Appledashery

by Just Essay

Give It to Me Semi Straight

Wings flapping, legs dangling, Rainbow Dash levitated out the front door to Green Saddles' office building. She sighed, slumping in midair. Squinting, she gazed across the rooftops of Ponyville

The sun brilliant glinted off buildings, casting a uniform sheen about the place. Ponies milled about on street corners while others trotted leisurely between various vendors of the local marketplace. A pegasus or two drifted past overhead, their expressions as bright as the sky above.

Rainbow blinked. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After several seconds, she reached two hooves into her saddlebags. After a moment of fumbling around, she pulled out a bit bag in one hoof and her pill container in the other. She gave the bit bag a shake; it barely jingled. She did the same with her pill box. Only one container rattled.

She sighed out her nostrils, gazing across Ponyville towards the northwest edge of town. The rooftop of Ponyville Central Hospital appeared like a dull sliver in the distance.

Muttering something to herself, she slipped the container open, popped the lid, and swiftly downed the last tablet before floating forward.

---

"You..." Nurse Red Heart had to sit down in a chair across from Rainbow Dash in an examination room. "You already consumed them?"

Rainbow gulped and nodded. "Yup."

"All of them?"

"What can I say?" Rainbow Dash shrugged with a nervous smile. "I'm a busy mare!"

"Miss Dash..." Nurse started, fumbled for words, then rubbed the space between her eyes with a disgruntled breath. "Rainbow, this... I mean..." She spat, "That supplement was supposed to last you four weeks! Please tell me that you just lost some of them."

"They went down the hatch, doc. I gotta say—they're not working like they used to."

"And you don't think there's a reason for that?!" Nurse Red Heart exclaimed. "I'm surprised your bloodstream isn't poisoning you at this rate! Rainbow, even if I were to give you more, I doubt the medication would have any effect on you!"

Rainbow blinked. "What do you mean, 'even if I were to give you more...?'"

"We've been over this, Rainbow Dash. I can't give you a more frequent dosage. As a matter of fact, according to Equestrian medical law, I... I-I can't give you any more of it whatsoever!"

"You're serious?!" Rainbow Dash hovered forward, gasping. "But I need the stuff, doc! I need it to stay in one piece!"

"And if you want to stay in that one piece anywhere but six feet in the ground, then it's my duty to force you to hold back!"

"Stop pulling my tail, doc!" Rainbow frowned. "Okay. Fine. Just level with me. When's the soonest that I can get more pills."

"I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, but I'm bound by the law." Nurse Redheart shook her head. "After a rate of consumption this severe, I have to withhold the prescription for two months."

Rainbow's eyes bulged. "Two friggin' months?! What are you trying to do, Doc?! Kill me?"

"Quite the opposite, Miss Dash—"

"I'm limp as a noodle without the stuff!"

"No, you're limp as a noodle, period." Red Heart frowned. "I've told you time and time again that Equestrian medicine only has one solution for your condition."

"Unnngh..." Rainbow Dash tried face-hoofing but only succeeded in poking herself in the eye. She shrugged the pain off and grumbled, "Please, Doc, not again with the condition—"

"We both know that it's the only thing that can bring the feeling back to your body."

"Yeah, but at the cost—?!"

"The medicine only staves off the symptoms of your genetic condition for a little while. While clinically proven to assist an adult equine body, the medicine provides no cure! Rainbow Dash, if you want to be able to function like any normal Equestrian citizen, you need to set yourself up for that operation!"

"Hmmmph..." Rainbow Dash attemped to fold her forelimbs in indignance. She was only meagerly successful. "And who says I wanna be normal, huh?"

Red Heart's eyes quivered sympathetically. "You'll also be alive. One in every three ponies with this condition doesn't survive the onset of the genetic deficiency when it hits full-force. Nopony knows this more than you do."

Rainbow Dash bit her lip and glared into the corner. "My father was a different pony than me..."

"He was a brave stallion, but also an unlucky one, Miss Dash," Red Heart said. "He suffered before this operation could be devised by the sharpest unicorn minds in the whole medical industry. Please, I implore you, don't let what happened to him happen to you."

