Right Down to the Wire
"Mmmmff... grnnngh..." Rainbow Dash stirred and stirred, clutching her fuzzy muzzle with a pair of shivering hooves. "Nnngh... n-no... no... she's gone... I saw her... I-I watched her die..." She gnashed her teeth and turned over in the grass, wincing. "Axan, you took her... you took her body away... and her soul..."
"Rainbow..."
"Why d-didn't you tell me that there was more to it?" Rainbow hissed. "I helped slay her. Do I have to slay her hatchlings as well?"
"Rainbow, there's nothing left to slay." A brown hoof caressed Rainbow's cheek. "The dragon's gone."
Rainbow's eyes flashed opened. There was a red-on-yellow flash, and then they glistened normally. She tried sitting up, only to succumb to a wave of dizziness. "Unnngh—"
Roarke steadied the mare, squatting at her side. Behind her, the ponies of Amulek stumbled through the mists, collecting in a weary pile of bruised bodies beside the smoldering remains of their wrecked ballista.
"The attack is over," Roarke droned. "The dragon left as soon as we fled the camp site."
"We... we..." Rainbow gulped, her brow awash with perspiration. "We fled?"
"Wasn't much else to do, Speedy," Josho said, lumbering into view with his shotgun. He glanced off at the melancholic stallions standing between the trees. "That thing moved faster than any battleship or managlider I've ever run into. Even I couldn't get a good hit on the damn thing. As for the silver hicks, well..."
"Their pathetic javelin didn't stand a chance," Roarke said. "They tried salvaging it, but the dragon pursued us and turned it into embers."
"Was..." Rainbow gulped. "...was anypony hurt?"
"Only you, Rainbow." Eagle Eye stepped up, looking frazzled and exhausted. "And, well, maybe a few of us got banged up, but there were no major casualties." A weak smile. "We all got out safe."
Rainbow winced. "That... that doesn't make any sense..."
Eagle Eye blinked. "What, do you want one of us to die?"
"No no no... it's just..." Rainbow grimaced. "It's not like Nevlamas to—"
"Nevlamas?" Roarke throated. Her lenses instantly retracted. "As in the chaos dragon?"
"It was totally her," Rainbow said. She instantly winced. "I mean... it looked like her. But... but..."
Roarke sighed out her nostrils. "Rainbow, I think your dizzy spell is still playing games with your head."
"No, I saw her too," Josho droned. "Damned if it didn't look like Nevlamas, straight down to the twin mouths, mutant tails, and the bright fruity colors burnin' out of her scales."
"Impossible," Roarke grunted. "That creature died on the battlefield of Xona."
"Wait..." Eagle Eye squeaked, instantly shivering. "Could it be—like—related to Nevlamas? Like another Divine?"
"Highly unlikely," Roarke said.
Eagle's pupils shrank. "Or... a brood?"
"Why is everypony so insistent on suffering from their own imaginations?" Roarke snarled. "Whatever attacked us was not Nevlamas!"
"Roarke..."
"We're dealing with something dastardly and cunning—true—but it is not—"
"Roarke" Rainbow stared at her. "I know what I saw." She gulped. "But I just don't understand it. Even still, I'm pretty sure it's here for a reason... just like I am..."
Roarke bit her lip.
"Is the symbol still here?" Eagle Eye asked. "Yogibeara or whatever?"
"Yes, EE, I can still see Yaerfaerda," Rainbow said. "It was down in those mines as we approached the thick of the mist."
"I... g-guess there's no going back there now," Eagle Eye said. "Not with that dragon playing sentry."
"There has to be a connection!" Rainbow wheezed, struggling to get up. Josho held her in place. "Guh... Why would something like Nevlamas show up in the exact same place where a glowing symbol is leading me?"
"What the hell?!" Drakshaa grumbled as he trotted up. "Did I hear some bullcrap about you ponies wanting to go back there?!"
Roarke turned. "We wish to understand something that's just transpired. That dragon ironically resembles something that we've all previously—"
"Look, I don't wanna hear it!" Drakshaa slammed a hoof down. "It's over! Finished! That was our last chance and we all blew it! And you blew it too!"
"Excuse me?!" Eagle Eye squeaked, glaring.
"You heard me!" Drakshaa snarled. "That dayum drake must have smelled its brothers and sisters on you! How else could it have had the drop on us like it did?!"
