As the Noble Jury roared off—a ruby skystone streak against the bright horizon—Basso and Zetta stood in a tight cluster with their fellow ponies. They held tight to each other, comrades in arms upon the valley of desolation.
As time passed, they heard hoofsteps shuffling up. The predominantly Ledomaritan group glanced down the hillside.
Several figures—mostly Xonan—were hobbling up the southern flank of the distant battlefield. A few Ledomaritans led the group. As soon as eye contact was made between the two clusters, the arriving ponies raised their hooves to show that they weren't armed.
Anxiously at first, the survivors of the Lightning-Bearer trotted forward, mingling with their long-lost allies, and keeping a wary yet peaceful distance from the tattooed equines. The warrior that had flown Rainbow Dash in from the ravine trotted up to speak fervently with the group, and many of his brothers' faces gaped in shock from the news he had to share.
Zetta gazed at the conference, and her weary eyes scanned the horizon, spotting forces from both sides congregating over the bloody fringes of the battleground. She gulped and said, "Are... are you seeing this?" She shuddered. "Is this really happening?"
Basso nodded dumbly. "I think it is, Zetta."
She stifled a whimper. "Basso, where do we all go from here?"
Silence.
He gave her shoulder a slight squeeze. "Is your head melting from any more evil dire death song?"
Zetta's face scrunched up, but ultimately she shook her head. "No."
The massive stallion shrugged. "Then I think we're okay."
She blinked at that, then giggled slightly.
He smiled as she leaned against him.
After a long sigh, Zetta gazed into the sunlit wasteland and murmured, "I wanna go home, Basso..."
He gently stroked her shoulder, not even hurting her in the slightest. "You know what?"
"Hmmm?" She gazed up at him.
"For the first time that I can remember..." Basso smiled, his eyes watering. "I know for absolutely sure that we can..."
Deep in the metal ravine...
A lone figure stood in the shadows of grinding machinery.
With a shuddering breath, she looked up, and her tearful eyes reflected a blue swath of sky.
High above, the clouds had cleared, and Nightshade saw pearlescent shades of untainted atmosphere. Wispy clouds formed in the distance, followed by black streaks of wayward birds. Even above the tumult of the buzzing apparati, the Madame of Blue Nova could hear signs of life, as soldiers from both sides—in mixed castes and mixed tongues—converged as one as they salvaged what they could from the dead.
The morning sun was rising, and its angular beams swam over the deep ravine for the first time in years. The light anointed the tip of Nightshade's stubby horn, and she retreated deeper into the shadows, wincing.
"Novus..." The mare hiccuped. A tear streaked down her face... followed by a second and a third, absorbing the last specks of darkness that the shadows had to give. "Novus, my brother..." She inhaled sharply. "My g-gorgeous, gorgeous children. What h-have I done...?"
Shuddering, she looked down... down into the murky depths below.
A minute passed. The sunlight finally reached the full length of the bridge. But by the time that it did, though, Nightshade was no longer there.
In a field of corpses, surrounded by blood and the detritus of war, a metal clanging sound echoed against the fractured remnants of the Lightning Bearer. Sparks flew, splashing across an intact managlider and a sack of cluttered rations.
The impacts grew louder, more and more desperate, and finally—with a resounding crack—they ceased altogether. In its place, a long and stifled groan rippled across the deathscape.
"Mmmmmrgh-gaaaaaaaaugh! Guhhh! Mmmmghhhg... haaughh..."
Silence... then a scimitar flew to the ground, its sharp edge bloodied and covered with scrapes of bone.
A crooked shadow rummaged from the nearby firelight. Huddled over, Shell quivered in pain, but nonetheless pressed a pair of hooves tightly to his forehead.
"Grrkkkk... hrckkkkk—You... y-your t-talents are no longer r-required, Dear Doctor. I c-cast you out of her... cast you out by th-the authorittttyy-grkkkkt... authority granted in me... by Ledo... m-most righteous... deliverer of wrath... of f-fury... and of fire...."
Slowly, heaving, Shell sat up. Blood streamed down his face in scarlet tributaries. He closed his eyes, accepting the christening gesture from the jagged stub on his forehead. With careful hooves, he finished tightening the end of a pale-pale horn to his brow. He took a deep breath, holding his forelimbs out as he licked his own blood on the way down past his lips.
"D-do you hear that, Imre?! Sh-she is gone... she and all of h-her friends are ashes! I... grkkkt... sw-swear it!" His eyelids tensed as he sputtered through his own juices, trembling savagely. "We are alone now, my b-beloved daughter! Together f-forever! Speak to me! Speak in communion of your father, and I-I shall grant your everlasting wish!"
He heaved.
He sobbed.
And then, his body locked still.
Slowly, like a candle being extinguished in reverse, a dull light ran up to the end of his bloody forehead stub. But it didn't stop there, for the cap at the end of it flickered with brilliant sparks, illuminating the graven tattoos of the bodies lying around him. Shelle inhaled, like a foal coming up for water, and something beamed from his face. His left eye open. And the scar on his right side peeled away, The meaty socket glowed from within, and a crackling grin flickered underneath the luminescent gaze.
