*Musical Enhancement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi8vJ_lMxQI&feature=related*
Twilight’s mind went into overdrive, trying to process hundreds of bits of information at once. Voices raged in her mind, vying for attention and control over her body.
Get the poison out of her, use your mouth, it’s the only way-
Use magic, it probably won’t harm her-
She’s going to bleed out before the poison even affects her! You’ve got to-
Quickly, just-
No, you need to-
SHUTUP!
The voices, so loud before, crumbled under the sheer might of her word.
Finally, her mind was so wonderfully, blissfully clear. She could actually think for once.
Quickly, though, the poison will surely kill her-
Surely the lacerations would render her lifeless far before the poison-
Maybe a spell that seeks out poison? Does a spell like that exist-
I said it once, I’ll say it again- SHUTUP!
The voices petered out, once again meek in the face of Twilight’s wrath. However, their argument hadn’t been completely pointless- it had given her an idea on how to save Rainbow. She sat on her haunches next to Rainbow, who lie still on the floor, hardly breathing.
She located the dart on her right flank, just above her cutie mark. Purple light enveloped the projectile, gently easing it out of Rainbow’s body and onto the floor. Upon closer inspection of the dart, Twilight had her prediction proven correct; some of the poison leaked out of the dart’s tip, a bright green tinged purple from her illuminative orb that still floated above her, bobbing about.
She levitated a tiny blob, the size of a raindrop, separating it from the dart and the rest of the poison. She would have to test this very fast. She channeled energy through her horn and the magic covering the small green drop grew brighter. The toxic goo on the dart started to gently float towards the rest of the poison, ignoring gravity for the time to join the rest of itself.
She dropped all but the tiniest bit of the substance and somewhat unsurely inserted her miniscule drop, still ensconced in her magic, into Rainbow’s bloodstream.
She let the natural currents of blood move her magic around, but she had no idea of it was working or not. All she could do was hold onto her bit and hope.
She noticed something was off though when she stopped feeling the motion of her blob. She felt a sudden shock, eyes shooting open to their widest.
Rainbow’s blood stopped pumping-
Should’ve moved faster-
Your fault-
Quick, restart her heart, it’s the only-
Could cause irreparable damage to her cardiovascular system-
Maybe if you-
Try to-
Wait-
...
...
Twilight Sparkle’s struggle to shut down the vocal parts of her mind had worked. She simply opened her eyes and looked upon the prone figure of Rainbow Dash.
Her chest still moved, and blood still trickled out of a small wound on her side.
Twilight let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. She walked around Rainbow to see if she could spot her glob- and there it was. It had been squeezed out of her system, slipping through one of her wounds. But it was noticeably bigger; more poison than she had thought was inside Rainbow was collected here, and Twilight was sure she had only gone through half of her veins. She threw most of the venom away and re-inserted the drop of death into Rainbow’s body. She made sure it didn’t slip out again, having it circle what she estimated about three times through Rainbow’s systems. She finally pulled it out where it had slipped out the first time. There was a collection of the poison there, converging upon the tiny speck that had been there before. She flung it violently at the wall.
Of course, Rainbow wasn’t in the clear yet. Twilight moved closer to Rainbow, searching for a heartbeat. It was slow, too slow to be healthy. She knew that Rainbow had lost blood, but this...
She worked quickly, stretching skin and using bits of her mane, solidified, to make hasty stitches on her sides. She smeared blood off her coat and dealt with larger holes. She winced, but it was the only thing she could do. She had no materials to make a bandage or anything of the sort, and if she did nothing Rainbow was sure to die.
She finally slipped the last piece of her mane through the loop, sealing the final gash on her back. Rainbow didn’t jump up, though, ready to take on another adventure. She lay still, her breathing coming more and more shallow as Twilight stood, tears brimming in her eyes.
She laid her head on Rainbow’s, closing her eyes as tears fell from her face into Rainbow’s multi-colored mane.
She whispered four words, silently, fervently, in Rainbow’s ear. She then closed her eyes and clocked out, the exhaustion, adrenaline loss and shock finally shutting down her body.
Silence filled the corridor, and finally, its user unconscious, the purple orb winked out of existence.
All that was left was a dark expanse that swallowed the two ponies that lay on the cold floor.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
*Musical Enhancement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWVij6r4QBw&feature=BFa&list=FL79UdXjbuQufp4MADnPgkXw*
Rainbow looked up from her book. She had forgotten to do something, but she wasn’t sure what…
The room around her was fuzzy, almost like the outlines of the walls of the library were nonexistent. The furniture around her seemed to meld together, losing its defining shape.
Weird.
The books on the bookshelf shifted colors, the letters on their spines shifting rapidly from one title to another. She felt warmth in her hooves and glanced down. The book she had been reading had shifted too, from blue to black and red. She hadn’t remembered what it was called before, but now it was entitled The Great Escape. She searched for an author, but the letters evaded her eyes, sliding around the cover like slippery little noodles.
She shrugged, her rainbow mane doing a bit of a flip on her shoulders. She opened the book, turning to the first page. It was devoid of any writing. But there was activity in the corner so she leaned close, squinting her eyes.