"Drakshaa, Drakshaa, Drakshaa..." Booster Spice sighed as he trotted up from a distance. He raised his goggles and stared tiredly at his surly companion. "She's always had the drop on us. Having our friends here didn't change anything whatsoever—"
"Friends?! More like distractions!" Drakshaa shoved his hoof into Booster's chest. "I told you we should have gone up there by ourselves! I said it to Merigold before we even disembarked!"
"Drakshaa, please, we all know you're upset about the campsite—"
"Upset doesn't even begin to friggin' describe it, ya moron!" Drakshaa hollered. "Nice job watching over the launcher, Bullshit Spice! Thanks to you, we're defenseless now to the thing's attacks! How are we even going to defend Amulek if the thing comes diving down again?!"
"Drakshaa..." Keebroo trotted up, wincing. "You're not making this any easier..."
"None of you seem to get it!" Drakshaa yelled. "It's over! Everything we've lived for! Everything we've fought for! Everything our parents and grand parents, and great-great-great grandparents sweated over is now ruined!"
"We're all alive, Drakshaa!" Booster gestured at everypony. "Isn't that enough?!"
"Amulek's legacy will live on," Keebroo said. He gulped. "But... but Amulek itself?"
Drakshaa stared back at the stallions, his coat paling under a cold sweat.
"Face it..." Keebroo sighed out his nostrils. "We should have done what our families did months ago when this all started." He took a deep breath. "We should have left to start a new life elsewhere."
"We fought a good fight, Drakshaa," Booster said. "But this is beyond us." A sad expression. "It always was."
Drakshaa blinked at the group. Slowly, his muscles tensed, and he produced an iron frown.
"Drakshaa, please, before you blow your stovetop—"
"Grnngh!" Drakshaa shoved his way past Booster and stormed downhill through the forest.
"Drakshaa! Come onnnn! Don't return home on your own—"
"I can and I will!" the stallion hollered up through the mists. "It's my home, after all! Even if I'm the only dayum pony in these mountains that still believes it!"
Keebroo winced while Booster Spice hung his head. The rest of the stallions around them milled about in mellow silence.
Eagle Eye bit his lip, glancing nervously at the others.
Roarke sighed. "We should return to the Jury. For better or for worse, our work here is done."
Rainbow grimaced. "But... b-but..."
"For once, I'm with cyborg tits," Josho said. "Come on, Rainbow..." He hoisted the mare over his backside. "You'll wanna save your strength for the return."
For the next few hours, Rainbow draped weakly over Josho's back. Her skull still swam with dizziness, and it only got worse whenever she lifted her head. So, instead, she peered from side to side with weary eyes, glancing at the bodies in the mist.
The ponies of Amulek trudged home in somber silence. To Rainbow, they looked like ghosts, ethereal shadows of the equines they once were. Their slumping figures would have blended with the dark tree trunks if only they weren't continuing their funeral dirge downhill.
Gulping, Rainbow glanced towards the other side of Josho.
She spotted Roarke and Eagle Eye. Eagle's hooves moved quicker than the others, as if he was in a panicked rush to get home. His head was constantly lifted and he carried an anxious expression on his face.
Rainbow's eyes fell on Roarke. Not long after, the metal mare looked back. Her lenses glistened with a hint of a sunset piercing the fog above. As their expressions lingered on one another, she eventually bore the barest hint of a smile.
Rainbow tried grinning back, but she felt a cold shiver run through her body. Instead, she buried her face in Josho's shoulders, inhaling and exhaling slowly in order to fight off the weightless sensation spiraling through her petite form.
Merigold took a sad, sad breath. She lifted her wrinkly muzzle before the fire. "I know that you tried your best. And, all things considered, the expedition was doomed from the start, as have been all the ones to transpire before it."
"Please, Governess," Pilate spoke from across the town hall. "You mustn't give up hope! There must be a way to contact ponies from beyond this territory! Surely they would help you defeat this dragon!"
"The only ponies capable of helping us are the Val Roans," Merigold said. "But—for as strong and wealthy as they are—the Val Roans have an impeccable habit for looking after themselves. If it weren't for the Green Bandits, the kingdom would remain completely isolationist."
"Besides, we have nothing to offer them now in return," Booster Spice muttered from a few huddled families away. He slowly twirled his neon green goggles around in a lethargic pair of hooves. "Our silver deposits are completely unreachable. Even if the dragon was defeated tomorrow, we'd need months to get back on schedule."
"Not like we have the workforce to even tackle that with anymore," Keebroo added.
