Twilight Sparkle winced.
Rarity gritted her teeth.
Rainbow Dash cringed.
Pinkie hummed, smiled, and rocked from side to side.
Before Rainbow and her ghostly companions, a full line of Luminards sat on folded limbs, their heads tilted towards the low-hanging wooden ceiling as they engaged in wave after wave of deep guttural uvulations. Beyond the hollow ends of their lean-to's, a crispy golden sunset fell on the shallow waters of the Quade. The air outside the platform looked like the most inviting thing in equine comprehension, and yet Rainbow—sighing amidst the constant bass vocals—sat frozen in place.
Bard and Wildcard squatted side by side. The Desperadoes' faces hung in a conflicted struggle between curiosity and utter discomfort.
Galloran, meanwhile, sat up straight, smiling. “Aren't they absolutely inspirational?” he murmured quietly so as not to disturb their concentration. After several seconds of no response, he turned to grin at the visitors.
“Oh!” Bard jolted. “Uhm...”
“They're...” Rainbow hissed.
“They're...” Bard squirmed. “Uhm...”
“...cultured!” Rainbow squeaked.
“Yeah! That!” Bard nodded.
“If you listen closely, you can hear Nicro and the pilgrims closest to her hitting two notes at once!” Galloran sighed in admiration. “It's a Wonder of Modern Rohbredden.”
“Yeah... uhhh... I find it to be mighty purdy-like!” Bard smiled as best as he could. “It's... g-got a nice beat and you can... dance to it?” He looked over at Kyron.
Kyron sighed through his smile, opened his eyes, and gazed kindly at Bard. “We do not dance.”
Bard gulped. “No. I reckon not.”
Kyron smiled some more, closed his eyes, and quietly meditated some more—along with his fellow pilgrims.
“Ooooh!” Galloran leaned forward, whispering while the bass grunting reached an even deeper pitch. “Here's my favorite part!” He smiled... then smiled wider, glancing aside at the visitors with sparkling eyes.
“Quick! Rarity!” Twilight whimpered. “Give Rainbow Dash an adjective!”
“Extraordinary!”
“Extraordinary!” Rainbow quietly blurted, smiling.
“Certainly beats anythang I've ever put my pluckin' hooves to!” Bard added.
Frowning, Wildcard limply gestured his talons in the air. Bard “heard” what he had to “say” and immediately whacked the griffon. Wildcard winced, rubbing his shoulder. He eventually pulled out a block of wood and a dagger to begin whittling—...but stopped. He glanced right at the many woven platforms surrounding the sacred Reed. He looked left at the rows and rows of Luminards sitting close by. Then, with a defeated sigh, he pocketed his tools away and leaned his toothpick-less beak forward on a metal palm.
“Rainbow, darling, I have a confession to make,” Rarity droned. She watched the endless performance with limp, heavy eyelids. “I've attended kindergarten plays with greater harmony. This is horrible!”
“Well, Rarity, to be fair,” Twilight droned, “I imagine the transcendent feeling the meditative chanters experience is far more important than the performance they're giving to the listeners.”
“Then why give a performance to begin with?!?” Rarity cackled. “If this is Mr. Kyron's anointed way of recruiting new members, then he's sadly mistaken!” She choked on a sob. “And I shudder to think when was the last time they even touched those sackcloth tunics with soap!”
“I don't think much soap gets shipped out here to the Quade,” Rainbow quietly muttered.
“Oh dear Celestia take me now!” Rarity groaned, leaning back in a fainting slump.
“Say...” Pinkie glanced aside with a grin. “Do ya girls think that if you recorded this stuff, then sped it forward in a tape machine, it'd sound like a bunch of buzzing bumblebees?” She giggle-snorted. “Or Trot Yorke?!”
“Pinkie, don't tell me you're actually enjoying this,” Twilight grumbled.
“You gotta look on the bright side, Twilight!” Pinkie smiled, waving a hoof at the scene. “'Cuz they sure are! Heeeheee! Wanna bet that—deep down, underneath all of those scratchy-looking tunics n'stuff—they're actually having the time of their lives?”
“There's something to be said about ponies who enjoy life by taking away everything that it takes to live.” Rarity frowned. “You could live completely in the dark and yet still claim to see. How would you know whether your eyes are open or not? It doesn't matter! And yet—even still—it does not change the fact that you willingly chose to snuff out the light to begin with!”
“But Rare-Rare?” Pinkie pouted. “They really really seem to believe in all the nifty stuff they're doing! Maybe they know something that we don't!” She smiled. “Maybe it gives them super powers!”
