15 – The Temple of Tides, Part II
Shadows surrounded Fine, and that was alright by him. Shadows made him feel safe. Comfortable. At home. They were a soothing touch, like velvet wings caressing his back. And right now, they were keeping him and his charge safe.
He peered out the glassless window, listening to the shouts and cries that rang out across the ruins. Tidal was in an uproar, and the fighting wasn’t limited to the arena anymore. He’d passed many a thestral interested in taking his head off. This might have worried him, had he not been supported – violently – by three times as many. But now all was still, save for the noise in the distance. Fine had kept going until he’d been well out of Tidal’s inhabited areas.
Now Fang and he were hiding in one of the city’s many abandoned buildings near the northern outskirts. Fine watched, and listened, and waited.
“You know this is your fault, right?”
He looked back. Fang’s eye shined dimly in the darkness where she lay. “You’re supposed to be resting,” he whispered.
Her next words came with no aggression, only weariness. “Don’t you feel any guilt about it?”
He stared at her for several long seconds, then turned to the window once more. “There is always guilt.”
Fang sighed. “Yet you don’t sound guilty at all.”
Pondering her statement, Fine let his chin drop to the window’s edge. “Fang, have you ever killed anypony?”
“What does that have to do with anything?” He didn’t answer, and she spoke in a hesitant whisper. “A few. I have a job, after all. It gets… messy.”
“A job.” The corner of Fine’s lip curled into a half-smile. “Must have been nice, knowing there was a reason behind it.”
“Nice? It was terrible. I had to kill thestrals to protect Tidal!” He could actually hear her shiver. “I was supposed to be a baker. I love baking. But somepony has to defend our home. And Dad… He always wanted a warrior son.”
“You still had a choice,” Fine said. He felt at his bare neck; it felt so odd without the knife. He kept rubbing at the spot, unable to stop himself. “When I was young, I didn’t have the option. Except maybe suicide. But I was weak. Couldn’t bring myself to do that. So I just kept killing.”
A shuffling sound announced Fang’s movement, and soon she limped to his side. “You make it sound like you were some kind of serial killer.”
“I was.”
“Okay, that joke is getting old.”
Fine eyed her. Bruises covered her face so that it was almost unrecognizable. Her wing was set in a brace of his own creation. He sighed and looked away. “I’m sorry about your face. And your wing.”
She stared at him as best she could through the one eye she could still open. “You’re kidding. You’re apologizing for that? It was a fight.”
He fiddled with a piece of wood on the window, eyes downcast. “I let it go too far. I haven’t brought it out that much since I was cured.”
“Brought what out?”
“The violence.” He tapped the side of his head. “It festers. In here. It used to vent before, through my kills. I don’t feel that urge to murder anymore, but the violence is still there. I’m sorry I used it against you like I did. I didn’t think I would win otherwise.”
“You know I don’t believe any of this, right?” Fang waited for a response. None came, so she mirrored his manner and let her chin rest on the window ledge. “It’s fine, I guess. You still beat me, fair and square.”
Fine considered responding to her statement, but thought better of it. “The point I was trying to get at is, when Luna first asked me to be… what I am, I’d already accumulated a ton of guilt. I quickly came to realize that it can overwhelm you if you don’t know how to deal with it. Every day, something bad happens, and every day, I have to make a decision based on that something. Sometimes, things go wrong.
“So you cope. You learn to believe that you can only do so much.” He raised his head and gestured out the window. As if to emphasize his timing, a sound like a battle cry rose over the ruins. “This? This was going to happen with or without me. Luna’s back. Your entire way of life is about to be turned upside down by that fact alone. I can’t claim credit for it just because I was here when the news finally reached you.”
Fang’s black-and-blue brow furrowed. “So… you don’t feel guilty?”
“I do. I’m just adding it to the stack.”
Fang studied him out of the corner of her eye, idly playing with her frazzled braids. “I suppose I shouldn’t let it bother me too much. After all, soon I’ll be heading to Equestria. I’ll be…” She closed her eye tightly and drew in on herself. “What’s going to happen to me?”
Fine wanted to tell her the obvious; that nothing at all bad would happen. He knew she wouldn’t believe it. She wouldn’t believe anything until she met Luna in the flesh. Would she take any comfort at all in his words?
