Night Falls
Belle sat in a corner of the kitchen, hugging her limbs to herself. She shivered in the settling darkness around the cottage, her moist eyes struggling to stay open. Everytime she allowed her lids to lower, she'd see a flash of colors and patterns that she didn't understand, and several of them drenched in ashes.
Her lungs heaved and she squeaked in pain. She ran her hooves over the stubby horn on her crown, as if expecting the very tip to be glowing hot. It wasn't.
Belle's breaths were just starting to calm to a normal pace just as a heavy set of hooves shuffled towards the front gait, took a ninety-degree turn, and galloped evenly to the door of the cabin.
"Belle?! Beloved?!"
The door yawned open, and Pilate poked his head in. He glanced every which way, gasping for breath. His ears flicked for a sign, any sign.
"Belle? Talk to me!" He gulped dryly and tilted his mouth down to the sphere at the end of his choker. "O.A.S.I.S...."
"I'm here, Pilate," she murmured. "No need to b-bring out the mana sphere..."
"There you are!" He scampered over to her, feeling around. As soon as his hooves made contact with hers, he flew down and scooped her into a trembling hug. "You had me so worried!" he exclaimed, muffled into her shoulder. "You know how much I hate it when you just run off like that!"
"I know, darling. I know and I'm sorry." She sniffled and nuzzled him back. "I... I-I don't know what got into me. I..."
"Was it something you saw?" Pilate asked. "Something that Baxter handed you? It was the fruit, wasn't it?"
Belle was silent.
"I sniffed it. It was an ordinary apple. You've never had a problem with fruit before. What made you panic so much?"
"It's not panic, Pilate. It's..." She bit her lip and quivered. Her voice came out like a wilting foal's, "I just don't know. I don't..."
He gazed past her, breathing steadily. As her body began to shake more, he nevertheless smiled and held her tightly, allowing her to surrender into his embrace. "I'm not mad at you, beloved. I'm simply confused. Everything seemed just fine until that moment. Is there anything that I can do? Anything I can help you with?"
She sniffled and sobbed into his striped limbs. "You're doing it, Pilate. Bless you; you're doing it..."
"Shhh," he urged, and rocked the two of them together softly as night fully fell, and the magically-induced chime announcing curfew blared with finality across the heights of Blue Shelf.
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So this makes Blue Shelf a province and Ledomare a country, yes? We're also getting back to some very interesting (and telegraphed) identity crisis. Careful not to look past all the information dropped in the last chapter, though. We've learned a lot about the sequencing process and potential future conflicts through cheery slice of life banter.
APPLE ANXIETY ATTACK
I'll be honest, when I saw a sequel to Austraeoh pop up, 1984 meets manapunk was not what I was expecting. But dammit, it totally works.
Looks like the effects of the sequencing are persisting long after the process itself stops. Is it the result of her success or due to the nature of their subject? It might just be me conveniently misremembering, but the sequencing itself seems to have been more chaotic lately. Looks like RD isn't done breaking expensive things
Is it just me, or is it a bit strange that ALL of these couples call each other "beloved" almost constantly? It actually gave me a jolt when Belle called him "Pilate" instead of "beloved". And, according to the last chapter, one pony (well, let's say person) in each couple gets sent off to work while their "beloved" stays home... as collateral?
1506514
The over-use of "beloved" implies strong bonds and plays into the omnipresent theme of "pairs" that we've seen throughout this "second" story. The institution is using this facet of the culture to control and manipulate its citizens and exploit their greatest fears as discussed with regards to 1984 and general tyranny. Furthermore, this early groundwork, in regards to beloveds, looks like it will come back as a later plot device meant to drive conflict both internal and external. What drove Dash was "awesomeness" but what really drove Dash, as was revealed last story, was Applejack, her beloved (or at least the object of her desire). Now we have a whole society driven in large part by pairings, and a protagonist with a solid grasp on that who is suddenly thrust into a situation where she must not only deal with the identity crisis of someone else's memories, but the turmoil of having two beloveds.
1506695
The symbolism shown here is incredible, but so is your concise analysis of it. Reading Austraeoh wouldn't have been the same without your (you, Minty, Csquared, etc.) constant commentary.
And thank goodness for the quick update speed... I can't wait!
