The Edge

by BeautifulHorse

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Rainbow Dash, Suicide / Self Harm, Tragedy
Length: 1030

After a devastating tragedy, Rainbow Dash wanders outside at night.

Following the death of her mother, Rainbow Dash is devastated. How did it happen? And how can she ease her pain? Can she come to terms with what happened, or is it too late?

Alternate Universe where Rainbow Dash's mother is an earth pony.

Published 2020-06-22 07:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2020-06-22 07:20:00 UTC

One-shot

How had it come to this? Rainbow Dash looked through the rain and the trees to the gaping chasm that had so rudely interrupted the little wooded area she and her mother had loved so much.

Her wings were held to her back by a soggy jacket. The jacket made wet squidgy noises as she walked, occasionally releasing gush of water like a squeezed dishrag. The depressing rain poured down, streaming along her sides and penetrating her thick pegasus coat.

The moon dared to peek from behind the clouds for a second, seemingly blinding Dash as she trudged along so frighteningly close to the edge. She tripped.

Scrambling to recover her balance, Dash caught herself just in time. The chasm loomed in front of her. As she looked down, many stories down, she could just make out the water rushing between the crags that decorated the floor of the massive rift.

Shaking with the adrenaline rush, Dash looked down again. Why had she stopped herself? If she had just gone with it then this would be all over. That was what she had come for, after all. To end her grief.

Dash choked down a sob. Underneath her wet and miserable exterior, she was scared. She had felt so resolute earlier, why was she stalling now? When she could finally leave this sad existence and find her mother?

Stupid survival instinct. Why had fate chosen someone so close to her? Why didn't the chasm swallow them both, or nopony? Why hadn't she just worn a jacket then, if only to prevent her pegasus nature from saving her? Or why hadn't she saved her mother?

Would her mother want her to be so sad? Would her mother want her to subject herself to such pains to reunite them? Would her mother admire her resolve, or chastise it and say that Dash deserved a life well lived? As her resolve shattered into a thousand pieces, the moon flicked out again, and this time Dash gasped and took a step back.

Distant thunder rolled through the wet air as an unpleasantly warm breeze blew, the thunder reverberating in her head. Again and again, Dash heard the thunder, until it almost matched her heartbeat. It was her heartbeat. Lightning cracked through the air, lighting a fear in her heart as suddenly as it lit the sky.

Fumbling about with her jacket, Dash slowly stepped around. As she pulled on the jacket, gushes of water came out, causing her hooves to slip and dousing her in a cold panic. One hind hoof missed the edge, flailing in the air, and then the other. She screamed in fear, grabbing for the ledge and only just grabbing a root to break her fall.

Water dripped into her open mouth, interfering with her ragged breathing as she slowly pulled herself up. For the first time, Dash found herself really wishing she was an earth pony like her mother. That strength would really be helpful, physically and emotionally. She hooked a hind hoof over the edge and jacked herself up, slowly rising up onto all fours again and searching for a way away with her compromised eyes. The lightning had really ruined her night vision.

If only she could get away from this cursed edge! The edge defined all or nothing. It had taken all that was left of her ruined family, and left her with nopony. But it beckoned her into the supposed nothing and everything that lay beyond, threatening to take all she knew.

The thunder sounded once again, reminding her that all said here would never be heard. The chasm, with its edge, held its everything and nothing, asking where she wanted to go. Rain trickled down Dash's back, making her shiver. She had to decide. She got to choose her own fate. A tear, quickly dispersed by all the rain on her face, slipped out of her eye. She got to choose. She was way too lucky.

If given a choice, her mother would never choose to go over the edge. As Dash realized this, sobs of relief swelled up her throat, comforting her with their warmth and release. Her mother would never want her to choose to go there. They would meet again in time, and even if now wasn't the right moment, that much was certain. As if on cue, the moon once again peeked out from behind the clouds, lighting the bushes and exposing a gap for her to escape through.

Dash could no longer feel the rain on her back as she ran through the woods. A burning desire to live her life properly was warming her from the inside. As the lights of civilization approached, reality caught up with her. She was young, and she had run away earlier that night. Ponies would be looking for her. She could be in trouble.

The corners of her still-soaked jacket flapped about, spraying water as she slid to a stop on the gravelly path. The cold caught up with her, enveloping her and even going inside her as she breathed in. She wasn't magically healed, her heart still hurt even though she had banished the edge from her thoughts.

The ponies looking for her would assume the worst though. They didn't know that the edge was gone from her thoughts. They didn't know that she had been there and back. Fear of the unknown wracked her mind. Maybe she wasn't ready to be found just yet. Making her way a little further back into the wood, Dash looked about. It was dark and rain-soaked, with little chance of a dry spot.

As she meandered through the trees, she spotted a hollow. Probably once the home of a small animal, it was perfect for her now. Dash ducked down and crawled into the hollow, curling up and enjoying the shelter. Her jacket pulled annoyingly over her wings and dripped water everywhere, but that didn't matter. She would deal with it tomorrow. Problems could wait.

Author's Note

Inspired by the rain outside.

This style of writing is a bit new to me, I would appreciate any feedback that anyone has.