Ofolrodi

by Imploding Colon

First published 4th of June, 2017

Rainbow Dash traverses the perils of the Dark Side of the world to reach the Midnight Armory.

Rainbow Dash traverses the perils of the Dark Side of the world to reach the Midnight Armory.

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Cover art by Dafaddah

The Very Last Bastion

Panting.

Shivering.

Labored breaths in the dark.

A pair of fangs glinted beneath a quivering maw. Velvety fetlocks lifted a silver pendant made out of moonstone. "H'Luun..." A vaporous breath amidst the shadows. Squeaking. The crescent-shaped necklace glowed with meager brilliance, reflecting a pair of slitted blue eyes. "W'ynlppa sylm th'ysmmanym V'ynxxm, H'Luun." As the pendant glowed brightest, she stifled a sob and kissed it to her lips.

An authoritative voice shouted, producing a dull echo. "Vy'lyssa!"

Vy'lyssa jerked in place. With leafy ears folded, the mare looked across the rattling, swaying compartment.

Past several armored bodies huddled in a line, a figure marched to a stop. Leaning against a wooden bulkhead, she peered across the way. "Sy'mylwym syl thrym." She held up a leather bag chock-full of red-colored stones; they glowed faintly with each vaporous breath she made inside the claustrophobic chamber. "W'ynym thy'mym, Vy'lyssa?"

There was a dull, thunderous pounding from beyond the hull—followed by several more vibrations, each more dramatic than the last. The creaking compartment swayed as several of the ponies tightened their leather wings, murmuring one name over and over under their breaths.

"Vy'lyssa?" the officer repeated, stealing the mare's attention.

Swallowing a lump down her throat, Vy'lyssa swiftly hung the crescent pendant around her neck and nodded briskly. "Ywm..." She stood at attention. "Ywm, Wy'nnxx, W'ynlppa yln N'ymym!"

The officer's nostrils flared. "S'myssyn..." She tossed the satchel across the chamber.

Vy'lyssa caught it—then strapped it over her back and between her wings. She and her fellow warriors picked up metal rifles and proceeded to load them with enchanted stones.

"Y'symym yln H'Luun!" the officer Wy'nnxx shouted, pacing up and down the narrow space afforded between those standing at attention. Behind her, Vy'lyssa could see a dozen sweating ponies in the next compartment, busily breathing into a dim array of glowing stones attached to wooden gears and levers. "Hy'myn! Sy'lysn melyn thymym sym h'ylym thy'lydryll!"

One by one, the faces of warriors lit up as they breathed into the enchanted cartridges of their rifles. Emaciated, melancholic faces gazed miles past the narrow frames of their silver helmets.

"H'sylmna ly'dessa sym thrym!" Wy'nnxx growled, raising her voice above the surmounting thunder roaring just beyond the wooden shell that encased them. "Yss'ym thyln my'ssysn hy'mlyn'wym syln Lyn'drxx! Wy'ssyl Sy'kymylls'ym yln Thy'mma ny'ssa vylnym lym Lyn'drxx'lynna! My'syl thrym; sym'mym lyn T'chyrym'lynna myl Y'vrymym yln N'shydym!"

There was a particularly loud thud. Vy'lyssa gasped as the entire compartment shook. Her pendant rattled as she gripped her rifle tighter.

Without blinking, Wy'nnxx calmly pointed at the leather bag on Vy'lyssa's shoulders. "My'lynn sylm Vy'lyssa ry'nykk thrym... myln ly'rynna h'rum thy'lla lyn Sy'kymylls'ym yln Thy'mma mylm h'runna Lyn'drxx h'lymma!"

A mutual grunt rolled through the group. The warriors' fangs glinted in the runelight.

Wy'nnxx held her scarred hoof high and shouted: "Fy'lynna H'Luun!"

"Fy'lynna H'Luun!" the rest of the ponies shouted. Vy'lyssa contributed with a cracking voice.

Then she heard something that made her blood run cold. It was one of the laboring equines from the front, hollering through the groan of rattling wooden gears and pulleys: "Hym thym, Wy'nnxx, W'ynlppa yln N'ymym!" She trotted up to their compartment and raised a pair of goggles from her misty eyes. "Hym thym!"

A tense silence fell through the group.

Wy'nnxx took a calm breath. "Ywm." She nodded, murmuring under her fangs. "H'ymly H'Luun."

"H'ymly H'Luun," echoed the room. Vy'lyssa felt the weight of her pendant. It drew her slitted eyes down to the wooden floor beneath them. A narrow slit of billowing red light bled upwards through the darkness.

The pony with the goggles grasped a lever. With anxious eyes, she looked at Wy'nnxx and the group as a whole.

Wy'nnxx trotted over until she stood across from Vy'lyssa. She stared boldly into the darkness... then moved her muzzle to produce a melodic chant: "Thymm wynn symm, myl nym thrymm. H'Luun d'lyassa wyll nym drym."

Without hesitation, the rest of the warriors joined in perfect harmony—their fangs forming bleak stars in the runelight. "Thymm wynn symm, myl nym thrymm. H'Luun d'lyassa wyll nym drym."

More thunder. The compartment shook. Vy'lssa's teeth clattered as she struggled to maintain the chorus. The red slit of light wavered beneath them as smoke crept in on tiny tendrils, smelling of ash and rot.

Wy'nnxx's sang the lead, her voice booming and fearless: "Thymm ryss kymm, myl ryn fym..."

"W'ynlppa wyll nym drym!" the warriors bellowed, their leather wings spreading. Armored bodies tilting down.

Wy'nnxx steeled herself. "H'Luun'lynna thrym—"

The warriors answered with finality, singing: "Fy'rym! Fy'rym! Fy'rym!"

A loud shriek. The pony in goggles yanked at the lever. A flash of red light.

And they dropped—

FW-FW-FW-FWOOOSH!

POW!

P-P-POW!

The sky was ablaze with explosions, flak, and magical discharge. Vy'lyssa sucked her breath in as she plummeted straight into the chaos along with Wy'nnxx and the rest of her squadron. In the mare's peripheral vision, she spotted dozens upon dozens of identical brown zeppelins dotting the heavens—each of which were simultaneously releasing countless bodies of leather-winged warriors into the fray. Below them, hideously charred terrain stretched from horizon to horizon, blackened by shelling and eviscerated with a neverending mosaic of trenches, trenches, and more trenches. A crimson patchwork of runaway fires blanketed the bloodscape below, casting a sickening cloud of amber-tinted smoke that obscured their target beneath them.

"H'vynna lym'myskynn!" Wy'nnxx hollered bravely into the burning atmosphere, although her words were scarcely discernible amidst the holocaustal bedlam. Ash and soot pelted her velvety coat as she flew close to Vy'lyssa, forming the center of the group. "S'rymma thym!"

The rest of the warriors drew in near. Vy'lyssa found meager comfort in this. As they flew past the last line of zeppelins—all bearing the lunar crescent—she felt the heated thuds of burning flak drawing closer and closer. At one point, a burning projectile sailed past them and directly into the wooden hull of one of the aircraft. The zeppelin immediately burst into flames, and Vy'lyssa could make out the wailing screams of burning warriors who hadn't yet taken the opportunity to disembark.

KAPOWWW!

Vy'lyssa gnashed her teeth. It took all her strength to hold onto her rifle while brilliant flashes of firelight pulsed in front and behind them. She glanced aside—staring past a falling chunk of wooden debris to see gigantic obelisks of translucent crystal levitating mightily in the distance. Her eyes twitched upon spotting a flicker of ruby light among them. Half-a-second later, the hovering geometric structures fired blood-red streams of murderous heat into the dead earth below, further charring the surface and producing more smoke.

Vrommmmmmmmm!

Her leafy ears ached from the monumental echo produced by the distant mana discharge. As Vy'lyssa's hearing returned to normal, a fellow warrior's shrieks replaced the ringing.

"V'ylna! T'chyrym'lynna h'ylna thym!"

The air filled with a soul-shaking buzzing sound. Vy'lyssa's eyeslits shot up as she gasped in mid-plummet.

A swiftly moving black cloud could be seen enveloping a half-deflated zeppelin. Within seconds, the occupants inside had been completely torn out of their stations. The air turned wet and red, and once the screams had dissipated—along with their entrails—the black cloud shifted. The buzzing increased savagely in volume... for the swarm was headed their way.

Wy'nnxx held her hoof out. "S'lynna rny'k!" She spread her wings and angled them back.

"Wym!"

The entire group performed a coordinated backflip.

Vy'lyssa grunted as she followed suit. On either side of her, a curved horizon flipped, its skies filled with blood and burning. The elliptical motion of the group's acrobatics stopped their vertical descent entirely, and by the time Vy'lyssa was upright she had cocked her rifle along with the rest of the squadron. They formed a silver phalanx—directly facing the incoming swarm of insectoid limbs and hissing fangs.

"Hy'ma... Thy'ma..." Wy'nnxx gnashed her teeth and flung her hoof down. "...Rykk!"

The warriors shouted into their rifles. "H'rhnum!!!"

The enchanted stones burnt out as projectiles flew murderously from the barrels and into the advancing cloud of black limbs.

P-P-P-POWWW!

Glossy exoskeletons burst in sprays of green liquid. The air filled with pained hissing sounds as the swarm drew back from the blast. A count of ten bodies had fallen—but soon the swarm had recovered, drawing in to form a solid mass of insectoid fury. Barbed fetlocks and jagged horns came into focus as the surviving monstrosities charged Vy'lyssa's group.

Wy'nnxx cocked her own rifle and prepared to holler another command—

"Sy'm!" a warrior shouted. "Lyn'drxx'lynna hy'lma sy'm!"

Dark shadows rippled through the firelight. Vy'lyssa jolted from the sight of obsidian scales, streaking faster than shooting stars. The temperature raised by ten degrees instantly as several leathery figures converged on the insectoid swarm. Ivory teeth flashed as a cluster of twenty-foot long drakes tore into the creatures. The air was awash with green, but then the flames of the attacking whelps evaporated the acidic juices within seconds. Above the midair collision, a far too familiar haze of ruby light ascended like a red cloud.

Before the warriors could utter a fitting reaction, a few of the drakes—their scaley maws still dripping with emerald blood—turned about and spotted Vy'lyssa's group. There was a loud roar, and a few of the whelps broke off, headed straight for her and the other leather-winged equines.

"H'vynna!" Wy'nnxx hollered, diving immediately and motioning for the rest of the warriors to follow. "H'vynna lym'myskynn!"

Panting, Vy'lyssa hugged her rifle, twirled about, and dove along with her squadron. The air heated up even more behind them. Winged shadows grew larger across the surmounting smog as the group plummeted towards the battlefield looming below. Bursts of flak erupted on all sides, filling Vy'lyssa's nostrils with sulfur and making her eyes tear up.

POW!

She shook.

P-POW!

She shook again—

POWWW! "Grhllkkk—!" One warrior's throat gargled as his neck—and the rest of his body—went flying in opposite directions.

Before Vy'lyssa could react—

CHNKKKKT! A draconian set of jaws clamped over another warrior's wing to her left. She watched as the pony shrieked in terror—"Eeee-Eeee-Eeee!"—and struggled in desperation to fight off the drake's maw with the bayonet of his rifle. All the whelp had to do was reopen its jaws and clamp down over the soldier's neck, and the rest of the warrior's body went limp.

Vy'lyssa could already taste the bile in her throat. It distracted her from the hurled breath of black flame sailing down towards her from behind.

"Hrttt!" Wy'nnxx shoved her—and her satchel of runes—out of harm's way. The surviving group followed suit, plunging through a dark cloud so as to obscure their dive from the pursuing drakes behind.

Vy'lyssa squinted as they pierced through a few more translucent layers of flesh-scarring ash. Then—at last—they broke through the fog of war... and a crimson purgatory stretched beneath them. Trenches full of mangled bodies and shrieking combatants stretched through a briar patch of collapsed, broken, and rusted machinery—the tools of war left from years... centuries... and millennia of endless combat. Leather bodies clashed with black carapaces. Runic projectiles met acidic discharges. And all the while, a haunting ruby haze hovered over the lacerated landscape—only to be channeled into floating monoliths that continuously and mercilessly fired beams of energy into the fray, further saturating the earth with red and green juices.

"H'vaan!" Wy'nnxx's words could somehow be heard as the group leveled out and cruised fearlessly over the holocaust. A velvety fetlock pointed dead ahead. "Sy'kymylls'ym yln Thy'mma!" she hollered as shells and burning draconian fireballs exploded into the calcified soil on either side of them. "Sy'm! Sy'm!"

Vy'lyssa looked straight forward.

There—ahead of them... ahead of all of them... beyond the trenches and the blood and the explosions and the lingering ruby haze... there stood the target... a single structure... the only standing structure... the only structure that mattered. It rose like a triangular mountain of pitch black purpose amidst the sea of carnage. It was a multi-tiered obsidian ziggurat, and the machinations of war had washed up to its unblemished surfaces like scattered sea foam against relentless shoals. Despite its glossy dark exterior, it was paradoxically a very luminous thing—with beams of saturated gold light shooting out from each corner of the pyramid and burning endlessly into the chaotic dark.

And it was where the drakes were—the heart of them. Black winged whelps circled and circled—breathing dark fire on every piece of mortal flesh that warred its way near.

And Vy'lyssa's group was headed straight for it.

"W'ynlppa yln N'ymym!" Wy'nnxx shouted. Schiiiing! She unsheathed a silver scimitar and led the airborne charge low over the charred landscape. "H'ymly H'Luun!"

"H'ymly H'Luun!!!" the group bellowed, and they had reason to. Black scales crossed the firelight; drakes were inbound.

The squadron could not afford to stop. They glided forward with righteous purpose, skirting past plumes of flame and weaving in and around delapidated catapults. They flew so close to the entrenched battle below that they could feel the hot kiss of blood being sprayed from their misfortunate compatriots. Soon, the dreadful luck spread—and one by one the warriors were being picked out of the sky by the jaws of drakes and the intercepting claws of insectoid assassins.

The remaining members closed in tighter alongside Wy'nnxx and most especially Vy'lyssa. They formed a tight cluster around the pony with the satchel, firing their rifles violently into any and all attacking groups. "H'rhnum! H'rhnum! H'rhnum!"

The air filled with green and black blood. For every body that dropped—friend or foe—the air grew brighter with a ruby glow... until the haze lifted up and faded into obscured starlight. One drake—taking a blast of runic shrapnel to the neck—burst into a writhing mess of flames before colliding with a translucent monolith. The crystalline structure wobbled slightly... before pivoting around to face the incoming squadron. Vy'lyssa could make out a single equine shape situated deep inside, its body flanked with floating shards of pulsating energy. A series of ghostly eyes flickered, and the ruby haze immediately surrounding the vessel was drawn into its hull until it shrank into a beam of light focused directly in the pilot's horn.

Vrommmmmmmmmmmmm—

"Thry'mym!" Wy'nnxx suddenly flew to the front of the group, loaded a rune into her rifle with her teeth, and growled: "M'wynhrm"

POW! A projectile shot out from her barrel and exploded vaporously before the levitating monolith. The timing couldn't be more perfect; as soon as the vessel fired, the ruby light was reflected back into the rectangular structure at twice the intensity. The equine shape inside shattered like glass... and the rest of the monolith crumbled just as quickly, littering the trenches with dull shards.

"Eee-eee-eee!" was the resounding cheer from every leather-winged soul within view of the scene. It didn't last long—for an enormous shadow crossed over the trenches, accompanied by a cataclysmic roar of spine-shattering proportions. Vy'lyssa looked straight up, and the sky was gone. All she could see was scales. And onyx wings.

"Lyn'drxx!" a warrior shouted in terror.

Wy'nnxx let loose an authoritative shriek, grabbing back the attention of her surviving squadron. "Thy'lym h'vaan sym'yl!" She gestured towards the deepest trenches and dove. Vy'lyssa and the others joined her immediately. The hairs of their tailed curled from a hellish new heat. Draconian claws raked the air overhead along with a gigantic lashing tail as the roaring doubled... followed by an apocalyptic plume of pitch-black flame that coated the tops of the trenches in sulfuric fury.

FWOOOOOOOOMB!

"Grkkk! Htttt!" Vy'lyssa winced, gritting her teeth as the group flew straight into the trenches. The soot grew thick in the air, making it difficult to breathe—much less stay aloft. Her commanding officer must have sensed it, for soon Wy'nnxx was gesturing the command to "touch down." Exhaling, Vy'lyssa and the rest did so, landing on the battlefield for the very first time since dropping.

When Vy'lyssa made contact, her fetlocks sank a solid inch into the powdery earth. After so many eons of bloodshed, it was more bone than dirt. The pale gravel shifted with each step the group made. Vy'lyssa struggled to count how few of her brothers and sisters were left in the squadron. When she realized it was no longer in the double-digits, she felt a brand new nausea rising deep in her gut.

"Shhhh!" Wy'nnxx insisted, gestured a few more silent motions beneath the thunder, then led the group forward through the trenches. They galloped steadily, making their way for the undying heart of the battle. The roars of the drakes could be heard in greater intensity; the screams and hisses of those being consumed acted as nightmarish punctuation. As they hurried along, they passed under the looming shadow of crystalline obelisks. The rectangular ruby structures were firing at something up above—until that something swept past them with a savage swipe of its giant scaly black wing.

THWOOOOSH!

The crystalline vessels immediately shattered. Glass and shrapnel rained down onto Vy'lyssa and her flinching compatriots. As the material landed, they emitted clouds of ruby vapor—fumes that briefly took on the distinct effigies of tortured equines. The air lit up with bodiless screams, and then the ruby eidolons evaporated just as swiftly as they had formed—leaving ruby streaks trailing upwards into the smoke and stars.

Vy'lyssa waved a hoof before her face, wincing. The scales and shadow of scales passed by overhead. When the trench lit up again, it revealed a single soldier... frightened... shivering... separated from his unit. He hugged his hooves to his chest and rocked back and forth, shrunken eyeslits scraping the sky for drakes and floating monoliths.

"Wy'nnxx..." Vy'lyssa stammered, pointing straight ahead.

Wy'nnxx held a hoof up, and the group stopped in their tracks. Her leafy ears perked up at attention as she squinted at the lost pony. "... ... ... W'ynlppa yln H'luun? V'ymsylla thrym h'vyym?"

"Mmmmm..." The lone soldier whimpered, rocking back and forth even harder. In the next flicker of firelight, the group could see several limp corpses lying all around him. "Sylmym sym, H'Luun..." He grasped his shivering face betwixt two velvety hooves and sobbed outright. "H'Luuuun... H'Luuuuun sylmym symmmmm..."

Wyn'nnxx's jaw tightened. She looked up at the sky as more dark shadows flitted overhead, intercepting zeppelins and blotting out the constellations with blacker and blacker flames. "Hrmmmm... mylm symym hy'lym thrym..." she murmured to herself.

The lone soldier continued to sob, his voice reaching foalish octaves.

One of Vy'lyssa's companions let loose a sympathetic breath. He trotted over and knelt beside the soldier, steadying his body with two strong hooves. "Vy'm vy'm, H'Luun'lynna." He leaned his head in and nuzzled the shellshocked stallion. "Vy'm vy'm..."

"Brxxym!" another warrior chided, fangs showing. He shook his head. "V'lynna symylm thrylym!"

"Eee-eee-eee!" The one comforting the stallion hissed back, frowning. "M'lynna vry'ym syln H'Luun wr'ynna—"

As he was speaking, the shellshocked stallion's eyes pulsed green. His left forelimb inexplicably morphed into a giant scorpion's tail that—Schliiiink!—sank meatedly into the comforting warrior's neck.

"Grkkkk!" Foam and mucus fountained out of the warrior's mouth.

"Brxxym!!!"

Vy'lyssa gasped. "T'chyrym'lynna!" she hollered as loudly as she could.

"...!!!" Wy'nnxx spun about, eyes wide. She flung her hoof towards the shape-shifting monster. "Vy'rykym thryn!"

The rest of the squadron already had their rifles out. "H'rhnum! H'rhnum!"

The metamorph simply stood there, hissing venomously as it took the spray of bullets. Each shot hacked away a fake piece of pony flesh, revealing carapace and green fluid underneath. Immediately behind the dying beast, the warrior "corpses" rose to their hooves, galloped at full force, and charged the group in the form of insectoid equines.

Wy'nnxx bravely met the front head-on, swinging with her scimitar until she was lost amidst the spray of green slime and shell fragments.

As the trench turned into a bloody melee, Vy'lyssa struggled to keep her aim straight with her rifle. She shouted each command with determination, wheezing into the smoke of her spent rune stones. As she next reached to her bandolier to reload—she spotted the walls shifting. With a gasp, she looked up to see the edges of the trench peeling away as more metamorphs unveiled their camouflage and rushed the squadron's flank. "T'chyrym'lynna sy'lyma'ryk!" she hollered as two of the creatures pounced on her.

Wh-Whump!

She fell on her back, her spine aching from direct contact with the stone-hard contents of her all-important satchel. Her face was full of drooling mandibles. Seething, she pressed the length of her rifle against both monsters, fighting them back as she saw her own writhing muzzle reflected in their soulless compound eyes. She heard a gurgling sound—and realized that the monster to her left was preparing to vomit.

"Hrrtt!" She jerked to her right.

Milliseconds later, the creature spat insectoid bile onto the floor of the trench beside her, instantly carving an acicid pothole that filled the air with rancid steam.

"Rrrr—raaaaaugh!" Vy'lyssa shouted, extending her wings at full length. This shoved her—and her opponents—forward. The two metamorphs stumbled while she regained her hoofing. WHAM! She pummeled one so fiercely that the shell of its skull caved in. She then aimed point-blank at the second beast's chest. "H'rhnum!"

POW! The beast's torso exploded...

...showering green acid over the body of a leather-wing warrior. "Aaaaaaugh!" The air turned pungent with his roasting flesh.

Vy'lyssa jerked in place, muzzle agape.

"Aaaaaaaa-haaaaaaaugh!" The soldier collapsed on the ground as his backside melted, exposing vertebrae and sinew. "H'Luuuuuuuuuuuuun—!"

Breathless, Vy'lyssa stumbled forwards to aid him—

Vrommmmmmmmmmmmmm!

The air lit up with a ruby glow. Vy'lyssa gasped. She looked straight up.

A monolith loomed directly overhead. The lone pilot's horn on the inside pulsed with bright red light and—

FLAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!

—the entire trench erupted in flames.

Vy'lyssa trembled and shook all over. By her third breath, she realized she had somehow survived the mana discharge. After some deep hesitation, she opened her slitted eyes.

As the shadow of the glass obelisk passed over, she saw the calcified corridor strewn with bodies. And—to her palpitating horror—not all of them were dead. Pitiful moans and blood-curdling sobs lingered in the sulfuric air.

Gritting her teeth, she lurched forward. The entire right side of her body was covered in second-degree burns. Fighting past the tears, Vy'lyssa came towards the first writhing shape she could find. It was one of her fellow soldiers; both of his forelimbs had been blown off. His eyeslits darted about as his muzzle hung open in horror. At last, his eyesight caught hers... pleading.

She leaned over him, giving his forehead a kiss. A quick kiss. Then—schlinkkk! She sank her fangs into his neck. The soldier's eyes rolled back... and he was still.

Muzzle dribbling with hot blood, Vy'lyssa scrambled towards the next victim. She followed a wet puddle of red, then stumbled over a fresh carpet of bowels. The mare—or the spasming half that was left of her—grasped onto Vy'lyssa's face with trembling fetlocks. She tried desperately to say something but all that came out was bile.

"Shhh-shhh-shhhh..." Vy'lyssa leaned over, gave the mare a single feather-soft nuzzle, then met her jugular with her fangs. She waited until the soldier's shaking fetlocks went limp, and then she moved to the next body... and froze.

"... ... ..." Wy'nnxx sat up with as much dignity as she could. She was slumped up against the side of the trench, surrounded by the imploded carapaces of three metamorphs. The acid from one of them had devoured most of her rear left leg, and several claw marks had been raked savagely across her chest. She supported herself by her grip of a rifle. Glaring eyeslits surveyed the hollow corridor... the smoldering carcasses. Eventually, she met her subordinate's gaze. "...scrk... Vy'lyssa..."

Vy'lyssa gulped. "Wy'nnxx."

Wy'nnxx's brow hardened.

Vy'lyssa stood tall at attention. "Wy'nnxx, W'ynlppa yln N'ymym!"

Wy'nnxx exhaled. "Hrmkk... h'vrkk... h'vrykk sylm ly'messa..."

Vy'lyssa stared blankly at her.

Fuming, Wy'nnxx spoke through glinting fangs. "Sy'kymylls'ym yln Thy'mma." She gulped. "H'vrykk sylm. Thrym'sym."

Vy'lyssa shivered. In so doing, she felt the weight of the satchel on her back—heavier than ever.

Wy'nnxx snarled. "Thrym'sym."

After a solid breath, Vy'lyssa nodded briskly. "Ywm, Wy'nnxx, W'ynlppa yln N'ymym!" That said, she leaned her fangs into Wy'nnxx's neck.

A velvety hoof stopped her. "Vyn vyn..." Wy'nnxx shook her head. Wincing, she pushed herself further up against the wall of the trench and cradled the rifle in her front forelimbs. "V'lysym ryk, Vy'lyssa. W'lynna thrym Lyn'drxx'lynna th'lyma sym..."

Vy'lyssa nodded, hesitantly trotting backwards. She saw a hint of red in her peripheral, and she spun about. The mare's muzzle hung agape as she saw hazy patches of ruby light rising from the corpses of her fallen comrades... only to be absorbed by the distant monoliths hovering high above as they took aim at nearby swarms of carapaced equines. Vy'lyssa shook... she fumed...

...and soon she abandoned Wy'nnxx altogether, galloping down the winding trench towards the location of their target. Behind her, she heard a bevvy of insectoid hisses, followed by runic rifle shots. Her slitted eyes teared up, but she forced herself forward—flapping her leather wings until she was threading the calcified needle at a blistering pace.

Above her, the sky filled denser and denser with onyx wings. More zeppelins fell—victims of black flame. Buzzing swarms and crystalline vessels swept in as well. Everyone and everything was zeroing in on the ziggurat and its glossy black foundations. Vy'lyssa could see the golden beams of light breaking in a hundred places in every breath. The draconic roars grew louder and louder. The whelps' matriarch circled in a tighter orbit, defending the very last bastion. Massive wings filled the spaces above the trench with scales until there were no spaces left.

At long last, Vy'lyssa reached the end of the corridor. She clamored up a steep hill of bones and debris. In the shadow of a rusted trebuchet, she hid... panting and wheezing in the thick sulfuric atmosphere. Craning her neck around, she saw it—the base of the massive ziggurat... so close that she could almost make out her own reflection in its immaculately glossy surface.

The drakes were circling so close that their wingtips nearly lopped off her skull. She ducked low, watching as they warded off the advances of three separate armies with burning plumes of black flame. The zeppelins bearing the lunar crest collapsed. Swarms of suicidal carapaces melted before the merciless heat. Only those who piloted the crystalline monoliths bothered to keep any distance, but the intense beams of ruby energy that they pelted the draconic brood with were proving just as futile.

Vy'lyssa had no more time to waste. She reached deep into the leather satchel on her back. After a brief rummaging, she produced a dense cluster of glowing runes. They spat electrical bolts of enchanted energy—burning her flesh at the mere touch. She absorbed the pain—all of it—and gripped the payload in her fanged teeth.

"W'ynlppa sy'lymma th'ysmma, H'Luun," she murmured out the side of the muzzle...

...and charged straight towards the monumental ziggurat.

More than three dozen drakes saw her. Roaring, they immediately dove towards the lonesome soldier.

She was counting on that. Spinning around, Vy'lyssa met their charge by flinging the electrified cluster of runes straight into the flock. Without a second's hesitation, she crouched, slid on her rear legs, and propped her rifle up with her forelimbs. One eyeslit squinted as she aimed and shouted: "Y'hnyrr!!!"

POWWW!!!

A single red bullet ripped through the wall of scales, impacted the midair payload, and released the enchanted contents packed densely within. FL-FL-FLASSSSSSH! Shredding blue bands of flesh-eating lightning erupted in every direction, devouring the brood. The drakes burned in midair—all of them—from the whelps charging Vy'lyssa to the ones flying up high to the ones downing zeppelins and insectoid swarms on the far side of the pyramid.

Unnatural thunder filled the air as a vaporous concussive blast fountained outward in every direction. The event horizon slammed into Vy'lyssa head on, and the poor mortal was thrown hundreds of feet away from ground zero. She spun several times, her wings too limp from the runic discharge to catch air. Golden light shimmered and black gloss reflected lightning. Smoke and flames and blood and—

WHAM!

—the earth slammed hard into Vy'lyssa's body, accompanied with a sickening crack!

"Aaaaaaugh!" she yelped, only to feel several torturous stabs of pain. Her ribs had been broken in several places, and they dug into her lungs with each tumbling spin she took down a sea of rust and skulls. When she finally rolled to a stop, she lay limp. Helpless. Looking down, Vy'lyssa could see that the bone of her left leg was sticking out of her flesh. But this wasn't what concerned her.

Her pendant was gone.

Whimpering... she looked all around. Quivering eyeslits darted left... right... left—

Something glinted in the deathlight. A crescent. Slender. Pale. Beautiful.

Choking on a sob, Vy'lyssa forced her body to roll over. Then—one painful lurch after another—she crawled across the petrified soil towards the sacred emblem. As the blue flicker of lightning above finally faded, the sky was full of falling shadows. The shriveled corpses of burnt drakes fell all around her. Charred whelps landed all across the battlefield, giving the air necrotic percussion.

The brood was finished. The three armies could now advance on the ziggurat. Vy'lyssa could only hope that her army would get there first.

She crawled until she could crawl no further. With a trembling hoof, she stretched and reached and struggled for the pendant. Just as her fetlock made contact...

...an immense shadow bled over her. The air shook with thunderous wingflaps.

Wincing, Vy'lyssa clutched the crescent moon to her chest. One of her lungs had already collapsed. The other was struggling to filter the remaining oxygen from the sulfur in the air. Nevertheless, she stared up with twitching eyes... stared up as the figure of the draconic matriarch encompassed all and everything.

The giant dragon hovered over her dead children... until at last she levitated just above the razor-sharp summit of the immaculate pyramid. Giant claws grasped onto glossy obsidian, and soon the scaly beast was perching on the structure. Next, she did something strange. She stretched her massive wings out—enshrouding opposite sides of the ziggurat. Soon after, she wrapped her tail and claws about the perpendicular sides. Then—once her many stone-hard limbs had effectively blocked off every entrance—the matriarch did something even stranger.

She lifted her many-horned skull towards the heavens... let loose a bellicose roar for the ages... and then thrust her neck onto the topmost spire of the pyramid.

The air rained down black blood. The spire had effectively impaled the dragon's throat... ripping out the top of her skull.

Soon, the matriarch went limp... breathing no more. The smoke and flame had vanished from her nostrils, and there she lay... wrapped around the ziggurat in an immortal hug... baptized in the ashes of her own children.

With the last vestiges of Vy'lyssa's sight, she noticed the three armies converging on the limp corpse that had effectively blocked them from entering their eternal target. As the thunder of a three-sided war redoubled, Vy'lyssa almost thought that she should feel ashamed. Instead... she felt the cold cleansing kiss of a crescent-shaped moonstone to her velvety lips.

And then—in the absence of that bliss—she felt nothing.

All would have been darkness.

All should have been darkness.

Instead, the waste and carnage was swiftly evaporated by a rising pulse of blinding gold light—emanating from the far end of the curved plane. In so doing, the brightness ripped apart all ruby traces of memory, pulling it apart thread by thread like some fragile tapestry.

FLAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!

A Vision of Reflection

A pair of glowing eyes flashed open beneath crystalline red skin... followed by a second pair... then a third and fourth and fifth and...

She sat calmly on a sea of velvety cushions. Sweet incense tickled her glossy nostrils. On all sides of the unicorn mare there levitated jagged crystals—joined together in a halo by translucent beams of tapering ruby light. The crystals hummed from within, carrying the cadence of over two dozen murmuring, chanting voices—all hers and yet not.

She exhaled, blowing incense and fragrant smoke away from her pulsating horn. She sat in a rectangular chamber at the very summit of a massive floating structure—a geometric marvel constructed out of translucent glass that glowed faintly with crimson and fuchsia hues. Directly in front of the calmly-seated mare there stretched an open balcony... and past the balcony's razor sharp edge was a dead sky filled with lingering blue twilight. Far beyond, a dark gray valley of vulcanized rock sloped perpetually upward... so that the horizon was drowned high above in onyx mountains and even blacker canyons. Somewhere in the midst of all this lifelessness, a circular patch of earth burned forever around a solid square of black, from which shot beams of blended gold in every direction, piercing the nebulae floating above and beneath where the mare calmly reposed.

Several breaths later, the mare closed her surface eyes. Several more pairs of eyes deep within her translucent skull fluttered open and shut in quick succession. Her breaths came quicker now—quiet and contemplative.

Not long after, a body rose from several see-through floors beneath her. A blue stallion in flowing purple robes rode a glass lift to the top of the floating structure... until at last he joined the mare on the balcony. Upon seeing her awake, his crystalline lips pursed with anticipation. Several layers of eyes blinked on top of one another as he smiled delicately... then trotted towards the very edge of the room.

Thunder echoed in the distance, emanating from the patch of burning earth, but the rigid floating vessel scarcely felt a single vibration from that distance. The stallion's horn lit up, and several glass compartments unfolded to reveal a shelf full of diamond chalices. Without lifting a single hoof, the stallion levitated a ruby-colored vial and carried it with him towards the center of the room. The compartments slid magically shut on their own behind him.

Much of the incense had faded by the time the stallion approached the mare. He trotted around her calmly... patiently... swaying as if in a casual dance. Every time his hoof made contact with the floor, the glassy surface lit up with dim ruby brilliance. At long last, he crossed the mare's vision, ducking his head low with a loving smile. She gave no response—not that he expected one... at least not quite so soon. Floating a bed of cushions over, he sat leisurely down across from her, floating the vial between them with his back to the curved horizon and the flaming battlefield in the distance.

There, he waited... waited for a sound.

At last, she had one to give. "Mrmmfff..." Her horn flickered as her head swayed along with her shoulders. "...Archeantus. I... I just..."

"Shhhhhh..." He reached out with a blue hoof, stroking her cheek. "Gently, Alamais. Come up gently."

She shook in place—as if having surfaced from an arctic dive. "The darkness... so immense..." Multiple eyes blinked on top of one another. The crystals hovering around Alamais flickered bright and brighter. "...getting harder and harder... mrmffff... to penetrate..."

Archeantus kept stroking her cheek. "The Lord chose you for a reason, Alamais. You are strong... the strongest Vessel there is. Now... give me the good news already." He grinned from cheek to glossy cheek. "You had another vision?"

"A reflection," she clarified, her voice solidifying into a dull drone. "Of Endrax."

Archeantus' ears perked up. He adjusted the folds of his robe and cocked his head to the side. "Endrax, you say?"

"Not... not her of course..." Alamais winced, reaching a dainty hoof up to rub her skull just beneath her horn. "But... a memory... the final memory of the soul closest to her when she barricaded the Sepulcher of Ages..." She shuddered, her voice faltering again. "But... but it's so painful... almost too painful to—"

"Ah ah ah..." Archeantus waved a hoof. "Easy does it, precious. Here..." He levitated the vial beneath her muzzle and popped the diamond cork. "Stillborn." His glossy brow furrowed. "Inhale."

As soon as the lid was opened, plumes of ruby smoke shout upwards. They took the form of curled, fetal shapes, and the air shook with high-pitched wailing. Alamais inhaled the fumes, and her many layers of eyes lit up until they all pulsed as one. A blink... a second blink... and her figure stopped teetering atop the cushions altogether.

"Now is it coming into focus?" Archeantus asked, corking the vial shut again.

"Hmmmm..." Alamais' ears twitched. "Vy'lyssa."

Archeantus looked up at a crystal pulsating towards Alamais' right—one of many. The phantom shape of leafy ears flickered in and out of existence. "The... bloodwing, yes?" His jaw tightened slightly in disgust. "That poor old soul... from the Raid on the Very Last Bastion?"

"A warrior. A fighter," Alamais pronounced. "Mother of two. Both sons. Nightbloods who died defending their separate patrols from the Onyx Brood." She breathed in, breathed out. "At night when they were foals she sang them to sleep in their hammock high above the Huntlands, telling wholesome tales of glorious victories won by the Mother of Nightmares on the Light Side." A shudder... then something close to a sob. "She never was able to rescue her beloved mate V'ynxxm from the deep hives..."

"Knowing the matriarch at that time, the bloodwings probably used him and hundreds of others as bait to drag the swarms out of hiding." Archeantus smiled smugly. "You know how they are, Alamais. Treacherous... rat-haired scoundrels—the thieving lot of them. Why, it's their bloody damned fault the Sarcophagus got sealed up to begin with. If they had just allowed us to eliminate the Onyx Brood on our own terms instead of resorting to pathetic alchemy, then this never would have—"

"I was her just now," Alamais rambled on. "Hundreds of years ago... running alongside Wy'nnxx and company..."

Archeantus stifled a groan. "Uh huh..." He rubbed his temple and calmly listened. "Do go on."

"After assassinating the entire Brood with the runic payload... I reached..." Alamais winced. "That is... Vy'lyssa reached for her pendant... to kiss the emblem of Luna and be ferried off into the Eternal Dream with the Goddess of Nightmares' blessing..." Her eyes lit up as she stared past Archeantus. "And... I saw something..."

