Chapter 7
A gentle mouth sucked daintily on Rarity's horn. Stirred from full sleep into a half-daze, the unicorn found the sensation was not altogether unpleasant. “Mmm.... oh, my...” she cooed, snuggling deeper into the lambswool of her coat and the down of her black blanket. “Why, Commodore Silverhooves, you're so forward... it's only our first date...”
Rainbow Dash, half-conscious herself, obliged the dazed Rarity by wrapping her tongue around her horn. Rarity murmured and moaned until she slowly came awake, at which point she realized that nopony was taking her on a fancy date or its racy aftermath. But something was sucking on her horn. “Aah!” she yelped, a burst of magic flaring off her horn. It bounced Dash's head back, bringing her fully awake and causing her to flutter her wings rapidly.
“Whuh? What?!” the sky-blue pegasus murmured, sleep rapidly falling away from her.
“Huh?” Applejack muttered, shaking herself awake. She yawned, and tried to stretch, but in the cramped confines of the wrapped layers she didn't have much room. “Is it mornin'?”
“I don't know,” Rarity admitted. “I just woke up.”
“Welp, I'm awake too, and that means it's mornin' enough,” the earth pony said firmly. “Rainbow, how you doin'?”
“My wings are a little cramped,” Dash admitted, “but I've been worse.”
“All right, I think it's time we rolled outta this bundle,” Applejack said. “I recall us goin' left last night, so let's go right this time. Everypony ready?”
“Ready!”
“Ready!”
“One, two, three!” and on the count of three, they shoved themselves to the right, and kept the momentum going. The dark cocoon around them gradually got thinner, and as they tumbled, more of the cold air began to seep in. Finally, they were freed from the last layer, Rarity's coat, and the three ponies tumbled out onto the damp, dark rock. Looking around, their eyes adjusted quickly to the blackness, and they noted that there were still walls of snow wherever they looked. “I hope it's stopped snowin',” Applejack said.
Rainbow Dash looked straight up. The tunnel they had dug down still led up to the roof of their snowy enclosure. From the air hole high above, she thought she saw orange light. “Only one way to find out,” she said with a smile, giving her wings a sequence of rapid flaps. She crouched back on her haunches, gathered her strength, and shot up, a brilliant flash of rainbow trailing in her wake. She was at the roof of the snow-cave in less than a second and burst through it in a shower of slush. Orange light poured down into the darkness, throwing up shadows across the two land-bound ponies.
“Well,” Rarity said, gathering up her black blanket, “at least the blizzard appears to be over.”
Applejack wrapped her scarf back around her neck and began to fold up the first of her two blankets. “That filly is always leapin' before she looks. One o' these days it's gonna get her into trouble.”
“Are you forgetting all the times it already has?”
The pony they were speaking about suddenly burst back down through the hole, making it bigger and letting more light in. “The storm's all gone!” she cried happily. There was pure joy in her face. “The sky is clear!”
Applejack laughed. “Glad to hear it, sugarcube,” as she stuffed her first blanket in her saddlebags. She took a moment to look around at the sheer snow tunnel Rarity had dug. “I don't suppose you'd mind takin' Rarity and me out of here-”
“No problem!” the pegasus said with a smile. “Now hurry up and let's go! I wanna get out of this gloomy place.”
Applejack and Rarity packed up the rest of their belongings in short order, Rarity slipping her coat on over her saddlebags once they were snug against her flanks. Taking the unicorn under her front legs, Rainbow Dash flew straight up, emerging from the snow into the brilliant orange light of dawn. As Dash had said, the storm had completely blown over, and the sky was blazing orange and pink in the early morning light; only a few faint streaks of white cloud mottled the sky overhead. Rarity had to admit that after the gloom of the previous night, it was beautiful to see. It was only slightly marred when she felt her stomach growl. We really didn't eat anything last night, she thought. Reaching back under her coat, she used her magic to flip open her left saddlebag and extract the contents until she found what she sought: her three granola bars, wrapped in shiny foil.
By the time Applejack had joined her atop the snow, the unicorn was already chewing at one of them, and gladly offered the other two to her friends. “I guess this'll tide us over until we get down from the mountains,” the earth pony said, taking a bite of the crunchy confection.
Dash was gobbling her bar up at breakneck speed. “Mmf, let's hurry, I'm sick of all this snow,” she mumbled in between big bites. Naturally, she finished eating first.
Careful to stow their wrappers in Rarity's saddlebags, the three ponies set out again. Without the blizzard blinding them, they could clearly see the end of the mountain valley they had entered, a wide pass between two sheer cliffs. Trotting across the snow, they reached it within half an hour, and they found the path cut sharply to the right. They rounded the bend...
“Wow!”
