Appledashery

by Just Essay

Black and White and Midnight All Over

The next morning, Rainbow Dash woke up...

Or at least she thought she did.

Sitting in bed, the mare fumbled for a moment—trying to figure out if she was actually conscious or not. Rainbow winced as she moved her forelimbs. She touched the fetlocks—one to another—but felt a whole lot of... nothing.

And such is how she realized that she'd been putting off something for far too long.

Hanging her head, the mare sighed. Then—with healthy, flapping wings—she carried her body over into the bathroom to wash up...

And eventually into the kitchen to gather her belongings.

---

Thwoooosh!

Rainbow Dash nearly collapsed upon landing in the Everfree Forest. She paused in mid-air, using her wings to reorient herself. At last, she descended, landing on her limbs and locking them. With practiced grace, she shuffled forward, approaching the front door to Zecora's hut.

At last, the mare paused, feeling the weight of her saddlebags making her teeter left and right. Using her wings to stabilize herself, the mare leaned forward and dangled a hoof limply before herself. The pony bit her lip. She pivoted her forelimb left and right... trying to figure out the appropriate way to knock on the door in front of her...

Creaaaaaak.

The door opened on its own.

Rainbow blinked, surprised. She looked up with a smile. "Hey! How's it going Zecorrrrrrrrr—Noir?"

"Do come in, Rainbow Dash," the sarosian said, standing in the shadows of the hut. He stepped aside with a fanged smile, gesturing inward with his hoof.

Rainbow Dash hovered and drifted in. Her eyes remained locked on the stallion.

"It's been quite a while, has it not?" Noir remarked. "Funny how a myriad of dramatic things can make time fly by."

"... ... ..." She blinked at him.

"Is there something amiss?"

"Yeah," she muttered. "You're smiling."

"Hmmmf..." He nodded. "Well, even all creatures under Her moon are entitled, don't you think?"

"What are you even doing here?" Rainbow asked. "I'd figured you had recovered weeks ago."

"And—indeed—my health appears to have returned," the sarosian said. "However, I do appear to have found a new calling in life. Until the Lunar Code reasserts itself and establishes a new local headquarters, I've been applying my skills to the service of others around me."

"You don't say...?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact, I've spent the last few days rearranging my schedule so that I can be of more use in the day time."

"So you're no longer nocturnal?"

"That's one way of putting it," Noir said with a nod. "It is a challenge—most certainly. But one that has helped me be of good use to my fellow ponies."

"Yuh huh..." Rainbow nodded. "And what of fellow zebras?"

"Rainbow Dash!" Zecora stuck her head out from the basement staircase. "At long last!" She marched up, carrying several jugs full of herbs and medicinal supplies. "I knew that the time would come for you to acquire more medicine and then some."

"Yeah, Zecchy. Totally." Rainbow nodded. "I mean, you have no idea. I just joined the weather team that's gonna be responsible for uprooting a bunch of dead trees from the northern edge of the forest."

"Mmmm..." Noir nodded. "I do believe I've heard of that."

"Yeah. Well, turns out I'm one of the weather captains. And though my wings are enough to seal the deal... uhhh..." Rainbow gulped. "I don't wanna be weak in any other areas. So I was hoping you could work another one of your miracles for me." She turned around and fussed with her saddlebag, struggling to open one of the satchels. "Now... I-I'm not asking for you to make a whole bunch of the stuff. Just a little pick-me-up so I can last the next day or two. Then... when I get more bits... I'll come back and pay you handsomely for—"

Cl-clank! Three whole jugs were placed on the table beside Rainbow.

"... ... ..." She blinked at the huge collection of medicine. She next gawked at Zecora. "Uhm... Zecora? Did..." She pointed. "Did you already make this stuff?"

"Hmmmmm..." Zecora chuckled. "Rainbow, don't look so dazed. I believe 'On the House' is the appropriate phrase."

"Zecora... come on..." Rainbow frowned. "I know you're a mystical zebra shaman and all, but don't sell yourself short! I've got the bits to pay for this sort of thing!" She frowned. "Don't think of me as some friggin' charity case!"

"A donation, this most definitely is not. You can consider the brew earned and bought."

"We know how keen you are to receive only things that you've earned, Miss Dash," Noir said.

"I... I don't get it," Rainbow muttered.

Noir arched an eyebrow from under his hood. "Do you not?"

"Consider it an equivalent price," Zecora said, "For acquiring the lavenders of ice."

"Heh, well, when you put it that way—" Rainbow Dash froze in place. "...!!!" She looked at the two.

Zecora and Noir stared back, smiling.

Rainbow bit her lip. "You... you figured it out, huh?"

Both nodded.

"How could we not?" Noir remarked. "Every obvious clue points to it."

"Too many facts prove to be true," Zecora said. "After all, Rainbow, you are still you."

Rainbow sighed long and hard through a crooked smile. "Well... ... ...Luna poop."

Comments

[Mister Saxon]

Sort of unrelated: we last saw those chaos shards in the desert just outside the Wind Wall. I just realized that there's nothing stopping Romulus or what-have-you from coming back to pick them up and cause infinite trouble.
Also, I know Romulus was sacrificed to the dragons, but c'mon: we never saw the body, and this is Implodi Just Essay that we're talking about

Just a random thought of the day. Don't mind me.

[Mister Saxon]

Also:

"How could we not?" Noir remarked. "Every obvious clue points to it."

And these clues would be...?

[Lightning Bearer]

Well, at least someone was able to put two and two together.

