"...and while they're recovering in the capable hooves of Professor Theanim Mane and Lieutenant Keris," Rainbow Dash spoke from the back of the Herald's wagon as it rolled east past random boulders and sporadic hillsides. "...it still doesn't change the fact that I willingly and knowingly deceived an entire civilization into believing that Verlax was still their goddess." She gulped, then gazed down at her fidgeting hooves. "Verlax—in her last breaths—convinced me that the tribes of Rohbredden would fall into chaos and civil war... fighting each other and wreaking havoc... if they discovered the truth."
Rarity and Pinkie Pie slumped back to back, stonefaced. Fluttershy and Twilight sighed. Applejack looked on silence.
"Maybe it's true. Maybe it's not." Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Between my journey and the chaos gnawing away at me, I haven't had the luxury of spending the time to find out otherwise. Besides..." She frowned, jaws clenched. "Verlax's litter of pet windigoes has been unleashed... and they're spreading blizzardy crap all across the continent as we speak. Heck... for all I know, some of them might be herding across the Grand Choke by now. I wouldn't want to be in Val Roa if that's the case."
It was Celestia's voice that spoke: "I highly doubt it. From what I remember, Rainbow Dash, windigoes prefer to feed off the emotion and livelihoods of mortal equines. If the Grand Choke is still just as grand and desolate as you left it, I do not expect any of the frozen herd to stampede even a quarter of a distance to your former allies."
"So, that's it, then?" Rainbow Dash tilted her sad eyes to the stars. "You and Luna think I did what was most safe?"
Silence.
Then:
"In truth, Rainbow Dash, I do not see what else could have been done," Princess Celestia said. "Even before you crossed paths with Verlax, it was evident to you, myself, and my sister that the Mad Divine had anticipated your arrival for centuries. She had plenty of time to prepare for the inevitable... while the rest of us were busy with our necessary affairs in Equestria."
"But even if it's the only thing I could have done..." Rainbow's brow furrowed. "...does that make it the one thing I should have done?"
Twilight and Rarity looked up, blinking.
Celestia's voice exhaled. "You want to know if I... a harmonic alicorn ruler... approve of an entire civilization being bathed in flagrant deception?" A pause. "No. Of course I do not."
Rainbow's eyes closed tight.
"However, the nature of your journey is more than a mere excursion into foreign lands. Have you played the part of generals and ambassadors before? Yes. Yes you have—but only when you could afford to make a difference, and there is no telling that you haven't done the right thing for Rohbredden in the long run. Not yet, at least. But—as you stated—yours isn't the luxury to wait and see, nor would it be ours. We have duties to attend to, and your duty happens to be all-encompassing."
"The windigoes you speak of—if I may add..." Luna's voice interjected. "...utterly dwarf the herds that your Equestrian ancestors dealt with. Undoubtedly Verlax knew of this, and bred them so accordingly. I cannot fathom that any of our previous measures in dealing with them would have a noticeable effect on the monstrosities that currently plague that continent."
"Maybe... maybe not..." Rainbow gritted her teeth. "But... but if I could somehow show the Rohbreddenites the truth... that these monsters aren't completely invincible? That they're mere lackeys of Verlax that can be warded off through enough harmony and companionship—"
Pinkie Pie interrupted: "Isn't that what the Rohbreddeners are doing now?" She blinked. "Getting along?"
"Yeah..." Rainbow frowned aside. "But at what cost, Pinkie?!" She gazed skyward. "Your Highnesses... the only reason the Tribes are putting their differences aside is because they believe that the windigoes are a punishment for their past sins." Her brow furrowed. "And that I am the manifestation of evil from beyond the Grand Choke! Do you know what this means? I only made 'Verlaxion's' superstition friggin' stronger! Goddess forbid you should ever send an expedition east to the Seven Seas like you sent Cadance and Shining Armor to Ward! The Rohbreddenites will murder any outsiders on sight! So will the Kihutajans someday... at this rate."
"Perhaps, it would seem," said Luna. "That isolation will be their strongest asset for the age to come."
Rainbow Dash hung her head. "...that can't really be our one solution here."
"Rainbow Dash," Celestia spoke. "Do not take our words as siding with Verlax. We will never... ever condone the meaningless sacrifice that the Divine has made of an entire culture. However, we care for these ponies and griffons just as much as you do. Considering the circumstances that has established their civilization, it will simply be deleterious to dissolve whatever fragile stability they currently afford, especially with windigoes assaulting them from all angles."
