Two solitary figures trotted into a narrow chamber with a tall, tall ceiling. The moon runes here were sparse, casting the narrow niche in darkness.
"Do you know what this place is?" Nicole asked, peering up at the distant ceiling.
"Uhhhhhh..." Echo's voice echoed against the bleakweed walls. "This is a cursed room: a detention hall for naughty, heretical youths who are doomed to being fed to the sharks for their naysayings."
"Wow... really?" Nicole squeaked.
"Meh..." Echo shrugged.
"Echo..."
"Beats me, Nicole. Why else would it be so abandoned?"
"You mean you seriously don't know?"
"What does it matter?"
"Don't worry." Nicole pointed straight up. "See those roots dangling way up high? Along the ceiling?"
"Yeah. Their roosts. What about them?"
She looked at him with a soft smile. "When was the last time you... y'know... hung upside down? Like a real midnighter?"
"I think somepony's getting addicted to this place."
"Echo..."
"Stop saying my name like that. It's becoming a naughty habit. Not that I mind..."
"When was the last time you relaxed upside down?"
"In prison."
"I mean truly relaxed."
Echo shook his head. "I fail to see what you're trying to accomplish."
"Just humor me," Nicole said in a warm tone, patting his shoulder. "I don't think you'll regret it."
"As much as I'd love to tickle your funny bone, well..." He flopped around his useless leather wings. "As you can see... I'm not re-living any Bleak's Plummet memories anytime soon."
"That's okay." Nicole trotted behind him. "Just leave it to me."
"Leave what to you?"
She cleared her throat and gripped his shoulders from behind. "Now stay still..."
"Pffft... you've gotta be frickin' kidding me..."
"Hey... I'm a farm girl..." She winked at him. "Which means I'm stronger than you're willing to admit." That said, she flapped her wings and—FWOOOOOOOOSH!—lifted them both up.
"Whoah whoah whoah!" Echo winced as the dim ceiling rushed into proximity. "Gnnngh... a slightly less subtle warning next time?"
"Shhhh!" Nicole grunted, fanged teeth gritting. "Think... you c-can grip onto a root... just like old t-times...?"
"Guess I have no choice, do I?" With a quick breath, Echo nimbly swung himself around in Nicole's grasp. Thw-Thwap! His lower fetlocks effortlessly slipped into the crook of the root, and soon he was dangling with ease. "Ahhhhhhhh there we go... just like riding a unicycle." He then gazed "up" (or down) at the distant, distant floor. "Ahhhhhhh'kay... that'll clean out the urethra. That's for sure."
"Whew!" Nicole hovered beside him. "What did they feed you in prison? Iron pellets?"
"Nah, you got it the other way around. They fed me cruddy frozen oatmeal and then I made the iron pellets." His nostrils flared as he gazed at the bleakweed ceiling around them. "Nicole, what did you bring us up here for?"
"Shhhhhh..." Nicole hovered, hovered, then flipped herself upside down in a blink. She dangled from the roots directly behind him, resting her limbs. "Just relax. Pretend it's... y'know... the old days. And you're just turning in for a long sleep."
"Things were different then," Echo said, trembling slightly. He once again threw the distant floor a forlorn glance. "I didn't have to worry about turning into velvet paste."
"Just chill—"
"I'm telling you, Nicole, I can't," he muttered. "One slip, and I'm done for."
"It's okay..." With a soft breath, she reached in from behind, wrapping her leather wings around his timid frame. "I'll catch you, Ryckmun."
His breath was immediately sucked in. Slitted eyes twitched as he dangled from the roots, cocooned in her grasp. He swallowed a lump down his throat and murmured in a dry voice: "Who... who h-have you been t-talking to...?"
"She used to hold you just like this, didn't she?" Nicole whispered. "Your mother?" She caressed his mane, speaking in a calm, warm tone. "Until you were able to fly... she kept you safe. Your siblings too. They looked after you."
He gulped hard. "My mother's dead," he grunted. "My brothers and sisters... all drowned." Fangs glinted. "These shit-munchers will waste your family in a blink. And for what?" His nostrils flared. "All this 'piracy garbage' is only good for bathing the ocean red. They're damned lucky that Rainbow and Luna are giving them a clean break."
"Yes, they are lucky," Nicole said. "And so are you."
"Still won't un-murder my family."
"No. No it won't." Nicole squeezed him in the comforting embrace of her wings. "And yet... you're here again, Ryckmun..."
"Nicole..."
"You're here again... and it's okay," she murmured. "It's okay to be at peace... to be still..."
