"Rainbow Dash..." Princess Luna spoke, her words firm and serious. "Concerning the Midnight Armory..."
Rainbow Dash stood on the bow of the Stardust. She and her companions listened through the persistent, rolling thunder. "Yes, Your Majesty?"
"There are some things that you need to know about it..."
Twilight Sparkle and Rarity exchanged glances.
Rainbow gulped. She tilted her head up towards the flickering clouds. "I'm all ears, Your Highness."
"It was constructed by alicorns tens of thousands of years ago," Luna explained. "The gold surfaces were carved by harmonic magic. The foundation—enchanted with harmonic energies. The entrances—in all cardinal directions—sealed with alicorn sorcery."
"Well, wouldn't be much of an armory if none of those steps were taken, I guess..."
"Rainbow Dash..." Princess Celestia's voice broke through. "What my younger sister means to convey is that the Midnight Armory was built by alicorns..."
"Right. I got that."
"... for alicorns."
Rainbow blinked. She looked at her friends.
"If..." Twilight thought out loud. "...they sealed the entrances with their magic..."
Rainbow's gaze darted heavenward. "Does this mean only alicorns can open the dang thing?"
"Practically speaking, yes," Celestia said.
"However..." Luna interjected. "...the Armory responds chiefly to harmonic energies. And there is only one surviving physical incarnation of such an enchantment."
Rainbow held a hoof to her neck. "The Element of Loyalty..."
"Precisely," Luna said. "My sister and I whole-heartedly believe that the Element of Loyalty—once brought within close proximity of the Armory—will automatically cause the entrances to open, therefore allowing you entry."
"Yeah, but... like..." Rainbow Dash fidgeted as the Stardust plowed through an errant wave, splashing salt water across the deck. "...my Element is just one of six. It's... like... a fraction of the original energy originally imbued to you and Celestia by the Harmonic Prism before the rest of the alicorns up and croaked."
"Indeed."
"So... like..." Rainbow Dash's brow furrowed. "How can I expect the Element of Loyalty to work that easily? I mean... in regards to opening the Armory?"
Spike's voice broke through the airwaves, startling the pegasus. "But remember, Rainbow! Your pendant is way... way more than just the Element of Loyalty these days."
"How do you figure?"
Rarity spoke up. "I think what Spikey-Wikey means is that there's more than just Loyalty tied to your pendant."
"Yeah!" Pinkie nodded jubilantly. "There's us! Wee!"
"Makes a lick of sense," Applejack remarked. "We're all in on this ride because of that snazzy necklace yer sportin'."
"Even though it's taken several visits to the ruby flame to... uhm... 'acquire' us," Fluttershy added meekly.
Rainbow raised an eyebrow, gazing skyward again. "So... like... because I've got all the girls with me... at least in spirit..."
"Then the Element of Loyalty is basically all of the Elements of Harmony rolled into one!" Spike said excitedly. "Er... at least... that's my personal postulation."
"Mrmmfff..." Remna folded her forelimbs. "Are we so certain that voice belongs to a dragon?"
Cheeks puffing, Twilight spun to growl at the violet mare. "Yes he is! In fact, he's the best dragon, you... you h-hussy!"
"She can't hear you, darling," Rarity cooed.
"I don't care!" Twilight pouted, muzzle scrunched. "I hope she... grnnngh... ch-chokes on a crucified pony!"
"Ahem." Rainbow peered at the thunderclouds. "Luna? Celestia? What do you think?"
"About Spike's theory?"
"Yeah..."
"There's some sound logic to it," Celestia said. "However, the fact remains: we do not know precisely what is happening to the Element of Loyalty."
Luna joined in: "It is only fair to say: we've never truly understood why the Elements chose you, Twilight, and the others to be avatars of harmony. Granted, we have several theories—"
"Care to elaborate?" Rainbow asked.
"Rainbow, what matters is that you and the rest of your friends are innately connected with the Elements, even if only one physically remains," Celestia said. "And as for the prevailing theories, I believe there is only one firm explanation as to why the spirits of your friends have endured—even beyond physical death."
Before Rainbow could open her mouth—
"She is the Austraeoh," Remna said. "Whatever empowers Urohringr, it has hijacked the Elements of Harmony as its chief energy source for rebooting the entire Machine World."
