I plummeted through the clouds.
Something was different this time.
Something was easy, natural, and glorious...
I was spiraling, twirling, kicking up vapors and slicing the wind until it whistled around my feathers.
I panted and panted, my heart pumping like a strobing pulse of mana. But soon, to my surprise, the fear gave way, and excitement filled the empty space. The adrenaline was mesmerizing. The danger was delicious. I felt like chuckling, and I did just that.
"Belle? Belle, can you hear me?"
"Heheheheh..."
"The sequencing has begun. Are you lucid? Can you sense the sphere you're in?"
"So... awesome..."
"We're monitoring you as best as we can, but we need to keep up communication. Can you describe what's happening?"
"I'm..." I hissed and sneered into the face of gravity. "...practicing."
"Practicing?"
"Heh heh heh..." I laugh; I cackle. "Hah hah hah hah! Wooo yeah!"
"Practicing for what?"
Just then, there was a flicker of lavender light, followed by a purple-streaked mane and bright violet eyes. The ground appeared around her, and I plowed mercilessly into her figure.
"Ooof!"
Together, we sprawled like dominoes into the mud. The liquid was cold and gritty against my coat. The sun shimmering down on us was blissful and warm.
I stood up, wobbling slightly, and glanced guiltily down at the petite unicorn flattened beneath me. Instead of immediately apologizing, I chuckled. "Eh heh heh heh..."
Leaning down, I gave an awkward smile as my voice cracked.
"Excuse me? Eh heh heh..."
"Mmmphghh..." She muttered.
I hovered above her and looked around. "Ehhh... Let me help you! Darting effortlessly up into the sky, I grabbed a piece of raincloud and dragged it down so that it hovered closely above her head. After giving the cluster of vapors a firm series of bucks, the unicorn was clean of all mud, albeit thoroughly soaked. "Whoops! I guess I overdid it! Uhmmm... How about this?! My very own patented Rainblow Dry! No no, don't thank me, you're quite welcome!"
And so the stories continue; I was worried for a moment there.
Hmm. Is this what the picture makes me think it is?
YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!
ANOTHEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRR
FFFFF...Why did this have to be posted right before I have to leave for work!?!?
I shall ingest this with my eyes the moment I can.
Woah, so that's what's happening...
Mind fuck bruh.
Aaaand once again im lost. Heres to 178 more chapters before i understand!
So apparently these unicorns are sifting through Rainbow's memories for something
Hello, Rainbow Dash. | So many thoughts to condense into something meaning full, so little time.
1469524
There's so many references packed into that paragraph I think there are more callbacks than words. It will take a while to unpack it all, but we can confirm that it's the same "universe," and that Belle is participating, not by choice per se, in a project that allows unicorns to co-inhabit other ponies' bodies in what appears to be an attempt to glean knowledge about the machine.
My word!
It may be kind of out there, but my theory so far is that they're sifting through Rainbow's memories via her pendant. (Note that the light coming from that cylinder was ruby, same colour as Dash's Element.)
Of course, the question remains: Where did they get it?
I haven't read any of this yet (no time right this moment), but is this something to do with Austreaoh and Rainbow Dash, or something separate? Or do we not know yet?
Hmmm episode 1/1 at the beginning.
I may be a looooong way off, but could this potentially be a future Silvadel? I remember Garnet had pictures of granite buildings, and Silvadel was made primarily from stone.
So I think these people at least know of Silvadel.
But I could be wrong.
"Bellesmith"
img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/foolishtook/Disney%20Pixar/2csi7ms.gif
1469741
They're definitely Rainbow's, they're definitely after this:
i.imgur.com/aucBm.png
As for having the pendant? Perhaps, but I'd be curious to see where in the timeline this all falls since the end of Austraeoh heavily implied Dash's demise but was not outright about it.
1469971
Maybe, but might it also be the "civilization just east of here" Axan mentioned? Being forced into Darkstine like machines sounds an awful lot like slavery to me. Then again, the civilization seems to amalgamate quite a different number of features from other IC/SSE civilizations, could be brand new.
