The day that I died was one I won't forget.

Actually, you can't really forget your death.

It just sort of haunts you, while you linger on.

All the things you did wrong, or could have done better. The races I could have won. The friends I could have made.

I could've been a Wonderbolt!

But that's changed now.

Scootaloo is in my hooves now. I was her mentor.

I wonder how Applejack and Applebloom are.

And if Fluttershy is still so scared of everything.

But I can't go back to Ponyville.

It was the middle of the day. Applejack had been out harvesting apples, as usual. I was laying on a cloud. Everypony was busy, doing their normal routine. Even Pinkie Pie was busy at the Cupcake corner.

Not that I cared. I had stuff to do. I needed to race, and stretch out my wings. I couldn't just bum around.

So I dove off the cloud. I felt my wings unfold, and the wind catch each feather. I gave them a hard pull, and the wind acted like if you belly-flopped into a pool. I pulled back from my fall against the wind, and slapped the air once more with my wings. I began to rise upward, past my cloud.

I swerved back and fourth, darting high above Ponyville. After a few hours of pulls, drops, spirals and swan dives, I fell back upon a large meadow. My hooves touched ground and I retracted my wings to my sides, and set about trotting for Applejack's farm.

"AJ!" I called, flipping my bangs to the side of my muzzle. "AJ, where'd you go?"

"O'er here, Rainbow." I heard her accent, thickly coating each word. I walked over to her.

"Where's the others? Are you really all busy? It's the middle of the day, let's go do something!" I groaned, stretching out my wings. "C'mon AJ!"

"I've got work to do. A storm's comin, and I don't want these apples to go to waste. You can do for just a little while on your own, can't ya?" She turned from the tree she was about to buck. An apologetic look was swept upon her face.

"Ugh." I turned tail and started to walk back to the meadow I just landed in. "So boring!"

"Wait!" Applejack trotted after me. "I 'spose... I could do ya one race. But that's it."

"A race?" My ears pricked. I turned, and stopped walking. She came up to my side.

"Darn right. No flyin', just a good ol' race through the meadow, around the farm, and back here. I could have Granny keep watch, to see who wins." She smiled.

"You're so going down!" I yelled at her, smirking wide.

"Nows, just a minute. I have to go wake the old pony up." Applejack sprinted across the field to go talk to Granny. I stretched out, digging my hooves into the moist grass.

"Speed, Rainbow, speed!" I said to myself, darting from side to side. "Come on, you can win. You know it!" I watched as AJ came back, and trotted to my side. Her hat sat atop her blonde mane.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Set!" I yelled, tipping my chin down and placing my rear end in the air.

"GO!" We both screamed, and charged through the meadow.

My hooves slipped on the slick grass. AJ was accustom to this terrain, plus home field advantage. I snorted and picked myself up, and charged after her.

My mane flowed behind me, and I started to catch up with her. We rounded the bend of the meadow, and our hooves hit dry dirt. We were on the edge of Ponyville, which happened to be a desert. The heat didn't bother me, and now that I had a fairly stable ground to run on, I could easily pick up speed after her.

Applejack slid to a stop right as she was about to collide with a cactus, and spun around it. I managed to pass her on her delay, and sped forward, cheering victory.

Everypony knew of the train tracks that ran along the edge of the desert where grass and sand met. I sped alongside them, watching Applejack desperately try to catch up. Her hooves dug deeply into the sand, which threw her off balance as she ran.

I jumped onto the train tracks. It was hard to remember to keep my wings plastered at my sides. I knew if I could just unfold them, I'd be back at the farm in no time.

That's when Applejack started to yell.

"No use AJ!" I laughed. "You're gonna lose!"

I turned my head to try and spot her, the tracks keeping me running forward.

But I didn't see Applejack.

I saw the front end of a train.

And that train was too close.

I felt it's hot metal collide with my side, knocking me off my hooves. I screamed, and slid limply off the side of the front of the train. It's front wheels clipped my hooves, sending me into the sand, inches from the roaring steel.

Pain shot through me. I could see my blood pooling around my hooves, from my side where the skin had broken and split. I could feel my broken ribs digging into my stomach, and causing me to cough.

I couldn't run. I tried to unfold my wings but they had been damaged beyond repair.

I had been damaged beyond repair.

I heard Applejack screaming, and the sound of her hooves colliding with the sand. If only she could run that fast in our race, she might have won.

I blinked up at her as she skidded to a halt.

"I... I won, Aj..." I choked out, laughing lightly.

"Oh Rainbow-" She fell to my side, glistening tears dripping off her muzzle.

I rested my head against the blood-caked sand. And closed my eyes.

"T-Tell the Wonderbolts... I owe them..."

And then, I fell asleep.

Maybe, I shouldn't have quite challenged her to a race. Maybe I should have just slept on my cloud, instead of the sand.

There's so many maybes I should have changed.

It's hard, because, there's always a perfect answer to everything, but we never find that answer until it's too late.

I'm sorry, Applejack.