Bellesmith stood up. "But, surely if they understood the urgency of the situation, they would intervene! Don't they care enough about trading for silver?"
"They have several other townships to do that with," Keebroo said. "And, odds are, they've already struck new trade agreements with them." He gulped and said in a shuddering tone, "Drakshaa was right. It's over. Everything we've built... everything our ancestors have toiled for..."
The thick groups of ponies shuddered. A few of them wept quietly into the torchlight.
"Uhm..." Rainbow Dash winced as she sat up against Roarke. "Did Drakshaa ever make it back? The last time we saw him—"
"Fear not," Merigold said. "The stallion returned. He's off sulking in what's left of his supply house." She gazed compassionately at the Jurists gathered before her. "I know his attitude must sound absolutely caustic, but he's invested a lot more of his life into those mines than the rest of us. The same can be said of his fathers and his fathers' fathers. But, give it time. He will come around to understand the great blessing we all have today."
"Blessing?" Pilate raised an eyebrow. "After all that's happened?"
"What kind of blessing?" Bellesmith asked.
Merigold bore a bittersweet smile. "Our lives. More than anything, I've wanted the ponies of Amulek to prosper. That may no longer be possible here, but it can be possible elsewhere."
"But..." Rainbow grimaced. "To leave your homes? To leave all that's special to you...?"
Merigold tilted her head aside. "You're a traveler from a great distance." She glanced at her wings, then directly at Rainbow again. "Surely you know what it's like to live beyond your own home."
Rainbow bit her lip.
With a deep breath, Merigold said. "My children have a lot to learn. It will be a difficult future—but a wholesome one. For that, I must have faith... for surely I will not live to see it." She swallowed. "Thank you, my friends, for your compassion and integrity. We'll be sure to have your vessel completely repaired by tomorrow afternoon."
"And..." Bellesmith leaned forward. "And after that, Governess?"
"After that... we deliberate on the future of Amulek's children," Merigold solemnly said. "This 'chaos dragon' of which you speak may have consumed our mountain, but she hasn't consumed our hearts. There will be a future for us. It simply won't be here."
A cold hush fell among the group.
"This..." Rainbow hissed. "This c-can't be happening!" She teetered dizzily. "There's g-gotta be a way for these guys! We can't just—"
"Rainbow, we can," Roarke said. "And we will."
Rainbow gave her a nervous glance. "Huh?"
Bellesmith and Pilate stood up. "Let's go, everypony," the mare said in a sad tone. "There's nothing that can be done here anymore."
Rainbow gawked at them. She almost gasped in shock as Roarke lifted her up and helped her towards the town hall's exit. Worriedly, the pegasus glanced over her shoulder. The image of a chamber full of sad, weeping families burned into her retinae, making as deep a mark as the glowing symbol along the edge of her vision.
"I can't friggin' believe you guys!" Rainbow trotted in a fierce circle, having summoned enough strength to march on her own four hooves. "We're the Celestia-dang Noble Jury! We've taken on battleships, zombies, and mother-fluffing foxes!" She stomped her hooves and glared across the mess hall's lounge. "And suddenly you're all saying that there's nothing to be done anymore?!"
"Rainbow, Pilate and I weren't there for what happened on the mountain," Belle calmly said. "But Josho and EE told us all about it."
"I was this close to butting heads with whatever was plaguing the miners of Amulek, Ding-Dong!" Rainbow's voice cracked. "I can still figure out what's happening here! There's no reason for us to back out now!"
"Rainbow, these aren't the Durandanans," Belle said. "They don't know what we're dealing with. And even if we did, this... this creature is still somehow faster and more cunning than Nevlamas!"
"But—"
"And what if there is a brood here?!" Belle exclaimed. "What if there were dozens if not hundreds of brothers and sisters just like the thing you saw on the mountainside?!"
"Then that's bad news friggin' bears for every dayum pony who lives on this stinkin' continent!" Rainbow cackled. "Belle, we've tackled something like this before! I have tackled something like this before! We're the right ponies in the right place to make sure this doesn't blow up into something apocalyptic!"
"Rainbow—"
"Don't we owe it to the ponies of Alafreo and Val Roa and beyond to—"
"To do what, Rainbow?" Pilate's metal brow furrowed. "What if there is a brood? What do you intend to do with them?"
"I... it... well..." Rainbow grimaced. "I don't know. Sick Axan on them or something!"
