A Garden Lost in Shadow
Rainbow Dash paced across the stars while the dark shape stood calmly in place, peering at her.
"Care to repeat that?" Rainbow muttered, pendant rattling.
Pointed ears flicked against the cosmos. "'Ilrifa'," it said.
"Okay..." Rainbow Dash exhaled. "...so you're not just a random brain fart after all."
"We have had the name burned into our mind for as long as we can remember," the shape said.
"Yeah?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "And just how long has that been?"
"We do not know."
Rainbow's nostrils flared as she came to a shuffling stop. "... ... ...after two years of east-flapping, I finally make contact with the spirit of the flame and it's a Celestia-dang moron."
"The roots run deep," the voice muttered. "The machine. It is a garden. A child. 'Ilrifa' was planted. Long ago. Deep in the fertile darkness."
"Yeah? By who?"
The narrow head shook. "We do not know. It must acquire the biggest flame of all."
"What's that? The Harmonic Prism? At the Midnight Armory?"
"Swiftly!" A nimble tail flicked. "While it still draws breath!"
"Just... just calm down..." Rainbow waved a hoof. She gulped. "I've got you here now, don't I? If you can slow yourself long enough to chat, then maybe you can explain—"
"Accomplish Ofolrodi. Restore Urohringr."
"Yeah-yeah... I get that. And I'm totally gonna do that! Just... please." Rainbow held a hoof forward. "...I have to know who you are... what you are." Her ears folded back as her voice squeaked, "Who spun all of this into motion and why?"
The shadow's head glanced at Rainbow's hoof, then back at her face. "It accomplishes nothing in one place. Yaerfaerda's made manifest. The flame beckons. Austraeoh—"
"Rainbow Dash."
Silence.
Stars swirled and galaxies drifted.
Rainbow smiled. "Rainbow... Dash..." She held her hoof out further. "It's a lost more awesome than 'Austraeoh.' Now who are you... really?" A sympathetic breath. "I'm sure it's a lot snazzier than 'Ilrifa.'"
The figure stared at her. There was a tremor. Something glinted in the darkness, trickling down the figure's face.
"We are alone."
Rainbow Dash blinked.
"We do not understand. It stands still. It asks. But... no answers. Only flames." A shuddering breath. "It must keep moving. Keep burning. In the darkness and the flicker between."
"Were you... once one of them?" Rainbow asked. She gulped and continued: "Were you one of the pegasi? The original pegasi?"
The figure was silent.
"Ilrifa... do you remember anything?"
Another tremble. "Guilt." Pointed ears folded. "G-guilt..." Wings coiled tightly at its side. "Something is broken. A flame grows in the garden. It must spread. It must heal and restore. Austraeoh..."
The being's voice trailed off. For a brief second, Rainbow thought she envisoned two haunting specks—like narrow eyes at the bottom of the blackest well. A panicked glance was thrown over her shoulder.
"What...?" Rainbow Dash murmured.
"Ofolrodi," the equine figure squeaked. "Their field of foaling. Time narrows. Their darkness shall spread and consume the garden. It is all our fault."
Shadows shifted through the starlight, forcing the figure to vanish.
"Wait! Ilrifa!" Rainbow suffered a cold chill. Reluctantly, she turned and looked behind her.
All of the heavens were gone—or at least that's what Rainbow thought at first. In truth, something was blocking out the starlight—obscuring the harmonic gold from distant, unseen plains. One by one, antlers formed from dark onyx lines. As soon as they took shape, they descended on her, plummeting from twelve separate directions, dragging the screams of countless civilizations as something stronger than gravity sent them plunging towards Rainbow's figure.
"Luna Poop!" Rainbow yelped. She looked every which way for an escape. In the surmounding darkness, only one opportunity glinted at her. Water cascaded over the edge of the plane, dissolving into mist and chaos.
