“Hammock hammock hammock hammock…” Rainbow Dash limped through the top floor of the Noble Jury. She climbed her way through the kitchen and trotted swiftly down the mess hall and lounge. “...hammock hammock hammock hammock…”
“Rainbow Dash!” Bellesmith squeaked. Wincing belatedly from her own bruises, the mare picked up speed, breaking into a swift canter in hopes of catching up with the pegasus. “Rainbow, wait up!”
Rainbow passed the infirmary. “Hammock hammock hammock hammock--hey Roarke--hammock hammock hammock.” A disgruntled voice groaned from the room as the pony zoomed by.
“Rainbow! Please! Just for one s-second!” Belle stammered.
“Hammock hammock hammock…” Rainbow galloped past the bunk rooms, slid down the crawlspace at the bow, and practically threw herself into the observation room. “Hammockhammockhammockhammock!” With a lunge, she fwoomped onto one of the hanging nets and cooed into the fibrous webs. “Hmmmmmmmmmyeahhhhhh…” Her legs and tail hung limp on the edges of the suspended bed.
Stumbling, Belle climbed down the crawlspace and stood on the even floor. She slowly drifted into the observation room, squinting against the sunlight glinting in through the skeletal frame of the bubble window.
“Hrmmmmmphhhhnnnghhh…” Rainbow Dash curled up in the hammock where she hung on the compartment’s port side. Her eyes fluttered, tensed, then opened. She gazed thinly at Belle, and ultimately smiled. “Hey, Ding Dong.”
Belle smiled softly, leaning against a bulkhead. “Hey yourself.”
Rainbow’s ears twitched. “Y’know, I had a dream that… like… there was this huge battle, and all my new friends were there, and I totally did the sonic rainboom in a chaos dragon’s face.”
Belle stifled a chuckle, slowly nodding. “How ironic. I remember a pony very close to me doing the exact same thing.”
Rainbow’s nostrils flared. She stirred on the hammock and stretched a limp hoof out. “Come closer, girl…”
With a shuffle of her hooves, Belle obeyed. She trotted closer until Rainbow’s fetlock grazed her cheek. The mare winced slightly, but simply turned her head, allowing the pegasus to study her still-red welts.
Rainbow’s jaw had tightened. After a deep breath, she grumbled, “Did you see what happened to him?”
Belle slowly shook her head. “I’m… pretty sure he was on board the Steel Wing.” She gulped. “When… when it went down.”
Rainbow nodded. “Good.” She retracted her hoof and curled up again. “Because Celestia help him if he was still alive…”
“He’s… uhm… he’s survived worse, Rainbow Dash.”
“So maybe he has.” Rainbow sighed into her forelimbs. “And so have I.”
Belle said nothing.
“Call it morbid, but--in his case--I’m happy to imagine the worse.”
“We have the book again, and it looks like it’s still powered by the flame Nightshade first found,” Belle said. “I’m… I-I’m pretty sure Props can hook it back up to Floydien’s engine and get us our skystone propulsion again.”
“Nnnngh…” Rainbow groaned into the swinging hammock. “Whoopty-flank.”
“What I’m saying, Rainbow, is that soon all of us will fly as fast as you!” Belle’s eyes lit up. “Khao obviously switched gears. I doubt the Heraldites would be chasing us anymore. And if any Ledomaritans were stupid enough to try to pursue us past Xonan lines--”
“You th-think that friggin’ matters anymore?” Rainbow Dash muttered. “Now we’ve got… like… pony bugs in sheep’s clothing.” She gulped. “You heard Eagle Eye, they were all heading east…” She gritted her teeth. “Along with her.”
Belle’s brow furrowed. She fidgeted nervously and struggled to come up with something to say.
“You’re all my friends,” Rainbow slurred. “None of you deserve this…”
Belle glanced up, eyes quivering. “Rainbow…”
“Just thinking about how he roughed you up.” Rainbow hissed through clenched teeth. “It boils my blood. And then all the crap Kera went through…” She gulped. “And Roarke,” she squeaked.
“We’re all in this as a team, Rainbow,” Belle said. “And look at what we’ve accomplished as a team!”
“You mean Simon croaking?” Rainbow snarled. “And Roarke almost biting the same bullet?”
“You saved Kera!” Belle leaned forward. “You stopped Nevlamas and--for all we know--also halted the war!”
“You mean Axan stopped Nevlamas,” Rainbow muttered.
