It hung high among the stars. A pale curve. Bright and piercing. Beautiful and foreboding against the onyx fabric of space.
Rainbow Dash stared up at it, dumbfounded.
She wanted to get closer.
So, she took a hoofstep forward.
The atmosphere sang with screams and sobs.
"... ... ...?" She stopped in place. She wasn't startled—merely curious.
The mare looked down.
She stood on a monumental strip of land: blue seas and brown mountains and green valleys.
Continents and oceans loomed beneath her. Despite how impossibly small she was, it felt as though she was somehow perched across the enormity of the convex world.
Holding her breath, she moved her hoof again—raising and lowering.
As soon as her hoof made contact once more with the continents below, reality rippled. The sounds of millions of screaming souls echoed in every direction. Once the rippling stopped, so did the wails of anguish. All was still.
So much fear and terror—and yet Rainbow Dash stood apart.
Her ears flicked curiously. Boldly, she sliced her fetlock across the plane in a heavy swath.
Sobs echoed in every direction. Foals called for their mothers and fathers. Souls pleaded for countless deities before fizzling into blissful silence.
But this time, another noise pierced through the momentary bedlam. A solitary voice... eerily soft. Like a hiss. Inquiring.
"B'lyynyl syla'thrylmm hym, W'ynlppa yln H'luun?"
Rainbow blinked. She looked back up at the crescent moon.
It had split in two. The pale rocks turned into glinting fangs. A body pivoted, materializing against the velvet onyx of eternal night. Accompanied by shrieks, it glided downward on a bridge of stars. Soon, the figure was marching before Rainbow Dash. Its eyes slitted. Piercing. The blackest void loomed in the center of each pupil, and it anchored Rainbow in place as the figure came within biting distance.
"H'luun sy'lynna'sem thynly'm." It was a feminine voice. "Heval'saam? H'cylsialym? Lyn'drxx? M'lymwym sym N'shydym sym Sy'kymylls'ym yln Thy'mma???"
Rainbow Dash blinked. Calmly, she breathed into the ether: "Austraeoh."
"Hrsssssssssssssss..." Fangs glistened. "Ausssss-trayhmmm?"
Rainbow inhaled. Exhaled. "I have come bearing harmony. For harmony."
A stifled shriek. The figure raised two leather wings. Angrily. "The penumbral tongue." Something clicked inside its throat as velvety hairs rose on the back of its neck. "So it is H'cylsialym."
Rainbow blinked.
The figure leaned forward, sneering. "Then why does it carry W'ynlppa yln H'luun?" A savage tail flicked. Nostrils flared as it paced around Rainbow amidst the stars. "Why does it stand fearlessly upon the nocturnal fabric of our foaling?"
Rainbow gazed back. Unflinching. "You're not really here." Her eyes narrowed. "Where are you—really?" Gritting teeth. "Who are you?"
"If it is from Penumbra..." The figure spoke as if it was talking to a group of unseen ponies. "Then it must bleed starlight. Only one way to see if it was sent to destroy us." It then lunged at Rainbow, fangs-first.
"Hey..." Rainbow barely lifted a hoof. "Watch it—"
But before the creature could come into contact...
...a bright burst of lunar energy emanated from Rainbow's neck.
FLAAAAAASH!
"HSSSSSSSSSS!!!" Shrieking, the creature flew back, cocooning itself in leathery wings. There was the briefest of pale sheens, and Rainbow saw the outline of multiple velvety bodies—all mares—and they were likewise flinching.
"Hrmmmfff..." Rainbow smirked devilishly, although she hardly knew why. "That's what you get..."
Just as she was saying this, the fabric of the illusion was melting all around her. The stars vanished. The world dissolved. All that was left was the crescent of a moon above, flickering like a sole projector. But soon it too vanished, and Rainbow as forced to fall...
"... ... ...?" Rainbow Dash's eyes popped open. She blinked.
The mare was lying curled-up on a blanket inside a tent. Outside, the twilight of the night sky glinted off wet rock and polished stone. Other tents of the Herald could be seen, spread out and occupied.
Rarity and Fluttershy levitated just outside the mouth of the tent.
"That's what I'm trying to say, darling. If Equestria simply relaxed about its unnecessarily rigid gender coding, then my business could double by the time we get back!"
"Oh, I don't think it's quite that simple, Rarity," Fluttershy said. "As much as we'd all wish it to be."
"I beg to differ, Fluttershy! Why—back in Ponyville—I personally knew at least three stallions who would gladly have bought themselves dresses if only their families and close friends were more understanding—"
Fluttershy perked up, looking Rainbow's way. "Oh! You're up!"
"Hmmm?" Interrupted, Rarity turned around. "Ah! Rainbow!"
Fluttershy flew into the tent with a warm smile. "Good morning, Rainbow Dash! Well..." She giggled delicately. "As close as we can ever get to a morning over here."
"A pleasure to see you awake, dear." Rarity floated in as well. "Did you have nice dreams?"
Rainbow Dash sat up, rubbing her head with a tense expression.
