Flying South

Chapters

Chapter 1: Departure
Chapter 3: The Journey Begins
Chapter 4: Meat Eating Pony?
Chapter 5: Facing the Meat Eater
Chapter 6: Clouds for Miles
Chapter 7: The Saddle Plateau
Chapter 8: Strength of a Pegasus
Chapter 2: Why'd you come?

Chapter 1: Departure

“We’re what?!” Rainbow Dash bounced her head back in surprise.

“You heard me correctly,” the clerk said bluntly, glancing up from her clipboard. “We’re canceling the search.”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Winter was coming soon and this was their decision? She slammed her hooves on the desk in demand.

“But if we don’t do something, they’re gonna freeze to death! Are we just gonna let that happen?!” Rainbow Dash flapped her wings as she shoved her face closer to the clerk. “Whatever happened to ‘leave nopony behind’, huh?!”

The clerk lifted her glasses up, staring at the angry pegasus in front of her with slouched eyes. “They’re not ponies, they’re birds.”

Rainbow Dash snorted. “That’s your excuse?!”

“Look, there’s nothing I can do about it.” The clerk put the clipboard in her desk before continuing. “Unless you can find a pegasus who is willing to travel that far, this is our only option.”

Rainbow Dash’s narrowing eyes settled down, looking away before moving back and giving the clerk her space. The clerk got up from her desk and started walking out. There was a bit of silence before the sound of a door creaking open echoed across the office.

“You can search the files all you want. There’s just no where in Equestria left for them.”

Rainbow Dash went into a trance that not even the sound of the office door closing disturbed. She brought her sight towards the stack of files that had listed the many habitats around Equestria. Then she brought her gaze to the outside skies, looking far off into the distance. The sight of all those clouds piling up into one made her heart race so fast. She then looked back to the files.

If there really was no place left for them here, then she knew what she had to do.

______________________________________________________________________________

“Which brings me here today,” Rainbow Dash finished her announcement. She had called her five friends to the library of the Crystal Castle in Ponyville to discuss her situation. But her announcement left the five friends with awkward glances.

“...Uh, run that by us again?” Applejack was the first to reply.

“What? You didn’t understand?” Rainbow glared down from her floating position.

“Well, darling, it sounded like you skipped a few things in your story,” Rarity replied.

“Well, you guys were the ones who told me to explain the short version,” Rainbow answered.

“That was a short version?” Pinkie asked.

“Do you guys want to understand or not?”

The other five ponies didn’t answer. They all looked at each other, confusion written upon their faces. Rainbow Dash slouched her airborne body and sighed in annoyance. This was the first time she had something so serious come up with her job, and they were spoiled with exaggerated dilemmas.

“Look, winter is coming soon, and before that happens, the weather team has to make sure they lead these birds in Ponyville south for the winter. Their job includes making sure that they have a habitat that is safe for them.”

Rainbow Dash paused after the other ponies said their ‘uhuh’s to indicate that they were following along.

“But the problem this year, is that the population has gotten so big, there’s no more room for them all to fit in Equestria.”

The last statement caused a loud ruckus of gasps to fill the library.

“Oh no!” Fluttershy panicked, walking closer to Rainbow Dash, eyes pulsating in worry. “What are they gonna do? Are they sure there’s no place for them to go? What’s gonna happen to the birds?!” she hyperventilated.

“I’m sorry, Fluttershy,” Rainbow closed her eyes as she mentioned the tragic truth. “That’s why I went to Town Hall yesterday. I checked the files myself. All of the areas listed and scheduled are either unsafe or full. If anymore birds are scheduled to be sent to those areas, there won’t be enough food for them to survive for the winter. They’ll starve.”

Fluttershy’s eyes shrunk to bite size pieces that fit for a bunny’s size. A jittery whiney noise left her mouth while her body lost all feeling, collapsing on the spot. The other three ponies winced at Fluttershy’s faint.

“But there is hope.” Fluttershy sprung back up like normal at the sound of Rainbow’s last statement. “I’ve already bought a train ticket so that I can start my search for their new home.” The other ponies bobbed their heads back in surprise. “I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. Probably a few days, or maybe a few weeks at most. That’s why I’m telling you guys.”

“But Rainbow Dash,” Twilight interjected, taking a step forward. “If Equestria’s bird population is as full as you say, how do you hope to find a new home for them in your search?” Rainbow Dash’s expression scrunched seriously. She turned towards one of the library’s high windows, flying to it.

“If everypony says they did a thorough search of all of Equestria, then that means I have to look somewhere where no pegasus dares to fly to.” She moved the blinds from the windows to get a good look at the outside view. “If there’s any hope for those lives, I have to search overseas.” She paused and glanced back to her friends. “Outside of Equestria.”

A collection of large gasps sounded across the library for a second time. The outside of Equestria was a truly dangerous place. Not only did dangerous creatures such as hostile dragons inhabit those lands, but banished ponies who had done evil misdeeds populated them as well.

But not just that. Those lands didn’t work like Equestria did. In fact, it was much like the Everfree Forest, only much bigger, and full of water instead of trees.

Most of the griffon tribes that inhabited those lands weren’t hostile, but their hunger for meat automatically meant their areas were out of the picture. Rainbow Dash would be searching miles overseas, only to have a small chance at finding peace for the birds.

“W-when did you say your train was leaving?” Rarity managed to speak up.

“Tomorrow morning,” Rainbow Dash answered, removing herself from the window.

“*GASP!* THIS IS A DISASTER!” Rarity slapped both hooves against her cheeks in her outburst. “I’ve had no time to prepare the clothes you'll need for you trip! I must hurry!” Before anypony had a chance to say anything, Rarity dashed out of the library faster than anypony had ever seen her run. Twilight and Applejack winced when she crashed straight through the front doors, breaking through it. Her episode caused a giant pony shaped hole to be engraved on that door.

“OOH! And I can't let you starve out there!” Pinkie Pie made the next outburst. “I have to hurry and bake enough treats to last for months! There's no time to lose!” Pinkie dashed straight in the direction Rarity ran towards. But instead of the door, Pinkie smashed right through the wall next to the door, causing Twilight and Applejack to wince again. But unlike Rarity, Pinkie somehow left a circle in the wall that was so perfect, it would look like a silent break in.

When all the dust settled from the two overactive ponies, Applejack was the next to speak. “A-ah’d better follow em an’ make sure they don’ wreck their homes.” Applejack galloped to the library doors. Unlike Rarity and Pinkie Pie, she stopped in front of the damaged door, opening it very carefully before going outside and slowly closing it. But as soon as she started running again, the door snapped off its hinges, kicking up large dusts as it crashed on the ground. “Consarnit!” Applejack’s voice sounded from the distance.

Twilight brought her attention back to Rainbow Dash in deep concern. “Rainbow Dash, are you sure you want to go through with this?” she asked.

“If I don’t do it, no pony will,” Rainbow Dash answered. “No other pegasus will dare set their wings somewhere so dangerous.”

“The same could be said for those birds, Rainbow Dash. But I’ll see what I can do to help.” Twilight walked away to search the library, probably to research any sources on the outskirts of Equestria.

Rainbow Dash took another glance through the window, looking to the far distances in the skies. As much as she loved the skies, she knew that once she started her journey, the skies would be the only thing she’d have for quite a while. If she fell from it, only the seas would break her fall. As exhilarating as it sounded, something about it chilled her feathers.

Rainbow Dash decided to think more on it later. For now, she had to get ready for the long journey she’d have to take. She started flying out of the library.

But one thing odd caught her eye while she was leaving. That odd thing was Fluttershy, who had been silent since Rainbow Dash announced where she was going.

______________________________________________________________________________

The next day saw the light without much chaos, at least to Rainbow Dash’s side. She was lying on top of a cloud by a train station, waiting for her friends to see her off, or more specifically, for the train to arrive. She had a bag right next to her with supplies already prepared.

Rainbow Dash gazed across the scenery while she waited, watching the many birds that populated Ponyville. Some were either flying by, others were pecking the roof tops of the buildings. Some of them were even being led by other pegasi. They were probably leading them to temporary shelters until they could find the habitat they could use for when they flew south.

Some time later, Rainbow Dash noticed smoke coming from the far horizon. A few seconds later, she heard voices behind her, and coming closer. She could recognize those voices. Her departure was coming very soon.

Grunting, Rainbow Dash lifted her body, stretching her limbs and wings high in the air. Her stretched limbs pushed the bag she had off the cloud. She then rolled her body off the cloud she was on, letting herself enter freefall. The cold air that blew on her face awakened her spirits as she came hurtling towards the station grounds. She extended her wings at the last second before reaching the wooden surface, landing swiftly on it while catching and strapping her fallen bag in the process. The landing left a good jolt of adrenaline rushing through her body due to the sudden halt, pressuring her body for the challenge that awaited her.

With the nice wake up landing, Rainbow Dash lifted her head to greet her friends.

“Ah… what took you guys so lo-OOO-HAAH!...” Just as Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, her words deformed as she was greeted by multiple carts, each carrying bags, packages, and suitcases, all piled up into a mountain of cargo. Just in front of those carts were her five friends, some of them hyperventilating.

“Oh dear! I do hope we’re not too late!” Rarity panicked while she was catching her breath.

“I know!” Pinkie hastily ran to Rainbow’s side. “Do you know how terrible it would’ve been if we missed her off?!” Rainbow yelped slightly when a pair of pink hooves grabbed her cheeks and pulled her forward. “She would be wandering wastelands for miles! Without any food!” Pinkie removed her hooves, causing Rainbow’s head to snap back. “And spending the rest of eternity starving her stomach away into a bottomless pit! Oh how awful that would be!”

Rainbow Dash rubbed her face, trying to regain herself. Pinkie had rushed to her supplies, grabbed a cupcake from one of her bags, and quickly moved back to Rainbow.

“Luckily we got here in time and Rainbow Dash won’t be starving away a bottomless pit. I managed to bake enough goods to last her FOREVER!” Before Rainbow Dash could recover, Pinkie shoved the cupcake in her mouth.

“And of course, the journey of a thousand miles must not be attained without the proper attire,” Rarity said as she motioned a hoof towards her cart. One of the bags was holding items outside of it as if she ran out of room. “I assure you that you won’t be anywhere without what you’ll need. Well, almost…”

Rainbow Dash, with her mouth full of a cupcake, took another glance at those carts. The amount of cargo that they had packed for her was flattering, but ridiculous for what she was doing. She had to spit out the cupcake in her mouth, blowing it away piece by piece.

“Guys, I said I was most likely gonna be gone for a few days, not for a ever,” Rainbow Dash said bluntly, purposely misusing her words.

Suddenly, a loud steam engine blew behind Rainbow Dash, scaring a large flock of birds away. The train had arrived at the station. "IT'S HERE!" Pinkie said, wasting no time in picking bags and rushing them inside the train while a few feathers from those birds slowly fell to the station.

“Oh contraire, Darling, you can never be too careful,” Rarity continued the previous conversation. While she ranted, Rainbow Dash just walked to one of the bags that had items outside of it. “If only you had told us sooner, I’d have had more time to prepare your things.” Rainbow Dash picked up the flight goggles that was on that bag, examining it shortly before placing it in her own. “I could’ve had time to design the umbrellas, or the helmets,... or the gas masks, or the space suits, or the-”

“Uh, Rarity…” Applejack interrupted Rarity’s train of out loud thoughts, as she would call them. “Rainbow Dash is travelin’ across seas. Why would she need a space suit?”

“For traveling across seas of course,” Rarity replied, pushing one locke of her mane up and down. “While searching designs and dresses on one of Twilight’s books, one page mentioned a space suit is much needed to travel the deepest of seas. But it looked so complicated, I couldn’t find enough time to stitch that with the rest of her necessities.” Applejack glanced to where Twilight was with a conked up eye.

“...Twilight, what’s she talkin’ about?”

Twilight however was in front of the entrance of the train, talking with Rainbow Dash, both not only ignoring the odd conversation the others were having, but also ignoring the pink blur that zipped in and out of the train’s entrance.

“Well, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight started as she lit up her horn. “I was able to find a map of the islands’ layout from where you’re headed.” Twilight used her magic to place the rolled up map inside Rainbow’s bag. “But that was all I could find. You’ll have to explore them yourself to make sure they’re a right habitat for the birds.”

“Not a problem!” Rainbow said with a wave of her hoof. “With this map, it’ll be a sinch. I’ll find that habitat and be back before you know it.” Rainbow turned away and took out the private train ticket for the conductor to see. He took a second to examine it before he motioned his hoof inwards, confirming the ticket’s approval. Rainbow Dash headed inside. The other ponies who were waiting for the train started walking in as well.

______________________________________________________________________________

The loud sound of a steaming whistle signaled the train’s departure. Rainbow Dash looked out of one of the windows from her private room. She saw her five friends waving good bye as the train moved. She waved back at them.

“Don’t worry guys! I won’t let you down! That habitat is bound to be out there, and I’m gonna find it! Later!” Rainbow said. The others let out their hollers.

“Good bye, Darling!” Rarity said.

“Come back in one piece!” Applejack said.

“When you get back, we’re gonna party like animals!” Pinkie said, springing herself in the air.

“Good luck!” Twilight said.

The six friends continued to wave at each other as the train moved. But something odd struck Rainbow Dash again. She looked back to the mountain of bags that had been placed in her private room. Then she looked back at her friends, more specifically at Fluttershy. She was smiling and waving just like the rest of her friends, but she had been awfully quiet lately.

Too quiet.

Author's Note

--
Hope you enjoyed reading.

Find any typo's or grammar errors? Please notify.

Feedback and criticism are appreciated.

Chapter 3: The Journey Begins

Many hours had passed since the train departed from Ponyville. Ponies looking outside could see the many different landscapes they passed by, ranging from forests, canyons, and even other towns. The train even took a stop to Appleloosa, dropping off many passengers before it continued its travels.

Now the train was passing over the mountains, heading to the edge of Equestria. The temperature shifted considerably to the warmth that the birds needed. But the trees they passed by were already filled with nests, containing either eggs or other birds. Some of them even flew by the train.

Fluttershy smiled as one hummingbird closed its distance to the train. She held out her hoof for it to land on. When it did, it started singing a carefree tune to which Fluttershy joined in with. The hummingbird was easily joyed by Fluttershy’s caring nature. They continued to sing their happy tunes under the sunset over the horizon.

“Fluttershy, I hope you don’t mind a little rain, because we don’t have umbrellas.” Fluttershy blinked her eyes when Rainbow Dash said that. The hummingbird that was on her hoof had already flapped away.

“R-rain?” Fluttershy asked as she looked towards the skies in the direction they were going. That wasn’t a sunset she was witnessing. There was a large cluster of clouds in the sky, blocking out the sun’s view. And they were heading towards it.

Fluttershy brought her head back inside the train, taking notice of the two bag piles that their friends brought. Some of them had been opened and moved. While they were traveling, they had helped themselves to some of the delicious treats that Pinkie baked for them. But now Rainbow Dash had searched Rarity’s pile for anything to use.

“Yeah, and it looks like we’ll be caught in it when we arrive at the station,” Rainbow Dash said, answering Fluttershy’s earlier question. Fluttershy walked over to the bags from Rarity’s pile while the room dimmed darker due to the sun disappearing behind increasingly thicker clouds.

“Doesn’t Rarity have anything we can use?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well, you can check if you’d like, but I couldn’t find anything,” Rainbow answered. Fluttershy went ahead and searched the bags, unzipping them or searching through their openings.

Rainbow Dash was right. The items that were in Rarity’s bags ranged from swimming gears, flight goggles, sleeping bags, and for some reason life jackets and parachutes as well. In her hurry, Rarity must’ve put her priorities on safety for traveling through seas, but briefly forgot who she was giving the safety to.

“I can’t find anything either,” Fluttershy concluded her search.

“Well then -” Rainbow Dash tossed a small bag to Fluttershy, to which Fluttershy caught in her hooves, “- get yourself prepared for everything else.”

Fluttershy looked to the two different piles of bags, one question in her mind. “Rainbow Dash, how are we going to carry all of this with us?” she asked.

“We’re not,” Rainbow Dash answered bluntly, causing Fluttershy to twitch back.

“W-what? B-but they worked so hard to prepare these for us.”

“I would’ve told them not to had I known they’d go through this much.” The insides of the train continued growing darker as they neared the station.

“But Rainbow-”

“Look, Fluttershy, if you can figure out a way for us to carry all of this, then we will. Otherwise, we have no other choice.”

Fluttershy jittered her voice as she thought, but that was like planning a trip for moving out of a house to live somewhere else. She couldn’t come up with anything that didn’t involve them having to take another trip back to Ponyville. “T-then, what are we going to do with them?”

“We’ll just tell the conductor to send them to an orphanage or something. I don’t know.” Rainbow Dash searched her hooves through some of the bags. “At least their work will be used to help those who need it more.” Rainbow Dash grabbed what she was looking for and flew to Fluttershy. “Here, grab anything else you need and we’re outta here,” she finished as she held a pair of flight goggles in front of Fluttershy, to which Fluttershy took and placed in the small bag she received earlier.

They continued searching through both piles, grabbing any items they could use and fit in their small ones, including some wrapped or boxed food.

______________________________________________________________________________

The train had arrived at the station. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy exited the station, each taking one bag of prepared supplies and leaving the rest. They placed their flight goggles on, intending to fly to their next destination, but Fluttershy hesitated when she saw what she would be flying through.

The skies were dark due to the heavy clouds, making it look like it was night time. Strong winds blew against them while the thunderclaps made their presence. Fluttershy squeaked at the loud sounds, lowering her shivering body. It was a lot colder outside now, and the winds weren’t helping.

