“That… uh…” Kera fumbled on her petite hooves, staring up, up up. With a gulp, she stammered, “That is a big door.”
Dalen looked back at her. “It’s hardly big enough, child.” Levitating the book at his side, he approached an enormous stone barrier fitted with circular runes and mana-etchings. A pair of crystals rested on either side of him, affixed to metal poles. “It is simply meant as a veil before the altar of Nagu’n. The Goddess Immortal could tear through this as if it was made of silk.”
“Then what’s stopping her, huh?” Kera asked.
“I cannot venture to guess,” Dalen muttered. “All of Nagu’n’s actions have been curious and alarming as of late. Nopony has had the brash courage to question it, much less bring such an issue to the threshold of Her holy Domain.”
The walls shook, showering dust and loose pebbles onto the equines’ heads. Kera gritted her teeth and squeaked, “No time like the present, right?”
“Normally, it would require the combined magic of the penitent priests and priestesses to open this door without incident.”
“Weren’t those the bodies we passed along the way here?” Kera asked. She took a shuddering breath, “The ones… y’know… with the bloody daggers in their own chests?”
Dalen hung his head with a sigh. “Malaas rejunaan semaat thiulen Nagu’n.”
Kera craned her neck. “Huh?”
Dalen murmured to the walls. “I wonder if perhaps this was my purpose. To bring the flame to Nagu’n in her time of need.” He shuddered. “Perhaps that would explain all of the trials and tribulations that I have been forced to endure.”
“Hey… maybe we can bring a stop to them both, huh?” Kera said, trotting forward and resting a hoof on his forelimb. “At least prevent the roof from collapsing over our heads? How about it?”
“And what of the Goddess Divine?”
Kera smiled nervously. “The flame of Austraeoh was meant to be seen by Her eyes, right?”
Dalen stared at her. Then, with a determined breath, he trotted until his head rested at an even level with the two crystals. He closed his eyes, concentrated, and produced a faint glow of magic through his horn. The light intensified, and soon he was focusing a beam in two directions at once. The crystals lit up, then shot streams of brimming manafire into the door. The etchings illuminated, as if burning with an unquenchable flame. Serpent designs writhed alive in the architecture, then strobed all as once in a swirling, circular pattern.
At last, the door shook and rotated within its frame. The rumbling of the Hold intensified as it rolled counterclockwise and towards the left, vanishing within the walls surrounding the door. Beyond was nothing but cold, black space. The temperature of the chamber dropped significantly; both the stallion and the filly could see the vapors of their breath spreading through the rancid air.
“No offense, buddy,” Kera said in a hushed tone. “But your Goddess’ home smells like a paper mill.”
“I think it would be best if you let me speak with the Deity of my civilization.” Dalen strolled forward, holding the book like a lavender lamp. “Though you’re small and have very little meat, I doubt it will stop Her from trying to consume you on a whim.”
Kera’s green eyes bulged. “You mean She eats ponies?”
“I gave you the option to abandon this sojourn.”
“Hey, not saying I regret it!” Kera nevertheless trembled as she scampered after the adult’s stride. “Just… wondering if I should have poured some mustard and mayonnaise on myself before trotting down here…”
The two of them, like drops of dew, dissolved into the darkness beyond.
Mustard and mayonaise would stop me. Quicker than arsenic.
Fifty crunches, ):(. Knock 'em out!
I never thought I'd like Dalen this much. I actually kinda feel bad for the dude, since it feels a little like Kera's leading him on.
I don't mean to jump way ahead of the current situation, but I can't wait for the Equestrian army to show up at some point in the series.
And here goes a last ditch attempt to restore Nevlamas sanity before the incoming carnage.
...
I'm sure it'll work.
3603688 Weren't they heading in completely the opposite direction?
3603659 I agree. From what we've seen over the last few chapters, Dalen is just trying to do what he believes is right. This is unfortunate, as he is loyal to Xona but desperately wants to help Kera, which would mess with anyone's head.
3603719 Exactly!
Though I would love to see Shining and Cadance's journey.
3603719
remember that it is a ring world. they are bound to meet at some point. IC wouldn't have placed it in the story if that wasn't the case.
I wonder where I wander as the author took my blunder and meander did the dander into the depths so vile.
Would Nagun be a Jabberwock, or a Bandersnatch?
It's nice to see that even in a world full of psychos like Shell and Seclorum, there exists an antagonist such as Dalen who actually has a stable head on his shoulders. I salute you, Dalen. I hope you manage to survive all of this.
3603823 Well, the ring was blown up and they're stuck on one fragment. If they do meet I'd expect it to be at the Midnight Armory. And involve a fight.
3603883
I forgot that part. It's hard to tell if the ring was completely destroyed, or it is just fractured all over the place. I still believe, however, that Shining's ship will come in to aid RD at some point.
3603823
I always thought it was a hotdog world. Long on the east and west front, short on the north and south. Go far enough, you reach the edge of the world.
Swing around, and you enter the dark side of the world.
3603688
Edit: totally forgot about them.
I'd be interested to see that as well.
3604106
I'm sure even at a technological disadvantage, they will manage.
