Eight Hours After Rainbow Dash and Her Party Left to Rendezvous With Lexxic
With a yank of her hoof... then a second and a third...
...she successfully tightened the saddlebag strapped to her skinny figure.
A heavy exhale escaped her muzzle. She straightened a few things by her workbench, drew the tarp over it neatly, then left through the front doorflap of her small shack.
Standing outside, the female Dihmer gave the surrounding landscape a short, swift survey.
Emaciated and sickly equines leaned against the nearby structures of the “neighborhood,” slowly wasting away. Studious collectors trotted slowly in single-file, pulling wagons full of junk towards the nearest cliffs overlooking the Blob. Off in the distance—lining up in a blood-stained courtyard—dozens of locals squatted and repeated a ritualistic mantra over and over, exposing their fetlocks to the unfeeling twilight.
The mare closed her purple eyes, taking a long breath. Beyond the rancid smell of the place and the sounds of wheezing breaths all around, she found a calm path worth treading. Giving her saddlebag a slight shake, she reopened her gaze and trotted boldly forward, making for the southern entrance of the pathetic township.
She passed several goblin establishments along the way. For all of their pollution and rust and filthy upkeep, the imp buildings nevertheless stood far higher in quality than the Dihmer domiciles that lingered in the shadows. Clusters of pointy-eared workers stood in droves, either waiting for work or enjoying breathers between tiring shifts. Several of them snickered and gestured at the mare as she trotted by.
The Dihmer merely moved along, keeping her eyes forward and her gait steady. She had a destination to arrive at, and she had very little time to spare.
Nevertheless, her ears were distracted by the sound of scuffling imp feet from somewhere behind...
“Oi! Just a second theah, love!” a voice called out. “Hold on, mates! Gotta have a word! Reckon it'll only take one tenth of a blob beat at worst!” A pitter-patter of claws, and Plato of Chrome-Blood appeared at the mare's side, jogging to keep in even pace with the quadruped. “G'day, sheilah! Fancyin' yourself a new partnership weeth the glue sticks from dan undah?”
“It departs,” she stated in monotone, not even looking at him. “It goes to where it drills.”
“Well, good onya!” Plato tipped an invisible hat. “I can smell the glimmerin' varnish already! Theah'll be heaps of streeps in it for ya, of course, love.” He smiled through serrated teeth. “Them tomato sauces too, if theah of a mind.” His ears drooped slightly. “Hope you ain't hot undah the collah over me wranglin' them into a business arrangement. Figured both you and the Chrome-Bloodahs back at Guildie-Q could benefit all in the same.” A wink. “Peetra's flame in a bot'le, reckon?”
“It misses—that which has a false shimmer,” she murmured, shaking her head. “It does not matter if it collects or not. It only lingers.”
“If ya really felt that way about 'em, then why even bothah invitin' the yobbos along?”
“... … ...” Her purple eyes darted briefly towards him, then back at the rickety road ahead.
“Hey...” Plato held his hands up, slowing his pace. “...I know when I've poked the flank too much. Just know that—for what eet's worth—I'm bloody proud of ya!” He suddenly brightened. “Oh! Ace! Just remembered...!” He reached into his bandoleer, produced a strip of silver, and tossed it at her. “Heads up!”
With calm precision, she stopped long enough to reach a hoof up and catch the item in the crook of her fetlock. She examined it with a deadpan gaze. The strip had an X-shaped fissure down its center. As she turned it left and right in her grasp, tiny translucent serpents flitted in and out, hissing with a high-pitched whine.
“It came outta the smeltah that way!” Plato said from a distance. “One in ten thousand chance of bein' that clean a break that the streep snake-o's constantly swim around on the outside! We call eet 'serpent streeps,' and theah a sign of good luck!” He smirked. “Consider eet a commission for a job that I just know you'll do with flyin' colors!”
She took a calm breath, slipped the glowing currency into her saddlebag, and pressed on forward.
“It departs,” was her only response.
“Reckon so!” Plato waved and walked back to his group of imps. “Who knows, Lingeroo?! Thees heah may be the start of a beautiful industry between us and them freakish Penumbrans!”
The mare exhaled heavily through her nostrils. Nevertheless, her ears folded slightly as she left the southern limits of Blobstain.
Ten Hours After Rainbow Dash and Her Party Left
A red needle spun clockwise from north to south... then counter-clockwise from south to north... then it twirled spontaneously in both directions, making several haphazard revolutions within the space of a minute.
“... … …” Flynn sighed. Nevertheless, he tilted the compass that rested in the crook of his fetlock, watching with his natural eye in hopes that he could somehow get it to maintain consistency in its spinning.
“Why didn't you toss that thing the first moment you woke up on along the Edge?” Logan asked. He had to speak above the grinding of metal wagon wheels as a desolate landscape shifted slowly by under the starlight around them. “It's about as useful as a clown at a funeral over here.”
Flynn looked towards the stallion who was drawing the rickety vehicle that he sat on. The unicorn Heraldite squatted amidst a smattering of tools and surviving runes in the back of the wagon. It wasn't much, but they were nonetheless glad to carry whatever scant remains they could from their expedition on the Light Side.
“I want to see it work again,” Flynn muttered in answer to Logan's exclamation. He clasped the compass case shut before hiding it back into his saddlebag. “Someday,” he sighed.
Logan looked over his shoulder at his friend in the wagon he was drawing. “Won't it be enough that your ass survives long enough to reach the Light Side again?” He shrugged within the riggings of the vehicle. “There are lots of ways to find true north once we're back.”
