Emerald Eyes
"Wooohoo!" I flipped in the air and twirled into a grinning hover. "And did you see the way Spitfire came out of that Gyrating Griffon Spiral?! It was absolutely perfect! I'd kill just to have the balance and... and... awesomeness of that!"
"That does seem to be the word of the day," Twilight said with a smirk and a roll of her eyes.
"Oh! And Fleetfoot! I didn't get a chance to see how crazy cool she was at the Best Young Fliers Competition, but she was totally ripping holes in the clouds!" I bucked the air. "Blam!" I spun and punched my forelimbs one after another. "Whip! Pow!" With forward-flip, I somersaulted over everypony's heads. "And then came out with a Sideways Dragon Drag! Nyeaaaargh—Swoosh!"
"Rainbow Dash! Honestly!" Rarity exclaimed, frowning up at me. "Would you be a dear and settle down?!"
"Why you gotta be a buzz kill, Rarity?!" I swung back and forth, performing a whistling barrel roll. "Woooh! Ha! I'm electrified! Can't I live in the moment?"
"Well, could you wait until we've arrived in Ponyville before living in the moment?" Rarity pointed towards the far end of the train car. A star-lit landscape blurred past the passenger windows of the speeding compartment we were all in. "I swear, you are making everypony look at us like we're Commander Hurricane's pack of ruffians!"
I blinked. Hovering near the car's roof, I looked towards the seats on the far side. Several elite unicorns were glaring my way, several whose hats had just been blown off.
"Eh heh heh..." I blushed. My wings went slack and I plopped down in a bench besides Applejack. "Guess not everypony wants to feel the electricity as much as I do."
Applejack yawned, pivoted, and leaned a chin on her hoof. "Hmmf... Land's sakes, sugarcube. It's been twelve hours, and still yer goin' on about dem Wonderbolts?"
"Why would I not be?!" I grinned wide. "They were.. they were..." My grin cracked even wider, and I had to sputter forth, "The Wonderbolts!"
"Well, that much is obvious," Applejack said, yawning again.
"It was so much different than the last two times I met them! I mean, sure, I met them in person, but it's easy to forget just how awesome the real deal is until the real deal does what makes the real deal so cool right in front of you! I mean it; they get better everytime I see them! No wonder they didn't pay any attention to me at the Gala! I have to step up my game, especially if Fleetfoot can pull off the kind of sick tricks she did today and... and.... AJ, why are you catching flies so much?"
"Hmmm?" Applejack tiredly blink at me. "Oh, I'm sorry, Rainbow. It's been a long day and..." She sighed, staring out the window next to us. "Somethin' about dag-blame'd train rides that really does a number on my head."
"Oh yeah? Since when?"
"Shucks, I dunno. I don't leave home much to keep score." She stifled the next yawn before it could come out of her. "Nnngh... I reckon it's 'cuz it reminds me of when I was a little filly. I could never sleep when I was alone, so Pa had this habit of lettin' me lie on his back when he was out workin' the farm. I think he was fixin' to do some reverse psychology on me, get me to hate bein' around him cuz it was all sweaty and bumpy and stuff." She slid back further in her seat, smiling as her eye gazed into the floor of the train car. "But the joke was on him. It was like bein' rocked to sleep. For years, I couldn't get shuteye from lyin' still all dainty-like in bed. It just didn't feel the same."
"Heheh..." I chuckled and winked. "Who needs bed bugs when you're the one squirmin' all around?"
"Yeah, well, some of us ponies don't have us a nice fluffy cloud to drift off in."
"Guess that's your loss." I scratched my chin, gazing out the window. "Hmmm... I wonder how the Wonderbolts sleep..."
"Ugh..." Applejack rolled her eyes. "Give it a rest."
"Hey! This is important stuff to think about!"
"Rainbow, you and me and the rest of the gals have saved Equestria from Nightmare Moon, a dragon, and several parasprites all in the course of a year. Why's it so cotton-pickin' important that you join a bunch of high brow, winged showmares?"
"They're not just showmares!" I said, frowning. "They're... they're symbols!"
"Symbols...?"
"Yeah!" I grinned wide. "They bring awesomeness and inspiration to the whole kingdom! Why else do you think Princess Celestia have them going on tour to every major pony city?"
