“Have you seen Ursa Majors?” Red Turnip asked.
“Well, I've seen an Ursa Minor, if that counts,” Rainbow Dash said as she flapped her wings over the marching caravan. “And along the way here, I could have sworn I saw some wicked awesome -looking Timberwolves.”
The stallions murmured among themselves. A group of wagon-pulling ponies that had otherwise ignored Rainbow Dash earlier was suddenly captivated by her presence. “Have you seen any mountains along your journey?” another one asked.
“Heh. Yeah.” Rainbow Dash folded her front limbs and rolled her eyes in mid-flight. “I've seen my fair share of mountains, alright. I even flew into one of them, poked my head around, and ran into a bunch of ugly quarry eels.”
“Quarry eels?!”
“You mean to say you've chanced upon those creatures and actually survived?!”
“Pfft! She boasts!” Ironhoof remarked with a smirk. “I've known several ponies who've encountered monsters twice as ghastly and yet survived!”
“He's got a point!” Rainbow Dash spun circles in the air, exclaiming, “Why, I'm willing to bet his mother has run into several giant eels. After all, he's here, isn't he?”
“Yeah, I—” Ironhoof did a double-take. “Hey!”
The many stallions around the scene laughed. Even Fulltrot and Gold Plate had curved lips as Rainbow Dash flew overhead, drawing in more of the chuckles.
“If you came from Equestria, then you must have encountered several unicorns,” Red Turnip spoke. “Is it true that a non-unicorn nose bleeds whenever a magical horn nearby projects energy?”
“If that was true, I would have died from passing out years ago!”
“You mean you actually knew unicorns?” Another stallion exclaimed. “As friends?”
Rainbow Dash paused in mid-air, hovering. Her crossed arms covered the glinting surface of her golden pendant. “A couple,” she said, nodding. “Yeah.”
“Even... Even the Sun Goddess?” Red Turnip's voice rose again. “Did you ever actually meet her?”
At that, any sign of Rainbow Dash's smirk dissolved. She cleared her throat and flew ahead. “Yeah. Her too.”
“That must have been really incredible—”
“Why's it so misty up ahead?” Rainbow Dash ignored him, instead choosing to gesture at the smoggy weather hovering above a dense layer of treetops. The large structure was definitely closer, but the bleak atmosphere obstinately refused to reveal any details. “I'm a weather flier by trade; this isn't exactly natural.” She sniffed the air and made a face. “Nor is it pleasant. Ick...”
“This is the last hurdle,” Fulltrot said. “It always comes down to this as we approach Windthrow.” The elder turned and barked at the solid line of ponies. “Keep together, everyone! The air here is thick with smog! Do not spread apart so far that you cannot see the one before or ahead of you. At every few intervals, I shall call out for roll. We are almost home, ponies. Let us not let all our distance go to waste now.”
Gold Plate took a deep breath. Trotting past him, Red Turnip nudged the coltish pony.
“What, you scared, pipsqueak?” Red Turnip grinned.
Gold Plate frowned. “Not at all!” He shifted the weight on his bucklind shoulders and shuffled ahead. “I've marched over this path dozens of times!”
“Yeah...” Ironhoof suppressed a snicker as he trudged along. “In your momma's womb, maybe.”
A few stallions chuckled. Gold Plate rolled his eyes. Adjusting the hood over his golden head, he glanced up at the foreboding mists, shuddered, and moved along.
blasted cryptic backstories and their frinking mysterious enigmas...
642700
Agreed, the little picture I see doesn't look good though...
Every time this story updates, I count down the seconds until I can curl up and re-enter this bleak, haunting journey. It's so vast, so wild, yet without a hint to its purpose... mm. Love.
Something happened. Otherwise, Dash wouldn't have reacted like that when Celestia was mentioned.
Also, ominous mist is ominous...
642954
I think what I love most about this story at this particular point is how the picture frame we're given hasn't expanded in the slightest. At the beginning, we were shown a tiny window through which to view the story, the size of its frame representing our overall knowledge of the world within. With most stories, that window tends to get bigger as you progress, until at the end where the frame takes up the entire wall, signifying that the story is at an end and most (if not all) questions have been answered. But it's like this one just keeps sliding east, never growing or shrinking in actual size; instead the wall around it keeps growing, making us aware of just how much we don't know.