The three ponies had left the bowels of the mountains, and the dramatic turn in their path, combined with the steep drop of the rock around them, along with the complete clearing of yesterday's cloud cover, permitted them to see a long, long panorama of the world below them. It was golden. Lit to glistening flame by the brilliance of the rising sun, they beheld what seemed to be endless fields of gold, rolling and shimmering in breezes like water upon the sea. The fields stretched into the distance, spreading out in front of them and to either side, farther than they could fathom. The further west they looked, the more of the field was shadowed, but as each second passed the sun rose higher and higher, spreading more of its radiance across their sight and bathing more of the field in glinting flame.
Open country- Applejack's heart sang at the sight of it! “So, that's...”
“Uh-huh,” Rainbow Dash said, “that's Gildedale. And out that way...” she pointed with her hoof straight ahead into the sky. Rarity and Applejack followed her direction and looked ahead, raising their gaze from the fields of gold. The further forward they looked, the more the world was shrouded in the purple-blue haze of distance, but at the edge of their sight, sharp masses of shadow were clearly visible.
“Are those the Archback Mountains?” Rarity asked.
“They sure are,” Dash affirmed. “From what I've seen, Gildedale goes lengthwise between the Archbacks and the Drackenridge Mountains. We're gonna go across its width, so it won't be as long a journey.”
“Well, what are we waitin' for?” Applejack said, her hooves practically trembling with eagerness. “Come on, you lollygaggers, we got a lot o' mountain to get down!” She launched herself down the steeply sloping path, sure-footed but with the most rapid of paces she could manage.
“Yeah! Hi-yo AJ!” Dash yelled, flapping her wings rapidly and surging to catch up with her.
“Wait for me!” Rarity cried, trying her best to keep up amid the slushy snow and irregular rocks.
The three ponies spent the next few hours following the trail through several more bends and turns, always downhill, sometimes through more alpine valleys, other times straight down along the sides of the mountains. As they descended, the air grew warmer, and the snow grew more and more molten. By mid-morning, they were splashing through puddles, and Applejack and Rarity had to stop to remove their vest and coat, respectively. The wind was much gentler now; Applejack was even able to undo the tightening cord on her hat.
Finally, shortly after noon, Applejack took her last step on hard rock. Her next step was on soft, silty dirt. Even this close to the mountains, grass sprang up to meet her, still glistening golden yellow; it hadn't lost any of its luster as the sun had risen higher and grown whiter. The earth pony was ecstatic to be on level ground amid growing plants again. Tossing off her hat and slipping off her borrowed sweater, she threw herself into the tall grass and rolled back and forth, laughing with delight at the soft carpet of growth and the smell of bountiful country.
Using magic to remove her pink sweater, Rarity could only shake her head at the frolicking orange pony. She certainly wasn't going to be rolling in the grass. Still, she had to admit it was nice to be in warm air and on flat country again. She took a deep breath; the air was free and wild. It actually perked up her spirits to inhale, as though the very air of this new country of Gildedale beckoned her to adventure. “I do believe I'm in the mood to run,” she said aloud, to her own surprise.
Rainbow Dash grinned down at her. She gave the thought some consideration, and the pegasus abruptly tucked in her wings and dropped to the ground, her sky-blue legs bending as she landed. “You know, I feel like running, too,” she said. “And since I already have to hang back for you walking ponies, I won't be losing any time if I do.”
Rising to her legs, Applejack gave her friend a smile. “You ain't afraid of gettin' beat again, are you?” She flipped her hat back onto her head.
“Nope,” Dash said, “because I've never been beaten. Especially not by you.”
“Oh, for Celestia's sake, don't turn this into a race,” Rarity groused, using her magic to take up both of her sweaters and fold them. Stuffing them back into her saddlebags, the white unicorn then removed a light blue linen scarf and wrapped it around her neck. “I have enough trouble keeping up with you two without you trying to outrun each other.”
“Well, sister, you should have packed a little lighter! Of course you're gonna have trouble with all that stuff in your bags!” Applejack said. “Whattya say, Rainbow- first one to stop for lunch loses?”
Dash dug into the ground with her front hoof. “Sounds good to me. On your mark...”
“Get set- hey!” Applejack cried as the pegasus pony broke into a gallop, vaulting ahead of her in a blur of blue. “You lousy cheater, get back here!”
“You snooze you lose, AJ!” Dash cried over her shoulder.
Growling, Applejack started running, bearing down on Rainbow Dash with all the strength her legs could manage.
“And what if I'm the one who gets hungry?” Rarity cried, galloping as fast as she could at the rear. “I know how you two get! You'll starve before either of you- hey! Come back! Not so fast!” She broke into a run of her own to keep up.
