You Can't Take The Sky From Me

by FailcopterWes

Chapter 9: A Caring Culture

Chapter 9

Hoofsteps crunched across the charcoal black ground. The howling wind blew a foul stench into the air, a stench not unlike rotting flesh. Across the ground lay scattered pieces of wood, broken and twisted. The charred remains of tree trunks sat in the ground everywhere, and not a single tree grown. The ground was pockmarked with craters and small piles of dirt, most of which had little wooden boards, all burnt down to a fraction of their original size. Clouds rolled over the sky, blocking out the sun. A choking smoke drifted through the air, obscuring any vision and choking the lungs.

Fluttershy came level with a burnt stump, watching as a little flame burnt away at the last bit of vegetation upon it. The flame flickered and died before her eyes. Hesitantly, Fluttershy lifted her hoof and tapped at the twig the flame had occupied. It crumbled to her touch. Fluttershy pulled back her hoof sharply. A fine black ash coated her bright yellow hoof, like a macabre shoe. Slowly, she lifted her shaking hoof to her face and sniffed.

The smell of burning made her recoil. Placing her hoof back on the ground, she moved her gaze. Her eyes focused on the dips and pits and little hills in the ground. Almost without notice or the hard and uncomfortable ground or the grim situation around her, Fluttershy walked impassively over to the nearest one. A broken piece of wood stuck out of it, scorched and burned. Beside it lay a small plaque, curled and marked in the heat. Fluttershy tilted her head to read the inscription.

She could not make it out clearly, but something in the back of her mind told her that a name and a date was inscribed on the plaque in ashen letters. Then, something clicked in her mind.

It was a grave.

Fluttershy looked around, looked at the hundreds of markers and mounds across the nightmare landscape.

They were all graves.

Rainbow Dash groaned. Her head felt as if it had been packed with expanding foam and the launched at a wall. Groggily, she lifted one hoof and laid it against her forehead, letting out another groan as she did so. She waited a moment before she tried to open her eyes, deciding that, wherever she was, she was comfortable. The moment of quiet was appreciated, and when she did finally open her eyes Rainbow was mildly surprised to find a ceiling above her. It appeared to be made of plants, thatched and made into a working shelter. Branches had been used to strengthen it, and poked out of the ceiling in a few places. Once she grew tired of inspecting the ceiling, Rainbow rolled her head to her right, finding a simple wall, from which hung totems and other items of unusual origin. Rainbow rolled her head the other way.
“Hi!” Ditzy chirped, her face mere centimetre’s from Rainbow’s. Rainbow jolted, struggling to remain composed despite the splitting headache and sudden shock. Ditzy just sat there, grinning as if her mouth were being held open by an invisible stick.
“D...D...Ditz...” Rainbow stammered.
“Yeah?”
“Wh...what are I doing here? Where...where is here?” Rainbow groaned suddenly and clutched her skull “And why do I feel like somepony kicked me in the head?”
“Well...” Ditzy began “That’s either because you fell of the zebra’s back on the way here... or... because I bucked you in the face”

Rainbow tilted her head, grunting in confusion.
“Wait...what, Zebras?” she said.
‘Well played, me’ Ditzy thought to herself.
“And why did you kick me?”
“Stupid brain, you got smug too early” Ditzy muttered.

Rainbow stared on as Ditzy began one side of a heated argument with herself.
“Great, she’s crazy” Rainbow grunted.

Tiring of the partially vocal squabbling in front of her, Dash slowly looked around the room. The hut was somewhat spacious, with room for several beds and room to walk between them, as well as several small tables tucked in corners and against the walls, upon which lay instruments and herbs of unknown usage. One of the walls had a large rectangle missing, leading into a darkened room, another wall was marked by two large flaps, around which shone beams of golden light. Most of the beds were empty, apart from the one directly behind Rainbow’s pillow, which occupied a space close to the door.

Upon it laid Fluttershy. She was lying peacefully, a light brown blanket pulled up over her soft shoulders.
“Ditz...” Rainbow said, staring at Fluttershy. “Ditz is she alright?”

