Come To Your Senses
"We're making progress, Rainbow!" Rarity said in a chipper tone. She smiled back her and her friends' anchor as they glided slowly after the bodies of the Herald below. "There's a ravine up ahead! I sense it!"
Twilight Sparkle brightened. "Just like the one in the map! Er... slab!"
Pinkie Pie giggled.
"Very nice, Rarity," Rainbow said, flapping her wings steadily. Her eyelids blinked heavily under the constant twilight. "Just let us know when we're almost over it."
"Right." Twilight nodded. "We don't want the Herald suddenly plunging into a crazy abyss."
"I doubt it's that steep and dark a chasm, silly!" Pinkie Pie insisted.
"Even still." Twilight looked at the others. "We don't want to take any chances."
"I'm with Twilight on this one," Applejack drawled.
"Very well, then." Rarity nodded. "I'll be sure to give plenty of advance warning. Still..." She sighed gently. "This is some welcome calm after all the mayhem we endured to get over the edge."
"Donnnnn't jiiiiiiiinx itttttttttt," Pinkie Pie hummed.
"Oh don't be silly, darling. I think we've met the worst kind of odds already!"
"You'rrrrrrrrrre jiiiiiiiiiiiiiinxiiiiiiiiiiiing itttttttt!"
"Eugh..."
"Y'know..." Applejack squinted, tilting the brim of her hat forward. "Is it just me... or are the stars above us gettin' awfully bright all of a sudden?"
"I'm sure it's just you, AJ," Twilight said.
"'Cuz they sure seem so to me," Applejack insisted. "Wonder if that's just a natural state of bein' on this side of the plane for so dang long. Even the dimmest speck of light becomes a dag'blame'd sun."
"Heaven forbid!" Rarity exclaimed. "Literally, in this case." She let loose a nervous laugh.
"It's just our eyes' way of adjusting to the constant darkness, I'm sure, Applejack," Twilight said.
"Yeah, but we're ghosts."
"Hmmmm?"
Applejack squinted at Twilight. "We don't have natural eyes to adjust to nothin'. We're essences of Harmony at the very best. So how come it's so unnerving all of a sudden?"
"Uhhhhhhhhhhh..." Twilight's ears drooped. "Shoot. I... don't have answer to that."
"It beginssssssss!" Pinkie chortled.
"Now enough of that, Pinkie!" Rarity scolded while Pinkie Pie giggled. "You're going to give us all migraines at this rate!"
"But we don't have heads! Just ask Rarity!"
"Pinkieeeeeeee..."
"Heeheehee..."
All the while, Rainbow Dash was concentrating on the Herald down below. Her eyes rested on the two sleds... on Flynn and Kepler marching between them... and on Ariel flying at a lower altitude.
The petite pegasus exhaled slowly. Her eyes darted slightly to the left.
She spotted the sled that Seraphimus was being dragged on. The starlight caught her silver feathers in a modest glint. And then—
Shadows.
Moving shadows.
"... ... ...?" Rainbow Dash threw her gaze to the left.
Something darted out the corner of her eye.
"...!" Rainbow looked to the right.
She saw nothing but the gentle haze of stars. Otherwise, all was still and tranquil above a solid black horizon gradually looping upwards.
Rainbow's breaths were slightly ragged for the space of a minute.
One mare in particular noticed it.
"Rainbow...?" With a soothing tone in her voice, Fluttershy floated closer. "Is something the matter?"
Rainbow gulped. "No. I'm... I'm fine..."
"Rainbow... ... ..." Fluttershy put on a mild version of the stare. It still rocked Rainbow to her core. "Don't make me sick Applejack on you."
"You wouldn't dare."
Fluttershy tilted her face up with a smug grin.
Rainbow sighed. She looked left... she looked right... and then she floated closer to her ghostly companion. "Flutters... have you... uh..."
"Yes, Rainbow...?"
Rainbow gulped, glancing around. "Have you sensed anything... or anyone out of the ordinary?"
