Cold.
Silence.
And then...
"Magic... the absence of which gives you clarity. Generosity... and yet avarice wins you more pieces of the hidden flame. Laughter... all given up for an extension of life..."
Rainbow Dash's ruby eyes darted left and right.
All she could see was pulsating orange light, emanating from the heart of darkness.
The voice coughed, wheezed, and resumed: "Kindness... f-forsaken in an act of necessary cruelty. Mrmmmmff... honesty... thrown to the fire for the sake of an edge... an edge that, for some foolish reason, you've yet to fully comprehend..."
Slowly, the orange light shrank.
The peripheral of Rainbow's vision blurred into focus, outlining metal cogwheels and golden pendulums frozen in sheets of ice.
"I wonder..." More coughing. "H-how will you choose to suffer the sting of loyalty's deconstruction? The time is coming, Rainbow. Sooner than you know..."
The orange glow dwindled, shrinking into the center of the machine room.
At last, Rainbow Dash saw a bed of ice—rising up out of the metal floor like an altar.
Yaerfaerda shimmered in the center. Squinting, Rainbow could see that a tiny decrepit shell housed the glowing rune... a shell that was stirring, breathing, living—but barely.
An emaciated thing with gangly hooves and a fractured horn tilted its head up. Cheekbones hung dark and bruised in the cold pale light from the looming frost. A pair of stone blue eyeslits peered. Not long after, the thing smiled. The strength and enchantment was immediately drained from its throat, and nevertheless it spoke... whimpered with Verlax's feeble voice:
"Soon, loyalty will f-force an even stronger decision than you will make today," the equine stammered. "What will you be willing to sacrifice then?" The creature gulped. Thin gray follicles of hair draped limply off her head and tail. "The destination? Or the journey?"
A hushed breath filled the air.
Rainbow shivered where she stood between Remna, Bard, and Wildcard. Keris, the Talon, and the Herald took up the rear. Theanim and Echo stared in mute shock.
Rainbow's brow furrowed. "... ... ...Verlax?"
"Welcome... Austraeoh..." The mare on the ice sheet whispered. She shook, shuddered, but lacked the strength to move even the slightest inch. "...you have made it... p-past innumerable obstacles, and now you are ready." She smiled, a very sickly thing. "I am so... so very pr-proud of you—" She had to stop talking in order to cough again, spitting up frozen saliva and mucus.
Bard and Wildcard grimaced.
Remna stared, her face still and deadpan.
"What... the hay is this?" Ariel gasped from behind.
"Where... where is Verlaxion?" Starstorm murmured, shivering. "Where is our Queen?"
"There's supposed to be a ferocious dragon here," Logan exhaled, staring left and right as he clutched his axe. "The Divine of Frost."
"You... are looking at h-her..." The mare gulped, her limbs quivering. She squirmed atop the bed of ice—like a cadaver on a gurney. "...or... mrmmmfff... what is left of her." She wheezed, shook, and murmured some more: "After hundreds and hundreds of years spent spreading my essence over the beautiful Prefectures of this land..." She coughed, found her breath, and exhaled: "I have reduced m-myself to little more than the sheer ambition that sent me in search of Endrax's wisdom to b-begin with." Her sickly nostrils flared, coated in frigid condensation. Her coat hung in a leprotic patchwork of azure fuzz under cold blue light. "And n-now... that same ambition has dr-drawn you to me. As m-much as I wished to perish in my tr-true regal form... it m-matters little. You see..." She tilted her head to face Remna—a very tiring gesture. "...we all m-must make sacrifices for the Austraeoh..."
Remna's green eyeslits narrowed.
"Verlaxion..." Raptr stepped forward. Keris and Windburst had to rest their claws on his shoulders to keep the rookie from advancing beyond Rainbow Dash. Nevertheless, the sergeant fell to one knee. "Is... is it truly you... our Queen?"
Theanim Mane and Echo stared, slack-jawed.
The mare on the sheet of ice spent the better part of ten seconds turning her head to gaze at the griffon. When at last she had the rookie in her sights, she spoke with a touch of delirium in her voice: "Oh... my sweet... sweet little foals..." A cold, vaporous sigh. "...how sorry... how horribly... terribly sorry I am that you would be the ones to live in this dark, deathly age..."
Raptr paled. He drew back—trembling—besides Starstorm and the others.
"I..." Theanim gazed aside at Echo, his lip trembling. "I don't understand..."
"How sorry I am for... s-so many things..." The mare shuddered, her sickly gaze reeling until it fell on Rainbow Dash again. For a brief moment, her jaws clenched. "All but one." Her ears had been reduced to leafy, see-through threads. They afforded the energy to twitch as she spoke in a firmer tone: "The stars have surely aligned for this moment, Austraeoh... that you would be the torch bearer in this final hour of preparation..."
"Verlax..." Rainbow's lips pursed. She gazed at the emptiness in the "throneroom." Her eyes reflected dangling icicles and lifeless machinery. "What... what is this?"
