Just ... Flying
Peace. Quiet. Serenity. Such moments are rare in the cities and towns of the equines, which even at night often abound with day-to-day noises. Carts being pulled over cobblestone paths, distressed parents trying to put their young to bed and parties stretching long into the night make noises of many pitches and volumes. Yet at some point, those partying ponies, busy businessmen and foals intent on staying up just a little longer past their bedtime must fall asleep. For these few hours, eyes close and minds wander into the dream world. It is a world full of infinite possibility, even if that possibility is not so easy for the sleeping mind to control.
Despite this lack of control, Luna’s world of sleep is often a comfort to those who need a break from the struggles of life. Surely, they think, a world of perfect harmony could never be achieved out of this imaginary destination. Surely, it would take the most amazing and profound action to begin to attain that sort of perfection.
Or would it?
The silence continued, reaching ever closer to its conclusion. Although all silences are the same, they can end in a nearly infinite amount of ways. They can end gradually or suddenly; spectacularly or not-so-spectacularly. This one seemed to end in a combination of all these ways. The first sound wasn’t surprising, and yet, it was quite a spectacle.
A light yawn was all it took, the noise of a pony leaving the world of sleep and dreams and coming into the light of day. Surrounded in the white fluff of clouds and the warm caress of sunlight, she pushed herself off the bed she lay on. Stretching out her forelegs, the air was graced with the sound of joints popping, joints that had obviously been put to quite a bit of use in the past. Yawning again, she plopped back down onto the vaporous bed, not quite ready to be up and about.
She stayed there for some time, with her eyes closed and her body completely relaxed. The house would have been in complete silence were it not for the whirring fan that kept the other occupant of the house aloft. That being the only noise in the house made her almost automatically focus on it, and with that sound, she felt a sort of itch in the back of her mind. Not a literal itch, but an urge to do something. But in another way, it was exactly like an itch: she had to scratch it.
As the buzzing in her brain seemed to overcome that of the fan, the mare came out of her meditative state. Her eyelids opened, taking in the utter plainness of the ceiling above her. Breaking this simplicity, there was a skylight in the middle, just above the foot of the bed. She’d never been sure if she should truly call it a skylight, because Unlike unicorn or earth pony windows, it didn’t have any glass; it was simply a hole in the ceiling.
It was at that moment that she knew what she wanted to do. In a flash, she jumped off the bed, leaving twin indentations where her hooves had been. She circled the room once before streaking out of the hole and into the morning sky. It wasn’t the clearest of spring mornings, but in a season where it was raining most of the time, it was relatively tame. Any day it wasn’t raining at this time of year was a good day in her book. The good weather was the first thing she noticed, and the second was the cold bite of the morning air. Even with the physical resistance to cold that all pegasi were born with, she could feel the cold slowly seeping into her skin. She felt a slight shiver run through her as her body tried to compensate for the sudden change in temperature.
Despite the cold, the mare was perfectly content. Flaring her wings, she pushed them downwards. Instinctively, she knew the exact angle and attack needed for each flap. The increase of her velocity was gradual at first, but grew exponentially as she climbed up into the clouds. With each cycle of her wings, she felt her body heat up as her heartbeat quickened, keeping pace with her flight.
Presently, her flight path took her through a large cloud. Rather than avoid it, she continued in a line, allowing her body to pass through the billowy surface. By the time she came out the other side, she felt truly awake and alert. It was as if she’d taken a cold shower, which, in a way, she had.
Now that she was refreshed, she began to notice not only her own state, but the state of her surroundings. Far below, she could just make out Sweet Apple Acres. The rows of trees, which looked as though they stretched into infinity when viewed from the ground, seemed far less massive from above. Looking upon the fields, she could imagine the smell of apple pies, the taste of cider, and of course, her friend and sometimes-rival Applejack. She had the sudden urge to get just a little bit closer to those trees. Maybe she’d catch her friend on her morning rounds if she was lucky. The pegasus swooped down into a dive. The wind whipped against her face faster and faster as she descended, her already messy mane and tail whipping around in the breeze.
