“Do you understand your instructions?” Monket said in a deep voice.
The pegasus slave's eyes were still glazed over with tears when she lifted her head up. Swallowing heavily, she nodded.
“Then you had better start flying right away,” the stallion continued. A warm wind beat against their manes, carrying with it the ash and soot from multiple burning struts. “If I know Chandler, he'll be in harbor with his fleet, expecting a response from us.” He pointed east. “Go and make this final delivery.” His brow furrowed. “This is my solemn promise to you: no more blood from your clan shall be sold from Mudtop. With the payment from this exchange, I shall make it my first order to free all of your relatives. Is that understood?”
“Yes... m-master...”
“Be on your way.”
The mare endured a deep, shuddering breath. Then, with heavy flaps of her wings, she took off from Monket's surviving ship, carrying the weight of herself and two thick saddlebags. She skirted around the remaining flames and fumes of Red Barge, then curved to the right, heading east towards the dim horizon.
Sighing through his nostrils, Monket strolled down onto the northern struts where his ship was moored. He was met by Skagra and several other dredgers.
“Is the payment en route?” Skagra droned.
“So to speak,” Monket replied in an even duller tone.
“Does a nasty mister miscreant like you intend to keep any promises given to that mare?”
Monket glared back. “Do you intend to pay me back for all of the losses I've suffered while defending your burnt ass?!”
“Mmmmmm...” Skagra shuffled over, wrapping a forelimb around Monket's neck. “Monket Monket monket...” He breathed. “When all of this is said and done, you'll be so rich you won't have a reason to sneeze at Mudtop, much less keep true to any mucking obligations.”
“At this point, the only way that will be possible is if Chandler's erased from the ocean altogether.”
“When we're done with him, he'll wish he was erased.”
Monket raised an eyebrow at that.
“It's rather simple, buddaroo...” Skagra paced across the strut, staring at the many-many dredgers putting out fires all across Red Barge. “Chandler sought to burn our very own home to dust. Little did he know that all of us are immolated upon being foaled.” He gulped, his jaw suddenly clenched tight. “Burnt by fear... seared by desperation... singed with misery.” He turned around, pulling at the flesh of his burnt face, forcing his lazy eye to open wider. “And some of us are even baptized by fire twice in one life... to come out on top. That's something the fat cat will never understand.” He nodded. “But now we're going to help him understand. And once the fires have settled all around him, Chandler will finally realize just who he's been dealing with.” Skagra exhaled with a shudder. “He'll turn overnight from a brazen asshole to a blubbering coward—just like he is underneath.”
“Assuming you humble him...” Monket folded his forelimbs. “...how will the Rainbow Rogue exchange even take place at this point?”
Skagra took a deep breath. He looked at Monket's battered ship moored up to the strut. “Wait six hours. Then send your last two messengers.”
Monket blinked curiously.
“Tell him to come to Red Barge. One ship. One tiny crew.”
“You... still think we can make that happen?” Monket remarked. “After all he's launched our way—?”
“Chandler's used to doing damage from afar. That's all going to change now.” Skagra turned to glare icily in Monket's direction. “If he wants to deal with filth, he must learn to get covered in it. And when he finally makes the dive...” His teeth showed. “We're going to drown him... and steal what's rightfully ours from his corpse.”
“And what if this doesn't end?”
“Chuu?”
“This damned war that you've got us all embroiled in!” Monket remarked. “What if Chandler answers with something even more savage than what's happened today?”
“There's nothing more savage left in him,” Skagra said. “For him to get more powerful, he'll have to become me.” His good ear twitched. “...and I think we both know that'll never happen.”
“Heh...”
“You gotta learn to roll with the punches, Monket,” Skagra said. He sighed, staring across the bloodied struts. “...so long as you make sure that everypony gets punched but you.”
Monket stood alongside Skagra as both stallions observed the smoldering sights. A dull red sun set in the west, its crimson rays streaming past the columns of rising smoke.
“I just have one question, Skagra,” Monket remarked.
“Hrmm?”
“Is it all really worth fighting for?” Monket's eyes narrowed. “This... filthy derelict you call home?”
Skagra swiftly replied, “For all of the slaves you've bought... the steamships you've burned through... and the drugs you smuggled...” He brushed at his bangs, glancing aside. “...can you recall ever truly owning something that you've earned?”
