Concerning Lights in Darkness
"You can see the Midnight Armory, Rainbow?!" Twilight Sparkle gaped. "All the way from this edge of the plane? That's virtually impossible!"
"Nothing's impossible for Dashie!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, sticking a ghostly tongue out. "You should know that by now, oh ye of little kaizo!"
"Remember..." Rarity raised a hoof, smiling thoughtfully. "She swore she sensed the Midnight Armory—at least in part—while we were up on the Light Side. Through the earth itself, if I recall."
"Yeah... but..." Rainbow Dash fidgeted, continuing to stare at the heart of the curved horizon. "...I wasn't so certain at the time. But now..."
"Seem's sportin' of yer Austraeoh powers to let you see that sort of a thang, Rainbow," Applejack said.
"Remember the last Seed?" Fluttershy suggested. "You... you went inside the tower above the maelstrom, not knowing what you would find. When you came out... you saw a golden beacon leading to where the gondola was."
"So this sight is cut from the same cloth!" Pinkie Pie chirped. "Sight cloth! Fits like a glove! Heehee!"
"Hrmmm..." Rarity hummed, following Rainbow's line of sight. "I do appreciate textile analogies more than the average pony, but let's not jump to enthusiastic conclusions here, Pinkie Pie."
"Awwwwwwwwww! Don't be a poopy marshmallow!"
"What I'm just trying to say..." Rarity sighed, then floated closer to their anchor. "...is that we simply don't know what Rainbow is seeing. These blasted Austraeoh powers—albeit useful—have proven time and time again to be anything but predictable."
"Rarity..." Applejack glared at her with razor-straight eyebrows. "It's a pyramid-shaped speck of golden light sittin' smack-dab in the center of the Dark Side. What the hay else could it be?"
"Well, I don't know!" Rarity tossed her ghostly hooves. "For all we care it could be something else that Utaan or Yaerfaerda or Celestia-knows-what is pointing our beloved Rainbow to!"
"I must admit," Twilight said, tapping her chin in thought. "The Midnight Armory is the simplest goal at this point." She looked back at her fellow companions. "And if everything we've learned about Austraeoh and its connection to harmony in this world maintains the ongoing pattern—"
"Rarity's right," Rainbow Dash suddenly said. "Let's... not jump to conclusions. I've barely gotten used to touching the floor here."
"It's... just so amazing," Fluttershy cooed, staring down at the dull blue stone. She phased a fetlock through it and murmured, "The actual Dark Side of the world... and we're actually here..."
"Yeah, well..." Rainbow Dash looked at her cuts and scrapes—all of which continued to glow brighter and brighter. "...one freaky thing at a time, Flutters."
"Oh gosh..." Fluttershy nibbled on the edge of a hoof. "Just why is Rainbow's blood doing that?"
"Ain't just Rainbow," Applejack said, reminding the others. "The same thang's happening with her buddies."
"Also Seraphimus!" Pinkie Pie pointed at the randomly-glowing body lying unconscious to the side.
Applejack sighed heavily. "Eeeyup. Her too."
"We're all from the Light Side," Twilight said. She blinked. "Or—rather—we were all born on the Light Side." She cocked her head aside. "I wonder if that has anything to do with it."
"You're certain you're not sensing anything out of the ordinary, darling?" Rarity asked.
Twilight shook her head. "We're not... enchanted by something... if that's what you're wondering."
Fluttershy nodded. "We're just as alive here as we were on the other side of the world before taking the plunge."
"Well, most of us," Pinkie added with a wince.
The mares shuddered. Their eyes wandered over to the dormant corpse of Axan. Thunder rolled in the distance as a cold wind continually pelted the moist stonescape.
"That light... just now..." Applejack tilted her hat back. Her brow furrowed. "...you reckon that was her spirit?"
"I..." Twilight Sparkle bit her bottom lip. "I-I think it was some other kind of phenomenon."
"Really, Twilight?" Applejack looked at her. "She just died here on the Dark Side—a land brimmin' with chaos and shadow. You dun think that maybe... just maybe... there's somethin' more to it?"
"But... but..." Twilight exhaled through clenched teeth as she shook her head. "It's such a wild speculatory conclusion to make, Applejack! What if the heat signature of a dragon simply manifests itself differently on this plane! It doesn't necessarily have to involve—"
"Do we or do we not make our ways to the Harmonic Plains after we die?" Applejack asked.
