“Rainbow Dash?” Ember Speak's voice called out, echoing through a crumbling corridor as she galloped swiftly after the rushing pegasus. “Rainbow Dash, wait up!”
“Don't follow me, Ember,” Rainbow Dash grunted, marching towards a brass gate welded to a tiny, ascending passageway just beyond the furthestmost wall.
“Rainbow Dash, please!” Ember skidded to a stop, pleading with her from afar. Her eyes glistened in the torchlight of the desecrated place. “I might never see you again! Don't do this!”
“But I always do this,” Rainbow Dash grumbled, stopping before the door and fumbling for the large brass key in her saddlebag's outer pocket. “It's what I'm good at.”
“No, I mean, don't leave like this!” Ember pleaded. “I know that you're blaming yourself—”
“You don't know anything,” Rainbow Dash said, her muscles tense as she struggled and struggled to get a good grip of the key. “You just live to die, and die to honor parents who did the same thing as the ghosts before them. Well that may be good and fine for you, but it's not for me.” Her nostrils flared as she hissed, “Should never have flown here. Should have just taken Cold Canter's advice and gone south. Friggin' A! Stupid key—”
“You are blaming yourself!” Ember said, frowning. “Rainbow Dash, you've tried so much for ponies you hardly even knew! You've given us gifts that we'd never even come close to expecting in so many years!”
“I've given you nothing, which is all I'm good at,” Rainbow Dash snarled, her shoulders and wings beginning to shake. “Aside from flying away like a stinkin' coward!” She sniffled once, shook, and grumbled, “I think in a straight line, Ember. I always have. I'm sorry for teasing with you stupid ideas of hope and peace and harmony and all that stuff. Sam's right. This is obviously not my home. What could ever have made me think I was capable of making a difference here?”
“But you have made a difference!” Ember exclaimed. “You're inspirational! You're mesmerizing! You're loyal—”
“And what did loyalty ever do for Limey, huh?!” Rainbow Dash spun her a frowning glance, her ruby eyes hard as daggers. “Or Swirls?! Or Stu?!” She waved a hoof towards the torchlight. “Your beloved prince was loyal to you! And look where it got him! He was in the wrong place at the wrong time! Heh...” She chuckled bitterly as a wave of dizziness overcame her. She teetered momentarily and rubbed a hoof over her forehead. “I'm always in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's not loyalty; it's rotten luck. And I've had enough of it. I'm leaving. You can have your dragons and death and delusions. Goddess help you when it's time to erect a memorial to so many corpses. Axan won't be delivering any eulogies...”
“Just tell me why you do this, Rainbow!” Ember said, leaning forward. “Why do you keep flying? Why do you keep going and going and going places?! You're no vagabond! You're a good, loving, awesome pony! Your heart yearns to help others! If it only hurts you so badly like this, why do you keep doing this?! Why do you keep moving, only to stop and sacrifice so much?!”
Rainbow Dash was struggling with the key again. “I'm tired of talking. Tired of answering questions.” She cursed under her breath and practically slammed the key against the door. “Haven't you realized that I've got nothing left to answer for? That I haven't a home to lay my head down in?”
“Rainbow—”
“Nnnngh!” She reeled from another dizzy spell, her eyes flickering yellow and red as she gnashed her teeth back in Ember Speak's direction. “Has it occurred to you that Axan and I might have something in common?!” Immediately after saying this, Rainbow Dash winced and fell to her haunches, hyperventilating as the dizzy spell shook through her.
Ember Speak's face twisted in confusion. “Something in common?!” She blinked, her eyes searching the floor. Just then, Ember's face paled and her jaw dropped in shock. “You're dying...”
Rainbow Dash was silent, seething, her head hung in a cold slump.
Ember gulped and gazed sympathetically at the pegasus. “You're dying, aren't you?” She looked at the pendant around Rainbow's neck. “Those dizzy spells: they keep getting worse and worse. You can barely even stand...”
