//------------------------------// // A Rainbow's Effect // Story: United We Stand! // by pinkudesuu //------------------------------// Rock Trolls Realistically, it's only been a day since Rainbow Dash arrived in this World and fell on Barb’s Kingdom. But being in jail makes you lose your perception of time! And finally, after a number of huge sighs and grumbles Rainbow Dash has made, Barb’s friends let her go with her order. “Make sure someone’s always watching her, yeah?” Barb had ordered her people. And really, there was no need for that. Rainbow Dash isn’t leaving anytime soon. Not until she’s able to change Barb’s perception of friends. Now cleaned up and figuring out how to move without wings and in this new body which seemed almost similar to Spikes, minus the spikes and tails. “So…” Rainbow Dash coughed to get someone’s attention. One troll that had a bored expression on his face did, “What do you guys do around here?” Her question was met with a silent blank stare, his mouth left partly opened. She almost felt annoyed at the treatment but he spoke before she could. “Rock around.” He said in a monotone voice. Rainbow blinked at the single answer. “What, like, a literal or…?” She tilted her head, genuinely at a loss. When it was met with silence again she expressed a stressed deep sigh, “Come on, man. Help me out here! I’m new. So I’m asking what you normally do around here!” “We really do just rock around here.” A feminine voice replied to Rainbow Dash. Turning around suddenly, she saw a purple troll with twin tails. “The name’s Val.” “Rainbow Dash.” The blue haired troll replied. With a nod of approval, Val walked nearer to Rainbow to continue what she was saying. “We’re rock trolls. All we literally do is rock around with our music. Ever hated a song you’ve heard from another Tribe on the radio? Turn your version of it into rock. Wanna play with other Trolls? Throw rocks at each other,” Val listed, pointing to each activity as it happens around them, “Wanna test how Rock hard you can get? Swim in the lava pools—” “I don’t see them having fun throwing rocks at each other. And quite frankly, that doesn’t quite make sense—” “Point is,” Val cut her off, “At the end of it all, we follow Rock orders, and by rock orders, we mean the ruler, and by ruler we mean Queen Barb now.” “Now?” “She just became Queen after her Father stepped down a few months ago.” Val informed her with a shrug, “I was there, being one of the official Ambassadors and all. It was tear-jerking as hell. But really, everyone knows one fact.” Rainbow Dash waited for the next line to be said, hanging his head low in anticipation. But the next words never came and Val looked at her weirdly, her eyebrow raised. “That isssssszzzzzs…?” Rainbow exasperated. “You know I gotta hand it to you, you’re rocking this rock troll look, but not the vibes, dude,” Val said, leaving Rainbow Dash to frustration. “What does that even mean?!” Rainbow Dash tried to run after the purple rock trolls “Who names themselves ‘Rainbow’ anyway?” Val yelled as she left anyway. With her tongue sticking out. “Rainbow is a cool name!” the rainbow haired troll yelled, “You just don’t have tastes for awesomeness!” “Thundershock is way cooler!” Val yelled back. “I’m—” “Making friends now, are we?” Rainbow Dash yelped when Barb’s voice startled her. “Oh, h-heeey Barb! Just the uh… troll that I was looking for!” Barb just looked at her, straightfaced and unconvinced. “Right.” She dragged the word. “Look man,” Rainbow Dash sighed, giving up the fake smile, “I’m serious. What do you do around here? How does a rock troll… act like a rock troll?” “Literally anything to just rock around,” Was her simple answer to Rainbow’s exasperation. “What does that mean?!” Rainbow palmed her face in annoyance, “How do you do that? Wha-What does one do to rock around? Show me!” It was like showing a trolling throwing a tantrum which Barb hates to see them most. She rolls her eyes anyway and gives in. “Fine! Follow me.” She ordered Rainbow. “I’m going to show you around once! And if you still don’t understand by the end of it, you’re on your fucking own.” “Sheesh, aren’t you like, the Queen or something?” Rainbow Dash grumbles at the attitude, “Isn’t it part of your duty to show new Trolls around your Kingdom and all?” “First of all, being Queen doesn’t mean becoming a tour guide,” Bard said, hands crossed on her chest, "Second of all, what do you know about running a Kingdom? As far as I can tell, you are in no position to criticise how I run this place.” As Barb stares at her sceptically, Rainbow sweats bullets. “Right…” She laughed awkwardly. She can’t really tell Barb everything about her friends and how she’s friends with a Princess slash future ruler, huh? Especially about being element bearers… Aside from being difficult to explain, it’ll give away their plans! Rainbow faked a cough before talking again, “Well, uh… What are we doing here exactly?” Simply put, they were on top of an active Volcano. It reminds her of the Volcanoes where Dragons lived back in Equestria. “Is it safe here?” Rainbow Dash wanderers, though she’s already feeling excited at the thought of being in such a dangerous area.  “Duh, Rock Trolls are immune to Lava. You can swim on it if you want.” Barb says that Rainbow's eyes twinkle in anticipation as she stands near the side of a lava pool, “Though our clothes do get burned in the process. Make sure you have extras near you before you dive in.” Rainbow Dash was luckily able to pull herself back at the last second before she dumped herself into the lava. She glared at the so-called Queen who was now handing her a flat rock boulder with a bored expression. “Couldn't have said it sooner?” the rainbow haired tsked as she held the rock Barb gave her. It was quite long, but sturdy. Very sturdy. It lacked style, but it looks like it serves a purpose for something. Something boring about rocking around, probably. “Not my fault you’re so unaware,” Barb replied, “And stop glaring at your surfing board. A troll worked hard shaping that.” “What?” Rainbow Dash perked, “This rock is a surfing board?” “Well, duh,” Barb rolled her eyes, “How else are we gonna go down from here?” Rainbow’s face could might as well rival Celestia’s Sun with how bright it became at the realisation. “No way,” Rainbow said, a huge smile on her face that Barb took a step back from her in surprise, “This– We’re— Are we really?!” “Yeah?” Barb was taken aback at the blatant show of emotions, “I mean, pshh, it’s not that cool. We do it all the time here as to ‘rock’ around. See?” Barb tried to act nonchalant as she pointed to a Rock troll about to lava surf with a straight and almost bored expression saying a monotone version of “weeeee” as they surfed down. As Rainbow Dash watched the other trolls follow as well, her expression was that of horrified. “So you just slide down? No tricks? No cool poses?” She says it as though it was such a scandal. “I mean, yeah?” Barb said she herself has been wondering that too, but she thought it was just traits of Rock Trolls. They're pretty expressive when performing songs, but outside that, they just… do rock activities with a straight face.  “That sounds so boring!” Rainbow Dash yelled, breaking Barb out of her reverie. “Rock is this cool concept where you do what you want, scream what you want, and sing what you want! If those other Rock Trolls want to do… rock stuff boringly, then sure! But that doesn’t mean everyone should also do that. Is that like a trend here? Be a boring rock troll?” “No,” Barb almost took offence, “We reck pretty hard when we perform, and—” “And outside of that?”  “Well not always.” Barb dragged, to which Rainbow Dash just raised a brow on, “Yeah, fine. I’ve always thought the way they do things is boring.” “See, was that too hard to accept?” She teased. “Ugh. I’m sure it’ll change anyway once I make other Tribes into Rock Trolls, too!”  This had Rainbow Dash awkwardly laughing, being reminded that she’s currently at the core of their friendship problem. “Yeah, we’ll get to that– ehem! But first, let’s fix these. I’ll show you how Lava Surfing should be done!” “I know how Lava Surfing should be done!” Barb yelled, feeling competitive. She’s the Queen, she’s the best at everything! “And this is your first time lava surfing, I doubt you can keep up without getting your clothes burnt.” “Oh yeah? Watch me,” Rainbow Dash said as she ran and jumped with her (rock) surfing board held below her feets. “I’m Rainbow Dash! I’m awesome in everything!” Barb was taken aback for a second, a huge grin on her face as she reciprocated Rainbow Dash’s energy. It’s rare to see a Rock Troll as passionate as this rainbow gal. Rarer than a rock troll looking like they were birthed from Rainbows. Despite still feeling a little hurt from the Troll’s ‘betrayal’, Barb allows herself this moment to see what Rainbow Dash could do. Indeed, she was true to her words. Despite being her first time, Rainbow Dash showed the skill of a pro in lava surfing. She was jumping around, doing hoops and air time poses. Barb could barely keep up and yet, it doesn’t sour her. Rainbow Dash acknowledges her as the both of them show their own tricks while surfing. The lava gets spots on their clothes sometimes, but it’s fine, they can just get it fixed by the Seamstress at the end of this Lava pool assigned for those instances. Other trolls watched them in awe and went to jump in themselves. Cheering and doing tricks of their own. When a troll failed, they simply laughed for a moment but still applauded him trying. It’s almost surreal at how simple Rainbow Dash made it look. One moment, the Rock Trolls were quiet and just lazing around, and then the next their bloodshot eyes opened and trying to jump in on the fun. Reminding them of their chaotic nature. And Barb herself has just now realised how her craziness once stood out from the rest of the tribe. Outside of their crazy rocking and singing, Rock Trolls had looked like a different tribe. And now in front of her, she sees the definition of a true Rock Troll inside a grey blue troll with rainbows for a hair and name. It’s just crazy how this Troll just appeared in their tribe a day ago and is now bringing back chaos into their roots. It’s fun. And crazy. She might just keep this Troll around her. “Gotta give it to you, Rainbow Dash. You ain’t bad.” Barb said. “Hell yeah!” Rainbow Dash said, meeting her high five, “Told you I’m awesome.” They turned to see other Trolls excitedly throwing rocks now and dumping other trolls in the Lava with crazed grins. It seemed crazy, but if you look closer, you can see that they're simply having fun in their own crazy way. “So, friends?”  “You’re my best friend now, dude!” Barb made a show of putting her arms around Rainbow’s shoulder with force. “We’re gonna be so awesome together!” “Yeah!” Rainbow cheered. However, at the back of her mind, she wonders if this was the right move. She showed them what being loyal to oneself is, but now she’s a hypocrite in her own element. She understands that at the end of all this, she will be siding against Barb. And yet she does not know of a plan to stop her before she goes on with her plan. She’s at a loss with the knowledge of what Barb is going through. She needs a friend. Will that be enough to stop her plans? She dreads Barb’s reaction to her betrayal. She promised. She promised they’ll find her herself if they get separated. Maybe Rainbow Dash is not as loyal as she thinks she is. Rainbow Dash needs time. Time she doesn’t have.