//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Rainbow in the Dark // Story: The Gods of Chaos // by SonofaTimePony //------------------------------// Fluttershy looked confused at first, then frightened. "You...you don't even remember your name?" She spoke in a very motherly tone, like she was concerned for me. "N-no..." I muttered. "I...I don't..." "Well," said the pony gently, "can you at least remember where you're from?" I went wide-eyed an instant later as I realized that no, I did not, in fact, know where I was even from. As I wracked my brain trying to find any bit of information regarding this, I found myself drawing blanks on other things, too. All of my memories before waking up in the woods this morning were all gone. Nothing. Just emptiness. I had no idea who I was, where I was from, or how I even ended up in the forest. Needless to say, I started panicking. "No, I don't know," I said frantically. "I can't remember anything! Who am I?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Startled by my sudden outburst, Fluttershy let out a squeal and fled from my tent faster than I thought anything her size could move. I hardly noticed, though, as my mind kicked into full panic mode and I started hyperventilating. The air was becoming stagnant fast and, half crazed, I crawled out of my tent as fast as I could to try to get some fresh air. A sudden blow to the head stopped my efforts, though. Stars burst behind my eyes as I fell back, hard, onto the ground. My vision was hazy and I saw rainbows floating above me in the darkness as I passed out. ~~~.....~~~ I'm floating Darkness surrounds me I feel peaceful The dark is a part of me I am the darkness I float along The darkness protects me Darkness surrounds me Loyalty pierces the veil ~~~.....~~~ I could hear noises coming from somewhere. It sounded like someone having a conversation. It all sounded muffled to me, like it was coming through water to get to my ears. I couldn't place the voice, but it sounded positively ecstatic and...scholarly? It was definitely very enthused about something. It was interrupted a moment later by another voice, this one sounding fierce and almost angry. The two voices seemed to be arguing over something, but none of their words came through. I felt sunlight in my eyes. I groaned and tried to roll over to try to get a little more sleep. Big mistake. Pain lanced through my head the instant I tried to move it. I gave a small shout and sucked in a sharp breath. I scrunched my eyes closed as my head throbbed with pain. Slowly and deeply I began breathing, focusing my mind on breathing and nothing else. The throbbing began to lessen and after a moment it was gone altogether. Breathing a small sigh of relief, I gingerly opened my eyes, expecting more pain. "Ah, fuck," I muttered as I lifted a hand up to block the sun beaming straight into my eyes. I was right to expect pain. Everything seemed to be way overly bright to me and burned into my eyes. I quickly shut them again. "See, I told you that you hurt it," said the scholarly voice. Apparently my hearing was getting better because I could hear the voices again, but clearly enough that I could make out what was being said. The first voice, the scholarly one, sounded feminine. "How do you know?" said the fierce-sounding voice, also slightly feminine. "For all you know, that's how it acts normally." "Rainbow Dash, you gave it a concussion!" shouted the first voice. "Don't try to say you didn't, because anyone can tell!" "Hey, I thought it was trying to attack Fluttershy!" argued the second voice. "If i hadn't kicked it, who knows what it could have done to her!" "'It' has a name you know," I said. Both voices stopped arguing and I could feel their gazes turn to me. "Oh, yeah?" questioned the angry voice. "Just what is it?" "As soon as I know, I'll tell you," I said. I heard the angry girl snort. "Just what the hay are you, anyway?!" she yelled. I gasped and clasped my hands over my ears as the sudden loud noise sent another piercing pain through my head. "Please, not so loud," I pleaded, rubbing my temples to ease the pain. Something she said caught my attention. "And what do you mean, what am I?" "Rainbow, that's enough," said the other woman scoldingly. "You've already caused this poor creature enough pain already. Here, let me help you with that." I guess that last sentence was directed at me because I felt a warmth around my head. I let out a sigh of instant relief as the pain faded almost immediately. It didn't stop there, though. The warmth began to shift around, finding its way to my eyes and seemed to "soak" into them. Again, instant relief. "There, you should be able to open your eyes now." "Ah, thanks," I uttered. Once again I gingerly began to open my eyes, but this time I met with only a little pain. The room I was in was small, but it was anything from ordinary. For starters, birdhouses hung from the ceiling in several places and birds' nests sat in the rafters. Vines curled along the wooden support beams above me. I briefly thought that whoever lived here must have a huge affinity for nature. Far past the foot of my bed I spied the railings to a set of stairs. A few feet away on the wall to my left was a large fireplace whose mantle was decorated with flowers and a few picture frames. A quick glance to my right showed a large bookcase right next to the bed. A lantern sat on a little desk area built into the bookcase. Taking in the room before me, my eyes eventually settled on the two people who had been talking to each other and to me. Only they weren't people. They were ponies, but they were very different from Fluttershy. One of them was a light lavender colour with a mane coloured so dark violet that it almost looked blue. Two streaks were added into her mane, a brighter violet and a pink colour. She was looking at me intently with large purple eyes as I studied her in return. The other pony sported a teal-blue coat with rainbow coloured hair. I briefly wondered how anyone's hair could be like that, but then I figured that it was probably dyed. She was glaring at me with magenta eyes. She looked angry. No, not quite angry. She looked defensive. I could see her muscles tensing as I looked her over, like she was waiting to pounce on me should I make one wrong move. However, the things that intrigued me the most weren't their odd mane and tail colours. What caught my attention most of all was on the head of the violet pony and the back of the teal pony, namely a horn and a pair of wings. I was looking dead at a purple unicorn and a blue pegasus.