//------------------------------// // Pause For Dramatic Effect // Story: Ofolrodi // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// "Alrright..." Kepler took a deep breath, stepping backwards across a large boulder. "The rrunes have been firrmly attached." "You triple secured them and everything?" Flynn asked. "Affirrmative!" "Good." Flynn's horn glowed as he focused on a bent rod of silver metal with multiple lunar rocks chained to it. "Stand back." "Ach!" Kepler's hairy brow furrowed. "You say that as if this might explode, brrotherr!" "Don't jinx it!" Flynn frowned. "The last experiment went flying into the stratosphere!" "You have the rright amount of rrocks this time!" Kepler said, pumping a clawed fist into the air. "I just know it!" "We'll see. Okay..." Flynn took a deep breath, concentrated, and—"H'lmynhr!" The two watched as—Flash!—the runes shackled to the silver rod strobed as one. Then, with curious grace, the rod levitated completely off the boulder. It twirled slowly in the air, but kept a stable position without deviating too much in altitude. "Hah!" Flynn hopped in place, his mechanical eye rotating in and out. "Haaaah-hahahahah!" "Excelsiorr!" Kepler cheered. "What did I tell ya?!" Flynn grinned stupidly, gesturing at the levitating cylinder. "It answers oppositely to the runic command!" His gaze narrowed on the illuminated lunar rocks. "I tell the runes to 'Pull,' and instead—" "They push!" Kepler remarked. "Defying grravity!" "It's a bit different from that, Keps," Flynn said. "I think it's more like... they 'release.'" "Then what will the 'release' command do?" "Let's find out." Flynn took another bold breath. "Y'hnyrr!" The runes dimmed. And the cylinder—clank!—fell harmlessly back to the surface of the boulder. "Ha-hah!" Kepler smiled through his tusks. "Congrratulations, frriend! You've just tamed chaos!" "It's a start!" Flynn stood tall and proud. "A certifiably sexy start! Hell, at this rate, it will only take half the lunar dust to make this shit work on the wagon! Makes the rocks we salvaged back in Darkreach look like rabbit poop!" "But can you rrepeat yourr success?" "Hell yeah, I can! Just watch!" Flynn focused on the cylinder again. "H'lmynhr!" The rod of chaos metal rose once again from the boulder. "And arre you able to give it lift?" Kepler asked. "Way ahead of ya." Flynn glanced aside at a parchment of written commands. "I'd say... the opposite of 'forwards.'" "Be cerrtain to channel it." "No. Chaos, remember? I'd have better luck if I canceled it." "You trruly think that would worrk?" "There's one way to find out." Flynn said. He glanced at the parchment one last time, cleared his throat, and bravely grunted: "M'shrykkym L'vynyk!" The cylinder rotated around. Then—with an ethereal humming noise—it lifted off the boulder and zoomed outward from that location. Within seconds, it collided with a fuzzy gray skull. Bonk! "Ouchies!" Ariel squeaked, rubbing her head. "Shit!" Flynn grimaced. "Cancel it!" Kepler stammered. "Errrr... I mean channel it—" "Uhhhhhhh—" Flynn flashed a look at the parchment and belched: "M'shrynmh L'fynym! Y'hnyrr!" The rod spun a few times... then fell limply with dim runes. "Httt!" Ariel inadvertently caught the thing. She grimaced, holding the metal substance out at arm's length. "Uhhhhh... uhhhhh... this stuff isn't gonna make me sprout horns and red eyes, is it?" "Not unless you're already sexy and prismatic and got a raspy voice," Flynn droned. "Very funny—" Ariel looked up, then did a double-take. She pivoted her head sideways. "You guys are... upside down." In truth, Flynn and Kepler were standing on the underside of a large floating boulder just above the very bottom of the chaotic crater. Their notes, equipment, and supply of lunar rocks rested harmlessly on the lower surface of the boulder, likewise defying gravity. "Yeah?" Flynn muttered out the side of his muzzle. "What of it?" "Is that safe?" "... ... ...probably not." "Uh huh." Ariel shrugged. "Whatever. So long as you're making progress, I guess." "We totally are," Flynn said, gesturing to the collected supply of metal fragments. "Turns out