Rainbow Dash leafed through the charred scraps of journal pages in the morning light. Her blue hoof flipped one blackened sheet, then another, then yet another. She paused upon an ear of paper that was intact enough for a few words to grace the desert air:
“...the bones of the kingdom linger around...”
She flipped a few more pages. She saw another phrase, barely legible.
“...further underground. But the mineral springs are disappearing...”
She turned the journal around, flipped through the back of sheets, and saw a phrase legibly splotched against a white page stained with copper-red fluids.
“...can't go outside. Her children are everywhere. Must stay...”
“Ahem. Do you mind, filly?”
“Huh?” Rainbow Dash looked up. She saw Cold Canter and Desert Light staring blankly at her, telekinetically floating shovels in the air beside them. “Oh. Uhm. Right.” She folded the journal tightly, sighed, and tossed it into the grave on the partially covered remains of the dead earth pony.
The two guards resumed filling the plot of land with shovels of dirt. The morning air was solemn, chilling. Rainbow strolled over towards the two stallions as they finished their grim job.
“You suppose he had any family? Any ponies back east whom he belonged to?”
“Families are like any ponies,” Cold Canter said. “They come and go. In the end, the only place we belong to is the ground.”
Rainbow Dash smirked bitterly. “Surely you don't completely believe that.”
“Firm support: Cold Canter is for once of sound philosophy,” Desert Light remarked. “We who would be mortal ponies are born of dust and return to dust. The only eternal thing is our industry.”
“Yeah, well, you can go hump your blasted industry,” Cold Canter grunted. “I, for one, have had a decent amount of enjoyment out of life. Let's see dust ever tell another pony that it's had fun.”
“Heh...” Rainbow Dash's teeth showed as her wings twitched. “Now we're talking.”
“Lethargic retort: you both should head east and rid I who would be Desert Light of my misery.”
“I'll never give ya the satisfaction, boy,” Cold Canter remarked. He shoved his shovel into the ground and wiped his brow before turning to look at Rainbow Dash. “You have all your things?”
“And then some,” she replied, giving her suddenly bulky saddlebag a shake. “Is this your way of deterring me from going east? Giving me so dang much to carry that I almost back out from such exercise?”
“I'd rather most of that food go down your gullet,” Cold Canter remarked with a thin-eyed stare. “You could use with some meat on ya, filly.”
“Jee, thanks, dad,” Rainbow Dash groaned. “Next thing you know, you'll try hitching me up with a handsome stallion.”
“I think we both know that wouldn't be proper.”
“Uhhh...” Rainbow Dash did a double-take at that, her cheeks warm. “We d-do?”
He was marching up to her, planting a hoof on her shoulder. “Remember to ration the foods carefully, most especially the water. Where you're going, the landscape won't nearly be as kind to you as two lonesome guards on the edge of civilization.”
“Right. This won't be my first song and dance.”
“It will be over a desert, I'm willing to bet,” Cold Canter replied. “Whatever took out that poor earth pony sounds very frightening. It would be a shame for you to... well... die from something less 'awesome' along the way to discovery. Heh... Wouldn't you think?”
“I'll try not to bore you with my dull existence along the way.”
“That's what the sound stone is for, filly. Keep it close to you. So long as you do, you won't be alone in this. Not really.”
“Jeez, CC...” She smiled bashfully, her ears flicking in the morning glow. “All of this stuff you're doing for me, all the things you've given me, it's... it's almost as though you're more than just some random unicorn. It's as if you're... I dunno... some goddess-given spirit of the element of generosity come down to deliver me to glory in my time of need.”
He looked at her, blinked, then grumbled, “What in Tartarus' flaming name is that supposed to mean?!”
“Meh.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Or maybe you're just some cantankerous old buffoon after all.”
“Delightful affirmative: new title of lucidity unlocked—”
“Don't you even start!” Rainbow Dash grumbled at the younger stallion across the grave.
“Heheheheh...” Cold Canter chuckled and gave Rainbow Dash a lasting pat on the neck. “I don't normally say this, filly, but good industry be with you.”
“Wow.” She broke into a hover. “You must really be desperate.”
“That or senile,” he remarked. He jabbed a hoof into a belt pocket. “I'm pretty sure it's the second.”
“Well, your senility is going a long way.”
“We'll see about that.” He pulled out a familiar medallion and tossed it to her. “Catch a good tail-wind, filly.”
She caught it, turning its soot-stained engravings over and over before her eyes. With a deep breath, she smirked devilishly towards Cold Canter. “You know I will.”
