Burdens Suck When They Are Burdensome
“Hurry your landscuffers, Thunker Meat!” Sora called over his shoulder while he and his companions galloped out into the surf. “Ultimo doesn't stick around for dessert!”
“Unless, of course, you're it! Hah!” Kaji laughed.
“Nnngh... Verlaxion's sleet!” Theanim Mane cursed, struggling to balance two camera bags and a tripod over his flank as he hobbled through the shallow waves to the nearest canoe. “If a single one of these devices touches the water, I swear, I'm hanging myself from the first palm tree my depraved eyes see!”
“Why are you bringing so much junk?” Flare asked, gripping one end of a canoe and fluttering her wings. “Things aren't exactly even in the drink.”
“It helps to be prepared!” Theanim said. “If we intend to take down this ill-forsaken Ultimo, then I want to catch the most brilliant shot of it so I can share with the rest of the Scientific Order!”
“Why not share through word of mouth?” Kaji smirked. “That's how the Nealenders do it! Whoop!”
“My good stallion, back where I come from, the enlightened denizens of Rohbredden require something a little more... grnnngh...” He struggled, then eventually heaved himself and his items over the edge of the boat. FWUMP! He landed in an awkward pile, smothered by his own belongings. “...empirical.”
“Hah hah hah!”
“Heheheh!” Silver smirked. “Silly landwalkers. Always so tangled up with themselves. Relax!” He shrugged with his forelimbs. “Verlaxion gave us the ocean for a reason! Be like a puddle, not a drip!”
“And what if that dreaded sea serpent devours us all?”
“Then you'll be coming out in a stream!” Silver said, summoning more raucous laughter from his cohorts.
“Mrrnnghh...” Theanim Mane sat up, adjusting his goggles. “Why do I even bother...?”
“Whoop!” Kaji called out. “Rainbow Dash! We await to wake!” He waved a hoof. “Have you got the last of the sticks?”
“Uhhh...” Rainbow Dash zoomed over, jerking to a stop in mid-air. She hovered down to where several sharp pikes were leaning against a wooden crate in the surf. “You mean these things?”
“Yes! Wing them over, will ya?!” Kaji winked. “There's a good fish!”
“Shove away!” Flare hollered, flapping her wings and shoving the boat Silver was in.
Kaji did the same to his and Sora's boat, causing Theanim to rock back and forth and struggle to keep his gear in check.
Meanwhile, Rainbow grabbed as many of the polearms as she could. Twilight looked over her shoulder, and the unicorn's expression was far from pleasant.
“Uhhhhhh...” Twilight blinked. “Spears, Rainbow?”
“Mmmmhmmm.” Rainbow gathered more and more, bundling them up in her forelimbs. “Looks like it.”
“And... just what are these going to be used for, you think?” Twilight said.
Rainbow blinked. “... … ...well, they're not for picking the sea serpent's teeth. I can tell you that much.”
Twilight blanched. “We're going to stab the poor thing with spears?!”
“Twilight, that 'poor thing' is so big that these will barely even feel like bee stings,” Rainbow said. “And, besides, the Nealenders have been at this for a while. You saw it when we first arrived, remember?”
“Rainbow, that's not the point!” Twilight exclaimed, hovering around her. “Think about it. How exactly are you going to go about getting that Shard out of the beast's jaws?”
“Uhhhhhhhh...” Rainbow fiddled with the spears in midair. “...expert dentistry?”
“I don't think there's any way to get the monster to cough that thing up short of killing it!” Twilight said.
“Yeah.” Rainbow exhaled, avoiding the unicorn's gaze. “Imagine that.”
“Rainbow...” Twilight flew into her sight, frowning. “The locals here might kill and cook things for meat... and that just may be good for them. But we're not them, are we?”
“Twilight—”
“We gotta stand for something, Rainbow!” Twilight exclaimed. “We're the only representatives of Harmony this side of the Grand Choke—” She gestured dramatically at the pegasus. “You! You're the only representative of Harmony, all things considered!”
