Waiting Is the Hardest Part
Rainbow flew and flew and flew in circles.
She pivoted towards Fluttershy.
"Anything?"
The ghostly pegasus clutched her skull and licked her lips. She shook her head.
Rainbow flew and flew and flew in more circles.
Once again, she pivoted about.
"What about now?"
Fluttershy could only wince.
"Rainbow, darling, please." Rarity leaned in, patting Fluttershy's soft shoulder. "You must stop pacing."
"And give Fluttershy a rest, will ya?" Applejack joined in. "She's skull-projectin' the best that she can!"
"But... but we can't rest!" Rainbow's voice cracked. "Anytime now, those jerkwads from Rohbredden will be here and as soon as Fluttershy senses every soul on board I need to friggin' know about it so I can signal Enix and Bleak's Plummet and prepare for the ultimate dive to the Dark Side!" She took a long... long breath after that outburst and limply turned to Fluttershy once again. "Anything now?"
"I sense... I-I sense..." Fluttershy winced to say.
Twilight's scowling face lifted in front of her, aimed straight at Rainbow Dash. "She's. Scanning. Rainbow. Dash." Her lavender brow furrowed. "She'll let you know the moment she's got a fix on our pursuers."
"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie nodded, leaning in to give Fluttershy a side-hug. "Plus, Rarity and I have got her covered on the evil-glossy-boat-sense! Isn't that right, Rare-Rare?"
"Indeed." Rarity tilted her nose up. "Don't worry, darling. The moment I sense those two ships, I'll relay the exact coordinates. Why... it'll be like suturing buttons onto a table-cloth!" She laughed daintily, fluffing her mane. A throat-clear later, and she frowned once again. "So calm your blasted feathers."
"Mrfffffnnngh..." Rainbow slumped in mid-air, gazing limply down at the tossing waves beneath her.
"Seriously, Rainbow..." Twilight floated closer, sporting an optimistic smile. "Can't you just relax?"
Rainbow looked up, eyes glaring. "Seriously?"
Twilight folded her forelimbs. "Well excuse me for trying to break the tension."
"You'd need a jackhammer the size of the moon to break this thickness, girl!" Rainbow Dash gestured wildly. "What do you think we've been preparing for the last dozen hours?! A picnic?!"
Pinkie casually gestured at the platforms behind them. "Your buddies seem to be relaxing just fine, Dashie!" The Herald gathered along a stretch of granite where the Stardust had been moored. Enix and her fellow warriors hovered not too far away. "Why don't you go and join them?"
"Because that's not going to make anything better, Pinkie."
"I don't get it, Rainbow." Twilight drifted in front of her, tossing her forelimbs. "You've butted heads with chaos dragons, outflown zombie pegasi, and chased down a changeling queen! Why are you such a basketcase all of the sudden?"
"It's simple as apple pie, Twi," Applejack said with a tiny smirk. "T'ain't the battle that kills Rainbow. It's the waitin'." She tilted her ghostly hat back. "Ain't that right, RD?"
Rainbow moaned, slumping once again. "I... hate... waiting."
"Well... uh..." Twilight fidgeted in midair, searching for the words to say. "Erm..." She suddenly brightened. "Think about the past, Rainbow Dash?"
"What?" Rainbow glared at her. "You mean like when you and all my other best friends were blown to smithereens by Discord?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "A little later in the past. Think about Val Roa! The odds were against you, weren't they?"
"Yeah!" Pinkie hopped in place. "They were super against her!"
"Queen Chrysalis had infiltrated her way deep into the three branches of government in that monarchy!" Twilight exclaimed. "She was just hours away from tearing the most important city in all of Alafreo to ribbons and feeding on the suffering!" She beamed. "But you and the Noble Jury weren't having it! Not only did you guys beat back the Goblin Cartel and shatter Chrysalis' plans, but you suffered zero casualties from the whole debacle!" She spread her forelimbs wide. "Talk about a eucatastrophe!"
"Euca-what?" Applejack droned.
"You know... 'eucatastrophe!'" Twilight exclaimed. "The absolute inversion of 'catastrophe?' It's when everything terrible has every reason to happen... but then everything ends up all right!"
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Pinkie Pie nodded. A beat. "Yeah, I don't think that word exists, Twi."
