"Kepler! I said NO camels!"
"Look! Lookie!" Pinkie Pie pointed skyward. Several triangular figures with dangling tails dotted the sky in circular formation. "There's more of them!"
"Absolutely incredible," Rarity murmured. She and the other ghostly mares floated around Rainbow as the pegasus marched up the mountainside after Remna. "They've got a great deal of poise and grace... erm... for such beastly spectacles."
"I don't see what's so 'beastly' about them, Rarity," Fluttershy said.
"Didn't you see them, Fluttershy?" Rarity gulped. "They're like miniature manticores!"
"Manticore diet!" Pinkie Pie giggle-snorted.
Fluttershy shrugged. "Is that so strange? Different species have different levels of intelligence. You remember the diamond dogs back in Equestria?"
Rarity shivered. "How can I?"
"Fluttershy's got a point," Twilight Sparkle said with a nod. "Diamond dogs share several physiological traits with domestic canines, and yet they can speak, walk upright, build an underground society... etc." She waved a hoof at the sky. "These... wyverns evidently have much in common with manticores, and yet they're not the same. I'm guessing where their larger cousins evolved to dominate by strength and brute force, these creatures grew to be more social, articulate, rational..."
"...and thespian!" Pinkie chirped. "You heard that cool dude with the glasses, right?" She tapped her chin. "Feels like I've heard that voice somewhere before..."
"I think they're absolutely amazing," Fluttershy said.
"Fluttershy, darling, you've barely seen just one of them!" Rarity exclaimed.
"I know." Fluttershy giggled through a soft smile. "And already I want to know more."
"From the sound of things," Twilight said, "Their tribe has been living up here in isolation for decades... centuries." She blinked at Rainbow Dash. "Who knows what we can expect from them?"
"I'm hoping to get a friggin' explanation for why I've been dragged here," Rainbow muttered.
"You will get one, little pony," Remna spoke from above.
"I wasn't talking to you."
"I know," the bounty hunter replied.
Rainbow blinked.
"I will tolerate your disagreeable attitude when launched in my direction. But with these friends of mine?" Remna looked back, glaring over her violet shoulder. "You will not harass them. Is that understood?"
"Gracious me." Rarity folded her forelimbs. "Touchy."
"Look. Chillax." Rainbow waved a hoof as she and the bounty hunter ascended. "Despite what you think, I don't go forth biting the heads off every pony that I meet."
"Indeed." Remna looked ahead. "Only the ones who try to help you."
Rainbow rolled her eyes with a sigh. "I just want some answers. Is that too much to ask for?"
"And you will get them in time," Remna said. "But not directly from these sanctuary-keepers."
"Then from who?"
"The mountain matron."
"And just who is she?"
"You shall find out."
"Eugh..." Rainbow face-hoofed in mid-stride. "...you're not making this any easier for me."
"Such was never a promise..."
At last, Pinkie blurted: "I got it!" She grinned at the others. "Any of you gals seen Raiders of the Lost Oats?!"
It took more than twenty minutes for Remna and Rainbow to march their way up the rest of the path. Eventually, they came upon a thick mahogany gate, bent by the winds of time. Several colored flags were tied to the framework of the door along gnarled strings.
A quartet of Snow-Blood stallions in thin leather armor stood at the gate, chatting amicably in the nippy mountain air. After a collective chuckle, the guards glanced down the path. All four of them froze at once, startled at the first sight of visitors in decades.
One stallion paused in the middle of sipping his canteen. He spat out the contents, rubbed his muzzle, then turned towards the others. "Havanna sehm kleem! Shravan!"
Weathering an awkard jolt, the four rushed to the doorframe, lifted a heavy crossbeam, and opened the barrier with a massive creaking sound. As the door swung open before Remna and Rainbow Dash, the two mares saw the grand looming entrance to the mountain palace. The four Snow-Bloods bowed low, eyes to the floor.
Remna shuffled quietly past them. Rainbow followed, glancing nervously at the Snow-Bloods.
One of the stallions looked up, instantly winced, and avoided her gaze.
Rainbow blinked at her friends, shrugged it off, and continued.
The cold air was fragrant here. Despite the wages of time, the courtyard before the palace was pristine... immaculate, even. This was made all the more incredible—considering the fact that several sporadic trees lined the granite entrance, blooming with bright pink lotus blossoms. Rainbow watched as several petals fell loosely to the ground... only to be swept up by the gentle motions of a wispy, threadbare broom. Wyverns with graying fur occasionally dotted the courtyard, hunched over and sweeping the petals away with meditative care. Between each motion, Rainbow could spot their lips moving from beneath their sabre teeth, almost as if wordlessly chanting prayers.
While Remna marched ahead, Rainbow lingered for a moment. She stared at a furry specimen hunched over a few spaces away.
