//------------------------------// // That Is a Keen Sense, Indeed // Story: Ynanhluutr // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// “Guh!” Rainbow grimaced. She curled her hooves to her chest, panting. Looking left and right, she spotted stars, cosmos, and nebulae. “What...?” Looking straight ahead, she saw a curved horizon rolling beneath her. Its mountains, oceans, and rivers bled together to form a terrestrial blur. Wasting no time, Rainbow flapped her wings and bolted forward, shouting into the heavens. “You! You're there!” She snarled, eyes darting left and right as she sped over the various ruby beacons. “Stop playing! I know you're there!” “The flame is hotter than ever before,” the voice shook over the landscape. “Has the Austraeoh found another torch?” “Yeah! And then some!” Rainbow clapped her hooves together. “Friggin' talk to me, ya fart gas! Has Verlax been here before?” “She speaks of the other set of eyes that has been upon her...” It was neither a declaration or an inquisition. “Answer the question!” Rainbow barked. “Verlax! Has she been to every beacon?!” The mare gulped. “Has she laid some stupid trap for me from here on out?!” “Perhaps we are not the only ones who anticipate the Spark's journey.” The horizon rippled as if the edge of the world was full of flame and not water. “A great deal of revolutions have passed since the beginning of all things breaking.” “Tell me... tell me pl-please...” Rainbow gulped. “The Sundering! Is that it?! Is that what this whole stinkin' journey's about?!” “The world dies without the Austraeoh. The world dies for the Austraeoh.” The stars above receded, giving way to empty darkness. “It will live as she lives, through the end and back—” “Was it all worth taking my friends away from me?!” Rainbow hollered, eyes tearing. She seethed: “More than once?!” The void grew deeper, darker, blacker. It encompassed everything. Rainbow yelled against it: “I'm serious! Tell me the truth! Give me a—” FLASH!!! “—sign!” Rainbow Dash stammered, stumbling forward over the golden platform. Her hooves slipped on freshly melted ice, and she stood over several loose plates of armor, panting. “Twitchy tail! Twitchy tail!” Rainbow Dash did a double-take. She stared dumbly into a haze of mechanical parts, all dripping with slick condensation. “The truth is 'twitchy tail?'” “Look out!” Bard shouted from behind. Rainbow sensed a shadow above her. Gasping, the mare leapt to her left—just in time to avoid a falling chunk of ice. CRKKK! “Rainbow!” Twilight gasped. “Are you alright?!” “Darling! You're back!” Rarity floated briefly into sight, only to be blotted out by swinging pendulums and swirling gears. “We... uh... seem to have a situation—” “Everythang's become all sprungy and alive!” Bard shouted. “Whatever you did, darlin', it turned this place on like a light—” “Oooh! Ooooh! Achy fetlock!” A bouncy voice chirped. “That means 'look out for the big swinging golden pendulum of doom!'” “... ... ...!!!” Rainbow spun around. She saw Bard and Wildcard standing in place, side by side. They were too busy gawking to notice the gigantic piece of metal machinery swinging straight towards them. “Guys!” Rainbow was already diving. “Look out—” Whump! She plowed the two over, saving them from the heavy swipe of the pendulum. The trio tumbled over a puddle-strewn part of the platform while icicles collapsed all around them. “Whoah dayum!” Bard sputtered, catching ahold of his staff and slowly standing up. “How in Goddess' name didja see that?” “Wuh oh!” The voice chirped again. Rainbow spotted a darting flash of pastel in her peripheral. “Ear flop! Eye flutter! Knee twitch!” A curtain of amber light poured over the rumbling interior. “Rainbow! Look!” Twilight exclaimed. “The door to the other side!” “It's open!” Rarity added. “Yeeeeehaa!” Bard hollered, yanking the griffon up to his talons. “Make like a feather and tickle, son! Cuz we done blown this joint!” “Heeheeheee! Ride 'em cowponyyyyy!” Rarity and Twilight jerked in place. They spun about, muzzles agape. “Wait a second...” “Is that...?” “GO!” Rainbow