Rainbow's eyes were shut as she took several deep breaths. The seconds ticked away under the flicker of the unfeeling torchlight. Eventually, her lips moved and a droning voice came out. “My body is in a state of flux. At least, that's what Princess Luna told me. I am one half harmony and one half chaos, but the chaos part is taking over. I should have been dead long go, but... well....”
Muttering, Rainbow Dash raised a hoof and shook the ruby lightning bolt around her neck.
“This thing right here? It keeps the ugly effects of chaos at bay. Princess Luna herself enchanted it, increasing its power, so that it could contain the chaos energies. But even though that's given me an extra lease on life, nopony has pretended to hope. I've got less than a year at best. At the rate at which I've been throwing myself around... heh... I'm lucky if I have a few months...”
“A few months?!” Ember Speak stammered. She took a few cautious steps towards Rainbow Dash. “But... But you're on a quest!” She gulped and exclaimed softly, “You're trying to get to some place called the Midnight Armory, right?”
“Hmmmm...” Rainbow's lips curved bitterly. “Yeah...”
“How will you ever make it there at that rate? I mean, a few months?”
“I don't know...”
“How do you know that you won't succumb to chaos and mutate into... into... whatever's happening to your eyes and head?”
“I don't know—”
“Why are you even flying?! I mean, why leave your home or your loved ones or your—”
“I don't know. I don't know!” Rainbow Dash shouted, hissing as one last wave of dizziness flew through her. She gripped her forehead, took several breaths, then calmly limped forth, “No, that's a lie. And I hate lying...”
Ember Speak gazed at her, trembling.
Rainbow gave her a soft look. She spoke quietly, “I hate losing. I always have, and I always will. Sam told me ages ago that in spite of all he's fighting for, he's still got a wasteland to deal with, even if he defeats the dragons. And you heard Axan herself talk about the end of the world, and she's a total whiner about it. Heh... I guess if you think about it real hard, life is something that constantly goes uphill with no peak as a reward. Well, I refuse to believe that. I want to reach the top of the mountain; I want to win.”
Ember smiled gently. “You've achieved so much, Rainbow Dash. Why do you always have to go it alone? I'm sure your friends would be proud.”
Rainbow shuddered, feeling a dull weight in the fathoms of her saddlebag. “They stopped being able to a long time ago,” she murmured in a dull tone.
To that, Ember blinked, and a tear fell down her cheek. She reached forward to touch Rainbow's shoulder. “Even after all that's happened, after all that Axan's taken from us, I don't think any of us know true loss like you do.”
Rainbow Dash stopped her hoof before it could make contact. With a dull glare, she coldly said, “Losing is for losers.” Her wings sprouted, startling Ember into backtrotting away. “You could have left this hole in the ground ages ago. You all could have. And now what? You're going to hide your butts in a deeper hole until you suffocate?”
Ember gulped and said with a slight frown, “We'll go down fighting, as we always planned to.”
“Yeah... uh... have fun with that.” With a mock grin, Rainbow picked up the key and slid it successfully into the door. “At least my way has more awesome sights along the way.” She opened the door to the eastern passage and swung it open with a ghostly squeak. She stepped forward but paused in the doorframe. Gazing down at the steps, she flicked her tail and sighed. “Maybe if your grandparents had done what I've done, then their legacies wouldn't have been hidden in the ashes of a place nopony born in the last century had ever heard of.”
Ember speak quietly managed, “And who will hear of you, Rainbow Dash?”
She flapped her wings. “The only one that matters.” And she soared up the corridor, into the grayness, and the bright promise of dawn beyond the smog.
Ember speak quietly managed, “And who will hear of you, Rainbow Dash?”
She flapped her wings. “The only one that matters.”
Seems like it fits a good deal of the story.
Oh my stars, it's exposition!
Took Rainbow long enough to figure it out.
Judgement - Before The Dawn
Loyalty to a dead place leads only to death.
There's so much meat here I don't even know where to start, being tired and coffee-less doesn't help, either. One thing to pay heed to, though, is that Rainbow is really trying hard to justify herself to Ember right now, she reeks of emotion. More to the point, while a lot of what she is saying we can take to be the truth, I would call into questions a lot of her explanations for her motivations.
