Rainbow Dash Around the World

by MagicS

Finally Something Else to See

A gentle rocking sensation greeted Wish as she slowly woke up. With her eyes still closed she breathed in deeply a few times and shifted around, not sure where she was. Tired. She felt incredibly tired. It was cool out too with a slight chill on her back and she shivered once, snuggling up against the warmth beneath her. She didn’t want to open her eyes yet. She wanted to go back to sleep and get some rest. Whatever had made her feel so exhausted could be dealt with after a few more hours of sleep.

“Heh, you finally wake up, kid? Just in time to go back to bed,” the voice of Rainbow Dash spoke to her.

Wish’s head shot up, now fully awake, and she looked forward to see her vision completely blocked by the rainbow mane pouring down the back of Rainbow Dash’s head.

“Wha…” Wish said as she blinked a few more times, remembering finally what had happened before she fell asleep. “The circus… t-that pony… huh? Where are we?”

She looked around and saw a dark desert landscape around her. Looking up at the sky showed the moon just barely out from behind the clouds. It was evening, late evening, and probably close to when she’d fall asleep normally if she hadn’t slept earlier. But how did she get here? The very last thing she remembered was talking to that creepy pony and then Rainbow Dash came in.

A sigh came from Rainbow Dash. “So uh, I take it you remember all that stuff that happened?”

“Y-Yes… what happened after I fell asleep? What was going on?” Wish asked her.

“I dealt with that guy, for now. And then we ended up back in the desert, I didn’t want to wake you up so I’ve just been walking since,” she briefly glanced back at Wish. “And it was just… business I had to take care of. That pony who you met, he’s a bad guy I know, and he wanted to hurt me… and you. It’s a little complicated but it’s all okay now. I’m glad he couldn’t do anything to you before I got there.”

Rainbow Dash’s words passed over Wish and an icy feeling settled in the filly’s stomach. More of her conversation with the pony was coming back to her. What he said to her. What he tried to get her to do. What she had admitted.

“Stop… w-wait, can we please stop?” Wish said, on the verge of a sob.

Rainbow Dash looked back at her with worry and came to a stop. “Sure, kid… we should be stopping for some sleep soon anyways.”

Wish almost immediately jumped off her back and held her hooves to her chest as she started to hyperventilate.

“K-Kid?” Rainbow Dash asked in concern, kneeling down beside her and placing a hoof on her back. “I knew it… something happened before I arrived, didn’t it?”

Wish shook her head, not looking up at Rainbow Dash. “No… it’s not that…”

Rainbow bit her lip. “Just what exactly did you talk about with him?”

“It’s not that!” Wish screamed and squeezed her eyes shut. “Listen to me for once!”

Rainbow Dash flinched, taking her hoof away and stepping back. “I-I’m sorry...”

After a few more panting breaths, Wish gained control of herself and finally looked up to meet Rainbow Dash’s eyes. “I need to tell you something.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash tilted her head in confusion.

Wish’s lip trembled and it still took a while for her to gather her courage. Did she really want to do this? Could she? Things probably would’ve been fine if she never brought it up at all. It was nice for a while when they were just traveling without really a care in the world anymore. And yet she still knew she couldn’t just bottle it up and press the truth down inside her forever.

“I’ve been lying to you,” Wish said. “I’ve been lying to myself.”

Rainbow Dash leaned her head back, still peering down at the young filly but (surprisingly) keeping her mouth shut for the moment and letting Wish continue on her own.

“The truth is… the truth is that I remember everything,” Wish could feel some tears starting to gather at her eyes. “What happened in the castle… what I became… what I did to you, and my father, and what I tried to do to everypony else. I remember all of it. I just… pretended not to. I didn’t want to have to deal with it, I didn’t want you to worry about me even more, but most of all I didn’t want to admit that it really was me… that everything I said and felt was just me.”

