• Published 27th Sep 2011
  • 4,363 Views, 74 Comments

A rainbows burden - tyion



Fluttershy and Trixie get intoxicated with an unknown poison. Is there a way to cure them?

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Chapter 8

"All right Pinkie, you left me clueless long enough. Why do you need me?" Dash asked in an annoyed tone.

"To bake! That's what I told you!" Pinkie simply replied without bothering to look back at the pegasus she was currently dragging behind her.

"Since when do you need help baking?"

"Oh Dashie, you really think I'm that stupid?"

"No, you're not stupid, you're just," she hesitated for a second to think of an appropriate word, "weird"

"Whatever. You see, I saw how uncomfortable you are around Fluttershy since she woke up. So I assume that you wanna confess to her," Pinkie said the following while twinkling with one of her eyes, "whatever you want to confess her"

Dash thought about what Pinkie just said, and it made quite a lot of sense. She concluded that Pinkie was kind of right.

"I could really use a hoof with all that emotional stuff, but how is baking going to help me?"

"Well, duh, isn't it obvious? What says 'I like you' more than a hoof-made cake?"

"That's a stupid idea, Pinkie!"

"Oh, you have a better one?" Pinkie asked in a sarcastic tone.

Dash took a long breath, preparing to answer Pinkies question, but nothing came to her mind.

"Fine," she conceded

"To the bakery then!" Pinkie joyfully announced.

=============

In the meantime Fluttershy and Rarity were back in the living room of Twilight's house. The bath they took wasn't exactly what Rarity would call luxurious but as long as they could spend time together, she was happy.

Rarity was drying Fluttershy's mane, when the pegasus began to speak up.

"Rarity?"

"Yes, sweety?" the white unicorn replied casually.

"Did you guys worry about me?"

"Well of course we all were worried sick!"

"Everypony?" she stammered

"Yes, no exceptions"

"Okay," Fluttershy silently replied

"Why are you asking?" Rarity asked her

"But promise not to tell anypony"

"Pinkie Pie swear!" Rarity promised with a smile

"I think Dash might hate me," the yellow pegasus sobbed out

"Why ever would you think that, darling?"

"She always has to save me because I'm too weak to accomplish anything on my own. I'm just a burden to her," Fluttershy responded with an unsteady voice.

"You really are oblivious, aren't you? She does not hate you, dear." Rarity assured her friend with an comforting smile. "She does the opposite," Rarity added under her breath.

"Thank you, Rarity. I hope your right"


======

"Hey Dashie?" Pinkie panted out while lying on the ground of the bakery.

"Yea?" Dash was lying next to the pink pony, also pumped out.

"Did you get even worse at this?" Pinkie asked while inspecting the room around

her. The kitchen was a single mess. The walls were full of flour, the ground was filled with dough and the two ponies were covered in cream and chocolate chips.

"Seems like it," Dash replied while standing up. "Why do I have to bake it anyway? Can you just make me one?"

"That wouldn't work, Dashie! You have to do it in order for it to come from your

heart."

"No one has to know that you make it; it wont make a difference" Dash tried to

argue with her.

"It will! Now get back to work!" Pinkie commanded

"But....ugh, fine," she let out a sigh and made her way back towards the oven.

======================

Unfortunately, Dash had the unique ability to screw up every single baking attempt, even though Pinkie gave her step-by-step instructions.The moon was already starting to take over, when Dash gave it a last try before calling it a day.

"Ok, now swirl the bowl slowly" Pinkie instructed, pronouncing the last word

purposely louder.

"Ok," Dash simply replied, forcing every bit of concentration she could spare into

her hooves, which were holding a mixer. Dash started to slowly mix the bowl which contained the ingredients.

"So far so good. Stop now and put it in the oven!" Pinkie commanded.

After Dash successfully did was she was told to, Pinkie suddenly screamed out in joy. "You did it! Finally! I knew you could do it, sooner or later!"

"Yea about time" Dash said and let out a yawn which made her realize how tired she actually was. It was nearly night and it had been quite a long day. Pinkie let out a yawn as well, indicating that she was ready to call it a day too.

"Lets get this cleaned up, Pinkie" Dash suggested, Pinkie nodded and began to

sing some random strophes of what sounded like a cleaning up song. Dash was annoyed by it at first, but soon found herself humming along the catchy tune. The kitchen was cleared up in no time and the cake was baked.

"Okie Dokie, were finished!" Pinkie announced in her usual, jubilant voice.

"You wanna stay at my place for the night? We can have so much fun. We could stay awake, watch horror movies, tell stories, play games..."

The colourful pegasus learned to shut down whenever Pinkie started her talking marathon; she was able to speak throughout hours without needing to catch her breath.

