The twilight veil grew thin overhead, rippling into tapering bands of ethereal haze upon the convergence of the Firmaments. Strange colors broke through the malaise: brilliant purples and golds and reds. The spectral canvas of a million billion stars converged, peeking through the lightning and thunder with prismatic randomness. These streaking lights reflected off the choppy waves, causing the scant remaining shelf of seawater to undulate with colorful nebulaic chaos.
With Enix's insistence, Kepler and Flynn slowed the Stardust. They proceeded forward at minimum speed—which was difficult to guage, considering the momentum with which the waters strove to carry them to the end of all ending. Upon hearing the announcement, the rest of the Herald rushed out from the lower decks. Ariel and Wildcard took wing—with the former hovering off the starboard side and watching everything with a gaping muzzle. Bard stood hatless, leaning against the outer edge of the hull as they coasted into a great black event horizon. Echo and Nicole stood side by side. Upon seeing the endless mists rising into a galactic soup, Nicole was overwhelmed with understandable trembles. She leaned into Echo, and the sarosian placed a reassuring hoof on her shoulder—all the while drinking in the bleakness with glazed eyeslits. Logan stood on the topmost deck alongside Kepler, and he nearly dropped his axe amidst the stupor of his numb observation.
Rainbow and her friends gazed east, their eyes glued to the cascading mists ahead. Friction from the converging Firmaments caused huge clouds of moisture to shoot up and glide back west, occasionally dumping thick sheets of moisture. Kepler steered the Stardust left and right, easily avoiding the random deluges. Twilight and Rarity observed as several identical sheets of rain curtained the waterscape to the northwest and southwest. The ghostly mares felt as though they were receiving only a glimpse of what restored the falling moisture back onto the surface of the light side of the plane, and they surmised that even an entire mortal lifetime of studying the phenomenon wouldn't be enough to explain it.
Just then, Applejack shouted something. She pointed straight ahead, causing Rainbow and the rest of her friends to crane their necks, peering in intense curiosity. Not long after, Rarity let loose a spontaneous gasp. Within seconds... sea vessels emerged from the eastern mists... dozens of them. At first, Fluttershy squeaked in alarm, but then Rarity issued patience. Sure enough, as the Stardust drifted east, the group found themselves passing by at least one hundred loosely scattered derelict ships, all forming a fractured layer of wooden and metal detritus before the unseen edge of the world. Battered sea vessels, collapsed skiffs, and the splintered remnants of dreadnoughts dotted the watery landscape.
Enix ordered Kepler to keep a wide berth. Upon closer examination, Rainbow and the Herald found out why. The dozens upon dozens of collapsed sea vessels had run aground a series of shallow rocks that jutted sharply, viciously out of the turbulent waters. These jagged structures formed at random, carved by some chaotic force that nopony could properly explain. Rarity trained her ghostly horn on them, continuously warning Rainbow Dash of impending obstacles. Rainbow passed the word of muzzle to Kepler, and the Herald icily made its way through the forest of shipwrecks. It was a sobering sight—like a deathly reflection of the Quade. Fluttershy shuddered, and Rainbow squinted at the wrecks to see why. Countless equine and griffon skeletons lined the exposed rocky surfaces where the structures had long ago ripped through the hapless hulls. There was no guessing how many generations of unfortunate sailors had met their grisly fate, sailing so daringly close to the edge. The Herald surmised that they were staring at the remnants of civilizations even older than Verlax's influence—much less Rohbredden as a whole—preserved in a cold, moist snapshot in horrific time. The group shuddered to imagine how many more—how many millions of more mortals had suffered an even worse fate by plunging off the thunderous edge entirely.
There weren't many words being exchanged at this point. Even if the Herald did have a conversation to conduct, it would have been most difficult hearing a single sentence. This was because something far louder than the constant thunder had blanketed the scene with nightmarish bedlam, almost to the point of deafening every mortal soul within earshot. This, of course, was the persistent, neverending roar of rushing water. Rainbow Dash tried to imagine every waterfall she had ever witnessed in all her years of flying, and even combining all of them together—she figured—wouldn't come close to matching the voluminous magnitude of what was encompassing them then and there.
And the only physical indicator of the source of this elemental screaming was a wall of mist rising cold and pale directly in front of them, stretching north and south as far as the mortal eye could see. Witnessing the phenomenon was like gazing into a pearlescent porcelain wall forever rising. It created an optical illusion—a very deadly one at that—that gave Rainbow and everypony else on board the Stardust the deathly illusion of constantly sinking. There was an ultimate plunge to be had, and although the group knew it—they could scarcely see it.
Until they did...
It came in brief breaks through the malaise, like a burst of wind kicking through a field of tall grass. Something somewhere issued the elemental shift. Perhaps it was the lightning above. Perhaps it was an inexplicable streak of chaos piercing through the tapering edges of the Firmaments. Whatever the case, the mist would occasionally break, and Rainbow Dash and her friends would see forever. In three to five glorious seconds, they saw entire galaxies swirling between violet tributaries of nebulaic stardust. It stole the breath from them, then filled their lungs with choking moisture as a ten second sheet of rain violently rolled through to fill the elemental gap. The Herald merely shook the moisture off and waited for the next window. When it came, they were startled to see more galaxies, more pockets of colorful cosmic grandeur, and then all was waterspouts and thunder yet again. It was like staring out from inside the gasping ventricle of a gigantic beating organ, lost in the constellatory drift of eternity, baptized forever by thunder and seawater.
