Once More With the Royal Treatment
“Here.” Props held out a large blue crystal in her hooves. “I've been saving this for a rainy day. Or—in your case—a rainbow day, heeheehe.”
“Whew...” Rainbow Dash grasped the shard in question. “What is this? Like—the mother of all sound stones?”
“I guess you could say that!” Props smiled as she sat back on the stool besides her communications array. “It should be able to pierce any sort of manafeedback barrier!”
“Like the magical defense surrounding Val Roa?”
“My tech here should be able to detect you in a heartbeat!” Props slapped a hoof across the top of her communications array. “But there are a couple of drawbacks.”
“Like...?”
“The signal of this sound stone will be super... super strong,” Props remarked, blinking. “It'll cancel out any other communication I might be in the middle of.”
“Such as with your Uncle Prowse?”
“Er...” She squirmed. “Yeah.”
“I won't break your system, will I?”
“Pffft! I may be desperate, but I'm not stupid!” Props giggled. “Besides, that's Zaidy Waidy's job.”
“Uh huh...”
“The other issue is that you'll wanna use the sound stone sparingly.”
“Lemme guess. It could give me away.”
“Righterooni!” Props nodded, her eyes bright. “If you use it for any longer than a few minutes, it'll put off a mana signature that could short out other magically-controlled technology within the nearest vicinity.”
“Well, then. I'll try to keep my messages short and sweet.” Rainbow inhaled. “It's what we're going after in the first place in Val Roa,” she said. “A place, a time, and a way of finding Chrysalis.”
“Then the Noble Jury can make its move from the outside!”
“Yeah. What kind of move?”
“I dunno.” Props shrugged. “The kind that involves twirls and curtseys?”
Rainbow smirked. “I haven't really considered just how boring and lonesome this trip is going to be until this conversations, Props.” She sighed. “I dunno whether to thank you or punch you.”
“Lonesome?!” Props grinned wide. “You're gonna be with Kera and Ebony, silly filly!”
“Yeah, well, I bet most of the time I'll be off on a 'one-mare-sneaking-mission.'”
“You mean 'one-maid-sneaking-mission.'”
“Heh. Sure.”
“Speaking of which, how are you going to become dull?”
Rainbow blinked. “Huh?”
“Well...” Props smirked, fidgeting. “Not to state the obvious, but you've always had a way of standing out, Dashie.”
“Jee.” Rainbow smired slyly. “I had no idea you cared, Props...”
“Heeheehee! You know what I mean!”
“Actually, I do.” Rainbow sighed, her ears instantly drooping. “And... well... Arcanista and I already had a candid chat about it...”
“Oh?”
“Wait...” Roarke's blue eyes narrowed. “What do you mean she's altering her appearance?!”
Arcanista gulped from where she stood across from the metal mare in the manor's hallway. An ornate door stood behind her. “It was a mutual agreement that we had made. After all, she'll be portraying one of my maids. On top of that, she'll be slipping past the observation of Val Roan guards to perform reconnaissance on the Val Roan High Council in an attempt to root out Chrysalis.”
“Indeed.” Roarke gritted her teeth. “And what does that have to do with the way she looks?”
“In the same way that we must make young Kera striking, we must make Rainbow Dash unassuming,” the Duchess attempted to explain. “After all, everypony will be less likely to presume that she possesses wings underneath her gown if their eyes aren't looking her way in the first—”
Roarke stomped straight past Arcanista, making the Duchess flinch.
“Wait—!” She stretched a cloven hoof out.
WHAM! Roarke kicked the door to the beauty parlor open. She peered straight in. “Rainbow...?!”
Three servants jolted, shivering slightly from where they crowded around a chair where a blue mare was lying back, her head soaking in a basin. With a rattle of her pendant, Rainbow Dash tilted her up, smiling sheepishly. “Uhhh...” One... two... three locks of dull green mane hair dangled loosely as she threw an uncertain glance across the parlor. “H-hey there... Roarke...”
Roarke merely glared.
Rainbow gulped. “Look... uh...” She darted her eyes towards the bottles of emerald dye, then back at the former bounty hunter. “It'll w-wash out, I promise!” A tail flicked, also vomit-green. “Just... there's no point in outshining the Princess of Xona, you dig?”
