When the Rain Comes Again
On the final dive, Rainbow Dash swung her wings as hard as she could, thrusting herself at the ground like a blue bullet. The air whipped between and over her feathers, sweeping gently over her deep skin. At the last possible moment, she flared her wings outward. As her direction changed, her hoof scraped the blades of grass below. Water splashed up from under, coating her belly in a cool coat of dew.
Gliding, she let her hooves skid, slowing to a halt. Her nose burned, her mouth hung open, catching her breath. Turning her magenta eyes upwards, she looked to the sky, masked in darkness by a blanket of storm clouds. With a deep breath, she let herself relax, and with such her mind wandered.
'Ponyville's all going to find shelter from the rain.'
She felt a ping inside her, something inside stung at her prediction, screamed for attention. She searched her heart, looking deep for what troubled her. Ponies could get sick in the rain, or get lost. Why wouldn't a pony go indoors?
A cold drop floated down her mane, hanging down from a single thread of hair. Another struck her back. Then, a wing. The mare slowed her breathing down, focusing on the sensation. Each drop felt as though it was sinking into her, beyond the fur, deep into her muscles. Each droplet untangling a knot she had never before noticed, each droplet soothing her muscles, each droplet of rain, a natural massage.
Rainbow sighed, looking towards the sky. She felt her body continue to calm, the adrenaline finally losing the remainder of its effect on her. A calm spirit swept to the surface, Dash no longer felt need to uphold her personality, a mere distraction, and so her persona was neatly folded, and set aside deep in her mind.
A thousand drops of rain poppled around Rainbow. The sound memorized her, for reasons she fully understand herself, but beyond caring was she. Taking curiosity by the hoof, Rainbow let it lead her deeper into this state. The rain wasn't merely a poppling, but a thousand individual sounds. She isolated them, focusing on the vibrations of each single raindrop. She could hear water flopping into the dirt, pattering onto leaves, clicking onto branches, each individual sound voices in a heavenly choir.
A desire to experience the rain further tickled her thoughts. Raising her head, eyes fluttering closed, Rainbow held out her tongue, letting the water run into her mouth. The taste was despicable to Rainbow, the dirt washing down her throat, but for seemingly no reason, she felt hesitant to stop. That maybe one single drop would be the most wonderful thing she had ever experienced.
Like so, she remained for seemed hours. Simply drinking in the rain, and listening to the many voices of the rain. Alone like this, all restrictions, all hesitance, all negative emotions seem obsolete. This was, at the very skeleton, what life was meant to be. For reasons she couldn't imagine, Rainbow didn't want to leave.
But, in time, her neck grew tired, and her body began to grow cold. Rainbow needed to move.
Dropping her head, with a relieved sigh, she flared her wings. The rain took off outwards, taking flight to her sides. Quickly, new drops filed in to take their place. With this sensation between her feathers, she hesitated, the feeling made her reconsider her decision.
Rainbow let her thoughts flow freely, not in the form of words, but in her emotions. She felt no desire to fly. The urges to fly home seemed to have, for once, vacated from her conscience. In any other situation, Rainbow would fear that she was losing direction in life. But now, filled with these strange, wonderful feelings, she felt as though nothing else mattered. As long as this, these very circumstances, the rain, the trees, the beauty, as long as these things remained, than nothing she could ever accomplish would compare.
So, she walked.
Forward her hoof slashed into the mud, the cold feeling wrapping up her leg. Catching her balance, another leg stepped forward. Then another, then another. Soon, she was walking in the wet trails. Careless, and happy.
She looked to her sides, studying the forestry. Thick trees, dense fields of grass, flowers, and bushes. The smell of wild pine filled her nose, stirred heavenly alive by the moisture. Accompanied by the dusty smell of the rain, she smiled wide.
The natural artistry enlightened Rainbow, she now realized that these were not mere trees, not mere bushes. These were a hundred tiny leaves, stretching from a hundred tiny roots. These were not single things, but many smaller pieces, working together to set up a beautiful, and often overlooked portrait. Rainbow wondered how something so beautiful could ever come to exist. Even of the wisest, nopony would ever create something quite so perfect as this moment.
A land untouched by ponykind, left alone to flourish its appearance to ponies such as herself, yet for so few to ever truly pay due attention to.
Her hooves slapped through the mud, leading her down the trail. After a short ways walking, wooden rails lay beyond the thick rain cover. She knew that soon, she would be back in Ponyville. Then, she might return home. But only then.
'What's got me all worked up? How have I never seen this before?' Rainbow pondered. 'I don't think I've ever found anything this beautiful, before.'
As her thoughts began to return to her, the rain seemed to slow. She noticed it instantly, the pittering and pattering lost speed, coming to a near halt in minutes. She sighed, this gift of hers wound soon come to an end.
'I hope,' Rainbow thought, 'I hope this wasn't my only chance. I hope that every storm that I ever see will be just. Like. This.'
The rain crawled, the sky cleared. Now, ahead, Ponyville was becoming clear. No longer masked by a blanket of the beautiful fluid.
Rainbow cleared the trail, mud became concrete, the sweet scent of pine became the familiar smell of baked goods. She, again, was home. And it was time for her to say goodbye.
Stopping, she felt a tickling up her spine. She turned partially, looking behind her.
Towering beyond, over the thick layer of leaves, looking down from high above, was a majestic ark, vibrant colors alternated down its magnificent appearance. Upon a damp gray, arose a beautiful neon Rainbow.
Dash felt as though she was standing before the most powerful of royalty, she gawked at its spectacular display.
"Rainbow Dash!" A familiar alicorn called.
Dash turned her head slowly, her eyes frozen until the very last moment.
"Rainbow, were you in the woods?" Twilight asked curiously, trotting up to Rainbow.
"Yeah," Rainbow started, "Twilight, look!" She pointed a hoof at the Rainbow, snapping her head towards it, she let her eyes linger on her friend.
Twilight's head turned up, looking to the skies. She held eyes lacked depth, that still failed to experience what was before them. Her friend's eyes saw a rainbow, nothing more.
"I see it now, very pretty." She grinned.
"Yeah, it is." Rainbow's head turned back to the display, disappointed that this was not an experience she would share with her friend.
Maybe one day, maybe soon, maybe long from now, Twilight would find herself in the woods. Perhaps on her way to Zecora's house. And maybe, a drop of rain would trickle into view, hanging from a single strain of hair. Maybe, another would land on her back. Then, another would tickle her wing. Maybe, one day Twilight would take the long walk home.
