Chapter 39
By Raven, for the High Warden’s eyes only
It is twenty days into second summer. If the ravens manage crossing the pass, you will receive this at the same time as Agaus’ official report. You asked me to give you my thoughts separate, but Agaus tells me he has not been given the same task. Do I understand why you ask this of me? I suspect you wish for me to lead this greatflight when his antlers dull, but this will not be soon.
I am confused, but you will have my thoughts and observations as you ask.
First, we have come too late for our initial purpose. The ponies are no longer here, but we have learned that they were well when last they were seen. That was early today.
This gives me much joy, though word of their treatment here troubles me. As I took ownership of the Equestrians’ visit to us and call them friends, observing the chain of events that led to today? I confess to anger. Putting aside that which is personal, the ponies were and are the guests of the five cities. Surely there must be consequences for their mistreatment.
We have also found the missing tribute, but to retrieve what belongs to us is now made pointless. Perhaps I should have confirmed this at the start of this missive: The words from the captured spy were all true, and the bird has shown us their exact location. This is no band of thieves. We have seized an entire city of people who are undeniably kin, but strange to us.
They call themselves “The Morrowsworn”, and because they are kin, to take from them is to take from ourselves, just as to bring harm to them has brought harm to us. Your suggestion to bring a full ditalon claws of wings was wise counsel, but many wardens did not enjoy opposing our own kin. I am one of those.
If they are the ones who bring the beasts of the Bow down upon us, we do not know how. They claim innocence. There are many things we do not yet know.
Agaus and I must still discuss what to do next. I have given him counsel, saying that this is a problem Ephydoera can no longer solve alone, and he will tell you he now thinks the same. One of their leaders’ advisors has been helpful in clearing things up, and what we learn from her presents new challenges. My counsel to Agaus was this: Is it not our duty to now bring this before not only Cotronna, but all kin together?
What happens next is complicated, and I do not know all the forces that will work upon it, but as flight-leader I recognise that I cannot be silent, either.
No raven will find us here, so we must decide where to go without your word to guide us. Agaus and I try to still Helesseia’s fire in our heart that we may reach a decision with clear minds.
Ever at your wing,
-Warden Phoreni
On the bright side, Dash’s need for speed was sated for the first time today. They’d spent entirely too much of the earlier night and morning skulking, sneaking, crawling and a bunch of other words that may not mean “slow”, but certainly implied it.
On the wet and dark and noisy side: everything else about this very moment.
The light from Rarity’s horn flickered as the unicorn was jostled around, and the three ponies bumped against each other, the river carrying the dainty boat downstream at a reckless pace. Water sprayed in their faces, and every few seconds, a shadow whisked by overhead, rocks hanging down from the low ceiling close enough to make Dash stiffen, but thankfully never close enough to touch.
“I’m kicking myself for saying this!” Dash shouted over the rushing water. “But does this thing have a slow setting?”
“This is a piece of wood!” Rarity replied, laying down flat against the hull of the boat. “Not a back massager!”
“Oh no, oh no,” Fluttershy repeated under her breath, clearly not in the mood to contribute much. The boat lurched to the side suddenly, the three ponies all sucking in breath at the same time before the boat slapped against them a split-second later. Dash groaned at the impact.
“What about the rocks underneath it? You saw the stuff under the boat, right? They’ve got to be magic rocks! We came up this river!”
“We don’t know how they work!” Fluttershy said. “They could make things worse!”
Another spray of water hit Rainbow Dash—and only her—in the face, leaving her mane dripping. “Augh! Worse than this? I’ll take my chances! Rarity?!”
“I don’t know what you expect me to do,” Rarity snapped, but she turned around and clutched the rim of the boat with her forelegs nevertheless, peering over the side. Fluttershy leaned against the other side for balance, which was good, because Rainbow Dash really hadn’t thought about that until the boat started teetering, halfway to capsizing. Dash sat back down instead of trying to look at what Rarity was doing. The unicorn’s horn-light glowed a little brighter—
And that was it. Just like that, the boat stopped messing about. They were still going downriver really fast, but all the lurching, near-tipping, the splashing and the crashing, everything smoothed out into a gentle rocking from side to side as though the tempestuous river’s attacks on their boat came in slow motion. Rarity sat back, staring at the side of the boat in confusion. Rainbow Dash wiped her sopping mane.
“That was quick,” said Dash. “Nice!”
“Goodness, that was terrifying. Thank you, Rarity,” said Fluttershy, exhaling loudly.
“I must admit I expected that to be harder,” said Rarity, her snout frumpled. “I barely touched them. Well, I magically touched them, but still. I… suppose those stones do in fact have settings.”
Rainbow Dash laughed. “How’s that a bad thing?”
Rarity shook her head. “It isn’t, I’m just surprised.”
“Alright. That’s cool, awesome work anyway,” said Dash, still grinning wide. “And speaking of freaky magic, great job holding back the peryton, too.”
That made Rarity smile. “Well, thank you. Skill at presentation transfers well into bluffing, it seems.”
“Pft, bluffing nothing,” said Dash. “You could’ve taken them.” She moved a little further back on the boat, giving Rarity and Fluttershy some more space. She was wet all the way through, but all the water they had taken in pooled in the front where Fluttershy sat.
“Wherever we’re going, we’re getting there fast, at least,” Dash added. “This river’s gotta take us somewhere we can get off.”
“If the peryton used this river, it has to,” said Fluttershy, though she sounded less than convinced herself. “We don’t have much of a choice anyway. We can’t go back.”
“Yeah. No joke,” Dash grumped, shuffling her wings. As much as she didn’t like to admit it, taking a day off the air was probably smart regardless. “I don’t know if I could fly all the way back with a heavy load right now. And there’s nowhere safe to touch down.”
Rarity glanced over her shoulders, moving back a bit as well, and when Fluttershy followed suit, she started scooping water out of the boat, one magical little helping at the time. “I think she meant the mob of angry peryton waiting behind us,” the unicorn said.
“Both, really,” Fluttershy said with a lopsided smile. “Do you need me to move? Or do you want to switch places?”
“This is fine, dear,” Rarity replied, shaking her head. Scoop by meticulous scoop, the unicorn drained the boat of water, and Dash decided it was probably safe to take off her saddlebags, the others doing the same soon after. There wasn’t much else of note in the boat. A small paddle and a short coil of rope both lay near one end, neither of which Dash could find a purpose for.
Rainbow Dash wrung her mane over the rim of the boat, locking eyes and trading smiles with Fluttershy who sat facing her way. She looked almost calm for the first time in a while, and now Dash felt her own breath slow down, relaxing a bit, too.
“We made it,” Dash said, and this time, Fluttershy didn’t chastise her for calling it too early. Her smile faded, though.
“Hopefully. And I guess help did come, after all, too, even if it was a little late.”
“Yeah. About that,” said Dash, but she didn’t have any follow-up. She didn’t know what to say. Or think.
The image, the memory of what had happened mere minutes ago stuck in her mind, frozen like a painting on a wall. Peryton descending from the mountain slopes gleaming with Ephydoeran magic, all painted, like the world’s biggest Wonderbolts formation—except they were definitely not there to put on a show.
