//------------------------------// // The Hundred Kingdoms // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// It was nice to see green for the first time since she had left the swamp. Not counting the tiny little plots at Clay Tower. This was real greenery, real fields of grass, strong growing trees, rolling hills, flowers and bushes and other plants. This was a country she was coming into. Malkonrik. Her first taste of The Hundred Kingdoms. And beyond it an entire ocean of adventure. She hadn’t felt so excited for something since before she entered Hoofica. That had turned out… to not be the adventure she wanted in a few ways, but this felt different. From what ponies had said, while things weren’t perfect in the Hundred Kingdoms there wasn’t really anything horrible going on. Rainbow Dash was hoping for a pure adventure. Pure fun. She didn’t know how far the borders of Malkonrik stretched to the east and west but she couldn’t really see anything different or any sudden changes. It all looked like it had pretty much the same landscape. She flew up higher in the sky to get the best vantage point, flying at an elevation high above the tallest hills. The weather was perfect, like springtime Equestria, and the sky and ground were both clear. It made traveling through here a breeze. Being early in the morning she had a full day ahead of her to travel through and explore Malkonrik. She could figure out where to go and if she wanted to just burn straight through to the Grand Ocean or not. With the warm sun at her back she felt herself brimming with energy. Once she passed over the first couple of big hills she saw the first signs of life and civilization in Malkonrik—the first sign she was actually in the right place. A windmill stood on the ground, in the middle of a large wheat farm. Looking to her right and left she saw more windmills and farms built in this large valley behind the hills. It brought a grin to her face, this kind of thing was a familiar sight, it gave her a sense of nostalgia and reminded her of her home. Peaceful farmers growing their crops in the breadbasket of their country. Always a nice sight to see. Further south those farms tapered off but now she saw a series of well-kept dirt roads that winded through the countryside. They ran off into the distance to the east and west but going to the south she saw one road leading to a small town. A real town. Not just a small settlement in some practically inhospitable land. The town was completely walled off, sitting next to a decently sized lake and a river that ran south from it. Rainbow considered dropping down to it and introducing herself to the ponies of Malkonrik right then and there. But if she did… she was probably going to get drawn into another long and drawn out storytime. And who knows what else. She might lose an entire day that she could be using to travel instead. And it was just a small farming town, there probably wasn’t any sort of adventure there. “If I stop anywhere up here then I want it to be the capitol or wherever I can meet their “Prime Minister” or whoever,” Rainbow said to herself. “I’ll be the envoy from Equestria. They’ll probably want to meet me and learn about us, right?” She now followed the road leading further south from the small walled off town. It always made the most sense to follow the roads even when she was flying like this, since it made it easier to find the important stuff in any country. Pegasi didn’t have a need for roads or to build stuff according to a “plan”, but anyplace that was populated by earth ponies, unicorns, or other creatures needed to put more thought into the groundwork for their country. “Haven’t seen any pegasi since Vissidia actually...” Rainbow Dash thought. “Wonder if we’re not so common in this part of the world?” It would be cool to be unique. Not that she wasn’t already unique by being the most awesome pony to ever live, but still. She continued on a pretty lackadaisical flight, not putting much effort into things just yet since Malkonrik was proving to be a very idyllic and slow-paced country so far. No reason to zoom on at full speed just yet. Partly because she at least didn’t have to worry about finding water to drink or food to eat when she needed it anymore. In just another few minutes of flying like that, she saw the road ahead go through a forested valley between two small rocky mountains. Rainbow Dash flew straight on over it and came out the other side of the mountains to take a look at where she was in Malkonrik now. Immediately she saw something to her right—the west—it was a large castle, more of a fort actually, built on top of a raised hill with a flattened top. It overlooked a town built around it at the bottom of the hill, with farms pressed up between the hill and the mountains to the north. The entire fort was ringed by giant redwood logs, sharpened on top, that had been stuck close together to form a defensive wall. “Well that looks pretty important,” Rainbow said