Appledashery

by Just Essay

Okay, Then

Slowly, the door to Rainbow Dash's cloud home opened.

Rainbow stepped in, then stopped. She stood in a sliver of starlight, gazing at the dim shapes of furniture around her.

She breathed slowly, tilting about until she looked at her couch.

Blankets and pillows draped off the cushions, alone and discarded.

Rainbow stifled a yawn.

She stepped forward... and trotted past the couch.

---

The shower was one.

Rainbow Dash stood outside the stall.

Even as warm mists wafted across the bathroom...

Enticing her...

...she stood facing the mirror.

Her roof rubbed across it, wiping clean a halo that exposed her deadpan face.

She examined her blue cheeks... her fuzzy ears.

"It's going to be okay."

She spoke.

"Okay?"

She blinked... then smiled.

Then, without any further delay, she turned and trotted into the warm, invigorating shower.

---

Minutes later...

"Mmmmfff... it's going to be okay..."

Rainbow Dash slid under the covers.

"It's... going to be okay, Rainbow Dash..."

She lay in her own bed, surrounded by shadows.

The mare was smiling. The grin followed her as she cuddled into her pillow, then drifted off.

"Mmmmm'kay..."

She slept more soundly than she had in weeks.

Comments

[Chewierulz]

FOREBODING

I mean, there's no way this isn't, right?

[CommanderCuddle]

I AM SO GODDAMN TILTED this lack of progress on the appledash front is growing agitated

[viofriedsevey]

Curious, where would she possibly go to leave her troubles behind? Even if she just goes to cloudsdale theres a good chance she'll run into the memory of her dad, or a past abusive relationship.

[aduck]

JE feeds on our tears of frustration.

[Aatxe360]

So Rainbow is planning a vacation while Stu and Applejack get to know each other better. I think it's a fine idea.

[LucyHorseThing]

6906367
Maybe she'll fly east.

[Sheendough]

Everypony knows it's not going to be ok.

[BabySkittleMonster]

6904184
Ah. Good. That's reassuring. Thanks!

[Phoenix Kitten]

6906304
Oh will you relax, we're seeing Dash grow as a character.
which is nice, it just means that there'll be a better dynamic between her and AJ when the cuddles do happen.

Truth be told, I'm enjoying this, seeing Dash work through accepting that AJ and Stu have gotten serious.
It's a nice little character development arc.

[BabySkittleMonster]

6906459
I literally, just five minutes ago, was reassured that impending doom is not necessarily the outcome of this story. You destroyed all that progress. Now I'm scared again. Thank you for ruining me.

[BabySkittleMonster]

6906367
You. Go sit in the corner. Think about what you've just said. Bad.

[CommanderCuddle]

6906495

[Hestia]

After seeing Dash so stressed out recently, it's nice to see her so relaxed and content.

[Salad king]

Still not convinced shes close to ok. At least she's sleeping decently though.

[Leftover of Saikano]

Go visit Gilda, tell her what has happened since she last saw you.

[viofriedsevey]

6906506 Did I jinx it?

[viofriedsevey]

6906416 I would love to read your reply, but I am on a phone and as of yet I've not discovered a way to view the spoiler black out thing.

[Sharp Quill]

6906750 There is a way to view the blacked out text, though it's a pain: select it, copy it, go to the reply box at the bottom, then paste it. Try not to post it

[viofriedsevey]

6906792 Oh fuck good point, perciate it.

[BabySkittleMonster]

6906749
If you didn't, I'll be amazed and all will be forgiven. Until then, in the corner. Or the stairs if you're feeling picky. If this comes back to bite us in 500+ chapters down the road, I want you to run. Fast. Before I catch you.

[DeathFox4]

6906749 Probably about 500 or so chapters from now...
I suggest you get a head start.

[Cotton Fluff]

6906568
Agreed, if she was actually okay she wouldn't need to constantly tell herself that she is.

6906495
Gah, Phoenix, you're making it difficult to dislike what's going on here when you throw things like logic and reasoning into why we're being strung along on this AppleStu adventure. Though it is true, Rainbow is growing as a character which does makes things better later.

[zaponator]

I love how much movement and development this story has nowadays. There was a time when it was just Rainbow stalking AJ and being blushingly obsessive. These days we have character development, plot stuff, actual relationships, and things happening all over the place. Too bad people choose to be mad simply because they can't bother seeing that the arc is going somewhere.

[Jern]

6907244 To be fair it seems like up until this point as soon as Rainbow starts making progress something blows up in her face (both literally and figuratively) that sets her back. I wouldn't blame people if after almost a million words they would just assume that the pattern would repeat and expect the worst.

[Lightning Bearer]

Somehow, I don't see the vacation going well. That, or she'll meet someone. I've been saying for about four-thousand chapters that she could use a good roll in the hay.

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

Well looks like RD is on the road to recovery...

But this hasn't ended in cuddles yet, so let's just roll the drama dice and see what's gonna come up next. My money is on RD's abusive ex.

[BronyInHiding]

6907975 An encounter with Listing Breeze would be awesome at this point. It would be great to see Rainbow put the disrespectful bitch in her place now that she has matured and grown as a pony

[viofriedsevey]

6908077 Sorry, general consensus is I jinxed that one, woulda been cool though!

[destinedjagold]

6906750 When I'm on my phone, I can simply just click the black thing and it just reveals itself a second or two later. :3

[Typoglyphic]

6906415 The perfect setup for Stu and AJ to have a spat. That way Dash can't interfere and keep them together due to whatever new complex she's developed recently.

[Aatxe360]

6908783

Spats don't mean they break up.

[viofriedsevey]

6908645 Android I'm guessing? I'm using iPhone so it's no surprise some common features arent supported.

[DrEggnog]

I think this vacation going completely well would be something of a pleasant surprise.

At this point, with how much longer the story is going to be, it's difficult for me to picture AppleDash as a happy ending, given how much Dash will punish herself in the meantime. And with Dash's illness, I wonder how long they could even be together.

[Thursday]

This... This has never matched more perfectly (albeit a brain tumor rather than atrophy, they are both lethal)

... I can't contain the tears anymore...

[Seraphimus]

7319058 I think I need to watch scrubs now.

[arancaytar]

Scootaloo, in voiceover: "It was not going to be okay."

[Hawattie]

It's going to be okay

Only five words