The beauty in death

by Vidhwansak

In transit to Ponyville

In transit to Ponyville

(Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Hasbro or Lauren Faust, and certainly have nothing to do with My Little Pony™. I am simply an author writing a story for my own entertainment and for readers like you.)

Rainbow Dash sighed softly to herself as she flew lazily through the clouds, thinking about past memories with her friends. If she had put her wings to it, she could have easily been halfway to Ponyville already, but she didn't want to be out of breath when she got there, nor did she feel the same spark of energy she once had when she was younger, pushing herself to go faster and faster. Five years of being in the Wonderbolts and being their captain had changed her from a happy, reckless pegasus into the bitter, miserable pony she was now. She didn't want to think about that, however, and soon, her thoughts switched over to the storm.

She wondered just how it was possible that four of her friends died in a single storm. The obvious answer to such an obvious question, of course, was that it was a huge, violent storm, but still, she was sure she had trained the weather ponies to do a good job before she left to take up the position of the Wonderbolt's captain. Something just wasn't right; then again, after five miserable years, just what exactly was right to her? She could strangle her manager and she'd deem it 'right', she thought with a dry chuckle.

Soaring freely through the air seemed to levitate her dark mood, and slightly lessen the pain she felt inside about losing her friends. Flying, of course, was always her passion, and it was something that she could relate to her friends, always showing off her tricks to them, and always boasting whenever she impressed them...She hoped that, wherever they were now, it was a nice, peaceful, higher existence then this bitter backwater called 'life'. She'd do nearly anything to join her friends...In fact, there were quite a few medications in one of her drawers that she could 'accidently' overdose on, and she would be on her way to them. However, now that she thought about it, she quickly dismissed the idea, for it wouldn't look good for her, nor for the thousands of pegasus ponies that dreamed that one day, they would become a Wonderbolt themselves, and 'live the life' like their idol, Rainbow Dash, did, in her giant sky mansion and near endless pool of bits. It wouldn't be fair to rip those dreams from them so abruptly and viciously; a dream was still a dream worth pursuing, even if it led to a life like hers, where the amazing life one pony had were crushed by the disgusting consequences that came with it.

She was so distracted by her thoughts that she didn't see the oncoming cloud (Even though clouds barely move and have no directional sense at all) until it was too late. It felt like a very solid, yet puffy and white brick wall. Rainbow Dash groaned as she quickly recovered from the sudden impact, and looked around her, hoping nopony had seen her blunder into a cloud like a rookie flier losing control of their wings mid-flight. Thankfully, nopony was around, so no one saw the captain of the Wonderbolts get bested by a large, white, puffy cloud. That was good, because the last thing she needed was for ponies to present 'evidence' that she was unfit to be a Wonderbolt.

She sighed. Mistakes like that reminded her too much about herself when she was younger. Always crashing into things, breaking things apart, apologizing while flying away because of angry ponies...She allowed herself a small smile. Those were the days, and how she missed them. She continued on her way, after throwing a few light punches at the cloud and making a face at it. Well, she thought, nopony was there anyway, so she should get her revenge on it, even if it was a silly thing like smacking into a cloud on accident!

About half an hour later, she was nearing the halfway point between Canterlot and Ponyville. At this time, she was beginning to get a little hungry. She knew she probably should have eaten something before leaving, but the recent memories of her retching in the shower room as well as the news of her friend's deaths made her question whether or not her stomach could hold any amount food at that moment, so she decided to forego eating anything before flying off. Regardless, her stomach growled in anger, upsetting her flight a bit, and she supposed that if she was going to go any farther towards Ponyville without another embarrassing cloud incident or worse, she was going to have to find something to eat, and quickly, as well.

As luck would have it for Rainbow Dash, there was what looked to be a small village that had escaped the storm's wrath. Unfortunately, since she didn't have any means to disguise herself, her rainbow mane was going to be the lit match that would set off every pony in this village, at least, those who more or less worshiped her. Having no choice in the matter, she was about to touch down on the village when she realized she didn't have any bits with her either. She groaned as she smacked her face with a hoof. 'Way to go, Rainbow Dash! You have all the bits in the world that a pony could ever ask for, and you forget to bring some with you!' she berated to herself. The only option she had left was to 'sell' her signatures for some food, and that wasn't going to end well. She sighed, and touched down on the town itself, fearing the worst.

