Appledashery

by Just Essay

Rainbow, Dash?

It was dark outside, or so Rainbow Dash thought. She couldn't tell for certain. She sat up in bed, hugging herself and staring into the shadows all around.

A lot of time had passed... possibly? Maybe?

There was a time when she ate something. It was several naps and showers ago... or perhaps she had dreamt it... or imagined that she had dreamt it.

Her forelimbs were numb—but not dead. There was just enough feeling in them to constantly alert her to the fact that it was all slipping away, resulting in a dull tingle at the end of her fetlocks.

She needed to get more potion. But to get the medicine, she had to acquire bits. But to acquire bits, she needed to do some work like kicking clouds or delivering packages. But doing any such work would just be staving off the time when she'd be having to do everything all over again.

And no matter which way Rainbow Dash looked at it... it still felt like looking at herself several... several months ago. All of the blinks were colored the same, and so she chose to stare into the shadows of her room instead. But the longer she did that, the more her ears tickled, crackling with a voice that was no longer there... or else with a voice that Rainbow couldn't afford herself.

The mare buried her face in her hooves, weathering the first of many sighs. She needed to get out of the house. She needed to get out of the house.

She stayed right where she was for hours on end.

---

Rainbow Dash wasn't certain what it was that finally got her to move.

Except...

There she was currently...

Standing limply on the opposite side of the house.

And instead of staring into the dim shadows of her abode, she stared at a golden goblet sitting lonesomely on a counter top.

The mare blinked.

All she needed to do was fill it with cider and take a drink.

She could go somewhere.

She could go many... many places... and yet nowhere at all.

A hundred million plausible joys... none real, of course, but joyous all the same.

The mare's tongue hung dull and parched in her muzzle. There was just enough cider in the fridge—she knew—to make magic happen.

She refused to cross the kitchen.

A sigh escaped her nostrils. She could go back to bed... take a shower... or go outside for a flight. Any of those choices were too terribly tied to memories—both happy and sad.

She stood there for far longer than she could count. It didn't matter how much strain it put on her leg muscles. There was no feeling anything anyways.

---

The light stabbed her eyes.

It was the closest thing to pain that she felt in days.

Rainbow Dash squinted, stretching a wing out to shade her eyes.

She smelled dew and pond water.

She was outside... several blocks away... in a park along the fringes of Ponyville.

The sun rose over the eastern treetops. Chimneys rippled with smoke as downtown inns and restaurants started preparing breakfast for the farmers and visitors of the village.

Rainbow Dash shuddered. She flexed her wing muscles. They were still the strongest... most feeling part of her. The warm rays of the sun brought a tingle to her feathers, but it didn't last too long.

On numb hooves, Rainbow descended from the bench where she was squatting. With lumbering steps, she made for the opposite end of the park—where the sun was lest bright. Maybe—once she was rested—she could sit down and try to remember whatever it was that inspired her to finally get out of the house to begin with.

For the time being, the brightness and the ever-warming world only made her wish she was somewhere else... somewhere darker... with soft covers rolling over her body.

Somewhere during her stumbling trot, she came across a park waste bin where half of a newspaper dangled out from where it had been inordinately stuffed. The pegasus winter-wrapper inside of Rainbow Dash cringed, and she stretched a wing out to scoop the rest of the detritus back into the container.

In doing so—however—she caught sight of the newspaper's top headline: “DON CANTER'S ILLEGAL ASSETS EXPOSED.”

Rainbow Dash froze. She tilted her head to the side, squinting at the words.

From the text that was still visible between splotches of moisture, the front page article detailed how Don Canter—one of Manehattan's most prominent entrepreneurs—had suddenly and inexplicably vanished. In the absence of the stallion and many of his “business associates,” a group of ponies had stepped up, confessing to having harbored illegal and stolen goods for the multi-millionaire. This led to an investigation of his property and the subsequent seizure of countless items of pilfered merchandise. Over the past few days, all of Manehattan was abuzz with the utter collapse of Don Canter's fortune. Meanwhile, dozen upon dozens of eyewitness accounts came out of the woodwork, exposing a huge network of criminal miscreants making up the upper echelon of Manehattan's elite.

Rainbow Dash didn't realize it at first, but she was breathing heavily. Something pounded in her chest, and it increased the tingling along the edges of her fetlocks.

For the first time in as long as she could remember, a devilish smirk graced the edges of her muzzle.

Then she felt something else deep inside... something softer than pain.

Her stomach was gurgling.

With flexing wing-muscles, Rainbow Dash turned about... and headed her way downtown.

Towards Sugarcube Corner.

Comments

[RoboRed]

Welcome back to the waking world, Dash.

[MidnightReflection]

Rainbow, best pony is in Cider Space without anyone to talk to right now, and you had cider in your fridge! Why must you torture yourself so much?

[Phoenix Kitten]

Bit for your thoughts Dash?
Maybe Epcot could help walk you through your malaise.

[destinedjagold]

Wow... I actually forgot all about Cider Space.

[Tim the Planes-pony]

Depression is a nasty place to be.

[Bulbajer]

Wait, Dash advised Sunset to go to Twilight, right? Did she tell her not to say anything to Twilight about Dash's involvement in the whole thing?

[Mister Saxon]

Then she felt something else deep inside... something softer than pain.
Her stomach was gurgling.

Hunger is softer than pain?
This male college student strongly begs to differ. *proceeds to make another bowl of Ramen*

[Phoenix Kitten]

6606190 She told Sunset to go to Celestia, not Twilight.
Though that just raises the question as to why Celestia isn't asking after Dash.

[Lightning Bearer]

I can't believe I forgot about Epcot for a while there.

[Appledash_Gurl]

Wait, what happened to Don Canter again? I may or may not have forgotten.
~ADG

[Phoenix Kitten]

6606710 He got eaten by a dragon while aiming his shotgun at Dash.

[Leftover of Saikano]

Ah, this is just too real. It makes me uncomfortable.

[Hestia]

At least she's going to see her friends. Moping doesn't suit you, Dashie.

[zaponator]

This is an almost painfully accurate description of depression...
I don't want to say I'm glad Rainbow's depressed, but I am glad that she's something rather than just reverting directly back to the beginning of the story.

[Autumn Rush]

Aaaand I'm caught up again!

And yay, for briefly getting out of depression mode, but thanks to the deep dark depths Scootaloo warned us about, that's probably going to last only till the end of the next chapter or so...

[Boop-Happy Lass]

Dun mope anymore Dash :<

[arancaytar]

Good god I can't bear sad Dashie

[arancaytar]

And instead of staring into the dim shadows of her abode, she stared at a golden goblet sitting lonesomely on a counter top.

The mare blinked.

All she needed to do was fill it with cider and take a drink.

She could go somewhere.

She could go many... many places... and yet nowhere at all.

The substance abuse metaphor is getting a bit on the nose, isn't it?