In Mead Halls Like Bookends
"I hear you were most instrumental in assisting the monks with a manticore incursion," Mortuana said. She sat across a forest of dimly flickering candles, leaning her bony figure over a desk as she wrote across an unrolled scroll by hoof. "That is most fortunate."
"Yeah, well..." Rainbow Dash paced past the night-shrouded windows of the dusty study. "...no thanks to Remna." The mare frowned, ears twitching. "If she had her way, the manticore would have died—by her hoof, no less."
"An efficient solution," Mortuana said.
Rainbow turned to gawk at her. "Are you friggin' serious?"
The alicorn slowly pivoted to squint back at Rainbow with dull eyes. "Notice I said 'efficient,' not there best. There is a difference."
Rainbow gulped. "Verlax doesn't seem to have that figured out."
"That Divine functions by a one-track mind," Mortuana said, returning to her written words. "She and Remna have much in common."
"Yeah." Rainbow grumbled. "They're both bloodthirsty morons."
"Hmmmmm..." Mortuana exhaled.
"'Hmmmm' what?" Rainbow blinked.
"Nothing to be concerned with, I assure you," Mortuana eventually said. She swallowed. "Simply the frailty of a slowly dying mind... and body"
Rainbow Dash couldn't help but wince. Shuffling slowly towards the decrepit mare, she murmured: "Just what are you writing, anyway?"
"A final record," Mortuana calmly explained. "A conclusion to my long... long tenure here as the Mountain Matron of Wyvern Point."
"Why... do you make that sound so somber?"
"Only because it is, I suspect." Mortuana paused to cough, took a deep breath, then continued writing. "Tomorrow morning, the Herald sets out for the Starkiss. I will be departing as well." Her nostrils flared. "It is not a trip that I shall return from."
"You know, I've been thinking about that..."
"I imagine you have."
"For real... why do you have to be so fatalistic about all of this?" Rainbow pointed with a frown. "And don't say it's your 'alicorn essence' or whatcrap."
"Then you have me at a disadvantage, Austraeoh."
"What's with this plane?!" Rainbow Dash waved her forelimbs incredulously. "Why is every super old dragon or pony so Tartarus-bent on extinguishing?! Even Luna's dark as all get-out, and I can already bet that Celestia has her own somber streak as well!"
"It's the double-edged sword of enlightenment, my little pony," Mortuana said. "When the entire universe is illuminated, you become aware of every shadow."
"You're cool and all, Morty..." Rainbow bore a tired smile as she leaned against a stack of books. "...but even you can't know anything. Same with Verlax. Heck..." Rainbow shrugged. "Why can't you be more like Whitemane? She's got insane gaps in her comprehension, and yet she fills 'em all with joy and optimism."
"I..." Mortuana's jaws clenched slightly. "...am not my sister."
"Look, it doesn't take an immortal mind to tell that you hold some kind of grudge against her. What, were you ticked off that Onyxxus—your starry-eyed dad—found a new mate?"
"It matters little," Mortuana muttered. "Whitemane and I said our good-byes centuries ago. Verlax's curse only solidified a wedge that was already there... something far deeper and darker than the Plains of Magical Drought."
"Do..." Rainbow cocked her head to the side. "...do you hate Whitemane?"
Mortuana slowly shook her head. "Duty has always necessitated the divide between us. Even when we visited the Harmonic Bulwarks along the edge of the world, we meditated separately."
"That's... kinda sad."
"I once came to believe that—in the absence of love—one cannot recognize the texture of sorrow."
"And now?"
"I've long ceased to think so selflessly," Mortuana said. "My entire life's work has been devoted towards ascertaining what it takes to assure that the denizens of this world survive the coming twilight... and enjoy a future where they reunite harmoniously with the rest of Urohringr."
"Well, that's pretty noble." Rainbow cleared her throat. "But it's also an obsession."
"So is a singular trip in one cardinal direction."
"Heh... yeah... I'll give you that." Rainbow brushed a hoof over her shaved head. "Go figure... you... me... Verlax?" She gulped. "Three separate parties who only know how to do things in one direction... and we're about to meet up in one spot."
Mortuana nodded while writing. "A very accurate analogy, if I ever heard one."
