Drained Colors

by Annalisa Flat

First published

When Rainbow Dash overcomes a serious mental tragedy, she looses her rainbow color. Sad and confused, Rainbow Dash attempts to bring back her true colors.

Did you ever wonder why Rainbow Dash had a rainbow mane and nobody else did?
Maybe it never crossed your mind that a rainbow is more than a superficial trait.
A little while after Rainbow fails her Wonderbolt audition, her friends begin to notice that her iconic rainbow mane and cyan coat are literally leaking color, leaving behind a shallow, lifeless shell of what Rainbow Dash used to be.
Without the old Rainbow Dash, everything seems to be thrown out of balance in Equestria, and the elements of harmony can't function. Together, they attempt to bring back color to the one they care for he most.
Through medical study and the magic of friendship, Equestria will finally understand Rainbow Pegasus ponies, and the existence of rainbows entirely.

Prologue-What a Colorful World

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"Thank you to everypony who auditioned today," Spitfire announced." You are all very talented flyers and wish you well in the future. The only thing is we can only have three flyers, so I'm sorry to say that several of you did not make the cut."

Rainbow Dash watched in awe as her childhood hero spoke before her. Ever since she was a filly, Rainbow had one dream: to be a Wonderbolt. Everyday she drew drawings of herself dressed as one of those elite flyers. She attended all the conventions, and spent all her birthday money on tickets to see shows. She even had two plushies of her two favorite flyers: Soarin and Spitfire. It was by far her lifelong dream, and today she was going to finally achieve her greatest feat. They were holding Wonderbolt auditions today at their training center, and Rainbow Dash was finally old enough to try for the job. She was confident in her stellar performance, which featured her signature move, the sonic rainboom. If they didn't hand her the uniform today, the world might explode, because she knew nopony deserved it more than her.

"If I point to you, you're out,"explained Spitfire. While everypony else's legs were shaking hysterically, Rainbow Dash just stood there, confident in herself. After saving their lives, attending high-class events with them, and helping Ponyville bring water up to Cloudsdale by leading the hurricane crew, Rainbow was certain that she'd be one of the top three picks.

"You..." Spitfire pointed to a white muscle-packed stallion with tiny wings in the corner of our little pack, and he skipped away shamefully out of the stadium.

"You, in the back," A pink mare with blond straight hair flapped her wings so that they'd propel her up and away from us.

"You there, with the white hair," A purple mare with windblown hair exchanged a disappointing look before trotting away into the distance.

"And finally, you," Spitfire pointed over by Rainbow and several other ponies. Rainbow waited patiently for the young mare or stallion to walk shamefully off, but no pony moved an inch. Everypony gave Rainbow Dash unpleasant looks, including Spitfire.

"Rainbow Dash, I mean you,"

Dash's heart stopped. Somewhere out in the universe, a glass container shattered to pieces, just like her heart. She couldn't breathe.

"I'm sorry, but you didn't make the cut Dash," croaked Spitfire, now extremely impatient as she watched the Rainbow Pegasus stand there dumbfounded.

"But..but.."Rainbow Dash managed to say that, but nothing else escaped her mouth.

As she glanced over, she saw one of the remaining mares give her a sinister look. She remembered those devious, soul breaking eyes. It was Lightning Dust.

Immediately, Dash fell apart. She could feel her blood pressure increasing dramatically, her tear ducts flooding. Nopony could see her like this. She had to get away. With a single flap of her wings, Rainbow propelled herself into the wide open air, letting go, While several cruel demons inside of her toyed with her emotions.

"Rainbow Dash!" Shouted Spitfire." There is a perfectly good expla........."

A sonic boom erupted over the Canterlot sky, silencing Spitfire and slicing her words in half.

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Rainbow rushed into her cloud home, and dashed into her room at a hyper speed. Her first instinct was to rip all of her Wonderbolt posters. Piece by piece, all of her memorabilia was ripped to shreds. Her stuffed animals were destroyed and stepped on, causing masses of stuffing to be tossed around the room.Her bedspread was thrown off her balcony, as it fell down to the city below. Rainbow's eyes were encased by rage as she shattered the glass covers of her picture frames, andcut the photos in half.

By the end of her rampage, Rainbow was drowning in a puddle of tears on the floor. Everything she had worked for, she had destroyed it all. Now she just had to get rid of it, so that it was out of her life forever. Before she tossed the first bundle of tortured dreams out the door, she spotted her nightstand which still supported a picture she had drawn as a filly. She had forgotten to destroy it. Curious, she observed what would be the last item left that had any relation to the devastation that picked away at her heart. She had drawn herself in a Wonderbolt costume, the day after her very first Wonderbolt show.


Rainbow's vision blurred as one last single tear escaped her eyes. She did not have the strength to feel pain any longer, so she just had there, emotionless. Suddenly, a rainbow droplet escaped her hair, leaving behind a fragment of grey color in her silky rainbow mane. Two burgundy droplets trickled down from her eyes as she whispered the last emotional words she would ever say.

Oh, what a colorful world.

Her vision went grey, and the night fell silent.

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Spitfire ambled into the Wonderbolt's break room, her hair in complete disarray. Eyebags covered her face, as she lazily sat down, unaware of the other Wonderbolt in the room.

"Did you tell her?" It was Soarin'. Spitfire just gave him the It-didn't-go-well face, but he continued to talk.

"You crushed her dream," explained Soarin."If I were her, I'd me mad."

"I did what I had to,"admitted Spitfire,"For the sake of pony kind. If Rainbow Dash had joined us, she'd be traveling around all willy-nilly across Equestria, but when chaos strikes, she, the element of loyalty, won't be there to help her friends save our world. That's not very loyal if I do say so myself. Plus, the elements can't function without her."

"True," said Soarin." But I would still go up to her and tell her that, just so she's not COMPLETELY depressed."

"We can't," chirped Spitfire." She doesn't need consoling, she needs time..."

But in this case, time is the enemy......
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