"Hidey-ho, neighbor!" Pinkie Pie grinned, eyes bright and blue amidst the gray malaise of the Dihmer city. "My name's Rainbow Dash! Have you ever heard of the Church of Austraeoh of Latter-Day Heraldites?"
"Knock it off, Pinkie Pie," Applejack muttered.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?" Pinkie shrugged. "Forgive me for wanting to liven up this party-poop'd place!"
"That's Rainbow's job. Not ours."
"Hrmmmfff..." Pinkie folded her forelimbs, pouting. "One of these days, I'd love to hop into Dashie's body and do the talking for her! After all, she deserves a break!"
"Yeah..." Fluttershy muttered aside. "But with that delivery, you'd accidentally start Whinny War Three."
"Hahahahaha..." Rarity laughed daintily. "'Whinny War Three'..."
"Wait..." Fluttershy blinked. "That was funny?"
"Why, of course it was, dear! Then again... a choking kitten would be positively hilarious in a place such as this."
"Oh no—!"
"Shhhhhhhh!" Twilight Sparkle frowned at the rest of them. "For Celestia's sake, girls!" She sighed and glanced at their anchor. "Go ahead, Rainbow."
"Sometimes, I swear..." Rainbow muttered to herself as she crossed the street and approached the mare with scarred fetlocks. "...I don't need mysterious drums to give me a migraine."
"Awwwwwwwww..." Pinkie waved a hoof. "...you love us."
"Ahem!" Rainbow approached the mare. She threw on a bright grin. "Hidey-ho, neighbor! My name's Rainbow Dash!" Her muzzle hung open as her body sagged in a silent moan.
"Heeheeheee!" Pinkie giggled proudly.
"Excuse me..." Rainbow gestured, her smile trailing on a fragile angle. "Let me start over—"
"It fails," the mare murmured hoarsely, older than most Dihmers Rainbow had spoken to. Her eyes were closed almost meditatively.
"Yes. I know." Rainbow stood up straight. "You... uh..." Her eyes fell to the mare's scarred legs. "...look like you've seen a lot of action. Perhaps you'd be so kind as to answer some questions for me."
"It fails."
"Hey." Rainbow frowned. "It opens its eyes."
Slowly, the eyelids of the mare peeled back. One eye was glazed white. The other's pupil was off-center.
Fluttershy and Rarity winced.
Rainbow spoke, undaunted. "I'm not like the other ponies that you've lived with your entire life. See?" She rubbed her pendant; the Element gave a warm ruby glow. "It glimmers. It is from Penumbra. Paradise. You know about Paradise, right? I mean... something about the Light Side must have been carved into your subconscious."
The mare looked at Rainbow, at her Element, then at the bustling streets beyond. "It is false."
"Sure. Whatever. But it is different." Rainbow's brow furrowed. "At least it can acknowledge that."
The mare breathed in and out. "It is different."
"Right! Now we're doing somewhere." Rainbow cleared her throat. "Perhaps you can tell me a thing or two about—"
"It strips."
Rarity did a double-take.
Twilight looked at Applejack.
"... ... ..." Rainbow blinked. "...come again?"
"It strips for that which provides," the mare calmly said. She pointed nebulously towards Omega, in the vague direction of the rising column of smoke. "It stabilizes that which collects."
"That... which collects?"
The mare nodded. "It waits."
"... ... ...it waits."
"It waits."
"Right." Rainbow nodded. She turned and called over her shoulder. "Ariel?! Let's go back and see what the Bloodwings are up to—"
Fwooosh! Twilight Sparkle flew into Rainbow's face. "Rainbow..."
"Ugh..." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Not now, egghead. No lectures—"
"It's always a good time for a lecture with you as our anchor!" Twilight frowned. "You need to try harder."
"I can't get anything out of these ponies!" Rainbow's voice cracked. "It's like drawing water from a stone!"
"Ooh!" Rarity chirped. "Smashing analogy, Rainbow!"
"Thanks, Rares."
Twilight scowled. "Rarity, don't encourage her."
"Awwwwwww..."