"And when has Axan proven to be reliable in any situation whatsoever?" The zebra's ears twitched. "No matter how the situation looks, it still falls down to one pony—you versus them. And what would the plan be? To destroy the roost and every chaos dragon in it?"
Rainbow frowned. "If I have to, I will..."
"Seriously, Rainbow?" Pilate gnashed his teeth. "Do you even hear yourself? Pests or not, the dragons contain at least an ounce of sentience—"
"Pilate, maybe you couldn't see Nevlamas and the sort of crap that she did under the reins of Chrysalis, but everything about her was monsterous and horrible—"
"And so that excuses genocide?!"
"Pfft! Who said anything about—?"
"Even if it means saving the future of a tiny village full of ponies, I don't see how you could possibly pen such a thing on Harmony!" Pilate frowned. "Is that the kind of pony the Princesses would be proud of? That you'd wish Durandanans to emulate?!"
"Look, I appreciate that you want me to do the right thing!" Rainbow pointed at herself. "I want to do the right thing! But I think we're all forgetting one important factor here!" She gestured wildly. "There's that friggin' symbol waiting for me deep in the mines!"
"Nnnngh..." Bellesmith hunched over in her seat. "Rainbow, I don't want to hear it..."
"There's something going on here, guys!" Rainbow stammered. "Where there's a symbol, there's a machine world! And where there's a machine world, there's a goal for Austraeoh and—"
"I said I don't want to hear it!" Bele suddenly screamed. She stood up, shivering in anger. "No more of this Austraeoh and Yaerfaerda business!"
Rainbow's muzzle fell agape. "Belle...?"
"Rainbow, you are dying!" the mare hollered. "Look at yourself right now! You're pr-practically—" Belle's voice shrank into the back of her throat. She held a hoof over her muzzle and trembled.
Rainbow stared at her in shock.
Belle sniffled, her eyes instantly welling up in tears. She gulped and whimpered, "You're dying, Rainbow Dash. Nevlamas didn't do this to you. Ledomare and Xona didn't do this to you. All of this Austraeoh nonsense did! For so long, I've done all I could to support you with this in good faith but... but..." Her face scrunched up in sorrow. "I'm losing my best friend because of it." She sniffled and wiped her muzzle. "The best... most loyal... m-most courageous friend I've ever had, and what am I expected to do? Just let you waltz right into the jaws of horror and let yourself become even worse off than Commander Hurricane?!"
"Bellesmith..." Rainbow gazed at her. She murmured, "You're Eljunbyro. You both are." She gulped. "Can't you trust me in this?"
"I c-can do more than that, Rainbow. I have done more than that." She stared at Rainbow with tear-stained eyes. "I love you, Rainbow Dash. My beloved and I owe you so much... but not as much as you owe yourself." She gnashed her teeth. "And I can't stand idly by and watch you unravel from the inside out!"
"But, everything I've ever learned from my journey has told me I'm destined for—"
"I know you need to believe in all this 'prophecy' business. But Rainbow Dash..." Belle gazed at her intently. "Being 'Austraeoh' has been a crutch! Your crutch! Legitimate or not, it's been a definitive factor in your flight all this time. And if I were you, I'd cling to it too. Especially if I lost my home... my way of life... and all m-my friends... but..." She clutched a hoof over her muzzle and whimpered.
Pilate stood up and leaned into Belle, nuzzling her gently.
Belle fought the urge to weep, instead stammering, "You have friends here too, Rainbow Dash. And we love you. We love you so much. Too much to deny the truth any longer... and that truth is that your journey is at its end!" Belle hyperventilated slightly. She steeled herself long enough to say, "I hate to say it, Rainbow, but it is. And you don't deserve to end it all in the jaws of a million chaos dragons. Please... stay with us..."
"Belle—"
"For once in your life, Rainbow Dash, can't you live for yourself? Can't you be at peace with the ones who love you? Don't you deserve this? Don't you deserve a quiet, happy end?"
Rainbow's gaze fell. She winced at each punctuation of Belle's sobs. At last, she opened her mouth to speak—
"I, for one..." Roarke trotted into view. "...believe whole heartedly in Belle's kind-hearted words."
Rainbow did a double-take. "You do?!"
"Thank you, Roarke." Belle sniffled. "I'm glad that somepony is thinking with her head."
"I can think with my heart as well." Roarke turned towards Rainbow. "I've learned that much as of late."
Rainbow blinked. "Roarke...?"
