"Whoah, dayum!"
"Quick! Before the air sucks us up!"
"H'lynna wyln'ym w'jynna! H'lemmna!"
"Jeez! Look at it go!"
"No time to sight-see! Careful with her wings—"
"Relax, Ariel. We got her. Dubya?"
"... ... ..."
"Incoming!"
"Whoah! What the Hell did y'all do?!"
"Haven't the faintest clue! One second, Rainbow here was sucked into that gul'durn thang. The next thing we knew, she was bein' spat out like a sunflower seed! Good thang Dubya swooped down and caught her in the nick of time!"
"How come he wasn't sucked away by the wind this time?"
"Guess it died down! On account of... well, I-I mean just look at it!"
"Incredible..."
"What about Rainbow Dash?!"
"The Blood of Luna. She lives?"
"Everryone! Move yourrselves aside! Allow me a closerr look!"
"Move your flanks! Let the wyvern have a look-see!"
"The Austraeoh... what did you mortals do?!"
"Didn't you hear me, Remna? I done toldja that the golden tower sucked her inside and—"
"Shhhh! Silence, brrotherrs and sisterrs! She brreathes!"
"Mmmmm... R-Rainbow Dash?"
"It's okay, Ariel. Look. See? Her eyes are opening! She's okay!"
"Oh, thank Goddess..."
"Rrainbow one? Can you see me? Arre you consciously awarre of what's going on?"
Rainbow's lips parted. Her eyelashes fluttered... then fluttered some more.
The clouds above parted slowly. Starlight peeked down at her. A golden light... streaming...
"Rainbow Dash? Child, are you there?"
"Stay tuned, Yer Majesty. We... uh... we're tryin' to figure out what's goin' on ourselves."
"Is she in one piece?"
"Hard to say. Enix? Could ya tell yer midnighter friends to give us some space?"
"I do not understand. How did she make the tower sink?"
Rainbow Dash blinked. She became aware of a torrent of water rushing just out of view.
"Mmmmrmfff..." With a tiny trilling sound, Rainbow Dash sat up.
"Now now..." A wyvern's claw pressed her gently back down to the Stardust's deck. "Rrest easy, my frriend. At least until we've made a prroperr assessment—"
Gnashing her teeth, Rainbow strongly resisted Kepler's gesture. She sat up, blinking off the port side of the vessel.
There was something missing from the ocean.
Rainbow blinked. With a single flap of her wings, she planted herself up on her hooves—forcing Kepler, Flynn, and Logan to jump back with a gasp. Ariel, Remna, and Bard watched worriedly as she trotted up to the deck's edge. The sound of rushing water grew louder and louder. At last, Enix and her trusty wingmates shuffled aside—revealing a bubbling sea-within-a-sea beyond the hull of the Stardust.
The ghostly figures of Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy flew in closer. "Rainbow?" Twilight gulped. "Rainbow, can you hear us?"
Rainbow ignored them, staring out into the tempestuous waters.
It was just in time to spot the shiny summit of the golden tower sinking beneath the waves. Frothing waters boiled in a wavering circle around the scene. Within seconds, the entire structure had sank completely. The Stardust and Bleakweed vessels kept a safe distance.
"Austraeoh...?" Remna asked, craning her neck.
"You entered the tower," Enix murmured, her scarred jaw hanging agape. "And now... it vanishes... as if on command." She and her fellow batponies let loose feeble squeaks, eyeslits blinking. "Just what are you, Rainbow Dash?"
Remna stepped closer. "What happened in there?"
Rainbow Dash didn't answer. She found herself staring past her friends... past the sinking gold light of the tower.
There was a separate gold light. It hung over the waters like a curtain... draping eastward, curving southward, rolling towards the edge of the world.
Rainbow's lips pursed. The Element of Loyalty glinted as it hung from her neck.
The gold light lingered—far softer than Yaerfaerda—but ever present... ever lulling.
"Rainbow Dash...?" Luna's voice echoed with undeniable concern.
Remna glanced at the mare, then at the seas where she was gazing. "... ... ...what is it that you see, Austraeoh?"
Rainbow's ghostly friends exchanged confused glances.
The Herald leaned in from a distance, breathless.
Rainbow exhaled. Hypnotically, she bore a devilish smirk. "Of course..."
Wings spread.
Wildcard whistled shrilly.
Logan raised a hoof. "Wait a tick—"
FWOOOSH! Rainbow ascended in a prismatic blur, sailing off the Stardust's port side.
Remna blinked.
Ariel and Flynn gasped.
"Hmmm..." Enix glanced at the other ponies. "...does she normally do this?"
"Herald—!" Bard shouted.
"On it!" Ariel shouted. Swooooooosh! She shot up like a comet, followed shortly by Wildcard.
Gnashing his teeth, Bard galloped and joined the others. Enix let loose a few articulate shrieks and lifted off, accompanied by two wingmates.
"Okay..." Flynn paced and paced, pulling at what was left of his mane. "Will somepony please tell me what the Hell is going on here?!"
"It's finally happened," Logan droned. "She's flipped her lid."
"Why now of all times?!" Flynn gaped at Kepler. "Smarty McWyvern! You've got any clues?!"
Kepler shrugged. "I cannot fathom." He smiled through his tusks. "Most glorrious..."
"Rrrrgh... seriously?! That's your description of everything!"
While the rest of the Herald bickered in the background, Remna remained situated patiently in place. She watched the prismatic figure along the horizon with scrutinous eyes, her violet eyes twitching to the last bubbles erupting off the ship's hull.
What the what
Wait, the talon...
Dammit Skirts
Umm? A thing happened but i'm not sure what... Good thing there is moar.
so now she sees Utaan instead of Yaerfaerda? It would make sense, now that Yaerfaerda's purpose has been completed...
Things... are getting so confusing all of the sudden. So many questions are popping up in my head again, and I don't think I'll get answers for a long time.
~SolidFire
Hmmm this is a bit confusing to say the least.
I have never been so pumped to read a chapter. I literally was squeeing myself. I Squeed. There was squeeing everywhere. I need a sec to breath.
RD, take 1D4 San loss for the void staring back. Not enough to go full temporary insanity, but enough to mess with priorities.
A new guiding light then? One beckoning towards the best point of passing the edge, I'd wager.
So.... Utaan is gold nao?
Whelp, shes chasing the gold now!
7531324 http://www.gingersoftware.com/english-online/spelling-book/confusing-words/breath-breathe
Gold, huh?
Hmmm...
7531841
Aw, many thanks grammar warrior. That little "e" at the end has a habit of being overlooked. Continue to protect the integrity of the English language, so it may not fall in to iniquity and doubt...
For real though, thanks
Is she hypnotized? Where was the flame? What does it all mean?
Tune in to find out (probably not) in tomorrow's episode of East Horse Chronicles.
Wildcard is actually Discord: confirmed.
Also, the earth is flat, Stratopolis was built by ancient aliens, and Verlaxion's death was an inside job.
7533554 Aside from that first sentiment, I think we've proven all of those other theories to be true. Congrats on being the most down to earth conspiracy theorist ever.
7533554 Even if those weren't proven, they'd still make more sense than these past few chapters
Yep, she's truly gone over the edge this time.
Wait what? Last we saw Rainbow she was getting sucked back by some weird chaos creature...
Did she make it out?
Is that really her
Please hold
We are experiencing some Harmonic Events.
So now Utaan is guiding her? Kinda makes sense if that's the case.
"What do you see?" seems to be the arc words for this part of the journey.
11/10/2019
03:17 UTC
Wait, which symbol is she seeing now? Utaan?
We got a new type of beacon.
It... It's beautiful.