"I think I would rratherr be just blind!" Kepler hollered.
"What?!" Ariel shouted.
"I said... I think I would rratherr be just blind!"
Ariel leaned in closer. "What?!?"
"I said—" Kepler sighed defeatedly. He slouched against the pegasus, his body flinching from every pounding noise and loud crash echoing from the nearby machinery. "Therre goes my weekly attempt at rrandom jocularrity."
"... ... ..." Ariel squinted. "WHAT?!?!"
A few paces over—where it was even louder—Seraphimus and Wildcard stood side by side. Seemingly unfazed.
The two griffins watched as the goblins carted over a fresh supply of slate gray metal. They loaded the material onto wagons and positioned them besides a large door. After shouts were exchanged, a bright flashing light was ignited. Soon after, an enormous slatted door lifted up slowly, exposing the fiery chamber to twilight from the outside world. The black metal dock that led out to the cancerous, living ocean was exposed, attaching directly to the widening sea-side door of the foundry.
Without moving her beak, Seraphimus lifted both hands and gestured: "The wagons are designed for horses to draw."
Wildcard nodded. He gestured with flesh-and-metal hands. "It is a refined system that the goblins have going on here. They must have been working with the Dihmers for generations."
Seraphimus calmly replied: "It cannot just be a single boat that they build with all this metal."
Wildcard gestured: "They could make enough material here to build an entire city."
Seraphimus: "That makes sense with Petra. But what do the Dihmers use the metal for? They do not make buildings out of it."
Wildcard: "Not here, they do not."
Seraphimus stroked her chin in thought.
Meanwhile...
...a line of shaved equines shuffled in from the docks. One by one, they lined up along with the carts. A goblin overseer greeted them, and a distant conversation was had.
This was all seen by Flynn. Craning his neck, the Heraldite rotated his eye-lens, focusing on the faces of one goblin and one Dihmer. He couldn't tell what the goblin was saying, but he could easily read the lips of the hairless pony... enough to make out "It collects."
Flynn sighed unenthusiastically. He was about to look elsewhere when—
CR-CRASSSH! A new noise punctuated the bedlam. The entire Herald jumped, startled.
Flynn looked over to see that one of the carts had tipped over from a broken wheel. Slabs of metal collapsed across the floor of the foundry. A gaggle of goblins flinched and shook their fists angrily. Following their line of sight, Flynn saw a lone Dihmer—shivering—scrambling to pick up the pieces.
"...!" Without thinking, Flynn galloped forward to assist. Ariel hollered something, but it was too loud for him to make out her words.
By the time Flynn arrived at the scene, he came close enough to actually hear the goblins cursing:
"Damned bloody Dihmah!"
"Had to kick it, didn't you?!"
"That's fine Smelt-Bloodah engineerin'! What'd you do to it?!"
"Hey! Lay off, will ya?!" Flynn snapped at them. "If your shit's gonna break down that easily, then maybe you should conduct more routine maintenance!"
"Hah! Who are you, horsie?! King of industry?!"
"Grows out half his hair and fancies himself an expert! Hah! Damned daft glue stick..."
Flynn's cheeks flushed with subdued anger. "That's a new one..." He leaned forward, horn glowing as he levitated half of the metal beams. "Here..." He approached the shaken Dihmer. "Let me fetch you another cart."
"It... it c-collects," the pony stammered, timid and breathy. Gray, wrinkled forelimbs fought to drag the metal slabs away from the wreck. "It collects. It collects—"
"Listen! It's too friggin' heavy for you!" Flynn growled. "For once in your miserable lives, let someone else relieve your damned stress—"
"I said I've got it!" the Dihmer snarled, flashing Flynn an angry glance. Immediately, the mare gasped, her brilliant purple eyes reflecting his surprised face... along with every colorful and lively detail.
Flynn blinked. His lens rotated, fixating on a tiny stub of a horn protruding from her forehead, stunted and crooked. His lips pursed.
"... ... ..." She blinked. Eventually, the mare's ears drooped, and her colorful pupils hid beneath shameful eyelids. "It... it f-fails..."
"Hey..."
"It fails. It collects." She returned to the grind, pushing the slabs with a deep-chested grunt across the dooframe and towards another cart. Her chanting mantra was devoured by the noise and soot and twilight.
Flynn stood beside the wreckage, numb with wonderment. "...who the Hell... how the Hell...???"
Normal speech. Strange.
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Yet broken.
Now things are getting interesting. Flynn, you better follow her or so help me...
Well color me interested. And surprised.
I thought the Dihmers didn't even have it in them to have emotion. Not in a way of supressing it, but in a way of evolution just making sure that they wouldn't even have the capacity after so many eons.
Hmm that was certainly unexpected. I see this one tagging along for the journey.