Ditzy stopped just before she slapped herself in the face.
“What, Flutty? Yeah she’s fine” Ditzy said, smiling calmly.
“But, what about the...” Rainbow trailed off, pointing at her own belly.
“The what?”
“The bamboo”
“Oh!” Ditzy said “They took that out and patched her up”
“What?”
“Yeah, turns out zebra medicine is really good. Although they did say she’s not going to be flying anytime within a year, and told us not to make her work too hard or she’ll reopen the wounds, but you were asleep for that bit so I had to remember, and they said that she shouldn’t be in as much pain now, because there’s nothing sticking in her, and they said that I’m a nice pony for looking after you two, but then they said I was mean for kicking you, but then they forgot all about that when I pointed out Fluttershy, and they were really nice, and they gave us food, seriously, look!” Ditzy rambled, finishing her initial fountain of words by pulling out the food bag, which now contained several interesting herbs and items, salted and wrapped.
“Whoa...nice” Rainbow said, staring at the little packages that filled their somewhat shoddily made bag.
“I know” Ditzy said, beginning again. Rainbow inwardly noted to never let Ditzy get talking ever again as she started to rattle off what she had been doing for the past day, which appeared to consist mainly of sitting in the tent with them, going for walks, and teaching the zebras songs from Ponyville, which Rainbow doubted had been taught with any degree of skill or accuracy. “But anyway, I slept in here the night, because they didn’t have many spare places, and I didn’t really want to leave you guys alone, because that would be kinda mean-” Ditzy was cut off by Rainbow waving a foreleg in her direction.
“Ditz, that’s great and all but, please be quiet” Rainbow groaned “You’re giving me a headache. As well as the one I already had. And you still haven’t explained why you bucked me in the head”
“I’m getting to it!” Ditzy objected.
“Uh, never mind” Rainbow told her. “I got a feeling that I just don’t want to know”
“That’s probably brain damage”
“Not helping Ditz”

There was a moment’s quiet. Rainbow relished it, before sighing gently and sliding out of her bed.
“Hey, you’re not supposed to be out of bed yet!” Ditzy objected.
“I’m also supposed to be looking after you two, which I can’t do from here” Rainbow reasoned.
“Still...” Ditzy said, frowning as Rainbow stretched out in front of her.
“Trust me Ditz” Rainbow said, smiling mischievously “If they complain, say I hit you”
“But I don’t have any hit marks”
“Are you seriously asking me to hit you?” Dash asked incredulously.
“No, my wing just got fixed properly, I don’t want that going again”
“Oh yeah, what happened with that?” Rainbow said, her care for her friend overriding her need to explore “You seemed to be able to glide on it last time I saw you try”

Ditzy extended her damaged wing, revealing a splint attached to the underside.
“I can fly in small bits” she explained “Well, I could. I haven’t tried since we got here. Witchy says I shouldn’t fly at all really, apparently I’m dangerous enough on the ground”

Rainbow nodded slowly in agreement. Ditzy didn’t notice.
“Who’s Witchy?” Rainbow asked, holding up a hoof for silence.
“I don’t know her name. Narta called her a witchdoctor, so I just went with that” Ditzy said.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up a sec.” Rainbow held out both of her front hooves this time, balancing briefly on her back legs. “You’ve been letting some witch have a go at me whilst I was out?”

Ditzy tilted her head.
“I don’t think she’s actually a witch. She hasn’t done anything spooky” Ditzy said, thinking aloud. “I mean, I haven’t seen anything spooky. So maybe she’s really good a hiding it. Unless you count the herbs and stuff, and the powders... and then there was that thing with the frog-“
“What thing with the frog?” Rainbow squeaked, her eyes widening.
“Well” Ditzy began “Turns out that frog spit is really good for treating infected wounds if you mix it with a few other things”

Rainbow stopped listening. She turned her head to Fluttershy.
“That reminds me.” Ditzy continued “Turns out Flutty had an infected wound. I didn’t know, but apparently the green stuff growing on it was bad.” The pair of them moved a few paces to stand by Fluttershy. “She asked you to check for this kind of thing a few days back, I heard her”

Rainbow hung her head slightly, bracing herself for the question.
“Why didn’t you tell her?” Ditzy asked, lowering her head to catch Rainbow’s eye “Or me?”

