//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: A rainbows burden // by tyion //------------------------------// Dash started to regain consciousness. She could feel a bed underneath her, and a soft pillow below her head. A familiar smell was in the air. It was like one of Rarity’s conditioners. She slowly opened up her eyes, and indeed Rarity was sitting on a chair next to her bed. "Oh darling, you’re finally awake!" she said while hugging Dash tightly. Dash hurt all over, and the hug, while appreciated, wasn’t helping "Ouw, ouch" were the only words Dash could spit out. "Oh my, I am so sorry. I think I got lost in the moment there. Are you feeling any better?" "Now that I'm released from your embrace, yes I do, but don’t mind me. Where is Fluttershy?" Rarity didn't respond but simply pointed to the bed next to Dash. "She’s stable, for now" the unicorn said, "The doctors ran a couple of tests and took some of her and Trixie’s blood." she added. Dash bit down on her lips, it was painful to see Fluttershy like this. She was laying on a white bed, wired to many devices that kept track of her heartbeat. "It is a horrible sight, isn't it?" Rarity said. Dash responded with a nod. Some time passed before a Doctor came in, carrying some sheets in his hooves. "Do you know what the matter is, doctor?" Rarity asked him as he entered the room. "We are not entirely sure right now, we never encountered a poison like this. We are unsure what to do against it. The poison’s damage to the organs are severe. It seems to slow down the heart, which leads to a lack of oxygen." "Uhm, and that means?" Dash asked him. The doctor sighed. "If we don’t find a cure, and fast, the victims are not going to recover and, eventually, die." Dash repeated the sentence in her head at least a thousand times, but she still couldn't believe what she just heard. "Fluttershy might ... die?!" She couldn't believe it. Her lifelong friend may end up dying... "Is there nothing we can do?" Rarity asked with a blurry voice. "I am afraid not, at least not right now" The Doc said before leaving the room. Two shocked ponies remained behind. The long silence was interrupted by a familiar voice. "Is this the room?" Twilight asked while she was walking inside, the other three following close behind her. Their expressions abruptly changed when they saw Fluttershy and Trixie laying unconscious in their beds. "Ah, what in tarnation happened?" Applejack asked Dash. "Hey Dash, Ah´m talkin’ to ya. Are ya even listening?" She added while walking towards the her. It was Pinkie’s turn to try and get her attention. "Dashie, Dashie, Dashie, Dashie, Dashie, Dashie, Dashie, Dashie, Dashie, Dashie!" Still no response from Rainbow Dash. "She is going to die ..." another voice said. Everypony looked towards the window where the voice was coming from. "If we can't find a cure, she wont be able to survive..." Rarity sobbed out. "What’s going on now?" Twilight asked "She’s going to die, Twilight, and I can’t do anything about it...” Dash screamed. She took a deep breath, calming herself before continuing. “The poison is going to kill her, and they don't know how to cure it. Hell, they don't even know why she has that poison inside her in the first place." Dash was now standing, tears streaming down her face. "Oh Dashie, you always expect the worst." Pinkie said with a cute smile, while trying to fight back the tears that were trying to escape her wet eyes. "I bet there is something we can do to prevent that... Isn’t that right, Twilight?" the pink pony added. "Well, I'm not sure, I have no information about that poison. But I’ll send a letter to Princess Celestia as fast as possible. She’ll know what to do for sure!" Twilight responded with a little grin on her face. "Yea, Ah´m sure our princess knows what to do" Applejack added, and all of them started to get more optimistic about this whole situation. ============== Twilight made her way back into her library. She had some of Fluttershy’s and Trixie’s blood with her, so she could examine and study it herself. As soon as she entered her library she called for her assistant. "Spike, I need you to take a letter." Twilight heard his footsteps while he was walking down to the entrance hall, rubbing his eyes. "Uhm, okay Twilight," Spike said while taking out a scroll and a quill. Twilight started to dictate; Dear Princess Celestia, I´m afraid that we have a huge problem in Ponyville. One of our friends, the bearer of the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy and another pony named Trixie have intoxicated themselves with an until now unknown poison. The poisons damage to the vital organs are severe and will likely cause death if we can't find a cure soon. We are in desperate need of your wisdom. I’ll eagerly await your response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. With those words being said, Spike exhaled and burned down the letter, sending it to Canterlot. ==================== Celestia had finished reading the letter that just appeared in front of her and started to make herself out of the castle. She took place