How the East Met West
Swisssssh!
On glinting wingblades, Keris descended onto a loosely suspended platform. Clakka! He retracted the blades in time for his wings to flap, hovering himself in place. One limb at a time, he tested his weight against the woven structure, then finally stood on all fours.
Coiling his wings at his sides, Keris looked up... and up and up and up. His beak hung open as his magenta eyes took in the towering lengths of a massive metal obelisk.
The slender structure stood out like a black splinter in the middle of the Quade. Shredded bits of Reed hung off the multiple stories, and a few splintery lattices of wood and weave dangled and swayed in the salty breeze. The griffon could see multiple spots where the Luminards' former home once hung off the tower, using its bulky mass as a foundation.
Blinking, Keris glanced left and right. He tilted his head, noting the height of the steep, steep mountain ridges to the north and to the south. Even after so many eons, the canyon walls facing inward were craggy, porous, and sparsely vegetated in comparison to the thick greenery that capped off the jagged peaks. The geological structures dwarfed the metal tower in their immensity, so that Keris could easily imagine how the entire continent of Luminar once buried the obelisk entirely.
Taking a deep breath, Keris flapped his wings and lifted up off the woven platform. He ascended, gliding up and around the cylindrical stalk. His hawkeyes narrowed. He scanned the polished surface with avid scrutiny. Despite years of being covered by reed and wood, there were little to no blemishes along the glossy metal. In fact, he could almost perfectly see his own reflection in the material—along with the rock and water of the Quade behind him.
Then—all of the sudden—circles.
“...?” Keris halted in midair, his wings repositioning themselves. He drew closer to the metal, nearly pressing his beak to the surface. His magenta gaze followed a pattern of six circles, all gathered around a curved line that flowed crookedly across the diameter of a seventh, all-encompassing circle. He raised a talon and drew a claw calmly across the surface. Despite the gray lines forming a pattern before him, he couldn't feel even the slightest indentation. There was no sign of wear, tear, or chipping in any fashion.
He exhaled through his beak's nostrils, then flew back from the obelisk entirely. He levitated evenly with the symbol he had found, then looked behind him.
The western end of the Quade's channel bled with a red sunset.
Curious, Keris flew counter-clockwise around the circumference of the tower, keeping level with the symbol. To his mild surprise, he found another symbol. He halted right in front of it, blinking, then glanced in the opposite direction.
The east end of the channel led towards a dim horizon beyond the Quade.
With a curious breath, Keris stroked his feathery chin, staring up and down at the cylinder's cryptic presence.
“At first, I thought she was sincere about meditating within the Holiest of Holies. Truly.” Nicro gulped. “We all did.” She looked up from where she sat on the edge of the Quade, two floating platforms away from the impromptu MASH unit. “Sonikah—one of the wisest elders—even assisted her in an age-old sacrament. She went through several trials to become anointed by proxy. But then—when she was finally allowed to bask in the Reed's presence...” She shuddered. “...Rainbow Dash started to show her true colors.”
“Menthe said that she later claimed to be part of some... some foreign cult,” Keris said, pacing before the pilgrim. “Something to do with 'Harmony' in a land called Excelsior.”
“Equestria,” Nicro corrected. “Those words still haunt me. They haunt all of us.” She gulped again. “The entire time she was pretending to be genuinely interested in Goddess Verlaxion, she was really just trying to get at something beneath the Reed.” With a sigh, Nicro hung her head. “I even tried to be nice to her. Tried... tr-tried to give her something to eat when she was suffering through the trials. Maybe...” She sniffled. “M-maybe it was my sin that st-started all this. Oh Goddess...”
“Hey... Hey.” Keris knelt in front of the mare and tilted her chin up. “This is not your fault, do you understand me?”
“But... b-but when I was anointed, I made a covenant with—”
“This was all the work of a cruel and heartless vagabond. It has nothing to do with you.”
Nicro bit her lip. “We must all face a reckoning for our sins...”
“Indeed. And everyday, it is a most grueling battle,” Keris said with a nod. “But the Goddess wouldn't be proud of Her foals if they accepted defeat so easily. Wouldn't you agree?”
Nicro blinked.
“There is much of Verlaxion's will to be done,” Keris said, standing up. “And it is our duty to do so with courage and humility, despite the harsh misfortune of this world. Now... would you be willing to help me compile my facts together, dear elder?”
Nicro's lips parted. “You... you would call me an elder?”
“Why not?” He smiled. “Highly anointed or not, you've certainly earned your wings in the Talon's book.”
Nicro exhaled. She gazed off towards the east end of the Quade. “...she... she claimed to be something called 'the Austraeoh.'”
Keris craned his feathery head to the side. “Rainbow Dash?”
Nicro nodded. “She believed that the world was flat... and that it was made of metal and machinery underneath.”
Keris gazed down the length of the channel. “Fascinating.”
“According to her, there was some... energy... some Harmonic energy or something that she had to get to inside the tower.”
He pointed. “So, when she saw the metal underneath the Reed, that set her off?”
“Oh, she didn't see the metal.”
He blinked. “She didn't?”
“Not at first. She... stole her way into one of the upper sanctuaries and spotted it... right before running into Antsan. That's how she first saw it.”
“Curious...” Keris' eyes narrowed. “How, then, was she first attracted to the Quade to begin with?”
“I... I do not know.”
Keris paced a bit. Eventually, he spoke: “Menthe and Galloran—your protectors—say that she wasn't alone.”
“No. She had two travelling companions.”
“A stallion and a griffon, yes?”
“A pegasus named Bard and a griffon named Wildcard.”
“Could you describe them to me?”
“Wildcard was... well... about your age, but with darker feathers. He wore goggles all the time... never talked.” Nicro gulped, then pointed at her hoof. “And his left talon.”
