A warm red sunset fell across the Quade and the platforms above it.
Menthe sat in a lazily drifting canoe, sharpening his fishing spear as he hugged the southern banks of the steep canyon.
Galloran paced along the upper platforms, his hooves shuffling across woven surfaces while his trusty crossbow hung from his flank.
Wildcard and Bard lingered on the circular level just above the shacks where Rainbow Dash had disappeared. Bard plucked randomly at the strings of his guitar. His nostrils flared as he gazed into the wind. Squinting, he glanced curiously at Wildcard.
The griffon sat still and quiet, facing the wooden shacks, not taking his goggled eyes off it for one second.
Bard took a deep breath and returned to his guitar. Occasionally, he'd glance back at Wildcard and the platforms. Slowly, the sky above them bled into a dim purple velvet.
Rainbow Dash's limbs quivered like they never had before.
She shook from head to spine—teeth chattering.
Every square inch of muscle screamed in agony, and it was all she could do to hold back her pent up whimpers.
The mare gritted her teeth, eyes squinting past the dangling edges of her braids. Every time she so much as nodded her head, it felt like her entire body would collapse forward from the weight of her mane. And then—when she leaned back—her spine buckled and wept in pain.
However, despite her anguishing trials, the water remained within both glasses—still precariously balanced in her hooves. This was no easy task. With each shiver and tremor that ran through her limbs, Rainbow was almost certain the liquid would fly out of the glass chalices and litter the petrified wooden surface of the floor.
All her head could do was swim through a vague haze of memories: all of the moments in the past when she struggled and strained like she was just now. She remembered the strenuous activities of the Iron Pony Competition in Equestria.. the endurance test of the Running of the Leaves... the week she practiced for the Best Young Flier's Competition.
Rainbow found it curious that she couldn't drum up a memory from after her flight east began. She was almost certain she had been through exercises as tiresome as this, if not more so. She could usher forth a recollection or two. But she didn't. Her mind stopped an opaque wall of vagueries, almost as if—
A latch unlocked.
Door hinges squeaked behind her.
Rainbow gasped in legitimate shock. She almost lost a few drops of water right then and there. She looked over her shoulder, a brazen act that sent her neck-muscles screaming. Wincing, she waited for the cloud of pain to fade, and then Sonikah's visage came into focus.
“What...?” Rainbow was surprised at how raspy her voice sounded. She cleared her throat and tried again: “What's the matter?”
Sonikah stood calmly above her. “Place the chalices down, Rainbow Dash.”
Blinking, Rainbow complied. As soon as the containers were on the floor, she hung her stiff-stiff limbs at her side, exhaling in mixed relief and lethargy. “Did... did I pass?”
Sonikah strolled into the center of the tiny closet and helped Rainbow to her hooves. “Night has fallen. You must retire for the evening.”
“But...” Rainbow grimaced, limping... hobbling after her anchor on rubber band limbs. “Did I pass or did I?”
“You must rest if you are to continue with the trials,” was all Sonikah said.
“Erm...” Rainbow gulped, glancing over her shoulder one last time at the twin glasses of water. “Okay—”
And another pilgrim loudly shut the closet door behind her.
Nighttime graced Rainbow as Sonikah led her outside and towards the platform full guest lean-tos. Rainbow squinted as if everything was as bright as noon-day. An entire session spent inside the dimly-lit confines of the closet made her feel like the rest of the world was on fire.
Bard and Wildcard heard the incoming hoof-trots, and they stood up in a flash. Wildcard tapped Bard's shoulder. Bard nodded, then shuffled forward with a hopeful grin.
“Well, howdy there, pilgrim! How goes the first day of... of...” He blinked, watching as Rainbow limped pathetically towards her sleeping mat. “... ... ...whoah dayum.”
Rainbow's limbs slumped, and Sonikah had to lean in and support her, helping the mare lie down on the sleeping mat with relative ease. As soon as Rainbow's body graced the barely-pliable fabric, she nevertheless exhaled with a long winded breath of relief.
Wildcard's beak clenched. He glared at Rainbow, then up at the anchor.
Sonikah was busy leaning in towards Bard. The Desperado blinked off into the night while the Luminard gently whispered instructions into his ear. He blanched slightly—but ultimately nodded.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash stirred, turning over as she tried—in vain—to find a comfortable way to lie her body and braids down on the sleeping mat. With a flicker of lavender light, Twilight emerged from her pendant, followed by two other colorful spectres.
“Did... did I just hear Bard's voice?” Twilight remarked.
“How much time has passed?” Rarity yawned, rubbing her blue eyes. “It couldn't have been twenty minutes, has it—?” She turned and instantly jolted at the sight of Rainbow Dash. “Good heavens!”
“Rainbow Dash...?” Twilight stammered, gaping at the mare.
“Heeheehee! Look at her head! That silly mane!” Pinkie pointed and snickered. “Heee hee ho ho hoooo noooo, Dashie!” She giggle-snorted.
“Mrmmmff...” Rainbow winced, turning over and struggling with her aching limbs.
“...!” Pinkie gasped, her ears folding back with an instant wave of sympathy. “Oh no, Dashie...”
“Are you alright?” Twilight flew closer, examining Rainbow's aching body. “Those muscles... they're all bunched up! Especially your forelimbs! What happened?!”
“And... what...” Rarity struggled to hold her non-existent lunch in. “... mmmm... pr-pray tell did they make you wear, darling?”
“Just...” Rainbow wheezed, brow twitching. Wildcard shuffled closer, his dark shadow crossing her as she writhed. “I'm fine... simply balancing... p-passion... sins...” She coughed, sputtered. “Whew, boy... what a rush.” Her muzzle scrunched. “Or anti-rush.”
“Dude!” Pinkie pouted. “You've been Luminarded!” She frowned at the other ponies. “We can't let them do this to Dashie!”
“Well, it was her choice, Pinkie,” Rarity said, nevertheless shuddering. “And... we... we all know why she's doing it.”