"The Fifth Seed," Verlax rasped. "And the only place I've known for ages." She coughed, then exhaled. "Ever since I made it my home... Rohbredden's holiest of holies..."
"No, I get that, but..." Rainbow blanched, twirling about as she took in the sickly details of the metallic hovel. "...all this time..." She gulped. "All this time I felt as though I was running from you..." She turned about, her incredulous eyes falling on the Divine once again. "...and you've been like this?"
"I've been... waiting, Rainbow Dash..." Verlax stammered. "Like an undying wind... you are swift and faithful... and you do not disappoint." She suddenly clenched her eyes shut. Her body shook, quivered, and undulated as if inducing labor. At the end of her gyrations, her horn pulsed with cold blue light. A tiny beam emanated, striking the icy walls of the room around her.
Flynn, Ariel, and Logan flinched—as did members of the Talon. Soon, however, they found that there was no need for alarm. Verlax's weak magic merely enchanted the sheets of ice surrounding Rainbow and her group. One metallic panel at a time, the room's interior displayed multiple moving images, ranging from the shelves of Frostknife to the rice fields of Seed Prefecture, the rail yards of Steamfall, the waters of Nealend, and the harbors of Kihutaja.
"My power..." The mare on the ice bed spoke. "...I've divided it amongst my many eyes and ears throughout this continent... and the seas beyond. They spotted you right where I sensed you would arrive, Austraeoh. They listened to your tales of adventure... they saw your tears of anguish... and they counted the steps that you took to challenge me... to challenge yourself." A cough, a sputter—and the mare managed another sickly smile. The panels around her dimmed back to icy deadness as she gazed upon Rainbow once again. "Or did you really... truly think that you would elude me through your own self-imposed trial?"
Rainbow pivoted about, gawking at Verlax. "You forced me to do things I never wanted to do." Rainbow sneered, her teeth grinding. "You made me believe that I had no choice in the grand scheme of things..." She dragged a hoof across the icy floor beneath her. "I did what I did to prove to myself that I'm the one in control! I never needed you to test me, Verlax. Sure, what I did may have been crazy... nuts even. But sometimes you gotta go nuts to shake loose the real whackjobs!"
"I assure you, Rainbow Dash..." Verlax slowly shook her head. "There was no shaking loose my eyes and ears." She inhaled and exhaled, shuddering. "I was planted deeper than you could ever possibly imagine. My magic... my spells have had roots sinking deep in the hearts, flesh, and minds of your greatest allies and enemies." She gulped. "Mortuana." Her eyes darted aside. "My sister..."
Remna fumed, struggling to contain her angry breaths.
"The old wise mare in Kunmane," Verlax murmured. "The deified tortoise beyond the Grand Choke." She glanced at Rainbow again. "Whatever Mortuana heard and saw... I heard and saw."
"Dearr gods..." Kepler exhaled, spectacles rattling.
"She did not know it at the time..." Verlax's eyes flickered past the wyvern. "But her precious Herald... her ever-loyal monks at Wyvern Point..." A sickly smile. "They were all part of the same sacrifice... the same river of purpose that ferried you to me."
Kepler hung his head while Ariel leaned towards him.
Verlax spoke: "I felt her death. It was strong... courageous... albeit unnecessary." The Divine slowly shook her head. "If only she had worked with me willingly..."
"You..." Flynn huffed and puffed. He galloped forward. "You damned dragon witch—!"
Logan and Wildcard held him in place. "Whoah, there, buddy," Logan muttered. He glared up at the creature on the bed. "Something tells me this isn't over yet."
"No... it is not..." Verlax slowly shook her head. "...not until the Austraeoh decides to carry forward."
Rainbow shook with anger... and something else. "What... do you mean...?"
"You are a tentative balance, Rainbow Dash... as the Austraeoh sh-should be." She lifted her head up to gaze at the mare. Thin eyes peered above a murmuring pair of corpse-pale lips. "You are both wise and foolish." She coughed. "Wise enough to overcome every trial that I have placed in your path." A shudder. "And foolish to think that the Spark could have a choice in undoing the Sundering."
"Rainbow Dash has made it this far solely because of the choices she's made," Theanim Mane said. Glaring, he took a bold step towards the ice platform, but no further. "The friends and allies she has by her side are a testament to that—"
"It is not a testament so much as an offering." Verlax's blue eyeslits flickered. "Mortuana was my eyes and ears for dozens of your lifetime, little pony." She gazed at the Herald. "I only allowed the Austraeoh to have companions... so that she could more intimately appreciate the sacrifice that needs being made."
Kepler, Flynn, and the others simply gaped in the Divine's direction.
Keris nervously glanced between the different groups. "What... kind of sacrifice do you speak of, Queen Verlaxion?"
"Hmmmrffff..." Verlax coughed... sputtered... then faced Rainbow again. "One that the Austraeoh already suspects..." Her weak ears drooped. "One... that she has been dreading... and y-yet anticipating for a long... long time..."
