Appledashery

by Just Essay

The Garden

Rainbow Dash had spent the better part of four years living in Ponyville... which is why she was curiously surprised to find a spot that she had never truly seen before. If anything, she must have flown swiftly over it, never bothering to stop and see how remarkable it felt from the ground level.

It was a park—or a mediocre attempt at one, really. Three quadratic layers of hedges enveloped one another—breaking halfway between the cardinal corners. Within the centermost layer, there was a lavender garden. Nestled amidst the flowers was an antique metal sundial, rusted with time—but not neglect.

For being such a tiny, unseemly spot—it was very well maintained. All of the weeds had been plucked and the flower petals were in full bloom. Rainbow could only guess that it was a monument to somepony... or perhaps a grave belonging to an old official fron Ponyvillean days gone by. Whatever the case, there was no plaque or sign to commemorate anything. Just a whole lot of emptiness segmented by geometric beauty—and all perfumed with a blissful natural fragrance. The northeast end of the "garden" sported a wooden lattice archway, overgrown with thorns and flowers. If Rainbow Dash was anypony but herself, she might have been moved to giggles.

Instead, she dropped her saddlebags like twin anvils and slumped down on a bench. The seat was old—its wooden planks warped by time and moisture. But she was too light to fear it breaking. Sighing, she sat there, baked in the sun... serenaded by bees as they pollinated the lavender flowers on either side of her.

Rainbow Dash gazed down at the floor... at the soft earth and cobblestone pathing beyond her dangling, useless limbs. It was cool and comforting—but the shadows allowed the tears to bud. So, sucking her breath in, she gazed skyward. The sun was bright, punishing... and it kept her eyes dry. But Rainbow couldn't deal with the pain for long. She clenched her lids shut, flooding her mind with a veiny redness that crept through her... filled her... reminded her with every bloodpulse that she was hopelessly, unavoidably alive.

She was the fastest mare in all of Equestria... and still she hadn't managed to go anywhere.

Rainbow Dash shuddered. Her soul—she imagined—would have been a lot easier to carry with her if she could only find it... instead of searching for the remnants scattered randomly across her past and future like freckles against a sun-bleached coat. It was difficult to move beyond something so beautiful... somepony so mesmerizing and inspiring... that the rest of the skies paled in comparison. Perhaps Noir could have found her work on a distant moon in some far off dimension of impenetrable darkness. Even then—Rainbow new—the golden brilliance of her smile would illuminate her every muscle, no matter how far she scurried.

Rainbow Dash was so busy with being distracted that she didn't realize that something else was trying to distract her. Her ears twitched, and she noticed that she was hearing voices... cheering voices... barking voices... boasting voices.

Over the nearby hill—due north of the quaint little garden and its sundial—Rainbow Dash sensed movement. There was a large group assembled not too far away. It was there—Rainbow knew—that the Ponyville fairground resided... although she couldn't remember the last time that a fair ever too place in that village.

Nevertheless, something was going on, and it suddenly explained the dormant streets that she had wandered through before.

It was boredom—perhaps—that eventually pushed her off that bench. With a sigh, she strapped the heavy saddlebags back onto her person and shuffled limply in the direction of the commotion.

Comments

[Shotgunmerc]

And this is where things begin to turn around, whether Dash wants them to or not.

[fourths]

Yeah... I didn't think she was really going to do it. Sorry, Dash, but your future is in another place.

[RoboRed]

Well, let's see where this leads...

[Phoenix Kitten]

...oh hey, the Marathon.

[Hestia]

And the chances that Rainbow Dash will actually stay in Ponyville are dwindling with every chapter. I don't know why I'm still clinging to hope that she won't actually leave

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

7340928 Yeah, I forgot about that.

Wonder what's gonna happen next, now that Dash has divested herself of everything but what's in her saddlebags?

On another note, if she see her friends and they see her saddlebags, I wonder if one of 'em will think to ask her what's going on?

Just have to wait a few days to see, I guess.

[BronyInHiding]

I wonder what the significance of this garden is? I don't think it would have been described in detail if there was no meaning in it.....

[Elsaack]

When AJ went AWOL, the rest of the Mane Six all came for her. Why should it be any different in this AU. Will Luna refuse to tell them? I don't think her friends will let her go so easily, even if she does manage to get pretty far, they'll follow.

My thoughts at least.

[Lightning Bearer]

Am I the only one who's starting to think, at some level at least, that it would be better if Rainbow and Applejack didn't get together? I mean, Rainbow's feelings were cute at first, but those feelings have literally burned Rainbow's life to the ground around her. It isn't even love at this point--it's an obsession, and it doesn't seem healthy. I'm starting to think that the best thing Rainbow can do is just let Applejack go, get over her, and, frankly, get a goddamn life. And maybe moving away would help, to be honest (though doing so without letting anyone know still seems douche-y).