“Hey, I love Fluttershy!” Pinkie slapped a hoof over her chest. “But if I had to turn my head around five times and pop it off for her, I'm sure she'd say 'no.'”
“Nopony's getting decapitated, Pinkie. Honestly.”
“You say that now...”
“Mrmmmff...” Rainbow lifted her head, instantly wincing from the act. “Bard? Wildcard? Guys...?”
A few step sover, Sonikah finished her “conversation” with Bard. The anchor leaned back, then hoofed Bard a tiny package. The bounty hunter took it, holding it gingerly in two hooves.
“We will be back at sunrise.” The pilgrim bowed, her braids flouncing. “Watch over her... as kindred souls. Make sure she does not go astray.”
“Oh... uh... you b-bet!” Bard nodded.
Sonikah turned around, then swiftly made her exit, shuffling towards the lower platforms.
Bard sighed and shuffled over, balancing the package on his flank.
Wildcard gestured something curiously.
Bard waved him off, cleared his throat, then smiled down at the mare. “So... uh... howdy again! I see they survived everythang they threw at ya!”
“Meh,” Rainbow meh'd.
“You... you fixin' to sleep it off, now?”
“Grfff... that depends....” She blinked thinly up at him. “I'd kill for...” She instantly grimaced, glancing at the colorful shapes in her peripheral. “I-I could really use something to munch on.”
Bard fidgeted where he stood.
Rainbow blinked again. “... ... ...Bard?”
“I... uhm...” He cleared his throat. “I've been given specific instructions... erm...” He held the hoof up with a nervous smile. “...to make sure you only have a glass of water and two slices of bread...”
“... ... ...”
“Per day.” Bard's smile twitched, and yet he bravely aimed it at her. “For the extent of the trials. And... uhm... that's it.”
The spectral mares simply gawked at one another.
Wildcard raised an eyecrest. He gestured emphatically at the stallion.
“Yo... dude...” Bard frowned, hissing: “That's what she done told me!”
Wildcard gestured some more.
“I can't!”
The griffon's talons sliced the air.
“Because!” Bard snarled. “Her trials will be over in a blink! Shoot, Dubya, every dayum monk on these here platforms are carryin' Kyron's eyeballs! And if they dun catch us breakin' the rules, then Menthe or Galloran will!”
Wildcard fumed, folding his arms with a frown.
“Mmmff... Bard, just...” Rainbow tapped the woven platform beside her bed mat. “Just pl-place it down here.”
“Now listen, darlin'...” Bard sighed, opening the container and placing the items down carefully beside her. “I've experienced my fair share of havin' to conserve vittles. The important thang is to be slow, patient, and—” Blue limbs grabbed the slices of bread from him, and the stallion fell back on his rump. “Whoah nelly!”
Rainbow greedily, desperately scarfed the edible material down her throat. It was bland, stale, and lifeless—but it filled her... at least partially. She had barely finished swallowing when she reached for the glass of water, raising it to her parched lips.
“Rainbow, honestly, this... this is far too much!” Rarity clenched her jaws as her eyes turned glossy. “I can't stand to see you suffer like this!”
“It's very... very unawesome,” Pinkie murmured in a tiny, fragile voice.
“I know what that material you're wearing feels like,” Rarity remarked. “Its only true purpose is to transport potatoes. It is not befitting a mare such as yourself! I don't care if you consider yourself to be tough or delicate. It's... it's just cruel.”
“And those braids don't look too comfy neither!” Pinkie remarked.
“Please, Pinkie.” Rarity waved at her. “Leave the pity train to me.”
“Hey! I bought tickets too!”
“Mrmmmfff...” Rainbow Dash was halfway through the jar of water when she wheezed: “Relax...”
“Rainbow, in all seriousness...” Twilight leaned in close. “You're headstrong. Perhaps you jumped too soon into this.” She gulped. “There... there's got to be another way. All of this strain—just what has it even accomplished so far?”
“Stop... worrying...” Rainbow shuddered. “I've got this.”
“Well, I suppose that's good to know.” Bard tipped his hat back with a smirk. “You were pretty tough in Rust and Shoggoth, no reason for ya to have lost—”
“Not talking to you!” Rainbow snarled. She seethed... seethed... then closed her eyes. The mare weathered a sigh, then muttered: “I just... I-I just need to rest. Tomorrow...” She bravely placed the half-empty jar aside and rolled over across the mat, shuddering. “Tomorrow... I go back...”
“But... but...”
“Goodnight... Desperadoes... girls...”
“Awwwwwwwww...” Pinkie's face grew long. “But we just got here!”
Rainbow shook, shuddered, and was still.
“Dashie? Hello?” Pinkie hovered closer. “Level with us, girl! What did they ask of you?”
“Pinkie...” Twilight placed a hoof on the mare's shoulder. “Let her be.” The unicorn sighed. “If she's capable of sleep, then she deserves as much of it as possible. “After all, when she goes back in, she's on her own.”
“But... but...” Rarity blanched. She turned to squeak at Twilight: “We're her friends! We can't just let her go through this without—”
“Fluttershy is her friend too,” Twilight firmly said. “As well as ours.” She pointed at Rainbow's slowly breathing form. “Right now, the only thing that can get her back is loyalty.” She gulped. “Just... have faith. Rainbow has got this...”
This entire time, Rainbow's eyes hung open, staring towards the mountain ridge on the far end of the canyon. Her ears twitched from hearing Twilight's words. Nevertheless, she nuzzled her head closer to the mat. The braids of her mane twisted and pulled, tugging painfully at her skull. Somewhere between the torturous throbs, she found a soft cloud to drift in. Slowly—one eyelash at a time—her lids fluttered shut—
“Dear child.”
—Rainbow's eyes flew wide open.
Daylight.
Rainbow whimpered in pain, curling up into a blue ball.
Sonikah's hoof reached in and unabashedly lifted her into a sitting position.
Rainbow winced hard. Pain ran up and down her body, firing each of her nerves into screaming wakefulness. She saw platforms hovering in the sunlight, full of living, waking, laboring monks.
