The Twilight Dialogues, Part Five
There was a town to the north.
The ground was too rough, uneven, and broken up by watery tributaries to ever possibly serve as a firm foundation. Rainbow soon found out how the Rohbreddenites adapted.
The entire structure was built on stilts. It stood like a massive boardwalk—with huge elevated planks of wood serving as a base for rickety houses and lightly-armored bulwarks.
The village looked very fragile—even non-mana-powered artillery could easily render the entire thing to splinters. But—as far as Rainbow Dash could tell—the town was far too remote for anypony to bother taking, pirates or otherwise. There was also the fact that it was situated along the western tip of a deep estuary—the deepest body of water that Rainbow had seen since the arid landscape gave way to watery capillaries. As the Herald passed south, she could spot the eastern edge of the platform. Several ramps sloped down—attached by ropes and a pulley system, so that they could be drawn. The ramps connected with a dock where—even then—no less than four shipping boats were harbored.
Flynn and Kepler explained that there was a series of deep rivers running east and west along the northeasternmost part of the Twilight Lands. There, several vessels traveled their way inland, carrying countless materials throughout the eastern quarter of the continent. According to Kepler, the rivers ran as far west as to taste a sliver of sunlight before dissolving into the bodies of multiple mineral springs. When asked about the strategic importance of a stilted community, Kepler answered that much fishing was done in a bay that had been pocketed into the northeast edge of the continent. Still, for all intents and purposes, that town was as far east as the Rohbreddenites dared to settle. To go any further would only mean baiting the midnighters of Bleak's Plummet.
Rainbow and the Herald had crossed the final line of Rohbredden civilization. They kept their distance, laid low, and proceeded east across the many rivers.
"So there's this mare in Manehattan," Sweetie Belle's voice said. "A seamstress by the name of Coco Pommel."
"Uh huh..." Rarity leaned forward, ears twitching above a bright smile.
"'Uh huh,'" Rainbow translated, also listening.
"Oh. My. Goddess. Rarity, I wish you could just see this pony. Everything about her—from the way she talks, her speech, the way she does her mane. She's got... how-do-you-call-it... a real 'foalita' vibe in both fashion and presentation. It's super, super adorable. You would love her. Reminds me of how you enjoyed having Fluttershy model for you all the time."
Rainbow glanced aside. "The buck does any of this mean, anyway—?"
"Shhhh!" Rarity hissed, waving a hoof. "Go on. Go on!"
"Ahem..." Rainbow glanced skyward. "Carry on, Sweetie Belle!"
"Anywho, we crossed paths in Trottingham the other day..."
"Oh my goodness!" Rarity covered her pale muzzle. "Trottingham!"
"My agent's landed me a deal with Royal Records. I've already made two studio recordings... singing a cover to one of Countess Coloratura's ballads."
Twilight's brow furrowed. "Who?" She looked at Applejack.
Applejack shrugged.
Sweetie Belle continued: "The song hasn't been distributed yet. This is more of a test to see if Royal Records can sell my voice to a listening audience. Mom and Dad are super excited, as you can imagine. Oh! I'm sorry! I was going somewhere with this! Ahem... so anyways... while hanging out at this crowded cafe in Trottingham, Mom, Dad, and I sat at a table with Coco Pommel. She was visiting abroad after parting ways with her former partner in Manehattan... somepony named 'Siri Polonius' or something. Anyways, we got into a long, deep conversation. Coco mentioned how she was a fashionista. We told her how my sister is a supremely gifted fashionista. When she asked what your name was, I just... flat-out told her that you're stuck on a voyage to the Dark Side of the World and back along with Rainbow Dash. Well, Coco was instantly floored. 'She's one of the Elements of Harmony?!' she gasped. There was no way we could change the subject then."
"Wait..." Rainbow squinted into the air. "Are we—like—famous in Equestria or something?"
"Are you kidding?!" Sweetie Belle's voice cracked across the heavens. "Everypony in every household in Equestria knows about the Elements and their 'voyage around the world!' It's been the talk of the town in every town for nearly two years now!"
"Erm..." Rainbow Dash squinted. "...just how much does everypony know?"
"... ... ...how much should everypony know?" Sweetie remarked curiously. "I mean... you're going on a trip to bring back Rarity and the rest of the girls, restore the Elements, and save us all from... like... super freaky bad chaos stuff, right?"
Princess Celestia's voice interjected: "The... finer details of your adventures in Ledomare, Val Roa, and Rohbredden are kept safely in the company of Spike, my sister, and myself, Rainbow Dash." A pause. "And Princess Cadance's expedition, of course. They're regularly informed of your journey—as they should be."
