Stillness.
Wind lightly brushed the mountainside... blowing at trailing bands of powdery snow.
Clouds shifted overhead. Columns and beds, shifting, breaking apart, coming back together, then dissipating.
Sunlight dwindled, then intensified again.
And the snow beneath the summit...
...began breaking from underneath.
A crack formed... a tiny fissure.
Then streams of trickling frost spread in opposite directions.
A hint of blue... a glimpse of fuzz...
...and then—
"Grnnghh-aaugh!"
A shivering figure burst out of the snowbank, covered in a tattered swath of tent canvas. The pegasus fought with the material from underneath, pulling at it, tugging, yanking it clear. At last, with her muzzle exposed, Rainbow took a mighty gasp, inhaling as much as she could.
Then, with chattering teeth, Rainbow pulled herself the rest of the way out of the buried patch of snow. The hole in the frozen material closed beneath her with a brief groan. At last, littered from head to tail in bits of frost, the mare rolled onto her back and simply lay there, staring up at the hazy blue sky and panting.
Four spectres had emerged alongside her. They too hyperventilated—if only through sheer relief.
"Oh goddess, Rainbow!"
"Are you okay, darling?"
"Speak to us! Say something!"
"Please!"
Rainbow panted... panted... panted... swallowed a tight lump, and muttered, "Ow."
"Sweet Celestia!" Rarity fanned herself. "That was... was..."
"Woohooo!" Pinkie Pie pumped a hoof. "Way to go, Dashie! You teach that bullying avalanche what for!"
"But... b-but are you hurt, or...?" Fluttershy fidgeted.
"None of her bones are broken," Rarity said. "Unless..." She squinted Rainbow's way. "...you're feeling any pain in your extremities?"
"I'm... fine... Rares... I... think..." Rainbow sat up, wincing. Eventually, she gave up with a groan, slumping back on her flank. "Mrmmmfff... just... a breather... please..."
"Erm, Rainbow?" Twilight floated up close. "I hate to be a downer, but..."
"What... egg... head...?"
The unicorn pointed past the mountain summit. The sky was darkening... broiling. One layer at a time, the blue atmosphere disappeared, giving way to a fresh new blizzard rolling in from the north.
"... ... ..." Rainbow's eyes rolled back. "Eunnngh..." She clutched her shaved head and gnashed her teeth. "Why couldn't Verlax be the Divine of Tropical Paradises instead?"
"You'd rather have this or giant diseased dragon mosquitoes?" Pinkie remarked.
"I don't plan on having any foals." Rainbow frowned. "You?"
"Rainbow..." Twilight stared at her. "I'm sorry, but... you must get moving again. If this storm is as bad as the last one—"
"Right. Right. Find sh-shelter." Aching, Rainbow pushed herself back onto her hooves and gathered her supplies. "Rarity...?"
"Senses peeled and already searching, darling."
"Good." Rainbow Dash shuffled uphill, one pained hoof after another. "Stay frosty." She winced at her own words. "Y-you know what I m-mean..."
Within hours, Rainbow wished that she hadn't pulled herself out of the avalanche. The blizzard hit at full force—and she was in the thick of it.
The mare had formed a haphazard scarf from one of the surviving blankets. She covered her nose and muzzle as she trudged across a steep plateau. The ravaging fingers of the blizzard knifed against her, nipping at her eartips and flank with every howling second.
Stifling her grunts, Rainbow Dash pushed against the maddening gusts. She faltered every now and then, forced to crouch on bent legs. Her body shuddered, and after a brief struggle she picked herself back up again and resumed her lurch.
"This... this is intolerable!" Fluttershy stammered through the blinding bedlam. "How can we continue to force Rainbow through this?!"
"If she doesn't keep moving, she'll be worse off!" Twilight turned around. "Rarity?! Any luck?!"
"There's some porous rock in the mountains to our right!" Rarity tried pointing through the blizzard, but her pale limb only blended with the obscuring precipitation. "There m-might be a place to rest in there!"
"How far away are we talking about?!" Pinkie hollered.
"It's closer than the other mountaintops!" Rarity yelled.
"You hear that, Rainbow Dash?!" Twilight shouted in their anchor's direction. She clenched her teeth as wave after wave of blizzard phased through her lavender body. "It might be best to head due north!"
Rainbow Dash was too busy battling the blistering winds to respond. She squinted into the haphazard frost being flung her way. Her eyes teared, but it was far too cold to risk blinking. She rubbed her lids dry with a forelimb instead. This blinded her, and the mare stumbled.
