"Rest assured, Blood of Luna," Enix spoke, gliding off the port side of the Stardust. The metal vessel made a wild wake as it coasted eastward, towed by two massive vessels covered in lunar runes and twisting vines. "You are in the presence of the strongest and most formidable fleet in all the dark waters. We will furiously strip apart any and all vessels that attempt to intercept you."
"Hmmmm..." Rainbow Dash hovered in a slow spiral, glancing at the various vessels—both slender and spheroid—that were accompanying the Stardust in its brisk watery lurch. "I dunno." A coy smirk. "I've seen some of Rohbredden's finest. They've got ships that could boil the ocean with their ordinance. And then you've got the pirates from Mudtop—"
A high-pitched chirp escaped Enix's fanged lips. Her scarred nostril flared. "Moths before the flame. We could skim into the sunlit waters and obliterate the Six Tribes and their feculent bastard children in a blink."
"If your navy's so dang powerful," Raibnow asked, squinting at her. "Then why haven't you after all this time?"
"Hrmmmfff..." Enix folded her scarred forelimbs. "Because of the Lunar Vigilance."
"The what?" Rainbow asked under the rumbling thunder.
"A bum excuse for a bum lifestyle," Echo droned from where he sat on the deck.
Enix sneered at him. "I should chop your wings off for such insolence—"
"You already did," Echo hissed back. "Or at least—you half-assed it. Like everything since the great migration began."
Enix let loose a high-pitched shriek.
Echo returned with an even higher-pitched one.
"Yo... dudes..." Rainbow winced, rubbing her ears as she hovered directly between them. "Give it a rest. And ease up on the... squeaks. Friggin' A..."
Nicole trotted up out of the cabin, blinked, turned around, and trotted back down.
Enix and Echo calmed slightly.
"Okay... first thing's first..." Rainbow looked at Echo. "What's Lunar Vigilance? I mean for real?"
Echo opened his fanged mouth—
"It is the stalwart commitment that we've made," Enix said. "Centuries ago, our ancient Maria Matriarchs agreed to station ourselves upon the edge of the world so that we may await a sign of the Mother of Nightmare's return. Due to the constant twilight, we've since lost track of the passage of heavenly bodies. Nevertheless, in our darkest of hearts, we all felt that the Thousandth Year Moon was close to transpiring."
"Right." Rainbow nodded. "And... ths 'great migration?'"
Enix opened her muzzle—
"It's referring to the big exodus our ancestors made," Echo droned. "Out of Equestria—apparently—all the way to Bleak's Plummet." He waved a fetlock in the air. "The most hardass warriors dove over the edge and proceeded to the Dark Side—where they planned to establish a 'New Ponymonium' that could service the Mother of Nightmares upon her return."
"And fight for her in the glorious conquest of the Solar Deceiver!" Enix said boldly, fangs glinting. She beat her chest and hissed with bloodlust. "To win her the throne and ensure Eternal Night!"
"Which... she totally doesn't want anymore," Rainbow droned. "Just like I've been trying to tell you... Nightmare Moon has been vanquished. Princess Luna wants to make peace with her sister Celestia—like she's always desired for eons and eons."
"Rainbow Dash is correct," Princess Luna's voice spoke. "The reign of Nightmare Moon was a mistake... one that I continue to regret to this very day. We were never meant to dominate the sun-loving ponies... but to live with them peacefully, as was purposed by the original alicorns who brought peace and harmony to this plane."
"Yeah, well..." Echo grumbled. "You might be able to convince the midnighters of the Lunar Vigilance about that... but what about the punks who went to the Dark Side?"
"In truth, I fear for their misguided sensibilities," Princess Luna said. "Drenched in so much chaos for centuries—they will likely possess an unpredictable nature."
"Yeesh..." Rainbow ran a hoof through her short-short bangs. "I haven't even thought about that." She looked over. "Enix? What do you and your brothers and sisters know about the sarosians who flew over to the Dark Side—" She froze in place, blinking.
Enix was once again lying prostrate on the floor. She murmured sacred chants and unsheathed a dagger, aiming for her scarred fetlock—
"Oh for crying out loud..." Rainbow rolled her eyes and—Fwooosh!—zipped down to the mare, grasping her forelimbs. "Will you quit it?!"
"But..." Enix's pronounced ears drooped. "The Mother of Nightmare exposes us for our foolish sins. I must express my penitence—"
"What you must do is help me get to Bleak's Plummet so I can talk to the Maria Matriarchs!" Rainbow's voice echoed. "And that won't be easy if the leader of the pack is light-headed from blood-loss."
"I do not understand." Enix's slitted eyes blinked. "You do not wish for me to honor our Goddess?"
