XIII - Prophecies
XIII
Prophecies
- - -
"Get up, Dash. We're nearly there."
The young mare shook the sleep off herself, discarding the fear of a baseless nightmare. "It wasn't my fault. It wasn't." The little chant had been her companion as they sailed along the river for hours, every time her mind wandered. The time had been hers entirely; Dead Reckoning's rousing voice had been the first he had spoken to her since his story ended, apart from a handful of short commands. He would tell her to lie down in the boat from time to time, or to go over to the shore and hide amongst the brush. She obeyed wordlessly, and he chose not to explain himself. She was entirely content with his silence.
Some anger at his stance toward Luna still lingered in her chest, though the more she thought about it, the more she had a hard time justifying her feelings. Despite what he thought, he was still helping her. In the end, weren't his actions what counted? It was a hard question for her to answer, and whenever her mind drew toward a solution his final thought would ring out in her head.
What if it were one of your friends? What if it were Twilight?
It must have been that question that brought about the nightmare, and its answer was not forthcoming. The mare set the thought aside and rubbed her eyes, before pulling herself up into a sitting position.
The river was dark, and the thick canopy of the jungle blotted out most of the light from the sun. Worse, a thick cloud of steam and mist had gathered over the water, leaving only a wispy silver view of the future. The air was wet and cold, and the utter blackness was both claustrophobic and infinite at once. For a moment, Rainbow thought she saw a pallid white pony's face staring at her out of the darkness. She squinted, leaning toward it, but the mist had swallowed up the form.
Then came another, in the corner of her eye. She swung her head around, but it too had vanished. Fear overcame her anger at the scout, though she had no desire to make the emotion known. "I saw somepony, Reckoning."
She'd expected a chastising rebuttal, but instead, he nodded. "We're getting close."
"Are there ponies here?"
"In a sense." Reckoning's eyes scanned the mist with sudden intensity, not looking at Rainbow as he spoke. "You'll see in a moment."
So they continued on, with Reckoning's wings and the passing of the boat in the water the only noises anywhere nearby. In the distance, the chirping of insects and the rustle of leaves in a gentle breeze added only the suggestion that something else nearby was being very quiet. Rainbow found her gaze jumping from side to side, catching glimpses of pale ponies who fled before she could identify them.
Without any obvious sign, Reckoning's wings gave a sudden heavy flap. They were accompanied by a gust of wind strong enough that Rainbow could easily guess its magical nature. She didn't have long to ponder the thought, though, as the gust that slowed their boat to a crawl also blew away all the fog in their path, revealing-
"Skeletons!" Rainbow jumped backwards with the cry. There were dozens, fully assembled and mounted on sticks and branches sticking out over the river. Almost all of them had belonged to ponies.
"Quiet!" Reckoning ordered in a forced whisper. "You'll get us killed."
Rainbow drew back, closer to the older pony in their tiny boat. In her own whisper, she looked him straight in the eye. "What happened to them? Who killed all these ponies?"
Reckoning gave her a surprisingly dispassionate look. "They're all zebras. All but one. And Fallaner killed them."
"What?" Rainbow struggled to control her volume. "We're going to talk to this... deer thing, and he just kills ponies?"
"If anyone has a cure, its-" Reckoning stopped himself to the sound of clicking and scraping bones. Rainbow saw his eyes narrow. Both his eyes.
Her attention shifted to where his remaining eye was pointedly staring, and there she froze. The skeletons had turned. They were watching the boat. As it drifted along, the empty sockets where their eyes ought to have been followed. With pained jerking motions and the awful grind of dry bone on bone, they pulled themselves away from the trees and began to follow along the river banks. Two, then three, then five on a side, they followed. Eerie grins were plastered across their fleshless faces, suggesting hunger more than humor.
Without speaking a word, Reckoning slid his hooves into the pockets on the front of his shirt. Shoes with thick steel lining were drawn, and slid onto his hooves. His voice spoke in a hoarse whisper. "Don't panic. Don't scream. Keep your hooves away from their mouths. And stay in the boat."
Through her shock, Rainbow’s natural reaction was to put on an air of confidence. The shakiness in her voice betrayed her true emotions. "They're just Nightmare Night skeletons, right? Lots of little foals dress up like that."
Reckoning's response was stiff, and stern, and openly fearful. "They're enemies that can't die, Rainbow. They don't get tired. They don't give up. Be ready."
As if the words had been a cue, the mass of dry corpses moved into the water, slipping almost silently beneath the water's surface. In the murky depths they faded. Reckoning folded his wings, allowing the boat to drift, and turned his back to Rainbow. "Watch the front. I'll manage the back."
Rainbow lost the rest of his words in a shriek of surprise when a yellowed head lunged out of the water to snap at her. The canoe lurched violently, barely staying upright. Frigid, dirty water splashed over the young pegasus' face, leaving the red dye of her striping to run down her body. Her response came in a wide and wild swing that caught the creature across the side of its face. Its skull shifted to the side, no longer aligned with the rest of its body, but it seemed quite plainly like it had not noticed the attack. The soaked bony nubs where its hooves ought to have been scrambled for a grip on the sleek wood.
Reckoning wasn't going to give the creature a chance. With a full stride of force, he brought his right forehoof across in a heavy strike. Its skull fractured visibly, as part of its brow crumbled away into nothingness. Unable to resist the force, the dead zebra splashed backward into the water, and the canoe shifted again.
The old scout rubbed his own shoulder before turning back to the back of the boat.
"You okay?" Rainbow asked.
"Getting old," he responded. "Now keep an eye out. You never-"
Reckoning's back hit the floor of the canoe, held down by two full skeletons that lurched out of the water. He didn't scream, though there was a sort of shout that escaped his lips. His energy, though, was spent in fighting back even before his conscious mind had realized what was happening. The old pony swung wildly, striking with all four legs and both wings, and in the end, none of it did a thing. Teeth were moving closer to his neck with every passing moment, as if savoring the inevitable progression.
The fastest pony in Equestria was no longer overcome with shock. She moved quickly, striking with her forehooves in tight jabs, putting her weight behind every blow. Thunder Crack's lesson paid off, where Gilda's younger teachings would have failed for lack of space. When one of the skeletal figures was thrown off balance, Rainbow lunged forward shoulder first and bull-rushed it out of the vessel.
Weight shifted suddenly, aided by the dead in the water. Reckoning was freed from beneath his other assailant, but at a terrible cost. As one, both ponies were plunged into the frigid murky waters.
For Rainbow, up and down lost all meaning. She hadn't taken a breath, and her lungs burned with the sudden need for air that wasn't coming. All around her were leaves and bubbles and nightmares. Their hard bodies brushed against her, surrounding her. She felt an agonizing, rending pain in her back right leg, and the water became warm. She lashed out, and her hooves met bone, or stone, or whatever other horrors lurked in the water.
They grabbed her and held her. She struggled, but the water resisted her every motion. Her blows landed too soft and too delayed to change the fact. Slowly, but surely, she was being dragged down. Soon, the feast would begin.
Her lungs burned. Her chest ached. Her leg bellowed. In the depths, all sensations were muffled. Darkness deeper even than the muddy river began to encroach on her vision. Soon, all was black and white. Bones and shadows, icy in their shared desire to claim her, constricted their noose. All that was left was the wait.
In those moments, Rainbow was truly afraid. Her fear was not for herself - at least, not alone. Visions of her friends flicked through her mind. Twilight. Applejack. Pinkie. Rarity. Fluttershy. What would they do without her? What about Luna? What about Papa?
In the mists of her slowly dying heart, the river faded away, and she was somewhere else entirely. Somewhere welcome and comforting. Home.
