"Are th-they gone?!" Ariel panted and shivered. With limp limbs, she threw herself into the back of the wagon between Logan and Kepler. Trembling. "Are we in the clear?!"
"Almost!" Flynn managed, steering the craft.
"We just landed in this open patch!" Logan exclaimed, wiping his axe clean. "There's a rough stretch of rocky terrain in front of us, but past that is open season to Curveside!"
"Then what are we waiting for?!" Ariel's voice cracked.
"We must be cautious!" Kepler said, gripping tight as the vessel veered. "If we foolharrdily crrash the vessel now, we'll be picked clean by the edge of the forrest!"
Rainbow Dash got situated in the middle of the wagon. "Whatever! Just gun it!" She looked over her shoulder. "Wildcard, can you boost us clear of those things' reach?"
"Yes, we most certainly can," answered a cold voice.
"Good. Then flap those wings—" Rainbow Dash did a double-take. She looked towards the port side of the craft.
A pair of charcoal-brown eyes peered back.
Rainbow raised a hoof... lingered... then blew out the side of her muzzle. "You know what? Buck it. We'll talk about it later."
"Good," Flynn grunted, his horn glowing. "Because I'm not a big fan of it myself."
"Baldy..." Logan grunted.
"It's a miracle we haven't been abandoned by now!"
"You wanna keep humping the bedsheets of redundancy or what?"
Before Rainbow could interrupt the arguing stallions—
"WhoooOOooOoooOoooahh!" Pinkie convulsed all over.
"More dreadful boulders!" Rarity pointed into the twilight. "From Omega!"
"We've got incoming!" Rainbow shouted.
"We see it!" Kepler barked. "They'rre aimed forr ourr Alpha route!"
"We must take evasive maneuvers!" Seraphimus boldly shouted. She flashed a cold look to the starboard side. "Jordan!"
Wildcard was already nodding... already pivoting his wings.
Seraphimus followed suit, and soon the two former Talon members helped Flynn steer the craft to the right and deeper into Curveside.
In so doing, they rushed towards a mess of craggy landscape.
"Hold on!" Flynn shouted.
"Guhhhhhhh!" Ariel buried her face into Logan's side.
Th-Thumppp! The hovering wagon ramped over a jutting cluster of rocks. The vehicle gained air—and speed—hurling itself towards a narrow patch of earth nestled between clefts of limestone.
And that's when the rocks came.
THUD!
TH-THUD!
They struck both sides of the trench looming above the wagon. Chunks of debris rained down, and the group was pelted by a barrage of pebbles and loose hail.
"Come on! Come on!" Rainbow jumped backwards, landed on the rear of the wagon, and gave the vessel extra boost with her blurring wings. "Let's clear this dang thing!"
"Easier said than d-done!" Flynn snarled, struggling to navigate the serpentine path between limestone ridges.
"You are almost through!" Seraphimus exclaimed. "There's a patch of open twilight just beyond!"
Wildcard whistled, pointing towards an overhanging cleft of rock towards the right.
"I see it!" Seraphimus pivoted her wings.
Both griffins steered the vessel sharply towards the left. In doing so, it grinded against the left side of the trench, nearly flipping the wagon over.
"Grnnnnghhh—!" Flynn sweated, his horn fluctuating.
"Keep it up! Keep it up!" Rainbow stammered, flapping her wings as the wagon sped at a forty-five degree angle through the narrow stretch. "We're almost through!"
TH-TH-THUD!!! The last bevy of boulders landed above them. Rocks splattered, but they landed far behind the speeding craft. There was a blast of hot and cold air, and at last they were free from the range of the bombardment... and the trench proper. Open starlight and the dark curve of the plane appeared to them in a gloriously empty sky.
"Hold on!" Logan shouted as—
Th-Thwump! The wagon awkwardly landed even along the open plateau. It veered and spun wildly from the motion.
"Decelerrate!" Kepler hollered as he and the rest of the Herald spun. "Declerrate, brrotherr!"
"Guh!" Flynn gathered his wits, and—"M'shrynmh Thymmk!"
The light in the wagon's undercarriage dimmed as all of the stones lost a bulk of their enchantment. Nevertheless, the wagon spun over a half-dozen times, finally griding to a stop. Steam rose from the lunar dust lining the base of the vehicle... and soon it was drifting slowly backwards towards curveside.
Ariel clung to Logan, trying to hold onto her lunch.
Wildcard and Kepler slumped back, wheezing for breath.
Flynn rested limply, clutching his red-hot horn.
And Rainbow Dash...
She gazed at the waving sea of stalks—now a distant gray patch against the grim blackness of the Dark Side behind them...
...and she hollered. "Haaaaaaaah!"
Ariel, Flynn, and Kepler winced.
Nevertheless, Rainbow Dash hovered a few feet above the stalled wagon and beat her chest, screaming at the landscape through a devilish smirk. "Haaaa-Haaah!" Her ears folded back as she snarled. "Chew on that, you wet pile of poop spaghetti!"
"Woohooo!" Pinkie Pie cheered beside her dizzied ghost friends. "You tell them tentacles who's boss, Dashie!"