"Endrax, yes?" Archeantus cleared his throat and folded his forelimbs again. "You saw Endrax sacrificing her stubborn self to rob the Lord of greatness."

"Yes... and... no..." Alamais murmured. Thunder rolled in the distance beyond the balcony as she said, "I saw something else. Something... that Vy'lyssa never could have seen."

Silence.

Archeantus leaned back, taking a breath. "Alamais... darling... you said that this vision was a... 'reflection,' yes?"

The other unicorn nodded. "Very much so."

Archeantus' glossy flesh glowed bluer. "Well, if Vy'lyssa wasn't reflecting something, then something else must have been. So, what is it?"

Alamais was silent. Still as stone.

Archeantus sighed inwardly. He flexed his leg muscles. "Let me go get another vial, then—"

"Endrax..." Alamais said.

Archeantus shifted back onto the cushions. He blinked at her. "A reflection of Endrax?" He cocked his head to the side. "Do... do you finally know where Lexxic and his bastard brothers are carrying the third fragment?"

"No. It's..." Alamais held a hoof tenderly over her chest. Something was pulsating visibly within her translucent figure. Something black and necrotic and muscular. "...it's not the third fragment."

"Then what is it? Please, precious. Give me something to tell the Lord."

Alamais' eyes hardened. Half of the crystals floating around her burned with sudden violet brilliance. "Sssssssister."

Archeantus blinked. "Sister?" He blinked again, his blue hue paling. "As in... another Divine? From the Light Side?"

The crystals dimmed slightly. Alamais glared past him. Her voice took on a different tone altogether, hoarse and gravelly: "'I only ever had one sister.'"

Archeantus stared at her with his muzzle agape.

At long last, Alamais' gaze faltered. She looked the stallion in the eye, and her voice was more tender this time. "It is a light, Archeantus. Whatever the memory... the spirit of Endrax reflected, it's more brilliant than the beams that emanate from the Sepulcher. It can only be this bright because it's every color of the spectrum thrown into one. And it's here, Archeantus. On this plane."

Archeantus swallowed. "So then..." He nodded. "...at long last... after all these forsaken centuries... the sisters of Tchern have come this way to invade us."

"It's... not them," Alamais insisted. "This light... it's somehow brighter. And older."

"Older than the alicorns?" Archeantus asked. His ears twitched. "You mean... a light from the machine?"

Alamais merely teetered.

Archeantus turned to gaze beyond the edge of the balcony. He pointed nebulously into the twilight while looking back at Alamais. "From... where does this strange sun rise?"

Alamais swallowed. "From the only edge it's purposed to."

"Which, Alamais?" Archeantus squinted. "Farside or Nearside?"

"Farside," she said. "As indicated in the Web Etchings of olde."

Archeantus scoffed. "Oh please, darling. The Spindlers are more ancient than we are. Senility poisons their souls to the point of being unharvestable. You know this."

"But their words on Ilrifa—"

"Are just words, Alamais!" Archeantus growled, nostrils flaring. "Just like the word 'Ilrifa' itself! Pointless and religious and drab and nothing!"

Alamais shook in place suddenly. One crystal lit up to her left side, and there was the flicker of a foalish effigy. Her voice whimpered to match it. "I'm so sorry, Archeantus."

Archeantus sighed. "Oh precious..." He leaned in and hugged her gently.

"There're just... so many voices..." Alamais cried, her red gloss taking on multiple pale hues. "...so many voices to parse through... and trying to find the truth amongst them all is so... so..."

"Shhhhh... it's okay. Truly, it is." He patted her shoulder and leaned the two of them back so he could smile gently into her face. "You are one of a kind, Alamais. A vessel like no other. There are bound to be some challenges along the path to ascension."

Sniffling, she looked meekly at him with multiple glowing eyes. "Will... you tell the Lord about this?"

He stared at her for a few quiet seconds. "No," he said eventually, then kissed her on the forehead. "Not until we learn more."

"We?"

"Yes, we." He smiled. "You're not alone in this. None of us are ever... ever alone." He tapped her chin. "In many we are strong."

She gulped and nodded. "In strength we are m-many."

"That is correct. Besides... this shouldn't necessarily alarm us." Adjusting his robe, Archeantus swiftly stood up. "If there is indeed a new presence arriving Farside, it'll soon become Lexxic's problem. And anything that threatens him can only be a blessing to us and our quest to bless the Lord with the Sarcophagus' treasure."

"Yes, Archeantus." Alamais nodded shakily. "But of course."

"There's a good girl."

"Shall... shall I continue searching?"

"No, darling." He trotted past her, giving her shoulder a loving pat. "You rest now. You've earned your waltz with the stars." He aimed his horn at a nearby wall. The air rang with chimes, and the glass panels of the ceiling receded... exposing Alamais and her crystals to an endless expanse of glittering constellations. "Perhaps—amongst those—you will find more savory sisters. Hmmm?"

"Hmmmmm..." Alamais laid herself back on the cushions. Her body dimmed as her face sported a delirious smile. The crystals above her lowered slightly; the ruby bands that connected them drooped over Alamais like a loose duvet. The dark organ pulsing inside of her slowed to a cool, thumping pace. Relaxed.

In the meantime, Archeantus returned to the lift. As it lowered down the tall narrow shaft, the brotherly smile from his muzzle soon faded. He glanced aside and aimed his horn at a rectangular panel attached to the translucent lift. It glowed slightly... pulsating with a voice broadcasted throughout the descending chamber.

"Praetor?""

"Commander Eutropius," Archeantus spoke firmly. "There's been a development."

"A vision from the Vessel?"

"That's between me and the Lord," Archeantus said. "Right now—set a course away from the harvest fields. We are to return to the Hesiod immediately."

"Yes, Praetor. Shall I reign in our scout vessels?"

Archeantus lingered in brief silence. "No, Commander," he said. "Send them beyond the Sarcophagus. Start scanning for anomalous souls along the fringes of the Huntlands."

"The Huntlands? But... that will take them to bloodwing territory. Beyond Petra!"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," Archeantus said. "Tchern's been silent, wasting time and resources over this damnably mysterious 'Flux' of hers. What's more, Lexxic's forces are spread out and weak. They should be of no concern to us." He stared up through the passing floors, spotting Alamais' slumbering figure high above. "Just in case... anchor the scouts' prime souls before we disembark. Worse comes to worst, we can retrieve the most out of their legions."

"Is there a threat from Farside?"

Archeantus took a deep breath. "I don't know yet. But I must speak with the Council at the Hesiod at once. In the meantime... we must get all the information we can from the Huntlands and beyond."

"Yes Praetor. And what of the Lord?"

"Nothing's changed about that, Eutropius." Archeantus' many eyes flickered until they aligned in one blue beam. "The Lord is my responsibility. Nobody else's." As the lift reached the command floor at the base of the structure, he stared out at the burning patch of earth beyond the glass surfaces. "He gave us life. I aim to give him back ten times more." He stepped out with a flap of his robes, sneering: "I'll be damned to oblivion if there's a creature on this plane that deserves what's inside the Sarcophagus more than him."

At the Far Side

Thunder.

Shouting.

Pacing hooves and the rumble of the Firmaments.

A metal lens rotated to life. A flesh eyelid shook... quivered... then flew open, full of tears.

Flynn gasped deeply. The balding stallion stared heavenward with his one good eye.

The heavens stared back down at the Heraldite. Stars and constellations stretched for eternity. Dust clouds and galactic swirls obscured the space between the edge and boundlessness.

Flynn winced... grimaced. Gnashing his teeth, he forced himself into a sitting position.

As he rose... a ghastly sharp precipice of straight-edged granite wobbled before him, and all below was swirling tempest.

"Whoah—!" Instinctively, the unicorn scoot-scoot-scooted away from the Edge of the World... only to realize that it was actually dozens upon dozens of feet away. Flynn sat—slumped—on a stale plateau of dull blue rock... carved with a countless array of ancient grooves and scrapes. It was the hardest rock he had ever pressed his flesh against, and just staring at it made him feel as though his remaining optic nerves would rub dry. "Holy... h-h-holy siren panties..." He swallowed a lump down his throat as lightning flickered above and beyond, illuminating the fringes of perpetual night. "...all dry and crumpy-crustled..." He wiped bulbs of sweat off his light brown scalp. "We made it. We actually m-made it to—"

The stallion became aware of a severe migraine.

"Aaaugh!" Hissing, Flynn clutched his bald spot in two hooves as a weak pulse emanated from his horn. "On second thought... k-kinda wish I was on the receiving end of a Frostknifer's spear right about n-now..." Thunder rolled, and he immediately winced. "Not h-helping!" As his temples throbbed in pain, blood rushed back to his ears—and he realized he wasn't listening to thunder. "Uhm..." Weakly, Flynn craned his dizzied head to the side. "Who's shouting?"

"Big Show," rolled a deep voice from behind. "The aggrravated rrapscallion's been at it forr almost an hourr now..."

"For... for an hour?" Flynn finally turned away from the world's end. "Just how long have I been out of it, Kepler—?" He gasped, his good eye widening while his lens rotated wildly. "Holy shit! Wildcard!" He galloped over.

"It's alrright, frriend," Kepler calmly said. The wyvern knelt beside the battered, bruised, and bandaged griffon's side. He was busy wrapping gauze and a thick canvas material over the stub of Wildcard's left arm—where a prosthetic once resided. "I prromise you, it looks worrse than it trruly is."

"My arm!" Flynn wheezed, sliding up to Wildcard's side. He gawked at the missing metal apparatus. "My beautiful... beautiful arm!" His ears drooped, and the balding stallion smiled apologetically at the griffon. "Well... you know what I mean..."

Wildcard calmly shrugged... then offered a half-hearted gesture with his one good hand.

"I mean... sure, I remember things!" Flynn shuffled in place. "But I don't quite remember what took my carefully-crafted invention from you! No matter." He licked his lips as his horn glowed. "Just let me examine it and I'll be sure to fix—"

"No, brrotherr!" Kepler insisted, waving a desperate claw. "I wouldn't do that if I werre you—"

Too late. Flynn tried using magic... and the resulting jolt of pain nearly threw him backwards like a hard right hook. "Aaaaugh! Shit nuggets!" He fell hard on his flank, wincing all over. "Hoooooooo sweet baby calves..." He rubbed his weakly glowing horn. "...feels like a steamtrain just had a vodka honeymoon with my skull!"

Wildcard whistled.

"You mean you don't remember?" Kepler remarked. Sighing, the wyvern adjusted his spectacles. "I was afrraid of that. Yourr split-second herroics torre severral of the leylines affixed to yourr nerrvous system."

"You..." Flynn sucked oxygen through his teeth, afraid to so much as tap his own horn. "You m-mean I'm suffering a metanervous mana-concussion...?"

"Brrought upon by overrexerrting yourr telekinetic abilities." Kepler nodded. "Most definitely. If you sit tight and relax yourr horrn, you should rrecoverr in a day or two... if you'rre lucky..."

"This... this must be why I don't remember things."

"Focus on yourr thoughts," Kepler suggested, continuing to bandage Wildcard's limbs. "Trrace yourr shorrt terrm memorries back to the point in which you fell unconscious."

"Not all of us are meditative geniuses of Mortuana's School of Mountain Matronliness, Kepler," Flynn droned. He looked up past his cohorts. "Sometimes when we lose our minds, we just..." His jaw hung agape. "... ... ...lose our shit."

"What is it?" Kepler traced Flynn's line of sight. "Oh. That. Ha-Hah! Quite a rrremarrkable sight, yes?"

"I'll say..." Flynn exhaled.

He stared at the horizon—an act that took bending his neck... and shoulders backwards by quite a startling degree. There was no vanishing line in front of him like he was used to. Instead, if he stared straight ahead, he saw earth: rocks, valleys, mountains, canyons. All of it dark. All of it bleak. All of it shrouded in a hazy, hazy shadow and serenaded by cold and distant starlight. He could see the edges of the world—three of them, at least—only at a certain distance and beyond.

"But... but..." Flynn murmured like an infant foal. He looked to his left.

There was a discernible horizon—but he could scarcely tell where it vanished from where it solidified into upwards, bending earth. When he looked to his right, he got the absolute same sensation. The edge of the world stretched far, far away... further than either of his eyes—natural or unnatural—could scan. It was when he looked away from the world's end that he made out the edges of the rest of the world. And the rest of the world stretched upwards like a sloped wall—thousands upon tens of thousands of miles in length—until a hauntingly observable line formed the very opposite edge of that plane.

"...didn't... didn't expect..."

"To what?" Kepler calmly asked as more voices shouted in the background. "To see the terrrestrrial measurre in its entirrety? Ah! 'Tis the effect of dwelling oh-so-suddenly on the concave side of this worrld, my frriend!"

"I... I..." Flynn grimaced, his natural eye twitching as it traced the dark curve. The plane was so dark that it formed a black silhouette against endlessly swirling stars. Somehow, grasping the enormity of the world only made the entire piece of Urohringr seem even smaller. "I guess I didn't make good enough calculations." He gulped. "Without sunlight... or the direct obfuscation of the Firmaments—"

"It's like starring through the placid waterrs of a frreshly melted lake in sprring."

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess it is." Flynn jolted in place. "Wait." He raised a hoof to his face and his mechanical eye rotated, zeroing in on the blackest part of the plane's curve. "Do... do you see that?"

"Hmmm?" Kepler craned his hairy neck while tending to Wildcard. "Allow me to guess." He smirked slightly through his tusks. "Glowing lights? An otherrworrldly twinkling of sorrts?"

"Well... yeah." Flynn nodded. "Especially right in the center. I..." He looked at Kepler. "...I can't be the only one who sees it?"

Kepler shook his head. "Rainbow Dash has seen it. Ariel too."

"What is it exactly? A city of some sorts?"

"Think darrkerr, frriend."

Flynn could only wince. "... ... ...the Trinary War."

Kepler nodded slowly. "A bitterrsweet lighthouse for the path ahead, if I may darre say so."

"Yeah, well..." Flynn fumbled a hoof through his bandolier. "...good thing I brought some tools for the trip along. No need for things to ever get that bleak." He pulled out a compass and blinked at it. The needle was spinning counter-clockwise one second... then clockwise the next. "... ... ...well, that's disconcerting."

"Is it now coming back to you, brrotherr?" Kepler said, tying the last of Wildcard's bandages straight. "Ourr arrrival herre in the rrealm of chaos?"

"The Gondola. It... it had trouble along the way." Flynn stood up on wobbly hooves. He pivoted about until he saw the shattered gold remnants of the geodesic sphere in question. A platinum crate had been dragged over and it was leaking with the Herald's rattled supplies. "We... we ran into trouble." He rubbed his horn, wincing. "I... I had to save Remna and Wildcard. And..." Just then, a breath sharply left him. The stallion's ears instantly drooped. "Bard... ... ..."

Kepler and Wildcard exchanged glances. Both hung their heads. "How I wish you wouldn't have remembered that for a while, my frriend."

"How..." Flynn winced. He looked at Wildcard. "...why?"

Wildcard didn't move.

By then, the shouting had gotten so loud that it was shaking Flynn's aching skull. Groaning, he spun about and frowned into the thunderous scene. "Dammit... dammit Big Show... will you can it?! I'm trying not to die of grief and migraines over here!!!"

"Don't tell me to 'can it!'" Logan shouted. The obese stallion was pacing in angry circles, dragging the blunt end of his axe behind him—causing sparks to fly across the dead blue stone. "I'm trying to have a civil discussion with Missy McNoBalls over here!"

"'Civil'?! Hah!" Ariel scoffed. The gray coated mare hovered across from the earth pony, folding her forelimbs with an iron frown. "You're talking about cold-blooded murder!"

"Ain't nothing murderous about ridding a pest of its damned stupid neck!" Logan growled, pointing at a limp feathery figure lying on the fringes of the wrecked Gondola beside them. "If it weren't for her, we'd have made it here far more smoothely! What's more, a living breathing Divine would be on our side to ferry us all the way through this chaos festering shit-soup of a plane!" He gnashed his teeth. "But noooooo! Miss High-and-Mighty had to show her dumb beak up and ruin things! Then Miss Higher-and-Mightier had to spare her pathetic life! And right now I'm being lectured on morality by Miss-High-and-Hump-Her-Rainbowness!"

"If the Austraeoh says we're not to murder her, then as the Heraldic Seven we are bound and honored to obey!" Ariel hollered back.

"Not when it's a stupid-as-mud decision!" Logan retorted. "Look—we just went through Hell and came out the other side! And in all that time, Rainbow Dash's been banging her head against more numbskulls than the rest of us can even shake a stick at! Hello?! That's a recipe for having a screw loose if I ever heard one! No shit she's gonna crap out the wrong end every once and a while! I say we forget it and wipe a really cruddy smear off the map while we still have the eyeballs and brains to make any sense of its senselessness!"

"Are you saying that we directly ignore Rainbow Dash and exterminate Seraphimus?!"

"If we don't... we're the ones being exterminated!" Logan hollered. "It's a simple fact of life! Y'know! Facts? Farts are smelly. Grass grows. And this crazy chicken-bitch is going to stop at nothing to see us dead! So no way in Hell are we letting her go!"

"Wait..." Flynn hobbled in the direction of the arguing pair. "Seraphimus is... is..." His one good eye bulged as he regarded the unconscious figure in the shadow of Logan's axe. "Holy Hell... we brought her with us?!?"

"Yes, baldy," Logan belched aside, frowning. "We did. Or—much rather—Rainbow Dash did."

Ariel stomped her hoof. "She's our leader, Logan! And as her Eljunbyro—"

"—we're not about to abandon her by setting a psychopath from Frostknife free just so she can hunt us all down one by one and whittle the Herald away until there's only the Austraeoh left to defend herself!" Logan boomed. "Enough of us have bitten the dust as it is! Mortuana! Bard! Remna! Who's next, Ariel?! Huh?! Is it you? Gonna throw yourself in the bitch's slice-em-and-dice-em path just so your marefriend can feel better about herself?!"

"For crying out loud, Big Show, it's not that—"

"There's too much at stake now, girl!" Logan exclaimed. "The World! Urohringr... hell, all of the Urohringrs—"

"Wait. Remna?" Flynn did a double-take, grimacing. "Are you telling me that Remna's... that Axan's...?" Just then, his gaze caught a violet-scaled corpse in the distance. His one pupil shrank to a pinprick. "Oh Goddess..."

"Yes, Flynn. That's right," Logan huffed. "Axan's dead. The one ticket to the Midnight Armory that we never even knew we friggin' had... and she wasted her magical gift all on undoing this one shithead's crusade in the name of Verlaxion!" Schiiiiing! "I'd say we make it clean and we make it quick. After all—Hell—who knows?!"

"Big Show—" Ariel reached for the stallion and his axe.

Logan wielded the blade, undaunted. "She may have killed Bard too—"

Thwap! An angry talon gripped Logan's shoulder. Dark goggles glared into him, framed by Wildcard's even darker feathers.

"Oh, what?!" Logan sneered back at the three-limb'd griffon. "Gonna step up to the plate now of all times, buddy? Here! Lemme give you the axe! You can do the honors!"

"Seraphimus didn't kill Bard."

Logan and the others stumbled in place. They turned and looked up. "How do you know?"

Swooooooooosh! A blue streak touched down on petite wings. Rainbow Dash stood up straight, muscles coiling. Her short bangs billowed in the tempestuous winds of the world's edge, and the twilight beyond the firmaments glinted off dozens of fresh cuts and welts. "Applejack and Fluttershy tell me so. That's how."

"Oh. Great." Logan rolled his eyes as Rainbow Dash approached them. "Your girly-girly ghost pals suddenly vouch for Seraphimus' divine innocence!"

"They never said she was innocent," Rainbow muttered, brow furrowed.

"Rrainbow One..." Kepler reached out to her. "You arre so terrribly injurred. If you would just allow me to exam—"

Rainbow Dash shrugged him off, continuing her angry march towards Logan. "But you know who's definitely not innocent, Big Show? You. Me. Everyone here who's crazy enough to get this far to save the world that we'll go even further. And—if it takes just a tiny sliver of moral centeredness to enlist as much harmonic energy as possible to aid us in our journey, then I'm all for it. Because—you're right—we don't have a crazy huge fire dragon matriarch to make it easy for us. She did what was necessary for us to get here... and I'm not about to ruin it by having you—or anyone else—go friggin' psycho on souls for whom there's still hope!"

"Hope? Pffft!" Logan rolled his eyes. "What hope?! You heard her earlier when we were all dingleberrying off the world's edge! She's got nothing left to live for! Who says there's any hope in that?!"

"Me! Rainbow Dash flapped her wings until she was snarling in Logan's face. "I say that there's hope in that! You don't believe me. Fine. I'll toss you off the edge myself and you can go looking for the hope beyond the Firmaments!"

"Can we please stop yelling at each other," Ariel insisted.

"Harumph..." Logan folded his forelimbs as he glared back at Rainbow Dash. "Did Fluttershy feed you that idea as well?"

"As a matter of fact, no," Rainbow muttered, floating back slightly. "She's been doing all she can to dam my tears in since we landed here. It's Applejack—however—who wouldn't mind seeing your big fat butt go for a chaotic swim in the star soup!" A beat, and she winced before glaring over her shoulder. "Oh knock it off, egg head. We've been through a lot! Let me spitball!"

"Guys..." Ariel was gazing off in the distance, her wings twitching nervously.

"I swear..." Logan sneered at the petite pegasus. "I know I pledged my allegiance to you along with the rest of Mortuana's finest... but if your crazy-ass girl-scoutisms causes us to die at the end of Seraphimus' talon—"

"I'm not going to set her free to hunt us down, Big Show," Rainbow exclaimed. "We're going to tie her up and bring her with us."

"Pffffft! Oh really?!?" Logan practically cackled.

"Guys—" Ariel wheezed.

"You have a problem with that?!"

"And how on earth do you plan to make that happen, girl?!" Logan pointed at the griffon's limp arms. "She broke through the best binds that her own kind put on her! She flew to the edges of the world to slaughter you! What force on this damned earth is going to keep her foot from flying twenty thousand leagues up your butt?!"

Ariel flew in between them. "Hey!" she hollered. "Dipshits!"

Wildcard whistled shrilly.

After he was done, Ariel pointed towards the side—past the golden wreckage. "Will you look already?!"

Logan and Rainbow Dash pivoted about. Immediately, their eyes widened and their jaws dropped.

"Holy..." Logan exhaled.

"What the Hell...?" Flynn whimpered.

"My starrs and garrterrs..." Kepler breathed, adjusting his spectacles to see better.

As the Herald bore witness, a ruby light was emanating from the large battered corpse of Axan...

...and it was slowly rising towards the stars above in a frothy magenta cloud of otherworldly luminesence.

Ariel blinked. She turned to gawk at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow paled, her ears and tail drooping as she plopped down onto her flank. The mare's eyes remained locked on the ethereal glow floating slowly above the scales and bones. After a dry gulp, she murmured aside: "No, Pinkie, I... don't think that's accurate... or appropriate to say at a time like this..."

Eyes On the Prize

A roll of thunder.

Twilight Sparkle hovered in place, her ghostly ears twitching.

All alongside the mare, the rest of her friends formed an ethereal line of gawking faces. All otherworldly eyes were locked on the corpse of Axan—or more appropriately the hazy patch of ruby light levitating just above the corpse of Axan.

"What is it, Twilight?" Applejack asked in a breathy tone. She floated closest to Rainbow Dash, looking over their anchor's shoulder. "Some sort of magic spell? Perhaps a message or a vision?"

"I..." Twilight grimaced. She slowly shook her head while her eyes remained locked on the phenomenon. "I don't have any clue."

"Well, don't ya sense anythang, sugarcube?"

"There is a release of magic," Twilight said. "Mortuana's transformation spell is still dissolving all around Axan's body. But... that started back in the Gondola. This...?" She gestured nervously at the glowing cloud of ruby mist. "I can't even begin to guess."

"Maybe it's something to do with Dashie!" Pinkie Pie suggested, smiling momentarily. "She's always seeing invisible glowy stuff with her awesome eyes! What if—on this side of the pancake world—we can see the same thing to?"

"Yes—but you forget, darling..." Rarity gestured back at the rest of the Herald who were also stupefied. "Our flesh-and-blood friends see it too."

"Oh yeah..." Pinkie rubbed her scrunched nose. "Well, then, poop. Just what is this nonsense? We're only sixty minutes in and already the Dark Side is making my brain go 'kersplaatikins!'"

"I sense something," Fluttershy said.

The rest of the mares flashed her a look.

Rainbow Dash leaned in. "What is it, Fluttershy?"

Ariel and Wildcard glanced over curiously.

"It's... hard to say," Fluttershy stammered. "It's... it's almost as if Remna..." She winced, then corrected herself. "As if Axan is still here."

"But she ain't," Applejack declared. "You felt the candle of her dragon life flicker to nothin' earlier—didn't ya? Just like all the brave bat ponies back up in the fight with the Frostknifers?"

Pinkie Pie raised a hoof. "Don't you mean back down in the fight with the Frostknifers?"

Applejack glared daggers at her. "T'ain't the time, sugarcube..."

"I know that she's dead," Fluttershy admitted with a nod. "I felt her life slipping away shortly after we all landed here on the Dark Side. Even still." She bit her bottom lip. "I... I feel now as though she's here. Or... perhaps a part of her."

"Where do you sense it, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Fluttershy merely pointed.

Rainbow's eyes reflected the lingering ruby cloud. Her ears folded back in nervous contemplation.

"This sort of a thing never happened back on the Light Side," Rarity declared. "So why here?"

"Oooh!" Pinkie Pie did a ghostly hop in place. "Maybe it always happens with Divine Matriarchs!"

Applejack looked at Rainbow. "Did this sort of a thang happened with Nevrem... Neville... Newark—?"

"Nevlamas?" Rainbow shook her head. "No. But... like Rarity said... we are on the Dark Side."

"Soooooooooo..." Pinkie Pie rubbed her fuzzy ghost-nose. "...death has a pretty glittery shadow over here?"

Ariel floated closer. "Rainbow?" Her voice was calm and soothing as she rested a friendly hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. "Talk to us. What are your best-besties saying?"

"Fluttershy... senses something from that hazy light," Rainbow Dash said. "Sure, she felt it when Axan died. But she's saying that she's still sensing Axan now."

"She's sensing Axan???"

"Just... faintly." Rainbow sighed out her nostrils. "Honestly, Ariel, I don't understand it much myself. And from the sound of it—neither does she." She glanced over her shoulder, then looked directly at Ariel. "Tell me. Do you see any ruby lights floating around me?"

Ariel looked at Axan's corpse, then back to the air surrounding Rainbow Dash. "Not at all, Rainbow."

Rainbow sighed again. "Ah well..."

"Why?"

"I dunno." Rainbow folded her forelimbs and leaned back on her haunches. "For a second there—I was kinda sorta hoping you and the rest of the Herald could finally see my friends."

"Currious..." Kepler shuffled over, adjusting his spectacles. "Might you be implying that the starrk contrrast between harrmony and chaos may allow us a glance into the afterrlife herre on the Darrk Side?"

Rainbow stifled a bittersweet chuckle. "You're a crazy wyvern, Kep. You know that?" She gestured at Axan's corpse yet again. "For all we know, her dragon blood could just be releasing magical hemoglobin burps—"

Ariel suddenly gasped and clasped Rainbow's forelimb. "Rainbow Dash!"

"Huh?" Rainbow blinked. "What?" She looked at her fetlock in Ariel's grasp—and it was glowing in multiple places. "Uhm..."

"Whoah nelly!" Applejack gasped, clutching the brim of her hat.

"Oh wow!" Twilight Sparkle floated closer. "Rainbow, don't move!"

The pegasus was already locked in place. She and Ariel gawked at an array of glowing bands clinging to Rainbow's person.

"Okay..." Pinkie Pie squinted. "Why is Dashie becoming a night light?"

"Do... do you feel okay, Rainbow?" Fluttershy asked.

"I... feel just fine..." Rainbow looked at her limbs and tail. "Just... trying to understand—"

"Yourr injurries, Rrainbow One," Kepler said.

"Huh?"

Kepler pointed with a claw. "Look again."

Rainbow and Ariel took a calm moment to reexamine what they were looking at. It became evident that Rainbow was only glowing in the various spots of her body where she had been wounded. More specifically—

"It's the blood," Flynn said from a few paces away. He waved a fetlock—where a shallow cut sustained in the Gondola's arrival was now glowing with faint luminescence. "Behold..."

Shivering, Ariel looked at herself. A dim light emanated from her shallow bruises.

Logan glanced at himself... then at Seraphimus' figure lying a few meters away. "How come we weren't all glowy early?"

"Who knows?" Flynn remarked. "Maybe it... took us a while to acclimate to the Dark Side."

Wildcard was glowing the most out of the group; his feathers and flesh were grazed and nicked in over two dozen places. The Desperado peaked under a fresh bandage, and it was like slipping kerosene into a lamp. With his one good arm, he raised Bard's staff into view. Stained splotches of blood pulsated dimly under the starlight.

"Okay..." Rainbow Dash took a shuddering breath. "Take note: our blood glows in the dark on this side of the Plane."

"But..." Rarity grimaced. Hard. "Why?"

"I can think of several possible explanations," Twilight Sparkle remarked. "But I'd need more information before I could effectively draw—"

"Girls!" Fluttershy gasped. "Rainbow!" She pointed above Axan's corpse. "Look!"

Rainbow spun about to see that the ruby haze had thinned slightly. What's more... it was shifting... drawing away like a cloud. The motion wasn't jerky or sudden; nothing indicated intelligence or purpose. However, the gentle sway in its movement increased in speed—as if an invisible wind was pushing it away from the Edge. The speed picked up even more, and the ruby light ribboned out... almost becoming a beam of red energy. Before anything else could happen, the glowing luminescence sank into the stone earth... vanishing completely.

"Did... did you see that?!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"I most certainly did!" Rarity stammered breathily. "It... it was almost as though it was headed somewhere!"

"Into the earth?" Applejack suggested.

"No," Twilight shook her head. "I mean—yes—but not just that." She turned to look at Rainbow Dash. "It was headed away from the Edge... quite obviously."

"Where could it be going?" Fluttershy asked.

At this point, Rainbow Dash was staring out... and upwards at the curved landscape yawning before them. Her eyes traveled up... up... up.

"This... this is nuts," Ariel could be heard rambling in the background. "What's going on in this friggin' place?"

"I suspect we will eventually discoverr forr ourrselves," Kepler remarked.

"We should live that long," Logan muttered. The anger in his voice had dissolved almost entirely.

Twilight Sparkle leaned in towards Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow... I know this is all a lot to take in. But I have to ask..." Her lavender brow furrowed. "Do you have the vision?"

Rainbow murmured out the side of her muzzle as she stared into the bent horizon. "Vision?"

"Yaerfaerda? Utaan? Anything?" Rainbow gulped. "It was you who guided us to the Gondola at the edge of the world to begin with. Maybe... erm..." She fidgeted. "I-I guess I was hoping that maybe the powers given to Austraeoh could be of aid to us here too..."

Rainbow exhaled. "I do see something..."

The rest of the ghostly mares perked up.

"Well...?" Twilight pressed her hooves together. "What is it? A beacon? More entrances to the machine world?"

Rainbow slowly shook her head. She stretched her hoof upwards at an angle, pointing at a fixed spot in the very dead center of the dark plane. "I see it."

The rest of the mares—and the Herald even—peered after Rainbow's gesture. But they were at a loss to see what Rainbow was referring to.

"What?" Rarity asked. "What do you see, darling?"

Rainbow Dash shuddered. Her eyes locked on a tiny, infinitesimal speck of gold. And even though it was too impossibly far away for her natural vision to ever conceivably take into account... she was certain—on the inside—that the speck was shaped like a pyramid.

"What else?" she murmured.

Concerning Lights in Darkness

"You can see the Midnight Armory, Rainbow?!" Twilight Sparkle gaped. "All the way from this edge of the plane? That's virtually impossible!"

"Nothing's impossible for Dashie!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, sticking a ghostly tongue out. "You should know that by now, oh ye of little kaizo!"

"Remember..." Rarity raised a hoof, smiling thoughtfully. "She swore she sensed the Midnight Armory—at least in part—while we were up on the Light Side. Through the earth itself, if I recall."

"Yeah... but..." Rainbow Dash fidgeted, continuing to stare at the heart of the curved horizon. "...I wasn't so certain at the time. But now..."

"Seem's sportin' of yer Austraeoh powers to let you see that sort of a thang, Rainbow," Applejack said.

"Remember the last Seed?" Fluttershy suggested. "You... you went inside the tower above the maelstrom, not knowing what you would find. When you came out... you saw a golden beacon leading to where the gondola was."

"So this sight is cut from the same cloth!" Pinkie Pie chirped. "Sight cloth! Fits like a glove! Heehee!"

"Hrmmm..." Rarity hummed, following Rainbow's line of sight. "I do appreciate textile analogies more than the average pony, but let's not jump to enthusiastic conclusions here, Pinkie Pie."

"Awwwwwwwwww! Don't be a poopy marshmallow!"

"What I'm just trying to say..." Rarity sighed, then floated closer to their anchor. "...is that we simply don't know what Rainbow is seeing. These blasted Austraeoh powers—albeit useful—have proven time and time again to be anything but predictable."

"Rarity..." Applejack glared at her with razor-straight eyebrows. "It's a pyramid-shaped speck of golden light sittin' smack-dab in the center of the Dark Side. What the hay else could it be?"

"Well, I don't know!" Rarity tossed her ghostly hooves. "For all we care it could be something else that Utaan or Yaerfaerda or Celestia-knows-what is pointing our beloved Rainbow to!"

"I must admit," Twilight said, tapping her chin in thought. "The Midnight Armory is the simplest goal at this point." She looked back at her fellow companions. "And if everything we've learned about Austraeoh and its connection to harmony in this world maintains the ongoing pattern—"

"Rarity's right," Rainbow Dash suddenly said. "Let's... not jump to conclusions. I've barely gotten used to touching the floor here."

"It's... just so amazing," Fluttershy cooed, staring down at the dull blue stone. She phased a fetlock through it and murmured, "The actual Dark Side of the world... and we're actually here..."

"Yeah, well..." Rainbow Dash looked at her cuts and scrapes—all of which continued to glow brighter and brighter. "...one freaky thing at a time, Flutters."

"Oh gosh..." Fluttershy nibbled on the edge of a hoof. "Just why is Rainbow's blood doing that?"

"Ain't just Rainbow," Applejack said, reminding the others. "The same thang's happening with her buddies."

"Also Seraphimus!" Pinkie Pie pointed at the randomly-glowing body lying unconscious to the side.

Applejack sighed heavily. "Eeeyup. Her too."

"We're all from the Light Side," Twilight said. She blinked. "Or—rather—we were all born on the Light Side." She cocked her head aside. "I wonder if that has anything to do with it."

"You're certain you're not sensing anything out of the ordinary, darling?" Rarity asked.

Twilight shook her head. "We're not... enchanted by something... if that's what you're wondering."

Fluttershy nodded. "We're just as alive here as we were on the other side of the world before taking the plunge."

"Well, most of us," Pinkie added with a wince.

The mares shuddered. Their eyes wandered over to the dormant corpse of Axan. Thunder rolled in the distance as a cold wind continually pelted the moist stonescape.

"That light... just now..." Applejack tilted her hat back. Her brow furrowed. "...you reckon that was her spirit?"

"I..." Twilight Sparkle bit her bottom lip. "I-I think it was some other kind of phenomenon."

"Really, Twilight?" Applejack looked at her. "She just died here on the Dark Side—a land brimmin' with chaos and shadow. You dun think that maybe... just maybe... there's somethin' more to it?"

"But... but..." Twilight exhaled through clenched teeth as she shook her head. "It's such a wild speculatory conclusion to make, Applejack! What if the heat signature of a dragon simply manifests itself differently on this plane! It doesn't necessarily have to involve—"

"Do we or do we not make our ways to the Harmonic Plains after we die?" Applejack asked.

"Well... I mean..." Twilight Sparkle fidgeted in mid-hover. "Princess Celestia always maintained that... th-that..." She gulped. "That is, most Equestrian cultures are of the belief—"

"So what's the stretch, then?" Applejack remarked with a shrug. "If it's the most likely possibility, then shouldn't we consider that we're witnessin' somethin' in the living flesh that folks on the Light Side have only ever dreamt about for centuries?"

Twilight gulped. "I don't like what the thought is stretching to, Applejack."

Applejack said nothing.

"But Twilight..." Rarity looked at her. "As a researcher and a scientist... shouldn't you have an open mind? Shouldn't you consider all possibilities?"

"I do," Twilight insisted. She shook her head while gazing forlornly at Axan's corpse. "I still don't like it."

"If... if that was Axan's spirit," Pinkie Pie murmured in a hauntingly melancholic voice. "...then where did it go?"

Thunder.

Rainbow Dash stood still, breathing intently.

A heavy set of hoofsteps shuffled to a stop behind her. "So... uh..." Logan cleared his throat. "You and the girls done deliberating?"

Rainbow swallowed. "Far from it, Big Show." She reexamined the glowing wounds on her forelimb. "At this rate... I'm not sure we're ever going to stop."

"Any light you have to shed on us and... uh... these weird lights would be killer."

Rainbow merely clenched her teeth.

"Sorry." Logan sighed, kicking at the cold stone beneath them. "I don't mean to rush you—"

"No. We..." Rainbow sighed, turning away from Axan. "We need to get moving sooner than later."

