Her Next Riddle, Next Riddle Home
“Fourth Question,” the golem spoke.
“Bring it,” Rainbow grunted.
“It's... it's giving you riddles?” Twilight murmured, floating closer. “Maybe I can help!”
“Shhh!” Rainbow insisted, eyes locked on the automaton. “Trust me. This is all me.”
“Huh?” Twilight blinked.
Rainbow said nothing. She merely stared at the lumbering thing.
“It knows what makes the wind and what shatters it, and it gives itself to mend it,” the golem said. “Through pain it endures, and yet through friendship it's reborn.”
Twilight squinted into the shadows of the place, murmuring aloud: “'It knows what makes the wind... and what shatters it...'” Her lavender features wiggled in deep, deep thought. “'...through friendship it's reborn?'”
Rainbow Dash turned to look at her.
Twilight hung in the air, curled up in a fuzzy ball as she put her innate eggheaded skills to use.
With a calm breath, Rainbow turned to look at the two mercenaries on the other side of the room.
Wildcard and Bard sat in silence, gaping at the scene. In the blue light of Verlax's enchanted magic, the Desperadoes looked like innocent children, despite the fact that—just hours ago—they were helping Rainbow Dash infiltrate the most dastardly hideout that side of the Grand Choke.
A lump formed in Rainbow's throat. The blue aura made her think of the elegant shine in Rarity's eyes. Somewhere, not too far away, a stallion with similarly blue eyes stood courageously before the Council of Shoggoth with an equally brave sarosian at his side. Shoggoth itself was a mere speck on a map that a crotchety old professor named Sinrar had provided, having trotted far out of his stubborn comfort zone. And somewhere high above, two romantic hearts sailed the open seas, throwing caution to the wind in such a brazen way that even the Nealend Atoll could never contain it.
Nopony would be there... nopony would be anywhere if it weren't for her.
And Rainbow Dash knew that she could say the very same thing about herself, at the mere grace of all these eclectic souls who had carried the wind with her. It was the sweetest joke of all, a funny piece of poetry that somehow made everything that should have been crazy and chaotic fall into a beautiful pattern. Like a riddle.
And it was time to unravel it.
“'Eljunbyro',” Rainbow Dash said, her eyes moist and glistening. Nevertheless, she tilted her head up and smiled at the armored messenger. “'The answer to the fourth riddle is 'Eljunbyro.'”
Blue flashing eyes. “Correct.”
A pale white outline solidified a few paces away. Rarity unfurled from the center of it like a ship's sail. “My goodness!” She gasped, holding a dainty hoof over her palpitating chest. “What in Celestia's name just happened!”
“Rarity!” Swissssh! Twilight Sparkle zoomed over, practically tackling the mare. The two spectres twirled together, with Twilight hugging her tight and nuzzling cheek to fuzzy cheek. “Ohhhhhh...” She sniffled. “I'm so... so very glad to see you again!”
“And I you, darling.” Rarity returned the embrace, though she gulped nervously, glancing over her shoulder. “Although... I'm somewhat lost on what exactly separated us...”
“It's a long story, Rares,” Rainbow said. She cleared her throat. “I'm just... super glad you both are back.”
“So, darlin'...” Bard and Wildcard stood up. The stallion picked up his metal staff and leaned against it. “Reckon this means yer two invisible friends are back?”
Rainbow spun towards him. “... ... ...yeah, and?”
He swung his eyes towards the golem. “Then how come that thang's still stalkin' us all menacing-like?”
Rainbow clenched her jaw and floated over to face the construct. “Because there's one question left.”
“What for?!” Bard cackled while Wildcard looked on. “To unlock an invisible purple elephant to haunt you?”
“The last question grants the Austraeoh her wind back,” the golem explained in a metallic tone. “As well as audience with the Queen.”
Twilight gulped. “Verlax...”
“Rainbow, darling,” Rarity stammered, shivering. “You musn't give into this thing! There has to be another way!”
“From the sound of it,” Twilight spoke, “You answer this last question, and you'll be at the mercy of the Divine of Frost!”
“Yeah...” Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, nodding. “...and I'll also get to free Pinkie Pie.”
“But... b-but...” Twilight and Rarity exchanged nervous glances, ears twitching.