"Forget it, sister," Remna growled. "I will not give you the satisfaction of making the Autraeoh commit it." She boldly stepped towards the ice bed—
"No... no!" Rainbow Dash stepped in between the two. Panting, she turned to look at Verlax. "There'll be none of that..."
"Austraeoh," Verlax wheezed.
"There will be no slaying!" Rainbow hissed at Verlax. "What I came to do... I've come to do harmoniously." Her nostrils flared. "I will not give in to your stupid trials anymore, Verlax."
"My little pony," Verlax spoke. "Where do you think I put the Fifth Seed's precious flame years ago when I still had the strength to make a throneroom here?"
"I know..." Rainbow Dash gulped. Her eyes rested on Verlax's decrepit flesh. The orange glow of Yaerfaerda bled through her chest and shoulders like a bright candle beneath a blue paper lantern. "I know where you've stowed the flame away. You think that makes you clever?"
"There is... only one way..." Verlax whispered. "...only one w-way to claim this piece of the Spark."
"Well think again, ya stinkin' dragon!" Rainbow Dash spat. "I'm not going to give you the satisfaction! We're going to do this the harmonious way... whether you like it or not!"
"Don't pretend to be so foolish," Verlax rasped. "Your trial of kindness was back in the Quade, Austraeoh."
Rainbow blinked. "H-huh?"
Verlax simply smiled. "I've... w-waited here... suspended by one tiny thread of feeble strength." She gulped. "A thread maintained by the meticulous fusion of chaos energies and my Divine power..."
Rainbow squinted at her, ears folded back in confusion.
"...the very same thread..." Verlax coughed, then stared past Rainbow Dash. "...that you severed the moment that you opened the door to this chamber..."
Rainbow squeaked. "No..."
"...mrmmmff..." Verlax shook. "...and released me from life's faltering grip—"
"No no no no no!" Rainbow Dash galloped back through the group. She gasped as she saw ethereal blue light draining from the frosted metal panels, starting from the open door and receding throughout the circular interior. "NO!" She slammed her limbs against the dwindling energy. Grunting, she aimed her pendant and fired ruby beams at the pendulums and icicles. There was no effect. Nothing could stop the rampant discoloration. Soon, the entire throneroom hung in a monochromatic shadow as Rainbow Dash continued to sweat and panic.
Theanim and the Talon watched in numb horror. Keris slowly sighed, hanging his head in a melancholic slump.
"Stop this! Pl-please!" Panting, Rainbow Dash slid over to Verlax's altar. She knelt at her side, quivering all over. Hyperventilating. "You must stop this! Dang it!" She reached in, grasping Verlax's emaciated face. "Why are you doing this?!" She seethed. "Why waste your life and the lives of an entire continent of innocent souls?!"
Verlax peered back sickly. "Because you... are the only one... who can save us... Austraeoh..."
Rainbow gaped at her.
"You became stronger... more versatile... through cruelty," Verlax said. "And that has prepared you for the depths you m-must go when you reach the Dark Side." Her pale blue eyes narrowed. "But your legacy must surpass the consequences of your actions, both harmonic and chaotic."
Rainbow Dash blinked.
"If the Spark has any hope of undoing the Sundering... of bringing things full circle..." Verlax wheezed. "Then sh-she must not break that circle... or else the true unification... the Unification of Urohringrs... will be for nothing."
"Don't..." Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth. She shook her head. "Don't do it... don't say it..."
"The Tribes of this kingdom were saved by a lie... and through a lie... you must preserve them..."
"Verlax..." Rainbow closed her eyes, seething... shaking.
"If they find out who I really am... if they find out the truth..." Verlax spoke in a firm tone. "They will crumble under their own fears, distrust, and paranoia. They will destroy each other... fighting and squabbling to the bitter end. You know this."
Rainbow Dash shook... heaved.
"The 'companions' you have made know this." Verlax's eyeslits burned a bright blue. "And you will find on the Dark Side—as I once did—entire empires of chaos for whom honesty will bear no redeeming light." She took a deep breath, her horn shimmering with brief purpose. "Better that you suffer the sting of sacrifice now... and learn to forsake that which you pretend to hold dear... or you will never finish your journey alive." She slowly shook her head. "And that is not something that the future of all living things can afford to endure."
Theanim Mane had paled from head to tail. He fell to his flank, staring numbly across the cold depths of the throne room.
Echo said nothing—as did Keris and the rest of the Talon. The bulk of the group stared ahead in dull silence.
Rainbow's shivering hooves finally let go of Verlax's head. She rocked back and forth, her breath thin and weak. She hugged herself, teeth grinding—nearly bursting out of her tightening jaw.
"Loyal... courageous Austraeoh..." Verlax smiled, her strength fading again as the light dimmed in her eyes. "There is no choice or destiny in the circle." She gulped. "There is only the circle, and it revolves around you."
Rainbow shook harder and harder. She gripped her head, upon the brink of bursting.
