//------------------------------// // investigation (1) // Story: Purity // by maxxxxxx //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash sped through the air try to work out for herself what in Equestria was going on, and what she should do next. I got to tell Twi, she always knows what to do. The pegasus slowed her flight, all but coming to a stop, her eyes heavy with dismay. No, I cant leave Fluttershy so close to the forest. She won't leave her animals. “Darn it, Fluttershy! Why do you pick times like these to be stubborn!” Dash exclaimed in frustration. She needed somepony to tell her what was going on, not only to convince Fluttershy, but also to quell her own worries. Isn’t there anypony else who knows about weird... Her thoughts came to an abrupt end as the answer exploded its way into the front of her mind. “Zecora!” She shouted excitedly as she deviated from her straight path back to Ponyville. Dash had a good sense of direction and remembered where the wise zebra's home was. This is perfect! she thought to herself as she descended in the general vicinity of Zecora's home. Not only does that zebra know as much about weird things a Twilight, but she also lives in the Everfree Forest! If anyone knows whats going on she will. Dash deftly dodged the trees branches as she penetrated the forest canopy, darting left and right, unfazed by the sudden change in G-force. Spreading her wings and giving a few short but powerful flaps, the pegasus gently landed on the ground. However upon her hooves touching the ground there was an audible, “crunch”. She looked down. The grass beneath her was mostly dead and dry, and the air was so hot on the forest floor, it was uncomfortable to breath. Another realization struck her, The forest was completely silent. An ominous silence, that made her fur stand on end and her heart rate pick up. Padding through the trees heading for the zebra's tree house, Dash offered herself some reassuring thoughts and thought back to her and her friend's previous adventures in the Everfree Forest. These thought calmed her down though she would never admit to being scared alone in the forest. After a time that felt only a little too long, she reached the tree house. Finally! She thought to herself as she bolted for the door. Even from the outside Dash could smell foreign herbs and spices, it smelled almost like Twilight's library when she was doing some sort of experiment, but more earthy. She knocked on the door. Once. Twice. Third time. Still no response. Dash, growing ever more unnerved, hovered over to her window. A quick peek in reviled that no pony was home. “Pony feathers!” She cursed, floating backwards away from the window. She positioned herself in front of the door, before giving herself a mighty thrust of her wings. The rainbow blur shot forward, smashing through the flimsy door with ease. However, Dash over estimated the speed needed to break the door and just kept going, right into an empty bookshelf on the other side of the tree. The impact let off a might 'Thud!'. After dizzily getting back on all fours she looked around for any sign of the zebra. However, upon taking in the entire room she found that not only was the zebra in question missing, but also most of her things! Dash meandered around the room, still slightly dizzy from the impact. “Zecora!” She called to no avail. Though the smell of recently made potions still hung in the air, many things were missing. There should have been a cauldron in the room, and there were always roots and herbs hanging on the ceiling to dry as well as pestle and mortars and some beakers that she got from twilight as a gift. However, none of those things were here, it had even looked like several books had been taken. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash's investigation was cut short as the ground began to shake, although lightly, beneath her hooves. The shaking was strong enough at least to tear Dash away from her thoughts, as the tremor caused a near by mask to fall, making the pegasus flinch. She brought herself off the floor, looking from left to right. She knew the tree would hold under this minor shaking but she instinctively felt that being off the ground was the best thing to do. After several moments that seemed to drag on for minutes, the quake subsided, allowing dash to feel comfortable returning to the ground. At this point she couldn’t wait for Twilight or go looking for Zecora, She had to get Fluttershy into town regardless of what her kind friend wanted. She ran through what was left of the door and took off into the sky, opting to go straight through the branches instead to avoiding them. Once above the trees she wasted no time in propelling herself straight towards Fluttershy's cabin. Between the unusual behavior of the animals, the strange events in the forest and Zecora's disappearance, Dash felt that something really bad was about to happen. With that in mind she zoomed to her destination. ********************************************************************************** “There there, don't be afraid, why don’t you just calm down and tell me whats wrong?” The pink maned pegasus fawned over a particularly unintimidating brown bear. The cowering bear took shelter in a cramped cave in her yard. The animal made a few whimpering sounds while Fluttershy nodded knowingly to the seemingly unintelligible gowning. “Well I certainly