Rainbow Dash Around the World

by MagicS

Empty

She flew over the rain this time.

Her memory had been hazy apparently, she remembered nothing but desert down here. That was clearly wrong though as there were extensive forests and green hills slightly further north that covered the southern tip of the continent. It was only beyond that—where she could see if she squinted her eyes—that the desert began.

And right now it was pouring a steady rain over the forest, but the clouds were relatively low and Rainbow Dash had no problem flying above them. She didn’t feel like getting soaked again.

She had slowed down a little bit, not feeling in as much of a hurry anymore. She had made it over the ocean and that was the big part done. Now she could take in the sights a little more before she reached the desert and Klugetown. Ugh, it wasn’t just Klugetown that she wasn’t really looking forward to, but yet another dumb, hot, desert that she had to fly over. She had been through this one before and knew exactly how miserable it was too.

Rainbow Dash looked down for a while as she flew. “I should probably fly down there and find some fruit or something to eat before I get into the desert...”

It was a smart idea. A stream to drink out of would’ve been welcome too. She’d fly past the rainy parts first though before she went down. If she didn’t find a clear looking stream she could go back and drink the falling rain but that was a last resort. So she glided over the forest, occasionally flapping her wings to keep from going any slower, and kept her sharp eyes on the lookout for anything. Thankfully the rainy weather here wasn’t so major or all-encompassing as the Stormlands and Rainbow Dash was able to make it to the foothills of the forested area where water was no longer pouring down.

She nodded to herself and dove low, down into the trees, and quickly landing on the forest floor. The ground was covered in healthy grass and flowers—for the first time in a while Rainbow enjoyed standing somewhere that was both alive, pretty, and not the victim of constant terrible weather. She could just eat those flowers but she wanted some real fruit or something. Walking around, sniffing the air with her nose, she searched for something to eat.

It didn’t take long before she found a raspberry bush overflowing with the delicious little fruits. Rainbow Dash licked her lips and dove in—devouring every last raspberry on the vine. She ate more than she needed to, until she felt almost too full, since she wasn’t sure when her next meal would be. She somehow doubted she’d be able to rely on the creatures of Klugetown generously offering any free meals.

Finishing up with the raspberries she spent just a few more minutes looking around the forest until she found a small creek. Running water, not standing, check.

Rainbow Dash dipped her head down to it and took a few big gulps and then a few more in preparation for the desert ahead. Any way to make traveling through the desert slightly less miserable was welcome. She lifted her head up from the water with a big gasp of air and smiled. After that she looked up past the canopy of trees—moved to an open spot—and shot back up into the sky. Replenished, full, and healthy, Rainbow Dash was going to make it a quick trip over to Klugetown now.

She flapped her wings hard and jetted north, over the green hills and a few seconds later she was flying over the desert. It didn’t take long for it to start getting hot as it was still the middle of the day. The sun combined with the sand were already doing their best to bake her.

It wasn’t as bad as the Great Camel Desert, for that she was thankful, but she could already tell that a single day here would be too much for her sake. She’d become a dehydrated mess.

“Can’t believe I want to get to Klugetown faster just cause there might be some shade...” Rainbow grumbled.

Didn’t help that her travels through the much cooler oceans and of course over the south pole had again wrecked her heat tolerance. She’d gone from one extreme to the other too many times now. Her body was probably more than a little angry with her.

But things weren’t all bad right now. It didn’t take long before she could see her next destination rising out of the sea of sand.

Klugetown was a misshapen monstrosity as out of place in the desert as Rarity was at a rodeo. It was big though, and the buildings quite tall and very easy to see even from a distance. The city seemed to be constructed with no planning in mind, no rhyme or reason, no style, just junk towers made of scrap and salvaged metal heaped up on top of one another. An ugly place. Rainbow didn’t want to be too rude or disrespectful but she kind of felt like the appearance of the city reflected the creatures that lived there. The place really didn’t leave a good first impression. That was all in the past now though and Rainbow didn’t plan on stopping here for long this time. In fact it should be a very brief visit, just a place to rest and perhaps find something to drink before she left and put the rest of the desert behind her.