The Golden Oaks library was always where they met. It was easy and accessible, but it also bore a special significance for the six friends. In that passing glimmer of her imagination, though, the warmth of their company had faded into a mournful sepia light.
Twilight, ever the leader, stood apart from the tight circle of friends, looking to each of them in turn. Her face was hollow not from a lack of emotion, but from not knowing how to truly express the depth of her sorrow. Dried tears matted her violet coat at the base of her muzzle, but her eyes in the presence of company were restrained, and controlled. Somepony had to be strong, and she had resolved it would be herself.
She was not alone in her unbending resolve. Applejack sat alongside Pinkie Pie, holding her with a foreleg as the usually ecstatic mare sobbed into the farmer's shoulder. Tears fell from her eyes, but not in a sobbing, screaming torrent. They were quiet, and respectful, as was the tight-lipped frown that decorated her face. More could be said of her demeanor by the change in her appearance than the way she kept her face. The constant companion of her hat was gone, and her mane and tail both sat free and untamed. The true, unending foundation of the mare's strength had given out, and she had changed.
Pinkie's mane hung long and dark, broken from its cheer by a pain that seemed as though it would never go away. Concealed behind the curtain of pink, she let her emotions flow freely. Perhaps there was no more to be said - Pinkie's brokenness was open and unrestrained, drowning out the aura of cheer that normally marked her presence.
Rarity and Fluttershy were together, though in the dimmed light, it was hard to tell where one mare ended and the other began. They huddled together in plain but quiet sorrow, held back by their natures rather than their choices. Pain marked their expressions.
Twilight was speaking, though the words were muffled. Her usual rapid words were congealed, moving with the speed and inevitability of a glacier. At times, they paused to draw resolve, and when they returned, they would mark a pain in the eyes of all the ponies present. Rainbow wanted nothing more than to comfort them. Though she could not see herself, nor recognize her own presence, she reached out a hoof toward her friends.
Something strong and hard, and yet somehow comforting, pulled her away. She turned back to it, and watched as the walls of curved bookshelves gave way to murk and mist and a growing but painful ill green light. It was hot and cold all at once, and in every way, uninviting to her spirit. Yet the comforting sensation pulled her forward.
The sound of water breaking in a splash filled her ears, followed by coughing and a burning pain. She knew the two were related, though the sensation of her own lungs belching forth water and mud and muck took some time to be realized.
She was freezing, soaked to the bone and freezing beyond her own understanding. Even in the dark and the mists of the night, it was the jungle. And yet, when her hoof reached out wildly, she felt ice.
The darkness drew back from her true sight, slowly, revealing first a wet coat of dark green so faded as to be called almost pure gray. It was attached to a leg that rose up to meet a flank bearing the mark of a map.
Her lungs surged again, and water spilled out in greater quantities. Her head spun, but sensation returned. She wished it hadn't. Everything hurt, and cried out in agony and discomfort, all at once.
"Are you okay, Dash?" Cold metal hooves pressed against her side, rolling her over onto her back. Desperation filled the familiar voice of an old stallion. "Please, kid! Not after coming this far!"
She tried to speak. Water came out, and her tongue rejected the taste of dirty water. There was noise, though, a gurgling cough, and it was enough. He pressed against her, and while the sensation was terrible, it expelled more of the sickening mixture, ushering air in its place. They pressed again, and again, and the pain in her chest fled away, replaced by the comforting chill of air. Reckoning's head moved over hers, lowering slowly
She tried to press him away, but the fuzzy feeling at the end of her hooves left her to slap him across the muzzle instead. "Watch it."
He clutched the side of his face out of surprise, and then broke out into hearty and heart-warming laughter. "Oh! Oh, thank Celestia. Rainbow, you're alright."
"Yeah, I-" Rainbow clutched her side, suddenly feeling winded. It took a number of deep breaths for her voice to return. "I think I'm fine now. What happened?"
"I..." Reckoning shook his head, displaying the width of his ear-to-ear smile. "I thought they'd gotten you. They didn't keep me in the water; I don't think they were expecting me to start swimming as fast as I did. I had to fight a few off, but not enough. I was expecting half. I thought they might have you under, so I went back in."
Even in her semi-delirious state, Rainbow found pause with his words. "You went back?"
"I... Yeah. I wasn't going to leave you behind, Rainbow. But by the time I pulled you out, you'd been under for almost three minutes. I thought you were dead."
"Thanks," Rainbow whispered, before her ears perked up in search of approaching threats. "What about the skeletons? Are they still after us?"
Reckoning gestured to the river, mere inches from the young mare's head. It had been frozen into a solid block of ice as far as her eyes could see, before fading into the fog. Here and there, a skull or a skeletal hoof extended out of the ice, but none moved.
"You did that?" Rainbow's jaw hung loose when Deadeye nodded. "But I thought you said ice was about feeling..."
In the silence that followed, Reckoning gestured along the riverbank and began walking. Rainbow followed for two steps, before a seizing pain in her flank sent her to her knees. The scout turned back at the noise, and rushed to Rainbow's side. "Are you okay?"
"I think so. One of them bit me."
The scout's mouth opened ever so slightly, and his eye flashed to her flank. With a sudden step, he was beside her, and there, his expression returned to calm. "We'll need to clean the wound, but it should be fine." Then came his wry little grin, and he turned to look her in the eye. "There'll be a scar, though. You're looking more and more like an Honor Guard every day."
"Thanks," the mare muttered back, unmotivated to put forth the effort for sarcasm. Besides, a scar would look cool, right?
"I lost most of my supplies in the river, but I'll do what I can to clean it up. For now, if you're feeling up to it, just fly with me. We're almost there."
"Finally somepony decides I can fly." Rainbow took to wing enthusiastically, hovering at what would normally be Celestia's head-height. "But, uh, he already tried to kill us. Don't you think we should try something else? Maybe we should visit somepony else?"
Reckoning shook his head from side to side. "I wish I knew somepony else we could talk to, Rainbow, but this is really it. If we want a cure for Princess Luna, it'll come from him. So, if you want to turn back, this is the last chance."
She shook her head firmly. "No way. Not after we’ve come this far."
"Then the next step is getting him to give us a cure. If he thinks we're boring..." Reckoning took a slow, mournful breath. "He is a carnivore. Do not show fear. You'll see worse things than the skeletons before this is over. Just remember why we're here. If he offers you food or drink, take it. You don't want to seem rude. But don't actually eat or drink, and don't say anything if I do. Stay at my side unless I say otherwise. If I tell you to be quiet, be silent. If I tell you to run, leave me behind and head for the zebras. And if I tell you to kill him, do not hesitate." Reckoning's hoof slid along the outside of his machete's sheath, where a second compartment fell open. Out of it came a pair of gold and steel blades, arced in the shape of pegasus wings. "Or we will both die." Rainbow nodded firmly, as Reckoning helped her don the weapons. "Pray we don't need these."
The mare brought her wings down into the straps, lifting the masterfully crafted weapons onto her body. Their straps connected to her shoulder and the crest of her wings, leaving them with full movement and only a slight unfamiliar weight. Her hooves trembled as she fastened the weapons onto her body. It will be fine. The feel of the metal sent shivers down her precious feathered limbs. You're doing this to help Luna. It will be fine. Buckles and clasps locked the blades into place with a click for a blunt finality. You can do this, Rainbow Dash. It will all be fine. Weapons in place, she took again to the air, hovering as he walked alongside. The path was devoid of life or motion, and the only sounds were wings beating air, and hooves striking dirt.
Dead Reckoning spoke up again, softly and faintly, some dozen minutes later. "Look up ahead."