Dash is throwing out equal parts explanation of motivation and justification for leaving Ember.
Under protest, Rainbow Dash flies east.
I think this chapter cleared a few questions in my head...
Sad she left... Sigh...
Also, another new chapter in a single day?
Or you just want to finish RD's scenes in that place so you can move to another scene.
Eagerly awaiting for the next chapter~
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Despite the motivations and justifications she gave, don't you think this is odd behavior for Dash? I know she's been battered mentally and physically, but this is just giving up. She isn't saying, "I have to leave because I have a quest to fulfill," she's saying, "I'm not going to stay here and fight against your mortal enemies." It's not like her to bail out on something like that.
I think you're exactly right when you say that she is being heavily influenced by emotion right now. Her decision to leave is a rational one, which is strange for RD. The loss of her friends in Ponyville and the spectre of her impending death are weighing heavily on her. Yes, everything she says is truthful and would be good explanations for leaving if she were anypony else. But she's Dash, and Dash doesn't leave right before the pivotal moment. I don't understand. I guess I'll have to go to bed without understanding her motivations.
FUCKING— Jeez, 5 updates while I was gone. That surprised me. In a good way, I assure you!
And shit, it all makes sense now. Why she left Ember Spark and Gold Petals. For one thing, she knows she has to finish this before she succumbs to Chaos. And if she decided to stay, not only would whoever she settled down with have to suffer losing Dash anyway, but also the end of the world after that.
Aside from all the nitty-gritty details about Celestia and Luna and about what caused everyone to be dead, the biggest question in my mind is what Dash is gonna do IF she can save the world. Where does she go? Back to Ponyville with her friends, and abandon everyone else she's helped, or stay in Windthrow or Silvadel or wherever and help out, leaving the Mane 6 and moving on?
QUESTIONS! And another long travelling sequence begins. Lay on, Imploding Colon. I await your next installment!
So many dead ponies.
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That's exactly what I mean. Dash is firing off reasons, but I am doubting the truth of some of them. Hence: "Under Protest, Rainbow Dash flies east."
All that conflict and identity stuff hasn't gone away, it's come to a head. Dash has to make a choice, and her choice is to keep flying east. Now she has to convince herself she's making the right one.
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I'm wondering if it's the right one, too. I guess that was the feeling we were supposed to get from this chapter. If we assume that this is based loosely on a real-world timeline, then Dash has been flying for more than five months. She hasn't reached the border of the worlds yet. If she only has a few months left, what is the likelihood that she will reach the Midnight Armory before dying? Every time we learn something about Dash's quest, I get the feeling that she is flying for less and less honorable reasons. It seems like she's out to prove something to herself rather than bringing her friends or the Elements back. Those may be her outright stated objectives, but I can't shake the feeling that this quest is by Dash, for Dash.
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I'm tending to agree with this view, for now, anyway. Its not like Dash to leave a place, or anyone in it, hanging. But the stakes are too high now - you can't be completely loyal to two things at the same time if they end up going in different directions. Her goal (for whatever reason) is east, and Silvadel isn't going anywhere. I guess it makes sense now that I couldn't figure out how Dash could save them - she can't. It makes me a little sad that she might not be partaking in this journey for noble reasons, but it can't be completely self-centered, either, if she has the princesses backing her, even if its only partially. Whew - how this story makes me think so much with each little snippet of a chapter I have no idea. All I have to say is that its a lovely tale and I'm very glad I've stumbled across it. Its stuff like this that makes me even more eager to continue my own writing, whether it be fanfics, larger personal projects or even - dare I say it - essays. So thanks author and all you other steadfast commenters
That moment when the exposition is finally revealed...5 chapters from the end
That sounds so much like Rainbow Dash. If I had to sum her up, this would be the quote I cite.
Oh? dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_TwilightWut.png
AND THEY ALL DIED
THE END
IIIIIt's Dashie's Marathon Evaluation Time!
