//------------------------------// // Wetlands // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash let out a sigh of deep contentment as she slammed a now empty wooden mug onto a picnic table and wiped away the foamy head of the beer from her mouth. “I guess the drink agrees with you pretty well,” her drinking companion—a stallion by the name of Vito—said as he held his own mug across from her. “Yep, that’s some good stuff,” Rainbow Dash smiled at him. “It’s always nice to drink a cold one on a hot day like this. Specially after work,” Vito nodded. “Work?” Rainbow Dash snorted in amusement. “Didn’t you sit back and do nothing while I cut and gathered up all the barley?” Vito shrugged. “Well that’s the perks of being the boss, can’t blame my son for coming down with a fever and us needing the extra help on harvest day, could you?” “Yeah, yeah...” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Thanks for at least letting me have a free drink and meal after finishing up.” “Hospitality’s a big deal for us.” “Yeah I know. I’ve been all the way through Vissidia now. You guys have always been polite and helpful, I’ve gotten enough hospitality to last a lifetime. Though it’s probably something I shouldn’t take for granted considering the trip I’m on...” Rainbow Dash said. “Best of luck on that trip by the way, guessing you’ll be going on out soon?” Vito asked. “Oh yeah,” Rainbow nodded. “I’ve been flying through Vissidia for days, at the last town I visited they told me I was almost at the southern border. I’ll miss the place but yeah, I need to get going.” “You know what’s south of here, don’t you?” Rainbow Dash glanced to the south, seeing the far off green horizon. “It’s a swamp, right? I’ve heard that from others.” “Big, big, swamp,” Vito nodded. “Not as big as Vissidia but still, that’s a lot of swamp to travel through. Er, at least from what I’ve heard. You’ll find very few Vissidians who have actually traveled there.” “Any way around it? Not that I’m worried but yeah, flying through or over a swamp doesn’t sound especially fun. Maybe adventurous, but eh,” Rainbow asked. “There are the southern mountains to the east and west—you see, it creates a bottleneck and the swamp is actually in-between them. As a pegasus I guess you could fly over the mountains instead but those are totally uninhabited and inhospitable. Nobody lives in those mountains,” Vito said. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “But ponies live in the swamp?” “Actually, yes,” Vito nodded. “They’re our brothers and sisters down there. Not literally speaking of course but we’re pretty much connected right at the hip after all. Even if we don’t have much real contact. I think it was the Hall of Records in the capitol that had a history on the swamp—either ponies from Vissidia traveled to it and set up there or it was the other way around and we Vissidians originally came from the swamp. Hay if I know. But heh, I bet neither country wants to be the younger sibling if you know what I mean?” “Yeah,” Rainbow nodded. “So are there like… actual cities in the swamp.” Vito shook his head. “You can’t build a city in a swamp, but there are definitely settlements. Obviously food isn’t quite as plentiful in a place like that as it is in Vissidia, but I doubt they want for much.” “Uh huh. So if I start heading south now I should get there pretty soon? You said your farm was the last one in this whole part of Vissida. Not any more towns south of here?” Rainbow asked. “Nope. Just yokels, country bumpkins, and recluses living by themselves on the outskirts of Vissidia. Don’t let that worry you none though, it’s still Vissidia after all, aint nobody going to give you trouble,” Vito said. “Things are gonna start getting wet and marshy for you real soon. You’ll see a lot of little creeks and streams through the grasslands even well before you actually get to the swamps. Also… I’d recommend not stopping for a bite to eat at any little hut you come across south of here.” “Why?” Rainbow blinked. “Uh, do you like fish?” “Fish are cool I guess,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “No, I mean do you like fish to eat?” Rainbow Dash immediately got green in the face. “Ohhh, oh. Ew. Yeah, I think I’ll be avoiding that if I can then.” “I mean they aint bad ponies or anything, they just have their own ways. It comes with living so remotely,” Vito said. “I’ll take your word for it. At least I got to eat here already...” Rainbow said. “I’m sure there’s at least all kinds of perfectly good food to eat once you get to the swamp,” Vito said. “Even living somewhere different like that, they’re still ponies just like us. To be honest though I can’t say what kind of welcome you’ll get there though. I don’t expect you to be received poorly but anything after traveling through Vissidia probably isn’t going to seem as nice.” “Meh, I’ll deal with it.,” Rainbow cracked her neck and stood up off the picnic table’s bench. “And I think that it’s about time for me to get out of here. Thanks for letting me help out here in exchange for this.” “No problem,” Vito smiled. “I liked getting to talk to someone not from Vissidia. Doesn’t happen too often. Since you’ll be leaving our country now, well, I hope you’ll have a lot of good to say about it to anyone you meet and your friends back home too.” “Oh yeah, you bet I will,” Rainbow Dash grinned. “I suppose that’s all I need to hear,” Vito said. Rainbow Dash nodded before flapping her wings to ascend over the picnic table. “It was nice meeting you!” She gave a curt wave and then she was off into