Chancellor Fishberry strolled up, facing across the stone from Saikano. She looked insanely out of place, wearing her noble silks and threads in the center of such a desolate plain. “You've been silent as of late, General. We were starting to wonder if we were alone.”
“I concur.” Secretary Sharp Quill also appeared, his purple eyes producing an eerie sheen in the darkness. “There have been multiple incidents in the capital these past two days.” He kept trotting closer... closer. “If the pressure is up here, I shudder to imagine what slim control you have over the Soul Sentries at best—”
“Do not move any further!” Saikano shouted. “Stay back! Keep your distance!”
The other two stopped dead in their tracks. Soon, the three stood equadistant from one another in a triangular pattern, with Shepherd's Rock acting as the impregnable divide. Rainbow Dash watched in silent curiosity, barely producing a single breath.
“I... did not wish to alarm you,” Sharp Quill said.
“He's right, though,” Fishberry remarked in a dull tone. “We must keep a firm distance. We all know what's at stake if we don't.”
“It... It's just been so difficult as of late,” Sharp Quill muttered.
“You've been around that Prince too long,” Saikano said. “Fathering him has softened you.”
“You would do well to remind yourself that it works the other way around,” Sharp Quill said with sudden menace. “If it weren't for me, Saikano, none of this would be possible.”
“Then perhaps you should be the one in charge of the Sentries!” Saikano growled. “It's trouble enough to maintain the perimeter without having to answer to the Cartel every damn day—”
“Will you two calm yourselves?!” Fishberry insisted. “Don't you see what's happening?! We've been turned against one another! They're attempting to weaken every facet of this initiative. If we cannot cooperate, then the plan cannot go into motion. Then all will be lost.”
Sharp Quill shuddered. His gaze fell. “They... they broke into my office. They did some snooping around.”
Saikano squinted his good blue eye. “Who's 'they?'”
“I am not entirely sure. Maybe it was an entire group. Maybe it was just one infiltrator. But whoever they are...” He motioned his antlers at the doe. “They did the same thing to Fishberry's office.”
Saikano turned to look at her from across the Rock. “Is this true?”
“I'm surprised you didn't sense it,” Fishberry said. “Your Sentries came in to intercept the infiltrator. They did not succeed.”
Saikano sighed. “It's my fault. I had a meeting with the Cartel earlier. If I had been meditating along the perimeter instead—”
“Do not blame yourself,” Fishberry said. “They've been distracting us on all fronts.”
“Do you know who they are?” Saikano asked.
“Not entirely. But I have every reason to believe that they're connected to the governor of Bountiful.”
Rainbow Dash held her breath, ears twitching.
“You mean Duchess Arcanista?” Saikano remarked.
“Affirmative.”
“I've heard news of a royal ambassador whose speech shook up the Council today.”
“That was a member of her entourage.”
“One of the false Xonans?” Sharp Quill remarked. “Those whom you wrote me about?”
“Precisely.” Fishberry nodded. “The child pretending to be a 'Princess' matches the description that given to us.”
“Which description?”
“You know fully well, Sharp Quill,” Fishberry said. “The ones that she gave us.”
Rainbow's lips pursed.
“That's rather coincidental,” Saikano remarked.
“Why is that?”
“Because the chief issue that the Cartel have been yammering about is the interference by the Noble Jury,” he said. “We all know that they've been choking the Green Bandits resources beyond the West Gate.” He turned to stare at the other two figures. “But what if they've spread their operations abroad?”
Sharp Quill's muzzle hung open. “You mean they've split up?”
“Given their past with her, it would make sense,” Fishberry said, glancing at the other two. “They'd be desperate enough to split their numbers.”
“Then that makes them an even greater threat than before,” spoke Sharp Quill. “Think about it. They outnumber us.”
“Not exactly.” Fishberry looked at Saikano. “The General still has his Sentries.”
“If you want me to use them, then I have to be minding the perimeter.” His brow furrowed. “I can't keep playing ambassador to the Cartel.”
