//------------------------------// // Humid - JakeTheArmyGuy // Story: Operation Westhorse // by PropMaster //------------------------------// Rainbow flapped her wings hard, propelling her petite body through the air. Though, if asked, she would have described it as “swimming.” She had no idea a place could be so muggy. Her journey westward had started fine, and most recently she’d enjoyed a flight above a pristine gulf that seemed endless. The cool high altitude breezes blew through her feathers as she drifted over the ocean. However, as soon as she hit land, the cool breezes died, and the air became stifling, cloying, like somepony had wrapped a thick blanket of hot air around her fuzzy body. It didn’t help that it was likely over a hundred degrees, and the tall buildings in front of her reflected back the light, and heat, of the blazing midday sun. Each pump of her wings dislodged more of the sweat that was clinging to her like a sponge. Panting, she looked around for a place to land and rest. A bustling city sprawled out beneath her. A central hub of glass and steel skyscrapers surrounded by shorter, more squat buildings, dominated the view. Rainbow refused to land on any of them, as they had no doubtedly soaked up even more of the blinding heat than she had. She lost count of the many highways and byways entering and exiting the city, carrying motored carriages of all shapes and sizes. Though she did notice that most of them more resembled parking lots. Her search seemed in vain until she spotted an odd structure: a giant dome of white and grey. Four parapets held at equidistant points around it, and it was surrounded by abandoned parking lots. Next to it was an even larger building, but this one was more rectangular and it seemed filled with the strange creatures that inhabited this land. Not wanting yo make waves, she altered her flight path into a gentle glide, finally landing atop the dome with a loud sigh. Rainbow stretched her wings with another groan. The trip across the gulf, while comfortable, was long. She nosed into her saddlebags and produced a canteen, which she gulped from eagerly. As she drank, she looked down to the other structure. Multitudes of people were going in and out. She assumed this must be some sort of event center or stadium. Why they built it right next to the empty dome instead of using it baffled her. A scent caught her nose: a rich, earthy smell, musky yet inviting. Her tail twitched when she placed it. “Sweet Apple Acres” she breathed. Sure, it lacked the ever present scent of apples, but there was no denying the similarities. Intrigued, she replaced her canteen and took wing again, this time heading for the roof of the other building. As she approached, she something she had missed on the other side of the stadium. It was a carnival, an honest to Celestia carnival! Towering roller coasters, motorized swings, large structures that launched shrieking people high into the air and back down again. She could see endless rows of booths serving deep fried foods, candied apples, popcorn, cotton candy. Even from altitude, she could hear the squeals and laughter of excited children, see them dragging their parents around to the various colorful fun houses and spooky haunted ones. Lovers walked hand-in-hand, a garden area was serving what she assumed was wine of all kinds. At the far end there was a petting zoo, where pigs, ducks, sheep,and all kinds of fuzzy little animals were being chased by excited kids. Above it, a large red banned declared, “Welcome to the 2017 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo!” In a word it reminded her of... “Home.” Her heart ached a bit. Pinkie Pie would love it down there with all the laughing and screaming. Twilight would be studying the strange creatures with a scholar's eye. Rarity would be having a heart attack at the strange and, even to her untrained eye, tacky garb. She was pulled from her trance by a very welcome sight. Standing at the very edge of the petting zoo was a pony. I was rather drab in color, and it was simply munching from a trough of hay. Still, eager to have some conversation, but not wanting to cause a scene, she surreptitiously made her way down and into the tented area, landing with a soft pomf upon the hay covered ground. She trotted up to the pony, sidling up beside her at the trough. “Hey sister! How’s it hangin’?” The other pony neighed softly and continued to eat. “So, what do you call those weird things walking on two legs?” The pony snuffled. “Uh... not much for conversation are you?” “Pony!” “Bweh?” The high-pitched squeal made Rainbow jump. She spun around to see a little girl with curly blonde hair sprinting towards