//------------------------------// // Flutters In Your Cup // Story: Ofolrodi // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// It was a singing voice. Soft and serene. Rainbow Dash's mind was tickled by memories she didn't even know she had. Something from foalhood, or perhaps before. It was melodic, soothing, healing... Harmonic. "Mrmmmfff..." Rainbow Dash stirred. She was lying on a mess of blankets. Opening her eyes, she spotted a tent looming above her head. A yellow shape drifted beside her. "Grnngh... Flutters...?" "Shhhhhhhh..." Fluttershy leaned in, resting a hoof close to where Rainbow's shoulder was. Her warm smile came into focus. "Just don't move too quickly. Twilight's guessing that you probably have—" "Aaaaaaaugh..." Rainbow hissed through her teeth as she raised two hooves to clutch her aching skull. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh skunk holes..." Fluttershy sighed. "—a very, very bad headache." "'Bad' is putting it softly, girl," Rainbow wheezed. Her eyes nearly teared from the pain. "This is like the cancerous mother-in-law of 'bad.' This is bad bombin'." "I will... pretend to know what you mean by that." "Grnnngh..." Rainbow continued clutching her skull with both fetlocks. One eye remained open, squinting. "... ... ...the girls?" "They're safe. Just resting." "Vanilla... Zone...?" "Mmmmhmmm." Fluttershy nodded. "They're not stuck there, though. They're there by choice at the moment. Resting.." "But... before...?" "Oh! Right. I guess you wouldn't know, would you?" Fluttershy daintily cleared her throat. "We were all forced into the Vanilla Zone the moment you came within close proximity of the Crater." "Crater?" "It's... what the Herald is calling the place with all the chaos metals. We heard Kepler estimating that there must be tons of it." "Yeah, no kidding." Rainbow gulped. Her eyes fluttered slightly. "This... where...?" "Wildcard picked you up and dragged you to safety," Fluttershy said. "The Herald made camp on a plateau somewhere. We've been here ever since." "How... long...?" "Uhm..." Fluttershy tapped her chin in thought. She squinted towards the faint slivers of twilight peeking in through the fabric of the tent's entrance. "That's a good question. Twilight would be better at guestimating. But... uh... well... the Herald have cooked themselves dinner at least five times since you fell—" "Five days?!?" Rainbow immediately winced. She clutched her head again. "Princess Celestia on a bike. I've been conked out by chaos metals before but not that hard!" "It..." Fluttershy winced. "...was a lot of chaos metals." "How did I even...?" Rainbow brushed her chin—feeling the dried residue of soup broth hardened to her muzzle. "Food?" She glanced forlornly at her buttocks. "Un-Food...?" "Not very easily," Fluttershy said, giggling nervously. "But, don't be worried, you were taken care of very nicely by—" "Stop! Quiet!" Rainbow hissed. "I... don't really wanna know who." Fluttershy blinked. "... ... ...it wasn't Ariel." "Okay. Whew." Rainbow laid back, exhaling. "I have enough reasons to see a shrink back in Equestria as it is." "It's so very nice seeing you awake, Rainbow Dash." "Yeah, well... I'm sorry I blacked out on you gals." "And we're so very sorry we vanished like we did!" "Mrmmfff... couldn't be blamed for that. It was the chaos metals." "Well—as you like to say—'back at ya.'" Fluttershy smiled proudly. Rainbow squinted at her. "You're not half as worried as I'd expect you to be." Fluttershy shrugged. "You've pulled yourself out of worse straits—and without us around to even fret about it. Besides..." Fluttershy looked at the pile of blankets. "You were more or less here. Just... a bit furrier." "Furrier?" "Your... erm..." Fluttershy gulped. "...dragonequine features didn't go away quite so quickly." "For real?" Wincing, Rainbow nevertheless fought her migraine to stretch her neck. She looked into the corner of the tent to where an Emeralidinian helmet was being utilized as a bucket. The container housed severed antlers and tufts of pale blue hair. "Some parts even grew in the others' places before eventually coming off..." "Guh..." Rainbow clenched her teeth. "Super not good." She looked nervously at Fluttershy. "It's never been like this before. Remember Red Barge?" Fluttershy shuddered visibly. "I try not to." "... ... ..." Rainbow looked left. She looked right. Then—with an explosive gasp—she shot straight up. "DISCORD—!" She immediately regretted the swift motion and clutched her pulsating temple with both hooves. "Unnnnngh—!" "Rainbow Dash...!" Fluttershy reached in vain for the petite pegasus. She frowned. "You must calm down! Discord isn't here!" "Yes... he... is..." Fluttershy grimaced slightly. "You kn-know what I mean. He's gone. We are back. I promise you." "He was there, Fluttershy..." Rainbow Dash gradually recovered from her motion and sat weakly in place. "Clear as day. Brightest and... most visible I've ever seen him." She gulped. "I was so freaked out. I thought that... th-that maybe he had replaced you girls completely." "As soon as you were away from the crater, the girls and I returned," Fluttershy insisted. "We've been watching after you ever since. Waiting for you to wake up. Trying to... make sense out of the Herald's dialogue over what happened." Rainbow sighed. "Fluttershy, I'm so... so sorry that this happened to you. If I had known that the 'null' magic that Twilight was sensing was the chaos metals..." "You couldn't have known. And don't be sorry. Live and learn." Fluttershy smiled. "It's okay. You're in the company of friends. You do more than just travel together. You adapt together. Even on the Dark Side you must make baby steps." "Yeah..." Rainbow nodded. "I guess." She gulped. "Well... it's a good thing we put as much distance between ourselves and that chaos crud as possible." Fluttershy's posture immediately wilted. She bit her lip and avoided Rainbow's gaze. Rainbow saw it in an instant. "Flutters..." She cocked her head to the side, fighting dizziness. "...where's the Herald?" "Erm... Ariel's nearby... helping Logan with the latest meat they've caught. Seraphimus is seated on the wagon." "And Wildcard...?" "He's... watching after Flynn and Kepler as they... uhm... study the chaos metals up close." "But... how...?" Fluttershy smiled nervously. Ghost sweat. "We haven't left the outer edge of the Crater since you went under..."