Two Birds With One Stone
Swab picked and plucked away at his bed of rice. Despite the inescapable pit in his belly, he could only indulge in so many of the kernels.
Sighing, the colt looked up from his mattress in the corner of the rusted hold. His ear twitched as his eyes danced from one burning barrel to another.
Over by the fillies' bunk beds, he saw Croche standing before several of the new blood. The freshly-scarred foals shook and trembled where they stood. Nevertheless, Croche gently stole their attention, gesturing with her hooves as she explained the proper way to scrub the bulkheads of Red Barge and earn food. The children listened as attentively as they could, their gaze occasionally stolen by an errant noise or groan from across the filthy domain.
Swab watched Croche for a minute or two. Then, his head tilted to the left. His vision fell upon Quint's domain... or what remained of it.
Whony sat in a slump, surrounded by lopsided tables and empty chairs. He gazed perpetually forward, his eyes thin and vacant.
A tiny foal inched towards the domain from the side, his eyes glued on Whony. He paused for a moment, then reached forward, grabbing a half-empty jug of water. As soon as his hoof made contact, the foal dashed away with the jar, kicking up dust and soot.
Whony made no movement whatsoever. He sighed, turned over, and glared into the shadows of the room.
Swab blinked. He stared across the room. Every pony he saw had her or his head bowed, weathering sigh after sigh. A perpetual grayness hung between the burning blazes. Beyond the bulkheads, there was the endless hiss of muffled steam and nothing more.
Grumbling to himself, the one-eared colt finally stood up. He gathered his nibbles up in a tiny pouch, trotted straight forward, then unceremoniously dumped the contents down on the floor... right beside Croche and her “apprentices.”
Croche gasped slightly, glancing aside. Swab trotted off before she could say anything, shuffling up towards the gray daylight looming above. The mare bit her lip, then finally answered the anxious gasps of the newcomers. With slow grace, she dished out equal shares of the rice to the starving youngsters. As they ate what tiny morsels they could, she turned to glare up the dimly-lit path where Swab made his exit.
Swab limped loosely across the bridges and struts of Red Barge.
Several burn marks and blood-stains littered the many decks.
But the damage had mostly settled. Gone were the fires and blazes that previously blemished the metal lengths of the platforms. Aside from an eerie, vacant silence over the west struts, the rest of Red Barge continued as normal. Stallions and mares went about their normal maintenance tasks, although a glazed colorlessness lingered in their eyes. Dredgers went through the daily motions with mechanical grace, almost blending in with the pipework and lattices around them.
Swab lingered on a second layer of bulkheads. As he enjoyed a brief gust of salty air, he turned and gazed south. His eyes rested on the outer layers of the brig's entrance. Everything about the surrounding strut looked cold, barren, lifeless.
Exhaling, he turned and looked in the opposite direction. The colt's eyes squinted as he stared past the glint of daylight coming off of Skagra's office... looming high above the rust and muck like a second sun...
“So it's official, then,” Nixkit remarked with a grunt. “Chandler's coming here.”
“He's coming and a half,” Skagra belched from his reclining chair. “Monket's horseflies gave us the full details.” He tongued the inside of his filthy muzzle. “...just how long ago was that, N.M.M?”
“About thirty-six hours ago,” Monket muttered, standing besides the porthole along the side of the office. Grumbling to himself, he raised a hoof and swung the round window open, exposing the office to a humid breeze. “He'll be arriving on one lone steamship. Just as requested.”
“And how do we know that for sure?” Nixkit asked, eyes narrowing on the other two. “Chandler's double-crossed us before. Hell, he could be bringing in his entire trade fleet as a makeshift armada to finish us off!”
“I've got that covered,” Monket muttered. “My eyes in the sky are taking turns in the air, following his wake.” He cocked his head aside, dreads flouncing. “The first moment the bastard tries something underhoof, one of my servants will fly his flank back here and tell us.”
