Soooo...Ol' Sparx got some 'splainin' to do.
My apologies to those of you who have been waiting oh so patiently for an update on this story you have followed and enjoyed, but this is where the rainbow stops. However! I must let you know that at the end of every rainbow there is gold, and I am currently at work on that.
I have reluctantly brought this story to it's cancellataion, for the fact that I feel I can deliver better. Now I'm not saying that this story is bad, simply that I wish to build something better from it. For most of my earlier fics, including this one, I simply went along without any plans or editing behind it, but in the more recent days I have become much more active in the community and found myself a grand pair of editors and dozens more plans for stories.
THIS fic has ended, in order to evolve into what I originally wished. There is a new story that I will be releasing by some point around the end of December or the beginning of the new year. Fitting really as a theme for new beginnings. It will still hold much in common with this story; inspirations from my beloved Power Metal, Song titles as chapter titles, Exploration beyond Equestria's borders, Plenty of Rainbow Dash, Swords and sorcery, Spitfire and Applejack, hideous monster battles. But it will also have a lot more, as if this all goes to plan, it will spread across more than a single story. I'm talking a potential fantasy series. If that excites you than I greatly encourage you to keep an eye out for it when I release it. If it doesn't and you wish to stick with what remains here, I am keeping it up for you all to enjoy as it was.
I truly am grateful for you all enjoying my story, and am deeply sorry I won't continue it, but I hope that what follows makes up for it and is worth your wait. I truly do love you guys.
Here's to adventure and ponies!
-Sparx Skywriter
Here's a slight preview for those of you interested in the new fantasy fic. Consider it a thank you:
A few miles to the east of Appaloosa, was a settlement built upon a prosperous and thriving mine. The desert winds carried the consistent clinking of pickaxes and scratching of claws against dirt. These were Diamond Dog lands, and that could be seen by the various tunnels and holes surrounding the place. There were a few wooden buildings throughout the town, primarily bars and inns for travelers, as most of the dog's homes resided underground. One such tavern, titled "Diamond in the Ruff" as an attempt to be clever, was currently serving a particular pegasus with multicolored mane. She sat at the bar with a glass in her hoof, motioning for the barkeep for a refill.
"We don't get very many flying ponies in these parts. What you doing out here in the desert?" The dog asked as he poured another glass of hard cider.
The winged pony kept her eyes to the table as she let out a chuckle. "Believe you me, buddy, I never expected this either." A melancholy sigh came from her mouth. "But, it's like dad used to say..." She paused for a moment, then took a swig of her drink. "...Shit happens." The bartender nodded as he cleaned glasses with a rag. Dash started with another sigh. "I'm just traveling. Getting a better feel for this wide world we live in, after all, I kinda lost the only thing keeping me around back home. I thought about moving back to Cloudsdale at first, but I left that place a long time ago. There's nothing there for me anymore."
The dog gave a small chuckle. "Ah, sounds like very sad story for a pony. Usually heard things like that from Gryphon or other dogs."
Dash gave a chuckle in return. "Yeah. It ain't all sunshine and rainbows for us buddy. Don’t get me wrong, that's a lot of it, but we get the bad times too."
Another nod from the bartender as he replaced the glass he was cleaning with a new one. "If the pony doesn't mind, might I ask her story?"
A smile returned to Dash's face. "Sure...why not? It's a tale worth telling." She chugged back the rest of her glass and put it to the side as she gathered her memories. "Never saw it all coming y'know. The six of us always stood together, through everything, even a god couldn't tear us apart from one another. But see, thing is that Twilight had always been there to keep us connected. We'd all known of each other, but I didn't really spend too much time with Pinkie or Rarity before Twilight brought us all together, hadn't seen much of Fluttershy either in those days. Twilight was always the one who brought us back together when things were strained, united us against Nightmare Moon, stopped the changeling invasion, saved a whole 'nother dimension, and even managed to keep us together when our whole lives got swapped. So, you'd think we'd all be good so long as we had Twilight... and we were." The diamond dog never tore his eyes from Dash's face, just as her own eyes were focused on the table, looking more into her memory than the world around her.
"But what do you do when that major piece of the puzzle is taken away?" Her smile vanished. "Duty calls and she left...and gradually...so did everypony else." She reached for her glass, but stopped when she realized it was still empty. The bartender gave her a quick refill and she took her gulp. "You see, one day, Celestia and Luna just up and vanished! No explanation, no warning, no nothing...Just gone. 'Course Twilight did the only thing she could, she took over as the only available princess at the time. We all supported her and knew it was what she had to do. She tried to keep us informed on what was going on everyday, sending us all letters through Spike, who she had left with us to get those messages." The dog looked a bit confused. "He's an enchanted dragon...bit of a different story there." The dog shrugged and let her continue.
"Well as she got busier and busier, we heard less and less from her ya see...and..." Dash found it a bit difficult at this point, but pressed on. "Eventually, the letters stopped altogether. AJ and I did our best to try and keep the gang together...it didn't really work out too well." She took a pause. "Fluttershy went first. Went to spending most of her time in the Everfree Forest. She seemed to never be in her cottage when any of us came knocking. Rarity and Spike moved her business off to Canterlot. Pinkie Pie....well... you'd never have expected the loudest of us to leave without so much as a 'bye', but nobody knows where she went, or even when she left." A small chuckle escaped the rainbow maned pegasus. "She was the last one I'd ever have expected to act like that. So, then it came down to just me and AJ, I mean I would often fly off to see Twilight, but the two of us were the only ones left in Ponyville anymore."
It took about a full minute and another glass of cider before Dash could find her voice again. "I swear to you, I would have stayed with that mare forever, heh... but she said we had to be honest with ourselves and that..." Dash had to stop and chuckle again. "Get this. She told me to be loyal to myself." Her chuckle became a full out laugh as she drew the attention of a few of the other patrons in the bar. "She tells me, the Element of Loyalty, to be loyal to myself." She tried to take a swig from her empty glass before letting out one last chuckle and turning it upside down on the counter.