"Mmmmm..." Fluttershy took a deep breath, her cheeks rosy as she trotted happily down the elevated street overlooking the mid Canterlot shopping district. "The mountain air is so crisp and fresh. It's just wonderful..."
"Fluttershy, you were born in the clouds," Twilight remarked as she and the rest of her friends strolled down the line of richly furnished shops. "I'd think the mountains wouldn't compare to the fresh air you got up there!"
"The air is different here, though," Fluttershy said with a soft smile. "You get the delightful fragrance from the mountain forests, the misty breezes coming from the snowy peaks..."
"And don't forget the scrumptious aroma from the local confectionary!" Pinkie Pie chirped. "Oooh! That one sells peppermint! Can we go? Can we go?! Huh huh?! Can we?!"
"For goodness' sake, Pinkie!" Rarity exclaimed, balancing no less than four bulging shopping bags in her telekinetic grasp. "We've been to four candy establishments already! Don't you ever think of your poor teeth?!"
"Reckon you should pay as much mind to yer bit bag there, sugarcube," Applejack said with a wag of her eyebrows.
"Oh Applejack, don't be so swift to ridicule me! I rarely get sewing materials like this back in Ponyville! And even the ones that I do get my hooves on, I have to order by express pegasus mail! It would take me at least six months to compile all of the marvelous silks and ribbons I've gotten in the last two hours alone—" Shrieking, Rarity skidded to a stop, formed a flimsy fort out of her shopping bags, and hid behind it—trembling like a little foal. "That was him this time! I know it! It h-had to have been him!"
"Relax, Rarity," Twilight said, reaching a hoof over to pat her quivering shoulder. "That didn't even remotely look like Prince Blueblood."
"He had his mane and his eyes!"
"If that's true, then a whole lot of these stallions have had his manes and eyes!" Pinkie Pie said, giggling. "Stop being such a worrywhinnie, Rarity! It's a beautiful day! Wave your shopping bags in the air like you just don't care!"
"I keep feeling like he's going to be just around the corner!" Rarity said, whimpering. "It'll be last night all over again!"
"For the last time..." Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled consolably. "Celestia has her full assurance that we are not in any trouble. Yes, last night was kind of... crazy. But it's not like we're in a state of emergency!"
"Yup! These streets seem pretty calm to me." Applejack turned and smirked at Rarity. "Besides, darlin', from the what I saw of that upstart fussybottom, I'd say Blueblood got exactly what was comin' to him."
"He could disgrace m-me!" Rarity stammered. "He could soil my v-very name! My fashion career would be ruined!"
"I don't think he even remembered your name," Fluttershy said in a shocked tone.
"Blueblood is from the Azure Unicorn family," Twilight explained. "He was only in Canterlot during the Gala because Trottingham is experiencing a flash flood lately."
"Oh yeah!" Pinkie nodded. "I heard about that!"
"Twilight," Fluttershy said, looking at her friend with a worried expression. "Doesn't your cousin live in Trottingham?"
"Who, you mean Misty?" Twilight giggled. "Don't worry. She's alright. She didn't get flooded like all the houses closer to the coast. She sent me a letter just two days ago."
"Well that's good to know!" Applejack turned and smiled up my way. "Seems like it's a beautiful day for everypony after all!"
Her freckles matched the snowpeaks of the mountains beyond. The blonde wisps of her bangs fluttered in the cool breeze.
Her brow furrowed beneath her hat. "Rainbow?"
"Oh! Uhm..." I cleared my throat and gazed off towards the streets beyond. "Yeah! Nice day for..." I groan. "More and more shopping..."
"Is something the matter, Rainbow Dash?" Rarity remarked as she lifted the bags into a dainty hover beside her once again. "Still feeling the effects of sleep?"
"I'm feeling effects alright. But not sleep!" I flapped my whings and hovered even higher. "How far up do these mountains go? I wanna see!"
"Oooh! Carry me with ya!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing as the group moved along again. "I wanna pet a mountain goat!"
"What if he doesn't want to be petted?" Fluttershy asked.
"I'd ask first! The mountain goats where I come from are really polite!"
"Uhhh... Rainbow?" Twilight nervously remarked. "I wouldn't go too high if I were you?"
"I'm just stretching my wings! This beats shopping for bunch of lame ribbons anyday—"
A whistle blew. I winced, nearly falling like a dead weight from midair. I glanced down to see a unicorn guard frowning up at me sternly.
"You! Pegasus! Mind the flight restrictions of Canterlot! Or else!"
Twilight wincingly smiled. "Tried to warn you..."