The three ponies thundered across the endless plains, their swift track cutting ephemeral slashes of paths in the tall, golden grass. They climbed up and down shallow hills, splashed through small streams, leapt ditches and levees. The sun beat down high overhead, and it was warm on the flat, open landscape; even Applejack was sweating after a while. Yet they kept their furious pace, until Rarity finally coughed out “Stop!” How long had they been running?
Applejack and Rainbow Dash skidded to a halt, breathing hard. A light breeze was blowing, but it had not been enough to cool them. Rarity dragged herself toward the two faster ponies, her coat and mane slick with sweat. “S-s-stop, I... I can't go on!” Her legs were killing her, her muscles aching with the strain of the endless gallop. She had barely made it to her friends when she keeled over, flopping in the grass with her legs sprawled every direction. She rolled her head around and glanced upside-down at Dash and Applejack, who were staring down at her.
The sky-blue pegasus grinned. “Can't keep up, Rares?”
“Do not call me that,” she wheezed. Her stomach let out a loud growl. “I'm exhausted and starving! You ponies are ridiculous! How can you not be hungry? Lunchtime was hours ago!”
“I suppose it would be good to stop for a bit,” Applejack said. A growl suddenly rippled out from her stomach. She bent at the knees. “Stars n' garters I'm hungry! I musta just lost track o' my appetite.” She angled her head down slightly, aiming her mouth at a clump of tall grass. She didn't have to stretch very far, as it grew almost level with her chin. She ripped up a chunk and began to chew vigorously. It was hearty and strong-flavored, moreso than what she was used to.
Rising to her feet, Rarity bit off a mouthful of the grass. Chewing and swallowing, she remarked, “It's a bit... coarse, isn't it?”
“Lotta fiber in this stuff,” Applejack said. “Good for the plumbin'.”
“Ick.”
Applejack noticed Dash wolfing down grass, hovering over the swaying blades to nip the most tender tips. She was like a whole herd of sheep, grazing at everything in her path. It bothered her to see her friend suddenly so ravenous; the pegasus hadn't been extraordinarily hungry over the past few days. Unless she has been, and just hasn't been showin' it... “Rainbow, are you gettin' enough to eat? I know it was pretty slim pickins up in the mountains...”
“Applejack,” she said between bites, “I'm fine. I'm just hungry.”
“I know you pegasi have real fast metabolisms, so if you need to spend a bit more time eatin' when we stop, that's all right.”
“Don't worry about me, Applejack, I'm telling you,” said Dash with a mouthful of grass. She swallowed it in one big gulp and took another enormous bite. “I eat as much as I'm hungry for- I always have. If you walking ponies need to get going to keep good time, you're free to. I can catch up in a jiffy.”
“Well that's awful considerate of you, I suppose,” Applejack said. “But I happen to believe in courtesy, so as long as you're stopped for lunch, we'll be too.”
“It would be rude to just leave you,” Rarity added.
The sky-blue pegasus smiled mischievously. “So it bothers you that much that I'm so much faster than you?”
“Honestly, Rainbow, do you never stop competing?” Rarity asked.
“If you start slowing down, you start getting old,” Dash said. “So I always try to go faster.”
“Now, I don't hold to that,” Applejack said. “It seems to me that some things have you have to take your sweet time doin'. If you're always in a rush, you can't enjoy the gentle things in life.”
“Thank you,” Rarity said. She swallowed her bite of grass, raised her head, and looked around a little. “And I must say, I would not want to live in this place, as lovely as it certainly is. It's your kind of country, Rainbow Dash, not mine.”
Rainbow Dash snapped her head around. “That was random,” she said. “What brought that on?”
The white unicorn angled her head up, looking across the horizon. “Just thinking,” she said. “Haven't you ponies noticed something about this land- or rather, the absence of something?”
Rainbow Dash and Applejack joined her in looking around. They could see nothing but rolling golden fields wherever they looked. Applejack noticed it first. “Not much in the way o' buildings,” she said.
“Precisely,” Rarity said. “We've seen no development of any kind- no houses, no farms, not even bridges over some of the rivers. Gildedale may have unspoiled beauty, but it's as though nothing civilized even lives here. Indeed, it makes me wonder what these 'free-roaming' ponies are like. Do they even have culture? Can they even speak?”
“Just because they haven't built a bunch of stuff doesn't mean they're stupid,” Rainbow Dash said. “I like that everything is open and free. It's like the sky, only it's land. Nopony is restricted by any fences or barriers.”
“Even the sky has Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash,” the white unicorn said.
“You just don't understand,” the sky-blue pegasus said. “You don't understand what it's like to be free.”
Rarity huffed a breath from her nostrils. “I understand freedom perfectly well, madam,” she said indignantly. “And I'll thank you not to slander me to the contrary. But there is some freedom that can only come by giving up other freedoms-”
“That makes no sense!” Dash snapped. “If you give freedoms up, you're less free. It's as simple as that.”
