//------------------------------// // This Time She's A Bit Prepared // Story: Yaerfaerda // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// Day carried with it the same dreary desolation. Rainbow Dash had perfected the fine art of flying with her eyes shut. This afternoon was no different... though it was getting difficult to discern the morning from the afternoon. If it weren't for the fact that there was constantly a lavender signal forever lingering in front of her—even with her eyes shut—then Rainbow Dash figured that she could very easily have gotten turned around and accidentally flown in the wrong destination. East and West were virtually indistinguishable; the landscape was simply that dull and uniform. When Rainbow closed her eyes, all she felt was the drift of the wind through her feathers. She occasionally tilted up and down in her flight, causing the Yaerfaerda symbol to bob and dance in her blind vision, like a spotlight against the black veil of her eyelids. Somehow it felt that when she stared directly at it—eyes open or shut—the fine lines and “etchings” of the design were less clear. Like a faint light from beyond a doorframe, she had to tilt her head perpendicular to the beacon in order to detect it better. It was things like this that made Rainbow convinced that the symbol was playing tricks with her. She was so fixated on this empty glide that she didn't hear the roaring noise until it was consuming the entire atmosphere in front of her. Curious, Rainbow finally opened her eyes. At first, she thought she was staring at a mass of undulating dog hair. Her heart skipped a beat, so she slid her goggles up over her brow and blinked several times before squinting. The entire world before her was a mud-brown wall of mush. She had to tilt her head back in dramatic fashion in order to realize that there was—in fact—an extremely high peak to the phenomenon. Soon, the air filled with gritty sediment, and a rusty musk filled her nostrils. Rainbow's muzzle scrunched. She had lived long enough—and flown long enough—to know a dust storm when she saw one. Memories from Silvadel washed over her. She looked up to see that there were a few sparse clouds in the sky, but the mare knew that they wouldn't last long against the turbulent onslaught. She could already judge from the speed of the storm's approach that the front was flowing its way westward—and swiftly too. Rainbow Dash wanted to be well-prepared for when it hit. So, without wasting any time, she plunged down towards the surface of the Grand Choke and set hoof on polished stone. Here, she stripped of her packs and reached into Arcanista's bag. She removed the bundled tent, rubbed her hoof over the crystal, and caused the rectangular structure to expand within a blink. Then—as swiftly as she could—she pulled out twelve metal pegs and a mallet. At the base of the tent's fabric were twelve holes—three per side—through which the pegs could slide. One by one, she drew the pegs through, then hammered them as hard as she could against the ground. The stone was dense—like steel. However, with enough force and repetition, Rainbow was gradually able to stick each peg in place, one after another. This task exhausted her thoroughly, and took the better part of forty minutes. The storm was bearing down on her. Rainbow grimaced, cursing under her panting breaths. She was already feeling the knifing stabs of dusty gusts by the time she had gotten two of the tent's four sides hammered down. There was no pretending to be safe; she had to get the tent's foundation in place before the full brunt of the storm hit. By the time she started working on the third side, it was getting hard to breathe. Rainbow wheezed, reaching into the tent and fumbling for Arcanista's pack. Inside, she found one of her blankets, then wrapped it tightly around her head and neck. Using the thing like a mask, she squinted through her goggles as she trotted out in the storm, hammering one peg after another. Then, when there was only one flap left, she squatted low and crawled under the remaining side. At this point, the storm was deafening—like a gurgling howl full of gravel and flame. Rainbow struggled to keep the last flap down, forcing all dust and ash to remain outside. She laid her packs down on top of it to act as an anchor, then slid them aside as she hammered the last three pegs—which was no easy task for the pegasus to do inside her tiny, tiny canvas and burlap compartment. Her only light was the dim haze of the sun's glow bleeding through the fabric, but even that faded as the minutes wore on. The cloud consumed the Choke beyond, and drowned out the tiny tent where the mare huddled. At last, Rainbow was done with her task. She fell back in a sweaty heap. Fumbling, she yanked both the blanket and the mask off her skull. Rainbow was a sweating, hyperventilating mess. She laid back, her fuzzy blue body occupying the full length of the tent. Her vision blacked out and returned as her heart rate resumed its normal pace. By the time she had caught her breath, she lay there on the stone floor, her eyes searching the dark outlines of her tent as she struggled against the persistent throb in her forelimbs from hammering the pegs non-stop for a full hour. But, she had made it. The storm outside grew louder and louder, making the canvas walls of the tent ripple and roll. However, the Val Roan fabric remained in one piece, and there was no sign of tear anywhere... at least not yet. Rainbow took a deep breath. She rubbed a hoof across her pendant, summoning a ruby glow that illuminated the tiny hovel with a crimson hue. In a situation that didn't involve a horrifying sandstorm looming right outside, this might almost be a cozy way to spend the night. All Rainbow Dash could think about was how dangerous it would be to start a fire in such an enclosed space. She could only hope that the blankets in her possession were enough to insulate her for the long wait—however long a duration that may be. So, with a long-winded sigh, Rainbow Dash turned on her side, gazed lethargically at the flapping canvas of the tent... And did nothing.