“The Penitent Sacrament of Anchorage...?” Sonikah blinked, then turned towards the Luminard elder. “Kyron, no pilgrim or outsider has enacted that in a very... very long time...”
“As Antsan was quite keen to remind us,” Kyron said with a nod. He continued staring in the direction of Rainbow Dash and the Desperadoes. “I appreciate you echoing the fact, child. I do hope it's because you consider it a blessing. For it is.”
Antsan fidgeted from the sidelines.
“Verlaxion has anointed you with wisdom and understanding, dear elder,” Sonikah said, bowing slightly. “But... please... this is a matter of tradition that's before my time. If you would be so kind as to explain to me...” She glanced nervously at the visitors. “Does it truly glorify Verlaxion to follow a ritual that allows an unanointed stranger to step into Her sanctuary?”
“It is true.” Antsan stepped up. “She and her friends have just arrived here! And although we keep our wisdom to the spiritual constraints of the Quade, have any of us actually heard of this... 'Equestria?' I know that I haven't!”
“Shhhh...” Kyron raised a hoof. “A 'kingdom' is what mortal ponies make of it with their mortal hooves. A word is but a word, but all souls are called to the Quade, and by merely arriving—it is a glorification of Verlaxion in and of itself.” He turned towards the mare next to her. “And Sonikah... a pony who agrees to take part in the Penitent Sacrament is anointed by Verlaxion's grace during the extent of the trials thereof.”
Sonikah bowed again. “I thank you for your blessed knowledge, dear Kyron. And, by Verlaxion's mercy, I apologize for the forwardness of my inquiry.”
Kyron smiled. “Being wise means striving to be wiser. I welcome all questions that will further our roles here in Verlaxion's divine plan.”
“But Kyron...” Antsan gestured. “About this 'Equestria' ... Don't you find it rather sudden a revelation? Not to mention contradictory? According to Menthe's first testimony, these visitors claimed Rainbow Dash to be an aristocrat from Central Rohbredden.”
Rarity and Pinkie Pie winced. “Whoopsie doopsie...” The latter looked at the former. “Somepony made a poopsie!”
“An astute observation, Antsan,” Kyron said with a nod. He turned towards Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash, my child, please do forgive the accusatory nature of this inquiry. Nevertheless, might you have an explanation for this spontaneous decision to expose your true background? As you can imagine, it would put several of my fellow pilgrims' hearts at ease, mine including.”
“Oh... the whole Equestria thang?” Bard chuckled nervously. He stepped forward from where he stood next to Wildcard. “Y'see, that's my fault for mixin' up East from West. Eheheh... and if you happen to see Mr. Menthe again, perhaps you could explain to him...” He took his hat off. “I'm awfully bad at dinner table speak. It's plum easier to put stuff in my mouth than to take cohesive thangs out—”
“Ahem.” Rainbow Dash stepped forward. She viciously shoved Bard aside, meanwhile keeping a foalish grin plastered on Kyron. “Kyron... perhaps you—more than anypony else on these woven platforms—can understand the significance of maintaining as humble a profile as possible.”
“Indeed I can, Miss Dash,” Kyron said with a calm nod. “But a deception is still a deception.”
“You're right.” Rainbow Dash pointed, then nodded. “And it's the first of many sins I intend to...” She gulped. “...confess.”
“Just who are you really, Miss Dash?” Antsan asked. Kyron rested a hoof on the young stallion's shoulder, and he sighed, ears folded.
Rainbow glanced at him, then back at Kyron. “It's just like I said, elder. My name is Rainbow Dash. I come from a faraway land named Equestria. It really is 'faraway'. I... can't emphasize that enough.” She leaned forward, eyes narrow. “It's a place located beyond all known seas, continents, and barriers to you and everyone you've ever met. It's a place that nopony foaled in Rohbredden has ever had the fortune of knowing by name.”
“But...” Sonikah leaned her head aside. “The Blight.” She blinked. “Do you mean to suggest...?”
Kyron's red eyes landed on Bard. “The Blight has vanished,” he said. “Or so I've been told.” Pilgrims observing the conversation gasped and murmured in the candlelit background.