“You're the only thing that holds those imps in check.”
“It matters little,” Saikano said. “They're going to double-cross us no matter what. Their ambition is to conquer all of Val Roa.”
“Then what's important is that we let them go as far as we want,” Fishberry said. “And then you can crush them, Saikano.”
“What's the state of the armada as of today?” Sharp Quill asked.
“I ordered one battleship to stay within our borders,” Saikano said. “I sent a skiff back with the payment for the nagas' skystone. Once Haman has made the exchange, they'll send the next two vessels. They should be within Val Roan airspace in time for the Coronation.”
Rainbow's ears folded back as her face paled. She struggled to keep from breathing too hard as her blood ran cold.
“Then, as far as the Cartel is concerned, they're bound to deliver on their end,” Sharp Quill said. “Not even a ship like the Noble Jury would be a match for that much fire power.”
“Still, we need leverage against them for when the day comes that we act on her behalf,” Fishberry said. “This should be our last meeting before the Coronation. I've come up with solution to the false Xonans. At these specific times, I need both of you to be—”
Rainbow Dash suddenly couldn't hear what she was saying. As a matter of fact, she couldn't hear anything. A strong pair of hooves had wrapped around her from behind.
“... ... ...!” The mare sputtered for breath, wrestling with a savage weight against her back. She couldn't see the shadow of her attacker in the darkness of evening. She thrashed left... then right. The pegasus couldn't budge. Whoever had pounced on her, it was someone well-trained and well-prepared for this sort of an assault. As Rainbow felt her lungs quivering from a painful lack of oxygen, the world blurred. She was being suplexed to the ground, and the blow was powerful enough to knock out most living things her size.
Rainbow's whole body sparked with stabbing pain. Somehow, she had remained conscious. The Yaerfaerda symbol spun against the black canvas of her eyelids. She was facing east, being rolled across the stone. She felt the body pressed on top of her... the sound of shackles and tight rope. She was about to be bound.
Gritting her teeth, the mare did something she knew her attacker would not expect. She stretched her pegasus wings out at full length.
“Guh!” a feminine voice grunted, being knocked back.
Rainbow inhaled, standing up. She heard the scuffle of hoofsteps bounding towards her. Nimbly, she flew up into the air, backflipped, and came down upon her attacker.
Only once she had her forelegs thrown around the assailant's neck did she realize that it was no deer—but a pony about her own size. The equine was clad in ink-black cloth from head to tail. Rainbow wasn't the only one sneaking out there that night.
Normally, Rainbow would have yelled something into the attacker's ear in order to intimidate her. However, she didn't dare make a sound for fear of the three conspirators' hearing something. Even then, the pegasus' heart palpitated. She craned her neck towards Shepherd's Rock, desperate to hear what the group was mumbling about Arcanista and the “Xonan” entourage—
Rainbow lingered one second too long, and the pony in her grip bucked its rear legs hard into the mare's lower abdomen. Seconds later, the equine performed a magnificent round-house kick of its front hooves.
Rainbow took the impact in her chest. She lost all the air in her lungs, collapsing immediately. Whoever she was fighting, the pony wanted this battle to be silent too. Rainbow crossed her front legs in time to block the attacker's pounce. Together, the two rolled and wrestled across the stone, almost stumbling out into the open where the meeting was transpiring. Through the fitful struggle, Rainbow caught random words, things like “stage” and “underground” and “Tundra.” She cursed mentally, gnashing her teeth as she writhed and squirmed in the attacker's grip. At last, with a red-and-yellow flicker to her eyes, she thrust her neck up.
Flash! Rainbow's pendant briefly strobed in the desert night. The attacker got a face-full of the blinding harmonic glow. In a mix of shock and pain, she reeled back and shrieked out loud.
The voices at Shepherd's Rock silenced in an instant. Then, seconds later, Fishberry's voice: “Did you hear that?”
Sharp Quill: “Saikano, that sounded like—”
Saikano: “Impossible.”