Without a second thought, Rainbow Dash threw her body east. As the shadows fell—and thunderously so—she flew past the horizon and into the nebulous darkscape beyond. Behind her, the cosmos exploded, showering the skies around her with silver stone fragments. She heard a pegasus' lonely sobs, and then all she felt was guilt... guilt as she built up momentum and approached a lonesome torch in the middle of an ink black plain. Seething, she dove into the flames, reveling in the righteous baptism. Just as all the pain and regret melted away, she sensed five sets of hooves reaching for her.
But before she could surrender to their embrace, a single talon grabbed her wings from behind, yanking her—cold and shivering—back into the darkness.
She never made it that far. Eternity dwindled, and Rainbow felt herself levitating numbly in the penumbra, even as the circles floated back together and produced a somber melody against the heavely acoustics.
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It could be...?
Goddess dayum, this is getting trippy.
Sorry but how does this long hard to fallow boring story still get featured ? What mod's blank are you blanking?
...wot
This... just got interesting...
Well... Thats new
This chapter left me with more questions than answers... As usual, I guess.
Well, that answered a whole lot of nothing, but that's kind of par for the course with these trippy extraplanar encounters. It is at least hinting that Dash's journey doesn't actually end at the Midnight Armory and that there may well be a need for her to travel down into the center of the Machine World. Ilrifa reminds me of a broken A.I that can't remember what it was programmed to do or by who, and is just spouting the last lines of code it has left.
Like Rainbow said so long ago, said a whole lot of nothing by saying a whole lot of something. Feels like we are approaching the endgame for this book.
7525829
Uhhh, sorry but how does farming relate to the popularity of a story?
7525829 I suppose it would be hard to leave a story fallow when it updates every day. That's gotta disturb the soil a lot.
So we are left with just one thing.
The Big Q?
7525873
Your idea that ilrifa is some sort of AI brung to mind Epcot from a diffrent, but oddly related, Rainbow Dash...could the be two sides of the same sort of projects?
7525829 worse stories than this get feature. I'm sure I could go visit those and shit all over them... or I could just keep my mouth quiet and avoid them.
But to answer your question.
This "hard to fallow" fic updates daily, makes people think and is generally a guilty pleasure for some of the pickiest readers on the site. It has a strong following of dedicated, passionate readers that have formed a strong community.
It's not some half baked oneshot with a single idea to sustain it, it does worldbuilding like we haven't seen since... well probably before you joined the fandom
Mods don't decide feature, it's an automated system... but if you go through enough of the comments on this story and its prequels (which go back farther than your join date) you'll find comments from several moderators and even more big names of the site.
And just to be "that guy" I don't think you should really bitch too loudly about what constitutes a good fic when this fic has about ×20 the upvotes and less downvotes than yours does.
Just saying.
7525829
Start reading.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/25966/austraeoh
Hopefully see you again in a few weeks to a few months.
7525829 After over 3 million words of worldbuilding and increasingly complex lore (across the entire Austraeoh saga), there is no way you can ever judge or even hope to understand this story or even part of it based on a single chapter. I must admit that the first book (named Austraeoh) is a bit of a slog in places, but everything from book 2 onwards has been increasingly epic in terms of story. There is a damn good reason why this is always in the featured box.
...OK. I trust Ilrifa a little more than I did last chapter. Still not completely won over, though. I can't help but think of Xona every time it says "it". Or she, I think. Maybe it's the spirit of the progenitor of the Austraeoh line, or something.
7525829 Haven't you asked this exact same thing twice already in previous chapters? This train never stops.
Yes, it can be hard to follow, there's a lot to remember. But between all the regular commenters, we do a pretty good job of filling in the blanks for eachother (and when nobody knows, there are a few people willing to go back and excavate old chapters for details). All told, I'd say it's a pretty good system (this is why reading the comments when catching up is very useful).
And yes, mods do read this.
7523932 and the mysterious voice is an ass that likes confusing everything it meets. Hurray progression!
Then again, at least Dash may someday be able to shake the voice physically now. I'm really hoping it's one of the OG pegasi, and that the whole crazy catbird hunting party doesn't play a major role anymore. Sadly... we've gone too long without a Keris chapter.
5 sets of hooves and a talon, at first I thought that might be the group she brought with her. Between the Sarosians and the Herald that accompanied her, they have those limb numbers.