"Can we get back to the stripping?" Pinkie Pie yawned. "That was the only exciting bit since we got here."
"Hold up—hold up." Rainbow held her hooves up. "I've got this. AJ?"
"Buh?"
"Come over here. Be my wingmare."
"Buh..." Applejack floated over as Rainbow approached the mare yet again.
"Okay..." Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "...it waits."
The scarred Dihmer echoed. "It waits."
Rainbow glanced at Applejack.
"Uhhhh..." Applejack focused on the mare. She scratched her blonde scalp and said, "Reckon... she's referrin' to a place."
"A place?" Pinkie Pie squeaked.
Rainbow leaned in closer. "Where does it wait?"
The mare droned: "It waits beyond that which beats."
"And how does someon go beyond that which beats?"
"It crosses with what it collects."
"And how does one collect...?"
"It provides to that which strips."
"And where can I find that which strips?" Rainbow blinked. "...besides me of course."
The mare pointed towards the rising smoke. "It resides besides that which stabilizes. It listens for where it chimes."
"Ohhhhhhhhhhh..." Pinkie nodded. "...so it chimes where it strips for those who provide and stabilizes for those who collects to cross to where it waits..." Her left eye bugged, and then the other. "WHAT?!?"
"I... think she's tellin' us to go someplace over yonder and listen for chimes," Applejack said. "And... presumably... that's where we can go and figure out exactly why this town exists so close to the Ocean."
"Wow..." Fluttershy murmured. "Really? You gleaned all that?"
"Hey..." Rainbow smirked. "There's a reason why AJ was the last 'ghost-pal' to unlock from Verlax's chaotic cages. She's the best there is."
"Still, you could stand to repeat it, darling," Rarity said. "I think you even lost Twilight in that exchange."
"She did not!" Twilight protested. Then, her lavender cheeks reddened. "Okay... maybe a little..."
"Rainbow Dash...?" Flynn hobbled up to the scene. "I don't mean to be the pony who always goes 'what the hell,' but..." He frowned. "What the Hell?!"
"I think I've found a place of interest... to help us ascertain a different place of interest."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah." Rainbow pointed. "Let's head towards the source of that smoke... only slightly off to the right."
"What are we going to find there?" Ariel asked.
"I dunno yet," Rainbow said, stepping down the side-streets leading towards their fresh objective. "But start listening for chimes!"
Wildcard's headcrest drooped. He gestured: "Chimes?"
"That's right, bud."
"Ach..." Kepler fumbled to keep up with Ariel. He winced at the constant thumping noise permeating the atmosphere all around them. "Easierr said than done, I fearr."
"Don't worry, wyvern," Seraphimus spoke. "I'll keep my ears open for this group. I've trained myself to detect falling snow across a graveyard."
"Somehow... that does not alleviate my concerrns..."
"You comin', Rainbow?" Logan asked.
"In a moment, Big Show!" Rainbow curtsied at the mare. "Thanks a bunch, ma'am. You've been a real big help."
The mare's eyes closed as she exhaled: "It vanishes."
"... ... ...you better believe it, sister." And Rainbow galloped off to join the others.
Chiming.
Lots of music in this installment.
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Lots of Art and Expressing oneself!
This is the point where I need the walk through, because I always keep missing the one person I have to talk to four times because I cant recognise them being new and can never remember where they are and why I should go back and talk to them, because Im new to the area.
Man, it's pretty hard understanding the "Dihmer language"
It's so vague, I'm suprised that AJ can make that much sense out of it.
Also, I'm really starting to wonder where all the Dihmer kids are.
lol I guess Whinny War 1 and 2 are canon in this universe.
"Hi, do you believe in our Lord and Savior East Horse?"
Pinkie knows whats up!
Oh my....got things planned with Ariel, hmm?
Ok the Dihmer language is kind of hard to follow but I think I get it. I bet IC has a document with at least some of the language already typed up so he doesn't forget.
Good thing someone can understand them, because I can barely make heads or tails of what is being said.
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It's totally easy.
