//------------------------------// // Now That We Have That Settled // Story: Ynanhluutr // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// “Mon dieu...” Sinrar squinted through a dimly glowing telescope positioned on a balcony on the west end of a three-story college building. The looking-glass peered straight out over the ocean waves. It was a good fifteen minutes after the sun had set, and a crimson glow clung to the ripply horizon. “...it really has changed.” “You mean you see it from here?” Rainbow Dash said. “The Tower, I mean?” “Non.” Sinrar shook his head. “Not at all. It has vanished.” “Er... right... well—” “And that is the change!” Sinrar leaned back, blinking both eyes as he leaned on the telescope. “It is gone.” He turned towards the pegasus. “And, no doubt, you're going to tell me that you're responsible for its vanishing.” “More or less.” Rainbow shrugged. “I'm responsible for a lot of things.” “Because of your...” Sinrar squinted at the mare. “...fantastical quest to reach the 'dark side', as you put it.” “Right.” “You were right to show me the magnificent artifact in your possession,” Sinrar grumbled. “Otherwise, I would have hit you with my cane a lot.” “Uhm... dude... you did hit me with your cane a lot!” She gestured towards the side of the balcony. “You hit us both a lot!” Nick lay against the balcony's railing. At the sound of Rainbow's voice, he snorted and jerked into a sitting position. “Hmmph! Huh? What?” He blinked. “Oh. Right... telescoping...” He leaned back and closed his eyes again. “Well, I would have hit you a lot a lot.” Sinrar adjusted his beret, staring out at the western waters. “And you say that—between Kihutaja and Val Roa... there is a desert?” “A very nasty place,” Rainbow said. “It stretches for... for...” Her face scrunched. “Well, I can't quite say how wide it is. But it's super huge... too huge to map.” “Bah!” “No, for real.” Rainbow gestured. “And all things magical get choked... almost as if the place is filled with anti-magic. Well... it used to be.” “Rainbow,” Twilight whispered. “Tell him about the expedition.” Rainbow looked towards her. “I thought I already did.” Sinrar arched an eyebrow. “Eh? Already did what?” “Erm...” Rainbow Dash fidgeted. “The expedition I mentioned...” “What about it?” “Well, I'm just... surprised that any Val Roans made it through,” Rainbow said. “Unless, of course, it was a different group of deer than the ones who ended in starvation and... c-cannibalism.” She gulped. Twilight shuddered. “Hmmmm...” Sinrar paced across the balcony, hobbling on his cane. “Most of those papers I had gathered over twenty years of visiting various research institutions across the Archipelago. In fact, it was because of my intense studies that I founded the Modern Kihutajan Archaeology Foundation here at the Academy.” “Hey...” Rainbow Dash smirked. “That's a pretty cool thing to have under your belt.” “Yeah...” Nick yawned and smirked. “Because at that age, you can't hold stock in much else below the belt.” Thwack! “Owww! Dang it...” Sinrar grumbled, pacing some more. “From what I know, most of those parchments are easily centuries old, several of them re-etched.” He squinted at Rainbow Dash. “Legend is that some of the northern islands—the earliest westward colonies—found a group of 'strange ponies' cast adrift on the waters. Mrmmfff... seems that 'deer' were rather sparse in that part of the world. They didn't know how else to describe them, which is why the information's gotten scattered through the ages.” “Do deer simply not live around here?” “A few continentals sport antlers,” Sinrar said. “But, then again, central Rohbredden is home to several unique species.” “The most important of which are the Six Tribes, I'm guessing.” “Right. You've gathered enough on your own, harpy.” Sinrar nodded in Nick's direction. “And here I thought he was only sharing his strudel.” “Hmmmmm...” Nick yawned, curling up against the railing. “...strawberry jammmm...” Twilight giggled. Rainbow rolled her eyes. “He's... had his moments.” She cleared her throat. “But, for real, did these 'ponies with antlers' have anything to say? Were their testimonies written down?” “They were mad. Starved of magic and sanity,” Sinrar said. “That long ago—well before the Order of Verlaxion—the islanders who found them held a deeply-revered folk tradition. They thought that the deer had simply lost contact with their spirits. So, as was custom at the time, the ponies laid the survivors side by side on the beach so that the tide would carry the souls of their forebears back to them.” Rainbow winced. “I'm... guessing they didn't last long.” “Bah! And here I thought you were foaled yesterday!” Sinrar shook his head. “They died quicker than squirrels drowning in a cesspool! But the remains of their raft—along with their possessions—survived for generations within the possession of the island. And when the ages rolled over and colonists rolled in to properly civilize the place, the foreign materials were inducted into historic preservation.” “Which is how you stumbled across them.” “Oui.” Rainbow flapped her wings, pacing about in mid-air. “Hmmmm... I just wonder how they even got that far.” “Sinrar said that they landed in an island far to the north,” Twilight said. “Maybe they tempered the heat of the sojourn across the Grand Choke by hugging the northern extremes.” The unicorn's ghostly eyes narrowed. “You mentioned that the north edge of the world is lined with skystone deposits. Maybe there's a thin line between the skystone and the Choke that allows for a self-sustaining magical-flux.” “Crazy,” Rainbow muttered. “Is that even possible?” “Hein?” Sinrar squinted. “Are you talking to yourself again?” “Meh. Don't mind me, Dr. Dude.” “Difficult not to, harpy,” the old stallion grunted. “Seeing you fly like that. It's downright mind-fondling.” Rainbow looked at her flapping wings, then at the retired professor. “You guys are seriously not used to seeing this, huh?” “I gave up