A Tomb For the Unknown Five
A pair of regal doors opened to a richly fragrant reading room. Rainbow Dash trotted timidly forward, escorted by reindeer guards. Candlelight flickered off her Loyalty pendant as she looked around, blinking. At last, her eyes made contact with the placid expression of Queen Azira, and the mare bowed low.
“You may stand and come forth, Rainbow Dash,” the Queen of Val Roa said with a smile. “You are most welcome here.” She waved at the guards.
The two reindeer bowed, then trotted out of the room, closing the doors behind them. Gulping, Rainbow Dash stood straight up and trotted ahead.
“Uhm... n-nice place?” She smiled sheepishly.
“Rainbow Dash...” Azira smiled down at the petite pegasus. “If what the Duchess tells me is true, you've battled legions of soldiers, monsters, and even a chaotic leviathan with wings. Why would the presence of a mere doe make you nervous?”
“Well... erm... Your Majesty, you're no 'mere doe.'”
“Your reverence for royalty is admirable, and most appreciated.” Azira stifled a slight laugh. “But you and your friends have rescued my family from the jaws of death. My very own son owes his life to you. Please, there is no need for such pretense between myself and the Hero of Val Roa.”
“Heh... 'Hero of Val Roa...”” Rainbow Dash smirked coyly. “I like the sound of that.”
“Now that is more like it.” Azira closed the distance between them. “I understand that you wish to...” Her voice cut off, and she battled a worried expression. “That you wish to scale the Grand Choke, is that correct?”
Rainbow Dash silently nodded.
“When Arcanista first informed me of this, I was... perplexed, to say the least.” Azira raised a hoof, wincing. “To leave your friends, your trophies, your very legacy behind—”
“With all due respect, Your Majesty, the only reason I ever got this far to Val Roa in the first place is because I started this journey ages ago.” Rainbow Dash gulped. “I have to go East. I... I don't know if I even have the time to explain it in full.”
“A journey of self-exploration, I gather?”
Rainbow shuddered. “I wish it was that simple...”
“I see...” Azira slowly nodded. “Need I remind you that the feat is quite implausible?”
“Yes, well, I—” Rainbow blinked, then glanced up at her. “'Implausible?'”
“Indeed.”
Rainbow fidgeted. “But... but that's not—”
“I didn't say 'impossible,' no.” Azira softly smiled. “The Grand Choke is many things: desolate, deadly, and dangerous. It is not, however, completely impermeable.”
“Does... does that mean that someone has crossed it?”
“Val Roa stands on the edge of the desert as a Bastion for civilization on purpose,” Azira said. “We have full knowledge that a culture dwells on the other side.”
“But...” Rainbow leaned forward, muzzle agape. “...someone has crossed it?”
Azira took a deep, deep breath. “At great... ghastly cost...”
Two reindeer with glowing antlers led the Queen and Rainbow Dash down a dank series of twisting stairs. The two descended deep into the bowels beneath the Palace while Azira's voice echoed off the cold wet stone.
“As the sole surviving Matriarch of the House of Evo, I have taken on the responsibility of chronicling Val Roan History. It is not a difficult task. Our libraries are vast and our archives well-preserved. However, some bits of knowledge are relegated to the few.”
“And now I'm about to learn some of those secrets, huh?” Rainbow murmured.
“Indeed.” Azira nodded as she followed her guards down a last flight of stairs and towards an ornate room at the far end of a basement corridor. “We preserve some facts in secrecy because of how delicate they are. In addition, if the general populace knew about the world beyond the Grand Choke, we fear that many adventurous citizens would attempt making the trip east.” Azira stopped, swiveling about to face Rainbow. “The voyage would surely kill each and every one of them.”
“But... couldn't somedeer make it through?” Rainbow asked. “If they truly tried?”
“To what purpose?” Azira gravely shook her head. “The purpose of Val Roa lies here, between these mountains. If it is the will of the rest of the world to come to us, then so be it. But I'll be damned before I allow any of God's creation to commit suicide out of boundless curiosity.”
“But... uh... you'll let me make the trip.”
“You've more than earned your own right.” Azira smiled gently. “And surely the fact that you've survived all of your previous trials is a sign from God that you're more than capable for the path ahead of you.”
“Heh... thanks for the confidence boost.”
“I am not the one worthy of thanks,” Azira said. “What I share with you, I do not do so easily.” She shuddered as she turned and trotted towards the door “I mean it when I say that I do not wish misery and pain upon you.”
