Ofolrodi

by Imploding Colon

The Pot of Gold

"Steady brreaths..." Kepler reached over and patted Flynn's shoulder. "Steady brreaths, frriend."

"Yeah." Flynn remained curled up in a little ball atop the dormant wagon. "Yeah. Yeah." His good eye darted all around, reflecting spectacle after spectacle of dangling legs, black marble eyes, and hairy pedipalps. The Herald lingered on a bridge surrounded by a vigilant guard of spiders from all-crawls-of-life. "Yeah yeah yeah." The stallion gulped. "Easy for you to roll your r's when all this shit's squirming around you."

"You must rrelax, brrotherr!" Kepler said, adjusting his spectacles and smiling. "I've always known that spiderrs werre among the oldest and most elegantly evolved species on this plane—but to find out that they've simultaneously been an intelligent civilization of honorrrific guarrdians is positively rrapturrous! If they wanted to harrm us in any fashion, they would have done so long beforre we enterred this lofty city above theirr domain! You'rre a stallion of science! Surrely you must be intrrigued beyond comparre rright now! Why not focus on the magnificent intrricacies of this hitherto unprecedented conferrence of the minds?"

"Because..." Flynn gulped, trembling from head to tail. "...their minds are encased in big squishy hairy cephalothoraxes surrounded by long squirmy legs and..." He clenched his good eye under a fresh curtain of sweat. "Grnnngh... do their eyes have to be so black?!"

"Hey. Baldy." Logan leaned casually against the wagon as he examined his axe. "Want some extra pink lace for all that pantywaisting? Must be really tiresome."

"Shuddup, fatass!" Flynn barked. "Let's see how well you do once we meet a Dark Side colony of intelligent oversized bees!"

Logan's muzzle clenched hard.

Ariel flashed him a surprised look. "You've got a phobia of bees?"

"Them bastards st-sting something awful," Logan said with a slight stutter.

"But they make honey!" Ariel said, smiling.

"Just because some hairy winged freak shits out sweet sauce doesn't mean I gotta love it any more," Logan grumbled. "Besides, I'm allergic. It's a healthy fear." He gestured at the unicorn. "Unlike Miss Sissy Lips over there."

"Step a little closer, Big Show," Flynn wheezed. "I'll make some sweet honey down your big fat throat!"

Wildcard face-talon'd.

"Can we please calm down, frriends?" Kepler smiled through his tusks. "We arre evidently in the company of allies here—the only allies we have been able to afforrd since we firrst stumbled onto this inhospitable Darkscape! Let us not sourr the moment with needlessly cyclical dialogue about habitual parranoia!"

"If we had nothing to fear from these creatures..." Seraphimus suddenly spoke, hovering above the group. "...then why are they not letting us leave?"

Kepler clammed up.

Wildcard looked around. His black goggles reflected a veritable curtain of giant orb-weavers dangling over the group from a nebulous urban source above.

"They... uhm..." Ariel shifted where she stood. "They could just be protecting us," she said. "You saw how quickly those trolls navigated the upper spires of the city. The only reason we're still standing in one piece is because Abaddon's children intervened to make mince-meat out of the chaotic freaks."

"Shackles are still shackles," Seraphimus said. Her charcoal-brown eyes narrowed. "I know this. It's a pity you don't."

"She's n-n-not helping th-things," Flynn whimpered, still trembling.

With a sigh, Logan sheathed his axe and trotted towards the hovering former Commander. "Have you noticed that none of us have even bothered trying to leave this place? How do we know these Spindlers are actually imprisoning us here?"

Seraphimus returned his gaze coldly. "Do you wish to be the first one to test these creatures?"

"... ... ..."

"It is not my attempt to cast a paranoid shade over this situation," Seraphimus said. She looked at the group at large. "This situation has every indication that it is an elaborately-woven trap. Sheer experience has taught me this. Right now, these 'Spindlers' have complete control of the situation. It would be naive folly to assume nothing but complete benevolence."

