Remna, the Desperadoes, and the Herald lingered atop a particularly lengthy sandbar—not really going anywhere or attempting to. They stood close to one another with their supplies and packs, murmuring continuously in the starlight. A tense hush hovered over the scene, and stillness consumed the watery patches stretching beyond that immediate location.
At some point, a yellow spectre phased through the collective group. Fluttershy drifted slowly over the reflective waters and sand dunes. At last, she approached her anchor—who was staring off at the distant limestone formations, silent and sullen.
"Uhm... Rainbow Dash?"
There was no response from where the mare sat. Her shoulders didn't even shrug.
Clearing her throat, Fluttershy meekly went on: "We... uhm... we've had a long talk with Applejack. She appears to have calmed down quite a bit. She is a strong mare, after all." Fluttershy gulped. "Even still, uhm... Twilight and the other girls took her... y'know... to rest... which is why they're not around at the moment... uhm... in case you're wondering why you haven't seen them over the last few minutes... or so..."
Rainbow remained quiet. Her head nodded slightly, but that was it.
Silence.
"Rainbow... erm..." Fluttershy fidgeted in mid-air. She glanced over her shoulder at the assembled group in the distance. "...are... are we going to set hoof east again anytime soon?" She brushed her bangs aside. "I mean... your friends are patient—of course—but... but who's to know if we're being followed? By the Rohbreddenites, I mean? Also there's the threat of windigoes and pirates and—"
"What's the use...?" Rainbow finally muttered.
Fluttershy squinted curiously. "Rainbow... don't you want to get to the Dark Sid—?"
"It took me nearly two years to get to this point," her anchor said. "Who knows how friggin' long it'll take me to scale the whole plane and back. Another two years? Four? Six?" Her ears twitched, fuzzy and red. "Assuming I even make it back at all?!" Her partially grown tail flicked angrily. "And just how many friends and family are going to die in the time it does take to get back?! What will I have left to even promise you girls?!?"
Fluttershy gulped. "Rainbow, Apple Smith was getting on in years. We all know that. There's nothing you could have done to—"
"You're right! There's nothing I could have done! There's never anything I can do!" She spun around at last, frowning in the direction of Fluttershy—or, more appropriately—in the direction of Yaerfaerda. "Oh, I can save the world, alright! Or at least that's what Verlax believes... or Remna... or Mortuana or Whitemane or fart-all decides to talk to me at the next Seed! But what's the point if everyone I've ever been loyal to ends up biting it?!"
"Rainbow Dash..." Fluttershy flew closer, her eyes hardening into a strong gaze. "You once thought that we were dead, but now we're not."
"Hrmmmff..." Rainbow blew out the side of her muzzle. "If you call this living." She pointed at her.
"I thought that nopony was around back at home that cared about me," Fluttershy firmly said. "But the words of Dumb-Bell and his friends proved otherwise. I know that the trials you've been through have been stressful, but there is something worth striving for—"
"Yeah yeah, you know a lot." Rainbow Dash stood up, nostrils flaring. "But you have you felt it, Fluttershy?! Huh? Have you stained your hooves with the blood of all the ponies that needed to die so that this journey could keep going?! Have you murdered or deceived all the souls that I have just to legitimize all this Austraeoh crud?!"
Fluttershy gazed calmly at the mare. "Every time a living soul dies around us, Rainbow Dash, I feel it in my very core."
Rainbow winced. She transformed it into a sneering frown, pacing off across the wet puddles between sandbars.
Fluttershy kept speaking. "It's like my soul is being ripped apart every time. For every Central Guard soldier... for every innocent Rohreddenite civilian." Fluttershy took a deep breath. "No, I wasn't there for all of the Ledomaritans and Xonans and citizens of Lerris, Rainbow Dash. But you don't need me to tell you that if we argued for all of the lives that have been subjected to the tragedies of this cold-hearted world, we would get absolutely nowhere. And what is your mission if not to bring a lively flame back to this dead, forsaken shell that lurks beneath the hooves of all of us?"
