Somepony was gasping. It took Rainbow Dash several seconds of sweating to realize it was her.
She sat up on a velvet bench in the center of a two-bedroom suite. A broad window stretched open beside her, with magically engineered fans that were blowing out the fog of East New Ring. She ran a hoof over her mane, gulped, and then felt her neck. At the touch of her golden pendant, she exhaled with relief and began to slump back down—
“Took you long enough.”
Rainbow Dash shot up again, her heart nearly exploding out of her chest. She looked all around the lanternlit room until she saw Steelteeth standing at her side. She gulped and nodded.
“Yeesh. That wasn't very heroic of me.”
“No,” he muttered dispassionately. “It wasn't.” He reached a hoof over and felt her forehead. She didn't protest. “It's not a fever, and I seriously doubt that it's bloodloss. Have you had a history of dizzy spells before?”
“I've got an even better question,” she muttered. “How long was I out for?”
“Around twelve hours,” Steelteeth said calmly. “It is officially next morning.”
“Son of a ballerina,” Rainbow Dash moaned into a pair of hooves. “If I had a bit for every time that happened...”
“Maybe you'd actually have the fortune of a princess.”
“Well...” She slid so that her rear hooves hung off the seat. “At least I didn't have any friggin' wyrd dreams that time.”
“Did you not?” Steelteeth asked.
Rainbow Dash squinted at him. “Did I... talk in my sleep?”
“Nothing important that's worth being repeated, I imagine,” Steelteeth said.
“Whew...” Rainbow's wings fluttered. “Good.”
“Unless the phrase 'Gold Petals' means anything.”
Rainbow's wings drooped. She took a deep breath, gazing lethargically at the floor. “You're right,” she droned. “Nothing important whatsoever...”
Steelteeth raised an eyebrow, but then decided not to touch the subject. He stood up straight and adjusted his hat. “I took the liberty of acquiring this room for us. The Darkstinians may be a rigid group of ponies, but they're more than willing to accommodate us for... well... for whatever it is that we're here to do.”
“Heh. Yeah. Any luck on figuring that out?”
“I was hoping you would provide me some clarity upon waking up,” he stated. “Has the Queen's words of wisdom started making any sense to you?”
“Pffft. How should I know?” Rainbow Dash grunted. “I've been out like a dead tree.”
“Well, perhaps something will take root.” He swiveled about and headed for the far end of the suite. “In the meantime, I had better start asking questions of the locals here. Perhaps it will shed some light on this Duke Zaap Nator.”
“Don't you mean the stallion who would be Zaap Nator?” Rainbow Dash muttered. Suddenly, she blinked, then looked curiously Steelteeth's way. “Wait. How come you didn't go about asking questions before?”
“I didn't have the time to,” he replied.
“You mean... you were hanging out beside me the whole time I was out?”
“It was important to ascertain the nature of your condition,” he replied unemotionally.
“By sitting next to me for twelve friggin' hours?!” Rainbow Dash's eyes twitched. She smiled devilishly. “You were worried about me, weren't you?”
Steelteeth turned to look back at her. His nostrils flared. “You are a liability, nothing more. And the Queen has put me in charge of your care.”
“Heh... I love you to, ya big bucket of 'buck it all'.” Rainbow Dash stood up, her legs wobbling. “If I'd known you were so dang affectionate, I would have warned you about my dizziness ahead... of... time...” Her voice trailed off.
After a while, Steelteeth uttered, “Is there something amiss?”
“Uhhh...” Rainbow Dash blinked. Before her, a trail of lavender light was floating effluently through the apartment. It led out of the building, trickled unnoticeably beyond the body of Governor Mintelle's building, and eventually fell into the giant concrete hole in the center of the dvided city. Mesmerised to be once again bearing witness to the phenonemon, Rainbow Dash scratched her mane and murmured, “Well if this doesn't take the cake. Heh. What's with me these days? I almost miss 'boring'.”
“What was that?”
She cleared her throat and smirked, glancing sideways towards where the lavender light shimmered. “I said that I'd like to go out for a stroll. What about you?”
Okay, this story needs a TVTropes page like NOW. I so wanna put up a "Jerk with a Heart of Gold" entry for Steelteeth.
Uh oh! Dash's spider sense is tingling.
"I've got a bad feeling about this."