Wildcard gestured something.

Seraphimus blinked at him.

"Yeah... why not?" Ariel remarked. She turned to smirk at the pale-feathered griffin. "Since you're so suspicious, you could be our first guinea pig!" She gestured. "You've been so hell-bent on ditching the Herald anyways. Why the sudden cold talons?"

"... ... ..." Seraphimus merely frowned.

"Do I need to say it for you?" Logan muttered.

Seraphimus squinted at him.

He spoke further: "We won't know if they're truly benevolent until Rainbow Dash comes back in one piece."

"That's making a rather steep assumption," Seraphimus said. "She has been gone an awful long time."

"Didn't spending two to three months in hoof-cuffs teach you something about patience?" a petite pegasus' voice cracked.

"Ha-ha!" Kepler sounded off.

Seraphimus closed her eyes. After a long sigh, she muttered over her shoulder: "I trust you learned several truths that were eluding you?"

"A little bit of 'yes'..." Rainbow Dash flew lazily towards the bridge where the group had gathered. She hovered in place, exhaling. "...a whole lotta 'no.'" A gulp. "It's complicated."

"What isn't these friggin' days?" Logan looked up. "Fill us in, girl."

Sw-Swooosh! Ariel and Wildcard flew in close, wings twitching in anticipation.

"Well..." Rainbow Dash touched down, coiling her feathers in tight. "...where do I even begin?"

"Thrill us!" Ariel said with a bright grin.

"Y-yeah..." Flynn continued to tremble, gazing all around at the dangling bodies. "...thrill..."

Rainbow Dash kept her distance from the wagon and its chaos metals as she spoke. "Well... uhm..." She brushed the back of her neck. "...I saw a map of the plane."

Wildcard did a double-take.

"A map of the Darrk Side?!" Kepler gasped.

"Well—sure. I mean, it's old." Rainbow cleared her throat. "Merula made it clear that the thing was built by the ponies who maintained this city long before the Sundering. So... much of it won't be accurate anymore, due to all of the geological changes and chaotic shifts in the topography through time. The girls and I agree with her."

Wildcard nodded and gestured: "That makes sense."

"I... uh... I learned the name of Axan's mother."

"What?!" Ariel leaned back, muzzle agape. "No way!"

"There's a Dragon Matriarch... or there was a Dragon Matriarch named 'Gardez,'" Rainbow explained. "She's older than Abaddon. Older than most things on Urohringr. For whatever reason, she left five eggs that hatched to produce the Divines as we know them today."

"How verry fascinating," Kepler exhaled.

"Yeah. Merula and the other spiders freaked out when they saw me whip out the Dragon Stone," Rainbow said, gesturing at her saddlebag. "They called it a 'Tear of Gardez.' They're... uh... they're apparently gifts given to each of her hatchlings. A way for them to keep in contact with one another. Supposedly they were fashioned out of Gardez's own blood itself."

"Then that must make the arrtifact you carrry olderr than most things in existence!" Kepler said with a smile. "No doubt Endrrax would be enrrapturred to learrn this inforrmation herrself! Assuming she hasn't learrned herrself."

"Endrax is dead," Rainbow said.

The group went silent.

"Merula and the rest of the Winter Children know this," Rainbow said. "They learned it from Abaddon's Song. But..." Rainbow fidgeted slightly. "...most everything else is hazy."

"Hazy?" Ariel slurred, ears drooped. "How... how can it be hazy?"

"Verlax's sister is legit croaked?" Logan rasped, still disbelieving.

Seraphimus flashed him a twitching glance.

"Merula... at least knows that Endrax gave her life defending the Midnight Armory," Rainbow said. "She butted heads with the factions of the Trinary War, and it cost the lives of her and her brood."

"She had children?!" Ariel reacted.

