Several minutes later, the march of the Herald had slowed slightly. All eyes rested on Rainbow Dash as the mare drifted off slightly to the north, hovering above a smattering of sand bars flanking a crystal clear bay of salt water. Ariel, Kepler, and Flynn fidgeted nervously. The Desperadoes looked on in solemn silence.
Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, drifting to a stop. Her sad eyes were locked on an orange spectre a few feet in front of her.
Applejack paced about in midair, hugging her forelimbs together. Her green eyes searched the saturated sand below in endless circles.
The rest of Rainbow's friends drifted towards her, their faces bathed in compassion.
"Applejack..." Fluttershy sniffled. She rested a hoof on the farm mare's shoulder. "Applejack, we're... we're so so very sorry..."
"I'm fine..."
"Applejack..." Rarity slowly shook her head. "Be honest with us. We're your friends, darling—"
"And do ya forget who yer speakin' to?!" Applejack spun, frowning. "I said 'I'm fine' and I meant it!" Her nostrils flared. "Y'all heard Apple Bloom. She and Big Mac are handlin' themselves. In fact... the farm's doin' loads better than it's ever prospered before!"
"How can they be prospering?" Fluttershy said. "They don't have you."
"Well they will someday!" Applejack grumbled, pacing again in ghostly circles. "Someday... I'll be right there by their side again! Like I'm supposed to be! That's what all this is about, right? Gettin' us back to Ponyville? Restorin' harmony? So long as we're on the track towards that..." She nodded shakily. "Then it's all fine and dandy. Enough said."
"No, Applejack, it's not enough." Twilight floated towards her. "All of our friends and families are in one piece. But then for you to lose Granny? It's... it's not fair. You have every right to be upset—"
"If I'm upset I'll tell you, alright?!" Applejack seethed and seethed. "Just... wh-why'd he have to go and pick Ponyville, anyways?"
"Who?" Rarity asked.
"Discord, who else?!" Applejack's nostrils flared. "He had all the darn cities and maretropolis in the whole of Equestria to pick on, and yet he decided to sink his stinkin' teeth into a tiny lil' town that ain't done no harm to nopony!" She waved a hoof at the stars. "This whole dang world's got entire nations warrin' with one other and worshippin' false goddesses and murderin' innocent souls and Discord's gotta turn Ponyville upside down!"
"Nopony could have predicted where a chaos lord like that decided to strike, Applejack," Twilight said. "And nopony was able to stop him—at least not at first. Not even Princess Celestia or... or..." The mare grimaced. Her ears drooped back, and she squeaked forth: "It's... it's all my fault..."
Rarity and Fluttershy looked over.
"It's... it's easy... so convenient to forget." Twilight gulped. "All of this." Her moist eyes traced the stars. "This whole journey. This whole... terrible mess that we got Rainbow in... that I got all of us in..." She sniffled, then cried, "It's my fault, Applejack. It's my fault for making us use the Elements of Harmony when Rainbow Dash wasn't there to complete it. And because of that... we died... and this whole nightmare began." She hiccuped on a sob, covering her muzzle. "I did it. I murdered Granny Smith. I m-murdered us all..."
"Oh darling..." Rarity grimaced.
"Awwww, now now, sugarcube..." Applejack sighed, crossing the distance between them. "Ain't no way you can blame yerself." She grasped Twilight's shoulders. "You ain't the... the cogwheel in this whole... dag-nab'd magical nonsense machine that done hijacked Rainbow and the rest of us. And you can't be goin' on carryin' the weight of this mess on yer shoulders..."
"And wh-who is...?" Twilight sniffled, burying her face in Applejack's shoulder. "Rainbow? She never asked for this. You never asked for this. But me? I made it happen..."
"Now stop that! Ya hear!" Applejack frowned. "Fussin' over the matter ain't gonna make it any better! We need to be strong for Rainbow Dash! For our families back at home! For—"
Applejack stopped in mid-breath, for she was receiving a very soft hug from a teary-eyed Pinkie Pie. The mare hugged her from behind, nuzzling her shoulder tenderly. Applejack gazed dead forward, blinking, even as Rarity and Fluttershy drifted in to join the collective embrace. Gradually, her freckles disappeared behind a fresh river of tears. The strong mare's muzzle scrunched, and she seethed and sobbed at the same time:
"Why'd he h-have to take Granny away from me? She's one of the str-strongest mares th-that I know..." Applejack whimpered, sobbed. "If... if she c-couldn't last this long... then... then what h-hope do I even have...?" She hung her face, wheezing. "Oh Goddess... Goddess alive... I've abandoned them... Big Mac... lil' Apple Bloom... I-I pr-promised I would look after them always and it's b-been broken...!"