Applejack yawned and muttered forth, "Equestria's short on pillow feathers?" She curled her forelegs up and surrendered to the cushion of the seat. "Mmmm... speakin' of which..."
"You're just jealous that there isn't a band of travelling rodeo ponies as awesome as Spitfire's team!" I rolled my eyes. "Boy! That'd be rich! The Silobolts!"
"Mmmmmm... yer really not gonna be happy with yer life until you somehow get asked to join them cloud kickers, are ya?"
"Well... I..."
"Don't you have enough here, Rainbow?" Applejack asked, her voice having crumbled to an exhausted mumble. "Is Ponyville so boring that you can't just do what I do?"
"What, settle?"
"Live."
"You call what I do living?" I asked, her eyebrow raised. "Minding the weather day in and day out? Making squadrons of pegasi carry clouds from Point A to Point B? Cleaning up after another of Derpy's crazy messes?"
"Hmmmph..." Applejack's sleepy lips curved.
"Living is all well and good, but I wanna live large!" I turned and gazed out the window. "I wanna see what's beyond those mountains lying around us. I wanna scale oceans and cross continents. I wanna feel the winds of a billion different countries through my mane. I got the strength and energy to go places, AJ. It's just that, for as long as I can remember, one stupid thing or another has anchored me in place. And... and sometimes I'm just sick of it, y'know? I love you guys, but I gotta move. I gotta fly. I gotta..." I gazed back down at Applejack and froze in place.
She was lying still, her eyes fluttering gently beneath a pair of orange lids. The hat on her brow was tilted forward slightly, shadowing her freckled face as she slept in the seat beside me, her body rising and falling in slow, undulating drifts.
I blinked. My wings coiled at my side. With an exhaling sigh, I said, "I-I can think of two reasons for why I haven't flown away, AJ. And I can't see them right now." The next breath was a warm one, and I felt like smiling. So I did.
I didn't say anything else; I sat perfectly still. Applejack slept soundly for the rest of the train ride as we rolled through the cool dark of night. I may have watched her the whole way, and I might have fallen asleep too.
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Daaw.
...I want to add something to that, but I honestly can't think of anything appropriate.
I feel that the word symbol wasn't there on accident.
her eyes? or something else? I can't think of anything else at the moment, but my mind is a little fried.
I really envy your ability to write so much so consistently.
1563897
SYMBOLS! heh, and yes, her eyes are the two things Dash can't see.
We finally get the "Emerald Eyes" chapter. Poor Rainbow, doesn't realize that it's often best to be carful what one wishes for. There hasn't been a chapter like this, where Dash lays out her philosophy on life, in a while; it is refreshing to see again. What I've really hooked onto here is her clear desire to keep going (and almost make Sonic references), especially in light of everything we know will eventually happen. It gives some of the regret Dash felt over the last 230 or so chapters some serious meaning, and really highlights how much she had been shoving under the surface by never staying in one place for too long on her journey.
Lovestruck Dash is lovestruck.
Son of a-
Do you understand how badly this is going to end?! How much our souls are going to be shredded by the next few chapters?! URGH.
I'd say best chapter so far.
No! Bad Imploding Colon! We want our hearts unpummeled, thank you very much!
Hmmm... I can see something from Nopony Needs to Know in here.
I really wish these fics stopped talking about eye colour so much. I have trouble remembering eye colours unless I pay specific attention to them.
Be careful what you wish for there, Rainbow.
what i wouldn't give for wings of my own...
Emerald - Thin Lizzy
Y'know what? I'm not even gonna say anything...
Good lord that last bit was cute. ...d'awwww.
Oh and IC--I have to reiterate how impressed I am with your ability to capture these characters' personalities. Bravo, sir.
1564831
Was thinking the exact same thing. If only she knew...
I know I said I thought there was going to be an explanation of the chaos rift here, but I think this is a logical stopping point for this pseudo-sequencing memory thingamajig we're in right now. We got the Emerald Eyes chapter we've been waiting for, and continuing from here would seem a little odd. I think the next chapter is going to have Belle wake up with a much better understanding of Rainbow's motivation.
1565983
And determination to rescue her.
Well she got to live her dream, to go and fly past those distant mountains to the east.
Well, that got her nearly killed by a dragon, and put in a testing facility.
D'awwww. Pretty heart warming chapter, this one, and I'd agree that this is probably the last of the memory-sequence. Things should be gettin' significantly darker from here on in.
