"Flutters!" Pinkie looked aside. "Has she... y'know... dragon-croaked?"
"It's hard to tell!" Fluttershy squeaked. "She's not the same as other living equines, you know."
"Kepler!" Rainbow motioned the wyvern over as she scampered to Remna's side. The sarosians who fished her out backed off as the two examined the muscular mare's body. "Can you get a read on her?"
"Well, Rrainbow one..." Kepler slipped his spectacles back on and grasped one of Remna's fetlocks in two claws. "In my most esteemed opinion, it would appear that our draconian friend—"
"Hrkkkkkkt!" Remna's body suddenly convulsed. Curling up, she opened her violet maw wide and vomited a copious amount of seawater out onto the rusted bulkheads.
"...has surrvived." Kepler smiled through his tusks. "Ha-Hah! Motherr Matrron, yourr exceptional spells still do not disappoint! Even long afterr yourr passing!"
Rainbow rolled her eyes and draped against the hull with a sigh. "I know I shouldn't complain and all... but I'm getting really super tired of things switching from 'absolute suck' to 'absolute sick' on a dime."
"Grkkk..." Remna wheezed, her eyes clenched shut as she winced and writhed. "...is there ever a lifetime in wh-which you cease your relentless ch-chatter, Austraeoh...?"
"Oh go buck yourself with a chainsaw," Rainbow growled. "You almost pulled a Nevlamas just now."
"No need... grkkk... to insult me..." Remna forced her thin eyes open, crusty from seawater. The green slits reflected a bright, silver glow. "Hrmmm... the moon alicorn's enchantment... so it has worked..."
"These dudes aren't trying to kill us anymore," Rainbow said. "At least, I don't think—"
"Echo!" Nicole's voice exclaimed.
Rainbow turned to see the farm mare in question scampering across the deck full of pirates.
"Now... grnngh..." Bard struggled up to his hooves, wincing. He hobbled after her. "Not so fast, Nicole! Give him space! The poor varmint may be hurt bad—"
"Echo!" Nicole knelt close beside him, shaking his shoulder. "Speak to me! Can... can you feel your limbs?"
"Nnnngh..." The velvety body beneath her stirred, cracking stiff joints and wincing. "Mrmmfff... four out of five of them... shit nuggets."
Nicole sighed, fangs showing. "Why d-didn't you say something earlier? I thought you were dead!"
"Still wish that I was, actually." Echo sat up, squinting through one eye. The left side of his face was badly bruised, and he spat blood from his muzzle. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh it's great to be back home."
Bard called out over his shoulder, "Are we all still in one piece?"
"Nothing's broken over here," Ariel sputtered.
"I'm still fat and pissed off," Logan growled.
"Rrrrgh!" Flynn was standing up and limping towards the cabin. "Forget about me! What about my Princess!" He grimaced as he gazed into the engine room. "Ughhhh—Wildcard! This place is a mess now! Couldn't you have taken your crazy-ass fight elsewhere?"
"Oh hush, needlehead!" Bard picked up Flynn's loose eye-lens from the cabin, dried it against his fetlock, and tossed it to the unicorn. "He's the only reason we lasted 'til Luna gave her big speech!" He walked over and held his hoof out to the griffon in question. "You still kickin', Dubya?"
The griffon sighed, nodding. He grasped the other Desperado's hoof with his flesh talon, then stood up. Teetering slightly, he gave Bard back his metal staff.
Bard took it, exhaled, then smirked. "Always gotta show me up, huh?"
Wildcard shrugged.
Bard rested a hoof on his feline shoulder. "Ain't no gettin' off this train we're on." He looked down at his partner's limp prosthetic. "Blew a fuse, huh?"
Wildcard merely clenched his beak tighter.
"Yeah, well, we'll have Flynn look at it."
"There're dints all over my manacrystals!"
"I said he'll fix it!" Bard snarled. "Goddess dayum... I swear, if my guitar has a single string broken..."
"Priorities, ponies," Ariel said, floating across the deck. She stared wearily at each of the sarosians standing dead-still. "Uhm... sooooo..." She looked at Rainbow. "Are they... y'know... not-bad-guys now?"
