//------------------------------// // Somepony Done Broke Wind // Story: Ofolrodi // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// Gliding over a plateau strewn with glowing fungae... Rainbow and Wildcard sat on the hovercraft, facing each other. Wildcard gestured. "Uhm..." Rainbow watched, squinting. "...'mountain top.'" Wilcard nodded. He gestured again. Rainbow blinked. "'Tree.'" The Desperado performed yet another hand-signal. "'Weather!'" The griffin's beak tightened. "Errrrrr...." Rainbow squirmed in place. Her muzzle opened wide with an exhale. "'Storm cloud!'" Wildcard gave a metal thumb's up. He proceeded to flash more words between them. "'Gate.'" Rainbow Dash said, pacing. Wildcard sat in place on the edge of the camp site. He munched on his meaty dinner in the starlight, then hand-gestured casually to the pegasus in between bites. Rainbow tried "reading" her friend from obtuse angles. "'Gate keeper.'" A beat. "'Gate smasher.'" Another beat. "... ... ...'Broken gate.'" "'Mana,'" Rainbow Dash said. Wildcard nodded. The two glided ahead of the convoy, scouring the sporadic topography of the Dark Side. The two tested Rainbow's ability to "read" from nearly parallel to the Desperado. The griffin made another signal. Rainbow craned her neck. "Uhhhhhhhh..." She grimaced. "'Mana stone?'" Wildcard shook his head. He briskly gestured the same signal again. "Mana charge" Rainbow Dash gnashed her teeth. "Dang it, this is hard." "It's worth practicing this way, Rainbow," Twilight Sparkle said. "You can't always have the convenience of looking at Wildcard dead-on every time." "But... that's asking a lot out of her, isn't it?" Fluttershy remarked. "Remember how smoothely Bard could understand our friend here?" Rarity said. She squeaked in a gentle "Rest his soul" before clearing her throat. "They only got to that moment of mental clarity through an abundance of practice." Fluttershy nodded. "I guess so. Still... I don't know how Rainbow Dash manages to do it. I can phase through the griffin and even I'm having difficulty..." Rainbow shrugged. "I do my best memorizing when I'm flying." Wildcard looked at her curiously. "Not talking to you." She smirked. "The gals." He gave a knowing nod. "Anyways..." She motioned to him. "Continue." Rainbow leaned forward from the back of the wagon. Her eyes followed Wildcard's slow hand movements. "... ... ..." The petite pegasus' brow furrowed. "'Ignore... the... flying alligator—' Errrrrr... 'Dragon'." Rainbow Dash coughed. "Ignore the dragon and... save the world through... harmony!'" She grinned wide. "Did I get it right?" Wildcard nodded briskly, smirking beneath his beak. "Woohoo!" Rainbow pumped her hoof. Sitting—shackled—a few spaces away, Seraphimus rolled her eyes. "Sounds like somepony's making progress down there!" Ariel exclaimed from high above. "Well... pffttchyeaahh..." Rainbow nodded. "It's only been..." She squinted into the starlight. "...how many weeks?" "Yes..." Rarity rubbed her tired, ghostly eyes. "Just how long has it been since Darkreach?" "I've been keeping count," Twilight droned. "Yes, darling, and...?" "You don't want to know." Rarity pouted. Kepler spoke up. "Ach! Rrainbow One! You will be a rregularr Herraldite in no time!" "She's the single reason we're even here," Ariel remarked, raising an eyebrow. "What's the difference?" "Now I get to listen in on all the nasty gossip Wildcard's been sharing behind my back!" Rainbow stuck her tongue out. "That's the difference!" "I speak in jest, of courrse," Kepler said, smirking. He turned to look at her from across the wagon. "But I'm simply excited to have anotherr educated soul in ourr midst!" "Uh..." Rainbow shrugged. "You're welcome?" "Oh, let me congrratulate you morre prroperrly!" Kepler then proceeded to execute a blazing mix of claw-based hand signals. Wildcard winced. "Uhhhhhhh..." Rainbow's ears drooped as she blushed. "A little... slower... please?" Ariel giggled. "FAIL," Logan burped. "Be easy on her," Flynn said, guiding the hovercraft over a craggy landscape. "She only now began learning." "Well, I cannot think of a morre prroperr envirronment!" Kepler remarked with a shrug. "This half of the plane is like a verritable blank slate in everry dirrection!" "It is for now..." Logan muttered. "Shhhh!" Ariel slapped him upside the scalp. "Be positive!" "Meh." "I trrust..." Kepler winked in Rainbow's direction. "...that you shall have a full grrasp of Wind Speak in no time." "Well..." Rainbow smirked aside at Wildcard. "It's pretty sweet and all... but I kinda sorta wish I could... y'know... speak back." "Yeah." Ariel sighed. "There's a toughie." "I mean, I totally would... but..." Rainbow held her stubby fetlocks up. "Y'know..." Wildcard hand-signed, and Rainbow Dash managed to catch: "'You. Could. Always. Break. The. Wind. Talk.'" He finished this with a smirk. "... ... ..." Rainbow Dash snorted. "Snrkkk..." She hugged herself and doubled over, kicking her lower hooves in the twilight. "Hee hee hee hee!" Flynn smirked while his horn glowed. "Now that's some progress." As Rainbow's laughter died down... "... ... ...There's always Cloud Swiping." Rainbow sat up straight, blinking. Ariel looked over to who had just spoken. "What...?" Seraphimus looked back. "Cloud Swiping," she reiterated in an emotionless tone. "The Talon utilized it to great effect." Ariel's lips pursed as she struggled to understand... Seraphimus sighed. "I know for a fact that Jordan is quite efficent at the communication system." She leaned back, resting her limbs in their fetters. "So was the Lieutenant." Rainbow looked at Wildcard. "Sooooooooo... what are we talking about?" Wildcard glanced sideways at Seraphimus, then proceeded to gesture briskly across the wagon. Rainbow was at a loss to read him that quickly, until she realized Wildcard wasn't "talking" to her at all. Kepler responded: "Apparrently, it's a small collection of imperrative commands conveyed thrrough overr thrree dozen physical arrrangements of grriffin wings." He looked at Rainbow directly, adjusting his spectacles. "Quite efficient at conveying simple messages while stalling in mid-flight." "Huh..." Rainbow Dash blinked. "Well, no wonder the Talon got so close to nipping me in the bud multiple times." "Not efficient enough," Seraphimus grumbled. "Now..." Logan threw a smirk over his shoulder. "Why oh why would anyone bother to tell us that now?" She merely glared back at him. "Say, Wildcard..." Rainbow looked at the Desperado. "...you think we could use Cloud Swiping for me to talk back to you?" He briskly shook his head. Rainbow's ears drooped. "Awwwwww..." But Wildcard held up a talon. He glanced at Seraphimus, then gestured slowly to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow only caught a few words, she interpeted them as: "...Will... Help... Us... In Addition..." "Heh..." Rainbow smirked. "Well, whatever works, bud." Wildcard nodded back. He gestured another word: "'Toothpaste.'" Rainbow's eyes crossed. She leaned over and rubbed her head. "Butttttttttt... let's just practice teaching me your words first and foremost, 'kay?"