//------------------------------//
// ~A LONG Awaited Referral~ 
// Story: Rainbow Dash, Please Describe Red 
// by x Silver Tongue x 
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	Rainbow had been completely oblivious to the conversation between Twilight and Nurse Redheart for multiple reasons, all of which she thought were relatively valid. First of all, it was well outside of her particular interests about the situation; science, of course, was not her forte. Her incessant questioning regarding the logistics of colorblindness were her futile efforts to seem engrossed in their conversation, while more pressing matters loomed inside of her head.

She was, in all honesty, confused. Twilight Sparkle's  entire life was shaped around the tiny, powerful sparkles that were magic, not to mention the Element of Magic, which she managed to harness to defeat evils. Who would Twilight be if she couldn't identify with the image that rested on her flank? This question was one Rainbow traced back to herself. Rainbow Dash, according to he medical experts uncomfortably huddling round her , had not the slightest understanding of what a rainbow was, yet her identity was shaped around her ability to spontaneously create a sonic boom showcasing such colors. Though she wasn't all that inclined to break into another rendition of "What My Cutie Mark is Telling Me," the very idea that she could not live up to her destiny sent chills up her vertebra once again.

Though, from the outside, everyone still assumed rainbow horse was simply being rainbow horse. 

She attempted once again to appear at all interested. "Twilight," she articulated, "what's colorblindness?"

The frantic purple pony was negligent to address the unproductive comment. "Rainbow," she began irritably. "You have to be joking. Have you been listening to us at all?" Her mane was frazzled, sticking up in a firm position of unrest. 

"Frankly no mam," she responded comically, her reflective attitude far behind her.

Twilight resisted the urge to go completely bananas. Instead, she ignored the pegasus and immediately questioned Nurse Redheart, whom wasn't far from where the two were standing. "So, what does this mean for Rainbow Dash, exactly? Besides completely killing her future ambition of being an artist or something?"

"I don't imagine much," she answered, fiddling with her ruby ballpoint pen as she scribbled some numbers on a notepad. "There isn't much I myself can advise against. You'll figure out what you can and can't do in due time as ponies reveal it to you. Though, I can expect you won't be flaunting your whole rainbow reputation for a while." She tore the page that she was sketching upon from its binding and handed it to Twilight. "Here's Rainbow's sign off to leave. Just meet with the front desk, pay the check up fee, and you can head out the door."

Twilight scanned over the list expeditiously before handing it to Rainbow Dash. "I'm really hoping  that's an accumulative bill for the year, and not just this month. Nevertheless, you're paying for it."

Rainbow reviewed the list, having a similar traumatic reaction before handing it back to Twilight, who held it in her hoof. "This year, thankfully."

"Anyways..." Twilight began, beginning to trot towards the hallway to exit the office. "Thank you very much Nurse Redheart, we appreciate your time and energy. Speaking of time, you might want to check on Pinkie's patient right now, assuming you're free."

"That might be best," she agreed, suddenly anxious. "Thank you for coming to South Ponyville's Medical Office. Have a great day."

"You too," chirped Rainbow. "Also, I love your pen! Grey, how original!"

"Just kidding. Get out."








Twilight and Rainbow, exhausted from the afternoon's events, knew exactly where they wanted to retreat after the overwhelming diagnosis- somewhere they could eat their troubles away, preferably with friends. Though Pinkie was somehow still working her medical shift, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity were eager to rendezvous at Sugarcube Corner for a hayburger and several pastries. Within minutes, the trio arrived at the establishment, where Rainbow and Twilight had already been seated, talking about likely topics.

Applejack was the first to sit down, inspired to take shots at Rainbow Dash. "So Dash, got in another flying accident, didn't ya? How did that turn out?"

Rainbow was visibly flustered, whether by the secrecy she would have to uphold, or Applejack's newest attempt to take shots at her overblown ego. "Who's asking? Or are you just eager to laugh in other's misery after you completely bombed your lasso round at the rodeo and went head first into the closest apple tree?" In Rainbow Dash's imagination, a quiet, monotone hum of shots fired could be heard in the distance.

"Oh, no need to be brash," interrupted Rarity, who squeezed her head into the conversation. "It probably turned out as all thirty-seven of her recent accidents went: without drastic damage. Besides, we have more important matters to discuss. Everypony should sit down, for I have some exciting news to discuss with all of you!"

