Minutes wore on...
And minutes into hours... ...
Rainbow Dash only wished she could have kept her eyes shut the entire time. However, in the darkness—with her lids tightly clenched—was where tears were born the swiftest. So, with a prolonged sigh, she forced her eyes open, staring lethargically at the tent around her.
The mare rolled onto her back more than once, curling her hooves to her chest and staring up at the flapping material of the tent. There was no silence whatsoever; the dust storm outside was a veritable cavalcade of every kind of banshee shriek known to comprehension. A long time ago—at the start of her journey, perhaps—she might have been frightened by those indistinguishable noises. But Rainbow Dash had since encountered so many perils that mere phantoms had long lost their eerie charm.
Sorrow was one thing. Boredom was another. Rainbow Dash squirmed and shuffled about. There was no room to walk in the tent, but that didn't stop her from twirling little canine circles, seeing how fast she could spin, hoping beyond hope that the sheer exhaustion would finally put her to sleep. It didn't.
With a moan, she tried burying herself beneath all of her blankets at once. All it did was make her hot and uncomfortable, so she kicked the fabric off and squatted like an alert cat, ears twitching to the continuous cacophony of rolling winds.
She pulled everything out of her two backpacks, then put them in, then pulled them out again. She inspected and reinspected Arcanista's Heaven Slices—but did not nibble on any of the pieces. She wasn't hungry, or at least that's what she told herself. A lingering thirst tugged at her tongue, and she was sorely tempted to take a sip from her canteen. Rainbow reminded herself rather quickly—though—that the water was better saved for emergency, first aid, or hygiene. If she was thirsty, there was always the Nebulum, but that was only required in a necessity.
Ultimately, the mare resorted to lying on her chest, etching little lines in the stone with her hatchet. She knew that there was no point in the gesture; it was not like another living soul would venture by that lone tiny patch of rock in centuries. Also, there was the very real possibility of dulling the blade. Regardless, Rainbow continued, her eyes thin and lethargic as she sketched her name and—over the stretch of several hours—eleven more.
When she was putting the finishing touches on the last name, the sunlight had finally completely died out. She had to rub her pendant in order to produce the light necessary to see what she was doing. However, when she had run out of names, she illuminated nothing but pure emptiness, and this added to the coalescing sighs.
At last, as the night brought with it a bitter chill, permeating the sandstorm and the canvas that was protecting Rainbow Dash, she lay on her back, gazing straight up at everything and nothing. Every now and then she would raise her hoof, rub the pendant, and produce a crimson halo of light against the rippling fabric. She repeated this process, minute by minute, hour by hour, until her thoughts became one with the motion, and she literally thought of nothing else.
And once that emptiness had slithered its way into her skull, then—and only then—did drowsiness finally settle in. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes to the storm, the shadows... and the tears being birthed thereupon.
Rainbow Dash was falling... cascading down a sleeted sheet of ice.
She woke up with a shriek, her eyes rolling back. Her limbs reached out—numbly thrashing—and grazed tent fabric and burlap.
Wheezing, she rolled over, and her entire world spun a million miles per hour like a hellish centrifuge.
The mare instantly clutched her skull, gnashing her teeth. The dizzy spell had ripped her out of sleep with merciless speed. Rainbow knew that—somewhere—a bed of hard stone was holding her in place, but she couldn't feel it. She couldn't feel anything. A freezing abyss consumed her, faster and faster by the millisecond. She plunged into the maddening black chasm, whimpering and struggling for an even breath.
She barely found the strength to open her eyes. The fuzzy dim visage of at tent spun pirouettes before her. Red and yellow... yellow and red. Her hooves flung to her pendant, and for the life of her she couldn't figure out if she was trying to keep it on or pull it off.
Her heart slammed against her chest, and at any moment she was certain it would stop completely. Squeaking murmurs lit the air, punctuation to a hyperventilating horror. Rainbow Dash saw blue limbs clambering—clawing. Her body slinked forward, carried on panic and fuzz. She tugged and yanked at the tent fabric without realizing it. Sand and sediment rolled inside in sheeted brown vomits. She wanted to stop herself, to stop everything, but it wouldn't happen. Hooves gripped the nearest tent peg, tugging, twisting. It popped loose, and an entrance formed in the side of the tent. Blinding light and dust. Rainbow sobbed as she crawled into it, through it, drowning and sputtering...
