The wind in the air picked up.
It happened quite suddenly, almost as if the Herald had passed some invisible demarcation of meteorological significance. Consistent gusts measuring upwards of thirty-miles-per-hour persisted in pelting the group's wagon as well as those on board. For the first time since leaving Blue's Ranch, Logan had to struggle with pulling the cart evenly forward. Flynn and Bard trotted alongside the wagon—using their combined strength to help balance the vehicle. Remna—in the meantime—supported it from the rear.
Wildcard and Ariel could no longer perform air reconnaissance with much ease. For a while, they instead chose to scale the atmosphere in alternating shifts. When even this proved next to impossible because of the wind gusts, Rainbow requested that they remained grounded. The group relied on Fluttershy's and Twilight's senses for the remainder of the trip.
The winds came mostly from the east, pressing against the Herald—practically resisting them. Kepler explained that this was due to the proximity to the eastern ocean... which was—by extension—connected to the edge of the world. The wyvern insisted that the winds would be more manageable once they scaled the waters. The surf—however—would be another matter entirely. Seeing as they were going to rely on Flynn's vessel, they had mana-powered resources to look forward to in stabilizing the ship. Rainbow didn't quite understand how such a thing would be possible, but she didn't bother asking. As she listened to Princess Luna, she kept her eyes locked on Yaerfaerda—which drew ever closer despite its erratic fluctuations.
Even then, the colors danced and wavered, never settling for any single hue for more than a half-second.
"And Verlax never gave any sort of indication as to what you would find at this 'Sixth Seed?'" Luna's voice asked.
Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. She tilted her head, leaning an ear to the sky so she could make out Luna's voice amdist the whistling winds. "She was vague, as always!" Rainbow lifted her voice so Luna could hear her as well. "She insisted that it was... some sort of 'final trial.' But how it could possibly be any crazier than all the crud she's put me through is waaaaaaay beyond me."
"Oh dear..." Rarity gulped. "I shudder to think!"
"Call it positive thinking," Rainbow exclaimed, "But I like to think that Verlax's influence stopped at Frostknife! She was always anticipating Austraeoh to come from the west! If she actually did anything to mess with Utaan like she did with the rest of the entrances to the machine world, then I'll friggin' eat this pendant!"
"Utaan?" Luna questioned.
"I believe she's out of the loop, Rainbow," Twilight Sparkle said.
"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie nodded. "Tell her she can join the club! The loopty-loop club!"
"Errrr..." Rainbow Dash fidgeted. "'Utaan' is the name of the Sixth Seed."
"How do you know this, Rainbow Dash?"
"The vision I had at the Fifth Seed confirmed it," Rainbow said. "I'm... not sure what it means, but it's what's waiting for me at the next machine world entrance. That much I do know."
"In the old angelic tongue, it trranslates to 'beyond!'" Kepler exclaimed. He clung to the wagon's side, holding his spectacles in place as the wind pelted him. "I do apologize forr interrrupting, but I felt that such needed to be rreinforrced!"
"Yeah! What he said!" Rainbow shouted against the winds. "Kepler and Mortuana kept a bunch of books at Wyvern Point that detailed some of the meaning behind old pegasus stuff! Consider it the closest thing we have to a Urohringr Lexicon!"
"... ... ...was that a wyvern speaking, just now?" Luna inquired.
Rainbow blinked.
"Why, yes! Quite so, Yourr Most Esteemed Majesty of the Moon!" Kepler saluted the air with a tusked smile. "And I am most blessed to serrve yourr loyal and trrusted trravelerr frrom afarr! Ha Hah!"
"How very fascinating. It has been a long, long time since I've heard the bombastic voice of a wyvern. I had feared the entirety of their fragile race extinct from this plane."
"They almost werrrrre," Pinkie hummed out the side of her muzzle.
"I assurre you, yourr highness, we are most definitely still alive!" Kepler said. "And as joyful as everr to explorre the intellectual lengths of this marrvelous univerrse of ourrs!"
"Indeed. Your kind of enthusiasm has been sorely missed, Sir Kepler."
Rainbow squinted at the cosmos. "Did wyverns once live in Equestria?"
"Yes, child. And seaponies and sarosians a'plenty. Our kingdom was once a great deal more diverse than it is today."