"She doesn't want you reducing yourself to shredded wheat!" Echo growled, eyes rolling. "Goddess... this is why I left in such a damn hurry. Bunch of emo freaktards."
Enix frowned at him. "You should have left earlier!" She growled. "Before you robbed the Maria Matriarchs of forty pounds of moonsilver!"
"Like they were doing anything better with it than making orphans on the high seas!"
Enix let loose a high-pitched shriek.
Echo let loose an even higher-pitched shriek.
"Rnnnngh!" Rainbow Dash clutched her skull. "For Pete's sake—!"
Nicole stomped out of the cabin this time, opening her jaws wide. "Skriii-iii-iii!"
This time, both Enix and Echo winced.
Nicole huffed, frowning. "Now quit it! Honestly!" She tilted her chin up. "Feels like we're taking on water downstairs every dang time!"
Bard rushed up from below deck, concerned. He watched as Nicole stomped back downstairs in a huff. He blinked at her, glanced at Rainbow, smirked, then shrugged. With quiet steps, he descended after his sister.
Silence.
"I can tell that the tension is high," Luna's voice said. "I only have myself to blame."
Rainbow blinked. "Your Highness?"
"Blessed Mother of Nightmares." Enix bowed low again, eyeslits flickering. "You are most righteous and wise. I entreat you not to give in to needless despair on behalf of your dream children—"
"No. It is my fault. I dabbled in dark energies, and it gave birth to the persona that would eventually embrace Nightmare Moon. Because of that, not only did Equestria suffer, but it forever cursed my children of the night to an eternity of exile and persecution. And now—as we speak—my most forsaken flock of all are lost on the Dark Side of the plane, embroiled in an endless war that consumes all life."
Enix stood up with a deep breath. "I assure you, Oh Mother, that our brothers and sisters in shadow are as vigilant and trustful as we have been."
"Yeah..." Echo muttered. "Because the Seventh Tribe here have been soooooo wonderful and trusting." His fangs showed. "A real paragon of harmony."
Enix snarled. "Will it kill you, lazy pariah, to treat our Mother with respect?"
"We shall deal with respect when Rainbow Dash meets the Matriarchs," Princess Luna said. "I trust, Nightblooded child, that they await for her in Bleak's Plummet?"
Enix bowed gently. "Most assuredly, Mother. I shall see to it that she reaches the vinewooded depths without mishap."
Rainbow glanced over. "Vinewooded depths?"
"Yup." Echo nodded. "The reason why the other Six Tribes can never find us is that we're never meant to be found."
"What's that mean?"
"Just that..." He pointed at the choppy waters. "...it's not nearly as rough several meters below the surface."
Rainbow Dash blinked. She glanced up above the horizon—at the flicker of Yaerfaerda—then back down at the rolling waves. "Your Highness?"
"Yes, child?"
"What if I lose the direct line to you real soon?"
"I estimate that we still have twenty-four hours of communication left."
"I'm not talking about time, Princess Luna."
"Hmmmm... one way or another, my children will be made to see the light."
"I humbly concur," Enix said with a nod.
"But in the meantime, Rainbow Dash, my essence shall be carried—at least in part—in the pendant."
"How so?"
"Trust me. Every sarosian you meet shall have no doubt whom you are there to represent."
"In other words..." Echo smirked slightly. "...you'd better prepare your away mission."
"Yeah..." Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. "I was afraid of that."
Remember back at chapter 190, when we still thought IC was gonna fit all this in 10 chapters?
Yeah, I'm so glad he decided not to struggle with that and to go with the flow.
Methinks somebody just kindasorta gave up for the night...
Ooooooh....batfight.
And good show, Nicole.
I certainly hope that this doesn't become a repeat thing. *groan*
Strike 1.
Nicole only gives one strike.
The only thing I could think of when Nicole came up the first time was the Interfishin. No joke.
After the Quade, I'd imagine Dash has had enough of ponies self flagellating.
-Companions are abound, frozen spectres hound. Utaan.
A silence spell would be so useful around those saronsians.
So, does anybody else find it somewhat ironic that after all the shit Dash has been through with dealing with a nation of ponies who followed a deity without question... she is now making use of a nation of ponies who follow a deity without question?
Gawd batponies are always a lot of fun. It's a shame the show doesn't do more with them.
*Eeeing intensifies*
A fitting title.
Don't piss off Nicole.
So Rainbow Dash now gets to play the role of diplomat.
What could possibly go wrong?
This reminds me of how me and my sister used to fight when we younger, and how my mom managed to shut us up.
