Scraping.
Jostling.
Feathers and gold.
Moisture and stone.
A headcrest shifted... shifted again.
One eye opened. Dull. Charcoal brown.
A second eye opened.
Blinking.
A dead, flat horizon shook and shifted. Black on black.
Another blink.
The eyes darted upwards at an angle.
Another horizon—this one bent, stretching upward and blotting out the stars.
A body loomed in the foreground, hitched to a shed crafted by metal planks tied together. Dark black feathers and a midnight coat flexed with bruised muscles. Bandages seeped with glowing blood, and a lion's tail flicked through the twilight.
She inhaled. Exhaled.
She moved her muscles—
—but she did not budge.
A horrible weight was pressing upon her from multiple angles.
She tried moving again. Claws wriggling. Tail snaking.
It was no use. She was one with the sled. Inch by inch, the aches and pains of combat screamed back into her limbs—but that wasn't what tore the breath out of her lungs.
"Rrrrrrrrrr..."
Darkness and twilight. Bodies shifting. Voices.
And off in the distance...
"Rrrghhhh—"
A flounce of color. Like the living manifestation of a prism. It stood out like a beacon amidst the shadows.
"Rrrrrrrrrrgh—Aaaaaaaaaaaaugh!"
She shook and twisted and spat from where she was bound. An angry beak bit and clattered at the air—nearly frothing.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!" She hissed and snarled and hyperventilated, causing the entire sled to rock and rattled from where it was being dragged. "Damn... d-damn you...!"
The body dragging her twisted about. A pair of black goggles reflected a possessed griffon's yelling maw.
"JORDAN!" she seethed, eyes twitching with impenetrable madness. "Curse you! Curse you to blighted oblivion you... rnnnngh—Godless coward! FOOL!"
"My starrs and garrterrs!" a voice rolled from the distance.
"The Hell is that noise...?!" another voice blurted.
Wildcard whistled. She could see the claws of one talon motioning high in the air.
An obese shape hobbled over. "Huh?" A dull sigh. "Awwww for Pete's sake..."
"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!"
"Say Dashie?" Pinkie chirped.
"Hmmm?" Rainbow Dash blinked tiredly as she flew alongside Ariel.
"You're looking really healthy!" she exclaimed.
Rainbow's face turned, carrying a deathly deadpan expression.
Even Ariel noticed it. She looked aside with an anxious squint.
"I am?" Rainbow droned.
"Hee-hee-hee!" Pinkie nodded briskly. "Uh huhhhhhhhh..."
"Well, cool... I guess..." Rainbow slurred.
"I mean it!" Pinkie cooed. "You're strong and level-headed and full of spunk!"
"Pinkie... sugarcube..." Applejack sighed. "Is there a reason for this heap'o'compliments?"
"Yes, darling." Rarity nodded. "Do explain what is so unique about Rainbow's spunk at the moment." The ghostly fashionista instantly blushed. "Erm... you know what I mean."
"I'm only trying to say that Rainbow's been full and wide awake for hours! Days!" Pinkie sing-songed.
"Yeah..." Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "...and?"
"Plblbllblblblb!" Pinkie stuck her tongue out. "No more fainting spells, silly!"
Rainbow blinked.
"Oh gosh..." Fluttershy looked at the other mares. "Pinkie's right!"
"Well I'll be darned..." Applejack lifted her hat to scratch her ghostly head. "That's... that's a thang, ain't it?" She plopped the article back on before looking at the rest of the mares. "Didn't Rainbow suffer from shiverin' spells and faintin' before y'all picked up me at Starkiss?"
"All of my journey, actually..." Rainbow Dash gulped. "Ever since leaving Equestria..."
"What?" Ariel blinked, flying closer to Rainbow. "What about leaving Equestria?"
"Twilight?" Fluttershy looked at the unicorn in question. "Have you noticed Rainbow having one of her chaos-induced fainting spells recently?"
"I... can't say that I have..." Twilight rubbed her chin, squinting in thought. "Funny. I was so focused on our talks with Luna and the situation with Bleak's Plummet to pay much attention..."
"Cuz Dashie's been going on for a longgggggggggggg time without going kerplunk!" Pinkie Pie said. "I'm guessing that she got over it!"
"Pinkie, I'm part chaos," Rainbow Dash said. "There's not 'getting over it.'"
"Still... she's got a point, sugarcube," Applejack said. "From what I hear... you was gettin' close to dyin' on several occasions. Only—on account of the flame—"
"Utaan!" Fluttershy gasped. She looked at the others. "The rune she found at the Last Seed! And the flame within!"