Verlax's lips hung open. "You may scream now."
Rainbow Dash did just that. Tilting her head to the ceiling, she bellowed long and hard. Her anguished voice echoed off the icy walls and frozen instruments down in the bowels of the cold, dying world.
Ariel flinched, staring towards the floor as her eyes teared up.
Flynn and Logan fidgeted where they stood—their ears ringing from Rainbow's howl.
Bard sighed, tilting the brim of his hat forward as he stood in solemn silence.
At long last, Rainbow Dash collapsed at Verlax's bedside. She lost all strength in that prolonged outburst, so that she could no longer sob—just shake and writhe on the cold metal floor as her limbs curled up beneath her. It took her the better part of a minute to find a voice, and all it could sputter was: "I hate you..." She gnashed her teeth, squinting up at Verlax with teary, burning eyes. "I hate you so much."
"At long last..." Verlax bore a sickly smile. "I have a friend."
Rainbow covered her face, shivering.
"Mrmmfff..." Verlax coughed and whimpered. "My st-strength... is leaving..." A deep, cold breath. "Soon, I will perish... and all my lingering enchantments will fade with me."
Starstorm gasped. She and Windburst took a glance at the open door through which they came.
"Yes..." Verlax nodded. "...all of my powers... the invisible dam that holds the frozen bloodstream of this continent back..." She coughed. "That h-holds them back..." She shut her eyes, weathering the first of many painful convulsions. "...it will vanish." A gulp. "And the ancient wraiths that infest this land will run rampant over the mountainsides..."
"Therre arre morre windigoes out therre than we can count!" Kepler stammered. "A stampede of that prroporrtion..."
"...they'll cover all of Rohbredden in frost," Keris murmured. He gazed beyond the Talon. "Cities... townships... entire agricultural Prefectures—"
"My foals... are weak..." Verlax coughed. "But together... they can be strong. They are strong. So long as they remain as one... if they unite under the banner of my d-death..." Her weak eyes fell on Rainbow Dash. "...in opposition to the greatest threat that has ever blighted the land... strong enough to kill an immortal Queen such as their beloved 'Verlaxion'... well... they just might summon the strength to combat the demons of their despair." She gulped. "But if they allow truth to divide them... to diffuse the potency of their faith in the frail pursuit of a virtue that they cannot fully comprehend... then they will surely die."
"How would you know...?" Trembling, Theanim looked up. With teary eyes, he snarled: "You've blinded us for years, Verlaxion! How would you know?!" He shook, hyperventilated. "Truth frees! Truth liberates!"
"Then be free as corpses, if you desire," Verlax said. "But I would not wish that for you, my child." She glanced aside. "I doubt the Austraeoh will either."
Rainbow shook.
Theanim opened his muzzle to say something else. He felt Echo's hoof on his shoulder, and he lost the breath to speak. Instead, he hung his weary face in his hooves.
"This world that you aim to save," Verlax spoke to the mare. "This piece of Urohringr..." She coughed and rasped, "You m-must be prepared to save both the g-good and the bad." Another cough. "And saving it... d-depends on how you leave the m-most of it behind..." She exhaled. "I have given you an opportunity to leave Rohbredden in one p-piece instead of s-several." Verlax shook. "It... w-will not be as easy a ch-choice on the side that consumed Endrax... mrrrmmff... b-but now... hmmff... I-I trust that you sh-shall be better pr-prepared, Austraeoh..."
"It's only like this because you made it this way," Rainbow growled. She looked up, frowning past her tears. "I did not do any of this."
"And yet... there will be bigger monsters than you or I," Verlax said. "Our st-strength... is in ch-choosing to be those beasts anyways." She sputtered, her frail body spasming. "Grnnnfff... it... was n-never said that the Spark didn't burn... or that the Austraeoh would b-be benevolent... hrkk... grfff..." Verlax broke into a series of heavy coughs and hacking fits.
The Herald watched in tense silence from afar. Wildcard's cold dark lenses reflected a pathetic blue waif.
Remna stepped closer. Without saying a word, her violet hoof reached down and steadied Verlax's shaking frame.
For a brief moment, Verlax breathed steadily. She looked up, staring past Remna with a weak smile. "Ahhh... Axan..." A gulp. "Tell me, sister. When you were forced to end Nevlamas' life... was she happy?"
"Your eyes are everywhere," Remna muttered. "Do you not know?"
"Indeed..." Verlax nodded weakly. "My eyes see everything. But my h-heart... snrkkk..." She quivered, her neck muscles stretching. "... fr-froze ages ago..."
Remna exhaled. "She was at peace, Verlax," she said. Her emerald eyeslits hardened. "Though she did not deserve it any more than you."
