Urohringr

by Imploding Colon

Rainbow Over the Frozen Sea

A bright white sun glistened off wave after bitter cold wave. The Frozen Sea stretched towards every horizon without blemish, save for one spot. A large chunk of ice floated by its lonesome in the middle of the bobbing waters. The miniature iceberg was a long, slender thing, about seven feet across and over ninety feet in length. It resembled a great frozen coffin, in a way, and the falling flakes of snow had formed a thin carpet of powdery frost across its otherwise translucent surfaces.

There was a brief flurry of wind, and some of the downy snow blew away, revealing a dull form lying darkly beneath the surface of the frozen slab. The shard rocked a bit, its sides bobbing in the water. Not long after, a forelimb reached down across the powdery snow. A blue hoof slid free from a length sleeve of dark brown leather, then proceeded to brush the snow off the ice in sweeping motions. The exposed surface of the shard reflected a hooded figure with twitching ears.

With a deep breath, Rainbow Dash narrowed her goggled eyes, then swept more of the powder loose with her hoof. The dark form exposed beneath the slab's exterior spread out underneath her, occupying the bulk of the floating block of ice. Rainbow Dash backtrotted, clad in a tanned leather coat that fitted her form tightly, with a pair of holes allowing her blue wings to stick through.

Shuffling and shuffling, Rainbow Dash brushed more of the snow off the slab's surface, utilizing her spectral tail hairs. At last, she stumbled upon something of interest. A few feet within the slab, she saw a gigantic row of teeth, frozen in an immortal snarl. Not that far from this was a slender snout, at the end of which was attached a slender probiscus, coiled in a tight spiral from years of freezing temperatures and rigor mortis. At the end of this fleshy attachment was a dark, bulbous structure... and it was glowing red, albeit dimly.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. At last, she lowered her hood, exposing her ears and billowing prismatic mane to the Frozen Sea's bitter winds. Adjusting the lenses of her goggles, she reached back to a pair of tan leather saddlebags built into the material of her coat. Opening one flap, she pulled out a metal tool of Props' design. There was a hoof-shaped knob at one end, a glowing crystal in the center, and a sharp golden needle at the opposite point.

Rainbow stood squarely over the dark figure beneath the ice. With careful hooves, she tweaked and turned the knob of the instrument before flipping a tiny switch on its side. The crystal started flickering as a high pitched whine filled the air. Rainbow next unbuttoned a leather flap just beneath the collar of her coat. Her ruby pendant was exposed from around her neck. This, she rubbed with gentle motions of her hoof, summoning a ruby glow from within. The unworldly light of her element illuminated the depths of the translucent ice block beneath her. She zeroed her sights in on the spot where the frozen, fleshy probiscus attached to the dimly glowing gland beneath her, and she aimed her instrument's golden needle point at the stretch of ice directly above it.

Bracing herself with her lower legs, Rainbow squatted low and turned the knob of her instrument, activating it.

Vhrrrrrr! The golden tip sparkled brightly, rivaling the sun's glow. Tinting her goggles, Rainbow Dash leaned down and sliced deep into the ice. Steam rose up around her in rapid grand columns, turning to frost downwind behind her. Scrkkkk! With practiced precision, Rainbow Dash cut a deep square in the ice, large enough to frame the target that awaited her underneath.

She was two-thirds of the way through her task when she heard a sudden splash of water.

Instantly, Rainbow Dash cut the instrument off and looked up. With a blurred hoof, she reached up and untinted her goggles.

Waves and waves surrounded her in the Frozen Sea. There wasn't a single object to be found—not a solitary darting shape. She did sense the slab weaving slightly, but even that came to a standstill—just like everything.