"I'm sorry..." Belle shivered. "Rainbow Dash, forgive me. I just... I just don't want—"
"I suggest you retire for the evening," Roarke said. "I suggest we all do. Tomorrow afternoon, once repairs are done, we'll set course for calmer winds." The metal mare solemnly hung her head. "What's done is done in this town..."
"Wait..." Rainbow squeaked, wincing. "Wait just a Celestia-dang—"
"Thank you, Roarke," Pilate said, gently guiding Belle down the hall and towards their quarters. "It's been a long, tiring day. I think we all deserve to rest for the time being."
"I couldn't agree more, striped one," Roarke said.
Slowly, the couple trotted off. There was the squeaky sound of a door opening and closing, followed by the hatch rotating shut.
Roarke turned towards Rainbow, gazing at her quietly.
Rainbow stared back. She blinked, frowned, then fumed.
"Rainbow, if you may just let me—"
"Hrnnngh!" Rainbow flapped her wings and glided angrily down the hallway.
Seconds later, Rainbow entered the observation room on the lower deck. She marched up to the windows, plopped down on her haunches, and folded her forelimbs. Beyond the translucent sheen of her angry reflection, she gazed out onto the sleepy, rain-soaked rooftops of Amulek.
Not long after, the reflection of Roarke appeared, trotting through the hanging curtain behind them both. She cleared her throat and opened her mouth to speak.
"You happy now?!" Rainbow growled.
Roarke stood in place, silent.
"Grnnnngh..." Rainbow spun and frowned at her. "Is this how I'm supposed to die?! Grounded in my room?! With my two best friends sobbing their eyes out as they turn their backs on me?!" She pointed. "After all the obstacles I've overcome to show them I'm better than all that?!"
Roarke sighed, hanging her head.
"Oh, don't try begging for pity!" Rainbow barked. "I don't care how much you've melted! You ain't there yet, girl! Of all the ponies, I'd at least expect you to have my back in this situation!" Rainbow pointed out the windows and hollered. "There's something out there with my friggin' name on it! And I'll be damned if I let death take me as a coward—"
"The Whizzball can sit three ponies," Roarke said.
Rainbow froze in place, blinking. "...buh?"
Roarke sighed again, raising her head. "I speak, of course, of the Lounge vessel that I inherited back when I was masquerading as 'Vaughan—'"
"Yeah, I get it." Rainbow squinted. "But where exactly are you going with this?"
"We are going back to the mountain," Roarke said. "And Whizzball is the best solution. The spherical vessel is fast enough, manueverable enough, and tenacious enough to keep up with the likes of the dragon we spotted alongside Drakshaa's group."
Rainbow gawked at her. "It... that..." She murmured, "You were on my side all along."
"Hrmmf..." Roarke trotted forward quietly. "Belle and Pilate are no less 'on your side' than I am. Only one difference." Her lenses pistoned outward. "They don't know what it takes to make a dying pony's wingtips curl."
Rainbow blinked. A blush fell through her features.
"There is more than one way to love a pony," Roarke said. "And more than one way to show one's trust." Her teeth clenched. "I do not enjoy the thought of you perishing any more than 'Eljunbyro' does, but I like to think that I'm properly geared to balance inevitability with fear, and I find neither of them intimidating. What's more, I know that you don't either."
Rainbow's ears folded back as a dumb smile spread over her muzzle.
"So, then..." Roarke cocked her head to the side. "Whizzball...?"
Rainbow smirked and nodded. "...Whizzball."
The hatch to the hangar bay opened. Roarke and Rainbow Dash marched hurriedly through.
"Tell me one thing, though," Rainbow Dash said.
"Elaborate." Roarke flicked a forelimb. A beacon flashed on her metal braces, and the doors to the black sphere opened by remote.
"Earlier, you made a point to say that 'Whizzball can sit three ponies.'"
"Indeed I did," Roarke remarked, climbing inside.
Rainbow stuck her head in through the other side. "But we're only two."
"Right." Roarke flipped several controls as the miniature manaship hummed to life. "And neither of us properly know how to approach the mountain."
"You kidding?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Do you forget who's got a built-in symbol-radar in her bird brain?"
"It's not that simple and you know it," Roarke droned as he gripped the controls. She gestured towards a lever on the hangar wall. "We need somepony to help us."
"Oh yeah?" Rainbow trotted over and gripped the lever. "Like who?"
"Somepony with an expert, technical lay of the land."
