Verse of the Void

Chapter 3: Prismatic Running

        Cedar found a rather long explanation from Spike written out on the chalkboard when he emerged.

        ‘She stopped eating two days ago. As for why she’s there, Twi tried to eat her. She tore off her wings and ran off to cook them. I bandaged RD and hid her in a closet until Twi had passed out. After that I moved RD to the kitchen in a cabinet. I spent almost an entire day digging that out. Worked 20 hours strait to make it so RD could stand. Twi forgot about her and I snuck food in and cleaned waste out.

        ‘I thought after a week of resting RD would be able to make a run for it. But Twi damaged one of her legs during the ritual and she can’t run anymore. She seems to have given up. I don’t know what to do. Could you  get her to move?’

        “She looked at me briefly,” Cedar offered, “We need to get her out of here.”

        Spike franticly erased his speech, then scribbled, ‘you can’t leave, there have been two ponies between you and RD. The first tried to run and got “banished.” The second just disappeared one day.’

        “Well, I guess I’ll be sneaking Rainbow out when Princess Twilight is passed out then,” Cedar sighed.

        ‘That’s what the first did, and she could run. Twi can just teleport you back if she knows roughly where you are,’ Spike shook his head.

        “But I don’t exist, and Rainbow Dash is dead. Why would she look for us?” Cedar pointed out.

        ‘Terrible plan,’ Spike underlined his words.

        “But it’s the only one I’ve got. And we need to get Dash out of here. Now,” Cedar argued.

        Spike shook his head and went to prepare Princess Twilight’s banishing pot.

        “My favorite food? Dragon’s tongue, definitely,” Princess Twilight was up in her study, talking to nopony, as usual. Cedar had been keeping an open ear for when she stopped and passed out. She seemed to be on a record streak, 17 hours and counting. Unless she passed out during my five hour nap.

        “The ritual horn? I got it from Sweetie Belle,” Princess Twilight started, “As punishment for...”

        Cedar’s head popped up at the sound of silence. Grabbing the saddle bags he had packed that, morning I guess? It’s so hard to tell with this erratic sleep schedule. I wish Princess Twilight would let us open the blinds. He then threw open the cabinet and pulled out the false backing. Crawling into the small room, Cedar looked at Rainbow Dash. She hadn’t moved since he had seen her last.

        “I’m getting you out Ms. Dash,” Cedar stated. When she didn’t respond Cedar took hold of one of her good legs and started dragging her out of the hole. Rainbow Dash whimpered and picked up her front left leg to keep it from bouncing along the ground.

        “You going to walk now? Or will I have to drag you all the way to Sweet Apple Acres?” Cedar panted after he had gotten Rainbow Dash into the kitchen.

        Rainbow Dash struggled to move her feet underneath her.

        “Spike could you help me put her on my back?” Cedar asked, kneeling and trying to drag Dash over his back. With some help from the mute dragon, Rainbow Dash was slung over Cedar back.

        “Wish us luck,” Cedar nodded to Spike, walking out the door and into the street.

        Cedar laid on his side panting. Even though the pegasus was light to begin with, and her added weight loss, Cedar was barely able to get her across town and up the hill to Sweet Apple Acres. I blame getting turned into a girl. Cedar reached into the saddle bags he had put between him and Rainbow Dash and pulled out a canteen. After taking a swig he offered it to Rainbow Dash, who had no reaction to the offer. Pushing himself to his feet Cedar forced the canteen into Rainbow’s mouth, tilting it back and sighing in relief when he heard her gulp down the water.  Setting the canteen down in front of Rainbow Dash, Cedar made his way to the front door of the Apple house.  After a few heavy pounds, Applebloom answered the door.

        “Can Ah help you?” She asked, the door ajar and a chain lock visible through the gap.

        “Rainbow Dash. Attacked. Can’t fly. Help,” Cedar wheezed out.

        Applebloom’s eyes widened at the sight of her sister’s friend's state, “Sis! Rainbow Dash is at the door! She’s hurt and somepony’s with her!”

        Cedar sat down and rested his head on the railing on the porch. He smiled and fought to stay awake to make sure Applejack made it out. Wish I had gotten more than 12 hours of sleep these past two days.

        The door flew open, “Oh my! Rainbow Dash! What happened to ya?” Applejack asked running out to tend to her friend. Cedar watched her take in the sight before her, and he also got a good look at Rainbow Dash for the first time now that she was in the light. Her cyan coat was a very pale blue, her main and tail had turned grayscale. Mud covered most of her body, making her color change much harder to notice. Her front left leg was damaged. There was a chunk taken out of the front of it just below her torso. That’s probably the reason she couldn’t help Princess Twilight anymore. She cut too deep and tore out a chunk of muscle. I’m amazed she survived. The worst part though was her wings. For one they were gone, reduced to two uneven stubbs caked in dried blood and dirt. Part of the bone was still in her right wing, while her left was just a lump of torn skin and muscle.

        “Applebloom, escort our guest to the pit. She may have brought Rainbow here, but she may have done this to her and Ah don’t want to take any chances,” Applejack commanded her sister, hauling Rainbow Dash into the house. Applebloom nodded and stepped inside, emerging with a pitchfork in her mouth she gestured for Cedar to move. With a groan, Cedar brought himself to his feet and trudged in the indicated direction. Stumbling down the stairs he got a poke in the flank, forcing him to catch himself and keep moving.

Ah memories. It seems like just a week ago that I was STRAPPED THE THIS VERY TABLE!