“What of it?”
“It... it wasn't natural. It almost looked like it was made of metal.”
“A prosthetic?”
Nicro nodded.
“And what of Bard?” Keris asked.
“He... he seemed awfully polite. Talked a lot... but was pleasant about it.” Her lips curved ever so slightly. “He listened to my choir... and he performed some music for us as well. I almost think that... that...” Her smile left, replaced by a grimace.
Keris raised an eyecrest. “What?”
“Well... wh-when I last saw Bard, he had shown up at the monastery with Wildcard... just as it was collapsing. And h-he didn't seem too happy.” Nicro gazed up at the Lieutenant. “It's almost as if he was angry with Rainbow Dash... and had to rescue her in spite of his better judgment.”
“Do you suppose that the Rogue's companions disagreed with what she did here in the Quade?”
“I... I don't know. I mean... it's possible...” Nicro bore a brief frown. “But they still knew more than they ever told us.”
“Even about Rainbow Dash and her cultish beliefs?”
“Mmmhmmm.”
“Were they followers as well?”
“No. I mean... I-I don't think so.” Nicro fidgeted. “Maybe... maybe Rainbow Dash really did originate from somewhere beyond the Blight. Stranger miracles have happened. But Wildcard and Bard? Every monk who met them was more than certain that they belonged to the seven seas.”
“They just... chanced upon Rainbow Dash in their travels?”
“That's the impression I got... that we all got.”
“I see.” Keris nodded. “And did they offer any explanation for her supposed powers?”
“Not much,” Nicro said. She glared for a second or two. “And they weren't 'supposed'.”
Keris leaned back, exhaling. “You saw her perform some sort of foreign magic up close?”
“Is that what the seven seas are saying?” Nicro blinked hard. “That it was all some alien magic that Rainbow Dash used to destroy the Reed?”
Keris shrugged. “I am here to be corrected, dear elder. Please... do set me straight.”
“It was nothing less than pure, heretical corruption!” Nicro exclaimed, hissing. Almost as soon as her voice took on a venomous tone, she winced... and her ears drooped. “At least...” She gulped. “That's what Sonikah and the others are convinced of.”
“And you?”
She sniffled. “I-I don't know. All I know is that... th-that I almost made a friend...” She rubbed her cheek, shuddering. “And the next minute... she was like a demon. All of the Reed was crumbling before my eyes, and she kept rambling... sputtering... that she 'had to do it.' 'She had no choice.'” Nicro clutched her skull and shivered. “That pendant... that pendant. It kept glowing and shimmering... like she possessed something demonic that was out to destroy all of Verlaxion's glory...”
Keris' eyes darted into the Quade, then lifted up. “I spoke to a few other pilgrims over the past three hours.” Taking a breath, he strolled forward. “The ones who saw Rainbow Dash in person told me that she never took that pendant off. She even found a loophole that allowed her to perform her ritual with the item still on... around her neck.”
Murmuring into her hooves, Nicro merely nodded.
“Supposedly it was an heirloom from her... Equestria. But whatever the thing's origin, it was the source of what destroyed the Reed, yes?”
“She... she touched the Reed with its power,” Nicro murmured, looking up with glossy eyes. “She weakened it... then ripped it apart with Menthe's own spear.”
“And she just did this at some random part of the Tower?”
“Yes.” Nicro blinked. “N-no...” Her eyes squinted at her own utterance.
Keris listened patiently.
Nicro blinked again. “She... she went straight for the Holiest of Holies. She... she insisted that there was an entrance into the tower there. At least... that's what she proclaimed before the final attack.”
“So she had expressed some malicious intent before the actual assault happened?”
“It all seemed like lunatic's raving to us at the time,” Nicro said. “Part of her belief in the 'Austraeoh' and a metal world...”
“Tell me... dear elder...” Keris shuffled closer. “When Rainbow Dash went into the Holiest of Holies... did she exit out the same way she came?”
Nicro shook her head slowly. “No. She... she ended up on the east side,” she said. “Right where I found her. Why do you ask?”
Keris scratched his bottom beak, gazing out over the Quade.
“... ... ...Lieutenant?”
“Sorry.” He cleared his throat. “Just pondering.” He adjusted the weight of his armor and stared down at the pilgrim. “You've been of extraordinary help to me, Ms. Nicro.”
“I have?”
“Of all the pilgrims I've spoken to, you've been the most forthcoming,” he said. “I think I might have the details that I need to compile a proper description of our suspect, so that the Council may conduct a better search for her in the near future.”
“You're... y-you're not going to try and track her down herself?”
“Oh, I have every intention to,” he said. “But the fact of the matter is... it has been over two weeks since your Rainbow Rogue left the Quade, and finding her among the seven seas between here and Rohbredden will be difficult for just one member of the Right Talon to do.”
“I see...” Nicro hung her head.
“But I will do everything that is within my power to track her down. But...” He paced past her. “The first and foremost item on my list is to ensure that the pilgrims here are well-provided for.”
“Huh?” She looked up, blinking.
“I am writing messages to be delivered by pegasus hooves back to the mainland every day,” Keris explained. “And in my next letter, I shall use my authority to request that a supply ship come here as soon as possible.”
“But...” Nicro blinked. “We already had some help come and go.” She waved a hoof. “A ship belonging to 'Brye Chandler.'”
“Mmmm... yes, well...” Keris cleared his throat. “This will be quite different.” He smiled at her. “This supply team is an extension of the Council of Verlaxion. You have my word that they will not leave until each and every one of your kind is properly fed and nursed back to health. The ship will even provide transport if you should desire to relocate.”
“Relocate?!” Nicro's muzzle hung agape.