"Unf!" Rainbow collapsed in the snow—and her whole body instantly screamed with frigid pain. "Grnnngh... mmfrfff..."
"She c-can't just lay there!" Rarity's voice cracked.
"Rainbow!" Twilight flew in. "Get up! The blizzard's one thing, but if you lie still while exposed to the elements—"
"Right. Right." Rainbow hissed, her breath turning to frost in front of her and being blown away by the whistling winds. "Right right right... nrnnghhh..." Her limbs refused to function at first, battling waves of numbness. Then, with gradual motion, she lurched back into an accelerated trot.
"Good. Just head north, Rainbow. If nothing else, the mountainside should provide a bit of wind resistance."
"Uh huh..." Rainbow pivoted to the right, teetered, then continued her trek. The wind was blowing constantly against her left side, which somehow felt even more challenging. The mare winced from her left wing, until the sheer exposure to the blizzard eventually numbed it. "Just... g-gotta climb a mountain..." She gulped. "Never d-done that before."
"Rainbow..."
"Heheh..." Rainbow seethed through chattering teeth. She didn't have the strength to bear a smile that matched her breathy tone. "Just... a joke... egghead..."
Twilight merely bit her lip.
"Any luck, Rares?" Pinkie squeaked.
"I... I-I haven't sensed anything yet." Rarity squirmed. "Just... k-keep moving, Rainbow, dear."
"Oh dear..." Fluttershy looked around as the blizzard only grew thicker and more menacing. "Oh goodness... mmmmm..."
Rainbow marched and trudged and...
"Oomf!" Rainbow Dash tripped and fell hard on her chest. She winced... though her body hardly understood why. At best, she felt a flutter of tingling sensations rolling up and down her spine, then nothing.
Nothing but cold.
Her ruby eyes twitched, squinting past the mounds of snow before her muzzle.
A steep mountainside loomed before the mare... above her. Rolling patches of ivory whiteness hung under billowing curtains of gray mists, carried sideways by the merciless storm.
There was a murmur against her ears.
Rainbow shifted. She tilted her head to the left.
A lavender shape danced in the fog, then came into focus. Twilight's panicked face looked back at her. Lips moved, damnably desperate and flickering from the snow phasing through them.
With a wince, Rainbow sat up. She shook her head until the cobwebs in her neck and skull dissipated.
"...back up, Rainbow! Did you hear?! Rarity's sensed something!"
"A cave!" Rarity hollered, hovering ahead of the mare and point up the crooked mountainside. "There's a cave up ahead! A deep one! You can get there very easily, Rainbow!"
"Mrmmmff..." Rainbow hobbled forward, tripped, then caught her shivering weight with wobbly legs. Gnashing her teeth, the mare tigthened her muscles and forced herself uphill. It was a slow, lumbering battle.
Four bright shapes swirled around her in the blinding blizzard.
"That's it, Dashie!" Pinkie huffed. Puffed. "Just keep moving! Get that blood flowing in your—"
"Augh!" Rainbow yelped. It took her three belated seconds to realize that she had stubbed her fetlock against an exposed chunk of rock. She collapsed again, falling hard on her belly. The world faded, then flickered back along the current of panting yelps.
"Rainbow! Get up, darling!"
"Rainbow, you must get up!"
"Please, Rainbow. Just a few more steps. The cave isn't very far."
Rainbow panted and panted—but she could no longer feel the breath pumping in and out of her lungs. The world shifted. She knew that she was tilting her head up, but she sensed as though somepony else was moving her head from the outside. Her body was a cold, shivering shell, and it suddenly felt a lot more comfortable to just... leave it altogether.
"Mrmmff... I'm..." Rainbow hissed. She heard a clattering sound that she once recognized as her own teeth. "I'm... I'm sorry, girls..."
"Don't say that, Rainbow!"
"Rainbow, don't say that!"
"You have to keep moving!"
"You're awesome, Rainbow! Nopony can move like you! Now get up!"
"Not... giving up..." Rainbow wheezed. Her breath solidifed and clung to her nose. "I could h-have gotten us there faster. You don't even know." She drifted. "But right now, just..." Her lids lowered, as did her head. The snow didn't feel quite so cold any more. "Just so... t-tired..."
"Rainbow..."
"Sorry... just... t-tired..."
"Rainbow." Twilight dropped until she was even-faced with the pegasus. "Rainbow, look at me."
Rainbow's eyes twitched.
Twilight furrowed her brow as she spoke: "I know you're tired. And I know it hurts to keep fighting the blizzard. But if you don't make it to the cave, you're done for. And so are we."