"Princess Luna?" Rainbow tilted her head to the heavens. "Axan and the rest of the Herald appear to be okay. Echo—our sarosian friend—is a bit banged up... but none of the pirates are attacking us anymore. Uhm... what exactly did you tell them? Just so we can be on the same page'n'stuff..."
Silence.
Twilight and Rarity exchanged worried looks.
"Your Highness?" Rainbow asked.
"Rainbow Dash, this is Celestia," the voice said as the light flickered. "Luna is here, and she is doing well. However... she needs a few minutes to recover from channeling that much energy. I do hope you can understand."
"Yeesh..." Rainbow Dash gulped. "I... I-I guess I had no idea it took that much out of her."
"Neither did I. She may have spoken at great lengths to you all these months, but my beloved sister is... not nearly as gifted in the art of communication as you and me."
"Uhhhhhh... no offense, Princess." Rainbow smirked as she looked at the humbled bodies around her. "But she seems gifted enough to me."
"Rainbow..." Fluttershy squeaked, pointing past her. "Look."
Rainbow spun around to see that the pale warrior with the pronounced ears and scarred nostrils was trotting directly towards her.
"Moment of truuuuuuuuuth," Pinkie sing-songed.
Echo and Nicole watched worriedly as the intimidating pirate crossed the distance.
Logan, Bard, and Ariel gathered protectively around Rainbow Dash. The four remained still as the warrior approached.
When she arrived—she immediately knelt down, bowing low. At long last she looked back up, and her slitted eyes narrowed. Her voice was a breathy thing, and the ringlets dangling from her fangs added a ringing percussion to her dark tone. "You are the one that the Mother of Nightmare calls Rainbow Dash?" The long ears twitched. "The... 'Austraeoh?'"
"Heh..." Applejack smirked aside. "She got her phonetics down good and proper."
"Sarosians are great vocalists," Twilight added, murmuring. "They can master almost any language."
"They just like to whinny in their own when murdering ponies," Pinkie droned.
"Girls. Please." Fluttershy looked at Rainbow. "Now's a good time to announce yourself, Rainbow."
Rainbow nodded. "Yes." She took a bold step towards the kneeling warrior. "I am Rainbow Dash... a royal subject to Princess Luna, your... uh... Maiden of the Moon."
The sarosians all murmured in one hushed voice.
The warrior cocked her head to the side, her necklace of bones rattling. "The Mother of Nightmare's voice burns in our eyes and our heart. Truly, she has sent you. W'ynlppa yln H'luun."
Rainbow squinted. "Uhhhhhh... what does that last part mean?"
The warrior's one nostril flared. "Blood of Luna. Her chosen vessel. Much like the Maria Matriarchs." Her fangs glinted in the starlight. "As it is written in the Book of Saros: 'The Mother's blessing is our blessing.' Forgive us—foolish and wayward foals—for assaulting you, the avatar of moons."
"That depends..." Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. "Are you on my side from now on or what?"
The warrior's jaws clenched. She stood up on all fours and unsheathed a whalebone dagger. Schiiiing!
Bard and Logan flinched.
The warrior raised the dagger.
"Rainbow—!" Ariel squeaked, muscles coiling.
"It's alright," Applejack said with a calm smile. "She ain't gonna harm any of us."
"Then what is she doing—?" Rainbow stopped in mid-sentence.
The pale warrior drew the dagger across her own chest, adding to the multitudinous scars etched in her coat. She collected the flowing blood in her fetlock and held it up—glistening—to the moonlight. "I am Enix. W'ynlppa yln N'ymym. Nightblood warrior... and protector of the Maria Matriarch." He eyeslits narrowed. "The Mother of Nightmares has spoken. She has sent her avatar, Rainbow Dash, the 'Austraeoh.' I give my blood for the Blood of Luna. As do we all—the foals of Saros."
Rainbow looked at Enix, then at her outstretched hoof dripping with blood. Pensively, she reached a hoof out. Rarity stifled the urge to vomit as Rainbow hooked her fetlock's in Enix's. The blood dribbled down both their outstretched hooves.
"Thank you, Enix," Rainbow Dash firmly said. "Now... if you don't mind... could you make my ship a teensy bit last crowded?"
Without wrenching her eyes from Rainbow Dash, Enix shrieked out the side of her muzzle: "Skriiiiiiiiii!"
FWOOOOOSH! Every single sarosian lifted off the Stardust in a single, combined wingflap.
