//------------------------------// // Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide // Story: Ynanhluutr // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash's leg shook... and then her other leg. Her tail flicked, and the same anxiousness that caused it to happen ran up her body, culminating in a quiver to her jaws. Something tickled in her ear... Something faint, icy cold... like a whisper. “Mrmmmff...” She curled up tightly, her eyes clenched shut. The hairs on her neck stood up. “Grmmff... no...” Her lips parted, exposing a set of clenched teeth. “No... no!” Her eyes flew open, and she saw nothing but darkness. “... ... ...!!!” With a gasp, Rainbow Dash sat up straight. Bard's hat flew off her head, exposing her to blinding white sunlight. She winced, leaning back and covering her eyes as she seethed. “Hold on... relax, darlin'.” A strong set of hooves grasped her shoulder. The mare grunted, throwing the stallion's grip off. Bard backed up, waving his forelimbs. “Easy... easy... it's okay...” “Where... where...?” Rainbow sweated and sweated, gazing left and right. “...the garden...?” “Garden?” Bard turned to glance over his shoulder. A goggled griffon simply shrugged. “Erm...” Bard looked back at her. “What garden?” Rainbow sniffed the air. Instead of royal flowers and a well-kempt lawn, she smelled salt water and the pungent aroma of wet fish. “Unnngh...” She rubbed her head. “Why...” A gulp. “Why didn't you wake me sooner?” “Well... to be honest, Rainbow, we done thought about it.” Bard smiled nervously. “But... when you talk to yerself the way you do, it's... kinda hard to tell just who yer talkin' to. I mean, swing a dead cat, and it's either ghost-friend this... ghost-friend that... sea princess... moon princess... sun princess...” He chuckled. “Take yer pick.” “Ughhhh...” Rainbow rubbed her eyes, trying to sit up straight. She couldn't spot a familiar shade of white, lavender, or pink. “Twilight... Twilight and the others are still... uh... 'asleep.'” She gulped. “I was... dreaming, I guess.” “Yer sure about that?” “Pretty sure.” Rainbow lowered her hooves, blinking thinly. “Wait.” She squinted up at Bard. “Just what was I saying in my sleep, anyway?” “Hell if I could make any sense of it.” Bard leaned over with a groan, picking up his hat. “Some crazy ramblin' about... 'the foundations of home.'” He brushed the thing off and plopped it on his head with a calm smile. “You seemed mighty scared about it 'crumblin' without you' or some such nonsense.” Rainbow glanced about, tonguing the inside of her muzzle. “If ya ask me, darlin', you've been under a lot of stress. Even before you met us Desperadoes.” Bard gathered his heavy belongings, along with his guitar case. “A head under that much pressure is bound to squeeze out anythang.” “Yeah...” Rainbow shuddered. “I guess.” She looked up, ears twitching. The cold whisper was gone. Then again, Rainbow couldn't hear much of anything—not even the crashing of waves. “Wait... why aren't we moving?” “Ah yeah... about that...” Bard shifted where he stood. “We was hopin' you'd wake up soon so we could have a mighty delicate conversation about—” “Ultimo?!” Rainbow sprung up to her hooves. She trotted briskly towards the creature's snout and stared off across the ocean. Sure enough, the creature had come to a complete stop. The waves lazily lapped up to the big fish's scales, and the seagulls were gone completely. Dead ahead, due east at this point, Yaerfaerda hovered right above sea level. Wildcard talon-signed. “He plum stopped about an hour ago,” Bard explained. “Dubya-Cee noticed it first. I thought he was crazy, but then I realized we weren't movin' for nothin'.” “Ultimo, what gives?” Rainbow stared down at his bulbous eyes. “You tired or something? Need us to find you a kelp forest to munch on or some jazz?” Almost immediately, a deep bass groan rolled through the beast's body from fin-to-tail. Its eyes twitched about as its snout broke water, then sank again. “Whoah nelly!” Bard held onto his hat while his buddy reached over to steady him with a metal talon. “Heheh... that's the first time he's 'said' anythang, Rainbow. Guess he only answers to you.” “Yeah. Courtesy of Camellia's command.” Rainbow looked once again at her reflection in the beast's giant fish-eyes. “Lemme guess... this is as far as you're able to bring us.” The fish eyes blinked twice. Another groan vibrated beneath Rainbow's hooves, and all three travellers could hear the mighty splash of the beast's