After a few broom-strokes, the wyvern looked up. He was a very old specimen, with a mane that had grown gray and sparse with time. Nevertheless, upon first sight of Rainbow, the senior monk smiled. He leaned the brush over his shoulder and lifted two sets of claws. His digits performed several swift motions in the air, timed with articulate movements of his aged lips. He finished his wordless greeting with a smile, then resumed his sweep of the courtyard.
Rainbow blinked. She opened her muzzle to say something—
FWOOOSH! A brown body descended, followed by a pair of lenses reflecting her blue muzzle. "Alas!" Kepler boomed. "Herre she is, brrotherrs!"
"Gah!" Rainbow hopped back. As the blood rushed back into her ears, she heard a series of bombastic exclamations in the air around her:
"Indeed!"
"The Austrraeoh lives!"
"Well met!"
"Grreetings, eastwarrd one!"
Rainbow fidgeted. "Uhhhh..." She found herself surrounded by hunched figures with brow and black fur. Their tail-stingers stood up over their heads, almost as if they were aimed at her. "Ahem..." She waved a hoof. "Hiya, boyos..."
"And!" With a toothy grin, Kepler adjusted his bifocals and then crawled on his claws until he stood at her side. "You may happen to notice!" Without asking, he grasped Rainbow's skull and tilted her head back, pointing at her ruby pendant. "A surrviving piece of harrmony! An alicorrn jewel of the sun-and-moon bearrers, no less!"
"Verrily!"
"By the gods!"
"So the old scrrolls werre rright!"
"Powerr still rreigns in the west!"
"Beyond the Blight, even!" Kepler smiled. Out the side of Rainbow's eyes, she noticed a bandolier around his hairy body that was filled with tomes, almanacs, and scrolls instead of weapons. "Ha HAH! What morre evidence do we need, brrothers, of the necessarry task of the seven?! I tell you, the Harrmonic Prrism is out therre!" He gestured with an elegant set of claws. "Just waiting to be grrasped by a rrighteous hearrt!"
"Uhhhh..." Rainbow Dash wheezed. "...could you let go of my neck, now?"
"AH!" Kepler smiled. "But of course, rrainbow one." He took a step back, bowing. "A thousand parrdons yet again."
"Sure..." Rainbow rubbed her neck and tucked the Element back into her hiking coat. "Guess I've been expected, huh."
"In morre ways than one, Austrraeoh." Kepler's eyes narrowed above a thick grin. "We live upon the brrink of a new erra! Rrebirrth and balance is upon us! No longer shall the ancient prretenderr of Rrohbrredden cloud our mountain matrron's progrress with her vile deceit!"
"Aye! Down with the prretenderr!"
"Harrmony forrevermore!"
"Hah! Well said, brrotherr!"
One wyvern in particular, wearing feathers tied to his furry ear, performed a series of finger-motions with his claws.
Kepler spun and effortlessly replied with like-minded grace.
The wyvern in question replied with a nod. He shared a mute smile with three other monks standing next to him, also adorned with feathers. They gestured a few swift words between each other.
"Twilight..." Rarity leaned in, pointing. "Do you see how...?"
"Yes." Twilight nodded with a gulp. "Just like Wildcard."
"How curious..."
"Ahem..." Rainbow cleared her throat. "Not to be rude or anything, but..." She squinted. "How come you guys know about the Harmonic Prism—?"
"Ha HAH!" Kepler spun, immediately booming in Rainbow's wincing face. "A fine question, little pony!"
Rainbow groaned. "Ugh... not you too..."
"Forr it is ourr place to know!" Kepler continued. "The Harrmonic Prrism, of courrse, is the fulcrrum upon which the worrld revolves! It is what makes the line into a cirrcle! Of courrse... haHAH! If you've made it this farr, dearr friend..." He slapped a paw across her shoulder. Wh-Whap! "You alrready know this, don't you?!"
"Guh...!" Rainbow's knees buckled. She managed to stand back upright after his gesture.
"Pssst! Hey, Dashie!" Pinkie leaned in. "Tell him to say 'They're digging in the wrong place!'"
"Shush!" Rainbow hissed aside. Then, collecting herself, she looked straight at Kepler and his companions. "Look... I know stuff. But... like... I've been all across the world. And the beacons of the machine layer beneath us? They talk to me... uhm... in ways that they don't talk to anypony else." Her brow furrowed. "Just how is that you guys know so much up here in these mountains?"
"Poor rrainbow wisp!" Kepler's eyes blinked with surprise from behind his spectacles. "You've been from the west! Have you trruly not met any of ourr kind beforre?"
"You... mean wyverns?" Rainbow shook her head. "Uhm... no. Unless you count manticores... but... uhhh..."