Keris gestured with his claw. “Surely you cannot be expected to stay here in this condition. Among this detritus—”
“Lieutenant, this detritus is what's left of a holy place!” Nicro's jaw muscles clenched. “The Reed may be gone, but Verlaxion's will still remains!”
“Elder—”
“We have pledged our lives to her service! And even if we've failed her, it doesn't mean that... that we don't have...” Nicro panted, shuddered, then hung her head.
Keris shuffled over and knelt before her. He placed a talon on her shoulder and spoke gently: “If you wish to stay, then we cannot force you to move. This is a sanctuary in the eyes of the Council, after all. That being said...” He leaned back, staring thoughtfully at her. “There seems to be very little opportunity for the spread of Verlaxion's word and wisdom if all of Her children choose to languish and perish in one place.”
“It's taken me several restless nights of meditation, but I've come to a realization.” Nicro whimpered. “If the Reed was truly destroyed, then it could only have been willed by Verlaxion Herself.”
“Then perhaps She wills it for you and the rest of the monks to carry on your legacy elsewhere.”
Nicro looked up, eyes glossy.
Keris smiled. “Have you ever contemplated that—perhaps—the one true Sanctuary is you? And that Verlaxion's Holiest of Holies will always have a place to make itself manifest... so long as there are faithful, humble ponies willing to represent Her divine glory?”
“I... I cannot imagine...” Nicro murmured.
Keris patted her shoulder. “Well... maybe... just maybe it is Verlaxion's will for you and many others to learn and understand more, dear elder. But I cannot imagine that happening here. You've spent a lifetime burying your sins. Let Verlaxion's grace decide where you get buried.” He stood up and strolled towards the edge of the platform. “Look, it's not my job to act as a spiritual counselor to you. I'm not anointed or anything, so take my words by the measure of your own wisdom. However, I am charged by the glory of Verlaxion herself to defend the interests of Rohbreddenites everywhere, and it would be a failure on my part if I somehow allowed you and the rest of your brothers and sisters in the Reed to suffer.” He plopped his helmet on and faced the Quade. “A supply ship should arrive in two days... maybe three. Take their assistance as you will, or don't. Their grace is Verlaxion's grace, as far as I see it.”
“Where... mmm...” Nicro fidgeted. “...are you going?”
“East,” Keris said. “To look for clues and ascertain where the Rogue has gone.” He sighed. “Hopefully I won't be too late.”
“I... I think Galloran can help you with that.”
Keris turned to look over his shoulder. “The younger protector?”
She nodded.
“How so?”
“He... he claims to have seen her,” Nicro said. “Heading east... by raft.” She gulped. “The evening following the Reed's destruction.”
“... ... ...” Keris gently smiled. “Is that so?” He stretched his wing muscles. “Well... looks like generosity abounds today...”
Seraphimus stood with her hood down beside a crackling bonfire. Her charcoal eyes gazed cold and calm, staring straight ahead.
On the subterranean ledge across from her, a family of unicorns had gathered around a glowing sphere of ice. They stood anxiously while a priest and two uniformed equines strolled up. One of the stallions enchanted a crystal with his horn, then placed it—bright and glowing—against the curved underside of the blue ice shard within the alcove.
With the command of a magic spell, the crystal flashed a burning hot red. Within seconds, steam emanated from the alcove. The priest held his forelimbs out protectively, ushering the family back... back from the spectacle. They craned their necks to see, their eyes bright and longing.
Layer by layer, the ice melted, revealing the tender body of a slumbering foal. Once the liquid had drained completely from the bed that the child was laying on, she twitched, gasping for breath. After a few minor convulsions, one of the two uniformed stallions rushed up, administering a relaxing agent. At long last, the filly sat up, lifting her maneless head. She blinked blearily... then saw her family. A weak smile crossed her muzzle, and she reached her forelimbs out.
The priest said a prayer, then backed up with a calm smile. Sobbing with joy, the family rushed forward, embracing the filly. Then, after a tearful reunion, the stallions helped her into a stretcher. The family provided joyous escort while she was rolled away towards the furthest reaches of the frosted cavern.
A deep sigh left Seraphimus' lungs. Her eyes watered while a warm smile hung off the pointed edges of her beak.
“Miraculous, is it not?” uttered a stallion's calm breath.
“...!” She spun with a flounce of her crest feathers.
The stallion smiled back, adjusting the goggles over his brown mane. “They found an antidote to Blight Viper venom just two weeks ago,” Theanim Mane said. His smile washed over the furthest lengths of the cavern, where at least a dozen more bodies were being thawed out with bursts of steam and salvos of happily cheering families. “Something that was once considered incurable is now just a drop in the bucket. Alas, Verlaxion is ever merciful.”
Seraphimus shuddered. She pivoted away from him and began walking—swiftly—towards the distant exit of the cavern.
Theanim gazed after her. Clearing his throat, he broke into a fast canter, following. “I do apologize for the intrusion, Commander—”
“If you are truly sorry, then you shall leave me alone,” she grunted breathily. Her tail whipped violently at the end of each word. “Nopony's supposed to know that I am here.”
“There is nothing to be ashamed of in paying respects for—”
“Go away!” She snarled. “I am a very busy griffon. Defending the interests of Rohbredden affords me little time for humoring the political interests of a rhetorical nopony—!”
“It must take truly harrowing patience indeed to wait for a cure to dredge dust infection.”
Seraphimus' talons scraped against the rock. She turned around, eyes wide.
Theanim gazed sympathetically at her. “I know that you are not here to sight-see, Commander. Please. Let us talk. I do not believe that we will have another opportunity other than this.”
“Who have you been talking to?!” Snarling, Seraphimus turned on him, claws sharp and glinting. “Answer, Professor!” She marched towards him in firm, menacing steps. “Was it Hymmnos? Vilcheez?!”