The page was being written on as she watched, words filling the previously blank space; but they danced around, unwilling to form sentences or paragraphs. Rainbow could catch a word or two among the moving jumble of letters; she had seen look, out, and side.
Rainbow’s eyes narrowed and she turned to where she thought the window was. It was a wall, adorned with fuzzy pictures of ponies she didn’t recognize. Again, before her eyes, the pictures were shunted to the side, nearly flying off their hinges. A door dropped into the space the paintings had left behind, and a window was carved out of the wall shortly after.
Rainbow shifted uneasily from one hoof to another, deciding on what to do. She shook her head, remembering that she was Rainbow Dash, and trotted up to the window with what looked like confidence.
Inside was a different story; she was uncharacteristically uncertain. The words had seemingly talked to her, and something wasn’t right about this whole scene.
She sidled up to the window, peering out through the windowpane. What she saw was not what she had been expecting in the slightest.
Outside the floating haven of the library, there was a vast, darkened space. She couldn’t see anything else in the expanse that seemed to consume the small light emitted by the sanctuary she resided in. There was nothing but black, empty space, for miles and miles and miles...
She became lost, looking into the void. She only recovered when she felt eyes on her- like the void had been staring back at her. She gave an involuntary shudder, lowering the curtains and turning from the haunting sight outside.
She began trotting back to the center of the main lobby, wanting to return to the book. Maybe it had more words she could see... and a way to get out of whatever this place was.
She stopped, halfway back to the table and chairs. How had she even gotten here? She didn’t remember flying to the library, or her customary crashes into one of its sides. Her nervousness increased as she found her mind blank, unable to remember much of anything. Her memory felt… empty.
Her eyes swept the room. Nothing seemed right- the chairs were too close together, and the fireplace had never been that big. As she recognized these things, they subtly shifted into place, the fireplace shrinking, the chairs separating. Rainbow started at this.
I can… change this room?
She tried again, picturing a Wonderbolt costume laid out on the floor in front of her.
The floor remained tauntingly blank, save for the polka-dotted carpet.
Polka dots?
The carpet swirled, shifting to stripes.
There we go.
Rainbow walked around the room, changing the room from her memories of the tree house turned library. The books stopped shifting places, hurrying into alphabetical order as she trotted past the many bookshelves. A skylight above her disappeared, and a telescope took the place of a steel grill embedded into the floor.
There was still something profoundly off about the whole thing, but the library was starting to look more and more like that Twilight’s actual home.
Twilight...
Twilight!
Rainbow spun around the room, looking for the studious mare. A sickening feeling of guilt and regret welched in her gut, making Rainbow feel nauseous. She had done something bad, something stupid… Twilight was in trouble.
Her ears twitched at a sound growing stronger; it sounded like a wind, picking up in speed and intensity. Rainbow ignored it and struggled to remember more, trying to picture Twilight as she had been when she had fallen… yes, she had definitely fallen…
The wind howled, seemingly angry at her for summoning those thoughts that had been before so lost. Rainbow extracted more and more thoughts, recalling the darkened tunnel. She was close, she could feel it... more images trickled into her mind, of spears, darts and arrows, sharp and deadly.
What had she gotten herself into?
She felt memories locking into place- a giant boulder, hundreds of snakes, and Twilight, laying on the ground, her shield fizzling into nothingness.
She remembered everything, a flash of brilliant light in her brain, the final puzzle pieces clicking together.
The wind gave one last shuddering, painful shriek- and stopped. The room and, by extension, the space around it, was completely and utterly silent save for Rainbow’s short breaths.
Was Twilight... dead?
Was she dead?
Rainbow collapsed to the floor, her face a mess of worry and grief. Her eyes refused to shut. It was that crucial refusal from her body that saved her. She noticed something, something she wouldn’t have noticed from the ground- books, dozens of them, were piled under the couches and chairs, out of view from a standing position. Rainbow knew, in the back of her head, that Twilight would never leave books on the floor.
And, like magic, the books slid out from under the furniture, joining their brethren on the bookshelves.
Another flashing light, this time in her face, blinding her momentarily. When she could force her eyes open again, she finally noticed what had seemed so off about the whole room.
It had completely lacked color, being simply black and white before Rainbow had made the final adjustment to the almost-real library until it matched the one in her memories.
Rainbow heard muffled hoofsteps and swiveled in the direction of the noise. It was emanating from the steps, and Rainbow was entranced by the figure walking down them.
It was Twilight, dressed in her Gala dress, makeup applied with finesse and skill. She descended the stairs with grace, locking eyes with Rainbow from across the room.
She closed the gap between them, standing above the pegasus who had been so previously without hope. She leaned in, close, close enough to touch Rainbow’s ear and send shivers down the mare’s spine.
“Rainbow...”
Rainbow could feel heat rising to her cheeks, sitting stock-still, inches from the mare who had rendered her silent.
“Please...”
Anything, Rainbow thought, unable to move her tongue or lips to form the words.
“Wake up...”
Rainbow’s eyes widened in sudden realization as the room around her slowly disappeared, like sand being blown away by the wind.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*