Chapter 4-Farewell Ponyville
Rainbow Dash had woke up early in the morning to get an early start on the trip. After she had completed her morning routine she found herself outside the tree-house library ready to say her last goodbyes for a long time, assuming she survives, or forever, in case she doesn't. When she had first come to Ponyville, have been given the job by Firewing, she had assumed that she would stay only as long as it would take to move up enough as a weather pegasus that she could get a more prestigious, and better paying, position. However when Firewing had called her saying that a position had opened up in the Special Weather Team at Cloudsdale she had adamantly refused, realizing only at that point how much Ponyville meant to her. Ponyville may not have the culture of Canterlot or the industry of Cloudsdale or the economy of Manehattan but when she was given the choice to leave she realized that Ponyville was her home.
Rainbow opened the door of the library and was immediately struck with the fact that all the lights in the tree were off how suspicious she thought sarcastically. She got a funny idea and yelled into the dark tree "I guess I will just leave now because there is obviously nopony home" and then hid in a nearby bush outside the door waiting for the inevitable.
"Rainbow? Where did you go Rainbow" said Twilight visibly worried as she walked out of the library
Rainbow's other friends walked out of the library and started calling for her.
Rainbow let this continue for about ten seconds before it got to funny to keep herself from giggling
Pinkie instantly looked towards the bush where Rainbow was hiding "Why is the bush laughing? Bushes don't laugh do they?"
Rainbow burst into hysteria.
"No they don't. Therefor that is not a bush" Pinkie said pointing to the bush.
"Pinkie?" Twilight said slowly.
"If that is not a bush then why does it look like a bush" Pinkie wondered "hmm ... maybe ... the bush is a changeling"
That made everypony but Pinkie laugh hysterically. "What's so funny I'm being serious here" Pinkie said in a grave voice.
"Pinkie that isn't a changeling it's a bush with a pony hiding in it. Why don't you come out Rainbow?" Twilight said with a giggle
Rainbow obliged "You should have seen the looks on your faces when you thought I had left, it was hilarious" Rainbow said before starting to laugh again.
Rarity stopped laughing with a gasp when she saw Rainbow "Dear, you look simply dreadful. Nopony should ever hide in a bush" Rarity horn glowed with pastel blue light as she started dragging Rainbow unwillingly into the library with her magic "And I, Rarity, say on my honour I will make you look just gorgeous"
Rainbow gave a pleading look to Twilight who returned a full, and rather cheesy, smile which made Rainbow scowl.
After about 15 minutes of a rather painful and humiliating ordeal Rainbow was able to return downstairs to the surprise party Rainbow had irreparably damaged with her little joke. When she entered she saw the four of her friends, as that Rarity was cleaning up the mess Rainbow had not that accidentally caused in Twilight's washroom, playing 'Pin the Tail on the Pony'.
"Hey Rainbow Dash do you like the party?" Pinkie was somehow the first to notice even though she was blind-folded, Rainbow started to wonder how Pinkie managed that but stopped herself quickly, knowing how dangerous it was to wonder how Pinkie did anything, telling herself that the laws of the of the universe were void around Pinkie Pie.
"Hi everypony" Rainbow said as she walked to the four of her friends. Twilight, Fluttershy and Applejack looked visibly tired having, according to Rarity, stayed up all night preparing things for Rainbow's quest. Rainbow was uncomfortable with the unrequested help but Rarity had quickly pointed out that Rainbow had taken a very strong 'succeed or die trying' attitude about the whole thing so everypony had instantly wanted to help achieve the first outcome rather than the second. However it looked like Pinkie had been completely unaffected by the lack of sleep which contributed to the idea that the only reason that Pinkie ever actually slept was because it was terribly boring to stay awake with nopony to talk to.
"Howdy Rainbow, would y'all like to play 'pin the tail on the pony''
"No thanks AJ" as much as she would never admit it to her friends, she detested putting a blind-fold on even near her friends; maybe even especially near her friends. It wasn't that she mistrusted her friends or anything it's just that she still had vengeance sworn against from some of her more ... memorable pranks.
Rarity walked into the room, "I'm sure we all have better things to do than playing silly games, come Rainbow I have something to show you" Rarity led everypony into the adjacent room where Rainbow saw the most peculiar sight she had seen in a long time; standing in the centre of the room was one of Rarity's dress forms however what was on it was far from a dress. It looked like very typical hiking gear except for one major point; the entire set was done in every colour in Rainbow's mane, the clothing, which included a pair of pants, a shirt and a hat, was not an eyesore like one might expect but the bright hues actually worked pretty well.
"How do you like it Rainbow?" Rarity asked "I needed to colour the whole thing with gemstones because dyes, apparently, do not work on weave-mail"
"Did you say weave-mail?" Rainbow asked confused. Weave-mail was invented in the pre-classical era by one of the best unicorn blacksmiths to ever live. It was essentially fabric made out of very fine strands of metal enchanted with many protective spells
"Yes dearie I did"
"But how? Nopony has been able to make weave-mail in at least hundred years and you are not even a blacksmith"
"Exactly, weave-mail is a fabric and fabric is my speciality"
"Hmph"
Pinkie then came in with a small wrapped present (wrapped in rainbow coloured paper) and handed it to Rainbow Dash "Dashie I hope you like it"
Rainbow opened the box and took out a small metal cylinder that was, surprise surprise, painted with rainbows; Rainbow was starting to see a trend, "What is it?"