Flynn managed the faintest of smirks. “I'm sure all that'll matter is true west.”
Logan snorted, fighting a snicker.
Flynn craned his neck curiously. “...what's so funny, fatso?”
“You really think Rainbow's gonna want to go back the way of Darkreach after the Midnight Armory?” Logan arched an eyebrow. “What—with the trolls and the floating rocks and the friggin' world wyrm??”
Flynn shrugged. “It's at least somewhat familiar territory. There's no telling what craziness waits for us in Omega. So why press our luck?” He sighed heavily. “Who knows. For the journey back, maybe the Winter Children of Abaddon would be willing to lend us a leg...” He shuddered visibly. “Or eight.”
“And I'll be damned if I'm gonna have to trudge all the way through windigo-infested Robhredden once again.” He looked back at the wagontop with a smirk. “Or Hell... you think my fatass would survive a trek through the Blight?”
“So...?” Flynn shrugged. “The Blight isn't so Blight-ish anymore. And I'm sure the windigoes aren't doing as bad a job as we fear! Not with the likes of Theanim Mane and Keris hanging back to keep the locals sane!”
“That's an even dumber concept than believing we're gonna get back to the Light Side the same way we came.”
Flynn hung his head, sighing. “You're right, as usual.”
Logan's ears drooped slightly. He blinked worriedly at the stone ground over which he was trotting. As he drew the wagon over a crest in the barren landscape, he summoned the courage to mutter: “Look, Baldy... I shouldn't be the one to crush your dreams. Believe it or not, it's not my job to ruin everypony else's pessimism. And even if it was, I take no friggin' pride in it.”
“Uh huh...”
“I just think it's... only healthy to expect this whole expedition to take the longest of hauls.” Logan cleared his throat. “Assuming everything goes as well as it possibly can between here and the Midnight Armory, of course.”
“Uh huh... ...”
Logan looked over his flank. “Is everything okay in your head, there, dude?” He arched an eyebrow. “You've been suprisingly wishy-washy as of late. Even for you.”
“Let it go, Big Show...”
“Let what go?” Logan held his breath as he crested a hilltop, then spoke normally once he was on even ground once more. “Ever since you stumbled upon this unicorn Dihmer chick, you've been ten shades of distracted.”
“I'm a 'stalking simp,' remember?” Flynn muttered.
“All jokes aside, Flynn...” Logan's voice lowered to a calm tone. “...we ain't much of a Job Squad unless we're givin' it our all. And I think something's leeching from the bucks you have left to give.” His jaw tightened as he trotted along. “Do I need to tell Rainbow Dash when she gets back that you've downgraded yourself to bench-sitter?”
“This expedition is tiring for all of us.” Flynn's jaw clenched. “Forgive me if I'm tripping over myself a bit. I'm sure it's no big secret that you, Ariel, Keps and the others are having to deal with the stress in one way or another.” He blinked, then waved a hoof. “Hell, even Wildcard. You think it's easy for him to carry on after what happened to Bard?”
“No. But at least he talks about it.”
Flynn squinted at the bigger stallion. “Are you even hearing yourself right now?”
Logan rolled his eyes. “He talks with Rainbow Dash, dumbass. Don't pretend you haven't seen them chatting it up—with her learning his talon-talk and all that jazz.”
“Ah. Right.” Flynn nodded. “Good for them.”
“...maybe it'd help you to share what's on your mind too.”
“Would you like me to pull the wagon for a bit?” Flynn suggested.
Logan rolled his eyes yet again. “No, I don't want you to draw the wagon for a bit.” He snorted. “I'm just trying to level with you, ya limp noodle. We suddenly find ourselves hiking out of town with the bulk of our gear, open and vulnerable to all manner of dark side misanthropy, and it would help to know that we're keeping our heads in the game! That's all! Can't I check up on troop morale every once in a royal fart?”
“My head is in the game, Big Show,” Flynn said. “All contours of the egg. You needn't worry about me.”
“... … ...” Logan suddenly murmured: “You're still thinking about that Dihmer chick who's helping us, aren't ya?”
Flynn suppressed the urge to growl. “She asked me kindly—and everyone else has asked me calmly—to just let her be.” He held both fetlocks up with a frown. “So that's what I've endeavored to do.”
“You're right. And—for once—I'm proud of you and your bleeding heart.”
“Then stop bringing it up!!!” Flynn barked.
Logan actually winced at that. The tone in Flynn's voice was decidedly more abrasive than when he usually snapped back at him.
The unicorn immediately took on an apologetic position: “I know you're trying to act caring'n'shiet, Big Show. But...” He fidgeted. “I was wrong, okay? I was wrong to obsess and trace her steps and step into her domain...”
“Well, it got us an opportunity to fetch a boat for crossing the Blob—”
“Are we going to bury this or not?!?”
“Pffft... hey, dude...” Logan waved in mid-trot, smirking at the wasteland ahead. “Shovel away.”
Flynn fumed. “I was wrong. I should have been... m-more professional about this.”
“You mean like Keps?”
“Just because he rolls his r's doesn't make the wyvern 'professional.'”
“Heh. Kind of a low blow there, eh, Baldy?”
“Point is—I've got a bunch of hangups. That's more than obvious. I shouldn't get strangers here on the Dark Side weighted down with 'em.” Flynn's natural eye stared dull and dismal across the rolling stonescapes. “Even if it would take so little... so very little to bless them with a better life. A harmonic life.”
“Uh huh...”
