“Maybe it's not a messenger at all,” Whony said.
“What?” Quint stood in the middle of a group of fellow colts, staring across the eastern struts of Red Barge. “You mean he's a delivery pony?” He spat. “Pffft! Skagra would have him speared the moment he set hoof here!”
“Really?” one colt blinked.
Thwack! Quint slapped him upside the skull. “Where's the profit in just letting him do his delivery, huh?!”
“Ow... jerk...”
“I'm the best jerk you'll ever have and don't you forget it.”
“Well, if he is a messenger, then where is he from?” Whony remarked, squinting. He and the rest of the orphans were studying an exchange between Nixkit and a pegasus stallion two struts away. The stranger wore a flight jacket with several thick saddlebags. “That's some awfully new leather he's wearing for a mud mucker.”
“No way...” Another colt shook his head. “The dude's from Mudtop?”
“He is, alright,” Quint said, pointing. “Whony's right. Look at the pony's flank. You can see the edge of a burnt circle.”
“Maybe that's his cutie mark.”
“Nope. That's a brand alright.”
“Well, what in Verlaxion's Sleet is he doing with all that fancy shmancy gear?” Whony remarked. “Nopony at Mudtop can afford anything that spotless!” He turned and looked over his shoulder. “I'm telling you, he's from the mainland!”
“Nonsense. Nopony from the mainland ever comes to Red Barge.” Quint scratched his chin, squinting at the exchange. “The jacket may have come from Rohbredden, but the rest of him is all filth.”
“Well, what would a Mudtop slave be doing here talking to Nixkit?” Whony asked.
“He's one of Monket's,” said Swab.
All of the colts turned around.
Swab was busily mopping the deck behind them. His face remained locked on his task. His one ear twitched, and gradually he looked up—noticing all of the sets of eyes on him. “... ... ...what? It's... it's something I heard, that's all.”
“You mean the Monket?” Quint squinted. “The Wave Slaver of the Seven Seas?”
“Uhm... I-I guess...?” Swab blinked.
“He's doing business with Skagra?”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
Another colt barked: “How in the heck did some half-headed sea foam like you hear about this?”
Swab's nostrils flared. He returned to his work. “It doesn't matter—”
“You'll tell us, shitstain!” Whony marched towards him. He shoved Swab against a bulkhead and waved his hoof. “Or you'll be pissing your own teeth come tomorrow—”
Quint calmly placed a firm hoof on Whony's shoulder and pulled him back. “Easy, bloat-maker. Save it for when he needs it.” Clearing his throat, Quint trotted closer to the smallest of the bunch. “Okay. Spill it, muckspread. How'd you hear about Monket?”
“Erm... j-just the other day,” Swab stammered, nervously eyeing the rest of them. “When I was brought up to mop the deck around the Skag Hole.” He gulped and added: “I... uh... overheard Nixkit and Top Dredger Skagra talking about Monket making a visit. There's some super big and important pony in Rohbredden who's making a business arrangement, and Monket's coming to represent him.”
The group turned in time to see Nixkit and the pegasus pony trotting towards Skagra's office in the central platform.
“Hmmm... if that's true,” another colt muttered. “Then that explains why the pegasus is here.” He looked at the others. “The Wave Slaver never shows up anywhere unless he can send product that survives ahead of him.”
Whony asked: “You think Skagra's gonna strip him to his balls and shove him down into the harvest chambers?”
“Nah...” Quint shook his head with a smirk. “Skagra's real smart. He won't let anypony between him and Monket bloat if it means him luring the mucker in deep.” He turned towards the other foals. “But if he can find a way to have Monket's scalp as a trophy, he will.”
“Could you imagine?” Whony smiled crookedly. “Our Top Dredger Skagra? Doing in the Wave Slaver of Mudtop?”
“He could force Mudtop to pay up! Then buy a whole new strut for Red Barge!”
“Yeah! One we wouldn't have to polish so much!”
“Hahaha!”
“Pffft... as if...” Whony rolled his eyes. “He'd just leave Red Barge altogether.”
“Then who will be Top Dredger?”
“Skagra's never leaving Red Barge,” Quint droned.
“How do you know?”
“Because he's sea foam. Like us.”
“No way! He's a true crude mucker!”
“Nah, dude, he's sea foam! The smartest and cleverest there is!” Quint smirked. “And someday—just you wait and see—I'm gonna be Top Dredger Quint!”
“Yeah... heehee...” Whony winked. “Only if you melt somepony's face off.”
“Who says I don't melt yours, muckbag?” As the other colts chuckled, Quint smirked in Swab's direction. “Or Swab over there. Turn his coat into a vest to wear at the Tide of Trades? That'll scare the auctioneers from South Barge away. Ain't that right, Swab?”
