Newbie Dash (Alternative)

Applejack stayed over at the Friendship Castle for a while, joining her friends for lunch.
Twilight levitates one of the magical pills to Rainbow, who takes and swallows it without argument, throwing her friends a sheepish smile.

Probably thanks to her temporarily heightened metabolism, Dash was actually hungry and ate without hesitation or second thought. The latter only came afterwards, when her plate was empty and her belly nauseatingly full and uncomfortable.
Her priorly empty stomach was now filled with regret and a heaviness that makes her never want to eat again.

The others quickly noticed her growing quiet and drawn in on herself.
“Wanna read some Daring Do?” Twilight offers as a way for Rainbow to distract herself for a while.

“Actually.. I think I’ll take a nap.” The pegasus replies, failing to stifle a yawn. “I’m pretty tired out.”

The girls nod understandingly.

Princess Luna startles awake when her horn sparks. She has created a spell that alerts her whenever Rainbow Dash is asleep, so that she could support the pegasus as much as possible.

It’s been a bit tiresome as of late, since Twilight has made Dash sleep more than she was awake. Rainbow had explained the situation to the Princess of the Night, and the alicorn could understand why the situation was handled this way.

She enters the dream a tad late, and is surprised when Dream-Rainbow is not only obese as always, but trying desperately, but in vain, to make herself throw up in a bathroom.
With a flash of her horn, Luna cancels the dream, causing both ponies to float in a dark void.

Rainbow first panics, but then she sees Luna and sighs in relief. “Thanks…”

“It appears to be getting worse, instead of better.” Luna remarks, concerned at what she has just witnessed. “Did you not take part in the race earlier today?” She asks, because Dash had told her about her plans. The race should have boosted the competitive pony’s confidence, but instead it seems like her insecurities are growing stronger.

Dash looks away with her ears flat. “I did… but I wasn’t ready for that much physical exertion.” She sighs. “I thought I could handle it, and I completely blew it.” She scolds herself. “I’ve made everyone believe that I’m getting better, but the only thing getting better are my lies and acting.” She admits.

“That’s very concerning.” Luna states. “Rainbow Dash, answer me honestly: do you still want to recover?”

She doesn’t miss a beat. “Of course! I’m sick and tired of this, of the lies, of worrying and hurting my friends.” She looks up when she gets an idea. “That other pony, the one Princess Celestia said had the same illness. How did she recover? What did her friends do differently? Or even better: do you know where she lives? Maybe she can give us some advice.”

Luna seems confused by the questions. “What do you mean ‘her friends’?”

Rainbow raises an eyebrow. “Princess Celestia told us that her student recovered with the help of her friends.”

All at once, Luna realises what is going on here.
And she’s not the only one. Dash may not be smart like Twilight, but she notices things, and she’s definitely not stupid.

“The pony did recover… right?” She asks suspiciously — and utterly terrified of the answer being ‘no’.

“Well,.. yes, she did.” Luna replies carefully. “But only temporarily…”

Rainbow feels like her heart just dropped down an endless cliff. Her heart begins to race insanely fast, and the surge in anxiety causes her to wake up abruptly, separating her from Luna in the blink of an eye.

She sits up with a loud gasp, pressing a hoof against her painfully thumping heart in her chest. Then she curls in on herself and breaks down into tears.

A moment later, Twilight runs into the room, assuming that Dash simply had another nightmare.
Only… the pegasus has never been this upset before.

For many long minutes, Dash was too upset to get any words out, and is left just crying in her friend’s embrace. Twilight keeps trying to calm her down, telling her over and over again that everything would be fine, not knowing that Dash now knew for a fact that it’s all a lie.

“We’ve been lied to.” She eventually croaks, voice hoarse and scratchy from crying.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asks perplexed.

“The pony that Princess Celestia told us about… she didn’t recover.” She manages to say before breaking down again.

Twilight is left speechless, not wanting to believe that Celestia would lie to them, and especially about something so serious.
But worst of all: she felt helpless. And by the look of her friend falling apart in her arms, Rainbow felt the same way, and possibly ten times more.

The lavender alicorn swallows thickly. “Maybe she didn’t recover. But we won’t let you down.” She promises.

Meanwhile in Canterlot, Luna seeks her sister and confronts her. “Why in Equestria did you tell them that Silver Spell recovered?!”

Celestia startles. “Because she did.”

Luna groans, facepalming before giving her sister a murderous glare. “Not because she had friends, and not for long! You can’t just-”

“Make sure that they don’t lose hope and try to help Rainbow Dash?” Celestia asks assertively.

“Give them false hope!” Luna shouts.

Celestia lowers her voice, telling her sister sternly, “it’s not false hope. I have no doubts that her friends can help her recover, and more importantly, stay that way.”

Luna bites her lip, averting her sister’s gaze.

Celestia realises that something is wrong. “Luna…. What did you do?!”