Chapters Without Her Dash She's Just a Rainbow
I keep going back to that day.
It's the first thing I think about when I get up.
It's the only thing I dream about.
"You can do it Rainbow!" one of my five best friends called out. I don't know who it was; I was flying too fast.
I tilted upwards and started to make my assent into the clouds above me.
As I pierced through the suspended water droplets, Twilight's voice filled my head. This is straight up suicide Dash! What if you misjudge how far up you are? You'll ram straight into the ground.
I chuckled to myself, brushing off the flash back. I knew what I was doing. I was the fastest, and frankly the best, flyer in all of Equestria. This dare devilish stunt would get me in the Wonderbolts for sure!
A coolness settled around me as I flew higher. I knew this was a sign of how high I was getting. I could only see a few feet in front of me due to the think rain clouds surrounding me. Closing my eyes to protect them, I started to count down from ten.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
I got this.
Seven.
Six.
My wings started to slow down they're flapping, leveling me off.
Five.
Four.
Three.
My lungs filled with thin air.
Two.
I pulled in my wings in as close as I could.
One!
"Dash!"
I lift my head from my desk. "Hm? W-Who's there?"
There's a pony here with purple eyes. They seem to be full of worry. "Are you okay? We haven't seen you in. . .days." The eyes blink and become cloudy.
That's odd.
"I'm fine." I say past my sore jaw. Everything is sore.
The eyes close and the body they belong too seems to convulse. "No! You're not!" The body is a lighter shade of purple. It's beautiful. Flawless. Just like a princess.
"Dashie. . ." the body walks closer, "come back to the castle with me. I-I might know a way to fix you."
"Fix me? Why would you. . ." There goes another thought. Lost in a matter of seconds.
A silence follows soon after, causing the purple body to shift. "Rainbow. . ." she whispers.
I step off of my chair, my hooves aching in protest. I make my way over to the body and look it up and down. "Twilight?"
She brakes at my word. Her perfect body trembles as her sobs fill the air. "Rainbow Dash. P-Please. . ."
Her crying is confusing me. "Are you okay Princess?"
She wipes a hoof across her face and looks me dead in the eye. "You need to come home with me."
"I'm. Fine." My hooves take me to my window. The clouds underneath me give a little with each step. It makes my stomach churn. "Is Fluttershy free today?"
No answer.
"Did you even ask?"
A loud sniffle comes from the body. "She's been waiting for you all week Dash."
"Thank you. . ." I say as I turn and head for my bedroom door.
I'm relieved to see Fluttershy waiting for me in front of her cottage. She's wearing a soft smile as I approach her. I give her a smile back. "Hello Fluttershy."
"Dashie." She nods her head at me. "Come in." she steps aside for me to enter.
Before I know it, I'm at her kitchen table with a cup of tea in front of me. There's steam coming from the cup.
Hot.
"How was yesterday? Do you feel better?" the yellow body asks me as she sits across from me. Her cup is steaming as well.
"Sore." I state. "I feel sore."
She nods and a sip comes from her mouth as she ingests some of the molten hot liquid.
Hot. Boiling. Just like pain.
"Fluttershy. . .tell me about the fall." I stare at my cup and wait for her to answer.
She places her own cup down, her pink hair falling in front of her face. "I thought I told you about it yesterday. . ."
"Tell me again, please."
The yellow body seems to shiver as it recounts the incident. She doesn't argue though. She simply takes a breath and thinks. "It was a cloudy day, almost ready to rain. You wanted to try a new stunt to impress the Wonderbolts. They were visiting and-"
"I know, I know that Fluttershy. I want to hear about my fall."
"The fall. . ." she hesitates, "I-I remember seeing you brake through the clouds. You were flying too fast; you misjudged the distance. Twilight tried using a spell to stop you, but it was too late. . .y-you hit the ground at full speed. . ." the body started crying, "If it wasn't for Twilight, you wouldn't be alive."
"What did I look like?" I ask unfazed.
Nothing fazes me anymore.
Her hair moves slightly as she looks at me. "You didn't look like the Rainbow Dash i knew and loved. Y-You were covered i-in blood. Bones were out of place a-and. . ."
I knew the body wouldn't finish the story. I needed the apple-bucker. I needed. . .What was her name? I needed the orange body.
Leaving my tea the way it was, I left the cottage.
