Rainbow constantly turned her head from one direction to another as she walked. Everywhere she looked, her eyes seemed lost in thought. like she was having flashbacks. If Fluttershy didn’t notice the state of this section of the forest, she’d wonder why.
It looked like something big occurred here. Trees were dented, branches were torn off, and the soil was rough and damaged. There was barely even a path anymore. Yet, Rainbow seemed to know exactly where she was going.
Another clearing soon came into view. Rainbow dashed for it. The sudden dash caused Fluttershy to gasp as her balance was almost lost. She had to tighten her grip on Rainbow’s leash to keep herself from falling off, especially when Rainbow made a sudden halt from reaching the clearing.
It was not a pretty sight. Trees had fallen to the ground, leaves and twigs were scattered everywhere, and it looked like remnants of desperate magical burns had been left behind. Fluttershy noticed that Rainbow was scanning the area thoroughly. She had a feeling she knew what this meant.
“Rainbow? Is this the last place that you saw her?” Rainbow didn’t answer and instead just looked through different areas of the clearing. The ways she reacted made it look like she was having flashbacks. But it was odd. Didn’t she just recall these memories? Why did she seem so surprised by it?
“Is something… wrong R-... Rainbow?” That strange adrenaline rush suddenly came back to Fluttershy as she asked that. Rainbow started moving again, making Fluttershy have to tighten her grip on the leash. “Rainbow?!” There was no response. Fluttershy had to not only hold the leash tightly, but also brace her chest from her beating heart.
______________________________________________________________________________
Fluttershy kept her head low and her eyes shut as Rainbow Dash ran. She had no idea where they were going. But wherever it was, Rainbow was eager, or rather desperate to get to it.
Fluttershy didn’t open her eyes until Rainbow came to a stop. Despite the fact Rainbow was doing all the running, she found herself being the one panting instead. Rainbow was looking back at her with concern. She would respond to it, but what was more pressing was what was in front of them. It made Fluttershy gasp.
“Oh my… What happened here?”
They had arrived at another clearing. This one was quite bigger and held multiple structures that looked like it could house a few ponies or creatures. At least, it looked like it could’ve. Now it looked like a massive wreck like something big crashed along it, or a big ruckus occurred. On one side, there was a huge pile of broken wood that looked it used to form a large cabin. There was a path of massively kicked up dirt and fallen trees going towards the direction they entered.
In the far corner, one building was left relatively intact. It was a small shack. Fluttershy gently climbed herself off Rainbow Dash, with Rainbow lending her a wing to aid. She looked to Rainbow.
“Is this the place you were held captive?” Once again, Rainbow didn’t answer and looked around the area. What was going on in her mind that was making her so frantic? Fluttershy wanted to ask why she wouldn’t answer, but believed it was because Rainbow actually didn’t know the answer.
Fluttershy began walking to the shack. “Maybe we should look in here?” she asked that as she set her hoof to knock on the door. One knock caused the door to open with a slight creak. Though the door wasn’t nearly as damaged as everything outside, it had been left open.
“H-Hello?” Fluttershy called out, Rainbow staying close behind her. Nopony else seemed to be inside. She looked around. The shack held a mess of items straid about like it was abandoned in a hurry. Pieces of shattered jars were on the floor, looking like most of it came from the shelves on the walls.
The odd thing was, only the area near the entrance was a mess. Even more odd, the pieces were arranged to the sides, like somepony had tried to clean up, but didn’t do much cleaning.
“W-What happened here?” Fluttershy looked to Rainbow as she asked that question, hoping Rainbow knew the answer. Rainbow didn’t answer and instead held that same curious expression like she was seeing something new.
Fluttershy started walking inside while Rainbow stayed at the entrance. The planks of wood under her felt so unstable, like it would pry apart if it was stepped on wrong.
“What’s this?” In the back of the room was a desk with a book on it that was still open. “Is this a… journal?” she asked as she reached it. The pages certainly contained enough writing on it to look like a journal, and its outer edges looked like it could close into a package, keeping it safe for travels. There was a song note on the front cover of the journal, decorated with a cloud underneath. Maybe this journal would provide answers. Swallowing her breath, she turned the journal’s pages back to the first chapter and began reading.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash turned away from the shack and looked around the clearing.
