"Was she your maid? Mailmare? Bodyguard?" Pinkie Pie bounced on invisible ghost platforms as she kept alongside Rainbow Dash. "Godmare? Buckball partner?"
"Pinkie! Shhh!" Rainbow finished gliding into an office room filled with a jumble of discarded junk and paperwork. "Okay, Ariel. What have you got for me?"
The mare in question turned around, holding a manacrystal lantern. "Rainbow!" She placed the light source down and proudly held out a stack of ancient, yellowed manuscripts. "Take a look for yourself!"
Rainbow trotted closer while Pinkie Pie hovered just behind her. "Are these the maps you were talking about?"
"Yup yup yup!" Ariel pointed at one sheet in particular. "See? There's the mesa that houses Darkreach. Over here—scribbled with wavy lines—is the remains of a forest that was once destroyed. Then beyond that—"
"'Alpha' and 'Omega'..." Rainbow Dash squinted at the symbols. "I wonder what those mean?"
"Well... uh... they're letters, Rainbow."
"But what do they stand for?"
"I know I'm no Kepler, but..." Ariel pointed. "This side is the edge of the world, and it's perpendicular to both sides labeled by the letters, right?"
"Sure..."
"Well, I think the Emeraldinians made up their own 'north' and 'south'," Ariel said. "Or perhaps East and West. I dunno."
"So..." Rainbow Dash gestured with one hoof while she held the paper up in the other. "If we had our backs to the Edge of the World and were facing the curve..."
"'Alpha' would be on the left side," Ariel said.
"And 'Omega' would be on the right," Rainbow muttered. "Our predecessors made practical names for the lengthy edges of the plane."
"Coolies!" Pinkie Pie beamed. "Must have made pizza-delivery a whole lot easier!" She grinned at Rainbow and let her tongue hang out. "Was Roarke a pizza-delivery pony?"
"Pinkie, hush." Rainbow pointed at the map. "Who or what are 'Bloodwings?'"
"I dunno," Ariel said. "Only they're located closer towards the 'Omega' side and they're past the area where a forest was cut down."
"I wonder if we can see the ruins of that forest," Rainbow thought out loud."
"It was hundreds of years ago, Rainbow. I doubt anything's left."
"Still, it would be good to get a survey of the landscape before we attempted to go further in our journey."
"Wassssssssssssssssss..." Pinkie rubbed her nose and brightened. "...she a forest ranger?"
Rainbow ignored her, pointing at another word on the page. "'Spindlers'... name of a mountain range, perhaps?"
"That looks like a sketch of a city to me."
Rainbow did a double-take. "A city? On the Dark side?"
Ariel shrugged. "A lot of time has passed on this side of the plane as well. Who knows what those living here could be capable of?"
"Well, sure, but..." Rainbow fidgeted. "...I didn't expect any faction of the Trinary War to be capable of making an entire friggin' city."
"Maybe she was a mayor!" Pinkie exclaimed. "'Mayor Roarke or Roarketown!'"
"What makes you think there are only three factions living on the Dark Side?" Ariel remarked.
Rainbow stared at her blankly.
"I dunno..." Ariel shrugged. "It's just a thought that occurred to me. This used to be a piece of Urohringr, right? You think only ponies and griffins lived on that thing?"
"Yeah, but to survive eons and eons without the sun and moon..."
"The Divines are as old as this plane, and they've lived nearly as long."
"True." Rainbow nodded. "But all of them but Endrax have dwelled on the Light Side."
"Dragon Tamer!" Pinkie grinned wide. "Maybe Roarke was a dragon tamer!" A sly grin. "So that was your secret for kicking Nevlamas' teeth in."
Rainbow grunted, turning around. "Dang it, Pinkie—" She froze in place, blinking.
"What?" Pinkie shrugged. "Is there something in my ghost teeth?"
Rainbow marched straight through the phantom mare. She approached a cabinet where a framed sketch lay crooked against the wall. She rubbed her pendant so she could cast ruby light directly on the illustration.
"What do you see?" Ariel trotted slowly behind her. "Looks... almost like a monkey?"
Rainbow's eyes traced the edges of a gangly bipedal figure wearing a loin cloth and possessing leafy, pointy ears. Fanged teeth protruded from an noticeable overbite. The skin was rough and leathery.
"It's a goblin," Rainbow exhaled.
"A what?"
"Bunch of freaky two-legged imps who hail from Alafreo," Rainbow said. "At least... I thought they did." Her ears drooped slightly. "Not a very pleasant bunch, those guys. And that was just the Light Side."
"Well, there you have it!" Ariel gestured with a smile. "Maybe they came from this place!"