Squinting, Rainbow Dash retinted her goggles and resumed her task. It wasn't long before she had cut an entire square with the heated tool. Once that was complete, she pulled the item back, reached into her opposite saddlebag, and produced what looked like a hollow cylinder lined with metal rods. This she stood up in the center of the cut block and hammered it with a metal mallet until it was embedded deep into the slab. A hole resided at the exposed end of the cylinder, and she stuck the golden tip of her heat tool into it. Flipping another tiny switch, she spun the knob all the way. The device hummed, its crystal core flashing brightly.

Holding her breath, Rainbow Dash galloped away—careful not to slip on the aged ice. Once she was at a twenty foot distance, she shielded her face with her wingfeathers and looked towards the far horizon.

Wriiiiiiiii—Pow! The instrument sent a single pullse into the cylinder. There was a pulse of golden light, and less than two seconds later the sliced block had melted entirely. A gust of hot steam flew skyward while the instrument and its glowing hot cylinder rattled to a stop in a sudden niche within the surface of the ice.

Rainbow Dash trotted back over. She slid on her knees and adjusted her goggles to examine the exposed chunk of ice. Slimy scales with netrotic veins glistened in the sunlight, exposed for the first time in an unknowable amount of decades. A fleshy snout coiled tightly, connecting to a bulbous gland of red flesh—like a giant cherry—that glowed with natural luminescence. One or two jagged teeth from a monster's petrified jaws loomed below, with two-foot-long teeth glistening with slick condensation.

The pegasus spent no time sight-seeing. She slid the instrument and pocket away into separate saddlebags and reached into another pocket for her hatchet. Just as she slid it out with a metallic chiiing, she heard another splash of water echoing her movements. She froze, gazing up with inquisitive goggles.

This time, she definitely caught sight of a stream of water rippling past the floating ice slab. It sped up, slowed down, and then vanished completely. Five seconds later, a deep pulse of red light rippled out from the depths just beneath the ice slab.

Rainbow Dash hissed into gritting teeth. Clutching the hatchet in the crook of her hoof, she stuck her upper body down into the evaporated gap and began slicing and chiseling away at the fleshy probiscus attached to the glowing gland.

This went on for an agonizing two minutes, during which the waves picked up, forcing the slab to sway left and right dramatically. The red glow around the ice chunk itensified, strobing in alternate pulses than the dimness emanating from the gland tjat Rainbow was attempting to retrieve.

Frustrated, Rainbow Dash resorted to biting her teeth onto the hatchet's handle and throwing her head down in jerky motions. Grunting, she slashed and chopped away at the fleshy material attached to the petrified gland. The scales split apart. Ice water mixed with a pool of black blood and jaundice. At last, she caused the large red thing to snap loose. Immediately pocketing the hatchet, she reached two hooves down into the gross excavation and yanked loose the fleshy crimson sphere. It was the size of four watermelons clumped together, and it was a tricky feat for the pegasus to even hold it. Nevertheless, she gripped it in a pair of strong forelimbs.

A victorious smile crossed her lips...

Hressssshaaaa! A mammoth pair of jaws burst up out of the Frozen Sea, smashing loose a chunk of the frozen slab to Rainbow's left.

"Gaaaugh!" She fell back, slamming onto her spine with a flap of her coat's leathery hood.

The red pulsing gland slipped out of her grasp, careening towards the far end of the slab.

Panting, Rainbow Dash rolled onto her chest, gripping onto the violently bobbing ice platform for dear life. Her goggles glinted with red light, and she tilted her head up to see the elongated snout of an Ice Wyrm looming directly above, its nose fitted with a long cartiligenous cord, at the end of which dangled a naturally glowing lantern. Fluids inside the bulbous sphere rotated until it faced Rainbow's sprawled figure. Otherwise blind, the sea monster let loose a hideous roar and plunged its neck and jaws towards her.

Squeaking, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and slid forward on her chest like a penguin. The monster's jaws came down behind her, forcibly smashing the slab in half and tilting her end of it down. She grabbed her hatchet and slammed it into the ice, anchoring herself in place as her body suddenly dangled over the lurching jaws of the beast beneath her.

