Bright Night
"No!" Belle shrieked, sitting up in a cold sweat. She stared forward with shrunken chestnut irises, panting.
She was answered with starlight and foggy haze. Mountains and hillsides shone in a silver sheen as far as she could see.
Her hyperventilations cascaded, and she brought a pair of shivering hooves to her face. Before she could sob, a voice murmured from beside her.
"Mmmm... b-beloved...?"
Bellesmith took a deep breath. A tear rolled down her face, but she smiled gratefully as she lowered back down to the soft mound of leaves where a stirring zebra lay. "It's okay, Pilate. I'm... uhm... I-I'm just fine..."
Pilate nevertheless tilted his head towards her. "Was it a bad dream?" he whispered.
She curled her limbs to her chest, biting her lip. "It wasn't my bad dream," she breathily murmured.
"Still having visions?"
She nodded, sniffling. "Mmmhmmm..."
"It's okay, Belle. Here..." He crawled over and stretched his limbs around her.
She swiveled around to face him, easily surrendering to his warm embrace. She let forth a few tiny cries, hiding her muzzle in his striped chest as he stroked her mane.
"They'll go away," he said, nuzzling the top of her forehead in between gentle kisses. "Sooner than later..."
"B-but what if they don't, Pilate?" she murmured. "What if... what if Austraeoh and I are linked forever?"
"You have her memories," he said. "Nothing more. Otherwise, why would Whitemane have given you the message that she did?"
"But what if there's something she wasn't telling us?"
"I'm sure alicorns are a bit-per-dozen with their cryptic nature, but from what you described to me, Whitemane is the last goddess who would want you to be burdened with worry for the rest of your life."
Belle sighed, staring past his striped shoulder at the twinkling starlight above. "She has such vivid memories, Pilate." Belle swallowed hard, trembling. "And such intense fears..."
"Yes, well..." Pilate hugged her tighter. "She hides them well."
Belle's breath shook. "I wish I c-could, Pilate..."
He smiled blindly in the starlight. "You're stronger than you give yourself credit. I think—perhaps—Eljunbyro is a good thing to have happened to us."
For once, Belle managed a dry chuckle.
"What?" Pilate's brow furrowed around his plate. "I mean it!"
"I know, Pilate. I know. Just..." She shrugged within his grasp. "How can becoming fugitives to the state and having hiked across the Ledomaritan wilderness for three days be called a good thing?"
"Has it been three days already?"
"Yes, Pilate. And that doesn't answer my question."
"Well, thanks to Rainbow Dash, we haven't been gobbled up by any manticores. I think that's a good thing."
She snickered lightly. "That's hardly convincing."
"Very well then." Pilate took a deep breath, pondered, and eventually said, "For the last two years, we had been living in indentured servitude to a cold government that separated us, threatened us, and sent some of our closest friends to their deaths. For days on end, I would trot around the neighborhood, waiting for the day when the Blue Shelf facility decided that they were done sending electrical sparks into your head for one reason or another. And now that Rainbow Dash has zig-zagged her way into our lives—"
"We're cold, hungry, uncomfortable, on the run—"
"Yes, and...?"
Belle sighed, smiling painfully as she nuzzled his neck. "But we're together..."
His lips curved. "Exactly."
"I just... I just wish I knew where she was taking us..."
"East, I presumed."
"I know, but where?" Belle gulped. "What's there for us past Xona? What continents are out there? What's between here and the legendary Grand Choke?"
"I suspect Rainbow Dash doesn't know anymore than we do."
"What keeps her going, then?" Belle murmured, glancing over to see a petite blue figure lying still in the starlight. "I mean, this is the sort of life she's been living for months, Pilate. It seems like... such punishment..."
"You're the one with her memories," Pilate said. "I think you'd be more equipped to answer that question."
Belle exhaled slowly, her eyes squinting through the fog. "Adventure... discovery... opportunity..."
The zebra's lips curved. "I'm rather intrigued at such possibilities."
She glared at him. "You're enjoying yourself, aren't you?"
"Is that a crime?"
"No, but it's still robbery." She stirred, frowning. "What I wouldn't give to sleep in an inn or a hotel for once."
"You know that's not exactly a luxury we can afford right now," Pilate murmured. "Not that we've even stumbled upon any towns."
"I know... I know..."
"For me, it brings back memories."
"You're joking, right?"
"Not at all. When I first attended West Ledomaritan University, I spent half the semester in a hostel—"
Belle had to clamp her hooves over her muzzle to keep from waking the nearby pegasus with explosive giggles.
