Prompt #109 - “The Last Great Adventure”
Prompt: Death cannot be stopped.
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Learning to Fly Again
I don’t fly anymore. Not like I used to.
I still go from place to place, of course, but when I was young flying was what I was all about, and now…
Saying that makes me sound old, doesn’t it? Well, I am. Really.
I buried little Prismacolor last week, and at the funeral, everypony kept asking if I was her granddaughter. It used to bug me, but I’m accustomed to it by now.
What can I do about it, after all?
Anyway, flying. Yeah, I was all about it. I even joined the Wonderbolts…but I found that “daredevil“ and “death-defying” don’t mean a whole lot when there’s no death to defy.
I quit when I realized that the crowds didn’t care about my stunts, only about how badly I could crash or explode and still come out fine. Like it was some kind of fetish or something.
It broke my heart, but I was just too damn disgusted to stay.
Anyway, I still train the team of course. I’m Loyalty, after all. I couldn’t let them go entirely.
…
Soarin’ and Spitfire’s great-grandkid asked me out.
I told him about Green Flash, who retained enough wit near the end of his life to introduce me as his trophy wife whenever I wheeled him around the assisted-care facility, and about burying three children and five grandchildren (this was before poor Prismacolor’s fall). I told him I couldn’t bear to see another loved one growing old and dying before my eyes.
…
He asked me to think about it. Idiot.
How do the others cope with this?
How can I love anyone mortal, knowing they’re going to die and leave me behind? How could I do that do myself? To them?
How do they all manage this? I’ve wanted to ask for years now, but they all seem so happy, so content. How can I burden them with thoughts like this?
Princess Celestia attended Prisma’s funeral, just like with all our loved ones. I think she feels responsible, or maybe guilty, for making us Elements and putting us through this over and over again.
I asked her, because she’s been alive longer than anypony else. I told her how it hurt, how it always hurt, and how I didn’t see the point anymore.
“Do you think moments became less precious when you found yourself with so many more of them?” she replied. “Do we stop planting flowers in our gardens, knowing they will wither with the coming of winter?”
She nuzzled my cheek.
“Time and death stalk even us, but sadness is the shadow that throws the light of our happiness into sharp relief. Do not be oppressed by the length of your life, but embrace every second. That is what the Dash I know and love would do.”
And you know, she’s right. I did a loop-de-loop for the first time in decades as I thought of it, not to train or entertain anybody, but because I wanted to enjoy myself in flight.
I’m Rainbow Dash, Element of Harmony, and for the first time in over a century, I’m going to live.