The caravan had completely stopped.
In the center of an arid valley—bathed in stones and starlight—a ring of manatorches had been lit.
Bard sat in the middle of the flickering light. He was not alone.
Ariel, Logan, Flynn, and Wildcard stood evenly around him. They each wore a prismatic band around their forelimb. Logan and Flynn carried serious, deadpan expressions. Ariel shook with scarcely-contained enthusiasm. And Wildcard...
The feathery Desperado bore an endless smirk beneath his beak. He saluted Bard, then glanced aside as a certain wyvern stepped up, holding an ancient tome in two claws.
Kepler stood on a pronounced boulder in the center of the valley. "Ah-ah-ahem..." Adjusting his spectacles, he flipped a page in the book and spoke boldly: "...we have all assembled herre to usherr in a prrotectorr... a seventh soverreign to complete the sacrred cirrcle established forr the sake of prreserrving the Austrraeoh, and maintaining harrmony now and forreverrmorre." The wyvern glanced up, his lenses reflecting Bard's grizzled face. "The Herrald of Angels calls to the most selfless of herroes... since beforre rrecorrded time... as the beacons beckon and the horrizon deliverrs..."
Nicole and Echo watched from a distance. Nicole bit her lip, her eyes locked on her brother. Echo rested a hoof on her shoulder, and she relaxed... bearing a proud smile.
Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity hovered above the scene, watching with wide eyes and curious grins.
"...gone arre the trrifle concerrns of this morrtal rrealm, and the prrotectorr is rready to embrrace the call of the cosmos beyond... in honorr of the angels fallen... and in spite of the demons brrooding." Kepler flipped a page and kept orating. "Forr the glorry of all forrms of life on Urrohrringrr and beyond, this fearrless crreaturre pledges blood, spirrit, and faith." Kepler lowered his glasses and looked up. "Barrd... Johnny, Desperrado of the Twilight Lands... do you commit yourrself to completing the Soverreign Seven... so that the Rrainbow one may fulfill herr jourrney... the chiefest and most imporrtant jourrney that has everr been underrtaken?"
Bard took a deep breath. "Uhhhh..." He glanced at Wildcard, and then the rest. "Would an 'aww hell yeah' be out of form?"
"Better than Big Show's," Flynn grumbled.
"Hey!" Logan frowned. "I was poetic!"
"You were drunk."
"Hrmmmff..." Logan brushed his bangs back. "If you're gonna embrace a new calling, might as well do so passionately."
Ariel giggled.
Wildcard rolled his goggled eyes and signaled Kepler.
"Hah Hah!" Kepler nodded. "Verry well. Let cerremony be cerremony. This desperrado brrotherr of ourrs has morre than earrned his wings." He held a prismatic band out to the griffon. "Brrave Wildcarrd, perrhaps you can do the honorr by passing our symbol along."
Wildcard bowed, took the band, and walked over to Bard with it.
Bard took it from him, glancing up.
Wildcard gestured a phrase or two with his metal-and-flesh talons.
"Heh..." Bard took his hat off. "Dun make this weird, mofo."
"Ahem!" Kepler flipped another page. "We herreby induct you into Odrrsjot... ourr frrantic companionship. May you balance peace and chaos so that the jourrney rreaches completion, and the worrld enjoys becoming whole once again, in a futurre designed by the angels and magnified by all life."
"Hey..." Bard casually slapped the band around his forelimb. "If this means I get to kick more keister in the name of good guys... than show me where I can sign in blood."
"Heh... no need forr that, brrotherr..." Kepler slapped the book shut and smiled through his tusks. "You arre now a memberr of the Seven." The wyvern took a shuddering breath. "I've no doubt that the Mountain Matrron would b-be prroud..."
Bard looked at Wildcard. "Is now a good time to whoop?"
Wildcard gave a thumb's up.
"Yeeeeeeeeee-hah!" Bard tossed his hat.
Logan, Flynn, and Ariel cheered. They and Wildcard converged on Bard, patting him on the back and shaking his hoof.
Pinkie Pie and Rarity smiled at Applejack. Applejack rolled her eyes and chuckled while Twilight and Fluttershy applauded.
A bit further away from the scene...
Rainbow Dash sat beside the wagon along with Remna. Both equines sat in the shadow of stars, apart from the group, like the veterans of the eastward journey that they were.
"It's... not as much ceremony as I thought," Rainbow Dash muttered. "That's kinda cool, actually."
"Hrmmmff..." Remna's violet nostrils flared. "What precisely did you expect?"