“No.” Roarke droned. “I don't dig.”
“Look, it totally makes sense! And it's for the mission, so can't we compromise?” Rainbow smiled awkwardly. “I mean, of all ponies, you should understand the importance of sacrificing something as silly as a manestyle for the greater good!”
“You make a good point,” Roarke said calmly. She turned around. “I think I'll shave my red mane so that I'll sweat less inside Whizzball.”
Rainbow shot up, startling the servants. “You do that and I will murder you in your sleep—” She froze, blushing.
Roarke turned to glance at her. The tiniest of smirks donned her muzzle.
Rainbow sighed, slumping back in the seat with her head tilted back. “... ... ...” She gulped. “I-I'll see what I can do about packing along some extra shampoo to wash it out speedy-quick...”
“Damn straight, you will,” Roarke said. Reindeer guards rushed into the room, a little too late. “That's okay, I was just leaving.” She trotted calmly past them and the Duchess.
Arcanista blinked. She shuffled nervously into the parlor. “Uhm... I've been hesitant to inquire as to the social intricacies of the Jury by large—”
“Best that you let it be,” Rainbow muttered. She tilted her head to glance at the elk out the corner of her eyes. “Any luck with Floydien, by the way?”
Arcanista sighed, her nostrils flaring. “No. And something tells me that I shouldn't force a thing that doesn't wish to happen naturally.”
“Don't fret,” Rainbow said. “I'm sure the two of you will get to have sibling-bonding at some point or another.”
“It's difficult to think that far ahead,” Arcanista muttered as she paced around the work that the servants were doing on Rainbow Dash. “This whole tenuous infiltration of Val Roa is terribly mind-consuming.”
Rainbow smirked slightly. “Living in the moment? Heh... I can totally relate, girl.” She flinched. “Erm... your honor.”
Arcanista bore a calm smile as she pivoted towards the mare. “How do you manage?”
Rainbow took a deep breath. “By not realizing that I have to.”
“How do you mean?”
Rainbow gulped. “These past few months of my life have been full of 'good byes,' even though most of them have just been practice runs.”
“For what?”
“The real, last goodbye,” Rainbow Dash muttered.
“You're... planning on leaving the Noble Jury?” Arcanista blinked. “Your friends?”
“My journey has always been a stupidly epic undertaking,” Rainbow said while Arcanista's gaze loomed above her. Her eyes darted across the ceiling in melancholic traces. “Even before I made the first tag-a-long friend, we all knew that there'd someday come a point where they couldn't follow along. And... and this Grand Choke...” Her words trailed off.
“What's so important a goal that you must leave behind the ponies who mean so much to you?”
“It's too big a thing to describe,” Rainbow muttered. She closed her eyes. “Even to myself. I-I just get all freaked out thinking about it... the end of the world... the dark side... the Midnight Armory...”
“An epic undertaking indeed.”
“You see...” Rainbow reopened her thin eyes with an even thinner smile. “It's easy to think in the now. But... y'know... not everypony is me.” She glanced at Arcanista. “You'll get to hang out with Floydien in the future. You'll bond. I have full faith in that.”
“And as for yourself?” Arcanista asked. “When you've gone far beyond this immediate concern, what will you have the luxury of believing in?”
Rainbow hesitated. Ultimately, she said. “I'll have faith that all of the friends I've made will be living in a land free of conspiracy and strife, because we'll have made it that way by giving Chrysalis the boot.” She gulped. “And they'll be better off.”
“And you? Will you be better off?”
“Knowing that they all will be, I can live with it.” Rainbow sighed. “And I can die with it too...”
Arcanista smiled softly. “I can see how you became the leader of your troop. With loyalty like that, it makes sense that they've all congregated around you.”
“Yeah, and here I thought it was all my good looks.” Rainbow glanced at the servants working on her mane. “So much for that.”
Arcanista chuckled lately.
“Do we have everything prepared for our trip to the West Gate?” Rainbow asked.
“Almost.”
“Oh?”
Arcanista paced. “While your friends have been preparing a Xonan 'Princess' and 'Advisor,' I've summoned the Captain of the Sehlp Guard to arrive.”
“Captain of the Sehlp Guard?”
