Solace

by Amit

Dereliction

Rainbow Dash looked up at the ceiling. She couldn't do much else.

“Are you scared, Dashie?”

“I'm scared, Pinkie. I'm so scared.”

“I'm really scared too.”

And then, very suddenly, Rainbow started laughing, and laughed very hard. She laughed until a bit of blood came from her throat and splashed onto the bedsheets, and then continued.

“Dash—Dashie, what're you doing?”

“Remember, Pinkie? When I was a smaller pony and the moon was ever hiii—igh.”

Pinkie's voice was cracking a bit. “Tell me you're not.”

The tune was croaky and shattered and barely recognisable, but it was perfect. “I am. The trees started turning into monsto—rosities.”

Pinkie took a sharp breath, and Dash could see tears at the sides of her eyes as she tried not to smile. “You'll hurt your throat even worse like that, Dashie.”

“I hid among my friends, and I cowered and I cried, but a certain pink mare said that wasn't the way to deal with fears at all.”

And then they began singing together.

“She said,

Gi—irls, you've gotta stand up tall, learn to face your fears,

you'll find that they can't hurt you, just laugh and make them disappear!”

And they let out three hard, loud 'ha's.

“So

Giggle at the ghostly,

Guffaw at the grossly,

Crack up at the creepy,

Whoop it up with the weepy,

Snortle at the spooky,

And tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he can scare you then he's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna— ”

They went into fits of laughter.

“Laugh!”

Pinkie had to speak between her giggles. “And I thought I was the Element of Laughter.”

“Good thing I'm retiring. Wouldn't wanna take your job too.”

And they laughed more, until they were silent again.

It was a little while before Dash spoke.

“It's getting kinda cold.”

Pinkie pulled the blankets over her.

“I'll miss you, Dashie.”

“Where do you think I'm gonna go after, Pinkie?”

A moment or so passed.

“I dunno, Dashie. But I'm sure it's somewhere super-nice.”

“That's good to hear.”

Dash fidgeted very slightly. She couldn't do much else.

“It's getting really cold.”

Wordlessly, Pinkie leaned over and embraced Dash as hard as she could.

“Ow.”

She quickly eased her grip, and grinned sheepishly. “Didn't know my own strength. Sorry.”

“No biggie.”

Pinkie pushed a forehoof down and took hold of one of Dash's. “Is there anything you want?”

Rainbow considered.

She looked up at Pinkie Pie, smiling faintly.

“No. Got everything I need.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie.”

They stayed like that for a while.

She inhaled sharply.

It didn't hurt.

Comments

[Bulbasaur]

Profound and moving. If I may ask, did you have any specific disease/condition in mind for Dash?
I notice a "complete" tag. Aww...

[Amit]

808333
I considered it, for a while, but it's not really relevant so I decided not to elaborate.

I might write an epilogue some time later, but yeah. Complete.

[evorg324]

so....this fic is over?

[FreezingShock]

Really depressing, but also incredibly heartwarming. Good work.

[burnt-feathers]

Nice work, well done.
I love that you left many things vague, it is a great example of "show, don't tell".

Couple of corrections:
"Giggle at the ghostly
Guffaw at the grossly
Crack up at the creepy
Whoop it up with the weepy
Chortle at the kooky
Snortle at the spooky"
(mlp.wikia.com)

“What do you think I'm gonna go after, Pinkie?” Should be "Where".

[Amit]

808557
Fixed, and thanks. This was basically an experiment: what if I always showed and never telled?

I'm pleased with the results; I think I'll be doing it more often.

[SuperPinkBrony12]

R.I.P Rainbow Dash.

[LimeAttack]

I rather enjoyed this fic. It effectively delivered its message without boring by extending detail where it was completely unnecessary, and certainly made me have some feels. A job well done.

[Ferrix]

This story made my heart ache. Well done.