"But in the ultimate game of 'chicken,' who flinches first?" Rainbow's ears drooped. "And who's the winner and loser after it happens?"
"I'm afraid that you have actually managed to lose me, Austraeoh."
"Just think about it." Rainbow Dash waved a hoof. "Verlax's testing me. You're resisting her. I'm flying towards Yaerfaerda." She narrowed her eyes. "All three of us are doing precisely what all the others expect. Is... anything actually going to come out of that? Or anything profitable for this world, for that matter?"
"I have every faith that the Herald's strength and fortitude will surpass whatever trap Verlax has in store."
"And that's the sort of attitude that Khao had... no offence." Rainbow cleared her throat. "And you know what? Khao was never a positive contributor until she switched gears... shook the system up, y'know? I'd be Nevlamas food today if it wasn't for her."
"Are you suggesting that we alter a plan that has been set in motion for hundreds of years?" Mortuana tilted her emaciated features aside, staring at Rianbow. "You cannot make the voyage to the Dark Side—much less the Midnight Armory—without touching the final fire of Yaerfaerda. It waits for you at Verlax's throne, deep within Starkiss. The only way to complete the spark is to cross paths with her."
"Yeah, and I get that," Rainbow grumbled. "But... you seem pretty set on what I have to do to get the flame. Verlax seems to expect it as well. Heck, from what I've seen, Remna would do it herself if she had the chance."
"It is not her place."
"It's mine, right?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "If I'm the Austraeoh and I'm so friggin' important, then can't I be the one to make the decision when the time comes?"
"Of course."
Rainbow blinked.
Mortuana continued: "But with the consequences of this entire plane stacked up against you and the Herald, I doubt you can make any choice but one very easily."
Rainbow sighed, face-hoofing. "Can't... can't this journey go better than you're making it out to be? Can't we find a way to get you un-cursed? Or... or to make Verlax see the light?"
"Verlax has seen the light," Mortuana said. "All things considered."
"Then what makes either of you so different from the other?"
The alicorn looked at Rainbow squarely. "Verlax's shadows sink in the other direction. They encompass, rather than frame. I fear she does not give enough credit to the incalculable sorrow over Endrax's unknown fate that ultimately dominates her cold-hearted decisions."
"Heh... no wonder you're so big on not obsessing over your sister."
"I've decided to leave affection for the mortals who will live on in my stead," Mortuana said. "This includes the Herald... and yourself."
"You... expect members of the Herald to survive this journey?"
"The strong ones, perhaps."
Rainbow gulped hard. "Will... I survive this journey?" She gritted her teeth. "Is Austraeoh—... is it the Spark's duty to die out in the end?"
"As it suits."
"Uhhhh..." Rainbow fidgeted. "Which question was that an answer to?"
Mortuana said nothing. She merely returned to her writing with a calm, quiet breath.
Rainbow sighed heavily. "Friggin' immortals..." She rubbed her temple, leaning against books. "I swear... if I ever actually run into Sturke, that dragon had better give up monologues for bungie jumping."
"If I were you, I would dwell on one side of the plane at a time," Mortuana said. "There are many obstacles to cross between here and the Throne of Verlax."
"No kidding..."
"I would venture to say some rest is in order." Mortuana cleared her throat. "The Sacred Seven—most of them, at least—are congregated in the wyverns' mead hall."
"Oh yeah?"
Mortuana nodded. "It might benefit you to join them."
"Yeah. It just might." Rainbow Dash gulped. "Why don't you come with me?"
Mortuana slowly shook her head.
"Why not?" Rainbow pointed. "Is that darn letter so important?"
"It's not a letter so much as a lasting imprint," Mortuana said. "I would very much like the future generations who grace this temple to know of the mission of hope that was assembled here."
"Well, that sounds spiffy enough..."
"Besides, I do not socialize with the mortal members of the Sacred Seven," Mortuana continued. "To impress any more upon them so will only invite distraction in the coming days of travel."
"But it's A-Okay to have secret meetings with Remna, huh?" Rainbow folded her forelimbs with a slight glare. "That cold shoulder of hers must have quite a chip on it by now."
Mortuana inhaled. "You disapprove of my choice to use enchanted blood in restoring the mare."
"Uhhhh..." Rainbow squirmed. "I didn't..." She coughed. "I didn't say that."