Fishberry: “Even still—”
Saikano: “Yes yes. I'll go see.”
Rainbow gnashed her teeth, looking left and right. She heard the hoofsteps drawing closer... closer. Out of options, Rainbow hugged her dazed attacker tight and flapped both wings with a thunderous thrust. Fwoossssh! She skyrocketed, ascending into the dark night's sky within the span of a blink.
Shepherd's Rock had become a distant speck. Up high, Rainbow hovered, panting. She gripped the shivering assailant as she squinted down at the desert plain. There was no way of telling if the three figures were still there or not, and Rainbow wasn't about to risk getting within viewing distance to find out.
“Darn it!” her voice cracked. “Darn it darn it darn it darn it darn it!” Gritting her teeth, she frowned at the masked pony in her grasp. “You... ya little ninja turd! Do you have any idea... any idea what you've done?!”
“I've stopped an injustice!” the mare spat. “Whatever you were planning, it won't work!”
“What do you mean what I was planning?!” Rainbow hissed. “Those creeps are working for the Queen of Bad Days and you're babbling to me about 'injustice?!'” The pegasus stared her down menacingly. “You've got ten seconds to tell me who you are before I drop you like a bad habit!”
“Do your worst, monster!” she shouted back. “But as God is my witness, I'll haunt your accursed body from the grave if you so much as try assassinating my father again!”
Rainbow's lips pursed. “Your... father...?” Her eyes blinked, and amidst the starlight she envisioned a branch of antlers laced with metal. “... ... ...Midnite?”
The pony in her grasp stiffened.
Rainbow snaked a hoof up and yanked the equine's mask off. A dark-coated mare with a charcoal-gray mane glared back. “Midnite Bastion...?”
“How the Hell did you know my name...?” the pony growled, her eyes glinting like hard diamonds. “Who are you?!”
“Sister...” Rainbow's jaw tightened. “You're looking at one really...really ticked-off pony...”
Well I'm pretty sure Chrysalis is not Midnite Bastion either. I just hope she doesn't screw things up any more then she has.
Fishberry didn't buy Kera's act. This ought to be problematic.
Sharp Quill, you bastard! We all knew you were a bad guy
Midnite Bastion is
notmaybeprobablyChrysalis.Saikano confirmed as Floydien's cousin.
Holy shit. Wasn't expecting that.
I seems clear those three are knowingly working for Chrysalis. The question is, how much do they actually know about her and what do they believe they'll get in return. Kera's speech did not raise doubts in Fishberry, so either she knows full well what Chrysalis is or she believes Kera is spreading vile lies--just as Chryssi warned her.
Get in line. Rainbow's already being haunted from the grave.
Midnite will soon be reunited with her lost love. Let's see how that affects Floydien.
IC wouldn't mislead us, would he?
What if....
What if nobody was Chrysalis.
What if these three were the good guys and we were Chrysalis all along (TWIST PROVIDED BY M NIGHT SHYAMALAN)
5311708
Ought to be, but they're sure biding their time.
Nah, just misunderstood.
If she was, now would be a good time to shape-shift into something that won't go splat when Rainbow drops her; even better, into something that can take out the troublesome pegasus once and for all.
Teenage mutant ninja pony
teenage mutant ninja pony
Pony inna.... uh.
um.
I'mma leave now.
...Great. Just great.
Well, at least I'm pretty sure Chrysalis isn't anyone we've met so far. She must be on the sidelines, pulling the strings...
5311794
Rainbow's proven to be a worthy opponent, an exeptionally fast and agile flier, and surprisingly smart (when the situation calls for it), so The Bug Queen needs to be careful.
Or maybe she won't kill Dash just yet because she needs her for... something?
5311863 She can already perfectly copy Rainbow Dash. She could also add her to her hive as a changeling, as she threatened to do back at Stratopolis.
5311903 Welp, I guess we'll find out.
Midnite Bastion has shown herself, and is presently getting hugged by Rainbow Dash under a magnificent starry sky. I hope that back in Val Roa, Floydien is having a sneezing fit.