Rainbow turned to squint at the draconian mare. "'Hijacked?' Really?"
Remna merely nodded. "I do not believe that the forces of Urohringr particularly care about the nature of alicorn magic... only that it's somehow determined to be strong enough to breathe life into this lost plane."
"Lemme guess," Rainbow Dash murmured. "Through me and my element."
Remna's head cocked to the side. "Or, in this case, through the Harmonic Prism." She looked into the sky as if she was staring at Luna and Celestia. "And once it's brought back to the exact place where the destruction of the Elements began, then and only then will harmony be fully restored to this piece of the ring."
"And my fr-friends too!" Rainbow sputtered. "Right?"
"Axan's suppositions are sound, Rainbow Dash," Princess Luna said. "Nevertheless, I suspect that the moment of true revelation will transpire the moment you get your hooves on the Prism... which will be no easy task."
Rainbow squinted. "What do you mean by that? Is the thing... like... bigger than a house?"
"Negative. It is larger than your Element of Loyalty—yes—but a mortal of your size should have no problem carrying it."
Rainbow shrugged. "I'm used to wearing a saddlebag at all times anyways. So... like... what's the big hooplah?"
"Well, you must understand—"
"It's not gonna make my face melt off or some metal crud like that, will it?"
"Rainbow Dash, taking hold of the Harmonic Prism should not be a challenge," Princess Celestia said. "An Element Bearer such as yourself—after all—should be more than properly-equipped for the task."
"However..." Luna spoke, her tone grave. "...the difficulty will be in entering the Midnight Armory itself."
"I thought you said that it responds to harmonic energies," Rainbow Dash remarked. She tapped her pendant as thunder rolled yet again. "So... like... me and my ruby lightning bolt can just... roll up to one of the four front doors and open sesame... dreit?"
"Such is our avid hope. However... once you are inside the Armory, Rainbow Dash, you must be prepared to... face some trials."
"Trials..." Rainbow droned, ears folding back.
"Ewwwwwwwww..." Pinkie Pie curled up into a pink ball. "...all my droopy parts just became droopier!"
"Seriously, Princesses?" Rainbow muttered—nearly growled. "Trials? After all I've been through—?"
"It is not what you think, Rainbow Dash—"
"After all the crap that the Herald and I are going to have to go through in order to get to that place—?!"
Celestia's voice spoke with a stern edge: "We do not speak of anything even remotely resembling the banal exercises of torment that Verlax put you through. But—rather—it's simply a matter of how the Armory was built and by whom."
Rainbow Dash clammed up.
In a calmer voice, Celestia continued: "The Armory was made by alicorns. And the Harmonic Prism that's inside? It was only ever crafted to be wielded by immortals. For all of our ancestor's wisdom, they never foresaw mere mortals becoming the avatar of the Elements."
Luna joined in: "The Armory was built with the express purpose of being opened and accessed by alicorns and alicorns alone. This was several millennia ago, and in all that time we've never had a need to access the safehold. Since then, the race of alicorns have dwindled to near-extinction. With Mortuana having passed, there's only myself, my sister, and the half-bred Whitemane to account for the surviving descendants."
"In other words... even if I do get the doors to the Armory open..." Rainbow Dash gulped. "...it's... not exactly going to be pegasus-friendly."
Spike spoke up: "The Armory will be expecting an alicorn being. As a result, the magics inside will be... uhhh... best attuned to an immortal's comprehension."
"In other words, whatever's inside is going to blow my friggin' mind."
Spike's voice cracked: "There... could be some major... major challenges... y-yes..."
"Spike..." Rainbow sighed heavily out her nostrils. "Princesses... if all this time you knew how friggin' hard it would be to simply touch the Harmonic Prism, then why was I ever encouraged to fly to the dang place to begin with?"
"We never said that it'd be impossible, Rainbow!" Spike exclaimed. "And even if we thought it was... and told you so... would it have stopped you two years ago when you first set out on wing?"
Rainbow sighed heavily, glancing at her friends with a tired smile. "No. I guess not."
"It will be a challenge, Rainbow Dash," Princess Luna's voice said. "That much cannot be denied. The moment you manage to open those doors and enter the golden structure, you will be subjected to unbridled harmonic magics—most of which have been engineered to ensure that alicorns... and only alicorns be granted access to the Harmonic Prism hidden within."