“Look, Twilight, I gotta get this Shard out of this big dumb lug's chompers one way or another!” Rainbow exclaimed.
“Yes, but take some time to think about it, Rainbow,” Twilight said. “There's gotta be a safe... clean way we can get this to work without too much bloodletting. I mean...” Her face grew long. “There are standards to everything. Just... who would we be if we gave in and allowed ourselves to kill for the sake of convenience?”
“Yeah...” Rainbow gulped hard, her ears folded back. “That... would b-be a rough spot, wouldn't it?”
“Please.” Twilight held her ghostly forelimbs together. “Promise me that when it comes to grabbing this Shard, you won't go about this the brutal Nealend way?”
“I... I-I...”
“I want to bring the girls back as much as you, but I'm not sure they'd want to come back if they knew we had to cross the line in order for—”
“Grrrr... Twilight...!”
Twilight's pupils shrunk at the sound of Rainbow's growling voice.
The pegasus blinked, seeing her fierce reflection in the unicorn's eyes. Clearing her throat, she smiled and said, “We'll figure out a way, alright? You and me. You can help with that magic sense of yours, okay?” She hugged the spears to her chest. “You'll help me get the drop on Ultimo and we'll find a way.”
Silence.
Twilight exhaled, then smiled with a breathy voice. “Okay. Sure thing.”
“Hey, Landwalker! Wing it or wilt it!”
“Ahem...” Rainbow twirled about, carrying the heavy weight of the spears the entire way. “Coming right away.” Once Twilight couldn't see her, she brandished a pained expression. “Ready or not...”
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Still calling going inside the beastie.
Twi, not every problem has a harmonic answer. Sometimes, one choice is simply less chaotic/wrong than another, but regardless is still chaotic/wrong.
Rainbow doesn't care about the fish one bit when compared to what she hopes to gain.
Sorry Twilight. sometimes, you just have to cave someone's face in.
burdensome?
Yup that's it!
Can sea serpents throw up? Maybe she could feed a certain sourpuss to Ultimo to make him hurl. Theanim Mane could get a really good picture that way.
Don't dismiss Twilight just because there've been 6 books of death and destruction and fight scenes. She's maybe a little zealous about a sea serpent, but she's not exactly wrong.
I thought we would have gotten over this with the pirates. Looks like we've got more freakouts to look forward to.
Rarity will probably recognize the need, but feel like it could be better executed with style
Fluttershy will initially be like Twilight, but recognize the need sooner due to her dealings with animals
Pinkie will be somewhat oblivious to what's actually happening
Applejack will see the need immediately and defend the need, and help the others see reason if they haven't
Twilight has a point, but sometimes killing is required. Twilight's going to have to accept this soon.
But I actually don't think Ultimo will die--I feel like there's a bigger reason behind his existence, and he's entirely innocent. But we'll see.
-Spirit (Yeast and Treacle)
Really, Theanim? You expect your cameras to be safe from water in that?
Is there even such a thing as an unburdensome burden?
Actually, rainbow, don't you have a convenient harmony laser for a necklace? I'm willing to bet it's even Sparkle powered.
I'm gonna say it's going to be a mash-up of Finding Nemo and Pinocchio.
5983106
A bag of Helium?
5983120
I don't recall her ever using her pendant other than for light.
Hrmm....what exactly is Harmony in this 'verse? Is it just order? Is it peaceful coexistence with everyone and everything? Is it a hamburger?
Because I see Harmony as coexistence, or its philosophical equivalent, Moral Relativism. However, Twilight here is pretty much shutting down the Nealanders way of life as valid simply because it's different from what she is used to. Did she honestly expect everyone to have to adhere to a single way of life? That's one thing in Equestria, where there is plenty of arable land for farming, and controlled climates. In a place where the weather is not being controlled, and there is no farmland, the Nealanders would have no choice but to be, at the least, omnivorous. Would Twilight rather them die of starvation in order to hold up some moral code?