She pulled up just before hitting the apple-dappled treetops. Now she could not only imagine the scent of the apples, but she could smell them as well. The lightly blowing wind carried those scents on the breeze along with all the other tangs of the nature below. These combined fragrances just seemed to smell like spring. She couldn’t pick out the individual ones except for that of the apples, but those other unidentifiable ones fused together into one natural aroma, and that was easy to pinpoint.
By the time she looked down again, she’d passed the Apple Family’s ranch and was swiftly approaching Ponyville proper. She increased her wingspeed, going from a casual glide to a breakneck pace; making a beeline for the center of town. Her streamlined form slipped through the air, offering little resistance.
It took mere moments to reach town, and as she flew over it, she began to question why she’d flown there in the first place. She was enjoying the solitude of her flight, and she didn’t feel like socializing with somepony else, at least not yet. Although it was early enough in the morning that there were only half a dozen ponies up and about, there was more to it than not wanting to break the sanctity of her morning flight with a conversation. She didn’t want to interrupt her flight. There was more that could be seen from the air, so there was no reason to leave it.
Coming to Ponyville hadn’t been a decision; it had been a lack of one. It was nice to do something without having to make a decision. Many days, it seemed as if she did nothing but make decisions, whether it be with her friends, saving equestria or as second-in-command of the Ponyville weather team. This choice to come to Ponyville was a lot like flying: one doesn’t consciously choose to flap their wings every single beat, they just do. It’s instinct; it just comes naturally.
But what to do with this choice? That was what she was asking herself at the moment. She could pull off some wicked stunts above the town, hoping to catch the eyes of a few early-morning admirers, or just take in the rooftop vistas of the village. Or she could accidentally crash into Twilight’s Library again for absolutely no reason whatsoever. But these were all things she’d done before, in some cases hundreds of times
Lazily, she flipped herself upside down, doing an aerial backstroke like she did when she was tried to show off sometimes. And she thought …
… And she thought …
… And she thought some more, but in the end, nothing came to her. She didn’t really feel like showing off, and she knew Twilight wouldn’t be awake this early anyway. The rest of her ideas had similar pitfalls. But she was okay with that. For once, she was fine with not being the center of attention. It was peaceful, a peace she didn’t embrace very often. For once, she was fine with flying for the sake of flying and nothing more.
Sometimes she forgot what that felt like.
So, with no reason to stay in Ponyville and a world of endless possibility around her, she took off once again, leaving the town behind in favor of the unpopulated areas around. She smiled a bit, thinking that if Fluttershy were around, the mare would have corrected her, saying that the animals counted as a population as well. Incidentally, she was passing over her friend’s cottage just as she thought these things. Around it, she could vaguely see what must have been animals waking up from their slumbers. Continuing onwards, she soon saw only forest below her, and she was surrounded by an entirely different atmosphere from the one she’d left behind.
Although she hadn’t wanted to deal with the morning noises of Ponyville, there were plenty of other noises she noticed that didn’t bother her in the slightest. The chirping of birds, the gentle whoosh of the air and the myriad of ambiance were things she enjoyed, though she wouldn’t be quick to go telling everypony else about that kind of sensitivity. She could be boisterous, sassy, pushy, but on the inside she loved a moment of peace such as the one she was in.
Where there was an excitement in competition and a satisfaction in besting another in a race, there was a different sort of gratification in this casual flight. She didn’t have to worry about her speed, weight, technique, or where she was going to get the energy to pass that next pony.
Looking up, she angled her wings, allowing her body to follow her line of flight. She continued her upward climb, leaving the ground behind in favor of the cloudy sky. This was when she was truly free; not even during her Sonic Rainbooms did she feel so at peace.
She continued her ascent, the air thinning out with each push. She was leaving it all behind: the noise, the smells and the sights of nature. The only sight now was that of cloud. Absentmindedly, she named each cloud layer as she passed it.
Stratus … Nimbostratus … Stratocumulus
The air continued to thin, making her breathing labored as she flapped her wings faster and faster. It was as if she was climbing a mountain, huge, invisible, yet clearly still there. With no eyes watching and nopony to impress, she only needed to climb as much as she wanted to.
