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// Landless 
// Story: Rainbow Dash's Unstoppable Ego 
// by MagicS 
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Rainbow Dash had passed the glaciers a little while ago now. Things still stretched on and on without the sign of civilization so far but at least what she was flying over now was much different than what she was used to in the True North.

A lake. An absolutely gigantic lake.

Well maybe she was exaggerating a little, it’s not like it was an ocean or anything and she could still see the sides of it while flying at the altitude she was, but it was definitely still a really big lake. She was surprised to see it since she naturally expected everything to be frozen over but here it was. It was bigger than any lake she remembered seeing in Equestria and what was especially notable about it was that it was totally calm. There was zero motion on the surface, nothing floated on it, no ripples went across it, it was the most placid lake she had ever seen.  

It was reflective too. She couldn’t see into the depths of it at all, instead she and the sky were perfectly reflected off its mirror-like surface. Rainbow Dash kind of wished she had a rock to throw into it just to see what the ripples would look like. Or a flat stone that she could try skipping across it as many times as possible. This lake was just made for that.

She half considered dropping down and diving into it to see what it was like under the surface but it was probably ice cold and then she’d just be wet everywhere and more susceptible to freezing after. Not a good idea. She was still really curious and wanted to do that though…

Maybe if she got bored enough and nothing else came up to excite her while she flew over the lake. But wow there was really nothing out here. Just water, water everywhere. No ice floes even though there probably should be some. Rainbow Dash was beginning to wonder if there was something magical about this lake, maybe akin to the mammoth’s Sacred Spring. It didn’t feel like that or anything but the fact was a place like this probably shouldn’t exist up here. Not like she was the type to really think too hard about that or care in the first place but when you had nothing else to do your mind just kind of naturally starts to wander.

Rainbow Dash made a long exhale of her breath as she flew, watching the cold air make her breath visible as soon as it came out her mouth. Unlike back when she was flying over the glaciers she could make out for certain what was past this lake: snowy ground and a flat tundra, with tall but narrow mountains even further beyond that.  

She was willing to bet that was the last mountain range of the True North. There couldn’t be anymore after it, there just wasn’t enough room until the north pole. The mountains looked a little weird, almost more like spires or gigantic spears of rock piercing high into the sky. They lacked the beefiness of normal mountains. But there were still a ton of them and enough close together that she couldn’t really see more than a few mountains into the range from where she was. Something different to look at and fly through in the near future, one positive she could think of. There was also a higher likelihood of animals or thinking creatures living there. At least there was in Rainbow Dash’s mind.

And if there wasn’t then she’d keep on flying. Like always.

The pegasus rose higher up into the sky to see if she could get to an altitude where she could look down and see the entire expanse of the lake. Going to a height where she would’ve been able to look down on Canterlot Castle, Rainbow Dash hovered as she checked out the lake below.

And tilted her head.

“Why’s it shaped like a duck?” She pondered. And indeed she was correct, now that she could look at it with her bird’s eye view it was plain to see that the lake was shaped like a relaxing duck. Was that natural? Certainly some lakes would end up looking weird just by chance, probably. Twilight probably knew some sciency term for things in nature that end up looking like something else.  

It had to just be a coincidence. Why would anyone make a lake shaped like a duck? And this place was way too cold for any ducks to live in. Rainbow Dash wasn’t exactly an expert on lakes, she knew the water cycle that pegasi performed but that only tangentially had to do with lakes. Maybe things were different here at some point though. Technically this lake shouldn’t even exist, it should be totally frozen on top or even all the way through. There was that random oasis she had encountered right after leaving the Pegasus Empire that was warm and green even though it shouldn’t have been.

Rainbow Dash threw up her hooves and shrugged. “I have no idea.”

Again, she wasn’t a thinker she was a doer and she wasn’t going to get anywhere just thinking and wondering about something without any actual info.

That was just dumb and boring to Rainbow Dash. So instead she flew back down and returned to going north instead of up with a lot of the lake still below her.  

On a whim she flew lower, just until she was right above its unmoving surface, and looked down at her reflection. Might as well have been a bathroom mirror. She opened her mouth wide to check out her teeth, pearly white as ever, she shifted her head to look over her mane, rubbing any stray hairs down with her hoof. It was kind of nice for this thing to be here so she could look herself over. Even as she zoomed over it her form didn’t blur at all because the surface was completely flat and the water totally still.  

And finally, Rainbow Dash just couldn’t help herself. That water was too perfect. She had to see it break.  

With a grin she dipped down her hoof until it was less than an inch above the surface of the water, still flying over it at high speed, and then she pressed it down, breaking the impossibly tranquil lake. The ripples spread out quickly and her hoof created a triangular distortion in the water as she continued to fly and drag her hoof through it. Her reflection disappeared and water bubbled slightly around her hoof, with the surface broken she could now look deeper into the lake and see what was down there.

Nothing, really. It was too dark for her to actually see anything in the water. If there was anything even in there in the first place.  

Rainbow Dash’s hoof was getting cold so she pulled it out of the water. Now the rippling would eventually stop on its own and at some point the lake would go back to normal. Return to its boring and placid self. Maybe some ponies would appreciate the quiet beauty of nature up here, Fluttershy and Rarity for instance, but she was getting tired of the plainness by now.

She’d be past the lake pretty soon though. Then she’d speed up and go towards those mountains in the distance.  

Despite being bored of it now the lake had at least been a fun departure from the nothingness she was so used to seeing on her long flights during this journey. She could appreciate it for that. It was better than endless snow drifts, she had to admit that. With an extra flapping of her wings she shot across the final span of the lake and hit the far shore, the water was now behind her and she was going over the snowy tundra that lied beyond it.

So back to snow.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Whatever, I’ll be at the mountains pretty soon.” She sped up her flight as her next goal was in sight. By the end of the day she’d be at those mountains and hopefully she’d find something more fun than just a glacier or lake.