"You don't say?" Rainbow smirked. "Roarke, call me Slowpegasus, I'm starting to believe that you and I think alike."
"Searo forbid."
"Pfft. Why not? We both squeak alike." Rainbow jerked the lever and the hangar bay doors opened.
Booster Spice sat at his lofty post atop a guard tower overlooking the rooftops of Amulek. Crickets chirped all around as tiny droplets of rain ricocheted off the structure's wooden finish.
He stifled a yawn and flipped through a book. He trained a pair of glowing goggles onto the pages as his eyes ran across the numbers and figures.
"It begs the question," the blonde stallion murmured to himself. "Can a village build an airship out of recycled lumber and squirrel leather?"
SMASH! The whole tower shook as a big black ball rammed into its side.
"Gaaaaaaiee!" Booster fell off his stool. He hopped back up, raising a club over his head. "Who?! What?! When?! Where?! Why?! To what extent?!"
Hissssssss! The night sliced open in the shape of a door, opening to a tiny brightly-lit interior where two mares huddled inside a cockpit.
"Holy algorithms..." Booster lowered his club and adjusted his goggles. "Roarkbow? Doarke?"
"Hrmmm..." Roarke's nostrils flared as she gripped the controls. "Close enough."
"Yo yo, Stephen Haykings!" Rainbow peered her colorful head out. "You doing anything at the moment?"
"Uhhhh..." Booster gulped. "Besides acting as sole guardspony to a dying town in the shadow of a dragon one week or two before everyone's inevitable exodus?"
"Pfft! Buck that noise! Hop on board!"
"And do what, exactly?"
Rainbow grinned wide, her teeth glistening in the starlight. "A midnight science experiment!"
Booster blinked. He smiled rosily. "Fascinating..."
"Yup!" Rainbow grabbed his forelimb. "Bring your brain along with your gerunds, smart guy!"
"Ackies!" he yelped as he was yanked on board.
"And hold on!" Rainbow shouted above the roar of mana engines as Roarke lifted the sphere back into the sky. "It's gonna be a bumpy ride!"
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---Close enough indeed. Would've been better if he said Rainboarke, though.
---....wat.
And now, Adventure! Into the mineshaft with the Whizzball! Though Doctors recommend not mining at night, Doctors didn't have access to Whizzball(TM)
The Last Hurrah of Austraeoh.
"Yogibeara or whatever?"
Yes.
Anyway, a lot of interesting stuff happened this chapter. Drakshaa seems to be going the direction of Jerrio, Booster Spice seems more and more likely to find a place aboard the jury, Roarke refers to Whizzball as it was meant to be. But the thing I don't get is how Belle and Pilate still think that Rainbow hopes for a 'peaceful death' after all the chances for peace she's thrown away. Rainbow Dash will either continue to light the world with her radiance, or supernova. Get over it, Belle. As much as I love you, Bellesmith, let Rainbow go.
While I appreciate Belle and Pilate's sentiment, I don't think they realize what death would be to Rainbow.
It wouldn't be a painless or calm end, it would be a horrifying and disturbing transformation into the chaos monster that is inside her. Ever since she killed Discord, Dash has been destined to die a painful death.
Roarke has finally given in to the inevitable:
Whizzball it is
I get where Belle and Pilate are coming from here, and I agree that RD seems to be using the whole Austraeoh stuff as a crutch/excuse to do crazier and crazier stuff, I think they are giving up too easy.
Finally!! After being held back by college and falling behind by about 30 chapters I have finally caught up. To the mines!
Also random question but anyone else getting some sort of advertisement that is taking them off of fimfiction? Really really annoying.
4945970
WELCOME ABOARD THE JURY!
Belle seems to be quite insistent on Rainbow "living for herself" at the moment. But she's really not being as selfless as she thinks she's being. I understand she's fucking terrified about the thought of losing Rainbow, but keeping her tied down will not do her any good.
The thing is, helping Rainbow is freaking exactly why they're here instead of Val Roa.
Whatever Yaerfaerda is, it's something that can, and I like to imagine will help Rainbow Dash, whatever that help ends up being. Nopony should be stopping her from chasing it, because Austraeoh or not, it might be the one thing she needs to be chasing right now.
Not cool, Belle.
But Roarke? Good job.
I knew they weren't just gonna leave like that.
