The Herald trudged through a wide-stretching valley filled with dense, knee-high glowing mushrooms. Kepler picked several for samples. Ariel flew wide circles in the air, surveying the landscape ahead.
Rainbow Dash and Wildcard sat facing each other in the wagon.
The Desperado flashed his natural hand in multiple formations.
Rainbow watched... watched... watched—"'Austraeoh','" she blurted. "That spells out 'Austraeoh.'"
Wildcard nodded. He signed again.
Rainbow's eyes darted left and right, following the talons. "'Urohringr.'"
A smirk beneath his beak, and Wildcard gestured again.
Rainbow's ghostly companions watched intently. They looked at the griffin's claws, then back at Rainbow Dash.
She took a deep breath, then stammered: "'Rohbredden.' Wow. That's how you spell it?"
"Ha-hah!" Kepler laughed from where he scampered alongside the wagon, picking mushrooms.
"Whew-boy..." Rainbow stroked her bangs back. "These are getting long."
The wagon skirted the edge of a precarious canyon wall. Logan was drawing the wagon this time. Kepler and Flynn sat close to one another, examining a map left by the Darkreach Expedition.
"Okaaay..." Rainbow Dash squinted. She was trotting behind the wagon, looking at Wildcard who sat on the very back. "That one means... means..." She blinked hard. "Could you repeat it again?"
Wildcard nodded. He patiently complied.
"Eugh... I wanna say 'whale,' but..."
"It's 'sea serpent,'" Twilight Sparkle said.
"Shhhh!" Rainbow hissed at her. "I got this!"
"But don't you remember? He taught it to you six days ago—?"
"Twilight! Girl!" Rainbow frowned. "I can do this! How else am I gonna learn?!"
"Ohhhhhhhh..." Twilight sighed and hovered in a slumped position. "What I wouldn't give for some ghostly flash cards."
Beside them, a lavender portal of translucent energy opened up. Pinkie and Rarity stuck their heads out, yawning.
"Are they still learning Wyvern Wind Speech?" Rarity whined.
"Mmmmmhmmmm." Twilight nodded.
"Awwwwwwwww candy corn!" Pinkie cursed. "Whelp!" She and Rarity limped back into the comfortable folds of limbo. "Call us when there's a fight scene or something!"
"Nyeeeeuuu..." Rarity held a dainty hoof over her yawning muzzle as she disappeared. "What she said..."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Not everypony respects lesson time."
"Hey Wildcard!" Rainbow's voice cracked as she smirked at the griffin. "Can you combine 'egg' and 'head?'"
A lavender hoof motioned to punch the petite pegasus, instead phasing through her skull.
Rainbow merely winked into the dim starlight. "What about adding 'cracked' as an adjective?"
The group huddled under a smooth, curved swath of pale stone overlooking a luminescent valley. The air was filled with reptilian creatures darting after one another in sporadic formation.
Kepler squatted over a pot of meat stew. As he stirred, he looked over to where Rainbow Dash was tightly huddled with Wildcard.
But he wasn't the only one looking.
A pair of charcoal brown eyes reflected the pair. Seraphimus sat in the dead center of the camp. Several chains anchored her to the wagon.
After a prolonged period of staring, she shifted upon hearing a set of heavy hoofsteps marching closer. She made way for Logan, who squatted perpendicular to the griffin.
"Alright..." He placed an Emeraldinian bowl of broth down before her. "Got ya some of the stew. Extra meaty. And not in the sexy way." Schiiiing! He propped up his axe so she could see it. "You know the drill. I'll free one talon during the meal—but no funny stuff."
Seraphimus sighed, but nevertheless stood obediently still as the stallion undid one half of her forward shackles. "By now, Logan, you should know that I'm not capable of 'funny.'"
"Hrmmmff..." He released her front right limb and leaned back next to his axe. "What does any of us know?"
She raised the bowl to her beak, all the while squinting at the two. "It's a very bad idea."
"Like Hell it is," Logan grasped a sample of reptilian meat himself and took a hearty bite. "Mrmmmfff... you're a tactician... hrmmmfff..." He swallowed. "If you expect a team like us to do well, then it's super friggin' important for our leader to be able to speak to anyone. That includes your old buddy over there."
"She's already infected his blighted mind enough," Seraphimus droned. "Opening communication is just..." She fidgeted. "...allowing her to funnel more nonsense into Jordan's consciousness."
"Well..." Logan chewed and shrugged. "If his mind is so 'blighted' already than what's the worst she can do to him at this point?"
"I shudder to find out."
Logan paused for a moment. He squinted at Seraphimus. "... ... ...maybe you've already found out."
She took a sip and looked at him. "Hmmm?"
Logan smirked ever so slightly. "You're jealous at the attention Wildcard is getting, aren't you?"