on flight a long time ago, as well as many other things.” Sinrar's nostrils flared. “As soon as I settled here.” “Well, that sucks,” Rainbow said. “Rainbow...” Twilight frowned. Rainbow sighed, then said, “For real, I've no clue how long the Blight will stay under. Maybe it's gone for good, maybe it's not. But if you ever wanted to try flying again—” “And give up my prospective pursuits?! Hah! Fly down lower so I can clobber you!” “Uhhhhh... n-no thanks...” “And now!” Sinrar grinned wide, his bifocals rattling. “With you here, opening up entire horizons of opportunities, I've years upon years of breakthrough papers to write—” “Whoah whoah whoah whoah...” Rainbow waved her forelimbs. “Hold on a second, old stallion.” She cocked her head to the side. “I only told you all that I have...” She pointed generally towards the western waves. “Shown you all that I have so I could win your trust!” “Eh?” “And—with your trust—I was hoping you can help me,” Rainbow said. “You know that Tower that's no longer there?” “What about it?” “Well, we...” She winced, glancing aside at Twilight. “I have done a bunch of digging around... y'know... in ancient tomes? And it would appear as though there are five other points of interests throughout this part of the world that—” “The Six Seeds.” “... … ...” Rainbow blinked. “I beg your pardon?” “Mmmmm...” Nick cooed, smiling in his half-sleep. “Sunflowers...” Sinrar hobbled closer to Rainbow Dash, staring up. “It's a long-forgotten legend. Only remote islanders still loyal to folk tradition speak of it.” “Speak of what?” “That there was once Six Spots in the world—the known world where the spirits of our descendants planted the seeds of present-day civilization.” “Erm... 'descendants?' Don't you mean 'ancestors?'” “They're both one in the same.” Sinrar smirked. “Ancient islanders believed that life was cyclical, and those we foaled would someday become the great grand parents of ourselves.” “Huh...” Twilight blinked, glancing at Rainbow. “That's rather... unique.” “That's rather unique,” Rainbow droned. Twilight tried to slap her, but the hoof flew through. The pegasus smirked. “Oui. Rohbredden religion was a great deal... more creative...” Sinrar snorted. “Before Verlaxion showed up.” “That seems to be the overall vibe I'm getting from you Kihutajans,” Rainbow said. “I am no mere Kihutajan!” Sinrar barked. “Wretched harpy—I am the lightning in the storm of intellect!” “Cool beans,” Rainbow yawned. “So... the Six Seeds?” “Ah. Very well. So, these were planted in six parts of the world, and—as time grew on—they became part of myth and legend. However, I had in my possession several old tomes that depicted the whereabouts of these alleged points of interest.” “What do you mean 'had?'” Rainbow asked, wincing slightly. “Eh... I lost them in a fire one day I was trying to flush the cat out from under my bed.” “Buh?” “But it matters not!” Sinrar tapped his frazzled orange mane with his cane. “I have all of the information stored away up here!” “And...” Rainbow smirked awkwardly. “...you'll be willing to help me find these locations, right?” “Mmmm... it depends.” “Ughhhhh...” Rainbow slumped in mid-air. “Come on, Rainbow, let's hear him out,” Twilight said. Rainbow looked up with tired eyes. “Depends on what, Dr. Dude?” “You're asking for me to give you one ancient world...” Sinrar scratched his chin. “Might you be willing to exchange for another?” “I've told you enough, haven't I?” Rainbow remarked. “And it's not like any of us can afford for me to haul your wrinkly flank back over to Val Roa!” “Ah, but you have communicative contact with the other end of the Blight!” Sinrar gestured along his neck, glancing at Rainbow's pendant. “Maybe... just perhaps maybe... I can get you to part with an artifact or two, non?” Rainbow blanched, then immediately clutched her pendant. “Out of the question, citrus head! You've got no idea how much I need this thing!” “Bah! It can't be that special to you!” “Besides, it doesn't work that way!” “Rainbow, think about it,” Twilight spoke, smiling pleasantly. “Maybe you could... I don't know... let him borrow it for a little while?” Rainbow gawked at her. “Twilight, are you crazy?! I can't!” “Why not? You're out of the Choke. You've touched a beacon. You're not exactly using it at the moment.” “It... it's much more complicated than that!” Rainbow exclaimed. “I can't take this thing off!” “Why not?” “Because the moment I remove this from me, I risk... I-I mean I'll end up... up...” “What?” Twilight blinked at her. “What'll happen to you?” Rainbow's blood went cold. She stared at her old friend and her innocent smile. After a few moments, she gulped, then said, “I... will... not be so harmonic.” She cleared her throat. “For real. There's a lot of stuff about... Luna's spell that's keeping me... together.” Twilight leaned her head to the side. Eventually, the spectre shrugged. “Have it your way. I still think it could have made for a good bargaining chip.” “Twilight, I'm daring, but not that daring.” “Honestly, I think it's charming.” Twilight giggled. “That you're so loyal to the pendant that you wear it at all times.” Rainbow chuckled nervously, then looked away from the unicorn. “You've got no idea...” “Uhm...” Rainbow looked down. Sinrar leaned against his cane with an impatient stare. “Are you quite done chirping at yourself?” Twilight blushed. “Uhhh... sure... I guess,” Rainbow said, clearing her throat. “I can see that the Blight did a lot to the air between the walls of your skull.” “Har har...” Rainbow droned. “Your long years of isolated old cootery haven't been too gracious on you either.” “Touche.” Sinrar smirked. “But at least I don't talk to imaginary friends.” “Yeah, well...” Rainbow folded her forelimbs. “One 'imaginary friend' can talk back.” “This 'Princess Luna' whom you speak of?” “Just stick around, Dr. Dude...” Rainbow glanced up at the sky. “It'll be another full moon soon.” “Heeeee...” Nick nuzzled the balcony's edge. “Moooooon...”