"But it is what you feel at heart."
Rainbow winced. She hung her head. "I... I know she saved my life and all, but... I've been through enough crap and seen enough sights to know that saving a life isn't enough on its own. If... if you don't strive to live better after that... then what's the point?" She shrugged. "It's the same for the rescuer as it is for the rescuee. Take that as... testimony from somepony who's saved a lot of lives... for better or for worth."
"I do take heed of it," Mortuana said, finishing the last stroke of the pen and signing her ornate name. "And in time, Remna will as well."
"You really believe that?"
"I have to."
"Why?"
Mortuana slowly pivoted around. "Imprints..." She held the scroll up. "We all have one to leave. Including Remna. She may not realize how ardent her desire for this is... but you can help her discover it... especially when Urohringr needs it the most."
"Uhhhh..." Rainbow Dash shrugged. "I figured—as a member of the Herald—it was Remna's mission to help me."
"Odrsjot works both ways," Mortuana explained. "There will come a time, Rainbow, when even the most disagreeable of allies will not only carry the torch... but be a flicker within the flame. Have faith in Wildcard's mentor. She will not let you down. Of this, I am absolutely sure."
Rainbow sighed. "If you say so, Morty."
"Indeed, I do." Mortuana gazed emotionlessly at the scroll in her grasp. "Several lifetimes of sayings... a mountain palace built on words. But no longer. Tomorrow..." She stood up from the desk, shuddering slightly as her decrepit bones ached. "...I live... I live a little longer to do instead of speak." Exhaling, she trotted across the dusty study to her bed. "Be proud, Austraeoh, that you are capable of doing both... and masterfully. That's why you are the spark, and so-called immortals such as I are merely the watchers."
A rickety wooden mug slid across a long table, resting to a stop in front of Ariel's scrunching muzzle.
"Uhhhhhh..." The mare squinted at her reflection in the bubbling froth of the beverage. "...I'm glad for your hospitality, Kepler. Really, I am... but just what in the buck is this?"
"What's it matter, pussy lips?!" Logan grinned wide, cradling another mug as it slid to a stop in front of him. "A hearty drink's a hearty drink! Now bottom's up, girl!" That said, the thick stallion chugged away at the quaff. Milliseconds later, his brown eyes bulged, and he doubled over, coughing and wheezing several octaves.
"Whoahhh... easy there, partner!" Bard chuckled from where he sat next to Wildcard.
"Dammit, Big Show." Flynn rolled one eye. "Were you born an insipid farttard or what?"
"Gnkkkkt!" Big Show hissed, clutching his throat. "My uvula... is m-making love to a cactus...!"
"Ha hah!" Kepler grinned as he filled another mug from a large barrel's tap. "As well as you should feel the burrn, my swift-to-swallow frriend!" He cradled two mugs and shuffled on his wing-claws, crossing the distance of a grand torchlit hall overlooking the starlight ravine beyond an open balcony. "Forr this is Wyverrn Firre Mead! The hearrtiest of the hearrty!"
"You sly devil, Kepler." Ariel smirked. "Who knew that—beneath their humble demeanor—wyvern monks are the most conniving brewers of Rohbredden moonshine."
"They damn well should!" Flynn grinned, sniffing his mug. "They've got the mother of all mountains for it!"
"And the matrons of all mountain mothers," Bard added with a wink.
"Pfft..." Ariel rolled her ocean blues. "Friggin' poet."
"How..." Logan sputtered, twitched. "...how do you even down this liquid lava sh-shit?"
"By not being you," Flynn grunted, examining the brew with his mechanical eye. "Give it a try sometime."
Wildcard gestured briskly.
Bard tilted his hat back and translated: "He says 'the key is to take tiny sips and savor the drink over time.'"
A metal talon faced out, and Wildcard added a few more signals.
"Pffft!" Bard chuckled. "And if you think it burns now, Big Show, wait until yer pissin' the lava out, ya lughead."
"Grrrrrrr..." Logan frowned while Flynn had a good laugh.
"Wildcarrd is not wrrong!" Kepler cleared his throat. "About the patient arrt of drrinking Firre Mead, that is." He adjusted his spectacles with a smirk. "Aside from a grradual intake that is most frriendly to one's bowels, the brrew encourrages all merrry parrtakerrs to take even brreaths and sharre theirr thoughts and feelings so as to best digest the spicy mix!"
