POV Rio
I wake up in a cold sweat and nearly jump right out of bed. But I am stopped by the sounds of surprise coming from my bedside.
"Holy crap, you're awake! Wait, don't get out of bed!" a voice that I wasn't able to fully realise who it came from said to me.
I was incredibly disoriented as I tried to figure out where I was and what was happening. My body and brain were freaking out and giving me very mixed signals. A massive wave of dizziness washed over me, and I responded in kind.
*Puking Sounds*
I felt someone rubbing my back and soothing me.
"Easy, Rio. I'm not sure what happened, but you're clearly experiencing some sort of panic attack. Take a deep breath. Hold it for a few seconds and then slowly let it out. Focus on my voice. Ignore everything else," the voice tells me.
I follow the advice and start to calm down. But it doesn't solve the massive disorientation. But it does make it bearable.
"That's it. Just breathe," says the voice that is getting a bit clearer bit by bit.
"Thanks, where am I?"
"You're in the bedroom in the palace. After you passed out, we took you here to rest," the voice says, and I almost recognized it.
I look up at the voice, and I see Loona with a slightly worried look on her face.
"Thanks, Loona, and sorry about the vomit," I apologize.
"No worries, it strangely doesn't smell like vomit. Also, how do you still look so pristine? I usually look like shii- er crap when I end up puking like that," Loona asks somewhat jokingly.
"A perk makes me always look pristine and unruffled. I will never have a bad mane day or get dirty," I say with a small smile.
"Hah, of course. You know I will kill for such a cheat. I wouldn't have to comb my fur ever again. Do you have any idea how long it can take to deal with all this fur? It's horrible," Loona says with a playful tone.
"What, you don't clean yourself with your tongue? I thought everyone did that," I say with a shocked and serious tone.
Loona freezes and looks at me dead in the eyes to see if I was messing with her.
"Wait, is that how ponies clean themselves? Are you being serious?" Loona asks with increasing worry.
I can't hold it in any longer and chuckle a bit, but then immediately regret it as my body was not happy with that.
"Ugh, mistake but worth it," I say with a slightly nauseous face.
Loona laughs when she realizes both my joke and predicament. It was at this time that Cait, Quiet, and Moxxie finally opened the door and breathed a massive sigh of relief, seeing me awake.
"Bout time you woke up, you had me worried sick," Cait says while approaching the bed and almost stepping in my mess.
"Ew~ Loona, I thought you said you don't have hair balls," Cait says with a mocking tone towards Loona.
Loona flips her off. And Cait responds by using her middle finger to pull her eyelid down and stick out her tongue.
"So what happened to you? You scared the hell out of us," Cait asks me.
I explained what happened, starting from the first meeting with the intruder and why I turned into the Flash.
"We get the Flash thing, but what was the thing about you just kinda fading out of existence?" Cait asked.
"The Flash gets his powers from the Speed Force. I was borrowing the Flash's form. Which meant borrowing the Speed Force. The Speed Force is sentient. I think. So basically, I was stealing its power in a stolen form, which is not welcome. If I had stuck with the speed I was going prior to the big battle, then there wouldn't be much, if any issues. But I went much beyond that. Like thousands of times the speed of light. A point at which time becomes a suggestion. I wasn't that skilled in using that level of speed. Using that much power caught the Speed Force's undivided attention, so it dragged me into itself. I was stuck there for... eons. Dying and undying over and over again. Going thousands of years into the future and millions into the past all at once. And when none of that killed me, it sent... the grim reaper of sorts to deal with me," I say and start to shake when I remember that thing.
"What was it?" Quiet asks while holding my shoulder in support.
"I think I recall it being called the Black Flash. It's... the Speed Forces antibody of a sort. Meant to be the fastest thing in existence. If it had killed me, there would be no escape. It would have drained all of my time, leaving me in a frozen state. Aware and yet not able to move. For eternity. I... Was stupidly lucky that it didn't kill me without me noticing. It could have and I would have been none the wiser. Instead, it came to me and spoke. I used an ability I hadn't even used until then. I basically negotiated with the Grim Reaper and saved my life. But before it spared me and I knew I was safe it reached towards me. In that fraction of a femtosecond, I saw my life flash before my eyes. Everything I would lose. Everyone I would miss," I say with a quiet tone and a serious shake to my hooves.