Bard gulped and nodded. “That it has.” He glanced at Sonikah and Antsan. “Just ask yer protectors—Mr. Menthe and Galloran. If they haven't heard about the Blight through word of passin' muzzle, they will pretty darn soon.” He smirked. “The whole sea of Rohbredden is glistenin' with the news! Dubya-Cee and I heard about it before we even met Rainbow!”
Wildcard nodded.
Anstan exhaled through his nostrils, then glanced at Rainbow. “Then... are you a duchess in these lands? A princess?”
“Oh n-no...” Rainbow chuckled. “But we do have Princesses there. Two of them in particular—Princess Celestia and Princess Luna—are the supreme rulers of our kingdom. I happened to have served directly beneath them for a short time as an Element of Harmony. It's... kinda like being a soldier for Her Royal Highness. So, for lack of a better definition, I guess you could call me an Equestrian Knight.”
Rarity and Twilight Sparkle exchanged blinking grins. “I kinda like the sound of that, actually,” remarked Twilight.
“And...” Antsan trotted, pacing closer. “...as this 'Element of Harmony,' what exactly did your tasks entail?”
“That's a good question.” Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. “You see, in my kingdom, we value Harmony much like you uphold the glory of Verlaxion. It's not something we worship per se, but it's a very real force that has defended Equestria from countless... threats in the past.”
“What kind of threats?” Sonikah asked.
“Beasts of Tartarus... brutes from the Everfree Forest. Malevolent spirits.” She took a deep breath. “I myself...” She glanced at Twilight and the others. “...I-I was honored to serve along five other courageous mares, and the six of us wielded the Elements of Harmony against Nightmare Moon, a foul demon who had possessed our Princess Luna. It was a dramatic confrontation—with the future of Equestria and the rest of the world on the line. But, through Friendship and Harmony, we were able to prevent the world from being subjected to endless night.”
Wildcard's head jerked towards Rainbow Dash so swiftly that his goggles nearly flew off. Beak quivering, he slapped the back of Bard's shoulder.
“H-huh?!” Bard spun to gawk at him. “What?”
Wildcard gestured dramatically.
Bard stared and squinted, “reading” Wildcard's “words” for the better part of a minute. Once or twice, he jolted back, his eyes widening.
“Uhhhhh...” Bard stirred, fidgeted, then glanced awkwardly aside at the pegasus. “Uhm... Rainbow... ermm... darlin'...?”
“Hmmm?”
“About... h-how long ago did this all happen?”
“Erm...” Rainbow cleared her throat, blinking. “Seventeen... nineteen months ago? Things have been a major blur. You guys know that.”
“Sonuva...” Bard caught his own tongue before he could finish. “Guess we know some thangs, at least,” he murmured. Clearing his throat, Bard glanced back at Wildcard, then up at Kyron. “Elder... do y'all remember a strange event happenin' about a year and a half ago? Rohbredden suffered a curious, inexplicable eclipse? And everythang went dark-like for the space of two days?” He glanced back at Wildcard. “Was it two days?”
Wildcard waved his metal talon from side to side.
“In any case, it was an extra long night. Dawn didn't come until at least twelve hours later.” Bard cleared his throat. “I was... uhhh... admittedly none too sober at the time, but I remember wakin' up to Dubya-Cee and the rest of the port I was in bein' all up in arms 'bout it.”
“Kyron...” Sonikah glanced at the elder in question. “The Day of Sinful Shadows.”
“Don't be ridiculous,” Anstan hoarsely spoke. “Every single pilgrim sat in deep prayer the following afternoon, and then the darkness went away! It was a miracle of Verlaxion!”
Kyron took a deep breath. “Rainbow Dash... you claim to somehow be responsible for such darkness?”
“No! No no no no...” Rainbow waved a hoof. “If anything, I'm trying to tell you that my friends and I used the Elements of Harmony to put a stop to it!” She leaned forward. “You see... Nightmare Moon was threatening the very balance that our alicorns set in motion! After all, Princess Luna and Celestia—”
“Mmmmmmmmm!” Rarity squealed into her closed muzzle, shaking her head at the pegasus.
