Glimpses in the Dark
Rainbow Dash glided over a large, rectangular building that stretched noticeably lower than the other spires around it. She looked down in mid-flight... and she noticed that there was a translucent structure situated atop the flat rooftop.
Flying closer, Rainbow Dash realized that the structure was covered with countless panels of glass. Several of them had been broken over the decay and neglect of time, but many of the segments still reflected the twilight above with a shiny blue sheen.
She lowered herself until she was hovering just above the Curveside wall of the building. Peering in through the patchwork of shattered panels, she saw a gnotted and twisted array of wooden branches, vines, and trunks—all dead and sporadically plastered with luminescent fungae.
It was a greenhouse. Or at least—it once was. Whoever built this city had an ingrained concept of conservation...
...and it also meant that the Dark Side wasn't always dark.
Holding her breath, Rainbow Dash turned tail and flew on.
Ariel flew low over an elevated road. She looked left and right, observing as elegantly curved detours bent down and led to lower levels where more platforms and courtyards hung in the shadow of their upper siblings. She spotted more and more of the metal machines—most of them left abandoned and crooked to the angles of the suspended pathways.
As she flew under a higher platform, she had to slow her path. She saw a myriad of glinting lines directly in front of her. At first, this confused the Heraldite, until she realized that she was spotting the outlines of spider webs in the twilight. Safely gliding around the widely-stretching strands, she saw decades upon decades of dust and sediment clinging to the silk. It looked to her as though nothing living had been caught—or bothered to even nest in those webs in eons.
The wind howled, reaching a high pitch.
Ariel fought a wave of chills, then turned about. She saw a courtyard lingering under a patch of dim twilight. A structure rose in the center, surrounded by empty and dead gardens. The twilight glinted against the glossy monolith at an angle, and Ariel could have sworn she saw shapes... lines... symbols.
Brow furrowed, she flew closer to investigate.
The end of Bard's staff scraaaaaaaaaaaaped against a shiny metal surface... then came to a rattling stop against a narrow fissure.
Wildcard paused in place. He twisted his grip of the weapon, feeling the direction in which the immense crack was going. He cocked his feathery head to the side, studying the angle of the damage and where it led to.
On quiet talons, the Desperado marched the circumference of a suspended platform. It hugged an immense spire's side, towards Alpha. Wildcard stepped in and around chunks of fallen debris and abandoned machinery along the way.
At long last, he came to the Curveside edge of the spire. It was there that he heard an immense groaning sound.
He froze in place, gripping the staff tightly in a metal hand.
The groaning tapered off... rattled... then repeated. Wildcard swiftly determined that it was a structural sound. An unfathomably immense weight of metal was settling somewhere around him—but he couldn't tell if it was below or above.
Pivoting to his right, he suddenly made the discovery.
A huge portion of the spire's Curveside section had been ripped to shreds. A veritable crater had imploded into the skyscraper's side. How it didn't completely collapse from the structural damage, Wildcard couldn't guess. But he was too busy staring at the source of the hole in the building's form.
A large... thing had collapsed into it. It took Wildcard a while to ascertain just what the object was. But after observing a lengthy period of time in the twilight, he realized that it was another building.
Yet... a building that didn't quite belong to the rest of the city. It resembled a concrete rotunda—or perhaps a dome—with countless segmented support pillars. The rogue building's material was pale, smoothe, and carried with it an aesthetic of antiquity. At a glance, Wildcard might guess that it was constructed out of marble, and along the upper edge of the dome he thought he saw engraved edifices of winged ponies flocking about counter-clockwise.
The Desperado's beak tightened. He flexed his wing muscles... then took off to get a better look at the scene from a highter altitude.
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Symbols. Ofolrodi maybe?
A first guess is that this other building is related to the ancient pegasi. Might even be from a sentinel.
Wasn't it also mentioned somewhere that they had something to do with the sundering?
Ohboydeathspiders?
Meaning this city is likely older than the Sundering.
And I think we found a chunk of the other sentinel of the Urohringr fragment they are on, which begs the question of where the rest might be.
This is honestly really creepy. I have a feeling that as much as I want some answers from this place we are unlikely to really get anything concrete
That's how the herald'll cross the dark side quickly. They'll just hijack another sentinel.
...the ruins of another Sentinel...
