Trouble in the Home Land
Cold charcoal eyes reflected mud and melted ice.
Quietly, Seraphimus shuffled across a line of dead equine and griffon bodies lying in a ditch. The corpses were freshly covered in faded gray tarps. She came to a shuffling stop beside three lifeless lumps—belonging to two adult farmers and a foal. A tuft of soft pink tail-hairs poked out from beneath the makeshift grave. With silent reverance, Seraphimus reached an armored talon out and tucked the limb delicately beneath its covering.
"Seraphimus!" a member of the Central Guard shouted in the starry air.
"...?" Seraphimus turned around.
A pegasus soldier panted, descending from the heavens. "It's the Defense Minister!" He pointed west across the ruined farmsteads. "He says the Talon's found a group of locals who claim to have seen a strange party passing through here!" He gulped. "Chandler wants you to come and listen in right away!"
Seraphimus silently nodded. She took wing, following the pegasus in a low glide. Together, they skirted the tops of collapsed silos and shattered barns. Snow blanketed the earth in every direction. Chunks of ice pierced houses and storage sheds. The frozen substance gradually melted, flooding and oversaturating the star-lit farmlands.
At last, Seraphimus and the messenger converged on a spot where several members of the military expedition had touched down. Armored protectors of Rohbredden marched to and fro, rummaging through debris and setting up a temporary relief camp. In the center of the snow-blasted clearing, a crooked pole stretched towards the sky, its five crystal lights flickering with sporadic vigor.
Keris and his subordinates were already standing alongside Chandler. The Defense Minister had removed his helmet and was kneeling before a pair of ponies.
"Did they threaten you in any way?" Chandler asked.
"Threaten us?" Marie frowned up at him. She sat with Blue, cradling the elder in her comforting forelimbs. The hunch-backed stallion continued to whimper fitfully in the midst of a near-catatonic state. "Just by being here, they were a damned threat!" Marie's teeth showed as she growled. "My long lost loser of a brother—Johnny—had latched on to the whole mangy bunch!" She huffed. "Seems fitting. He turned into a twisted emotional freak years ago. Seems like he found the right kind of company."
Keris and Starstorm exchanged glances.
"So then..." Chandler's green eyes narrowed. "They attacked you?"
"Heh... they poisoned my family's heads, is what they did!" Marie snorted. "Or at least, they tried to. Selfish bastards wanted to rob us of our food and supplies. They may have gotten to Tim and Nicole... but they didn't get to me."
"Tim..." Blue whimpered, quivering once more. Tears streamed down his wrinkled face.
"Ahem..." Keris leaned forward. "...who's Tim?"
"Who cares," Marie muttered. Her ears nevertheless drooped as she murmured into the melting landscape. "Just another useless, polluted stallion." She sniffed. "Trotted off to Goddess-knows-where after the last Fivelights... rambling on and on about 'having a lot of thinking' to do. As always... this ungrateful, dying family is lying draped in my hooves. And with the windigoes out and about... I'm not sure I've got the strength to keep carrying on. It's already sapped the life out of Blue." She stroked the elder's wispy mane. "Poor stallion's been through enough as it is. He lost his wife... he lost Johnny... now Tim?"
"Madame," Chandler spoke. "About the windigoes." He cocked his head to the side. "Did these visitors summon them?"
"Heh... that would sure as Hell explain things, wouldn't it?" Marie produced a bitter smile. "They confessed to having murdered the Queen, after all! Makes sense that they'd have those damned demons on their side!" She frowned towards the eastern horizon. "The windigoes stampeded right when Johnny was kicking the ever-loving snot out of Tim, too. They must be in league with one another." She growled. "And that midnighter who was with them... they had plans all along. No wonder they took Nicole."
"Who's Nicole?" Chandler tried to ask.
Suddenly, Seraphimus marched up. "My little pony," she spoke in a firm, cold voice. "Can you tell us where these Goddess-murderers went?"
Keris flashed Seraphimus a look.
Marie looked up. She blinked. "I... I overheard something..." Her brow furrowed. "Something about a boat... a 'Sixth Seed'..." She gulped. "...and Bleak's Plummet."
