Midnite entered code after code, resealing the door to the military facility's exit. She shivered the whole time, for just a few feet away—
“Raaaaaugh!” Jake barreled through an entire legion of soldiers. Growling and frothing at the mouth, he swung his antlers left and right, smashing guards against either wall. “That all you got, Prance ticklers?! I've taken down more goblins than your mothers have had enemas just to stand the sight of you! Bring it on! Bring it—”
A buck grabbed around his neck while two others pulled at his front legs. Collectively, the soldiers dragged the moose down to the floor.
A line of guards behind them fired volley after volley of electrical mana into Jake's chest.
“Gaaaaaaugh!” He thrashed and bellowed. “Rrrr-aaaa-haaaaugh!” At last, his eyes rolled back as his nostrils flared at the smell of his own roasting flesh. By the time a proper scar had formed below the neck, he collapsed in a groaning thud, his extremities twitching.
The guards marched forward, rallying around. Several of them shouted Midnite's way.
Calmly, the mare turned around.
A wall of bruised and angry reindeer approached her.
She didn't put up a fight. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath while the first of many cloven hooves flew at her face.
Among the arid mountains west of Val Roa, a single patch of rock pivoted, shifted, and rotated outward. Inside, the metal frame of a passageway could be seen. Floydien emerged with Rainbow Dash on his back.
Gazing around, he gritted his teeth and climbed out the rest of the way.
The sun was setting, and its golden beams split in sporadic patches of black shadow, courtesy of the jutting mountain peaks directly to the west. Floydien trotted forth as if under the shroud of night. The main body of the Val Roan capital glittered in the valley below, a brilliant facade to a dark undercurrent devouring the kingdom from the inside out.
“No... pl-please...” Rainbow Dash hissed, twitching in fitful spasms. “No more... Yaerfaerda...” She wheezed. “I don't want to lose them all over again.”
Floydien took a deep breath. “No no no...” And he began carrying her east down the sloping rock and into the valley abroad, making his way towards the Plaza Topaz spire in the thick of the city.
“Word's coming in from General Saikano in the military training center,” a guard said, his voice carrying across a dimly-lit detention cell deep in the belly of the High Council building. “They've captured two of the four suspects who've infiltrated the compound. He intends to interrogate them to ascertain the reason for their treasonous actions.”
Chancellor Fishberry listened in silence, gazing at the unconscious and bound figures of Duchess Arcanista and her servant Mamunia. The doe's ears twitched as she finally said, “I know.”
The guard squinted at her. “Chancellor...?”
“We won't get to the bottom of this until we question everyone,” Fishberry said. She turned towards the guard. “Prepare to have these two escorted to the military training center for Saikano to process.”
“But Chancellor...” The guard shifted nervously. “This is a representative from the province of Bountiful. Doesn't this fall under the vote of the Council?”
“We're experiencing a crisis of National Security.” Fishberry sneered. “I am the Council.”
The guard took a step back, trembling slightly. “I meant no disrespect, madame. It's just that—”
“Enough.” Fishberry took a deep breath. “Summon an entourage. I shall escort these traitors to the compound myself.” She marched firmly out the room, grumbling. “And if Secretary Sharp Quill sends a messenger here, tell him that I am holding up my end, and he should hold up his.”
“Chancellor?”
“He'll understand.” Fishberry's orange eyes glinted in the manalight as she made an exit. “And so will she.”
Trembling, Jet slipped her way through the elaborately curved streets of Val Roa's Sandstone District. She paused to catch her breath, leaning against a sloped wall of polished brass and bronze. She tilted her naked chin up, her mane disheveled and frayed to a wild degree.
Just around the corner, she heard thundering hoofsteps. Nearby citizens turned from gawking at her to glance at an approaching line of galloping soldiers.
Wincing, Jet dove into a dark niche between two spiraling skyscrapers. She crouched low in the alleyway, peering out while she shivered.
She watched as two full lines of guards galloped by—both Soul Sentries and non. A carriage rolled in the thick of them, and through one window Jet swore she made out the deadpan face of Fishberry. The entire entourage was rolling its way southwest, far beyond the downtown district of Val Roa.
Jet bit her lip. After mustering strength with several deep breaths, she finally dashed back out into the street and galloped desperately for Plaza Topaz beyond the next block of bronze buildings.
Ebon Mane slumped to his knees in the middle of a large dining room. He was a twitching, convulsing mess. Rivulets of flame billowed out of his mouth and eyes as he struggled to keep cohesion.
In the distance, waves of searching guards marched through the hallway, sweeping the palace from top to bottom. Their voices barked orders to one another, echoing closer and closer to Ebon's position.
The changeling reached forward with webbed black forelimbs. He made contact with a chair positioned along the back wall of the slender room. Pulling himself, he jolted to see that he was staring into a random mirror hanging from the wall. In it, he could see the length of the barren dining room table and the various portraits of royal deer strung up beyond. His gaze focused on his own face, the blank eyes and the pale fangs dripping out of his mouth.
Ebon shook, seethed, and concentrated.
Layer by layer, his face rolled over with lavender fuzz. A violet mane dangled off his crow while weak purple eyes gazed back.