Something with a dull glow was sliding towards her face. Breathless, she looked up, and her goggles' lenses reflected the gland rushing back towards her across the snowy, upended surface of the slab. In a single grunt, she bit her teeth over the hatchet's handle, bucked off the slab with her lower legs, backflipped, and flapped her wings. She flew tup owards the gland, grabbed it in two forelimbs, and flapped her wings again—faster this time.

Hresssssh! The monster lunged again, its teeth undulating outward in three rows surrounding a gummy maw.

"Nnngh!" Rainbow Dash spun around with the fleshy sphere in her grasp. As the dead monster's twin lunged at her, she hovered in place, waited, and spun around with the hatchet gripped in her teeth. With daredevilish timing, she was able to lacerate the monster's glowing lantern just as it swung at her.

Black blood spilled through the snowy air. The monster let loose a shriek, reared back, and cannonballed back into the icy currents. It thrashed painfully about in the depths, its two-pronged tail sending sprays of ice water flying hundreds of feet into the air.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash flew safely away. Adjusting her grip of the gland, she spat the hatchet out and spun so that it landed safely in one of her coat's pockets.

"Sorry, sister," she muttered over her shoulder as her fuzzy ears twitched from the wyrm's painful shrieks. "This early bird's not interested in you." Blue feathers spread, she climbed altitude and soared towards a gray speck along the southwest horizon, hovering alone above the endless cold waves.

---

"Hey, grease monkette," Josho grumbled from where he sat on the corner of the Noble Jury's top deck, polishing a mana rifle. "I've got news for you. It's warmer outside than it is inside."

"Like I told everypony two days ago—I'm working on it, Fatty Cathy!" Props stuck her tongue out as she trudged from the stern's stairwell towards the cockpit on the other side. "Besides, we all know we're waiting for Rainbow Dash to deliver the—whoahwhoahwhoah!" She slid across the deck, only to be caught in Zaid's warm embrace. She looked up, tilted her lopsided goggles out from across her eyes, and murmured, "Hiya, cheese grater."

"Hi yourself, blondie," Zaid returned with a smirk. He was clad in a woolie cloat and an even woolier hood. "Is Mount Rushmoron here giving you a hard time?" he asked, nodding his head in Josho's direction.

"We were supposed to have the heat back on by now," Josho droned, his lips curling as he pretended to be concentrated on the rifle in his grasp. "As much as I've gotten used to our burgundy chef's soggy noddle hay soup, I'd rather heat myself up with something that doesn't give me the runs."

"Ever thought of sitting on a rod of hot coals and melting all that greased fat out your ears?" Zaid smirked. "Now there's a way to keep warm."

"Hardy har har. You know, for a cultist, your humor ain't that heavenly."

"The only paradise around here is standing upwind around you." Zaid winked. "How about giving blondie some slack? She's only doing everything but walking outside the ship and pushing."

"I swear..." Josho grumbled as he trotted off with his gun. "If I have to light a bonfire just to take a piss..."

"Grrrr..." Props pouted with red cheeks as she brushed past Zaid and approached the cockpit. "You stallions are all alike—all bragging and yellow snow. Hey handsome!"

"Make it quick before boomer's spit freezes!" Floydien snarled, fumbling with the loose wires of a partially dismantled intercom console inside the ship's cockpit. "Did blonde boomer find the overloaded manaconduit?"

"It wasn't on my end!" Props exclaimed, then waved a charred black needle. "Though I did find this outdated arcano-copper leyline expander!" She squinted at the elk. "What was it doing in the aft engine compartment?"

"Balls if Floydien knows." The elk's cloven hooves dug deeper and deeper into the technical intestines. "Everything's been inside out before Floydien allowed boomers to co-boom Nancy Jane!"