“Well, of course not, Your Highn—”
“Shhhh.” Azira closed her eyes and bowed suddenly, facing the door.
The two guards closed their eyes and performed the same gesture. Rainbow hovered in place, glancing curiously at them. She opened her mouth to say something... but decided to wait instead.
At last, Azira quietly murmured, “Do pardon us, Rainbow Dash. This place is... considered holy by the House of Evo.” She slowly stood up, two points in her skull glowing. “It was blessed with the grace of God long ago... to ease the souls of wayward wanderers into passing.”
“Wayward... wanderers...?”
With glowing mana, Azira undid a locking mechanism and opened the door with a liberal flurry of dust. She looked over her shoulder. “Please... follow me...” The Queen trotted into a dark, dark chamber.
Rainbow glanced at the guards. The reindeer stood in place and said nothing. Nervous, Rainbow flapped her wings and glided through the thin door. She hovered in pure darkness for a while. Then—there was a flash of cold blue light. Rainbow winced, squinting. As her vision normalized, she spotted Azira trotting gently around a circular chamber, lighting crystal after crystal along a center dais. Along the far edge of the room, five tombs were arranged equadistantly. They were stone rectangular solids, but the very tops of each slab was adorned with a marble effigy of an equine figure lying on its back.
“They...” Rainbow gawked. “They are ponies.”
“Indeed,” Azira said, gravely nodding. “They were.” She trotted past each tomb, one by one, brushing a soft hoof across their dust-laden surfaces. “Over five centuries ago, they appeared. The House of Evo had barely formed, and yet there are relatives of myself and my husband who wrote about their arrival.”
“Their arrival...?”
Azira's eyes narrowed in the blue manalight. “They emerged from the stone plains of the Grand Choke, just a mile south of Shepherd's Rock. In fact, it was a group of priests and priestesses who first stumbled upon them. Many Val Roans thought that their arrival was a sign from God, but such a notion made little sense. If it was a sign, then it was a dreadful one, for all five equines were emaciated beyond compare. Our ancestors took them to their finest hospitals at the time in a desperate attempt to nurse them back to health. It was of little use. Three of the travelers died within the span of a day. The other two survived for a few weeks, and just one of them was coherent enough to speak with King Cecil and Queen Miriam of the House of Hayes.”
Rainbow hovered in a light circle, her jaw agape as she stared at each individual effigy. The stone faces looked so calm and yet to majestic in their carved glory.
“The one traveler who spoke with our ancestors referred to herself as Terra,” Azira explained. She pivoted and pointed at the petite carving of an earth pony across the chamber. “Her tomb is the gold-embossed one there.”
Rainbow hovered above it, gazing at the delicate marble bust. A silver medallion—corroded from age—rested in between the figure's crossed forelimbs.
“According to Terra, the five ponies were the last surviving members of an expedition that numbered as much as two hundred,” Azira said. “They had set out upon a journey of exploration sanctioned by their royal government. The purpose of the voyage was to find out what lay beyond the wasteland that bordered their kingdom... and return only after they had met and communed with five separate nations.” Azira took a deep breath. “As you can tell... they only ever got to meet with one, and it was not a journey they were capable of returning from.”
“The... desert killed them off?” Rainbow's voice cracked. “Nearly two hundred ponies... all claimed by the Grand Choke?”
Azira shook her head. “The desert wasn't what killed them. The ocean did.”
Rainbow spun to look at her.
Azira squinted. “You have a... look of understanding in your eyes, Rainbow Dash,” she said. “You've heard of this ocean?”
“I... uh...” Rainbow fidgeted in midair. “Yeah. I think I have. But...” She turned to gaze at the sculpture of Terra once again. “...I know it doesn't make any sense.” She gulped. “I mean, I've spoken with immortals who have seen the edge of the world, so they totally had to have crossed the Grand Choke at one point. But... yeah... I seem to faintly recall an ocean being mentioned.”
“It is far more perilous than the desert,” Azira said. “According to Terra, the Ocean was where all magic failed them. The expedition did not discover this until they were miles and miles deep into the western waves. They had been commissioned a ship that utilized magic as its primary propulsion. When they attempted to unfurl sails and utilize the wind... the elements turned against them.”
“In... what way?”
“The seas churned and raged as if they had a mind of their own,” Azira said. “Their ship was dashed to bits. Half of the crew died instantly. The remaining equines survived by creating rafts out of the vessel's debris. But they were in store for weeks of drifting and starvation.”