"Eeyup." Applejack nodded. "I think you made it up."
Twilight face-hoofed. Hard. "It was in a book." She sighed. "A very... dusty book."
"Can you guys not?" Rainbow Dash droned.
"Not what?" Pinkie Pie blinked.
"Everything."
"Rainbow, dear... I think I understand what Twilight is trying to say." Rarity floated closer, smiling delicately. "You once encountered a situation where the odds were stacked terribly against you. And yet—despite all of your trepidations, realistic or otherwise—the day ended up being saved! And miraculously so!"
"The thing about miracles is that they're super rare," Rainbow grumbled. "I know better than to count my chickens before they've hatched."
"Chicks."
Rainbow did a double-take. "Huh?"
It was Fluttershy. She looked up with a soft smile. "They're baby chicks when they hatch. Not 'chickens.'"
Frowning, Rainbow pointed west. "Frostknifers."
"'Kay." Fluttershy obediently re-clutched her skull, "concentating."
"Sugarcube... let's face it..." Applejack floated up towards their anchor. "What's happenin' on the horizon is plum unavoidable."
Rainbow Dash winced.
Applejack continued. "You can choose to face it like the brave soul you truly are... or as the impatient little scamp we all used to roll our eyes at back in Ponyville." The mare's green eyes narrowed. "I think we all know which of the two you left behind years ago."
Rainbow gulped. "I'm not so worried about myself..."
"Dashieeeeeeee..." Pinkie Pie smiled. "We all know that you care about your friends! So why not hang out with them?!" She winked, sticking a tongue out. "It'll make the dreadful 'waiting' less 'waity!'"
Rarity stifled a giggle. "What you did there, Pinkie. I most assuredly have seen it."
"Booples!"
"Ehhh..." Rainbow scratched the back of her head, reticent to look in the direction of the gathered Herald. "I dunno..."
"If you could turn back time and hang out with the Jury more before the battle of Val Roa, wouldn't you?" Twilight smiled as she spoke.
"It's... different, Twi."
"How so?"
"Back in Val Roa... I m-may not have wanted to admit it... but..." Rainbow shuddered. "...deep in my heart, I knew that I was going to part ways with them. With all of them. But now? Here? With the Herald?" She looked up with sad eyes. "...I don't have the luxury of leaving these guys behind. I'm going to have to take them—each and every one of them—over the edge. It's like... diving into a gazillion Grand Chokes all draped across the far end of the plane and..." She winced. "How... just how can I expect all of them to survive that mess?" She sighed. "How can I expect myself to survive?"
Twilight bit her lip. She exchanged worried looks with Rarity and Pinkie Pie.
"These dudes pledged to follow me through to the end," Rainbow muttered. "I wish I could be thrilled about that... b-but I'm not." She glanced west. "In just an hour or two... we're gonna see how dedicated they are. And... I-I for one don't want to see how f-far they can be tested."
Silence.
"You're more than just the Austraeoh to them, Rainbow."
Rainbow spun east.
Fluttershy was looking up at her through a lock of pink hair. She clutched her head the whole time she spoke. "You're a beacon. You're a purpose." She breathed calmly. "And with so much darkness looming beyond the next plummet... why must you shroud yourself so?"
Rainbow blinked.
"Don't indulge in the darkness ahead of its time," Fluttershy said. "There's only a scant amount of light left here... and it is a blessing. Join them, Rainbow Dash. Wait with your friends... and bask in it."
The silence following that statement would have been poetic—if it weren't for Pinkie Pie. "Yeah!" The mare flounced. "What she said!"
Applejack and Rarity chuckled. Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh buck it..." Rainbow Dash bore a tired smile as she drifted east towards the Stardust. "My wings were getting tired anyway."
"Woohoo!" Pinkie Pie shared, making Fluttershy wince as she continued her lookout. "Gooooooo 'what she said!''"
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So, odds on the magical ghost radar station failing to pick up something really important? Or the girls getting distracted at just the wrong moment?
Alternate chapter title; Rainbow Dash gets an Ulcer
Not much to say. Like Dash, I hate waiting, and want to see how this pinata bursts. Keeping my optimism drives at full power.
Obligatory LotR squee
Never have I agreed with you more, Rainbow Dash.
