Equestrian Adventures in the Digital World

Rainbow Dash was tired.  She'd never admit it, of course, but she had been flying all day, and she was getting tired.  She looked over her traveling companions, and was dismayed to see that only Fluttershy looked tired.  Applejack and Pinkie never seemed to get tired, the only time Rainbow had ever seen Applejack tired was when she ran herself ragged trying to buck every tree in Sweet Apple Acres all by herself, and Pinkie Pie... Well, she was Pinkie Pie.  Somewhat more startling was the fact that Twilight and Rarity didn't look tired at all.  Sure, Twilight knew how to pace herself and Rarity wasn't a push over, but... Twilight was an egghead!  Rarity only very rarely exercised!  How were they keeping up better than she was?!?

Seeming to read her mind, Twilight turned and regarded Rainbow briefly before saying "I'm not tired, Rainbow, because of the same reason we're here.  There's a ton of magic in the air, and it's keeping me moving."  Rainbow rolled her eyes and adjusted her flight goggles, pretending that she totally wasn't wondering about that at all. "Oh, and yes, we're almost there." Okay, Twilight was clearly using some kind of black magic to read her mind.  Twilight giggled, turning back to the road, and said "No, I'm not reading you're mind.  You're just very predictable!"  Lies.  Lies and slander.

Why were they here again?  Oh, right.  Twilight was having headaches... Blah blah blah... Books said it was magical... Blah blah blah... Twilight decided she needed to do something to fix it... Blah blah blah... Heading to the mountains!  Clearly Rainbow needed to pay more attention to what she was volunteering to do- tracking through the mountains was NOT what she had expected.

Though what HAD she expected?  She distinctly recalled somepony mentioning mountains, and "Mist", whatever that meant... Oh well!  She didn't have time for all this thinking!  She had to... Keep climbing the mountain.  Her wings drooped mid flap, and she plummeted several feet before catching herself.  Applejack gave her a worried look, and Rainbow smiled sheepishly before dropping to the ground.  Maybe she'd be less tired if she walked...

Somehow both before she knew it and after what felt like hours of silently -ugh-walking up the mountainside, Twilight called a stop.  Apparently they were high enough, and the "Mist" would be able to do... Whatever they were there to do.  After a few minutes of zoning out, Rainbow started paying attention again when she heard Applejack calling her name.  And then saw her waving a hoof in front of her face.  Okay, time to play it cool, pretend you were definitely paying attention the whole time... "Huh?" masterfully done, Rainbow.  Another mark solidly in the "win" column.

"Ah SAID it's getting mighty late, and we should be makin' camp 'fore we do whatever Twi an' Rarity plan ta do, and asked you ta help me set up tents!  Tarnation girl, you got little bits of cloud stuck in your ears?"

Okay, they know you weren't paying attention, so... Probably best to act nonchalent, pretend you just don't care.  "Yeah, okay, whatever..." perfect!  Now just get it done quickly, but not so quickly it looks like you're actually trying hard, and you'll be set!  At this point Rainbow's legs decided to better acquaint her with the dirt.  Treacherous things.

Applejack snickered, before saying "Well, Rainbow, if'n you're that tired ah figure you can take a nap right there... But wouldn't ya want, I dunno, somethin' soft ta sleep on?"  rainbow scowled at Applejack, which only made the farmer laugh harder.  Great.  Now, how to... You know something?  Screw it.  This is a loss.  And the ground IS rather comfy...

When Rainbow opened her eyes the camp was set up, and somepony was nudging her front leg.  She groaned, and struggled to stand.  And promptly fell over.  Again.  Skill.  And... Applejack was laughing.  Again.  LOVELY.  Finally, after lots of effort and at least one phrase that I refuse to reprint on the grounds it would simply be censored as to obscene to ever grace the internet(quite the feat, I know), she managed to get to her feet without falling over.  She glanced around, quickly discerning it was time for dinner.  She walked calmly(who is she even kidding?  She ran like she'd never run before) straight to an empty seat, causing Pinkie to giggle, while Applejack seemed to have finally gotten a hold of her laughs.

Barely.

Glancing around for support, Rainbow quickly skipped past Fluttershy, that mare wouldn't be able to distract the conversation unless something went badly... Rarity was deeply interested in... Something.  Rainbow lacked the attention span to discern what, exactly, she was interested in, and so that was a bust.  That left... Twilight.  Hmm... How to get that mare talking enough to distract Pinkie and Applejack?   Oh, of course!  "So, Twilight, how long is it going to take you to do... Whatever it is we're here to do?"

Twilight looked startled, before sighing and putting down her salad... Which she had been holding with her hooves?  Huh.  File that away for later.

"Rainbow, were you paying ANY attention when I explained this?" Rainbow assumed a blank stare would be answer enough.  She was correct.  Twilight desperately attempted to hide her face behind a hoof.  "Okay, lets go over this one more time.  I woke up a couple days ago with a splitting headache, coming from my horn.  No, don't ask how that works, I can't explain it.  So I did some reading, and turns out the symptoms were virtually identical to those many unicorns experience when they overtax their magic, but I've never managed to do that.  No, not even when I "vanquished" the Ursa Minor.  That made me tired, but it didn't overtax me.  So I waited for a day or two, but when it didn't go away I talked to Rarity, and she said that when SHE overtaxes her magic she comes up here to let the Mist repair any damage she did, and she suggested that I should do the same.  Then you all volunteered to go with me, even though it's not that hard a walk, especially for a Unicorn because the Mist will just give them back the energy they use.  Okay?  Any more questions?"

Applejack pushed back her hat, looking back and forth as if to check if anypony else was going to speak, before clearing her throat.  "Twi, ya didn't answer tha question... How long will this take?  Ah me-"  Applejack was cut off by Twilight when a layer of magic- not her usual maroon, but rather a brilliant white- forming around her horn, accompanied by a low groan of pain from the aforementioned mare.  She grabbed her horn, which simply seemed to make the layer of magic grow larger... Or perhaps it just never stopped growing.  Seconds later Rarity let out a squeal of pain, falling backwards onto her back and grasping her horn as well, as a similar aura covered her horn.  At the same time as this happened Rainbow could have sworn she heard a voice calling Twilight's name, but wasn't concerned with it as she tried to help her unicorn friends.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and Rainbow was falling.  She knew how to fall though, and she quickly righted herself, flapping her wings several times, beginning... To do absolutely nothing to her downward momentum.  Once again swearing with a force that could make a sailor blush, Rainbow fell through nonsensical symbols and images, before the world recollected around her with a heavy thud.

Authors Notes-

Dammit Solaris!  you made me do this!  ...grumble.