The first thing that overwhelmed Rainbow Dash was the smell. It wasn't a rancid smell, nor was it something entirely inviting. Everytime her nostrils flared, Rainbow Dash felt as though she was marching into the jaws of a furious dragon. A heavy scent of ash and burning soot hung over the rooftops of the village as she and the caravan entered the central district of Windthrow.
Here, the wooden lattices and platforms gave way for a solid bed of rock and cobblestone, marking where the oldest sections of the city had been literally carved into the face of the mountain. Rainbow Dash wasn't even sure yet if she could mentally call the structure a mountain. Everytime she glanced up, her vision was either obscured by dark fog or distracted by a myriad of bustling details.
The moment the caravan arrived in the center of town, the village exploded with excitement. Earth ponies of all trots of life stopped whatever they were doing to greet Fulltrot and his band of stallion cohorts. Mares stopped sweeping storefronts. Old workhorses and traders marched out to the entrances of blacksmiths and saw mills. Elder ponies glanced from porches and patios while dozens of families peered from tall windows.
The buildings were wooden edifices held aloft by brass and bronze frameworks. Ever structure had a chimney fused with a series of steam pipes, and there was not one single solitary second when a dense smog wasn't being funneled up into the atmosphere. Rainbow Dash felt uneasy at first, but soon realized that she was breathing as easily in those streets as she would have been in the open air during any part of her journey. Before she had a chance to ponder about this, she was interrupted by loud shrieks and bursts of laughter.
She spun around in time to see mares, fillies, colts, and all sorts of villagers galloping up to the group. One by one, members of the caravan dropped their equipment and took the time to embraced their loved ones. After several months of deliveries, the stallions were being reunited with their families. In spite of how gloomy the atmosphere of Windthrow was, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but feel that the spirits of the ponies were remarkably bright.
Pausing under the grinding gears of a wooden windmill, she watched as Red Turnip smiled and nuzzled a mare two decades older than him. After greeting his mother, he exchanged words with three ponies who looked to be his siblings. A few spaces away, a young mare was rushing towards Ironhoof. Ironhoof grinned wide and spread his forelimbs out for a hug. Upon a close sniff of the returning stallion, however, the young wife groaned and gave him a stern lecture while his comrades chuckled at his expense. As for Gold Plate...
Rainbow Dash squinted.
Gold Plate stood by the wagons, dutifully unloading them one package at a time. While the rest of the caravan lost themselves in communing with their families, Gold Plate didn't stop working for one second. He was the only wanderer who was still alone; no single stallion or mare rushed over to greet him. His young face hung in a solemn expression, and if he noticed Rainbow Dash glancing at him through his peripheral vision, he made no show of it.
Rainbow had the impulse to trot over there, when she heard gasping and murmuring voices to her side. She spun to look. Immediately, a band of young colts and fillies jumped back, startled. Their little faces peaked out from the sides of buildings and the wooden rails of catwalks. Rainbow slowly looked across the entirety of the suspended city, and in so doing she spotted more and more young ponies half her age staring at her—some of the adults as well. Their eyes were plastered on her hair, her saddlebag, her gold pendant, and—most of all—her wings.
“I don't get it,” Rainbow Dash murmured aloud. “What's their deal?”
“You're the first pegasus they've ever seen,” Fulltrot said, marching by.
“Oh yeah?” Rainbow blinked at him. “Since when?”
“Since ever, child,” Fulltrot said, cleared his throat, and spoke loudly in a voice of humble address. “Grandfather Hushtail! Your humble and loyal servant Fulltrot, at your service...”
Curious, Rainbow Dash looked towards a large building at the far end of the central district. Everypony around her quieted down and marched out of the street to make room for an important elder figure being escorted towards the center of town.
Lonely Stallion...
Old guy...
Ironhoof getting scolded for surviving being eaten by a hydra...
Sounds par for the course on this weird adventure so far. Tell me more.
So we're meeting the town elder. A bit of lore, perhaps?
