Dead on the inside

Without another word, Rainbow Dash rocketed up to the skies so fast that the manes of her friends started fluttering from the breeze she caused. She flew so fast that one could even see a trail behind her. She kept soaring through the sky in every direction, Inhio could barely even keep track of her. Just by seeing her in action for less than half a minute, Inhio instantly realized just what her talent mark symbolized. As fast as lightning...This one is one heck of a speed demon.

After a few acrobatic spins, she started kicking the clouds, one after the other, making them all disappear into thin air with just a single blow. In just a moments notice, the sky was clear, with nothing but blue color, no matter where they looked. I only wish it worked that way back at our world, as well. Was the only thing Inhio could think about at the current moment. Her speed in the air could still be achieved by american jet fighters, but when it comes down to something that could be so fast while maintaining perfect maneuvering capabilities, her talent remained uncontested. The show was already enjoyable enough, but the best part was yet to come. Her friends already had a hunch of what the finale of her performance might look like.

"Get ready!” Rainbow Dash shouted out to the crowd as she flew by, after which she switched her flight direction and started rapidly gaining altitude.

"GO RAINBOW DASH!" Pinkie Pie shouted, only when Rainbow Dash was already too high up in the air to hear it.

This should be good. Inhio thought as his eyes followed the rainbow trail upwards, eventually making him turn his head upwards, as well. At this point, Rainbow Dash looked like an ant up in the sky, just inches away from fading from view completely. Even Inhio began to suspect what was about to follow as soon as she stopped in midair, and he was right. If the speed at which she was just gaining altitude seemed high, then it was nothing compared to the one at which she was reaching for ground level now, and it only got higher. Not only them, but even some of the townsfolk on the streets of Ponyville had gathered around to watch the amazing sight which was about to follow.

As she progressed, a sort of a cone of light started forming around her. Inhio knew she was playing around with dangerous speed, he even slightly feared that her overconfidence might get her hurt, but his worries were for naught. Suddenly, the cone of light disappeared for a short moment, only to reemerge as something much brighter and more colorful. A loud explosion echoed across the skies and the streets of Ponyville, and the sky got ignited in more colors than one could count. From the spot at which the cyan-blue pegasus disappeared into, a massive, rainbow-colored circle formed and reached for the edges of the sky in every direction.

Along with the edge of the rainbow circle, Rainbow Dash herself flew over her friends and Inhio. This time, causing more than just a slight breeze to shake their manes and tails. The leaves of the nearby trees decided to ditch their owner and follow Rainbow’s trail instead, and Inhio nearly got knocked out of balance himself. His serape fluttered loudly, and he held his hand on his hat so it wouldn't fly up along with the author of the swift gust. When the massive breeze was past, they could all open their eyes again, only to witness the rainbow circle already gone, leaving only the single rainbow trail dividing the sky. "Well, I’ll be damned,” Inhio quietly said, without closing his mouth after the last word.

After the trail behind her tail had faded away, Rainbow Dash returned to her friends, but not before flying through the town for a round of applause from the cheering crowd. She trotted back to them with a proud smile on her face. There weren’t many things Rainbow Dash loved more than showing off her signature moves in the sky and getting revered for it, and no matter how she tried, she simply couldn’t hide her excitement. "Well, whatcha think?” She looked at Inhio as she trotted by him.

Inhio’s first response was a solid applause, not slow enough to make one think that they’re being mocked, and not as fast as you might see a young child in an audience, clapping after his favorite artist's performance. "I’m gonna be a bit of a copycat now.” Inhio cleared his throat before continuing, "That was awesome.”

"He he he. Thanks! I knew I could cheer you up.” While there might not have been reason to worry about her safety, Inhio was still right about her being overconfident. She just stood there with that proud smile on her face, as if waiting for either her friends to gather around her to celebrate their victory, or even for Inhio himself to throw himself on his knees before her and thank her for giving him his life back. Unfortunately for her, there was neither cheering nor thanking, only awkward silence. Rainbow Dash had failed to notice that - despite sounding happy - Inhio’s face was still without the slightest grin.

"Umm...Hate to rain on your parade, Rainbow Dash, but...” The proud pegasus opened her eyes and looked at Twilight, who was now pointing her hoof at Inhio. "Look!”

One look at Inhio’s expression and her own face turned from a smile to a disappointed frown. "Huh? But I thought you loved my performance!” The frustrated look dedicated to Inhio almost made him feel bad for not being able to smile.

"Rest assured, your performance was breathtaking, and I would gladly watch and feel it again, if given the chance.” Inhio quietly sighed. "But I’m afraid it’s just not enough to give one a reason to live for.”

None of the ponies felt too happy about how things had turned out, Rainbow Dash in particular. Twilight walked up to her and placed her hoof on her shoulder. After seeing her friend so down, she just couldn’t help but try and encourage her somehow. "Cheer up, Rainbow Dash. We’ve still got Pinkie Pie.”

"Hang on, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash brushed Twilight’s hoof off of her shoulder. "I’m not through with this guy yet.”

"Huh?” The five other ponies gasped, curious of what could their friend still have up her sleeve.

"I’ve got an idea.” Rainbow Dash faced Twilight with an expression that was no longer sad, but it was not a cheerful one either - it was a serious and determined one. "But I’m gonna need your help.”