“I can’t fly through that,” Fluttershy hesitantly said as she took another peak in the distance. The lightning flashes briefly illuminated the numerous buildings that this town held. No pony else was outside but them. All the citizens must’ve taken refuge inside the buildings.

Rainbow Dash silently grunted at the sight of the rain coming from the distance. Fluttershy whimpered when she noticed them too. Despite having flight goggles on, she found herself too afraid to keep her sights straight. Her shivering grew more intense the closer that rain got. She lowered her body, dropped her gaze, and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for that rain to start tumbling down on her. It went darker, and she continued to wait.

But then Fluttershy realized the rain was already pouring down, but not as much as she thought. She opened one eye to look. It was pouring down all around her. Making a questioning noise escape her, she let both of her eyes open, and noticed what it was.

One of Rainbow Dash’s wings was extended over Fluttershy’s head, covering most of her lowered body from the rain. Fluttershy was being somewhat protected from the rain, but she could see Rainbow Dash rapidly getting soaked.

“Come on, Fluttershy! We gotta move!” Rainbow Dash shouted through the piercing sounds of the rain storm. She bumped Fluttershy with her hind leg, signaling her to move right when Rainbow did. They started running through the streets of the town. Thankfully most of the buildings’ lights were still on, helping them see where they were going. Rainbow Dash made sure to keep her wing protecting Fluttershy as they ran.

“But Rainbow Dash, where are we going?” Fluttershy asked as she kept up. Their hooves left multiple splashes along the puddles that formed due to the rain, making it harder for them to run.

“We need to get to the other side of town before the storm gets any worse!” Rainbow Dash yelled through the storm. Another flash of lightning flashed, the thundering boomed in their ears. Fluttershy screamed and shut her eyes, but still kept running.

“B-but, shouldn’t we find shelter?!” Fluttershy cried.

“Just keep running, Fluttershy!”

The two pegasi continued running despite all the rain pouring down. Fluttershy was getting protected by most of the rain thanks to that cyan wing, but Rainbow Dash was getting completely drenched. Fluttershy could hear a shivered grunt coming from her friend as they stopped at an intersection.

“Rainbow Dash! We need to find shelter!” Fluttershy attempted to move away from Rainbow Dash in order to search, but Rainbow Dash stopped her.

“We have to keep moving, Fluttershy!”

“But Rain-”

“GO!” Rainbow Dash bumped Fluttershy with her back legs again to get her to move. Fluttershy squeaked, but wasted no hesitation to keep moving with Rainbow Dash, still being protected by her wing.

Lightning continued flashing while the wind continued tossing the rain around. Fluttershy kept getting splashed by small droplets of water, but it was nothing compared to how much water was hitting Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy could barely see through the goggles she wore. She was increasingly getting worried.

“You’re pushing yourself too hard, Rainbow!” Fluttershy continuously attempted to stop themselves so they could find shelter. But that was when Rainbow Dash looked back at her with a fierce glare. The flash from the lightning made them easily visible through those soaked goggles.

“Fluttershy! Don’t worry about me! Just listen to me and keep running!” Fluttershy’s shivering was suddenly sparked by fear instead of the cold. Their adventure hadn’t started yet, and they were already facing a tough challenge. Fluttershy attempted to still struggle, but Rainbow Dash had gripped her with her wing in a way that made it too difficult for her to stop running. She was left with no choice but to listen to Rainbow Dash.

But soon, Fluttershy found the answer to where they were going. Rainbow Dash had led them to one of the stretched buildings, making no hesitation of opening the door and rushing inside. The doors immediately closed behind them, sealing all the rain outside. The two pegasi collapsed with a thud, panting heavily.

Fluttershy managed to recover first, hastily picking herself up and out of the grip from Rainbow’s wing. “Oh goodness! Oh goodness!” she panicked, quickly removing her goggles and bags before tossing them aside. She hastily shook herself to rid some of the water on her body before looking at Rainbow Dash. She couldn’t see much due to the lack of light, but the lightning gave her a clear view of the state her friend was in.

Rainbow Dash lied on the floor, panting slowly and completely soaked from head to tail. Water hastily slid away from her lying body. Her eyes squeezed shut while her breaths jittered. She must’ve been freezing.

Fluttershy searched the dark room that she was in for something to dry or cover Rainbow Dash. The first thing she could see was the curtains from the nearby windows. Without thinking, she yanked one of them off their hinges and rushed it to her friend.

“Rainbow Dash! Are you okay? Ohhhh…” Fluttershy removed the bag and goggles off of Rainbow Dash so that she could cover her soaked friend with the curtains as best she could, making sure her wings were securely tucked to her sides in the process. The flashes of lightning didn’t startle Fluttershy anymore because she was more worried about Rainbow’s condition. Taking a few glances around the room again, she saw what looked like a fireplace. Gasping, she knew immediately that she had to get Rainbow Dash there. She wrapped her hooves around the sides of Rainbow Dash and fluttered her wings.

“Oh, please be okay, Rainbow Dash, please!” Rainbow Dash just shivered in Fluttershy’s grip. She felt so cold and wet, even through the curtains covering her, but it wasn’t too difficult for Fluttershy to get her in front of the fireplace.

Fluttershy found that the fireplace was already prepared with logs. There was a bellow to the side with a button right next to it, which she pressed. Pressing the button released a small flame within the fireplace to fall onto the logs, starting a small fire. Fluttershy pumped the bellow up and down, blowing its fumes to feed the flames so that it could burn brighter. She didn’t stop until the fire was big enough so that she could feel the intense heat warming her coat.

Rainbow Dash’s shivering was settling down due to the heat from the flames, and her breathing became steady. Fluttershy took a sigh of relief, knowing that her friend was going to be okay. She walked back over to her. Using her hooves, she rubbed along Rainbow Dash’s back, warming and drying all of the wet and cold her body had suffered. Fluttershy was shivering, not because of the cold, but in fear of what her friend endured.

“Rainbow Dash, please don’t do something like that again.” Rainbow’s ears twitched up when Fluttershy started speaking. “If we’re going out to places we don’t know, we shouldn’t be so reckless.”

Fluttershy paused for a second, while the sparking ember sounds of the fire filled the silence. She continued to rub Rainbow Dash, but looked away before she continued. “You need to be more considerate about your abilities and know when to stop… I mean, look at yourself.” Rainbow Dash’s shivering intensified. “If I hadn’t been there to help… who knows what could’ve happened to you. I know you like to challenge yourself, but that’s no reason to push yourself to, AHH!”

Fluttershy felt something tug hard at one of the locks of her mane, dragging her head down right next to Rainbow Dash’s. She could hear a low growling while she struggled to keep her balance. The growling of course, came from Rainbow Dash.

“...Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash started in what sounded like a hushed and pained yell. “I wasn’t… pushing myself so hard to be reckless…” Her tone suddenly raised. “I was pushing myself for your sake!”

Rainbow Dash tugged Fluttershy’s mane harder, causing her to squeak at the same time lightning flashed again. Fluttershy’s mane was suddenly released from Rainbow’s grip, causing Fluttershy’s head to thrust back.

“Ngh… what?” Fluttershy asked, placing a hoof on her lock.

“When we were out there rushing through that storm, what options did we have?! Finding shelter? What were the chances we would find one closer than this that could actually hold, huh?” Fluttershy tried to answer, but could only stutter. “If we didn’t keep moving, we both could’ve been stuck in that storm, and you would be hurt as well. What would we do then?”

Fluttershy’s ears fell flat as she realized what she had assumed. Regret filled her heart, making a few tears present in her eyes. “I-I…” She tried so hard to speak.

“When you’re out there in the face of danger, you don’t have time to think. You take any moment to stop moving and you’re done for.” Rainbow Dash struggled to lift herself up a few inches to turn her face towards Fluttershy, who had tears dripping out of her eyes. “Even when traveling harsh lands or weather. If you don’t keep moving, you won’t make it.”

Fluttershy had to face away, whimpering as the tears escaped her eyes. “I-I’m so sorry... I had no idea...” Rainbow Dash’s anger started fading away at the sight of Fluttershy’s display of sadness. “I should’ve realized... you were pushing yourself for my sake...” Her mind flashed back to the fierce winds blowing rain all over them both as they ran. “I thought you were… I mean… oh…” A flash of lightning occurred. “I’m so sorry… Rainbow Dash!”

Fluttershy rubbed one of her eyes with her hoof, attempting to suppress the tears that were pouring out. She was just trying to be considerate and watch out for Rainbow Dash. But Rainbow Dash was the one protecting her, and she just assumed poorly. She now wished she hadn’t tried opening up and speaking her concerns.

Rainbow Dash made a soft grunted snort seeing Fluttershy’s display, letting her expression falter. She didn’t like seeing Fluttershy upset like this. She lifted a hoof from out of the curtains that held her body warm, shakily moving it to stroke the lock of hair that she pulled earlier.

“H-hey, don’t worry about it,” Rainbow said through her shivers. The cold that her coat was suffering became apparent again after she settled her temper. But the stroking her hoof did on the lock seemed to be calming Fluttershy down. She stopped her whimpering and looked at Rainbow Dash, those eyes no longer pouring more tears. “You're okay at least, and that's all that matters."

Fluttershy found it difficult to look at her friend. It almost felt like some of the cooled embers of the fire somehow landed on her cheeks. "But... what... about..." She couldn't form her words straight while Rainbow Dash laid back down, looking at the fire.

"H-hey, Fluttershy?" Rainbow started, shifting Fluttershy's attention back to her. "Can you keep doing what you were doing earlier? I-I'm still cold..." A short pause later, and Fluttershy's ears perked back up.

"Of course, Rainbow Dash," she said with a smile, continuing her little warmth massage on Rainbow's back. Not even the lightning outside could disturb Fluttershy's motions with her hooves. She could hear Rainbow Dash moaning silently.

Normally Rainbow Dash was not one to show such a soft side to her. Fluttershy had to wonder if Rainbow even realized she was doing it. But if she found out, she might have a repeat of what happened in the train earlier, even though it seemed like not such a big deal. But, Fluttershy realized a question she had that might distract the moment.

“Rainbow Dash?” The sound of her voice made Rainbow flinch, but Fluttershy continued. “What is this place?” she finished while looking around, but keeping her hooves rubbing up and down her friend’s back.

Rainbow Dash’s body settled down when the question reached her ears. “It’s an adventure shack. Ponies use it when they are getting ready to cross the border outside of Equestria.”

“Oh, I see.” Now that Fluttershy got a good look at her surroundings, she could make out in the darkness that the furniture was more simple and convenient than it was in looks. Only one couch right next to a window with a cabinet right next to it. Besides the fireplace, she couldn’t tell if the shack had any lights, but it looked like it had a kitchen.

Before she could look further into it, something clicked in Fluttershy’s mind. “But wait... aren’t most ponies too afraid to cross the border? Isn’t it dangerous like the Everfree Forest?”

Rainbow Dash hummed to herself before answering. “Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe that’s why nopony’s been using this.” Rainbow Dash closed her eyes as she concentrated on the relaxing massage her friend was giving her. “Hay, I wasn’t even planning on using this either.” The comment made Fluttershy’s ears drop, realizing what it implied.

“O-oh…” Fluttershy whispered and slowed her motions. Rainbow noticed the shift in the massage and realized what she said.

“H-hey, don’t get any seconds thoughts now about being a burden, Fluttershy,” Rainbow said, turning herself to Fluttershy and putting a hoof on her shoulder. “As long as you just listen to me, you won’t slow me down, okay?”

Fluttershy wasn’t too sure about that. She wondered if Rainbow Dash really meant that as long as she listened, Rainbow wouldn’t get mad at her even if she did slow Rainbow down. She tried not to falsely assume like she did earlier, but she couldn’t help herself smiling at the thought. Even without assuming, it would still involve listening to Rainbow anyway.

“Okay,” Fluttershy replied.

______________________________________________________________________________

The next morning saw the light of day with clear skies. No more rain to ruin such a nice heated weather. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stood at the edge of the shack’s rooftop, looking far into the distance of where they would be headed.

“Wow…!” Fluttershy whispered in awe as she admired the large ocean view. It looked like there wasn’t a single cloud for miles, only the light blue sky that looked like it could mix in with the sea, but the ocean waves and ripples made them stand out.

“Mmh…” Rainbow Dash relaxed herself in the gentle breeze, cooling down the heat from the sun. The ocean waves was like music to her ears. For something that gave her chills thinking about the other day, it was much more majestic than she thought it would be.

“Get used to the view, Fluttershy, because we’re gonna be seeing this for a while,” Rainbow Dash said, breaking the somewhat silence in the air.

“Rainbow Dash, are you sure you’re well enough to fly right now?” Fluttershy asked, thinking back to Rainbow Dash’s condition last night.

“Yeah. Thanks to that shot, I didn’t catch anything.”

“Shot?” Fluttershy asked, looking to her friend.

“Yeah. Since pegasi in the weather team are gonna be creating the harsh cold weather, they’re gonna be dealing with it a lot, and most likely get sick.” Rainbow Dash reached into her bag. “That’s why the pegasi in the weather team have to take shots before they start their weather team duties.” After searching for a bit, she managed to pull the map out that Twilight gave her. “I don’t like taking it, but I’d rather have it than get sick.”

Rainbow Dash took a look at the map with Fluttershy standing close to her to see as well.

“Hmm… it looks like the dragons lair would be west from here.” Fluttershy cringed while her eyes shrunk.

“D-dragons?!”

“Hey, chill out Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash hastily replied, tapping Fluttershy’s back. “Heheh… we’re not going there. We want to avoid that place.” Fluttershy sighed in relief of that. She completely forgot for a moment that the whole reason they were taking this trip was to find a new habitat for the birds in Ponyville.

“It looks like we should start our search a little east from here,” Rainbow Dash said as she rolled the map up and placed it back in her bag. She started walking to the left side of the rooftop with Fluttershy following close behind. They appeared to be heading towards a long runway that pointed towards the sea.

Fluttershy wanted to question so badly why it was pointing in the direction of the dragons lair. But she couldn’t tell if it really was pointing there, or if that was just her mind playing tricks on her. She swallowed her question down, knowing that they weren’t going there anyway.

They stopped at the starting point of the runway. Rainbow Dash stretched her body around, making a few pops with her wings and legs to ready them for the journey they were about to go on. Fluttershy took a few deep breaths, relaxing her nerves and any second thoughts she might have. She even reached into her bag to take a sip of water in the canteen she brought.

“Ready Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash asked. Fluttershy took another look through her bag, making sure she didn’t forget anything important. Fresh food and water, along with a few other tools such as a hoof held fan. Rainbow Dash packed differently from Fluttershy, but together they both had what they mostly needed for the trip.

“Mhm, ready,” Fluttershy answered with a nod. Both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took out their flight goggles and strapped them on.

“Remember, we don’t know how long we’ll be flying, so let me know whenever you need to rest.”

“Okay.” Fluttershy nodded again.

“Alright, let’s go!”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy started galloping across the runway. The runway was long, and Rainbow made sure to keep her pace steady with Fluttershy’s so that they could stay together.

“Spread your wings!” Rainbow Dash commanded. Fluttershy spread her wings in sync with Rainbow Dash’s. They kept running along the runway, getting close to the end of it. Fluttershy waited until Rainbow’s next command.

“Aaand, jump!” The two pegasi leaped as soon as they got to the edge. They dove head first towards the water, keeping their hooves forward and wings straight behind them to slice through the winds. Fluttershy was getting nervous, but she followed what Rainbow Dash did. The water in front of them was closing in.

“Release!” Fluttershy shifted her wings in sync with Rainbow Dash. Their dive stopped quickly just above the sea, gliding fast along the winds. Their shift left a large wave of water to splash along their path. They started flapping their wings to increase their altitude and change their direction. Thanks to the speed they gained from that dive, they were able to fly at great speeds even while they increased their altitude.

Fluttershy was amazed at the speed she was able to pull off. She was flying even faster than she ever did at the Equestria Games. And even then, she wasn’t even putting as much effort into her wings.

When Fluttershy looked behind her, she could only sigh in awe at how far they had already traveled. They were now above cloud level, if there were clouds around, and within a minute, they had flown a distance that a casual flight for Fluttershy would take probably ten minutes to travel. She could barely make out the shack they were in earlier from this distance.

“Cool your jets, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said, placing a hoof around the back of Fluttershy’s neck. “We don’t wanna burn off too much energy. Keep a steady pace and stick close to me so that we don’t lose each other.”

Fluttershy smiled and nodded, letting her limbs relax under her. Looking in front of them, all they could see was an endless ocean filled with waves and ripples, not a cloud in sight. She hoped that they would see them soon though. Without any clouds, they wouldn’t be able to take a break from their flying.

But for now, Fluttershy had plenty of time to admire the amazing sight before her. She could tell that Rainbow Dash was enjoying it too. They may have been on a mission, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy themselves while on it. And it was all thanks to Rainbow Dash’s training that she could ever find so much joy with flying now. But for now, one fact remained.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy’s journey outside of Equestria, began now.

Author's Note

--
Find any errors? Please notify.

Feed back and criticism are appreciated.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 4: Meat Eating Pony?

The sea glistened with an awesome sparkle thanks to the reflection of the sun against their ripples. It was a sight Rainbow Dash could easily get used to. As much as she didn’t care about fashion, she had to admit that this was a beauty that she wish filled Equestria. It was so wide and so open, nothing but the heat of the sun and the cooling breeze in the air.