“Dear Commander,” Theanim spoke in a soft tone, shaking his head. “I am a prime member of the Scientific Order. I have regular access to any and all names of those registered to be suspended here for future curing.”
Seraphimus jolted to a stop, blinking. She shuddered, exhaling heavily. At last, she hung her head, swallowing a lump down her throat. “Of... of c-course, Professor. I... I am sorry...”
“There's no need.” He smiled, shuffling closer. “There's been an awful lot of gross assumptions being made as of late. Considering the stress you've been under—both physical and emotional—it's only natural that you'd jump to conclusions.”
She took a deep breath. Gradually, her hawkeyes raised to meet him again, and they were hard. Chiseled. “Why would you come here like this, then?” she grumbled. “So sneakily... and without my express permission?”
“I had hoped to meet with you outside the arena.”
“You mean beyond the boundaries of the Court.”
“Indeed.”
Her beak nostrils flared. “I am a sworn military guardian of the Queen. You know that I cannot entertain any political measures outside of the official oversight of the Grand Magistrate.”
“Then entertain my company as a friend,” Theanim said, smiling. “And a fellow child of Verlaxion.” He gestured. “Is that so much to ask?”
Seraphimus was silent.
Theanim's eyes narrowed. “Do you even have friends outside of the Talon, Commander?”
Seraphimus fidgeted slightly. Clenching her beak, she glanced up at him. “...”
“There was a windigo attack on our village,” Seraphimus murmured. She and Theanim strolled along a torchlit path overlooking the southern bluffs of the Rohbredden coast. To the far west—blocking the sunset—a thick plume of thunderclouds brewed over oceanwater, shimmering with cold flashes of distant lightning. “And—as you know—windigos fall outside the purview of the Right Talon's defense. Only the Divine Goddess herself can ward off such spirits.”
“As it has been since the time before Unification,” Theanim said with a nod. “It's a proven fact.”
“As a Lieutenant at the time, it was my duty to obey the Commander and directly assist him in evacuating the prefecture. The windigoes were herding closer and closer, and we had only so much time to get the griffon citizens away from their roosts before the deathly cold of the beasts overtook them. I was... bound by my sworn oath. I couldn't be with my family until after the herd had passed over, or after Verlaxion's thawing breath had driven them back from the prefecture and into the mountain heights. Whichever came first.”
“But that's where I'm confused,” Theanim said. He gazed at her in mid-stride. “Your husband and child aren't afflicted with windigo blight.”
“Indeed.” Seraphimus' beak nostrils flared. “The windigos did not come near them. However... the cave they were hiding in was unsafe. There were crates full of partially-burnt dredge coal left there decades ago by a defunct mining consortium. It was highly volatile material, usually off-limits to citizens, but this was an especially awkward circumstance. The frozen stampede sent a tremor that reverberated through the whole mountain, disturbing the structural integrity of the storage cavern, and...” She gulped. “...almost every griffon who chose that place as refuge became infected with the damnable dust. Within weeks, they would succumb to deterioriating lungs, followed by acute heart failure.”
“That is most unfortunate,” Theanim droned. “I am deeply sorry for what you and your family endured.”
“We were blessed in the end,” Seraphimus said, summoning a tender smile. “My Commander curried favor with the Council. They contacted the Order, and—with assistance of the priesthood—my family was spared. They await the day when scientific progress will allow for their release from their binds. And I?” She sighed. “I await it too.”
“From what I've read, it's been twelve years.”
“Twelve years, three months, two weeks, and three days,” Seraphimus droned, her talons scuffling over snow-flaked stone. “I count each passing morning with a heavy heart.” Her feathery brow furrowed. “I can only hope that your gifted Order countes each day with a heavy mind.”
“I am sorry to say that my expertise lies outside of medicine and pathology,” Theanim declared. “I've been entrusted with a copious amount of observational field work: exploration... education... discovery... taxonomy. Anthropological activism, I suppose you could say.” He looked over with a smirk. “But I happen to know—from several fellow researchers in the central academies—that a breakthrough in curing the avian lungs of dredge dust is just around the corner.”
“As almost all scientists are keen to casually tell me,” Seraphimus muttered. “As if it's supposed to make anything better.”
“Erm...”
“As if it's somehow supposed to magically bring back my family with any greater swiftness than Verlaxion's divine mercy.”
“Commander, I did not come here to offer you an answer.”
“No, but you did come here to make me ponder torturously on the problem all the same.” Seraphimus spun about, glaring down at the pony. “So I ask you again... Professor... just what is the true nature of your rude inquisition?”
“I assure you, Commander, I am quite sincere about the recovery of your family,” Theanim said with a slight frown. “But I am sincere about a lot of other things as well, which I feel is sadly lacking in the Council as of late.”
She sighed, leaning back and folding her sleeved limbs. “I do believe that this is where I must eject myself from a most inappropriate conversation.”
“Then so be it.” He waved a hoof. “But hear me out first.” His eyes narrowed. “What is the most important issue in Rohbredden's interests... currently?”
“With Unification Day coming up? And the Month of Thawing??” Seraphimus snorted. “The protection of the Prefectures, of course!”
“Then shouldn't the Council be bolstering your defenses? I mean...” Theanim gestured. “The Right Talon is spread out enough as it is.”
“If this is to address the current decision to investigate the Rainbow Rogue...”
“Don't you think it's a most curious tangent, Commander?” Theanim leaned against a wooden railing. Thunder broiled softly in the distant west. “During a time such as this—for the leader of the Shoreline Trade Consortium to issue a veritable red herring when there are so many problems already in the interior?”