"Ah... okay..." Rainbow Dash breathed easier. "That's cool, I guess."
"Well, shucks, Rainbow." Applejack hovered close by. "I figured you'd be mighty pleased to hear of yer awesome adventures bein' shared among the ponyfolk back home!"
"Yeah, well..." Rainbow gulped. "Two years is plenty of time for awesomeness to perform a bunch of backflips."
"Hey! That reminds me! The Equestrian Sentinel has a weekly column detailing the westward adventures of Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor! All of Equestria is totally enthralled with their voyage. Probably because we hear about it on a more regular basis than we do about Rainbow. There's even these toys and dolls of the Prince and Princess... and this song that everypony's singing everyday. I was thinking of doing a cover for it if Mom and Dad would—"
"Get back to Ms. Pommel already!" Rarity snarled.
"Hey... uh... Sweetie Belle?" Rainbow interrupted. "Your sister's doing that thing with her voice... y'know... that super breathy, nasally angry thing that only she can do?"
"Oh! My bad! Right! The cafe conversation! Ahem... so Coco Pommel asked if Rarity had a Boutique. I told her that—yes, she did—but... y'know... back when we all thought Rarity was dead, we sold the Boutique and all of its contents. But we did keep all of Rarity's design sheets. Coco asked if she could have a look at them. And... uh... I-I know I probably should have asked for your permission first, sis. But... I showed them to her. And... and if you must know, Coco was absolutely flabbergasted! She thought that those designs were some of the best things she had ever seen! And... uhhh... well..."
"Yes?" Rarity leaned forward in spectral space. "Yes? Yes? Spit it out!"
"...she offered to make a whole line of dresses based on some of the designs. Mom, Dad, and I agreed—but only if she gave the full rights to Rarity. Turns out we didn't even have to ask. Coco Pommel was already planning on using the proceeds of sales and design shows to help boost the Westward Expedition of Cadance and Shining Armor. I wish you could see her at work, Rarity. She's sacrificed so much... barely gets any profit out of it. But Coco says it's 'all worth it,' and that she's 'more satisfied in designing than she has been in years.' Right now, as we speak, there's an entire line of dresses being displayed in Upper Canterlot under the name of 'Rarity's Journey of Generosity,' featuring some of the most beautiful things designed in Ponyville. I'm talking about the stuff that was used to wow Hoity Toity in preparation for the Grand Galloping Gala! And then some!"
"Mmmmmm...!" Rarity stifled a squeak, covering her tearful muzzle.
"The dress line is already listed in Fashion Plate's Top Ten Fashion Sensations in this year's Annual Cosmare magazine! How about that, Rarity?!" Sweetie Belle chirped. "You've become a household name in Canterlot for stuff you made years ago! Out of your own Goddess-given talent!"
"Oh my... oh my goodness..." Rarity teetered and wobbled. "I... I think I'm going to faint—!" But just as she held a forelimb over her brow, she squinted aside. "Do ghosts faint?"
Twilight smiled. "Knock yourself out."
"Eeeeuuuuuhh..." Rarity fell aside.
Fluttershy caught the unicorn so that she lay draped in her forelimbs. "Way to go, Rarity." She leaned in to nuzzle her. "We're so happy for you."
"Rainbow Dash? What's Rarity saying?"
"Uhhhhhh..." Rainbow cleared her throat with a smirk. "We'll get back to you once she's done ghost-fainting."
"Do ghosts faint?"
"Your sister does."
"Hrmmmm..." Applejack folded her forelimbs, glancing at Fluttershy. "Y'know, once upon a time, that dang mare would always faint into my arms."
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Jealous, much?"
"Nah..." Applejack yawned. "...just makin' an observation."
"If ghosts can faint... then they can fall into trees."
"... ... ...the heck are ya on about?"
"Don't mind me. Just enjoying the lunacy of the moment." She gazed up into the moonlight. "You feel me, Sweetie?"
"Mwap."
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'Nuff said.
So, Dash's and Cadence/Shining's stories are being "retold" across Equestria? That's interesting.
Mhhm...how desolate is the landscape...
Saros time, soon...
iambrony.steeph.tp-radio.de/mlp/gif/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-brony-pure-skill.gif
Rarity is so good at what she does she can become famous without having a corporeal body, and being on the other side of the world.
So, looks like we still got Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy to go for family talk. So, what are the odds that if the Jury is mentioned at all it won't be until the very last second?
Good to hear about how some of the later characters are doing, even without the girls there to help them.
