//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Talon is Only a Hop, Skip, and a Hoof to the Face Away // Story: Farmers and Swindlers, Friendship and Pain // by Wunderbrony //------------------------------// Chapter 2: Talon is Only a Hop, Skip, and a Hoof to the Face Away Rainbow Dash flew hastily across Ponyville, her mind awhirl. She had the perfect idea on how to save the Apple family’s ranch, if only she could remember where that flyer was… Rainbow Dash cruised over the town, slowing down as she soared over Sugarcube Corner, Carousel Boutique, and other buildings she recognised as landmarks near her destination, until she came to the town hall. She dropped to the ground with a thump, grace forgotten in her haste, and trotted towards the town message board as she curled her cyan wings against her side. The board was a little taller than head height for Dash, and was a place where anypony in town could post messages about upcoming events, or lost and found items, etc. Rainbow Dash hurriedly scanned the board, hoping the flier she had seen a few days ago wasn't covered with some new advertisement. Her keen vision could not pick out the poster she was looking for. There it was! She found the flier she was looking for, and focused on it excitedly. It was a little worn from the weather, but perfectly legible. Attention All SuperStar Flyers! The SuperStar Flyers Club is hosting its 25th annual Flyers' Open Tourney! Any Pegasus who is a true Pegasus will be there! Compete with the best flyers in the realm for the grand prize! Club Members and new applicants welcome, come one, come all! Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped at the sum listed for the grand prize. This is enough to buy Applejack TWO new farms, and all the fancy equipment she could want! Rainbow thought to herself. She tried to memorize the location and date of the race, and quickly gave up. She was so impatient, she tore the poster off the board, and carried it in her mouth back to her cloud home above Ponyille. This is exactly what Applejack needs to get her farm back, thought Rainbow. And I'm gonna be the one to win it for her! Rainbow Dash spent the next few weeks leading up to the SuperStar Flyers Race training, working on her agility, endurance, and most of all, speed. She didn't feel the need to train too hard, as she currently held the position as best flyer in Equestria, and had two Sonic Rainbooms under her belt when most pegasi never even dreamed of completing one. Nonetheless, she had flown for hours a day, zipping between clouds and through the sparse tree line at the edge of the Everfree Forest, as well as practiced a few flight maneuvers, and she was feeling lean, mean, and ready to win a race. The race took place in the countryside, near a griffin city called Talon. Rainbow Dash was confused at first by the name, but then recalled the personality of the only griffin she had met, Gilda, and decided that it was certainly something a griffin like Gilda would pick. After visiting the cities of Canterlot, Cloudsdale, and the pioneer settlement of Appleoosa, Rainbow was curious to see what a griffin city looked like. It was a few days till the race, and it was time for Rainbow to set out. She packed the few things she would need, mostly toiletries and post race care items like athletic wraps, and walked to the Ponyville train station. The station was busy, and the line from the ticket counter stretched almost 30 deep. She sighed and looked around for something interesting to do while she waited for the ticket line to go down. She saw a large scale map drawn of Equestria and walked over to it. She realized she had no clue where Talon was, or what it was even close to. She scanned the map, and noticed that it was only a day's fly away from Ponyville. Rainbow Dash looked at the long line at the ticket counter, then back at the map. With a shrug, she gathered her bags and walked out of the station. She could fly to Talon. After all, a little light flying before the race would limber her up, not to mention she hadn't flown a long distance for a quite a while. Rainbow relished the idea of soaring far above any other pony, with nothing but the wind in her mane and her own thoughts in her head. Already excited and raring to fly, Rainbow tied down the straps on her saddle bags and took off, climbing higher and higher until she reached a good cruising altitude, and then flew towards Talon. If she took an easy pace, it would take her about one full day of flying to get to Talon. She cleared her mind and just let her body take over, and flew. Rainbow Dash sat on a grass hill by the side of the road, eating a packed lunch of apples and bottled cider. Without a unicorn's magic, she had to use her teeth