The Worst Kind of Eclipse
"I love you guys..." Rainbow Dash took a shuddering breath and stood between Pilate and Belle on the top deck. "I love you enough to protect you no matter what. And I love you enough to leave you be when the time comes. But we all have to understand... th-that there are things that are simply out of my control." She inhaled heavily, eyes streaming with tears. "No matter how fast I can fly... no matter how awesome I am... the world is simply too dangerous for me to stop every signle horrible thing that happens. What happened in Lerris is terrible. What happened to you guys and Kera is unthinkably bad. But the only thing I can absolutely guarantee that I can control is my loyalty to you. And... and I-I've been so very bad about that, lately..."
She trotted up to Pilate, nuzzling him gently on the side of his head.
"I've left you in the dark. What I thought you needed was a protector. What you've truly needed is a friend."
She side-stepped over to Belle, planting her hooves on the mare's forelimbs.
"I wish you had told me what you knew about Imre, but you aren't the one who murdered her and you aren't responsible for making Shell the monster that he was. None of us are."
She shuffled backwards, hanging her head towards the top deck.
"You all went through something so... so bad... and I spent so much time blaming myself and thinking about my faults that I didn't think of preserving my strength. And that's my love and commitment to you. I felt that keeping my distance and focusing on the journey would be enough. But obviously, it's not. We're falling apart. Lerris happened weeks ago, but it could just as well have been yesterday or today. Nothing's healed, because I've abandoned it. I've abandoned you. And I'm sorry."
Rainbow lifted her head up, gnashing her teeth. "I'm so... so sorry. I love you guys too much to let it go on like this. But I'm not the only one." She clenched her teeth and spoke in a firmer voice. "You need to stop this. Whatever this is. It must go on no further."
Belle hung her head while Pilate kneaded his hooves against the top deck.
Rainbow took a firm step forward. "You both love each other. You're practically heads over hooves for each other! I don't know what it is about Lerris that's gotten you so worked up against each other that the miracle of your survival is like a speck of dust in the wind. You've been given another chance! This is your opportunity to make what's best of your lives, Kera's life, all our lives! Please... please... don't go it alone. Don't do what I did for so long in my anger, sadness, and hopelessness. It took my death at the hands of a massive dragon before I found what it meant to enjoy life again. Don't let something worse happen to you guys as well."
Pilate bit his lip. Belle stared off into the starry expanse.
"Please..." Rainbow murmured. She trotted forward, muzzle trembling. "Please. I want my friends back." She sniffled into the gathering wind. "I want my friends back. I don't want to seem them dead on their hooves when there's still time to help them..."
"Rainbow Dash! There's... something..."
The sound of Celestia's voice broke Rainbow out of her concentration. She blinked, realizing that a heavy gale was kicking at her mane and tail. Pilate gasped in fright, gripping onto the deck beneath him tightly. Belle tilted her head up and squinted towards the east horizon.
"...losing the connection... something... with the spell.."
"Huh?" Rainbow blinked. She glanced down at her neck. The pendant was flickering. What's more, the pale aura of moonlight around her and her friends vanished. "Princess Celestia!"
Her voice dissolved in the gradually building winds. Rainbow looked straight up to see that dark and gray clouds had blocked out the moonlight. Clenching her teeth, she ran towards the bow of the ship, having to stop two or three times to brace herself against the gusts of cold air.
"What is it?!" Pilate stammered frightfully. "What's going on?!"
"It seems like a storm of some sort!" Belle exclaimed.
"It's no regular storm!" Rainbow Dash said. Gritting her teeth, she hoisted herself onto the port side railing of the ship and stuck her hooves out.
"Rainbow, be careful!" Belle said.
"What the fuzz...?" Rainbow murmured. "This isn't right..."
"What isn't?" Pilate asked.
"The clouds..." Rainbow bit her lip. "The mist here isn't responding to my hooves."
"Aren't pegasi endowed with the ability to manipulate weather?"
"Normally..." Rainbow nodded. "It worked in Equestria, and it worked in Ledomare. But why not here?"
Belle gasped, then trembled. "The Strip of Flurries."
Rainbow Dash glanced back.
"Seems like we've made our destination sooner than was planned," Belle said.
"But how's that possible?" Pilate asked. "We had another two days of full speed at this rate!"
Rainbow looked at him.
The zebra's ears folded. "I may be blind, but I have a good memory."
"Could it be..." Rainbow thought aloud, fidgeting. "...that the weather of the Strip of Flurries has moved towards us?"
"You mean it's heading west?" Pilate stammered.
Rainbow said nothing, simply gazing into the thickening storm.
Belle gulped. "Perhaps we should turn around. We can make contact with Luna and Celestia again, then go about planning a way through this mess."