Rainbow blinked at them, then gazed at the Luminards once more. “... ... ...they're very... very powerful magicians,” she wheezed. Then gulped. “On top of being wise monarchs.” She leaned back. “And as leaders, they decided to share power with the royal subjects under their rule. That's how the Elements of Harmony came into possession of my friends and I. We were to be the new protectors of the kingdom, ensuring that horrible spirits like Nightmare Moon didn't have their way.”
“If that is the case,” Antsan asked. “Then what exactly has brought you all the way here?” He squinted curiously. “Haven't you been charged with protecting your faraway kingdom?”
“I was.” Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. “But... I-I failed.”
Rarity, Pinkie, and Twilight looked at her—muzzles agape.
“Dashie...” Pinkie whimpered.
“Oh darling, don't—” Rarity cooed.
“And...” Rainbow's nostrils flared. “As a consequence of my failure, my friends perished, leaving me alive in the ashes of their remains. Yes, I may have defended Equestria from its greatest threat yet, but the cost was just too much. I left my homeland and flew east—not bothering to stop or look back—with this as my only companion.” She brandished the pendant around her neck, summoning a deep ruby glow from its core. “The Element of Loyalty... the last remaining Element of Harmony—”
“You...!” Antsan wheezed, stumbling backwards. “You brought a weaponized artifact from your Kingdom?”
Several pilgrims gasped in surprise.
“No! No!” Rainbow insisted, releasing her grip of the pendant. The ruby glow dissipated as she waved her hooves at the ponies. “It's not like that! I promise—” Her eyes flickered red-on-yellow, and she teetered. “Nnnngh...”
Wildcard jerked towards her, stabilizing the mare.
“The Quade is no place for apostate magics!” Antsan exclaimed, shivering. “How Menthe and Galloran even allowed you to mount the platforms wearing that is beyond me—”
“They allowed it because they knew it was no threat, dear child,” Kyron said. “And I trust their learned expertise with our mortal lives.”
“But! But elder—!”
“Be calm, freshly anointed one,” Kyron spoke in a firm, chiding tone. His eyes narrowed on the pilgrim. “Has not Verlaxion demonstrated that Her glory and might is strong enough to handle any and all adversity?”
“She... sh-she has, Kyron,” Antsan remarked, gulping. “But—”
“Remember the Psalms of our Goddess,” Kyron said. “When a soul is called to the Quade, Verlaxion's spirit has already triumphed. After all, there can be no greater humility than what is being displayed here.” The elder turned towards Rainbow Dash with a calm, thoughtful expression. “A mortal mare—once charged with the keys to her kingdom—has abandoned everything dear to her. What could have driven her here other than the calling of Verlaxion.”
Bard glanced between the pilgrims and Rainbow Dash. “Erm... yeah...” He gulped. “She's quite a searcher, that's for sure.”
“Rainbow Dash...” Kyron trotted over and rested a hoof on her shoulder. “The tale of what you've gone through... of what you've endured... it touches my heart.” He took a deep breath. “No doubt you feel the weight of many... many sins.”
“Hey! No fair!” Rarity frowned. “I don't care how many braids he puts his mane in! He can't just up and say that to her—”
“Shhhhh!” Twilight insisted. She and Pinkie leaned forward.
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. “Yes.” Her eyes gazed firmly ahead, past the pilgrims, absorbed in a yellow glow. “I do.”
“Then is that what brings you to the Quade?” Kyron asked, cocking his head aside. “To perform the Penitent Sacrament of Anchorage and commune in the presence of Verlaxion's Holy Reed?”
Rainbow Dash's ears twitched. She glanced aside. “That... and more, dear elder.”
“And what more is there, child?”
“I...” Rainbow Dash fidgeted. She cleared her throat. “I need to have kindness back in my life again,” she said. “With all the friends that I've l-lost... mmmmm... it's the next step in restoring harmony.”
Rarity held a hoof over her muzzle, sniffling. Pinkie leaned in to hug her.
Wildcard's steely gaze fell over the many pilgrims in attendance. The griffon's beak clenched tight.
Antsan trotted over to Kyron. “Elder... she will have to face many trials,” he muttered in a low tone.
“And an anchor,” added Nicro from the back of the room. “It will have to be a highly-anointed pilgrim.”