"So... if I'm not an immortal... then I'm basically screwed, right?"
"But you are no mere mortal, Rainbow Dash," Celestia said. "Between the Elements of Harmony and the forces of Urohringr, you are uniquely empowered."
Remna spoke: "You have sensed the Armory... have you not?" Her green eyes narrowed on the pegasus. "With this new 'sight' of yours?"
Rainbow gulped. She stared west... down through the hull of the Stardust and the dark waters beyond. A faint... tiny... miniscule splotch of hazy gold light dwindled... almost like a phantom.
"Jury's still out on that..." She muttered.
"The changeling queen spoke of the persistence of this infernal 'Trinary War' on the Dark Side, yes?" Remna inquired.
Rainbow nodded.
"And my nefarious sister spoke of her inability to locate Endrax?"
Rainbow nodded again.
Taking a deep breath, Remna leaned back and said, "Then... suffice it to say... three whole armies and the strongest member of my brood have all failed in entering the Armory and accessing the Harmonic Prism thus far." She raised an eyebrow. "Now do you doubt that the sanctum was destined to be open by you and you only?"
"Yeah, but..." Rainbow Dash bit her lip. "...how can I expect to survive the inevitable brain scrambler inside?"
"It goes far beyond mere perception, Rainbow Dash," Spike said.
"Oh." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Great." She tossed her forelimbs. "Just how freaked out should I be?"
"It's pure, unbridled harmonic energy—raw and untapped since ancient times when Luna's and Celestia's ancestors first built the place." Spike took a breath. "What you'll likely experience is less mental and... more likely temporal."
"T-temporal?" Rarity stammered.
"But of course..." Twilight exhaled. "...I've read old history books about the first alicorns. Many modern experts assume that the powers of harmonic energy were even more powerful than the spells that allow Celestia and Luna to control the sun and moon." She swallowed hard. "Some alicorn mages were so powerful, they could manipulate gravity."
"Yeah?" Rainbow glanced at her. "So what?"
"Rainbow... if you can affect gravity, then time isn't that much of a sneeze either."
Rainbow blinked. She looked heavenward. "Luna? Celestia? Is the Midnight Armory gonna... mess with the fabric of space... time... panties... you-name-it?"
"Not even our ancestors could make a long-lasting spell that powerful, Rainbow Dash," Celestia said.
"But, Spike just said—"
"The powers that preserve the Midnight Armory hold sway to all that is contained by it," Luna said. "It takes a keen alicorn intellect to comprehend whatever transpires within those golden walls. But a mortal who enters? They will likely have a great deal of difficulty in determining what is up from down."
"Or is 'past' from 'future,'" Spike clarified.
"You are gifted with the Elements of Harmony, Rainbow Dash," Luna said. "Not to mention the forces of Austraeoh. My sister and I have full-faith that you will be able to navigate the confounding forces within."
"Just..." Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. "...it won't be a walk in the park."
"We highly suspect not."
"What's the matter, Dashie?" Pinkie Pie blinked. "We thought you loved a challenge!"
"Oh... totally..." Rainbow Dash sighed, folding her forelimbs. "But I also love having my head together so I can celebrate the victory afterwards..."
"In a worst case scenario," Fluttershy said. "The Herald could help Rainbow Dash figure things out. They'll be by her side, after all."
"I... don't know about that, Fluttershy," Twilight Sparkle said. "They're not empowered by harmony like Rainbow Dash is. If nothing else, bringing other mortals into an alicorn environment might only complicate things further."
"Huh?" Fluttershy blinked.
Applejack muttered, "She means Rainbow's gonna have to enter the Armory alone, no matter what."
"Pretty much." Twilight gulped. "Yeah."
Meanwhile, Rainbow's eyes were darting left and right as she pondered something heavily. Clearing her throat, she spoke towards the thundering sky. "What about chaos?"
"Chaos, Rainbow Dash?" Celestia remarked.
"I've got a flankload of chaos inside me, right?" Rainbow pointed at her pendant. "Y'know... the nasty beast clawing away at my insides? Threatening to kill me super hard between beacons of ruby flame?"