"But it wasn't supposed to be in that compartment to begin with, you silly robot goose!" Props stamped her hoof. "If this is how you dress up your beloved's womb, then maybe it explains why the intercom system and the air conditioning went down!"

"Nonsense! It's the weather, Floydien tells boomer!" His red eyes narrowed between sparkling antlers. "Nancy Jane's a summer creature. She was born to be wet with glory sparkles."

"How did you build her so flank-backwards anyways?!"

"It was simple! With lots of spit, affection, and anti stabby-stab!" Floydien fidgeted. "Also glimmer squirrel..."

"Dag to the nabbit!" Props shook in place. "I should be testing out our newly refined skystone array now! Not dealing with all of this... nnngh... icky doo doo mush! Why, I feel so angry I could say... I could just say..."

"S'all good, Propsy." Zaid waved from afar, smirking. "Let it out, girlllllllll."

"Nnnnnnnnnnnnnngh!" Props raised her hoof, raised it higher, then lightly kicked a lonely spot along the ship's railing. "...peaches!" She blinked, then gasped, falling down on her knees and nuzzling the part of the ship she had just kicked. "I'm so sorry! Oh, Nancy! I am soooooo... sooooooo sorry..." She bit her lip, sniffled, and glanced Floydien's way with sparkly blue eyes. "I'll polish her up! I'll make it better! I'm so sorry for getting mean and nasty!"

"Hrnnnnghhh..." Floydien's hairy nostrils flared. "Estrogenoboomerrrrr... Floydien swears, yes yes Floydien does..."

At that moment, Eagle Eye climbed up from the vertical crawlspace below, levitating his sword and shield behind him. "Okay, that does it." He pulled a leather hood over his lavender face and muttered firmly, "It's been over eight hours. I'm going after her."

"After who?" Props squeaked, blinking her eyes wide. "Rainbow Dash?"

"Well, if I wanted to go after Crimson at this point, I'd have a heck of a swim ahead of me." Eagle Eye approached the edge of the ship.

"Forgive me for being the proverbial idiot on the floating crystal ship here..." Zaid raised his hoof. "But are you trying to put me out of a job?"

"Huh?"

"How do you plan to go after Rainbow Dash, dude-gal-bro?" Zaid's eyebrow lifted. "You know how she goes on these trips as of late. She's likely miles away... in the air. How do you plan to go after her? Did Franzington teach Propulsive Flatulence 101?"

"After sailboat boomer's bean soup, what boomer can say?"

"Hey, knock it off!" Eagle frowned aside. "I happen to like Ebon's beans... soup. Bean soup." His violet eyes crossed, and he shook his snout. "Anyways, I was going to use this..." He raised his shield.

"Isn't it the wrong kind of weather for boogey boarding? Besides, there isn't much of a surf."

"It's simple!" Eagle Eye said. "I'll use my telekinesis to push myself along. With a good coat of frost against the shield's surface, I can cover a lot of ground!"

"You're really funny when you're serious."

"For real! I did this sort of stuff back in my training days! Me and Phoenix and Zenith would race each other across the crystal lake by the barracks!"

"Yeah? And how much distance did you cover?"

Eagle Eye fidgeted. "A hundred meters."

"You know what? I stand corrected." Zaid stepped aside and gestured towards the wide, glittering ocean. "Take a dip, gurl."

"Well, I don't see any of you ponies coming up with bright ideas!"

"I take offense to that, sir," Zaid frowned. "My village was raided by a marauding gang of bright ideas when I was just a colt!"

"All of this floating around isn't doing any good! If Roarke was here, we'd have figured out a way to send another flier out there along with Rainbow Dash!"

"Yes, well, since she spontaneously decided to leave us, we've had to make do with a lot less sexiness!" Zaid turned and waved at Props. "No offense."

"It's okay. Besides, that's Floydien's job."

A loud electrical buzz sparked from the cockpit, and the elk grunted, "Deep puss! Grnngh! Biscuit eating estrus fridge!"