“There is freedom to,” Rarity said, “and there is freedom from. In Equestria, we don't have the freedom to do everything we like- we don't have the freedom to murder ponies, for example. But as a result of that, we have a freedom from fear of being randomly killed. It's the same thing for all of civilized society. The ponies in Gildedale may have great freedom of action, but they also must be saddled with a great deal of worries and cares that we in Equestria don't have, because we've given up some of our freedom to act.”
“That's not a fair example at all!” Dash said. “Being safe isn't about there being laws against murdering, it's about ponies not being jerks to each other. If you have that, you don't need to restrict anypony's freedoms.”
The white unicorn shook her head. “The world is always going to have... jerks, darling. I wish it didn't, but it does, and so we must take that into account when we decide what actions our society forbids.”
“Are you saying you'd like to live in a country where you have to have permission to do anything? Where you can't do anything without being told?” the sky-blue pegasus' eyes bugged out. “I can't believe what I'm hearing.”
“I am saying that it's a tradeoff. I wouldn't like to live anywhere where I was told everything I could do. Neither would I like to live somewhere where I could do whatever I wanted. It's about striking a proper balance,” Rarity said.
Dash shook her head. “It's too slippery a slope,” she said. “What if we didn't have Princess Celestia as a ruler- what if our ruler was bad? What if our ruler used every excuse to take away freedoms? I'd rather live some place without any restrictions.”
“And if I had to choose between only those two, so would I!” Rarity cried. “But the point is you're not supposed to choose between those two. You're supposed to find a middle ground.”
Rainbow Dash and Rarity locked eyes with an intensity that thoroughly surprised Applejack. She had never known the pegasus to be so passionate about something as abstract as personal liberty- and she had never suspected the unicorn had given so much thought to that same subject. She almost wished she could let them keep arguing, not because she wanted to see her friends fight, but because she wanted to learn more about how they thought. But the sun had begun to take on hints of orange, and Twilight Sparkle was still in need. “Pardon me, y'all,” she said gently, “but we're burnin' daylight. I reckon it's time we got goin' again.”
Rarity was the first to blink. “I suppose you're right, Applejack,” she said. “Rainbow Dash, please don't mistake me. I love the freedom that comes from acting as you please. But I know that if everypony were allowed to do completely as they wished, there would be chaos.”
Dash's face was stern, but slowly it changed, growing softer and softer, and finally she smiled softly at Rarity. “You know what? You're right. Or... I guess you're right. But I don't know how you go about setting those limits- I wouldn't want to restrict anypony. I guess that's why I'm not a Princess.”
“On the other hand, perhaps I'm misjudging the ponies of Gildedale,” Rarity said. “We haven't even met any of them yet. Perhaps they have their own social order that works for them. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.”
Dash smiled. “That's really big of you, Rarity,” she said. “And I guess it's a little dumb of me to talk about total freedom when I live in Equestria, which does have laws- laws that help keep us safe. Maybe it is all about balance.”
“And speaking of balance,” Rarity said, “perhaps for the rest of the day we could balance our pace a bit?” She smiled hopefully at Applejack. “We did go so quickly this afternoon, I had hoped that...”
The orange earth pony nodded. “We can slow down a mite,” she said. “Just a mite, though- we wasted some time in the mountains. Now that we're on easy terrain I'd like us to make up as much time as we can. We don't know how far Gildedale goes until we hit the next landscape, and there's no tellin' what that'll be.”
Rarity sighed. “Oh, fine...”
Rainbow Dash laughed and nudged her in the side. “We'll go a little slower this time, Rares.”
“All right, y'all, let's move 'em out!” Applejack said with a swish of her blond tail. The three ponies resumed their gallop; Dash and Applejack slackened their pace just a bit, while Rarity tried harder than ever to match them.
The discussion between her friends lingered in the back of Applejack's mind through the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. She took the time to look around her as she galloped, and sure enough, she could see nothing on the horizon that indicated any kind of settled population. How do they get their food?, she wondered. Do they just eat grass? Do they sleep in the open air? Do their foals go to school? Do they have schools? The more she thought about it, the more she didn't like it. Ponies weren't meant to live like animals, with no guarantee of food or shelter. Rarity was right- some freedom had to be given up so that a pony could grow up safe and realize their full potential. A pony needed more than raw freedom; they needed education, friends, art, culture. There had to be more to life than just bare survival. That was why she was adamant that Apple Bloom went to school all year round, even during planting season. Granny Smith had always insisted that a pony didn't need 'book learning' to be successful, but Applejack knew that there was more to education than just financial security. Big Macintosh had missed some school in his younger years, and he had always regretted it; it was why he loved to learn so much nowadays. Education made a pony more than just a worker or a creature. Applejack's mother had always told her that, and the orange earth pony had never forgotten it.