Once everybody, including Fluttershy, had found a seat, Rarity preceded to exclaim her revelation. "Today, I was invited to showcase a garment in the most prestigious fashion showcase in all of Equestria! Yes, I, Rarity, have been welcomed to the Las Pegasus Artistry Gala!"

Many impressed oohs and ahhs could be heard from the ponies circling the table, a telling sign to Rarity that she could continue revealing the big news. "Thank you girls. Since you are all so supportive of me, it was my first instinct to ask you all to critique my first sketch for the outfit I want to present." she whipped out a pasteboard from behind her, which had gone unnoticed to the ponies upon their arrival to the restaurant. On the large landscape, a flirtatious, airy garment had been traced in pencil, accompanied by meticulously outlined shading. More positive gestures were seen from the crowd, except for Rainbow Dash. Rarity looked slightly disappointed. "What, too much layering?"

The dress was undeniably fabulous, Rainbow had assumed, but her expression was not one of distaste. It was worrisome. What color was the dress? All she saw was grey, but could it also be red? Or blue? Had she been mixing up her colors all this time? Perhaps if she had listened more intently to the conversation between Twilight and Nurse Redheart, she would be able to accurately choose a color, but instead she had only a 33% chance of escaping the situation unscathed, without revealing any symptoms of her colorblindness. Concerned as to how she could best respond to the garment, she tried her best to seem struck by detail. "Well," she said frantically, "I just really don't identify with the, colors?"

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "What colors?"

Rainbow suddenly felt vulnerable, questioning her actions. It must've been the color white, or black, or any sort of shade or hue that was foreign to her. "W-wh- wha-what do you mean?"

Twilight nudged Rainbow, attempting to offer clarification. "Rainbow Dash, it's a sketch. It doesn't have any color."

Rainbow Dash got the hint and was immediately regretful of her comment. "Oh hahahahahahaa," Rainbow stated shamefully, feverishly eyeing the ponies around her. "I knew that, of course. Just me, old Rainbow, critiquing fashion because I think fashion is overrated! Not your fashion though. But I mean when have I ever even liked fashion! I don't even wear clothes. Daring Do wears a hat. Hey do you think I should get a hat? Maybe the outfit should have a hat. Sherlock Hooves had a hat and he was a good mystery solver, kinda like Daring Do. When's the next book coming out Twilight? maybe we should get a book about fashion and-"

Rainbow paused when she noticed the four beady pairs of eyes awkwardly eyeing her down from across the table. Fluttershy  was the first to break the ice. "Rainbow Dash, " she shyly spoke, "are you ok? You're making me worried."

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be! Why would you ever think something was wrong?! I'm completely fine, don't question me!"

"Are you sure darling?" inquired Rarity. "You aren't usually like this. Did I do something to offend you? Or did something happen at the doctors office-"

"Squirrel!"

Everybody turned synchronously towards the window of Sugarcube Corner in search of a rodent, Fluttershy in particular concerned about the possibility that once of her animals had gone astray. However, when all of the ponies took their gaze off of the glass barrier, Rainbow Dash had disappeared. They all gave each other looks off confusion, which were returned with likewise expressions. Twilight unwillingly explained the disappearance. "You'll have to excuse her girls; she's had a pretty rough day."

The inevitable question made an appearance. "What happened to get her so flustered?" asked Applejack.

Twilight sighed, not wanting to be the person to share the news, but equally obligated to reveal it to her best friends. "It's kinda complicated. In fact, I'm not sure I quite have a grasp on it yet..." She took a sip of her raspberry iced tea she had ordered earlier, and took a deep breath. "So today, as you know, Rainbow Dash got in a flying accident, so it is mandatory for her to have a checkup at over at South Ponyville to insure all of her senses are intact, since a loss of sight or hearing could be a huge handicap."

"Of course, she's done this many times before," responded Rarity. "However, she looks perfectly fine with her motor skills and such, and she's never been embarrassed or disappointed by any of her minor injuries in the past. What makes this trip any different?"

"Did she loose her flying abilities maybe?" added Fluttershy. "That would be sad."