enormous tail splashing through the waves. “Hah! Like a big ol' puppy!” Bard smirked. “Looks like yer right on the money, Rainbow.” Rainbow sighed. “Do you really... really have to high-tail it back to Shoggoth, Ultimo? I mean... you've brought us so far! What's the problem with going a little bit more out of your way?” Wildcard gestured emphatically. “Dubya-Cee has a point,” Bard said, nodding. “The big guppy just might not be able to. Depends on exactly where we're headed.” Rainbow glanced over. “What do you mean?” “Well... I've had my suspicions... seein' as I almost recognize the smells of these here waters n'all.” He motioned at Rainbow's satchels. “How 'bout we take a gander at that fancy shmancy map of yers?” “Er... yeah.” Rainbow nodded. “Sure thing.” Wildcard and Bard crowded in, looking over the mare's shoulder as she fished Sinrar's maps out of the deepest pocket of her saddlebags. “Eeeugh...” Rainbow exhaled, already grimacing at the water-faded lengths of the sheets as she unfolded them. “For Pete's sake. These things have really been through the wringer.” “Well, we did survive the bottom of the ocean and being vomited out of a giant sea beast... twice.” “I swear, the Professor's gonna kill me if fate makes us meet again.” “He was a Colonialist, wasn't he?” “Yeah. Your point?” “Reckon it's highly unlikely we'll bump into him where we're going.” “Well, let's figure that out, shall we?” Rainbow opened the map, then squinted at the illustrated dots south of Rust. “Mmmmmmmm... just where is Shoggoth, exactly?” Wildcard mutely pointed at a big yellow circle marked: “Shoggoth.” “Oh.” Rainbow blinked. “Right.” “Eyes like a hawk,” Bard said. “I'm tellin' ya.” Wildcard smirked. “Okay... so...” Rainbow exhaled, her eyes trailing across Sinrar's finely drawn lines. “We headed due northeast from there, riding atop Ultimo's backside.” “Of that, I can personally attest,” Bard said. “How fast do you suppose he's been moving all this time?” Rainbow remarked. “Suppose we coulda thrown Dubya-Cee out into the drink and measured how fast the mofo passed us from dorsal to tail,” Bard said. A metal talon slapped the back of his hat. Without moving, Bard sighed: “Reckon I deserved that one.” “Okay, so let's just agree that... by a nautical scale... we were moving pretty darn fast.” “Didn't even need a wind in our sails. Cuz... y'know... no sails.” “Yeah, I got it,” Rainbow grumbled, squinting at the lines. “Mmmmmm...” She drew her hoof diagonally northeast from Shoggoth... then stopped at random. “Okay, so... I know we could have stopped anywhere, but the fact of the matter is...” She gazed up, squinting past the morning light. Yaerfaerda shimmered due east. “Where we happened to be right now... the Fourth Seed is located east of us.” “By 'Fourth Seed,' I reckon you mean the next place you aim to fetch another one of yer ghost friends.” “Right.” Rainbow gulped. “Judging by the color of the beacon, I'm pretty sure it's gonna be Fluttershy. I mean... that's just the pattern of things.” “Fluttershy. Whew... mighty purdy name there.” “Don't you friggin' start.” “Ahem. Right.” Bard leaned in, squinting at the map. “Due east of us... huh?” “The beacon—Yaerfaerda—is at sea level. So... y'know...” Rainbow gulped. “I don't think my next destination is underwater this time.” “You mean like Shoggoth?” “Right.” “Whew! Well that's a relief” “So... uh... do you guys know of any islands or archipelagos or anything that could be located directly east of where we might be now?” Bard tilted his head aside. “You dun suppose it's on Rohbredden proper?” “Yeesh...” Rainbow ran a hoof through her mane. “Not sure I'm ready for all that yet...” “Can ya tell just how far away this... erm... 'Yiffy Fear' is?” Rainbow gazed east again. “... ... ...a hundred... two hundred miles, maybe?” “Ya sure about that?” “No,” Rainbow grunted. “I'm never sure. But—judging on past glances and how bright it's been—I feel like we might be a day or two away from it.” She cleared her throat. “If... if we were still able to ride on Ultimo, of course.” “Hmmmm...” Bard nodded, rubbing his chin in thought as he scanned the map once more. “Two days' trip... two hundred miles or so...” “I... I'm sorry it's so vague,” Rainbow said, squirming. “But... any help would be fantastic. After all, you guys have been around this place a heck of a lot more than me. I figured you—” “—know these islands like the backs of our hooves. Or, perhaps, talons.” Bard glanced aside. “How 'bout it, Dubya-Cee? Any