7476308
So I guess the rest of the book that don't have titles yet are going to cover the dark side only then? After chapter 200 or so I felt like another book was already starting with the same title as the previous. I do agree with you that it was a good idea to bend the rules and keep going on this book until the change in location is made, it was inevitable with how big the chapters were growing with each book.
7476442
...you didn't just say that.
7476309 To be fair, there was at leasr five distinct screeches this chapter.
7476548 Yep! Dash has succeeded in uniting Rohbreddon in the belief that she killed their god and now she's about to convince the batpones that she's an emissary of theirs...
I see an absolute zero chance that anything bad could come of this!
7476584
Rainbow Dash, Theocrat extraordinaire.
But screechie batty ponies aside, we're gun go deep again? Oh boy!
7476366
To be fair, post NM Luna is a powerful 'diety' who actively tries to help her subjects. Whereas Verlax didn't care for her worshippers and merely used them for her own twisted means.
I promised myself when I first found Austraeoh that I wouldn't post a single comment till I caught up. And here I am, 2 years later. Took a long break after both Austraeoh and Eljunbyro respectively, and it put me far, far behind. Now I finally caught up. Now I have to figure out what I'm going to read now that I'm caught up with this.
- Prism
Then express it in action, not in the spilling of one's own blood.
7476662 Welcome aboard the Noble Jury, cabins are on the 4th floor. The kitchen is always open to make comfort food should you require it, and the gym in the aux. Hangar is perfect for grinding your endurance stat. We are currently on approach to our last dock before the Dark Side, so please, make sure your cabins is overstocked, as it may be a while before we can dock to restock.
Please enjoy the rest of the flight, and if you are looking for more entertainment, please take a look at Appledashery.
I find it a bit silly that after being told to escort and help Dash that she thought that killing herself is what Luna wanted.
So wait, does that make them The Pirates of Dark Waters? (yay obscure 90s reference!)
Skree!
Baggsy the maroon overcovering.
Uh oh...
7476747
This is gonna be one hell of a ride.
Appledashery eh? Don't believe I've read that. Though I remember it popping up in the feature box a while back.
- Prism
Say, I wonder how the Rainbow Rouge Elimination Task Force of Ultimate Righteousness in the Name of Verlax(ion) is faring.
Right, yeah that would be a bit of a problem. Well, hopefully the Matriarchs will listen to RD on whatever her pendant has left and the word of Enix. She could really use some allies fighting for her.
It is neat to see the sarosians here getting some worldbuilding too, living under the sea must be quite a change for a race that's used to the sky.
7476308
Yeah, it does seem like it really was for the best that we go past the old 'limit'.
7476662
Congrats on catching up and welcome to the latest chapter of Dash Flies East
Appledashery and Shellstrings are two additional dailies you may want to check out as they are pretty similar in writing style to this.
Throne controlled by Luna, check.
Eternal night... Well, they live in the Twilight Lands, don't they?
I'm glad that the Sarosians are at least receptive to changes from their beliefs and not label anything that contradicts them as heresy.
Then again, Verlax never was too willing to interact with Robhredden like Luna is with the bat ponies right now.
7477114 Why don't we just call them the Specialized Execution Assault Squad. S.E.A.S
Also: *Rogue
7476308 I am really enjoying the increased book length also. My over-under for the total number of chapters in this book is 280.
God damn sarosians, with their fluffy ears and their squeaking. If they weren't so angsty they'd be adorable.
I find it amusing that Lady-Roadhog over here was shouted into submission by a kid bathorse that only seconds ago she was gonna gut like a fish.
Nicole confirmed for mini-Matriarch.
7476392 I concur
I'm a batpony, and if you've ever heard me sing, you we really sound this annoying.
7476662 welcome, new kids on the block!
7478651 I remember the halcyon days when I thought the total word count would be around 700,000.
I always really dig Ponymonium references. I don't know if it's because of EoP nostalgia or what, but it always makes me happy.
7476662 Welcome, glad you could catch up with us! Lunch tomorrow will be nachos and cheese, but I'd recommend you avoid the refried beans like the plague. This far from civilization, you don't want to know what they make 'em with.
And the arguments start already. Good thing Nicole is there to keep them in line... oh, and Luna too.
I think that it's funny when they start screeching at each other.
7653783 tis funny indeed
What have you done with Rainbow and why is this nane so unintentionally hilarious?!
I'm pretty sure this is cheating.
Unless they have a map, guys...
Methinks when I started that the chapter title was cheating.
I was not disappointed.
7:33 p.m. MST 12/7/2017
Good lord, if this was an audio book our ears would be shattered. I should’ve known from the title.
That's right. Nothing to see here.
Nicole has got the comedic timing down pat.
No, please be better than the crazy cultists from the Quade.
Snnkt, they're adorable.