Higher.
She flapped her wings yet again, and felt herself push even further forward. Moving faster now—the wind relentlessly swept her mane backwards, almost to the point where it seemed to be trailing behind her.
Higher.
Once more, she flapped. Even faster now.
Rainbow Dash did not look behind herself. She knew that she was flying almost vertically, and at blistering speed. If she turned her head at this velocity, even just a centimeter, then her course would be violently thrown off. Recovery at that point would have been impossible.
Don’t ever stop. Keep going.
She pressed onward, soaring upwards. The air that she appeared to carve through was unforgivably icy. Dash ignored the fact that her hooves and ears were already completely numb by this point.
Higher.
Like a mantra, she repeated that single word to herself — again and again — as she flapped her wings tirelessly.
Higher.
Above and beyond the clouds, Rainbow Dash passed. The sky, an everlasting expanse of blue, stretched out before her blurring vision as she gained altitude. Adrenaline rushed, and excitement flooded her mind. She felt so alive; so complete.
This was true freedom.
Before her eyes, the skin began to darken. The air thinned. Dash realized that she was, quite possibly, climbing higher into the atmosphere than anypony else had ever done so before. Against the strain of the wind flow passing over her face, which had nearly frozen her features, she managed to crack a grin.
Not once did she ever think she had gone too high. It was only, “not high enough.”
Rainbow Dash let out a peal of laughter. She was practically defying the ultimate will of the world she lived in, and it felt incredible. From how high she had reached, she was sure that ponies across the land could see her; admire her astounding achievement. If only her friends could all see her now!
She felt alive. She felt free. She did not want it to ever stop.
But alas; stop, it did.
It was a slow failure; agonizingly slow, at that. Exhaustion was finally creeping into her muscles and joints, particularly around those that gave her wings the power they required.
The cold was working away at her as well. Frost was beginning to form and collect in patches on her coat. And the thin atmosphere at this altitude was forcing her to take longer and harsher breaths—she felt as if she would pass out at any given moment.
Her rate of ascent decreased as she felt herself slowing. Rainbow Dash soon began to feel the incessant tug of gravity on her body once again, a familiar feeling that she was swift to curse.
No… Don’t stop now… I can’t stop now!
She tried again, defiantly flapping her tired wings. It was simply not enough. They were too slow, and the pain of their overuse became too great to bear.
As she took a last, gasping breath, her wings finally gave out altogether. Rainbow felt weightless, for a brief, excruciating moment as she ceased her ascent and reached the absolute apex of her flight.
She blinked, almost thinking that it was possible to reach out with her hoof, and touch the boundary between her world and what lie beyond.
And then she began to fall.
Air rushed from the opposite direction this time, sending her tail and mane blowing up instead of down now. She remained completely vertical, her muzzle still pointed towards what she had been so close to touching.
I was so close…
Closing her eyes, Rainbow Dash surrendered to the forces that beckoned her to the ground below. Her center of gravity shifted, and she felt her body flip upside-down as she plummeted. Her muscles, so formerly tensed with determination to ascend, now relaxed.
She felt herself falling, faster and faster now it seemed. Her limbs were relaxed, and free. The wind rushed past her weary figure, harshly embracing it as the mare plunged earthward.
Slowly, the pegasus opened her eyes.
The sight of what was below defied simple description. She had seen what the world looked like from great heights in the past, but this instance would be the first time that she had seen it from this high.
And it was beautiful.
Clouds, far below her still — mere white tufts. The expansive Canterhorn mountain range — nothing but a line of gray, capped with white. The vast grasslands, forests, and fields — all blended and coalesced into green. The reddish-brown of the Badlands, and the yellow-white of the desert opposite the mountain range — they seemed so close together now, almost like they were mere hoofsteps apart. And the blue that surrounded it all — the ocean? Could that be the ocean?
Rainbow Dash was awed and amazed. The landscape below seemed to be advancing towards her at such a slow pace. She felt as if she would be falling for hours. Then again, she already felt like she had been flying for hours…
Looking up slightly, she saw the edge of the horizon, and caught sight of the sun. It was already beginning to set, she realized; and the resulting effect that she witnessed was mesmerizing. The sky seemed to be beginning to shift to an orange, but also slightly pink-ish tone. The orb’s glare was hard to observe directly, but for Dash, it produced a fascinating aura of light that almost seemed to produce… a rainbow.
How appropriate.
Rainbow Dash closed her eyes again. Time was lost to her, same as she was also lost in freefall. She didn’t know if it was minutes or hours. After such time, she reopened her eyelids to discover the fast-approaching cloud layer below.
She reacted quickly, urging her still-sore wings to extend and catch the updraft. In an instant, her descent slowed—but a there was a problem:
A wind shear.
Caught off-guard by the sudden current, Rainbow twisted and turned through the air, fighting to maintain control. The cloud layer was seconds away at this point.
With a poomf, the mare collided with the plush, billowy surface of the cloud. The cushion-like consistency of the cloud, in addition to her innate pegasi attributes, safely absorbed the impact.
Groaning, Rainbow Dash picked herself back up, finding stable footing again. The cloud she was on was not a massive one by any regard, but it was still satisfyingly comfortable. Still terribly exhausted, she lay down on it, deciding to rest for now.
She shivered, finally taking note of how cold and battered her body was. What had possessed her to endanger herself so much, she wondered? Sighing, she looked back up into the clear blue expanse, once more feeling the peculiar tug of longing in her chest.
I want to fly higher…
She sighed again. She knew that everypony had limits. She understood that. But she didn’t like it. She wanted to really know what her limits were.
Rainbow Dash laid her head on the cloud, closing her eyes as she thought of the world beyond the sky…
Next time, then.
