"That is a most striking manestyle, Ms. Kitsune," Bellesmith said. She then glanced at the other numerous pegasi gathered around the apple trees. "May I ask what's inspired you and your friend Mr. Jerrio to color it so?"
Kitsune's amber eyes twitched as her face contorted in confusion. "For real...?" She looked sharply at Rainbow Dash. "You mean you haven't told her?"
Rainbow gulped. "Uhhhhhh..."
"She's your friend, ain't she?" Rayvinne giggled. "And your name's 'Rainbow Dash' for crying out loud! Heehee!"
"Hey, one thing at a time!" Rainbow curtsied with a smirk. "It took them a long time to get used to my feathers!"
"And a whole lot of bruises," Roarke droned. Eagle Eye lightly swatted her forelimb without looking. The mare's lips tightened.
"But, y'know, one thing at a time!" Rainbow turned to smile awkwardly at the winged ponies. "Now I've... f-finally introduced them to you West Durangos!"
"Durandanans, girl."
"Whatever. Just tell them the age-old mane story," Rainbow said with an air of sarcasm. "If I do it one more time, I swear, my tongue will fall off."
"Well, it's kind of boring, really," Kitsune said with a wry smirk thrown in Belle's direction. "The First-Borns get to dye their manes as a sign of their higher allegiance to the Valkyrie. It's all in her image, after all."
Jerrio nodded and said, "The Gray Feathers teach us from the scrolls that they represent both the Valkyrie's natural colors as well as her fiery, righteous passion for defending Durandana from all that would try to corrupt the Gold Lights with—"
"Blah blah blah blah..." Rayvinne rolled her eyes, then flew in to nuzzle Kitsune cheek to cheek. "What matters is that it's downright beautifullll."
"Heehee... Please, Ray..." Kitsune nudged back. "Nothing beats your mane."
"So... being First-Born makes you a leader?" Eagle Eye asked.
"Pretty much, yes," Jerrio said.
"Pffft! Makes you 'lucky' is more like it," Rayvinne said.
Jerrio frowned across the clearing at her while several pegasi chuckled and laughed. "The Rite of the First-Born involves a great deal of wisdom and responsibility—"
"Face it, Jerrio. All that happened was you were squirted out first!"
He stomped his hoof and snarled, "Come on, guys! For real!" They nevertheless laughed as he leaned back with folded ears. "Hrmmmph... none of you would say this to Sivrem's face if he was here."
"That's because, unlike you, he's friggin' handsome."
"Yeah! Hahahaha!"
"Nnnnnngh..." Jerrio face-hoofed, groaning. He turned to the strangers. "My apologies. I imagine you all must have a ton of questions. Valkyrie knows I do..."
"Oh, naturally," Belle said with a nod. "Though, to be perfectly honest, I'm a little worried about the rest of our friends."
"Yeah..." Eagle Eye trotted up. "We had no idea that this place was populated with such incredible ponies! If we're this surprised, then there's no telling how surprised the others may react."
"The... others?" Jerrio asked, squinting.
"They're perfectly harmless!" Belle insisted with a nervous smile.
"Yeah!" Eagle turned and pointed skyward. "Why, we left them way up back there in the—"
"In the cave!" Rainbow's voice cracked as she flew in between the unicorn and the Durandanans. She smiled nervously. "High up... in the outer gr-greens, y'know!"
"Uh huh..."
"Rainbow, seriously..." Belle turned towards her. "It's more than obvious that these pegasi are nothing but friendly."
"Belle..."
"I think it will make things all the better if we simply dropped the act and told them about the Noble Jury."
"The Noble What?" Kitsune made an awkward face.
"Hey!" Smythe and Jagold touched down with a flurry of feathers. A small group of bone-armored equine landed beside them as they approached Jerrio and the others. "Guys! You'll never guess what we saw back there!"