"I don't see it, Fluttershy..." Rainbow grumbled, heaved. "I don't feel it. It's all too big..." Her legs shook beneath her. "It's all so friggin' big..."
"It's not stopped you before. That's what makes you so awesome, Rainbow Dash. Your loyalty is the best. You are the best... and you are better than this very moment... no matter how much it's tearing you apart." Fluttershy said. She then gulped, her eyes watering. "I'm... I'm sad for Applejack. I really am. But even so... I-I can't imagine I could ever feel as sad for her as you feel... as you have felt..."
"Would you like to?"
Fluttershy blinked at that.
"You know what friggin' kills me?" Rainbow turned until Fluttershy caught her angry, fuming profile. "For so many months... for so many miserable months I obsessed over her... a mare that I never had the friggin' guts to share my feelings with. She died, Fluttershy. And for as long as I could remember... I defined myself—my every action and my every choice—by what she would do and how she would think of me for doing it." She gulped. "I crossed miles and miles... and I accomplished so much... and I finally... finally got over her. And how does this stinkin' world reward me? Reward her?"
Fluttershy gulped. "We believe in you, Rainbow Dash. I know that you'll get us through all of this—"
"But I still won't bring Applejack her grandmother back!" Rainbow Dash spun. "Rrrrrrrrrrgh!" And she kicked the ground as hard as she could.
Salt water splashed sky high, then sprinkled the sandbars surrounding her. A few members of the Herald squirmed in the distance as the group went dead silent. Remna stared from a distance, unflinching.
Rainbow fell on her knees, soaking in the rippling waters. As she caught her panting breaths, the reflected starlight once again settled around her.
Fluttershy finished weathering a deep breath. "Doing nothing will bring nopony back," Fluttershy said. "And you're not a mare to do nothing—"
"I know." Rainbow shuddered. "I know. Believe me, Fluttershy..." She sniffled. "I know. It's just... it's just s-so heavy..." He fought a lump in her throat, eyes watering. "I... I wish I could go turn back time... b-become the old daredevilish mare wh-who loved adventure and wasn't afraid of anything. But... but I-I can't, Fluttershy. There's so many horrible and beautiful things now. It's all b-become so heavy... it's become so heavy and sometimes I-I don't even know what keeps me going..."
"You're growing," Fluttershy said. "We all are. But most importantly... we're together." She bore a tender smile. "Shake your angry hoof at the 'destiny' of Austraeoh all you want, but do you really honestly think you'd be managing yourself so well if Applejack, Twilight, and the rest of us weren't by your side at this point?"
Rainbow Dash flashed her a look. She panted... sniffling. A heavy gulp, and she murmured: "It'd be a lot... awesomer if I c-could just hug you guys..."
Fluttershy drifted down until she was hovering directly in front of the mare. "That time will come, Rainbow. But only if you make the next step."
Rainbow clenched her eyes tightly shut. Tears brimmed along the edges. "Can't... mrmmmfff... friggin' believe I never ever..." She clenched her teeth. "Back in Ponyville... when we were together... really together..."
"Shhhh..." Fluttershy leaned in and spoke past Rainbow's ear. "We are together. And there's nothing to fret, Rainbow Dash." She smiled delicately. "Your love is the strongest thing I've ever known. There's nothing you have to prove. Not anymore."
Rainbow sucked her breath in. She opened her eyes, staring tearfully across the starry horizons.
Fluttershy tilted her head to the side. "And as for Applejack... it's never too late to tell her—"
"It doesn't matter anymore."
Fluttersy raised an eyebrow.
"I... I was over her long ago," Rainbow muttered. "Roarke..." A shudder. "It's taken a lot of thought. But... well... you know..."
Fluttershy nodded. "And yet, could you even blame yourself for old feelings resurfacing?"
Rainbow sighed, gazing down at the waters beneath them. "I'm scared of that."
"What for?"
Rainbow didn't answer.
"Well..." Fluttershy lifted up slightly. "If you ever doubt yourself, I happen to know of a very... very reliable lie detector whom you can speak to."
Rainbow looked up.
