Somewhere Over The Rainbow
“Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow.”
― Douglas Pagels
Rainbow Dash stood still as she overlooked the Cloudosseum with alert eyes, her wings kept to her side resolutely as she stared at nothing in particular. Her spectral mane laid against her head in the most neat manner, perhaps the neatest it had ever been in her 21 years, her tail coming a close second to that fact. She had wanted to look as proper as possible for her performance.
No, there were no ponies in Cloudosseum to watch her within the city in the clouds that was her home and birthplace. However, there was somepony who remained in the sky, though they were not limited to the clouds that she resided on.
He wasn't granted that grace, she knew.
The sun was just beginning to rise over the mountains as Celestia rose it into the sky, as she did every morning in Equestria. As always, the morning was peaceful and silent, no sound to be made by the woodland critters or by any of the streams that ran through Ponyville.
It was almost as if they knew of the loss that was endured.
Granted, everypony was aware of the fact that the loss was meant to be. However, what they weren't aware of was the fact that it was meant to come sooner than they had expected, so to say that when it occurred wasn't a surprise would be a lie.
The pain was real and felt throughout the community of Ponyville, despite the fact nopony knew him personally. He was a bit reclusive and kept to himself most of the time, but that didn't take from his generous nature. Despite his pain and suffering, the true extent of which had been hidden for everypony's benefit, he had been beyond helpful in aiding those who needed it.
Rainbow Dash was very aware of that fact.
She hadn't a clue of his sickness, not until his passing, that is. And she had only spoken to him once, she knew. Perhaps if she had known what was to come in the months that laid ahead, she would have relished in their dialogue a little more than she did.
But, instead, she was ignorant, as was everyone else around her, though not to the degree she had been. Now, she knew of her mistake and she couldn't get over the fact that somepony as loyal as her could be so selfish in such a way.
That was why she was there.
Rainbow knew that ponies were going to wake soon, if the rising sun in the east was any consolation to that fact. And she also knew, that when the sun's light reached the Cloudosseum, her task and mission would be initiated, whether she was ready or not.
As she awaited the arrival of light, she found herself thinking back on that fateful meeting between herself and the poor soul who left their world before his time. With a deep breath to keep herself steady, both physically and emotionally, she closed her eyes and processed her reason for being in the clouds once more.
It had been a long time ago, or at least, that's how it felt to her. It had been during her time as a prideful "hero", where she had gotten extreme fame in Ponyville for saving countless ponies from disaster. During that time, Rainbow remembered, she hadn't exactly been planning on being a hero.
Of course, whenever she found that she had a knack for being at the right place at the right time, Rainbow used her extreme speed and strength to aid in her quest for fame. And it was during those fifteen minutes of said fame where she had the fortune of meeting such a kind soul.
She had been signing autographs in the streets, as she had been doing for the past while since her first rescue for a filly that had fallen down a well. Her fanclub, all clad in their rainbow memorabilia, had all enthusiastically followed her through town as she signed polaroids of herself, each signing becoming more and more natural as she continued to do so.
However, while Rainbow had been signing pictures for the crowd that seemed to grow as she continued to sign her autographs, she had heard a small, timid voice attempting to get through the crowd to get to her. His voice held no malice or anger, as the other impatient fans had, but it was instead soft and somewhat understanding as the ponies rejected his pardons and kept him to the back of the crowd.
While Rainbow understood that the ponies who had been waiting for a long time had every right to reject anypony's attempts at cutting the line, she also understood that it was especially difficult to be shy and timid in such a bustling place as Ponyville. Fluttershy had told her so.
"Hey, can you guys move?" Rainbow remembered herself asking.
The ponies who had been awaiting her autographs didn't hear her, or if they did, they ignored her.
Somewhat irritated by their impulsiveness, Rainbow gritted her teeth and said a little louder, "Hey, I asked if you guys could move?"
Again, nopony offered any sign of listening, which only sent Rainbow into choleric mood. Deciding that words were not as loud actions in this case, Rainbow spread out her wings, the action of which causing all the ponies to gasp, then "ooh" and "ahh" at the sight of her freshly preened wings.
However, Rainbow wasn't swayed by their reactions, but instead aggravated as they misunderstood her purpose for doing so. With a light flap of her wings, Rainbow jumped into the air and suspended in the air as she overlooked the awed crowd, hoping to find who had been pushed to the back of the line.
Soon enough, Rainbow's eyes fell upon a young stallion, who seemed to barely pass the line between "colt" and "stallion". She didn't understand how she knew that he had been the one to be pushed back; for all she knew, he could have been one of the fans who had been a perpetrator as well.
But, as she looked down at his kind, but weathered face, she knew that she had found the pony she had been looking for.
With the grace that only Pegasi could produce, Rainbow slowly descended to the ground in front of him. Like the rest of the ponies, he backed away so she could land, but remained close out of sheer curiosity as she kept her eyes on him.