Belle gasped, jaw dropping. “You mean… She’s b-back?” She rested a hoof on the hammock’s edge. “The dragon from Silvadel?!”
“Only she doesn’t give a flying feather about Silvadel anymore. I don’t think she has in a long time.” Rainbow took a deep, deep breath. “She’s following me, Belle.”
“Following… you…?”
“And why she never thought of intervening on our behalf before is beyond me.” Rainbow spat. “It’s all this stupid Austraeoh business! I never asked for it, y’know! I never asked for… f-for…”
Belle watched, lips pursed.
Rainbow stifled a whimper. “Lasairfion knew… or that creature who was Lasairfion knew. I dunno how… but she friggin’ knew!”
“Knew what, Rainbow Dash?”
“About… about Applejack,” Rainbow stammered. She opened her eyes and a tear rolled down her blue cheek. “How c-could she possibly know? How could anypony know?” She covered her face with two criss-crossing hooves. “I keep flying and flying and I-I just c-can’t friggin’ outrun it…”
Belle smiled painfully. “Oh, Rainbow Dash…”
“I sh-should have been d-dead months ago…” Rainbow Dash cried, her voice a dull and deflated thing as she shook and quivered in the hammock. “Why do I gotta keep carrying everything? Why c-can’t I just… just stop, already?”
Belle leaned in and scooped Rainbow’s upper body in a dear hug, nuzzling the mare’s quivering face. “It’s not easy being awesome.” She sniffled as her lips curved. “But we all love you for it.”
Rainbow surrendered into her embrace, hiccuping with tiny, squeaky sobs. Belle stroked her mane, weathering every jolt and shiver. She heard a scuffle of hoofsteps from behind, and she turned to look.
Pilate stood, leaning against the doorframe. His ears twitched, taking in the sounds of Rainbow’s quiet sobs.
Belle stared at him, then smiled gently as her eyes turned misty. She leaned her cheek against Rainbow’s forehead and quietly shut her eyes.
And there goes the adrenaline crash. War isn't fun. Never fun.
Unless you're an insane zealot or a mentally damaged mercenary. Then you got bigger problems.
Oh Rainbow, fate is cruel and order unkind, but you help being harmony and friendship to places that need it the most. Godspeed lesbian horse, godspeed.
Rainbow deserves many hugs.
So Pilate's jealous?
Some day, Rainbow, you will will me her again.
fimfiction-static.net/images/story_images/9702.jpg
I thought Kera darted off with Belle. So where'd the little scamp get herself off to?
The decompression continues. We cry a bit here so we can laugh later on.
And then more explosions happen and we do it all again!
Sleep now, sweet heroine. Let Luna dry your tears.
*cue camera slowly zooming out, but remaining focused on the emotional scene*
...Goddamn, I wanna give Dashie a hug.
3806738
I was about to post something different, but this works far, FAR batter.
How many flames is that book worth now, is it no longer reacting with Dash becuse she lowered the fame to normal instead of overburn values?
Piate and Belle are going to relax for the next couple days hopefully while things are quiet and try and make offspring?
Still keep thinking Flloydian and Props are ideal for making ratlings.
Wonder if Props however is going to be too busy reworking teh engine room to be more modular, switchable. What do you mean, we can now eject the drive core? just incase theres a warp in the magic field making it try go boom rainbow tme.
Rainbow should talk to Luna about this, I'm having troubles keeping track of how many days each battle takes. Is it still too soon to hear from the moon princess?
Aww.
For some reason, I have a hard time imagining Rainbow's voice in my head. Today I just finished watching the new episode, so reading this I had her voice down perfect for once.
This reminded me how long it has been since we had a breather.
Silly Rainbow, you never stop.
Time for sleeps. Zzz...
...darn it. I want back in.
Ah well, insert Z, you may be back yet... a fic is brewing in my head called Lost, about his journey back west.
Then again, people may think it a self-insert, and I've already done four of them.
I still think this is changeling dash. I have reasons too.
1. She isn't affected by the book currently, where she should be. (It could also be explained the way 3806765 said, though I'm not sure about that.)
2. Her story from last chapter doesn't quite add up. I might have missed something, but I don't think RD got hit by a magic blast. I also don't think the queen ever changed in front of her.
3. The reasoning that this RD knows what ours does doesn't quite work considering the apparent changeling spy network that knows about Equestria.
4. I have a hard time seeing RD want Shell's death, despite what he's done. I'm pretty sure changeling dash was just trying to get some calming affection out of Belle.