Fluttershy winked. "Now, who's a brave pony?"
Rainbow cleared her throat. Flapping her wings, she finally lifted herself up out of the muck. "I think... I'll pursue Yaerfaerda for a while."
Fluttershy giggled. "Oh Rainbow Dash. You change... and yet you never do."
"Hmmmmm..." Rainbow barely nodded. The hint of a devilish smirk flickered across her tired features. More like a shadow.
Ten bucks she's gonna need to sacrifice the spirits of the Elements to get the Harmonic Prism, and they will never see their family or friends again.
Because Skirts just likes to kill all my ships.
RIP RariBard
Long live AppleDash...They certainly still seem to stay the same...or at least trod on old topics repeatedly...
But at least the healing slowly happens every time.
And the thing is we know that its only going to get worse from here.
See, I like this, and not solely because I'm an obsessive RoarkeBow shipper.
Getting over Applejack was a massive part of Rainbow's growth over the story. Hell, she summed it up pretty succinctly here. For a long while everything she did was with Applejack in mind. It took blood, sweat, tears, and a metric assload of time for Rainbow to finally move on. Yet, when we started rezzing the Mane 6 I started to worry that all of that would've been for nothing, that it would all be reversed in the blink of an eye simply for the sake of shipping. In the end, I'm glad that didn't happen.
Also I'm glad I can still obsessively ship RainBoark,
Y'know, for being one of the most established Appledash shippers in the fandom, Skirts sure puts a lot of effort into not actually shipping them. It's almost always either unrequited or, more often, unspoken.
That said, sad chapter is sad.
7416543 also if she's over AJ then that means she can get over Roarke
I B E L I E V E I N
D A S H I E L
Calling it now: it'll take four more books.
7416571
"Books" is a loose term now that chapters can end anywhere under 1k chapters.
So is Luna listening in on this whole conversation?
7416571 But how many chapters?
This will be my last confession,
I love you never felt like any blessing.
Whispering like it's a secret
Only to condemn the one who hears it
With a heavy heart.
Welp, for the very first time is this series, I just don't feel this chapter.
Well that was a big ol' bag of drama snakes wasn't it.
Well, that was intense, but i always like these slower chapter where ponies just talk things out.
7416568
derpicdn.net/img/view/2012/9/16/99597__safe_sweetie+belle_image+macro_no.jpg
I was hoping the whole time that Roarke wasn't Rainbow's rebound girl- excuse me, marefriend, and it looks like my hopes have been answered.
Fudge you anyways for Rainbow having to leave her behind.
7416526
Wash your mouth out with soap young lady! How can you even think such terrible business?
7416526 So... an Austraeoh analogue to returning the Elements to the Tree of Harmony... This would be a terridark ending, certainly.
7416526
Stop giving him ideas dang it.
did nobody notice the shell in the room ?
7420480
Let's not revive that particular Shell, shall we?
Well, that confirmed what I'd been suspecting for awhile. Rainbow is over Applejack.
I don't want her to get over Roarke, but I have a feeling that might happen eventually as well.
THE SS RAINBOARKE SHALL SAIL FOREVER, SHINY AND CHROME
God, Rainbow needs a hug.
7420480 no I prefer to lurk and comment rarely
7423985 Very well. Rainbow has said as much.
Maybe the adventure isn't what it's all racked up to be. Maybe this is a good example of how the adventure can turn into a nightmare, on that haunts you until you die. I know Rainbow has the fortitude to complete this, but I sincerely hope that this journey doesn't destroy Dash from within before she finishes it.
Feels more like 4-5.
Does this imply Flutters knows about AJ specifically?
7416912
I know this is technically comment necroing but I was coming down here to post that song and just thrilled that somebody had beat me to it I always love finding other fans of Florence and the Machine
Here's the full song anyways for the curious:
I like this line.
I realize the screaming pain
hearing loud in my brain.
But i’m Going straight ahead
With this scar.
Can you hear me.
Can you hear me.
Can you hear me.
So am I.
Roarke took the apple shaped part of her heart, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still exist.
We never know what we had until it's gone...