Hours later, Rainbow Dash sat on a plateau of rock beneath a high-stretching ceiling. The lengths of central Sanctuary stretched before her. With dull ruby eyes, she watched as families trotted in quiet groups, marching up to their rock enclosures within the grand walls of the place. Drawing canvas curtains behind them, they retired for the evening. Candles dimmed until only a few torches lit the lengths of the subterranean city. High above, clustered sheets of bio-luminescence provided the realm with an ivory glow, like an artificial moonlit overcast.
With a sigh, she slumped forward on folded hooves. Her mind briefly wandered to the subject of Cold Canter, of what he might be thinking at that present moment in time, if he was grieving for a death that never happened... or hadn't happened yet.
Rainbow Dash felt the hard body of the pendant beneath her neck. Raising a hoof, she traced the edge of it. It was strange how easily she had gotten used to the thing clinging to her coat. Only now, for some awkward reason, it felt strangely heavier.
“I don't know what you know of beauty...”
Rainbow Dash gasped, startled for one of the few rare moments of her life. She looked back at the pony who had snuck up on her.
Sam Rose stood on a sharp promontory of stone a few feet away. “I don't know what you've seen in your travels, in your flight, in your life above the smog.” His green eyes were trained softly on the rigid lengths of Sanctuary. For once, he wasn't wearing any armor, and his tan brown coat shone in the torchlight. Even with all of the gold metal gone, he didn't look any less grand. “But I hope you can see the beauty in this place too. It's more than just my kingdom. It's a monument to the will of ponies to survive against all odds.”
Rainbow Dash swallowed. “I've never been a huge expert on beauty, or a fan of it.”
He looked at her.
She gently smiled. “I prefer awesomeness.”
Sam's eyebrow rose.
“It's... It's kind of like beauty, only it makes the heart beat way faster.” She ran a hoof through her mane and gazed once more at the lengths of the torchlit civilization. “And it happens in quick bursts, like when you saved me and your pony friends and wielded a big sword.”
Sam Rose's nostrils flared as he muttered to the high ceiling above. “I don't see the beauty in my failure to save Stu's life.”
Rainbow bit her lip. “Yeah, well...” She fidgeted. “I didn't think it was all that awesome either.” She winced momentarily, then emphasized, “B-but it was hardly your fault!”
“I shouldn't have made the executive decision for us to split up. I have always been far more properly armed than my subjects. It doesn't matter if I'm more skilled in dragon-slaying, I should have known that they were too smart to entirely fall for my diversionary tactic.”
“You put your life on the line to save all of us!” Rainbow Dash said, standing up and frowning to get her point across. “Heck, we'd all be dead if it wasn't for what you did!”
“Regardless, Stu still died. I loved him like a brother...” Sam's eyes fell hard on her. “The only true victory would be if I had died instead.”
Rainbow Dash squinted at him. “I... I just don't get you. I can't figure out why a pony—any pony—would be proud to die.”
“Can't you?” Sam remarked.
Rainbow Dash did a double take.
He paced towards her, quietly. “If I come across as judgmental, I do apologize. There is a certain aloofness to my position that I'll never shirk, no matter how many tragedies I surpass. I've learned long ago that I must take responsibilities first and rely on emotions second.”
“Yeah. I kind of figured that.”
He paused and stood before her. “I never thought I'd stumble upon a pony who was so similar, and yet so different to me.”
She blinked at him. “Buh?”
“How long have you been shouldering everything and everyone you ever care for on your shoulders, Miss Dash?”
Rainbow Dash squirmed a bit where she stood. “Not... uh... not as long as you, I bet.”
“Does it matter?” His eyes were thin and analytical. “I always wondered that I might become a soul like you, detached from his homeland, fleeing forever to escape a past that is too painful to bear...”
“Wait, huh?” Rainbow Dash's eyes twitched. She tried to frown, but her voice was cracking, “I am not fleeing!”
“No, I suppose you're not,” Sam replied calmly. “But, then again, does a pony who has nothing to go back to have the grace to 'flee?'”
Rainbow Dash was silent.