I just thought of something aren't they coming up to an area in which magic no longer works? So wouldn't that mean that the chaos magic inside Rainbow Dash would stop working and therefore stop killing her? (It would also be the reason why the fact that RD flys with Magic being brought up a few chapters ago, as she will no longer be able to do that.)
Ha.
A natural progression. I should find a way to say that in real life sometime.
I... I don't think Floydien would appreciate that.
Awww. I was expecting Kera, not Booster Spice.
>cyborg tits
The Noble Jury, defeaters of the most dangerous threat to harmony ever, the dreaded foxes!
4945924
img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120121012253/p__/protagonist/images/1/1e/246376.jpg
He will save our heroine with the power of the picnic basket!
I wonder if Roarke is going to use her weaponry and stuff to go strip-mining.
4945934 Am I the only one that thinks that when Dash finally goes,the first thing they're gonna do is take the pendant from her,which is gonna let the spirit of Discord into her body to use her draconequs form as a boss fight?
Booster thinks he's part of a threesome, but it won't turn out the way he plans.
Also, this chapter almost made me think Rainbow was having a nightmare.
4945944
Welp, now they'll go and change the name on it again.
Yes. Finally, Roarke has accepted the Word of Whizzball into her life.
While I can appreciate where Belle and Pilate are coming from - and I can't say I wouldn't feel the same way in their situation - I think they're missing out on a few key points. Namely: 1.) With what Rainbow has to look forward to, a quick end may be better than a slow one, and 2.) There's sorta a lot riding on Rainbow, from the situation in Val Roa to the death of the entire world itself; I don't think Retirementville would put Rainbow's mind at ease.
The fact that Roarke is the only Jurist going with her sorta... makes me squirm. I can't help but have a really, really, really bad feeling that Roarke might be the one biting the dust this time around. Gawd, I hope I'm wrong.
Yay! The R&R Connection is back in business!
dammit Belle.....
also, i'm as confused as Rainbow and the rest as to what the flibber-flabber this mini-Nevlamas is
i'm thinking he has the wrong idea
......
This is either going to save rainbow or kill Roarke, let's watch!
Belle and pilate REALLY don't want rainbow to die..but if they had it there way rainbow would already be dead. im excited for what lies beneath the mines, hoping it's just what rainbow needs to get her umf back. Belle is going to be very cross with those 2 if they magee it back alive.
"They say that hope dies last, not because it actually does but because if it should die, everything will follow."
Well strictly speaking it was Discord who did this...
Guys, I think you should see this. I managed to find out that aerda is Middle Irish for "aerial". I've got nothing on the first half, though.
Awww.
Huzzah! It's officially called "Whizzball" now!
I'm starting to like this guy. I've even almost forgiven him for interrupting Eagle's confession.
Behold the power of The Spork.
Yaay, Booster going off to a nighttime rendevous with two cute females, and Rainbow Dash.
So, Changeling swarm, Im assuming, only because of teh directed lugi blasts, verses Whizball.
Wonder if Wizball has the equivalent of afterburners or other excessively powerful thermal ejectors?
Build an airship out of recycled timber and squirrel leather? Depends on how strong the pine sap is, and how big the squirrels.
Haven't Belle and Pilate noticed that the only things that can keep RD alive are the flames?
This sounds almost like" wanna come inside for some coffee?"
Imokwiththis.jpg
Also, Belle, I love you to death, but WHAT THE FUCK. THAT CAME OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE.
No, seriously, that was completely unexpected. There wasn't even a hint that Bellatte were growing weary of the Austraeoh prophecy, and all of a sudden they just explode at Rainbow like this?
Something feels really wrong. They've always been fascinated by the prophecy and the nature of the ring world, and I haven't ever seen them openly rebuke Rainbow before.
Considering the argument Rainbow had with Kera about Rainbow staying behind in Durandana... I can't imagine how she would have responded had she been there to witness that conversation.
Either this is just poorly staged or something is very wrong right now. Regardless of what happens with not-Nevlamas, I'm worried that things won't ever quite be the same again after this.
4946179 Much as I adore Kera being a badass, I don't really see what help she would have been on this excursion.
Though that won't stop me from hoping we get to see her telekinetically throw a mountain at a dragon a few books down the line.
Roarke remains best jurist.
Josho, EE, Belle, and Pilate.
None of them are acting right.
4946222
Oh, we HATE those damn foxes!
4945685
You say that like we have no right to make a shipfic of this fic right now
4947262
Hey now, I'm a connoisseur of foxes!