Ariel blinked.
"Well..." Rainbow Dash slowly exhaled. "That's a start."
That's... actually a valid concern. Where's the dude gonna find one on the other side of the plane?
Are you a God?
No, but She would like to have a word with you.
That's a pretty dayum good way of putting it. And how.
Well, that answers one question I was about to ask. Nicole is a different story, but I was really wondering how Echo was able to go from Lunar tongue to English(Equish, whatever) and how long it took him to do so.
Now I'm back to wondering about the runecrafting. If it still functions like I think it does, who/how do they get to enchant all that stuff in the first place?
Well...manacrystals are a thing in Austraeoh, so that's my first guess.
Also, translations!
There's also a "H'jem" command or somesuch, if I recall correctly.
It's weird seeing this stuff move from spell triggers to an actual language.
That she has finally taken claim to the throne of Equestria and now holds dominion over both the sun and the moon, while Celestia is sealed inside a tomb in some insignificant rural village?
...What? It's technically true!
Hey, Axan survived, that's awesome.
Congrats to 7465467 for the namedrop.
Now we get to see Sarosian mechanics in action as they repair not just the ship, but also Wildcard's prosthetic, maybe?
I wonder how well known Echo is to the other Sarosians, does he have like a bounty on his head?
I'm also surprised that they tried to kill Echo and Nicole, and not capture them. I'm sure that will be explained though.
-Companions are abound, frozen spectres hound. Utaan.
I'm pretty impressed with what the Sarosians can do. Their powers seem similar to the wierding way from Dune.
Well Rainbow Dash pretty much now has part of an army from the looks of it. Hopefully the Talon can make contact with her before Seraphimus and Chandler show up.
7470557
Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say "YES"!
Oh, look. Some more self-flagellators.
We got ourselves and army. Whoo!
Oh, good, mouth to mouth crisis on Axan averted.
The bat ponies seem docile enough now, but I'm wondering what the catch will be. Things never go smoothly for Dash for long.
Sarosian language: http://i.imgur.com/1YnW5qY.gif
I have a burning, physical need to know about this.
So this Lunar tongue is quite fascinating. This is what I've got so far:
H'Luun = Luna
Ywm = yes
W'ynlppa = blood
yln = of
N'ymym = night
I also noticed the following phrases are rather similar from the previous chapter:
Yln Austraeoh h'jymwym wynl w'yssym yln H'Luun y'mssym lysl m'wynhrm.
Yln Austraeoh l'syymym wynl h'jymmsys yln H'Luun l'synnylm lysl yln m'whynny.
This is probably the phrase in which Luna communicates that the Austraeoh is her avatar... or at least that she sent her. I wonder if the avatar part was directly communicated, or inferred from ancient prophecy...
Has anyone else noticed any longer repeating words? It get's a little tricky in a language with under 10 letters...
Now people can begin translating some of the words! It looks like the rest of the journey shouldn't be that hard until Chandler and his army show up anyway. Luna should have this covered.
This oughta make things interesting when Chandler & Co. shows up.
Throne... this is getting interesting...
That went better than expected.
Also congrats, Enix.
I wanted Ariel to get over her crush, because everybody should be happy, and now we have a new badass female character.
Sooo.... Eniel ?
7470939 Probably too old
and disfiguredfor Ariel.Oh man, that went better then expected! Even dragon lady pony is okay!
So now that she got her very own
Adorable, leafy-earedBloodintrested, rune-armed gang of sarosian sailors, our CaptainKenwayDash should start building up a larger fleet to dissuadePirate HuntersChandler.It won't stop Top Bird, but perhaps the others will try and use it as a slowing measure?
...
No Way! I got a name drop? I-I don't really know how to respond. Well obviously thanks are in order.
I'd like to thank all the marsupials in my life who inspired me to reach for the green leafy things and for helping me get this far. Especially momma marsupial, who practically carried me to where I am today in her pouch. Then there's ):(. What can I say that hasn't already been said about this guy? How about this? Thanks everyone I love you all.
Ahem... Lets keep this east train rolling!
7470566 7470819 *note taking intensifies*
7470590 7470934 Thank you, wasn't expecting this and I kind of had nothing to say for 2 hours until my head turned back on.
