New Friends
"Well, from what I can judge, we're about a day's trip from the west end of Foxtaur Forest."
"Foxtaur?" Bellesmith blinked. "You mean the one with the dense canopy?"
"Yes, that's the one," Pilate said, nodding as his rune-capped plate flickered in cadence with the hovering O.A.S.I.S. sphere. His mana-powered instrument was busily hovering over the unfolded lengths of the map, casting a solid beam of blue light over the sketched lines as the zebra "read" the local cartography. "It'll undoubtedly give us plenty of cover from any zeppelins that might wander overhead."
"But..." Belle chewed on her lip as she gazed over the eastern foliage dotting the horizon. "I've heard that there are all sorts of nightmarish creatures nestled within Foxtaur. Must we really make a detour through that Spark-forsaken place?"
"Hey!" Rainbow Dash hovered lower in the air above the hilltop and gave Belle a playful nudge. "Who said I was gonna abandon you two?" She winked.
Belle chuckled slightly. "I'm just trying to think a bit more rationally than adventurously..."
"The way I see it, we have worse enemies in the Ledomaritan patrols pursuing us," Pilate thought out loud. "If we pace ourselves and make sure not to stir up too much trouble, I'm more than certain we can make it through Foxtaur in one piece."
"And stroll unhindered through the Sapphire Plains beyond?"
"Exactly. It'll be a long trek, but if we keep south of the city of Blue Nova, I-I'm pretty sure we'll be in the clear." Pilate retrieved O.A.S.I.S. to his choker and slumped back suddenly, rubbing his head. "Unnngh..."
"Beloved!" Belle rushed to his side. "Are you okay? Is... is the sphere in need of a recharge?"
He gulped and nodded. "Desperately." Wincing, he tilted his head her way. "And not just that, but I feel as if O.A.S.I.S. is undergoing some kind of feeback."
"Feedback?" Belle spoke as she folded the map and slid it into the midnight saddlebag. "Could there be a large source of mana nearby?"
"Well, the map did show two crystal caves between here and the edge of Foxtaur. It's quite possible that we might some resonance prisms in there."
"Yeah, but, is it really worth the risk?" Belle asked.
"Risk?" Rainbow Dash blinked, her blue ears perking up. "What risk?" She dove down. "Where?"
"Rainbow..." Belle squinted at her.
The pegasus smiled innocently. "I'm just curious!"
"If we were still in Blue Shelf, we'd ask a fellow unicorn or magical antelope to help recharge O.A.S.I.S.," Pilate explained, still rubbing his head. "Out here in the middle of the Ledomaritan Wilderness, we have to make do with whatever we can scrounge up."
"Pilate, crystal caverns aren't exactly known for their... ease of navigation."
"It's alright, beloved." Pilate patted her shoulder and stood up on wobbly legs. "I can manage without your delightful invention for a fortnight if need be."
"And wander around pathetically in the dark when we can reboot your 'sight' lickety-split?!" Rainbow Dash frowned and shook her head. "No friggin' way! We're going!"
"Huh?" Belle gawked up at her. "What have we been over about you risking yourself?!"
"Hey. It's a cave full of crystals." Rainbow Dash winked. "If you've poked around in my head long enough, you should know I've had my fair share of underground places in the last year and a half. I think I'm more than well-equipped to give it a look see for a 'prism battery' or what-crap."
"I'm fine, really," Pilate said with a sheepish smile. "You two can read the map and I'll fill you in on the details stored in my head."
"You just don't get it, do you?" Rainbow Dash flew down and poked his nose with a hoof. "This is not just about getting you two someplace safe, but getting you two someplace comfortable."
"Buh?"
Rainbow Dash smiled. "Chillax, Pilate. You and Belle shouldn't feel like you should give up on so much. I'm gonna get you your sight back, so let's make for the caves!" She soared off into the air and darted eastward. "I'll get a bird's eye view!" she shouted from above. "Follow along! I won't lose track of you, I promise!"
Pilate reached out blindly, and Belle guided his hoof as the two trotted along. "Am I the only one who noticed that she called me by my real name just now?" he stated.
"Heehee..." Belle smiled and nodded. "I think she just may have."
"What happened to the Rainbow Dash who dragged us out of the metal contraption in the earth?"
"I dunno, Pilate." She leaned against him and nuzzled his shoulder. "I think maybe... just maybe... she made some new friends..."
The two marched after the flying blue blur, christened by the golden glow of the passing day.
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Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Happy Rainbow!
Haha
Classic canon Dash.
Well, since it worked out for
, RBD might as well go to a Crystal Cave Recharge Center as well. Nothing can go wrong, right? Right?!
And then everything went horribly wrong.
Life's too good at the moment, time for the bad stuff to happen
There was the cave with the dragon, the cave with the quarray eels, the cave with the other thing that I forget what it was called... she's been in lots of caves and she only basically died two thirds of the time!
New friends <3
Gee, I sure hope this isn't setting up some kind of horrific disaster! Because that never happens. Especially when going into caves.
Uh-oh. Dangerous and relatively unnecessary detour to a dark cave?
Feedback from Josho tracking them?
Foxtaurs?
Alright, that's it! ):(! Twenty-five for foreboding stuff! KNOCK 'EM OUT!