"What about it, Rainbow Dash?" Luna asked.
"Well... it's like a pollutant, right? A smear on my harmonic... uh... soul-self?"
Luna's voice lingered, then blurted: "I must express confusion as to what you are attempting to imply, child."
Rainbow fumed. "Will having so much chaos inside of me make entering the Midnight Armory difficult? I mean... in spite of the Elements of Harmony and all that jazz?"
Silence.
At last, Luna's voice gravely replied, "I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, but we cannot fathom to guess. At least not with a modicum of accuracy."
Rainbow sighed, nostrils flaring as she stared across the choppy waters. "Terrific..."
Well at least there's a lot of stuff to go before then?
...Actually, that's not much of a consolation.
Pinkie pls.
Alicorn Princess Rainbow Dash is still in the cards. Isn't harmony the balance of order and chaos not the antithesis of chaos?
Heee....I miss Kera.
Oh cool... so is she going to have to experience all her most emotionally powerful moments again when she gets in there?
Killing Shell, fing Roarke, Taking off from Val Roa after the sundering of the Jury, Destroying the Reed... Shit like that.
Don't really envy that type if temporal mumbo jumbo.
...okay so, alone, as in, the girls won't be there either?
That's... kind of interesting, will they be stuck in the door like keys?
-Companions are abound, frozen spectres hound. Utaan.
The Midnight Armory is a Tar-Aiym Krang?
Oh fun, temporal manipulation. I wonder iif its going to be like that experiment where researchers extended an interference setup so that the two arms went through the same two devices, in opposite directions, before reaching the detector, so when placed into single photon superposition, the same photon had to go through A then B on one arm, at the same time as going through B then A in the other arm. And they got a pattern.
Actually, thinking about it, at supersonic speeds, Dashs milisecond neurons would have optical deviation clean accross her head, and even light speed itself would have micron displacements in her retina, so hopefully it will be like doing Magic Eye things, where the distortions are far larger, but Dash already has eperience of it where noone else does.
I wonder if the rest of the Mane 6 will remain as spirits for the ride, reactive ectoplasmic goop, or imagery echos in the surroundings? Or Pinkie Sence will go crazy, or work such that Dash has to close her eyes and let Pinkie play puppet pantomime performance to acrobat Dash through locations?
Wheres that third boat.
So the Midnight Armor will be a total existential mindfuck. Gotcha. Not really my bag, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
7570616 s2.quickmeme.com/img/e2/e2d278c546432c8b0a30ce8982752deb56d0249aff996c923378fdf2524a5981.jpg
chaos is but a part of harmony, as much as order.
on their own, both chaos and order create destruction. when chaos reigns, things are left and ruins. whend order reigns, things are surpressed and left stagnant, as order obdsesses with keeping chaos contained in all forms. and thus it only allows chaos to grow stronger.
but harmony, as it would seem, is both chaos and order joined as one.......
i know i am stating something vyer headcanony XP but if you think about it, harmony can't be order because it allows too much freedom. it is embracing difference even at the risk of chaos.
Space, time, and panties. The basis of all the best quantum string theories.
So, in a standard 11-dimensional interpretation, there's nine dimensions of space (three collapsed dimensions within each of the three we experience), time, and panties.
Now, I just need a $300 billion grant to build a pony panties collider. For research purposes.
7570551 I really don't think Princess Dashie will be a thing. This all ties back to pegasi, and making her an alicorn would kinda cheapen her heritage. Also that doesn't seem to be how it works in this universe(now watch IC prove me completely wrong)
Hey Princesses, with the fate of the world on the line, maybe the conversation about how to enter the armory could have happened a tad bit earlier than moments before you lose contact for good.
Well, the Midnight Armory just got even more exciting. I'm picturing some kind of Shinji-esque mindfuckery, and I know IC will be able to do some interesting things with that.
Also, I'm curious to see what role, if any, Ilrifa will have in all of it.
Only if your actual last name is Toth.
---
Also trials at the Midnight Armory, now I have a picture in my head of Rainbow Dash to bumping into one of the original alicorns or ponies who helped build/guard the midnight armory once she gets past them.