Rainbow acknowledged him, and saw a gnarled dead tree sitting on the edge of the river. Strangely warped holes served for windows on at least three floors, letting out an eerie green light like that she had seen in her drowning vision. Stripes of dark sticky red adorned the blackened wood, and the scent of death filled the strangely stagnant air. Hanging from the side of the dead tree by vines and ropes and chains was a final pony skeleton, with a perfectly round hole in its forehead. Beneath it, a warped and twisted door marked the entrance to the structure without actually sealing it.
"That was a unicorn," Reckoning explained, gesturing to the dead pony. "I told you about him before. His name was Curt Nod." The scout shook his head. "Fallaner probably already knows we're here." The two approached slowly, but the remains were still. Nothing happened when they reached the door, and for Rainbow, the suspense was perhaps the worst part of it all. "Remember," he whispered, before knocking hard, three times.
The scream that rose in response was enough to chill Rainbow's blood and shake her concentration. Though she could still see, her mind lost any ability to process the world around her. Everything was a blur of sound and meaningless color and pain. When it finally settled, some unknown time later, the world was dark and inky around the tree, and the door was open. The stench was not just of vague death, but of rot and decay. Sharp and pungent scents of coppery blood and burnt flesh mixed together into a noxious gas that hung visibly in smoky streams within the unnatural green light.
Reckoning put a single hoof into the building, but shot a glance back to Rainbow before he continued. Tentatively, the younger pegasus nodded, even as she choked back her emotions. In Ponyville, amongst her friends, Dash had prided herself as a mare of courage and directness. Here, thoughts of her reputation seemed as far away as her home itself. The quivering of her stomach, which longed to empty itself from the smell of rotten meat, made the chill settling into her wings all the worse. She could feel her heart beating, far too close to her throat. She stood close to Reckoning, feeling the warmth of his coat, and looked to him for courage. She found him wanting. Though he did not quiver or jump, his head swiveled wildly. She saw violence in his one eye, but it was not the violence of a guardian or a soldier. His was the threat of a cornered animal - deadly, but uncontrolled.
Together, the two walked into the first room. Black shadows danced over rounded green walls in a space filled with bookshelves. To Rainbow it seemed a twisted parody of Twilight Sparkle's home, where none of the cases were level and even the books seemed warped away from smooth covers. In the corner, the skeleton of an owl sat on a wooden perch that stuck out of the wall itself. When they took a further step in, it hooted.
Rainbow gasped, barely able to keep herself from shrieking aloud. The sudden noise left Reckoning with his machete clutched between his teeth. After a moment of waiting for a threat, he sheathed the weapon and called out. "Sa farn palan, Fallaner! Tolo hi!" Reckoning's aged and blunt tone sounded strange wrapping around the twisted words of the Elkish tongue. His words echoed far more than the tiny space had any business permitting.
Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo, Nim Hen. Rainbow did let out a muffled scream as a chorus of distinctly male voices spoke in her head. Her gaze shot around the room, but no one was there. Le no an-uir nîn?
The sound of the door slamming shut issued from behind them, and when they turned toward the sound, they found no door at all. Smooth wood marked their place of entrance.
"What did he say?" Rainbow turned desperately to the older stallion when no answer was forthcoming. "What did he say?"
Before Reckoning could respond, the voice returned. Pedich Arasen? The voice shook Rainbow, going silent and then returning a moment later. No? Perhaps your tongue will do then. Can your mind hear us, young one?
"Y- Yes," Rainbow managed to force the words out, looking around desperately for a source. "Are you... the owl?"
You ought to have told us we had guests, Dead Pony. It is rude that we should speak in a tongue most unknown to her. You are one most curious, young pony. Your name is.
It took a spare moment to recognize the question, and another to gather an answer. "Rainbow Dash. Uh... Bearer of Loyalty."
Reckoning glanced her way at the declaration and shook his head, but the words could not be taken back.
Loyalty, we shall call you, then. Such is the weight of but one small prophecy on your back, amongst many. We are surprised you can still walk under such a burden. Come and find us, that we might grant your will. But first we must be entertained, for lonely are our days with only the shadows of former lives for company. We sense the beginnings of a friendship between you. We wonder if it can survive the truth? Come forward, if you dare.
Rainbow and Reckoning shared a glance before nodding shortly. At their show of certainty, the invisible hand of Fallaner opened their path. The wooden floor of the room stretched and warped, crackling like bones and fire. Out of its center, a wide hole was opened, revealing a spiraling stairway downward into the same fell green light that filled the rest of the space. Reckoning went first.
The stairs led down and down and down, taking far too long to traverse. When minutes or hours had passed and all sense of depth and distance were lost, the end finally came - and a surprising ending it was. Double doors, purple with trimming of gold, presented a sudden barrier to their motion. Around the doors, cream colored walls and thick wooden beams supported a wall connecting to the edges of the stairs. Deadeye lifted a hoof to the doors. Rainbow grabbed the limb, stopping him.
"I recognize this," she observed.
"And?"
"It's Ponyville," Rainbow answered. "Town hall."
Reckoning locked up, lowering his hoof. His eye glanced toward the door, as if he could somehow see past it. His head drifted lazily toward the handle of his machete, though the weapon remained undrawn.
Rainbow tried to wrap a hoof over her companion's shoulders. He batted it away, not even looking at her as he completed the motion. A heavy blow escaped his nostrils and the heat formed a visible cloud in the air. With surprising strength, the stallion threw the doors wide open and walked inside.
Truly all that could be said of the scene was that it was too familiar. Banners of blue, purple, and gold hung from the ceiling. A massive crowd waited excitedly for a show they would never get. They didn't know the terror that was approaching.
As Reckoning strode forward, golden armor appeared on his body. The scruffy, dirty fur of his face was replaced with smooth white. The only trait that could tell him apart from the crowd was the sheath still hanging from his side. He approached two other guardsponies with a deadly focus.
Rainbow ran to catch him, only vaguely aware that the dirt in her coat, and the wound on her flank had both faded into thin air. "Wait, Reckoning!"
"Hey, who's the kid, Deadeye?" It was strange to hear the mare's voice coming from a stallion's body, and even stranger to consider whom it was meant to belong to. "She looks familiar."
Reckoning twitched at the voice, closing both his illusory eyes. He couldn't bring himself to answer the voice he had lost five years ago, so the other guardspony did instead.
"She's Easy Breeze's daughter, Warrant Officer Cannon. Looks just like her." Rainbow recognized his voice from an incredibly short and fateful meeting in a Canterlot wine cellar. Lieutenant Morning Star wore a frown on his narrow white muzzle.
The stallion's face on the mare broke into an uncharacteristic smile. "Oh, I remember her! She was Captain Coil's-"
"That's enough," Star snapped. "Cannon, you will not embarrass the Guard in front of a civilian with coarse language. As for you, miss Dash… I don't know what business you have with the Corporal, but it will have to wait."
"But I-"
"Go," Reckoning ordered. "See your friends."
"Reckoning, don't do it! She-"
Morning Star stepped toward Rainbow, leaving his companions behind. Instead of the stallion's voice, he spoke with one that had previously not been heard, instead passing into the mind. "You must allow your companion to make his own decision. We already know your resolve, Loyalty, but the dead must face a day of reckoning."
Rainbow tried to resist, but her wings flew her off against her own will. The sensation sent a chill through her, as if her heart had been stolen away. She was put into her place above Applejack, facing toward the balcony where a forgotten phantom would soon emerge. In sheer resistance, her focus remained on Reckoning. She watched helplessly as he spoke to the others. She watched the way his eyes stared at Loose Cannon, as if he looked upon a ghost. She saw the way he glanced toward Fluttershy, waiting for her fanfare to start. Most of all, she saw the way his head slid toward his machete, desperately.