I walk up to the farm to see the body talking with it's older brother. When she notices me, her eyes go wide with surprise. The brother stares as well, the redness of his coat burning my eyes.
"What is it, Rainbow Dash?" she asks me gently.
I look the body in the eyes. "What happened after I hit the ground. Flutter shy won't. . ."
The thought.
Gone.
But the body understands, as she nods her head and answers. "Your body was broken. Blood was coming out of your body like a fountain. It. . .was the most horrible thing Ah have ever seen in my entire life. We sat at the hospital for what seemed like years before they were able to piece yah back together. Thanks to magical cures, you were able to gain yer former strength."
"Is that it?"
"Yup." she says with a straight face. "Ah wouldn't lie to you Dash."
I take a deep breath. "I'm never flying again."
She nods. "I know, you said that as soon as you could talk again."
I sit at my desk and stare at the blank piece of paper in front of me. The pencil sits in my mouth, waiting to be used.
I can never write my thoughts. They leave too fast.
But tonight is different.
So I lean down, making the pencil meet the paper, and I write.
Today was another day of relearning what has happened to me. I remember the feeling of the clouds. I remember the drop. But the fall? It's blank. A black space in my memory. I don't want to fly. I don't want to be a Wonderbolt. I wish my wings would fall off so I wouldn't be reminded of the fall. Of how I failed. Everypony says I should
The thought is gone.
But I smile. Because I was able to write. I was able to remember something.
Another thought hits me. I move to the bottom of the sheet and write it down before it can run away:
It's okay just being a Rainbow.
I move the paper to the side of my desk and stare at it.
Progress. Finally, I'm getting somewhere.
Author's Note
I wanted to try a new writing style. I feel like I accomplished something good here. Maybe I'll write like this again.
Also, I'm not sure is this should be underneath the Alternate Universe tag or not. What do you think?
Without Her Dash She's Just a Rainbow
I'm standing at the tracks as she approaches me. Her dark pink hair is longer than last time. Those purple eyes seem almost dead.
Why does this make me sad?
"Rainbow Dash?" the small orange body asks as she stops in front of me. "What are you doing here? I-I thought. . ." the purple eyes are misty.
I look down at her, a smile appearing on my lips. "Oh Scoot, my name is just Rainbow now."
The body looks up at me. "Y-You remember me?" She has a smile of her own now.
I think. I try to regain the thought of who this filly is.
Camp site. Hanging out. Flying.
I shutter.
"I think I do. . ." I mumble.
Why am I here again? Why did my feet take me to the tracks by the forest? Ah, I remember. To see this orange body. Twilight said it would be good for me. That it might help.
"I'm getting better at flying Rainbow!" Scoot tells me with excitement. "Do you wanna see?"
Everything in me is telling me to run. I don't want to watch her fly. I don't want to feel sick again. But I have to watch.
I have to feel something .
So I nod, and watch her trot off to one of the starting lines.
"Watch this Rainbow!" she yells to me as she stretches out her wings.
She's grown a little. That makes me proud for a reason I do not know.
Wind rushes past me as she takes off. I force myself to watch her. She makes a right turn, following the paved track beneath her. I can see the smirk on her face as she bolts through the air.
Adrenaline.
Speed.
Vomit.
It comes out of my body suddenly, not giving me a chance to react. It's acidic.
I'm gasping, heaving, flickering out of consciousness.
"Twilight, do something!" a filly shrieks.
"She'll come out of it Scootaloo, don't worry." the calming voice of a princess says back.
I can feel the chunks in my stomach wanting to be released. They want to be free.
A deep breath is taken into my lungs. "Princess, I. . ."
No.
I lost another one.
Hoofsteps fill the room. "See Scootaloo, I told you she'd come back to her senses. . .Promise me you won't fly in front of her again."
"But Twilight, she's my sister! Sh-She's the one who taught me how to fly in the first place! She wouldn't give it up. Y-You have to be lying." There are sobs in her words. Sobs I wish I could stop.
Sister?
"Promise me Scootaloo." The princess says again.
"Fine!" she's crying heavily now. "F-Fine! I'll play into your little prank Twilight, but know that it's not funny!"
A door slams. A princess sighs.
"I'm sorry Rainbow. . .I thought she would help you feel better." she says calmly as she pulls a blanket over me.
I'm in a bed. How?
"She did. It was the flying that. . ."
No, I'm getting worse.
The purple body pauses before saying, "I know Rainbow. . .I know."