“You’ll…” He searched out something, anything that might put her at ease. Then he realized that his best hope was, in fact, the most obvious. “You’ll meet Princess Luna. And probably Discord.”
She didn’t speak at first. Fine thought perhaps she’d fallen asleep. Or maybe she was too depressed and scared. But then she sat up, groaning from the effort required to do so, and turned to him directly. “Tell me something.”
He sat up and faced her. His heart sank at her beaten, bloody appearance. She was almost unrecognizable, and the thought left a pang in his stomach. But more importantly, he saw the way her ears were folded back, and how her swollen lips trembled. Though she could only open one eye, the desperation within it shined like a beacon.
“Was I wrong? Is… is Princess Luna really back? Did I betray my tribe, my home… for nothing?”
The question tore into his heart almost as bad as her face did. But Fine kept his expression neutral, or so he hoped, and thought on his answer. It had to be the right one. He stared right back, even as he wished she’d stop giving him that pathetic look.
At last, he found his words. “Princess Luna is back. But you didn’t betray your home, Fang.”
She pulled away from him, hunching over and choking on a barely contained sob. “If Luna’s back, then I have. I have! I’ve disgraced myself, my family and my tribe. I—”
His hoof rose, stopping just before her muzzle. “Stop. You haven’t disgraced yourself.”
She almost shouted. “What do you know of it? You’re not a thestral! You can’t possibly—”
“We are trying to hide,” he hissed. “I thought you thestrals were supposed to be good at that?”
“Shut up,” she snapped, although her volume had dropped significantly. “I helped Elder Candid bring thestrals from a rival tribe into our home! This fighting is going on because of me, and you—”
A pained, feeble cry broke through her brief tirade when Fine grabbed her shoulders. He brought his face close to hers, and her anger shifted to a very clear worry.
“You listen to me, Nibbling Fang,” he whispered between clenched teeth. “You think this is bad? This is nothing. I have personally issued orders that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, and you’re whining to me about causing a single battle that would have happened whether you had been there or not. Suck it up, soldier. You did what you believed to be best for your home. That is not a betrayal.”
“B-but… But…”
“I am sorry your world has been turned upside down, or that I had to beat you up to get anywhere, or that you ended up making an unfortunate decision. But none of that is your fault, and when you meet Luna she’ll tell you the exact same thing.” Fine stepped back and pointed to the back of the room. “Get back there. Lay down. Rest. Give your head time to clear. And for buck’s sake, stop condemning yourself! You should be proud of your loyalty and faith.”
Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound escaped her. Then, head and shoulders slumped, she limped into the shadows. Fine watched her go with a scowl, making sure she had laid down as she was supposed to before turning back to the window.
Maybe he’d been too forceful with her, but Fang was a tough mare. It seemed far more likely that she’d recover through some rough treatment than a little pampering, especially given that she wasn’t inclined to believe anything he said anyway. Time would be her cure, not his gentle assurances.
Besides, he was getting sick of her defeatist attitude.
His gaze shifted to the mountain over the city. Somewhere up there, his friends were seeking a piece of gargoyle skin. He hoped they were doing alright without him.
He disregarded his concerns. They were a good team, and they had Polar with them. They’d be fine.
“Rainbow, wait!”
“Run, Nye. Now!”
Nye bounded to the edge of the Sanctuary, but his marefriend was already too far away, both physically and mentally. “Damn it, Rainbow,” he shouted, “why do you always choose the worst times to do something stupid?”
A roar made him scramble back behind the column, though he’d taken enough of a peek to know the smaller gargoyles would be on him within seconds. He trembled in the dark, heart in his stomach and breath coming in gasps. “Crap, crap, what do I do? That thing’s gonna kill Rainbow and I… I…”
He looked down. He still held the clear bottle.
“One more thing that I should note; this one does not go down the throat. Such would make the potion fail. Rather, that one you inhale.”
“Damn it.” Nye could hear the beasts’ claws scratching the stone behind him. This was supposed to be Rainbow’s potion! “Damn it.” He began shaking it as hard as he could, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face. “Damn it.”
He’d never get it to Rainbow in time, and had no idea where Pinkie was.
“Damn it.”
Polar was wounded. Fluttershy wouldn’t know what to do with it.