"No, she can still fly," answered Twilight, slowly leading up to the reveal. "In fact, she hasn't been damaged at all due to the accident. By now, she's probably built up an immunity to injury. She learned something else about herself that she isn't so inclined to believe yet."

"Oh, do tell," Applejack requested, seeking blackmail after Rainbow's embarrassing explanation of her rodeo accident. Twilight and Rarity showed her disapproving eyes.

"I will, but no using it against her AJ," reprimanded Twilight. She took a deep breath, not wanting to stretch the suspense any longer, since the answer was somewhat anticlimactic. "When they were checking her sight, Nurse Redheart learned that Rainbow Dash was colorblind. Yes my friends, rainbow horse can't see the rainbow."

Just as Twilight and Rainbow Dash had responded when hearing the news for the first time, nobody was laughing, nor was anybody spazzing out. The room itself basked in an atmosphere of confusion, submerged in an analytical silence. Everypony's face was deep in thought for a whopping five seconds.

Rarity was the first to intervene. "So what you're saying is, somebody who literally has rainbow in her genes also has a gene that prevents her from seeing it?"

"I mean, I guess that's what the situation is," Twilight noted uneasily.

"How does that even work?" questioned Applejack. "Isn't that like against the rules of reality or somethin'?"

"Nope, not technically," Twilight explained, " but its against the rules of what logically makes sense if you ask me."

"Well that's certainly ironic."

Everybody turned towards each other, wondering who the blunt one was, eventually turning to Fluttershy, who was cramped up against the wall of the Sugarcube Corner booth. She presented a nervous and embarrassed smile. "I mean, should we go check up on her?"

"Nah, give her some time to tend to her bruised ego," Applejack  suggested, indifferent on the situation. "Besides based on the responses we've given, we won't be much help."

"Agreed," added Twilight, who dropped the subject as soon as possible. "On a totally unrelated note, does anybody know how Pinkie Pie got a medical license?"




Rainbow, drowned in a melancholy state, flew over the streets of Ponyville with her head angled down, vigilantly eyeing for any ponies she felt inclined to avoid. After pretty much blowing her plan of not telling her friends about the day's ordeal, she would have to do everything in her power to keep this a secret from every pony else, without exception. News of her colorblindness would be pretty irrelevant in any other pony's case, but the Foal Free Press could make a killing off of Rainbow Dash's small handicap if they got a hold on the information; besides, after getting her photo taken while getting a hooficure at the spa, she didn't need any more negative public attention. With that in mind, what color did she paint her hooves? Blue? Green? Eh, doesn't really matter; it was still embarrassing either way in her mind. The only public attention she would tolerate was that of her passionate fan club, and the 5% of Equestria that cared about the Elements of Harmony.

As Rainbow neared her house, where she planned to stay until the hysteria of the day died down, she noticed something clinging timorously to her mailbox, about to be carried away on an endless wind current. Concerned as to what it was, she speedily flew over to redeem the random piece of paper. She sprinted trough the air feverishly, ripping the note from its position as she zoomed past it at electric speed. When the letter was in her possession, she immediately ripped it open to see what was inside. However, when she opened it up, the note inside seemed to be empty. Nothing was written on it as she saw it through her eyes, simply a blank page.

"Great, there's nothing on here, as usual," she grunted, tossing the note off the side of her cloud home so that it might land on the bottom, next to the other two hundred notes she had discarded from earlier years. "I always get this at the same time of year; I must be getting pranked- again."

Upon tossing it off the cloud, the note situated itself face up. On it a message was scribbled in bright red ink.




  Dear Wonderbolt Applicants for our 130th flight season,

Hello applicants! We, the admissions office for the Wonderbolts, are glad to inform you that you have met the qualifications to move on to the next stage of the admissions process! In order for your application to be furthered, all accepted applicants must pass the official Wonderbolt history exam, flight behavioral exam, and hearing/sight testing. Those applicants who fulfill these necessary requirements with flying colors (forgive our puns) will be subject to further review on their application. Those who perform poorly will be rejected by admissions. However, we wish you all the best of luck in your endeavors as you study and prepare for these exams. We believe all of you have the potential to succeed in this portion of the application process! Please complete these exams and document your scores within five weeks.

Best Regards,
Comet Cluster, Wonderbolt Admissions.