Ch. 4
Poisonous Placebos
Rainbow Dash couldn’t get the dream out of her mind. For her entire workout it had been lurking at the back of her thoughts.
“It doesn’t mean anything, dreams never do.” She had told herself over and over. But it was unsettling regardless, and the more she dwelt on it the worse it got.
She missed another target, but clearly it was only because she was distracted. Right?
C’mon Dash, focus. You got this!
As Chrysalis, in disguise as always, watched Rainbow miss a third target, and a fourth, a cocky smile crept across her mouth. She waited until Rainbow was at the apex of her fifth attempt, and jerked one of her hooves to the side as she began to descend. The blue Pegasus swerved downward and to the side. Instead of landing on the target she slammed into a pair of ponies standing in the field. The three of them tumbled several feet before they stopped, making a noticeable dent in the grass as they went.
Rainbow inelegantly extricated herself from the pile of ponies, dusting herself off after she managed to stand upright.
“I’m really sorry about that, I…” She trailed off when she noticed just how many pairs of eyes were staring at her. Apparently she had interrupted some game of… something.
“Geez lady, watch where you’re going!”
“Yeah, you could’ve killed us!” Two of their teammates helped the irate pair to their feet.
Chrysalis watched from afar as both teams chewed out Rainbow for interrupting their match, and for endangering their players. She could feel the pegasus grow increasingly distressed with every passing sentence. And then, after one of the large team captains pushed her a little, Chrysalis finally felt it. It was almost deafening, even from across the park.
Rainbow’s confidence had finally broken.
The blue pony uttered a hasty apology and ran off, retrieving her bag before flying off into town.
Chrysalis chuckled to herself.
Took long enough…
She slowly stood up, and made her way back to Lyra’s house, knowing that Rainbow would be there before too long.
Dash didn’t want to admit it. She had wandered around town for a little while, pretending she couldn’t find the place. She didn’t need any magical help did she? The very idea was insulting. But as she stood in front of the non-descript house, the address clearly the same as the card, she couldn’t really lie to herself any more.
She knocked on the door and waited. After a few moments of silence she was about to knock again, but Chrysalis opened the door.
“Ah, Rainbow Dash! I was expecting you, come in!”
Rainbow glanced around the room, still nervous about her decision. It seemed well-kempt, at least, Almost underused even, but the dark blue color scheme and well thought out interior may have been that way on purpose.
“Uhm, nice place?”
“Oh come now dear, you didn’t come here to make small talk I’m sure.”
“No, I guess not. I’m just sort of nervous…”
“I knew you’d take me up on my offer eventually. There’s nothing to worry about, I can assure you. Just sit down right here.” Chrysalis patted the sofa cushion next to her, and Rainbow reluctantly walked over and slumped down.
“So, how does this work exactly?”
“Well, I’ll cast the spell, which doesn’t take very long, you’ll fall asleep for a little while, and when you wake up all your abilities will be magically enhanced. Very uneventful really.”
“Ok… and I’ll just sleep on this…?”
“Yes, but don’t worry, nothing will happen to you while you sleep. Now stop fidgeting and look at my eyes.”
Rainbow reluctantly obeyed. The unicorn’s eyes were glowing a nearly blinding neon green. The pegasus instinctively looked away, but a hoof on her chin jerked her gaze back towards those eyes.
The longer Dash stared at them, the harsher the light seemed. She lost track of time quickly as she continued to stare, though she felt herself blink periodically. Suddenly a bright flash shot off of those green eyes, and the glow seemed to dim afterwards. Looking directly at them became easier, almost calming. The hue made her think of mint, or leaves, or grass…
Rainbow felt Lyra release her chin, and saw a beam of magic ooze off the horn and towards her own forehead. She couldn’t really see what it did, she was too focused on maintaining eye contact, but she couldn’t feel anything.
After what seemed like an eternity the unnatural glow faded from the pony’s eyes, and Rainbow’s eyelids suddenly felt very heavy. She tried to rub her eyes, blink, do something to make them feel less sore, but before she could really do anything she felt herself being leaned back onto to the couch, and the moment her head hit the cushion she fell asleep.
Dash woke up with a start, vague memories of her dream still flitting about her mind. Lots of wings, and flying and… she couldn’t quite grasp all the details.
“Ah, look who’s up. Sleep well?”
“I guess… How long was I out?”
“Oh, twenty, thirty minutes I suppose.”
Dash stopped rubbing her eyes and finally bothered to look around. It was the same house, same blue interior, and as she saw the cyan unicorn standing in front of her she suddenly remembered why she was there.
“D-did the spell work?”
“Oh everything worked perfectly.”
“I don’t feel any different…”
“Well, it’ll take a little for your body to acclimate to it. Go finish your workout and I’m sure you’ll notice a difference.”
Dash was too drowsy to wonder why Lyra would know about her workout not being done. She staggered over to her bag and then headed towards the door.
“Uhm, thanks I guess.”
“Oh no problem dear. Feel free to come back anytime; the spell won’t last forever. And when I say anytime I mean anytime.”
“Yeah. Right, thanks.”
Dash stumbled out of the door, Chrysalis waving listlessly until she was out of sight.
Hehe. Just a matter of time now.
She closed the door, making sure to lock it, and then went into the basement to finish the preparations for the next stage of her plan.
As soon as Dash left the house her drowsiness seemed to fade faster. She felt energetic, capable, dare I say peppy.
“Hmm, maybe I should go finish that workout…” She muttered to herself.
She made it to the park in no time at all, and thankfully the group of ponies who had been using the field earlier had left. She plopped her bag at one end of the track, but suddenly was hit with an idea. She rummaged through her duffel and found the anemometer. She set it up the and trotted to the other end of the track. Once she was there she took a deep breath, and zoomed down the lane and past the device, skidding to a halt when the dirt petered off.
She went back to check the readout, unsure of what to expect, but was slightly surprised when she got there.
“Huh.”
The wingpower reading was exactly the same as the last dozen times she had tried, but she wasn’t disappointed. It felt easier, for some reason. It felt like she had barely spent any effort at all to get that same result. For the rest of her workout that feeling persisted. Her target accuracy was the same, but it felt easier. Her track times were the same, but it felt easier. And after she had done everything, she wasn’t winded or tired at all.
She dabbed some sweat off her body with her towel, and decided to head into town for lunch.
The restaurant was mostly empty; Dash had arrived before the lunch rush. She sat down at a random table, and it was a rather uneventful affair until Twilight Sparkle spotted her.
Twilight spots her, and they have lunch together- Dash vaguely alludes to the magic she let be cast on her and twilight eventually notices her minty sclera – dash goes to the bathroom to check and doesn’t see anything wrong. Uncomfortable lunch? Or does dash come clean before rushing off in embarrassment?
Goes to work out again but the spell wears off, and so she goes to Lyras to get another dose.