//------------------------------// // Chapter 20: Obsession // Story: To Serve In Hell // by CoffeeMinion //------------------------------// What Dash found after pushing through the door to Redheart’s quarters resembled, at first glance, a murder scene that had been inexpertly mopped-up. Two or three badly bloodied towels lay in a pile by the door to Redheart’s washroom, accenting both the ocean of detritus that was Redheart’s normal state of disorganization, as well as her sprawled figure lying facedown on the cot. Dash’s eyes widened as she took in the scene, and adrenaline kicked her heart faster. Soon, though, she noticed Redheart’s barrel rising and falling with deep breaths, and the tension in her shoulders lessened. Then Dash cursed quietly at the prospect of having to do what she’d come to do with Redheart in the room. She looked down at Scootaloo with what she hoped would come off as a genuine smile. “Don’t worry, kid, we can still surprise her with those snow caps. We’re just gonna have to be real quiet while we do it.” “I still don’t think this is a good treat to surprise a friend with,” Scootaloo said, looking askance at the small basket of white mushrooms in her hoof. “Those oats you grabbed for me weren’t very flavorful, but at least they were better than these.” “Yeah, well, things have been hard these last couple of years.” Courtesy of her thestral vision, Dash spotted her true prize lying on the small stand next to the cot. “Better start getting used to mushrooms now, cuz they’re the main thing anypony can get their hooves on these days, unless you know someone.” She took a few tentative steps into the dark, quiet room, carefully avoiding the assortment of books and knick-knacks on the floor. Scootaloo stayed silent for a moment before she spoke up again: “We're not really here to leave these for her, are we?” Dash misstepped and nearly lost her balance. “Okay, look… have you ever needed to do something, and you know you're gonna get a ‘no’ if you ask, so you figure it's better to just do it and hope that ponies will forgive you afterwards?” “Sounds like that's becoming a habit with you lately,” Redheart said, voice muffled by the cot. “What exactly do you need to be forgiven for this time?” Dash grimaced. “Uh, hey there, Doc. Came to thank you for looking at Scoots, and to see if you’re ready to head back out to the force.” Redheart pushed up on her forehooves and rolled over, squinting in the darkness. “Like Tartarus you were. Ah, Scootaloo. You should probably be resting.” Dash shot a glance at Scootaloo. “Uh… yeah, we’ll try to take it easy. We were just going to, uh…” “Do something I wouldn’t approve of,” Redheart added. “Well, I mean… I don’t know. I wanted to ask you about—” “Thank you,” Redheart interrupted. “…What?” Redheart sat up, then began rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “The two patients I was worried about when I had to ship out? I was right to worry. My orderlies are good, but they were a mess.” Dash nodded. “Cool, cool… so you… saved them?” “I did what I could.” The breath caught in Dash’s throat. “Oh. Doc, I’m sorry… I should have gotten you here faster… or taken you to see them first?” “No, I figured that I lost them when those damn guards made me leave the castle in the first place. At least now I won't have to wonder if I could’ve done more. I know; it doesn’t sound like much, but it is to me. So thank you.” “N… no problem, Doc. So look, if you’re done here, we need to talk about getting you back to the force.” “Do I need to worry about anything before I go check out Ponyville?” Scootaloo asked. Dash glanced back at Scootaloo, and saw a surprising amount of intensity in the filly’s expression. Redheart chuckled. “More than you know, kid. But no, the one big unknown is your seizure. There’s no way I can know if it was just a one-time thing, or if you’ll have more. But you look pretty good, and even if you do have more, it’d only be a big deal if it lasted longer than a few minutes. And Dash has something she can give you that should make it stop it that happens.” “So look, can we get going?” Dash asked quickly, blushing at the thought of the suppository Redheart had made with Zecora’s ingredients. “I lined up a sky chariot that I can use to fly you guys out. And we're gonna go past Ponyville so Scoots can have a look around.” “Maybe let's talk about