hollered, shoving Bard and Wildcard along. “Just go! Go!” Directly above, the shifting of the glowing machine parts had shaken loose the last chunks of ice from within the upper alcoves. Razor sharp icicles and bits of frost fell in a murderous curtain, trailing after the hooves of the scampering trio. Rainbow and the Desperadoes galloped out of the entrance just in the nick of time. They winced, their flanks sprinkled with snow and icy powder. “Brrbrbrbrrrr!” Bard shuddered, wincing all over. “Dang if that wasn't a close one—!” “Whoops! Twitchy tail again!” “Heads up!” Rainbow hollered, diving forward again. Wildcard flapped his wings, flying in time to narrowly escape a craggy piece of the stone ceiling as it fell down. The Machine World chamber behind them shook, spiraled, and shifted within its earthen foundation. As a result, the sirens' sepulchers shook and quaked all around it—as well as the figures directly outside. “We gotta move!” Rainbow said breathily. “No standing around! We're dead meat down here!” “I ain't fit for gravy!” Bard's voice cracked as she took the lead. “Hop along, Dubya-C!” Wildcard glided after him and Rainbow Dash carried the rear. The claustrophobic air turned deafening with tremorous rumbles as the three figures ascended the spiraling corridor. To the left and right, stone effigies of sirens and seaponies collapsed into dust. “Come on, Camellia...” Rainbow sneered, huffing and puffing. She clenched her eyes shut and concentrated. “Camellia, help, please. We need a way out.” “Rainbow, darling,” Rarity's voice delicately rang. “I... don't think we're quite alone.” “Huh?” A flash of fuchsia zipped overhead. “Weeeeee! Whupp! Sniffly left nostril! Watch the floor!” “Jump!” Rainbow randomly spat. “Huh?” Bard found himself being lifted up by Wildcard's talons as the floor gave out beneath him. “Whoah!” Rainbow glided over the sudden fissure in the tomb. She stopped along the far edge, looking over her shoulder. “Pink—?” “Darlin'! Dun stop!” Bard wheezed as he and Wildcard found their footing. “There's a clearin'! Just up ahead!” Wildcard gestured. “Yup!” Bard nodded, sputtering. “Feels like the tremors are stoppin' too!” “We can only hope...” Rainbow galloped after them. The torchlight ahead of them was incredibly bright. Rainbow had to squint—and she could scarecly make out a fluffy figure with an even fluffier mane standing dead-front-and-center, smiling at her with two shiny blue eyes. “And now there's a strange cold crick in my neck! That means we're surrounded by a bunch of angry stallions who want to stomp us to death and drink our blood!” With a gasp, Rainbow phased straight through the pink mare. Her eyes came into focus, and she could suddenly see why the Desperadoes had stumbled to a shivering stop beside her. “There!” Cold Stone hollered, pointing up at the lofty entrance where Rainbow, Bard, and Wildcard stood. He wasn't alone, for there was also Revan, Jeryn, and no less than forty angry members of the Syndicate, all situated beneath a tall wall of quivering telekineticized water. The group pivoted to face the far end of the chamber. In the torchlight, several dozen metal bats, blades, and other bludgeons glistened—along with countless rows of snarling teeth. “There they are! Exactly where I said they would come out!” “Verlaxion's sleet...” Jeryn gasped, his features paling even more. “There's... there's only three of them? Whoah!” Revan shoved his way past Jeryn. He shouted so loud that veins popped in his neck. “Barrrrrrrrd!” The stallion gulped and drew back. “Awwwwwwww hell...” “I'm going to stomp the shit out of your balls so hard that generations from now sea ponies will need a pooper scooper made out of titanium to even dredge up a turdlet of your remains from this goddess forsaken underwater toilet, ya bar snatching flankhole!” Revan shouted. “Eeep!” Rarity squeaked. Twilight gulped audibly. Rainbow bit her lip, glancing aside. A pink face with a pink smile turned to face her. “Heeheeheee!” Pinkie Pie giggle-snorted, then pointed down at the mob. “He said 'pooper scooper.'”