Scintilla (Go the distance)

Dusk was already upon her as she walked forward. Rainbow Dash only hoped to find something where she could spend the night, her mum once told her that nightfall in the desert was cold and uncaring.

Anything would do nicely... well, not sand. Sand was the worst, sand would end up in your mane, eyes and all sorts of awkward places she had no desire to think about. Maybe she could find a wood plate to rest for the night, or even a piece of cloth to create a barrier between her and the dreaded sand... Sweet Celestia, she was starting to sound like Rarity, when did that happen?

Silence surrounded her, she hadn't uttered a word since she started walking, besides, she needed to preserve her energy, so she just focussed on breathing in and out, walking forward, and not losing sight of the element in her neck.

If anypony were to see her right now they would be amazed at the scene. Rainbow Dash is never one to remain silent, nor is she one for walking, she preferred to fly even the smallest of distances and saying whatever was on her mind. But now... well, now she seemed like another mare entirely.

Truth is, Rainbow did not feel like herself right now, she felt numb, her hooves moved on their own as she kept on walking, sweat covered her forehead but she didn't let that bother her, she was a mare on a mission. First and foremost; find a surface to sleep on. Maybe a cloud?... No, desert clouds won't hold her, too fragile, she remembered.

She had been walking for a few hours now, not particularly thinking of anything really, just... a rock.

Rainbow had to do a double take to really process what her eyes were seeing right now, a rock, a somewhat yet-not-exactly-flat rock big enough for her to lay down and not touch the sand while she slept!

Hastily, she trotted up to the rock in front of her. Her eyes wide with excitement as she got on top of it. The surface of the rock was still a bit warm from the several hours of uninterrupted sunlight but Rainbow didn't care, she was in cloud-9! (Well, rock-9). She was so happy she let a giggle – no, not a giggle, lame ponies giggle, she chuckled – escape through her lips. A rock! she couldn't believe her luck!

As she made herself comfortable on the rock's surface, she laughed again, this time a bit louder and heartfelt, soon, she was hysterically laughing out loud. A rock! Who would've thought? Not her, that's for sure!

Pinkie Pie would've laughed with her too, her laugh was so catchy that there was never a moment where they didn't laugh together.

Her laughter slowly started to quiet down, becoming silent once again. A rock... She couldn't believe her luck.

Yesterday, she was sleeping comfortably on a cloud home, high above the town of Ponyville where her closest friends lived, water at her disposal and enough food to last her for years. Now, however, no friends in sight and no water nor food at her disposal, yet she was utterly and beyond happy to sleep on a rock.

Rainbow looked at the stars forming on the horizon, the little dots shone on the lavender haze above her. If night came, that meant princesses Celestia and Luna took care of it...

Huh, that's weird, Rainbow could've sworn she felt a raindrop on her cheek. Another one fell down her cheek, and then another, and then one more, but there were no clouds in the sky. She continued to look at the firmament in search of the source of the drops of warm and salty water, the stars searched with her, aiding her as they twinkled. Tonight was a full moon, Rainbow Dash remembered, and she turned her head in the direction she knew the moon would come out from.

The raindrops kept falling.

The great satellite (how in the hay did she know that? Twilight must've been rubbing off on her) slowly raised in the east. being welcomed by the little specks of light. It was somewhat poetic, she thought. When Rainbow was a filly her dad used to say the stars always accompanied the moon so neither of them felt lonely in the sky.

She sniffed a bit, turning her muzzle to her front so she could see only the stars. The moon would join them in due time.

Rainbow tried to say something, but nothing came to mind, she just kept on contemplating the night sky with the stars and the slowly rising moon, away from the sand.

Oh how she hated the sand.

As the night darkened, more stars showed themselves. More than she had ever seen before, not even in Cloudsdale had Rainbow seen this many stars... AJ would love to see a sight like this, she'd been trying to coax her to camp with the Apple siblings for a while, then again, Rainbow felt like a camping trip would be better enjoyed between all of their friends together.

“Rarity would hate that” Rainbow thought with slight mirth. “She would bring so much luggage it would be impossible to carry it all alone! Well, unless Twilight were to bring Spike along, he may be a baby but a Dragon is still stronger than a pony”. Sometimes Rainbow was impressed by Spike’s devotion towards Rarity, A youthful crush, Twilight once said.

The stars shone brightly now, the only light illuminating the desert was that of the moon and the stars, and the reflection of gold on her neck, and that one of little speck of crimson light to her side.

Wait-- What?

Rainbow sat so fast that she almost got whiplash, she saw little specks of crimson light faintly shining far away. With one of her hooves she rubbed her eyes – Fluttershy once told her that going too much without certain necessities (such as sleep, food or water) can make you see things –, but as soon as she finished the light was gone.

Meh, that's a problem for future Rainbow.

She laid back down to gaze at the stars again, she'll just close her eyes for a few minutes, then carry on.

The raindrops kept falling.

A few minutes her flank. it was almost dawn!

Upon waking up, the first thing she did was reach for the element on her neck, feeling the dimensions of the necklace with her hoof. Luckily, it was still there, she felt slight relief. But only for a moment.

Rainbow stretched, thundering her spine in the process. Sleeping on a rock may not be the most recommended way to comfortably pass the night, but hey, at least she didn't sleep on sand. Hooray!

She looked up once again to see if the stars were still shining, but alas, they were not. The only thing biding her good morning was the light of the sun that was yet to rise from the east. The pegasus sat there for a few minutes, not really thinking about anything in particular, just looking up to the sky as dawn came forth.

Rainbow felt her throat dry up. Actually, she had felt it hours ago but it didn't really bother her then, she was way too numb before to concern herself with anything that didn't involve sand. Speaking of which, how long can a pony survive without water?

As she thought of her thirst, Rainbow saw again the little specks of crimson light through the corner of her eyes, only this time, she didn't turn her head towards it. Instead, she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And the light was still there.

Welp, they must be there for one reason, mirage or not, she had nothing else to do. So, forward it is.