and started to fly towards it. When something else caught her attention from below. From the road below her, figures were coming up into the sky to meet her. “Huh, guess I can forget being unique,” Rainbow said as she recognized the forms of two pegasi flying up to her. She squinted as they got closer and saw that they were clad in silver armor over their bodies and wings while they had golden-trim helmets on their heads. Soldiers. The wing armor was impressive as it needed to be made of a bunch of segmented pieces that could carefully fold together. “You! Stop right there!” One of the pegasus soldiers shouted as he and his comrade reached her. “Just what do you think you’re doing, flying up here?!” “Umm… flying?” Rainbow Dash shrugged. The one who had spoken was a dark yellow stallion with an angry scowl on his face, the other, a blue stallion, at least didn’t look angry but he was clearly suspicious. “You can’t fly in the capitol province! That’s a threat to our Prime Minister’s safety!” The yellow one glared at her. “Well I didn’t-” “Didn’t know? How could you not know?!” “She’s an outsider,” the blue one said before raising an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash. “Aren’t you?” “Uh huh,” Rainbow nodded. The yellow one scowled some more and clicked his tongue. “Oh, I see. No wonder. Where are you from? Ullsorth? Winderbadon? The Disputed Lands? Either way you’re lucky we didn’t send Javelin Squad up to shoot you down without warning. Bah, outsiders!” Rainbow Dash frowned. “Bah yourself, dude.” “You dare-” the yellow one started to move towards her before he was held back by the other. “Sir, please, she’s just an outsider. There’s no reason to rise to her provocations. I’m certain she doesn’t come from one of the rival Kingdoms either, their ponies would know not to do this too.” He clicked his tongue again. “I suppose you’re correct. Either way you must come down to the ground with us immediately. There is absolutely no flying in the capitol province unless you’re a soldier like us.” “Fine,” Rainbow said. “It’s not like I came here to cause problems or anything.” “Good. We wouldn’t want to have to detain you. We have better things to do,” the yellow soldier said. “Well technically this is our whole job so this is a better thing to do,” the blue one rubbed his chin. “Shut up!” His superior yelled. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Oh boy...” A quick descent to the ground found Rainbow Dash at a military camp—a checkpoint—built beside the main road that she had followed past the mountains. The camp here was almost like a mini-version of the massive fort up on the hill, with spiked wooden fences around it and several large tents and wooden buildings set up inside it. A large gate that could be raised or lowered was built across the road and the wall on the other side of it stretched all the way to the mountainside on the east. By hoof, going past the camp and through the gate would be the only way in or out of the capitol province through the north. No wonder they forbid flying, they wanted to keep all traffic under control. A lot of soldiers were in the camp, marching in formation, guarding the gate, stuck on lookouts over the walls, and running in their armor for exercise. She had heard that the Hundred Kingdoms liked to “play” at war, but truth be told this was the first time she had been somewhere since all the way back in the Eternal Pegasus Empire where it looked like she had found a real army. If this was just one company of soldiers too then Malkonrik looked like it had a decent fighting force. The spears the soldiers carried were definitely not toys. “Just walk out the gate and head down the road now,” the yellow soldier said to her. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him. “That’s it?” He glared back at her. “What else were you expecting?” “I mean… I figured you’d want to take me to your leader… or at least figure out where I’m from and why I’m here. Or something like that,” she shrugged. “You’re just some outsider from some irrelevant place. We don’t care what you want. If you’re traveling through Malkonrik just obey the rules and don’t bother anyone. There are enough soldiers in the capitol province where we’ll know if you try flying again. Stick to the road until you make it to the southern checkpoint, then do whatever you want,” he told her. Rainbow Dash tried to crane her neck and look past the walls of the camp towards the giant fort she had seen earlier. “Well… what if I went to that huge fort? That’s your guy’s capitol right? I can just go and meet the Prime Minister on my own then.” “You absolutely can not!” The yellow soldier yelled. “The army would never allow you inside, and besides, the Prime Minister has far too many important matters to deal with, he can’t waste time chatting with some outsider! No pony in our government can!” “Why would you want to visit the capitol and Prime Minister anyways?” The more curious blue soldier asked. “Well I’m