A Study In Nonsense

by Professor Piggy

Invincible

Rainbow Dash was old.

There was really no getting around that – the fact that even she’d stopped denying it a good twenty years ago was proof enough. Or maybe it was just proof that she’d gotten sick of ‘Shy’s grandkids snickering at her from behind their hooves when she said it. Whichever – point was it had to be…what, twenty years now? Twenty years since she’d stopped trying to be young and turned all her attention to being awesome.

And heck if she hadn’t done a better job of that than anypony could have imagined – Dash’d been awesome enough that Pinkie had admitted to being a little bit shocked. Pinkie, who’d thought Dash could do anything. Pinkie, who’d stood beside her grinning like an idiot every step of the way – right up until she couldn’t anymore. Dash could still hear her laugh, sometimes, echoing through her head like music. She remembered all her friends.

Fluttershy, whose smile she saw every time she looked at the kids she’d raised all those years ago. Twi, who she couldn’t open a book – something she did more and more these days – without thinking of. Rarity…well, of course she remembered Rarity. Some things were impossible to forget, especially the ones that hurt. AJ she remembered mostly for that dumb hat Wallflower’s husband toted around all the time – they’d all thought she was crying, when she first saw it, but they were as dumb as the hat. The dust on the stupid thing’d just gotten in her eyes, or something. Apples were for AJ, too, though it’d been a few years since she’d been able to eat one.

And Pinkie…no way she’d ever forget Pinkie. Nopony could forget Pinkie. It had been twelve years since Pinkie’d had a party and she still couldn’t go outside without making sure she wasn’t gonna be tackled the second she did.

Or being disappointed when it didn’t happen.

She let out a soft, quiet sigh as she lifted herself from the couch and moved slowly – way, way too slowly – to the window to stare up at the sky. A hundred years. A hundred years she’d been alive, and with each and every one she’d made the world a million times more awesome. She figured it had to be like, a gazillion times cooler than it had been before she’d been born by now. Like the orphanage.

Ponyville hadn’t had an orphanage, before her. Or before ‘Shy, really. But she’d helped. And when ‘Shy’d taken wing Dash’d taken over – and taken in ‘Shy’s kids too. She’d never really expecting that when she’d agreed to be godmother. She’d always figured she’d be the first of her friends to go. Not that she regretted it for a second – they were ‘Shy’s kids through and through, but Dash knew the other Pegasus wouldn’t begrudge her thinking of them as her own. ‘Shy never begrudged anything. But she’d especially not begrudge that.

Dash pushed the window open, letting the breeze hit her. It was probably pretty dumb – it was thunder and lightning and she was supposed to stay inside and all that stupid, boring stuff. But it was the closest she got to flying, anymore, and she wasn’t about to give that up. Not if all the stupid earth pony doctors in the world got together and passed a law against it, or something. Not if Princess Celestia told her she had to.

Not that the Princess would. Celestia was cool.

Dash felt her wings twitch, and spread them slowly but surely. It hurt. The wings hurt more than all the rest of whatever was left of her put together – and the rest of her hurt a lot. Not that she’d ever admit it, of course: she was Rainbow Dash. She’d been born invincible and she was gonna die invincible. The tears she bit back weren’t from the pain, though. She could handle pain.

Twenty years. Twenty years since she’d felt the wind in her face. Once upon a time, she’d owned the skies. Captain of the Wonderbolts, fastest flier in Equestria, living legend. Now she was just a broken down old pony, on a day that’d long since worn its welcome thin.

Pinkie would have yelled at her for that. AJ probably would have bucked her. Twi and Fluttershy would’ve been all lectures and reassurances. Rarity…Rarity would’ve told the truth. Rarity always told the truth.

And the truth was that, even if it hurt to think of all the stuff she wasn’t, it mattered more to her what she was. And she was all kinds of things: Element of Loyalty, matriarch-thingy of five little families, living legend, most badass grandmother ever, most badass aunt ever…and happy.

Rainbow Dash was old. But being old wasn’t so bad. What sucked was being tired. And…maybe kinda lonely. That sucked too, sometimes.

She pulled the window closed and made her slow, painful way over to the cloud bed that’d stood in ‘Shy’s cottage ever since she’d moved in, collapsing into it with another long sigh.

She just wanted to sleep. That was all. Just to sleep.

As her eyes flickered closed for the last time, Rainbow Dash was smiling.

——-

“Rainbow Dash?”

The soft voice cut through her dreams and her eyes snapped open, and in a flash she was up on her hooves and staring right into the wide blue eyes of a slightly shocked looking Fluttershy. For just a moment, her heart stopped – and then it was beating again, racing faster than she could ever remember it going. “Shy?”

It was a dumb question, but something in the back of her mind made her ask. As the other Pegasus nodded her head slowly, Dash shook her own in an attempt to chase away the remnants of whatever dream she’d been having.

“Of… course it’s me, Rainbow. Who else would it be?” Fluttershy tilted her head slightly as she spoke, and a moment later her eyes widened – it was barely noticeable, but Dash saw it. “Oh…were you expecting Rarity?”

The name knocked the wind out of her like hitting a mountain, and she struggled for words. She had to see her. She had to find her. She didn’t know why, or what she was going to do, but she had to. But she couldn’t speak – instead she just turned her eyes to Fluttershy, hoping desperately that her friend would understand.

“I…I know where she is, but you have to promise not to yell at her again okay? I know you’re mad, but she was really upset this morning an –“

She grabbed her friend by the shoulders and stared at her intently, a slight frown on her face. “I’m not mad. Please, Shy. Please. I gotta see her. I need her.”

It was true. Vaguely, she could remember being angry – being furious – at the unicorn. She remembered swearing she’d never speak to her again, she remembered the things she’d said – horrible things. And she knew she’d meant them. But somehow, today…today none of it mattered.

She didn’t know why. She just knew it was true.

And apparently ‘Shy did too, because as she spoke the Pegasus leaned forward to nuzzle her with a gentle smile on her face. “She went to visit Pinkie Pie, today – she said she could use some…you know, some cheering up.”

Dash didn’t answer. She just locked the other Pegasus in a bearhug before racing out the door – and stopping dead in her tracks.

There it was. The sky, stretching out before her endlessly. Calling to her. Welcoming her back.

It went on forever, and every inch of it belonged to her. For a long moment she just stood in awe, letting the aching need to fly flow through every inch of her. And then she smiled. Her wings twitched, and she was gone.

As Rainbow Dash tore through the sky, straight to where her girlfriend – her girlfriend – was hiding, she was grinning.

And maybe, just maybe - even though she’d never admit it, even though she didn’t really know why - she was crying too.

Comments

[Professor Piggy]

The Prompt: The one hundredth birthday

So yeah, I killed Rainbow Dash. But it's okay, because the pony afterlife is awesome.

[TheAlmightySage]

The Summerland.

[ForSpite]

1217185
Killed Rainbow Dash AND implied that her girlfriend died after they'd had a fight before they'd ever had a chance to make up (just after Rainbow said she never wanted to see her again, apparently), leaving Rainbow Dash full of regrets for decades. So, there's that.

[G S tol Kriaal]

Damn, hope our afterlife is that kickass

[Meltian]

Sooo... She had a dream of the possible future?

[Professor Piggy]

3952131 Nope. She died and got an awesome afterlife.