• Published 13th Oct 2015
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Utaan - Imploding Colon



Rainbow Dash endures many trials to reach the edge of the world.

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A Case of Two Vigils

"I... I think she's finished," Fluttershy remarked.

Rainbow's eyes fluttered open. She jolted in place—as if waking. Her vision focused, noticing how the silver glow in the air above Bleak's Plummet had dimmed.

"She just stopped talking," Rarity added, hovering before Rainbow Dash. "In that... exotic Moonwhinny, I mean."

"We've been here for nearly two hours, Rainbow," Twilight Sparkle said. "I think we'd better make our next move."

Rainbow Dash took a breath and opened her muzzle: "Princess Luna—"

"I have ceased with my deliberations, child," the monarch's voice resonated. "At least for the time being."

Rainbow blinked. "Oh." She blinked again. "Cool."

"There is only so much that I can convey in such a short span of time," Luna continued. "However, with my beloved sister's assistance, I do believe I have made the message concise enough."

"Did you... uhm..." Rainbow cleared her throat. "Tell them everything?"

"Define 'everything."

"Y'know... about the Elements of Harmony... Discord... the chaos rift... Austraeoh... Urohringr... Verlax and the flank-hurt Rohbreddenites—?"

"The message was... necessarily abridged. But fear not. They know of the dire importance of your mission... as well as the state of my lunar rule here in modern Equestria."

"Okay..." Rainbow took a deep breath. Her vision swept aside, and only then did she notice that several hundred of the sarosians had drawn away. The crowd circled Xarchellus as the Maria Matriarch spoke intimately with her multiple Nightblood subordinates. "They... keep talking about a 'Vigil.' What is that exactly—?"

"When the ancestors to these sarosians wandered to the Twilight Waters, they believed whole-heartedly in the totalitarian vision of Nightmare Moon. To that end, they had endeavored to watch over the Dark Side of the plane in anticipation of their Empress' return."

"Did you say the 'Dark Side?'"

"That is correct, Rainbow Dash. At least half of the sarosian exodus stayed on this plane. The rest—someway, somehow—ventured over into the Dark Side. There—assuming they survived—they were charged with conducting the 'Dark Vigil.' Their task would be to cultivate a strong, warrior nation, growing their numbers so that—once the stars aligned—they would aid Nightmare Moon with the desired conquest of Equestria and beyond. Xarchellus and the rest of the flock dwelling under the charge of the Maria Matriarch are the remnants of the group that stayed on the light side."

Rainbow nodded. "Right... and we know for a fact that they did survive." She gulped. "Because Chrysalis remembers sarosians making up one third of the Trinary War."

"Indeed. After so many eons—unchecked by a strong and capable Rohbreddenite military—there is no telling just how large the Dark Vigil has become in number."

"Right..." Rainbow winced. "And after so many ages of butting heads over the Midnight Armory... there's no telling just how strong and pissed off they've come."

"A formidable concept indeed."

"What about these guys?" Rainbow pointed in Xarchellus' direction. "After the long pep-talk you gave them, they certainly seem to be all-a-squeaky-chatter."

"They are undergoing intense deliberations."

"Intense deliberations?" Rainbow asked. "Over what?"

"Where to take their civilization, of course," Princess Luna. "I've given them several proposals out of the love and wisdom of my heart. However, while I may still be responsible for my flock, time and distance cannot afford to accomplish anything now except democratically."

"Don't sell yourself short, Your Highness," Rainbow Dash said. "I'm pretty sure we all agree that you know what's best for these sarosians. So if you just give them a command, then I bet they'll—"

"Rainbow, stop right there," Twilight Sparkle said. "Didn't we just get done recovering from the consequences of an entire nation operating under the dogmatic rule of a false goddess?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes, sighing. "Must you, egghead?"

"Yes!" Twilight stomped her hoof. "I must! If we try and get Princess Luna to take control of her deified position, then we'd no better than Verlax!"

"If you ask me, thangs are pretty simple here," Applejack said. "These folks have been doin' dirty stuff for far too long. I'd say we go on and let Luna steer these ponies in a better direction. It's a case of Momma knows best, really."

"I can't believe you of all ponies would be comfortable with that!" Twilight said.

"Now hold yer horses!" Applejack frowned. "I didn't say a single thang about Princess Luna fibbin'!" She gestured towards the thundering sky. "Of course she should be honest with them! Lay it all out! Confess to bein' nothin' more than a highly gifted alicorn!"

"Luna's not pretending to be anything she's not, darling," Rarity said, smiling at Twilight. "But—be that as it may—she does wield true, authoritarian influence over these ponies. I'm certain that she wouldn't put them in a compromising situation—especially if it could assist Rainbow Dash."

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie nodded. "Let's give some extra oomph to her oomph-wings!"

Twilight sighed, rubbing her forehead. "It's just... we've raised the stakes so high as of late." She gulped. "I'm... not sure I can handle another civilization's destiny being juggled so hastily."

"I'm not very c-comfortable with it either, Twilight," Fluttershy said. "But this is Princess Luna we're talking about." She smiled gently. "She cares for her 'flock.' Just like me with my animals back home in Ponyville." She shook her head. "I'm certain she won't do anything that will hurt them in the long run."

"Still... I do echo Twilight's concern," Rarity said, looking at Rainbow. "Whatever happens now calls for a supremely delicate touch."

"All the reason why Luna's put it in their hooves," Rainbow said. "I don't see why we're even having this conversation."

"Rainbow Dash...?" Luna's voice rang.

"Ahem..." Rainbow Dash glanced at the sky. "Don't mind us, Rainbow. Just some super heavy girltalk."

"If you seek the sarosians' assistance at your current juncture, I have no doubt that they will be more than willing to lend a hoof, child."

"Right. And that's the freaky part." Rainbow cleared her throat. "But... y'know what? Let's say we start small."

"How small?"

"Well..." Rainbow turned, squinting east at the flicker of Yaerfaerda. "...that's a matter of definition."

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