the sky—just barely hearing a “Goodbye” coming from behind her. Now at the southern edge of Vissidia, Rainbow Dash was ready to say for certain that green was most definitely the color that defined the country. Green reed-like grasses and bushes grew from the wet marshes below, with trees also covering quite a bit of the landscape. Compared to the brighter, livelier, looking green of the rest of Vissidia it was actually a bit darker here. Probably because there were still lots of flowers and stuff elsewhere, here it looked like everything was half submerged. Rainbow Dash didn’t really mind though, she liked knowing that she was getting closer to the big swamp and whatever lied in and beyond it. She was almost totally out of Vissidia now. She would miss it. She would miss the ponies she left behind in it. But she was happy with herself. Happy with the decisions she had made and what she had accomplished back in Hoofica. There was no failure this time, Rainbow Dash had succeeded in helping to make Hoofica a better place and saved countless ponies. Including one very special little filly. Rainbow Dash smiled as she flew. Barnaby… Anathema… I think the two of you can be proud of me and rest easy now... It won’t be like that anymore. I’ve gotten stronger, I’ve changed, I won’t ever let anyone down again. There was a hut with a straw roof almost directly below her, built on the edge of one of the small rivers. Vito’s words rang in her head and Rainbow Dash decided she didn’t need to pointlessly stop to check it out. She didn’t need anymore delays at this point, she had seen enough of Vissidia and she knew there wasn’t any adventuring to be had here. It was good to relax and find a safe place for Wish but now Rainbow wanted to get some excitement back into her life. After Hoofica she didn’t know what her next grand adventure would be but she was looking forward to it. Perhaps the swamp would have something like that or perhaps she’d still have to go even further. She had flown so far at this point, it was almost insane. Though she couldn’t know for sure, with how much she had traveled—and compared to what she knew about her side of the world—Rainbow Dash was fairly certain she was slightly past the halfway point of this side of the world. Vissidia and the swamp would be just south of the equator, that’s what she was pretty sure of at least. There were ways to find out for sure but she was feeling a bit lazy about it. Not like it was actually that important. Until she started seeing snow again it didn’t really matter. “Kind of hope I don’t start seeing snow again for a long time...” she muttered to herself. At this point it was barely past noon and her flying was still slow and relaxed. The beer she had drank earlier was keeping her from wanting to speed up too much, and getting a last look at Vissidia was pretty nice too. If it started to get dark before she got to the swamp or found a place to rest she could pick up the pace then. Rainbow felt a bit of moisture on her face and blinked, rubbing her eyes and finding traces of tears. “Aw geez… come on… I know I miss them a lot but I can’t go back,” she said to herself. “One day. Even if it’s far away, I’ll see them again.” She shook her head and looked down at the deep green marsh to occupy her time. A boat was lazily traveling down one of the small streams, she was fairly certain she saw the pony sitting in it holding a fishing rod and she shuddered. Somehow that probably wasn’t catch and release. It definitely was a bit of a different world out here, she wondered if maybe in some of the more destitute and remote areas of Equestria she could find similar things. Regardless she hardly saw any other ponies after that, or any other buildings aside from old long-forgotten shacks. Just a calm and quiet marsh that extended towards the horizon. Wanting a closer look, Rainbow Dash flew in low towards the water. Low enough where the wind from her wings could disturb the surface of the streams and ponds she was flying over and her hooves were tickled by the tall grass shooting out of the water and muddy ground. It wasn’t just simple tall grass around either, now she could see all the cat tails everywhere. They swayed from the wind and occasionally her hooves would hit one and accidentally knock a thousand little seeds into the air, sending them traveling on the only journey that mattered to them. Dragonflies, ladybugs, and butterflies flew out of her way before she could reach them, and a frog hopped from a lilypad and into the water the moment her shadow passed over it. Ahead of her, the treeline that emerged from the marsh obscured everything beyond it. The last vestiges of Vissidia. The southern border. Once she hit those trees the swamp couldn’t be much further past them. She’d be in a new place, a practically unknown place that might not have even had a name, things were going to be very different again. Even here at the very end the pleasantness of Vissidia was almost overwhelming and she had the urge to stay a little longer. How many marshes and remote places full of nothing but wet plants and mud look and feel this nice? But she knew she couldn’t at this point. The flowers and the calming sounds of nature had to be ignored. Fluttershy might never be able to leave a place like this, but there was more that called to Rainbow Dash. “Goodbye, Wish. I’ll see you later...” She made it to the trees and started to whistle as shadows blocked out the sun from above. As thick as the trees were she was able to glide through them easily. She was Rainbow Dash after all.