"Wake up, Belle!" Pilate exclaimed, shaking the mare vigorously.
"Mmmmff..." She stirred from under the covers. She lifted her head. Her mane was a tangled mess of earthen fuzz. A thin pair of chestnut eyes blearly entreated him. "Wha—Huh? B-beloved?"
"Did you have a stroke in the middle of the night?! Get up!" Pilate exclaimed, shaking her some more.
"Nnnngh—Pilattttte..." She groaned into the pillow, her dainty limbs stirring under the rays of morning light. "Sooooo earlyyyy. Mmmf—We can visit town square when it noon..."
"No time for that!" he hissed, raising a hoof up to straightened his mane. "There's a tour!"
"A tour...?" Bellesmith muttered. Suddenly, her ears shook from the very real sound of creaking wagon wheels and murmuring voices just a few cottages down from them. The mare twitched once, twice, then suddenly sat up with an invisible wind toss of her mane. "A tour!"
"I know, right—!"
"Pilate!" she gasped, hopping out of bed and tripping on the bedsheets. "Gaaah!" She kicked and bucked and ultimately disentangled herself from the wrinkled duvet. "Why didn't you say so?!"
"But I just—"
"By the Spark! My mane's an absolute mess!" she hissed, hobbling around the cramped bedroom. "Stand in the yard!"
"But... B-but!" He hissed, "I can't just go out there without you! What if—"
"I'll be right out there! I promise! Now go, Pilate! Worst case scenario, they'll think I'm away at the facility!"
"Okay! But be quick about it!" he exclaimed. Pilate paced out the door into the kitchen and hung a right, counting his steps beneath his breath as his path took him out into the front yard of the cabin.
Panting, Belle scrambled up to a mirror. She fumbled for a brush, dropped it, and grunted in frustration. "Ugh! What I wouldn't give to be back at Mountainfall!" She clasped the brush in her mouth, flipped it in the air, caught it in the crook of her right hoof, and began brushing the tangles out of her mane. It was a swift and merciless exercise, and she winced on several occasions. Through the windows, the sound of wagon wheels grew louder and louder. She heard a pony orating in a militarized voice. Finally done with her task, Belle slapped the brush onto the mirror and pivoted towards the bedroom's exit. Marching her way out of the cottage, she skidded to a stop in the kitchen, rushed to the sink, and splashed a cold lather of water over her yellow face. "Blllblbbbblb—Nnnngh! Spark help me..."
With one last gallop, she burst through the front door, scampered to the front yard, and stood right next to Pilate, who was busily raking leaves clear of the front path, pretending to look busy and hospitable.
"Knew you would make it, honey," he said in a wavering breath.
"Don't lie. I hate it when you lie," she grumbled. She took one look at him, and—blushing—reached over to pivot the rake around so that the correct end was on the ground.
"Uhm..." He bit his lip nervously. "Thank you, dear."
"Don't mention it. Shhh. They're coming."
Pilate and Bellesmith weren't alone. Just one door down, Baxter and Kenna stood in the front yard, pretending to be gathering flowers. Across the dirt road, Felicity and Placid were situated next to their front gate. Great Stare and Little Breath were within shouting distance, and several other pairs of equines stood at attention before the front of their houses.
As the voices became more distinct, a trio of wagons rolled up from the lower level of the mountain village below. The three vehicles were flanked by firmly marching unicorns in dark uniforms and dark berets. Pulling the wagons were hovering spheres of pulsating mana, and a protective field of magical energy laced the edges of the transports. Seated within each wagon was a group of unicorns—finely dressed—with emblems on their collars that bore unique illustrations depicting separate geographical landscapes.
"And as you see here, representatives"—spoke an elderly soldier in the frontmost wagon who bore several decorative medals—"the humble residents of Blue Shelf are ready and waking at any moment to serve the Council of Ledo. With their diligent spirits and fine intellect, the promising future of the Confederacy's technology division is assured."
Belle leaned in and whispered into Pilate's ear. "Now, darling. Wave." Immediately, she and her significant other smiled wide and waved for the passing crowd of dignitaries.
Several stern eyes swept over the villagers as the caravan slowly rose up the dirt path. A loud vibration filled the air as a zeppelin hovered almost directly overhead, its intimidating cannons trained on every horizon of the forested mountain as it kept a careful watch over the precious occupants of the wagons below.