inside of the royal chariot and told the pegasi to head towards Ponyville. ===================== Twilight yawned while she was looking out of her window. The moon was starting to take over. She spend the whole evening studying the poison but didn't accomplish much. No matter what she tried, magic, chemistry, nothing seemed to separate the poison from the blood. "Oh, I hope Celestia knows what to do. I'm stuck here," Twilight said while rubbing her head. Suddenly there was a knocking at the door. "Spike!" she called out, but when there were no footsteps or the usual moaning to be heard. She stood up to answer the door herself. "Number 1 assistant for sure." She said sarcastically. She sighed and opened up the front door. "Hello, my faithful student," Celestia said when the door before her opened up. "Oh! Princess, I thought you would send a letter first, but this is even better! I tried to solve the problem myself but I think this exceeds my knowledge about antidotes ... and magic" Twilight said with a grin on her face. "Let’s go." The princess said. There was no emotion in her voice and Twilight had a bad feeling about this. She caught up with Celestia and walked alongside her to the hospital. The whole way there were no words exchanged between the two ponies. Twilight wasn't in the mood to talk anyway. She thought about the consequences if Celestia wont be able to cure the poison. She tried to banish those thoughts, but they kept coming back. They walked through a corridor in the relatively empty hospital. At this time of the day, most of the ponies were at home. They entered the room where Fluttershy and Trixie were. To their surprise another pony was inside as well. It was Dash, sitting silently beside Fluttershy. Dash looked up and her eyes met with those from the princess. Suddenly all of her tiredness vanished away. "I'm so glad you are here!" she said, sounding happy for the first time since this whole thing started. Celestia simply nodded and walked closer to Trixie. Her horn started glowing for a brief moment, her expression turned from her usual into a smile. Dash’s and Twilight’s faces lighted up when they saw Celestia smile. ‘She can cure it!’ They both thought. The sun princess stepped back and her horn lit up again this time in a blinding light. A magical orb formed above Trixie and a purple texture was slowly being drained out of her body. The whole procedure took around ten minutes. When the last bit of poison got sealed into the orb, Trixie suddenly let out a loud gasp, before falling into unconsciousness again. "She isn't safe yet. I needed to drag out a lot of her blood to get all of the poison out. She needs some blood donated from another unicorn right away." Twilight simply nodded. "I understand. I’ll go and find a nurse so the transfusion can begin as fast as possible." She stepped out of the room to make her way into the entrance hall. "Well then, lets continue" Celestia said and walked next to Fluttershy. Dash stepped aside to make place for her. The alicorn closed her eyes and her horn started to glow again. Dash watched with a smile on her face, happy that her friend is going to be fine in just a matter of time. Dash was expecting that she was just going to drag out the poison like she did with Trixie. But this time something was different. Her horn already glowed for nearly a minute and no orb had formed yet. "Is something wrong?" Dash asked, trying hard not to sound impatient or unthankful. "I.. I can't do anything for her..." Celestia responded. Her horn stopped glowing. Dash’s smile faded. "What, what do you mean? You MUST be able to cure her!" She was desperate right now. If the princess couldn’t help Fluttershy, no one could. The sun goddess didn't respond. Her head was lowered. She wasn't able to look at Dash. "What the hell do you mean? You’re the most powerful being in Equestria! You can lift the freaking sun!” She shouted. “You... you must be able to save her, you must, you must, you must..." Dash’s voice was starting to fade. Tears were streaming down her face and she was on her knees right now, directly in front of the princess. Celestia did everything to avoid her gaze. "I'm so sorry," she simply said. "She inhaled too much poison. The concentration where she was must have been way higher. I can't withdraw the poison without taking away too much blood. There is nothing I can do" "Then just take my blood! Take as much as you need, but please just save her." Dash sobbed out. "I'm afraid that's not possible, we are not talking about small amounts like with Trixie. Nearly half of her entire bloodstream is intoxicated. I'm really sorry," Those were the last words Dash heard. She couldn't believe it. Dash was sitting on the ground, panting heavily. So much emotions wanted to just burst out of her, agony, sadness, anger, and so much more. She just started to scream as loud as she could, while hitting her head against the wall several times. The blood dropping from her forehead mixed up with her tears she shed and the only thing that ran through her mind was the question "What is she going to do now?"