And then she could breathe. In a blinded world of blazing brightness, she rolled over, sobbing and spitting and gasping. Every inch of her coat tingled under the warm rays of a morning sun. Her eyes flickered back to their ruby brilliance, just in time to squint at a grayish sky. The storm had passed over, clearing, leaving dunes of dusty residue all around her lone tent in the middle of nothingness.
Rainbow panted and panted, stretched out beneath the baking sun. The dizziness still plagued her, so that it was hard to get her mind centered—to ascertain whether her body had just attempted to save her or end her. The confusion was too much, compounded with her ache and exhaustion. She rolled two hooves over her face, bathing her fetlocks in tears. The names etched into the stone formed bloody scars against her eyelids, and she rolled over, sobbing into the dust and grit, curling and uncurling until her body became a limp blue noodle.
And—just as the dizziness began to clear—so did her resolve, and unconsciousness blissfully consumed her yet again.
Well that's anything but good. Thank god that didn't happen while the sandstorm was still going on, because that would not have ended well. Nothing to say of what was going on with that dizzy spell and her and the pendant. She could have accidentally taken it off.
This is either some subtle sign that Verlax is nearby, or it's the powers that be signifying Dash's next destination to her...
TWELVE NAMES WRITTEN. HALF-LIVE TWELVE CONFIRM-wait what?
Well...um.... Dash is breaking way faster than I expected.
Come on cloud butt! Pull yourself together! You will make it to the edge of the world! You will! You will! You will!
huh...unusually optimistic of me. But still. She can't break now... she just can't.
-Treachery and deceit, kingdom of conceit Yaerfaerda.
Belle, Pilate, Kera, Floydien, Josho, EE, Ebon, Props, Zaid, Booster, and of course Roarke Most Awesome... huh, I only just clicked there were 12 jurists.
quickmeme.com/img/36/36ed8e69c3115be45938e5c42474cc64853ec40c117ec51bf6d9eef2d626d16d.jpg
Is the chaos inside Dash trying to break free? If so, is it because the Choke's draining properties are leaching the pendant's strength? If not, i sher body subconciously fighting against the darkness inside her?
I reckon the answers to these questions will be revealed soon.
5680816 Chapter 168. 1+6+8=15. 12 names. 15-12=3. Half life 3 confirmed
It's okay. If I was stuck in a small space with nothing to do, I'd go crazy too.
Seems like the chaos influence is getting stronger and wants to break free. And accompanied by Grand Choke's ''magic-stripping zone'', this ought to be really problematic.
Its a real pity Dash knows nothing of Mantis Meditation techniques. being claustraphobic is bad, being claustraphobic inside a small space which is all thats between you and what you know will kill you outside, given that virtual imaginary pain causes damage to the body as real pain, literally is a form of torture.
I just hope she recovers quickly enough to pick everything up instead of mindlessly running away in terror.
Sleeping in the sun? Roast turky anyone?
No! Why are you reminding us of Background Pony?
5680816
The Twelve members of the Noble Jury?
5680915
That's what I'm thinking inferring from the text saying "eleven more" and "ran out of names".
5680915
We would forget, otherwise.
5680936
i c wot u did thar
Well, shit.
I feel it's an understatement to say this is bad.
5680816
Well, it should be winter soon in the story, considering it's at least August/September by now
(assuming pony calendars and seasons work the same as Earth, at least)
Crying is good RD. It is ok to cry.
5681047 Agreed.
5680936
Who?
These are just going to get worse and worse as she gets into the Grand Choke. I just hope the Pendent can hold out for the rest of the Journey.
static.caloriecount.about.com/images/medium/meijer-apple-pie-filling-47684.jpg
Wow. Painful.
5681264
Well I was going to make that joke but apparently you remembered it as well and posted it before I could.
mrwgifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Damn-You-Sir-Classy-J.D.-On-Scrubs.gif
5679759
The, eat you alive with their sharp teeth, type of course.
It starts with rational calamity, and then thirst and hunger set in and make things strange, and then you start seeing things, and then, only then will those things start to become your reality.
Happens to people in the Sahara all the time, ghosts of the past seem to linger.