Think of how the Darkstainians spoke, cut out the subject, objects, conjunctions... Etc. Basically what they spent five minutes teaching us in high school.
...
Take a sentence like this, cut the extra, and you're left with:
Take this.
Everything nonessential is removed.
You're left with absolute fact, point, and direction, which would be much more efficient in an extremely low tech high population environmental surrounded by danger.
It fails would mean 'I don't understand,' instead of 'This one, known as (name)(name) of (location) does not understand the context of your statement,' as the DS were wont to speak.
'Sustains. means support, an implied term for food, supplies, or usable equipment. Like scavving detritus of war to smelt.
Etc.
So listen for chimes.
They've met the spindlers who play strings, are they about to meet the percussion spiders?
-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.
Emeraldine language was tedious to sort, but Dimher language? I can barely understand this stuff
*GASP*
GG, Pinkie.
Wh-Whada-whada-whaaaaaaa???
Nu, bad Pinkie.
Listen for the chimes... what's next, listen for the kazoo?
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I mean yeah it's not super difficult, but when you get home after an 8-hour shift at work sometimes it can take me a few passes to understand what exactly is going on.
Aw, she hasn’t changed at all. Still the same murderous death turkey.
Okay, so, no monster-infested mire..........yet.
At least RD was able to talk to the Dhimers. That's progress, right?
Finally caught up on the last few chapters. Gotta agree with Ariel here, they are definitely emo as hell without the emo part. On the bright side, we're getting somewhere.
I always was curious about AJ's power aside from being able to tell apart truth and lies. Personally, I'm thinking AJ has powers related to communication. Honesty is the building block of communication, after all.
I gotta wonder if these dihmers can even get annoyed. I'm sure the emotional stupidity of the Herald's questions would get on their nerves if it was possible to do so.
"It fucks off. Finally."
She didn't approach in pairs.
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Hm, I interpreted the line "it fails" not as a failure of comprehension, but as a warning. Whenether someone showed any form of emotional outburst, the Dihmers uttered "it fails" and reset the conversation, probably to suppress dangerous thoughts outside of their collective stoicism. This might be one of their methods to shield themselves from exploitations by Changelings and Bloodwings.
Coming to think of it, their blood seems to be devoid of harmonic glow, so perhaps they have found a way to bypass the Night Shard's soul harvesting as well.
I will say though, if culture is what's blockading communication I'd go for the youngest person, definitely not the oldest one.
Something about Permit A 38.
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While I like your take on things, I also like my growing headcannon that Ariel is just one of the first ponies in the world to express an X-Gene, and that her mutant power is to secrete conditioner and shampoo from her pores.
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this is great
It gets somewhere.
Do you have a moment to discuss our Fuzzy Savior Rainbow Dash?
Also, I thought it was called Zoroaustraeohism.
...
I can't believe I complained about Floydien's unique speech mode back in Innavedr.
It speaks more clearly or else it gets the hose again.
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They don't seem to be seeing any foals; maybe they're all locked up in some nightmarish brainwashing facility that passes for grade school among the Dihmers.
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I'm surprised they only had two; ponies are a contentious people: https://derpibooru.org/995087
It thickens
Mood.
It is confused...
Someone?
This is not life... This is self-imposed torture on a societal level.
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I was thinking more Wilson from Home Improvement, but this works too
XD. It almost has that same level of brain-boggling twisters that I saw from this particular comment I read in one of nicoB’s let’s plays
Here’s the link of where you find this comment: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zPa3B4YNzMQ
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I think that's actually exactly what happened. Let's break it down:
Vanish
Disappear from sight
Go away
"Fuck off."
I know, late comment is late. I'm just catching up now.
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Eagle Eye would kill for that ability.
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That' way funnier that the theory I came up with, which is that the Dihmer wasn't used to ponies flying, so when Rainbow flew up out of her line of sight, she didn't bother looking up and assumed she just vanished.
I mean, I'd join. Probably way less annoying that any other religion.
....hmmm...
Well...that's...not great.
That's the most emotion I think any of these ponies have shown. She be like "phew, that freak is gone".