Rainbow Dash lay on her side in the dark.
A cramped chamber enveloped her—a bunk built for an ancient pony. The place was still filled with ancient junk... junk left behind hastily by ancient hooves. And yet—in each dim-lit blink that the restless mare made—she could have sworn it looked like somepony had lived in there just one month ago. Rainbow only chose that particular chamber to rest in because the cushions were angled in such a way that they mimicked a curved hammock.
It still wasn't enough to put her to sleep.
The mare's nostrils flared. She stared at the ceiling... at the random nick-nacks, tools, and patchwork pieces of paper lingering from an expedition long gone.
Rainbow Dash wasn't alone. One of her friends was "keeping watch" during her rest. She knew this because—
"Rainbow, darling?"
Rainbow's nostrils flared yet again. "What is it, Rarity?"
A little fashion horse ghost phased through the wall flanking her bed. "Are you asleep?"
Rainbow's ears twitched. "I dunno. You tell me."
"Oh! Uhm... terribly sorry." Rarity smiled nervously. "I won't bother you." And she sank slowly like a marshmallow in rusted tar.
Rainbow clenched her eyes shut. With a droning voice, she said, "Go ahead, Rarity."
That squishy, pale phase emerged just beyond the wall. "No. It's not important. Return to your slumbers."
"Rarity, there are no slumbers."
"But...!" Rarity half-emerged once again, muzzle agape. "You've been lying still all this lengthy time!"
"Believe me. I know."
"But you really should get some—"
"Rarity, I'm awake. Just talk to me, already." Rainbow gulped. "And thanks—y'know—for k-keeping watch all this time."
"Don't mention it, darling." Rarity floated above the mare. She waved a dainty fetlock. "I'm more than happy to."
"So..." Rainbow breathed. "What's on your mind?"
"Does mane conditioner extend permanently beyond the afterlife?" the unicorn melodically squeaked, fluffing her mane as she muttered aloud. "If only I had this gift back when I was not a weightless eidolon."
"Mrnnnnghhh..." Rainbow's brow furrowed. "Is that really what you wanted to talk about?"
"Hmm?" Rarity's eyelashes fluttered. "What?! No! Of course not!" She cleared her throat and "sank" down until she was floating parallel to Rainbow. "Much rather, I was wondering about the fate of the Darkreach Expedition."
"Uh huh..."
"You don't suppose that they..." Rarity bit her bottom lip.
"That they what, Rarity?"
"That... that they returned to the Light Side?" Rarity gulped. "All of them?"
At that, Rainbow sat up halfway. She arched an eyebrow. "You mean you think they gave up?"
"Well, think about it, darling," Rarity said. "They came over here—all mortals—and they found themselves tasked with having to fill this dreadful place with cumbersome equipment. Then they had to map the landscape, deal with the local wildlife, find horrid ways to subsist on the unforgiving, arid earth..."
"They were tasked by royal authority, Rarity," Rainbow Dash said. "Alicorn Royal Authority. Emeraldine and Equestria aren't all that different from one another. Ponies are super-duper dedicated to the ones in charge. Do you think that Twilight's brother and sister-in-law are gonna turn tail and head back to Equestria along with their whole expedition just 'cuz they've been waiting in Ward for so friggin' long?"
"I certainly wouldn't blame them!"
"Rrnnngh..." Rainbow Dash rubbed her forehead. "Rarity..."
"Alright, maybe not Shining Armor and Princess Cadance," Rarity said. "No doubt Sturke is treating them with absolute respect and an abundance of luxuries."
"Uh huh..."
"But who would fault the Emeraldinians? Especially since we don't know precisely how long they struggled here inside this mesa?"
"We know bits and pieces," Rainbow quietly said. "Kepler estimates from the recorded entries that they were holding out for at least seven recorded years."
"Seven years, Rainbow Dash?!" Rarity blanched. "For a mission of such importance, that's an awfully short time for them to commit!"
Rainbow shrugged. "Maybe something drove them out. We had a changeling hatch here, remember?"