"You think that... cured her?" Rarity stammered.
"Oh, wouldn't that be wonderful?!" Fluttershy gasped.
"I... I don't know..." Twilight murmured.
"Oh Twi..." Pinkie pouted. "Don't be a poopy-saddle."
"No, I mean..." Twilight Sparkle grimaced slightly. "There's got to be something else to it."
"You mean now that we're on the Dark Side?" Applejack said.
"Perhaps."
Rainbow blinked. "Huh... I never... thought much about that."
"Thought about what?" Ariel blurted.
Rainbow looked at her.
Ariel smiled sheepishly. "Can ya blame a girl for being nosy?"
"Pinkie Pie just made an observation," Rainbow explained. "Ariel, do... do you remember the last time I collapsed?"
"You mean because of your chaotic dizzy spells?"
"Right."
"Kinda... but... but I think it was a bit different."
"Huh?"
"Well, remember on our way east from Frostknife?" Ariel spoke. "After we had gotten some distance between ourselves and Starkiss, you... uh... you started having some super freaky nightmares and—"
"I collapsed like a dead brick," Rainbow droned.
"That's right!" Rarity nodded. "You did, darling!"
"You haven't had nightmares since the Utaan rune, though, have you?" Fluttershy asked.
Rainbow looked at her. "I've barely even slept since the Last Seed, Flutters."
"Still... you haven't collapsed either." Fluttershy folded her forelimbs. "I still think there's a reason for that."
"But..." Applejack squinted. "If bein' on the Dark Side... so far away from Harmony and Equestrian magic could have an effect..."
Rainbow's brow furrowed in thought. She looked over at Ariel again. "I'm part chaos, right?"
Ariel nodded. "Right."
"And... and this whole side of the Plane is pretty much dominated by chaos... right?"
Ariel gulped. "It's sure as not harmony."
"So like... what if..." Rainbow fidgeted in mid-glide. "...so long as I'm on the Dark Side... I'm not going to die from the poison of chaos?" She bit her lip. "Or at least not die as fast?"
"I've got an even freakier question," Ariel murmured.
"Yeah...?"
Ariel pointed at Rainbow's pendant. "What happens when that comes off on this side of the Plane?"
Rainbow's marefriends all locked up, stiff and tense.
Rainbow brought a hoof to her Element. The ruby lightning bolt flickered slightly.
"That's... pretty freaky indeed..."
Ariel smirked slightly. "Wanna test it out?"
Rainbow merely squinted at her. She prepared a sarcastic response, but—
Off from the distance: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!"
Ariel and Rainbow jolted in place. They both looked down and behind them.
"The Hell...?" Ariel grimaced. "Is someone strangling an infected cat?"
"Rrrggggggh! Verlaxion damn you all to oblivion!"
"Don't tell me..." Rainbow's ears folded. "That's..."
Fluttershy sighed. "It is."
I say you she mad.
Very mad.
That's...actually a pretty good question. But honestly, I don't really think it's one we should be exploring anytime soon. Especially with possible shadowy things afoot.
If anything, the way this book is expected to go, I suspect we'll be finding out the hard way, anyways.
Cough Cough...
Gettin' all mysterious up in heah.
I'm expecting a lot of "say it don't spray it" from Seraphimus in the next chapter. Frothing mad I say.
Now wrap kitty in blanket, and give kitty its pill...
I don't know but it's probably something bad that's for sure.
You know, probably for the best to let Seraphimus just get that out of her system for awhile. I mean, she can't keep that up forever... right?
Well, probably can't have a conversation with her until her throat's too raw to really respond beyond nodding or shaking her head. Because I don't know how many conversations really work when the other sides vocabulary mostly consist of murderous, incoherent yelling.
As for Dash's chaos-related issues, its not a bad theory that there's ambient energy on the Dark Side that's affecting how she functions. Same way the same way the Dark Side might be affecting the ghost girls' supernatural senses.
And yeah, sure Ariel, let's test out what happens with the pendant off. No, I'm not even being sarcastic. I'm genuinely curious, and as long as you put Dash in a similar set up that you've got Seraphimus tied up in it'll probably be quasi-sorta-not-really safe.
A question that I have a funny feeling we are going to find the answer to in the future. Very little in this story happens merely by chance.
And Sera's awake now. Unless Rainbow gets down there fast to try and talk some sense into her, I'm pretty sure Logan will be strangling an infected cat.
