Eljunbyro

by Imploding Colon

Back Again

Belle landed in bed.

Her chestnut brown eyes flew wide.

With a gasp, she shot up—only to be held still by Dalton's hooves.

"Whoah there! It's okay!" the elder pony said. The artificial sound of crashing waves filled the tiny concrete room as she stood by her bed within the facility. "That's quite a start you had there—"

"Whitemane," Belle muttered. "The Spark..."

Dalton looked at her strangely. "You're... You're speaking!"

"Dalton!" she looked towards him in a cold sweat. "An alicorn! An alicorn took over the sequencing!"

"An alicorn...?"

"I couldn't contact you, but that's because I was... I was..." She seethed through her teeth as she jumped out of bed and began pacing. "I was being delivered a message of some sort! I had this vision! I'm pretty sure I was Rainbow, but this couldn't have been a memory. The alicorn was talking to me! She knew about my beloved! She knew..." She bit her lip and hugged herself. "I've never felt so scared and yet so secure in my life." She sniffled as a painful smile crossed her face. "It was heavenly, Dalton. I had no idea meeting an actual goddess would be so amazing. I felt true purpose and meaning for the first time and—" She turned towards him.

He was gazing at her with a shocked expression.

She blinked at him, then glanced at the surroundings, then looked towards Dalton once more. "I don't get it. Why are you looking at me like that?" She gulped. "Why am I here and not inside the laboratory?"

"You mean you don't know?" Dalton asked.

She slowly shook her head.

He cleared his voice and rubbed a hoof nervously over the head of her bed. "This... uhm... this is the first time that you've spoken to me since you came back to the facility, darling. I was c-concerned for a while there that you were mad at me."

"What...?" Her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean the first time? I just came out of sequencing?"

"Belle..."

"I couldn't contact you because of the alicorn! It broke the session! I thought—"

"Belle, you've had over a dozen sessions, already."

She gazed at him blankly. "Huh?"

He gulped and said, "You've been sequencing for the past five days." He leaned forward. "You're telling me that you don't remember any of this?"

She fell back on her haunches, her face pale. "Five... days...?!"

"We were hoping that... heh... that you would open up and tell us something by now," he said in a nervous, hoarse voice. "We were hoping that you'd have some data to share about your sessions after so many jumps. Now, I-I've tried to curry favors and explain that you were just focusing on your work and all..."

"What do you mean, Dalton?"

"Well..."

With a cold swish, the door to the room slid open. Two stallions in berets stood with iron-piercing gazes.

Dalton looked from them to her. He spoke in low voice, "Enforcer Slade has been wishing to see you. He's not very happy."

Comments

[Misplaced Modifier]

Subject: Bellesmith
Suffix Title Obtained: who was Touched by the Goddess

-Minty

[RoboRed]

Well...this is about to get really messy...

Quick question: has it been established what kind of cutie mark Whitemane has? I can't recall if it was ever mentioned.

[Thunder twister]

Well shit.

It just continues to get more confusing as we go along.

[chasethebrony]

hooo boy, shits bout to go down.

[Pilate]

1534275
About to? It already did!

1534272
Disagree! We have the end of the prologue and beginning of the main story arc. Belle has inherited the same divine drive to assist Dash eastward and thus has a goal to begin a journey. Whitemane provided quite literal foreshadowing when she mentioned seeing an adventure in Belle's future.

Anyway, check out this subject switch:

"P-Pilate," I stammered. The world had grown foggy. If this was a dream, it should have shattered by now. I felt the brief flicker of crimson and emerald hues, like an endless orchard in the back of my mind, and a pair of green eyes like the needles of fur trees on the mountain crests. I started to sob. "My beloved." I wept and buried my muzzle into her soft, downy wings. "I want to be with m-my beloved.

May the identity crisis continue!

[Arkenai]

1534243

I thought only Dash got titles?

1534314

Dash is definitely influencing Belle with that.

Now, why did Belle lose her memory of all that sequencing? Did Whitemane do that?

I think that possibly Whitemane suppressed the memories of that sequencing whilst doing the message. Perhaps she was establishing a deeper connection to Dash.

I'm very happy with the hints that Dash is likely to be revived. I feel that if she ended up in Belle's mind not having wings would be quite an impediment.
We've also gotten some hints of how long it's been since Dash was downed at Silvadel. If that was Axan that dropped her off, then it can't have been very long between her being 'killed' and being captured by the Confederacy. I think this will be a convenient excuse to wipe out Dash's shield ability from Whitemane, if and when she comes back.