"And so's everything!" Pinkie yelped.
Twilight gritted her teeth. "Would the Noble Jury settle for you quitting now? Do you want to give up on Princess Luna and Ponyville?"
"Mrmmff... Twilight..." Rainbow whimpered. Her ears twitched, digging into the painful blizzard. "Twilight... I-I just... can't..."
Fluttershy's voice pierced the howl. "We can't leave Applejack hanging..."
Rainbow's pupils instantly shrank. She gnashed her teeth as a deep snarl formed deep in her throat. "Mrmmmfff..." She pushed against the earth, rising one trembling inch after another. "Ngrnnngh..."
"Yes... yes..." Twilight nodded, drifting backwards through the onslaught.
"That's it, darling!" Rarity cheered.
"You've got this, Dashie!"
"Rrmmmgfff..." Rainbow Dash stood up on numb limbs. She took one step forward, then fell again.
"Oh goodness—!" Fluttershy whimpered.
"Rkkk!" Rainbow bit at the air. She pushed again. This time, a pained breath ripped through her lungs, and she released it in a haunting scream.
Rarity and Pinkie trembled, their ears drooping.
Shouting into the blizzard, Rainbow trudged forward. She heaved and heaved. For every five steps, there was another scream, followed by a whimpering inhale as she powered through the next few meters of snow.
"That... th-that's it, Rainbow!" Twilight bravely maintained focus as she motioned the mare along. "Just keep it up!"
"You've got this!" Pinkie stammered. "Just keep—"
Rainbow screamed again—but it was not enough. Her knees buckled, and she fell flat on her face. A stab of pain rolled through her chin, electrifying her. The air was too cold for the blood to ooze out. She stared up with trembling eyes.
A dark shame loomed beyond the miasma—a hole. A cave. It wafted in and out of reality as Rainbow was reduced to a sluggish crawl.
"Rrrnnngh... g-goddess!" Rainbow cried, tears forming along the edges of her eyes. They warmed her, mixed with her pain, and drew her forward, hyperventilating, one trembling fetlock after another. "Rnnngh... haaaaugh!"
"Just keep moving, Rainbow."
"I know it hurts, Rainbow. But you're almost there."
"Don't stop now."
Somewhere, Fluttershy was weeping. Rarity let loose a pitiable moan. Colors and shapes huddled together, forming a harmonic halo around a quivering strip of fuzzy misery.
"Oh Rainbow..."
"We believe in you, Dashie!"
"We're right with you, Rainbow. You can do this!"
The pegasus clenched her eyes shut. She sobbed into the darkness. The darkness echoed back with the voices of dead friends. Somewhere, off to her right, Yaerfaerda pulsed. A distant orange. Faithful and strong. Rainbow's nostrils flared. She forced her eyelids apart and glared through the melting tears. A snarl, a hiss, and she shimmied back onto her feet, finding even hoofing on slick, wet stone.
"That's it, Rainbow!"
"Just a few more feet!"
"You feel it clearing, darling? You're almost at the cave!"
"You've got this, Dashie! You've got this!"
"Mmmrff-hrrrghh!" Rainbow threw herself onto dry rock. The still air was a shock to her system. Her lungs emptied, and she shivered at the sound of her own echoing breaths.
"It's not over yet, Rainbow."
"Your limbs are super blue. Quick, make a fire!"
"Use the rest of the Desperadoes' fibers if you have to!"
"Rainbow, you must make a fire! If you're to survive—"
"Your body will feel much better. Trust us, darling."
Rainbow wheezed and coughed. She found herself sitting up. Looking down, she saw a pair of blue forelimbs unbuckling her saddlebag and reaching into the contents within.
Pinkie's head phased through the material. "The flint's on the left side! The bag of flammable strings are in the middle!"
"Take your time." Twilight gestured. "Be slow. Steady. Don't want to drop your supplies now—"
Huffing and puffing, Rainbow threw the whole bag's worth of fibers into a gross pile on the floor of the cave. The world was growing black along the edges of her vision. The blizzard's howl dissipated, quieter than a kitten at this point. Rainbow saw a pair of pegasus limbs striking the flint together.
"Just a spark, Rainbow."
"Just one spark."
"That's all it needs."
"You'll be warm in a moment, Rainbow. Trust us."
"We're all with you on this, Rainbow. You can still make this work."
"Just start the fire. Then you can rest."
"We promise."
Rainbow's breaths had been reduced to periodic, animalistic grunts. She struggled and fussed with the flint. Sparks formed, but they landed on sterile stone. Growling, she fought and struck the rocks some more...
