Stare Not Into Curveside
"Seraphimus is no longer moving?!?" Rainbow Dash's jaw hung open.
Fluttershy shook her head.
"Like..." Rainbow blinked, glanced at Wildcard, then looked back at her ghostly friend. "Is she friggin' dead?"
Fluttershy's brow furrowed.
Rainbow's ears twitched. "... ... ...knocked out cold?"
Wildcard's headcrest drooped with concern as he waited... listened...
"Heeeeeeeeeeya-Flutterssssssss...?" Pinkie Pie slid sideways in the ghostly air. "...kinda leaving us on the edge here..."
"I... I don't know what's going on with her!" Fluttershy gulped. "I mean, she's not dead..."
"So she's not dead," Rainbow droned.
Wildcard breathed with relief.
"She's fine. She's in good health. She's in full control of her faculties. Just..." Fluttershy sighed. "...she stopped moving completely."
Rainbow's ears drooped. She turned to look at Applejack.
Applejack gestured wildly. "Dun look at me, sugarcube."
"Too late," Rainbow grunted.
"I can't rightly tell what she's thinkin'. For all we know, the dang yahoo's layin' an egg!"
"Ewww!" Pinkie Pie blanched. "How do you make an omelette on the dark side?!?"
"Fluttershy, is she far away?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "Do you think she made it beyond the mountain?"
"I... don't think so," Fluttershy said. "I'd otherwise expect her to be flying by now... or else walking down the outside of it to end up below us. But that's not the case. She's stopped dead in her tracks."
Twilight looked over. "Rarity?"
"Well, if you think about it, darling, she hasn't been gone for very long."
"But there wasn't that much tunnel left!" Pinkie said.
"I have the sneaking suspicion that she's stopped at the cave exit," Rarity said. "Celestia-knows that's where I'd be if I was... reassessing my choices."
Twilight looked directly at her anchor. "Rainbow, this may actually be the final and last chance you'll have..."
Rainbow took a deep breath. "Right." She spread her wings. "Wildcard."
He nodded. Thw-Thwisssssh! Both went flying up the winding corridor. Rainbow led the way, lighting her path with the Element of Loyalty as she zig-zagged through the slowly ascending passages.
"There!" Rarity exclaimed, pointing with a pale hoof. "There's the exit!"
"I see it! I see it!" Pinkie squinted at a pale blue outline. "Wowie-zowie! The twilight's a lot brighter than I remember!"
"It... certainly is brighter," Twilight Sparkle murmured. Her eyes narrowed. "What in Equestria...?"
"Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash spoke firmly, making a swift beeline for the exit. "Where's Sera? Is she still there—?"
"Straight ahead of you, Rainbow," Fluttershy said. At this point she too was squinting. "Although... huh... what is she looking at—?"
"I see her!" Rainbow Dash exhaled with relief. "Sweet!" She threw a breath over her shoulder. "Jordan—"
Wildcard nodded. He reached a metal talon to his bandolier and cautiously gripped the collapsed bo-staff.
Rainbow Dash landed on the dusty stone behind Seraphimus. Catching her breaths, she trotted a few steps forward.
"Sera... so glad to see you're okay! I... I'm sorry for suddenly being here like this. It's just that—when my friends sensed that you had stopped moving, well..."
She shuffled until she stood side by side with the stone-still griffin.
"... ... ...you had me concerned, alright? I mean, there's no telling what you're going to walk into on the Dark Side. I know you'll probably wanna bite my head off for even saying it, but if you might possibly change your mind... even after going the lonely route—if you were to come back to us, I'll see to it that the Herald will accept you in open... arms..."
Rainbow's eyes narrowed. She realized that Seraphimus wasn't registering her in any fashion whatsoever. She wasn't even exhibiting her typical bitter attitude.
And—yet—the former Talon Commander was far from expressionless. In fact, her beaked face was awash in something that Rainbow Dash had never witnessed in her before: astonishment.
"Uhhhhhh... Sera?" Rainbow cocked her head aside. "You're... not even going to snap at me for calling you 'Sera?'" A dumb blink. She reached forward and waved her blue hoof in the griffin's face. "Yoohooo—"
Thap! Seraphimus reached up and grabbed Rainbow's fetlock in one fluid motion—but only to hold it in place. She continued staring forward, her beak slowly opening in awe.
"What the hay's gotten into you?" Rainbow rasped.
