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.
The air crackled with the sound of burning cinders and flame.
Rainbow Dash stirred. She heard more and more chattering voices. Slowly, her eyes opened, and she squinted into a dull evening sky.
Smoke poured into the country air above the Fillyda landscape. The sound of crickets rang in the distance. Somewhere nearby, bodies were moving and shuffling about.
With a groan, the pegasus tried moving. She felt a blanket lying gently over her figure, and beyond the numbness she sensed a wooden board acting as a bed. At some point in time, somepony had laid her in the back of Applejack's wagon. As she tilted her head to the side, she saw several equine bodies in uniform shuffling about a charred site. Multiple officers had been summoned to the heart of Shindig Soils. Several carts and wagons painted with police colors lingered in a tight circle. The air tickled with the spray of water as fire fighters attempted to extinguish an endless blaze.
Blinking, Rainbow craned her neck, searching for the cider mill that had housed the Shindig brothers' machine. It took a few moments of contemplation to realize that the building had been completely burned down. Only a pile of burning rubbled remained.
Somewhere in the distance—murmuring calmly among the firefighters and police—Rainbow heard Stu Leaves' voice. And Applejack's.
"AJ..."
Rainbow tried to move, but the numbness overwhelmed her. Vague memories of an exploding sarcophagus and galloping bodies flickered across her mind. The sheer frustration of the moment forced a groan from her lips.
And somepony heard it. "Huh?" The voice was low, gruff. "Rainbow?" A figure trotted closer, his eyes awash with concern. "Rainbow Dash?"
"Mrmmff..." Rainbow blinked, squinting upwards. "...Joe..."
"H-hey! Rainbow Dash!" Donut Joe smiled. "Thank Celestia! You're in one piece, girl!"
"Guh... what... how...?"
"We got you out of that mess right in the nick of the time! Stu and Gustave flew off and summoned the local police. They've got that Silver Shill guy in hoofcuffs and everything. Whew-wee! What a mess! You sure missed a lot, sleepyhead!"
"Mmmgnnhhh..."
"Hey..." Donut tilted his head to the side, looking concerned. "Are you okay there, girl? Applejack said that you looked really... really out of it the moment we all woke from crazy-world—"
"Applejack.... Applejack!" Rainbow wheezed. "Is she okay?! Did they hurt her?! Is her head all in one place?!"
"Whoah whoah wh-whoah...!" Donut Joe waved his forelimbs, chuckling slightly. "The chick's fine! Nothing to freak out about!" He glanced behind him at the multiple officers circling the scene. "She's a lot healthier than the rest of us! That's for sure! I've never seen a mare made of such strong stuff! It's like she was never out of it to begin with!"
Wincing, Rainbow summoned the strength to tilt her head over and look past the edge of the cart. On the ground, she saw that several equipment had been moved to make room in the back of the wagon for Rainbow to lie down. Aside the crates of apple cider, she saw a canvas bag full of her own belongings lying in the grass.
"I'm not sure how she got out of that mess at the end... must have been something Epcot did... or pure dumb luck..."
"Uhm..." Rainbow wheezed. "Joe, I..."
"But, like, what's up with you?" Donut leaned in, squinting. "Did you hit your head something awful on the way out or what? You're like a limp noodle!"
"I'm okay, Joe. I just..." Rainbow shuddered, motioning with her head at the ground beside the cart. "I could use a drink."
"Huh? Parched, eh?" Donut smirked, turning towards the crates. "Well, don't sweat it. Good thing your buddy Applejack packed a whole buncha cider—"
"NO! No... uh..." Rainbow gulped. "No cider. Not for a while... please..."
"Heh. I feel ya. Hold up. Maybe one of the police officers brought some water with them. I'll check—"
"Actually... uh..." Rainbow nodded her head at her canvas bag. "If you look in there, you'll see I have a canteen... er... jug or two of my own."
"Oh yeah?"
"Home brew from Ponyville," Rainbow wheezed. "If... if you don't mind, dude..."
"Hey! Not at all! Besides, check it!" Donut winked at her as his horn glowed. With swift telekinesis, he produced a familiar white jug from Rainbow's bag and unscrewed it in midair. "I've got my magic back! Just like you and Stu got your wings back! Heh!" He chuckled. "Ain't that a beaut?"
