//------------------------------// // Rainbow Dash // Story: The Next Lesson // by Bandy //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash took some milk from the fridge, closed the door, and saw Death reflected in the hallway mirror. She wiped her bleary eyes and squinted at the mirror. Sometimes the light played tricks on her aging eyes at night, and she saw lingering shadows and spots of color that weren’t really there. But this was no trick. Death was most certainly there. She knew this day would come eventually. That failed to quell the icy chill crawling up her spine. She swallowed a lump forming in her throat. “Who?” she asked. Death lifted a hoof and pointed to Dash. She let out a trembling sigh of relief. She glanced up the stairs to the master bedroom, where Applejack lay sleeping, curled up with two of the younger grandfoals who’d come to visit this weekend. They all slept like apples--which is to say, Death itself could not wake them. They’d get one more good night of sleep before their lives turned upside down. Good, Dash thought. She shook the jug of milk at Death. “Mind if I have a snack first?” Death raised an eyebrow, but acquiesced with a nod. It moved to the kitchen table, its discorporeal hooves landing on the hardwood soundlessly, like dry ice vapors spilling across a table. Dash ripped open the box of cereal and poured herself a bowl. She noticed her hooves trembling ever so slightly. The enormity of her guest started to set in. The lump in her throat returned. “Do you--eat?” she held the box of cereal towards Death, who shook his head. “Yeah. Figures.” Normally, Dash’s midnight snack was over in the blink of an eye. This time, however, she found herself playing with her food, swirling it around in the bowl, holding the individual grains of Happy-O’s under the milk until they turned to mush. “Am I allowed to ask you questions?” Dash asked. Death did not reply. “Oookay. Let’s give this a try. How do I go?” Death’s gaze, if his empty eye sockets could gaze, fell upon a rickety floorboard by the kitchen entryway. Some of the nails on one side had rusted out. When Dash had entered the kitchen earlier, she had stepped on the floorboard and inadvertently knocked one side loose. “So, I trip on that?” Death nodded. “And then what? Do I break a hip?” Death shook his head. Thank goodness--hip breaks were a lame way to go. “So what happens?” Death motioned to the entryway. Dash’s heart sank. “Faceplant into the entry table, right?” Death nodded. The revelation left Dash grappling with an odd sense of irritation. She’d wanted to put a trophy case in the entryway, but Applejack had insisted the four trophy cases in the basement were enough. To add insult to injury, AJ didn’t even let her help pick out the current entry table. She had just picked it up one day at a garage sale without bothering to consult her. Figures, Dash thought. She returned to playing with her cereal. “Couldn’t I at least go out doing a cool trick? Or flying, at least?” Death shook his head. “C’mon. Let me go out flying. I’ll do a barrel roll into the ground at mach two. I’ll hit a tree while I’m trying to land. I’ll fly too high and freeze my primaries. Double corkscrew into faceplant.” Her voice got louder. Maybe if they’d gone with the trophy case, none of this would be happening. She’d get to finish her Happy-O’s and go back to sleep and live another ten years with Applejack. Stupid. “Backflip into a tree shredder. Botched water landing. Flight hypoxia. Please.” Pegasus instinct screamed, Fly! She pushed her chair back and spread her wings. The bowl of half-eaten cereal overturned. Two percent milk and Happy-O’s flew all over the counter. “Please.” Her voice cracked. “Please let it be flying.” Death once again nodded to the upturned floorboard. Stupid. Stupid. It had to be the stupid floorboard and the stupid entry table she didn’t even like. Was the universe trying to teach her some kind of lesson? Dash approached the floorboard with a defiant snarl. “What if I just didn’t step on the stupid floorboard? Ever think of that?” With an exaggerated acrobatic flair, she hopped over the floorboard. “What are you gonna do now, you overgrown calcium bug? Gonna reap my soul with a scythe? I know you don’t carry those, cuz I’ve been to Tartarus and met your family. I styled on your cousins and flipped off your mom. Try again next time, you weirdo. It’ll take more than that to kill the Rainbow D--” Dash was so preoccupied with clowning on Death she didn’t notice the die-cast model truck her grandfoal had accidentally left in the entryway. She stepped on it and let out a surprised little gasp as the model truck took her hooves right out from underneath her. She slipped sideways and careened facefirst towards the entry table. The impact made the whole house tremble. Upstairs, one of the grandfoals turned over. Applejack let out a happy little snore. The night held on for a little while longer, then bled away into morning.