Rainbow Dash lives an exciting life and is swiftly becoming the most daring, awesome pegasus in all of Equestria. She would gladly give it all up, though, just to confess her love to Applejack.
That morning, Rainbow Dash stared at her hooves as she trotted across the heart of Ponyville.
The grass bent beneath her fetlocks. Leaves crunched. Pine needles tumbled and shifted.
She wished she could feel it all.
With a sigh, the pony stretched and unstretched her wings. Her mind scraped memories from the past. If she looked to the northwest, she could spot the top floor of Ponyville Central Hospital peeking out over the tree tops.
The mare's ears drooped as she imagined the most unthinkable exchange. Her wings stretched again. If the whole world was a fantasy, the only thing real had always been her feathers. She had a brief visionāsomething that was both hilarious and horrifying. She imagined a block of wood suspended in air. Suddenly the wood was carved into a prancing ponyābut it fell forever.
Rainbow wasn't certain she'd want the numbness to clear by the time it hit the ground. Even a dead weight could dream so long as it wasn't robbed of clouds.
She tilted her head up, filling her eyes with sky. It was still the morning, and the clouds were sparse. A big gray blueness loomed over her... ever expansive and limitless. All her life, she had spent anchored to one thing or another, whether she knew it or not. Why hadn't she tried exploring more? Expanding more?
She closed her eyes, and as the tingling lingered in her limbs, she found her mind floating into warmer spheres. These weren't skyscapes, but rather a domain of a different, more familiar color. But even then, she couldn't indulge in the orange... in the gold... in the sporadic freckles of that happenstance heaven. Once upon a time, it brought her joy. But even the warmest escapes of her mind were no longer ecstatic things.
Rainbow wondered precisely when and where she reached a point where her only recourse was to punish herself.
Nevertheless, she trotted forward. Through the numbness, she heard voices... piercing.
The mare stifled a gasp. She reopened her eyes.
Pinkie Pie and Rarity trotted side by side. The two had been shoppingāas evidenced by the items floating alongside the fashionista.
"...actually wants a coat made entirely out of yak wool! Do you know how many wars we'd start against the north if I had to procure such a substance?!"
"Heehee! You should hunt down some really angryyyyyyyy sheep and get them to cough up their fuzziness! Your client won't know the difference!"
"As hilarious a thought that may be, darling, I'm not in the habit of outright lying to those whom I make dresses for. I told the customer that we'd make a compromise. I'll make her two coats... and though the material may be artificial, I do believe I can emulate the texture of yak fur. Plus... I intend to emboss the collar and accents with Yakyakistanian motifs! Oh, she is going to be utterly flabbergasted!"
"This one time, I sewed a turtleneck for Gummy. He fit right in at the Hearth's Warming Eve party! Well... right up until the guests found him floating around in the eggnog bowl."
"Hmmm... yes, well... how about I design something water-proof for him after this latest job?"
"How about eggnog proof?!"
"Heheh... if you insist, Pinkie Pie."
"Yaaaaay!"
The friends' conversation rose and dwindled. This was because they had both passed Rainbow Dash... who was hiding behind a tree.
At last, Rainbow Dash stepped out from where she was concealed. She stood with her wings tightly coiled at her side. Biting her lip, she gazed down the road at where Rarity and Pinkie had vanished.
Now there was something else in addition to the tingling. It was a lingering pain that tightened up into a hard granite ball in the center of Rainbow's chest. Her sighs were heavy things, and she could scarcely turn herself around to continue her lurch home.
It was precisely at this moment that she nearly tripped over me.
"Hi, Rainbow Dash!" I said with an orange grin that reflected in her eyes.
Rainbow stumbled in place. When she saw me, the mare bit her lip. Seconds later, a smile bled out... accompanied by limply spreading wings. "Oh... h-hey there, sport..."
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Scootaloo, tell her she can't go.
And cry.
Tug at her legs too.
7314043
Not amused.
I'm thinking of retracting my previous statement about AJ being the only one that can save Rainbow Dash, cause I'm starting to believe not even AJ can save her now.
I'm starting to think that the only way she gets saved is if Discord forces the cure upon her, like he teased about being able to do after Photo Finish's party
I've had the flu the past 3 days. But this chapter is just sickening.
C'mon, Scoots. You're our last hope.
7314050 Tugging at her wings would work better, she can't feel her legs.
after experiencing the dreaded numbness of M.S I can sympathise with dashie on this, the whole no sensation thing is NOT happy happy funtimes, especially not when ya black and blue from bumpingf stuff and STILL can't feel it.