Swab leaned on his mop, staring at an adjacent strut. A gaggle of fillies shuffled by, pushing carts full of scrap and supplies. Among them was Croche. The light pink pony with sunken eyes glanced back, blinked, and continued on her way.
“Hey!” Quint hissed. “Half-head!”
Swab jolted, glancing over. “Huh? What?”
The colts laughed.
“Honestly... how have you survived this long?” Whony shook his head. As the group marched off, he bumped harshly past the small, trembling colt. “The moment you bloat, I'm using your body as a floatation device.”
“Yeah! Or a defecation device!”
“Hahahaha!”
“Heeheehee...”
“Whewwwww... ... ...I don't get it.”
“Let's get back to work, muckjobs,” Quint grunted. “I don't want anypony losing nibbles on account of one of Monket's messenger pegasi.”
“Who do you think the pony is in Rohbredden that Monket's working for?”
“Don't know. Don't care.” Quint's nostrils flared. “Rohbreddenites are a bunch of mucking manure heads. Friggin' fleas on Verlaxion's butt—all of them. And they only care for themselves.”
Hundreds of miles away...
Far east... ...
Southwest of the jagged inlet known as Frostknife... ... ...
Yet another harbor loomed. Frozen stone bluffs marked the entrance to a cave along the southern shore of the Rohbredden mainland. Here, a translucent mist hung low across the frigid waterline. A cape of sporadic rocks loomed to the south, making large-scale naval travel next to impossible. However, the distant rocks did absorb the bulk of ocean waves. This allowed a lagoon of calm waters to form in between the cape and the main shore... and the location was far from empty.
Ponies and griffons lined the shore—almost all of them wearing ornamental gray robes marked with runes and windigo emblems. Their faces shared a melancholic malaise as they strolled up and down steep slopes of polished granite steps. Some paths led towards the shore of the lagoon, where hundred of ponies congregated around a ceremonial gathering of tiny wooden boats. Other paths led up a steep cliff-face where eventually they entered the large mouth of a cave facing due south over the icy waters.
On one such path leading towards the cave entrance, a figure in a gray cloak shuffled along, ascending at a calm, quiet pace. As the path bent eastward and leveled off, the figure paused. A talon reached out, lowering the hood slightly. With glazed charcoal eyes, Seraphimus stared down at the curved edge of the lagoon over three dozen feet below her.
She watched as the distant figures went about their traditional motions. Ponies in dark cloaks shuffled back and forth from wooden wagons draped in black velvet. They carried pale bodies to the shore, depositing them neatly into narrow wooden boats. Once assembled, grieving family members shuffled to the ice-cold waterline, depositing flowers, ornaments, and heirlooms over the crossed limbs of their deceased love ones.
A priest stood on a stone platform. One by one—as each family hovered and sobbed over the departed—he spread his sleeved forelimbs wide and offered a humble prayer to Verlaxion, entreating her for her kindness and mercy in escorting the dead to the Spring Havens. He blessed the families of the dead, and then he blessed the ocean currents carrying them to the hereafter.
At last, with teary eyes, the families retreated back to dry stone. The ponies and griffons in black used polearms to shove the wooden boats off. Seraphimus watched from above—as she always did, witnessing the armada of floating coffins as they drifted past the shoals of the cape. Soon enough, they were caught in the southwestern currents of the seven seas. Christened with tears and flowers, the honored dead of Rohbredden were left to Verlaxion's mercy, and She carried them past the vanishing point and into the gray haze of neverending water.
The air was ripe with wailing moans. It was something Seraphimus was all too used to. With a shudder, she clenched her beak shut, drew the hood back over her silver-blue headcrest, and resumed her uphill march.
Minutes passed. The anguished sounds of the mournful populace drew distant. Instead—as the Right Talon's Commander entered the large cavernous mouth—she heard an eerie ambiance of another sort. The air grew even colder—a deathly chill that stabbed past her feathers and stung her to her quills. An ethereal blue light reflected off her body and those belonging to the other penitent visitors of that sunken domain.
Commander Seraphimus' hawkeyes focused, adjusting to the light. Still, she didn't need them to know what she had long ago memorized. Past a series of ancient stone columns there were granite alcoves covered in frost. Within each hollow niche, the stone effigies of windigoes stretched protectively over bright blue partitions filled with elliptical spheres of ice.
The spheres were far from empty. Each of them contained a flesh center—a body, preserved in frozen time. Most of them lingered in place alone. Earth ponies, unicorns, pegasi, and griffons lay peacefully in suspended animation. Some, however, were presently being visited by other souls than Seraphimus. Families and friends clad in runic robes of gray knelt by their loved ones, paying their respects and offering quiet prayers to Verlaxion.