“Indeed. He's been patrolling the southern lands, on the look-out for Green Bandit incursion. Due to the sensitive nature of this situation, I've requested his security. He'll be escorting the entourage for the duration of our trip into Val Roa.”
“How many reindeer will he be bringing?”
“Just himself.”
Rainbow blinked. “Is... th-that enough for something like this?”
“Hmmmm...” Arcanista bore a confident grin. “In truth, Rainbow Dash, it's overkill.”
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I have a feeling this will be important later.
Roarke and RD worrying about each others hair like that is cute but a bit on the strange side in terms of things to worry about IMO.
Im sorry, but I heard this quote in teh voice of General Kala. What do you mean, Flash Gordon Approach.
Ahh, Dash, Green all the way.
Also, th Captain of the guard, is a Shining Armor class Reindeer? As in 12 barrels of psychotic manastorm fire?
Oh Luna! Those two are acting like children! It is adorable!
That's not ominous at all.
Oboyoboyoboy whos it guna b
Midnite Bastion?
Probably not, she's inside Val Roa.
Someone needs to make fanart of green!Dashie.
I said...
SOMEONE NEEDS TO MAKE FANART OF GREEN DASHIE.
i would do it myself but i cannot draw for crap even if i could horses are hard
A new OP OC has arrived! Who will it be?
5149716
Also, Midnite is a female, and this captain is a male. Also also, I would think they would be more worried about Chrysalis recognizing Dashie than anything else. Also also also, I got five bucks that says he is Chrysalis. Iunno, just something about the, "Oh, by the way, here's this guy that is tagging along. No, I haven't mentioned him before, but don't worry, I'm sure he won't be relevant to the plot in any way."
Twenty-five four count flutter kicks, ):(. Knock 'em out!
Roarke is not a fan of Greenbow Dash.
Overkill is under-rated.
5149716
i.imgur.com/fUQ98cY.png
wheres my reward
5149716 I'm currently half way in the process of drawing.
5149754
Oh, I must have missed that pronoun. Thanks for pointing it out.
5149764
Here's your reward.
new4.fjcdn.com/pictures/What+a+twist+i+personally+always+go+with+the+empire_1dae97_5323069.jpg
Shitty(but funny) internet pictures.
5149773
Aww yss. You were the one I'd hoped would step up to the challenge. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
Necromandus - Judy Green Rocket
I await the arrival of this bastion of manliness.
I read that interaction 3 times. I swear.
new1.fjcdn.com/pictures/Leedleleedleleedlelee_c78c44_5322950.jpg
Here you go, Rainbow Dash with green hair!
I want someone to make a fanart of the new Rainbow Dash.
I'm with Jake. Random, tag-along newcomers tend to be trouble, intentionally or not. Dunno if Chrysalis, but I've got my eye on you, Sudden Powerful Dude.
Also, the interplay between Rainbow and Roarke here was delightful. Not-so-delightful is the persistent theme of "Oh noes, I'll have to leave them soon". Something about that whole concept strikes me as fishy. And a particularly red kind of "fishy", at that.
Damn...green hair is not all bad, but it clashes horribly with Rainbows coat.
5149880
You didn't make her look ugly enough. How dare you.
No, seriously, that looks great.
5149961 Thanks.
Although I did kinda forget her pendant at the very last minute.
5149682
No sufficiently pretty princess (or duchess) should be caught dead without one. Cadance has Shining Armor, Lassie has. . . well, me, and it looks like Arcanista has her own badass beau bodyguard.
Celestia and Luna are just too old for that shit.
5149681
A Chekov's gun, no doubt.
Looks like we have our next Steelteeth. Wonder what dark secret this guy has.
5149975
Talking about the pendant, I wonder what they're gonna do about it when it comes to making Rainbow "unassuming."
That thing's not exactly subtle.
5149882 You are kinda too late good fellow, the gentleman in the comment above has already completed an image of Greenbow Dash
5150136 Actually I'm quite a bit on the feminine side.
5150109
Scarves.
5150166
Too easy!
They should like, invert the whole thing and make her eat it so she's wearing it on the inside. I bet it'd even work better too! I mean, she'd likely gain the ability to shoot freaking lasers out of her mouth, like a crazy godzilla pony, except not giant.
