"This is the lever Flynn told us about, right?" Ariel remarked.
Rainbow nodded. "Eeyup."
"Okay..." Ariel took a deep breath and reached towards a console situated in the heart of the generator room. "On the count of five. One... two..."
"Just pull it, girl."
"Er. R-right!" With an inward grunt, Ariel yanked at the lever.
Bzzzzzzzzt! Sparks flew from the core of crystals overhead.
And then...
Thoooooooooooooooooooooom...
The heart of Darkreach lived up to its name once again.
Seconds later, a ruby lightning bolt illuminated a beam of redness from below Rainbow's neck.
"Whelp..." Rainbow took a breath. "That's a wrap."
"Considering all the effort it took to find this place and settle down..." Ariel shuddered slightly. "It's kind of chilling how easy it is to turn it all off."
"Uh huh..."
"I mean, this place was lying dormant for hundreds of years!" Ariel remarked, gazing up at the shadowed heights of the generator room hanging over them. Her echoes stood out all of a sudden. "The only reason it was ever lit up again was because we came here! The changeling certainly didn't make that happen."
"Well, you're certainly treating this very... uhhhh..." Rainbow Dash shifted where she stood. "...poetically."
"I can't help it." Ariel sighed, squinting beyond the penumbra of Rainbow's spotlight. "This placed helped us out in so many ways. And it means so much more than that, y'know? This was the culmination of countless ancient ponies' lives. Their entire work and commitment was poured into this place."
"Well, let's make it worth their while, huh?" Rainbow motioned with a fetlock and made for the nearest stairwell. "Come on. We've got... er... a hover plank waiting."
Ariel buzzed after her on flapping wings. "Just like that? You're ready to part with this place?"
"Why not?"
"I dunno. Just..." Ariel squinted as they ascended the steps. "Don't tell me you never felt a sense of wonder in all your travels."
"Oh, it's been pretty wonderous, alright."
"All of those continents you've spanned," Ariel said. She smirked slightly. "All of those kingdoms you've visited... kingdoms you've saved."
"Just because I might not seem too saddened about leaving Darkreach doesn't mean I don't understand how cool everything is—once and a while at least." The two mares evened out on a long corridor, leading them to the common room. The edges of Rainbow's spotlight caught hints and glimpses of the age-old detritus left behind in that tomb of a base. "Back when I was light-side, I'd be scaling entire mountains all on my lonesome. I could see for miles and miles around in every direction. Whatever the starlight would touch—my eyes saw it. And then a crazy thought occurred to me." Rainbow calmly looked over her shoulder. "I realized that no other pony had likely ever touched the same pieces of rock that I did... or had seen all of the cracks and fissures in the timeless stone like my own eyes had witnessed. It was pretty awesome at the time. I gotta admit."
"But..." Ariel cocked her head curiously to the side. "...not quite so awesome anymore?"
"Hey, what's awesome is always awesome. It's just... hard to see it the same way anymore." Rainbow's nostrils flared as she trotted into the common room, shining her light across the multi-tiled mosaic. "What used to make me awesome nowadays sorta makes me feel small."
"You're hardly small, Rainbow Dash," Ariel said.
Rainbow looked at the other mare and made particular emphasis of how she had to lift her chin for their eyes to meet. "Uh huh."
Ariel rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean." A smile. "You're the Austraeoh. You're the key to bringing harmony and life back to this dying plane. Beyond that—who knows? But you're the same bright Spark you've always been."
"That's true." Rainbow gulped. "That's what makes it even sadder."
"Ehhhh..." Ariel playfully shoved her shoulder. "We gotta get you outta that funk, girl. Maybe a nice fight or two with chaos monsters will get the blood flowing again."
"I'd rather us get to the Midnight Armory with the least amount of motherbuckers knowing."
"Huh." Ariel blinked. "Okay."
Rainbow bore a bitter smirk. "Not what you thought you signed up for when you joined the Herald?"
"Nah, it makes sense. Just..." Ariel shrugged. "Was sorta hoping to see you in action once again. You kick so much butt when push comes to shove."
"For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure that sorta crud is inevitable."
"Right." Ariel took a moment to glance at the dimly-lit surroundings. "Gotta admit... for the time that we were here... it was kinda cozy."
"Won't argue with that," Rainbow droned.