"Hey..." Ariel smiled. "That's pretty cool, actually."
"Bah!" Kepler winked. "Arre we trruly such mysterrious crreaturres, madame Arriel? I assurre you, my brrotherrs and I rrelish meditation in all forrms and facets."
"And farts," Bard mused.
"Hmmmm... to smell is only naturral... to make scent divine." Smiling, the wyvern slid a mug directly across from him. "Herre, Austrraeoh. Do let us see what happens when a sparrk meets sparrk!"
Rainbow Dash stared down at the mug of sloshing liquid in front of her. She gulped, then glanced aside at her marefriends. Rarity shrugged while Twilight winced nervously.
"Well?" Ariel smirked. "You game? Or are you going to embarrass the Herald by being a total soft-hoof."
"Heheheh..." Flynn took a tiny sip, and his light brown ears instantly turned red. "Spastic sprockets, that's something else!"
"Erm... thanks, guys, but..." Rainbow fidgeted in her seat. Off to the edge of her peripheral vision, she noticed a faint streak of orange light. "...I don't suppose you have anything a bit smoother... tangier?"
"Tangier?" Bard made a face. "Like what?"
"Cider?" Fluttershy remarked, eyebrow raised.
Rainbow gripped the table's edge. "Mmmmm... cider?"
"Mmmmmmmmmciderrrrrr," Pinkie Pie cooed.
"I'm afrraid not, rrainbow one," Kepler said, shaking his head. "But we shall not forrce you to consume something that you do not wish to."
"It's... not that I wanna be a stick in the mud or nothing," Rainbow said. "I just... prefer drinks that don't make me feel like I'm burning alive inside."
"Come on. Try it, Rainbow," Bard said with a casual wave. "Maybe it'll be an eye-openin' experience."
"Besides, it's only fitting," Flynn said, breathing heavily between words as he fanned his smiling face. "A little bit of discomfort can be tantalizing."
"Especially considering the fact that we're headed for something even less gentle on the horizon," Ariel said, nevertheless smirking. "Some challenges are more invigorating than others."
"Yeah..." Logan stood up straight, finally breathing calmly. "A real snazzy exercise. Hmmmf."
"You done forr the evening, larrge frriend?" Kepler asked.
"You dense, ya friggin' bat-bug?" Logan slid his empty mug over. "Fill 'er again!"
"Hah hah!" Kepler hobbled back to the tap. "Now that's the spirrit."
Rainbow merely sighed.
"Dashie... get with it," Pinkie tried nudging her, only for her pink hoof to phase through. "You're pooping up the mountain herald party!"
"Something the matter, darlin'?" Bard asked.
"See!" Pinkie cackled.
"He... seems to be getting friendly all of the sudden," Rarity remarked.
Twilight smiled. "Once a Desperado, always a Desperado."
"Yes, Rainbow. Talk to us," Ariel said. "You know you can."
"I... I don't mean to be such a downer," Rainbow muttered. "It's just... mmm..." Her shoulders bunched inward as she shrank where she sat, staring straight into the table-top. "...the last time I sat a dinner table like this... surrounded by so many cool friends..." She gulped. "...it was at the tail-end of something very... very special to me."
"Oh Rainbow..." Twilight murmured sympathetically.
"You've come a long way and you've crossed paths with many ponies," Flynn said. "But rest assured, we are through this thing with you to the end."
"That's... exactly what I'm freaked out about," Rainbow said. Her ruby eyes lifted, glinting in the torchlight along with her pendant. "Do you guys really have to... to commit like this? I mean... you know me... you know the obstacles I've crossed and..." She gulped. "...and the ones I've yet to encounter."
"Rainbow, I want you to look at me," Ariel said.
Rainbow did so.
The other mare's eyes narrowed. "Every soul in this room wouldn't be here tonight if they did not have absolute faith in the merit of this journey that's ahead of them."
"Including Remna?" Pinkie asked.
"Darling, please," Rarity gently shushed her.
Ariel went on. "Nobody here is any longer a daughter."
"Or a son," Flynn said.