She was interrupted from her thoughts by the sight of something black standing up from the plains on her left. “Hey,” she called over her shoulder, “do y'all see what I'm seein' over on the left?”
“It's definitely there!” Rainbow Dash said. She flapped her wings and spun into the air. “Let's go check it out!” She flew toward it in a streak of rainbow before either of her friends could stop her. Shaking her head, Applejack turned toward the dark thing, Rarity hot on her heels.
When the two ponies arrived, Dash was sitting at the base of the black shape. It was a tall stone slab, its sides rough but straight, its peak coming to a point. It was carved all over with letters, and unlike the strange symbols around the treacherous cave in the mountains, this writing was easily readable. “The language is quite a bit like Equestrian, isn't it?” Rarity said.
“Uh-huh,” Dash said. “I mean, some of the words are weird, but it's totally understandable. If this is the language they use in Gildedale, we should be able to understand any ponies we come across.”
“Unless this slab is ancient,” the white unicorn remarked. “Perhaps their language has changed with time. Maybe long ago they spoke Equestrian, but nowadays they don't?”
“This is almost exactly like our language,” Applejack said. “And I know Twilight's mentioned that Old Equestrian was different from Modern Equestrian. Unless their old stuff is a lot like our new stuff, I reckon this is modern, or at least not too old.”
The slab had EAST written in four large letters down the front of it. Below these, in smaller, horizontal script, was written, This is the Land of Gildedale, the Golden Field Between the Mountains, claimed by the Line of the Dale Lords and their Kin. Friends should take heart; enemies should take heed. In the name of Lord Broadwithers, Lord of the Dale, in the Year ____.
Dash smiled. “What did I tell you right from the start? 'Enemies should take heed.' These ponies don't mess around.”
“Welp, let's hope the first part is true, too,” Applejack said. “Twilight's book mentioned they didn't like strangers.”
“There's no mention of Equestria,” Rarity said.
“Well, I ain't never seen a mention of Gildedale back home,” Applejack said. “And they're just over the mountains from Ponyville. Maybe both countries just don't mingle much?”
“What do you think that is up on top?” Dash said, pointing with her hoof toward the peak of the slab. Set into the black stone was a spreading symbol. It looked like curved lines of gold, splayed out at top and bottom and curving inward in the middle, where they were pulled together by a band of some reddish stone. “Is it the symbol of Gildedale?”
“It looks like... it's hay!” Applejack said. “Or grass, I suppose. It's probably grass; that would make the most sense.”
“'The Golden Field Between the Mountains,'” Rarity repeated softly. It was so... wild-sounding. She could practically hear the drums pounding and horns blowing. Rarity had always grown up in civilization; admittedly, not in the glamour and bustle of Canterlot or Manehattan, but at least where the streets were smooth and the garbage was picked up twice a week. Applejack talks about never leaving her farm... but I'm not much better, she thought. I haven't been a great traveler. Now here I am, in this strange and wild place. The wind whipped at her mane, billowing her scarf around her neck. She looked past the stone slab, deep into the west. The sun was setting now, burning orange, throwing down a long, dark shadow from the stone. She stepped around the slab and stared at the expanse of open field before her; once again it was gleaming, burning, shimmering orange-gold, like molten metal that rippled in the heat and sent up sparks. The sun, descending toward the distant Archback Mountains, was a blazing orb of orange, turning the sky its selfsame color. But the sun comes from... her gaze traveled back to the east, toward the Drackenridge Mountains; they were now far off, but still closer and darker than the Archbacks. Behind those mountains was Equestria, where Princess Celestia was patiently watching this same sunset, preparing to give the great heavenly body she ruled its final nudge over the horizon, to retire the day and prepare for her sister's night. “It's the same sun,” she said gently.
“Come again?” Applejack said.
Rarity looked at her with an expression of gentle wonder. “The sun that's setting here... it's the same as in Equestria. It's the same everywhere... right? Princess Celestia is setting the sun in Canterlot, but it's also setting here... and she makes it set here, doesn't she?”
Applejack blinked at her. “Well, I guess that makes sense... huh, that's true, ain't it?” She turned toward the sunset. Her orange coat glistened even brighter in the gleaming long rays. “I mean... there ain't more than one sun...”
They stood still, the quiet broken only by the wind whipping over the fields. Even Dash couldn't make herself move. “Do you think... she can see us?” the sky-blue pegasus asked, squinting her rose eyes at the blazing sun.