Seraphimus glared up at Rainbow, droning: "Must you?"
"Think you're all that?!" Rainbow spat into the Edgeside horizon. "Well I've slept in forests even tougher than you! Burning forests! You're nothing! All you've got over crud like Everfree or Foxtaur is that you're flank-ugly as Tartarus! Haah!"
"A most eloquent statement, Rrainbow One," Kepler wheezed, trying not to vomit.
"You're dang right it's—" Rainbow spoke.
RUMMMMMMMMMMMMMBLE!!!
Rainbow's smirk faded.
A loud, echoing groan rolled through the shaking plane.
The Herald froze in place.
Wildcard looked all around, his goggles rattling nervously.
"Uhmmmmm..." Logan blinked.
"What n-now?" Ariel's ears twitched. "An earthquake?"
"Something..." Fluttershy spoke up meekly. "Something is happening."
"What do you mean, darling?" Rarity asked.
"Something is..." Fluttershy's eyes narrowed. "...shifting."
RUMMMMMMMMMMMBLE!!!
Rainbow's blue muzzle scrunched. "What in the fuzz...?"
Applejack's pupils narrowed as she pointed a wild hoof. "Look, y'all!"
"Oh my goodness!" Twilight Sparkle gasped.
Before everypony's eyes, the entire forest of waving stalks lifted up. It was a cataclysmic event, accompanied by deafening salvos of exploding stone and soil. As the twilight from above settled on the shifting landscape, it became apparent that the chunk of earth wasn't actually earth at all... but instead an enormous wriggling entity—lengthy and narrow like an enlarged flatworm. A "cranial" portion of it reared towards the sky, blotting out galactic swirls and cosmos. The starlight caught a glint of impenetrable chitin, and the Herald could see an unfathomably huge set of mandibles opening and closing, accompanied by pinchers so large they could skewer islands and swallow entire villages whole.
And if that wasn't enough, this thing could scream.
"BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMGHHHHHH!!!"
"It's..." Twilight Sparkle curled into a floating fetal position. "...it's alive!"
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh..." Fluttershy smiled in momentary wonder. Her turquoise eyes reflected the waving sea of flagella along the contintental entity's backside. "...that explains everything!"
Seraphimus glared over at Rainbow Dash. "Do you wish to scoff at it now?"
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Rainbow winced so hard she nearly drooled.
The sky quivered from several ear-splitting shrieks. The entity swung its massive head, overshadowing the Herald and their tiny wagon. As the horizon was swallowed up in blackness, it became abundantly clear that the creature was lunging its mandibles straight for them. The air heated up to a boiling point as thunder cascaded from all sides.
Applejack drifted sideways, whispering into Rainbow's ear. "Run, sugarcube—"
"Run! Move! GUN IT!" Rainbow shrieked.
Flynn fumbled for a breath—
Seraphimus shoved him over. "M'shrynmh L'fynym!"
Everypony fell over in surprise as the former Talon Commander forced the wagon forward. Rainbow took her place as she and Wildcard accelerated the craft. In desperation, they sped the vehicle Curveside, attempting to outrun the ominous shadow.
Within seconds, their frantic shouts were drowned out by the catastrophic noise of the creature landing all over them.
THUDDDDDDDDD!!!
...
...
...
...
...Oh, you have GOT to be fucking kidding me.
Dash don't care who's free and who's not, so long as it saves everyones collective asses.
Did you have to make it sound like a Rabbid?
Really?
Also, calling back to my earlier quote from Freeman's mind.
"I was afraid I'd look down the hole and see a giant eyeball, angry because I singed it's eyelashes or something, then the facility would start shaking and I'd... just ball up and cry. Because what do you do when something that big wants to kill you?"
-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.
I do believe I called it. The forest was never a "them", but an "it."
More importantly though Sera is being awesome. Hopefully when the adrenaline and self-preservation wears off she'll still be cool.
...so now it's time for the womb level?
Well, fuck.
Ah jeez.
Pretty nice way that the Herald has provoked it into being angered.
I hate the Darkside, I hate it soooo damn much! How in the world are they going to deal with that thing?
8439667 Well, it's a wurm and wurms are slow, and a wurm that large, I doubt it could walk/crawl/chase after them with their speedy cart. But then again, they're on the dark side, soooooo eeehhhh...
Welp..
You're supposed to knock on wood, Dashie. Not curse it.
8439680
considering the agility of it's stalks... it'd probably be pretty quick.
Also, every time I see your pic, I want to rub all that fluff.
Flareon's are so adorably fluffy.
A Tatzelwurm on fucking steroids?
So, I finally got here..
Man, I started reading this series back in November, and I haven't stopped reading ever since. 10 months has passed, in which I've read more words than a sane man can read, even if english is not my native language. I cannot even imagine the amount of ideas that have passed through the author's head to write this much. But I know one thing: you're crazy
On a side note, I've just finished reading that colossal amount of words called Utaan, oh you crazy crazy fucker.
Also, I've just begun reading Ofolrodi, but I will be here real soon. Oh, and hello to all of you who have been reading this for a while. Hope to see you soon.
Hrmph, I'm fucking tired.