"Hrmmff..." Logan stared off suddenly. "...or a husband... coltfriend... stud."
"Aye..." Kepler marched back, sliding the big stallion a drink. "No otherr lives do we possess that arre so prrecious that we would not sacrrifice them in an instant." He sat down and calmly folded his wing-claws, his voice tender and straight. "Especially forr an underrtaking so glorrious and noble, Austrraeoh."
Wildcard gestured.
Flynn translated: "'It is not about throwing our lives away. It's about getting the job done.'"
Ariel bore a gentle, proud smile. "And there's no job that's too scary or big for the Job Squad."
"Buck yeah!" Logan belched, taking a tiny sip of his brew and weathering the fiery backlash. "Rrrrrgh! Raiders for life!"
"Heheh..." Flynn nudged him, smirking. "Spoken like a true pirate frigate. Full anchor too."
"Choke on my axe." Logan sipped again.
Rainbow Dash looked across the table until her eyes wafted over a cowboy hat. "And what of you, Bard?"
Bard snapped out of staring at a fixed point in the tabletop. "Hmmm? Little 'ol me?" He blinked once, twice, then slapped a hoof on the griffon's shoulder beside him. "Where this chatterbox goes, I go."
Wildcard smirked, swinging his metal talon left and right.
"He said it." Bard winked. "Once a Desperado, always a Desperado... and ain't no gettin' off this train we're on!"
The two bumped metal fist to hoof.
Rainbow sighed, smiling helplessly.
"Rainbow..."
She looked at Ariel.
"This one dinner you had... with old friends." Ariel asked: "Was it a happy memory?"
Rainbow gulped. Her eyes misted slightly. "The happiest."
"Then I think your life could use some bookends." Ariel smirked. "It's too awesome to deserve any less." She stood up and raised her mug. Clearing her throat, she squinted at Rainbow. "Well... a name, please?"
"Hmmm?"
"Every posse of friends has a name."
"Heh..." Rainbow sighed, her ears drooping and her cheeks turning rosy. "...the Noble Jury."
Ariel lifted her muzzle to the ceiling. "To the Noble Jury!"
"And the Job Squad!" Flynn raised his mug.
Bard and Wildcard stood up. "To the Desperadoes!"
Logan nearly fell out of his cheer. "Here's to everypony shutting up so we can drink already!"
Chuckles filled the room. The group took tiny, daring sips. They exhaled hotly into the torches, laughing and breathing heavier.
Rainbow looked at her ghostly companions. As she braved a sip of her own, the ponies giggled and raised invisible "mugs" to the festive air of the hall.
The spicy brew made drinking a bold exercise at best. The group filled the gaps in between with tales of old, full of close scrapes and battles against dimwitted two dimensional thugs. Logan made boasts while Flynn cut him down. Kepler laughed while Bard lazily strummed his guitar. At some point, Ariel swam circles in the air while dramatically retelling a bounty her mother had once pursued.
Rainbow Dash sat... and she listened... and she smiled. At one point she noticed—or imagined—a scant shadow of a violet figure lingering beyond the nearest doorframe. The color was gone before a second flicker of torchlight, but Rainbow didn't bother to look twice. Somewhere between Logan's slurring anecdotes, Fluttershy's gasps, and Pinkie Pie's giggles...
...she relaxed, and shifted calmly into place like a little blue book on its shelf.
The next morning...
"Dammit, Big Show!" Flynn grumbled, squeezing into his steam-pack with a shake of his flank. "Will you lose the damn flasks?! My tech is barely strong enough to lift your fat ass—much less an entire brewery!"
"Nuts to you!" Logan spat. He stood with the rest of the Herald on the snowy banks east of the sanctuary. While Bard, Wildcard, and the rest sheathed their weapons, the stallion fumbled to attach the sloshing cannisters to his belts and bandolier. "I swear! If I drink this stuff just as much as water, I'll be in the position to friggin' melt any damned windigoes by just looking at them!"
"Big Show, I know you made yourself look like an idiot by taking that first swig last night." Ariel flew blurring black loops above the group. "But you don't have to overcompensate. Jeez."
Bard struggled to follow Ariel's movements with his eyes. "Antsy, much, darlin'?"
"Just want to friggin' go already! Come on! What's the delay?"