"Well... I mean..." Twilight Sparkle fidgeted in mid-hover. "Princess Celestia always maintained that... th-that..." She gulped. "That is, most Equestrian cultures are of the belief—"
"So what's the stretch, then?" Applejack remarked with a shrug. "If it's the most likely possibility, then shouldn't we consider that we're witnessin' somethin' in the living flesh that folks on the Light Side have only ever dreamt about for centuries?"
Twilight gulped. "I don't like what the thought is stretching to, Applejack."
Applejack said nothing.
"But Twilight..." Rarity looked at her. "As a researcher and a scientist... shouldn't you have an open mind? Shouldn't you consider all possibilities?"
"I do," Twilight insisted. She shook her head while gazing forlornly at Axan's corpse. "I still don't like it."
"If... if that was Axan's spirit," Pinkie Pie murmured in a hauntingly melancholic voice. "...then where did it go?"
Thunder.
Rainbow Dash stood still, breathing intently.
A heavy set of hoofsteps shuffled to a stop behind her. "So... uh..." Logan cleared his throat. "You and the girls done deliberating?"
Rainbow swallowed. "Far from it, Big Show." She reexamined the glowing wounds on her forelimb. "At this rate... I'm not sure we're ever going to stop."
"Any light you have to shed on us and... uh... these weird lights would be killer."
Rainbow merely clenched her teeth.
"Sorry." Logan sighed, kicking at the cold stone beneath them. "I don't mean to rush you—"
"No. We..." Rainbow sighed, turning away from Axan. "We need to get moving sooner than later."
"This is all a crazy shock to take in, Rainbow. For all of us—I mean. And..." Logan exhaled heavily once again. "I'm sorry also for... y'know... being a total butthead back there."
"You're concerned for the party. It's cool—"
"No it ain't." Logan frowned. "I'm just so..." His leg muscles tensed and untensed. "...so... friggin' pissed. But—thing is—I know I'm not the only one."
Rainbow was silent.
"If you believe there's a reason for sparing Frostknife's favorite turkey buzzard... then that's fine. Ain't my place to talk you down. You're the Austraeoh and—if the whole world's salvation rests in your hooves—then why not add a griffin to the mix?"
"I appreciate your objections, Big Show," Rainbow muttered, glancing at him sideways. "I... understand why you would not want to keep her around."
"You're allowed to be pissed off at her too, y'know."
"It doesn't matter," Rainbow said.
No response.
"We just... gotta find a way to get her bound up all nice and tight... so she won't hurt anypony. Including herself." Rainbow pivoted about to face the wreckage of the Gondola. She rose her voice to speak above the howling winds. "Then we gotta go back in there and salvage all we can. Some of the golden metal snapped off. Maybe we can use them to create a wagon or a sled of some sort... so we can carry all of the supplies. Once Flynn gets his magic working again—"
Logan's large hoof rested on Rainbow's shoulder. "Rainbow..."
She blinked.
He continued, "I may not have liked Remna very much. Hell... a lot of us definitely hated her guts at one point or another. But you're the reason for this journey. And if you need time... you've got it."
"It... doesn't... matter," Rainbow snarled. She leaned away from his hoof. "All we need to do is keep moving. We know our destination. My girls and I are almost certain I can see it. Every moment we spend here is just wasted ti—"
Rainbow's words, her frown, her very breathing—all of it melted away the moment she felt Ariel floating up from behind and hugging her in a soft, warm embrace. Rainbow's pupils shrank as she stared out into the starry expanse.
Fluttershy, Pinkie, and the rest closed in. "Rainbow..." Fluttershy sniffled. "Would it help if we cried first?"
Rainbow clenched her teeth. She fought it, but the Firmaments were less forgiving on this side of the plane. The elements blew right through her. "She g-gave me so much... and yet she t-took so much away. And yet... I couldn't be h-here without her help. Or without...without..." She shut her eyes as the tears sprang loose. A whimper or two later, and Rainbow was burying her face into Ariel's forelimbs. "I'm sorry... I-I didn't mean to take Bard from you guys. I... I understand now what Axan d-did... but Bard?" A sob, and she was shaking now. "Wildcard... Ariel... everyone—I'm so sorry. I hoped it would have gone better... so m-much better... but now I d-don't know what to hope for..."
"It's not your fault, Rainbow," Ariel murmured, sniffling herself.
"Barrd was brrave, and he knew what was at stake," Kepler said, shuffling closer. "Axan too. They believed in you... and so do we."
"You... you will regret it," Rainbow cried as Ariel hugged her. "I swear—"
"That'll be for us to decide," Flynn said with a soft smile. "For right now—and forever—you're stuck with us. That's a promise."