"Hrmmmff..." Verlax shook, nodded. "An honest answer." She coughed. "I suppose... it's only f-fitting... mmrmmff... that I-I die with a modicum of irony." She inhaled and exhaled with tiny gunshot bursts at this point. The blueness drained from her hooves as dark grayness rolled up her fetlocks, spreading across her invalidic body. "Axan... t-tell me..." She hyperventilated. "Do you... ever w-wonder... what h-happened to the Matriarch who h-hatched us...?"
"No, Verlax." Remna slowly shook her head. "I do not."
"I envy y-you... and I envy h-her..." Verlax choked, struggling to speak. "A truly w-wise cr-creature... does things out of n-necessity... and not f-for love..." Her eyes rolled back as her horn dulled to a dark gray. "...I h-have... loved too m-much... these pr-precious souls... this thawing k-kingdom... grkkk... tr-tried to be everywhere at once... t-to bask in th-them... mmrmmff... a circle... not..." She looked Rainbow's way. "...a st-straight line... snkkkt... complete it, Austraeoh." She closed her eyes, her trembles fading. "The Sixth Seed. The sn-snow melts with my p-passing..."
"Verlax..." Rainbow stood up.
"...go there... go beyond..." Verlax's lips pursed as a single, vaporous breath left. "Complete Endrax... complete the circle..." Glinting teeth. A smile, perhaps—but swiftly fading. "Urohringr... unify... unite..."
"Verlax, don't—!" Rainbow reached forward, diving. "Dang it! Stay with us—!"
In place of the Divine, there was an ocean of orange light. An explosion.
FLASH!
"Verlax!" Rainbow hollered, but there was no echo. The universe was too large, too vast and empty to afford a sound. She hovered among the stars, breathless, drifting.
Above and around her, nebulae bent to the sway of gravity. Purple and gold constellations wrapped around the mare, filling the gaps between infinity—ever expanding.
The mare breathed... breathed. She looked around, spinning. The stars streaked, then became solid again. She drifted backwards, watching helplessly as the continents and oceans receded beneath her.
"Is that it...?"
She hugged herself.
Tears sprang from her eyes.
"Is that all there ever is?"
Rainbow Dash wept. She drifted chaotically in the darkness... a single speck of warmth and sound.
"A line in a circle..." She gritted her teeth. "All I've ever been... all I've ever wanted to be is awesome..." She sobbed. "I thought I had it all figured out. I thought... I thought I was—"
"Austraeoh."
Rainbow gasped. Her teary eyes flung open as she spun around, facing east.
The precipice loomed, drenched in tears of a different sort—falling, rushing, dissipating into darkness. The sun broke over the final horizon. A voice from beyond boomed with thunder older than time itself.
"The Spark is complete?"
Rainbow stared. Her shivers stopped, and she spoke with sudden resolve.
"I am." Her jaw clenched. "I've foaled yesterday." Another breath. "And Verlax... she is gone."
The voice had a reply. "Utaan."
Rainbow's eyes twitched. "What?"
"Utaan." The sun brightened. For a brief moment, Rainbow saw—or thought she saw—limbs extending from the the luminescent infinitude. Pointed ends, fluttering—like feathers. "Seek out Utaan..."
"Wait..."
"And bring Yaerfaerda to Urohringr."
"Wait!" Rainbow stretched towards the edge. "Please! You have to help! It's Verlax! She used your flame against this world! She's cursed it! Please, you must—"
FLASH!
"—help!" Rainbow Dash lurched forward, panting.
The corpse of a limp unicorn lay on a melting sheet of ice beneath her.
Rainbow Dash grimaced. A trickle of cold water pooled around her hooves, spreading swiftly across the metallic floor of the room. All around her, the ancient ice groaned, crackled, and shattered to bits. One by one, the pendulums and gears of the subterranean machine came to life, filling the chamber with the hum of otherworldly noise.
The enchanted blue light had completely faded away. In its place, five spots of bright color hovered equadistant from one another. Pinkie Pie gasped, eyes blinking wide at the lengths of the throne room. Fluttershy and Rarity drifted close, clinging to one another as they watched the ice melting in sheets around them. Twilight Sparkle hung in a dead stupor, ears folded back.
"Rainbow...?" She murmured, turning about in search of her anchor. "Rainbow Dash...?"
The sound of tender, gentle weeping.
"...?" Twilight Sparkle turned around. She saw Rainbow Dash collapsed beside an emaciated unicorn. "Rainbow! What..." She winced. "What h-happened?"
"Dashie?" Pinkie craned her neck.
"Oh no..." Rarity squeaked, holding a pair of hooves over her muzzle. "She... she d-didn't..."
Fluttershy slowly shook her head. "No." She spoke solemnly. "She did not."
Rainbow sniffled. She looked up at her friends, her eyes brimming with tears. Before she could find the words to speak—
—the hollow of Starkiss groaned around them. Within seconds, loud banshee shrieks lit up the cavernous world outside, growing with intensity.
"What...?!" Raptr spun, shivering. "What was that?!"
"What do you think?" Echo groaned.
"Everypony..." Windburst suddenly hovered at the open door. He nodded outside with his feathery head. "Look."