Now all we need is a pony or crazy gryphon *cough* Seraphimus *cough* chanting Kali Ma while ripping out a heart and we'll have ourselves great trilogy
Couldn't help but think of a Background Pony-esque potential ending, with the time going back to before any of the journey happened. Then life either goes on like nothing was amiss, or it creates a perfect "circle within a circle" and is in fact the CAUSE of the element's backfiring on her friends.
In either case, IC could never be so cruel.... I hope.
Dammit, first Nicole, and now I've just realized that this will probably be the last chance we have to communicate with the Princesses... I mean, I knew it before, but it's only now starting to sink in.
Luna has been with us on the journey for literally the entire journey, but soon we'll have to say goodbye to her, too. Along with Celestia, Spike, all the rest of Dash's friends back in Equestria... It's been over eight books, 1,600 chapters, and 3 million words, but this still feels too soon.
At least give the Mane 6 a final chance to talk to their families again...
Time? Gravity? The fabric of reality?
Jeez the Midnight Armory is going to be even more mind bending than I would've thought.
Does this mean Rainbow is going to become an alicorn? (DAMN YOU LARSON)
Also
Somebody has read too much Daring Do
So all the Trinity War dudes who are fighting over the armory, most likely very near it, will all be allowed in the moment Rainbow draws near?
That sounds like a setup for an incredible finale. I'm actually predicting we're going to see the Midnight Armory as the end of the very next book, at this point. First off, Book 10 is Ilrifa, but we seem to be done with beacons for now, so the next machine world contact (the Armory isn't that, but is close enough) likely won't happen until then- generally, the thing books are named after shows up early and plays a pretty big role in them. And at the rate Rainbow's mission is expanding, book space is at a premium: she's already got to go all the way back around to Ponyville, and I'll eat my hat if the series just up and ends there when we know so much about the cosmology of things beyond Urohringr.
7570948 They already all talked to their families during this full moon; it's just been going on for the last 70 chapters.
Sometimes, books compress conversations into key points, into just some sentences. However, when chapters like these happen, I get confused, because characters repeat the same idea 2 or 3 times, and Rainbow can't keep her cool... It's like a window into an actual real conversation.
7571034
The last three days took up 70 chapters? If this were the first half of Austraeoh, we'd be halfway across the dark side already.
...But I still want to see a final goodbye, dammit.
7571127
Strictly speaking, Rainbow actually covered very little ground over the first half of Austraeoh- Cht.100, she was still in the mountains separating Wintergate and Emeraldine. Utaan's travel sections actually are the most similar to Austraeoh's, usually we just get month-ish breaks of "the Noble Jury flew east" like in Alafreo, and otherwise no ground is being covered.
Then there's Innavedr, where a ton of stuff happened in a similarly short period of time. Time is weird in Austraeoh.
7570599 You're not Fana Farouche.
Cadance: "Hey -- fuck you too, Woona!"
Oooo, low blow there!
And oh boy, this brings up the question: With RD holding Chaos itself, will it only make the challenge of getting into the Midnight Armoury harder, or will she not be able to get in at all?
What would be harder to comprehend? The shit Dash will face in the Armory or the thought of any Heraldites making it that far?
7571211
Harmony tax. Please deposit five ghosts.
Non-refundable.
7571185 maybe she's a pegacorn
7571185 Eljunbyro 109:
But then, in Odrsjot 11:
So it seems ):( can't make up his mind. Or maybe she earned her wings. In Ynanhluutr, she's mentioned to be an Alicorn once again. If an ascention did take place (as opposed to the Unicorn bit being retconned), it's slightly implied it may have been during the Crystal Empire.
An interesting (though unrelated) tidbit I found while looking for that: it's very likely Sturke is masquerading as a pony like Axan and Verlax. Twi's mom says, "In fact—from the way your older brother describes Sturke—she's practically an alicorn in disguise!" which sounded like a figure of speech at the time... A time when we didn't know they could literally do that.
Mmmhmm. Dash is boned.
7571032 Actually Rainbow never started reading Daring Do in this AU.
Time manipulation, always a basket of fun. That aside the chaos in Rainbow may be able to help here.
7571316 I have occasionally entertained the idea of writing a Daring Do where she finds a machine world entrance, but the fact that I cannot write stops me every time.
Oh boy the armory sounds like a ton of fun. I suspect the place is going to be quite the hell hole once she gets to it.