"I dunno. Something creepy and... cultish?" Rainbow scratched her chin above the pendant. "I mean, let's face it... Khao always did kinda sorta leave me with a foul taste in my muzzle."
"Her zeal was undoubtedly strong." Remna nodded. "Alas, she did not possess a proper way of filtering such dedicated passion."
"She didn't have a Mortuana, you mean."
"Take from that whatever you desire."
"Shouldn't you... y'know...?" Rainbow Dash shrugged in the direction of the gathering. "Be joining them?"
"Hrmmmff..." Remna folded her forelimbs. "I do not see why I should."
Rainbow Dash glanced up at her. "You're a member of the 'Sovereign Seven' and all that jazz, aren't you?"
"I am wearing the shell of a pony who deserves that title," Remna huffed. "Nothing more."
Rainbow smirked.
Remna's green eyes darted towards her. Upon noticing the expression, they briefly morphed to draconian slits. "What?"
"Do I detect a whiff of regret?"
"Hrmmff... I have performed my role for the Austraeoh," Remna said. "And—in all honesty—I could have performed it better."
"What do you mean by that?"
"None of my efforts have been exemplary in protecting you from Verlax's influence."
"Yeah, but... like..." Rainbow Dash shrugged. "...you've still kept me alive. Especially when I didn't ask for it."
"I did what I had to do."
"And Mortuana trusted you." Rainbow Dash winked. "That should count for something, shouldn't it?"
Remna sighed. "I fail to see why you of all ponies would be trying so hard to commend me." Her violet ears twitched. "Lest we forget how our paths first converged."
"No, I don't forget." Rainbow Dash's brow furrowed. "It's a little bit hard to lose track of the whole 'dying-and-coming-back-to-life-after-being-a-murderous-chaos-beast' thing."
Remna exhaled. "Indeed."
"... ... ...however..." Rainbow Dash pivoted where she sat to face Remna directly. "I also couldn't help but notice that you—Axan, a female doggish dragon made into female doggish flesh—suddenly and inexplicably dropped all of her grumpiness when we landed at Blue's ranch."
Remna blinked.
"It's true. Don't pretend that it isn't." Rainbow cocked her head to the side. "Weeks ago, you would have murdered to get my fuzzy blue butt moving east. But suddenly—here we are on the edge of the world—and you just let me give Bard the time he needs to get all of his crap squared away." She smirked. "I mean—I'm not complaining... but what the heck is up with that?"
"There is nothing 'up with that,'" Remna muttered. "The Austraeoh desired that we conduct business at that farm, so I chose to be patient with it."
"Horse hockey," Rainbow grunted. "Your grumpiness has never tolerated my wayward desires before. So what changed?" She gulped. "Was it my dizzy spell?"
"Must you be so inquisitive?"
"Call it a force of habit from being reunited with a ghostly egghead." Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. "Was... was it the death of Verlax?"
Remna gazed aside at that, her glossy eyes filled with stars.
Rainbow bit her lip. "You know... you may have done some awful... awful things in your time, Axan, but nopony—or no dragon, for that matter—deserves to watch their closest flesh and blood die... twice."
"Your sympathy is noble," Remna droned. "If not more than a little bit misguided."
Rainbow cutely propped her chin on her hooves. "Care to re-guide me?"
Remna sighed. Eventually she muttered: "If there has been a change, it is chiefly this: I recognize now that mortal beings are bound to complicate their lives with the needless weight of emotional baggage." She glanced towards the group as Echo and Nicole trotted in. Bard met Nicole in a dear hug, and the two siblings clung to one another in the twilight. "However... seeing that your life spans are so finite... so delicate... I suppose such 'needless weight' must necessarily carry with it a supreme importance... perhaps enough to sacrifice oneself for." She gazed aside at Rainbow. "It almost makes me wish that I had chosen more strategic words to share with my sisters."
Rainbow fidgeted slightly. "You... uh... you gave your sisters more than peace of mind, Axan," she said. "You gave them peace." She gulped. "I wish I had half as much guts as you did."
"You have the tenacity to be something more than sheer strength," Axan said. "I am the Divine of Flame... the living epitome of Power and Might." Slowly, she shook her head. "And yet... the salvation of Urohringr does not lie in my paws. It is in the hooves of mortals that all of destiny hinges. I've come to understand that. And perhaps..." A sigh. "...the time has come for me to respect that."
Rainbow Dash blinked.