“I am certain that Brye Chandler's motivations are just as base as the rest of the Council's,” Seraphimus muttered. “Political, superficial, even sinful. But that's none of my concern.” She shook her head. “My duty is to protect the divine Will of Verlaxion, and it is the Queen's desire to manifest Her wisdom through the Council.”
“But Commander—”
She raised a talon. “Perhaps it is the role of a scientist to question everything...” Her hawkeyes narrowed. “And if I was a scientist, I'd say that your innate connections with the Rainbow Rogue raise a lot of questions indeed.”
Theanim bit his lip.
“I would be quite tempted to question your loyalties... your frailties... and your sudden and inexplicable tendency to give into whimsy and impulsive decisions...” She sneered, shuffling closer and closer to the smaller figure before her. “All of which allowed you to be an accessory to the obviously psychotic actions of a mysterious mare from the west. I've read up on what transpired in Rust and Shoggoth, my dear Professor. If it weren't for Camellia's involvement, I'd venture to say that you would be branded with so many unlawful acts of criminal malice that it would put you in jail for twice as long as that shady midnighter friend of yours within the frosted hold.” She stopped before her sharp beak could shove him over the side of the cliff, and she leaned back. “However... I am not a thinker, but instead a doer, and an ever-loyal... ever-humble servant to the Council. Which... if you may have happened to notice, is not where we are currently located. So I would very much like it if you put this charade to an end.”
Theanim gulped. “The only charade in Rohbredden, Commander, is pretending that all of this tension is simply a matter of capturing a crazed pegasus from beyond the Blight.”
“... ... ...” Seraphimus merely blinked at him.
Theanim leaned up, pushing himself off the railing so that he stared at her, undaunted. “You have great vision, Commander, both physically and intellectually. Take a look around you... past your sorrow and past your anger.” He waved a hoof. “Dredge coal is turning up missing left and right. There are terrorist attacks all across the central prefectures. The Syndicate has fallen. The Blight is no more. Trade routes are frayed, and pirating and privateering is at an all-time high. Now, for years... even in the midst of my most studious travels... I outright ignored the filth that was coating the ocean's surfaces around me. But now that I've encountered so much ugliness and tension across these waters as of late, I can hardly even sleep well at night. The seven seas are a tempest, and they threaten to drown Rohbredden entirely. All it will take is just one shove, and the Colonialists and Continentalists will be at each other's throats. Surely you've felt this. If not in the Council—then abroad. Everypony is tense and afraid and paranoid... and just where is our Goddess? Where is her Divine intervention?”
Seraphimus exhaled. She turned from him, glaring out into the stormy seas. “You saw Verlaxion's glory down in the cavern. Where it always is.”
“True. But Her abject silence must mean something, Commander! You want to know what I believe?” He gulped. “I believe that Her foals are in trouble and even She doesn't know how to save them this time. It will take a great deal more than a Thawing to bring salvation to the Six Tribes this time around. And this hunt for the Rainbow Rogue that the Council's sent you on? I fear that it is a distraction... a deterrant from a truer, healthier path. I don't say this simply because of some bias I've acquired from traveling alongside the pegasus. For all I know, maybe the same corruption has poisoned her as well... and perhaps she really did do those things in the Quade. But I fear that this is just the beginning... and those attracted to the flame she's kindled are not being drawn there by the kindness of their hearts, but by a very different passion indeed.”
“You're right, Professor,” Seraphimus muttered. “Something is distracting us.” She turned to glare at him. “Just like something's distracting you from exercising a clear and rational mind.”
Theanim sighed. “Dear Commander—”
She pointed with a razor sharp claw. “Do not 'Dear Commander' me. Despite your despicable pretense, you are neither a friend nor a brother of Verlaxion... not so long as you stand to question the task that is set before me.”
“And just what task is that?”
“To bring to justice all souls whom the Council deems—by Verlaxion's wisdom—to be an enemy of Rohbredden. And that includes your precious friend from beyond the Blight... if she so happens to be guilty of her crimes. I'm sorry, Professor, but if you're looking for sympathy for your past mistakes, then you're talking to the wrong griffon.” She brushed past him, readjusting her hood. “Now, if you'll excuse me, but I've taken a leave for far too long. My wingmates and I must patrol the surrounding prefectures to the north.”
A few seconds after she walked off, Theanim's voice followed her:
“Unquestionable fealty to the Council and to Verlaxion is quite admirable, Commander,” Theanim said. “Tell me... was it beneficial to you before?” A beat. “And to your family?”
Seraphimus scuffled to a stop. Her muscles tensed. A hint of a frown loomed, and she almost turned around. However, with a defeated sigh, she spread her wings and took off, gliding north through the dead drift of snow.
Alone atop the cliff, Theanim squirmed. “Well, that went swimmingly...” He trotted over towards the wooden railing and leaned against it. “Oh, how I wish I had your wit and timing, Old Chap. It's rancid... and yet poignant when it needs to be.”
Silence.
Then, with a sudden grimace, Theanim gnashed his teeth. “Damnation, Rainbow...” He slapped his goggles over his eyes and hung his head, groaning. “Just where are you?” He kicked at the flakes of snow and watched as they melted beneath him. “Where did you go...?”
“There,” Galloran said, pointing at the last sunlit waves of the day. “In that direction. East-northeast.”
Keris settled down beside him in the tiny pine forest nestled along the east edge of the Quade. “Did you say east-northeast?”
Galloran nodded, tightening his wingfeathers by his side. “It was several hours after the Desperadoes carried her away from the monastery.”
“Desperadoes?”
“Erm... Bard and the griffon. It was their calling card.”
“I see...”