....ruins, and it crashed into the city...
was this Sentinel also housing captured smooze?
If so, I think we know what happened to the creatures living in the city.
-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.
Well this pretty much confirms that the city was built before the sundering. Interesting to think of it that way. And the large crashed building sounds just like a sentinel.
Something that I've always fancied as an idea was that ponies were the caretakers of the world. They each have dominion over the three classical Realms of the Earth, the sky, and the heavens, Aether or the upper air.
Earth ponies have dominion over the land. Pegasi over the air. And unicorns over the Aether. And together they act as a sentient form of maintenance if you would. Their species was created to maintain The Ringworld.
People have been talking about Sentinels
What are those again?
i need a refresher
8554025
Well, a sentinel crashing into the city would certainly cause a need for evacuation and/or catastrophic destruction. Piggybacking on that train of thought, suppose the sentinel had the same level of smooze security onboard? If even a portion of it survived impact, it would go a long way toward explaining why there's no remains of bodies anywhere.
Or I could just be theory mongering again.
8554059
And now I'm imagining Dash riding a sentinel right into the middle of the Trinary war. It's glorious.
8554082
the big floating stone temple things.
Dash found one that held the sword of solstice and the remains of commander hurricane, the last Austraeoh before Dash.
it also contained a captive smooze.
8554082
Click here, Wikis are awesome
8554082
Stratopolis was a Sentinel. They were like big flying cities that floated above the surface of the ringworld. I think it was implied that they were connected to the proto-pegasi somehow, and may or may not have had something to do with the sundering.
Perhaps more accurate to say that the Dark Side wasn't always the Dark Side. In some distant past, it was the "side" of anything. It was Urohringr's interior habitation area.
Okay, I get it. When Urohringr was sundered, you have this giant cylinder right? And civilizations existed all around the circumference of the cylinder's interior. So when it separated, stuff from above slammed into cities below. Well, "above" and "below" would be relative in Urohringr's interior, but anyway it seems pretty clear this city is a remnant of when the whole thing was together and functional, and these remains are from when it all came apart.
Wonder if they'll find any clues as to why the whole thing was broken apart like it was?
8554102
Also Sprach Zarathustra plays in the background.
8554123
8554119
8554112
thanks
8554073
Nooo. We don't have a Celestia Sword to kill it.
I don't want anymore smooze.
So if this is a pre-sundering city... why is it empty? That seems like it would be prime real estate there. The buildings sure seem durable, with glass holding up over however long it has been.
Are evil death spiders keeping everyone out?
I think these webs are the are works, so perhaps they are scholar spiders not death spiders.
8554144
And it doesn't bode well for the current Light Side. What happens to them when they undo the Sundering?
Ooh~ a sentinel?
Hmmm... there's some pre-Sundering angel spookery going on here, I'm sure of it. And it's only a matter of time before somebody goes looking into something they shouldn't and all hell breaks loose.
If they could get the sentinel flying again it would be a heck of an upgrade to the hover plank. (If there is no smooze in it of course)
Another friggin Sentinel...?
If its a crashed Sentinal, with Schmooze security, after it crashed, whats stopped it from exiting and spreading accross the entire Dark Side, converting mass to itself as needed? I forgot what the erosion rate of Schmooze coverd bed rock is, given the age.
Mysterious writings for Twilight to decode or be kept occupied trying?
Very complex path to guide the Hoverplank through to The Dome.
The Thunderdome?
8554342
Yeah, I've been thinking about that lately. There's a whole lot of potentially devastating "what if"s involved with Urohringr's restoration that I'm kind of surprised neither Dash nor any of the Herald or the ghost gals have thought of. You'd think at least Twilight might've had the logical thought process that might question what happens to the Light Side in the event the various rings of Uroringr come together. The original habitat cylinder is still a pretty big mystery in terms of what it was like, but all evidence so far suggests it was only habitable on the inside, with the exterior being a shell open to space. Who knows what kind of systems might exist that will activate once Dash completes that part of her journey. Anything from protective shields to giant manuvering thrusters might turn on, some of which could cause catastrophic damage to the Light Side.
By the same token its equally possible that the designers of Urohringr did put habitations on the outward shell, and had atmospheric processors and protective barriers to keep them functioning. We really don't know on that count. Its also possible the alicorns when terraforming the Light Side put in defensive measures to keep it stable in the event Urohringer was ever reactivated. It might not be a doomsday scenario, but the possibility does exist and is one I'd say is worth be cautious of. Not that Dash and "caution" ever seem to go together, especially where the very nature of the Austraeoh itself is concerned.