“If giving up everything I can earn for myself in life is what it takes to transcend to a new level of perception, then I think I'll settle for remaining a world-savvy tadpole, thank you very much.” Rarity folded her forelimbs and leaned back. “Hmpff!”
“Rarity, let's not be so quick to imprint our own feelings and lifestyles on what the Luminards have accomplished,” Twilight said. “After all, it's rather evident that what they've done here has worked for centuries... millennia, even!” She smiled. “Could a system truly be so bad and yet still have so many followers?”
“Twilight, darling, don't you think it's possible to commit to something—no matter how unhealthy—until you've become conditioned to accept it as 'normal?'” Rarity suddenly grimaced, gesturing towards nowhere in particular. “I mean, you saw those scars!”
“Uhhh—”
“Don't tell me that you didn't!” Rarity frowned. “Those poor ponies weaving the platforms out there had the most garish wounds on their shoulders and flanks!”
“Maybe they all tripped and fell on a buncha sea urchins?” Pinkie chirped.
“Ugh! Honestly!” Rarity rolled her eyes, then looked over at Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow, tell me you saw the scars.”
“I saw the scars,” Rainbow droned quietly. Bard glanced over, blinking.
“See?” Rarity smirked smugly at Twilight. “Rainbow saw them!”
“But it could mean anything,” Rainbow Dash muttered, eyes locked on the chanting equines in front of her. “It's too early to jump to conclusions.”
“Rainbow...!” Rarity gawked at her, muzzle agape. “How could you say that?! After seeing those scars, you must know that something here is amiss—!”
“We know nothing,” Rainbow whispered firmly, her jaw tight. “Something I've learned in my travels, Rarity, is never to judge something by it's first glance.”
“But—”
“You want to understand more?” Rainbow's glaring eyes swept towards her. “I'll show you how.” She then cleared her throat, stood up on wobbly limbs, and leaned towards Galloran. “Uhm... Mr. Galloran, dude?”
The young stallion leaned back towards her. “Yes?” he whispered beneath the guttural chants. “How can I help you, Miss Rainbow Dash?”
“Well... uhm... I-I'm not sure you can,” Rainbow said. Her voice took on a squeaky, feminine pitch, and she smiled bashfully. “These Luminards are pretty remarkable and all... but... I-I wonder if they actually afford themselves a little filly's room.”
Galloran blinked. “Ohhhhh...”
“I mean, I-I guess I could go in the Quade, but then that would do a nasty number on the Holy Reed n'stuff.” Rainbow suppressed a giggle. “A nasty number two, to be exact.”
Pinkie snorted. “Good one, Dashie!”
“Shhh!” Twilight insisted, reading Galloran's expression.
The stallion nodded. “Well, there's actually a platform situated along the north canyon wall where all of the outhouses are positioned. An old, dried-up estuary within the rock face acts as a cesspool. Here.” He stood up, gesturing. “I'll take you over there by raft—”
“Uhhh...” Rainbow Dash shook her head, easing him back down. “Thanks for telling me, Mr. Galloran. But now that I know, I'll just get there on my lonesome.”
“But... it's only proper that I row you across the way, Miss—”
Rainbow smirked and waved her wings in his face.
Galloran blinked, then blushed. “Oh... eheh... right.”
“You really aren't used to pegasi visiting this place, huh?”
“Well, no.” He shook his head, gulping. “Admittedly, they don't hang around for too long.”
“Jee,” Rainbow droned. “What a shame.” She side-trotted out of the way. “I'll be right backsies.” She waved at Bard and Wildcard. “Shouldn't be too long.” She paused to bow at Kyron and his associates, then galloped briskly out from beyond the lean-to's.
“...!” Wildcard stood up to join her.
Bard yanked him back down by his lion's tail. “And just where do ya think yer goin'?” He turned aside and smiled sheepishly at Kyron. “Mares... huh?”
Wildcard sighed, slumping once more as he glared his goggled eyes beyond the chanting monks.
Rainbow Dash lightly hoof-trotted from one platform to another. She paused in the crimson haze of sunset, turning to glance over her shoulder at the tiny shacks situated on the highest woven level. Even from several yards away, she still heard the deep vibrations of the Luminards' groaning voices.
The mare sighed.
“Well...” Rarity floated around the mare. “I must say... that was stupidly easy.”
“Most stupid things are,” Rainbow muttered.