        Cedar had been lead down the Big Macintosh’s torture dungeon. Applebloom had jabbed at him until he had laid down on the table. She strapped him in and left without a word. Cedar sighed. Hope this time I don’t wind up killing anypony.

        The room had changed a lot since Cedar was last there. For one all the old farm tools had been smashed. They were now little more than twisted bits of scrap metal. There weren’t any remains in the room anymore. Cedar hoped that the bits of pony had gotten proper burials. Cedar felt more at ease this time. It’s like I’ve just grown used to this messed up world. I guess death doesn’t bother me much anymore. Cedar sighed then looked down on his chest.

        “AHHH!” He screamed, “How are you back! You! You were buried with the rest of him! Get away!”

        The eye rested on Cedar’s chest. He didn’t know how it got there, but he sure as hell didn’t want it to stay there. Cedar struggled, trying to twist his body so that the eye would roll off. Cedar’s mind flashed back to him opening his eyes and seeing Big Mac’s mutilated skull. The skinless left half was grimacing, wanting revenge on Cedar for what he had done. While the right half frowned.

“Why?”  it asked, lips unmoving.

        “I didn’t want to! You tried to kill me! There was nothing else I could do!” Cedar argued.

“You could have talked to me. I could have remembered you had you just reminded me. But you killed me instead,” the good half of Big Mac’s face looked to the other, “Isn’t that right?”

        The eye seemed to nod. Cedar watched as Big Macintosh stepped forward, his body being thrown back together by the thresher’s blades. Though the one side of his face stayed skinless, that eye not looking away, even when the other did.

“You killed me. You didn’t value our friendship. I tied you up yes, but did I hurt you?” Big Mac turned his head so that only the good side was facing Cedar. His lips moved now, his lips forming around the words.

“I didn’t want to. Please, forgive me,” Cedar begged, breaking down into tears. Cedar shut his eyes, removing Big Macintosh from his sight.  But when he opened them, that eye was still on his chest.

“I still see you.”

        The door slammed open, the eye vanishing in the light.

        “What’s all this yell’n about?” Applejack demanded, stomping down the stairs and into Cedar’s view.

        “Did you bury both his eyes?” Cedar asked.

        “What?” Applejack tilted her head.

        “Did you bury Big Mac with both his eyes!?” Cedar yelled.

        “How do you…?” Applejack backed up, “Big Mac only had one eye left when he died, the other was ground up in a thresher…”

        “But I saw them both!” Cedar yelled, struggling against the restraints, “I saw them both! One normal, the other taunting! You had to see it too!”

        “Who… Who are you?” Applejack asked, her voice going soft.

        Cedar took several deep breaths to calm himself. I’m still a mare… Damn Twilight and her gender spell.

        “I’m Cedar Pines. Twilight kidnapped me and turned me into a mare so I could be used in a ritual to change day to night,” Cedar explained.

        Applejack skeptically looked at his cutie mark, “A engraving tool and a hammer… How. Brown coat. Dark green mane and tail. Are you really Cedar?”

        “During the summer we were dating, we tried had sex, but I was nervous so you got me drunk. Then I tried to jump off the loft into a hay bale you were lying on. You barely got out of the way in time and I broke my leg. When we told the doctors about it we left out the bit about trying to get rid of my jitters and the whole wanting to have sex thing,” Cedar’s voice cracked as he told the story, a blush breaking out over his cheeks.

        Applejack laughed at the memory, “Ah guess you are Cedar. Sorry about strapping you to the table... again…”

        “Can I just get out of here?… It brings back bad memories,” Cedar asked.

        “Twilight’s lost it too? Oh fuck me,” Applejack exclaimed.

        “Applejack!” Granny Smith scolded her granddaughter.

        “Oh hush Granny. It ain’t like any of us here haven’t heard nopony swear before,” Applejack responded. Granny Smith glared at Applejack but said nothing more.

        “But Rainbow Dash is going to get better, right?” Applebloom asked, looking at the mare laying on the couch. Rainbow had been bathed and fed. All attempts at conversation had failed, Rainbow Dash refused to talk. Though she did move about on her own now, though she only did if told to.

        “Ah don’t know. Ah’ve never seen a pony with a wound like that before. Spike must've done a hellofa job patchin’ her up for her ta still be alive.  Her color should come back, but Ah’ve never heard of a pegasus growing back her wings,” Applejack shook her head.

        Rainbow Dash squirmed underneath the blanket they had put on her.

        “Dash, you ready to talk?” Applejack asked.

        “I’m not Rainbow Dash anymore,” Rainbow whispered.

        “What?” Cedar asked.

        “I’m not Rainbow Dash. I can’t fly or run, let alone walk quickly. And I don’t have any color,” Rainbow explained all emotion removed from her voice, “I’m Rain-no Dash…”

        “How can you say that? Getting sick don’t change your name, why would any other injury do so?” Applejack asked. Rainbow refused to answer, retreating into silence again.

        “I’m sorry to dump her on you like this,” Cedar said, “But my house is in no shape to house me, let alone a guest. Speaking of which, I’m going to go work on patching it up. Ponies will still need furniture and building repairs, so it’s not like I’m out of a job. Thanks for your help.”

        “No, thank you Cedar. Ya brought Rainbow Dash back to us. Even if she doesn’t agree yet. Ah wish ya luck,” Applejack embraced Cedar. Cedar returned the hug and said his goodbyes. Leaving with the saddlebags he had taken from Twilight’s loaded down with apples and his canteens refilled.

I hope my tools are still at my house, otherwise I am out of a job…