"A giant slab of Valkyrie silver!" Jagold exclaimed. "Suspended from crimson lights! And it's full of ponies without wings or feathers or—" She turned, her pupils shrinking upon the sight of the strangers in the group. "...eggshells!"
"Oh, hey!" Smythe smirked. "You found them!"
"Huh?"
"The others said that their 'leader' would be here with a whole group. I guess you met the outsiders as well."
Jerrio turned towards Rainbow Dash. "You came in with another group?"
"Heh..." Rainbow brushed her mane back, blushing slightly. "Guess there's no pulling the wool over your eyes."
"I... don't get it," Kitsune murmured.
"Look, I just didn't want to freak anypony out," Rainbow said, suppressing a giggle. "It's hard enough—heehee—as it is trying to c-contain my own inner explosions, ya dig?"
"Why? Is there a reason for shovels?" Rayvinne asked.
"No. It... that... unnngh..." Rainbow face-hoofed while a few nearby pegasi giggled.
"I think you're doing more harm than good, Rainbow," Roarke droned.
"Oooooooh..." Jagold trotted up, cooing. "This one is made of Valkyrie silver..." She raised a hoof to Roarke's braced flank. "...and it talks."
"It also does not like being touched!," Roarke hissed, several metal bands popping loose with errant sparks.
"Eeep!" Jagold zipped to the far end of an apple tree and hid, trembling.
"Did you really have to do thatttt?" Eagle Eye sighed.
"Yes..." Roarke grunted, retracting the metal pieces while the gawking pegasi flinched from a distance. "I did."
"I'm a little confused..." Smythe pointed Rainbow's way. "Is she with these ponies?"
"That would seem to be the case," Jerrio said. He looked pointedly at Rainbow Dash. "What I want to know is—how come you didn't bring this to the Gray Feathers?"
"What's that, now?"
"Wingless ponies? Flying Valkyrie silver? This has gotta be the most significant discovery of our lifetime!"
"Not to mention the coolest," Kitsune sing-song'd.
Jerrio sighed and continued, "Were you afraid that the Gray Feathers wouldn't approve? You're First-Born. You should know more than most ponies that they're not like that."
"Actually... uhm..." Rainbow Dash fidgeted nervously. "I'm not exactly from around here either."
"Awwwww... don't think you can fool us anymore, girl!" Rayvine floated around Rainbow Dash, doing backwards "swim-strokes" through the air while grinning. "You're slick, swift..."
"You've got a gorgeous mane," Jagold said from a distance, but instantly hid back behind the tree when half the ponies glanced her way.
"You're Durandanan through and through!" Rayvinne giggled. "Probably East D. Central is too stiff for you."
"Heh... heheh..." Rainbow slicked her mane back and smirked. "I dunno how to break it to ya... but I'm just as native to this place as my featherless buddies here. Not that I don't mind all the kickflank flattery and—" She paused, glancing out the side of her vision.
Bellesmith was smiling softly at her from afar.
Rainbow blinked. Her cheeks blushed a little. "What?"
"Either way, their friends up on the flying silver are a bit worried about them," Smythe said to Jerrio. He smirked with perking ears. "And Sivrem would absolutely love to meet the rest. Then we can take them to see the Gray Feathers together!"
"Uhm..." Eagle Eye fidgeted, then raised a hoof. "Now hold on one second..."
"Yeah, one cloud burst at a time," Rainbow said, hovering a little higher. "Who's this 'Sivrem' dude?"
Jerrio was about to reply, when suddenly a loud metallic gong echoed against the earthen walls of the crater. The very branches of the trees shook, and several birds flew out from their leafy hiding. Instantly, he coiled his wings at his side and faced east. "First Light. The towers rise."
"The Towers Rise," every pegasus said in perfect unison. They whistled and chirped briefly between each other, then squatted low to the floor as one. Each of them faced in one direction, their ears folded and their faces glazed with solemnity. After whispering a few quiet words, they closed their eyes and stretched their wings outward—as if embracing the sunrise.