_
“Journey to the Everfree Forest. It sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. But after our searches of literally every other forest, what choice did I have? And now, here I am, stuck in this accursed forest for who knows how long. For all I know, it’ll be by the time it takes me anyway.”
The temperature around Fluttershy increased as she read through the first chapter. It didn’t have much, but it already made her want to stop reading. She knew she had to keep reading if they were gonna learn anything. Steeling her nerves, she flipped the page and continued.
_
“Tomorrow is another day, but that only means something if we even make it for that long. Today, we strayed from the path, and were introduced to every reason why that was a bad idea. Cragadiles, timberwolves, manticores, all of them scary. But none were as terrifying as these strange little insects that swarmed around us, eating all our resources. Had we not been able to escape them and return to our shelter, there’s no way we’d last another day. I know he means well. But with every day that I am stuck with this, I wonder if it’s even worth it. Oh how he’d get at me if he ever read this.”
Outside, Rainbow Dash was standing in front of a graved section on the ground nearly covered up by the debris. Her eyes were focused above that graving, staring intently at these visions she was having. Something had been here, something big. The odd thing was, she didn’t remember this at all. These visions she was seeing, she didn't remember them happening. Why was she seeing this?
_
“I just don’t understand. That creature we saw a few days ago gave me one of the most horrible experiences I have ever encountered. I thought we’d be giving up the search after that, but we haven’t even started packing. Our resources are low, yet he hasn’t given up. In fact, seeing that creature has given him the most hope I had ever seen. It seems like he wants to find it again. But what for? If I hadn’t sent him to bed, I worry his health would be at risk too.”
“His… health?” Fluttershy was breathing rather harshly as her nerves got more intense. She had to grip her chest to keep her beating heart stable. It looked like these chapters were skipping ahead a few days for every new chapter. Every time she read a new one, her body’s temperature increased.
_
“This is awful! AWFUL! He’s gone! And it’s all my fault!
That was all the chapter had, but there was still more written in the later chapters. It still made Fluttershy gasp.
_
“How many days have I been here? Why do I continue to torture myself with this denial? I can barely remember what’s been going on. If only I hadn’t procrastinated with this book, I could retrace what’s going on and figure out what I did wrong. Darn it! Why did I have to be born with this accursed illness? He wouldn’t have placed himself in this situation. I wouldn’t have messed this up so much. I…
The ink spread across the page upon that last word. Fluttershy had to grip her chest as her heart pounded harder. Her hooves shook against the floorboards, barely able to keep her standing. Panting and sweating, she said, “I-Illness?” before continuing to read. That was when Rainbow came back to the shed.
_
“I need to stay calm. I need to retrace everything that happened. He told me to go with him somewhere that day. I followed. There was something he was sure would finally lead to a cure for my illness, an illness I was cursed with since I was born, left behind by It was an illness that could be treated, but not known on how to cure. Today was the day I could finally be free of these chains. But this illness has ruined me again. Perform a simple spell. That was all I needed.
A flower appeared. A flower I had never seen before. Why was it so important? I don’t know. But he was gone when this flower appeared. And in his place was a terrifying creature that tried to eat me. It probably ate him. I don’t know. But I haven’t seen him since that day. And I can't return to my shelter. The beast is there, stalking.
But this flower… There was a silver lining to it all. My illness... that creature… this flower...
“T-This… f-f-flower…” Rainbow noticed Fluttershy’s painful stutters, causing her concern and fear. She rushed to Fluttershy’s side. But when she reached her, a painful gasp escaped Fluttershy’s mouth. Her eyes pulsated then shrunk. “T-This… T-H- O-Owww!” Painful moans escaped her mouth as she suddenly collapsed in front of Rainbow Dash. Eyes wide, she brought her head down to Fluttershy.
Fluttershy’s face was red and her breath was steaming hot. She was catching something bad. Whatever she was catching, her medicine appeared to be having no effect. Rainbow didn’t know what to do and panted heavily in panic. Painfully, Fluttershy opened her eyes.
“R-Rai-inbow-w-w…”
All of a sudden, the door to the shack slammed open. Rainbow immediately turned around to see why. She cringed harshly. Fluttershy could barely turn her eyes to see who it was. Two ponies were there. One spoke in a deep tone.
“There you are.”