The morning sun rose over purple mountains, its golden bands casting shadows between the sharp crags of rock that divided a myriad of sloping hillsides bespeckled with dewy glass and pastel wildflowers. For miles on end, the earth undulated with jagged spikes, breaking the topsoil in several places so that the calcified grayness of the world met the dawn's eager glow. A majestic hush fell over the land, with nary a bird or a semblance of rustling life to be heard.
In the middle of this beautifully empty landscape, within the nebulous shadow of a lingering cloud, an assortment of wooden beams and splintery lumber lingered in chaotic disarray. Curved pieces of oak rose like discarded whalebones, protecting nothing but the scattered refuse of crumbled supply crates and the remnants of rusted metal weaponry.
It was an airship—at least in some past life. The scars of war had faded from its once-varnished surface, and years of neglect within the abandoned valley had rendered the rickety surfaces to a jaded brown mesh of water-logged detritus. Curiously enough, a flimsy shred of fabric had survived the atrophy, and for a minute or two it flapped like the glorious banner it once was in the valley's wind before once more crumpling to a limp death. The faded colors of a once-lauded matriarch blended with the shadows, surrendering to the silence of that forgotten part of the world.
It was here that the silence finally broke. With a rustling of feathers, a quartet of hooves plopped down atop the plush grass bordering the wreck for the first time in decades. The pony lingered, fidgeting a bit. Then, with a shake of a midnight blue saddlebag, she shuffled around the wreck, her sapphiric legs breaking through the scattered beams of light that the crumbled bulkheads of the zeppelin had made.
She lingered at a cannon-sized gap in the port-side hull of the vessel. Crouching low, Rainbow Dash dipped her head into the space before her. A ightning pendant rattled from where it hung from her neck, and her ruby eyes squinted as they peered into the dimly lit space between the earth and the whalebone spine of the crashed vessel.
With a flaring of her nostrils, she pulled her head out and trotted lonesomely around the bulk of the craft. Another gust of wind blew through the valley, making her ears twitch. She came to a scuffling stop along the edge of the ship's battered bow. Her hooves knocked loose pebbles that rattled down a series of craggy stone steps, as if the landscape that the airship had crashed into years ago was constructed of natural stairs. Her eyes followed the tiny rocks rolling loose, until they disappeared into the high grass of a cleft of earth below.
Then, with a bilnk, her eyes caught something else. With a single flap of her wings, Rainbow Dash coasted down by about two dozen feet. She landed before a flat plot of land, lingering just east of the crashed zeppelin. Here, there were four mounds of stone lying equidistant from one another. What's more, in front of each stone, a rusted sword or a polearm had been stabbed deep into the shallow earth. She trotted past each, glancing at the hilts, noticing as tiny lengths of metal fiber hung from each. The last one in praticular was more intact, she realized, for a tiny tag hung off the end of it. With a gentle hoof, she raised the tag and turned it around until the lettering glistened in the dawnlight.
The words were rusted. Faded. Try as she might, Rainbow Dash could not make out a name. She did, however, recognize the name of the country. Glancing down, she saw that the sword that the tag hung from was skewering the shredded remains of a brightly colored beret, pinning it permanently to the earth.
With a calm breath, she looked around the immediate area. She spotted a patch of earth that was slightly raised than the rest. Softly, she trotted over, giving the ground a scrutinizing glance. She saw another sword, this time lying on its side and entangled deep with the roots of the valley's grass. A slender white shape clung to the hilt, the color of eggshells. Rainbow Dash dug two of her hooves into the soil, parting the top layer a bit. Sure enough, the skeletal frame of a unicorn lingered just a few inches beneath the ground. As soon as she made out a horn poking through a helmet of armor, she withdrew her hooves and left the body alone.
Stepping back, she gazed at the body in its relation to the four piles of rocks. The pony appeared to have been seated, facing west towards the four graves when it died, sword in hoof. She couldn't begin to guess how long ago the flesh had begun to decompose, its body adding nutrients to the grassy valley.