"Every other week, half of these equines leave the home to perform their duty to Her Royal Majesty, working for several hours of intense research and development deep within the magically reinforced bowels of the Blue Shelf Science Facility. By their labor and concentration, new forms of mana manipulation are inputted into the war effort, and to bring glory to Ledo."
"I don't understand," one elderly mare said. "I thought it was one couple to a household in the village here...
The soldier blinked at her, but nonetheless kept his confident voice. "Oh, but it is, Ms. Representative, I assure you."
She squinted and pointed into the line of cottages. It took Bellesmith a few startling seconds to realize that the hoof was being pointed at her and Pilate.
"Then where are their beloveds?" the mare asked in a disgruntled breath. "Are they milling about in the general store?"
The soldier cast one glance towards the pair in question. His jaw flexed briefly, but he maintained his composure. "These... are all the couples of this street, madame," he said. "Everypony is accounted for."
The mare glanced at two old unicorns next to her. Collectively, the three chuckled. One of the stallions coughed, caught his voice, and said, "My my, the Council must be getting desperate if that is what it takes to bring glory to Ledo these days."
"Next thing you know, the Confederacy will be marrying cattle and swine!"
Several dry laughs lit the air.
Belle's jaw dropped. With a snarling expression, she jerked forward inhaled sharply to shout—
A dark hoof was already reaching for her shoulder
She stopped in place, jerking to flash Pilate a pale expression.
His face was hung towards the floor. The zebra's lips were thin and expressionless, yet altogether peaceful.
She took a deep breath and shut her eyes, exhaling the frustration through her nostrils.
The soldier cleared his throat and spoke as the wagons rolled on. "Over here, we have a stretch of plateau where you can observe the mana gate in full operation. Blue Shelf is a marvel of societal engineering in the middle of the raging wilderness, and if it weren't for Ledomaritan technology—the same science which is improved on below ground here—then this peaceful community would be overrun with the likes of Manticores and jaguars..."
Slowly, the couples milled about and returned to their homes. Baxter and Kenna paused—their antlers glistening in the morning light—as they cast Belle an apologetic glances and shuffled indoors.
With a groan, Belle turned to Pilate. "I can't stand it! I simply can't! If I have to hear another sanctimonious bag of hot wind insult us again, I'll—"
"Dalton needs you. This facility needs you," Pilate said calmly. "And I need you." He smiled gently and leaned over to nuzzle her. "I love you, and that is a love that nopony can take away, no matter how unfairly we may be judged."
She gulped hard and murmured in a wavering voice, "Pilate, how can you be so calm about it? I mean... everywhere we go, it's the same thing, and—"
"Shhh..." His smile was calm, yet exhausted. "They're leaders, Belle. We can't expect them to understand." His lips curved with a bitter gleam. "Just lead."
She gulped hard and murmured into his ear. "I adore you so much. I just wish I had your tolerance."
"You have my heart. Isn't that enough?"
She chuckled dryly. "Silly zebra..."
"Lazy is more like it," he muttered, pivoting about at a right degree angle to face the bulk of the front yard. "I've been letting leaves take over this place while you were gone. Guess I should do my part." He tilted his neck so that the sphere could levitate freely from his choker. "O.A.S.I.S. Cleaning mode. Scan." The runes on his skull flickered as the sphere hovered over the grass, bathing the yard in a swath of white light that outlined every leaf obstructing the surface. Pilate diligently trudged forward, sliding his rake over the ground where the line was most distorted. In such a precise order, he blindly swept the yard slowly clear.
All the while, Bellesmith watched him, squatting down on the edge of the dirth path as she allowed the last lengths of sleepiness to escape her being. After several minutes, she sighed, then realized that the edge of her hoof was covered with dust. With a raised eyebrow, she glanced down at the dirt.
Her body froze.
Without knowing it, her forelimb had been fidgeting with the dusty top layer of the path the entire time. In the space of a few minutes, she had absent-mindedly drawn a pattern in the ground beneath where she and Pilate had stood. Her chestnut eyes followed the pattern of an omega symbol swallowing up a sphere with squiggly lines. It took her a few moments, but she suddenly recognized the image as the one that had been shown to her one day in Professor Garnet's office.