“I-I mean...” Flynn's teeth showed as he grunted towards the Alpha horizon. “...why do these ponies gotta constantly mutilate themselves?! Or rob themselves of opportunities to enjoy and revel in life?! Or make themselves exploitable prey to the likes of the goblins?!”
“Seems that they've been prey to far worse, bud,” Logan said. “This appears to be their way of dealing—”
“Nothing... absolutely nothing is worth giving up one's agency and potential for!” Flynn's voice cracked. “Imagine—instead of being ascetic sourpusses—these Dihmers rose up and fended off the Bloodwings?! Or made an alliance with the imps of Petra—made them take a stance in the Trinary War?!”
“These are... uh...” Logan shook his head. “...these aren't exactly areas any of us are qualified to make declarations about, dude.”
Flynn sighed. “I know. Just... it's just all the same, Logan.”
“What's all the same?”
“What makes the plight of the Dihmers any different than the near-extermination of the wyverns back in Rohbredden?” Flynn gestured. “Or the generations upon generations of slaves who were bred and groomed on Mudtop? Or all that shit happening all over the Seven Seas?” His nostrils flared. “For years, we fought the Syndicate at every turn—and what did it exactly do for everypony?!”
“Well... lots! Do I even need to count the number of ponies we freed from—”
Flynn gaped at him. “It didn't put an end to the corruption!!”
“Yeah, well...” Logan smirked. “Bard and Wildcard made a pretty big dent along with Rainbow Dash down in Shoggoth. With whatshername's help. Y'know... the Siren Queen everypony yammered on about?”
“You know as well as I know that the punks of the Seven Seas will find a way.” Flynn grumbled. “Whether it's some jerkoff from one of the Barges or a warlord from Mudtop or someone from within—like Chandler—there'll be some new asshole who'll carry the torch of toxicity and make life miserable for everyone else.”
“But you said it yourself, Flynn,” Logan stated. “Keris... Theanim... others who have been left behind? Those who can speak positively of Rainbow Dash's actions?” Logan's ears perked up as he spoke. “They just might be able to make a difference... to make peace out of the mess we've lived in all our lives.”
Flynn merely sat back in a huff, folding his arms.
“Yeah... sure... maybe the Job Squad could never really finish the job. Point is—with Morty's help—we lasted long enough to help out the Austraeoh in our lifetime. Now—thanks to her—we're actually making a difference for everypony. For this whole world.”
Flynn blew through his lips. Then he muttered: “She makes it seem so easy. If only we could all do on a small scale what she does on a big scale.”
“Hell yeah. Maybe I'd finally lose some weight!”
“... … ...”
“Oh! You mean helping out the Dihmers and shiet. Yeah. Yeah, that'd be cool too.”
“I know that getting Rainbow Dash to the Midnight Armory is of prime importance,” Flynn said. “And then getting her back to Equestria—so she can restore harmony—is next on the docket.” A slow, cold shudder. “It's just... so friggin' huge a task.”
“One hoof at a time, dude. Think of it only in terms of what's right in front of you,” Logan said. “Or else you'd go friggin insane. Hell, we all might.”
“It's not that. I just...” Flynn squirmed in the back of the wagon, staring down at his hooves. “...in focusing so much on the big picture, I just hope we don't have to ignore everypony lost in the shadows of all the little pictures.”
“Ouch. I think that analogy broke my head.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Do I, baldy?”
“It's one thing to save this world...” Flynn bit his bottom lip. “...but how many ponies are still gonna be stuck in slave camps... or in decrepit streets... or in d-dank caves?”
Logan glanced back at that.
Flynn shuddered. “I dunno. Maybe I just... need more sleep. You're right—this expedition is tough on all of us. Why should I be having such a crazy conniption all of a sudden?”
“Hell, what's 'crazy' these days?”
“Heh...” Flynn smirked ever so slightly. “Well said.”
“Anyways, I think I get it now,” Logan said. “This hasn't got anything to do with the Dihmer chick. Not directly, at least.”
Flynn exhaled like a weight had been pulled off his withers. “Thanks for being so understanding, dude.”
“... … ...but does it have anything to do with what went down in Aegis so long ago?”
Flynn jerked at the mere mention of that. His muzzle swam from shocked, to sad, then to a flushed... righteous anger. He leaned towards the front of the wagon, ready to snap once more at his best friend—
“Brrotherrs!” Kepler's voice called out from up ahead.
The group tilted their heads up.
A pale figure perched atop a pile of rocks along the Alpha horizon. The wyvern called out from afar: “I do believe I have uncoverred ourr destination!”
Logan shouted back: “Are ya sure?!”
“Most assurredly! The cave forrmation matches ourr Dihmerr frriend's descrription!” His scorpion tail unfurled in the starlight as he spun around and glided out of sight on spread wings. “Follow me, frriends! Excelsiorr!”
“Hrmmfff... who am I kidding...” Logan blew out the side of his muzzle. “He should be in charge of morale.”
“Why not?” Flynn added. “Lately, he's been in charge of everything else.”
“Heh... damn straight.”
“Follow that mini-manticore, fatso.”
“Don't push it.”
“Why push it when you can pull it?”
“Real cute, baldy.”
It wasn't long until Logan—in following Kepler—brought the wagon into the shadow of a sudden plateau that formed out of the stone belly of earth. Here, a sharp rise in rocks formed a steep cliff that stretched over ten meters in height, and an enormous boulder rested against the curveside face, partially obscured from invading starlight.
Kepler perched atop the boulders, posing victoriously. “Huzzah!” He stood up straight, adjusting his bifocals. “Conspicuous, it is most definitely not! But this location is so ambitiously rremote that I somehow doubt anypony would botherr to come out herre!”
