Yaerfaerda

by Imploding Colon

The Rebirth of Endurance Into Purpose

“The wind has carried you far, Austraeoh,” Queen Whitemane said, trotting gracefully across the balcony's edge. “You have arrived.”

“I...” Rainbow retched, eyes bulging. “Arrived?!?” She gawked at the sleepy landscape looming below. “But... it... you...!” She shook, shivered, and her voice cracked, “This is Verdestone! How in the buck could I have arrived here?!?”

“Your fearlessness and determination is unmatched,” the alicorn continued, staring nonchalantly towards the hazy spires of Darkstine beyond the eastern mountains. “Out of all the souls who have been capable, you have made it the farthest. You truly are the Austraeoh.”

“Dang it!” Rainbow stomped her hooves. “Listen to me, you overgrown snowy melon fudge!” She barked, “How did all of this happen?! How am I all the way back here again?!?”

“You've allowed your endurance to be reborn,” Whitemane calmly said. Her wings folded by her sides. “Eljunbyro has helped you find your speed. Now, that swiftness shall carry you through the next phase of your journey, from discovery into purpose.”

Rainbow Dash snarled. She was about to shout something else—when her body froze. She blinked, face scrunching. “Wait...” She raised a dainty hoof from beneath her robe, pointing. “Whitemane, didn't you once tell me that you were done giving me messages?” The pegasus blinked. “Yeah... back in Blue Shelf, when I found the ruby flame inside the buried spire, you came to me in a vision... and t-told me that the spell you put on me had faded. That was the last time we ever 'talked.'” She gulped a lump down her throat. “Then... how come you're showing up again... and now?”

Slowly, the alicorn turned around to gaze at her.

Rainbow's ears folded back. “None of this is real,” she droned.

“You are real,” the Queen said. “And in the deepest recesses of your mind, in the quietest pocket of your heart, Whitemane still lingers, watching over you.” A calm smile. “We felt that taking her form would instill... confidence.”

“Who... what are you?” Rainbow asked, softly shuffling closer to the large white equine. “Is this some sort of message left inside that tower I just found? Are you the angels that Khao and the Herald spoke of?”

Whitemane simply stared with a persistent smile.

“Are you the ponies...” Rainbow winced slightly. “...the creatures who built Urohringr? Or the ones who tore it apart?!” She stared up at Whitemane's face, eyes glossy with wonder. “Please. I have to know. These towers... these beacons of flame and this whole Yaerfaerda nonsense...” She shuddered. “It all keeps extending my life, staving off the chaos inside me. I... I-I feel...” The mare sighed, plopping back on her haunches as she gazed dully into the Emeraldine valley below. “I feel yanked around like a dead weight on a chain.”

A gentle hoof brushed the bottom of Rainbow's chin.

The pegasus looked up, sniffling.

Whitemane smiled. “We are that which waits. And you?” Her blue eyes sparkled. “You are that which restores.”

“But... b-but why?!” Rainbow stammered. “Is it in my blood, like Commander Hurricane?” She seethed. “I only wanted to reach the Midnight Armory because it was so friggin' impossible to do! Is it all really... j-just some bogus destiny nonsense?!”

“The wind and the will are easily confused with one another,” Whitemane said. “In some ways, they are both different and yet the same, much like you.”

“Much... like m-me?”

Whitemane caressed Rainbow's cheek. “Your journey is a perilous one. But is it always a lonely one?”

Rainbow bowed her head. Tears collected in the corners of her eyes as she gazed down at the balcony's edge.

The alicorn waited patiently.

“I... I've had to leave so much behind... so v-very much...” Rainbow sniffled, reaching a forelimb up to rub her cheek dry. “It didn't make sense, and yet... it did? I dunno. I...” Rainbow squeaked, tears doubling. “I miss my friends.” She clenched her eyes shut as she endured the crest of a sob. “All my friends.”

Whitemane quietly spoke: “For every sacrifice, there is a gift. The Austraeoh's journey is hers and hers alone... but she doesn't have to be alone for the entirety of it, now does she?”

Rainbow's eyes fluttered open. She shook her head, gazing back up at Whitemane. “I... I-I don't understand...”

“This world has aged in such a curious way,” Whitemane said. “To be whole once again with Urohringr, it must operate by its own rules as much as the ones imparted it.”

“To... be whole again...?” Rainbow's muzzle hung agape. “Is that what the purpose is?” She leaned forward. “To reform Urohringr?”

“You are the purpose, Austraeoh,” Whitemane said. “Endurance has been reborn, and you are a product of Eljunbyro as much as yourself. There is no holding back the wind's might any longer. Much like Urohringr, that which empowers Austraeoh desires to be whole. Even now, it struggles against that which has constrained it for so long.”

