Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Song of Sorrow | Song of Storms

The ponies all eventually regrouped atop the platform Sunhurst had made. The creatures that had not reached them before had been sealed away, locked in a dome of Sunburst's creation. The ponies there were still anxious, but relief was beginning to wash over them after what they'd survived. None wanted to look down from the podium, so they mostly only looked at each other.

Eventually, Sunburst found it was time to move again. Not to make anyone step onto the ground close by again, he created a long and softly sloping ramp from the platform to clear ground, and he began to walk over it. The others eventually followed, with nothing else to do. He was not well, not yet at peace with what he'd done, but looking behind himself and seeing the lives he'd saved he did feel some of the weight over him slip away. Starlight walked at his side.

Trixie stayed slightly behind, though she still was at the head of the group. The ponies around her eventually went back to talking, the tension in them released. She didn't hear their words properly. She couldn't focus on them. She watched Sunburst and Starlight in front of her, and in her mind she saw herself screaming, clinging to the latter, powerless to do anything.

Sunburst leaned very slightly into the mare at his side. But his mind moved elsewhere, maybe simply to distract him from the situation. He found something, somewhere in his thoughts, and weakly he tried to poke at it. She answered back.

---

Fluttershy was easy to find, harder to talk to. It took Rainbow Dash a bit, first to align herself properly and then to focus the other's attention sufficiently. She felt like part of the storm, conscience unravelled apart by the winds as the world came as a display of the state of her own mind. Eventually, with Rainbow's help, things solidified somewhat. Fluttershy's thoughts were pulled from the web they ran across, condensed in a form that could converse. Dream magic was not something Rainbow understood the finer details of, but she did a good enough job just feeling things around. She was careful not to pull anywhere she shouldn't have.

Fluttershy was happy, when she realised Rainbow was there. Then suddenly almost scared. Then resolute. Rainbow wasn't sure how much she felt the other's emotions because of her dream magic and how much because of Fluttershy's scattered state. She didn't have time to dwell on it. Fluttershy spoke, or tried to, pushing out concepts more than she did words, streams of ideas rather than sentences.

Rainbow Dash took it all in, and replied as she could. She understood the situation as Fluttershy explained it. She understood what Fluttershy wanted of her. She hesitated. She felt angry, but she did not lash out. For one, Fluttershy would not have wanted it. For two, she was unsure of her ability to harm the parasites without harming the host. She promised she'd do what was necessary, and that she'd tell Luna of their conversation. She said goodbye to Fluttershy, hoping it wouldn't be the last. Then she left the dream.

Comments

[Speckle]

While I'm glad that Starshine is alright, I'm now worried about Trixie and Fluttershy :(