Rainbow Dash lives an exciting life and is swiftly becoming the most daring, awesome pegasus in all of Equestria. She would gladly give it all up, though, just to confess her love to Applejack.
A shuddering burst came from Rainbow Dash's chest. It was like waking up from a falling nightmare for the twentieth time in a row, only she couldn't remember falling asleep. She didn't even remember going to bed.
All she saw was darkness, and yet she knew that she was somehow moving through it. Sparks of understanding came to her through the onyx waves. She had little glimpses of a nightmarish scenario before the dreaming began. Someone had put here there—in the heart of eternal darkness—and she was powerless to do anything about it.
She was always powerless. In the mortal realm, she was a limp sack of meat. Why would she have to be any stronger in the unfathomable depths beyond?
"I wish... I w-wish..."
She was even powerless to love.
Whimpering, the mare curled in, hugging herself as she twirled through the endless ether.
"Please no. Please no. Oh Celestia please no no no no no no..."
The more she stammered, the more echoes she heard. Things were surching her way—things that were darker than darkness itself. She clenched her eyes shut in hope that they would stop... that she would stop... that everything would stop.
She was wrong on all counts.
"I don't belong here. Not yet. I've gotta save her. She's everything... she's my everything..."
The mare cried. The mare sobbed. The darkness shifted. On the crest of pained howls, the strange bodies came closer across the obsidian veil. They sought heat and order, and she was a tasty morsel adrift in desolation.
"I can come here later. But I need to save her. I just have to. Please... please... n-no..."
They closed in. They sounded like rabin wolves now. Rainbow could even feel their breaths—colder than frost on the eve of Winter Wrap-Up.
"N-no! Not yet! Goddess, please!" Rainbow Dash flinched and flailed like a lost infant. She felt frigid coats brushing up against her, surrounding, engulfing. "I need to go back! Send me back! I have to save her!"
The shrieks doubled... tripled. They were everywhere she turned, suffocating her.
"Mrmmmf... it's not my time! It's nopony's time! Dang it!" Rainbow growled for a brief moment, exhaling alien warmth into the emptiness. "Get away from me!"
They drew away... but grew angrier. They swarmed as one, coming towards Rainbow as a solid mass that she could somehow make out amidst the rest of the nothingness. For a brief moment, she thought she could see—and feel—a wide set of serrated jaws.
And that's when a set of warm limbs hugged Rainbow Dash from behind.
She gasped, her ears instantly curling back. An indecipherable squeak of ear escaped her lungs. She could only watch as the deathly mass lunged at her.
But whoever was hugging her yelled over her shoulder, and the force of his exclamation dashed the attacking phantoms into a million wriggling pieces. An invisible fire blazed across the immortal expanse, and soon Rainbow was being carried swiftly across the universal abyss.
"How... but..." Rainbow wheezed. "...who...?"
"You were always biting off more than you could chew, Champ." At first, the most surprising thing to Rainbow was how young the voice sounded. It took all of her concentration to pay attention to the next few words. "It's what I've always admired about you. You can do anything you set your heart to, Rainbow, but if you're not careful it will be the end of you."
"I..." Rainbow whimpered, growing limp and nuzzling deeper into his embrace. "I don't understand," she lied, if only to hear his voice speak more.
He did. "If your life should come to an end, let it happen in way that'll make you happy," he said, carrying the two of them towards a bright slit floating in nothingness. The semblance of a door formed before Rainbow's twitching eyes. "Just like you made me happy... when I ended... knowing full well I had left something awesome and beautiful in Equestria that would make history."
Rainbow's face grimaced as tears formed in her eyes. "Dad...?" she hiccuped.
"I'm so proud of you, my little Champ. But now it's time to work on making yourself proud." The two came to a stop before the floating panel. "What do you feel more than anything else in life?"
Rainbow sniffled, and she clenched her jaws tight. "Love."
"Thatta girl..." And she felt herself tossed towards the brightness. "...don't ever stop winning."
FLASH!
"Unnngh!" Rainbow Dash collapsed on the floor of Shindig Tower. She crawled away from the black door lined with brass pipes. She rolled over, wheezing and hissing for breath. Her body twitched, and she fought to put herself in a standing position.
Quivers ran across the pegasus' figure, and she felt a noticeable discomfort all over.
So, with a breathy grunt, she sat back on her haunches, fiddled with her corset, and finally pulled at the leather strings fastening the brown article together. It had barely gotten halfway unraveled when—
Riiiiiip!
