Let Us Ask the Dragon
On fumbling hooves, Rainbow Dash marched slowly out of Flynn's engine room and towards the bottom deck of the Princess Stardust's spacious metal cabin. She stared down at the rusted hull plating, sighing to herself.
All of a sudden, she came upon a thick set of violet hooves.
"... ... ...?" She tilted her head up.
Remna stared calmly at her. "That was an awful lot of chatter back there."
Rainbow blinked. She turned and looked back at the engine compartment from which she came.
"Care to share with the rest of us what's putting you through so much turmoil?" Remna droned.
Rainbow exhaled heatedly. "It's not turmoil." She turned to face the draconian bounty hunter once again. "Well... at least no more than usual."
"This has something to do with the conversation you were having with the sarosian earlier..." Remna tilted her heavy head to the side. "About the griffon Commander pursuing her?"
"Assuming she's even pursuing me at all," Rainbow muttered.
"She's been politically and religiously charged with capturing you more than once," Remna said. "And you are inadvertently responsible for the death of her family." Her slitted eyes narrowed. "It would be foolish to assume she's not pursuing her."
"Dang it... I didn't hold her family ransom!" Rainbow's voice cracked. "Verlax did!"
"Does it make any difference as far as Seraphimus is concerned?" Remna remarked. "For the sake of yourself—and the Herald—it would be best to assume responsibility and act accordingly." She shook her head. "Verlax is no longer around to take the blame. You're the Austraeoh. Expect the worst."
"Jee..." Rainbow muttered. "You're a real coach."
"Friends will coddle you to put you at ease," Remna said. "But we both know the Austraeoh cannot afford ease."
"Don't I know it..." Rainbow Dash paced across the metal chamber. "...but—for your information—my friends don't coddle." Her brow furrowed. "Half of them are friggin' shaming for even contemplating that I should put Seraphimus' lights out permanently."
"And the other half?"
"They're... trying to defend me, I guess," Rainbow muttered, fidgeting in place. "And that's awesome and all... but I think they're forgetting that it's not just Seraphimus that I may end up having to deal with." She rubbed a hoof over her short-short bangs. "Who knows how many ponies are going to butt heads with me between here and there... the final 'there.'" She looked up with a dull expression. "Verlax thought that I have to go about this all cold-hearted... but everything about where I'm from and who I am tells me that I gotta look for any and all harmonic options."
"Which is to be understood," Remna said with a nod.
Rainbow glanced at her. She squinted. "What do you think I should do?"
"Murder Seraphimus on sight," Remna said. "As well as any misguided creatures hell-bent on opposing you."
"Heh..." Rainbow rolled her eyes with a bitter smirk. "Why did I even bother to ask?"
"It is not your place to gratuitously slay entire populations," Remna said. "Nevertheless, the road to redemption is necessarily painted in blood. If it turns out to be all your blood, then it will be a very short road indeed."
"I used to think so self-centeredly," Rainbow said with a nod. She gulped a bitter lump down her throat. "I'm not keen on using that sort of tunnel vision ever again."
"Then how do you expect to get anywhere?"
"Axan... look..." Rainbow waved a hoof. "Maybe you got along just fine with being a cold, cruel, soul-less Matriarch for countless centuries." She raised an eyebrow. "But what has that ever accomplished except to maintain the status quo of this crazy world dying slowly... eon by eon?"
"A point well-made."
"Heh... I'm glad you can see that."
"I can now." Remna took a sullen breath. "And for what it's worth, Austraeoh, I have endeavored in every feasible way to think outside the metaphysical restraints that my foolish siblings have manifested—Verlax most especially."
"And Nevlamas?"
"You cannot fix crazy."
"No." Rainbow chuckled. "I suppose not." She gulped. "But... like... think about yourself, Axan."
Remna stared.
"You've done things by a black-and-white rulebook before," the mare said. "All the stuff you did in Silvadel... the stuff you did to me in Silvadel..."
"Have we not discussed this already at length?"
"J-just hear me out." Rainbow gestured. "You once killed me out of pure impulse—even though it seemed like the most necessary thing to do at the time." She raised an eyebrow. "And just how hard have you come to regret such a disharmonious action? Especially since you found out I was the Austraeoh?"
Remna was silent.