Well, I guess they really did see two ships. This is good for Rainbow, because it means she'll know something's up if only one appears.
And congrats to eucatastrophe, even though I haven't seen him in forever. ):(, your memory is astounding sometimes.
7618949 what if the Guard's ship just suddenly sinks? Suddenly.
It sucks to wait like this but the girls are right, Rainbow needs to relax at least somewhat before this happens. Its no good for her to be like this right before a battle.
Yeaaaaaahhhh, someone's gonna get speared.
Random thought: It's a fair bet that the windigoes will show up at one point or another during this hullabaloo, and thus far the only weapon presented in the story that seems capable of damaging windigoes are those sarosian moon rocks that go ka-pow.
Thinking maybe its possible that when the windigeos arrive to cause shit that Dash could lead the bat ponies against the freaky frost phantoms, showing proof positive to the Central Guard that she's on the level. Not to mention if the bat ponies defeat the windiegoes it could be the kind of spark that helps Rohbredden deal with the rest of the windigoe hordes, the bat ponies able to give the secrets of moon rocks to the Rohbreddnites before continuing on their journey west. Everyone wins.
I don't know, sound plausible to anyone else?
7619045 I mentioned quite a while back that I feel Chandler and Seraphimus are "fake" Shells- while they look like him and act in similar roles, the Windigoes are the true greater threat ):( wants us to forget about in the face of a different, extremely dramatic but less lethal conflict, as Shell himself was in Lerris.
I'll eat AJ's ghost hat if they don't show up. And when they do, it could be very bad (they freeze the ocean, which will instantly destroy Bleak's Plumet) or very good (giving RD one last chance at redemption in Rohbredden). But they will come, and they will be drawn by the battle between the Herald/Sarosians and the Central Guard.
This is gonna end badly, isn't it? I can just feel it in my gut...
7619125 superficial freezing in a limited straight area... Ii think Bleak's Plummet won't have problems with it.
If you hate waiting, then busy yourself with something, do some checks, run some drills, go over the plan again.
It doesn't have to be leisure, anything that could help keep things running smoothly, you'd be amazed at how time flies when you make busy work for yourself.
Or hell, maybe tell the other girls about your adventures. you've only told Twi and Rar the full story, get the others all caught up on everything, not just the good or the bad.
-Companions are abound, frozen spectres hound. Utaan.
7619125 The Windigoes are attracted by hatred and other negative emotions right?
Wouldn't they make priority targets of the biggest sources?
Speaking of eucatastrophes... Stay safe, author, and disconnect your computer from the main grid. At this point all chapters are cliffhangers, and getting no story updates due to weather related incidents would feel bad.
Magic detectors above water vs magic detectors below water, and the guys in the air spotted teh ships before teh ships spotted them? Too risky to have outlying subs kite a couple spotters up to check on the ships?
Yeah! Enjoy your friends right now cause there is not going to be a nice party on the gondola....
Welp, looks like I'm gonna have Tom Petty stuck in my head all day now.
I have to agree with Rainbow, waiting really does suck.
The calm before the storm... We can see the size of the approaching clouds and their darkness, but we can't see the depth that the storm will stretch.
We are now T-minus one week from the story starting a year ago.
That's a lot of big words to be coming out of Fluttershy's mouth. o_O
7619045 Nope.
7619355 The soft and seldom spoken often have the most to say. Big words just mean they need less time to say it.
7619045 Make this real IC
7619440 Here is another good quote, hope for the best prepare for the worst.
No, Dash, I will!
It's a real word:
eucatastrophe |ˌyo͞okəˈtastrəfē|
noun rare
a sudden and favorable resolution of events in a story; a happy ending.
As the military saying has it, "Hurry up and wait."
You know, on a completely unrelated note, I am just glad RD is not hung up on AJ anymore. That would be rude to Roarke.
7619207 Utaan 184:
Yeah, nope. They don't just freeze the surface.
7619236 I'm not sure that'll be enough. Windigoes in this story haven't been exceptionally good at choosing specific targets; usually they just hang out and have a stampede near bad stuff. Just not being angry won't be enough to protect the Sarosians if they're still nearby.