Seraphimus heard commotion and weeping. She turned her feathery head, her eyes peering out from beneath the hood.
She saw a decrepit old stallion being assisted as he laid down in an alcove. A mare his age leaned in, nuzzling and kissing him tearfully. The stallion gave the mare a reassuring hug, kissing her one last time before lying back with a peaceful grin. The ponies gathered watched in dreadful silence while a pair of priests shuffled up to the alcove. They placed their hooves against a pair of levers while a third priest stood amidst the family, holding his forelimbs out. He spoke rich poetic words, praising the Goddess for her intervention and glory, praying for a swift cure that would aid in the old stallion's recovery. Then, at his signal, the other two priests pulled the ancient levers.
The mouth, nostrils, and eyes of the windigo statue looming above the alcove vented ethereal blue frost. Within seconds, the sleeping stallion was frozen in a narrow sphere of sea-colored ice. A fresh mist wafted off his resting area, then dissipated. Almost immediately, the mare collapsed over his frozen form, hugging what she could amidst fresh waves of sobs. It took three members of the family to pull her away... the rest to console her with close hugs and even closer whispers.
Seraphimus quietly strolled past them—as well as every other visiting family she could see. She approached a series of elaborately carved staircases—each leading to one of eleven rows of chiseled platforms that filled the enormous cave, each lined with dozens... hundreds of these alcoves. Over five thousand bodies lay in frozen silence there, waiting for the precise moment when finances, medical advances, or just plan good fortune could free them from their necessary limbo.
“And how may I help you, dear child?” spoke a smiling priest in a runic gray robe.
Seraphimus jolted slightly. She turned towards him. After a brave breath, she forced a smile beneath her beak. “The wise and glorious Verlaxion has already helped me, dear elder. I only wish to visit those close to me who await Her grace.”
“But of course.” He bowed slightly. “Would you like me to assist you in locating them?”
“Thank you... but I know the way quite well.”
“Mmmm... indeed you do.” The priest stepped aside, nevertheless murmuring in a warm voice: “Death carves a wide path, child, but the course Verlaxion gives us is everlasting. By Her glory, our love is preserved, as well as the flesh and spirit attached to such devotion. May Her Grace warm your blood and dry your tears.”
“Thank you, elder.” And after a final bow, the Commander shuffled off towards the lower levels.
She passed two families, a weeping spouse, and a few mindful priests. At last, after shuffling the full length of one particular platform, Seraphimus reached an alcove with two frozen spheres. One of them—the larger of the pair—contained a male griffon with slick black plumage. Next to him was a tiny young thing—barely four years old—with a rosy beak and pink wingtips. Both bodies reclined peacefully within the glowing blue ice, preserved perfectly by the Queen of Frost's unquestionable magic.
Seraphimus instantly knelt before the group. She found it hard to contain her shuddering breaths. Nevertheless, with iron-wrought courage, the lead wingmember of the Right Talon of Verlaxion tightened every muscle in her body. Breathing intently, she unfolded the lengths of her robe and placed down two bouquets of flower across the hard, frost-speckled stone. Her sharp talons delicately slid them forward until they rested within the shadow of the frozen spheres' edges.
“Enoch, my love...” Seraphimus spoke firmly, her beak barely clicking. “Red Martha, my little s-songbird...”
She cleared her throat before it could fail her. Closing her eyes, she breathed in deeply, then continued in a steadfast tone:
“...there is a wyvern specialist named Krennem, an expert in respiratory pathology who has been newly elected to the Scientific Order. It... may not sound like much, but he has nursed to health many patients suffering from mine collapses in Ash Prefecture. I've been told by the Health Ministry that this new source of experience could assist the Order with valuable research, but in the end we... we know it's n-not all up to them.”
Her beak clenched tight for a few seconds.
At last, she continued. “Things have been stressful this week... just like last time I visited... and the week before last. Enemies are poking their filthy heads out of every valley, rock, and mountaintop. I am aghast at the amount of criminals willing to terrorize the innocent. There is almost no respect for our Goddess in this land anymore. Sometimes I think that... that th-that's the reason for why there hasn't been... I mean why y-you and so many others haven't...”
Silence.
Stifling a cough, Seraphimus exhaled heavily. “I am sorry. This is not what you wish to hear... or what you need to hear.” She smiled weakly while her moist eyes reopened. “I promise you that I have not lost faith. After all, the courage and steadfastness of my wingmates inspire me each and every day. Raptr is finally learning how to keep his wings straight in all forms of danger. Keris is my rock of loyalty, as always. What's more, Windburst and Starstorm would appear to be regaining their confidence for the first time since Jordan perished. The Right Talon of Verlaxion is doing the Goddess' will and I... we have never felt more vindicated.”