"Unnnngh!" I forced myself to levitate down just a few feet above the ground. "Stupid city flying rules! How the heck does the royal guard get anything done with such restrictions?"
"If I recall, the restrictions are made for the sake of the royal guard," Fluttershy said.
"If everypony agrees to fly below a certain level, then that allows Celestia's pegasus guard ponies to do their job more efficiently."
"What's so efficient about standing around and doing nothing?" I said with a grunt.
"It's not nothing!" Twilight exclaimed as we crossed a sunlit street. "They're protecting the interests of Canterlot citizens and keeping foreign monsters and creatures at bay!"
"I think somepony is too impatient to let the rest of us get some much-needed shopping done!" Rarity said with an upturned nose.
"I can't help it!" I exclaimed, pulling at my mane. "I just want to fly and let off some steam! That whole screwup with the Wonderbolts last night has gotten me bummed! I wanted to impress them again like I did at the Young Fliers Competition, but it turned out to be the worst night ever!" I sighed long and hard. "Now it'll be a lifetime until I get to see the Wonderbolts in person again."
Twilight looked at Applejack. Applejack looked at Rarity. Rarity looked at Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie had her eyes crossed.
I squinted at the group. "What's on everypony's mind all of the sudden?"
Twilight cleared her throat. "Well..." She smiled playfully. "We have an entire afternoon free now that all of the shopping's been done. I thought we might finish the tour of Canterlot by visiting the northeast district!"
"Pfft. Yeah?" I groaned, folding my forelimbs as I hovered limply ahead of the group. "What's so special about that side of town?"
Twilight pointed. "See for yourself!"
"Buh?" I turned and looked. I felt my eyes exploding. "No way!"
Before us rested a large circular building sculpted out of blue marble. I had seen postcards of the Canterlot Stadium before, but here it stood naked before me, and on the marquis it said: 'Wonderbolts Air Show: Performing Daily.'"
"They're... They're on tour here this week!" my voice cracked.
"Of course they are, silly filly!" Pinkie grinned in my face. "You think they'd just be in town for only the Gala?"
"And there's an exotic falconing show for the opening act!" Fluttershy said, twitching with excitement. "Oh, I can't wait to see them!"
"And I'm fixin' to talk to some of the local managers to see about enterin' the next Canterlot rodeo in this here circle!" Applejack said with a tilt of her hat. "See? We may have just had the worst night ever, but reckon that don't mean we can't have the best afternoon ever!"
"My BBBFF got us all in for free!" Twilight exclaimed, smilling brilliantly as she suddenly brandished six tickets. "What do you think?"
"I think it's so awesome!" I exclaimed, hugging myself as I felt like bursting. "Omigosh! You guys are the best! Squeeee—!" My eyes bulged. Blushing, I clamped a pair of hooves over my mouth. "Uhhhh..." I cleared my throat and pivoted to face them with a frown. "You totally just did not hear me squeak like a little foal."
"Heeheehee... Yesssss we diiiiiid!" Pinkie Pie bounced past me towards the stadium.
"It's okay, darling," Rarity said, winking at me as she trotted by. "We won't tell a soul."
"After all," Applejack added, her emerald eyes sparkling whether she knew it or not. "We are 'the best.'"
I gazed after them, my smile stretching my lips to the breaking point.
"You sure are..."
And I zipped after them in a blue blur.
Finally! Got a prime spot for viewing.
Wow, Belle is really getting into this. It's a little creepy.
Yeah, sure... not yet, anyway.
Themes: eyes, spark, beloved.
Wordplay, "you" can refer to the group, Applejack from RD's perspective, and the group, Applejack from Belle's perspective. It's an agreement from relation and an agreement from observation. Mostly Applejack, though.
Anyone want to place bets on Dash getting a pair of goggles at the Wonderbolts' show?
I'm just waiting for a 'glitch in the matrix' moment to happen.
That's when things are gonna go down.
Belle. You so silly
So it looks like we're seeing everything that happens after the Gala... Which is the last major event to take place before the Return of Discord.
It hit me the other day but i was on my mobile.
"After all," Applejack added, her emerald eyes sparkling whether she knew it or not. "We are 'the best.'"
I don't think anything or much of anything ever happened between them. Could we see the regret of silence be an issue?
The story is good, but...
For reasons that are beyond me, I just get turned off and irritated whenever Rainbow Dash's crush for Applejack is brought up through compliments of AJ's traits.
Someone tell me what is wrong with me!!!
Not exactly on the reality of the show, since Twilight never told her friends about Shining Armor until the end of season 2...
finally caught up after reading both stories almost nonstop.