“Yeah...” Logan unhitched himself from the wagon and approached the boulder. “...except those lucky enough to have been given specific directions on how to find it.”
“I wonder...” Flynn hopped down from the wagon and joined Logan in approaching the plateau's edge. “...did we cross over this location on our approach to Blobstain from Abaddon's Lair?”
“Ach! Highly doubtful, brrotherr,” Kepler stated. “If you rrecall, the grround we trraverrsed was quite saturrated with moisturre—enough to forrm multiple strreams flowing towards Omega!”
“It was also a lot closer to Edgeside,” Logan said. “Besides—Kepler's right. Feel how dusty the earth is beneath us.” He tapped the plateau's edge. “This ground is drier than a spinster's womb in winter.”
“Eugh...” Flynn face-hoofed. “Big Show, must you?”
“What?!? I can make that joke!” Logan shrugged with a smirk. “There're no feminists around! Besides, they all flew to meet Lexxic!”
“Uhm, grreetings?” Kepler arched an eyebrow, waving a talon. “I am herre...”
“Oh right...” Logan rolled his eyes, waving back at the wyvern. “Yeah, that friggin' figures.”
“Let's stay on topic.” Flynn faced the boulder. “How the Hell do we get in?”
“The instrructions—as given to me—werre to wait forr ourr Dihmerr associate to arrrive,” Kepler said.
“Well, looks like we beat her to it,” Logan said. “The Hell we do now? Wait here and... watch Keps twiddle his thumbs?”
“We can maybe take a survey of the surrounding areas,” Flynn said. “For security's sake. It'll pass the time until...” He fidgeted slightly. “...you-know-who-arrives.”
Kepler pointed past the two stallions. “I don't think that will be necessarrry.”
“Why not?” Logan replied in a dull tone. “Being aware of our surroundings is super important.”
“It arrives,” droned a feeble voice beside him.
The fat stallion jumped a full horse length to the side. “GAAAH!” Thud! “Sh-shit on a stick!” He held a hoof over his palpitating chest. “Put a frickin' bell on yourself, lady!”
“... … ...” She merely stared at him, deadpan. “It breathes.”
“Y-yeah...” Logan swiped the fresh cold sweat from his brow as the mare trotted past him. “...I'm w-workin' on it!”
Flynn beamed at the sight of her. But the moment he opened his muzzle—“!!!”—he immediately clamped it shut. Blushing slightly, he stood at a respectable distance and pretended to be looking at the wagon.
“... … ...” The mare resumed trotting towards the boulder. She craned her neck—looking up at the wyvern perched atop the entrance. “It has also arrived.”
“Ach! We have indeed!” Kepler climbed partially down the boulder, stopping only to squint and ask in a curious tone: “Might I ask how you made it herre so swiftly and silently?”
“It repeats,” she said.
“Huh...” Logan nodded, blinking. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”
“Bra-HAH!” Kepler jumped, glided, and landed on the ground beside the petite mare. “A marre of few worrds! A marre of trrue words!” He bowed slightly. “They should name you 'Lady Laconic!'”
“Actually—” Flynn raised a hoof. “The imps. They—” He began.
The mare looked back at him. So did Logan and Kepler.
Flynn bit his lip. “Ahem...” He stepped back with ears drooped. “...don't mind me.”
“You gotta forgive my friend,” Logan said. “He's kind of a stupid idiot when he's a stupid idiot.” He coughed not-so-delicately, then threw a broad gesture at the boulder. “So... uh... what the Hell.”
“It blocks,” the mare said.
“I can see that. I'm having flashbacks to back when I was addicted to fried foods.” Logan gestured again. “Soooooooooo... how exactly does a tiny little queefer like you move that bigass thing?”
“It diverts,” the mare explained.
Logan did a double-take. “Huh?!”
The mare trotted calmly past him and Kepler.
“Now... hold on just a sec—!” Logan moved after her.
“Shhhh...!” Kepler blocked his heavy hooves with his scorpion tail. “Patience, my frriend.”
Flynn craned his neck as he and the other two Heraldites watched.
The Dihmer trotted gently along the lip of the plateau. Her muzzle moved, as if she was silently counting her steps from the boulder to some nebulous spot along the way. Sure enough, about twenty paces into the shadow of the cliffface, she stopped suddenly. The mare knelt low, felt around with her hoof, then froze in place. A deep breath...
...and she blew at a patch of dust on the earth. Narrow seams formed, revealing a narrow hole that was blocked up with a plethora of tiny, easily movable rocks. One by one, she began pulling from the pile.
“It diverts,” she restated.
“Huh...” Logan scratched his head, then glanced at the boulder. “...imagine all the poor dumb-bucks who busted their heads against that thing, thinking it was their only way in.”
“Like what you would have done minutes from now?” Flynn stated.
“Hey! No fair...” Logan frowned. “I've got an axe.”
“That's your answer to everything.”
In the meantime, Wyvern shuffled over and knelt beside the Dihmer with a kind smile. “May I assist it?”
The mare emotionlessly nodded. “It burrows.”
“Ach! Splendid...” He reached in, pulling more and more rocks out, quickening her task of clearing the once-hidden hole in the foundation of the plateau. “I may not be able to fly quite like my companions, but these claws do come in use in severral instances!” He smiled thrrough his tusks. “All things in life serrve a divine purrpose at one point orr anotherr. At least—that's how I perrceive things!”
The mare merely nodded. “It vocalizes.”