The two griffons before Seraphimus lingered in silence, unmoving.
“There... there will be time to hear my words.” Seraphimus shuddered. “It is time that I anointed you once again with Her Blessings.”
Clearing her throat, Seraphimus lowered her hood. She sat on her haunches and held both talons out, palms up. Bowing her head, she murmured humbly before the frost and stone: “Goddess Almighty, Verlaxion, Queen of Frost, Merciful Intecessor who united the Six Tribes... I beseech You. By Your power, my family thrives, and by Your mercy, they can live again. They can rise up from thawing like Your foals did by Your love and salvation so many eons ago. Please, Goddess, bless them. Heal them. Remove the dredge dust from their lungs... as I remove the evil pollutants from Your glorious continent. Together, we can cleanse this frozen land of dirt and disease. I am Your Right Talon, Seraphimus, ever faithful. But how I long—more than anything—to delicately cradle Your heart... as you continue to... ever s-so lovingly cradle m-mine.”
She swallowed a lump down her throat. Tears dripped off her eyecrests as she smiled into the blue mists.
“For Verlaxion is merciful... Verlaxion is divine... and Verlaxion never fails to bless any of Her children who call upon Her name. And I worship You in full knowledge that this is so. Amen.”
With a dry grunt, two stallions dumped yet another frail body into the deep grave of the southeast Quade. The corpse joined several more shriveled figures beneath the dug soil—their coats shredded raw from multiple scars across the spine and flank. Panting, sweating, the two trotted over towards a wagon where more bodies waited to be tossed, their limbs twisted beneath bundles of sackcloth.
Not long after, a deep voice echoed against the pine and mango trees lingering around the grave: “What's this? No rafts? Not even a funeral barge?”
Menthe and Galloran jolted in place. They turned and craned their necks up.
An armored figure perched on a high branch. Silver wingblades reflected a sharp glint of sunlight, making it next to impossible for the two protectors to make out any features from below. “How will they be expected to reach the Spring Havens?”
Galloran stifled a whimper. He rushed towards the front of the wagon, reaching for his crossbow.
Menthe yanked him back by his tail, then soothed the younger stallion with an outstretched wing. Exhaling, the older pegasus glared up at the figure. “Luminards don't believe in the Spring Havens. As a matter of fact, they don't believe in burying anything, really.”
“Is that your excuse for such a shameful heap you've dug here?”
“Their crypts collapsed along with everything they believed in,” Menthe said. “Now, either we bury the old and dead here, or we let them pile deep into the Quade and pollute the waters even more than they have been.” He folded his forelimbs. “How 'bout I ask a question now? Who in the bloody Hell are you?”
Swisssssh! Keris touched down, retracting his wingblades from over his feathers. Cl-Clakka! “My name is Keris...” He removed his helmet. “Lieutenant and Second-in-Command of the Right Talon of Verlaxion.”
“They... th-they sent the Talon?!” Galloran stammered.
“How exactly did these ponies die?” Keris asked, pointing into the grave.
“Hrmmmff...” Menthe's ears folded. “Malnourishment. Old age. Dehydration. Pneumonia. Combination of all four.”
“Is that so?” Keris pointed at the shorn flesh on the corpses. “And just who did that? The monster?”
“Monster?” Galloran breathed.
“They did that, if you must know,” Menthe said, nostrils flaring. “Only because they were set off by the destruction of the only thing that granted them all salvation. What would you do if you lost everything?”
“Well, if I still had my wits about me...” Keris strolled calmly around the ditch. “...presumably rebuild.”
“The monks here did nothing but,” Menthe said. “But then they had their essence stripped away. Tell me... why are you really here, Mr. Lieutenant-of-the-Talon?”
“I am here to investigate the cause of this.” Keris' beak nostrils flared. “The monster known as the Rainbow Rogue.”
“Again... a monster?” Galloran shook his head. “No... no, she's... she's just a punk! A punk with no right to have gone where she went and we let her in—!”
“Boy...” Menthe sighed.
“We let her in and this is the result of it!” Galloran spat, heaving. “Just what in Verlaxion's name are they twisting it all into out there?!”
Keris looked at him. He strolled over and calmly placed a talon on the young stallion's shoulder.
Galloran blinked, his lips quivering.
“That... is what I'm trying to get to the bottom of,” Keris breathed. “So that I may finally track this being down... monster or punk... it doesn't matter.” He shook his head. “Anypony who maligns the glory of Verlaxion must face Her Right Talon. It is the way of the Six Tribes.”
