My breath left me. There were clouds everywhere. I blazed my way through fields of mist, relishing the wind in my mane. My limbs were petite. My muscles were still developing, and yet I could outfly cannonballs. I just knew I could. My gasps turned to laughter and my laughter turned to screams. I spun loops and corkscrews and barrel rolls.
As I dove through the clouds to increase my velocity, I heard a series of cruel laughter down below. I pivoted about and squinted through the wispy white streams. There, seated on a stretch of alabaster mist, were three pegasus foals. Two colts were leering at a dainty filly with the prettiest pink mane I had ever seen. My heart was leaping out of my chest. She was so sweet, so innocent, and just what were those jerks doing to her?! Why, I oughta...
In a blazing streak, I plummeted. The colts stopped laughing just long enough to lift their heads and look in every direction for the source of the thunder. I was about to bring it to them. With a clap of noise, my hooves touched the cloudtop. I leaned forward, sneering as I formed a living wedge between the bullies and the quietly shivering filly.
"Leave her alone!" I shouted. A lucid, adult part of me couldn't help but realize how adorable the desperate attempt at ferocity shouted, but her heart was beating and was becoming my heart and was filling me with her rage and I glared at the two.
"Ooooh!" the older cooed and sneered at me. "What are you gonna do, 'Rainbow Crash?'"
"Keep making fun of her and find out!" I exclaimed, my voice cracking. I backtrotted to stand closer to the dainty filly.
"You think you're such a big shot?" the larger colt asked, glaring my way. "Why don't you prove it?"
Without thinking, I gave a devilish smirk and said, "What do you have in mind?"
The two started beating their wings as they spat, "You, us, the cyclone race course! This afternoon! You beat one of us in a race, and just maybe we'll give a flying feather about what you have to say about anypony!"
"I've got an even better idea!" I exclaimed. "I'll race both of you blockheads! And when I win, you leave her alone forever!"
"Hah! As if!"
"What's the matter? You both chicken?! BOK! Bok bok bok bok BA-KOK!"
"Fine! We'll do it!" One colt growled as they flew away.
The other hissed over his flapping wings. "We're gonna make you eat those words, 'Rainbow Crash!'" And the two laughed as they soared off into the blue horizon.
There was a tiny squeak from the yellow filly at my side. I turned and squinted at her.
"What's wrong with you?! Letting bullies treat you like that? We're Cloudsdalians! Don't you have warrior's blood?"
She blushed and looked away from me. The edges of her turquoise eyes were starting to moisten.
I bit my lip. I didn't know why, but my heart was beating faster than when I was flying loops around the clouds. "Hey, look. Chillax. Not everypony can be as fast and awesome as me. Those two guys were jerks and they shouldn't have said those things to you."
She fiddled with her hooves, gazing halfway at me from beneath a dangling lock of silken pink hair. Daintily, she nodded. I think I saw a curve to her soft lips.
"They're gonna rue the day they ever messed with you." I winked and leaned in to nuzzle her. My heart was beating even faster. Why did I care so much for this weakling? "Stick with me, girl. I'll keep you safe. I promise."
"Mmmm..." She squirms and murmurs. Her voice is like a cluster of tiny bells. "Okay..."
"What's your name, girl?"
"Fluttershy," she squeaks forth.
"Well, Fluttershy, prepare to become famous!" I winked and slapped her on the shoulder. "Ha! I'm gonna honor this upcoming race after you! I'll even let you wave the checkered flag."
"Uh... if you want me to..."
I smiled at her. The skies were a dangerous place. Fluttershy looked like she could shatter at any second, and somehow I knew that would be a bad thing. I didn't understand why she was so alone. I hated being alone. I wanted to hold her, to carry her, to... to... to marry her? I—
"You're heart is beating heavily again, Bellesmith. Is everything alright?"
"I'm quite fine, Dalton. There's nothing to be alarmed with in this sphere."
"Are you certain?"
"Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I think I've learned some things."
"Do tell."