“Indeed. And... it can simply cease at any moment.” Kepler did a little wave before continuing to dislodge the rocks. “All you need to do is ask.”
“... … ...it hears.”
“I would expect no less.” And—within a few minutes—a fresh path was unearthed, leading into the cave.
Eleven Hours After Rainbow Dash and Her Party Left
Kepler glanced left and right as he moved along. In the dim glow of a billowing torch, all he could make out was an uneven craggy surface of rock engulfing him on all sides. Every few dozen feet or so it would grow even narrower, as if the earth had swallowed him whole minutes ago and he was on his way towards a claustrophobic, acidic death.
“Ach... it is most definitely...” Th-Thump! He bumped his furry skull against a dip in the so-called ceiling. “Augh! Pestilence!” Hissing through his tusks, Kepler paused briefly to rub his skull and moved along, crouching lower. “...most definitely constrricting in herre.”
“It thins,” said the Dihmer ahead of him, trotting on three limbs as her right front hoof held the torch.
The wyvern exhaled. “A poetic underrstatement, if I everr hearrd one.” He glanced back past his tail. “I wonderr how my compatrriots arre fairring.” He snorted to himself. “By that, of courrse, I mean goodly Logan. Ha-HAH!”
Ha-HAH!
Ha-HAH!
Ha-HAH!
The passageway resounded for a full ten seconds, making Kepler wince.
“It echoes,” he heard from above.
“Not forr you, it doesn't.” Kepler smirked slightly. “Grranted, I suspect a lifetime spent prracticing the most humble of voices would afforrd such.”
A scuffling sound. Kepler looked behind to see Flynn scampering into view.
“D-Did I hear a yell right about now?” the balding unicorn stammered, shining a glowing horn down the passage. “Is our friend okay?”
“Ach! It was I who crreated the sudden echo, brrotherr. A thousand apologies.” Kepler gave a pacifying gesture. “As forr ourr guide—she is quite fine.”
“Right. Uhm... of course...” Flynn cleared his throat. “You... uh... you both go on ahead.”
“What about Logan?”
“We're.... … …he's going to take a while.”
Just then, a grumpy voice echoed up the winding corridor, piercing their eardrums.
Goddess damned stone!!
Goddess damned stone!!
Goddess damned stone!!
Wincing, Flynn turned and rushed back the way he came.
“Just hold on! I'll get you unstuck!”
Just hold on! I'll get you unstuck!
Just hold on! I'll get you unstuck!
Just hold on! I'll get you unstuck!
I can squeeze through myself, baldy!
I can squeeze through myself, baldy!
I can squeeze through myself, baldy!
Whatever! Just don't shout!
Whatever! Just don't shout!
Whatever! Just don't shout!
Why not?!
Why not?!
Why not?!
Because it makes an annoying echo, dumbass!
Because it makes an annoying echo, dumbass!
Because it makes an annoying echo, dumbass!
Who's echoing?! I'm not echoing!
Who's echoing?! I'm not echoing!
Who's echoing?! I'm not echoing!
YES YOU ARE!!!
Yes You Are!!!
Yes you are!!
Yes you are!
Yes you are.
Kepler was rubbing his skull achingly at this point. He hobbled faster, closing the distance between himself and their emotionless guide. When he finally caught up, he cleared his throat and spoke in as low a tone as he could afford.
“Perrhaps... eheh...” A friendly smile. “...there is merrit to be found in yourr culturre's adherrence to vocabulaic simplicity.”
She merely she shrugged. “It abides.”
“Ach. Swimmingly so, I imagine.”
She slowed a bit, having to traverse a steep stack of rocks that led to an open chamber. “It suffices for that which accomplishes an adequate foundation for that which purges.”
“I... see...” Kepler climbed patiently after her, using his tail for balance. “In an ideal society—emotionless or not—therre would be some... balance of laborr, would therre not?”
“It purges and it lingers.”
“Ah...” He nodded. “So therre arre classes.” His nostrils flared. “I am both pleased and saddened to know that.” A calm breath. “A pity that I can't afforrd the same ambivalence that comes so easily for you.”
“It fails which releases,” she said, standing atop a firm platform of rock. From below, Kepler observed her placing her torch into a fabricated holster within the upper chamber. “Or else it sustains.” She turned and reached a hoof down towards him with a deadpan expression. “It lingers—and yet it collects to clear the path for that which purges.”
“Ah... much apprreciated.” Kepler took her hoof, surprised at the mare's strength as he was lifted up into the belly of the chamber. “At least you arre...” He adjusted his spectacles, gazing curiously at his new surroundings. “...perrfectly awarre of yourr position.”
The chamber was a great deal wider than Kepler expected, at least after traversing a veritable small intestine of narrow corridors to get there. Cold blue stone arched into a craggy dome, and—to his surprise—there were several massive holes that resembled doorways. Kepler counted no less than nine of them, and they were arranged around the center of the roughly round chamber as if they led off in completely different directions. The way they came was the only one that stood out—marked by the pile of rocks before a sudden dip, which Kepler surmised must have been arranged by sapient explorers of that otherwise claustrophobic domain.
“Curriouserr and curriouserr,” the wyvern exhaled. “Somehow, I don't think you arre the firrst pony to venturre henceforrth.” He gave her a studious smirk. “Unless, of courrse, I continue to underestimate yourr sheerr industrry.”
She spoke, barely blinking. “It suffices for that which collects and that which also collects.” She held a hoof up. “It lingers which collects. It is a false glimmer that arrives to assist.”