"Uhm... Rainbow Dash...?" Applejack wheezed.
"What?" Rainbow looked at her friends. She did a double-take.
All five ghostly mares had lined up like a silent firing squad... and they were all gawking at the Edgeside horizon just outside the mountain's exit. Rainbow Dash saw a pale blue light glinting off their eyes... the same luminescence that she was now seeing reflected off Seraphimus' usually dull charcoal brown gaze.
"For crying out loud, girls, what could be so—?" And then Rainbow turned. And Rainbow looked. And Rainbow's ears and feathers and tail drooped in one accord. "... ... ...Luna poop."
Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle nodded.
Fluttershy trembled while Rarity covered her muzzle.
Seraphimus blinked, eyes darting about, drinking in the reflective blue.
Rainbow Dash's breaths came in pitiful little wheezes. "What is..." She slowly shook her head, ruby eyes wide. "How, even...?" A gulp. "I... I don't understand..."
"Rainbow...?" Applejack was the first soul—ghostly or otherwise—to wrench her eyes off the sight. She looked nervously at her anchor. "...the others?"
Rainbow took a shuddering breath. "Yeah. Yeah, sure... sure." Clearing her throat, she spoke sideways. "Wildcard..."
No response.
By now, the Desperado was also staring... also paralyzed... also flabbergasted. A faint blue aura glinted off his goggles—
"Jordan!"
He jerked out of the moment and looked directly at Rainbow.
Rainbow stared back. "The Herald. Go fetch them. Like... right friggin' now."
He fidgeted, stealing a few more glimpses past the mare. He brought two talons up and signed: "The wagon?"
Rainbow looked at him as if he was born yesterday. "Leave it."
He nodded, turned tail, and—FWOOOOOOOSH!
And Rainbow...
...returned to staring Edgeside. She and Seraphimus remained frozen in place on the edge of the mountain.
"So... tell me, Miss-Tested-by-Verlaxion..." Rainbow's nostrils flared. "...ever witnessed anything as divine as this before?"
Seraphimus breathed... flexed her wings... and droned: "Do you ever... ever know when to shut up?"
"Well?"
The griffin shuddered. "No..." She slowly shook her head, feathercrests drooping. "No, I have not..."
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Civilization?
Heh, I'm getting serious Jurassic Park flashbacks here, when they see their first dinosaur. Mostly just the way the scene is framed with the big reveal staying off screen for a bit.
And since Sera hasn't actually rejoined the party yet, the count continues, no matter how short or long it may be!
Seraphimus Solo Quest Chapter Counter: 3
I'm guessing a city of some kind?
I'm a little confused. So did the tunnel come out facing the direction they just came from since it says they're looking at the edgeside horizon? And the title is "Stare Not Into Curveside." Wouldn't that put them back with the trolls, especially since the tunnel apparently isn't very long. What am I missing?
Wait, is this a typo? I thought the exit was curveside? I mean yeastwards, or whatever
Do they see the clear blue sky?
An armada?
I see what you did there.
Now, what could they be all gawking at?
Oh Hai, look, is Darkside Anglerfish. Geology sized.
Wonder what they see as so wonderful.
So... just some pretty blue glow? It must be a whole lot more to shock Rainbow and Sera that much...
What if it is an Alicorn?
Is this finally the rumored city?
Lemme guess! Is it a single rasher of bacon floating atop a pedestal with light shining down upon it?
I could NOT have picked a better time to make popcorn.
I suspect the answer to these two questions is the same, or I would if it was the Rainbow who left Ponyville all those years ago. Now Rainbow knows when to shut up, and now was NOT the time to do so.
11/26/2017
22:34 UTC
it better be cute horses
WC's got some explaining to do if that's the case...
Haha well this would have been a terrible cliffhanger had I been following this when it was first posted!
8655167
I know right?
8589375
Blue light?
Nervous glances at her friends?
...worry?
Gotta be some divine ice sculpture down there. Faust only knows that loony dragon did some digging on the dark side.
Ok so we heard music, is it some kind of city? We know there are creatures on the dark side.
Whatever it is, after that cliffhanger I expect to be impressed.
Is it some civilization or something? Like a gigantic city? Or is it a gigantic animal?
Is it some sort of monumental Northern Lights effect? Or civilization, like other comments say? Perhaps a migration of bioluminescent creatures? I don't know, I just want to marvel in it too.
So what the heck are they all looking at??
What are we looking at???