"The subject is from a place called Cloudsdale. However, it's different from the last sphere. This is a city built in the sky, populated by pegasi. I think this might be where she was born."
"Remarkable..."
"Also, I think she may be named 'Rainbow Crash.'"
"That doesn't exactly sound flattering, now does it?"
"I'm about—I mean... she's about to engage in a race. Maybe I can find out more..."
"We're receiving another branching stretch of energy. Another sphere is junctioning with yours. I believe there may be a common theme that you're exploring, something that can bring us closer to the present."
"You mean closer to the subject's termination?"
"Brace yourself, Belle, darling. There's another jump coming."
"Understood, Dalton. I'm good and ready."
"T-Minus three... two... one..."
Termination, but not death
In the 1/4 of these two updates that was not jus taken from the show its self we get to learn a little bit more about the sequencing and the process. Notably, how hard Dalton is trying to keep Belle lucid throughout.
Okay, I'm sensing a bit of Assassin's Creed here. Belle is going through the bleeding effect: she's slowly losing the ability to distinguish between herself and Rainbow the longer she stays in her memories.
1469524 let's see we got Death water
minotours
That robot guy who I can't remember the name of
Quarry eels
EEYUP definitely references there
1474074
Or maybe she meant closer to when they would have no more use for the subject and... terminate her.
Also,
What did I say? Slavery!
1474197
Hey now, you tossed foals into a giant pit. That's no better.
Well, I wish I knew how this was all going to help save the world. Knowing Dash's memories is great, but she is still dead. I can't see how IC plans to sidestep death, but I'm sure he will find a way.
1474197
Yep, but is this the same slave nation that was referenced in Part 1 by axan. Or, is this just a really grim and dark 1984-ish future that all of ponydom has fallen into.
I have to side with the second, cuz this just isn't the slave nation I imagined when I first heard about its existance.
They don't even know whose memories they are sequencing? Oh boy. I get the feeling that the higher-ups are keeping secrets. Belle and Dalton are gonna figure out what Dash was after and then things are going to get very interesting. Rebellion...?
1474407
It was for the sake of Industry!
1474452
Tis a lie! You had fun doing it!
1474459
Oh yeah? Maybe I did.
But... uh... at least my city never got destroyed by dragons!
1474463
At least my city has emotion!
1474197
I had a long, long, LONG diatribe on how a terse but curt sentence could have several interpretations, but decided against posting it. "Terminate" is used with such finality and yet remains endlessly vague, in this instance, because the reader lacks the context Belle has on her mission and harbors a deep hope for all to end well.
1474471
Touché
1474471
Well... um... you're just a... STU IS DEAD!
1474471
Sorry, had some weird double-post going on for a second there.
1474485
Well, a-at least I don't go haywire when I lose a gas mask!
1474511
Well at least I have a gas mask.
1474521
Only because your city smells like butt.
1474537
Yeah, it does...
1474537
I don't even know why. I mean, where is that smell coming from?!
1474560
Could be that pit of dead foals at the bottom of the obelisk. You are directly responsible for the need of your own gas mask.
4.bp.blogspot.com/-D9eeEzAduEk/UBnGiLBW2WI/AAAAAAAAFX4/NfE-ReDG1yg/s1600/CheckmateD.jpg
Check and Mate
Wow! Dash's Scootaloo impression was flawless! Really, though, I'm still holding out hope that Dash is alive, in some form or other. And living through Belle doesn't count. I refuse to believe she's actually dead. Termination could mean something else, right? *glances about hopefully* Right? Although I admit I like the flashbacking of memories - I'm guessing we'll get the full back story on what happened with Discord, and maybe possibly hints at past Appledash? Perhaps? Well, you're keeping me interested in any case. Now back to my stupid essay
1473843
D'aww. I have to say, I'd rather read more of RD's story. But we will see what happens in this one!
*reading specs on*
Okay then, having caught up, this interests me. I want RD to be alive though . Termination does sound awfully final, even if it doesn't actually say 'death'. I wonder what these ponies are trying to achieve though...