"You the guy trying to get an autograph?" Rainbow asked as she landed, then took a step towards him.
"We're all trying to get autographs!" shouted an annoyed fan.
Rainbow turned sharply in their direction, which caused the random pony to go silent as they felt her heated gaze. When she returned to look at the mysterious stallion, she let her eyes become soft as not to intimidate him.
"I saw that you were having a hard time getting to the front," Rainbow said, walking over to where she was in front of him, "Did ya want an autograph?"
The stallion blinked in surprise. "Y-Yes, I d-do."
Rainbow gave him a trademark grin, which only caused the fan to blush a light shade of pink. "What's your name, kid?"
"J-Jared..." he told her, his gaze flickering from her to the sides nervously.
Rainbow felt herself grin even wider as she realized how he resembled Fluttershy in a strange sense. "Nice name. Not something I ever heard somepony get called before, but I like it!"
Jared only blushed even more. "Th-Thank you..."
Rainbow picked up a polaroid and a pen, then scribbled her name onto the polaroid. However, unlike with the other autographs, she didn't just put her name.
"'For being a great sport, to my bud, Jared'!" Rainbow proclaimed out loud, then handed him the picture.
Jared looked down at the autograph with wide eyes, then gingerly took it from her. "Th-Thank you, Rainbow Dash... I've always b-been a fan..."
Rainbow quirked a brow. "Really? What made you become a fan? Was it that time I saved that filly from the well? Or when I got everypony off that balcony?"
Jared gave her a sheepish smile. "It was actually... your Sonic Rainboom."
Rainbow Dash blinked in surprise. "Oh, that? Ya mean during the Best Young Flyer's Competition?"
"Hey, quit holding up the line!" shouted an aggravated fan, no doubt the same one from before.
Jared flinched at the shout. "I-It was nice t-talking to you, Rainbow... I'll s-see you around."
Without another word, Jared galloped off, the crowd of ponies spreading apart for him to pass through.
Rainbow quirked a brow upwards in confusion, then grinned as she shook her head. "Heh, I wonder if I'll see him later on?"
Rainbow sighed as she recollected the memory and opened her eyes as she overlooked the Cloudosseum once more. She knew that she hadn't seen him later on, what with how she tended to be forgetful, especially whenever her pride was involved. Thanks to her dip with fame, Rainbow found herself forgetting all about Jared, and eventually, the fact that she had been famous at all for awhile.
But, when Rainbow had heard of his passing, she had found herself thinking back on what he said during their meeting. He said that he had become a fan of her because of her Sonic Rainboom, though she couldn't have imagined why. Everypony had seen that Rainboom during the Best Young Flyer's Competition, but they hadn't become fans until her heroism.
So why had he been so encaptured by it?
It wasn't until later on that Rainbow realized the answer to her question. During one of her flying routes, Rainbow had caught sight of a stallion struggling to carry large mounds of paperwork by himself and it wasn't long before he toppled over from the weight of it all.
Rainbow found herself flying down to help him, despite the fact she had a job to do, and landed near him to aid him when nopony else would. He looked surprised, to say the least, when she started to pick up the papers and put them into a neat a stack as she could manage.
"Th-Thank you, Rainbow Dash," he said, somewhat sheepish.
"Anytime, man," Rainbow told him, then quirked a brow upwards in interest, "Whatcha doing carrying all this stuff by yourself?"
He practically squirmed under her gaze and looked off shyly. "I-I don't normally carry these by myself... I usually have a friend help me."
"Well, I'm here, ain't I?" Rainbow questioned, though it sounded more like a statement than anything.
"W-What?" he questioned, then gaped at her as she began to carry half the papers he had been carrying, "Really, that's not nece--"
"Hey now, they don't call me the Element of Loyalty without a reason, eh? Let me help out." Rainbow placed the papers on her back, then positioned her wings to where they wouldn't so much as shift during her travel with the stallion she had yet to be acquainted with.
The stallion opened his mouth to protest, but instead sighed and nodded. "Alright... Thank you, Rainbow."
"So, ya wanna tell me why your friend bailed on ya?" Rainbow asked as she trotted alongside him.
He froze and gave her a wide-eyed look. "He didn't... he didn't bail on me!"
Rainbow quirked a brow. "Then what happened?"
The stallion sighed and looked down at the ground with sad eyes. "He... He couldn't make it... Jared already..."
Rainbow's eyes widened. "Oh, Celestia, I'm sorry! I didn't know that he was your--"
"It's fine, really," the stallion told her.
"I mean, really, I had no idea!" Rainbow continued.
"It's fine, Rainbow... You didn't know. But, I guess you know about what happened..."
Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, I do. He went in his sleep, which is probably the best way to go, now that I think about it."
He sighed in response. "Yeah, I guess so... But it's gonna be difficult now, now that's just me, little Cam..."
Rainbow gave him a sympathetic look. "What was he like? I only talked to him once."