“Give that slaver a banana sticker!” Skagra said, waving one hoof while taking a sip from a cocktail with the other. “Mmmmff... all of your work won't go unnoticed, Monkey... Monicker... Monocle... you.” His nostrils flared. “When all is said and done, Chandler will be hauling ass to the continent with his prismatic prime. And us? We get the seven seas.”
“Mrmmf...” Monket folded his forelimbs, glaring out the porthole. “For what it's worth.”
“Oh go change your diaper,” Skagra sputtered. “Mudtop's practically yours now. They're so friggin' a-scared of you now that all you need to do is show up and the pirates will dash their brains against the volcanic rock to make things easier for you.”
“I definitely wouldn't mind being reimbursed for my ships... and salves,” Monket grumbled.
“Buddy boy, once Chandler pays us handsomely with his handsomeness, I can buy you friggin' Rust,” Skagra said. “But that's not how we're gonna get things done.”
“And just how are we going to do things, boss?” Nixkit asked. “You've put so much thought into making Chandler bend over. But what about after that?”
“You mean after we give him the rainbow for a pot of gold?”
“Aye.”
“Well, Nixxy, good thing you're not me.” Skagra sat up, grumbling slightly as he clutched his sides. “Nnnngh... be still, my beating kidneys.” Swirling the cocktail, he spoke, “I think it's high time the seven seas became the three and a half seas.”
“Uhmmmm...” Nixkit fumbled where he stood.
“Not reading me?”
“I could use some Clop Notes, sir.”
“Hah. Look at you. Trying to be witty.” Skagra took a sip and waved a hoof. “Don't. Looks like vomit when you put it on.” Stifling a burp, he motioned with his fetlock and said, “For years and years, the continent has convinced all of us that we need them to keep afloat. After all... hell... who else will buy our Dredge Coal?” He glared at both of the other stallions. “Well, I say buck 'em. Rohbredden has always depended on us. We've just been too mired in this muck to switch things around on them. Thankfully, though, this generation has idiots like Chandler.”
“He's dividing Rohbredden enough on his own time,” Monket muttered. “He and other megalomaniacs like him are just a sign of an increasing schism inland.”
“Precisely!” Skagra said, pointing with a nod. “If Rohbredden's holier-than-thou Council can't sniff up the bullshit burning brown streaks across the Prefectures beneath them, then how can they be expected to keep things together for long? I dunno who kicked loose the first cornerstone, but that continent's about to collapse in on itself. Not even the Talon can save them from the weight of their own hubris making them implode like... like...”
“An old mare's colon?” Nixkit offered.
“Shut up, Nixxy. You had your chance. Don't be the new Digiff.” Skagra stood up, pacing across the office. “So... here're our options. We can float here, waiting for Rohbredden to take the plunge, and when they do we can become their lifeline... for a price. Hell... even our flimsy supplies as of late will be a real boon for a continent full of desperate, feuding Prefectures.”
“But what's the point if their infrastructure is dying out?” Nixkit remarked. “It'd be like keeping a dead slave on life support.”
“Now that's the Nixxy I know and love,” Skagra said. He sipped the last of his cocktail and tossed it into a corner full of broken glass. “So... we could do that. Or... we could set our sights on Rust, Shoggoth, and the horizon beyond.”
Monket turned, squinting. “You're turning Colonialist?”
“Hrmmff... hardly.” Skagra brushed his bangs aside, only for them to flounce back. “I'd say we're still 'Continental.' Just... we're switching continents.”
Monket cocked his head to the side. “You really, truly think there's opportunity beyond the Blight?”
“More opportunity than there is here,” Skagra said, pointing vaguely east. “Or in that big frozen tit everypony likes to call 'Rohbredden.'” He shuffled across the office. “When the power shifts, I want Red Barge riding the muck to the top. A day may come when I'll no longer be able to grace these bulkheads with my beautiful halves, but so be it. So long as my methods remain, then Red Barge will become everything. We just need the right current to carry it: a new dead drifts, as it were.”