[Misplaced Modifier]

1534355
Titles are now given to the main character, along with important secondary characters.

-Minty

[Rara]

How is Belle going to accompany Dash on the rest of her journey? She has no wings, so unless Dash can carry her, they're grounded. This is only if nothing terrible happens to either of them, of course.

Seeing 3 chapter updates for Eljunbyro was the icing on the cake that was my day. PJ was verrrrrry pleased.

[Reignbow]

I'm beginning to believe more and more that we're going to see an identity-meld between Rainbow Dash and Belle, rather than Dash reemerging as a separate entity.

"I see a great, amazing adventure in your future, for you have come here for a reason. You have come to bring her the wind she needs beneath her wings once more, for she too has a journey to fulfill, one that involves the hearts of this whole world."

A direct statement that Belle will most likely be traveling with Dash in some way. They could of course, plan on walking together across unknown distances or Belle riding RD, but I can't imagine Dash slowing down like that unless forced to (sharing a body).

[dogan]

THEY SWITCHED BODIES

DUN DUN DUNNNN

[Arkenai]

1534598

I hope now though, that Belle tells nopony about her encounter with Whitemane. If Belle is now apparently meant to free Dash, whilst the Ledomartian council wants to use her as a weapon , there's going to be some form of conflict.

Agreed. But then!

Ledomartian

IT WAS THE ALIENS!

[Aqua Fortis]

1534402 1534412

You're both assuming that Dash and Belle will be making a journey together. There is plenty of potential for Dash's journey to restart once Belle's ends. She may have to sacrifice herself (or something very dear to her) in order for Rainbow to restart her journey. Whether Dash is dead or just very close to it, she will need some help to get back to full consciousness.

Alternatively, Dash's death/suspended animation could simply be a way of "stowing" her until she is needed again. Perhaps there is an obstacle that requires another entity, in this case, Belle, to remove before she can continue. It's entirely possible that both theories could work in tandem. Regardless, I think that the only interaction Belle and Rainbow Dash will have is through sequencing.

[ShadowBro]

WELL THEN.

....

...SHIT.

[Rara]

1534755
I was writing mine more as a response to another comment. Personally, I can't see the two interacting too much. Austraeoh and Eljunbyro seem as if they work better with a single main character moving forward

[Flutterbrave]

You have come to bring her the wind she needs beneath her wings once more,

'CAUSE YOU ARE THE WIND BENEATH MY WINGS

Please tell me I wasn't the only one who thought of Bette Midler

[Arkenai]

1535080

Ah, but you explained it so much more!

[Cobalt Swirls]

New Inventory Item Acquired: Temporary Amnesia

[Cynderfall]

Ultimate sleepwalking..?

[Khao]

1534829

But it will be a single main character.

Kinda.

Two as one and stuff.

I DON'T KNOW HOW THAT WORKS but what the heck.

[Ledomare]

Oh, boy! They're in trouble! I hope I get to meet myself! *pulls popcorn out of hammerspace*

*munch* Besht shtory *munch* ...evar!

[Reignbow]

1534755

I completely agree, that is a distinct possibility. There could be two intertwined plots, or Belle could have hers ended at the appearance of Dash. However, the long journey that was foretold leads me to believe that either we will be seeing a lot of Belle for the foreseeable future, or both character will make an appearance at the same time. At the same time, so far the author's story has had a singular plot, so I believe its more likely they will somehow interact together in the story in either of the ways I mentioned earlier.

[Emberspeak]

I wouldn't be surprised if the whole of eljunbyro was Belle's story, and the conclusion of it sees the re-emergence of Dash and the continuing of her quest to the Midnight Armory (although, from what I've gathered, it's the journey to the Armory that is just as important, if not more so, then actually reaching it).
I expect that Belle's function as the "wind beneath her wings" will involve freeing Rainbow Dash physically, but more importantly, piecing her conscious mind back together and giving her a reason to continue - *DING DING DING* the whole theme of pairs and Beloved's will probably play into this. After all, by the end of Austraeoh, Dash was pretty weakened, both physically and emotionally by all that she had been through.

But eh, I'm really only re-stating what has been pieced together so far. What IS interesting is why Belle forgot a whole 5 days of her life and how this is gonna kickstart the Adventure Proper.

[destinedjagold]

wait... what...? o.0

[MellowMabari]

Damn girl, what were you drinking? Five days? Did Whitemane sap her mental energy or something, causing her to shamble around the lab like a sleep deprived college student - I mean, zombie?

