Slowly, one by one, the Soul Sentries stood up in the streets and courtyards of Val Roa. They shook their heads, wincing through receding waves of pain.
Several suited naga trained their weapons on the reindeer, but they did not fire. As the spheres floated low over the spiraling rooftops, all eyes fell on the recovering guards. Josho flinched slightly as one buck stumbled wearily towards the group. Eagle Eye trotted forward and supported his weight. The lavender stallion stared into the guard's thin eyes.
“Sir?” Eagle blinked. “Are... are you alright?”
“Guh... my head...” The reindeer blinked, squinting towards the crowd. “Mother? Father? Where are...?” He gazed at the citizens gawking at him fearfully. “Why is everyone looking at me this way?”
“You mean, you don't remember?” Eagle Eye asked. The air of the streets was quiet enough to hear a pin drop from several blocks away. “You enlisted in the Soul Sentry division of your kingdom's defense force.”
“I... I did...?” The guard gazed incredulously at the pony. “I... I remember reporting to Saikano's base of operations, but... becoming a soul sentry?”
“Where's my family?!” another guard shouted, gathering strength as he stomped his hooves. “I never asked for any of this! What's going on here?!”
“They... they brought us to a room...” one buck stammered. “The General was there. We... we were asked to stare at a glowing green beacon...”
Suddenly, members of the crowd shouted in surprise. “Sam!” Two does ran past the line of Lounge members. “Sam! Is it really you?!”
The buck standing before Eagle turned about, his eyes widening. “Amy? Faith?!” Eagle made room as the reindeer limped past him and collapsed in the embrace of the two females. They nuzzled each other closely, sharing tears and happy shudders. “Is everything okay?! Why is everyone so frightened?!”
“You... you became a Soul Sentry months ago, Sam,” one doe sniffled. “No one understood why. Not even Mother and Father.”
“You just up and left, never to return,” the other stammered. “Weeks later, we got a letter from the Defense Ministry, stating that you had given up your life to defend the Crown. It broke our hearts. But... but you're really back! Aren't you?!”
“I...” The buck shuddered, smiling painfully. “Yes. Yes, I think I really am, Sis...”
They hugged again. Meanwhile, more and more members of the crowd came trotting through, reuniting with the former Soul Sentries. The air filled with warmth and cheer, swiftly drowning out the sullen atmosphere that had so tensely filled it just minutes ago.
Seclorum leaned back on his haunches, folding his forelimbs with a smirk.
Phoenix and Crimson exchanged glances. “Guess it wasn't that much of a loss cause after all,” Phoenix stated, still trying to catch his breath.
“Only because we all got here in time,” Crimson replied. He then gestured at the bipedal reptiles as they finally lowered their manarifles. “Same can be said for the happy brigade here.”
“Yeah... who exactly brought them, anyways?” Lucky Strike wheezed.
“Who the Hell cares?” Tweak grumbled. “They trained their weapons on the right punks, didn't they?”
“Malaseethrem vaal kremdem siulen threem,” Arcshod muttered, looking past his two companions.
Seclorum nodded. “The big guy has a point.” He looked Josho, Eagle Eye, and Floydien. “What now?”
“Grkkk...” Chrysalis leaned back on her haunches, hissing in pain as her body settled into deep, even breaths. The bloody gash in the center of her skull closed up as metamorphic flames cauterized the wound from where the horn had been torn clean off. Her eyes opened thinly, though they were weak and bereft of the threatening glow that they had previously possessed.
Ebon shook and squirmed. Finally, with a watchful glare, Rainbow Dash let the stallion go. He galloped forward, sliding to a squatting stop right in front of the injured alicorn.
“Mother... Mother!” Ebon Mane choked on a sob, clasping her forelimb with his. “Why did you do that?! Your... your horn! Your magic! You didn't have to—”
“Yes...” Chrysalis shuddered, fangs shuddering. “I did.” She tilted her head up, breathing easier. “Rainbow Dash is right.” She gulped. “You're right. My desperation is no excuse. It all has to end.”
“Don't say that. Please!” Ebon leaned forward, nuzzling her carapace. “There's still hope for you! There's got to be!”
Chrysalis' eyes narrowed. “I... I have shattered everything, child...” She shuddered from her fresh wound. “I can no longer wield empathy. I am now as dependent on base elements as the common mule,” she spat. “I may not even live forever anymore...”
“I don't care. You still have the power to change!” Sniffling, Ebon stared up at her with piercing eyes. “Please. Don't give up.”
She gazed at him weakly. “Why... why do you believe in me so much? You cannot trust me...”
Ebon smiled weakly. “I can still hope for you. When all was hopeless for me, ponies gave their all to keep me from fading away. They believed in me when I felt there was nothing... when I felt like nothing.” He stood up tall to be more even with her eyes. “This doesn't have to be the end, Mother. This can be a beginning... a glorious beginning. Will you let us? Will you let me help you?”