“Damn it.”
Was he even sure he knew what to do with it?
“Damn it!”
He stopped the shaking and looked at the bottle. The liquid was bubbling as if it had been set under a flame. Assuming that to be a good sign, he uncorked it, brought it up to his muzzle, and breathed in deep.
He thought of the zomponies in the Everfree.
Another breath.
He thought of sneaking into Canterlot Castle to rescue his friends.
And another. His body began to feel tingly. He thought of running through the Crystal City in search of the Crystal Heart.
And another. The vapors washed over his face. He remembered entering the dream world to battle a demigod.
And another. His body began tensing on its own. He thought of going to the Moon, alone, to save Princess Luna.
And another.
Something growled in his ear.
Slowly, entire body numb, he turned to find one of the gargoyles not an inch from his muzzle. Its hideous friends backed it up. The steam from the thing’s breath washed over Nye’s face.
Nye’s shoulders sagged. “Damn it.”
A thick, stone-grey arm smashed into Nye’s side, hitting with all the force of a tree trunk and the speed of a baseball bat. The combination sent him flying directly into the hole. He landed on his back atop a great, pale, floating sphere, which bobbed vertically from the impact.
Nye stared at the ceiling of the Sanctuary, eyes wide and heart hammering. The roars and growls barely registered. The sight of the demonic things leaping into the hole above didn’t bother him. All he understood was that he probably should have just died.
Yet he hadn’t felt a thing.
One of the monstrosities landed on top of him with enough force to make the sphere fall a little lower, its arms on Nye’s shoulders. He didn’t feel that, either. It reached a claw back, snarling in his face.
Nye thought it, and it happened; his head came up to meet the gargoyle’s nose with a resounding thwack. The creature’s upper body rose high from the impact, and Nye rolled to his belly before delivering an uppercut like he’d seen Rainbow do once in a sparring match. His hoof connected with the gargoyle’s jaw, then kept going. He’d been so unprepared for the force of his own attack that he ended up rising into the air himself, the gargoyle sent flying through the hole to slam against the ceiling above.
When Nye landed, it was heavily on all fours. The sphere dropped like a rock, striking the floor below with a hollow wong. Something clicked, and the sphere began to glow blue with runes.
Nye hardly noticed. He was too busy gaping at his hooves and coming to terms with what he’d just done.
The room was gradually filling with light. Runes that had remained dim for centuries sparked to life, coating the chubby earth pony in their otherworldly glow. The other gargoyles were coming at him, their grotesque, mismatched bodies illuminated in stark contrast. Nye giggled. Then chuckled. Then, a dam broke inside his head; a deep belly laugh burst from his lungs as a wave of joy washed over him.
“Whatever emotions you should hold will also grow big and bold. If taken by humor, you’ll laugh at every rumor. If filled with wrath, you go on the warpath.”
He hadn’t thought the warning to be so literal. The thought only made him laugh even harder, even as he reached up and caught the closest outstretched claw in his hooves. A twist of his body, and the arm snapped like a twig. The sound only made his mirth grow, and before he could even think on it, he’d knocked a half-dozen gargoyles away like rag dolls. His guffaws echoed in the shining chamber, filling him with elation. He couldn’t wait to show Rainbow—
“Rainbow!”
He jumped – or perhaps, given how the gargoyles were flung away from him, exploded – out of the room and into the Sanctuary. He landed at a gallop, surrounded by a small army of gargoyles who were too surprised by the blue runes seeming to climb up the columns to react to him. Fear and panic propelled him forward, trampling over any gargoyle too slow to get out of the way. They gave chase, clawing and scratching and grabbing at him, but the most any of them achieved was to get dragged along for a few feet before being swatted off.
All Nye felt was an icy grip on his heart, a terrible sensation that only hardened as the thoughts ran through his mind over and over again: he couldn’t lose her. The sheer emotion pouring into his skull left in its wake tears, sobs and hastily whispered pleas. He had to be fast enough, he just had to be!
When he at last spotted Rainbow, Nye thought his heart had exploded. She dangled upside down, one foreleg clearly broken and a dazed look on her bleeding face. The alpha gargoyle had her hind leg between two chubby fingers, its mouth opening wide to accept her head. Nye pushed every ounce of speed he had into his legs.