Monket was silent.
“Do you know anypony in these seas—beloved or forsaken by Verlaxion—who can make that claim?”
With a sigh, Monket shook his head.
Skagra stared at him. “I am that pony. And by muck... when all the cards have been dealt, I'll die as him.”
Monket nodded his head towards the western struts. “I'm guessing your little steam problem has been fixed.”
Skagra gulped suddenly. With a limp step, he trotted towards the decks in question, accompanied by fellow dredgers. “Yeah... about that...”
Dredgers pulled and tugged at the tether.
Swab watched, muzzle agape.
Croche trembled among many grave-faced orphans. Whony was nowhere to be seen.
At last—with dull grunts—the dredgers finished pulling the limp weight up and out of the maintenance corridor. A red-raw lump of flesh came out, dragging blood and steaming all over. The scrappy remains of a tool belt hung off the corpse's body.
Croche stifled a squeak, lowering her sunken eyes to the water of the canal beneath her.
Swab bit his lip. His one ear drooped.
With dull hoofsteps, Nixkit shuffled to a stop above Quint's body. He exhaled, then bent down low to strip the tool bag from the scalded meat. He hoofed the item to Digiff—who took it with a deadpan expression. At the sound of limping hoofsteps, both dredgers looked up.
Skagra came to a stop. He looked down at the body, then up at Nixkit and Digiff. “The cascade's averted?”
Both stallions nodded.
At the sound of wailing voices in the distance, Skagra glanced across the nearest struts. “What's that?”
“Mourning, sir,” Nixkit exclaimed. “Lots of families were hit hard on this side of the Barge.” He cleared his throat. “Several dredgers... several fathers who worked here are completely bloated.”
Skagra scratched his scruffy chin. “...about how many dredgers?”
“Easily half of the work force.”
Skagra continued scratching his neck, staring off in silent thought. “... ... ...mothball half of the struts until they can be fully repaired.”
“And the families?”
“Did the dredgers have wives?”
“Most, yes.”
“Healthy wives?”
Nixkit blinked. “...the harvest chambers?”
“Get them to work,” Skagra said, strolling across the deck. “Send the foals into the hold. Digiff, you know what to do.”
“Yes, boss,” Digiff muttered, staring off.
Croche shuddered quietly.
“The steam vents on the east struts should do the trick,” Skagra said, stifling a yawn. He paused by Quint's body again, then glanced at Nixkit. “Cesspool.”
“Aye, boss.”
Swab gasped. As Skagra trotted off, he saw Nixkit reaching down and detaching the tether from Quint's charrged fetlock. “Wait! Wait!” He scampered across the deck. “No! You can't send him there!”
“We all go there sometime, kid,” Nixkit grunted, wincing from the heat still radiating off the metal manacles. “Either that or the muck when we bloat—”
“He deserves more than that!” Swab gnashed his teeth. “He actually did something good with his last breath! The colt deserves a proper burial at sea so that his soul can reach the Spring Havens!” Seething, Swab charged forward and shoved at Nixkit's forelimbs. “Nnnngh! Let him go! Quint deserves to be with Verlaxion—!”
Nixkit growled, “Digiff, control your foals.”
“That's enough, kid,” Digiff reached in, yanking Swab back.
Swab fought back, yelping: “No! No! He can still be with Verlaxion—”
“Rrrrgh!” Digiff slammed his hoof across Swab's forehead. Whack!
“Oooof!” Swab rolled over twice across the platform, clutching his skull.
“Nopony here can be with Verlaxion!” Digiff snarled back. “We are all seafoam!” He stood in place, fuming. “... ... ...we were bloat long before we were ever foaled.”
At last, Nixkit freed Quint's corpse. A pair of stallions heaved the carcass up, carrying it off to the cesspools of the southern strut.
Swab watched, lips quivering. A fresh trickle of blood ran down from underneath his bandage.
“Come along, fellas,” Digiff muttered, already marching towards the source of the wailing cries. “Red Barge needs a new workload...” Multiple grave-faced stallions followed him dutifully.
Swab sat in a slump, panting. As the first of multiple panicked shrieks lit the air, he hung his shuddering head.
