Stones
“Do you hear me now, filly?” echoed the voice of Cold Canter in the cool desert air.
Rainbow Dash stood on the edge of the wooden platform. A crimson sun was setting over the ravine, casting a shadow over the eastern edge of the chasm and painting the rest of the landscape in amber hues.
The pegasus held a blue crystal in her grasp that was glowing each each vibration of the unicorn's disembodied voice.
“Yup. I hear you as clear as rainfall,” Rainbow Dash replied. “Uhhh...” She pivoted the glowing blue shard around and around before her. “Do you hear me? Is this thing on?”
“What's your favorite vegetable?”
“Uhm...” Rainbow Dash fidgeted. “String beans? I guess? What's that have to do with anything?”
“Just making sure I was picking up you and not a telepathic feedback of my own thoughts.” The blue crystal stopped glowing. The door to the shack opened several feet away. Cold Canter marched out, levitating an identical stone of his own. He crossed the distance between the two and stood before Rainbow Dash. “Nopony loves the kind of vegetables I do.”
“Celery? Brussel Sprouts? Spinach?”
“I'll tell you if it means you changing your mind about this crazy journey of yours.”
“Sorry, guy,” she replied with a smirk, juggling her own crystal from one hoof to another. “Guess I'll just have to stay in the dark, then. It's the sacrifices we make, after all.”
“Well, that's putting it lightly.” He gestured towards his rock. “These stones should afford us a moderate amount of communication.”
“Why only moderate?”
“Well, if you too were a unicorn imbued with magic, then you and I could cover considerably longer distances—even scaling the continent if need be. But, as I'm the only one possessing a horn, this will most likely cover no more than a thousand miles.”
“Sounds cool in my book.” She smiled and looked at the sound stone up close. “I've done something kind of like this before, only it requires the moon to be full.”
“Oh?” Cold Canter leaned his head aside with curiosity. “That must be some insanely powerful unicorn magic.”
“Alicorn, actually.”
His eyes narrowed. “You've consorted with goddesses?”
“Heh... 'consort' is such a funky, funky word.”
“Would you prefer a more apt title?”
“Nah. I'm good.” Rainbow Dash pocketed the sound stone away in her saddlebag and shuddered. “I've had it up to here with titles.”
“To each their own,” he said with a shrug, then levitated his sound stone into a belt strapped about his weathered haunches. “I would very gladly have donated use a piece of Pristine Darkstinian Quartz, but I'm afraid Desert Light and myself will have to retain those for communication with the authorities due west of here.”
“Well, I'm not about to ruffle anypony's mane. At least, more than I've already done.”
“Am I talking with a national fugitive all of the sudden?”
“Heh...” She smiled. “I wouldn't be a very successful criminal if I allowed a guard the means of talking to me over long distances while I made my getaway.”
“Again, I wished that I had a much better sample of rock to use in this scenario.”
“I'm sure this will work just fine, CC. You've been generous enough as it is.”
“Emeraldine Sapphires have an exquisite enchantment for fusing to leylines. And then if I was to make an alloy out of the local rubies of the ravine's lower crust—jaded as they are—it could add a firm buffer to the communication spell. Unless, of course, we were to use hydra diamonds to increase the range of leyline differentiation...”
“Hey, Uhm,” Rainbow Dash murmured. “I'm a bit unsure of asking you this, because I'll sound like a blundering idiot if I'm wrong, but... are you a diamond dog in disguise?”
“I'm pretty sure I'd smell a lot worse if I was,” Cold Canter replied.
“Heheheh... Good one.” Rainbow Dash turned and faced the darkening horizon beyond the ravine.
“You surely don't plan on leaving tonight.”
“Why not?”
“I may not be the avid explorer that you are, but venturing across the desert—by air or by land—is hardly a pleasant experience during the night. Aside from bitter cold, the occasional sandstorm might blot out the stars and make travel daunting at best.”
“I think it's downright cute how concerned you are for me,” she replied. “And trust me.” Rainbow Dash winked. “There's not a lot of crud in life that I will admit is cute.”
“I guess you're just unlike most young sprites who past through this area,” Cold Canter said, pacing up along the length of the platform's railing. “You're full of life and optimism. That's not something that should be sent lightly into that unforgiving east.”
“If I don't head east, every other direction in my life will be unforgiving.”
The old stallion started to chuckle hoarsely.
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “What?”
He turned to look at her in the dimming sunset. “I almost remember what it's like to be so determined to do something that all other avenues of possibility become dull, like dying stars.”
“Hey, I've 'consorted' with alicorns, remember?”
“Yeah...?”