“My kingdom is coming to an end,” Sam said solemnly. “The Matriarch is an ancient being, capable of living for centuries upon centuries. That is not a luxury that the ponies of Silvadel have. If we continue as my forbears have, the Dragon Queen will win; she will outlast us. If failure comes, it will come soon, be it with the Grand Project or another crumbling expenditure. I expect to fight to the bitter end, living as long as I can, if only to bring as much pain and anguish to my enemies as possible. So you see, Miss Dash, we all have our ways of fleeing. Some more poetic than others.”
“How can you expect failure so easily?” Rainbow Dash remarked. She pointed towards the dimly lit space of Sanctuary. “You're surrounded by ponies full of hope and spirit. Can't you at least think for their sake?”
“I think for a higher calling,” Sam Rose swiftly responded. “And it can't afford to be happy thoughts.” He gazed lethargically at the lengths of the place. “I can't save these ponies. Even if I have a complete victory, it won't clear the smog away. It won't eliminate all of the whelplings. It won't raise the destroyed heights of Silvadelian Temples from the rubble. I have, at best, a long life of desolation and reconstruction to tend to, and that's assuming we finally slay the Matriarch.”
“Wow...” Rainbow Dash's ears drooped. “That's... That's not very cheerful...”
“It's my legacy to live,” Sam Rose said, trotting past her. “But I'll gladly live it, especially if it means supporting the future of my subjects.”
“Your subjects could stand to receive more from you than the spilling of blood.” Rainbow Dash pivoted to face him. “Especially when you haven't failed anypony yet! Especially when they're still around to be your 'subjects!'”
Sam Rose lingered. He glanced over his shoulder. “You have my pity...”
Rainbow Dash grimaced. “Uhhh... what for?”
“I can't imagine what it's like to live a life alone, without having a legacy to give. I do not find it enviable.” He walked off. “Rest assured, one way or another, I will find you a way out of this place. Your loyalties lie elsewhere, even if you have yet to discover them.”
Rainbow Dash was silent in the absence of him. There was a sore lump in her throat. She scanned the walls with her ruby eyes, for suddenly they appeared to be closing around her. But for as long as she stared and as long as she looked, she couldn't see a single hint of a lavender glow.
It was as if it was gone.
Oy vey...
Well this chapter's certainly an interesting, if not predictable and massively depressing, wrench in the cycle of how these arcs usually go. Color me interested. Dash gets to face down destiny in the name of certain loyalties? Misguided loyalty in the face of adversity? Having to decide what's more important, loyalty to self, country and relationships or loyalty to fellow beings? Is it un-loyal to not fight a losing battle?
Good times.
Herp, derp.
Damn.....
And in this installment, Mister Fights-and-Killserton goes and turns a 180 by going deep with some rhetoric. Definitely a solemn chapter, but no doubt preparing us for what's to come.
Sam Rose: Cruelty +5.
I'm glad we got to see some emotion out of Sam, even if he's just as grim as ever.
Interesting take on the whole loyalty question to be sure.
Can't wait to see what comes next!
Rainbow Dash will never understand the burden of leadership. She is many things, but a leader she is not. She doesn't have to look ahead towards the most likely future, dark as it may be. She doesn't have to assume responsibility for the lives of others. I hope Sam Rose can help her return to her journey, but I think his efforts to teach Dash about leaving a legacy will fall on deaf ears.
Pinning down the element represented in this arc is proving to be very difficult. It will take a serious change in tone for it to be laughter, and honesty just doesn't seem to be coming into play. Is it perhaps loyalty itself? I had assumed that if an arc was loyalty-themed, it would either be the last one before making the transition to the dark side of the world or when she finally makes it to the Midnight Armory, sort of a Last Act of Rainbow Dash scene. Stay tuned, folks - we're just getting started.
It'd be interesting to see Rainbow have a little meltdown with Sam Rose, and win.
Why must pessimism trump optimism?
1393323 *Realism
Realism trumps optimism, and realism is oft pessimistic in nature. A sad truth of life.
I'm still not convinced that Dash's errand isn't of some importance in the grand scale of things. She denies being on a 'royal mission' of any kind, but her journey still has that edge of rushed necessity. I mean, there's a Chaos Rift and she's going to the Midnight Armory to restore the Elements of Harmony, which are conveniently the only power that can repulse said powers of Chaos. Dash can say she's not on a mission, but she's clearly not making this flight for purely personal reasons.
