On a Wing and a Spellcard (Con't. from Everfree)

[shiftyPotentate]

Fluttershy pulled her face away, though kept her legs wrapped around Wingless Rainbow. "Is... is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" she asked, though she honestly didn't know what could make it better.

Something occurred to her. Of all the pegasi in Equestria, she was probably the one who flew the least. Most of the time she preferred to stay on the ground, especially since she'd fallen out of Cloudsdale that fateful day years ago. Even between her and Rainbow Dash, if this had happened to her, Fluttershy realized she would probably have been okay with it. For the power of flight to be taken from the pony who loved it the most...

That tormented her all over again, and she buried her face back in Wingless Rainbow's shoulder again, letting out a moan of heartbreak into her.

[ShadesofGrey18]

Trevor's cursing ended up breaking the "Cartoon innocence" that Soarin' had. The unfortunate stallion's mind started giving him images of things that might've happened to Rainbow then. He gagged, the green in his face gaining some tint, then dashed outside.

Sanae and Michael looked at each other, making a silent truce between each other; there was a pony that needed comforting. They both went over to Pinkie and hugged her. Michael then winced slightly as he heard a faint sound from outside; no one else could've heard it, but it sounded... well, not very pleasant. He then heard Soarin's voice moaning, "...Ohhhh... yuck... what a waste of pie... and it was so good, too." ...At that, Michael had to fight to hold back a chuckle.

Soarin' then staggered back into the house, drank another dose of the antacid, then laid down.

Shanghai flitted up to Alice and tapped her shoulder. "Hm? What is it, Shanghai?" asked Alice. Shanghai just motioned towards the room where Fluttershy and the two Rainbows were. As Alice went there, Marisa followed.

When they went into the room, Marisa noticed how sad Fluttershy was... and walked over to her. Marisa wasn't the most touchy-feely person you'd ever meet, either, but it was absolutely heartbreaking hearing the sweet Pegasus crying. Marisa hugged Fluttershy, rubbing her back gently.

Alice said to herself, "There must be something that we can do..."

Shanghai then flitted up to her and said, "Mama!"

Alice responded, "What is it?"

Shanghai then whispered in Alice's ear. Her expression lit up and she said, "That's it!" She then ran and grabbed Michael out of the kitchen; he had broken his hug with Pinkie, but Sanae had not. Dragging him back to the room, she said, "Michael, if you could-" she then whispered to him.

Michael's expression did what Alice's did earlier, and he said, "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?!"

[Felix Falora]

Trevor noticed Soarin'. Masahiro sighed and his hand came across Trevor's face. More comedic then dramatic this time. "Watch your mouth," he said.

"Hey, I'm tellin' it as it is," Trevor said. At Spike's words, he twitched a bit. "Well no, not really. But in my defense, she's a bad mother anyway."

Wingless Rainbow sighed and patted Fluttershy's shoulder. "It's fine Fluttershy, really. I mean I had gotten over it already. I just... none of this was expected." She looked up at Winged Rainbow lightly. "I thought that I'd never see Pinkie... or myself with wings... ever again. I didn't think there'd be a whole other world where alternate versions of us existed... But I'm fine... really... and... 'sides... if you keep crying, it's gonna be hard for me to..."

Rainbow sighed. How did things get so emotional so quickly? She's tougher then I am... guess she has to be, she thought. I mean... I don't think I'd ever be able to get over it myself. Flying's too close to me. It's my talent... it's my life. If I lost it, I don't think I'd be able to go on. And yet she's gotten over it? She looked up at Wingless Rainbow. "You miss it, don't ya?"

"... Well of course... There isn't a day I don't look at the sky and wish I could be in the air again, but... I'm happy with what I have, ya know? I mean... I know you're not this insightful, I wasn't, but..."

"You're tougher then I am. Seeing as how Pinkie never lost it in my world, I... I've never been able to imagine life without wings. Discord took them, yeah, but I was able to get them back... despite what happened. But... I'd want to fly." She walked over to a window and sighed. "I'd end up so hurt and so lost... 'cause I'd just want to look for a way to fly again."