"There may or may not come a time to regret the passing of my sisters. In truth, our demise is inevitable. I seriously doubt that we will last long enough to see the reunion of the Urohringrs—should such a fortutious event actually take place. Nevertheless... their legacies live on in my actions... so long as I do all that is within my power to assure a healthy future for all living things."
Rainbow swallowed. "Well..." She smiled hopefully. "...when you and I reach the Dark Side... and we find Endrax together?" A wink. "You can have a chance to share such feelings with a sisterly Divine then. Huh?"
Remna stared at Rainbow... then past her. "I should be so fortunate to be in her good graces..."
Rainbow opened her muzzle to say something—but just then the air tingled with silver luminescence. The pegasus flinched.
Several steps away, the Herald noticed it. Echo was the first to gasp, his slitted eyes suddenly lighting up in a bizarre fashion. He spun about, fangs glinting. Bard and Nicole stopped hugging to look over in the same direction.
Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy looked around in confusion. Pinkie was twitching in a dozen random places, and Twilight—
The ghostly unicorn gasped, her horn glowing bright. She looked in Rainbow's direction, grinning brilliantly.
But before Rainbow could respond—
"Hello?" The heavens rang with a regal voice. Rainbow Dash's pendant shimmered with silver brilliance. "Rainbow Dash? Please, speak. Are you there?"
Rainbow Dash looked straight up. A tear or two squeezed out of her ruby eyes, reflecting the full moon above. Sniffling, the mare held a hoof to her pendant, smiling ecstatically. "Hello, Princess Luna..." A hiccup, and she smiled even harder. "Girl... am I here and a half!"
Mustn't......imagine....too.....cute
all in all, there is more to be said about this chapter, however, i will not be the one to say it for i wouldn't say it well.
Ahem, with apologies to Michael Biehn.
EDIT: In other news; Remna excels, Luna arrives, I go to my bed in peace, all is well with the world.
Time for Luna! Oh man have I been waiting for this one. That is a nice shout out to the inspiration for these characters as well. Can't wait for the next chapter.
One of us!
One of us!
One of us!
The Magnificent Seven Ride.
Luna Calling, Luna Calling. Are you there Agent Dash?
Wish Kepler had a rare copy of a certain book by an aincient philosopher.
Halfer Clerk.
Earthlight.
I have always found that the smaller ceremonies tend to mean a lot more than the giant hullabaloos. Perhaps because those that participate in the former genuinely mean what they do and say.
Axan seems to have started mellowing out, it is nice to see that
And it is nice to see she is starting to respect those who are mortal. Good character development here.
Next up comes LUNA TIME!!!
Also gotta be worth sticking that on his guitar during battle or justbardythings.
Yeah ! It's time for 3 full days of Luna ! With some sarosian and an army in between, but still !
And I really like how Axan have grown since Austraeoh, she seem more complete that she was back then.
Skreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
This shanty sends chills down my spine every time I hear it. Dagher (who also sung all of the best shanties in AC: Black Flag) and his crew are incredible live.
Funny how Axan mentions that mortals carry 'needless weight' and how it can lead one to sacrifice themselves. I'm going to guess that she sacrifices herself over so called 'needless weight' because she has already undergone the realization that everything dies in time.
With all the updating of princesses and reconnecting of ghostly mares with families the time of the full moon will fly. So much to catch up on.
Some pretty premium Alan denvelopment in this chapter. I approve whole heartedly.
Edit: Axan development. That's what I get for typing comments on my phone.
Alright, Luna Time!
I'm convinced IC named Bard Johnny just to do this chapter title
Alright, now to see if the Jury actually did use that fancy sun sword to get in touch with Luna and get updated on Dash, or hell, even pull off a three way call.
Heh... As much as she's going to deny it, being witness to Verlax's death instead of the cause, like Nevlamas, really shook her.
Axan, perhaps ask Luna about Sturke.
I can't wait to see what Echo and Nicole have to say to their matron princess.
-Companions are abound, frozen spectres hound. Utaan.
Another 100k down. Wonder if we'll be seeing Utaan out to a million, or if we have to wait for Ollywollyjlytrr for that. Only 175k left until it doubles the length of Urohringr, the previous longest in the saga.
7381919 A three way call is totally possible - I mean, even when it's day in Equestria, there's still moonspeak in the Twilight lands. All it would take is Luna going to Celestia's prison and the Jury flying one of those airships over to Durandana, and then suddenly all of them should be able to hear each other at the same time. I feel like we've said goodbye (and farewell and amen) to the Jury for a while longer now, at least until the western edge of the plane.
