The Sun's Got Our Backs
"I'm afraid my sister Luna cannot speak to you at the moment, Rainbow Dash," Princess Celestia's voice echoed in the starry heavens. "I appreciate your desire to communicate, but you really must be continuing eastward with your friends."
"But what's got her so conked out, Your Highness?" Rainbow Dash asked with a nervous shiver. She wrung her fetlocks together from where she hovered high above the Princess Stardust. "She was fine just... a day ago?" Her muzzle scrunched. "How much time has passed?"
"I'm guessing twenty-four hours," Twilight droned.
Fluttershy looked at her. "How can you tell?" She pointed a ghostly hoof skyward. "There isn't a sun to rise or set in this part of the world."
Twilight replied with a deadpan gaze. "I watch the length at which Rainbow's mane is growing."
Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Wow... really?"
"No." Twilight's muzzle scrunched. "Who do you think I am? Pinkie Pie?"
Before Fluttershy could respond—
"It's been eightteen hours!" Pinkie Pie chimed.
Princess Celestia's voice echoed: "It's just been shy of a single day, Rainbow Dash."
"Woohoo!" Pinkie pumped a hoof. "Nailed it!"
"It would appear as though Princess Luna exhausted herself with the spell that she was channeling into your Element via her moonbeams," Celestia explained. "It taxed her a great deal more than she expected. She had to stop and rest in order to properly raise the sun for the coming morning."
"I see..." Rainbow Dash gulped. "And... like... I totally understand that n'stuff... but do you have any idea when she'll be up and at 'em?"
"No, Rainbow Dash. I do not."
"But... like..." Rainbow chewed on her bottom lip. "She's gotta come back around eventually!" She gestured at the distant flicker of Yaerfaerda. "After all, this is bat country!"
All of Rainbow's friends looked pointedly at Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie Pie blinked back. "What?" She shrugged. "I've got nothing!"
Rainbow continued: "I need her to... y'know... do her special cosmic whinny stuff so that Echo and Nicole can talk some sense into the sarosians!" She gulped. "I wanna take off as much as the Herald right now, but if Luna's magic-snoozing away, then where does that leave us? We've only got two days left of the moon juice, after all!"
"Shhhhh... please, Rainbow Dash. You must relax."
"Yeah, Rainbow Dash." Twilight nodded. "Don't be so nervous."
"My my..." Rarity fanned herself with a smirk. "When Twilight is telling Rainbow Dash to relax, then things must be dire!"
"Luna's not about to abandon us in our time of need," Twilight said with a smile. "And neither is Celestia."
"You've got friends from all sides, Rainbow." Fluttershy bore a warm smile. "It's going to be okay."
Rainbow glanced at them, then looked back at the heavens. "I've just... w-worked so hard... and flown so hard to get to this spot, y'know." A shuddering sign. "I really don't wanna blow it."
"Nopony is more aware of this more than my sister and I, Rainbow Dash. Fear not. Luna will be present and cognizant for your inevitable encounter with the sarosians. I will make sure of it." The shimmering light shifted. "Remember that much of this rests upon the magical connection that Luna spent the past several hours harnessing between herself and your pendant. Without such a buffered enchantment, it would be next to impossible for the Princess of the Night to wield the influence that is most sorely needed at this juncture."
"But... but..."
"Just relax, darlin'," Applejack said, snapping Rainbow out of it. She gazed at their anchor with a calm smile. "Everypony in Equestria has got yer back. So no more fussin'."
Rainbow Dash sighed. "Just... I-I guess I'm a little bit nervous about casting off into the great unknown like this again."
"I'm sure the members of the Herald have more than enough resources." Rarity nevertheless cleared her throat. "As terribly drab as they may be..."
"It's not that." Rainbow's ears drooped. "Just... the last time I had a vessel of my own..." She bit her lip. "...it wasn't always smooth sailing."
Her friends glanced at one another.
"You've triumphed over many an adversity before, Rainbow Dash," Twilight Sparkle said. "All in no small part because of the friends who traveled with you on such a ship... and who believed in you." She winked. "Who says that all of history's repetition has to be entirely dismal?"