“You must follow me, Rainbow Dash,” her anchor said.
“Mrmfff... what... what time is—?”
“It is time that we resumed the Sacrament,” Sonikah said. “Stand up.”
“But... I...” Rainbow's hoof shuffled along the woven surface next to her mat. She gasped. The half-empty canister of water was gone. “Where...?”
“Come.” Sonikah lifted Rainbow to her hooves. “Your trials await.”
Rainbow shuddered... heaved. Eyes thin, she squinted aside.
Bard and Wildcard stood side by side. They stirred slightly, avoiding her gaze.
Rainbow's parched lips moved. “I was just...” She stumbled slightly, limping after Sonikah. “...starlight.”
The pegasus and her anchor descended.
Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle hovered in single file. Biting their lips, they watched nervously from across the tiny space of the closet.
Rainbow slumped to her haunches, wincing. Her bleary eyes looked down, and her breathing paused.
The same two chalices lingered before her, filled with the same water. Not a single drop had been lost.
The marefriends exchanged curious expressions. Sonikah shuffled closer, and they all looked up.
“Here...” Sonikah reached in, picking up one chalice and placing it atop Rainbow's outstretched limb. “...your passion.” She reached over and did the same with the other chalice. “And your sins.”
Rainbow found herself in a familiarly torturous position, holding two familiar weights in two familiar hooves.
Sonikah shuffled back, re-filled the oil in the lamp next to the hanging bell above, then allowed the dim light to cast over Rainbow's squatting figure. Once finished, she stood back.
“When you are ready, knock three times on the door.”
Rainbow rasped: “We're not going to do any Reed trivia or nothing?”
The door hinges creaked.
Thud!
Rainbow was left squatting in the closet once again.
“... ... ...” Rainbow sat in place, frowning, breathing in and out.
Her three spectral friends lingered in place. They looked at Rainbow.
The pegasus' glaring eyes raised to meet them. Her nostrils flared.
Grimacing, the mares nodded. Twilight floated into Rainbow's pendant, fading, followed by Rarity. Pinkie lingered, and she looked ready to say something. However, her big blue eyes reflected Rainbow's scowling face... and she too eventually faded into the ether.
Rainbow clenched her eyes shut. She leaned her head slightly back, the braids dangling. Then—as the first of countless minutes wore on—her two forelimbs shook... starting to tremble. The water in the twin chalices rippled and rippled and—
Thunder rolled.
Menthe squinted up at the cloudy skies above the Quade. Sniffling the air, he licked his hoof then held it high overhead. After a few seconds, his ears twitched, and the old stallion looked over his shoulder. He nodded.
Galloran nodded back. Together, the two ponies rowed their canoe closer to the Reed—until they moored it safely beneath the shadow of the hanging platforms.
Within seconds, a trickle of misty rain fell, pitter-pattering over the woven lengths of the Luminards' elevated home.
Bard squatted beneath the shelter of a lean-to. He fanned himself, gazing out at the rain as it grew denser and denser. Soon enough, a gray-blue sheet fell all around him, filling the breathable air with humidity and chilly moisture.
The cowcolt shuddered. He planted his hat back on his head, then stood up. Pacing towards the edge of his shelter, he squinted out onto the canyon between the two mountain ridges.
Seconds later, a glinting light caught his eye. He turned to look.
An avian figure squatted on the edge of a platform, staring vigilantly down at the shadowed level where the pilgrims' shacks lingered. The sunlight bled through the rain, glinting off the griffon's metal limb.
Bard watched silently. His ears folded as a contemplative expression hung off his tired features.
Rainbow's eyes grew thinner and thinner...
Her forelimbs had stopped shaking at this point, growing stiff and rigid. She had found a way to prop the joints of her forelegs against her belly, supporting the weight of the twin chalices better. However, this transferred most of the pain into her stomach muscles, allowing for a brand new anguish to bubbled outward from the center of her being.
And yet, as exhaustion from the previous day and night took over, she became numb to the ordeal. Her eyes grew even thinner... fluttering shut. At last, her breaths narrowed... and she started to drift forward... her head nodding... her aching skull awash in delicious delirium and—
A startlingly loud ringing noise exploded above her.
“Mmmrf—guh!” Rainbow shot up with a gasp, eyes blinking wide. She looked left... looked right... ... ...then looked straight up.
The bell next to the oil lamp was shaking wildly. A string yanked and tugged, leading out a hole above the door and to the hallway outside. Rainbow had only been staring at the instrument for the better part of five seconds... ... ...when it stopped ringing altogether.
The mare blinked.
Exhaling heavily, she stared ahead. She shifted her weight—struggling not to toppel over. At last, she resorted to holding her forelimbs out again instead of steadying the joints against her belly. This meant that the limbs would throb in pain—ultimately quivering from the muscular strain, but Rainbow figured she could alternate between the two postures.
She thought of this... and then she thought of something else... and then she thought of nothing.
She wasn't aware of how much time had passed... hours? Minutes? But at some point, exhaustion took its toll once more. Her eyes thinned, the lids growing heavy. Her head nodded—the braids flouncing. She started to teeter and drift—
Ringing.
Loud ringing.
“Grnnngh...” Rainbow gnashed her teeth, flinging her eyelids wide open. A few bare seconds after jolting awake, the bell overhead went silent once again, and she was alone with the twin flasks of water. “Mmmmff...”
She sat in place, shoulders and spine aching. The seconds dwindled by beneath the lazy dance of lanternlight, leeching off her bloodshot eyes.
The roof of the lean-to leaked in several places.
Rainbow wished that this was the thing keeping her awake.
“Mrmmff... what...?” Rainbow wheezed, gazing into the wet misty starlight. “What are those...?” She grimaced. “Cicadas?”
Wildcard looked at Bard.
“What, you mean the noise?” Bard asked.
“Buck yeah, the n-noise...” She coughed and wheezed.
“It's the monks, Rainbow,” Bard said. “Two platforms below us. They're... uh... they're chanting.”