bright ideas?” The griffon was already nodding. He pointed at a series of tiny dots surrounding a pair of squiggly horizontal lines just a few spaces west of the large circular body of the Rohbredden Continent. He then proceeded to mimic a “praying” and “bowing” gesture with his body. “Heh...” Bard smirked. “The Luminards, eh?” Rainbow's brow furrowed. “The Lumi-what?” “But ya reckon there's a firm enough place for this Fourth Seed to be sittin' all pretty amidst the Quade?” Wildcard nodded, then gestured some more. “Hah! Yer right. Them monks coulda built a platform outta them holy reeds of theirs.” “Hey! Dudes!” Rainbow barked, flinging a look at one Desperado after another. “Fill me in here! For realsies!” “Ahem...” Bard leaned back. “Dubya-Cee thinks that yer crazy fart beacon may be located in the Quade. And, all thangs considered, I reckon that's the best guess at this point.” “What... exactly is the Quade.” Bard pointed at the map. “See that tiny pepperin' of dots west of Rohbredden proper?” “Uhhhhh... yeah?” Rainbow blinked. “What is it? An archipelago?” “Hardly, though it probably wants to be.” “Huh?” Bard cleared his throat. “The Quade is a name we Rohbreddenites give to a smatterin' of sharp, juttin' heaps'o'limestone that sorta... just shoots up out of the ocean. The water there ain't exactly deep... but t'ain't proper in callin' it 'shallow' neither. Fact is, there are so many rocks and shoals n'such that most boats steer clear of the place. The big ones, anyway.” “Okaaaaay...” Rainbow glanced down at the scales beneath them. “Guess that explains why Ultimo doesn't wanna head on over there.” A deep bass groan. “Seems like somebody agrees.” Bard pointed at the map again. “Y'see, accordin' to legend, there was once a big friggin' island located southwest of Rohbredden. We're talkin' ages ago... back durin' the last ice age, before Unification n'all.” “Right...” “Heck, this place was so dayum huge, that most smart scholar-folk go so far as to call it Rohbredden's 'Sister Continent.' The mythological name was 'Lumina,' on account of how shiny its limestone cliffs were. It caught the luminous sunlight and all. Get it?” “I see. A regular Rohbredden Oatlantis.” “Beg yer pardon?” Bard and Wildcard did double-takes. “Erm... forget it... Equestrian stuff.” Rainbow sighed, waving a hoof. “Carry on with the exposition, dude.” Bard shrugged. “It gets mighty depressin' from there. Most ponies'n'wyverns who were livin' in Lumina flocked over to the bigger continent, seekin' warmth durin' the Great Freeze. Then, once Queen Verlaxion made a splash, they all stayed in Rohbredden proper. The Goddess—as we all know—warmed the oceans and drove the blizzards away. Well, seems like this had a less-than-positive effect on Lumina. Most of its landscape was bein' held together by ancient glaciers anyway, and I guess Verlaxion's gift of unification was a mite bit too strong—cuz once explorers made the trip back, they found most of Lumina had fallen into the ocean... save for a bunch of limestone formations that had survived the erosion. To this day, we call it the 'Quade.' Stands for 'Quake-Made' or some such nonsense.” “Is it... inhospitable?” “More like really dayum hard to live on,” Bard said. “'Cuz there's barely any even ground. Everythang about the Quade is... y'know... jagged and pointy rocks'n'stuff. Save for two wormy land ridges, it's nothin' but a buncha earthen skyscrapers shootin' out of the ocean all craggy-like. Still.” He smirked. “Didn't stop vegetation from makin' itself a sanctuary on them vertical bluffs. Pine trees and a grass and a buncha vines somehow survived the sinking. They cover them rocks from head to hoof in some of the purdiest greenery you ever did see.” “Have you and Wildcard been there?” “Pffft. Hell naw, but we've seen pictures, darlin'. What's more, we've met a bunch of the Luminards in person the last time we flew over the southwest bluffs of Rohbredden. They like to make occasional pilgrimages to the mainland Continent and proselytize, ya see.” “These... Luminards...” Rainbow blinked. “...you mean there are ponies actually living around these rocks?” “Eeyup. Right smack dab in the middle of them two squiggly lines, ya see?” Bard pointed at the two horizontal marks in the center of the dots. “'Reed's River,' they call it.” “But... like... how...?” “Any way they can. Remember how I mentioned they go on pilgrimages and the like?” “Yeah...?” “Well, them Luminards are—like—super religious ponies. They worship Verlaxion