"The Dark Side has a friggin' ocean?!" Flynn spat.
Rainbow nodded, squatting before the fire of the Herald's camp. Flynn, Logan, Ariel, Kepler, Wildcard, Logan, and Rainbow Dash huddled in a close circle atop the urban platform, staring intently through the crackling flames. "Merula says it's huge... like... really huge." She gestured with her hoof. "And it stretches for hundreds upon hundreds of miles across the center of the Curve."
Wildcard hand-signed: "All the way to the Midnight Armory?"
Rainbow shook her head. "No. It stops at Petra."
"This... gobstopper city Merula mentioned?" Logan remarked.
"Goblin," Ariel corrected. She turned to smirk at Rainbow. "By the way, you're catching up quick with Wildcard's wind speech."
"Yeah." Rainbow nodded. "Thanks."
Wildcard smirked.
"Remind me..." Logan gestured. "What are goblins?"
"They arre akin to trrolls," Kepler said. "Albeit—prresumably—capable of harrborring sapience and possibly even mannerrs."
"Rainbow's met their kind before," Flynn added.
Logan looked at him. "On the Light Side?"
"Right." The balding stallion nodded. "Bipedal creatures. Big ears. Ugly as buck." He squinted his good eye across the warm flames. "Say... didn't we find something in Darkreach that had to do with them?"
"Yeah..." Rainbow glanced aside to where Fluttershy and the rest of her ghostly friends were quietly, observantly lingering. "We found an illustration that Commander Gwen's expedition had made. Perhaps drawn by Warhol or Ranort themselves."
"It depicted three distinctly different types of creatures, Rainbow Dash," Twilight reminded.
"Yes. She's right." Fluttershy gulped. "And one of them we met."
Rainbow nodded. "The trolls."
"But goblins are different?" Logan asked.
"Oh, definitely," Rainbow said. "Just like trolls, they're... a kind of 'imp.' Trolls—I never met on the Light Side. Goblins are a different story."
"Brbrrbrbrbrrr..." Ariel hugged herself, shivering. "Lucky you."
"Don't get me wrong. Goblins are no treasures either," Rainbow Dash explained. "Back in Val Roa, they were best described as devious, greedy, and aggressively mercantilist."
"Great," Flynn droned with a sly smirk. "Already on the Dark Side we've had changelings, spiders, and a giant wyrm. The next thing we need is sales representatives."
"For all I know, m-maybe these Dark Side imps are different!" Rainbow Dash remarked.
"Do you honestly believe that, though?" Ariel asked.
Rainbow blinked. She sighed and hung her head. "... ... ...guess it's only safe to expect the worst."
"Which is what makes me curious," Flynn remarked. "Why are you bringing up this massive ocean that you've learned about?"
Rainbow looked up with renewed firmness in her eyes. "Because—according to Merula—the Dihmers and the imps of Petra have been trading with one another for generations." She gestured. "And they ferry their goods across this ocean."
"How does that help us, exactly?" Flynn asked.
Kepler spoke up: "It's alrready been made known to us that the Bloodwings appearr happy to leave the Dihmerrs be. If this trrade between the local Edgeside Dihmerrs and the goblins of Petrra has indeed been unimpeded afterr all this time..."
Logan finished: "...then that gives us a possible avenue of safe travel to a place far closer to the Midnight Armory." He nodded. "If this route is virtually untouched by the Bloodwings, it might be the safest venture we can make."
"Across an ocean?" Flynn grimaced. "We've dealt with enough dangerous crap over barren rock. Just how prepared are we to deal with unfathomable watery depths?!"
"It's a heck of a lot safer than blindly trouncing over sarosian or changeling lands!" Ariel remarked.
"Indeed!" Kepler smiled. "And—forr all we know—the Emerraldinian Expedition likely utilized the same rroute!"
With a somber breath, Wildcard hand-signed: "For all we know the ocean is as far as Commander Gwen ever got."
Kepler clammed up.
Ariel and Rainbow exchanged glances.
Logan leaned forward. Clearing his throat, he asked: "What did Merula say about this... this Petra City?" His brow furrowed. "If it's controlled by the cousins of trolls, I can't imagine it's a happy place to hang your axe."
"She didn't have much to say, unfortunately," Rainbow Dash said, gazing once again into the flames. "Seems that Abaddon's song is more concerned about the arrival of the Austraeoh and less obsessed with goblin urban planning."
"Merula did make it sound pretty magnificent," Ariel remarked, grinning slightly. "'A beacon of light to rival Penumbra, in artifice as opposed to essence,' I believe is what she said through that... silken bullhorn thingy of hers. Ick."
"Apparently Dihmers camp in communities along the Edgeside shores of the Ocean," Rainbow explained. "And they ferry watercraft to and from Petra... sustaining the goblin economy with resources that the Dihmers eke from the wasteland."
"What do the Dihmers get in return?" Wildcard inquisitively sliced with his talons.
"I'm... not sure..." Rainbow Dash fidgeted. "It's not protection—I can tell you that. Changelings still prey on them all the time. The Bloodwings leave them alone."
"Any reason why?" Flynn asked.
"Ach... not entirrely clearr," Kepler interjected. "Something only the Darrk Vigil can explain, I suspect."
"Maybe doing commerce with the goblins is what give Dihmers a sense of accomplishment. Their one purpose in life. Whatever. Doesn't matter." Rainbow looked at Logan. "Fact is—yes—it would seem that they mastered a safe route through this Ocean. It covers almost a fourth of the full length of the Dark Side. After that, it's Petra. And... uhm..."
"What...?" Flynn asked.
"Well... according to Merula... most of Tchern's hives are tightly flanking Petra. Along the Omega end."
"Oh." Flynn huffed, smiling painfully. "Is that all."
"So..." Logan gestured. "Ocean. Goblin city. Changeling hives..." Logan's brow furrowed. "...what's after that?"
"Well... traveling inward, heading towards Alpha a bit..." Rainbow took a deep breath. "...you have the ceaselessly charred battlegrounds of the Trinary War, followed by the boneyards of the fallen dead, and then—voila! Super spiffy alicorn ziggurat!"
"And beyond that?" Flynn asked. "Is that where the Night Shard are hanging out?"
Rainbow nodded. "For the most part."
"Well then..." Logan pressed his forelimbs tighter to the floor and glanced at the others. "Looks like we almost have it all mapped out."
"Just how far is it to this... Ocean?" Flynn asked.
"If we head straight Curveside," Rainbow explained. "Approximately four dozen song-strings."
"Song-strings?" Flynn's natural eye bugged. "The Hell...?!"
"Merula's terminology," Ariel said softly. "She... made it sound like it was super long."
"But..." Rainbow pointed. "If we head towards Omega... about forty-five degrees off the central Curveside Axis..." She looked at the group as a whole. "...we'll approach a massive bay of the Ocean. It's almost entirely populated by Dihmers."
"Dihmer territory, huh?"
"Yes. But..." Rainbow inhaled through her teeth. "...it's also skirting dangerously close to the lands of the Lunar Hunt."
"The Bloodwings?"
"Yyyyyyyyyyeah..." Rainbow nodded. "On one hoof, it's the closest we can get to the Ocean and—by extension—"safer" passage towards the heart of the Dark Side."
"But, at the same time, it apprroaches the lairr of the Darrk Vigil," Kepler remarked. "And this infamous 'Lexxic' who now appearrs to be empowerring theirr murrderrous numberrs."
"Yeah..." Flynn shuddered. "He doesn't sound like that much of a swell party host."
Wildcard gestured: "Where exactly are the sarosians camped out?"
"In a big friggin' tree," Rainbow Dash said. "Almost due north from us."
"Due north?" Logan remarked.
Rainbow rolled her eyes, then face hoofed. "I-I mean straight Omega."
"She could have just said 'due east!'" Applejack remarked.
"No, Applejack." Rarity shook her head. "Relative to Rainbow's trip through the Light Side, it would be heading 'due north.'"
"... ... ..." Applejack blinked at her. "But that Ranort fellow's map is practically a big danglin' fly-strip! Wouldn't it be 'east' to us if headin' up the map would be the new 'north?'"
"No it's... that's not..." Rarity grimaced, ultimately face-hoofing herself. "Now you've gotten me confused."
"Guys, please," Rainbow groaned.
"Let'ssss just settle for heading towards Omega," Twilight said.
"Just as Rainbow had decided..." Fluttershy exhaled.
"Doesn't matter!" Pinkie Pie grinned wide. "Because we're not even remotely headed towards those big leather-winged meanie heads!" She gave her anchor a ghostly nudge. "Isn't that right, Dashie?! It's Ocean surf or bust!"
"... ... ..." Rainbow Dash squirmed visibly. Velvet lines formed worriedly across her muzzle. She stared off in a look of anxious contemplation.
Pinkie blinked. "... ... ...Dashie?"
Logan noticed it too. "Rainbow? What are you thinking?"
"Th-thinking...?" Rainbow nervously gulped. "I'm thinking..." She looked at the Herald.
Flynn, Logan, Kepler, Wildcard, an Ariel looked back. The last two appeared the most concerned—as always.
"Uh oh..." Fluttershy mewled.
Relaxing slightly, Rainbow sighed. "I'm thinking that... we should maybe think seriously about... about heading towards the Bloodwings."
"Heading towards the Bloodwings." Flynn's good eye blinked. "Like... to talk."
"Mmmmmmmm... yeah." Rainbow shrugged. "Something like that."
"Rainbow Dash, there's no 'something like that' with these leafy-eared viscera garglers!" Flynn cackled. "Didn't you just get done telling us Merula's enchanting tale concerning Lexxic and the Merry Massacre?!"
"She's a spider, Flynn. She's used to gargling guts."
"This isn't a damned joke!" Flynn's mechanical eye rotated angrily. "Lexxic sounds like a sadistic bastard with too big a thirst for blood and too much support from his fellow assholes! When one single figure gets that much unchecked authority and militaristic power..." Flynn shook his head. "...I don't care who or what you're fighting for. It's dangerous as Hell! Not to mention unpredictable!"
"Flynn—"
"I thought the whole point was not to tip the scales of this Trinary War!" Flynn stated. "Lexxic sounds like nothing but bad news! A flying refrigerator with all the parts rattling off!"
"And like the changelings or the Night Shard are gonna be any more approachable?!" Ariel's voice cracked.
Kepler gestured. "The Bloodwings arre sarrosians. If nothing else, we have a leverrage of historry on them, my good frriend."
"These aren't the same ponies," Flynn remarked. "I mean it. I'm not just being the bald-headed stick-in-the-mud douchebag here. The Austraeoh's survival is paramount and... and I don't think approaching the Bloodwings is gonna solve anything. I mean... it's clear to me that Lexxic isn't some dumb bastard you can talk down his pedestal."
"Merrula has made his infamy quite clearr..." Kepler nodded. "But what good would it do any of us—orr this expedition as a whole—to assume that he is completely unapprroachable?"
"How you not listened to everything Merula has said?" Logan remarked.
Meanwhile, Flynn glared at Kepler. "The last time we ran into a single despot imbued with this much power was Chandler. A fool. A punk. A baboon." The stallion's eye narrowed. "And yet... just how easy was he to deal with?"
Kepler clenched his jaw shut.
Flynn looked at the others. "What did it cost us to be rid of that asshole?! Huh? Or have we all forgotten?"
Wildcard hung his head, sighing. Ariel reached over to squeeze his feathery shoulder, and he patted her fetlock back with a metal talon.
Rainbow's gaze wandered—as did her thoughts. It was Logan who brought her back to the moment:
"Didn't Merula say that the Bloodwings kill everything non-Dihmer that they see?"
Rainbow cleared her throat. "Yeah..." She said in a tender voice.
"I hate to agree so quickly with baldy here, but... it doesn't sound like a good solution, Rainbow." Logan remarked. "These creeps have banged their heads against the bastions of the other factions over and over again. Now they're resorting to an all-out blitz of murder to get the slightest inkling of an edge in this War." Logan sighed. "I know I like a good fight... but that's not why I'm suggesting we should keep them at axe's length. Flynn's right. We've sacrificed a lot to get this far on account of zealous jerks. We can't afford to sacrifice you."
"But..." Rainbow sat up straight. "...at one point or another, the risk must be taken."
"Rainbow—"
"This right here is the only city populated by anything we can remotely call 'allies!'" Rainbow said, gesturing at the empty spires all around them. "And the Winter Children of Abaddon simply cannot afford to venture outside the nest that their songful Queen has made! Once we leave this place, we'll be on our own! Again!" She leaned forward. "Against the Bloodwings, the Night Shard, and the Changelings we are all we've got to depend on!"
"Then let's try and cozy up with the Dihmers!" Flynn exclaimed. "Or the goblins! Hell... maybe even travel back Edgeside and give that giant wyrm a butt massage until we've made a friend!"
"Because I believe there may still be hope with the sarosians!"
"Hope?! Where?!"
"Here!" Rainbow Dash pointed at her Element of Loyalty, causing Twilight and the others to blink. "With me! In me!"
Wildcard's goggles reflected a faint ruby glow.
Ariel's lips pursed. "Princess Luna's enchantment..."
"Not just any enchantment..." Rainbow smirked. "A blessing."
"Ach. She's rright," Kepler declared.
Logan sighed, folding his forelimbs. "You really think that's going to have an effect on the Dark Vigil?!"
"I..." Rainbow bit her lip. "I don't know..."
"That's an honest answer," Logan said with a nod.
"Then can't we accept it as an honest possiblity?" Rainbow gestured. "If these Bloodwings can actually be receptive to Luna's enchantment... then maybe they'll be receptive to our message as well."
"You... you think it's still strong enough to work?" Flynn asked.
Wildcard gestured: "Luna did reinvigorate the spell with her magic at Bleak's Plummet."
"She did?" Ariel blinked.
"If Wildcard remembers it, I'm not going to argue," Rarity remarked.
"Wildcard remembers!" Rainbow blurted. "Just... just think about it!" She gestured. "If we can actually... like really make an impression on the Bloodwings... impress them... win their trust with the power of Princess Luna—their beloved Nightmare Moon—then maybe we can actually tip the Trinary War in our favor."
"To what end?" Flynn asked. "Getting the Shards back—"
"From the other two factions!" Rainbow nodded with enthusiasm. "Totally!"
"You make it sound like lightning can strike twice," Logan said.
"Uhhhhhhhhhh..." Rainbow squinted. "Huh?"
"Things aren't guaranteed to go the same way as they did with Xarchellus' flock," Logan explained. "Didn't Luna say it herself? The Dark Vigil have been separated and enraged on their own for so long that they're probably 'unsalvageable.'"
"It's too soon to write them off."
"Says who?"
"Says me." Rainbow Dash gulped. "I mean it. If we can make an appeal to the sarosians—in a way that they haven't been impressed before—the results could be awesome. And it'd be ten times awesomer if we can get their help in kicking the other factions butt."
"Have... have you thought this out, Rainbow?" Logan asked, eyebrow arched. "Like... really thought it out?"
Before Rainbow could open her muzzle—
"Of course she hasn't."
Every member of the Herald turned their heads.
Rainbow's ghostly friends looked as well.
"She hasn't thought it out," Seraphimus said, marching icily towards the campfire in the middle of the elevated platform. "She never thinks anything out. It was her greatest strength back in Rohbredden. But here?" The former Talon Commander gravely shook her head. "It's her greatest weakness."
"Ah right..." Pinkie rolled her eyes. "I thought I smelled something angsty."
"Come to chew the fat, birdie?" Flynn droned with a dull smirk.
"I couldn't help but overhear your redundant dispute," Seraphimus said.
"Redundant?!" Ariel pointed. "Rainbow's been making some valid points—"
"But she's neglected to consider the most important point of all." Charcoal brown eyes swept across the Herald before settling emotionlessly on Rainbow's face. "That once she's miraculously gained control of the Bloodwings... she will also have gained control of Lexxic... and all the powers of pain, torture, and misery that he wields so heartlessly."
Rainbow bit her lip.
"Tell me, Rainbow Dash..." Seraphimus breathed calmly. "...what would you do with your 'Harmonic' self once you've become the ally of chaos and genocide?"
Great, another ocean.
Rainbow.
Rainbow plz.
You've been warned multiple times about going down this path - both here and on the Light Side.
This will not end well.
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At least it's not another cave!
Thought for a moment she was scared of oceans.
Sounds like they may end up needing to go past the harmonic prism to reach the night shard, then double back.
Next chapter is 200. IC mentioned in the past he isn't sticking to the set chapter number as strictly, and it doesn't feel like and end of the book point, so I think this one is going to be larger.
It's still kinda weird to see Sera calling Dash by name instead of Rainbow Rogue.
Dash has changed a lot since she left Equestria, but not as much as she thinks she has.
She's not about to shy away from violence, but she doesn't like killing.
So Sera has a point, even if she's not out there doing the killing herself, could she really live with herself even just giving the orders.
-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.
Well, looks like they should have tried to keep Princess Stardust intact(not really, transporting a boat over land is not easy). Not sure if it would be fast enough though, given the distances involved.
At any rate, I can see that there is a difficult choice ahead of them, one that will have to be addressed at some point. However, it seems that Lexxic is not completely murder everything on site yet as
shows. I bet the reason why is that they leave the Dihmers alone is that the Bloodwings need the Dihmers. The reason they need them is that the Dihmers provide the logistics that allows the Bloodwings to fight, allowing them to bring more forces to the field. Food, water, fuel, spare parts, ammo, armor, all of it has to be made outside of the battlefield, and then transported to the armies to use on said battlefield. Amateurs study tactics, professionals study logistics.
As for Seraph's question:
I think the answer is try to turn said individual away from Chaos and Genocide, and turn it into Harmony. Roarke knew nothing beyond, fighting, money, shedding blood and the hunt before Rainbow got to her, and yet we all should know what happened there. It also occurs to me that Seraaphimus is not just asking that question regarding Rainbow and Lexxic, but herself and Rainbow, as she often called Rainbow a force of chaos, and I bet that she hasn't completely changed overnight, still harboring a few doubts here and there. Rainbow's answers might be a way to keep reaffirming her path. Still, it is a good question, and I look forward to how it may, or may not, be answered.
Can't remain completely pure forever. Especially here on the Dark Side...
Not sure if I should feel insulted, but okay!
In the fifth book of East horse, imploding gave to me five ways to fly, for warring sites, Three great days, two companions, and a rainbow that’s flying east.
I’ve gotten as close as possible to accurate as the speech to text will allow. Here's the fifth verse:
In the Fifth Book of East Horse, Imploding gave to me
FIVE WAYS TO FLY
Four warring sides,
Three great days,
Two Companions,
And a Rainbow that's flying East.
From a story writing point of view, no matter how hostile and bad they are, the Bloodwings are always going to be the most approachable faction. Crystal fortresses of Death populated by necromantic unicorns and a swarm of super-powered Evil Changlings don't make good partners for trade talks.
A giant ocean that needs crossing at speed?
Theres two main technologies we use.
Boomer, and Ekranoplan.
Under or Over, Fflynn might get to see the Ultimate Hover Plank.
As for if Dash gets to turn Lexxic, or meet them?
Take the necklace off.
Oh boy, more Ocean! I wonder how different this will be on the Darkside. Honestly, the others bring up a lot of good points, Dash is honestly being a bit foolhardy here. I get why she wants to believe they are saveable (and maybe some of them are) but this is perhaps a bit of a stretch even for her.
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Probably filled with continent size fish that will accidentally eat their boat like you accidentally inhale dust.
Tomorrow we find out if the next chapter is book end or just a checkpoint...
Truly the purist of evils.
I really like the choice of words in this chapter. Rainbow Dash had some awesome one-liners.
I got chills on this one.
Time to update the theory... (Also IC I like how you mentioned befriending the spindly worm as an option, though I am curious as to where the idea came from...)
Rainbow travels to the Dhimers and through them is able to get audience with the Blood wings. Rainbow convinces them that they are on the same side. Lexxic is a bit iffy but the Blood wings as a whole see her logic and eventually form an expedition to cross the ocean and retrieve the other shards. Keep in mind that Rainbow has a literal compass pointing her in the direction of those shards so she and the Blood wings are going to use that to their advantage. As this expedition makes its way to the Curve side shore they are ambushed by Tchern's forces and Rainbow's party is separated and captured. Then from there we go on with my original theory from last chapter.
Original with edits:
Rainbow gets captured by Tchern and has her mind manipulated in a freaky simulation full of changeling doppelgangers. Rainbow escapes the simulation but has some/most/all of her friends replaced by changelings. The Bloodwings then intercept her false party and kill her "fake" friends (which would totally make Rainbow freak out). Then Rainbow goes on a revenge quest against Tchern (who has her actual friends hostage).
Rainbow goes full chaos mode on Tchern's hive and wrecks the place while the Bloodwings attack. They get the shard from Tchern but are intercepted by the Night Shard. Rainbow gets mind probed/interrogated after being captured by the Night Shard. Rainbow begins to understand her captors and sympathizes with them when Tchern reveals herself among their midst and trashes the place while grabbing two of the shards (Night Shard took one in their ambush on the Bloodwings).
The Bloodwings along with the Herald (who had been making a plan together to rescue Dash) attack and everything turns into chaos as a three way battle is waged. Rainbow escapes with the help of her Night Shard captors who decide to join her side. Lexxic notices Tchern make off with both shards and begins a ruthless crusade following her hasty retreat.
The Herald, Rainbow, and their Nightshard and Bloodwing friends accompany Lexxic's force and discover that Tchern is very good at leaving nasty traps behind for them. Of course Lexxic brings the third shard with him (why would he trust anyone else to keep it safe?). Rainbow and her group then use a high speed form of transportation to get ahead and set up an ambush for Tchern. They end up taking Tchern hostage and Lexxic arrives shortly after.
Lexxic turns full bad guy, takes all the shards, and begins to make his way to the Harmonic Prism while nearly killing Rainbow and her friends in the process (heroic sacrifice anyone?). Rainbow then recuperates and begrudgingly accepts Tchern's offer to help them reach the Harmonic Prism before it is too late.
For some reason Tchern doesn't backstab them and Rainbow enters the big pyramid while all three factions go back to absolutely destroying one another (this time Tchern and the Night Shard team up against Lexxic (I don't even know how)). Rainbow then deals with the biggest migraine the world has ever known (from trying to survive alicorn mind land of course).
I know Logan has a bit of a weight problem, but there's no need to be insulting.
Is there a point at which one or many cannot be redeemed? If so, are the Bloodwings beyond it, and if not, is it worth the risk to try? If they cannot be returned to Harmony, is it righteous to manipulate them as one would tools in order to achieve a greater good? Is that better or worse than immediate confrontation?
There are two options here, in essence - confront the Bloodwings, or attempt to become allies. (Technically a third where everyone waits for one faction of the Trinary war to claim all the shards then infiltrate when they open the Armory -
But thats risky and boring as all hell - not a good choice in character or out of it. So let's face it - the Herald has to either steal the shards or cooperate with those who have them.) Confrontation will be difficult and bloody - even if a tactical Rainboom can be pulled off with zero allied casualties, how many would die whose only crime was to be born out of the light - and how would Rainbow handle knowing that?
But to ally with them is not only risky, but morally grey as well. To approach with intent to do anything but fight or serve (and possibly even with those intentions) is to invite aggression from these. It's possible that Luna's enchantment will pull strings enough for them to talk, maybe to even accept her as an ally...but to expect a 180 a la Bleaks Plummet is unrealistic, if only because then it was Luna herself who made them turn. They had to hear her themselves before they committed.
So even if we were to hope for an alliance, it would be more akin to joining the Bloodwings (likely convincing them that you were sent by Luna/NMM to tip the scales in their favor) than getting them to join the Herald. In that case, even if the Herald don't ascribe to the brutality of the Bloodwings, it's unlikely that they'll be able to stop (or even temper) the policies and culture that has developed in about a thousand years of isolation and warfare.
Of course, there is a -chance- that they could be converted to a righteous cause. Even if it was only a few individuals who saw the light...wouldnt that be worth it? Or will Rainbow choose the option safest for herself, the Herald, and Urohringr itself, and just nuke the place and pull the shard from the ashes?
----
Well, there's only one way to tell - which one is more awesome?
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Not lawyers or politicians?
No matter how much you try, in the end Rainbow’s gonna do this her way.
Also, 199...
It's interesting that Rainbow wants to ally the Herald with one of the three factions. Seraphimus is right here -- I don't think Rainbow in control of/with Lexxic, or either of the other two factions' leaders, is a good idea at all. But if they're going to strike out alone, they still need to pick up all the shards, so ignoring the sarosians seems like a bad idea too. One way or another, they need to get the Bloodwings' shard.
Cause the last time we were on a boat everything went great...
What exactly are they debating here?
I mean seriously, what is their plan? Ignore the shards, head over to the Armory, stare at the insurpassible barrier there for a bit and then go home?
8771718
They might be planning to ally themselves with one of the non-alligned tribes first?
Huh. That’s something I wondered about while reading the previous chapter. Though if oceanic trade here can blossom then where are the darkside sea monsters at?
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Which could at least give them more insight into how the Bloodwings function at present. Along with an idea of how to inevitably approach their kind, either by posing as locals (or just hide in WC, Sera and Kep’s case) that aren’t worth guano to them long enough to think of a way to snag that shard, or being completely open and honest + “blessing”.
Allying themselves with the Bloodwings sounds like a stretch and half right now but man would that make for an compelling development going towards the Armory.
Or an ocean. That works too.
This gets way too complicated. The only true units to measure length are chapters and books.
I'm very excited for Dark Side sea monsters.
Going to the Dihmers and getting information from them seems to be the best option. They're gonna have to confront the sarosians at some point anyway since they need all three Shards.
To be fair here, to what extend did any of you guys even consider a non-violent solution to that situation? Was any attempt at talking that situation down even made or thought about? None? Okay then. Also going to point out Bard was already mortally wounded, and just decided to kill Chandler and two more soldiers with him, for no real viable reason other than his own fears of what Chandler might do (which I still contest was a whole lot of nothing), so don't try to act like Bard made some big sacrifice for some greater good. It wasn't. If you're saying it was, then I'm going to go ahead and point at Seraphimus and her currently breathing status as a recent and poignant example of how killing people because of what you fear they might do is literally the thing you guys didn't do with her, despite a lot of vocal warbling to the contrary.
Now all that said, while Dash's optimism here is something I admire and to a degree share, there's some aspects to diplomacy with the sarosians that need to be seriously dealt with before any kind of attempt is made. One, you got to accept that the level of fanaticism likely held by the Dark Vigil is much, much stronger than anything the Rohbreddenites held. That isn't to say reaching some of them, or reasoning with some of them, would be impossible, but conflict is going to be a reality of dealing with the bat pones, so you got to be prepared to fight, even if you try to avoid deaths in the process. You also have to consider that, while the fanatics might follow a powerful leader or group of leaders, those leaders might be less prone to reason than even the lower ranks. Finding and organizing a resistance might be better than trying to talk with or control the upper echelon.