A certain male Pegasus will play a part in dash's journey very soon.
5681345
joy
i love those kind
they remind of kelpies, what with the similar hunting styles and all
it would also be a nice lead into the darkside, which is doubtless filled with things that'll try an eat Dash at the earliest opportunity
5680936
i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh253/Lenka_falconer/Spork%20Pictures/DerpyFlyingOverThere.jpg
You made me laugh, loudly, in the middle of a library. Thank you, my good sir.
5681135
When Dashie is waking up from her dizzy spell, she's talking about ice and darkness, and it's reminiscent of Background Pony.
5681718
Best of luck catching up soon!
5681264 I see your pic and raise you this:
stream1.gifsoup.com/view1/4605166/nostalgia-critic-filler-o.gif
5680936
cdn.meme.am/images/11390278.jpg
5681652
I don't remember this pony you are talking about.
I wonder if I'm reading too much into things by making a connection between her carving their names in the stone here, and her carving five names in that cabin early on in book one. Even if IC didn't intend it, it's hard not to draw that parallel.
5680816
Reminds me of the ice caverns she was in after fleeing Gold Petals in that Roof Of The Plane.
Hmm the etching scene seems familiar. I think this another instance of false catharsis.
5682523
I thought the same, actually.
I don't project Dashie lasting too long if things continue as they are, even if the Choke doesn't drain the pendant, she'll probably go slightly insane long before she reaches the other side.
This is how I feel when I sleep with a bad illness involving pain, I always wake up trying to split dreams from reality and fail, all while in pain that I can't properly comprehend. I'm obviously not dying of chaos with dizzy spells, but I can empathise with being ripped from sleep by pain.
Poor Dashie,
Here I am with my first world problems.
5682523 Oooh, nice connection!
5682523 Now she's only carving her own name... maybe she's finally moved on!
At this point madness is more of a concern than dehydration or starvation.
fun
The first dizzy spell, possibly of many.
-Spirit
This trip is already getting to her. It's too bad there's nothing around for Dash to communicate with her friends.
im clearly not the first to remember this regardless it is worth noting.
5688952
She carved 12 names, Not just hers,
Pilate, Belle, Zaid, Kera, Eagle Eye, Props, Floydien, Roarke, Ebon mane, Booster, Josho, Rainbow Dash
5682523
and the symbolism is there just the same. Whether intentionally or unconsciously it's her leaving A mark, A reminder of her friends and loved ones, in a place that will remain virtually untouched by time for decades or maybe even centuries. I've a feeling it's intentional, From what I have seen in this story there are very very few coincidences. IC Has an amazing amount of foresight in the way he writes And There are very very few if any coincidences in this story.
Now this is some nice symbolism i think, Rainbow starts to understand a part of Austraeoh or Yerfaerda starts to make her understand. And in return Austraeoh starts to understand Rainbow dash, they have something in common now.
She had to leave the harmonic circle or .. ring.. her personal Urohringr.. of 12 friends, break it up to protect them to ensure their survival, yet she still will never forget them and somewhere in her mind there is a thought of a Reunion.
Although she did the parting in a harmonic way, she still parted and she knew it was necessary to preserve them.
And there is yet another circle, smaller, even more harmonic one waiting to be reborn, she wrote those names down too a long time ago.
Maybe i am just putting to much thought into this but from all i have read so far, it is clear that SS&E is going somewhere with all that, it just begs the question if my interpretation is right, which could easily not be the case since as a reader i may never see the full picture until i have read it all.
So Dash was buried alive by the sandstorm? How would you even prevent that?
Are you not the one who travels to forget, Rainbow Dash?
No! IC is just crushing my belief in Midnite as a Noble Jurist. IC pls. Why do u do dis to me?
I still want to believe...
5682373 "Background Pony" Is not a character in this story, but a fic written by SS&E.
6811824
You missed the joke.
aka I forgot who ....
Hey. That's a swell hoodie.
6811896 How did I miss that? Well played. Waiting almost a year for someone to spring the joke is commitment. Kudos to you.
I know you're taking spin classes, but the spinning cutie mark was already taken by our local Beyblade champion.
8164567
YESSSSS!!!!!!
The dizzy spells are getting worse....