"...and then we can go to Twilight's house together tomorrow. There you can talk to Fluttershy and gave her the cake you made"

Dash gulped when she heard the last sentence. "Do I really need to do that? Everything is working just fine right now. Why risk anything?" Dash asked, unsure what she should do.

"Dashie, of course you have to! Locking up your feelings can lead to bad things, and we don't want these bad things to happen!" Pinkie replied.

The pegasus nodded. She was right. Even though Pinkie might seem a little crazy sometimes, she is smarter than most of the ponies thought.

They both made their way up to Pinkies room. Dash loved it there. It was decorated in various varieties of pink, balloons and streamers lying around everywhere. The room was messy, yet charming in its own way.

Trotting inside, Dash was instantly greeted by Gummy, who bit into her tail; fortunately the little alligator did not posses any teeth.

Pinkie immediately jumped onto her bed, lying down for a bit she turned around to face Dash.

"So, you have any Idea how you're gonna tell her?" Pinkie asked

"Uhm I thought I just have to give her the cake," Dash replied, slightly confused at the question

"It's not that easy, silly! You also have to tell her,"

"That too?" She let out a sigh in frustration.

"And, what are you gonna say?"

"No idea, I'll just think of something tomorrow," Dash replied with a shrug

"No, no, no. You gotta plan things like this in advance. I'll help you!" Pinkie exclaimed, clapping her hooves together in anticipation.

"How are you going to help me?"

"We will just act like I'm Dash and your Fluttershy," Pinkie suggested.

"I don't think that would help, besides wouldn't make more sense if I would be Dash?"

"Why is that?" Pinkie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe because I am Dash?"

"Oh yea... Whatever! You're Dash and I'm Fluttershy now! Go ahead confess your love to me."

Dash wanted to protest but she knew that Pinkie probably wouldn't give up until she got her will anyway. So she decided to play along.

"Fluttershy, I gotta tell you something" Dash started

"What is it, my love?" Pinkie said, doing a horrible job at imitating Fluttershy's voice.

"That won't work Pinkie" Dash concluded as she rubbed her head with one of her hooves. "Let's just get some sleep and I'll think of something to say when the time is due." Dash said while letting herself fall onto the mattress next to Pinkies bed

"But..." Pinkie tried to reason with her friend

"No buts, Pinkie. Let's get some rest. G'night."

"G'night," Pinkie replied with the slightest bit of disappointment in her voice.


====

Over at the library, Rarity and Fluttershy were about to call it a day as well, when suddenly Twilight's voice was to be heard.

"You sure you want to leave already?"

"Yes, Trixie is sure. There is nothing to do for me here," Trixie explained while heading towards the door.

"You could just settle down somewhere in Ponyville," Twilight suggested

"I'm afraid that's nothing for Trixie; she is a showmare, and Trixie just can't

settle down anywhere for long. Besides she couldn't disappoint her loyal fans out there, could she?" Trixie stated with a smirk

"No, of course not," Twilight snickered

"Trixie appreciates your offer of friendship, though. But she must decline; this whole friendship thing seems to be nothing for her, but we can be companions if you like," Trixie offered

"Yes, I'd love that," the purple unicorn said with a smile on her lips.

Trixie then turned around to face the other unicorn in the room "Oh and Rarity, was it? I'll pay you the money back as soon as I can," Trixie added

Rarity seemed confused. "What money?"

"The money you paid for the stay in the hospital," Trixie replied.

"Oh, never mind that, my Dear. See it as a thanks for helping to cure my friend here," Rarity said while rubbing Fluttershy's head with one hoof.

"If you say so. Well then, Trixie is gone now!" she stated before disappearing in a huge cloud of smoke. When the smoke vanished, Trixie was no longer present.

"Rather dramatic," Rarity commented the situation with a grin. Twilight and Flutershy giggled.

"However, I will get going, too. I would love to stay, but I do not know what Sweetie Belle is capable of when she is alone, and I'm not eager to find out. I will visit again tomorrow."

"Bye, Rarity," Fluttershy said her goodbye.

"Yea, see you tomorrow" Twilight added.

Rarity pushed the front door open, waving one last goodbye before closing the door behind her.

"You want to go to sleep, too Fluttershy?" Twilight asked once they were alone.

"Mhm" the yellow pegasus nodded

"Ok, then go up to my room and lay down there."

"I couldn't do that," Fluttershy stated, feeling uncomfortable with scrounging from Twilight.

"Oh that wasn't a suggestion. I insist on you sleeping in something more convenient then this old couch," Twilight commanded

"But where will you sleep?" Fluttershy wondered

"Don't you worry about me. I probably wont sleep at all, I have a lot of research to do," Twilight explained while levitating a few books down from the shelves.