Closer and closer Rainbow Dash got to the big city and she started to go lower towards the sand as she made her approach. She didn’t know exactly where to go here or anything but she didn’t want to do anything someone might take issue with. So she’d walk on in down whatever street she saw here on the south side of the city.

Dropping down onto the hot sand finally she blinked and looked up at the towering junk skyscrapers. So many haphazardly built right next to and leaning on or on top of each other. Even she had to shake her head at the crude city.

“What a mess,” Rainbow Dash muttered and walked into the city.

Immediately she did feel cooler, so that was a plus. She was surrounded on all sides by messy storefronts, small buildings, walls, and entrances to the larger junkscrapers. Shadows reached across the hot sandy street and a few sheet metal awnings provided extra shade.

Immediately she noticed something was wrong.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and looked around. “Uh… where is everybody?”

She hadn’t noticed when flying towards Klugetown, or when she had touched down on the sand and started walking in, too caught up in her own thoughts. But now walking down the street, entering the city, it became immediately apparent how quiet and still everything was. Gone was the strange and diverse assortment of creatures Rainbow Dash remembered. Gone was any animals or pets. Gone was anything. The more she walked the quieter everything became.

Klugetown was a ghost town.

Rainbow Dash walked into the middle of an intersection. Every storefront empty. Every door closed. No shadows in any windows secretly watching her.

“Hello? Is anybody there?” She called out.

There was no answer. There wasn’t even a tumbleweed blowing down the street, no open door banging against a wall in the slight breeze. Rainbow Dash held her hooves up in confusion as she looked around and shrugged. Did something happen here between the last time she had been here and now? Had the city been abandoned for a long time or was it recent? She honestly wasn’t sure. She had no way to tell.

Rainbow Dash frowned and scratched her head. Annoyance and confusion her chief feelings, but she also felt a little bit worried for the creatures that lived here. Or used to anyways. She couldn’t say they were friends with her or Equestria at all but it was still concerning. She flapped her wings and took to the sky a little bit, getting some altitude so she could fly between the buildings and look around easier. If there was anybody still here she wanted to find them.

She flew around through Klugetown, seeing much of the same everywhere. Empty buildings and completely abandoned skyscrapers. Not a sign of where anyone was or what might have happened. She would call out for any others, whistle, and push her head up against windows to look inside them to see if she could find anybody.

Nothing.

Nada.

Zilch.

“I guess there really isn’t anybody here anymore,” Rainbow said as she flew back down to around street level and started making her way to the other side of the city. “Some water must be out of the question too then, huh? Pff, whatever, might as well get out of here.”

Since Klugetown was empty there was no reason to stay. She was heading north out of town and back into the desert—might as well get out of the desert as quick as she could after all.

Despite the odd feeling growing in the pit of her stomach at the emptiness of the city, Rainbow Dash kept on her way out. It just didn’t seem like there was anything here to actually figure out. She still kept her eyes peeled as she made it through the tight, winding, streets of Klugetown in case she saw anyone but she wasn’t holding out hope. Her ears didn’t pick up any sounds either. It was just an abandoned junk heap of tall buildings in the middle of the desert now.

Surprisingly though, as she made her way to the northern edge of the city, she saw something that was kind of out of place.

Something a little odd that made her stop and check it out.

“What’s up with that?” Rainbow Dash said as she flew down towards the entrance to a large junk skyscraper. All around the door leading inside it on the sandy street there were boxes stacked up and strewn about. Some pushed right up against the door while others looked like they’d been thrown or knocked aside. She was a bit puzzled. It looked like someone or a group of someones had tried to block the door off but got interrupted. When she looked through the door’s window she found that there were boxes stacked up on the inside too.

Regardless of why any of it was like this, she still didn’t see anyone inside the building.

“Weird...” Rainbow Dash said and walked away from it.

She stood in the middle of the street for a little while longer, looking around, walking in a circle and checking out each individual building. Thinking that maybe she’d finally spot someone hiding away somewhere. And yet there was still not a soul about and the city remained as quiet as the grave.

Rainbow Dash frowned and without stopping this time she took to the air and flew out of Klugetown.

Comments

[RoboRed]

That's...interesting. And possibly a little concerning. Not a lot of love for Klugetown, but if some people are in trouble...

[redmar]

That is very strange.

[TheCommunistDog]

Oh no