“Okay, nuts and bolts,” Rainbow muttered, directly facing the armor. “Let's get this over with.” She gulped. “Ask your fifth and final question.”
With creaking joints, the frozen thing loomed before Rainbow Dash. “Without, it dies. Withholding, it suffers. Within, it balances. Only through circles does it find itself.”
Dead silence.
Twilight and Rarity gawked at the thing.
Bard's muzzle hung open while Wildcard scratched his feathery scalp.
Rainbow Dash fell back on her haunches with a blank expression. The mare's ears folded back. “Hoboy.”
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Well this is the one she doesn't know. Rainbow is going to have to guess carefully.
Meanwhile, in another scene in the story...
I'd say it's either Urohringr or Ynanhluutr as those are the two choices left, unless this is the real trick question and the answer it outside these options. Does anyone remember what Urohringr means?
Seems like it'd be "Urohringr", but you wouldn't think that would stump Rainbow. A trick question?
6383959
Urohringr was supposed to be something about the fractured ring world. I dunno.
And I don't think Ynanhluutr has been name dropped yet.
The word "circle" makes me want to say Urohringr, but I'm pretty much ignoring everything else.
I'm fucking lost here.
6383967
6383959
Urohringr is the NAME of the ring world, if I recall correctly.
Also, iirc, the glyph found at nealand involved many circles. (Edit, chapter 79). Probably harmony, or some such.
Okay, I'm stumped.
Harmony?
I think it's Austraeoh or Rainbow Dash herself. Without her the world dies, she suffers from withholding the truth from her friends, chaos and harmony are balanced within her and she comes to terms with things with the help of circles of friends.
6383967 Fact checker confirmed in the comments for last chapter that Ynanhluutr has been name dropped by the cosmos voice.
--------------------
So... this one is a doozy...
Well.. Urohringr dies without Austraoeh. The longer Dash takes, the more she and Urohringr suffer from chaos. Dash has both chaos and harmony inside her, balancing each other, but Urohringr can only be balanced from the inner mantle. Dash's goal is a round trip, from the light side, to the dark side and back, with the aim of restoring her old friends, completing a circle and ending up back where she began, while Urohringr needs to be made whole (MAKE US WHOLE!) to find itself, and whole, it's a ring...a circle.
Either way.. she has 3 chances, if she goes through the remaining runes she has a decent chance of being correct. Austraeoh and Urohringr are the obvious choices, but Ynanhluutr, going by the bit Fact Checker quoted last chapter...it means Purpose from within or Inner Purpose, so it fits the riddle to a degree just on the vague meaning we got from the voice of the cosmos.
-Memories given light, ease a lonely flight. Ynanhluutr.
6383967 That doesn't mean it's not the answer.
Verlax could just want to fuck with RD. Or maybe she wants to know how much she knows about the various words.
6383959 Well hringer is Norse for Ring, Uro is Norwegian for unrest or disturbance.
So as a straight translation, it means unrest ring/disturbance ring.
The wiki cites it as meaning just "The Ring,"
I think Ynanhluutr might have been mentioned once? I can't recall where but I could've sworn it was mentioned somewhere. Really she's only got so many weird names to toss at this, and she's got some guesses to check the one's she knows off the list. If each answer so far has been one of those odd Austraeoh words then it stands to reason the fifth one will be as well, so it can only be one of three she hasn't used yet.
6384213 The Nealand atoll spire flame.
6383959 iirc it stood for "Ring of Fate"
Okay. Gotta be East Hoers.
"Incorrect."
"H-hey!!!"
6384175 almost exactly what I was thinking. the circle part I would say was that without her journey around te ring world, she never would have learned so much about herself. I'm goin with Austraeoh.
6383959 The Ring. Was about to say the same, either that or the other, yeah.
Is anyone else surprised Rainbow Dash of all ponies knew all the answers?
6384458 No, because they're all old-alicorn words mentioned in the prophecy that only she and those who journeyed with her know.