Idk it think i liked it better when she was on her own
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Okay, so in this chapter the caravan finally reaches Windthrow, where all the members of the caravan, minus Gold Plate, are greeted by their families and friends. Seriously, doesn't anypony care about Gold Plate? But anyways, I'm not sure where the story will go from here, although I do tend to agree with bichibz110. The story seemed a bit more mysterious in my eyes when Rainbow was traveling alone and when we didn't have an enormous...deluge of OC's. So I'm not sure how much I'll like the coming chapters. Also, in the next chapter we're going to meet who appears to be the village elder, so that could be interesting. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
Sorry, I meant "bigchibz110."
I dunno, I like having her with other ponies. Gives room for more plot.
1200614 I don't agree. I like this as a pitstop, before moving out, alone... Again.
Lots of people are saying they preferred it when Rainbow Dash was travelling on her own, but I think I like this. We get to see her interactions with others ponies, which is hinting more towards her secret past. Normally I don't like OCs, but these ones are well written, so I can handle it just find. I even approve of the slight Rainbow Dashx OC shipping. Isn't that strange? Have some awesomeness
Gold Plate is very much unfortunately lonely. Maybe he and Dash will pair up for the journey.
Hey, why didn't I like this the first time I read it? So far, it seems pretty good. Also, my picture of what I thought Windthrow looked like was way off. I had thought it was just an ordinary town, sitting on a plane. Turns out it's half on a mountain and half extended over the side. Also very industrial apparently, and as for the whole Gold Plate thing, well that's just depressing. I'm picking up on the shipping vibes a lot more than I did the first one, and I'm actually excited about this arc. Now have some art. This piece took forever and was boring to make. Why? I drew every tree individually and I don't think it turned out that well. All I know is that I'm going to be able to draw RD really well when I finish this. Also, what would you like to see more of? Quality or quantity? I now realize that good landscapes take hours to do and if I go that route I can't keep up with my current pace. Ok, so here it is. I'm a little disappointed with it, but that's also due to my failure to populate the landscape creatively.
http://alafreo.deviantart.com/art/Survey-429193417
Steampunk town, I saw something machinated comin, there's no unicorns after all.
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Just you wait... *insert ominous chuckle here*
No Pegasi, that isn't unusual at all
Hmmmmm, so her Element is giving her the power to breathe easily pretty much anywhere, among other things? Interesting. I mean, maybe it's not her Element...? I sometimes get the feeling that this all happened after the present day, when the Mane Six were permanently a level more powerful with their Elements, but I suppose that can't be because Discord is reformed now, and he seems to be behind this. Besides, the dream of the maze...
6460392
Well it was said by the writers of the show that Twilight survivng and healing instantly almost from the Humiliation Conga in Pinkie Keen was because she was an Element Bearer for the EoM. So I wouldn't doubt that the Element is giving Dash some serious help keeping alive.
Oh dear, I forgot how the characters (Besides Dash of course.) look like.
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I just started reading this story (better late than never, right?) and I wanted to say I like your comments. Though I was a little sad that I couldn't see the picture you drew. Any chance you're still around and can share on imgur if not deviantart?
It's curious that there's what I take to be implied racial divisions between ponies outside of Equestria.
It appears the comments in this chapter have split over preferring Dash traveling with others or by herself.
I personally see the appeal in both. I do want to see her off on her own again, but it's nice to have other personalities to learn about and keep things interesting. People also seem to not like the concept of OCs, which I find rather odd. A good writer knows how to make a good character, whether that be their own or a borrowed one, and at this point we all seem to trust IC as an author, so who cares if you have a few new names to learn?
Now let's see what this old-timer has to say!
Windthrow, we have arrived. After all that talk from Gold Plate about wanting to get back and having friends relying on them, he's the only one of the caravan not being welcomed by anyone.
And Rainbow Dash is getting A LOT of attention. I'll admit, I the rainbow mane and feathered wings are part of what attracted my attention to this character too and part of why I like and love her so much. The use of the pendant in this story is quite...hmmm...ubiquitous. Oh, and it looks cool. Gah, I love this story so much.
Rainbow getting the attention she oh so rightfully deserves. Fair compensation for being so awesome, honestly.