Settling In

by A Wild Magikarp

Chapter 14

There was an annoying sound in Rainbow Dash's ear. It was like a buzzing, or a murmur, but out in the distance. It would go on just at the edge of hearing before fading away, only to return later, only louder.

Rainbow groaned, rolling over on... whatever she was laying on top of, most likely her bed. She was having a hard time remembering anything and made her best attempt to ignore the noise. But, despite her efforts, the noise made itself heard once more, louder than ever. How was she supposed to sleep like this?

"R...Bo...Sh."

Her hearing became more sharp as the cobwebs of sleep were unfortunately cleared from her mind. It was a voice, she now realized, and it was getting to the point where it could no longer be ignored. Rainbow's temper flared. She had a long night last night, and the last thing she needed was somepony being so loud this early in the morning! A growl rose in the back of her throat, until she hear the voice again.

"Rainbow Dash!"

Her temper dissipated at the sound of her name. She recognized that voice! But no matter who it was, it was still too early to get out of bed. For her at least.

She heard the sound of Scootaloo calling out for her once again, and an idea came to the rainbow pegasus. Flipping over to the side of the bed, she reached down and gave a quick jab to the floor below, before giving it a tug and opening a hole in the cloud underneath her. Looking down into the new space where here floor once was she could now see Scoots, as well as the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, sans Twist. The four of them were looking up at her with a mixture of shock and confusion at seeing Rainbow through a new hole in her floor. Scootaloo was the first to recover from the surprise, and shook her head as if to show it, a big grin appearing on her face.

"Rainbow Dash! We were looking for you!"

Rainbow had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at this decoration.

"Ya, I noticed. You girls need something this early in the morning?"

The fillies looked at each other, silently confirming what they already knew among themselves.

"Um... It's almost ten in the morning Rainbow Dash..." Nyx responded, looking to her fellow Crusaders, all equally confused as her.

Rainbow blinked, looking over to the clock at her bedside. It read 9:51 in big, bold red. Another moment of staring at the time, and the prismatic pony blinked again before she chuckled and waved a hoof dismissively. Deciding that staying in bed while talking to them wasn't helping her image at this point, she dived of through the gap in her cloud house and pulled up a few inches off the grass before setting her hooves down on solid ground.

"Well, ten isn't really THAT late, and I had a long night. But anyways, you needed something, right? What's up?"

The girls eyes widened as they remembered why they had come to see the speed demon in the first place. "We need your help finding Fluttershy!" Sweetie told her. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.

"Wouldn't she be home finishing up feeding her animal friends right about now? I know she won't leave her cottage till they ALL get breakfast, and you four know where that is."

"But that's just it!" Applebloom said, concern lacing her voice. "She ain't there! And we thing we know where she went!"

"Then why do you-"

"Because we found hoofprints leading into the forest!" Sweetie Belle cut her off. "And we don't want to go in there by ourselves!"

"Well, you and Nyx didn't want to. I think we could have gone in by ourselves, but Nyx said we should get an adult..."

Rainbow Dash was only half-listening to what the fillies were saying anymore. Her mind was elsewhere as she tried to understand what was going on. Fluttershy had gone into the forest alone? What in Equestia could posses her to do that. The few times she HAD gone in had either been with others, or dire emergencies, like when the Crusaders had gotten themselves lost looking for an escaped chicken. Something important must have happened if she had delved into the forest without help! Or perhaps she had not gone in by her own free will!

Rainbow was anything but a fearful pony, but suddenly, all that she could think of is what terrible things could have happened to her best friend. Was she taken? Maybe she had been chased into the forest by some creature?

The chill in her spine was replaced with steel. The longer she stood here thinking, the more time Fluttershy spent alone in a monster infested forest. This was not the time for standing around, this was the time for action!

"-think its more salmon colored, don't you?"

"No, its definitely pink."

"Aren't they sorta the same thing?"

"What does it matter?! It's my bow, and I aint' tradin' it for something 'cooler!'"

"Girls!" How had they gotten so sidetracked so quickly? "This is really important! You said you found her track into the Everfree?"

The girls all looked at each other before turning and nodding a confirmation. Rainbow stretched her wings quickly before taking to the air, hovering over the group of fillies.

"Show me."

---

The forest before them, the small band of Ponyville residents stood in silence as they considered their next move. Rainbow Dash continued to inspect the hoofprints of her imperiled friend, as the fillies watched her from a safe distance behind, putting as much distance between themselves and the forest as possible. While tracking may not have been her specialty, Rainbow could tell that these prints were not fresh. They had either been left late into the night, or very early in the morning. Neither one gave her confidence that Fluttershy had gone into the woods for a casual walk. Not that anypony in their right mind would have done that anyways, but the idea remained the same. Either Fluttershy was in trouble, or somepony else was.

"Girls," the pegasus called. "I'm going in to find, her. Go get the others and tell them were we are, just in case. I may need help finding her."

The fillies looked at her with surprise, before Sweetie spoke up.

"But... but shouldn't we go get them to come with you? Who knows what kind of monsters you could run into in there? You need somepony watching you back!"

"Ya! Remember all the nasties that you, Nyx, and Applejack had to kick out of Ponyville all those months ago?" Scootaloo added, jabbing a hoof towards the darkened path ahead. "They all live in there! Even YOU can't go in there by yourself!"

Nyx nodded her head, shivering slightly at the memories. "I don't think Twilight or the others would agree with this. It seems like too much could go wrong when you're all alone..."

All valid points, but they were missing one important piece.

"EXACTLY. And Fluttershy is in there by herself, and has been for who knows how long?! She needs help, I can feel it, and there is no time to waste, so I'm going in. Tell the others, and DON'T follow me under any circumstances ok?"

Without waiting for a response, the speed demon took off down the path, quickly fading from sight within the confines of the treeline. The unicorn, pegasus, alicorn, and earth pony all watched for a long moment as the leaves around them tumbled through the air in the wake of her hastily exit, before the feathered one of the group spoke up.

"Were TOTALLY going after her, right?"

"Eeyup."

"Definitely."

"WHAT?!"

Nyx looked at her friends in surprise as they ignored her sudden outburst, nodding their heads before taking off into the woods behind the element of Loyalty. She stood there, stunned, before shouting after them.

"What about getting the other elements!? We still have to tell them what happened!"

Scootaloo turned around at the treeline, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle charging in ahead.

"But Rainbow Dash needs help right now!" She said before turning to the forest, looking back to Nyx. "YOU can go tell your mom and the others, we'll go after Dash and help look for Fluttershy!" And with that, she ran in after the other two Crusaders, leaving the last of the group in stunned silence.

Nyx knew her friends were prone to rash decisions, but this was something else entirely. This was madness! Had the attack last year taught them nothing about how dangerous the forest was? And the worst part was that they had left her with an impossible choice.

She could do the smart thing, and go find Twilight and the others, bringing them back to help. Or, did she do the thing she really, REALLY didn't want to, and go in after them to help?

Pacing back and forth for a few moments, the small black alicorn hmm'ed and hawed over the situation, before she paused, looking to her flank at the night-blue kite shield residing there. Letting out a small sigh, followed by a small growl of frustration, she looked back to the dark of the Everfree. Taking a breath and steeling herself, she too leaped forward, letting the shadows surround her.

"Wait for me!"

Comments

[Ephedianroyalty]

Dammit CMC