I am loving these Dialogues. Also, having just read Austraeoh Abridged, I hope we get something from the Noble Jury. Or, and this wouldn't be possible outside of the Twilight Lands, even possibly a direct line (via the Sword of Solstice) between the two parties.
That would be Awesome.
As a side note, I'm finally back!
Fun to see how Coco and everyone was doing back in Equestria.
Also, ghost feinting.
7401442 I agree with that, but i was refering to in-universe.
7401359
This is the only time and place that could be possible as all the previous talks took place at night and the sword needs the Sun. But this odd multiday moon raise might make that work. ....except the sword is on the wrong side of mountains. Unless Celestia preplanned for this, three days is probably not enough time for the crater pregisi to get to the rest of the Jurists.
...go on
If the water has worn into the rock, do the posts go into post holes, nice and solid, or do they use cross bracing like building scaffolding? One serious breeze and the whole lot sees if it can float?
If Coco moved to Canterlot, wouldnt she come to the attention of Sassy Saddles?
The only way i can think that heavy nuclear class thunder can be heard so far away, is because its a large end of plane formation, as in not a point source giving an inverse square fall off, but a linear array, giving inverse linear fall off. Depending how the atmosher and chaos cap interact they could even contain the sound energy so it propagates even further.
The Pies are so happy, you can almost see them retiring to Sugarcube Corner for Rock Cakes to celebrate the news.
I can almost see the messages from the jurists already.
Hi g
applejack and rarity sitting in a tree...
Now the big question is will Fluttershy's family decide to converse. I don't think they will sadly unless they see it as an opportunity to talk with Dash because she is a famous pegasus now.
Should've saved this till the last Twilight Dialogue. Could've made a Swan Song out of it.
Boop.
That's pretty bloody funny.
-Companions are abound, frozen spectres hound. Utaan.
Did someone just call Fluttershy a tree?
Was that pun intentional?
There'll be no living with Swansong now
I'd never considered what the Equestrian populace knew of Rainbow's journey, but I shouldn't be surprised. That'll be a nice way to return home... assuming, of course, that there'll be any semblance of a happy ending, which isn't always a safe bet with this author.
7402084
Here here
7402084 WELCOME TO THE NOBLE JURY/LUNAR NINTH!!!!!!
7402084 Welcome aboard the Noble Jury/ Lunar Ninth.
cabins are on the 4th floor, please keep yours stocked with status cures, or call for service from our flight attendants.
The kitchen is open to make comfort food and the gym in the auxiliary hangar is always available for grinding your endurance stat.
Please, enjoy the rest of the flight.
7402084 Welcome aboard the Noble Jury! Don't mind all the Lunar Ninth kids, they're some new hipster movement that thinks it's too cool for us old fogeys.
7401894 You say that like my presence has ever been sufferable.
7401299 7401601 7401794
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This has been bothering me since thsee exchanges started happening, but Pinkie's emotional little exchange with Maud has kinda made me wanna say something about it. Am I the only one who thinks Rainbow is doing her friends a disservice for paraphrasing instead of repeating their messages word-for-word? If I were a living conduit to someone that no one else could interact with, I would go through painstaking efforts to make sure their intentions were related as accurately as possible, right down to word usage.
Not that I expect her to mimic their speech styles or anything (even thoughwe all know she's at least capable of that).
derpicdn.net/img/2016/7/8/1195897/medium.gif
Though I guess it doesn't make for very good reading if IC just copy-pastes entire paragraphs ad verbatim. I'd just treat it the same way most novels treat multi-language conversations with an interpreter, in that the translations go unwritten and it's simply implied that they're translating.
idk
that's just me
it's just thing
i just do
counterattack with whatever you feel like, man
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Aside from the already regular tragedy of the series, it's still kind of sad to see how ponies once affected by the mane six in the show are now still probably dealing with their own issues on their own. It's still at least a half a world away from the Equestria we know.
Sweetie Bot is adorable~
Anyone else feel that the Austraeoh series needs a Cadence/Shining spinoff after the 12 books are finished?
Sweetie Belle can be adorable without being present.
7402311 Trying to talk and listen at the same time in real time is next to impossible for most people. If said ghostly friends were willing to say part of a message at a time and pause in between for that part of the message to be relayed then it could be relayed word for word. However no-one can expect to remember 3 paragraphs worth of hastily spoken words word-for-word, which is what Rainbow is constantly faced with at the moment, with the only viable option being to relay the meaning of the words rather than the words themselves. Essentially if any of Dash's ghostly friends took the time to say what they wanted to say in a slow methodical manner then they could communicate more effectively. Of course the likely reason why no-one has done this yet is because it takes twice as long to say anything that way, and Luna chats have always been limited on time.