“Rainbow Dash... … ...”

The pegasus twirled about, panting. Her eyes darted in every direction for the source of that last whisper. It rang with the same tone that haunted her in the Grand Choke, a voice which woke her from fitful slumber. Slowly—trembling—she turned to squint at Whitemane once more.

“What's happening to me...?”

“You are receiving,” Whitemane said. “And someday, sooner than later, you will once again be giving. You will not reach that destination alone.” She stood up tall, staring down at Rainbow. “But, then again, you've never truly been.”

Rainbow blinked. A flicker of lavender appeared in her peripheral. She looked east, past the spires of Darkstine, and there Yaefaerda loomed—but something was happening to it. It was fluctuating, melting, being drained of all its color.

“Now, Austraeoh, it is time,” Whitemane said.

Rainbow flashed her a confused look. “Time?!” Her teeth chattered. “Time for what?!”

Whitemane leaned forward, her blue eyes ablaze.

“Time for you to foal yesterday.”

FLASH!

Comments

[Pilate]

This conversation very much mirrors the reader's relationship to the author, with especially with regards to the comments. Kind of meta. Interested to see how this plays out for the second half of the story, especially the ongoing role of whomever or whatever it is took on the form of Whitemane. Destiny manifested it seems.

Also, it's totally that scene from Contact.

[RoboRed]

Or rather...not quite Whitey?

Yeah, disclaimer: Didn't see this coming.

[AppleTank]

1) ITS STILL HAPPENING
2) Ah. So its probably the Forerunners or something.
3) Can you guys, I dunno, give RD a cellphone that can call Roarke or something. It would be very swell. Its one long distance relationship I have some hope in, at least.

[destinedjagold]

....uuuuuuhhh...

[Swan Song]

A calm smile. “We felt that taking her form would instill... confidence.”

So, basically, Contact?

“Time for you to foal yesterday.”

I KNEW IT! Rainbow Dash is Twilight Sparkle's father!

[Pilate]

5784055

Also, it's totally that scene from Contact.

It totally is, though. Great movie. I should go watch it again.

[Shiyo]

I came back from a shower and I see five chapters, and an IC picture change and a completed Yaerfaerda?!?!?!??!?!?!?

WHAT THE /YAY/ IS THIS!?!?!?!

Don't I need to sleep at all? High schoolers don't operate well on less than 7 hours of sleep you know, IC.
HAJSJFSDKSDKSKSKGKFDK *throws fit* Dangit. I'm late

. . .

[Shiyo]

And I'm back with a block of poo.

“I...” Rainbow retched, eyes bulging. “Arrived?!?” She gawked at the sleepy landscape looming below. “But... it... you...!” She shook, shivered, and her voice cracked, “This is Verdestone! How in the buck could I have arrived here?!?”

Ah. My reaction exactly to the wonderful gift from IC.

Rainbow's ears folded back. “None of this is real,” she droned.

And this is a dream and you are back in Ponyville and. . . eh NO. Don't even think about it IC.

A calm smile. “We felt that taking her form would instill... confidence.”

Awwwww. It's not Whitey! But . . .
what if Whitemane was these creatures all along?

“The wind and the will are easily confused with one another,”

Bwahh?

“You are the purpose, Austraeoh,” Whitemane said.

Spit, spit, I don't understand a bit!

ANSWER MY QUESTIONS DAMMIT!! I'm sorry!

“Time for you to foal yesterday.”

And my brain did a backflip. WHY?

moving on!

edit: Oh I'm am so stupid. So intent on trying to keep my brain together that I forgot to think.

[Lightning Bearer]

I see other people have already made the connection, but I'll still do the thing.

rowthree.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Contact_Morse.jpg

[dafiltafish]

Something to read the terminals. A cortana?

[YoshiFawful64]

So... Whitemane is not Whitemane, and the whispers are from someone else entirely?

[Leftover of Saikano]

Retweet if it crossed your mind that everything past Emeraldine was a dream.

[Sinrar]

Much like Urohringr, that which empowers Austraeoh desires to be whole.

fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/060/b/e/make_us_whole_by_immortalnobody-d3aq1cg.png

When suddenly Rainbow Clarke.

[Khao]

“The wind and the will are easily confused with one another,”

That's... Kind of scary in a few different ways.

[whizzball1]

More of the whisper. Who or what is whispering? And will Urohringr really be made whole again? But Austraeoh's job comes first... Whatever it is.:rainbowdetermined:

-Spirit

[durandana]

i.imgur.com/5Igcwlx.png

[Hap]

So... "foal" has been a verb, this whole time?

[Super Trampoline]

Waaaaaaaaa???