"Uhm...okay. Goodnight Twilight," Fluttershy said before flying upstairs.

It was quite a feat for her to lift herself up the ground with her wings. She was still feeling pretty weak, finding herself out of breath upon arriving in Twilight's room. It looked rather chaotic, with loose sheets and books lying around. Fluttershy didn't mind her surroundings and jumped straight into Twilight's bed. Her tensed muscles immediately relaxed once they hit the fluffy surface of the mattress. It was comfortable, even though she preferred her own bed, but she understood that circumstances forced her to stay here.

Fluttershy was tired, but her mind didn't allow her to drift into sleep that easily. She was bothered by one question which flew around in her mind.

"Did Dash hate her?" She couldn't banish these thoughts, they kept coming back.

Fluttershy already found herself thinking like this even before the recent events took place. But especially now it was hard to not see herself as a burden for the rainbow maned pegasus. She really hoped that she was just drawing unfounded conclusions, but it was quite obvious that Dash acted dismissively towards her.

Fluttershy concluded that she had to ask the other pegasus in order to receive clarification about the feelings Dash felt for her.

It wasn't long until Fluttershy fell asleep together with these thoughts.

====

In the meantime Twilight was busy researching. She couldn't get rid of this awkward feeling as if something horrible was about to happen. It must have to do something with the spell they casted. "Why wouldn't the princess approve of these spells if they can actually save lives?" Twilight thought. "There must be some kind of consequence."

She read through dozens of books already but did not find the tiniest bit of information regarding this spell. The only thing containing knowledge about this very spell were the sheets Luna sent her

Yet, she couldn't give up. The creepy feeling she had was surely not baseless. Twilight continued digging through hundreds of books, eager to find out more.


====

Dash let out a long yawn as she got on her hooves. Having a bad case of bedmane and a dry taste to her mouth, she headed to the bathroom. The pegasus quickly washed her face, but didn't bother fixing her mane. As she trotted back into the room, Pinkie, who was also awake now, was stretching herself. Dash mindlessly observed the room around her, when her eyes suddenly realized that the sun did not rise yet.

"Hey Pinkie, how late is it?" she asked, not looking away from the sky.

"Its half past ten, why?"

Dash didn't even bother to ask why she knew the exact time, but simply pointed at the window "The sun is still not up."

"Oh, that's strange! Well, I bet Celestia just overslept the sunrise."

"But she was never more than a minute to late to raise the sun, not to speak of an entire hour"

"There is always a first time for everything, isn't there?"

"I guess you're right," Dash agreed, still feeling uncomfortable about the situation

"Then lets eat something and get over to Twilight's place!" Pinkie exclaimed and bounced down the stairs

"This is gonna be some day," Dash muttered to nopony in particular.

=====

Twilight was also wondering why the sun didn't rise yet. First she couldn't find any information about the spell and now a not risen sun? It was not like Celestia to be late or not to inform everypony about what is going on. "Could this have anything to do with each other?" A shiver ran down Twilight's spine as the thought crossed her mind. "It couldn't be, could it?"

While Twilight was desperately trying to disprove this, a flashing sound was to be heard.

"Hello, my faithful Student" a calm, yet cold voice greeted her.

"Pri-Princess Celestia?" Twilight said in disbelief.


====

Dash was already finished eating and headed towards the library, together with her cake in one of her hooves. Pinkie stood behind and told her to follow up later. She was flying at a relative slow pace, still thinking of how she is going to tell Fluttershy about her feelings.

====

"Why are you here? Why is the sun not risen yet? Did anything happen?" Twilight bombarded the princess with questions, but she just shook her head.

"Nothing happened, not yet. The sun is not raised because I have work to do here."

Twilight let out a sigh of relief. "Why didnt you tell Luna to raise it for you then?" she wondered

"I was afraid that if she knows what I am up to she would try to dissuade me from it" Celestia replied dryly

"What, what do you mean?" Twilight asked, afraid of what answer she might receive.

"Twilight, you made a horrible mistake." the princess stated, her voice filled with no emotions.

The purple Unicorn was shocked, she couldn't think of anything to say.

"You should've never cast that spell." Celestia continued.

"I had to; I had to save her, somehow! I can't let any of my friends die, I just cant!" Twilight stammered; tears were streaming down her cheeks.

The princess slowly trotted towards her student, embracing her with her wings. Twilight looked up to her with the puffy, red eyes she had.

"It is okay, Twilight. I understand why you did it. I am not mad at you," the princess assured, comforting Twilight with her warm and understanding voice.

"I will take care of everything now" Celestia added, releasing her student from the embrace.