"This is all a crazy shock to take in, Rainbow. For all of us—I mean. And..." Logan exhaled heavily once again. "I'm sorry also for... y'know... being a total butthead back there."

"You're concerned for the party. It's cool—"

"No it ain't." Logan frowned. "I'm just so..." His leg muscles tensed and untensed. "...so... friggin' pissed. But—thing is—I know I'm not the only one."

Rainbow was silent.

"If you believe there's a reason for sparing Frostknife's favorite turkey buzzard... then that's fine. Ain't my place to talk you down. You're the Austraeoh and—if the whole world's salvation rests in your hooves—then why not add a griffin to the mix?"

"I appreciate your objections, Big Show," Rainbow muttered, glancing at him sideways. "I... understand why you would not want to keep her around."

"You're allowed to be pissed off at her too, y'know."

"It doesn't matter," Rainbow said.

No response.

"We just... gotta find a way to get her bound up all nice and tight... so she won't hurt anypony. Including herself." Rainbow pivoted about to face the wreckage of the Gondola. She rose her voice to speak above the howling winds. "Then we gotta go back in there and salvage all we can. Some of the golden metal snapped off. Maybe we can use them to create a wagon or a sled of some sort... so we can carry all of the supplies. Once Flynn gets his magic working again—"

Logan's large hoof rested on Rainbow's shoulder. "Rainbow..."

She blinked.

He continued, "I may not have liked Remna very much. Hell... a lot of us definitely hated her guts at one point or another. But you're the reason for this journey. And if you need time... you've got it."

"It... doesn't... matter," Rainbow snarled. She leaned away from his hoof. "All we need to do is keep moving. We know our destination. My girls and I are almost certain I can see it. Every moment we spend here is just wasted ti—"

Rainbow's words, her frown, her very breathing—all of it melted away the moment she felt Ariel floating up from behind and hugging her in a soft, warm embrace. Rainbow's pupils shrank as she stared out into the starry expanse.

Fluttershy, Pinkie, and the rest closed in. "Rainbow..." Fluttershy sniffled. "Would it help if we cried first?"

Rainbow clenched her teeth. She fought it, but the Firmaments were less forgiving on this side of the plane. The elements blew right through her. "She g-gave me so much... and yet she t-took so much away. And yet... I couldn't be h-here without her help. Or without...without..." She shut her eyes as the tears sprang loose. A whimper or two later, and Rainbow was burying her face into Ariel's forelimbs. "I'm sorry... I-I didn't mean to take Bard from you guys. I... I understand now what Axan d-did... but Bard?" A sob, and she was shaking now. "Wildcard... Ariel... everyone—I'm so sorry. I hoped it would have gone better... so m-much better... but now I d-don't know what to hope for..."

"It's not your fault, Rainbow," Ariel murmured, sniffling herself.

"Barrd was brrave, and he knew what was at stake," Kepler said, shuffling closer. "Axan too. They believed in you... and so do we."

"You... you will regret it," Rainbow cried as Ariel hugged her. "I swear—"

"That'll be for us to decide," Flynn said with a soft smile. "For right now—and forever—you're stuck with us. That's a promise."

Rainbow felt like protesting—but then she felt the soft feathers of Wildcard as he came in to join Ariel in the hug. That's when she lost it entirely, and it took the collective circle of the Herald to keep her steady in the tearful minutes to follow. Her ghostly friends—and the stars—looked on.

They wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

So Few Even Know

Five pairs of ghostly eyes traced the shadowed edge where the horizon ended in the epic distance above them. A terrestrial black swath ate at the cosmic swirls beyond, and everything in between the far end and that very spot was darkness. There was the occasional splotch of dim luminesence: a river of firelight twinkling off several unknown continents away. But—for the most part—the landscape bending ahead of Rainbow and her friends was darker than dark. The presence of stars flanking the plane—afforded to their peripheral thanks to their position at the very edge—made everypony feel even smaller.

"It's so enormous," Fluttershy murmured. "And yet—when you take it all in at once—it seems so small."

Applejack whistled. "Reckon so."

"How come we can't see it all like this on the other side?" Pinkie Pie remarked.

"Because, darling," Rarity explained, "The world was constantly curving away from us when we lived in Equestria."

Pinkie Pie squinted, rubbed her head, then squinted again. "... ... ...I don't get it."

"On a convex plane, the rest of the world is obscured beyond the vanish point and—" Rarity went cross-eyed, then sighed to herself. "Why do I even bother?"

"Wait!" Pinkie Pie waved a hoof. "I think I get it! It's like a cockroach getting lost on the outer ring of a doughnut!"

Rarity beamed. "Exactly, Pinkie! Once again, you never cease to ama—" She suddenly winced, drawing her forelimbs daintily to her ghostly chest. "Wait... j-just how often did cockroaches make contact with the treats back in Sugarcube Cor—???"

"Let it rest, Rarity," Applejack muttered. "You ain't got the same stomach y'all had then."

"Mmmmmm..." Rarity squeaked with a noticeable shudder. "Don't s-say things like that, Applejack!"

"But it's true."

"I don't care!" Rarity tilted her nose up. "I aim to reclaim my vital organs when all this is said and done." She suddenly gasped. "OooOooOooh! Perhaps our bodies will be even better once we bring the Harmonic Prism back to Equestria?! I could certainly do with a pointier horn, how about you, Twilight?" She batted her eyelashes. "It goes so fashionably well with sunhats."

"A lot of time has gone by, Rarity," Twilight said, staring up at the furthest end of the curved plane with squinting eyes. "Odds are Canterlot fashion has gone through several seasons."

"Well..." Rarity slumped with a frown. "Did I just get off the Barge of the Damned and Depressed or what?"

"Sorry, Rarity," Twilight murmured, continuing to gaze skyward-and-earthward at the same time. "I just... can't get over how wrong this feels."

"Wrong?" Fluttershy gulped. "H-how so?"

"The furthest edge of the plane." Twilight pointed. "I can see it."

"Yeah?" Pinkie Pie dug into her ghost ear. "So?"

"Well... it shouldn't be possible," Twilight snorted. "Considering the thick atmospheric layers that must surely be collecting along the curvature of the plane..." She glanced back at their anchor. "...the gas should refract light far too much for such a piece of the earth to be visible to the naked eye from so far away!"

Rainbow Dash was wrapping the last length of a bandage around her forelimb. In so doing, she obscured the last exposed wound suffered from the battle on the Light Side. The glowing dissipated altogether, masking Rainbow and her ghostly mares in the penumbra of starlight.

She tilted her head up to meet Twilight's gaze. "The Firmaments were placed here by the alicorns to protect the Light Side—just like the Sun and Moon. We know this."

"Yeah! But even still—!"

Rainbow raised her bandaged hoof. "Before you even start, Twi." Her brow furrowed. "... ... ...do you honestly expect all things in an ancient realm exposed to pure chaos to function just like you'd expect? Even scientifically?"

"... ... ..." Twilight Sparkle sank beside Rarity. "I'm not sure I can handle this." Her teeth chattered. "Everything I ever learned at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns... to think that it's all out the window."

"I dunno 'bout y'all," Applejack said, tilting her hat back. "But I plum lost any semblance of familiarity the first moment I saw ponies in Rohbredden fixin' to kill each other."

"Well, of course, Applejack," Twilight muttered. "We all had to struggle with the morality of this situation."

"Some longer than others," Fluttershy said.

Rarity and Twilight winced.

"Wooo!" Pinkie waggled her eyebrows. "Look at the tail extensions on you, girrrrrrl!"

"Yes, well..." Fluttershy fidgeted with her forelimbs, although she didn't look even remotely ashamed. "It had to be said."

"Maybe..." Applejack fanned herself with her hat. "...I'm a mite big lucky I didn't pop out of the Vanilla Zone until the very last second."

"We all had our struggles to deal with, AJ," Rainbow said. "Let's not pretend otherwise."

"Yeah, but it's all simple now, right?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "We made it past Verlax and her army of meanie-pants in Rohbredden! Now all we gotta do is jog to the Midnight Armory, grab the Prism, then hop-skip-and-jump back!"

"There's a Trinary War in effect, Pinkie!" Twilight grumbled. "Remember? Three giant armies killing everything in their path in a death struggle for the Armory?!"

"Yeah, so?" Pinkie stuck her tongue out. "We just avoid those cranky melon fudges!" She chuckled in Rainbow's direction. "Sorry to steal from you without asking."

"It's okay, Pinkie." Rainbow gulped. "And—more to the point—there's Luna knows what waiting for us between here and our golden destination. Never mind the factions of the Trinary War."

"Well..." Pinkie's ears folded. "...I said it'd be simple... I didn't say it would be easy."

"How... uhm..." Fluttershy bit her lip. "...how are we going to get back to Equestria?"

"Oh Goddess..." Rarity grimaced. "Fluttershy makes a good point." She looked at Rainbow. "We can't very well go back the same way we came, can we?"

"Maybe..." Rainbow tightened her bandages,wincing slightly. "Maybe not. I dunno." She looked behind her at the cosmos lingering beyond the windblown precipice. "The Emeraldinians weren't the only ones to cross over. Someway—somehow—the Dark Vigil carried an entire civilization of Lunar Imperialists over to the Dark Side."

"And don't forget Chrysalis and her hive!" Twilight exclaimed.

"The alicorns also visited this side," Fluttershy said. "Right?"

"I don't know, Fluttershy," Twilight remarked. "I don't think Luna or Celestia have been to the Midnight Armory since it was first planted there by their forbearers. And all others—like Whitemane and Mortuana and Onyxxus—only made it as far back as the edge on the Light Side."

"Oh." Fluttershy stared woefully at the ground beneath them.

"Duaaaaaaaaah!" Pinkie gasped through an epiphanous smile. "The Divines! Endrax!" She grinned in Twilight's face. "A dragon matriarch got us to the Dark Side! Maybe Endrax can do us a favor and bring us back!"

"Uhhhhhhhh..." Twilight leaned away from Pinkie, wincing. Her eyes darted aside. "You want to handle this one, Rainbow? Or should I?"

Rainbow Dash stood up on aching limbs. "Mrmfff... I think the Herald and I are on our own with this one, Pinkie."

"But—"

"After all, Verlax went searching for Endrax." Rainbow sighed. "And we all know what happened to her."

"Yes... but still..." Pinkie cocked her head innocently to the side. "A big meanie dragon like Axan turned good after doing super horrible things to a bunch of ponies. Who says someone like Endrax can't do the same?"

Applejack and Rarity exchanged thoughtful glances.

Rainbow took a breath. "I don't know... at least—I don't know enough to bet on it." She gazed up at the dark plane's curve once again. "This is the Dark Side. It's way... waaaaaaaaaay different from anything I've ever experienced or faced before." She gulped. "Just... who knows what we're going to run into?"

"Then... do we even know how we are going to get back?" Fluttershy murmured.

Rainbow slowly shook her head. "I've no clue, Flutters. But—then again—I also had no clue before I touched the Utaan symbol. What's to say I won't learn a new way to go beyond once we've gotten the Prism?"

Silence.

The six souls continued staring at the dark swath.

"Whereabouts—would you say—is Equestria?" Rarity asked.

"From everything we've learned from Luna, Whitemane, and Mortuana," Twilight stated. "I'd say it's safe to bet that it's directly opposite of the Midnight Armory."

"Then... in a way... we're looking at Equestria right now?" Rarity stated.

"I suppose you could say that."

Rarity exhaled through a bittersweet smile. "I wonder what they're all up to now... everypony in the sun..."

"It could be night for them, Rares—" Applejack said.

"Bah! Of course, I realize that! Even still... how remarkably odd..." Rarity cooed. "Very soon we will be treading under their very hooves—trying to save each and every one of them—and only a handful of mortals on the Light Side even know it."

"Yeah, well..." Rainbow Dash's nostrils flared as she turned to face her ghostly companions. "Let's work on a way that every pony born after us will know about it. Ya dig?"

"How?" Pinkie said.

"How else? We go ea—" Rainbow winced. Hard. "Forward. We... uh... go forward..."

"Reckon we should pack our things, then," Applejack said.

"Yes. But..." Twilight pivoted about to gaze sympathetically at Rainbow. "Are you sure that you're ready, Rainbow?"

"Nope." Rainbow spun about with a flick of a short tail. "Which is why we should get going."

"Better fetch the Herald, Sugarcube."

"Stop being ahead of me, AJ," Rainbow Dash muttered in mid-trot. "You're not that psychic."

For the Voyage Ahead

"Mrmmmfff..." Flynn clenched his teeth, aiming a flickering horn at a stack of gold metal shards. "Mrmmmfff... almost... g-got it... m-moving...!"

Kepler shuffled past him with a bundle of supplies over his hairy flank. "Has yourr herroic horrn recoverred, good frriend?"

"Well... erm..." Flynn fidgeted in place. Thunder rolled over the sterile precipice as he murmured, "Almost—but not fully—"

"Then save yourr telekinetic strrength!" Kepler commanded as he began assembling a crude sled out of their gathered materials. "If you shatterr yourr connection to leylines completely, then you might neverr cast magic everr again!"

"But I want to help!" Flynn frowned. "We're set to take off at any moment and the Herald can't afford for any of us to slack off—"

Heavy hoofsteps. "How're your muscles, baldy?" Logan asked, glaring down at him. "Still sore?"

"Well... n-no, actually—"

"Good." Thwump! Logan dumped a bunch of alchemic equipment over the unicorn's backside. "You wanna help? Throw out all the crap we don't need and pack up all the stuff we do need all neat and tight."

"But—"

"But what?" Logan arched an eyebrow. "You think—where we're going—we're gonna rely on your sparkly brain noodle alone? Pffft. This is the Dark Side, creampuff. Gotta brute force our way towards the horizon 'cuz it is literally all uphill from now on!"

Flynn pouted, carrying the alchemic equipment over towards where an assortment of supplies had been gathered. "I am not a creampuff."

"I'll believe it when I see some sweat kiss the twilight, buckaroo!" Logan spat, marching away. "You've got several dozen spent moonrocks to cast off! Knock 'em out!"

Kepler was waiting for Logan over by the strips of harmonic gold. "I've gatherred all I could carrry from the Gondola..."

"Well done, Kep," Logan said with a nod. "Just tell me where the heavy-as-crud stuff is and I'll haul it on over."

"To what end?" Kepler's spectacles reflected a pulse of lightning as he looked over at the remains of the Gondola. "Is not ourr intent to pack light? Surrely you can't carrry so much alicorrn metal..."

"I'd like to give it the ol' college try."

"If you must overexerrt yourrself, dearr frriend, best to do it herre than countless days laterr." Kepler's hairy brow furrowed. "While we arre in mid-trravel."

"I don't think I'll be the only one drawing the supplies."

"What arre you thinking?"

Logan tapped his chin in thought. "I'll haul the heavier stuff—like our medicine, the remaining rune stone gifts from Bleak's Plummet..."

Kepler smirked. "Ourr food supplies?"

"Shuddup, walrus." Logan gestured. "Leave the bare essentials to me."

"Then what will we need a second sled forr?"

Logan's nostrils flared. "What else?"

Kepler looked over to where Seraphimus lay dormant. "Ah. But of courrse. I suspect we can't allow herr to fly, much less trrot."

"I'd say pack a few non-essentials with her and then we've got ourselves a caravan," Logan said. "If... that's what the Austraeoh wants."

"Indeed she does."

"Now... I'm strong and all... but..." Logan shifted where he stood. "I sure as heck can't bend alicorn metal. Something tells me we're gonna have to arrange these metal planks as uniformly as we can and fasten them tightly together."

"I think I have yourr idea neatly picturred in my mind."

"Do you really?" Logan smiled sheepishly. "Because I sure as Hell can't draw a blueprint to save my butthole."

"Ha-Hah!" Kepler waved him off. "Go and fetch the largerr planks, brrotherr! Leave the engineerring to me!"

"Thanks, Kepler." Logan trotted off. "I'd ask Flynn, but I'd rather him feel as useless as possible for as long as possible."

"I heard that!" a voice cracked amidst the thunder.

"Then..." Kepler tappec his furry chin, speaking to himself. "...the next thing on our agenda is deciding prrecisely who shoulderrs guarrd-duty..."

"You can't be serious," Ariel stammered.

Wildcard merely gave a vehement nod. He gestured as well as he could with one arm—which caused him to teeter off-balance towards his left.

Ariel reached out and caught him. "Look at you, for Goddess' sake!" She frowned as thunder rolled above them. "You're on three limbs and a prayer!"

Wildcard stretched and unstretched his wings.

"And we are not making you walk on your feathertips the entire way!" Ariel huffed. "If anyone should be drawing Seraphimus' sled and watching over her, it should be Big Show!"

Wildcard gave her a blank goggled look.

"I don't care if he's the strongest among us! Two of us can draw the bigger pack of supplies if we have to! You, though? You're in no condition to watch over Seraphimus!" Ariel folded her forelimbs. "If that batshit crazy fascist gets free again—you'll be the first thing that stands in her way!"

"...good thing he's the best equipped to deal with her," Rainbow Dash said, hovering into the conversation.

Ariel gave her a double-take. "Are you serious?"

"Jee. I said what I meant, didn't I?"

"Have you noticed that Wildcard here is missing a talon? He's only three-fourths griffin right now."

"Ariel, please." Rainbow gave her a bitter smirk. "A dude's feeling."

"This is no laughing matter."

"Good. Because I'm not telling a joke." Rainbow turned to face Wildcard. "You and the Commander of the Talon go way back, right?"

Wildcard took a shuddering breath. At last, he gave a sincere nod.

"Then that makes you our ace in the hole," Rainbow said. "You two have history together. If anyone in the Herald can convince her to see reason once she's come to—it's you."

"Uhm... excuse me, but..." Ariel leaned her head in. "What good is reason when you've got a complete psychopath on your hooves?"

"Nevertheless, Wildcard's volunteered. Who else would be drawing the sled that Seraphimus is on? Me?" Rainbow Dash suffered a cold shudder. "I think the further we keep me from that griffin when she wakes, the better." She pointed at Wildcard's missing prosthetic. "And we're blessed to have eggheads like Flynn and Kepler with us. If anyone can fashion Wildcard here a temporary walking-stick until they can craft a proper prosthetic, it's them."

"Still, Rainbow... I think this whole idea is messed up," Ariel said. She winced slightly. "No offense."

"I hear ya, girl."

"I mean... hasn't Wildcard here been through enough?"

Rainbow looked at the griffin. Her eyes rested on the bo-staff lying across his back, still stained in blood. A faint glow twinkled between the feathers.

"If Wildcard wants to guard Seraphimus, I am not about to argue with him," Rainbow Dash said. "And that's the end of it."

Wildcard bowed ever so slightly.

A heavy sigh escaped Ariel's muzzle. "Fiiiiine... but then..." She gestured at Seraphimus. "...what—exactly—are we going to do to keep Sleeping Beauty in check? I mean, the chumps on the Light Side tried to bind her—and they failed."

"Hmmmm..." Rainbow Dash slicked her bangs back. She gazed at the ruined Gondola, then at the spot where Seraphimus lay. "Why do hard work..." She smirked. "...when the alicorns have done all the labor for you centuries ago?"

"I must say, Rainbow..." Flynn reached in with both hooves, licking his lips. "...this was some pretty smart thinking."

"Is it?" Rainbow sweated, fussing with a length of metal cable. "Is it really?" She and Flynn leaned back, wiping their brow. "Because it looks pretty dumb to me."

Before them, Seraphimus' body had been bound in six places. Her arms and legs had been drawn behind her back, and her wings were coiled tightly together. Every single limb was entangled in a complex array of metal cords—and each of the cords wound their way to a series of straight golden rods fetched from the collapsed Gondola. The rods acted like splints, rigidly holding Seraphimus in place like a multi-layered griffin sandwich. It was obvious from looking at the job that the Talon member would have very... very little room to move once she awoke... which is just what Rainbow and Flynn intended. Lying on the side of a hastily-crafted sled, Seraphimus resembled a delicious slice of cat-bird meat pressed tightly between two slices of golden bread.

"Dumb, it may be. But so long as dumb works..." Flynn shrugged. "...then it's more than fine in my book." He looked at her. "I'll be sure to triple-check that the cords are taut once my magic works again."

"Good stallion," Rainbow said. "Getting her to eat and use the bathroom is going to be one heck of a challenge, but we'll deal with that when we get to it."

"Or Wildcard will deal with it."

"Heh. Yeah. Exactly." Rainbow's ear twitched, and her muzzle scrunched. "'What's the safe word???' Tchh..." She frowned into empty space. "AJ, get Pinkie to shut up, please. Thanks."

"Kepler and Logan should be done with the supplies soon," Flynn explained. "And I've neatly sorted through the runes that the sarosians gave us."

"Do we have enough ammo for the trip ahead?"

"I... can't say how powerful the lunar enchantments are... at least not until my horn is back to normal," Flynn said. "But we have a sizeable amount of kersplodey rocks at our disposal."

Rainbow breathed in. "Cool."

"But... only two boomsticks."

Rainbow exhaled. "Cool enough... I guess."

"Would you rather have none?"

"Nope. Not on your life." Rainbow turned and gazed away from the world's edge. The tiny golden speak lingered slightly above the visual terrain. "I've got Ariel surveying the landscape eas—er... I mean ahead of us."

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that," Flynn said. "The compass doesn't work out here. I doubt any other conventional navigation would help us either."

"Lemme guess. The stars are all different."

Flynn nodded. "Completely. We might have to invent our own means of directions."

"But... we're essentially going west now, right?" Rainbow looked sideways at the unicorn. "I mean... compared to how we were going?"

"In relation to where the Edge was on the Light Side? Well, sure, Rainbow... but I'm not sure that metric's going to help us much now." He gestured. "Once we get barely one-fourth of the way into the shadowed madness, we're gonna have the horizon stretching wildly in all directions... at least from our perspective."

"We'll still know which horizons lead to the edges, right? I mean... all we gotta do is look up."

"Certainly." Flynn nodded. "But how easily might we lose track of where we came from with where we're headed?"

"Uhhhhh..." Rainbow fidgeted slightly. "...leave bread crumbs?"

"Heh..." Flynn smiled awkwardly. "Considering how far we've got to go between here and the Armory, we'd starve before we made it one tenth of the way." He gulped. "I hate to make things sound dire, but we're going to need to take our time and forage around the landscape. Try and find wood for fire. Food for eating. Resources for making a mobile shelter. And we gotta find it all pretty darn quick."

Rainbow's body shrank as she exhaled. "I guess I was... just fooling myself in thinking we could wing it to the Armory and zip right back, huh?"

"Even without a Trinary War to deal with, I wouldn't be surprised if..." Flynn cleared his throat. "...if it's years before we manage to see the Sunrise again, Rainbow."

Rainbow nodded. "Here's hoping awesomeness outlasts youth."

"I'm with you on that one."

"Still..." Rainbow flapped her wings and ascended towards the twilight. "...I'd better check up with Ariel. If this crazy friggin' trip is going to start, then we'd better figure out a path to take."

"We'll be ready when you are, Rainbow!" Flynn called out after her.

Kepler shuffled up, and the first thing he did was stare at Seraphimus' bound figure. "My oh my... you cerrtainly crreated a worrk of arrt with the alicorrn metal."

"Yup." Flynn sighed. "That we did."

"Still..." Kepler winced, staring at the weighty golden bars holding Seraphimus' unconscious body down. "...do you think we'rre overrdoing it a bit?"

A beat.

Flynn's fetlock slapped Kepler upside the hairy head.

Kepler blinked. "Rright." He straightened his spectacles and marched off. "Ahem. I shall go and assist Wildcarrd in crrafting a walking stick."

Just a Short Survey

Ariel levitated at a high altitude, peering into the grand black curve of the world. The twilight above cast a silver sheen across the gray tips of her fuzzy ears.

It wasn't long until a prismatic shape was hovering at her side. Rainbow Dash's pendant glinted as she pivoted slightly to face Ariel.

"So... how's it looking to you?"

Ariel exhaled slowly. "Well... I never thought I'd hear myself say this... but I kinda wish Echo was here right now."

Rainbow nodded. "That dark, huh?"

Ariel pointed a hoof nebulously into the continental shadows. "There's a flat plain of solid stone—for sure—and it stretches waaaaaay out." She tilted her hoof slightly to the right. "There's a dip of some sort from... the north? Is that north, now?"

"Might as well be."

"Hrmmfff..." Ariel tossed her mane, squinting. "Anyways... there's a valley that juts into the plateau—I think. Otherwise, the rock is perfectly smooth. Like a pearl, even. The further away from the Edge of the World, the shinier the rock gets. Of course..." She grumbled breathily. "That could just be an optical illusion on account of the twilight." She rubbed her fuzzy nose, then turned to glance at Rainbow. "You suppose that the further we get from the edge, the easier it will get to actually see things?"

"You're hoping for too much, girl," Rainbow said. "This isn't the Light Side. Firmaments or no Firmaments, there's no Sun or Moon to help us on our journey. Only the stars."

"Egads..." Ariel shivered. She hugged herself in mid-hover. "I'm not sure I'm ready to deal with... that much darkness."

Rainbow bore a bittersweet smirk. "It's not like they called this place the 'Pizza Side.'"

Ariel blinked sideways. "Huh?"

Rainbow blinked back. "You've... you've never had pizza?"

"Should I have?"

"I mean... wowsers... it's like layers of cheese and tomato sauce served on a circular pie of dough and then you've got broccoli and mushroom toppings—" Rainbow Dash stopped in mid-sentence as she saw how adorably confuzzled Ariel's expression was. "Ahem." She hung her forelimbs behind her back and gazed into the dark continents. "Well, when we get to Equestria, we should totally have Pinkie Pie bake some for you."

"Heehee..." Ariel brushed a bang back. "Now there's a goal. Never mind the Harmonic Prism."

"That'll be one for the history books," Rainbow Dash muttered as thunder rumbled over their heads. "When Celestia, Luna, and the Council of Canterlot ask me why I went on such an epic around-the-world journey, I'll tell them: 'I did it for pizza.'"

"Hahahahaha..."

Silence.

Ariel gulped. "So... uhm... where the Hell are we going first?"

"I was hoping you'd have something to help me with."

"Well, I'm afraid I don't." Ariel swung a forelimb. "Either we march towards the fuzzy black area or the fuzzy gray area."

"It's not all blank, though." Rainbow squinted hard, her neck tilting up as her eyes traced faint glowing lines and splotches in the indiscernible distance. "There's definitely stuff going on out there."

"Yeah. Stuff we want to avoid."

Rainbow gritted her teeth slightly. "Not forever, though."

Ariel nodded, gazing down slightly. "Yeah..."

"Well, we've got something to start with, at least," Rainbow said.

Ariel looked at her. "What's that?"

Rainbow's brow furrowed in the twilight. "Darkreach."

Ariel's ears twitched. "Oh. Right."

"If this exact spot is where the Emeraldinians surfaced, then their Dark Side encampment can't be too crazy far away," Rainbow said. "Between Kepler's knowledge of Mortuana's records and Rarity's crazy senses... we're just bound to find it."

"You think?"

"Definitely." Rainbow nodded. "And that's as good a place as any to head to first."

"Have you talked to the others about this?"

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Rainbow's cheeks turned ever so slightly rosy. "I will now! Yup!"

Ariel giggled.

Rainbow smirked.

"Ahem... but seriously, though..." Ariel blinked nervously at her. "What will we even expect to find there? The Gondola obviously hadn't been used in a while when you discovered it. I doubt there was travel between the Light Side and Dark for decades... centuries even. Would there still be any Emeraldinians alive in Darkreach? Descendants... perhaps?" She grimaced. "If I was holed up in a place like this all my life, I'm not sure I'd want to be visited by blood-glowing strangers."

"I... kinda doubt anypony's going to be waiting for us there," Rainbow said. "But... who knows? It could have supplies. Stuff we could use to help us on the journey ahead."

"Fair enough."

"I dunno about you... but I kinda want something familiar to help me... to help us feel 'grounded.'"

Ariel nodded shakily. "You won't get any argument from me."

More silence.

"Guess... we'd better get going, then, huh?" Ariel remarked.

"Yeah." Rainbow inhaled. "First thing's first, about Bard..."

"Rainbow..." Ariel rested a hoof on her shoulder. "We already told you. It wasn't your fault—"

"Hey. I'm cool." Rainbow turned to face her. "Well... cool enough. But this isn't about me."

"What are you getting at?"

"Maybe... uhm..." Rainbow gazed down at where the rest of the group were gathered. "...now's as good a time as ever to let everypony else clear the air."

"Oh." Ariel stared down at them as well. She hesitantly nodded. "Y'know... that's not a bad idea." She looked at Rainbow. "What did you have in mind?"

"The better question is..." Rainbow looked back. "What do you guys have in mind?"

A Moment of Silence

After the group had gathered their supplies, there were just enough loose pieces of the Gondola left to form two separate piles of compact golden shards. The bars and lengths of shrapnel were arranged to look as geometrically perfect as possible. They stood out amidst the dead flat desolation of the World's Edge, and the nebulaic starlight from beyond the firmaments glittered off the metallic surfaces so that they were visible for hundreds of meters in all directions.

Kepler was putting on the finishing touches to a series of words etched across a round chunk of stone. The chunk of granite rested on the top of the rightmost "monument," and in the dim twilight it read: "In memory of Johnny "Bard" – friend, husband, father, hero."

The two sleds—including the one Seraphimus lay on—had been assembled and rested a few meters away from the pair of monuments. Rainbow Dash, Ariel, Logan, Flynn, and Wildcard all stood in a neat line. Rainbow's ghostly companions hovered around their anchor—somber and silent.

At last, Kepler finished carving the words. He stepped back from the golden piles and wiped his brow. "Haaaa... therre, my frriends." He pointed at his work. "Surrely, those who might happen upon this arrrangement in the futurre will know that therre has been a divine purrpose to it all..."

"It's very nice, Kepler," Rainbow said with a nod.

The wyvern turned around, his spectacles reflecting her deadpan expression. "I am sorrry that we could not find a larrge enough stone to place upon Axan's 'monument.' If you would allow me some time to scourr the nearrby landscape, I'm cerrtain that I could find—"

"No, Kepler," Rainbow exclaimed through a sigh. "We can't stay out here forever. Besides..." She gazed forlornly in the direction of Axan's large, unmoving corpse between there and the gondola. "...she was never one for words... or any sort of ceremony."

"Unless stomping on poor defenseless blue pegasi is her idea of a ceremony—" Pinkie began, but then received an orange slap to the top of her ghostly head. She shifted gears, immediately smiling. "But that was several novels ago! So who's counting?!"

Rarity cleared her throat, then smiled at Rainbow. "I think—in Axan's case—her actions speak for her."

"Yes, Rainbow," Twilight Sparkle added. "If she ever wanted a monument... you're it."

"Hoo boy..." Rainbow's wings drooped as she mumbled: "No pressure there."

Ariel craned her neck, speaking to Kepler. "I think this is a marvelous job you've accomplished here, Kepler. Bard would appreciate it."

"Yeah, way to go, Keps," Logan said, leaning on his axe. "Sure as Hell a better grave than he ever would have gotten back at Blue's Ranch."

"Tchyaa..." Flynn nodded. "Too bad we couldn't bury him here to. I think he'd be super happy to be as far away from that place as possible."

"There you have it!" Ariel smiled. "In a way, he got his wish."

Dead silence.

Ariel sighed. "Okay... it still sucks..."

Flynn cleared his throat. "A modicum of sanctity, please. Is that so much to ask for?"

"I dunno, baldy." Logan smirked. "Bard believed in doing things smoothly, but he rarely ever accomplished it."

"Big Show..."

"What? You're going to tell me he wasn't ever a total clusterbuck at times?!" Logan swung a hoof in the air. "Remember that one time he defeated the arsonists in Pine Prefecture by burning down half the town?"

"It was an abandoned town—"

"And then when chasing pirates off the gulf of Silt Prefecture, he got the bright idea of sitting Ariel on a rock and playing music from behind a shipwreck and convincing them that she was an intoxicating siren..."

Wildcard exhaled sharply. A smile formed beneath his beak.

"See?!" Logan pointed, smiling brilliantly. "Hah! He remembers!"

Ariel folded her forelimbs with a pout. "It wasn't so funny at the time..."

"Well, it sure as Hell worked, didn't it?"

"I swear... I've never kicked so much pirate groin in my life..."

"And don't get me started on that Rust Syndicate crap." Logan looked over at Rainbow. "Tell me—how many dozens of ways did you nearly screw up the raid of the Northern Hoof's vault?"

Rainbow fought the urge to chuckle. "You can't put that all on Bard. A lot of Rust was me half-assing it."

Wildcard conducted an invisible melody in the air with his right talon.

"Wildcard has a point, darling," Rarity said. "If it weren't for Bard distracting Revan with his handsome charm, you and Wildcard wouldn't have been able to make any progress whatsoever."

Twilight squinted at the ghostly fashionista. "The way you say it makes it sound like Bard was seducing the leader of the Northern Hoof."

"And who says it wasn't, hmmmm?" Rarity batted her eyelashes.

"Eugh..."

"Ahem..." Rainbow looked up. "I wouldn't have gotten as far as I did if it weren't for Bard." She caught sight of Wildcard's goggles shifting in her direction. "I mean—yeah—we all know who can really clear a room and take names, but—no offense Wildcard—Bard's charisma and swagger and big-brother-ness is what actually caught my attention and made me listen to the Desperados' case to begin with—" Her words dissipated as a pained expression overwhelmed her muzzle. Her ears drooped hard as she whimpered: "He was my brother. A shuddering breath. "The big brother I never had..."

Sniffling, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie hovered close to Rainbow. They couldn't hug her, but their proximity was the next best thing.

Rainbow rubbed her cheek dry and sighed. "Nicole's lucky. And... and it's a good thing..." She nodded to the stars. "...it's a very good thing that she got to meet him for one last time. And now... she's heading towards a better place." A swallow. "As are we."

Flynn looked up at that—but he said nothing.

Logan cleared his throat. "I know I'm probably the last person to suggest this sort of a thing... but I'm guessing a moment of silence would be pretty damn appropriate. Huh?" He looked at the others. "For both Bard and the dragon matriarch?"

"Capital choice, brrotherr," Kepler said... and proceeded to hang his head.

There was sudden movement. The group observed Wildcard shuffling forward. Gripping Bard's staff in his good talon, the remaining Desperado knelt before the rightmost pile of alicorn metal. The blood on the rod had long lost its glow by now.

Soon, Ariel fluttered forward and landed at Wildcard's side. She engulfed the griffin in a soft hug from behind, and together the two paid their silent respects to their dear friend.

Rainbow Dash looked on. She knew that she should have been hanging her head and giving the entire moment to Bard. But—for whatever reason—she couldn't. After all, neither did Bard.

Rainbow's vision swam across her surroundings—or more specifically the faces of those lingering around her. Logan was the most serious and deadpan she had ever seen him. Kepler—of course—composed himself with the usual grace and well-practiced dignity. Flynn looked anxious and more than a little bit sad. Wildcard—as always—was frighteningly unreadable. Rainbow felt her heartbeat growing heavier as her vision dwelled on him. But then all it took was the comforting image of Ariel hugging the Desperado to put her at ease. The pegasus was emotional as always, tearing over a bittersweet smile as she nuzzled Wildcard's neck. Off in the distance—still aside from steady breathing—was Seraphimus' bound figure. A cold shudder ran through Rainbow Dash, and it was around that point that the moment of silence ended.

Wildcard stood up with aid of Bard's staff. Silently—with mute grace—he collapsed the weapon entirely... then stuck it into a pouch of his bandolier. The one closest to his heart. He turned to look at Ariel and waggled a few of his talon's claws.

Ariel looked over him at Kepler. "Wildcard's wondering how sturdy these monuments are."

"Oh! They'll last quite the long time, most assurrredly!" Kepler said.

Ariel exhaled while Wildcard breathed with relief. "That's nice, Kepler," the pegasus said.

"I mean... surrely not forreverr," Kepler digressed, staring at the Edge of the World and the lightning brimming beyond. "This close to the Firrmaments, a tempestuous gale is bound to blow some of the golden sharrds off theirr foundation within a few centurries, and of courrse therre's the crreeping rravenous hand of entrropy—"

"That's nice, Kepler," Flynn growled.

Kepler froze in place, smiling nervously. "They'll last severral lifetimes! Ha-Hah! No worrries!"

Logan sighed long and hard, although it was through a smile. "What did I tell ya?" Pivoting on the handle of his axe, he turned to look at Rainbow. "Any final words you wanna say in Remn—erm... in Axan's memory?"

Rainbow gulped. "I... think I've said all that needs to be said."

"You won't get another opportunity like this, Rainbow," Flynn added.

"Don't think like yer doin' it for Axan, sugarcube," Applejack suggested. "Think of it like yer doin' it for yerself."

"Applejack's right, Rainbow." Fluttershy nodded. "If there's anything to get off your chest, then now's the time. It's okay."

Rainbow stood up straight. "Well then... okay." She trotted towards the leftmost monument and stiffened her muscles. "Just... I hadn't prepared anything..."

"Speak from the gut, Dashie!" Pinkie chirped. "You can do it!"

"Very well." Rainbow took on a proud stance. "Axan, the Divine Matriarch of Flame, was nothing short of the very paragon of—"

Just then... there was a grotesque, blood-curdling shifting sound echoing from the location of Axan's corpse.

"... ... ..." Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "...the crap?"

Pinkie Pie's nose scrunched. "Well, that wasn't a very nice eulogy."