Shivering, he reached a hoof forward, pressing it against the glass. After a shuddering sigh, he pulled his limb back and ran it across his own cheek. He knew it wasn't real, but it was enough to stop the quivers. He closed his eyes, inhaled, and gazed once more at the reflection.
“I adore you,” he said in Eagle Eye's voice. “I know you're not here, but your love is enough to give me strength.” He gulped, and the unicorn in the mirror bore a hard frown. “I will make it through this. I won't let Mother win.” He stepped back, standing in the middle of the room. “And you and I will be together again.”
After that was said, the changeling tilted his head back. A large pulse of green flame billowed in the center of the dining room. When he next opened his eyes, he was only mildly surprised to see a random reindeer guard staring back at him from the mirror.
Within seconds, a group of soldiers burst into the room. “You, there!” one shouted. “Why'd you break from your group?! Did you sight the abductor in here?”
The reindeer turned, looking back. His dull eyes blinked.
“Well?!”
“No...” The buck murmured in Ebon's voice. He cleared his throat. “But I was ordered by my Captain to stand guard here while the rest of my company searched the next hallway.”
“Very well then. We'll lend them our eyes!”
“Aye.”
They rushed past him, taking a half-minute to clear the other end of the spacious room. Once they were gone, the reindeer turned to once again peer at the mirror. For a moment there, his coat struggled to ripple back into a lavender sheen. He fought it, gnashing his teeth. When at last he had full control, he reached up and tapped the antlers sticking out of his skull. Upon touch, one fizzled out in an ashen cloud of green flame, but swiftly reformed.
For a brief moment, a smile even flashed across the guard's muzzle. Nevertheless, he steeled himself, pivoted about, and galloped out in the opposite direction that the group had passed through.
“Rainbow? Rainbow Dash?” Bellesmith spoke into the microphone of Props' communications array. “Rainbow, are you there?” She tried different channels, causing the soundstones before her to flicker in various spectral flashes. “Floydien? Floydien?”
Pilate stood behind her, silent, still.
“Rainbow, this is the Noble Jury. Do you have a status report?” Belle bit her lip as she started to shiver from her ears down to her tail. “Rainbow... are... are you even there?”
There was no reply.
Gently, Pilate rested a hoof on the mare's shoulder. Belle placed her own hoof over his as she hung her head, shuddering.
Behind them, the tome flickered inside its cage, steady—but dim.
Well, at least Midnite and Jake aren't dead. But they're definitely not going to be in a happy situation for a while.
Ebon's gaining more control over his shape-shifting abilities. That's great.
Just what the heck is she holding over those three, anyways?
I see that Ebon is beginning to master his shapeshifting. This will prove both interesting and useful.
5394743 I'm wondering the same about the 'Three Changeleers'.
That pun was horrid and I know it.
So Ebon is finally gaining gaining more control over his shapeshifting. That will probably be really useful in the future.
Funny how Appledashery is under "Also Liked" for this story, but none of the Austraeoh stories are under "Also Liked" for Appledashery.
The party seems broken, but it ain't over til the fat stallion sings.
So keep your fucking trap shut, Josho!!
Twenty-five pushups and twenty-five situps, ):(. Knock 'em out!
Jake got taken down more because he was severely restraining himself from making true mincemeat of his attackers? After all, He couldve just kept mana blasting the corridoor down on them, Midnight wouldve had the option of reopeneing the door.
Ebon is going through non standard Changeling forms very quickly, and for extended time, under stress, its burning through his love energy reserves, which is why the mirror.
Looks like Ffloydien has got a quiet patch, for the moment. Dash needs time to recover. Will she get it.?
Silence reigns on the comminucation channels, while storms gather and rage ever closer. Bet eine never realised just how filthy hidden secret passages could be. After all, they cant really be hidden and secret if the castle staff clean them every week. Unless you happen to have a dedicated team of ninja maids, whose existance is kept a secret from all, especially the people in power?
Hrm. Everybody being separated with no information on each other, all fearing the possible demise of their comrades? Reminds me of Innavedr.
A rather bleak chapter, really. I would hope that Jake and Bastion's "interrogation" is not what I expect it to be - a combination of brutal torture and changeling mind-rape. We had enough of that in Ledomare, although without the changeling twist.
Rainbow's convulsions seem to be considerably more intense than they normally are, with quite a large extent of physical and mental incapacitation for a long period of time, probably due to Yaerfaerda's proximity. It has also taken me an embarrassingly long time to realise her latest seizures since her "death" aren't being driven by chaos magic, but Yaerfaerda itself, willing her to abandon her friends and plunge into the Grand Choke, with increasing intensity the closer they get. In that battle with the Soul Sentries, she couldn't even see. I hope its influence doesn't increase to the point that she subconsciously approaches it and they have to hoofcuff her or something to stop her dawdling off.
5394807
She still gets her eyes flickering when she collapses, so I'm pretty sure it's still the chaos magic eating at her. The Yaerfaerda thing is just her subconscious fears coming out in her dreams.