Seraphimus took a deep breath. "Thank you, madame. You've been most helpful." She swiveled to face Chandler. "They have Professor Mane's midnighter companion in their possession. If they're headed to Bleak's Plummet, then no doubt they wish to enlist the help of the pirates east of the coast of Rohbredden."
"They're... going to bewitch the Seventh Tribe..." Chandler stood up with a frown. "That settles it. We're taking off. Those fiends must be intercepted now at all costs."
"I couldn't agree more, Minister." Seraphimus marched off. "I'll round up the troops."
Keris spoke loudly: "Defense Minister! I must insist!" He gestured at the ruined farmlands around him. "This ranch and several more like it in this Prefecture are still covered in ice! The citizens here need our help if they're ever to recover. What's more, there could be untold families still stuck and freezing to death in their homes—"
"Commander, if we don't avenge the Queen's death, the legacy of all ponies—dead or alive—will mean nothing."
"Chandler, if you just—"
"Enough!" Chandler snapped at him, frowning. "You heard your former superior. We have an idea now where the Rainbow Rogue is headed. If the midnighters beyond the coastline assist her, then she might become impossible to track." Chandler plopped his bulky helmet back on. "Hymnos sanctioned your presence with this expedition to help us... so help us." Growling, he turned and marched off. "Central Guard! We take wing! Head towards Bleak's Plummet!"
Several voices shouted affirmatively. The cold air billowed with an unnatural wind as dozens of armored figures lifted towards the sky. Keris and his fellow wingmates watched as Chandler mounted his chariot. Seraphimus stood beside him, and the two shared a few cold words. Within seconds, they had taken off... soaring for the east horizon.
Keris sighed. He exchanged nervous glances with Raptr, Starstorm, and Windburst. Motioning, he took to the sky, flying east in close formation with the rest of the Talon.
Marie sat alone with Blue. She and the rest of the remaining farmers lingered in silence—tiny dots of faded lights across a blighted ranch.
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I fear it wont end well for the Sarosians once Chandler gets there.
Fuckin' Marie. Quit being such a lousy person.
How did I not see that coming? Of course Blue and Marie would spill the beans.
Screw that farm! It's a shame the damage wasn't more severe.
WELP. There it is. Chandler's group got their next direction pretty easily.
I was about to ask where they're gonna get a boat. But when you can fly, well...
*inhales* Hooooooo boy.
You bitch...
Okay, Chandler, let's weigh the pros and cons of each choice.
Go after Rainbow= better chance of killing people, you get to be consistent in your discrimination against batponies, all these people die
Stay here= save people, have some sense pounded into your head by the cold, have a decent amount of supplies to NOT STARVE OR FREEZE with
Saw this coming, now the question is can they catch up before the herald get to Bleak's Plummet (I am going with no, no ships and no supplies means they will rapidly run out of steam).
7436851 It'll be Wyvern point all over again...
------------------------
Well Blue... once again I say Suck it you decrepit bag of shit.
I recall what Dash said back at Red Barge, the truth won't set you free, it will cripple you, and look at what the truth did to you.
You have one pony willing to stand in your corner, and she's not the one you want there is she?
Keep thinking Keris, you're going to have to make sure you can pull your punches with millisecond timing to make the fight look real.
-Companions are abound, frozen spectres hound. Utaan.
Keris trying to save farmers and troops and delaying the army, Chandler trying his best to trash everything.
Seraph cant be Shell 2 in anyway possible, she doesnt have the immense mana ability of the origional. the only way she could be in any way a danger to Dash, if Dash was glued up, tied down and asleep, would be if Seraph smeho suddenly gained controll of The Winds.
And that would mean Nothing after that Pendant comes off.
I've seen it coming from miles away... Blue and Marie are still assholes and they will not change now.
Well... At least, Tim got away, I hope we'll see him again, event just to know what he has become.
Well, this was pretty much guaranteed to happen, though it is nice to see that Chandler is just now reaching the farm.
