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“If Verlax believes so much about me...” Rainbow darted her eyes shiftily between the suit of armor and the frozen Desperadoes. “...then why not just show up and talk to me face to face?”
With groaning metal joints, the frozen golem marched across from Rainbow, keeping its icy muzzle trained on her. “The rules of this game are simple, and they shall proceed as follows...”
Rainbow frowned. “Is it because she's a big fat cowardly dragon?!” She pivoted slowly, facing the icy automaton. “Locked up in a mountain somewhere and ruling an entire continent like stupid pawns on a friggin' chess board?!”
“There are five questions,” the construct spoke. Blue circles of blighted blue frost stained the floor where its horseshoes made contact. “You will be given three opportunities to answer each question correctly...”
Rainbow gnashed her teeth. “Are you even listening to a word I say?!”
“By the Queen's grace are you here.” Phantom vapors issued from the armor's icy helm. “By the Queen's wisdom shall your worth be tested.”
“Dang it!” Rainbow stomped a hoof, snarling. “I did not fly all this way and swim all these depths just to be given a stinkin' test!” She dragged her fetlock across the floor, nostrils flaring. “Tell the Queen she can just buck off and get out of my way! There're bigger things at stake here than her and her stupid kingdom!”
“If the Queen did not know that, then nopony would be here right now.”
Rainbow simply stared at the golem, shivering angrily.
“Now, before the Austraeoh proceeds...” The suit of armor leaned back on its metallic haunches. “...it is important that the price of wind is understood—”
Thwpp! In one fell swoop, Rainbow snatched up Bard's metal staff, flew across the room, and swung the bludgeon at the golem. “Rrrrrrgh—“
CLANNNNG! The frozen muzzle of the construct shattered instantly. Its armored plates flew all across the golden platform, littering the floor and rattling off towards the far depths of the machine world below. All that was left was a powdery mess of snow and icicles all around.
Rainbow slumped in place, panting, heaving. She leaned against the pole, staring at the central dais where Yaerfaerda's frozen flame lingered. Gulping hard, the pegasus clenched her eyes shut and shuddered.
Crrr-rkkkk!
“... … …?” Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, tilting her head up.
From another niche within the ceiling, ice cracked, melted, and dissipated completely. Cl-Cl-Clakkkk! A fresh set of armored plates fell to the floor. Then, with blue streams of frosted magic, the metallic shells molded together, forming a brand new and identical suit of armor. An icy muzzle solidified, and a pair of sapphire eyes glowed in Rainbow's direction. “I do not suggest doing that again,” it said, calmly.
Then, not so calmly, it blasted a blue volley of mana straight at Rainbow's figure.
CLANG!!! Bard's staff was knocked expertly from the pegasus' grasp.
“Gaah!” She flinched, stepping back and shaking her hoof from the stinging pain of intense cold. Rainbow shivered in place, staring at where the polearm had settled on the floor. Gulping, she pivoted and turned towards the golem, her ears humbly folded.
The automaton stood quietly, leering over the pegasus.
With a frustrated shudder, the mare spoke: “You... said something of a 'price...'”
The golem slowly nodded.
Rainbow's brow furrowed. “What kind of a price?”
“There are five questions.”
“Uh huh...”
“You lose a question, you lose a friend.”
Rainbow gritted her teeth, jolting from the sound of that.
“That is four questions for four friends, half corporeal. Half incorporeal.” The automaton craned its neck. “The Queen suspects that the Austraeoh knows the risks.”
Rainbow slowly, slowly nodded. With a gulp, she murmured: “And... the fifth question?”
“It is for the Austraeoh to win back her wind,” the golem said. “For, at this place and time, only the Queen can grant it back to her.”
Rainbow frowned again. “And will I get to see her face to face?”
“That is between the Austraeoh and the Queen.”
Silence. Rainbow took a deep breath and stood up straight, eyes firm and body poised.
“Now...” The golem began pacing across from Rainbow Dash. “...for the first Question.”
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Ooooooookay, I am not liking where this is headed...
No, just no. Verlax should not have the power to exorcise her friends. Double Killing Fluttershy by example is just cruel, unusual, and stupid.
What is your name?
Sorry, couldn't resist.
There are FOUR lig--
Wait, wrong show.
Instructions are for pussies.
''What is Verlaxion's favourite colour?''
''What is Verlaxion's secret ambition?''
''When is Verlaxion's birthday, and what would her ideal gift be?''
...
Here is another point -- Does Verlax not realize that she has made a permanent enemy of austraeoh, and if she kills *ANY* of her friends that Rainbow Dash will hunt her down and *KILL* her, whatever it takes, whatever the price, with all her will?
Wowwww...
That got dark and creepy real fast.
"Wind" - Innavedr?
WHAT... is your name?!
Forty crunches, ):(. Knock 'em out!
6376635
I think it means the friends that are with her right now. “That is four questions for four friends, half corporeal. Half incorporeal.”
Half corporeal. Bard and Wildcard.
Half incorporeal. Twilight and Rarity.
Four questions for four friends are not enough to cover all of the ghostly mane six, and they're all incorporeal anyway.
In the skype it was said that it is probably twi, rarity, and the desperadoes in jeopardy right now. Still applies if Twi or Rarity are extinguished by Verlax.
You know, I was wondering whether Verlax is friend of foe, and I believe that this proves she's up to something nefarious. Or maybe not. This whole scenario is actually pretty unexpected.
6376649
I'm curious how Verlax is able to destroy the incorporeal.
