//------------------------------// // Stopover at the Crystal Empire // Story: Rainbow Dash's Unstoppable Ego // by MagicS //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash had flown all the previous evening, had barely gotten any sleep, and started flying again at the first sign of dawn. There was no time to waste on her new journey and she wanted to get to the exciting adventure she craved as soon as possible. This was going to be epic, she knew it. There had to be all kinds of stuff to do and monsters to fight where she was going. After all, Bug Bears lived on one side of the north so there had to be other dangerous stuff too. “I’m gonna make sure this adventure is awesome,” she said to herself as she flew hard through the air, her hooves thrust out in front of her while the cone of wind from her great speed tightened around her. She didn’t want to make any stops right now with her eyes glued to the north and the rising Crystal Mountains in the distance. Beyond them was the even more massive Mt. Everhoof, a mountain that made the rest in Equestria seem tiny, and her first goal for this adventure. She couldn’t see it just yet though what with the clouds and great distance to it still. The entire Crystal Empire was still between her and it after all. But despite Rainbow Dash’s wish for no stops, her body had other ideas. A growl from her empty stomach grabbed her attention and she slowed down her flight, rubbing her rumbling belly. “Oh yeah, I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday,” she frowned. Flying above the Crystal Mountains she could see the Empire coming up shortly. The huge castle spire and all the buildings below it were like a shining beacon in these cold lands. Rainbow Dash chewed her lip for a second as she thought things over. “I guess I can stop by and visit Cadance and Shining Armor for lunch. Getting a big meal right before I leave Equestria sounds like a good idea.” The blue pegasus dove low to fly in-between the mountain peaks that separated the Empire from the rest of Equestria. Directly below her she could see the train tracks that she and her friends would normally take when visiting, but with Rainbow Dash just being on her own there was no use for a train. Unless she had wanted to escape the cold for a bit. The northern air was pretty chilly after all. But that’s something she would have to get used to if she was planning on flying even further north. And the cold didn’t really bother her that much since she was used to flying high in the naturally cold sky to begin with. Winter weather and temperatures were no issue for Rainbow Dash. She wanted to get done with this little stop fast so she sped her flying back up as she darted over the snowy landscape to the large palace ahead of her. No time for admiring the scenery, especially not scenery she had seen time and time again. It kept her body warm too, to fly like this. And proud of how she could see how much faster she was traveling than any train could carry its passengers. Nothing beat flying with your own two wings. To feel the wind beneath you, to soar through the sky, to have total and complete freedom, this was what Rainbow Dash lived for. She came out of the mountains quickly, nothing between her and the Empire now but empty space. Only a few more seconds were needed before she was flying over houses and streets. The Empire was far warmer than the land surrounding it and Rainbow Dash easily glided through the air towards the palace. The Crystal Empire was always a nice place to visit and she probably would’ve taken more time to look around and have fun if she didn’t have somewhere else to be. The only thing she wanted to do right now was pop in for a quick hello with Cadance and Shining Armor, eat some grub, and then head out. And hey, maybe the two of them actually knew a little more of what was up north? Seemed kind of likely. If anything they could probably tell her about Mt. Everhoof at least. “I wonder if I should, like, actually go through the door at the bottom or if it would be okay to just fly in through a window or balcony somewhere?” She mused as she flew a circle around the palace. “Eh, whatever.” She shrugged and flew around to the large balcony that surveyed the city and from where the Princesses oft announced things from. Landing on it she trotted on into the castle. “Twilight never minds when I come in, I’m sure her brother and sister-in-law won’t either.” The veracity of that statement would probably need to be tested in the future. Rainbow Dash hovered a few feet off the floor as she slowly went through the crystal palace, looking for either the owners or any guards that could direct her to the ponies she wanted to see. It was around lunchtime wasn’t it? Maybe Cadance and Shining Armor were already eating right now. She should try and find the dining room. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings harder and began to speed through the crystalline hallways with no regard for the rest of the building’s inhabitants. As it turned out, Cadance and Shining Armor were eating lunch. It was a surprisingly quiet lunch with just them and Flurry Heart in the royal dining hall. Cadance with her daughter seated at the head of the table with Shining Armor alllll the way at the other end for some reason. Shining Armor kept looking up from his meal at his wife, who was seemingly ignoring him on purpose while she fed and talked to their daughter. “Here comes the airship~” Cadance said as she levitated a spoonful of baby food to Flurry Heart’s mouth that the little alicorn filly was more than happy to gobble up. “That’s mommy’s good little angel!” Flurry Heart giggled in delight as Cadance snuggled with her while Shining Armor watched from far away, nearly having to squint to see what was going on thanks to how long the table was. “Is she eating all her food?” He asked, in a voice only slightly raised above its normal volume. “You don’t have to shout,” Cadance icily responded without looking in his direction. She kept the smile on her face while she gently cleaned up the food on Flurry Heart’s face. Pretty sure I didn’t. Shining Armor thought to himself but wisely did not put a voice to those thoughts. The white unicorn glumly sighed and resumed eating by himself while his wife and daughter enjoyed themselves at the other end of the table. Cadance had shown no signs of forgiving him anytime soon. How many more days were going to go by like this just because he did something kind of stupid? He wasn’t dumb enough to make things worse by questioning her reaction but this was still grating on him a good deal. And it was all happening just because- The door to the dining hall slammed open and a familiar pegasus burst into the room, coming to a stop right in front of the table. “Hey! There you guys are!” Rainbow Dash said to the three of them. “Rainbow Dash?!” Shining Armor shouted, for real this time, and stood up out of his chair. “What’s going on, why are you here?” Cadance flew up from her chair with Flurry Heart grasped securely in her hooves to join Shining Armor. “Did Twilight send you?” “Huh?” Rainbow Dash stared down at them, perplexed until she noticed the concerned looks on their face. Ohh… they thought something had happened and Twilight told her to come here and tell them. She shook her hooves to calm them down. “No, no, I’m just going out on an adventure and I was in the neighborhood so I decided to drop by. What’s up?” Shining Armor sighed and hung his head down in relief. “I guess that’s better than the alternative. You kind of had us spooked just barging in here though.” “You’re sure nothing’s wrong?” Princess Cadance asked her. “You flew in here really fast. Even for you.” “Uhhh, well nothing’s wrong but-” Rainbow Dash was cutoff by another rumble from her stomach. Shining Armor and Cadance both looked at her in surprise while a blush crept up the blue pegasus’ face. “Er… mind if I join your for lunch? Eheh...” After notifying the guards and chef that they would need another plate of food the four ponies got to eating together, this time sitting much closer together, although with Rainbow Dash in-between Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. An arrangement that was a little awkward to the blue pegasus. While chewing on her carrot she kept glancing back and forth between the two married ponies, even she could tell that something was up with the two of them. And if Rainbow Dash could read the atmosphere that meant that anybody could. Flurry Heart was obliviously making a mess with her food though, something that Rainbow Dash smirked at, the sight reminding her quite a bit of her own early years. But Cadance was wearing a plastic mask over her true face and Shining Armor looked morose. The stallion in particular was just pushing his food around instead of eating it, like he was in a depressed slump. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him and leaned in closer, whispering into his ear. “Psst, hey. Is something up with you and Cadance?” “There’s nothing wrong at all, Rainbow Dash.” Cadance answered, causing Dash and Shining to jolt up in shock. “Things are completely normal.” She lifted up a hoof and giggled to herself. “Riiiight,” Rainbow Dash looked at her weirdly and went back to eating. Do alicorns have really good ears or something? “You heard her, absolutely nothing is wrong,” Shining Armor repeated as he discreetly poked her in the side to get her attention. Rainbow Dash looked up at him to see the big stallion minutely shaking his head at her with a tight-lipped frown on his face. Whatever was going on, he clearly didn’t want Rainbow Dash to press things further. “Do you like your lunch?” The Princess asked her. “Uh, yeah, it’s good,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “Thanks for this, I really needed some food in me before I went any further.” “No need to thank us,” Cadance responded with a smile while Flurry Heart levitated her plate behind her. “It’s always a treat having a friend over. Our doors are always open. Or windows in your case.” “That’s right, you’re not just a friend of Twilight’s after all. We’re all friends too and you don’t need to just be “in the neighborhood” if you want to come by,” Shining Armor told her. “Hey thanks, you guys are pretty cool,” Rainbow Dash brought up a hoof for a hoof bump with the stallion. Princess Cadance cleared her throat to grab Rainbow Dash’s attention. “Speaking of being in the neighborhood, just what kind of adventure are you going on?” Rainbow Dash grinned and flew up out of her chair. “Heh, hopefully the biggest and coolest adventure I’ve ever been on!” She flew around the dining hall before landing back on top of the table, ignoring all manners and etiquette. “I don’t know if the two of you have noticed, but Equestria’s been super boring lately. I asked Twilight about what was north and she didn’t really know. So I figured I’d fly up there and see cause anywhere scary and unknown has to be brimming with adventure. I’m just gonna keep flying until I’m satisfied. Mt. Everhoof is gonna be my first goal, I’m totally gonna fly up it. It’s like, the tallest mountain in all of Equestria by far and I wanna brag about conquering it.” “Well good luck, and be careful. Mt. Everhoof actually has strange and powerful weather around it the higher you go up, it’ll be difficult for you to make it to the top,” Cadance told her. Rainbow Dash dismissively waved a hoof. “Come on, look who you’re talking to. I can handle flying to the top of a mountain.” Shining Armor chuckled a bit at her confidence. “Yeah you do make a point. After all, you’ve been through way more than most ponies ever will be. I suppose if anyone can handle that mountain and whatever other adventures lie beyond it it’d be you or one of your friends." “That’s right,” Rainbow Dash hopped back up into the air and smugly folded her hooves behind her head. “Are you sure you want to leave so soon? If you’re going on a big adventure don’t you want to stay the night at least?” Cadance offered her. It was a reasonable request, in fact it was probably the smart thing to do, getting well-rested in probably one of the nicest places in Equestria so she could set off free of any aches or exhaustion. But Rainbow Dash merely shook her head. “Thanks but no thanks. I really wanna get out there as quick as possible. I already wasn’t really planning to stop here.” “Really? We have plenty of guest rooms, and Shining Armor can vouch for how nice they are, since he’s currently sleeping on the floor of one,” the Princess of Love said so sweetly and nonchalantly that it was actually kind of creepy. “Uhhh, that’s alright. I’m sure they’re nice and all but yeah, I really did want to get on my way.” Rainbow Dash grimaced. She glanced over to see Shining Armor let out a defeated sigh. Cadance didn’t seem to mind, merely scooping Flurry Heart up in her hooves and beginning to trot her way towards the door. “Alright, it was nice having lunch with you and I hope we see you again soon. Right now it’s time for Flurry Heart’s nap. So have a nice adventure out there!” The alicorn magically pulled open the door and waved goodbye before walking out, leaving Shining Armor and Rainbow Dash alone. The eyes of the rainbow-maned pegasus drifted over to the stallion as she hopped off the table to question him. “Dude, what's going on?” Shining Armor let out a sigh for what felt like the twentieth time that day before turning to face Rainbow Dash with a tired frown on his face. “Rainbow Dash, I’m going to give you some advice for if you ever get married.” He put a hoof on her shoulder. “If your spouse ever asks you if the Changeling Queen that impersonated them for your wedding was a better kisser than they are, don’t actually stop to think about it, just say no.” “Kiiind of specific advice but okay, dude.” Rainbow Dash winced. “Good luck with all that, I’ll see you again sometime. “Yeah, see ya.” Shining Armor let his hoof drop from her shoulder as Rainbow Dash flew up into the air and sped back out of the dining room. Her belly now full and her body well prepared for the adventure in front of her. In but a second she was out of the castle and into the free air, speeding directly north to Mt. Everhoof.