He didn’t notice when Fluttershy and Polar began pulling Rainbow away. He barely registered Pinkie firing party cannons at the thing’s feet without effect. All he saw was Rainbow and teeth. He couldn’t let that abomination take her away.
Take her away. It was trying to take her away. It was going to kill her, eat her, rip her to shreds. The concept brought forth a new emotion, one that drained all the horror from his mind. It kept filling him, more and more and more until it burst from his lips in a roar that made his own ears ring. A pair of disproportioned, lopsided eyes turned to him, wide and confused.
Then Nye slammed into the side of the alpha’s leg shoulder-first. Unlike all the other gargoyles he’d bowled down, this one actually provided some resistance. Not enough; the leg shifted sideways into the other and the gargoyle dropped, wings and arms flailing. It hit the stonework so hard that the world shook from the impact.
Nye huffed a couple breaths as he looked up; Fluttershy and Polar were carrying the dazed Rainbow away. He almost moved to follow, until a growl reminded him of just why he’d been so furious. The rage came back in a heartbeat.
Spinning around, he found a massive, four-clawed hand reaching for him. Acting without thinking, he leapt between two fingers and landed with all his weight on the back of the appendage, earning a roar from the gargoyle. By the time it finished, Nye had crested from his leap and fell on top of its face hoof-first. The impact stung, but was enough to make the thing’s head twist sideways and whack the ground.
Nye felt like an ant. An immensely powerful ant, but an ant nonetheless. Were he not still clinging to his fury, he might have found humor in the way he scrambled along the alpha’s cheek. A single massive eye looked up at him in the closest thing to disbelief it could probably manage before he slammed his hoof into it. The result was a lot of blood and an ear-splitting roar. A hand slammed down on Nye’s back, squashing him against the monster’s cheek. He pressed his hooves down, turned onto his back, and pushed. Though he strained, the hand slowly lifted from him.
Then a regular gargoyle slammed into him at full speed.
Nye found himself on the ground and being swarmed. The creatures grabbed at his legs, trying to hold him still. They shrieked and growled and snarled, their claws raking uselessly against his coat. He brought his forelegs together, effectively slamming the two holding him into one another, and promptly jerked free. He kicked, bucked and punched with wild abandon, matching their guttural calls with his own in even volume.
One. Two. Five. Ten. Nye’s rage fueled him as he smashed heads, shattered bones and snapped necks. There was no concept of why, only pure, adrenaline-fueled instinct. Blood pumped in his ears and the world blazed past in unrivaled clarity. He saw every murderous face, heard every menacing snarl, took in each scream of pain.
Something slammed into him. Something big. He twisted and landed on his side amongst the glowing blue runes, wheezing as the air fled his lungs. His mind, though still consumed with fire, cleared enough for him to regain his bearings. When he looked up, the alpha’s leg was raised high for a stomp.
Nye was one ant who refused to be squashed.
Putting all his strength into his legs, Nye leapt. He slammed into the alpha’s chest like a miniature hammer. The thing’s skin rippled and cracked, pieces showering the area as it toppled backwards on one leg. It fell into the sunken channel of the temple, the back of its head impacting the stone walls with enough force to crack the onyx.
They landed hard, kicking up dust that shimmered in the blue light of the runes that covered every wall. Nye was on the monster in an instant, screaming with every punch he threw at its dazed face. It grabbed him, spun to its knees and tried to slam him against the wall, but he crawled around its digits before palm connected with stone. He stomped his hooves on the small of its elbow, forcing it to bend; the creature leaned sideways and he leapt, landed on its forehead and climbed over.
The back of its bald head was covered in cracks. Nye stomped on a fracture point and was rewarded with shards of stone flying into the air and his hoof striking tender flesh underneath. The alpha roared and shook its head violently, sending him flying. Nye landed on his back and winced; he’d actually felt that one. The pain, though light, was enough to send a small thought hurtling through the rage-induced madness of his brain:
The potion was wearing off.
He climbed to his hooves, knowing he had to finish this soon. He looked up to find the alpha on its knees, two hands touching the fractures skin of its chest and the other two feeling at the back of its head. One eye was a bloody mess, the other wide. Its lips slightly parted in an expression of complete bewilderment. The world shimmered as runes illuminated in a wave of cyan along the channel walls and floor. The two stared at one another for several seconds, Nye trying to think through his fury and the gargoyle apparently too stunned to act.