"No it hasn't, Applejack," Rarity murmured. She kissed Applejack's ear then nuzzled her tight. "You'll be with them again someday. We'll all be with our families again someday..."
"Shining..." Twilight cried. "...Mom... Dad... will they ever forgive me?"
"Of course they will," Fluttershy squeezed Twilight while she leaned in to nuzzle Applejack. "This is not our fault. None of this is our fault."
"We're gonna make it, guys..." Pinkie Pie sniffled, wrapping her forelimbs around the rest. "...Pinkie Pie promise."
All the while, Rainbow hovered in place, her ruby eyes locked on Applejack's sobbing face. When she could finally take no more, she wrenched her gaze away, spinning around completely. With deep, fuming breaths, the mare touched down and trotted off, wading through the shallow seawater.
The Herald watched from afar.
When Ariel saw Rainbow trotting away, she bit her lip. Sniffling, the mare flapped her wings to go and comfort her—
"Hold on there, darlin'..." Bard raised a hoof, urging Ariel to stay. A soft sigh, and the stallion said, "Best let her be."
"But..." Ariel swallowed a lump down her throat. "Can't you see that she's—?"
Bard shook his head. "Trust a wanderin' soul." His brow furrowed under his hat. "Sometimes you just gotta let it all crumble."
Wildcard said nothing.
Nicole leaned into Bard, and the Desperado wrapped a gentle hoof around his younger sister. As the siblings shuffled off along with Echo, Remna stood on the edge of a sandbar, her gaze locked on Rainbow from afar.
Rainbow Dash took small, tiny steps.
She barely disturbed the pocket of ocean water beneath her. The liquid surface rippled, then settled, reflecting the cosmos above. Rainbow came to a stop and—between the stars and their brilliant reflection—she resembled a blue body floating aloft in the chaos of space. If anypony from a hundred miles in any direction gazed her way, the only sign of life would be the flicker of her pendant.
For a brief moment, she grasped it—the Element of Loyalty. With one simple flick of the fetlock, everything would end and begin at once.
But Rainbow had learned enough about circles.
In a cold shudder, she fell to her knees. Starlight rippled and settled, and she hovered among the constellations again. Her ears still echoed with the sound of Applejack's sobs. She drowned it out with deeper and deeper breaths... until her lungs could contain the pressure no longer.
Clenching her eyes shut, Rainbow Dash threw her head towards one half of the heavens and screamed for all she was worth.
It mattered very little, and she knew it.
After several seconds of the hellish exclamation, she grasped her skull and bowed low, soaking in the stars that had long consumed her.
...
...
...I've got nothing. I think the chapter pretty much says it all.
Well, that aside, I do hope they manage to fight back the feeling of helplessness. Or at least not let it consume them for too long. They'll need their wits on the other side.
This chapter is powerful. It hit me like a punch in the gut. Not, in particular, because of the mane six. It's Rainbow Dash's part at the end that got me. In a couple paragraphs, she conveyed her hurt and sorrow. It was beautiful and sad and perfect.
These are some seriously emotional chapters IC. Really at this point I hope it isn't Discord at the final seed I think that might be too much of the girls to handle.
If anyone here has the talent to ascribe such a powerful moment upon canvas… we need this.
...Or maybe if I find the right vector, I could whip something together.
When did Starlight become a celestial being? Unless...it was Starlight's Master Plan all along! She's the cause of all this! So she could harness the power of Urohringr!!!
Midnight is on to you, IC. I see your game.
7410684 If a commision needs to be paid, I'd be willing to front part of the bill. Seriously, sometimes words aren't enough.
The skyward scream... there's no name to curse, no object to despise or group to blame.
it's just a primal noise of pure emotion.
It's... really telling that this is the first time Dash has done this in 8 books.
She's been in Rohbreddan for less than 2 months and it's broken her down so much and so fast...
The year she spent on the western continent was a walk in the park compared to this.
-Companions are abound, frozen spectres hound. Utaan.
Does it make me a bad person if my first thought after these two chapters was, "Okay, Granny Smith's dead, sure, but when do we get to hear from the Jury?"
...Yeah, probably makes me a bad person.
But that aside I'm seriously hoping Discord is in the final Seed, as that'd just add a whole landslide of interesting potential character interactions. I am also speculating it might be some weird Rainbow Dash ghost clone in the last Seed, like some part of her soul that got whisked away when the Elements went kablewy and is now a warped anti-Dash or something.
Or the Seed's got nothing in it at all, but'll just modify Dash in some way.
Also, Bic Mac, stop acting like you're not getting "tutored" by Cheerilee on the side. We all know you'd never admit to it, especially not to your ghost-sister.