from really far away… guaranteed to be a place that no other pony who’s been here is from. Figured your leader would want to meet me and hear about my home,” Rainbow said. “Why?” The blue soldier tilted his head. “Uh… cause it’s special?” “The world outside the Kingdoms might as well not exist,” the yellow soldier scoffed. “Malkonrik is concerned with rebuilding the Golden Empire, not with your issues. If you’re not even from one of our neighbors then you simply don’t matter to the Kingdom. Hurry up out of the capitol province where important things happen. I’m sure some random townsfolk down south or near the coast will be entertained by you, but not us and certainly not the Prime Minister.” “Great, good to know,” Rainbow Dash snorted. “Guess there really isn’t a reason to stick around here or try and talk to you guys. I’ll just keep going right to the ocean then...” She glanced at the southern wall of the camp. “So how far is that checkpoint? I’d like to be able to fly again and hurry this up.” “The next mountains you see in the distance, the capitol province is boxed in by these mountains. I think a pony who looks to be in as good of shape as you can probably make it by early next morning if you go at a quick pace,” the blue soldier told her. “Thanks. I guess,” Rainbow said. “We’ll have the gate opened for you now,” he said and together the three of them walked over to the road. “Remember, no flying until you pass the checkpoint!” The yellow soldier said. “I got it,” Rainbow glared at him. “The rest of Malkonrik will be more open to you, but the capitol doesn’t have time for such things,” the blue soldier said. “Bye then, I’m probably not coming back.” Rainbow Dash found that despite it being the home of Malkonrik’s capitol—or perhaps because of it—that this province was not heavily populated at all. She briskly trotted down the road and the most she ever saw were more camps of soldiers and the occasional small farm or private manor built on its own plot of land. There were no more towns at all here. Thanks to the weather and well maintained road her trip was still easy however. It would even be pleasant if it hadn’t been for the rude welcoming and flying now being temporarily forbidden to her. But that was all in the past anyways. Like that guard had said, it was now the next morning and she could already see the checkpoint in the distance right in front of the mountains to the south. She could leave the province soon and get back to flying south to the ocean. This checkpoint was much the same as the other, a large camp was built on the western side of the road while a gate blocked off the road itself. They should just let her through without a problem though, right? It’s not like she needed some kind of ID or permission or anything here, right? They just wanted to see who was coming and going. She wasn’t suspicious—and she was trying to leave the capitol province. It shouldn’t be an issue at all. “And if it is… honestly don’t think I’d feel too bad about making these guys my enemy,” Rainbow said. She then frowned and shook her head. “No, no, stupid. Even as just a joke I shouldn’t think about that, I should be better than that now.” She slowed the pace of her trot as she got closer to the gate, looking for all intents and purposes just like some normal pony out for a walk. Which technically she was right now. Unlike the northern checkpoint, the gate here opened inwards to the capitol province and it had two wooden towers built on either side of it that soldiers currently manned. Rainbow Dash saw them peering down at her from their perches, but they made no indication that they saw anything unusual or would do or say anything to her. Instead a large tent right on the side of the road outside the main part of the camp seemed to be her temporary destination. A squad of guards stood inside it at attention while another—with a more elaborate helmet—sat at a small desk. Since it was clear the gate wasn’t going to be opened for her without the word of someone else, she walked over to that tent to see what was up. “Uh, hi,” Rainbow said to the desk pony. “Hello. What can I do for you?” The soldier said. “Well actually I’m just trying to leave the capitol province, just traveling through and all, so can you open up the gate for me?” Rainbow asked, rubbing the back of her neck. “Of course,” the soldier nodded. “I’ll have it opened immediately.” Rainbow blinked. “Oh. Sweet.” That went about as well as she could have hoped. Maybe he thought she was from Malkonrik, or was just no-nonsense in general and wanted to do his job without fuss, but it was good to meet polite soldiers. Whatever the reason, he only needed to whistle to his subordinates and they quickly went out like a well-oiled machine to open the gate up. There wasn’t any fuss or additional words, it was the monotony of a normal day job. Once the gate had been opened, Rainbow Dash courteously waved goodbye to them all and stepped on through to the other side of the