"...mom?"
Rainbow's voice wavered, as did her soul. Taking a hoof step forward and two steps back, her mind begins to cloud with scenarios of how this played out. Her special talent for speed did nothing to pace her panicking mind and put her heart at ease as her blood pressure rises and her breathing intensifies. Pumping blood so hard that she could hear her own heartbeat through the veins on the back of her ears.
"MOM!!!"
Galloping to the corpse of her mother, she grinds her hooves to a halt. Scooping up her remains into her tuff in a vague attempt of trying to fix what cannot be repaired,
"Nononono NO!!!" Her voice cracked and the tears began to stream down her face, "Yuta! YUTA!!!"
From the sidelines, Yuta had already assessed the situation, and as how much it saddens his heart, even he knows there was nothing he could do for the poor mare. Walking over, Rika took the opportunity to gently placed Sandbar down from her hand beside his two friends before quickly returning to Yuta's side.
"Yuta, please!!" She begged, crawling pathetically to Yuta's feet. "L-like how you healed my eye back at the school!! Please, my mom. S-she *Hic* She's... Please, do something Anything!! I'll accept any vow you want of me! I'll pay any price!! PLEASE!!!"
Never had Yona, Smolder, or Sandbar seen the ever prideful, ever self-assured Rainbow Dash acting like this. Yuta looked down to meet her gaze, the small glimmers of light dancing around in the eyes of Rainbow clung to hope that maybe, just maybe, Yuta could reverse her injuries. Bring back her mother from the dead.
"I'm sorry, Rainbow." Yuta responded with a heavy but somber tone, something Rainbow was quite sure was coming but still wasn't prepared for it. "There's only so much my Reversed Cursed Technique can do, much less bring your mother back."
Rainbow's face contorts in denial, rejecting the notion that this is the end.
"Twilight!! Where are you!?! Please! Anypony!! ANYCREATURE!!! Please save her!!!"
Yuta crouched down unto one knee, matching Dash at eye level. Yuta could see that her eyes were really red and puffy, tears and saliva were streaming down her eyes and nostrils, stretching out a hand to comfort her, Yuta softens his tone.
Although being desensitised to such trauma, it didn't strip away Yuta of his empathy.
"Rainbow, I-"
Rainbow smacks it away with a hoof.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!!" Dash yelled out through hoarse chokes and heavy sniffles.
Yuta lets his hand hang in the air for a moment, before letting it droop to his side. Standing back up, he decides it's best to let Rainbow grieve for a bit. Just as he was about to walk away, Rainbow scrubbed her hoof against the dirt, her tear ridden face shook for a moment, all while still hanging her head in sorrow.
"where's my dad?" Dash shuffles to her hooves, "Where's my DAD!?"
She quickly turns her gaze to meet the others, none dare to meet her intensity. All but one, Sandbar. His guilt-ridden look was all the confirmation Dash needed to crumble, her knees buckled, and her legs gave out. Her breaths were quick, uneven, and panicked. Lips quivering, face paler than the desaturated blue sky. Light sources suddenly felt as they were brighter than usual, Dash's head begun to sway. And before long, she blacked out.
On the outside, Rainbow's body gave out, Smolder scrunched her face and took a small leap towards her professor. "Rainbow Dash!!" spreading her wings on instinct, they were quick to retract thanks to the sharp pain coursing through them. Yuta took it upon himself to step up and catch Rainbow before she collapsed onto the hard ground, wasting no time to press his fingers lightly on her neck to check her pulse and breathing.
"She passed out." Yuta explained, "Most likely from shock." Picking her up, he cradles her in his arms, ensuring her body is in a comfortable position. "Let's regroup with the princess."
As they made their way towards the princess, Yuta couldn't help but notice the heaviness of the air between himself and the little creatures he has come to partner up with, it's tough, even for someone like him. Those who chose to do this profession as a sorcerer, those that survive and exorcise curses by a hair, and the upper echelon that excel in the art of shamanism. For most, only half of the battle is over when defeating a curse. The other is the sad reality and backlash of the results after. Nevertheless. It's important to follow the right procedures and be compassionate.
"... So that's what happened?"
Yuta nods, "That's the rundown from what I've gathered from the students." Taking a seat, he slung his carrier next to the table. "Things are going to get harder from here on out."
Twilight was raised a brow. "What do you mean by this?"
"I don't know if you can feel it, but the general cursed energy levels in Cloudsdale- No, the entire continent, has risen higher than ever since I've been here. Maybe even more as compared to back home. It must be related to the explosion that happened earlier today, even now, it looked to have caused some physical changes with the colours around us. Perhaps you know something about this discoloration?"
Twilight agreed with Yuta, the gray-ness of everything is hard to ignore. Putting a hoof to her chin, she rummaged through her mind on any topic related to the subject. Then, one came to mind.
"Hope Hollow..."
"...Sorry?" Yuta seemed perplexed by the mention of the town.
"There's a festival in this town called Hope Hollow, where the colours were literally drained from the town. The result was the city taking on a mostly gray hue. That said, in the end. My friends and I, with the aid of the ponies in the town, helped inspire and bring back the colour into the Hope Hollow. Albeit minimal, the connection via emotions and colour seemed prominent enough that it is worth mentioning."
"Hmm..." Yuta scrunched his face in deep concentration. "Princess, do you feel negative as of late?"
"I can't say I do. Although, I can't say the same for the rest of my little ponies. They don't speak it, but ever since we came back, I can feel a hint of... how should I put this... resentment? No, no. Annoyance...?"
"They managed to spread their influence... like what you said about Hope Hollow. I suspect they somehow reverse engineered some mechanism in Cloudsdale to spread and amplify the negativity of emotions."
"The Rainbow Factory." Twilight cuts.
"It doesn't matter now, since the Rainbow Factory you mentioned was wiped off the face of the map along with a nearly the entirety of Cloudsdale. Our priority should be focusing on eliminating the threat before the second phase of rebuilding what was lost. But I think we should leave it at that for now. A lot has happened today, and I believe we all need some rest. Especially Rainbow. You should too, princess." Yuta got up with his weapon in hand. "I'll take my leave. Rest well, Princess."
Walking over to the door, Yuta opened it gently, and closed it behind him. Twilight quickly slumped into her chair, her exhaustion finally catching up to her from the entire day. Nothing came from her mouth, but a single tear rolled down her furry cheek.