Of course, this didn’t distract Rainbow Dash from scanning everything while she flew. As much as she could just lose herself in this high sky flying, her eyes and ears were always staying in full alert. She listened to all of the wave patterns in the sea and even the sounds from the winds, listening for any changes. She could hear a larger wave coming from the left compared to every other direction, but it wasn’t a concern.

It was an essential part of flying to multitask like this. You never know when something unexpected will come up. Like that cloud right in front of Rainbow Dash. She swerved right around it while scanning the skies, not breaking her flight path.

Just as important as listening was, her eyes had to keep watch of both the skies and the ground. Rainbow Dash took out her sunglasses from her bag and placed them over her goggles. She took a look high in the skies, making notice of the position of the sun. Based on its position, it had been a few hours since they had took flight, and the temperature had risen considerably to Summer levels.

Thankfully many small clouds now filled the skies around them. So if they ever needed a break, they could use those clouds, provided they behaved. But Rainbow Dash would make sure they behaved. Even if they were like the Everfree Forest clouds and moved on their own, they could still be manipulated.

Rainbow Dash put away her sunglasses and looked down towards the sea. Down near sea level, she could see Fluttershy flying just inches above water. She could see a few fish popping their little heads out, some of them jumping out of the water and reaching just under Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves, chuckling and shaking her head. It was very typical of Fluttershy to be more interested in the critters living in the sea, rather than seeing the beauty of everything above. To Fluttershy's credit though, she seemed to be holding well with flying. But she still had a lot to learn. She was most likely closing her eyes and smiling while she was greeting the fish, even holding a hoof out to them. At least she was enjoying herself.

...Except Fluttershy had her eyes closed! Rainbow Dash gasped and immediately went to a dive when she noticed the sea area around Fluttershy darken. It just continued to grow darker, and Fluttershy was just greeting the fish.

“FLUTTERSHY!”

It was then that Fluttershy opened her eyes. “...Huh?” She almost went to look at Rainbow Dash, but noticed that the fish she had been greeting… were gone. Her eyes shot wide seeing that water grow so much darker. Her voice slowly tried to scream. It looked like something was coming out of that sea.

Rainbow Dash latched onto Fluttershy just as soon as something giant sprung above water, tossing large waves in its surroundings. Fluttershy screamed as soon as she saw that giant fish jump at her while Rainbow Dash dragged her away. She let out a yelp and pulled her tail away when that fish snapped at her, narrowly avoiding its jaws. Right after that miss, gravity took effect and pulled that giant fish back down into the ocean, creating a loud and large splash, bouncing water particles just below reach of the two pegasi.

Still flying forwards, Rainbow Dash watched the water carefully while keeping her hooves wrapped under Flutterhy’s forelegs despite her shivering. Rainbow Dash sighed in relief when the darkness in the water disappeared. She looked down at Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy! Never close your eyes when flying. That’s like, the most important rule!” Despite the lecture, Fluttershy was more worried about what she just saw.

“R-rainbow Dash, what… was that?” Fluttershy asked.

“Why are you asking me? You’re the animal expert.”

Maybe if Fluttershy had kept her eyes open, she could’ve recognized what it was, but she missed her chance. Rainbow Dash proceeded to let go of Fluttershy. But before her grip was released, Fluttershy had turned around to face Rainbow Dash, grasping her hooves on Rainbow.

“W-what if that thing comes back?”

“Fluttershy, you need to focus more on flying. That fish is long gone.” Rainbow Dash nudged her head towards the spot of the sea that fish came up from to exhilarate her point. “And as long as we’re up here, it can’t get you. But your safety depends entirely on your flying. You keep your eyes closed and you’ll never know when danger(“Lightnin’!”) will strike next...”

Rainbow Dash bobbed her head back when that voice registered in her mind.

“U-um… lightning will strike?” Fluttershy asked as her fear disappeared.

“What the… that wasn’t me.” Rainbow Dash stopped flying forwards while she pushed Fluttershy apart from her, allowing Fluttershy to work her own wings again. At the same time Rainbow Dash said ‘danger’, another voice said ‘lightnin’. She looked towards the direction that she heard that voice.

Rainbow Dash heard the lightning strike just when she saw it, and she found it hard to believe even. In the distance, there was a garden floating in the skies. There was a single tree in the garden with a house right next to it. And just on the edge of the garden, was a pony, holding what looked like a broom and waving it above, not even coming close to the clouds.

“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy put her hooves over her mouth when she saw the clouds above that garden piling up, blowing wind around the area. “Rainbow Dash?”

“Looks like that pony’s in trouble! Come on, Fluttershy!” Without waiting, Rainbow Dash flew ahead. Fluttershy had to follow behind.

While Rainbow Dash flew, she could hear some of the words coming from the pony. “Storms the whole lot of ya! Calm yerselves before my crops git blown away!”

Rainbow Dash noticed that more clouds were getting spurred on by wind and coming together. She didn’t have time to question why a pony was living out here or how one was even able to. She immediately dashed straight through the middle cloud that was attempting to pull the others together. She then turned around for another strike, busting another cloud right next to the previous.

“Wow…” Fluttershy watched in awe as the rainbow streak blurred around the sky, clearing the clouds with each pass and with ease. There was a reason why Rainbow Dash was captain of the weather team, and this was just one of them.

She saw Rainbow Dash make one more pass, only to stop as soon as she struck the last cloud, dissipating it into thin air.

“Woohoo,” Fluttershy proceeded to cheer in her usual soft way. “Rainbow Dash, that was amazing,” she said as she flew over to her.

“Aw yeah! Doesn’t matter where they’re from. Clouds are clouds and I can handle them as easy as ever!”

“You sure can!”

The two pegasi each thrusted a hoof forward and collided with each others, hoof bumping with a spark in all their passion.

“Whooo doggy!” Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy turned their attention to the pony on the floating ground that spoke. “Ah ain’t naver seen a fancier light show in all ma years!”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy descended their altitude to land on the ground and greet this pony. “Actually, that wasn’t a light show, that was-” Rainbow Dash was interrupted by a face shoving very close to her own.

“Oh nature’s glory, it’s been ages since Ah had any company!” She proceeded to shake Rainbow’s hoof quickly before suddenly moving to Fluttershy and doing the same. “Where y’all from? Oh ya must be travelers. I can just imagine how hard it must be!”

“Well… um…” Before Fluttershy could respond, the pony zipped away and turned towards what was probably her garden.

“Oh, Ah’d have to check if ma crops managed. Harvesting will come and go in a flash, just like that storm.”

If Rainbow Dash wasn’t confused enough by this pony’s ranting, it was when she got a good look at this pony that did her in. She was a yellow pony with pink eyes and green hair. She was wearing a white sun hat and what appeared to be a saddle with cloth that stretched like a dress, just past the base of her hind legs and hiding where her cutie mark would be.

But the most distinguishing feature that Rainbow Dash noticed was the lack of wings. No horn, but the wing part was what confused her. This pony was an Earth Pony, living in the skies. She couldn’t figure out why or how this pony was living here. But then she remembered. This was where some ponies were banished to.

“R-rainbow Dash… where are we?” Fluttershy stuttered, snapping Rainbow Dash out of her trance.

“Where? Mmm…” Rainbow Dash reached into her bag and pulled out her map.

“Ooh, y’all have a map!” The other pony suddenly zipped very close to Rainbow’s map. Rainbow instinctively moved her map away and flared her wings while stepping away from, whoever this pony was. It also didn't help that this pony kept trying to close her distance between her and the map. “So ya are travelers! What a pleasan’ surprise! Ah must say, ya stopped inta the righ’ place!”

“Cool it lady! We’re not-”

“Oh, ya can jus’ call me Anch!” the pony interrupted. “But Ah insist! A couple of travelers like yerselves are more than welcome in my parts.” Anch then jumped over the two pegasi, landing towards the house. “Well come on. The harvest may grow but time sure don’t. That storm could come back and ruin the feast.”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy gave each other a confused look. “Feast?” they asked simultaneously.

“Well do Ah have ta spell it out for ya? Young travelers have ta eat too ya know.” Anch proceeded to open the door to the house and walk inside. “They all need ta remember ta eat once in a while.”

As the door closed off, the air filled with silence, leaving Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy standing still and unsure of themselves. They looked at each other again.

“...Did she just offer us lunch?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I… think so,” Fluttershy responded, looking back at the house with a smile. “She seemed nice.”

“She was nutty in the head,” Rainbow conked herself on the head as she said that. She proceeded to unfold her map and lay it on the ground to figure out where they were.

“We should accept her offer,” Fluttershy said as she walked next to Rainbow Dash and sat down. “It would be rude if we don’t, especially if she hasn’t had any guests in a while.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Maybe there’s a reason she hasn’t had many guests.” She tried to focus her eyes on the map. She expected Fluttershy to do what she does best and be nice to everypony. But as nice as she was, there were ponies who could take advantage of that. And in a place where banished ponies roamed in, that would be very likely to happen. But that was just one more reason why Fluttershy was so shy with ponies she didn’t know.

Rainbow’s thoughts were interrupted when a yellow hoof was placed on the map. “Maybe she knows about an island with a type of forest that we’re looking for.” When Fluttershy said that, Rainbow stopped trying to scan the map and brought her attention to Fluttershy.

“G-oood enough point,” Rainbow said as she rolled the map back up. “Hey, maybe she can tell you all about that fish you know nothing about,” she finished with a smug grin.

Fluttershy’s ears dropped while her face flushed. “...Raaiiinboow!”

______________________________________________________________________________

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy removed their goggles as they entered the house, dropping their bags near the front door. It looked like a pretty small place. The living room and the kitchen didn’t have any walls separating them, making it pretty easy to find Anch, who seemed to already be cooking up... whatever it was she was cooking. But she, wasn’t currently on their mind right now.

“Ugh… what is that smell?” Rainbow snarled.

“Oh! Y’all decided to come!” Anch looked over her shoulder and pointed to a table at a center corner in the room. “Git yerselves comfortable right on over there and Ah’ll be with ya in a flam.”

Just as the two pegasi were taking their seats right next to each other, a loud clang of metal colliding with each other sounded. Rainbow and Fluttershy winced and covered their ears while the sound waves rustled their coats. They didn’t release until they were sure the sound went away.

“Nngh… Ah!” they yelped simultaneously, seeing Anch already on the opposite side of the table as soon as they brought their heads up.

“So, what brings you gals by this neck of the seas? It must’ve been tough getting through that storm,” Anch started up.

“Mmm… well, getting here has been the toughest thing on our journey so far,” Rainbow responded, rubbing her ears.

“Is that so? Where’re you from then?”

“Oh, we’re from Equ-oof!” Rainbow hit Fluttershy on her side, interrupting her speech.

“We don’t have a home,” Rainbow replied, then brought her head close to Fluttershy, who was rubbing her side. She whispered in Fluttershy’s ear. “Remember, if ponies banished from Equestria are sent here, we don’t want them knowing where we’re from.”

“Orphans? Well shoot me an egg cloud. Two sisters workin’ together and traveling the land, hopin’ to find a new home.”

“Well actually, we’re not looking for a… wait, huh?” Rainbow suddenly stopped herself when one word registered to her. She looked at Fluttershy, who looked back with the same confused expression.

“Sisters?” they asked simultaneously.

“Oh, you don’t have to hide nothin’ from me,” Anch continued. “Those colors of yers work too well together to be differen’. Not ta mention y’all must have a lot of trust in each other to be travelin’ alone.”

Rainbow and Fluttershy looked at each other again, not sure how to respond. Rainbow would ask what in Equestria was Anch talking about, if they were still in Equestria.

“Look, we’re trying to find an island with a forest. You know anything about it?” Rainbow asked.

“A forest ya say? Why would ya be lookin’ fer one a those?” Anch replied.

There was a pause before Fluttershy replied. “...So that… we could… live in it?” As weird as that answer may have sounded, it was probably better than anything else, without saying the real reason anyway.

“Are y’all serious? Y’all come across a nice covered shack in a tin can like this and ya prefer livin’ in a flashy forest?” Rainbow and Fluttershy exchanged ‘uh’s before Anch continued. “Ah well, the land’s as blue as the skies. Makes me wonder what other crazy clouds can be lived in.”

Rainbow Dash could only bob her head back at the response. There were so many things wrong with these sentences, yet this pony managed to guess Rainbow’s home by coincidence.

"If I may ask, how did you end up here?" Fluttershy decided to ask. Anch seemed to go into a deep thought though.

"Ya know, Ah'm not quite sure maself. One mornin' I was harvestin' food like Ah always did. Next mornin', here Ah am." Rainbow and Fluttershy's eyes shrunk when hearing this.

"D-did you see anypony when you were sent here?" Fluttershy asked carefully.

"I'm not sure. I remember yellin' goin' on, that's fer sure."

A bad omen filled the air. Was what they were thinking true?

"But ever since that fateful day, life has been as peachy as a tree’s bark!" Anch continued.

"Huh?" Another simultaneous response.

"With no more mouths ta feed, Ah've been as free as a fish out of water, feeling the nice sunshine and air all to maself."

Rainbow Dash had to press her hooves on her head to prevent herself from getting a migraine. How did any of these statements make any sense at all?

"Sure it gets lonely when it's nice and quiet, but every once in a while, Ah git visits from travelers just beggin' fer ma crops. They're all little dogs, and after they've had their fill, they leave with their bags of em, thanking me for cooperating." A bell sounded. "Ooh! That must be the soup. Don't y'all go anywhere none!"

Besides the work being done in the kitchen, there was silence across the table. Rainbow Dash's nerves caused her to scratch herself around her neck. Something didn't feel right. It sounded like this pony, Anch, was banished, but for what reason? The only thing she found Anch guilty of so far was defying all logic in her sentences. But why would that be it? Celestia would never banish somepony for being an idiot. Maybe she was dangerously stupid?

No. There had to be a real reason for this. But Anch just wasn't making much sense at all. Maybe she remembered things wrong. She could've meant anything.

Rainbow’s thoughts were interrupted when a new smell came into the air. The smell was too conflicting though. Something smelled good, but at the same time, it made her want to gag. It looked like Fluttershy was thinking the same thing. Her face twitched like she was smelling something good, but at the same time, she wasn’t. Suddenly, the source of the smell clanged right in front of them.

“Soup’s up gals,” Anch said, referring to the bowls of soup she had apparently thrown onto the table. She had one held on hoof as well, which she was sniffing into. “Ahh, that there smell never gits old. Feels like only yesterday when Ah blew a carcass first time Ah made this. But then Ah took that first taste, it was like nature’s golden egg.”

Anch started sipping into her soup, unbothered by that strange smell it was giving off. Rainbow Dash stared at the contents of the orange soup in front of her, not sure what to make of it. Small chunks seemed to be floating on its surface, but she couldn’t tell what it was. There was a bubble that bloated around it. When it popped, it released a fog that she was sure filled the air with more of that smell.

Fluttershy seemed to be just as nervous about the smell, but then she took a glance at Anch. Rainbow did so as well. If she was happily enjoying it, then it couldn’t be that bad. They both brought their bowls up to their faces. Slowly and steadily, Rainbow Dash let the liquid pour into her mouth. The taste was delightful at first. Nothing too special, but satisfying. And then, the taste of the chunks filling the soup became apparent.

Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide. Just when she thought she was liking it, an utter foul taste mixed in with the sweet one. The taste was so foul, she blew a hard spit take, gagging and nearly dropping her bowl.

She glanced at Fluttershy who seemed to be showing similar results after her sip, but instead of spitting it out, she was, for some reason chewing, along with trying to swallow. Rainbow saw a small lump go down her throat as her gagging went worse. Rainbow decided to bring her hoof out and smack the back of Fluttershy's head, causing Fluttershy to yelp and spit out her soup, ending her suffering gag.

"Ack! What is this soup?!" Rainbow asked with disgust.

Anch brought her head up from the soup and responded. "Why, it's ma favorite recipe, Caranch Soup!"

"Nnngh... Care… Anch?" Fluttershy asked while rubbing the back of her head. But then she gasped as if a realization struck her.

"Yeah, you know, Carrots and Anchovies? Caranch?"

As soon as Rainbow Dash heard that, she gasped as well. She had heard from Fluttershy that an anchovy was a type of fish! And Fluttershy just swallowed some of it!

Anch dug her hoof into the soup, pulling out a large chunk of the fish decorated with smaller chunks of a carrot that stuck to it. “There ain’t nothin’ tastier than a fried anchovy on a carrot.” She then sank her teeth into it. The sight of that greasy meat sinking within the teeth of that pony’s mouth made Rainbow Dash want to hurl.

That was when Anch’s attention went back to her soup, completely oblivious to Fluttershy's cheeks bloating while her face turned green. Rainbow Dash noticed this and immediately grabbed the trash can that was within reach from the table. She covered the open side over Fluttershy’s face, who instantly started vomiting in it while thrusting her body when it happened.

“Oh, that reminds me!” Anch suddenly said. But just before she brought her attention back at the pegasi, Rainbow Dash moved the trash can away and wrapped her forelegs around Fluttershy’s stomach, squeezing her to prevent more chunks from flying out of her mouth. Rainbow smiled sheepishly at Anch while Fluttershy tried her best to resist from vomiting more. Rainbow’s grip helped with that, despite her bloating.

“If y’all need to rest up, the guest’s room’s over there.” Anch pointed to the hallway, leading up stairs. “Feel free ta use anything ya need.”

At the sound of that offer, Rainbow Dash rushed Fluttershy up those stairs, taking the trash can with her.

Anch chuckled and shook her head. “Fillies these days forget when they’re hungry,” she said before continuing with her soup.