"No, Rainbow." Fluttershy shook her head. "I can't say that I have."
"Nothing whatsoever?"
"This entire landscape has been dead as a grave. Even deader. I can't even detect the remnants of organic material. It's all... delightfully blank. Well..." Fluttershy rubbed her fetlocks pensively together. "I don't suppose that's quite so 'delightful,' but it is putting my head at ease." She chuckled slightly under her breath.
"Well, that's good." Rainbow sighed. "I guess."
"Should... I be sensing anything?" Fluttershy asked.
Rainbow bit her lip.
"Rainbow, if you have something to tell us—"
"I just... rmmmff... can't shake this strange feeling," Rainbow murmured.
"What feeling?"
"As if we're being followed."
Fluttershy's eyes widened slightly. "F-followed?"
"Ehhh... yeahhhhhhhh..." Rainbow fidgeted in mid-glide.
Fluttershy looked all around, her ghostly mane tossing. "By what?"
"I don't know."
"What's giving you the idea that—?"
"I keep sensing... things," Rainbow murmured. "Like... shadows. Reflections. Shades of stuff... y'know?"
"No, I don't know." Fluttershy's brow furrowed. "How long have you been experiencing this?"
"Honestly?"
"Of course."
"Ever since we took off. Er... Ariel and I. Ever since we began flying."
"You don't suppose it's the Dragonstone?"
"Huh?"
"The piece of Axan you picked up," Fluttershy suggested. "It's magical, right?"
"So Twilight says."
"And it's just as old as Axan is... er... was." Fluttershy cleared her throat. "There's an awful lot about it that we don't understand."
"Yeah. But even still... why would it be making me so..." Rainbow shivered slightly. "...paranoid?"
"Is that how you feel?"
"Errrr..."
"Why didn't you tell Ariel when she talked to you earlier? She seemed concerned—"
"I can't tell her that I'm feeling a bit rattled by shadows'n'crud."
"And why not?"
"Because she and the Herald are depending on me," Rainbow hissed, floating close to her ghostly companion. "I'm the one with all the crazy senses that they don't understand. If I can't get a grip on it—how can I expect them to ascertain it any better?"
"They're your friends, Rainbow Dash! Your protectors and allies—"
"But they're still not the Austraeoh, Fluttershy," Rainbow insisted, gazing down at her travelling companions. "When push comes to shove, there's still a bunch of crud that I and only I will have to carry on my shoulders. Well... the rest of you girls too, I suppose, but even that's different." She gulped. "I just... can't burden them with crud until I know more about what this Dark Side is doing to me and my... er... Austraeoh-ness."
"Rainbow Dash..." Fluttershy folded her hooves in mid-glide and gave her anchor a stern look. "Haven't we all learned by now that honesty is the best policy?"
"Yeah. But..."
"But nothing. If you're feeling that you feel concerned about, then you should tell the Herald. You're right that there are only things that the Austraeoh can handle. But you should remember that the Austraeoh is not alone in this! There's a role for Eljunburma as well! And let us not forget what Yiffydehm did in bringing all of us girls back!"
"It's 'Eljunbyro' and 'Yaerfaerda'."
"You know what I mean," Fluttershy muttered. "Rainbow, forgive me, but there's an awful lot of strange sounding words to memorize..."
Rainbow smirked slightly. "There are... aren't there."
"Promise me that you'll bring this new sensation of yours to the group."
Rainbow Dash blinked.
Fluttershy leaned in. "Promise. Me."
"S-sure thing!" Rainbow's voice cracked. "You bet! And... uhm... I'll see about having Kepler or Big Show carry the Dragonstone for a while." She smiled crookedly. "Share the load and all that token fluff."
"Token?"
"Sorry. Tired."
"That's an excuse you'll run out of sooner than you think." Fluttershy nevertheless smiled. "But I'm glad you've come to your senses... or some of them, at least."
"What would I do without you, Fluttershy?"