... Cumulus … Altocumulus … Altostratus
The mountain had a peak, and she could see it. But on this mountain, she could make her own peak; set her own point of completion. In a sport where she so often had to go right to the edge of being out of control, she was now in perfect control. She was the absolute winner; the absolute loser; the only competitor.
... Cirrocumulus … Cirrostratus … …
There was one layer left to go, one more before she was above the clouds. The name she knew all to well from her short stint in flight school echoed in her mind
… Cirrus
She knew she could do it; she’d gone much farther before-to the edge of the atmosphere even, where not only clouds but air became scarce. Yet her pace slowed as she flared her wings. After her long climb up the mountain of cloud, she was in the world of the mysterious thin wisps of cloud: the cirrus class.
Seemingly eternal, these clouds were not the result of pegasi workmanship but of nature itself. This wasn’t exactly common knowledge; the higher-ups in Cloudsdale didn’t want everypony knowing that anything was out of their control. Most Pegasi didn’t even know that these clouds existed, and nopony knew for sure where they came from. There were a few theories: bits of pegasus-made clouds that were blown into the upper atmosphere, remnants of the pre-pony weather cycle, or whatever you wanted to think.
No matter their origin, these clouds flew the highest. Fiercely independent, they could not be formed by even the most experienced pegasus hooves. They yielded for none, listened to none, and were the stuff of legend.
It reminded her of herself.
Sighing, she looked up at those tufts of vapor, feeling the desire to go that extra mile. And yet, she resisted. For her, that extra step would take little effort, even though the typical pegasus could not reach this altitude. The thin air by itself was enough to deter those ponies. Yet she was above them, both literally and figuratively. She’d worked her whole life to be on top, and even though there were those who could go just the slightest bit further than her, she knew that she’d someday surpass them all. It wasn't a matter of arrogance, nor overconfidence.
All she knew was that she had the drive to beat those other ponies, enough desire to drive herself to the top and over it. She’d put herself through pain regularly just to reach where she was, and knew that further elevation would require even more pain. She was not scared by this revelation as most ponies would be. It only fueled her further.
To get to the top, she knew she would have to break all her barriers, surpass all she thought she’d ever be able to do.
And yet, she did not want to go further. She’d spent her whole life breaking barriers, and would spend the rest of it doing the same thing. Just for once, part of her wanted to keep that barrier sacred. After all, was it really that impressive to push herself 100% of the time if she didn’t know how to stop herself?
She looked up at the clouds one last time, the name still ringing between her ears.
… Cirrus
She smiled, and in a flash she turned downwards, streaking off at an impossible pace. She did not regret this, the first true failure she'd experienced in as long as she remembered. She still didn't like to lose - she despised it more than anything else - but this time, she hadn't lost. She'd climbed to the top of her own mountain, her own summit, not defined by her physical limitations, but her mental discipline.
And that was a victory.
So she left behind those mysterious clouds, whose existence so closely resembled her own. They were not living and they could not think. But if they could have, they would have known. They would have felt honor and gratitude for this pony, a pony who had learned so much over her life, both of her talents and how to control them.
And yet, the Cirrus could not think these things. So they stayed up in the sky, their existence continuing to puzzle the ponies below. They stayed peacefully; silently; serenely.
Before I go on about the story, I'd just like to thank some people who helped me with this newer version of the story (the older version can be found HERE). I'd like to thank Vexy for doing one hell of a great editing job. His work is aimerable and I'd highly recommend him to others. Other thanks goes out to Chessboard_Jack and maskedferret for additional prereading support on this new version. Also, a very special thank you to Bronystories for a very thoughtful comment, which ultimately resulted in this story being written. The following piece of advice is something I'd recommend to anybody going through a drought in their writing as I did leading up to this story.