Then came the music, and the curtains, and the gasp. Then the building shadow, and the darkness, and the crack of thunder. And then, worst of all, the laugh.
Her ears didn't hear her friends. She couldn't. Her entire attention was on one pony, and one pony only. Reckoning's weapon was drawn, ready and waiting. She hovered over Applejack, and pulled up her tail. The tiny motion would make all the difference.
Ponies were talking. Nightmare threatened them, declaring her rule. Reckoning drew his weapon. Four guardsponies charged, as one: Lieutenant Morning Star, Warrant Officer Loose Cannon, Corporal Dead Reckoning, and Private Rainbow Dash.
The lightning gathered in the swirling mist. It promised pain and agony. Reckoning cut against the wall of air, but it wasn't enough. Lightning struck, and Rainbow felt it alongside her partner. To her surprise, it was real. It burned, and seared. The stench of her own burning coat filled her nostrils. The world spun. The hard floor slammed into her shoulders.
The crowd screamed and flooded out the doors. Rainbow watched them go as she lay on the ground, chest burning and eyes watering from the smoke. Their legs rushed past her face, barely parting to make way for her fallen form. Legs with coats of blue and purple and green and yellow. And then, finally, legs clad in blue-gray steel, over a jet black coat. Legs that stopped beside her fallen body and spoke with a sickeningly familiar tone.
"Would you challenge me without the Elements of Harmony? Do you think your friendship with him is enough? Do you even truly know him?" Nightmare Moon gestured toward Dead Reckoning, as the old pony rose tenuously to his hooves and claimed his weapon.
Rainbow tried to stand, and for her effort, she was thrown across the room with no more than a flick of Nightmare's magic. Her wings stopped her from colliding with the wall, and hovering in midair, she turned.
"Reckoning, don't do this! Just let it go!"
Your kindness is misguided, Loyalty. We gave him a choice: his lost friend will be restored, if only he chooses to let the moon die. The balance must be maintained. His choice is made.
The old pony walked forward, wearing the form of a young soldier. Only the blade in his teeth mirrored his age. It was chipped, and bloodied, and above all else, cruel. Rainbow could still hear the sound of the dying manticore in her ears as Reckoning stumbled forward, placing one aching hoof in front of the other.
"Only one of us can survive, guardspony." Nightmare's taunt was accompanied by a growing storm above her head.
Reckoning nodded, slowly and firmly.
His blade clattered to the floor. His hoof ripped away his helmet, revealing determination on an aging face. With spite in his voice, he declared himself. "I swear now to serve on in the fullness of my ability, to protect my princess and ruler, Celestia, in life, limb, heart, and soul, and by doing so, to offer my protection to her subjects and her nation, until death or weakness claim from me the ability to serve. Nothing shall I hold above this oath. Not family, nor friends, not pride, nor property. Equestria and Celestia are my wards, and I shall guard their honor with all that I am. This I swear."
Nightmare laughed. "How sentimental. But are you so old that you cannot tell me apart from your precious princess?"
"No,” Reckoning answered, staring at the dark being eye to eyes. "But killing you would hurt Celestia, and break my oath. I can't put Loose Cannon ahead of that, and I can't put myself ahead either." The guardspony's wings flared. "So kill me."
"Very well." The storm grew stronger, as lightning crackled.
Then it struck, accompanied by a scream. "No!"
Rainbow's legs had moved without her conscious thought. They lashed out in midair, a paired buck that sent a flash of pure white electricity across the room. It struck Nightmare Moon in the back, leading to a sudden burst of light.
When the shine faded, Ponyville was gone. The burns faded away. Reckoning's armor disappeared. The two ponies stared at one another for some time, both wanting to speak, but lacking the words.
Do not fear the reproach. You have learned of one another, and gained. Such is the benefit of a healer, and a teacher. And you have several.
Rainbow finally found words, but they weren't for her partner. "What the hay was that?" Her head looked up at the ceiling of the small round wooden room. "I don't know what you think you're 'teaching us', but you should just come out already!"
We are only a room and a secret away. We wonder which will be harder to traverse.
"Rainbow, please, calm down." Reckoning had finished sheathing his weapon, and began to approach his partner. "Being angry will just make this harder."
"You're not mad?" Rainbow shouted back. "He tried to kill you! And he offered to bring somepony back from the dead if you killed Luna!"
"I would never have taken the deal," Reckoning answered. "I wouldn't do that to her memory."
"Yeah, well fine. But what's with trying to be a story book hero? Kill me? Really?"
"Rainbow, if somepony has to-"
"No! Absolutely not!" The young mare shook her head firmly. "We're both walking out of this place. You dove into the river after me when all those skeletons were there, and you expect me not to try and do the same for you? Maybe you don't get what Loyalty means, Reckoning, but I do. We're leaving here together, one way or another." With that declaration, she turned to the wall of the room, where a rather plain wooden door offered them further passage.
"That's not how it works, Dash."
"Well, that's how it's gonna work now, Reckoning. I don't leave friends behind."
The guardspony sighed, but followed after his companion to the next doorway. Rainbow pulled open the door as he approached, hoping to stave off a conversation. What she got instead was a terrible shock at the next room. It was a massive tube, in essence, whose every wall was covered in swirling, screaming green energy. Floating amidst the magic were seven severed heads. Every single one belonged to an elk, and as they flowed in the great spiral, they shifted to stare at the ponies.
The door opened partway up the wall at one flat end of the cylinder, to a long but precarious walkway wide enough only for a single pony to walk at a time. The path spiraled as it went, until it reached a door at the far side of the tube, almost a hundred feet away. The far door was upside down, and its walkway approached from above.
Simply staring at the scene made Rainbow sick. Her hoof stretched out, catching the doorframe.
"Are you alright?"
"Fine,” Rainbow answered, shaking herself. "Let's just go. You walk, I'll fly."
"No," he ordered, grabbing onto her back with a hoof as she tried to take off. "I've seen this sort of magic before. It messes with gravity. Down is always toward the path. If you try and fly next to it, when it turns, you'll go plummeting."
She stared at the swirling green mana, listening to the caustic hissing it gave off as it spun, and nodded. Her steps were slow, but steady. As she moved forward, gravity spiraled with the path, leaving the walkway to always fall 'beneath' her hooves. This way, she continued along the path, ignoring the pain in her flank from her earlier wound, until the door was finally beside her.
Reckoning reached her side only moments later. It opened on a field of clouds, stretching off into a blue horizon in all directions. There was no ground beneath the mass. The pegasi shared a confused glance, before stepping onto the puffy white surface.
It took only a few more moments for Reckoning to speak up, calling out to their unseen host. "No. No, Fallaner, don't you dare."
"What? What's happening?" Rainbow turned back to her companion, finding his body and face a full twenty years younger, at least. Apart from the rough patches of his coat, and the depth of gray in his mane, little had changed.
We told you of a room and a secret. You have found the room, and now your companion must share his secret. Tell her of your corruption, Corpse. Tell her why you feel the need to protect her.
"What does that mean? Huh? Why don't you just come look at us face to face, creepy deer?"
"Rainbow, please." Reckoning sighed. "Look at your tail."
"Why should that..." Her words stopped to the sight of pure cloudy white. On her flank, where a tri-tone bolt of lightning ought to have been seen, there was instead a puffy white heart. "My... mom?" She turned back to Reckoning. "Okay, what's going on?"
Reckoning looked around, searching for anything of note to stare at. Ultimately, the blank sky held no answers, and he met Rainbow's questioning gaze. He spoke with a voice much younger and smoother than his own. "Rainbow, do you... do you know what your mother did? For a living?"
A worry settled over Rainbow. "She was a tour guide. For Cloudsdale."