I wonder why the memories are in so much detail now unlike earlier when they were only bits and pieces.
i guess now i have to wait for new chapters instead of just clicking the next button oh well
1558508
Did you feel the same during Austraeoh? The beloveds have been doubled, here, so gonna have to get used to it!
1558523
The memories are in detail because Belle is experiencing them live, and presumably through whatever magic the symbols/Austraeoh hold as opposed to the Sequencing tech. Belle is so deep she currently is unaware that she is a separate pony. Welcome to the world of the daily update, regardless!
1558567 I guess i missed that fact in my rush to reach the newest chapter. Thanks for pointing that out
More Slice-of-Life-ey goodness!
On a separate note: you know how we have Whitemanes prophecy, for want of a better word, of Belle giving Dash the "wind beneath her wings" and all that, perhaps it has something of a more literal meaning rather than just putting Dash back together and motivating her. I was thinking about it last night, and "wind beneath your wings" is pretty much a purpose, something that drives you forwards, and supposedly Belle is meant to return this purpose to Dash. Then in the last chapter, Belle gets filled with the purple glow, which "fills her with warmth and purpose".
Towards the end of Austraeoh, it was made obvious that the light was appearing less and less often, so maybe 'purpose', like Axan described it, is a literal thing, and Belle will literally return purpose (the glow) to Dash?
Speculate!!!
Ok perhaps not then. Two light hearted chapters in a row.
Can't say I'm not liking it, I mean come on, it's Dashie we're talking about here, how can a chapter not be good so long as she's involved?
But all the light hearted chapters are worrying me. For two reasons.
One being that clearly Belle is completely losing any idea of identity, or at least that Dash's memories are really muddling up with her own.
The other reason these chapters worry me is because by now, I'm pretty sure we know IC enough to know that very soon, he/she will give us a chapter that will not be good or light hearted. We will very soon hear about something terrible that happened, either in Dashie's world or Belle's.
Only time will tell.
1558366
THE BEST!
I'll bet 10 bits on her getting a pair of goggles.
Also, I find it odd to see the Mane 6 in this story series.
1558696
I had a long analysis of what slice of life writing means in the greater context of literature, but I'm going to forsake that in favor of: this was the Seinfeld of chapters. Nothing happens here. No new info, no plot progression, zero, zilch, nada. Yet, somehow it's enjoyable. Regardless, I agree with you, the slice stuff offsets the eventual "pulling the rug out from under" moment and helps build tension for that inevitable character clash.
1558643
I like this play on the light theme. We know belle saw the purple glow and we know she's living some of Dash's warmest memories, it's sort of like she's reigniting Dash's drive.
While I think the last sentence of 1558366's theory is completely valid, I tend to agree more with 1558395. There's going to be a break in the timeline, and that's going to be the source of all the chaos. Discord will realize that an incursion from normal reality is futile, so he will attempt to break through the timeline itself. He won't be able to do it until a distruption in the fated course of events, though, which is where this whole arc is likely leading. It may be incredibly subtle, but we will witness the beginning of the end before this is over. It may only be a piece of exposition or a half of a description, but it will happen. Keep your eyes open, fellow readers. Something critical is going to happen, and it will not be obvious.
1559392
The more and more I think about it, the more worried I get.
Whatever is going to happen either next chapter or soon thereafter, will most likely be a turning point for the whole story. The reason why I think I am so worried though, is because we don't really know what state Belle or Rainbow is in. What happened to Belle after she passed out? We just don't know, and I'm worried that it'll be something bad.
Very bad.
Well, we'll really just have to see how the next chapter progresses...
1558331
I really should stop reading the comments. Here's me thinking it'll help ease my mind about the next chapter a little, however I was wrong.
This man here, Ledomare, what you said about the mane 6 not being in trouble yet makes me worry about the memory now as well.
Maybe the big bad thing that will be revealed soon won't be in Belle's current world, but rather in the memory that she is experiencing.
Uh oh.
The next chapter could be big.
1559997
We've known for a long time that something happens to the Mane 6.
It's only now that we get to see it.
1558366
Those goggles had pretty specific initials on them. I think those belong to scootaloo.
1558366
Did you ever get the feeling you over analyzed something?
1560429
You have a good memory.
1558567
I personally think that this is not Belle's POV at the moment, that we're seeing RD's POV. And that the reason these memories are not fragmentary flashbacks is because she's not unconscious due to injury, but rather some drug cocktail or something.
though, the lack of italics does suggest that it could be Belle's POV, since Dash's memories were never italicized when being viewed as a result of the sequencing, as far as I recall.
eh. You may be right.