Treat writing depression like you would regular depression, but in story form. Does playing a game with friends cheer you up when you're depressed? Then write a story where your favorite ponies play the games you like. Do you have a favorite meal? Write a story about your favorite pony preparing the meal, from start to finish. Talk about what makes it so special.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Twinkletail · 1.7k words · 36 1 · 856 views
- MyHobby · 1.7k words · 72 0 · 1.5k views
- Eagle Heart · 31k words · 42 3 · 1.5k views
- TheExhaustedBrony · 1.1k words · 76 3 · 1.9k views
- electreXcessive · 2.6k words · 44 11 · 1.5k views
- ChaoticHarmony · 4k words · 81 8 · 2.6k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.116 seconds
Total duration
664 users online
952,490 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Damn, son. Ya dun good.
FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That was nice.
Yeah... dealing with depression and music is totally unoriginal... *cough cough I totally didn't just do that or anything*
I kid, I kid, but seriously, I like this one a lot. Poignant, serene, and a great little insight into a character. Well done, good sir, well done.
*gets out pump*
This fic is awesome, you are a fucking genious! I love you! I'm gonna name one of my children after you!
2512802
Genious.....
Lol... It's genius, genius.
Hahahaha I do not mean to disrespect but that was to funny to pass up. Haha I laughed so hard. Not at you but at the fact that I used to spell it the same way.
And this was a simply beautiful story. I love the depth that you give Dash. Sometimes she is made into a stupid or shallow character but you gave her character a depth charge.
Awesome work!
I saw this before Bronystories... Should've read it then.
2513925
*was too funny*
Like you I couldn't pass it up.
A very perfect and honest story, other then being sure to separate your paragraphs a bit more this was very heartfelt and true, a natural born winner among slice of life stories, I'm very proud of you my brother, you done really well
2513925 ok you corrected me but then 2514989 he corrected you
2515216
I don't know about the paragraphs. Some of them were long, but it's because they were the same idea throughout. Paragraphs aren't determined by length so much as subject, so it's probably just a result of how verbose I was in this one.
And thanks for ze praises.
Wow, quite the wonderful story, well written and rather captivating. I love being able to have a look into characters' minds and see what they see, feel what they feel, quite the enjoyable experience, very serene
. Now, with praise comes critique, but I only found two things that I could mention, and both are pretty minor.
First: "Even with the high metabolism of a pegasus, she could feel the cold slowly seeping into her skin."
Now I could be wrong on this, but I have never heard someone with a high metabolism being more immune to cold. So a better word might be 'tolerance' or something of the like.
"Looking up, she angled her wings, allowing her body to follow her line of flight"
This one's pretty simple, but I think you meant 'line of sight' rather than 'line of flight'.
Look forward to seeing more from you in the future, cause this story certainly earned you a watch from me and bravo on overcoming that bout of writer's depression!
.
2516237
Well, as for metabolism, it's not a direct link, but it would be indirectly related because it would allow you to eat more food, which would mean more calories, which is how the body gets heat. Therefor, with a higher metabolism, you'd have the ability to generate more heat than otherwise. It's how I explain away them not freezing to death in my head canon. But I do need a better solution, you're right about that.
2516493
,
Ahhh, that does make sense in a bit of a roundabout way (to me anyway).
I'm from a cold climate myself, locals have been known to wear t-shirts when snow's on the ground
so just being used to it makes more sense to me
2516811
People from my state are about the same. Vermont's a pretty cold place most of the year. I've worn a t-shirt when I go Skiing regularly.
2516925
Fellow Vermonter! Nice 
Definitely reading the rest of your work now.... I mean, I was going to anyway, but now I have added incentive to crunch through the remainder of the 80K words that comprise your stories
2517125
Fellow Vermonter?
I thought I'd never meet one on here. What part of Vermont are you from?
This deserves a lot more attention. Short, sweet, and well-written - what's not to like?
2519251
Agreed fully. But see, it doesn't have lame comedy, mane 6 ships, or ponies fucking, so that's why nobody really cares. And I knew they wouldn't. I'd rather write something good than something popular.
2519522
Just write a lengthy TwiLuna fic
Instant feature
Regardless of who you are
Or write something depressing about Trixie.
