My nostrils flared against the whipping winds. My brow furrowed and my wings sliced against the higher atmosphere as I flew ,u way west. The closer I approached the image of Ponyville, the more nauseous I felt, so that the urge to turn towards the opposite horizon increased by tenfold.
My flight speed varied, and this was not ignored by Luna. The Princess of the Night flew a few yards to my right. She glanced over with deadpan concern as the Canterlot Royal guard endeavored to stay with us both. The air filled with noise from the multitude of flapping wings. It was hard enough as it was to concentrate.
With a shudder, I maintained my westward path towards the town that I had learned to call home, the place that I had failed. As we drew closer, I saw the beaming vertical spout of black energy shooting randomly to the sky. Each time it pulse, I felt a twitch to my eyes, as if my mind was being sliced in two by the focal point of the image.
Then, my blood froze. I gasped and gnashed my teeth as I felt my mind twirling like a centrifuge within my skull. Soon, both horizons were flipping on either side of me, even though I knew that my wings were straight.
"Rainbow Dash..." Luna called out placidly from where she flew a few yards away.
"I'm f-fine!" I lied, hissing. "I just... I just have to..."
"The chaos is effecting thee. We warned that this would transpire. We should return verily to Canterlot."
"No! Let me just..." I coughed and wheezed into the spiraling maelstrom of my mind. "Lemme just... just catch a breath..."
I realized I was descending, I just didn't know how fast. I flapped my wings every now and then to slow my dive. Soon, a patch of green grass was sailing up at me. I raised my hooves for a gentle landing. Instead, I went sprawling like a meteorite across the emerald plain.
"Ugh! Ooof! Nnngh..." I rolled to a stop beside a pond, twitching involuntarily.
I heard several hooves touching down around me. Armor clanked as the pegasus guards formed a tight barrier. They parted, however, the moment Luna landed and trotted gracefully towards me.
"There is no need for such vigilance," she said to the guard ponies as she pushed them aside with her wings. "She is no danger to us." With a sigh, she knelt down beside me. "Thou art, however, a danger to thyself, Rainbow Dash."
"I... g-gotta... l-live up to my m-middle name somehow," I said, curling up into a blue ball and wincing.
"This is hardly the time for jocularity."
"Nor is it the time for me to be alive, but hey... live and learn, huh?" I tried to chuckle, but it only came out as a wheeze. I did my best not to whimper, and somehow I managed to vocalize, "J-just how l-long are th-these attacks supposed to last? Do you kn-know?"
"Every now and then, a pulse of energy attempts to pierce beyond the harmonic barrier," Luna said. "The essence of Discord within you is best described as a door, and the dimension on the other side likes to flex its muscle from time to time."
"What happens when it punches on through?"
"Thy body will not be able to handle the transformation it so desireth."
"Nnngh..." I ran a hoof over my aching forehead. "And so... my body loses, right?"
"Affirmative."
I took a breath and squeezed a teary eye open to look at her. "And what of my spirit?"
"Thou doth not belong to a spirit of monsters and shadow," Luna said. "Thy spirit shalt be displaced, and rejoin the energy of harmony from which thou didst spring."
"Jeez, your Majesty," I shuddered as I felt the dizziness clearing. "You make death sound so poetic."
"An easy gift to master when one does not face it," she said, standing up and extending a hoof. "Shall we carry thee the rest of the way?"
"No, I got it..." I hobbled up to my hooves.
"It is only a short distance remaining, and thou wouldst desire to be awake when thou speaketh with our—"
"I said I got it!" I snapped. With a gulp, I stammered, "It's alright, your majesty, but the day I can't fly into Ponyville on my own is the day I'll really be dead." I flapped my wings, took a deep breath, and blurred forward. "Now... try to keep up."
What's this supposed to say?
That is rather poetic, isn't it? Luna, thy wordsmithing skill is quite high. Verily, even the most tortured of souls may passeth peacefully yonder with thy graceful phrases in their ear.
Am I actually first this time?
Edit: never mind...
Dat off-center keyboard. "My," perhaps?
So much information revealed all at once, yet so many mysteries remain.
1671728
No. ^_^
In before someone says "Zombie Rainbow Dash."
Might wanna fix that.
Heh. Don't worry, Dash. You'll get there soon enough.
And Dash, jeez you're awesome. Even when you've literally just been told you could die, you give no fucks and just fly straight ahead. Respect.
o_o
1671737
She doesn't really have much to live for at that point, but she's a fighter. Rather than lay down and die, she'll keep flying until her wings fail her.
Subject: Princess Luna
Title obtained: "The Poet"
-Minty
1671796 I was beginning to miss those
1671796
It's been a while sense there has been a new title... I was getting worried,
also can I have some back story to the grilled cheese?
1671734
Still waiting on your chapter analysis.
Is it just me or dose dash want to die now? also it seems strange that the princess is letting dash do this even tho it's killing her, then to joke about it like its nothing.
1671902
You should ask Pilate about the grilled cheese, it was he that started it all.