“Skagra, sometimes I wonder,” Monket muttered. “Does your genius ever truly outmatch your eccentricity?”
“I think you're an idiot too, Monket,” Skagra belched. “I just choose to overlook it so we can each gain a profit.” He held a hoof out. “Dealio?”
Monket scowled at him. “... ... ...there are still many loose ends.”
“Says the stallion with a dead octopus dangling off his head.”
“I'm serious,” Monket exhaled. “You speak of the Right Talon being useless in the event of a political collapse in Rohbredden. Well, that's neither her nor there. The Commander and her cronies are still a threat. A battle here in the muck is one thing, but you've forced me to set off an explosion in the Consortium's neighborhood. As far as I'm concerned, that's just invited the Talon to arrive with bells on.”
“Yeah, and?”
“And... you half-headed freak...” Monket snarled, waving a hoof south. “We still have one of their damned Lieutenants in that collapsed prison of yours, in case you've so conveniently forgotten.”
“Ah yeah. That bread crumb...”
“And my last steamship is busted!” Monket exclaimed. “It'll take over a week to repair! It's in no condition to haul the griffon's body west and dump it in the waters between here and the Quade!”
“I know he's been useful to us,” Nixkit said. “But the fight's over. I, for one, believe we should have killed that armored bird as soon as the pirate invasion was over and done with.”
“With what?” Skagra flashed two frowns at Nixkit. “With shark prods? Steam valves? Harpoons and crossbows?” He gestured. “When the Right Talon arrives here—and they will arrive here... it's only a matter of time...” He cleared his throat. “We need to play dumb... not murderous. They'll take one look at the stab wounds in his corpse and proceed to castrate us at beak-point.”
“We could use some of the pirates' discarded weaponry,” Nixkit suggested. “Blame it on the invaders.”
“Fat chance,” Monket snorted. “Everypony here knows how much flank that mucker kicked with his damn wings tied. Guess how much the Talon's gonna see with their intuitive hawkeyes?”
Nixkit sighed. “Well?!” He shrugged wildly. “What are we going to do?! Chandler will be here in a matter of hours and soon we're gonna be loaded up with all sorts of gold for the Talon to confiscate!” He gulped. “Among other things...”
“Hmmm...” Skagra paced around. “We can't kill him. The pirates couldn't touch him. And there's no way in heck he's making it to the bottom of the ocean.” His nostrils flared. “Even if we chopped him up into little pieces and tossed him over the side, those damn griffon brothers and sisters of his could sniff him out in a heartbeat.”
“Where's a good leviathan when you need one?” Nixkit muttered.
“... ... ...” Skagra's good ear folded. He turned around, icily glaring past Monket and Nixkit.
Monket's brow furrowed. “Dear Goddess, what are you thinking?”
“We... do have a monster on board...”
Nixkit blinked. “Boss...?”
“Think about it.” Skagra stifled a yawn. “Mrmmmff... Chandler's coming here to bind and gag the most notorious Rainbow Rogue of the seven seas. He wants to become a hero for hauling her back to Verlaxion's continent. But just what has she done, exactly? Roughed up a bunch of monks and zapped their magic tree? Bah!” Skagra brushed his stubborn bangs back. “The villain needs to become a villain, and imagine how much more diabolical she'd be with a dead member of the Talon under her belt?”
“You're... proposing that we get the Rainbow Rogue to murder the Lieutenant?” Nixkit muttered.
“Jeez, Nixxy. When did I ever assign you Top Dredger of the Obvious Strut?” Skagra coughed. “Think of it as a little... consolation prize to Chandler... a sign of good will that he'll... take his bounty and flee to Rohbredden where he can be a hero, forever leaving us alone. After all, it's a good favor for a favor. Hmm?”
“And when the Talon arrive...” Nixkit thought aloud. “...we'd blame the death of their precious Lieutenant on her...” He blinked wide. “And the damage to the western struts of Red Barge as well!”
