Flight on April Foals' Day
Author's Note
Just another EQD Writer's Training Grounds submission. This week's prompt is simply "What's it like to fly?"
Flight on April Foals' Day
It was April Foals’ Day in Equestria, but more importantly takeoff time for another self defining flight for Rainbow Dash. She was ready to give the Apple Family a splendid prank for the occasion. Hide as many apples in the orchard as she could before bucking time. The experience of sublime flight combined with the thrill of being a prankster reminded Rainbow that she was alive. And the trees of Sweet Apple Acres should be waiting to be deprived of their fruity treasures before bucking time.
Oh how the clouds above were like cotton candy waiting to be eaten. As she raced into the heavens each cloud particle seemed to give her high hooves. The coolness was unmistakable. The trip over to Sweet Apple Acres was as delightful as the raid itself. “The look on their faces will be priceless.” she thought with a snicker.
Rainbow reflected on her thrill of being way up there. The mechanics of the flying experience can vary immensely between two different pegasi. It is also a subjective personal experience, since it can be downright frightening for some like Fluttershy. It can also be frustratingly limited as the case of Scootaloo. Finally, it can even be a comical spectacle like with Bulk Biceps. Again still, for a Pegasus like Rainbow Dash flight is almost always an experience of passion.
Sometimes Rainbow would even detour herself just for the fun of racing a bird she had spotted. If a hot air balloon was in sight she wouldn’t hesitate to make fun faces at the passengers and then wave in good spirits. The thrill of flight and its amenities could almost never escape her.
Sweet Apple Acres wasn’t a particularly great distance. The relatively short trip was complex nevertheless. Rainbow wouldn’t have it any other way. Corkscrews, midair back-flips, and occasional donuts in the sky were part of the awesome showoff’s routine. Sometimes a vertical dive just short of creating a sonic rainboom would be part of the thrill ride. This was after an ascent that made little sparks of electricity like St. Elmo’s fire glisten on her hairs. At one point during this particular trip she even descended low and darted circles through a group of trees that seemed like an obstacle course made for lesser flyers (but easy for her).
It also crossed her mind that earth ponies and unicorns couldn’t pull off this feat. “They just don’t know what they’re missing! Being unable to fly must be almost as bad as being unable to chew food.” She thought. Furthermore pranking Applejack while using the advantage of wings would certainly make AJ think pretty cleverly about a retaliatory joke. And that would almost certainly be some compensation to being ground bound. Rainbow continued into the thought of Twilight and the other princesses being alicorns. It was a good thing that combination was limited to a supposedly rational few. “Airborne magic could be a disaster in the hooves of somepony like Pinkie Pie!” she thought humorously.
Rainbow Dash continued the flight to Sweet Apple Acres which could be seen in the distance getting closer. There was just one problem. She spotted Big McIntosh, who was already out there bucking trees over half an hour early for some reason. “What? How am I supposed to pull this off now?” Rainbow asked herself. She then grinned and chuckled mischievously. In knowing her own stealth and speed capability she figured Big Mac would be a worthwhile joke target now. She darted up behind a cloud and waited until Big Mac was looking away to swoop down and grab the apple basket he was using. She had to consciously try not to laugh out loud least she give the joke away. On the way up to the cloud bank an apple tumbled out of the basket. “Uh oh!” Rainbow mischievously uttered as she made it back to the aforementioned cloud bank. Just then Big Mac finally turned and noticed the basket missing. He quickly noticed an apple falling from the sky. The wayward fruit barreled toward the world like an off target artillery shell. Big Mac watched it splatter on the ground nearby. “What?” he uttered. Rainbow knew that the original plan was basically foiled by the early presence of Big Mac, but she loved the idea of toying with him as some consolation. The falling apple was sort of a giveaway nevertheless. She came back down in sight. “Hi handsome!” she said cynically. Big Mac gave her a look of “yeah right” and folded his arms as he leaned against the tree. “Happy April Foals’ Day!” she shouted with a huge smile while returning the apples. Big Mac then smiled and tossed to her an apple from the returned basket.
Rainbow Dash took flight back to the sky. There had to be plenty of ponies to prank out, as it was still quite early in the day. As she rocketed back up to the heavens she noticed that the apple Big Mac gave her was shiny enough to reflect the world below. How awesome. It was like having a rear mirror to see the fantastic flight all around. She began eating the divinely delicious apple.
She decided to get some ways out of town before trying something that simply made her none other than Rainbow Dash. It started with and ascent that takes a pony as high as possible without being unable to breathe. Any much higher would probably mean freezing and then burning up upon atmospheric reentry. At the point of apogee she thought of how the Wonderbolts could learn some great flying skills as well as a thing or two about loyalty from her. Seriously, which other pony alive could achieve… a sonic rainboom?
After taking the last bite of the wonderful apple, she tossed it down to the landscape below. Any much higher and it probably would have burst into reentry flames too.
It was time for the grand moment. Descent was unlike anything anypony else could explain, even another Pegasus. It was like traveling to another dimension. The acceleration was a surreal experience that can probably only be matched in splendor by time travel itself. The clouds zipped by like they were just made to get out of the way. The moment of truth had arrived. The sound that could bring six friends together followed by a giant rainbow colored air wave conquered the atmosphere. Rainbow Dash swooped back upward in a curve at the last second and looked back with pride at the radicalness. She was the only living pony who without question could relate the most full and comprehensive story about flight.