______________________________________________________________________________

Fluttershy was lying flat on a red and white checkerboard bed, being pressed against it with Rainbow Dash on top. Squeaks and whimpers left her wide open mouth as Rainbow Dash brushed the insides of it with a toothbrush, not caring whether she was brushing against the teeth or the walls. She scrubbed hard and fast, filling Fluttershy’s mouth with foam thick enough that it barely allowed her to even breathe.

Rainbow Dash removed the toothbrush suddenly and splashed a large cup of water over Fluttershy’s mouth and face, not caring that some water spilled on the bed. “I can’t believe you swallowed that! What were you thinking?!” Rainbow shouted, allowing Fluttershy a moment to swirl the water in her mouth before spitting it inside the trash can right next to them.

“*Pant*, I was only trying to be polite, ungh!” Fluttershy yelped and her limbs flinched when that toothbrush was shoved back in her mouth.

“Whll a loth of gooth thath didth to youth!” Rainbow Dash yelled through her muffles while brushing. She had to get out as much meaty content in Fluttershy’s mouth as she could. “Why wouth you swhllhw shmthing you ovihoushally dhn’t lhke?!”

Fluttershy could only respond with little squeaks that were garbled up by the rapid toothbrush. She thought that if Anch was enjoying it, then it wouldn’t be so bad. She didn’t expect something like this to happen. She would say that, but if it wasn’t the brushing that prevented her from saying anything, she wasn’t even sure if that was a good reason anymore.

“Brhce yohrshlf!” Rainbow Dash reached passed the uvula, causing Fluttershy to hiccup. Rainbow Dash yelped when she lost grip of the toothbrush due to Fluttershy accidentally swallowing the whole thing.

Fluttershy clutched her throat and expressed intense stuttered gasps when that toothbrush got lodged in her throat. Rainbow Dash panicked even more. She reacted quickly by punching both of her hooves against Fluttershy’s stomach, causing her body to thrust. Rainbow struck again, making Fluttershy produce a weak yelp at the strength of air being forcibly pressed out of her body. Another strike Rainbow Dash did and Fluttershy could feel the brush coming up her throat, her pupils shrinking more with each hit.

One final strike, and Fluttershy successfully coughed out the toothbrush, launching it straight in the air and coming to a stop as it stuck right through the ceiling.

Fluttershy gasped for air as her stomach started rumbling aggressively, something obviously coming up. She covered her mouth as her cheeks bloated to the point of nearly exploding. Rainbow Dash grabbed the trash can and dunked Fluttershy’s head inside of it. Fluttershy vomited loudly inside of it while her body thrusted aggressively.

Rainbow Dash beat against Fluttershy’s back, forcing as much content out of her stomach as she could. Fluttershy kept her eyes squeezed tightly. Neither she, nor Rainbow Dash wanted to see the mess she was making.

When the vomiting stopped, Fluttershy’s head was released from the can, lying back on the bed as she gasped for air again, but this time more calmly. She pressed her hooves against her throbbing neck, trying to ease her pain.

“...D-did I… get it out…?” Fluttershy said through her heavy panting. In the middle of one of her pants though, her cheeks bloated once again without warning. Rainbow Dash turned Fluttershy’s head over and covered the can around Fluttershy’s face again. The vomiting this time was more gentle and didn’t last as long. When the can was released, Fluttershy swallowed painfully and lied her head back on the bed.

“I think so,” Rainbow Dash said. “I hope so.” She grabbed a second large cup of water and let it pour into Fluttershy’s mouth, this time gently. “Gack! The taste is still in my mouth!” Rainbow shouted after filling Fluttershy’s mouth. When Fluttershy got her fill, Rainbow Dash poured that same cup into her own mouth, completely forgetting the other three of the five cups of water she prepared and stacked on the backboard of the bed. After her fill, she tossed the cup aside, water splashing across the room as a result. They both swirled it around their mouth before spitting it into the trash can.

“O-oohhh…” Fluttershy moaned in her pain, letting one hoof rest on her neck while her other was on the side of her rumbling stomach, too weak to move. Rainbow Dash decided to help out and rub Fluttershy’s belly, settling the pain down.

“Rainbow Dash, I don’t like this place. I want to get out of here.” If Fluttershy’s words didn’t express her fear, the agony in her voice did.

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy, as soon as you get better that is the first thing we’re doing,” Rainbow said as she brought her attention to the washroom, noticing what she ended up doing to it in her rush.

The sink had a faucet that looked broken off, but covered up with a rag. Except for the slight droplets that slipped past, the rag sealed most of the water from rushing out. The cabinet was open, but the items were knocked over or spilled on the floor, where large puddles of water were decorated.

“How is a pony like that even alive?” Rainbow Dash had to ask.

“I-I don’t know,” Fluttershy responded. “Ponies can’t eat meat. They aren’t…” She trailed off, but then her eyes widened when a realization struck her. “W-why was she banished?”

Rainbow Dash gasped when she remembered the story that… thing... told. “It happened one day when she was harvesting food.” A lump caught her throat when a thought came at the implication.

“Y-you don’t thi-i-ink…” Fluttershy could barely understand her own jittery voice. She was too scared to even say what she was thinking, but she knew Rainbow Dash was thinking the same thing. One thing was for sure though. Rainbow Dash spoke for her.

“We have to get out of here…”

Author's Note

--
Find any errors? Please notify.

Feed back and criticism are appreciated.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 5: Facing the Meat Eater

Sunset had arrived, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy hadn’t left the room since. But now would be the perfect time to. Fluttershy was asleep, most likely resting because she hadn’t fully recovered yet. Rainbow Dash felt like she needed to wake her up to get moving. There was no telling what would happen if they stayed any longer.

There was just one problem. They had to get their bags back, especially the map. So she let Fluttershy sleep for now while she went to retrieve them.

Rainbow Dash slowly opened the door leading out of the guest’s room, the creaking noise creating anxiety to her mind. When it was opened enough, she slipped through, looking across both sides of the hallway. One side held another door while the other held a set of stairs going down.

Obviously the stairs is where she wanted to go. The door probably led to that meat eating pony’s room. She still couldn’t believe the concept of that.

Instead of treading down the stairs, she flew down them, staying as close to the ceiling as possible, for she noticed a flickering light downstairs.

“...That pony is still awake?” Rainbow whispered to herself. This was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

Twisting herself upside down, Rainbow Dash stuck her hooves on the ceiling, keeping her wings flapping so that she would stick against it. She crawled herself to the lower floor, revealing the kitchen and the living room to her sights.

At the front door, she could see her and Fluttershy’s bags still there where they left them. But a few steps ahead of that, on the left center of the living room, was Anch, sitting by a fireplace and roasting what appeared to be an anchovy on a stick.

Rainbow Dash crept across the ceiling, keeping an eye on Anch as she passed by. It was difficult to do when Anch took the stick to her mouth and sunk her teeth deep within the scales of that fish. The sound of the greasy contents being squeezed into that pony’s mouth brought a horrifying image to Rainbow Dash’s mind. If she had to describe it, the only way she’d be able to was to say that a pony was eating their own kind, like a zombie.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. She had to focus. She had seen other creatures eating meat before, especially Fluttershy’s animals. She just had to think like that. Think like an animal, and that sight wouldn’t seem so bad.

She took another look at Anch, listening to the crunching sounds of the roasted fish being eaten. Now it was no more to her than a giant cat eating a fish. This thought relaxed her mind.

Rainbow was now above the front door, the bags in sight. Anch was still sitting at the fireplace, apparently humming to herself as she was eating the fish.

But then she began to talk. “Boy, howdy… It’s been a while since Ah changed the old fish diet. Got awful taste.” Rainbow Dash didn’t want to think about what she was talking about. She continued descending until she was within reach of the bags, carefully slipping them on with as little noise as possible.

When she got them strapped on her forelegs, she flew back up to the ceiling, concealing herself in the dark areas.

“Sure are nice though. Much nicer than the last batch. Bet they’ve already hit the hay.” Anch suddenly threw the stick into the fireplace, feeding the flames. The sight of Anch standing up made the hairs on Rainbow’s coat stand. She moved herself to a darker corner of the ceiling, hoping to stay concealed.

Rainbow watched Anch closely, noticing that she lifted a hoof off the ground, and then brought it down with force.

The entire house suddenly shook. Rainbow could hear and feel something thumping against the house. Something fell. It was thumping down like it was falling off stairs. She winced when the final loud thud came, nearly getting her hooves detached from the ceiling thanks to that shockwave. Thankfully her wings kept her pressed to the ceiling, despite flying upside down.

When the shaking settled, Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, noticing dust settle down from the kitchen. She gasped when a large rock appeared from that dust, blocking the hallway.

“Y’all are awake?!” Rainbow flinched and immediately turned to the speaker of that voice, Anch. Her cover was blown. “What are y'all doin’ with ma stuff?" she asked.

Rainbow Dash had no more reason to stay clung to the ceiling. She detached herself, landing in the kitchen. "First off, this isn't your stuff, it's mine," she started. "Second off, what did you just do?"

"Yer stuff? But those are the bags Ah use. I can tell, 'cause it had all these fluffy little munchies that were delicacies to tha... oh wait, Ah hated those things."

Rainbow Dash raised her eyebrow at that. She almost wanted to check if her ears were stuffed because she couldn't believe what she just heard. And she thought that in more than one way.

"But besides that, y'all shouldn' be awake at this time. It's unhealthy."

"What are you, my mom? And how could anypony be asleep after that!" Rainbow Dash yelled and pointed to the boulder blocking the hallways.

“Well, it would help if y’all was asleep, but fer some reason ya ain’t. Y’all wanna git sick? That’s what happens when ya spend too much time outside, and also why Ah prepared ma Caranch Soup.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes squinted and looked away in a dumbfound manner. “Sorry lady, thanks to my shot, I won’t be getting sick anytime soon.” Rainbow Dash paused for a second to absorb the non spoken confusion written on Anch’s face. “That, and I didn’t swallow your soup,” she finished, implying that Anch’s cooking would make her sick, despite it being true.

“Didn’t eat-! Wha!?” Anch’s voice suddenly filled with venom. “Oh, no no no... That jus’ will not do.” Anch’s words tripped but kept going. She reached her hoof to the side and grabbed one of the sticks from the fireplace that still had a fish roasting in it. “Won’t do at all.”

Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth nervously as the atmosphere around her suddenly felt darker. She reared back slowly with her wings flared as Anch walked towards her, pointing the fish at her with the stick.

“Big fillies have ta eat too ya know…” Anch continued with her dark tone.

“Whoa… c-calm down lady,” Rainbow Dash said, carefully choosing her words.

“Ya dare disrespect mother… Y’all need ta learn some manners.”

“I just wanna- gasp!” Anch suddenly threw the stick. Rainbow Dash yelped and twisted her body to the side to avoid it. The stick crashed and penetrated right through Anch’s oven, setting it ablaze.

That poor fish.

“Why did- ah!” Anch suddenly lunged at her with a pitch fork. She managed to dodge out of the way as Anch struck that fork to the ground. Anch let out a growl as she forced that fork out and swung at Rainbow Dash, tossing lumber around as well.

Rainbow Dash yelped again when the pitchfork barely scraped her tail as she sprung forward towards the front door. “Somepony takes her cooking way too seriously!” she said frantically as she tried to open the door, only for it to not budge. “Locked?! Ah!” She moved her head to the side as that pitchfork stuck to the door. She had her back against the door.

“Fillies will listen ta their responsibilities!” Anch used her other hoof to flip her hat off, revealing another roasted fish. "Eat!" She took the fish in her hoof and thrusted it forwards. Rainbow Dash spread her wings and took to the air, avoiding that punch as it smashed against the door, leaving a crack.

Again that poor fish, and not just from living in her mane for who knows how long.

“I’ve gotta get outta here!” Rainbow Dash flew straight towards the direction of the hallway. She needed to get upstairs and grab Fluttershy so that they could flee this place.

“Oh no!” Rainbow Dash stopped and landed as she noticed one problem. The hallway entrance was blocked due to that boulder. She also noticed that it was engraved with a, ‘Do Not Disturb’ writing… “What am I gonna-” She interrupted herself when she noticed Anch coming with a large net of all things. She was probably all out of fish to serve and was now resorting with capturing. Right when Anch swung the net down, Rainbow jumped backwards, flipping upside down and using her front hooves to bounce off the floor, flipping her back to right side.

Sweat glands went down Rainbow’s forehead as Anch stepped forwards with that net. The heat from the oven’s fire didn’t help cool her nerves. She was backed up into a corner. At least the oven’s fire wasn’t spreading, nor big enough to be dangerous to the house.

“Y’all will behave now. Ya don’t wanna know what happens when fillies disobey.” The venom in Anch’s voice continued to grow like a mother scolding their child, which according to Anch is what she was doing.

Rainbow Dash glanced around the room, trying to find options. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be many. The fire from the oven and its contents on the stove blocked most of her view on the left side. It didn’t matter though because the hallway was blocked anyway. The only other way out of here was the front door, which was locked.

Her options were gone. She gulped nervously as she watched Anch get closer to her. Anch lifted her net up high, smiling. Rainbow Dash hung her head down and closed her eyes. She had no choice.

“I’m sorry, Fluttershy,” Rainbow said in depression.

The net went down.

At the right moment, Rainbow Dash slipped to her left side, smacking one of the heated contents on the stove, a pot. With quick precision, she avoided getting burned while the force of her hoof made the pot go flying forwards, landing and covering Anch’s head.

Anch screamed in agony as the pot singed her mane and face. But just as she reached her hooves to remove the pot, Rainbow Dash zipped forwards, punching Anch straight on in her exposed and vulnerable stomach. A wheezing cry escaped Anch’s voice, despite being muffled by the pot. She could only bend about halfway down, trying to reach her stomach before Rainbow Dash threw another punch, uppercutting Anch into a forced stand position on just her hind legs. Rainbow then finished off by turning herself around and kicking with both hind legs, using massive force to strike the pot, giving off a loud clang that could hurt a pony’s ear drums. Anch went airborne for a few seconds before her body collided with the floor, the pot flying off of her head.

Aside from the small flames crackling from the oven, there was now silence. Rainbow Dash sighed. She checked if the bags on her sides were okay before giving a few flaps with her wings and brushing off a bit of dust from her coat. She walked up to Anch’s downed body, examining her features.

Anch’s face was covered with burnt marks with her eyes shut. Rainbow’s punch to her gut left a visible hoof-shaped mark. Due to her position, the cloth from her saddle hanged to the side, revealing her Cutie Mark. A fish that was probably an anchovy, caught in a net... Of course it would be fish related… Besides that, she was quite motionless, but thankfully still breathing. It was a depressing sight.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. This was no time to be feeling sorry for somepony. Wonderbolts training had trained her better than that. She had to focus on what was important right now. She spread her wings and took to the air. Mustering up her strength, she charged straight for the locked door.

______________________________________________________________________________

*Crash!* Fluttershy squeaked and covered her ears as those loud sounds sprung again. Her aching stomach couldn’t take much more stress. There was another loud crash, but this time, it came from inside the room.

“Wha…” With drooped ears, she slightly peaked her head up, noticing a cyan presence in front of her, along with dust settling a little further.

“Come on, Fluttershy. We gotta go now.” Before Fluttershy could respond, a pair of hooves pressed under her forelegs, lifting her body out of bed. She pulled herself closer so that she could wrap her own hooves around Rainbow Dash, getting a better grip with each other. She was taken outside the smashed window, going back into the open skies.

“R-rainbow Dash…” There was shakiness and slight pain in Fluttershy’s voice, almost unable to continue. “W-what happened in there…?”

There was no response from Rainbow Dash. She just kept flying, aiming towards one of the clouds far away from that floating island and high in the skies. The lack of response convinced Fluttershy that her fear was true. She looked away with a frown.

“You fought her… didn’t you…” Rainbow Dash felt a knot twist in her own stomach at Fluttershy’s sad tone. When she reached the cloud, she set Fluttershy down safely on her back.

“I’m sorry, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said softly.

Fluttershy released a painful moan, putting a hoof on her stomach, trying to settle it. The news that Rainbow told didn’t help matters, but what did help was when that cyan hoof started rubbing her belly again.

Fluttershy’s moan turned into a relaxing one, but it still pained her to hear about the fight. Rainbow Dash was a pegasus who prided herself with training regularly. Not only had she mastered karate thanks to her flying capabilities, but she was also under training in a military reserves, the Wonderbolts Academy. A regular farm pony like Anch wouldn’t be able to stand against her abilities.

Although Anch wasn’t all that regular, and she may have been completely nutty, she didn’t deserve something like that. Rainbow Dash may be wild and violent sometimes, but she never fought for the wrong cause.

“You told me you would try your best to avoid fighting her.” Fluttershy thought back to the conversation they had earlier. To her, Anch wasn’t really a bad pony. She was just a crazy pony fueled by loneliness. But because of her meat eating ways, it was impossible for her to fit in with other ponies, so she had to be alone.

Rainbow Dash’s hoof slowed down, but she still rubbed gently along the yellow belly to comfort Fluttershy. “Sometimes fighting just can’t be avoided,” Rainbow said as she looked off into the horizon. “And something tells me this won’t be the only time.”

A shudder went through Fluttershy’s features as she adjusted her attention back to Rainbow Dash. “What…?”

Rainbow kept her eyes towards the ocean as she responded. “Don’t worry about it though. If we ever get into a scrap, just remember what we’re fighting for.” Rainbow Dash was describing a lesson similar to what she taught even the Wonderbolts about.

“But Rainbow Dash… I can’t fight like you can… what if I-”

“Hey! Hey!” Rainbow Dash snapped her head back to Fluttershy, moving her hoof to her yellow nose. “None of that now ya here!” Fluttershy’s pupil’s shrunk in fear at the scolding tone. “All that matters is keeping yourself safe. Stay behind me, and I’ll protect you. That sound good to you?”