-Han Solo
Heh..."big bucket of 'buck it all'"...
Title Obtained: "The sapling"
-Mintelle
Very clever: “Pffft. How should I know?” Rainbow Dash grunted. “I've been out like a dead tree.”
“Well, perhaps something will take root.”
nailed the cliffhanger by the way.
Hm. Steelteeth almost reminds me of Ameri.
1158930
If you want there to be a TVtropes page, why not simply make it yourself?
1160059
Because I'm one seriously lazy sonuvabitch.
New Objective: Walk outside
I wonder if this underground artifact will be related to the constructs underneath Windthrow?
Mostly irrelevant observation: I just realised one of the brilliant things about Colon's (I still feel ridiculous saying that :P) writing. He manages to introduce a plot device, such as the lavender light, in such a way that by the time he actually uses it, we have already come to terms with it and accepted it. It's quite easy to ignore, but it amazes me how skillfully and subtly he does this.
New objective: Purple Ether Road.
Aw, poor Rainbow, she misses Goldy-poo. Seriously, though, this fic is expert at giving me mood whiplash. One minute I'm guffawing heartily at Rainbow's one liners, and the next I'm frowning with a heavy feeling in my stomach as the nature and reason for the quest, and Rainbow's overall solitary nature in it (she meets lots of ponies, but none of them can truly understand her mission or connect with her - partly because she won't let them, and partly because they just can't) reasserts itself, if even for a moment. Wonderful story-telling - I admit I'm jealous.
And no! Don't mention TV Tropes! (though this does need a page, like, stat). I can't go back there...I won't survive another encounter. Last time I nearly ran out of food and water before I was able to navigate my way out of the abyss. Onwards!
A message from MASH-
I'm sorry...I'm sick again...urp...
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Alright, so we get more lavender magic from the Element of Magic once again. I'm quite happy now. It seems my previous theory that Dash controls all of the Elements now may actually be legit! Also, we get shipping...ugh...first a cold, then a cold again, then poison ivy today, now this. This is not my kind of weekend...These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
1601487 I think you must live in my time zone, because it's not uncommon for me to see an evaluation less than 5 minutes old when I get on my computer every night, and head straight for this story.
As for shipping, it is utterly irrelevant to the story at this time, so it can be safely ignored.
1601516 I see...where is your time zone? I live in New England. I'll P.M. you the state.
1601587 I live in the Pacific time zone. I guess you must get on earlier than I do.
1160351 This story is so full of neck-breaking excitement.
Hiya Twilight!
Rainbow Dash squinted at him. “Did I... talk in my sleep?”
“Nothing important that's worth being repeated, I imagine,” Steelteeth said.
“Whew...” Rainbow's wings fluttered. “Good.”
“Unless the phrase 'Gold Petals' means anything.”
DAMN.
"Gold Petals"
I need more Gold Petals.
3899947 I think we all do.
Nothing much to say about this chapter. Although I guess she still thinks about Gold Petals.
Loading...
Tip: If you get lost or don't remember what to do follow the lavender trail, it will guide you toward your current quest's objective.
4193840
follow the lavender trail
follow the lavender trail
follow follow follow follow
follow the lavender trail
blah blah blah blah...you get the idea
Lavender trail again... I just want to know; is it Twilight (or the others), the Element itself, or what?
Twilight is helping!
Twilight?
So, we keep getting our lovely lavender flashes. Twilight's helping out, eh? I wonder when some of the other elements will give their glow to something or other. Hopefully Dash's dizzy spells will come less often and not take her out of everything for so darn long.
~SolidFire
I love the new cover!!!
Hmmmm, Gold Petals still looming around her head. Maybe we will see her more?
Ship! Ship! Ship! Ship!
I love the interaction between these two
To be fair, Dashie hasn't fainted in a long time.
Ho-lee-shit, was that a joke I detected?
Bleep bleep, Joke identified!
8627454
What joke?
'Nothing important'. Yep.
8939054
He used the phrase "take root" after she spoke of being "out like a dead tree." It's a pun.
Happily, it is good to see she who would be Rainbow Dash's acquaintance cares about her well being
07/18/2019
00:48 UTC
I miss GP... She's never coming back, is she?
Time to follow the "purple brick road" again.
10111907
I hope we see her again (: