One scuffling hoof after another, Rainbow Dash trotted forward, then squatted low. Her ruby eyes narrowed as her blue muzzle scrunched up. She tilted her head left, then right, staring straight forward with intense scrutiny.
The vacant hollow of a sideways reindeer skull gaped back at her. The long-decayed corpse had fallen over on its side. There it lay crookedly in the center of the Grand Choke... for an untold number of decades or even centuries.
Rainbow's nostrils flared. Quietly, she shuffled forward, gripping the corpse and pivoting it upright. Once the antlers pointed skyward, she reached over and gripped a rusted shield, sliding it up so that it was braced against the jagged vertebrae of the dead sentinel. At last, with the task done, Rainbow backtrotted, staring quietly and unemotionally at the deceased Val Roan.
The soldier now sat like a lone bulwark, staunchly facing the eastern dawn. A brief wind blew at the scene, fluttering loose scraps of flesh inside its jaws and nostrils, then settling with a dusty hush.
Rainbow took a deep breath... then gazed beyond the shield holding the corpse in place.
A dim, dull horizon spelled the western half of the world.
Rainbow sighed through her nostrils. Quietly, she slid her goggles down over her eyes, turned a dial, and tinted the lenses. Then, with nimble grace, she turned around and faced the blinding sunrise. Spreading her wings, she galloped forward, leapt into the skies, and abandoned the soldier entirely.
Hours passed.
Rainbow veered north and south, casually transforming her eastward glide with latitudinal curves. She squinted through her darkened goggles, attempting to chase the clouds down—just to see how permeable they were.
When she successfully found one, she'd slow her flight and glide directly over the misty beds, dragging her hooves across the wispy material. The clouds responded to her pegasus essence, and she found that she could spring her body off the clouds as though they were wooden platforms.
This brought a strange breath of comfort to her, a second wind that was all too quickly shattered the very moment she gazed down at the blurring landscape.
The entire world was nothing more than a ginormous polished sheet of brown malaise. It was as if she was staring down at a silk-smooth bowl of honey-glazed oatmeal. There were no ravines, no fissures, no dips or rises in the endless plateau of stone, stone, and more stone. The Grand Choke simply was, stretching perfectly mundane and unchanging in every perceivable direction. Occasionally, there would be a wandering cloud of dense dust, but Rainbow couldn't even begin to guess where they originated from.
More times than she'd care to count, the pegasus' eyes locked on the horizon ahead of her, desperate to spot a mountain, a peak, any indication whatsoever of an earthen structure that rose above sea level. And in every instance, she was let down. She even ascended to a high altitude—flying as high as the atmosphere would let her breathe—and still she was disappointed. Eventually, she had to glide down to a more survivable level, gathering her wits with each wing flap.
Rainbow Dash had learned enough to realize that the plane everypony lived on was on was bent... at least somewhat. After all, if it once joined with eleven more parts to form Urohringr, then surely the world had some curvature in order to make a whole circle. Then again, over the eons during which the plane flew alone and dormant, there was no telling just what the forces of gravity would have done to such an intensely large super-structure. However, Rainbow was no egghead, and she could only make vacant guesses at best.
Sighing, she stared straight ahead. Yaerfaerda consistently lingered directly ahead of her. Rainbow noticed that when she ascended to a high level—the lavender glowing beacon ascended as well. It was then that she realized that the symbol couldn't possibly have stood for an exact location or destination. If that was the case—Rainbow reasoned—then surely it would be constantly situated below the horizon, especially with how grand and spacious the Grand Choke was unveiling itself to be with each hour spent flying, speeding, throttling east.
Rainbow sighed. For all she knew, Yaerfaerda was something magical... something alive. It taunted and haunted her, just like every other ruby-flame'd piece of the machine world's essence that spelled the fate of Austraeoh, or attempted to. She wondered briefly if Commander Hurricane had lived long enough to be plagued by a similar, lingering streak of alien light, forever receding from her, frustrating her. But, then again, Commander Hurricane was surrounded by her own subordinates and fellow soldiers when she died.
A shudder ran through Rainbow's body. Gritting her teeth, she flew down and glided just above the immaculate desolation of the Choke, keeping her belly a few dangerous inches above the hard stone, forcing her thoughts to focus on her motor skills—and nothing else.
Carefully, with gentle hooves, Rainbow Dash twisted the nozzle to the bubbling canister of Nebulum. She hung her muzzle above the end of the tube. As the apparatus spat out a fine hydrated mist, she inhaled it as instructed by Duchess Arcanist.
The pegasus' eyes fluttered shut. She shuddered slightly, overwhelmed by the intense need to cough. Nevertheless, she sat still, holding her breath as her lungs were thoroughly doused. Within seconds, the enchanted substance spread through her body, and she felt an overwhelming sense of comfort. To her surprise, her body was completely refreshed, as if she had just galloped twenty miles before drinking an entire bathtub of apple juice.
She opened her eyes, and just as swiftly that comfort dissipated. A dead landscape stretched before her, growing dull and dim. She turned her head and glanced over her shoulder.
A blood red sun sank towards the horizon, melting into the polished vanishing line.
Rainbow exhaled heavily. She looked at her canister with a dull expression. Then, with dutiful motions, she strapped it back to the side of Arcanista's pack and slid the bulky material back onto her flank. Spreading her wings, she took off and glided east for at least another hour... maybe two... however long it would take for the world to grow cold from an absent sun.
Rainbow Dash could see the stars that evening. She couldn't tell if it was because the clouds had broken overhead, or if her eyes were just adjusting to the environment. It didn't matter. She stared into the flame in front of her rectangular tent. The dancing bands of light were the only things that came close to distracting her. The warmth was a delightful respite from the desert chill, but there was no escape from the cold, no matter how tightly Rainbow curled underneath her blankets.
She exhaled, and her breath made the tongues of flame rise and fall. Her eyes blinked, and she looked deeper into the burning aura... and beyond it.
At some point, her eyes blurred. The fog was a very welcoming thing. It had no form to it, and yet was constantly shifting. She could almost let her mind wander into oblivion, a place where no thoughts or memories could blossom.
It didn't last very long. In a blink, Rainbow Dash returned to the present, to the flame and the cold and the bitter hush of a dead world stretching all around her. Soon, it was all pierced by a panting breath, growing higher and squeakier in pitch.
Rainbow knew the dam would burst eventually. She just didn't expect it to be the second night. Even still, there was no fighting it. The mare curled her forelimbs to her chest, burying her face in her blanket as wave after wave of tears fell from her eyes. The current rolled rapidly, and soon she was crying, sobbing, hiccuping with little spasms of lonely wails.
She could only wish that the outburst alone would wear her out. In reality, she lingered there, dull and drowsy, for another three waking hours, until sheer boredom and ennui finally put her out, and she carried her tears with her into a fitful night's sleep.
Hehheh. Axe puns.
Huh...and here I thought this entire time that it was at a specific destination in an eastward direction like some glowy lavender waypoint.
...Okay...I'm starting to get just a little worried here. I know it's still really soon since she just left everyone back at Val Roa, but this is kind of starting to develop into a pattern. The desert being desolate and extremely empty is bad enough, but couple that on top of her loneliness, and I'm starting to worry about Dash's mental state. Then you have Dash's mental state and the underlying chaos and well...I'm worried about some extremely bad things happening...
Loneliness is the most frightening thing in the world.
But hey, at least you still got your... hooves?
...
Rainbow Dash x Right Hoof 4ever
bleh it's not my fault there's not much else to ship out here right now
Don't fight it, Dashie. A good cry can cleanse the soul.
Twenty-five squats, ):(. Knock 'em out!
5673704
Loneliness induced Hallucination time?
My Little Yaerfaerda: Grand Choke is Monotonous
Yes, it could, if that destination was incredibly far away, like on a different piece of Urohringr.
5673704
That specific one was mine! Senpai noticed me! I am so proud,
Rainbow is feeling the stress. Understandable really, its the first time sh's been truly alone in what, 3-4 months?
Just making sure of something here:
Most of the book titles mean something (maybe all, but if that's the case, I missed some), but did we ever figure out what the word 'Yaerfaerda' means?
5673752
I think we'd need more like 144, not 12 books if we wanted to deal with more than one piece of Urohringr.
Gravity would be interesting on that plane - I haven't done the math, but I think you'd have a significant horizontal component near the edge. I'd think tension would have had a bigger effect on deforming the plane, but ultimately it doesn't mattock.
Hookahs are greeeeeat.
25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6pu6ip72R1ryqipqo1_500.gif
Unless IC decides to upload more than one chapter at a time like in Austraeoh, I reckon we'll have to wait for a while until anything interesting happens. I mean, I don't expect anything monumental to happen in the Desert of Nothingess.
5673789 No clue, but I found this.
i.imgur.com/EfqLFY7.jpg
Might not be correct translation, though.
5673833
Aaand you just jinxed it.
Hm. It would be kind of funny if she'd for example suddenly found a lonely exhasted traveller coming from the east now.
So, what I got from this is that IC didn't mind the Punic Wars.
Well, that and that it is being infinitely harder for Rainbow to let go this time than when she first started flying.
5673833
Something monumental happened this chapter.
If there is a horizon, the plane is still curved. This also means that the Dark Side, the inside of the curve, will be completely visible. You'll be able to see one edge from the other, and both from the center, because the only thing obscuring them is clouds. If there are clouds. And, y'know, enough light to see by.
RD's been alone before and got through, but after traveling so long with company, and in such an absolutely empty place...
Not to mention she hasn't even found the magic dead zones yet. Hopefully that lets up when she gets to the sea on the far side or she's swimming.
I wonder if she'll have any contact with Val Roa? In theory a message could go to Durandana, to Celestia, who tells Luna, who tells Dash on the full moon. Not the quickest system but it could work. Could see a few of these happening in the next books.
5673783
Good job! You did something within a day of commenting that the rest of the unknown peoples couldn't. I wonder who your cameo will be?
5673789
Literally: "Yesterday, to give birth to," or "yesterday gave birth."
In this particular case, I think the talk of curves is just lampshading the fact that the author introduced a vague concept that they don't go into much detail on because they themselves haven't thought out the details too much. They are "not an egghead," as it were. The resolution of the paragraph is that Dash keeps going, anyway, and the curvature is less important than the journey ahead. Details.
5673935
I like this. A lot.
Pity Dash didnt take a carrier pidgeon with her. One of those beat a text message to me a week or so back, Internationally. 4.5 hours for 250 miles.
High altitude flight is a trade off. The maximum variation between low speed and high speed stall gets very narrow indeed. the U2 has a range of I think 10mph at an altitude where the atmosphere is similar in density to Mars. For high speed, ram effects mean you get a lot more air in your lungs, the problem you then have is getting it back out. with jet engines, thats not so much a problem.
Given Stanford torus, Bessel Spheres, Oniel cylinders, Orbitals, Halos, Ringworlds, Cageworlds and Criswell Cages, I think its safer to say that given how bare and feaureless this area is, amongst other effest, its due to a combination of the trauma of seperation ad divine interdiction. A very weak illusion spell over a large area can do most whatever you want.
5673718
It's the most stable relationship Rainbow has had.
Just take off the amulet, Dashie, you don't want to be sane for a flight like this.
5674152 5673935
That's kind of what I was thinking of, except the reverse, with Rainbow telling Luna, then Celestia telling the Durandanans, and them telling the Jurors.
Only problem with this is that Rainbow's message system with Luna only works on the Light Side of the plane.
Dash needed to cry and let it out much more then she thought, better to get it out of the way early then to break down at the wrong time.
5673935
That would be great! Its something I could at least see RD trying.
I wonder why Rainbow didn't think to bring a soundstone. I know that the Choke would've snuffed the connection out sooner or later, but it probably would've eased the transition for Rainbow quite a bit. That, or do what other commenters are suggesting, and have Luna relay a message to the Jurists via Durandana. We'll see, I guess.
5673544
FUCK OFFFFFFsorry that was actually really good
5673960
Well, taking into account the fact that the author is a troll, an Ankou is a mythological Celtic 'god of death'though that isn't quite correct, and Scythe is generally found alongside the Grim Reaper, I'm thinking that I'll get turned into a druid/light mage/healer. You know, just fuck things up.
5674524
Maybe because she wouldn't want to keep using it, not sure whether she should say goodbye this time to make sure that she isn't cut off by the Choke's magic. I feel like she's happier ending it herself rather than letting the Choke do it for her.
5674581
Hmmmm. Maybe so. I'm not sure that's what I'd do, but it does sorta seem like Rainbow's style.
5673924 Soooo, you mean exactly like this?
fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/175/0/4/halo_nightfall_wallpaper__without_logo__by_i7infinity-d7ntwkx.png
I just found this picture and it fits so perfectly I can't take it.
Urohringr confirmed for Installation 04. Now, where is Guilty Spark at...
5674605 Yes, Halo is in fact a Ringworld...
It also means that whatever change Rainbow effects will be visible by everyone else on the plane well before she visits them.
5674524
I dunno, with Dash it was probably just better to cut her losses and just go. Having the soundstone would probably have made the leaving harder by dragging it out. Not to mention Bell and some of the others would probably feel the same, like they were weighing her down somehow. Plus it ended on terms in her control, not randomly due to the choke, that would have been hard to handle, and once she's in that deep she most likley wouldn't have been able to handle the emotional breakdown.
The choke is just the barrier to stop beings from seeing the other side of it, which is just a dimmer reverse universe, and the Yaefaerda symbol is Dashie flying towards her twin. Solved.
Comment section right now
i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/4868048384/h69599C5E/
5674659
Well he sure aint sweating anytime soon.
Poor lonely Dashie...
5672205
I forgot my
unilever.com/images/axe_apollo_body_spray-450x450_tcm13-378304.jpg
this morning
I'm waiting for whatever the inevitable collapse is really going to be. I can't forget that it was about this chapter that the whole Lerris thing happened...
5673718
You are incorrigible.
5673739
More like Mentally-Break-And-Succumb-To-Chaos Time.
5673752
That's a pretty interesting theory. I don't expect Dash's destination to be on another fragment of the ring, though.
...Then again, we're not supposed to be expecting the ending to this book...
5673924
I can't wait for the mind trip that is going to be the edge of this fragment. I just can't wait.
This is just as feelsy as the first book, minimalist, lots of moments where she's going to just... remember and get upset.
I still hope that the final few chapters are taking place months later and are exerts of Belle's diary, or maybe her passing on what happened in Val Roa to Celestia through the Sword of Solstice in Durandana.
-Treachery and deceit, kingdom of conceit Yaerfaerda.
5673718
5674393
Confirmed: Rainbow Dash will have to cut off her right hoof ala Evil Dead before crossing to the Dark Side.
5674575
Sounds good! If only stupid plans work, then a druid/ light mage/ healer thing would be fit in just right.
I like how you put the definitions of your name next to IC being defined as a troll. Almost as if IC being troll is a given, which is weird since he obviously isn't.
5674937
If only.
5673902
Wait, I'm sorry, when did this mention Rome or Carthage? How could I have missed something like that?
I'm suddenly immensely confused and wondering if I read this chapter too quickly.
5673718 RD x Deer Skeleton #247 all aboard the ship-mobile CHOO CHOO
(so THAT'S where you stick the antlers)
5675421
Swanny's shipping fever mirrors the Roman debauchery of old, while I represent the strenghts and ideals of the people of Carthage.
Obviously.
5675481
So you're saying you're doomed to have your cities burned and your fields salted that nothing shall ever grow there again?
Carthago delenda est.
Knowing IC, Rainbow Dash probably will go insane for at least a little in the grand choke. That would be interesting to see...
5675492
That is the expected outcome, yes.
So, just so everyone knows. If I die, blame Swan Song.