Chapter 1
Rainbow Dash came to slowly, hearing only snatches of the conversation going on around her.
“...can't believe she did that...”
“...saved me...”
“...took it right in the face...”
“...dragon just...”
“...better run…”
“...look there…”
“...wings...”
She forced her eyes open and immediately regretted it. Everything was a blur, a bright sea of white with stabs of color. There might have been some purple, maybe some pink, and that was definitely yellow. It was painful, and her eyes shut again. Come to think of it, everything was painful. The world grew dark, and she opened one eye. Applejack's face swam into focus.
“Rainbow, stay down. We'll get you back, Ah promise.”
And then there was darkness.
* * *
Rainbow let out a pained whimper and opened one eye. Her world had been reduced to the smell of antiseptic and scorched fur, the beeping of some machine, and an awful soreness throughout her whole body; kindof like she’d just had a tough workout to exhaustion, but with every single muscle she had, even ones she didn't even know she had. She’d woken up to these sounds enough in her past to know she was in a hospital, but could think of nopony who had gotten hurt recently that would need visiting.
...why was she here, anyway?
She heard a loud gasp. “She’s awake!”
There was a loud thump, as if a pony had fallen out of a chair, and then Applejack sprang up from the floor. Her eyes looked tired, as if she hadn’t gotten much sleep all week. Which, to be truthful, she hadn’t.
“She’s awake!”
Rainbow winced as Pinkie Pie’s shrill voice cut through the air. She cracked one eye open and saw Pinkie’s wide smile, which was quickly removed by an orange hoof and replaced with Applejack. Hesitantly, she rested a hoof on Rainbow’s right foreleg. The pressure made Rainbow wince briefly.
“Hey, sugarcube,” she whispered. “How are you doing?”
“Ok, I think… am I in the hospital?” It was painful to speak at first, as if she hadn’t had a drink of water in ages.
Applejack nodded. “Yeah. And it’s good to see you awake again.”
Rainbow nodded. Her mind was fuzzy, unable to remember anything that had happened to put her here. Whatever had happened to her, it had apparently been drastic. Still, first things first. If she was hurt, the others (being somewhat lower on the awesomeness scale than she) must have been injured as well. “Where’s everypony else?” she managed to say.
“We’re all fine. We’ve been watching you in shifts,” Twilight explained hesitantly. “You’ve been here for two weeks, Rainbow.”
“Two weeks?” Rainbow sputtered, trying to sit up… and collapsing in pain, her breaths coming in ragged gasps. Apparently, not moving for two weeks had left her body somewhat weak and atrophied. Applejack rested a hoof gently on top of the bedcovers, wordlessly asking her to stay still. Questions burned in Rainbow’s mind. “What happened, anyway?”
Applejack cocked her head. “You don’t remember?”
Twilight and Rainbow shook their heads. Rainbow winced, touching a hoof to her neck. That pain definitely wasn’t normal…
Twilight explained. “Most ponies who are in comas tend to be confused and disoriented when they come out, so that’s to be expected.”
“A coma?” Rainbow looked around at her friends, ignoring the twinge of pain from her neck as she did. “What did I do?” She racked her brain quickly, but again came up blank as to the cause. Had she been trying a new trick? Breaking another speed record?
Twilight answered this one as well. “You took on three dragons, Rainbow. Those three dragons from Spike’s personal 'find himself' quest thing?”
Rainbow nodded. She remembered them.
“They were here, and they were bigger and angrier than last time. They were giving Spike an awful beating, and, well, you didn’t like that; so you swooped in and pulled him to safety. The dragons didn’t like that, so they… well…” Her voice trailed off as she looked for the right words.
“Tried to make a Rainbow Dash flambee,” Pinkie supplied the answer, earning herself glares from both other ponies in the room.
Ah. She’d been burned. That explained a bit. Not everything, of course. “So Spike’s ok?” Rainbow looked around as best she could. “Where is he, anyway?”
“He’s fine. Minor injuries, really, thanks to you. He’s grabbing lunch for all of us,” Twilight answered. “He’ll be really happy you’re awake; he was worried sick.” She paused. “He really feels it’s his fault you got hurt.”