She mused on it for a bit... and then something hit her. Wait a minute... fly again... fly without wings. Around the time Alice was being relayed this, Rainbow was beginning to remember herself. Michael could fly, but he didn't have wings. All of those guys were flying, but they didn't have wings! And they were teaching her their craft! In fact... didn't they mention that?

"I think we should teach Rainbow how to fly without her wings as well. That way, if something happens, she can stay in the air."

That was right! They wanted to teach her that as well! While teaching her danmaku, they were also gonna teach her how to fly... without wings! Did they see this coming? Probably not. But it was so good, so how did it evade her mind?! A grin began forming on Rainbow's face before her hooves came up and hit the ground rather dramatically, causing the other two ponies to jump. "That's it!"

"Wh-What's it? Have you lost your mind?"

Rainbow turned to face her wingless version. "I can't get you your wings back, but I'm gonna do one better anyway. I'm gonna get you back into the air."

[DM: Dersite Merchant]

Seeing Alice drag Michael out of the kitchen piqued the dragon's curiosity, and he followed them into the other room to see what was up. As far as he could tell, Alice was asking something of Michael, but he couldn't tell what at first. But then he saw who else was there: both Rainbows and Fluttershy. And one of those Rainbows lost her wings in a traumatic experience. And as the winged mare made her vow to her grounded counterpart, it suddenly clicked in Spike's head.

"Ahh... I see where this is going..." he chimed in with an understanding nod. His chi paths may be too young and underdeveloped, but Rainbow Dash--as a young mare--should be old enough that she could learn if properly taught.

[shiftyPotentate]

Fluttershy only felt more and more sad as the two Rainbows reminisced about flight. She wished she could give Rainbow Dash her wings. If only it were that easy. But there was nothing she could think of that would--

"Eep!!" She jumped as Winged Rainbow made her exclamation. She listened, and her eyes widened as she realized it too. "That's right...! It should be possible to learn, especially if you could learn those neat tricks from before!" Fluttershy agreed. "We should go ask. I think they'll say yes."

[ShadesofGrey18]

Michael grinned ear-to-ear. "Don't even need to ask. Of course I'll teach you. Honestly," he said to Wingless Rainbow, "I'm surprised you didn't ask me about that when I was carrying you back here."

He then knelt down by the wingless Pegasus and said, "Hold still a minute, I'm gonna check your Chi pathways." His hands started glowing with his grey Chi and he placed them on the side of her head. "Just try and relax, okay?" He closed his eyes and started feeling out her Chakras. It was better than he expected, but there were still some things...

"Hm... okay. This is definitely workable, but it'll take some time to get you to where you can learn it. You have some Chakras blocked... which makes sense; traumatic events can do that; don't worry, those can be unblocked. Most of them are clear, but your Root chakra at the base of your spine and your Stomach chakra are blocked. Your Third Eye chakra on your forehead is muddy, but that should clear soon."

Michael then stopped a minute and said, "I should probably clarify. Your Root chakra is blocked by feelings of instability, emotional or physical. That and your Stomach chakra, which is blocked by fear or shame, are perfectly understandable, given your situation. The Third Eye chakra deals with wisdom and is blocked by confusion... and because you just got to the Island, that also makes sense."

He continued, "...Your Heart chakra is shining brightly... that one deals with love. Your unblocked Crown chakra is a testament to your strength... it's blocked by feelings of meaninglessness, so you recovered quite well from losing your wings."

Alice then said, "I'm sure you'll do just fine. Why don't you come back to the kitchen with us and I'll get some tea started."

Meanwhile, back with the rest, Sanae broke her hug with Pinkie. "Are you feeling any better?" She felt really bad for the pink pony; Sanae didn't think she deserved what was happening.

Marisa walked over to the stallion on the couch. "...You just can't catch a break, can you, Soarin'?"

Soarin' replied, "...No...urrgh...not really..."