"Although..." Ariel chuckled dryly. "I'm sure it was even livelier back in the day. Just think about it. Ponies lived here. This was there home. Dozens if not hundreds of former Emeraldinians and Cylindrimanians just... trotting around and buddying up and doing experiments and making maps and plotting for the salvation of their world..."
"I gotta admit it has its quirks," Rainbow said. "But... it's no Noble Jury."
"Eh?"
"I was living in that airship for months and months," Rainbow Dash said. "I may not have admitted at the time... but when that thing crashed and burnt to ashes outside of Val Roa? Whew... I was heartbroken as heck."
Ariel nodded gently. "Must have been like losing a home."
"It's the ponies who matter in the end," Rainbow said. "Family. Friends." She looked at Ariel. "We're still in one piece, and that's all I care about. Whether we're here in Darkreach or on Flynn's hover-plank-thingy."
"Does Seraphimus count among all that?"
"Mmrmmrmmfnghhhlughhuuuuu..."
Ariel smirked. "Best answer is best."
"Uh huh." Rainbow finally aimed her pendant at the mosaic. The tower of Verdestone stretched before her eyes for one last time. She inhaled the moment—along with her thoughts.
Ariel quietly spoke: "I bet that's one thing you're gonna miss."
Rainbow nodded. "Y'know... one thing that never gets old about this whole journey thing..."
"What's that?"
"Remembering where I've been." Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, nodding. "Yeah. Yeah, that never stops being cool."
"The Mother Matron's sister would be proud of you, Rainbow Dash," Ariel said. "I'm sure of it."
"She always was," Rainbow muttered. "So far, knowing that hasn't let me down."
Ariel performed a gentle curtsy before the mosaic of Verdestone. "Your Majesties... Onyxxus, Mortuana, and Whitemane... thank you so very much." She stood up straight, proud. "Ranort, Warhol, Gwen... best wishes and gratitude."
"Yeah." Rainbow waved to the air. "Don't let the Harmonic Plains hit ya where the ancient pegasi split ya."
"Snkkkkt!" Ariel struggled not to laugh. "The hell is that?! Some sort of Ponyville expression?"
"If not, it sure as hay is now," Rainbow's voice cracked as she motioned Ariel towards the exit. "Come on. Let's boogey."
Are you sure you don't want this to happen Rainbow?
You ain't the only one.
Off we go, into the wild black yonder,
Flying hard, into the stars...
Anybody remember that one chapter from the original Austraeoh? The one where Dash reaches the peak of a massive mountain early on in the story and reflects on the fact that she will probably be the only one to set hoof on it's summit
We all were...
Damnit right it doesn't
--
Rainbow Dash--Batman"No, I said that. Batman is very wise."
Home is more individuals who make a place worth being there than the actual place. Rainbow has almost certainly learned that one by now.
I think this is appropriate regarding homes
She's not small, she's petite!
Ariel knows what's up.
Also:
le sigh
Time to roll out
Complete with bored eyes and monotone.
-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.
For such a gloomy hole in the ground, I'm oddly sad to say farewell to Dark Reach. It might have something to do with the fact that this was very possibly as good as it will ever get on the Dark Side. The remainder of this volume will probably be the narrative equivalent of falling down the stairs into hell.
Suddenly, I feel very small and anxious.
Zoop.
Oh look, its us.
8390346
And then she turned around, grabbed a stick that wasn't entirely burning, and smacked herself in a skull with it. As soon as her eyes blinked again, all she could think about was food, flying, and explosions.
8390446
If the ominous buildup is indicative of things to come, that might be an understatement.
Yep, that sure is the best possible answer there. Time to turn out the lights and head on to the next destination.
8390472
That is exactly the scene that I was thinking of when I read this.
It's why I say Austraeoh is easily the best of the series, it's action and drama were scaled, it didn't play itself out or stop for long conversations.
It was just a quiet, profound and lonely adventure into the great unknown.
I miss it.
Thus far into the read I can be fairly honest.
Kinda wish most or all of the other characters would just die or fuck off not gonna lie.
When surrounded by interpersonal drama rainbow in this story tends to lose sight of her convictions and drive, along with her suicidal nature, also starts to become edgy and dependant.
She is not a leader or a soldier she's an adventurer.