I mean, even if they did get together: then what? Rainbow's had Applejack on a pedestal for so long, admiring her from afar; would she even be able to maintain a real, adult relationship with her? And then there's Applejack. Maybe it's just me, but if I found out that a friend had been so consumed with me that they let their life crumble around them and never even talked to me about it, I'd be a little disturbed.

I dunno. Just a thought that's been festering for a while.

Probably I just need to lighten up a bit.

[krakentoa]

7341486 you are not alone in thinking like that.
Aditionally, a meta explanation for this absurd behavior is that the author is trolling us by writting the first angst fic by Scootaloo.

[Leftover of Saikano]

The circus is in town, Rainbow. That's your chance for an escape. Who can be a better acrobat than you?

[Cotton Fluff]

It was boredom—perhaps—that eventually pushed her off that bench. With a sigh, she strapped the heavy saddlebags back onto her person and shuffled limply in the direction of the commotion.

So we're going for the 'long, drawn out, and painful goodbye for all parties involved' option eh? I can't see Rainbow meeting up with her friends or the B-Team at the fairgrounds being anything but a bad thing for Dash at this point. Either they will finally figure out something is wrong and try to stop her, after she's technically/maybe/kinda committed herself OR Dash will have to face the pain of giving them an actual goodbye. I suppose she could pretend like everything's ok and ignore the goodbye, but then later she'll be kicking herself more because she didn't take the chance when she could.

I'm still holding out hope that she'll join the Lunar Code but the last chapter and this one seem to indicate she actually doesn't want to go in that direction.

7340942
Wait, what? If anything these last two chapters should be making you whoop for joy. Yes, she's still fighting with herself to leave but she didn't go to Noir to start a whole new adventure arc and she is going to the fairground where everyone is instead of slinking off. If anything, having actual contact with her friends (rather than the memories she had as she walked past their homes) will give her reason to stay.

7341043
" Why should it be any different in this AU"
Because in this AU the rest of the mane six have ignored her going AWOL every adventure arc? Only making casual 'oh we missed you, you must be terribly busy' comments when she returns. Don't get me wrong, I would like for the rest of the mane six to follow Dash if she runs off with the Lunar Code. They'd finally be more than background ponies then and take some direct action to show Dash that they care. An adventure arc with the whole mane six would be pretty neat too.

I would not get my hopes up for that, however.

"Will Luna refuse to tell them?"
Assuming Dash joins the Code, it depends on how secret the Code is and what kind of assignment she gets I would imagine. I would expect Luna to tell them the usual 'don't worry, your friend is safe under my protection doing service to the crown' type of line. She could possibly take Twilight aside and tell the truth of the matter, but I don't think we've seen what kind of relationship Luna and Twilight have in this story (does she respect/care about Twilight enough to tell her).

7341486
41.media.tumblr.com/8b9666dbda1479127d1150ee07509e55/tumblr_o0edlpCMzJ1uhnruuo7_1280.png
As much as I would like to disagree... yeah at this point I would agree that a relationship between the two would just end in heartbreak. Dash's life is in shambles and AJ would get the truth out of her soon enough. I can't see her being okay with how Dash has lived her life thus far, and any attempt AJ makes to fix it would probably just lead to awkwardness. Once Dash gets what she wanted, I see one of two things happening: a) the pedestal will crumble and she will learn AJ is not the end-all-be-all perfect Mare... which will lead to regret and disappointment or b) the pedestal will remain and Dash will still worship AJ and thus live with a fake relationship where she does anything for her because she still sees herself as unworthy.

Additionally, could you see Dash settling down? Living on the farm doing chores all day, staying in Ponyville? I can't imagine this Dash being happy with that once she has gotten over the excitement of actually getting with her crush. This 'verse's Dash has been all about the adventures, and to be deprived of them because of attaining her dream... I would imagine Dash would go into depression again. Perhaps resort to visiting Epcot more and more to get that thrill back and escape from 'boring' farm life. Or perhaps she would actually run away to go on adventures, causing stress and tension in the relationship as Applejack worries about her.

[Hestia]

7342730

Wait, what? If anything these last two chapters should be making you whoop for joy.

I dunno, these three chapters have sort of seemed like the final victory lap or something. It seems like she's saying goodbye to all the places that mean something to her without having to say goodbye to the PONIES that mean something to her. It's a sort of convoluted last farewell.

Or maybe I gotta be more optimistic.

[zaponator]

Even a letter, y'know? Just drop a note in the post on the way out, "Hey gals, moved away to pursue new career. Let's be pen-pals!"
If she kept in touch via letter they'd be less likely to assume something terrible and come charging after her.