Yaerfaerda

by Imploding Colon

Rainbow Dash Continues Her Flight East

The desert sky greeted her like a dim torch. Gray beams of light shone across innumerable sheets of stone as Rainbow Dash glided towards the desolate horizon. She felt a cold gust of air rippling across her tail, and she knew the final throes of the afternoon were over.

Somehow, she expected the world to be blurring beneath her faster. With a shudder, she twisted her neck muscles to look behind.

The pegasus stopped herself at the last second. She clenched her jaw tight, fighting hyperventilating sniffles as she beat her wings harder, propelling herself towards the shimmering beacon of Yaerfaerda in the distance.

For the first hour, she was able to fight the tears. But as the minutes wore on, a combination of the cold winds and the lingering sound of friendly voices in her head squeezed the moisture from her eyes.

So, without hesitation, she reached into her saddlebag, pulled out a pair of worn goggles, and slapped them over her face. Now, all she reflected was the same horizon that consumed her, and she glided on, undaunted, chasing the lavender light with courageous zeal.

Comments

[Zaid ValRoa]

And now we're back.
Back to where we began.
Rainbow Dash flying east, leaving her friends behind her, in a quest she does not know if she can make.
Carry on, you majestic pegasus.

[PropMaster]

Hello, old friend. It's been a while since I've seen a chapter like you.

Good bye, Noble Jury, hello, Austraeoh.

[Super Trampoline]

Rainbow Dash Flies East
Over the barren Desert
Into the unknown

[Pilate]

i.imgur.com/hA0R5P0.png

[Spade-Heart]

It's back... that old familiar feeling.

I guess I'll have to get used to it again.

[AppleTank]

[kihutaja]

That first paragraph.

[AppleTank]

5665841
Don't remind me
>sobs quietly

[Sharp Quill]

Rainbow Dash Continues Her Flight East

I wanna say something snarky, like why start now, but I can't.

But at this point, I cannot imagine what could possibly happen in the next few dozen chapters for which no one could be prepared.

[Spade-Heart]

5665841

[Super Trampoline]

5665841 Hot damn. Nice find. I love how the mood and symbolism are accurate for the little picture and the story arc, but not the big picture. On the sunrise of the story in the first chapter, Rainbow is just starting and the day feels alive with possibilities. As the sun begins to set in this chapter, the arc is on its way towards closing and rainbow feels leaden and grey.

Yet, at the beginning, Rainbow had little hope and was simply running away, yet now she is confident and truly believes in her mission and her destiny.

[Booster Spice]

Depending how the choke messes with leylines, if its gradual, she could save weeks by going ballistic, rainboom upwards then gliding, Coming down faster than normal as the magc fails will still give her a good landing chance a couple weeks walk from the city.

Course, it could happen rapidly, which is not a good thing to happen when you are relying on said magic to handle said speeds.

Still.

Onward, forever onward.

[YoshiFawful64]

It begins again...
It feels so absurd that after 963 chapters, Rainbow is alone again. I'm having a hard time just wrapping my head around the fact we might never see any of the Jurists again.

[Super Trampoline]

5665895 Try 1163.

[YoshiFawful64]

5665903
Except none of the Jurists showed up until Eljunbyro.

[Neon Beat]

YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESSOLODASH!

I have been dreaming of this moment literally since the end of the first book. Oh I could squee!

[RoboRed]

...Back to the eastward journey. On through the desert wastes to whatever lies beyond...

[Axan Zenith]

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOO

[Super Trampoline]

5665915 Well yeah, but she still spent most of her time in the first book in the company of other sapient creatures. I guess my number should be more like 1148 since she doesn't meet ponies until chapter 15 of the first book, as a quick look through Austraeohaiku confirms.

[Jake The Army Guy]

[Super Trampoline]

5665923 Quite appropriately, your profile picture looks not unlike a snowflake.

[Nagmeister]

Here we go again. Just Rainbow, the sky, and the sun.

Eastward ho! That Yaerfaerda isn't going to find itself!

[Swan Song]

The three new Val Roans trotted calmly into the heart of town. In the meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had become a distant speck along the eastern sky, disappearing into the distant desert vista. Thunder rumbled once again in the north, sending gusts of air across the sandy dunes of the arid wastes.

Some of the wind ripped through the weeds blanketing a hilltop west of Val Roa, overlooking the city. The breeze picked up, rippled, and then came to a dull, whistling stop. In the ensuing silence, a cold hush fell over the landscape's western edge.