Kepler shrugged. “I can live with that title—forr the time being, at least.” His eyes narrowed behind his spectacles. “I am at loss—howeverr--to locate a drrill.”
She pivoted away from him. Kepler watched as she trotted across the chamber, approaching a pile of rocks... which suddenly turned out to not be a pile of rocks. With one firm yank, the mare lifted a blue canvas tarp that had been covered all over with the dust that collected in that underground chamber. This revealed—almost magically—a complex arrangement of metal-and-stone contraptions that resembled a workbench and accompanying toolboxes.
“My starrs and garrterrs!” He stifled the urge to chuckle in astonishment. “It is a verritable laborratorry that you have stowed away herre!” He shuffled over, crouching low and observing the metalwork. “This seems... farr too larrge to have trransporrted in herre the way we came.”
“It constructs,” she said.
“Good heavens! Such a suffocating envirronment to do such a thing, too!”
“It lacks a shimmer which lingers,” she continued, picking up the one source of flame and trotting counter-clockwise around the room, lighting a few more torches that were waiting there in rusted holders. “Without, it collects nothing.”
As she said this, the spreading light glinted off the surface of a large metal device, round and plated, with a gigantic stone spiral emanating from its central chassis.
“Hah! Behold!” Kepler pointed. “Quite a beauty too, if I may say so!” He ran a claw along the curved structure resting against the floor. “Was this... carrved frrom stone?”
“It derives from that which maintains,” she said, placing the torch in a final holster. “It resists even against that which thunders.”
“... … ...” Kepler pointed. “You mean to suggest this can surrvive a dip in that insufferrably loud ocean of yourrs?”
She spoke simply: “It cannot account for those which do not release.”
Kepler's mouth hung open. He blinked. “Ach... I am at a lost. But—suffice to say—I now believe that this is an incrredibly strrong drrill.”
She exhaled through her nostrils. “It does not collect.”
“And I am...” Kepler squatted close to the device, staring up and down. “...at a loss to figurre out why.”
“It collapses which empowers.” She pointed at an open panel in the far side of the plated chassis. “It is deprived of that which sustains.”
“I see...” Kepler observed what appeared to be an empty energy core. He turned to smirk at the mare. “Almost like that which purrges being deprrived of that which lingerrs.”
“... … ...” She merely stared at him.
“Eheheh... my most sincerre apologies...” Kepler waved both hands with a nervous smile. “I should know betterr. Politics in the worrkplace—most uncouth!”
A rustling of hooves. A horn's light source bounced up from the entrance passageway down below.
“Guh! What the Hell?! Kepler?! Are you up there?”
Kepler hollered back. “We have arrrived, my frriend! Can we say the same forr Logan?”
Just hold your asses! I'm coming!
Just hold your asses! I'm coming!
Just hold your asses! I'm coming!
Flynn's sweaty, breathless face showed up down below. “Need I say more?”
“Do hurrry up, brrotherr. This device of ourr guide is in sorre need of rrepairr!”
“Httt!” With a mild grunt, Flynn clambered up the stack of rocks, giving himself a slight boost with expert telekinesis. He stood for a brief bit, panting and gazing at all the lit torches. “Well, boogers... it's a cozy little nest of stone up in here, isn't it?”
“If you ask me, a domain of grreat purrpose and self-application.”
Flynn pointed at the multiple holes. “What's with all the friggin' openings?”
“Ach...” Kepler scratched his chin. “If I would venturre to guess, they are makeshift mineshafts forr the purrpose of extrracting the materrial needed forr the prriceless varrnish overr the yearrs.” He looked towards the Dihmer. “Is that corrrect?”
“It lashes,” she said.
Kepler and Flynn stared blankly at her.
She stared blankly back.
“It... lashes...” Flynn murmured.
The mare simply nodded. “It lashes.”
More silence.
“O-kay.” Flynn slapped his hooves together, rubbed them, and approached the device. “Think I'll get that drill up and running now!”
“It appearrs to be lacking a prroperr enerrgy sourrce, brrotherr,” Kepler said.
Flynn was already focusing his mechanical eye on the innards of the contraption. “Awwww... shucks! This is an easy fix!” He gestured. “Just a right stone for enchantment and a good zap from my horn and I can totally get this thing up and running!”
“Arre we talking conventional vessels orr something of a sarrosian slant, brrotherr?”
“Well, it's super tempting to use some of the remaining runes. But we are dealing with a device built to work on chaos magic—like the strips she had back in her shack in Blobstain.” Flynn stood up straight, rubbing the back of his head and exhaling. “The ponies back in Darkreach perfected a way to mix unicorn magic with chaos. Remember Hoverplank?”
“How can we not? That lovely vehicle deserrved a grrave.”
“Hrmf. Do I know it.”
“Do you believe you can employ a similarr marrvel of engineerring herre?”
“That depends.” Flynn fidgeted slightly, looking halfway between Kepler and the mare, but no further. “If she had some chaos metal to spare...”
“Who arre you asking, exactly, frriend?”
“I'm... asking... no one?”
Kepler pointed at the mare. “Perrhaps you should ask herr.”
Flynn took a deep breath. He braved a look in her direction. “Would it... be possible if I used one or two strips of your chaos metal? So I can make the right fuse to work with an enchanted energy source for your drill?”
Kepler looked from Flynn to the Dihmer.
She stood silent for a short span, but was nonetheless deadpan when she finally stated: “It suffices.” Without hesitation, she reached a hoof into her saddlebag and produced a set of rectangular solids, brimming with a dim gray haze. “It encases,” she said, hoofing the items over to Flynn. “That which is raw and uncarved.”