"Verlax does!" Pinkie Pie said. A lavender hoof swatted her upside the head. She blinked. "Never mind!"
"Rnnngh..." Rainbow face-hoofed. "...Goddess help me if I even make it to the Sixth Seed..."
Before any of her friends could reply—
"Uhm... Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow turned around.
Ariel hovered demurely. "We're... uh... ready to go if you are."
Rainbow squinted. "How long have you been fluttering there?"
"About a minute and a half," Fluttershy said.
Rainbow rolled her eyes, then smiled tiredly. "If the Herald's ready, then I'm ready."
"But are you, though?" Ariel cocked her head to the side. "Are you really?"
Rainbow blinked at that.
"I mean... it's just that..." Ariel glanced at the empty pockets of air around Rainbow Dash. "I don't know if... if your friends needed more time to cope. Especially Applejack." Ariel fought a lump in her throat. "Poor mare sounds like she's been through a lot. If... if she needs more time to compose herself before the big push east, then I'm sure I could go back down and stall time for you."
Rainbow Dash turned to look at Applejack.
The mare tilted her hat back and exhaled. "She's a mighty nice gal-pal you've got there, Rainbow Dash." Her freckles made room for a soft smile. "But tell her she ain't got nothin' to fret over. I'm ready as ever to skedaddle."
"Are... you sure about that, AJ?" Rainbow asked.
"Eeyup. Believe me..." The lines in Applejack's muzzle hardened noticeably. "Ain't nopony in this world that wants to get real and buck apple again more than this filly."
Rarity gulped. "Please believe her, Rainbow, darling. I shudder to think that the heavens could afford her glare any longer otherwise..."
Rainbow nodded. "Well, okay then." She lifted her voice. "Your Highness? We're heading out!"
"Very well then," Celestia said. "I shall keep a close ear to the proceedings."
"Uhm... Miss Princess?" Ariel waved a hoof towards the heavens. "Your Highness of Equestria?"
Rainbow blinked at her. "Ariel, what are you—"
"How may I help you, child?" Celestia's voice asked.
"Uhm... so sorry to bug you..." Ariel's cheeks reddened as she smiled nervously. "But... if it's not too much trouble to ask? There's something you could do for us—the Herald, I mean." She gulped hard. "Something that Mortuana—the Madame Matron—was planning to do if she got this far..."
"Very well then," Celestia said. "Name it."
Stats
Page generated in 0.045 seconds
Total duration
1,046 users online
1,823,116 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Ugh...more time constraints. Something the whole group really doesn't need right now on top of Chandler's arriving forces and their already limited trip to "bat country".
I wonder what Ariel wants? Moreover, what Mortuana was planning to do near the world's edge...
Last two times, if you count the raft after the Quade.
You just had to end it with a cliffhanger didn't you?
Curious, I wonder what Mortuana had planed.
7428161
Speaking of Chandler and his little army, I wonder when we are going to get back to them. It has been a while.
Yessss, Unicorn deadpan and snark. I feed on this. yessss.
Wot's all this then?
Ariel is accepting of the fact that Dash's heart belongs to another, but still wants to get as close to her as possible, maybe become a friend with benefits?
-Companions are abound, frozen spectres hound. Utaan.
7428180 What if in an ironic twist, Chandler never actually catches up to them in time and the book ends with him stopped by bat border patrol?
And this is obligatory:
A certain lemur does.
Meh, Zaid did it better.
If Luna is that tired, wonder just how much extra power she shunted into the Element, given what Dash has already used it fore. Pre Luna, Dash could blind a whole battalion of Sarosians with the Elements Red Glare.
Now?. Its more like Rimmers Light Bead?
Thing to watch out for with a boat close to or on teh shore. Loading it up and getting everyone one board, only to find out its now stuck and cant move.
Then again, when the drive system finally overcomes the drag and suction, especially while under attack, its time to keep hold of the tinned meat product and make like a Sarosian out of Tarterus.
Daww Ariel is soo cute~ I just wanna nuzzle her so much!
Ariel is disastrously adorable. Stahp it.
Please don't stop...
