FimFiction Link - Short ID: 163282/rainbow-dash-re-animator
Published: Aug '14 — Oct '14
Also, boy am I glad I went to reread this. I only vaguely remembered it being very awesome and the basic plot summary I posted above, which prompted me to seek it out, and it was definitely a very awesome read.
I was going to add "It's decently popular so I assume most have already read or seen it" but then I went to check and actually it's way less popular than I expected at just 316 likes and not even 4k views. I'd have pegged it as a 1.5k-2k like story. So if you haven't read it yet, consider this a recommendation.
Rainbow dash: Re-animator is a 52k word story starring the eponymous Rainbow dash.
Twilight Sparkle became a neurotic wreck after discovering that she has become an alicorn and will in fact out live all her friends. Or at least that what she thinks, when she asks Celestia the hard questions about her newfound immortality Celestia does the stereotypical immortality thing and just says not to think about it.
Unfortunately, Twiggles has to Twiggie and she ropes in Rainbow to help out. After some lab hijinks Twilight is going to try and test a new serum, on herself of course because plot convenience. With RD as her lovely assistant she gets stuck with something experimental and then because RD flubbed an ingredient Twilight promptly dies. Because of the nature of the research, and a unique substance Twilight made that seems to be preserving a half eaten apple for months twilight gets a bath and rainbow does wacky hijinks with failed resurrection serums, in a desperate attempt to bring back the friend she accidentally offed.
Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle accidentally killed Opalescence by being a dumb kid. She tries, and then promptly fails to hide the evidence and in a bid to escape punishment runs off and then stumbles onto Rainbow Dash's secret lab. Where she witnesses her chopping up a partially animated corpse thats trying to kill her. After more wacky hijinks Belle agrees to help, and more importantly keep the secret if Dash manages to bring back Opalescence.
Dash succeeds, breaks into a hospital. Resurrects the dead successfully on Granny Smith and Bulk Biceps and then gets locked in a nuthouse because she is well and truly unhinged laughing like a mad scientist since she finally got it to work after months of secrets and stress. The final arc has Celestia being a fucknugget. The arc borrows tropes from prison break stories, as RD finagles her way out of the lavish prison and then on the eve of Twilights funeral manages to get the completed resurrection serum to Twiggle.
Because there's no real story without an epic conflict, all the guard and a grieving
Celestia try to stop her in a grand spectacle that feels a little out of place for the fic. She succeeds but crashes back first into broken glass. A heartbreaking moment as Twiggles lives again and Rainbow dies.
We don't see much in the way of the aftermath aside from Sweetie's temptation to do something with Rainbows research. and it basically just abruptly ends there.
Rainbow: Her charachter is fun and tragic which is great. Every part of the story with her narrating is on point and the author does a really good job in illustrating her desperation and her madness as she tries to undo a mistake. The constant lies and deflections are fun and seem rather consistent with her character. I could absolutely see Rainbow Dash doing pretty much everything in this fic right down to losing her mind and desensitizing herself to literal butchery. 10/10
Sweetie Belle: she's fun in her own way and serves largely as audience surrogate. The dumb kid that made a big mistake and went too far to fix it and avoid consequences isn't something I see as a focus in fanfiction and was fun to see here.
Celestia: the only other charachter of real note, and serves as the antagonist in the third act. She has objections to bringing back the dead and while its clear she's devastated when she discovers Twilights fate, she holds to her principles that the dead should stay dead generally. An interesting view for an immortal but I can see the logic. Her saying that we shouldn't just remove death doesn't get much in the way of exploration which is kind of a shame.
Overall its a story I enjoyed and while the ending is kind of a downer, Sweetie Belle is implied to continue the work and try to bring Rainbow back. I liked the page-breaks and the changing of perspectives. Short sweet, and while there are a few missed opportunities i enjoyed my time with what was there 7/10