Cam gave her a wide eyed look once more. "R-Really? He got to talk to you before he...?"
Rainbow nodded. "Um, yeah, why?"
Surprisingly, Cam smiled to himself. "Man, he must have been as nervous as can be!"
Rainbow blinked. "Huh?"
Cam laughed. "Ya know he was always a huge fan of yours, right?"
"Er... Yeah, he told me when I gave him my autograph. What about it?"
Cam chuckled. "Dang, I wish I could've seen his face when he talked to his childhood hero!"
Rainbow gave him a slack-jawed look. "H-Huh?"
Cam quirked a brow. "Didn't he tell you why he became a fan?"
"Y-Yeah," Rainbow told him, completely shocked as she tried to make sense of Cam's words, "it because of my Sonic Rainboom, right?"
"Yep!" Cam answered, somewhat perkier than before, "Man, he was so excited when he saw it! I've never seen him so happy before! And then later on, wouldn't you have guessed he got his cutie mark on the same day!"
Rainbow couldn't even find it in her to speak as she attempted to comprehend what she was hearing.
"Ya know, after he was diagnosed with cancer all that time ago, I swear, I've never seen him so blue... But, that didn't stop him from keeping to his destiny! He was always helping others, even when he couldn't bother to help himself! Ya gotta appreciate it when somepony remembers why they got their mark!"
Rainbow swallowed the lump in her throat and shakily said, "Y-Yeah... Are we close to where you need to be?"
Cam nodded. "Yeah, it looks like I can make it from here. Thanks for the help, Dash!"
"Y-Yeah... It's no problem..."
But it had been, Rainbow realized later on. Because if she hadn't decided to help him that day, she wouldn't have known what she did now.
But she also wouldn't have found out what she was supposed to do.
Rainbow blinked her eyes as she felt the warmth of the sunlight brush across her back, signifying that it was time for her enact her mission. With careful movements, Rainbow stood up from her spot on the clouds and looked down at the large hole that was in the Cloudosseum.
No turning back now, she knew.
With a quick flap of her wings and a large leap from her hind legs, she was in the air and soon, she was making her way to the sky with calm, steady flaps. There was no need to tire herself out so early in her plan.
It wasn't long before the sun was rising to the high parts of the sky and Rainbow found herself racing to meet the rising celestial body, though she kept her speed restricted. Soon enough, she was at the sun's height, where she cast a large shadow of herself across the terrain below.
This was it. This was the time for her to make her move.
Then, as if her life and many others' depended on it, she dove down into the air below, the atmosphere practically slicing at her hooves as she continued her downward flight. Her earlier slowness soon dissipated as she flapped her wings to further accelerate herself beyond what her limit was, which was soon nearing her as she continued to descend to the ground below.
Finally, after much anticipation, Rainbow caught sight of the familiar white cone that formed at her hooves whenever her speed increased to a degree where it was considered dangerous.
But danger wasn't going to stop her. Danger was her middle name, after all.
Then, after she finally accelerated herself to the point where she thought her body was going to stretch out, Rainbow's hooves broke through the cone and afterwards, a flurry of colors burst from behind her. The boom that followed afterwards must have broken every window within a two-three miles radius, she realized as she zoomed through the air.
Rainbow felt tears rip out of her eyes, but if it was from either emotion or the winds battering against her corneas, she didn't know. But, despite her blurred vision, she was still able to make out the below her. Just like she did so long ago, Rainbow pulled up at the last second and zoomed back into the air, her mane and tail flying behind her to create a splendorous rainbow.
She knew that with her performance, there was bound to be ponies looking out to see what she was doing, and they would see her mark in the sky. But, she also knew that they weren't her audience.
With the grace she knew that only she could hold, Rainbow zoomed through the air and created dozens of loops and sharp turns, while confusing and random at first, soon revealed to be something more as she created the symbol that was for all to see.
Rainbow soon saw that her colors were fading from her mane and tail and she wasn't sad to see them go, because their purpose had been served. All that mattered was that everypony saw what she had created.
She landed gently on the ground, then fell onto her rump and she took deep, ragged breaths as she attempted to regain her composure. When she finally managed to do so, she looked up at the sky with a sense of accomplishment and pride, though she felt no need to broadcast it as she normally did.
In the sky, was his mark. A mark that nopony else had the grace of bearing, she knew. Jared's destiny may have gone unnoticed and perhaps taken for granted, but now, it was there for everypony to see. For everyone to see.
Rainbow shakily brought herself to her hooves as she looked at the sky with tear-filled eyes, though she knew now that they were from emotion and not from her flying escapades. With the same form she had been taught back at the Wonderbolt Academy, Rainbow Dash held up her foreleg to her forehead in the most respectful manner she could muster for somepony else.
"Rest in peace, Jared," Rainbow said, barely above a whisper, "I hope you see that rainbow... Wherever you are."