A cold chill ran through her body. She blinked her eyes, and in that blink she sensed a great black horizon lighting up, casting a golden sheen on a pair of pearl blue orbs, and then disappearing. Her ears twitched, as if expecting a motherly voice to be whispering in her soul, but all was silent once more.
With a nervous tremble, she stood up, kicked the image in the dirt clear, and trotted over to lend Pilate a hoof.
1518746
I can handle pretty much anything as long as the end result is Dash flying (not running, flying) about in her own body. Mind-melds are fine, so long as they are temporary. Also, I would not put any money on Belle being able to hold out against RD in a permanent mind-meld anyway--the strength of her personality is one of Dash's greatest assets.
Woah, stuff just keeps getting more interesting, can't wait for the next pair of chapters.
-Minty
1518785
I still think that the Bleeding Effect would be a better story telling element. While the Juxtaposition of Personalities is perfectly good, in this particular case, and given Colon's writing style, the application of a Bleeding Effect, where the identities of Bellsmith and Rainbow Dash are blurred and Belle picks up some of Rainbow's skills (including a pressing urge to spread her wings even though there are none available), would generate a more intriguing conflict and allow for more aggressive story telling, whereas the Two Personalities element would work, but slow down the writing in a manner that would feel unnatural for ImplodingColon's writing style and the pacing of the fic.
Why do i get a hunger games vibe from this nation...
what's wrong with a pony and zebra, anyway?
why I outta---!
"Word" Came Pilate's affirmative reply, before he bumped his hoof twice against his chest causing his bling to jingle.
Things are finally starting to... *crisscrosses fingers* ... come together.
Is it bad that I'm excited for the more mysterious elements to start returning to the story? All this exposition we've had since the start has been nice, but being able to turn that speculation knob back up to 11 will be a nice homecoming. Et tu, Whitemane?
1518785
1518844
Satoshi, don't discout Belle in all of this, she is a very strong character even if her personality is more dainty than outright brash. She's educated, tenacious, thoughtful and resilient. She would not have thus far survived, or made gains, in the sequencing if she did not have those thing. On top of that she's a planner, a schemer, she does not act immediately on impulse unless she's considered her options. That trait in particular would make an outright identity war very interesting. Moreover, whether subtle or direct, the coming personality war will prove quite interesting.
Meanwhile, we are seeing more of what Shadow is calling "the bleeding effect," where parts of Dash's memories and personality surface through Belle in much the same way the protagonist from that creepy Joss Whedon show Dollhouse was able to maintain the various identities she was imprinted with. (I'm sure there's a better reference, c'est la vie). That said, I'm still not convinced Rainbow Dash is 100% dead in that we won't see her pop out much like a rabbit from a hat at some point, perhaps in a third story? I Met a Pony in Her Memories, and We Kicked Ass Together? No? Anyway, the one thing I am loath to do is make predictions based on pacing. Too many factors to make an accurate guess, what seems like an accurate prediction one chapter can be completely thrown off the next. Do not let the symbolism of my namesake being blind but extremely capable go unnoticed. As readers, that's more or less where we stand.
Blue Shelf Science Facility, aka Black Mesa Research Facility? I'm not going to let this go. There's fair bit of direct world-building to pay attention to, as well, and we can start to draw a lot of societal conclusions about Ledomare, the apparent nobility and Blue Shelf's existence in a veritable (of course) wasteland. I'll add that to the "aforementioned slave-state" from the last few chapters of Austraeoh evidence pile.
1518920
I didn't choose the Zebra life, the Zebra life chose me.
1518960
Bleeding Effect is not my idea, btw. Credit goes to UBISOFT : http://assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki/Bleeding_effect
You'll note the disturbing parallels. I do believe, in fact, that an Assassin's Creed-style merger/recombiner would be more effective than maintaining multiple distinct personalities. As you said earlier, the personality war would be intriguing, but the usage of the AC-bleeding-effect-personality-war would result in a conflict far more deeply rooted in Belle's psyche. Indeed, her very nature as a pony would be at war with itself. Considering Background Pony and the way it makes us confront our own ability to match up to Lyra's strength, it seems likely that this would go along a similar path.
Incidentally, yes, this is me conceding the point that Colon and Skirts are probably the same person.
Considering the links to Black Mesa, what do you think is the likelihood of Dalton getting visited by the G-Pony? Also: Chaos Rift?
