Dead World; Dead Detritus
Th-Thap!
Rainbow Dash landed first. She kept a respectable distance from the metallic structure looming in front of her. The ground was littered with an assortment of random shrapnel—all rusted and bent awkwardly about.
Th-Thwump! Ariel touched down behind the petite pegasus.
"Soooooo..." She scratched her scalp with a pair of wingfeathers. "...if this is some sort of catapult, I'd say they're a teensy bit out of range from the world's edge."
"It's not a catapult," Rainbow said. She raised her goggles and furrowed her scarred brow. "But it was made to be moved around."
Ariel's eyes fell to the stone bed of the plane. Near the closer corners of the structure's four-sided base, the remnants of a rusted wheel lay strewn about. "I see..."
A cold brisk wind blew over the desolate plane... and it was evident that this wind never died down. Ever. The structure creaked as it slowly rocked in one direction... then settled back to the original. Then there would be another frigid breeze and the pointlessly laborious process would repeat. There were chains and loosely-connected bits of metal dangling off the middle-level of the thinly framed tower.
In truth, it was more of a multi-tiered pedestal than a tower. It stretched barely taller than two stories, and many of the metal surfaces had been rusted with age, elements, and neglect. Had it not been for the stark, simple fact that this was the only artificial construct for hundreds upon hundreds of untold flat kilometers, then the likes of Rainbow and Ariel wouldn't have given the object a second glance.
"I was... kinda sorta expecting something more epic than this to greet us on the Dark Side," Ariel said.
"What would you have preferred?" Rainbow murmured as she trotted at length around the foundation in a lazy circle. "A tall, twisted black obelisk that could turn your mind and body inside out through sheer chaotic madness?"
"... ... ..." Ariel shifted where she stood. "Well... maybe not my mind... ... ..."
"Hmmmmm..." Rainbow reached the far end of the structure—away from the direction that the rest of the unseen Herald were gradually trotting from. Here, she saw the entrance to the platform: a series of steps ascended in a zig-zagged fashion, winding up the neck of the structure and ending at the topmost platform lined with thin black railings. "Judging from the size of the stairs, they're made for ponies like you and me."
"So..." Ariel leaned forward, eyes bright and blue in the twilight. "...this was crafted by the Emeraldinians!"
"How?"
"H-huh?"
Rainbow was squinting at the structure. "Where did they get the metal for it?" She calmly breathed in and breathed out while the structure groaned and creaked in the wind above her. "They couldn't have carried that much stuff from the Light Side via the Gondola. Unless..." She rubbed her chin, gazing off into the curved horizon overshadowing them. "...they forged it."
"They could have built a forge at Darkreach," Ariel said. "I mean... this is not Darkreach. Heh."
"I could have told you that, girl." Rainbow scuffled sideways slightly. She stared closely at the metal debris lying spread across the stone. She noted the remnants of a long bar—shattered down its rusted length. There was a tiny cylindrical chamber lying on its side, resembling the base of a torch. The thin metal framework was darker than the rest of the metal, charred black by something other than rust. "A manatorch," Rainbow Dash thought aloud. "Unicorns."
"H-hey!" Ariel beamed. "You really know your ruins!"
"Not well enough..." Rainbow knelt down low, squinting at a purely round shell. She was staring at something that looked like one half of a sphere. If it weren't for a length of chain anchoring the hollow concave thing to a stake in the rock-solid earth, then surely it would have been blown away ages ago. "I... don't know what this is... although it seems strangely familiar for some reason."
Ariel's ears perked. "Do any of your friends know what it could be?"
Rainbow's muzzle scrunched. "Not really. I mean... Pinkie Pie thinks it's a pasta drainer." She exhaled, approaching the base of the structure. "At this point, I'm half-tempted to believe her."
"Heh..."
Rainbow reached the bottom foundation. She waited for it to shift, creak, and groan. Then—without flinching a muscle—she placed one hoof up onto the bottom step... followed by a second.
"Ah!" Ariel winced all over, wingtips flaring. "Ah ah ah ah—!"
"Relax," Rainbow droned, and proceeded to trot up the crooked, rusted steps. "It's sturdy."
"My butt is sturdy!" Ariel frowned. "Why do you always gotta do things the dangerous and impulsive way?"
Rainbow's vision scraped across her from above as she rounded a flight of rested stairs.
Ariel rolled her eyes. "Right..." A sigh. "Forgot who I was talking to." Wings flapping, she ascended the lazy way to meet Rainbow at the top.
Rainbow shuffled to a stop in the middle of an eight-foot-by-eight-foot platform. There was no top, ceiling, or awning. Naked twilight shimmered down onto a flat metal pedestal surrounded on all sides by narrow railings—railings that may have once been strong enough to keep a guard pony from plummeting over the edge of the lookout post.
"It's a lookout post...!" Ariel wheezed.
"Thanks for reading my mind." Rainbow's eyes traveled up a pair of metal spokes jutting up and positioned parallel to two corners of the topmost platform. Scrutinizing the scene, Rainbow noticed a pair of rusted hooks dangling loosely from two-thirds up the height of the spokes. "Hmmmm..." She smiled warmly to herself. "Hammock."