Rainbow noticed something in the blue glint of the manalight. She hovered over to the nearest tomb, where she saw a horn adorning the forehead of one sculpture. “Hey... this one's a unicorn!”
“Indeed.” Azira nodded. “Two of the five who arrived were magic users... although not anymore.”
“Wh-what happened to them?”
“They perished before Terra did,” Azira said. “According to legend, they ranted and raved incoherently upon arriving in Val Roa. Something in the Grand Choke stripped them of their leyline connections, and it opened a gateway between their minds and something beyond.”
“'Something beyond?'” Rainbow glanced aside as she flew past the tombs. “What do you mean?”
“Val Roans have always understood that there's a tenuous balance at play in this world,” Azira explained. “Our plane exists by the grace of God alone. Beyond the heavens, there lingers something too dark and ghastly to comprehend.”
Rainbow clenched her jaw tight. “Chaos.”
“Indeed. And from the testimony of Terra, we Val Roans firmly believe that the Grand Choke is a place that is—for whatever reason—exposed to the blight that surrounds this plane. Because of this, no life can ever be foaled in the desert... or in the ocean beyond. Magic simply refuses to work, even the most basic and primal of empowerment. Because of this, the unicorns were exposed to the dark elements, and it drove them mad. Terra—and her other surviving companion, also an earth pony—were the least afflicted. For that reason, they lived the longest... though I doubt they were happy to.”
Rainbow Dash drifted past a statue. She gazed at the pony's face, mane, and wings—she did a double-take. “Oh jeez!” She gasped, fluttering closer with wide eyes. “Omigosh omigosh omigosh!” She turned towards the Queen, muzzle agape. “This one's a pegasus! I mean... was a pegasus... I-I mean... holy cow, a pegasus!”
Azira nodded, trotting over. “Terra said his name was Eddings. When the five arrived near Shepherd's Rock, they had to carry him; he was so frail.”
“Did... d-did he have anything to friggin' say?” Rainbow asked.
Azira took a deep breath. “He was the first of the five to perish.”
Rainbow clenched her jaw shut.
“Terra... did not have much to say about him. In fact, when asked, she could barely even talk about the other travelers at all. I mentioned that half of the crew perished when their ship was shattered by the ocean waves. Well, when they arrived upon the desert shore west of their venture, the surviving number had already been reduced by half. Another twenty died in the first week of trekking west. They had no food and no means of growing anything in the Grand Choke. It would appear as though they... resorted to feasting on the dead.”
Rainbow Dash stared blankly at the pegasus statue. She glanced over at the unicorns, then at her own wings. “If the unicorns couldn't use their magic in the Choke... then... then Eddings—”
“If any of the pegasi in the group could fly, I'm certain they would have made an attempt far sooner to save the surviving expedition,” Azira said. “The fact of the matter, Rainbow, is that the Grand Choke saps all magic, including whatever essence grants you and other pegasi the ability to fly. Nodeer knows exactly when or where this... this field sets in. But if you truly... truly desire to set hoof across the desolation, at some point you will have to sacrifice your wings.” Azira exhaled through a shudder. “And there is no telling just how terribly the elements might pull at your strained mind. Eddings was even worse off than his unicorn and earth pony counterparts.”
“Right...” Rainbow slowly nodded. “I can see that.” Rainbow pivoted to face the Queen. “But at least I'm in a place to know what's ahead of me.”
“Is that truly the case?” Azira asked. “No amount of knowledge I grant you can stop the Choke's effect from taking hold.”
“Just what is on the other side?” Rainbow asked. “Is it a large continent? A small one? Did the kingdom have a name?”
“Terra spoke of a vast nation that loomed east of several small islands,” Azira said. “But you must understand, Rainbow Dash, that was half a millennium ago. Whatever name the monarchy may have gone by at the time would likely have no bearing whatsoever anymore. Kingdoms have risen and fallen ten times over. Why, our western neighbors didn't earn the name “Alafreo” until three generations ago.”
“But Val Roa has lasted all this time.”
“Only because we've kept our ambition in check.” Azira smiled faintly. “Patience is a virtue, and it's allowed us to preserve the legacy of Terra so long that it might—in some fashion—help you.”