She's never really had control over any of the mechanisms of the Machine World. She can turn them on, sure, but she's never had any real grasp of what she's interacting with or how it really works. I'm not even sure she has control over what she turns on and off, or even the drive to keep doing so. At times she does seem a bit... possessed, when it comes to the way she continues to activate parts of the Machine World. I've wondered at times if the "Austreaoh" isn't actually Dash at all, at least not in the sense that she is herself the Austreaoh, but rather that the Austreaoh is an exterior force that at times influences or even takes direct control of Dash's actions without her realizing it. A sort of genetic/magical/pscyhic control system, perhaps even tied to some super magic/technology that influences probability (ie "fate") and has basically been pushing Dash's actions to one degree or another this whole time.
So the question is when the time comes to finally push the final switch, light the final torch, hit the Big Red "ON" Switch... even if it will destroy the Light Side, would Dash even be able to say "No" if she wanted to?
8554505
It boils down to this question: What causes more damage?
Case A: Uhrohringr is restored and the pieces come back together. Okay, now we have a ring formation again, with the inside being the most likely habitational area. It makes sense, because you need only one energy source like a sun to keep the place going. What does happen to the sun and the moon as we know it? The alicorns came to this place after the Sundering, so it is unlikely that they prepared anything for this possibilty. Should Celestia and Luna be able somehow keep these stellar objects in their relative position to the Light Side, then there is no problem. If not... well, it's either a global exodus or mass extinction. Both possibilities are a disaster for the Light Siders, but *may* be for the greater good of all the other creatures living on the rest of Urohringr.
Case B: They do not restore Uhroringr and keep the status quo. Nothing happens for now, but everything is slowly creeping to an inevitable decay, at least on this piece of the ring. This may save the lives of many recent creatures, but means that everything will come to an end sooner or later and *may* waste the potential of infinite future generations.
And there are many more ways how this could either go horribly wrong or extremely well. As you have said, we have no grasp of the true dimensions here.
In the end, could you take the risk to potentially sacrifice everything you know and hold dear to save the world and the future, knowing that you could kill millions of creatures to maybe preserve even more? Will you press the button?
Edit: I personally don't hope that Rainbow is somehow controlled remotely. That would render every deeper concern and morale irrelevant. It adds more to the conflict if she had to find a solution to that problem on her own.
I assume that since Kepler told us that the world was actually part of one of the outer rings that the light side would be fine, for the most part.
8554528
I tend to agree that I hope Dash isn't being remotely controlled, and honestly its one of my more unlikely crackpot theories. I just notice that whenever something comes up that might make her slow down or halt her journey she gets almost irrationally stubborn about continuing, almost to the point where she doesn't seem like she's herself. Also I have this idea in my head that one of the reasons a pony who never had any military training could fight so well is because all those fighting skills were programmed into her genetics, or maybe downloaded into her brain somehow. Again, unlikely, but an idea that floats around in my head.
As for the moral dilemma concerning Urohringr's restoration, that'll largely depend on the details of just what it will entail and what affects it will have on both the Light and Dark Sides. Truthfully we don't even know for 100% certain the world is decaying. We only have the vauge assertions of a few individuals and equally vague hints from other sources, but nothing that's really totally concrete. It might not be neccessary to reactivate or hook up all the Urohringr rings in order to keep the world alive.
That said, if it hypothetically did come down to such a hard choice, well my personal viewpoint on such matters is that the best course of action is generally the one that causes the fewest deaths in the present, rather than doing anything that sacrifices lives to perserve a potential "greater good" that might not even come to pass. Not that I don't understand the argument for trying to secure the potential of future lives, but for me I think I'd value the people alive now over those in a future that doesn't exist yet. At the very least if I knew pressing the proverbial button would immediately kill millions of people in a cataclysmic event I couldn't see it as right, even if by doing so I'd b halting the world's longer term death. I'd place my bets on helping the people alive today find a better solution to the problem of the world's future. Perhaps with the Midnight Armor and Celestia and Luna's help a way to keep the world alive could be found, or even restore Urohringr that wouldn't endanger the Light Side.