“Chanting?” Rainbow's weak eyes stared out into the rainy, murky world. Her skull throbbed from the undulating bass vocals. “Right now? In the rain?” She coughed some more, feeling around the platform next to her sleeping mat. “But... b-but they've never chanted this late at night before...”
Bard shoved the two slices of bread towards Rainbow. “Well, darlin', you've never tried doin' the Sacrament before.”
Rainbow's eyes darted towards him.
He gazed back. Stoic.
Rainbow sighed. She weakly hoofed a slice of bread into her mouth and munched it down her throat in order to drown out the noise of rain and chanting.
She failed.
Ringing.
Ringing.
Rainbow snapped awake with a gasp.
“Nnnngh! Roarke!”
She panted and panted, looking left and right.
Water shook and wobbled in the glasses that two blue hooves were holding.
“Where...?” She panted. Shivered. “Are they safe? I... I left them with...” She seethed... seethed. Her ears folded, and her muzzle grimaced.
Up above her, the ringing stop.
Torturously calm torchlight flickered off the wooden lengths of the closet.
Rainbow shuddered, holding her aching limbs out as she continued to balance the two glasses of water.
Around this point, a lavender figure emerged from her pendant. Twilight blinked wearily at the surroundings, then turned to face Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow... did... did you call out just now?”
Rainbow's nostrils flared. She looked ahead, staring past the unicorn.
“I could have sworn I heard... I-I mean...” Twilight gulped. “Are... are you okay?”
“Mrmmmf...” Rainbow muttered, stiff lips moving across a stiff jaw. “Go away...” She gulped. “You can't be here... the trials... mrmmmff... for the Penitent Foal of Verlaxion alone...”
“But Rainbow—”
“Those are the rules...” Rainbow lisped. “Doing this... mmmf... for Fluttershy. You have to leave...”
“How many times have you been at this?! Something must be wrong!” Twilight flew closer with a frown. “Talk to Kyron! Get him to—”
“Go away!” Rainbow barked, eyes red and flaring.
Twilight leaned back, muzzle agape. She sniffed, her eyes watering. A dainty nod, and she drifted into Rainbow Dash, fading away.
Rainbow inhaled, leaning her off-balanced head back, bangs quivering almost as hard as her forelimbs. “Grfff... come on... come on...” The water rippled in the twin glass chalices. “Pain... p-passion...” She gulped harder. “Pain and passion... come on... what you got... what you g-got...?”
She concentrated... she focused... she drifted...
Eventually, her eyes rolled back, her eyes fluttering shut. Her mouth hung open, exhaling in a guttural gargle—
The bell above sounded forth like a siren.
“N-noo!” Rainbow Dash shot up, eyes wide. She yelped into the light, pattering rain. “Cloudsdale!”
Wildcard and Bard woke up with a start. They got up, then scurried over from their sleeping mats.
“What?!” Bard wheezed, his eyes blearing blinking with concern. “What is it, Rainbow?”
Rainbow panted and panted, her gawking face pale as a sheet. “The bell!” She swallowed hard. “The foundations of Cloudsdale will crumble without me!” She grimaced. “Because of the bell!”
A metal talon gently gripped Rainbow's shoulder. Wildcard gave Bard a worried look through his goggles.
Bard clenched his jaw, then sighed. “Ya ain't in... erm... 'Cloudy Dale,' darlin'. Yer here. With us. In the Quade.” He cleared his throat. “And ya really need to get some rest for tomorrow.”
“But...” Rainbow winced. “He... he's hidden them...” Her ears twitched, one after the other. “In the hedge maze. With... the bell...”
“He's hidden what, Rainbow?”
Rainbow bit her lip. Her bloodshot eyes watered. “...Fluttershy,” she whimpered.
The Desperadoes exchanged glances once more.
Wildcard patted Rainbow's shoulder.
“Just lay down and close yer eyes, Rainbow,” Bard murmured.
Rainbow's breaths slowed down as she deflated towards the sleeping mat like a balloon. Her eyes grew thin and thinner.
“Yer gonna find where Fluttershy's hidden soon... I... I-I just know it...”
Rainbow exhaled... sighed... and finally closed her eyes—
The bell rang like a siren.
Rainbow's eyes flew back open.
Splintery wood lingered to her left.
Torchlight panels hung to her right.
The twin chalices hovered like haloes.
“Not a drop...” She muttered to herself.
The bell went quiet.
The world died around her, silent as a grave.
“Passion... sin...” Rainbow murmured, head teetering slightly. “Not a drop.”
The lanternlight flickered.
Shadows darted across the wooden beams.
Rainbow's puffy eyes followed them, looping around a curious yellow star, twinkling dim and distant beyond the Reed.
“Not a drop... not a drop... not a...”
Rain fell into the shallow waters of the Quade.
Riplets swam in circles upon circles...
All of them spreading... overlapping...
Never completing...
And when the rain ended, they faded... as if they were never there to begin with.
The wood was old, petrified.
Everything was older than old.
Even the Reed—its dead strips woven into circles and platforms...
It was all older than she could have perceived.
She could fly the whole world over, orbiting the fragment of Urohringr like a second moon...
She would not know where it came from or where it would go.
She could only fly... illuminate... a spark... a torch...
Flickering across the panels...
Glinting off the bell.
The ripples in the chalices.
“Passion... sin...”
Her lips moved.
“Not a drop...”
Ears ached with chanting.
“N-not a drop...”
A pair of black lenses hovered over her.
Her eyes darted towards them. A foalish whimper. “Roarke... don't... worry about me...”
Starlight glinted across the lenses as Wildcard shared a look with Bard.
Rarity's voice: “There's that name again...”
Pinkie's voice: “Do you know what that means, Twi?”
“No... I-I can't say that I do.”
“Rainbow Dash, you rock. Woohoo.”
She instantly sat up—then instantly regretted it. A sharp stab of pain sent Rainbow lying on the mat again. Shuddering, she gazed out across the platform, squinting at the faint yellow glow of Yaerfaerda from within the reed.