“I hope...” Rainbow fluttered over to the earth pony's tomb. “...though I'm starting to wonder exactly how.” Her eyes once again narrowed on the medallion in the stone effigy's gasp. She looked closer, observing what looked to be a silver-embossed snowflake with the mark of a four-clawed hand in the center. “Just what is this medal thingy that Terra's... er... statue is holding onto?”
“According to records, it's the mark of the deity that Terra and her fellow travelers believed in,” Azira said. “The Goddess Verlaxion, whose icy breath forged the mountains of her homeland.”
Rainbow spun to face Azira, her muzzle agape. “Verlax...”
“Verlaxion,” Azira corrected.
“No.” Rainbow shook her head. “Verlax. The Queen of Frost.”
Azira cocked her head to the side. “You've... heard of her?”
“Yeah. And she's no Goddess. She's a Divine.”
“There's a difference?”
“Well... I'm not one to step on the hooves of another pony's deity, but the Divines are totally a bunch of dragon matriarchs. I know, cuz I've butted heads with two of them already.”
“Dragon... matriarchs...?”
“Yeah, y'know... dragon brood queens.”
Azira stared blankly at Rainbow.
“Dragons...?” Rainbow gestured with her forelimbs. “Giant, scaled, super-smart, winged reptiles who breathe fire and hoarde gold? Super big and dangerous and immortal?”
“... … …”
“Okay then...” Rainbow Dash exhaled, staring once again at the medallion. “Consider yourselves lucky that dragons don't ever visit Val Roa, I guess.”
“What... do you know of this Verlax, Rainbow Dash?”
“Only what Luna, my Alicorn Princess, has told me,” Rainbow muttered. “Her element is frost, and she hangs out someplace east of here. On top of that, she... isn't exactly trustworthy.”
“Well, that's not very promising, is it?”
“Believe me.” Rainbow sighed. “I've dealt with worse Divines.” She gulped. “At least I think that I have.”
“Rainbow, my husband and I have many... many resources at our disposal.” Azira trotted closer. “We can supply you with many things in order to make the trip more bearable. However... nothing we can do, say, or promise will change the fact that—while possible to scale the Grand Choke—a journey such as this could very easily kill you. We would not wish this upon the Hero of Val Roa. But, at the same time, it is not our place to stop you. We simply... do not wish for you to suffer the same fate as Terra, Eddings, and her companions.”
“One thing you don't know about me, Your Highness, is that I've been dead before,” Rainbow said, ears twitching. “And if fate wanted me to bite it, I get the feeling it would have taken me at least a dozen times by now.”
“Is that enough assurance for you to carry on?”
“Yes... and no.” Rainbow turned around. “Thank you for everything, Your Majesty. I'm totally down with using whatever stuff you have to supply me with.”
Azira bore a bittersweet smile. “Then I shall work with the Duchess to facilitate such.”
“But...” Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. “I still need more to go on. What you've just shown me is helpful and all... but I'll have to rely on the testimony of somepony who's actually crossed the Choke and lived to tell about it.”
Azira's face blanched in confusion. “Is there truly such a pony?”
“Well, maybe not a pony per se...” Rainbow gazed once more at Terra's sculpture. She shivered slightly. “...but a monster.”
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Well, THAT's not a foreboding title at all!
Also, yay, longest chapter in a bit. Chapter length in general has picked up a bit I think. I should map it all out on a spread sheet someday.
Mostly this is just telling Dash stuff that most people already realized. Good to know that there was someone who crossed the Choke, even if they barely did it.
i.ytimg.com/vi/vtjU3e0IYgc/maxresdefault.jpg
HA! HA! Exposition!
I dunno about everyone else, and I know it's a little early, but I'm kinda losing faith in the idea that there's some shortcut over to the Dark Side.
Dang, though...Verlax, first confirmed visitors from across the choke, and a currently-unnamed kingdom right on the other side. Can't wait for the trip.
This is.... wow.
WOW.
WOOOOOW.
50 chapters of talking with Axan? or Discord essense?
I wonder if taking off the pendant actually keeps her sane in the choke.
So, the Choke isn't really the edge of the world? It's just... the barrier? Interesting...
Twenty-five squats, ):(. Knock 'em out!
Oooooooooooooo
Something's bugging me. As with the show, the number 6 (and its multiples) plays a major role in this story. So why are there FIVE Divines? I'm wondering if maybe there will be a sixth Divine Dragon we don't know about yet...
Five...
HA! HAAAAAAAAAa
FUCKING CALLED IT!
CALLLLLLLLED IT!