Rainbow nodded. "Now there are 'Shards of Endrax' in possession of the three Factions. One each. And... I-I get the feeling that accessing the Armory's gonna involve gathering those lost pieces."

"You've g-gotta be kidding me!" Flynn managed to whimper.

"Well..." Logan leaned back, folding his forelimbs. "...it never gets any easier, does it?"

Wildcard swiftly gestured: "There must be more to it than that. That cannot be all there is."

Rainbow nodded. "I agree. I just... gotta learn more."

"Why do you only know so little?" Ariel shrugged. "I thought you went for a wholesome stroll with the Spider Whisperer."

"Some things only Abaddon can... sing to me," Rainbow Dash said. "Merula tells me that the Winter Children are in the process of waking her."

"Yeah?" Logan nodded. "And then what?"

"I... become her audience." Rainbow shrugged. "I listen."

Silence.

"They intend to take you down into her lair, then?" Seraphimus remarked.

Rainbow looked over her shoulder. "Yeah. You worried?"

"... ... ..." Seraphimus blinked. "Are you?"

Rainbow took a deep breath. "At this point? Only that I might not get it."

"It's an awful lot to take in, Rrainbow One," Kepler said. "Perrhaps you should think it overr."

"Nah, I gotta meet her," Rainbow said. "Especially to figure out this whole Ilrifa thing."

"Yeah! Did they explain that?" Ariel cocked her head to the side. "Did they explain what... that name has to do with all this?"

"No. That's for Abaddon to tell me. At least..." Rainbow fidgeted. "I hope."

"For such well-meaning informants, they're being very conservative with relaying information," Seraphimus commented.

Rainbow flashed her a look. "You try surviving hordes of invaders and destroyers from all sides—being forced after millennia to hole up in one last nest—and you see if you can retain as much information."

Seraphimus' beak clenched. "I'm simply saying that they're asking a lot of you." She gestured. "They're asking a lot from all of us."

"Yeah, but it's an offer I can't turn down," Rainbow said. "These Spindlers are the first faction trying not to kill us over here."

"They are making vast assumptions and declarations about you," Seraphimus said. "Considering the possiblity that you don't meet the standards or expecations of this so-called Abaddon..." She shifted nervously, glancing at the group at large. "I mean... then what?"

"We c-could swiftly turn from house guests to house sn-snacks," Flynn said, squirming.

"I don't believe Abaddon means us any harm," Rainbow said.

"Have you factored in her senility?" Seraphimus asked.

Rainbow blinked.

"Everything that lives is subject to lapses in comprehension," Seraphimus declared. "The thing about songs is that the more and more you rewrite a ballad, it skews itself... be it informatively or poetically." She slowly shook her head. "I wouldn't trust everything to a singular chorus."

"They're putting all of their faith in me," Rainbow said. "Seems that it's only fitting—after countless millennia of patient waiting—that I return the favor."

Seraphimus' feathers ruffled. "This could end up disastrously."

"It's okay, Sera." Rainbow smirked slightly. "You don't have to say that you love me."

Seraphimus snarled. "Do not call me 'Sera.'"

Wildcard waved her off. He turned to face Rainbow Dash. "When will Abaddon awake?" he spelled out.

"I dunno," Rainbow Dash said with a shrug. "Anytime now."

"'Anytime now,' huh?" Logan breathed out the side of his muzzle. "By these spiders' scale, that could be a hundred years."

"Just chillax, Big Show," Rainbow said. She turned around three times and sat down on coiled forelimbs. "I could use a rest from the freaky silk-vibrations anyways."

"You're not alone, g-girl," Flynn whimpered.

Ariel sat down next to Rainbow. "How are you going to even talk to this Spider Queen?"

"I dunno."

Ariel blinked. "Willllllll... they let any of us go down there to be with you while the conversation happens?"

"I dunno."

Ariel sighed. She brushed her bangs aside. "Well, I hope so. I dunno about you, but I really really wanna learn more about this 'Ilrifa' character."

