//------------------------------// // Clouded // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// Rainbow's lips pursed against the winds that were stroking her face. Her mane billowed up, down, and up again—a result of twirling constantly through the high altitudes above the Equestrian valley. The faster she sliced her blue body against the winds, the more she lost her grip on her thoughts. She could ignore the words of Nurse Red Heart, the glaring expression of Green Saddles, and the mumbling voice of Stamps. She was simply a piece of the sky, darting from cloud to cloud, bursting through misty peaks as she darted a serpentine path through the upper hemisphere. With another twirl, Rainbow Dash dove sharply. She plunged towards the earth, and in so doing, her blood rushed to her extremities, bringing a phantom sense back to her limbs. Just as her hooves began tingling, she pulled up, cleared treetops by a few centimeters, and darted back skyward with a flurry of leaves. Her tips rustled as she climbed once again, spiraling her way through cloud after cloud, until she settled for a small patch of puffy whiteness. She slumped her pegasus body down on the misty bed, feeling it shape and conform to her petite figure. Only when she had come to a complete stop did she feel the thudding pulse of her heart. She took several deep breaths, dunking her head into the misty bed and allowing the condensation to cool her flushed face. Then, lying down on folded hooves, she gazed softly down at the landscape below. Ponyville stretched coolly in the fading afternoon. Ponies trotted in long walks towards their separate homes, preparing to meet with their families and loved ones at the culmination of yet another busy day. A few stragglers stood and chatted by City Hall. Even fewer congregated on the bridge stretching over the village's central river, chatting and laughing into the fall of evening. Inevitably, as in every case, Rainbow's eyes drifted west and west until they fell upon the green haze that was Sweet Apple Acres from a distance. Her nostrils flared, and a weak smile bloomed beneath her fuzzy nose. She cradled her chin with two criss-crossing hooves and murmured into the mists around her. "I know that I'm in cruddy shape, and I've not done a lot of good about it." The wind caressed her bangs as she lay there, murmuring towards the setting sun. "In fact, I nearly killed myself ten times over this past week. Most uncool." She took a deep breath, hugging herself as she rolled over and gazed lovingly at the farm while upside down. "But I'd totally do it all over again... knowing that it's fixed your farm... knowing that it's made you happy..." Rainbow's ears drooped. She felt cold at the culminating exhalation of that sentence. So, she closed her eyes. She closed her eyes to the numbness, to the depressing shadows over Ponyville, towards her medical report and her nearly-empty bank account summary, to everything that formed the rigid lines of her increasingly monochromatic existence... "Hmmmmm..." She smiled. In the darkness, she saw flickering green eyes and freckles soaked with happy tears. "It's all good. For real." She hugged herself and smiled even brighter, surrendering to the murky thoughts. "It's just... so good..." When night fell and the day was gone, so was Rainbow.