Age started to reappear on Reckoning. Slight wrinkles appeared on his face. "That's... who told you that, Rainbow?"
"Papa. My grandpa. Why are we talking about this?"
Because we find it amusing, Loyalty, and because Honesty is one of your friends. Yet Carcass has been keeping from you an important truth - one which he may not yet know the significance of.
Reckoning aged again before her, as his coat faded and the wrinkles on his face grew deeper. "She doesn't need to hear this, Fallaner. This is cruel."
"What is it?" Rainbow asked. "What's so secret about my mom?"
Tell her or we will.
"Fine. Rainbow, I-" He stopped. "Your mother-" Again, his words froze on his tongue. "You-"
"What?!"
The stallion offered the answer slowly, forcing out each agonizing word. "Easy Breeze was a prostitute, Rainbow. That's how I knew her." Reckoning sighed.
"Wait, but you said I reminded you-"
Fallaner's laughter broke into Rainbow's mind as Reckoning waved his hooves in the air to banish the thought. "Not like that, Rainbow. Never like that." His full age returned as he collapsed to the floor. "Your mother was one of the kindest mares I ever knew. She wasn't detached or cold, and I got to know her outside of... her work." Deadeye's gaze shot to the distant sky. "I imagine Fallaner wants you to think that I'm nothing more than a perverted old stallion who only cares about you for your body. But I owe it to her to look after you. And you have so much of her spirit, Rainbow. Fierce, and righteous. You believe in your own causes." Reckoning shook his head as the last thought left his lips. "You're a better pony than I'll ever be."
The truth was that the revelation didn't hurt as much as Rainbow might have expected. Even if it was the truth - and the young pegasus had grown to trust Reckoning's word - it didn't make her any worse of a mother. It didn't make her any less loving. It didn't make her death any less tragic. Rainbow's memories remained unchanged, and so she opened her mouth to offer consolation to the old pony. The elk interrupted.
Then you have satisfied us, and earned our answers.
The clouds spun and the bright blue sky became an unnatural green mist. Stone blocks and wooden walls rose from nowhere to assemble walls and floor. Soon, nothing of the sky remained, and only a small round room contained the two ponies. Their loneliness did not last long.
A bubbling shadow gathered together near the wall opposite the door, forming into a vaguely equine shape. Its legs were too slender, however, and atop its head lay a rack of antlers, bearing twelve points. When the form was complete, the shadows peeled away to reveal a creature out of Rainbow's nightmares. Fallaner was a dark brown creature, his coat covered in old stains whose origins Dash did not care to guess. Red tips adorned the dozen spear-headed tips of his antlers, leading down to a pair of black orbs that served as his eyes. From there, his muzzle led down to the most terrifying part of his body. Fallaner lacked a lower jaw completely. Instead, beneath his nostrils, a bloody mass of scar tissue and matted fur let his tongue hang down freely in the air, beneath a single row of rotten teeth. There were things in them, though with the poor lighting of the room, Rainbow could only guess at their nature. Almost immediately upon arriving, the elk's head swiveled in the younger pony's direction.
Would you care to dine?
Rainbow hesitated, and though the elk's hanging tongue remained still, something about him told her that he had noticed. She remembered Reckoning's words, but it still took a moment's pause to draw forth determination. "Yes. Uh, please."
And you, Late Stallion?
Reckoning's blind eye twitched, a sensation which must have caused considerable discomfort, judging by the way that his coat tensed against Rainbow's side. "Of course, Fallaner."
It is good. We shall break bones together, and be friends. Perhaps even mages, for such is the spirit of friendship. Yet it is tragic that one of us shall not leave this place alive. Four of his antler spurs began to glow with the same sickly green light as the rest of the malformed shack. Two smooth wooden plates and two heavy pewter goblets came into being. They settled down slabs of... something... before the two ponies, accompanied by a viscous opaque liquid suspiciously devoid of scent beneath the ever-present fumes of rot. A moment later, a third such plate appeared in the air before Fallaner. His jawless tongue began to lick at the food, accompanied by a pained and guttural sound escaping his exposed throat. Enjoy. We are glad to have guests. Now, tell us what it is that our humble talents can do.
A hoot escaped the skeletal owl as it entered the room from some knot in the woodwork that Rainbow hadn't noticed. She lurched away from it, bumping against Reckoning's side.
Do not mind him, Loyalty. His is a magic your kind have forgotten in time, though by the smell of your breath, I know some still remember it. Necromancy. The speaking to, and binding, of dead souls. He will not harm you against my will, unlike those unfortunate zebras who begged us for immortality. Now tell us a request.
Rainbow looked down at her plate, and then back up to Fallaner. Still licking his sickening meal, he nevertheless left his focus on the mare. "We need a cure for Princess Luna."
To give an antidote, the patient must first suffer a venom. Your question is wrong, Loyalty, for you misunderstand. For what you call a poison you also do not. I could pull from you what you seek, but you could not take it with you. Not without great cost.
Fear kept Rainbow from asking for an explanation for just a moment, and in that time, the elk's focus shifted to Dead Reckoning. Still his licking continued, followed by the slow but steady slurp of liquid passing into the hole at the back of his throat. You would know of our nature, would you not? Why we feast and cause others pain, when we call ourselves 'healer'? Why we take pleasure in the discomfort that our questions cause you? It is a simple curiosity to appease. The tips of Fallaner's antlers ignited. Rainbow spread her wings as a glowing green mist traveled from them toward Dead Reckoning, but the other pegasus held out a hoof to calm her. Closing both his eyes, he took a deep breath and relaxed. Both creatures stood still for a moment, until at last, Reckoning's eyes opened.
"We will tell this story within a mind that is not our own, for within our own minds, it is fractured and broken. Once, one of us was called Unque, which means 'Hollow'. He was a Fallaner - a healer - of great skill, even in his youth. The magic of elk cannot heal wounds with any great efficiency, and so his mastery of herbs and words earned him fame. One day, however, another of us came to him bearing a sickness. His name was Nai, and his illness was not of body, but of mind. Unque sought and sought for a means to cure the suffering of his patient, and in time, he stumbled upon an answer. For the soul of a body is different from its mind, and so Nai could be free from his burden if only the two could be separated. Of course, Nai would need a new body - one without such the bonds of madness. Unque had only one to give."
Reckoning paced to Rainbow's other side, eyes watching the young mare closely. "Nai was killed, and by Necromancy, his soul joined with Unque's. What the Fallaner did not know was that the moment the soul left the body, it was judged. And so it was guided into the Great Forest that our Lady Valdria gives us, just as your Princess grants you the Summer Lands. When Unque stole it away, the soul felt an uneasiness. It longed to return to where it belonged, but it did not know how. This sensation, this irresistible pull, drove Unque closer and closer to the madness he had sought to cure. To him, there was only one solution. There existed only one way for him to continue giving his gifts to the next generation. And so he killed himself, and bound his own body and soul together, just as he had Nai's. And so we became Fallaner - a body belonging to none, and the souls of many. In time, more came to us, seeking cures that no other could offer. Where we could, we healed them. Where we could not, we allowed them to join us. And now another comes."
Reckoning stopped, and clutched his head. "What? What happened?"
We used you to tell a story, Carrion, and we also read your mind. We recognize the fragmented pain that tarries within you, and offer you a cure.
Rainbow stepped forward, spilling her rotten beverage. "No, Fallaner. You're not going to do that to him!"
Did you learn nothing from the dragon you murdered, Loyalty? Do you still not comprehend his words? Without a clear mind, the Body cannot fulfill the purpose it bears stamped upon its back. Stifled, the soul grows hollow and hungry. Is my alternative not better than to live a life of madness and regret? To grow old and weak not only in body, but mind? Do not question me, Loyalty, for this is something we must do. We shall restore you, and then you shall both have the answers you seek. Now, remember not.