Still, I think I like Midnite. From this reckless and defiant attempt to defend her father she seems to think with her heart, and that could only mean that it's bound to be very interesting when she inevitably meets Floydien. Granted, Floydien is Floydien, and this is a pretty terrible first impression of Rainbow, but I get an oddly positive vibe from her for some reason. Of all the folks on the "dark side" so far, she doesn't seem very invested in the plan itself, but here for her father's sake.
NO ONE is prepared for how this novel ends?
How about this ending: Chrysalis does add Rainbow Dash to her hive--Chekov's Gun firing--but it horribly backfires on her. In her weakened state, Rainbow Dash takes control of the hive away from Chrysalis. Now a changeling queen, RD has (almost) no trouble traversing the dark side of the world. The drones are already serving Dash of their own free will, and she was even feeding them for a while; she was already a de facto queen.
And what about the rest of the Jury? There's only one way the others can survive the dark side. Any who volunteer to accompany Queen Dash will be turned into changelings too. They will feed off their love for each other.
Convenient Ninja Turd is Convenient.
Twenty-five squats, ):(. Feet shoulder width apart, bend at the knee until your thigh is parallel with the ground, then back up. Knock 'em out!
Okay. From all accounts they're all serving her willingly. The question is... Why? What has she offered them in return for their services?
One more opportunity where being the hero is becoming a bother. Because let's be honest here: at this point, actually assassinating the three would be the best option - pragmatically and morally.
5311760
Oh, Midnite, you've done messed up!
5311668 Honestly, honestly. That sounds pretty funny.
5312218 Once she reaches the dark side of the world, she will be flying west!
5312239 You can read it starting with this chapter: Moron a Trois
5312431 Not on this plane, you won't.
That's frustrating
Nice bit of misdirection by Fishbury if they all three aint alredy setting things up, and Chrysalis isnt on teh sides, carefully tweaking and boiling.
Wonder why, if they were told bout the false Xonan princess, they havent done any simple checks about teh horse with wings, given Dash is unique? or the rainbow coloured hair?Thats so obvious, as evena squirrel would come under immediate suspicion. Or, Chrysalis is keeping that bit of information back, as what they dont know causes even more interoperation tension and conflict, making her stronger?
If Midnight has a metal object on her head, is that a prosthetic horn for unicorn, replaced due to accident, design, job description, cult, or torture? Same thing as for The General? Wonder if she is a unicorn ninja, she was particularly observant, or using magical scanning to pick up Dash existance and location? Or just enough brightness that Rainbow glow in some form?
Im thinking if the Choke is the airless protrusion of the end of the plane with chaos distortions, then the Jury couldnt Fly there anywhere. But a landcrawler could, which given the mausoleums, Id suspect theres one in the Royal Vault or equivalent.
Now people are going to be humming The A Team theme.
Oh well, I love it when a plan comes together.
Well, now that we meet her, my "Midnite Bastion is totes Chrysalis" theory seems considerably less likely. I mean, it's hard to say for sure because Changelings are born actors, and maybe it's just a ruse for Chrysalis to get close to Rainbow, because what better weapon for a chaos-sowing shapeshifter than a chaos-infused pegasus? But even so, I'm getting a goodly vibe off Midnite so far.
But then, if she isn't Chrysalis, then who the hell is? Suddenly Eine and Arcanista seem like prime candidates again, because as I said a while ago, she's likely to be an established character rather than a nobody who shows up out of left field right at the climax.
Guh, I need to just let it happen and stop thinking about it too much.
Somehow, I figured Midnite would be appearing in this chapter. If at worst, as Chrysalis. If not, as a prisoner or an unwitting/unwilling lackey of the evil trinity. But I didn't expect this.
Things are gonna get real interesting when Rainbow arrives back with her. I wonder what she knows? Or what she knows that others know? She seemed far more preoccupied with defending Saikano from "assassination".
Hmmm...I wonder why they can't be that close together in proximity...
Well, Arcanista is definitely on the target list now.
