As I Fall

by Sunlight Rays

Is Falling The Same As Flying?

“Rainbow Dash!”

“Huh?”

Rainbow Dash turns in surprise. She freezes. She looks into my eyes, her magenta irises striking mine.

“Sc…?”

“You let my friends go or I’ll open this valve!” I scream, ready to kick the pipe open any moment.

Dash doesn’t speak. She’s fixated on me, her body trembling and her mouth agape.

A red pegasus stallion steps up next to her. I remember him. Atmosphere, his name was.

“N-now, you won’t do that,” he begins, his voice shaking. “There’s no point, you see. You’ll take us out, yes, but your friends with us. And without Dash or myself, you’ll never be able to get out of this factory! So, what now, you foolish filly? What could you possibly hope to do?”

I ignore him. He doesn’t know what I’m planning to do. I don’t plan on escaping.

I want to fly.

Dash’s eyes are still staring into mine, and I glare back. There was a time when I thought they belonged to my sister who loved me. Someone who would give me everything.

Now? They belong to somepony who had taken all I had from me. And I’m taking everything away from her.

I glance at my friends, tied up to the conveyor belt and the maw of the Device looming before them. I turn back to the grayish cyan pegasus before me. Cloud Cover and Corona… They’ve done more for me than anypony has done for, for… I don’t know. Doesn’t matter. They gave me hope, something to work towards. Cloud told me that I could have my own life out there beyond those walls, that I could fly through the skies freely.

Well, I don’t care about life anymore. I just want to fly.

“I killed you! You’re dead!”

Rainbow Dash screams, finally out of her trance. She clutches the side of her head with a hoof, something I’ve seen many times back when we were… We still were…

“I killed the failure that let me down! I know it, I remember it so clearly… How can you be alive?”

Failure. The word I have been branded with.

“You didn’t just fail yourself. You didn’t just fail Cloudsdale. You failed me. You failed ME! And that’s the worst thing you could have done…”

Failure.

“You’re all already hopeless as it is, any more so and even we couldn’t use you…”

Failure.

“You goddamn worthless ponies can hardly call yourself ‘pegasi’…”

Failure.

Well, they were wrong.

“I’m not the failure, Rainbow Dash.” I position my hooves. My voice is clearer than it has been in twenty years, and I steady myself as I prepare for what I will do. “I’m not the one who let you down. I’m your sister, Dash.”

“Sister…”

“Rainbow, don’t listen to her! She’s just a crazy ma—”

“Shut up, Hide! Shut up with your cool voice!” Rainbow Dash screams, pointing a hoof. “You can’t handle every situation! You don’t know! I’m tired of your constant attempts to wrestle control of this factory from me! I swore I’d protect Cloudsdale Weather! It’s all I have. Only the CWC and…”

Dash falters.

“And my sister.” She turns to me. There are tears in her eyes. The dim light glints off her eyes, ones I would have venerated if things hadn’t come to this. “My beautiful little sister…”

Too late now.

I harden my glare, boring my gaze into her. “I’m not your sister.”

Dash freezes, mouth open.

“I… what?”

“I’m not your sister. I’m the failure that let you down.”

“But… but you just said—”

“Rainbow Dash, I am two ponies.” And I am both of them at the same time.

Dash kicks the floor before bucking the air. “Well then who are you, then?!”

“I am the failure that you wanted to kill, and your sister you could never harm.”

“But—!”

“And I am here to take both of them away from you.”

I kick the valve open. I close my eyes. Liquid crashes into my fur, then electricity floods my body. A pain more intense than anything I have experienced knocks out all of my senses. All my muscles spasm as my neurons jolt, burning away before shutting down entirely. With the last bit of control, I spread my wings wide open and topple over the ledge.

The cloud floor cools my body, washing it with moisture. I fall through layer after layer, each cloud covering me in shorter intervals before…

I punch through the bottom, and I’m thrown out into open skies.

I feel the wind whipping at my fur. It blasts through my feathers. They’re numb, but they’re twitching, and I can feel the motions they’re trying to make along with the wind. My eyes are closed, but I can hear the air ripping through my mane. I shudder in excitement. The sensation I’m feeling is nothing like I had ever felt.