“Over there, Dashie!” Pinkie said, pointing down and across the waters at a tiny wooden platform connected to the rocky southern face of the northern bluffs. “And it doesn't look like any of the outhouses are occupied, either!” She blinked wide, her left leg joint shivering. “Whoopsies!” She giggled, pointing at the spasming limb. “Better be careful for black widows building nests in the toilet seats.” She winked. “Just trust me.”
“Rainbow doesn't need to use the little filly's room, Pinkie,” Twilight droned.
“She doesn't?!”
“No. It was just an excuse to get a better survey of the place on her own.” Twilight smiled tiredly at Rainbow. “Wasn't it, Rainbow?”
“I gotta get down to what's causing Yaerfaerda to appear from inside the Reed,” Rainbow said, peering at the lower platforms. “Literally.”
“Just what do you have in mind?” Rarity asked.
“Kyron and Galloran have been super cool to give me a guided tour,” Rainbow said. “Now it's time for an unguided tour... from the inside.” She flapped her wings and glided quietly towards a shadowed platform full of tiny shacks. A two-story building hugged the central shaft of vertical shoots. “I'm thinking there.”
“Wooohoo!” Pinkie Pie cheered. “Alright! A one mare sneaking mission!”
“Now where have I heard that before?” Rarity mused.
“Rainbow...” Twilight gulped. “Do be careful. There's only so much we know about these ponies.”
“Which is why I gotta do this,” Rainbow muttered, crawling along the bottom of the higher platform and using her wings for leverage. “So long as Fluttershy's locked away, I gotta figure things out any way I can.”
“But still... if you get caught going someplace you're not allowed to—”
“What are they gonna do, Twi?” Rainbow muttered. “Quote scripture at me until I die of boredom?”
Twilight sighed. “You know what I mean...”
“Just trust in my awesomeness and let me do my thing.” Rainbow froze in place, clenching her throat tightly as two Luminards shuffled out of the nearest building beneath her. Neither of the two figures looked up, and Rainbow waited until they were out of earshot. Breathing regularly again, she flipped, fell, and landed nimbly before the two-story building. “This will be over before you know it.”
“I-I only hope in a good way,” Twilight said.
“Shhhhh...” Rarity floated ahead, motioning. “I've got a read on the interior layout ahead. Follow my lead, Rainbow, and I will lead you closer to the central shaft.”
“Thatta girl, Rares.” And Rainbow threaded her way into the dimly-lit interior.
“Oooooh!” Pinkie cooed, eyes hungrily digesting the rickety wooden walls and petrified ceiling beams. It was very cramped and claustrophobic inside the shack. Sparse furniture lingered around every corner, and tiny candles danced—causing a soft sepia sheen to waft over every gnarled contour of the old, old wood. “I'm getting flashbacks to home!” She took in a deep breath, then sighed. “Any second now, I expect to smell Maud baking some sugary sweet rock candy...”
Twilight shuddered. “The fact that this place reminds you of your hometown doesn't exactly console me, Pinkie.”
“Why?” Pinkie blinked, muzzle scrunched. “What's so bad about my hometown?”
“Shhh! Girls!” Rarity frowned back at them. “I need concentration!” Brow furrowed, she turned to look ahead of where she was hovering. “There's a long corridor up ahead. It leads past the shaft. To get to the center, hug the left side, take the first staircase you see, then turn to the right and take the centermost door.”
Rainbow nodded. “Got it,” she whispered.
“Still, I can't help but notice,” Pinkie said, glancing around. “This is an awfully big building for so many awfully skinny ponies!”
“A bunch of them are outside chanting or weaving,” Twilight said. “Ponies that disciplined probably have regular sleeping schedules, and now must not be the time.”
“Yeah! But even still!” Pinkie tongued the inside of her muzzle. “Doesn't seem like enough of them could fill the rooms here!”
“Could be possible that there... just aren't as many Luminards here in the Quade as there once were when they first built this place.” Twilight glanced left and right. “I mean, this structure does look very... very old.”
“Heehee! Yeah!” Pinkie grinned. “For all we know, maybe Luna and Celestia both stayed here for a summer or two!”
“I find that highly doubtful.”
“Why, Twi?”
“Well... I think it's already been established that the Grand Choke came into being after the rise of Verlax and the Unification of Rohbredden,” Twilight said. “Luminar likely collapsed into the ocean at some point after the last time Celestia and Luna could feasibly have visited this far east of Equestria.” Twilight gulped. “Or the edge of the world, for that matter.”