1518920
It's times like this I wish there was a thumbs up function for comments.
1519002
The trope isn't new, I just can't remember what it was called before But the sci-fi influences are numerous and wonderful, don't limit yourself to Assassin's Creed.
1519033
It's the one that's most handily available for me. My love for AC is pretty deep. *shrug* Which version of the trope were you thinking of, btw? It seems like we're running on different ideas on how Belle's psyche should be deconstructed.
1518920
I Think I Like That Comment Better Than The Chapter XD
So many 1984 feels
And I'm sure Rainbow will return in some glorious way. She's just too awesome not to
1518920 That was amazing. Thank you.
1519184
You're welcome.
Racism, racism everywhere. Also, "Just smile and wave boys, smile and wave." Sorry, that's what was going through my head in this chapter.
I'm getting a Hunger Games vibe from this as well - except in this case the "Capital" actually cares about keeping up the appearances of their "districts" for the powerful ponies. This whole section seems to be a mishmash of all the "Big Brother is watching" type societies in other works of fiction - I like it.
Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden
THE PLOT. IT THICKENS.
Also,
i.imgur.com/UitdY.gif
This is trippy, mate. Remember, Belle: if a strange Zebra tries to get you to eat some funky green plants, DON'T EAT THE PLANTS.
Also, I love my country.
1518920 That was fantastic, thank you.
1519002
It's already happened. A mysterious government figure looming overhead and watching the protagonist's every move with scrutiny and some amount of creepy malice? Sounds like Shell, the stallion military enforcer-type character wearing the beret that we were "introduced" to earlier.
Oooh, this is the Austraeoh one. Not the Eljunbyro one. What could it mean?
Still waiting on RD to turn up and be awesome.
1518805
Weren't you the title guy? Where's the title?Hrm.Title obtained: The subconsciousEDIT: Read what you said near the start.
1518920
Best comment ever. And then IC corrected it.
I wonder how many chapters this story will have.
Dat symbol....
I love how IC gives us so much information, whilst not properly telling us what anything is. There are so many themes/aspects to this story, and yet we don't really know all there is to know about any certain thing.
Did that make sense? I can ramble y'know.
Ohoho, I just had an idea. What if Austraeoh is the element of loyalty is Dash (the embodiment of it)? It would certainly lend a lot more weight to Whitemane's comment "Bring the wind back to Austraeoh". Perhaps this was Whitemane talking directly to Belle, urging her to bring the wind back to Dash (parallels to putting Dash back in the sky to continue her quest)?
1518960
I agree with you on the feeling that Dash isn't dead. Maybe comatose or something, but I don't think she is dead. After all, she is the subject of the mind-melding, and as far as I'm concerned, mind-melding with a corpse is a tad difficult. Not to mention the fact that they were planning on doing other experimentation with her. . .
1520411
Not... precisely. The G-Man transcends reality and time to fuck with all of the things from a subtle position overwatching all. Shell isn't that so much as a symbol of the monolithic military presence.
By the way. Shell ~~ Chell? Portal reference?
I'm calling it right now. Garnet and Shell are all about using Belle as a tool to get into the machine caverns beneath the world, giving them access to the most powerful weapon in the world.
This, of course, could lead to some interesting conclusions.
"Having had considerable time to ruminate your query, my answer has not changed. There is no choice: we must activate the ring"
... I'm in no condition to write all of the things I'm thinking right now. Lots of Halloween parties last night, and... yeah.
One thing I will say, though, is that it seems like Rainbow knew she would die in her confrontation with Axan and yet be able to continue her mission in some fashion. Almost as if getting killed was part of her plan, despite how much she claimed to not have a plan.
1518920
Best comment is best
1521126
The reference doesn't have to be as tangible as that, props has the right of it I think. The setting remains unique, but influenced; it is not a direct copy of any one thing.
1521586
Dash for sure went in with a plan to win but not escape. Remember, she was about to keep heading east before she had a change of morality and heart. In that context it is entirely possible the dream Belle shared in the Pearl Blue chapter occurred not during the initial Whitemane meeting but after Axan left Dash. Austraeoh ends on this:
That imagery keeps showing up over and over again when Belle is synching with Dash, sunrise, blinding nothingness, blinding light, and so on. If we take for granted that Dash isn't "dead" then it's possible that Whtemane's gift, possible called "Austraeoh" did not reveal its true nature to Dash until this point and did so in a dream-like state.