with just a few lunar runes and knowing the right commands to say..." He smirked confidently. "...we can totally channel the antigravity properties of this shit. I have every reason to think we can control the wagon even better than before." "Well, about that..." Ariel floated over... fidgeted... then rotated herself until she was upside down. She "landed" on the underside of the boulder, fought the urge to vomit, then continued. "Rainbow Dash sent me to ask about—" "The Rrainbow One is awake?" Kepler gasped with joy. "Oh, how glorrious!" "Yeah, well..." Ariel leaned against the cylinder like a cane. "She's not exactly in a good mood." "Well, considering the coma she endured, I wouldn't blame her," Flynn said. "It's... more along the lines of totally not digging what you guys are doing here," Ariel said. Flynn sighed. "I was afraid of that..." "She's afraid of this stuff. Like... super concerned," Ariel said. "I don't think she's gonna be cool with us using any of it." "You mean she's not cool with us doing what it takes to salvage our supplies and protect our best interests," Flynn grumbled. "Flynnnn..." Ariel moaned. "Give hearrt, brrotherr," Kepler warned, waving a claw. "Chaos—and all it entails—essentially brrought a calamitous end to herr companionship and way of life back in Equestria." "Yeah... and it set her on the destined path of the Austraeoh, without which we'd all be screwed in the end, wouldn't we?" Flynn further spat. "She is still the Austrraeoh," Kepler said. "The Mountain Matrron was mindful of that. So should we be." Flynn sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I know... I know. But... like... what else does she expect us do to?!" He shrugged dramatically. "Most of our standard magic reserves are almost completely sapped. But here? Within the sphere of chaotic influence, I can cast a magic spell without it being dissolved." "How does that work?" Ariel asked. "From what I can hypothesize..." Flynn gestured. "The metal casts an aura, and within this environment there's a stable magic field. It dissipates the soonest the chaotic reagent is removed." "Soooooooooooooooo..." Ariel fidgeted. "...you can't cast any spells outside the range of this aura?" "Not unless we put a lot of distance between ourselves and the metal. But the spells I've discovered that I can cast while inside the field take far less energy. Just... there's a tad bit of a workaround when it comes to channeling the spells." "Only a smidgen," Kepler said with a sarcastic smirk. "Yeah, well..." Flynn rolled his one good eye. "It's taken me all this time to figure it out. I can make this shit work. You gotta go tell Rainbow that." "How about you come back up to the edge of the crater with me and tell her yourself?" Kepler and Flynn exchanged glances. Ariel blinked at the two of them. "What? What's the matter?" Just then— Fwoooooosh! Wildcard flew in upside-down... or right-side up in comparison to the rest. He had an extra supply of carry-sized strips of chaos metal in his grasp. After gathering them, he tossed them into the air between the boulder and the bottom of the crater. The materials floated for a bit, reoriented, and fell up before landing alongside the rest of Flynn's supplies. "Thanks, Double-Yoo," Flynn said. The Desperado saluted. "Flynn, don't ignore what I just asked you." Ariel looked past him and at Wildcard. "What's the problem? There's a problem with this whole experiment, isn't there?" Her brow furrowed. "Something that Rainbow's not going to like?" Wildcard took a deep breath. He flew in, rotated, and landed upside-down on the boulder next to his companions. He gestured directly at Ariel. The mare blinked. "Well... crud... then the wagon's gonna be completely off limits to her, isn't it?" "This place is a friggin' gold mine," Flynn said. "If we leave too much of this stuff behind, it'll be like shooting ourselves in the hoof." "What ourr brrotherr herre is essentially trrying to say..." Kepler clarified. "...is that for us to fully empowerr the hoverrcrraft, then we will need to brring an exceptionally larrge quantity of this materrial along with us." He