Hmm... I can't stop reading now, I'm seriously intrigued. Oh well, dinner can wait another chapter... or 10.
-THEpandaman007
1098794 I seriously love your comment! It describes the story perfectly.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
I guess this chapter was pretty good. I liked how Rainbow Dash reacted when her past was brought up, which only makes me wonder further what could happen...Also just as a small P.S., I agree with THEpandaman007 and SatoshiKyu. SatoshiKyu, your comment was excellent. It's like something I think I said in a past evaluation time. With each chapter we get more questions and fewer answers, if any at all. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
Forshadow....so much foreshadow....
I know its a bit early to wonder, but what if the answers never come.
I don't know if id be pissed or awed. I mean, i am putting in a lot of time here. If there is no light at the end of the tunnel id feel rather jipped. On the other hand, a story in which perspective is fixed on the present and never divulges any secrets is beautiful in its own artsy hipster sort of way. A story with no answers would be just like real life. No one will find you and reveal the main plot to your life, there simply isn't one. Real life has no themes, no morals, no clear end or beginning. Just like with this story, you will only find meaning in these travels if you sit and gaze upon all that you have done with the intent of finding answers.
Okay... I don't like the fact that negative connotations are always bestowed upon Celestia. Why? She's more deserved of love and attention than her rebellious and whiny younger sister.
I don't understand why bronies portray Luna as the better half. She is not.
-At that, any sign of Rainbow Dash's smirk dissolved. She cleared her throat and flew ahead. “Yeah. Her too.”
Hope this doesn't take a turn for Tyrant-Celestia. Then again, this is supposed to be [Alternate Universe], although it's impossible to tell as of now what that entails. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Maybe Rarity and Twilight have already died from the sickness? After all, Rainbow Dash didn't correct him when he said she knew a couple of unicorns, saying that knows some. And still, the Celestia hatred. Is it her fault they died? Of course, this is still all just guessing, despite saying at some point earlier back that I would stop.
The hints of foreshadowing here are great, and with more company begging Rainbow for stories of Equestria, it can't be long before she lets slip a little bit of information for all us hungry readers to pounce on
So, awesome chapter, and I loved it.
Well, this kind of reminds me of the Odyssey, where they have to go through the really narrow cave thingy. In other news, I LOVE HOW HE FORSHADOWS WHAT HAPPENED IN EQUESTRIA. Wait what happened again? I've been really confused the last three books. Just kidding... So once again I'm getting behind in my drawings. I've got three lined up now and only one passed the starting phase. Bah... good news though. I will have 5x the time in approximately two days! Yay. Have some music, I mean link(s?).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itPtO4EaEXU
You can find these links by just typing in a generic type of music on youtube, but I like to sift through the crap for because it makes me feel good onnthe inside. Speaking of feeling good on the inside, happy MLK day.
Gold Plate is going to end being that one emotionally abused character that kills everyone.
1332298 They're both good rulers. But Celestia gets too much hate.
The mists of doom? Also, once again, Rainbow's feelings on Sunbutt surface, making me more curious... Finally, myths about unicorns=awesome. :P
As a first-time reader I'm guessing Celestia's "reform Discord" plan didn't work out as intended.
6133712
Austraeoh was written before season 3 actually.
642700 You should keep reading.
1274647 oh mane oh mane oh mane you shoud definitely keep reading.
3833084 And then 3 books later it's like lolnope wrong character
6133712 read on to find out! :D
Austraeohaiku
23. Mists
Rainbow's seen some sh
Mists she sees aren't natural
Why so reticent?
My foreshadowing senses are tingling now.
Hmm.
Alright, it's happened enough that I can comment on it now. What's her beef with Celestia? Every time there's been any mention of her, Rainbow shows clear disdain for her in general.
Not to mention all of her Lunar-emblemed luggage.
I've read enough fanfiction to know Celestia can have her darker sides, but what could possibly make RD so opposed to even thinking about her?
Not yet
07/06/2019
21:18 UTC
Mysterious mists are mysterious but so are Rainbow's reactions to the unicorn-friends and Sun Goddess talk.
Well, Celestia has really done it now!!
I can't remember what she did because it's been a decade since I read this, but what ever it was, she certainly did it!