-Minty
1671930
Not much new to add for Dash or Luna, sadly. The last few chapters have been a lot of, wonderful, exposition on things we already knew or had a pretty good idea about. This chapter's main revelation is in the details to Dash's affliction and her dizzy spells. We already knew chaos/Discord was trying to manifest its self through her, but now we know that the chaos rift is the real problem. The chaos is trying to convert Dash, but it will result only her in death. Luna, passive and poetic as ever, seems to be relenting in letting Dash learn the hard way what her new reality is. Dash's last line (and the chapter title) should tell you everything you need to know about her:
Funnily enough, this excerpt also says a lot about the themes of identity we've already discussed. Dash really defines herself in a very specific, and very outlandish way. She does not define herself so much in her body as she does in her spirit, something we see Dash separate in her conversation with Luna regarding her fate. Simultaneously, she maintains a fierce streak of independence that equally defines her. Dash literally flies solo, and that pride is both her strength and her weakness. These things will come to a head, eventually, when Belle-the-dependant figures her own life out.
Atom And Evil - Heaven And Hell
More backstory, i kinda want to continue forward and go back to the whole WTF is going on stuff. i guess we cant really do much to change the mind of the great and powerful IC, but i still miss trying to figure out just what it was the entire story was about. Well, heres to another great chapter by IC. If you even read these comments, Keep up the good work.
Totally unrelated question: Who do you vote for president, Pinkie Pie or Derpy?
It's interesting to see how Dash acts when she no longer feels she has anything to which to be loyal. There are a lot of similarities, such as the lack of self-preservation, but what I find most interesting is the anger. When her sense of loyalty is unclouded, she can get angry, but she is always in control, not lashing out at the slightest provocation. Though Luna's offer to carry RD seems a bit patronizing, I feel like the pre-Discord Dash would have made a joke about it and let it slide off her pride. Now, however, she's having a crisis of identity (as per one of the main themes), and it's affecting her personality, as shown when she snaps at Luna for simply trying to help after a nasty crash. Given that identity has been explored in great detail so far, I'm interested to see how RD squares her personal sense of identity and loyalty with leaving her home forever. I think the idea of self-sacrifice in the name of her friends (especially Applejack) will be the only thing to convince her that the journey east is worth it.
1661597
I guess Rainbows chaos problem reminds me of the WH40K demonic posessions (basically the host dies horribly and painfully and the warp gets a new twisted vessel.) I don't doubt her dieing from the ordeal I just reckon chaos'll call dibs on the body.
My secondary theory is that discords essence is trying to give her wacky backy powers and her mortal body can't handle the divine energies causing her body to self destruct.
1661760
Considering everything thats been said about the dark side of the world and the world in general before the Alicorns chaos seems to be more about misery and destruction and so seems to be globally inherently evil.
I had no idea this story was ganna be so deep when i first read it. You are a master
So she gets to reunite with her friends when she dies. For some reason that makes me have feels
1671796
And now there is balance once again in the world.
1676839
Glad to tip the scales!
-Minty
Awww... Why do you have to hurt yourself Dash? Can't you see that you have more to live for?
Aaah Dashie. Even when you're facing death and your dying home town you have that badass attitude.
Onwards!
Uh oh. Foreshadowing, maybe? Its strikes me as ominous regardless.
And bad-ass Dash is best Dash. Can't wait to see what actually happens between her and Celestia. Onward!
Oh, man. I knew I was going to miss a lot of Eljunbyro when I was in Australia, but....
I wasn't prepared for this
Also, every time I hear/read the word "verily" I think of the knighting scene from The Court Jester.
huh, I appear to be beating dashie76 now. hmm.
Onwards and rightwards then *hits next chapter*
IIIIIt's Dashie's Ninth Marathon Evaluation Time!
So the main part of this chapter is the wording. Although, Imploding is capable of extraordinary writing, we've never really seen a chapter focus almost solely on it before, which is nice. Luna has sone great lines in here, including her death poetry. Dash as well has some words that seem very fitting for her. And next comes Celestia...These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S.1887253Oh, no you don't. I'm not gonna let you pass me like Regidar did back in Austraeoh.Seven left!
Did you mean my when you typed ,u?
Dispair event horizon for Dashie, I see...
At the very beginning; as I flew ,u way west. ,u sould be my
At the very beginning; as I flew ,u way west. ,u should be my.
>as I flew ,u way west
what
I really have nothing much to say this chapter.
Except this:
wut
Based on the location of the keys on the keyboard, IC's finger was one key to the right.
3686352
It's an ancient language that simply says, "No."
4739029 ._.
Now that explains a thing or two. Unpleasant things.
If death means rejoining the "energy of harmony", maybe that means the girls really are fully dead after all. My doubt on that topic springs from what they said as they disappeared, but those statements also could be interpreted as being made while going to some sort of bright harmonic afterlife.
Should be "The chaos is affecting thee." To effect something is to produce that object as an effect. To affect is when there is an effect on the object.
That determination. Leave it to RD to crack jokes even while a chaotic force is literally attempting to tear her up from the inside out.
I'm... I'm running out of references.
6497333
I am sure you will dig deep and find some more!
This is that arrogant stubbornness that makes Skirts' Dashie so lovably frustrating.
yep, "danger" is her middle name.
Deep.
I think there is a mistake here?
Rainbow Deathwish Dash? Rainbow Disregard-for-my-Own-Wellbeing Dash? Rainbow Dumbass Dash?