Rainbow shrugged, ignoring the shot of pain that flew up her right shoulder. “Eh, I would have done it anyway for anypony. Those guys were real jerks.” She paused, realizing something that she should have thought of earlier. “What happened to them, anyway?”
Twilight coughed nervously. “Uh… Well, two of them were last seen running deeper into the Everfree Forest, and their scales may or may not have been given a healthy dose of hydrochloric acid. Their leader, however--remember that red guy?--has the ubiquitous honor of being the first ever dragon to descend beneath the water table of Ponyville.”
Rainbow cocked her head.
“Twilight grabbed him, folded him in half like a pancake, then teleported him a hundred feet below ground,” Applejack whispered in translation. “She was mad.”
Twilight gave a little embarrassed chuckle. “Oh, stop. He’ll survive.” She paused. “Probably,” she amended.
“Well, I survived, so I guess it’s all good,” Rainbow said. “I’ve been here two weeks, you said?”
Pinkie nodded brightly. “Yep! And look! I even made a photo album of your recovery!” And sure enough, she produced a photo album, completely decorated with cutout cutie marks made of construction paper, and hoof-drawn pictures of both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash on the cover, drawn in crayon, both smiling broadly.
Rainbow looked up at Applejack, asking silently for clarification.
“She got bored while waiting,” Applejack explained.
Rainbow nodded. That would be something Pinkie would do.
But what was really strange to her was the prank Pinkie was trying to pull. Sure, there was Pinkie smiling broadly (she was quite skilled in taking pictures of herself, apparently), but next to her on a hospital bed was a pony covered in bandages, and from what she could see from what was uncovered, he didn’t look familiar at all. Rainbow was most disturbed by the contrast of Pinkie’s smiling face while this other pony lay unconscious. Then again, judging by how bad this pony’s injuries were, maybe unconscious was the best state for him.
“Who's that?” she asked.
“It's you!” Pinkie proclaimed brightly before Twilight could stop her.
“That's not me. Is it?” She froze. A horrifying thought occurred to her, and memories of visiting a foalhood friend struck by lightning flashed unbidden through her mind. “Get me a mirror,” she demanded.
“Rainbow…” Twilight started softly.
“I need a mirror!” Rainbow quickly sat up to get out of the bed.
“Wait!” Twilight called.
But she was too late. Rainbow’s weakened body couldn’t support her shifting weight, and she slid out and landed hard on the ground, face first, before Twilight could even light her horn.
“Applejack!”
The cry was instinctive, her automatic first response to being in danger or pain. Applejack knelt and helped her up, letting Rainbow rest her weight on her body. Rainbow forced her head up—was the world always this swirly?—and looked over at Twilight.
“Get me a mirror,” she repeated.
“I don’t know if that’s the best id-”
“Mirror!”
Twilight wilted, knowing Rainbow wouldn’t stop until she got what she wanted. “Are you sure? I don’t know if you want to see your face just yet.”
“What’s wrong with my face?”
Twilight looked away, a pained look on her face. Hesitantly, she opened the bathroom door, and gestured inside at the mirror hanging on the wall. Leaning heavily on Applejack, Rainbow Dash limped her way over and looked in the mirror.
What Rainbow Dash saw made her jaw drop, and the only thing that let her know that what she saw in the mirror was actually her was its jaw dropping as well. The left side of her face was relatively normal, aside from her coat looking a little thin and burned in some places. Most of her mane was intact, aside from the burned tips. A thick scar traced across her cheek and another smaller flowed over her eye, giving her a rugged look.
Now, her right side… The right side of her face didn’t even look equine. Everything from her coat to her eyelashes was gone; leaving behind a blackened mess of burnt muscle, pinkish somewhat-healed skin, little pockets of pus, and scattered scraps of blue fur, all on top of a spiderweb of white scar tissue.
“What happened…?” she whispered, bringing up a hoof to touch the mirror as if hoping her face would somehow revert to normal. “And why do I look like this?”
