Ofolrodi

by Imploding Colon

Late for Spider-Con

"I know you've all been itching for a update," Rainbow Dash said, pacing before her companions. The Herald stood on the edge of a suspended courtyard—a safe distance from the wagon and its metallic contents. Arachnid bodies dangled vigilantly in the urban backdrop as Rainbow spoke. "So here's how things are going to go down soon. Abaddon is waking, and she wishes to speak to me... sing to me... serenade me. Whatever. Long story short, she's got a lot of stuff to impart to the Austraeoh, so I'm going to have to go down and see her."

"How interresting," Kepler remarked, stroking his beard.

"Now..." Ariel squinted, head cocked to the side from where she hovered. "When you say 'go down'...?"

Rainbow looked in her direction. "Merula's already explained it... kinda." She fidgeted in mid-air. "At some point—some point soon—I'll be summoned to a spot in the middle of the city. There, Abaddon's followers are gonna fashion a... uhh... a seat of sorts." She swallowed. "A seat that will lower me down to the hidden nest of the Winter Children situated at the city's foundation."

"Oh, you mean like a gondola!" Ariel remarked.

Kepler and Flynn exchanged expressions.

"Sure. A silky... spider gondola," Rainbow Dash muttered. "Let's go with that." She resumed pacing. "Somewhere down below, Abaddon's parked her—uh—abdomen in a safe spot. She's been situated there for pretty much the entirety of this plane's lonely existence. Like... since before the Sundering."

"Holy shit," Logan muttered.

"Well said." Rainbow hovered in a circle. "From the sound of things, she's super... super old. No doubt she can't move much. Jury's still out on just... ehhh... how well she can actually talk or share information..."

"Then..." Logan's brow furrowed. "...what's the whole point in going down there, then?"

Wildcard glanced at him from the sidelines.

Rainbow shrugged. "Because too many thousands of years have been invested in this crazy-fated circumstance for us to just give up on it now."

Logan nodded. "Sure." He folded his forelimbs. "I'll buy that."

"I don't care if you snort it." Rainbow gestured. "I'm the Austraeoh. Abaddon knew Axan's mother and this 'Ilrifa' character... personally." She slowly shook her head. "There's no friggin' way I can afford to not show up to something like this."

"We arre cerrtainly not denying the imporrtance of this meeting, Rrainbow One," Kepler said. "We arre simply concerrned—as always."

"Just don't worry, okay?" Rainbow bore a calm smile. "I know these 'Winter Children' dudes are creepy and crawly on the outside..."

Flynn shivered visibly.

Rainbow continued: "...but they mean nothing but good to us. To me. I mean... heh... let's friggin' face it." Her eyes traced the pendulous shapes of giant orb-weavers hanging in the background. "They're just shy of outright worshipping me at this rate."

"They've certainly been keen on this 'Song' of theirs for forever," Ariel remarked.

"It's Abaddon's 'Song,'" Rainbow corrected. "And they respect her above all else. And while Abaddon expects nothing but some destined glory from me... then..." Another shrug. "...her nest is probably the safest place I will have parked my flank since I had a hammock on board the Jury."

"H-hey!" Flynn perked up. "They've got the silk! They can make you a new one!"

"... ... ... ... ..." Rainbow Dash stared at him.

"... ... ..." His good eye blinked as his smile remained locked in place. "Remind me why I'm here again?"

Logan swatted his backside. "Because if we left you alone back at the wagon you'd still be throwing up!"

"I've gotten... urp..." Flynn held a hoof to his queasy muzzle. "...g-gotten better."

"Honestly, frriend!" Kepler glanced at him. "Haven't ourr new companions prroven that they arre anything but ghastly monstrrosities by now?"

"HELLO?!?!" Flynn's voice barked as he gestured at the silken guardians dangling above them with fangs and pedipalps and dappled exoskeletons. "Have you looked at them?! Do they look like friggin' puppies to you?!"

"They're fuzzy enough," Ariel muttered.

"Sh-shut up!"

"Heeheehee—"

"Just relax, Flynn," Rainbow droned. "Point is... these dudes are no threat to me."

"Uh huh..."

"Seriously! Don't worry about me! Besides..." Rainbow smiled, pointing at a brooding griffin off to the side. "I won't be alone! Seraphimus is coming with me!"

The Herald gawked at her.

"... ... ...did you even hear what you just said?" Flynn exhaled.

"Rnnngh..." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Alright. Fine. Wildcard's coming too."

"Whew..." Ariel fanned herself. "That's more like it."

Seraphimus merely sighed and continued to stare off into the urbanscape, forelimbs folded.

"I already discussed it with Merula," Rainbow Dash said. "She's cool with the escort, so it's all gravy."

Flynn shuddered. "B-better them than m-me..."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "You sure they don't mind the added weight?"

"Merula was... a bit confused over my insistence of having company," Rainbow said. "But they easily relented. Although..."

"What?"

Wildcard gestured. "Only Rainbow will understand Abaddon's message," the Desperado spelled out. A beat followed, and he added: "According to what they said."

"The Hell is that supposed to mean?" Ariel remarked.

Rainbow shrugged. "Like all things related to this Austraeoh-kaizoness, I'm guessing I'll learn in due time."

"Eeeugh..." Flynn grimaced. "Does that ever not feel ominous? Like... at all?"

Rainbow sighed. "I try not to think too hard about it."

"Well..." Kepler adjusted his spectacles. "...so long as you arre not too terrribly concerrned about this venturre, then we supporrt yourr excurrsion into the thrrone rroom of this esteemed 'Abaddon.'" He turned to look at the others. "Arre we in aggrreement?"

"Totally!"

"Damn straight."

"Again... b-better them than me..."

"Can it, Baldy."

"You'd rather me vomit?"