Author's Note
Bonus chapter inspired by the comment shinikage left on this story:
you need to add how she feels about rarity, pinkie and scootalo
This takes place a few months after the first chapter.
Without Her Dash She's Just a Rainbow
"What can I do, Doc?" the voice of the princess says over me.
"You can start by giving me some god damn room!" he yells harshly. "Oh Celestia. . .I've never seen bones broken so. . .so. . ."
Help me.
"You must know of some healing spells."
I can hear Twilight chuckle. "Of course I do."
"Great! Now, I just need to move this here and-"
CRACK
"DON'T TOUCH ME!!"
My room forms around me.
A dream?
I'm hot and sweaty. I feel. . .
I don't know how I feel.
Making my way to my desk, I turn my lamp on. It's noon, but my curtains are always closed. I don't like seeing how high up I live.
I need to write.
My dreams are getting worse. Flashbacks. That's all they are. Tonight was about the hospital and Twilight and
Gone.
I'm getting worse.
A knock at my door wakes me up from my desk. It's a sharp knock. Strong. Regal.
"Rainbow? May I come in?"
Twilight. "Y-yeah."
My voice is dry. Heavy. Angry.
As the door swings open, I can already tell that she's not here to take me to the yellow body's house. She's here for business. "Rainbow, I'm here to talk to you about moving."
"M. . .moving?" the thought had never struck me before now.
Thoughts usually like to run away from me.
The purple body nods slightly. "Yes. We think it would be best for you if you moved to someplace on the ground. It might even help with your anxiety."
"Oh. . .right. But where would I move to?" I say, turning in my chair.
She hesitates for a moment. "The, uh. . .orange body's farm. You might have to help out with chores, but. . .at least you'd be on the ground where we can work through your problems."
Orange body. Apples. Family.
"Rainbow Dash?"
Something within me churns suddenly. "I-I told you not to call me that."
Twilight takes a step back, as if she had hurt me. "I'm sorry. . .I forget sometimes. . ."
"When will I be moving?"
It takes her a second to find the answer.
The body's are always careful to answer my questions. They don't want to trigger me. I wish I could tell them what it was that made me cringe, but I myself do not know. It scares me.
"Tomorrow, if that's okay," she smiles.
I step down from my desk chair. "That's. . .fine. I-if you'll excuse me princess, I think I need to throw up now." I bow before walking into my bathroom.
"Alright Rainbow. . .could you rate the pain in your wings for me?" The doctor was standing next to my hospital bed. There was a clipboard hovering in his light blue magic.
"Ten."
He swiped a pen across the clipboard. "Okay, and your chest?"
"Four."
Another swipe. One after the other he swiped my ratings down on that clipboard. He had been doing this for the past week.
"One last question Ms. Dash: Do you fell like you are ready to go home?"
My ears twitched at the new question. "N. . .no."
"Then we shall keep you for another week and see how you are doing after that." and with that he turned and left just as a white body entered the room. "Oh! Excuse me Rarity," the Doc apologized.
"It's quite alright." Her voice filled the room with a strange warmth.
I tried my best to sit up. I wanted to see her face straight on. "R. . .Rari. . ."
"Oh darling. . ." Her blue eyes looked at me with a kind gentleness. "Don't move, please. I don't want you to hurt yourself."
The body's face beamed at me.
A light in my darkness.
A light. . .
". . .bow. . . .Rainbow, wake up darling."
My eyes are crusty. Was I crying?
There's a white body at the door. "Come now, it's time to go to Apple- I mean, the orange body's farm."
"R. . .Rar. . .?"
Anger. The emotion feels like a hoof being jabbed into my stomach.
Hot.
"Where in the hell have you been!" My throat burns from the ferocity of my tone.
The Light takes a step back in fear. "What do you mean Rainbow?"
Heavy breathing. Heart racing. "Do you know how long I have waited for you? Do you know. . .how long. . ." I fall in defeat.
"Rainbow. . .I. . ." She walks to me, her eyes blazing with care. "I'm sorry for whatever it is that I have done. Please, tell me what I did wrong so I can make it right. I don't want to cause you pain. . ."
"You. . .light. . ."
I can't form the words.
I can't. . .
I don't know what I can and cannot do anymore.
I only now that I don't want to fly.
Author's Note
Not too proud of this chapter....it's just some more character building honestly. More background stuff too.