The elder stallion nodded, his gray mane blowing in the wind.
Rainbow's ruby eyes got a good snapshot of the image before blinking and tilting around. With a single flap of her wings she turned east and darted towards the dry horizon.
Ooh, I wonder who 'her children' are.
Ah, off we go again! I can't wait to see what lies in and beyond the desert.
Called
1267927
It
1269212
I need to read this!
Objective Added: Uncover the mystery of the desert
1270101
Hey, you're the guy from Quantum Castaways.
I must say you have good taste in stories.
1270101
I think this guy has the right of it.
1270101
3.bp.blogspot.com/-8zODkMWfOHM/TqcQDYlWhVI/AAAAAAAAAE0/Tc562vPBjlw/s1600/head+explode1.jpg
1270132
Hey, thanks! You too!
1270163
1270170
i.imgur.com/ZYJDZ.gif
1266403 I agree. While it can be daunting starting to read a story this long, it's definatly worth the effort. The descriptions of the landscapes are epic.
Achievement Unlocked: "Calling the Old Man Out (On Being a Spirit of the Element of Generosity)"
Achievement Unlocked: "Longest Achievement Name Ever"
Title Obtained: "The Lucid"
-Minty
Challenge completed- Fourth Wall!
Forget the laws of logic- just take some stuff from the comments and throw it in the story!
1/1 completed
+500 EXP
Trope used: Lampshading. You're doing it right.
Another one I guess he's getting annoyed at the titles 1270670 oh well we gonna continue them anyway
1274613
It's just so much fun, how could i stop? The only thing that would get me to stop with the titles is a message straight from the author, asking me to stop.
-Minty
1274728 my motto
Take shit from nobody or was is love and tolerate ? I forget
1274745
My best guess is a little bit of both!
-Minty
Heh, it took me 7 hours to do it, but I read the entire thing. I can't say that I regret doing so, too, since it's such an amazing story.
Looking forward to more.
When Dash was reading the tidbits from the journal it made me think of Gandalf reading from the Dwarven tome in the Mines of Moria.
No! I'm running out of chapters to read! Then I'll actually wait for an update!
1283273 I can definately see that.
Changelings! Her children are changelings! Um, fire breathing changelings? Changelings that can turn into dragons? Dragons battling changelings with flamethrowers? I dunno. Whatever it is, Rainbow'll kick their asses. Also, at the fourth wall breaking references. Onward!
Man I liked cc and I who would be alafreo is sad to see him gone
IIIIIt's Dashie's Thanksgiving Day Marathon Evaluation Time Special!
Well...dang it. Looks like Pilate>>1270101was right after all. This Outpost Sub-Arc does represent Generosity after all. But then that leaves Verdestone unaccounted for...I'll get to that later. Anyways, I'm pretty sure that "her children" refers to the changeling army of Crysalis, so I'll operate under the assumption that Dash will meet her soon. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. Alright, magic number three left!There's no way Regidar is past me at this point! What I would give to see his face when he sees his notification box filled with comment replies...
IC is totally SS&E
when all this blows over i could see dash becoming an author.
1930867
If it turns out that she did write all of this down, look in the corner of the nearest cafe. You'll see me staring at you like, "You magnificent bastard. You called it."
I kinda wish the constant mention of dashes sexual preference wasn't in the story, but other than that love it. I guess the only reason that bothers me is because of Xenophilia thanks to that story dash will forever be straight in my head canon.
“Jee, thanks, dad,” Rainbow Dash groaned. “Next thing you know, you'll try hitching me up with a handsome stallion.”
“I think we both know that wouldn't be proper.”
“Uhhh...” Rainbow Dash did a double-take at that, her cheeks warm. “We d-do?”
Haha.
And thus ends the outpost mini arc. I am weary of what dash will find out there.
Objective gained: The East Awaits.
Pilate and Dashie called it.
They just buried the journal? That seems like poor planning.
Cap. [Name of an object, thing, and being.]
_____________________________
Dammit, this is creepy.
"Her children are everywhere." Just please don't tell me we're gonna have a spider segment. I hate spiders.
Also, CC's pretty observant/bold if he's calling RD out as a filly fooler after just one day.
Heh, she’s not exactly the most subtle gay.
2874579
Yaaaaa. Think about the last episode of FiM.
HE JUS' SAID:
Your hair is literally a Pride flag, Rainbow. It's not that hard to figure out.