A new sound filled the air: a gurgling, rushing, thunderous noise. They both looked around as it grew louder and louder. Then the gargoyle's startled gaze fell behind Nye, and he knew the sound was coming from the Sanctuary. Slowly, Nye turned to find a large opening beneath the building. There sat the great white sphere, securely nestled in some kind of round device and shining with all the brightness of the moon itself.
Then there was water.
It didn’t burst from any hole or fly through an opening doorway. One minute there was air, the next, water. It came at Nye in a wall of blue, roaring and crashing and foaming into his face. He barely had time to register what he was seeing before it slammed into him with the force of a steam engine, taking him off his hooves. An instant later, he smashed into the chest of the alpha and they were both tumbling into oblivion.
Confusion whipped away Nye’s simmering anger, and that steadily shifted into a renewed fear. He tried to swim, but could neither fight the rushing current nor tell which way was up. The world shined blue, his ears filled with the rushing waters. He kept banging against the alpha, which itself kept slamming into the walls of the channel. His lungs began to burn, and still he had no idea which way he was meant to be facing!
He thought of his dear mother, his infuriating father, his frustrating brother. He thought of Pinkie and Applejack and Octavia. He thought of Upper Crust and Fine Crime, of Lightning and Keen. As his lungs begged for air, he saw Rainbow Dash. Rainbow… her voice, her smell, her laugh. Her mane. He never told her how much he liked her mane. Or how much he loved her eyes, so alive, so energetic, so playful…
He wanted to see Rainbow again so badly.
Abruptly, air rushed back into his lungs. The blue waters vanished, the roar shifting in tone as he burst from them. For a split second, relief washed over Nye.
That turned to renewed horror as he realized why he’d been ejected so suddenly: the channel stopped at the edge of the mountainside in a waterfall. He dropped like a rock, the earth hundreds of feet below. The alpha, its body battered and its wings broken, tumbled below him in silence.
As the wind pulled water off his body in rivulets, Nye could only groan out a frustrated, “Oh, come on.”
Then he saw a rainbow, and landed on something.
“I’ve got ya, Nye!”
He grinned and wrapped his forelegs around Rainbow’s shoulders, burying his muzzle into her mane. “Of course you do.”
Her warmth filled his heart as she flew them back to the temple. He barely registered the earth-shaking wump of the alpha hitting the ground. Nor did he pay much attention to the temple itself, which shined like a blue torch in the darkness, every corner covered in the brilliantly glowing runes. He merely basked in the presence of this wonderful, presumptuous, beautiful, arrogant, adorable mare. He had her, he’d saved her, she was okay, his life was—
Alarm ran through him. He reached up and felt at his throat; miraculously, the pouch was still there. Even so, he didn’t relax until he reached in and touched the item inside. When he did, all his thoughts converged on one idea. He grasped hold of Rainbow and pulled himself forward to whisper, “Land on the edge, away from the others.”
“What?” She tilted her head back to eye him. “Why would you want me to do that?”
He looked at the glittering temple and the roaring waterfall. It was perfect. “Because I’m not going to get a better chance. Please, do it.”
She grinned and nodded. “Far be it for me to deny the hero of the hour. I gotta tell ya, Nye, that was bucking awesome. You threw down with those gargoyles like nopony’s business!”
Her smile was contagious. Nye didn’t know if the warmth filling him was due to the last effects of the potion, but he had every intention of acting upon it. “So… I was pretty cool, huh?”
“Are you kidding? That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!”
“Good,” he replied just as she landed, her broken leg held high. He climbed off her swiftly, eyeing her injury. “You gonna be okay?”
She smirked, then winced. “Eh, it’s not the first broken bone I’ve had. No problem.”
“Good again.”
Then he came forward and kissed her on the lips.
Rainbow gave a muffled protest, but a second later she leaned into him. He delighted in the feel and taste of her, but didn’t give himself time to indulge. Instead, he pulled back and gasped, “I love you.”