"That's... a long distance for them to have traveled," Rainbow muttered. "And despite their love of technology, they're not always... consistent with the quality of what they build." A cold shudder. "The naga, on the other hoof..."
"What are those things next to it?"
"Huh?" Rainbow asked.
"Here..." Ariel reached over with her feathertips and leaned another framed picture into view. "See?"
Rainbow squinted at a sketch made obviously by the same artist as the first. This time, however, the illustration showed two other bipedal creatures that were significantly different than the first. One was hunched over and pale with long claws and pronounced vertebrae. The other one stood upright at a scale nearly ten times the size of the "goblin," only it was heavy-set with a pudgy belly and a single round eye in the center of its skull.
Rainbow gulped. "I don't think I wanna know..."
"All Hail Roarke the Beast Mistress!" Pinkie Pie bellowed.
"Rnnnngh!" Rainbow gnashed her teeth. "Pinkie, for crying out loud—"
Just then, the intercom system crackled, frightening both pegasi.
"Hey! Ariel! Is Rainbow Dash down there with you?"
"Guhhh..." Ariel rubbed one of her ears, wincing. "Yes she is, Flynn. You don't have yell."
"Whoops! Sorry!" A whining hiss, followed by: "I still haven't gotten the volume settings quite calibrated—"
"Just get to the point!" Rainbow's voice cracked.
"Why don't you hop up here to the HQ, Rainbow? Kepler's made a significant discovery."
"Uhhhhhhhhh... what's the 'HQ?' again?"
"... ... ...the cramped, super-important room with the snazzy map made out of metal pins."
"Oh! Right! Got it!" Rainbow turned to nod at Ariel. "Sorry to cut this short."
"I feel like we've only just begun to scrape the surface of this place," Ariel said.
"Well, you keep on scraping," Rainbow said, flapping her wings. "I've got a wyvern to humor."
"Dashiiiiiiiiiiiiie." Pinkie Pie pouted. "You're ignoring meeeeeee."
"I'm not ignoring you, Pinkie," Rainbow said, swiftly and smoothely gliding up the corridors and stairwells of Darkreach.
"Then why won't you tell me more about this 'Roarke' pony?"
"Mrmmmfff... it's all in the past."
"Yeah? So? It's your past!" Pinkie grinned. "That makes it super duper special!"
"Not as important as the future," Rainbow said. Her brow furrowed as she continued ascending the interior of the mesa. "The future of Equestria... Urohringr... you and the girls—"
"None of which would be made possible if it weren't for all of your awesome adventuring!"
"Meh."
"Dashieeeeee?" Pinkie pouted some more. "What's with you? You weren't always so glum in the tum-tum!"
"I've got a lot on my shoulders, Pinkie."
"Well, they're on our shoulders too!"
"No. They're not."
"Pffft!" Pinkie stuck her tongue out. "They are too!"
"Not like they are on mine!" Rainbow growled. She felt the echo her tone of voice made, and she slowed her ascent. With a defeated sigh, she landed on all fours and resumed her pace at a lethargic trot. "I'm sorry, Pinkie. I wish I could be like the Rainbow Dash you used to know, but—"
"You left it behind...?" Pinkie blinked—bright blue innocent eyes. "In Ponyville?"
Rainbow clenched her jaw.
Pinkie glanced at the walls... at the ceiling... then straight at Rainbow. "You left it with Roarke."
"Mrmmmm..." Rainbow's ears folded. "....yyyyyyyyyyyyeahhhhhh..."
Pinkie smiled. "She must have been very important to you."
"The importantest."
"Heeheehee..." Pinkie bore a warm grin. "Did you love her?"
Rainbow Dash scuffled to a stop.
Pinkie simply stared. And waited.
"There was a time when I lived in the moment," Rainbow Dash muttered. "Because the moment was all I had. You... Twilight... Fluttershy... you all were gone. I made do with those around me... and I found a family." Rainbow's tail flicked happily at the thought. "I thought I had lost my opportunity to be happy. But then I found it again. And for a while there... happiness was something I could fold around me like a blanket." A heavy exhale. "Then I had to leave it all... I had to leave her."
Pinkie floated around to face her. "You can still live in the moment, Dashie."
"No..." Rainbow shook her head. "I can't." A gulp. "The moment you girls came back from the dead, it all changed. Now I have a future to save. I have harmony to restore. Before, I didn't even think I'd make it to the Edge of the World—much less the Midnight Armory. Now that I've come so far and there's so much to lose, I just can't afford to be silly about it anymore. And..." She clenched her teeth, shivering. "...now that there's Discord—"
"But you're awesome, Dashie!" Pinkie said. "I know you can do both at once! Be adventurous and be happy!"
Rainbow blinked moisture out of her eyes. "... ... ...I'm not sure I remember how, Pinkie."
