At last, the flatness of the Twilight Plains was broken—although not in the way that Rainbow Dash and her close friends had anticipated.
The arid state of the land gave way to an abundance of moisture. Sudden tributaries broke through the polished rock, winding eastward in serpentine fashion—almost as if springs of liquid erupted from the geography itself, giving birth to dozens of spontaneous rivers that rippled their way towards the cosmic horizon.
These tributaries were incredibly, insanely shallow. One's hooves could easily wade through the three-inch rippling puddles, and such was what the Herald had to do as they accompanied the wagon along its bumpy past. The high winds didn't upset the "rivers," much—mostly because of the shape of the polished rock that surrounded the rippling capillaries of water. The stone dipped in curved troughs to accomodate the tiny streams. Gradually, as the brooks grew more and more abundant, they formed entire fields of inch-thick moisture. Eventually, the group found themselves wading across shallow lake-beds lined with gravel and pebbles.
The gentle bodies of liquid reflected the starlight above—disturbed only by the movement of the Herald. The air dropped noticeably in temperature. That—combined with the gusts of wind—made for a very chilling trek.
This affected Rainbow Dash the most—seeing as she was trying very, very hard to remain perfectly still.
"Is... is it working, Your Highness?" she struggled to say.
A pulse of bright silver light emanated from a fixed point in the air just a few inches from her ruby lightning bolt pendant.
"Indeed. It appears to be, child," was Luna's response. "If what you say is true about the absence of a day cycle to interrupt our magical connection, then I should just be able to make this work."
"Make what work?"
"Shhhhh... forgive me, Rainbow Dash," Luna said. "But this is going to take a great deal of concentration on my behalf. I suggest that you speak with my sister for an extended period of time. She will have to answer your questions for the present."
Flynn whistled from where he trotted through the shallow waters beside the wagon. "That's some impressive magic. It's hard to believe that it's coming from a spell being executed halfway across the plane!"
"It's Alicorn hocus pocus," Logan muttered. "Are you really that surprised?"
"Mortuana was good at enchanting her own blood," Flynn said. "But actual gems?"
"Rrememberr, brrotherr," Kepler spoke. "That is no merre stone—but a surrviving piece of the Elements of Harrmony! It is a trried and trrue batterry of alicorrn magics! Almost like a smallerr verrsion of the Harrmonic Prrism!"
"Well, sure is prettiful and glowy!" Bard mused. "Ain't it a sight to behold, sis?" He looked aside. The Desperado blinked.
Nicole and Echo gazed straight at the silver glow, their slitted eyes wide. Echo's muzzle hung open... almost drooling.
Wildcard stepped close to Bard. He hand-signed.
Bard nodded. "Dayum straight..." His eyes narrowed. "...like moths to a flame."
Wildcard hand-signed again.
"Hell no!" Bard frowned. "I'm not gonna poke my own sister!" He kicked at Wildcard's feline flank. "Get lost, ya mangy buzzard!"
In the meantime, hovering around Rainbow...
"Ooooh!" Pinkie Pie cooed. "Shinyyyyy!"
"It most definitely is radiant," Rarity hummed. "What do you suppose that Princess Luna is doing?"
"Something to help Rainbow Dash, right?" Fluttershy remarked. "For when she meets the sarosians?"
"Twilight?" Applejack called across the ghostly group. "Yer the smart one of the bunch. Care to elaborate?"
"I'm Celestia's apprentice. Not Luna's," Twilight said. Nevertheless, she gazed at the glow while tapping her phantom chin. "Still... if I could venture to guess..."
"Please do," Applejack said with a smirk.
"...I'd say that Princess Luna is imbuing the Element of Loyalty with her spirit. Creating a magical link between her and Rainbow Dash."
"Uhm..." Fluttershy squinted. "Correct me if I'm wrong... but didn't Princess Luna already do that?"
"Right!" Rarity nodded. "At the start of Rainbow's eastward journey, if I recall the tale."
"Well, yes. But she's using the connection already established between them to intensify the spell," Twilight said. "If she's had an opportunity to do such a thing before, I suspect that the inevitability of a day cycle prevented her."
"What's it gonna do, huh?" Pinkie Pie asked, tilting her head aside. "Is it all about spooking the bat ponies we run into?"
"That's a crude way of putting it. But... in a way... I think Luna might be able to announce herself to the sarosians on this side of the plane better by intensifying her magical connection with Rainbow's pendant."
"What about the other side of the plane?" Rarity asked.
"Huh?"
"Oh... erm..." Rarity fluffed her mane, gazing aside with a nervous shudder. "Simply a random thought. I mean... if the connection over the next seventy-two hours is made strong enough... one wonders if maybe Rainbow will still be able to communicate with the Princesses while on the Dark Side of the plane..."
