Tempest Tossed

Destruction! That's the stuff! I pull apart
The air itself, my wake a hurricane.
Tornadoes crash and howl within my heart.

A thought begins to bubble, asks my brain,
"Perhaps these vast reactions overstrip?"
Dismissing such concerns, I summon rain.

The skies should weep! The winds should roar and whip!
Clichés should burst and tear the firmament,
Exploring ways to shatter, rend, and rip!

For ways are out there, ways to circumvent
The laws of nature—all my life declares
That statement true—to break or leave them bent.

My sonic rainboom blisters space to ash.
They'll rue the day they messed with Rainbow Dash!

I know my reputation. Blank upstairs,
Uncultured, asinine: a rough disguise
Designed to catch the cosmos unawares.

Observing schoolyard taunts, I thought it wise
To play the boor despite the thoughts that bounced
Around my head. I wrapped them tight in lies.

Intelligence? I kept it unannounced,
Expressed myself in actions, loud and fast,
And thus became a pony never trounced.

With care, I graduated tenth-to-last,
Accepted jobs that lacked an indoor voice,
And hoped my life continued unharrassed—

Until the day I first received her smile
And learned my plans were simply not worthwhile.

Simplicity's the word, but not by choice.
By nature, Applejack displayed a true
Refreshing face. I felt my soul rejoice.

Before, I'd tried dissolving diction's glue,
The grip of erudition, tried to play
The jock, the numbskull. That's the trope I knew.

But Applejack dispensed with all display,
Exposed her honest self without a qualm
And laughed as well to chase the gray away.

Her whole example soothed me, smoothed a balm
Across my gasping psyche, made me see
A path ahead, induced a wave of calm.

Becoming friends? The ease was almost odd.
I grinned and bumped her hoof and felt a fraud.

Adapt her style to make it fit with me;
Maintain bravado, sure, but tone it down;
Engage with other ponies haltingly:

I stretched my definitions, found this town,
This Ponyville, to brim with such delight,
I pushed my fears aside and gained renown.

Whatever good I did—whatever right
And mighty deeds—arose because of her,
Because I grasped and held her gimlet sight.

We pushed to places neither might prefer,
And rivals, tied together flank to flank,
Emerged triumphant, never happier.

Our closeness grew and flowered, more than friends
Until she died. Behold, the idyll ends.