“Are you really sure you want to do this? You can’t wait for them to come down?” Dust Bunny asked Rainbow Dash as the two of them sat at the bottom of the ladder leading up to the hatch Rainbow Dash had first entered these tunnels from.
“Yeah, I’m sorry but I need to get back out and do something. It’s been fun with you guys but I want to hurry up and beat this storm already. Not wait for more than another whole week until you pull in the lab,” Rainbow Dash answered as she stared up and up the hole.
“I thought you were having fun here...”
Rainbow Dash sighed. “I was having fun. But I want to have adventure too. I can’t stand being stuck in this storm like this, it’s a constant reminder that I couldn’t beat it. I need to prove I can conquer this dumb hurricane. And maybe reaching the middle or flying through it I can even learn something or find a way to help you guys and pay you back for everything you’ve done for me. So I need to get up to that lab, cause as annoying as it is I don’t think I can make it through the storm on my own like this.”
“Well okay,” Dust Bunny pawed at the floor and muttered despondently. “It’s dangerous doing that though… the lab is high up and in the most violent part of the storm. I don’t know if you’ll even be able to reach it and just trying sounds bad enough.”
“Hey-” Rainbow Dash looked back at her and flashed a confident smirk. “Danger’s my middle name.”
That drew a smile out of the head custodian. “Heh… oh fine already, if you really wanna go that much and try to teach that storm a lesson I’m not going to stop you. Good luck out there.” Her face took on a more solemn expression and she bit her lip. “And if you do make it through the storm and this is the last time I see you I just want to tell you how happy I am that I got to meet you. You really brightened up my days down here, even the ponies who didn’t really get to meet or talk to you were happier knowing that a pony from outside came here and was shown a good time.”
“Thanks,” Rainbow showed her a more sentimental smile and stepped forward to briefly hug the mare. “I’m glad I could do that. I always am.”
She had flown up the ladder in an instant and uncorked the hatch, flying back out into the canyon and the windy surface. She could see the chain not far away and she casually floated on over to it, standing on some of the rocks right by its base and looking up and up into the sky until it fully disappeared into the stormy clouds. Rainbow Dash would have to follow it to reach the lab up there, hopefully not losing sight of it or getting lost in the fierce winds. With no other detail than the lab being hundreds of feet up or how big it was or what it looked like she could be in for a long flight against the storm.
“Good. I like a challenge,” Rainbow Dash grinned to herself and coiled up, spreading her wings and getting ready to launch herself directly up.
With a single great flap she shot off like a rocket, zooming with a rainbow trail into the sky. Immediately when she cleared the canyon walls she felt the wind pulling at her but she easily stayed on course for the first hundred feet. It got harder the more she went up though and soon the heavy wind was slowing her down and trying to drag her away. Going straight up was proving harder than she thought. Still, this was basically nothing yet and it didn’t compare to what she had gone through when she tried going to the center of the hurricane. Rainbow Dash could handle this easily.
She kept an eye on the chain to make sure she stayed close to it. It didn’t sway much at all in the wind, a testament to the scientists knowing what they were doing. She was sure that if they had some way to keep this laboratory of theirs airborne and okay in this storm that they’d have some answers for her or a way to help. If the rest of the ponies down in those tunnels were working so hard to make their new lives work it spoke well of these scientists too that they were from the same place. They probably had the same strong work ethic and good nature. From what Rainbow Dash had seen everyone was giving it their best.
Just like she was now giving it her best to get through this wind and these clouds to make it up there in the first place.
Rainbow Dash had to beat her wings harder the further she went, already the wind howled loudly in her ears and whipped about her mane and tail, the feathers on her wings too felt like they were almost being plucked out. There was no question about it that the vertical flying into the harsher currents of the storm was tougher than her previous horizontal flying, at least she could be grateful that so far she hadn’t hit any random weather or air pockets yet. But it was like she was being constantly bounced around and pushed down on, despite the chain being only a few feet from her she always had to make sure she wasn’t drifting away from it. If she let up for a second she’d be blown off to who knows where.
“Not letting some dumb wind get me! I’m the best flier in the world!” Rainbow Dash shouted to pump herself up.
It was difficult to tell how much more distance she had made after the first one or two hundred feet though thanks to the wind jostling her and the chain being completely useless to judge distance with. She couldn’t see the top of it or the ground whatsoever for a while now because of the thick clouds, the entire middle area was indistinguishable. So the only thing she could do was keep flying and giving it her all until she made it to the lab.
Good thing she wasn’t the type of pony to give up on something. That boast about being the best flier wasn’t just baseless bragging or ego-boosting either, it was the truth. She couldn’t disgrace herself by not getting through this hurricane and not living up to her name and the high standards she always set for herself.
How could she look any of her fellow Wonderbolts in the eye afterwards?
So Rainbow Dash kept pushing herself even as the wind speed picked up. She could hear the rolling of thunder around her and see the occasional bolts of lightning from deeper in the clouds. No random rain or hail was a plus. It even felt a little good to be able to fly out and really push herself again for the first time in a few days, her wings needed this, that brief use they got when she flew around where the turbines were was hardly enough for a pony like her. She wanted to be in the air and using her wings as much as possible.
