The first hints of morning sunlight beamed through the windows of Rainbow Dash’s Cloudsdale abode. The pegasus was usually awake and hustling for weekday weather duty, but the weekends were always welcomed as a time to sleep unrestricted.
Rainbow was a heavy sleeper, but for some reason this particular dawn awoke her quite easily. Reluctantly submitting to the morning light’s call, the cyan mare opened her eyes and frowned, not happy to be awake early on a weekend. However, after a glimpse of the dim rays of light shining through her window, Rainbow admitted to herself that it might be nice to try and catch sight of the sunrise. It had never occurred to her to ever do something of the sort…it seemed like such a dreary way to spend a morning. However, Rainbow had heard several stories from her friends describing their experiences watching the sun rise and set, and how beautiful was to see on a clear morning, but thought nothing of it.
How awesome can it be to just watch Celestia raise and lower the sun? It happens twice every day…
Dash heaved herself out of her bed and sluggishly walked over to the window to pull the curtains aside, letting the dim morning light chase away the darkness of her bedroom. The sunlight graced over upon her face and mane, its warm sensation coursing through her body. Surprisingly enjoying the comforting feeling, Rainbow smiled and cracked open the window. Gusts of wind danced through the air into her room, bringing with them the crisp scent of the young autumn season. The sight of every power of nature coming together so mystically was amazing…the sunlight warming her body, the silence of the weekend morning, the welcoming breeze that seemed to speak calming words, and the resulting serenity of her mind formed a supernatural feeling that would be hard for Dash to describe to anypony else. The closest word she could think of was magical.
Gazing out the window, the sky of Equestria seemed to stretch on forever above the trees and grassy plains of the ground below that were waving in a timid breeze. The sun was only just peeking above the horizon, its’ growing light slowly painting the dark verdure below a warm coat of light orange. Never before had Rainbow seen Equestria this way, now desiring to join in the painting of the morning fresco. She loved being surrounded and immersed – her mind, body, and spirit all feeling one with nature. Rainbow Dash felt called to join in the coloring of the day. Without any preparation or hesitation, Dash opened her wings and pushed off the ground out the window, quickly descending towards the open fields below. It felt somewhat unusual to her, but she was going to take a walk amongst the fields and flowers below. Just a walk.
The brown autumn grass under Rainbow’s hooves was gentle as she made to a controlled landing into an open glade. The clearing was a short distance away from a small grouping of trees that had already been decorated with orange and amber leaves, a sign of the autumn’s early activity. An expansive stretch of much taller hills in the distance surrounding the glade provided seclusion and security from the rest of Equestria beyond, as if the clearing was a slice of another world untouched by ponies, and Rainbow herself was the pioneer.
Rainbow began to slowly traverse the new land she had discovered, each hoofstep releasing hundreds of tiny pieces of fragile grass to the air and sunlight behind her - like a forest spirit’s light and magical movements. Dash could hear dozens of animals and insects, each a different instrument in the orchestra of life in the glade. Dash hadn’t ever been able to appreciate the awesomeness of just being out in nature! A deep breath of the pure, unsoiled air chilled the pegasus’ body briefly before being warmed again by the morning sun. Dash smiled again. She could stay forever.
What is this place?
Rainbow Dash wasn’t a very thoughtful or reflective mare, and she could care less about Twilight’s insistence on the “importance of knowledge.” Dash had never thought to herself extensively about her stresses, or even just taken time to sit quietly – but somehow she felt a complete change in mindset that made her want to open up to herself, find something to be grateful for, and most importantly calm herself of any stressful smudges tainting her mind.
Of course Dash’s first thoughts drifted to her friends. It was unavoidable – she saw them every day…and loved every moment with them. She had been friends with other ponies (and Griffons) before she met Twilight and the others, but things weren’t the same. Before, all Dash wanted to do was win. She strived for it…lived for it…in fact her cutie mark even came from winning. But her desire for winning brought her vast amounts of pride and stubbornness that she had difficulty overcoming – and probably contributed to the transience of her friendships in flight school.
Dash remembered graduating flight school with no friends at all, and the only ponies she talked to were her coworkers on the weather team. She hadn’t ever told anypony about it, mostly because things had gotten so much better when she met her best friends, but also because she hated those kind of touchy topics.
But she had started again…and meeting Twilight Sparkle was one of the best things to ever happen in her life. It led to not five, but six friends – Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, and herself. Her friends had taught Dash so much about herself…she couldn’t even imagine what her life would be like without that knowledge. Without Twilight’s intelligent advice, she would have made several reckless decisions on her own. Fluttershy’s kindness taught Rainbow to look past her self-interest and care more about the feelings and emotions of the ponies around her. Pinkie Pie’s optimism rubbed off on Rainbow as well, leading to less instances of lashing out towards other ponies around her when some inconvenience arose. Battling with Applejack over the “most daring pony” title in several events over the past few years gave Rainbow a lesson in sportsponyship and respect for her opponents…in all types of competitions – large and small. Rarity had talked to her many times about controlling her sometimes overly excited emotions and maintaining a calm mind, which Rainbow had come to appreciate. But one lesson was in common between all of the ponies she now called her friends – embracing emotions.
If somepony who had known her for a long time had been able to look deep into Rainbow’s mind, they would be quite surprised to see the usually reserved and “cool” mare going over her feelings. In fact, Rainbow was somewhat surprised at herself. This was the first time she had ever thought of, much less took time to appreciate something “sappy,” but it gave her a tingly and new feeling of self-knowledge that she never really felt before. It was a unique change, definitely not something she would have expected right out of flight school, but it was truly amazing.
Rainbow Dash was also not aware of the inspirational qualities of nature that she was experiencing during her walk. Working on the weather team for many moons, she knew how powerful nature was. Storms, winds, the sea, the sky…all amazing, but there was another side she had completely missed. Nature can take away all negative thoughts, pain, and stress, and replace them with a feeling of peace nothing could ever imitate.
I’ve lived around Ponyville for so many moons, and I’ve completely missed this…
The mare reached the middle of the glade and, after taking another glance at her surroundings, lay down among the grass. The ground’s warmth warmed her, and the grass tickled her cyan coat. She stared towards the mountains, admiring the amazing landscape of Equestria. Rarely did Rainbow appreciate how awe-inspiring and vibrant her country really was, and how lucky she was to live in a place where she was loved, safe, and could embrace her life goals.
Rainbow was there awhile, and quickly lost track of time. In a brief moment of realization, the mare remembered her plans with her friends that day. She got up from her position and took to the skies, leaving a trail of particles behind her once again. Rainbow flew for a few moments, but turned back before losing a clear sight of the glade. She thought over telling her friends about the discovery, but after careful weighting of the consequences decided to keep the treasure she found to herself. No matter how close your friends are to you, it’s always good to have a place to be completely alone.
After a few minutes of flying, Rainbow began her descend towards Ponyville, where everypony was going about their daily activities. Remembering her friends’ meeting location, she sailed over to Sugarcube Corner, where Twilight and the rest of her close friends were waiting patiently. Their faces lit up, and Dash was greeted with five broad smiles. Dash smiled back and drew each of her friends in for a hug. Although confused at Rainbow’s out-of-character action at first, her friends all returned the hug. The friends separated after a few moments, and each entered the bakeshop…except for Rainbow Dash, who stood outside for a few moments.
With friends like these, how could I ask for more?