“Wowie-zowie!” Pinkie gasped. “You mean the Princesses actually took a hop, skip, and a jump over to Blake's Playstation?”
“Bleak's Plummet. And the answer to that is—yes—Pinkie. Celestia told me multiple times about the exoduses she and the other alicorns used to take to the Edges of the World.” Twilight shrugged. “She just... never put much emphasis on the visits. She never had much of a reason to.” She gulped. “Until now...”
“Shhhh!” Rarity hissed again. “Would you two please keep it down?” She turned to frown at them. “We're here to make like Shadow Spade! Not spastic sporks!”
“Actually, I'm kinda glad for it,” Rainbow muttered, swiftly ascending a crooked staircase with flapping wings. “It's almost like you girls are acting as my inner thoughts.”
“Huh?” Rarity blinked. “Are you serious?”
“Of course I am.” Rainbow exhaled through her nostrils, bearing the tiniest of smiles. “You guys have no idea how many times I've done this sort of a sneaking thing... having to talk to myself in my head in order to keep centered... keep sane.” She pressed herself against a wall and shuffled along, carefully eyeing the centermost door ahead of her. “In a way, you three are doing half the work for me.”
“Oh... well...” Rarity fluffed her mane, smiling coyly. “In that case, then prattle on, girls—” A body phased through her and she shrieked. “Waa-haaa-haaa!”
Pinkie and Twilight froze in place. They watched as an old monk trotted casually down the corridor, then shuffled down the steps. Nervously, they glanced around... and around and around and around.
“Uhhhhh...” Pinkie blinked. “Where's our dashie anchor?”
“Look!” Twilight pointed up at the ceiling.
Rarity and Pinkie craned their necks to see the petite pegasus scrunched up against a wooden nook, her body pressed tightly to the ceiling. After the Luminard was long gone, Rainbow Dash exhaled, flipped off the nearest wooden beam, and landed nimbly on the floor.
“Woohoo!” Pinkie pumped a hoof in the air. “That was awesome, Dashie!”
“Finally...” Rainbow smirked, slinking ahead. “A pony I can trust to use the right a-word.”
“Can we proceed now?” Rarity moaned.
“We're all good, Rarity,” Twilight said, smiling. “Where next?”
Rarity pointed. “Past the middle-doorframe, take a right, then proceed along the left side of the next hallway. There are many segmented alcoves, so keep your eyes peeled for what's around the corner at all times.”
Rainbow nodded. “Got it. Twilight? Any magic?”
Twilight shook her head. “I'm afraid not, Rainbow.”
“Well, keep your horn peeled, regardless.” Rainbow snuck ahead. “And Pinkie? Watch your tail.”
“Okie dokie lokie!” And the ghost bounced along after her.
The next room was even dimmer, dustier, and danker than the ones previous. The air smelled of burning incense, and it tickled Rainbow's nose. The wooden framework of the rooms here was especially ancient. The surfaces flickered pale and paler with each subsequent candle the pegasus passed.
Rainbow glanced left and right. She proceeded slowly, for at each five steps she passed a tiny enclosure formed by tight wooden beams. They somewhat resembled stables, only they were completely bereft of straw, hay, or anything else to make the interior more comfortable. At one point, the mare had to pause in her stroll. She spotted the bodies of Luminards—squatting on woven mats as they sat, facing the left side of the gradually bent corridor.
Shuffling to her right, Rainbow hugged the opposite wall. There were less candles on this side, and she was able to slink her way safely through the shadows. It was nevertheless a perilous endeavor, leading her past the quietly meditating monks. She came within such close proximity to the ponies that she could almost hear their whispering chants, repeated in sequence as they faced the left wall within each enclosure.
“Verlaxion's glory anoint us... so that we may lend our spirits to the Reed... and bury the Plight that binds Your foals... Verlaxion's glory anoint us... so that we may lend our spirits to the Reed... and bury the Plight that binds Your foals...”
“That's the worse lullaby ever,” Pinkie muttered.
“Shhh!” Twilight insisted.
“But it is!” Pinkie whined.
“The mare's right... in a way,” Rarity whispered. “It's like they're all... praying to someone... or something.”
“Right. I get it.” Twilight nodded. “Verlaxion.”
“I think it's more than that.” Rarity pointed. “Look at what they're all facing. It's... not the same as the rest of the wood constructed around us.”
“Huh???” Pinkie and Twilight simultaneously murmured.
Rainbow took a daring step into the candlelight. She peered into an enclosure that wasn't occupied by a squatting, meditating monk.