Rainbow felt like protesting—but then she felt the soft feathers of Wildcard as he came in to join Ariel in the hug. That's when she lost it entirely, and it took the collective circle of the Herald to keep her steady in the tearful minutes to follow. Her ghostly friends—and the stars—looked on.
They wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.
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Awww… so sad!
...Damnit...It still hurts to have Bard and Axan gone.
Still not sure what to make of the soul thing. Some think it might be something to do with the Night Shard, but I’m not so sold on that. Could be something bigger at play, or just a function of the machine world itself.
Also, the glowing blood....Why do I get the feeling that that’s about to become a liability really soon?...
Saw fit to drown us in feels, huh IC?
On another note:
Really, ponk?
That needs to be on a t-shirt
OH SHI- *Drowns in feels*
Damn it skirts, the feels are killing me.
Tribute game: Desperadoes and Dragons, in loving memory of Bard and Axan. Let us act like huge nerds and roleplay in their honor.
Aaaaanyways, onward to hugs. They are going to need all of the harmony and feels they can get on this desolate plane.
8218226
Yeah, after the intensity of fighting off the Frostknifers (if that isn’t a painfully descriptive moniker) and the fall to the dark side of the world the party deserves a long rest. Just don’t wait so long that Crystal Unicorns show up asking what’s up.
Do what you need to do, just don't drop your guard guys. The Dark Side isn't likely to play nice and you're in an exposed, vulnerable spot right now, wounded, weakened, with no path of retreat or cover. So cry, get the feelings out, but then get your focus back fast before someone or something finds you.
As for the soul stuff, I'm willing to bet it's both the Night Shard doing some stuff and another object or entity involved. The former may be a smokescreen for the latter.
I'm bleeding feels over here
Wildcard needed to give somepony a hug.
8218284
Or maybe they meet a small sect of good Night Shard that are soul readers and they fix all of their emotional problems magically. (If only...)
Damn...
You gotta feel for Rainbow and the whole group right now...
I just hope they get their own feelings under control before the next disaster comes up...
So, there’s something possibly minor (and possibly major) here that’s bothering me.
Back in Rohbredden, Mortuana said souls were sinking into the ground, instead of the sky like they should be, right?
Well, that makes sense if you assume they were going to the Night Shard on the Dark Side... but Axan’s soul went into the ground too. And due to the inverse curvature of the world, it should have gone at an upward angle to reach their city on the far side of the Midnight Armory.
So maybe something else is at play, here...
I am intrigued. What else could the light be pointing to, if not the Midnight Armory? A Night Shard decoy? Maybe somewhere she’ll have to go first in order to learn how to get past the Armory’s security?
8218379
Considering the Shard mentioned the Machine, I wouldn't be surprised if they built something in an exposed area of the Machine World that forces souls into some pipes or shit in the Machine, then brings them to it for harvesting.
Unfortunately, I think it only goes downhill from here.
Hugs and feels are everywhere.
i miss bard...
Sad group hugs all around.
This will be the first of these stories that I've read from the beginning as it comes out chapter-by-chapter. So this is the first time I'm going to make a concerted effort to try and comment on every single chapter.
The only thing I could think that the light would be other than the midnight Armory, would be that third key that the night Shard were talking about. Other than that, it's anyone's guess.
Anyone want to make bets on what order the Harold is going to die in? My bet is that either Big Show or Flynn will be first. I'm not sure why, it just feels right on a narrative level.
Well, that hit hard in the feels for sure.
Bard will be missed but I hope with this whole soul business going on maybe they will run into his at some point. In fact I’m pretty sure they will.
If Rainbow is really able to see the armory already with her vision, it might imply the lack of any other seed/flame on the way up to this point. In this case the whole trip on this side of the plane sounds like one hell of a race for Rainbow against her corruption.
Let it out, RD. You've been through so much, you deserve it.
8218379
I wonder if those guys are exploiting something that the machine world itself has recently resorted to in order to run long enough (by coincidence or otherwise) to give the Austraeoh a chance. If the life force on the surface is being re-purposed to prolong whatever maintains this world and someone else found a way to tap into that wellspring for their own intentions...
Keep Morty’s words on the matter close to hand for the next couple books is a must.
8218495
i.imgflip.com/1ffxze.jpg
Yes
8218583
This is how I figured it would be. Now they got to speedrun the Midnight Armory.... that’ll only take 3 books.