“It’s a good thing, right?” Dash said. “If we could fly back up, we’d do it, and everything would be alright up there, wouldn’t it? I mean, it would! It’s good that the Ephydoerans came flying into the Morrowsworn town.” It felt like a guess more than an opinion. Fluttershy said nothing.
“The Morrowsworn stole from the other peryton,” said Rarity after a moment, rummaging around in her bags until she found some rag or handkerchief of some sort, wiping first her horn, then her shout. “They were spying and causing all sorts of mischief, especially for us. To say nothing of how horribly they treated us while we were imprisoned.”
There was no anger in her voice. Her words were presented as facts, and yes, all she said was absolutely true. An hour ago, Rainbow Dash would still be fired up and angry at the Morrowsworn for all those things. Right now, having seen the wardens of Ephydoera descend upon the city, not knowing what was going to happen to them, Rainbow Dash didn’t know what to feel. Numb. Confused?
“Life’s probably not gonna be the same for them anymore, anyway,” Dash said. “The other peryton know about them now.” Another fact. One thing Dash knew for certain.
“Which could be a good thing, now that you mention it,” Fluttershy said. “They sounded like they had a lot of problems lately. If Velysra is right, they were happy before Caldesseia started convincing them of all those awful things that weren’t true. Or… things that were misunderstood, at least—and just before we left, it sounded like things had gotten even stranger. I didn’t understand all of it, but I guess Velysra and Koltares aren’t friends anymore.” She paused, sighed, and repeated herself. “It could be a good thing.”
“Yeah,” said Dash. She reached over the rim of the boat to let a hoof skim along the top of the water, pulling it back when she realised it would probably go very wrong very quickly. “We’re seriously gonna feel bad about this?” she asked, letting out a bark of laughter when she realised that was exactly what part of her wanted to do. “That’s stupid. They hurt us! Especially Caldesseia and Koltares! We just did… I don’t—”
“I don’t think we know what we did, really,” Rarity finished for her, shaking her head slowly. “We can’t tell what the consequences are, but we can hardly be blamed for doing our best to escape when we were held in prison unjustly like that. If someone does something wrong, if they hurt you, you’re not doing them a kindness by letting them continue.”
“Maybe not. But… I think I still feel bad,” said Fluttershy, folding her ears. “I’m still upset with them, but I can be upset and be sorry for them. That’s what I think. You’re right anyway. We don’t know what’ll happen with them. I think that’s what worries me the most.”
“If we hadn’t been forced into this boat and chased off, we could have just asked the Ephydoerans what’s up, but that’s not happening now,” said Dash. “If we’d been quicker, you could’ve hopped on, and we could just have flown to meet the Ephydoerans.” She sighed. It had been a spur of the moment decision to run down the stairs, and it didn’t matter now anyway. She would need some time to cool off before she could really tell how she felt.
“I don’t know if the Ephydoerans want to see us, though,” said Fluttershy with a shake of her head. “Maybe Phoreni was with them. She could still be angry with—”
“Fork,” said Rarity.
“Fork,” Fluttershy repeated, blinking. “Angry with fork? What does that mean?”
Rarity pointed ahead, her voice rising a touch. “I mean there’s a fork coming up, darling, and I don’t remember that from our trip up the river. Left or right?”
“Right!” said Dash.
“Left!” said Fluttershy at the exact same time.
Rarity glanced between the two pegasi quickly. Just downriver, at the edge of Rarity’s light, the cave broke upon a sharp line, turning left and right in two perfect halves.
“You decide, then,” said Dash, shrugging.
“They’re completely alike,” said Rarity, frowning. “How am I—”
“We don’t have time,” Dash groaned. “Just pick one!”
“They’re symmetrical! I don’t—” Rarity began to say, her eyes widening a touch. They were getting very, very close to the dividing rock, and right now, they were going neither left nor right. Their boat headed straight down the middle, aiming for the rock wall between the two rivers.
“Then go left—” Dash tried.
“Go right—” said Fluttershy at the same time, clapping a hoof to her mouth. “No, okay, just—”
“Left! Rarity! Left! Now!” Dash shouted, frantically pointing a leg to the left, trying to work the paddle free with the other, but the paddle wouldn’t come loose. The wall rushed to meet them, and any moment now, there would be going left and right—in pieces.
Rarity’s horn lit bright in a flash, surrounding the bow of the boat. With a groan of effort from both the unicorn and the boat, with water splashing over the side, Rarity wrenched the boat off course, narrowly slipping onto the stream on the left side. The rock wall passed by with a whuff, close enough that Dash could have spread her wings and touched it.
The three ponies sat very, very still while their boat stabilised. Whatever magic was in the stones lining the hull, it put them in the middle of the smaller, equally rapid river.
“Why left?” Dash asked, looking to Fluttershy. Rarity hung her head, evidently taking a moment to herself.
“I… what?” asked Fluttershy. “Why right?”
“Right’s usually a good pick,” said Dash, shrugging and grinning. “Right’s good. It’s great. Why left?”
Fluttershy giggled and shook her head, rustling her wings. “I like left.”
Rainbow Dash was made to remember why she slept most of her way upriver: boredom. A minute became an hour, which became many hours. Probably. There was no way of telling time in the unending tunnel of wet, slimy rock. The river didn’t split again, but it didn’t offer much beyond water and stone, either. After a long day of sneaking and walking, some fighting and running, the sheer onslaught of boring sameness was a cruel, cruel test, and her eyelids drooped. Judging by the way the small talk ended, Rarity and Fluttershy were tired too.
“We could take turns napping, just saying,” Dash offered up, letting out an unabashed yawn that made her jaw pop with the strain.
“Mm, the thought crossed my mind,” Rarity murmured. “But sitting watch would be rather pointless without any light, wouldn’t it? There’s no torch at the front of this boat, so it would have to be me. If the two of you want to get some rest, however, feel free.” She smiled. “No sense in all of us having to stare at this dreadful river.”
Fluttershy rubbed her face with the nook of a leg and sought Dash’s eyes, the two smiling briefly at each other and shaking their heads at the same time.
“Nah,” said Dash. “We’re not leaving you hanging. Hey, Rarity. I spy with my little eye something beginning with R.”
“If it’s ‘rock’, I am turning this boat around,” said Rarity with a tired giggle.
“Is it ‘Rarity’?” Fluttershy asked.
“Shoot. You win. Your turn,” said Dash, grinning.
“Okay,” said Fluttershy. “I spy—”
“It isn’t ‘water’, by any chance?” asked Rarity.
Fluttershy smiled. “Your turn.”
“Twilight?” Rarity scoffed, giggling all the while. “No, you know would look strange with a short mane and tail? Pinkie Pie!”
“Oh my, I don’t think I can even picture that,” Fluttershy said, laughing as well.
Rainbow Dash snorted and sat back, still fighting to keep her eyes open. “Heh, yeah. But come on, try to tell me with a straight face that you could imagine Rarity with her mane cut short before we left Equestria. I dare you. Or me with a short tail.”