The rest of the orphans spread apart, gradually shuffling their way east. Croche found a shadowed place to hide from the last rays of the setting sun. Then—as the shrieks of separating families lit the air—she cowered in a metal niche and covered her ears, quietly sobbing to herself.
Whony sat alone on a lofty bulkhead to the south, overlooking the smoke wafting across the damaged Barge. A glazed expression hung off his muzzle... a muzzle that barely twitched—even as the sobbing yelps of foals increased by tenfold. The cries were accompanied by hissing bursts of steam as—one by one—Digiff and his associates scalded the children's cutie marks to raw red blemishes.
With a sigh, Whony clenched his eyes shut. It failed to dam the tears leaking across his bruised face.
Within an hour...
Panicked, twitching foals were thrown down into the hold deep within the east strut. Some of them protested—only to be stared down by Digiff and his associates. In swift order, the new additions to the orphanage galloped off into distant corners. There, they huddled in pain-stricken clusters. Fresh blood and puss trickled from the spots on their flank where steam exposure had just recently branded them.
The rest of the orphans sat slumped on their bunks and mattresses, refusing to look at the newcomers. An eerie silence hung between the rusted bulkheads. It was far from the first time.
One by one, the fresh meat clenched their teary eyes shut. With persistent shivers, they fought the urge to sob, even as they heard the frightened echoes of their mothers and families being carted below deck... and into a deep, mechanical purgatory.
Chandler raised a cup of tea to his muzzle, sipping from the warm liquid. He leaned back in his chair and relaxed. “Hmmmm...” A tiny smile crossed his face as he relished in the herbal flavor. “An ocean full of bastards, liars, murderers...” He swirled the cup, glancing across the luxurious cabin of his personal ship. “And it hasn't been until now that the shores of Rohbredden can finally enjoy Kihutajan Jasmine Brew.”
Longaze stared down at him, levitating a clipboard in her magical grasp. “Then I take it you approve of the latest shipment?”
“Consider it signed and stamped,” Chandler droned. He took another sip. “Mmmm!” Swallowing, he raised a hoof and added: “Also... be sure to assign the next trade ships to the northern currents.” He smirked. “I want them sailing by within eyeshot of White Barge. Those stuck-up flankholes need to see what they're missing. Within six months—I promise you—they'll be crawling back to me and begging to ship their dredge coal through the Consortium once more.”
“Mmmmhmmm...” The well-dressed mare scribble across the clipboard. “And assuming they do just that?”
Chandler smriked. “...we'll let them sit on it for another six months before we agree to salvage their failing enterprise”
“And what of reserve dredge coal between now and then?”
“Nothing to fear,” Chandler said, stifling a yawn. “It's only a matter of time before Skagra gets over his mutated self and learns to fly right.” He took another sip of the tea. “Assuming he's still alive, that is. Hrmmmff... I'm sure Monket will have survived the whole ordeal. As Verlaxion is my witness—if anypony's going to be willing to listen to reason now—it'll be him. A slaver listens to bits, after all.”
“I'm quite sure...”
“The Rainbow Rogue will be ours in no time,” Chandler said. “If nothing else, this little... setback has allowed us time to spread the bounty and arouse attention from the populace.” He exhaled calmly. “'Rainbow Dash' will be a household name across the western prefectures by the time I carry her sorry flank in to the Council. Then we'll see which magistrate truly holds sway over Verlaxion's chosen continent.”
Before Longaze could even reply, a series of voices shouted from the deck outside: “Messenger!”
“Pegasus inbound!”
“Ah!” Chandler placed the teacup down and stood up, adjusting his bejeweled robe. “Speak of the devil! See?” He winked at Longaze as he strolled with her to the door. “It was only a matter of time before the Red Bargers caved in.”
“That's... rather swift for a response,” Longaze muttered. “Wouldn't you agree, sir?”
“Punctuality is the name of business,” Chandler said. “Watch and observe, Ms. Longaze. You might learn something.”
He nodded at a pair of servants who opened the door. Chandler squinted into a brisk salty sea breeze as he stepped out onto the open deck of his steamship. Several more ships drifted in the waters of a busy harbor to the north and south of where he was positioned. Starlight cascaded across the bay, and the nebulous aura outlined the hunched silhouette of a still, breathless pegasus.