"Right. Totally." Rainbow nodded, licking her lips. "If I could just... h-have a sip..."
"How much of a sip?"
"My eyes will tell you."
Donut cradled Rainbow's head, tilting her muzzle up so he could pour a liberal amount of the quaff down her gullet. She took several gulps, immediately feeling the potion's effect on her body's senses. After she felt the material adequately coating her stomach, she gave a prolonged blink.
Donut Joe floated the jug back, gently letting go of Rainbow's head.
The mare swallowed and leaned back. She exhaled, relaxing as she felt the very tips of her limbs tingling. It would take a while, but she knew that the medicine would soon have its desired effect.
"That good?" Donut Joe asked.
"Yeah..." Rainbow's voice cracked. "Thanks a ton."
"Hey, don't mention it." Joe took one whiff of the jug and winced. "Whew! Sure hope this stuff does the trick! Cuz it's murdering my nose!"
"Yeah. It'll do that."
"Heh... you Ponyville pegasi and your silly hippy drinks." He sealed the container back up and placed it on the ground. As he did so, Rainbow followed the motion with her eyes, and she spotted a familiar black shard of rock lying in the grass, ignored. "Salt of the earth, as far as I care. Or in this case the sky, eheheh..."
Rainbow stared fixedly at the rock.
"That was a joke, y'know."
"Oh! Uhm... right... right..." Rainbow took a mental note of the shard's position before wrenching her eyes off it to look at Joe. "Say... uh... Joe..."
"Yeah, Rainbow?"
"Is everyone accounted for?"
"Like I said, Applejack's healthy as a horse. Stu and Gustave flew off to grab the cops. As for me and Mulia, we're doing just fine. We're a bit weirded out by everything, but, y'know... we'll deal."
"I didn't mean that. I mean... yeah, that's super cool and all... I'm glad to hear it." Rainbow stifled a cough. "But... what about everyone."
"Oh... everyone?"
Rainbow tiredly nodded.
Donut Joe squirmed, then sighed. "Well... that's the less than snazzy part, Rainbow. You see... turns out Serenity Shindig didn't exactly survive the wild trip back. I mean, I wasn't such a huge fan of her, but still... super bummer."
Rainbow nodded, the grim memories coalescing in her head. "Yes... and...?"
"And..." Donut Joe bit his lip. "The two punks... Shindig's kids..."
"... ... ..."
"You gotta understand. Things were falling apart. The fire was spreading everywhere. We all freaked out and the first thing we wanted to do was get you and the rest of us out safely and... uh..." Donut Joe sighed, slicking back his messy mane. "...the morons got away, Rainbow. There's no smoother way to put it. I'm awfully sorry."
Rainbow tilted her head. As she felt the ends of her limbs tingling more and more, she spotted a shade of orange, trotting from one edge of the blaze to another. As her vision came into focus, she spotted Applejack standing next to Stu Leaves. Both ponies conversed with an officer or two.
And they looked perfectly healthy.
With a slow sigh, Rainbow smiled. A tired, heavy smile. "I'm not..."
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Dammit!
We're gonna be seeing those two again. Hopefully not too soon, though...
So everypony made it out (thank Celestia and Luna for that!), Silver Shill is in custody, which is good, but Flim and Flam are still on the loose somewhere. Which is bad.
'Cause I just have a bad felling that's gonna come back to bite Rainbow later on down the line somewhere.
But I hope that they find all that stuff in Shindig;s house so they can throw the book at those two once they do get caught.
Good to hear that Applejack's her old self, too.
What's gonna happen for her and Dash down the line? Who knows at this point?
Poor Rainbow, though. I bet AJ doesn't even remember their kiss, or anything that happenedwhile they we all in that flipped out place.
Great chapter, and I can't wait for the next one.
5915014 Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of, too.
And with the mega-grudge that they have against our favorite cyan pegasus, that ain't any kind of good.
Me, too.
I think that they might decide to lay low for awhile, though.
Hopefully so, anyway.