her, gleeful smile on her face, shouting the entire way, “Pony, pony, pony, pony, pony!” Rainbow made to move, but it was too late. With speed and strength borne of too much cotton candy, the little girl launched herself at Rainbow and latched on to her with a steely grip. Without wasting a second, the girl buried her head into Rainbow’s floofy chest, nuzzling back and forth like a cat. “Heeeeeeeeee, so fuzzy and soooofffffffft!” Rainbow snapped out of her daze. “Okay, I don’t know what you are or what you’re doing, but please stop it.” “Gasp!” the girl gasped and pulled away from Rainbow. “You can talk?!” “Uh, of course I can talk.” The girl put her hands on her hips. “Ponies aren’t a-posed to talk.” Rainbow scoffed. “Yes, we are!” “This one don’t talk,” the girl said, pointing to the brown pony next to Rainbow. The pony let out a soft whinny and went back to its oats. Rainbow studied the pony for a few seconds then turned back towards the little girl. “Wait... you mean ponies here don’t talk?” “Nu-uh.” The girl seemed to ponder this statement for a second. Suddenly, her eyes went wide, accompanied by a loud gasp. “You’re not from here?!” “Uh, I don’t think I should be—” “Do you come from a magical land of rainbows, unicorns, butterflies, and all sorts-a cute stuff?!” Rainbow blinked. “Um, yes actually. Yes, I do.” “Squeeeeeeee!” The girl clapped her hands together. “I hafta go tell daddy! Daddy!” she shrieked as she ran away. After watching the girl run off, Rainbow turned back to the brown pony. “Geez, these things are friggin’ weird, ya know?” The pony nickered. “Oh, right. I guess you don’t know.” Making a quick decision that she didn’t want to raise any alarms or cause any kind of trouble, Rainbow turned to the end of the tent and bent at the legs, ready to take off. “Daddy, I told you, the pony talked!” Rainbow sighed. She glanced over her shoulder to see the girl from before, only this time she was dragging a larger male by the hand. His other hand held a brown bottle, one that Rainbow assumed was some kind of cider judging by the flustered color on his cheeks. The man walked up to the pair of ponies. “Okay, sweetheart, is this the ‘talking pony’?” “It’s this one, Daddy,” she said, pointing at Rainbow. The man appraised Rainbow with a shifty eye. “Man, kinda sick what they’ll do to drum up attendance. Blue dye, fake wings, and that mane! Must have cost a fortune to buy all those colors and taken hours to make it so perfect.” He reached out to grasp Rainbow’s mane. Just before his hand made contact, Rainbow jumped back and flared her wings. “Hey, hands to yourself, pal!” The man’s eyes went wide as saucers, and he dropped his bottle. Rainbow realized her mistake. “Uh, I-I mean... w-whinny?” A breath passed. “Jesus fuck, the pony is talking!” The man grabbed up his daughter and ran towards the front gate, screaming for help. Rainbow, making an astute observation that the following events would likely suck, whipped around and flared her wings for flight. “Later, sister,” she said to the brown pony. “Don’t let these freaky things get to you.” The pony passed gas. “Uh... right.” With nimble grace, Rainbow launched herself into the air and once more went swimming through the thick, cloying air. She flapped her wings hard to gain altitude, her wings no longer as sore from her flight over the gulf. Desperate to put this weird place behind her, she once more angled her body westward. * * * Deputy Harrison of the Harris County Sheriff’s Department sighed as he followed the man leading him, all the while ranting about talking horses with wings. While Harrison couldn’t exactly smell the sauce on him, he could tell from the profuse sweating and slightly unsteady gait that the man had a bit more than his fair share of Shiners. Still, “serve and protect” and all that jazz. “I’m telling you, it talked! And flared its wings! I ran for my life, me and my daughter were scared out of our minds!” “Of course, sir.” They rounded the corner and entered the petting zoo. The man made a beeline right towards the back of the tent where stood a regular-looking pony snuffling in a trough filled with oats. The pony seemed to pay them no mind as it ate. Harrison looked to the man. “Seems like a normal pony to me, sir.” “Wait, where did it go?!” the man said, his head darting around. “It was right here!” “Aww, Daddy, you scared the nice pony away!” his daughter said with a pout. “Well, if you two will excuse me...” Harrison said, turning to leave. The man ran in front of him and screamed at him. “I’m telling the truth! The blue-coated, rainbow-maned pegasus talked!” “Of course it did, sir. Might I suggest you lay off the Lone Stars unless you have a D-D?”