road. And from out of the capitol province. She didn’t exactly want to chance causing an incident though so just to err on the safe side of things she didn’t shoot off into the sky just yet. It’s possible the soldiers still wouldn’t like that happening so close to the checkpoint. Besides, she had all day ahead of her and now that she was past the wall of the checkpoint she could see out into this next part of the Kingdom of Malkonrik. Naturally it was just as green and nice looking as the rest of Malkonrik had been so far, with rolling hills and lush farmlands ahead of her. A forest covered the east for miles while to the west the largest lake she had seen since Hoofica stretched down from the mountains and far to the south. The road leading to and from the capitol province split off shortly in many different directions, but straight ahead past a few farms it ended up going right into a large sprawling town. This one wasn’t walled off like the first she had seen in the north. Nor did it have a huge fort looking over it. Maybe everyone had been telling the truth and things were more relaxed the closer you got to the coast. Obviously these kingdoms had their own way of doing things, they didn’t seem too concerned with what was going on outside their bubble. Well, that made it easy enough for her from now on. Rainbow Dash smiled and resumed her brisk pace as she trotted towards the town. She could maybe just get some info on how far away the ocean was or maybe even spend a whole day here if some ponies were willing to give her food and a place to stay. It would probably be best to get a feel for how ponies here lived and what the locals were like. But she definitely didn’t plan on staying more than a day and getting bogged down in a place without any fun and adventure. This wasn’t going to be an Arondel trip where she needed time to relax and help out a certain special filly. As she made her way down the road she looked to the farms and occasionally waved at any ponies she saw out during this fine morning. The farms seemed to all be mostly corn and wheat, and a number of windmills sat around as well to turn that wheat into flour. Wagons and walking ponies were occasionally seen down the other roads but this main one that only led to the checkpoint didn’t have much traffic. A few little farmhouses on the side of the road looked welcoming but Rainbow still wanted to get to the town itself. She offered a wave to an old stallion she saw hammering nails into a board to fix his fence outside one of the homes and got a friendly wave in return. Her first impression of this part of Malkonrik was pretty good. The town also looked nice. Painted white brick buildings with timber framing and a myriad of roof types from hip, gable, and just flat, lots of wooden cottages, and no building seemed to be over three-stories high. It was a big town with a small town look and feel to it. Reminded her of Ponyville except covering a larger area and more crowded in the middle. Definitely had an easy-going atmosphere to it, there weren’t any loud or busy sounds coming from it either. Rainbow didn’t need to try and put a smile on her face as she walked in from the road. She didn’t see a sign naming the town anywhere, but since this was the side coming from the capitol that maybe wasn’t so surprising. The smell of freshly baked bread, flowers in bloom, and cut grass reached her nose. Several streets and alleyways branched off from the main road but Rainbow for now kept walking straight ahead. A lot of ponies were out going about their own business as well. She heard a window open up overhead and looked up to see a mare dusting off an old bedsheet, waving it up and down over the street. The more she walked the more she saw bakeries, tailors, small coffee shops, tea shops, merchants, anything really. A few ponies would smile and give her a polite nod, but most just walked by with maybe only a small glance. She really was just any other pony here. Looking down an alley she saw some kids playing, kicking around a ball together. And some mares carrying laundry. The more she looked the more certain she was as well that there were plenty of ponies from each tribe living here. It wasn’t just an earth pony or unicorn town, all three were out in abundance. “Now I’ve just gotta find a place that looks inviting for travelers...” Rainbow said as she continued her jaunt through town. She needed to find a lodge or inn, or just walk into the next cafe she found. Now that she had gotten a nice look at this place she was at least sure she wasn’t going to accidentally break any social norms just by being herself. Maybe she could start flying again soon. She passed an empty lot that was covered in grass and had a few families holding a picnic in it under the shade of a walnut tree. She probably could’ve gone to talk to them but it wasn’t the kind of thing she wanted to interrupt. Rainbow went past them and kept her eyes peeled for somewhere else, a business where travelers