Rainbow suddenly flashed a smile. Despite the night air, the sight of that smile lifted away Fluttershy’s fear. She didn’t doubt Rainbow Dash there. Rainbow Dash had managed to protect and defend her multiple times, even way back in fillyhood. Not to mention the training. Maybe if she had spent more time with Rainbow Dash, she could motivate herself to train more in ways to defend herself.

For now, Fluttershy had to deal with what she had learned and achieved so far. But she remembered what Rainbow Dash told her before. Just listen to her, and she would be fine.

Fluttershy smiled and nodded, answering Rainbow’s question.

“Good. Now get some rest. We’ll be continuing our search tomorrow morning.” Rainbow Dash brought her attention back to the sea. Fluttershy tried to get some rest, but something was concerning her.

“What about you? Aren’t you going to rest as well?” she asked.

“In a bit. I just gotta check something first.”

Fluttershy wasn’t sure what to make of that response. She felt concerned that Rainbow Dash was pushing herself hard again. She closed her eyes, but she had trouble finding comfort knowing she was resting while Rainbow Dash was doing more activities. She again felt like she was just slowing Rainbow down.

But then her ears noticed the sound of the bags being ruffled. She almost wanted to open an eye and see, but ended up not doing so. The sound continued for about half a minute before it stopped. And then she felt Rainbow’s body press against the cloud, laying close and right next to her.

Of course she was just worrying too much. Rainbow Dash probably just wanted to make sure she still had the map. She must’ve had it too since she didn’t leave the cloud. Fluttershy smiled as her mind eased, finding comfort in sleeping again. Their bodies were pressed up to each other and relaxed.

...Rainbow Dash felt so warm.

Author's Note

--
Find any errors? Please notify.

Feed back and criticism are appreciated.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 6: Clouds for Miles

The chests of two pegasi lying on a cloud together rose and shrank simultaneously. One was snoring louder than the other, blowing on the pink mane in her face while the wind blew it back. The sun shined brightly on their coats. Neither pegasi were disturbed, until some of the hairs on the pink main got caught in cyan nostrils.

Rainbow Dash moaned in her slumber as she tried to wipe whatever had been caught in her nose. But what she felt was something smooth and soft, something she couldn’t help but snuggle with instead. She let it fill her scent as the mass closed in on her, darkening her visions through her closed eyes. Realizing that the sun was out, she peaked open an eye to greet the morning.

But a mass pink that darkened her vision was blocking her view. She later noticed yellow mixed under the pink and also noticed that it was Fluttershy’s mane that she was holding in her hooves.

Rainbow Dash’s body flinched and stuttered when she noticed how close she was snuggled up with Fluttershy. She hastily backed away, but quietly so as not to wake her up. She scratched the back of her mane and neck as her entire frame found itself itchy due to that close contact. She and Fluttershy had close contacts before, but never quite that close. Relieving herself, she took a look at her surroundings.

Rainbow Dash softly gasped. “W-whoooaaa…” She slowly picked herself up, walking just by the edge of the cloud to grasp in the scenery.

Clouds. Nothing but clouds filled under them, hiding the seas for what seemed to be for miles. “...Awweeessooome…” She slowly fluttered her wings, walking off the edge of the cloud to descend to the humongous lower one.

From here, it looked as if they had traveled to a wasteland filled with nothing but snow. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration than to call this the snow version of a desert. But one touch upon landing on such a snowy land allowed her to confirm that it wasn’t snow. It really was all clouds.

In the skies, there were barely any clouds at all. Yet there was a refreshing breeze coupled with such a bright warm sun. Rainbow Dash wanted to just bath in this sun and tan herself. It was just so perfect for her.

“Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash interrupted her thoughts when she remembered what happened yesterday. She flew back up to the cloud Fluttershy was still sleeping on to check on her. Landing softly on the cloud, she nudged her and lightly tapped her cheek. “Fluttershy. Hello? Wake up sleepy head.”

Fluttershy stirred a bit in response before a yawn came out of her. She smacked her lips together and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before her visions were greeted by a friendly cyan face looking down at her. She giggled. “Good morning, Rainbow Dash.”

“Hey, so how are ya feeling?”

Fluttershy shifted and twisted her body around slightly, looking for any signs of pain. There were none. “A lot better than yesterday,” she answered.

“Great!” Rainbow Dash grabbed Fluttershy’s hoof to pull her up. “Check this out!” She motioned her other hoof to point towards the large ocean of clouds that were covering the vision of the sea.

“Ahh!” Fluttershy’s voice was like a yelp when her vision caught sight of such an endless white landscape. She had never seen so much cloud piled up into one place, not even from Cloudsdale. “Oh my! W-where did this cloud take us?”

“I don’t think it took us anywhere. I think these clouds came to us. Take a look.” Rainbow Dash moved her hoof towards another direction, pointing at a familiar small floating island in quite the distance. The single house and single tree could barely be made out.

“Isn’t that where... A-anch... lives?” Fluttershy asked, nervously remembering her meat eating nature.

“What else could it be? A mirage?” Rainbow Dash glanced around the scenery. “Well, maybe if things were a little more orange, it might be.” The two pegasi couldn’t help but chuckle together at the little joke. But Fluttershy’s laughter was cut short when something hit her mind.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash, is our stuff okay?” she asked.

“Of course they’re okay,” Rainbow replied as she patted the two bags lying next to her. “You didn’t think I’d forget them, did you?”

“Oh… um… I meant the map…” Fluttershy blushed embarrassingly as she corrected herself.

The correction made Rainbow’s head stumble, realizing what she implied. She reached into the bag that held her stuff and searched it. It didn’t take long for her to find the map inside, but when she pulled it out, she saw something scribbled on it.

“Aw, nooo… She must’ve messed with it!” Rainbow whined as she took it out. She forgot that Anch had an unusual interest in the map when she first saw it.

“Didn’t you check it yesterday?” Fluttershy asked.

“Huh?”

“Um… nevermind.”

Rainbow Dash noticed that Fluttershy’s ears folded shyly. “If you’re talking about the map, yeah, but I couldn’t see it that well in the dark,” she answered what she assumed Fluttershy asked.

“Huh?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head aggressively in frustration. “Rrraah! Focus!” She hit herself in the head.

“Uh! Right!” Fluttershy hastily replied, realizing they were getting too distracted with idle and pointless chatting that went no where. Rainbow Dash unfolded the map and they both brought their attention to its backside, reading what was scribbled on it.

'My fillies. If you’re awake because a storm disturbed your sleep, use the brooms in the closet and wave them at the clouds. That should blow them away and leave you alone. I’ll swing by tomorrow with a nice, healthy breakfast ready for you two. Now get some shut eye. Sweet dreams.'

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at the message. She wasn’t even sure what would be a proper response to this. The only thing she was grateful for, was that her writing at least didn’t match her accent, otherwise that would be so annoying to read. In fact, she wasn’t sure why she kept reading after the first two words.

“My… she must’ve thought highly of us,” Fluttershy said as she finished reading.

“Too highly if ya ask me…” Rainbow Dash responded, nearly swallowing her words. “I can’t believe I just said that.” She shook her head, realizing she was overthinking things. Ignoring the odd message written for them, she turned the map over to look for their next destination. “Hmm?” She noticed something else Anch must’ve left.

“What is it?” Fluttershy asked, moving closer.

There was a red circle that wasn’t there before, placed on the map. It didn’t seem to mark any place in particular. Rainbow Dash examined the position it was on and thought. “Hey! I think this is where we are,” she said.

“Really? Are you sure?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah.” Rainbow pointed to the north part of the map for reference. “See, Equestria would be in this direction if it was labeled.” She pointed a little further south, showing an island’s layout. “We were flying in this direction to find this island. And since this circle was on the way, I’m guessing this was where we stopped.”

Fluttershy took a moment to think. “So… Anch knows about where she lives? But… how?”

“I don’t know. Wanna ask her yourself?”

Fluttershy flinched away. “U-uh… no, um… nevermind…”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but chuckle. “But hey, at least there’s good news.” She used her hoof to reference the distance of their travel. “We’ve only got a few more miles to travel before finding land again.”

That bit of trivia brought relief to Fluttershy’s spirits. “Ooh, that’s wonderful to hear. You think we’ll find a forest there for our little birdy friends back home?”

Rainbow Dash rolled up the map. “Only one way to find out.” Before she placed it back in her bag, she reached into her bag to take something else out. But she found… a smaller bag of cupcakes crumbled into bits… “DANG IT! She did get into our food!”

That outburst caused Fluttershy to flinch away so hard, she stumbled off the edge of the cloud. She screamed as gravity dragged her down. Before she remembered she could fly, her body plummeted to the cloud floor below, safely landing, but popping a cloud fog that reached right next to an oblivious, yet angry Rainbow Dash.

______________________________________________________________________________

After having a little chow down, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy continued their travels through this cloudy landscape. Thankfully not much of their food was taken, but still some none the less. But if something like that happened again, they would have to search for more food, otherwise leave back to Equestria early.

They didn’t have any issues with water because, thanks to Rainbow Dash and all these clouds, they could refill the canisters in their bags at any time. In fact, the cloud that they were walking on could probably provide enough water for them for a lifetime, if they could fit it all in their canisters. Of course, they couldn’t, but that wasn’t important. Normally they would be flying under this thing, but while they were walking, they took the time to chat.

“Wait… Anch didn’t like the cupcakes?” Fluttershy asked.

“I think so,” Rainbow Dash responded. “She said something about changing her fish diet in a long time, and then said it tasted awful.” Rainbow took a glance at her bag, eyes narrowed. “I was afraid she was talking about our food. Turns out, she was.”

“But how could she not have liked them? They were prepared by Pinkie Pie.”

“I don’t know. Maybe she just doesn’t like treats. You know how Pinkie is with the… actually, nevermind. I don’t even know what she does with that sugar sometimes.”

Rainbow and Fluttershy giggled as they talked about their friend. Pinkie Pie was one of the greatest bakers in all of Ponyville, and possibly all of Equestria. Between her and the Cakes, their only competition was Applejack and her Apple Family. Their baking were quite opposites though. The Apple Family’s specialty was anything to do with apples while the Cake Family’s specialty was anything to do with sugar.

“Maybe she would’ve liked Applejack’s cooking,” Fluttershy continued the conversation. “She did seem like the farmer type.”

“Who hunt’s animals…” Rainbow responded bluntly.

Fluttershy squeaked and folded her ears. She hastily looked around the scenery in search of a way to change the topic. “U-um… are we there yet?”

Rainbow Dash, knowing Fluttershy was quite patient, realized she must’ve struck a chord with that comment. She stopped her walking, signaling Fluttershy to stop as well. “Let’s check,” she said as casual as possible for Fluttershy’s sake. She dug her hooves in the cloud barrier they were walking on and started digging it up, getting herself deep inside.

Fluttershy leaned in close, watching as the many tufts of cloud was being thrown in the air like dirt. One of the tufts hit her in the face, causing her to flinch back. She shook and wiped that cloud puff off of her, deciding to keep her distance as she watched that cloud being dug through as furiously as some of her animals dug holes.

Fluttershy never knew a cloud could be so deep. She thought about helping, but she didn’t know nearly as much about clouds as Rainbow Dash did. It was times like these she realized that maybe it wouldn’t have been such a bad idea to get at least a few lessons from Rainbow on the subject. But for now, that would have to wait for later, whenever later came.

“Fluttershy! Take a look!” Rainbow’s voice echoed through the hole. Curious, Fluttershy dropped down, using her wings to safely descend.

Rainbow Dash hanged from the cloud upside down, waiting for Fluttershy to take in the sight that she was witnessing. It didn’t take long for Fluttershy to show up, but when she did, she immediately stopped descending and gasped in awe. Rainbow Dash pressed her upside down head against Fluttershy’s right side up one, smiling with pleasure.

“Looks like we’re here, Fluttershy.”

Below them was no longer a sea, but an entire continent of land. From behind, they could barely see the ocean that they had been crossing, but every other direction, they saw grassfields, mountains, gardens, and directly below them, a small, yet bustling town. Oddly enough, it almost looked just like a normal town in Equestria. Actually, almost like an Appleloosa kind of town. A dirt path separated the grass, but the buildings were lined side by side. All the buildings looked like cabins, and there weren’t that many trees populating the place. The most distinct feature was that besides ponies, other creatures appeared to be inhabiting it, other than the animal kind.

“Now if only we knew where here was,” Rainbow said, looking around the scenery. “I’m not seeing a forest anywhere around here.”

Fluttershy checked around the scenery as well. No sign of any birds or other critters heading to what could possibly lead to a habitat. Oddly enough, despite the deep clouds covering the sky, it was still bright as day down below, not even rain dropping.

“Well, we’re not gonna find anything hanging here. Let’s check around.” Rainbow Dash detached herself from the cloud and descended towards the town, Fluttershy following closely behind.

Rainbow searched for the nearest citizen she could find traveling about. The first one appeared to be a grey mule who was walking with what appeared to be a black armored attack dog on leash. Ignoring their intimidating appearances, she landed right in front of them.

“Hold it, buddy! We got some questions for you!” Rainbow said. The mule stopped, but didn’t seem phased by her sudden appearance, not even responding. "We've been traveling across seas and are new in town. We stopped by because we're looking for a forest. Do you know where we are?"

The mule just stared at Rainbow Dash for about a second before responding. "Yes," he said.

"Good!" Rainbow said. She expected an answer back, but the mule just stood motionless, letting silence fill the air. Rainbow just blinked a confusion, realizing the lack of response. "Sooo... are you gonna tell us where we are?"

"No," the mule answered bluntly.

"W-what? Why?!" Rainbow replied in a bit of a shock.

"Because why should I have to tell you anything?!" The mule suddenly burst into a maniac laughter, walking past Rainbow Dash, and swinging his tail around in an insulting manner. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and growled before she zipped herself right back in front of the mule.

"Hey! You answer my question or-"

"Or what?" the mule interrupted. "You're gonna cry home to mother? Oh that's right, you're lost! Now get out of town and don't bother me again!"

The wave of random insults infuriated Rainbow Dash as she watched that mule just walk off. "That jerk! I outta stuff his muzzle right around his tail and tie it!" She slammed her hoof on the ground, kicking large dirts in the air as her hoof created a small hole beneath. "I never thought I'd see a mule who acts like one!" She growled under her breath while every fiber in her body just wanted to teach that mule a lesson.

"Okay, Rainbow Dash, let's go," Fluttershy's voice suddenly came.

"Huh? Go where?" Rainbow asked as she looked at her. Fluttershy looked as if that conversation with the mule didn't happen. She just pointed somewhere.

"There. That cute little puppy told me if anypony knows about a forest, they would be in there." Rainbow followed her gaze in the direction Fluttershy's hoof pointed to, noticing a building that looked like some sort of club or hangout. There was a small crowd of other citizens gathering around it.

"Wait... You mean while I was talking to that jerk, you were...?" Fluttershy just nodded, answering Rainbow's question. Rainbow Dash wasn't sure what she was more impressed by. The fact that she could get information like that out of a dog, or the fact she had befriended a trained vicious beast that only Fluttershy could call a puppy, so quickly. She didn't even noticed because she was too focused on the mule being such a jerk.

"Wow, nice job Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash praised before sticking her hoof in the air. The two friends hoof bumped before starting their flight to the club. On their way, they heard some kind of violent chatting going on there. Rainbow Dash didn’t pay it no mind, but Fluttershy became a little worried, putting a hoof over her mouth. It was too garbled to make out what was being said, but it did sound like arguing.

*Smack!* Screaming, followed by a pony being tossed out of the crowd came about. Fluttershy eeped when that pony hit the ground and roughly slid along the dirt. She pressed her body close to Rainbow Dash while her ears pressed to the sides of her head. She and Rainbow Dash landed in front of the nervous crowd.

“What’s going on here?” Rainbow Dash asked to anypony really as she witnessed the scene unfold. Just by the entrance to the club, there was a single dark brown earth pony with a greyish straight mane style. He was standing on his hind legs with his back to the building and fore legs crossed. His legs were larger than the average pony, indicating his muscular strength, which is probably why his Cutie Mark was an iron bar. He wore a black vest as well while his muzzle held a darker shade compared to the rest of his coat.

“Next!” he shouted to the crowd.

Seeing that no other pony, or donkey, or any other citizens in general were stepping forwards, Rainbow Dash decided to. Fluttershy followed close behind her. Before they reached this... Bouncer... as they recognized, Rainbow Dash slid her bag to her wing and spread it out towards Fluttershy, not only signaling her to hold onto it, but also signaling her to keep her distance. She complied and took the bag, letting Rainbow Dash speak with this bouncer.

"Welcome to the Saddle Plateau. How tough are ya?" the bouncer started.

"What's all this about?" Rainbow Dash asked. The bouncer just raised an eyebrow as if dumbfounded.

"This is the Saddle Plateau," he responded, waving his hoof to the club. "Only the toughest of the tough may enter while the weak eats dirt outside. No strength, no entry! Now how tough are ya before I key hall you outta here!"

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, insulted by such comments and rules. She decided to play his little game. "How tough am I? You got a brick on ya?" she asked.

"No, why?" he brought his hoof out in a questioning manner. But before he knew it, Rainbow Dash lunged at him, throwing a mighty punch at the split second he exposed his stomach. The bouncer's eyes popped out largely as his gut received a mark that would shame his life forever. His form fell face first to meet the dirt that would mark the grave of his humiliation.