“We'll claim that the pirate attack destroyed her holding cell,” Skagra said. “She broke loose and went on a rampage, murdering ponies on both sides. It took a combined effort to subdue her, but it was too late. She claimed the griffon's life in the process... bit off his head... his rectum. Hell, the whole bird.” He shrugged. “Now—his guts are marinating in the center of her rainbow belly. The Council will be hungry for revenge. Chandler will get the platform he needs to expend justice and take command. He can continue to be the god of a crumbling continent, and we'll get the seas all to ourselves.”
“It's almost too easy,” Nixkit said with a slight smirk.
“There's only one problem,” Monket said.
The other two looked at him.
The slaver spoke, “The real Rainbow Dash is an absolute sissy. She wouldn't hurt a fly.”
“Of course she would, Monket,” Skagra said. “Given... the right stimulus.”
Monket blinked.
“Oh come now, dainty dreads,” Skagra cooed. “If there's one thing that I've learned about ponydom, it's that anything with a brain and a circulatory system stands to be stripped naked... exposed.” He squinted, both his good eye and his bad one. “And beneath that 'harmless sissy' that you captured is a very real... very true monster. The pegasus might not devour our pesky lieutenant. As for what lies beneath? Well... that's a whole different story... one that you know very well.”
Monket opened his muzzle. Slowly, his shook his head. “Oh Skagra... no...”
“Nixkit?” Skagra turned towards the other top dredger. “Round up a good few stallions.” He flexed his muscles and trotted towards the nearest door. “Time to go for a stroll.”
“The southern strut?” Nixkit asked, opening the door.
“The southern strut.”
“Skagra, you're friggin' crazy!” Monket sputtered.
“Uh huh.”
“This is going too far!” Monket frowned, waving a hoof. “I refuse to be a part of such lunacy!”
Skagra paused. He turned to glare coolly at the slaver. “... ... ...I'd expect nothing less from you, monkey-boy.”
Monket shook in place, fuming.
“You want to ride a piss-gold current to the summit of Mudtop and beyond?” Skagra pointed. “Just sit pretty in that ship of yours. Once Chandler arrives, I'll give you your fair share of the cut, and then you can be on your merry way. But for as long as you stand on my platforms, we do things my way, got it?”
“This is a bad idea, Skagra,” Monket muttered. “She'll tear a massive hole in your bulkheads.”
“At this rate, I'd consider it an upgrade.” And Skagra exited.
Swab was struggling to polish a juncture of pipes when he heard the thick array of marching hooves. Blinking, he stood up and glanced curiously over his shoulder. The first thing he saw was the cold, glossy flounce of Skagra's red bangs from afar.
Gasping, the colt dropped his rag and dashed behind a bulkhead. There, he hid, silent as a stone. He waited for the bulk of the group to shuffle past, and then he peeked out, squinting.
His good ear caught the voice of a dredger galloping in to join the group. “Hey boss! Where's everypony going? Has Chandler arrived?”
“All in good time,” Nixkit said. “The boss has business in the southern strut first.”
“Is... is it the Rainbow Rogue?”
“Shhh. Just stick close and don't say anything. I mean it. Lips tight.”
Swab clenched his jaw shut, though he felt as though his chest might burst at any second. Trembling, he snuck out from behind the bulkhead, held his breath, and galloped across the struts—keeping stealthy and parallel to the marching company of dredgers.
“Do the others have names?” Keris asked, his voice wafting limply across the dimly-lit prison.
“Hmmm?” Rainbow glanced through the bars.
“You've mentioned 'Fluttershy,'” Keris droned. His hawkeyes drifted in lazy, hungry circles across the shadows. “Do your other... mrmmff... invisible friends have names?”
“Oh. Sure.” Rainbow Dash said. “Funny... for a few months there, I almost got used to saying them out loud again.” She smiled crookedly. “You know... hell isn't hell without a brief glimpse of heaven.”