Props sighed dreamily, fanning herself. "Nothing short of poetry..."

"Well, we've gotta do something!" Eagle Eye cackled. "Turn the ship about! Follow her last known coordinates!"

"Staying here is the smartest thing," Props said, blinking at both stallions. "And we all know it."

"I dunno about you, but I'm running out of patience." Eagle Eye folded his forelimbs. "Rainbow had better have a sweet excuse for why she's been gone for so long!"

"I dunno about sweet—but how's 'juicy' for a twist?"

Phwomp! A large, wet sack of flesh landed on the deck in front of Eagle Eye. He and Props jumped back, gasping. The large gland bled into a shallow pool, its organic core pulsating with dull crimson light.

"Play ball!" Zaid quipped.

Rainbow landed a few feet away, shaking like a feline as she tossed all the loose flecks of snow from her leather coat. "Nnnngh... Can't believe I carried that thing for over an hour. Ever wondered what it's like to share a stagecoach with a skunk that's eaten twenty whole onions?" She shivered. "Luna poop, I don't even wanna finish that analogy..."

"I can't believe you found another one!" Props squealed, practically hugging the large fleshy sack. "And it's so well-preserved, too!" She glanced over, blinking. "Did you chop it off a live one, this time?"

"Heck, no. You think I wanna become dinner before my time?" Rainbow Dash lowered her hood and shook her mane loose. "If I die that way, then I want ogres sipping my blood for an energy drink. Trust me, I've brushed paths with way too many subterannean worms, eels, and tentacled... tentacles to ever wanna end up the lunch of one."

"I do believe there is enough flame mucus inside this to make a new core for the Jury's mana-powered heat synthesizer!"

"You sure there's enough?" Rainbow Dash made a face. "The thing's pretty darn dim."

"To steal something that Ebony's been saying lately..." Props gripped the slimy gland in one hoof and strained as she dragged it towards the rear stairwell. "Nnnngh... 'I'll take what I can get.'"

"Propsy, you can have it." With a shiver, Eagle turned, faced Rainbow, and smiled. "I knew you'd come back in one piece!"

"Anypony ever tell you that your horn grows when you lie?"

"Huh?" The stallion blinked, then felt his forehead.

"Nnnngh... Celestia, that's creepy." Rainbow Dash turned towards the cockpit. "It used to work on the bookworm too."

"Hey, Rainbow, now that you're here, think you might pay a visit to the infirmary?" Zaid remarked, waving.

"What for?" Rainbow asked without looking. "Is Pilate sick?"

"Well, no..." Zaid's eyes narrowed. "But he could certainly use some company that isn't me and... well... me. I hear too much of me can lead to gallstones."

Rainbow Dash lingered above the crawlspace besides where Floydien was angrily fiddling with the intercom console. At last, she took a deep breath and said, "Pilate needs his rest. He doesn't need me disturbing him—or any other pony for that matter."

"For real?" Zaid blinked. "We've been hovering over this ocean of lameness for nearly a week. It's breaking our brain balls hard enough as it is—I fear for the zebra's pair."

"Cute. But he's been through crud and back. Just let him and Belle be at peace while nothing's trying to kill us. Same goes for Kera."

"Yeah, but Rainbow—"

"Zaid, they're my friends," Rainbow said with a glare as she started to climb down. "I think I know a bit more about them than you do."

"Uhm..." Eagle Eye darted forward. "H-how about I clean that coat for you?"

"No thanks..."

"Or at least hang it up! I... er... I-I know how much you hate the sight of leather, Rainbow. While you're back on board, might as well get comfortable—"

"I'm fine, EE." Rainbow disappeared beyond view. "Besides, I doubt Props has all she needs to warm us up with. I'll likely be going back out within an hour."

"Yeah, okay. Just don't..." Eagle tried to wave, but she was gone. "Overdo it..."

Silence.