like no other. I mean... shiet... most ponies in Rohbredden do, but the Luminards just go about it a whole different way.” “Like... how different?” Wildcard gestured. Bard nodded, then said, “They think that Lumina became the Quade because of some terrible ancient sin that—y'know—summoned the ice age that nearly wiped out the Six Tribes to begin with. So, on top of worshippin' Verlaxion, they all hang out in Reed's River, livin' on these platforms that they build out of these supposedly holy strips of wood.” “The Reed.” “Right. They keep a vigil there, prayin'... singin' hymns... not many ponies truly know, really. But they feel as though they gotta show penitence to atone for the Six Tribes' sins, and the only place to do that from is in the leftover bones of Lumina.” Wildcard talon-signed again. “Right. They're mighty a-scared of all Rohbreddenite civlization fallin' into the ocean if they dun do their daily worship, or somethin'. I dunno. We've always made a habit of stearin' clear of them yahoos on each flyby.” Bard shrugged, adjusting his hat. “I mean, dun get me wrong. They're harmless, really... just... wouldn't enjoy sittin' down to breakfast with 'em. Eheh...” “But...” Rainbow blinked at the map. “...you're pretty sure that the beacon's leading me to there... to the Quade?” “Well, Dubya-Cee's pretty sure,” Bard said, sharing a nod with the griffon. “So, looks like that dreaded breakfast may be inevitable.” He smiled. “Reckon there's only one way to find out.” Rainbow sighed. “I... have some experience with religious ponies...” “Do ya, now?” Bard scratched his head. “Think it might help us with the journey ahead?” Rainbow swiftly folded the map. “Guess there's only one way to find out.” She turned towards the Desperadoes. “No matter how we shake it, this means a super long endurance flight.” Wildcard gestured. “We've handled far longer and far worse,” Bard translated. Wildcard nodded. “Besides... a buncha wind veterans heading east?” Bard smirked. “We can deal! I'm certain we can make a bed in the clouds if things get tiresome. And then once we get to the Quade, Dubya-Cee and I will teach ya the fine art of rock-squatting!” “Rock... squatting...?” “C'mon!” Bard chuckled, flapping his wings and lifting up. “Eunngh... it'll be fun! And... who knows...” He huffed and puffed, initially struggling with the weight of the Syndicate's platinum bars in his bags. “...maybe the Luminards will have a bed or two to offer us too! “Yeah... we can sleep on a pile of brochures,” Rainbow muttered. “Huh?” “Nothing.” Rainbow flapped her wings, then pivoted to face the giant sea creature. “Ultimo? Thanks a bunch. And if you see Camellia again... uhhh... tell her 'thanks' for me too, huh?” The beast ducked its head under the waves, then came back up, bulbous eyes blinking. Rainbow fidgeted in mid-air. “I'm... just gonna pretend we're on the same page.” She waved. “So long, fish-dude. And... y'know...” She gulped, smiling awkwardly. “Sorry for trying to stab you to death that one time...” Water sprayed out the side of the thing's gills. With a swish of its tail, the thing rolled about, dipped beneath the waves, then soared off. Its body broke the ocean's surface a few more times. Then—with a dip of its dorsal fin—it dove low, turning into a dark splotch that rippled its way west, fading into watery obscurity. Rainbow and the Desperadoes found themselves hovering alone above the empty ocean expanse. “Well... that's a tad bit...” Bard gulped. “...daunting.” Wildcard tapped his shoulder and gestured. “Pffft!” Bard scowled at him. “I'll 'grow a new spine,' alright! Then shove it straight up yer feather butt, ya peacock!” Wildcard snicked breathily. “I'm not sure what I'm going to miss more,” Rainbow Dash muttered. “The big giant fish... or the sensation of having to come up with a big giant fish tale.” “Come, darlin'.” Bard motioned, then darted eastward along with the griffon. “Let's go share it with the Luminards... make 'em piss their sackcloth diapers yellow! Hah!” “One thing at a time.” Flapping her wings, Rainbow flew after them. “Uhm... a little more to the south, dudes.” “Whoops. My bad.” Bard and Wildcard spread apart, giving the mare space. “You lead the way, east horse.” “Whatever you say, south donkey.” Wildcard's goggles rattled, and he swung his metal talon through the air. “Shush yer loud beak! Wasn't even remotely funny!” Rainbow smirked, and with expert precision she led the Desperadoes straight for Yaerfaerda's twinkling formation.