With a sigh, Rainbow Dash turned to leave, but she stopped herself. She glanced down at the earth. Between the body, the stones, and the airship, a patch of lavender flowers had bloomed. Their petals added brilliant color to the muted malaise of the abandoned valley.
Not even thinking twice, the pegasus reached down and plucked a stem or two with the crook of her hoof. She examined the delicate flora closely, her eyes a bit too jaded for what was otherwise a whimsical gesture. Nevertheless, after a few seconds of quiet observation, she opened a pocket of her satchel and gently deposited the delicate strands within.
Once she was done, the pegasus spun around, broke into a swift gallop, and veritably launched herself at the east horizon.
And the story continues...
You forgot the "L".
A wonderful return to what brought me into this series. These chapters of pure narration and description of the landscape are some of my favorites.
Aw, yeah, Hewwe go again!
Ah,this chapter was pure nostalgia.
There's something quite harmonic about lavender, isn't there?
IT BEGINS
images3.wikia.nocookie.net/gyropedia/images/c/cc/IT_BEGINS.png
It continues to begin.
Yesh Yesh Yesh Yesh How the hell do you pronounce Odrsjot?
Od...ers..jot?
On a side note, it seems to be the fate of any sequel to have less ratings of any kind. I guess the design kind of forces it, but oh well. Going east!
And Luna, perhaps?
3133750 I say OWE-der-show.
Looking forward to this...
3133405
It begins to continue..
My reaction seeing this story online:
[youtube=youtube.com/watch?v=zzI8UeRO4oY]
Where is the Noble Jury? What's the significance of that place? How do ponies manage to fight with swords? No shortage of mystery!
Hello there guys. I'm Verlax, I was the reader of this series for some time ( I guess that several months ), but this is first time I decided to add comment. So...
First off, I have to truly thank Imploding Colon for this. Not only for creating something worthy a Nobel prize in literature, but something that really struck my own writing with the force of hurricane.
Austraeoh… if I would be forced to compare this masterpiece to anything, anything at all, I would choose a “Dark Tower” by Stephen King, or some other works of incredibly famous writers. Once, when I was starting to read this, I had a big problem, because I have no idea why this story actually is “Random”. After reading almost six hundred chapters of your stories, I think I know. The story contains the aspects of almost all genre, from the deep and philosophical Slice of Life, to over-killing Comedy. It contains moments of grimdark and hopeless, but at the same time it’s hearthwarming story of defeating all the odds.
So I guess, it's time to join the herd and fly east. For the Commonwealth!
- Verlax
PS. Yea, that post contains shitty language. It's not my fault, your language is really silly. Who came up with the idea what the senteses have word orders, huh!?
Ah, we continue with vowels for the titles. Four word chapter titles? I can't even imagine what it's gonna be like in book twelve.
Eeehee, I was waiting for this.
Liking the return to roots approach of the first chapter (I'm assuming it'll change once Rainbow gets back to her buddies). Solitary Rainbow drifting through various landscapes just has a certain...something to it. Its calm and somber and mysterious, even when it isn't so mysterious anymore. I'm curious as to what's going to act as the main impetus for this arc. Probably a bunch of interaction between our lovely (and by lovely I mean insane - but in the best possible way) crew as they boogey on Eastward. And then there's still Shell, although I think he'll make his return a bit later, at the most inopportune moment possible. We'll see.
Well - do I even have to say it anymore? - onward!
IT HAS BEGUN.
Once more we continue to begin commencing to head into the direction of the rising sun assuming an east-to-west orbiting pseudo-stellar object!
Ahhhh, book 4. We still have such a long way to go but I'm in it for the long haul.
Here goes book four! Two more to go after this one.
Beautifully written, as always. A return to the whimsical narratives of Austraeoh. Very nice!
Wow this was beautiful good way to start book 4.
Onwards and Eastwards!