"I... don't think so, Rarity."
"But could it be possible?"
Rainbow glanced at her friends. Resisting the urge to tremble in the cold wind, she tilted her gaze skyward while the glow persisted. "Princess Celestia? Are you there, Your Highness?"
After a slight delay: "Indeed I am, Rainbow Dash. Forgive me for taking a while to answer. The magical leylines surrounding Ponyville are... quite erratic at the moment, to say the least."
"I-I didn't mean to mess up your concentration."
"It's quite alright. Please... I want us to take full advantage of this moment of conversation. I fear that we won't have many more opportunities in the months to come."
Rainbow Dash gulped. "Yeah. About that. What Princess Luna is doing here..." Her brow furrowed. "...my pendant is basically being super-charged with her alicorn magic, right?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes. I believe her goal is to assist you in communicating with the sarosians. I, for one, think this is a very smart move."
"Yeah. Well... with the pendant being chock full of so much magic..." Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "...what are the chances I'll be able to talk with Luna on the Dark Side of the plane?"
Princess Celestia's answer was swift: "There are absolutely no chances, Rainbow Dash. I am sorry, but with the absence of a moon—"
"Yeah..." Rainbow sighed as her friends hung their heads. "I sorta... figured that."
"Our alicorn magic would be quite powerful indeed on the Dark Side. However, our spells... simply cannot reach such a landscape. It is a realm bathed in chaos and darkness. The only piece of alicorn magic that persists on the Dark Side is the Harmonic Prism, and that has been locked away deep in the Midnight Armory for eons."
"So... in other words..." Rainbow cleared her throat. "...and I know I've sorta anticipated this for quite a while now, but..." She glanced skyward again. "...I'm gonna be on my own for the entire flight along the Dark Side."
"If by that you mean that you will be completely devoid of any ability to communicate with my sister and I, then the answer is most unfortunately 'yes,'" Celestia said. "Which is all the reason for us to rejoice in the allies you've made with Mortuana's Herald... not to mention Axan and your friends."
"Heh... yeah..." Rainbow smiled tiredly. "I guess I'm a lucky east horse."
"The time we have to communicate with each other is quite precious," Celestia said. "We do not look forward to the interminable period of silence any more than you do. To that extent... I have already instructed Spike to summon your closest loved ones. While Luna spends the present time further enchanting Rainbow's Element, I suspect that now would be as good a time as ever to facilitate communication between your friends and their families."
Rarity squealed, her eyes instantly tearing.
"Oh wow!" Twilight exhaled breathily. "I-I was afraid for a second there that we wouldn't h-have time!"
"Isn't that sweet?" Fluttershy said, smiling.
"Well, alright!" Applejack tilted her hat back with a smile. "I sure as heck wouldn't mind givin' it a gab with the apple folk!"
"Wooohooo! Yeah!" Pinkie Pie pumped a hoof in the air. "Bring onnnnnnnnnnnn Maud!"
Rainbow Dash smirked into the air. "Sounds like everypony's on board with that idea, Your Highness." She shivered slightly—only to have Ariel touch down and drape a cloak over her petite frame. "Whew... thanks, girl."
"Anytime," Ariel said. She blinked curiously. "Good news from the Princess?"
"Only the best," Rainbow said, warming up beneath the blanket as the glow persisted. "All things considered... things are looking up."
Time for more family talks! It's going to be interesting to see the results of what Luna is doing.
Giving them a final chance to say goodbye to the ones they love, in case Rainbow can't make it back from the dark side. Good move on Celestia's part, especially for Applejack who hasn't had a chance to talk to her family yet. Wonder if we'll get to see any of these conversations, or will they be done off-screen?
The chaos energies are getting uppity, eh? That probably isn't good.
Huh, well, I was expecting Luna to communicate directly with any sarosians they came across (I also expected them to find the sarosians already) but I supposed a super charged pendant that says 'I'm Luna's avatar' would work too.
Hope for one more talk with the folks back home before we reach the comms blackout. Let's make the absolute most of it.
Wait wait wait. If that means what I think it means, the Element of Loyalty supercharged with Luna's magic will be the key to Rainbow Dash getting into the Midnight Armory. Remember, it can only be accessed by Alicorns - or, to be more precise, Alicorn Magic.
It'll also probably deactivate most of the security systems. Not all of them because then we won't have high enough levels of tension storywise.
Well, with that being said, its either time for a PoV change, or for everything to crash and burn. Most likely the former, imo.
You had to make that statement at the end Rainbow, now the rainbows going to hit the fan.