You all seem so pessimistic, just sit back and enjoy the slice of life for a bit until it gets action-y again! I'm really interested in all the place names dropped at the top, there. Pretty vital information if you happen to overhear it.
As for friendship, not really much to add to what's already been said the last few chapters.Though, what's really sort of cool is how much these three characters are starting to feed off each other, picking up each other's character traits, and Dash getting pulled back into check by it.
Good to see she's not hiding behind a wall of chaos so much.
Dash, you never learn... You'd think the quarry eels would have been enough to keep her out of caves for life, but no, gotta go charging into some crystal cavern that may or may not be useful...
Oh Rainbow. You never learn do you? Your just going have process your grief for your new friends your going to get killed...
I don't think that Pilate's headache is caused by the mana crystals...
i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/181/306/65768%20-%20Lyra%20artist%25253ALightbulb%20manly_tears%20parody%20reaction_face.png
1939194 What makes you say that?
1939273
Josho apparently has some type of mental connection with Pilate after getting O.A.S.I.S. slammed onto his horn. I was thinking that might be the source of Pilate's headache, but I doubt that now the more that I think more about it.
The Foxtaur forest, and then beyond that is the fire-swamps!
1939318 I see what you mean. And I think you're right, Josho doesn't seem intelligent enough (the character, not you
) to actually be able to understand and utilize the psychic connection in any way.
A crystal cave that is acting as a mana battery? I wonder if there is a baby Capricorn in there too. . .
Friends - Joe Satriani
I have an idea. For when the party inevitably gets chased by a zeppelin, I say it should be called "Red Barchetta". Just throwin' that out there.
Feels
Oh boy! Off to the totally innocuous cave where they will safely and carefully harvest some perfectly harmless crystals.
1940961
The chaos rift was described as literally leaking energy, not a portal. That, and the closer she got to it the faster it killed her. Further, the world isn't spherical like Earth, it's wider than it is taller, and I'm almost positive they said it was more or less "flat."
1940993
Dash and Colon have a great track record with caves, nothing to worry about at all!
I did a spit take.
Is that a veiled insult?
also, it seems my wistful comment back on Austraeoh, chapter 186 was seen as something of a challenge...
Yay! Friends!
319 CHAPTERS IN 8 DAYS!!! FUCK YEAH!!
love it so far, and i am just itching to know what Xonans are.
1941497
Sigh...
...I have a city named after me?
What if Colon is just trying to make us think that something is going to go wrong in the cave (given that every cave in the past has sucked hard, no exception) and then... absolutely nothing happens? They get charged up and ready to go, in the most serene, non-threatening way possible and proceed through the foxy forest all pleasant like. I'm sure the trio's newfound friendship powers will guide them through the mana cave, right? Um, right?
Aaaah caves.....how disturbingly nostalgic.
Also that ending was goddamn adorable.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
So there's only a few things in this chapter. It's interesting to know that Pilate feels some feedback from the connection with Josho. Perhaps when O.A.S.I.S. is recharged he'll be able to know for sure that there is indeed a connection and it's not just the crystal caves. On another note, and pertaining to the previous chapter, it appears that Belle had an even greater effect on Dash than I first thought. She's really caused Austraeoh to slow down in her eastward journey. It's so cool because we see Dash shunning other ponies and isolating herself from the friendship of other ponies so as not to open herself up to the pain of losing friends again. It truly shows how powerful Belle's words can be since she is the first pony that's been a part of Dash's eastward journey that's been able to truly be a friend to Dash. Although I'm also sure that part of the reason that she is able to convince Dash has something to do with the fact that she is Eljunbyro.
Oh yeah, and Dash is going to go into a cave. It's not like she's had a bad history with them - I'm sure she'll be fine. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
I stand by my last statement. Rainbow Dash is best Dash....
...but a happy Dash is a nice bonus!
~
Onwards!
Danger? Where?
Yeah. This is definitely a Good Thing which has happened.
2030680>>2176163 that funny cuz im doing the same thing
Dash is getting more friendly
And once again, IC does an amazing job at Dash being Dash.
Time for things to go wrong.
EDIT:
I used every single Rainbow emoticon there 
I use too many emoticons in these comments 
Rainbow's beret-wearing madness seems to have worn off. She's back to normal... thank Celestia.
Well then, obviously an ambush is likely to happen in Foxtaur or one of those caverns. Hopefully I'm wrong and no ambush.
1938807
You need to do this drill sergeant stuff more often. I love it. XD
God, it feels so good to know Dash has made some friends. Geez. Like, I'm so happy, it's amazing.
1941033 The world is shaped like a thick, stretched-out elliptical frisbee, flying through the universe. i mean that literally. nothing metaphorical or metaphysical about it. lol
1939583 wow. thats a real nice song o.o
Aw, Dashie made some new friends
How cute
I-It almost gives me hope for myself
*sobs quietly*
The right combination of feels, funny, and plot progression, keep it up.
"Make friends," they said. "It will be fun," they said.
It occurs to me that Josho still likely has his 'link' with Pilate.
In which case this could be an issue.
I'm eager to find out!
Crap, Josho can hear everything they're saying.
This is so... real.
I don't know how else to say it. You do it with all your stories. You take these goofy, adorable, cartoon horses and make them real, even when we've never seen them on TV or heard their voices before. The growth of character and friendship between these three is believable and emotional and exciting. I love it. Thank you for putting so much time into such a remarkable tale.