Keris nodded tiredly. At last, he muttered, “Would you mind sharing them?”
Rainbow's brow furrowed. She looked through her bars at his figure across the corridor. “What's the point, dude?”
Keris shrugged his feathers. “Just... figured that... pretty soon... you won't have any excuse to say them out loud.” He gulped. “Ever again.”
Rainbow hung her head.
“Rainbow Dash...?”
“'Twilight Sparkle,'” Rainbow muttered. “The obstinate egghead. Celestia love her.” Her dry lips stirred. “'Pinkie Pie'... bundle of laughs... and confusion.” She exhaled. “'Rarity'. Generosity and drama queen. Her voice smells like flowers just to listen to.” She brushed her cheek, sighing. “And 'Fluttershy'... oh Fluttershy...” A sniffle. “...the very last pony I wanted to see all of this... and instead she feels it. Every death and every wound.”
“Doesn't seem to stop her from visiting you.”
“Yeah...” Rainbow nodded. “...I kinda hoped she'd instill the same courage in the others. But... mrmmff... life just isn't that easy, I guess.”
“Why do I get the feeling you wouldn't like it any other way?”
“... ... ...” Rainbow shifted where she sat. “...'Keris.'”
The Lieutenant cocked his head. “Huh?”
“Nothing,” she muttered, lips curving slightly. “Just... taking your advice...”
He blinked. Slowly, a similar smirk graced his beak.
Coldly, the hooves of Digiff shuffled into view between them. The stallion leaned on his shark prod and droned, “Will you two ever... ever stop marrying each other? Muck below...”
Keris chuckled dryly.
Rainbow Dash coughed through a raspy giggle.
For a brief moment, even the dredger's lips began to curve. But then, cold hoofsteps echoed across the cramped walls from above. Digiff spun around, squinting up at the ramp leading down into the depths of the brig.
Keris blinked. Fighting his binds and aching muscles, he sat up straight.
Rainbow craned her neck in an attempt to see.
“Boss?” Digiff muttered. He stood at attention, gripping his shark prod. “Uhm... seems as thought he griffon is starting to recover from his injuries, boss.”
“Very well, Digiff,” Nixkit spoke for Skagra. He and several other dredgers came to a scuffling stop. “You may leave.”
“... ... ...” Digiff glanced at Skagra, then back at Nixkit. “Nix, what's going on?”
“Go above deck, Digiff,” Nixkit firmly said. “And keep all Bargers clear of the southern strut. Is that understood?”
Digiff blinked. He looked at the multiple prods and tasers in the group's combined fetlocks. Shuddering, he nodded, then marched his way up to the top deck.
Only once Digiff had made his exit did a little figure come out of hiding. Swab squatted in his trusty spot at the window looming above Rainbow's cell. Fighting the chatter of his own teeth, the little colt gripped the bars, peering down at the cold scene.
Nixkit rummaged through a set of keys. At last, he unlocked and opened the door to Keris' cell. He nodded to his subordinates, and a pair of dredgers marched in, grabbing Keris by the griffon's bound wings.
Keris grunted slightly, fumbling in their grasp. His aching limbs took over, and he slumped with a suppressed yelp... being dragged out of his cell and across the narrow corridor between the two lines of cells.
Skagra took a cold step backwards, giving Nixkit and the other dredgers room to bring Keris to the door to Rainbow's cell. Next, Nixkit fumbled some more with the keys until he found the one to unlock the barred door to where the pegasus lay.
Rainbow Dash watched. At last, as the groaning swing of the opened door spilled cold dim light across her muzzle, she shivered and murmured aside: “...'Applejack.'”
“Mrmmmf!” Keris grunted as he was tossed into the far corner across from Rainbow Dash. Before he could so much as stir, a pair of dredgers rushed over and stabbed him in the belly and sides with sparkling tasers. Bzzzzt! “Aaaaaaugh!” The griffon writhed and convulsed, his manacles rattling.