“Anyways, Menthe needed help tending to the monks, and I did the best that I could. But I also knew that I had to get an eye on where the no-gooders went. So... uhm... the first moment that I could, I told Menthe that I was heading out to the east supply shack to get some medical supplies.” Galloran gulped. “Instead... I-I came out to see if I could get a good look at the three of them.”
“And did you?”
“Well, I came here first, thinking that maybe they'd be packing up on a bunch of the mangos for the journey ahead. It's a long flight. But all I found was this...” He reached deep into his saddlebag and produced a flowing white bandage.
Keris blinked. He reached out, then took the fabric in his talons. He noticed several copper-brown spots and he sniffed it. “Mmmm... doesn't exactly smell like 'monster blood.'”
“It was left here... blown by the wind against a pine tree.” Galloran pointed along the northern edge of the treeline. “Right about... there. My guess is the pony split up from the rest of the group and wandered the shoals for supplies.”
“She didn't just fly away?”
“She couldn't,” Galloran said. “Her left wing was injured. I... uh... I-I got her good with the crossbow.”
Keris nodded. “That matches the other eyewitness accounts.” He strolled down along the crashing surf. “The pilgrim Nicro mentioned that she ventured forth on a raft.”
“Two rafts, actually.”
“Two?”
“Erm... she had fashioned them together from some of the old, old wreckage... here in the Quade.” Galloran pointed out among the many-many chunks of vertical rock. “Out there... to the north... and then to the northeast. See?”
“I do. There were enough materials in those desposits for her to fuse together two rafts?”
“Most definitely. By the time I reached this spot, I saw her casting off... exiting the shallow waters of the Quade and sailing into open ocean.”
“You didn't pursue her?”
“No. I-I didn't.” Galloran hung his head. “That was my mistake.”
“Why should you feel bad?” Keris breathed. “You had obligations to the monks you swore to protect.”
“She'd bested both Menthe and I in combat,” Galloran muttered. “If I fought her again... who knows what would happen? Even with an injured wing, that friggin' mare would have owned me. And then how would I have been around to help out the Luminards?”
“And you're certain she was alone?”
“Absolutely.” Galloran nodded. “There was no sign of Bard or Wildcard whatsoever. I... uh... I don't know what the others have told you—”
“They both weren't very pleased with her.”
The pegasus shook his head. “No they weren't.”
“Fitting, I suppose.” Keris strolled along the tempestuous edge of the crashing surf. “That a pegasus so psychotic and self-serving would lose her only friends.” He huffed. “It almost seems as if Verlaxion's punished her for us.”
“Yes, but... b-but if she makes it to Rohbredden's shores???” Galloran gulped. “I mean, what promise is there that she won't do to your land what she's done here in the Quade?”
“You said she was heading... east-northeast?”
“Right.”
“Could you point in the precise direction?” Keris asked, gesturing. “All of the Quade looks the same to me, quite frankly. As a protector, I suspect you'd have a better eye.”
Galloran flapped his wings. Hovering, he scanned the horizon, narrowed his eyes, then finally pointed. “There. In that direction. Exactly.”
“You're certain?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Because only one thing lies in that direction between here and the Shoreline Prefecture,” Keris said.
“White Barge?”
“No. One would have to swing due north to skirt the westward drift. I'd venture to say that a mare from a faraway land—cast off to sea with little experience in these waters and with small knowledge of her surroundings—would end up stuck in the central cyclones. Without steam power, ships that travel this part of the seven seas are subjected to an impenetrable lull.”
“She still has one functioning wing,” Galloran said. “She could devise a way to propel herself.”
“Yes, but the westward drift would still keep her from heading far north. No... I wasn't certain before, but now it seems clear.” He smiled. “She could only be headed east.”
“Why...?” Galloran blinked. “Why are you smiling?”
“Because that means only one destination,” Keris said. He looked at the pegasus with a magenta glint in his eyes. “Red Barge.” He stood in place for a few contemplative seconds. “Here...” He reached into a satchel and produced an envelope. “A supply ship will be arriving soon. Give this to them and tell their pegasus messenger to convey it east as soon as possible.”
“Huh? But...” Galloran fumbled slightly before holding the message tightly to his chest. “Why give it to me?”
“Because where I'm going...” Keris spread his wings. “...information has a habit of not getting in or out... among other things.”
“That... doesn't sound very safe.”
“Indeed. But it's even more dangerous for our target.” Flapping, Keris lifted off the Quade for the last time. “Let us hope—for Rohbredden's sake—that I get to her before somepony else does.”
“Rogue!!!” shouted a voice against the thunder.
The steamship tossed and turned against violent waves.
Flashes of lightning erupted overhead, casting a silver sheen over the seven seas
“Rainbow Rogue!!!” Another crew member hollered.
Monket was currently busy stumbling, fumbling, and cussing his way from bow to stern. He teetered left and right, shoved aside a sputtering pair of slaves, then braced himself against a metal bulkhead as fresh cold seawater doused him and everypony else on board. Thunder rumbled, shaking his hooves loose as he bumbled the rest of the way.
At last, he joined several gawking, waterlogged ponies along the rearmost platform of the careening ship.
“This better be something real!” he hissed, tossing his green dreads into the bedlam and rainwater. “Or your guts are becoming fishbait tomorrow morning!”
“Out there! Southwest, Mr. Monket!” The crewmember hollered, pointing a drenched hoof. “Look! Beyond the foaming crests!”
“Ehhh?” Monket shoved him aside, peering with his pale red eyes. “Give me a second to digest the currents, damn you!”
“It's there! The monster! I saw it first!” The servant gulped. “I-I lay claim to the heated meal!”
“That remains to be seen.” He waved a hoof. “Skipper! Spyglass!”
A scrawny stallion galloped up, hoofing Monket a rain-slicked telescope.