"How rremarrkably currious!" Kepler stood back, his toothed jaw agape. He looked aside. "Rremna! Old frriend! Have you trruly told herr nothing?"
The bounty hunter sighed. She stood up on the high steps to the inner palace. "Kepler, please. We must get her to the mountain matron. If you know anything about the Austraeoh, then you must realize that time is of the essence."
"Hmmmm... but of course!" Kepler spun back to face Rainbow Dash. "Come, brrotherrs! Let us escorrt our westerrn specimen!" A blink, and he tilted his head down. "I say...!"
"Gnnngh..." Rainbow Dash had collapsed to the floor, overcome with shivers. She gnashed her teeth as she struggled to keep her eyes open. "Rrggh... friggin'..."
"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy gasped.
"Oh dear!" Rarity clasped her muzzle. "It's happening again!"
"Okay!" Twilight Sparkle spoke aloud. "Nopony panic!" She flew over to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow... just calm down. Try to relax."
"Easy... f-for you to say..." Rainbow wheezed as her eyes flickered red-on-yellow. "Rnnngh... dang s-sucky timing..."
"Stay with us, Rainbow!" Twilight insisted.
"Little pony!" Remna shouted. The air thundered with her bounding steps.
The wyverns craned their neck. "What is happening to herr, brrotherr?"
"Hmmm..." Kepler stroked his furry chin. "A most starrtling predicament—AH!" He pointed with a claw. "See! Herr eyes just then! The colorrs! As it is wrritten! Quick, brrothers! Help me pull herr eyelids back so we can have a betterr look—"
"Dammit, Kepler!" Remna's voice growled as her violet body bounded in. She shoved several monks away and crouched at Rainbow's side. "Give her space!"
"But of courrse, old frriend!"
"Keep it together, little pony! Hey! Hey!" Remna growled, shaking Rainbow Dash and slapping her cheek. "For blazes' sake! Can't you be strong for one second?!"
"Grrgghllg...." Rainbow gurgled.
"Dammit! At least stay in one piece until Wildcard and Bard get—"
Rainbow teetered. She saw a blur of mountains and ice...
...and all went black.
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Crud timing. Again.
Really hoping she gets some good answers from these guys. They seem to know an awful lot.
Hmmm...
Well, there's a chance it's Renma...or maybe those guys were just behaving that way because they recognize Dash as the Austraeoh.
7000462 Is there ever a good time for that?
7000473
NOPE.
These guys are EXTREMELY well informed. Perhaps in contact with those outside of the Blight?
Raiders of the Lost Oats references.
7000475 Exactly.
Oh boy, for a second I thought
Rainbow's dizzy spell might be due to another visit from Verlax. Either way, I can't help but think that this is yet another of her long term machinations...
Dizzying chapter
7000509
Lol
7000507 *Machinations
Unless Verlax plans on turning everycreature into some form of robot, like Dr Ivo Robotnik.
-----------------------------
I had to, I'm not sorry.
Verlax's sleet, they all roll their R's.
-Companions have returned, inner darkness spurned. Utaan.
OF COURSE! HANG US ON THE EDGE, WHY DON'T YOU?!
7000525
#conspiracies intensify
Also fixed
... Depending on how much Wildcard bought into their legends, he must have been secretly freaking out ever since he saw the chat with Luna and realized just who Dash is.
I was literally thinking "huh it's been a while since the last dizzy spell" just seconds before it happened
The Mountain Matron:
Her name is Mother Rushnut.
Man, these guys really know their stuff. Makes me wonder just how long they've been around; maybe even since the days of the Old Pegasi? That might explain their knowledge of the Austraeoh lore.
While it's nice to know these guys are aware that Verlax is a fraud... I find it hard to believe that Verlax, in turn, doesn't know that they know. Why, then, hasn't she crushed these would-be opponents? Maybe she didn't see them as a threat (as they seem like a peaceful bunch, as per the Buddhist vibes they're giving off). Or, perhaps, Rainbow meeting them was a part of her plan all along, which frankly wouldn't surprise me.
And then there's this:
Maybe it's just my lack of sleep talking, but that almost seems to imply that the purpose of "the seven" is to escort Rainbow to the Midnight Armory. And that, if you'll pardon the pun, would be a horse of a different color.
7000580 Beat you to it.
Hey, you try absorbing the soul of an immortal chaos spirit and stay standing. It ain't as easy as it looks.
As for Kepler and the Wyverns, I've got lots of questions. They know way to much about this to be casual fans of the subject, but what exactly is their source material? They mentioned scrolls, but how did they obtain them? And who is this mountain matron? What is this necessary task of the seven?
You just have her go into a dizzy spell when you don't know how to transition a scene, don't you?
7000610 At least they're not like Khao.
The last thing we need is another group of fanatics out to gut anycreature near Dash because they want to be part of the prophecy.