---

"Mommy, can I have some ice cream? Pretty please?"

"No, dear, you'll spoil your dinner, and you just had a nice yogurt treat."

A dejected looking little pegasus filly put on a pleading face to her likewise pegasus mother. "But mooooooom, yogurt's nasty, I want some ice cream!"

"No 'buts', dear! Why, if your father was here, he-"

The mare never had a chance to explain just what the filly's father would do due to a sudden impact on the ground, only a few inches from the filly. The mother opened her mouth and began a loud telling-off to the pony that very nearly flattened her daughter when her voice suddenly died in her throat. Wondering who could possibly have that effect on her mom, the filly looked up, and her eyes widened as she saw her idol; the one, the only, the truly amazing and awesomely awesome captain of the Wonderbolts and incredibly cute Rainbow Dash! She looked a bit smaller in pony, but her rainbow mane was far, far more vibrant than the posters she had in her room suggested. That didn't matter, though, because Rainbow Dash was here, in pony!

"I-Is it really you?! The Rainbow Dash of the Wonderbolts?"

The pegasus in question looked down on her, and smiled. "Yeah, it's me." She looked up at the spluttering mare in front of her. "Sorry about almost squashing your kid, she wasn't there when I pulled in to-"

Rainbow Dash was suddenly interrupted by one pegasus filly throwing herself at the Wonderbolt, shrieking in delight.

"OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH IT'S YOU IT'S YOU IT'S YOU IT'S THE ONE AND ONLY AWESOMELY AWESOME AND COOL RAINBOW DASH OMIGOSH-"

The filly's screams more or less alerted the entire town, and within seconds, Rainbow Dash swore that the whole town (Although quite small) was surrounded around her, gawking at her rainbow mane, asking her to perform her Sonic Rainboom, more than a few asked for her autograph, and then there were those ponies that downright embarrassed her for ever deciding to become a Wonderbolt. Her stomach growled loudly its displeasure, and she sighed. She should have expected this happening. Quickly, she tried to say a few words before the inevitable wave of noise washed over her and she wouldn't be able to make her request. "Uh, yeah, ha ha, it's me, Rainbow Dash, bu-"

"I LOVE YOU, RAINBOW DASH!"

"SHOW US YOUR MOVES!"

"I HAVE A TEMPLE MADE IN MY ROOM IN YOUR HONOR!"

"WILL YOU MARRY ME?!"

With all the screaming and yelling, the pegasus frowned in dismay, as well as being creeped out by some of the responses she got, none of which were related to her stomach, at least, in terms of food. Of course, they were more interested in what they wanted from her rather than what she did from them. Fortunately, coming to her saving grace was a middle-aged unicorn stallion, who, upon hearing hearing her stomach growl, smiled sympathetically at her, and motioned with a discreet hoof for her to follow him, mouthing 'food'. At once, the pegasus began following the stallion, who was then followed by the small crowd of ponies. At least, until the stallion glared at them, and raised his voice.

"Shoo, all of you! Can't you see this poor pegasus wants some food? Begone with you, leave the poor pony alone!" Like magic, the ponies started to file themselves away, grumbling while snatching one last look at the unicorn before dispersing the area. She supposed he was the mayor of the town. The stallion sighed, and led Rainbow Dash to a sizable house, where he then began to take her order in the kitchen.

"So what would you like to order today, Miss Rainbow Dash?" He asked politely and without any hint of wanting something from the pegasus; it was rare to find such a pony these days, and that brightened up her mood a bit. At last, she could now talk normally to another pony!

"Just some cloud-cake and tea, any kind, really, to calm my nerves, please. And, thank you for clearing away the crowd from me, I tend to experience that a lot, and it gets pretty annoying, Y'know? Totally uncool to surround a pony like that, especially if it happens every time you go out in public." She wasn't lying, either. Rainbow Dash had managed to become the more daring and fastest of the Wonderbolts, so ponies naturally flocked to her to ask about her exploits or to gather an autograph from her, something she disliked immensely, since she didn't like writing.

The stallion chuckled as he took her order. "I would imagine that would be pretty annoying, being mobbed by ponies wherever you go! I sure wouldn't like that. It's not easy, being a celebrity, isn't it?" Rainbow Dash smiled. Finally, somepony who understood that fame wasn't everything!

