"Tell her that her hunter awaits in the latest wound her evil path has carved into the heart of this Queen's holy continent! Scrkkkkk!"
Rainbow Dash flew west.
Her lungs heaved.
The wind pelted her face, freezing the edges of her eyelids as she squinted against the misty mountain air.
Her pendant rattled beneath her neck, an ever-present weight tugging her towards the jagged peaks swirling below.
All became a fog, dully throbbing into her ears as her mind resonated with that hideous voice.
Snarling, she beat her wings faster, causing the air to whistle around her knifing body as she pressed herself due west, retracing the Noble Jury's gliding path at four times the speed.
On board the Jury, ponies scrambled.
"Turn us about, Floydien!" Josho grumbled. "Spark Dammit! Faster!"
"Make up your spit!" The elk shouted from deep within the cockpit where he had already rushed in. "Nancy Jane can't very well make it anywhere if she flies apart!"
Props' voice rang from an intercom. "I-I can't activate the main skystone core without blowing us up sky high! B-but I can overload the steam manifolds to g-give us an initial burst!"
"Do it, Propsy!" Ebon exclaimed. "Every little bit helps!"
"This is nuts!" Zaid panted, turning to look wide-eyed at Roarke. "Couldn't you have gone with her?! All she had to do was—I dunno—carry your badflank self or something!"
"It wasn't her choice," Roarke said coldly. However, there was the slightest hint of a tremble as she shook her head. "Besides, we both know that I would have only weighed her down." She gulped and stared towards the western horizon just as the vessel spun its way around. "What she needs right now is speed..."
Zaid bit his lip. He turned towards Eagle Eye.
The hyperventilating stallion sat in the middle of the deck, slumped on his knees. His tearful eyes remained locked on the soundstone as it rocked and teetered with the shifting weight of the Jury.
"Shhhh... cease your weeping, child." The distorted sound of muffled sobs. "This is a beautiful thing. This is a reunion." A high-pitched whine, followed by a metallic scraping sound. "Just as the monster bathed me in the ashes of my beloved daughter...Scrkkkk I... will... Scrkkk—Give her a most honorable baptism—Scrkkk!" More scraping, then a horrible crunch as the source of the transmission shattered on the other end.
The sound stone went dead.
Thunder rolled in the distance, which is how Rainbow Dash knew she was getting close. She saw distant strobes of natural light to the northwest. Black clouds hung over the sharp mountainous ridges, showing brief silhouette flashes of a valley beyond the knifing heights.
Rainbow bulleted straight towards it, her breaths reaching a fever pitch. As the air shrieked past her ears, she clenched her eyes shut and gnashed her teeth.
"Twists and turns are my master plan..."
A squeaking sob broke out of her throat. She flashed her eyes open.
Ponyville hung beneath her, a chaotic jigsaw puzzle of what it once was.
No matter how hard or how fast that she flew, the ring of five ashen piles still waited for her...
Beyond her hooves' reach...
"...Then find the elements back where you began."
Her pupils burned red against yellow pools. She blinked hard and growled.
"No..."
She flew faster, angling her body so that a cone of air formed on either side of her sharp wings.
"Not again..."
The atmosphere split apart with a thunderous boom.
She came out the other end, sobbing.
"Please... Luna... Celestia... not again!"
She entered the valley like a comet, surging towards the drizzly darkness below.
I just... You know what?
My feelings can be summed up by the word "meh". Shell is so old hat and commonplace now that I can't even bring myself to care. He should have died a hundred chapters ago, if even that. This conflict feels forced.
4004588
He's like a cockroach. You think its dead, then its stands up again and bites you.
Go Rainbow go Rainbow go.
...you know what Dash...take the pendant off...take Shell apart.
Ohhh Fuck...
she rainboomed
4004961. I agree to this proposition!
4005372 Mmm. He's probably still in the town. Too much collateral damage.
Don't get me wrong, these chapters are some of the more beautiful of the entire arc. The writing as far as I dare to judge it is amazing even by your standards. It's just the setup that I don't get. On a plot level, just sending the Jury east for a bit on some pretense might have sufficed. What do I know, scouting the sea, following a lead, looking for something or someone? It wouldn't have needed all- ah, screw it. Let's just go with it.
this would be the absolute worst time to have a chaos attack
so it is definitely going to happen
4004609
Except instead of biting you, it kills everything precious to you and laughs as you cry.
Things seem like they're finally coming to a head with Shell.
I agree with Nevlamas for these last chapters. I'm a tad angry.
IIIIIt's Dashie's Thirteenth Marathon Evaluation Time!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well...okay, then. History repeats itself. Unfortunately, the conflict still feels forced, so this is coming off as slightly anticlimactic. It's a shame because I honestly wish that I was psyched for this finale. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. One, two, three! One, two, three! Okay, it's on! It's up to you! YEAH! Eight left!
-Spirit
'atta girl dash!
dont fall into the same chaos trap that separated you from your friends and caused all this!
learn from the mistake you were forced to make!
FIGHT IT GIRL!!!!!!
FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!!!!!!
btw idk if anyone else considered this, but in the same way that Discord could still hear everything around him in stone form, could the same be said about his essence being inside Dashy? just a thought s:
Be rid of Shell already. Please.
Shell deserves worse than crucifixion.
Worse than The Iron Bull.
Worse than being burnt at the stake.
5634254 there is no punishment I all the nine hells fitting for a monster such as him
6042575 all of them at once and then triple that
I find it a bit hard to believe that Shell could wipe out a whole town in his mangled state. He would have been overpowered, even if there were casualties.
4004609 cockroaches don't bite, my friend
At this point Shell is as hollow as you can get. He is just a force of narrative, creating plot relevant conflict wherever he goes. It's hard to feel anything towards him.
Go,
NeoRainbow Dash! SaveTrinityScamp, Stripesy, and Ding Dong!6135553
Even then it won't be enough.
That storm has been waiting for its chance to be a dramatic fight scene back drop for all of its life.
I don't normal swear but...
****You know it's serious when
...
Welp.... I thought it'll be a good ending now. But noooooooo.... IC just throw us a giant boulder of nope at our very head.
Goddamn Shell...
I've noticed that it's always highly emotional crises that seem to trigger the chaos the most.
7010838
I mean, we could force him to witness the deaths of his beloveds over and over again..
9090155
Yeah if only?
Honestly I haven't read or been part of this community since the toxic dumpster fire of a woman that is Swan Song started shit and did her favorite trick (if others are to be believed) and used several accounts to mass downvote anything I did. And started tons of drama. And I've honestly been a lot happier. But I don't really remember this story.
Kinda feel bad tbh. The author was pretty decent. Pony-Tex was memorable, and I had made a few friends. But honestly, I'm far out of the loop. And barely remembered anything that happened.
Still, thanks for the reply.
You know something's gone horribly wrong the instant you read this.