"Huh..." Rainbow blinked. "I guess so many folks got separated when Verlax forged the Grand Choke. She had to get her Tribes from someplace."
"Which is precisely why it burdens my heart that they've been so terribly misled," Luna said. "But we must deal with the issue at hoof. The Sixth Seed—any way of knowing if it is situated over land or water?"
"Uhhhhhh..." Rainbow stared off at the dark horizon. "I'm pretty sure it's not on land, Your Highness."
"This, I can confirrm!" Kepler said. "Mortuana stated that an anomalous prresence of harrmonic enerrgy existed off the east coast! She expected it to take on a new state of animation with the arrrival of the Austrraeoh!"
"So... like..." Rainbow glanced aside. "...could it have been underwater before I showed up to make contact with the other Seeds?"
"A verry rreal possibility, Rrainbow one."
"Great..." Rainbow sighed. "...another stupid tower."
Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled.
"No doubt Verlax anticipated this," Luna said.
"Oh. For sure." Rainbow nodded. "She anticipated dang-near everything. However... she's not my biggest concern for when we breach the coastline."
"My lost foals..."
Rainbow looked at Echo. "I've heard nothing but cruddy stuff about Bleak's Plummet. Supposedly the seas east of the Rohbredden coastline are just buzzing with sarosians."
Echo weathered a sigh. "Pirates, robbers, and assholes—the whole bunch of them."
Nicole winced. "Now you're starting to sound like Blue."
"Sorry Babe. You can't have prejudice without an ounce of truth." Echo looked at Rainbow. "Not all midnighters are jerkaholics, of course... but the ones that matter on this side of the world will friggin' skin you alive." He gulped. "There are tons and tons of seafaring gangs who pride themselves on attacking ships, stealing cargo, and making life all-around Hell for those who brave these waters."
"How do Rohbreddenites cruise the waves?" Rainbow asked. Her brow furrowed. "Do they even cruise the waves?"
"In numbers, sure. And the big... big flagships are waaaaaaaay too much for the midnighter punks to bother taking on." Echo cleared his throat, glancing aside. "However... a tiny, singular skiff in the middle of the ocean...?"
Flynn looked up from where he trotted alongside the wagon. His one good eye narrowed. "What are you implying?"
"We should have brought a battleship, that's what."
"I can't be that bad," Nicole murmured.
"No. It's worse... at least for me." Echo sighed. "There are tons of midnighters out there who want me dead. And although running into the same motherbuckers is slim-to-none... the fact that my wings are clipped is a sure sign that I was banished from Bleak's Plummet for a reason."
"Meaning...?"
"They'll kill me dead on sight, that's what," Echo muttered, causing Nicole to wince. "Assuming they don't torture me first."
"That will not happen. I assure you," Luna's voice said.
"Your Majesty," Echo began. "With all due respect... these aren't your same fuzzy-eared protectors of Horseland that we're talking about—"
"Nopony is more acquainted with the ravenous heart of a sarosian than I. You were born from nightmares to become something more... something wholesome. But unchecked emotions of the night—much like Nightmare Moon's—can still be changed with enough harmony and focus."
"I hate to remind ya, Princess... but... uh..." Rainbow gestured at her ghostly companions. "The Elements of Harmony are more watered-down than soup at the moment."
"Beg yer pardon?" Applejack blurted.
"It's okay." Fluttershy smiled crookedly. "I like soup."
"How exactly are we going to calm the hearts of multiple, leather-winged savage beasts?" Rainbow asked.
"It is not so much about calming as it is about redirecting," Luna said. "Leave it in my capable hooves, Rainbow Dash. I shall be the voice of command and authority in this scenario. Your friends—Echo and Nicole—shall be the avatars. Together—with my magic as the vessel—we shall convince my lost foals to channel their passions elsewhere. If these 'midnighters' seek to be warriors, then we shall give them something to war over. It has been a very... very long time, but I do believe destiny is at hoof to realign these forsaken tribes into pursuing something righteous."
"Do you... uh... care to be more specific... Your Highness?"
"It will come down to a matter of opportunity. But, indeed, we must prepare. We will begin by channeling my energy in a concentrated fashion into your pendant, Rainbow Dash."
"Erm... h-how are we going to do that?"
"With much patience. If what you say about the Twilight Lands and their cosmic heavens is correct... than this is exactly the window we need to give you an edge... on the edge... if you understand my impulsive turn of phrase."