"Grrrrkkkt... yes... yes, we will, Imre. We will make it so..." He hissed, wheezed, and sobbed through a smiling face. "Daddy loves us. Grnnghh... h-he does."
Just when you thought he couldn't be any crazier. He's like a cockroach.
I swear Shell is going to outlive every other character in this story.
So, what, did Nightshade hurl herself into the metallic depths? Will it be so easy?
On the other hand, I have no idea what's going on with Shell. Can't he just die already? Oh, who am I kidding? He'll probably last until the end of this installment (something has to fill the next 50 chapters, after all).
Oh dear, Shell, you just don't know when to stop.
Nightshade finally realises. Too little, too late, Madame.
Basso and Zetta? Good luck to both of you. May you have safe and pleasant journeys, wherever you may go.
Umm... Shell? Buddy? I...umm... I think you need to go see a doctor...
wow, and here I thought this fic ends at 150 now. because, you know, it's a perfect end now.
but, still marked as incomplete. o.0
are we going to return to the Mysteries of Ebon Sailboat Mane?
3795994
We also need to figure out what happened with Prop's relations.
Assuming he didn't get eaten and smelted.
Shell is rapidly going past the point of salvation. He is stepping deeper and deeper into insanity... but it's a curious testament to how insanity can be focused to survive. And terrifying, because it is clear we have not seen the end of him... and he is a one stallion wrecking machine.
ALSO NEVLAMAS I TOLD YOU THAT YOU WOULD BE SAVED. YOU CAN'T DENY IT NOW. I TOLD YOU OVER AND OVER AND YOU REFUSED TO BELIEVE AND IT FREAKING HAPPENED. WHERE IS MY CHEESE SANDWICH.
Also, totally going to call this now, Ebon Mane is a changeling and that queen, if it is Chrysalis, is his mother that he was writing to. Might also explain the good cook bit.
Okay... I was expecting something completely different, but somehow Shell is STILL alive. I just hope that his death will be well written.
3796206 I'm still subscribing to that theory.
I need to go whip up an image now. I didn't think I would need it so soon.
~Basso
So much awsome...
NEV DIED. PARTAY.
We ain't done in ol' Ledomare yet. Lots of plot threads still hanging, and I doubt they'll carry onto the next continent.
Who the hell was that queen?
How the hell did she know AJ?!
Did RD confront her before boarding the Noble Jury?
Is the RD on the Noble Jury the REAL RD?
In fact, where did all the changelings come from?!
Are ALL the Heraldites gone?
Ebon's true identity...?
We still haven't met Queen Ledo yet...
And most importantly...
WHEN IS THE WEDDING DATE.
Nice to know we ain't carrying that old book around anymore though. Hilarious that it was just a false plot coupon this entire time.
3796365 That's okay. You'll come around eventually!
Image? Image? Now I am curious. But since you get to go to a non-warring home, you'll have lots of time! (In between dealing with all those kids with Zetta.)
3796206 Holy crap. Mind blown. Yup. That happened. PSHEW!
3796419 Here's to guessing that that changeling queen is the big bad at the end of the chapter.
AND HERE'S TO FINALLY GOING BUCKING EAST
Far too many great things are happening far too quickly.
That's seven characters less in total. I'm having an extremely vivid picture of Nightshade's death scene. Note to regisseur: no music, sounds of the machine slowly becoming fainter and dropping into slow-motion, aligning with her breaths. Another awesome death scene. I will spend the next few days savouring them one by one.
3795967 All of it too late.
3796199 I'm not sure. I'm dead.
3796408
3796419 cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/500x/9142437.jpg
3796365 3796673 3796732 Plot twist: Changeling Queen will find Shell... and she will become Imre, and drive him on. And they will have to fight both Shell and Imre, together.
The idea fills me with amazement and dread.
3796757 I think you took the wrong turn at Albuquerque on your prediction train. Up until then you were going strong.
3796761 We will see.
11 unread chapters? What le hell?
Ah, it's been a while since you did this. Don't think you have since Innavedr, actually. 9 chapters at once, how nice.
So, we have had Khao, Nevlamas, Arcshod, Seclorum and presumably Nightshade taken from us.
A shame for Khao, I think many will be inclined to agree. When a character with such a zealous belief is willing to give it up when she realises she is wrong, let alone freakin' sacrifice themselves, it is damn hard not to like them. Especially in this freakin' context, after all the ponies we've seen thus far desperately clinging onto their false hope. I'm pretty sad that nobody in the Jury gives a fuck, to be honest. She deserves more than that.
Rainbow's kiss stimulates Roarke's genital areas? There's hope for the cargo delivery service yet. And while she doesn't exactly have the metal anymore, Tencacious D has taught us that nothing can destroy the metal.