Rainbow gulped. “You... you n-need to be more... mmmm... assertive...”
“Rainbow, hun...” Bard shoved two slices of bread towards her. “You need to eat while you can. I... I know it's not much, but...”
“Mmmmm...” Rainbow slithered a hoof out, lightly tapping the two bread slices. Her eyes narrowed. “Is... that the b-best that Ebon could cook up?”
Wildcard cocked his head to the side.
“Who?” Bard breathed.
With a sigh, Rainbow curled up, wincing from her braids. “How... how long has... has it...?”
“Since you started this stupid thang?” Bard grunted. “Eight days, Rainbow.”
“Mrmmmff...” Rainbow clenched her eyes shut. “Doesn't matter...”
“Rainbow...”
“Put a sign up for Belle... 'hammock occupied.'”
“Would ya just eat the bread already?”
“Can't...”
“Excuse me?”
“Gotta... mmmfff... get Fluttershy...” She shuddered. “Not a drop. Won't spill...”
“Rainbow, level with us, will ya?!” Bard sat up straight, frowning. “Are they makin' ya do anythang that makes sense?”
“Grnnghh...”
“Like meditatin'?”
“Mmmf... no...”
“Scripture readin'?”
“No...”
“Givin' the tithe? I mean... for Verlaxion's sake—!” Bard snarled. “None of this makes no sense!”
“Gotta... keep at it...”
“Until when?! Huh?!”
Rainbow shuddered. “Until I'm ready.”
Bard opened his muzzle to protest again, but Wildcard placed a talon on his shoulder, silencing the stallion. The musician sat in place, fuming.
“Mmmmff...” Rainbow's eyes rolled back. She saw colorful muzzles. Sad eyes. The glinting windows to a rustic cottage. “Gotta... learn to be m-more... mmmff... assertive...”
“Anything's worth it, if it means a nice, peaceful life.”
Rainbow gasped, eyes flying open.
It wasn't the bell that woke her this time.
She darted her eyes left and right.
A knot had formed in her stomach, refusing to go away. But she felt past it.
Her eyes traced the wooden lengths of the closet beyond her chalices of rippling water.
She breathed and breathed and breathed and—
Shadows darted.
She jerked her head aside, braids twitching.
The knot had risen to her throat by now, becoming impossible to ignore.
The water shook... rippled.
“Not... a d-drop...”
Her vision blurred. She followed the tears down the granite etchings of runes... leylines... ancient pegasus effigies. Beyond Hurricane's tomb, a mangled mess of changeling limbs hung together, swaying pendulously, dripping with freshly spilled juices.
“Not a drop,” she whimpered, glancing to her right upon a whiff of smoke.
Aridstone billowed smoke, merging with the flames of Lerris. Crucifixes lined the edges of the Silvadelian ravine. Colors streaked; Nightshade's body plunged into the abyss. Rainbow's breaths lunged with her, falling into a rattling pile of bodies and managlider pieces. Lady Pestiferous' skull hung off the bow of the Steel Wing. Eyes darted, and Rainbow watched as the torso of a goblin crawled out of Nevlamas' sockets, bleeding, staining the lengths of Darkstinian metal with pale chaotic grit.
“Not a drop...” Rainbow shivered, shook. Tears welled up. “Not a drop not a drop not a dr-drop...”
“Monster...”
Gasping, Rainbow glanced to the left.
The rusted walls of Blue Shelf were bathed in blood and entrails. In the distance—hidden in the shadows of the Machine World—two unicorn figures stood, a father and daughter, with three eyes between them.
“...you will have to do some very... very unkind things.”
“Guhhh!” Rainbow Dash shot up.
The cool air of the Quade fell on her shoulders.
She sat on her sleeping mat, panting, sweating.
In the distance, a bell's sound haunted her ears, ringing across the starlight.
Rainbow panted and panted. Two figures were lying a few spaces away, sound asleep beneath the lean-to's.
“Just... have to keep... keep...” She wheezed, shook. “...keep flying...”
The sun lingered ahead of her.
Dim.
Yellow.
Obscured by vertical lines.
“Just...” Rainbow Dash stood up, teetered, hobbled. “...keep flying...”
The snores of the Desperadoes drew distant.
The platforms drifted beneath her.
Starlight and shallow waters... above and below....
“Not a drop...” She breathed. “Not a dr-drop...” She smiled.
The sunlight grew brighter, glinting yellow and golden off the cottage windows. She could smell the flowers along the babbling brook and the cobblestone path.
“Just have to be more assertive...” She reached forward to knock three times on the front door, but felt nothing. “Just... come out...” She clenched her teeth, feeling around for the wooden surface. Her eyes fluttered shut, but there was no bell. “... ... ...don't be afraid—”
“Child? Child, what are you doing...?”
“Won't spill—” Rainbow plunged.
“Child! Rainbow Dash! Wait—”
Rainbow fell over the edge of the platform—only to have a strong hoof grab her rear leg at the last second. Rainbow dangled for a brief moment, staring at a blue pendulum down below in the surfaces of the Quade. She blinked blearily, then gasped as she yanked back—painfully—by her tail.
“Guuh!” Thwomp! Rainbow fell back on her flank, wincing all over from the throbbing roots of her tail hairs. “Ow! Ow ow ow ow...” She gnashed her teeth. “Owie...”
“I... I-I'm so very sorry!” a female voice squeaked, songful and tender all at once. “I-I had to stop you from falling! Oh, blessed Reed. Thank you, Goddess Verlaxion, for your strength and timing!”
“Mrmmfff...” Rainbow squinted at the yellow figure in front of her. “Sonikah?” She blinked, the figure coming more and more into focus. “You're... n-not my anchor...”
“No, Rainbow Dash... child. I am not.” A considerably younger face came into focus. Eyes full with fright and compassion. “But I am so very glad that I caught you, regardless.”
Rainbow shuddered, eyes twitching. “... ... ...Nicro?”