Ariel flashed her a look. "Huh?"
"There was a hammock here," Rainbow said. "Once upon a time."
"How do you know?"
"Trust me." Rainbow swallowed. "I just do." She gazed off towards the horizon from which they walked. From that height, she could make out a narrow line of bitter pale blue. "Although... nopony's slept here or even minded a post here for who knows how long. Years... maybe even lifetimes."
Ariel gulped. "So much for Darkreach."
Rainbow glanced at her.
"I mean... that's gotta settle it, right?" Ariel grimaced noticeably. "They abandoned the Gondola. They abandoned the precipice. They abandoned this post..." She sighed. "There can't be any survivors of the Emeraldinian Expedition... can there?"
"If there were..." Rainbow shuddered. "It'd have to be their grandfoals."
"Great great great great grandfoals is more like it," Ariel said.
Rainbow didn't have a response to that. Something had caught her eye. She trotted over to a rectangular solid of metal that stood out from the rest of the platform. There was a narrow black space between the top of the box and the base of it, and everything inside was ink black.
"A chest?" Ariel remarked.
"One way to find out." Rainbow rushed over and gripped the lid. She lifted... hard... but the opening to the metal container refused to budge. "Rrrrrngh! Dang rust... thought I l-left you in Red Barge!"
"Here, lemme help." Ariel rushed over, gripped her side of the lid, and lifted as well. Straining and sweating, she somehow managed to throw a silly glare in Rainbow's direction. "Them meat on your bones is stretched paper thin, girl! You need to get some protein in you!"
"You're one to t-talk," Rainbow hissed, straining.
"What's that supposed to mean—?!"
Crack!
At last, the chest opened. Several white shapes scattered in the air—like moths. Rainbow and Ariel flinched... only to realize that it was shredded paper bits. The debris scattered, filling the cold air with a moldy smell. Thunder echoed from the precipice in the distance as Rainbow looked into the belly of the chest. Reaching in, she winced to feel a pile of scribbled manuscripts reduced to dry and flaky pulp—completely unreadable.
Ariel bore a bittersweet smile. "I wonder what they even wrote about."
"Judging from the view?" Rainbow turned once more to the pale thin line twinkling behind them. "Probably about a sunrise that never came."
"Hey..." Ariel pointed. "Look! Something's still in tact."
Rainbow dipped her head low. She reached into the chest... then pulled her hooves back out, cradling a brown metal slab. There were several lines and blemishes etched into the half-rusted plate. Rainbow was at a loss to make heads or tails out of the blurred lines and criss-crossing geometric shapes.
"Is it... a language?" Ariel suggested. "Some sort of written primer?"
"Don't look like any runes I've seen," Rainbow exclaimed, shaking her head. "Nothing repeats. It's just a flat line and then an empty space and then a bunch of tiny little squigglies—"
"A map."
Rainbow flashed Ariel a look.
Ariel shrugged. "Maybe it's a map of some sort."
"Hrmmm..." Rainbow returned to scrutinizing the slab up close. "If this is supposed to be an Emeraldinian map, then the Dark Side is a wholllllle lot smaller than we all thought."
The air filled with deep, breathy cackles.
"That wasn't so funny, Ariel," Rainbow muttered.
"Uhhhhh... I agree?" Ariel responded awkwardly.
"Then why the weird laugh?"
"I... didn't laugh, Rainbow."
"....?" Rainbow turned to look at her.
Ariel stared back, blinking in confusion. "What? I didn't. Honest."
Rainbow's lips pursed. She looked all around. The lofty pedestal was surrounded in a blue gloss of arid, lifeless stone. Aside from the breeze and lazily dangling chains, all was still.
"How about..."
"A nap?" Ariel rested a hoof on the Austraeoh's shoulder. "How many hours have you gone without sleep?"
"I haven't bothered to keep count."
"Of what?" Ariel arched an eyebrow. "Of shuteye? Or your marbles?"
"Meh," Rainbow meh'd, then proceeded to plop the slab over her flank until it was firmly balanced. "Let's get this to the dudes back at the caravan... give 'em an excuse to feel smart."
"Heehee! Sounds like a plan...!"
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interesting...
Not a lot to go on, is it? Also, if you're hearing random cackles Dash, I wouldn't be entirely dismissive of it. You're seeing stuff and hearing stuff, and yeah, sure, maybe its just lack of sleep... but c'mon, you know what kind of story this is. That stuff ain't random, and ain't because of sleep deprivation.
I think this blurs the line between sleep deprived aural hallucinations and something is friggin' watching you.
-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.
Hmmm, so we have an old outpost, some kind of metal slab that might be a map and Rainbow hearing laughing. This just gets more and more interesting. I bet it's not a map though as for what it could be I haven't got a clue yet. The cackling is definitely more than Dash needing some shut eye. Discord in some way perhaps?
C'mon, Rainbow. What's one more disembodied voice that only you can hear?
Ofolrodi rune?
Counting the minutes till they have the tingles of being followed.
WHO IS LAUGHING!?