Fluttershy shook her head slowly from side to side, blinking heavily and giggling still. It’d been like this for… for however long they’d been chatting and trying to keep each other awake. The giddiness of the over-tired.
“Well, you look good with a short tail,” Fluttershy finally said without so much of a hint of a blush.
Rainbow Dash smirked. She would have to fix that. “Yeah?” she said, leaning to the side to look past Rarity who sat between them. “Yeah, I guess I do, but you look better than good right now. You look great. You’re pretty much the prettiest pony I’ve ever seen—”
“Keep your hooves to yourselves,” Rarity said. “You two clearly need a chaperone.” She clicked her tongue and shook her head, but both Rarity and Fluttershy were laughing all the while—and Fluttershy’s cheeks finally reddened a touch. Mission accomplished. Rainbow Dash wished the river was less frothy so she could splash Rarity with water or something, but she settled for blowing raspberry.
Rainbow Dash blinked and rubbed her eyes again. Now that she looked over the rim of the boat, she had to wonder if maybe the river wasn’t a bit more calm. The water was no longer marked by foam and waves, and she could barely see the cave walls. Now she was sure. The underground river had widened and stilled a lot since the last time she thought about it.
“Hey, guys, is it just me, or, uh,” said Dash, trying to decide on the words. In the end, she just yawned and pointed. “The river.”
“Oh. I guess it’s… bigger?” said Fluttershy, helpfully.
“And slower,” Dash said, scowling, though in all honesty, she’d be glad if the river stopped flowing entirely so they could actually sleep. She shielded her eyes and Fluttershy eeped as the horn from Rarity’s light flared, a sudden and jerky brightness unlike the way she usually brightened the glow by degrees.
“My apologies,” Rarity muttered, squinting while Fluttershy turned around to sit facing forwards like the other two. “I think we’re coming up on something.”
The river-tunnel that had been so oppressively small widened further, and the boat slowed down bit by bit, and just ahead, Rarity’s light was swallowed up by a great dark opening. Fluttershy turned her head sideways and perked an ear.
“I can’t hear any rushing water, so I don’t think there are any waterfalls or anything,” Fluttershy whispered.
“Why would there be a waterfall?” Dash asked, tilting her head.
Fluttershy shrugged. “I didn’t think there would be, but it’s good to know there probably isn’t one, because that’d be really scary.”
Rarity blinked. Rainbow Dash guffawed.
“Okay, I can’t argue with that,” said Dash, wondering if she should grab the paddle and help move them along, but she decided against it. She imagined she’d drop the paddle inside of a minute when she was seized by another one of these stupid yawns. Sleep didn’t call to her so much as it hammered on the door with all available hooves. She just sat there and waited while the gentle flow of water pushed them towards the opening. Was that light up ahead? Something other than Rarity’s horn gave off illumination of some kind, she was sure.
The ceiling of the tunnel gave way, disappearing up far beyond what Rarity’s light could touch, and the side walls opened up as the river pushed them onto an underground lake.
Rainbow Dash vaguely remembered last summer when she had gone swimming with Applejack. The two of them had found a tiny grotto just under the surface of Shadewood Waters, and this one was just like it—except bigger. The cavern the boat sailed into was a thousand times the size of what had seemed an awesome find at the time, and faintly glowing moss or fungus clung to the sharp rocks hanging from the ceiling. Other pointy rocks poked up from the water like the teeth of some great beast, and in the combined light of the flora and Rarity’s horn, Dash saw tiny fish swimming in the waters below.
“Let’s play another game,” Rarity said. “It’s called ‘eerie or wonderful’.”
“Maybe both?” Fluttershy said, her voice faint.
“I vote for awesome,” said Dash, craning her neck, looking all about above them. The glowing plants weren’t nearly as cool as the luminescent mosses of the Khosta, but with in the utter-dark of the cave, they were far clearer. Ahead of them, the waters of the underground lake were completely still. Each plant-covered rock cast a perfect reflection in the waters below.
“Do you think this is where we came in?” Fluttershy said, still quiet, as though she feared her voice alone could disturb the tranquility of the place. “Maybe we were all asleep, but… I don’t know.”
“Told you we should have gone to the right,” Dash replied, giggling when she caught Fluttershy’s efforts to hold back her own laughter. Rarity chuckled and shook her head as well, sighing.
“You two are incurable.”
“And tired,” said Fluttershy, slumping a little bit. “At least all rivers have to head to the ocean at some point, so, um, I guess it’s okay even if this isn’t the right way.”
“All rivers?” Dash asked, cocking her head.
“Where else would they go?” Rarity asked, frowning. “We just don’t know how long this river is, but it has to take us to the ocean. You said this is going northeast?”
“Northeastish,” Dash corrected her.
“Of course, it could go underground,” Fluttershy said, fidgeting, clopping her hooves together. “Or into a tunnel too small for us.”
“That… is also true,” Rarity said, sighing. “I don’t imagine that will go well for us.”
“Eh. You’ll figure out how to turn this boat around and we’ll go up and take the other river, whatever,” said Dash, shrugging. What was the point in worrying? Like a river could stop them at this point. “Or if you can’t, just tie the stupid boat to—” she paused to yawn. “To my tail. Tie the boat to me and hop on. We’ll fly all the way back.”
Rarity gave Dash a lopsided smile, while Fluttershy simply nodded with a long blink, as though it was all that simple. Because it was.
“You’re probably right, dear,” said Rarity, chuckling low under her breath. “I don’t know why I bother worrying any more.”
“Of course I’m right,” said Dash with a lazy grin. “But heads up, if I’m gonna fly anywhere, I want a nap first.”
“I am abominably tired myself,” Rarity agreed. “Or rather, I was tired half a day ago. Right now, if there was a thing to be worried about, it’s that I’ll fall asleep any time now.”
Rainbow Dash pointed past Rarity to Fluttershy, who had closed her eyes. “Looks like somepony got a head start on sleeping, heh.”
“Fluttershy, dear?” said Rarity, holding up a hoof as though to poke the pegasus in the chest, but she evidently thought better of it, shaking her head. “Oh, never mind. The poor dear must be exhausted. How about we tie our boat to one of these stalagmites and catch some sleep as well? There’s no telling how long this river is.”
“Best idea I’ve heard all day, night, or whatever it is,” said Rainbow Dash. She leaned down to unfasten the coil of rope from the side of the boat, waiting for Rarity to seize it in her magical grip before she took the paddle in her mouth and started paddling across the still waters aiming for a rock by one of the cave walls.
Rainbow Dash was used to opening her eyes and feeling like she hadn’t had enough sleep. She called that “waking up”, and it happened most mornings or afternoons: a vague sense of unfairness that came with feeling like she’d only just gone to bed. Now, she opened her eyes and felt like she’d just gone to sleep, but she was no longer tired. Nor was she awake.
Earlier this summer, all of this might have confused her. Right now, standing in a complete void, lacking not only light, but also darkness—her own body somehow clearly visible to her eyes—she took it all in stride. Or a lack of strides. She decided to stay very still, hooves resting upon hard blackness indistinct from everything else.