But then it hit me. 5 sets and a talon... why only a single talon? And why did it yank her out of the flame?
The ghost 5 were trying to pull her out, and Discord just yanked her back in.
Is Dash going to have to join the ghost 5 for a bit, while Discord drives?
...if so, she'll finally get to hug them at least.
-Companions are abound, frozen spectres hound. Utaan.
7525829 Getting featured is about the traffic going to a story overall, not because of mod favour, the fact that there's always a surge of traffic going to this glorious saga is reason enough.
Short Skirts and Explosions never doesn't make the feature box on one of his stories.
3 minutes spent learning nothing
6 minutes trying to come up with an explanation for the nothing
9 minutes total of nothing actually done
it was discord all along?
imma go make midnight ramen and fail to make any more sense out of this
Oh man this is getting very interesting, I'm gonna go with the majority here and say that was likely Discord (or at least Rainbows Discord form) grabbing her. Also I have a feeling that the name Ilrifa might actually be a reference to the Iifa Tree from Final Fantasy IX, especially with the whole thing about gardens and growing and stuff.
So "Ilrifa" apparently refers to the purple flame in each of the machine-world entrances, which seems appropriate considering that their guardian is one of the ancient pegasi who did something to cause the Sundering. (That is, if we're going by this 7520822 translation of "ugly tear/rip".)
As for "Ofolrodi" being the "dark hatred"... I'm not so sure. Ilrifa does say something about a "darkness" that threatens to consume the "garden" (which clearly refers to the machine world/Urohringr):
But she also says that Austraeoh must accomplish Ofolrodi in order to restore Urohringr... So perhaps this word doesn't refer to the darkness after all, but the way to defeat it? After all, "the flame must spread"...
On the other hand, what if the way to restore Urohringr is to spread the dark hatred? Could this be what Verlax was talking about?
7526304
7526380
My original thought was that Wildcard and the rest of the gang had caught up with her somehow, hence the single talon (the other one's a prosthetic), but I didn't get why he'd pull Dash away from the Mane 5.
Discord definitely seems more likely, with his antlers being mentioned before.
A lot more awesome?
This seems to be most likely Discord which isn't that much of a surprise at this point.
7526441 I got the impression of a lot more than a single pair of antlers. This wouldn't be the first time Dash has had a vision of a ton of Draconequui either; she saw them surrounding her in Odrsjot when she put Nightshade's flame on its pedestal (she also saw them in a vision from Nevlamas, though that's not as relevant since it was a memory and they were fully corporeal there).
The antlers being described as "onyx" isn't very comforting, though. Onyx Eclipses...
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I'm wondering if the garden that this entity spoke of is a parallel to the tree Yggdrasil.In Norse mythology Yggdrasil is the connecting point from the mortal realm to Asgard. If this location Ilrifa mentioned serves the same purpose and the Harmonic Prism draws energy from the Harmonic Plains then it could be game over for Urohringr if that connection is lost and the barrier fails.Actually upon further thought 7526423 is probably right about "the garden" being the light side. The midnight armory would probably be the logical connecting point.
We are the last children of the cataclysm,
Awoken in a silent prison.
Out into the great collapse we ride.
7525791 I'd have thought this to be in representation of either Chaos or Discord himself, yes, but as the antagonist, the Sunderer, not Rainbow's new companion. The vision had her flying onto the dark side, returning to the other Elements, but it was his claw that dragged her back into the chaos of the cataclysm. I felt that was a vision, a memory and a warning more than anything else.
7526649 Woo Miracle Of Sound!
I dont know what just happened...
Also, le plot thickens!
Best read stoned.
7526423 I'm presuming that working definition is wrong in general, and yet it may be the 'correct' interpretation that Verlax drew from her faffery to the void and back. At least there's some additional metaphysical reasoning behind some of Verlax's decisions. Though we may not get a full explanation for these recent chapters until months from now.
No, Rainbow. It is not a moron. It is a machine... or, a piece of one.
Ilrifa sounds like some sort of AI, or maybe a personality imprint.