Monket grabbed it and stared out at the waves. He held his breath, steadying the lens.
To the southwest, two crests away, a dark shadow loomed. Then—in the next flash of silver—Monket saw color... seven shades of it... shivering and clinging to two splintery strips of wood.
“... ... ...” Monket lowered the spyglass. As thunder rolled, so did a dull chuckle from his muzzle. “Eat it, Skagra, ya seafoam rat bastard.” He shoved the telescope back into the skipper's chest, then spun to face the gawking crew. “Hooves to the harpoons! Turn us about!” He spat into the broiling tempest, facing southwest again. “And remember... bleed her... but the final heartbeat belongs to Chandler.”
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OH CRAP.
Not only has she been traveling injured and weakened and around nasty waters, but she's found by scum who want her head.
Bad. Juju.
(...Hmmm...anyone taking bets on that those guys get "greedy" with her Element?)
Hmm...someone refresh my memory. Was it ever mentioned that Rainbow observed another symbol after leaving the tower or something like that? Perhaps this might be Utaan...
Yeah, and the went well for those pilgrims involved...
Also, I keep occasionally misreading that guy's name as "Brie Chandler", and it gets me hungry for cheese.
PREACH IT. PREACH IT, KERIS.
So...Seraphimus's family is afflicted with some sort of geological dust?
What we need is a magic lightning and rune-powed vaccuum to suck that bad stuff right out of the lungs. Anyone know any good engineering pegasi?
"bandages"
Well, as if it wasn't already obvious enough, Rainbow's headed to Red Barge. Looks like it's going to be forcibly, though.
(I take back what I said about the pendant. They're probably gonna leave it alone.)
Well, it's about time she showed up.
Guess we found Rainbow.
aww he cares!
so what if its his orders to take her alive
Well, looks like we found Rainbow. I guess that means that it'll be another 10 chapters of Keris, Swab, and Seraphimus before we see Monket again.
Hmmm... Keris has a sharp eye. Dash better hope he can catch up before she gets harpooned.
Hmm.. Seraph has a berserk button. Interesting.
Well Dash... what now? Are you going to fight, or have you fallen into apathy and will get caught?
I mean, heck, they're heading to where you're going, may as well hitch an easier ride, cause it sure won't be one for them when they try and nick your pendant.
Ooooh, so close, it has been 15 days since the end of Ynanhluutr, just a day over the amount of time she's been adrift, that would have been really neat if she had been spotted exactly 2 weeks after she shoved off.
-In the end isolation, hunted by a nation. Utaan.
Two weeks shivering on ocean waters. Progress has been slow for her, wasn't it.
Anyway, Rainbow has joined the narrative in pony. We can start joining the threads now.
Lovely ride you've got there, Rainbow.
Chapter title would be a nice one-liner for Rainbow: "prepare to meet the East!"
So canon Austraeoh-Rainbow does have a seven-shaded mane? I know Commander Hurricane did, but show-canon Rainbow only has six shades.
Damn it, Keris is on point. He's shot up to my favourite character east of the Blight by a long, long way at this point. Wonder what'll happen when he crashes headfirst into Monket's crew.
'Cause while a healthy Rainbow wouldn't have much trouble taking down a ship full of half-hearted slaves, I suspect she's not going to have a great deal of will to fight left in her, not to mention physical exhaustion.
In any event, Rainbow's appearance seems to signify that all the pieces are finally in place.
i.imgur.com/NnoGhN1.gif
Oh shit. She's finally been sighted. Welcome back to your story, RD!
...for all the fun it's gonna be once you get tied up and chucked into the hold with Jeryn or something.
Uh oh spaghettio. RD better get her catamaran in gear for a naval battle.
Well, shit.
And there we go Rainbow finally makes her appearance. Just as I thought she is in a very sorry state, I just hope she can survive Monket and escape. It just sucks that Theanim's is so tied to Rainbow because I have a feeling that Seraphimus would have been more easily receptive of what he had to say if he was. She's not stupid though she sees what's going on here and I think with the report from Keris it will become even clearer.
Yeah I don't think RD is in good condition right now. She likely doesn't have much fight in her at the moment. I don't see Monket's plan going awry unless one of two things happen:
1. Pendant comes off
2. Swab releases her from whatever cell she's thrown in
So excited to hear things from RD's perspective. These other characters have been nice, but I'm getting antsy, just like back in Eljunbyro
Yeah, I'm sure the slaves over at Red Barge feel your glory very well.
Seems like Theams is question what Verlaxion really wants.
6564668
If RD really wants to break out, though I'm not sure how willing she is to do so despite pulling that trick way back when blowing up a bar with it, she could just remove the pendant.
Or somebody could be stupid enough to go "ooo, shiny!"
6564661 for the amount of shit she's going to beat out of Red Barge once she's all healed.
Heading East, Dash headed straight into an area of permanent cyclones, and the central lull, sailing ship dead space, like a Mini Blight. But its far too close to the Quade to be the next Machine World Tower in the pattern?
Someone is going t be wanting steam fried chicken in the next few days. As long as they havent has chaos nightmare rip the bottom out of the Barge in the meantime. Dash is too badly messed up, especially being in the hands of slavers, to get out herself.
Wonder if Monket will take chaos Dash, feeding her slaves, leaving the Element with Skagra as payment?
Today's weather: incoming shitstorm with high chances of explosions.
6564661 Maybe they're counting her coat as another color blurring in the distance?
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/b5/29/9f/b5299fbd30d048de47dfddd6c2eedf66.jpg
Also:
Oooh, I like where this is going.
You almost had it right Galloran.
As the inevitable shitstorm gets closer, I'm wondering what role some of the side characters are going to play. Theanim seems too far away to be able to be of any immediate assistance but I get the feeling that the conspicuous absence of the Desperadoes is about to end.