6384088
Oh, I like this answer. Without harmony, it dies. (Possibly referring to how the ring worlds will die without harmony?) Withholding harmony, it suffers. (I'm going to suppose that it's referring to the great cost necessary to contain it, such as all the Rainbow has lost along the way, and also how the alicorns could only contain harmony within one small sector, sacrificing many lives and damning an entire side of the world in order to make it work.) Within harmony, it balances. (Kind of self-explanitory.) Only through circles does harmony find itself. (Well, since she must connect Urohingr by reigniting the flames, establishing balance to the world, one could say that harmony can only be found by going in a circle. It could also be understood metaphorically since balance and harmony has been interpreted as a ying-yang, which is a circle with a dividing line. It kind of fits the grand scope of Rainbow's journey, too, where she must traverse the light side, dark side, and then go through the other half of the light side to get home. A full circle. )
6384374
The problem with Austraeoh lies with two things. One, the wiki says the entomology of the word is:
And the significance is said to be "the force needed to reassemble . . . Urohingr. . . ." So she is the catalyst of igniting harmony, if you will, not harmony itself. She can be considered a tool, and the question seems to be referring to a concept more than anything else, that most plausibly being harmony.
Ooo tricky... A most riddlish riddle indeed. Madeline Hatter would proud.
6384525 hmm, I'm still going to stick with it being Austraeoh. Or the Spark.
'seems' being the key word here.
(I might come back to this later, work calls)
6384602
I only threw that in because you have some valid points that I can't simply look over. However, I'm very firm in my belief that it's harmony.
EDIT: Also, it's a basic "replace 'it' with the correct keyword" puzzle, and "Austraeoh" can be attributed to some clearly but not all. "The Spark" can definitely be attributed to the first sentence, but the absolute constant is that harmony is established.
EDIT 2: Also also, I can't agree with Jeryn's interpretation because this whole thing, connecting the circles and establishing harmony, is simply put not about Rainbow Dash, her second name Austraeoh, Urohingr, or anything. The overall goal is to establish harmony, as I've said, and that can only be done by going in a circle.
“Without, it dies. Withholding, it suffers. Within, it balances. Only through circles does it find itself.”
WIthout the series, the franchise dies. If you withhold the episodes in the internet from those that don't have The Hub, the franchise suffers, as most fans don't even watch it live. Within the series, it's all fine. The series finds itself through circles because reasons.
Well, Im screwed.
Anyone got any marshmallows?
I'm claiming it's "Ynanhluutr". Considering the vague description of the namesake rune. Basically, RD (Austraeoh) needs to understand the true purpose of everything she's been doing.
Also doing some quick skimming of Norse -> English lookups:
ná (ð) get, obtain
hlutr portion
hlutr purpose
hlutr thing
hlutr part, piece, thing
(Y)-na-(n)-hluutr get/reclaim harmony/purpose/parts
RD get's her purpose; she get the Elements back together (or at least her friends, the Elements' avatars).
6383711 The meaning was in fact mentioned. We just didn't get the symbol name.
*Glances at the title of the story while munching on popcorn*
Knowing that Ynanhluutr means Inner Purpose, this may mean something different. But what?
-Spirit (Yeast and Treacle)
6384605 Honestly my first thought was that it was harmony as well but like you said it's an insert/replace the keyword riddle, and this line made me reconsider:
Within would be a very odd word to use for an abstract concept like harmony. If the first word was with or in (with harmony, in harmony) I could see it, but within harmony doesn't make much sense to me.
I'm not quite sure how the overall goal of establishing harmony could not be at least partly about Rainbow. She's not a spark, she's the spark, without her there wouldn't even be a chance to restore harmony or complete the ring.
You're already at her complete mercy, in case you haven't noticed.
6384817
Which is why Verlax is playing a dangerous game, and we still have no clue as to why she's risking it.
But we all know Dash has got this. Unless Verlax has gone insane, there are only three possible answers remaining, and she has three chances. Calling it now: Dash will guess wrong twice. They will be convinced they had lost, all hope gone. Then, at the last second, as the golem's patience is about to run out, Dash remembers her conversation with the cosmic voice. Ynanhluutr is the answer.
What is the connection between the Cosmic Voices and the Divines? Vertex has access to the Machine World, and has power over the incorporeal Elements, Twilight and Rarity. Or is it just Verlax that has these powers?
And this would be a good time to get involved, Axan, to save Dash from your sister (assuming she needs saving).
Urohringr? the symbol matches the riddle I think?
I want to risk Ynaanhluutr as the symbol, from it's description as several circles.