Zaid leaned in. "You know, for being named after a rainbow, she's been a bit dull lately."

"Hrmmph..." Eagle Eye briefly frowned. With a sigh, he ultimately spun around and trotted towards the distant stairwell. "I'm starting to think that if she just put some copper lenses over her eyes, she'd be right at home where she's at lately."

"Oh, please, don't get my hopes up."

Bzzzzt! "Motherspitter!"

Comments

[FloydienSlip]

Interesting... I like where this is going so far, but it's far too early to tell.

[Vandratha]

You said it Zaid. Dash doesn't deserve her first name right now. She's way too dull.

I think my OTP in this has moved from Rainboarke to the OT3 of Props/Floydien/Nancy Jane. Such wonderful chemistry.

[not_a_rainbow]

no rainbow, talk to your friends!

[AppleTank]

netrotic:
----I see what you did there.
tjat:
----Whoopsie. Should be "that"
she spat the hatchet out and spun so that it landed safely in one of her coat's pockets.:
----Freakin' ponies and their neck-robatics

Balls if Floydien knows:

Estrogenoboomerrrrr:

Deep puss! Grnngh! Biscuit eating estrus fridge!":

----Floydien is awesome.
Did Franzington teach Propulsive Flatulence 101?:
----So is Zaid.

[Cobalt Swirls]

Quite a bit of colorful language in this chapter. Wait, no, that's just Floydien.

[Aqua Fortis]

Am I way off in thinking that Dash just encountered a helicoprion on steroids?

[IceKitsune]

Man I love Floydien dialogue here, its great as usual. Rainbow is being an idiot again, really should go talk to them. She will be forced to eventually and it likely won't be pretty.

[Starlit Skies]

*Googles proboscus*

Though it's nice to see Rainbow kicking the flank of giant sea creatures. I also like this vastly increased word count ^.^

[adrusi]

I'll be darned if that scene with Rainbow and the Wyrm didn't remind me of the first quarter of Austreoh.

I love how IC is showing the remorse felt by the jury. Reading this, you can feel the cold, and the frigidity contributes quite nicely to the coping jury's emotions. Not so much in chapter 1, but in this chapter it feels like the destruction of Lerris is something that the jury can recover from, just as they can fix the cold.

[Spectrum]

For as random and possibly mental Zaid is, he really knows how to read others and has a good heart. And, well then theres Rainbow. Her attitude is going to worsen the Jury's atmosphere.

[Hap]

It seems like Pilate and Belle aren't spending any time together. You'd think they would be staying together while recovering.

[Booster Spice]

Very intresting. just what was such an old piece of equipment, that Floydian didnt have, doing in a locations exactly placed to cause such extensive damage in the enviroment where such damage would have the greatest effect?

You coul almost think there was a top class engineer spy with stealth capabities slowing them up.

[RoboRed]

Floydien's swearing is highly amusing.

[CasualMarshmallow]

All this dialogue from Floydien and Props and Zaid may have a negative effect on my vocabulary.

The story also rose a bit in the feature box.

[That_one_guy]

Well at least it seems likely they'll brighten up sooner rather than later. I'd rather the events of the last book be as far behind us as possible.

Still, one step forward, three steps back for Dash.

[Jex]

Okay, so now all that needs to happen is to NOT introduce a villain who will take three books to kill.

[Zaid ValRoa]

"I happen to like Ebon--

And that's all I got from this chapter.

[SugarPesticide]

I'm glad we have nightmare fuel already in the form of Ice Wyrms. I didn't feel like sleeping anyway.

[Pilate]

4026339
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[Keebroo]

It pains me to see Rainbow like this. The worst part is that her actions seem to be more of an excuse to do "busy work" and take her mind off things than to actually help her friends, as is shown with her recent 8 hour solitary expedition "for the sake of air conditioning" followed by her refusal to speak with a bed-ridden, blind and no doubt bored-out-of-his wits friend who was not only recently traumatized both mentally and physically, but also appears to only have a few other visitors that never intend to stick around long by his side. She wouldn't even stop to say "Hi, I'm not dead. Also, we have heat now. Get better soon!" I can understand that she went through just as much if not more than the poor zebra did, but when you have the option to just leave at any given time, without a second thought... it's scary.