"Hmmmm..." Pinkie floated within a hug's reach. "You've got us, now. We can help remind you."
"I... I don't know..."
"Heehee... it's okay... baby steps!" Pinkie stuck her tongue out. "Like what Fluttershy said!"
"Uh huh..."
"Maybe the first baby step is talking to all of us about Roarke!" Pinkie giggle-snorted. "Heck, the whole Noble Jury!"
Rainbow sighed slowly. "Maybe." She trotted up the stairwell again. "Once I get things done here first."
"Awwwwwwww, Dashieeeeeeeee..."
"Can't have fought the changeling for nothing, Pinkie."
"But you can't keep telling yourself that!" Pinkie hovered briskly after her. "You never know when you'll run out of time to put off!"
Rainbow had nothing to respond with other than a cold, exhausted: "Yeah..."
Roarke would have been all of them for Dash...
Pft!
What is not shown in this part: Dash blushing madly and recalling all those times when she and Roake had furious sex
Wait til Pinkie realizes she was the only one totally spacing out when RD wouldn't shut up about Roarke on the approach to the frozen battlefield near the Starkiss.
Dammit. This chapter's makin' me cry.
One thing Pinkie does not seem to be getting, you cannot force this kind of thing, that only breeds resentment at best. She does have a point though in that Rainbow should be enjoying the great moments of her past, not suppressing them for the sake of her friends, I doubt they would be jealous that she found happiness even without them.
This is true to a extent.
The cyclops have come.
when Pinks stops being silly, she can be pretty darn insightful.
-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.
Cyclops? Welp....maybe they are friendly? thats not gonna happen...
You're going to crush yourself under that much pressure. Whether its one world, one city, or one person you're doing something for, the weight of an imaginary future weights just as much as you damn well feel like letting it weigh. And let's face it, you were always more awesome when you were doing your thing with the Jury. If you can get anything similar going with the Herald, its probably better than the alternative, even with the higher risk factor of the Dark Side. And by "risk factor" I mean like, 99.9% chance we're talking like at least half the Herald biting it before the end of this, but still, going for optimism here.
In other news we can expect a menagerie of critters besides bug ponies, bat ponies, and crystal soul-sucking ponies to show up at some point. Looking forward to seeing of Dark Side goblins are even more dakka than their Light Side cousins.
And finally, Dash, yes, just chat it up with your friends about the Jury and Roarke for crying out loud! They may be in the "past", but you do realize that if you succeed they are also in your future, right? Hope you haven't forgotten that. There's a Roarke, and a hammock, in those potential futures. You know, that pony you actually developed a real emotional, loving connection with? Last time I checked that's still there.
*eyes AJ suspiciously*
Or we can keep spurging out over an ill-defined super-crush. Yeah, we can do that too.
I don't know what to feel. Worried, about the hints of new threats the Dark Side has up its sleeve? Or cheered, by Pinkie Pie taking a crowbar to the little sarcophagus Rainbow's built around her non-Austraeoh self?
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Called it!
We need a Roarke emoji!!!
I'm gonna make popcorn and have soda ready for each ofthe next 10 chapters so when she tells everypony about her past love and family I can say I was there.
Also, Dashie needs to knock hooves with SOMEPONY! She's a wad of sexual frustration at this point!
O.M.C.
SeraDash!!
That cat's coming out of the bag sooner rather than later....
I can't even describe how good it is to have one of the stories I'm following update on a daily basis. I get an update maybe once or twice a week from the other 14 stories.
I think Dashie's so focused on her goal, she's starting to form a sort of emotional tunnel vision. She had a great group of friends that were as close as any could be. She lost them in a horrific event that she blamed herself for, for a long time. And on top of that, that same event singed her own death warrant.
Then, after the pain of almost dying in the fight with Axan, and the tragedy of what Shell did to her in that research lab, she found Belle. From there, she started to let herself love again. She opened her heart and let it all in. But in so doing, she gave her heart to all the members of the Jury. She made a family. Having to leave them was perhaps the hardest thing she ever had to do in her life.
Now she won't let herself get to close to anyone. She has felt the pain of great loss twice in her life now. To open her heart again would be a miracle. She has her eye's set on the far side of the horizon, and she can't see what's all around her.
So, one is obviously a cyclops. Dark Side or not those don't exactly have a reputation for being friendly. Who wants to start betting on how many chapters it will be before somepony almost gets eaten?
Then there's the other sketch. Nice, vague description here. With how ):( likes to reuse things, my best guess is that that is a troll. Because that is exactly the kind of thing that would be on the Dark Side.
C'mon Rainbow, just tell Pinkie about Roarke already. Everything's better with Roarke.
um... so haven't read any of the other books in this series just kinda jumped straight to this chapter.