Very interesting indeed. "It fails" is obviously something they say when a pony gets angry. I guess something 'failing' is them letting anger or too much emotion out? If they have that concept and that saying specifically, then maybe emotional outbursts or slip ups from the Dihmer population aren't that rare, and Flynn might be able to get her to talk more.
inb4 Flynn x Dihmer #347
So a curious goblin and an outcast Dihmer join the ranks it seems.
Nice to see Sera and WC conversing like that, even if it was fairly dry.
-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.
Whoa! Now this is something worth exploring.
OMG!
(It fails)
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Except, did you read my post? Unless they are a Changeling Queen, or one of the higher up Batponies that know the truth, Why would you believe them to be from the light side? And whats more, if somehow I DID believe them being from the light side, I still wouldn't.
Instead I would murder them and take their stuff to sell, as those things would be super rare and valuable, maybe even powerful.
Interesting detail, especially since Dihmers usually don't have lively eyes or express emotions. Now maybe she can tell the Herald a bit more about the Dihmer cultural practices and why these failed to work on her. Unless she is an evil shapeshifter from
outer spacebeyond the blob.That Dihmer is a Spy!
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That’s a really interesting idea — “It fails” could refer to both outsiders failing to communicate in the proper way and with the Dihmers themselves failing to constrain their emotions.
Wat?
Hmmm...
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I still freak out about it from time to time. guess I got lucky
Stands to reason younger Dihmers need to learn to repress emotions through repetition, although the changelings would still likely have to be a part of that process somehow. Let's see if anything comes of this development.
Seraphimus x Logan Ship Confirmation Chapter Counter : 56
Talk about having it beaten out of you, but how would they learn about speech like that when faced with normal population?
Don't let her get away! You've gotta bring her along on this crazy quest!
Wait... Her survivability prospects aren't high if she associates with Rainbow. Not that they're too dang high to begin with. Hrrrmm.
There's the information mare. Go get her Flynn.
Also, I feel like the crew is getting a bit separated here. Everyone's kinda off doing their own conversation antics. This might not end well.
Heh. Failed dihmmers have been hinted a lot of times since they first appeared, but I didn't expect to find them like that. I expected them to be kind of outcasts, unable to function in dihmmer society. I didn't expect them to try and lead "normal" dihmmer lives. Maybe they are no different from other dihmmers and they all fail some times?
Perhaps I was wrong about the Dihmers. There is still hope for them.
Oh yeah, that's just cousin Martha. She's weird.
Interesting... the only Dihmer we've seen with coloured eyes. This isn't the last we'll see of her.
The one that fails is newer to the way it talks. Either a freshly graduated youngin from wherever the kids are raised, or it's a changeling on observation duty, because there doesn't seem to be much emotion to collect from the Dihmers.
It collects.
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I noticed that she wasn't described as having color until after her outburst. It also described her as "lively." Perhaps they undergo some kind of voluntary thing that drains them much like Tirek did to twilight and Co. (Which drained their colors as well as a side effect of draining their magic)
Huh.
Yes! Awesome! New companion get!!! WHOOP!
Hmmmmm. So Dihmers aren't completely as emotionless as they seem.
Named character, ho!
What if the Dihmers are that unemotional not as an adaption to the changelings praying on them, but as a consquence of the changelings actually feeding on them the whole time? And this one might be the lucky one who somehow escaped all of it and needs to hide among the others?
It did not fail: it won.
Yesss yesss. .... Let the Dark ... no wait, Light Side flow through you.
I bet this one's not a descendant of the ones that came over with the changelings. I bet this one is a descendant of the Expedition. New Blood comparatively speaking.
Hey, haven't heard that one since EoP. You really are modeling these goblins after those bloody monkeys aren't you?
Also, hello new heraldite.
Looks like we've found the Swab of the Red Barge.
Ooo new friend?
Whoa, okay. A Dihmer that speaks (and looks) somewhat normally. Didn't expect that.
This raises multiple questions. She's got to be some kind of outcast or a changeling. If the former, this indicates that their behavior/emotion suppression is more of a learned trait and likely not something resulting from generations of inbreeding/malnutrition.
We're probably going to be seeing more of her long-term.
Oooohooo. A speaking Dihmer. Methinks we have a new travel buddy.
It fails indeed. Either she’s a young new pony fresh from the crib or it’s a changeling in disguise. My bet’s on the former, but it’s nice to know at least one of the Dihmers speak normally.
This purple-eyed Dihmer is really sus, you guys. I saw her sneak into a vent and experience emotions!
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Finally returning to re-read and catch up, and I'm delighted we already have fresh references in the coments
Well now, if that isn't a plot hook, then I don't know what is. Quick! To the Plot-Mobile!
IT SPEAKS!!
Does it change? I'm pretty sure it changes.
...wait. Horses?
.............HOLY SHIT THEY CAN SAY OTHER WORDS???? And she's a unicorn???