“Ahhh...” Chandler stood in place, spreading his forelimbs out. “...back so soon! Splendid! Tell me, child...” He grinned. “...what are Skagra's terms? Surely, by now, he knows who he's dealing with and the resources at my disposal.”
The pegasus simply stood there, wings drooped.
A few crew members glanced curiously at one another, then at Chandler.
“Uhm... hello?” Chandler raised an eyebrow, frowning. “I do believe I asked you a question, messenger.”
Curious, Longaze illuminated the horn in the center of her tight blonde mane.
The soot-stained face of a mare looked up. A tear trickled down the slave's muzzle as she stammered: “My brother is dead...” She inhaled sharply, shaking her head. “...no more bloating.”
“What in Goddess' name are you babbling about—?” Chandler's voice cut off the very moment he heard a hissing sound. His green eyes darted towards a sparkling fuse hanging out of the the pegasus' bulging saddlebags.
“Dredge coal!” a crew member shouted. “She's loaded!”
The pegasus sneered through her teeth. “Skagra sends his regards—” Two stallions tackled her, but it was too late. The fuse burned into her saddlebags.
“Oh goddess—!” Chandler whimpered.
“Sir!” Longaze jumped directly in front of him, conjuring a bright golded shield around the two. “Get down—!”
POWWWW!
Flames and entrails bathed Chandler and his bodyguard instantly—
—while taking out half of the ship with it.
A booming concussion rippled across the bay, rocking the other steam vessels.
With shrieks and gasps of surprise, the various workers of the Consortium spun about, gawking from their rolling decks.
Everypony watched as Chandler's ship went up in a plume of flame, lighting up the night. The vessel split completely in two before sinking slowly into the depths of the harbor.
Keris' crest feathers fluttered in an invisible breeze. The unconscious griffon lay slumped against the wall of his cell, his beak hanging agape.
Across the brig—gazing through a partially demolished space—Rainbow Dash sat in her cell. She leaned against the bars with a sigh, her ruby eyes plastered to the Lieutenant.
“So... uh... you're sure he's okay?”
Silence.
“I only ask because... like... looks like he took one heck of a beating.”
Up above, a tiny figure descended from the top deck of Red Barge's southern struts. Swab shuffled up to the barred window looking down into Rainbow's cell. He lingered there, sitting cold and quiet in the pale starlight that shrouded his bandaged head.
After a few more seconds, Rainbow spoke: “Well, that's good to know, Flutters.” She sighed. “I mean... I know the guy obviously came here to bag me or... whatcrap. But I... I-I don't think he's all that bad of a bird... cat. Cat bird.” She gulped. “I'm not so sure about the guys and gals in charge of sending him out here, but... he seems alright at least.”
More silence.
“Yeah... he really did try his best up there, didn't he?” Rainbow shuddered slightly. “I can't help but admire anyone who fights super hard to get the impossible done. I mean...” A half-hearted chuckle. “I am me, after all.” A beat. She smirked. “Well, that's their loss. Sounds like it was one heck of a show. That is... when this guy was kicking butt, at least.” She sighed. “... ... ...gotta focus on the nifty stuff when all else is garbage and misery, y'know?”
Swab stared at her, his little face pressed to the bars.
“... ... ...huh?” Rainbow blinked. “Oh he is, is he?” At last, she turned and glanced up at the star-lit window. A few seconds passed, and she exhaled. “Good to know you're in one piece, kid,” she spoke in a louder tone. “That scrappy lil' friend of yours: she's awfully good at bandage wrapping. She should... uh... look into doing doctor stuff when she grows up. For realsies. Real bang up job.”
Swab sat in complete silence.
Rainbow shivered slightly. “Well don't everypony agree with me at once.” She turned to gaze at Keris in his cell once more. “You're a tough little pony, Swab. Tougher than you look. I think you'll make it out of this mess just fine.” She sighed. “At least better than I will... at this rate.”
Swab exhaled. At last he parted his lips, speaking softly. “Can I tell you something?” he asked. “Even if it might sound really weird... stupid, even?”
“Mrmmmf.” Rainbow's ears twitched. “It wouldn't be the first time kid.”
Swab blinked, gazing down at her. “... ... ...I love you.”