“Yeah.” Menthe grumbled. “Fancy how the Six Tribes didn't give a rat's ass about the Quade until it fell into blood and sludge!”
Keris sharply looked at the older protector.
Menthe bit his lip.
“Who runs the monastery here?” Keris asked.
“Former monastery...” Galloran muttered.
“The question still stands,” Keris said.
“Hrmmff...” Menthe smiled bitterly. “Are you serious? Your bastard bureacratic friends already done took her.”
Keris blinked. “I... I don't understand. Are you insinuating that one of the representatives who went to Frostknife—?”
“She had no choice, really. Not as though an heir apparent had been prepared. It's just that Sonikah worked alongside the elder the most and...”
“I am not completely ignorant of the ways of the Luminards, dear sir,” Keris said. “As their protectors, it would do best to assist me in coming to a complete understanding here. Now... who is the present Kyron of the Congregation?”
“There's no Reed. So why should there be a Kyron?”
Keris simply stared.
Menthe sighed. “He's dead. Bled out like a sliced tomato.” The old stallion clenched his teeth. “I wanted to stop him, but I knew that I couldn't. I took an oath ages ago. My hooves had to remain at my side. Don't matter if I...” He winced, staring off past the treeline. “...if I considered him a friend. So many years, we walked together. Talked together. And then it's all over in a blink.”
The ocean winds howled through the trees, then quieted.
“Are there any pilgrims still left alive?” Keris asked in a dull tone.
Galloran cleared his throat. “Oh. Of course. Lots. Most of them.” He gulped, pointing nervously west. “On a bunch of platforms that they've roped together... for what it's worth.”
Keris' eyes narrowed. “Show me.”
So, that was Seraphimus's family. In frozen stasis like so many others that are weak and infirm.
That's just sad.
(calling them getting better in the end and Rainbow somehow being related to it)
Yeah, this is kind of why my sympathy for the Luminards is somewhat diminished. Every opportunity to rebuild. To keep their faith strong. Instead, they tossed it all away.
But I still don't like seeing any of them die, dammit.
I wonder what Nicro is doing.
I have more sympathy for Menthe, and especially Galloran, than for the Luminards themselves, truth be told.
The Luminards lost everything they believed in. Their protectors, because of their inability to fulfill their sworn duty, now must watch their friends and charges beat themselves to death, unable to lift a hoof to stop it.
Sooo... no Seraphimus x Rainbow Dash? RainPhimus? SeraBow?
If Keris is going to interrogate Antsan, nothing good will come out of it.
The stage is still being set, but what is the play this time?
Faith and salvation are not objects, they are ideas, the monks of the Quade seem to have forgotten that. Perhaps they will learn in time, and maybe even come to see the end of the Reed as a good thing, if not the way its end came about.
So Sonikah was in charge after Kyron committed suicide.
Now that Sonikah's at frostknife, who's in charge?
Keris moves fast it seems. Though I do wonder just how far off the mainland the Quade is.
I'll be honest, Swab's story is leaving me cold so far, I'm finding it difficult to care about him or anypony else on the Barge at all.
I get we're supposed to feel bad for him and pity him and all that, but it's just laid on a bit too thick in my opinion.
-In the end isolation, hunted by a nation. Utaan.
Oh please let it be Rainbow!
Darn it!
Apparently divine cryostasis is an excellent method of taking hostages. Though there's no need to jump the gun and assign malintent: Verlax could very well merely extend this preservation of life as an earnest reward for loyalty. Should these blocks thaw to reveal only death, with merely the promise of healing, well. That's a bit much murder-hobo to fit a Chessmaster. Does allow for the ol' classic Rainbow Loyalty face turn, though.
Menthe continues to be a colossal idiot. As noted: 6555059 Keris is absolutely correct. I can see why Kyron killed himself, it fits him well enough, but I don't like it. I'd hoped he'd have the wisdom to see past this calamity, if only to support those around him. Sonikah's forced to step up in his absense, and that's already going poorly. Surely somepony would have objected to the logic of investigators taking their one and only leader to testify against Rainbow, while the rest continue to flounder and suffer and die without direction.
6555076 Heehee, me too.
Wow. Kinda figured something like this last chapter, but it looks like Seraph put her family in cryo. Really feeling sorry for her. Her and Swab. Poor poor swab. Here's hoping he becomes the next Kera.
Calling it: Jordan is Wildcard.
Immediate thoughts on Seraphimus' family: Either Dash's Harmonic Energy from the pendant will cure them leading Seraphimus to side with Dash or just as Seraphimus is about to turn on Verlax she will heal her family to renew her faith.