5150162 I am sorry for missing your gender my dear, I haven't been on board this crazy ride for as long as some of the others, you see. Still, please forgive my misjudgement, and have a nice morning, midday or evening, whatever timezone you call your home
5150222 Nah it's fine. I totally understand. It can sometime be hard to tell the gender of people on the internet. I have done it before too.
And I never actually specified my gender.
Well....don't the Xonan's tend to have green manes and tails too.
So Dash is going to be acting as Kera's hoof servant?
Calling it now. It's Shell.
img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130317043412/mlp/images/4/4a/Green_Golden_Harvest_crop_S1E6.png
“Well I never!”
And here comes the knight for our lady. Caribou no Rudolph.
5150109 5150166 Trust the idiot! He's got a point!
Also seriously, just say it's a family heirloom. Boom.
5150632
SILENCE, HERETIC
5150107
He took the flaw Dark Secret:
IM BATMAN
5150632 gunna go with annie, SILENCE AND BEGONE CRETIN; DO NOT MENTION THE TAINTED ONE!
5150787
as a servant though she wouldn't be wearing a large "heirloom" necklace while working
especially seeing how valuable it would be even without the magic, just as gold and jewel
after all, Rainbow has complained about it's weight in the past; and while she may have been sick, a necklace heavy enough to weigh her down sick or not has to be rather heavy indeed. and seeing as, if i recall, the necklace is made of what appears to be finely crafted gold, with a ornamental gem set in it? that would be worth a LOT.
not something to wear to work, yea? so scarves are far more likely.
5149880 She looks adorable in that picture.
P.S. I know that's the wrong 'A' word
5150009
Well, she said that He was the one keeping the Cartel quiet in the South. So, if you remmeber the fun that the whole of the Jury squad has been doing with just scouting and raiding parties, either this guy has been throwing insane amounts of screaming burning goblins around with great pleasure, or theres something more, Chrysalis, going on.
And there goes the DM taking notes again.
5151086
To be fair, I honestly suspect that writing Austraeoh is more like being a DM to a bunch of strange and willful characters than writing a typical story. I believe I'm not the first to say so, either.
5150632 I would not be surprised if Chrysalis tried to disrupt this little mission by disguising as Shell and confronting Kera. She'd be in for a nasty surprise, though; I'd expect Kera would instinctively blast her into next week, along with half the Val Roan palace.
5151312
Well, yeah, but they're bad at playing D&D, except for RD.
DOON'T YOU KNOW YOU NEVER SPLIT THE PARTY
IMRE IN THE BACK TO KEEP THOSE FIGHTERS HALE AND HEARTY
RAINBOW IN THE MIDDLE, WHERE SHE CAN SHED SOME LIGHT
AND YOU NEVER LET THAT SEARONESE OUT OF SIIIGHT
5151676
Fake Prowsling already pulled that stunt at Stratopolis. Shell had his post-death fakey changeling comeback and it already got shoved in Kera's face. It's been done.
Hell, that was what unparalyzed her and sent her into a pissed off nuclear fillyrage at the very idea that someone would actually try that shit. Kera is immune to Shellshock now. Surely IC wouldn't forget that. . .
Besides, do we really need to rehash that guy again? Can't we just have Jerrio change his change of heart and try to come murder everyone with the sun sword instead?
5151992
See you say that, but it would also be a great way to make Ebon face his mother, etc, etc.
Whether it's as Shell or not, I fully expect Chrysalis to try to destabilize this very fragile mission.
Vomit green? Really?
Is no one else calling this? Practically screams possible character death for the duchess, or Floydian staying behind. This is IC, which do you think is more possible?
Also this comment officially commemorates my finally catching up, yay me! Now to sit and wait. . . Is the next chapter out yet guys?
5151992 heh, shellshock. I think thi I the first time I've seen this pun.
It smells like foreshadowing....
Green hair is The. Worst. Thing. Ever!
Of course, this will go smoothly and he won't be needed... right?
I have a feeling it's going to be underkill when things get down and dirty
he might be able to deal with the little minions like eating cake, but fighting Chrysalis would be a bad idea
5149682
Now and forever more, Roarke has a Russian accent.