The chapter titles are getting longer, just wait until the twelth iteration. Those titles will be fun to write.
This chapter feels like the perfect summary of everything that has happened to date. It has elements of the plot from Eljunbyro and Innavedr, but the style is absolutely old-school Austraeoh. I loved reading the descriptions of a single scene that left a sense of mystery and wonder, but I also liked knowing that the ruins were Ledomaritan and that the dead ponies belonged to a corrupt regime. I definitely feel that we're getting back to the shorter, vibrant, wildly different story arcs that made Austraeoh such an instant favorite with me. The long conflict with Ledomare established a lot of important relationships and cemented Rainbow Dash's personality, but it was the multitude of interesting locales and personas that kept me riveted for 100+ chapters of Austraeoh when I first stumbled across it.
Always impressed. Way to take me back to Austraeoh.
Ours is the old way - again! Yes, yes, yesssss! Exploring new things is so much more fun than killing people! Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes...
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3133750 Scratch everything I was saying here before - I was running on the assumption that those were the actual letters involved, not ð and the likes. That of course changes everything. I apologize.
Thank goodness.
I was beginning to have withdrawal symptoms :P
I'm 'ight with this.
3136799 Or you know, after 6, it goes 6,5,4,3, etc., and ends with a very cheesy very dramatic one-word title on the last chapter.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Oh...this was amazing! I missed these chapters so so so much! The new journey has begun, people! I can already feel the old Austraeoh Sense tingling deep within my bones...also, where's the Noble Jury? Dash probably just saw the wreckage and asked to fly down there for a while. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. And so begins the fourth chapter in this series of epicness! Onwards, eastwards, and to the Midnight Armory!
I love chapters like this where it's just Rainbow and her surroundings. No one else around and no spoken lines in the chapter. We as the reader get, I don't know quite how to put it, a narrative distance from the story making us feel like observers but ones who are very close to the action all the same. I loved these chapters in Austraeoh and I'm glad to read them again.
Onwards, once again.
These titles continue to be successively harder to pronounce.
3142116 what if there's the last story titled: "Aerticeuaonealeainna" and that turns out to mean "The Great Eastward Journey" or something?
3142195 i think this chapter was made just to please you
and i don't think RD would ask to go down, she would just go
and i forgot how much i loved these chapters please keep them coming
>A ightning pendant rattled
fiks pls
3133750 I pronounce it "odrsjot"
I Begin! This crashed ship is an ominous warning that things are gonna grow darker.
4059246 finished, almost exactly a week later.
NOOOO There is another one
-Spirit
Well, this promises to be a very long and interesting read. Innavedr has been conquered, but Odrsjot stands whole and indomitable. Unto the breach once more I go.
4761357
And I've finally come to join you! I'm hot in your heels, little man. Be careful!
Another day, another story. Shall we begin?
Here we go again. Looking forward to where the story goes from here!
I like how this story starts off with such amazing imagery
what a nebulous start
good thing it's got that beautiful Austraeoh throwbacks to keep us company, though!
If i didnt know that there were sequels to this, i would assume she made it to the armory and stopped at the crashed Noble Jury to mourn one last time on the way back...luckily, im pretty sure that this is just a random zeppelin crash.
If it actually is the Jury...this got extremely sad and dark real quick.
Back to the roots with the first chapter, I like it. Also, 4-word chapter titles. I wonder what the enforcers were doing this far from home.
3134601 Oj tam dobrze Ci poszło :)
5987373 This mane shall plow through this like a sonic rainboom.
And here we go
The site of a long-ago crash is where we begin...
...
Is this gonna be a thing through the whole series, now?
An interesting start to book four. I wonder how much time has passed and stuff. I'll see as I read on.
~SolidFire
Less than two weeks after I hesitantly clicked on the first chapter of Austraeoh, I'm already embarking on what I'm certain will be another epic chapter (well, 200 chapters) in the saga of RD. Eastward and upward, friends!