[Cynderfall]

THIS IS SCARY AWESOME AND I LIKE IT!!! LIKE A TORGUE GUN!! OR EXPLOSIONS!

[Vendable Sheik]

Whoa, ok just whoa. I am extremely confused now and I'm sure I'm not the only one. So this isn't Whitemane and we are given one of the very very rare "story/lore/what the hell is actually going on" chapters here. I can't write more. Must keep reading!

[not_a_rainbow]

wat

[Nostromo_Crew]

Jeez man, I don't know about this whole, ' giving birth', to an entire chunk of time and matter like that. This book is getting weird.

[JustAnotherTimeLord]

It . . . what? It still doesn't make any sense. I guess Rainbow is becoming a mother? I don't know. But who the hell are the "ones that wait" or whatever? Who is this that has impersonated Whitemane? Ugh, here we go with the untold amount of questions that still longer and will linger for two or three books.

[aRestlessCreativeGamer]

'birthing yesterday'....interesting. This chapter is more confusing to me due to the 'old speak' that the thing is using. Also from discovery to purpose...that sounds foreboding. Confused/curious/worried...color me intrigued.

[ElderJones]

Having read the description for Ynanhlattr, I have an idea as to what is going on.

[Seraphimus]

5927457 my first thought at "time for you to foal yesterday" was time travel. I'm surprised as just another timelord you didn't cone to the same conclusion

[**Beert]

So it's not Whitemane. Ok. What's happening then? I'm confused like that for the first time since Eljunbyro

[MidnightReflection]

...No.

NO!

[/NO!

I swear, if we are going all the way back in time to the beginning of the story...

[Tim the Planes-pony]

Rainbow blinked. A flicker of lavender appeared in her peripheral. She looked east, past the spires of Darkstine, and there Yaefaerda loomed—but something was happening to it. It was fluctuating, melting, being drained of all its color.

something big is happening On the edge of my seat. Lets do this.

[Keris]

Ok fortunate i was wrong about the death part but.. the beacons are somehow sentient ?
I was under the impression that dash had some kind of genetically arcane ancient operating system in her head that enabled her to interact with the machine world, like an Austraeoh firmware, but making the beacons/flames somehow sentient is a game changer .. or they are like interfaces to the machine worlds main operating system, the spark, god or whatever cultures may wanna call it and dash is like an super awesome usb stick that can interface with it, that wouldn't throw my first theory off completely.

[Cyonix]

Am I the only one who kept thinking of this?

Also, calling it now: Rainbow turns into an alicorn.

[Hazard]

But we still don't know what foaling yesterday means.

[Enix]

If the rings purpose is austraeoh then what about the other 11 rings?

[Metal Aura]

I'm still waiting for Belle to wake up from sequencing.

[Zecoro]

This reminded me an aweful lot of two things.

Harry Potters comatose conversation with Dumbledore, and this

[ponygrad]

Ok I want prepared for this.

[arancaytar]

“None of this is real,” she droned.
“You are real,” the Queen said.

Ah, the Dumbledore answer.
"Of course it is happening inside your head, Rainbow, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"

[Doctor Disco]

I think I finally understand.

Foal yesterday.

Rebirth?

Because to "foal yesterday" would mean to birth what's already been "birthed".

Hah! Hahaha!
12:28 a.m. MST 6/28/2017

[Tim the Planes-pony]

“The wind and the will are easily confused with one another,” Whitemane said. “In some ways, they are both different and yet the same, much like you.”

I think what this means is that she has the power to shape her own destiny, while in turn being shaped by it. It sounds strange, but makes sense when one thinks about it.
07/25/2017
00:00 UTC

[BleedingRaindrops]

“You are the purpose, Austraeoh,” Whitemane said. “Endurance has been reborn, and you are a product of Eljunbyro as much as yourself. There is no holding back the wind's might any longer. Much like Urohringr, that which empowers Austraeoh desires to be whole. Even now, it struggles against that which has constrained it for so long.”

It occurs to me that the names of the twelve planned stories might just be the names of the twelve pieces of the ring. Just a thought.

Also, I suspect that Twilight and her friends have always really been with her, as the light that guides her.

[BleedingRaindrops]

6569907
That much was obvious ever since her first conversation with Whitemane.

[FOXTrot2]

8165479
I think she took the blue pill and done down the rabbit hole this time.

[Tarterose]

8577527
just wait for Whitemane to sing Rainbow Dash's exploits.

[hypervelocity]

“Time for you to foal yesterday.”

Guh....buh....what is happen?!

[Luminous Tune]

So they are using Whitemain as an avatar. Who ever they are.

[SnowOriole]

Foal Yesterday? Is that a food?