The former Talon Commander nearly spat out her stew. She placed the bowl down and wiped off her beak. "That is preposterous."
"Hey, I get it. You're passionate about the dude. We all are. In your case—it showed the first time you tried to rip his heart out over Bleak's Plummet."
"Jordan drew a line in the sand a long... long time ago, Logan," Seraphimus grumbled. "Even he knows he is without honor. I have no feelings about him whatsoever. No feelings about anything."
"Heh... sure thing, Sera." Logan sat back casually and nibbled on his dinner. "Mrmmmfff... For a hardass who no longer feels, you've gotten pretty darn used to my name."
Seraphimus blinked.
"Hell..." He shrugged, glancing off into the valley below. "...makes one wonder just how much else you're capable of feeling."
"I am not jealous."
"Okay."
"... ... ...I am not."
"Friggin' eat your stew already, ya buzzard."
Seraphimus fumed. Glancing back at Rainbow and Wildcard, she very quietly... very angrily raised the bowl back to her beak.
A few bubbles formed in the broth.
Pinkie pls..
Heh. Seragan gets better while Dash makes another familial connection.
Griffin's come with horns apparently, good safety feature.
-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.
My favorite sign is sea turtle.
Something that Twilight never seemed to get, is that not everyone wants to learn in the way she did. Good to see Rainbow is progressing quite quickly though, always knew she was much smarter than she let on. Unfortunately now Twilight knows as well, and if they get back will no doubt want to teach Rainbow who knows what. Wonder when we will next run into other sapients, even if they are not ponies
Seraphimus is so very jealous!
did seraphimus breathe out into the bowl?
was she blowing bubbles as a stress relief distraction from logans words?
Time has passed.
Murderbubbles.
Angsty murderbirb blowing murderbubbles.
To paraphrase Tywin Lannister: "Any man who must say, 'I am not jealous' is not truly un-jealous."
SeraDash is happening!
Seriously, Sera's watching the Dashinator with Jordan and she ain't gonna let no man take her rainbow pride away!
(Insert black woman giving the face here)
Mmm-hmm!
Seraphimus has an offensive swear filter? Why does this make so much sense?
Now I can't help but wonder if this is on purpose.
D'aaw.
A N G E R Y S E R A
.....SeraDash, anyone?
I wonder where that jealousy is coming from - boredom or intrigue?
8484653
Aw hell no.
I Really hope those bubbles were Sera blowing angry griffin noises.
And not that this Entire Area, like Doomsday, is a Single Psychoreactive Slime Mould.
Where all the big predators, grazers at?
And now Sera starts to call them by name. She may deny it, but her resistance is basically over.
0:23-0:28
I dunno, everything seems to be so sure Sera is jealous of Dash, but I'm pretty sure she's jealous of Jordan, she always showed inmense respect and care for Wilcard, constantly calling for him since he "joined" the herald, and she probablly thinks that only really close people know the sign language he's teaching dash (as bard did).
In any case, this last chapters with Dash and Wlidcard have been super adorables and great. And always love any interaction with Sera.
This chapter was adorable
Wildcard, how do you spell tsundere?
Seraphimus is sure having a lot of feelings for an unfeeling murderbird.
What if Wildcard comes up with unique signs just to refer to Rainbow's friends? Something to ponder...
Wildcard will need this: https://youtu.be/qxmFT6nFprs
Squee Seragan OTP
AJ has her hat; Sera uses a fessin' stew.
iwanttosnuggleloganliketheresnotomorrow
It still feels weird to hear Sera use Logan's name instead of "infidel" all the time.
Weird in a good way.
Heh. Catbirb is jelly.
Day by day, Sera becomes more and more . . . not as much of a bitch as she was when this journey began on the dark side. However . . . there is still a while to go before we can no longer call her a murder bird.
Baka!
These are my favorite chapters of the story so far.
8512556
srsly. character development. i miss it. i mean, it’s been happening sporadically, but it’s so deliciously concentrated here.
8523555
Agreed, It's So delightful. I like all the chaos and rough and tumble but I love The characters1
8484615
Well, Rainbow does seem to have some form of ADHD or attention disorder in the show, with her constant need for movement and Twilight having to compensated for her unique learning style, so it's no wonder that having to actively focus and track the movements of Wildcard's sign language would be easier on her just reading or lectures.
Wait, does Seraphimus actually have feelings for Wildcard?!
That’s quite odd considering she’s been holding on to her family for a decade.
Anyone else notice how violent Twilight is damn
10211933
a mix of wanting to bump someone on the head repeatedly and being unable to do so for month.
I like how we've somehow managed to have Slice-of-Life style chapters while the Herald is "traversing the perils of the Dark Side." Then again, if I had all that time on my hands I'd totally be down to continue studying my ASL.
Holup
What, you jelly Sera?
OOOOH YOU JELLY.