"Pinkie, you dolt!" Rarity hissed. "Something amidst Axan's remains is moving."

"Oh gosh!" Fluttershy hid behind Applejack. "What could it be?"

"Rainbow?" Ariel hovered over. "What's the matter?"

"Guh..." Twilight winced, her horn suddenly glowing. "I'm sensing a sudden energy surge! Ancient... ancient magic!"

"What in tarnation?" Applejack offered.

There was a final shifting of movement. Rainbow and her friends looked over to see something small rolling out of a bloody pocket within Axan's corpse.

"Uhhhhhh..." Rainbow moved away from the monument and towards Axan's body. "...something just rolled out of her..."

The Herald followed cautiously behind.

Bearer of Many Flames

Rainbow Dash approached Axan's corpse slowly... pensively. Soon, she had to trot even slower; Wildcard had marched directly in front of her. Even with just three limbs, the last Desperado insisted on forming a living shield in front of the pegasus. His goggles reflected a bright round object situated just a few feet from where Axan's dormant snout lay.

"What in the Hell...?" Logan rasped.

"What is that thing?" Flynn stammered.

Ariel gulped, craning her neck to see from where she hovered. "Whatever it is—it's glowing."

"I... uh..." Rainbow squinted as she and Wildcard came to a stop. "I believe that's Axan's blood."

Rarity leaned in. "No doubt about it, Rainbow. That... thing was resting deep within Axan's corpse. I... I do believe it originated from a pocket of flesh situated inside her neck."

"Brbrbrbrbrbrrrrr..." Pinkie shook all over. "Even in death she's looking for excuses to shovel spit."

"It's... organic," Fluttershy said, her tone calm.

Applejack looked at her. "You mean that thang's alive?"

"Not... quite..." Fluttershy blinked slowly. "But... I sense that it's made out of the same material as Axan's body. Strange that I didn't feel it before..."

"Do dragon bodies make pearls?" Applejack lifted her hat and rubbed her ghostly scalp. "Danged if I'm not confused as all heck."

"Axan may be dead, but that object isn't," Twilight Sparkle insisted. "At least not magically. There's a strong enchantment about it that's not diminishing."

"Is it harmful?" Rainbow Dash asked aside.

The Herald glanced at her.

"I... I don't think so, Rainbow," Twilight said. "But even still, I don't know what it's purpose is."

Rainbow exhaled. "Guess there's only one way to find out." She trotted forward.

"... ... ...!" Wildcard stretched his good arm directly in front of the mare, blocking her. The two shared brief visual contact. Then—with drooping crestfeathers—Wildcard relented. He sidestepped and allowed Rainbow Dash to trot past him and approach the sphere.

Cautiously, Rainbow Dash knelt down and squinted into the object's blood-red glow. Axan's juices coated the round surfaces, and it generated an undeniable heat. With nervous hooves, Rainbow reached forward and barely tapped the edge of the sphere. It was still hot—but not scalding. After a few more ginger taps, Rainbow dared to roll the thing towards her. In so doing, she cleared off the outer coating of crimson.

A vulcanic gray surface glinted in the starlight. It was a paradoxical sight: the material appeared both dull and shiny all at once. To Rainbow, it looked as though she was cradling an enormous marble with a thin layer of transparent glass surrounding a burnt charcoal core. She wiped off even more of the blood—and upon touching the cold glossy shell the sphere reacted with brief flickers of flame from deep within... like the heart of a furnace struggling in vain to burn back to life.

"It's... it's reacting to you, Rainbow," Twilight Sparkle said. "Faintly... but there's a spell in place there." Her horn glowed as she phased through Rainbow's shoulder to study the object closer. "Still... what was this doing on Axan's person?"

"It's a Drragon Stone," Kepler suddenly said.

Everypony looked immediately at the wyvern. Including the ghosts.

"A what stone???" Pinkie belched.

"A what stone?" Rainbow echoed.

"Of courrse! It has to be!" Kepler smiled through his tusks. "Do you not rrememberr Rremna speaking about it? When we firrst held audience with Prrincess Celestia?"

"If... if what Kepler says is true..." Twilight began.

The wyvern adjusted his spectacles and declared: "This is what Axan used to speak with herr Divine Sisterrs! It is a tool of communication—far olderr than all magics on this plane! Even Alicorrn magic! For it was herre long beforre this piece of Urrohrringrr was everr discoverred!"

"If that's true..." Ariel's brow furrowed. "...then how come Axan was able to keep ahold of it when she was transformed into Remna?"

"The Drragon Stone is as much a parrt of a Divine as a hearrt, brrain, orr firre gland," Kepler explained. "The Mountain Matrron's spell worrked in that it trransferrred all of Axan's essence into Remna's shell. Obviously—Axan did not wish forr herr sisterr Verrlax to trrack herr when she enlisted herrself in Morrtuana's Herrald."

"So then..." Flynn rubbed his chin as he processed the truth aloud. "...the Dragon Stone got absorbed into Remna's figure."

"Prrecisely!" Kepler nodded. "And now that Axan has rregained herr forrm upon death, the Drragon Stone has been rreleased frrom concealment."

"Dayum..." Logan shifted where he stood. "Do you suppose Axan meant for us to get ahold of this?"

Wildcard glanced at the others upon hearing that.

"Difficult to say," Flynn muttered. "From the look of things... planning ahead wasn't one of Axan's strong suits."

Twilight drew into a ghostly huddle next to her anchor. "If this is Axan's Dragon Stone..."

"Do you realize what this means?" Rarity breathed.

"If it means what I th-think it means..." Fluttershy gulped. "...then perhaps we are better off without it."

"Why's that?" Pinkie asked.

"Because..." Applejack's jaw tightened. "...magic on this here side of the plane ain't the same as the harmonic stuff we're used to. Who knows just who or what could be listenin' in on—?"

Rainbow Dash wiped off the last of the blood, cradled the sphere in both fetlocks, and spoke right into its surface. "Hello, Endrax?"

Her marefriends froze in place, wincing.

The Herald collectively sucked their breaths in.

Rainbow polished the surface once again. "Endrax?" She tilted her ears towards the twilight above. "Endrax, are you there?"

Dead silence.

"Endrax...?" Rainbow exhaled slowly. Her ears started to droop. "... ... ...Sturke?"

Still no response.

"Rainbow Dash..." Ariel's wings went limp as she touched down and relaxed. "I love you to death, girl..." Her eyes narrowed. "...but I kinda sorta want to punch you right now."

Wildcard nodded vehemently.

"How do we know that we even want to talk with Endrax?!" Logan sneered through clenched teeth. "Most dragons you or the Herald have ever met kinda sorta have a fetish for squashing the friggin' Austraeoh to a bloody pulp!"

"I disagrree!" Kepler folded his forelimbs. "Ourr close alliance to her sisterr Axan would surrely give us some leverrage!"

"Oh—like that worked with Verlax!" Ariel hissed.

"Verlax was crazy, though!" Flynn insisted. "She was a special kind of shit snowflake!"

"Only because she flew blind circles on this side of the Plane!" Ariel hoarsely exclaimed. "Endrax has been here for millennia! Imagine how crazier she must be!"

"But she came here to solve chaos, not become it!" Flynn exclaimed under his breath.

"Oh... and when has that stopped the dragons from going all mega-psycho-bitchy?!" Logan rasped.

"Guys... stop whispering," Rainbow muttered. She stared deep into the pearlescent surface of the sphere. "I really don't think anyone's listening."

The Herald let loose heavy breaths.

Wildcard sliced the air with his right talon's claws.

"He has a point..." Ariel looked from the Desperado to Rainbow Dash. "Just because the Divines are silent on the other end doesn't mean they're not listening."

"I sure wouldn't mind if Sturke was listening in," Flynn said. "We could use all the help we can get—especially in getting back to the Light Side."

"I hate to say it, but I doubt she can, my frriend," Kepler remarked. "If the alicorrns cannot assist us through the Plane, then I do not see how the Queen of Equinox would be able."

Ariel shifted where she stood. "So... uhh..." She brushed aside her raven black bangs with a nervous fetlock. "...how come Endrax isn't responding?"

"Maybe... she can't?" Flynn said.

Silence.

"...or she doesn't want to?" he then added in a quieter tone.

Rainbow Dash continued to stare deep into the shiny surface of the Dragon Stone. She shifted her grip in order to turn the bloodied object around.

"Dashie!" Pinkie pointed. "Look!"

Just as the mare said this, the sphere shrank within Rainbow's grip. It stopped as soon as Rainbow's fetlocks stopped. It was now approximately the size of a hoofball... which made it considerably less awkward to grip.

"It... shrank..." Twilight Sparkle blinked. "Rainbow, what did you do?"

"I just... just..." Rainbow shrugged, still staring at its surface. "...just wanted to hold it better."

"It may be the rresult of a rresidual enchantment," Kepler stated. "Accorrding to Morrtuana, the Drragon Stone was divinely crrafted to be used by morre than just the gifted Matrriarrch herrself. No doubt Axan's broodlings employed it in the past—and they werre all considerrably smallerr than theirr motherr."

"That's totally true," Rainbow said.

"So... uh..." Logan scratched his forehead. "Does that mean Rainbow's now the Stone-Bearer or some shit?"

"Pfffft..." Ariel rolled her eyes. "Doesn't she have enough on her plate?"

"Well, how the Hell else would you read this situation?"

"Dumb luck."

"Heh... the dumbest."

In the meantime, Rainbow's lips were pursing. Her ruby eyes reflected a curious sight.

The Dragon Stone was flickering with light—subtle but very real. Tiny sparks of flame-red luminescence billowed from deep within the stone.

Wildcard adjusted his goggles before proceeding to kneel down beside Rainbow.

"You see it too, huh?" Rainbow remarked.

Wildcard nodded. He reached his good talon forwards—but then paused to look at Rainbow.

Rainbow gladly lifted the stone towards his grip.

Together, the pegasus and the Desperado cradled the Dragon Stone. Under Wildcard's guidance, they tilted the enchanted object around by about one hundred and eighty degrees—sweeping towards the bent black horizon.

As they did this, they noticed the stone flickering at random intervals. They slowly repeated the process until the flickering was slightly... less random. Together—in mute concentration—they found that the Dragon Stone pulsed with fiery red light on every turn, forming a subtle pattern.

"Is..." Flynn blinked his one good eye. "...is it reacting to something?"

"Or some things," Rainbow murmured. "You see? It pulses three times. There... there—and there."

Wildcard and Rainbow continued the motion, swinging the stone slowly about and causing the illumination to repeat.

"What... uh..." Ariel shivered slightly. "...what's causing it?"

"Endrax?" Fluttershy suggested.

Rainbow took a deep breath. "Who knows." She looked past Fluttershy as she stood up. "We'll have to figure it out along the way." She opened her saddlebag and slipped the object in. "We've waited here long enough."

"You want to bring it with us?" Flynn stammered.

"Yeah." Rainbow turned to face him, deadpan. "And?"

"I just... erm... well..." Flynn rubbed the back of his head.

Ariel spoke for the Herald: "What if it makes us stand out? Y'know... like a burning torch to the bad guys here on the Dark Side?"

"What...?" Rainbow pointed at her ruby pendant, causing it to glow slightly. "And I'm not already a friggin' beacon?"

The Herald winced—collectively blushing.

"Guys... guys..." Rainbow marched past them. "...at some point we gotta stop being afraid of being afraid. I know it sucks to be out here... but it's only going to get crazier. It's about time we faced it." She lingered in place momentarily, chilled to the bone to see the corpse of Axan vanish from her peripheral. "We've... been given more than one gift today. Let's not waste a single one of 'em."

The group collectively nodded.

Wildcard stood up, brushed his talon gently across Rainbow's shoulder, then marched towards the sled that housed Seraphimus.

Rainbow nodded after him. "Right." She stretched her wings. "Let's friggin' move already."

Rainbow Dash Goes Forward

The group carried themselves boldly into the ever-dark. In so doing, they formed a solid line. Logan carried the sled full of supplies. Wildcard carried a few more materials—along with Seraphimus' unconscious figure—and he kept far to Logan's left. Kepler and Flynn carried whatever they could on their backs and filled up the center of the moving line.

"The morre sprread-out we arre, the betterr!" Kepler had said. "If therre's any sign as to the location of Darrkrreach, we arre surre to find it this way! Ha-hah!"

In essence, the team was performing a clean sweep as they trotted along. This required more than just the combined observation of Flynn and Kepler—or the ones pulling the sled—of course. Rainbow Dash and Ariel were the quicker and more athletic members of the group. Ariel held up the left flank; she made sure to keep within earshot of Wildcard to her right.

Rainbow Dash kept to Logan's right—as far from Seraphimus' sled as possible. As she and the rest of the group carried on, they realized soon that they would inevitably lose each other in the bleak shadow of the curved plane. The further they drew from the World's Edge and the wreckage of the Gondola, the less brilliant the starlight above them. Their peripheral vision was slowly being encumbered by utter darkness as they lost visual contact with the precipice behind them.

"Oh, how terribly frightening!" Rarity shivered noticeably. She clutched Fluttershy's limb as she looked all around in a demure fashion. "It's like we're cascading into a steep valley that never ends!"

"That's pretty much what this side of the plane is, Rarity," Applejack said. "Reckon we ain't seen the half of it."

"The half of darkness?" Pinkie Pie made a face. "How does that even make sense?"

Twilight Sparkle face-hoofed. "Oo-wee... this must really be a world of chaotic opposites for Pinkie Pie to be asking that."

"Baby steps, everypony," Fluttershy said. She turned and smiled at Rarity while squeezing her hoof. "Stay close, Rarity. I'll keep you safe."

Rarity blinked. "... ... ...I don't rightly know what to say anymore."

The group marched for minutes... and those minutes turned into hours. As it turned out, the deepening darkness wasn't quite as alarming as they first thought. The precipice behind them drew further and further away until the very edge was a dim line of pale starlight, and yet the bleak landscape around them became slightly more discernible with each progressive step. Granted, it helped that the lifeless stone was as predictably flat and barren as when they first graced upon it, but even in the shadows of the sun-less realm the Heraldites could make out the etched surfaces of the rock beneath their hooves.

"I'm not the only one seeing this, right?" Logan asked—having to speak above the scraping of their sleds. Despite the wear and tear from constant contact with the rock, the alicorn metals proved durable—and the structures remained in tact behind the pony and griffon drawing them. "Like... I can almost make out the shape of the field all around us." He blinked hard. "Can... you call it a field when it's made of stone and not grass?"

"Call it whateverr you wish, brrotherr," Kepler said. "I suspect that—the furrtherr we traverrse this domain—the morre ourr eyes become accumulated with the lighting... orr lack therreof."

"Huh..." Logan tilted his head up, realizing he now had to squint to shield his pained eyes from the endless bands of constellations. "I should have expected that, I guess."

"I can see pretty damn far," Flynn said, his mechanical eye whirring. "Just give a shout if you need me to spot something."

"Hrmmmffff..." Logan's jaw muscles clenched. "Cheater."

"Pffft! Oh come on!" Flynn smirked, gesturing to the sled on his left. "You think I can see well?! Wildcard must be having a ball with his eyes!"

The goggled griffon saluted with a makeshift crutch and resumed his steady march.

"Double cheater," Logan grunted.

Rainbow was silent the entire time. Usually, such slow progression would have meant complete and utter torture for the petite pegasus. However, this was a completely alien landscape and Rainbow Dash wasn't about to throw herself—or her friends—blindly into the opaqueness of it all. She took the time to observe the shadowed landscape along with her friends.

Four hours into the march, she started discerning... color. The Dark Side wasn't entirely dark. In fact, if Rainbow Dash had the opportunity to label the stone beneath her, it would be "cold blue." Something a few shades darker than an aged Wonderbolt Uniform. If a moon had the opportunity to shine on it, she suspect it would glow quite spectacularly.

What's more, the stone wasn't entirely dry. A cold, thin layer of moisture gathered over the earth—growing more and more prominent as the group carried on. It was as if a great ocean had receded away from the World's End and left just enough condensation to coat the steel-hard flesh of the plane forever. The etchings—a constant mar to the otherwise immutable stone—formed narrow and lengthy puddles that splattered under Rainbow's hooves. And as she crossed a few fissures, the liquid deepened enough to reflect the stars above, producing a violet sheen to the sleep shadows all around.

"Heh..." Rainbow bore a bittersweet smirk as she muttered, "Millions of miles away from home and on the other side of the world and still I'm scaling a purple landscape."

Only Pinkie Pie laughed. The rest of Rainbow's marefriends were mute with marvel as Rainbow and the Herald lost themselves in the belly of darkness. It was a hauntingly paradoxical thing: trotting along a dead-flat plane that inevitably led them towards a curved horizon stretching up, above, and into the stars. It was already resembling the universe's longest, cruelest uphill climb.

Another hour passed—and at last one of the Heraldites spoke up. It was Logan, boldly questioning when the group would pause to rest and eat. It wasn't a fault of innate laziness; the stallion was presenting a good point. With no sun, no moon, and virtually no marker whatsoever to determine how far they had traveled and for how long, there was no telling how they were to pace themselves. There simply existed no scale in the history of anything. The closest comparison was spelunking underground for weeks at a time, and out of the whole of them only Rainbow Dash was remotely qualified.

"Perrhaps some of yourr frriends would be useful in giving us a temporrarry map to plan by," Kepler suggested.

Rainbow opened her muzzle, but Rarity was already speaking.

"I'm sorry, Rainbow, but I simply don't detect anything beyond this..." She shivered again. "...insurmountable flatness."

"Sounds like Maud in middle school!" Pinkie Pie said. She tilted her head in Applejack's direction in time to receive a well-deserved swat. "Heeheehee...!"

"Is it really this desolate for miles and miles ahead of us, Rarity?" Twilight asked.

Rarity nodded. "I'm afraid so, darling. However... not to sound like an oaf..." She fidgeted slightly before looking at Rainbow. "...I might get a better bearing if we were to move faster."

"Or higher?" Fluttershy suggested.

Rarity pointed. "What she said!"

Rainbow took a deep breath. She turned to her left and witnessed the entirety of the Herald glancing at her in mid-march. She bore a smirk. "Maybe... uh... Ariel and I should catch some air and fly ahead."

"You mean..." Ariel was already grimacing. "...split up?"

"What? No!" Rainbow rolled her eyes in the twilight. "We'll stay close; we won't go crazy far. I just... think there might be a better chance of catching our bearings if we gain altitude." She looked at Kepler and Flynn. "At least for a bit."

Kepler and Flynn exchanged glances.

"Verry well, Rrainbow One..."

"If you think it will help your friends and their senses—"

"Hold on a damn second." Logan scraped his sled to a hault. He frowned, holding a hoof. "I can barely see where my piss lands in this dayum inkiness. How will we keep from losing sight of you gals completely?"

"Uhhhhhhh..." Rainbow rubbed her pendant. The air around them lit up with ruby haze, illuminating her smile.

"Yeah... uh huh..." Logan gestured towards the rest of the Herald. "And how will you find us?"

Flynn held his breath... strained... then finally illuminated the tip of his horn. "Ah... there we go... kinda sorta..."

Wildcard nodded briskly.

"Well then..." Logan exhaled, moving again with the sled of supplies. "Guess I'll shut up, then."

"No, Big Show, I super appreciate it," Rainbow Dash said. "Your caution makes a whole lot of sense. Believe me... losing sight of each other in this mess would be absolute... er... Luna Poop."

Twilight sighed. "Rainbow, really?"

Rainbow shrugged. "Old habits..." She then looked at Flynn. "However... I also think we should wait a bit longer. Let Flynn here get fully reconnected with his leylines."

"Not a bad idea," Flynn remarked. "Should... hopefully be up to snuff within the hour."

"That's okay," Ariel said, hovering and rubbing her forelimbs nervously. "I can wait."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "Not keen on volunteering?"

"The Twilight Lands where Bard and Nicole grew up is one thing... but going this long in this place without more than a dim light to guide you?" She shook from head to tail. "I'm a bit scared to fly more than five inches ahead of me."

"It's okay, Ariel," Rainbow said. "When it's time to get going, I'll light the winds for us."

"But..." Ariel squirmed. "How's just that one pendant going to keep me from getting completely lost or separated?"

"Then I guess you're going to have to stay really close to me."

Ariel blinked. Her wings beated a bit more stiffly now. "Eheheheheheh..." She glanced over her shoulder and brushed her bangs back. "...oh... the horror."

There Is No Day

"So, uh..." Ariel squatted and unsquatted, stretching her back and wing muscles. "Any particular way you wanna... y'know... do this?"

Rainbow Dash sat in the middle of an endless ocean of flat rock. She had taken off her saddlebag and was rummaging through it. "Hmmm?" she exhaled out the side of her muzzle.

"Like... you take the lead... I follow you..." Ariel shrugged. "I ascend first... you follow me..." She shrugged again.

Rainbow's hoof brushed past bundled food, supplies, and a flickering gloss orb. She lingered slightly, her hoof resting on the edge of the Dragon Stone. "We're just flying," she muttered. "Not getting married."

"But... it's a strange sky and we're on the Dark Side and there's chaos everywhere and—"

"I've yet to see anything chaotic."

"Rainbow..."

Rainbow exhaled, brushing the stone aside and reaching for a pair of goggles nestled in the far corner of her saddlebag. "Alright, Ariel. You want a two step program?" She pulled the article out, smiling slightly at its familiarity. "Step One: we chillax. Step Two: we chillax some more."

Ariel gulped. "Sorries." She sighed, letting her wings droop. "I guess I just felt that... that this place is so crazy weird that it must hold its own sort of intense gravity. Y'know?"

"No..." Rainbow's hoof brushed across the initials "S.L." "I don't."

"Err..."

"It's just a sky," Rainbow droned. "Unless it's suddenly filled with dragons or managliders or giant airships piloted by maniacal one-eyed psycopaths... then it's no different than any other sky. For realsies." She looked at the Heraldite situated next to her. "If we freak out over every alien detail of this part of the plane, then we'll never take off and fly anywhere."

"I... I-I guess you have a point."

Rainbow gulped. "And... I guess I should be sorry too."

Ariel's ears twitched. "What for?"

"I should be better at making decisions—y'know... for the group. Especially when it comes to flying."

Ariel shrugged. "You got far with the Noble Jury. I'm guessing it wasn't a pressing issue with them."

"Yeah, well—I cheated." Rainbow's lips smirked ever so slightly. "We had a manaship... and I had a hammock."

"Oh yeah?"

"Ohhhhhhhhhh yeah..." Rainbow raised the goggles to her eyes. She brushed a hoof across a lone crack resting across one of the glass lenses. "A friggin' space elk was doing all the navigation. And when that didn't deliver, Pilate filled all the gaps with his zebra senses."

"I'll... pretend that I know what that means," Ariel wheezed.

"All good and fine, girl. I've only ever done the same." Rainbow breathed calmly. "How about this? I'll take point. You fly behind me. When I want us to fly faster or higher, I'll signal with my tail."

"You... want me to stare at your tail the whole time..."

"Uh... yeah?"

Ariel cleared her throat. "Works for me."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Eeuuughhhh..."

"Hey..." Ariel smirked. "You told me twice that we gotta 'chillax.'"

"Feed my ego any more and I'll sink like a stone."

Ariel giggled. "Looks like most of the Rainbow Dash I know survived Bleak's Plummet after all."

"You really don't know a whole lot about this alleged 'Rainbow Dash.'"

Ariel blinked. "You could tell us," she said in a soft tone. "You could tell all of us."

"Yeah, well..." Rainbow returned to examining the lenses. "...from the look of things, we're gonna get easily bored on this twilight trek, soooooo—"

The goggles reflected dull scales glinting by.

"... ... ...?!" Rainbow Dash spun around, blinking at the pale thin horizon that marked the distant edge of the world.

Ariel noticed her sudden movement. "What?" When there was no response, Ariel trotted closer. "Rainbow, what is it?"

Rainbow opened her lips... but said nothing. She blinked again, gazing at dreary blackness all around. Finally, she looked at the goggles again. All they were reflecting was starlight.

"... ... ...Rainbow?"

"Nothing. It's..." Rainbow shook the cobwebs out of her skull. "Been awake for a bit too long, I guess. Seeing shadows..."

"Do you want to rest up a bit? I'm sure the group won't mind—"

"Nah. Everything about our journey across the Dark Side so far has been total lame sauce." Rainbow strapped the goggles on. "We'd better survey the landscape, make some progress, then rest up." She tightened the article around her head and looked at the mare beside her. "Or did you need a breather?"

Ariel easily shook her head. "I'm super good to go!"

"Cool. Wings spread, girl." Rainbow trotted forward. "For added protection."

"Last question."

"Shoot."

"If... for some reason we get lost in the... y'know... darkness..." Ariel gulped. "Should I just look for your ruby pendant or—?"

"Nah, I'll get Fluttershy and the other girls to help." Rainbow patted Ariel's shoulder with a set of wingfeathers. "I'll find you."

Ariel exhaled through a smile. "Best thing I heard all day."

"Silly bird horse." Fwooosh! Rainbow shot towards the twilight. "There is no 'day.'"

Bleak Glimpse at Prehistory

The world was dark. The air was cold. A numb shadow hung over everything.

And yet... it felt wonderfully... deliciously good to be flying again.

Rainbow Dash stretched both wings out and coasted along the chilled winds. The temperature was bitingly low—for sure—but it wasn't like the frigid altitudes of Starkiss or Central Rohbredden. For all its bleakness, the Dark Side felt like midnight during a cool autumn month. It was strangely pleasant in a way... until Rainbow's goggled vision once more took in the enormity of desolation stretching beneath her in every direction.

Rainbow flew forward at a modest speed. She was hardly alone. Ariel glided directly behind her, carful to match the petite pegasus' speed. Then—all around Rainbow Dash—a ghostly quintet of equines chatted calmly... or at least as calmly as they could afford to.

"Without a Sun... there really can't be any sort of photosynthesis," Twilight Sparkle murmured aloud. "At least... not by the way we understand it."

"So..." Applejack glanced aside as she and their fellow friends glided alongside Rainbow Dash. "That means no apple trees?"

"I'm afraid not," Twilight said, shaking her head.

"No sunlight... and no trees..." Fluttershy squirmed in mid-glide. "You can't very well have a stable ecosystem. That means no animals and no larger animals to prey on the smaller ones."

"You never know!" Pinkie Pie smiled brightly. "Nature finds a way!"

Rarity squinted at her. "How so...?"

"I dunno..." Pinkie shrugged. "Something something brundlefly. Say!" She turned to grin at Twilight. "If there's no futa synthehol—"

"Photosynthesis," Twilight growled.

"If there's no plant burping, then how come we're all able to breathe?"

Everypony blinked at that—including Rainbow Dash.

"She does have a point there, Twilight," Rarity stated.

"I suppose... erm..." Twilight's ears drooped as she scraped the stars above for a logical conclusion. "...in a realm that's been nothing but chaos since it split off from Urohringr, the chemical balance of life on this side of the plane must be... n-nothing we can even possibly predict."

Applejack smirked. "Y'know, you could just say 'I don't know,' sugarcube."

"Meh."

"Soooooooooooo..." Pinkie tapped her fuzzy chin and wagged her eyebrows. "Giant flying narwhals when?"

"Twilight..." Fluttershy floated closer to the lavender unicorn in question. "So far... we know that the alicorns discovered this piece of Urohringr..."

"That's right, Fluttershy."

"And it's thanks to them and Celestia and Luna that harmony is maintained on our side of the plane," Fluttershy continued. "In Equestria."

"Precisely. All of the natural occurrences in the world that we know have been influenced by the Elements of Harmony. That's why getting the Harmonic Prism is so important." Twilight looked ahead at the curved horizon and the faint splotches of light flickering in random spots. "Aside from restoring us to our natural selves... reclaiming the magic of the Alicorns in its purest form can undo the damage that chaos has done back home."

"And stop the rift in Ponyville from spreading, right?"

Twilight nodded. "That's the idea."

"So..." Fluttershy rubbed her two hooves pensively together as she stared at the emptiness down below. "This side of the plane—as we're now seeing it—is more or less what the world was like before the alicorns found it?"

Twilight blinked. "Well... right. But not entirely." She cleared her throat. "After all, the alicorns' influence have affected the Dark Side pretty heavily over the past few eons. Chrysalis and Tchern—once alicorns themselves—flocked to the Dark Side, and they brought their swarms with them. Then the Dark Vigil would never have come here if it weren't for the reign of Nightmare Moon..."

"What about these mysterious 'Night Shard' peops?" Pinkie asked.

Twilight winced slightly. "I... I've no clue." A gulp. "But I wouldn't doubt it."

"Ya reckon that everythang was completely dead and lifeless before the alicorns showed up?"

"Not... completely," Twilight said. "After all... we've learned that the progenitors of equine life have much to do—if not entirely—with the 'angels.'"

"You mean the ancient pegasi that Rainbow found out so much about?" Rarity hummed.

"Right." Twilight nodded. "These proto-pegasi could very well have been the origin of all ponies... ever. And it's... n-not like they were dead corpses that were ultimately resurrected by the arriving alicorns. I mean... Celestia's and Luna's kind are powerful, but they're not that powerful."

"Huh?" Pinkie went cross-eyed. She rubbed her head and wheezed: "Start over from the beginning, Wise Twi! You've lost the Pink!"

"What I'm trying to say is..." Twilight shuddered. "...there's no telling just how much time passed between the Sundering of Urohringr and the moment when the denizens of this world were saved by Harmony. While it's easy to assume just a few years... it could very well have been decades... centuries... eons. The universe is old—and so is Urohringr. Who knows? Maybe a definitive ecosystem of some sort did manage to thrive here. We just... haven't even begun to scrape the surface of the Dark Side—so we don't know what that kind of a pre-light world was like."

"Only that ponies lived then," Rarity said. "And we're all the product of them today."

"Well, we're the product of ancient pegasi blessed by alicorn magic. Yes. But..." Twilight brushed her bangs back as she glided alongside Rainbow. "...aside from the forces of the Trinary War, being on this part of the plane could very well be like traveling back in time... a prehistoric time if there was any."

"That's really... fr-frightening," Fluttershy stammered.

"Who knows, darlin'?" Applejack smiled, leaning over to nudge Fluttershy in mid-glide. "Maybe you'll find all sorts of new mesmerizin' creatures to learn about."

"Yes, well..." Fluttershy frowned. "So long as they're not trying to eat Rainbow Dash."

"Who wouldn't want to eat Dashie?" Pinkie giggle-snorted. "Just look how scrumptious and bite-sized she is! Teeheehee!"

Rainbow rolled her goggled eyes. Flexing her wing muscles, she spoke firmly to pierce the cold winds: "Sense anything yet?"

"Nope!" Pinkie shook her head. "I mean, aside from Applejack's hoof that's half-a-second from slapping me!"

"Guh..." Applejack winced, drawing her fetlock back and blushing slightly. A sigh, and she drawled towards their anchor: "Ariel's feelin' calmer than ever. The group of dudes back on hoof are feelin' a teensy bit anxious—probably for yer well-bein'—but they'll survive."

"Wow, Applejack!" Rarity beamed at her. "Your powers are turning out to be quite flexible!"

Applejack tilted her hat back with a smirk. "It's like a clean slate out here, Rara. Not like there are any distractions or nothin'."

"Don't be so modest! You're a natural at reading ponies!"

"Heh... Pa always did say I had a knack for convincin' ponyfolk to take home more bushels of fruit." Her freckled muzzle scrunched. "Maybe that's why Filthy Rich was always tryin' to squeeze ideas outta me when I was a teenager."

Fluttershy smiled behind a pink lock of hair. "Maybe Rainbow can bring peace to the Trinary War through apples."

"Hey!" Pinkie chirped. "That's a funny!" She cupped her muzzle and hollered towards the bent horizon. "Hey! Dark Side! Fluttershy made a funny!"

Twilight giggled.

"Ahem..." Rainbow looked at Rarity. "I was sorta hoping you had something to say."

"Oh!" The fashionista blinked, eyelashes fluttering. "Well, of course, darling! Hmmmmm..." She rubbed her forehead, eyes squinting towards the horizon. "I... suppose I do sense a slight change to the terrain..."

"Oh yeah?" Applejack craned her neck. "Where?"

"Nowhere close, mind you. Several miles ahead—at this rate."

"Still, it is a change to this drab flatness!" Twilight exclaimed. "What is it, exactly? A ravine? A mountain?"

"The former, more or less," Rarity said. "The landscape dips somewhat. But... that's all I have right now. No forests. No hills. No buildings or structures of any kind."

"Awwwwwwwwwwwww..." Pinkie pouted. "Nothing whatsoever?"

"Well, aside from the three-story metal tower situated a kilometer ahead of us, heheheh—" Rarity suddenly blinked her eyes wide. "... ... ...oh bother. I suppose that is a thing."

Applejack face-hoofed.

Rainbow took a deep breath. "Works for me." She looked over her shoulder. "Hey! Ariel!"

No response.

Rainbow sighed... then flicked her tail. "HEY! Pay attention, girl!"

"Erm... uh..." Ariel's eyes glinted in the starlight, facing Rainbow. "What?"

"Rarity says she senses something!"

"Really? Like what?"

"A... uh..." Rainbow looked at her pale companion. "...tower of some kind. Something made of metal."

"Whoah." Ariel blinked. "That's kind of sudden."

"Yeah. Was thinking the same."

"Wanna check it out?"

"Dang skippy." Rainbow looked aside. "Flutters?"

"I'll keep my senses on the rest of the Herald, Rainbow." Fluttershy nodded, smiling. "Go ahead and don't you worry."

"Here goes nothing." She motioned to Ariel and the two plunged swiftly towards the stony surface of the plane. "I'd give my bottom bit for it to be a public restroom at this point."

Pinkie belched, "With our luck, it's probably a Tim Horseton's."

Dead World; Dead Detritus

Th-Thap!

Rainbow Dash landed first. She kept a respectable distance from the metallic structure looming in front of her. The ground was littered with an assortment of random shrapnel—all rusted and bent awkwardly about.

Th-Thwump! Ariel touched down behind the petite pegasus.

"Soooooo..." She scratched her scalp with a pair of wingfeathers. "...if this is some sort of catapult, I'd say they're a teensy bit out of range from the world's edge."

"It's not a catapult," Rainbow said. She raised her goggles and furrowed her scarred brow. "But it was made to be moved around."

Ariel's eyes fell to the stone bed of the plane. Near the closer corners of the structure's four-sided base, the remnants of a rusted wheel lay strewn about. "I see..."

A cold brisk wind blew over the desolate plane... and it was evident that this wind never died down. Ever. The structure creaked as it slowly rocked in one direction... then settled back to the original. Then there would be another frigid breeze and the pointlessly laborious process would repeat. There were chains and loosely-connected bits of metal dangling off the middle-level of the thinly framed tower.

In truth, it was more of a multi-tiered pedestal than a tower. It stretched barely taller than two stories, and many of the metal surfaces had been rusted with age, elements, and neglect. Had it not been for the stark, simple fact that this was the only artificial construct for hundreds upon hundreds of untold flat kilometers, then the likes of Rainbow and Ariel wouldn't have given the object a second glance.

"I was... kinda sorta expecting something more epic than this to greet us on the Dark Side," Ariel said.

"What would you have preferred?" Rainbow murmured as she trotted at length around the foundation in a lazy circle. "A tall, twisted black obelisk that could turn your mind and body inside out through sheer chaotic madness?"

"... ... ..." Ariel shifted where she stood. "Well... maybe not my mind... ... ..."

"Hmmmmm..." Rainbow reached the far end of the structure—away from the direction that the rest of the unseen Herald were gradually trotting from. Here, she saw the entrance to the platform: a series of steps ascended in a zig-zagged fashion, winding up the neck of the structure and ending at the topmost platform lined with thin black railings. "Judging from the size of the stairs, they're made for ponies like you and me."

"So..." Ariel leaned forward, eyes bright and blue in the twilight. "...this was crafted by the Emeraldinians!"

"How?"

"H-huh?"

Rainbow was squinting at the structure. "Where did they get the metal for it?" She calmly breathed in and breathed out while the structure groaned and creaked in the wind above her. "They couldn't have carried that much stuff from the Light Side via the Gondola. Unless..." She rubbed her chin, gazing off into the curved horizon overshadowing them. "...they forged it."

"They could have built a forge at Darkreach," Ariel said. "I mean... this is not Darkreach. Heh."

"I could have told you that, girl." Rainbow scuffled sideways slightly. She stared closely at the metal debris lying spread across the stone. She noted the remnants of a long bar—shattered down its rusted length. There was a tiny cylindrical chamber lying on its side, resembling the base of a torch. The thin metal framework was darker than the rest of the metal, charred black by something other than rust. "A manatorch," Rainbow Dash thought aloud. "Unicorns."

"H-hey!" Ariel beamed. "You really know your ruins!"

"Not well enough..." Rainbow knelt down low, squinting at a purely round shell. She was staring at something that looked like one half of a sphere. If it weren't for a length of chain anchoring the hollow concave thing to a stake in the rock-solid earth, then surely it would have been blown away ages ago. "I... don't know what this is... although it seems strangely familiar for some reason."

Ariel's ears perked. "Do any of your friends know what it could be?"

Rainbow's muzzle scrunched. "Not really. I mean... Pinkie Pie thinks it's a pasta drainer." She exhaled, approaching the base of the structure. "At this point, I'm half-tempted to believe her."

"Heh..."

Rainbow reached the bottom foundation. She waited for it to shift, creak, and groan. Then—without flinching a muscle—she placed one hoof up onto the bottom step... followed by a second.