“It will have to be many things...” Kyron slowly bowed, his eyes shut. “...all for the glory of Verlaxion.”
“Then...” Rainbow blinked, glancing up at the humble crowd, blinking. “You will let me in?” She swallowed a lump down her throat. “You will allow this last piece of Equestrian Harmony to meditate in the Holiest of Holies?”
Antsan glanced at her upon hearing that, arching an eyebrow.
“Rainbow Dash, you must understand, we measure with sort of a request with grave seriousness and reverance,” Kyron said. After a deep breath, he added, “We will have to discuss it.”
“For... uhm...” Rainbow coughed. “...how long?”
“Rainbow!” Twilight hissed.
“Uhhhh!” Bard grasped Rainbow's shoulders and swiftly shoved her out of the room like a prismatic wheelbarrow. “Thanks a whole ton, Mr. Elder Wise Gray Mane, sir, buddy! Eheheh!” He waved with his hat as the trio made their exit—the ghost mares in tow. “Y'all go about doin' that meditatin' thang you do, and we'll just be... erm... outside. Humble, patient, and thankful! Did I mention 'humble?' Darn tootin'!”
And they made a quick exit, for better or for worse.
Stumbling out into the open sunlight of the Quade, Rainbow and the Desperadoes came to a shuffling stop several meters from the shadowed wooden sanctuaries where they left Kyron and his most trusted anointed. Above and below, pilgrims continued with their tireless work, maintaining the structural integrity of the platforms around the Reed.
“Whew!” Bard leaned against the platform's edge. He took his hat off and fanned himself. “If that meeting went any clumsier, I'd have sworn we was tap dancin' by rhino sheets!”
“I dunno.” Pinkie bore a crooked smile. “Aside from the part where the Luminards nearly had a panic attack 'cuz they thought that Dashie's pendant was gonna go kersplodey all over their prayer shawls, I felt it went like melting butter!”
Rainbow Dash winced.
Bard looked at her and paused in his fanning. “What?”
“Erm... ahem...” Rainbow turned from Pinkie and the other mare friends. “All things considered, I feel that went as good as it was ever gonna.” She leaned against a stretch of woven railing and stared down at the lower platforms. “Good thing that Kyron's such a chillaxed monk dude. If this place was run by Antsan—”
“Oh, perish the thought!” Rarity exclaimed, shuddering. “It's like they just recruited him from a hoofball game! Such paranoid pretentiousness!”
“Heh...” Rainbow smirked. “Tell me about it.”
“Huh?” Bard blinked. “Oh. Right.”
“Ghost m—”
“Ghost mares. Gotcha.” Bard sighed, squinting up at the sunny sky beyond the ridge's cliffs. “Them Luminards have every right to feel queasy. We three make some strange... strange mofo's.”
“Strange but awesome.” Rainbow blew a stretch of bangs out from over her forehead. “At least in my book.”
Suddenly, a rigid beak stared her down.
The mare blinked. “... ... ...hello, Wildcard.”
Facing Rainbow, Wildcard reached a talon out and dragged Bard over. He then hand-signed without moving.
“Uhm...” Bard cleared his throat and translated: “'Is it true? Did ya really have somethin' to do with the daylight bein' delayed a year and a half ago?'”
“Well... yeah.” Rainbow blinked. “There's a lot of crazy, incredible things I've done in Equestria and beyond, dude.” She leaned back from the griffon, rubbing the back of her head with a nervous smile. “I mean, don't forget, before I became Austraeoh—I already had a full-time-job as an Element of Harmony. And a pretty boss one at that, too. Eheheheh...” She coughed aside, then murmured in Bard's direction. “Yo. Twanger. Could you tell your bird-bud to stop staring at me?”
“Seriously, Dubya. S'upitcha?” Bard squinted. “Not like ya haven't witnessed her doin' crazy thangs before.” He smirked. “Like kickin' yer sorry tail into next year, for one!”
Griffon flashed Bard a look. Slowly, he gazed back at Rainbow, then sauntered off with a ruffle of his feathers.
“Uhhhh...” Rainbow pointed after the Desperado's flicking lion's tail. “What's gotten stuck in his craw?”