Members of both the Herald and Talon rushed over.
"The blue light..." Ariel winced. "It's faded!"
"It's darker than night out there!" Bard added.
"That isn't the half of it." Flynn peered out into the abyss. He rotated his mechanical eye, shivering at each ghostly shriek that wafted in through the doorway. "The windigoes... they've broken formation."
"Broken formation?!" Starstorm exclaimed.
"They're fanning out," Flynn continued. "I'm spotting several flying west... others heading north and south." He cleared his throat. "A bunch of them are... uh... t-taking the same corridors that brought us here."
"Gods prrotect us..." Kepler murmured. "They have been unleashed."
"What in the Hell?!" Logan marched up, gazing out into the dimming interior of the mountain. "Where do they think they're going?"
"Where aren't they going?" Keris calmly, coldly said.
The rest looked at him.
Keris faced the group. "Queen Verlaxion was the only thing keeping those windigoes in check. Now that she's gone..." He turned to gaze down at the corpse in front of Rainbow. "...there's nothing to hold them back."
"And she knew it all along." Bard tilted his hat back up so that he could squint at the group. "Wanna bet yer life on it?" He swung a hoof in the air. "This was her plan the entire dayum time. Rainbow shows up... opens this here door. Yank! There goes her life support. The poor filly ain't even got a choice."
"What do you mean she doesn't have a choice?!" Ariel exclaimed.
"The beacon of Yaerrfaerrda simply could not be avoided," Kepler said. "The Austrraeoh needs all pieces of the flame to empowerr the Sparrk—"
"We should have paid closer attention!" Ariel grumbled. "We—the Herald—we trained our whole lives for this moment! We should have had the foresight to avoid this!" She panted. "Mortuana—"
"—fell into the same friggin' trap," Logan grunted. "Verlax said it herself. In her curse, she made it so that she could see through the Mountain Matron's eyes." His nostrils flared. "If even an alicorn like Morty couldn't foresee this—"
"Well maybe she did," Echo spoke. "And she didn't see any other way through this."
Ariel frowned. "Are you actually implying that the leader of the Herald was in on Verlax's plan?!"
"Seems like everyone's Queen Frost Bitch was plotting this out far longer than your celestial foalsitter, soooooooooo..." Echo shrugged. "...shits and giggles?"
With a fuming breath, Ariel pointed. "I refuse to believe for one second that there was absolutely no way to avoid—"
"It doesn't matter," Remna murmured.
"Pffft..." Bard rolled his eyes. "Well of course you would say that."
"It needs being said." Remna looked up, hard green eyes glaring. "Simply so that this incessant talking can cease. Now is the time for action." She pointed out the door opposite of where they entered, marked by the Ynanhluutr symbol. "We came here with Austraeoh. She got what she needed. Now is the time to proceed to the Sixth Seed."
"Are you off yer dragon rocker?!" Bard marched towards the mare. "Your immortal sister just kicked the bucket right here in front of you and all you can think of is gettin' the Hell out of dodge?"
"She's right," Keris said.
Bard did a double-take at the Lieutenant. "Say again?"
"The Austraeoh's purpose lies beyond this time and place," Keris calmly spoke. "It always has. Thus, it would be foolish to hold her back." The griffon swallowed hard. "As for the rest of us... we have the challenge of a lifetime ahead... multiple lifetimes, for that matter."
"Lieutenant..." Logan trotted towards the griffon. "I know that the Herald and the Talon barely know each other... but you strike me as pretty cool cat-bird." His eyes narrowed. "You can't possibly expect yourself to shoulder the weight of what's happened here."
"Can't we?" Keris looked up. "We knew the risks... or at least we half-expected them." He took a deep breath. "We led the 'Rainbow Rogue' here, fully knowing that it could mean the downfall of Verlaxion... including all that her powers hold at bay." He glanced at his wingmates. "I can't imagine I'm the only soul whose had this kind of foresight."
Starstorm and Raptr hung their heads. Windburst nodded. "We knew that something was going to go down. Hard."
"But you heard her speak just now!" Ariel exclaimed. "You know that she orchestrated all of this! That Queen was always a dragon matriarch in disguise and now—"
"She was born in our hearts as Queen Verlaxion," Keris said. "And now she will have died in our hearts as Queen Verlaxion." His headcrest drooped back as he added in a melancholic tone: "Or at least... the hearts outside of Starkiss can afford to believe that."
For the first time since Verlax's last words, Theanim lifted his gaze. "Lieutenant...?"
Keris looked over. "Professor..." He sighed. "...how can we even pretend to explain what truly happened here—"
"By telling everypony what truly happened here!" Theanim Mane stood up, shaking with anger. "I did not come all the way to this throneroom just to be encumbered by putrid lies!" He waved a hoof. "None of us did!"
"Theams," Echo muttered. "Before you make a scene—"
"And don't you even start!" Theanim snarled. Windigoes shrieked in the distance, but he fought for the courage to shout against them: "Naturally you would give into despair and pessimism! But the foals of Verlaxion?! They're stronger than that!"