The green mist again surrounded Reckoning, and gently, he fell to his knees. Rainbow ran forward, hoping to stop the dead elk, but her hoof passed through Fallaner as though he were no more than a ghost. In our tongue, we are called Healer. The irony that we could not heal ourself lingers on our heart. Even our jaw remains undone, showing to our kind the most intimate of our secrets. What, Loyalty, can you do to change the future? Know that your magic alone is not your strength. We tell you of prophecies, Loyalty, for they are made in your name. Remember this well, for you shall hear it only once.
"What? Prophecies? I already got one, and it doesn't make any sense. Just tell me how to cure Luna!"
Then Fallaner spoke, aloud, in a tone that tore into the world painfully and brought tears to Rainbow's eyes.
"The Heir of the Storm rises with the Moon.
Their fates are entwined with that of their kind.
Should the heir not stand, then falls doom.
And all it takes is a promise signed.
For an ancient lie lays in plain sight;
a child lost to a forgotten recollection
Reconciliation knows the plight,
but will not share it for her protection.
A choice must be made by one so small
She bears witness to the death of Royalty
To undo damage, she sacrificed all
One cannot have Honor without Loyalty."
The elk's head nodded forward limply, but then swiveled up to the sound of steel leaving a sheathe. Reckoning's mouth clutched his machete, and the green light glimmered frighteningly off the white orb of his false eye. He looked... hungry.
"Uh... Reckoning, what are you doing?"
"Stay back, Easy Breeze," he muttered around the handle of the weapon. "Let a guardspony handle this."
"Easy Breeze?" Rainbow shot a glance to Fallaner, who seemed entirely calm, and then back at herself. Just as she expected, her Rainbow colors had returned. But if she didn't look like her mother, then...
"Look out!"
The warning came soon enough to spare the elk a quick death, but not before Reckoning claimed one of the creature's antlers. How the blade had touched him, Rainbow couldn't guess, but the severed, bloodstained appendage fell to the ground alone. Fallaner's open throat howled in agony, flailing wildly. Deadeye drew closer.
"No, Reckoning!" Rainbow flared her wings and lunged at the other pony. A mighty right hook struck the scout's face, issuing the crystal clear crack of shattering glass. Dead Reckoning was thrown head over hooves into the cold wall. His weapon skittered across the floor, coming to rest a dozen feet away.
You saved us... me, Loyalty. Instead of a chorus, Fallaner's mental tones carried only one voice, issuing from the glow of a single antler prong.
"Yeah, well you still need to tell me how to cure Luna."
His mind is in the past, and my methods cannot undo it. I... have destroyed him... He resisted me. Now you must finish it.
"What? I'm not killing him!"
I prophesied true when you entered. One of us would not leave this place. You are armed and he is not.
"No!" Rainbow would have said more, had Dead Reckoning not managed to rise from the pile of books. His false eye had shattered in its socket, and the shards of glass had embedded themselves in the surrounding muscle. A venous web of his blood trickled between the shards, before spilling down his face along the three fissures of the scar that had claimed the eye in the first place. His muzzle was contracted in fury, and his remaining eye thirsted for blood.
"How could you, Breeze? Betray Equestria for them?!"
"Reckoning, this isn't happening!" Rainbow shouted. "It's just another flashback!"
He cannot hear you, Loyalty. Flee. Your wings are swifter, but he is a hunter. Only a lead will save you in the jungle.
Reckoning drew back on his hind legs. Fallaner's remaining antler glowed with green magic, but it was unable to restrain the old pegasus. Reckoning spread his wings and flapped, once. A thin mist filled the room, consuming his magic yet again. It was enough, though, to blind Rainbow to both the monstrous elk and her maddened companion.
"How do I save Luna?!" Rainbow shouted into the fog.
You already hold the guide in paper, Rainbow. Luna slumbers west of here, at the great ridge. You asked the right question, and now only need the right-
Through the mist Rainbow could see nothing. Her senses were guided by hearing, first and foremost. What she heard, echoing in the room too small to bear echoes, was the noise. It began with a hum, and then became more of a whistling, before it ended with the sound of a small splash and a gentle trickle. She remembered the exact sound from the night she had first met Reckoning. Only one thing changed this time: a dull, fleshy thud. Something heavy hit the wooden floor.
Rainbow's thinking mind froze up, knowing the death without even seeing the body. Somewhere in the mist, he was watching her. "Okay, Reckoning. Everything's okay now."
He didn't answer. That was the worst part. Her wings twitched. Her ears flipped around, hoping to catch a sound. Nothing happened for five whole seconds. The scent of rot continued to pervade the cold, wet air. Ten seconds. The swirling of fell magic could barely be heard through the room's single door. Fifteen seconds.
Wind whistled over a blade, and she spun. The blade at the crest of her left wing caught Reckoning's weapon on its point, no more than an inch from her neck. She looked him square in the eye, and in the reflection, she could have sworn she saw a griffon staring back. She didn't have time to think on it. The collision had been painful, and she could feel an ache from the strength of his attack on the crest of her wing, but the blade hadn't reached her flesh. Thrusting with her stronger wings, she threw the other pony back long enough to make a break for it in the mist.
She quickly found a wall, and from there felt along it blindly, as quickly as she could, searching for a doorway. It took too long. She heard the cut through the air, and leapt to the side. A shallow cut drew a line over her cutie mark. Warm wet blood spilled over her right flank, worsening the wound already placed there earlier. The pain was intense, but she couldn't take the time to think about it, or the next strike would kill her. She rolled forward, before throwing herself toward another wall at random.
Her hooves found a doorway, sitting open. Without a thought, she leapt through it, out of Deadeye's magical mist, and into the long tube that held the swirling vortex of Fallaner's green magic. She moved forward along the spiraling path as quickly as she could, but the risk of a wrong step was too great to run.
Reckoning came out of the mist behind her only moments later. "Traitor!" His hooves ran on the winding surface, uncaring of the risks it presented. Dash turned just in time to meet his approach, blocking another of his slashes with the blades on her wings.
"Why, Breeze?"
"I'm not going to hurt you, Deadeye. I'm not fighting." Rainbow paced backwards, keeping herself low as she watched his approach.
Reckoning responded with a dozen cuts, swinging as wildly and quickly as he could. Rainbow struggled to keep up with the speed and sheer strength behind his attacks. One attack came too close, putting a cut on her brow. Blood seeped down into Rainbow's left eye, and she squeezed it shut.
Still he continued, and with each block, she realized his advantage. Wings weren't meant for guarding, and despite her speed, the natural advantage of his blade would leave her dead if she didn't do something.
Her mind came first to his earlier words. "You're defending yourself."
She ducked under a slash aimed for her neck, and then slapped him with the open flat of one of her wings. Though buffeted, Reckoning did not relent.
"You're trying to save lives."
He slashed at her, and when she parried, his steel-shod hoof hit the base of her wing. In agony, it crumpled to her side. She leapt back to avoid his next attack.
"My life."
He watched her, in exactly the same way a tiger would watch a canary. He paced forward slowly, testing how close she would allow him. Rather than attacking, she yielded ground with each step.
"Your princess' life."
His sudden lunge caught her unprepared. She managed to leap to the side, narrowly, but the action cost her balance. She barely stayed on the walkway, leaning heavily out into open air over the vile green mana as Deadeye stepped over her.
"Sometimes, that means making choices."
She saw her opening. She could have caught his throat with her bruised wing. He wouldn't have expected it in the slightest. It was her only sane chance. In that moment, though, she saw Smog's eye, and she heard her own promise to Reckoning. "We're both walking out of here together."
