//------------------------------// // Ch. 4 Branching Explanations // Story: Who's Afraid of a Rainbow? // by Root Strider //------------------------------// Root Strider’s eyes snapped open as he let out a small gasp. He was lying on Zecora’s bed. The only light came from under a curtain that separated him from the front room. He let out a small sigh. “What am I going to do now?” he quietly asked himself. He heard muffled sounds from the front room. The rain drowned out most of what was being said, but he managed to make out “Heard… check… for me… shy?” He shut his eyes and pretended to sleep just as a pony slipped past the curtain. He strained his ears, but he couldn't hear the sound of hooves. He cracked one eye open and saw a yellow pegasus slowly floating towards the bed. He quickly shut his eye, but it didn't seem like she noticed. “Oh, my, I guess he’s still out,” A tiny voice whispered from above him. He felt the tiniest bit of pressure under one of his eyes and a small sting. It took all of his control to continue his charade. The pressure moved from his eye up to his hair in a soft continuous motion. Root Strider’s mind was racing. Oh Celestia’s great ball of fire, she thinks I’m still asleep and she’s stroking my hair. What do I do!? He felt a familiar jolt of pain and a small gasp from the pegasus. “A bump? Oh no.” As she began to part his hair, Root Strider let out a small groan and opened his eyes, moving his head away from her hooves. A let out a loud “Oof!” as the Pegasus gave a small squeak, her wings snapped shut, and she fell on him. Hearing this, five ponies and a zebra moved into the room. With a blush, the yellow pony got off him and rejoined the group of ponies staring at him, expectantly. He looked back at them in confusion, “What?” Five ponies spoke at once. “Why were you taking carrots from Carrot Top’s garden?” “What were you doing to Fluttershy!?” “Why were ya skulkin’ around at night instead ah’ using the market like a normal pony?” “Hi, I just met you, and this is crazy, but I’m Pinkie, so friendship maybe?” “Where did you get the fabric to make this lovely cloak?” He was caught off guard by all the questions hurled at him at once. He tumbled backwards off the bed. As he got up, he groaned, “One question at a time, please. I just woke up.” As the mares quieted down, Fluttershy took a small step forward, and at just above a whisper stammered, “Umm, what’s the bump on your forehead?” “What’s my what?” Root Strider gingerly poked a spot on his forehead that was covered by his messy hair. “Oh, that’s nothing. I must’ve gotten it when I was running from the timber wolves.” “Oh my, Zecora didn’t say anything about that when she looked you over and put you to bed. I usually just work with animals, but I could try to help, if you want.” “NO! No, it’s fine, I mean, it’s just a little bump, nothing to worry about,” He said quickly, maybe a little too quickly. With a small cough, Root Strider’ attention was caught by the purple unicorn. “So, why were you in Carrot Top’s garden last night? “I was buying carrots for carrot soup.” “Soup? All of this happened over soup?” “I know, kind of silly isn’t it? I-” He was cut off by his stomach letting out an almighty roar. With a blush, he said, “I guess I haven’t eaten since this morning.” Rarity gave a small chuckle, “Well, I guess I shall remedy that, Zecora, could I borrow your kitchen, and maybe some help?” “I would be happy to Rarity, but I admit, you are a better cook than me,” She replied as they headed out of the bedroom. “So,” Root Strider said as he looked at the remaining ponies, “My name is Root Strider, I know Zecora, but I don’t think I know who you all are.” “Hold on a minute! You haven’t answered our questions! How do you know Zecora!? Why are you skulking around Ponyville at night!? How come nopony knows you!? What were you doing to Fluttershy!?” With each question, Rainbow Dash’s voice grew louder and louder. Root Strider flinched backwards. “Now hold yer horses there Dash, he saved ya from the timber wolves.” Root Strider held up a hoof for silence, and eventually got it. “Alright, I’ll answer your questions as best I can, but for each one I answer, I get to ask one, deal?” He looked to each of the mares as they nodded. “Alright, first question, I met Zecora when we were both foals. You could say I sort of adopted her and her parents as my family. We traveled together for a few years, and then I struck it out on my own. I only recently got back in touch with her. My turn, who are all of you?” “I’m Twilight Sparkle, that’s Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and in the other room is Rarity.” “Why do you go around all sneaky-sneaky at night instead of just walking in and saying ‘hi’?” Pinkie interrupted Twilight as she was about to ask her question. “Well, Pinkie, is it? I was working up to it. I have been traveling for a long time and I wanted some peace and quiet to settle in. I heard from Zecora that there is a certain excitable, pink pony who likes to throw parties for new ponies,” He said with a knowing look. Pinkie gave a sheepish grin; she had been planning a party ever since Twilight told her about him. “Okay, why were you all headed to Zecora’s this late? I know a least you know how dangerous it is at night.” “We were looking for you,” Pinkie bounced, “Well, not YOU you; we didn’t know you would be here. Rarity said that your cloak was made of fabric that comes from zebra lands, and Zecora is the only zebra we knew, so we came to see her, but then we heard howling and Fluttershy got scared and then it started raining, and when we got here Zecora told us you had gone to get Dashie so we waited and waited, and then you got here, and we were excited and then scared because you passed out and then-” KRACK-KABOOM! Root Strider laughed as the thunder shocked Pinkie into drawing a large breath of air. “I get it,” Root Strider chuckled, “Can I have my cloak back? It was a gift, and it’s important to me.” “Sure, here you are,” Twilight floated the neatly folded cloak onto the bed. As Root Strider leaned over the bed, Applejack leapt on top of him, pinning him to the bed with a yelp. “Ah don’t know what yer hidin’, but I aim tah find out,” Applejack parted his hair. “What the…?” With a sudden jerk, Applejack was tossed off Root Strider and onto the other ponies. Root Strider grabbed his cloak in his mouth and sprinted out. There was a clattering of pots and Rarity and Zecora rushed in. “Oh my, what happened?” Rainbow Dash was the first to extricate herself from the mess of ponies on the floor. She rocketed out the door, chasing after him. “Applejack! What did you do that for? Now he’s run off,” Twilight complained, “I had more questions for him.” “I’m sorry Twilight, but he was fibbin’, and I wanted to know what he was hiding.” “Ugh,” Twilight sighed, “Oh well, what was he hiding then?” “Well, it was hard tah tell, him squirmin’ like a worm on a hook an all, but it looked like a nub, like a broken horn.” “But, that shouldn’t be possible. A unicorn’s innate magic protects the horn,” Twilight said, a hoof coming up to her chin in thought. “That’s why flicking a unicorn’s horn disrupts the magic. It protects the horn first, and then channels magical energies. " She began to pace, "I guess maybe if he was still a foal, and had a strong burst of magic, there would be a fragile period as the energies overload the horn, but that rarely happens and we have treatments for when it does happen. If left untreated, the magic would become infected and unusable, like a cracked hoof that’s been left to fester. It’s not plausible he’s a unicorn.” “It is true; he was a unicorn, before the accident which cost him his horn.” Zecora said softly. Fluttershy let out a small, “eep. Is there anything we can do to help him?” “Yeah, Twilight, you can do some of your super-duper awesome-tastic magic to fix him, right?” “I’m afraid it isn’t that easy, Pinkie. His magic is all but gone, and what’s there isn’t usable; it has gone untreated for too long. Anyways, we should go after him. It's dangerous out there.” Zecora coughed to get their attention, “Do not run off on hoof and wing, for you do not know everything. Let Rainbow Dash follow his trail, while I tell you this colt’s tale.”