1506800
Here, take 1504070 theories! 1506039
This is the important line. Felicity's dialogue implies that she was part of the same experiment Belle is, her insight here is that you need a broken horn to tap into the right stuff. How did Belle's horn break? I'm still inclined to think that it was Ledo/Shelf's (Side note: Blue Shelf..Black Mesa..?) doing since Felicity knew the answer and it doesn't quite sit well that Belle's horn just happened to have been broken. Whether Belle knows her horn was broken for this purpose is up for debate.
1506739
Thank you for your kind words, and I agree that Pilate makes this so much more fun.
-Minty
1506981
I'm glad you're giving titles to the characters in Eljunbyro! Keep up the good work, all of you! I'll be in the corner, cheering.
1507007
Subject: Persianjuliet
Suffix Title Obtained: The Cheerleader
-Minty
1507086
Yayyyy I get a title!
"Go! Go! Eljunbyro! What your title means, we don't know!
Hey, Mintelle! Hey, Mintelle! Your Vinyl pic is super swell!
Yo, Pilate! Yo, Pilate! Intellectually, you're a hottie!"
...I'll stop now.
Aww, Pilate you're such a nice guy.
Also, I was under the impression that Blue Shelf was a facility, albeit an extensive one.
And yes, I think it's pretty much confirmed that Ledomare is the country.
1506514
I was wondering the same thing...
1506695
That's...a REALLY good interpretation of it...
1506695
I wonder what the impact of having two beloveds will be. This society, or at least the civilian/non-government portion, seems to be built entirely around the idea of having a single beloved for whom you work and strive to keep safe. I would be willing to bet there is a severe social stigma to leaving your beloved for any reason outside of death or possibly betrayal. With Belle's mind slowly (or not so slowly) being influenced and overtaken by Rainbow Dash's memories, will she mentally replace zebra Pilate with Applejack? How will this affect her relationship with him and everyone else she knows? Even though this story is based around pairs, I think the internal conflict is going to end up severing Belle's ties with, well, basically everyone. She'll end up alone in a society of pairs, which would be reinforced by the memories of Rainbow Dash feeling alone in the world after the loss of AJ and the rest of the Mane 6.
1507239
Right. Blue Shelf=Black Mesa
1507510
I'm curious if the guys at Shelf know what they're doing or if her conflict will be an accident of their hyper-focused drive to learn about the symbol.
Wait For Sleep - Dream Theater
1507730
Now THAT is interesting. If the parallels play out fully, then we can probably expect to see Bellesmith fighting her way out of the facility after going into the sequencer and having it rip open a Chaos Gate that starts to consume all of the things. There will, of course, be a CreepyPony around to whisper "prepare for unforeseen consequences" in Dalton's ear before shit hits the fan. Although how the Bleeding Effect would play into this, I'm not sure.
I'm interested to see how having two Beloved's will cause conflict on a spiritual level for Belle. It was mentioned several chapters back that when they die, two Beloved's find union in the afterlife, but without one another, they "wither into ash in the stars". I wonder what kind of conflict it will cause for Belle: having one Beloved who is still alive and with her, and another who is alone in the stars, presumably dying. Where do her loyalties lie? Heh, should be a good read.
Also, I wonder how Discord's riddle:
" "Twists and turns are my master plan..." I hissed as the world spun. My tongue cut itself on a jutting fang. "Th-then find the elements b-back where you began." "
is going to play into the story in the grand scheme of things.
1506695
Also, all of the chapters are being released two-by-two so far.
Connections, math people can make them.
If I had a cutie mark, it would be Euler's Identity.
1508231
Ah yes, I forgot 'ol daddy Discord made an early showing. Belle, table for 3, please.
I can't help but to wonder if the whole accidental-double-beloved deal will end up with Belle being driven away from Pilate.
So far it doesn't seems to be happening at all, but bweh, what do I know.
I wonder what race these Xenos are.
1507146
Pilate is best zebra.
EDIT:
I think that guy who's about halfway from Austraeoh might get here eventually. Maybe in a little while we'll be seeing 'IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time' in the comments section.
We still need to figure out why the Ledomaritans want to 'sequence' RD. What does this do for them? Do they somehow want the harmonic prism thing?
I'm also wondering how much RD will affect Belle. I think that this rabbit hole could run very deep indeed.
1507351
I'd assume that, given the new symbol, the original sun+hoof print is the "Austraeoh" symbol, and the "Eljunbyro" symbol is the new wavy one. And each one means something. Like, a while back, I think Pilate figured out that it was close to the symbol for water.
