> Ode to Dash
>  by rainbowloyalty
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> Empty Sky
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Note: I'd like to thank derpidety for the song "Dash's Empty Sky." The beautiful melody and the artwork that comes with it serves as major inspiration for the whole mood of this story. 
If you want to listen to it while reading: 


She soars through the sky in a rush of rainbow adrenaline. In one swift instant, she breaks through the walls of inhibition. Undeterred and limitless, all the feelings of reality wash away. There is a haze around her that blocks everything out. Except flying. Flying is the genuine diversion from actuality. High in the cloudless expanse is the place to escape, to leave the world behind by sailing into a sunset streaked yellow and crimson. 

This pegasus has a dream: to join the greatest fliers in Equestria. But not today. Today she flies alone, left to ponder the meaning of life. From time to time, this is just what she needed. In the company of others, there was always the feeling of need to please them. Alone, there were no pointing fingers or anxious eyes following her every move. As much as she loved the attention, sometimes the pegasus needed time off from living her reputation. To her, there was more to flying than being the entertainment for others. She longed to soar across the sky as she wished, without caring about drawing fancy patterns in the air. 

Alone, the cagey feel of her normal routine vanished. Restrictions simply disappeared into the very empty air that she streaked through. There would be no need of a façade when she did feel vulnerable, and there was more room for risk-taking. Nobody would be there to express their discontent. Nobody would be there to see her fail. And if she did, nobody would be there to help her up again. But this bittersweet journey was well worth it. This was the real flying, not the fake show put on for the whole world to see.

Some detractors harshly condemn Dash’s flying style, and they cite her early withdrawal from flight school. However, they don’t understand where her flying comes from. Flying for her is much more than a contest to succeed in. Her soul is tied in her wings more so than any other pegasus. If she set her mind to it, she could have easily passed flight school with, quite literally,  flying colors. However, it would not have been her style to do so. She did not want to live according to the book, to be one of those pegasi with wings made out of stone. Long gone were the days where creativity was encouraged. Now there were rules to live by, and a series of tedious and rigid instructions to follow. In her mind, there was something not right with the system, an institution that seemed to break the fundamental principles of flight itself. Dash believed that flight was about being gifted with a world of liberty and possibility. Little did she know, this was exactly the kind of mentality the Wonderbolts were looking for. 

There is nowhere more free than high up in the cerulean sky. We are grounded from achieving anything significant. Everything about the sky sparkles with positivity. It is the ultimate goal in life, an especially lofty one for those without wings. The phrase “the sky’s the limit” exemplifies this well. It implies that the sky truly can be seen as the zenith of all achievement. Up there, in every direction there is a seemingly boundless distance to expand in. There is nobody to tell you what your limits are. A new meaning is given to freedom. Creatively can flow off the clouds like a rainbow: a beauty everyone can appreciate.  With the abundance of sunlight and fresh air found nowhere else, you might just feel your soul rising to exuberant heights. No longer are you chained to the earth, forever toiling away but never actually progressing. The euphoria of being high up is so far beyond earthly pleasures; we can only imagine how life would be. There is no such thing as a fear of heights, only a fear of falling back to Earth and being grounded once more. Terror is rooted in the depths of the Earth. Flying takes you as far away from this source of evil as possible. And everywhere, as far as the eye can see, there is possibility.

Despite the many failures she had over the years, Rainbow Dash was not discouraged. With each crash comes a stronger devotion to flying. Gradually, she too learned the brutality of the ground. After each hospital stay, she could not be more anxious to be in the air once more. Although the ground gave solid support, unlike the white balls of cotton suspended in the air that just gave way, Dash was born in the sky, and that was where she was meant to be. Sometimes, the pain of defeat was overwhelming, and she returned to her cloud home with a heavy heart. But each day of losses was always erased by the warm sunrise of the following, and optimism shone bright in the sky all day. Naturally, she had an endless list of inspirational words to work off of. The taste of success could sometimes by overpowering, blocking out the things that truly mattered in the world. Still, there was no doubt that inside this pegasus’ heart there was an undying passion for what she did best. It was her most endearing quality. Whether for better or worse, it’s hard to deny that Dash always adamantly refused to believe that the impossible was truly impossible. 

Looking back, Dash could not help but be proud of her life. She lived without regret, so as anticipated, she had none. Her life stretched far beyond her dreams. With nostalgia, she laughed at the fiery soul that she had been. Such disinterest in care and self-preservation! She thought, reconciling with the ground. Reminiscing on the things she used to be able to do never fails to bring a bittersweet expression to her eyes. Long gone were the days of punching holes in the clouds, making her presence known with flamboyant displays of vibrant colors, and playing hero around Ponyville. Unfortunately, the end is inevitable, even though a life of this magnitude is hard to come by. But soon, she would be again soaring through the blissful paradise. And her friends would have to concede, Rainbow Dash undoubtedly lived up to her name.