Rainbow Dash's Unstoppable Ego

by MagicS

The Wild North

The following morning saw the rainbow-maned pegasus wake at the first light of dawn to make sure she got as much out of the day as possible. William and Harrison turned out to be awake before her and were already taking down their own tents to place the ruffled canvases back on the sled. A fresh layer of snow had fallen on the ground during the night, it would’ve been perfect for a snowball fight if Rainbow Dash and the yaks didn’t both have something else to do. Knowing that she would be on her way almost immediately, William gave her a single potato for breakfast. Rainbow Dash near swallowed it whole and thanked him once more and flew off into the sky.

“See ya later, dudes!” She waved to the two yaks when she got above the trees and rocketed away with a puff of smoke and a rainbow blur left behind.

Where they had made camp was about the halfway point of the valley so Rainbow Dash had a number of trees to get past before she reached the mountains. Things were a bit different looking during the day, and so early in the morning as well. First of all the clouds that were overhead last night were completely gone, letting the sun shine down on the valley from the clear blue sky, illuminating the vast forest and the snow glistening on the tree leaves. It was still cool out simply thanks to how far north she was but her body had already adjusted well to these temperatures. Only the slightest of breezes was carried through the air, occasionally bringing light trails of snow with them, as they refreshingly passed through her mane and feathers.

A quiet and calm morning. In other words, one that was fairly boring to her.

“There better be something cool coming up soon. I want a real adventure already!” Rainbow Dash impatiently lamented. Already the ordeal and accomplishment of climbing Mt. Everhoof was being reduced in her mind and forgotten. The call of adventure in the north and the promise of far greater danger and challenges was filling her head now.

She did a loop-de-loop in the air and turned into a corkscrew the moment she came out of it, always one for theatrics her wings were well attuned to any sort of maneuver. She needed to do stuff like this to pass the time when she was just flying over some place where there wasn’t really anything else to do or look at. The forest below and the clear sky above didn’t offer much, but maybe those last mountains of the Yaketian Valley would.

In an effort to get to them faster she sped up, her wings beating hard by her sides and her mane being pushed back by the wind. The pegasus flew to them at an altitude that would make her hit them about halfway up when she reached, an easy height to fly between the various peaks. None of them came close to as tall as Mt. Everhoof but they were all still comparable to the Crystal Mountains and they stood like a defensive perimeter between her and the rest of the north. Not so grandiose as what she was leaving behind, or as majestic as Canterlot Mountain, but they made her heart beat faster all the same.

The early morning sun on her back kept it a little warm compared to the rest of her body. When it got a little later it’d probably feel even better, like when she was taking an afternoon nap on a cloud and just letting the rays shine down on her.

There wasn’t any time for a nap up here though. And probably wouldn’t be for a good long while.

Rainbow Dash reached the mountains, feeling the cold air current running between the two she chose. Average mountain winds could be a problem for weaker fliers or smaller birds but they weren’t even an inconvenience to her. She glided over the snowy slopes and rock faces of the mountain, allowing herself to enjoy the contrast of the cool wind and the warm sun. Some of these mountains would’ve been perfect for skiing down that it was almost a waste she was only flying over them.

So far she couldn’t really see the lands that lied beyond them, there were too many clustered together in this range for her to see what she had from atop Mt. Everhoof or what she had heard about from William. That big river was supposed to be right behind these mountains and it should be impossible to miss.

She passed those first two mountains and had to start taking a wide turn to the left so she could go around the next stony fang that popped up. All these mountains practically seemed connected to each other with how clustered they were together, as if they all grew up out of the same slab of rock in the ground. She wouldn’t be surprised if some of them were. Not like mountains were her specialty though. Clouds? Weather? Yeah, she could tell a pony a lot about those, but mountains weren’t really her thing.

Movement below her caught her eye and she glanced down to see a polar bear stalking by the edge of a rocky cliff on the mountain below her. Its white fur contrasted with the dark stone around it, the large predator looked up, seeing her as well, and let out a great roar that echoed across the mountain valley.

Rainbow Dash only grinned and waved at it as she flew on by.

“If you want to scare me you’re gonna have to at least be a Bug Bear.”

The next mountain she went by she dipped down low and skimmed over the snow that covered its surface, sticking her back hoof out and letting it drag across the fresh powder, making a line in it all across this side of the mountain. She just wanted to give this bare mountain range a little Rainbow Dash touch.

Well, perhaps not so bare.

When she finished with that last mountain and began flying out to the next one to pass it she saw something on the ground in-between the two.

A village? No, far too small to be called that. But there were several hovels down on a ridge right below her, squat circular homes made from logs and canvas all tied and nailed together with paintings of animals, mountains, the sun and stars, and more drawn on their sides. Rainbow Dash slowed and floated down a bit lower to get a better look, noticing an empty fire pit between the hovels as well as a clothes line hung up on the side of the ridge.

There were a few creatures milling about around the hovels too. If her eyes weren’t so sharp she might’ve suspected them to be ponies from a distance, but ponies didn’t have antlers nor did they have such pronounced hooves.

“Those are… reindeer right? Did I learn about them at the School of Friendship or did someone else tell me about them?” Rainbow Dash thought out loud.

One of them must’ve felt they were being watched because he (she?) looked up to see Rainbow Dash flying above their homes. Their brown coat was somewhat shaggier than a pony’s and their legs thinner, and all she could see of its eyes were coal black pits. Naturally she waved at the reindeer, what kind of Element of Harmony would she be if she didn’t? And to her joy the reindeer waved back.

Rainbow Dash smiled and continued on her flight, this wasn’t the kind of stop she wanted to make. She did wonder though if those reindeer had ever even seen a pony before. But she didn’t want to get distracted from her main goal and going down and saying hello would inevitably lead to probably her whole day being eaten up. So the wave was enough and Rainbow Dash kept flying through the mountains.

Comments

[THERDSTORYWHISPERER]

Great chapter!

[Maud of Sterner Stuff]

Aww... Even little interactions like that are quite nice to see.