Twilight stepped up beside her, pity in her eyes. “Deep, prolonged burns produced by magical fire. Th- there’s only so much that healing magic can do, Rainbow. If you use too much, it can cause… issues.”
“What kind of issues?”
“We used most of our quota to get the skin grafts to hold. Too much more, and your body would have overloaded and rejected everything we did, including most most of the muscle knitting.”
“Skin grafts?” She knew that term. Rainbow looked down at her body and sure enough, she could see where patches of skin had been placed along her body, especially along her barrel and upper right foreleg. She looked around under her body towards her hindquarters, letting out a painful grunt as her body protested the movement. It turned into a pained whine when she saw the scarring along her inner thighs; evidence of her skin taken from places that would normally remain hidden from view. She looked up again. “And what’s that about knitting?”
“Rainbow… you suffered third degree burns on most of your right side. You had damage to your subcutaneous fat layer.”
“It’s all muscle,” Rainbow instinctively protested, straightening up… and quickly bending back over, gritting her teeth and hissing in pain. Applejack reached underneath her for support.
Twilight didn’t crack a smile. “That got burned, too. You had some bad nerve damage as well, and we had to try and fix those before reattaching and reknitting your muscle.”
Rainbow flexed a hoof and winced at how numb and dead it felt, almost as if she had fallen asleep on it for a few hours. “How long until I’m back to normal?” she asked.
The room fell silent. Not even Pinkie Pie moved. Rainbow Dash looked around, but no one would meet her eyes.
Twilight finally spoke. She licked her lips nervously. “Rainbow… this might be your new normal. Nerves can heal, but they take a long time to do so; and we’re not sure if the scars will heal.”
“Spike’s scars did,” Pinkie pointed out.
Twilight quickly responded. “Right, but Spike’s dragon magic is expressed a little differently than Rainbow’s pegasi magic. Spike’s damage was physical, and he was cleared to go home after a day. Rainbow, well…” Her voice trailed off.
Applejack hesitantly brought up a hoof to stroke Rainbow’s left cheek.
“Yeah, it looks kindof bad, but don’t worry,” Pinkie said brightly. “I’m sure everything will be back to normal soon.”
“I doubt that,” Rainbow said.
“What do you mean?” Pinkie asked. “I mean, look! You’ve got your friends, your feathers will grow back, we can throw a party with all of Ponyville so they can see your new appearance, nothing could go wrong!”
When Pinkie Pie says that, it’s never a good sign. Rainbow, however, let herself get cheered up a bit. “You’re right. I’m sure it’ll be fine. I mean, I’m still awesome me, right?”
“Yeah!” Pinkie agreed.
“What’s on the outside doesn’t matter, I’m still Rainbow Dash!”
“You got it,” Applejack agreed.
The door to Rainbow’s room opened, and a small pile of boxes entered.
“Sorry, Twi,” Spike’s voice came, “they were out of the daisies so I got you daffodils inst- Rainbow!” The food went flying as Spike caught sight of the pegasus now standing in the middle of her room. “I… uh… I’m sorry!” he wailed. “It’s my fault you got hurt!” He looked as though he was torn between giving her a hug and groveling at her hooves.
Rainbow chuckled, though she found nothing funny. “Ah, don’t worry. I’m still me, right? Besides, I would have done it for any of my friends.”
“Yeah,” Spike said, “but I still feel guilty.”
Twilight rested a comforting hoof on his shoulder.
“I mean, it’s going to be hard to get a job now-”
“Spike…” Twilight warned.
“-and I don't know if you'll fly again-
“Spike…”
“-ponies are going to look at you funny-”
“Spike…” Twilight’s grip tightened on his shoulder.
“-it’s going to make life harder and-”
“Spike!”
Spike looked back at Twilight.
She wore that fake smile Spike had seen before. “Oh, look. You dropped our lunch. Better go get us some more.”
“But-”
“Go.”
Spike could take a hint. He turned and quickly walked out of the room, breaking into a sprint as soon as he thought he was out of visible range, letting the door slam behind him.
Silence reigned, and none of it was comfortable.