If Pilate could see, he would have been blinking by now. "What?"
Belle composed herself in time to say, "I cannot believe that you're comparing sleeping on a bunch of leaves on the top of a cold mountain to spending nights in those stables."
"Hey, it was a rough stable!"
Belle continued to giggle.
He frowned. "I mean it! It was bumpy, rough, and cold..."
She nuzzled him with a wicked glint to her eyes. "You just mean that you didn't have me to share the straw with."
"Even worse." Pilate shrugged. "No pillows."
She poked his shoulder with her stubby horn.
"Owwww... oh come on..."
"Make a joke like that again and I'll poke you lower."
"Heaven forbid!" he gasped. "You might—I dunno—blind me or something."
"Heeheehee..." She leaned against him, exhaling. "It's a shame, Pilate. There are sights here that Blue Shelf never had."
"Uh huh..."
"I mean, well, we could never see much of the night with our curfew and all, but the way the moon shines off these mountains..."
"I'll take your word for it," Pilate muttered.
Belle's face was pale. She sat up with a jolt.
Pilate tilted his head her way. "Now what?"
"The moon shines..."
"Yes, I imagine it does—"
"No! You don't get it!" Belle hopped up to her hooves.
"Gah!" Pilate stirred under the spray of leaves. "B-beloved?"
Belle galloped to the crest of the mountaintop and stared up at the night's sky, panting. Her eyes reflected a pale glint form directly above.
"Don't tell me this is another dream screwing with your head!"
"This time..." Belle's lips curved. "It's a good one." She spun about and dashed to the blue figure. "Rainbow Dash! Psssst! Rainbow Dash!"
"Mmmm..." The pegasus' wings twitched as she curled up into a tighter, sapphire ball. "Of c-course you can have my autograph... j-just sign on the beret—zzzzzzzz..."
"Come on!" Belle shook her heavily. "Wake up—"
"Mmmphhh... huh...?" Rainbow's ruby eyes squinted open. She immediately winced and covered her face. "Unnnngh... Ding Dong? Why the hay would you want an autograph?"
"Hurry! You gotta see this!"
"I already left my signature all over your brain noodle..."
"It's the first full moon of the month!"
"Then tell your zebra honeymooner to take craps behind a bush next time..."
"Rainbow...!"
After a few seconds, Rainbow's eyes flew open. She parted her forelimbs and glanced down at her pendant. The ruby lightning bolt was glowing with a magical aura. She jerked her eyes towards Belle.
Belle was smiling wide.
With a flurry of blue wings, Rainbow Dash hovered straight up. "Well, why didn't you friggin' say so?! I gotta get to a high place—" She proceeded to fly straight into a tree. "Oww! Darn it! My wing's asleep!"
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Princess Luna is gonna tear dash a new one.
Well Rainbow was having a nice dream, at least. The contrast in this chapter compared to the previous one is stark and disconcerting; it seems Belle is taking a burden off Dash by having her nightmares for her, in a sense anyway. Really loving how the banter distracts from the harsh reality. It's a little strange to go from somber in one chapter to laugh-out-loud hilarious in the next (I did, indeed, laugh like an idiot), and it really helps frame the entire duality of the story.
Bring on Luna and her royal worrisome wrath!
Luna gon be mayud.
Well, this call will certainly be interesting.
I guess we're going to find out how long she's been out. I wonder what's happened around the chaos rift. I doubt things have been just hunky-dory since she was 'killed' by Axan.
I wonder if Luna knows of Eljunbyro. She seems to have been woefully uninformed about everything else so far, so I wouldn't be surprised if she's completely unprepared to learn that Dash has a traveling party now. Not to mention the dragons' cryptic discussion from a few chapters ago... Looks like we're finally back on track, but where are we going?
1877854
You did good too in this chapter.
*hugs*
Have you hugged an editor todday?
For some reason htese past few chapters have reminded me of this song:
Rainbow Dash, why are you so silly when you aren't beating the bad guys to a pulp and saving the world?
From exciting adventure starting, to nightmarish blood-drowning horror visions, to cheerful banter. Talk about mood whiplash.
Luna's going to be soo relieved... if shit hasn't hit the fan there
"We traveled east. Always...into the east." -Marius
Wake up, wing, you gotta see this!
1878343
Been thinking of that line ever since the beginning of Austraeoh =P
I wonder if Rainbows pendant has a voice mail feature. It's probably completely full by now.
Rainbow dash gon die.