I'm a little concerned about Lasairfon. Rainbow chases, suddenly Rainbow comes back, no mention of it. I am rather bewildered by the presence of the cheese-legged parasites to be honest. It doesn't quite make sense.
Awesome ending to this story-arc.
I think we still don't have an explanation for Imre's horn activating; or did the machine world cause this? Also, what's up with Shell's right eyesocket? I thought for a moment that he's a changeling too.
Also was Seclorum a changeling all along, or was the original Secchy replaced by a changeling who forgot he's a changeling? I hope this gets cleared up.
Well, this was appropriate, until that end bit happened...:
Holy christ on a crouton, that stallion...just does not die. And I don't even have a descriptive word in my vocabulary for the level of nuts that he's at right now.
I'd say she jumped, but we could only be so lucky...
Owie,big update is big.
Intresting that even with all the powers available to her, Rainbow Dash wasnt permitted to end a Divine, only another Divine had that right.
Either Shell just became a Terminator, or a Changeling, or leakage from Nevelmas, a Chaos Lord.
Wonder if Rourke will modify her primary mana core now to be a third split shielded over use, so she can have extra bacup without much more work?
Will Zaid ever get that cheese sandwhich, or will he just get Basso the Grilla.
Good end!
Except now Shell is somehow even more terrifying. I think we're past "up to eleven" and somewhere around 20 at this point. And what about Lasairfon? Dash forgot about her pretty quickly.
3795953
6 installments later, when we reach the chaos world, we will see Nightshade waving boredly at them, munching on a sandwich made from a garden in the middle of nowhere, and a small cottage besides it.
"Did you know there was a shortcut?"
a lot has been resolved and a lot has yet to be resolved. really glad roarkes alive too, rainbow and her I think gotta talk. wtf is up with shell now?! im going to go out on a limb and say nightshade isn't dead. CAN'T WAIT FOR MORE!
Shell = alive
Nightshade = probably alive (we saw no corpse)
Changeling the Lasairfion = alive (why did rainbow let her get away?)
anyone else who got left behind that might show up later?
3797478
That would be amazing.
3796732 Funny.
Now I can call you dead, and it will be 100% true
3798449 I'm fairly sure he could come up with some sort of philosophical argument that he is not in fact dead.
3798449 You will never have grilled cheese.
3798528 Screw you, I used to be a dragon.
Aaaaaaand I'm gone again.
3796206 How the hell did I not think of that.
3798733
3796206 That actually could be true because it would explain his amnesia.
3797364 3797797 See this quote. RD was speeding after her.
3796419
Mind blown. Also, I think the book is back in the Jury's engine room.
So in this wave of chapters:
Arcshod[changeling?] goes splat
Shell can regenerate? 3797768
Roarke lives and (because of manacores being able to be turned into an explosive) has a snuke
Secclorum[changeling?] goes splat. 3797220
Nightshade plot holes off
Khao goes splat
Rainbow does an Elements-of-Harmony-powered rainboom (well, four of them)
All living protagonists are together (Dargons not included)
>Changelings
Zetta and Basso copy Tweak and Crimson
The chaos'd Dargon got toldlerowned by the gold Dargon who got her bling toldasaurus rekt by Fruit Looper
3797458
Zaid's got plenty of cheese, just hasn't gotten his face sandwiched...yet 3798733
WHEN IS THE NEXT FULL MOON????
3796732
I'm pretty sure that's it. I mean, unless they do some real crazy stuff in 50 chapters, that sounds an awful lot like a climax to me.
I'll reserve any in depth commentary for when it's marked complete, though.
3799291
A million fat black dicks.
So... is Shell reborn?
3797478
She then immediately gets offed by zombie cyborg Shell, who walked, crawled and ran after the party, occasionally stowing away on/ commandeering passing vessels. By this time, all that remains of his original body is a single eye, burning with hatred for all that lives.
Also, he wants her sandwich.
So much has happened in this mega update, to be honest its a bit overwhelming. So many questions. And I still can't tell if I'm a good or bad dragon.
3798528 Also, if you wanted one, that's rather easy: time is (according to Immanuel Kant) an apodictial human apperception applicable to each and every phenomenological operation of the human mind and only to those. Its empirical reality is limited to the minds so designed as to perceive it as such and as a result, should the temporal cognitivity of an immortal dragon queen be designed differently than a human's or pony's, Nevlamas might in fact only be dead as a thing-as-conception for a pony, but still be timelessly alive as both a thing-as-conception for herself or as actual thing-in-itself, of course. Vorare ergo sum.
3799564 You're adopted. The Jury only bears with you. No one likes you. Your dog is dying. The world doesn't want you. Your friends are all dead. You failed as a Heraldite. You can't fly a managlider for damn. And you will never have grilled cheese!
3799965
Das racist.
3800351 fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/201/a/9/vampire_justine___pierced_heart_by_darkest_b4_dawn-d57y0ds.jpg
3801463 Oh, Nevy, Nevy.
You should already know that you don't have grilled cheese.
The grilled cheese has you.