"I..." Rainbow gazed off into the urban distance. "...I think I already know who Ilrifa is."

"Oh yeah?"

Rainbow nodded. A breath. "The Pot of Gold." A slight smirk, and her wingtips fluttered.

Comments

[Dream of Ponies]

Cautious murder chicken. Neat.

[Chewierulz]

"Just chillax, Big Show," Rainbow said. She turned around three times and sat down on coiled forelimbs. "I could use a rest from the freaky silk-vibrations anyways."

Added to the vast and extensive list of Dashie doing adorable things.

"I don't believe Abaddon means us any harm," Rainbow said.

"Have you factored in her senility?" Seraphimus asked.

So either she's fine, or she ends up going insane and trying to kill them. Dammit Sera, why do you have to tempt fate?

[geb]

I expect a hive of mutant bees to fall near Logan in the future.

[IceKitsune]

Everyone is caught up and now we just wait for the old spider queen to wake up.

[Tim the Planes-pony]

"They're putting all of their faith in me," Rainbow said. "Seems that it's only fitting—after countless millennia of patient waiting—that I return the favor."

Trust is the first step in any relationship, be it family, friends or more, and one of the most important factors in maintaining said relationship. Now they wait for the spider queen to wake, and hopefully get some comprehensible answers.

[Merula]

I can just imagine myself jumping off to wake Abaddon and this playing out in my head:

I MUST GO NOW!

MY PEOPLE NEED ME!

[Feigned Ignorance]

Ariel flashed him a surprised look. "You've got a phobia of bees? "

Not a fear I'd have pegged big show with. Now we wait for the chaos bees to show up.

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

Here's hoping that Abaddon can tell Dashie what she needs to know. It'd be particularly useful if she could help her figure out how to work the Tear of Gardez, so that they could get a line of communication to the Light side.

[Phoenix Kitten]

I think Sera wanted to get away not to do some self discovery, but because she was starting to feel concern for Dash and the Herald.

Super Spooder lore time soon.

-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.

[ZanyZapper]

8586782
That was my first thought too - communication with Sturke. Tho I hope Shining Armor and Cadance aren't still chilling with her. Surely they haven't been hanging out there for two years or however long it's been.

[Spiral_Donut]

8586744
Large super venomous bee's, always win.

[Phoenix Kitten]

8586834
I think they have actually, their whole purpose there is pretty much 75% waiting for Rainbow, 25% being ambassadors of Equestria.

[Blaster M]

8586771
*Hovers straight up into space while still standing pose*

[The 24th Pegasus]

The pot of gold, you say? Interesting...

Seraphimus' beak clenched. "I'm simply saying that they're asking a lot of you." She gestured. "They're asking a lot from all of us."

Good to see that you're finally accepting your place on the team, Sera

[Booster Spice]

Heading for The Pot Of Gold at the end of the Rainbow?

Welp, here comes Logan and the Honeypot jokes.

If he doesnt like Bees, whats he going to be like when Dark Side Hornets swarm them, given bees only get one chance to sting you then they die?

Oh no. Changelings read minds, emotions, fears.

Swarm of giant acid spitting exploding burning hornet bee candygram for Logan.

I cant think of which two main ways, never mind authors own choice, the Waking can go. If its like Merula and power isnt related to size, then it could be just like waking a Chapter Primark Dreadnaught? If she has grown with moult over the millenia, then we could be looking at the equivalent of waking up the Emperor Titan?

[Boersencrash]

Rainbow nodded. A breath. "The Pot of Gold." A slight smirk, and her wingtips fluttered.

But we already have a pot of gold...

derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/3/17/578203__suggestive_artist-colon-aleximusprime_rainbow+dash_innuendo_plot_saint+patrick%27s+day_simple+background_solo_transparent+background.png

_{I regret nothing.}

[Revan]

Seraphimus snarled. "Do not call me 'Sera.'"