Instead, she waited. He pulled back his machete, ready to end it all, and she made the only choice she could.
She jumped.
A torrent of arcane wind seized her wings, spinning her in midair. She flapped heavily, forcing herself to ignore the bruise Reckoning had given her. Still she fell, dropping like a rock. The green energy grew closer, and with it came the scent of rot and acid. Closer and closer it came, until her wings caught a crosswind, mere inches away from the surface of the deathly substance. She shot forward on the momentum of her fall, and pulled up toward the walkway.
With every foot forward, she felt gravity shift, buffeting her and skewing her path wildly. Her mind couldn't follow the changes, and so it was only her instincts as a flier that saved her. Up, and then across, tilting her wings forward for pitch, and then diving 'up' toward the exit. She looped over the path twice not out of desire to show off, but because she had no other choice. She saw Reckoning running for the exit as well, but his old legs were no match for the speed of her wings. She soared through the door with twenty feet to spare, and continued on wing until she reached the narrow spiral stairs at the far side of the room.
Upwards she ran, stumbling as her wounded hind flank resisted her motion. She could hear Reckoning's hooves behind her as she climbed, though the echoing sound gave no indication of his distance. Only that he was behind, and that if she stopped, he would be behind no more. Upward she continued, desperate and tired, until she came to a little library. Her only thought was of the door out, and her thanks were unimaginable when she found it restored to its proper place. She glanced back, to see Reckoning cresting the top of the stairs. With no more time to wait, she darted out into the darkness of the jungle.
The very first thought that reached her mind was Reckoning's rule about flying - one of the very first things he had told her. Predators have a harder time seeing you if you stayed beneath the canopy. An agile flyer, Rainbow could only pray it would work on the pony who had given the advice in the first place. A rainbow trail marked her blur into the thick foliage of the Zebrican jungle.
The last she heard of Dead Reckoning was a muted shout. "How could you?"
She flew a least a mile in seconds, not caring about her direction or her surroundings. Finally, the pain in her wing and her flank overrode her desperation, and she simply fell onto the branches of a small tree. Once there, it only took her moments to pass into a heavy sleep, haunted by the cannibalistic elk and the cruel question of her former partner.
Special Thanks to SatoshiKyu for Pre-Reading
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What?! NO I have an o chem exam in 1 hour. Why did i look?! Oh well so much 4 studying.
First?
Here we are: the dreaded NIGHTMARE NIGHT Chapter, one night early!
I cut a scene that didn't really fit, which is why you're looking at a slightly shorter chapter.
It was weird to write a single, effectively continuous scene of that length, especially with so many 'moving parts' (I believe the next longest continuous scene is the Council of Nobles from way back in chapter 7 or 8, but that was almost all dialogue...)
Next chapter we're back to 'normal' with character appearances and events. As you can see, we're starting to approach 'the line', and time is getting tight for our heroes.
Enjoy!
-Loyal Liar
Im not liking the implications of that line, especially not with all of the other little hints like this, and by the looks of it, her friends believing shes dead, if that drowning vision is to be believed.
this chapter was just incredible. I can see that Rainbow is going to come out of this a whole different mare. I hope Reckoning and her re-conciliate in the future. This chapter actually left me frozen in place on my bed, I was just mesmerized.
1534430
The implications I got from that is that the elk can sense Celestia's necromancy on Dash. She did die, if you remember, and I thought the elk was just referring to the necromancy Celly used. Interestingly enough, Dash doesn't show any of the unease that the elk talked about, despite being judged by Luna; I wonder why that is.
1534648
Yeah, that's what I got. Dash was dead, now she's not, celestia used necromancy to bring her back. In my experiences, necromancy doesn't usually end well for the revived party, and that it's not permanent. So dash thinks that her friends think she's fine, when in reality she's...undead? Not sure how that's working here. So to me, the only reason that her letter was withheld was because she wasn't going to continue living after Luna was saved, and to spare her friends the pain of her dieing twice.
1534740
What I think is that Rainbow is only in it for the mission to save Luna, then she'll move on to the afterlife. You'll remember that Celly was horrified about doing it in the first place; combined with how unhealthy we're seeing being deprived of the afterlife is, I doubt Celly would keep Dash around for long after she saves Luna.
1534648
1534740
Congrats on another good chapter. I'm still not entirely clear whats going on in the big picture, but I'm confident it'll get there eventually. You've done an excellent job with your world building and filling it out in an interesting way. Looking forward to more!
By the way, thanks for the fav of Fire & Rain!
Well, everyone, I feel like I should be fair. You see, my pre-reader here 1535114 has encouraged me to do something like this:
However, in the interest of being a decent person, I think that wouldn't be fair. So instead, the commenter that I'm going to be trolling today is SatoshiKyu.
Dear Satoshi,
The 'America' song in question is 'I've been through the Desert on a Horse with No Name'. I imagine that will probably make you even more confused.
-Loyal
Readers, don't worry about that. As my pre-reader, Satoshi is aware of some upcoming plot points that I otherwise avoid giving out because they're spoilers. It is my habit, however, to make his figure these out on his own, in what eventually resembles an extended game of '20 questions', rather than just telling him. You might think I'm being cruel to my pre-reader, but I promise its more fun than just being handed an outline of everything there is to know in the whole story.
1534997, in the interest of further bothering Satoshi, I'll explain his comment. The line in question (or at least, one of them) is this:
'Why would anybody laugh at that, you might be asking...' The answer is found all the way back in Chapter 1:
Obviously, the emphasis isn't there in the original, but you will note that we have not yet reached Act 2. That's all I'm going to say on the matter for now, but you collectively might not be rid of me and this story as quickly as you might be thinking.
1534740: Sometimes I feel like a changeling, because when I read speculation like this, it gets close to providing me with sustenance. One of the most fun things for an author is to see what people are thinking about the story as it progresses.
It seems like pretty much everyone has decided that Steel, aka The Commander, is Rainbow's mysterious father for one reason or another; is that the universal opinion, or merely the prevailing one? Does anyone suspect anypony else?
(I'm silently hoping somebody will suggest Grizzaloo, myself.)
Hope you've enjoyed it so far.
-Loyal Liar
1534997
Wait.
Wait.
Wait.
Rainbow Dash's grandfather didn't want her to be on the guard because she might discover that the Commander is really her father.
1535535
LIES. ALL LIES. Everything is lies--it's in his NAME. He lies to you with every breath he takes.
No, his every breath IS a lie, because he's a ZOMBIE. He isn't even ALIVE.
1535605
If the Commander were Dash's father, what motivation would he have for keeping it a secret from her?
1535705
By the looks of it, he's got some powerful enemies, so maybe to protect his family?
1535875
You know, I should probably stop getting involved in this discussion before I say something I shouldn't. But, for one last time's sake:
I'm not asking how Silver Lining would know; I'm asking why he would want to keep it a secret from Rainbow if it was the case.
1535875
That's what I thought. He entered the secret Honor Guard, and to keep all of that dangerous shit out of Rainbow Dash's life he pretended to die.
1535885
perhaps he doesn't approve of the guard, or maybe doesn't like her father (im pretty sure you never mentioned if silver lining was from her mother or father's side), or maybe he doesn't want rainbow to join the guard in her father's footsteps and end up getting killed,
1536045
Not saying anything about whether you're right or wrong, but I thought I'd point this line out to you:
(From Chapter 11)
Theorize on: as the McDonalds corporation would have me say, I'm lovin' it.
-Loyal Liar
1536294
thought i might have missed something like that, thanks for pointing it out, one theory crossed off my board. Now, back to fanciful speculation of what will happen in the next chapter!