Rarity's smile faded. "Oh. Oh dear..."
"It... wasn't a nightmare, was it?" Fluttershy asked.
"... ... ..." Rainbow's head icily turned towards Fluttershy. After a contemplative pause, she murmured: "A nightmare." She breathed. "They came from nightmares."
Rarity and Fluttershy exchanged confused glances.
"Erm..." Rarity leaned forward with a dainty hoof. "Are you feeling quite alright, darling? Do you need to rest it off a little bit more?"
"I... don't think now's a good time." Rainbow rubbed her head some more. "They're still reeling from... from..."
"Rainbow...!" Fluttershy pointed.
Rarity and Rainbow followed her gesture. That's how they discovered that the Element of Loyalty was glowing. The little lightning bulb pulsed with ruby energy... and slowly faded.
"Huh..." Rainbow nodded. "...so Luna's spell is still strong." A side snicker. "Awesome."
"What... do you mean, Rainbow?"
"What I mean is..." Rainbow stretched her neck and wings. She stared off into the twilight beyond her friends. "...I think somepony's been trying to contact me the last few weeks of sleep. Only now... I've finally gotten close enough for it all to make sense. Well... most of it."
"Well, would you care to explain it to us?" Rarity made a face. "We'd like to make sense of it too."
"First thing's first." Rainbow hopped up and trotted briskly out of the tent. "Breakfast. I'm friggin' famished."
Rarity and Fluttershy merely shrugged at one another as they were dragged after their anchor by a ruby force field.
Exciting.
Welp, the Bloodwings definitely know they're here now.
I'm guessing from this encounter, and this:
the Bloodwings must be capable of communally performing something like Luna's dreamwalking magic.
Is this what Discord meant about something trying to get into her head?
Are they going to try and brainwash her in her dreams?
-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.
Uh oh. They have dreamwalking of some sort. Can it be used on anyone?
The fact that all of them were mares was interesting to me. Like an order of dreamwalking priestesses or oracles, presumably serving as advisers of some kind to Lexxic. Kinda cool.
And they got a taste of Luna's enchantment too. It'll be interesting to see what kind of effect that has, if any. Will the lightning of convenience strike twice?
Well the Bloodwings, or at least some of them, can dream walk. This could be very bad for getting away from them but it could prove extremely useful in talking to them and convincing them to give the group the piece.
High hopes for the Bloodwings now. I do think that they are a good bunch for the most part. Maybe not the leader, but everyone else should be willing to follow Dash. At any rate, they still remember Luna.
On the other hoof, I could be terribly wrong. But that can be remedied via fight scene.
Oooooo my
Some answers, finally!
A couple more questions, but hey that's what answers generally do.
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I suppose it depends if they see Luna as the true identity of the Nightmare, or a debased copy. Who's to say the bloodwings won't want to "help" their wayward progenitor back to her true purpose of ending the day? I do wonder how they'll react to finding out Luna sits the Equestrain throne without their help. Time will tell I suppose.
Dare I say that I have finally caught up? It's been about eight months, give or take, since I started reading Austraeoh in August last year. I've got to say, it has been an exceptionally wild ride.
I guess it only makes sense that creatures born from dreams are able to enter and manipulate the dreams of others, especially so if you consider the abilities of their progenitor. It does beg the question though; why didn't the Sarosians at Bleak's Plummet show this ability? Is it just something that they weren't able to 'unlock' per say, they were just a splinter group of the larger whole after all.
A better question; do the Equestrian Sarosians possess this ability, and does Luna know that her 'children', are capable of it?
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Welcome to the ride! Just remember you're here forever!
But in all seriousness, this is an interesting development. Rainbow is obviously planning something or at least have an idea about what is going on, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.
I predicted it would be 5 chapters until Bloodwings. Looks like it was one. Interesting how they have distant dream interaction technology.
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Welcome, comrade!
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Hey there! Always good to have another aboard.
The first part of the dream was giving me heavy Ilrifa vibes (hey, what if Ilrifa was the original Austraeoh?). I’m still really looking forward to Rainbow talking more with her.
So the Bloodwings can dreamwalk? That might explain how they found changelings in their midst (Awful hard to control what you think about while you sleep), but it still doesn't explain why the Shard stopped claiming their souls or how they locate things in the waking world.
Wait a second, has Rainbow just spread a wave of nightmares and terror across the whole plane?
Given the suggestion of the Group, does this give a decent model for the Range, as in each induvidual has maybe the ability to dreamwalk, but a maximum working effective range, but combining efforts increases that, but due to conflicting personalities and such, the increase in range falls off faster than just adding, so even with all the group working together, for a short time, they can only reach out a given distance? Then again, at a shorter range they can cause Death By Nightmare Fear, but sense far further?
Like the Elves Tree, all Bloodwing Dreamwalkers have the ability to Dream Kill at a greater range than a days travel from The Tree? But what method have they used to stop the non Dreamers, or are there any such, like mechanicals etc left?
Well at least in this realm they can afford to talk first before... doing what they do best.