"Uhm... I'm scared to think."
"That makes the two of us."
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The ambush...it is happening soon, yes? Or maybe Rainbow's just gone crazy.
Also, criminey, Rainbow...you'd think you would've learned your lesson about shouldering the burden by now.
This coming from Fluttershy is mildly unnerving...
Listen to the Pinkie. The Pinkie is wise.
Really aside from not keeping the Herald alert to everything going on with her, I think its also a mistake to just assume that her friend's ghost-senses are going to work exactly like they did on the Light Side, or that something couldn't possibly bypass them. Dash, if you're seeing things, don't treat it lightly. Don't treat anything around here lightly.
There is going to be an ambush soon, and Sera will wake up right in the middle of it.
Calling it now.
I'm starting to think a good rest might do wonders. Sleep deprivation can do wild things to your head.
I wonder if the shadow is Discord, or at least his spirit, waiting for his moment.
I like Skirts version of Ponk, she's amazingly funny.
With you Pinks, it never stops.
Fluttersmug
Dragonstone induced hallucinations... or maybe it's giving her the ability to see through dragon magic?
-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.
It that's what the dragon stones do on the dark sine, no wonder the divines went psycho.
This is from the end of the second chapter, so I believe the location we are at is called the Huntlands. I do not know who Petra is, but in the next paragraph after my quote, Archeantus mentions Tchern (and it almost seemed like they were working together, but that's speculative), so that means we have two possibilities.
1) These could very well be changelings that are blending in somehow. There is no real evidence for this, but seeing as Archeantus talked about how Tchern seemingly owned that area, I cannot refute the possibility.
2) The Huntlands are in the bloodwing territory. If I can reasonably presume, that sounds like some dragons. That doesn't explain why Fluttershy cannot pick up anything, which leads me to believe that maybe these aren't even dragons that we are up against.
BUT Archeantus said he was going to send out scouts into the area. They would most definitely be Night Shard, so that could explain why Fluttershy cannot pick up on their signature. She probably doesn't recognize it or literally doesn't pick it up. Honestly, this might be the most likely, but I am holding onto the idea that the Night Shard won't show up to ruin everything juuuuuuuust
yet.
All I can say for sure is that we are in bloodwing territory, so I guess that's a really bad thing. I really want to know who Petra is. That could easily be a dragon name.
EDIT: I need to read closer. Look at this quote.
I am not going to act like I have any idea what this truly means, but Arch said to "anchor the scouts' prime souls before we disembark." To me, this means that, somehow, their souls are in one spot, but they still have control, and they can still do things. However, that would mean that the scouts are, as they said, vessels. Vessels are not living things necessarily, and Fluttershy's powers seem to deal with living things. Maybe what Fluttershy is sensing in the first place is their souls.
If this is true, then it would be no wonder why Fluttershy cannot pick up on this shadow in the night because she has no way of doing so.
Snnkt
Why do I have the feeling that if Rainbow sleeps she's gonna have some weird dream or something..?
spooky
Definitely robot zombie pirates. Calling it now.
I hope Rainbow doesn't chicken out here and actually tells the others about this. She really needs to learn to rely on them a bit more. If there is something out there, and its hostile, not telling them is just going to hurt in the long run.
8244183
I like this theory so far, looks pretty good.
I'm glad that Fluttershy is the straight man in the group. Without her, I'm pretty sure Rainbow would've gotten herself into way more insane shit over Utaan. I don't even want to know what sort of madness she'd end up in on the dark side without her. Smug!assertive!Fluttershy is truly a life-saver.
And yeah, I guess the best way to test if the Dragonstone is fucking with Rainbow's perception is to dump it off on somebody else and see if they get all jumpy and are still seeing shadows. If not, then maybe there are bloodwings about, lurking in the shadows... though I don't know why Flutters wouldn't be able to see them. And then again, even if the Dragonstone is given to somebody else, it could still mess with Rainbow because she's the super special Austraeoh and everything, so who knows.