I do believe that our little bookworm hasn't really realized the implications of how far afield from Equestria Dash's expedition has taken them. Nor has she realized that everything cannot be as ordered as her motherland. Also, her reticence at killing may end up getting RD killed....again, that is. There are going to be situations in which killing is needed. Case in point: Shell. And that killing didn't warp RD too badly: She ended up still trying to diplomacy check Chrysalis down, rather than just kicking her damn neck off.
5983122
Does a bag of helium qualify as a burden, though? Perhaps if we define "burden" as not necessarily requiring great weight. But if it's that big of a hassle to carry around a bag of helium, even without being heavy, then wouldn't it still be burdensome?
... god, I need to get out more.
Oh, so Rainbow left out the part of the story where she straight murdered a dude?
Teensy weensy lie of omission there.
Oh Twi... were you not listening to Dash's tales at all? She has had to kill before, but it was always a last resort.
If push comes to shove...well Twi's probably gonna retreat into the pendant for a bit. The other girls will probably be more pragmatic about it I hope.
-Memories given light, ease a lonely flight. Ynanhluutr.
Well, we're getting a good look at the perspective difference between MLP canon Twilight and Rainbow who has experienced wars and developed outside of her canon shell. While it's frustrating seeing Twilight try to convince Rainbow to do things the 'more harmonic' way when everyone else knows what needs to be done, perhaps it is for the best that Twilight is trying to find a more peaceful/harmonic solution. This, and potentially future situations, will be very dangerous. Twilight forcing Rainbow to slow down and at least consider other solutions may just save her life.
5983068
A solution that has potential and is more 'peaceful', I'm sure Twilight would approve.
s3.amazonaws.com/static.carthrottle.com/workspace/uploads/comments/498ed76be651cffb6bb9bac6a9bb75-552742eb78860.png
5983122
She definitely used her "laser of harmony and goodness" to melt the face off a crapton of goblins back when she was fully charged in early Yaerfaerda. You could say that the elements of harmony have been able to do that for a while :wink:
5983278
Ah, right.
Jeez, what did I ever do to you Twilight? That's a bit uncalled for.
Twilight's going to find out that Rainbow killed Shell. She's not going to be happy
5983278 5983122
She also used it against Nevlamas.
After a starting slowly, falling into a coma in Foxtaur, and spending far too much time reading My Little Pony fanfiction, I have finally caught up with Rainbow Dash! I'm already missing the 'next' button.
Anyway, I wonder how long this tension between Rainbow and Twilight will last, and whether Twilight will start to see things the way Rainbow does, or the other way round.
Since when was Twilight Sparkle the personal Navi of Rainbow Dash?
Hey guys! How many DBZ characters does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Just one. But it takes them 24 episodes to do it!
...Not that I don't love exposition... but...
*Ah-hemm*...
Hint-hint.
Yes I know I know! IC is a master at plotting his arcs and plans for a specific number of chapters in each arc in each book. It still stands that crawling through the arc at a snail's pace with each daily update is sometimes a special kind or torture.
I suppose, like many of you, I can wait several days at a time and then indulge myself in all of the accumulated updates at once...
... But for God's sake, I am not used to being patient. I am used to delegating responsibilities and mandating deadlines, then seeing results.
Nnngg... my poor little fuzzy brain.
I hope Luna and Celestia have passed on the news to Durandana to tell the Jury that RD is alive and the Grand Choke has it's magic back.
When Eljunbyro catches up, they can use the tech they brought with them to Sequence with RD and the Element so Twilight and the other spirits can memory dive!
5983069 At the same time, we've seen Twilight ready to fight and severly injure if not kill at least two fully sapient villains in the show. I feel like this pacifism that she displays here might be a bit overdone for her.