Flynn cradled the pieces of metal, studying them closely. “I see...” He gave one or two shards a meager zap with his horn. Translucent scales bubbled to the surface, then faded into mist. “Whew boy... hope we won't have to prime this drill around Rainbow once she gets back.” He squatted beside the mechanism in question, reaching into his saddlebag and setting equipment out across the floor of the chamber. “Okay. I should be able to knock this out in a jiffy.” He pivoted to holler over his shoulder. “But it'll go a bit faster once Big Show spelunks his fat flank up here with my manavessels!”
Huff on a cactus, baldy!
Huff on a cactus, baldy!
Huff on a cactus, baldy!
Meanwhile, the Dihmer stood at a meager distance, sealing up her saddlebag. Before she had it entirely closed, she found herself grasping the fractured strip of metal that Plato had given her. As she held it in her grasp, tiny manifestations of chaos flew out and back in with tiny, whispery roars. Then, the strip was dull once more.
With a blank expression, the mare simply slid the shard back in and trotted around the circumference of the chamber to check on her torches.
Fourteen Hours After Rainbow Dash and Her Party Left
“What the Hell, Flynn?” Logan belched, trotting the lengths of the chamber for the umpteenth time since he clambered up there. “I thought you said you'd get that drill-thingy fixed in a jiffy.”
“Yeah, well...” Flynn licked his lips, sweating profusely as he lay beside the contraption, his forelimbs fetlock-deep into the innards as he struggled to rewire the thing. “...ran into some... grfff... c-complications!”
“I'm tellin' ya...” Logan squatted beneath a torch where his axe lay against the wall. “...you should have used one of the moon runes we got still.” He stifled a yawn and leaned back against the rockface. “Certainly, there's gotta be a perfect moonwhinny word for activating it.”
“This is not about the tech we're familiar with,” Flynn huffed and puffed. “It's about what she uses.” He paused—if only to wipe the sweat from his balding crown. “This thing runs on chaos strips—but repairing it requires unicorn precision and enchantment! It's as s-simple as that! I'm not about to turn this whole damn thing inside out so that it runs by our standards.”
Logan craned his neck curiously. “Ain't that what you're doing right now, pretty much?”
Flynn looked at Logan, then at the guts of the machine partially splayed out. “This... th-this isn't turning things inside out!” He shrugged. “It's just... y'know... chaotic surgery!”
“Uh huh...”
“Do you wanna stick your fat hooves inside this thing? If so, be my guest!”
“Pffft. And steal all your glory?” Logan shook his head with a plump smirk. “I'm not the one out to impress Lil' Miss Sunshine over there.”
“Ugh... Big Show...” Flynn's mechanical eye rotated in and out angrily. “Will you just drop it?”
“How can I if you don't let it go—?”
“I'm not kidding!” Flynn flung him an angry look. Sweat dribbled down his frowning expression. “I made mistakes—but I've backed off. It was never about trying to 'make some move 'or some crap. I've felt bad for these ponies since the moment we first made contact with them and for a brief moment I thought that maybe—just maybe—we could make a connection with one of them! It was forward and bigheaded of me, yes, but at least the effort got us this far and I'm doing my damnedest to make it work well for everypony! Can you at least respect that instead of just trying to press all my damned buttons?!”
“... … ...” Logan blinked. “Sure thing, dude...”
Flynn exhaled in a huff—as if a huge weight was yanked off his shoulders. “Good.” He returned to his work, rotating his mechanical lens to focus better on the mess of metal and conduits. “Now maybe I can make some friggin' progress.”
“But while I'm a cheeky bastard who enjoys pressing buttons, I still gotta say...” Logan squinted. “If this has anything to do with shit from the past—”
“Logan...” Flynn clenched his good eye shut. “Just leave it—”
“Not that easy, bro.” Logan's brow furrowed. “We've been together for too long for you to keep secrets from me. I know that you never got over the crap that went down in Aegis.”
“... … ...”
“I used to find it kinda funny—given what happened to Bard and Wildcard immediately after the job, that you would still be so bent out of shape about it when they ultimately suffered a lot worse stuff than either of us ever did. But I was just being callous and stupid. You went through a bad time, dude. That sucks. It sucks super hard. And—sure—you've carried yourself pretty damn well ever since. But I know a piece of you is still lying broken and battered in that cave that the crazy mare collapsed. You wanna ramble and whine about it? Do it around me. I'm big enough—I can soak it all in.”
Logan gestured across the cave.
“But don't rope her and the rest of her kind in on all that shit. They know nothing about the Light Side. They haven't been through the same crud that us Job Squadders used to see day in and day out. You wanna help them? Sure. I'd love to get them outta their funk top—hypothetically, at least. But you gotta understand that whatever you do for these ponies ain't gonna do shit for the ponies back home. And even if we magically rescue an entire culture of Dihmers from destitution, it won't take back the little filly you gave your all to resuscitate.”
Silence.
“You got that, bro?” Logan leaned in.
“Just... let me keep to my work, Big Show,” Flynn said in a defeated tone. “Machines and magic—that's my jam. It's what I understand the most... and it's where I'm most useful.”
“Well...” Logan leaned back, exhaling. “You're only half right about that.”
“Fine job you do of showing it.”
“Mrmmm... yeah...” Logan nodded. “That's also my fault.'
Neither Heraldite had anything to say after that.