“I've seen what it's like to raise the sun up close,” she murmured. “Believe me, stars are overrated. If I don't spend my energy right here and now the way I like to, then I'll lose the only light that matters. Life is full of crazy dangers and stuff, but I'd like to be at least in charge of when and where I burn out. You dig?”
His nostrils flared as he calmly looked at her. “I suppose it would have been a pity if, in the end, you simply ended up like me.”
She blinked awkwardly at that.
“So, you will stay, then?” He gestured towards her, bearing a gentle smile. “Until morning, at least?”
“Heh...” Her wings flexed as she walked with him towards the shack. “If it makes you sleep better, I'll not fly out until sunrise.”
“That sounds like a wise decision.”
“And hey! Don't look so down in the muzzle!” She winked at him and jostled the saddlebag with her sound stone in it. “Seems like we'll have plenty of stuff to talk about on the horizon...”
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Finally caught up. I eagerly await the next update.
Second!!!
The references!! Wunderbar!!!!
Trophy Get: Wise?- Actually make a smart decision for once in your journey.
Oh my. Our author overlord is aware of things. And mentions them. BRILLIANT! dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Lyra.png
Now if only he'd reply to comments on the story... Or post a blog... I'M WHINING! HEAR ME WHINE!
Objective Completed: Get a sound stone from Cold Canter, and learn to use it.
I keep on seeing this fic in the feature bar. At first I wasnt interested but now I'm intrigued
1266870
IC is watching... always watching...
You know, out of all the lovely questions this story brings, the one that bothers me the most is the title. Just what does Austraeoh mean?
Ach, there's the titles! I was wondering when they'd turn up.
Also:
DUN DUN DUN DUUUUUN
Generosity, poignant and pointed, especially with all the gems. Four encounters, Loyalty, Laughter, Magic and Generosity. Honesty and Kindness left unless I missed something somewhere in the 70s.
1267927
That's an interesting take on events - I hadn't even considered that some of the characters we're meeting might be future elements.
But who is what?
Achievement Unlocked: "Keeping In Touch"
1267927
Jesus Christ there's even more gaming references!
... Eh. If you can't ignore them, join 'em. Once I think of one, that is.
1268495
1268653
I'm not sure it's characters so much as it is circumstance. The whole story is steeped in the concept of 'Elements of Harmony' in a giant world-building (and as we found out recently, the author is taking that quite literally) way. We know that the other Element bearers are incapacitated in such a way Rainbow Dash is on this massive trek. It was implied that they were "dead," but I imagine it's the "fantasy story" version of dead, not the "gone forever" version of dead. We know that RD is wearing Loyalty, and she is being both tainted by Discordian magic as well as led by a "lavender light" which I have been interpreting as the Element of Magic (well, Twilight) guiding her on her journey.
So, along the way RD runs into settlement of ponies dedicated to their mining operation and to each other. The series of events plays out as its own little vignette on loyalty: the son's betrayal to the father, the father/elder's blind loyalty to tradition, the girl-as-boy's loyalty to her family and town, etc etc. Then there's the escape, RD's loyalty to new friends causing her to not just save a child she's never met, but break out a rather large group of prisoners by severely risking her own life.
The brief stop-over in that town (that she literally paints red, by the way, PUNS!) was pure Laughter. Sports, drinking, social town repair, the whole thing was her quickly making friends, playing pranks and enjoying the friendly competitive nature of her personality that usually shows up when she's with Pinkie Pie. I wasn't sure about this one until after this most recent chapter since the interaction was so short in the context of the story, but I think it fits.
I run into trouble with these "direct elemental experiences" with Queen what's-her-face. I have to re-read the section, but it wouldn't surprise me if the language used throughout the entire sequence is steeped heavily in the virtues of harmony. That said, it felt like that sequence was more about exposition and McGuffins than anything else.
The obelisk stuff is pretty obvious, magic, unicorns, "the spark," etc etc.
And finally this last sequence with the gems, clearly a parallel for Rarity's own generosity and a couple of flat-out mentions and vague references.
Rainbow is learning and espousing the Elements of Harmony, almost every chapter has some reference to them and every action she takes is more than indirectly connected to their core values. Now, whether this is plot-important or just a really cool theme I'm not sure. Personally, if I had to guess right now, I'd say the end-game is "restore harmony" and to do that she has to have these experiences of each of the elements in order to perhaps wield them in a way later on down the road. The optimist in me says that this has a happy ending where the mane 6 become "not dead" and everyone is happy (and they get back to Equestria via the factory floor below). Perhaps RD learns a crapload more and has to "become the earth" or some such, and becomes responsible for running all that ancient machinery. One of my earliest theories posited that this entire story is actually Rainbow under the influence of Discord during Season 2's opener, or something similar, making this whole journey a lucid dream. That would explain a lot of the "artificial" themes, tech is mentioned all over the place and the entire world isn't "real" in the sense we normally would say it is. Perhaps that is a metaphor for being in a hospital bed, I'm not sure.
