Top of the World

I laid down on a lone cloud, drifting slowly away from my home in Cloudsdale. Settling img the plush material, I flicked my tail once or twice, casually sending a glance through the sky. Up in the sky was the only place for a pegasus. The clouds. The open air. The breeze. The weather. The flight. The only things that meant much. I knew the sky was where I belonged, so I stayed there and I had no plans of leaving.

A soft whistle pulled me from my thoughts, a bird floating past. Taking in the fresh air, I folded my legs up underneath me. Try as I might, I couldn't seem to find a comfortable position. A sign of restlessness. My mind seemed to travel faster than my body these days, though I was the fastest flyer in all of Equestria. Finally getting comfortable, I could get to the reason I came out here: thinking.

"Life moves too quick," I whispered, my voice breaking the peaceful silence.

'I finally have everything I want. I'm a Wonderbolt. I have money. I have friends. My life isn't perfect though. Right now, I'm on top of the world, but just a few years ago, I found myself in the deepest rivers, lost without hope to ever resurface. It takes a lot of courage to convince yourself everything will be okay. I'm ashamed to say, I'm not the one who had that courage. Spitfire gave it to me. Without her, I would be nothing.'

I let them. I let them bully me. I let them push me around.

"Something wrong Rainbow Crash?" Hoops, a strong pegasus stallion, snickered, seeing my eyes tear up.

"Leave me alone," I mumbled, turning away from Hoops and his two side kicks.

"Why should we? To give you time to cry?" Hoops questioned with a devilish grin.

"I said just leave me alone," I replied, trying to hide the shakiness in my voice.

"Yeah, sure," Hoops said sarcastically, rolling his eyes under his thick forelock.

Little did he know, I was having a really hard time. I had gotten out of the Wonderbolt's Academy a few weeks before and Lightning Dust paid me frequent visits, making sure that the guilt for getting her kicked out was tearing me apart. Each time she saw me, I looked worse. My mane and tail were disheveled and ragged. My once sleek, shiny coat was now dull and matted. Normally, I preened my wings often and kept them in top condition. I hadn't bothered to take care of them, spending too much time worrying. Nearly half the feathers on each wing were either broken or shifted out of place. Not that Hoops would care about me, he just wanted to torture me.

Not getting a satisfying reaction from just his words, Hoops raised both his back legs and struck them across my side, sending me hurtling off the edge of the cloud I had resided on. I frantically flapped my wings, trying to get back up to the clouds. My tangled wings couldn't propel me upwards, so I flipped and spun through the air, hoping to regain some sort of stability.