//------------------------------// // Into the Emptiness, A Silent Rainbow // Story: Yaerfaerda // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash didn't see them until the sun approached the horizon behind her. As the evening wore on, the crimson light stretched their shadows into dark bands across the arid brown landscape blurring below. For the first time in hours, Rainbow Dash lowered her gaze. She squinted through the lenses of her goggles, ruby eyes blinking inquisitively at the various obstructions. At last, with a snort of dull breath, she angled her wings out, allowing her body to fly lower and lower, decelerating into a smooth glide. The earth here was barren, hard, and sterile. The stone was composed of a dull dead brown, with no shine or grit or even a hint of dust. And yet, placed sporadically about the dead surfaces of the Choke were heaps of tattered detritus. Hunched figures sat in the dessert, their bodies propped against shields and heaps of armor. Skeletal frames lingered in silence with curled limbs and crookedly leaning skulls. Rainbow Dash slid her goggles up momentarily. She glanced at the remains of each vigilant reindeer as she glided on by. Scraps of worn leather clung to their bones, but their faces were completely indistinguishable; the flesh had worn thin from the decay of time. Nevertheless, their antlers stretched prominently, standing out in the desert air and marring the otherwise immaculate desolation. As the minutes wore on, Rainbow spotted less and less of the decrepit Val Roans. She knew that she had been flying for hours before spotting them. So, in her head, she contemplated just how long it must have taken for such weak warriors—upon the twilight of their years—to have made those final sojourns into the Grand Choke by hoof. She knew that they had trekked alone, but she couldn't imagine for how long and with what little strength. What's more, she pondered what could have motivated them to trot onwards, even after spotting so many of their own ancient brethren deceased and propped up along their path. Clenching her teeth, Rainbow Dash slid her goggles back over her eyes. With a flap of her wings, she ascended to a greater height, then continued her swift flight deep into the Grand Choke. The Sun had set. The world had gone cold and dark with the veil of night, yet Rainbow Dash kept flying on. She knew that she should have camped already. She had been bequeathed tools by Arcanista for magically sparking a fire. Nevertheless, when the last rays of light had filtered into black behind her, and the grayness settled over the desert like a cold satin sheet, she flapped her wings with stubborn diligence, battling the cold temperatures as she scaled the surface of an unseen desert. The mare had slid her goggles up to her brow, though there was no firm way to tell. All before her was pitifully black. Even the stars hid away, as if the Grand Choke consumed their twinkling shine before they could enter the atmosphere. Before Rainbow Dash, a solid wall of ethereal emptiness loomed. She squinted hard and harder, seeing—or perhaps imagining—where the dividing line loomed between sky and not-sky. In truth, it wasn't entirely empty. To Rainbow's mixed joy and regret, the shimmering beacon of Yaerfaerda loomed ahead of her. It shone with bright lavender intensity, but the light was Rainbow's and Rainbow's alone. In no way did the beacon illuminate the flat plains of the Grand Choke below, nor did it highlight any of the thick clouds above. It simply hovered directly ahead like a ghostly lantern, ever-present and ever-distant all at once. Rainbow Dash shuddered. She brought a hoof to her pendant, giving it a little rub. A scarlet glow pulsed to life, illuminating her forelimbs and the furthest edges of her flapping blue wings. She felt like she had just lit a red candle at the bottom of a deep, dark well. All was cold and fleeting and gone; the darkness returned just as swiftly as the glow ended. Rainbow Dash flew alone with her shuddering breaths, navigating an abysmal blackness. By the time her teeth chattered, the pegasus caved in, and she descended gently towards the stone floor, readying for a bitter night's sleep. A rectangular rag of dry roots caught flame from the sparks of Rainbow's flint and tinder. Rainbow Dash placed the tools down and leaned forward, breathing gently onto the patch of flammable Val Roan material. She had several more tiny strips of the carefully processed