"Hey-heyyyyyyyy!" Pinkie smiled aside. "Princess Luna made a pun! I'm super proud of her!"
"Now you're proud?!" Twilight cackled.
I....have a distinct feeling this trip just became even more time-sensitive...
Still eagerly anticipating Luna's interaction with the Sarosians. If her earlier talk with Echo and Nicole was any indication, she definitely has some sway over them. But I also don't expect it to be that easy.
Potential dark-side battle group? One can hope...
Did you mean for this to be "It"?
Yeah, Utaan definitely is that machine thingy we saw waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back at the beginning of this book. Gosh, it's been so long since then that I'd almost completely forgotten about it. And I guess it's only fitting that after Celestia talked with the Durandans and enlightened them, Luna do the same with the sarosians.
Well at least those wind gusts will slow down Chandler's crew when they get close. Wonder how long it'll take for them to get there.
Dry or with ketchup?
On that note, it would be more difficult to take it away from her if it were inside her...
Wonder if Luna intends to direct the sarosians to go aid the rest of Rohbredden by fighting the windigoes? Sounds like the most sensible way to redirect their aggressive passions.
Also, IC is going to male us wait until the last minute to even mention the Jury, if at all, isn't he?
Something about the last seed still unsettles me deeply.
Also, thatguyvex's suggestion is very intriguing. Kill two birds with stone: Defeat the windigoes, and redeem the sarosians.
After all these East-horse words, she's finally about to cross over to the dark side of the plane... But then, won't she begin flying west?
Does anyone else remember back in Austraeoh when Rainbow got that super moon boost from Luna while chasing that chaos monster? Maybe that's what she's going to be doing again, only on a much more massive scale this time around. Get it? Around?Because Urohringr is a circle...?
#noregrets
7393735 But then she wouldn't be able to use the harmony laser.
----------------------
Well then... are Echo's wings going to be magically fixed?
-Companions are abound, frozen spectres hound. Utaan.
Me too!
Oh man, I bet every sarosian for miles is going to feel that itch/tingling feeling and start going bat shit crazy when this plan kicks off.
Oh Fluttershy why are you so adorable
I really hope that Luna will have the kind of influence she wants over these guys.
7393837 Maybe she'd shoot rainbows out of her butt.
7393826
"In the void, there is no distinction of east or west."
I don't actually remember the moon boost you speak of. It has been a while.
7393993 Dang it, I was about to answer with the same thing, only add that she kind of does already.
I remember reading somewhere about how gravity might work on a disk world..
Now gravity is definitely not working like this in this story, we will have to.chalk it up to some technobable about the machine layer.
In a 'real' disk world, gravity would still be pulling everything towards the center. So as you approach the edge of the disk world, there would be no danger of falling off the edge. Instead it would feel more and more like climbing a steep mountain, with the last stretch being like a vertical cliff.
Once you got to edge you could stand on the edge with your feet pointing down to the center of the disk. Walking on the edge would feel more or less like walking on earth, depends on how thick the disk is.
Of course none of this matters.
7393826 She will be travelling east along the dark face of the world. The rules for determining east vs west have not changed just because the other side is convex. Stand up straight, face north, and east is directly to your right. East is always relative to north.
To illustrate this point imagine Rainbow facing north and crab walking (as in walking sideways) all the way across bleak's plummet to the dark side. North never moved, and to Rainbow's right (east in this example, because she was facing north the whole time) is the dark side in its entirety.
7390848
1. Their religion will mold to fit it. When someone is presented with something that rejects their very understanding of the world, they will reason it away (e.g. that can't have been a UFO, I must have been seeing things), or reason it into something that fits their understanding of the world.
2. The most likely party to go west or receive visitors from the west are are the colonists, who do not believe in Verlaxion anyway. To be fair, the more likely war would be one between the colonists and the continentalists (instigated by the continentalists). However even that is unlikely to happen anytime soon due to the windigo threat. Not to mention that Val Roa these days treats the Grand Choke as a place to die. If someone fails to return, no-one will know or expect foul play. The continentalists will, as I said before, have no desire to go anywhere near the former blight, in fact its proximity to the colonists will give even more reason to go to war. Of course the colonists would win a conflict with the continentalists because of how backwards the continentalists have been in terms of progress in recent years, and how more it will be now that windigoes are stifling any prosperity for the continentalists. However it is a conflict that has been on the cards for a long time now, in fact Chandler was planning to initiate said conflict before the windigo threat put that on ice.
