Rainbow Dash knew she had ascended to heights like this before. Cloudsdale, where she was born, was higher than any mountain in Equestria. Still, as she glided endlessly upwards to scale the jagged summit, she gnashed her teeth against the biting cold, wincing in disbelief.
When she first saw the mountain, she thought that her eyes were deceiving her. Nothing that large and rigid should have existed. Regardless, when she set out that morning to pierce the east horizon, there it was: a monumental promontory of granite construction, occupying a great deal of the sky.
Rainbow Dash had to pause several times on random cliffaces before she could fly any further. Those were tense, shallow-breathed moments spent panting in frustration as she clung to the earthen beast that was refusing to budge. It occurred to her that she could very easily have flown around the immense structure...
The pegasus spat on the rock. Her saliva froze in a blink. Cracking her joints and flexing her wings, Rainbow Dash merely shot up again. The wall of rock became her “ground,” surging past her as she bulleted towards the ceiling of the world. The blueness in the sky had turned into a muted haze, and Rainbow Dash felt like her lungs were shrinking. Concentrating on breathing was the one thing to keep her mind off of freezing. She felt the blood pulsating through her vessels as she finally... finally came upon the top of the mountain and evened out on a ridiculously thin plateau. She landed with numb hooves and trotted weakly towards the opposite cliff. She both anticipated and feared what would be on the other side of the great barrier. If it was already the edge of the world, she somehow wouldn't have been shocked.
What she saw almost took the last remaining breath out of her.
She slumped down onto her haunches and slipped the shaded goggles up to her brow. Wiping a sheen of snowy frost off her face, she blinked her ruby eyes hard and gazed into the expanse.
There was no more world; all was swirling mist and clouds and fog. Occasionally, a sharp mountain or two would rise up through the ceiling of moisture, daring to pierce the heavens with a fraction of the audacity that Rainbow Dash had embodied. As the sun shone down over the glittering peaks and the bubbling clouds below, everything glittered with a platinum shine, as if a hovering pool of flame had chosen to baptise the middle lengths of the mountains teeming below Rainbow Dash's twitchy hooves.
It suddenly occurred to her that something very special had happened that moment. Rainbow glanced down at where her legs were contacting the lifeless, frost-speckled rock of the mountain peak. She imagined that she was the only living soul to have made contact with that very rock. Furthermore, she highly doubted that any other pony in the rest of unwritten history would ever stumble upon that site again. Even if she left a landmark to tell of her having been there, what purpose would it serve? That peak was likely to be left untouched, undisturbed, and virtually unseen for dozens if not hundreds if not thousands of years after Rainbow Dash's hooves stopped scratching it.
Suddenly, the thought of leaving a landmark was no longer important to her. Nopony else in the legacy of the universe was bound to know of that spot, of that scenery, of the beauty and wonder it entailed. The only permanence it would ever have would be for Rainbow Dash, for she had lived that moment and would carry it with her to the grave, like a personal time capsule engrained in the stone surface of her soul.
She smiled. It was the first time in weeks that she had actually felt proud of something.
Rainbow Dash kicked off the cliff and flew into the platinum brilliance. She was careful to resist the urge to dive... in order to preserve the blood that was pulsing through her electrified heart.
Aw come on! You should have left something there! dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Rainbow_Dash.png
She should have taken a leak.
Beautiful. This sort of loneliness exists in our world, but its so hard to find. I've had those moments, while hiking some long trail. I wonder how many people have stood where I stood, walked where I walk. Whose footsteps have I retraced? Will anyone retrace mine?
Ever since the first caveman left a imprint of his hand on the wall of some forsaken hole in the ground, man has had the urge to mark where he goes. I don't know why we do that. Even in death, we strive to leave something permanent, something lasting. Its like we are trying not to feel so alone. Maybe we just don't want to be forgotten.
This really makes you think. In our world, we have pretty much discovered all the large areas such as the ones described here. It makes the earth feel tiny.
IIIIIt's Dashie's Third Marathon Evaluation Time!
So in this chapter, my heart exploded from the description. This chapter was beautiful in every way. I think this is one of my favorites so far...These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. ..........zzzzz..........
P.S.S.1287565. You are absolutely correct. In fact, that is my ultimate goal in life. - To be remembered.
1164709 Would have frozen coming out. Trust me, that's painful.
Should have wrote "the element of loyalty was here.
"ranbo das rulz #1"
1164709
Fucking LOL!
Dat scenery man
104 chapters to go!