Huh, I never noticed that the fainting spells stopped. I guess I've been too caught up in the madness between the final seed and now to really notice it. I wonder why that is exactly... maybe we'll find out in time.
Oh hey, Seraph is up.
Wakey Wakey catbirb.
-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.
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Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey~
Wait, is that too rude to say to a half-bird who's lost her kids?
An excellent question. Let's not find out.
She's awaaake.
She awakens.
And is about as calm, collected and reasonable as expected.
---
Wow, Ariel, going really fast to try and undress her there, aren't you?
Damn... Some-gryphon sure is cranky in the morning.
I don't suppose some fragment of the gondola could've served as a muzzle? There's no telling what her squawking might call up, other than several migraines.
On the upside, an apparent respite from dizzy spells. That's pretty nifty.
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Some fuckin dedication to find a comment almost 5 years old
Seems like one step forward and a step back at the same time. Maybe Rainbow does not have to speedrun to the Midnight Armory against the clock, but now Seraphimus' racket drags them down even more.
Yeah... is it just me, or do we have a sudden increase in phrases involving Rainbow Dash and risqué content?
I was about to point out that Rainbow hasn't slept in like 2 days. Now she has an alarm clock.
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Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the plane.
That would be awesome. And ridiculously convenient.
That would be a lot less awesome. And ridiculously inconvenient.
Oblivion's not so bad. Except Malacath's realm. Too many bones. Not enough hammocks.
8246416
Maybe... But then again this *is* Seraphimus we're talking about.
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Admittedly I don't comment often, which made it significantly easier.
Alright. Time to see whose predictions were right.
8246715
When exactly did her referencing the hammock become an in-universe meme?
Cue a lot of hissing, scratching and angry meows. Mad catbirb is mad.
Rooster? Shouldn't it be chick instead?
And yes, I noticed the absense of fainting spells and no flickering eyes.
I guess when she takes off the pendant, she becomes an alicorn. #blameMALarson
Infidels! Unhand me so I can forthwith return to Jerusalem with your heads on a pike!
Seraphimus is gonna be frothing at the mouth for a few hours, then she will pass out from exhaustion, then she will wake up and either play the silent treatment or once again be frothing at the mouth. Rinse and repeat a few times over and then she will finally, just maybe, stop being completely blind. Maybe.
Oh well that kinda answers my questions lol I guess we'll find out whats up with rainbow anther time cause right now its angry bird time.
Hallucinations only Dash can see and hear, dull scales, cackling laughter, a change in the chaos of her body...
I think we've got a new ghost tag-along!
Ah, Seraphimus is finally awake. I think I'm gonna like the conversations in the following chapters.
Pinkie could be there while everyones arguing what to do, feeding ghost items to Sera, to the chunk of tree that Sera bites into a baseball bat to be hit with?. tom and Jerry cartoon, Tom and Spike the bulldog.
Angry catbird is finally awake! This should be entertaining.
Well the fainting spells were growing less and less frequent for a long time, likely caused by a greater distance to Ponyville, that much we've known since Ledomare, really.
Also, Seraphimus is her own alarm clock.
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Wake up Seraphimus. Wake up and smell the chaos.
Ariel just wants to see Rainbow undressed.
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Keep giving me reason to dig this one out.
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looks like angry catbirb is finally awake, this is gonna be fun.
She's awake ! Next chapter is going to be good !
Rainbow, your murderbird is awake...and angry.
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Odrsjot 152?
Definitely no later than Yaerfaerda 160.
In a way, yes.
Well... shit. The war-turkey is awake now. Let's see how much of a problem she makes for the group and all that. But I gotta say, I'm curious as hell about what will happen if Dash takes off the pendant on the dark side. Will she transform fast, or not at all... only time will tell.
~SolidFire
Oh boy, the catbird lady is awake! This is going to be a fun little reunion. Also since they don't know what taking the pendant off of Dash would do here wouldn't it actually be better to do it in front of everyone just in case something goes wrong? They got lucky Seraphimus woke up when she did.
oy vey
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Perhaps we can see if they can use her own tail as a muffler.
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That would require a few new cardinal directions, but I'm sure that's possible
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And I now know what happens when I ask rhetorical questions. How do you even do that?
Ah been waiting for this. Been wondering how long Seraphimus was going to be out.
Time to see if the first life or death fight on the dark side will be due to Rainbow's hope that Seraphimus can be redeemed. Perhaps the best time for her to wake up too, before any of the denizens realize they are there and the everyone beings running for their lives.