Rainbow Dash squinted, her lips mouthing the intense gravity of Axan's last booming words.
“What is this worldly end that you insist of, Axan?” Celestia remarked.
“Do not pretend to be ignorant, Princess,” the Matriarch retorted. “This world does not have many ages left. In less than a few centuries, all will be devoid of life. When I close my eyes and meditate on the decaying landscape around me, I often wonder if there is even a hundred years left to relish.”
“Everything has an end, Queen of Flame,” Celestia said. “But I do not understand you dire prediction.”
“Naturally, for you are blinded by your own ambitions,” Axan replied. She blew smoke towards the ceiling and lowered her iron snout upon the edge of the golden hoard. “Everything about ponydom is alien to this plane. You lack the senses to properly listen to the heart of the Machine. Who could expect anything else? Neither of you were there when the Sundering happened. How could you know that the great Hum of Purpose has been dwindling ever since? It is but a whisper now, Princesses, and the shuddering gasp of the Purpose's death is sucking the breath out of all things that cling to the Machine's dirty surfaces.”
“And as a means of mourning this death, thou spreadeth destruction and misery?!” Luna's voice rose in anger as Rainbow Dash's pendant vibrated. “Thou shouldst pursue coexistence with the life of this world if thy concerns were so adamant! What prosperty doth it serve us to sow pain and agony?! Together, in mutual agreement, we couldst approach all crises, including the worldly doom thou believeth in!”
“There is no sense in talking to you anymore,” Axan said, grumbling, causing the chamber full of pensive wyrms to shudder. “You still think that harmony and mutual peace can solve things. The Machine is broken; the spark is gone. There is nothing that can bring this realm back to Purpose. All will grow cold. Life will dwindle to dust. What good will your harmony do you then?”
“And just what is your solution, dear Queen?” Celestia asked.
“The only solution is to admit that there is no solution,” Axan said, her eyeslits thin and tired as she stared into the golden glitter of her massive hoard. “I must retire here, in this next I've built, and increase my riches. In a world where all is death and decay, my precious metals shall conserve my merit. A dragon's hoard is her lifeline, after all, even after time and turmoil have consumed her. If I want any future for my children—even a bleak one—I owe it to them to ensure that these riches remain in my possession. If I fail, then what happened to the other Divine Four's offspring shall happen to mine.”
“What fate hath befallen them, Axan?”
“Far be it from you to know the truth from your aloof thrones,” Axan growled. “Far be it from you to know that there is a world of desolation beyond the shimmering glory of your kingdom. The Sun and Moon possess the sky, but they do not come down from it. If they did, then perhaps they would lend knowledge to your eyesight, piercing through the blindness...”
Axan suddenly stood up, her iron limbs flexing as she sneered straight down at Rainbow Dash.
“And perhaps you would know that I am dying, Goddesses of the Stars!” Axan shouted, her eyes burning bright as her mouth lit up. “And that not even the Divine Five have it in their power to salvage this world that the alicorns have spoiled!”
Rainbow Dash flinched, for Axan had jerked her head forward and launched a volley of burning embers straight at her. The heated swath wasn't enough to set Rainbow Dash on fire, but it did knock her savagely off her hooves. With a grunt, Rainbow Dash rolled backwards and tumbled to a stop against one of the chunks of rubble that the laborers had flown in. The glow in the pendant died out. Celestia's and Luna's voice shouted in surprise, and were silenced under a curtain of smoke.
“H-Hey!” Rainbow Dash snarled, jumping back to her hooves and barking straight at up at the massive Matriarch. “You hardly gave them a chance to—!”
“You speak of chances?! Of fairness?!” Axan hissed. The entire cavern was roasting at that point as she leered mightily above the petite pegasus. “This world is a fractured piece of a forsaken accident. We drift through the stars like a leaf lost from its tree, and everything beyond the twilight is frozen death. You were doomed to suffer since the day you were born, pony. Do not preach to me about what you deserve when you are nothing but a speck of sediment in the grand crucible of chaos.”