...until the metals fell completely out of her grasp.
Pinkie blinked. "Dashie?" She looked up, her eyes widening.
Rainbow's lids had grown heavy. Her ears folded back and her eyes rolled.
"Rainbow!" Fluttershy yelped.
The mare teetered. The world went black.
Twilight's voice shrieked: "Rainbow! Stay awake!"
"No, Rainbow!"
"Stay with us—"
Rainbow fell.
And when her body hit the floor of the cave...
...she didn't feel a thing.
Dash needs a defrost.
And some warm food. that'd probably be nice too. Something to raise her core temperature so her extremities warm up.
-Companions have returned, inner darkness spurned. Utaan.
Cue another weird-ass dream/vision.
Or Theanim chapter.
barring an unexpected visitor, the cave could be enough to keep her alive by itself.
(Assuming that the cave has air coming out of it from deep underground. If it does, it'll be warmer than the snow.)
Alternatively:
http://www.jacklondons.net/buildafire.html
It seems rather bleak, but there are still five more books. Somehow, she will survive this.
Aw sleet...
Oh boy this is not good at all. Hopefully the Cave will be enough. Much like 6964787 i'm also betting on a Theanim chapter next or at least some side chapter anyway.
Also Comfortably Numb really fits this chapters mood well, I listened to it as I read this one.
I guess some kind of tunnel through the mountains or an underground hot springs would be too much to ask?
All this frost makes me expect another Verlax golem.
Remember that Verlax has PalantÃr powers over her territory, so this may well be Verlax's official test of the Austreaoh's body.
All of the recent machinations may well have been purposely done for this specific result. It's a reasonable theory, considering we earlier sleuth-confirmed Verlax sank Luminar and froze central rohbreddon specifically to destroy the forestry and mana crystal resources to force a cultural dependance for dredge coal heating just so the Consortium could be created at her leisure to prime the seven seas into a state of maximum corruption.
Does Fluttershy know about how Rainbow feels about Applejack? I'm pretty sure she does, for several reasons. First is that Flutters can, to a certain extent, sense the emotions of others. She could probably figure it out on her own.
On top of that, (warning: minor Appledashery spoilers ahead) We know that Appledashery and Austraeoh occur in different versions of the same universe, where the only really known point of divergence between the two is what happens to Discord. In Appledashery, Rainbow tried (and failed) to start a relationship with Fluttershy when they were both young, which led Rainbow to later confess her obsession with Applejack to Fluttershy. With that in mind, I'm guessing she did the same in Austraeoh before the series took place.
I'm mostly wondering because if so, it'll make things interesting for once Applejack joins the Phantasm Five (Spectral Six?). Maybe Fluttershy might try to get Rainbow to talk to AJ? Obviously, we won't see any actual AppleDash until the end of Book 12, but it could make for some interesting (and familiar) scenarios.
6964856 It'd still be the phantasm 5, Dash isn't a ghost, so no spectral 6.
Right now it's the phantasm 4.
Shoutout to the Pink Floyd reference! (: great song
6964856
The power of Freckles compelled her, for the hardest part. Squee. I bet that cave is inhabited and Fluttershy didn't pick up on it.
Harrowing detail, found goosebumps due to the sudden scenery induced chills. Sounds colder than Gardez up there.
I once made the mistake of going out in the winter in only a hoodie thinking it would be enough, then it started a snowstorm.... I know your pain Dash
Yeesh, Dash is going to catch the mother of all colds after this. The girls really need to up their ghost game and start learning some poltergeist moves, figure out how to lift small objects or start possessing things. I wonder if any of them have really experimented at all with affecting the environment around them, or maybe the Element of Loyalty itself? They're connected to the thing and can enter it, so maybe they could make it do other stuff, like activate its glowy powers...? Wait did that thing generate warmth at any point in the past? I can't remember the full list of the Element necklace's actual powers. Anyway, just voicing my opinion that it would be exceedingly nice if the girls could start developing minor ways to physically affect the world. Heck at this point with Dash down and freezing to death it's as good a time as any to start trying.
Well, that or a convenient wyvern ride shows up. That'd work too.
. . . how much longer is dash going to be flightless
Wait a minute... I'm pretty sure we all just forgot something rather significant.
6964774 You're not relevant heavy metal. CHANGELING!
Im more than certain verlax threw these blizzards at dash.
Blessed Spark!
Also, I'm gonna call bullshit on that. You don't simply dig yourself out of an avalanche.
On another note, it seems Rainbow needs some warmth. Don't worry girl, I got something that can put a fire in your belly.