“You know my name?” Nicro blinked. Then, a bashful smile. “Yes. Of course. You attended at least one of my chorus sessions.”
“I... can't spill a drop, Nicro,” Rainbow stammered. She gazed out at the Quade, spotting a line of starlight blanketing the top of rigid mountains. “Passion and sin...”
“Oh... oh dear...” Nicro fidgeted, glancing over her shoulder. “Your friends. Weren't... weren't they supposed to be watching over you?”
“Left them,” Rainbow muttered.
“Huh?”
“Left them in Val Roa,” Rainbow wheezed. Blinking. “Ashes. Elements of Harmony. Foundations... cr-crumble without me...”
“Rainbow, I... I-I have nothing to do with the Sacrament,” Nicro said, kneeling down in front of her. “I w-was simply assigned to examine the upper platforms and their weave this evening. I...” She shuddered. “I really should get you back to your friends. I-I'm not really allowed to do anything else. You must understand.”
“It's... it's okay...” Rainbow said. Reaching out, she patted the mare's forelimb, smiling weakly. “You showed that dragon who's boss.”
“Huh?” Nicro blinked.
“Just... g-gotta learn to stop being afraid of your own shadow...” Rainbow's lips pursed, and her eyes narrowed. “... ... ...why didn't you answer the cottage door?”
“... ... ...” Nicro bit her lip. She sniffled slightly, then clenched her jaw. “Wait right here.”
“Hmmm?”
“Wait... right here,” the pilgrim whispered, waving a hoof. “Please. Do not say another word. Do not even move until... until I return.”
“Mrmmmfff... should...” Rainbow teetered, yawning. “Should j-just give me the Stare.” She leaned to the left. “But... you're not generosity. That's Nealend... Nick Song... Swan Sinrar... whoop whoop... eheheheh...” She leaned to the right. “A bard, a griffon, and a spark walk into a seapony bar... most laughable joke ever... m-most...”
She wasn't aware of how much time had passed until Nicro came scampering back. The pilgrim crouched in front of Rainbow Dash, holding something tightly to her sackcloth gown.
“Mrmmmf...” Rainbow's nostrils flared. “Magic... in the Grand Choke... Friendship...”
“Rainbow Dash. Here...” Nicro placed two spongy spheres into the mare's emaciated hooves. “Be quick about it.”
“Hrmmff?” Rainbow squinted at her. “Sonikah?”
“No, it's—” Nicro opened her muzzle, lingered, then spat: “Forget about it. Just eat.”
“Eat?”
“Yes, eat.”
“... ... ...” Rainbow stared down at her hooves.
Two fresh ocean mangoes lingered in her grasp.
“What...” Rainbow blinked. “What's...?”
“I've honestly never seen a foal of Verlaxion go through as much as you're going through right now,” Nicro said. “All children who are called to the Quade... mmmff... th-they at least get to read the Word of Reed or... or enjoy study sessions with Kyron. But this... this Sacrament.” Her muzzle scrunched. “I've never seen anything like it. I've asked Sonikah, but she's not allowed to converse with anypony else but the one she's anchored to... at least not until the Ritual is over. So... I-I have no explanation for why you have to... I mean why you're forced to...” She grimaced, shuddering. “Either case, it pains me to see a foal of Verlaxion suffering like this. Please... eat quickly. Restore your energy so that you can meditate properly tomorrow. Believe me. It... it will help!”
“You...” Rainbow blinked. “...you are... g-giving me food?”
“Shhhh...”
“But...” Rainbow's muzzle hung open as she gazed at her. “It's... it's against the—”
“I know,” Nicro breathed. “Please... don't tell anypony.” She gulped. “Especially not Antsan. It... will not go well.”
Rainbow looked at the food. Her jaw clenched and unclenched. The knot in her stomach unraveled, sending rippling waves of hunger up her gullet. Panting, she opened her mouth... then opened it wider, lifting the fruit up to her teeth.
Nicro smiled, eyes glossing over.
“... ... ...” Rainbow Dash stopped. Her ears twitched. Slowly, her hooves lowered, and she exhaled coldly.
Nicro's lips pursed. “What... what's the matter...?”
Rainbow grumbled: “This is a test.”
Nicro did a double-take. “H-huh?”
“My anchor sent you here...” Rainbow's nostrils flared. “...to tempt me with fruit... fruit that I'm not allowed to eat.”
“What? I—!” Nicro winced, glanced over her shoulder, then shivered. “My dear child, I-I am doing nothing of the sort! It's just... I-I can't bear to see another foal of Verlaxion suffer! Please... will you eat the fruit and restore your health?”
Rainbow glared at her. “Antsan and the rest could kick you out of the Quade.”
“I... I...” Nicro gulped. “A foal of Verlaxion should not suffer unecessarily. It... just isn't right.”
Rainbow looked at her. She took several deep breaths, then spread her limbs apart.
The two pieces of fruit dropped to the floor.
Nicro glanced at them. Shocked, she looked back up at Rainbow Dash.
“I'm only doing this because I have to,” Rainbow muttered. “But you? The Reed is your life. Being a Luminard is everything.” She slowly shook her head. “Thanks for the kind offering... but I'm not about to put any of that at risk. It... would be m-most uncool...”
Nicro bit her lip. Slowly, she nodded. Leaning over, the monk scooped the fruit up in her hooves. Instead of leaving, however, she hugged the two mangoes to her chest. “To think that we should be the ones teaching you about kindness...”
“You're all kind enough,” Rainbow murmured through a weak smile. “Believe me.”
Nicro smiled at her, eyes moist.
Rainbow gulped. “Wanna... kn-know a secret?”
Nicro bowed. “By Verlaxion's grace...”
Rainbow sighed, eyes narrowing. “I didn't c-come here to meet Verlaxion... I came here to find a friend.”
Nicro looked up, then rested a hoof on the mare's shoulder. “Well, you've already made one.”
Rainbow looked at her.
Nicro smiled tenderly. “I cannot imagine that Verlaxion will be that far behind, my child...”