Long-range collective dream communication would be a nifty way to get through to them.
If thy havent managed to get out of the range of the Windigoes, then having Machine world covered with sheet water is going to make things extremely dangerous. I dont know if anyone could lift enough water fast enough to make a thick enough walled igloo to give them safety.
Especailly with the Windigoes following the Hate of Chandler and army.
Looks like next chapter will be all about the feels.
I'm interested to see what the apul fambly has to say.
Red alert. Rainbow just invited the Apocalypse. Way to break it, hero.
Welp, so much for the perma-Luna theory. Like it was going to be that easy anyways...
At least everyone gets one last family time before the whole group disappears over the horizon.
Nnnnnrrghh....baaad taaalllllk....
Next chapter is gonna have some feels... I can sense a disturbance in the horse. Other than the families of the ghosts with the most, I'm looking forward to Dash getting to talk to her own family. ):('s headcanon for that should be interesting. For now though, I must wait. PS, Dash, boinking Ariel in the back of the wagon should warm you up nicely.
~SolidFire
Six hours, 19 minutes right ascension, No Noble Jury.
Pfff, I totally forgot that there was no moon in the dark side. We won't have direct comunication with the NJ evidently
There's still the posibility that the durandans already went to Val Rose and had brought some news about the NJ, or at least, about the Duranda in general, It would never be bad for Rainbow to remember how good she did for so much people in the other side of the Great Choke; or even if is not the case, at least, Celestia could tell Rainbow that she will send a embassy of durandans (thanks to the sword-comunication) to Val Rose with news about Rainbow, so she can have some peace of mind about Roarke, Belle and the others knowing that she's still fine and traveling.
I knoooow I'm being dense with that but Is hard to me to believe that after all that they passed togheter (including the fact that RD fell in love with Roarke), neither Rainbow, Celestia or Luna worry at least a little about them, considering that it seems it should be so easy to comunicate thanks to the sword connection.
In other topic, it should be good to see AJ talk with her family, also, somebody remember the thing with Fluthersy's parents don't caring very much for her? It seemed like it was going to be a thing back in the time but I kind of complety forget about it.
I can't clearly recall but wasn't Fluttershy estranged from her family in this universe? I'm curious if the recent reveal of Zephyr Breeze and Fluttershys parents will be factored in now in some way or if that's just going to remain a subject not touched on.
7398012 Tradionally communication with Luna has always been over a three day period when the moon is at its fullest, and only when the moon is visible. Thst is 3 days out of the 29 or so days of the lunar cycle. This of course meant that over said three day period the communication would be periodically interrupted by the sun. As has been established, the twilight lands are nighttime 24-7, so that means 3 days straight of uninterrupted communication. As of this chapter we are already past the pre-twilight lands cutoff point and communication is still going. To put it simply, for everyone outside of the twilight lands it is sunrise right now.
7398377 you are correct. 13 foals and she was the youngest in this verse.
Chapter 77 of this book: In all things, be kind
So Luna's magic is pretty hypnotic to Sarosians it seems.
That's neat. I wonder if that just means she's going to have to deal with Sarosian pirates wanting to steal her pendant because it can act like a drug.
-Companions are abound, frozen spectres hound. Utaan.
Now you are after rejecting your friends like that. Or is this foreshadowing perhaps a senario where all of RD's companions die before she reaches the dark side.
So, given that ):( has time to stretch the story out now, I'm predicting another 47 chapters until the end of the book, or whatever it would be to reach 250. Can't remember right this second.
Yay! Caught up for the first time in ever.
Gonna be weird for Rainbow to not be able to talk to Luna on the Dark Side. She's been there throughout this whole story, albeit intermittently.
I wonder what the Sarosians' community in Bleak's Plummet is like? Is it mostly just a pirate hangout or is it a legit city/town? And how big is it? Wonder if they've got any city guard that the gang will have to deal with to gain entry. They might just be able to convince the pirates they inevitably encounter to escort them inside by impressing them with some Luna. I also wonder if they'll make it there so fast that by the time Chandler's forces catch up to them they'll already be in Bleak's Plummet and them harboring the Rainbow Rogue will spark a war between bat ponies and Rohbredden? That could be the source of the conflict they'll experience there, or at least a part of it.
7399131 Welcome to the Noble Jury/Lunar Ninth. Your cabin is on the 4th floor, please take every opportunity to stock up on status cures when we dock.
Thank you, and enjoy the rest of the flight.
7399001 I mean, she hasn't really made it a secret that she doesn't believe anyone else can survive the journey over the edge.