She wobbled forward, a silly smile on her lips. “Y-yeah…”
He steadied her with a hoof to the shoulder and looked her in the eye. “You’re beautiful, fun and cute. I love your mane, your voice, your laugh, your—”
“W-whoa, come on.” She stepped back, cheeks blazing almost as bright as the temple runes. “Don’t you think you’re laying it on a little thick?”
Nye felt no anxiety or hesitation, only a blanketing giddiness that had him grinning. He reached into the pouch around his neck and pulled out its only contents: a silver necklace studded with seven gems, one for each color of the rainbow. “No, Rainbow Dash. No I don’t.”
Her eyebrows rose first, then her jaw gradually slackened. Her knees began to wobble. “Ohmygosh, N-Nye…. Is th-that what I think it is?”
“Oh, yeah.” He dropped to one knee and held the necklace up. It shimmered in the runelight, brilliant and sparkling and worth every bit. “Rainbow Brilliance Dash, will you—”
She kissed him, hard. He accepted it greedily, momentarily forgetting what he’d been about to say. The sparks of her tongue energized him, her eagerness filled him with desire. He wrapped his hooves around her and pulled her close, delighting when she only pressed more tightly against him. They squirmed against one another for an instant eternity, only stopping when they had to come up for air.
She stared at him, her eyelids low and her breathing heavy. He couldn’t have stopped grinning even if he’d wanted to. As he finally caught his breath, he smirked.
“You didn’t let me finish.”
“I don’t need to,” she replied between huffs. “Yes. Yes. Yes!” She came forward again, rubbing her head along his cheek, down his neck and across his withers. “How could I possibly not say yes?”
His mind swam dizzyingly, her heady scent only accentuating the pleasure coursing through him. “Th-then you won’t mind if I—”
“Yes!”
“If you’d just—”
“Yes!”
“I was gonna—”
“Omhygosh, yes!”
“You’re really not going to let me—”
“Dude, just put it on me already!”
He laughed and, careful to avoid bumping her broken leg, clasped the necklace to her throat. As soon as it clicked, she pulled away and gave a little bounce. And regretted it, if the way she abruptly cringed and lifted her broken leg was any indication. Even so, her smile didn’t fade as she looked down at the gemstones spread along her collarbone. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!”
Nye sat, quietly wondering if this was what it felt like for Rainbow when she sat on clouds. He stared at the necklace, then at her dirty, lovely face.
Her eyes began to water as she smiled at him. “I love you, you dumb colt.”
“And I love you, you crazy mare.”
“Idiot.”
“Dyke.”
“Perv.”
“Tease.”
She smirked, even as the tears fell down her cheeks. “Gargoyle face.”
“Ooh, ouch.” He grinned. “Adorkable.”
She winced. “Hey, low blow.” Then she pressed against him once more. “But I’ll happily be adorkable for you.”
He opened his mouth to respond, but his words were cut off by a strangled gasp. He fell to his belly as every bone in his body began to ache terribly.
Rainbow dropped to her knees, eyes wide. “Nye? What’s wrong?”
He took a sharp breath. “Ow. Ow. I think my body’s finally—ow—paying me back for what I just put it through. And by the way, ow.”
“Aaand I think it’s safe for us to butt in.” Pinkie abruptly appeared and wrapped Rainbow in a hug. “Congratulations, RD!”
“We’re so happy for both of you,” Fluttershy said as she landed beside Nye. She was already examining him for injuries.
“Yeah,” Pinkie nodded so fast her face blurred. “That was, like, the best timing for a proposal, Nye. The pretty blue lights, the water, the full moon, the horde of retreating gargoyles slain in valiant defense of your love. It’s like this entire day was planned around it!”
Polar stepped onto the scene at last, smiling more than Nye had ever seen from his stony face. “I’ve gotta admit, Nye, that was one heck of a show. You even reactivated the temple, which we thought impossible.”
For the first time, Nye really took in the way the entire temple shined. The runes were beginning to dim, but the water continued to flow in a steady stream through the onyx canal and over the waterfall. “Huh, yeah. I’m not even sure how I did that.” He cringed as needles seemed to pierce every inch of his body straight to the bones. “Can we work it out later? It hurts to breathe.”
Rainbow gave him a concerned look, then turned to the others. “The gargoyles are gone?”
Polar nodded. “Flew off like a flock of startled birds once the alpha went down. I get the feeling they won’t be coming back for a while, if at all.”