This lasted for several seconds, until a humming noise pierced the air. The rusted chassis of a managlider skimmed to a dead stop on the hillside. Steam vented from the heart of the machine, forming a cold mist. The haze parted ways as a gray, bloodstained hoof touched down onto the loose sands of the moor.

—Yaerfaerda, Chapter 165: "Kore Wa Zombie Shell Desu Ka?"

[Slip Kid]

And now we're back where it all began. Fuck you too Discord.

5666043

Don't even joke about that, I've had enough of Shell for several life-times.

[Lightning Bearer]

On one hand: I'm sad. I'm gonna miss the hell out of the Jurists, and the life and humor and personality they imbued this story with. We've been following them for so long, seeing them grow and find some semblance of completion, and now... they're gone. Alive, and happy. But gone from our lives. Distant. A memory.

On the other: I'm excited. We have a blank slate now, and open skies. The story could go almost anywhere from here. As that first paragraph suggests, it's a lot like the feeling I had when I started the story.

The entire series is like a fox that's had to chew off its own paw to find its freedom.

And then there's the fact of the next thirty-six chapters, the symbol in the distance, and the unexpected thing that presumably still awaits us.

[Swan Song]

5665810

fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/256/d/b/to_the_end_by_firgof-d5ej6gx.png

[AppleTank]

5666043
Boooo.

[RoboRed]

5666043
No.

[Swan Song]

5666108 5666093 Gee, that seems familiar...
puu.sh/gb1rK/bc999dac92.png

[Tchernobog]

5666043

mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw1773-1321626301.png

[Spade-Heart]

5666043

[Ankou Scythe]

Time for more sparse, confusing and beautifully, poetically worded chapters like back before Windthrow.

5665779

Yeah, we don't know if she'll make it. The next six books could be about her as a spirit in the afterlife, after all.

5666116

static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Club+penguin+setting+down+the+laws_046273_4736064.png

[Zaid ValRoa]

5666116
Well, you're clearly not getting the point.

[Arcanist Ascendant]

5665602

I am too stupid to notice sarcasm, don't we all know this already?

[kihutaja]

5666116
Jerrio seemed nice when we last left him, but surely that was just a ruse and he's been secretly following the Jury all the time, preparing to strike. (He gave one of his feathers to Kera as a parting gift - probably a part of his plot somehow).

Also, last time Rainbow tried to get rid of her photo album, Axan intervened and got it back to her. The remaining 30+ chapters will be an devastating battle with Axan, Shell and Jerrio all teaming up on Val Roa.

[Arcanist Ascendant]

5666168
Yarr, what say we team up to learn this landlubber a lesson he won't forget?

5666157
Well, nice to see that you've caught up!
(ps : dont you say she's gonna die thats not showing faith in the Holy Dash. You're new around here so I'll let you off this time m8 )

[Zaid ValRoa]

5666184
Well, I can't say no to those digits.
i.imgur.com/WCDEZYf.png

[Super Trampoline]

5666184 Congrats on the 7,000th comment. roundstable.com/forums/images/smilies/maddash.png

[Arcanist Ascendant]

5666201
derpicdn.net/media/W1siZiIsIjIwMTIvMTEvMjIvMDNfMDVfNTVfOTJfMTU5NDY1X19VTk9QVF9fc2FmZV9yYWluYm93X2Rhc2giXV0/159465__safe_rainbow%2Bdash_meme_edit_sad_wtf_feels_check%2Bem_patrick%2Bbateman.jpg
them trips had me risin from the grave

[Zaid ValRoa]

5666208
i.imgur.com/ysDQUIg.png
Mine was better.

[RoboRed]

5666205
Dat pic.

[Super Trampoline]

5666091
5665810

[Arcanist Ascendant]

5666223

static.fjcdn.com/comments/Quads+check+em+_b309be5e8f1f4440b14734e89c903368.jpg
Quads can save lives.

[AppleTank]

5666211
The best ending I can imagine for them is 6 books later, a messenger makes it his or her duty to escort Rd home,whether alive or not.

[IceKitsune]

Now we are back were it all began.

[YoshiFawful64]

5665947
Well, there's also a difference between alone and lonely, but I suppose I should've been more clear that I was specifically referring to Rainbow's new friends.
5666223 5666244
I'd just like to remind you two of this.

[Zaid ValRoa]

5666464
Yes, we know.
You have a penchant for round numbers.

[Kepler]

We've only just begun
Hypnotised by drums
Until forever comes
You'll find us chasing the sun

Fly East fuzzy chaos thing.