So, Ilrifa is a spirit of an original pegasus. And it seems Discord is on the scene.
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7526244 I may have. Then I get just about the same response's . Try to read and get into it and don't. Forget about it see it featured then start over. Dam I am in a rut.
Did Dash just have one of her chaos episodes in a beacon while touching a flame? Has that ever happened before?
Speaking of it's been like what 5 or 6 days since the last one, which was different and worse seem like it's that time.
7525829 Read and find out why. If it's too hard for you to follow, then don't read it, or try again later when your filled with determination.
Your post is also a factor for why the story gets featured, all the replies your post gets also factors in. So, that's one reason why this story gets featured; People posts complaints about the constant featuring of this story. Huh, imagine that. Your part of the problem to your own fallacious problem.
Also, don't confuse success for special privilege. There is such a thing as hard work and getting rewarded for it, though the reward is never 100% the same or equal for everyone.
7527362 Fallow as in getting plowed farm joke. But anywho. I may take your advice and give it a go once if I get board.(
)
7520822
First thing that came to mind when I saw that was the chaos rift in ponyville.
Perhaps Ilrifa is a part of Rainbow, a part that has been put aside, forgotten even. It _is_ a familiar voice, but then, there are a decent bit of those by now.
I'm just going to say, once again, I don't think Ilrifa is benevolent.
Is it just me or is Ilrifia getting more adorable by the second? I would love it if she accompanied RD along with the Mane 6.
7526289 Gone too long without a Keris chapter? Oooh ho ho no. What's happening with Keris and his party is exactly the same thing we got in L*****: Dash is being followed, we all really, really don't want her to be and hope ):( forgets that she is, he plays along by not mentioning them forever and instead giving us something dark, heavy and confusing to distract us. Then, just as we've reached a resolution that's not very satisfying, but allows us to proceed...
The stage is set.
7526574 Yggdrasil? Haven't seen that come up since people were trying to predict the name of Yaerfaerda or Ynanhluutr.
7527308 How far did you make it? Austraeoh kind of lacks a hook chapter until Cht.86, which is pretty far in.
Also, a thought: if your "hard to follow" problem stems from not knowing what Rainbow's deal is, that's more or less the point of the first book. It's not because you missed something, or because the author was lazy, it's because something very dramatic happened to her and her coming to terms with it forms the backbone of her character arc for... Well, she's still dealing with it, and without it the story would be about nothing more than a swashbuckling pegasus doing good and causing explosions.
If you go far enough, you will find out what happened to her by the end of Austraeoh, and the first half of book 2 is filled with flashbacks showing it actually happening.
I really, really strongly recommend finding it out for yourself. Knowing ahead of time what's driving her will completely change your experience reading through the first book. But if you've read this whole post and still feel not knowing what's going on is hindering your ability to stay connected with the story, then ask and we'll tell you what Dash's deal is.
7525791
I hope so!
forum.bfreborn.com/uploads/monthly_2016_04/discord_is_ok_by_csimadmax-d4cekar.png.6b36179a82575eec581c4406df47a2fe.png
7527940 I actually kinda hated the "Rainbow tripped" part of chapter 86. It was really, really cliche and made no sense.
7527940 I recall someone also said they started with Eljunbyro, then went back and read Austraeoh after the fact.
I guess some people just don't like the in media res starting point, they need the context and backstory upfront to really get into it.
Kinda ironic since it means they're starting in media res, either way, but getting Rainbow's backstory first and foremost would be important to some I guess.
The main hook of Austraeoh is in the question the short descriptor provides. "Why is she flying east?" and there is a hint given fairly early on as to why.
But different strokes for different folks and all that. which is fair enough, as long as you don't badmouth it cause it wasn't for you.
7528357 What fun is there in making sense?
Now, I don't mean to step on any toes with this, but...
Yeah, that chapter was pretty controversial. Part of it may have had to do with ):('s identity not being common knowledge yet. But he does conventionally "bad" stuff all the time, such as making Dash ridiculously magnetic and excusing all sorts of bad stuff her friends do, and nobody usually minds (one or two consistent people aside). The main times lots of people come out and say something was poorly done tend to correspond with stuff happening that most of us really, really don't want to happen. Like Cht.86. And two certain books' endings. Sometimes, it feels less like criticism and more like denial.
