Where was I? Oh, yes, the moments approaching my demise. I suppose I should try to make sense of it all.
You see, I was having one of those moments of clarity, the queer kind like when a unicorn first discovers that there is magic in their blood or when a pegasus flies for the very first time. I suppose the thrill for all ponies may be in discovering that they were truly alive, and there was deep irony in that because I was about to die.
Celestia spare me a moment to back up and consider myself. A young yellow colt, earth pony bred, a fair stretch to stallionhood without finding his mark. And I loved the rain. Not enough to earn my mark, but oh, I loved the rain and the wind and the webs of light that whirled across the sky in the waves of a thunderstorm. So much that I would have done better to born a pegasus, and perhaps that could have been my saving grace.
It was a stroke after midnight in Ponyville and when all the saner ponies had retreated to the safety of their homes, I was dancing in the downpour and laughing with the gales. They must have carried my voice all across the plains and through the trees. The heavens were flashing with growing intensity, each bolt bouncing blindingly off of the lightning rods planted throughout the town. My hooves slid through the grass and the puddles and I climbed a hill to watch the symphony that the pegasi arranged.
Trees, ever my downfall. In chasing the light show I happened to glance into the window of the library. Some purple filly was watching me with a peculiar look, one I couldn't quite put a hoof on. I smiled and realized that it was Twilight Sparkle. Pained, marked disapproval, something funny about it that I could have paid more attention to if I were closer. There would be no impressing her with displays of insensibility, so I turned about and continued my play. Then, three things happened at once.
The sky exploded in the most luminous shade of pearl you can ever imagine.
A purple unicorn bolted from the trees nearby and screamed, “look out!”
Then a sensation burned over my body as she collided with me, knocking the wind from my lungs and my whole self off of my hooves. And it took just a second too long to hit the ground more than a few yards away, just as lightning struck where I had been standing, like a pillar from the heavens themselves.
A queasiness overtook me. Teleportation sickness? Had I still been struck? Did the unicorn draped haphazardly over my belly just weigh that much? How much did she weigh, and how much did the stars spinning above my head weigh? These were the thoughts that filled my fading mind as Twilight shoved her hooves at my face and her voice melted in triplicate.
“Are you alright? Hey... don't fall asleep on me now! Hey!”