Let us pause again to emphasize how rare it was to surprise Death .
The kiss, the subsequent long weekend spent sharing a tent, and the following sixty years of marriage had not been a part of this soul’s expected trajectory. But their relationship was healthy and more stable than most. Balsam did not, as Bloom thought, participate in polyamory. But she was cool with that.
Time and time again, the soul formerly known as Rainbow Bloom had proven herself to be particularly rambunctious. A veritable pinball of cosmic energy. This unexpected development thankfully did not knock her too far off-course. She made it another eighty years, bringing the total to a respectable 97. Not bad at all. Another nasty fall at the end, though. What luck!
What’s more, she hadn’t been able to let go when it counted. She fostered arrogance in unexpected places. She sheltered jealousy, even towards her friends--especially towards her friends’ wings. She harbored a desire to control everything about her situation, from the color and direction of her post-college summer vacation to the way she and Balsam spooned in their tent.
And on that fateful day on the beach, those negative traits manifested in a very real way. They nearly cost one colt his life.
No, the soul formerly known as Rainbow Bloom still had a long way to go.
In the near-infinite catalogue of creatures about to be born, the creature known to some as Death found the soul formerly known as Rainbow Bloom a new life. This life was latent with natural power. Such things tested the best of souls and were downright dangerous to the rest. The soul formerly known as Rainbow Bloom had already proven she could handle power when she was surrounded by good influences.
Would she hold up if she were on her own?