Rainbow Took a deep breath, watching as the mists grew denser and denser around the ship. "Something tells me this 'mess' isn't going away anytime soon." She dried her face with a forelimb and furrowed her brow. "There's no sense in postponing it. We have to pierce on through."
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Prediction before reading the chapter: Eclipses are used by the royal sisters to signal an emergency, and one is happening now
EDIT: Nope: but still, a serious problem is on their hooves. I am eager to learn more about this Flurry. Also, am I the only one who hears "Stripper Furries" and pictures a furcon burlesque show? "rainbowhuh:
EDIT EDIT: It seemed like Celestia was about to warn them of something?
Ooooo. Weather that Dash can't manipulate and also messes with leylines.. I wonder what else this Strip of Flurries can do to be compared to the Bermuda Triangle.
Glad Dash finally broke down before things soured even more between them.
4120427 Wendigoes. I tell yeh!
I am not letting that one go.
. . . Of which she had only a fading glimpse. She tried to speculate where it might have landed, but she had to admit that such conjecture was futile. Still, questions about whose hooves might one day hold her Urohringr book were unsettling to her. . .
The Strip of Flurries. A moving storm. Be there a pony somewhere who is controlling this? Say, somepony in a dark temple that begins with a Z?
Y'know, if Celestia can be called a goddess, that whole conflict resolution between Pilate and Belle would technically be a deus ex machina.
But enough of that. Weird anti-magic storms that move around!
A deus ex machina stopped by a deus ex machina.
Well, you better go back to being friends real fucking fast, because Mother Nature or someshit has it out for you.
Resolution?
signle is not the word you are looking for.
Well shit just went down.
Yikes.
Sounds good to me though...
Spooky clouds.
Spooky clouds are bad.
Especially ones that Rainbow can't manipulate.
She didn't get to finish!!! I'm actually mad at that. I would love it if belle apologized to zaid for being queen biatch a few chapters ago.
4120680 Yeah, maybe having a plan would help in the long run? Yes?
Why can't we be friends...
Goddamn it, weather! They were making progress!
This doesn't bode well. Judging by Pilate's response, clearly there's something unnatural about this storm and the way its moving, whether its a blind force punching its way westward, something specifically sent to intercept the Noble Jury, or some kind of defense mechanism. I half expect that mysterious vessel (the Lounge?) to make another appearance soon.
Well this got even more interesting, I'm thinking Wendigoes as well it makes a lot of sense given the weather in general and the mood of the Jury.
Prediction for next chapter: Roarke.
If the storm isnt affected by Rainbows magical manipulation, would that make it far more dangerous than the Everfree, which at least responds, but fights back?
What level of conflict magic would be needed to create such, even over a small area, and can Props and Prowse get that modulated skystone feed operational fast enough to warp them out of there?
Reverse Bermuda Triangle.
Then end up on "RoundWorld"
4121236 not yet. When she shows up it will be in some Deus Ex Machina way.
My beloved was weighed down.
Thought Nightmare moon when I saw the title, but then realized that would be silly cuz they are so far away and the Jury couldn't do anything about it...
unless Shining and Cadence...
where are they anyway? we haven't heard from them in a while.
-Spirit
A Message from MASH -
Okay, so I know that I haven't been here in a while, but I've been really busy with studying for finals and all that. I'm sorry, I'll be right back once they're over.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Good on you, Dash. That was a thoughtful speech, and it accurately describes the situation. I hope that Belle and Pilate adhere to it. However, it IS kind of odd that we don't see the ding dong duo make amends before something cuts it off...I'll assume Imploding has got something planned for that. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. Alright, I know that it's been, like, seven eternities since I've been here, but I'm finally back. Here comes Summer, finals are down - more time to marathon, hopefully. These are my thoughts so far.
this is one of my two songs i use whenever "weathering a storm". they are quite fitting.
5115175
heres my other one
I'm going to guess that once this storm passes, all storms will pass. One final tribulation to test them.
Well, that was sudden.
This storm will either bring them back together, or tear them apart.
How rude of the weather! We were getting some legit feely healy going on!
Well, just like life to interrupt an important moment like that. But then life does not like being ignored like that.
05/30/2017 23:32 UTC
I’m assuming this is the last moon conversation for this month. I wonder how bad things will be next time they talk? So much happens between moon talks. Dash talked to Luna right after Blue Shelf, and then the next talk was once everyone was on board the Noble Jury and got out of Blue Nova. And now everything with Xona, the sacred hold, and Lerris.
There's something worse then being torn apart by a Divine?
Hmmm...it doesn't respond to pegasus weather manipulation? Interesting...
8728355
Getting torn apart by yourself.
4120995
We got the old Rainbow back, and we all know that not her style.