//------------------------------// // Prologue: The Adventuring Type // Story: The Adventuring Type // by Cold in Gardez //------------------------------// “Ahoy! Down there! What town is this?” Rainbow Dash looked up at the sound, which was odd. Not the sound – that was pretty normal. What was odd was that she had to look up. In Rainbow Dash's world she was always on top. She was on top in lots of ways – physically, of course, being way up in the sky, but also just all-around awesomer than most ponies. It was hard work being the best, but she managed. Naps helped. Naps on clouds, like the one the strange coming-from-above voice had just woken her from. She squinted up at the sky, where a huge shape blotted out the sun. Huh. She leapt, wings beating, and soared around the strange object. It was an airship, with a slender wood gondola suspended from a gas envelope the size of a house. Sails and planes and rigging and spars protruded from it like a lionfish’s fins. Beneath them, perched on the tip of the long bowsprit extending from the gondola’s nose, was a sandy pegasus with a cedar mane. He waved. Dash zoomed down to hover beside him (and above him, because she was on top). “Who are you?” “I’m Nutmeg!” he called. “And what town was this, again?” Rainbow Dash ignored him and flew a few lazy orbits around the airship. It had a homemade look to it, all stitched and planked together, with no two parts the same. But it was sleek, with narrow wood strakes running its length like blades, and when the wind blew it twisted effortlessly, sails and fins aligning to keep it straight. She flew back down to the gondola. “You’re a pegasus. Why are you in an airship?” “Why, for hunting, of course! You need an airship to hunt icebergs. Also, I really would like to know what town—” “You can’t hunt icebergs!” Rainbow Dash said. A touch of anger infused her voice now. “Icebergs just sit in the water. You’d need, like, a boat or something.” “Ah, those are normal icebergs. I’m hunting air icebergs!” Nutmeg patted the spar beneath him with a hoof. “They float with the clouds, miles high. Only way to get them is an airship!” That was dumb. “That’s dumb. And you’re dumb.” “That’s what most ponies say, before they see their first air iceberg.” He took on a dreamy look and sighed. “They’re magnificent, really. A treasure. Until you see one… hm, you know, you strike me as the adventuring type. Would you like to join me? With the two of us, we could net a big one!” She rolled her eyes. “Look, bud, I’m busy here, alright? I’ve got stuff to do. Stuff, like, uh… stuff. So why don’t you just go hunting or whatever?” She snickered and turned to fly off, and as she zipped away she called back. “And it’s Ponyville!” * * * Nutmeg’s airship was back a week later. He tied up on the spire above the Carousel Boutique. Towed behind his ship was a massive iceberg, easily five-hundred feet across. It bobbed in the air over half the town, shedding cold wind and snow. It turned the ground beneath it into a brief vision of winter, of icy white streets and flurries dancing in the air. Ponies gathered below it to ooh and aah, laughing in delight as their breath fogged in the frosty air. Rainbow Dash glowered at the iceberg from her cloud. It scratched at her coat, rough with ice crystals, and she scrubbed them away with an annoyed mutter. She hated frozen clouds. This was Nutmeg’s fault. His iceberg was messing up the weather patterns she had lovingly crafted all summer long. Well, maybe not lovingly – in the brief moments when she honestly examined her performance as weather team captain, a certain laissez-faire attitude toward the weather became apparent. Less charitable observers might call her lazy, but that was unfair. She was the hardest working pony she knew! Just not at her actual job. She had other priorities, after all. With a snort, Rainbow Dash kicked away from her icy cloud, scattering it into a million flakes of snow, and went hunting for her quarry. It was a short hunt. She found him a few minutes later, buying groceries in the market. She landed in front of him with a flare of her wings, scowled and stomped her hoof. “Why are you back?” “Ah, you again!” He grinned at her. “Ponyville happened to be on the way. Heading to Appleloosa with that beauty.” Rainbow followed his gaze to the iceberg looming over them. It was a pretty nice iceberg, as far as icebergs went, she supposed. Not that she’d ever seen one before. Towering and white, fading to a deep blue in the center, it was almost the same color as her coat. She scowled. “It’s dumb.” “Well, I don’t think it’s dumb,” he said. “And I don’t think you do either, miss. In fact, with those wings of yours, I bet you could be the best iceberg wrangler of this generation. You’ve got that look, you know? I’m heading to Cloudsdale next, rumors of a big pack of ‘bergs harassing the town. Could use some help.” “Well, I am awesome,” Dash allowed. Then she frowned. “But icebergs are dumb and I don’t need any dumb airship. So, just take your iceberg and get outta here.” And he did just that. * * * It was evening when Dash settled onto her new cloud. It was soft and fluffy and certainly not frozen. A good cloud for planning the next day’s weather, or possibly napping. Far to the west, Nutmeg’s iceberg was a dim retreating shape, an oddly shaped cloud that refused to blow with the wind. It slowly crossed in front of the setting sun, and its shadow covered her in eclipse. She could still smell the ancient ice, even from miles away. After an exceptionally brief consideration of the next day’s weather, her thoughts drifted back to Nutmeg. Air icebergs. Pegasi who needed airships. The best of her generation. Only one of those things was not dumb. Far below, Ponyville began to close up for the night. The stalls lining the market square closed shop, the stores shuttered their windows, and a ghostly silence broken only by the buzzing cicadas descended upon the town. Ponyville was a farming town, after all, and farmers lived by the sun. They would all be up bright and early the next day, early as Applejack, and start bucking trees or pulling weeds or whatever it was that farmers did before Rainbow Dash woke up around noon. How long had it been since the last monster attack? It felt like months – or weeks, at least. And the stupid magical map in Twilight’s castle kept sending Rarity, of all ponies, off on adventures. Rarity! Rainbow Dash scowled. Far off in the west, the sun briefly emerged from behind Nutmeg’s iceberg. It hovered on the horizon, bathing her in a brief final warmth, and then it vanished for the night. Another day done, and ponies abed for the night. Rainbow Dash pondered the lonely streets beneath her. “Dammit, I’m dumb,” she mumbled. Her wings flared, and she took off in pursuit. "Wait!"