Rainbow Dash Around the World

by MagicS

Moving South Again

Rainbow Dash followed above a winding creek as it went downhill and south from Pinetree Warren, just as Doctor Swab had said. It started a little northeast from the looks of things and made its way through the hills Rainbow was now currently traveling through, keeping her flight fairly low to the ground so she didn’t miss the small settlement that supposedly existed fairly close by. This forest was just as pleasant and full of life as the rest had been and it lifted Rainbow’s spirits for her to see such a nice little place. At one point she dove low and got herself a nice drink of cold water before she flew along the side of the creek and ate up some tasty wildflowers for breakfast.

It was nice to know that the rest of the world was still moving on. The horrors of the plague were behind her, the entire forest was safe, and hopefully it would all be normal like this for years to come. The ponies of Pinetree Warren and the animals living here deserved that.

She started whistling a tune to herself the further she went, just something light and fun. To her surprise she heard some of the birds she passed by join in. She thought that kind of thing only happened with Fluttershy.

Fluttershy… Rainbow honestly had to wonder how happy she and the rest of her friends would be with how Rainbow had handled Pinetree Warren and how she had left it. She figured they would reassure her, tell her she did her best, and not blame her for anything. They would know Rainbow was out of her element and didn’t have much to work with. Those words of praise and reassurance though would probably just bother her even more. She didn’t want to be told she had done all she could. The same with Oreville.

But either way, it was behind her now. Just like with Oreville, again, Rainbow wouldn’t forget or ignore it, but she would move on and grow.

Flying over the creek and through the hills, Rainbow soon came out to a break in the forest. The hills and thick forest of trees came to a stop and turned into rolling green and yellow plains just ahead. Before that was a small group of buildings built right at the foot of the hills on the east side of the creek. A mill sat with its wheel constantly moving from the water’s current and a small log bridge was built over the creek just a little downstream from it. Besides that a few other little buildings sat off to the side, built next to the declining edge of the forest.

Rainbow Dash smiled and started to fly right to the mill. A brief stop and hello was all she planned before she went further south.

Once she reached the mill she heard a striking sound and looked over at one of the other small cabins to see a pony chopping wood with an axe out behind it. He looked up and saw Rainbow Dash and a big smile appeared on his face. He rested his axe against the side of the building and waved at her.

“Howdy!”

“Hey,” Rainbow Dash smiled and waved back. Good to see that the ponies here are nice.

“Well who might you be?” The stallion asked as he walked up to Rainbow Dash. “Oops, where are my manners? I’m Wood Chips.”

“I’m Rainbow Dash, nice to meet you, dude.”

“Dude?” The stallion tilted his head.

“Uh, it’s just a cool name for a stallion,” Rainbow awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck.

“Oh! Well thanks!” He laughed.

The door to the mill was suddenly thrown open and a pony came out. “Wood Chips! What noise are you making now-” The pony, a mare, paused mid-sentence as she saw Rainbow Dash floating there in the air. “O-Oh! Hello!”

“Hey,” Rainbow Dash shot a quick wave her way.

“Introduce yourself,” Wood Chips said to her, holding back a laugh.

The mare glared at him before coughing into her hoof and smiling at Rainbow Dash. “Hello there, I’m Wheatie.”

“Rainbow Dash,” Rainbow said again.

“What brings you to such an out of the way little place like this?” Wheatie asked her. “You don’t look like a trader or merchant—no offense.”

“None taken,” Rainbow shrugged. “I’m just traveling through. Came from up north and I heard about this place from Doctor Swab in Pinetree Warren.”

“Swab… Swab… I may have met a pony by that name once or twice,” Wood Chips mused.

“Yeah. Anyways, I’m just on a big trip and wanted to touch off here before I went into the desert to the south. Also kind of wanted to ask you guys about that, in case you knew anything. I’ve heard that it’s mostly camels in the desert? And they aren’t very nice to ponies?” Rainbow asked.

“Hah! That’s putting it lightly!” Wood Chips guffawed. “If you’re traveling into the desert I’d be careful, a camel innkeeper won’t rent a room to a pony. And believe me you do not want to be outside at night in the desert.”