[Tim the Planes-pony]

6637819 Except the only reason those shards were hunted for was because Lancie wanted them to be. They were never in any real danger of misuse. That aside I knew that this group would figure it out.

[Hestia]

Yay, looks like Noir and Zecora aren't blind. It would be pretty easy to guess what Rainbow Dash was up to if you knew her previous exploits.

And I was worrying about Dash for a moment. I've been worrying about her these past few chapters, actually.

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

6637824 The sudden, inexplicable, prolonged absence of the element of Loyalty/ member of the Lunar Code/ Most Awesome Pegasus in Ponyville whilst one of her friends' siblings is in mortal peril, followed by her subsequent reappearance timed conspicuously around the miraculous appearance of several species of extinct flora which can be used to cure the afflicted sibling of her malady.

Or to put it another way, that miracle was too friggin' awesome.

[destinedjagold]

6637824 I wanna know, too. If it was really obvious, then surely Applejack knew as well. The rest of RD's friends know, too. But maybe Scoots asked them not to say anything?

Or maybe since Zecora and Noir are the only ponies who know RD's recent hobby of collecting chaos shards, maybe the not-so-obvious clues are obvious to them.

Also, a question... Will Rainbow Dash visit or write a letter to Gilda? RD did promise to let her know how it went.

[Phoenix Kitten]

6637824
Let's look at facts.
So, as we know, the only ponies who weren't the mane 6 and knew about Iced Lavender not only being the cure, but being extinct were Zecora, Noir, Stu, Spike, Trixie and the other Apples, Granny and Macintosh. They were all accounted for during the week.
Dash was not.
Noir also knows that Dash is gathering the shards, and that she has some ability that allows her to use them.
Considering the power that Daring mentioned, where Dash somehow wiped the memory of a whole city, he also knows that she, while narcissistic to the point of arrogance, is also very selfless and humble, and would rather let the cure seem to be anonymous than make her friends feel like they owe her.
Let's also assume AJ told them all that Dash said she had some important business to take care of, and that Noir heard her talking to Scoots with his sarosian hearin'
So with those facts and assumptions, Noir figured out that:
1. She went off to gather another shard
2. She found one and used it to produce iced lavender somehow.

It's not that much of a stretch.
Alternatively, he heard her wings after she made the delivery, spotted her peeking into Applebloom's window while the cure was administered and caught sight of her contrail as she flew home.

[Ri Jun]

...I caught up?
I caught up!
Fuck noooo

[Typoglyphic]

6638055 Look on the bright side: every single day, you know that you can sit down and read a brand new chapter of awesomeness. Or three, if you follow his other two dailies. I look forward to it every night.

[Aatxe360]

6637819

We dragons are serious about our sacrifices. :nodding:

Discord also mentioned he never really needed them.
...
I see your point. I wonder who'll be a bother enough to try something. I wonder how that'll turn out.

[Leftover of Saikano]

Imagine this: Everybody already knows about everything Dash has been doing, and just don't mention it because they are waiting for Dash to say it herself.

[Ri Jun]

6638185 True that.
The other two are Austraeoh and The Things Tavi Says right? Or am I missing one? (Pleasseee say I'm missing another one)

[Sileadh]

Actually, now that I think about it. The mere fact that Rainbow Dash didn't own up to the ice lavender was one of the surest signs it was her, from a certain perspective. If anyone else had found the plant, they'd have been shouting from the rooftops about how great an achievement it was. They'd have been trying to make sure everybody new it was them. Everyone that is except for Rainbow Dash, if you know her personally. Both Noir and Zecora know that Rainbow within certain situations can act quite selfless and modest.

Nobody owns up or tries to come forward about the lavender? Well there's only one pony we know who'd do such a thing and try to sweep it under the rug. Or so the pseudo logic states in this instance.

[FloydienSlip]

6638509 Nope, just those two. Though after The Things Tavi Says is finished, SS&E has mentioned that he might pick up Because Ponies Are the Size of Cats and Love to Cuddle as his new daily and finish that story, too.

[zaponator]

Rainbow bit her lip. "You... you figured it out, huh?"

Both nodded.

"How could we not?" Noir remarked. "Every obvious clue points to it."

I know! It would take someone really dense not to be able to put two and two together when Rainbow left after saying she would try to get help, then the Iced Lavenders appeared, and shortly after Rainbow herself reappeared!
...or five someones.

[BabySkittleMonster]

6640135
I'm still trying to work out why her friends can't figure it out themselves. They know she's loyal and that she'd do anything for her friends, coupled with the fact that she wasn't there when everybody else was... C'mon, Fluttershy, I thought you were her so-called closest friend. Actually, as of this chapter, we (or I, as I'm still behind from life) don't know if Flutsybear has figured it out. Now I'm intrigued.

[Folomo]

6674553 TBH by this point I think the mane 6 know her far less than all his other friends.

[Boop-Happy Lass]

ikr, it was so friggin' obvious -.- How in the world did the mane 5 not piece two and two together?

[arancaytar]

"Yeah," she muttered. "You're smiling ."

At least someone's getting somewhere with their ship.

And at least SOMEONE is not thick.

"Huh, where did Rainbow Dash go? Why is there suddenly an extinct plant on the windowsill? Oh hi Rainbow Dash, where have you been?"

[bronyheat]

7364699
Wow, reading this made me realize just how true that is, and that makes me sad.
The barfly friends, Zecora, Noir, they all have had more time with Dash than pretty much any of the other mane 6-save for Applebutt herself.

Also obligatory sorry for pinging you years after posting.