6376649
I still am unsure if it even involves death. Losing a friend doesn't mean they die, it means they are removed from her presence, willingly or not. This could mean kidnap for the corporeal ones, or a return to wherever the ghost girls sleep. It doesn't even say that they are permanently lost. The terms are simply lose a question, lose a friend, which, yes, typically implies death, but doesn't have to.
Honestly people, do we think VERLAX, supposedly the most cunning of dragons, is stupid enough to put the world at risk (since the Austraeoth journey involves preserving it) over a riddle game. There's more to this than meets the eye.
6376691
It doesn't matter what Verlax thinks -- it matters what Rainbow thinks.
I really don't get Verlax's game here. What's the point of this? It is acknowledged that she's aware there's more at stake than her kingdom. What's her Plan B if Dash fails her little test?
It just doesn't make any sense.
41 chapters to go. I fear this is going to drag on to the end of this book.
Edit: the only "test" that makes any sense is the kind of test Rainbow Dash could not possibly fail. These questions may be nothing more than Verlax seeking information from the horse's mouth, like, what really happened with Nevlamas. All the drama is to simply make clear that the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is required.
I want to destroy Verlax with the fury of a thousand suns right about now.
For a second I thought she was going to be a coolsorrynotsorry dragon but nooooooooooooooooo...
I hate moments like this.
And love them.
Well....crap
"We must answer the five questions–"
'Three questions!'
"...three questions to cross!"
Dash is almost guaranteed to get a question wrong. The question is.. who's going to be doomed?
It'd help if the Golem told who each question was for the safety of.
Though the order
I assume, based on the order the golem said, the Desperadoes lives are first on the line, then Twi and Rar.
Well Dash.. put your thinking cap on...and Turn up the heat!
-Memories given light, ease a lonely flight. Ynanhluutr.
i.imgur.com/9qFZN.gif
6376705
My guess is that Verlax is either confident that Dash will answer the questions correctly, what with her being the Austraeoh and all that, or she is equally confident that if Dash fails there's enough time for the world to produce a replacement Austraeoh. That or Verlax has a whole other game she's playing, which given what we've learned about her so far is also entirely possible.
6376705
I think her trying to get info (or something else) out of Dash might be the case here. Otherwise her actions are contradictory (and pointless) to helping Rainbow.
What if the answers to the questions are the real thing to fear:
"Has Austraeoh told her friends about the full magnitude of her chaotic condition?"
"Has Austraeoh made a decision about Roarke and AJ?"
I suspect these to be like the terrible questions RD's going to face.
What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
Wow. Verlax is a fucking cunt.
Hmm. How hard could it be? Unless she cheats somehow. In that case, all you have to do is catch her. Aschente!
Wtf? Verlax is OP. Pls Nrf. In all seriousness, she's pretty powerful id she can pull stuff off like this.
6377328
6377225 Deception. I imagine a vast amount of it is illusions, misdirection and time, she has had lifetimes to prepare for this. I doubt that face to face she is as scary as she is hiding in the darkness, manipulating things behind the scenes,
I think we may be grasping the obvious interpretation too eagerly here.
For example, if East Horse answers a question incorrectly, the golem's words could be interpreted as "Verlax gonna kill/take your pals".
Or
Maybe Verlax is more subtle, and the implication is that if Dashie is unable to answer a question correctly, or even fails to understand it, then at some later date, she might be unable to; save the life of; retain the friendship of; keep within the quest group, the friend in question.
After all, Verlax has by far the clearest idea of what Dashie will encounter from here on.
Also, the very nature of the questions may be such as to nudge Rainbow's mind in directions needed to retain her friends. Maybe the questions and their answers will actually show Dashie how to save her friends in the future.
Meh, I'm probably overthinking this.
Jeopordy has never been so stressing
I have to wonder though, is Axan in on this? Maybe this is just one great big Dragon conspiracy...
Seriously though, if Axan is following Rainbow, and she enters Verlax's territory.. what happens then?
It seems these tests are more like tests of character through which Verlax can learn more about Rainbow Dash. First we had Nealand atoll which I believe was designed to test if Dash would be willing to kill another living being in order to bring her friends back, now I think we have a test designed to determine if Rainbow would be willing to put her friends lives on the line in order to continue her journey. I don't think it's the end result of these trials Verlax watches for but rather how Rainbow goes about solving them. Each time Verlax gains a little better understanding of who she's dealing with.
I would also believe that this is a message to Dash to remember who still holds the power through her travels in Rohbreddon
I never liked ice types.
What is the capital of Assyria?
"First question: Do twenty push-ups"
"That's not a question!"
6377666 That's because I don't do requests.
"Having provided two incorrect answers, you now have one chance remai- *Leaves session*
*Re-enters session*
"You will have three chances to answer correctly."
6377508
Aye. Verlax might as well know the test results already. Hell, it wouldn't be crazy to assume that she does know the outcome of this test.
But each step towards those answers (in tandem with the steps towards her ultimate goal) matters more than Dash's destination right now. It's about finding her inner purpose and understanding the actions and conscious decisions Dash takes in order to reach those goals. So perhaps this will be a bit of a journey of discovery for both parties.
Whelp.
But there's obviously more to this than it seems...
-Spirit (Yeast and Treacle)
6377334 excellent point.
6377050 That's one I didn't think of... although it also raises questions without answers.
I sense that there are games within games here...
Mmmhmm. I also belive the test within a test idea. I also feel she's going to be forced to loose one question.
I hope this queen DIES IN A FIRE.
OR IN ICE.
EITHER IS AWESOME.
WHAT... Is your name?
images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Bridge-of-Death-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-591679_500_276.jpg
So Verlax can fuck up Twilight and Rarity? That ain't good, yo.
6379571
What is the air speed of an unladen swallow?