Things had actually become nice out. It wasn’t so hot and dry anymore, the lands she was now traveling over were temperate and hospitable. When so much of her journey had been from one extreme to another, these places were extra nice. Green grass, small streams, lots of trees and bushes, all covered the land below her. There was even a pleasant breeze to accompany it all.
More than just nature, there were roads down there too. Dirt paths through the grass and the trees that were big enough for wagons to use. She had to be going the right way to her next destination. Whatever it would turn out to be, the roads had to go somewhere.
Rainbow Dash started whistling to herself as she flew lower, just above the trees. The trees here were more normal looking than those giant ones from earlier, more numerous as well, but they didn’t completely cover the lands like a dense forest or jungle. There were plenty of small animals and birds running or flying between them as well. No signs of civilization that the roads might lead to just yet, but she was sure she’d get there in time. It was the middle of the day and she had a lot of time to fly before it started to get dark.
Hunger and thirst weren’t an issue, she had seen plenty of fruits and flowers to eat, and even the grass if she had to eat that too. The flowing streams and watering holes in this grasslands, or plains, or whatever a place like this was supposed to be called provided her with plenty to drink as well. Not having to worry about that stuff, unlike when she was in the desert or True North, really lifted a huge weight off her shoulders.
She did a flew loops as she whistled and slowly flew her way south in carefree fashion. For a moment she thought to maybe go down to the ground and start walking down the road, but she still wanted to travel faster until she actually saw something.
Rainbow Dash passed over another line of trees and paused for a second as ahead she was certain she could see a wide open valley between a couple of small hills further on without many trees obscuring the rest of the land. If she was right though… she thought she saw what might be buildings. It was hard to tell since they looked a little unusual. But it was a good sign to her. Time to fly over there and check things out.
The closer she got the more sure of things she was. Those were definitely buildings, and there were definitely creatures out and about walking between them and in that open valley.
Things looked slightly off to her pony sensibilities though. The shapes and sizes seemed wrong, like her perspective was warped in some way or the dimensions were off.
It was only when she got close enough to really make out the details of the small village did she realize what it was.
She was thinking about things and looking at the buildings and creatures from a pony’s point of view. Naturally things would look odd, considering the buildings were built for much taller creatures, and the ones walking around were giraffes.
“Oh,” Rainbow Dash said as she noticed the giraffes for the first time as more than just shapes in the distance. No wonder the buildings looked big, it was just like when she found the mammoth city back in the True North. It seemed to be a fairly busy little village, Rainbow saw dozens of buildings and lots of giraffes out and about. The road she had pretty much been following led right into the center of it all.
The buildings now that she could see them up pretty close weren’t especially impressive though. Mud and grass huts, domes, and long rectangular ones. The giraffes obviously didn’t have much in the way of construction or modern mechanics and such. Rainbow Dash didn’t exactly want to knock them for that though, if it worked for them then it worked for them. It was just pretty obvious she wasn’t going to see anything like she would in Manehattan, Las Pegasus, or Oreville here. They didn’t even have any buildings made out of stone or wooden plank.
Since it was such a quiet and peaceful looking place, she also seriously doubted that there would be any fun adventuring to be found here.
Rainbow Dash dropped down from the sky and onto the road just right outside the town. Her arrival gained the attention of a number of giraffes but most only looked over for a moment before going back to their business. She wasn’t surprised, they were probably used to ponies and other creatures coming through here if what Cart said was anything to go by.
That made things a little awkward for her though. Did she just try walking up and talking to one of them? Boy they sure were tall…
Most of them seemed pretty uninviting to talk to as well. Not unfriendly, they weren’t sneering at her, or frowning, but they weren’t smiling either. They just looked really calm, stoic, disinterested. Not just in regards to her either, no matter where she looked, she didn’t see a single giraffe smiling or showing any sort of emotion. Maybe they were just a really quiet group of creatures?
It was also funny looking around and seeing giraffe children that were already many times bigger than she was.
“Oh well,” Rainbow Dash said and flew back up again, she saw a giraffe that she was pretty sure was a cow… oh geez, she hoped that was the right term for female giraffes, who was walking alone and didn’t look too busy. Since that was as good a bet as any, Rainbow Dash decided to talk to her.
“Yo!” Rainbow said as she quickly flitted over to the giraffe, waving to get her attention.
The giraffe blinked and turned her head to the pony interrupting her walk. She didn’t look angry, or surprised, or anything at all really. “Yes?”
“Umm, hey. I’m from like, far away, do you giraffes have anybody here who I can talk to? Or like, do you know anything I can do?” Rainbow asked.
“This one is unsure what you mean,” the giraffe replied.
“Uhhh...” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck. “I mean, well, who deals with merchants and travelers coming through this place?” She quickly changed tunes.
“That would be He Whose Neck Is Long,” the giraffe answered.
Rainbow Dash blinked. “Alright then. And where can I find him?”
“He is standing and conversing with She Whose Legs Are Short over there,” the giraffe pointed at two other giraffes standing outside a large dome.
“Oh, um, thank you,” Rainbow Dash said and started to fly away before stopping and raising an eyebrow at the cow. “And what’s your name by the way?”
“This one is known as She With Neck That Is Long,” She With Neck That Is Long answered.
Rainbow Dash took a moment to look. She did have a pretty long neck.