At first, Twilight got a bit startled by Rainbow’s words, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t ready to do everything she can to help her. "Of course, Rainbow Dash! What did you have in mind?”

"I was wondering...” She rubbed the back of her head, trying to figure out the best way to say what she had in mind. "Remember that spell you used on yourself and the others to make you able to walk in Cloudsdale?” Twilight looked confused, but also seemed to be wondering about something. "Yeah, I think you get the idea.”

"I see...” Twilight rubbed her chin. "Well, everyone else got to show Inhio their home, so I guess it’s only fair that you get to show him Cloudsdale...I just pray to Celestia that this works on him and he doesn’t fall off of a cloud.”

"Speaking of Celestia,” Inhio interrupted. "Didn’t she say something about your magic having no effect on me?”

"Right...” Rainbow Dash hung her head, giving into sorrow once again.

"Wait, Rainbow Dash!” Judging by her tone, it seemed like Twilight had an idea. Her friend was all ears, and so was Inhio. "We might not be able to make him walk on clouds, but that doesn’t mean we can’t show him Cloudsdale!”

"Wait a minute...You’re right!” Having picked up on Twilight’s plan, Rainbow Dash regained her excited look again.

"Someone mind filling me in here?” Confused, Inhio interrupted the two cheerful ponies, drawing their attention to him for a short moment, after which the two ponies smiled at one another.

"We’re going for a ride!” Rainbow Dash and Twilight replied simultaneously.

***

The trot through the town took place, once again. Only this time, the ponies were all smiling rather confidently, leaving Inhio as the only one with an unsettling face. What do these two have in mind for me, now? Inhio wondered. It almost seemed as though they were about to let me fly on their backs, but now it looks like we’re going straight back to Twilight’s castle. Inhio wasn’t wrong about the direction they were heading in. Before long, they were already near the castle. The only thing Inhio could think of was that Twilight was about to pick something up from her castle that would help them get him up in the air. Inhio wouldn’t deny that he was rather eager to see this so called Cloudsdale, which, by the sound of it, should have been a city in the sky.

Strange. Inhio thought as the ponies in front of him simply ran past the castle itself. At this point, Inhio was completely clueless about what their true destination might be, but that feeling did not last long, for the area behind Twilight’s castle was the place where she had her personal hot air balloon tied down at. "You are certainly full of surprises, Miss Twilight Sparkle,” Inhio said in an admiring tone. Twilight thanked the man for the kind words, and before long, all of them were already up in the air. Three of them on their own wings, and three more, along with a single man, were comfortably sitting inside the balloon and slowly ascending into the sky.

Twilight’s balloon wasn’t exactly renown for its high speed, so the journey took a while. As the guests in the balloon got into positions more comfortable for them, only Inhio was tall enough to see over the edge of the balloon while still sitting. As soon as the man whistled, they knew it was time to get up. Despite it not being a loud whistle with a sole purpose of waking the ponies up, but rather one of those that someone usually makes when seeing something breathtaking, it still got the job done. In all of Equestria, there probably wasn’t a single soul alive that wouldn’t say that Cloudsdale isn’t an amazing sight for someone seeing it for the first time in their lives.

The balloon circled around the city in the sky, slowly enough for everyone to have a good look at all of its features. Inhio might not have been able to get out of the balloon and walk inside the cloud and weather factories, but the amount of sights to see around here, aside from those, was still no small number. No doubt, the thought of being able to walk on clouds did seem quite appealing to Inhio. He inspected every cloud, pillar and rainbow with great interest. To him, it almost seemed wrong to call this place a city in the sky, because it seemed more like this place actually made the sky itself, as though this was the center of the sky in this realm, and the sky itself was the city around it. The way it merged with the sky, the way its floors were made of nothing but pure clouds that somehow stuck together without moving an inch, and the way it still had massive pillars sticking out everywhere, while at the same time, any wingless pony to set hoof on one of the platforms underneath them would fall through its floors.

Even the ponies that had already been here before were still thrilled about the chance to be here again, even if it was only as a view from the balloon. Cloudsdale – the city in the sky, the palace of clouds and the city of dreams for anyone not from Equestria, truly a sight that could just about give a reason to live for to anyone. Sadly, by the time the balloon had landed and everyone had stepped out of it, Inhio’s face was still lacking a smile.

"Ugh!” Rainbow Dash slumped to the ground, fairly unsatisfied about the outcome. "I give up.” It didn’t seem like she was in need of cheering up, because she wasn’t really sad, she was simply exhausted, and out of moves and ideas on how to possibly cheer someone else up. A few more moments and someone would have said something to try and cheer her up, if she hadn’t said something herself, "Can we just keep this thing going? I bet Pinkie’s dying to get her turn.”

It was quite clear that Rainbow Dash had simply given it her all and had simply accepted the fact that bringing joy back to Inhio’s life was a task above her degree of skills. No pony dared to say anything about her just giving up like that, because none of them expected anything more from her. "Don’t blame yourself, Rainbow Dash.” No pony dared say anything, but a certain man sure did. "I went on for eight long years without a single smile, so you can only imagine the true difficulty of the task you and your friends are to carry out.”

"Eight years...” Rainbow Dash quietly whispered. "Hey, Pinkie Pie! You hear that? You’ve got your work cut out for you!” she shouted out to one of her friends.

Pinkie didn’t seem worried at all. She just kept on happily skipping in one place. "That’s eight years without a good party!” She giggled.