"but, i'm already blue?
6964856 man, as far as this story is concernd, the appledash is overplayed and extremely underexplained for all the angst she suffers for it. If there is appledash by the end, i hope it's at the very least as well done as the RoarkexDash ship, cuz otherwise, at this point, it's overdone.
...This may be the first time I'm genuinely happy that Rainbow found her way into a cave.
The tent is shredded by a blowpast? that was a seriously heavy impact. At least she got through that bit instead of zorbing the slope. Followed by extreme hyperthermia and unconciousness, implies outside help otherwise game over. Will have to see if this cave is part of the Wyvern network, or if the Bounty Hunter is holding up in it.
That was... one of the most difficult chapters in this entire story to read.
I though you said tropical, not topical.
Good thing snow and mountains are as fictional as dragons and pegasi.
Still summer in Australia but this chapter sure made me want to curl up in some warm sheets. Y'know not half exposed under one sheet.
6965171
I think it was explained in the "Austraeoh" and highlighted again in "Yaerfaedra".
At least the Giant Diseased Dragon Mosquitoes she could buck in the face.
6965171 In this chapter and most other chapters with Dash wanting to get to AJ, it's no more emphasised than with Rarity, Twi, Flutters and Pinkie. She fought on because she wants to save them all, or at least have them all together once more. The only reason Fluttershy even brought up AJ is because she knew Dash, Appledash ship or not, desperately wanted to get AJ.
The shipping has nothing to do with this chapter, IMO. The orange glow was just like the purple that flooded Dash's head in the Grand Choke.
6965287 I'm not sure which was harder; reading this, or seeing Rainbow lose her senses as she crossed the Grand Choke.
Dash just can't catch a break around here.
Never has anything I've posted here been more fitting.
Why is there never a tauntaun around when you need it?
6955363 we have evidence he was grievously injured during the events concerning his "death." Most who feign death don't risk actual death to do it. But we really only have a small part of that particular story so far.
That's not quite how hypothermia usually works but okie dokie lokie. Glad she made it out of the wind, that's drone serious determination.
That cave floor is going to suck the heat right out of her body. She could've made a snow-hole, lit the fire in that, and been pretty safe.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand here comes Renma.
6965382 yes, and i get that for this chapter at least, but almost any other time, it's just out there
6965370 no, not in the slightest
6965672
Okay, maybe i'm missing what you mean, but my counterpoints:
Changelings instinctively shift to Applejack when interacting with RD and AJ's form is used when RD expresses love most.
RD falls for Gold Petals in Austraeoh, but leaves when she remembers that Gold Petals is not AJ and RD can't hope for any happiness due to curse.
Bellesmith clearly feels RD's affection for AJ when sequencing in Eljunbyro.
Not good. Normally I'd say someone needs to chill, but that's the opposite of what they need to do right now.
6965690 yes, but nothing in the books show why. the ship should reasonably be there. Think about how the RainbowxRoarke ship was, it was fleshed out to the point that it wasn't some strange outlandish relationship that seemed completely out of place (to most). The crush on Applejack, as far as what the books have shown, seems to be nothing more than puppy love.
She had a single memory of Rainbow being carried home by Aj when she was drunk, that hardly qualifies as a declaration of love.
Ok, again, where is this proven to be something more than puppy love? Thus why i say it feels contrived, we have nothing to go off of except for FiM at the end of S1(when this story starts basically), and a single memory from sequencing that i mentioned above.
you have a point when you say that Rainbow bailed on her partly because she wasn't AJ, but as I've mentioned before now, we have nothing to go off of, espescially at that point in the series.
I have no problem with appledash as a ship, but in this series, with the tiny amount we have to go off of, it just seems out of place.
6965079
By the throne.... What a cliffhanger!
6965785 please, continue.
6965777
yeah we don't know why Dash is so into Applejack, except that during the series IC tells us that Rainbow is gay and has a type - earth pony, willful and headstrong to a fault.
Yeah, we saw RoarkexDash develop and grow to its end while ApplexDash is a basic plot element, just like Dash's flying east was.
I too would like to see how it started and what will it bloom into when AJ joins the party, but i can't say that it is baseless exactly because it is given.
Is that a jab at the Zika virus thing going on right now?
Also this would be a great time for Renma to show up.
Rainbow, whatever you do, don't let (it) go!
6965880
but it's not a plot element, hell, i wouldn't even call it a romance(yet if ever). what significance does it actually have for the story? It has done nothing for or against the plot, it doesn't drive the story at any point.