"Given enough time, our civilizations can venture to make contact with them," Princess Luna said. "And presuming that their tenacity will someday grow to circumvent their emotional and intellectual frailities, then—and only then—can we hope to bridge communication... and spread the warmth of harmony."
"Yeah, well..." Rainbow grumbled. "That's not gonna even remotely happen in my lifetime, is it?"
"We're sorry, my child," Princess Luna remarked. "But it would be foolish to expect anything otherwise."
"I was afraid of that," Rainbow exhaled.
"You must learn not to blame yourself for the mechanizations that Verlax had orchestrated eons before your very foaling, child," Luna said.
"Yes, well... I should at the very least have tried doing something," Rainbow muttered. "Am I the Austraeoh or aren't I?"
"And that is still a matter that we are struggling to fully ascertain with all of our alicorn wisdom and resources put together," Luna said. "From what I can tell, it is still a cryptic issue for even your Herald friends to comprehend."
Flynn and Logan glanced up from where they trotted along the wagon. Ariel sighed, gliding alongside Wildcard and Kepler above.
"If there is anything you must truly learn from this matter, Rainbow Dash," Luna spoke. "It is to ascertain precisely what it is that Verlax thought she was preparing you for... and how you might be able to confront it with all of your gifts combined, much less just the Austraeoh's."
"That's just it, Your Highness," Rainbow muttered. "It only gets bigger and bigger... ballooning, y'know?"
"I fear that I... do not understand..."
"Me neither!" Pinkie blinked. "And I'm all about balloons!"
"She's referring to the Quade, Pinkie," Twilight said.
"She is?"
Rainbow nodded, then faced the sky again. "In the Quade, Your Highness, I did super cruddy things to free Fluttershy. And despite all that I learned from that... I had to do even worse stuff on a larger scale to free Applejack." Her ears folded. "What if Verlax's trials didn't die with her, huh? What if something or someone—Endrax or Tchern or whatnot—is just waiting for me to do something even more horrible on the Dark Side?" She grimaced. "And if that's the case... what could possibly be worse than what I've done to Rohbredden?"
Silence.
"I cannot fathom, Rainbow Dash," Luna said. "But I also happen to know that—despite your most loathed 'transgressions,' you are still doing what you can to ensure the overall safety of everypony around you—and the totality of this plane's mortal population, by proxy of fulfilling the journey of the Austraeoh."
"Mrmmmff..." Rainbow Dash rubbed her muzzle with a shaky hoof. "Hearing you say that doesn't exactly make it any easier..."
"Nor did I suspect that it would, child..."
Fluttershy raised her head, muzzle scrunched. "Is it just me? Or has Princess Celestia been silent for a while?"
"Reckon it's a lot for a pony to take in," Applejack muttered. "Alicorn or not."
Rainbow Dash lowered her hoof. After a tense breath, she exclaimed: "Princess Celestia? What's on your mind?" She gulped. "You have something to say about all of this? We're all ears... ghostly and not-so."
After a calm breath, Celestia's voice twinkled through the enchanted air above the wagon: "Do forgive me, Rainbow Dash. I was simply... intrigued by something I had sensed."
"Huh?" Rainbow blinked. "Don't tell me. You've also got little sun-children of your own?" She smiled bitterly across the Twilight environment. "Maybe some dolphin-nosed 'solarians?'"
"I only wish that were so." Celestia's voice took on a hard-edge. "Axan. Speak up."
Fluttershy and Rarity winced.
Remna merely glanced heavenward.
"I know that you are there, Divine of Flame," Celestia spoke authoritatively. "Your ill-fated sister went to great lengths to hold Rainbow's flight for ransom. I will not let you do the same thing."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty," Rainbow said. "I know that Axan is here."
"You do...?"
"Yeah. She's Remna." Rainbow cleared her throat. "She's been in pony form all this time."
"Not through personal choice, I assure you, Sun Horse," Remna grumbled.
"Do forgive me. Meditating on the chaos rift and... digesting this information is greatly taxing me," Celestia stammered uncharacteristically. "How might such a thing be possible?"
"Alicorn magic!" Rainbow Dash smiled crookedly. "Mortuana did the honor of transforming Axan before her death—"
"Mortuana perished?!" Princess Luna could be heard gasping.
Rainbow blinked.
Rarity face-hoofed.
"Think you might have missed a few key parts, sugarcube," Applejack said.
"Hrmmmmff..." Remna kept on trotting beside the wagon.
"I... fear that my sister and I are experiencing a sudden onset of confusion, Rainbow Dash," Luna said.
"Alright... alright..." Rainbow laid back in the wagon, burying her muzzle in both hooves. "Mrmmmmmff... once more from the top..."