“I’m sure he didn’t mean all that,” Pinkie said, looking back at Rainbow. “Nothing will change. We’ll still love you.”
Before Rainbow could respond, there was a knock on the door, swiftly followed by a young filly scout entering, wearing her clean and starched class A uniform. She was smiling broadly and bearing a few boxes of cookies on her back.
At least, she was; until she opened her eyes and saw Rainbow Dash’s face for the first time. She dropped her cookie boxes and screamed, stumbling backwards and tripping over her own skirt as she scrabbled backwards, trying to put as much distance between the two of them as possible. She rolled over and scrambled to her hooves and sprinted out of the room, screaming the entire way, leaving behind her cookie boxes and neckerchief. Pinkie attempted to capitalize on this and reached for a box, but Twilight slapped her hoof away with a disapproving glower.
Rainbow was less concerned with the ethical ramifications of taking the cookies and instead looked over at Applejack. “Kiss me.”
“Wha-?”
“Kiss me,” Rainbow repeated.
Applejack lifted a hoof to approach but hesitated ever so slightly. It was barely noticeable if you weren’t looking for it.
But Rainbow was looking for it. “That's what I thought,” she whispered bitterly. She turned and painfully began to walk out the door.
As soon as Rainbow had left, Pinkie turned to Twilight. “Was it something I said?” she asked quietly, afraid she had hurt her friend.
Twilight shook her head. “It wasn’t you.” She paused. “Well, you didn’t help,” she corrected herself, “and it seems like everypony here needs a mouth filter, and I certainly didn't plan for that filly scout, but it wasn’t your fault. To be honest, I expected something like this, but that doesn’t make it any easier.”
Pinkie gave her a friendly bump with her head. “But it’s all gonna turn out ok, right?” she asked hopefully.
Twilight didn’t answer.
“Right?” Pinkie repeated, a bit more soberly this time.
Twilight sighed. “I don’t know, Pinkie. I really don’t know.”
Outside in the hall, Rainbow continued walking slowly down the hall as Applejack followed. They passed various patients, most of whom stared openly at Rainbow’s right side. One even gasped and swore under his breath, and one tiny foal even began to cry.
Rainbow didn’t respond. She didn’t even look back at Applejack.
They had made it to the reception area before Applejack spoke. “Are you sure you wanna leave? Don’t you have to stay here for a while longer?”
Nurse Redheart looked up from her paperwork. “Actually, she’s completed her required stay. Her body doesn’t seem to be rejecting the transplants, so now that she’s awake, we don’t need to keep her for observation anymore. I just need somepony to sign her out.”
Applejack turned and glared. “Whose side are you on, anyway?” she asked.
Redheart returned fire with a blood-chilling glare such as only teachers and nurses can perfect, and slid a clipboard over. “The side of healing, and if she doesn’t want to be here to aid her healing process, that’s perfectly acceptable and even encouraged. Sign here, please.”
Applejack shook her head, signed the release form, and then ran to catch up with Rainbow Dash. “You ok?” she asked.
“What do you think?” Rainbow asked bitterly. Exiting the hospital, she turned left and continued walking down the road.
“Where are you going?” Applejack asked.
“Home.”
Applejack pointed a hoof behind her. “The orchard is that way…” she started.
Rainbow paused and looked back at her. “No. I’m going home,” she corrected. “My home. Away from you.”
Applejack blinked, finding herself speechless. “Rainbow, why wou-”
“You don’t want to see me? Fine. I won’t put you through that.” Rainbow resolutely began walking again, wincing every few steps.
“But Rainb-”
“Save it. I saw how you looked at me. I saw how you hesitated to kiss me. I saw how you flinched when you touched me. I’d hate to leave you stuck with Ponyville’s most unawesome marefriend.”
Applejack walked alongside her, slowly, to stay with her. “How are you going to get back up there?” she asked, trying to help Rainbow see reason.
Rainbow didn’t even break her stride. “I’ll think of something. Don’t you have a tree to go kick or something?”
“Ra-”
Rainbow cut her off. “We’re done, Applejack.” Her voice grew quieter. “Just leave me alone.”