the real reason you came barging in here? I mean, you didn't know I was here, did you?” The heat in Dash’s cheeks intensified. “Well, the first time we went looking for you, you were busy fixing up those guards, so we figured we’d go take a rest. Then when we went back, your staff said you were out taking a walk in the west wing somewhere, so we swung by the kitchens…” “Of course. I tell them that sometimes so I can be alone. Sometimes I get tired of having to be the one pony around there who still has her horseapples together, you know?” Then she turned to the stand next to the cot, picked up Zecora’s journal, and fixed Dash with a frown. “I guess I should’ve known I’d only make you more interested in this by trying to put you off from it earlier.” “I dunno, it seemed like there was more to it than just recipes,” Dash said. Redheart shook her head. “Rainbow, there’s some weird stuff in here, and some of the weirdest is about you.” Sighing, Rainbow shook her head. “I guess I'm not surprised. It always seemed like Zecora hated my guts.” “Hated you? No, Rainbow… Zecora was obsessed with you. It started right after she moved to the Everfree. She’d written all sorts of bizarre things about rainbows before then, but it’s like she hyper-focused everything on you after she saw you flying around.” Dash was taken aback. Her eyes widened, and her brows furrowed deeply. “What do you mean?” Redheart shrugged. “Like I said, it was weird. Sometimes she’d talk about the world wanting to give birth to something, and ‘screaming out in labor pains.’ And apparently this was connected to her watching you fly somehow? She’d spend whole pages at a time criticizing your technique, but I don’t think… it wasn't hatred. More like being perversely analytical, and bizarrely spiritual, all at the same time.” “I barely knew her,” Dash said quietly, struggling to voice the innumerable questions that budded in her mind. “What did Rarity make of all this?” “Rarity didn’t know.” Redheart got up from the cot and gave the journal to Dash. “She ended up with Zecora’s stuff after the Nightmare sentenced her to die in that cell, and Rarity figured I could put the herbs and tools in it to good use. But once I started actually digging into the journal, I didn’t want to burden her with a bunch of nonsense about birth pains, and Sonic Rainbooms, and whatever else.” Dash glanced down at the journal and hefted it in her hoof. “I’ve heard of Sonic Rainbooms. I mean, any pegasus would’ve. I don’t know what they’re supposed to have to do with me, though.” “Well, you’ll have plenty of time to look through it after I’m gone. I’ve even got one bit of good news: I might have a halfway decent lie that we can use on Wind Rider if we need it.” “Nice,” Dash said, tucking the journal into her armor. “I hadn’t come up with anything.” “Yeah, one of the orderlies who joined us a couple months back dropped a tray on himself when the guards came to get me for the force. It cracked his hoof pretty bad, and everypony else told him it needed to be looked at, but he didn’t listen. Numbskull didn't stop at all until I noticed him hobbling and made him get it looked at.” “I guess that's better than nothing…” “So can we get going?” Scootaloo asked. “I need to get out there.” Redheart frowned. “I don’t see any harm per se if you want to get out of the castle, but it could invite some unwanted attention if you ride along with us all the way out to the force.” “Fine, then I’ll hang by myself in Ponyville while Rainbow takes you the rest of the way,” Scootaloo said with a scowl. “I don’t know if you’d really want to be alone out in the ruins,” Dash said. “Probably better off waiting here,” Redheart said. “In fact, if you can manage to lie low until Rarity gets back, I bet she could find somepony who’d get you in touch with a pegasus enclave.” “I'm going, and that’s final,” Scootaloo said. “Yeah, she’s pretty bent on doing it,” Dash said, pre-empting Redheart. “So are you ready?” “I guess. At least I got a shower, and fifteen minutes of sleep is better than no sleep.” Dash smirked at her. “You should try being a bat. We just need to rest the body.” Redheart's expression hardened. She glanced at Scootaloo, who returned a nervous frown. “Yeah, no, I think we're good with sleeping if we get to keep our souls.” “I… I didn’t mean it seriously,” Dash said, her mouth suddenly dry as ash.