“Shaped like a bell, kissed by sunlight and twilight,” spoke the golem while it marched icily across the platform. “It waits in sheets of the ancients, bringing wind to the wings of that which ignites the world.”
Rainbow Dash blinked. Her ears instantly folded as she made a retching expression. “...the buck?”
With a metallic voice, the golem repeated: “Shaped like a bell, kissed by sunlight and—”
“You call that a friggin' riddle?!” Rainbow Dash's voice cracked. “It's garbly gook!”
“You have heard the Queen's first puzzle,” the golem firmly said, pacing around Rainbow. “Solve it.”
“With what?! A pizza slicer?!” Rainbow gnashed her teeth. “Who does Verlax think she is if a 'puzzle' to her is a snow cone made out of frozen grammatical vomit—?!”
“You have three chances to answer.” Chiiiiing! A translucent scythe of blue frost solidified off the end of its limb, and the suit of armor held it up to Bard's frozen throat. “Or do you forfeit?”
“No! No!” Rainbow hissed through her teeth, waving a hoof. “I don't forfeit! Just... back away from the yodelmeister. I got this...”
The golem lowered its limb, staring calmly in Rainbow's direction. “She awaits your response.”
“Yeah, I bet she friggin' does...” Rainbow Dash paced and paced in a tight circle, panting, shuddering. An iron frown hung off her blue muzzle. “The whole world's dying... Pinkie Pie's waiting in the wings... and Miss Dragon Tiara's giving me the Hazing of the Immortals.” She scuffled to a stop, holding her skull in two tight hooves. “'Shaped like a bell... kissed by sunlight and twilight... it... waits in sheets of the ancients...'” She looked up, gulping as her face twisted in confusion. “...bringing wind to the wings of that which ignites the world...?”
“It would not do to tarry for long.”
“Just gimme a sec!” Rainbow hollered over her shoulder. Catching her breaths, she stared forward, eyes piercing the frosted lengths of the Machine World's cavern. While her mind raced, her vision washed over the frozen bowers clinging to the walls and dormant contraptions of that interior. She saw miniature glaciers of petrified ice covering pendulums and conveyor belts and enormous gears. Then—at last—her vision fell upon the platform located within the central dais. Yaerfaerda pulsed from deep within its icy prison, looming pink and bright above a cylindrical pedestal.
“'Shaped like a bell...'” Rainbow whispered to herself. “'Waits in sheets of the ancients...' Like metallic sheets? The Machine World layer? Bringing wind to the wings... The beacons. Ruby flame... the stuff that keeps me from turning all chaos-creepy'n'dead...”
Rainbow gulped hard.
She turned around, eyes bright. “Is it... the pedestal of flame in the Machine World? Like that which is right in front of m—?”
“Incorrect,” the golem rang metallically.
“Dang it!” Rainbow kicked at the floor.
“The Austraeoh has two more chances left for this question.”
“Right... right... I know...” She stood up and paced around, nostrils flaring. Her eyes traced the floor. For a moment, she imagined she was flying. She envisioned the horizon—how different it looked under a sunrise versus the night's sky. “'Kissed by sunlight and twilight'... 'waits in sheets of the ancients...'” Her eyes twitched, and she scuffled to a stop. “Sheets... sheets of rain?” Her brow furrowed. “Stratopolis... was built by the ancients...” Rainbow's muzzle hung open. “...and it had been to both the dark and the light side of the plane, right?” Spinning around, the mare faced the golem. “Is it a Sentinel?”
“Incorrect.”
“Aaaaaaugh!” Rainbow stomped her hooves, snarling. “Idiot! Stratopolis wasn't shaped like a darn bell!”
“The Austraeoh has one more chance.” Schiiiing! Rainbow didn't have to look to know that the automaton was raising a blade to Bard's figure again. “What is the Austraeoh's answer?”
Rainbow plopped back on her haunches, burying her face in her hooves as she rocked back and forth. Despite the cold, sweat ran down her face and neck. The world echoed with the sound of her muffled breathing, and the pressure of her hooves against her clenched eyelids brought all sorts of distorted color and chaos to her mind. She thought of all of the insanely “ancient” things she had witnessed in her journeys: from the well-preserved armor of Commander Hurricane deep beneath Durandana to the dormant tower lingering beneath Darkstine.
She thought of caves, caverns, tunnels—all of the crazy capillaries that ran deep beneath the surface of the sunlit world, how they swam and teased their way towards the metallic gold layer of the Machine World. She thought of the various continents full of ponies living atop it all in blissful—and oftentimes malevolent ignorance. She thought of remnants of the past... cave drawings... granite etchings... journals...
Tomes. Rainbow Dash thought of ancient books... one ancient book, something envied by Khao and the rest of the Herald. Somewhere, eons ago, Rainbow Dash sat alone in a cave, squatting beside the skeleton of a dead pegasus. She was flipping through the ancient paper sheets of the tome, seeing runes, phrases, symbols. One reoccurring emblem had a unique shape to it—like that of a bell. The top portion had a slice of a solar crest and the bottom part—the dark side—had the feeble outline of a half-circle.
Rainbow Dash's heart skipped a beat, for suddenly she was no longer looking back at the cave, but instead at a time when the same book powered up the core of a majestic airship. And she sat in the warmth of many friends, a jury of noble peers, all sailing east via the power that the book brought, an enchanted wind that carried the living spark of the world further east.
“Innavedr...” Rainbow Dash turned around, muzzle agape. “It's Innavedr.”
The golem's glowing eyes pulsed a bright blue. “... … ...That is correct.” It trotted across the platform without looking. Behind it, the frost encasing Bard's body spontaneously melted in a cloud of vapor.
“Snkkkt—duaaah!” Bard gasped and sputtered for air, twitching and convulsing on the floor.
“Whoah!” Rainbow Dash glided over and held the quivering stallion. “Whoah there, big guy. Take it easy. Even breaths...”
“Mmmmmff... guhhh...” Bard hissed, his teeth chattering as he struggled to open his eyes. Shaking and shaking, the stallion gazed all across the frozen room. “Whoah d-dayum...!” He gulped hard. “Somepony get the license plate of that iceberg that done kissed me!” Gulping hard, he glanced over at frozen-solid griffon. “Dubya?! Dubya-Cee?!?” In a panic, he tried standing up.
“Shhhh! Dude! Chillax!” Rainbow winced. “Erm, I mean—”
“But look at 'em! He's a goddess-dayum frozen turkey—”
“Bard, stay calm...” Rainbow Dash patted his shoulders, staring off at the golem. “I've got this.”
“Whaddya mean, y'all got this?!” Bard frowned, shivering as he gazed across the platform. “What in the Hell is goin' on here?”
“I'm being tested,” Rainbow said firmly, eyes on the automaton. “And the prize is my friends... as well as our ticket out of here.”
Bard shuddered. “Ya don't say.”
“Shhh...” Rainbow stood up straight, wings poised. “Ahem... I'm ready.”
The automaton swiveled about, blue eyes leering. “Second Question...”