[Rayvinne]

4027026

I can see giant killer ice wyrm coming back.
And back.
And back.
Then going crazy, and coming back.

Y'know, just 'cause.

[zaponator]

Rainbow, your angst is showing.

[Lightning Bearer]

Man, this funny chapter really hit the spot. It's nice to see the events at Lerris didn't kill the gang's proclivity for whimsical banter.

I really hope Rainbow pulls out of this funk. Things are a lot less awesome when her mood's in the crapper. And the way she's keeping her friends at arm's length - and seemingly avoiding Belle, Pilate, and Kera altogether - is really disconcerting. And, as someone else pointed out, Belle and Pilate don't seem to be together, either. This whole situation is just really, really unsexy.

"I happen to like Ebon's beans..."

We know, EE. We know.

[Ms_Fruit_Bat]

I think me Zaid would get along very nicely.
We both ship Rainbow/Roarke, we both say smart things in dumb ways, and we both a never ending appetite for grilled cheese!
Seriously,Zaid is best pony.

[Fishberry]

Rainbow Dash doesn't seem to recognize that she is just one member of the family, and that her leadership status is a privilege, not a right.

The Noble Jury is not her ship. She is in no position to order other Jurists to leave. If she doesn't want some of the Jurists in her company, she can always continue her journey alone. Her issues are hers, and she has to deal with them. I imagine the others are going to get really tired of dealing with her increasingly poor attitude.

4027404

Maybe the frozen Wyrm was that live Wyrm's daughter, and it blames Rainbow Dash for its death. It'll hack off one of its own tusks, and replace it with one of the tusks from the dead wyrm, then relentlessly pursue Rainbow Dash in an undying quest for vengeance for two entire books.

4027404

Ah, you beat me to it. Kudos.

4026303

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash flew safely away. Adjusting her grip of the gland, she spat the hatchet out and spun so that it lodged securely in her spinal column. She had intended to catch it in one of her coat pockets, but it felt solidly pinned where it was, so she made no move to put it away. She would extract the hatchet from her spine later. An average pony would be paralyzed, but she's Rainbow Dash, so she'll be fine because she can fly through mirrors and get thrown through walls and get murdered by dragons and stuff but then get better, because reasons.

Hee hee.

[PropMaster]

Iceworm for multiple book-spanning villain.

Also, Floyden/Propsy is still adorable.

[xXshaydXx]

I think rainbow doesn't want to see pilate because she feels responsible for what happened. shes very angry as well and that's not good.

[Nevlamas]

So not that. You won't hear me complaining, this is actually much better. Regarding that: I knew it!
iambrony.dget.cc/mlp/gif/462737__safe_solo_animated_discord_reaction+image_season+4_spoiler-colon-s04_popcorn_3d+glasses_dis+gon+b+gud.gif
I just love about everything about this chapter. Both the adventure and drama parts were excellent. The Frozen Sea is also a return to those enigmatic, much less civilized environments that I love. Do go on, good sir, do go on.

[Fishberry]

4026418
I want to see Roarke kicking more ass.

[Zaid ValRoa]

4027699 Thank you. I think you are pretty cool as well.

[71M073J]

hmmm by the number of words in the series, i will be able to read this in about...8-10 days

[Leftover of Saikano]

Props x Zaid. Too bad Zaid is probably the changeling.
Am I the only one who, when reading Zaid imagines him looking similar to Flax Seed?
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[Cynderfall]

Ooo ice creatures.

[dashie76]

A Message from MASH-
.tired...dang...it

[dashie76]

IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!