I think I'm actually starting to dislike this story's Rainbow Dash. Or, at the very least, I can't seem to muster any sympathy for her at all. There isn't a single thing wrong in her life that she didn't either create or exacerbate (usually followed by endless moping). I know she'll get her act together at some point, but I can only seem to care about that insofar as she'll stop giving her friends the shaft. They deserve better.
It's a heartbreaking moment when you realize that the moment of peace and contentedness Dash had a few chapters back while flying only serves as a reminder now of what she has to lose.
It's been 970 chapters and Rainbow's friends still haven't been able to break her out of her funk. [But it's not their fault. All the blame falls with our depressed self-denying Dashie]
Scoots, maybe you can do something? Something? Anything at all? Please?
Oh for fucks sake I'm gone for a few weeks or a month or whatever the fuck and this is the depressing state of the story I catch up to? But yeah for any of you that may of wondered if I got a life or something, the answer is no, I'm back.
Remember when Appledashery had chapters that weren't soul crushingly depressing and hopeless? Pepperidge farm remembers.....
7314800 No, I don't remember that. Even the Buffalo were pretty depressing.
By this point, Dash, you're going to die miserable and alone. Buck up, pull yourself together long enough to bloody seek help from someone and get youself sorted out. If you don't make the attempt, nothing is going to change. That's how this stuff works. I'm not saying you can magic away depression and physical disabilities away by talking to someone, but it certainly won't hurt. I could get all technical and state what endorphins are released through social interaction and how that helps with low self-esteem and depression, but by this point I've just about given up. Try or die. Simple. Try to help yourself, or give up now. Don't stay in miserable limbo and hurt those around you just because you can't take a bloody step in helping yourself.
She always seems to run into Scoots before vanishing into thin air, eh?
7315540 Scoots' Rainbow Dash sense must have been tingling
;_;
Perhaps it's the Austraeoh fan in me, but I'm actually looking forward to Rainbow leaving and working for the Lunar Code. Badass Dash is always a welcome thing. Yes, it's sad that Rainbow is basically slinking off and leaving her friends and Ponyville in the dust. However, they really haven't been very involved in this story. This story literally has been the 'Rainbow Dash headbutts her way to Awesome Adventure and happens to have a thing for Applejack' show for a while. The mane six have been basically the background ponies of the story and haven't, beyond a few appearances, done much to actually help Rainbow with her troubles. Heck, the B-Team has been there and done more for Rainbow than her 'main' group of friends.
With AppleDash pretty much being a ship only in title at this point, and the adventure parts of the story being the area that Rainbow excels, getting more of that content can only be a good thing, in my opinion. Who knows, while doing missions for the Lunar Code maybe Rainbow will be able to find something to help her with her illness beyond a potion that is already having diminishing returns. Perhaps Rainbow will also be able to work out her internal issues as well, with new companions and acquaintances to share their insight. Perhaps this is the opening for Lancie's return?
To TL:DR: The story's been stalled for a while now, constantly circling the depression and 'lovesick but can't have' angle, and while seeing this 'verse's version of Dash has been a nice fresh take on the character, this move by Dash means the story can move forward. Which, for better or for worse, will give her some new issues to deal with while resolving old ones. At the very least, it will give us something else to comment on than 'we hate Stu Leaves'
7314600
Well, they only tried once (the camp out) in all 970 chapters to break her out of her funk. Beyond Rainbow's time talking with Fluttershy, they've pretty much ignored Dash's issues and her absence chalking it up to 'Rainbow being Rainbow'. So I'd argue that they're just as much to blame as Dash is. If you include Team B's attempt at helping (Las Pegasus), then they've made debatably negative progress in helping Dash.
7319375 I do have to concede that they [the Mane 6] just don't seem to be able to see any symptoms of depression in Rainbow Dash, even while her "drinking buddies" try in their own bizarre ways to cheer their friend up. But, ultimately, I feel like the responsibility to reach out for help [especially to the Elements of Harmony] still falls to our fruity-maned protagonist.
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Perhaps Scootalo can persuade RD to, uh... eheh... to chicken out of this plan of h-
*gets tossed into SeƱor Socky's puppet dimension*
Scoots... Don't let her get away
7319375
Agree with al this. While for the show RD leaving ponyville would be really bad, in this verse it seems like the only hope of a real future for her.
And once she had solved his problems she can return to ponyville.
YUSH, DONT MAKE HER GO AWAY SCOOTS!
Oh. Right.