What Rainbow Dash didn't account for was how dry she would feel. The cold winds high above the mountain were blisteringly harsh. She felt her lips becoming chapped within hours. What was more, the sunlight reflecting off the snow-capped mountains was quite literally baking her skin. She found herself gliding in southeast and northeast angles, alternating the sides of her body exposed to the solar glow. Most of the trip was performed squinting, and she definitely put the shades of her lenses through a workout.
Ultimately, the entire trek was a test of endurance. Rainbow Dash found herself having to rest on multiple occasions. This wasn't a difficult thing to do; many of the craggy rock formations provided shade for her to sit down and rest her eyes and body from the reflected sunlight. She found patches of snow that were melting. With her flint and steel, she made a torch out of a stick or two and melted the frost even further, dripping mountain fresh liquid into her canteen. After an hour, she had enough water to splash over her dry lips and wet her whistle. Refreshed, she took wing and soared eastward once again.
Even the mountain range of Canterlot couldn't compare to the majesty of Wintergate's eastern border. The granite plateaus rose so steeply that they deserved their own horizons. There were peaks so tall and prominent that giant swaths of shadow marked where they blocked the sunlight. Rainbow Dash briefly felt as though she were navigating a light show.
Every now and then, the snow would disappear, and the black surface of the elevated rock would appear to Rainbow Dash's hawk-eyes. The exposed stone was polished, smooth, immaculate as black pearls. The sheen of frost was so fine that sometimes she'd look down and get a kaleidoscopic effect, as if she was skimming the surface of onyx diamonds.
All in all, there was a haunting stillness to the roof of the world. Aside from random bursts of whistling gales, everything was dead quiet. There were no birds, no waterfalls, no hint of pony life for miles upon miles of jagged rocks.
Rainbow Dash had always dreamed of seeing the world. All her life, though, she had foolishly assumed that the available landscapes would be filled to the brim with ponies. These last few weeks, however, spent from the height of clouds, with the world turned microscopic and bleak down below, she was introduced into an unfathomable loneliness. There was something about it that was tantalizing, though, like swimming underwater for several minutes before coming up to air. Rainbow Dash didn't know how many days she had before seeing another sign of civilization. In a way, she didn't care. If anything, she had previous records to beat. She almost slowed her flight to a casual glide as she comprehended the immensity of her trip.
Then, as always, she would feel the weight of her pendant. She'd imagine a gray horizon as her forehead ached and her eyes flickered a different color. A brief sigh escaped her lips, and she accelerated her flight.
The world was turning crimson; the snowy peaks reflected a rich amber-brown. She realized that the sun was setting behind her. Soon, the shadows from the mountainsides were turning horizontal. The air grew chilly, and feeling dry was becoming the least of her worries. She had to find a place to set up camp, and she had to land before it became too dark to properly see anything. It didn't help that the further she circled about and looked, her lenses started to frost over. A groan escaped her lips, and the first pang of worry lit her soul that dying evening.