I gave a sigh as I stared down. I was so high up, I could barely see the ground. I took another sip of the bottle of whiskey I had flown up here with. I gave a smile as I felt the warm feeling of the alcohol flow over me. I shivered from the coldness. I flapped my wings to get the ice off of them.
I groaned as I threw the empty whiskey bottle off my cloud and I watched it disappear. I didn't care if it hit somepony, I wasn't gonna be alive much longer to suffer the consequences. All I wanted to be was a Wonderbolt. To be the best at everything, because that's all I've ever know. My mane smacked me in the face and I brushed it aside with a hoof.
My parents ingrained that into me at a young age. They always told me I was destined to bring honor to the family name and instead of that, I brought shame. They threw me out when I went home after getting kicked out. I breathed out and watched my breath form in front of my muzzle. A small dusting of snow covered my fur and I shook it off. Cloudsdale was doing a damn good job of making my life miserable this winter. I had always loved the snow, but being up seven thousand feet made me see why some ponies hated it. It was dusk and the sun was setting. I always did enjoy the sunsets.
"Well, nows better than ever to get this over with," I slurred out. Sighing, I took a step forward off my cloud and tumbled to the ground. I folded my wings against my body to increase my speed. My eyes started to sting from the speed I was hurtling towards the ground at. I started to get dizzy. I was on the brink of losing consciousness and the ground seemed closer when a pair of hooves grabbed me.
"Woah!" A pale golden pegasus grunted as she pulled me up into the air. "That was a close one! You could have died, girl!"
"Why?" I managed to ask as I lost consciousness.
I woke up on a red couch and sighed, looking around. My head was pounding and my wings hurt.
"Huh, I guess this is a weird environment to be dead in. I always thought I'd end up in Tartarus or the Fields of Asphodel. Or maybe I'm a ghost," I mused as I slammed my hoof into my face expecting it go right through. It unfortunately did not. "Ow!" I gazed into a mirror and shivered at how I looked. My mane was a mess and my eyes were bloodshot. "If I'm not in Tartarus or the Fields of Asphodel and if I'm not a ghost, then what am I?" I heard trotting and humming in the kitchen. The same light golden coated pegasus stepped inside and I got my first good look at her. She had a red mane and tail with a cutiemark of strawberries next to to a grape.
"Oh, good. You're awake," she said cheerfully as she slid a plate with toast on it in front of me on the coffee table. "Eat." I glared at her.
"Where the hell am I?" I demanded and she rolled her eyes.
"My house. Duh," she replied.
"Okay, better question. Why am I here?" The mare facehoofed.
"Because you almost died last night. You forgot how to fly or something and almost hit town hall at terminal velocity." White hot rage filled me. How dare this mare stop me. Ending my life is my decision. Why should she decide I get to live? My life is hell already.
"I didn't forget how to fly, thank you very much," I growled.
"Then why did you not fly when you were falling?" The mare retorted. I gotta give her a hoof, I was giving her all my attitude and she was taking it without a care in the world. Hell, she was returning the attitude. I didn't want her to know I failed at killing myself. I was already a failure for getting kicked out of the academy.
"I don't know," I lied. "Just sorta happened, I guess."
"Well, maybe you should refrain from flying if you black out often. Unexperienced flyers aren't safe," the mare chided and I tried to not explode.
"I am not inexperienced," I finally said once I reined my anger in.
"Sure you aren't," the pegasus replied dryly. Once again, I tried to rein my anger in. I tossed the blanket off me and sat up. The pegasus walked over and picked up the blanket, folding and setting it on the end of the couch.
"Where am I?" I asked as I finally took a bite of the toast. I could taste strawberries on it and eyed it closer. How I missed the strawberry jelly, I'll never know.
"I told you already. You're at my house." I sighed and looked at the pegasus sitting next to me.
"I know that. I meant what town. If there's a house, there's a town," I pointed out.
"Ponyville. You're in Ponyville." Why did that name sound familiar? I racked my name and came up with nothing. I swear I've heard it before.
"Oh okay. And who are you exactly?" I asked.
"I forgot, we never exchanged names. I'm Strawberry Sunrise and you are?" She smiled at me.
"Lightning Dust." I didn't expect her to smile at me, that was the first time she did that this entire conversation. That I'm aware of at least, my head is kinda fuzzy. Probably from the alcohol I drank.
"Well, Lightning Dust it's nice to meet you," she held out her hoof and I cautiously held mine out. We quickly shook hooves and I pulled mine back to me. "Do you like the toast?"
"Yeah. The jelly is the best part," I grudgingly admitted. I hated asking for help or admitting others were better than me. Strawberry's eyes lit up.
"Thank you. I make it myself from the produce I sell," she proudly announced. I internally groaned. No wonder she was better than me, she did this for a living.
"It's good," I admitted.
"Thank you." I glanced around again.
"How long am I gonna stay here?" I asked her and she sighed.
"However long you wanted. I could use help at the stand, in the fields. It's kinda nice having a pony in the house. It's typically just me."
"I can relate to that. It's been just me for a bit now too," I sighed. "I guess I can stick around for a bit." She stood up and picked up my plate with her mouth. She quickly carried it to the kitchen. She tossed it gently into the sink and looked back at me.
"Sounds good. You can have the spare room upstairs to the left." A bed did sound better than the couch. My back hurt a bit from sleeping wrong. I trotted up the stairs and poked my head in the room. Why she left me on the couch, I'll never know. I closed the door and flopped onto the bed. My pride was screaming at me to flee, but another part was telling me to stay and that I owed her for me not dying.
"This might not be so bad," I mused to myself as I felt myself drifting off to sleep once more.