Huh, I hadn't considered the possibility of windigoes showing up. I'd been thinking there were two ways this could go down: With everything going more-or-less smoothly and according to plan (which doesn't happen too often in this author's work); or with the plan getting shot to hell, a lot of characters dying, and potentially Rainbow having to go to the dark side alone (which seems to stretch the limits of feasibility). But having the windigoes show up would not only be unexpected (at least until 7619045 brought it up), but it might provide a means by which Rainbow's and Chandler's forces might have to work together, and for Rainbow to prove her virtue to her pursuers. Very interesting.
But until we know for sure, yes, unfortunately we'll have to wait.
7618959 I doubt there is any mistake, the number of ships has consistently been 3 from Keris' side, and 2 from Dash's side.
Please give us a happy ending...
Counterpoint, though: the annihilation of an entire community wasn't in the cards there, only subjugation. Chandler's group and Seraphimus want to kill all Sarosians encountered, all for suspected involvement with Rainbow.
Ugh...I can't stop being worried about this upcoming conflict...
Also,
7619305 saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame
7620041 poor physics. Sorry for the trouble.
I kinda needed to hear that too.
<3 flutterbutter
>me when in between Austraeoh updates.
Also,
The two ships thing wasn't a typo? Did the Sarosian scouts just relay them the wrong information?
So, Rainbow and the Herald doesn't know that there are actually three ships, and Chandler & Co. doesn't know that they know there's more than one ship... This is going to get awkward real quick.
7620866 I still say there's hope for Seraphimus. The good in her didn't just die, and she hasn't had the years of murder and war that shell did. Plus, she has the Talon, who still care about her and are doing what they can to help. I'm not sure what could happen to stop her from being killed, but i'm reasonably sure something will. Even if it is just her being on the Gondola when it goes down
The radio where I lived loved playing this song right as I was reading the first book. And now, two years, it is finally relevant(the chorus, at least) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-ZDBddRXFA
7620847 I must correct you there. Nobody knows what "Innavedr" signifies. Though I suspect that the word itself means "wind to wings" or something along those lines, since that is a common theme whenever Innavedr is mentioned. All the story gave us was some incredibly vague notions and riddles that could mean anything. I'm hoping we will get an answer down the line, like how Odrsjot was given context 4 books after the fact.
Effectively it is some prophecised something-or-other that brings "wind to the wings" of the Austraeoh, and we didn't even know that much until book 7.
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/88713/101/innavedr/wind-to-wings
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/254555/160/ynanhluutr/that-one-that-took-three-days
7621112 Woah, that song is epic. Why have I not heard it before?
7621754 No idea. Maybe Texas is just better
7620847 Oh, and Urohringr means "Ring of Fate" I believe.
Odrsjot signifies the herald.
Eljunbyro are those Rainbow meets along the way that give her to reason to keep going, such as the Noble Jury.
There is a difference between the meaning of the words and what they signify.
7621977 Eh, its probably more the fact that I haven't been listening to conventional radio these past few years. And I object to that notion.
7620847 Oh, I was commenting on the fact that the phrase Beyond is just really, really common compared to the meanings of the other symbols in their respective books. Like, in Austraeoh and Odrsjot, we never even once hear the phrases "East Horse" and "Frantic Companionship".
The only book to have its name's meaning emphasized this much was Eljunbyro, and that book really crazy with symbolism in general.
7621754 Pilate translated it as "Accomplish the Wind," though that's even less descriptive. I, too, would like some exposition on what Innavedr means.
If I had to guess, I'd say it refers to the proto-Pegasi. They're the most important thing to the grand scheme of things we've seen that lacks a symbol (aside from the Divines), we saw the symbol on their book, and Innavedr was partially about Nightshade and her sequencing with a bunch of dead proto-Pegasi.
But yes, I really just want the story to say something about it.
7622703 I have a guitar-playing pegasus, a sharp-shooting crystal pony and one half of OTP(it shall never die dangit!), to back me up.
I found a much more relevant song :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbWFpzi8C94
I hate waiting too, Dashie...
Also, I'm loving the new cover art!
7624271 ur welcome
The irony.
7626072 Finally where?
No, Pinkie! You'll jinx it! Especially if IC reads this chapter!
Pinkie would know that word.
7626786 The edge of the world. Note the name of the chapter the original comment was posting in.