Appledashery

by Just Essay

The Matter of Our Discussion

"So, lemme ask you something, Sparky..."

"Mrmmmff...?" Rainbow Dash was halfway through scarfing down a loaf of bread. The east horizon behind her glowed with the birth of an early morning. Mountains and plateaus loomed to the west, and she was already flexing her wing muscles. "Make it quick."

Lancie shifted about in her saddlebag as it lay on the stone earth. "Let's say... in another universe... because anything that's ever interesting only happens in other universes..." He winked. "You know what I'm saying?"

"Mmmmff..." She gulped down the latest morsel of food. "No."

"Eh... yes, well... ahem." He craned his granite neck up. "Let's say that things happened differently. Let's say that Apple Bloom got bitten by this snake after you had confessed your feelings to the Queen of all Freckles. Would you still be going on this dangerous quest?"

"You better believe it," Rainbow grunted.

"Truly?" Lancie cocked his head to the side. "Why? I mean, after all, would you have anything left to earn? All of your feelings would be out in the open. What would be the need to exercise your sincerity?"

"This is not about me," Rainbow Dash said, finishing up the bread and dusting her hooves off. "Mrmmf... this is about..." She swallowed. "...restoring what's been taken from Applejack."

"A pony like no other." Lancie smirked. "And would you still be doing this if—let's say—you had given Applejack that letter and... she had rejected you?"

Rainbow Dash briefly froze in place.

Lancie's fanged tooth glinted. "Just how loyal would the Rainbow of that universe be."

"I don't know how you pretend to figure things," Rainbow muttered. "But my dedication to Applejack is bigger than that. It's bigger than anything."

"Big enough to consume your entire livelihood?" Lancie folded his stone forelimbs. "If I recall correctly, you were rather on top of things before I dropped in on your life."

Rainbow squinted at him. "What in the hay do you mean?"

"Ponyville's chief weathermare," he said, smiling. "The fastest pony this side of Equestria. A true blue athlete and a prime candidate for Wonderbolt Application. All of these things I've only learned about in passing glimpses, and yet... are they true anymore?" He waved a talon. "Or have they all been brushed aside for favor of winning Princess Frecklestasia's Heart..." His brow furrowed. "...even if there's no heart to be won."

"Look, Lancie, I don't know what you're even on about, but now's not the time."

"Are you sure about that?" Lancie chuckled, gesturing at the wasteland around them. "Here you are launching yourself neck-deep into the fatty folds of dragonville! When isn't it a good time to reassess your... obsession?"

"Maybe you've never been in love before," Rainbow grumbled. Lancie jolted as she hoisted the saddlebag up and re-strapped it to her body. "Which is rather depressing, given how many eons you've been around."

"Go on..."

"But all of the awesome things that I am... all of the awesome things that I've done and will do..." Rainbow gulped. "They're nothing if all I've got to share them with is myself. I need the eyes of other ponies for me to shine. And in Applejack's case..." She tugged the saddlebag tight and shuddered, facing west. "...her eyes shine the brightest. Her honesty... her sincerity..."

"And if some cataclysm was to take her out of this world... say... tomorrow..." Lancie spoke in a curiously soft tone. "...would it spell the end of Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow gritted her teeth. "Don't even talk about such things."

"But they're worth thinking about, hmmm?" Lancie squinted. "Or else... will 'Sparky' just fizzle out without something to believe in? After all, everything she's ever needed... she's got, yes?"

Rainbow's nostrils flared. "It's not enough."

"It's never enough. So you tell yourself." Lancie gestured. "Which is why I wonder what's in store for your future. You keep struggling and struggling to win something. But what if there's no trophy in the end? Could you be going about it all the wrong way?"

"Right now..." Rainbow began trotting west. "...the only thing I need to win is Apple Bloom's life back..." She broke into a gallop. "...I like to let my actions speak for me."