Ah, so it was Belle who was having the nightmare. Poor Belle, then. Hopefully Whitemane didn't permanently saddle her with Dash's innermost fears. Tormented by a past that isn't even your own? And so vividly? Blergh. Oh, and Rainbow is such a goofball, when she isn't being angsty. Can't wait for her and Luna to reunite - there's gonna be a crap-ton of explaining to do, hopefully accompanied by more relief than anger. Until the next chapter!
I caught up again. Only 17 chapters this time, so not too bad
I don't think Luna will be unhappy. They all knew the risk of going against the dragon matriarch. Besides, if Whitemane is so clued in to what is going on, I can't imagine a fully fledged Alicorn like Luna to be out of the loop.
I think Luna is actually going to be relieved that RBD is alive, instead of... y`know... being dead. This comment is stupid.
I just noticed that we're back to pairs of chapters again! How awesome.
Subject: Chapter 107
Alternate Title Obtained: "Phone call!"
-Minty
Knew it. And Luna and co will finally tell us how long its been.
Luna!
She's either gonna be livid, relieved or euphoric.
Take your pick!
Onwards!
"I already left my signature all over your brain noodle"
That's a funny phrase, yes, but it might be more. It looks like Rainbow Dash might have been aware of the sequencing in some way! Very interesting!
can luna mess with the ledomatartian power grids?
I'm not always the biggest fan of Pilate and Bellesmith's banter, but in this chapter they were written perfectly. Bravo.
Looking forward to Rainbow Dash continuing her journey east.
It's weird to think of how much the story so far has reminded me of The Dark Tower. Austraeoh felt like The Gunslinger, a minimalist adventure story about a hero fleeing a great personal loss journeying through the wilderness alone in search of a mythical building. Eljunbyro feels like the Drawing Of The Three: after getting greviously injured, the hero must rely on others on to restore her to health, and begins to amass a group of followers.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Oh...so it was Belle's dream...I was wrong...<sniff.>
But it's interesting to know that Austraeoh and Eljunbyro are still linked. Assuming that Whitemane was the one who caused the link in the first place, she must have a reason for keeping the mental connection intact even though Dash had been awoken. But that reason has yet to make itself known. Also, the playful banter between Belle and Pilate in this chapter was really well written. It delved into a bit of character development and dynamic change, which, unfortunately, I don't think I've seen Imploding do much of until now. Oh yeah, and Luna is next. She's going to murder Dash...These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
I now want a 'Rainbow Dash' signed beret.
1877864
Nah, lunas going to be freaking happy to see her alive.
"Hi princess. sorry I didn't contact you. Been dead for a bit
"
I can't wait to read next chapter. Also, no one else has commented on this chapter in 11 months
Wait. What?
That was Belle's dream?
Thou backside shalt not be whole and ungobbled when we art done with thee, Rainbow Dash.
Man, this chapter is golden. Filled with great banter and sweet Dash comedy. Berets are sooo in this year.
You make fun of it, but wing cramps and numb wings are a serious issue to pegasi
"Now remember fillies and colts: make sure you're awake before taking flight. We all saw what happened to 'rainbow crash' last week."
Welp, that answers the question about whether or not the sequencing link is broken.
Oooo, and good point Belle about the moon being up, we're long overdue for a chat with Luna.
Rainbow Dash, such gracefulness.
I didn't expect Belle to be the one having that nightmare. Geez, that's a twist.
...Admittedly a minor one, but still.
Also, Belle and Pilate will never stop being adorable. Their dialogue is hand-crafted from the finest banterclouds of the Faraway Kingdom of Wit, and I love it so much.
It's interesting seeing Belle have nightmares about Dash's friends. I wonder what else might come of the memories that Belle knows about? It should be cool. And dang, their progress is really gonna be slow now that Dash has to wait for
mudearth ponies. I guess that's why this epic is gonna take another million books, heh.~SolidFire
Heh...shock valu indeed
I find it cute that Belle was the one to remind RD of her appointment.
She is very Gorton tell that Belle understood the menaing of a full moon and was able to wake that brick of a sleeper up
7305854
You're supposed to fly east, Dash! East!
Not into a tree!
6497621
Pssst...you forgot the mini script!
How dare she roast Pilate like a zebra taking craps?!
*Does it anyway*
Oh whatever...
Luna mail time
08/27/2019
22:48 UTC
I can imagine how awkward that must’ve been, telling that to a blind zebra.
Well that can't be good, if Belle is still having dreams /as/ Dash.
Yes, full moon! Give me that Moonbutt Princess back!