“The Princesses were totally willing to help you!” Rainbow Dash said, frowning in spite of the heat that was curling her blue hairs on end. “Don't you have enough friggin' gold?! Don't you have enough kids to do what you want?! How could someone like you be so selfish and lame to not give a little to the world around you?! So what if it ends?! That's no excuse to make all of Silvadel as miserable as you—”
“They will not be miserable for long,” Axan said coldly. “In fact, by this point, they are likely at peace.”
Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped. Her eyes squinted. “Huh...?”
Axan's green eyes twitched. “You do not know?” Her teeth showed beneath a crooked grin. “How very fitting of Celestia's patron equine, to be so ignorant...”
“Just be straight with me!” Rainbow Dash raised a fist, growling. “Or I'll see if those ugly horns of yours bend backwards!”
“I thought you had come here as a means of retribution,” Axan said. “I thought this was a desperate response to my silencing the vermin of this land.”
Rainbow Dash gasped, her ruby eyes wide. “Wait...” Her body was shivering. “Do you mean—?”
“I am older than all things that have sprouted wings and legs,” Axan said. “I was here before there was light, before there was pain or joy. My heart beats with the invisible spirit of the Purposeful Machine. Do you think I'd be blind to the defilement of the earth? Do you think I would not feel the tunnel being burrowed towards my holy domain all these months?! Would a pathetic weapon of simple design escape my knowledge?”
Rainbow Dash gawked at the queen as a crimson light overwhelmed her.
Axan was leaning forward, her jaws exhaling vapors of heat. “I sent half of my brood to destroy that insipid 'Sanctuary' hours ago. The creatures of this land were dispensed with before you even arrived.” Her three-pronged tongue sparked. “However, you are more than welcome to join them.”
And a wave of fire washed over Rainbow Dash.
"I just don't know what went wrong."
That just got depressing really fast.
Dear God, Imploding Colon, how do you write Luna's dialogue?!
Apparently the 'Queen of the Flame' is saying that the machine underground is destroying the world?
And that she is trying to destroy the machine and keep the world from being destroyed? I'm not entirely sure... We will have to see next chapter!
There were alot of errors in this chapter... also i want happy. Bring back happy!
The End.
OH SHI-
SHE KNOWS.
Ah, I mean, I know. Or something.
Also, early prediction:
Perhaps Dash may have to sacrifice whatever she gets from the Midnight Armory to bring the spark back and save the world/machine instead of bringing back the Mane 6? (If that is indeed what she is trying to do.)
ERH
MAH
GERD.
Yep that was dark. in fact that was odd.
Achievement get: converse with a crazy dragon queen.
1453500
The entire world is a machine. This was revealed by Whitemane.
The Matriarch was saying that the machine is broken and will soon fall apart.
Well, soon for her is > 100 years but you get the idea.
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Wow. Totally didn't see that coming.
Oh man, they all got screwed pretty hard, especially the Silvadelians. Figures Axan knew all along.
dontdrinkbeer.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/there-be-a-shit-storm-a-brewin.jpg
Swirls objective added: Assist in evacuation of the Sanctuary
New Inventory Item Added: 3rd Degree Burns
Also: Rainbows face when the end of this chapter:
Ah, the ever elusive "spark." Restarting the machine that is the world perhaps a bit more of a tall order than simply restarting the obelisk of Darkstine.
1453509
Nah, Dash is the spark.
OH, Come on! Featured again? Really?
Damn, know what? You won. I'll give it a shot.
EDITH: Nope. Doesn't seem to be something for me.
Uh...
"Game Over?"
OH SHIT SON
Someone commented about ten chapters back that this story has been getting steadily darker and more pessimistic as it progresses. I'm tempted to agree at this point.
Achievement Gained : No fool like an old fool.
Really Dash is the machines only hope.
Man this guy just can't keep himself/herself from writing about the end of the world.
OH DAYUM!
Having Silvadel be destroyed was not what I was expecting. I wonder how Dash is going to get out now though.
On the other hand, I think that the pieces of what all is happening are starting to come together.
Perhaps the world is a machine designed to create enough order to hold the place together. As the 'spark' or whatnot is failing, these chaos rifts are just a manifestation of the world itself dying.