But besides all of this, I'm still pretty sure we're gonna see this Dash with the group for quite a while until we meet up with real RD in the Ancient Kingdom of Zadubadabu, where Prowse and his cyborg army are fighting off waves of changeling invaders.
Catharsis. Adorable, adorable catharsis.
3807462 It's slowly becoming more important in relation to evaluating, unfortunately. Wish I had more strength to stay awake even just for a few minutes, though.
3806765
PropsXZaid OTP
3807350 Is she wearing the Element. If no, then she isn't RD. If yes then she is RD or has stolen it from RD. If stolen then it won't work for a changeling; and somewhere Lasairfion is being turned into chocolate rain by a ticked-off Chaos Dash. Ergo, probably not a changeling: please check Element.
3808633 or Lasairfion copied the element. Much like Chrysalis copied Cadence's regalia at the wedding. In this case, real RD would have the real element while this one is a fake.
3808697 It ain't gonna glow. Nor is she going to turn into a chaotic god if it's taken off. Chrysalis was only able to substitute Mi Amore Candenza because she could channel the Love power. Any changeling would struggle to replicate elemental powers, chaos, or even Dash's personal talent for speed. Likewise they'd be short a few memories indicative of this group's time together.
On an aside I expect she knows about Applejack from the time when RD was being held in chains at the fortress. I expect RD would have said something in half-conciousness; and it's a common tactic to let drop a name or fact and let your victim fill in the blanks.
That left a single tear in my eye... maybe it was just the wind blowing in from the window.
3808737 good point, but until we see the pendent not glow, or changeling dash take it off and not go chaos dash we cannot be sure. I'm also pretty sure she's not flying right now. She seems to be doing pretty well with memories right now, but something seems off about her and I'm still going with changeling spy network knowing about most of her at least post blue nova memories. If we go with Ebon Mane=changeling theory then it makes even more sense.
Then Rainbow Dash drifted to sleep.
3808912 I've never seen this before, but within the context of the story it's the most depressing thing ever.
When was the last time Rainbow slept?
3809600
Either on the lightning bearer (ledo controlled) or in Gray Smoke
(Found the Wiki)
I'm betting that at some point, Dash is going to confront, and have to kill, one or more changelings who are disguised as Applejack.
A Message from MASH-
Too sleepy
Need sleepy
Cannot
Zzz
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
And there's the crash after the war. Good. Emotions.
Eh...
These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. ...
3874841
This would be terrible, but not as terrible as if the blood ran red.
Wow. Yep. Night night time for me! Wonder what the grand choke is. That was a long ass arc. But, we traveled an entire continent, rather than just a city state and it's surrounding land.
-SPirit
3893884 not even Rainbow Dash is immune to the aftereffects of war...which is a testament to her being just a pony (just a person) when all is said and done.
We don't ask for a lot of things, Dash, but being stopped by the roadblocks that rise up in our lives does exactly that: it stops you. Keep on walking forward, no matter how cracked and jaded the ground becomes, and you'll be better for it.
Eastward we fly.
5551199 wow, you graduated into weird land, talking to the characters instead of just making remarks or replies directed to real people.
Really, really weird.
The burdens that a leader bears never gets lighter. The tough choices you will have to make, some will hate you for and others rejoice, but the burden remains. When/if your plan goes wrong, the leader is to blame, yet when victory nears...it becomes the team's victory, and the burden remains. The only light is truly with friends, they can make the burden lighter, even then however, it'll never disappear.
The best leaders have the mantle of greatness thrust upon them not because they ask for it, but because those around you will have chosen you.
Maybe that's all just B.S....i don't care. Im out for the night. Day 3 done.
No one man was meant to bear the brunt of all these feels.
3806738 H-Hey
be careful
you might just cause someone to die of dehydration
And that's why she's a hero. Because no matter how much she wishes it would just end. She won't just give up either. no matter how hard it gets to keep going. she never quits. And when the world burns around her, She fights to protect all that is dear to her Just that much harder.
Sleep well Rainbow dash, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest
wat
that went from to in no time flat. man
Ebony didn't change, so either he's not a changeling or his appearance is kept in place by harmonic forces while the others fed on war.
Some long-needed fuzzy snuggles.
6286102
I'd almost forgotten Ebon has a descret...
5555686
Yay! That means I graduated to weird land too
10539649
WELCOME TO FLORIDA!!!