THE OLD TRAVELER WAS FUCKING TELLING THE TRUTH
GAHHHHHHHHHHHH EXPOSITION
GAHHHHHHHHHHHHH ANOTHER GIANT DRAGON
GAHHHHHHHHHHHHH NOT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
GAHHHHHHHHHHHHH THEY SHOULD BUILD A RAILROAD TO THE EDGE OF THE GREAT SEA
GAHHHHHHHHHH RAILROADS BETWEEN NATION-STATES CAN ONLY HAPPEN IN TIMES OF PEACE
GAHHHHHHHHHH RAINBOW SHOULD INSTRUCT EQUESTRIANS TO BUILD A FUCKING RAILROAD ACROSS THE ENTIRE LIGHT SIDE OF THE WORLD
THE FRIENDSHIP EXPRESS WILL FOSTER A NEW ERA OF HARMONY
GAHHHHHHHHHHH I SHOULD WRITE THAT STORY
GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I SUCK AT WRITING LONG STORIES
GAHHHHHHHH HYPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
This shit is cray.
Also, wasn't Terra that bitchy Searo lady?
‘Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,’
Azira replied,—
‘If you seek for Eldorado!’
5615731 Dang. That's going waaaaaaaaaaay back.
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I've thought about that too, and while I have no idea what IC has in store for us, I want to think Discord may be involved somehow. After all, we really haven't learned anything about him in 1150 chapters.
5615674 Actually, no. The average chapter length is still falling. The projected length of this story is now 46,051 words shorter than Urohringr, up from about 43,000 words short.
Also: called it that Dash needed Chrysalis' help.
I had a feeling that the Grand Choke wasn't actually the edge of the world.
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My thoughts exactly.
Well, the Grand Choke is sounding more ominous than ever, if that's possible. Something I've wondered: If the Choke really does negate magic (I'd never considered that it would prevent flight), then wouldn't it put the kibosh on Rainbow's pendant, leaving her to the whims of the chaos inside of her? I'm guessing the Yaerfaerda symbols will somehow allow her passage.
Also, I guess I'd always assumed that there were no equines on the Dark Side, with the exception of bat ponies. Knowing that isn't the case puts my mind at ease. Though, it also makes me curious to see just what the Dark Side is like. I guess I've been imagining perpetual night, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Despite all my bemoaning of Rainbow's prospective separation from her friends, I'm really curious to get to the Dark Side. Already the worldbuilding is impressive.
That reminds me: She totally needs to talk to Luna one more time. How long has it been now? I forget. There's a very real chance she won't be able to contact her from the Dark Side. If so, it'll be like cutting the last string of flesh holding a severed limb in place.
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*looks*
...Jeeeezus that was a while ago...
Well....that's a thing..
Um.. yeah I got nothing. Dash better have a cart load of food and water when she leaves though.
-Treachery and deceit, kingdom of conceit Yaerfaerda.
Dude, stop being the crazy one. I'm the crazy one.
I think Im thinking of Dragons Egg. A story about humans exploring a neutron star from orbit, discover intelligent life. The Choke is the pole, of magic or similar. Magic is nice and stable accross most of teh flat surface, but concentrated and distorted, twisted, effectively chaoticalyvariable along the edges but especially the ends. The Ocean covers the end cap of the machine world, the end of the plane. Unless there is a topological distortion occuring within the region of the Ocean, and these explorers left the West edge of the sunlit plane, to appear on the East edge, they shouldve come from the Dark side, and mentioned about the light.
They were walking for weeks, even tired and exhausted, that should be hundreds of miles. Without magic, theres only one way to cross a desert of unlimited size, and that solution was shown a while back. Supply trains that resupply supply trains.
Multi Stage Boosters.
5615709 Ah, good, I wasn't the only one that thought that.
The question is, is this monster Chrysalis, or Axan?
5615730
Hmmmmm interesting, I shall keep note of this.
Well, I guess this only just the begining of Rainbow's journey.
I actually doubt we'll ever get to the dark side.
In fact this could just be a ploy by Celestia to take over the, normal and round, world!
Wake up Sheeple!
Also quick little thing, did we ever find out who it was that said it wanted to help Rainbow Dash after she "died" in that cave? I don't think we did, I just assumed it was Discord though. That does bring up yet another thing that has yet to be solved, the two Words that Rainbow keeps dreaming about what are those about?
5615814 Well, but I mean compared to chapters during the battle of Val Roa.
5615698
son of a bitch.... Colons pulled a Chekov's News on us...