1625052 thats almost im posibe, to much salt content for it to freezz befor it hits the grownd, iv tryed it in -40 dosint work
As the sun shone down over the glittering peaks and the bubbling clouds below, everything glittered with a platinum shine, as if a hovering pool of flame had chosen to baptise the middle lengths of the mountains teeming below Rainbow Dash's twitchy hooves.
goodness that scenery porn!
The only thing I don't like about reading this story is that all the comments are from a year ago, which makes me look like a retard if I reply to any of them
edit: Please stop replying. It's been 3 years.
electric heart? no-one else noticed this?
3382433 Actually it's 'electrified heart', slightly different.
3308408 I know, right? It feels like I'm reading a corpse. And looking at the dead words that have been long forgotten, from so long ago that their writers are different people now and the originals are truly dead...
What? Sleep deprivation makes me morbid.
Damn, that description... I'm not sure if it was over the top or completely perfect. I think I'll just go with the middle ground of 'perfectly over the top'. Seriously though, that was beautiful. You just don't get these moments in any other story, which is why I'm so totally in love with this one. I should read it every day, not every few days.
Beauty in anonymity.
3308408
3500243
How would authors like C.S.Lewis or J.Tolkien then feel, were they still alive to hear your comments on their stories?
Really, This story could be twenty or more years old and if people reply to your comment when you're older and greyer, would that not make you feel special? Would it not bring back phenomenal memories?
3975121
I've gotten comments on a story of mine that was eight months old at the time, and I still enjoyed it :)
I can see it happening.
In the distant future someone will climb that mountain with the intention of being the first ever to reaching the top of the world. Having after months of endearing cold frostbites and limited rations for his return trip, he finally reaches the top and proclaims to the world his deed of being the only being alive to reach this place. Only to look down and see, "FIRST! -R.D." and an outline of a cutiemark engraved into the top of the mountain.
An unfathomable howl of rage stretches across the mountain range that would impress even the Greybeards as it continued to nearby lands.
I hereby christen this mass "Rainbow Dash Mountain"
3308408 I know right?
I'm ashamed to say my brain went dirty there.
And here we are, at the throat of the world.
5305743 Yeah...
5305743 I'm having a similar problem.
6001993 how did you find this story? I come from Feature Box (indirectly)!
What must it be like to see something like this? To observe only clouds broken solely by giant peaks of stone, and know that you are the only soul there, and likely will be the only soul to ever see that sight?
3308408 Why, whatever do you mean?
6301123
Catching up to you! Only a month behind
5305743
Tell me about it
3308408
Well you could be years behind XD.
Still I don't think you look retarded.
I got a "Cheese the Moment" ad on this chapter..
Lovely chapter, 'skirts.
3308408 Never fear responding to an old comment.
It retains the thread of readers, each one having passed through the same words and sentences.
Links in the chain of history and emotion, each and every one of us.
Besides, it's not as if it's having a reply on a comment is any great inconvenience.
Oh! And maybe someone'll be reminded of a story that they never finished?
Also, hello!
3308408
I always reply to old comments. Makes me a little proud to leave a mark.
Also, at the time of this reply to your comment, you posted your comment exactly 162 weeks and 4 days ago. Awesome
First time I read this chapter, after reading the last part I felt a strange feeling in my heart. It was only later I realised it was awe. Pure simple awe at this story and it's beauty. That was 3 months ago when I first started reading this series. I have no regrets
And going with the chapter title, thought I might leave a comment here. Just because this is the greatest story I have ever read. Period.
3308408 dude
5649748
I should have known someone would have mentioned that already.
3308408
Sorry.
I feel like this is the real point of any adventure.
1352135 You, commenter from nearly half a decade ago, have summed up my thoughts and feelings quite nicely.
I'm loving the story so far, can't believe there's so much to read and that I'm only just getting started!Also hi people in the future who are reading this!
Huh. This story actually reminds me of a mountain. No matter how far up I climb, I'm still at the base, watching and finding marks of comments left behind by others. Now here I am, making my own.
1352135
No worries, the ocean floors are still relatively unexplored. :)
3308408
Meh, it could be worse...
My mark
Dive! Dive! Dive!
Needing ponies to know of her achievements after she was gone was something I've often felt to be an important part of Rainbow Dash's personality. A fear of being forgotten.
She's grown from who she was before the start of her journey.
3308408
Hiya Spectral! I hope you're well.
Oh man. These moments are so vibrant, so precious... thank you, Skirts, for bringing us here with you.
3308408
Hope you're still enjoying your journey, wherever you are and whomever you've become.
Ah, you underestimate blind curiosity. Perhaps no one will ever reach that peak in some time, but eternity is longer than you think.
So long as there are mountains, there are scalers.