"Yeah, but my w-wings are fine!" Rainbow Dash grumbled. "In fact, I have better wings than anypony in this whole dang kingdom!" She squinted at the mare. "That's gotta count for something, right?"

"It'll affect your wings someday too, Rainbow Dash," the nurse said. "It isn't wise to make this gamble with time. You couldn't possibly win."

"Yeah, well, maybe nature doesn't know what it's up against!" Rainbow said with devilish smirk.

Nurse Redheart was deadpan.

With a sigh, Rainbow hovered a bit lower and said, "Look, doc. I'm sorry for putting this on you. I screwed up this week, okay? I screwed up but... b-but it was for a good cause."

Nurse Red Heart raised an eyebrow. "And you're willing to divulge this good cause...?"

Rainbow Dash simply levitated in place, biting her lip.

With a sigh, Red Heart shuffled the medical files in her hooves. "Well, there is one way I can go about prescribing you more of the medication."

Rainbow gasped. "There is?!" She leaned forward. "How?"

"You could turn yourself in at Canterlot East," Red Heart said. "They have a facility there where you can get plenty of exercise, bed rest, and steady distribution of the medicine—spaced apart over a period of time—with the best in physical therapy—"

"Wait... like... for how long?" Rainbow squinted.

"Until your body no longer craves the drug and you can be treated normally for your problems."

Rainbow blinked at her. She grimaced. "Are... are you suggesting rehab, Doc?"

Nurse Red Heart calmly stared back. "You'll be closely monitored and coached daily over how to properly conserve the energy in yoru legs without the medicine—"

"Doc, I'm no friggin' junkie!" Rainbow Dash growled. "I just... like..." She fidgeted in midair. "I just need to get my body back in gear!"

"Rainbow, many ponies your age and older go through the same exact thing," Nurse Red Heart said in a gentle tone. "Especially those of the athletic persuasion—"

"I'm not... s-some loser p-pegasus who needs to get her kicks from stinkin' pill popping!" Rainbow sputtered. "I'm awesome enough as it is, for Celestia's sake! I'm not afraid of... of..." Her words fell apart as she winced, staring into the nearby wall.

Eventually, Nurse Red Heart spoke. "I'm sorry, Rainbow. But as your physician, and also your friend, I cannot allow this to continue. It's not improving your physique at all. However, a prolonged stay at Canterlot East is the only other course of action worth taking if you are incapable... or unwilling to undergo the operation that you dread so much. Still, I can't with total honesty ensure you of a full and healthy life if you settle for just this alone." She leaned forward, her eyes soft and imploring. "Please, Miss Dash. I ask you to think this over carefully. Don't choose some sort of enticing... 'easy way' out of the solutions that are right in front of you. They may seem simple from the outside, they'll only lead to rocky roads from which you may never, ever recover..."

Comments

[Lilith Evanson]

For the love of Celestia, Rainbow, TELL THE GIRLS!

[MellowMabari]

Gah! Logic says that Dash should get the operation, but we still don't know exactly what that entails yet, so it could be really bad. Still, if it's get the operation or die...the rest of her friends, especially Applejack, need to find out about her condition. All of her secret-keeping is just making it harder for her to function, and people can only withhold so much before something gives.

I await the next installments with varying degrees of dread tempered by cautious optimism.

[Lightning Bearer]

Well, we finally learn something concrete about her condition. At least there's a solution, if she can come up with the money. I bet I know at least five ponies who'd be willing to pitch in, if she'd just quit being... well, Rainbow.

[Tchernobog]

Tell your friends you fool!

[Scohinyha Sanka]

Pride, the bane to her health. If she could set that aside, then things could go in a better direction. This is quite literal a "Do or die" choice.

[zaponator]

Stay in school, kids.

Seriously, though. I still suspect that the operation somehow prevents her from flying. That'd certainly be enough to scare her away from it.

[HyperMonica]

Wait what's the thing that Dashie is scared of doing? Some sort of operation or sumthin?

[Metal Aura]

Ah yes. Because Dashie has a definitive record of doing things the easy way. /s

[arancaytar]

This is distinctly not awesome.

[AppleTank]

Rainbow Dash: Loyal to everyone but herself