7470627 [youtube=4dOsbsuhYGQ]
7470939 I was drinking water when I read that last line. My computer isn't happy with you. But I laughed.
7470951 Or maybe I'm albino? But I agree none the less.
7470819 These are the orders to retrieve a drowning Axen last chapter. H'luun said the first line, while Enix said the second. These two lines are nearly the same, but seem to be said differently much like the line you found.
"W'sylymm! H'jymml yln w'synym wyn s'ylppa! H'jymma!"
"W'synym wyn yln s'ylppa wyssl h'symnl! H'jymma!"
I speculate that "H'jymma" might be 'quickly' or 'hurry' given urgency of the situation and where it's placed. Or it's a verb for for 'retrieve', 'bring', 'get' 'save' them.
"W'sylym(m)" Would most likely be an attention getter or noun addressing the Sarosians (soldiers!)or another 'quickly' or even a 'listen'. "wyn" looks like 'one' and kind of sounds like it to. I also feel like "s'ylppa" or "w'synym" refers to either the sea/drowning or ponies/followers.
tl:dr
But all of this is most definitely guess work and conjecture. There probably isn't any real translation. Though it be super awesome if there was.
7470951 But she has adorable, leafy ears !
7471075 We may as well start the translation thread in the group now. (First language I've handled with a whopping two vowels, assuming that [y] is a vowel sound.)
7471108 I think some comments from the last update set said they were used as spell components in EoP.
Ayyy we gots a new name AND bats that like to engage in some bodily harm for religious reasons. I can already feel a great and bloody connection with 'em.
Well, things seemed to have worked out well. Nice for that to happen for a change, now how long before it goes back to hell?
7471297 Until one of the ponies tries to learn the language and ends up saying something about a batpony's mother.
Well, well. New party members! They certainly seem like they could be very helpful to Rainbow and the Herald.
Also, bat-ponies! Yay!
7471108
Yes, it was used in EoP for one-word spell commands for lunar runecrafting magic.
*Shudders from batawesome overload.*
More dialogue and exposition. Dreit *cough* I mean, Ywm.
Apart from the inevitable obsession over the new language which we all share, all in favor of using Axan as a battering ram?
Emo motherfuckers. Talk about a blood moon.
7471108
At least End of Ponies, but it seems like it's appeared in a few other stories too.
Welcome back, Dragon lady. Please wear a flotation device for the remainder of the cruise.
Everyone has been speculating as to the test of the final seed. If there is one, and if it follows the established pattern, then it should be a test of loyalty. These batponies are loyal to "Luna's Avatar" without question. What if Rainbow is forced to betray that loyalty?
7470566
There we go. I knew I could count on someone to translate.
Gotta say, Luna certainly came through for them in the end. Now I kinda wonder what kind of impact Dash will have on the batpony society.
~SolidFire
7471891
puu.sh/qy0NV/e54bd523e1.jpg
It's the only one we could find
Hooo boy, man, Rainbow's got herself quite a group of protectors now doesn't she? Lovely; they can help against Chandler's cronies. And they can talk to those at Beak's Plummet if Luna's not rested enough to do more of that display.
7471592
7470566
7470819
7471075
Uh...
Uhhhh.....
...haat?
Enix seems like she'll be a fun one. Kind of like Roarke 1.0, fresh outta Searo's Hold.
...how long before she's added to the Harmonic Harem?
She asked us, "Be you angels?"
And we said, "Neigh, we are but Ponies!"
Tenacious P, anyone?
7473379
How lewd! Look away Scootangel.
This reminds me of the Aztec language: both couldn't possibly have been designed to be pronounced by a human throat.
We also got Enix now. Where's Square?
Hey!
7471128 I think the "and sometimes Y" can be thrown out the window. Since almost every word has a Y it's likely going to be used as a vowel.
Also I've seen A's, E's, and U's. That's four vowels if we include Y's.
7473781 Pffft. I feel like that would be a fic on it's own.
Haremstraeoh
Dash heads East and collects a harem.
Speaking of Roarke, if she, Axen, Seraphimus, and Enix where to have a 'conversation' it would probably amount to them just staring at each other in awkward silence.
7472441
Neato, do you upload Austraeoh art anywhere?
7472441 Remna is not. Amused.
Not that she has a sense of humor to begin with.
7474746
not right now, but I might if I feel like doing more
Blood for
SearoSaros!