“Hey!” Rainbow snarled, beginning to stand up. “Get off him! What's the big ide—?!”
Bzzzzzt! This time it was Nixkit, shocking her hard in the gut.
“Grrnnngkkk!” Twitching, Rainbow teetered backwards and fell against the wall directly beneath Swab and his window.
The colt flinched above, eyes twitching.
At last, the electrical discharge ended. In the rising steam, Skagra icily marched forward. He loomed above Rainbow Dash, gazing at her in person for the first time ever. After several deep breaths, he leaned in. “Mmmm... shiny, shiny dolphins...” The scarred side of his muzzle twitched as he reached in, toying with her prismatic bangs. “If this is all the west has to give us, it'll be easy to make 'em bloat.”
“Mrmmfnngh... why...” Rainbow Dash hissed through clenched teeth. “...are you doing this?”
“Insurance, my little pussy,” Skagra slurred. “Chandler needs a monster, and the Talon need a corpse. I'm a very generous stallion, so I intend to give them both. But first, you're going to have to give me something.”
And just like that, Rainbow Dash felt very very naked. She gasped—only to feel her bottom jaw moving free, unobstructed. Her twitching eyes flashed yellow, reflecting the Loyalty Pendant dangling loosely in the top dredger's fetlock.
“Give me blood,” Skagra said. Juggling the pendant, he backtrotted out of the cell while Nixkit closed it behind, locking Rainbow Dash in with Keris. “And lots of it.”
Swab didn't even have the breath to squeak.
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Curse you, Skagra.
May your head fall off, with all of its two faces.
FUCK. NO. NO. NO. NO. SKAGRA. YOU SLIME. NO.
Damnit.
Now either Swab does something, or he doesn't. Or hopefully some other force intervenes.
...Please?
(Maybe she'll nab Skagra before she gets a chance to harm Keris.)
Obligatory:
Should have known the answer was nothing considering who's in charge. Well, besides a surprise pirate attack seemingly delaying such a shit-brained plan.
£10 on him not living long enough to regret this.
Too obvious
no no no
This is going to go very very VERY badly. Hope Keris is as good as IC keeps implying him to be, because that is the only way that he is getting out of this.
williamthecoroner.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/istock_can-of-worms.jpg
Skagra, you did a stupid.
So, is this bye bye Keris? How does Skaggy think he's going to get the Element back on her? Is he even going to try and let Chandler try to corral draconequus Dash onto his ship to transport? Will the cell even hold her? We really haven't seen her transformed for any length of time to know what she would do.
Keris! Tell jokes, humor will soothe the chaos beast.
If Verlax had any hint of truth to her words, Rainbow needs to accept the chaos in order to control it. Will she?
Could someone explain me Skagra's obsession with dolphins already? I've been waiting for a "OH, THAT!" moment for weeks now.
Also seems like it's time for an Awesome Ex Machina or something like that. Maybe a literal one, a part of the machine world will burst out of the sea or something like that.
You know, we often think of the untethered Rainbow Dash as being a blind, angry, savage monstrosity who tears apart everything from steel to flesh like it's all she knows how to do.
But "Rainbow Dash" doesn't take a complete back seat when "Chaos" makes an appearance. She's said herself that she's been fully aware of the awful things she's done in this form, tearing ponies limb from limb. In Ledomare, it was the result of vigorous testing that purposefully left "Rainbow Dash" knocked unconscious. When Roarke removed her pendant, it was so Rainbow Dash could use Chaos's incredible strength to free herself from certain death. When she was first captured in the seven seas, it was at the hands of pirates. Every situation she's been in where Chaos took control over Rainbow Dash, there's always been a context that revolves around her being in a life-and-death situation. This will be the first time she'll be in a situation where her imminent death isn't bearing down on her.