There's lots of wiggle room, but I am certain that each of these vignettes is an exercise in harmony, the writing is too steeped in it either with direct phrasing, e.g. "spark" or "you're too generous" or through more subtle hints such as Rainbow's behavior such as being turned off by the double-speak of those industrial unicorns.
Oh where's -Minty ? I liked him
Title obtained: "Goddess' Consort"
1269496 I'm here, but so very late!
-Minty
Hah! Title shoutout to Minty!
Aw, CC's an old sap
People seem optimistic that this will have a happy end. I feel more like Rainbow will accomplish what she has to do, and either die during it in the most epic way possible, or choose to "move on" afterward (following my LOTR themed thought right now) and join the rest of her friends in whatever afterlife-y thing there is in this universe. I don't think I'd like it if this were all a dream/mindscrew thing, as I mentioned in a comment a million miles back that it would kind of cheapen everything that happens. Anywho, onward!
IIIIIt's Dashie's Thanksgiving Day Marathon Evaluation Time Special!
Okay, so I had this theory before, but I didn't realize that it may be correct until I read Pilate's>>1269212comment. This is going to sound like a complete ripoff of that comment, but...here goes.
At this point it's clear that each Arc applies to one of the Elements of Harmony. During the Windthrow Arc, loyalty was the theme. Sladesteed had a fractured loyalty for his village, Hushtail had blindly followed his loyalty for tradition, and the whole town had to pull together and remain loyal to one another during a crisis of, to them, potentially apocalyptic circumstances. During the Emeraldine Arc, I noticed a large, large lack of conflict. I now realize that this is because Emeraldine's theme was laughter. Dash just made everyone there happy, they all had parties, etc. I don't think that any Elements were represented in the Verdestone Sub-Arc. It felt more like an infirmative arc to give the readers an idea as to what was going on. Although, I suppose that it could have been Generosity, since everyone was pampering Dash and literally treating her like a princess. The Darkstine Arc should be obvious - Magic. The only inhabitants were unicorns, a magical obelisk was missing, and the lavender light appeared in almost every chapter. And I can't make a really good prediction on this "Outpost" Arc now, since I don't think it's finished just yet. But I'm pretty sure it won't be Generosity, even if I'm wrong about that being Verdestone's theme. I think that's all of the arcs, and the remaining Elemental Themes yet to be seen are Kindness and Honesty. But I do think that I have an idea as to what all these themes are - recall how in the Season One opener, although the physical Elements were destroyed, the true Elements were there in spirit. They made themselves known through the actions of the Mane Six. If there comes a time where an enormous, all powerful enemy stands between Dash and the Midnight Armory, I think that Dash will call upon these events and use the true power of the Elements to defeat them. I'm fairly confident that this is what's going to go down later in the story. As for this chapter itself, there isn't too much to say, actually. I'm curious as to how these sound stones will be integrated into the plot, though. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. Okay, so I went on break for a little longer then breakfast...
But in my defense, by the time we were finished, family had begun to show up, and we all had the Thanksgiving Day party together. It was pretty insane...I played PAC-Man and PAC-Man Arrangement for about two hours altogether. Me and my cousins played Super Mario Strikers for about an hour and a half. It was totally awesome!
But don't worry - I'm still going to finish the Marathon Special! There's only four left, now.
Damn, I was so close to getting featured. Oh well, this story cheered me up.
Funny I was just wondering when she was going to talk to Luna again.
One night's reprieve before we all begin to see.
I wonder if Luna can temporarily amplify the sound stones range when the moon is full or even have a three way call going on.
Rainbow Dash sure winks a lot, huh. Man, I can't believe I only just got around to reading this! Great, I'm practically dying from not knowing what's on the other side...
4342038
Seeing my old comment makes me feel old.
I like this Cold Canter guy. He's a bit of an old sweetheart.
1267391 Apparently 'horse' and 'east'
Rainbow, droppin the wisdom. (and the sentiment)
Title obtained: "Title Adversary"
1267391 It might be from a conlang. As far as I know, it doesn't translate from any known language.
I have a feeling it will be a lot further than that.
03/22/2017 03:00 UTC
6013552 Title obtained: Mare with no title except for the title describing her lack of a title.
God, she winks a lot.
8247416
She winked twice in the entire chapter...
For once Rainbow didn't fly off on a split-second's notice? Didn't see that coming.
8042116
Stop right there.
The blog link in this chapter is broken.
Two links in two chapters. Both broken
You are now more than 3/4 the way through the first book of Austraeoh.
Congratulations.