7410763 I still maintain the idea that the final seed will purify the chaos energy from her and she'll have to travel with a weakened Discord on the dark side.
7410763
I'm with Phoenix: I think the last seed will cleanse Rainbow of her discordification. All the other seeds have represented one of the Elements, and restored that Element's bearer. Rainbow's still alive, so what's to restore? Answer (I theorize): Her health, or perhaps her harmonic nature.
The idea that it will revive a ghostified Discord is possible, I suppose, but I don't know if it makes sense within the accepted mythos of the Elements of Harmony.
But I guess we'll see.
7410799
That's what I'm pulling for too. My only concern is that the whole "Discord is in the final Seed" theory has been mentioned a lot, pretty much since the Seeds were mentioned, and IC might go and pull a "Oh, I was gonna do that, but since everyone's predicting it now, change of plans!" To be honest even after reading all of this story I still don't really have a gauge on the author's personality and which way they might roll in these kind of situations. Do they care more about surprising the audience with something out of the blue, or going with something that makes a lot of narrative sense, but has been heavily predicted as a result?
That's something a lot of authors, I've noticed, waffle around a lot on. Surprise vs Narrative Cohesion. Both are important to a good story, but the balance between the two is hard to maintain. Surprise keeps an audience from growing complacent or bored. Not seeing an event coming can really up the enjoyment factor... but only as long as the event still makes cohesive sense for the narrative. A surprising turn of events, but one that flies in the face of character development or established rules and themes of the story can really just drag the whole thing down. Sure you might not expect certain things to happen, but if that unexpected event leaves confusion or a sense of missing narrative elements, then all you've got is a big gaping hole in your plot at worst, or just a unsatisfying bump in the story at best.
...
...
...Okay did anything I said actually make sense? Because re-reading it I'm like "Wut? Dude, lay off the caffinated drinks."
7410855 Oh I didn't say that Discord would be the spirit of the 6th seed. No, when the chaotic energy is purged from Dash, he reforms from it in an incredibly weakened state and will be a physical companion instead of a ghost.
That or the chaos energy with allow the other elements to return to physical state so Dash can have a huggle pile with them for the first time in 2 years.
7410931
Hmm, hadn't thought of that possibility. I figured the whole physical thing had to wait for the Harmonic Prism, one way or the other.
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7410855
To bait and switch such a scenario without causing a major plot shift for the dark side trek seems kinda risky.
Hasn't stopped me from wondering how many minor diversions may have been made so far due to reader predictions. Jordan being Wildcard which was accurately predicted as soon as Sera uttered his name seems to be one major point that IC stuck with at least.
Knowing how the final beacon appears to Dash, the primary cause for speculation for me is how his presence will manifest. Tangible chaos spirit being the bookies' choice.
7410931
Imagine if Discord's return marks a point at which the rest of the girls end up stuck inside their little Zone for the next 3-and-a-bit books.
A-as if something so hard-hearted could h-happen in what's touted to be the darkest offering thus far. Ha-haha...
7410958
A lot of emphasis has been put on the fact that the harmonic prism is needed to be physical again, so I doubt that will happen. But maybe a slightly different result?
It could be possible for the chaos energy to -instead of giving them a physical form- allow them to interact with physical objects/creatures in a limited way. Possibly making them slightly transparent and 'visible' upon will, along with allowing them to be heard, or the ability to touch and manipulate objects.
Sometimes it is okay to let it all out.
edit: I just realized, it was mentioned that the souls of those who passed were flowing to the Harmonic Prism instead of the edge of the Universe right? So maybe AJ can actually see Granny Smith and say her farewells in person to get real closure. Here's hoping.
7410763 Or maybe ghost Dash will appear and it will turn out that the ghost is actually the real Rainbow Dash and that the current Rainbow was the clone the whole time? Cue mindfuckery and existential crisis.
Of course I doubt that will happen, but it's fun to speculate.
Memories.
The title made me think it would be the time for Dash to talk with ponies, and it would be just all or Equestria. Maybe represented by Scootaloo.
7410684
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ya it has to be discord, the light keeps changing colour right? he died just like the bearers did.
These two chapters were definitely worth the extra day's wait. The emotional moments where Skirts turns the imagery up to 11 always seem to move me the most.
A little bit off topic from the chapter but seeing Discord brought up in the comments has me thinking: if Discord does end up returning in incorporeal form what would his "ghost sense" be? The obvious answer would be the ability to sense chaos but that seems a little too straightforward and predictable for Discord.
7410999
I've wondered the same thing myself, along with how far ahead Skirts starts to come up with a rough outline for the series. If I recall correctly, the non-desperado members of the job squad had their names predicted in the comments all the way back at the end of Yaerfaerda.