A swelling, red ball of flesh hid under a blanket of saturated light blue fur on her head. A thin layer of darkened light with a slight red tint wrapped her form. The element vibrated, only a small, but bright, ball of light present in the center of its slightly darkened gem. The blaze from the once 30 story orphanage was blinding, dragons were still crawling out of the wreckage, yet the smoke was still obscuring her. Kera sat on her back, holding the book. The oil raining from the strange brown clouds did not fall on those two.
A chunk of metal was exposed to the sky, promising the world shaping miracles of god in the machine world. So many would die. So many had died. The chunks of metal scattered about and the cage that once held the book were evidence of that. The zit popped, but what came out was far harder and more jagged than the gooey fluid found in most. Blood gushed around the antler and little spikes began to protrude from her hoof. Yet, it was time to turn away from the burning city. Nothing could be accomplished by flying at that. She might even become a danger herself. No...there was a much better way. No one had to die in vein.
"Oh $|-|!T", rainbow yelled, before arching her back to toss kera off. She bucked kera straight into the fire. "Have fun at the orphanage, you aren't my problem and your adopted parents are gone!" Rainbow moved with ridiculous speed, but I won't bother to ridicule the simple excess of the moment. She found a house that wasn't on fire and busted down the front door before tossing the terrified ponies who lived there outside and directly into a dragon mouth. "Thanks!" it said, before moving along.
She stole and dawned a bathrobe and calmly opened the door to the study. She walked in slowly and closed the door behind herself. She spent 12 minutes looking through the library, finally selecting "The sky is full of space." by Malevolent Bastard. She opened to the first page. The story appeared to have a main character named happy time. The element cracked audibly and she skipped to the end. Happy time seemed to have become the selfish dictator of everything. She closed the book. And realized that there was no fire in the fireplace. It took exactly 1.356 seconds for her to fill the fireplace with burning wood, and she destroyed the surrounding area, but the room was still pristine. She flung herself, ass first, back into the lazyHorse, said "Life is good" and then died.
Belle & Co. are acting weird. As I said last chapter, maybe they are all inhaling some chaos mist and it's doing something to their minds.
Seems like Belle and Pilate have hit the "acceptance" stage of the 5 stages of grief.
“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” Winston Churchill.
hell yea
4947726
I still cant believe the foxes were COMPLETELY out of sight and mind of everyone for almost 400 chapters until I mentioned them a few weeks ago. Nice to see he hasn't forgotten about it.
Wizzball gonna nyoom and noot noot all around the meanie dragongirl.
Poor Belle, hope she can deal with the impending "I told you so."
I can't believe that anyone forgot the foxes. Well, I did just reread Innavedr... but that was at the best part!
While you have been making great progress, Roarke, I would have preferred this new you to not have given in to calling it Whizzball.
Let's do this!
(Reading on my phone in the bath.)
Finally she accepts the true name of Whizzball.
Also, here we go. Let's go get Nevlamas 2.0.
-Spirit
Well, what better way to die than fighting some kind of mini chaos dragon?
4946401 Hark! Be there an AH joke abound?
Rainbow seems reminded of Silvadel...not a hard comparison, the ponies here and in Silvadel both seem resigned to their fate, but one had no real option of escape while this one does.
Well that dragon does not kill, it does resemble something they (an some queen) have met before, it doesn't seem to hoard a treasure, the only thing it does is giving ponies hope to defeat it just to crush those hopes again and again to make them feel miserable.
I think its pretty clear what they are dealing with and what this 'Dragon' actually feeds on, i am surpised that Zaid didn't figure it out yet.
also
i mean i really love this story but now rainbow breaks the wall too ? couldn't she just have used some kind of creative thing or even just 'egghead' ?
those ponified rl names are kind of an immersion breaker for me.
Don't get me wrong i love a good subtle scratch at the 4th wall from time to time but bluntly flailing an anvil against it is rather unsettling.
Of changelings and chaos strips...
Time to burn the whole mothafuckin mountain to the ground
Belle has been pissing me off as a character since she first arrived.
Fucking useless drama queen ALL the time except when channeling Dashie.
At least Pilate and kera only OOC half the time, eagle and ebon are just frickin boring, but luckily props zaid Roarke Josho and floydien are the bestest.
Someone is totally pulling a... what was his name again? Sladesteed.
Well, except the Big Bad is Chrysalis, so "Drakshaa" is probably not actually a pony.
I think we settled on "Rainboarke".