Chrysalis clenched her jaws tight. Her dull eyes moistened. “After all this time... after all the pain and death I've caused...” She grimaced. “After having to butcher myself to stop it all...” A shudder ran through her. “Why is it now that I can almost sense it? I... I can almost taste it, and yet... yet...”
Ebon smiled as tears ran down his burgundy muzzle. He rubbed his cheek against hers, murmuring: “There are far richer, deeper ways of being nourished with love.”
“I'm afraid I'll never learn how...”
“Let me teach you,” Ebon said. “There's so much worth living for, Mother. I can show you the healthy way... the Harmonic way.”
Chrysalis gazed at him. Slowly, weakly, she brought a hoof around and draped it over his back.
He sobbed tearfully and clung to her, morphing back to his glossy black shape.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had pulled out her sound stone. “Arcanista...” She spoke into the device. “Duchess, speak to me.” She gulped, keeping a wary eye trained on Chrysalis. “Are all the Soul Sentries down?”
“Snkkkt. That indeed they are, Rainbow Dash. What's more, every guard is reverting back to their normal self. They are no longer even remotely possessed.”
Rainbow's nostrils flared. She gave the sound stone a shake and spoke again. “Eagle Eye. You hear that? Is it the same where you are?”
“Scrkkk. Absolutely, Rainbow Dash. No more glowing eyes. Is Ebon Mane okay?”
“Yes, he's fine.” Rainbow took a breath, then smirked. “And so is his mother...”
“Huh? Wait, do you mean—”
Just then, the door burst open. Rainbow turned to see several naga rushing in, rifles armed. As the sight of Chrysalis, they all aimed at once.
“No! No!” Rainbow Dash hollered, flying between the suited lizards and their weaponry. “She is a prisoner of King Lunarius! You will not kill her!”
The Lounge members fidgeted, until one spoke up. “The mare with rainbow hair...”
Another naga nodded. “She is attached to the Vaughan. Remember her instructions?
“Affirmative.”
The lizards stood down, unholstering their weapons. “We await your command, as courtesy of the Vaughan's authority.”
Rainbow blinked, pronouncing that name mutely with blue lips. She then blinked knowingly. “Heh... good touch, girl.”
“Rainbow...?” Ebon spoke up meekly from where he sat beside Chrysalis' figure. “The Jury...”
Rainbow nodded. She turned swiftly towards the naga. “How much air support did you bring?”
“Our armada is two dozen strong.”
“Buck yeah...” Rainbow Dash spread her wings and blurred towards the warehouse's doorframe. “You guys stay here. Keep a trained eye on these two. The big one goes nowhere, and nothing bad happens to either of them. Got it?”
“Affirmative, rainbow one.”
“Ebon...?” Rainbow turned to look at him.
“Go, Rainbow.” He motioned along with a porous forelimb. “I... I will stay here with her.”
Rainbow hovered in place, blinking. Gradually, a smile spread across her lips.
Ebon's gossamer wings twitched. “It... it worked, didn't it?” He gave a fanged grin. “It all worked out in the end.”
Rainbow took a deep breath, her frown reforming. “Almost all of it.” FWOOOOSH! That said, she burst out of the warehouse, spread her wings wide, and rocketed south over the bronze rooftops of Val Roa.
This is the dawning of the Age of Austraeoh!
The Age of Austraeoh
Austraeoh!
Austraeoh!
Harmony and understanding
sympathy and trust abounding
no more falsehoods or derisions
golden living dreams of visions
mystic crystal revalation
and the mind's true liberation
Austraeoh!
Austraeoh!
What does she need to do now?
Also, I hope Arcanista gets rewarded for being a savior of Val Roa. She needs some love.
Fast imprint means fast recovery, at least mostly, with some lingering effects.
Rourke is still being Robert Vaugh, Gelt, from Battle Beyond The Stars. So charismatic that those who havent met her will follow the orders of others she says so.
Last up, possibly? Dash can now put aside her 633, and even her 607, and instead go give the goblins an ultimatum. Surrender. Or face 617, with a side of 609.
Hmm... this seems too Harmonious...
Twenty-five situps and twenty-five pushups, ):(. Knock 'em out!
Why do I feel so nervous? Either something bad's going to happen, or this story has stripped me, little by little, of all capacity to trust and simply relish the sweet victories.
Either shit is about to hit the fan or the fight is pretty much over and we're going to have to live through Lerris all over again for the rest of this book while Dash tries to leave.
Well, looks like Eagle might finally get to meet Ebon's parent...............................that will be awkward.
Still gotta deal with Haman and his ilk, but at this point that 's surely just mopping up?
Yep, not dead. Still going to jail for maybe-not-so-immortal life. Or accompany Rainbow Dash.
I'd previously speculated that Duke Floyd was an early test subject for the soul sentrification process. Perhaps he will return to his old self too?
And then the Tatzlwurm!
hmm I wonder if you could make a tatzlwurm pastry using 'pretzl' dough...
5550087
When is it not awkward?
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/531/319/99f.gif
5550050
Considering how many chapters are left, I am waiting for a hidden shoe to drop.
5550081 Uh oh, someone's not happy at all.
I feel a sundering aproaching.