What if each one represents an element... and Dash is the... Fifth Element...
1506695
This is very similar to my thoughts on the story thus far. Though, I hadn't considered the implications of Belle now effectively possessing two beloveds... that's a very good point. You really hit the nail on the head there.
1509432
Oh gosh.... Not to hate on the guy but I do wish his commentary was a bit more than just: "So in this chapter, these are things that happened."
1509441
In my mind it could be one of two possibilities. Either the institution in charge of sequencing simply ran across the subject of RD by chance, adding her to the pool of experimentation simply because (I find this improbable, especially seeing as how Garnet already seemed to know about the symbols)--or they want something RD knew about or possessed. Most obviously, this would be knowledge about the Prism, about the ultimate fate of the Elements (and their bearers), about Discord and the princesses, or about the "machine" of the world.
Or maybe they just want to know how RD manages to be so awesome. I mean, who wouldn't?
1513717
Together, they form the fifth element: Boron.
Apple angst.
And yeah, so I notice there are lots of pairs but no kids. Do kids get taken away, no exceptions? Because you can't have a society based on pairs if children are involved as well - then the love is spread too many ways (for this society, anyway). And this whole thing isn't looking good for Belle. Soon she'll be superimposing Applejack onto Pilate and going bonkers with all of RD's memories 
Anywho, Onward!
This entire society in Blue Shelf just creeps me out. There is nothing that seems hugely out of place, but there are so many small things that are not quite right, and they all add up. I've been seeing some people saying it seems like 1984, and I have to agree a bit. The while oppressive lots odd guards thing gives me that impression.
But also the way everyone interacts with each other. It's... weird.
Then there's also the Belle Dash identity crisis. I'm betting that later on, there will be barely any difference between the two characters.
Also something seems fishy about Pilate. (No offence
)
Dammit I'm rambling again...
Part of me cant help but wonder if SS&E isn't just trying to first do a story where he writes one chapter a day (Austreao), and having completed that challenge now do a story where he writes at least two chapters a day, and all the symbolism and whatnot we are reading into it is just entirely coincidental?
Either way, I am looking forward to the next sequencing. Want MOAR DASH
Day 3: Sweet, I'm pulling ahead.
Live long and Dash Apples.
The Trial.
Happy Birthday to me.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
I actually kind of like this chapter. It doesn't have anything new in it, but the way that Bellevis psychologically portrayed here is done excellently. I definitely look forward to more of this kindbof writing in the future. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
Random guess: Dash gains sentience inside Belle's mind, or something related.
~Malus Armor.
dash is making a comeback. how? i do not know. but i do know that this quest for the midnight armory is far from over.
D'aaaaaaw Love is the best way to calm down confusion and distraught.
1506143
Awesome alliteration, amigo.
wat....HONEYTIGER IS CONFUSED!
2129895
All alliterations are awesome.
Pinkie Pie proves this point:
huh.
I haven't even read Dashie's evaluation yet but I know she'll rage in at least one set of parentheses.
I dislike the Appledash shipping too, though. But I'm not going to scream about it. It's there, there isn't anything I can do about it. 
So yeah. 
Guldemmit, I want to read about Rainbow Dash going on adventures, not somepony dreaming about Rainbow Dash going on adventures! Uuuuuuugh.
So she may be more connected to Rainbow Dash than they all thought.
Not really a big fan of the AppleDash, but I'll tolerate. Not gonna be driven away from a story of this caliber by a shipping I dislike.
4735142
Getting a whole becoming the mask kind of vibe (or any number of related tropes about gaining memories)
Flashes of colors? Ashes? Don't fight it, Belle! Become the pegasus you were meant to be! Believe in the Rainbow Dash that believes in you! ROW ROW, FIGHT THE-
*AHEM*
Sorry about that.
Also, that Pilate scene was adorable. Nothing like a good romance to keep our protagonists-
BOOOONG
Man, that curfew chime must get annoying...
Next thing you know, Belle's gonna have to cross a blizzard while blacking out...
Darn it. IC hooked me again.
6251157
canonically, RD is super lesbi. Would you prefer TwiDash?
All these comments upset about appledash... Sometimes I'm glad I'm so distant from this fandom nowadays, it allows stuff that I guess is done ad nauseum to feel like a novelty to me.
Things are bleeding through. How does one stay who they are in situations like this?
07/30/2019
18:36 UTC
The previous people before her probably have their lives ruined forever.