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I dunno what story you've been reading up to this point, but I can tell you for a fact that I want nothing to do with it. Good thing Austraeoh isn't like that at all!
A minor example of why the above paragraph cannot be referring to this story:
So Dash didn't assume responsibility for the lives of the ponies she freed from the Minotaur's slave-mines (who she then proceed to successfully lead to safety, mind)?. You don't save ponies from certain (if drawn-out) death only to then insist that their continued breathing has nothing to do with you; those ponies became her responsibility. Naturally this does not compete with the sheer magnitude of the burden resting on Sam's shoulders, but that's hardly the point--if you're saying Dash would be a terrible leader because she doesn't have a dying civilization to look after, you really need to take a look at your priorities. Maybe she didn't have to assume that responsibility, but answering the call despite the existence of simpler options is often the hallmark of a good leader.
And now a more major rebuttal touching on canon:
If you seriously believe that saving the world doesn't imply some level of responsibility, I've got a bridge to sell you. The whole Nightmare Moon thing happened quite quickly, too quickly for anyone but Twilight to really start dwelling on what would happen if they actually failed, but that in no way invalidates the fact that they held the entirety of the planet in their hooves. We think of magic and happy ponies and forget that eternal darkness would be omnicide in the highest degree, because literally everything relies on the sun. Moreover, part of the beauty of the Elements of Harmony is that they involve equally the group and the ponies that comprise it--the world was saved as much by six individual ponies as it was by one group of them. The fate of every living creature on the planet was riding on their shoulders, and that is a hell of a lot of responsibility.
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Bear in mind that thus far they've all remained a constant theme with one sort of being more prominent than the other. This is a very different arc in tone and loyalty remains a prominent theme throughout the entire story regardless of the other elements.
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Moreover, Dash doesn't have to have assume responsibility, but she does anyway. That is the conflict she faces in regards to loyalty and is the whole point of Sam offering his curt speech; Silvadel is prepared to be at once both loyal only to themselves and loyal to Dash by helping her continue east. Can Dash reciprocate despite have a "no strings attached" way out and facing a challenge that is neigh unwinable. If she can, does she have to and how does that play into her overall mission?
Wow, Sam Rose is like a black hole that sucks in all optimism and hope, isn't he?
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In my opinion, Dash is a leader, and a very good one at that. She repeatedly inspires those around her, giving them hope and directing them towards a more positive future, which is something that we see in each arc: Leading the prisoners to freedom in ..., rallying and energizing the town in..., less so in Darkstine although she did assume authority with the kids, and in this arc she has demonstrated her ability to inspire and bring hope, albeit this ability is currently being devastatingly rained on by Mr. Grim over there (Sam Rose and the whole scenario).
She is a leader figure in that she directs, inspires, and takes responsibilty in many situations. What may convince someone that she isn't a leader is her arrogance/attention-seeking behaviour (at least in canon), and her lack of forethought, since she tends to rush into things without thinking etc.
While the negative traits may limit her effectiveness as a good strategic leader, she is nonetheless an excellent leader in the sense that she inspires hope and motivation in others, they listen to her and she takes responsibility for them.
And I'd like to point out to Sam Rose that he is an idiot. Dash has her own legacy that she has built up in every location that she's been through. She saved a town from destruction, painted another red, caused a social revolution and helped an old stallion re-unite with her family. That's excluding all the stuff she did back in Equestria prior to the time-line divurgence from canon. #Rant.
Oh, and her pendant is getting heavier? She must be getting closer to Mordor.
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Alright, so here's my two bits on leadership and legacies, though the odds of this coming across as coherent is slim to none.
In any event, this is what's on the table regarding leadership:
So, the question is, "Is Dash a good leader?" The answer is simple. "Yes she is." And also, "No she isn't."
"But how can that be? How can she both a great leader and a horrible leader?" The answer to that is simple yet again: There are two distinct kinds of leadership. One, Dash excels at. The other, she would fail miserably at (though, that is merely speculation as she has never had to lead in this way before, or if she has, we haven't seen it).
