Rainbow Dash spent around a week in the hospital. They treated her for concussion and dehydration, as well as a dislocated wing. Luckily, nothing was broken in the crash. However, the doctors seemed to completely overlook the damage to her throat. At the time, eating disorders were often overlooked in Equestria.
When Dash got outside, she was met by a very serious-looking Applejack. “Ready tah ‘splain yerself?”
Dash didn’t make eye contact with Applejack. She was ashamed of herself, and it showed. At this point, Applejack was incredibly worried about her friend, which also showed. Rainbow sighed, and decided to just give in and tell the truth.
“I just want ponies to like me.” Rainbow Dash said quietly, after a long pause.
Applejack gave a surprised look. “Of COURSE ponies like you! Ya’ll are our friend, and we love our friends.”
Rainbow Dash shook her head. “You love me because I’m awesome, and because I’m fast and athletic. But sometimes it’s hard to keep up that image.”
“Image? I thought ya’ll were just always like that.”
“I try to be what everypony wants me to be... Because that’s the only way ponies will ever accept me. If I’m not awesome and cool, what am I?”
Applejack put a hoof on Dash’s shoulder. “Our friend.”
Dash finally looked Applejack in the eye. The realizations she’d had while unconscious finally started to fully sink in. Her friends don’t love her because she’s awesome, or because she’s fast and athletic.
“I... I never thought...” Rainbow held back tears as the hoof on her shoulder slowly slid into a full hug. She was speechless, so she just returned the hug, and rested her head on Applejack’s shoulder. At this point, a single tear finally trickled down her face. She just could not hold it in anymore.
She’d been holding it in for way too long.
The realizations she had when she was unconscious never seemed more true. Her friends didn’t love her because she was athletic, or because she was cool, or because she was good-looking.
Her friends loved her because she was Rainbow Dash.
It would be nice to just think that after she left the hospital and had her touching moment with Applejack, everything was perfect with Rainbow Dash forever. It would be nice to think that she never had an episode again and that she no longer tried to be someone she wasn’t. However, old habits die hard, and none die quite as hard as an eating disorder.
Rainbow Dash sat in her home, after another exciting party. She had overeaten again, and this time the other ponies seemed a little more uneasy about it. She had never explicitly told them what was wrong, but they all seemed to have a good idea.
The blue mare had been fighting with herself all night. She knew she had eaten too much, but she was determined to just digest it naturally and be more careful in the future. Unfortunately, it wasn’t easy for her, and eventually she cracked under the pressure. She hurried into the bathroom, and before long had her hoof halfway down her throat again.
“STOP!” She heard somepony shout at her after her first violent heave. She managed to compose herself long enough to see who it was. Much to her surprise, she saw Applejack standing at the door.
“What... What are you doing here?”
“I can’t let ya do this to yerself.” She slowly moved towards Dash. Dash tried to focus on Applejack, but the driving urge was too strong. She turned away and let lose another batch of fresh baked treats into the bathtub. More than anything she wanted to turn back around, to just look at Applejack, to not look at the bathtub.
Another heave, riddled with blood and stomach acid. She lost her balance and fell forward into the tub. Lying in a pool of her own half digested waste, she kept going, letting it all come out. The tiny bones in the back of her throat were cracking against the pressure caused by her hoof being in her throat when she heaves.
“STOP IT!” Applejack yelled again. Rainbow ignored her and continued to lay in the bathtub. She’d stopped heaving by this point, and was now just laying in a puddle of her own self-loathing.
Finally, Applejack reached into the tub and pulled Rainbow out by the nape of the neck, and held her in front of the mirror. “LOOK AT YOURSELF!” She shouted at the helpless, have conscious pegasus. Obediently, Dash focused on the mirror long enough to see herself. It was at that moment she saw what everypony else had seen for so long.
She was not fat. In fact, she was far from it. The most noticeable thing was her stomach. You could very clearly see the outline of her ribs, and her concave belly beneath them. Her legs were bony and thin, and her veins could be very clearly seen all the way down her to her hooves. Her face was probably the worst. Her cheeks were sunken and her chin was pointed. The only baggy part of her body was the area right beneath her eyes.
Applejack sat Rainbow down gently, afraid of breaking her. Her friends had noticed this all along, but they all seemed to think it was just part of her accident, and that she was doing everything in her power to fix it. Sobbing heavily, she turned back to Applejack to apologize, but in her place stood Rainbow Dash. Not the broken husk of a pegasus laying across the bathroom floor. The real Rainbow Dash. Young, strong, fast, with plenty of meat on her bones.
The younger Rainbow Dash stared at the broken Rainbow Dash. She didn’t say a word, but her expression said everything it needed to. “How did I ever get to this point?” In her youth, purging was just a thing she did on occasion if she over-ate every now and then. But now, it was a regular thing for her. She always felt like she was overeating. A leaf of lettuce was overeating to her by this point.
The younger Dash’s expression was painful for the broken Dash. All she could do is stare up at her helplessly, tears flowing down her face. Finally, she blinked, and she was alone. Alone in her bathroom. Alone in her own personal hell.
As awesome as she was... After all the hurdles she’d leaped by herself... This was one thing she just couldn’t conquer by herself.