Wheatie spat on the ground. “Innkeeper nothing. The average camel won’t sell nothing or do any sort of business with ponies and other creatures. They’re the rudest, nastiest, dirtiest bunch of creatures I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting.”

“Great,” Rainbow sarcastically grumbled.

“Still it aint like it’s only camels out there,” Wood Chips continued. “In fact, you got a small… well, town might be the wrong word for it but there’s a place not to far into the desert called One Hump Oasis. Like the name implies, it’s a little tent town all built along an oasis in the north part of the desert, one of the last such places before the desert ends. So it gets a lot of traffic and a lot of creatures there besides just camels. If you’re traveling through the desert I’d look to make your first stop there.”

“I can’t really recommend flying on your own through the desert, just saying,” Wheatie said. “That desert’s a real big place. It puts these forests to shame in sheer size and the climate’s a pain if you’re flying without any protection.”

“Yeah I knew it was gonna be a little tough on me in that way, but believe me when I say I’m used to extreme stuff like that. I can handle a little heat,” Rainbow grinned.

Wheatie shrugged. “Suit yourself. I aint got no reason to doubt you, just wanted you to be careful.”

“Speaking of that, if you’re just stopping here for a moment would you care for some food or a drink?” Wood Chips offered.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Thanks but no thanks, I’m making my way as fast as I can.”

“Well good luck on your trip then,” Wood Chips smiled.

“Hope you have fun,” Wheatie nodded.

“Totally will! Thanks for putting up with my questions!” Rainbow said and waved goodbye to them, blasting off into the sky a second later.

“Huh, what a nice pony,” Wood Chips waved after her.

“Sure was,” Wheatie waved with him.

Comments

[StarzGecko]

Woodchips... sounds like a character from "Tyke and Sons Lumber Co!" good thing Rainbow didn't stay a night since... whatever is built will come to kill you!!!

[redmar]

That was usefull advice for traveling across the desert.

[TheCommunistDog]

Nice

In today’s chapter: Rainbow meets some ponies and gets some advice.

[Comma Typer]

I'll keep this one much shorter, at least.

Surprisingly, I think the worldbuilding for Pinetree is, sparse, but I'm not sure if I can say that it's for the worse. We've met the town under extreme circumstances, and all the ordinary information and atmosphere that could be gotten out of it is perhaps the most you could get without being inappropriate for a situation where many have died with no end in sight. Perhaps it's also because Pinetree Warden is a lot like Ponyville, unlike most of the places Rainbow's been to before, so it might've been more difficult to make Pinetree stand on its own worldbuilding-wise.

But plot-wise, it is good progress that Rainbow's made: while Rainbow Dash's brash mindset in Oreville arguably made things worse, a similar mindset here in Pinetree Warden hasn't done anything actively negative; it just so happened that that, along with its accompanying hope, provided motivation for Anathema to, well, do what Rainbow would think is the unthinkable. As you've also pointed out as the narrator, having Rainbow's "enemy" be no tangible target but a disease that can't help but be a disease... well, that's a great test of Rainbow's character, especially (again) when Rainbow so far could either punch through problems or confront them with great speed.

Characterization for everyone else is still top-notch, even if the scale of it is pared down (given that it's a shorter arc). Of course, huge props to Anathema as the central non-Rainbow for the arc (and a great use of her inability to feel pain later on... no detail left to waste!), but Swab, Honey Sight, and Ardent Elm also get thumbs up for being their own characters, having their own unique chemistry with Rainbow (yes, even the tiny crumbs we get with the bird-watcher)... and Turnip as well, as a way to round out the arc in the eyes of a normal resident of Pinetree.

Overall, I could say this is probably even better than Oreville, precisely because it's shorter but packs at least the same amount of emotional punch.

Looking forward to Rainbow's trip in the desert!

[MagicS]

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Glad to see your comments, they're always a treat.

Yeah practically half the "world-building" for Pinetree Warren came just from Rainbow Dash's brief library visit in Oreville. There's not much going on with it since it's just a quiet out of the way mountain town.