1560398
I know, but I'm not sure I want to see it.
I mean I do, but I don't.
As in, I want to know what happened, but I'm not sure it would be nice to know.
You know what I mean right guys?
I think I'm wanting the next chapter. And I also think I'm maaaaaaaybe a little bit too apprehensive...
We will just have to find out when the time comes.
Onwards!
My god. This story is absolutely ridiculous. In the best way mind you.
It's like Brave New World + The Matrix + The Animus (Assassians Creed) + Serenity (movie).
What is this I don't even.
Moar.
Methinks IC is using these light-hearted chapters in order to cushion us from some incredibly dark and scary thing he has planned.
This story has the best commenters...
1560429
That was my original thought way back when. Who's to say Dash doesn't pick up a pair as a gift for her and then gets them back prior to the events of Austraeoh?
(Well, you I suppose.)
1560479
All. The. Time. I started a group about it!
1560557
It's both of their perspectives. It's either Belle reliving memories of Dash as Dash or the two of them experiencing the same memories at the same time.
1560923
Not sure if I'm excited or terrified for what is to come >.>
Oh who am I kidding, I'm loving it XD
1560690
exactly. Welcome to the fun.
*sniff sniff* I smell backstory
im glad to finally be caught up with your stories colon
1558509 Hence, the alternative universe tag
Not even a tiny spark of Belle in this one. Time to go deeper...
Huh. So is the whole Dash and AJ thing unrequited? That makes it even more sad! If AJ died without RD telling her... And Belle is totally out of it. Onward!
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
This is getting kind of creepy. Belle has truly become Rainbow Dash. If she is sequencing now, then she's so far gone that she's incapable of thinking for herself. This does not bode well for Belle...if something doesn't happen here soon, her entire being will melt into Dash's, which isn't good. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
I fear Discord's possible arrival.
1558366 Yes, the Foo Fighters please me.
Then spike ran in from buying some randoms things in a nearby shop. He had his hand full of bags to a point where he could not see in front of him nor the rock that he was forced to stumble upon, falling the pile of bags he was holding into the mane 6. The tickets slips out of Twilight's hoof as they followed the brisk winds which led them to fall off in the sewers. Astonished, the mane 6 gasp their breath out as they watch the tickets gliding through the sewer cover. They stared at it for a few long seconds as they slowly turned their eyes towards the little dragon who was still trying to get out of the pile of bags. It's at that moment, that spike plop his head out of the bags, look at the six stunned eyes in front of him through his geeky pair of glasses that stuck in his face throughout the incident and said in his most geeky voice he could muster, "....DID I DO THAT?"
Now wait a minute, I just can't let this one slide. Twi just mentioned her "BBBFF", yet NOPONY seems to know who in the hoof she's talking about when they get the wedding invitation. Motto of the day: Never listen to twilight, it leads to awesome songs several months later.
"I keep feeling like he's going to be just around the corner!" Rarity said, whimpering. "It'll be last night all over again!"
Is this a subtle reference to "The Best Night Ever" by captain chryssid with the time looping Groundhog Day Blueblood?
THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST
No Belle at all? What could this be?
So surreal...
Packing in that AppleDash.
Flash floods in Trottingham? Twilight has a cousin that lives there? Those seem like out-of-nowhere, potentially significant details.
Awesome.
Random theory, none of the girls knew about Shining because she always called him her BBBFF and they all incorrectly guessed that they knew what it meant.
Having problems with fangirl squeals? I feel ya there, Dashie.
Still, I wonder how many chapters of dream Dash we're gonna get before either Real!Dash wakes up or Belle!Dash goes full synchronization and hidden blades the crap outta Shell.
I don't think Ed ever fangirl squealed in FMA, but he's got plently of soft, cute, little-kid moments. It balances out. Somehow.
I can see Twilight leaning in expectantly, waiting for somepony to ask her what "BBBFF" means, only to be disappointed.
I wish I could see A Canterlot Wedding for the first time again...
Or else what? You gonna arrest the fastest, most bodacious flier in all of Equetsria?
6497181
Dude, I do not foresee in this, or any other life, Belle taking out Shell.
That guy likely eats nails for breakfast, suffering for lunch and equine souls for dinner.
His body is made of saturated badass, and his muscles have muscles.
He can likely petrify Medusa with his stoic look alone, and killed with a glare.
He is 99% factorized "Radical"
8635629
I assume she'll get a fine. The punishment that makes sure you know that it's illegal unless you're rich