don’t know either. Don't worry, my friend went into the forest, she is really brave and strong!” Fluttershy encouraged the animal and herself. “I know that Dashie will be back any second to...” She trailed off, hearing a distinct and familiar humming sound approaching. Looking into the sky she sighted a fast approaching rainbow streak. “Ah, see? There she is now, I told you she could handle it!” Fluttershy's soft tone had become quite chipper upon seeing her oldest friend, confident that her worries were now over. Her head followed the blur as it quickly descended, then landing effortlessly in front of her. Before her was the usually confident looking Rainbow dash, however her face seemed more distraught than confident, but she wrote it off merely as it still being morning and unusually hot. Her friend was a lot of things but a morning pony was not one of them. Regardless she happily approached her friend. “So did you find out what was the matter?” She inquired calmly. After getting closer she could see that her friends mane had become a bit more tattered than it was earlier. Knowing Dashie, she was probably trying out some neat new tricks on her way here. That would explain why she looks a bit worn out. She thought to herself as she awaited a response. “Fluttershy.” The rainbow pegasus said coolly. Her expression unchanging. “Yes?” “Are you sure you don’t want to help Pinkie with the party?” Dash said calling back to what she had hoped Fluttershy would say yes to last time, but with much less optimism this time around. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at her friend. Why does she keep asking? I told her I have to take care of the frightened critters. She then shook her head before responding. “Sorry, but I can't. Just look as how worked up they all are.” She gestured to the cave with her front hoof. Rainbow Dash sighed. “I'm sorry Shy.” The rainbow pegasus closed her eyes. The now more nervous, Fluttershy took a step back looking towards the ground . “W-what do you...” Dash didn’t wait for her friend to finish questioning her before she lunged at her, the speed of her take off shearing grass and dirt from the ground. As soon as her friend was firmly in her grasp she quickly rose over a hundred feet before her shocked friend could protest. “Dash! What are you doing! Let me go!” The pale yellow mare struggled but Dash was strong and determined. “I’m sorry Fluttershy, its for your own good.” She took off towards Ponyville, somewhat encumbered and slowed by her mildly heavy and panicked captive. *********************************************************************************** After the rushed flight Rainbows forelegs and wings were beyond a little sore, she even had a few bruises from Fluttershy's struggling. She was extremely relieved to be back home, though she knew if she let the frantic pony go now she would run back home and Dash was not up to going through marenapping her again. She scanned the town looking for someone to help her out when the perfect pony came bouncing out of the local pastry shop. Ah-ha! Rainbow Dash smirked as she flew down enlist the help of the most energetic pony in Equestria. “Ay pinkie!” She said as she landed with only three unoccupied hooves, sliding towards Pinkie pie while supporting Fluttershy off the ground with only one hoof. Though Fluttershy was anything but thrilled by this feat. “Ooh, are you guys playing tag!?” The exited earth pony bounced in a circle around the two, Never breaking her nearly indestructible smile. “Can I play?” Dash smiled slyly. “Ya, of course you can play, but Fluttershy really wore me out. The object of the game is to keep Shy here as far away from base as possible.” By this point her smile had gotten even bigger, feeling very proud of how clever she was. Meanwhile Fluttershy, still suspended in Dashes hoof was scared where this was going. “Wow sounds like fun!”-Pinkie squeaked in excitement- “So where is base?” “Well I'm glad you asked! In fact, base is Shy's house!” Upon hearing this Fluttershy face hooffed. “Dash I need to get back to my animals!” She tried her best to sound angry but it didn't come out with the effect she wanted it to have. Partially because she was starting to feel that something must have really scared Dash when she went into the forest. “Pinkie, I need you to promise, pinkie promise that you will keep her in the center of town.” “What do I get if I do?” Pinkie said moving her hoof down her chin as if she had an invisible mustache. Dash was slightly taken aback by the demand, She didn't expect to have to bribe Pinkie Pie . She half rolled her eyes, stopping at the top, leaving her looking up,looking contemplative for a moment. “If you win I will do anything you ask for an entire day!” Though she may regret it later , it was more than worth it to keep her friends safe Pinkie looked uninterested for a moment. “Ummm, Well...” She started sounding as though she would reject the offer. “Okay!” She finished excitedly. Dash nodded, dropping Fluttershy, then taking off for the library. She really didn’t have time for the whole, "cupcake in the eye", thing. What she had to worry about now was getting to Twilight. So Dash flew towards the library, despite her soreness hoping that this would be the end of it. “Twilight can fix it. She can do anything!” said Rainbow Dash, hoping over and over again in her head that this would be the case.