"Dammit, Theanim, there is no Verlaxion!" Echo pointed at the corpse. "Don't you see that?! Guess what! The idiots outside this place won't!"
"The Tribes are strong in heart and in character!" Theanim shook, shivered. "If you just... appeal to their sensibilities! If we could just try to show them the light so that they could ascertain the truth—"
"Are we talking about the same ponies who took advantage of Verlaxion's silence to conspire against one another?" Starstorm muttered. "You and I saw the filthiest sins of this continent in person, Professor. The Lieutenant as well."
Windburst muttered, "Seems like the ponies of Frostknife are only strong when they're afraid." He frowned. "And when they're scared... the citizens they represent have something to die for... instead of pointing talons at each other."
"What... I..." Theanim Mane grimaced. "Do you even hear yourselves?! I mean... what are you even saying?!"
"Ain't no huge stretch of the imagination, Professor," Bard spoke. He glanced over. "I've wandered across these prefectures half my life." He snorted. "I ain't ever seen the tribes gettin' all chummy as they have these past few weeks... obsessin' all angry-like over us and the Rainbow Rogue." He looked at the others standing across the chamber. "And if what ol' Verlax said about the windigoes is true—and from what Flynn and the Sergeants are sayin', it sure seems to be—then Rohbredden has a mighty fine reason for stayin' united under one banner."
"And just what kind of a banner are we talking about?!" Theanim fumed. "A banner of... of ignorance and paranoia?!"
"It seems to be working so far," Starstorm said.
Theanim pointed an angry hoof. "No. I will not accept that! You are a sworn protector of Rohbredden!"
"You're right, professor." Keris gulped. "We are." He glanced at his sergeants—but they only hung their heads. "But what kind of protectors would we be if we let this kingdom fall to pieces?"
"I thought we had an understanding, Lieutenant," Theanim grumbled. "You and I—I thought we were being shown the light! I thought we were making a discovery for ourselves and all our great grandfoals to come!"
"I thought I understood things too, Professor. But n-now..." Keris' voice wavered. A mistiness overcame his hawkeyes as he took a long, sad look at the melting room. Windigoes shrieked—growing more and more distant in the darkness outside. He sighed. "...now... after all of this..."
"Face it," Remna grunted. "My sister had done her damage eons ago. We were too late and too foolish to stop her. Myself included. However, it's not too late to escort the Austraeoh to the next beacon and beyond." She exhaled a hot breath. "If not for what Verlax has sacrificed—then for what the Herald and their fellow mortals have... we must press forward."
"Alas..." Kepler shuddered. "It would appearr as though the innocent souls of Rrohbrredden arre about to pay the ultimate sacrrifice." He adjusted his spectacles, peering out into the dimmed hollow of Starkiss once again. "Therre is nothing in ourr arrsenal that can fend off that many windigoes."
"But we have strong defenses," Keris boldly said. "We have an entire civilization of fortified architecture." His eyes glinted with determination. "So long as we remain united, we just may be able to outlast any type of stampede!"
"Yeah, but for how long?!" Flynn exclaimed. "Mortuana sacrificed herself to eliminate just a fraction of those suckers!"
"Again, so long as we work together—" Keris began.
"I know where this is going." Theanim grunted. "And I would rather die in the sanctity of knowing the truth than to allow everyone around me to linger on perpetual darkness!"
"Oh shut your science hole, Theams!" Echo barked. "You of all ponies can't pretend to be that selfish." His slitted eyes glinted. "Or are you as bad as Verlax that you think you can speak for everyone?"
Theanim opened his muzzle to retort, but he could only tremble. Eventually, it was a squeaking voice that came out of him. "It's... it's so unfair, Echo. All that we've done... all that Rainbow has done..." He clenched his teeth. "Everypony has the right to know what's happened here... how... how this civilization has been manipulated and used for millennia!"
"And if we allow everypony to see a glimpse of Verlaxion's treachery," Starstorm said. "If we even entertain the possibility of letting them know how pointless our entire creed's been for countless generations... then how will we have the strength to carry on?"
"Don't give in to despair! Please! All of you!" Theanim stared at the group, nearly hyperventilating. "We... we can't be that irrational! If we must unify against a common enemy... then let it be against Verlaxion! Even if it's just the ghost of her. Please... I've seen so much truth and... and it needs to be shared... this all needs..." He gulped, his voice encumbered by a growing lump in his throat.
Wildcard sighed. He eventually gestured.
Bard translated: "'This land's rationality ain't strong enough to remove the shadow that Verlax has left.'" Clearing his throat, Bard turned to gaze at the rest. "And—personally speakin'—I wish it weren't so. But thousands of soldiers of the Central Guard are waitin' out there, itchin' to scalp us and prove otherwise. If the windigoes dun freeze us to death, we'll be lucky if we get out of this continent in one piece."
