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The sun hadn’t even broken over the clouds when Rainbow Dash walked into her kitchen, wings drooped down behind her. The tired pony made her way across the kitchen, grabbing an energy drink from her fridge before heading to her balcony. She chugged the drink down, crushing the can under her hoof and tossed it in the trash on her way outside. Rainbow smiled at the pink and yellow coneflowers lining her balcony and lifted her wing to brush against one of the plants. Its lovely pink hue faded to a dull, brown-ish color, only having the hint of pinks and greens it had a few moments before. Rainbow relished in the energy surging through wing tips, and spread her feathers, with a great burst of power, she shot into the sky.
The wind catches her brightly colored mane, whipping the yellows, oranges, and reds in and out of her face. She loved the buzzing beneath her feathers and the pounding in her heart, body, and ears she felt every time she flew. She loved the rush of energy, the steady stream of magic the wind supplied her. Rainbow Dash tilted her wings to curve off to the right, weaving in and around the solid clouds of her home. She flew up and past the shower of rainbow that sprayed out of the very top of her roof, which came to pool on the bottom floor.
A mix of blue and rainbow shot up and up as Rainbow flew farther from her home. Then, once she had reached the highest clouds in the sky, she let her wings drop and titled her head back. Her body followed, flipping her head first plummeting towards the ground, letting gravity take her as fast as it wanted. As she neared the lowest clouds available, she turned her body and spread her wings, catching an updraft as she soared towards Ponyville.
She slowed to a stop when she found herself standing in front of Ponyville gym. Pushing the door open, Rainbow grabbed a water bottle on her way to a mat in the center of the facility. She began easy and slow, pulling her front legs to her chest, feeling the muscles in her shoulder pull taut, then relaxing. After repeating the exercise on each leg, she moved on to pushing her hoof as far in front of her as possible, feeling muscles along the bottom of her leg stretching before doing the opposite and pushing her front hoof as far back as possible.
After repeating the exercise on her back legs, she turned her focus to her back and neck. Rainbow alternated between raising and arching her back then she stretched her neck by reaching her head around to touch her hindquarters. She leaned into the pain, then relief after a knot in her neck had formed the night before. She finished her stretching by going into the downward dog position, stretching the muscles along her entire body.
Today was cardio day, so Dash grabbed her water bottle then turned to go into the back portion of the gym, where a large corral lay. Setting her water bottle on a small table outside the pen she began her warmup. Reluctantly, she listened to Twilight’s advice, walking a few laps around the pen before beginning her true warmup. A part of her liked the quiet, peacefulness of the stretch, but none of her liked this boring walk around the pen, but Twilight promised something about better breathing and more running, Rainbow wasn’t really listening.
Dash was sure the corral had doubled in size when she finally finished her second lap around the ring, but she survived and moved on to her real warmup. She broke into a trot, taking advantage of the empty corral and doing figure-8’s in the center. Then she broke into a canter, going clockwise for a few laps, then switching directions. Before starting the core of her workout, she took note of the time from a large clock with black hands on a white face, 6:20 am. She broke into a sprint, galloping as hard as she could, checking the clock each lap she finished. At 6:30, she fell into a walk, taking the next 15 minutes to catch her breath. She repeated this a few times before turning her attention to the sky.
Continuing her cardio, she rose high into the sky, flapping as hard as she could. She pushed farther and farther, feeling her chest seize and wings burn. Only drawing energy from the wind to create the very minimum magic she needed to soar. Finally, she dropped and let her body fall, catching her breath as she did. As she had earlier in the morning, right before she hit the ground, she spread her wings, catching air, then repeated the process.
Rainbow stopped when Celestia had raised the sun to full view. Taking an easy flight back to the corral, she focused on deep breaths, grabbed her things, and headed out for the day. It was still early in the morning, so the only ponies out were those going to work or opening up shop.
Dash took her time heading back to her house, relishing in the wind in her feathers, the sun on her back, and the pure joy of flying. Once home, she took a quick shower and made a quick breakfast of an oat protein smoothie. Refreshed and ready for work, she grabbed her satchel, mp3 player, a fresh battery, her old batteries, and her headphones before leaving. Rainbow spent the rest of the day cloud busting. The farmers had asked Cloudsdale to provide extra sunlight for this week, so a clear sky was scheduled.
Although she had a little appreciation for the delicate work required in arranging the clouds for a cloudy or rainy day, Rainbow much preferred the speed and aggression a clear sky required. Rainbow’s day was shorter, another benefit to the clear skies scheduled for this week, so in her time off she flew Fluttershy’s.
Rainbow had promised Fluttershy she would help her carry some rehabilitated bunnies to be released on the edge of the Ponyville. She knocked twice on Fluttershy’s door before yellow fur filled the doorway. “Rainbow! I’m so glad you came to help me!”
Dash laughed before responding, “Of course Fluttershy, I said I’d be here didn’t I?”
Fluttershy stepped back to let Rainbow see the kennels she had prepared, holding 2 little rabbits each; 3 gray, 1 white, and 2 black. Rainbow Dash grabbed two, “Well, lead the way.”
The pair were flying over Ponyville when Fluttershy asked, with a bright smile, “So how was cloudbusting today, I see you did a good job today, not a cloud in the sky.”
“It was good. Clear skies are scheduled for the rest of this week, and you know how I feel about that,” Rainbow responded with a grin. “So whatever happened to these critters?”
“Oh, their mom got sick, so I had to bottle feed the litter. But they don’t need to stay with me full time, so to the meadow they go!”
Dash looked down at the carriers she held and smiled.
The two ponies landed in a meadow on the outskirts of Ponyville and set the two carriers down. Rainbow Dash stepped back to let Fluttershy release them. In a soft, gentle voice, “Okay little ones, we’re here now.” She opened the door to the kennels, then one little pink nose appeared, quivering while taking in all the scents.
The ears came next, then head, body, long back legs, and finally one fuzzy tail. Rainbow watched the bunnies explore their new environment, waiting for Fluttershy’s cue. When the rabbits had fully gone out of sight, Fluttershy broke the silence, “Okay, we can take these back now.”
By now the sun was showing the time as around 5:00 pm. Rainbow knew she had a few errands to run before finishing up the day, so after dropping the kennels off at her cottage she bid Fluttershy a farewell. She took a train to Canterlote, settling in the seat with a Daring Do book in her lap. Before she knew it, the train screeched to a stop, the director announcing, “Canterlote, West Avenue!”
Getting up, she stretched her wings, then tucked the book into her satchel, before making her way into the Canterlote crowd. In the underground train station, she couldn’t fly to get over the crowd of ponies. So she plugged in her headphones and tried not to get frustrated with the slow pace. As soon as she reached the sky, she lifted off, pulled out one earphone so she could easily hear, and headed towards the grocery store.
In the grocery store, Rainbow restocked on energy drinks, protein smoothies and grabbed what she would need for meals for the next week. Like in the train station, her inability to fly along with the slow movement of the crowd made her want to scream. Finally she got to the cash register, paid for her items, then headed back towards the train station.
She made a pit stop at an Aero Shop, picking up some new batteries and exchanged her old ones. With the last errand out of the way and the sun inching closer to the horizon, she hurried to the train station, her mind set on making dinner, finishing her Daring Do book, then getting a good night’s sleep.
With her chores done and errands out of the way, Rainbow focused on making a dinner of cacti and alfalfa. After eating, she snuggled into her cloud bed and comfy blankets. Right when she flipped the last page of her book, she saw the sun slip below her cloud sanctuary.