Were they free? Something about leaving mountains? She couldn’t tell why that mattered, but she had a vague sense that it did. Memories were hazy.
“Princess Luna?” Rainbow Dash threw the words into the void, and they disappeared unnaturally fast, eaten up in the opposite of an echo. Okay. That’s a little bit freaky.
“Luna?” she tried again, but no Princess appeared. Instead, Fluttershy suddenly stood before her. Rainbow Dash blinked once, and in the space of that blink, Rarity appeared next to her as well. Fluttershy’s mane and tail were both cut short, and Dash didn’t know exactly why. Rarity looked as she always did, her hairs curled to perfection. Both of them looked around, confused.
“Huh. Okay, that’s weird,” said Dash, scratching her head. “I… okay, so, I get that this is a dream, but why am I dreaming of you like this?”
“This is a dream?” Fluttershy asked, her voice distorted, all noise cut short.
“I don’t… imagine it could be anything else,” said Rarity. “I’d rather this is a dream than us being trapped in somewhere this dreary. We’ve been trapped somewhere else recently, haven’t we? I can’t seem to recall.”
Rainbow Dash tilted her head. They weren’t behaving very much like a dream at all. “Hang on,” she said, frowning. “Something’s weird.”
“They’re not your dream, Rainbow Dash.”
“Finally!” said Rainbow Dash. Princess Luna stepped out of a fold in the void, her eyes closed and her horn glowing, leaving a tangible trail of silver where she walked. Rarity gasped in surprise and quickly bowed, and Fluttershy squeaked, following suit right after. Dash sketched an approximation of a bow, more busy with questions than what Rarity would call decorum.
“They’re here?” Dash asked.
“We’re where?” Fluttershy said, slowly getting up. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”
All around them, the void shifted. First it became darkness, though Rainbow Dash honestly couldn’t explain why she thought of the darkness as distinct from the void. She didn’t exactly have time to contemplate that. A second later, a blotch of green spread out from the ground between them. Fluttershy’s eyes grew ten sizes as she stepped back, trying to avoid it, but she was too slow. Another second, and great shadows sprung up in a circle around them with the rustle of leaves. The four ponies all stood in a small grove Rainbow Dash vaguely remembered Luna had used before. Fireflies danced in the air.
“Do you show all the ponies this place?” Dash asked, chuckling.
“Is this jealousy I see in your heart, Rainbow Dash?” Luna retorted with a faint smile and a chuckle. “I have told you, I can do much, and this moment, I do not have the luxuries of time and creativity.”
Still her horn glowed. From the light that poured from it, tendrils snaked their way across the air towards the three.
“What in the name of—” was about as much as Rarity managed to say before the magic touched each of their foreheads. Dash’s head felt unpleasantly cold for a moment as she suddenly remembered where they were and what they were doing outside the dream, all the way until she fell asleep leaning against Rarity.
“I—I don’t… Okay, okay, we’re dreaming—” said Fluttershy, her breath quickening.
“This is very, very strange,” Rarity muttered, touching her horn lightly.
“What’s up?” Dash asked as casually as she could.
Princess Luna arched a brow a tiny bit. “I would ask you the same. I have brought you here, however sorry I am for the intrusion, because the last time I heard from you, you were in dire peril. When I felt your presence in my realm, I knew I must attend. Tell me, are you safe?”
The three ponies exchanged glances.
“I… don’t know if we are safe exactly. We’re in an underground lake, and we don’t know where, but I think we’re okay?” Fluttershy hazarded when none of the other spoke up. She held out a foreleg, and one of the little fireflies landed on her hoof’s edge.
“We’re out of the jail, at the very least,” Rarity said, smiling.
“We’re fine,” said Dash. “Hey, thanks. The ‘distraction’ worked.”
Luna sighed softly, her stance shifting a little. Dash realised she’d been tense before. Now she rested equally on all four hooves, her wings shifting on her back.
“Good. That is good. I will tell sister she does not have to fret, though I may omit the exact methods I used to learn this.” The Princess shook her head. “I should do this now, in fact. We are very busy, and I do not have much more time to talk this moment. I suspect we have a great deal to discuss when you return to Equestria.”
“Ah, yes,” said Rarity, one leg raised just above the ground, clearly hesitating.
“We have a bunch of things we need to ask you, really,” said Dash, frowning. “A huge bunch, like, uh—” she paused, trying her best to think. “There’s too much, I don’t even know where to begin! Jeez, just, hang on—”
“Odasthan would love if you came to visit,” said Fluttershy, smiling faintly. She dipped her head to the Princess. “If you don’t mind, that is. They just told us they’d like if we told you. You and Princess Celestia. And, um, they said they spoke for both themselves and Yelgadar, but we didn’t ask her. I don’t know if you remember—”
“Yelgadar is a complete butt,” Dash interjected.
“—if you remember them,” Fluttershy finished, her ears at half tilt.
Princess Luna nodded slowly and smiled back. “I do, of course. We have been neglectful. Travel has not been at the forefront of my sister’s mind during my exile, and I have been back only for a few short years.” Her eyes dropped to the ground. “But I will discuss this with her. Thank you for the reminder.”
“So it’s true?” Dash asked.
Luna arched a brow. “What is?”
Dash waved a foreleg. “The thing where you kicked some great beast’s butt in the Cauldron! Or the Bow, or whatever—the mountains we just visited?”
The Princess nodded slowly. “Details are lost to time, but… in short? Yes.”
Rainbow Dash watched her friends’ faces, but their expressions were blank, just like she imagined her own was. Silence reigned for a long moment.
“When I say that sister and I are busy, I do not say it in jest,” said the Princess, her horn glowing softly again. “And two of you will remember little of this when you wake, so idle talk is not a great way to spend our time. I must leave and tell her. Your business in Perytonia is not yet concluded?”
Rainbow Dash shook her head, as did the others.
“Then, if you do not have the bottle of dragonfire any more, we will speak about getting you home when you are ready,” said Luna.
“How, exactly?” Rarity asked.
Princess Luna smiled. “I imagine I will need to speak to Rainbow Dash again. Good luck to you all. To befriend Perytonia is important to us, and I believe that of all the ponies we could have asked for help, none can do a better job of this than you. I must go.”
The Princess’ horn glowed brighter, and she stepped forward into a fold in the air, disappearing without a sound.
“Or you could do the spell you know that lets us remember stuff when we wake up and talk to us some more,” Dash muttered, staring at the spot where Princess Luna had disappeared, but whatever. If she said she was busy, she probably was busy. Princess busy had to mean something else than regular busy.
While Luna disappeared, Fluttershy and Rarity stayed put. As did the fireflies, the trees surrounding them, and pretty much everything else. Rainbow Dash scratched her head and frowned.
“So, um. I guess this is how your dreams with Princess Luna have been? It seems… nice. She’s nice,” Fluttershy offered, smiling at Dash.
“Not quite as formal as I imagined,” Rarity said, chuckling. “Oh, ah... she can’t hear us now, can she?”
Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Nah. To both. She’s pretty good at not sticking her snout in ponies’ business. I think we talked about it sometime. Something about how it’s her job or whatever, and no,” she added, looking to Fluttershy, “none of the dreams have been the same, really, so this isn’t like any dream. Or, okay, I’ve seen this place before, but this dream is extra freaky, actually, because… you guys are still here. Huh.”
Rarity tilted her head. “Should we not be, dear?”
“Idunno. I’m not used to having other ponies in my dream. Like, ponies who are actually ponies. And a lot of the freaky stuff usually goes away when Princess Luna goes away. It’s really you, huh?” Dash asked. She reached out to touch Rarity’s chest. It felt like Rarity. Now that she remembered everything, though, she realised something was wrong. “Your mane’s long, though.”
Rarity looked straight up at the parts of her mane that she could see, then back at her tail. “Hm, I suppose you’re right. It’s how it’s meant to be, though, so I suppose this is how I see myself in my dreams?”
“Okay?” said Dash, pointing to Fluttershy, who ran a hoof along her own short mane. Fluttershy shrugged and smiled.
“I don’t know, I’m sorry. You’re the one who’s used to having dreams like this. Your wings are blue and your mane is long, you know.”
“Oh. Heh, okay,” said Dash. “But that’s what I’m telling you, I don’t have dreams like this, because everything’s always crazy when Luna comes around.” She laughed. “Whatever. I just have fun when I dream, but you’re saying that you guys don’t know when you’re dreaming?”
“No, darling. This is a decidedly new experience,” said Rarity, slowly turning on the spot and taking in the tiny little grove.
“I don’t mind,” said Fluttershy. She sat down and held out her other foreleg, another firefly taking a spot on the free hoof.
“Yeah. But usually—I don’t know how this is supposed to go, but, uh, I don’t think we’re supposed to be in the same dream, right? Because that’s not normal to me,” said Rainbow Dash. She scratched her snout. “I dunno. I don’t really care, it’s just… weird.”
“I do admit, I feel a little stranded,” Rarity said, hesitation clear in her voice. “When do we wake up?”
“No idea,” Dash said, walking a little closer to her friends, taking a seat next to Fluttershy. The grass was pleasant enough to sit on, as real as anything else right now. Rarity sat down as well, watching Fluttershy play with the fireflies.
“I suppose that means Odasthan told the truth about what happened, even if we don’t have ‘details’,” said Rarity at length.
“Mhm. But we already agreed we believe him,” said Fluttershy. “Princess Luna and Princess Celestia were probably different a long time ago, but ponies change. We know that. Princess Luna used to be Nightmare Moon, after all.”
Rainbow Dash said nothing. Another firefly joined the others on the rim of Fluttershy’s hooves. She smiled.
“You’re right,” Rarity said with a slight nod. “And it doesn’t look like what they did was bad, either, it’s just all a big mess, isn’t it? All this thinking about people and the past. It makes one’s head hurt.”
“I like looking at the ponies in front of me instead of thinking too much about what’s happened before.” Fluttershy shook her hooves gently. The fireflies took to the air. “Maybe that’s why I don’t mind the Aspects so much. It’s a little more about remembering and understanding other people who use the Aspects instead of thinking about things that happened in the past. At least it feels that way.”
Rarity cocked her head and stared at Fluttershy, while Rainbow Dash rubbed her hooves along the grass slowly. She was getting tired again. How did one get tired in a dream? Could she fall asleep in a dream?
“I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong?” Fluttershy asked, her ears suddenly flat against her head as she looked to Rarity.
“Hardly,” said Rarity, frowning. “You’re saying things. Profound things, I suspect, but I’m not sure I am awake enough to appreciate it fully.”
Fluttershy giggled, her laughter interrupted by a yawn. “I’m not, really. I’m just thinking out loud, I promise.”
“You getting tired, too?” Dash asked. “I could go for a nap. Or is that a nap in a nap? A double nap? Whatever.”
“How would that even work?” Rarity said.
“No idea. Let’s find out!” said Rainbow Dash, wrapping one wing about each of her friends and letting herself fall onto her back, pulling Rarity and Fluttershy with her to a squeak and a yelp of protest.
Lying on her back wasn’t very comfortable, but either it was impossible to be truly uncomfortable in the dream, or the grass was very, very soft. Though her friends lay on top of her wings, Dash didn’t feel any discomfort. She meant to wiggle her way free and lay down properly, but she hadn’t noticed before now how rich the starry sky above the grove was.
Stars, nebulae, gas clouds and all other kinds of stuff behind a veil of shifting colours, behind which glimmered shooting stars. Neither Rarity nor Fluttershy moved to get up once they were all on the ground, staring up at the vivid chaos of the dreaming night sky. They lay side by side in silence for a long moment, Dash’s eyes closing of their own accord.
“Sleep tight,” Rarity murmured. She took a deep breath before releasing it ever so slowly. “Here’s hoping we’re safe, and that the rest of this journey is normal.”
“I hope so,” said Fluttershy, and Dash could hear her smile. Soft feathers touched against Dash’s side. “Good night.”
“Night,” said Dash. Maybe they were finally safe. She just didn’t know if she hoped they were safe just yet.
“—loose,” Rarity said.
“We’re lucky we woke up, at least,” Fluttershy’s voice said. “Who tied it?”
“I did. I was sure I’d done a good job,” said Rarity. “I made the most splendid little bowtie you’ve ever seen, but in hindsight, it may not have been a very secure knot. Rainbow Dash! Finally, I’ve been trying to wake you for a while now.”
“Yeah,” said Rainbow Dash to whatever was asked of her. She licked her lips. Her mouth tasted dry. She’d no sooner completed the thought than Fluttershy offered her some water, and a bruised and overripe peach was thrust towards her a second later. Apparently the two ponies had managed to switch places in the narrow boat.
“Breakfast,” said Fluttershy, smiling at her. Dash didn’t protest. She didn’t remember that peaches had stones, either. A bolt of pain shot through her jaw, triggering another numb throb from her still-healing snout. Fluttershy winced in sympathy while Dash very, very carefully finished her peach.
“What’s up?” Dash asked, yawning.
“We’re moving again,” said Fluttershy, and if she hadn’t said it, Dash might have been tempted to think that it was the stalactites—or were they stalagmites?—that were sailing sedately past them. The boat barely left any wake at all, and they were nearly through to the other end of the cave. Dash thought she could see a large opening, another tunnel.
“‘Kay,” said Dash, smiling. When Fluttershy turned around, she reached up to run a hoof along the back of her neck. Fluttershy turned halfway back again, smiling at her before she went back to whatever she was doing. Something with her saddlebags. “Why’s that a bad thing?” Dash asked.
“I don’t think it is,” said Fluttershy. “We have to let the current take us downstream, I’m just glad we woke up first.”
“It seems there’s only one way out of here,” said Rarity from the front of the boat. She had the paddle in the grip of her magic, pushing them gently away from the spiky stones that approached them at a quarter of what Dash would call a slow walk. Rarity pointed ahead to the cave mouth Dash had already seen.
