MLP: Seeds of the Past

Chapter 3 - Stranger Things, Part 1

Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, and major thanks to Fanfic920 for helping me out with this chapter!

Now, it's no secret that Rainbow Dash loved flying, but what some ponies didn't know is that she loved flying at night the most. The cool wind flying through her mane and tail, the view of stars rushing past… nothing could beat it.

At first, the athletic Pegasus thought she'd just enjoy a quick nighttime lap around Ponyville, but all that changed when she noticed two of her friends making their way over to Twilight's castle.

"Oh, come on, Casey, it wasn't that bad for your first time flying a kite," said Starlight, and the light-orange pony rolled his eyes as they made their way inside.

Casey just looked at her, and she added, "Well, maybe it wasn't as good as it could have been, but you still had fun, right?"

"Yeah, I did… thanks, Star," replied Casey, giving her a warm smile, in return.

A smile appeared on Rainbow's face, as well, and as she continued on her path to wherever she'd have her nighttime lap, the young pegasus-

"HELP!"

Suddenly, a scream of fright interrupted her thoughts, and she said, "That sounded like it came from the Everfree Forest… what kind of bonehead would be there at this time in the night?"

Still, Rainbow knew that somepony needed her help, so with blazing speed, she flew towards the sound of the shout.

"Hold on! I'm here… where are you? It's really hard to see!"

"I'm right here! Help!" the voice yelled.

If the sun was still in the sky, this would have been easier, but since it obviously was not, all that Rainbow could do was try her best.

"I still can't see you… ugh, why couldn't Princess Luna have risen a full moon tonight?'

"Don't worry," the voice said, suddenly sounding more menacing than distressed. "I'm right HERE."

Then, before she could give a response, Rainbow heard some type of noise that reminded her of somepony blowing through a tubw, and a few seconds later, the pegasus felt a small prick on her flank.

"OWWW!" the Pegasus yelled in pain. "What the hay was that?!"

The newly-changed voice let out an evil chuckle, and replied, "Oh, just a little concoction I whipped up… which should be kicking in right… about… now…"

Then, Rainbow saw a cloaked pony making his way towards her, and she realized that it was him who launched the small projectile at her flank.

"What are… you... talking… about?"

For some reason, her voice begun to slur ,and her wings were moving slower and slower as blackness began to permeate her vision.

"Shhh…. just relax, Rainbow…"

Too exhausted to respond, the Element of Loyalty eventually couldn't hold herself in the air any longer, so she landed on the ground with a CRASH, kicking up a bit of dirt in the process, due to the momentum from a fall at such a height.

However, Rainbow managed to remain conscious long enough to see the cloaked pony approach her, and many questions were racing inside of her mind, the first of which being 'WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?'

Before the darkness overtook her, she heard the voice say one last thing, hinting that he had a much bigger plan than just her.

"One down… plenty more to go…"

A few hours later

As he made his way into the library, Casey was starting to feel a little sad about the fact that he really hadn't spent much time with Starlight, aside from today, because of all the fun he had been having with-

"Beedo, beedo, beedo, beedo! Oh, excuse me, Casey!"

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by Pinkie Pie, who'd raced past him with…

"Is that a fire extinguis- Pinkie, hold on!"

Casey quickly went after her, and to his shock, he found her in the library, along with a concerned Twilight and Starlight.

Whoosh!

"Well, there we go, all better," said Pinkie, after letting out a sigh of relief. "Hope nopony was planning on using the Crystal Mirror anytime soon!"

Not knowing what to say, Casey looked at his special somepony, who explained that the world-traveling machine had been sending out random bolts of electricity, and whenever the alicorn had tried to fix it, things only became worse.

"… so I think it's best if, like Pinkie said, we put a hold on visits to Sunset Shimmer and... well…"

Taking a quick glance over at a particular book nearby, Casey sighed, and said, "I understand, Twilight, and I agree, as well."

Starlight gave him a look of surprise, and replied, "Really? I figured you'd try to, like, find another way to see him."

"Eh, I'm sure he's dealing with other stuff right now," said Casey, who also smiled at her. "Besides, that gives me more time to practice my kite flying…"

"Practice?" said Twilight, starting to chuckle. "Oh, Casey, were you that bad at it?"

Before he could reply to her, Starlight replied, "He got tangled up almost five times in the kite's string."

"Four! That last one didn't count, Star, and you know I'm right!"

While the two of them started an argument with each other, Twilight looked back at the Crystal Mirror, wondering who or what could have possibly caused it to malfunction.

Well, it's not like anything else could possibly go wrong.

"Hi, Honey. I hope you're doing okay. I just wanted to let you know I put Carl down, so make sure to be quiet when you get home…

"Oh, you should've seen his little face... I love you. See you later."

After listening to his wife's voice on his communicator device, the cloaked pony turned it off, and continued to look over a blueprint that showed what appeared to be the structure of a castle that-

"Hey!"

He turned around to look at his prisoner, who was currently inside of a cage, saying, "You know, sooner or later, my friends are going to realize that I'm missing, and they'll come searching for me… then, once they find me, we're taking you down!"

"Hahahaha… my, my, my... you are just full of so much confidence, aren't you, Rainbow Dash?" replied the cloaked pony, and the young Pegasus continued to frown at him. "It's too bad that your friends won't even recognize you by the time they get here."

A slightly confused Rainbow raised her eyebrow, and asked, "What do you mean they're not going to recognize me?"

Instead of giving her an answer right away, the cloaked pony walked over to the nearest desk, and removed the long piece of fabric that had been covering one of his collected possessions.

"It's amazing what sort of things the enemies of your enemy will leave behind... and I think it's time now for me to try one of them out..."

When Rainbow saw what kind of weapon he was holding, she became nervous, and asked, "So, what, you're just going to-"

"- kill you? Oh, no, of course not.. not yet, anyway," assured the sinister pony. "But this MAY hurt just a bit, so just stay there… and I hope you like pink."

BZZZZZZZZTTTTT!

Then, after blowing away the steam coming out of the weapon, the cloaked pony chuckled, and said, "That's a good look for you… now, if you'll excuse me, there's some more ponies I need to take care of."

With a sly smile, he looked over at a nearby wall-chart, which showed pictures of everypony that he planned on capturing, and one of them showed the beloved Princess of Friendship.

You'll get what's coming to you, Twilight… I promise you that!