Curious, so he can see Ynanhluutr as well, wonder if he knows of the significance.
Oh she knows, she just doesn't have the interest to do so, good thing someone does.
Ask the hard questions Theanim, just like any good scientist.
Well Rainbow is in trouble now. Just like Eljunbyro, captured by those who seek only to exploit her for their own gain, we all know how that went last time.
Hoho, boy, you have no idea.
Sucks for our hero. Here's hoping she has some fuel left in her. Probably not, but... still
C'mon, was that really necessary? We all know she has a rainbow hair, but there's no need to call her Tumblr feminist.
Well, Twilight and Co. had better shown up again at least a couple of times by now. And I'm not saying that because I expect them to save her but... no matter how disappointed they can be in her, if they haven't, then... well. So much for friendship.
YES DEVELOPMENT
SHOW US THE RAINBOW
Nicro always was the smart one.
And so it begins. Say a prayer for Red Barge. Everypony there will need it.
Hold onto Jekyll, RD. You don't want them to see Hyde.
6564661 her mane has six colours but dash-dash is cyan/sky blue a completely different shade of blue to her head and butt fluff. They never say its her mane they see just that it's seven shades of.colour.
Nice to know I'm still relevant.
Also, Shit-storm incoming. Trust me, I'm a weather surgeon.
Rainbow isn't ready for the true storm hidden in the sheets of rain. I really, really hope that Keris can save her because I fear things might take a turn for the worst very soon.
6565180 By that same argument you could expand to say that she has even more different colors because of her cutie mark. And then her eyes. And her tongue. Commander Hurricane's mane was seven colors though, so I think that's what it is referring to.
In spite of his lack of success, this chapter has only served to remind me what qualities Theanim bears. The man's upright, smart, charming, determined and furiously true to his ideals - an extremely dangerous enemy.
I assumed rainbow was in hiding after she left the quade, found somewhere to lay low once she realized she was the "rainbow rogue"..guess not. She has no idea what she's cause..that's gonna suck when she learns. Keris is super sharp.
Go Keris! And Nicro is best Luminard.
I was just looking up words in the english-old norse translator randomly, and found that "útan" means "beyond" or "externally", and "útanlands" means "abroad". You think "Utaan" means one of those?
So Dash has been spotted. That's all well and good except the person that found her is Monket. Can't wait to see how she's gonna get out of Red Barge. Mayhaps with a little help from Swab and Keris? Maybe Keris gets imprisoned too but uses his Talon position to convince Swab to help? So much to think about...
But, I am glad Nicro is kinda going in the right direction with a little help from Keris.
And Theams trying to help from the political side is really awesome.
Hoboy. I've been eager to find out what state Rainbow's in, but this is not the way I wanted her to be reintroduced.
6564953
Ynanhluutr's always been visible to everyone. Theanim took pictures of the one underneath Nealend, remember?
6565327 in a storm at distance? Nah, slave spots alright rainbow and vibrant blue I doubt they are noticing the whites of her eyes at that distance.
Fallen Rainbow. Her spirit Dashed.
Well if those slavers seriously capture her they will probably try to grab her pendant first, because greedy ponies have to be greedy.
pursuer.
One wrecked ship later the myth of the monster might get backed up by some unfortunate very real facts.
This will might leave the wrong impression for her awesome named
Could it really be that we could see Dash in one of the next 5 chapters ?
Oh noes, here we goes.
Well that oughta ricochet right off her pendent.
6564608
Nope. It's the Ynanhluutr symbol being described there.
6565501
Pilate confirmed that Utan is intended to mean "Beyond", some chapters ago.
6565842
Are you certain? From what I got from the text, it sounded like he could have found a different symbol after looking at the Ynanhluutr symbol.
And everyone converges at the Red Barge. So we can assume Sakgra is going to become the new Shell, after RD does her thing, and I was thinking Swab might become a new minion for RD, though possibly not, as there is not Bellesmith equivalent this time round. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out.
6565013 I'm assuming/severely hoping that at least Fluttershy will come back and give Rainbow another chance. Even though she saw Rainbow do horrible things right after coming back, I just can't imagine her not giving her childhood friend the benefit of the doubt.
6566426 I can't imagine it out of any of them, tbh. I mean... if you got angry at a friend you saw last week, like... really pissed off... but you saw them with a broken leg, dragging themselves away from danger, wouldn't you do something? A stronger bond, such as EoH... well, let's say maybe they can't forgive her—given their ignorance and naivety—but they should still care.
Oh, crap... Everyone get your umbrellas 'cause shit's about to go down!
6566083 Well, the fact that the word 'another' is in italics might suggest that it's a different symbol. In my opinion though, it's just the second Ynan. We still haven't completed Ynanhluutr symbol, we still need AJ and Yaerfaerda is showing RD the direction. I think it's too early for a new symbol. Introducing new symbol while we're still not done with the previous two would just mess with the reader's heads. Only time will tell though...
6566487 Of course I expect Twilight and the others to come back eventually, but I'm saying I think it would be nice if Fluttershy was the first to come back from the Vanilla Zone and hear Rainbow Dash out. She's the kind of character who'd see someone doing something horrible and, once she's gotten over the initial shock of course, ask them why they did it and try to hear their side of the story before judging them for their actions. Whereas Twilight was quick to shoot down Rainbow's reasoning for what she did and declared herself ashamed of the pegasus, while Rarity and Pinkie Pie followed suit and pretty much dragged Fluttershy with them. They'll probably take some convincing in order to trust Rainbow again, whereas I think Fluttershy will do so much more easily.
That and I want to see it just be Rainbow and Fluttershy for a bit, especially after all that RD had to go through to get her back.