"Ah!" Ariel winced all over, wingtips flaring. "Ah ah ah ah—!"

"Relax," Rainbow droned, and proceeded to trot up the crooked, rusted steps. "It's sturdy."

"My butt is sturdy!" Ariel frowned. "Why do you always gotta do things the dangerous and impulsive way?"

Rainbow's vision scraped across her from above as she rounded a flight of rested stairs.

Ariel rolled her eyes. "Right..." A sigh. "Forgot who I was talking to." Wings flapping, she ascended the lazy way to meet Rainbow at the top.

Rainbow shuffled to a stop in the middle of an eight-foot-by-eight-foot platform. There was no top, ceiling, or awning. Naked twilight shimmered down onto a flat metal pedestal surrounded on all sides by narrow railings—railings that may have once been strong enough to keep a guard pony from plummeting over the edge of the lookout post.

"It's a lookout post...!" Ariel wheezed.

"Thanks for reading my mind." Rainbow's eyes traveled up a pair of metal spokes jutting up and positioned parallel to two corners of the topmost platform. Scrutinizing the scene, Rainbow noticed a pair of rusted hooks dangling loosely from two-thirds up the height of the spokes. "Hmmmm..." She smiled warmly to herself. "Hammock."

Ariel flashed her a look. "Huh?"

"There was a hammock here," Rainbow said. "Once upon a time."

"How do you know?"

"Trust me." Rainbow swallowed. "I just do." She gazed off towards the horizon from which they walked. From that height, she could make out a narrow line of bitter pale blue. "Although... nopony's slept here or even minded a post here for who knows how long. Years... maybe even lifetimes."

Ariel gulped. "So much for Darkreach."

Rainbow glanced at her.

"I mean... that's gotta settle it, right?" Ariel grimaced noticeably. "They abandoned the Gondola. They abandoned the precipice. They abandoned this post..." She sighed. "There can't be any survivors of the Emeraldinian Expedition... can there?"

"If there were..." Rainbow shuddered. "It'd have to be their grandfoals."

"Great great great great grandfoals is more like it," Ariel said.

Rainbow didn't have a response to that. Something had caught her eye. She trotted over to a rectangular solid of metal that stood out from the rest of the platform. There was a narrow black space between the top of the box and the base of it, and everything inside was ink black.

"A chest?" Ariel remarked.

"One way to find out." Rainbow rushed over and gripped the lid. She lifted... hard... but the opening to the metal container refused to budge. "Rrrrrngh! Dang rust... thought I l-left you in Red Barge!"

"Here, lemme help." Ariel rushed over, gripped her side of the lid, and lifted as well. Straining and sweating, she somehow managed to throw a silly glare in Rainbow's direction. "Them meat on your bones is stretched paper thin, girl! You need to get some protein in you!"

"You're one to t-talk," Rainbow hissed, straining.

"What's that supposed to mean—?!"

Crack!

At last, the chest opened. Several white shapes scattered in the air—like moths. Rainbow and Ariel flinched... only to realize that it was shredded paper bits. The debris scattered, filling the cold air with a moldy smell. Thunder echoed from the precipice in the distance as Rainbow looked into the belly of the chest. Reaching in, she winced to feel a pile of scribbled manuscripts reduced to dry and flaky pulp—completely unreadable.

Ariel bore a bittersweet smile. "I wonder what they even wrote about."

"Judging from the view?" Rainbow turned once more to the pale thin line twinkling behind them. "Probably about a sunrise that never came."

"Hey..." Ariel pointed. "Look! Something's still in tact."

Rainbow dipped her head low. She reached into the chest... then pulled her hooves back out, cradling a brown metal slab. There were several lines and blemishes etched into the half-rusted plate. Rainbow was at a loss to make heads or tails out of the blurred lines and criss-crossing geometric shapes.

"Is it... a language?" Ariel suggested. "Some sort of written primer?"

"Don't look like any runes I've seen," Rainbow exclaimed, shaking her head. "Nothing repeats. It's just a flat line and then an empty space and then a bunch of tiny little squigglies—"

"A map."

Rainbow flashed Ariel a look.

Ariel shrugged. "Maybe it's a map of some sort."

"Hrmmm..." Rainbow returned to scrutinizing the slab up close. "If this is supposed to be an Emeraldinian map, then the Dark Side is a wholllllle lot smaller than we all thought."

The air filled with deep, breathy cackles.

"That wasn't so funny, Ariel," Rainbow muttered.

"Uhhhhh... I agree?" Ariel responded awkwardly.

"Then why the weird laugh?"

"I... didn't laugh, Rainbow."

"....?" Rainbow turned to look at her.

Ariel stared back, blinking in confusion. "What? I didn't. Honest."

Rainbow's lips pursed. She looked all around. The lofty pedestal was surrounded in a blue gloss of arid, lifeless stone. Aside from the breeze and lazily dangling chains, all was still.

"How about..."

"A nap?" Ariel rested a hoof on the Austraeoh's shoulder. "How many hours have you gone without sleep?"

"I haven't bothered to keep count."

"Of what?" Ariel arched an eyebrow. "Of shuteye? Or your marbles?"

"Meh," Rainbow meh'd, then proceeded to plop the slab over her flank until it was firmly balanced. "Let's get this to the dudes back at the caravan... give 'em an excuse to feel smart."

"Heehee! Sounds like a plan...!"

Things Are Looking "Up"

"The Hell are you drawing, Keps?" Logan belched.

"Shhhhh!" The wyvern sat hunched-over on the back of the sled Logan was pulling. "I am channeling inspirration..."

"From what? My farts?"

"Please, brrotherr!" Kepler rasped. He drew a pen across a rectangular piece of parchment. "I am attempting to constrruct a map of ourr trravels..."

"Pffft. What's that going to amount to at this point?!" Logan smirked as he marched firmly ahead. "Just drag a straight line across a blank canvas and spit all over it."

"Can we not afforrd a modicum of serriousness?! Should we find the need to backtrrack, we will wish to know wherre we'rre headed and wherre we came frrom!"

"How can you even draw in the dark?" Logan looked over his shoulder. "Do wyverns possess some sort of 'hair sense' that I don't know about?"

"It's ourr whiskerrs."

"Whoah. You dudes have whiskers?! I've never noticed!"

Flynn called out from Logan's left. "You've decided to frame it based on the north edge, right?"

"Stay out of this, baldy!"

Kepler looked over, adjusting his spectacles. "What was that, brrotherr?"

Flynn's mechanical eye glinted in the distance from the twilight. "I said—you decided to frame your map based on the northern edge of the plane, yes?"

"To what end, dearr frriend?!"

"I mean... we're heading west now! I hope you've got that sketched out!"

"The Hell do you mean, we're heading west?!" Logan belched.

"Do kindly explain!" Kepler hollered.

"I mean... first we were going East..."

"Yeah...?!" Logan squinted.

"But—now that we're on the opposite side of the plane from where we started—we're literally going west!"

"Pffft! Are not!" Logan spat.

"We totally are! Think about it!"

"I am!" Logan frowned. "And you're a cancerous asshole!"

"Dude! We never stopped going in one singular direction!"

"Uh... you do remember the big friggin' curve we experienced in the talons of a heroic dragon lady...?!"

"Still to the point! We're going in the same direction that we originally were! Just... from east to west across the same plane!"

"Goddes alive, what an idiot—"

"So I sure as Hell hope that Kepler is drawing a map with us moving from right to left!"

"He totally isn't!"

"How would you know, fatass?"

"If he's smart, he'll be drawing our path from left to right! Cuz that's where we're headed! East!"

"Pffft—Big Show—"

"Space East!"

"East died back at Bleak's Plummet!" Flynn exclaimed, trotting closer. "You gotta learn to think three-dimensionally!"

"Get back in line, dipshit—"

Flynn gestured with a free hoof. "We have the Light Side as a frame of reference. Knowing our distance relative to the length and width of Rohbredden and the Grand Choke we can get a general idea of how far we have to go to get to the Midnight Armory!"

"To what end?"

"Well, if what Rainbow Dash says is true, then it's position on the opposite side of Equestria, right? So if we see ourselves as retracing her path west—"

"That's stupid. You're stupid."

"Dude! We have lest distance to travel because the concave end of the plane has a smaller surface area and—"

"Stop overcompensating for the fact that you're a dumbass and we're still heading east."

"It's not east, bro!"

"It totally is! Look!" Logan looked over his shoulder. "You're drawing us going from left to right, aren't you, Kepler?"

"Actually..." The wyvern concentrated on where he was scribbling with his pen. "I am drafting a vertical map."

Flynn and Logan blinked simultaneously. "Vertical???"

"Indeed." Kepler smiled through his tusks. "And I am endeavorring to anticipate the many obstacles we have yet to face by allowing a generrous amount of blank space along the top porrtion of the map."

"Oh for crying out..." Logan rolled his eyes. "Is there something in the air here?! I swear, the whole Herald has gone stupid."

"A vertical map?!" Flynn grimaced. "Kepler, I love you like a brother, but—are you actually drawing from the bottom?"

"Indubitably."

"That has got to be the absolute most convoluted way to perform cartography! I mean... how are you going to account for latitudes in that sort of a fashion?!"

"In this case, they will be verrtical, of courrse."

"Ugh... I feel like I'm going to vomit."

"What's the big deal, baldy—?"

"You can't draw veritcal maps, Big Show! It's just... just... really gross!"

Just then, Wildcard let loose a shrill whistle in the distance.

"Harrk!" Kepler tilted his head up. A ruby light glinted off his glasses. "Movement!"

"Whoah!" Logan scuffled to a stop as Ariel and Rainbow Dash touched down. "There you gals are! What did you find?"

"Not much," Ariels aid. "Exceppppppt for a lone tower of rusted metal sitting out in the middle of nowhere."

"No kidding?"

"Yeah." Rainbow nodded. "About half a mile ahead of us. It... looks like it was left here by ponies with unicorn powers."

Flynn craned his neck. "What's that in your saddlebag?"

"Oh, this?" Rainbow opened the satchel to reveal the metal slab with etchings. "It's the only thing we discovered that was still in tact."

"What the Hell is it?" Logan asked, muzzle scrunching. "Looks too small to be a hot plate."

"Big Show..." Flynn sighed.

"What?! I'm hungry!"

"The girls and I have been chatting about it while Ariel and I flew back here," Rainbow said, sliding her goggles back. "We think it might be a map. But... it's not like any map we've ever seen. Just... can't make heads or tails out of it."

"Hmmmm..." Kepler scratched his hairy chin. "Perrhaps..." He reached his claws out, repositioned the slab, then held his unfinished map up next to it. "...if you arrrange it verrtically like so?"

Rainbow blinked. For the bottom sliver of the slab, the etchings perfectly matched the meager scratches that Kepler had already begun making on the parchment.

The wyvern smiled victoriously.

Ariel and Wildcard exchanged glances.

"Oh..." Logan blinked.

"Huh..." Flynn's ears drooped. "...well, screw me, I guess."

A Frame of Reference

"Sooooo..." Flynn leaned in, using his horn to illuminate the slab in Kepler's grasp. "Does it match what you've sketched so far?"

Kepler held his parchment next to the relic. Aside from the edge of the world and a whole lot of nothing, there was very little to reference.

Wildcard waved his good talon awkwardly from side to side.

"Well..." Kepler tapped his fuzzy chin. "If Arriel and Rrainbow found a metal towerr apprroximately half a kilometerr forrwarrd frrom ourr position..." He ran his pen up along the parchment, then compared the equivalent distance from the bottom edge of the slab. He found a tiny-tiny circle etched into the old metal. "Ha-Hah! A lookout point, no doubt."

"Then..." Logan leaned his burly shoulder in and pointed at yet another circle. "...this must be another lookout?"

"Aye." Kepler nodded. "With perrhaps anotherr towerr."

"So... like..." Ariel pointed towards the dark horizon far past Wildcard and the sled Seraphimus was on. "Way off in that direction?"

"Too farr forr ourr norrmal eyes to see, I suspect," Kepler said.

"That's south of us, right?" Flynn remarked.

"Eugh..." Logan rolled his eyes. "Will you give it a rest already?"

"Let's assume for the moment that it is another lookout point," Rainbow Dash said. "Why would it be there and—more importantly—where could Darkreach be in relation?"

"The location of Darkrreach seems obvious to me," Kepler said, adjusting his spectacles. He drew his pen along the length of the metal slab. "Just beyond this currved line..." The pen passed over a half-circle and ended at a rectangular etching. "...is what appearrs to be the rreprresentation of a strructurre. A rremarrkably larrge one if I do say so myself."

Ariel whistled. "The Emeraldinians must have been busy."

"That rremains to be seen, my dearr," Kepler hummed. "Judging from the equadistant points wherre the lookouts arre separrated by the latitudinal line passing thrrough the rrectangle towarrds ourr side, I suspect they werre meant as guidepoints forr drrawing successive expeditions frrom the edge to wherre Onyxxus' subjects werre meant to colonize."

"Hey..." Rainbow blinked, then looked at Ariel. "That probably explains the remnants of manacrystals and torches that we found at the rusted tower."

Ariel nodded back. "Unicorns must have been posted at the towers; their job was to light the path for reinforcements from the Gondola."

"To us—this dimly-lit trrek frrom the edge must feel terrribly daunting, but I do suspect that it was akin to a merre strroll acrross the strreet forr the denizens of Darrkrreach." Kepler looked up at the rest of the Herald. "We can't be farr now, my frriends."

"Sweet." Logan leaned back. "So we keep going forward, right?"

"With slight adjustment," Flynn said. "If the tower the girls discovered is more or less in front of us, and the other lookout post is out of sight..."

Kepler spoke: "We will need to adjust ourr movement by about thirrty degrrees." He adjusted. "Towarrds the south as Flynn so loves to call it."

Flynn pouted. "Because it is the South."

"Bleh!" Logan re-shouldered the straps to his sled. "Why can't we just call it 'Left' from now on?"

"That's the utter definition of stupid."

"Why?"

"Because we gotta keep 'left' and 'right' reserved for more practical purposes!"

"So what? We gotta invent new cardinal directions?"

"If we have to, yes!"

"Ughhhhhh baldy! You are the worst!"

"I'm serious!"

"How about 'Bork' and 'Crouth?' Those aren't easy to say."

"Says you. They sound like your belches."

"Blarrrrrrgh..."

As Logan pulled the sled, Kepler was dragged along with him. Rainbow kept up with the wyvern a brisk trot. "Sooooooooooo... you think you could maybe update the map as we go along?"

"I can do you one betterr, Rrainbow One!" Beaming through his tusks, the Heraldite began rubbing his pen over the parchment with the etched slab directly underneath. "I shall copy what was so unwittingly prrovided by the Emerraldinians and then make adjustments as we go!"

"Hey. Neato."

"Why make a map when you can steal it? Ha-Hah!" His spectacles glinted in the twilight. "I swearr... my laziness has gotten crriminal with each mile placed between me and Wyverrn Point."

"Don't sweat it, Kepler," Rainbow said with a slight smirk. "If it's simple and it works... go for it."

"Indeed." Kepler spoke over his shoulder to Flynn and Logan. "Make surre to adjust ourr heading by about thirrty degrrees, brrotherrs! It would be most forrtuitous if we arrrived prrecisely on Darrkrreach's doorrstep!"

"Sure thing, Daddy Kepler!"

"Chill, Big Show. And begin strafing. We gotta head south a bit."

"Don't you mean 'Crouth?'"

"UGH!"

Rainbow slowed her trot slightly. She watched at a distance as Wildcard hitched himself to his sled and began pulling at a brisk pace to catch up with Logan and Kepler. Flynn trotted between them, and the penumbra of his glowing horn caught the silver glint of Seraphimus' feathers as she rode along, unconscious.

A cold sigh escaped Rainbow's nostrils.

Just then, the pretty face of Ariel blocked her line of view. "Is everything okay, Rainbow?"

"Hmmm? Oh. Sure. Just..." Rainbow waved a hoof from side to side. "...pretty dang convenient that we found that slab where we did." She smiled lightly. "And I'm still jazzed to find out if we can make any use of Axan's dragonstone."

Ariel nodded. "I'm sure something will become obvious to us in time."

"That's the one thing I can never shake about my travels..." Rainbow shuffled ahead at a lazy pace. Her petite hooves splashed in tiny puddles over cold stone. "I've been stalked by dragons... chased by airships... attacked by psychopaths... and yet..." She cracked the joints in her neck and exhaled. "...a lot of really lucky Mad Griffins tend to fall right into my awesome lap when they're most needed." A beat. She rolled her eyes and looked towards the space to her right. "Alright, fine, Twilight. 'Macguffins.' There. I said it. You happy?"

"Is everything okay?" Ariel suddenly asked.

Rainbow did a double-take. She looked at her. "Uhhh... yeah. Sure." She arched an eyebrow. "Why?"

"You seemed a bit distracted earlier when we were out scouting."

Rainbow merely squinted. "I was?"

"I couldn't help but notice." Ariel giggled. "I notice you a lot."

"Yeah. I noticed—dang it!"

"Heeheehee..."

"We've been through a lot, Ariel. And this whole place is friggin' weird and I'm under a lot of pressure to find the colony of Darkreach so we can have some sort of Celestia-forsaken foundation to this entire crazy trek and—"

Ariel raised her hoof. "Say no more. But if it's of any consolation, we're here for you."

"Well, I know you are."

"Serious. I mean it." Ariel's brow furrowed. "You're the single most important thing about this journey, Rainbow. Between you, the powers of Austraeoh, and your old friends..." She smiled. "...you can sense an awful lot. But even still—none of that is a mirror."

"Meaning...?"

"The Herald and I—we can't help but say something when we feel like something is up. I hope you... you understand it when we do so."

"Oh. Totally."

"So..." Ariel took a deep breath. "...you sure you're okay?"

"I'm... tired, I guess."

"You can take Kepler's place on Logan's sled and catch some z's," Ariel said. "I'm sure Logan wouldn't mind. Plus, I really really doubt you way more than our favorite wyvern—"

"Oh come on. Kep's a pipsqueak."

"I still stand by itttttttttttt," Ariel said, sticking her tongue out.

Rainbow rolled her eyes and flapped her wings. She flew after the rest of the Herald. "We gotta make some headway first. So far, this has been nothing but a rambling rip through the dark. I wanna find something before we can make camp."

Ariel nodded and glided gently after her. "Whatever you say, bud."

"Stop being weird."

"No promises."

Come To Your Senses

"We're making progress, Rainbow!" Rarity said in a chipper tone. She smiled back her and her friends' anchor as they glided slowly after the bodies of the Herald below. "There's a ravine up ahead! I sense it!"

Twilight Sparkle brightened. "Just like the one in the map! Er... slab!"

Pinkie Pie giggled.

"Very nice, Rarity," Rainbow said, flapping her wings steadily. Her eyelids blinked heavily under the constant twilight. "Just let us know when we're almost over it."

"Right." Twilight nodded. "We don't want the Herald suddenly plunging into a crazy abyss."

"I doubt it's that steep and dark a chasm, silly!" Pinkie Pie insisted.

"Even still." Twilight looked at the others. "We don't want to take any chances."

"I'm with Twilight on this one," Applejack drawled.

"Very well, then." Rarity nodded. "I'll be sure to give plenty of advance warning. Still..." She sighed gently. "This is some welcome calm after all the mayhem we endured to get over the edge."

"Donnnnn't jiiiiiiiinx itttttttttt," Pinkie Pie hummed.

"Oh don't be silly, darling. I think we've met the worst kind of odds already!"

"You'rrrrrrrrrre jiiiiiiiiiiiiiinxiiiiiiiiiiiing itttttttt!"

"Eugh..."

"Y'know..." Applejack squinted, tilting the brim of her hat forward. "Is it just me... or are the stars above us gettin' awfully bright all of a sudden?"

"I'm sure it's just you, AJ," Twilight said.

"'Cuz they sure seem so to me," Applejack insisted. "Wonder if that's just a natural state of bein' on this side of the plane for so dang long. Even the dimmest speck of light becomes a dag'blame'd sun."

"Heaven forbid!" Rarity exclaimed. "Literally, in this case." She let loose a nervous laugh.

"It's just our eyes' way of adjusting to the constant darkness, I'm sure, Applejack," Twilight said.

"Yeah, but we're ghosts."

"Hmmmm?"

Applejack squinted at Twilight. "We don't have natural eyes to adjust to nothin'. We're essences of Harmony at the very best. So how come it's so unnerving all of a sudden?"

"Uhhhhhhhhhhh..." Twilight's ears drooped. "Shoot. I... don't have answer to that."

"It beginssssssss!" Pinkie chortled.

"Now enough of that, Pinkie!" Rarity scolded while Pinkie Pie giggled. "You're going to give us all migraines at this rate!"

"But we don't have heads! Just ask Rarity!"

"Pinkieeeeeeee..."

"Heeheehee..."

All the while, Rainbow Dash was concentrating on the Herald down below. Her eyes rested on the two sleds... on Flynn and Kepler marching between them... and on Ariel flying at a lower altitude.

The petite pegasus exhaled slowly. Her eyes darted slightly to the left.

She spotted the sled that Seraphimus was being dragged on. The starlight caught her silver feathers in a modest glint. And then—

Shadows.

Moving shadows.

"... ... ...?" Rainbow Dash threw her gaze to the left.

Something darted out the corner of her eye.

"...!" Rainbow looked to the right.

She saw nothing but the gentle haze of stars. Otherwise, all was still and tranquil above a solid black horizon gradually looping upwards.

Rainbow's breaths were slightly ragged for the space of a minute.

One mare in particular noticed it.

"Rainbow...?" With a soothing tone in her voice, Fluttershy floated closer. "Is something the matter?"

Rainbow gulped. "No. I'm... I'm fine..."

"Rainbow... ... ..." Fluttershy put on a mild version of the stare. It still rocked Rainbow to her core. "Don't make me sick Applejack on you."

"You wouldn't dare."

Fluttershy tilted her face up with a smug grin.

Rainbow sighed. She looked left... she looked right... and then she floated closer to her ghostly companion. "Flutters... have you... uh..."

"Yes, Rainbow...?"

Rainbow gulped, glancing around. "Have you sensed anything... or anyone out of the ordinary?"

"No, Rainbow." Fluttershy shook her head. "I can't say that I have."

"Nothing whatsoever?"

"This entire landscape has been dead as a grave. Even deader. I can't even detect the remnants of organic material. It's all... delightfully blank. Well..." Fluttershy rubbed her fetlocks pensively together. "I don't suppose that's quite so 'delightful,' but it is putting my head at ease." She chuckled slightly under her breath.

"Well, that's good." Rainbow sighed. "I guess."

"Should... I be sensing anything?" Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow bit her lip.

"Rainbow, if you have something to tell us—"

"I just... rmmmff... can't shake this strange feeling," Rainbow murmured.

"What feeling?"

"As if we're being followed."

Fluttershy's eyes widened slightly. "F-followed?"

"Ehhh... yeahhhhhhhh..." Rainbow fidgeted in mid-glide.

Fluttershy looked all around, her ghostly mane tossing. "By what?"

"I don't know."

"What's giving you the idea that—?"

"I keep sensing... things," Rainbow murmured. "Like... shadows. Reflections. Shades of stuff... y'know?"

"No, I don't know." Fluttershy's brow furrowed. "How long have you been experiencing this?"

"Honestly?"

"Of course."

"Ever since we took off. Er... Ariel and I. Ever since we began flying."

"You don't suppose it's the Dragonstone?"

"Huh?"

"The piece of Axan you picked up," Fluttershy suggested. "It's magical, right?"

"So Twilight says."

"And it's just as old as Axan is... er... was." Fluttershy cleared her throat. "There's an awful lot about it that we don't understand."

"Yeah. But even still... why would it be making me so..." Rainbow shivered slightly. "...paranoid?"

"Is that how you feel?"

"Errrr..."

"Why didn't you tell Ariel when she talked to you earlier? She seemed concerned—"

"I can't tell her that I'm feeling a bit rattled by shadows'n'crud."

"And why not?"

"Because she and the Herald are depending on me," Rainbow hissed, floating close to her ghostly companion. "I'm the one with all the crazy senses that they don't understand. If I can't get a grip on it—how can I expect them to ascertain it any better?"

"They're your friends, Rainbow Dash! Your protectors and allies—"

"But they're still not the Austraeoh, Fluttershy," Rainbow insisted, gazing down at her travelling companions. "When push comes to shove, there's still a bunch of crud that I and only I will have to carry on my shoulders. Well... the rest of you girls too, I suppose, but even that's different." She gulped. "I just... can't burden them with crud until I know more about what this Dark Side is doing to me and my... er... Austraeoh-ness."

"Rainbow Dash..." Fluttershy folded her hooves in mid-glide and gave her anchor a stern look. "Haven't we all learned by now that honesty is the best policy?"

"Yeah. But..."

"But nothing. If you're feeling that you feel concerned about, then you should tell the Herald. You're right that there are only things that the Austraeoh can handle. But you should remember that the Austraeoh is not alone in this! There's a role for Eljunburma as well! And let us not forget what Yiffydehm did in bringing all of us girls back!"

"It's 'Eljunbyro' and 'Yaerfaerda'."

"You know what I mean," Fluttershy muttered. "Rainbow, forgive me, but there's an awful lot of strange sounding words to memorize..."

Rainbow smirked slightly. "There are... aren't there."

"Promise me that you'll bring this new sensation of yours to the group."

Rainbow Dash blinked.

Fluttershy leaned in. "Promise. Me."

"S-sure thing!" Rainbow's voice cracked. "You bet! And... uhm... I'll see about having Kepler or Big Show carry the Dragonstone for a while." She smiled crookedly. "Share the load and all that token fluff."

"Token?"

"Sorry. Tired."

"That's an excuse you'll run out of sooner than you think." Fluttershy nevertheless smiled. "But I'm glad you've come to your senses... or some of them, at least."

"What would I do without you, Fluttershy?"

"Uhm... I'm scared to think."

"That makes the two of us."

Rooster Crows at Midnight

Scraping.

Jostling.

Feathers and gold.

Moisture and stone.

A headcrest shifted... shifted again.

One eye opened. Dull. Charcoal brown.

A second eye opened.

Blinking.

A dead, flat horizon shook and shifted. Black on black.

Another blink.

The eyes darted upwards at an angle.

Another horizon—this one bent, stretching upward and blotting out the stars.

A body loomed in the foreground, hitched to a shed crafted by metal planks tied together. Dark black feathers and a midnight coat flexed with bruised muscles. Bandages seeped with glowing blood, and a lion's tail flicked through the twilight.

She inhaled. Exhaled.

She moved her muscles—

—but she did not budge.

A horrible weight was pressing upon her from multiple angles.

She tried moving again. Claws wriggling. Tail snaking.

It was no use. She was one with the sled. Inch by inch, the aches and pains of combat screamed back into her limbs—but that wasn't what tore the breath out of her lungs.

"Rrrrrrrrrr..."

Darkness and twilight. Bodies shifting. Voices.

And off in the distance...

"Rrrghhhh—"

A flounce of color. Like the living manifestation of a prism. It stood out like a beacon amidst the shadows.

"Rrrrrrrrrrgh—Aaaaaaaaaaaaugh!"

She shook and twisted and spat from where she was bound. An angry beak bit and clattered at the air—nearly frothing.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!" She hissed and snarled and hyperventilated, causing the entire sled to rock and rattled from where it was being dragged. "Damn... d-damn you...!"

The body dragging her twisted about. A pair of black goggles reflected a possessed griffon's yelling maw.

"JORDAN!" she seethed, eyes twitching with impenetrable madness. "Curse you! Curse you to blighted oblivion you... rnnnngh—Godless coward! FOOL!"

"My starrs and garrterrs!" a voice rolled from the distance.

"The Hell is that noise...?!" another voice blurted.

Wildcard whistled. She could see the claws of one talon motioning high in the air.

An obese shape hobbled over. "Huh?" A dull sigh. "Awwww for Pete's sake..."

"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!"

"Say Dashie?" Pinkie chirped.

"Hmmm?" Rainbow Dash blinked tiredly as she flew alongside Ariel.

"You're looking really healthy!" she exclaimed.

Rainbow's face turned, carrying a deathly deadpan expression.

Even Ariel noticed it. She looked aside with an anxious squint.

"I am?" Rainbow droned.

"Hee-hee-hee!" Pinkie nodded briskly. "Uh huhhhhhhhh..."

"Well, cool... I guess..." Rainbow slurred.

"I mean it!" Pinkie cooed. "You're strong and level-headed and full of spunk!"

"Pinkie... sugarcube..." Applejack sighed. "Is there a reason for this heap'o'compliments?"

"Yes, darling." Rarity nodded. "Do explain what is so unique about Rainbow's spunk at the moment." The ghostly fashionista instantly blushed. "Erm... you know what I mean."

"I'm only trying to say that Rainbow's been full and wide awake for hours! Days!" Pinkie sing-songed.

"Yeah..." Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "...and?"

"Plblbllblblblb!" Pinkie stuck her tongue out. "No more fainting spells, silly!"

Rainbow blinked.

"Oh gosh..." Fluttershy looked at the other mares. "Pinkie's right!"

"Well I'll be darned..." Applejack lifted her hat to scratch her ghostly head. "That's... that's a thang, ain't it?" She plopped the article back on before looking at the rest of the mares. "Didn't Rainbow suffer from shiverin' spells and faintin' before y'all picked up me at Starkiss?"

"All of my journey, actually..." Rainbow Dash gulped. "Ever since leaving Equestria..."

"What?" Ariel blinked, flying closer to Rainbow. "What about leaving Equestria?"

"Twilight?" Fluttershy looked at the unicorn in question. "Have you noticed Rainbow having one of her chaos-induced fainting spells recently?"

"I... can't say that I have..." Twilight rubbed her chin, squinting in thought. "Funny. I was so focused on our talks with Luna and the situation with Bleak's Plummet to pay much attention..."

"Cuz Dashie's been going on for a longgggggggggggg time without going kerplunk!" Pinkie Pie said. "I'm guessing that she got over it!"

"Pinkie, I'm part chaos," Rainbow Dash said. "There's not 'getting over it.'"

"Still... she's got a point, sugarcube," Applejack said. "From what I hear... you was gettin' close to dyin' on several occasions. Only—on account of the flame—"

"Utaan!" Fluttershy gasped. She looked at the others. "The rune she found at the Last Seed! And the flame within!"

"You think that... cured her?" Rarity stammered.

"Oh, wouldn't that be wonderful?!" Fluttershy gasped.

"I... I don't know..." Twilight murmured.

"Oh Twi..." Pinkie pouted. "Don't be a poopy-saddle."

"No, I mean..." Twilight Sparkle grimaced slightly. "There's got to be something else to it."

"You mean now that we're on the Dark Side?" Applejack said.

"Perhaps."

Rainbow blinked. "Huh... I never... thought much about that."

"Thought about what?" Ariel blurted.

Rainbow looked at her.

Ariel smiled sheepishly. "Can ya blame a girl for being nosy?"

"Pinkie Pie just made an observation," Rainbow explained. "Ariel, do... do you remember the last time I collapsed?"

"You mean because of your chaotic dizzy spells?"

"Right."

"Kinda... but... but I think it was a bit different."

"Huh?"

"Well, remember on our way east from Frostknife?" Ariel spoke. "After we had gotten some distance between ourselves and Starkiss, you... uh... you started having some super freaky nightmares and—"

"I collapsed like a dead brick," Rainbow droned.

"That's right!" Rarity nodded. "You did, darling!"

"You haven't had nightmares since the Utaan rune, though, have you?" Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow looked at her. "I've barely even slept since the Last Seed, Flutters."

"Still... you haven't collapsed either." Fluttershy folded her forelimbs. "I still think there's a reason for that."

"But..." Applejack squinted. "If bein' on the Dark Side... so far away from Harmony and Equestrian magic could have an effect..."

Rainbow's brow furrowed in thought. She looked over at Ariel again. "I'm part chaos, right?"

Ariel nodded. "Right."

"And... and this whole side of the Plane is pretty much dominated by chaos... right?"

Ariel gulped. "It's sure as not harmony."

"So like... what if..." Rainbow fidgeted in mid-glide. "...so long as I'm on the Dark Side... I'm not going to die from the poison of chaos?" She bit her lip. "Or at least not die as fast?"

"I've got an even freakier question," Ariel murmured.

"Yeah...?"

Ariel pointed at Rainbow's pendant. "What happens when that comes off on this side of the Plane?"

Rainbow's marefriends all locked up, stiff and tense.

Rainbow brought a hoof to her Element. The ruby lightning bolt flickered slightly.

"That's... pretty freaky indeed..."

Ariel smirked slightly. "Wanna test it out?"

Rainbow merely squinted at her. She prepared a sarcastic response, but—

Off from the distance: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!"

Ariel and Rainbow jolted in place. They both looked down and behind them.

"The Hell...?" Ariel grimaced. "Is someone strangling an infected cat?"

"Rrrggggggh! Verlaxion damn you all to oblivion!"

"Don't tell me..." Rainbow's ears folded. "That's..."

Fluttershy sighed. "It is."

Your Regularly Scheduled RAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!

"Gaa-aaaaughhh!" Seething, writhing, Seraphimus hollered at the nearest thing to her. "Goddess damn you, Jordan! At least the Blight is natural decay in Verlaxion's shadow! But you?!" She forced the sled to rock and rattled as she rambled and spat. "You defiled all that was good in the light! You don't deserve her mercy! Damn you and every moment of trust I ever once held in you! The blood of Rohbredden is on your claws you impudent waste of flesh! Rrrrgh—baaaaaaaaaaaugh!"

Wildcard sighed. He calmly turned and looked at the rest of the Herald.

Logan stood, leaning a forelimb casually against his axe. Noticeably rattled, Kepler and Flynn remained huddled behind him... peeking over the obese stallion's girth to catch glimpses of the rabid griffin.

Not long after, Ariel and Rainbow Dash landed. Ariel winced hard... and immediately found a hiding place alongside Kepler and Flynn.

"Well..." Pinkie Pie dug the edge of her hoof into her ghostly ear as the air around them resonated with the impenetrable squawking. "...at least we've got a reliable sled alarm!"

"Pinkie..." Twilight sighed, then looked towards Applejack. "Applejack? Your thoughts?"

"She's plum loco."

"I mean... can you sense where she's at? Emotionally?"

"Yeah!" Applejack raised her voice to be heard amidst the bellowing. "I sense that she's plum loco!"

Twilight hollered back, "I mean can you tell if she's retaining any honest sanity inside that bird brain of hers?!?"

"Girls! Please!" Rarity clamped two hooves over her head and grimaced. "Isn't there enough yelling as it is?!"

"Maybe... uhm..." Fluttershy squirmed in place. "...maybe Wildcard can calm her down?"

Pinkie pointed. "He's been standing in front of her this whole time!"

"Oh... uh..." Fluttershy shifted in place. "...perhaps Kepler could fix up a nice warm Bleakweed broth?"

Twilight glared at her. "Seriously?" she droned.

"Well... it a-always worked for Angel whenever he was in a f-fussy mood!"

"Oh yeah?" Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Did Angel ever launch himself at you at the speed of sound while you was fixin' to cross to the Dark Side and nearly killed you and all yer friends in an apocalyptic temper tantrum?"

"Hmmmmm..." Fluttershy gulped, leaning away from the shrieking creature with a nervous smile. "M-maybe Wildcard can calm her down!"

"Eughhh..." Twilight Sparkle face-hoofed.

"Just relax everypony," Rainbow muttered aside.

"Relax?!?" Pinkie squeaked.

"Try... to relax!" Rainbow said with a frown... then trotted forward to join the Herald.

"...going to slay you infidels and feast your goddess forsaken entrails to the sharks! I swear to Verlaxion...!" Seraphimus continued, scarcely pausing to breathe.

Logan looked aside at Rainbow with a bored expression. He muttered, "You want me to say 'I told you so' or wait until an hour from now and then say 'I told you so?'"

"Stuff it, Big Show." Rainbow nodded in Wildcard's direction. "How long has she been awake for?"

"You mean you haven't heard the siren from second one?!" Ariel wheezed.

Wildcard held a few claws up, formed a fist, then a few less talons.

"Eight minutes..." Rainbow Dash nodded. Her nostrils flared with a winded sigh. "It's only been the sound of sentient explosions for eight minutes."

"Can we please find a way to silence her?!" Rarity shrieked, clutching her pony ears.

"Reckon there's only one way to make sure of that, sugarcube," Applejack said.

Rarity glared. "I'm open to any option."

"Seriously, though, this isn't good at all," Twilight said, grimacing. "We still don't know what we're in for out here. She could wake up Celestia-knows-what and send all of the Dark Side's populace after us!"

"Terrific..." Rainbow slurred.

"...because I am the Right Talon of Verlaxion! Chosen by the Goddess! By the Six Tribes I shall righteously slay you infidels!"

Flynn whistled. "She's said 'infidels'... like... eleven times."

"Aye..." Kepler nodded, blinking behind his spectacles. "And 'rrighteous' close to twenty-five."

"Who does that?" Flynn exhaled.

"I've got a better question," Logan belched. "Who allows it." Schiiing! He lifted the blade of his axe for emphasis while looking at Rainbow. "I'm tellin' ya, Rainbow... just one firm swing. Our ears—as well as Wildcard's muscles—will all be better off for it."

"The answer to that is the same now as it was at the Edge of the World, Big Show."

"But—"

"I don't like it any more than you do, but we are not killing her."

"Sooooooo..." Logan rubbed his aching head amidst the screaming. "...instead we're just killing ourselves slowly."