Damn, and here I was hoping they wouldn't find out about the boat. That was pretty much their only advantage.
Here's hoping Rainbow's able to get the Sarosians on her side before things hit the fan.
7436981 That's what Verlax wants. Don't stoop to that level.
I was wondering when Seph would become Shell 2.0.
Finally back with Chandler's little group, and things haven't changed much for some on the farm. Not much of a surprise. I still have this sneaking suspicion that either Seraphimus will kill Chandler in the end or he will die in some stupidly humiliating way.
7437148
I really don't see this happening. What we've heard of Sarosians so far is that they are bloodthirsty pirates who you would need a battleship to challenge. Far from defenseless monks.
7437162
Or, you know, if she manages to arrive at the worst possible time and screw everything up.
I don't think all of the Herald will make it to the other side with Rainbow.
Figured Seraphimus was being our Shell stand-in for this arc. We'll see if something different comes of it this time around. For all that she's been put in a similar broken state to Shell, she hasn't gone to the full extent of atrocity Shell did, and honestly has a lot more reason to hate Verlax than Dash. But she and Chandler are a pair, both equally driven by self delusion to the point of being blind to just about anything outside their narrow vision.
Self delusion seems to be the major theme of Utaan, as its happened in almost every stretch of the story to one or more characters. Here's to hoping delusions can be broken and at least some minds mended by the end of it. Even with all the shit I give Axan I'd prefer she actually get over herself and learn, and I'd prefer to see the same to a lot of the lost souls Dash has come across.
Then there's Dash herself. Can't quite yet wiggle out of Verlax's manipulations, even after the wintery wrym has gone and croaked.
7416916 I.. stumbled across a version without sound effects, but... it's got a different song mixed over it.
It still works... alarmingly well though.
7437548
My bet is the Sarosians are going to keep the central guard and Chandler busy and pinned while Seraphimus will be on her own fighting the Herald and possibly the Talon.
7436945
she's got the same temper as her adopted father
There, the wrathful seeking help from the wrathful. They'll help you have your vengeance, sure, but they've long forgotten how to build instead of destroy.
So enjoy your starvation, I suppose.
Blue and Marie are doucheballoons, but Rainbow & Co. certainly could've been more discreet. They might as well have had a "Bleak's Plummet or bust!" bumper sticker on the back of their cart.
Well, Seraphimus definitely is like Shell now. I suspect that Rainbow Dash will come out of this with permanent scarring from Sera's claws.
Next villain on the list is Tchernborg, the elder sister of Chrysalis, leader of the Changelings on the Dark Side.
Shit...
Sad to see Marie didn't see the truth. I wonder about those siblings who were initially kind to Johnny and co; are they still with Blue or did they leave like Tim?
P.S. Some random Phantom of the Opera-referencing chapter title ideas for the future, for the off chance that they fit the story:
Seraphimus, Your Disguise is Perfect!
Seraphimus, Away with this Pretense!
Well, they have a heading, but the Stardust has a head start.
7437162
Oh God, let's not go there...
7437548
Necessity requires of me that I be the optimistic fool who puts all his coins on this option.
Oh crap...
This is gonna get ugly.
Like always.
And the chase continues!
They're not criminals. Jesus, Marie.
(I apologize for nothing.)
Marie did you know
That your little lamb
Have just been lead to slaugh-ter
And here is another example of choice to destroy one's family. Blue is ultimately closer to being a Shell than Seraphimus ever will be.
11/09/2019
18:51 UTC
Under the light of a blue moon,
I come back east
On this hallowed eve.
Aspiring Stardust Princess
Merallakos
Though the chapter forbodes to me not, forewarn it does, and foreseen it is. Suiting, I find a night such as this to lead the edge of my east bound treck!
Trick and treat, leave your bowl not unattended, lest someone steal it all for themselves. Still, if it is candy you wish, then it is candy I have.
Now, I must fly!
Oh fuck off. Blue is an asshole and deserved to lashing he got. Don't try and twist this around you miserable pony.
9933177
Mentally yes, everything else no.
Doubt he could make it half way through the ocean.