1453500
I took it that the machine underground is starting to fall apart, and that's what's destroying the world.... Did I miss something?
1453504
Of Silvadel, at least, so it would seem.
1453765
I would argue that the missing spark are the Elements of Harmony, but that all seemed to occur during Axan's initial nesting, well before the Nightmare Moon incident. That said, it is pretty likely that Dash is the spark (jumper cables?) needed for the Machine, and her journey east is certainly related to this dilemma. There's a reason only Dash can see the symbols of the machine, can restart Darkstine, sees the lavender light and so on.
Well, fuck. That was even worse than the last one.
Are you picking up JasonTheHuman's cliffhanger tactics, perchance?
Dash might be doing some good. She's already rebooted one of the great machines (of Epsilon 3) and done something to another one. Still waiting for the other Pegasus land. You have to know that the mythical pegasus city actually exists somewhere.
1453807
agreed. There is too many events involved that are pushing Dash towards the flames in the underground chambers.
I still think that part of the elements of harmony had to be imbued into Dash at some point during the chaos battle(?). I don't remember exactly which chapter it was, but when Dash suffers her discord possession she sees the colors of the mane six flash before her eyes. The lavender aura guiding Dash, may be the spirit of twilight and her affinity with the possible knowledge of the magical intricacies involved with the underground chambers. Truth be told, I don't feel like there have been any situations where another element would have been called forward by much, or would have caused them to "activate" in the same way.
But that just my 2 bits on the matter.
1453859
The whole story is a journey through different flavors on each virtue of the Elements of Harmony, each situation an exploration of those virtues through ever more morbid strife. Dash consistently espouses those same virtues to navigate each new setting, and utilizes some of the more tangible powers to quite literally affect the world.
It is almost a given at this point that the other 5 elements are currently directly affected by her in some form.
Oh Man! She just don't get the fact that where-ever RD goes the machine restarts.
Rainbow Dash doesn't get paid enough for this shit.
This reminds me of Watchmen, " I sent half of my brood to destroy that insipid 'Sanctuary' hours ago. "
And remember kiddies, all of this happens of the light side of the world!
1453509>>1453641
Dash has to sacrifice herself?
Well...shoot...
I think Whitemane's shield might have recharged by now, but I highly doubt it'll hold off an attack like that for very long.
1453807>>1453859
This is pretty much what I thought as soon as Axan mentioned the machine. Dash has been having quite the interactions with the strange and mechanical underbelly of this world, and seems to bring new energy to them when she does. This might end up being Dash's ultimate purpose.
Speaking of which, she called it a "Purposeful Machine". What, I wonder, is its purpose? Life? Discovery? A testament to those who created it?
Call me an optimist but all the Matriarch did was send half of her brood. I like to hope the Silvadellians won or at very least survived the battle.
1454276
It could also be a bluff. That said, if it's not I very much doubt the Silvadelians would fair well. Remember that Sam Rose only takes a select few with him on the surface, Sanctuary was secure because the dragons supposedly did not know where it was.
That, by the way, is a bit of a plot hole: Axan knew of the tunnel and the plan the whole time, of Sanctuary perhaps longer, and didn't do anything? The dragons were presented as a threat, but were they instead only being reactive?
Have to say, I was halfway suspecting the Dragons to invade Sanctuary the first moment they mentioned the Grand Project. Yep.
Still, with writing this good the suspense was just about unbearable, and now we have yet another group of desperate survivors for Dash to save.
Or not. Maybe they all died. All of them.
And she just flies East...
1454295 It could be.
Also, defensive encampments give the ponies a much better chance of survival. Hey maybe they were able to use that acid stuff to fend of a good portion of the dragons.