"Heh... you're right." Rainbow smirked slightly. "We have discussed this at great length."
"You are not wrong," Remna said. "I once extinguished your life with the same resolute determination that I currently believe you must employ in encountering the likes of Seraphimus and her underlings."
"Uh huh..." Rainbow nodded. "And me?" She pointed at herself. "I believe in putting my life on the line for the sake of harmony. Or... at least... I once did." She gulped. "That pegasus who faced you back in Silvadel... she knew what awesome lengths it took to do something very good. And... like... look at me now!" Rainbow shrugged with a smirk. "Austraeoh prevails and all that snazzy fluff!"
"Hrmmmm..." Remna leaned back. "Your sense of self-sacrifice is arguably noble. And yet... it has depended so much on good fortune."
Rainbow blinked.
"As much as you should be asking yourself how far you will be willing to shed blood for the sake of your journey... I do believe you should also be asking yourself: just how many honorable deaths can you miraculously come back from?" Remna took a fuming breath. "I fear that one alternative is a great deal riskier than the other... especially considering the good graces you've enjoyed thus far."
Rainbow bit her lip.
Silence...
...and then Rainbow heard sharp, muffled voices from the far end of the cabin. She craned her neck to look past Remna's form.
"What... what's going on in there?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"The sarosian we picked up... known as 'Nicole' to her older sibling," Remna muttered. "...who is currently 'chewing Bard out,' as you mortals would say."
"Chewing him out?" Rainbow blanched. "What for?"
"Have you forgotten where we are heading?"
"The Sixth Seed? Bleak's Plummet?" Rainbow cocked her head aside. "Nicole's here to help Echo out with the Seventh Tribe."
"But where are we headed beyond...?"
Rainbow blinked. Her ears folded as she winced. "Oh... oh jeez..."
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Ah, crud...I don't recall them ever mentioning to Nicole that their destination was past Bleak's Plummet, now that I think about it.
(at least, I think so...)
I literally just asked that out loud after reading the previous two lines.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't "Sarosian" need to be capitalized?
Did Nicole not know that they were going the darkside of the world or something? I though they told her this before.
Just to touch briefly on this chapter and this particular notion. All thoughts of plot armor aside, Dash's risk of injury and death, along with any of the Herald and others that follow her, is always going to be high, especially on the Dark Side. There's no actual way to minimize this risk logically. Even if Dash became wholly dedicated to destroying anything and anyone in her path this wouldn't reduce her risk of death. Whether you're fighting to kill or disable, or some combination thereof based on moment to moment judgement calls, your risk remains relatively the same because you're already in a fight. Adopting a fully kill or be killed attitude doesn't reduce that risk of suffering injury or death. If one gets used to going into every situation intending to kill, one tends to see that as the only solution to most any problem, which only increases the likely hood of getting into more fights.
Dash's luck could run out no matter how hardcore she decides to become, so ultimately the risk of her death shouldn't be a factor in determining her actions. That risk will exist regardless of what she chooses to do.
"Hey sister. Btw suicide mission lol."
"Wtf bro."
7450896 lol. Brb, building an Austraeoh chapter to tweet generator eventually.
Axan should know that impulsive killing is never going to work in the long run. I mean, how long had she been laying waste to Silvadel before RD showed up? It had to have been years, even decades, and even then there were still ponies stubborn enough to get in her way, just to preserve what little they had left to consider home. Had RD not shown up, they would have persisted and fought until one of the parties was wiped out.
RD may be strong, but she's no ancient Divine of Flame with a massive army of dragons at her disposal. Moreover, she doesn't have years of time to complete her mission. And unless she's willing to massacre an entire civilization like Axan was about to do, killing off her enemies is only going to produce more enemies, each one more angry and fanatical than the last. Who's to say that there aren't any Robhreddenites that are willing to chase her across the dark side and beyond?
The more shit you stir up, the more it's going to smell.
7450830
This. Rainbow needs as few obstacles in her way between here and the Midnight Armory as possible, and making enemies with everyone she meets isn't going to make that any easier.
I like Axan. She's a bitch and she admits it.
With the chaotic cure-all of removing the pendant for a moment I'm not sure why Dash would be too overly concerned about physical harm. I think the two biggest dangers here are capture and time.