There was a problem though. An unusually strong gust of wind had picked up around her and was making the climb even more difficult. Had she passed into a new area of the storm? Was this the violent and strong area of the wind and fast moving clouds that the laboratory was flying in? She couldn’t tell for sure since the end of the chain was still out of view. Either way Rainbow Dash had to grit her teeth and really struggle to gain any altitude, flying diagonally just to make any progress while the heavy chain hung in front of her.
“It can’t be that much further away, can it?” She wondered.
Now it was a real struggle though, she was trying her best to fly into the wind at an angle so it couldn’t carry her away so easily and wasn’t just hitting the broadside of her body, but that meant she had to snake back and forth and climb slower. It took a lot of time and energy to make less distance now with how strong the wind was blowing.
And it kept getting stronger and stronger, her wings were almost unable to keep up at this point and each time she flapped them the wind threatened to force them open and pull her away before she could close them again.
She squinted her eyes and held on the best she could but she could feel things getting out of control with every passing second. Already the chain was suddenly no longer visible to her, her concentration on it broken for just long enough that she ended up flying too far away from it while she had been trying to climb higher. Now what? She knew its vague location but with the harshness of the wind and how the gray and black clouds covered her vision it was hard to get back on track. Should she just try to go directly up? Could she even? Her wings almost couldn’t flap properly at all with the wind trying to blow her away.
“It’s just some stupid wind! I’m Rainbow Dash!” She put everything she had into making her wings carry her higher.
But as if trying to challenge that very statement the hurricane wind came in harder at her, and the sudden change proved to be enough to knock her off balance.
With a yelp, Rainbow Dash lost control of her flight in an instant and the winds carried her away.
“Okay. New plan.”
The beaten and bruised Rainbow Dash again stood at the bottom of the chain. She put a hoof on it and stared up its unswaying length with narrowed and determined eyes.
“This time I’m not gonna be flying up to the lab. I’m gonna climb.”
She then jetted up the first hundred or so feet again until she could really feel the winds becoming stronger and trying to blow her away from the chain. Once she made it to that point she grinned and stopped trying to fly through the wind, instead grabbing the chain and holding on tight to it. While the wind tugged against her it was easy to hug her hooves around the chain and slowly climb up it, link by link. This may take a while but it kept her from losing position and should make it easier for her to resist the hurricane blowing her off somewhere.
Rainbow Dash lifted her hoof up to hook it around the whole in the chain link and pulled herself up, the link below her easily functioning as a step and purchase for her back hooves. Thanks to the size and shape of the chain climbing it was actually really easy. Or it would’ve normally been so if it wasn’t for the wind.
She was very confident in her stamina and athleticism to make this climb but it was still tougher on her body than flying would’ve been since her wings were her primary strength. She had to be cautious with the wind too since it threatened to dislodge her each time she lifted a hoof to pull herself up further. The chain’s stability was helpful though, she couldn’t imagine trying to do this if it was swinging in the breeze too, it would’ve been like trying to cross an unsteady rope bridge during a storm.
The farther she went of course the tougher it became. As the wind howled around her the ability to remove a hoof from around the chain and reach up higher became strained. Each time she did the wind threatened to pick her off the chain now that she had a little less grasp on it. It wasn’t difficult for her to imagine how all the plants and buildings that used to be here had been torn apart by the hurricane.
She hadn’t been keeping track of how far she had climbed yet either but she knew she hadn’t gotten remotely as far as when she had tried flying up yet. The big danger for her right now was getting tired before she made it to the lab or even the more powerful windy area. And she hated having to go so slow like this.
“I… am going to enjoy flying out of here once I’ve beaten this hurricane,” Rainbow Dash growled. “I don’t know what kind of crazy magic is responsible for this storm, but I’m gonna fly right to the middle of you and find out and then go even further north! That’s my promise!”
Another gust of wind blew into her and she had to hold onto the chain tight, squeezing her eyes shut. She temporarily wrapped her wings around the chain to make her hold even more secure.
Once it was over she angrily looked out at the storm. “What was that supposed to do? Huh?” With a snort she continued her climb. “It’s not even just about me anymore, I’m helping out everyone here.”
Rainbow Dash climbed and climbed for what felt like hours after that with the wind only becoming stronger as it tried to dislodge her. The stronger the wind the slower she went and the more it drained on her. She had to really work her muscles and hook her hooves into the open space on the links to keep from being knocked about or pulled away. Eventually she resorted to just trying to shimmy up instead of climb or step, knowing that if she tried to reach out with a single limb she might lose her grip entirely.
That was tough though since the cool metal was smooth and didn’t really allow for that. Using the links as steps or handles worked well enough but this was a little different. And she still had no view of the top of the chain or the supposed laboratory at the end of it. At least her using the chain like this didn’t cause it to move or anything, that could be bad for both her and the scientists on the other end.