“Oh, Wish...” Rainbow Dash leaned down and gathered up the filly in the hug. “Kid, didn’t I tell you that wasn’t really you? You were broken, you were forced to feel so many things, you were brought down to the lowest any pony could ever possibly get, you were betrayed by the pony you loved and all that despair that didn’t even belong to you… it did something to you, that wasn’t you. You don’t need to feel bad for what happened. And you shouldn’t care about me worrying over you. You’ve got the right to have someone worry about you. Believe me.”

Wish sniffled and shook her head. “Even if it wasn’t all me… some of it was, Rainbow Dash. Some of it really was.”

“Then all you need to do is grow and live a happy life so you never become like that again. If anything, do it to show your father that you’re still alive and happy despite everything. And do it to show your mother, your real mother who loved you, that you can move on.”

Wish hugged back against her and quietly cried into her fur. “… I love you.”

Rainbow Dash gaped in surprise down at the young filly hugging her.

“I said that I resented you to him. And part of me does, because of everything that’s happened. But I love you, Rainbow Dash. Even more than that. I love everything about you and everything you are. And I know how much you care about me and how much you really want to help. I love you. It’s okay, that you’re reckless, a little annoying, even selfish sometimes, and it only took me about two days to realize you were a lot dumber than I thought you were-”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash nodded.

“-but I don’t care about any of that. I love you so, so, much. And I needed to tell you that. Thank you, thank you for everything, Rainbow Dash.” Wish hugged her tighter and let herself cry as much as she needed to.

Rainbow Dash affectionately rubbed the back of her head, just letting Wish do what she needed to do. Still, a somber expression, unseen by Wish, stayed on her face. “I love you too, kid.”

Which is why- Rainbow Dash thought as she looked up at the moon. Which is why, now, sometime soon...

---

The two ponies woke up the following morning in much higher spirits and Rainbow Dash decided to quickly start off the day by taking Wish for a fly as they continued south in the direction the Green Divide and then Vissidia were in. She figured they had to be getting there sometime soon, Cart had made it sound like it was all pretty close to the southern border of Hoofica. But he had also said he hadn’t been there in a while. She was hoping it would be today when they were finally out of this boring white desert. Some green would be nice, along with some shade and plenty of fruits and vegetables to eat again. Those had to be there too, no doubt about it.

“Do you see anything yet?” Wish asked her as she looped her hooves around Rainbow’s neck and held on.

“Not yet, just more desert,” Rainbow replied.

“Great, I’m totally not tired of the desert yet. In fact I think I might want to move here for good someday...” Wish snorted.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “You’re a real comedian, kid.”

Wish snickered from on top of her and looked up at the clouds overhead, since that was a little less boring than looking at the white sand as it blurred by beneath. She started humming a random tune to herself as she tried to make out shapes in the clouds. A turtle, a bucket, a crumpled up piece of paper, a brush. Yeah, this was a decent enough way to pass the time.

Some good food and water would’ve been pretty nice but she had faith in Rainbow Dash to find what they needed.

“Not bored back there?” Rainbow Dash asked her.

“Nope. I’m fine,” Wish said and continued to check out the clouds. Pillow, cat, bed, strawberry…

Rainbow Dash smirked and just went back to checking out the distant horizon for any change. Not a lot was happening out there but she was still making good progress and flying fast. Sand dune after sand dune went by beneath them. Rainbow Dash idly wondered where she would be right now if she was on the other side of the world, her side, back home. Somewhere in Equestria she was almost certain. She could probably figure it out at some point but for now she just wanted out of this darn desert.

She blinked.

Once.

Twice.

“Hold up...” Rainbow Dash said.

“Huh? Did you say something?” Wish asked her.

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes and looked straight ahead at the horizon. The white stretch of desert that covered it was giving way to a dark line that went all the way from east to west as far as she could see. It was just barely perceptible to her right now, but she could still see it for sure.

“Heh,” Rainbow Dash grinned and flapped her wings harder, picking up speed. “Well forget about moving here, kid. It’s almost time to say goodbye to the desert.”

Comments

[TheCommunistDog]

Oh what are you planning Rainbow?

In today’s chapter: The pair finally reaches the end of the desert

[redmar]

I wonder what that dark line exactly is and what Rainbow is planning to do.