"Wouldn't you think this place would be in greater disarray?" Rarity remarked. "And all of the equipment that Flynn and Logan found! I mean... why did they leave so many useful tools behind?"
Rainbow tiredly rubbed her head again. "You've got me there, Rares..."
"So..." Rarity folded her fetlocks as she thought out loud: "I would venture to guess that dread and bitter spirits overwhelmed them... and they simply retreated."
"Just like that..."
"Well, m-maybe there was a coup!"
"There's no evidence of that kind of unrest in Ranort's logs."
"But Kepler hasn't listened to every single entry yet!"
"Well, true..." Rainbow nodded. "But that makes it just as stupid to assume anything, then."
"I personally believe a spontaneous retreat makes sense."
"Uh huh..."
"Because..." Rarity gestured with her fetlocks. "...the guilt and shame of doing so would likely explain why they left all of their materials and notes behind. If they abandoned Darkreach, they would have done so completely! Both in reality as well as in concept!"
"I have a hard time imagining that Commander Gwen would have let them just... up and leave," Rainbow said. "She and Warhol sounded awfully committed."
"No doubt a few hung back," Rarity said. "They likely would have made the journey to the Midnight Armory alone... with less-than-stellar results."
"Well, that's grim," Rainbow droned.
"One cannot help but think that way, darling," Rarity said.
"I don't think that way."
"Well..." Rarity fluffed her mane with a slight smile. "Perhaps there's hope for you yet. I don't know whether to feel saddened or envious."
"But what of Rohbredden?" Rainbow Dash remarked. "Onyxxus was preparing to give up the ghost right when Darkreach was founded," she said. "Those who ditched this place wouldn't have had alicorn assistance in sneaking past Verlax, much less getting back through the Grand Choke."
"Do you really think they'd live with themselves if they made it all the way back to Emeraldine?"
"... ... ..." Rainbow Dash laid back with a sigh. She gazed lethargically at the ceiling. "No, I suppose they wouldn't."
"I'd venture to say they landed in the Twilight Lands east of Frostknife... found a quiet patch of farmland and... disappeared into the populace."
"What of the Gondola?"
"Isn't it obvious? They sent it back to the Dark Side... and then they sunk the Light Side's end of it—just as you and the Herald first found it after you gained your sights from Utaan."
"Mmmmm..." Rainbow blinked. "It's certainly a theory, alright."
"Not one that I enjoy coming up with, I assure you."
"Have you run it by Twilight?"
"Why should I?"
"Because... she's smart?"
Rarity floated over to look her anchor squarely in the face. "I'm bringing it by you, Rainbow Dash."
"Why?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Rarity swallowed. "You're our leader, darling."
Rainbow looked at her.
"You're the leader of the whole pack. Fluttershy... Applejack... Pinkie Pie... all of us. We answer to you and we go where you go. We believe in you."
Rainbow muttered, "Only because you have no choice."
"Rainbow..." Rarity floated closer, her expression stern and unwavering. "Do you honestly... truly believe that we are all with you on this journey because there simply is no other option?"
"Rarity..."
"Do you not remember the stubborn lengths we went to avoid you back in... mmmm... b-back in Red Barge?"
"... ... ..."
"It certainly hasn't been a perfect adventure... or entirely pleasant by any means... but you inspire us, Rainbow Dash," Rarity said. She floated proud and upright. "In your courage and your tenacity and your learned experience—you've given us all something to hope for. There's more to just acquiring the Harmonic Prism and bringing it back to Ponyville. There's retribution for you, darling. For all of us."
"I... don't know about all of that..."
"Well, I do." Rarity nodded. "And way back when—in the innocent days of Equestrian sunsets—Twilight may have been calling most of the shots. But she wasn't the one who taught us bravery... or the simple, redeeming qualities of action."
Rainbow said nothing.
With a smug smile, Rarity leaned in and whispered in Rainbow's ear. "Need I also remind you whose sonic rainboom united usssssss?" She leaned back, eyelashes fluttering. "It's destiny, darling!"
"Destiny could stand to be less of a dick," Rainbow said.