“Then why don’t we stay the night here?” she asked, tone subtly pleading. She reached out to touch Nye’s hoof. “Give Nye time to recover?”
Fluttershy moved away from Nye to study Rainbow’s leg. “I think that’s a good idea. We should probably tend to this before we head back anyway.”
“Works for me,” Pinkie said as she pronked in place. “Besides, everypony in Tidal’s gonna wanna know why the water’s flowing through town again and Fine knows we succeeded so he’ll probably come up here with some friends to check it out and help us get you two back down safe and sound.”
Rainbow grinned. “Right, what she said.”
Seeing as of how they weren’t going anywhere for a while, Nye tried to relax. He focused his attention on the knowledge that he was now engaged to the greatest mare in Equestria. The thought sent giddy butterflies swirling in his stomach. He almost burst out laughing at the thought of what would happen when they told their friends. Rarity and Upper Crust would both have field days. No, field months.
Rainbow nuzzled his cheek, and though the contact was like pins pressing against his flesh, he returned it happily.
“Well,” Polar said, “this was one heck of a doozy, eh?”
Nye glanced up at Pinkie, who abruptly stopped bouncing. Her smile disappeared and her eyes dropped to the ground.
“Oh. Um… yeah. As doozy-worthy as it is that Dashie and Nye are engaged... that wasn’t the doozy. Nothing tonight was.”
All eyes turned to her.
It was Nye who managed to ask the obvious question:
“What?”
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IT COMES.
Probably.
Hmmm, Nibbler being whiney and pathetic, Nye getting high on drugs and saying no to some rolling stones...
It's just a strange little situation going on here... Sure, it was great, as always, but answer me two things: 1st, if Nye found the potion that has super-powers in it, what the hell did Rainbow drink?
2nd, after dazing herself into a stupor; Rainbow managed to rouse herself, ignore the undoubtetly excruciating pain of a broken limb and disorientation of smashing face-first into effectively a giant boulder at almost full-pace. THEN manage to understand how Polar described what had happened to her, Nye and the other gargoyles, flew down to the outlet drain, catch a (self-described) overweight (pudgy, but semantics) Earth Pony (The heaviest race) and catch him mid-freefall with said broken foreleg?
I'm sorry, what?
At first I thought that the potion RD had drunk was a healing thing of some sort, but apparently not, because after they went all mushy she complained about her broken leg hurting!
And how could such a small, delicate piece of jewellery stay completely unharmed after getting smashed about, crushed and beaten on at least four separate times with the force of a boulder causing the movements?
Sigh... I don't know, I guess I'm just complaining for the sake of complaining... Because it was another good chapter, and I expect nothing less from you, but to me, this chapter's logic just doesn't add up the way I would've thought it did...
But what do I know? It was probably just the power of love that solved all these issues...
Still, the scene with Fine and Nibbler was great... I hope she gets nice things to happen to her... I like her... make Nibbler good friends with..... Lightning... Since Nibbler seems to have a soft spot that needs a bit of tickling from a certain mess of cute mane...
That is my one request... And the more that I think about it, I'll be disappointed if it doesn't happen.
Oh well, love you Paul!
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And this is why I need people like you pre-reading more of my stuff. However, only one of these issues is actually legitimate, and I will address it first: Rainbow's condition.
For starters, we don't actually know what her mental condition is throughout Nye's fight. Yes, she's dazed from slamming into the equivalent of a giant rock at high speed. But we can't really determine how dazed – there's not really a way to measure that, I don't think – nor do we know how long Nye was really in the fight, since I was vague in some areas. I don't think it's that much of a stretch for her to recover mentally during the fight considering she's likely been in many similar crashes in the past and recovered fairly quickly. She doesn't even need to be brought up to speed, all she has to do is look at where all the racket's coming from and see what Nye's in the middle of. Heck, in some stories the shock of seeing that alone would have been enough to snap her out of it.
Then there's the leg. Now, really, it's a leg. Aside from the wind making it sting pretty badly, I'm reasonably certain the condition of her leg has minimal effect on her ability to fly. It's not like she has to hold her legs in a specific position to beat her wings, and she's not going to let pain – the kind of which she's almost certainly been through before – stop her from rescuing her coltfriend from falling to his doom. I don't see an issue here. Nye's weight isn't even a factor, since A) she doesn't need her leg to carry him on her back, and B) she's carried Nye in the past (see No Heroes Part II Chapter 4 for an example).
