The world shimmered like glass underwater — colors bending, shapes stretching until they barely made sense. The air smelled faintly of sugar and metal, sweet enough to sting your nose. Your vision pulsed, and before you could steady yourself, your knees buckled.

A pair of hands caught you before you fell.

Rainbow Dash.

At least, that’s what your mind whispered.

He stood there with that same grin — confident, bright, comforting in a way that made your heart ache. His rainbow hair was as wild as ever, his eyes soft with a hint of tears. His touch felt real. Too real.

Relief rushed through you like warmth after a long storm.

But something felt… off. The air hummed strangely, like a song just slightly out of tune. His eyes didn’t blink right. His smile lingered too long. And when he spoke, the tone was familiar — but hollow, like an echo repeating someone else’s words.

“Oh, look at you,” a voice murmured from somewhere behind the illusion. “Already drifting away. Guess the mist worked faster than I thought.”

You turned, but the world rippled like a reflection in water. Everything shimmered, melting together — too bright, too wrong.

The figure before you wasn’t Dash anymore. The grin widened, the colors bled, and behind those false eyes, another presence stared back.

Pinkie smiled, tilting his head with unsettling cheer.

“Don’t worry,” he said softly, voice twisting into that sing-song tone. “If it makes you feel better… I can be him for a while.”