“That means we can’t pick the wrong way again,” said Dash, chuckling. “D’you guys remember anything from last night?”
“Yes?” said Fluttershy, tilting her head.
“Why wouldn’t I?” asked Rarity.
“Yeah? The dream and everything?”
Fluttershy’s smile morphed into a look of confusion, and Rarity shot a strange look over her shoulder.
“I don’t think… wait,” said Fluttershy. “I think I dreamt something nice? I don’t remember exactly, but I woke up feeling really good. Safe and nice. But I’ve had a lot of nice dreams lately.”
“Why?” asked Rarity. “Have you had another one of your dream-seances with—no, wait. I do recall something about Princess Luna. Is that right?” She frowned, pushing them off another one of the rocks. They moved a little faster now.
Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Hay yeah I talked to Luna. So did you guys.”
“We did?” Fluttershy asked, blinking.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand at all,” Rarity said, turning around to face Rainbow Dash. “How is this different? When I wake up, those rare few times I remember my dreams it’s because—”
“Rarity, rock,” said Dash.
Rarity turned back briefly to steer them clear again. “Yes, yes. Now, I remember them because I see something that reminds me, so clearly I dreamt of Luna, now that you mention it.”
“Rock again.”
“Yes, I see it,” said Rarity.
“Um, we’re moving a lot faster,” said Fluttershy.
“Anyway,” said Dash, “you guys didn’t dream of Luna. You dreamt with Luna. And me.”
“A lot faster,” said Fluttershy.
“Oh. Cool. Here we go again,” said Rainbow Dash, making sure she sat down properly.
The last of the rocks piercing from the bottom of the lake floor disappeared behind them, and they floated past the mouth of the tunnel onto a river once more, except this one went from wide to narrow very quickly, and it got narrower still.
“I don’t like this,” said Fluttershy. “I don’t like this at all.”
“Are the magic stone-thingers on?” asked Rainbow Dash. The boat found the center of the river, but it rocked precariously all the same.
And narrower.
“I’m quite sure,” said Rarity, nodding quickly. “If they weren’t we’d already be upturned.”
“Right,” said Rainbow Dash. “Cool.” She ducked her head. “Hey, is the ceiling getting lower? Is that just me?”
“No!” shouted Fluttershy, barely audible over the growing roar of the river, the waters churning.
And narrower still. Soon, Dash could reach out and touch the walls to either side if she wanted.
“Do we stay or do we go?” Dash yelled. “If we’re getting outta here—”
“I don’t know!” Rarity said.
“I need to know right now,” said Dash, flexing her wings quickly. Where was the rope? They’d had rope. Had they lost the rope? “If we’re abandoning ship, tell me now!”
“I see light!” said Fluttershy.
“So, we stay? Rarity! Fluttershy! Do we—”
Flump.
Rainbow Dash ducked. She lay down low against the boat, making herself as small as she possibly could, and ahead of her, both Rarity and Fluttershy did the same, all three of them flat against the craft as the stream of water ceased to be a river, and instead became a torrential spray carrying them towards what looked less like an opening than a pinhole, and Dash really did mean to yell in surprise—Fluttershy handled the “scream in terror” bit—but it was already too late. Flump was the noise of their sudden exit.
Dash barely had the time to register that they were airborne before they weren’t any longer. Her breath was knocked out of her as they made a hard landing, Dash somehow ending up under Fluttershy, the other pegasus’s panic cut short. Between the short tufts of pink tail in Rainbow Dash’s face, something sharp stabbed at her eyes. The sun.
“Ow, ow, ow,” Dash said when she’d finally managed to suck in breath in a huge gasp. “Ow. Ow!”
“Are you hurt, dear? Is anything broken?” Rarity asked, her voice fraught with worry.
“No, but my muzzle is still sore, and Fluttershy’s got her butt on it,” Dash said, her voice muffled. “Again!”
“Sorry! I’m sorry!” Fluttershy said, scrabbling and overdoing her efforts to get off Dash. She fell onto her back on the other side of the boat in a heap. Dash accepted a hoof from Rarity, getting herself a little more upright and laughing at the whole thing.
“Don’t worry about it,” Dash said. She shook her mane out, then her wings, reaching over to help Fluttershy up as well.
“Thank you. Oh. I… I guess we made it,” said Fluttershy.
“Huh? Oh. Yeah,” said Dash. She let go of Fluttershy except to let a hoof rest against her withers. “That’s enough water for me for a bit.” She looked up and around, past her friends for the first time since the fall.
Their boat floated down a widening river, and even as they spoke, they were carried along the final stretch of the stream and into the ocean. The boat slowed down and came to a stop where the freshwater met the salty ocean, spinning in place and moving with the gentle waves.
Far overhead, the sun shone down upon them, telling the time: Late afternoon fell upon the northern coast of Perytonia. The long sand-and-rock beaches stretching out in either direction reminded Dash of the terrain near Vauhorn, but they were clearly not where they had been kidnapped.
Behind them, Rainbow Dash saw where they had come from. The only rocky hills in view were the ones crowding the river back south until it met with a wall. Most of the water flowed from a gap in the rock near the water level, but a hole higher up sprayed a thin stream of water over a short wooden bridge, like somepony with a large needle had poked a dam. Clearly someone had thought it would be a neat touch to build a bridge under the jet of water. On top of the very same bridge stood a peryton wagon-team halted mid-step, staring at the ponies.
Finally, in the distance to the west lay a city. A huge clump of bright stone buildings covered the entirety of a peninsula thrusting out over the ocean, bordered by low cliffs. She could just barely see great ships in the water on the northern face, catching a glimpse of a pier, and whatever lay inland of the city hid from view.
“Right. You mean we made it,” said Dash, getting a belated smile and a nod from Fluttershy.
Rarity fished one of their ohron out of the water, the bag bobbing in the river by the boat. From what Dash could tell, all their other stuff had stayed in the boat. “We’re nearly there already,” the unicorn remarked, her eyes on what had to be Cotronna while she absentmindedly brushed water off the bag. “We could make it to the city within the day.”
“Yeah,” Dash said. She grinned at Fluttershy. “Fine. You were right. Going left worked out okay.”
The hull of their boat scraped against sand and pebbles, grounded on the beach next to the mouth of the river, and Rainbow Dash stood up, wobbling a little as she did.
“Careful,” said Fluttershy, offering a hoof half in support, half to steady herself as she, too, rose.
Rainbow Dash laughed. “Wow, I didn’t realise that I haven’t been standing since… yesterday? We got on this stupid boat yesterday, right? It’s not next week or anything? How can time be this hard?”
“I sure hope it’s just tomorrow. Or today—oh, you know what I mean,” said Fluttershy, looking up at the blazing sun as though it would clear things up. “We could have slept for a whole day, I guess.”
Rarity gave Dash a light nudge, prodding her with a touch of magic. “Go on, you two. Out!”
“Oh. Sorry,” said Fluttershy, hopping over the edge of the boat, landing in the hoof-deep water with a splash. Rainbow Dash stretched her wings out and flew over to land at the shore while Rarity carefully stepped over the rim onto the shallowest part as though she was worried about getting wet. Like they hadn’t been sprayed with water all day long. At least their saddlebags were somewhat waterproof.
“You fly well!” said a voice behind them.
Rainbow Dash turned around and saw two peryton jump down the low bank to the beach, approaching. While half of the wagon-team still stood tethered to the great wagon on the bridge, watching them, a doe and a stag walked towards the ponies with bangles and bracelets gleaming and antler-chains chiming. The doe grinned wide, while the stag looked a little more hesitant.
“Are you hurt? Do you require assistance?” asked the tri-coloured stag when they finally drew near to the ponies.
“And what manner of great cosmic joke is it Kholarys visits upon poor traders, to send boats flying over their heads?” the plain brown doe asked with a caw of laughter. “Tell us first that you are safe and unhurt, but I must admit I am amazed regardless. I have not seen such a sight in all my years!”
“We’re fine, though we appreciate your concern,” said Rarity, but Rainbow Dash wasn’t quite sure it was concern the starry-eyed doe showed. “We’ve… well, it’s quite a long story, honestly.”
“Just read the—uh, no, wait, listen to the stories about it sometime. I guess that’s how you get your news,” Dash said, chuckling to herself. “Whatever. When you hear about some Aspect getting captured by some jerkface people in the mountains, that’s us.”
The doe’s smile faded a touch. She blinked. One of the stag’s ears flicked, and he tilted his head sideways.
“These are strange words, strange promises of strange stories,” said the stag, leaning a little closer. “And you are strange people of strange shapes. I have not seen such as you before. I would trade your names for ours in the sight of Phostos, though in truth, I would like to barter for more.”
Rainbow Dash sighed and smiled all at once, shooting Fluttershy a look. There was something comforting about the familiar manners of the Stagrumites. Rarity beat both of them to the answer.
“We’re ponies. From Equestria. I’m Rarity, and this is Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. While we would be happy to chat for a little while, I would be very thankful if you would answer one question for us first of all.”
“Of course,” said the doe, nodding quickly.
“Is that Cotronna over there?” asked Rarity, pointing along the coast to the gleaming city upon the peninsula. “And I will give you fair warning: If it is not, and we’ve somehow ended up even further away from our destination, I will cry. I will cry, and I will be loud about it. There may be sobbing.”
“It is Cotronna. What else would it be?” asked the doe, frowning slightly. She turned to her companion. “I worry now that perhaps they may be hurt after all, perhaps concussed. Go tell Bolastus we are turning for Cotronna again. I am not leaving these confused little creatures on the road alone.”
“It was very nice of them to offer to escort us, at least,” said Fluttershy, hovering mid-air for a second to wave again at the wagon that receded in the distance, the two groups going their separate ways.
“Certainly,” said Rarity with a noncommittal nod as she trotted on. “Though I still feel vaguely insulted that it took that much effort to convince them we were okay.”
“From their perspective, we came flying out of a hole in a cliff,” said Fluttershy, giggling. “I’m surprised we were able to convince them we were real.”
Rainbow Dash snorted with laughter, though she didn’t say anything. She spread her wings and let the faint breeze cool her off as the ponies jogged along. It wasn’t even that late, but there was a nip to the air. Well, strictly speaking it wasn’t cold in any way, it was just a lot less warm than she expected.
“Oh. Speaking of things that aren’t real,” said Fluttershy, tilting her head a little. “Or of things that are real. I don’t know. Rainbow Dash, you said we talked to Princess Luna. That Rarity and I talked to her tonight. Now that I think about it, I… well, I think I remember something like that, maybe.”
Rarity nodded. “You did say that. We were very much in the middle of a conversation when we were so rudely interrupted by mortal peril again.”
“Yeah,” said Rainbow Dash, perking up. “I don’t remember exactly what you said and what happened, and if you dreamt anything else, I have no idea about that, but I guess I could tell you what happened before we went to sleep if you want.”
“Before we went to bed?” Rarity asked, frowning. “I’m well aware of what I did before I went to bed.”
“No, sleep, in the dream,” said Dash, laughing. “Okay, it got a bit confusing, but listen up.”
While they chatted, the sun sought the horizon behind them, and the terrain flattened out even further. The only blemish on the plains was the tiny strip of rocky hills receding behind the ponies as they followed the road west. They walked a thin line between two seas, the infinite blue that brought in a pleasant breeze from the north, and the green and golden plains no less flat, no less huge.
Before long, they passed two tall wooden poles tipped with blue paint, and as though they were the gates to a different place entirely, they now ran among farms rather than wild grasses. Instead of growing weird vegetables Dash didn’t know, half-grown fields of hay, wheat and other crops lined the inland side. Even the stuff Dash couldn’t name, she knew she’d seen before in Equestria and failed to name only for a lack of interest. Familiar bowl-shaped farm houses dotted fields larger than any of the other peryton farms they had seen.
“Anyway, that’s when we went to sleep,” Rainbow Dash concluded, her eyes still on the side of the road. Rather than two or maybe three houses at most, the peryton farm-homes clustered in groups of six or eight, peryton milling about their yards with tools and small carts as they worked. Few even seemed to notice the ponies’ passing.
“We fell asleep. In the dream,” said Rarity, “watching the sky, while we were really underground.”
“Yeah, I thought it was weird, too, but it was a dream,” said Rainbow Dash. She shrugged and kicked off, flying backwards in front of her friends, taking advantage of the cooling air to rest her hooves a bit. “Of course it doesn’t make perfect sense. Seriously, you don’t remember this at all?”
“I don’t know if I remember it exactly,” said Fluttershy, smiling. “But I feel like it did happen. And liked hearing about it, anyway. I’m glad we—or, um, well, I’m glad I told Princess Luna that Odasthan wanted to talk to her, just like we promised. Good job, me?” She giggled.
“Hay yeah, nice job!” said Dash, laughing. They passed another farm on the left. She’d long since stopped counting. Behind her friends, far to the east, the sun finally touched the horizon. The coast curved slightly to the north, so the sun met with the ocean rather than the land, a drop of yellow ever so slowly melting into the vast blue outside of the coastline.
“We made it before it got dark,” said Fluttershy, gesturing ahead, past Rainbow Dash. “That’s nice, too. It wasn’t half as far as I thought.”
“Uh, yeah,” said Dash, grinning. “It would’ve taken forever if we walked, but we’ve been running all the way.”
“Oh. I guess that’s true,” said Fluttershy, glancing down at her hooves, her short mane bobbing with every step. At some point, probably an hour or more ago, they’d gone from a steady trot to a canter, and Rainbow Dash didn’t want to comment for fear of breaking the spell.
Still they ran. Or flew, in Dash’s case. Rainbow Dash flipped around to face front, taking in the city. Cotronna was all bright stone with domes and parapets topping buildings everywhere in sight. The city spilled onto the coast from its little peninsula, many roads leading out from a low and purely decorative boundary wall that separated city from the expansive farms.