"Uhhhh..." Belle murmured, trotting nervously through the statuesque huddles of bowing ponies. "What's going on?"
"I... I-I dunno..."
"Shhhh!" Eagle Eye insisted.
The two mares looked at her.
He gulped and whispered, "Isn't it obvious they're praying to something?"
"Yeah... but what?"
"Hrmmm..." Roarke tilted her head up. Something glinted off her lenses, and she murmured, "I think we're about to find out..."
Praise the Sun you silly, overly touchy birds. Maybe an Obelisk, too.
Ten bits it's a person.
Twenty bits they're smoking hot and Dashie totally falls for them.
Thirty bits they're PURE EVIL.
I wonder if they have heard of Celestia? Some ancient legends, perhaps.
I wonder if that rising tower is connected to the Machine World.
Boy , it would definitely suck if The Jury came here to destroy these pegasi's entire system of beliefs.
4707083
I don't think IC would be capable of turning the Austraeoh saga into a Human in Equestria story at this point.
I am very much liking this, it pleases me
That is ONE way of putting it
Wasn't there another city that had something similar to the rising tower? I forget it's name, the Industrial one from way back when?
derpicdn.net/img/2014/3/17/577693/large.jpeg
Their minds would be so blown if they knew Rainbow had a direct line to a sun princess.
That's assuming that whatever's coming isn't the horror hulking in their happy hideaway, of course.
4707132
Darkstine
Yep, that totally sounds like Commander Hurricane.
Ooooh a rising tower. Sounds like the machine world.
4707168
Thanks! I marathon'd that bit when I read it, memory is a bit fuzzy on the details.
4707191
Interesting to note, however, that Hurricane died in Stratopolis, not in the crater. An eons-long game of "telephone" conflating and mixing stories, or something else?
Huh, so they all face one direction for prayer at set times of the day. Fascinating.
4707203 Maybe the Austreoh before Hurricane got farther than she did.
Here comes another part of the machine world I bet, namely that beam of light everyone else sees.
I'm honestly not sure what to think about these pegasi. They seem pretty cool, laid-back, and friendly, but I'm also getting vaguely... I want to say 'Orwellian' vibes off them, what with the unison incantations and suggestions of what might be a caste system. I dunno. I like them, so I hope it doesn't turn into anything too sinister.
Other hypotheses:
- The Valkyrie is a former incarnation of Austraeoh (Hurricane seems an unlikely candidate, all things considered).
- The "towers" are obelisks.
- They will, at some point, learn that Rainbow's mane is natural, and the game will change, for better or worse.
- At least one Jurist will get laid.
Oh boy, strange religious rituals now? That's fun. And they apparently speak in bird squawk with each other when something super important's going on. Can't wait to find out more of this place.
24
4707294 Hmmm now that I think about and after rereading that part about Valkyrie more carefully, I'm starting to have doubts that they are talking about Hurricane and that maybe they indeed worship an Austraeoh from even before then?
4707097 Err, when I said "person" I meant a sapient creature in general, not specifically a human. xD
4707371 Good, I almost had a heart attack.
But now I can't shake the feeling that the Midnight Armory will be guarded by a bored guy reading a book.
My god, I love this current setting so much.
I want to hear more Durandanan culture!! MORE!!!
This is the one time I curse this series for having small chapters...
4707127
*cough* I'm not as enthusiastic.
And here I thought only Thor had a recent sex-change...
4707437
4707127
-Eats popcorn- It's like reading the next chapter early down here.
Rising towers = Machine world? I wonder if they actually rise and fall with the sun. I think they might be worshipping the towers (a tower in the center of the crater is east of them) or the sun itself.
4699628
I'm ok with this.
4707390 And that bored guy is you.
4707294
Maybe survivors/deserters from Hurricane's forces? Somepony had to put Hurricane and the sword in that tomb.