"It;s the Portable Pocket Party Pounder" Pinkie said as if it explained everything "I like to call it the PPPParty"
"Okay" Rainbow said "What is it?"
This time it was Twilight who answered "It's a miniaturized version of Pinkie's party cannon"
"Oh"
Next Fluttershy came out carrying about thirty little pouches "I hope you like them"
"What are they?" Rainbow said looking at the little pouches; rainbow counted six of every colour of the rainbow for a grand total of thirty six
"They are herbs I found in the Everfree forest" she said quietly "They all have their names on the pouches"
Rainbow picked up one of the blue pouch "Poison joke?" she asked
"It is a profoundly magical herb Rainbow, I am sure you will find a use for it" Twilight said
"Just don't eat it; or touch it" Pinkie said giggling the second comment seeming much like an afterthought
Rainbow then picked up one of the purple bags and cried out in surprise at what she read "Deadly nightshade?!"
"Just in case" Fluttershy responded softly "The red bags contain healing herbs"
Rainbow picked up one and read it's label Fire-flower.
"The orange bags contain herbs that increase your physical or psychological abilities"
Rainbow picked up an orange bag; it said Mhendraden Root
"The purple bags contain deadly poisons and the blue bags contain other herbs with non-deadly but still negative effects"
Rainbow didn't pick up another one of either but she was struck by how confident Fluttershy was talking about the herbs
"The yellow bags contain herbs that have little to no effect on their own but can change the effect of the other herbs when mixed"
Rainbow picked up yellow bag that said soft leaf
"And the green bags contain my very favourite herbal teas"
Rainbow took a green bag that said Shadowed sunrise and smelled it. The tea had a strong beautiful smell that Rainbow could hardly describe.
Next Applejack came with a flask and a large bag in her hands; both done in, as Rainbow had expected, the same colourful hues as the other items.
Rainbow took the flask first then proceeded to take the lid off. When Rainbow smelt the contents of it felt as if she had been punched in the face.
Once Rainbow had re-secured the lid she said with a smile to Applejack "Oh so this is what that cellar of yours is really for; I wonder what the Princesses would think if they learned you were distilling hard liqueur in your basement"
"Ummm ..."
"Don't worry I won't tell, AJ" she said with a smirk. "But you are such a naughty naughty pony"
Applejack handed Rainbow the bag "This contains enough preserved food to last at least a month. After that you might have to resort to gathering from the forest"
"Thank you AJ" Rainbow said
Twilight then came up holding three things above her head with her magic a saddlebag a scroll and, how typical, a book. Rainbow took the bag first, which happened to mach perfectly with Rarity's weave-mail. She looked into the bag and saw that it was very empty, in fact too empty, for the space inside the bag was three times the size of the bag itself "What?" she asked confused.
"A volume expansion spell" was all Twilight said as she handed Rainbow the scroll "This is the map you wanted"
When Rainbow opened the map she was flabbergasted "Is this some kind of joke? This scroll has nothing on it"
"No this is not a joke. That is a smart map" Twilight handed her a quill "Just write the name of the intended destination with this and it will show you the fastest way there"
"Doesn't it need ink"
"Not on the smart map"
"Okay" Rainbow said sceptically and wrote the words Mount Olympus on the scroll and was surprised when lines appeared on the map showing the entire journey from Ponyville to Mount Olympus appeared "Wow!"
Twilight handed her the book "If you liked that, you will love this"
"What is it?" Rainbow looked at the book with a squint. It was, other than the map, the only item that wasn't coloured in the hues of the rainbow; it did, however, have a picture of Rainbow's cutie mark on the front cover.
"I call it the inter-book, it is like the ultimate book and communication device" Twilight said excitedly "Write anything in the book that you want to know about and the book will tell you all it know of it. Also if you come across something important you can write it into the book and then access it any time. But the best feature of it is by far that ..." Twilight took out a book that looked the same except the cover held her cutie mark "... you can communicate with us no matter how far away you are by using the book-mail function" Twilight then went over how to use all three of the functions of the book with Rainbow
Fifteen minutes later Rainbow had dressed and packed and was about ready to take off when saw that her friends were even more exhausted than she had thought which made her wonder something "Wait, how exactly did you manage, in one night, to make all the stuff you gave me?"
"Ummm ..." Twilight hesitated "I may have used a time spell"
"What did you use?"
"A time stopping spell"
"This leads me to beg the question. How long have you been awake?"
"Since yesterday"
"Let me rephrase that. How long did you stop time for to make it all?"
"About three days worth give or take a few hours"
"Then I tell you all one thing. Do not follow me, especially in this state, you are all exhausted and you will only get yourselves hurt" Rainbow then took off and circled several times before flying south
"I don't care I'm going after her" Twilight said as she started a slow canter in the direction had gone. Twilight only got several metres before she tripped over herself and fell flat on her face
"Twilight, dear, I think Rainbow was right. We all need rest now" said Rarity
"Nonsense, Fluttershy can just get us more of that tea stuff" Applejack said
"I don't think so AJ" Rarity replied pointing to Fluttershy asleep on the ground
"Rainbow was wrong. I don't feel tired at all" Pinkie said
"Then just wait until the stimulant tea starts to wear off dear" Rarity said
"I didn't have any of the tea, the last time I had that tea bad things happened"
The four friends took the sleeping Fluttershy into the library and Pinkie watched as the her three friends quickly fell asleep and then once she was sure that they were all asleep she exited the library and started bouncing southward towards the Everfree forest and towards Mount Olympus