"Meh."

"So... until I'm summoned..." Rainbow stood on all four hooves, tail-flicking. "...I suggest we rest up. I doubt that... we're going to get many m-more opportunities in the future to chillax like we are now."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Logan said, turning around and shuffling towards the wagon. "Time to put my ass to sleep."

"Yeah." Flynn nodded, hobbling after him. "That'll take a century at least."

"Shut your mana-hole, Flynn. If there's unicorn barf on my napsack, I'm gonna rip you in half."

"You spend all night ripping enough on your own, so what's with an added threat?"

"Touche."

As the Herald parted ways, Rainbow Dash turned towards Seraphimus. The griffin stood alone, and Rainbow felt the urge to check up on her. But just as she made to move, she caught sight of an anxious constellation of freckles to her right.

"???" Rainbow turned, focusing her sight on Applejack's ghostly figure. "AJ? What's up?"

Applejack gnawed on her ethereal forelimb. She stared off into the distance with an expression. "Mmmmmm..." A gulp. "Nothin', I reckon."

Rainbow frowned. "Applejack... being dead is no excuse for lying." She gestured. "And especially you of all corpses."

"Eeugh..." Applejack shook from head to tail from where she hovered. "Please. Dun say the 'K' word."

"Corpse is spelled with a 'C'," Rainbow Dash said. "And if you don't want me to freak you out, then you'd better speak up."

Applejack sighed. "Very well..." She motioned towards another section of the courtyard. "Let's go for a stroll, shall we?"

Rainbow smiled, lightly flapping her wings. "I thought you'd never ask, AJ."

"Uh huh. Whatever that means."

Comments

[destinedjagold]

"Let's go for a stroll, shall we?"

Rainbow smiled, lightly flapping her wings. "I thought you'd never ask, AJ."

"Uh huh. Whatever that means."

Easy there, Dash.

[Merula]

"They're fuzzy enough," Ariel muttered.

Fuzzy, cuddly spoders? Ariel has the right idea!

[Tchernobog]

[Boersencrash]

"Sure. A silky... spider gondola,"

"I won't be alone! Seraphimus is coming with me!"

Because Seraphimus and gondolas have such a good past.

8595384

Your avatar suits your comment.

[IceKitsune]

Hmmm I wonder what AJ wants to talk about?

[The_K_Man]

"It's Abaddon's 'Song,'" Rainbow corrected. "And they respect her above all else. And while Abaddon expects nothing but some destined glory from me... then..." Another shrug. "...her nest is probably the safest place I will have parked my flank since I had a hammock on board the Jury."

"H-hey!" Flynn perked up. "They've got the silk! They can make you a new one!"

"... ... ... ... ..." Rainbow Dash stared at him.

"... ... ..." His good eye blinked as his smile remained locked in place. "Remind me why I'm here again?"

RD.Mind = Blown();
Plus hopefully having some stab-proof and shear-resistant cloth or rope could be really useful to the adventuring crew. I wonder if Abaddon if actually a non-spider that has some connection or is the source of the hivemind? I'm about to hit next chapter; let's find out.

[Hawattie]

"I know you've all been itching for a update," Rainbow Dash said

...So IC hits us with a triple post.

[Cynderfall]

Ghost flirting!

[Nevlamas]

derpicdn.net/img/2013/3/23/277023/full.gif

8595384 8595505 His entire being is that comment.

[Hazard]

Hmm. Not all may be as hunky dory as we've seen.

[Revan]

"???" Rainbow turned, focusing her sight on Applejack's ghostly figure. "AJ? What's up?"

A book not written: Stujackery, or, The Wooing of Applejack, by Expositional Kidneys.

[General Lemarc]

"I know you've all been itching for a update,"

Ok, now this is turning into a coded conversation.

Rainbow smiled, lightly flapping her wings. "I thought you'd never ask, AJ."

"Uh huh. Whatever that means."

If Rainbow actually tells AJ about her feelings, we can assume the world will end. By this logic, the city might not be standing for very long.

[RoboRed]

"H-hey!" Flynn perked up. "They've got the silk! They can make you a new one!"

"... ... ... ... ..." Rainbow Dash stared at him.

"... ... ..." His good eye blinked as his smile remained locked in place. "Remind me why I'm here again?"

...I mean, he's got a point...

[Silly Words]

Abaddon is waking, and she wishes to speak to me... sing to me... serenade me.

How romantic

[Tim the Planes-pony]

The spider silk would have to be cleansed of the sticky part, and they would need an airship equivalent to attach it to, but once those bits are ironed out it shouldn't be too hard for the spiders to make the hammock.

01/12/2018
22:11 UTC

[Autumn Rush]

Applejack sighed. "Very well..." She motioned towards another section of the courtyard. "Let's go for a stroll, shall we?"

Rainbow smiled, lightly flapping her wings. "I thought you'd never ask, AJ."

"Uh huh. Whatever that means."

I still ship it.

[Naterdoo]

Rainbow sighed. "I try not to think too hard about it."

What do you mean? That's just book 1 instincts kicking in.

[Prism Break]

Applejack sighed. "Very well..." She motioned towards another section of the courtyard. "Let's go for a stroll, shall we?"

Is the OG ship about to sail?!

[Tim the Planes-pony]

"Eeugh..." Applejack shook from head to tail from where she hovered. "Please. Dun say the 'K' word."

Guess AJ wasn't as educated in this fic as I thought.

11/16/2019
03:28 UTC

[SnowOriole]

Uh-oh, are the spiders up to no good?

..Or Sera?

[hypervelocity]

"Eeeugh..." Flynn grimaced. "Does that ever not feel ominous? Like... at all?"

No, it's just constantly ominous o'clock.

Also great, what's got our lie detector on edge?