"Until the day comes that you can't act anymore?" Lancie held on tight. "I know you say your middle name is 'Dangerous,' but come on. Aren't you worth more than that?"

"You think too darn much!" Rainbow launched herself skyward and flew, cruising over the stone hilltops. "Maybe that's why you've been alone for so long."

"Heh... touche..." Lancie clapped his stone hands. "If I wasn't immortal, I might take offense to that."

"And I might not care," Rainbow grunted. "Keep your senses peeled. This is going to be a long flight."

Comments

[unknownbore]

The only thing that keeps me okay is the promise of snuggles at the end.

[MidnightReflection]

"Until the day comes that you can't act anymore?" Lancie held on tight. "I know you say your middle name is 'Dangerous,' but come on. Aren't you worth more than that?"

Lancie, you are getting super attached to Rainbow. Here's to hoping that nothing bad befalls Lancie, like somehow being destroyed to save Rainbow, because that would be a sad denouement. Of course, that other thing he said kinda gives off a bad vibe.

"And if some cataclysm was to take her out of this world... say... tomorrow..." Lancie spoke in a curiously soft tone. "...would it spell the end of Rainbow Dash?"

That better not be foreshadowing!

[Hestia]

Lancie, I think you're underestimating Dash and her insanely awesome Loyalty.

[Aatxe360]

6161827

"And if some cataclysm was to take her out of this world... say... tomorrow..." Lancie spoke in a curiously soft tone. "...would it spell the end of Rainbow Dash?"

Hey, look! Foreshadowing of some type!

[Lightning Bearer]

There's still a paranoid little part of me that thinks this whole story is just a prequel to Easthorse. And, considering the direction that story seems to be headed right now, it's still possible for it to end in cuddles. Rainbow might just have to wait much, much longer to get them.

I know it's unlikely, but it keeps popping into my head.

[MidnightReflection]

6161849

"Let's say... in another universe... because anything that's ever interesting only happens in other universes..." He winked. "You know what I'm saying?"

He knows! He can sense that AU from anywhere.

[RoboRed]

6162011
Now I keep getting this in my head:
beckyjewell.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Chrono_Trigger_In_The_End_The_Future_Refused_To_Change.png

[Autumn Rush]

"Let's say... in another universe... because anything that's ever interesting only happens in other universes..."

*cough*

"You know what I'm saying?"

"Mmmmff..." She gulped down the latest morsel of food. "No."

Good!

"And if some cataclysm was to take her out of this world... say... tomorrow..." Lancie spoke in a curiously soft tone. "...would it spell the end of Rainbow Dash?"

Now that's just mean.

[zaponator]

I thought her middle name was Jennifer...

[YoshiFawful64]

"Maybe you've never been in love before," Rainbow grumbled. Lancie jolted as she hoisted the saddlebag up and re-strapped it to her body. "Which is rather depressing, given how many eons you've been around."

You know, after that one talk with Sharp Quill a little while back, I thought you'd actually be nice to aromantics (like me), but now you're going back to the "life without romance is lonely and pathetic" thing. Honestly, I'm kind of disappointed.

[Leftover of Saikano]

Of course a being with powers based around altering reality would care about alternate universes.

[DrEggnog]

I really do like this Rainbow Dash. Although the series Dashie is used as a base template, everything about her character is shaped and molded like clay by her love of Applejack in a way that I don't see in other ship fics.

[arancaytar]

"A pony like no other." Lancie smirked. "And would you still be doing this if—let's say—you had given Applejack that letter and... she had rejected you?"

Oh come on Discord; you know the answer to that.

[SnowOriole]

6162737
I know this is super, super late but...Love isn't limited to romance. Friendship, family, that's also love. I daresay that Lancie hasn't experienced those kinds of love, either.

And realistically (in character-ly) Rainbow is all frazzled by AB dying and having to potentially die herself while facing off Big Boss AND Lancie is driving her to wit's end with insensitive remarks, it's fair that she retort without thinking through all the possible connotations.