"Let it go, emo colt," Ariel said firmly. "Rainbow Dash said to spare Seraphimus' life and that's what we're doing."

"What life?!" Logan waved a meaty forelimb. "That's not a griffin! That's a bullhorn with tits!"

"She's the Austraeoh and what she says goes!"

"Oh, will you climb out her butt for one measely second?!" Logan frowned. "Being good, merciful, ethical horse-morons ain't gonna help us when Miss Screamgasm exposes us to the factions of the Trinary War with her radical uvulating!"

"It won't come to that!" Rainbow screamed—then winced from overcompensating for the bedlam. "Look—we've got a long way ahead of us before we run into anything—"

"We don't know that—"

"We've got a long way ahead!" Rainbow emphasized, frowning. "If there was something around that could hear 'Sirenphimus' then Fluttershy would be able to sense it first. And so far—she's sensed nothing nearby!" She turned to look at her ghostly companion. "Right, Fluttershy?"

"'Write?'" The wincing pegasus rubbed her ghostly ears. "'Write' what?!?"

"...into the gates of oblivion along with the infidels of the Seventh Tribe...!"

"Aaaaaaaand twelve," Flynn muttered out the side of his muzzle.

"Ha-Hah! She's on a rroll!"

"Okay... fine..." Rainbow trotted firmly towards the sled. "Maybe if I just let her get it all out of her system—"

With a shrill whistle, Wildcard blocked the petite pegasus' path.

"Get it out of her system?!" Logan cackled. "If she deflated anymore from yelling, we could use her as a throw rug!"

"Your desire to spare her life is a noble thing, Rainbow," Flynn said, nodding. "But... if you speak to her—face to face—while she's in this state..." He winced. "...then who knows how far gone Seraphimus will be. She'd probably be better off dead."

"Works in my book!" Logan said with a grin.

"No no no!" Rainbow gnashed her teeth. "We are not going to let her just roll over and die! The murder ended back in the land of Verlax!"

"Hah!" Logan's eyes narrowed. "Are you sure of that?"

"Rainbow—" Twilight began.

"Yes!" Rainbow huffed. "I am!" She knocked Wildcard's talon away, turned around, and headed straight towards the bent horizon. "If you insist—I won't talk to her. But we can't stop right here and hang around as if this is some sort of crazy griffin heavy metal concert! We gotta keep moving!"

"And... and..." Ariel shivered from head to tail. "Endure all of... that?"

Kepler added, "It would be considerrably morre bearrable if herr vitrriolic phrrases carried a morre rrobust vocabularry..."

"Grin and bear it..."

"But—" Flynn began.

"I said grin and bear it!" Rainbow hollered over her shoulder, beyond peeved. "You're the Herald! You've thrown yourself at wendigoes and sarosians for my sake! Surely a brief tune-in to 'Lost Marbles FM' won't murder you!" With a grunting sigh, she pressed onward... pointing with her wingtips. "Now come one! Up ahead, the plateau dips into a canyon. And—if the slab is of any indication—that's where we're going to find Darkreach!"

Wildcard sighed. Reluctantly, he shuffled back to the source of the screams and re-hitched himself to the vibrating sled.

"This..." Flynn rubbed his bald skull as he marched after Rainbow. "...is going to leave a mark on my cerebellum."

"Oh hush," Rainbow spat, frowning ahead. "This may be the Dark Side, but we're still creatures that need to breathe oxygen. Just give it an hour. She has to pass out at some point or another..."

An hour later...

"...rip every sinew of flesh out from underneath your putrid skin for every foal of Verlaxion freezing to death for your holocaustal sacriledge—!!!" the air echoed with the griffin's bellicose lungs.

Logan glanced aside under the sheen of twilight. "I told you so—"

"Stuff it!" Rainbow snarled.

Which Would Be Familiar

"...and sworn duty to the Council to avenge the Goddess at all costs! I don't care how many of the Blight's infidelic bastards stand in my way! You shall taste the wrath of Verlaxion with..."

"Thattttttt's fifty-seven!" Flynn said, still rubbing his head in mid-trot.

"Oh come on." Ariel frowned aside at the stallion. Their march had turned into a subtle slant, descending slowly towards a darker pocket of the landscape ahead of them. "That doesn't count!"

"Sure it does!"

"She said infidelic. That's not even a word!"

"Yes it is!"

"At least count it as 'fifty-six-and-a-half.'"

Flynn hollered back over the sound of Seraphimus' bellowing. "It's all in the meaning of the expression! I'm counting it as fifty-seven!"

"Horse hockey!"

"As much as I hate to take sides, my frriends," Kepler muttered, smiling tiredly back at the two. "But I do believe ourr brrotherr Flynn has a point."

"Really?" Logan huffed, sweating as he tugged and tugged the supply sled over a cleft of rock. The smooth earth below was being slowly replaced with a jagged, craggy texture. "She's spent hours barfing up homicidal nonsense and now you're grading the turkey buzzard on grammar?"

"What else are we going to do?" Flynn shrugged. "We can't judge her skill at billiards."

Ariel and Kepler laughed. It was a squeaky, wheezing expression at best. Soon, the sheer exhaustion of the migraine-inducing moment weighed down on them, and they sighed into the twilight. In the ensuing silence, Seraphimus' words echoed ever-explosively across the diminishing plateau.

"...meant for the Spring Havens! Not the bottomless abyss to which you've dispensed so many innocent, Goddess-fearing souls! In the name of the Queen of Frost I shall..."

"She's got the lungs of an endurance flier, that's for sure," Flynn muttered. "I just wonder if she'll keep yelling in her dreams once she finally passes out."

"If the bitch passes out," Logan grunted.

Ariel bit her lip. "I just feel bad for Wildcard this whole time. He's been in the direct line of sight of her hollering since she began."

Logan shouted over the noise. "Yo! Double-yoo! Enjoying the performance?"

A haggard, exhausted Desperado looked back from a distance. A middle-claw glinted in the twilight, and then he resumed his hobbling march.

Logan and Flynn chuckled.

Kepler cleared his throat. "Perrhaps... one of us should rrelieve him."

"Pffft. I'm not playing shotgun to Miss Shits-a-Lot," Flynn muttered.

"Why not?" Logan smirked, looking ahead and marching. "You've got a streamlined skull cap. Her sound waves will bounce right off you."

"Well, don't look at me!" Ariel's voice cracked. "What if she gets loose and bites my larynx off?"

"She won't get loose," Flynn snarled. "We tied that shit super tight."

"Yeah, but still—"

"Frriends!" Kepler frowned. "Arre we the Herrald orr arre we horrrible?" He turned completely around. "I shall take Wildcarrd's place!"

"No, Kepler..." Ariel sighed, holding the wyvern back. "I'll do it—"

"The task must fall upon me—"

SWOOOSH! Rainbow Dash touched down in a blue blur. "I'll take Wildcard's place."

Logan did a double-take. "Huh?"

"You heard me." Rainbow Dash frowned, marching back towards Wildcard. "Since you're all so determined to not give a crap."

"Kepler gives a crap!" Flynn said.

"Indeed, I—" The wyvern did a double take. "What?"

"Rainbow, don't." Ariel held the mare back. "That... that will just make things worse."

"It's my fault she's still with us, right?" Rainbow winced from the noise. She flattened her ears and hissed aside: "It's only fitting."

"What's fitting is that you not stay close enough to her to exacerbate what's already a skull-splitting nightmare," Ariel said.

"She's got a point there, Rainbow," Logan said. "Unless... your plan is to make her pass out faster."

"I think we can rrule that out at this juncturre."

"Hey... guys... whatever..." Flynn held his hooves up, smirking. "So long as the unlucky sap isn't me... ... ..."

"...and you! Yes, you!" Seraphimus spat and sputtered at the stallion pulling her sled. "You are a shame to unicorns everywhere! What promises did the traitors at Wyvern Point make to you?! Did they claim they would protect your family? Ferry you faster to the Spring Havens?!?"

An hour later, Flynn sighed heavily. He sweated and grunted as he struggled to pull the sled evenly over steeper and steeper embankments.

The Herald had left the perpetual flatness far behind them. It was as though giant plows had raked up entire swaths of dull, dark earth. All of it was stone or gravel or vulcanized dust at best. No sign of soil or sand or sediment—but an increasingly uneven slide into miasmic darkness. The bent horizon loomed higher and higher—or so it seemed—as the group continued their zig-zagging descent, all the while attempting to maintain the contents and the structural integrity of their sleds.

Logan managed well. Flynn—not so much. The unicorn had to pause every once and a while to steady the contents of his makeshift wagon—and prisoner—with expert telekinesis.

"Hurry up, slowpoke!" Logan growled from up ahead. "Not all of us are on a luxury tour, y'know!"

"...will bury you in the earth along with the bones of the unrighteous...!" Seraphimus wailed into Flynn's ears.

"Grnnnghhhh..." Flynn sweated and sweated, fumbling to keep up a swift pace as the occupied sled rattled behind him. "Real glitz and glamour..." His one natural eye darted up.

Wildcard flew at an easy glide. His wings easily flapped on either side of him and he relished in the cool kiss of the twilight winds at his headcrest. Despite the relief he was obviously experiencing, he kept close to Rainbow Dash—flying alongside her at all times while he rested his lower limbs.

Rainbow Dash stared dead ahead. In the sheen of the stars above, she made out the hint of rising rockfaces. At first, she thought that she was staring at the other side of a canyon. But then, as the group continued their descent, she spotted narrow plumes of rock rising sharper and sharper from the sloping earth underneath. They resembled stalagmites—with the absence of a cave. Their sharp tips were bent ever-so-slightly forward, so that Rainbow imagined that she was a blue dust mite threading her way through a microscopic patch of hairy skin.

This—among other, noisier things—distracted her, so that she had to snap her head in Rarity's direction to realize that she was being addressed.

"Rainbow! Are you paying attention?"

Rainbow pondered whether or not to answer that honestly. Exhaustion weighed heavily on her brow. "Mrff?"

Rarity pouted. "I sense something!"

Twilight floated up in a lavender blur. "Rarity senses something!"

"I just said that, darling!"

"But I wanted to make sure that Rainbow knew—"

"Well, she's hearing it from the fabulous source, is she not?!"

"Girls, just—" Rainbow held a hoof up, sighing. "Get to the point. Rarity, what are you sensing?"

Wildcard looked over, goggles rattling.

"Grfff... sorry, Rainbow..." Rarity rubbed her temple. "The shouting is... g-getting to me. Ahem." She floated upright, proudly. "But never mind that! You must see this!"

"See what?"

"Come!" Pinkie shouted cheerfully from a distance. "Come gander with us ganderoos!"

Rainbow simply... fell. She allowed gravity to carry her after her descending companions.

Slightly alarmed, Wildcard drifted speedily after her. Followed by a curious Ariel.

"Uhm... what are we plummeting for?" the pegasus mare droned.

After half-a-minute, Rainbow joined her friends where they had formed a ghostly circle around a rusted object leaning against one of the many jagged stalagmites.

"Whew-wee...!" Applejack was scratching her blonde head. "If that sure doesn't stand out!"

"I wonder how long it's been resting here," Fluttershy murmured.

"Probably a super-duper-ultra long time!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Poor little thing..."

Twilight muttered, "It's made of metal, Fluttershy. It's not alive. It never was."

"Sorry. Just..." Fluttershy shuddered. "This landscape has been so dead and desolate since we arrived at the edge. I guess I'm getting desperate for a critter or two to sense..."

"Uh, Rainbow?" Ariel landed behind along with Wildcard. "What are we looking at?"

"That's a... very good question." Rainbow Dash trotted towards the object. Seraphimus' shouts echoed in the distance, and they caused a slight ringing sound to emanate from the hollow of a fallen sphere. The two rounded edges yawned open, spilling out metal wires and filaments that had partially-disentegrated over time.

Wildcard cocked his head from side to side with avian scrutiny. His goggles reflected loops of copper fitted into an iron stalk.

"Can't say it's the prettiest doodad I ever laid eyes on," Applejack said. She turned to face Rainbow with a smug grin. "What do you suppose it could be?"

"Better yet..." Twilight squinted. "Who left it here?" She tilted her head up. "Maybe it's a remnant of the Darkreach expedition?"

"That seems rather obvious," Rainbow spoke in a low tone, pacing slowly around the object. "But... I can't shake the feeling that I've... seen this sort of a thing before."

"We both did, darling," Rarity said. She winced slightly from Seraphimus' screams but continued: "Back on the plateau. By the lookout tower."

"Oh yes!" Fluttershy nodded. "There were pieces of similar spheres lying around! Remember?"

"No... that's not the reason," Rainbow said. "I've seen these machines zipping around before."

"What, Rainbow?" Ariel trotted up, leaning over her shoulder. "What is this thing?"

Rainbow exhaled, her tail flicking. "It's Darkstinian."

Balls to the Future

"Darkstinian?" Flynn raised his head as his natural eye blinked at Rainbow Dash. "What's that?"

Rainbow, Ariel, Wildcard, and the rest of the Herald were gathered in a tight huddled beside the metal wreckage. Seraphimus and her sled were parked several yards away so her rambling voice wouldn't interfere with the dimly-lit conversation.

"It's not a what," Rainbow Dash said, gesturing at the rusted sphere-halves in Flynn's grip. "It's a who."

"Well... who, then?" Flynn aimed his mechanical eye at the material yet again, the lenses whirring as he attempted to analyze the material inside out. "It's not any sort of tech that I've heard of... or recognize."

Rainbow Dash took a breath and explained, "Darkstine is a country sandwiched between Emeraldine and Silvadel. On the Light Side."

"Rainbow Dash..." Logan leaned over, brow furrowed. "How in the heck could Light Side technology be suddenly here on the Dark Side?"

"Maybe..." Ariel looked at the others. "...it was ferried over by Onyxxus' expeditions? Rainbow did say that Darkstine was situated right next to Emeraldine."

Wildcard nodded thoughtfully.

"It just... doesn't make any sense," Flynn muttered, turning the rusted material over and about. "The logistics, I mean. From what the Mother Matron taught me, the nature of Darkreach was kept very sacred... and secret. They didn't want word spreading throughout the continents or else the lunar exodus might try finding the expedition and pillaging it."

Logan looked at Rainbow. "Any evidence that Emeraldine and Darkstine might have worked together?"

"Well..." Rainbow Dash stood up straight, sighing. Her eyes searched the darkness in front of them. "...when I visited Darkstine, they were on the verge of a civil war. What's more—they kept themselves very much closed off from the rest of the world... both physically and culturally." She swallowed. "But... th-that wasn't always the case."

"Oh?" Ariel blinked.

"Right. I... I'm trying to remember..." Rainbow Dash rubbed her head in deep thought. "Cuz... like... I-I met a few descendants of proto-Darkstinians who had been holed up in Silvadel when Axan took over. I'm talking entire generations of displaced unicorns who still believed in an age-old political entity. What was the friggin' name? Circle... Cycle... Cylinder..."

"Cylindrrimane," Kepler pronounced.

Everypony looked at him.

"I know of these ponies," the wyvern said with a stately nod.

"Well, spit it out, Tusky!" Logan remarked with a smile.

Kepler adjusted his spectacles and said, "Morrtuana spoke often of the easterrn neighborr of Emerraldine. But it did not bearr the name of 'Darrkstine.' And Rrainbow Dash's mention of a civil warr is quite irronic, forr even in days gone by the kingdom of Cylindrrimane was sufferring frrom intense culturral dichotomy."

"Hey!" Rainbow perked up, pointing with her hoof. "That's right! I remember one of the Silvadelian Darkstinians mentioning something like that! Like... 'Darkstine' was the name of some mad general or something."

"Wow..." Ariel's muzzle hung agape. "You remember that?"

"Pffft. Sure. It was one of the Zetta's." Rainbow blinked hard. "...I think."

Kepler cleared his throat and continued: "Howeverr, Cylindrrimane—as a functioning political entity—was firrmly allied with the Council of Verrdestone. There was a cabal of unicorrns who were sworrn to prrotect the alicorrn sorrorrity of Emerraldine. Forr this rreason, Morrtuana called upon the wisest scientists of herr time to assist in rroyal endeavorrs."

"Doessssss this include the Darkreach expedition?" Ariel asked.

Kepler gestured at the sphere halves with his claws. "I do believe we arre bearring witness to such evidence rright now."

"But... that's so friggin' crazy," Rainbow Dash muttered.

"How so?" Ariel asked.

"Just... that I would run into Darkstinian stuff waaaaaaay out here," Rainbow explained. Her fuzzy ears twitched. "If I didn't have you guys here to explain it to me, I'd fear I was hallucinating."

"A little homesick, are we?" Logan remarked.

"Mrmmfff..." Rainbow rubbed one forelimb with another. "Believe me. I don't miss Darkstine very much."

"Do you... uhhhh..." Ariel rubbed her head as she struggled to produce the question. "Do you remember when the place changed names? From 'Cylindrimane' to 'Darkstine?'"

"Not really," Rainbow Dash said. "It had to have been sometime before Axan brutally wrecked Silvadel and trapped thousands of ponies underground in the nation's capitol. She was a super bad dragon, once." A beat. Rainbow rolled her eyes and sneered aside: "Oh hush, Pinkie."

Logan looked at Kepler. "About how long ago did the expedition to Darkreach begin?"

"To be honest, frriend, Morrtuana was neverr too terrribly clearr on that," Kepler said.

"Really?"

"I suspect it's because the expedition was starrted by alicorrns... so it likely began beforre the Mountain Matrron was of the apprroprriate age to lend a hoof to herr fatherr Onyxxus." Kepler smiled gently beneath his tusks. "Howeverr... the morrtals of Emerraldine—and Cylindrrimane, it would seem—werre not heavily employed until about fourr orr five centurries ago."

Ariel looked at Rainbow. "You think that's a realistic window? Four hundred years ago?"

"For proto-Darkstinians to have followed the Darkreach Expedition?" Rainbow shrugged. "I dunno. I guess. If it happened any later, I've no friggin' clue how they would have passed by Axan's brood in Silvadel without mishap. But... then again... I've no idea how they managed to get thorugh the Grand Choke." Rainbow raspberried out the side of her muzzle. "Alicorns are broken."

"Soooooo... back to the junk at hoof..." Logan pointed at the metal entrails. "The Cylindrimaniacs must have gifted the Emeraldinians with their tech."

"Obviously," Rainbow droned.

"After all these years—it somehow resembles the stuff you saw back in Darkstine, Rainbow?" Ariel asked.

"Look, all I remember is a buncha floating spheres." Rainbow pointed at the stuff in Flynn's hooves. "And—well—there you have it."

"What was the point of this rusted crud anyways?" Logan asked.

"I serriously doubt it was always rrusted, my frriend," Flynn stated. "And—if you ask me—it was likely a means of rreconaissance."

"Soooooo..." Logan rubbed his head. "This was a patrol thingy?"

"Most assurredly."

"That explains why we saw one of them by the lookout posts," Ariel declared. "These little thingies must have zipped back and forth between Darkreach and the outlying towers."

Kepler nodded. "Seems like a most efficient way of coverring lots of darrk grround."

"Certainly more ground than we've been able to cover," Logan muttered.

"Gotta admire the Darkreach Expedition." Rainbow managed a smile. "Seems like they had their stuff together."

"Uhhhhhhhhh... guys?" Flynn suddenly murmured.

"What is it, baldy?" Logan looked over. "Figured out how this crap must have worked?"

"Mmmm-hmmm..." Flynn nodded, his mechanical eye still locked on the insides of the contraption. "More to the point... I think I can get it working again."

Wildcard's goggles rattled at that.

"You're shittin' me," Logan exhaled through an agape mouth.

"No joke." Flynn's horn glowed as he rearranged some of the loose wires and crystal shards. "The leylines aren't completely frayed. This can actually... totally be reenchanted again."

Wildcard looked at Ariel.

"Uhhhhhhh..." The mare blinked. "Do we really wanna do that?"

Wildcard looked at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow took a deep breath. "If this thing can be restored to its original programming, then it just might continue its old rounds."

"Meaning..." Logan leaned forward.

Kepler beamed. "It can lead us dirrectly to the frront gates of Darrkrreach! Ha-Hah!"

"Hmmmf..." Logan leaned back with a casual smirk. "I knew that."

"Well, Rainbow?" Ariel looked from Flynn to their most important member. "How 'bout it?"

Rainbow winced from the distant exclamations of Seraphimus. "Pffft... shoot. What's the worst that could happen?"

Lecture For a Lecture

"So... in summary..." Twilight Sparkle adjusted non-existent bifocals and then slapped her ghostly forelimb as she floated right in front of Rainbow Dash. "...with full consideration of the sinful wages of hubris and the painfully-weighted inclination of naturally-occurring irony, you must never... ever end a conversation with 'what's the worst that could happen?'"

Rainbow Dash sat on the edge of a rock, her blue chin smooshed down against a lazy forelimb. The rest of the Mane Five hovered limply around her with identically lethargic expressions. "Mrmmfmfff... thanks, egghead." She stifled a yawn, staring dully at Twilight. "Could you have just saved us the forty-five minute lecture and told us that conclusion at the very beginning?"

Twilight tilted her proud chin towards the starry heavens. "Just wanted to make sure I nailed the message home."

"You nailed it alright, sugarcube." Applejack yawned. "Right to a cross."

"Oooh! I love carpentry jokes!" Pinkie Pie beamed.

"... ... ..." Applejack blinked. "Anyways..." She gazed at Flynn and Kepler who were kneeling before the partially-assembled pieces of a metal sphere. "Seems like they're makin' progress."

"Indeed." Rarity looked over at Wildcard, situated before a thrashing and bound Seraphimus. "Good to know that some of us are."

"I can't believe that she's still struggling so much," Fluttershy remarked. "Even after all this time."

"Well, she did lose just about everythang thanks to Verlax," Applejack said. "And she's been made to believe that Rainbow's to blame."

"Would you be even remotely forgiving if you had every reason to believe that something or someone had devoured the entire Apple Family?" Rarity asked.

Applejack tilted her hat back. "Rarity, Granny's dead. And if thangs had gone differently two years ago, I reckon she wouldn't be."

Rarity winced. She hung her head. "A thousand pardons, Applejack..."

"Naw... dun feel so bad, sugarcube." Applejack bore a gentle smile. "My point is... I know what led to such a tragedy." She looked warmly at Rainbow Dash. "And I have the capacity to understand it all. If thangs were a tad bit different...?" She shrugged. "I dunno what I'd do. But I reckon I'm just a far more reasonable mare than this wretched Seraphimus varmint."

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. "I don't think any of us can even pretend to relate to Seraphimus." She looked melancholically across the way to where Wildcard was guarding his former companion. "Her life—her entire existence was sculpted by Verlax to be a self-destructing weapon to urge me onward in my quest."

"And now you've brought her with us to urge you onward even faster," Twilight Sparkle said.

Rainbow slowly turned to glare at Twilight.

Twilight raised her forelimbs. "I'm just saying..." She sighed, lowering her hooves. "Verlax is long dead. You should stop punishing yourself, Rainbow."

"Sparing her life was not punishing myself, Twilight."

"But how much are you willing to sacrifice to try and save her?" Twilight asked. "Given all that's already at stake?"

"I've got an even better question." Rainbow gnashed her teeth. "What does it friggin' matter?"

Twilight opened her muzzle... but hesitated before she could give a reply.

"Rainbow Dash..." Fluttershy quietly spoke. "We're all on your side—"

"Are you?!" Rainbow frowned. "Because from what it looks like and how it sounds, it almost seems as if I'm the only friggin' sane pony alive anymore."

"Don't be overdramatic, darling—" Rarity started, but couldn't finish.

"No... no!" Rainbow growled. "I have enough trouble as it is trying to keep the Herald from going all murder-y without you girls wanting to jump on the death train!"

"What are you goin' on about, sugarcube?"

"I want you girls to promise me something..." Rainbow shuddered, clasping her hooves together as if in prayer. "I need you girls to promise me something."

"Anything, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said.

Rainbow's gaze hardened. "Promise that you're on board with me on this." She looked at each and every one of them. "Promise that I'm not the only pony here who still believes in Harmony... that when push comes to shove you will support me in trying to get Seraphimus back on track to having a decent, self-respecting life... any kind of life... because it's frickin' life."

"Of course we're with you on this, Rainbow," Twilight said.

Rainbow sighed. She leaned over and rubbed her forehead. "'But...'"

"I just..." Twilight sighed, folding her forelimbs. "I want to make sure that you're doing this to Seraphimus for Seraphimus... and not out of some guilt-ridden complex to rectify perceived mistakes of the past."

"Yeah?" Rainbow muttered. "Like what mistakes?"

"Well..." Twilight fidgeted, squirmed, and meekly said: "Like Shell."

Rainbow let loose a heavy sigh. "Twilight..." She looked up with a frown. "...for the last time, I'm not—"

A swath of leather wings streaked in Rainbow's peripheral vision.

"...?!?" Rainbow spun about, eyes wide.

Fluttershy shot up with a worried expression. "Rainbow? What is it?"

"Did..." Rainbow turned and glanced all around. "Did you just..."

"What, darlin'?" Applejack blinked.

"Is everything okay, Dashie?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Thought... could have sworn..." Rainbow shuddered.

"My stars! You're so pale!" Rarity exclaimed.

Rainbow jolted. She stared at her. "... ... ...Cloudsdale... falls without me."

Twilight's muzzle scrunched. "Huh?"

"Heeheehee... what are you going on about, silly?" Pinkie burped.

"I..." Rainbow leaned over and rubbed her head. "I don't know..."

"Well, I do know something!" Pinkie stuck her tongue out, floating closer. "You could really use some shut-eye!"

"I whole-heartedly agree!" Rarity nodded briskly. "This seems as good a time as ever to set camp and—"

"We got it!" Flynn exclaimed.

"Eurreaka!" Kepler added.

The ghostly group looked over to see the metal sphere—conjoined and sparkling—lift up and levitate in place. A dull red glow emanated from the contraption's seams, like crimson vapors. Then, with a pronounced humming sound, the Cylindrimanian artifact zipped its way around the rocks and geological formations with smooth speed.

"It's going!" Ariel exclaimed. "Whew! Look at it!" She waved at Rainbow Dash. "What's the word?"

"Rainbow..." Twilight leaned in. "You really really should lie down and rest—"

"Hop to it, Herald!" Rainbow hollered. With a flap of her wings, she glided effortlessly forward. "Don't let it out of your sights!"

Wildcard whistled and swiftly reattached himself to Seraphimus' sled.

Logan hitched himself to the supply wagon and galloped briskly after the device while the rest of the group followed suit.

Twilight sighed, limply keeping up with their anchor. "Rainbow..."

"Twilight... if you know anything about me... anything at all..." Rainbow tiredly blinked in spite of herself. She locked her eyes on the red-glowing sphere as it illuminated a cone of dead rock in a diagonal swath. "...it's that stopping is the one and only death knell."

"Well, for all our sake, here's hoping that you're correct."

"Jee. Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Anytime."

Dropping the Ball Again

The floating sphere had successfully been brought back to "life," and it hummed with glorious manatech as it puttered along its dutiful path through the stone ravine.

But it was also slow. Damnably slow... which made an already laborious trek ten times more excrutiating.

Rainbow Dash felt it the most. She flew in a hunch, her limp body dangling lethargically off a pair of flapping wings. Ariel kept pace with her for the sake of keeping pace—although it was an awkward, fidgeting accomplishment at best. The two hung right behind the Cylindrimanian sphere, flying close enough that they could both catch a whiff of the crimson steam venting from the seams of its metallic shell.

Flynn and Kepler trotted right behind them, and they looked no less exhausted. Flynn carried on with melodramatic flare, panting visibly while occasionally swiping at the sweat gathered along his balding scalp. Kepler remained as stately as he could, crawling forward with labored pride. Starlight flickered sporadically off the lenses of his glasses as he tilted his head about, taking in every detail of the rocky terrain they were navigating.

The shadows doubled. Something was looming above the ravine—a large rock formation of sorts. It was difficult to make out against the bent horizon stretching ever high above. This was a challenge that Rainbow never fully anticipated. With the help of Rarity, they were able to keep close tabs on the geography looming ahead of them. The ghostly fashionista informed the rest that a huge mesa was jutting out of the center of the ravine, stretching over a hundred feet above the rest of the jagged terrain. However—for whatever reason—the floating sphere wasn't moving directly towards this structure. Instead, it veered diagonally towards the "left," skirting various stalagmites and conical rock formations... seemingly leisurely in its speed and inclination. Weathering sigh after sigh, the group followed suit... until the entire pilgrimage was subdued by quiet, anxious silence.

Amazingly, Logan was the least exhausted of the Heraldites. He reveled in the slow pace, taking the opportunity to survey the landscape illuminated a few meters ahead of the glowing red sphere. He had reinforced the sled behind him with an extra set of reins that took most of the weight and pressure off his hind quarters. This seemingly put an extra spring in the obese stallion's step, and he often found himself having to slow his trot so as not to leave Wildcard too far behind. He constantly threw glances over his shoulder to keep a watchful eye on the lingering Desperado.

The griffin's face was next to impossible to read. Solid black goggles masked any emotion to be found whatsoever. He was nothing more than a stalwart guardian tasked with dragging the group's heaviest burden along. As for the angry weight in question—she was finally showing signs of losing steam. Seraphimus words had grown thinner... breathier... albeit no less caustic. Her body had long stopped thrashing against the restraints, and her beak hung open as she summoned the oxygen to funnel curse after curse out. It allowed for a haunting quiet to permeate the dim atmosphere of the ravine, and the group almost missed the constant echoes that masked them from their own thoughts.

"My life... my sworn devotion... to Verlaxion..." Seraphimus hissed, her voice beyond hoarse and scratchy. Sweat-stained feathers drooped from her neck as she drooled over the side of the scraping sled. "...necessitates... th-that I exact justice... b-by any means necessary..." She blinked slowly and breathed with even less speed. "For the foals... th-the foals of our Queen... ... ...our Goddess... ... ...our G-Great Unifier... ... ..."

Applejack whistled, floating backwards as she gawked at the sled behind them. "Well, will ya look at that?"

"I'd much rather not," Rarity droned.

Applejack tilted her hat back, looking at the others. "I mean she's plum losin' it. The fight."

"Applejack," Twilight quietly chided. "I really really don't think she's losing the will to fight."

"Well, for a spell, no doubt." Applejack blinked. "Ain't that worth celebratin'?"

"If... if she actually does calm down, then maybe Rainbow Dash can finally talk to her?"

"Pffft!" Pinkie rolled her eyes. "As if!"

"It needs to happen, Pinkie—"

"What needs to happen is for that inside-out meanie head to come to terms with the fact that she's not in charge anymore!"

"Everypony deserves a second chance. Even her. Why else would Rainbow Dash have saved her life?"

"She's not a pony!" Pinkie Pie shrieked. "She's a death chicken with military scholarship!"

"Girls, please..." Twilight clutched her shaking head. "We are not going to make this entire trip through the Dark Side an endless argument over—" Just then, her horn sparked. She looked up with widening eyes. "Hold up a second."

"...?" Rainbow tiredly looked up in mid-flight. Right as Twilight's horn strobed, she spotted the sphere pulsating with a bright flash of red light... then falling dead and inert to the stone floor of the ravine. "Hold up!" she shouted.

The Herald scuffled to a stop beneath her. Ariel hovered in place, confused.

Rainbow Dash pointed. "Ball down!"

"Huh?" Flynn craned his neck. He gnashed his teeth upon spotting the sight. "Awwwww buttsicles."

"Ohhhhhh..." Logan winced. "That's... uh... that's not a good thing, is it?"

"Hold yourr brreaths, frriends!" Kepler called out, scrambling towards the fallen sphere along with Flynn. "All may not be lost!"

"How can you say that?" Ariel shrugged in midair. "Our rusted tour guide just did a suicidal dive into the rocks!"

"Probably because it hit a pulse of overloading mana feedback or something!" Flynn exclaimed.

"Dude, could you underjargon your jargon for the jargon-deprived, please?" Rainbow entreated.

Flynn raised the sphere with his telekinesis. He rotated the object, looking it over, probing with tendrils of magic. His mechanical eye rotated in and out, scrutinizing.

Wildcard took the opportunity to look all around, studying the dark landscape around them. At the bottom of the wide ravine, all was darkness and shadow. The stalagmites loomed like granite tree trunks along the edge of an ink-black forest.

"Sooooooooo..." Logan craned his neck. "...how's it looking, baldy?"

Flynn looked up. He did so with a tired smile. "It's just as I thought. A cluster in the leylines shorted the inner wiring."

Kepler nodded. "Easily rremedied! No need to worrry!"

"Worry? Who's worried?" Logan shrugged, looking all around. "We're only stuck in the middle of butt-knows-where, shadowed and vulnerable."

"Just give me a few minutes!" Flynn exclaimed, prying the seams of the sphere apart so he could access the crystals and wires inside. "I'll have this thing purring in no time! Maybe I can even make it go faster!"

"Yes! Please!" Ariel sighed, dusting her forelimbs off. "It's taking all my willpower not to just fly upwards and find Darkreach on my lonesome!"

Rainbow Dash looked at Ariel... at the sphere Flynn was tinkering with... then at the shadows all around. She felt her wings—how weary and stiff they were, even in mid-flap. A cold shudder ran through her body, and by the time it reached her throat she was speaking boldly: "Put the repair on hold, Flynn."

Flynn looked up, his one good eye blinking. "Huh?"

"Save it for later," Rainbow said, slowly descending. "Time to take a break. We're setting up camp here."

"Wait—what?" Flynn shifted where he stood.

"Woohooo!" Logan cheered. He then blinked awkwardly. "Er... I mean... why here?"

"There's no telling how long it's going to take for us to reach our destination," Rainbow Dash said. "We've been going at this for hours... maybe even days. There's just no way of knowing."

"But Rainbow..." Ariel squinted at her. "What if we're attacked while we chill out here in the middle of an open ravine?"

"Attacked by what?" Rainbow remarked. "By all the nothing that Fluttershy's sensed in this entire, desolate area?" She sensed a yellow ghost nodding in her peripheral. "We need to feed up, get rested, and get our heads together. So... that means sleep. It's an order."

"Mrmmfff..." Ariel pouted, folding her forelimbs. "I still think that this stupid sphere isn't actually leading us to Darkreach."

"Sure it is."

"Then why is it taking so friggin' long?"

"Does 'Darkreach' sound like a place that can easily be... y'know... reached?" Rainbow Dash said. "If I was to put my money on it, I'd place the colony in a location that would be super friggin' hard to get to. And that's just the task we have before us."

Kepler spoke up. "Judging from the slab, we'rre not too terrribly farr from the etched rrectangle! But how to find the entrrance... well... that's up to ourr ancient mechanical helperr to prrovide us!"

Ariel sighed in defeat. "Okay... I guess we could use the rest."

"Damn skippy!" Logan exhaled, already unpacking his sled of supplies.

Ariel rolled her eyes. "Big Show could use the rest. But... I-I just want to make sure we get to Darkreach sooner than later. If anypony out here got a good grip of the Dark Side, it had to have been Onyxxus' crew."

"We can only hope," Rainbow said with a nod. "Right now... we gotta rely on ourselves. And 'ourselves' won't be getting far on mere fumes. So... time to rest it up. Pitch them tents, everypony."

"A grueling task if there ever was one," Flynn muttered to himself, heaving the sphere over his shoulder.

"Ha-Hah!" Kepler grinned through his tusks. "I get it!"

"Pfffft... you never get anything."

Four Words Is Hard

"Aaaaaaaaand..." Kepler rummaged through an unfolded bag of edible greenery. "Therre you have it, Rrainbow One!" He smiled through his tusks as he handed her a sampling of food. "Fourr leaves of Bleakweed!"

Rainbow Dash squatted on a partially unrolled blanket. She looked at the offering while members of the Herald continued unpacking a portion of the supplies all around her. Ariel was throwing up a tent and securing its canvas edges directly behind her.

"Uhm..." Rainbow Dash squinted at the food that Kepler was offering. "Remind me, Keppy. Just how much can a normal body go on when it comes to this midnighter delish?"

"I beg yourr parrdon?"

"I've had a lot on my mind as of late." Rainbow rubbed her brow and squinted at the wyvern. "I know you gave us the run-around way back when on the Light Side... but give me a refresher course, if you wouldn't mind. Wasn't it three leaves that a normal equine can sustain for a few hours?"

"Well... errm..." Kepler fidgeted a bit where he stood. "Yes."

"So, why are you handing me four leaves?"

"Because..." He adjusted his spectacles, then smiled innocently at her. "Because you arre the Austrraeoh! The most imporrtant memberr of this expedition!"

Ariel leaned in with a smirk. "Gotta keep those chubby cheeks of yours adorabadass!"

"... ... ..." Rainbow glared at her.

Ariel swiveled her smile until she was fixing the tent again. "Oooookay!"

"Kepler..." Rainbow sighed. "I don't deserve any bigger a meal than the rest of the group."

"Of courrse you do—!" He began.

"No. I don't." Rainbow frowned. "Eljunbyro is just as important as Austraeoh—if not more so. We each get equal helpings unless we're sick or injured!"

"Well... of courrse, Rrainbow, I'm inclined to agrree, but—"

"Good. Then it's settled." Rainbow Dash craned her neck until she was looking at the rest of the Herald. "You hear that? No more putting me on a pedestal! If we wanna get through this crazy darkness in one piece, then none of us gets allowed to hog any of the food from the others! Including me!"

"Heh..." Flynn looked over at Logan with a smug grin. "You hear that, Big Show? The way I see it, the Dark Side's gonna be the best diet you ever tried!"