7410731
7410684 Let me know if you guys end up getting something commissioned, I'd be more than happy to chip in.
7410855
I don't think that the one who is IC who is totally not skirts AT ALL, would do that.
Its something every author should try to prevent at all costs since when you write a story you usually lay out some narrative landmarks, something you write towards while creating the story, they usually cover the whole story in a few words from the beginning to the end, between those marks you can basically do whatever you want as long as you keep in mind that you are more or less going somewhere with it.
Foreshadowing comes from having those landmarks set so you can work them deeper into the story and not just let them appear out of nothing.
Theoretically it is possible to change landmarks but it would mean that you will have to re read and re do everything that leads to this point to integrate it and that is why authors should avoid it like the plague, it is usually more work than writing the whole thing again from the start and that is an even less appealing option on a story that gets not published as one thing but in chapters.
If at some points somebody predicts one of your story twists, it is usually just a sign that you are doing something people can relate to and/or preparing the reader for it, this is not a bad sign, so why change it ?
Personally, I had the Discord theory since the 6 seeds where mentioned, together with the 'foaling yesterday' and Twilights appearance my mind was set that one of the seeds would be Discord and the story seems to develop into that direction.
But i have like a ton of other theories that probably won't become reality , like that we havn't heard the last of Verlax and that Wildcard is probably somehow in connected to her, its just a feeling but unless we see his eyes and they are not ice blue it still lingers in my mind.
I don't think we've ever seen Rainbow Dash lose it quite like this before.
Where's the fanart?
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I really liked these two paragraphs.
Rainbow Dash used Screech. It was not very effective.
Man, what a good chapter. Like, really good.
Damn... just about all of them have started blaming themselves for allowing their loved ones to think that they are dead, but Rainbow is the only one without an easy way to assuage her guilt in the matter... and she has no family or friends back home to talk to either.
There's a lot of emotion here. To see the one you care most about in such pain and not be able to help. To blame yourself (understandably, if incorrectly) for the whole thing, it's torture.
We need a dose of Scootaloo, STAT!
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That's kind of a given, you know. That's like saying Pinkie partied. Or Bard barded. Or Rainbow Dash flew east.
Well, this was quite an emotional roller coaster for the ghost five - but I am honestly at a loss for why Rainbow decided to yell out in such a way. Is she expressing Applejack's sorrow in a tangible manner? Is there some more significance to granny smith's death that I'm not getting? Granny Smith died, yes, but Rainbow has had so many more and better opportunities to rage against the world in this manner before now. Many friends much closer to Rainbow have died in her journey, she has witnessed many heinous acts and maybe shed some tears, but this is what gets to her?
I have found it: The song that I think really does capture a lot of the feelings I have when I look back on this story. I can totally imagine an awesome PMV recapping the journey so far with this song in the background- A shame I have basically no talent in the video-making industry. XD
The beginning definitely reminds me of the start of Rainbow's flight eastward, cutting when the drop hits to Ledomare and beyond: Showing what Rainbow has fought through and overcome. Finally, we come to the last scene, showing Rainbow walking somberly through the Twilight Lands. She gazes behind her, to the past, before looking ahead to her future, and finally breaking down.
Obligatory: RainbowThink
Since everyone is speculating about what happens when RD triggers the final seed I suppose I'll throw my two bits in the mix. I think Bellesmith will wake up from that Inception-esque series of realistic dreams that she totally didn't escape in book 2 or 3 or 4. (To be honest I forget when this happened.)
That's a binding contract you just made, ):(.
Come on skinny love, just last the year~
Not quite as evocative as Furiousa's, but just as primal
7410684 7410731 7411294 7411437 7411500
Alright, here you guys go:
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[Link to DeviantArt page]
I focused less on the screaming part and more on the "blue body floating aloft in the chaos of space" part. Hope that this even begins to do it justice.
7416269 YOINK new phone background time
(might wanna change the direct link from Imgur to dA. Imgur is broken on Fimfic.)
7416269 Zap guy, you are simply fantastic.
7416269 That's awesome! I love the shading on the water.
In your blog of the 22nd you claimed not being a particularly skilled writer. I beg to differ:
Why must you mess with my feels?!
7413090
Angst about not being able to comfort aj, mostly, probably. Angst over being isolated from her friend who are comforting twilight.
maybe angst that she didn't have a family to talk to.
Damn, that was beautiful.
Ever since it turned out Equestria occupied the middle of the plane, I've had a theory that the very center is actually Ponyville.
Here's to hoping it will be a sweet ending with no strings attached... I might not be able to stand a sad ending to this thing.
8238911
Ooh, nice theory. :D
8267705
A downer ending to a story this enormous would be too frustrating. It'll be bittersweet at worst... or that's what I'm hoping.
Wow, that was deep.