But you're right, RainbowThis, if all fall around her, at least we can hope for rainbow to escape and continue on her journey, broken in spirit though she may be by that point.
oh damn... o.0
The End - The Doors
The Sundering - The Sword
now going down the path of thought and assuming all the sanctuary members are crispy critters what will become of Ember Speak? cant go with dash if she is ya know, flying
I dunno what other people have said so far (too eager to comment after reading to sift through all of the others right now) but I'm thinking Rainbow's gonna have to sacrifice herself to restart the machine and save the world or something. Either that or nothing can fix it and they're all boned anyway. But wow. Tell me the Silvadel ponies have a backup bunker or something where they can hide in case of inner sanctum invasion? They can't all be dead, that would just be so...so depressing. If they are, though, I'm wondering if Ember will end up accompanying Rainbow on the next leg of her journey, even if it would slow her down. Its not like she'd have anywhere else to go, and Rainbow wouldn't leave her alone in dragon land. But I'm having a hard time picturing Sam going down without a fight - at least without a fight we get to read about - so I'm holding out hope that some other ponies are still kickin' around. So yeah, excited for and dreading the next couple of chapters!
I smell a Deus Ex Machina!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1453859
Do you remember the moment right before Dash captured the final hidden strip of silver? She had an incredibly strong urge that some one was lying and immediately who and how to reveal the deceit. Nobody seems to remember this, but there is now way that that could have been anything but the element of honesty shining through dash.
I am absolutely positive that dash carries all the elements within her.
1453500 I believe she's saying that the world is a machine and the presence of the alicorns and ponydom is some how shutting the machine down and therefore the world. I think the matriarch is planning to do nothing.
1454831
Was that when she confronted whatshisface about the truth behind the minotaurs and the monster attacks? I don't recall exactly when it was, but that is probably due to the fact that there are 188 chapters and that happened comparatively early in the story.
and lol at the Deus Ex Machina pun.
1454295
My thought is that Axan was waiting until they were about to use their "final solution" to attack them when they least expected it. If she had been pressing the attack earlier on, or gave off the idea that she knew where they lived, the Silvadeans would have been on their guard.
1453641
Hmm. Perhaps, perhaps. But it would be soul-crushingly unfair if the entire journey culminated in Dash having to give up whatever is in the Midnight Armory for the greater good. Which is exactly the kind of thing Colon would do.
So the machine is breaking down, eh? What about all the trips Dash has made into it at this point? Maybe a side-effect of her journey is that she's fixing or reawakening the machine itself.
Wow, so much
good theory materialexposition.I'm now wondering what the great Purpose of the machine is. It was there before life came to it, the Sundering (of Consus?) damaged it, and since then it has begun to break down.
On another note, while the lavender light is definitely reminiscent of Twilight, it ultimately seems to guide Dash towards the machinery of the world, and helps her operate it. So maybe it is something more than what we've speculated? What if it's the last breath of Purpose. . .
Heh, speculation XD
Anyways, I'm hoping Dash's necklace will come off and she will go all Discord on the Matriach (seeing as how she beat up some lizards last time it came off).
1454831
I've been using the more recent example of Dash being the "spark" (HINT) that restarted the obelisk in Darkstine, especially since Darkstine quite clearly utilized Magic themes that tied right into the Elements.
1453953
1455318
Maybe, but she said she sent half her brood, right? It gives the impression that she could have chosen to end the ponies at any time but held back. That implies Axan either is further twisted, gaining pleasure from waiting until the last moment, sadistic, or that the attack was not previously going to be part of this narrative. Of course, it's a cliffhanger, any number of things could happen and there's no way to (yet) verify what Axan said is true. Might be an interesting opening for Honesty and Laughter, even Kindness.
1455342
Those are not different goals, Dash is the spark, since she is every Element of Harmony, needed at the Midnight Armory.
1455738
I've been assuming that the answer is "magic." Magic was shown to be the sort of de facto leader of the group (tiara, requires the other 5 to work) and thus it would make sense that magic is Dash's guide through the machinery and on her journey. We see that light most when Dash interacts with "artificial" constructs: the whole of Darkstine, the machinery that is the world. Every other time the light is a little more vague, offering guidance and assistance but not all-out help. The machine/world, the Elements and Magic are not different things, they are all parts of the same whole.
> Dash raised a fist, growling
> raised a fist
>FIST!!
Um shouldn't that be raised a hoof growling