Telling her to fight Chaos's influence is terribly cliché, but honestly, this is the first time she'll have a reason to not give in. I'm not saying she can consciously control Chaos, but even the Hulk has a bit of self-control. Maybe she hasn't discovered the strength to take control yet. Who knows? Hell, we don't even know who, or what, Utaan is yet. What happens next will be interesting to say the least.
suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/36752626/images/1418562706875.jpg
i think there're only a couple of things Swab can do: 1. snatch the pendant from Skag, or 2. get down there and open the door/
Also: Colon gonna Colon. Cliffhanger city here we come.
Alsox2: This would qualify as the exact opposite of that 'dis gonna be good' gif.
Y'know, at some point in history, someone said for the first time "I bet I could stick my head in this lion's mouth, and he wouldn't eat me."
That person was still smarter than Skagra.
Well.. if I had any hope for my namesake surviving this, it's alll gone now.
Well Nixkit, you were a lesser bastard than Skagra, but still a bastard nonetheless.
Now then.. are we going to see Dash learn to control her chaos beast side when she comes across Swift song?
-In the end isolation, hunted by a nation. Utaan.
Skagra better hope that Monket doesn't discover you can just, you know, buy psychological validation,
41.media.tumblr.com/9a25aafa40c8fd2806ddc7ecadcfc251/tumblr_inline_nrjr5hy7a21qf76o9_500.jpg
Chaos dash? Oh... oh no. Not good. Not good at all. In fact, I'd go as far as to say very bad indeed.
Although, the universe does enjoy Death by Irony/Hoisted by his own Petard.
And now red barge DIES!
6650709 i thought that too
6650695 my current theory is that what the last tower does
To quote Sans from Undertale here, "You're gonna have a bad time"
This is a very, very stupid idea I just hope that Swab can get it back on her in time.
well, red barge will be like the quade, but without survivors.
does that make rainbow dash a Praying Mantis ? (with all the biting off the head of their mate or something)
6650686 I'm seeing lots of Airplane! references lately, it's weird.
Also Skagara, you have no clue the Tartarus you just unleashed on yourself. Do you really think she'll stop with him? I hope you plan to cut free the entire South platform and even then I still give you poor odds at surviving.
Cliffhanger aside, I'd love to see Red Barge actually go up against Val Roa or the Lounge. The tech difference alone . . . oh, man, that'd be hysterical. Hello, floating steam boat. Meet my airships.
Hmm. Possible options for escape? Y'know, sticking a trained commando in an enclosed space with the biological equivalent of a wrecking ball isn't likely to go well for you. If Keris manages to keep a cool head, it's feasible--in my mind, anyway--that this results in Rainbow crashing straight out of that puny cell. Or maybe I've been playing too much Dark Souls. Roll, Keris! Roll to the side!
pinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw357_Oh%20you.png
Skagra, it might help you to know that on other side of the former blight is a big, big desert, and the other side of that has airships, and they don't have any use for dredge coal.
6650788 thoughts on that: 1: Val Roa (and further territories) probably dont need dredge coal to keep them warm, they're on the edge of a damn desert after all.
Actually, what would the barge gain from going the way to Val Roa? The barge doesnt have anything Val needs and so wouldnt profit, they can't be accessed by sea (that we know of) and best as i can tell, slave labor is not accepted in the western lands that we've come across. minus the old goblin ways and Searo's Hold.
edit: damn 6650818 i refreshed the page after posting this and you said exactly what i have here.
6650818
I don't think dredge coal even exist outside of verlax's domain
So... what the heck makes him think that Rainbow isn't just going to completely bust out of jail and murder everyone else? No - really. Like, I can't see the cell holding Chaos Dash.
If it does, I'll be surprised.
Also, what does N.M.M mean?
First came the slap fight,
Then came the presents.
Now comes the Nuclear Option. Literally.
Rainbow Nuke
Oh my God. You have my complete and undivided attention right now.
This is bad on a whole other level.
Dis gon b gud.
6650852
hazarding a guess, Nightmare Moon.
6650769
Airplane! ? It's called Flying High! over here.