At least Menthe and Galloran aren't being as harsh on Dash as the rumors are. I have to agree with 6555059 while I'm sympathetic to the Luminards, and I understand it was a hard hit, but they didn't even try; just immediately gave up. Its a bit pathetic I have to say and even Menthe sees it.
So let's see here:
Another boring segment with Swab. Eh. I can't really find myself to like/care about the kid and his arc. Hopefully it doesn't tie too closely with RD's, or at least it runs its course and then is over with quickly.
And I thought for a moment there we'd be getting back to Dashie.
Well, seems like suspended animation is a thing when your ruler is the Goddess of Frost. And I should've seen something like this coming with Seraphimus' family. I guess that explains why she's so faithful to Verlax.
So Jordan... is he just some griffon who died? Or is he connected to Wildcard in someway? Yes I'm still riding that train, and yes I'll keep making fun of WC if his name is actually Jordan. It's a considerable step down from Wildcard, in all honesty.
And now Keris is visiting the Quade. The plot thickens... and it seems that RD's hopes that she ended the Reed without bloodshed wasn't so peaceful after all. I mean, we already knew this was happening, but Kyron's dead, so many monks are dead... Dashie, you've left dozens of bodies in your wake. It ain't good.
And now Keris is on your scent... hope you can fly.
6555181
Ohhhh I didn't even think about that. It's a good theory provided there was no body found or anything.
The wait for the "Rainbow Rouges" entrance continues
I'm still torn on the Quade situation. On one hand, maybe destroying the Reed was a necessary and justifiable thing, and maybe the fact that some of the monks were willing to beat themselves to death over it is just an indication that they took their religion (which we know is based on Verlax's lies) to absurd lengths. On the other, the Luminards seemed like genuinely well-meaning ponies, and I don't think they deserved what Rainbow did to them. And, even if the monks in question died by their own hooves, Rainbow had to have known there would be consequences for what she did. Or does she even care? What chilled me the most about Rainbow at the end of the previous book was how cold and unapologetic she seemed. How far will that extend? If she has to strangle an entire village to death with her bare hooves to continue her journey, will she do so? Where's the cut-off point? At which point does she cease being an agent of harmony?
Sorry, that was kinda tangential. It's just been on my mind.
On a different note: Seraphimus just keeps getting more and more interesting. How will her cryogenically preserved family play into the story? And what of this Jordan character?
6555181
I'm betting on this too.
6555059
It makes me wonder if Anstan is still alive and when he will go full "Witch Hunter."
6555216
It'll either be in her current broken state or her fully recovered with flashbacks of her coping with the loss of her friends.
The Quade has become such a mess. Talk about inflexible. Very not good when combined with self-harm.
Now for Keris to hear both sides of the spectrum: Antsan vs. Galloran. That will be interesting.
I wonder when we're actually going to meet a wyvern, instead of just hearing that they exist somewhere...
6555328
200 chapters later.
Ok... Analysis time. Both chandler and keris made it to and back from the quade, implying several weeks have passed since we last saw rainbow. And since the perspective switched several times during this chapter, IC is going to uave rainbow talk to luna mext chapter...
Although im personally hoping that keris catchs rainbow and gets the drop on her... Just in time for luna to say somthing over the pendent : that way we get keris as a compnion
I'm glad keris at least, her first reaction is like. You're killing yourselves not her.
Which is kinda the biggest Problem with the Luminards. They were great, wonderful people, whose religion and existence was based around, we are terrible, shitty people, and therefore need to punish ourselves for spiritual hoohah. It's kinda sad that they broke so terribly. That when the representation of their beliefs was damaged, they completely imploded, rather than letting their beliefs themselves, carry them through. They should've been stronger.
Ooooooh, freaky cryogenic magic? Neato. If its for real, and not just a situation where everyone assumes that freezing someone like that will keep them alive when it actually doesn't. I'll assume for now until proven otherwise that it works as shown, but its always a possible twist that it turns out all those frozen folk are deader than a doornail when they go into the deep freeze. Either way I can foresee this place being important later, perhaps a location Dash ends up at to either get to another Seed or some other reason. I can even see Dash being somehow twisted into a position where she might have to shut the place down.
Ah, sad to see some death confirmations on the Luminards. One could blame them for doing it themselves, but really they're religious extremists, this isn't too far outside what one could have logically predicted. Its not quite the mass suicide I had initially feared, but its not too far off either. Makes me wonder just how much worse the consequences of Dash's actions might get, and if she'll figure out how to use her brain to circumvent or prevent such tragedies, or if she'll just headbutt her way through it all. It would do her some good to learn to think through her actions and plan ahead instead of relying solely upon instinct and charging ahead. Nothing wrong with instinct per se, but she could save herself a lot of trouble by learning to outsmart situations like the Reed instead of using her usual methods.