Applejack paused and bit her lower lip; feeling pained, indignant, frustrated, angry, and most of all, hurt.
But she couldn’t say if it was Rainbow or herself she was most upset with. All she could do was watch Rainbow limp painfully off into the distance.
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Also when are you going to do loving in the sunlight fighting in the moonlight again?
Amazing story cant wait for chapter 2
3706382
but don't worry, that one is definitely not abandoned.
When the ideas come…
Well, crap. That was a feels train I hadn't planned on boarding, but now that I have I can't say I plan on disembarking any time soon. Your premise is riveting, and I look forward to seeing how you take us through this story. You really went for broke with the injuries, and while it made me wince a bit to read about them (the intention, I'm guessing) I'm glad you did, because it adds a whole 'nother side to the usual "Rainbow recovery" narrative.
So yeah, this is shaping up to be really interesting. I hope Rainbow can regain some semblance of a normal, or at least happy, life and come to terms with her new appearance, and realize that the people around her still care even if the beginning was a bit bumpy. Thanks for sharing, and I eagerly await the next installment.
Aww she is so cute, ever her scars are rainbow.
Why is it RD that always get injured! great story by the way, but whyyyyyyyy?!
really enjoyed this in the contest, bahatumay! Good to see it posted so you can get comments on it. Gives me a kick to give it another read through too.
Ol' RD's really put through the wringer on this one...
Incomplete... you mean the story isn't over... um... okay... I think I need a hug.
Edit - Ohhh.. okay, you didn't post all of what was in the G-doc, that's why its incomplete. I get it now.
If this was SpikeDash I would have loved this ten times more, but nope its another run of the mill appledash. As if we do not have enough of those.
I love the creatitvity and originality of this story. The detail was amazing but I can't help but wonder where Rarity was during all of this.
and if you want a editor for this story then I would be happy to do it. I'm eagerly waiting the next chapter .
3707410
Who would anyone ship Dash and Spike? They barely interact in the series. Plus he's like half her age. AppleDash make way more sense.
3707560
As much I like to debate I will not start a flame war. But I will say this, Spike is a Dragon.
Feels! Oh, the feels! But I loved the story!!! I can't wait to read more!!!
I was looking for a new Appledash read, and saw this as a popular story. From what I get so far, I'd say you did a pretty darn good job at pulling me in.
3707560 You can't say he's half her age, you simply have no proof. If anything, it appears that he's more 4-5 years younger than her because Twilight got him at around that age, and she and her friends are around the same age.
Probably.
And fanfictions can make up any bullshit reason to ship 2 characters, even if they have little to no interaction in the show. Look at Gilda for example. She has shipfics while she was nothing but negative to everyone in the show. To me, that seems less likely that a Spike shipping.
3706724 Because she's the worst character.
YEA I SAID IT
3708335
3708338
No inciting flame wars in comments! :flutterstare:
3708382
k fine
3708382
That's boring. You're boring.
3708338
Isn't that Celestia, doe?
3707428
Rarity would never be able to sta in the same room with Dash in her disfigured state without going into a fashion coma. You should know this.
3709138 Nope worst character is Rainbow Dash.
3709207 hahaha. But still she should be in there with her friend.
3709227
How? She's objectively the best character. Any flaws you can find are just because you jelly.
Uhh, if she can't fly how is she able to get into her house to become a recluse? Her house is up in the sky, she needs to fly to get to it.
3709348 Watch the Daring Don't episode. See how the element of loyalty abandons Daring Do, and needs encouragement from her friends to go back and BE LOYAL.
She's weak I tell you, WEAK.
I also don't really like how she handled the whole Gilda situation, among other things, like how she's rude and arrogant.
Spike could replace her in being the element of loyalty.
Spike could replace them all.
#SpikeGloriousMaster
3709453 kay, that doesn't count. she was not exactly realizing how serious the situation is there.
and no, she is strong. there is nothing stronger than the one who will abandon their dreams for what is right.