"Ariel, have a little heart," Flynn said. Strapping the belts of his pack together, he pointed behind them. "This is harder for some of us than it is for ever."
"Only hard thing around here are your skulls," Remna muttered, marching past them. "Signal me when everyone is finished with their melodrama."
Ariel rolled her eyes, then pivoted to look across the snowbanks.
Kepler marched to a stop, drawing a miniature chariot full of supplies, provisions, and oodles of ancient manuscripts—covered in runes. "Ahhhh... how I will miss this crrisp, crrystalline smell." No tear was to be seen as he smiled at the bright blue sky above the mountains. Then, with a steady breath, he pivoted about to face several long-faced wyverns perched all across the rocky bluffs behind him. "Brrotherrs. Wherre I go, I shall not rreturrn... save forr in the same almighty spirrit that bound us all togetherr frrom birrth." He beat a claw over his furry, matted chest. "May the gods sharre theirr glorry and honorr with you in my stead. A wyverrn's soul is one that rresonates with wisdom, and yourr hearrts arre the most harrmonious of all."
They all bowed low.
"Godspeed to you, brrotherr."
"May you unite the cirrcles beyond."
"Ourr spirrits shall follow you, into everry sky... down everry abyss."
As they finished bowing, one bore a soft smile. "If you stayed any longerr, we might have called you 'big brrotherr' as well."
"Ha hah!" Kepler smiled wide. "It is a good thing that I am leaving, then! I fearr I lack the stingerr for that!"
"And the teeth, brrotherr!"
"Aye! Quite rright!" Kepler nodded one last time. "Trreat ourr larrge siblings with rrespect, and Rrohbrredden shall rremain peaceful. That is a..." His eyes drifted up. "...prromise."
"Brrotherr?"
Kepler cleared his throat. "Silence now." He bowed low. "The Mountain Matrron apprroaches."
Gasps filled the air.
The Heraldites turned to see two figures trotting up from the lower sanctuary.
Snow-Bloods parted wide, forming a straight path. One by one, the mountain villagers bowed low before Mortuana.
The alicorn marched as evenly and proudly as she could muster. Pale gray bandages dangled breezily from where they hung in a loose spiral around her decaying horn. With narrow limbs, she trudged through the snow, coiling her bony wings to her side.
Rainbow Dash shuffled closely behind, clad in warm winter leathers beneath her satchels. She and her close friends gazed blankly at the many-many bodies bowing before the reclusive matriarch's gait.
At one point, Mortuana shuffled to a stop. Her eyes met Remna's. A few seconds later—after a deep breath—Mortuana spoke loudly... albeit raspily to those assembled.
"I have left my final words here in the sanctuary. However, it is only fitting that I bless you with my wisdom, however fading." She reached a trembling hoof up, touching a solitary vial of dark blood that hung from a silver chain around her neck. "Do not dread the end; it only completes us." She stared ahead. "We go to complete that which has begun... so that we may begin again."
The monks and Snow-Bloods remained still in silent reverance.
Mortuana inhaled, wobbling slightly. She mustered the strength to address the gathered team. "Herald..."
Wildcard raised his talon first. Schliiink! A metal panel opened, exposing a rainbow rune.
Flynn, Ariel, and Logan raised their hoof-bands.
Bard and Rainbow watched as Kepler and Remna added to the gesture.
At last, Mortuana raised a frail limb, adding to the glowing prismatic radiance all around. Then—once she had lowered her hoof—she exhaled with a jolt. "Let us go."
"Right." Ariel nodded, looking over at Rainbow. "Austraeoh—"
"I shall take point." Remna marched briskly forward. "Protect the spark."
"Aye, Remna," Kepler said with a nod. "We shall."
Flynn and Big Show exchanged glances. They rolled their eyes, smirked, and marched after Remna.
Ariel zipped overhead, covering the skies. Meanwhile, Bard and Wildcard closed in on either side of Rainbow, giving her a reassuring look.
Rainbow nodded. Soon, she trotted along with them and Mortuana, with Kepler taking up the rear with his cart.
In such a steady fashion, the nine figures set off across the flat white plains east of Wyvern Point... and into the massive ridge marking the west edge of Frost Plateau beyond.