And Seraphimus does make a final, decent point that even if you do get the Bloodwings under your control you've got a faction that is going to have difficulty avoiding being genocidal in their efforts against the other factions. Not impossible, but we're talking major difficulty and taking a long span of time trying to curb genocidal tendencies to just backpedaling to a more manageable "kinda sorta murdering most everything in sight" levels they had before Lexxic pissed in the pool.
Anyway, guess I'll see how this conversation plays out, since there's one more chapter out after this one currently.
Seraphimus x Logan Ship Confirmation Chapter Counter: 6
We need a new ship. A worthy successor to the Noble Jury!
I kind of hope one of the future chapters is named "Down, Down To Goblin-town".
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I would like to direct you to Days of Wasp and Spider, in which the singular unit of distance is the Length, modified by metric prefixes as needed.
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Though as far as length goes, that's basically just the metric system. The best part is how it does the same for time, with kilo-, mega and gigaseconds!
This confused me, so I dug up the definitions, and it looks like Skirts already mixed it up himself:
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/373584/66/ofolrodi/darkreach-chronicles-part-four
And: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/373584/60/ofolrodi/twinkle-like-much-stars
If you face the east edge on the light side (the convex side), then you have North to your left and South to your right. If you then cross the edge and face away from it on the dark side, you've kept the North edge on your left the whole time. Therefore, per chapter #60, North edge == Alpha edge.
But per chapter #66, if you are very far North while crossing, you end up very far Omega on the Dark side, which implies North edge == Omega edge.
Really not sure which one is the error and which one isn't. We really need a map...
The most plausible interpretation is:
- Alpha is indeed left when facing away from the edge they crossed (that much is unambiguous from the map).
- They crossed the edge very far North (that is, very far left, relative to their direction of travel), so they ended up very far Alpha. Ariel made a mistake when she said they've got more Alpha than Omega to explore.
All the ponies are getting confused when they call Omega "North" - they're facing the western edge, so they're thinking of "right" as "North".
8773641
Hm, science fiction, adventure, Celestia & Luna, no humans. Yep, I'm game. Tracked and going to read soon.
By the way, the comment about the length was not meant to be read as a serious statement.
Sera calling Dashie out on her dangerous bs
Though, I don't see a peaceful solution here...
goddammit whats alpha and omega
Sera has a point, but so does Rainbow.
Yeah... I dont think this plan is gonna work...
This is good. The team can't keep deferring to Rainbow on everything. They need someone to call her out.
I always like debates where both sides have a good point. Rainbow is right that they will have to face the Bloodwings at SOME point, while Flynn and co. are right that she might be a little overoptimistic. I m firmly in Rainbow's camp, but I will acknowledge that the other side does have a point.
05/09/2018
17:40 UTC
8770787
This comment goes great with your avatar.
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I love that Sera is on our side now. I'm excited for her continued commentary. The herald is biased and would, even unwillingly, follow Dash to ruin. Sera is an unbiased voice who will temper Dash and keep her from recklessly ending the journey.
Okay, I’m reading this argument and all I can say is:
WHO. FREAKING. CARES.
Uhhh, you guys have to get all 3 shards anyway, you won’t be able to avoid a faction? Ok there could be a debate as to who to approach first, but they’re arguing they should leave the, alone. You can’t! You might as well go and approach the Bloodwings!
Maritime! My fav
Whoa. That's a lotta wata'. There's no rain here either, so I guess it's just groundwater and filtered ocean for drinking purposes. Unless there's some chaos effect or weird creature that provides rain?
Oof. Didn't really think of it that way...
Of course it does. And I'm sure it's filled with nightmare creatures to boot.
Guys, don't start this argument again.
Yeah...Sera makes a good point. Even if the Princess Luna enchantment works a second time, we'd be allies with what seems to be the most bloodthirsty of the Trinary War. And I doubt they'd be all that interested in Harmony...