"Unh! Rainbow, darling!" Rarity fanned herself, laughing airily. "Ohhhhh how I wish I could just slap you at times!"
"Mrmmmff..." Rainbow exhaled. "Save it for a time when you'll be less proud of me."
"How do you figure?"
"We're not the Darkreach Expedition," Rainbow said firmly. "We're not the past or the future... we're now." Rainbow's eyes darted towards her. "Like somepony very awesome once said, 'There's no stopping this train we're on.'"
"I very much appreciate the sentiment, Rainbow Dash," Rarity said. "But I am... currently suffering any attempts to make out your specific meaning."
"Namely this." Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "We are not returning to Equestria without the Harmonic Prism."
Rarity nodded in gentle silence.
"I mean it. Either we get what's inside the Midnight Armory..." Rainbow gulped. "Or we don't come back at all. It's do or die. Literally. It's... always been."
Silence.
"Do you understand that, Rarity?" Rainbow asked. "That is where the courage's at. Not in me—it's in the journey."
"Oh Rainbow, darling..." Rarity reached a hoof over in an affection gesture. Although it phased through Rainbow's shoulder, the fashionista's expression was solid enough for the two of them. "It's so very insulting to assume that I haven't known that. Always."
Do or Die: The one thing that has really driven this story. Either get as far east as possible before dying (Back in ye olden days of yore), or get to the Dark Side, grab the Harmonic Prism, and unfuck everything that is wrong.
Also dat chapter title
There's a joke about the game in there somewhere. I'm sure.
It's nice to see everyone having a little heart to heart with someone else.
Celestia knows, they could all use it.
-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.
Yay pony bonding!
From the title I expected it to be about Ariel talking to Dash about having to eat meat. However it was nice to see some Dash and Rarity Bonding.
I say that Rainbow Dash will do vary unkind things before this is over, to her enemies... and her friends.
Basically yeah.
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I could tell you what the joke is, but I don't even have time to explain why I don't have time to explain.
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Congratulations your comment is the 3333 comment on this story. Woo?
Raridashery is always my favorite pairing, even if it's totally platonic ghost talkies.
Been awhile since Sturke or Ward have even been mentioned. Wonder what the odds are that after the Midnight Armory and the return to the Light Side its going to be the final Divine that turns out to also be the biggest obstacle? Especially if the rest of the Herald are dead and Dash gets to Ward alone, battered, barely alive, and Shining Armor and Cadance have basically been brainwashed by Sturke.
Yeah, probably too paranoid. I'm sure everything's fine in Ward.
*sigh* I know here she's the messianic protagonist, but I never did much like the notion pushed in this series that Dash was always somehow the leader or central core of the Mane6. The Elements literally gathered around the Element of Magic. Its specifically grounded in the lore that Magic only comes out when the other five come together first. Hand waving Twilight being the obvious leader of the group in the past with some words about Dash teaching them about action doesn't make much sense, especially when in the first season, the only season that was allowed to happen in this universe, Dash spent most of it learning lessons in humility. I can't think of a season one episode off the top of my head where Dash took on any kind of leadership role.
In fact all of her leadership development has been as part of her journey, something that she gained through experience, not as some intrinsic element of her character. Almost feels like it shortchanges her growth to try to say she was always like that, even pre-journey.
Regardless, Dash is right that there isn't really any going back. The question isn't whether she'll get to the Midnight Armory. Its a question of how much of her will be left by the time she gets there, and if it'll actually be worth whatever price ends up being paid by the end.
I'm liking this chapter already.
Like a marshmallow.
Blue: A lost descendant of Cylindrimane?
Herd, Rarity. Pack is for canines.
Dash is brooding over old times, maybe humming that old fvourite.
Murray Mints:One Night In Hammock.
Its like the Moray Celestia all over again?
And now, we take option 3: Wait for the next chapter update.
It hasn't always been Do or Die. Sometimes it has been Do and Die.
The main reason why I've never given the idea of Darkreach's citizens having migrated back to the light side any thought is that no character in the story has ever mentioned it and I felt it to be too obvious an alternative to slip past their attention without some additional element that I wasn't aware of making it less plausible. This discussion has just made it a lot more plausible, so here's some yays and hurrays for a possible non-grimdark twist to things for once!