Hmm, makes me think, in a world this filled with magic its nowhere near outside the realm of possibility that Dash could have looked for a spell or potion to shrink her size to the point where she could have gotten through that hole in the Reed without damaging it. Probably could have tracked down Theanim again to see if the Scientific Order had an arcane branch that dabbled in spell research to acquire something of that nature. Or teleportation. Or phasing. Really sky's the limit in that arena.
Now we know why seriph does what she does..
Hmm, is there an instance these past few chapters where a prayer wasn't offered to Verlaxion? Because I, for the life of me, am so torn whenever I hear one. All these people praying for favors, mercy, fortune, and forgiveness, all from a goddess who has yet to show that she even gives a flying feather about any of them. And the kicker is that the ones who don't pray to her in this land have tended to be villains and scoundrels more often than not. And so we have a society where those who are faithful and kind are downtrodden and abused by those who are self-serving and cruel. And the thing that kills me about it is that they do have a godlike figurehead who could very well have solved any of the problems these people are facing, or prevented them in some cases. Yet she hasn't been seen in centuries.
Dammit, IC, you went and found a way to make a dragon I don't find to be awesome!
Speaking as Menthe, i find no fault in my actions or decisions or thoughts.
There is sadness, despair, hatred, but i and the Luminards have fully understood the actual extent of the protectors oath. I am a guardian against mortal-borne threats to the Way of the Reed... And this scene of death and sacrifice is borne from the philosophies of that Way.
I could do no greater insult, no greater betrayal, no greater hypocrisy, than to act or willingly permit action against the choices of my charges in their pursuit of the Way of the Reed.
This bloody atonement is their final dignity as Luminards.
I pray that those who live may rediscover Verlaxion's grace through whatever destiny Verlaxion has prepared for the survivors.
That's pretty interesting considering that I would think that they'd be most likely to consider her a monster.
While Rainbow may have not been 'diplomatic' in her final approach this was more or less the only outcome i saw during the last book.
Even if Dash would have been completely diplomatic , even if she somehow would have restored the lands of the quade by using the machine world, this would still have been the outcome because the Luminards would have known that Verlax had nothing to do with it and that the 'heretic' Rainbow was right all along, reed or no reed, they dedicated their entire lives to what they dictated to be right and where so set in their tracks that removing the track simply killed them.
The voice at the first beacon back in urohringr called it.
The Luminards where crafted so that they would stop Rainbows journey so she only had the choice between doing the morally right thing for all the wrong reasons and let the Luminards be, effectively ending her journey to preserve something she had 100% proof of being wrong due to hard facts.
Or doing the wrong and bold thing for all the right reasons, continuing her journey and ending their happy fun land of self imagination in order to accomplish something bigger that will eventually be beneficial for everyone.
The Luminards effectively doomed them self by ignoring all uncomfortable questions and especially their uncomfortable answers, they pretended to be open minded but they never where, in some points they where as the cursed plant they worshiped looking like a functioning and flexible society from the outside but dying as soon as they got touched by influence that came from outside their isolationism.
That's one brutal burial rite.
6555220 We have a nation built of ice... and a pony made of flame. What do you expect to happen other than a great thaw?
I'd like to think that all those poor in-stasis ponies will magically get healed by harmony or something, but I think it's more likely that they're going to die when the chaotic power source is turned off.
And then everyone will blame RD again; despite the fact that the occupants were likely never going to actually get better, and it was just a way of prolonging the fealty of the remaining family members.
It seems it's common to get lung diseases from mining. The sick need Harmony. And I'm not talking about the Church of Harmony, but of a mare known as Harmony with a lightning-powered vacuum cleaner.
All those on ice due to pollutants from explosive Dredge Coal.
Im wondering if the reason that Rhobedron is actually inhabitable is because its frozen, and so cleaning out the pollutants far faster than if just slightly chilly.
When the Warmth Of Spring arrives, all hell and destruction and divine lies laid bare is going to occur, and very few are going to be unlike the luminards, and blame Verlaxion, instead of themselves or others.
Shake a mans world enough, and most often, the man breaks before his world.
Magic cryo-pods for the sick is pretty sweet. Also seems like a pretty good way to hold hostages should the need arise, but still. I'm sure Seraphimus is very appreciative of her family not being what I assumed
Swab is... well, Swab. At least he didn't get beaten up so far. He's got that going for him.
And the Luminards are...getting fewer in numbers.
Man, when I die, I want my body just thrown into a hole with no respect, after my organs have all been taken for more deserving people. I'd die happy knowing that nobody has wasted effort or money on a funeral, or taken time out of a busy day to view the ceremony of 'that guy who did very little'.