The grand choke interlude + up until around Red barge was easily the most satisfying thing written since the word Austraeoh was first spoken.
Not too sure you guys like or agree with that opinion but as I am far from an expert on this story I am more than welcome to alternative viewpoints.
8390374
Literary artfulness at its greatest potency, no doubt.
8390536
That's how she started out, certainly, but she grew. Out of necessity, but still. The way I see it, her personality and even some fundamental aspects of herself should change over 9 books(omg this is 9 books now.)
8390543
Well yea, I mean that her personality has never been, and probably never will be suited to those roles and realistically she should either be dead or would have had someone else take the leadership position in her place a VERY long time ago.
Like that brief time that mortuana was leading I found pretty nice except that nothing crucial enough to test those bonds happened before she bit it.
Well, it has taken me a bit over a year to finally catch up, but finally, here I am! At first, through Austraeoh and ~ first 1/2 of Eljunbyro, I've only been reading occasionally, when I had a couple of minutes of spare time here and there. By the end of the Blue Shelf arc though, I was definitively hooked up and gradually sped up until, in the end, I managed to get through Utaan in under 20 days (Hey, for me, that's rather fast!). And here I am stuck, with that bittersweet feeling of reaching a long-sought goal, yet knowing that the journey itself was, in many ways, even more important and is now over. Or rather, just throttled down to a mere couple thousand words / day, when before there was virtually no limit.
Well, ever Eastward!
Err, I mean Curveward.
Curveside?
...
8390464
I...what even...dang. Major props to you, pun intended.
This chapter gives me all sorts of feels....
8390346
Yeah...
8390562
Welcome aboard.
I'm starting to think that the Verdestone expedition wasn't the only alicorn assisted exploration of the dark side from all of you catching up.
We had to stop for close to a year to get the Jury retrofitted enough to make the journey over the edge.
In any case, cabins are on the 4th floor, I think there's still 1 or 2 left on the 3rd that are empty.
And enjoy the flight.
8390335
Yes yes yes.
8390562
Welcome to the Vanguard, The Cutting Edge of the readers of East horse. Many have started the journey, and many have fallen to the Wayside along the path.
If this and the last three books hold true to the pattern set so far, the majority of reading is still ahead of you. You have many a sleepless night to look forward to yet.
8390554
I'll agree with you on some of those points. The Rainbow Dash in the first book was very different even from how she was in the second book. Although that book saw a much more Reckless and well, murderous version of Rainbow Dash.
In my opinion a lot of Rainbow Dash's characteristics might not be those of a leader, but more of a doer. She's the one that gets things done, one way or another. When, like now, she's put into a position of authority with the lifes and or deaths of those around her hanging in the balance, I find that it takes something away from her character. She can't be her Reckless Carefree self when so much hangs in the balance. Not just the life of her living companions, but also the rebirth of her oldest friends thought lost forever.
She is taking on much more of what you might call adult responsibilities recently. Ever since she had to part ways with her friends in Val Roa, passed through the Grand choke and over the Dead Sea, all the way through the islands, red barge and then finally the cold and lonely Passage through the Ice Queen's continent. I think that the lessons of Veralax have sunk in well, better perhaps than Rainbow Dash had previously thought.
Rainbow turned off the lights so I guess it's about time we all left too. Whoever is last please don't forget to lock the doors.
8390536
I think most of us are nostalgic for the purple mountains filled with silence.
Not just the scenery porn for me but one of the things I miss is being alone in nature with nothing but a fire for company... at least for a couple hours.
8390669
Yea well for all the reasoning behind it, I am not a fan of watching a confused group of plot devices and their absolute dues ex machina of conveniently timed revelation having not-leader bumble and die their way across a trippy hell scape running on nothing but nostalgia fumes.
I have a lot of good things to say about this series, including the engaging atmosphere, progressive storyline and world building, always unpredictable lead role, and compelling moral dilemmas.
But even this far into the series the most glaring problems still persist, and i dont mean spelling mistakes because who cares about that.
Plot development.
Rounded out characters.
Concise writing.
Basically, plot building, if the plot has a theme give it closure in the end, have more random good or bad occurences including not completely contrived deaths or victories with more fleshed out antagonists, seriously make a villain who isn't evil essentially entirely because their insane.