So, the first style of leadership, the one she's good at, is what I like to call "spur of the moment leadership." A crisis occurs, something happens, and people (or, in this case, ponies) are lost and confused. They don't know what to do. But then, one of them steps up and goes, "I got this. I know what to do." That person (pony) takes control and leads everyone (everypony) to success. This is Dash. The incident with the minotaurs, Nightmare Moon, Darkstine, all of those were temporary affairs in that Dash never had responsibility for that long. As soon as the crisis was over, she handed responsibility to somepony else and was done with the matter. Yes, she was fantastic in that she effectively and admirably shouldered the responsibilities thrust on her (or even took them herself).
However, this is where we get to the second form of leadership, the one it can be gathered that she would fail at, especially in this "alternate universe." You see, I think this is what Aqua Fortis was referring to, and where the confusion came in. So this second form of leadership is a more long-term, permanent leadership role. You know, the role Sam Rose plays as the Prince of Silvadel. No matter what he does, his people (er, ponies) will always be looking up to him for guidance, strength, what have you. He always has to think of his subjects. He always has to look out for their well-being. Always. Not just while they're in trouble. Not just when there's a crisis. Always. And this is what Dash couldn't handle. This is where she would fail at leadership. She wouldn't be able to handle the more mundane aspects of leading a society. She doesn't have the management skills or any of the other skills that are needed to run a country. She wouldn't even be able to begin to understand the enormous amount of work and responsibility that would entail. That sort of burden, knowing that an entire nation are depending on you for continued, everyday survival, is a burden Dash will never know. She only knows such a burden in short, temporary bursts, and that sort of burden cannot hope to compare to the burden Sam Rose carries every day.
And now for legacies.
Again, this is a confusion that stems from multiple sorts of legacies. One of those sorts of legacies, Dash is leaving everywhere she goes. However, the other sort, she hasn't left anywhere (note: considering only this story, and this story alone, for this).
So, in this story, yes, Dash is leaving a legacy everywhere she goes. That town (Wind something or another) will always remember her. Cold Canter will forever appreciate what she did for his family life. That is a legacy, yes.
However, again, this is a "lesser" legacy in that her legacy has nothing greater attached to it. It is simply herself, and nothing else. Take, for example, Gilgamesh, the great ancient hero of Uruk. Now, Gilgamesh was, and still is, widely regarded as a great king, legendary, even. "None will leave a monument for generations to come to compare with his." "Who has ever ruled with power and with might like him?" This is the sort of legacy Dash will never be able to leave, and the sort of legacy that Sam is referring to. When people think of Dash, there is nothing attached to it. It is simply Dash. But, when people think of Gilgamesh, they think not only of a great ruler, but also of a representation of a great nation. They think of a powerful people represented by a great king. The legacy goes beyond Gilgamesh and applies to his people. Dash will never have that, for, as far as this story is concerned, she has not attached herself to a place. There is no "people" she is representing. Sam Rose, however, is attached to a "people." So was Stu. Their legacies go beyond themselves and apply to a "people." So no, Sam Rose is not an idiot. Rather, he is referring to a legacy greater than himself. A legacy that Dash will never have and will never understand.
So there's my two bits.
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I guess I'm showing my own biases here, because when I say "leadership", I am referring to the long-term position. Case in point: Sam Rose is a leader because he keeps the Silvadelians alive, productive, and in (somewhat) good morale despite his own personal belief that the dragons are going to eventually win the conflict. Ponies follow him because they know he is working in their best interests. He does not do this because he feels that he personally owes something to each Silvadelian, he does this because that is what a leader must do.
Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, has only been a leader in the sense that the popular kid on the playground is a leader. She's the center of attention and ponies tend to do what she does, but not because they view her as a leader. Ponies follow her because she appears to know what she's doing. That works really well until you find yourself in an unfamiliar situation, at which point everyone scrambles to find a replacement for you.
As this whole story has much in common with RPGs, I'll use those as an example of what I'm talking about. 99% of the time, party members will only join you after a demonstration of skills (rescue them, defeat them 1v1, etc). Does that make you the leader? No, it makes you the popular kid. If a bigger, stronger person came along with the same objective, they'd leave your side to join his.