Silly Seraphimus, don't you realize that Sera stands for "Slice, Eviscerate, Rend, Assault"?

[Codaulux]

"It's okay, Sera." Rainbow smirked slightly. "You don't have to say that you love me."

Seraphimus snarled. "Do not call me 'Sera.'"

Flustered Sera: [under breath] Holy sleet

[Cynderfall]

Sing a song of spiders.

[Nevlamas]

"A little bit of 'yes'..." Rainbow Dash flew lazily towards the bridge where the group had gathered. She hovered in place, exhaling. "...a whole lotta 'no.'"

Sums up that entire city.

8587175 Yep, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Ilrifa is now officially Dash's ass.

[AotheOverGod]

Aren't there like zap bees in the shows canon.

[zaponator]

...the beginning of the Rainbow?

[aRestlessCreativeGamer]

inb4 it's changeling!Dash

[General Lemarc]

Seraphimus' feathers ruffled. "This could end up disastrously."

"It's okay, Sera." Rainbow smirked slightly. "You don't have to say that you love me."

And thus Vegeta joined the Z Fighters(I'm kicking myself for not seeing that connection sooner)

[The_K_Man]

"I..." Rainbow gazed off into the urban distance. "...I think I already know who Ilrifa is."

"Oh yeah?"

Rainbow nodded. A breath. "The Pot of Gold." A slight smirk, and her wingtips fluttered.

That could be misinterpreted as:
Who is Ilrifa? The end of Rainbow.

Ominous.

[AppleTank]

The Pot of Gold

wat

[arancaytar]

" Shuddup, fatass!" Flynn barked. "Let's see how well you do once we meet a Dark Side colony of intelligent oversized bees! "

To say nothing of how Twilight will react to the noble and ancient civilization of quesadillas that inhabits the Midnight Armory.

The Pot of Gold

Hopefully not the end of Rainbow then.

[arancaytar]

8587175
Murderbird is credit to team!

[Rudy45]

8587392
I wonder if Austraeoh Fact Checker (or someone else) has a running tally of "Do NOT call me Sera" lines. It's not a ton, but I'm curious.

[Hazard]

The murderbird speaks wisdom. Best tread with caution, lest you be caught in the web.

[Vendable Sheik]

"I..." Rainbow gazed off into the urban distance. "...I think I already know who Ilrifa is."

"Oh yeah?"

Rainbow nodded. A breath. "The Pot of Gold." A slight smirk, and her wingtips fluttered.

Huh?

[Sir Mediocre]

8586744
Flying giant insects? Impossible!

[Tim the Planes-pony]

"Shackles are still shackles," Seraphimus said. Her charcoal-brown eyes narrowed. "I know this. It's a pity you don't."

She has yet to see the shackles that still bind her; willful blindness, obsession, pain, fear, and more. She still looks outside to avoid seeing what she is. How long before she realizes the best and worst restraints are the ones we carry inside, be it by choice or by other means?

01/04/2018
19:35 UTC

[Naterdoo]

"Have you factored in her senility?" Seraphimus asked.

Ok, I liked Dark Side Sera before. Now I love her.

[berrytone]

pedipalps

How can a word that sounds so cute be a part of anatomy that is so terrifying?

[FOXTrot2]

"welcome to my parlor"
Said the spider to the fly
"You fly from endless land and sea
You bumble around like a honey bee
Hear my song
Hear it well
I'll sing it once
And then you tell."

[Prism Break]

"Step a little closer, Big Show," Flynn wheezed. "I'll make some sweet honey down your big fat throat! "

Let's go to the scale:
rs1111.pbsrc.com/albums/h464/St3gman1/gayometer.gif~c200

[M M]

Rainbow nodded. "Now there are 'Shards of Endrax' in possession of the three Factions. One each. And... I-I get the feeling that accessing the Armory's gonna involve gathering those lost pieces."

Videogame quest! Onward!