1518920
+1, good sir.
Random prediction:
RD survives, somehow has her wing magically re-attached, finds herself in Ledosmare, leads a revolutionary uprising to lead everyone to FREEDOOOOOM!!!!!
Because she is awesome.
lol yeah right can't wait for the craziness to get cranked right back up to eleven again
What if I told you it's 1 am and im supposed to be studying for a test on race relations right now?
1518920 I came.
Hello Dashie it seems i beat you here
Just kidding, its fun to look back at previous thoughts and see how wrong everyone was. You should try it. You are too close to uncovering the truth and must be... praised for your good work.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
So we have quite a bit to cover in this chapter. First off, we now know that these magical beings are not slaves - they are only citizens. However, there is an ongoing war between Ledomare and an outside force, and all of these magical beings were brought together in order for them to conduct research in Blue Shelf's science facility in order to find ways to more effectively control man a, which would be useful in the war. We can only assume that sequencing is being researched for the same purpose, although it's hard to think of how it would be applied to a war. Maybe by viewing an enemy's past and using it to your advantage? Also, Belle is now subconciously connected to Dash, drawing the omega and sun symbol in the dirt. Which brings us back to - how did they get Dash in the first place? Unfortunately, we don't have anything concrete to go off of to answer that question. So I'll just leave it for now. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S.Hey, someone who reads my evaluation time!I did that on Austraeoh and realized that I was waaaaaaay off on some things.(I did my evaluation time there, too! Don't know if you read it.)So you've already read all of Eljunbyro so far, and I'm close to the truth, you say? Huh...I'm actually close to being right?
The world really must be ending in a week...
1797030i read Austraeoh as well, thatswhere I started of course. By close I mean...on the right track. Still a ways to go first. Plus there are the secrets to Austraeohs beginning to watch for.
P.S. 8 days remaining!!
You know, I've had this odd feeling when it was revealed that her beloved was a zebra, but of course, I let it pass. I ain't no racist....or specist...or whatever you call that I guess.
Also heh, it's that one symbol.....again
Ho-ho, she wasn't even hooked up last night. Telling Rainbow, indeed.
So, the Beloveds don't even choose each other? Some sort of magical coercion going on to keep them enamored, or just good old-fashioned psychological dependency torture?
1520980
As long as she hasn't been dead for over six hours I don't see why mind-melding would be difficult . Kind of a shame that we have so little to speculate off of at this point, since we don't know the 'world-rules' yet, like "does someone need to be alive to be sequenced with?". If the body is simply a conduit for the soul, and that's where memories are maintained, then sequencing only needs a fetish to create a connection (what counts as connected to a soul becomes another question then).
1797030
If sequencing is being researched for military uses, that could be a revolution in information extraction. Forget torture, just hook 'em up to a machine and let the lab techs sort out the info. Though that raises the question, how reliable is sequencing? Bellesmith seems to be a prodigy in the area, but if it takes months for everyone else to successfully connect with limited results, RD may be must be quite an asset to Ledomare for all the time and energy. I should also say that I've been reading your posts since the outset of Austraeoh, and I'd say "keep 'em coming!", but I'm sure you've caught up to the rest in Innavedr by now. One day, so too shall I (hopefully by the time heretofore unnamed third sequel to Austraeoh begins).
She gulped hard and murmured into his ear. "I adore you so much. I just wish I had your tolerance."
"You have my heart. Isn't that enough?"
She chuckled dryly. "Silly zebra..."
I like Pilate.
>We can visit town square when it noon
>they cast Belle an apologetic glances
fiks plzz
So the leaders of Ledo are neglectful of their ponies for some reason. Hopefully this is corrected soon.
A leader that can't understand is practically useless. and more likely to start an unnecessary war because of it.
I wonder if Whitemane is really communicating with Belle, and if so, how she knows she is Eljunbyro.
1518920
Now it's time to put this story into the Gizoogle translator.
3685434
Nein.
Celestia is tampering with people know.
"My my, the Council must be getting desperate if that is what it takes to bring glory to Ledo these days."
"Next thing you know, the Confederacy will be marrying cattle and swine!"
Several dry laughs lit the air.
And then the Balefire bombs dropped.