[Felix Falora]

Pinkie was comforted from the hugs, and she was perking up a bit about the idea of getting Wingless Rainbow into the air, which she now saw was possible due to the Gensokyo residents. However, her hair was still straight. She was still confused about what it was that really happened. She blinked, then looked at Trevor. "... Show me the story."

"Eh?!"

"I need to know how serious this is. Otherwise I won't know what to do. Dashie's scared of me, right?"

"I... uh..." Trevor sighed. He knew Pinkie. Watching the whole show through, he could tell she was the kind who would keep pressing and pressing until she got what she wanted. That was what caused that scene in the first place; pressing Spike until he told her what she wanted to hear, which wasn't what she needed to hear. Pulling out an electronic device, he fiddled with it a bit and a transcript of the story similar to the one Rainbow read appeared in his hand. "Just promise not to hate me later, ok?"

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," Pinkie replied before taking the transcript and opening it. That promise saved Trevor's ass because the horrors she pretty much opened herself up to was sudden and scarring. Still, after recovering from the aftershock, she shook it off. Trevor was quite surprised at how quickly she was shaking it off. "That was... horrible, but... I've got an idea. I just need you to help me..."

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"I can't be ok if Dashie hates me..." Trevor could empathize with that, having lost it himself a long time ago over the hatred of a friend. Only this Dash's fears were more justified, but towards the wrong persona. "I have to prove I'm not that... thing... that she had to deal with."

"R... Right." After hearing Pinkie's plan, Trevor nodded. "That could work. Masahiro, I need you to go back to the city and get some supplies for me." After transcribing the list for the former angel, he took off and Trevor sighed. "Right then..."

Back in the other room, Wingless Rainbow blinked. "I don't understand. I just thought it was something you could do. Like you had some kind of magic... are you saying I could learn to do that kind of magic?"

"Yeah!" Rainbow demonstrated it, but did it without much thought. Her eyes widened as the danmaku shot through the window, breaking it. "O... Oops... a-anyway, they've been teaching me and Fluttershy what they can do, so you can learn to do it too!"

"That... that would be wonderful! Applejack would be so happy to see me in the air again!... though that would also kinda make everything we just went through, all the moving on and stuff, kinda meaningless in and of itself, wouldn't it?"

"Well think about it this way... you didn't know there was another way to fly, so you moved on and proved you were strong by showing the world you didn't need your wings to keep going. But now you're about to get a whole new set of wings you didn't know about before. It wasn't a waste to move on because you could have never guessed you'd be able to fly again."

"... Yeah, you're right."

[DM: Dersite Merchant]

Spike gave the wingless pegasus a thumbs up of reassurance. "Hey, if our Rainbow Dash could learn to work danmaku as quickly as she did, you'll be back in the air in no time!"

[shiftyPotentate]

Though she wasn't participating in the conversation, Fluttershy smiled. She looked to Spike and the Rainbows, and decided she wasn't needed in the conversation anymore and so she quietly excused herself from the room before any of them could protest.

She didn't know the rest of the newcomers, though Pinkie Pie was around. She smiled and approached that conversation instead, hoping Pinkie Pie noticed her without her having to speak up. She wouldn't even mind it if Pinkie went a little overboard with her reaction either. In fact, she decided that would be much appreciated if it happened.

[ShadesofGrey18]

Alice dismissively waved at winged Rainbow and said, "Don't worry about the window, that can be fixed."

Michael said, "I can't guarantee that you'll be able to fly the way you used to, but then again, you ponies have surprised me over and over since coming here. ...Much as I would like to start this right now, we can't. Like I said earlier, your Third Eye, Stomach, and Root chakras are all blocked. The Third Eye and Root chakras will dissipate the block as you get accustomed to this place, but your Stomach chakra will not."

Michael continued. "The reason you get that 'knots in your stomach' or 'butterflies' feeling when you're nervous or full-blown scared is because of that Chakra being blocked. ...I'm sure you know why your Stomach chakra is blocked, right?"

Meanwhile, back in the living room, Marisa was trying to help the ill stallion.

"Urgh... I feel awful now..."