4707647 Of course, it all makes sense now!
I shall fulfill my destiny and keep a mostly disinterested guard on the story's ultimate goal!
4707670
Yeah, but I don't think those that put Hurricane there ever escaped from Stratopolis. I'm pretty sure they establish that the winds surrounding it are inescapable.
4707315
I'm almost certain that natural hair will be for better. And that more than just one Jurist will get laid. I'm thinking at least three.I have my suspicions as to who.
4707759
Inescapable, yet Changelings were in and out constantly?
I'll concede the point that IC will make a new mythos from another source on this one. However, anything's possible.
4707700
Rainbow: "Uhm, who're you?"
Disinterested human guard: "Oh, hey, name's Zaid. I'm supposed to guard this place, but meh."
Rainbow: "Ooookaay, I'm going to go inside then."
Disinterested human guard: "Have fun. Hey, you don't happen to have any grilled cheeses with you, do ya?"
4707788 I guess my fate is sealed.
It's a good fate, I'll say that.
Jury finds corruption in a society.
Stumble upon said corruption.
Hyjinks ensue.
Adventure.
Corruption put down.
Ever east.
I'm more and more interested in the elders these dudes off.
I am betting RD gets one of the princesses to wobble the Sun a little bit via bladephone, as evidence of her extra-greens origins
4707700 Your true destiny is to hit on Props for the remainder of the dodecalogy.
During which I will bitterly seethe in the corner out of furious jealousy.
Jealousy for who, you ask? Ah, but that would be telling.
...
I'm bored and it's midnight leave me alone.
I wonder if these towers could be something like Stonehenge?
4707933 Lather, rinse, repeat.
Always come clean about stuff like this from the beginning Rainbow.
Also, love the title.
Machine world worship sounds likely. I wonder what catastrophe will happen this time to make rainbow touch the tower. I can't wait for the shitstorm when they reveal RD's main is natural. Either they will worship her like a goddess or a dark secret will be revealed. Probably both.
Celestia will just love to hear about this, I'm sure. The other way around? Not so much.
I only know one thing for sure. They worship the big laser.
4707083
The answer is D) All of the above.
4707203 This has got me thinking that these guys are closer to the original legend of Austraeoh than anyone, and we're going to get a BIG HISTORY LESSON soon. But yes, this is shaping up like the rise and fall of another Darkstine. I just hope with less creepy.
Now just imagine if all these guys turned out to secretly be changelings.
4707132 New Ring, the capital of Darkstine. Had an obelisk as its central energy source. But that thing was neither particularly huge nor did it shoot light beams all over the place.
4707203 I would love to like the theory of them being descendants from Hurricane's soldiers, but that wouldn't make sense - none left Stratopolis alive. And calling her a Valkyrie does at least imply an extremely martial nature. Is that a common trait of all Austraeohs? If nothing else it helps to lend the Hurricane theory a bit more credibility.
4707452 And it's true. Eagle Eye remains female.
4708691 Given how even their perception of such basic concepts as magic or whatever Austraeoh they are worshipping is superstitious, naive and mystified. I actually doubt they're that close to the truth. I suspect they will end up providing yet another version of the whole thing that will serve as yet another perspective, yet another puzzle piece of the truth the Jurists will figure out.
4708818 The thing that gets me here is the fact they're pegasi and all the legends are around them. These Gray Feathers are likely elders whom are the ones passing the tales down, and that there we'd learn yes, you're likely right, new facets to the true tale. But that's just it, every time we've uncovered a new facet it's led our intrepid Jurists into new thoughts and new directions and new connections. Something tells me, here, these guys have a BIG piece of the puzzle we've all missed.
These pegasi are adorable~
And Luna gets no respect.
4708872 It remains to be seen from which type of pegasi they're descended. The ancestry of their isolated culture could go all the way back to the proto-pegasi, to the ones accompanying Hurricane or to something else entirely.