to open the cap, but it was worth it. Rainbow Dash loved cider and this year, with the arrival of the Flim Flam brothers, was the first year she had been able to drink as much cider as she wanted. And she wanted a lot. "What's a pony like you doing way out here in the middle o' nowhere?" A sudden voice interrupted Rainbow Dash's lunch, and she stood up and turned around. Walking towards her, over the other side of the hill, were three earth ponies. They looked like they were farm ponies, with deep chests and strong backs, and smelled as if they hadn't seen water and soap in at least a year. "That's not any business of yours!" Rainbow Dash shot at the ponies, immediately on the defensive. Something about these ponies was giving her the creeps. "Oh, but it is! Ya see, there's a new toll that needs paying on this here road. And since we all lost our jobs to that Flib Flab guy that's up in Ponyville, we all got nothing better to do than collect the toll!" The leader of the motley bunch, a dirt colored pony with a plow for a cutie mark, smiled a smile that reminded Rainbow of a picket fence that had most of its boards kicked out. She did not like where this was going, and readied herself to kick the rest of the ponies teeth out, if she had to. "Uh, you said you lost your job to Flim and Flam? I have a friend that did too," Rainbow Dash said quickly, in an attempt to distract the earth ponies. The brown colored lead pony frowned and spat at the mention of the Flim Flam brothers. "They made themselves a whole bunch of those machines, machines that take away an honest pony's work! Pickers, sorters, cider squeezers, every skilled pony lost their job to one machine that doesn't need a paycheck." Rainbow Dash thought she was off the hook until the earth pony continued, "Of course, since we can't get our bits from "honest" work, we have to collect "tolls" on this road." The earth pony leaned in close to Rainbow Dash and grinned. Rainbow could smell his breath; it was like rancid turnips mixed with moldy hay. "In case you haven't caught on yet, lady, this is a holdup. Now hand over your bits." At those words, the other two big ponies sidled up towards Rainbow Dash, stupid grins on their faces at the anticipation of easy prey. Rainbow Dash did not plan on being easy prey, and she was damn tired of these smelly ponies treating her like some common pony who they could take advantage of at will. The lead pony was still grinning when his head hit the grass, a hoof shaped imprint on the side of his head. The other two earth ponies had almost no time to react before Dash was on them, flying at their head level and battering them with vicious front-hoof kicks. The larger of the two henchmen lowered his head and threw a headbutt through the flurry of blows, and Rainbow had the wind knocked out of her. She flew up out of his reach momentarily, and caught her breath. The pony that had butted her looked up and said cockily "Hey thur sweet thang, why dont'cha come on down heah and we can finish this little dance up?" It was the last conscious thing he said to the "sweet thang" flying above him. She flapped her wings hard and shot straight down, locking her rear legs and delivering a kick so hard she felt her jaw clack with the impact. It was two done, one... Gone. She looked around, and saw him running for all he was worth down the road. She laughed and looked at the two unconscious ponies. "And that is why you don't tango...with the Rainbow!" She gathered up her bags, took one last look at the ponies on the grass, and tossed a quarter-bit coin on the grass next to the lead pony before taking off. Rainbow Dash had arrived in Talon just as light was beginning to fade, a pleasant muscular burn in her back and a not-so-pleasant ache in her hooves. She almost regretted kicking those scum as hard as she had. She looked with interest at the buildings of Talon, as griffin architecture was distinctly different from pony architecture.The buildings were larger to accommodate the larger griffins, and they seemed rough, tough, and spartan, with little thought towards beauty or grace. They were there to serve a purpose, that was all. Rainbow Dash wasn't worried about where to sleep despite the unfamiliar city. She flew around the city until she saw the stadium in the distance outside the city suburbs and then made herself a comfortable mattress out of clouds nearby. She made herself a little platform wide enough to hold herself and her belongings, settled in, and fell right asleep. As she was dozing off, she felt a brief pang of worry about other Pegasi coming in the night and accosting her. Then she remembered the three huge ponies she single-hoofedly thumped, smiled, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.