“What was that quote from Wayward Star? ‘A new day, a new challenge, a new village’?” Rarity asked behind Rainbow Dash.
“Oh. I don’t think I’ve read anything of theirs, I’m sorry,” said Fluttershy. “But… I saw you talking to the traders we met earlier this afternoon. You asked something about Cotronna while Rainbow Dash and I checked our saddlebags, didn’t you?”
“I did,” came Rarity’s reply.
“What did they say? If you don’t mind me asking, that is,” said Fluttershy, while Rainbow Dash looked seawards again. She couldn’t see the docks any more, but a few large ships made their way along the coast towards the city’s northern face, on the opposite side.
“Surely you remember how asking any of the peryton about their cities works. Rather, how it does not work,” Rarity replied with a huff. “No ‘great food’, no ‘their nightlife is something to behold’. Not even a ‘they’re nice, just don’t mention the conflict in 912!’. Nothing they said was of any more use than Deimesa’s words back in Vauhorn. ‘They are kin’, they said. ‘Compared to other kin? I suppose they enjoy ceremony and procedure’.”
“I’m sorry,” said Fluttershy, sounding a lot more chipper than Rarity. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”
Rainbow Dash landed in step with Rarity and Fluttershy, packing her wings away. A simple fence separated the two last farms before the boundary wall. She could see shapes moving between the buildings even from here. A small group stood by the border wall, chatting around a heavy cart, while another two-peryton cart made its way out from the city.
“We’ll find a way to communicate with them even if they speak backwards, I’m certain. I’m not worried about that, dear,” Rarity replied, sighing heavily. “There is much to do, that is all. We can finally get back on task with delivering this sigil, now that we are done with this whole business of Morrowsworn. Now that we are safe again.”
There was no more denying that. They were back among peryton who actually wanted them to be here. They were safe. Rainbow Dash flicked her ears in frustration.
“And just because I didn’t offer my thoughts earlier, Rainbow, before I forget,” Rarity added. “Even if I can’t say I remember the dream either, it does sound very pleasant.” She smiled a touch at that, though Dash noticed that Rarity had pulled the group down to a slow walk as they neared the city—or perhaps that was Dash’s doing? Fluttershy walked a few steps ahead, looking back at them a little confused. She waited for Rarity and Rainbow Dash them to catch up.
“Not many ponies can say they have shared a dream,” Fluttershy said, nodding her agreement and smiling.
“Yeah, that’s true,” said Rainbow Dash. She turned her head left, from the city that drank up the fading sunlight to the towering mountains now to their southwest.
The feeling had been building ever since they got onto the road to Cotronna. Ever since she spotted farms and traders—the signs of a peaceful Perytonian town that, if the other cities were anything to go by, could offer no greater threat than a mild headache brought on by confusion.
Rainbow Dash fixed her eyes on one of the peaks, wondering if that could be the spot they had tried to cross. She knew what her personal dream was, at least, and now it came to an end. If they were no longer in any danger, finally out of the chaos of the mountains, they no longer needed to push themselves to their limits simply to get by. Rainbow Dash no longer needed to be the best, and the worst she could possibly be.
If they were safe, Rainbow Dash no longer had any excuses.
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well the perytonians are in trouble I could see the warriors of the bow attacking the two and dieing.
Must... not... make... lewd... joke...
I Feel like this is getting very close to the end of the tale now..
But I hope that we see Phoreni again. This chapter was nice. I liked your intro letter. Its great the Morrowsworn have been been found by Phoreni and her fellow warriors. Makes it sound like we might be having some interesting politics going down soon.
The trek over the mountains (well, failed treks) was a bit lesser on the enjoyment for me than the rest of your story up till then, but it also felt rather Lord of the rings-ish in a few ways.
Whew, an underground river is not something to be trifled with. Luckily the path chosen (left) is not how our trio entered which meant no welcoming committee at the exit. Or at least not the one they would need to worry about.
Look, up in the sky it's a boat?
While reaching Cotronna so quickly is certainly good for the three, it is also bad news. The Morrowsworn likely are aware of this exit, even if they don't normally use it. Our trio may not be beyond their grasp just yet.
The letter from Phoreni helps fill in quite a bit... apparently the ‘spy’ who sold Fluttershy the green paint was indeed captured, as have been the Morrowsworn now as well. It sounds like we can expect them to be brought before Cotronna at some point for judgement, and possibly a gathering of all Peryton representatives? Seems like the mess could help bring Peryton back together after all. I doubt that we’ve heard the last of the Heron however, or the monster-voiced creature that was scheming with them.
A fun escape chapter down a mysterious river... I wonder what is so important in Luna and Celestia’s world right now that she has no time to talk to the ponies beyond confirming that they’re currently safe though...
8653253
It's okay. We're all making the joke silently with you
8654423
Anyone else think it might have to do with the other group?
A fun chapter. Makes sense that the first setting Rarity would find on the boat while flailing around would be the boat's safe mode. That's how I'd design a vehicle.
It was nice seeing some Stagrumite traders once more. Especially when it gives the ponies the opportunity to utterly baffle them.
I've been looking forward to this arc for a while now. I wonder, though, what will become of the Morrowsworn now that they've been thoroughly discovered... And how did the Ephydoerans get into the Cauldron? Did they take the path full of monsters?
At this point, it'd be poignant if Rainbow Dash just apologized to Fluttershy for being a 'bully', so Fluttershy could then reassure Rainbow that she was not, in fact, being a bully.
But then we'd resolve the underlying relationship drama before the story itself climaxed so....
8666093 So, to resolve the issue, they want it to escalate enough that Rainbow calls Fluttershy a bully and Fluttershy calls Rainbow shy?
According to MLP episodes, it clearly is, but with this being realistic.. let's see how it would be here. Interesting. I guess Cortonna is somewhat of a perfect place for arguing, I mean sarcasm 
If they don't yet think there exists a problem between them, and in the future, they do understand *after* the argument becomes serious as hay... Is it supposed to be like that as a rule, ponies understanding and able to fix their problems only that late?
8654423 The monster was none other than.... MAN!!
Well at least we get the letter from Phoreni to tell us roughly what the heck happened after the Ephydoerans showed up. I guess I was wrong about the direction of the river? It's all around quite strange then. How is there a fast underground river flowing both towards the Morrowsworn city and away from it back towards Cotronna? Was the original journey just magically propelled upstream?
Anyway, it's good to see everyone in good spirits after their ordeal, but with that final ominous line, I do seem to have been right about the problem not being resolved. Just pushed back due to excess adventure.
Hey now, they canonically do not know how to pay I Spy correctly! :|
They end up on Cotronna's doorstep? Come on. For all that story is really long, I was honestly kind of looking forward to seeing them go back through a few of the previous cities again, wiser and so forth.
I will say I'm impressed at the sheer amount of muzzle-to-butt action that occurs in this story, without the merest hint of sex.
This has to be the most Rarity quote I've ever read.
....dammit Rainbow, are you kidding me.
$100 says all three of them explode in the coming chapters. Being on the run pulled them back to normal, but now that they're safe, they're gonna go right back into their own heads and screw everything up.