The monks and snow-bloods watched longingly. Then, with a melancholic stupor, they turned about and walked back to their humble lives...
...all save for one figure.
A single snow-blood stood in the shadow of a rock cropping. She stared eastward as a brisk wind blew at her cloak. Once the Herald and their anchor was merely a series of dots along the horizon, she exhaled vapors... and a pair of ice-blue eyeslits pulsed before dimming once more beneath her hood.
Somewhere...
Far away...
Deep in the frosted bowels of an ice-filled cavern...
Something stirred...
And then something else...
A pair of blue eyeslits glowed to life... then a second... then a fourth... a tenth... a thirty-ninth... a hundredth...
Vapors billowed every which way as frosted metal limbs shook and crackled to life.
And from the deeper depths—starting at first as a low whine—the cavernous air filled with a veritable chorus of hellish banshee shrieks. The temperature dropped violently, and everything turned white with the galloping of ethereal frozen hooves.
Everywhere.
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Oh. SHIT.
The windigos awaken!
Ominous chapter
Shit...
She knows. She knows and she's got a Windego party planned for them...
Mhmm...so say we all...
4.bp.blogspot.com/-1YwI3aKUd7s/TyFPqI1jQQI/AAAAAAAAAck/hy03lbiKyss/s400/tankard+of+ale.jpg
I think it's safe to say this is the chapter before everything goes into chaos. Hold on to your hooves everyone, Applejack awaits!
I'm glad to finally get some imploding colons in this story. It's taken long enough.
This is an interesting take on my favorite quote, "The brightest light casts the darkest shadow."
Because everything is Verlax I can only logically assume that the end of the chapter is talking about Shell.
A thirty-ninth. You decide to specify the thirty-ninth. It's things like this that keep me entertained. Continue on, Skirts. Ain't no gettin' off this train we're on!
Nothing's ever easy.
So. who was expecting all the eyes opening to be Verlax waking up her dragon form?
-Companions have returned, inner darkness spurned. Utaan.
7049411
*raises hand*
But once the eyecount started skyrocketing I started figuring "Windegos".
Oh boy. This is going to get real bad real fast.
I hope that Remna comes around soon, I know she will but again I feel its going to take some drastic for that to happen. Well thus begins the final push of this book I believe. I can't wait for the battle to start thats for sure.
I remember quoting Charles Schulz awhile back, after Dashie flew off and left the Jury to live their lives. The quote was about hating good-byes, and needing more hellos. I believe this chapter has emphasized that quite well. Now, we get to see Odrsjot pick up where Eljunbyro left off.
They're gonna have their work cut out for them.
Welp. A lot of questions have been answered, Morty is confirmed a complete emo drama queen, and we seem to be moving towards the big, final confrontation, with 37 chapters left. There's only one question left on my mind, that seems potentially very pertinent in the near-term...
The Heraldship of the Austraeoh, featuring:
Rainbow Dash as Frodo
Kepler as Sam
Wildcard as Merry
Bard as Pippin
Big Show as Gimli
Ariel as Legolas
Remna as Aragorn
Mortuana as Gandalf
And Flynn as, well, erm... please don't let him die first
I'm hoping that isn't foreshadowing. Dash deserves a happy ending.
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/73/c4/50/73c4508f41b5b41207e57567bbdcdd46.jpg
7049436 "If you never say goodbye, you're not really gone. You just.. aren't here right now."
Nine figures setting out from an ancient sanctuary, with intent to deliver a precious figure deep into the heart of the Big Bad's territory in order to break Her grasp over the land? This seems familiar.
Oh yeah. The Fellowship of the Spark.
Wonder who gets to be Boromir...
Holey ship. That is not a good sign.
Then again, what did we expect? The wywerns may be a somewhat isolated group right in the icy candle's shadow, but that shadow moves, especially if the wind is picking up.
Also, "Morty"?
No matter the wrapping,
beerpeer pressure is still peer pressure7049445 Beat me to it.
100 Windigos? That ain't good.
Here's to the last man to fall.
And the next one to die.
*chugs*
7049437
Remna's ice-cold, almost hateful demeanor. The secret meetings with Morty, and now these vague implications about the future. And what have we also learned? That dragons (or at least Divines) can actually take the form of other creatures, and even get stuck in them.