1535885
Well, it was kind of your job to reveal why after we guessed your master plan ;p
1536431
Yes, I suppose it is. Should you turn out to be correct, feel free to give yourself a pre-approved pat on the back.
1536627
Gah! Come on, Satoshi, watch it! That was probably vague enough not to spoil things, but I'd appreciate it if you not do this sort of thing in the future. Consider this your warning.
-LL
Well, damn. I must say, I was riveted to my computer screen the whole chapter. Don't get me wrong, the story in its entirety is amazing, but the Rainbow parts are always my favorite
.
I was actually really creeped out at the very beginning. The white faces in the mist reminded me of my very, very brief attempt at Slenderman (to see what the hype was about. It went a little something like this: "Oh, this isn't so bad...walkin through the forest, lalala, boring - holy crap on a cracker! Slenderman! Eewewewewew he's chasing me! gagh! Whelp, never playing that again...) And the skeletons coming out of the water reminded me of the inferi from the sixth Harry Potter book.
And the elk guy - Yergh. I could picture him quite vividly - curse your talent with descriptive language.
Anywho, I'm not liking the whole hinting at Rainbow being a creature of necromancy - from my Skyrim experience I can vouch for that not ending well. Like everyone else is saying, I'm guessing her second stint on earth will end once she saves Luna (if she saves Luna) and that her friends all currently think she's dead. Which is depressing. (Check in with the mane 5 chapter coming up at any point soon, or at all?)
Although, it was mentioned way back that Dash no longer has a place in the afterlife due to what Celestia did, so maybe she can't even go back anyway? Or maybe she'll still "die" after the quest is over, but will just cease to exist as opposed to going to the Summer lands? Or maybe Luna will die and Dash will become the new Moon Princess? Zombie Moon Princess? Yeah, I have no idea. As to the Commander being her dad, I was thinking maybe, but now it seems almost too obvious. If her mom was actually a prostitute, does she even know who the father is? I mean, I guess if he had a rainbow mane it'd be pretty obvious, but short of that...
Oh, and poor Deadeye - I liked him. I'm guessing he's done for - its not like Rainbow can knock him out of his trance, and even if he catches up to her it'll only be to fight again. They either meet up again and she kills him, or she flies away and never sees him again, leaving the poor codger to wander around aimlessly stabbing trees, lost in his memories. Huh, well I think that's a long enough ranmble-rant from me. I have to say, I appreciate the effort you've put into this so far, and if your hints are to be believed, there's still lots to come. Which is wonderful, because I just finished marathon-ing Crisis: Equestria over the past week and am now missing an epic fic that updates at a good pace.
1536627So Hurricane is either(random ideas!1!)
Celestia's son.
Immortal, therefore making him the current Commander and STILL RD's dad.
Or the Apple Family isn't made of inbred hillbilly hicks.(plzdontkillmeifulikeApplejack)
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I almost said 'no', because I was reading the Overall comment list (instead of the one specifically for chapter 4). Then I realized what you meant. So, yes, that was an inspiration. The idea of something which 'changes' to the fear was not from Dementors or Boggarts or whichever other creature did that; that idea was my own.
However, when I realized that I had put Shining in a room with a magic teacher, and they were performing that same sort of training, I put two and two together. Good spot.
Wow man, just wow. I was waiting for this chapter to come out before I said anything and I'm glad I did :)
The creep factor in the whole haunted house chapter was awesome. I liked how you described the setting very, very much. The introduction of a necromancer is the best, most blatant bit of foreshadowing I've ever seen.
Fallaner also cleared up my confusion as to whether or not Dash had died. Thanks for that! The only thing that remains is to find out just how she stayed alive... I have a theory about that myself, mostly based on the fact that I think Loyalty is the most cruel of the Elements: A phrase such as "Loyal unto death" implies there is a limit to your loyalty, which would sort of defeat the purpose of the Element. I rather hope it was Celestia that did something to keep her around because if it was her Element that shafted her, well... that would suck for her :P
One question that did arise from this chapter was whether or not Dash was really alive, biologically speaking. She sleeps, eats and bleeds because she's alive even when she should be dead, right? She's not a very well disguised undead?
And I hate you... you didn't kill Reckoning, but he's out of the picture all the same! Poor guy :( Still, that part where Dash remembers she promised that both of them would make it out and she runs for it instead of taking the kill was great stuff. Honestly, I thought you'd forget about that but it was nice that you really make an effort to make Dash live up to her epithet.
I don't know about the ending, though.
Don't get me wrong, it's great but, well... From the moment Fallaner explained his back story (grade A necromancy stuff there!), It seemed like he would consume Reckoning; up until the very end. To be frank, I'd already made peace with the idea... That they're both alive and yet, he's still gone for all intents and purposes left me (and Dash as well, I imagine) feeling somewhat lost. If that was what you were aiming for, you get full marks from me.
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The previous chapter seemed to be pretty straight forward, and then you threw in Soldier On.
That arc is quickly turning into a real Gordian Knot. I'm pretty sure she's not into the boar conspiracy, she owes the Commander too much to turn him over to the pigs for their entertainment. I'm also sure she doesn't give a flying fuck about Luna. I'm not so certain now that she would just let her die, considering the events of chapter 12.
She's still hunting down Masquerade Ball. It could be because she feels she has to get the Commander back. It could be because she feels like Reckoning does about her loyalty to Celestia, who knows at this point. The thing is that Armor's most damning piece of evidence (that she claimed the doctors would have a cure by now) may not be anything: she could have said that with absolute confidence that would be the truth, and now that I look at it from her point of view, I can sort of see it: Luna's immortal, stupidly magical and she was poisoned in the heart of Canterlot where (presumably) the best doctors are on hoof.
It should follow that she'd be all right. I'm not sure now that this isn't a massive over reaction by every body or just Red Ink pulling strings somehow to get himself appointed captain (or something :P).
As a little aside... I don't know how pure and shining is Shining Armor and whether or not he would... ahem... stray with Solo but really, if that filly keeps saving his bacon and she doesn't get some in return at some point in the future, then the world is very, very unfair :P
Question about this last point: Armor suggests that Cadance should go back with her parents to wherever-it-isn't-Canterlot-right-now but we don't learn whether or not she left. Did she do it? Because for Red Ink a wife that close is (potent) leverage against Armor.
Congratulations on a great work again!
Wow... holy crap. Amazing chapter.
This prophecy doesn't seem to bode well for RD. I wonder who or what Reconciliation refers to. This is most likely connected to a character trait, but whose character trait. I haven't seen anyone yet who leans towards Reconciliation.
I'm really stuck on the Commander being amnesiac, since that was the part that most stuck out to me.
Also necromancy? So basically almost however this goes, RD is screwed. Either her soul is now forfeit and she will never be able to rest forever Celestia's servant, cursed to pony hell, she will cease to be or she is now immortal and unable to die...at all.
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Yeah, i was referring to Dumbledore giving Harry chocolate after encountering the boggart/dementor. Rather sly reference there my friend.
If Rainbow's mother was a prostitute, then it follows that her father is most likely Celestia.
All of this speculation is actually starting to get me a little depressed. Her loyalty only leads to her eventual demise. This is not going to end well for Dash, I can feel it.
1552373
Your mom's a whore!
But, I thought they just said she was Easy, like yknow, a nickname...
... immortality, surely?
I noticed a major plot hole.
WHY DIDN'T THEY FLY OVER THE RIVER? The no flying pills wore off, didn't they?
That was intense. I'll admit that this has been the most confusing chapter so far for me, but it was incredible nonetheless. All of those crazy ass prophecies, Reckoning going batshit crazy, just... damn. Reading this on the bus back from lake Itasca.
~SolidFire
"That's far enough, Fallaner! Come forth!"
"A star shines on the hour of our meeting." "