Discord?
a spirit bound to the slab?
Other draconequi-related beings ephemeraly haunting the Dark Side?
We know that Nevlamas went flying into the clouds of Chaos outside the plane, actively taking the fight to the chaotic beings in outer space.
Welp, if it werent for the cackles od say the crew found their ride, but as is, id say they stay far away from that structure
Yeah random laughing is probably not cause of lack of sleep. And it could probably be Discord? But there's not much to go on at the moment.
[laughter intensifies]
Make us whole, Dashie.
That also has a bunch of dead foals near it's base?
Ohoho Ariel, you say your butt is sturdy? Let Dash be the judge of that
Maybe what she's seeing and hearing are hallucinations of Discord.
I'm thinking the cackling might belong to Sturke through the dragon sound stone, but who knows? I find it difficult to predict much that happens in this series because there's just so much world building and lore and possibilities. It's good, I look forward to each and every chapter.
8237943
But... he's dead. Its probably Brood.
That was a lesbian joke about the protein wasn't it? Is that was verlax was really preparing her for...
I'm assuming the dragon scales and laugh is a divine creepin on rainbow like axan was.
Random laughter?
8237862 8238167 8237943 I am really not on board with the general Discord theory, and for two reasons: first, Discord is gone. Rainbow as made clear that she carries his essence within her, but that his mind and personality are long dead - which of course is also the reason why the absence of her pendant turns her into a psychotic monster and not a prank-playing dandy. Second, unless the narrator had her hounded by two different creatures in two chapters (which makes barely any sense), whatever creature is shading her has been described to have dull, black scales. It is becoming more and more plausible for it to be a surviving member of Endrax' brood in my eyes, though I'm still sceptical of that as well.
8238176
Twilight and the others are "dead" too, but that doesn't prevent them from following Rainbow. Who says Discord can't do the same? It's entirely possible he joined her in some capacity at the Sixth Seed, but just wasn't able to manifest properly on the Light Side.
Mysterious cackling? Nightmare Moon's returned! Run for the hills!
8238260
Yeah... maybe going through the firmaments between sides gave him enough Chaotic enegy to re-emerge, as 'twere.
When was the last time she had a hammock ? I'm pretty sure that sleep deprivation wouldn't be a thing if she had one.
Perhaps a map of the local area? as it was when the Emeraldians were there.
How many pages of inspiring story manuscript, have just flown away on the breeze there. Pity noone has renew item magical ability. Mend to the extreme?
8238176
Yeah it probably is the Brood.
I assume that the scales she saw earlier, and the laughter she heard just is being transmitted through the dragonstone. I wonder who is on the other side?
I'm in agreement that the laughter this chapter and the black scales from last chapter are probably Rainbow Dash getting glimpses through the Dragonstone of whoever has the other stone. Maybe the reason it's coming through so sporadically is because the dragon that's on the other side only has one third of the Stone.
It kind of reminds me of in the Harry Potter books, when aberforth was getting glimpses of what was happening to Harry Through The Shard of the mirror that he carried.
H.Pony Lovecraft
8238260
Yeah, it could be Discord or Endrax's remaining brood, but my money is on the dark side messing with her head.
Psychological horror and unreliable narrators make tense stories even more suspenseful and dramatic.
ayyyyyyyyyyy that it is, gurl. That it is.
And for some reason, I'm doubting that cackle was imaginary. I wouldn't put it past the very chaotic juices around the plane itself to be keeping an eye on Rainbow. And really, it's only a matter of time before they run into something else that's alive here. I doubt it's going to be friendly.
But, a map. Let's see what we can glean from it, eh?
Yeesh that's creepy. Could the laugh have come from the dragonstone?
It would seem that someone or something is watching from the shadows. I guess they also have a very dry sense of humor, but maybe it was maniacal laughter instead of joking laughter. Either way, I have traveled with Rainbow for far too long to just start dismissing things, and I doubt that she will fully dismiss it either.
But she's always naked.
Sure, I can read this at 1:30? How bad can it be?(seriously, given the atmosphere set-up, that got to me)
*Snickers.*
Use the map to take a nap.
Naked Twilight/Shimmy...
Sorry, got distracted; what were we talking about?
She's been to the sixth seed and gotten her bonus feat. Magic sense, Structure sense, Pinkie sense, Life sense, Truth sense, Hammock sense.
Aaaaaaaah
8247184
Take a nap
It's on a map
A sleeping rainbow.
8237961
Also Sprach Zarathustra.
Probably both, and I know who laughed
10/11/2017
22:52 UTC
Are they being followed? Fluttershy should have sensed someone.......
The dragon stone maybe?
At some point Rainbow needs to get a hammock again.
Spooky
Maby it was dragon lord endrax ..-_-,;-..-<_
Hmmmmm. Something isn’t right.
I hope Rainbow goes completely nuts eventually.
....kinky.
Yeah, Rainbow knows her hammocks.
Hmm... random cackling, scales in her peripheral... Someone's watching you, Rainbow...
YOU ALL ARE WAY LESS CONCERNED THAN I THINK YOU SHOULD BE???