One thing's for certain. The explosions are coming soon, and I think they'll be coming right around the time the party arrives at Darkreach. Who wants to bet that it's not completely uninhabited?
I think that it's very unlikely that the group is being followed by magically, invisible, stealth changelings, that can avoid all of rainbows friends senses.
Also if she can catch glimpses of them, then Wild Card and Flynn with his enhanced eyes should be able to as well. No I think it's far more likely that this has something to do with the dragon Stone. Either that or something that's affecting Rainbows mind directly.
8244409
But they sound really badass the way you put it.
8244350
From what I reread, I am pretty solidly sure that the "shadow" is one of the Night Shard scouts, seeing as that would explain why Rainbow is seeing things and Fluttershy isn't picking those things up. However, that makes me a little scared because they seemed pretty OP in the battle at the beginning of the story. I cannot imagine what a one-on-one battle would be like.
Obviously, Rainbow's probably got it, but I fear for the rest of them, especially since Sera is still knocked and with them. That's another thing, too: I am starting to believe that Sera is faking it now just to bide time. I don't know, I could be paranoid, but I am not really keen on trusting her anytime soon.
Basic rule of survival: When you happen to find yourself in a hostile area and have a feeling that something ist not right, then do not ingore it. Instincts can be a life-saver.
I have a question for the Austraeoh Fact Checker: Have we seen an instance in the story where one of the Mane Six spectres has detected a creature of pure chaos? If not, then they could be already surrounded with Rainbow being the only one who has a glimpse of the incoming threat.
8244456
You underestimate the power of harmony
Well, that isn't foreboding at all. Nope. Definitely nothing.
I mean, what are the odds that shadows can move around and stuff on the dark side, right?
8244104
I would kill to bring Discord into this
8244453
Survival tip No. 1: Go with your gut
Keep heading east.... just keep heading east....
372, also known as the periphery troll, is clearly at work here.
And next chapter, they'll meet 682!
8244282
Or the dragonstone slowly turns you into Raoul Duke.
It might be bat country though!
Theyre coming out of the walls.
What walls? Thres no walls here.
The wall to the spirit realm, which is Everywhere.
Everybody acting as if Seraphimus is still asleep but I'm sure she has been awake for about 15 chapters and is just analyzing the situation.
8244453
We only know chaos metal makes them unable to manifest.
8244792
Which means we cannot say for sure whether they are able to sense chaotic beings at all. Not a good thing if you consider that they could lurk behind every corner.
Guys, do you think we should add this to the austreaoh group?
Monsters!!!
When I saw the title, I though Seraphimus was going to wake up.
Not this time, it seems...
Something wicked this way comes.
8244066
You're right! Everything on the darkside should be taken darkly.
8245660
I doubt that the shadows are just in her head, but who knows? Only the colon...
There's definitely something afoot.
So whatever is watching Rainbow isn't alive. That's mildly unnerving...
Can Fluttershy detect zombies?
8389864
That was what immediately went through my head! That exact scene, Sam's voice, all of it!
I do believe that was a LOTR reference.
8389864
Glad I wasn't the only one who caught that.
Same
Sarosians, the night shard, or "shadows of the past" are my best guesses
He writtin that good good
The Palantir- I mean, Dragon Stone, seems to be doing some stuff. I wonder how long Rainbow will be on edge? And good job, Fluttershy. Always good to have a voice of reason aboard.
Hm. Based on that chapter title I was expecting a chat with Seraph. Guess we still gotta wait a bit for that.
RETUUUUUURRN THE SLAAAAAAABB
Jesus, Rarity, you should know by now that Pinkie's always right about jinxes.
Yeah, Rainbow, you're kinda screwed trying to hide things from your friends. The Starer and the Lie Detector are right there...
screams internally
DID WE NOT JUST SPEND TWO EXTREMELY LONG BOOKS PROVING THIS POINT YOU DAY SPECTRAL HORSE???!!?