I internally scream in delight as I continue to scythe through the air. The ground must be getting closer, but I don’t care. I can’t care. Not when I’m experiencing the best sensation I’ve felt in decades.

The air is whizzing past me, just like it used to when I flew.

It’s perfect. This is perfect. The wind ripping past my ears, my mane being tugged back by the air, the la… lamin… whatever flow brushing my feathers in the gentlest way possible, it’s all so perfect.

This. I’ve wanted this for so long. This perfect balance of every sense, this is flying. It’s been so long that I’ve forgotten.

This isn’t so bad, is it?

I take in a final breath. The wind changes. The air seems to tighten up in front of me.

Too late, though. Any moment now, I’ll plummet into the ground at three hundred miles per hour. That will kill me for sure.

Don’t care about dying, though. I got to fly for one last time. Sure, it was falling, but it’s the same as flying, right? I mean, what’s the diffe—

Comments

[Stinium_Ruide]

The introspective observations portrayed of her perspective builds the strength of her conviction and hence determination to do what she was forbidden to. The story also draws attention to how, without a soul, one is unable to have the fortitude to derive meaning beyond what they yearn to do. Being soulless, the cost of death appears to be meaningless if the reward was living with a purpose.

The cost of death means even less if one desperately wishes to defy the label stuck on them, just because they failed a test. But this is true for less extreme cases. The propensity to sacrifice something of themselves is greater if they want to defy the norms and the label they "represent".

The pain of betrayal stings true in the backdrop. Of everything, the "sister" standing in her way prevents her from having lived with a purpose, a satisfaction or attaining an ultimate goal. Snitching these memories together, and remembering the pain, she knows. The duality and contrast of her memories juxtaposes her actions in either way.

Sharply written. Well done, Sunlight.

[Dashie04]

I love how this takes one of my favorite parts about the original Pegasus Device and gives an internal dialogue to Absentia. I always felt impacted by the scene where she sacrificed herself to save the main ponies, and it’s nice to see that Absentia has a reason to do so.

The entire scene where she monologues to herself as she’s falling works exceptionally well. I love that you can see how much this means to her after years of not flying. And then comes the ending, ouch, that hit me really hard.

I suppose if I had a complaint about this story, it doesn’t really make sense for those who haven’t read Pegasus Device, and with this not being by the original author, then I’m sure there will be people who haven’t read it. Other than that, this is an enjoyable story.

[daOtterGuy]

Howdy, hi~!

This was a solid thousand words entry. Really hit all the right emotional moments in a short amount of time. Absolutely tragic in conclusion, but an excellent execution that hits all the right notes.

Thank you very much for the read~!

[FanOfMostEverything]

The risk with sequels in this contest is conveying all that earlier context in just a thousand words. You definitely managed here, though I am familiar with the original Rainbow Factory. Still, effective portrayal of just where these poor, pitiable ponies (and Dr. Atmosphere) have ended up.

That being said, that initial context is kind of necessary to understand why Dash wanted to kill her little sister, how Scootaloo failed all of pegasus-kind, so on and so forth. Otherwise the reader's diving headfirst into an almost unrecognizable alternate universe. Thematically on point, but not the best reading experience.

Still, very effective work. Thank you for it and best of luck in the judging.

[Bicyclette]

Well, I don’t care about life anymore. I just want to fly.

so Scootaloo and so true

“You goddamn worthless ponies can hardly call yourself ‘pegasi’…”

Failure.

and augh, this must have hurt Scootaloo all the more

“And my sister.” She turns to me. There are tears in her eyes. The dim light glints off her eyes, ones I would have venerated if things hadn’t come to this. “My beautiful little sister…”

Too late now.

and yes, the contrast between these feelings in Rainbow that would have been such a beautiful thing were it not for everything else that has happened. that genuine bond of sisterhood needs to be there for how little it means now to be impactful

Don’t care about dying, though. I got to fly for one last time. Sure, it was falling, but it’s the same as flying, right? I mean, what’s the diffe—

and oof, a lovely angsty mental image! Scootaloo taking back her agency in the only way she can, as well as taking this last chance to give meaning to her lifelong sense of loss about her inability to fly, what a powerful moment!

[RandomGuy101]

Oof 👍