"Next time, think before you talk ill about the weak!" Rainbow Dash said while placing a hoof on her chest, signifying her defense for those that bouncer insulted.

"Nice job, Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy praised, knowing all too well how it felt to be called weak. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy high hoofed each other, and then walked into the club, leaving the bouncer to wallow in his embarrassment.

...Or that would've happened if this bouncer wasn't actually presenting a brick on his hoof in front of him. Rainbow Dash was rather surprised and impressed.

“You actually carry around a brick with you?” Rainbow asked.

“Are you just gonna stand there, or do I have to show you the door out of this land?!” the bouncer yelled, leaning forward with his brick.

“Alright, alright! Chill out. Just… give me a few seconds.” Rainbow Dash let out a sigh at this pony’s display of impatience. It was worse than her own.

Regardless, Rainbow Dash took a few steps back, keeping her eyes on that brick to examine it. Fluttershy took a few steps to the side, watching Rainbow Dash get herself in position. Even though her plan had an unexpected change, she was still going to show her stuff. After all, they still needed to get into that bar. But when she got enough distance between her and the brick, the bouncer started snarling infuriatingly.

“If you wanted to chicken out, you should’ve said so in the beginning, rather than wasting my time with your pathetic-”

*Smash!*

Rainbow Dash interrupted the bouncer’s insulting speech by charging forth with all her might, smashing the brick in his hooves into pieces with just one powerful kick. The bouncer grunted in shock when that pegasus struck right before his eyes. The kick sent the pieces of that brick thrown to the door, piercing a perfect circle pattern in that wooden frame.

“Whoa…” the bouncer said silently, barely moving after that display of power.

“So, got another brick? Or do I have to use something else?” Rainbow Dash said while Fluttershy walked up behind her.

“Uh, no, I’ve seen enough.” The bouncer motioned his hoof to the door. “You’re free to go in.”

“Awesome!” Rainbow Dash said. She and Fluttershy started moving together. Fluttershy made sure to stay behind, yet close to Rainbow Dash as she was opening the door to the club.

“Hold it!” Suddenly, a brown hoof came right in between them, forcing them to separate.

“Ugh! Hey!” Rainbow Dash yelled while Fluttershy squeaked.

“Only the toughest of the tough can enter. She, stays behind.” Fluttershy winced back as the bouncer pointed at her intimidatingly.

“Hey bub! She’s with me, so leave her alone!”

“She, is a crybaby and a wimp. So she’ll wait out here with the rest of the dirt-” Fluttershy yelped when she felt that brown hoof on her coat.

“DON’T TOUCH HER!” As soon as that brown hoof made contact with Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash tackled the bouncer, shoving him aside and to the ground. There was a collections of gasps that came from the crowd as a result.

“Are you serious!” the bouncer shouted as he quickly jumped back to his hooves. “Know your place you worthless curs!” He charged for the pegasi.

Fluttershy squeaked in fear, staying behind Rainbow Dash. The bouncer threw a punch while Rainbow Dash threw her own, colliding with each other and canceling out. They threw another quick punch at the same time, aiming lower, but with the same results.

With the aid of her wings, Rainbow Dash spun her body and threw a kick. The bouncer jumped back, causing Rainbow to miss her target. The bouncer tried to use this opportunity to attack by lunging at her, but thanks to Rainbow’s wings, she was able to keep her balance and stop herself quick enough to make it possible for her to duck right under the bouncer’s forward twin punch.

Being on the ground and the bouncer in the air, Rainbow Dash used this perfect opportunity to launch herself upward, grabbing the bouncer and taking him into the air as fast as she could. The bouncer roared as he struggled in that grip. Using his strength, he used his hind leg to kick the pegasus’s vulnerable stomach. Rainbow Dash groaned as she felt that powerful blow. The bouncer proceeded to pick Rainbow Dash up by the head, lifting her to his height before punching her square in the face.

The bouncer grinned as he saw the look of that pathetic pegasus get what she deserved. She should’ve known better to know her place before picking such a fight. Now she would learn that harsh lesson as she tumbled down to the ground.

But then, the bouncer suddenly realized what happens when you strike down your only pilot in a flight travel. The realization hit him like that brick getting crushed as he realized how high he had been sent in the air. He was just a couple meters below the large cloud covering the skies, with nothing around to keep him airborne anymore.

“...Oh cruAAAAHHH!!!” Gravity took effect and he helplessly tumbled back down. During his fall and yelling, only humiliation filled his mind. That pegasus let him attack her on purpose so that he could make his own mistake and doom himself. The seconds passed and his body only fell faster. His fate rested in the dirt that would mark his grave. All he could do, was seethe his rage in the middle of his yelling, only thinking of that stupid pegasus that tricked him so easily.

Just before the bouncer hit dirt, Rainbow Dash zipped past in a rainbow blur, smacking him in a spin cycle. The bouncer’s yelling jiggled as his body was turned into a brown tornado, spinning out of control. Rainbow Dash watched the amusing show she created, getting herself to land next to Fluttershy who was watching as well.

As the tornado was slowing down, Rainbow Dash pressed her hoof against her neck, lightly grunting as she gave it a slight twist to make it pop, easing her pain. The tornado stopped, leaving behind a bouncer lying face only while the rest of his body lay upward in the air, his eyes unable to stop spinning.

“W-wow Rainbow Dash. You rock! Woohoo!” Fluttershy cheered, knowing all too well that the bouncer’s life was spared in an impressive feat.

“You said it!” Rainbow Dash made a chuckle, admiring Fluttershy’s praise. But then she paused herself, noticing the crowd staring at them in awe. “What are you all looking at!?” she shouted and stomped on the dirt. Every face in the crowd suddenly became terrified as they yelped before quickly splitting in all directions away from the scene, kicking up dirt in the process. Rainbow grinned.

“Rainbow Dash, you scared them,” Fluttershy said.

“That’s the idea,” Rainbow responded, bringing her attention back to Fluttershy.

“But… why?”

Rainbow placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Because anypony who messes with you-” she gestured to herself, “-messes with me! And nopony messes with me! And especially nopony messes with you as long as I’m around!”

Fluttershy couldn’t help but chuckle as it felt like Rainbow Dash just repeated herself. But she smiled with glee knowing the message Rainbow was getting across. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash,” she said.

“No problem, Fluttershy.” While Rainbow Dash admired the strong that had amazing talents, she despised those who talked down on the weak, especially if they talked them like plagues. So any respects she would otherwise have for this bouncer’s strength was dashed aside due to his attitude. As a result, she was more than happy teach him the harsh lesson that strength isn’t everything if you don’t have the skills and techniques to back them up.

Seeing that the club now had no bouncer guarding the entrance, the two pegasi casually invited themselves inside after returning the proper bags to each other. Fluttershy kept herself behind, but close to Rainbow Dash as they opened the door and entered inside.

But unknown to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, a little grey filly pegasus with a purple mane and no Cutie Mark, was watching the scene unfold from the distance. Impressed by the shocking event, the filly took advantage of the situation. After the two bigger pegasi had disappeared inside, she walked to the front entrance to the club.

With no bouncer or other ponies to stop her, the filly quietly opened the door and slipped inside.

Author's Note

Something that I see a lot of fanfics do that I just can't stand, is when Rainbow Dash is made out to be so weak physically without valid reasons. So you'll notice me focusing a lot on her impressive techniques throughout this story.

--
Find any errors? Please notify.

Feed back and criticism are appreciated.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 7: The Saddle Plateau

Upon entering the club, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were immediately hit with a very ominous presence. There wasn’t much light inside, just enough to make the dark details of the building.

Many of the citizens, ponies, donkey’s, mules, and such, although mostly ponies, filled the tables while they had their conversations. Some of them were rough housing while others just drank and splattered their drinks in their chats.

Fluttershy gulped at the sight. These ponies were not playing nice. There were two ponies who were holding a mule by the neck against the wall. They were beating him senseless and calling him names while the mule just taunted them. It was clear he was in pain, but he wouldn’t let up or surrender.

“Phew… tough crowd,” Rainbow Dash whispered to Fluttershy. They brought their heads close so that they could hear each other. “These guys look stronger than me even…” To hear Rainbow Dash say that brought a chill through Fluttershy’s features. “But don’t worry, just stay quiet and close to me. I’ll handle this.”

Fluttershy gulped and nodded, keeping her ears close to her head. Staying quiet and close, two things she was good at. All she had to do was trust Rainbow Dash. She and Rainbow Dash were casually walking through the scene and towards the front stall.

While they were walking through, a grey filly slipped past the front entrance of the door. Glancing her eyes in multiple directions, she moved fast and low, finding herself cover by the nearest table she could find.

The filly watched the two bigger pegasi walking to the front stall. She tried to get in closer for a better look. Making sure no other pony was looking, she slipped to the next table. Her rush caused her to hit one leg of a chair that a pony was leaning against. That hit caused the pony to lose balance and fall. He through a fit of rage after his crash.

Rainbow Dash’s ears shifted as she listened to the chaos behind her. She may not have been flying, but she had to keep aware of everything. For some reason, she felt like there was something odd going on back there, something that shouldn’t be there.

But then her attention shifted after hearing a crying squawk in front of her. Ignoring what was behind her, she found herself reaching within eye to eye contact with a pony at the stall, cleaning up cups.

This seemed more like a bar than a club, but a very strict bar. The barpony was red with brown hair. He had a beard or mustache that circled his face from under his chin to under his snout. His mane was spiky all around. He wore spiky shoulder pads even.

But the most significant thing Rainbow Dash noticed was the large black bird she heard earlier hovering about. The barpony held his cup up high, making the bird swoop in and take it in response. The bird then flew down, behind and under the stall.

Rainbow Dash smiled and brought her head closer to Fluttershy and whispered. “Good, this’ll be easier than I thought,” she said. Fluttershy, knowing that she should stay quiet, just breathed and listened. “Stay here for now. If anypony gets close, come to me.” Fluttershy nodded in understanding.

Rainbow Dash walked the rest of the inches to the stall, ignoring the loud shattering of breaking wood that sounded in the bar. The barpony just looked into her eyes.

“You want something, puny?” he said, insultingly. It was to be expected in a place full of tough ponies, so Rainbow Dash ignored it and responded.

“Yeah, you got an eraser on ya?” she asked.

The barpony rose an eyebrow, but he put a hoof behind him, tapping twice against the cabinets behind him. Something sounded from under the stall, and soon after, a wheel shaped eraser was thrown in the air. The barpony then brought his hoof down, connecting with the eraser before slamming it right on the bench, causing some plates and cups to clatter. He removed his hoof to reveal the wheel eraser.

Rainbow Dash reached into her bag to pull out the map. She unrolled the map upside down, revealing the scribble that was marked on it. She picked up the eraser and started scrubbing it on the scribbles.

The barpony’s interest was caught. “A map huh? So you’re looking for the dragon’s treasure?” he asked.

“Actually no, we’re looking for a…” Rainbow paused her erasing. “Wait… did you say dragon?”

“Hmph…” The black bird from earlier flew up from the stall, landing on the barpony’s head as he spoke.

The little filly spying on Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy kept her gaze on them, but she couldn’t hear what was going on very well. She had to get closer. There was an empty cup that had rolled right next to her while she was hiding under the table. She took it in her hooves and looked around.

There was one pony walking by with a tray of mints. She was sure that’s what they were. She took aim with the cup and waited for the pony to get into position. At the right moment, she rolled the cup to the pony’s walking path.

Fluttershy flinched and squeaked at the sound of one of the pony’s behind her yelling and screaming before a loud crash sounded. She couldn’t stop herself from looking behind.

The first thing she saw was a cup being flung in the air. She stepped away as it landed right next to her, spilling its liquid contents on the floor. Not wanting to be the center of attention, she moved closer to Rainbow’s side as she was talking with the barpony.

The filly from under the table took the distraction of that pony’s fall on the table, and the gang yelling and beating at him, in order for her to rush to a closer table unnoticed.

“It is said that that forest, is where this dragon hid its treasure. None, have been able to find it.” After the barpony finished his… very vague tale about a dragon’s hoard, Rainbow Dash noticed Fluttershy walking to her side and inched to her ear.

“Hear that? There is a forest around here,” Rainbow whispered in Fluttershy’s ear. Fluttershy shakily nodded her head. Rainbow turned her head back to the barpony and continued her erasing, taking pauses while she spoke with her normal voice. “And what about the dragon? Does it live there?”

“No.” After the barpony revealed the news, the bird on top of him cried a loud squawk before it flew to the top of the cabinets. If everypony in the bar wasn’t arguing and fighting, they probably would’ve heard it. “That dragon was slain, long ago.”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were both taken aback and gasped. “S-slain?” Fluttershy asked, nearly regretting responding as the barpony took notice of her.

“What do you mean ‘slain’?” Rainbow asked, allowing the barpony to revert his attention back to her.

“I mean the dragon no longer lives in the forest. In fact, rumor has it that it was a pegasus who put that dragon in its place.” The barpony suddenly started chuckling for some reason. “Must’ve been a wimpy dragon to lose to a pegasus like that.”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!” Rainbow Dash flared her wings and glared, offended by that statement. The barpony seemed to take notice of this fact as his expression scrunched. Fluttershy noticed that the bird up top was looking down at them with a sharp threat look.

“Hmph, you’ve got guts showing your face around here.” His gaze then turned to Fluttershy, noticing her cowering form. “How did you sneak your way in here.” His dark tone caused Fluttershy’s attention to shift to him, stuttering her voice as she attempted to back up. But thankfully, Rainbow Dash had finished using the eraser, allowing her to step in front of Fluttershy and block her out of sight.

“Pay no attention to her! Just tell us about this forest. Where is it?”

The barpony started chuckling as he took back the eraser. “You think I’m just gonna tell you where it is and haul the treasure for yourselves? You don’t deserve to be in the presence of such fortune.” He threw the eraser in the air towards his bird. The bird caught it in his beak… and chomped it inside before swallowing it… The scene left Fluttershy with a bad taste in her mouth. Birds shouldn’t be eating stuff like that.

The filly from under one of the tables sparked excitement in her eyes as she watched the scene unfold. She did a quick check of her surroundings before returning her gaze to the two bigger pegasi, breathing steadily in anticipation.

Fluttershy could see Rainbow Dash getting restless as her wings shook with fury. “R-rainbow Dash… a-are you…-” She wasn’t able to finish her question when Rainbow Dash blew a rough snort through her snout, releasing some tension.

“We’re not looking for the treasure. We don’t even know where to look for it. We just-”

A loud slam sounded on the stall caused by the barpony’s raging hooves slamming down on it, causing the dishes to clatter. The other ponies who sat on the stools near the bench switched their attentions to them.

“Now you’re trying to hide your motives?! Get out you pathetic excuses! The Saddle Plateau does not tolerate your kind!”

The filly watching stuttered her breath in excitement. She started lightly tapping her hoof on the floor, silently persuading this to go on.

“Whoa! Chill out! We’re not-” Rainbow Dash was interrupted by a loud squawking cry released from the black bird after it spread its wings.

“Phoenix! Show these feathers to the door and out of my sight!” The yelling from the barpony caused Fluttershy to back further away while her pupils shrunk.

The nerves on Rainbow’s features spiked when that bird, who was apparently called Phoenix, took air. She wheezed her breath as Phoenix charged straight for them. It had speed, so she didn’t have much time.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash called, causing Fluttershy’s attention to come back. With her attention away from the barpony, she managed to take notice of the bird charging for them fast.

It was as if seconds slowed down as these events happened. Rainbow Dash ducked herself so that Fluttershy was in plain view. She was just about to force Fluttershy down as well, but stopped right when Fluttershy’s eyes opened wide. She had released her Stare on Phoenix, making Phoenix slow to a halt just inches from Fluttershy’s face. Phoenix’s warface turned to that of a filly’s fear in the face of a wild monster. It’s feathers grew freezing cold. It had never seen such a horrifying sight.

Rainbow Dash silently released a sigh of relief. Fluttershy had managed to stop Phoenix’s attack, which left a scowl on the barpony’s face. He slammed a hoof against the stall again. “Phoenix! What are you doing?! Attack!”

Rainbow Dash picked herself up from her stance while Fluttershy ceased her stare and took the frightful bird into her hooves. They walked back to the barpony who was growling at the sight of his bird being groomed by those yellow hooves, but more importantly, the pathetic sight Phoenix was displaying.

“We don’t want any trouble,” Rainbow started. “Just tell us where this forest is and we’ll leave quietly.” She took a step to the side so that Fluttershy could step in to return his bird.

“Don’t worry. I… didn’t harm him… He was just- Ahh!” The barpony interrupted Fluttershy’s speech by snatching Phoenix out of her hooves. Rainbow Dash immediately pulled Fluttershy back for safety while Phoenix was crying and flailing around in his owner’s hooves. The barpony opened a drawer and immediately stuffed Phoenix inside, causing feathers to fly out before slamming it closed.

“You dare disobey me like that!” he yelled to the drawer before slamming himself to a stand on top of the stall, glaring at the pegasi. “And you dare to mess with me like this?!” He leaped from the stall, jumping above the two pegasi who both ducked in response. “You will both- Ahh!”

But the barpony landed against the surface with the liquid spill, causing him to slide and trip uncontrollably. His screaming was silenced when his face met with one of the tables, causing it to crack in half and send the plates and cups on top of it flying in opposite directions. The dishes crashed in the face of two ponies on opposite sides of the table, causing them to fall back and off their seats. Each crash left a loud thud with dust particles covering them all.