I wonder if this is confirmation that the last seed will release another soul? Discord coming along on the journey suddenly seems pretty likely.
7000610 With their knowledge of alicorn artifacts I'd be willing to bet Mortuana is their inside source of information.
Ya know, at this point I'd be more surprised if Dash had a dizzy spell while she was resting or something instead of at an inopportune time.
oh. OH OH OH.
I bet "Verlaxion" is actually a real Alicorn of some sort who actually did unite the tribes, and then at some point Verlax swooped in and mucked about and warped the names around, and the Mountain Matron is the...first one. The real one. The one who is not a sneaky dragon.
Why is she hiding instead of ruling? I dunno, maybe she's sick or hurt? Maybe she didn't want to contest the imposter and throw her nation into chaos or something. I dunno.
But it'd be neat.
Wonder if that is legit concern for rainbows well being from renman.
The Mountain Matron is actually just Harrison Ford.
It's where he landed after stabby-stab.
7000709 I thought you were going to go the route of "the divine killed her and took her form!"
Interesting they know quite a bit, I was also starting to get the feeling they kind of worship Rainbow/Austraeoh here giving how some of the Snow Blood are acting. I also wonder if they might know some kind of cure or stop gap for the Dizzy spells, they seemed to be really unconcerned about it.
7000683 or, you, know, the seven character Job squad (tho I do wonder of course)
At least it didn't happen while she was pulling Remna up.
Words cannot describe how happy the chapter title made me.
5/7 for references, because you made me remember my Charlemagne.
Wonder if Verlaxion started off as a Mountain Matron, Hattie Jakes, until the dredge chaos or chaos metal or whatever turned her more like TF Nurse Harley Quinn.
And the staff that points the way will be 16 hoofs high. But. Take away a hoof for the glory of Austreoh.
I see you really like the story, so I decided to fade to black on the main protagonist so I can then spend the next 20 chapters with secondary protagonists and an entire chapter with Angel Bunny and the animals enacting scenes from Monty Python. Harry the Bear as Mr Creosote and Angel Bunny as Death the Ever Living of Cearnabog.
Well. At least they know things and are being mostly helpful.
Is it π?
Feline-ish creature. Curiosity. Figures.
The plot continues to widen.
Still confused.
And unconscious
/edit
Some thoughts:
1. Do you guys remember The Herald? They thought they're supposed to escort Dash. Let's hope this one won't end as ugly.
2. Raiders of the Lost Oats. What is this reference? Like, I genuinely don't know what that is.
*forreverrmorre
(Sorry, I just wanted to be the one to point out something really stupid
)
I swear, Skirts, if Kepler says "BRAHAHA!" I might do something.
7001140
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
7000820
more like excited about it
7000593 Maybe that's the reason they live isolated. They don't mess with Verlaxion world and then Verlaxion doesn't mess with them. Interestingly this wouldn't be the first tribe; the sarosians and sirens don't seem to fall for the verlaxion myth too. It's seems that ponys and griffins are really the favourite pawns of Verlax.
7001213
Oh.
That.
Well, in my defense, the Polish title translates directly to "Seekers of the Lost Ark". There's not even "Indiana Jones and the" phrase in it!
7001267
That's understandable. I figured it was either something like that or you just must have been too tired to think clearly when you put up the question. It is quite the good show.
Now that we have entered wyvern territory, I feel it is appropriate to enter a more draconic state.
*changes profile pic to my dragon OC*
7000610 The wyverns are legendary lorekeepers. It would be unsurprising if their scriptures date back uninterrupted to the last visits of the alicorns at Bleak's Plummet and the the Caribou or even Proto-Pegasi who formulated the original Austraeoh prophecy.
Bitch.
7001267 When the movie was first released, it was titled just Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Indiana Jone and... prefix was for the sequels. The first may have been renamed to be consistent with the others, but I reject that reality and substitute the non-Lucas/Spielberg reality.
I'm probably way off track here, but could the Mountain Matron perhaps be a fragment of Endrax?
I was looking at the Wiki entry for Endrax, and it points to a number of references;
Urohringr - Destiny, Misery and Your Mother - Chrysalis:
So we know Endrax is fragmented somehow,
...and the Divine is currently AWOL.
Odrsjot - To Intervene is Divine - Axan speaking to Nevlamas:
Interesting.
At the beginning of the Wiki entry is the following quote;
- Ynanhluutr, "Most Divine Moments, Frozen in Time"
Now, '...she was always focused on it's death.' might seem to suggest that Endrax desired such a thing, but what if her obsession resulted from a desire to prevent it.
I'm clearly overthinking this, sorry.
Speaking of which, I just now realized that the voice I hear for Kepler's dialogue is that of Tony the Tiger. Grreat choice, am I rright?