Appledashery

by Just Essay

Truer Words...

Fwooosh!

"Zecora?!" Rainbow Dash bellowed between panting breaths. "Hey! Zecchy!" After having shot out of Sugarcube Corner, she lifted herself above the rooftops, twirling about as she gazed towards every end of the village. "Zecora! Wait up! Please, don't do this! Where—"

Rainbow cut her own words short when she realized there was no sign of the monochromatic mare. A few curious ponies glanced at her in the sunset light, blinking confusedly.

With a wincing expression, Rainbow peered past them, flapping her wings hard. "Zecora?! For real, girl. Don't—"

She saw a flicker of a black-and-white tail in her peripheral. Spinning about, Rainbow spotted a figure darting into the thick of the Everfree Forest.

"Zecora!" Swissssssh! Rainbow rocketed her way towards the treeline. The pounding in her chest urged her to hyperventilate, but she resisted as well as she could. "Zecora, wait! Will you just wait a second?!"

---

Rainbow Dash knew the arrangement of Ponyville's streets and buildings. The woodwork of Everfree Forest?—not so much, which had never been a point of frustration to the mare until this very moment.

She darted through tree after tree, gnashing her teeth. The darkening afternoon was triply shadowed under the Everfree canopy, hampering her attempts to see anything beyond the wooden branches before her. Nevertheless, she threaded her way through the trunks and limbs, gliding down as many even paths as she could find.

"Zecora?!"

Nothing returned—save for the echo of Rainbow's desperate voice. There was no finding the zebra at this rate. Rainbow swiftly realized that her current strategy wasn't working. So long as she was searching for the mare—instead of just making a beeline for the mare's hut—she risked getting more and more lost.

So, with flapping wings, Rainbow Dash ascended above the treeline and scanned for the tell-tale branches of the old, withery hut. She found it in no time at all, then glided earthward. Just as she broke the treeline again, her heart skipped a beat. She spotted a black-and-white shadow galloping through the front entrance.

"Zecora—!"

Slam! The front door to the hut shut hard.

Within seconds, Rainbow Dash arrived, scuffling to a stop until she stood—panting—before the very structure.

"Zecora, please! Open the door!" She knocked the front door with her hoof several times. "I mean it! Don't do this!"

She tugged on the door, but it refused to budge.

Gulping, Rainbow knocked on it several more times. "Zecora?! Are you there? Girl, let me in. Please." Her ears folded back as she stammered, "Look, I know that totally had to have sucked. I mean... not for Fluttershy or Big Macintosh... or the other girls really—I mean... rrrrgh... darn it!" She clenched her eyes shut. "Of all the things you had to walk in on—that must have felt totally uncool. But please don't lock yourself away like it's the friggin' end of the world. You deserve more than that! You're smart... witty... full of life... and dayum sexy! Don't lose sight of all that just 'cuz of one guy! Ya feel me? Big Macintosh and Fluttershy—they've had eyes on each other for a long, long time. It's nothing personal, Zecora. It's just how they were meant to be. And... and..."

Rainbow swallowed a lump down her throat. The mare gave up on knocking on the door, and her body slumped against the front of the hut. Her body gradually became numb, though it wasn't for all of the usual reasons.

"And I knew, Zecora," she murmured, sniffling. "I knew about it the whole time. I... I'm sorry." She reopened her eyes, and they were misty. "All this time. I knew... I knew and I didn't tell you. I wanted to tell you... and yet I didn't... I..."

Grimacing, she turned around, her back slumped to the front door. Her wet eyes gazed out upon the foggy sea of trees.

"...I didn't tell you because... because I know what it means to be hopelessly in love with a pony who will never love you back... at least not in the way you want to... that you whimper and sob over at night when it's just you and the lame darkness." She rubbed her cheek, shuddering. "And... and I-I guess I wanted you to enjoy that love... for as long as you could... for as long as you had hope." She gulped. "I-I should have had the courage to shatter your dreams long ago, but I didn't. I like you, Zecora. You've done so many nice things to me and I like you b-being happy. But in the end, I was a friggin' coward."

She sniffled, clenching her eyes shut as she hit the back of her head repeatedly against the doorframe.

"I'm a coward about everything. Just... just locked in place. Going nowhere. That's not a healthy love. It isn't. It isn't healthy, Zecora. It totally isn't..."

Silence.

Rainbow seethed hard and harder. At last, her muscles relaxed. She opened her moist eyes with a sullen expression. Then—one limp at a time—she pulled herself into a low hover. There were no more words, and she lethargically fluttered her way home, leaving the hut in the dark heart of the forest far behind her.

Comments

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

Wow. Just wow.

Poor Zecora. Poor Dash.

I hope that, by the time this story is finally over, they each find happiness.

Somehow.

On another note, I'm willing to bet that the title of the next chapter will be "...Were Never Spoken".

[zaponator]

Huh, that was good of Rainbow to own up to it. I can honestly say I didn't really expect that.

[RoboRed]

[Sharp Quill]

6007782

On another note, I'm willing to bet that the title of the next chapter will be "...Were Never Spoken".

It was, until you uncovered the pattern.

[Lightning Bearer]

Poor zebra. But she's strong. She'll mend. And I'll keep my fingers crossed that she and Noir will hook up eventually.

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

6007999 Ah.

Well, I kinda figured that I'd make an (unintentional) mess of things.

Drat me.

[HopelessRomanetic]

This chapter made me cry bc unrequited love is crap. At least Noir has a chance. He can comfort her and make her fall in love all over again. Anyway guys, is this the storm? Or is their a hurricane on the way?

[Amdazzler]

6008410
I'm going with this just being the tip of the iceberg.

[BabySkittleMonster]

"Hey! Zecchy!"

My nickname has been accepted! Yay!

As for the rest of the chapter... Well, I'm gonna go bawl my eyes out in the corner, hugging a teddy and awaiting Eurovision to cheer me up.

[Hestia]

Powerful stuff here.

Brought a tear to my eye, really.

[FloydienSlip]

[kushi02]

Truer words were ever spoken, i believe the poor zebra heart is broken

[arancaytar]

 Big Macintosh and Fluttershy—they've had eyes on each other for a long, long time.

Implying that you kind of lied to Zecora earlier to avoid dashing her hopes.

I guess it's confession time.