It's sad but I honestly would be more happy being chucked in some random hole or have my ashes dumped in a random garden without ceremony, so long as my useful bits and blood are being used for good.
Those Luminards know how to die... In pain then thrown in a pit.
6555536
My reasoning is as follows:
The Talon lost Jordan. Obviously, I'm assuming they don't have a body. It's possible Jordan never died, but quit after a crisis of conscience over some mission. No timeframe for his departure has been stated, as yet.
Wildcard has prosthetics; he has suffered serious injuries. Those injuries could have nearly killed him. However he recovered, he decided not to return to the Talon. The Wyvern may have been the ones to rescue him and heal him, emotionally as well as physically; he may have known them before he ever joined the Talon.
Wildcard was obviously supportive of Rainbow's moral conundrum. He would have stayed with her if not for Bard. Why was he supportive? Did he have to do something similar as a Talon? Is that why he left?
All questions that will have to wait until WC crosses paths once more with The Right Talon of Verlaxion.
Also calling it: if words ever leave WC's beak, it shall be to his former teammates.
6555195 6555997 or even if all that could be recovered was a single Talon. Thus strengthening the "He died" theory and dissuading a search for him while the wyvern healed him of injuries. I think I'll be jumping on this theory for the time being.
6555152
Implies that the ones taking them gave a rat's ass about any objections. Also, I too am somewhat sad that my character offed himself (if he did kill himself, and didn't just die from exposure or stress). Then again, so long as the Luminards exist, so too do I, so maybe a more a more wise Kyron will rise from the ashes.
6555220
That's an interesting question and I actually think she already has. I believe she abandoned harmony when she first decided to undergo the trials in the Quade alone.
In the show, the idea of harmony is portrayed as the ponies of Equestria lending their individual strengths and talents while working together to achieve things greater than any single pony could. Even in this series I can't recall a single time apart from the grand choke that Rainbow has had to face down a threat entirely alone.
I think keeping information from her friends may have been Rainbow's greatest failing in the Quade. It's hard to say how they could have helped if they had only been given the full story.
6555181
This is correct.
Why did no one pointed this out?
My question is what happened to the pilgrims? 'Cause I don't think that it's going to be good.
6555059
I dunno man... Rainbow might cause them to be taken out of stasis alright... But what can she do about a bunch of terminally ill?
Let them be "free" of Verlaxion and let their families "move on"?
6555997
That time frame is what I'm really interested in getting some info on. I assumed that WC had been either in the care of wyverns or Bard's buddy for some years prior to meeting Dash.
It also appears that at least two Claws looked up to Jordan to the extent where it's taken them a fair number of months/years to move on from whatever transpired. I'm guessing he could have been their long-term superior and that Keris was a direct replacement.
Keris being a Claw that Seraphimus has voiced her admiration towards regarding loyalty in particular. So maybe loyalty to the cause was something that Jordan/WC lacked when they parted ways? An unapproved solo mission where his fate was marked down as "missing, presumed death"? Something particularly personal? Perhaps even stemming from the Ash Prefecture accident?
Very interested to see if this connection does hold any water.
Ponyfeathers. Somehow I failed to notice the word "perished." Okay, Jordan did not quit. Nonetheless, if Jordan is Wildcard, then he chose not to correct the perception of his demise, effectively quitting by omission.
Interesting question: can one quit the The Right Talon of Verlaxion?
so, we have Political Shell, a bunch of dead monks, cryogenically frozen dragon worshipers, elite military griffons, whatever the hell the red barge is, and slave drivers
oh, and Shell 2.0
this is shaping up to be fun
and confusing, at some point
Sad chapter has sadness. Murr...
6556410
Wouldn't have it any other way.
6555997 My theory for why he supported Rainbow, he actually saw Rainbow and Verlax interact. He knew that the situation at the Quade was only going to end one way. Rainbow's excuse could have been seen through by pretty much anyone, and a bounty hunter of his caliber would easily be able to detect someone lying (this is putting aside whether or not he was part of the Right Talon) even if the excuse given wasn't paper thin. Naturally he would follow at a distance to see what Rainbow was trying to hide, and stumble across the truth, that Verlax intended for the Reed to be destroyed.
6556513
I get this crazy feeling that Bard and Wildcard/Jordan are following Rainbow at a distance, not completely abandoning her like she told them to.
Interesting to see Seraphimus get some backstory, I presume IC is planning on having her bring major part of the story to warrant such attentions though her almost zealot-like belief in Verlaxion can't mean anything good for Rainbow. Fortunately Keris seems to be a bit more level headed and seems to be willing to get all the facts before making a conclusion. He sure moves fast, but how quickly can he catch up with Rainbow?