//------------------------------//
// It Came From Penumbra 
// Story: Ofolrodi 
// by Imploding Colon 
//------------------------------//

"I think you're gettin' somewhere with these folks, Rainbow," Applejack said.

"Can you actually read these ponies?" Fluttershy asked her.

Applejack sighed.  "Reckon it's... mighty hard."

"Why's that?" Pinkie asked.

Applejack looked at Rainbow Dash.  "They ain't exactly like you and me.  I'm sensin' purpose... will... but..."  She slowly shook her head.  "...no emotion.  None whatsoever."

"Meh!"  Pinkie frowned.  "That's no fun!"

Rarity looked at her.  "The Dark Side is far from fun, darling."

Rainbow glanced left... right... then paced around the ponies.  "I would like to know more about 'Lexxic.'  Lexxic of the Bloodwings.... if you've got anything to share—"

"It slays."

"It slays."

"It slays."

"Yeah.  I get that."  Rainbow's brow furrowed.  "But where is he?  Where does Lexxic normally hang out?  Are we close to him?  Are we in danger?"

"It slays."

"It slays."

"It slays."

Rainbow sighed.  She glanced at the Herald... held an assuring hoof up... then twisted her muzzle to perform a melodramatic shout:  "If you melon fudges don't tell me where Lexxic is this very instant, I'm gonna kick somepony's teeth in!"

"It fails."

"It fails."

"It fails."

"Ha-Hah!"  Kepler grinned.  "Trraining the parrrot, Rrainbow One!"

"Well..."  Rarity smiled at Twilight.  "...at least now we know their attitude concerning feelings."

"But... why are they like this?" Fluttershy remarked in a sad tone.  "What could have happened to these generations of ponies to make them so... unfriendly?"

"There're more pressing things at the moment."  Twilight looked at Rainbow.  "Perhaps you should try and bring it down to their level."

Rainbow nodded back.  With a calm breath, she squatted down beside the group.  She tried not to look at—or smell—the tremendous amount of viscera being harvested right in front of her.  "It... is curious."  She considered pointing at herself, but changed her mind.  "It wants to know where Lexxic is.  It needs to find an ocean."

"It talks."

"It talks."

"It talks."

"OCEAN."  Rainbow gestured "waves" with her hooves.  "It... uhm... it blubs!"

"Snrkkkkt!"  Pinkie almost exploded with giggles.

Rarity grimaced.  "'It blubs?!?'"

"It bubbles!" Rainbow tried.

"Rainbow, sugarcube, are ya describin' an ocean or a spa?"

"Hey!"  Rainbow frowned at her ghostly friends.  "A lil' more help here?!"

Suddenly one of the ponies murmured, "There is no time.  It incinerates.  Then it clamors."

"Yeah."  Flynn nodded.  "You said that before."

The ponies spoke to one another:  "It sustains."

"It sustains."

They tied up their satchels, leaving a barren husk behind.  Having gathered all desired parts of the beast, they swiftly stood up and began trotting towards the far end of the ravine.  "It returns."

"It returns."

"It returns."

"Whoah whoah whoah—!"  Rainbow Dash stood up.  "Hang on a second!  Returns—?!"  She slipped on a puddle of blood, flapped her wings, and glided after the group.  "Returns where?!"

"It sustains," one of them answered, heaving the bag of bloody bits over her flank.  "It returns."

"Wait!  Just... please..."  Rainbow tried getting one of the rugged ponies to look at her.  She failed.  "Can't we talk?"

"It talks."

"It talks—"

"I MEAN—"  She fought the urge to frown.  "It comes from Penumbra.  It... it needs information!  Information about Lexxic and the Grand Ocean and—"

"It moves," one pony said.  "It hunts before it incinerates."

"Oh for the love of—"  Logan suddenly grabbed Flynn.

"H-hey!"  Flynn protested.  "Fatso?!  What are you—WHOAH!"  He yelped as he was tugged across the ravine.

"Hey!  It shits!"  Logan forced his way in front of the group of hunters.  He yanked Flynn's bandage loose—causing the unicorn to wince.  "Feast your ungrateful eyes!"  He exposed the fresh, glowing blood to their vision.  "You see that?  Crazy stuff, huh?  Bet you've never seen that before!"