Rainbow swallowed.
“Rainbow Dash?” Ditzy’s voice lowered to just above a whisper. “You okay?”

Rainbow shut her eyes.
“I’m sorry Rainbow Dash” Ditzy said morosely. “I didn’t mean to-“
“Save it Ditz” Dash cut her off.

There was a moment of quiet between the two friends. Outside, the rattle of a cart sounded, mixed in with the murmurs of everyday life. Above it all, Rainbow’s heavy breathing stood out.
“I didn’t tell you guys because,” Rainbow began “because I didn’t want you two to get scared. And don’t say you wouldn’t have, because you would. And then I‘d have to deal with a paired of scared pegasi on top of everything else.” Rainbow’s head snapped up and glared into Ditzy’s eyes. “And I am not going to be brought down by you two losing your cool in a situation like...this.” The last word was practically spat at Ditzy, and the moment it left her lips Dash’s voice cooled.
“Flutty knows what she’s doing” Ditzy pouted. “She knows how to treat a wound”

At that, Ditzy turned around and wandered towards the door.
“I’m going for a walk...you coming?” Ditzy asked, peering over her shoulder “You might as well look around”
“No, no I’ll stay here thanks” Rainbow said, watching the mesmerising rise and fall of Fluttershy’s chest beneath the blanket. Ditzy shrugged and turned away, pushing open the flaps that formed a door and exiting into the burning sunlight.
“Miss Dash, I implore you, with your injured head” came a voice from the corner. Rainbow whirled around to see a zebra, clothed in a white and black gown and with his mane tied back. The zebra stepped out from the shadowy room, making her way around the beds to Rainbow’s side. “You should not be venturing away from your bed.”
“You’re... the witchdoctor, right?” Rainbow said. The zebra nodded.
“Also known as a shaman, but you would still be correct. Now sit and tilt your head here, it is what I’ll inspect” the zebra instructed. Rainbow did as was asked of her. For a few minutes the zebra examined her skull and asked questions in the frequently confusing rhyme zebras were fond of using. Before long, Rainbow found herself silently pleading that the endless wordplay would end. The situation seemed more like a lyrical ballad than a medical examination.
“You know, stallions don’t usually get to touch me like this” Rainbow complained quietly. The zebra seemed to ignore the comment and carried on with his speech.
“And so tell me how you got this injury” the witchdoctor finished, releasing her head and sitting on the bed opposite Rainbow Dash.
“Well, it’s kind of a weird story” Rainbow said, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.
“The tale told by young Miss Doo, was that a madness came to you.”
“The last thing I really remember is landing next to Fluttershy and Ditzy, and then I couldn’t sleep and then” Rainbow paused. She blinked quickly and screwed up her eyes, trying to get a memory through the roaring cloud in her mind. “Lights, just two lights in the dark and... I don’t know, a sort of...” Rainbow trailed off again.
“Please Miss Dash, I wish to know more, please describe the lights you saw” the zebra leaned inwards, his brow furrowed.
“They were, um, silvery, kind of indistinct, you know? Like they weren’t really there.” Rainbow began to fumble at her words. “A...and they seemed to always be sort of, close, even though I could see they were half a hill away they felt... close. Like they were in my eyes. No. In. In my head. Nyeurgh.” She shuddered suddenly.