I bet the timeline of this is gonna jump up and surprise all of us. How much time has passed between now and the end of Austraeoh? A year? a decade? A century? If they're moving along in this memory sequencing business, I'd imagine we just skipped quite a few years and hundreds of miles.
1469461
Yer damn right it is!
I still dont get it...
Oh! Also, have you guys noticed that this time around, all the chapter titles have two words instead of one? Seeing how this is the second installment of the series, it makes sense.
Hmmm...I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'm guessing, like many others, that this is the slave place that was supposed to be east of Silvadel. Belle is obviously going through Dash's memories somehow. All of this I like. What I'm still iffy on is the protagonist (so far). Don't get me wrong, OC's can be really great, but I usually need a cannon character with them to keep my interest. Technically Rainbow's still in it, but... I'mma keep my eye on this. At my most optimistic I'm hoping Dash somehow comes back/shows up, but I suppose we'll just have to see.
Yea I'm going to say this now.
wtf happend?.
Ahh now that's better. But seriously what's going on hear?
1470236
I never even considered that this wasn't right after the events of austreauh (I am never going to spell that word right)
It would be a very good twist to place this fic in the future. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that this is some dark future of equestria. Or perhaps, this is before the first story. In truth, we have received no indication of what year it is, so it is well within the scope of plausibility that this is a prequel.
Brilliant Idea, now you've got me thinkin...
1470432
OMG, thankyou for pointing that out. I almost missed that detail. That is just so cool. Its the details like that which love more than anything.
Before it got even crazier around here, keep this excerpt in mind and notice the change in tense of the narrator.
The story is playing with a lot of familiar themes, identity, companionship, memory and so on. What appears to be happening here is something akin to Total Recall or The 6th Day (love me some Schwarzenegger identity/sci-fi films) with something maybe borrowed from La Jetée/The 12 Monkeys in terms of both the protagonist's own identity and the drive of those in power to learn all they can with no regard to the well-being or lives of others. We've already seen the "Professor" in a scene that heavily evoked 1984's idea of "big brother," only in this case it seems the THX1138 style institution holds power by denying love and companionship as opposed to directly exploiting fear. They exploit the deep-seeded fear of abandonment and isolation present in everyone (ponies are like that). That can even be said to be a form of twisted loyalty, no? To be loyal to the institution because there are no other options? In any case, look for Belle to continue to forget who she actually is as the story progresses, I have a feeling that's exactly what the institution is looking for here (and it will get them in over their heads).
Or I could be wildly off-base, plot-wise.
How is this not in the featured box yet ??? Get to work, readers !
The sole fact that this story even exists has made me a very happy person.
New Austraeoh chapters have been a small highlight of my day for several months, so I'm glad it's going to continue, even if indirectly.
Hmm, they mentioned that they are after "the spark" which will only be attached to "one soul" i.e. Bellesmith's. It definitely seems like they are interested in the machine, and perhaps even in extracting/utilizing the spark within the element of loyalty/dash.
Heh, there are some great themes in this, and I am burning with even greater curiosity than before as to what will happen. I'm looking forwards to what happens nexr
1470173
Maybe, I thought about that too, could be either. We'll just have to wait. :D
ok... getting serious assassin's creed vibes from this
Can anypony say "Animus"?
Can anypony say "Assassin's Creed parallels"?
...
Following that line of thought, can anyone say "Bellesmith is Rainbow's spiritual descendant after Dash survived the dragon, completed her quest, and settled down with Gold Petals"?
It'd be nice if that were true.
------------------------------------------------------------
On a more serious note, any speculation on the mechanics of what's going on here? I would posit that the Ledomaritans have discovered that two ponies, while separated by many miles, can have souls that resonate on similar "frequencies" of magic. It's more complex than meer harmonics, but it'll do for now. Thoughts?
Sorry, only Rainbow Dash gets titles, Belle may get one or two, but i'm not sure yet.
-Minty
So, here's how I'm gonna call it.
That "cylinder" that rises up out of the floor contains Rainbow Dash. She has been taken further East to where ponies are enslaved (as the Matriarch said). This is evidenced by the fact that Belle is pretty clearly not participating in these experiments by choice. Also the whole military regime thing.