Also, a pegasus, 2 unicorns and 2 earth ponies. Now what does that remind me of?
ALRIGHT KIDS!
NEW THEORY:
The Great Sea isn't the edge of the world
No. It's a hole in the world.
The world keeps going for who knows how much longer beyond it. For all we know, Equestria might be near the western edge of the world. Unless Luna stated otherwise. I seem to recall exposition long ago about Equestria being founded in the middle of the plain.
But!
What if the great sea has no bottom! You keep swimming; you reach the dark side! The chaos magic is seeping through and canceling out regular harmonic or whatever magic.
PEWWWWW! Heads explode!
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...hoshit
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I had figured the ocean was just an accumulation of water in one edge of the plane that continued into the other.
So, you start swimming and go on and on until you reach the other shore in the other side of the plane.
Kind of like taking a ship from Africa to South America.
So... Yeah.
5616068
I'm going to give an early speculation (that I'm sure a lot of others are also thinking) they were the mane six of the dark side who lost their version of Rainbow Dash.
5616072
...That could be true.
The only word of mouth of what lies on the other side was heard second hand by a pony sent through the throes of chaos. For all we know, the "ocean" might not be an ocean at all. Perspective is important.
She'll be fine
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Um. I just wanna know how the ponies on the other side of the Choke got there to begin with.
One upon a time the ring was one?
Well, we finally found the plot twist, which is cool, because it wasn't the one we were expecting! I'm really interested, now, as to what the Yaerfaerda symbol leads to.
Also, I like the theory that the ocean is the actual edge of the world, and that in crossing it, RD will reach the other side.
5615846 She won't be able to contact Luna on the Dark Side.
Meanwhile, in chapter 69 of Eljunbyro...
inb4 We have the lovely Diskworld waterfalls off the edge of the world. Also. 5 dead travellers. Kinda like the mane 6.
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You go to the sea, flip upside down, and wait for the sun to go under the horizon and watch for that green flash.
So... RD's going to have a chat with Chryssie? But that won't make sense since RD clearly said she was going to talk with a 'monster.' So... Discord? o.0
Wow, inhospitable deserts, magic syphoning oceans, another mysterious culture that may or may not exist, which worships a dragon Divine, and one last conversation with Chryssi (I assume). And all of that has to be faced with no wings, no Jury, and possibly no connection to the Princesses.(The ocean does drain magic, after all.)
Anybody miss the good old days, when Shell was all Rainbow had to worry about?
Me neither.
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To visualize your theory, do you mean something like:
(light side) ______(ocean)________
| |
| |
(dark side) ______(ocean)________
Where | | represents the hole you mention that is hidden as an ocean. The space around the | | would be the interior of the machine world.
Assuming I'm understanding your theory correctly, I'd support this theory given that what we know suggests that the piece of the machine world RD and everypony are on is a flat/slightly curved segment of a larger ring (ala Halo). Although I'm not sure how RD would be able to swim down to reach the other side rather than crossing it.
Uh oh. Rainbow doesn't know how to do implausible things! She's only ever done the impossible!
Also this chapter makes me sooooo hype.
5616594 yes, exactly. Beautiful schematic diagram. 10 out of 10 Rainbow dashes.
Harmony flies towards a sea of despair,
With no hope of the Noble Jury in repair.
Chaos seeks to sap her very glow,
But it cannot stop this great hero.
So an ocean and desert that sap all magical power from ponies. There must be a part of the machine world going haywire there or something similar to Stratopoplis(sp) doing this I bet. Guess we'll know when Dash speaks to a certain bug queen. Hopefully there will be at least one companion of some sort when Dash starts to cross.
So:
* Whitemane passed through here 700 years ago, before the rise of modern Val Roa.
* The unknown five seem to have emerged after Whitemane's visit.
* Azira's retelling of Terra's description of the raging sea could be a mangled-in-the-retelling description of the place where the firmaments intersect the plane, if they can be reconciled with Whitemane's description.
* Red Turnip claimed it was possible to go around the Grand Choke to the south, but he's not a reliable source and may have been conflating it with the desert east of Darkstine.
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Nope, bugbutt.
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Oh right. Her.
That makes much more sense.
I vaguely remember another character named Terra. Oh that's right, Roarke's fellow bounty hunter/rival back in Searo. All hail Terra!
50 chapters left... tension's building up again. Looking forward to that ''unexpected'' ending.