The filly hiding under the destroyed table had remained hidden thanks to the dust particles. She giggled at the sight of the barpony grunting from the fall he had. She rose her back legs and kicked him in the forehead, causing him to release a rough groan before she moved out of sight again, shaking her tail at him.

When the dust settled, the barpony picked himself up through his grunts, shaking his head while he growled through his grinding teeth. “You will pay for that!” he said in a low tone.

The other two ponies from the table started picking themselves up as well. They each took notice of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy before moving their attention to the barpony. “Are these twerps giving you a hard time?” The first pony asked, even though he already knew the answer. Rainbow Dash’s breath became restless as she saw the faces of those three earth ponies gazing at them.

“They messed with the wrong gang!” the second pony said while bumping his forehooves together. Fluttershy’s heart skipped a beat as the gang started walking towards them. She shuddered and backed away while Rainbow Dash extended a wing in front of Fluttershy to cover her.

Things were gonna get-

“STOP!”

A quick loud yell that practically hurt their ears sounded. Every single citizen in the bar seemed to freeze up at the sound, even those that had nothing to do with the scrap. They all looked to one direction while the ones near the source of the sound moved away from it.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were any of you. She’s a lot tougher than she looks.”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looked to where everypony was looking at. Some of them were shaking at the sight.

“I-it’s the boss…” They heard the barpony say. Even he sounded afraid.

There was one pony walking across the crowd as they backed away. The most distinguishing feature wasn’t the fact that this pony was a mare, but unlike most other ponies, she was a unicorn. Except based on her leg sizes, she didn’t seem nearly as strong as the other ponies in this bar. She was bright orange with a sharp red mane and yellow eyes. Her Cutie Mark seemed to be a horn with a live red fire on its tip. Unlike the others, she wasn’t wearing any attire.

This unicorn stopped in front of them. Her gaze turned to Fluttershy, who gulped nervously. She then turned her gaze to Rainbow Dash, who was looking her over cautiously. She smiled at that confident look.

“You got guts kid, showing your face in here,” she said.

“Who you calling a kid?” Rainbow Dash said silently as her eyes narrowed lower. “Just how old are these ponies around here?” Now that she thought about it, just about all the ponies they met so far had been referring to them as kids in one form or another. Maybe still being young adults made them look like kids to them.

“The name’s Spark Fry, the owner of this establishment,” the unicorn introduced.

“Not to be confused with Small Fry. Huhahah-AAHHH!” One of the pony’s laughter at his joke suddenly turned into an agonizing scream as Spark… ‘sparked’ her horn and turned it to him. There was a sizzle sound along with steam coming out of his body after being hit by her magic.

“Never, EVER, mention that again!” Spark yelled with her mane ablaze and eyes glowing in her magical aura. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy’s mouths hung agape at the sight of that temper. The pony who insulted her was on the ground, covering his body in agony while it steamed.

The fire in Spark’s mane soon fizzled out after she brought her attention back to Rainbow and Fluttershy. She snorted her breath and cleared her throat. “Slayer of the dragon, are you not?” she asked.

Rainbow Dash blinked hard. “W-what?” she and Fluttershy asked at the same time.

“Oh surely you have heard,” Spark continued. “Long ago, a dragon once visited our land. It took its habitat in Dark Pine Forest.” Fluttershy’s ears perked at the mention of a forest. “Any who had dared disturb this dragon, be it pony, donkey, bird, or manticore, was fried to a crisp by its scorching flames.” Spark paused and closed her eyes. Her next words were filled with venom. “I witnessed the power of those flames. Somepony had angered its rage to attack my home village. Under mother’s own grave, I swore I would do something about this dragon.”

Spark turned her gaze to Rainbow Dash before continuing. “But one day, a wandering pegasus came up to this dragon and faced it in battle. Naturally, this pegasus should’ve lost. But she was no ordinary pegasus, was she?” She started walking closer towards Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy took a glance at Rainbow Dash, confused. This story didn’t sound right, and with how serious Rainbow’s face looked right now, she was thinking the same thing.

“Ever since that dragon was slain, Dark Pine Forest, as well as our villages have been freed from its threat, but we never learned who that pegasus was, until now.” Spark smiled. “Am I right?”

Rainbow Dash, intrigued by this story, could only shake her head. “Sorry lady, but you’ve got the wrong pegasus,” Rainbow Dash said, taking Spark by surprise.

The filly that was hiding nearly hit her head from under the table as she was also surprised by this revelation. She peaked her head out from her hiding spot to look at the cyan pegasus she thought was admirable.

“W-what?” Spark asked.

“I take pride in my abilities.” Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her chest and smiled proudly. “And I’m quite flattered that you would think of my abilities like that.” Her face then turned serious. “But I can’t take credit for what I didn’t do. I back up my claims.”

Spark’s ear twitched at the last sentence. “Back up your claims eh?”

“E-excuse me?” Fluttershy peaked out of cover from Rainbow Dash. “I don’t mean to be a bother… but…” She gulped while Spark glared into her eyes. “Could you tell us more about, Dark Pine Forest?”

Spark’s eyes held disbelief. She turned her attention to Rainbow Dash. “You can’t be serious with having her with you.”

“Hey, lay off! We’re here for the same reason,” Rainbow Dash said as she covered Fluttershy again. “We came to this town hoping somepony could tell us about where a forest is. If you can tell us that, we’ll gladly leave without causing trouble.”

Spark put a hoof under her chin as if she was in deep thought. “A forest eh? Hmm…” Rainbow Dash eyed her carefully while silence filled the air. Or at least silence would’ve filled the air if the other ponies in the room hadn’t suddenly started moving about. They seemed to know what Spark was going to get at.

“Let me get one thing straight. You claim you aren’t the pegasus who defeated a dragon, yet you have the guts to show your face in a place like the Saddle Plateau and find the dragon’s treasure under our snouts?”

Rainbow Dash rose an eyebrow. She used her wing to open up her bag while Fluttershy reached into it to take out the map. “For the last time, we’re not looking for that treasure.” But that was when a door in the back of the room opened up due to one of the ponies in the bar.

While that happened, Spark examined the map that was presented in front of her. She wasn’t even sure what she was looking at, but it certainly wasn’t a treasure map. All it held was water and landmarks. No words on it at all besides the directions describing North, South, East, and West. The only thing out of place was a red circle marked somewhere in the middle of the ocean. She would find that suspicious if these pegasi weren’t talking about looking for specifically a forest. How this map could be useful to them at all was beyond her, but that didn’t matter anymore.

“Tell you what, if you can entertain me, I’ll tell you all about this Dark Mine Forest,” Spark said as she walked towards the door opened earlier, leading Rainbow and Fluttershy to follow. “In fact, I may even be nice enough to update your map. Obviously yours is outdated.”

The other ponies in the bar started following her to the door as well. There were a few excited gasps coming from them as well as murmuring. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy glanced at each other for reassurance while the other ponies passed by.

“If I were you, I’d do what she says,” one of the donkeys passing by whispered to them. “You boil her temper, she’ll boil your insides.” He shuddered and walked away.

Rainbow and Fluttershy watched as the others walked through that door. Some decided to stay behind.

“Should we go, Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow Dash searched the area with her eyes. During that conversation, things must’ve been rearranged. At the front entrance of the bar, a pair of goats were keeping watch over it. There was another pair of goats watching the back door that everypony were entering aside from a few stragglers. The stragglers continued with their business, including the barpony they talked to earlier.

The sounds were still odd though. A sound that shouldn’t be there was still around, as if it was taunting her. She had to be imagining it, but it kept coming back.

“Come on, Fluttershy. Looks like we don’t have a choice right now,” Rainbow concluded. She and Fluttershy walked with crowd to the door. She had more important things to worry about right now.

The filly hiding fluttered her wings in excitement at the murmurs and activities. She could barely contain her squeals after what she heard. Things were going to get serious around here, and she didn’t want to miss it.

She looked her surroundings over, making sure nopony was looking before zipping to her next cover. She continued this process and waited for the ponies to enter. The goats eyed each pony carefully as they entered. The filly used this as her distraction to move up to the wall as the last two ponies entered. When the cyan and yellow pegasus entered, the door started closing.

With quick precision, the filly zipped behind the goats and slipped past that door, undetected.

Author's Note

--
Find any errors? Please notify.

Feed back and criticism are appreciated.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 8: Strength of a Pegasus

As they traveled past the door Spark led everypony to, the atmosphere around them became so dark and ominous to the point it felt like Nightmare Moon had made herself present. They swore they could hear some sort of applause on the other side of the hall. It was hard to see, but the presence of armors, chains, and spears could be seen decorating the walls they traveled. It looked like an armory, but it might've been something else.

Unknown to the two pegasi traveling close together, a filly pegasus followed close behind them, using the darkness to stay concealed. She could see light on the other side of the hall, and it didn't take them long to reach it. When they passed through it, the bigger pegasus that she was admiring sighed in awe.

"Whoa..." While Rainbow Dash was admiring the sight, Fluttershy felt like her stomach was falling. To keep her nerves in check, she kept herself as close to Rainbow Dash as possible.

The room they were in looked like an arena. There weren't any seats around except for a pedestal on the other side that stood high like a princess’s throne. A couple doors could be seen side by side from the pedestal, one larger than the other. Instead of seats, plenty of boxes holding other sorts of weapons and supplies filled the room.

But the center of the room was completely empty except for a large square painted on the floor, indicating the arena. Many ponies were gathered outside the square and applauding. Spark Fry, who had led all of them to this arena, was now walking towards them with a smirk. Fluttershy's heart pounded harder the closer she got.

"So you've decided to accept my offer," she made a slight twist with her head as she said that. "A wise decision."

Rainbow Dash brought a stern face and watched Spark carefully. "Enough chit chat. What do you want me to do? We've got places to be."

Spark returned the fierce glare, but was nowhere near as tense as Rainbow Dash's. Her eyes wandered until her sights was caught on Fluttershy again, who tensed up. Noticing the extra tense on her side, Rainbow extended a wing in front of Fluttershy to block her from view.

“Pay no attention to her. I’m the one who’s talking to you.” Spark’s face turned to unamusement at the comment. She kept her gaze on where Fluttershy was, despite being covered by a wing, for a few seconds before switching her attention.

“Why would you bring her here?” The question made Rainbow Dash’s blood boil and she released a low growl.

“What I do with her is none of your business,” Rainbow Dash replied. “And if you’re worried about her cramping your styles, then ignore her. You won’t know she’s here.” She quickly darted her head back a bit. “No offense,” she whispered.

Of course, Fluttershy was instead grateful that Rainbow Dash was saying this. The less attention she drew in here the better. But even after those comments, Spark still seemed displeased.

“One day, your presence with her will bite your tail.” Spark just simply walked away after that comment, heading towards the pedestal on the other side of the arena.

Fluttershy took a peek from under Rainbow Dash’s wing, her heart feeling like it would fall out of her chest. "Just ignore her," Rainbow Dash said to her. "She's no different than those bullies back at Cloudsdale."

It almost sounded like that was the case, but something felt off. The way Spark spoke, it almost sounded like something she experienced. Fluttershy couldn't make it out though. And she was too scared to say anything on it.

"Here," Rainbow Dash gestured to Fluttershy and pointed somewhere. "You see that lonely spot just between those two barrels?" Beyond the crowd of ponies, a section barely laid where one pony could schooch in, being the farthest from sight. Fluttershy nodded after confirming the sight. "Just sit tightly over there and watch me, okay?"

Fluttershy gave another nod. After receiving an encouraging pat, she started walking slowly and carefully to her destination.

The grey filly found her position exposed when the yellow pegasus in front of her started moving. Looking left and right, she hastily moved away from her position, heading to the nearest crate she could find and hid behind it. Poking her head out, she noticed the cyan pegasus she was admiring was flying towards the arena while Spark moved to the top of the pedestal.

"Enough delaying, Spark," Rainbow Dash started. "We don't have all day ya know. Just tell us what you want so we can get this over with."

Spark smirked. "Well, aren't you a hasty one. And here I thought a pegasus like you wouldn't be in a hurry for anything."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Spark waved her hoof towards the crowd before beginning her speech. "Gatherers of the Saddle! Today, I bring you together for a momentous occasion. An example of our arena has finally presented itself."

The crowd suddenly went wild with stomping and hollering. Rainbow Dash's eyes searched among the crowd. Not a single one seemed bored. They were all excited. But in the far back of the crowd, she saw Fluttershy, holding her place in the lonely spot Rainbow told her to be. The only one not cheering.

"Witness before you the answer to our example, a pegasus has dared themselves to stumble upon our kind."

There was a mix between cheering, murmuring, and anger that filled the crowd. Some of the words could be made out, ranging from; "Who does she think she is?!" "Kick her out of this club!" "Teach that pegasus a lesson!".

"SILENCE!!!" Spark's horn sparked with a blaze that lit up the entire area with a fiery heat that could be felt from a distance. The entire crowd became quiet in an instant while Rainbow Dash's eyes grew wide in both amazement and shock.

"This is no ordinary pegasus my good followers," Spark continued. "This pegasus has the strength to kick each and every one of your flanks, one by one." A few members in the audience gasped while others murmured with questions.

"Hah! She's gotta be joking!" one of the ponies in the audience spoke up. "I mean, we all know that the pegasi here are the weakest clan of the bunch! How could she think a pegasus could outstrength me, you, you, or even-" just before he pointed towards Spark, she fired a magical blast from her horn at him. A quick flash of light left his body in charcoals, all plummeting to the ground in a pile like trash.

Rainbow Dash wasn't sure what she was more surprised about, the pony's words or what Spark did to him. To say she felt like she was in a completely different world, didn't quite fit considering they were outside of Equestria.

Spark blew the smoke coming out of her horn. "As I was saying... many pegasi have come to our chambers, daring to show us their strength. We have all grown to believe that they are all foals. But maybe we are mistaken. Maybe they dare to challenge us because they believe a foalish dream. A dream that has presented itself here today.”

Spark paused her speech as murmurs started from the crowd. It was hard to make out, but some of the words ranged from, “She can’t be serious.” “Is she bringing that up again?” “Could it possibly be true?”.

Spark let the murmurs sink in for a while till she was satisfied. “That’s right! The legendary pegasus that saved our town from a dragon, has returned!” The spark from Spark’s horn lit a light from above that shined below, bringing all attention to Rainbow Dash.

Another collection of gasps sounded along with more murmurs. Rainbow Dash’s nerves were hooked. Their expectations of her were insane.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash shouted towards Spark. “Didn’t we just talk about this? I am not the pegasus that you are looking for!”

Spark just smiled. “We shall be the judge of that!” Her horn started flaring once again. The smaller door to the left of the pedestal started opening. Before they could see what was coming out, a large thumps from the ground presented itself. “Whether you’re the pegasus or not, your strength shall be tested, with the duel of the titan!”

Rainbow Dash hovered in the air as the tramples became more rough. Some of the ponies from the crowd stomped their hooves in sync with the thumps. Being in the crowd, Fluttershy’s heart skipped each time the ground thumped. Soon, the source of the thumping became present. Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide.

A large pony had appeared from those doors, emitting cheers from the massive crowd as the lights shone on him. His entrance to the arena caused a rumble that shook the crowd, making Fluttershy the only one to lose balance.

Rainbow Dash took a good look at his features. He was a green earth pony with two different shades of brown mane and tail. His cutie mark looked like an actual mountain, and based on this pony’s size, she could see why. He was about the size of Princess Celestia, but his legs were much more bulky.

Fluttershy covered her mouth as the hulking giant growled at Rainbow Dash. She wasn’t sure if she could bare to witness this.

The spying filly could barely contain her breaths as her mouth held excitingly wide. If she wasn’t trying to stay hidden, she would cheer as loud as the audience were cheering.

Rainbow Dash kept her altitude as she stared at this, as Spark put it, titan. The way he stared her down looked as if his mind was lost. All he wanted to do was hurt somepony for the sake of entertainment. And that pony was her.

“Let the match begin!”

Spark’s words immediately sprung the titan into action. Rainbow Dash cringed, but flew out of the way as soon as the titan struck, hitting only ground that kicked up dust.

Rainbow Dash turned around and struck him from behind. She thought that would do some damage, but the titan didn’t even flinch. All it did was make the titan spin around while striking with his large hoof. Rainbow Dash barely managed to avoid contact. She looped around him and tried to go for another strike with a dive kick. But this time, the titan blocked with his hoof.

“Gah!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t pull her altitude back up in time. His hoof made contact with the back of her head, knocking her down and bouncing her off the ground. Then he struck again with his back legs.

Fluttershy squeaked as if she was in pain when Rainbow Dash got kicked. She could see Rainbow’s squeezed eyes from being knocked back like that. It was too painful to watch. She could barely keep herself from screaming.

Rainbow’s body turned before she hit the ground, sliding on her stomach before stopping. Her head was ringing like she had crashed face first against a sign. She could practically see stars, except there weren’t any here. But she could still hear the crowd.

The words were hard to make out, but it sounded like it ranged from, ‘You call that the legendary pegasus?’ ‘Boo!’ ‘Yeah! Teach that pegasus a lesson!’.

Rainbow Dash slowly picked her head up and shook it. She looked towards the crowd to see how restless they were. All those horrible things they were saying about pegasi was hurting her pride now. She noticed Spark, slowly shaking her head in disappointment.

And then she noticed Fluttershy, cowering where she stood, hidden. If they had noticed her presence, their points about the pegasi would only prove further.

It all made sense now. This wasn’t just some silly competition for entertainment. This was to prove that other ponies could have just as much strength as earth ponies. If there was one thing all the ponies in the Saddle Plateau had in common, is that they were all earth ponies.

