//------------------------------// // You Are Rarely Ever The First // Story: Yaerfaerda // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// Rainbow's ruby eyes twitched. Panting, she tilted her head to the left. The seashore stretched in a straight line, slicing due north with no sign of deviation. With a shudder, she turned and tilted her head to the right. Ocean waves crashed evenly against the Grand Choke, stretching south as far as Rainbow's vision could see. It was as though the world had received a surgical incision, cutting the desert off completely so that the Grand Choke dipped neatly into a churning blue pool that stretched far and wide. If Rainbow didn't know any better, this could just as well have been the edge of the world. Everything about the dividing line between the sand and the waters was perfect—almost too perfect. She felt a cold shudder in her veins, making her shiver for the first time in countless days and nights. But as her mind struggled to come to grips with the dip in the continent before her, something deep inside bubbled to the surface, exploding out her muzzle in a fractured giggle. “Mmmmfff... heh...” Rainbow grinned, eyes twitching. “Heheheheheh... it's... it's so...” She gulped dryly. “Like the lake beds beneath Cloudsdale. So blue. So dang blue, Ding Dong. I could almost... almost...” She trotted forward. She galloped. She sprinted. “Just one dip!” Rainbow Dash squeaked, her body drawn forward by a cheekish smile. “Just one dip! Omigoshomigoshomigosh! I bet it's absolutely cool to the—” The sand and stone gave out from beneath her. Rainbow plunged. “...!” She flailed, toppeled over in mid-air, and landed hard on her side. Whump! “Ooomf!” Rainbow winced, bouncing once, then sliding across a sheet of compact dirt. “Mmmmnngh... guh...” Hissing through her teeth, she weathered the throbbing pain in her body and sat up. “What... wh-what the McFuzz?!” She reached under her satchels and rubbed her flank. “Grnnngh... friggin' Choke. You didn't see that, Belle. Pilate—don't even start...” She frowned and looked behind her. “Totally meant to... to...” Her lips pursed. Rainbow spotted a burrow in the east side of the desert hill. Right where the ground had given way beneath her was a wide enclosure—a cave of sorts—that stretched east and west for thirty feet. But that wasn't what surprised her... Framing the cave were several vertical planks of wood... planks that had been hammered in place. “... … ...” Rainbow blinked, and in that blink she spotted objects in her peripheral. She jerked a glance to her side. Several rigid structures jutted out of the earth, partially buried by years and years of shifting sands—both the desert's and the beach's. Rainbow saw columns made out of piled stone and mortar, along with the shattered remnants of a bricklaid barrier of sorts. Between her and the enclosure, an uneven surface of random tools and debris stretched. They looked as though they had just been left there by an unknown count of souls, and yet every metal item was clearly worn and rusted by time. For all Rainbow knew, they could have been abandoned for months or centuries. The mare's lips pursed. Grimacing slightly, she stood up, then trotted the length of the sundered stone along the beach. “It... it couldn't be an accident... could it...?” Rainbow shook the sand out of her hair—a rather futile act, for the sweltering winds only blew more grit into her mane. “Looks... looks really friggin' old, Pilate. Like... older than starlight.” She blinked, tracing her hoof along a leaning plank of wood in the sand. “Still solid. Like a piece of oak. But... but from where?” She turned about, staring both north and south at the stretching shoreline. There were no trees to be seen—or vegetation of any sort. “Chrysalis?” Rainbow shook her head. “They wouldn't build anything like this. The Queen would just... vomit her bug-gunk all over stuff and call it a day.” Gulping, she trotted over to a pile of debris and pawed at the mess like a pensive feline. “None of that would last, would it, Ebon? None of it would... would...” Her hoof contacted a handle. She pulled at the thing, tugging it out of the dirt. Rainbow unearthed a rust-metal tool with jagged teeth. From the curved shape of the handle, it looked like it was made to fit a fetlock thicker than hers. She glanced at her forelimb, squinted, then envisioned something longer and cloven. “Well? How 'bout it, Floydien?” Silence—save for the crashing of waves. Rainbow Dash wriggled her muzzle. She turned west, facing the cleft of rock where the Choke cut off above the sandy beach. The enclosure loomed, its dark interior both curious and inviting. “Cool... I mean... it still is cool, isn't it?” She shuffled towards the shadowed wooden frame. “I mean... you get it, right, Kera? This... this is something and a half...” At last, Rainbow approached the barrier that stretched before the lip of the cave. The air was dry, musky, but most definitely refreshing as the temperature dropped all around her. The entrance was lopsided, affording a narrow space between leaning planks of dry, sun-baked wood. A fallen door acted as a sand-covered threshold as Rainbow stepped through. Her ears twitched. She looked around, her vision adjusting to the sudden dimness. Aside from nightfall, it had been days if not weeks since she last experienced anything quite this dark. At last, she saw a bowed ceiling of craggy yellow earth stretching forward, sloping as it reached the end of the cave about fifty feet from the entrance. It was a great deal more spacious inside the cave than she had imagined, and from the multiple hatch-marks in the wall, she could only guess that most of it was chiseled into being. Rainbow couldn't guess just how many years such a task could have taken—much less decades. Curious, the mare trotted forward into the claustrophobic coolness. Thin beams of bright gold sunlight bled through the slits between the wooden planks that guarded the mouth of the cave. The lines bent over several dust-laden structures across the hovel, giving the chamber depth and substance. Rainbow spotted several wooden workbenches covered with metal tools, nick-nacks, and straps of leather. A line of sleeping mats lay against the southern wall—all abandoned. Towards the back of the cave, Rainbow spotted a six-by-twelve foot patch of dark sediment. She suddenly realized that it was a deposit of soil. Spurred on by a desperate breath, she galloped towards the mess, only to skid to an abrupt stop. There were indeed scraps of vegetation, but they were all thin, papery, and petrified. Rainbow spotted a few gnarled roots of dead material, but nothing more—certainly not anything edible. Sighing, she turned around and looked towards a line of wooden crates and metal lockers. She saw several wagon-wheels lying against one another, forming a splintery column. Squinting her eyes, she counted a total of sixteen. “Hrmmm... four wagons? What do you think, Roarke?” Her nostrils flared. “They... they couldn't have landed, could they?” She shuffled along the wall of tables, glancing at one pile of mixed tools after another. “Azira spoke of visitors. The tomb. Those ponies were... were...” She came to a stop, eyes blinking. At first, she thought she was staring at a bush, or maybe a lopped-off portion of a tree. Several sharp branches stretched up in the dim penumbra of sunlight. It took careful examination to realize they were—in fact—antlers. A skeletal figure lay on the ground before her, curled up, its porous body clad in the tattered remnants of a uniform. Along the flank, she saw a very familiar banner, bespeckled with faded coppers and purples. It depicted a threadbare series of branches amidst desert stars. Her nostrils flared. “Of course, Belle,” she murmured. “Val Roa.”