Twilight's brain took a second to process what her teacher just said. "Take care of things?" she thought.

"Take care of what?"

"I will remove every effect the spell had to this world."

"Does that mean... You can't do that!" Twilight's voice was filled with despair.

"Please don't make this any harder for me than it already is." Celestia replied with a sad, yet ambitious tone.

"But why?"

"Because she is not meant to be alive; the spell you used is forbidden because it draws its energy from another world. It can change the fate of Equestria if we disturb the natural flow of things."

"What was Celestia talking about? Did she really want to let Fluttershy die? IT can't be. Celestia won't do something like that."

The princess started trotting towards the stairs which led to Twilight's room. Her student however did not realize what was happening. She was not aware of what was going on. Her brain simply couldn't understand why Celestia would do such a thing. Then Twilight took a glimpse at Dash. The pegasus was flying right in front of the window. It seemed like she was there for a longer period of time, her jaw was hanging wide open and her eyes gazed at Twilight in disbelief. That was when Twilight snapped back into reality.

"What was she doing?" She couldn't let any of her friends die. Even if it means to stand in the way of her beloved teacher. Without hesitating another second, Twilight's horn began to glow. She did not know what she should do, obviously not standing a change against the princess, but Twilight just couldn't let her take Fluttershy away either. Twilight thought about a spell which would prove useful right now, when one came her mind she turned around and screamed "Dash! Go get Fluttershy from my room and FLY AWAY!" before channelling the spell.

Dash took a second to get what was happening, she didn't know what was going on exactly, but Fluttershy seemed to be in trouble. Dropping everything, she did as she was told to and dashed through the main hall into Twilight's room. She placed the sleeping pegasus on her back and crashed through the window, flying away as fast as she could.

Meanwhile Twilight's spell held the princess in place; the spell created roots which wrapped themselves around the hooves of Celestia. The sun goddess was not surprised that her student showed that kind of resistance, to the contrary, she presumed that something like this was about to happen. Somewhere she even felt pride that Twilight was ready to stand up against her just for the sake of her friends. Turning around, she faced the unicorn. Her eyes were still wet from the tears she was shredding.

"This won't stop me" the princess muttered, part of her wishing that Twilight would be able to actually do so. Her horn glowed for a second and the roots burned down.

The princess closed her eyes and her horn glowed once again. Without looking back at her student, she disappeared.

Once her teacher was no longer present Twilight broke down into tears. She couldn't believe what had just happened.

======

Dash was still flying as fast as she could. Not knowing where she was, she allowed herself to slow down a little bit. She scanned the area beneath her and saw the outlines of what seemed to be a cave in the distance. She figured that they would be hidden well inside there. Dash started to fly towards the cave, when a silent voice caught her by surprise and nearly caused her to drop Fluttershy from her back.

"Puh, that was close," she murmured to nopony in particular.

"Uhm, Dash were are we?" a timid voice asked.

"I don't know."

"Why aren't we at Twilight's place?"

"I don't know." Dash lied, not wanting the pegasus to worry anymore than necessary.

Fluttershy figured that Dash was just as clueless as she was and stopped asking her anymore questions

"Can you fly on your own?"

"Uhm... I think so" Fluttershy knew that she couldn't, but she was sick of getting carried around. She started to flap her wings, slowly lifting herself up.

"You sure that you're fine?" Dash asked.

"Yeah..."

After a short time Fluttershy was already out of breath. Every single wing beat caused a stinging pain in her muscles, but she tried hard to cover it from Dash. A couple of minutes passed like this, when suddenly Fluttershy wings stopped moving.

"Oh no," she thought, trying to move her wings, but her body refused to obey. Luckily Dash was there in time to catch her.

"You should've told me that it still hurts," Dash said, not sounding angry but rather concerned about her.

"I'm sorry, that you always have to take care of me Dash," Fluttershy apologized with a sad voice.

"Well, there is nopony I would rather take care of."

Fluttershy blushed when Dash was smiling at her.

Several minutes later they arrived at the cave. Dash felt a little uncomfortable when she thought about what happened the last time they were in a cave, but she dismissed her concerns with a shake of her head.

Now that they were relatively save, Dash tried to recover what was happening.

She wanted to visit the library when she overhead a conversation between Twilight and Celestia, also the word "die" dropped at least once. Together with the fact that Twilight was crying and had commanded her to get Fluttershy away from Celestia there was just one resolution. "Celestia is in someway dangerous to Fluttershy," Dash concluded.

"Dash cant we go back to Ponyville?"

"No, not now. We have to wait here until Twilight explains what-" Before Dash could finish a flashing noise disrupted her.

"Celestia?" Fluttershy said in disbelief.