Rainbow's muzzle scrunched. She turned and squinted up at him. “...kid?”
He shook his head with a soft smile. “I know it sounds silly... and you probably think I'm nuts. But I love you, Rainbow Dash. I love you and your sweet friend Fluttershy and your other gal pals... even if you're not on speaking terms with them right now.”
Rainbow opened her mouth, lingered, then eventually gulped. “I've... done horrible horrible things, Swab,” she said. “I don't know how many times I have to tell you that. But it's the reason why my 'pals' won't even show their faces around me, among other things—”
“I know,” he nodded, smiling even more warmly. “And I don't care. Of all the ponies I've ever met in this horrible... miserable world, you're the only one who had every reason to hurt me... every reason to eat me alive... every reason to tear me to shreds...” He gulped, and then his voice wavered: “And yet you didn't.” A squeak came out of his quivering lips, followed by a murmuring voice: “You've been kind to me... and I think you've been kind to many... many more ponies. You just choose not to see it right now. But I see it. And I love it. I love you.”
Rainbow's face stretched in confusion and concern. She slowly shook her head. “Swab... Swab, I-I don't think—”
“Please...” He whimpered. “Please, let me just say it. For once in my life... I need to say it. I need to tell somepony that I love them...” He sniffled. “I need to know that I've said it at least one time to another soul in this awful world... and that I meant it.” He hiccuped on a sob. “I love you, Rainbow Dash. I love you and I-I hope that wherever you go, Verlaxion blesses you... and th-that you accomplish everything y-you put your heart and m-mind to...” With that said, Swab's face melted. He dropped his bandaged head into his forelimbs, weeping quietly in the starlight.
Rainbow stared up at him, muzzle agape.
Swab clenched his teeth, tears flowing. At last he sputtered past his sobs. “My parents are d-dead.” He shook, shivered. “It happened... h-happened long ago. A few years, I-I think. When I was just old enough t-to know what I was crying about.” His lips quivered. “Skagra sent a boat out t-to survey for harvest shelves. Pirates attacked. There were ten ponies on the boat when th-they set off. There were t-ten corpses when it dr-drifted back. My parents... Mom and Dad... they were on th-that ship.” He whimpered. “They threw their bodies into a cesspool and then they threw me below deck. I d-don't even remember the pain from when they burned my flanks with steam. Just that... that it was all too soon. I d-didn't even have my cutie mark. Who burns a cutie m-mark that isn't there? So... s-so...” He squinted up at the starlight, his eyes flowing with tears. “I-I told m-myself that it was all a m-mistake. I st-still had to find my talent. And that talent was reaching out to Verlaxion. If... if I-I wrote to her enough... prayed to her enough... th-then maybe she would listen to me. Maybe there'd be hope for bringing them back. She's p-powerful after all. She works miracles. But... but...”
The foal gripped the bars tightly, shaking.
“There was t-too much filth. Too much sin. All this time... I was struggling to bring back Mom and Dad... b-but they were gone for good. They are gone for g-good. And all the moments I-I could have given nibbles to other ponies... h-helped other sea foam...” He wiped his muzzle. “...instead of j-just clinging to Verlaxion... clinging to hope...”
Rainbow gulped. “We all need something to keep us going, kid...”
“But d-don't you see?” Swab sobbed, staring down at her with flaring yellow eyes. “There was n-nothing to cling to! I wasted so m-much! I wasn't k-kind at all!” He buried his muzzle in his forelimbs. “I'm as bad as everypony else here. I... I-I deserve to be seafoam.”
“Kid... Swab. You didn't deserve... anything that happened...”
“Quint was right... and now he's gone because of me...” Swab whimpered, turning around and limping up the ramp. “The best we can become here is the absolute worst Red Barge has to offer...”
“Swab... Swab!”
It was too late. Sobbing, the colt scampered the rest of the way up to the top deck, disappearing into starlight.
Rainbow Dash stared up at the window. She slumped back against the cold, cold bars, sunken into the deepest shadows of her cell. “...you won't get anywhere by just blaming yourself...”
Swabow confirmed.
Or not. Dang it, I was looking forward to what Swang Song would've made of that...
I...didn't need to have a clear image of Quint's...um...corpse inside my head, IC...