material to ignite during her trip. They would last her a limited number of evenings, so she knew that she had to use them sparingly, assuming she would be able to use all of them whatsoever. Soon, the tiny fire blazed before her like a strip of hot coals. It was enough to warm her in the dark heart of that desolate valley. Exhaling with a quiet sigh, Rainbow shuffled backwards, folding her limbs behind her like a fuzzy blue cat. With a stretch of her wings, she rolled a blanket over her figure. She had extended the canvas tent, undoing a flap of it so that the rectangular structure encased her like a burlap doghouse. Between the insulated materials and the flickering, Rainbow Dash felt properly warmed—even toasty. She didn't smile. After several minutes of staring into the flame, the pegasus fumbled through her belongings parked closely by her side. She pulled out a single wafer from the collection of Heaven Slices. Her ruby eyes narrowed on the little gray morsel as she turned it about before the firelight. The edible substance was shiny, pristine. There was no hint of dissolving or decay. Rainbow Dash figured that she wasn't too terribly deep into the body of the Grand Choke yet. The enchanted substance hadn't yet suffered the region's leech of magic. It mattered little. Rainbow Dash wasn't hungry. Still, she knew better than to cast aside one of the few things that could keep her alive. So, after a bit of hesitance, she raised the morsel to her blue muzzle and gave it a light nibble. At first, it tasted a bit like cornbread. The tiniest hint of sweetness lingered beyond a crumbly veil of stale mush. With only half of the waver consumed, Rainbow felt like her belly was about to burst. She grimaced slightly, and—try as she might—she couldn't finish the rest of the morsel. Rather than let it dissolve into waste now that she had pierced its magical enchantment with her teeth, she plopped what was left of it into the tiny fire—hoping it might make the blaze last longer. With a sigh, Rainbow rested her fuzzy chin on her forelimbs. She gazed into the fire... then past it. A pale halo of light surrounded her atop the dead stone floor. Beyond the penumbra of the flame, all was pitch black darkness. No sounds issued from the Grand Choke—not even the slightest howl of wind. Rainbow Dash could very well have been stuck in the center of the earth, for all she knew... or cared. The fire was becoming too bright, and Rainbow refused to stare at the Yaerfaerda symbol. So, instead, her gaze tilted towards the north, her eyes flying figure-eights across the impenetrable blackness. Sooner than later, her mind projected thoughts and fantasies against that obsidian canvas. Sooner than she had hoped, those thoughts coalesced into dreams, and those dreams into memories. She instantly winced. With a shudder, the mare closed her eyes, but that made it even worse. As the memories doubled.. quadrupled, she heard voices carried along with them—all warm and merry and friendly... and altogether recent. Sniffling, Rainbow Dash stared into the flame. It was bright and it hurt her eyes, but it was still distracting. The warmth brought a glaze to her eyes, melting the tears before they could fall. Eventually, it was pure exhaustion—and not sleepiness—that finally dragged her under. She curled up in the blanket, nestled herself under the rectangular tent, and descended into slumber before her sighs could catch up. Morning was a pale, glossy thing. It came over the eastern horizon with snail-like grace. When Rainbow's eyelashes fluttered to the dawn's rays, they stirred her muscles from the inside out. She stretched, cracking her joints as she inhaled and exhaled the puffy smoke from the worn-out strip of Val Roan roots. At last, she shimmied out of the blanket and rolled over, delighting in the bitter chill of the desert morning. She rolled over, lying on her back and exposing her fuzzy belly to the hazy sky. A tired breath wafted out of her muzzle, and she stared upside down at the stone-horizon. For the briefest of moments, Rainbow's lips curved as she gently inhaled and exhaled. And then her thoughts caught up with her. The smile died before it had even grown solid. Rainbow's ears folded back. She sighed slowly, a prolonged breath, like she was deflating all of the previous night's slumber in one pitiful squeak. Then—slowly, with limbs and lungs groaning—she stood up, trotted out of the tent, and stamped the last smoldering ashes of the fire out.