"Yeah, you got it, pal! It's not easy at all, unfortunately, and it's not all sugar and spice, and everything nice. In fact, it seems to be the opposite." She didn't know why she was being truthful with him. Perhaps it was because she was so fed up with having to lie through her teeth to every pony she met, exaggerating how great being in the Wonderbolts was.

The stallion brought out a mouth-watering cloud cake, and sliced off just the right proportion for the pegasus, at the area where the snowy icing was the thickest, just how she liked it. He sighed, and then started to warm up a small kettle filled partway with water for the tea.

"M'Name's Deep Thought, by the way. Everypony thinks that fame and riches are the best ways to eternal happiness. Unfortunately, getting there is hard, and by the time they do manage to haul themselves up there, they tend to either not know what to do with themselves anymore, or get so caught up in it that you become somepony you just aren't." He looked over at her. "I believe you have kept true to yourself, have you not?"

The pegasus nodded. "Yeah. I thought joining the Wonderbolts would mean endless flying, going as fast as you could and doing awesome tricks for ponies...I guess I only saw what they actually did on the surface. I now understand why Spitfire said 'Good luck, kid, bein' in the Wonderbolts ain't all fun n' games'. I thought that was just normal prep talk from a pro to a rookie, but now I see that she actually meant it." She stared at the slice of cake in front of her, just dying to eat it. "Now that I think about it, I think she was warning me about the Wonderbolts, and why they accepted my application so much later compared to other mediocre fliers that were getting in sooner than me."

Deep Thought nodded slowly, deep in...Well, thought, and added some tea leaves and some aromatic spice that she couldn't identify into the kettle; the smell alone seemed to energize her. He levitated a fork over to her, which she used (After having been to plenty of formal parties, learning to use eating utensils was mandatory) surprisingly well with her hooves, going through nearly half the cake in about half a minute. Deep Thought grinned at her.

"I can see you're just dying for food, eh? I'll get another slice for you." He shook his head as Rainbow Dash gulped down another bite of the cake, who was about to protest against another slice of cake, no matter how good it was. "It's alright, you should fill up your stomach, even if it is just cake." Rainbow Dash hesitated, shrugged, and then went back to her first slice of cake. About half a minute passed by, and she was done with the first slice. As she reached for the second, Deep Thought spoke up, having watched her lazily as he tested the tea. "Do you regret joining the Wonderbolts?"

That was something she was asked often. The obvious answer was yes, she did regret joining the Wonderbolts, but she didn't know how to respond to the question. Should she lie, or tell the truth? As far as she knew, he meant no harm in the question, but she knew that if you told the wrong pony the wrong thing, your life could crumble pretty fast due to the news. She decided to tell part of the truth, mixed in with false confidence to assure him it was the truth.

"Actually, it depends. The Wonderbolts weren't exactly what I originally expected them to be, Y'know? Still, it's actually a pretty hard job, physically and mentally demanding." She hoped he didn't inquire as to why it was mentally demanding; some of the Wonderbolts enlisted in her squad were as dumb as rocks, literally. "All in all, it balances out, I suppose. I certainly wouldn't recommend it to just any pegasus." She started eating the second slice of cake uninterrupted; Deep Thought certainly seemed to be thinking about something, and didn't say anything.

As Rainbow Dash finished her second slice of cake, she grudgingly looked around for some paper and a pen; Deep Thought caught onto this. "What're you doing, Rainbow Dash?"

"Lookin' for a pen n' some paper for an autograph to give ya. Doesn't really matter if ya don't want it, I'm sure y'could sell it to somepony that wants it for some bits."

Deep Thought rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, this is all on the house. Don't want to get mobbed over an autograph, anyway. I can see you have no bits; You must be either going somewhere extremely important, and forgot to bring a small bag of them, or you just decided to drop by in a random village for some food, hoping that your name and an autograph would pay for the meal. Somehow, I don't think it's the latter; you don't seem arrogant enough, if you'll pardon me."