“I don't know about that,” Rarity said. “But I suppose, in a sense, she's here- wherever the sunlight touches.” She was suddenly, deeply moved. Lowering herself on her front hooves, she bowed low to the setting sun. Rainbow Dash almost said something beside her, but her words died on her lips. A few moments later, she too bowed, averting her eyes and folding her wings. On Rarity's other side, Applejack gave her friends a stern look, but her head flitted from them to the sun and back again, and she finally came into line beside Rarity and joined her in her bow.
They remained like that for some unknown quantity of time: not too long, but not short. Applejack raised herself first. “The princess wouldn't want us to waste too much time,” the orange earth pony said. “I mean, we are tryin' to help her star pupil get better.” Her friends rose back to their hooves at this, and they set off again in silence, leaving the great stone marker behind.
They galloped as the sun turned from orange to red, drenching the world in crimson. The sky grew pink overhead, then red, and finally violet. Behind them, the moon was rising, silver-white, distant and demure like Princess Luna who ruled it. Dusk settled over the landscape, and one by one the stars appeared overhead.
Several hours later, well into the night, Applejack slowed her pace. “I'm gettin' tired,” she said over her shoulder. “It don't look like we'll be findin' any shelter tonight, so I reckon we should just make camp out here in the open.”
Rarity yawned hugely. “That... sounds like a marvelous idea, darling,” she murmured. The white unicorn was completely exhausted. They stopped under the ridge of a small hill, and Rarity had barely laid down before she was asleep, breathing gently in a burrow of tall grass.
Applejack chuckled at the dainty pony. “Not even waitin' for dinner,” she said. “That is a worn-out pony.”
“I gotta say,” Dash remarked, “she kept pace a lot better than I thought she would.”
“She worked real hard,” the orange earth pony said. She began to pull up bunches of grass. “Rainbow, help me find the thicker stuff, it'll burn better.”
“We're making a fire?” the sky-blue pegasus asked.
“I don't want varmints sneakin' up on us in the night,” Applejack said. She began to pile the grass into a clearing she was making from pulling it up. “Most varmints don't like fire.” She soon had a large pile of grass gathered in a bare patch of dirt. She removed a log and a thin stick from her saddlebags, and set the log in the middle of the grass. She stuck the thin stick into the middle of the log and began to spin it rapidly between her hooves, boring the pointed end of the stick into the wood and creating intense friction. In little time, the wood was smoking, and Applejack quickly piled grass onto the kindled flame. Soon, a fire was crackling, the faint woody scent of burning grass pervading the air around them. “This fire won't burn for long,” the orange earth pony remarked, “but it should do enough to keep us safe. I can probably wake up a little later tonight and start it again.”
Rainbow Dash was busy gobbling down grass. She didn't want to admit it to Applejack, but she was very hungry, and she had been hungry all through the mountains. I don't want her trying to look after me, she thought. We've got to spend enough time babying Rarity. Dash spared a glance at the sleeping unicorn, curled up like a cat in the grass. The sky-blue pegasus smiled. In truth, her heart had been deeply touched by Rarity today. Hearing her talk about freedom and responsibility had awed Dash. Where on earth had Rarity been hiding those thoughts- what corner of her fashion-obsessed brain had she tucked that philosophy into? She said that if she had to choose, she would choose freedom, Dash remembered. That makes her okay in my book.
“Bit for yer thoughts,” Applejack said.
“Just thinking about Rarity,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Awwww,” Applejack cooed.
“It's not that!” Dash said. “It's just that she and I have never really hung out.” Trotting over to the fire, she laid down and looked into the flames. “I didn't even know who she was until Twilight brought us all together. Now we're all on this journey.” She sighed. “I mostly told myself that I would let her come because I knew how guilty she felt. But she's... okay.”
“Rarity's a good girl once you get past her fussy side,” Applejack said. “She's real sweet.”
Dash smiled. “The only time we really spent around each other was when she was making my dress for the Grand Galloping Gala, and I was being a jerk. But she just kept at it, doing whatever I told her to, even guessing what I wanted when I didn't say anything.”
“Yeah, we caused her a lot o' trouble- and she didn't complain one bit,” the orange earth pony remarked. “That's sort of the way Rarity works. You'll hear her whine about a lot, but if you pay attention, it's all little things- her mane, her clothes, what ponies are talkin' about. The big stuff? She never complains about it, not until it gets real bad. She just keeps moanin' about the little things, until the big things ain't such a big deal in your mind.”
“So it's some sort of coping strategy? She plans it out?”
“I'm not sure I'd call it plann-”
A rolling, moaning howl rippled across the plains, breaking out goosebumps on the two ponies; a chill ran down their spines. Rarity remained asleep. “What in the name o' Equestria was that?” Applejack cried, getting to her hooves.
“It sounded like it was pretty far off,” Rainbow Dash said.
“If we can hear it, it ain't far off enough!” said Applejack. “Rainbow, go up and take a peek.”