Rainbow blinked. A devilish smirk drew across her lips.
Dull candlelight fell across Rainbow Dash's stoic face.
Sonikah opened the door to the closet. The hinges creaked as the door revealed a pair of chalices on the floor, filled with water.
Sonikah moved her hoof to guide Rainbow—but the pegasus shuffled on ahead. Sonikah blinked.
Rainbow picked up the two glasses of water, instantly squatting on the floor.
Sonikah gazed at her. With silent grace, she leaned up to refill the lamp with oil.
“Do I get to read any scripture today?” Rainbow muttered.
“...no...”
Rainbow's muzzle twitched as she stared dead ahead. “Do I get to hear any sermons on the Reed?”
Sonikah leaned back, slowly shaking her head. “... ... ... no ...”
Rainbow's nostrils flared. She droned: “Do I get to scream?”
Sonikah paused. She turned, gazing softly down at the mare. “... ... ...if you so desire...”
Rainbow shut her eyes.
Hoofsteps.
Creaking hinges.
Thud.
Rainbow inhaled and exhaled... inhaled and exhaled...
Her eyes twitched left and right beneath their lids.
Her limbs shook, the water in the chalices rippling...
Circles within circles...
Expanding, never completing.
Torchlight.
Flickering candles.
Dust... musk... the yellow string of the Reed...
Petrified wood and circling weave...
Minutes... hours... water and rippling...
A beacon—on the horizon.
Bright and golden.
Then—an eclipse:
“Monster.”
One eye opened.
Then—eventually—the other.
The smoke over Lerris was impermeable.
Bodies covered the thin grass and tundra...
Skystone loomed in the distance like crimson clouds over the holocaust.
She exhaled... misty vapors escaping... dancing through the moist air in ghostly tendrils.
She blinked.
All of the bodies were standing up.
Looking at her.
Hollow eyes to hollow souls, vacated by a winged beast.
Rainbow gritted her teeth.
At the far end of the blaze—the fires hung in a dim yellow plume.
She moved one hoof... shuffling forward...
One step at a time, through the stench of decay, the fumes and the blood.
The bodies parted ways, gazing at her, cold and breathless.
Ledomaritans... Xonans... changelings... goblins...
Rainbow gnashed her teeth... feeling the pallid gravestone kiss of their skin as she brushed past them.
They pivoted to face her, expressions decayed and decaying...
Rainbow slipped past each body... each limb... Nightshade's... Pestiferous'... ponies and dragons and naga...
Her hooves crunched over fragmented chunks of manastone... the brittle gray fossiles of chaotic abominations... a mangled carpet of death and despair...
Then, waiting side by side, in a shadow where Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie couldn't see, two bodies lingered, their three eyes glaring upon the mare.
Rainbow hyperventilated. Whimpered. As she came closer—the hairs on her flesh curling from the heat of the conflagration—she tilted her head aside, unwilling to look. The smoke overcame her, and she drifted through the tundra of Lerris... past the bones of Aridstone... and into the bloody bowels of Blue Shelf, where the sarcophagus awaited a monster with jaws of chaotic metal—
A hoof reached through the mess, clasping Rainbow's fetlock.
Rainbow gasped. She flew up out of the miasma, landing on Xonan tundra once again. Eyes jerking aside, she gaped.
Nicro smiled at her. With a gentle, kind hoof, she pulled her past the fumes, leading her towards the edge of a babbling brook.
Rainbow Dash stared at her, filling up with warmth at the gesture.
Gulping, the mare looked ahead, eyes searching like a humble pilgrim's.
A cottage loomed a few cobblestone steps away. The glossy windows glistened with dim yellow sunlight.
Rainbow Dash shuffled forward, limping, aching.
She reached the door, raised her hoof to the rustic wooden surface, and—
Thap Thap Thap!
“Fluttershy?”
Silence.
Thap thap thap thap!
“Fluttershyyyyyy? Open up, girl! Don't tell me you're lazing away at this hour!”
Then, softly, from within: “Mmmm... mmm-come in, Rainbow D-Dash.”
Rainbow Dash shoved the front door to Fluttershy's cottage open with a creak. She stepped inside, her ears twitching in the bright Ponyville sunlight. “Yeesh, Fluttershy? Why didn't you answer the first time?” She trotted firmly over the wooden floorboards. “The rest of us girls are over at Golden Oaks, helping Twilight move in. Didn't you say you'd lend a hoof? Pffft... it's not like you to bail out on—” She scuffled to a stop, eyes wide. “Fluttershy?!”
“Mrmmfff...” Fluttershy finished wrapping a length of tight white bandages around her front right limb. Similar guaze covered her in many places—like patchwork—including her left wing and her flank. She looked up at Rainbow Dash from her couch, winced, then smiled sheepishly. “Uhm... h-hi.”
“Holy crap!” Swooosh! Rainbow zipped over to her side. “What in the hay happened to you, girl?! You're... you're... gaaah! What, did a wagon run you over or something?”
“Now calm down, Rainbow Dash—”
“OmigoshOmigoshOmigosh!” Rainbow danced in place. “Just wait right here! I'll go get Nurse Red Heart! Super quick!”
“Rainbow—”
“Don't move a muscle!” Rainbow flew towards the door.
“They're just minor scrapes and scratches. Believe me.” Fluttershy nevertheless winced, her soft breath coming out in a brief squeak of pain. Swiftly recovering, she cleared her throat. “Nurse Red Heart is better off dealing with sick ponies who really need her help right now.”
“And you don't?!?” Rainbow wheezed, pointing at the mare. “You look like you just came out of a knife fight!”
“Well... kinda sorta...”
“Wait...” Rainbow squinted. “Are you serious?”
“Erm...”
“Fluttershy...” Rainbow snarled. She scuffed a single hoof multiple times across the floorboard. “Tell me... is it those no-good dirty bullies from Cloudsdale?”
“What? No, Rainbow! No!”
“Because if they did this to you, I swear—”
“They would never lay a hoof on me.” Fluttershy tipped her nose up. “If you must know, I got a little bit too close to a manticore yesterday.”