Before her, the wall of the two-story shack gave way. In place of wooden planks, there were columns and columns of vertical shoots.
“It's the Reed,” Rainbow said. She glanced up... then down. “This building is hugging the central shaft,” she whispered to her marefriends. “The Reed is exposed here.”
“Makes sense, I suppose,” Twilight said, brushing her bangs back. “Kyron's ponies are all about worshipping the Reed. This place right here is where they must do it.”
“Yeah... but I think there's more to it than that,” Rainbow muttered.
“Like what, darling?”
Rainbow shook her head. “I dunno.” She looked to her left, then in the opposite direction. There were far less monks positioned on the right end of the corridor, so she swiftly trotted that way. She glanced to her left, looking into every enclosure. She saw reeds, reeds, and more reeds. Then—all of the sudden—
“Guhhh!” Twilight stumbled. She rolled forward, phasing through a support beam.
“Oh no!” Pinkie reached over and steadied her. “Twilight! Are you okay?”
“Yeah... just...” Twilight looked straight up, blinking wide. “Where did that come from?”
“Was it magic, darling?” Rarity asked.
Twilight nodded. “A sudden, focused bolt of it.” She gulped, then gestured. “It c-came from the left.”
“... ... ...” Rainbow turned, squinting, searching. Something bright and yellow pierced her gaze. Blinking, the mare looked straight ahead... then shuffled forward. Lips pursed, she approached a wall of reeds, looking closer... examining.
A few of the vertical shoots had grown apart from one another over time. This allowed for a narrow space to form between them, turning into a sizable gap. A faint yellow glow emanated from within the Reed. It was the veiled light of Yaerfaerda... only not quite so veiled. As Rainbow's eyes adjusted to the magical aura, she detected a shiny texture... an immaculate glint from beyond.
“It's...” Rainbow's ears twitched. “...it's metal.”
“Duaaaaaaaaaah!” Pinkie gasped. “Metal?! That's like... the anti-wood!”
“No. Wait.” Rarity leaned forward. “Rainbow's right!” She tilted her horn to the side, eyes thin. “It's... it's inside the Reed. Tall... vertical...” She glanced over at the others. “Pierces deep into the earth! Yes. Yes! I do sense it now!”
“I dun get it.” Pinkie squirmed in place. “Why would the Lumimarios' holy bamboo be covering a bunch of metal?”
Twilight gasped. “Rainbow! Omigosh!” She gawked at the pegasus. “It's a Tower!”
Rainbow looked at her.
Twilight grinned. “Just like the piece of the Machine World where you found me! Y'know... the Tower in the Grand Choke?!” She pointed at the wall. “This whole shaft—the Reed—it must have grown all over a Tower!”
Rarity winced. “You mean... like the structure in the Nealend Atoll's lagoon? Only... already risen out of the ground?”
“Precisely!” Twilight danced in place. “This must be where Yaerfaerda is!”
Rainbow gulped, staring dead at the Reed. “And Fluttershy...”
“Excuse me...”
All three ghost mares gasped, spinning around. Rainbow slowly turned to match them.
A shadowy figure loomed beyond the candle-light. “What do you think you're doing here...?”
Rainbow bit her lip. “Uhhhh...”
The figure trotted forward, a pair of cold blue eyes appearing before his royal purple coat. He sported the heaviest and most elaborate mane Rainbow had yet seen among the Luminards, with fibrous red-orange hairs branching off at painfully complex lengths. He came to a shuffling stop, blinked, then smiled. “...it would benefit you greatly to have a guided tour, dear foal.”
“Uhhhh...” Rainbow gulped. “I was part of one already.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, with Kyron. But...” Rainbow squinted out one eye. “...I got... lost?”
The stallion stared... stared... then laughed on a dime. “Hahahahahahaha!” He trotted forward, then leaned back on his sackcloth'd haunches. “So are all who come to the Quade... only to find themselves in Verlaxion's glory.”
“Yeah. That.” Rainbow smiled nervously. “And to bury our sins in the... shadow of Luminar's Plight... r-right?”
“Mmmm... I see you have been on a tour,” the stallion said. “And a quick learner too.”
“Yeah, well, it's a very long and detailed tour.”
“Not really, no,” the stallion said, shaking his head. “You've only been here for a short while, dear foal. Trust me... I can read these things about visiting spirits.” He chuckled again, his cold eyes hanging sleepily under his fiery braids. “I can also tell you have an insatiable curiosity about the Reed.”