I don't think Belle and Dash will end up traveling together long term, simply because it would make traveling anywhere take way too long (both because Belle can't fly, and because there would have to be at least some obligatory dialogue between them, which would weigh down what have previously been accounts of scenery and forays into Dash's mind) I do, however, think that they'll interact more directly at some point in the future, whether that be through Dash's mind "waking up" and interacting with Belle through the sequences, or through Dash actually physically waking up and talking to her. Plus, the other reason why I don't think Belle will join Dash after this whole Ledomare arc is because she has Pilate - she wouldn't leave him behind. Unless of course, something were to happen to him... It could go any number of ways at this point. Can't wait to see where this leads to next

[Personifire]

Is this going to be a three-act story? I get the feeling that this is going to be a three-act story.

[AdobE]

Wat

[Questionable Object]

Two hundred chapters of Austraeoh.
Twenty eight chapters of Eljunbyro.

For two hundred and twenty eight chapters we have travelled through a fantastic, wild and terrifying world.

We have seen places of unrivaled beauty and beasts of horific presence.

We have been moved by the trials and tribulations of countless beings and gloried in their victories or mourned in their defeats.

Through this journey, this long painful journey of a thousand bittersweet moments, we have learned so much.

And here we are.

Another stepping stone in our travels.

So, so much wiser than when we began.

And yet...

We still know nothing.

Hail to the deity of tales.
The one we lovingly know as Imploding Colon.

[RainbowThis]

[IfOnlyICouldDeactivate]

Woah...

Wait what? How? What? That is just... wow...

So Belle doesn't remember anything that has happened for 5 days, yet her body functioned normally without her mind being with it properly.

So the chit-chat with Whitemane meant even more then I originally thought.

Ok, I'm now dying for the next chapter.

Onwards my little ponies!

[Rara]

1535977
For you, this is a journey of self-discovery!

[eucatastrophe]

1536013

You know your probably gonna die right?

[Ledomare]

1537761

Probably. Maybe.

Yeah, most likely. But it will be a great story to tell my grandkids.

"Son, did I ever tell you about the time I was killed by a unicorn?"

"...Daaaad, Pappy's being crazy again."

[Fishberry]

Dramatic statement: Dun-dun-DUUUNN!

[Swann]

Geez, five straight days for one conversation with an alicorn? Time-space, you so crazy.

[enamis]

SHIT just GOT SERIUS!

[Psyco Josho]

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6d/SladeTTanimated2003.jpg
Well, this isn't going to end well.

Also, Imploding Colon is definitely shortskirtsandexplosions, or else I'll eat my own four hoofs. Which would be rather difficult, since I don't have any hoofs at all!

[dashie76]

IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!

So apparently, Belle's memory is getting distorted. Not sure why, but I'm pretty sure it's because of her bonding with Dash. That, or something to do with Whitemane. These are my thoughts so far.

-MASH

[CrimsonPhoenix]

1541133

Slade man....That's never a good news.
Also I would've posted that picture if one wasn't provide by the time I read this chapter.

[Ace of Kings]

1541133 I salute you friend for posting that epic picture of epicness.
Also Belle must have been on some trippy mushrooms to had been out of it for so long.
(also AGAIN from this point on I promise myself that I will not post another comment on this story till I catch up)

-DEAL WITH IT.

[FloorBelow]

END
Prologue: Spark of the Beloved

BEGIN
Act I: The Wind in my Wings

[Ophidian Eremite]

1537845

That's nothing for crazy, wait 'til you start telling stories about how you were a country with enforcers and underground science teams and were at war with Xona and conquered the buffalo and the zebra and the antelope and...Ok, I'll stop now.

[whizzball1]

This was all a dream? A huge convoluted dream?

[JustAnotherTimeLord]

Well, um . . . I got nothing. Belle's fucked.

[Zecoro]

Oh fucking hell not these mind games again -_- first the matrix...then total recall...(im assuming inception is like this, for i never watched it) and now this...BAHH!!!!!

[**Beert]

At first I wanted to post 3 mind blown gifs, but then I realised that my mind isn't blown. It's incredibly confused.

[Aiyonbeam]

Slade? What happened to Shell? Now who's gonna be Wrath!?
Man, things were a lot simpler when Belle just had a new mission dropped on her head out of nowhere by an alicorn we only met midway into last story...
Well, she gets the good guy giving her the good path, and now we're about to get the bad guy telling her not to take it because...
Hostages? War? Fear for her life? It's kinda up in the air.

...And I LOVE IT.

An FMA joke up there where people don't have to squint to see it, eh? I'm losing my touch...

[Real_Atomsk]

6497146
Always a fan when there is this amazing new tech that only one person can use without dying and it just is never good enough for the ponies rubbing the forever war. How long until Ledo was never at war with Xona they have always been allied with Xona

[arancaytar]

he said in a nervous, hoarse voice

Nervous horse voice.

(Sorry)

[DrEggnog]

This got weird, in a cool way.

[Lexiebommel10]

sheyat