• 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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Upside Down and Inside Out

"Soooooooooo..." A tiny filly's fangs flashed in the lunar runelight of the Bleak's Plummet interior. "...are you getting dizzy?"

A colt blinked. "Feeling sick at all?"

"Uhhhhhhhhhh..." Nicole hung from a suspended bleakweed root structure dangling from a grand ceiling. Several other families dangled around her in the habitat section of the underwater dwelling. The mare's eyes blinked as her ears twitched. "...actually... believe it or not..." Her tail flicked. "No! Not even in the least!"

"Hmmmmmm..." A mother smiled from two roots away, cradling her young in her folded leathery wings. "It is natural. They can take the night out of you, but not the blood."

"They... didn't take anything away from me, really," Nicole said, glancing at the other interested sarosians gazing her way. "You're talking about the Rohbreddenites who adopted me, right?"

"They didn't mistreat you at all?" a filly asked.

"Beat you up?" A colt dangled a few inches away. "Clip your wings? Shave your mane?"

"I..." Nicole squirmed slightly. "Okay... so maybe there was some name-calling and insulting..."

Shrieks and chirps.

"Hah!"

"I knew it!"

"Now hold up..." Nicole held a hoof upside down. "I was still fed. Loved. Hugged." She stifled a giggle. "Nuzzled." She sighed warmly. "I had several adopted siblings who cared very deeply for me. It's just that... the one in charge of it all?" She gulped. "He turned out to be not so swell."

"Bet you hate all Rohbreddenites 'cuz of him."

"Mmmm..." Nicole stared up (or down) into the depths of Bleak's Plummet. "No. Not really."

A stallion cocked his velvety head aside. "Why not?"

"Because... I can understand why he felt the way he did... and he said the things that he did. There's... a lot of sorrow in Blue... er... my caretaker." Nicole gulped hard. "Just like... y'know... there's a lot of anger in those who've been performing the Vigil."

"We're not angry!" A young colt's fangs flashed. "We're proud! We're strong! Someday... I'm going to give my life for the Maiden of the Moon! Just like my older brother and sister!"

Nicole threw him a shocked look. "Did you really lose your siblings?"

The colt shook slightly, but bravely blurted, "They died pillaging a juggernaut in the northern reaches! We were able to eat for five whole seasons thanks to them! The local patrol avoided our waters for eight seasons too!"

Nicole glanced at the others hanging alongside her. "How many ponies here have also lost loved ones to piracy?"

Somber silence filled the air. The adults clammed up. With stifled whimpers, young foals hid their faces into their parents' chests.

Nicole let loose a melancholic sigh. "Well, don't you think it's high time that changed? I mean..." She bore a hopeful smile, fangs showing. "With the arrival of Rainbow Dash, she's proven that Nightmare Moon is a thing of the past. Your Matriarch, Princess Luna, is alive and well in Equestria! Isn't that fantastic! Isn't that... enough to give up the whole pirate bloodshed thing for?"

"I... cannot pretend to know," a stallion said.

Nicole looked at him.

His slitted eyes glimmered in the runelight. "We have known nothing but fear and pillaging. Such is the sacrifice of the Vigil." He gulped. "I do not think we know how to change."

"Hmmm..." Nicole smiled. "You know, there was a time when I thought I wasn't cut out for adventuring beyond the fenceline of my farm." She winked. "But if I didn't... then I'd never have met you fine ponies and learned what it was like to properly sleep from the ceiling." She giggled inwardly.

"You think... we're fine ponies?" a mare remarked.

"Why... s-sure!" Nicole nodded. "And with the help of Luna, you can only be finer!" She glanced at the others. "I mean... wouldn't Xarchellus agree?"

"I don't know..." One sarosian remarked. She squirmed in place. "Mmmmm..."

Nicole looked at her curiously.

"That is..." The sarosian looked up, eyes moist. "...I really hope she does."

Nicole slowly nodded. "Change is frightening... but for the best."

"You sure of that?"

"Not... always..." Nicole smirked. "Perhaps what we both need is some help finding our way."

"Would... you help us?"

Nicole opened her muzzle. A sigh, and she folded her leathery wings about herself. After several dull seconds, she murmured warmly: "I would so very much like to..."

"I think we would like you to... too..."

"Yeah," a foal gasped. "You're really interesting."

"And pretty!"

Nicole giggled—only to let loose a sharp shriek. She covered her muzzle, wide-eyes.

The adults around her laughed.

"Just let it out, land-dweller," a mother chuckled. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"No... I-I guess not..." Nicole nevertheless cleared her throat. "Nor should you feel awkward about... wanting to have peace."

The sarosians merely glanced at one another.

At some point, a nervous shudder ran through Nicole's body. "I... uhm..." She unlocked her legs and flipped down off the root. Flapping her wings, she hovered close to the ceiling. "I gotta go find my friend."

"Who?"

"Echo. Y'know..." Nicole gestured. "The flightless wisecracker with a heart of fool's gold. Knowing his reputation, it's probably a bad thing to have left him alone for so long—"

"Down in the dining hall," one sarosian said, pointing a hairy fetlock. "That is where you will fine Ryckmun."

"Uhhhh..." Nicole did a double-take. "Excuse me—what?"

"Ryckmun," the sarosian repeated. "The true name of your friend before he was banished."

"Yeah." A nearby colt giggled. "Only the lamest sarosian would name himself 'Echo'! Heeheehee-ee-ee-ee-ee!"

"Ryckmun has done many terrible things," a mare said. "But he also comes bearing the blessings of the Mother of Nightmares." She took a deep breath. "If it weren't for him, we'd have no idea the Vigil had ended."

A nearby stallion nodded. "It is nothing less than a sign of true honor. Something to be respected."

"Yeah... no kidding..." Nicole glanced down at the distant floor of the chamber, then back up at the dangling batponies. "Would you... care to tell me more about 'Ryckmun'?"

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