Ghost pinkie-got it
midnight armory-sounds interesting
former dead love interest- um ok does ghost apple jack know? or undead/zombie jack?
map made out of metal pins- SOLD!
Seems to be a interesting story, now just got to catch up on the like what 600-800 chapters that came before
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Buddy it'll be a hell of a ride. Good luck.
Moblin.
Hinox
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i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/431/693/4d4.jpg
Yeah...love past can make for one hell of a story time...but didn't Dash talk about the Jury back on the lightside with the girls?
Or has she been leaving out details?
8340423
Not with all the girls, and certain details only went to Fluttershy.
Also, her new crew doesn't know much of anything about her! They're blindly following a walking tornado into the unknown.
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An admirable decision, given that they almost certainly forfeit their lives for a good cause. And at the same time it's sad to see Rainbow locking herself like this, because these ponies are ready to do everything for her. She has her reasons, yet her actions make her look cold, alienating and maybe even ungrateful.
I hope she can overcome this self-imposed isolation, even if it means to take the risk of losing some companions in the process. She is just existing, but not truly living in this state.
It was good for Dash to get that off her chest. I don't know which way Dash will end up going with the whole Letting the Weight of the World crushing her vs. "Be adventurous and be happy" as Pinkie put it, but I hope that despite the darkness of this book she will end up going with Adventurous and Happy in the end.
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The only one who knows much about her, from the new crew, is Wildcard. And he's quiet about it.
Even so, Twilight might be the first to have gotten the full story out of her pre-quade. But she still refused to believe ponies and creatures could be...less then harmonic.
Her imprisonment in the outlaw-dredge-nest-o-rust had seen her deal and talk to Fluttershy exclusively with uncaring thugs periodically torturing her.
And with the only dialoge on the northeren wastes clearing up a whole lotta things..she still did not mention a whole lot about the metal mare..
As for her new crew? She's gonna need to have a good long talk with them about this.
Buckball is half right, Pinkie. No balls involved.
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It is worth it.
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I get the feeling only pinkie could have made her open up.
20 million questions? Oh, we're here already.
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Well, if only Rainbow hadn't 'opened up' about Roarke already.
8340423 yep, that she did. With the exception of maybe Applejack
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Son... Welcome to what will be several hundred hours of reading.
GL.
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Took me a second.
Well played.
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Welcome to the Austraeoh saga.
Have fun. I know mostly everyone else did.
Goblins and trolls and cyclopses oh my!
The next battle will probably look like something out of God of War.
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lol... buckle up, buddy! We'll see you again next year.
Heh Dash you cant hide the truth from Pinkie forever!
It's simple, pinkie: She was Dash's Roarkening.
suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/49230324/images/1473304078935.png
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Welcome and enjoy the ride. We will be seeing you again in the far future.
Now I'm just waiting for "Rainbow Dash Flies Alpha/Omega".
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Good luck, and I hope you enjoy the ride!
Pinkie... never change
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Well, have fun catching up to this mamoth. I'll set a drink aside for whenever you catch up.
Who's cutting onions in here?
Oof, right in the feels.
Got to blink some moisture out of my eyes as well.
Well at least Rainbow's starting to open up about Roarke... finally...
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This isn't a little Cessna you're about to board, Sonny Jim. This is the Saturn V rocket.
Hold onto your weakling heart, because it will throb and swell.
Hold onto your virgin eyeballs, because they will see some sh!t.
Hold onto your puny hat, because it will be blown away, and a better one will take its place.
Hold onto your liquefying butt, because the ride.
Just.
Doesn't.
Stop.
Opening up to ponies isn't Rainbow's strong suit, and this will most likely carry in with her for a long time. One can hope for recovery, but you can never know when or if at all someone will ever fully heal. I believe that though Dash has experienced hardship aplenty and heartbreak in bunches, she doesn't give herself enough credit. She never loses her bravado, but that's merely a muse. Anyone that knows Rainbow will tell you she isn't the strong made she attempts to portray. At least, not all the time.
She is fallible like the rest of us, and yet here she is. I think that's incredible, and she hopefully should too. She should embrace the past as much as she cares for the future because the ponies she met and experiences she had are irreplaceable and sacred. She should never feel ashamed of talking about the past.
Much stars?
So that's trolls and... what? Ghouls? Vampires? Werewolves? Bronies after five months of My Little Pony hiatus?
She probably knows already and is just doing this for fun.
Night goblins then? At this rate the changelings will just become greenskins.
Best. Pony.
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Wha-I-Bu-I just-... actually, that makes much more sense than most of what we've seen so far.
When your name comes up a few chapters in a row