Well, I think that this is officially the only story that is still explaining the exposition about five chapters from it's end. Also, this thing about one half harmony and one half chaos isn't exactly news - I've already theorized that Dash holds within her Discord as well as the Elements of Harmony. So it only makes sense that she would be half of each. Also, the fact that she's dying is sort of a shock, I guess. But we already knew that Discord was getting stronger from the sandstorm chapter as well as from the Luna chapter, wherein she explained that Dash's dizzy spells would only get worse. So I suppose it isn't all news. But it's still really cool to get a straight up answer to all of our questions. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. No...I don't wanna...
Well, either our rainbow maned friend dies or becomes chaos. Hey, maybe this allows her to sorta survive the Dark side of the Disk?
We remember you RD, shame that you'll never know.
NO DAMN YOU, NO!! she cant fucking leave!!! what about saving lives, what about bringing a shred of harmony onto a doomed world? IT CAN'T END LIKE THAT!!!
[i am a mess]
Ugh so heavy.
The last act of life Dash does is fly across the world to save it from her same fate.
I salute you, Rainbow Dash.
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fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/266/a/2/rainbow_dash_salute_by_casarle-d4aqs05.png
She's going to die... No. I refuse to believe it. She's going to win. She will. She has to...
Well, this chapter is much deeper than I remembered. Rainbow Dash can help the world as she travels, but her journey is not about helping others or spoiler:the spark but instead about living her own life.
Hmmm, I think I see now.
You can't fix dead, and Silvadel is dead.
Yet the Harmonic Prism might be able to bring back Dash's friends...
So maybe there is more hope than we know for Silvadel.
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This really truely is a very morbid story. Rainbow must have fogsight at this point...nothing but the thousand yard stare everywhere she looks. Not a more depressing time is possible...
Well crap. Somebody better raise their dongers. I'm in a hit-things kinda mood.
Good luck Ember, may your stubbornness forever go down in song.
The green book suddenly becomes a pivotal point (even more)
I'm guessing that Dash was never properly cleaned of her Discording back in the episode in question, and that whatever stopgap the Princesses put together with the Element just isn't lasting in their absence.
But who is the one that matters? I am so f**kin late to this party...
6415342 you and me both.
One half Harmony? Is it? Is it really? Or is it something else you've been told is Harmony? Maybe you aren't dieing at all, but merely becoming something greater. I still refuse to believe that this is the end.
And to think she's been doing all of this with her saddlebags on...
6449352 Me three. Trying my best to avoid spoilers in the comments haha
If only you knew, because this is only the beginning of her epic
04/02/2017 17:47 UTC
...Motherfucker, I still have over 3 millions words left.
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Me seven.
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i sympathize, we shall all suffer together!
THIS chapter man.
all the angst!
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YOU GET A HEARTACHE!
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AND YOU GET A HEARTACHE!
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and finally.. YOU GET A HEARTACHE!
Wait a second... Dash has a year at most? But there are like six more books!
Ooooh shit!
This is big news. What is to become of our dear protagonist!?
Is she gonna sprout horns and become a hideous chaotic plague?
Anybody else feel she is becoming bitter and corrupted?
So much loss, and this feels like the nail in the coffin.
She worked so hard, and now all she worked to defend is going to just lay down and die.
Not only that, but she clearly feels she is the only opponent worth beating. Herself.
If she dies, she loses. And that's that.
Her friends are gone and she's dying. Damn Rainbow your stronger than anypony else to keep going.
『Ember Speak』 has left the party...
I think this is maybe the third comment I've made on this whole story so far.
It's been so hard for me trying to picture Ember Speak as a pony. This was written way before Dragon Lord Ember was canon, but she's all I can see when I hear the name 'Ember.' I find it especially amusing that Ember the pony was alongside Dash as she went to take on a different dragon queen.
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Agreed
So many questions answered, so many lessons learned.
And not everything can really be saved, can it?
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Oh, tell me about it.
Yes Rainbow, maybe you should have taken C-squared's advice. Too late for that now though.