—the corset exploded altogether, burst apart by a strong pair of wings from underneath. Rainbow's blue feathers glinted in the torchlight, reflecting against the blackness of the door behind her. She stretched the appendages out, finally managing a full breath. Slowly, she rose, every muscle stretched and rejuvenated.
"Hrmmmmmmfff..." The mare's nostrils flared as she clenched her eyes shut in concentration. Then, several moments later, her eyes opened, and she stared ahead with a devilish smirk. "Hmmmf..." Her muzzle curved. "...awesome."
POWW! Rainbow took off, soaring straight ahead. The walls of the Tower were suddenly no obstacle, and the barriers of the dreamscape melted around her glowing sapphire frame as she made a bee-line for the heart of Philanthropy.
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...Feels...
Round 2, bitches. Time to kick some flank.
+ =
Yes! THE Dash is back! No more "Blue Jay"! Booyah!
And it was her dad who sent her back! That is totally awesome! (And quite the plot-twist, I might add!) Well done, my friend!
That, in my humble opinion, is way better than old Mr. Philanthropy being the one who did it. Way, way better.
'Cause in the end, who would know Rainbow better than one of her parents?
'Cause like you just said, RoboRed 5861463 :
And our Dash is gonna do it in style.
And now that she has her own supremely awesome set of wings back, can we say "Sonic Rainboom"?
Oh, yeah.
Oh, Shindig, Flim and Flam? You idiots have one smokin' hell of a surprise headed your collective way.
As in:
Y' know, I almost feel sorry for those three.
Not!!!
Oh, yeah. Like I said in a comment in (I think) the last chapter, Loyalty Incarnate Inbound! And at warp speed!
Double, oh yeah. Those jerks are toast.
In more ways than one.
Can't wait for the next chapter!
Wow, that was pretty deep.
Ugh.
Okay, I know I'm going to be the minority opinion here, but I have to say it: this chapter completely broke suspension of disbelief for me. This "plot twist" has soooo many problems with it.
So there are things that consume the souls of the dead. Not much of an afterlife for ponies, but more to the point: why are some, like Rainbow's dad, able to effortlessly destroy them? What about Philanthropy? Does he even still exist, or was he consumed?
What an amazing coincidence that her dad just happened to be there to save her, and know that it wasn't really her time yet.
But the biggest problem of all? Nothing stops a soul from going through that gate and entering the dreamscape. Why aren't they all doing it? Maybe they would all get superpowers, just like Dash did.
What an incredibly epic/awesome chapter to catch up to! I haven't been doing my daily comments, because
nobody reads them or caresI was without internet for over a week. If anyone else here lives in America, and hasn't explored the west, you need to. Shit, if you don't live in America you need to. It's incredible out there, truthfully, from the infinite expanses of New Mexico and Nevada, to the Canyons, to the Rocky Mountains, to the small mountain towns in Colorado and the plains, I don't think theres any other place like it on Earth. But I digress, I'm literally so F*cking excited for the climax of this arc I can't stand it! Plus, I'm pretty much 100% sure dash is gonna have to kiss Applejack to break the shell. Don't worry I don't feel to proud of myself for coming to that conclusion, considering you HEAVILY foreshadowed it. Now wether Applejack will remember the kiss when they're back in the real world is another question. Personally, my theory is that Stu is gonna find out about Rainbow's love interest, maybe before or after Rainbow kisses Applejack, and is gonna respectfully step back. He'll end up as a good friend to both of them after all they've been through. What I'm really unsure of though, is what Rainbow will end up using her wish on, though I'm guessing it'll have something to do with making shindig happy.All aboard the feels-train to Kick-ass-opolis! *choo choo*
Next stop: The Philanthropy Rebellion!
5861728 Truthfully, I doubt that was actually death. It was likely a deeper piece of the dream world. Rainbow probably didn't actually talk to her dad, that was probably just the strength she needed to bust out. She had that strength inside her and she didn't know it or some shit like that. That's my guess since this whole dreamworld seems to be a mental battle more than anything. Or who knows? I could be wrong as fuck.
She just broke the dreamscape, didn't she?
...she's The One.
The question is, was that really the afterlife, or merely an extension of Cider Space passing as an afterlife? Either way, it was pretty touching, and now Rainbow can be as awesome as she needs to be.
5861912
I'm waiting for Flim and Flam to get knocked out by Sweetie Belle projectiles.
5861758 For the record, I care about those posts. I was starting to miss them. Okay that sounded creepy. Moving on! Also, The West is the best, but the East is a beast!