Hm.. I'm going to take a wild stab at it (and likely be 100% wrong, but here goes), that Belle takes on her mission east when she gets to the memories, OR somehow using magic and her memories and stuff becomes RD, thus making her no longer dead and she continues again. Either way, I watch and read with bated breath, sir.
1474567 Heh...
Argument between story-referenced commenters is amusing...
Remember..... Being possessed by chaos means that death is not a mandatory thing and could be temporary. I'm waiting for Dash to start talking to the visitor in her head. Dash may currently believe that her life is flashing b4 her "eyes". Bet she's in some kind of stasis pod.
So I had a thought.
Rainbow Dash = Element of Loyalty = Not Bound by Physical Body.
Bellesmith = Really Bloody Loyal to her Beloved and to the Spark.
Result: Element of Loyalty, being the sole remaining element and in need of a bearer now that it's previous "shell" has been kablooied, transfers to nearest super-loyal being via timey-wimey wibbley-wobbley.
Result: Bellesmith is Unrecognized Bearer of Element of Loyalty
Result: Rainbow Dash's consciousness has been transferred into the amorphous netherspace of the Element's existance.
Result: Bellesmith's "subject" is really the Element of Loyalty which is really Rainbow Dash
Result: Bellesmith will gain the ability to harness Element of Loyalty
Result: Badass Shit goes down.
Subject: Bellesmith
Suffix Title Obtained: One with the Rainbow
-Minty
(So it begins again. Look forward to a new title post on my user page. More info coming soon.)
I swear something seems a bit odd about the way Dalton and Bellesmith interact with each other. I am curious to find out more, much more.
1474074
I'm so depressed...
SO DEPRESSED!
To just have Rainbow Dash die like that... oh god.
Blargle-argle-argle-argle-argle!
My volume of sads cannot be quantified with regular words.
gameinformer.com/cfs-filesystemfile.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Components-PostAttachments/00-01-20-88-66/crying_5F00_scootaloo_5F00_by_5F00_creshosk_2D00_d486rn7.gif_2D00_500x400.png
OH OH OH
Guys, remember back when Belle first jumped in on her second run? And how she briefly thought she had eight legs?
There's a horse that has eight legs. It's name is Sleipnir, and he (for Sleipnir was a stallion) is the fastest and strongest and most intelligent of all horses. Sleipnir once went to Hel (in Norse Mythology) as part of an expedition to beg for the life of the Norse god "Baldr". Baldr's death is a harbinger of Ragnarok, the end of the world, and his name can be interpreted as "the brave god".
Compare Baldr to Rainbow. If Rainbow dies, the Elements are never reforged and the world descends into chaos. Axan says the world is already going to end anyway, but Rainbow's quest may well keep the Great Machine going. She's also ridiculously brave.
Continuing the parallel, the application of Eight Legs to Bellesmith as she first enters the Ponimus (as I shall now call the device which hooks up to her horn) indicates a comparison to the horse known as Sleipnir. Additionally, she has been shown already to have unusual resilience to the wear and tear of the Ponimus on her mind and soul. She is also visiting the memories of a dead immortal being (that is to say: Rainbow Dash is probably dead but she's also the Element of Loyalty which is everlasting even when unforged). If we assume the Sleipnir comparison is at least slightly deliberate, it can be postulated that SOMEHOW, Bellesmith is going to resurrect Rainbow Dash in either a literal or figurative sense.
I....why?..How?...RD?...BADASS MUSIC TO HEAL MY SOUL!!!!!!!! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=8NsxIAeRxk8&vq=medium#t=31]
......Rainbow's going to become god and kill all evil......or she is going to become a winged-unicorn (not an alicorn goddess like the sisters or whitemane) and save evrything.....or she's dead and everybody and everypony is screwed.
Well of course Rainbow is terminated, you don't just survive being beaten to a pulp by an overgrown dragon.