“Yer askin' me?” Bard tilted his hat back. “Dun get me wrong, I lurve the mofo, but he's always carried his own air of noirish mystique.” The stallion stifled a yawn. “It's all on account of where he comes from, I reckon. Suppose the cat bird has to be fleetin' as a shadow in his ways.”
“And... where is that exactly?”
“Erm...” Bard paled, and then squirmed where he stood. “Forget it.” He cleared his throat, muttering: “T'ain't proper.”
Silence.
“Okaaaaaaaay...” Rainbow sighed, gazing over the railing again. “And here I always thought that a bird in the hoof—”
“Rainbow, darling...” Rarity floated up with a sympathetic look on her face. “If I may...”
“What?” Rainbow droned. “Interrupt my nonsense? Be my guest.”
“Why did you have to insist that... that...” Rarity bit her lip. “...that Kyron was right to label you a sinner?”
“Huh?”
“In there! Just now!” Rarity pointed towards the shadowed cabins lying close to the Reed's central shaft. “I know that you're doing all of this to help bring back Fluttershy, but must you be so... so... melodramatic?” The fashionista stared... blinked... then held her pale forehead. “Good heavens. J-just listen to me!”
“Awwwwww...” Pinkie flew over and nuzzled the unicorn. “Good job, Dashie!” She frowned at the platform's edge. “You broke Rarity!”
“Pfft—I did not!” Rainbow cackled. “Look... I said what I said in there and I... I-I meant it!”
“Lemme guess,” Bard droned, leaning in. “Ghost mares again?”
“Not now!” Rainbow growled aside.
Bard tossed his hooves and trotted off. “Yeesh. Even beyond the grave, y'all harpies are synchronized!”
“Things would have gone differently if I had been there with you girls when it came time to throwdown against Discord!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“Perhaps so, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight flew into sight, rubbing her hooves pensively together. “But we've been over this. Could things really have gone differently?”
“Well...”
“And should you blame yourself for that?” Twilight arched an eyebrow. “After all... imagine if you were there with us.”
“Yeah! Then you would go all kersplodey too! KAPOWWW!” Pinkie spat into the air to assist with the sound effect, then swiftly giggled at Rarity. “Heehee! I really like saying 'kersplodey' today!”
“Pinkie, darling,” Rarity sighed. “You need a leash.”
“Heehee! Silly Rarity! But I'm—”
“A ghost leash!”
“In all seriousness...” Twilight waved a hoof. “Where would Austraeoh be if things went that way?” She gazed at Rainbow Dash. “Where would Urohringr's fate be?”
“Look, fate or no fate, I'm... I-I'm responsible for how crazy things have gotten,” Rainbow said. “At least p-partly. You can't deny that.”
“Surely not. But Rainbow!” Rarity grimaced. “To accept that our deaths were somehow your sins?”
“It's not that simple, Rarity.”
“Then what is it, Rainbow?”
Rainbow opened her muzzle, but instantly paled.
Pinkie, Rarity, and Twilight gazed at her.
“If you can insinuate before Kyron,” Rarity said. “Or even Verlaxion, for that matter, then surely you can tell your friends.”
“I...” Rainbow gritted her teeth. Her shoulders began shuddering.
Twilight's eyes narrowed.
Rainbow avoided her gaze, looking down at the lower platforms. “I just... I've needed to do... do some...” Her shivers suddenly stopped.
“Do what, Dashie?” Pinkie asked. “You're making even less sense than me! Heehee!”
Rainbow's lips pursed. She stared and stared.
Far below, a full line of monks knelt in prayer. One of them stood up—a monk wearing a robe. The figure took a few steps along the edge of the platform, its cloaked shape reflecting off the glittering Quade. Then—on a dime—it stopped. A few seconds later, it icily tilted its head up... staring directly back at Rainbow. A pair of frosted blue eyeslits flashed.
“Nnnngh...” Dizzy, Rainbow leaned forward. Her weight shifted—the Element of Loyalty followed by the rest of her—and she slipped completely over the platform's side.
“Rainbow!” Rarity gasped.
“Oh no!” Pinkie hugged her twitching tail, shrieking: “Colors overboarddddd!”