Echo grimaced. His breaths came in faster and faster squeaks. His slitted eyes darted all about as he searched, sought, panicked. "I've... b-been... mmmm... so friggin' angry for so friggin' long..."
Nicole merely nodded, stroking his neck and shoulders.
He shuddered. "So... so damn angry... I've..." His lips trembled. "...I've screwed so many ponies over... ruined so many lives..." Tears welled up in his eyes. "Slaves... Families... children... Theams. I've... I've hurt him so much... I..." He winced as a pained squeak escaped his muzzle. "...I'm such a lousy piece of shit, Nicole. The absolute slimiest... and what good h-has it done for the world?"
"You look at the faces of these ponies here, Ryckmun... and you tell me." Nicole caressed his face. "They no longer see a traitor."
"They..."
"They've forgiven you, Ryckmun. There's no coward anymore. No sleezeball. The stallion who helped Rainbow Dash get here is a new pony. And it's okay to accept that..."
Echo's muzzle was awash in tears at this point. "I... I-I don't even remember wh-what it's like to not be running anymore... to n-not be scared for my rotten-ass hide..." His dangling body rocked as he hid his face in his hooves. "I... I-I don't think I can live like this. Without the anger... I'm nothing..."
"No, you're everything..." She nuzzled him closely, drowning out his sobs. "Shhhhh..." She held him tighter. "...welcome home, Ryckmun."
"I... I c-can't..." Echo wept, muffled. "I j-just can't..."
"Yes you can. We can." She smiled tearfully. "I will help you. Do you hear me? I'm here for you..."
Echo had nothing left to protest with. He simply dangled there in her grasp as the two rocked gently in each other's embrace, weathering the last waves of sorrow to fountain from his lungs. And once the last bastions had crumbled, he drifted into silent serenity, like a trusting little colt in steadfast wings.
Home again...and now the real healing can begin.
He has been running for so long he doesn't know how to stop.
This reminds me a lot of a couple of scenes way back with the Jury and Roarke.
7544095 sounds familiar
Not if Chandler has anything to say about it.
Nope, not gonna fall for it. Unleash all the feels you want, but I got my eye on this lovely little pyre that's being set up and am not about to drop my guard like I did back in Lerris. Anti-Feels shields are up at 120% power and not dropping anytime soon.
-Companions are abound, frozen spectres hound. Utaan.
7544197 only 120%?
7544203
I got pretty crappy economy-level shields that can't put out any more juice than that, so really, I'm pretty boned anyway, but I'm gonna try my best not to to feel a thing when all these characters end up horrifically dying. Actually I'm trying to be optimistic here and hope that this turns out a lot better than Lerris, which is possible if this is meant to be a mirror of Lerris but with the opportunity for Dash to make this situation end less bloodily than that one did. We'll see.
Despite the rational part of my brain reminding me of what happens every time things get peaceful with this story, I'm going to let them have this moment without worrying.
If either of these two die, I'm not gonna be a happy camper.
7544235 Huh, guess my normal feels shields are pretty good then, I can keep them at 200% indefinitely.
Though certain feels topics can pierce straight through them.
Damn you! You had to send the onion ninjas!
We still haven't heard exactly what Echo did to piss off the Sarosians so much, but after reading this, I feel like it never really mattered after all.
7544197 I concur. Sorry, Echo, but your homecoming feelsfest is being used as a distraction, and I cannot afford to fall for it. You really do deserve more.
Echo Vs Happiness?
He should be so Bucky.
About time to start slamming down the anti-feels potions.
"SIR, feels shields at 30% and rapidly dropping."
"Well? Give it more juice! We can't afford to be hit with feels right now!"
"10% shields!"
"What, Impossible! How. . . Mother of Celestia!"
"Sir, Feels Spotted off the port and starboard bow! Echo's past and Echo's redemption, both incoming fast. WE CAN'T WITHSTAND THOSE IMPACTS"
"BRACE!!!!"
The USS Xunsusp3cted anomalyX has sunk.
Too much thought was just put into this. . .
D'awww. Cathartic bat fuzzies on the eve of surprise conflict.
Awww... Too peacefull... Really bad vibes with an army just around the next wave...
Oh come on, I saw that a mile away. From inside a foggy valley in the middle of a forest.
Dawww, I'm take a bowl of Feel-ee-oh's, please.
That was disgustingly adorable, and sickeningly sweet. More of that in the future, please.
Echo'sRyckmun's gonna die, isn't he?Well that was cute. I guess Nicole and Echo/Ryckmun will have plenty of time to sort out their issues with each other when Rainbow and crew go to the Dark Side. Supposing, you know, that Chandler doesn't one-up Shell's Lerris at Bleak's Plummet.