Uh...
...oh... Now I get it.
Anyway...
finally*
smirked*
I think Chandler's death should have involved trampolines and/or chandeliers.
I've been reading MLP Time Loops, and I just realized the insane amount of awesomeness that would occur if the Austraeoh universe started looping - with Rainbow Dash as the Anchor.
And I hope Keris is listening to every word of this...well, if he managed to become conscious during that dialogue.
...Called it. Bloodied lump, steam-cooked inside and out. There was no way he was making it out of that alive. God, what a horrible way to go....
Daaaaaaamn...
Okay, there isdefinitelyno coming back from that at that range. Unless that jerkass is sporting some hidden shield or something, he's cooked....I hope he doesn't come back from that explosion.
So, he's finally come to terms with it.
I'm having a feeling that Rainbow might end up having a different relationship with Swab than she did with Kera.
Possibly one more like Kera had with Belle. It's a bit of a stretch and a wild theory, though.
Skirts, this book has been one hell of a trip so far. Bravo.
PROGRESS!!!
i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/ts2zdui79l929wtx2mqb.png
Fat bastard gets a fat pika, not wasting a good one on the likes of him.
I suppose you'd know Dash, but you also won't get anywhere by moping about everything you've done.
-In the end isolation, hunted by a nation. Utaan.
6641548
Dude. That's creepy.
Still, it was cute, in a horrible, horrible way. And I'm digging where this is going: it remains one of the more complex conflicts I've seen in a good long while.
Now that the aftermath is just about wrapped up, maybe we can get some Luna time? I mean, every pony else has had their denouement, right?
Hah. Fat chance.
6641568
His secretary shielded him, so chances are, Chandler's still alive.
Kid, Skagra is a terrible role model.
If a movie is made about this book, Quint's corpse is going to need to be omitted, otherwise it'll be rated R. Did NOT need that image in my head, IC.
6641595
Glad I wasn't the only one who noticed Longaze's shield sentence, but to be fair, there's nothing saying it held after the initial blast, debris is some pretty potent shrapnel.
Then again, the way Skagra was talking, he fully expects Chandler to survive.
Like I said earlier: I'm pretty sure Swab's special talent is strongly related to honesty. Whether it's understanding the truth better than others, or what have you, it's sure be important later on.
Do we really need to spell it out, Swab? GO. WITH. RAINBOW. DASH.
6641595
Damnit, missed that somehow.
... Swab, as much as I would love you to free Rainbow... Don't do it... Not in this state of mind at least...
Also,
This barge is unclean! PURIFY IT!
https://youtu.be/Hsy62VtKED4
6641603 Astraeoh movie! Someone do this! Altho it'd probably be more like a television series like Game of Thrones
6641610 He'll probably enable Rainbow Dash to come to terms with herself, which will allow her to free Applejack from the Machine World; the entrance to it is totally going to be in the middle of an apple orchard.
6641595 He's gonna live. No question about that. Probably not unscathed, though.
........
swab is going to commit some heroic shit and die freeing Rainbow and the cat - bird. See it a mile away
6641603
cause the burnt screaming corpse crucifix's from Silverdale were so PG rated.
Rainbow needs someone to fight for; a reason to be merciful when possible, a reason to keep going when it isn't.
... why not Swab?
EDIT: Also, hot damn I am loving this story! Reading Utaan is becoming the highlight of my day more and more often. I don't know how often IC reads these comments--he's got to sleep sometime--but those words up there? Those words are awesome. This story is awesome.
6641707
Or Lerris.
Or the slaves.
Or the people trapped in lower Red Barge.
Or Saxon being beheaded.
Or the monks dying from self-flagellation.
Come to think of it, what made you think this series was PG?
6641549 You know, horse meat is a dietary staple in some countries.
...I'm gonna go to hell for that one.
6641568 Here's hoping to Chandler being viciously maimed.
Isn't there a term or a trope for when you give advice that you yourself have just come to realize? Cause that's what this feels like.
Dammit, I knew it. Why, IC? Why must there be this awesome saint-like character who has seen the absolute worst that
humanityequinity has to offer? Why must he suffer so? It's so good for the story and his character, but so bad for my feels.6641714
oh, or that time that Shell blew up that that one ponys horn, i think it was Phoenix. . . . Or pretty much anything to do with Shell in general. Or that time where the Changlings committed suicide to save that village.
