“Well, it's been real,” Rainbow Dash said as she stood on the east edge of town. “But I gotta level with you guys. You're starting to creep me the heck out.”
A throng of several dozen young ponies chuckled until their cheeks were red. At the front of the crowd stood several familiar faces. Cherrymane, Brisk Run, and Grassy Fields smiled in the morning light.
“Enjoy Emeraldine while you can,” Cherrymane remarked. “Once you hit Darkstine, it's nothing but gray skies.”
“I've done gray skies before,” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk. “I like to kick it back to blue.”
“I have no doubt you could do just that.” Cherrymane winked. “If you make it beyond the canyon, try putting your hooves someplace nopony has before. Goddess, that has to be the coolest feeling in the world.”
“Been there, done that,” Rainbow Dash replied. “But there's nothing stopping me from doing it again.”
“Heheh...” Brisk Run smiled. “What's my hoofball team going to do without you?”
“A lot of roof painting, I'd say.”
Several Ridgesiders laughed merrily.
“In all seriousness, though...” Rainbow Dash trotted over and planted a hoof on his shoulder. “Practice makes perfect. Try kicking the ball around and bundling wheat a little less. I mean—heck—you ponies seem to have enough time on their hands!”
“Yeah, well, not all of us can afford to do such awesome things with our time.”
“And that kind of an attitude is why they don't call you 'Best Run,'” Rainbow Dash said with a wink. She paced past several chuckling ponies until she stood before a muscular stallion. “Go on. I know you're dying to say something.”
“Erm...” He fidgeted, his cheeks flushed. “Good luck, Miss Dash. You... You think you might come back to visit us sometime?”
“Sorry, handsome. Lightning strikes only once, especially when it's attached to me.” She grinned. “And before you ask—no—I don't have a sister.”
Several other colts laughed and patted Grassy's embarassed neck.
“Cheer up, emoquine.” Rainbow Dash smacked his chin up with her tail and shuffled past. “You'll make tons of little, beefcake hoofballers someday.”
Mayor Evergreen stood patiently, smiling as Rainbow Dash approached. “If only I could live so long to see another one of your kind grace our humble township.”
“Sister, you'd have to be an alicorn.” As more villagers snickered, Rainbow Dash reached a blue hoof forward. “Thanks for the welcome, the food, the dance hall—”
The Mayor held her hoof in mid-shake. “Remember to stop by the Chamber of Representatives in Verdestone.”
“I'm looking for a dude named Steeltooth, right?”
“SteelTEETH,” Evergreen emphasized. “Show him the scroll, and he'll help you with properly crossing the lengths of Darkstine to the east.”
“This is all so swell, y'know,” Rainbow Dash in a quiet voice between them. “Like, seriously. I owe you ponies a lot.”
“We just hope that you make it to your destination in a timely manner.”
“Yeah, well...” Rainbow Dash smiled calmly, dug at the ground, and murmured. “I just hope I make it there, period.”
Evergreen blinked at that.
“Alright, Ridgesiders!” Rainbow Dash bellowed as she lifted up in a bright display of her billowing mane. “Live long and chug cider! I've got more dance halls to claim!” She spun several circles in the air, caught the sunlight in the glint of her pendant, and flew off sideways with a waving hoof. “Stay frosty, everypony! Peace!”
Several equines shouted and cheered. Cherrymane, Brisk Run, and Grassy Fields smiled in unison. Evergreen quietly waved a delicate hoof.
All of their happy images vanished in a blur as Rainbow Dash faced east, burning against the wind. “Well...” She took a heavy breath, slid the goggles over her ruby eyes, and smiled sweetly to herself. “It doesn't get much better than this.”
And she left.
“And before you ask—no—I don't have a sister.”
Rainbow Dash is the queen of snark.
What, is there some mystical artifact at the end of the world that can fix whatever happened to Equestria?
Is it a GECK? Did a whole bunch of nukes blow up Ponyville or something? QUESTIONS!
Maybe the princesses have the more powerful version of the Omega 13 at the Midnight Armory? One that's adjustable? (maybe it'd be called the ΩΔ ?) no idea if being able to turn back the clock would actually help, but since I'm WAGing...
I marathoned the whole story in a single afternoon. This is absolutely beautiful. Here's my like and my fav.
I bet if she wanted to, she'd head east until she went back to Equestria. Nice short arc, good to see some of Dash interacting with the locals.
Should be your hooves, not "their hands."
Anywho, that was a nice wrap-up to this little arc. Looking forward to the next arc! dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Rainbow_dealwithit.png
IIIIIt's Dashie's Fourth Marathon Evaluation Time!
So with this chapter, we wrap up the nice little Ridgeside sub-arc. It was nice, I guess, to see Dash get a little break. But that means that something big and bad is going to happen soon. I get the feeling that Verdestone won't be nearly as welcoming as Ridgeside...These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. Three left! I'm awesome at this!
Damn, that's all for tonight, folks.
See yah tomorrow night!!
"Live long and chug cider"?
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*slow nod*
Ah, yes, the part of the story where Rainbow Dash has something in her eye.
Seriously, all the winking is incredibly distracting.
Another arc done. Gosh ou guys, doesn't it feel great to be in this journey together?!?!?
I'd love to read more, but I have a Choir concert to sing in. Peace out y'all!
Bye Ridgeside, you were a nice little stop, but we must continue with the main sub-plot of Emeraldine. Can't wait to see more!
Live long and chug cider. This is how you live long and prosperous.
Ridgeside was great! But now it's gone Time to meet Steelteeth.
And a bit further still. It does seem a little over the top for these ponies to go the "Dash Hall" route for a mare they've known for about ten seconds (relatively speaking) but I'll roll with it. Mind you, I have to say that, much as I like Rainbow, it's starting to become just a tad annoying that she's succeeding at just about everything. Sporting contests, sure, but every time she finds a monster it seems like it's whack-kick-done-bye. I hope there's an underlying reason for this.
Well the past ten chapters certainly had a point.
That was a nice interlude. A bit of a breathe of fresh air.
If their borders are open like that, then it would become a bit strange if ponies don't keep some amount of minor red herring myths about the past, only widely tell Hurricane story. They probably do have some other stories they tell each other, societies work that way..
Maybe myths are prohibited to be false in magical worlds. Like with Daring Do.
Hopefully they'll have something to tell to their next passengers because of Rainbow.
your hooves
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Actually that'd be Twilight Sparkle, but Rainbow Dash is a close second. Third if you count Spike.
I bet she's crying under those goggles.
02/26/2017 00:47 UTC
I'm pretty sure he's back in Cloudsdale.
Oh, I bet you have.
Ponies have hands?!
Well, I'll be danged. Looks like picturesque little villages can just be happy, and we can all just stop jumping to conclusions.
I want to make a comment on something said in this chapter, but it a spoiler for a few books forward.
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Yes, but no more than 14 of them, otherwise they'd be horses.