Now that's some far-reaching exposition right here.
But nah, don't you be worried, Rainbow. It's not like forces of both the Urohringr and the Elements of Harmony have proven to repel the Chaos within you to the point of almost ripping you in two before, right?
7570934 Now that wouldn't be an End of Ponies ending, that'd be the Pony Dark Tower being the Pony Dark Tower one more time.
7571306 Celestia said her, Luna, and Whitemane are the only surviving descendants of the first alicorns. It doesn't matter what Cadance is, she wouldn't be a descendant and thus is subject to different rules.
7571597
Better this present than a past like that;
Back therefore to my darkening path again!
No sound, no sight as far as eye could strain.
Will the night send a howlet or a bat?
I asked: when something on the dismal flat
Came to arrest my thoughts and change their train.
- Robert Browning
"See the turtle, ain't he keen, all things serve the fuckin' beam."
- Eddie of New York
7571692 I think the operative word is less of descendant and more of immortal. In the quotes I dug up, Cadance is referred to as mortal, while this chapter is all about "an immortal's comprehension" and the like.
7571597 Huh... rereading that, it DOES sound a lot like an End of Ponies description...
7573359 To be fair, we now have Saros practically confirmed canon in this story, which means End of Ponies can tie in to the story at some point.
Mwap?
7573690 Now that's a depressing thought. Rainbow goes through all of this, seeing the wonders and terrors of the world in her pursuit to save it, only to come back victorious and have everything blow up anyways.
7571597
I've said it so many times before but I'll say it again, that is exactly how I suspect this will end. It will just basically be the ending to the Dark Tower.
Nice question dodge there, Luna. Keeping the mystery of if the Ghost Five will be brought back. Of course, one could read into it and see that by dodging the question... that doesn't exactly bode well.
Oh boy, more trials for Rainbow to go through and these sound to be potentially worse than Verlax's. I am glad, though, that there will be some challenge to the armory. Those chapters should be very interesting to see, and also means that the armory won't be like another beacon where she just moseys in and grabs the flame and walks out. This is shaping up to be a very large part of a book in itself.
Time and space, huh?
Perhaps we'll get to see alternate realities while we're in there. Standard MLP Canon, some Skirts fics, Daring Do finding a Machine World Entrance, and just maybe a glimpse of Twilight Sparkle flying east. A man can dream.
7575161 Some dreams should be made real. Like this one.
7575161 Daring Do has already found the Urohringr symbol on a cave wall in Appledashery. I won't spoil the consequences of her discovery. (And speaking of Appledashery: time for me to edit my weekly observation of the continuing lack of updates down to an appropriate size.)
*Hem* *Hem*
*HACK* Sorry, frog stuck in my throat.
Had a mini hiatus but I'm caught up.
Oh yeah, I like how they're painting the Midnight Armory. Sole place of Harmony on this side of the ring and the shear amount of Harmony magic coming from it makes it almost too confusing for mortal minds to comprehend. It's got so much Harmony magic it practically loops back around to Chaos magic.
7570719 Maybe, my math adds up a bit differently. A complex (as opposed to real) dimension for each spatial direction (equivalent to 6 real dimensions). Add in a complex dimension for matter-energy (8 total). Mix it up with a dimension for time ( 9 or 10). And now the question remains: does a complex panty dimension exist, and how do we understand this? I suggest that we use the polar form, and we only deal with this dimension in terms of panty phasors.
Unrelated:
Pffft. She ain't no hussy. Remna's just a draconic funpire.
I'm calling it here and now. Dash will experience a harmonic shade of CHIM before everything's said and done.
7570551
i have ranted much on this
in normal thought yes
in austraeohverse? iunno
7573690 There are instances of basic lore regarding the Alicorns that diverge from EoP, not to mention that the pre-wasteland equestria has more in common with the equstria of 2 years ago than what we are hearing from RD's chats with Luna. I think the Austraeoh saga simply borrows elements from EoP.
7571064
"I will need to do things harmoniously unless things go chaotically, so that I must do things harmoniously, in order to not cause chaos because Harmony harmony harmony"
7576376 A phasor? Are you crazy? The panties dimension is clearly a tensor quantity!
Did you expect a walk in the park, Rainbow?