"You heard me." Rainbow nodded. "It's a suuuuuuuuper huuuuuuge desert located beyond the Blight! I'm talking about hundreds if not thousands of miles of barren rock, arid mountains, and steep canyons as far as the mind's eye can imagine! I bet your ancestors don't even remember it because the dang thing killed most of them off! Heck, I'd write that out of history as well rather then have my descendants go through the same thing!"
Xarchellus, Enix, and several others exchanged curious glances.
"Aaaaand..." Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. "...beyond that, you've got... let's see... blood-thirsty goblins, shifty naga, a frozen ocean, tattooed warriors, a warmongering bureacracy, cyborg death chicks, friggin' foxes and diamond dogs and minotaurs... and don't get me started on all the countless number of deep caves filled with Goddess-knows-what that wanna eat ponies whole." She shuddered slightly.
A nervous murmur rolled through the midnight crowd.
"The picture you paint of this world... is most exceedingly perilous," Xarchellus muttered.
"A challenge that my brothers and sisters of nightblood are more than capable of meeting!" Enix said in a bold tone. "Is that correct, Matriarch?"
Rainbow Dash interrupted: "Don't you get it? Sure, the bulk of you might make it—assuming you don't step on any angry ponies' fetlocks. But... there's simply no way to avoid the cold hard truth." Rainbow gulped. "A lot of you guys simply won't make it back to Equestria... and I'm too scared to guess how many..."
"As powerful as my sister and I are," Luna spoke, "There is only so much that we can do. I'm afraid that the chaos rift here in Equestria is far too unstable and dangerous for us to abandon. After all, if we had wished to intervene on the Austraeoh's half, we would have done so months ago, and we would gladly do so for you, my lost flock. However... we have a duty to the tens of thousands of ponies living here in Equestria—the location of our throne—and we shan't forsake them... as they are one of the last bastions of unfettered harmony on this plane."
"So... y'know... if you wanna make the same journey that I did—only in reverse?" Rainbow Dash shrugged as she faced the leaders of Bleak's Plummet. "Be my guest. But don't expect it to be easy. And one of the first things you're gonna have to do is ditch your super-awesome submersibles once you reach the dead, dry shores of the Grand Choke. From then on..." She gulped. "...you've got only the first of several long slogs."
The sarosians stared off in silence.
Just then, there was a whistling sound.
Several heads turned.
Rainbow Dash found herself staring at Wildcard. The Desperado was busily hand-signing something.
"Uhhhh..." Rainbow looked at Bard. "What's he saying, buddy?"
Bard spoke: "'Didn't the Blight fall apart and shit?'"
Rainbow blinked.
Wildcard continued gesturing.
Bard cleared his throat. "And... uhhhh... 'Didn't you leave most of those super dangerous places in a way better shape than they were in when you first approached them?'"
"Uhhhhh..." Rainbow rubbed the back of her fuzzy head. "Uhmmm..."
"Yeah, Dashie!" Pinkie Pie turned towards Rainbow. "Birdo and Bardo have a point!"
"You did do quite a lot of good in those troubled locations," Rarity said. "Stopping civil wars... restoring cities to their original glory... averting coups..."
"You ended the war between Ledomare and Xona," Twilight Sparkle said. "Or—at least—you brought about peace. Remember? Seclorum and Crimson filled you in about it."
"And that Alafreo Continent just sounds... so nice," Fluttershy hummed, smiling. "Especially after what you and your Noble Jury friends did for the sweet elk of Val Roa."
"Yeah, sugarcube." Applejack nodded. "If ya ask me, you done took the brunt of thangs and softened the world up for the likes of Xarchellus and company!"
"But..." Rainbow Dash gestured dramatically. "It's not the same! I'm just one mare! They're a bunch of scary bat ponies—" She winced, glancing at Echo and Nicole. "No offense."
"None taken."
"Shit off the back."
Rainbow turned to her ghostly companions again, "It's not like they can enjoy an easy ride just by taking the same path I did—only in reverse!"
"Sure they can, Dashie! Don't you get it?" Pinkie Pie grinned wide. "Maybe this was the whole reason that the 'Austraeoh' schtick drew you in the direction you did! So you could paint a super awesome road of flowers and sunshine for everypony else!"
"You should be proud of yourself!" Twilight smiled.
