//------------------------------//
// Coping 
// Story: Fade To Black 
// by BRBrony9 
//------------------------------//

For days, she never left the cottage. Most of the time she simply lay on her bed, lost in her own despair. Twilight and the others came to visit occasionally, but she would just turn away from them and lie there in silence until they left. 

Fluttershy was the only one she talked to. As her oldest friend, she understood her better than the others. After a week, she finally convinced Rainbow Dash to go into town, to have lunch with her at a cafe in the town square. She was reluctant, but Fluttershy told her that she needed to exercise after being in hospital and then a wheelchair for a fortnight. Grudgingly, she agreed.

The sun was glorious as they set out from the cottage; a symphony of bird carried on the gentle breeze, and all the wonderful smells of spring filled their nostrils. 

Rainbow Dash was almost enjoying it, until they got to town. Then she could sense everypony staring. They had not forgotten. She felt as though she had been branded- as they sat at a table outside the cafe, she could see the other patrons whispering to each other. She could imagine what they were saying.

'There, now isn't this lovely?' Fluttershy said, gazing up at the clear sky.

'No...' Rainbow Dash replied. 'Everypony is looking at me.'

'Well, that's because they haven't seen you around for a while!' Fluttershy said, trying to sound cheerful.

'No it isn't. You know as well as I do why they're all staring at me,' Rainbow said, looking at the ground. 'They hate me.'

The look of dismay on Fluttershy's face was almost enough to make Rainbow burst into tears again.

'No! Nopony hates you...please don't say that...' she said quietly. 

'They do, and they should. I'm the reason she's dead.' 

'No, it was an accident...'

'An accident I caused!' Rainbow shouted, slamming the table with her uninjured hoof. Several ponies turned to look at her.

'Please don't shout...' Fluttershy said.

'I think we should go,' Rainbow looked at the floor again. 'I don't feel welcome here.'  

'What would Applejack want?' Fluttershy asked quietly. Rainbow sighed at the mention of her lover's name. 

'Would she want you to fall apart?' the yellow Pegasus continued. 'Or would she want you to carry on, to be happy again?' Rainbow Dash looked away.

'Maybe I should go and ask her...' 

Fluttershy looked puzzled for a moment before she realised the implications of what her friend had just said. She gasped and grabbed Rainbow's hoof.

'No! Don't even think about doing that,' she said, tears appearing in her eyes. 'Please, promise me you won't!'

'Why not?' Rainbow replied, her voice barely above a whisper. 'The only pony I've ever loved is gone, it's all my fault, and everypony else blames me for it. What is there for me here?'

Fluttershy stared into her eyes.

'I'm here,' she said. 'Your friends are here, and we care about you. We don't want to see you like this, and we don't want to...lose you.' She squeaked at the thought. 

'But you all blame me too!' Rainbow said. Fluttershy squeezed her hoof tighter and looked deep into her eyes again.

'No,' she said. 'I promise you, I don't blame you for what happened. I know it was an accident, and that's all. There's nothing you can do to change it now, so all you can do is move on. That's what Applejack would want, right?' 

Rainbow Dash knew she was talking sense, but her heart refused to accept it. 

It's all my fault!

'How do I move on from this?' she said softly. 'She's gone...who do I turn to? Who am I supposed to lean on? She was the only one I could ever open up to, the only one I could talk to about...emotional stuff like this. You know how hard I find talking about this kind of thing.' Fluttershy did not look away.

'I'm here,' she said. 'You can talk to me.' 




So she did. Though Fluttershy had always been there and was actually a year older than Rainbow, she had always seen her as more of a little sister than as somepony she could turn to for emotional support. She poured her heart out to her friend, laying herself bare like she had for nopony but Applejack. She told her all about what had happened, about how she blamed herself, about what she felt now. Fluttershy just listened, and Rainbow was happy that she did. Though Fluttershy was the shyest pony in town, when her friends needed her help she would be the first pony there.

They talked every night, just talked about Rainbow's feelings. Fluttershy was trying her hardest to get her friend out of the dark place she had found herself in, and, to the surprise of both of them, it was working.

Until she had a visitor.




The knock at the door came one day while they were eating lunch in Fluttershy's kitchen. The timid Pegasus answered it. Rainbow Dash could hear her talking for a moment, then she reappeared in the kitchen doorway.

'You have a visitor!' she smiled. Rainbow put down her hay sandwich and trotted out into the living room.

Scootaloo was standing by the couch, idly playing with the end of her mane.  She looked up as Rainbow entered the room.

'Scoots!' Rainbow said, smiling for the first time in a long while. 

'Hey, Rainbow Dash,' she said, not returning the smile. 'I...wanted to come see you. I haven't seen you since the accident...'

'Yeah, I...haven't been out much,' Rainbow said, stating the obvious. The young filly shuffled her feet and looked up at Rainbow Dash.

'The ponies in town...I've heard them talking,' she said. 'They say...they say it's your fault...'

'Scootaloo! You should know better than to listen to gossip,' Fluttershy scolded her.

'No, no...she's right,' Rainbow interrupted. 'They're right. It was my fault.'