2519608
Or I could write MoonLight clop
2519608
And also, I'm fine with this getting no response. I knew it wouldn't from the get-go. It's purly artistic, but honestly not all that entertaining, and most people only read fan fiction for entertainment, so therefore, no response
2512540
There's nothing wrong with writing an unoriginal concept if you do it in a different way. Just make sure you do it in a different way if you decide to do that, though.
2519027
Around Burlington near the lake, makes the upcoming swimming season all the more exciting
You?
2519522
Cheers on writing quality vs appeal by the way
2519522
Now, if at the end of her flight, Rainbow Dash came across Princess Luna and alicorn Twilight having steamy lesbian sex and joined them in a three-way, then this story definitely would've "earned" a spot in the feature box.
2521665
Pretty much, yeah. Not sure if people would've read to that point though.
2523750
Hmmm.....
Ha! Never figured I'd find a local brony here either
Y'know, it's funny, I wasn't aware of any around town. Figured they must be somewhere, but I never find any *shrug* guess even living here most of my life doesn't mean I know everyone....... as obvious as that sounds
Can't say as I've ever been to Ri Ra's, though, prefer to hangout with my friends to drink than at a pub. I've heard they have good food before.... I think?
2524650
You should, though. And as for South Burlington, have you been to Al's?
2525578
Good food and ice cream, I'll admit I remember that little playground they have (had?) with a fondness from when I was little 
Yeah I've been to Al's!
2526288
They still have parts of it. I remember they had these springy things you could ride, but those all got broken. But the main playground is still there.
I read this while listening to this song, served as a pretty good soundtrack:
And I read your comment about people mostly reading fanfics for entertainment, well I guess that's true but I'm sure that I'm not one of them, what I truly look in this site most of times is art
And this was a pretty good attempt at writing about your feelings in an artistic way, I'm glad I read it, I think you should really try to write more stories like this, I like reading stories which the authors use to deal with problems like depression and possibly make the readers ponder, even because I have some form of depression myself (though it's mostly a consequence of an anxiety disorder I have) so sometimes it helps me to face my feelings. Maybe if you wrote an even more dramatic and poetic story about sadness it could turn out touching, and who knows maybe if you keep it up you'll write a fic that will go into my favorites, for now have a thumbs up
2531255
Well, i guess it was a sort of depression, and it might have been caused by my problems, indirectly. (Taking 54 mg of Concerta as a 15 year old will mess with just about everything in a body in some way) But anyway, went through a phase where I didn't want to write any of the ideas I'd come up with, and this was a way of writing something simple that I knew I would like. But I'm definitely thinking of writing more like this with some of the other characters. This was probably my most interesting writing experience to date. This style suits my writing quite well, and I think I'll run it parallel to my more mainstream writing style used in other fics. But you're right, I think this style would work well for sadfics, and I do plan to do that in the future. I'm thinking of doing these for each of the mane 6 sometime too.
But thanks for the comment. I'm happy to know there's people like you out there to appreciate this kind of writing.
2531395 That's great, I'll be following you from now on, I'll be happy to keep up with your artistic evolution
2527641
........ Did I just speak in Yoda? 
Heh, wow, trip down memory lane this is becoming
I'll have to get some Al's ice cream and go down to Oakledge at some point this summer, heh, much obliged for that little thought process friend
2534931
Don't mention it
... I have a sudden craving for AL's
2512802
No, name them Craig. Craig is a great name.
2606313 what if it's a girl?
Also have you seen who the new Doctor is gonna be?
2606334
Craigella
Also, no, who is it?
2606537 I can't remember his name but he's some old bearded guy
2606537 you'll have to watch the episode, it's on BBC Iplayer
2606537>>2608757
I think it's John Hurt who's going to be the new doctor.
2610873 yea I think that's his name
2608768
I checked out some articles on it just to get the idea of what happened, but I'm still midway through Tennant's Doctor and I don't like watching shows out of order.
And yet, despite having never seen an episode with Matt Smith, he's my user image. lolwut.
2610970
lol
This was a very light, fluffy, and enjoyable read.
3127194 Thanks!
That was a good read! I really like this type of stories where nothing spectacular happens, and yet they convey some deeper message. This surely deserves more views and likes:)
4889411 Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed the story.