Marisa responded, "I'm sure. Here, let me try this..." She flipped him from his side to his stomach and tried rubbing his back a little. Gradually, the green tint in his face started to recede.

"Mhm... that feels good... thanks."

Marisa shrugged. "Just trying to help a friend. 'Sides, it's kinda my fault you're like this anyway; that potion from earlier probably didn't do you any favors..."

[Felix Falora]

Wingless Rainbow blinked at the question, but nodded nonetheless. "Yeah... I know what it is. She's not the same Pinkie Pie, but even then... I'm still worried that anything could go wrong and... I mean our Pinkie went crazy because of the surprise party we tried to throw, and I bet you did that to your Pinkie too, huh?"

"Yeah, but Pinkie's a good girl. I bet she's out there worried to death about the fact that you dislike her."

"Oh Fluttershy!" Pinkie's hair poofed up. "Thank goodness you're here! You can help me stop the wingless Dash from seeing me as a horrible pony!" Well look who was right on the dot. "I'm gonna bake a pie for me and her to share!"

"We're cooking lots of sweets today, aren't we?" Patchouli commented idly, having been neutral in her corner with nothing she could add to the discussion.

"If I'm eating it with her, she'll have to see nothing's wrong with it! I mean... I wouldn't take a chance at drugging myself, right?!"

"Ok, that just downright sounds suspicious," Trevor advised.

"Sorry... but you understand what I'm saying, right? It would be a reeeeeeeeeeealy big help, Fluttershy, pleeeeeeeease?!"

[DM: Dersite Merchant]

Spike felt a little to afraid to ask, but he still couldn't help but wonder exactly what the other Pinkie did or at least tried to do to this alternate Rainbow Dash. Especially if it involved her getting her wings physically cut off. In fact, not knowing the details seemed to make it even more horrible to think about.

That surprise party... He remembered it all too well. It had been the day after her pet gator Gummy's birthday, and the girls decided to throw her a party for a change. Unfortunately, keeping it a surprise turned out to be extremely difficult for them when she was trying to invite them all to Gummy's birthday after-party. She ultimately came to the wrong conclusion over her friends actions. And while their Pinkie Pie got over it in their universe, the other Pinkie apparently never did...

The young dragon looked away suddenly feeling a knot in his own stomach. There was a missing piece of the puzzle he and Pinkie never really told the other girls about. And looking back at it was starting to give Spike a nasty taste in his mouth.

[shiftyPotentate]

Fluttershy was glad of the reception. "A pie?" She thought about it. That would be a nice way to build goodwill with Rainbow Dash. She decided she would be there to help. Clearing an innocent friend's good name was paramount.

"Of course I'll help, Pinkie. I wouldn't want Rainbow to be afraid of you forever..." she said clearly and quietly. Somehow one always seemed to hear someone better when they spoke in a low volume. You listened harder.

[ShadesofGrey18]

Soarin' was laying down on the couch, still feeling rather ill from his... unfortunate upheaval from earlier. One of Alice's dolls, dressed in a nurse outfit, brought him some soup, which the stallion accepted gratefully. Marisa had gone out to gather some mushrooms so she could make some more of the restorative elixirs.

Alice walked back into the kitchen and said to Patchouli (having heard her comment), "The house smells quite nice, though, does it not? Besides; back in Gensokyo, we don't often get much opportunity for these kinds of baked goods, so it's a nice change."

As Michael walked back into the living room (to go check on Soarin'), he used his power to whisper to Spike. "You should probably tell them. Those of us who watched the show and Pinkie already know about... that... but you still need to tell the rest of them. I'm sure they won't be mad."

[Felix Falora]

"The fairies would often bake sweets for Mistress Scarlet, so I am used to the smell," Patchouli replied. "Satori over there looks like she hasn't smelled a pie in her life. Guess it makes sense; they probably don't make the best pastries down in Hell, so it must be an alien sensation to her."

"Kinda odd," Meiling quipped. "With all of that fire, you figure baking would be easy."

"Thank you Fluttershy! This is gonna be the bestest pie ever!" Pinkie said and threw her hooves around the pegasus.