I think you meant "off".
So, still confident it's not Midnite. I'm shifting my attention back to Arcanista. Downside is, I had (at least what I thought was) a good theory when I read this earlier this afternoon, but I completely forgot it.
Damn it all, though. Rainbow missed out on a lot of very important info thanks to Midnite's interference.
All three conspirators are Chrysalis!
She somehow divided herself (or just her mind) into three or more. That's why those three are acting so strangely. It's gotta be hard to control three or more bodies simultaneously.
5311723
derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/12/6/490827__rainbow+dash_rarity_applejack_suggestive_clothes_scootaloo_sweetie+belle_apple+bloom_upvotes+galore_glasses.jpeg
5313301
My money is on haman or hiding away in the northern tundra
Haman, because he can't possibly be that dumb, and is very clearly being controlled to bring about suffering.
Dude, this chapter made me super happy.
All I can think about are Sharp Quill's eyes.
Was thinking Eine for a moment. Wonder where Midnite picked up those moves though.
5311815
Pony Innavedr.
Pega-power!
5311955
I really like this theory.
5313502
Two theories. One is this, the other is that Chrysalis isn't behind the manipulation at all, and she's been captured in her weakened state and made to serve the "Evil Trinity".
Still, the title of this chapter makes me think that "Chrysalis has split herself into three distinct parts that are psychically linked, but have individual experiences that set them apart" is likely. After all, in Judeo-Christian religions, depending on denomination, the Holy Trinity is three entities (father, son, holy spirit) that comprise one being that is the "whole".
But, then again, it could be misdirection on the authors part and I'm just channeling the spirit of Austraeoh-era Analytical Pilate by ascribing deeper meaning.
Oh... I get it.
They are not serving Cheesy. They are serving their own revolutionary plans, and consider Cheesy some kind of mysterious ally who hasn't totally revealed what she wains from their cause.
They have some sort of psychic connection between the three, possibly derived of the kind of magic or technology that allows the Generalissimo to control the Jazz Sentries. But as a cost, they cannot get too close to each other, due to leyline entaglement or something.
Now Midnite has appeared, and she swears in the name of this God, that created the deer to his image and thus makes them superior to ponies and zebras and giraffes and specially goblins.
Paranoia Time!
Suspects:
General Saikano - Evil-but-not-Chryssi; may be in cahoots with Chryssi
Fishberry - Evil-but-not-Chryssi; may be in cahoots with her Chryssi
Sharp Quill - Evil-but-not-Chryssi; may be in cahoots with her Chryssi
Arcanista - Omega Level
Midnite Bastion - Cleared
Nilla - Omega Level
Jet - Omega Level
Mamunia - Omega Level
Eine - Cleared
Zebra 1-452 - cleared
Zebra 453-Pilate - Under observation
Everypony/deer/thing else - Omega Level
this ends the Paranoia Time! update
have a nice, paranoia filled day!
5313069
...
...
fuck
5314753
yes
5314127 Her father.
5312441
Depends on how the flatworld this place exists on works.
that Xonan fleet had better hurry the fu*k up
Prowse will be a real Sparksend here. Otherwise they stand no chance. (get it spark because ledomare and the spark thing oh okay I'm sorry)
-Spirit
Welp, here we go. Time for more and more setbacks.
5311720 I was. Happened a bit sooner than I expected it, But I definitely saw it coming.
Is it weird that I read all of Floydiens lines in Cicero's voice? 37.media.tumblr.com/8830aaf40756f4a3190ec8f26ef397b6/tumblr_n3nimhoaYH1qiotbqo3_250.gif
Cue metal gear "!"
5713922 +1 Rainbow Dash point for using the word Sparksend.
I am going to make a conscious effort to use this in daily conversation from now onwards.
6489512 I read them all in Gollum's voice xD
6949380
I read Floyd's voice in pinkie pie from the Rainbow Dash Presents series voice.
Oh my God what if they ARE all Chrysalis and she's figured out some temporary mitosis thing.