But now it wasn’t long before she got back to the exceptionally windy area of the storm that she had made it to before. The violent and strong part that had knocked her away just earlier today. It felt like there was a giant hand grabbing her and trying to peel her body off of the chain now while her mane and tail fluttered to the east. If she moved her back legs now they’d be torn from the chain and she’d be left holding on with just her front hooves.
Looking at the chain she was holding onto, Rainbow realized there was still something else she could do. Taking in a deep breath she carefully slid her body over onto the side of the chain facing the wind. Now the wind was at her back and the chain was pressed against her stomach. It was uncomfortable, painful even thanks to how hard the metal was and how strong the wind was, but it kept her from being blown away just yet. The chain was her wall.
The force of being blown against it made it difficult for her to move but move on she did. Now it was like she was crawling like a bug steadily up the metal chain. Her wings were completely blown slack now to the sides of the chain and Dash didn’t have the strength to keep them down or move them against the wind.
She could feel the storm seem to get angrier at her as she made her slow and steady progress.
“This is still nothing… I’ve fought monsters… I’ve beaten every record the Wonderbolts have… I’ve saved the world a dozen times!” Rainbow Dash yelled through clenched teeth.
The hurricane didn’t seem to care though.
Its howling got louder and she felt a sharp wind pushing at her, tugging her against the metal and trying to yank her around it to cast her off into the chaotic storm again.
“Noooo...” Rainbow groaned, feeling her hooves slipping and her strength failing her as the wind battered her against the chain.
Unfortunately just as before her weary limbs failed her, the wind was too strong and her legs were dislodged from the chain, the rest of her body being pulled around it by the fierce current even as she struggled in an attempt to gain some kind of grasp or purchase on the smooth links. But it was to no avail for her, Rainbow Dash was torn completely from the chain and once again carried off deeper into the storm.
“Rainbow Dash! You’re back! Have you decided it’s too much trouble to fly up there? Are you going to wait now?” Dust Bunny said to the beleaguered and haggard pegasus that had stumbled into the tunnels from the surface again.
Rainbow Dash was panting and breathing heavily with her fur and feathers all out of sort as she walked right by the friendly custodian. “Nope. Just came down here to get some rope.”
“Third time’s the charm,” the pegasus from Equestria said as she tied a length of freshly acquired rope around her body. Making sure it was snug and crossing over her back in an X she took the other end and looped it around the chain, tying it back up in a complicated knot when she brought it back around to the part tied around her barrel. Giving it a few tugs she was sure it was secure. Now nothing was going to blow her away from this chain.
“I may not be able to tie ropes like Applejack but I’ve seen her do it enough,” Rainbow said and looked up into the sky where the chain disappeared. “Let’s do this.”
Rainbow Dash flew up the chain again until she reached the exceptionally windy and dangerous part of the storm again. She had given herself enough slack with the rope that she could fly like this even with having the loop around the chain. But now with her high in the sky and the wind affecting her flight and pulling at the rope too she went back to physically climbing up the chain by her hooves.
With renewed determination she made faster time up it than before, practically scampering up the chain. She was feeling it. Rainbow Dash was certain she could make it up to the lab this time. Nothing could stop her!
You could beat her down again and again but she’d never stay down and she’d come back up angrier and more determined each time.
The wind blew her off the chain a couple of time and pulled the rope tight but it couldn’t sweep her away and each time Rainbow Dash pulled herself back to the chain and renewed her climb. On and on, hour after hour, she climbed up the chain with the wind buffeting her sides, her back, and trying to peel her off like a sticker. But this time it was the wind that couldn’t match her even as she got to the strongest and most dangerous parts of the storm. Rainbow used her rope harness to hold on and keep going up even as it felt like the full force of the hurricane was working just to dislodge her.
She kept her eyes on the prize and her head looking up the chain. If she could just see the lab it would be all she needed to finish the climb. She knew she was making it higher than before so it had to be close, it just had to be.
“I’m… winning...” Rainbow grunted.
The time it took to get through the clouds didn’t matter anymore. What time was it? She didn’t care, the only thing that mattered was that she was getting through them. And finally, finally, lo and behold that she spied a large dark shadow in the clouds above her, wavering directly over the chain. With each step she took closer to it the shadow grew and became more defined until Rainbow Dash could make out features of the flying laboratory.
First off it was bigger than she expected, several times bigger than the average house, and the chain ended in a metal base right at the bottom of the lab but a series of rungs went up the bottom of the lab to the side, where she saw a railing and balcony that she could hop onto. Aside from the metal base that made up the bottom the rest of it looked like a normal building mostly, made from stone and metal and several thick glass windows looking out into the hurricane all over. How were those not being blown in by the storm? It must have something to do with the magic and science from the ponies up here. The whole thing in the first place shouldn’t even be able to work like this. There were a number of weathervanes sticking out on each side of the lab and Rainbow Dash saw what she believed to be a chimney jutting out from the eastern side too. And a number of propellers, some that were facing up, others down, or straight towards the center of the storm. What drew her attention the most though were several heavy balloons tied to the top of the building that floated seemingly unharmed in the harsh wind.
Rainbow Dash couldn’t make sense of it but frankly that wasn’t the most important thing to her right now. She just needed to get to it.