"It... it can't be that simple," Rainbow Dash wheezed. She brushed her bangs back, shuddering. "... ... ...can it?"
The sarosians looked on, supremely curious.
"Uhm..." Ariel floated closer. "...care to fill us in on your epiphany, girl?"
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Rainbow lingered.
Remna grunted, "The path should be considerably less trepidatious so long as you follow the Austraeoh's path as closely as possible."
Rainbow flashed her a look.
Remna glanced back at her, all the while speaking to the sarosians. "For she has left peace and prosperity in her wake. It would be best to pursue this as a gateway... and make your swift flight home."
The entire crowd murmured.
"Is..." Xarchellus looked at Rainbow Dash. "...is this true?"
"Uhhhhh..." Rainbow gulped, then glanced skyward. "What do you think, Your Highness?"
Luna replied swiftly: "It is certainly the wisest thing we recall hearing from Axan's mouth."
Remna folded her forelimbs.
"Well then..." Rainbow Dash plopped back on her haunches. "...it's a start at least."
They're going home~ To a place where they belong~
Ha ha! The sass has been doubled!
And now she's trying to remind herself. Good for you, Rainbow.
Luna mentioned something earlier about sending emissaries to Val Roa, which already loves Rainbow and has a ton of important equines loyal to her cause. That, on top of this new speech (and they didn't even mention the existence of airships), really is driving home that the Sarosians would be home free if they could just cross the Choke. Of course, that just means that if something is to go wrong, there's a smaller window for it to happen in. Like, right now. Y'know.
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Onward wayward Thestrals!
Birdo and Bardo
For all of the bad things Rainbow has done a lot of good in the world, she could stand to be reminded every one in a while, and there is no shame in having others benefit from that good.
Just a thought I had hear. Did Axan/Remna coincidentally reach the same epiphany? Or has she somehow overhear and has been aware of the Ghost 5 the whole time? Keeping it a secret the whole journey.
tinfoil intensifies.
I'm not really surprised that she never thought about how much good she did in the places she's visited. A bit saddened by it but not really surprised; glad she got reminded of it.
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he does it often when when commenters point-out errors, but since he does that half a day to a day after the chapter is out, most people don't see it (or at least don't talk about it)
Weeeelllllllll, excluding that nastiness-filled landmass known as Rohbredden...
Side story: Hoeartsua. About the bat ponies retracing the Austraeoh's route.
The latest novel from IC... Austraeoh: Abridged: Abridged.
I love how she remembers the foxes so specifically!
Yeah, Rainbow. Did you forget the state you left (most of) those places in?
The majority of their trouble will be natural, once they get away from Rohbredden.
Shots fired.
Insult through lowly compliment I believe is what they call it.
And yes, definitely. First Rohbredden and then the Choke will be the real trials here, naively presuming they'll ever make it to that. Of course with a huge bulk of pissed-off plot currently moving east, that's not gonna happen and we all know it, too.
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We will need an Exploding Intestines to write it.
D'awww that draconian pony pout!
I laughed.
Remember kilamihara or whatever it was called? Remember how good they were at engineering? I bet they could help build stuff that could get the bat ponies through the choke now that magic is working again.
Gee. How positively dreadful.
*glances at Enix*
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Well, I now have something if I ever need a new username somewhere. Always hard to come up with those
An Austraeoh left Val Roa, and an entire civilization of bat ponies comes back. I hope no one is surprised about all of that.
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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aZHvd0ks7Es
Rainbow Dash, you ended every one of those threats. Right down to the frozen ocean.
A pilgrimage to Equestria, retracing the Austraeoh's hoofsteps in reverse... You know what the cool thing about that is? They could bring news of her journey back with them.
"She made it to the Dark Side."
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Yes! It would be great for all of her former friends to know she made it!
Rohbredden -and the colonies- are the only serious threat they have to face. Noone else along the path is aware of their existence. Once they get to the Grand Choke, things will be considerably less hostile.
Apparently, the Divine of Flame isn't burn-proof. Who would've thought it, eh?
The Most Dangerous Foe Of All: CAVES.
Uh yeah. BUT CAVES.
.... Rainbow, did you, like, forget that you helped an entire continent?
You know what, send Bard with them, then have him head to the other edge and prep a way for Rainbow and co to come back over. Maybe grab some of the Noble Jury members and form the Noble Hareld to met up with them.