do Well. Scootaloo then walked by and invited Rainbow Dash to a party in the Mare Do Well's honor. At first Rainbow Dash refused but then she got an idea.
The pegasus showed up to the party and confronted the Mysterious Mare Do Well. She chased the pony she hated all throughout Ponyville before she finally tackled her to the ground. Rainbow Dash pulled off the Mare Do Well's mask and to her astonishment she saw the face of Pinkie Pie.
The surprises didn't end there as soon enough two more Mare Do Wells came. They revealed themselves to be Applejack and Twilight Sparkle. Then Fluttershy and Rarity joined the group and the five ponies began to lecture Rainbow Dash about the importance of humility.
Rainbow Dash woke up from her nightmare feeling just as stressed out as she did last night.
Would my friends really betray me like that? she wondered. Nah it's just a nightmare. Nightmares never come true. Still I should let Twilight know about this.
The next day Rainbow Dash went back to Twilight Sparkle's treehouse and explained her nightmare to the unicorn.
"So you say that your nightmare looked blurry?" Twilight Sparkle asked.
"Yeah." Rainbow Dash replied. "I saw the first nightmare clearly but this one looked really weird." she paused for a moment before she asked a question. "What's going on?"
"Rainbow I think your mind has subconsciously constructed the events of your previous nightmare into this one." Twilight Sparkle said seriously.
"Umm translation please?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Your imagination finished your nightmare from last night." Twilight Sparkle explained. "It's like if I gave you half of a book and told you to write the ending."
"Do you think these nightmares are real?" Rainbow Dash asked her friend.
"I doubt it." Twilight Sparkle answered. "By now that potion has definitely run its course. Just try to put the nightmares from your mind."
"All right Twi I will." Rainbow Dash said. "Jeez I'm an idiot for getting so worked up about this. Like you guys would try to humiliate me like that."
Rainbow Dash walked out of Twilight Sparkle's treehouse while shaking her rainbow maned head at what she felt was her own stupidity. Her friends would never humiliate her like that.