Nodding, Dash launched herself into the sky, shooting up a hundred feet in a second. She hovered in the air, spinning around, scanning the horizon. The light from their fire was meager and lonely amid the vast, moonlit darkness of the plains. She couldn't see anything moving, and there was a fair amount of moonlight, so she didn't think she was missing anything. “I don't see anything!” she yelled down to Applejack.
“Keep lookin' for a bit!” Applejack yelled back. “I wanna make sure there's nothin' comin' our way!”
Dash scanned the horizon again. Nothing toward the Archbacks. Nothing to her left. Nothing to her right. She turned back toward the Drackenridges-
Then she saw it.
A streak of blinding white light shot down the side of the mountains far to her right, going from the peaks to the bottom in an eyeblink. It hit the plains and kept going, a blast of blinding white in a faintly jagged line. It streaked clear across her line of sight in another blink of her eye, and then it was gone.
“Rainbow?” Applejack yelled up at her. “Do you see anythin'?”
Dash shook herself back to responsiveness. She gently hovered back to the ground. “Nothing,” she said when her hooves were on the earth again.
“Well, I'm gonna put some more grass on the fire,” Applejack said. “A wild critter'll think twice before comin' near us. Then I'm gonna turn in.”
“Yeah,” Dash said softly, “me too. G'night, AJ.”
“G'night, Rainbow,” Applejack said, getting up and walking into the tall grass.
Dash curled up and laid down her head. The grass acted as natural bedding; it was actually quite peaceful. But she wasn't feeling peaceful: her mind was racing, crackling with the images seared across it, with the memory of what she had seen. That streak... that blast of light... It was just like lightning. But what did that mean, lightning on the ground? The day's exertions had left her too tired to stay awake for long, so Rainbow Dash fell asleep after a short while, and for the second time in three days, her dreams were filled with lightning and thunder and the blue tail she couldn't catch.
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This section should be required reading for everone. Best discussion of liberty vs. law I've ever read.
'Merica
What kind of dream is Rarity having!?
Lone Ranger reference.
Nowadays, I can't help but think it, but there's a little Raridash going on in this story.
I find myself reminded that one of the reasons I loved this story was how philosophical it could be.
Interesting freedom discussion. If that simply rolled out of your head, then you did a fine job with it all.
Think you missed a dialogue tag there.
And so we enter the Valley of Gold on the other end of the Forbidden Mountain. Looking pretty good in my mind's eye, right about now.
news flash: the princess doesn't even know you're on this adventure! Unless somepony has actually, finally told her back in Equestria that Twilight might be dying.
that's... pretty damn fast, actually. 30 metres... that's about 110km/h. In one second.
Damn. RD accelerates faster than a Bugatti Veyron. Guess I shouldn't be surprised: her top speed was calculated to be about 315mph, based on 18 wing power.
Wh... w-what was that?
I see now what 4256217 and 4309997 mean by this. That was a pretty cool little chat. I've often wondered about this line of thinking myself.
Total occurrences of "sky-blue/cyan/rainbow-maned pegasus" so far: 28
Total occurrences of "the lavender unicorn" so far: 10
Total occurrences of "the white unicorn" so far: 21
Total occurrences of "the butter-yellow pegasus" so far: 5
Total occurrences of "the orange (earth) pony" so far: 25
Total occurrences of "the pink (earth) pony" so far: 4
Total other occurrences of descriptions of characters by ways other than their name: 60
I have to disagree with Rarity here.
Freedom is a universal thing, everyone 'sapient' has the freedom to do as they see fit since they began to develope a conscious.
It's the freedom of will, of choice, if you have a will do do something, you can do it, unless you don't have the means to achieve it.
What they do have to fear are the consequences, established by the laws of the society we created, to guide us.
Celesta for example established laws, as the ponies' guidence, to protect society as it functions and prevent conflict.
She has the power to enforce those laws if necessary, and if one in midst of equestrian society breaks them, she speaks justice before them for the crimes they have commited.
If what they do is against the law, it hurts society, an act Celestia does not allow.
Laws are the guidence of either our individual will, or society's will. We look at them, and are reminded for the consequences for breaking them, thus preventing us from possibly doing something, that could hurt others around us, or ourselves, may it be intentionally or unintentionally.
Everyone has the choice to kill someone else, but our will wavers in face of the consequences that will follow if we do it.
We create a guide to avoid problems if we live in a group, in our society, which is law.
The Law is based on identical morals of a group, most of the time a big majority against a small minority.
The Law is meant to guide the will of poeple, to show them whats apropriate to do, without causing trouble for themselves or others.
It also supresses our will through consequences, but not our freedom of choice, so if we are about to do something that will definitely hurt others, we stop acting on it and considere a different path, even tough the initial 'will' to do those hurtful things was there.