But this is all one big hypothetical "what if" we're talking about. Its going to be a good long while before we see any real indication of how the endgame of this story is going to play out.
8554589
It begs the question how much of her original self is really left after her experiences through the journey. She was basically traumatised at the start and could barely claw her way back to sanity along the way. I think that these events altered her personality on a basic level in some regards. And despite her being in a much better condition now, she cannot go back and pretend that nothing happend. So yeah, I can see why she is not quite herself.
I can imagine Rainbow to have at least some knowledge about brawling. Wasn't there even a scene somewhere in S1 where she tried to train Apple Bloom in martial arts?
Edit: Found it.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/7/23/681748__safe_artist-colon-shelltoon_apple+bloom_rainbow+dash_call+of+the+cutie_karate_punching+bag_whistle_whistle+necklace.png
I agree, we don't know that for certain. It's simply the present consensus due to the things we could see so far. An indication for the opposite can become quite the game changer.
On the question whether to push the button or not, I think I have to agree as well. I thought about what I would do in this situation, and I couldn't do it. There'd be too much at risk.
Sure, but speculations are fun and fuel the anticipation.
8554073
Another sentinel was mentioned to be most likely stationed on the dark side, the question is, does the wreckage in the city belong to this sentinel or the Stratopolis one, if it was the Stratopolis sentinel we also know what most likely happened to the city.
I don't think the 2nd sentinel will also have a smooze, from what i can remember the smooze sounded like some kind of failed experiment.
Although i think in the far future the 2nd sentinel will be Rainbows ticket to the light side, or she will chase it back to Equestria. The whole story started with one sentinel arriving in Equestria once, to come full circle it would only make sense to let Rainbow command its sister ship back home.
Oh Jesus fuck, no, no please, nooooo-
-oooh God, okay, alright, whew.
8554029
Exactly what I as thinking. We know that Urohringr used to be a circle, something probably similar to a Banks Orbital, (or a Halo for you plebs) with an artificial light source in the middle. Meaning that the habitable area was on the inside of the circle, on what is now the Dark Side.
This city is, in all likelihood, quite literally older than civilization.
8554644
At what cost will she pay to pilot it, though?
What will she have to give up?
Who?
💔💔💔
I'm sad at the thought now!
What if she has to transverse alone?!
We'll find out in 2023 I guess.
8554662
It's a cityscape like San Francisco with the electric power cables, nyet spiders a la Hobbit.
Best descriptor of what we do!
Strange structures strike the skyscrapers. Primordial pegasi passed perchance?
Be here for our next tongue-twisting episode "Dire Deliberations in the Dark" or "You Smooze, You Lose!"
I’m still waiting for a monster to pop up out of nowhere.
Stra2polis has fallen?
Ancient structures had a fight over aesthetics.
Really though, this is definitely a pre-sundering place. That the various factions haven't made judicious use of all that material says something.
Watch Rainbow start screaming at them that they need to leave NOW, and everyone just stares... unaware of the coming horrors.
Where's a solar sword when you need one?
8555491
It may or may not carry Smooze, so there may be no need for panic on Dash's side. But if it contains something worse...
...something like the Flood?
I mean we knew that. What's really baking my noodle is that it might not have been dark when this city was built.
8555049
BUILDING FIIIIIIIIGHT!
8554505
Would you kindly flip that switch for me?
durandal.dnsalias.net/imgur/bioshock-would-you-kindly.jpg
8554692
Well last time she just needed her Austraeohness and a piece of skystone to make it work, not sure why this one would run on sacrifices.
8556547
Blood diamonds. Literally. Diamonds full of blood. Big ones.
Perhaps a ritual, Aztec style! While shouting "Ka li mah!"
I'll see myself out.
Perhaps the marble structure was held up by cloud magic that no longer exits here in the city. Marble's not know to be the strongest rock. I wonder how shattered the 'projectile' structure is relative to the "building" structure. I'm inferring that this city held a civilization that either predates or partially overlaps the ancient pegasi. I am loving the exploration and environment descriptions these recent chapters. It's reminding me of the early chapters of Book 1. Dash comes across an abandoned shack. This is just orders of magnitude larger in scale (spatial size and length of time). I wonder if the symbols seen will start to look familiar to us, or we might see the Olfolrodi rune.
It's time for the Return of the Smooze!!