"Ain't no skinnier than skinned alive, baldy," Logan grunted as he finished pitching a tent. "So watch your smart ass."

Flynn gulped and returned to tweaking the Cylindrimanian sphere. "Gotcha."

Rainbow sighed again. She peeled off one of the four large, edible leaves and gave it back to Kepler. "Thanks, Keps. I know you're trying to be thoughtful. It's... very Heraldic of you."

"Mmmmmm... perrhaps." Kepler took the morsel back without protest. "Albeit, it wasn't simply courrage that the Motherr Matrron taught us, but patience and wisdom as well. I do apprreciate the rreminderr."

As Kepler returned to the food crates, Ariel looked up. "Of course... conserving the sarosian bounty isn't going to last forever. What do we do when it's time to find new food?"

Rainbow nibbled on the edge of a leaf, grimacing at the bitter, sea-salt taste. "It's just a matter of time before we find something we can subsist on." She nibbled some more, swallowing "The Emeraldinians had to do it for a long, long time—didn't they?"

"Yeah... but they had tons and tons of supplies ferried over via alicorn magic," Ariel said. "Here we are centuries later... and so far Fluttershy hasn't sensed anything yet."

Rainbow bit off a length of leaf and squinted at the mare. "Meaning..."

"Well..." Ariel shrugged. "Y'know..." She shrugged again. "...there's gotta be something to hunt."

"Maybe for the rest of you guys, sure." Rainbow continued munching through the large leafs. "Mrmmmff... me, on the other hoof..."

"Rainbow, there's no sunlight here," Ariel said. "But—if there is indeed a food chain—there just might something we can catch and roast and—"

"And you guys can have it," Rainbow growled slightly. "I'll find something else to munch on."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. I... I just will!"

Ariel opened her muzzle to say something. She gave up, exhaling through her nostrils while giving Rainbow a melancholic expression. Quietly—and obediently—she returned to finish setting up her tent.

As the Herald continued settling down around Rainbow, the pegasus' friends stirred out of ghostly hiding. Twilight Sparkle hovered the closest, clearing her throat.

"Uhm... Rainbow...?"

"Mrmfff...?" Rainbow swallowed and moved on to her second leaf. "...egghead?"

"Ariel... uh... has a point..."

"I'm sure she does." Rainbow exhaled. "She should sharpen it and then skewer it through the spine of a chaos rat so she won't starve."

"It's not her that we're worried about," Twilight said, staring intently at their anchor. "This isn't Equestria. The Dark Side doesn't have a bunch of green fields and open plains for harvesting crops."

"Or grazing!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "Don't forget that!"

"Brbrrbrbbrrbbrrrr..." Rarity shivered all over. "Grazing..." Her teeth chattered as she brushed her bangs aside. "...could we actually sink so far?"

Applejack cleared her throat. "Point is, sugarcube..." She floated towards Rainbow. "...if you wanna make it even a fraction of the distrance that the Dark Side has to offer, then you'd probably better learn real quick how to make do with the Dark Side."

"And if the Dark Side doesn't have any leaves or plants in abundance—" Twilight began.

"Ledomare, Alafreo, and Rohbredden were chock fulllll of meat eaters," Rainbow Dash muttered. "I got through those lands just fine. I didn't have to compromise anything."

"But Rainbow, none of those lands are anything like what you're facing now!" Twilight protested.

"Even in the Grand Choke, I managed—"

"Nor is the Grand Choke!" Twilight frowned. "Stop being stubborn about this! At some point or another—if you're going to want to live—then you're going to have to listen to the options that the Herald are giving you!"

Rainbow looked up from eating halfway through her second leaf. "Twilight... if you were in my place... would you eat whatever they put on your plate?"

Twilight blinked. Her muzzle hung open, searching for words.

Rainbow looked at the others. "Would any of you?"

The other mares squirmed, avoiding her gaze.

Rainbow took a deep breath. "My biggest goal is getting back to Equestria... bringing you gals back... and restoring harmony. But second to that...?" She nibbled pathetically on the end of the leaf. "...it's being able to live with myself and have as few regrets as possible."

"I wish I could say I expect all of that from you, sugarcube..." Applejack looked up with firm eyes. "But one of them goals is impossible. And it ain't the one ya think."

Rainbow Dash bit her lip.

The rest of the mares hung their heads—except for Fluttershy. She looked up with a remarkable brightness to her gaze. "Do you girls hear that?"

The rest looked all around, blinking.

"Hear what, darling?" Rarity asked.

"I don't hear a thing!" Pinkie squeaked.

"Exactly..." Fluttershy's ghostly cheeks went rosy. "It's so... quiet."

"Oh yeah...?" Twilight spun around. "I think there's a reason for that."

Rainbow craned her neck in the sleds' direction. A feathered figure sandwiched by alicorn metals lay perfectly dormant on one of them. She was still as a tombstone.

Wildcard's goggles caught Rainbow's gaze. He turned to look in the same direction.

Seraphimus was perfectly still.

"Did..." Rainbow blinked. "...did she finally wear herself out?"

"Hmmm?" Flynn looked over. Curious, the stallion marched across the space between rocky pillars and stood before the cart. Holding his breath, he leaned in. He looked squarely between Seraphimus' eyes—

—and they flew open. "HERETICS!!!"

"Gaaah!" Flynn scampered backwards, landing on his hind quarters. "Rrnnngh—sssssshit biscuits! Goddess damn it—!"

"Murderers of children!" Seraphimus shook and thrashed in her restraints. Her voice was passionate, but noticeably hoarse and winded. "Rnnnngh! You infidels will never make it to the Spring Havens! I shall drown you myeslf!"

"Hah hah hah hah hah!" Logan laughed as he trotted past Flynn. He paused to swat the panting stallion atop his bald crown. "What's that, now? Eighty-Nine?! You've lost track, ya numbskull!"

Flynn fumed and fumed. With an angry jerk, he hopped to his hooves, brushed himself off, and limped away under the fresh cadence of angry shouts.

Wildcard sighed, shrugged his shoulders, and continued polishing Bard's staff clean of bloodstains.

"Well, so much for that," Fluttershy sighed, her yellow body deflating until she was halfway phased through the stone earth. "And here I was hoping she was having pleasant dreams."

"Yeah!" Pinkie giggled. "Dreams about playing Whack-a-Dashie!"

"I guess sleep is out of the option now," Rarity said, wincing.

Rainbow looked at Seraphimus, at her meal, then at Seraphimus again. "Mrmmff... enough of this crud." She stood up.

Twilight looked at her. "Rainbow...?"

"Stay alert, gals..." Rainbow muttered. She passed by Kepler's mat, grabbed three leaves of edible bleakweed, and made a bee-line for Seraphimus' sled. "...I'm gonna need all the help I can get in talking this parrot down the mental ledge."

Of Liars and Cowards

Rainbow Dash made no more than four steps when—

Schiiiing!

Bard's staff stretched through the air, blocking her.

Rainbow calmly looked down the length of the metal and at the griffin who was holding it.

"She's not going to peck my eyes out," Rainbow droned. "Let me talk to her."

Wildcard's emotionless goggles reflected the mare's face doubly.

Rainbow furrowed her brow. "Stay nearby if you want. I need to face her."

Wildcard stared back. He exhaled slowly. Cl-Clakka! He retracted the staff, hobbled about on three-and-a-half limbs, then roosted on a rock overshadowing Seraphimus... and just a one-second-leap away.

Rainbow cleared her throat and continued trotting to the sled where Seraphimus lay.

"Rainbowwwwwww..." Twilight wrung her ghostly fetlocks with an anxious expression. "I sure hope you know what you're doinggggg."

"I never do," Rainbow said and plopped down on the ground.

"... ... ..." A pinned-and-restrained griffin glared daggers at her.

"Hi," Rainbow breathed. She placed the three leaves of bleakweed on the ground, pressed her hoof towards them, then shoved them until they were just below Seraphimus' beak. "Here. This is for you. Y'know... to eat and stuff."

"... ... ..."

"You do eat, right?" Rainbow muttered. "I can't imagine that you survived in Rohbredden solely on badassery and snow-huffing."

"... ... ..."

"That wasn't a request, y'know," Rainbow Dash said. "You are going to eat those leaves. You're going to eat them whole." She nibbled on her own leaf, staring at Seraphimus the whole time. Two bites later, she said, "There's no telling how much energy you've wasted thrashing around and shrieking your head off like a moron. You need sustenance to get better."

"... ... ..."

Rainbow nibbled and nibbled and—"Mrmmfff..." She leaned forward. "Don't try and make me hoof-feed it all into that sharp beaky-beak of yours. I'm not that stupid—"

"I would rather starve a thousand deaths then take your offering!" Seraphimus hissed.

Rainbow Dash leaned back, sighing. "Aaaaaaand there it is."

"Poison..." Seraphimus slurred.

"Huh?"

"You'd be trying to poison me anyways," Seraphimus said, more firmly. The obvious traces of exhaustion lingered on her charcoal brown eyes. "Will never... never take food from you..."

"Yo..." Rainbow cocked her blue head to the side. "If I wanted to poison you... don't you think I would have done so hours ago?" She blew out the side of her muzzle. "Tch... heck, I could have tossed you to the stars back in the Gondola. Ever wonder why I didn't bother doing that?"

"I know why."

"Oh yeah?"

"It's because you wish to give me a long and torturous death, Blighted One," Seraphimus spat. "And I shall not give you the pleasure."

Rainbow sat in silence for a bit.

"Egads!" Pinkie Pie looked at Applejack. "You think she really means that?"

Applejack gave her a double-take. "Are ya seriously askin' me?"

The rest of the mares were looking at Pinkie.

Applejack exhaled sharply. "She sure as hay believes it's true. There. Ya happy?"

Rainbow's eyes wandered to Seraphimus again. "I thin we got off on the wrong hoof." A crooked smile. "So how about starting over?"

"... ... ..."

"Cool." Rainbow finished her second leaf, gobbled the morsel down, then dusted her hooves off. "Mrmmmfff... mrhefllo..." She waved with a hoof. "My name... mrmmmff... is Rainbow Dash." A final swallow. "Born in Cloudsdale, raised in Equestria, killed in Aridstone—"

"I do not care for your putrid excuse for a biography, creature."

"Uh huh. Cool." Rainbow flicked her tail like a cat and blinked at the griffin. "So your name's Seraphimus, huh? Is that—like—a common name in Rohbredden?"

Charcoal brown eyes narrowed visciously. "It is my name and my name alone."

"Riiiiiiiiight... so... uh... were you born with it or did you earn it the moment you became the Right Talon of Verlaxion—?"

"What do the names of the foals of Verlaxion mean to a pathetic monster who's forever separated them from their Goddess Supreme?!"

"I didn't kill your Goddess—"

"Bite your tongue!!!" Seraphimus snarled, causing the sled beneath her to rattle. "You boasted about it before the Council of Verlaxion!"

Rarity and Fluttershy winced.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, shut them, then rubbed her forehead. "Thattttttttttt was all for show—"

"You are a vicious and unrepentent murderer—"

"I wasn't given' much of a choice!" Rainbow Dash reopened her eyes, glaring. "Verlax—the Dragon Divine posing as your so-called 'Goddess'—had preordained her death for the very moment I arrived, and she released all of the wendigoes that she had been holding onto for centuries on her own volition!"

"Might wanna slow it down, sugarcube—" Applejack stammered.

"I became the monster you wanted to hate because it would give your stupid country solidarity!" Rainbow swung a hoof towards the nebulous twilight above. "If I didn't—those idiots in the Council would still be turning on each other! How would you hold off against a bunch of frozen banshee horses then?!"

"A great deal better than if a lying, selfish abomination like you hadn't murdered our Queen in cold blood!!!" Seraphimus' enraged voice echoed against the nearby rocks before dissipating into the shadows beyond.

Rainbow Dash fumed and fumed. She opened her muzzle to say something... lingered... then looked over her shoulder.

The rest of the Herald were all standing in a straight line, staring. Upon seeing Rainbow's angry glance, they all shuddered... spread apart... and trotted off to random destinations around the camp.

Wildcard glanced at them, then continued acting as faithful sentry over the scene. He adjusted the limbs beneath his muscular figure and kept his goggled gaze locked on Seraphimus.

Rainbow turned towards Seraphimus again. "Would... it give you... any sort of inner peace to know that I never wanted your Queen to die?"

"None whatsoever." Seraphimus stared icily at her. "I would wish—more than anything in this world—for you to die... horribly... painfully... and at the end of my claws, if possible."

The mares looked at Applejack.

Applejack looked back, rolled her eyes, then nodded.

"Yeah, well..." Rainbow sat up straight. "That's not happening. And as much as I'd like to throw you over the edge of the world so that you landed back home in Rohbredden, that can't happen either. Right now, I'm on a super crazy important mission... the same mission I was on before Verlax got stuck in my craw—"

"I wish you nothing but failure and disappointment, infidel."

"Yeah. Uh huh. And letting you go isn't really an option either. One—you'd be dead meat on your own. Two—I'd be dead meat with you out there plotting my untimely demise."

"Then you should kill me."

"That's not happening either—"

"If you had an ounce of bloody commitment, creature, then you would—"

"It's not friggin' happening, you Celestia-forsaken melon fudge, so you can just buck up and take life up your ungrateful tailpipe!" Rainbow snarled.

For once, Seraphimus was silence.

Wildcard glanced quietly between them.

At last, Seraphimus exhaled. "You're worse than I thought." A hiss. "You're a coward."

"No—a coward would have murdered you on both opportunities that I had to," Rainbow said, glaring back. "First at Starkiss... then at the World's End."

"Instead, you wait for time to do the dirty work for you." Seraphimus' headcrest straightened. "You are a coward."

"Yeah, well, keep saying that," Rainbow replied, turning her last leaf around. "We're on the Dark Side of the World. We're all going to need our little happy places."

"Dark Side... of the World...?" Seraphimus muttered with sudden confusion.

Rainbow glanced at her.

Seraphimus looked back, and her frown returned. "You lie."

Rainbow turned and turned the leaf around in her hooves. At last, she sported a nerdy grin. "How about a history lesson...?"

Twilight perked up.

Both Seraphimus and Wildcard cocked their heads with identical, avian motions. "Buh?" one of them exhaled.

Educating Your Kill Parrot

Rainbow Dash held her last bleakweed leaf in her little pony hooves and brought it to her little pony mouth so she could nibble on it with her little pony teeth. She did so with a considerable amount of precision and purpose, pivoting the whole of the morsel as she continued to bite into the thing.

Seraphimus was forced to stare at her the entire time. Her headcrest raised and lowered, and the griffin ultimately frowned. "What's this...?" she hissed. "In addition to a murderer, you're also a glutton?"

"Mrmmmfff... grnnghh-hnng..." Rainbow Dash waved a fetlock, swallowed, then continued nibbling at the leaf.

Seraphimus sighed. Her hawkeyes darted straight up.

Wildcard gazed back—but was silent. His gaze remained on Rainbow Dash.

At last—after a few little chompy-chomps with her molars—Rainbow Dash finished her "work." She swallowed the last few bites down, then placed the leaf down between the two of them. "Ahhh... urp... there we go..."

The leaf had been bitten to form a perfect curved line: consistently narrow like a quarter-circle.

"I would have drawn a line in the sand... but my hoof edges aren't as good as talons." Rainbow gestured at the bound guest. "I mean... you have talons, but we also don't have sand. Plus, you're kinda sorta in a homicidal rage at the present moment." She chuckled cheekily. "Heh heh heh heh..."

"... ... ..." Seraphimus glared.

"Aaaaaaaanyways..." Rainbow Dash shifted forward and pointed at the leaf. "Look at this leaf."

"No."

"So... pretend that this leaf... is the world that we live on." Rainbow's eyes occasionly darted between the partially-eaten meal she was gesturing at and the prisoner before her. "The land I'm from, Equestria, and the land you're from, Rohbredden, are both located on the curved portion of the plane." She pointed at the convex side of the bitten leaf. "This is the side where ponies, griffins, mules, squirrels, and all the rest love to live and play. The Sun and Moon both light this side—well—except for the very-very edge of it. That's the Twilight Lands and the seas where the midnighters loved to hang out."

Seraphimus merely stared.

"You..." Fluttershy squirmed, floating closer to Applejack. "Do you think any of this is getting through to her?"

"I dunno, darlin'." Applejack adjusted her hat, eyes locked on Seraphimus. "Reckon she's got her attention grabbed."

"So... you and me?" Rainbow managed a fuzzy smirk. "We've always lived on the bent outward side of the plane. But... there is also this side..."

Her blue hoof swam over to the concave side of the bitten leaf.

"This... is the Dark Side..." Rainbow's brow furrowed. "It's called that because there is no Sun. There is no Moon. There is only stars. This side of the world is a total mystery to most of the creatures who live on the Light Side... creatures like you and me."

"... ... ... ... ..." was all Seraphimus had to give.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand..." Rainbow Dash ran her hoof over the concave side again and again. "...it's a safe bet that whatever lives on the Dark Side of the world isn't very much attuned to Harmony. We're talking about Goddess-knows what kinds of monstrosities are allowed to live in a pitch-black place ruled only by chaos." She gulped, her eyes trailing off slightly. "Nasty... bone-chilling... life-stealing chaos..."

Seraphimus raised an eyecrest.

Rainbow cleared her throat, stifled her tremors, and looked solidly at Seraphimus again. "Well... turns out that there is one shining light on the Dark Side. One all-important beacon that was placed there longggggggggggg ago. I'm talking a gonzo amount of years ago. Like... friggin' eons atop of eons having a pancake slumber party of near-eternal proportions. There really is no way to picture the gargantuan amount of epochs shoveled into a furnace and churned around with—"

"Laying it on thick, Rainbow," Twilight droned.

"Like unwashed wool!" Rarity winced.

"Errr... you get the picture!" Rainbow circled the leaf with her hoof. "Big... bigggggg banana-shaped plane. Super old! And—just as old—there's a thing situated in the middle of the undercurve... here." She pointed at the middle of the concave portion. "Tucked away in some super ancient place called the 'Midnight Armory.' This amazing magical artifact is called the 'Harmonic Prism'. And while everything else about the Dark Side is evil, ugly, and chaotic—this thing... this artifact... this solid piece of peace-bringing Harmony is the answer to restoring life in all of its glory... or... more specifically... the life of this plane we all make ugly burpies on. Why is that important?"

Seraphimus' bored eyes met Rainbow's.

Rainbow's brow furrowed. "Because this plane is dying. It once belonged to a bigger and more awesome thing. A collection of curved planes. But—a long time ago and for some reason—this piece of the bigger thing got... broken off. Sundered. And now it's... like... a smaller thing. And it's energy is waning... and so is all the stuff living on it. And... like... the powers of Harmony—the same powers that give us the Sun and Moon and the Harmonic Prism—can only sustain life for so long. Even that has to run out... unless someone... somepony... gets the Harmonic Prism, brings it back to the bent outward part... and gives the entire plane a snazzy, cosmic reboot."

Rainbow Dash leaned back. She took a deep breath.

"I only found out about this about two years ago... and even then I only knew so much. I've been discovering little bits of truth along the way. Along what way? Well—to make a long story short—I've been flying eastward from my home kingdom every month and week and day and night so that I may one day cross over onto the Dark Side so that I might then fetch this Harmonic Prism from the Midnight Armory and do something to stop the world from going permanently kaputzy."

Seraphimus was silent.

Rainbow arched an eyebrow. "Nothing. Not even a spittake or—"

"That entire story is asinine," Seraphimus grunted. Her beak clapped: "You're asinine."

Fluttershy and Pinkie winced.

"Mrmmmmmmm..." Rainbow face-hoofed hard. "Wrong... A-Word..."

Regarding Insults and Integrity

"You should have killed me when you had the opportunity," Seraphimus proceeded to growl.

Rainbow was still rubbing her muzzle. "Has anypony ever told you that you have the lame habit of repeating yourself?"

"I meant what I said," Seraphimus hissed. "I have nothing left. Not in this world or the one next."

"I know you think that now—"

"I know that!" Seraphimus snarled, making Wildcard stir cautiously above. "Why did you bring me to this place of desolation? So that I would somehow feel at home?"

"Did you listen to any of the crap I just said?" Rainbow frowned. "We lived on a curved plane, and this is the Dark Side—"

"Lies and Blight—"

"This is the Dark Side!" Rainbow Dash pointed straight up. "Have you not seen the friggin' horizon bending up into the stars?!"

"She can't at the moment, darling!" Rarity insisted. "We're at the bottom of a valley!"

"The... the crossing!" Rainbow Dash's voice cracked. "In the Alicorn's Gondola! What do you even think that lift was for? It brought us all the way over to—"

"She was unconscious for half of the ride," Twilight said, wincing. "Aaaaafter she spent all her waking moments inside the thing trying to kill us."

"D'uhm... uhmmm... Axan!" Rainbow Dash spread her blue wings wide. "Biggggggg frickin' dragon! Dropped her equine shell and grew all big and draconian and gave her life to bring us over to the—"

"We left Axan's corpse back miles ago, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said.

"Yeah!" Pinkie nodded. "And Psycho-Polly here just woke up—!"

"Rrrrgh!" Rainbow Dash growled aside. "For crying out loud, girls! Are you on my side or aren't you?"

"You're not exactly giving us much to work with," Rarity said. "Or Seraphimus for that matter."

"Wowsers..." Pinkie blinked into the twilight. "...come to think of it, it's a bit of a stretch for the griffin to swallow anything Dashie's got to explain!"

"Girls... come on," Rainbow Dash muttered in a hoarse voice. She frowned. "If she keeps her eyes and ears open long enough, she's got to eventually realize where we are and what this Dark Side is all about."

"If y'all dun end up stranglin' each other before ya get to Darkreach," Applejack said.

"AJ... come on..."

"Who... ... ...?"

The ghostly mares winced. Rainbow Dash turned around to find out why.

Seraphimus' anger was momentarily replaced with pure confusion. "...wh-who in Verlaxion's name are you talking to?"

Rainbow Dash raised her hoof... hesitated... the muttered out the side of her muzzle. "Yeah. No. I'm not touching that."

"Rainbow..." Twilight droned.

"Are you still so deluded by the Blight's touch...?" Seraphimus looked like she was going to vomit. She tilted her head up as far as her restraints could let her and gawked at Wildcard. "Jordan...? You've betrayed me only to put your faith and trust in a veritable mad-mare?"

Wildcard merely sighed.

"Look..." Rainbow Dash pivoted to face Seraphimus directly. "I could go off on all the nitty gritty details but you're not exactly in the position to believe any of it—"

"Oh, yes, creature..." Seraphimus spat. "By all means—do spare me!"

"All your life you've lived under a bubble of ignorance thanks to your Queen!" Rainbow snarled. "Believe it or not, the Sun does not revolve around Rohbredden!"

"Oh, but it revolves around your home country?"

Rainbow smiled with rosy cheeks. "Actually, it does!"

"Augh!" Applejack face-hoofed.

"Unnggh!" Twilight cringed.

"Seriously, darling—" Rarity started.

"I pity the ponies who live in your realm..." The feathers on the back of Seraphimus' neck rose on end. "...that they must make themselves complete by invading other lands and tainting them with their perverse ideologies!"

"Dude—the only 'perverse ideology' I brought to your frosted shores was how to kick butt and rock a killer rice hat!" Rainbow frowned. "Every time I ran into you or the rest of the Talon it was just me trying to get the frick away from you guys and go on with my journey—"

"E-except for when you launched the torpedo attack on her and the Frostknifers at the World's End!" Fluttershy nervously stammered.

Rainbow forced her eyes shut. "Okay." Her teeth clenched. "Everything except for after Frostknife... because that was a necessary show—"

"You ruined my entire nation," Seraphimus said in a firm, angry tone. "You tore the foundation of the Six Tribes down from underneath them and threatened thousands upon millions of innocent lives!" She howled, "And now you're trying to avoid the responsibilityfor your actions!"

"No! Seraphimus!" Rainbow winced as she stammered, "That's just the thing! I am totally taking responsibility for all of it! It's just that—"

"Then own the sins you have committed and put an end to my shameful existence!"

"I am not going to do that!" Rainbow Dash lunged forward until she was staring Seraphimus down in the beak. Wildcard moved to pull her away, but Rainbow was already barking: "Too much crud has fallen from the tree of lameness and I am not about to have your innocent death on my conscience too! You deserve a second chance at being awesome, Seraphimus! Yes! That's right! You deserve this!"

Seraphimus didn't bite Rainbow's jugular. Even within spitting distance, she didn't try to peck her eyes out. She simply glared at the pegasus with her cold charcoal eyes and calmly said: "You've taken everything from me. You've robbed me of my station, my dignity, my purpose, and my family. But nothing... nothing that you could ever possibly say or do would be more insulting..." Her eyes narrowed. "...than to insist that you cowardly spared my life for me."

Rainbow Dash stared at her. She breathed raggedly.

The ghostly mares glanced at one another anxiously.

Wildcard watched in silence.

Rainbow quietly stood up. She swiveled about—hooves scuffling—and silently walked away from the scene.

Before she left earshot, however, she paused. "If you feel insulted, Seraphimus. That's fine. Be insulted. It's okay if you hate me." She then looked over her shoulder. "But someone's done far more insulting and arrogant things to you in the past... and through lies and deceit she won your trust. It was Verlax's decision to set up her own death... to die and release the wendigoes... and her hold on your family." Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "She gave up on you long before you were even born, Seraphimus. But now that I have you in my 'Blighted clutches...?'" She shook her head. "I'm not giving up. Not now... not ever."

Seraphimus said nothing.

"Now eat your dang leaves." Rainbow marched off with a frown. "I guarantee they're tastier than anything else Rohbredden's been shuffling around all your life."

Time to Turn In

"So..." Kepler finished munching on a leaf of bleakweed and adjusted his spectacles. "Frrom what I can tell..." He pointed a claw at the metal slab resting between him and the other Heraldites. "...therre arre two faint indentations that diagonally attach frrom the lateral edges of this rrectangularr solid." He lifted his face with a tusked smile. "I suspect that these arre the elusive entrrances to Darrkrreach."

"What are they?" Ariel asked, stifling a yawn. She leaned her chin on her fetlock from where she lay on a sleeping mat. "Tunnels? Caves?"

"I suspect brridges."

"Bridges?" Logan raised an eyebrow. "In a ravine?"

"They go over the ravine, lard brain," Flynn grumbled. He glanced at Kepler. "That explains why the sphere is programmed to go ass-over-elbow in its return to base. The entrances to Darkreach must be really out of the way."

"Indeed so." Kepler nodded. "I suspect we have a grreat deal of elevation ahead of us."

"Sooooooo..." Ariel blinked blearily. "The base isn't underground?"

Kepler gestured up towards the curve of the plane. "Therre is something immense that is blocking out the starrlight. It looms above us... only a gallop away frrom wherre we arre currrently setting up camp. I believe therre is... ehhh... a naturral plateau of sorrts. Sudden. Steep. And narrrow."

"Like a mesa?" Logan asked.

"Exactly. Rrainbow's invisible frriends have sensed something to that naturre the last time we asked herr. If you ask me, it makes perrfect sense." Kepler smirked. "If therre is indeed a singularr rrising mesa in the centerr of this ravine, it would make forr a grreat defensive forrtification."

"It's like the Emeraldinians had a natural moat built around their headquarters," Flynn said.

"Prrecisely!"

"Sooooo..." Logan's eyes narrowed. "...these two bridges that the slab's indicating... are built on the furthest side of the mesa?"

"That's what the map appearrs to suggest."

"I wonder what that's all about," Logan remarked. "Weren't they expecting more supplies from Emeraldine? They'd be coming from the Edge, so why not make a bridge directly accessible to the beginning slope of the ravine?"

"Maybe..." Ariel yawned and curled her cheek against the sleeping mat. "...mmmmm... they ran into a bunch of midnighters and xenophobic Rohbreddenites along the way. They probably thought questionable forces would be following them from the Edge... so they had to fortify against the Edge-side portion of the ravine."

"Or it could be that the local geography only allows for bridges to have been constructed more easily from the Far-side portion." Flynn shrugged. "Maybe the ravine's edge is closer to the mesa on those two sides."

"In this drreadful darrkness, therre simply is no way forr us to ascerrtain that matterr," Kepler said. "The Rrainbow One, howeverr, is gifted with the apprroprriated senses to make a solid deterrmination."

Logan looked over. "How 'bout it, Rainbow? Do any of your friends sense the bridges from here?"

Silence.

"Rainbow?" Flynn repeated.

Ariel's eyes fluttered open. She sat up and looked over with concern.

Rainbow Dash sat in silence, staring at the stone surfaces of the campsite around them. Her eyes weren't even fazed by the gentle flicker of the fire they had kindled. It wasn't until Twilight flew directly in front of her and gestured dramatically that she finally snapped out of it.

"Hmmm?" Rainbow looked up. "Bridges?"

The members of the Herald exchanged glances.

Flynn cleared his throat. "It's... been a Hell of a hike, Rainbow." He smiled kindly. "Why don't you catch some shuteye? You of all ponies deserve it the most."

"Hrmmm..." Rainbow teetered slightly where she sat. Her eyelids hung heavily. "I wish that I could..."

"Rainbow...?" Ariel raised an eyebrow. "To be perfectly honest... you look downright pooped."

"Just hit the mat," Logan said. "You're body will know what to do next." He smirked. "Hell, that always works for me."

"Wish it were that easy..." Rainbow rubbed one forelimb with the other. "I just..." She sighed, ears drooping. "I wish I could have gotten through to her."

"To who?" Flynn's brow furrowed. "Seraphimus?"

"A task most difficult," Kepler hummed. "Even morre so than ourr epic trrek to the Midnight Arrmory, I suspect."

"Sure. But..." Rainbow gulped. "... ... ...I really believe there's an opportunity here to reach out to her... to make her see some sense in all of this..."

"Sense in what?" Ariel waved at the blotted-out stars above. "We're camped on the inner curve of a giant Death Croissant. Even I'm having a hard time not being utterly freaked out by it all." She chuckled nervously, then nervously kneaded the mat beneath her. "Knowing that... every bright and warm and happy thing that's ever existed is now hundreds of unknown miles of earth and metal beneath me..."

"I learrned of the rreality of this plane by studying dilligently underr the Motherr Matrron forr yearrs," Kepler said. "While I find it all fascinating—it's neverrtheless daunting in everry aspect."

"The Herald had years and years devoted to this subject matter, Rainbow," Flynn said. "Just as you've devoted the last few years of your life to living it." He shook his head. "You can't expect a random soul from Rohbredden to get it from a single conversation."

"Even if she weren't insane," Logan muttered.

Rainbow frowned. "She's not insane." Her nostrils flared. "She's just... misguided."

"Hah... yeah, okay..."

Rainbow glared at Logan. "I know 'insane,'" she said firmly. "I've seen what it's done to an entire village... and to lost daughters. I've buried bodies, Big Show."

Logan avoided her gaze and squirmed slightly where he stood.

Rainbow sighed. "I know that I'm asking a lot of you guys... and you've sacrificed so much for me already." A shudder. "And it sucks to make you sacrifice even more for someone who's only jeapordized everything we've worked for so far—"

"We've got Seraphimus' back, Rainbow Dash," Logan grumbled. "Don't you worry."

Rainbow looked up at her, blinking. "For real?"

Logan glared back. "You can't expect us to like her... but... mffft... like it's been said a gazillion times already... you're the Austraeoh and you've more than proven that you've got both the guts and the brains to make magic out of this whole journey of yours... of ours." He shook his head. "I won't prattle on and on about what I think about the damned buzzard lady anymore..."

"You're doing it right now—" Flynn started.

"Shut up!" Logan hissed while Kepler chuckled. "Point is..." Logan looked at Rainbow. "You deserve a break, Rainbow. And if it means giving Seraphimus that break... then so be it."

Rainbow exhaled with relief. "I... I'm glad to hear you say that."

"Yeah. Just understand..." Logan pointed. "You're not going to win her heart with a single crazy conversation. Hell... just might not win her heart. Period."

Rainbow nodded. "I understand that."

"And understand that we're tasked with protecting you no matter what." Logan's eyes narrowed. "That means you over her... in any and all circumstances."

"It won't come to something crazy like that."

The Herald were silent.

"I promise," Rainbow Dash said firmly. "I won't let her become a threat to us again."

"We believe you, Rainbow," Ariel said.

Rainbow looked at her.

It took a few tired seconds for Ariel to put on a reassuring smile.

Rainbow lingered where she sat. The mare rubbed her forehead, sighed, and said, "Somepony needs to go on watch—"

"Wildcard already volunteered," Flynn said.

"I could have guessed that," Rainbow said. "But the griffin's gotta be exhausted. He's been watching over Seraphimus all this time and he's still having to deal with the fact that Bard's—"

"We're all exhausted, Rainbow," Flynn said. "And... Bard's death is something that'll affect us forever."

"But we're the mother-buckin' Herald," Logan proclaimed with a fat grin. "And Double-Yoo is the most Heraldic of us all. You don't have to worry about him. You should have to worry about him."

Rainbow stifled a yawn and smiled tiredly. "Yeah. He's awesome like that, huh?"

"Indeed." Kepler put the slab away. "I suggest we sleep forr the next few hourrs. About two shifts' worrth. Then Flynn can rreactivate the spherre and we will follow it to one of Darrkrreach's brridges."

"I'll take the second shift after Wildcard," Logan said. "I was only ever a power-napper anyways."

"Oh great..." Flynn rolled his one natural eye. "Being woken up by you is always a treasure."

"I'll try to make it less smelly for you this time, Baldy."

"Ugh..."

"Sooooooo..." Ariel blinked. "Wildcard's on patrol first... then Logan... then we wake up hours from now and set off after the magic ball?"

Kepler exchanged nods with Rainbow Dash. "That would appearr to be the plan."

"Cool! Works for me!" And Ariel proceeded to curl up into a fuzzy gray ball with a delirious smile in the center. "Nini..." She was out like a light.

As everyone quietly shuffled away to retire, Rainbow sat in place, staring at Wildcard from a distance. She could scarcely make out his figure—only a pair of lenses that reflected Twilight amidst the shadows.

Applejack floated closer to her anchor. "Yer mighty worried about the feller, ain't you?"

"Hard not to be, AJ," Rainbow said.

"Reckon he did an awful lot to pull for you after what happened in the Quade," Applejack remarked. "If that ain't loyalty, then I don't know what is."

"It's not that," Rainbow muttered.

"Rainbow..." Fluttershy calmly cooed as she floated beside the mare. "Nobody's blaming you for what happened to Bard. Certainly not Wildcard—"

"It's not that either," Rainbow said. "I mean... yeah... it totally sucks that Bard's gone. He and I went through a lot. Wildcard too. But now that the Desperados are down to one..." She gently nodded her head in the griffin's direction. "...Wildcard's pretty much the longest-running companion I've got."

"You're not seriously trying to measure the worth of friendship based on sheer longevity, are you?" Twilight bore a wry smirk. "Because I'm certain I learned a lesson or two back in Ponyville about that. Want a lecture?"

"Pffft... cut it out, egghead," Rainbow muttered. "I guess what I mean is... I-I met Bard and Wildcard back in Rust. And that..." A shudder. "...that was barely two months after I left the Noble Jury behind in Val Roa. Wildcard is... like a piece of the Light Side. A very warm... very noble piece."

Her ghostly friends looked on.

Rainbow rolled her eyes at herself. "But what am I even talking about?" She put on a soft smile. "I have you guys with me. That's as warm as it can ever get."

"Awwwwwwww Dashie..." Pinkie swept in for a hug. Her hooves phased straight through her anchor, but that didn't stop her from committing to the gesture. "You're allowed to like all your friends equally. Even the Boo Haunted House ones!"

"You should take the time to talk to Wildcard," Rarity suggested. "Get to know him... since you care about him so terribly much."

"I..." Rainbow grimaced. "I wish I knew how..."

Find Your Happy Thought

Rainbow slumped down onto a sleeping mat a few paces away from the campfire. Unlike Logan, Flynn, and Kepler—she didn't allow for a tent over her head. She gazed sideways at the stone and darkness that had enveloped her. High above, a sliver of twilight fed cold blue luminesence down onto her tired limbs and bruised flesh.

"... ... ...ow," Rainbow muttered.

"Hmmm?" Fluttershy looked over, ears curving back with concern. "Rainbow? Are you alright?"

"Yeah... yeah..." Rainbow tired, then winced... feeling her jaw muscles. "Just... friggin' hate this..."

"Hate what, darling?" Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Sleeping?"

"No. Just... coming to a stop," Rainbow muttered. "It's only at times like this that all of the nasty side effects of getting into so many friggin' scraps finally catch up with me." She curled up—wincing as she did so. "Right now... I'm finally feeling the swordtips of the Frostknifers." Her teeth clenched. "Oofa... and there's a right-hook from Seraphimus... and there's another one..." She tongued the inside of her muzzle. "...and an uppercut."

"My stars...!" Rarity curled into a floaty marshmallowy ball, shivering from ghostly head to tail. "I don't even know how you do it!"

"Having a hammock to sleep in helps," Rainbow said. And a wistful smile crossed her muzzle briefly. Then a sigh. "Instead of curling up to the dead-stone bosom of an unforgiving Dark Side..."

"Eh..." Applejack waved a hoof. "You'll get over it."

"Applejack!" Twilight snapped, frowning.

"What?" Applejack shrugged. "I mean it! Our Rainbow is no push-over! She's agile! She's resilient!"