3709453
Yeh, but she was the only who had the balls to follow Daring Doo on her dangerous quest. She was feeling inadequate in front of her idol. Its completely understandable that she would react like that, Anyone would.The Mane Six were just shoehorned into what should've been a Rainbow Dash centric episode.
What isn't excusable is Spike showing what a fuck-up he is because of the SHITTIEST of reasons. Owe a debt to Applejack? Forget things you've done since season 1. He is simply a background character who can't accept his role (Dragon Quest, Power Ponies) but whose uselessness will ALWAYS be apparent.
Also, he's a greedy little bastard.
Gilda? The bitch who got high strung because of PRANKS? Anyone who "sympathizes" with such a weak hearted bird are just as spineless as she is. Dash was just cutting dead weight. No need to hang out with a noob who can't take a joke.
(Man, I love causin drama)
3709525 Spike is only like that because the writers have yet to get their shit together and decide on a personality...and because they cannot grasp how unique a character he is. When Lauren Faust conceived his place in the show, she put him in a ambiguously complicated situation - one that could potentially make him the most interesting character in the series - without even realizing it. The only thing holding back his potential is the staff's ignorance of the dramatic goldmine they have in him.
…am I the only one wondering why people are discussing shipping Spike on an AppleDash story? I mean, spoilers he shows up more later in the story, but still.
3710900 Exactly
3709453
sorry, just threw up a little in my mouth
3709493 How does that not count? She ABANDONED Daring. No matter what the situation, she's the element of loyalty. She should never abandon her friends.
3709525 Gilda wasn't just high-strung because of pranks. She hadn't seen her best friend in years, so when she discovered that Rainbow Dash had new friends, she understandably wasn't happy. She felt threatened, and developed an intense dislike for Pinkie Pie that grew as she was who she thought was pranking her. Gilda was confused, and she felt betrayed.
In Power Ponies, everyone DID think Spike was rather useless. However, instead of turning his back on those who needed help, and being LOYAL to his friends *ahem Rainbow Dash ahem* he went into the villain lair unequipped and outnumbered, and pulled off a super ballsy rescue. Spike's a bit of a wildcard. Twilight needs him. He's like her little brother(that she treats like a slave, but whatever), he takes care of her. He's her oldest friend, excluding her brother. If Spike were to suddenly be gone from the show, Twilight would be lost. He may be a bit of a background character, but he's a very important one.
So far, the only time we've seen Spike being legitimately greedy was with the greed growth episode. He's actually not greedy other than that. He works almost tirelessly for Twilight and Rarity, and participates in public events such as being the announcer for the Running of the Leaves.
3710985
Maybe its because Spike is rarely shipped? While with AppleDash there is a story for it at LEAST once every page if you tagged Rainbow and Romance in the filter box. I mean don't get me wrong I love the concept of the story, it just that I see the pairing every few stories that I've gotten really tired of it real fast. While with spike there is only like 70 stories for SpikeDash and there was a small hope for me that the fic was SpikeDash but it died when I saw the character tags. But I can't hate it for that since its no one fault except for me for getting my hopes up because it had BIG potential for a SpikeDash story. But this is not my story so I really can't do anything about it.
Better than getting brain damaged, at least. Besides, App'Jack was probably worried about hurting Dash.
Pretty good story, though I think the concept of finding yourself after losing what defined you didn't need a romantic subplot.
3707410
Look at the character tags. Good, now look at the story tags. Do you see Romance? Yes? Good.
Now, I don't know about you, but I don't go to stories, expecting a ship, not getting said ship, complaining about the lack of that ship and bad-mouthing the ship that the author likes.
Kids these days, ye gods.
Geeze, cut straight to the hard stuff, didn't we? I'm really liking this plot a lot, but never would I wish something like this on anyone. I can only read and hope AJ and the others help RD overcome this major alteration in her life.
And what's with all the drama in the comments about shipping? Certainly shipping may have not been "required" but I feel that strengthening the relationship between RD and AJ can be good for this story as we can focus more on how the events affects them instead of spreading it out over more characters. Plus it buffs up the stakes and drama as RD and AJ have more to lose.