More structures pierced the mists. This time, they weren't jagged rocks or sunken shipwrecks. Instead... they were something else entirely... something smoother... nobler... and harmonic. Kepler, Logan, and Flynn murmured in surprise. Even Ariel and Wildcard were surprised to see the edges of such geometrically perfect platforms. Remna and Rainbow Dash were the only ones unfazed. After all... Rainbow's golden vision had brought them there.
The gift of Utaan...
The platforms were remarkably colorful: possessing a seafoam green hue, despite countless years of weathering and decay against the relentless torrents of water. Nevertheless, their marble construction was miraculously intact, and—even from a distance—one could see the faint hint of equine effigies carved into their water-slick surfaces. Cylindrical columns rose up from the foundations, forming occasional archways and bridges that connected to other platforms, stretching fearlessly eastward unto the absolute brink. Most of the ponies present could only generalize them as "alicorn" in design. Only one soul recognized the architecture for what it truly was: Emeraldinian.
"This is as far as we can go, Blood of Luna," Enix said, hovering pensively above the Stardust. "I do not say this in jest. Drift any further... and you lose your precious ship for all eternity."
"Gotcha." Rainbow nodded. "Kepler? Flynn?" She pointed at the structure looming in front of them. "Draw anchor or you're fired."
"Don't need to tell us twice." Flynn levitated a heavy weight attached to three thick chains. "Big Show?"
"Got it." Logan grasped the item in question and—with a savage grunt—heaved it over the side.
Flynn guided the massive hook with telekinesis. It caught onto the northwest edge of a marble platform, anchoring the Stardust in place. With a flick of his claws, Kepler yanked two levers, pulling the chains tight so that the vessel remained stationary—nevertheless bobbing in the tempestuous tide.
Nicole exhaled audibly and swiped her brow beneath hear newly-earned hat. Echo patted her shoulder and looked at the rest. "What now?"
"Well..." Bard glanced at Wildcard, doing his damndest to remain calm. "...reckon we've got ourselves here a... pier of some sort."
"Not just any pier...!" Ariel spun around. "Right, Kepler?"
"Indeed!" The wyvern struggled to speak above the constant noise and thunder. Lightning flickered off his spectacles. "The Austrraeoh's vision led us trrue! This must be none otherr than the Mountain Matrron's forrmerr haunting grrounds!"
Flynn exclaimed, "You mean the place where Verdestone's finest set up camp?!"
"Affirrmative!"
"That's nice and all..." Logan gnashed his teeth as another sheet of rain briefly pelted him and the rest of the ponies. "...but what the Hell are we to do now?!"
"Leave that to me," Rainbow said, and she jumped off the Stardust.
"Rainbow!" Ariel shouted. Wildcard gently placed a metal talon on her shoulder.
"The Austraeoh knows the solution," Remna said firmly. "Or..." Her violet brow furrowed. "...at least... she will son."
Th-Thap! Rainbow's hooves landed on the wet marble surface of the nearest platform. Immediately, she froze in place, feeling the jolt of her landing shudder up her legs and outward through every inch of her body. Her muzzle hung agape. Through the thunder, her ears tickled to the sound of her rattling, dangling pendant. She took a few dainty steps forward, then leaned against a warn marble pillar holding up a decrepit Emeraldinian archway.
Far ahead, partially decayed strips of rusted metal and wood platforms acted as loose bridges between the ancient alicorn foundations. They led through the mists, drawing a crooked path to a hazy black line that pierced the entirety of everything.
Rainbow's friends hovered closer, their muzzles agape as their wide eyes took in everything. Applejack hovered the closest.
"Let's... j-just try and keep safe, sugarcube," she said in a pensive tone. The ghostly farm mare gulped. "I know you own this 'Austraeoh' biz and all... but this ain't no visit to Ghastly Gorge. Try and keep an eye on yer hoofin', you hear?"
Rainbow Dash was still shuddering from the cold contact her hooves made with the marble floor. She drew a hoof slowly across the polished surface of the pillar in front of her, tracing the faded images of ponies in armor.
"... ... ...I made it, AJ."
Applejack flashed her a luck. "Huh?"
"I... I made it..." Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth. "Years ago... I..." She sniffled. "I-I told Luna that I would be the only mortal pony awesome enough to fly to the edge of the world and live to say something about it... and... a-and I'm here." She gazed up at the archway, ears folding back. "After four continents, two oceans, a magical desert and a flying zombie city... I-I'm here." She gulped. "This is it." She gulped harder, eyes watering. "I made it."
"Yes, well..." Applejack took a shuddering breath, glancing around nervously at the stormy sights. "...all thangs considered, it's only halfway."
"But don't you get it?" Rainbow smiled drunkenly. She leaned forward to nuzzle the marble pillar, delighting in the cold kiss of the ancient stone to her fuzzy cheeks. "This is it. I'm here. It's real... and I-I made it real..."
Applejack weathered a shuddering sigh. "And we're mighty proud of you, Rainbow. But even I dun need to tell you that the goin' never stops."
"Mmmmmm..." Rainbow sniffled again, smiling with her eyes shut. "Someday... I'm going to hug you, AJ."
Applejack did a double-take at that. "Beg yer pardon?"
"Nothing." Rainbow breathed. Her eyes opened. Wet rubies. Shining. "Just another promise," she murmured into the end.
Applejack gazed at her in silence.
"Okay..." Rainbow inhaled, rubbing her eyes dry. "Sappy time's over." She spread her wings and marched fearlessly forward. "Now... let's see if this crap is half as awesome as it's cracked up to be."