Everyone looks worried, but they don't interrupt.
"Heh, look at me, I'm a mess. I'm not scared of death. At least not as much as others would be. I'm scared of that kind of death. I... I think I might be... scared," I say, but before the shaking gets worse, I feel someone wrap there arms around me, followed by many more.
"We're here for you, Rio. Were not going anywhere," Cait says.
"You survived. Your safe," Loona adds on.
"You saved us. In ways you might never really understand," Quiet says.
The hug lasts for a bit, and I won't deny I cry a bit, but not too much, as I feel a lot better.
"Okay, okay. Thank you. Everyone of you. That makes me feel much better," I say while taking a deep breath and letting it out.
The hug ends, and everyone looks at me with a smile.
"So where was I? Ah, yes, I was spared. But I can't ever use that form or the Speed Force again. If I do, there won't be a second chance. As for now... well. I am not sure what's happening, but my mind and body are freaking out. It's like I am both moving insanely fast and slower than molasses. It's not as bad as when I woke up, but that disconnection is making things difficult. But it's getting better bit by bit," I say with some disorientation leaking into my voice.
"That explains the strange movements you've been making," Loona comments.
"So... what did I miss?" I ask.
"Not much. The rebels haven't even tried anymore attempts on the palace anymore. We've each been taking turns guarding you, the Princess, the med bay, and the shield array. But so far, nothing has happened. In fact, according to the Princess, the storm has gotten a fair bit weaker," Moxxie says.
"Hmm, what about the attack?" I ask.
Everyone avoids my eyes and seems a little hesitant to say anything.
"How bad?" I ask.
"Well, you saved a lot of lives. In fact, most of those that you saved from the bombs survived. But... the monsters... They didn't go down that easily. We have about 73 survivors. 10 of which are still in a coma from the damage. We tried savin' those we could, but the damage to a lot of the survivors was... brutal, and we ain't doctors," Cait replies.
"Sigh. Well, at least some survived. The intruder I defeated was the leader of the rebellion. But she still has some followers. I am just not sure where. At the very least, there is a powerful wizard who is behind this storm. But if the storm has gotten weaker, that is for one of two reasons. Either they are getting tired, or the Windigo was the one fueling the storm the most," I explain.
"Speakin' of the leader, she's still alive. We have her in a cell," Cait comments.
"Really?" I ask with genuine surprise.
"Wait? Yer surprised?" Cait says with equal surprise.
"Well, like I said, I wasn't a master at that form and wth how fast I was going, I was focused on erasing the Aberhant Windigo, so the fact she survived is both surprising and lucky. We can interrogate her, unless you already got her talking," I explain.
"Aberhant? As in, there might be more of those things?" Loona asks.
"No, that was the last one. And it was a mutant or Aberhant depending on your perspective. Apparently, it was my fault for irradiating it so badly that it mutated," I comment.
Everyone looked at me with confusion.
"So, apparently, I have fought it before. I got a vision of the past a few months ago, and I had sort of broken the vision thanks to my system causing me to interact with the vision when I wasn't supposed to be able to. Honestly, it might have actually been due to my Speed Force mess. As I said, I was everywhere and nowhere while going that fast. Either way, I tossed a bunch of nukes on it, and it survived that and mutated. I only know this because when I was erasing it, I saw its entire timeline. Which is how I know it was the last of its kind," I reply.
There were a few more questions, but eventually I got stabilized enough to try to start walking. Doing so was really hard. The desync between my brain and body was tricky to adapt to, but eventually I got a decent handle on it. We headed to the cell where the mare was being held.
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Author's Note:
So, Rio might have some slight PTSD from this. But then again, I imagine anyone would be like that in his shoes, or even worse. The next chapter should close off this arc, and then it will be time for Rio and his companions to head home. With some extra tag-alongs. Until next time, Ciao.