Operation Westhorse

by PropMaster

Epiphany - Silvadel

Rainbow Dash flew westward at a swift pace, nothing remarkable for her, but the kind of speed that was slow enough that she could maintain for many hours at a time, but fast enough that she could feel in her muscles that trace of burning that reminded her that she was still alive.

Below her, she could see the stark black ribbon of stone that she had been following since she awoke that morning. To either side were fields filled with crops of various types. No doubt Applejack could have told her just what varieties on sight, but to her the crisp straight lines were simply one more reminder of just how artificial things were here.

Her keen eyes could see the carriages of various types that traveled the dark ribbon as it passed ever westward. She could see them, but they couldn't see her, which was exactly how she wanted it.

The steady motions of her flight, and the monotony of the terrain served to put her into a semi-hypnotic state. Miles passed without her paying much attention to them.

In the distance she could see some puffy altocumulus. They reminded her of cotton candy, which triggered her to increase her speed.

She gained altitude to meet the clouds, then carefully gathered them together into a bundle, and with one swift kick of her hind hooves, they started to release their moisture in a cascade of rainfall.

She cooled herself off by flying through the spray then went back to following the ribbon.

More clouds presented themselves before her. She responded by flying over them, the greys and whites of the clouds obscuring the unsettling geometric shapes below her, and the cooler air providing some meaningful respite from the heat of the day.

The clouds eventually thinned out then cleared, leaving her with the ribbon, far below her, as her only companion. She reluctantly tilted her wings, flying downwards to meet it.

She again got lost in herself, flying over the rectangular fields along the seemingly endless black line of stone.

She spotted some wispy cirrus clouds way up in the sky, far ahead of her. Responding to the challenge, she angled her flightpath upwards.

Pulsing her strength with every beat of her wings, the ground fell away from her rapidly.

She could feel her lungs burn as the air thinned, but she continued upward towards her quarry.

Proud of herself, she came to a soft landing on the surface of the cloud. Few pegasi had the stamina and fitness to feel cirrus under their hooves, and this bank was particularly high up in the sky.

She peered over the edge at the world below. From this vantage, it looked just like home. The world that curved at the horizons beneath her, that looked so artificial at close range, looked normal to her.

Clouds were the same, and on the deepest levels other aspects of this world must be also.

Revitalized, she dove back to the west, continuing her journey.

Comments

[Imploding Colon]

Inb4 this chapter is about Rainbow Dash rescuing dusty 80s video game consoles from her basement in preparation of a hurricane.

An inevitable (if not adorable) side effect of this story's method of uploading is that one person will write "Oh, she's totally in Houston" and another author will later refer to roads as "stark black ribbons of stone." Nmiaow...

Rainbow falling asleep in mid-flight reminds me of the hour-long drive home from WDW.

Oh hai... vanilla style pegasus cloud huffing. Sweet.

I kinda get the feeling that--if I was asked to--this would be the kind of chapter that I would write. I still think that Silvadel writes it better, but f'naaaa.

The only thing missing is a sense of familiarity with this place. But--given Rainbow's general geographical location--I suspect that something written as obscurely as this was very necessary filler. Unless the author lives on a cloud. That could also be true.

Well delivered.

[Seraphimus]

huh, this was definitely a very relaxed chapter in comparison to the last few. just some old school pegasus cloud hopping. love it.