In other words the law, or more spicifically the princess in case of the ponies, is meant to guide freedom in society, but it's not taking away our choice to act as we please... unless Celestia is a tyrant and brainwashes you with her magic to hold you in line for example.
A pony can still kill another, but they will have to face the consequences, and the punishment delivered by the society they live in.
Thus, most of them harboring the will to murder, which is more common for humans than ponies, considere otherwise and deter from that will.
But that does not mean they wouldn't do it anyway, if so there would be no need for trails and a court to establish their guilt.
One can still kill another if they please, since the freedom of choice can't be taken from them, despite the law supporting to prevent this tragic.
In other words, to counter argue Rarity, everypony can do as they please wherever they are, since they always have their freedom of choice with them.
But the decision to that choice is influnced by the consequences that the law emphasizes, and the law reflects the morals of a group, a society, or a powerful individual in case of a dictatorship.
As long as an individual lives in that society, they will have to face the law as their guidence, to ensure the chances of their own security regarding NOT to do something that may upset others to a certain degree, which would cause the potentional offendor unwanted trouble.
After all, a sole individual with no other 'sapient' beings around, does not even necessarily need laws, because there are no 'others' to considere trouble with.
The law only increases the procentual chance for an individuals safety, but it does not gurantee it. Hence, even if society establishes rules to ensure freedom from fear, there will always be someone to break them anyway.
We usually call poeple that fall victim to this case, poor suckers. :/
Oooh, little lion king moment right there.
4630543 That just sounds like an extension of what Rarity said, not really a disagreement. You are also correct, but too many laws is still horrible. You get to the point where you're nazi germany, and you can do whatever you want, so long as you don't mind dying to do it. For example, anybody can go skydiving without a parachute, but most of the time the price of doing so makes it so that they wouldn't even consider it. Your free-will cannot be taken by force, but it can be given. And people can force you to give it. Everybody has their price, monetary or not.
Who's a silly pony...
I'm honestly surprised there are no comments mentioning Solaire.
Why did Rainbow lie about the white thing? Hmm…
I understand where Rarity is coming from. Her wording is what disturbs me and almost sounded like Thomas Hobbs. Almost.
Anarchy, I would argue, is not freedom at all. It's basically survival of the fittest, and the liberties and properties of the individual are not secured in that setting. That is why government is necessary to bring order and safety in the civil society.
At the same time, if government power is left unchecked and unrestrained, then liberty and safety is lost. The people are then left at the mercy of the ruling class who will dictate the actions, thoughts and words of the individual.
As Thomas Jefferson once said, "government is a necessary evil." The civil society needs government, whose size and power needs to be enumerated and limited in order to secure the freedoms of the individual.
One important detail that is left out of discussion is whether government has the power to grant rights. That is a very dangerous concept. Because if the government has the power to give you rights, then it also has the power to take it away, making any kind of resistance against the government illegitimate.
America's founding fathers believed, as do I, that our rights (including the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness) come from God. Each individual created to be free and must govern himself according God's commands. In other words, the individual is free to make his own decisions in life, as long as his decision does not violate the freedom of others. "As long as you don't break my leg and reach into my pocket, it makes no difference to me." (Thomas Jefferson.)
The government does not grant rights. It's job is to recognize those God-given rights and protect them. If the government refuses to protect the rights of the individual, then the people are not obligated to comply but have the right and duty to resist and defend themselves and their liberties.
4630543
As I once saw it put, every country has the death penalty, instantly carried out and with no appeal possible, for stepping into the street without looking both ways (but it’s only enforced sometimes).
Discord is an advocate of freedom he's not bound by the laws of physics.
Of course that kind of freedom isn't what Dash wants.
So you keep talking about food, but where are the trio getting their water from? You don't mention anything potable being packed, if I remember correctly. I would imagine continuous feeding on things as fibrous and course as grass and leaves would require a lot of water to digest.
Music for most of this chapter.
I wasn’t sure if this was about to become a clop fic the way this chapter started...
Interesting philosophical debate, especially as it was not planned. I keep expecting something enchanted with the grass... I don’t know why.
Lightning on the ground, huh? Interesting...
Interesting discussion, but Rarity's judgement on Gildedale before even meeting an inhabitant was grating. But pretty cannon for the annoyance that was Seasons One-Two Rarity. At least she admitted she was wrong. (It should be noted that even "civilized" places have long stetches of wilderness). The discussion itself was engaging and both brought up good points. I liked the race as well.
5765784
Amen.
Excellent use of foreshadowing and some great set up for a new land.
Words to live by!
I will say that Dash came around very quickly to Rarity's point (the rhetorical one too).
Thus fic is so genuine so often. It's incredible.
On the other hand (hoof!), another adventure fic were Rainbow doesn't tell her friends her problems, guh!