Characters. Don't even start. Cardboard cut outs the lot of them. Except for a scant few who have SOME personality like rainbow Roarke wildcard, k-something whatever smart-bird was called, and mortuana, hell even Axan was flat.
I don't need to explain the concise one, half of these chapters could be straight up deleted with no loss at all to the story, the rest could be shortened considerably, no need to edit, just don't write irrelevant scenes.
Idk what to say, these seem like basic tenants of writing, maybe I'm biased but since there is, certainly no getting off the train we're on at this point I see no reason not to throw a little shade.
Just because something can be made to make sense as a story doesn't mean that it actually should.
Guess I only posted it for this chapter because this is a great example of a chapter full of words containing no substance or meaning that lends nothing to the story or characters and has literally zero reason to exist, like you needed two, maybe three paragraphs for them to leave dark reach.
Four or five if you wanna be dramatic.
I don't remotely understand the need for unnecessary overkill.
8390815
Yea. ... Such beautiful non-edgy retard filled chapters they were...
Wow, stirred emotions for a location that we barely knew. Well played.
The shutdown scene feels like a smaller version of the last Babylon 5 episode.
Out into the vast we’re headed
Paths untread to find
Into the great unknown
The stars light up the stones
We’re carried ever onward
Upon a hope of home
8390536
Some ponies are born great.
Others have greatness smashed into their faces and discover that it won't peel off easily.
8390562
Welcome aboard, comrade. It's time to move deeper into the Dark Side.
8390562
Welcome to the top!
Is it just me, or does Rainbow seem intent on friend-zoning Ariel?
Because Dashie is the size of a cat and she loves to cuddle.
8390562
Welcome to the journey!
I'm still trying to decide of Darkreach was the best possible thing for the crew, or one of the more dangerous. I mean, don't get me wrong, after losing two members of their team its not like being shoved immediately into a new meat grinder would've been pleasant for Dash and the Herald, but at the same time at least the tone and pace would've remained consistent and gotten them in proper gear for the Dark Side.
With this much downtime, sure we've gotten some good stuff like Logan and Seraphimus...er... "bonding" I guess is the term, and everyone's had time to decompress. But that could also be exceedingly dangerous, because it's set a far too relaxed mood. I keep feeling like when shit hits the fan for real around here that part of Dash and the Hearald's problem will be that they just weren't in the right headspace for it.
Hmm, wonder if it wouldn't have been smart to build more than one hover-plank-thingie? At least to have a spare in case the first one gets broken?
8390359
She's aerodynamic.
8392639
Why not both?
Goodbye, place. You helped more than you hurt.
8391501
It was explained across multiple chapters as R&D of the hover plank developed: the enchantments on the floaty rocks are crazy advanced and mana intensive so they take days to weeks for a single educated unicorn (Flynn) to overlay correctly, and the floaty rocks they are enchanting are in short supply.
8393532
Sure, but all that aside banking everything on one experimental hover-plank-thingie seems the bigger risk that waiting another week and sacrificing some more bat rocks to have another conveyance to not only lighten the load between the two, but if one breaks down (or is broken by some clearly-not-gonna-happen misfortune) the group isn't entirely up crap-creek without a...hover-plank-thingie.
8393598
•it took them a month (or more, its unclear) to make one hover thingy.
•the moon rocks are used for control and steering, they have plenty of those leftover.
•The floaty rocks used for floating and propulsion are dark side only chaos touched rocks, they used up almost all of them building one hover thingy.
•the rations are running low, with no reasonable forage this side of the killer grass fields.
hope this explains things.
8393695
A bit. I'd say their first priority should be to find more materials to build another. Also are you sure about it taking them a month to build one? I get the feeling they were there about a month, sure, but that the actual building of the hover-plank-thingie took maybe a week within that timespan. Also now that Flynn knows how to build one and has gone through the process he won't need anywhere near the trial and error he probably needed before, so building another one would likely take a fraction of the time.
8393711
HeWhoWouldBeChiefEngineer Ranort said in his logs that they collected the floaty rocks from the gravity-free midpoint on the Gondola ride.
8393739
My previous statement still stands. Given the nature of the Dark Side such rocks, or something that would serve similar purpose, could be found anywhere, and having more than one conveyance should remain a priority when you really don't want to stack all your eggs in one basket.
8393809
I totally agree.
Good thing they turned the lights off. The power bill would've been enormous.