Someone flinched, and it wasn't Rainbow Dash.
As soon as the first of the many eels twitched, Rainbow Dash angled her wings towards the lake. As a result, her body lifted up at the last millisecond, landing her hooves square in the center of the giant serpent's forehead. As a result of her full-on-impact, the monster's skull was sent colliding with all of the others. The eels collapsed like a wet sack of meat. A huge explosion of lake water shot up, but Rainbow Dash was already majestically climbing above it. She shot straight towards the ceiling, and to her luck she saw a bright circle of light. There was a vertical tunnel directly above her daring charge, and it was bordered by several thin stalactite formations. Surging straight towards the hole, she twirled so that her hooves came into contact with one of the limestone spikes. She snapped it effortlessly off the ceiling and carried it with her into the thin corridor.
The echoes doubled, tripled. She knew without looking that two or three of the eels were darting up into the tunnel to chase after her. She also realized that they would catch up to her in mere seconds, seeing as they had to have been the ones who carved these corridors to begin with.
Rainbow Dash maintained her speed, darting up the tunnel, flying towards the light, piercing the storm's rainwater pelting her from thousands of feet up. She felt the air turning rancid, heating up from the pursuing eels at her tail.
She had waited long enough. Finally, she pivoted the broken stalactite in her grasp so that she was scraping it along opposite sides of the thin tunnel at the same time. Showering sparks and pebbles, she spun in her ascent, carving the tunnel wider like a buzz-saw climbing its blurred way to the surface. The tunnel shook and crumbled, and soon it couldn't handle the punishment. Rivulets of cracking rock outraced Rainbow Dash. Everything threatened to collapse all around her.
It was at this moment that the first of several hissing eels caught up with her. Its jaws lunged for her prismatic tail hairs.
With a snarl, Rainbow Dash flung what was left of the stubby stalactite down so that the creature awkwardly swallowed it. She then kicked her hooves off the gaping jaws of the thing and propelled herself upwards. The boost was well-timed, for a claustrophobic avalanche of crumbling rock was filling the tunnel. Soon, all of the eels beneath her shrieked as the lower end of the tunnel collapsed, carrying their meaty weight back down towards the distant nesting cave below.
Just as the combined cacophony of their collapsing bodies filled the chamber, Rainbow Dash had reached the light. She burst out into a blindingly bright world, beset with rainwater, thunder, and wind. Her body spun awkwardly into the chaos, dodging gale force wind and sheets of needle-sharp precipitation. Ultimately, she dove towards the earth, ricocheted off a hilltop, and came to a grinding stop in a soaked bed of soil and grass.
Rainbow Dash slumped to a stop there, panting. She was covered in water, slime, mud, and sweat. She was filthy and soaked to the bone. She was also laughing.
Rainbow Dash's guffawing voice broke through the storm, challenging the lightning. She rolled over and clutched her mud-stained chest. As she cackled and gasped, her mouth caught gallons of rain hammering down at her. But it made no difference.
She was alive.
Her goggled eyes opened, taking in the cloud cover above. She smiled at the random flashes of lightning and bursts of sunlight, until her vision was overcome by just how gray everything was. Slowly—like a deflating balloon—her laughter stopped and her smile melted away. Eventually she gulped and just lay there, becoming one with the moisture.
She was alive, but she was still alone.
Minutes passed, even an hour, during which Rainbow spent the entire storm sitting up on her haunches and staring into the water-soaked landscape. Her back was to the east, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before she turned around completely and resumed her trek. For the moment, she simply enjoyed the natural shower. She could have caught a cold. She could have even risked pneumonia, but she wasn't afraid.
There was more than one way to cheat death, and if Rainbow Dash was anything, she was an explorer.
That was a nice way to dispatch the eels. Well done, Dash.
Antoehr wonderful chapter! The way the narration keeps hinting at Dash being alone is very ominous. Can't wait for an explanation!
"Slowly—like a deflating balloon—her laughter stopped and her smile melted away."
I loved this line so much. It cleverly associates Rainbow's dying laughter with that of Pinkie's from the Party of One episode.
To be able to create such meaning in one line is truly brilliant.
Oh, and "more than one way to cheat death". That sounds like a little bit of foreshadowing to me ;)
Yep, I'm just going to shut my mouth here for now. You just gave off so many conflicting signals that I have no idea what to think.
In any case, I am on chapter ten... out of one hundred and thirty chapters. My God do I have a lot of reading to catch up on. At least they're relativly short, so that's nice.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
So nothing much happened here with the plot, still. However, the author jeeps bringing up the fact that Rainbow Dash is alone, so that could mean something in the future. We need more plot in these chapters...These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
1172664
Are you entirely sure you want to do this for every chapter?