“Snap out of it—” Twilight yelped, only to have a feathery shadow murk through her. The unicorn gasped.
Thwooosh! A metal talon grasped Rainbow by her tail, then gently pulled the rest of her back.
“Guhhhh...” Rainbow stumbled, lying limp in Wildcard's embrace. “What... where did...?”
“Honestly, darling!” Rarity panted, floating closer. “It's getting worse!”
“P-perhaps you should lie down, Rainbow,” Twilight stammered.
“How can you possibly be expected to go through some ascetic obstacle course in this condition?!” Rarity exclaimed.
“The... the monk...” Rainbow wheezed, pointing a jittery hoof.
“Ehhhhh...” Twilight blinked. “What monk? Be a bit more specific.”
“The one with the glowy eyes!” Rainbow suddenly snarled, standing up and shrugging Wildcard's grip off. “Just now!”
“Glowy... eyes...?” Rarity gawked at her.
“Tell me you saw that!” Rainbow barked. “On the lower platforms!”
Wildcard dashed towards the edge. He peered down through his goggles, his head darting to the left and right. Eventually, he craned his neck and gazed back at Rainbow Dash. An empty pair of black lenses reflected Rainbow's sweaty, palpitating face.
“Erm... at least they're not lasting as long as your previous attacks...” Rarity smiled nervously. “That's a g-good thing, right?”
“This... this doesn't make any sense...” Rainbow seethed and seethed. “Rrrrrgh... what's going on in this place?”
“Sonikah!” Pinkie grinned, left ear pulling back hard. “Achy left ear! Heehee!” She winked and pointed. “Gotta remember to write that one down, girrrrrrrl!”
Rainbow spun around, blinking. “Sonikah...?”
The pilgrim in question stood calmly before her, forelimbs folded together. She blinked, her tranquil eyes nevertheless full of concern. “Is anything amiss? You look... shaken, Rainbow Dash.”
“I just... I was just...” Rainbow looked at Wildcard, sucked in her breath, then managed: “I'm fine, Sonikah. Thank you... th-thank you for your kind concern.”
Sonikah blinked. “Rainbow Dash, about the Penitent Sacrament of Anchorage...” She leaned her head to the side. “I assume that you learned of it from diligently perusing Revelations of the Reed.”
“That I did, sister.” Rainbow squinted. “Why? Is Kyron curious? I mean... it was Antsan who gave the friggin' scrolls to me.”
“And you do realize that—throughout the duration of the trials—a pony like you would be assigned a highly-anointed pilgrim as anchor, and that such an anchor must be allowed authority over your actions and permissions.” She took a deep breath. “And such an authority—granted by the anchor—mandates that you put your Harmonic practices by the wayside in order to fully honor the holy Catechism of the Goddess Verlaxion.”
“Uhhhh... sure... sure and sure.” Rainbow gulped. “Why? Did... did the elder send you here to tell me how crazy impossible this is?”
“No, Rainbow Dash,” Sonikah said. “He sent me to introduce you to your anchor for that Sacrament, and that anchor is me.”
Pinkie and Rarity exchanged blinking expressions.
Rainbow exhaled. “Then... then I am allowed to proceed.”
“That depends, Rainbow Dash,” Sonikah said. “The trials... are not easy.”
“I figured.”
“They will require great endurance, patience, and—above all—attentiveness.”
“Right.”
“You will be forced to examine your deepest passions...” Sonikah's brow furrowed. “...to expose your greatest sins.”
Rainbow clenched her teeth beneath her muzzle.
“...and, for a brief but blessed communion with Verlaxion's glorious Reed, you will have to bury both halves of your self in the Quade... in the shadow of Luminar's Plight...” She shook her head. “Even if you return to an apostate life after being anointed by proxy, you will inevitably be a changed mare... a touched soul... aware of that which you are with... and aghast to that which you are without.”
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, then nodded. “I am ready for what lies ahead of me.” A flicker of yellow light tickled her senses, and she struggled to keep staring straight at the pilgrim. “After all... it's what Verlaxion has prepared...”
Twilight held her breath.
Wildcard quietly gazed at the two mares.
Rainbow blinked at Sonikah. “Isn't it?”