5983523 Yup, in what probably would have become the most epic, violent and disgusting pimple-popping video ever had anyone been there to record it.
I'm finding a bit hard to believe that Twilight, as well read as she is and being a personal student of a ruler of a country, would be this hostel to any other way of living. She is being a bit too dismissive of any other way of doing things IMO.
And while I know this series was started long before the season 2 or 4 finale, I think it should be taken in to account that she did physically fight the Changelings, and wanted to (and eventually did) confront Tierk rather than hide away. So it's not like she is completely opposed to violence as a sometimes necessary solution to things, even if she would look for other ways first.
Yeah, Dash already crossed that line.
Oh Twilight, if only you knew just what Rainbow's already done.
Dont listen to her Dash! There must be at least severn explosions by sunset!
5983552 Welcome to the Lunar Ninth! (Or something,) It's great to have you here.
Yes, Twilight. Rainbow Dash is a professional. That means she does have standards.
Be polite. Be efficient. Have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
Im really bad at planning attackes on mega structures.
I see Three options.
1. Dash flies down its throat, and uses the Harmoney Laser from the unarmoured inside to slice Ultimos head off.
2. Dash flies down its throat at transrainboom speed, causing the magical shockwave to slice ultimos head off.
3. Dash flies down its throat and remove the pendant. Much feasting is done.
Sorry, I class Ultimo as a Planet Killer.
5983552
Welcome! I really like your
manename, it'll make for a good character.5983609 some people read once a week so they have more to read.
I bet she goes inside Ultimo's mouth, and everyone freaks because she got swallowed.
5983694
I hesitate to describe Twilight and the Mane 6's actions in the show in such stark terms. Can you extrapolate that they were capable of killing? I suppose, but it's outside the scope of the show. Consequences for evil characters in that universe are abstract at best because they are metaphors for solving a problem (hence the problem goes away). By that same token, you're not wrong that Twilight is being overboard here as far as her character's pacifism goes; the writing is what it is considering daily chapter updates and all that jazz. That said, it does work as a counter-balance to RD's gung-ho attitude, a foil to it, despite how polarizing it is.
I'm going to share a semi-relevant quote from my current favourite game, Xcom:
Twilight has a similar point here. Rainbow has so far found the path ahead by using the violence that others she faces also use, but has she lost some of the ideals of Harmony and Equestria from this?
5983609
Honestly I'm surprised at how quickly we're getting to the fight scene. I expected it to be delayed for several more chapters, at least.
Not that I'm complaining; I too lack patience. And even though I love Austraeoh's daily updates, they tend to give so many more chances for cliff hangers.
5983455
And then she'll find out how many times RD TRIED to kill [error], and she'll flip through 3D.
Then she'll find out exactly what [error] did, and she'll flip through the fourth dimension.
Then she'll find out that they perverted magic itself (through manarifles and the like), and Twilight Spookle as we know her will break.
And from the ashes rises Twidark Spookle, the avenging apparition.
5983069
Indeed. If there's a will, there's a way. And seeing as Equestrian life isn't exactly without danger anyway, Twilight has some validity in her statements. Unfortunately, we haven't been presented with a mindset that allows for such thoughts. Dash is simply a go-getter, ridiculous hothead that's had destiny, luck, or a something else on her side throughout this journey.
5983552 Welcome to the
Noble JuryLunar Ninth!5985875 hasn't it been stated that the alicorns were only able to keep harmony possible at the very center of the world? Problems like this wouldn't ever have a chance to take hold in their domain, whereas this far out towards the edge the harmonious solution may not in fact be feasible. Use the appropriate tool for the job, as it were.
They need to quit callin her landwalker. Rainbow dash NEVER walks unless she has too.
Maybe Equestria is peaceful quiet place, but the rest of the world isn't like that Twilight. You have to adapt.
We don't have to kill it. We just have to punch it in the face a bunch.