There's over 130 of 'em by now.
Rainbow Dash, you are a badass!!!
DUHH! You didnt already know that???
Ledomare-
I don't know if I can do it, but I'm gonna try my hardest! I probably won't make it though...
So cool.
If I read 10 of these a day--not including the daily additions--I'll get done in two weeks. That's only 14 more chapters on top of what currently exists, which is only two more days.
Yeah, I can do that.
That was really gripping.
I really wasn't sure if I wanted to read this at first, but now I really want to finish it. You ever consider trying to get a book published? You've got potential, my friend.
Welp, started reading this today. First off, love the vague synopsis, the nonstandard image choice, and this author profile's general silence. Before even reading it I felt inspiration smack me in the face (not inspiration to copy, but inspiration to put my own twist on certain aspects of this for a story that I'm tentatively considering writing). Everthing mentioned just creates this super awesome atmosphere around the fic, as if by reading it I'm joining some kind of special group (and there even is a group for this fic!). I almost don't want to recommend it to anyone because it feels like talking about it kinda ruins the magic.
I have no idea how you manage to write as much as you do. It's absolutely insane. Much respect.
As for the fic itself, interesting, very atmospheric stuff so far. I am intrigued, and I think I might be a bit disappointed when a character eventually speaks.
Think I'll read 10-20 chapters a day till I catch up.
EDIT: Six weeks and four days later, I finished. Didn't exactly stick to my plan, but eh.
I have no idea why, but that line amazed me beyond belief.
...Another story I chose to miss. I. Am. An. Idiot.
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Sometimes it's the small things that make a difference...
BECUM ONE WITH THE MOISTURE
Austraeohaiku
Collapse the tunnel
Rocket into the harsh storm
Laughing, feels alive
Rainbow Dash is very smart in this story, isn't she? I didn't really get what was happening, it was just 'fly, kick, tunnel collapses'. Still, good action, and I feel sad for Rainbow. You're a good author, then, for bending my emotions in such a way.
I believe that ICC was emotionally traumatized by caves, just like Bruce Wayne, who in turn is the Batman. I always knew Batman wrote MLP fanfictions. I mean what else would he do with his free time. This is what he was doing in the beginning of Batman 3. So my daily contribution is this. I posted my pictures for the story into my page, and since I posted a picture, I say that's good for a day.... but... fine, have a link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL0eMG14cR4
I feel as if this captures the near miss with death well, but also the sense of emptiness and simple just not caring that went along after it. By the way, I own none of the music so far linked. It's pretty obvious, but why not get it out there, right? Toodleoo.
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I am the water, bitch.
In the end, rocks always have the last word.
I'm just waiting for that one huge event that sparks the adventure that will take place throughout the next twelve books. Frankly, I'm a bit scared.
Something's fishy here.
First the limestone stalactite can be "snapped effortlessly", but then it can be used to carve the rocky tunnel walls?
4026551 12?
'Cheated death again'.....before the eels, and before the journey even began, just what the fuck happened?
5789892 AWESOMENESS HAPPENED.
She was alive, but she was alone... Something tells me that that one line reveals far more than I can read into right now. Alone like on her journey, alone in life, alone in the world? How is she alone? Well, now to read on and find out.
Here you can tell that she isn't fearless at all, she just no longer has anything to loose.
This story reads like a series of car commercials, except the car is Rainbow Dash.
5617001 there's a lot
6121399
*clears throat*
Think you may've forgotten one there
1202578 In hindsight, you did eventually make it about halfway through Book 5 (about 900 chapters). Not the end, but well past 130, so props for dedication.
I LOVE this line!
What? Rainbow Dash is evolving!
*Insert Pokemon evolution animation here*
Congratulations! Your Rainbow Dash has evolved into Daring Do!
Huh, I never figured Rainbow Dash would be for the needless killing of animals. Yeah, she has been known to give them a good bucking, a certain Everfree Manticore spring to mind for one, but she had already gotten away. To deliberately return, and continue to attack wild animals whom are defending their nesting grounds, and then collapse part of the cavern atop those same grounds which is much more likely than not to crush incubating eggs . . . Even for a Rainbow Dash working through some undefined trama this seems unessiarily bloodthirsty.
This makes me think she might be trying to find somepony.
And still feeling empty inside
07/06/2019
01:32 UTC
Kick. Ass.
archive-media-0.nyafuu.org/vp/image/1456/42/1456420028218.png
I think this is a good chapter, probably my favorite of these first ten. It has good action and dynamic characterization of Rainbow Dash since it shows the boldness, the laughter, and the loneliness.
arc words
And here we see that wonderful moment where "daring" transforms into its much more worrying counterpart. Death wish.