“A... a manticore...?!” Rainbow gasped. “You mean to say that a manticore did this to you?!?”
“She was sick and confused—”
“Rnnngh! I knew this stinkin' cottage was too close to the Everfree Forest!” Rainbow Dash paced in angry, angry circles. “Friggin' beasts thinking like they own the place! What did it look like, huh?” She frowned at the dainty pony. “Describe her to me so I can go and kick her no-good fangs in!”
“Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy's jaw went tense. She stood up, eyes glaring, rigid. “You will do no such thing.”
Rainbow blinked. Under such a stare, she plopped down instantly on her blue haunches. “But... but...” She gulped a lump down her throat, voice cracking: “Look at what the stupid thing did to you, Flutters.”
“Rainbow, that 'stupid thing' was eleven months pregnant with its cub. A rattlesnake bit the mother in her leg, and the pain and trauma induced it into an early labor.”
“Huh?”
“I saw it writhing in the middle of a forested path on the way back from relocating a family of baby bunnies,” Fluttershy explained. “You know me and my talent, Rainbow Dash. I couldn't just leave the poor thing alone in its misery... especially when something so important and miraculous was taking place.”
“So... are you telling me...” Rainbow leaned forward, eyebrows arched. “You stopped by to deliver a baby manticore... alone?!?”
“If I took the time to go get 'help,' the poor creature would have miscarried.” Fluttershy gulped. “Or worse.”
“But... b-but...” Rainbow squirmed where she sat. “You were able to calm it down, r-right?” She gulped, stammering foalishly: “Sorta like that one with the thorn in its paw that we met?”
“I... did the best I could.” Fluttershy winced, waving a bandaged leg. “But... it was just so feverish and mad, Rainbow. I... c-couldn't avoid a few scratches while I went in to assist her.”
“Jeez, Fluttershy...” Rainbow stood up and trotted forward. She rested a hoof on a part of Rainbow's shoulder that wasn't bandaged. “And here I thought I was the bravest pony in Ponyville...”
“And you are, Rainbow.” Fluttershy smiled calmly, lying down on her couch with a contented sigh. “The sort of things you do... the lengths you go to save me and everypony else...”
“Fluttershy, for realsies...” Rainbow frowned. “You... you really shouldn't have tried tackling this on your own. You coulda gotten really... and I mean really hurt.”
Fluttershy shrugged, wincing again. “Well, it worked.”
“It did?”
Fluttershy stifled a giggle. “The mother foaled a baby manticore. One of the most... adorable little things I've ever seen.”
“Yeeugh... if you say so.”
“I'm serious.” Fluttershy adjusted one of her bandages, shuddering. “I was able to drop the little thing off at the Trottingham Zoo within hours of the foaling. You see... there are experts in exotic wildlife there who have the resources to nurse a baby manticore like that back to health. I was... uhm... I was there until really really early in the morning.”
“Wow... no wonder you couldn't make it to Sugarcube Corner last night to hang out.”
“Yes. And I'm very, very sorry about that, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said. “And I'm also very sorry that... I-I can't exactly make it to Golden Oaks to help Twilight move in her things right.” She gulped. “That pony deserves a warm welcome to this town, and this is what I've got to show for it.”
“Fluttershy, give it a rest. You totally deserve a breather.” Rainbow smiled, patting the pegasus' shoulder. Then her smile faded. “Still... I don't get it...”
“Hmmm?” Fluttershy blinked. “Don't get what?”
“Just... it's... it's a friggin' beast in the middle of the forest!” Rainbow shrugged. “Manticores are animals, Fluttershy. I'm sure they live and die all the time, snakes or no snakes.”
“When I saw what was happening, I had to intervene, Rainbow, I just had to,” Fluttershy said. “It was the right thing to do... the kind thing to do.”
“But... but to put yourself through all of this!” Rainbow winced. “Those scratches look nasty painful, girl!”
“All wounds heal, Rainbow.” Fluttershy giggled lightly. “All in good time.”
“But... was it even worth getting them to begin with?” Rainbow Dash asked. “All for some silly, drooling, baby manticore?”
“Rainbow Dash...” Fluttershy caressed the mare's chin, smiling up at her. “Anything's worth it... if it means ensuring a nice, peaceful life in the end.”
Rainbow Dash's eyes fluttered open.
The yellow lamplight flickered along the wooden beams right in front of her.
The water rested in each chalice. Calm. Smooth.
The circles were gone.
Rainbow was still as stone.
“Passion...”
She blinked.
“Sin...”
She breathed.
“Labor... pain...”
Rainbow's ears twitched. Her eyes locked on a golden glow from beyond the beams... the Reed... the machine world...
“Passion and sin... labor and pain...” She shuddered. Lungs emptying. “... ... ...you cannot spill a single drop if everything has been dried up.”
Rainbow's muscles tensed.
She seethed... fumed...
She looked at the glass chalices in her hooves. She snarled. Muscles tightened... flexed... and uncoiled as she flung both limbs towards one another.
Crassssh!
Sonikah's ears twitched. She spun towards the door.
The other pilgrims in the hallway looked up from the devotionals they were scribbling.
Sonikah stared at the door. She blinked.
Silence.
And then...
Thump... ... th-thump... .... ... thump...
Sonikah and the pilgrims exchanged glances.
Swiftly, the anchor approached the door. She lifted the latch then swung the barricade open.
Creaaaaak...
The first thing the Luminards saw was hoof-shaped bloodstains on the inside of the door.
Rainbow Dash stood in place, panting, writhing. Behind her, the floor was littered with broken glass marinating in a puddle of water.
“It is finished...” Rainbow wheezed. She raised her front hooves. They were cut in several places, dribbling with blood. “...I am ready.”
Sonikah looked back. “Indeed you are,” the anchor said. A soft smile, and she reached out, grasping the pegasus' wounded, quivering fetlocks. “Welcome to Verlaxion's fold, Anointed One.”