would naturally frequent. That was going on until the point she was walking down another street and a ball smacked into the back of her head. “Ow!” Rainbow Dash grunted in pain and rubbed the back of her head, the small rubber ball bouncing in front of her hooves. “Sorry!” Rainbow Dash looked over to see a young filly and colt running over to her, followed by an older stallion and mare. “My brother and I were playing around… we didn’t mean to do that,” the filly said, apologetically. Rainbow Dash just grinned and picked up the ball before tossing it back over to her. “Heh, don’t sweat it, kid.” The colt meanwhile looked up at her with his mouth wide open in astonishment. “You’re so colorful...” “Never seen a pony with a rainbow mane and tail before?” She teased. “Nope,” the colt shook his head, not getting the sarcasm. The stallion and mare now came up to her, obviously the parents of the siblings, and the mare bowed her head in apology. “We’re sorry for our children not paying attention while they were fooling around. Please forgive us!” “Whoa, whoa, it’s okay, it was just kids having some fun,” Rainbow Dash waved her hooves to let the parents know it was no big deal. “You don’t need to apologize or anything.” The father meanwhile had a curious look on his face as he looked Rainbow Dash up and down. “You know I have to say you’re really a striking pony, I’m not surprised my son can’t find his words right now. Forgive me if this is a little intrusive but are you not from around here? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before and I doubt I could forget a mane like that.” “Don’t be too charmed,” his wife said to him with a slight frown. He coughed. “I didn’t mean anything like that...” Rainbow Dash decided to cut in and save him. “Yeah, I’m not from around here. From pretty far away actually. I’m just traveling through on my way to the ocean, and speaking of that, would you know how much longer I’ve got to travel before I get there?” The father glanced down at her wings. “I’d say even by flight it would take a couple of days. By hoof or wagon maybe a week.” “Well I’ll definitely be back to flying soon then...” Rainbow frowned. “Well I wouldn’t fret about it too much. It’s an easy trip so long as you have a little coin for food and lodging,” the father said. Rainbow Dash blinked. “Oh yeah. I knew I was forgetting about something.” “There a problem?” The mother raised an eyebrow at her. “I uh… hehe… I don’t have any money,” Rainbow Dash blushed in embarrassment as she rubbed the back of her head. “You don’t have any money? What were you planning to do while traveling through the Kingdom? Much less when you reach the ocean,” The father asked her. “Err… hadn’t really thought about that.” The father and mother shared a look with each other. “Miss… would you care to stay with us for a day? We could give you a small amount of coins for a meal or two when you leave,” The mare asked. “Wait—hold on. I don’t want to be a charity case or intrude on you guys. Like, I’m just some pony you don’t even know, I don’t want to be a burden to you. I appreciate it a lot but I’d just be abusing your generosity and hospitality…” Rainbow Dash tried to refuse. It was friendly of them to offer, but it was too much. “Please, we insist. It wouldn’t be right to just let a pony like you go your way without a single coin to your name. How would that reflect on us to not help a pony who’s new to the Kingdom?” The father said. “I…” Rainbow Dash sighed. “Alright, but just one day at your place, and I really don’t need much money. Things usually turn out fine in the end.” Upon entering their nearby home, Rainbow Dash and the family of unicorns exchanged more formal introductions. Gold Jackpot, his wife Lucky Clover, and their two kids Little Jackpot and Jade Jackpot were the perfect image of a happy family. After eating lunch together, they had talked about what Rainbow Dash was doing and where she had come from and she got to ask a few questions about their town and the rest of Malkonrik. “Going so long without needing money for anything… I guess I kind of just forgot that I’d still need it for most normal places,” Rainbow Dash said. “Well you’ll have us to help you out for the beginning, but at some point you’ll probably need to find a way to get some money yourself,” Gold Jackpot said. “I’d say most strangers from here to the coast will be more than happy to help you but as soon as you get to the coast it’s almost like a different world. The ponies who make their lives on the docks and ports only care about money. Hospitality isn’t much of a thing to them,” Lucky Clover said. “The ocean is far different from The Hundred Kingdoms,” Gold Jackpot nodded. “Not to say there aren’t kind ponies there too, but they’re still not going to be the type to just give you something for free.” “Good to know,” Rainbow Dash said. “Guess I have to doubly thank you for how much you’re helping me.” But I’m still looking forward to getting out to that ocean.