5861728 I wanna argue that Dash's soul was able to return because it still has an attachment to her body, albeit a thin one. I wanna argue that, but I won't. Because it's a paper thin argument that does nothing too explain why Dash couldn't pull herself out of that mess if that is in fact the case. But it would help to explain why the weird wolf things were after her; they were there to consume her life force. As for the deus ex dad, I got nothin'.
5863485 The problem with these rationalizations is that they create as many plot holes as they fix. Let's say you're right, and Dash is different because she's still technically alive. Then the best thing that can happen to Apple Jewel is to throw her through that gate into the void. Applejack's parents will be waiting for her, and they will throw her back into the dreamscape. Like Dash, she will be restored to herself and have root access to the dreamscape, bending it to her will.
I doubt that will happen.
Or, Flim and Flam are wrong, and they don't have a portal to the realm of the dead. It was all a deeper dream or whatever, as some proposed. Then Applejack's in no danger whatsoever, and never was. The coronation will be a non-event. Again, the best thing that could happen to her is for her to go through the gate.
I don't know what will happen next in this arc, but I've ceased to care.
5863551 Like I said: My argument is paper thin.
5863566
Doing better than most. I was hoping for more trippier, more insane stuff that was hinted at in the beginning of this arc, butttttttt i.imgur.com/caC36mI.gif
Major feels and promises of flank-kicking. What more could I ask for?
5861728
My guess is, all that was possible because Dash wasn't technically dead yet. Like, she was in the underworld, but she was still alive (which is probably what the shadow beast came to put a stop to).
As for Rainbow's dad, it's possible he's been watching over her from the underworld. This wouldn't exactly be the first story where the dead can pay attention to the mortal realm. As for how he stopped the beast: he's probably been there long enough to know how to defeat the beast things. Besides, Rainbow had to get all that awesomeness from somewhere, didn't she?
5863551
Finally, in regards to what you said here: just because AJ could be thrown back, that doesn't mean she would. It's entirely possible the beast(s) could get to her before anyone else did, so just gambling her life might not be the best idea.
5863786 Does being alive make a difference? Can the dead keep watch over their offspring from the underworld?
Here's the problem. You don't know the answers to these questions. I don't know the answers to these questions. Only the author knows the answers to these questions, and he is not supposed to be introducing unanswered questions like these at the climax of an arc. I have no reason to believe they will be answered.
This arc has been really bad in throwing random "plot twists" at us, and I've reached my breaking point. If this arc had been an independent story, I would have given up on it and down voted it by this point. As it isn't, I'll just go away until the next arc starts. This is my last post on this subject.
5863715 Wait a minute. This is JE who is writing this. He's known for many things, but the greatest of them is that he is a great writer. For him to have written something so anticlimactic as this: THIS STORY REALLY IS TURNED ON IT'S HEAD.
5863851
Now you're stretching it. But the Lemur isn't perfect and here he exposes one of his many flaws. Rejoice.
th01.deviantart.net/fs71/200H/f/2012/199/4/5/all_the_feels_by_ninja_luminey-d57puam.png
Awesome chapter.
img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140307182701/powerlisting/images/2/28/Neo_flying.jpg
Now we know how the story will end.
Oh pony yessss!
Thank you for always updating!
Best author ever!
Ive always been a fan of AppleDash and you just intensified this feeling by a hundred fold!
Keep up the more than awesome work!
5863551 Ehh, I still feel like my dream theory fills in the holes, though it may be a stretch. Just curious, what other plot holes do you see arising from the idea that that was just a deeper dream, and she didnt meet her dad, she just got a realization that she could do whatever she wanted in the dream?
5861599 Time to kick flank indeed.
5863204 That would be great to see!
5864778 Yep.
And I can't wait to see it happen.
It only took me 6 solid days of reading, but I'm finally caught up from the start of the story. I'm really glad I took the time to read this, and I can't wait for more.
Well, THAT was an emotional surprise I did not see coming. Definitely got the feels.
Plot holes were pointed out in the comments. But the thing is, if I don't see the plot holes, I don't really care if they're there. This arc is so bizarre and complex that I feel like there's a lot of wiggle room. I don't need an explanation for everything. I just have to be able to assume that there is a valid explanation for something, and that's a lot easier to do when I like that something, and I liked this chapter.
That... was perfect.
Oh crud, the Hounds of Whinnydalos!
Discord?
No wait, he calls her Sparky. Then who...
woah
MA Larson, all is forgiven.