“Heh...” Rainbow waved a hoof. “You know it!”
“I can answer your questions, if you so desire,” he said. “And much... much more.”
“Yes, well, I...” Rainbow's eyes traveled down. Incidentally, she glanced at his fetlocks, spotting several hooflets built out of sharp, rigid thorns. His limbs were scarred in many, many places. “Uhhh... I... uhhh...”
“Please, do not be afraid,” he said, his voice full of youth and vigor. “My anointed name is Antsan, and—like all pilgrims of the Reed—I live only to enlighten.”
Figured it was a tower anyways, but I thought that it was made of reed. Eh, makes more sense that's it's part of the machine world anyways.
I am really, really not liking this plant...
Heh, poor Wildcard's really desperate to leave.
i.imgur.com/VGQbO.gif
Hah.
So the Reed grew around a machine tower, and Rainbow has been caught, but only after much later. This guy seems nice, but I still have a really bad feeling about this.
Yaerfaerda is never faint... it's only small, or distant, but even with RD's eyes closed Yaerfaerda still has always had a "piercing" quality.
Rarity's special Ghost-Power has allowed her to be able to detect Rust's overall superstructure, track the presence and contours of the ocean floor during travel, and identify composition of metallic artifacts at a glance...
The Reed is jamming both Yaerfaerda and Rarity's Harmonic sensors?!
Congratulations, Antsan!
Well, at least these guys are nice.
Sorta.
I guess.
Won't have to worry about crazy monks getting mad at Rainbow going to the wrong place at the very least, from the look of it.
All of my yes. Rarity for best east-ghost.
I'm female! Awesome!
Well... shit...
You know... is there anything stopping Dash from flying to the top of the reed and trying to find a way into the tower from there?
Maybe the mana burst Twi felt was the tower reacting to Rainbow's presence.
I'm with Rarity on this. Living like that just seems.. like it's not living, you're surviving, nothing more.
I'm reminded of Mirror's Edge. "We'll survive, it's what we do." "Surviving's not enough... I want to live a little too."
Can Wildcard read Dash that well that he knows what she's up to?
Or does he want to get away from this that bad?
Summing up every plan Rainbow has ever come up with in a single exchange.
I get the feeling I'm supposed to feel bad for laughing at this...but I really don't.
Rarity's wit is razor sharp.
Am I the only one still bothered by people spelling doki and loki like that?
It still makes the same sound as Okie without the e on the end.
Might just be a nitpick, but it always bugs me seeing it laid out like that rather than 'Okie doki loki!'
-Memories given light, ease a lonely flight. Ynanhluutr.
Being able to hit two notes at once while throat-singing is; indeed, very impressive.
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Did some one say throat-singing? I'll claim this is better than what's been described this chapter.
i.imgur.com/MHuW96t.gif
Anstan seems a shade on the creepy side. With Kyron I kind of get the feeling of a guy who genuinely buys into his religious talk. This new guy somehow feels more... off. I think its the laughing and the way he just snuck up on Dash without any trouble. Also the crazy manestyles here are totally reminding me of freakin' Seymour from Final Fantasy X.
So not too shocking there's a Machine World tower inside that Reed. Lends credence to the theories going around already that in order to get Fluttershy out Dash is going to have to destroy the Reed, which may trigger destruction of the Quade. So the question will be how she'll deal with the monks in regards to having to destroy the centerpiece of their religion. Things are going to get dicey here.
Well, this isn't ominous at all.
I'm betting that these guys have been brainwashed during the anointing process...but I'm really hoping that isn't the case. And who could be responsible for bringing the tower out of the ground?
I guess fluttershy is still really good at hiding. only now it's not behind her mane, but behind the Reed.
Well I think most of us have figured out what exactly Rainbow will do by awakening Fluttershy. The place is going to sink and the Reed is going to die off.
I'm sorry, I know I'm kind of judging Luminards before we know exactly everything but they creep me out. I keep getting this weird vibe off them and where they live like it's hiding something really dark. The last of this chapter with Antsan really, really didn't help that at all in the least.
Stay away from the Kool-aid on this tour Rainbow.
6469365 With the tower already raised, I really don't think that touching the beacon and reviving Fluttershy will destroy anything here. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, didn't the tower at the center of the Blight -sink- when Dash touched it? Hmmmm... Well, maybe the tower will sink and the Reed will still stand, right? Right? Guys?