Well now you jinxed it.
It's a simple death-or-glory-mission, only played on a global scale. As their fate is directly connected with the future of the ring world, any form of failure would be the cause of a prolonged decay and eventual death of everything. It really is do or die, but not just for them.
The emphasis seems important. Maybe something lived there just one month ago. Or hatched?
She really has grown a lot since red barge, even if she can't see it.
I really wish someone would make a map of the Austraeohverse [if that's what it's called] with cute little labels like "Rohbredden" and "Alafreo" because I'm starting to lose track of which places were when/where on Rainbow's journey.
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https://sta.sh/029lypxr2hvd map
Aww Rarity. You're so lost with all that's happening.
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Not just since Red Barge: Since this entire journey started she has grown. From lone wolf, to charismatic savior, to leader, then back to lone wolf and then being a leader again. I'd say she has embraced being the Austraeoh near-flawlessly.
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There's an Austreaoh themed piece of music on Youtube, I think it's called Eastward or something, that has a map like that in it. Im not able to right now, but I have the link saved so I can grab it later.
I just think it's neat!
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I'm willing to bet some of us (Not gonna lie, it includes me too) just sit here and refresh the page over and over until it updates, and then try to win the mini competition of getting the first, most witty comment in.
I'll go out and (burp) find a hammock Rarity. That's my one-armed mare Rarity. I'm not driven by sa(burp) saving the world, that's fake. I want that-that hammock Rarity!
I'm lying in bed at 5 am as i write this on my phone. It's been a genuine rollercoaster, full of highs and lows and very very late nights, spending a whole month binging through this story. And what a story. This might just be, and i know this is often said but i really mean it, this might just be the best story I've ever read.
Now I've finally caught up, after monsters and villains defeated, and regimes toppled, and bounty hunters romanced, and so much eastwards flight that we've ran out of East. And all i can say is that I'm most definitely here until the end.
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Welcome, comrade!!! :D
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You haven't read enough stories by a long shot.
That being said I give this series a score of pretty good with 10/10 props for commitment.
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This series definitely deserves more recognition, doesn't it?
Welcome to the front row seats though!
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Thanks
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I think it might be that yanking the emotional chain is a lot more effective when the story's already taken over a million words to wrap it around you. Also, I'm a sucker for anything featuring both an ancient megastructure AND airships.
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Good?! GOOD?!
I'd say he's one of, if not the best writer on this site
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Welcome to the club, get yourself a drink and drown all of the bad feels that this damned series can give you.
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Yes that's why props for commitment.
Like watching Naruto, nobody really tries to evaluate the writing of the last arcs because it plays so heavily on our attachment to the characters.
But in my opinion Austraeoh the original has been superior to every book since.
After Dash died the first time...
It never felt the same. Because Dash wasn't awesome anymore, and the story admitted as much.
Some strong cast characters helped but even with mane six back the story lacks the primary plot device.
Also attempting to use it in odrsjot at the Battle was easily my most disliked segment.
It came off.... So out of nowhere and very dues ex machina.
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My guess at IC's reaction when somebody catches up to the frontline of his series:
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/142/677/25a.gif
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Welcome aboard the Noble Jury, I'm still not going to question how these ships you lot keep getting can get over the edge safely.
But we can cannibalise them for spot repairs, so I'm sure the engineers on board aren't complaining.
Anywho, cabins are on the 4th floor, find an empty one and it's yours.
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I'm gonna need a source on that gif buddy.
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Girls und Panzer.
Probably the movie
Filing this one away for later.
I suppose Rarity isn't wrong, but I think that Rainbow is probably correct here. People are very, very obedient to royalty.
Rarity should know better than to ask that question.
And we all should know this statement by now to be an understatement.
10/18/2017
02:50 UTC
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Damn you, I just lost.
Rarity has always seen things through a more mature angle that the other girls don't have, so no doubt she believes they're getting to the Armory through storm and shit.