U just focking w0t.
7402737 Fair point. I'd say, now that they have a lot more time and appear to be doing their final farewells, they owe it to themselves to slow down a bit and punctuate more, and Rainbow owes it to them to relay their messages accurately.
Sweetie Belle, we all know that Sinrar is the mwapper.
7402311
Did ya consider that the imagination of the receivers fills in the blanks better than rainbow ever coulda?
7402993 Their imagination would be working regardless of whether Rainbow was being accurate or not. And communication isn't something you want to create misunderstandings in anyways.
7403002
As far as i can tell, RD is accurate with the emotional content, at the cost of being inaccurate with the informational content.
7402084 Welcome aboard the Eastern Express. Your accommodations include a sleeping berth, an amazing view from the Scenery observation car, and the Message Boards, where people discuss the trip so far.
7402084 This is a tad belated but Welcome to East Horse Airlines. More cuddly than Appledashery, less depressing than Background Pony, not nearly as complained about as Shellstrings, a lot less musical than The Things Tavi Says, and much like End of Ponies, it's not gonna be finished anytime in the immediate future.
Also, we apologize for the lack of in flight peanuts, but as you're aware, we're all far too nutty anyways.
So we've got rarity & pinkie covered so far. We still need Applejack, Twilight, flutters, and Rainbow herself.
But why would twilight guess that Applejack knew coloratura?
I for one, am very surprised that Equestria is all about Rainbow Dash's journey and Shining/Cadance's expedition, I would have thought the Princesses would have kept everything hush hush until they returned. If anything happens to RD or even Shining and Cadanace exploring the unknown, it would devastate the moral of Equestria. Even more so now that there's this huge following for them. I suppose getting the population excited about what's out there would keep them distracted from the problems of home and sets up Equestria for some expansion in the future, but still, it's a risky play.
7402679
Indeed, now that we know Equestria is basically getting regular updates on the expedition and on the edge of their proverbial seats for news, I'm a bit curious myself as to what the couple has been up to.
7402311
"Am I the only one who thinks Rainbow is doing her friends a disservice for paraphrasing instead of repeating their messages word-for-word?"
I'd agree, Rainbow sums up and cuts out a lot of the detail and meaning of her friends statements when she relays them. It does make sense from a character perspective that Rainbow would paraphrase, especially really long statements, but she could put a little more emotion into it and try to get closer to the real meaning of the statements.
7402084 Welcome aboard! This really is a pretty special series isn't it?
If you're interested, don't forget to join theAustraeoh fimfic group.I hear there's also a directions in there to join a pretty cool Skype group for fans of a certain cardinal directionnevermind, seems like you're way ahead of me.7402250 Woah woah woah, there are cabins available?!? I've been stuck down in steerage with some Fact Checker guy for over a year and a half now! Do you know how hard it is trying to sleep over the sound of data being compiled at 3 in the morning!!
7402084 media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzsfkwmTe11qmtw9n.gif
It's pretty sad when we think that's probably the last time we hear about Equestria for a long time, and the last time the girls can talk to their family before they have their body back.
7402679 I would prefer a spin off about Floydien and Midnite Bastion flying west, but that's good too.
Calling it: Sequel series detailing Cadance and Shining Armor's grand voyage...
...please?
7404069 looks at current word counts...
Just what we need. Millions more words to read.
thinks briefly...
Meh, I'm game. Adventures of West Horse(s) here we come! Coming soon, just several million words from today!
Skirts, we love your stories, and we're happy to read as many words as you can gift us with. But seriously, there's only so much paper in the world. We need those trees. Think of the trees!
7404197
That's what silicon is for!
7404204 ...Think of the beaches!
7403307
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Rarity... quit being so adorable. Her ghostly marshmallowdrama is too amazing. Other than that, though, things are flowing along very smoothly for the time being. A few more nice chapters of family talks before shit starts hitting the fan once more. Either way, I can't wait for it all to happen.
~SolidFire
7402084
Don't let these silly Noble Jurists and Lunar Ninther's bother you.
The Prismatic Harem offers you a warm (if slightly belated) welcome.
7402982
boooo
7405322
Are you saying boo or boo-urns?
7402084 Thank you sir, for taking the plunge and reading this magnificent story. Most people are too intimidated to read such a long fic much less 8 of them back to back. You have earned the right to be a Jurist/Lunar Ninther.
Welcome To The Fold