The witchdoctor grabbed her gently, but firmly, by the forelegs.
“Are you sure that is what you saw?” he asked “Would you swear by Gods or Law?”
“Yeah” Rainbow said, glancing at the hooves against her. “What’s going on?”
“I must leave, but I shall return, events have taken a foreboding turn.” The witchdoctor said, his attention evidently on something other than his patient. He quickly span around and galloped outside. Rainbow took a moment to consider the worried tone in the zebra’s voice before he left.
“Weird” Rainbow remarked, dropping onto the floor and trotting over to the exit. She carefully poked her head through the flaps, squinting and blinking in the sunlight. She gazed around at the huts and tents, gathered close together in rows, all circling a central point on Rainbow’s right. The witchdoctor was galloping towards the village centre. Zebras turned to watch, an excited murmur rose as zebras everywhere began to theorise.
‘Note to self, high speed shamans are bad’ Rainbow thought. Several zebras had begun to look to Rainbow Dash, her head poking awkwardly from the hut. Normally, the attention would be welcomed, but there was something in their stares she did not like. Rainbow began to retreat back into the hut, her eyes flicking between the striped faces watching her and the witchdoctor, who appeared to be desperately pleading with an important looking zebra, waving his hooves and gesturing wildly as he spoke.

With one final glance around, Rainbow ducked inside. She shook her head slightly and gritted her teeth, trying to force a memory. Something about the lights she described had spooked him.
“Maybe he’s seen them too” Rainbow wondered aloud.
“Hey Rainbow Dash” called the familiar voice of Ditzy, pushing her way in. “Why’s everypony talking about you?”
“I honestly have no idea, Ditz” she replied. “I think they just don’t like trauma induced amnesia”
“Do you know what any of those words mean?”
“Yeah, the witchdoctor taught me them a minute ago”
“Oh...lucky you” Ditzy said, wandering towards Fluttershy. “I bet Flutty knows what they mean too”.

Then, as if cued by Ditzy’s words, Fluttershy opened her eyes. Ditzy dived close and stared into the widening orbs, grinning wildly. She barely noticed the silver lining fade from Fluttershy’s iris.
“Hey!” Ditzy cheered. Fluttershy jolted slightly, which brought a grin to Rainbow’s face, but recovered and smiled back quickly.
“Hello Ditzy” Fluttershy said quietly. Ditzy nuzzled her, squeaking happily.
“Are you okay now?” Ditzy asked “Sorry about the whole pokey thing, but I don’t need to do that now because they took the bamboo out!””
“What?” Fluttershy squeaked “Who took it out? Where am I? Help...”
“We’re in a zebra camp, not entirely sure how we got here myself” Rainbow told her.
“Oh... you mean, like Zecora?” Fluttershy asked.
“Yeah, but I don’t think its very likely this is the same group she’s from” Rainbow said “Still, at least we’re already used to that rhyming thing they do”
“’That rhyming thing’ is a cultural aspect and really should be respected” Fluttershy said sharply, her voice still quiet but with enough force to make it clear she was serious. Rainbow took a step back and very quietly apologised. Fluttershy turned back to Ditzy. “So how did we get here?”
“Mister Squirrel came back with three of the zebras, and it turns out he went and found them because he was scared you were going to die, and he didn’t want that at all, so he ran to here, got help, and found us a little after Dash went crazy and I kicked her in the head.”
“Why does that keep coming up?” Rainbow sighed, rubbing the still present hoofmark on the side of her head.
“Well” Fluttershy said, still smiling gently “I guess it was a good idea to keep the squirrel with us then”
“Yah-huh!” Ditzy said, nodding rapidly. “So...” she continued, her head coming to a halt “what was it like being all sleepy from blood loss?”

Fluttershy thought about the question for a moment. For a moment her mouth twisted in grim recollection, before returning to its former gentle smile.
“It’s a bit like going to sleep” Fluttershy said.
“Did you dream?” Ditzy asked.
“Of course I did” Fluttershy replied.