Man this chapter..I haven't told rainbow to get her shit together since the jury days but damn she needs to get her shit together. Poor swab. I love that he has turned crotches outlook completely around, kid is so strong. Gonna go re-read the chapter.
Rainbow Dash best mom.
She'd better go full East on those dredgers, if not for her sake then for Swab's.
Okay, so Chandler totally survived. For one thing, Longaze shielded him. For another, his web of power in Rohbreddon is too vast, too far-reaching, and too deeply-woven with all the corruption going on for the head-honcho to bite the dust this early.
Also, poor Swab. I fear that Nostromo_Crew could be right. As long as there was hope for Swab's parents being alive, there was some kind of end-game for him. Now, the docket is clear for him to make the same kind of noble sacrifice Quint did, only this time for Rainbow's sake. It's not a sure thing, of course, and I would certainly like to see him survive all this and lead the foals of Red Barge to a brighter future once Skagra inevitably gets his comeuppance (though, maybe that's what Croche is for). The little guy deserves some happiness.
well, we haven't seen a body, therefore Chandler has a 90% chance of being alive.
I kinda wonder what Rainbow would've done (if anything) had Swab not lived through the attack or replaced by Quint.
Well shit, that's some prime A-grade steam-cooked Quint right there, get it while it's hot folks.
Is it just me or is Red Barge pretty much the darkest setting in the whole series
But goddamn, Chandler chose exactly the wrong pony/hellspawn to fuck with, he dun goofed.
So
Skagra strikes back, although I doubt Chandler's out of the game at this point. I bet he's just even more pissed off than before and is ready to drop the full weight of his resources on Red Barge.
Swab is starting to question everything, and his last line has me worried for his sake. Hopefully this doesn't mean he starts taking after Quint and Whony in how they handle life. I don't know how you did it, but you turned a character I despised into something that I actually care about now.
And that's a interesting bit of reflection there, Rainbow. Care to apply it to the mare in the mirror?
Damnit IC, now you got me replaying the Bioshock Infinite DLC...
*insert 'you don't say' Cage*
6641719
Zenith, after Zenith summoned him with a sound stone
Shell shoved the sound stone into his mouth and blew it up
all over Phoenix
This was a dark chapter.
6641824 Swab will try to sacrifice for Rainbow at some point, after seeing Quint sacrifice for him, and after Keris sacrifices himself so Rainbow can take Swab out of the Barge, and while Rainbow is in danger because she put Swag's wellbeing over her own.
Swab is broken. Poor little guy. At least he has an awesome pone to help pick him back up and make him better than ever.
So Digiff, Monket and Skagra are all going to die slow horrible deaths right? Yes, I must believe they are because it is about the only way I contain my rage at this point. I legitimately think these three are some of the most horrible characters in the series, easily up there with Shell and the like.
I wonder what excuses Chandler, whats left of him, will come up with to divert the Talon from investigating why his perfectly stable ship suddenly removed itself with extreme prejudice in the middle of safe harbour, immediately after a heavily laden pegasus arrived from the direction of Red Barge.
At the very least, Id expect his shield casting secretary to have been killed by the shock of her shield failing under the stress, even if the debris didnt finish the job, hammering into Chandler, either into the bulkhead or off the side into the water.
Swabs going Joker.
Red Barge, The Floating Hells, needs to be Terminated.
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Or the time Josho punctured a diamond dog's throat with Eagle's horn, causing the former's eyes to explode out of his head.
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Let's not forget those few times where the word 'damn' was used. Is that even legal?
And so the last flicker of hope still lingering on Red Barge isn't extinguished through death or violence; it's destroyed through honesty.
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and they are gonna drink Kihutajan Jasmine Brew while watching verlax's mountain explode because it was a volcano !
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oh great and mighty austraeoh fact checker ! do you have an exhaustive list of all the times this serie was too violent to be rated PG ?
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digiff may have a chance at redemption, he's just following orders and he seems to have doubts about the necessity of his actions. digiff = josho2.0 ?
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Pity me, for I did not die an infant.
Pity me, for still I suffer life.