Now as for her being in the cylinder, they said the "subject" had arrived, and she is interfacing with the "subject" so that's the first clue that they have Rainbow somewhere in the facility.
But when the cylinder rose up there was a box with "a red glow" coming from inside of it. Pretty much only one object could be in that box, the Element of Loyalty.
So then whatever (whoever) is in the cylinder shoots a beam to the box. That's Rainbow connecting with the Element.
One last piece of evidence: In chapter 3 The Plunge, when the shit hit the fan Belle was essentially forced to experience all Dash's memories at once. But if you read carefully you'll notice something. There were no new ones. It was all old stuff right up to the fight with the Dragon Matriarch, but nothing after. If this were taking place in the future or something you'd think Dash would have made some new memories.
I present this evidence to the Noble Jury, and I rest my case.
1472761
You have taken many of my stray thoughts on the matter and summed them up quite nicely. A+, would read again.
The reports of her death have been greatly exaggerated.
1471631 1472761 I think you're onto something.
In previous chapter :
Red. Not yellow. So it's the Element of Loyalty, purified from Discord ? Maybe Discord energy coming from the pillar, purified by the Element ?
1473253 Im not sure the author knows either...
1472827
Of course, the only reports of her death we've seen were in the comments.
I never doubted that she was still alive. Axan set her down GENTLY in the end. AXAN. If Axan was moved to gentleness, then RD should not be dead, as Axan clearly respects or fears whatever Austraeoh is waaaaay more than she hates RD's guts.
And anyway, darkness/nothing/whathaveyou has overtaken Dash a whole bunch of times, no reason to think that it's anything more than another bout of unconsciousness... (aside from the nasty compound fracture in her wing, and stuff)
1473334 Blasphemy. [youtube=http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=znGBU5oODz8&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DznGBU5oODz8]
How dare you question the almighty Imploding Colon/SS&E and his infinite wisdom.
1473408
1473414
1473476 Time travel is my theory.
Dammit...
You've had blinders on us while we trotted along Austraeoh. We liked that road. We wanted to follow it to the end. We were happy with our blinders, looking ahead, because we could see the road unwinding in front of us.
Now... you've abruptly turned us onto a different road. It runs parallel to the road we were on, but we are still wearing our blinders.
We are looking ahead on this road, and want to see where it goes. But the other road still beckons to us. We were happy on that road. We can see bits and pieces of it where it winds along, but we can't see past the blinders.
We fear that the road we were on, Austraeoh, has indeed come to an end. We fear Rainbow Dash, the invincible hero, the pegasus who wasn't supposed to die... has perished. We fear we are not seeing bits and pieces of that road at all beyond our blinders, but the ghost of what it was.
We feel loss, but we trot blindly ahead, and we mourn.
1471631
It'd be kinda crazy if Belle and Rainbow somehow recombined into a single entity. Bit too crazy to actually happen, but.....
---
On a serious note:
The theory of "Rainbow Dash the Science Experiment" has plenty of merit, but the big question we have is this: How the FUCK does ANYTHING survive massive amounts of concussive force resulting in mass internal organ destruction? Anything short of another dragon would have massive internal bleeding after what Rainbow went through in Austraeoh, so we have to demonstrate how she survived.
If anyone says "THE POWER OF OTP WITH GOLD PETALS" I will personally punch them in the face.
1473843
... Magic? :P
It turns out she didn't, anyway. :(
I'm jaded. I mean... I'M DEPRESSED! D:
And now we get some of Rainbow's happier memories.
Interesting that this more vivid and clear memory is a happy one from Rainbow's life in Ponyville. We get to revisit the side of her that was perhaps eclipsed by the growing darkness in Austraeoh.
Damn you and your crazy theories.
Huh. I wonder when this reference will gain more significance.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
So in this chapter, Belle gets to see a happier memory of Dash's. Nothing else really happens though, so...yeah. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
I just remembered, Discord protected her that one time.
So Chaos Magic?
GOT IT!
dash's life is flashing before her eyes and this second party is witnessing it attempting to find where civilization failed! that is my story and i am sticking to it.