I can't even describe how hyped I am for this Moonchat. Especially since it might be the last.
Whoop!
...I miss Nealand.
7382002 Actually, if you read the Austraeoh Abridged, the Durandanans were delivering the sword of solstice to Val Roa for Belle, Pilate and Kera.
Should be interesting to see if the chat with Luna can last the whole time, or if it'll be limited to just "nights"
This and the previous chapter are great, we get some nice heartwarming moments between the Herald here. Of course, this all means it's about to go to hell in a hand basket, isn't it.
That being said, it's great to see Bard become a member of the Herald considering he was excluded for so long. Still, I feel it's almost too soon to be inducting another member but I suppose we wouldn't really have time for this when that army finally catches up with them. It's the first of many, I'm sure, plot points to begin being wrapped up but it seems out of place. Like it was 'rushed'.
Bard being inducted also leads me to wonder just what IC has planned for the Herald/Job Squad as it doesn't seem like IC would set this up if the Herald was to be killed off soon. Then again, this could just be sealing Bard's fate and IC is laying down the dominoes for the Herald's fall.
7382151
Agreed, I can't wait to see Echo's reaction to Luna. I hope that this won't be the last conversation because Rainbow and Co. will most certainly need it in order to help persuade the other bat ponies.
7382219 If you accept that as canon. (It should be)
7382366 I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be canon.
Isn't it such a different feeling to know you're going to die an annointed hero fighting for his cause, not a wayward bum just so happening to do the right thing?
7381496 How does the internet say? First! 7379644 (You're welcome for that title, by the way.) The great part about English shanties is they're all ballads intended to be sung by male voices with little to no instrumental background while usually employing 'Sally' and 'Johnny' as general placeholder names. They're just perfect for our purposes.
Ayy time for Bard to go all rainbow glowey during the next fight and carry everyone.
7382390 It was published on April 1st, and it's on the wrong account. That aside, I will gladly accept it as canon if any evidence arises in the main stories. Until then, it's best not to make assumptions either way (not that it would change much if it was).
7382542 First what? I posted a better live version being performed live with a band, dude. It's got different lyrics too.
Considering IC also has the song in the A/N, I wouldn't have posted it as well if it weren't somehow different.
I still wonder why they kept Verlax in a coffin instead of sending her in a boat. I suppose they desisted after several failed tries that involved a sea full of ice and Yakety Sax.
So Johnny leaves one life to start on a new one. At least we finally got some explanation on the decidedly not-pony names of Bard and his family. Makes a little more sense now.
So, Bard's induction was very simple.
Also, that time of Lunacy is upon us.
No regrets for that pun
Finally, Moonspeak! 72 hours of glories uninterrupted Luna. That's like 6-8 chapters? Then again, Luna still has to monitor dreams and their is a kingdom to run...
7381919 AWW HELL YEAH!
NB4 a raise against time to reach the sauresians before the full moon disappears.
Haha! It's moon horse time! Let's hope it lasts until they meet the batponies.
This was a really good chapter.
7381962
Yrs! Mrch yrs!!! Axan character development get!
Only one chapter left!!! I wonder how it'll end!! /chin in hands
jk I read the blogs geeze
pbs.twimg.com/media/Ckwq6TcUYAAaaz2.jpg
I thought Renma was a dragon/pony, not a cat.
7381496
No wonder the title immediately brought to mind Black Flag. I pretty much skipped all the shanties except for Leave Her Jonny, Drunken Sailor and Randy Dandy-O.
7383576 Non-plot spoiler: It won't. This story is confirmed to be breaking the 200 chapter mark.
7383342 depending on the book, it could go on for 200 chapters
This is a simple ritual.
I was really hoping to see more Odrsjot magic glowy goodness!
7382691 I think Nevlamas is jokingly referring to his posting of that song in the previous chapter prior to ICs use of it at the end of this one.
7383848 he knows, check the fine print.
I like how Axan/Remna is finally understanding what makes the little guys tick and all, and respecting it. It's some pretty good development for her.
Maybe we'll get to see her fire used for good still.And now we get to talk to Luna at last. This is gonna be a long few chapters of explanation for the lunar monarch, isn't it?
I don't think I will ever tire of this tale. I'm glad you've gotten your groove back.
So behind.
Yay, herald Bard!
Nice title choice.
Luna time!
You know, it would be an amusing irony if Axan ended up being the only divine to see the reunion of the Urohringrs