And now she has two choices. Learn to overcome the rage and keep her humanity (ponymanity?) or become the monster indefinitely.
6650901
I was actually thinking that... but that's Equestrian history. Maybe the sarosians kept the calendar?
6650901
6650911
N.M.M. most probably means Nasty Mister Monket, seeing as Monket responded to it. And Skagra has referred to Monket with variants like nasty mister mucker.
Well, this should be interesting.
While it may be entirely a factor of a fluke in the writing it stuck out to me that when Dash went Chaos Form on Monket's ship, all the slaves she "tore up" were wounded but not killed. This is a pretty stark contrast to the victims in Blue Shelf's experiments who were basically burger meat at the Chaos Form's claws. So is this just a random fluke, or is it indicative of something with actual meaning, like Dash's Chaos Form gaining some small sliver of self control? Control of this Chaos Form almost feels like a logical next plot point, what with all this talk of balancing the powers of harmony and chaos. Is the end game of this arc Dash having the ability to assume this form without losing herself to it?
*shrugs* No clue. Either way, I think Skagra just seriously enacted his Final Stupidity by taking the pendant off, because he's assuming that even if Dash does kill Keris as he wants, that he can contain her afterward.
Also, extreme ROFLs at Skagra's assumption that he can expand anything west of the Blight. Assuming he could even get his enterprises across the Grand Choke, which is still a shit tone of sand and nothing even with magic working there... Val Roa would stop him dead cold. Skagra is delusional to an extreme that's almost sad.
6650682 Maybe a quick Verlax intervention? Nah, Skagra just threw a hornets' nest onto a bullet ants' hill.
I agree with 6650899. If the chaos scene isn't skipped, it's gonna be juicy.
6650901 Translated title?
1:12 for your clip.
2:12 for the movie cover.
6650828
Oh, it's not going to happen. Picturing Skagra's dumb face dropping when he realises exactly how fucked he is makes for an entertaining image though.
Skagra's plan is going to backfire really hard.
I sorta wish Skagra did try to build his west of the blight empire, because then we would see all the former Jurists once more. Unfortunately, that can't happen, because Skagra isn't gonna live much longer.
6650673
vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/swfanon/images/1/1d/Hahahaha.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090629192855
Good, goooood
6650818 6650828
Isn't Skystone great?
6651047
*Shit hitting the fan intensifies*
6650958
Ah. right, of course. I completely forgot the context it was used in.
I blame this 40 degree heat for making me so scatterbrained.
6650673 If RD does manage to control the chaos within her, then inb4 she'll "get" Discord in the sixth seed.
6651195 you can't look at me in the eye and say that wouldn't be unimaginably awesome.
Rainbowdash.chaosForm() ; setTimer(5); // 5 Minutes When(Timer = 0) { Rainbowdash.watch(RedBarge.sink()); }Either that or Swab gets the pendant on her somehow.
Also, I say it is a 50/50 chance that Keris makes it. Rainbow might not kill him, but even then he might just die from things collapsing as she tears the ship apart.
6651196
I've been expecting Discord at the sixth seed ever since it was mentioned. If Twilight and gang aren't out of the pendant by then, they'll be in a for quite a surprise.
6650739
if that comes true. Thinking of that and listening to your music link gave me instant goosebumps.
So AWESOME
This is how Rainbow Dash loses Fluttershy to the Vanilla Zone hugbox.
6650765
i.imgur.com/5EL21TU.png
If you are currently having a good time you had best get ready to stop
6651196 *cough*Lancie*cough*
The way Skagra's going about it, it's more like two caged birds with a whole mountain. And of course, the mountain will squish him too.
Not that he knows it, yet. His "successes" have joined the muck in his head, making him feel above everything.
Coming up next on Utaan: Will Chaos!Dash take on Keris until he throws her and breaks the cell door, or will aforementioned honey badger/fruitbasket go for Twoface McJerkerson through the door, instead?