...which leads to an interesting thought. If it comes to that again, will Rainbow kill Chandler like she did Shell? And more importantly, will she be able to do it through the inevitable whining that Twilight will certainly put up about it? Unless Chandler gets whooped so hard he just runs back to Rohbredden with his tail between his legs, but I think he might be in this for the long haul, for better or for worse. His everything back at Rohbredden depends on bringing back the Rogue or die trying.
This was super adorable and everything but I have to agree with some others here, this just reeks of setup for one or both of them to die in the end. I mean we know that this one is going to end darkly and lead into a story that is even darker.
7544595
Chandler himself said it himself a few chapters ago - he's not the one to worry about, it's all Seraphimus. And there, at least, I have a tiny glimmer of hope for a positive outcome. Not much of one, and I'm pretty sure it'll be snuffed out very shortly, but dammit, I want one more happy note before everything goes dark and freaky.
I kinda suspect I'm not gonna get that wish...
Well, this changes things about Echo.
...
On another note, I found this;
derpicdn.net/img/2014/3/17/577975/full.png
7544589 protecting Nicole I bet.
7544197 7544203 Seriously? Why are you questioning this? +20% is about all you need.
When the poop hits the fan for the poor bat ponies (which I have no doubt it will) maybe we will see that the last seed had an effect on our ghostly companions.
I can imagine Twilight forgetting her usual inability to affect the world around her and trying to use her magic to save Echo, only to find that she now can affect the real world and that she will be the one to kill Chandler or Seraphimus. How would Twilight and the other ghosties react to that one?
I'd love to see the other members of the mane six become more than just moral support and extra eyes for Rainbow, and they do need to understand that sometimes the best way to create harmony is through unharmonic actions.
Good for echo. Like others are saying though, the good vibes won't last much longer. Rainbow and echo are kinda in the same boat here. The past haunts them.
Hey, look up!
You don't have to be a ghost, here amongst the living.
You are flesh and blood!
And you deserve to be loved and you deserve what you are given.
And oh, how much!
'Cause there's a hole where your heart lies
And I can see it with my third eye.
And oh my touch, it magnifies
You pull away, you don't know why.
Let these ponies be happy a little longer.
7544344 pretty sure it was mentioned somewhere in the last ten chapters. iirc, he stole a decent bit of money and some of their enchanted moon rock things
Beautiful chapter.
7544722 Wouldn't that be a thing? Wow.
I think it should be noted that the Sarosians have a warrior culture and Chandler and Seraph still lack the numbers to take on Bleak's Plummet (nor any form of submersible to even gain access). So Lerris parallels are a bit of a stretch at this point. It's that letter Chandler sent that is the issue as it opens up the door for future reprisals from the mainland.
Generic character development is generic. Well that's what you get with theses cookie cutter characters after a few million words I guess. Honestly nothing's wrong with this chapter it's just the same stuff, different character names and I'm just loosing the ability to care about this noble jury 2.0. Axan is about the only one I find interesting anymore. Well maybe the final fight between Shell and RD will happen soon and then she can go over the edge, I'm really hoping the dark side is new and fresh and not just the same stuff different plane.
Awww, cute chapter!
Um, should that be a he, or am I being stupid again?
Peace at last, but short-lived.
The Imperious-II-class Star Destroyer Rakata is ready for combat. Shields are operating at 98% optimum power. After the overthrow of Krayt for the last time, it became clear that stronger shielding was required. It would take an Executor-class Star Dreadnought to batter these shields down.
Nothing's getting through. Not even the imminent feels in the near future.
7544503 Or not enough!
7545311 "She" is probably referring to Nicole in this context rather than a misspelling of "he". As in Echo's nostrils flared as Nicole looked up. So "she" should be replaced with "Nicole".
7545515 With the warnings of the books to come, I doubt that'll be enough. I have a feeling IC has nothing but dozens of bad-feels Death Stars awaiting us, both here and on the dark side
7545001
Whoops. Guess I lost track.
In that case, I think we've resolved everyone's character arcs except for Seraphimus...
And then they bucked! Upside-down!
Clearly there's a leak in the bleakweed just above that area, cause I know that if they're upside down, Echo's own tears shouldn't be rolling down to his muzzle.
Or they're Nicole's tears.
Reminds me of Prince Zuko having to relearn how to fire bend.
7545204 How would you like to see it handled differently?
One of the most important lessons i evet learned. You are not your past. It is never too late to change for the better. And that is something echo had been struggling with for a long time now
I find it amusing we've been in utter terror of Lerris 2 for 2 months now.
7544589
Death Flag!
Nicole is the best batpony.
I really hope nothing bad happens to either of these two.