...Having read my own question, a bunch of things may have just clicked together for me.
7001630
This was an interesting idea at the time, but clearly proved wrong. But what about Remna? I had a tickle in the back of my mind that made me go back a bit, and find this from Remna, in chapter 144:
While this could nebulously fit Endrax, it perfectly fits Axan. There is, however, a big complication with the timeline: Axan (and her children) have, until recently, been occupied in Silvadel, but Remna has years of history with the Herald. There would seem to be no way for Remna to have been Axan all along. This would make it more likely she's an 'Endrax Fragment', despite how well the backstory fits Axan.
Speculating further, Sturke claims to have lost contact with Axan basically just as Dash was crossing the Choke. This would seem to potentially fit with the timeline of Remna becoming mortally ill. So perhaps Remna was just Remna, but something more complex happened around that illness/cure, and what we now have isn't Remna, at least, not entirely...
Or not!
To the Noble Jury!
Uhh...
Uhhhhhh...
Well that's not...good.
7048219
There is not much time. The Nazgul have left Minas Morgul
I'll drink to that.
To the Jury!
...
Spirits of the ice awaken...
Noble heralds of Harmony begin what may be their end,
The wings of an Angel prepare for flight,
And the God of Death marches once more...
Chaos shall reign again.
To extinguish or set alight...
Once again, this world shall BURN.
...
Annnnd that's my overly dramatic response to this shit-hitting-high-velocity-fan situation.
7049388 thirty ninth? My memory is somewhat lackluster could you send explain the significance of this number please?
dash is the rick to the morty
#stillmissthenoblejury
7049723
"One spark can incite their hope
and ignite the hearts of their weary souls,
I will extinguish their flame!"
Wait wait final what? There were six seeds, not five.
7049486 That's pretty nifty. Who came up with that?
Oh man, Verlax is among them. Called it!
Anyway, I predict the final word count to be
592,000 words, given how the word count has been ramping up as of late.
7049781
Yeah I keep thinking about what, or who is at the sixth seed. But with only 40 chapters left, I suspect that answer will come in the next book.
7049795 That's a line from Red vs Blue, the penultimate line of season 10, spoken by Carolina to Epsilon.
Oh, well ain't that lovely. Gonna be a big Austraeoh party at Verlax's. She is inviting all her Windigo buddies and Dash is inviting her new friends too. I just hope all of Dash's friends can make it. It would be a tragedy if something happens to one or two of them before they get there......
What is interesting is that Verlax has been preparing for this consistently. She pushed Dash here and spied on Job Squad from within Wyvern point with her infiltrator.
I don't believe these windigoes are released just to fight the fellowship. She could have incapacitated all of them, including Dash long ago, so it is not about killing them.
"Morty! Morty, we gotta, we gotta go get the harmonic priiiiiIIIIIIIISm, Morty!"
Onwards! And let us all try not to die!
It works on steam, Morty.
Anyone hoping that Windigoes of cold, dont like a hot jet blast to the face?
Really need to get Dash flying again.
See beams glittering off the shoulder of the Tanheifer Ridge.
If that doesn't work, they still might be effective as grenades. I mean, Wyvern Fire Mead + Personification of Icy Hate? One of them is going to lose.
7049751 It's not significant at all, which is why I think it's funny that he specifies the thirty-ninth in the fourth-to-last paragraph.
Ahh... it feels so good to have another big group like this.
7049665
That's... a surprisingly (maybe even worryingly) likely-seeming theory, actually. Huh.
7050153
Y'know, as I was writing that comment, I was also pondering the possible interpretations of the symbols if the parentheses were swapped.
Not something appropriate in a teen-rated fic, methinks.
Well...shit. The game definitely on now, I suppose.
Hmm a group of nine, add Theanim, Keris and Echo and we get the magical number again.
Probably not going to happen but one can hypothesize.
Do I have to draw this scene too? Then someone collect the parts where the characters are described, please.
A visit to Deviantart tells me it's been one year, one week, and one day since I uploaded the scene with the Jury.
7049863 Ah. Surprisingly poignant considering the source material. Then again, that's one of the seasons that had an actual plot, and wasn't just two teams guarding a box canyon in the middle of nowhere for the lulz.