Wow, what a weird thing to say Luna. Thank god some dude is not on his way with a bunch of zelaots and an angry bird lady just to see Rainbow......
Just like in Austraeoh, when talking to Axan. Question now is are they too fanatical for them to even listen to their goddess? If they are willing to listen however
Then we can expect great things, and this may lead to their acceptance by the world around them.
Let's hope Luna doesn't plan to just send all the batponies to intercept Rainbow's pursuers.
This really feels like it will be the last moon talk. Luna's plan will probably make the communication spell fade, just for those that still have hope there will be a way to talk with her from the dark side.
I hope Luna's plan doesn't go wrong... Either way the days of Moonchat are quickly passing.
7394316
For the first part: Ok admittedly they could do that. I think this wouldn't be very likely though. However that still leads right to my second point no matter what
Ok, my answer to that is so what? They are also dealing with the Windingo threat and once that is over there is absolutely no reason that they will not instantly come into the fold after they hear what happened if they didn't already. Even if they don't they are likely to be far more wiped out by the Windingos then the continentalists who would have actually had time to prepare and some kind of plan in place. Plus the fact that IIRC it was much more of a Tropical place than the main land.
Even then Val Roa and the like would go to the Main Land eventually and the same thing would happen, even if you want to assume for some reason the colonists already weren't part of the fold by the time they got there. This is not even talking about the issues with keeping the lie a secret anyway; they are going to have to do this for generations into the future and either hope that no one figures them out or they make everyone who does look crazy (which makes it harder to tell the truth later) or have them killed.There is no way that the Talon and Theimes don't become basically the Men in Black about this; and I'm not talking about the Movie version, I'm talking the basically death squad comic version.
I'm sorry if my thoughts aren't super well put out here but I have to go to work, I'll fix them up after that.
I have to wonder if this last arc before she heads over the edge finishes up in a month to continue conversations, but it seems that Luna will magical maguffin the lunar month away.
Not knowing much about the next Seed (other than what Verlax told us) makes me very worried. I'm expecting the worst. Time to build my emergency bunker.
7394461 Why else do you think the "blight's curse" gambit worked so well? Clearly the only logical explanation for anyone helping "the Rainbow Rogue" is that they weren't in control of their minds, and this excuse happened well before Rainbow used it to her advantage. Lets be serious here, there is nothing to suggest that the joining of Urohringr won't be warped in the exact same manner.
7394461 Come into the fold? The colonists and continentalists are so ideologically opposed it's not funny. The continentalists hate the colonists with a passion for spurning Verlaxion, and the colonists are going to assume that any story involving Verlaxion is bullshit continentalist propaganda. And once again only the soon to be dead cross the Choke from Val Roa and no continentalist will go near the Choke. I see conflict with Val Roa to be really REALLY unlikely to happen before every non-immortal character in this story is long dead from old age or whatever.
7393820 Well... given that the last trial would be disloyalty...
7394649 Maybe she will have to abandon the others element just after getting them back, but that would be too sadistic... Right ?
7394638 And even if Val Roa and Rohbredden entered into war, Val Roa would have such a huge technological advantage that it would be a very one sided battle.
Moon horse powers: activate!
Yes, Pinkie, she made a pun. I was proud too.
7393907 now you're just being batty.
7394776
I imagine they'd be holding back at first - their best weapons are pretty lethal, and they're becoming more harmonious/diplomatic now, so they wouldn't want to go to war immediately. Likely, they'd try to fight them off with less power than they have, until something reaches the breaking point.
Rohbredden would have some time to cause havoc in the intervening time, I'd imagine.
Mind, this is just spectulation, and I haven't reread the series since Utaan began (I'm waiting for it to end) so idk if my premises are accurate..
It sounds to me like Rainbow Dash is about to get the army she needs, courtesy of Moon Horse - but at the cost of Robohedron. Chandler's force will probably run into the Sarosians, and thereby trigger a war that will result in the destruction of Robohedron's civilization. If truth doesn't win out and any of Chandler's troops survive and get back to Frostknife, then we'll have a Windigo Winter scenario as the two sides are buried in bad feelings.