I, for one, liked it a lot. Perhaps it breaks the rules, perhaps it's not what I want, but Cht.86 very much made an impact. That impact has nothing to do with the circumstances she was in (which is where the complaints lie). It doesn't even have to do with the choice she made- it's about the reason she chose to do what she did, and what that said about her (yet unknown) motives. And any errors or contrivances made in the setup, I think, are completely forgivable in the face of what was ultimately delivered: a glimpse of just how much Rainbow's deepest want matters to her, a want that sits with her all the way until Urohringr.
That was some intensely trippy dialogue. If I still remembered what half the ancient words meant then I might be able to understand more, but I've forgotten them. Things are going to get more crazy, and once we see what came of that flame we'll truly start the next leg of the journey. I don't know how it's possible, but this epic keeps on getting more and more... epic!
~SolidFire
7528594 You misunderstand me. I don't object to the kissing scene in question, I objected to how it was lead into. Rainbow has rarely tripped in this entire series, and yet she did while standing absolutely still and as a lead into said scene. When I read that one sentence I very much cringed from how cliche it was. There were hundreds of better ways to have transitioned into that scene.
I had no problem with any of the other scenes you mentioned because they were well written. This isn't about what I WANT to happen, but the quality of storytelling. Not to say that the storytelling of that chapter was lacking in other aspects, it just felt badly transitioned.
7528660 Ancient words, as in the titles?
Austraeoh: "East Horse", Rainbow Dash.
Eljunbyro: "Endurance Reborn", Rainbow's friends. Belle, the Jury, the ghosts.
Innavedr: "Accomplish the Wind". Never really referred to anything in-world, just appeared on the cover of the Book that powered the airship.
Odrsjot: "Frantic Companionship", The Herald.
Urohringr: "Ring of Fate", The world.
Yaerfaerda: "Foal Yesterday", the symbol that guides Rainbow to the beacons.
Ynanhluutr: "Within Purpose", awakening the ghosts.
Utaan: "Beyond", is presently being explained.
Ofolrodi: Possibly "Dark Hatred", has yet to be explained.
Ilrifa: Possibly "Rip/Tear", the name of the spirit that's been talking to Rainbow in flame visions since Urohringr.
7528885 Hmm... I do see your point, though I maintain that how she did it isn't the important part of the scene. I get the impression ):( wanted everything to happen really quickly, and might have taken a few liberties to accomplish that.
7527387 Honestly, I know what it's like, seeing this weird sounding story with a vague synopsis in the featured box and wondering, "What makes this so great that I keep seeing it here?" So I tried it. Admittedly I couldn't fallow it either.
Beginning wasn't too engaging and the amount of chapters was intimidating.
Later, I start seeing it on the featured again and again, as it evolved into different stories, I realized something was going on here. This is a thing and I didn't want to get left behind whatever this thing was. With that I was determined to at least read the first book.
It's the first 50-60ish chapters that are kind of a slog though, but are important, as each one gives you a tiny, tiny piece of the picture, though leaving you with more questions than answers. Once Dash starts meeting other ponies you may find it easier to read the next chapter.
Just stick with one or two chapters a day and eventually you'll be reading a lot more. Don't stop reading! Unless your 100% sure you do not want to continue. Otherwise you'll start making excuses to not read it, forgot everything, want to read it again, and start over. Try to finish the 1st book, but at the very least finish the Windthrow Arc.
Anyway good luck, and good Easting.
7528966 Eljunbyro exclusively refers to to the ghost 5, Pilate, and Belle (and I question Pilate). Essentially they are characters that created a specific event or drive in Rainbow to keep her going. Odrsjot is actually what you think Eljunbyro represents, which is the friends Rainbow meets and eventually leaves along the way such as (but not exclusive to) the Jury, and the Herald.
It needs to be said that, unlike all the other words, Innavedr was never clearly explained.