took a deep breath. "Undoubtedly, it will be farr too much of the materrial forr the Austrraeoh to withstand—considerring what she's alrready been thrrough afterr the slightest of exposurre to this substance's aurra." "Sooooooooo... what does that mean, exactly?" Ariel blanched. "Rainbow... has to split up with the Herald?" "No no no no," Flynn grunted. "She's just gotta... keep her distance. Maybe scout ahead... trail behind." "Eughhh..." Ariel facehoofed. "Then—when we make camp—we'll create a tertiary camp to place the wagon and the chaos metals so that we won't have to split with her. We coullllllld... uhhhhh... trade shifts for those who would volunteer to look after the wagon while—" "Stop. Just stop." Ariel waved a hoof. "This is getting waaaaaaaaaaay too complicated." "Well, it's the best idea we've got!" "Then think of a better idea!" Ariel frowned. "I can already tell you that Rainbow Dash is not gonna let it fly!" "If we don't do it this way, then the rest of us won't be able to fly!" "Can't you—like—dilute the chaos metals or something? Turn it into dust or—uhhh—mix it up with the lunar rock like you did with the crystalline stuff we found in Darkreach?" "We don't understand it that well, Ariel! We'd need more time to study it, and if Rainbow's getting as uppity about the subject matter as you're making her sound like she is then I'm not sure we can afford to—" Just then—with a brisk motion—Wildcard raised his metal talon. This instantly silenced the conversation completely. "... ... ..." Flynn and Kepler looked around. Ariel floated closer to Wildcard. "What... what do you hear?" "... ... ..." Wildcard tilted his head to the side. Goggles reflected floating silver and twilight. "... ... ...!" His headcrest rose. Logan sat on the edge of the crater while Rainbow paced and paced. "Idea." Logan looked up from where he gripped his axe. "Let me eat a whole bunch of lizard meat." "... ... ...?" Rainbow scuffled to a stop. She squinted at him. "I know I'm gonna regret this... but... why?" Logan smirked crookedly. "Propulsive flatulence. That'll get us to the Midnight Armory real damn quick." Rainbow sighed... and sighed and sighed. "You need to get some sleep." Logan groaned inwardly. "I need to get laid." "That too." Swooooosh! Wildcard rocketed up from the heart of the crater in a murky blur. "Finally!" Rainbow spun to greet him. "Hey, Wildcard. Can you tell me what's—?" THWISSSSSH! The Desperado shot past them and descended Edgeside, towards camp. "... ... ..." Rainbow blinked. "—up?" Twilight Sparkle materialized beside the petite pegasus. "Hoo-wee..." She squinted after Wildcard's distant figure. "Where's he off to in such a hurry?" "... ... ...!" Logan was already standing up, gripping his axe with a dead-serious expression. "Big Show...?" Rainbow muttered out the side of her muzzle. "Stay here." Logan galloped, slid, and continued galloping down the hillside. "Haven't seen the feathery bastard this serious since our fight on the Edge." Rainbow paled at that. Before she could shout out a response to the obese stallion... ...Ariel flew up, breathless. "Rainbow...!" Rainbow spun to face her. "Ariel! What's going on, girl?" "It's Wildcard..." Ariel gulped, sweating. "He swears he could hear the Commander—I mean Seraphimus screaming." "Screaming?!" Rainbow immediately grimaced. "I-I didn't hear anything! And I was up here with Logan the entire time!" Ariel shrugged. "He used to fight alongside her. I guess if she shouted in dismay, he'd be the first to hear." Rainbow was already looking at her friends. "Pinkie? Fluttershy? You sense anything?" "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Pinkie's left ear was flopping. "Yeah???" "But I don't!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "I sense nothing!" "Nothing?" Rarity asked. "That's right!" Fluttershy nodded. "No life. No bodies. Just... everything directly Edgeside of the camp has... gone... bl-blank..." Her pupils shrank as she said that. She looked at Rainbow and her friends with a horrified expression. "Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww shoot," Applejack exclaimed.