Considering the scars, and all that they imply, I would rather see the entire way of life here be destroyed forever than see WC get injured. Even a minor injury. Really, if he chips a talon I'll be upset.
WC for best east catbird
I'm getting way more of a cult-vibe from these guys then I'm comfortable with.
6469200 I really did not appreciate that gif. I'm going to be checking toilets for weeks now. Thank god I live in a region devoid of dangerous spiders.
theres just one teeny flaw in the ultra solid Reed surrounding the core? Deliberatly caused by Verlaxion, or allowed to be created by hundreds of years of wearing away, trimmng etc by the lead monk, or whoever gets that office gets access to the power surrounding the Reed, and so the job, and the only monks who can get the job are those that aint monks.
Im pretty sure Dash has learnt ovedr the years, that Mr Spiky, when not a small message passing dragon, is NOT your freind.
Considering their 'enlightenment' includes scar giving activities, I don't think this'll turn out well. but as long as they don't pull what the Sacred Keep ponies in Xona did, it'll probably be marginally better.
So Verlax must have erected the tower somehow and used her magic to make the Reed grow around it?
It also looks like this new guy has some pretty sweet looking bracelets. Maybe someone is passing them out to those with enough zealot points.
The fact that this reminds Pinkie of Dredgemane makes it easier to visualise.
Sudden un-reinforcement of the primary reed structure would certainly take the "sundering" part of their cyclical world view to a higher level.
Nah. These guys strike me as fans of backmasking to hide any ominous messages.
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derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/5/11/321895.gif
If only collecting her in Reedville were so simple.
Ominominous. Very ominominous indeed. Something secretive is going on here. but what?!
Ominous. Every single detail of this is really bloody ominous.
EDIT: Why can't she just fly into the reed from above?
-Spirit (Yeast and Treacle)
It sounds like these guys could use a drink... and maybe a swift ass kicking?
I would like to speculate as to what would happen in the coming chapters. This however, will not happen. As such, I shall sit back, have a drink, and watch the story unfold.
Surprise me.
Well, that's that then. Kyron's irrelevant and Antsan's the big bad.
6469068
Two points:
A.) Don't get me wrong, I am eternally grateful to be immortalized in this story. As long as this story exists, so do I, in a manner of speaking. I still reserve the right to hate the character. Honestly, Shell could've been named after me, and I still would have been happy, yet irritated at the character.
B.) Blinks. You said even if its the right thing to do, its still the worst thing to do. Does not compute. Also, right and wrong is irrelevant. I said unkind, which is technically different from morally right or morally wrong.
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Probably because it would be too thick at the top to be able to find a way through (judging by how it grows into platforms) without tearing and essentially killing the plant.
Moving on to the actual story.....WHY U DO THIS TO ME IC?! WHY YOU KEEP PUTTING PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTS IN THAT YOU KNOW I MUST RESPOND TO?! WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYY?
Starting off, and I am both surprised and not at all, that Rarity starts us off, or that she is a materialist. What is surprising is that Pinkie actually has something valid to say
Seems Pinkie gets it. Rarity is judging them by the standards of happiness/pleasure that she uses, namely, that of high society, cleanliness, nice clothes, Equestrian-obsession with Harmony (It's like a nationwide case of OCD), which are all perfectly valid means of finding happiness...for her.
Then we have these lines, and I swear, IC is deliberately taunting me with philosophical bait now.
Ohhhhh boy. That philisophical bait looks so tasty. I'll only take a nibb-YANK.
Ya know, for all that she talks about 'living' in this chapter, she never really out and defines it. As such, I'll take the IMPLICATION that she is defining it as her clothes, hygiene, society, etc. My problem here, is that she is saying there is "Only one way to live". The whole "living completely in the dark, still claim to see" bit implies as such. You know, that's more or less the same rationalization used by New World explorers, to justify how they treated the natives. I'm not saying that Rarity is like them, I'm saying that it's generally considered to be flawed reasoning. The funny bit here is that the exact same argument, that Rarity is using (Starting at You could live...to begin with) I'm sure, could be applied to Rarity. She is claiming to see, that she is not in the dark. She even later says that even if she knew that it would take everything she had to transcend, she would rather remain a world savvy tadpole. She is, quite literally, saying even if she knew she was in the dark, she would rather stay there.
And when it comes down to it, they haven't taken away everything it takes to live. I'm going to use the technical definition of live, and say that it is literally what is needed to survive. So far, it seems like they're doing that...if barely.
