//------------------------------// // Circles and Sighs // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash lay upside down on her bed. The lights were dim. Her fuzzy ears tickled with cricketsong from beyond the window. She curled her hooves up, flexing them every now and then. Her flesh grew numb by the hour. The least could be said of her waking mind. With a sigh, the petite pegasus rolled over... and over and over—tangling in the sheets until she became a fuzzy blue tube of pony. "... ... ... ... ...meh." Her wings stretched out, tossing the sheets off. With a single flap, she propelled herself off the bed and across the room. The mare lingered just before the dresser situated along the wall. A conspicuous golden chalice lay in open view, its alicorn effigies glinting in errant starlight. Biting her lip, Rainbow Dash stretched a hoof out. She paused all of the sudden, feeling a tingling sensation in her fetlock. Flexing the forelimb, she sighed, then withdrew from the goblet entirely. "Mrmmmfff... not now..." She turned tail and hovered across her house and towards the shower. "Just move through it." The next day, Rainbow yawned. She sat on the edge of an alchemy bench, swinging her lower legs as she sniffed through a cloud of potion fumes. Noir stood in the center of Zecora's hut, mixing a fresh brew of medicine inside a black kettle. Sunlight grazed his skin, and he winced—but the sarosian refused to drop his toothed grip of the ladel. Zecora trotted in from another room, carrying several ingredients and herbs. The zebra paused briefly, blinking at the stallion's discomfort. Trotting over, she swiftly drew his hood back over his head and leafy ears. Noir relaxed. After a solid breath, he hummed his thanks through his grip of the stirring instrument. Zecora smiled, then leaned in to nuzzle the midnight pony through his hood. Even from far away, Rainbow detected a curve to Noir's lips. Then she saw nothing at all, for she glued her eyes to the floor while she waited humbly for the potion to be finished. "That's it!" Rainbow Dash hollered, staring up at the blurring cyclone of bodies circling overhead. "Maintain momentum! Keep it together! We're totally icing the other groups!" Fellow pegasi huffed and puffed as they struggled to maintain a constant counter-clockwise motion above her. High above the treetops of the Everfree Forest, they completed their training laps, being watched closely by Cloudsdalian weather ponies on the nearby clouds flanking them. "Sharp Quill, keep elevated!" Rainbow spat. "I know you wanna go fast, but you gotta stay in Third Tier! Stay in the group!" "S-sorry!" The stallion sputtered from above. "But the wind keeps pushing me down—" "Dude, we are the wind!" Rainbow hollered. "Let those of us down below take the brunt of it. It's up to you and your wing ponies to maintain stability!" "Trying..." Stu's panting breaths mixed with the rest of the group spinning above. Rainbow's task was anything but easy, but she managed it with strong, expert wings. Her body tilted to the right as she spun viciously to the left. A cone of air formed beneath her, stretching up and widening so that the other pegasi could cohesively maintain its circumference. Stu Leaves inhaled and exhaled in thick, controlled bursts. Rainbow spotted his eyes glinting with each pass he made against the twirling horizon. Rainbow blinked. She continued spinning, her eyes tracing the ground, the earth, the edges of the Everfree Forest. Amidst the cyclonic madness, she spotted a group of ponies situated by the woods' edge, waiting for their turn at a trial run. Among them was Thunderlane and his group. The stallion shuffled to the side, greeting a few onlookers. It took a few mesmerizing spins, but Rainbow was certain she could make out his figure greeting the tell-tale colors of Blossomforth. The two shared a few words—all obscured beyond the howl of an artificial tornado—then they nuzzled closely. The lover's embrace, with Thunderlane's chin gently rubbing atop Blossomforth's mane. A few mares along the sidelines cooed and giggled. Rainbow blinked. "Guhhh..." Stu wheezed all of the sudden. "Rainbow...?" Above him, the rest of the pegasi in Rainbow's group were gasping and yelping in dismay. The tornado was breaking— "Ack!" Rainbow clenched her teeth. "Luna Poop!" And with several violent flaps of her wings, she saved the tornado from dismantling. The cyclone sped up, forming a cone once again. Everyone above her caught their breaths while Rainbow winced. She looked aside. Over the next five spins, she caught the Cloudsdale Weather Commission ponies scribbling onto their clipboards, looking deadpan. Rainbow gulped... then sighed, carrying the rest of her teams revolutions.