Dash has been in a lot of dangerous situations so far, and she's gotten herself and a fair number of other ponies out of them. Every time she makes a leader-like sacrifice, though, it's because she feels either personally indebted to somepony or that she's the only one who can help at all. Saving the foals in Darkstine was her promise to the unicorn filly she met. Releasing the prisoners in the minotaur cave was her being their only chance at survival. Going there in the first place was her attempt to rescue the stolen foal, which was (if I remember correctly) her way of helping Gold Petals after the attack. In all of these situations, her role as "leader" only existed because she knew what needed to be done at that time, in that place. Sometimes the ponies following her simply had no other choice. Csquared said it well in that Dash is only saddled with the burden of leadership for short, temporary bursts. She's kind of like a Navy SEAL. They're really great for rescuing hostages and taking out baddies, but they don't go back to the White House and run the country afterwards.
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Heh, I'll agree with you that Sam Rose is not an 'idiot' as I so crudely stated earlier. Strong words used casually and all that. The point I was making barely even stands up: Sam has no prior knowledge of Dash's travels by which to weigh up his statements, so he has no idea of Dash's 'legacy' or not.
(wow, I feel incoherent right now )
In regards to the issue of Dashs 'Legacy' I think that further debate will probably result in us arguing semantics. However, if you would like to hear the legitimate/in-depth version of my opinion, just send me a PM
1394853 My respect for your insight into character and story has just increased fivefold.
Armor-piercing conversation of the millenium. Sam Rose has quite a way of crushing one's mood, doesn't he?
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Legacy and leadership aside, I think the other big point to come out of this chapter is Dash's shaken confidence. The discussion on how she leads and her legacy are predicated on the fact that up until this point in the story she's always lucked out or found a way to plow head-first into a situation and resolve it with confidence and bravado, even if she didn't actually have a plan or answers at the start. In short, her leadership ability is driven by loyalty, and her loyalty provides the confidence to fly by the seat of her pants, to turn a phrase.
We've been using the lavender glow as a metaphor for the element of magic and/or a disembodied Twilight, here, however, I think it takes on one of it's more subtle meanings: confidence. Dash has finally found herself in a situation where there's nothing to guide her, no right answer, no righteous morality or indignant preaching about how wrong a situation is. She's tried all that, it's not going to work in the face of the hell that is Silvadel. Look at the conversation flow, Dash goes through each of the tricks in her bag -- "awesomeness," humor, sympathy and so on -- only to have Sam swat each away with his own special brand of righteous loyalty and morose, depressed authority. Dash is in more than just culture shock, she's having an identity crisis.
This line sums up the entire arc right up to this point, different flavors of loyalty, different brands of leadership and legacy and "the right thing." Here Dash has met someone that shares her loyal drive but does so in a way that is off-kilter, that appears to be wrong but right at the same time.
Or something, I'm having trouble articulating my point, I think. For certain, though, this arc is playing out the same way the others have, but at a dutch-angle, making it feel wrong but in a way that makes one feel queasy more than it does upset.
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Yeah, C2 is a badass.
Non-sequitor on legacies: Dash leaves her legacies among people (ponies), Sam leaves a legacy with a place. Dash's is a string of ponies she's deeply affected and forever changed, personal acts that effect sweeping change among a population. Sam's is a never ending series of heroics that shape a singular location, but in truth might not mean much in the long run.
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You and Csquared are always better at making good points than I am. There is a burning jealousy in me because of that.
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Warning: Ego approaching maximum levels. Initiate obligatory celebration.
3..
2...
1...
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That's it? Louder!
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Too loud
I think a big theme in this story is 'upping the ante', or 'raising the stakes'. Every situation that Rainbow Dash has come up against, every major obstacle, has been a bigger and badder obstacle. We know that Rainbow Dash can handle herself. She faces danger and seems to come out on top every time, through her skill and ability or sheer, dumb luck. She can face challenges alone and overcome them, but when others are relying on her, things get more difficult for her. The stakes have constantly increased in this story.
The minotaurs were 'bad', but they weren't actively killing or seeking destruction for those that Rainbow Dash inadvertently found herself in charge of. Dash could handle them in her own style, and in essence she was in a perfect situation for her set of skills.
Darkstine was 'worse'. There were so many limiting factors for Dash, and there were more lives at stake. When she 'saved the day', she didn't really do a 'perfect' job. There were a LOT of dead foals at the bottom of that pit. She accomplished her objective, but at some cost, though that was effectively out of her control. Que a little bit of shaken faith in herself.
