“Nnnngh—Gaah!” Rainbow Dash's eyes flew wide open, and they weren't hers.
Gold Petals gasped. In the light of a dim candle, she pressed the pegasus until she was lying back down on her cot. “Calm down! You were out for—like—ten hours—”
“Scrkk... Burning... It burns...” Rainbow Dash gnashed her teeth and thrashed about the tiny wooden room. “Nngh... What's... What's wrong with my—” She flung her hoof up to her throat. She gasped. Her neck was bare. “Where?! Where is it?!”
“You looked so uncomfortable in your sleep. I took the liberty of removing the pendant—”
“Are you friggin' crazy?!” Rainbow Dash sat up, snarling like a beast. “Where is it?! What did you do with it?!”
“I-I—”
“Tell me!”
Gold Petals pointed nervously. “It's right there on the end table—”
Rainbow Dash lunged for it. She knocked a stool and a stack of bandages over in her effort. Panting heavily, she grabbed the golden neckpiece and flung it over her head, fumbling to clasp it in the back.
“Here, allow me—” Gold reached.
“I got it!” Rainbow snapped. Seething, she concentrated and finally fitted the item on. Once she felt its familiar weight, she let out a huge breath of relief and slumped back against the nearby wall. She sweated, trying to calm herself down as the liquid seconds dripped by.
Gold Petals fidgeted, fighting back a slew of shivers. Biting her lip, she bravely murmured, “Your eyes. They were... different, just a moment ago.”
“I don't know what you're talking about...”
“They were red, but a different kind of red. And the whites had turned yellow—”
“You saw nothing.”
“But—”
“You didn't see anything!” Rainbow Dash snarled. “I know I kid about a lot of stuff, but I sure as heck ain't kidding about this!”
The tiny room echoed slightly with that outburst. Soon everything quieted until all Rainbow could hear was the panting sound of her own voice. With a groan, she sat up and ran a hoof through her mane hair, pausing to revel in the flat feel of her brow.
“Look, I'm sorry. You've obviously done a lot to take care of me since—Owww...” She winced slightly as she ran a hoof over a series of bandages plastered to her spine. “Ahem. So, like, thank you and all. But there's something you must know in case I'm crazy enough to hang out in this shindig any longer.” She gulped and stared Gold Petals directly in the face, all the while tugging on the edges of her ruby-studded pendant. “This must never... EVER be taken off of me. You got it? I don't care how many crazy frickin' bats from nightmareville decide to stab me, this thing stays on my neck at all times. Do you understand?”
Gold Petals hung her head.
Rainbow Dash stared at her. For a moment, she thought she saw a flash of lavender color in the corner of her eyes. So she clenched them shut, seethed, and reopened them... satisfied to see everything returning back to its dismal, Windthrow normality.
“Seriously. Thanks for everything. It's just that... well... I can be in a worse state than being gnawed at by flying suitcases. And, for that matter, I—” She paused in the middle of her awkward speech, her ears twitching. “What... What's all the commotion about?”
Gold Petals gazed out the tiny shack's door. Several ponies were hurriedly martching past the frame, collectively heading towards the loud and crowded center of town.
“Well?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Patron god of crossdressers got your tongue?”
“Mmmm...” Gold Petals meekly stirred before saying, “It's Sladesteed.”
“What about him?”
“You've been out a long time, and he's called together an emergency meeting.”
Lavender visions. . . ghosts? This is really enigmatic, keep up the great writing!
Why, hello there, Tirek.
Hm. Red iris, yellow whites... horns.
- WAT.
Out a long time? Uh-oh, she missed meeting with Luna, not to mention a whole host of other town events...
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I think she's still good for the Luna meeting.
Is it just me, or is Petals sounding a lot more like Dash?
IIIIIt's Dashie's Marathon Evaluation Time!
So now I think I know why the Element of Loyalty must be worn by Dash at all times. It must be worn to prevent Discord from possessing her, due to her eyes becoming Discord's for a few seconds when the Necklace was off. Perhaps this is what happened to the mane six...Also, Sladesteed has apparently called together a meeting which we'll see in the next chapter. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. .......1.......more.......
Despite how much I like this bit I hope itll end and then reunite her with the other elements. Such amazingness w/o dialogue but now it seems like a normal featured story.
"Several ponies were hurriedly martching past the frame, collectively heading towards the loud and crowded center of town."
Should be marching. Otherwise, excellent!
She's trying to rescue her friends from hell. They've been turned.
ALL HAIL THE NEW TRUE GOD! THE GOD...OF THE CROSSDRESSERS!
So now it has been proven that the necklace protects her from internal chaos, as she reacted how she did with it being taken off. Also, it sounds as if Sladesteed is calling a meeting because she's been out a long time. Something they don't want Rainbow to hear, perhaps?
~FierceRainbow (see how I didn't comment on it last chapter? Yeah... I honestly don't know how long I'll keep playing with this, but it's fun while it lasts )
Gold Petals seems rather fond of Dash.
Possession indeed...
Nuances of the current character reminding Rainbow of the ones she left behind....Gold Petal to Twilight apparently
Hmmm, there's been a recurring theme of lavender... Twilight is lavender, obviously... So yeah, maybe ghosts, maybe something else.
Lavender...
Seems that Twilight and the other 4 are either dead or there's something very wrong with them.
Shit's gonna hit the fan.
"Patron god of crossdressers" is my new band name.
I like Rainbow's intensity here though I am sympathetic to her pain.
Poor Gold Petals. She was trying to help.
This upcoming part of my comment is a genuine story spoiler for anyone who hasn't already figured out the main implication within this chapter, so new readers beware.
I wish I'd thought of the whole "Rainbow Dash must always wear her lightning bolt pendant or she turns into a beastly draconequis" plot device. So cool!
The flash of lavender color or light returns from, like, chapter 3 or something? How intriguing!
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do you think it’s the weakest version of the beacons/trail of light? Or do you think even all the way back here IC was foreshadowing the events of yeffredra?