Oh, and that dramatic irony
I'm pretty sure that when she started talking about wanting to go places, I was thinking,
"Don't say it. Don't say it. Don't jinx yourself Dash you'll only -
*sigh*"
I fully expect a Belle chapter next.
Heartwarming as fuck.
I get the feeling we're going to find out what happened to them in this story. And it's going to be a tearjerker.
gahh! so much confusion!
I am really getting the feeling that these next chapters will indeed reveal what happened to them all. The mane 6 I mean.
And isn't it ironic, that here our very own Dashie is wanting to fly through many countries, and yo see what lies beyond those mountains.
Be careful of what you wish for Dashie, be very careful.
Oh no.... So many terrible, awesome feelings.
You're killing me here, author. Dash, stop tempting fate! Obviously its too late, but... The feelings!
So yeah, I'm just gonna agree with everyone else and say that there's a Belle chapter next. Hopefully now she's all gung ho to break Dash out of her sarcophagus thing and kick some ass! Onward!
I sense Austreaoh prologue.
I agree with this comment above mine
ok, back from a long break. Time to get back into this story!
A message from MASH-
Oh, hey there, head cold. How ya been? I know, I missed you too, buddy.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
So the biggest thing we get in this chapter is the line where Dash says that she wants to do something big with her life, travel to distant lands, and go places. I thought it was interesting because that's exactly what she did in Austraeoh. And I think it's safe to say that she didn't enjoy it. It's true what they say - you have to be careful what you wish for. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. Good news - it's not a head cold. Bad news - it's a fever.
You're SO lucky I'm doing this right now...
God damn...
Well, Dashie got her wish...
but not before I noticed a huge pimple in her left orange cheek. I have to tell you, it almost made me vomit.
If only you knew Rainbow Dash
What.
If you dash any more of these apples, I might die of all the warm fuzzy feelings I get from reading it.
Be carefull what you wish for Rainbow. You might get a little more than you bargained for. Se la vie.
Okay, Austraeoh did just enough to get me to read this, so a few thoughts at this point:
* So far this seems like more of a side story than a true sequel. Not sure how I feel about that.
* Ah, we're into a sort of techno-dystopia setting this time. Okay, I guess.
* This story looks like being darker and more reflective, with less outright action. Again, okay, I guess.
* I quite enjoyed the sequencing, er, sequences featuring the Mane Six (and, briefly, Discord).
* A main character named Belle? From a writer with that avatar? Suspicious...
* The lack of proofreading is once again glaring. (What exactly are "anteloupes"? Or "whings"?)
* I'm amazed the characters don't all have permanently bloodied lips from biting them so often.
* It's not a great sign when my favourite moment to date is also a typo: "marquis" for "marquee".
Overall? To be honest, I'm finding it all a bit dull at the moment: like the last story, it's taking too long to get anywhere. The dystopian stuff is what's keeping me reading for now. Will I make it to the end? I'd honestly say it's 50/50 right now.
Is it just me or does this story seem to be here for the express purpose of giving us the events that lead up to RD flying east in Austraeoh?
Well, you will get your wish Rainbow, but the price you pay for it
..... I think that you lose the only two reasons to not leave.
Commander Hurricane had a pack of ruffians?
More AppleDash, and let me tell you, the quiet concern masked with criticism that AJ displays here is nothing short of amazing. Bravo. 11/10 IGN.
This means that, in order to make this fit with FMA canon, AJ has to be Winry. Well, aside from the whole automail thing, it fits...
6497187
Oh you told her it would help with Apple bucking she would build it
So adorable! So romantic!
At that place and time she would certainly say no. That is likely to change as time passes and she shapes and is shaped by life, especially given the things she will see and do.
04/19/2017 23:07 UTC
Moments like this make Austraeoh and Appledashery blur together a little in my head. I can see myself looking back in a couple years and thinking "Wait, which story was THAT scene from again?"
That moment when I get the sense of Deja vu that I've read this in the previous book.
this reminds me of a silly gag in a different story where Twilight bought a cloud bed and a ring or amulet with a cloud-walking spell on it...
"after the third time it ran out of juice and she fell through the cloud in the middle of the night, Twilight gave up and gave the bed to Fluttershy."
Well that's not creepy or anything
AJ's eyes. Those great, big, emerald green eyes.