"The first time I came back, I thought it was a miracle. By the fifth or sixth time, I knew it was a curse."

Death is a reasonable fear, but it is also a constant reassurance. A promise that no matter how bad things get, they will one day end.

That promise was broken, leaving Rainbow Dash to pay the cost.

A very last minute entry for the 2024 SciFi Contest III.

Special thanks to ScreamQueen and Rb for prereading and valuable feedback.

General content warning: Some depictions of blood, death, and debilitating injuries, but no graphic descriptions. Some existential horror.

Rainbow Dash had grown used to hiding her feelings for her friend until one dream shakes her to the core. Now she is up all hours of the night, unable to eat, sleep or even fly right. However, her pain is nothing compared to the oncoming threat to Ponyville. A griphon regime is rising, vengeance of years of oppression in their eyes. An AppleDash story with a side of chaos.

Rainbow Dash has long been teased as a fillyfooler, and seeks a new start in Ponyville, where nopony judges her for her mane. But when she opens her heart, she soon needs to find shelter from the storm that follows her. And find shelter she does, but not in the place that she originally expects.

It's been a year now for the Pegasus, a year since the incident that caused her life to fall apart and sink to the very bottom. Life is just all a game and we are here to play, but surely and slowly the flame has burnt out. Rainbow Dash has decided her fate.

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Credit to http://publiclibraryx.deviantart.com for the awesome picture.

Rainbow Dash is just lying in the middle of the road. Somepony might trip on her.

Trauma touches everyone differently. For some the scars run deeper than skin, and Rainbow Dash hasn't eaten in days.

Originally written for the Iron Author competition at Everfree Northwest 2023. Polished and expanded for FimFiction.

During the night of Rainbow Dash's humiliating performance with the Wonderbolts, Twilight and her friends go and check on her to see if she was alright, only to find out that Rainbow Dash had immediately resigned from her position and flew away home before anypony could stop her.

Determined to convince the crestfallen Pegasus to rejoin the Wonderbolts, Twilight and her friends must do everything in their power to change Rainbow Dash's mind. Can Rainbow Dash forgive the Wonderbolts and try again to live on with her dream, or is the damage to her pride too great for her to be convinced?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This fic contains spoilers for Newbie Dash. If you have not seen the episode before, then you have the option of watching it before you read this fic. This is a fic about what I think should've happened between Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts.

Enjoy,
~Autismo555

After staying away from her friends for years, Fluttershy is stunned to discover Rainbow Dash on her doorstep looking injured and asking for sanctuary in her escape from someone she won't name.

Full cast audio reading with special word from the author can be found on my YouTube channel here, starring TheLostNarrator, Illya Leonov and Starryflame.

There's a certain word for love built for somepony in secrecy; it's called naivety. Once this point is reached, lessons are learned the hard way and sorrow flows like a river. Rainbow, like always, is the hardest to fall.

Okay. So Mare-Do-Well has been unmasked, Rainbow Dash learns her lesson, and everyone lives happily ever after, right?

Not exactly.

The Mane 6 return to Town Square to explain everything to the townsfolk....and they learn that their plan was......significantly flawed.