That said, I think Rainbow is letting her fears blind her to an important fact: she can't cross the Grand Choke any more than the rest of the party can. Every time she's been hit by the soul sentries, creatures empowered by the anti-magic effects of the Choke, all it's shut down is her harmonic magic, causing her to turn into a chaos monster. I'm pretty sure that if she tries to cross the Grand Choke as she is right now it'll kill her (for reals this time).
I really hope that IC is not just going to kill off everyone on the Jury but RD at the end of this. At least let them settle down some where if they aren't going to follow her.
I have this feeling that some of the guards of Val Roa might side with RD and the Jury by the end of this, it seems like some of them are starting to see that something is wrong here.
Status:
.
.
.
"Austraeoh"_Incapacitated, Retreat, Wilderness
"Duke"_Active, Retreat, Wilderness
"Constable"_Captured, Interrogation, Military Compound
"Nancy Jane"_Captured, Interrogation, Military Compound
"Grasshopper"_Active, Retreat, Royal Secret Passage
"Simba"_Active, Retreat, Royal Secret Passage
"Duchess"_Captured, Government Building
"Servant"_Captured, Government Building
"Ninja"_Active, Retreat, Val Roa
"Sailboat"_Active, Infiltration, Royal Palace
"Most Rare"_Injured, Unknown
"Chew-toy"_Injured, Unknown
"Admiral"_Active, Proceeding, Jury Duty
"Cyber-zebra"_Active, Proceeding, Jury Duty
"Cultist"_Active, Proceeding, Jury Duty
"
Pinkie Pie"_Active, Proceeding, Jury Duty"Princess"_Active, Investigation, Skystone Cave
"Fatman"_Active, Investigation, Skystone Cave
"Booster Gold"_Active Peril, Skystone Fields
"Last Hope"_Unknown, Approaching, Unknown
5395029
... wow. But I guess a list is necessary at this point.
5394946
Still not enough to entirely sure why they aren't able to follow her over the edge. Something about great peril?
5395080
The Choke disables magic and it would kill most of them because of that. With that I still don't know why RD thinks the same won't happen to her when she tries, I'm guessing she is thinking her being Austraeoh will save her or something.
Well, things are looking mighty bleak. Like the hopeless lull before a crashing climax. As such, I'm sensing it won't be too long now before Chrysalis is revealed.
S T A Y C A L M
W E A W A I T T H E A R R I V A L O F T H E T A R K I N G T O N.
This chapter was surprisingly gruesome, especially when Jake went down...
I hope this isn't foreshadowing, that would be a terrible way to be revealed. Some guard tries to lock horns with him and goes right on through to Ebon's face.
5395173 THIS.
Aww poor Jake... Please dont die.
5395173
Soooooooon....
So, Rainbow is still dying slowly, Ebon is still doing an amazing job of learning on the fly, and Belle is worried sick about everyone.
Business as usual, amIright?
(Btw, would now be a good time to mention that they seem to have multiple Element worthy ponies on board the Noble Jury? I have theories about this, but I'm using enough space as is.)
5395029 You forgot Grasshopper and Simba.
5395329
0.media.dorkly.cvcdn.com/11/66/90a5442391c143173baf1fd82e5b2449-10-gifs-of-soon-moments-in-games.jpg
5393349 Yup.
Right here.
Folks... we know that Rainbow is on the verge of crossing the edge of the Shard. This is a major event within the canon of this saga.
What if... what if the end of this arc sees ALL the Jurists dying except for Rainbow Dash?
Don't forget about Lerris.
5395545
But it hurts so much...
5395350
....
shit, i did....
daaaamn.....
i'll fix that
Finished the chapter. Time to wait for the next one
the feels
Yaerfaerda...
...loss?
And when you sink deep,
Breathing in ice,
You feel the great sleep,
The call of the night,
But it's not time
So wake up and climb!
5397544
can you make a nuke out of skystone?
Midnite...
Good job, Ebon! You're finally doing it!
-Spirit
Ebon's gonna be one hell of an asset to the Jury in the future.
Or, well, the immediate future . . .
Well, the jury is armed now, thanks to booster, but one cannon isn't much against a whole battleship.
Crap... I hope Midnight and the others don't end up in too bad of a position after all that. Torture inbound...
~SolidFire
Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Chrysalis the Wise?
So they lost their telepathic link then. That's useful to know...
Awww
Things look bad, but just like a dim light means there is still a way to see your path, that Rainbow is still alive means that things are not hopeless. In fact this rearranging of things might be able to be used to their advantage.
07/16/2017
20:11 UTC
I AM THE SENATE
Looks like Ebon has been adding ranks to his Bluff and Disguise.
5395029
Why is this so cool to read?
5395173
Reinforcements inbound!
8777736
Because it's fucking bawler and awesome.
It's like a bunch of codenames and status reports rolled up in one.
It's just really cool, and sums things up well.
Pinkie PieThe blonde Pinkie is still on the move.
Poor Jet, probably has more excitement in these past few minutes than she has previously had in her entire life.
10/14/2019
00:02 UTC
Aw geez, Yaerfaerda is starting to haunt her. Is she that afraid of it? Does Rainbow now think of it as her leaving her friends and girlfriend?
What, are you the Emperor now?
Ebon, you're accidentally getting better!