Even in dreams, these guys can’t escape their
mother’s blessingcrippling photo-sensitivity.It does raise something I hadn’t considered since leaving Bleak’s Plummet. Just how much light can they handle before it fucks up their ability to hunt?
Hm, interesting.
Wonder if the Bloodwings felt "Nightmare Moon's" presence when they tried to bite Dash.
What were they trying to accomplish trying to bite her in a dream anyways?
If you die to a Bloodwing in your dream do you die in real-life? That would be kinda cool.
Would explain why the Bloodwings have such an upper hand(or rather hoof) on the other two factions.
Or maybe they were just forcing her to wake-up.
So, it seems we have a Nazi Germany scenario here with the Bloodwings. And by that I mean that the population is being dragged into conflict by a bloodthirsty leader, that leader being Lexxic in this case.
Makes me wonder if we will see some sort of reference to Operation Valkyrie where they try to kill Lexxic or something. That'd be cool.
So the Night Shard know at least some of the fact that Rainbow is here, and now it seems the Bloodwings also know Rainbow is here. Wonder if the flux also know Rainbow has crossed to the dark side. At any rate the Bloodwings seem to know something is different about Rainbow. No doubt some will be sent to gain more information about Rainbow and company, who knows what they will find out.
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If I remember correctly
means Blood of Luna.
I wonder if this dreamwalking stuff is what gave the Bloodwings their mysterious edge in the fight.
So, now that all of the factions know about Rainbow Dash, let the final war begin!
And now the Bloodwings know she's coming. Just her presence will tip the balance.
I just started reading this story three weeks ago and I love it. I didn't want to read all 9 books, so I used a wiki to catch up. I just have one question, though. Can anyone tell me what the Night Shard are? The wiki doesn't have any info on them.
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Blasphemy!
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The Night Shard are the third faction in the Trinary war. We don't know much about them, except that they have magical floating cities/battleships/somethings, they like crystals and lasers, and they seem to be stealing the souls of all things that have died recently (the reddish haze that's been floating away when things die).
Anyone, correct me if I'm wrong or missed things
Also, I, like most people here probably, would not recommend the path you're taking. Austraeoh isn't about the destination, it's about the journey. But we welcome you nonetheless.
Shouldn't this be a lavender force field as we've seen exhibited since Ynanhluutr ch. 1??
i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-goonsay.gif
Oooh. So they are actually willing to talk to some degree. And on the bad news side, they know they're coming. I guess it's futile to try to sneak up on someone who can hear you dreaming.
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Wait, the wiki is missing info? *opens it*
Well, to be honest, that about sums up everything you need to know
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You do yourself a great disservice.
Read.
First I dream about Austraeoh, and then suddenly dreams become a major plot. Coincidence? I think not.
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An Austraeoh book a day keeps the doctor
shockedaway8801655
You should definitely take the time to read through the previous books from the start. It's a real rollercoaster of emotions compared to what the Wiki page could ever give you.
I actually thought of skipping ahead to when RD gets to the edge of the world when I was around book 5 and 6, cause we've stuck with the Noble Jury for so long. But then something in me told me to perish the idea completely and just go for the long haul. I thought that I'd be happy to leave the Jury behind. But as their departure came closer, I found myself getting anxious. Before I knew it, my tears were making it hard to read cause I didn't want to say goodbye to the Noble Jury when RD had to take the next step towards the edge on her lonesome.
It just makes this whole fic that much greater when you're invested in these characters.
Oh ho! So dream contact has been made?
While I'm all for destroying gender roles and expectations, I don't think the male form looks good in a dress. Much as I might wish otherwise.
Maria Matriarchs.
At the very least, the Bloodwings seem to care for the nature of strangers - that suggests at least some level of approachability in place of indiscriminate slaughter. I also feel Rainbow should be willing to drop like a million different 'your mom' jokes on their asses after that first encounter.
8801217 She's tapped into the essence of nightmare.
well that's just batty.
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It should be. Perhaps something has changed...
Wait, so the bloodwings can infiltrate her dreams?!
Oh yeah. Now I'm surprised that this hasn't happened sooner.
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At least 3 stallions disagree.
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As would the Scots.
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I know this is pretty late, but glad to hear you've caught up!
Ok so we have contact with the bloodwings. They don’t seem so bad, and now they are aware of her being the Austraoh. It’s time to stop avoiding them and make contact!
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Error: they flat out declared her their enemy.
Saying "you were sent here to destroy us" typically means "we're gonna get you first".
Were they Scottish?
11/18/2019
16:01 UTC
...huh...oh, of course they would wander through dreams, for they did come from dreams.
Anyway, cat’s out of the bag, and the dream wanderer did get a taste of their blood’s medicine. The question is: will they recognize it and will they listen?
Hold up— a ruby forcefield? Something's changed... And I'm not sure if it's definitely for the better, even if the Element is ruby.
Hm. Interesting first encounter with the Bloodwings. Guess the question is... are they willing to talk outside of the Dream Realm?