[NeoNymph]

"Just because some hairy winged freak shits out sweet sauce doesn't mean I gotta love it any more," Logan grumbled. "Besides, I'm allergic. It's a healthy fear." He gestured at the unicorn. "Unlike Miss Sissy Lips over there."

Flynn and Logan having a fear of spiders and bees respectively. Now that’s an eye for an eye in friendship.

Rainbow looked over her shoulder. "Yeah. You worried?"

"... ... ..." Seraphimus blinked. "Are you?"

24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m37de5VboD1rqbq8yo1_1280.png

You know you are.

"It's okay, Sera." Rainbow smirked slightly. "You don't have to say that you love me."

😂

[Merallakos]

Seraphimus snarled. "Do not call me 'Sera.'"

It's been a reference this whole time, hasn't it?

---

It's a bit late and a bit random, but I have a new, possibly insightful connection related to Rohdodendron.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Rhododendron_%28%E0%A6%97%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B8%2902.jpg
Notice how "Rohdodendron" looks almost like a mispelled version of Rohbredden? Rohdodenron is actually a flowering plant, most commonly found in Asia. Perhaps the similarity in names along with Rohdodendron's Asian disposition explains how IC decided to go with a more Asiatic setting for Rohbredden.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Azalea_as_a_Bonsai_%285155648449%29.jpg

Another random thing, back in Ledomare, wasn't Nightshade having foals and colt sequence with ancient pegasi skeletons? If Ledomare had a few, I wonder how many other civilizations have run into these ancient skeletal remains.

If the alicorns made the three races of ponies from the proto pegasi, I wonder why they never talk about it. I don't think Celestia or Luna have ever shed even a spark of light on the subject.

Why is it that pegasi were absent on the east side of the Ligthside until Durandana? (I am remembering that there were no pegasi in Emeraldine, Ledomare, Alfreo, etc. correctly, right?)

Why was Stratopolis composed almost solely of Grecian temple-like buildings? What was the smooze?

I'd say that I'm looking forward to this chat with the Queen Spider, but I have a feeling it will raise even more questions... A web may catch flies, but it's still a composition of holes. Delicious speculation holes, I guess.

---

8589939
8608655
I think it's an allusion to a leprechaun's pot of gold: something unatainable, little more than a fairy tale. Perhaps that makes all the more enticing to catch though?
Alternate interpretations:
8589745
8587547

Yep, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Ilrifa is now officially Dash's ass.

.

8591402

To say nothing of how Twilight will react to the noble and ancient civilization of quesadillas that inhabits the Midnight Armory.

Of course, the Quesadillans pale in comparison to the mighty Grilled Cheeses. An empire that reaches beyond the boundaries of even the most worldly interdimensional hosts. Indeed, those sandwiches of cheese shall shed stifling perspective to any who bare witness.

[hypervelocity]

"Yeah... why not?" Ariel remarked. She turned to smirk at the pale-feathered griffin. "Since you're so suspicious, you could be our first guinea pig!" She gestured. "You've been so hell-bent on ditching the Herald anyways. Why the sudden cold talons?"

Big talk there Sera. You go first. :D

"Everything that lives is subject to lapses in comprehension," Seraphimus declared. "The thing about songs is that the more and more you rewrite a ballad, it skews itself... be it informatively or poetically." She slowly shook her head. "I wouldn't trust everything to a singular chorus."

Boy, once you got wrapped up in all this, you feel quick, huh Sera?

Rainbow nodded. A breath. "The Pot of Gold." A slight smirk, and her wingtips fluttered.

At the end of the rainbow? Fucking ominous girl.

[BurningSkies]

"Everything that lives is subject to lapses in comprehension," Seraphimus declared. "The thing about songs is that the more and more you rewrite a ballad, it skews itself... be it informatively or poetically." She slowly shook her head. "I wouldn't trust everything to a singular chorus."

Speaking from experience, Sera?