Buuuut, on the other hand, Urohringr is the concentric rings representing the world pre-split.
And since everybody is throwing out Harmony, let me be the conspiracy theory crazy madman with a crackpot theory. The answer's Chaos.
WIthout - The alternative meaning of 'on the outside' (as in the external representation of chaos, Discord.) Discord 'died' from Dash smashing him.
Withholding - 'The golem actually said 2 words - With Holding'. When Dash touches Chaos Strips, it hurts like heck, and sends her into dizzy fits.
Within, it balances - Lets say the chaotic power entered Dash under an entropy rule. She was chock full of Harmonic energy at the time. Chaos acts as a counterpoint to harmony, so it spread itself out by going into Dash (leaving her neither full of Harmonic energy or with too much Chaos energy). Obviously the Avatar of Chaos has more energy than a single mortal can contain in balance, so the rest is what created the rift. If the Chaos energy hadn't entered Dash, the raw power of hamrony would do her as much damage as pure chaos overloads would. Remember, nopony ever called them the Elements of Niceness.
Only in circles... - "Twists And Turns my master plan, then find the elements back where you began."
This insane theory has been brought to you by remnants, sponsored by caffeine, sleep depravation, and jet lag.
Ynanhluutr was mentioned in the book, in "When Making an Entrance, Be Fabulous".
The various theorized answers to the fifth riddle that I've seen so far:
Austraeoh
Urohringr
Ynanhluutr
Harmony
Chaos
Knowing IC's love of surprises, I'd suspect that he might make the answer be something entirely different.
Feels like It's Rainbow Dash. She's at balance of Chaos and Harmony, blah blah, saves the world, So on so forth.
My guess is that the answer is Ynanhluutr. I don't know, however, how Rainbow's going to guess that.
From the following English to 'Old Norse' dictionary, I get;
innan - within
hlutr - thing
Read into that what you will.
Also bookmark that dictionary, I have a feeling it will be useful.
6384817
But she isn't harmony incarnate, though, or at least that's how I view it. She spreads harmony, that's for sure, but she is not a harmonic being. She's more like a vessel for harmony. She's the Spark, but what's she sparking?
Harmony. In the grand scheme, and that's how I'm looking at it, she's just an extremely important piece to an unsolved puzzle.
But as I said, there are quite a few interpretations here, and none are able to be ruled out entirely. I'm just dead set on harmony. And to be honest, I thought it was Rainbow Dash at first too because of the "Within" part.
Am I the only one that was thinking the answer might be something similar to Chaos, Harmony, or Austreoh?
Without Harmony, she'd die. (Loyalty Pendant) Withholding Choas, she suffers, and Harmony balances everything. And the Austreoh is supposed to reconnect or reunite the circles or something, and it connects everything to her.
I bet the answer is Austreoh.
The answer is obviously Appledashery.
6385031
Not so crazy, this was my first thought too.
6385697 In a way, I believe she actually is harmony incarnate. Through harmonic acclimation the mane 6 became intrinsically linked to their respective element, the 5 who had their bodies destroyed then got absorbed into the Element of Loyalty through harmonic unification (all of this comes from the chapter Too Long; Did Not Moon Speak).
The way I see it, if Urohringr were a car, harmony would be the fuel, Urohringr itself would be the engine, and Dash would be the starter motor. It may only be a small piece of the whole but without the starter the car wouldn't run.
Either way, I can't wait to find out what the answer is! I have a feeling one of us is correct, but who knows?
6386631
That's how I see it, actually. However, she isn't harmony, I don't believe, even if she contains all the elements technically within one. Even then, she'd just be the avatar for spreading harmony. Remember, the bearers define their elements; the elements do not define them.
But I agree. Someone is right. I just wonder who . . .
These last few chapters have only served to remind me how much I suck at riddles
Ah, so Verlax does know more about Austraeoh than Rainbow. Which makes me wonder how she came across that information. And how long she's known it. And how much she knows. And above all, why she isn't freely sharing it.
My bet is that she's trying to find a way to utilize the whole "Urohringr is dying, Austraeoh must save it" situation in her favor somehow. Although I have no idea how or why she would try to do that.
6385336
The answer is Dr. Pepper. "Without, it dies"