8218608
It probably gets even worse than that, given that Rainbow is not supposed to use the prism herself. She has to press on after this and cross the other half of the plane, which might be devoid of beacons as well. Her first most likely chance to find “new” flames then would be on the light side again with the expedition of Cadence & friends.
Yeah, piece of cake.
annnd camera pan up...
Austraeoh
Book XI
Ofolrodi
-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.
8218608 With the amount of terrain left to cover, how much still needs to happen in the series and the fact that Skirts said Ofolrodi will be comparable to Utaan in length, it’s very likely we’ll be seeing the inside of the Armory before the end of this book.
It would make a fitting climax, no?
Even the most hardcore soldier needs to break down at some point, Dashie. NO shame.
fifty jumping-jacks, ):(. Knock ‘em out!
Ouch, my heart.
I feel like that isn’t the expression Fluttershy would be using. Rather something like ‘horrifying’, ‘frightening’, ‘dark and scary’...
8218652 I doubt Chaotic corruption - which already has lessened significantly now that she’s further away from Equestria but might return on the dark side - will be much of an issue while she has the Harmonic Prism in her possession.
Well that was a feels rollercoaster.
Now let’s see how strong the chaos inside Dash is while in it’s natural habitat.
8218412
8218379
Mortuana said the souls stopped going up millennia ago. And the Night Shard seem to lack any intel from the light side since the alicorns first arrived. This suggests that the Night Shard are not getting souls from the light side at all. They also mentioned hunting grounds, which makes me think that they have to “catch” souls before they get sucked into the machine.
Just my guess.
Figured it would only be a matter of time until she broke down. So much has happened so fast, leaving them no time to grieve. Guess that time is now. Stay strong, Dashie.
~SolidFire
If I know IC, a jar in Alamais’ room(which,I suspect, is how she’ll learn of Rainbow and the Herald)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiqt4C4M0dA
8219131
Hardly millennia, if this quote is anything to go by...
Granted, what constitutes a “few years” for an alicorn is up in the air. Still, though, we saw Night Shard soul technology in the flashback in the first chapter, so...
Honestly, something about these timelines isn’t lining up for me. We know from Utaan that Verlax was already in Rohbredden when the sarosians went to the dark side, because Onyxxus mentioned them having to cross the Grand Choke. But Verlax didn’t make that until failing to find Endrax on the Dark Side... and we just saw that sarosians were present on the Dark Side when Endrax bit the dust. And I doubt Endrax was just hiding or doing something else while Verlax was looking for her.
I loved how even though Logan's apology came off as awkward and uncomfortable, you could tell that the guy genuinely meant it.
Some good character building and catharsis here.
With Flyn being out of it, and Ser not being trustworthy, thats the best designer and toolset out of action. Hopefully the others have between them experience of even childrens toys that can be used as basis for design, runners or a sheet, curved at the front, cables for lashing and towing, supplies etc. Even sheet or other material covering for many uses, if they can find and move it easily?
8219444
Huh. I thought she’d said “millennia.” I guess not.
I'm curious... Does anyone know if Twilight was supposed to ascend in this timeline? How would that have worked with what we currently know about the Alicorn race?
Aww~ Sad times are sad...
8218379
Interesting theory. I am intrigued. As we know, the Machine World is basically the bedrock of this plane. We have found spots within the earth that were like nodes, focal points within the Machine World where harmonic torches must be lit. These are what power the whole Machine, as far as I can tell. However, to be honest, we have very little of an idea how anything works within the bowels of this plane. With what we do know, maybe there are "arteries" underneath the surface, pathways for harmonic energies to flow. Maybe the Machine itself attracts these energies as well, and somehow the Night Shard have taken advantage of these abilities for their own machinations of war.
You know, now that you have said this, and now that Rainbow has realized it, maybe things aren't going to be as cut and dry as it seems. Sure, we've made it a long, long way, and it feels amazing to be able to at least see our final destination, but it was never easy to get her, so what says that it'll be easier just because we can see it? The three armies can see it, too, and have been for a long time.
I hope that whatever enemies we face first will be, you know, not awful as shit. For some reason, I am starting to dread what the dark side has in store.
And they don't even have his guitar.
We interrupt this program to bring you your irregularly scheduled feels. Thank you.
Even on the Dark Side, there is always time for a group hug.
8218934
Oh NO nonono......
Given what was at stake during that battle (All of the Sarosians and his little sister) I don't think Bard would have held it against Rainbow that he died. Also given that the souls of the plain are being drawn to the dark side, maybe they will see him again. One can hope.
11/12/2019
21:58 UTC
8218934
OH! I didn’t even think of that.