Now, on to less valid issues: the potion. Y'know, I threw in those Zecora quotes in the two recent chapters specifically so that I wouldn't have to explain this. Let's repeat them side-by-side, shall we?
I sincerely hope that is all the explanation you need regarding why the potion didn't work for Rainbow. Seriously, man, how did you miss this? Are you skimming?
Fang and Lightning? Interesting, I didn't even consider that. At this time her only prospect was Airheart, and I was tempted to avoid that because it seemed so obvious. In fact, I was thinking on making Lightning single for good, since it felt like a more accurate direction for her character. Still, the shipper in me might not be able to resist pitting her with somepony in the future, so we'll have to wait and see.
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I wasn't discounting her ability to fly, her ability to catch a pony with a broken foreleg, however... And really, you're right, it is a leg... But in an equine, they don't have arms... And so a foreleg is like their arm... See where my thoughts are at now?
No?
We never agreed on many issues anyway...
I don't care who you are or how often you slam your face into solid objects... A face first smash into solid rock is GOING to give you a concussion... So I doubt she'd be up and about so quickly in any circumstance...
The potion thing got me because I thought they had two different effects, this being two different potions for different reasons... Makes sense now that they had two of the same "drink"
NIBBLER AND LIGHTNING
MAKE IT HAPPEN PLS
SIGNED SHIPPING FAN #32785
Although knowing you, you won't because spite
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Okay, I'll acknowledge that I'm reaching in terms of RD's mental state after slamming face-first into a giant rock. But, um.... it's just fiction?
As to the leg, I still don't see it as much of an issue. I mean, I grant that it would hurt a lot, but she's not actually using it to hold Nye, so... yeah, I think it's a pain she'd be able to cope with.
Also, no, they didn't have two different bottles of the same potion, although I can't blame you for missing this as the description is spread out over two chapters. Rainbow tried to drink the potion, but didn't drink all of it, and gave the rest to Nye before she flew off. Still, your misinterpretation is probably my fault for not reminding readers of those detail in the second chapter.
Nibbler and Lightning: to be considered. Why is it always the shipping decisions that cause me the most uncertainty? That's practically why this story exists, Discord's situation aside.
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Yay, I do have merit in my stance! But yeah, you said it... It is only fiction...
Ah, it was from the same bottle... It all makes sense now! Ignore everything that I said on that point...
Honestly, it wouldn't really bother me if nibs/LD didn't happen... I just want to see Nibbler happy, and thought what better way to do that then get her out of her shell with something cute constantly asking questions about her race...
But anyway, that's how I see it...
Until next chapter!
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This brings up a curious topic regarding one of the dangers of constantly building a certain world: it obligates adding more and more characters, and then people want to know more about those characters, prompting a desire to write spin offs starring those characters, which leads to more characters being created for those stories, and people like and want to see more of those characters, which prompts a desire to write spin offs starring those characters, which leads to more characters being created for those stories, and people like and want to see more of those characters, which prompts a desire to write spin offs starring those characters, which leads to more characters being created for those stories, and people like and want to see more of those characters, which prompts a desire to write spin offs starring those characters, which leads to more characters being created for those stories, and people like and want to see more of those characters, which prompts a desire to write spin offs starring those characters, which leads to more characters being created for those stories, and people like and want to see more of those characters, which prompts a desire to write spin offs starring those characters, which leads to more characters being created for those stories, and people like and want to see more of those characters, which prompts a desire to write spin offs starring those characters, which leads to more characters being created for those stories, and people like and want to see more of those characters, which prompts a desire to write spin offs starring those characters, which leads to more characters being created for those stories, and people like and want to see more of those characters,
I've got learn when too much is too much.
7434216 But she's so cool I just want to hear and see more of Nibbler
Did they get the skin off the Alpha?
I like how Rainbow's middle name is Brilliance. It just fits her.
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And this is why I don't play D&D type games.
It's not good enough to say "yo, my character is an elf knight named Sir Dude". In my head I feel like to do my character justice I need to know everything about them going down to their preferred dessert and their lineage going back at least 3-4 generations.