Fluttershy laid quietly on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Ditzy had filled her in on the events of her time unconscious and given a detailed account of the village outside. Despite what she had heard about zebras, and her only experience with them being the reclusive one in the Everfree forest, Fluttershy could not help but feel an interest in the locals.
‘After all’ she reasoned, lightly pawing the safely wrapped wound, now empty of life threatening bamboo and sealed with a strange ritual held whilst she was unconcious ‘They saved my life, the least I could do is pay some attention to their culture. Maybe I’ll learn something to tell Angel all about when I get home, and maybe I could discuss the culture with Zecora too. Oh I’m getting excited just thinking about it!’ She turned her head to look around the room. Night had fallen outside, and the room was lit by a small lamp, hung from the ceiling by a thin wire. Rainbow Dash had fallen asleep on her bed, and Ditzy had taken up residence on the floor by Fluttershy’s side. By the exit, a large zebra stood, his head held high and garbed with a reed covered headpiece. He reminded Fluttershy of the Canterlot Royal Guard in his unflinching stance and cold exterior. He had arrived when the witchdoctor returned, who claimed he was to keep away any who may disturb their rest. Fluttershy doubted the words, but the witchdoctor seemed to give off an aura of caring energy. She trusted him to do his art to the best of his ability, if nothing else. She could see him from where she laid. He sat in the adjoining room, busily flicking through books brought to him over the past few hours.

The guard caught Fluttershy’s eye. She pulled the blankets up around her eyes.
“Witchdoctor” rumbled the guard “your patient is awake. Is it not time for her medicine to take?”

The witchdoctor’s head perked up from his books. He glanced to Fluttershy, smiled, marked his page in the book, and busied himself with the herbs and tools on a nearby table.
“It is good for you that you are here” the witchdoctor said “Your time was nearly up, my dear”

Fluttershy peeked out from under the blanket.
“Nearly up?” she asked hesitantly.

The witchdoctor nodded, picking up a vial of freshly mixed liquid in his teeth and walking over. He gently placed it by her side and gestured to it.
“Indeed, your wounds were grievous and bloody” he told her “And the bandages upon it were getting muddy”

A thought struck Fluttershy. She let go of the blanket.
“Mr witchdoctor, um, sir. May I ask you something?”

The witchdoctor smiled and nodded welcomingly.
“Well, I never actually got a good look at the wounds and, um, it seems to be plugged with something right now, so knowing what that is might be good, also, more importantly um...” Fluttershy trailed off. The witchdoctor raised his eyebrows expectantly. “Um, was the hole, um, infected at all?”

The doctor scowled a little, and glanced at the two sleeping ponies.
“I am surprised they did not say, but the virus in those wounds should have killed you today” the witchdoctor claimed. Fluttershy squeaked in alarm.
“You told them first? Is there no such thing as doctor-patient confidentiality around here?” Fluttershy stammered, staring at Ditzy “No wonder she was so eager to know how I was, you must have terrified her!”
“You talk of what I did today as if it were a sin. It is custom in these parts to inform the next of kin” the witchdoctor explained.
“Oh...”
“Do not worry now, young mare. Please drink the tea I placed down there” he instructed. Fluttershy looked down and gripped the drink in her forehooves. She could smell it clearly, and it contained in it the smells of berries and herbs, with what might have been a spice of sorts. Slowly, she lifted the vial to her lips and took a sip.

It tasted of the berries she had eaten from Ditzy’s bag of food.
“Was this made with berries growing near where you found us?” Fluttershy asked.
“Yes it was, they commonly grow. How was it that you came to know?”
“I’ve been eating them for the past few days. Maybe that’s what slowed the infection”

The witchdoctor considered this for a moment.
“Indeed, that theory may be true. If so, it is most lucky for you” he concluded.
“I’m sorry, I think I just made your friends bringing me here sound a little less heroic” Fluttershy said.
“Cortich and her friends are no friends of mine. Those one’s always cross the line” the witchdoctor said, a warning tone in his voice.
“Even to save a life?” Fluttershy asked. The witchdoctor did not respond immediately.
“I will speak of this no more tonight, please finish your drink and rest your sight” the witchdoctor said. Fluttershy quickly obeyed, quickly drinking her beverage and passing it back. He placed it to one side and gently pushed her down into her bed, pulling the blankets up around her.
“Mr witchdoctor, will the drink stop me dreaming?” Fluttershy asked.
“I do not know, I have not seen. In the morning we’ll see if you have been.” The witchdoctor said, his gentle smile placating any worries gathering in Fluttershy’s mind.
“I don’t want to dream...” Fluttershy muttered, as she drifted off to sleep.