There's a good bit of cognitive dissonance coming from Remna here. She claims that eliminating anybody whom opposes Dash is the safest way forward when that exact course of action caused her to lose everything.
I guess that's the problem with consequence based decision making, it can never account for that one sassy pegasus that shows up to ruin your day with the power of awesomeness.
...When did Axan become a bounty hunter?
As I have said on multiple occasions 'sacrificing a few for the greater good, it doesn't work, and eventually you run out of people to sacrifice'. She should be trying to save every life, no matter the cost, as she cannot predict the future, and can not know who will be vital to preserve it.
Rainbow should wait for the story to end, then read the wiki and see who can die.
I don't know. I think she's just on the fence for the sake of transferring some portion of the responsibility to the shoulders of someone else when she does something nasty. I'm probably wrong though.
7451758 she doesn't have that luxury.
7450830
This part is absolutely and entirely wrong.
Even with modern technology like tasers and chemical sprays, trying to end a fight non-lethally is very dangerous for the person who is unwilling to use lethal force.
In a fight – a real fight, where someone is trying to kill you – there are only two ways to make them stop trying to kill you.
1) Remove their will to fight.
2) Remove their ability to fight.
In this series (and in most series where the messiah-like hero always invents a "third option" such as Doctor Who), the hero resolves conflict through means of harmony and friendship. This typically involves some sort of plot device, featuring no small amount of plot armor. In real life, we teach police officers tactics like verbal judo to deescalate confrontations so that force does not need to be used.
Pepper spray and batons are what's called "pain compliance" techniques. For those who are just making trouble and not actually trying to kill you. You hurt them a little bit, and they decide it's not worth the effort.
But if someone's legit trying to kill you? As in, we're past the part where the bad buy stands menacingly in front of you and declares that you must die for Verlaxion's vengeance or whatever. You have to end their ability to fight.
That means you have to damage vital structures to the point where they can no longer continue the attack. That means central nervous system, bone structure, musculature, or cardiovascular.
Typically, the CNS is heavily armored. Typical police calibers like 9mm, .40, and .45 will bounce off of a human skull with surprising frequency. There's a triangle between the eyes and the bridge of the nose that a bullet can get through pretty easily, but other than that, it takes a (no pun intended) head-on angle for the bullet to punch through. Any angle at all, and the bullet will skip off the bone. The spine is likewise armored. Headshots are for video games, not fighting except in a last resort.
Bones are hard to break, and someone with a broken leg or arm can keep fighting surprisingly well if they are committed to killing you. You can walk on a broken leg for a good while, if you can handle the pain. The pelvis is one of the big exceptions. If your opponent's pelvis is broken, they are physically incapable of walking. But the pelvis is also full of huge blood vessels, so if you break that (with, say, a caliber 9mm on up), they're likely to bleed out anyway.
Muscles? You've got to basically cut a muscle in half to really stop someone, so unless you have a sword, that's not an option. If you do have a sword, a slash like that is likely to cause death by blood loss anyway.
Blood loss is almost always the quickest way to end a fight. If your life is a priority, you want to be making holes in the other guy, PDQ. And if you're not willing to put holes in the other guy who's trying to put holes in you... it's pretty darn likely you're gonna be the one leaking.
That doesn't mean you have to go around poking holes in people. You can be as harmonic as Rainbow Gandhi until someone starts trying to kill you in earnest, as long as you have the tools, training, and will to put holes in them first.
This reply has been brought to you by the letter "taking internet comments too seriously."
God dammit Bard!
Seriously, Rainbow, we've been through this. Yes, it's something about a different perspective and principle and whatnot, but you sound like someone who hasn't already killed people in the lower three digit range.
7451733 This would require that the future be fixed.
I guess I forgot that Bard was sticking along for the ride and that Nicole didn't know.
Man, Johnny boy is done for.
She's not Roarke, she's a motherbucking elder dragon in a pony suit. Too easy to forget that.
I still can't believe Axan is a part of the group... And talking to Rainbow.
I definitely prefer it to vague references of a possibly draconic form maybe flying somewhere nearby.
Well okay then. We know what we gotta do now.
I'm liking Axan more and more.
7467054
Well, she did only recently remember half of them with those nightmare flashbacks to her discordant form
PREACH.
Whoops. You all forgot about that part huh?