And then Rainbow deals with Haman.
5550076
Well, we still haven't seen Shell's body, so we could go with that again.
I don't trust this one bit.
5550290 Hopefully after a happy reunion with her marefriend, now that the fight is basically over.
There's no way this is going to work out that smoothly.
5550433 Knowing IC, definetly not.
Something tells me Ebon and Eagle are going to be staying put when this book is over. Unless some kind of traumatic experience happens like at Lerris.
There is just so much story left to go so I'm a bit skeptical that this is going to end this well. However there is the whole thing with the Choke left so maybe that will just take up the rest of this story.
5550334
Surprise twist ending: Chrysalis reaches up and pulls off her mask, revealing that she was Shell all along!
Ah right, I forgot that we still have to finish the goblins off. Welp, get to it everyone.
Alright Chrysalis, time for your jury duty.
No...something's still gonna happen. There's treachery somewhere. Some secret weapon. Some hidden trap...
FOR GOD'S SAKE, HALF THE BOOK IS LEFT AND I AM FREAKING OUT HERE. WHERE IS THE POINT WHERE EVERYTHING GOES HORRIBLY WRONG!!?!?
...Unless the rest of this is literally going to be repairs, winding down, and getting through The Choke....
5550029
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Well, everyone's all jolly n' happy, we know what that means; Someone will die.
5550901
Someone will die.
>Someone
>one
Yeah, I was an optimist once.
.
.
.
something seems
wrong
i feel like somethings not
real
....
fuck if i know
5550992
ah!
that it!
did we ever get pay-off for
way back at the beginning of all this?
Time for the epic boss fight againt Haman, featuring Roarke and Jex but mostly Roarke.
Right?
Jex and Roarke and rainbow and belle and EE are about to give Haman the beat down
5550084
Found you. You game for later?
I'm a little suprised that Chrisy survived that, guess there will be a little more to her before the end. Perhaps her brood of changelings won't die out after all.
I really hope Rainbow's only talking about Haman at the end there...
Well, everyone is feeling pessimistic, but does anyone have predictions? I think that the most likely (though I still doubt it) scenario would be the Lounge taking advantage of Val Roas decreased Soul Sentry population with a sneak attack, probably during some celebration like the return of the King and Queen. They also already have an armada in a pretty tactically sound location. If they sent communication for back up while the fight was progressing, I'm sure there'd be Lounge forces ready sometime soon.
Or maybe we can just have Harmony have an easy, non-Pyrrhic victory for once.
Who am I kidding. We're probably going to get a terrible invasion from the dark side of the world or something similarly crazy.
We're still many chapters shy of the end... Where's Shell? Where's my daddy?
It's all just a dream or hallucination of some sort, isn't it?
We're not... we're not really going to redeem this villain, are we?
It seems Dash hasn't forgotten her greatest enemy, the monster anglerfish that followed her around the frozen sea. Or remembered she hasn't been to a cave during this story yet.
Well, it seems the author didn't want to stick to what I expected to happen with the plot. I predicted that this arc would last the entire story, and half of the next, leaving a hundred or so chapters to fix loose threads, set what will come next, and mostly healing. This ended one story before I predicted. So I suppose what will happen during the 7th story will be what I predicted for the 8th, a force with good intentions will appear, and will be an antagonist to Dashie, to test her resolution and strenght.
Chrysalis surrendering like she did was a little anti-climactic, however; it was fitting.
So Roarke must stay and keep her end of the bargain or it will all be for naught. And Rainbow has no idea...
Even though this a large meet-and-greet of old and new characters, I don't know who will stay or who will go(besides Roarke staying or Rainbow going).
The Noble Jury is definitely in no shape to go anywhere for a long while. The Goblins still have to be disarmed and sent back with their new overlord. I don't know what else the Lounge expects. The Eine x Kera shipping will affect Pilate's and Belle's decision; it's hard for me to see otherwise. Same with Midnite and Floydien; One lost an echo of her father and the other has yet to find out his surrogate Nancy Jane is totaled. Ebon and Eagle with stick together; I'm pretty sure Ebon wants to also stick by Chrysalis to help her rehabilitation.
Time will tell.
...Where is Axan?
5551583
Still has a wooden plank through his socket.
5550334
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5550908
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Next chapter(s): Rainboarke. Lots of Rainboarke.
IC plot twist: there is no plot twist.
unless... narrows eyes 5551010 world's longest coma sequence?
WE ARE NOT PREPARED™
5551600
The next chapter begins with Rainbow Dash waking up in a very comfy bed big enough for two. She rubs her eyes, wondering what's going on. Applejack comes out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her head; she just came out of the shower. Dash looks uncomprehendingly at her for a few seconds.
"Somethin' wrong, sugarcube?"
Dash shakes her head. "No, no. I… I just had this really bizarre dream. It seemed so real… but it was all just a dream, wasn't it?"
"Let me show you some reality," AJ says suggestively.
Applejack hops into bed and they snuggle.
The End.
who else needs to die before we leave
Chrissy LIVES!!!