But in all seriousness, it looks like they're going through memories of all of Rainbow's friends. The eye colors in the chapter titles match the eye colors of the characters we're going through. This means we have , , and left to go. And knowing the author's love of DashingApples, AJ's flashback will be both last and lasting for Belle.
1476546
Oh shitting dick nipple christ you magnificent bastard.
This is truly remarkable.
1476546
Damn, you sure do know your Norse mythology XD. I thought it was more that Belle's conscious mind was inbetween her body and the subjects, and thus she felt them both at once. She was in both bodies, just for a brief moment, and thus felt like she had eight legs. Having seen some of the stuff IC has pulled out of his hat in the past, both are plausible .
1476226
I know what you mean there. The affection between the two has exceeded the amount which Belle has showed towards her Beloved - when she has spoken of him. Maybe there is something to it?
That terminate line. It could be taken a few ways, with so many different outcomes, but only time will tell
I just realized there isn't a Rainbow Dash tag for this story
1474106
Robo guy is steelteeth
1478679 yea thanks
robocop or Robocolt sounds way better tho
Ooooh someone should do that crossover RoboColt
1477081
But RD wasn't beaten to a pulp! She was thrown against the wall three times, stabbed in one leg, dislocated another leg, and she was given a compound fracture of the wing. She was still conscious when Axan uttered the story title, and then was placed gently on the floor. By Axan. Who desired nothing more than to incinerate RD, up until she saw RD's pendant.
(If Axan was moved to gentleness by the pendant, then she probably did stuff to ensure RD didn't die. She stormed off, but why? For all we know, she came back a few minutes later with a first aid kit. Even if she hadn't, RD may not have been quite on Death's doorstep yet.)
And then RD passed out. Whether that resulted in her demise or not is completely unknown. Sure, she saw her friends receding into the distance of her vision, but she'd been having flashbacks of them all along in times of stress, so that's no indicator of anything, except that she really misses them. "The breath left her." doesn't indicate her last breath, it indicates something like a gasp at the vision of her friends. She had fractured ribs, seeing as it hurt to sob, but no punctured lung, as she wasn't coughing up blood.
If nothing was done for her, she maybe would die from blood loss, but a simple tourniquet would prevent that, and we don't know if she actually had arterial bleeding.
So it all comes down to opinion. nothing was given there that would necessarily be fatal. and I'm clinging to hope
Hey, what if all Dash's dizzy spells were the result of Belle junctioning with her spheres?
Wait, no, I'm pretty sure they don't match up. Darn.
I think there's a typo here:
Well, the theme is almost certainly Rainbow's first meeting with each of the Mane 6. Applejack being last and most significant. Onward!
1474074
'Terminated' in that context tends to mean death.
EXTERMINATE
Dalek.jpg
Terminate? Something tells me that doesn't mean what we think it means.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
So we get more of Dash's memories in this chapter. It seems that the next sphere will bring us closer to Dash's "termination"...but I'm not sure if that means her death or not. Although I don't think it would be plot convenient, as well as smart, to just kill of Dash this early in the story. But I think I know what might go down later on...Perhaps, after seeing all of Dash's memories, Belle will start to care for her. Maybe she'll discover in one of Dash's spheres that something bad has happened to her, and she will embark on an epic journey to save her. Perhaps this entire fanfic will conclude in Belle saving Dash, since it's pretty obvious that they're going to have some kind of encounter at some point. Also, I'd just like to note that the style in which this is written so far is excellent. It seems to have a bit of a lighter atmosphere than Austraeoh, though. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
When the Terminator says "terminated" you better believe it.
And Discord, what are you doing? Those "red" eyes might just be RD's ruby eyes.
(P.S.: I can't wait to catch up so I can participate in these discussions.)
what if both ponies were to become one? and dash is resurrected on the other side closer to the midnight armory so she can finish her quest. i noticed how everyone said the other side was a bad place, but chaos takes many forms, far be it from the queen of emeraldine to know what was going on on the other side of the plane when she was barely old enough to remember luna being sent away. i think i can see where this is going.