7398377 I believe the standard has been to work in things that have an opportunity and haven't been contradicted. Given what we know, there's almost no chance that her parents will be like the show. That said, it's entirely possible she could still have a brother like Zephyr.
images-cdn.9gag.com/photo/aX9ePmP_460s.jpg
7398934
Ah, okay, I totally spaced that part then, aside from the vague notion that she didn't have a strong connection to her family. Still be curious if Zephyr Breeze might be a surprise cameo upcoming with these Luna talks, as like the one sibling that actually remembers Fluttershy.
7399349 Well Zephyr was her younger brother, and Shy said she was the youngest in her family pretty much.
and Zephyr didn't look that much younger than her, maybe a year or two. So unless he's a teen or younger in this verse, I kinda doubt it.
He could still exist but he'd have to be a teenager or younger to fit with this 'verse, born after Shy moved out or while she was a teen.
7399445
I'd be down for that. Helps with the sense that this story could happen in the main show's verse, pre-season three, just with a few key differences. Then again, its not really a big deal, just curious to see where IC goes with it, since this is literally the last time we'll be having the Luna conversations, so its also the last time for any family stuff back in Equestria barring any weird stuff that happens on the Dark Side that might re-establish communication back home.
Side note, maybe it's just me but I feel like you're making Celestia express herself in too stilted a fashion - the show's always portrayed her speaking to her ponies in a sovereign and certain but also plain and comprehensive way, much unlike Luna. The two of them sound a bit too much alike here if you ask me.
7399632
I guess it's a little difficult to care for your language when you're holding a bomb that can destroy the whole country
I think the Dark Side will have ghosts.
Shiny shiny dolphins.
7398934
You're gonna make Fact Checker jobless if you keep that up
7399755 Never. the fact checker will search through comments as well and do counts of specific actions and words through the whole story. I will never have the patience to do that.
I'm more than happy to scour the stories for specific bits of info to refresh memories, since I usually have a pretty good idea of what chapter those parts are from.
So I will never put the AFC out of a job.
7399721 One less reason to talk like a queen in the audience chamber.
[easts tentatively]
Time for one last round of family feels before we go off to the dark side. Except for Fluttershy, of course. Poor, poor Fluttershy.
Will Rainbow's family be joining? It's been so long that I forget if she ever mentioned the state of her family. I definitely know that she hasn't spoken to them in the entire series so far. Assuming they're still around, I think RD would appreciate one last chance to speak to her folks before going to the dark side.
7399956 speaking a few centuries like a queen has to leave it's marks, like an accent.
Oh dear. I've got a bad feeling in me bones.
Luna is overdoing it.
Discord's chaos rift is reacting to Discord's spirit being outside the harmony blanket.
I wonder if "friends and family" includes the jury...
7403153 We can only hope
The absence of rainbows family is going to be conspicuous
You're not biologically related. It's Not Creepy.
If I counted right, this makes it twenty-three full moons in total: Two in Austraeoh, ten (including her coma) in Eljunbyro, one in Odrsjot, two in Urohringr, four (two of them off-panel) in Yaerfaerda, two each in Ynanhluutr and Utaan.
So she's actually been traveling two full years now.
8238649
Maybe I’m mistaken, but I count a little less time than that. The moon talks I remember are:
1 - Windthrow
2 - Silvadel
3-12 - Coma
13 - after Blue Shelf
14 - aboard Noble Jury at the beginning of Odrsjot
15 - Durandana
16 - missed one around Amulek
17 - with Noble Jury during attempts to get into Val Roa
18 - missed in Grand Choke
19 - Kihutaja at Sinrar’s home
20 - riding Ultimo after Shoggoth
21 - after Red Barge
22 - now
8876550
You're definitely missing one from the beginning of Urohringr (shortly after Lerris, when Rainbow is too depressed and avoids talking to Luna the first night).
But I also think 3-12 is one too much for the coma - Luna says it's been "ten moon cycles" since they last talked in Silvadel, which should make that night the tenth full moon, not the eleventh.
(These two cancel out, and I think the remaining difference is an off-screen one in Yaerfaerda, which I'm less sure of without re-reading.)
Edit: specifically, in the beginning of Yaerfaerda (https://www.fimfiction.net/story/213020/4/yaerfaerda/love-in-all-the-fuzzy-places), Rainbow says it's been "two months, back to back" since they arrived. I think that means there's one full moon that happened between the end of Urohringr (your 16) and the beginning of Yaerfaerda (17).
Which is exactly when IC decides this roller coaster needs to take a sharp dip down.
Honestly, I like the little bits at the start that remind me of the Austraeoh early chapters. I still like those, no matter that they're millions of words away.
DON'T JINX IT DON'T JINX IT DON'T JINX IT
And Now we cut to the army that wants her head.