7394638
A united Rohbredden would steam roll the colonists from everything we have heard, yes they are a bit up on them Tech wise but not to the extent of Val Roa and the Xonas, the Goblins and the like. Unless I'm forgetting something the Colonists as far as we know it consist of Rust,Shoggoth,Kihutaja (I think),The Nealend Atoll and a bunch of places that are almost exactly like the Atoll. The only real threat is Shoggoth and Kihutaja; Rust more than likely side with the continentalists as IIRC they profit from them more than anyone else. Also what the Colonists do have will be already weakened by the Windingos that, unlike Rohbredden, they have much less warning of IIRC leaving them far more devastated.
Also its not going to be just Val Roa going across the choke its going to be Val Roa,Ledomare,Xonan,The Goblins ect. I think it is save to say they already heard about the Choke clearing by now and I doubt they would let everyone else get a head start on them with exploring it. Ledomare and Xonan will without a doubt want some kind of retribution if their people were killed. Listen if you want to make one last argument that is fine however; I think it is pretty clear that we both have far too different of ideas on what would happen here and I think we both make strong arguments, how about after this exchange we leave this be and agree to disagree after this so we don't clog up the comments with this stuff anymore.
7394825 That sounds pretty likely to me.
I have a bad feeling that the sixth seed will be some sort of darkside elevator thing that requires the blood of all Rainbow's friends to act as fuel or something.
Fun.
7393837 She could fire it if she opened her mouth. She could be all 'I'mma firing mah lazor!!!' Bwaaaaaaarp!
No? Too internet? Okay.
>still no Utaan picture
You colossal tease.
7393735 Have you ever played the Dead Money DLC for Fallout: New Vegas? One of the characters in it has a form of disassociative identity disorder. The simpleton, who followed his masters orders exactly all the time, swallowed the explosive collar meant to keep the smarter him in check. Smarty had to deal with that for ages.
The moral: Don't eat bomb collars... or your jewelry, especially if it's an Ancient Artifact of great importance, and particularly if it is crucial to the balance of the plane.
At the six seed we get the ghost of Shell after battling the Noble Jury who have all turned evil, or we get a second Rainbow Dash because 1 isn't enough. This is 100% fact and not idle speculation in the slightest.
7393826 She won't be flying west because we know that the world is shaped like a lense, so hyperbolic plane coordinates should be used in place of spherical coordinates
7395971 I think you mean "Doctor Octagonapus BWAAAAAAAA!" .
7393605 we're 3/4 of the way through the story, I'll be surprised if they aren't already.
I recall the first tower; that was a nightmarish scene, through and through. This time Rainbow isn't alone however, and the sea an entirely different one. I doubt this trial will be much alike.
And Luna was all like...
7393820 My money is still on Discord, really. He's the last soul missing, the last spirit that could have found redemption had things been otherwise.
7394461 If you want to end the debate then fair enough, although if you forgive me for this I do have one point I need to correct you on... that being the scale of the colonies.
Noting this quote in particular:
"Do you honestly think Rohbredden has the resources for such a full-scale invasion of so many countless islands?!" - Keris
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/290208/172/utaan/time-to-sharpen-the-talon
In any case I am not using this to further my argument, but rather to simply note that we have barely seen anything of the colonies in the story proper.
Also Nealand is more of a third party if anything, although they do share a loose version of Rohbredden's religion.
7396353
7393820
7394580
7395516
would it make sense for the last seed to be discord?
The flashing colors sounds like a great description of chaos
7397141 That is a question for Austraeoh Fact Checker.
Regardless, it still begs the question of the origin of that name in the writing process.
Poor Nicole. She reallllllly wants to believe in her people, but it looks like the belief is fairly misplaced.
"And as joyful as everr to explorre the intellectual lengths of this marrvelous univerrse of ourrs!"
Yep, that's a reference to the telescope. Well put.
Can't wait for this summer's Star Trek: Utaan.
These are the voyages of Rainbow Dash.
Her twelve-book mission:
To explore strange new lands;
To seek out new life and new civilizations;
And to boldly go where no mare has gone before.
7418688 And spread the usage of the correct A-word
Oooooooh this is gonna be epiiiiiiiiic
7394189
But it is not a disc. It is a ring. Well, a chunk of a ring, currently.
But still, not a disc