Kepler half-heard the conversation as he shuffled across the chamber. He approached the Dihmer, who was squatting on the floor with several strips of chaos metal lying in orderly rows before and around her. She was in the process of carving and polishing the samples as the wyvern stood within speaking distance.
“Ach! How delightfully geometrric!” He smiled through his tusks. “I too grreatly apprreciate an orrderrly worrkspace when I am tasked with a perrsonal prroject!”
The mare barely looked up at him. “It functions.”
“Indeed so!” He unscrewed a canteen and held it out towards her. “Waterr, frriend?”
She merely looked up at him.
He cocked his head slightly to the side. “It hydrrates!”
A breath, and the mare waved a dismissive hoof. “It abstains.”
“Hmmm... a wise prrecaution, I suppose.” Kepler nevertheless took a sip himself. “Even on the Light Side, accepting sustenance frrom strrangerrs is neverr an assurrredly safe prractice. I only hope that you yourrself arre well prrovided forr.”
“It sustains.”
“I suspected as much.” Kepler squatted low to meet her eye-level, all while remaining a polite distance. “Although—I must declarre—you have gone out of yourr way to accommodate the whole lot of us.”
Her purple eyes darted up at him.
“Am I alone in making this obserrvation?” Kepler's eyes blinked behind his spectacles. “None of yourr fellow kind have endeavorred to talk to us unprrovoked, much less acknowledge ourr existence thrrough dialogue. And yet you have shown us yourr talents, escorrted us to yourr domain, and given us a golden opporrtunity to achieve ourr goals herre on the Darrk Side.” He smiled. “And in many ways, you too stand to benefit! I must say—it has to be an unprrecedented level of diplomacy forr all Dihmerr-kind!”
“... … ...” The mare looked into the space between them. Ultimately she sighed with a defeated droop of her ears. “It lingers.”
“Perrhaps. But why is that such an awful thing?” Kepler cocked his head to the side. “I cannot prretend to know the philosophical aspirrations of your kind—orr the lack therreof—but it has been my experrience that maximum prrogrress is achieved thrrough comrraderrie and benevolent association.” He took a deep breath. “You may feel whateverr you please about ourr interraction, but I would like you to know that what you have done—indeed, even what you may have sacrrificed—has brrought my frriends and I boundless satisfaction.” He held a hand over his chest. “And it has earrned my rrespect.”
Her nostrils flared. “It fails,” she muttered, returning back to her work. “It echoes as it squints.”
“Ha-Hah!” Kepler smirked. “I do suppose it was only a matterr of time beforre I rran parrallel with him.” He leaned back where he sat with a casual smile. “And you arre in yourr rright to feel annoyed by the two of us.” He looked over his shoulder. “Neverrtheless, I would like to assurre you that—despite his awkwarrd bumblings—my frriend has meant no disrrespect. Ach... his emotions and his trroubles arre often one in the same. But...” He looked at her once again. “That can be said of all us 'Penumbrrans.'” His eyes narrowed. “And even those berreft of light.”
She froze in the middle of her work, ears twitching slightly.
“It just so happens that my associates and I arren't all that verry good at supprressing ourr feelings and emotional prroclivities when it matterrs the most.” The wyvern gestured. “Mayhaps you could teach us a thing orr two about how we can imprrove upon that. But until such a day should arrrive, I prromise you that we shall rrespect yourr boundarries. You may have alrready noticed that he who 'squints' has managed to do so quite swimmingly as of late.”
The mare bit her lip. For a brief moment, it looked as though she was going to say something—
Vrmmmmmmmmmmm!
The rocks of the cavern lit up in a dim gray sheen.
“Ha!” Flynn cackled. “Hah hah hah!” He hobbled up to all fours, bucked the mechanism's plates shut, and pointed at its slowly rotating drill. “Suck on those teats, chaos! I've read your book!”
“A touch of dignity, if you would, good frriend...” Kepler shook his head with an exasperated sigh. “I endeavorred to prroselytize on behalf of yourr integrrity.”
“Integrity, smeggrity!” Logan hopped up, rubbing his hooves together. “It's drilling time, baby! Let's go fetch us some varnish!” He motioned for the drill. “Gimme gimme!”
“Uh uh, Big Show. This is my time to dance.” Flynn pointed at the seams between the mechanism's panels where it brimmed with blue-and-gray energy from within. “I just spent a veritable century putting this shit together! It's delicate. It's sensitive.”
“It's also herrs,” Kepler said, pointing at the mare in question. “It only stands to rreason that she wield it.” He looked over. “If she so chooses.”
“It... struggles,” the mare said.
All three Heraldites looked at her strangely.
“I beg yourr parrdon?” Kepler blinked.
She sighed—almost as if she was trying to explain it to children. “It struggles,” she repeated, standing up slowly. “It struggles because of that which resides.”
“Resides?” Flynn's good eye narrowed. “What resides?”
Just then...
...a loud, high-pitched, bone-chilling shriek issued from the many-many-many holes surrounding the chamber from all sides. Either it was the acoustics or the sheer echo of the outburst, but it sounded like a hundred million beasts were screaming into the cavern from all sides.
Flynn jumped, nearly bumping into the drill. Kepler winced visibly. Logan reached for his axe.
“The buck is that?!” Flynn's voice cracked.
The Dihmer looked at them as if they were twice as stupid as usual. “It lashes.”
The roar resounded—louder now. Closer.
Tiny chaos serpents issued from the active drill, splitting into nearly a dozen translucent worms—each of which flew down a separate hole in the wall. The air tingled as the aura of chaos intensified.
Logan grimaced. “Awwww hell no.”