I wonder if Stu Leaves will Leave now. Not sure what I'd prefer. I certainly don't hate him anymore, but it would be nice to actually have an arc starring RD and AJ without any plotblocking side characters. Seriously, dude, give Best Ship some space!
5915027 I think we're at a turning point with that. If she does remember the kiss, either the story is nearly over or Dash is about to get a new adventuring buddy. Otherwise, I expect we've still got a long way to go.
AJ doesn't seem to remember much of what happened, and RD got a dose of her medicine before anyone noticed she was sick.
A return to the status quo I see.
::Fingers crossed:: For a few more surprises before the arc wraps up.
5915007 You and me both.
That chapter title pretty well sums up my thoughts on these developments. I was actually hoping someone would finally learn about Rainbow's condition. We're 600k words into this, and there's been so little progress. And the brothers got away. How many villains does this story have now? I've lost count. I mean, I'm sure JE's got something planned (...right?), but... *fidgets anxiously*
On another note, I wonder what the chances are that Rainbow could use her wish this time around to somehow salvage Epcot. Honorary best pony deserves better than being alone forever in a virtual reality simulator.
5915299 Dude, I've been wondering that for a while now. Really, it'll probably come down to the decided fate of the alicorn chalice thingy. But I kinda got the impression Epcot didn't want to leave. It's been her home for countless years, and she's the steward of it. Although...
If memory serves correctly, ponies were able to assimilate into the cider space inside the chalice, so if Epcot wanted to, she could return at any time if she felt like unshackling herself from a mortal coil. Oh well, either way, it's JE's decision, not mine.
But it would be awesome.
Oh, great! well gee I wonder whose company those two are going to fall in with!
We were promised freckly cuddles, consarn it!
5915395
Yeah, Cider Space is Epcot's home, but it just seems... lonely. It's hard to imagine she wouldn't rather have some friends, even if it was only making the occasional visit, as you suggest. And, short of bringing Shindig back to life, I can't think of anything else Rainbow could use the wish on. We know she won't use it for herself, as per past experience. Applejack is ultimately no worse for wear, despite her deal with Shindig being a bust. Stu and the others seem all set to go back to their lives.
Like you said, we'll just have to wait, I guess.
Darn it, i miss epcot alreaadyyy!
So it seems like we're back where we started...
AJ doesnt remember anything, although i hope she does. At least the kiss
And nobody else knows about Dashie's condition.
Cant wait to see what happens next
Well son of a bitch, I should have known better than to think Applejack would find out about Rainbow's condition.
5915395
My thoughts exactly. I think Cider Space is where she belongs, maybe even for a later chapter to return, but I don't see much sense in pulling her into the waking world and waste the first freely usable chaos- wish for that
5915665
It IS kind of frustrating, isn't it? I already guessed that AJ wouldn't remember the kiss since she was out at that moment (what a great f*ing coincidence...) but her not noticing RDs health AGAIN is ANOTHER step back... Grrrgggaraaaghhghh
The point of this entire arc is so we don't wish death upon Stu. Just that he Leaves.
5915179 True.
And where those two are concerned, I'm kinda hoping for the latter one, so Rainbow might end up with an adventuring buddy who knows her (unlike Daring Do), and would have her back always, no matter what.
(Aw, who am I kidding?! I want AJ to remember their kiss, dangit!)
But honestly, no matter which one happens, I don't think that this story is over.
Not by a long shot.
On another note, I wonder if Dash will get her hooves back on that shard, and take it with her when she, AJ, and Stu go back to Ponyville at the end of all this, so she can surprise Lancie with it? I'm hoping so.
I also want someone besides Donut Joe to find out about her condition...specifically, AJ. She's got to have some sort of curiosity (or even better, suspicion) as to why Rainbow was laying on that cider mill floor like a boneless fish while everyone else was hastily vacating the premises before the place majorly went "Kablooey!!!".
She just has to!
I'm really proud of Rainbow at the end there for looking at the big picture and not getting angry. Ultimately, they saved they day.
I had all kinds of trouble getting into this arc, including taking nearly a year off of the story. But now at the end, it's left a warmth in my chest.
Man, I miss Epcot. She really charmed me.
Oh please tell me that they're
okay, maybe that's vindictive of me, but damn it.