Seraphimus: in case you'd forgotten, pretty damn competent when not in blind zealous fury mode.
8439739
A Tatzlwurm on steroids and cocaine that bought all the Pay-to-Win bundles.
8439771
Welcome aboard!
I binged the whole series in about a month, reassess your crazy
And so begins the acceptance.
No no no
I believe this is an accurate representation
Oh shut up!
On second thought, keep talking. Also, what?
8439771
Welcome aboard the Noble Jury. We're currently running from our lives from a Chaos Hell-Spawn-Thing that could crush the entire ship with a single tooth, so things may be a bit dicy. There should be some cabins left on the 4th floor, provided you can move through the ship without collapsing from turbulence or being eaten. Congrats on making it here!
8439771
Keep on trucking! I honestly didn't realize how long Utaan was because I was staying with it. Well, relatively, anyway. This is the first time I've commented on a chapter released the day of in a WHILE. We will be waiting for you once you catch up, and man . . . it's a hell of a ride so far. Keep your seatbelt buckled!
I guess we know now that Sera can speak the language. That's . . . random, but I guess it worked. I hope that maybe Rainbow can make nice with Sera, but honestly, it has to work both ways. I think that everyone has a right to be iffy on allowing her freedom, but maybe the journey calls for them to allow her to do something.
They can't afford to fail their mission, and no one wants to see anypony die. But at this rate, without Sera helping out, it's going to become more and more difficult to justify her being chained up.
8439771
Cheers mate, congrats on making it this far. And luckily, we'll be here for atleast 2 more books!
... Now that just ain't fair. How's anyone supposed to headbutt that?
8439771
Notify us again when you're fully caught up and we'll welcome you true and proper. Until then, east long and prosper.
Ah, yes. The Adamantode.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bd/Sheeanaandworm.JPG
Also, as amazing as this is, it's still not as amazing as what just happened to our Dashing Apples.
8439771
Shit, how are we supposed to burn THIS fuckin' thing?! I don't think anything short of a friggin' tactical nuke to the face is gonna hurt it!
8439739
Apparently
8439771
I managed to blitz my way through this series in just under 2 weeks. Don't worry, you'll make it eventually
Oh, and welcome aboard!
And cue the wooping islanders chanting for blood and a good fight!
Oh shit.
Did... Did Dash ever eat one of the stalks?
One order of Extra Flat Worm, Extra Large, Supersized, party bucket, with all the toys.
You want fries with that?
For once, D'Ashi aint on her own on the exploration of the internals of a Gargantuan? just as long as it doesnt emerge in Horseshoe Bay or something.
This thing, its artificial! Someone MADE it, to act as a boundary guardian!
Worse still, remember those massive crystal plates that resembled Night Shard magitech! The underneath if them were bare of any stalk growth, as if the crystal plates were there BEFORE the forest of stalks existed!
You know, I should have seen this coming. No wonder Fluttershy didn't react when the stalks were getting mauled, it would be like cutting someone's hair. So, looks like now comes the 'run from the giant, pissed off monster' part.
I wish I could win outrun you.
Out—out are the lights—out all!
And, over each quivering form,
The curtain, a funeral pall,
Comes down with the rush of a storm,
While the angels, all pallid and wan,
Uprising, unveiling, affirm
That the play is the tragedy, “Man,”
And its hero, the Conqueror Worm.
THE SPICE MUST FLOW!
Bless you.
Why, oh why am I not surprised?
But it has a good side: Rainbow and Sera are forced to work together before they can have "the talk". Maybe it helps them to start forming a mutual bond.
It's an ALASKAN BULL WORM!
With that chapter title, I really should've been more prepared for the unholy abomination.
Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!
...
HOLY FUZZNUGGETS
And here I thought there were going to be at least 3.5 more books.
Well, it was nice while it lasted.
Should've flown without rhythm, I guess.
8440384
It ended in a giant cuddle.
8439788
Holy shit, even if I was a native english, I still couldn't do that. Sometimes I start speaking in english for reading too much
But I love my mind, ya know.
8439794
Now that's some good service, thanks
8439823
Hey, I remember seeing your comment when you catched up with the series. Nice meeting you here.
8439829
The train never stops
8439846
Well that tells me I should take my ass to read then. Thanks
8440030
Two. Weeks.
...
...
Well Shit.
Tell me your secret. In ten months my head is very fucked up just as it is. If it weren't for my studies I would've taken less time to catch up, oh well..
Thanks btw.
8440514
Snuggled to death by a giant worm...
...Sorry, pal, we're clean out of seats in this car.
I'm pretty sure Rainbow will tame it and ride it to the Midnight Armory.
I think the logical conclusion here is the Dark Side is actually a cave.
8440582
I mean, it took me more than a year to read all of it, though i did take a half year break at the beginning if ynanthulr or something
8441325
As Fact Checker pointed out, Zaid has, after his feast of grilled cheese in Durandana.
I believe the "OH SH** RUN FOR YOUR LIVES" remix of Arceus' theme is quite appropriate here:
8439771
Welcome to the front lines! I'm afraid we'll have to postpone the traditional welcome brunch, since we ourselves are currently getting eaten...
8439771
Welcome aboard.