So the sun has already risen... But we still haven't heard of the jury...
I'm going to guess, some kind of inspiring speech? Maybe Impart some kind of knowledge about what they're fighting for? Mortuana wouldn't really have been able to do much power / magic wise and Celestia is too far away to do much of the sort.
Ariel is quite adorable, it's a shame she won't get a piece of the Dash like she wanted
7428212
I like the idea of him not catching up in time, but I seriously doubt that he would let the Sarosians stop him (unless they swarmed his army).
Hoping to see some fireworks out of that pendant if Luna is knocking herself out charging it up.
Hmm, wonder if they'll ever get a free moment to give the Princess Stardust a makeover, get her a new, shiny paint job?
Gah, one downside to these shorter chapters is there's just generally less to talk about after them.
7428482 Heh, I can imagine swarms upon swarms of Sarosian border guards demanding to do random cavity searches on Chandler's entire platoon.
That must be one hell of a spell Luna's slapping together. Ought to be interesting.
Also, I really wish Rainbow would give Ariel a chance. I mean, she's apparently over Applejack, things with Roarke are, at best, on hiatus, and Rainbow's out of the closet. So why not? (Aside from self-denial for self-denial's sake [this is a Skirts story, after all]).
Hyper-pegasus is hyper-adorable.
Sixth seed confirmed for Johnny Depp on acid.
Nooooo! I've joined the rest of the huddled masses and caught up with the story!
7428879 Welcome aboard the Noble Jury, cabins are the on 4th floor, near the kitchen.
Please, keep your room well stocked, and take every fuel stop to buy supplies.
Enjoy the rest of the flight.
7428892 I am terribly sorry to inform you that the Noble Jury is slowly sinking into history and we are now aboard the Lunar Ninth
I could actually imagine another movie about Hunter S. Thompson being titled Fear and Loathing Aboard the Princess Stardust.
7428957
7428957 I like how you waited for me to change from "Noble Jury/Lunar Ninth" to just Noble Jury for my greeting to say that.
Pretty adorable ariel still has that super crush on rainbow.
Group marriage!
Hm, now what might this be (watch it turn out to be something obvious in hindsight
)
Give the group your blessing and a bit more Tia. For some reason I feel like the journey is gonna get a bit more bumpy now.
7428756
so that's what they're calling it these days?
7428879 welcome to the
Noble JuryLunar NinthPrincess Stardust, comrade!Applejack isn't the one that needs convincing, Ariel.
That's why we gotta hurry!
orig05.deviantart.net/b4ac/f/2014/026/8/2/discord_motivational_poster_by_ultimatedume1995-d73snsr.jpg
Oooooo, I wonder what Mortuana wanted to do when they got this far.
Also, Kepler and Floydien should meet sometime and compare notes on captaining ships for Rainbow. I'm sure that'd be an amazing conversation.
Also also, Dashiel would be nice to distract Rainbow from AJ. But Rainboarke will always be the true ship, so I guess it's good that RD is turning her down in Roarke's memory. I really really really really hope that Rainbow can go back and be with her beloved Roarke again once this is all over.
Mmmmmmm. Gotta love some of that good ol' fashioned S1-esque Twilight Snarkle.
SHE CUTE.
Shipping senses TINGLING.
Some good talk with Celestia, and i wonder what Mortuana's plan was.
I just realized.
If Rainbow is truly over Applejack [and maybe Roarke, although I love her to death], then there's a chance for Ariel!
"Can you, like, drop the sun on Big Show's head the next time he says anything nasty?"
Uh oh...
7430405 I just came to terms with the loss of Appledash, and now I'm expected to surrender Rainboarke? WhyyyY???????
Now the catch-up begins.
Rainbow really needs to stop worrying so much, to be honest.
They'll make to the dark side, and Luna will be there to help. The true test is getting through the dark side.
You tease!
So....around the time this chapter was out is when I actually started reading Austraeoh the first time back when I was in Summer School in my high school years..
I am really getting deja vu by the dates, but in a way, it’s how I keep track of time on where I was and what happened.
Hmm? What you talking about Ariel?