Hunting Hope 8

>The train rumbled along the rough metal tracks, making a blur of the landscape on either side.

>While our heroes had been unable to arrange for the motor-train with such short warning, the powerful train-stallions had been keen to impress the 'By Celestia's beard! It's the Elements of Harmony!', and so they'd started off immediately and at a breakneck pace.

>Lost in thought, Twilight sat at the front of their sleeper-car, staring out the window intensely.

>She knew they were on the right track.

>Their train would arrive in Baltimare tomorrow afternoon; Hope should, even accounting for her prodigious speed, only be able to arrive in the dead of night the same day.

Plenty of time.

>Still, worry nagged at the back of her mind.

>"What's bouncing in your cleverbrain?" Pinkie appeared is if out of nowhere with a sympathetic expression.

>"No, it's nothing. I just... just need to sleep"

>"Ahm worried too." Applejack piped up, raising her hat from her eyes and sitting up from where she had been feigning sleep.

>"Th' desert is muderously dangerous, even for a well-equipped pony. Ahn Hope dahsn't have that kind of equipment."

>"She'll make it." Twilight responded sharply, eyes unfocused as if desperate to make her words sound convincing to herself as well. "She has to."

>"Yah've got that right," responded Applejack ominously, "Ah certainly don't want ahr mission ta end in tragedy"

>Well, there goes any change of sleeping, thought Twilight frustratedly, looking out the window.

It was going to be a long ride.

 

>Rainbow blinked her eyes slowly.

>Why couldn't she sleep? The next day would be vital for the success of their mission, and every moment spent awake threatened to jeopardize their plans.

After all, how could the fantastic six hope to succeed if their star member, Rainbow Dash, wasn't at her best?

>Dash rubbed her eyes frustratedly. It was no use. She had to fly.

>Careful not to wake her friends, the rough-and-tumble cyan pony turned towards the window, noticing with surprise that the curtains were drawn tight.

>With a tug and a grunt, she flung them wide open, only to be dazzled with a torrent of blinding sunlight, causing her to fall backwards onto the floor with a loud *thud*.

>The sounds of the other ponies stirring surrounding her, Dash knew that this was going to be her last opportunity to get some time to herself.

>Hovering as quietly as possible, Dash carefully closed the curtains and made her way to the door at the end of the train car.

>She pulled it open with a creak, and flared her wings in preparation of flight.

>"Waht, Dash!" An alert Applejack accosted her, apparently already awake, "Where're ya goin?"

>"I've been cooped up for ages! I just need to stretch my wings is all!"

>Dash tensed her legs, crouching down and spreading her wings to their full length, wing-tips poking into the wind on either side of the fast moving car.

>"I'll meet you at the train station!" Dash called out, before leaping with a powerful thrust of her legs.

As she cleared the roof of the train, the gushing wind caught her wings and flung her skyward.

>Applejack shook her head slowly, closing the door behind her as she returned to her now awake allies.

 

>Far above, Rainbow Dash floated in the warm currents of desert air.

>Ahead and below, the tiny toylike train slid along a silvery track.

>To the left, the plains were punctuated by scrub brush, with forests and mountains barely visible near the horizon.

>To the right, the golden dunes and dusty plains spanned as far as the eye could see, dry, deadly, but beautiful.

>Rainbow flexed her wings, twisting and flipping an a relaxed manner.

Having been on the train all night left her restless, and her mind yearned for the rushing exhilaration of speed.

>Dash looked down.

Yeah, she was high enough.

>The rainbow pagasus folded her wings, nose pointed straight down as she fell like a rocket.

>"YeahhHHHH!"

>Wind pummeled her, ruffling her mane and throwing her ears back.

>It cut and whipped, trying to find something to grasp against to slow the invading presence, but slipped harmlessly around the aerodynamic form.

>Less than a hundred feet from the ground, Dash flared her wings out, contouring her dive to skim the surface of the desert while retaining her prodigious speed.

>Dash continued to ride the roller coaster of the sky for quite some time, before once again aligning with the train tracks and rocketing in pursuit.

Meanwhile, the rest of the six were having a much less satisfying day.

 

To avoid timeline confusion, this happens at the same time as Hope's trip across the desert. If you recall, Hope ran into the desert in the afternoon of the first day, then the six got on the train that evening (about when Hope arrived at Appleoosa).

I suppose this bit could be considered throwaway, but I needed something nice to prepare for the next bit, which will involve a lot of coincidences and therefore a lot of energy to justify reasonably. [spoiler]I also love Dash.[/spoiler]

There are no brakes on the [spoiler] [/spoiler] [spoiler][/spoiler]>fanfic train!

Stay frosty.

 

 

 

TO PASTEBIN READERS:

This is being written, in progress, on /mlp/. Updates will be about the same length as the chapters until now, and probably will have as many as two a day or as few as one every few days.