3604121
I thought you meant "If Equestria ever decided to come try to interfere in the matters between the Xonans and Ledomaritans".
3604139
i just want Shining and RD to meet up in general. It's up to IC if he decides to jump into the fray.
Since when has there been an Equestrian Army?
Eagle Eye is gonna get a kick out of Basso, that hunk of... horse?
3603688 Oh, right! Forgot that was a thing xD
3604388
you guys do realize how actually far away they are right? I mean, the Equestrian army went east, Rainbow went west... sooo... unless they turned around to head west also while RD was in a coma in Blue Shelf (or whatever Eljunbyro started with) then they have a lot of distance to make up
(the ring is disconnected too, so they can't really go around it unless they somehow put the pieces back together)
oh, and when do we get to talk to Luna?
Mmm mustard coated filly...
It'd be awesome if they could cleanse Nevlamas of the chaos funk, but that would be too easy, wouldn't it? Ah well...
As for the Equestrian army: It's hard to imagine they won't factor into things eventually, but it'll probably be a ways off. If memory serves, Flash Sentry was with them. I can't help but wonder how that would play out.
3603943
You'd think that the quickest way to the Midnight Armory would be to go north or south.
3604841
Hell, the entire world for the story might be a giant fractured mobius strip with only half being exposed to a day-night cycle.
It won't be a mobius strip, but maybe some non-Euclidian shape.
Also, it might only be broken internally, not separated.
or
And now to call it before anyone else does:
The world might be like a Dyson Sphere. The 12 (or whatever number) pieces were connected north pole to south pole. Makes sense why the current Machine is longer East-West than North-South.
3603873
Definitely a Jabberwock, RD just needs to unlock her ruby-lit vorpal powers.
3606032
M.C. Escher must have had a hand designing the geometry of the place.
...Let's see...
Calculating the distance Rainbow has travelled, the length of time in the air, and how much randomized adventuring in between, I'd say...
...She's less than a half-mile out of her front door.
But seriously, we must've covered a couple dozen thousand miles by now.
3606151
quick! someone go back and read that one chapter where Whitemane explains stuff!
Or it could just be a ring... and a broken one at that.
In the which case there is an outside (or top) and an inside (or underneath), with perhaps some thick curving edges on the long edge, and some jagged ones on the short (broken) ends. I'm guessing that the Midnight Armoury sits on the inside of the ring, and Equestria on the outside.
Thus the army could end up going along the top, over the short edge, and back along the underside to meet Rainbow. Of course this could be quite a short piece of ring, making it quite squarish, and thus not really longer across any edge; which would answer why it wasn't quicker to head North or South.
Oh Kera. You say the most ridiculous things just to keep your ball rolling.
Have a nice stay.
3603823 Oh yes, quite right. Given the size of the world, all that would take is the reassembly of the ring (which would make their intervention somewhat superfluent) and a few hundred years of time. And of course them changing their minds about setting out to talk to Sturke and instead travel a lot farther - or turning into Cristoph Columbus. With Flash Sentry, you never know.
3606032 It would. It has been stated by some higher entity - I think it was Luna - that the world is indeed considerably smaller to the east and south. I suppose the ring was just rather large and rather narrow in comparison, or the other way around in which case the other pieces would align to the north and south instead of the east and west.
3606032 We saw the world break. Not tearing a little, not fraying at the edges, but smashed, shattered, sundered into twelve pieces. If the talk we heard earlier about the Grand Choke is to be believed, the entire series so far has covered less than half of one side of one piece. We're thinking big here.
And what kind of "army" are we talking about anyway? The Royal Guard? That one expedition to the west?
3604841 Other way around. RD flew east, army flew west.
In the first paragraph you said the goddess could tear through the door as if it was silk. That relation doesn't really work because silk has been proven to be stronger than steel. If a plane flew into a pencil wide strand of pure silk, it would be cut clean in half.
IIIIIt's Dashie's sort of Christmas Special Get-Backing Adventure!
The literary devices in this chapter seem to be building up Nag'n big time...watch her just be Whitemane chilling out. That would be funny. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. What do you want from me? I'm tired and it's Christmas.
Mmm... a filly cheese dog. Dammit. Now I need to go buy hotdogs.
This plan isn't going to work, is it? Magic book or not, I think it'll take a lot more than a bedtime story to stop what has been hundreds - if not thousands of lives - and who knows how many years in the making. Although, if it does work you won't catch any flak from me - I'd much rather Kera and Mr. Honour-Bound Persnickety Pants not become dragon chow. I mean, come on - no condiments? Any self-respecting Divine wouldn't be caught dead scarfing something that plain.
Onward! Er, tomorrow. Alas, I am a mere mortal and must bow to the needs of sleep.
This feels too easy...
-Spirit
Into the abyss they trek. I hope they can come out with their sanity.
We need a map of the world, it make my head hurt thinking about it.
5896926 Agreed.
5896926 A guy named Sinrar is actually making one, you can find it in the Austraeoh group forum
Eeeyup, Dalen's getting ate.
That's a bold move, Kera. Let's see how it plays out.
6199427
R.I.P. Dalen. It was semi-good knowing you