"Verrlax is dead," Kepler said. "But the Rrainbow Rrogue?"
"Her legacy... endures..." Theanim held a hoof over his muzzle. More tears sprang from his eyes. Echo leaned over, engulfing him in a side hug as his close friend trembled.
Keris took his gaze off the stallion, glancing towards where the pegasus in question was still collapsed. "Rainbow?" He took a step towards her. "Rainbow Dash...?"
Rainbow had collapsed on her side at this point, curled up into a pathetic blue ball. She covered her eyes, fighting the tears.
"Rainbow... please..." Keris gulped. He jolted from the sound of distant windigoes—but continued to speak. "Speak to us. Tell us what you're thinking."
"Austraeoh..." Remna gently pushed Rainbow.
Rainbow didn't respond. She didn't even move. At least... not until—
"Sugarcube...?"
Rainbow's teary eyes flashed open. Ruby pupils reflected a faint orange figure.
Wordless, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy stepped aside.
"What's goin' on here, Rainbow?"
She trotted down the center, gazing left and right. A gold warmth spread through the machinery—as if issuing outward from her ghostly hooves. Her stride was strong—jostled only once when she happened to graze a remnant of the melting ice bed... her leg phasing through.
"Where are we? Who are all these here strangers?" Hard green eyes. Peering. Polished. "And why... are ya lyin' all sad-like on the floor?" The ghostly mare grimaced, raising a hoof at the sight of Rainbow's tears. "Good golly, Rainbow... did somethin' happen to ya?"
Rainbow Dash stared at her. Tears trickled down her muzzle. In a foalish voice, she whimpered: "What sh-should I do, Applejack?"
The spectre merely blinked.
Rainbow sniffled, no longer able to contain the sobs. "I want to help these p-ponies. I really do... b-but so much is laid in stone, and I... I-I..." She cried, her eyes falling from their freckled target. "Do... d-do I tell them the tr-truth... so that they can grow beyond themselves... or d-do I tell a lie... just to preserve all their lives in ignorance?" She clutched her eyes shut. "I j-just can't choose... I can't..." A trilling sound, then a heavy sob. "I never wanted this... not for you... not for m-me... not for anypony..."
The Herald watched in silence.
Keris' beak hung open as if to say something. Patience perservered, and he stood dead-still besides Echo and Theanim Mane.
Rainbow continued sobbing. Through the corner of her eyes, she sensed a warm presence, refracted through a crystalline layer of tears.
"Rainbow Dash," Applejack spoke warmly, despite a tremor or two. "I haven't the faintest idea what's goin' on here." She sat close, legs curling beneath her as she leaned in towards Rainbow's curled figure. " I dunno these ponies and I sure as heck dunno how we got here." She gulped. "All I know... all I see is one of my bestest friends sufferin' somethin' awful and I can't imagine what for." She took a steely breath. "From the sound of it... you've got one heck of a decision to make between tellin' the truth and tellin' a lie..."
Rainbow looked up, trembling.
"All my life... through thick and thin... I've always... always relied on the truth." Applejack breathed firmly. "Tellin' the truth... sharin' the truth... dependin' on the truth. And—for the most part—it always done worked." Her next exhale was a shuddering one. "And... now that I look back at it..." Her freckles vanished behind a brief grimace. "...it was 'cuz I could always afford to."
Rainbow stared at her.
"Rainbow, I—" Applejack reached forward... but her hoof phased through Rainbow's figure. She gasped... but soon calmed, her green eyes focused on her own fetlock. "...reckon we ain't in the same place to afford thangs like we normally do." A focused breath, and her eyes raised to meet Rainbow's again. "Honesty ain't only about how you live... but also what you leave behind. If all truth will ever do is hurt everypony in your wake... then is it really such a virtue anymore?"
Rainbow Dash's shivers subsided. The tears on her face slowly dried.
Applejack leaned in. "That bein' said..." Her voice shook slightly. "I would give anythang... anythang in the whole wide world right now... just to see you smile again..." She smiled delicately. "The Rainbow Dash I know deserves no less."
Fluttershy sniffled. Rarity bit her lip, turning her head to gaze tearfully at Pinkie and Twilight.
With a determined breath, Rainbow Dash finally stood up.
The others in the room saw this. Wildcard and Bard rushed to her side.
Rainbow merely held a hoof up. As the Desperadoes drew back, she turned around... trotted past Remna... trotted past Theanim and Echo... and approached the Talon.
Keris waited, his feathery head craned.
"Lieutenant Keris..." Rainbow gulped, then recollected her words. "It's been an honor."
Keris slowly nodded. "Likewise, Rainbow Dash."
"But... I think..." Rainbow flexed her wings as she gazed out the open door to the chamber. "...there is time for one more act of honor." Her hard eyes met his. "But it won't be committed by me."
Keris gazed back at the Talon. The Sergeants calmly nodded. Soon, the Lieutenant looked at Rainbow once again. "What is it that you have in mind, Rainbow?"