The ponies had stopped in their tracks.  One of them stared blankly at Flynn's fetlock.  The stallion's eyes reflected the ruby light emanating from Flynn's own life juices.  After a thoughtful pause, he eventually muttered:  "It gleams."

"Yesssssssss!"  Logan nod-nod-nodded.  "And it's not just his bald spot either!"

"I swear to Goddess, Big Show..."  Flynn dangled from his grip, frowning.  "...if it gets infected because of this—"

"Suffer," Seraphimus muttered, walking by.  Stealing the hunters' attention, she pointed across the ravine to the patch of stone still stained with Flynn's blood.  The glow was undeniably visible even at that distance.  "See that?  That's the blood of souls from Penumbra.  That's from us."  Her charcoal brown eyes narrowed on the locals.  "It gleams."  She slowly nodded.  "It gleams because it is from the other side of the world.  Paradise... where it gleams all the time."

The pony finally looked at her.  It was a deadpan expression.  "It is false."

Seraphimus slowly shook her head.  "I assure you whole-heartedly that it is not."

Rainbow Dash blinked.

The pony emotionlessly replied, "All that glows in Dihm is false."

Pinkie Pie did a double-take.  "Say whaaaaaaaaaat?"

"A proper noun..."  Twilight murmured.

"But... what does it mean?" Applejack murmured.

The pony continued speaking to Seraphimus.  "It talks.  It fails.  It is false that gleams."  Adjusting the weight of his satchel, he walked around the former Commander, making for a break in the rock.  "It sustains.  It returns.  It repeats in Dihm."

Wildcard sighed, then gestured:  "Nice try, Seraphimus."

"Not nice enough, apparently."  Seraphimus clenched her beak as her talons raked at the stone floor.  "I wonder if these specimens feel pain."

"Rein it in, hot shot."  Rainbow Dash loosely followed the hunters.  "Twilight?  Any eggheaded ideas?"

"This... this 'Dihm...'"  Twilight Sparkle's lips pursed.  "It must be what they call the world."

"The world as they know it," Rarity suggested.

"That much is obvious," Applejack said with a nod.  "But why's that the only proper word they use?"

"Probably because it's all they know," Twilight Sparkle said.  "Aside from... suffering."

Fluttershy gulped.

"Guess somepony like Ranort must have rolled along and called them 'Dihmers!'" Pinkie Pie  said.

"That—or someone else whom the Expedition met with," Twilight said.  "Someone else whom the Spindlers know.  Like the goblins of Petra."

"Well... can they be of any help to Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked.  "You saw how they reacted to something resembling Lexxic's name.  If the Bloodwings can make these ponies flinch, then we're better off avoiding them altogether!"

"I... think they want to be left alone," Fluttershy said.

"I know they do, Fluttershy."  Twilight Sparkle frowned.  "But everything's depending on Rainbow finishing her journey in one piece."

"We could use all the help we can get!" Applejack said.

Suddenly, Ariel's voice spoke up:  "Uhm... Rainbow Dash...?"

Snapping out of the conversation, Rainbow looked over her shoulder.

The Herald plus Seraphimus stood in a tight cluster, staring pointedly in Rainbow's direction.

"Arrrrrrrre... you done speaking with the council of ghostly elders?"  Ariel smiled innocently.  "We could totally use some orders right about now."

"What do yourr fine frriends think would be best in this situation?" Kepler asked.

Rainbow looked at Twilight and the others.  Then—after a nod—she looked back at the Herald.  "Let's tag along with them.  See if we can get them to share something.  Anything."

"Works for me," Logan said, then marched back towards the wagon.  He was joined shortly by Flynn, Kepler, and Ariel.  "Fire it up, Baldy!"

"Way ahead of ya, bro!"

Seraphimus stood in place, blinking at the group.  "Just like that?"  Her headcrest drooped.  "We pledge our lives to the whim of one pegasus and countless invisible spirits?"

"They're not countless!" Ariel shouted back.  "They're five of Rainbow's best-besties!  She loves them and so should you!"

Seraphimus fumed slightly.  "I simply think the decisions made for this group should be weighted with more substance."

Wildcard drifted past her, smirking and gesturing:  "Do not doubt the rainbow train."

Seraphimus snarled, "Did you earn your 'desperado' monicker because of how despicable you've become?"

A metal middle talon glinted in the twilight.

With a sigh, Seraphimus rolled her eyes and drifted loosely after the rest of them.  "I am an expert at martial arts... not linguistics...