Tension is brewing on the Jury...the events in Lerris and Dash's sudden distanced attitude are causing those tensions. Roarke is also gone, and it really does feel like the Noble Jury is slowly dissolving itself into nothing. This is pretty bad...Imploding is doing a good job of building up to the eventual split, at least. These are my thoughts so far.

-MASH

P.S. I'm back! Wahoo!

[whizzball1]

I wonder what she was trying to get. Skystone?
...
Flame mucus.

-SPirit

[TheAspiringWriter93]

Bzzzzt! "Motherspitter!"

That's it, Floydien's best Elk. It's official.

[JustAnotherTimeLord]

And the marathon begins. It looks like things are still moving forward, though I don't know how well things will go in the future. Cold weather has a very depressing attribute to it. Let's hope it doesn't sink in.

[aRestlessCreativeGamer]

Rainbow desensitizes herself as she flies east

Also, Rainbow clearly has decided she cant trust her 'friends' and it shows. Belle not saying anything about Imre was nothing terribly important nor earth shattering. As for Roarke? I don't think that was even so much, but Rainbow...get your head back in the game

[Seraphimus]

5895646 I think though the problem is trust. It took rainbow dash FOREVER to feel like she could have faith in anyone again, and then they both broke that trust, it may have been small simple things but... Take it from someone who has been there, When you've been that broken, Sometimes all it takes is something small to shatter you again. Especially with wounds as fresh and deep as rainbows. Plus, on top of everything, what happened at the village and with shell were the real catalysts for this, Everything else was just... Salt in the wound.

[Tim the Planes-pony]

"Heck, no. You think I wanna become dinner before my time?"

something is very wrong with Rainbow Dash, hope she gets better soon.

[Regidar]

A nice, good, rousing round of banter, but the issues with Pilate and Belle (not to mention poor Kera) still loom over everyone.

[Hazard]

Progress, but a broken party.

[TheGreatEater]

6043278

Broken trust with Belle I can get. I mean I totally get Belle's reasoning that she gave Dash. But she hadn't told anyone, not even Roarke (who probably guessed that Imre was dead the second she went on that ship.).

But Roarke? I mean everypony was hell bent on hiding everything from Kera, and in a way lying to her. A filly who had lost everything big time, and had lots of issues. We saw how she reacted when Roarke told her what was happening, and ease her worries. Letting her know how much all of them cared.

In Roarke's eyes she was being loyal and protecting the trust of a pony who thought the world of the ponies of Noble Jury. Rainbow Dash can't really blame her for caring about the life and emotions of another. Sure, it was Rainbow's fault for not finishing Shell; and it was the NJ's fault for not being upfront with Kera and explaining things; Heck even blame can be put on Roarke for talking to Kera behind everyone's back that was talking about Kera's future behind her back; Even a bit falls on Bellesmith for not wanting to hurt Dash by telling her about Imre, when Belle herself was still cut into a bunch of tiny pieces of seeing that death + forced memories. To protect Dash until things cooled down.

But in the end. Noones to blame but Shell and those who did evil for evils sake. And if anything her actions towards Roarke were uncalled for. After all she was only going by Dash's example ... in Roarke's particular Roarkeness. By being loyal to Kera.

[arancaytar]

Hressssshaaaa! A mammoth pair of jaws burst up out of the Frozen Sea, smashing loose a chunk of the frozen slab to Rainbow's left.

... I'm actually happy for another monster attack; it's a change from the heartache aboard the ship.

[Tim the Planes-pony]

Everyone seems to be down lately, except Zaid, which is a good thing. As long as someone has kept their spirit up, things can improve for everybody.

05/29/2017 21:05 UTC

[Tim the Planes-pony]

Only two chapters in and we get a monster that is not a pony, nice change of pace. The down crew however, not so much.

09/12/2019
18:46 UTC

[Luminous Tune]

One more book and I will be at the book I accidentally skipped my first time.