But Spark wasn’t an earth pony. She was a unicorn. And that was the key. Everypony here was always talking about strength. But strength isn’t everything. And that’s where the unicorns and pegasi shine.

Rainbow Dash slowly picked herself up with a new resolve. This was no longer about winning. This was about defending the pegasi’s honor. She turned to see the titan staring her down in a fierce glare.

“You will regret getting back up when I’m through with you!” The titan spoke. Rainbow Dash could smell his breath from here. It was like all this pony thought about was just hurting others to prove his strength.

And then, Rainbow Dash smiled. It was time that she proved something to everypony here.

“Are you kidding?” she said with a laugh. “That didn’t hurt one bit!”

The little filly in the audience was just about to leave, until she heard that. Her ears perked up and she looked back at the arena.

“You call that strength? My little sister could hit harder than you!”

Fluttershy’s attention was caught. She wondered if she was being referred to as a little sister, even though she was older. But what she noticed was Rainbow Dash’s fearless attitude sparking again. Even staring down the face of this snorting titan of a pony, she didn’t back down her threats.

Rainbow Dash motion a hoof at the titan and motioned towards herself. “Come on! Show me what you can really do!”

As the titan roared, one of the ponies in the audience shouted, “You’re dead pegasus!”

The titan launched himself up high in Rainbow’s direction. Intending to crush the pegasus with his weight, he let himself fall bottom first. Rainbow Dash waited until the last second before stepping away quickly. A rough quake came upon the titan’s landing, but Rainbow was unfazed.

“Hah! is that the best you’ve got?” Rainbow taunted in his face. The enraged titan growled and threw his hoof at her. But Rainbow moved away and… seemingly stopped it with her own hoof.

Large gasps dispersed from the crowd. Before the titan could react, his face was met with Rainbow’s other hoof. Learning from her earlier mistake, Rainbow dodged away from the titan’s retaliation, leaving her untouched.

“Weak,” Rainbow spoke in his ear. The titan spun around and pounded with his hooves, only hitting ground. With Rainbow Dash behind him, the titan bucked with his hind legs, only for Rainbow Dash to slap one of them back down as soon as it lost momentum.

Fluttershy’s worries were fading away the more Rainbow spinned circles around this titan. The crowd continued to cheer as this fight went on. Some of them cheered for Rainbow Dash. Others cheered for the titan.

One voice in the crowd however, stood out. “You can’t be serious! Come on! Kill that pegasus! She can’t be stronger than you! Stop fooling around!”

The hiding little filly’s wide open smile had returned. Her little wings were practically fluttering on their own. Her heart beat refused to slow down. This was better than any of those old comics of heroes beating up the bad ponies. She almost wanted to bite herself to see if she was dreaming. This was…

“The legend…” the filly whispered to herself.

With fierce grunts, the titan looked to his left. He then looked to his right. Back to the left. He did not see the pegasus anywhere. But when he noticed his head felt heavy, his eyes looked up.

Rainbow Dash chuckled a bit, slowly waving a wing down at him. “You’re probably the weakest pony I’ve ever met.” The titan’s face grew red with fury. Rainbow Dash could practically feel the steam coming out of his ears. While the titan lifted his fore hooves, She extended her wings in a simultaneous motion.

As soon as the titan brought his hooves down, Rainbow Dash flapped. The titan struck only his forehead. Stars of multiple colors were practically flung out of his head and floating by. Rainbow Dash had lifted her altitude as high as this building would let her before descending back down.

Now was the time to show what her strength could do when she combined it with her speed. With all of her strength, she struck down in the center of his head with both of her hooves, causing the stars floating about to vaporize in rainbow sparkles as his body practically squished. Bouncing off of his body, Rainbow Dash flipped herself and landed on her hooves, facing the crowd. The titan behind her slowly collapsed forwards. His fall made the arena shake a bit.

The battle was over. Rainbow Dash released a pleasant sigh and looked back at the titan. The titan groaned painfully.

“No… How could I die? By a weak... little pegasus?” Rainbow Dash gave him a strange look. His hoof lifted shakily up in the air like he was pleading. “Mother… forgive me…” And then his hoof dropped. Silence reigned for a few seconds, with Rainbow Dash just staring at his body.

“Dramatic much?” she said. “I didn’t hit him that hard…” The thought of brain damage came up. “Or, did I?”

Suddenly the crowd went wild with cheers. The filly was bouncing up and down to release her thrills. Fluttershy released a breath of relief at the sight of Rainbow Dash being okay. The crowd was full of hollering and hooves waving out. One pony in the crowd however was enraged.

“This can’t be happening! Get up! You can’t lose to a pegasus! This is not-” Another pony in the crowd silenced him.

“Wow… what’s with this crowd?” Rainbow Dash chuckled under her breath. “They’re more wild than the ponies at Ponyville attending one of Pinkie Pie’s parties.” She took a look towards the pedestal, noticing Spark giving off a proud smile.

“Gatherers of the Saddle!” Spark started. The crowd didn’t calm down, but she continued while pointing towards Rainbow Dash. “Rejoice and behold! For our legend has returned!”

The crowd went on to cheer louder, too loud for Fluttershy’s ears to handle. She had to plug her ears while Rainbow Dash groaned.

“Darn it, I’m not the pegasus they’re talking about,” she said under her breath. “What will it take to get this through to their heads?”

“Now legend,” Spark continued. “Let us put this tournament to a close.” There was a pause as the audience went silent. “Finish off your opponent.”

Rainbow Dash gave Spark an odd look. Her eyes shifted slowly to the downed titan, and then back to her. “Uh… he’s kinda down already?”

Spark’s expression shifted to a stern look. “You know what I mean. The battle is not won until your opponent is finished for good.”

Rainbow Dash’s attention returned to the titan. A few murmurs could be heard from the crowd. But they were so silent that not even Fluttershy could make them out.

“But… he’s not even getting up. In fact, it looks like he’s already given up fighting, almost like he just…” Rainbow stopped. Something had clicked in her mind. The last words that the titan had said, those words that sounded way too dramatic for a time like this.

Both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy’s ears dropped. Fluttershy covered her mouth in shock while Rainbow Dash looked to Spark in disbelief. Two words came from Spark’s mouth that confirmed what they feared.

“Kill him.”

Author's Note

Hiatus is a jerk. Once you get into one, it's very hard to come out of it. But hopefully that Hiatus improves the quality of this story.

--
Find any errors? Please notify.

Feed back and criticism are appreciated.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 2: Why'd you come?

The winds blew more powerfully on her mane the further she got. She kept her sights on the station where her friends were, watching them disappear from sight. She could no longer hear their calls. The sounds of the train racing on its tracks long drowned them out.

Rainbow Dash took her head away from the window. Her journey hadn’t started yet, so she still had some time to unwind. Except unwinding wasn’t on her mind. Something else was. She brought her sights back to the two mountain piles of bags that her friends had prepared for her.

The ones on the left held a few bags with glitters and cloth sticking out of them. The right side had stains of powder and frostings covering them. No doubt her friends went into such a hurry to prepare these things. It looked like even the bags themselves had to be prepared. But they really shouldn’t have gone to such lengths. She would’ve told them that, but she never found the chance to.

One bag on the right side at ground level however peaked her interest. It wasn’t much different than the rest, or much out of place, but those small differences was how she could tell that it indeed was out of place. Thinking back to when she watched her friends waving at the station, she smiled and walked closer to the bag, moving her head within inches from it.

“You might wanna get comfortable, Fluttershy.”

The bag suddenly jumped and squeaked loudly, despite being muffled. Multiple lumps kicked around the bag. It repeated until it found its way out of the bag, revealing the yellow and pink that Rainbow Dash knew too well, except covered in frosting. The yellow head looked to Rainbow Dash with the smallest eyes while the frosting dripped off the mane.

“H-how did you-”

“Come on, Fluttershy,” Rainbow interrupted with a wave of her hoof. “A lame disguise like that isn’t gonna trick me. You know me better than that.”

Fluttershy’s breath stuttered as she recalled the last time she tried something like this. The tree disguise she used, the fake illness, Rainbow Dash saw through them both so easily, it shouldn’t have surprised her that Rainbow Dash could see through this one.

______________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile back in Ponyville, Fluttershy was walking towards the outskirts of Ponyville, keeping her smile on her face. She headed behind some trees and bushes, continuing to walk further.

With Fluttershy being concealed, her eyes bulged out while her mouth opened up. The eyeballs that stuck to her sockets fell out, revealing the small eyes of squirrels within. Out of her mouth came a mouse, climbing up the snout and onto her mane. The mane was brushed off, revealing a zipper that kept the Fluttershy suit together. With the weight of its body, the mouse pulled the zipper down, splitting the whole costume in half and revealing the many animals inside the suit.

All the animals looked back at the train station, smiling and nodding off its departure. They all packed themselves under the suit, heading back to Fluttershy’s cottage.

______________________________________________________________________________

Fluttershy since removed herself from the bag she concealed herself in, shaking her body to rid of all the sugar and frosting that covered her body.

“I’m sorry I snuck myself in here,” Fluttershy said, looking to her friend with apologetic eyes.

“Hey, take it easy,” Rainbow replied with a smile. “I just didn’t expect you to want to come.” It looked like Fluttershy frowned in response after turning away to walk towards the door. “Hey Fluttershy, come on, you don’t have to leave.”

Fluttershy stopped and looked back to Rainbow Dash. She reached under her wing. “Unless I give this to the conductor, I do,” she said as she pulled out a ticket. Rainbow Dash tilted her head back at the response. It certainly wasn’t the response she expected, but there was nothing she could say about it.

Rainbow Dash just waved her hoof, signaling Fluttershy to go ahead. She turned her head towards the window, hearing the door to her private room opening and closing as Fluttershy left. In between the train’s chugging sounds, she could hear Fluttershy’s usual attempts of walking past ponies, which made sense because there wasn’t much room in the first place.

Rainbow Dash’s gaze focused on the world outside those windows. Even from here, she could feel refreshed by the cool winds that blew due to the speed this train was going. She watched far into the distance, noticing the many trees getting their brown leaves blown off thanks to the winds from either the train or the weather.

She stuck her head outside of the window, releasing a content sigh as the powerful breeze blew against her mane. She closed her eyes and let her mouth hang open, letting her tongue out. She focused her mind on the force of the wind. The speed this train went was nothing like the speed she could attain from flying alone, but the wind alone was enough to relax her spirits. Despite all the wind blowing on her face, her breathing stayed steady, pushing against the air that fought her breath.

“Rainbow Dash?” The sound of Fluttershy’s voice startled Rainbow Dash to slam the back of her head against the train’s window frame. Grunting, she removed her head away from the window, rubbing her hoof against the back of her head as gave Fluttershy a stern look.

“You know, this is a private room for a reason, Fluttershy,” Rainbow said in annoyance, making Fluttershy shrink back as her ears fell.

“Oh… um, I’m sorry,” Fluttershy stuttered, turning away. “I-I’ll leave you alone then…” She made her way back to the door leading to the next cargo. But as she was opening it, Rainbow Dash came right next to her, forcing the door to close back.

“Don’t take everything so literally, stay,” Rainbow offered, motioning Fluttershy towards one of the bed seats.

______________________________________________________________________________

After a quick exchange of preferences and offers, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy sat together on the far side of the room. With no window near the seat, they could chat without the wind bothering them, or at least bothering Fluttershy.

“So Fluttershy, how come you wanted to come along?” Rainbow asked the big question in the room.

Before Fluttershy answered, she brought her gaze down, humming to herself as she thought it over. “When you announced that the birds in Ponyville had no where to go, I was so worried,” she started. “I-I was afraid our solution would be to leave them to starve.” She looked back up, but her voice increased in pitch. “Why, I know I could try to house them in my cottage, but, I know it isn’t nearly big enough to keep them all for the winter.” Rainbow’s ears twitched and her mouth went open in a bit of a shock because of her friend’s display of fear. “I-I was so scared for them. I… had to do something, but… I just didn’t know what…”

“That was when I said there could be a new home for them outside of Equestria,” Rainbow Dash continued for Fluttershy, to which Fluttershy nodded in response. She knew Fluttershy would be worried for those birds, but she didn’t expect her to do something like this for them. “But Fluttershy, that’s why I’m going. I can’t let any of Ponyville down including those birds. You don’t trust that I’ll get it done?”

“No, I do trust that you’ll do the best you can,” Fluttershy answered while shaking her head. “But what if there’s that chance that there isn’t a home for them?”

“Don’t say that,” Rainbow said. “You keep thinking like that and there won’t be. Believe me.”

“I know…” Fluttershy looked away. “I know that I can believe in you, but… I have to see for myself.” Fluttershy’s eyes sparked when she looked back at Rainbow. “If you came back saying that there wasn’t any habitats for them, I know that in my heart, I wouldn’t be able to accept it. I have to come… to see for myself whether there is a home for them or not. That’s the only way I’ll know I can accept it.”

There was a pause as Rainbow Dash let a soft gasp form in her mouth.

“Taking care of the little critters is what I do. When there’s something as big as this at stake, I can’t just sit back and do nothing. ...That’s why I have to go.”

Rainbow Dash let out her sigh. “Gosh, Fluttershy, you’re acting as if these animals can only depend on you. You know you can’t take care of all of them by yourself.”

“I know… but… I can try, right?” Fluttershy eyes glinted with hope. Rainbow wasn’t sure how she could respond to that. It almost sounded like Fluttershy's question related to how Rainbow Dash did things. “Besides, if what Twilight said was true, this trip will help me encourage those little birds to fly this far south,” Fluttershy continued.

“Well... mmmrph, ya got me there,” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing her chin. She hadn’t actually thought about how they would be capable of giving those birds the confidence to fly outside of Equestria. Even if she did find a new habitat for them, it would take somepony like Fluttershy to convince them to go. But she wouldn’t know what she would be leading them to unless she saw the land for herself.

“Okay, so I can understand why you wanted to come, but seriously, why did you have to sneak your way on? If you wanted to go so badly, you could’ve just asked.”

Fluttershy’s ears went limp as she frowned. She looked away before answering. “...I was afraid... that you wouldn’t allow me to come… that I’d slow you down…”

“Aw, come on, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said, placing a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “You, slow me down on a mission like this? No way,” she said with confidence. But Fluttershy wasn’t convinced.

“...You were awfully mad at me when we had to climb that mountain… to…”

“But that was a long time ago,” Rainbow interrupted. “Can’t we put that behind us?” Fluttershy couldn’t answer that, so Rainbow continued. “Besides, you didn’t want to climb up there in the first place. I was more mad at Twilight for suggesting you to come along. I was just so frustrated that you kept proving me right with you slowing us down.”

There was a short pause as Fluttershy came up with her words to respond. “Well… to be fair, Twilight was right in the end.”

“Yeah yeah,” Rainbow let go of Fluttershy and waved her hoof. “But hey, if I had known you could do that to a dragon, I’d have recommended you from the start.”

The comment made Fluttershy cringe. She recalled the time when she was so hastily picked to go search for Twilight when Trixie had all of Ponyville captured. If that was how she acted then, she could only imagine how Rainbow Dash would’ve acted before if she believed from the start that Fluttershy could tame that dragon.

“Well, that settles it,” Rainbow started again as she lifted herself off her seat. “Fluttershy,” she motioned a hoof towards her friend, “I humbly welcome you to your first mission on Ponyville’s weather team!”

Fluttershy was taken aback by this gesture, not sure if she was more surprised by the sudden position she was given, or the fact Rainbow Dash used humble in her sentence. But then again, ever since her speech at their departure to the Equestria Games, she shouldn’t be surprised that Rainbow Dash was learning so much on how to be humble. Not to mention she had Rainbow Dash to thank for her own performance with flying in those games.

Fluttershy slowly moved her hoof to Rainbow’s, one question in mind. “A-am I really on the weather team now?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Nah. But if you want, I could help you get on it when this adventure’s over.” The two friends couldn’t help but giggle at the comment. Their hooves came in contact and Rainbow lifted Fluttershy off her seat. “But seriously, you should totally consider it.”

“But Rainbow Dash, I have my responsibility of taking care of the animals, not the weather,” Fluttershy replied while they walked to a window together.

“Come on, what do you think this journey’s about?” Rainbow continued, motioning her hoof outside. “A huge part of an animal’s habitat is all about the weather. If you could learn it, you could give them their favorite season whenever you wanted to.”

“Oh, but I couldn’t do that. That’s what the weather pegasi’s like you are for.”

“Oh, so now you’re going against what you said earlier about wanting to take care of animals in as many ways as you can?”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy continued chatting away at their logic over how animals and weather control related to what they were doing. Their conversations filled with laughter and enjoyment that was drowned out by the rough noises the train made as it continued chugging along Equestria’s lands.

As much as they enjoyed learning about each other’s activities, they weren’t quite ready to make that a regular thing. They did enjoy talking about it though. Fluttershy could now perform in front of others pretty well, while Rainbow Dash wasn’t as boastful as she used to be. They reflected on their past while doing various activities to enjoy their train ride and let the time pass.

Rainbow Dash continuously stuck her head out the window, letting the cool breeze refresh her spirits. Fluttershy was just content with watching the many trees that were having their leaves blown off. It was the symbol that one day, these trees would bloom new flowers and decorate Equestria to a new beauty after surviving the harsh cold that was Winter.

When she thought about it, that really was what their journey was about. They would travel a harsh journey outside of Equestria, discovering things that nopony else had. And when their journey was over, they would be greeted to the happy faces of many ponies, birds, and other animals, waiting for them. Of course, that last part would be delayed because of the new season they would have to wait for.

But for now, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could spend their time just happily chatting with each other.

Author's Note

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