Silvadel, so far, is the 'worst' situation that Dash has encountered. The Dragons are beyond her ability to deal with effectively. More than that, a character that is, essentially, just as awesome as she is, can't deal with them with much effectiveness either. More than that, though, Stu's death happened right in front of her and she was powerless to help him or remedy the situation, despite all her abilities. This, on top of having only recently walked away from Darkstine, leads to an almost complete loss of self-confidence. Dash is shaken, because for the first time she has found herself in a situation where she may actually be almost entirely powerless to affect the outcome. She has her 'out', a standing offer to be taken out of Silvadel, but taking it would be tantamount to admitting defeat, and we know that that isn't something that Rainbow Dash does.
Huh. Well this was a kick to the face/feels. Sammy needs some comic relief, stat! Don't get me wrong, I see the purpose for his stoic character build, and I like him enough, but I've never been overly fond of duty-bound characters with a chip on their shoulder. I find them kinda boring, if they're the main focus of the story. Seeing as Sam isn't I can appreciate him in his post of supporting (or deprecating, as the case may be) role.Though what he says is true to a point, Dash is leaving behind a legacy (element of Harmony thing) and she is kinda trying to save the world from an evil chaos rift, or at least that's how I understand her quest so far. And as for Dash being a good leader - I think she is, both canonically and in this story. Though I may be biased, considering I'm a Dash fangirl, there is a bit of proof to support it. Hurricane Fluttershy for canon, and the whole saving prisoners and leading them to safety thing for this story (as well as the zillion other heroic/inspiring things she does, which everyone else has highlighted already) being worth mentioning just off the top of my head. I dunno. Could she be better? Sure. Is she already really skilled at it, for all her professing to merely be interested in "Awesome" stuff and herself? Heck yes.
This arc really interests me in that I have no idea how its going to go - will Dash stay and help out, or will she fly off and leave the Silvadelians to what they do best - which is to hover between hope/despair while struggling to survive a situation that has no easy outcome? I still think this is related to Honesty in some way, as Sam is pretty much being brutally honest with Dash. Even if its stuff she doesn't want to hear and on some level probably already knows, its what she needs to be faced with. The question is, will she accept what he's saying and overcome it by kicking ass anyway, or will she succumb to self doubt? Anywho, I think I just posted the longest comment I've ever left on a story. This whole having less chapters to devour thing is making me put more time into each one, it seems. Well, I've got one more left, so onward!
We're gonna do this. I'm finally ahead, the first person in a long time...
Let's do this.
IIIIIt's Dashie's Seventh Marathon Evaluation Time!
Whoa. That hit hard. This arc isn't just extremely morbid - it looks like it's going to be the most emotional arc thus far as well. Also, I don't believe that the missing lavender light in this chapter means Dash has lost the Element of Magic - it is only symbolic of her loneliness and deattatchment from the surrounding world. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. Alright, eight left. I've been around this neighborhood more than a few times!
P.S.S.
1686391I'm cooooooooming...
Man, Sam Rose is hard core. I would crumble like a soft flaky sugar cookie in his position. Props man.
Leadership comes with the burden of the future.
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Honesty.
The light is gone! Maybe it's because of her loyalties switching around a bit?
Yup, Honesty. The way he figured out Rainbow Dash was alone in more ways than one, cut straight past all the lies that Dash would have told or questions left unanswered.
I'm impressed. He saw through her more than I expected him to. Or has an uncanny accuracy at guessing.
Rainbow's dark mirror. what must it be like to stare one in the face, to know that your methods won't work, but the methods used are appalling, and they don't fix anything long term either. A horrible situation all around.
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Or he just put pieces together.
I Mean Dash did say she wasn't a representative of her kingdom and blurted out that there was a chaos rift right smack in the middle of her home.
Doesnt take a genius to figure out that a lone pegasus far away from home doesnt have much of a home left to go back to after all that
How did I never notice all the philosophy in the comments on this chapter
So every new place Rainbow arrives to, the residents there are more understanding about her...?
"Then what are you running to?"
I think that, soon, Rainbow will have to kill one of these dragons to survive, and her first kill will not be a good thing. She also needs to face the truth that she's just unable to face the situation that brought her to fly east.
Foreshadowing
07/27/2019
02:27 UTC
Sam coming in here and absolutely dropping some knowledge on Rainbow. No matter how awesome you are or how many butts you can kick, sometimes the world just sucks and there is absolutely no easy way out.