Rainbow Dash frowned, and nodded slowly. Deep Thought smiled, and brought over a steaming cup of tea, setting it down in front of her. The pegasus wrapped her hooves around it, feeling the warmth that it brought to her hooves, and mulled over what she was going to say for a bit. She then spoke softly after taking a long draught from the cup of tea. "It's my friends...You know I was, and, still am, one of the Elements of Harmony, correct, before I became a Wonderbolt?"

Deep Thought sat down at a chair across from her, and nodded. "Yes, of course; who doesn't? Aside from Twilight Sparkle, of course, you're probably the most easily recognized Element."

Rainbow Dash nodded slowly; unfortunately, she was now the only Element left, aside from Fluttershy, and she wasn't exactly known for being one. "Yeah, well...I just got news that four of the other Elements...My friends...Died, in some massive storm that passed by. I'm...On my way to see them, and to talk with the one other Element still alive. I want to ask her how this all happened."

Deep Thought sighed, and looked out through a window. "Ah, death; the destroyer of worlds. It has decided to swing his scythe at the linked chain of friendship, and sadly, it has prevailed, breaking the chain of happiness. It is such an ugly thing, and yet, beautiful, as well."

Rainbow Dash recoiled slightly. Death? Beautiful? That was new. "H-How...Is death beautiful? Somepony you know, that you once traded words with, gone, forever, never to return to the happy days you once spent with them..."

He frowned slightly. "Forgive me, I know that it must seem alien to think of death as being something beautiful, and we are talking about your fellow Elements, so naturally, you would recoil from such a thought. But think of it this way; they no longer are tied down to this world, no longer have the duties that come with living in this world. They are free, free in heaven; they're free from the oppression of life."

Rainbow Dash felt her stomach churn slightly; she was suddenly very uncomfortable. "They may have been living in a terrible, terrible world...But we had each other. That's what made it a brighter, peaceful place to live in. Now...Even though I haven't seen them for five years, the world seems so much darker, so cold, uninviting..." Tears threatened to break out, but she took another sip of tea, and managed to calm herself down. Deep Thought got up from his chair, and paced the small room a bit before speaking.

"That's what friendship is about, making things seem brighter than they really are. Don't despair, Rainbow Dash. They're in a new world, now, bringing it happiness and making it brighter than they have in this world. You may not see them again in this lifetime, but, one day, when life is tired of taking you along on its ride, you will meet them again, and you shall spread a bright light, wherever you end up then with them.

The pegasus nodded slowly, mulling his words over. She took one last draught from the teacup, and set it down firmly. Deep Thought looked at her with a bemused expression, but said nothing. She smiled at him, and left his home without another word. Deep Thought watched her leave, and picked up the plate, fork, and teacup, placing them in his sink to wash them later. He took once more glance at the distant speck that was the pegasus, and whispered softly.

"Farewell, Rainbow Dash. Perhaps we'll meet again."

---

A pegasus soared through the air, thinking deeply about a certain stallion's words. She could see why he was called 'Deep Thought'. He certainly gave her a new look at how to view death. She just couldn't see it possible, however. Death was an ugly thing; no amount of sugar could coat the word and make it seem any less ugly. She sighed, and landed on a cloud, stretching a sore muscle. After leaving the village, she had flown non-stop, and her muscles were beginning to ache.

After a few moments of stretching, the pegasus looked up, and prepared to move out once again. At the very edge of the horizon, there were the tell-tale signs of apple trees. Mixed feelings washed over her; she was almost there. Assuming that no new farms were erected in the past five years, she was nearing the apple farm, and, near it, Ponyville. She sped off towards the village, wondering what kind of reception she would get from Fluttershy.

She decided that a public visit would cause too much of a ruckus, so she flew to Fluttershy's cottage. It was best if she met her friend first, anyway. She touched down on the green, flowing grass, and started walking up the path to Fluttershy's cottage. When she reached the door, she raised a hoof, ready to knock. She hesitated, however. A voice inside her mind told that it wasn't too late, that she could run away from this, just like how she ran away from her friends five years ago. Shaking her head, the pegasus forced her will forward...

And knocked on the door three times.

Comments

[DerpinYou]

I love the way Deep Thought talks. It sounds like one of those philosopher dudes.

[fabianguzman18]

532478 me too and i like how the last line builds up suspense

[CookieCrumb]

I'm really liking this so far....But, I'm being tortured knowing that I have to wait for the next chapter....