Meanwhile, Pinkie, Element of Utilitarianism (Yeah, that is pretty much what her element translates into), plays counterpoint, and argues that since they seem happy with what they're doing, they shouldn't be judged. Huh. Pinkie actually made a statement that actually had deeper meaning. Right on.
Ahh. Time for Philosophy's favorite example of why Twi is wrong. Nazis. Generally accepted to be pretty bad. Still had, and has, a bunch of followers. Just because something works doesn't mean it is good. Still, Twi starts strong. Rarity was really judging them pretty hard, and not even for good reasons. I mean honestly, judging them because they decided that they didn't want to be materialistic?
What is this? No, seriously, what is this? Of all ponies, Rainbow Dash is saying to not be impulsive. Rainbow. Dash. I mean, sure, she's right, they cannot make reasonable assumptions based off of so little information, but to hear logic from East Horse is kinda surprising.
I'm going to assume experience here.
DredgemaneCalling blood sacrifices now. After all, betcha that reed can't survive off salt water.
Hmmmm....the only pony who seems incredibly healthy and fit in a place where all of the other monks are frail from fasting and whatnot. He is certainly not evil. I am less irritated with my own character now. He at least, is preaching what he rationally believes off of the information he has available to him (Even if it's kinda wrong in some regards). This guy is probably in the know about how things aren't as they seem.
The biggest Glaring Red light I'm noticing is the exposed metal. For a culture whose built around the fact that the Reed is a miracle, The tower in the core, That they can see is highly suspect. That and the scars, and the Large amount of excess sleeping space, gives me a very large, THIS IS A COVER STORY RUN feel... That the whole religion that was besieged by pirates... Might not be as besieged as they claim.
two things :
pinkie, at the end of all of this, a dictionary with all your latest pinkie sense will probably make a really good horror story on it's own.
Do these ponies never go to the little filly's room? or does it serve as a graveyard too?
This calls for a "dash -can-finally-trust-somepony-to-use-the-right-A-word" party !
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I was thinking more of life energy "donations" but that work too.
Go Pinkie Pie!!!
I don't like this place. I don't like it one bit.
6470849 Yeah, I'm not sure I'm right but the farther i get the more certain I get that Bards not the happy go lucky guy he pretends to be. That it's all just a mask. Course, like I said, I knew someone very much like that... To be honest that someone was me. I've come a long way since but not before I was forced to face the things I had buried.
Yes, I revoke everything nice and calming I ever said about that place.
Hey, you don't get to talk about Spastics Sporks like that!
6470982 Sokath, his eyes uncovered.
EDIT: Oh dear Jesus, I got a downvote for this, this is wonderful.
<I had to google how to spell wonderful, does that undermine my position?>
I originally went with "All your shibboleth are belong to us", but it seemed a bit childish, you know?
Just tell the truth, Rainbow. You're the toaster repair pony sent by Verlaxion to tune up the Reed.
Well, that wasn't a creepy thing to say at all.
Well someone doesn't like Radiohead much...
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I'm going to nitpick here, but only because your comment really made me actually think about this. It took me a minute to see what was bugging me about it, but I saw it eventually - it's that you're assuming Rarity is talking in a general sense here. I'm not sure this is meant to be "Rarity channeling a certain kind of philosphical approach", but more just her personal reaction to it. Rarity is about as far from an ascetic as a character can be, so this sort of environment would clearly not sit right with her. She adores high society, fashion, culture - all things that stem from a very different lifestyle and world-view. Is she stating her point particularly eloquently? No. Is she contradicting herself? Yes. But she is conveying her distaste for this way of life in a way that befits her character very well.
To be fair, you did address this earlier in a bit I didn't quote, but just to reiterate - Rarity isn't talking about this. She's quite clearly talking about the more general, esoteric sense of having a fulfilling, worthwhile existence.
Anyway. That's my two cents on that. Do feel free to tell me how I'm wrong - it's always fun to have a discussion!
This really is hell. Having to decide between relieving oneself, and having spiders crawl around you... YOU FIEND IC!
6471282 Fana, his comment downvoted.
Twilight, you've never met the human race.
6470607 Because you are Kyron the wise, and this is your Chapter of the story.
(not this specific chapter right here, Y'know, I mean like This whole section with funky monks and such)
new places are fun, so many new Characters and it always makes me smile when I see a regular commenters name pop up in a new section of the story. Like this scary? looking guy wearing Bracers of thorns. Is he half as gullible as he acts? Are any of the monks?
Well I can't tell if she's fucked or not, but I suppose we'll find out shortly