I think my heart is breaking. Swab's little speech to Rainbow Dash is so full of emotion and sorrow.
Ugh, the girls need to get over what happened and help Rainbow Dash. I mean it. A lot worse stuff is happening at the moment and I have the feeling we'll need their help.
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Or when Dash stabbed Shell with his own daughters' horn, and then again with a piece of wood.
And we finally get to the crux of the issue!
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To be fair, ALOT of things would need to be ommitted. It would serve better as an R rated movie anyway.
Also, Verse 3421: Thy shall not assume they enemy is dead, until you seeth them sploded in the head.
For all we know, Chandler looks like Skagra now.
And here is where Rainbow should start realizing that she isn't a bad pony, she sometimes stumbles and falls and does bad things, but never when she has a choice otherwise. Wonder if Rainbow's friends heard Swift Song's little speech about this.
Your cell could really use a mirror Rainbow.
Nope. You have to be honest with yourself instead.
Mmmm, a delicious whole steamed Quint, and it's not even Thanksgiving yet! Er, wait, I mean, uhhh, how...sad. Yes.
I am a perfectly normal pony, feeling perfectly normal pony emotions.
Could see it coming, but that was still quite a 'response' to Chandler. Entrails for everyone!
The whole woe-is-me schtick from RD is getting tiresome. I realize she's pretty well stuck, so she's got nothing else to do but stew in her own self-hatred, but frankly she needs to return to getting over herself and the girls. I agree with what was said elsewhere, that she's basically regressed. She was making good progress in getting over the tragedy in Equestria, had made new friends, etc., but it all came undone with the return of her old 'friends' (after being put in a fragile state by the Choke), and we just didn't see that until they turned their backs on her. She keeps saying she'll carry on for them and the world, even if it's not with them, but then she's still crying to Fluttershy to try to make the girls show themselves. She needs to internalize what she's saying, and regain the surety of self and purpose that she had in Val Roa.
The real enemy here is Verlax. Whether she's been infected by the Chaos or is just naturally a bitch, she's made it clear that this is how it's going to be: no sneaking past these last obstacles. If she wants to make it to the edge, Dash needs to go through V. She needs to embrace that and figure out how it's best done with the least collateral damage, since V has made it clear there will be some.
And Dash needs to keep in mind the pattern V has imposed.
There's a grand deception coming up.
Oi oi, you've made one hell of a little world for yourself here, Colon old boy. I must say, for the most part, I do like the way you write antagonists.. Every major antagonist has their own story, their own emotions, their own developed character. We all get to see what makes them tick, what makes them "villanous" as it were. But of all the villains you've written, these guys are probably the most pitiful of all of them. I can't help but feel for them, y'know? They're terrible people doing terrible things, but they're victims too.
These guys have never really had a choice in the matter, have they? They were born to scum and lived in squalor, and the only way to survive was to become as filthy as everybody else. I joked earlier about Monket secretly being a nice person trapped in the underclass of Verlaxion's society doomed to be endlessly repaying debts to Mudtop, but omitting the whole "nice person" thing, it probably isn't too far from the truth. And for all the hate Skagra has rightfully earned, the fact that his utterly unshakeable facade of indifference is broken for the first time here is rather telling.
But I like this quote from Digiff even more:
"We were bloat long before we were ever foaled." or in English, "We were dead long before we were ever born." Damn if that's not a powerful statement from the guy who torches the cutie marks off kids' flanks. And well, he's right. They don't have any life in them, do they? Any hope, dreams or happiness was burned and ripped and beaten out of these guys long ago. You can hardly have a purpose in life if it's burned off when you're a foal, and hence the people of Red Barge and Mudtop are doomed to an eternal cycle of living in filth. They don't become monsters by choice, but because it's in the very foundations of their society. And yet, that hateful society will not collapse because it provides the most vital of resources to the Continent, hence it is irreplacable. Any way you look at it, it's all rather tragic. While Rohbredden saying seafoam doesn't deserve to be saved is awful, I'm not sure anyone but the orphans and the random common unnamed dredgers and their families have any chance of being saved anyway. My disdain for Verlax's society continues to grow the deeper we get.
TL;DR: This is totally Fillydelphia on the waves. Only worse, because everyone is Murky Number Seven.