//------------------------------// // Falls - KMCA // Story: Operation Westhorse // by PropMaster //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash was many things. Starting with awesome… but flying across lake big enough to be a small ocean alone was enough to make her bored. So. Dang. Bored. And for once in her life she was loving it. No one chasing her, no one needing her help, no one interrupting her naps… Other than the loud aircraft she was sharing the sky with. They reminded her of the airships she had seen in Gray Smoke except instead of being covered in a layer of soot and grunge seemed as clean as the day they were built. At first nothing more than a green and grey smear on the horizon where the water grew lighter but as she got closer the mouth of a river started making its presence known. On the left was farmland looking much like that of Verdestone. Swooping low over the seawall Rainbow Dash spotted a welcome sign. One welcoming her to Buffalo. Homes tall enough for buffalo but not quite wide enough dotted the area near the shoreline. A city called Buffalo with no buffalo to buffalo? It wasn’t enough to hold her interest for too long, worse yet it seemed just busy enough that she might be drawn into something exciting, something she had decided to avoid for the moment. Crossing the river back to the other side she noticed a fort that seemed to be watching the mouth of the river. She couldn’t help but wonder about what kind of strained relationship the 2 sides must have if they felt the need for a fort. All kinds of farms seemed to exist with more grapes than anything. Several signs at the end of paths to the road were labeled “winery” which probably meant wine…. Or creatures like Rarity on a bad day, whining about everything. Deciding to continue up the river and to avoid everyone Rainbow began to wonder about the lack of boats on the river. It didn’t look very fast or even all that deep but no one seemed to have a boat on it. Looking farther up the route of the river she spotted mist, a sure sign of a waterfall or maybe a series of them with how much mist she was seeing. Deciding that it might be more fun to be surprised Rainbow dropped down low over the water, ignoring warning signs strung on cables over the river stating that ships needed to turn back and that ahead was unsafe. Unsafe for boats perhaps, but not Rainbow Dash. She had faced colossal mountains, vast deserts devoid of magic and skies filled with some of the harshest weather in existence. No way was something like a fast moving river going to be a risk to her. After the river split and seeing more warning signs Rainbow had a moment of concern but chose to brush it off even as she encountered a wrecked ship. Examining the wreck it was obvious that it had been there for some time, trees were growing through a hole in the deck and it was little more than rust on some rocks. Rainbow didn’t even want to let her hooves touch the deck as she was afraid the whole thing would dissolve the second something stronger than a gentle just of wind touched it. Moving from shore to shore again she noticed that the farmlands had been replaced by sparse forest. Sticking more to the left side and its nature but keeping near the river made her feel more comfortable, as if she’d been here often as a foal. Coming around a bend in the river Rainbow could hear the roar of waterfalls, the closer she got the louder it grew until finally it was in sight. It was massive. More water poured over it than all the waterfalls of Canterlot combined. A giant horseshoe shaped waterfall with a surprisingly gentle roar for its size. Or maybe it was just because of the distance the water was falling. Looking down it had to be at least fifteen stories to the bottom. Nothing compared to Canterlot but that was at the top of a mountain, this cut down into a ravine. Just a little further up were another pair of waterfalls. Neither matched the sheer scale of the horseshoe but they were still impressive… Well the one was about the size of one of the larger falls in Canterlot, but compared to the bigger two it was almost a let down. Below her there were boats in the water, they would fight their way to a position where they were surrounded by a semicircle of waterfalls before letting themselves be pushed back. People lined the one side of the waterfall and on the other stood on a ledge overshooting the medium and small falls on the other side. It was a tourist trap. Everywhere she looked she could see parks, casinos and other things designed to part people from their money but everyone seemed happy to do so. It was a sign of harmony that she hadn’t seen since a time she could barely remember. And it warmed her heart. Continuing on she decided to fly a bit more casually, flying between the supports of the viewing platform and under the big bridge before dropping lower to follow the river, the canyon full of nature and no sign of caves. Something she was intensely glad for. As she continued Rainbow saw a suspended tram crossing the gorge and rapids that would have been awesome to go rafting on, even if she wouldn’t admit to herself that they looked a touch too dangerous, even for her. A sharp turn in the river netted her a surprise, a boat full of people in lifejackets roaring up a slight rapid. The engine roaring against the fast moving river, a roar of mechanical determination built by people that wouldn’t take “it can’t be done” for an answer. It appealed to her and reminded her of Roake, it would have probably gotten dismissed as pathetic by the metal mare but deep down Rainbow was certain that Roarke would find it appealing. Rainbow pushed on before melancholy could overwhelm her, the walls of the gorge dropping lower and lower as she pushed on, following the river to it’s end. The sun getting lower in the sky Rainbow Dash decided to continue West along the shoreline. One giant lake was enough, two in one day would be too much and there weren’t enough clouds in the sky for her to reliably find one to spend the night on. She would stop at the first truly interesting sight she found. After resuming her Westward course she came across what looked like another river, only this one had an extremely tall bridge over it. Finding her curiosity peaked she decided to give it a quick look. Maybe it’d be her resting point for the night, maybe not. A ship up the straight passage of the river answered her curiosity. It was a canal. An exceptionally straight one that seemed to span to the horizon even from altitude. Was it a river that people widened or did they cut their way through the ridge… The ridge that she had just noticed also spanned the horizon in both directions. The cliff face was obvious and yet at the same time seemed covered in woods. The decision on if she should continue along the shoreline was made by hovering in place and waiting for a breeze. Whichever way the breeze favoured would decide her path. The wind came mostly from the West but angled ever so slightly to the North, towards the lake. Shoreline it was. West of the canal things changed rapidly from the green of growth to the urban sprawl she had seen in cities, but unlike others touches of green still existed. In fact they seemed surprisingly prevalent almost to the level she would expect from the earth ponies in Equestria. Soon enough however the city seemed to vanish back into green space dotted with houses and farms. The highway she had seen earlier made a reappearance. Whoever this Queen Elizabeth was her “Way” seemed to be a pretty big important roadway. It seemed like even in the short time she had seen it the traffic had surpassed that of all Equestria. Another marina (it had to be the fourth or fifth on this lake alone) but this one had a burned out ship. Mostly covered in rust but something about the setting sun made it appear like a magical place, something about it called to her. Landing on it she watched as the sunset, the sky turning a brilliant orange. No real drive for the moment, but maybe that would change for tomorrow. Rainbow Dash laid her head down for the night and dreamed of one pony in particular. Waking up in the morning with the sun at her back was all the reason Rainbow Dash needed to continue her fateful journey West.