"She's frugal!" Pinkie exclaimed... then squinted into the shadows. "Wait..."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, AJ," Rainbow said. She tried to yawn—but only found another reason to wince. "But... right now... I would trade all of that to just be sleeping on a soft cloud somewhere."

"Maybe you can still make that happen?" Rarity smiled faintly. "Surely if you gather up enough moisture—"

"There is none," Fluttershy said.

"Huh?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "There hasn't been a single cloud in sight since we crossed the Edge, Rarity."

"She's right," Twilight said with a nod. "This is just the very precipice of the plane... but so far it hasn't yielded enough moisture and evaporation to form anything malleable to pegasus hooves."

"Dearie me..." Rarity rubbed her forehead. "I... I-I haven't even noticed!" A dainty gulp. "I suppose I've just been paying attention to the landscape and topography..."

"And you've been doing a very good job of it, Rare-Rare," Rainbow Dash said. "For realsies. We've relied a lot on you as of late."

"Oh... well thank you kindly, darling!" Rarity blushed slightly.

"I only wish I could have been so helpful," Fluttershy said. She shook her head. "But there simply hasn't been any creatures to detect."

"And for all we know..." Twilight looked at the others, nodding. "We're probably better off that way."

"FRUITY!"" Pinkie suddenly exclaimed. In the ensuing silence, she smiled sheepishly at her friends. "That's... uh... th-that's the word I was looking for. Heehee..."

There was a cute drawling sound... strangely melancholic. Everpony looked to see Applejack yawning... and yawning some more.

"Eeeeuhhhh..." Applejack rubbed her eyes. "Reckon I'd have a silly retort to give Pinkie, but I'm suddenly too tuckered out to care."

"You're not alone..." Rarity fought a yawn with all her lady-like strength... and failed. "Mmmmmfff... why did you have to introduce such a dreadful contagion into the air, Applejack?"

"Pardon..."

"Hmmmm..." Rainbow tiredly smiled against the sleeping mat. "Enough about me... when was the last time you guys turned in?"

It was Twilight's turn to fight the infection yawn bug. "Well... uhhhh... mmmff... probably just as long as you've gone without sleep, Rainbow."

"It feels like forever," Fluttershy said, blinking heavily.

"Heh... no kidding." Rainbow nodded. "Why don't you all dive back into the Vanilla Zone? It's been friggin' forever and you've earned it."

"Oh Rainbow..." Fluttershy shook her head. "We couldn't do that—"

"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzhhnorrrr..." Pinkie Pie was already snoring.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Well... we do need to be alert for the final climb to Darkreach... and Wildcard's patrolling for Rainbow and the Herald."

"I..." Fluttershy squirmed in place. "...I just feel bad leaving Rainbow Dash all alone."

"I am not alone, Fluttershy." Rainbow gulped, her eyes turning slightly glossy. "Believe me. I'm not."

"Well, you certainly won't get any argument from me." Rarity smiled tiredly and pushed Pinkie's rump. "Come on, Pinkie..." Slowly, the two were absorbed by a faint lavender light. "Time for dreamland."

"Mmmmmmmm..." Pinkie smiled as she nodded off. "Whatever you say, Maud. Just... be sure to walk Gummi... past the caves of licorice... zzzzzzzzzzz..."

The two vanished softly. Fluttershy followed after them.

Twilight hovered just above Rainbow Dash. "You are going to sleep yourself, right?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Rainbow..."

"Believe me, Twilight. There's no pony on this Plane—Light Side or Dark—who is more tired than I am." A beat. "Well... aside from Ariel, of course."

Finally, Twilight smiled. "Well okay then..." She turned around. "...but you shout if you want us to come back and help you with something."

"I doubt there are any libraries to organize between here and the Armory, egghead."

"Pffft.. whatever. Come along, Applejack..." And Twilight vanished into thin-air.

The farm mare lingered in place, though.

"You heard the Princess' star pupil, AJ," Rainbow fought through a yawn. "Leg it."

"I... I wish that I could, Rainbow..."

"Pffft. Come on." Rainbow cuddled up against the sleeping mat, exhaling. "You're the one who started the yawn fest. Own up to it."

"Well... sure... I'm tired... but..."

"But what?"

Applejack gazed up at the mouth of the ravine. At the endlessly swirling cosmos and galaxies in the distance. "How... how do you ever fall asleep, Rainbow?"

"I... I don't follow..."

"Under the weight of it all... the dag gum enormity of who you are and what yer questin' for..." Applejack winced tiredly. "I'm so sorry. Reckon it's a rude thang to hammer into yer noggin'. But... but sometimes I wonder how you ever... ever found the courage to sleep in all them months and months of soarin' east without us..."

"Without you guys...?" Rainbow shrugged against the mat. "For a while... it wasn't so hard..."

"Oh?"

"I mean... I just carried on like I did back in Ponyville... and in Cloudsdale..." Rainbow's eyes searched the stars above. "I'd dream about killin' it at the Best Young Fliers Competition... or about joining the Wonderbolts... or about stealing the spotlight at a Canterlot Air Show. But... then..." Her ears curved back slightly. "...as I kept moving away from Equestria... those fantasies hurt. They kept my mind agitated... didn't help me sleep at all."

"So... what did you think about?"

"You," Rainbow Dash said. She immediately twitched. "You and the g-girls." A nervous smile. "Hanging out. Doing adventure stuff. Simply having a snack at Sugarcube Corner."

"I... I-I reckon that didn't feel too good for long neither."

Rainbow slowly shook her head. "Eventually things got so chaotic that I was too exhausted to think of anything. Sleep just came to me. Then I met the Noble Jury: Belle, Pilate, Kera... ... ..." She pronounced another name between her teeth, but it was accompanied by a cold shudder. "But there came a time when thinking about them was too painful too. And then I was rejoined with you and Twilight and the rest of the girls..."

Applejack nodded. "The good and the bad come in waves, huh?"

"Totally..."

"Do you ever dream still?"

"... ... ..." Rainbow hugged herself. "You mean besides those terrible nightmares I had?"

Applejack bit her lip. "Sorry. I-I forgot..."

"It's okay. You haven't been a cognizant apple ghost for long."

"Heheh..."

"I don't know what to tell you, Applejack," Rainbow Dash said. "The last few times I've slept, there's been... nothing."

"Nothin'?"

"Just... blankness..." She swallowed. "Wonderful... peaceful blankness..." She rolled onto her back and gazed up at the stars. "Once upon a time—for the sake of being edgy—I used to tell myself that taking naps was just 'practicing for death.' But now? Now that I know so much about life and Urohringr and the Harmonic Plains... I guess I can't pretend to practice for anything anymore."

Silence.

"I expect to see Granny again someday."

Rainbow looked over. "Hmm?"

"Granny Smith..." Applejack murmured, staring up at the stars. "...I'm sad about her passin', of course... and I won't pretend to say that Apple Bloom and Big Mac ain't goin' through tough times back at home with copin' and all..." She looked down at Rainbow Dash. "But somehow... the Harmonic Plains is more real to me than they've ever been. Just seein' all of the epic thangs this world has to offer up close and hearin' the wise words spoken by Mortuana when she was still with y'all..." She paused for a moment, shook her head, then smiled. "I dunno. I mean... this is the Dark Side and all... but somehow everythang's not quite as bleak to me as it used to be."

Rainbow gulped. "I've no clue if that's how the Harmonic Plains really work, Applejack," she muttered. "Or if they're even real... despite everything that Mortuana or Celestia or Luna have said."

"But if they were real... and there is a place where we're all headed to... Granny Smith included... wouldn't you like to meet them all again?"

Rainbow's muzzle hung open. "... ... ...there are too many names to count," she exhaled.

"Well..." Applejack smiled. "Maybe that's yer warm thought to sleep to."

Rainbow blinked.

Applejack tilted her hat. "Good night, sugarcube. You mean the world to us. You really do..." And she backed away... and vanished.

Rainbow Dash was alone. And yet she wasn't.

She knew it. She wrapped her warm smile around herself, rolled over, and collapsed into delirious unconsciousness.

Back Where You Began

It started with hoarse laughter, low and cackling.

Rainbow's left ear flinched. Then her right. She opened her fuzzy eyes to a fuzzy world. The bliss of the mare's slumber only proved itself with how terribly uncomfortable it was to leave it.

All around her, the bodies of the Herald slowly rose and fell with quiet, gentle breathing.

Rainbow blinked. She looked at the soft gray splotch that was Ariel a few paces away. She took note of the shadows of Flynn, Kepler, and Logan fast asleep in their tents. Off in the distance, Wildcard perched atop a rock, forming a silent sihlouette against the twilight canvas above.

All was silent.

Rainbow Dash's eyes twitched... fluttered... and finally closed. She nestled her fuzzy chin back into the pliable surface of her sleeping mat.

And once again, she drifted.

And drifted...

...until a shifting sound disturbed her hearing yet again. It was a singular rustling at first, but soon grew more and more pronounced with rhythmic purchase. Like breathing. Snorting. Chuckling.

And then...

...a voice.

"Heh heh heh heh... a 'Herald', they call themselves..."

Rainbow's forehead tensed.

"...and not everypony has wings. Pfffft... so much for 'angelic.'"

The petite pegasus opened one eye.

All was still... save for a shadow. Darting. Slithering.

"Don't you just hate a nice day's work that sows chaos all on its own? No effort required. No fun."

Rainbow's heart froze. She sat up straight, ruby eyes darting around. There was a flicker to her right—a sign of reflected twilight being interrupted. She looked to see Scootaloo's goggles; both lenses were reflecting a wall of moving goat hair.

"I guess this is what happens when I'm forced into early retirement."

Rainbow jolted in place. The voice shifted, shuffling to her left. Panting, she turned her head the opposite way.

The Herald kept sleeping. Meanwhile, the folded spectacles resting just outside Kepler's tent reflected dragonscales. Within seconds, an antler'd shadow rose above the dwindling fireplace. There were limbs. Leather wings and blue feathers.

"Not that it matters. Seems like the most twisted labyrinths are the ones we've made for ourselves..."

Rainbow's gaze rose up... up. Her muzzle hung agape.

"Rather ironic, wouldn't you say?"

The shadow turned around, its nebulous hues unraveling with lavender glee. A pair of eyes rested in the center, flickering red on yellow. A one fang'd smirk loomed as he hovered in midair, peering down at Rainbow Dash with a devil-may-care grin.

"Why, hello there, Sparky." The fang glinted.

All of the hairs on Rainbow's neck had bristled by now. She spread her wings and hollered violently into the Dark Side. "Raaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaugh!"

Wildcard shot up with a start.

His body blurred as he faced the direction of Rainbow's bloody roar.

The air around him echoed, disturbing Seraphimus awake.

The hellish reverberations of Rainbow's scream hadn't dissipated, and already the dragonequus was casually stroking his beard.

"What? What's the matter?"

He plucked his skull clean off while his eyes remained hovering in place to study the cranium in his lion's paw.

"Is there something caught in my flavor-savor?"

"Rrrrrrrrrgh—!" Rainbow Dash charged at full gallop, clenching her teeth until they nearly cracked. She hurled herself skyward with a murderous rising hoof-kick. "HAAAAAUGH!"

Her blue body streaked pathetically through her target. Phasing through, she slammed into a random stalagmite positioned behind. The impact was so thunderous that it sent pebbles showering across the camp site.

"Hey! Rude, much?" He plopped his skull back on and hovered backwards with his arms folded. "What did that rock ever do to you?!"

"You..." Rainbow Dash heaved in mid-air, shaking all over. Veins showed in her eyes as she spat with each bombastic syllable: "I killed you!"

"I know, right?" He reclined lazily as he glided over a tent or two. "But you don't see me foaming at the mouth over it—"

"Aaaaaaaaaaugh!" Rainbow Dash sailed straight for him.

"Mayday! Mayday!" he chortled as her body phased through his hairy jigsaw figure. "Incoming easthorse at Dumb O'clock!"

Th-Thwumppp! Rainbow's body barreled through a tent, collapsing it. Flynn and Logan were fast awake, struggling to fight their way out of the tent. Rainbow Dash inadvertently knocked them into each other with her desperate attempt to fly at her target again.

A few paces down, Kepler shimmied out of his tent and awkwardly slapped his spectacles on. "What in Goddess' worrd...?" He flinched as Wildcard streaked past him.

Breathless, Wildcard took a flying leap, glided, and landed right at Rainbow's side. Cl-Clakkkk! He brandished Bard's staff in his one talon and looked every which way for an intruder.

"Nnnghhh..." Ariel groggily awoke, blinking confusedly at all of the commotion. "What... what's going on—?"

"Ariel!" Rainbow hollered as the figure coasted towards her. "Move! Get away!"

"What?!" Ariel's eyes widened as she shot up with a gasp. "Get away from what—?!"

"Discord!" Rainbow's voice cracked as her ears and tail drooped. "He's... he's b... he's b-b..."

"Discord?!" Ariel spun around a full circle as the dragonequus phased through her. "The Hell is a Discord?!?"

"Rather clueless, is she?" He smirked, reaching out to "pinch" the confused Heraldite's gray cheek. "Guess it makes sense. After all, she's pretty much blonde on the inside—"

"Stop it!" Rainbow galloped, drawn forward by a hellish frown. "Leave her alone!"

"Rainbow—!" Ariel flinched and ducked down low. "Aaack!"

Rainbow barely flew over her—flying through the dragonequus' laughing figure. WHUD! She slammed into another rock structure—this time causing it to tilt dramatically and crumble to pieces.

Ariel—frightened—threw Rainbow Dash a wide-eyed look.

Meanwhile, Logan and Flynn finally fought their way out of their tent—courtesy of the bigger stallion utilizing his axe. Riiiiiiiiip! Big Show burst out with a grunt, looking all over.

"...the Hell...?"

"Are we being attacked or—?"

"It's Rainbow Dash!" Ariel stammered, pointing at the crazed pegasus. "I-I think she senses something—"

"I think she senses something!" Discord imitated, his eyelashes growing three times as long for a brief second. "Eugh! Tra-la-la-la gag the girl!"

"I will NOT let you touch another one of my friends!" Rainbow shouted, propelling herself skyward yet again.

"Hahahaha!" He merely grinned at her as she flew towards him. "Do you even hear yourself—"

"SHUT UP!" Rainbow Dash punched and kicked and thrashed at the air. "Rrrrgh—SHUT! UP!"

Flynn grimaced.

Logan gripped his axe while looking all around. "What... wh-what's she even fighting?! What is this?!"

"I don't know—"

"I can't even sense a thing!"

"Rrainbow One! Please! You must calm down!"

Seraphimus' charcoal brown eyes reflected the distant shape flailing in mid-air. Rainbow's yelling voice echoed over the desolate stone.

"He's right here! Discord! He's back! Tell me that you see him! Rrrrngh—Dang it! Tell me that you see him!!!"

"Rainbow, you're punching at nothing—"

"There's nopony there!"

"We prromise you that you arre safe! Please! Come down at once—"

"No... No! Rrrrrrghh—You dang stupid coward! I killed you once—I can kill you again!"

Seraphimus' beak hung open as her eyes narrowed. A cold, disgusted breath left her throat. "She's mad..."

Discord yawned, his body rippling in lavender streaks upon each thrown punch of Rainbow's forelimbs. "Really... is this how you've carried on all this time? I mean—sure—I caught brief glimpses and snapshots but... heheh... I guess it's really true what they say..." He grinned slyly. "The feature presentation rarely ever lives up to the previews."

"Shut up!" Rainbow panted and panted, her voice growing ragged as she overexerted herself. "Just... sh-shut up!"

"So Determined!" Discord flung his arms wide. "Did you catch that capital 'D'? It stands for Dense! All hail Rainbow Dense, the Australioh! Heh heh heh..." There was a crimson glint to his pupils as he hissed: "You were always the easiest one to distract. I guess that's why I chose you."

"Rrrrrrrr—" Rainbow Dash angled her wings and made to dive straight through the villain. In a dark blue, Wildcard came up from behind and grabbed her before she could suicide plunge into the stone earth below. "Nnnghh—Let... let g-go!" She yelped and struggled. The Desperado nevertheless kept her in a vice-hold with his one good talon. With expert wings, he lowered her down to the ground—and the Herald. "I... I-I have to stop him! Don't you get it?! He's back! Discord's back and... and..."

"Rainbow!" Ariel rushed forward, grasping both of the mare's hooves and fighting with her every violent motion. "Rainbow—look at me—"

"NO!"

"Rainbow—"

"N-no!"

"There's nothing there! You're safe!" Ariel pleaded, staring her straight in the eyes as Wildcard held her still. "You're with your friends! The Herald's protecting you—"

"You don't get it!" Rainbow drowned in a cold sweat. Her pupils were the size of mustard seeds as she looked all around. "He's chaos! The lord of Chaos! None of you are safe! Cloudsdale... I-I mean..." She clenched her eyes shut. "...Ponyville... Equestria..." She fought and struggled once again with Wildcard's grip. "Rrrrrngh—friggin' melon fudge! I'll break you into a million pieces next time and toss them all into Tartarus!"

Discord merely yawned. "Yeah... well... I can see you're not yet ready to show up to the gaming table. That or you rolled a natural twenty in stupid. Either way... borrrrr-iiiiing." He snapped his fingers, and a pair of shades appeared on his snout. "I'll be back," he gluttered in a deep, thick accent... slowly dissolving backwards in a lavender pool. "Hopefully sooner than thirty hundred chapters or so. Zing!"

And just as he dissipated...

...five pastel colored shapes came bursting through the harmonic ether.

"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy gasped.

"Oh darling!" Rarity yelped, zipping towards their anchor. "What ever is the matter?"

"We heard you shrieking and crying and caterwauling!" Pinkie yelped.

"But for some reason—we couldn't get through to you!" Twilight exclaimed.

Applejack nodded as they all hovered around their friend. "We kept bangin' and buckin' against them walls of the Vanilla Zone somethin' fierce—"

"But the barrier somehow wouldn't buckle until just now!" Rarity exclaimed. "As if something was holding it in place!"

"Rainbow Dash..." Fluttershy floated close with a sympathetic expression. "You look awful!"

"What happened, Dashie?"

"Please... tell us..." Twilight looked with an urgent expression. "Did something happen just now? What's going on?"

Rainbow stared at each of her friends. Slowly, her body went limp... and gravity did the rest. Her scowl morphed into a grimace, and tears flowed rapidly. "He's back," she whimpered, her voice foalish and crumbling. "He's back, you guys. I don't know how, but he's back..."

"Back?" Pinkie's muzzle scrunched. "Who's back?"

Fluttershy looked all around. "I... I don't sense anybody..."

"Girls..." Applejack was staring dead-straight at Rainbow Dash with shrinking pupils. "This... this ain't a good thing..."

"I... I don't understand," Rarity stammered.

"Who?" Twilight looked at Applejack, then at Rainbow again. "Tell us! Who is back?"

"Oh gosh... oh no..." Rainbow sobbed and quivered. "Oh please Celestia, no... no no no no no..." She covered her muzzle with trembling hooves.

Wildcard refused to let go—instead keeping the mare anchored safely in his grasp. This gave Ariel room to lean forward and cuddle Rainbow closely.

Kepler, Logan, and Flynn formed an anxious perimeter. Their eyes continued to scan the darkness surrounding them... searching for an answer... a reprieve.

And finding none.

Let It All Out

With a streak of dark feathers, Wildcard glided down from a high altitude patrol. His talons scraped the stone earth as he came to a swift stop.

Ariel looked up, a petite pegasus cradled in her forelimbs. "Anything?"

Wildcard shook his head. Not long later, a wyvern touched down at his side.

"Mrmmff!" Kepler caught his breath, stood up, and held his glasses steady as he spoke. "We searrched high and low! Just shorrt of scaling the mesa!" He shuddered. "I'm afrraid we found nothing."

"That goes for us too..." Flynn strolled up with Logan in tow. They stood above the flattened remnants of their tent. "Nothing hiding behind any of the rock structures. My horn couldn't illuminate a single thing."

"I swung my axe at the shadows for good measure," Logan grumbled.

Flynn rolled his good eye. "Point is..." He turned to face Ariel. "...we're just as alone now as we were when we first set camp here."

"This ravine is desolation incarnate!" Logan's brow furrowed. "I mean... no offense... but what's the point in searching? If Rainbow's friends can't sense anything—"

"Big Show...!" Ariel frowned, giving Rainbow's shoulders a squeeze. "Shhhhh..."

"Look... I'm no big fan of her freaking the buck out either," Logan said. "But if there's any making sense of this—shouldn't the ball start in her invisible friends' court?"

Ariel shook her head. "Rainbow Dash is not the one who should be pressured into—"

"They sense nothing," Rainbow Dash stammered.

Wildcard craned his neck to look at her.

Ariel patted Rainbow's shoulder. "Rainbow..."

"They don't..." Rainbow sniffled, strill trembling all over. "But I know what I saw... what I heard." Her eyes darted around in a nonstop cold panic. "He's b-back... I don't know how... but he's back..."

"This crreaturre..." Kepler took a few steps forward, his eyes narrowing. "...this 'Discorrd'... he is the one rresponsible forr yourr chaotic state, yes?"

"I'm responsible for my chaotic state," Rainbow momentarily growled. "All because I killed him. I picked up the Element of Loyalty and s-single-hoofedly turned him into stone. I dashed him into a hundred pieces and... and..." Rainbow clenched her teeth as more tears welled up. "How can he possibly be back? How? I don't understand... how?!"

"Rainbow Dash..." Rarity floated in front of the mare, stealing both her attention and her words. "We've been over this a dozen times! None of us sense anything different!"

"If... if there was a dragonequus nearby... Discord or not..." Fluttershy gulped. "I-I'm sure I could sense him. At least... at least I think I—"

"Maybe her nightmares came back!" Pinkie suggested. She looked directly at their anchor. "Could you just have had a bad dream, Dashie?"

"No, Pinkie..." Rainbow gnashed her teeth as the Herald blinked in response. She shook in Ariel's grip, her ears folding back. "This was real. You don't know because you didn't have to deal with him like I did."

"Heeeeeeeey..." Pinkie pouted, folding her forelimbs. "Being blown to pink smithereens is definitely dealing with it—!"

Applejack placed a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder, silencing her. She turned to look at the others. "Rainbow's tellin' the truth, y'all."

"Or she thinks she's tellin' the truth," Rarity said.

"Our loyalest mare's been battlin' all sorts of epic monsters and heebie-jeebies for over two years now!" Applejack's brow furrowed. "Dun ya think she'd know the difference between what's real and what's a mind spell?"

"With all that chaos in her system, who knows, Applejack?" Rarity said in a sympathetic turn. "And here we are on the Dark Side..."

"Girls!" Twilight hovered squarely next to Applejack. "Aren't we forgetting something? When we tried to get out of the Harmonic state—"

"Vanilla Zoooooone!" Pinkie hoofy-kicked.

Twilight sighed. "The Vanilla Zone. When we heard Rainbow and tried to get out... something was keeping us from exiting!"

Fluttershy shuddered. "Or someone..."

"Right." Twilight nodded.

"Oh dear..." Rarity grimaced. "...you can't possibly be suggesting—"

"This was our very first trip to the Vanilla Zone after crossing over to the Dark Side," Twilight Sparkle said. "It's the first time we—the Elements of Harmony—decided to leave Rainbow Dash and 'recharge.' So... what if there's more to it than just the five of us attached to Rainbow?"

"Tw-Twilight...?" Rainbow Dash sat up, her lips quivering. "You... are you meaning to say he's... he's anchored...?"

"Anchored?" Logan belched. "Who's anchored?"

"Discord?" Flynn murmured.

"Hrrmmmm..." Kepler stroked his hairy chin. "Rrainbow Dash..." He looked at her calmly. "You arre am exceptional specimen forr possessing harrmonic enerrgy in its purrest forrm—as embodied by the souls of yourr closest frriends whom you've absorrbed back in Equestrria..." He narrowed his eyes. "But that isn't the only spectacularr thing about you... forr you arre also imbued with chaos. A blessing orr an infection, you werre neverrtheless forreverr changed by the rrift that opened in the hearrt of yourr kingdom. What if—just possibly—the souls of yourr frriends werren't the only things that you absorrbed...?"

Wildcard's goggles rattled at that. He turned and looked nervously at Rainbow.

Rainbow Dash's coat had paled even more. "No... that can't be right..." She shook her head, trembling even harder. "That's bullcrap! I got rid of him for good!"

"Rainbow Dash..." Flynn spoke quietly, carefully. "All this time... you've flown under the lights of the Alicorn Princesses... and the Firmaments placed their harmonically by their forebearers. But none of that is shielding you here on the Dark Side." His ears folded anxiously. "Nothing is around us to shield the chaos within any longer—"

"He..." Rainbow clutched her pendant desperately with quivering fetlocks. "...is dead. It's gotta be some crazy monster impersonating him or something!"

"Rainbow—"

"You just haven't found him yet! You just h-haven't..." Rainbow's voice gave out, replaced instead by pitiful hyperventilation. She lost the strength to sit upright and more or less collapsed to her side.

Ariel easily caught her. "Shhh-shhhh... just breathe. It's okay. You're not alone with this..."

"Don't want him to be back don't want him to be back don't want him to be back..." Rainbow Dash repeated with foalish squeaks. She curled up in Ariel's embrace.

Twilight, Rarity, and the others watched with misty-eyed expressions.

Ariel looked up at the rest of the Herald.

The males exchanged nervous glances. At last, Wildcard nodded and—fwooosh!—resumed flying in a wide orbit of the camp site.

As Kepler joined him, Flynn and Logan shuffled off. "We'll... uh... go looking around the outer fringes of the ravine."

"Stay close together," Ariel said, stroking Rainbow's mane. "No matter what, keep each other safe."

"Roger that."

As the Herald split apart, Ariel remained in place, holding Rainbow close. "They're going to keep looking, Rainbow."

"I'm so scared..." Rainbow cried. Her voice cracked as every defense dissolved completely. "Goddess help me, I h-haven't been this scared in f-forever..." She clenched her eyes shut. "Mmmmmm... Celestiaaaaaa..."

"It's okay..." Ariel smiled gently before nuzzling the mare close. "It's okay, Rainbow. Let it out. It's okay, girl..."

Rainbow sobbed like an infant, even as her friends circled closer. The only one looking remotely composed was Applejack. She hovered higher—like a sentry—gazing around at the darkness surrounding. At long last, her ghostly eyes found the silvery shape of Seraphimus off to the side.

The griffin wouldn't stop staring at the sobbing pegasus.

Applejack's eyes narrowed... and her frown was far from a subtle thing.

Friendship With Extra Mayo

"What if... the Dark Side is like one giant ice cream cone surrounding the Vanilla Zone which is why we have such a hard time breaking free?!"

"Pinkie—"

"AND... without her harmonic friends nearby, Dashie starts to lose it in the whosit? I mean, I'd go crazy and start dreaming up big baddies too!"

"Twilight, admit it. Pinkie might have an oxymoronic way of describing her theories—but it's a lot simpler than... brrrrr... the actual, literal Discord having r-returned!"

"Rarity, if Rainbow Dash said it and Applejack confirms it—"

"But Applejack only knows what Rainbow Dash experiences."

"Yer sayin' she ain't experiencin' reality?"

"No, Applejack, what I'm trying to say is that it's all a matter of perspective. I agree with Pinkie insomuch that whatever's happening to our friend—and to us—is merely a component of dwelling on the Dark Side! But to actually claim something so horrible as... as D-Discord returning..."

"Just because it's terrible dun mean it ain't true, Rarity."

"Applejack—"

"Truth hurts more than we want it to. I'd say we treat this like it's the worst case scenario. We accept what Rainbow Dash has declared about Discord and then we focus on what needs to be done about it!"

"B-but what can we do about it? If Discord's really b-back, then we're in m-more danger than we can even pretend to imagine!"

"We're not in danger, Fluttershy."

"But Twi! We couldn't reach Dashie when she needed us the most! That's poopy news! It's like the Defcon One of Poopy news!"

"What in the hay is a 'Defcon?'"

"Definitely Enigmatic, Freaky, Calamitous, And Nasty!"

"The word 'and' doesn't start with an 'o.'"

"Then you think of something, Twilight!!! Golly-gee-gummy-gunk! It's a little hard to break the forth wall when it starts to break back against you!"

"I-I-I don't even think I can ever g-go back to the Vanilla Zone after today..."

"But we have to, Fluttershy! Otherwise we'll never recharge! We can never help Rainbow Dash!"

"Hrmmm... ya reckon we should keep ourselves from goin' back into that bright'n'shiny place? See how long we can manage?"

"I... shudder to think of what that might do to us, Applejack. Unless you, Twilight, think it wouldn't be harmful to us or Rainbow."

"I... I-I can't say for certain. All evidence seems to suggest that it would be a detriment to our connection to Rainbow Dash to never, ever go back to that place."

"Then maybe we can go there for only a short spell? Feel it out? Like a quick power nap?"

"After what happened last time, I don't think we can afford to experiment much... as much as I'd love to."

"Duaaaaaaah! We can take turnsies! Rotate our filly fuzzy sleeping schedules around the clock!"

"That's... actually a good idea, darling."

"Make it so that one of us is always guardin' Rainbow Dash? Like a loyal pup? Shucks, sign me up!"

"And after all that's happened, she could really use our help. I mean... have you ever seen her so... so t-terribly distraught?"

"Can't say that I have."

"Nope."

"Uh uh!"

"You've known her longest, Fluttershy. How about you?"

"I... I-I can't remember. Rainbow Dash has always been the strong one. All the way through Rohbredden—as we watched her surpass obstacle after obstacle—she only served to reinforce the courageous, resilient image I've had of her. But seeing her utterly collapse like that..."

"Mmmmmm... makes you wonder exactly what p-poor Dashie went through right after we all went kablooey."

"Good heavens... I shudder to think! And now the weight of Discord has fallen back on her shoulders!"

"Yeah... ... ... ..."

"... ... ... ...what if it really is true? What if our beloved Rainbow is... is actually tethered to him like we are to her?"

"Then it's our job to give her support! We carry her spirit on our shoulders like she's carried us! After all, we're in this together!"

"Of course..."

"Absolutely!"

"Yeah!"

"Boy howdy!"

"After all she's been through, we deserve no less! First thing she wakes up, I suggest we all gather around and tell her how we're going to plan to deal with this threat—"

"I'm awake, egghead," Rainbow Dash droned from where she laid curled up under starlight. "You can tell me now."

"Eeep!" Twilight Sparkle jolted in place. She and the other ghostly mares pivoted to face Rainbow Dash.

Stirring, Rainbow Dash rubbed the gritty remains of tears from her eyelids and squinted at the group. "I'm totally sorry for freaking out like I did before..."

"Oh Rainbow Dash..." Fluttershy floated forward with ears folded.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, darling," Rarity said.

"Darn tootin'!" Applejack nodded. "If I was in yer place, no doubt I'd be caterwalin' somethin' fierce as well!"

Rainbow Dash merely stared at Applejack. She stared and she stared...

"Okay. Maybe not. Heh..." Applejack tilted her hat back. "But... you gotsta admit... that's an awful lot to digest in one evenin'—"

"Mrmmfff..." Rainbow Dash stirred some more, rubbing her eyes. "I don't really want to talk about it. Not right now."

"But Rainbow Dash!" Twilight glided forward with an anxious expression. "This is very serious! We have to deal with this as soon as—"

Pinkie rested a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. The party mare shook her head, then spoke to Rainbow in a calm, melodic voice. "Don't let us interrupt your shuteye, Dashie. Cruddy crud or not—you still need to rest for the trek ahead."

"Grnnngh... sleep... how..." Rainbow's tired eyes darted around. "How long have I been sleeping?"

"Not long enough," Fluttershy said. "Trust us."

"Ungh..."

"Uhm... erm..." Twilight cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, Rainbow. Pinkie's right. You really could use the rest right now."

"Where's the Herald?"

"Don't worry. They're safe—"

"If they're safe, then you can tell me where they are," Rainbow said with a sudden frown. "Well? How 'bout it?"

Rarity sighed, then looked aside. "Fluttershy, darling?"

"Flynn's guarding Seraphimus at the moment," the pegasus said. "Logan and Kepler are scouting."

"Uh huhhhh..." Rainbow Dash blinked. "And what about Wildcard? Ariel?"

Fluttershy merely smiled.

"Flutters...?"

"Look for yourself, darling," Rarity said.

Rainbow didn't have to look far. She tilted her head to the right and nearly bumped into Wildcard's beak. The griffin slept, perched in an upright position directly in front of Rainbow—his back to the twilight. In the midst of his slumber, the Desperado somehow continued clutching Bard's staff with his one good talon.

Rainbow looked to the left... and got a muzzle full of gray fuzz. Ariel was spooning her from behind, enveloping the petite pegasus' body with a protective hug. She was also asleep.

It was like waking up in a warm cocoon of comraderie. Rainbow Dash instantly lost the nerve to move any further.

"Well... uh..." Rainbow gulped. "...I guess I'm getting some more sleep."

Twilight stifled a breathy giggle. "Looks like it."

"Have... have they been here long?"

"All night long, Rainbow," Fluttershy said. "Wildcard insisted on guarding you all night. And Ariel..."

Rainbow's eyes briefly crossed Applejack's gaze. "Yeah..." She lowered her head as she rested in her friends' close proximity. "Yeah, I get it."

"They believe in ya, Rainbow," Applejack said. "And so do we."

"Mmmmm..." Rainbow exhaled softly. "I guess... g-guess I'm pretty lucky, aren't I?"

Twilight nodded. "All things considered."

"Right..." Exhaustion set in once again, and Rainbow closed her eyes. "Good enough."

She snuggled under Ariel's arms... and was fast asleep as her friends looked on.

Stone Waters; Set Sail

Hours later...

The Cylindrimanian sphere warbled along at a zig-zagging pace. It barely skirted past the stalagmites and loose boulders filling the valley floor as it made its way gradually up a slowly ascending grade. Up ahead, a craggy incline stretched towards visible starlight. A tall cleft of rock loomed to the left, and it was obvious that the ancient piece of machinery was headed towards it.

"Ha-hah!" Kepler smiled through his tusks as he glided through the air, perched on a rock, glided, and perched on another rock. "It is just as we prredicted! I have no doubt at this point that we shall be dirrected to a lofty brridge strructurre of some sorrt orr anotherr!"

"Yuh huh..." Flynn huffed and puffed as he and Wildcard dragged the larger sled behind them. To give Logan a bit of relief, they exchanged griffin guard-duty... but the stallion was starting to regret the generous action by the time they reached the first hint of an incline. "Any chance we c-could predict some crystal-blue springs or refreshing ice d-deposits along the way?"

"Do not sound so despondent, brrotherrs!" Kepler hopped and glided above them, following the sphere's leisurely path. "Therre shall be time forr rrest once we get to Darrkrreach! I am surre of it!"

"Mrmmmfff..." Flynn clenched his teeth as sweat ran down his bald crown. He used telekinesis to lighten the load behind him and Wildcard, but it barely worked in relieving them of the weight. "I wonder what are the odds that a guild of Emeraldinian physical therapists survived there over the past half-millennium..."

Wildcard—naturally—said nothing. Although he broke a sweat, his breaths were solid and his pace was constant as he pulled his half of the heavy weight.

Flynn glanced aside at the Desperado. "Does anything ever bother you, dude?"

Wildcard merely shrugged. He scraped the floor with his temporary metal cane of a prosthetic and tugged along.

Flynn sighed, his one eye narrowing at the shadowed ascent ahead. "And here I thought we had lost all the robot parts of you..."

There was the subtlest of muscle shifts to Wildcard's throat—something resembling a smile behind his streamlined beak. He nevertheless kept marching uphill.

Behind them, Logan pulled the smaller wagon with the greatest of ease. Although his limbs weren't bothered the slightest by the trot uphill, he wasn't smiling. The large stallion constantly threw a look over his shoulder, focusing on the prisoner being tugged behind him.

Seraphimus was constantly looking to their right—squinting at two feathered shadows gliding evenly with the Heraldic caravan. Her charcoal brown eyes settled coldly on a petite pegasus...

"Hey..." Logan gnashed his teeth. "Hey...!" He reared one leg and rattled the sled.

Seraphimus winced as the metal all around her jolted. Her eyes turned so she could glare at the pony pulling her.

"Eyes off. Ya hear me?" Logan frowned back at her. "You don't get to glare at her. Not after what she went through last night."

Seraphimus calmly exhaled. "After what happened last night..." Her eyes narrowed. "...I wonder why the lot of you aren't glaring at yourselves in disdain."

Logan merely clenched his jaw muscles.

Seraphimus hissed, "She's insane... both dangerous and demented. It will lead you and the rest of your companions to ruin." A cold breath. "That's a promise..."

"So long as I'm in charge of your ungrateful pussy-ass, you shut your rancid beak. Got it?"

"You know this," Seraphimus slurred. "You know that she will be the death of you. Why do you persist?"

"The only thing I know is that I'm gonna volunteer to feed you soon. And I promise that all you eat is gonna be a whole lot browner than bleakweed leaves."

Seraphimus merely snorted at that. Nevertheless, she was silent as Logan carried her the rest of the way up hill.

Off to the right, Rainbow Dash and Ariel flew parallel with the group, slowly ascending towards the top of a stone promontory.

"Once we get to the peak, I'll ask Flynn and Kepler to switch off the old metal ball thingy for a while," Ariel said. She smiled pleasantly. "Then you and the rest can chill while I go scouting ahead for the bridge."

Rainbow nodded. "Okay..."

"If I find it on my first flyby, I'll come back and let you guys know. If I don't, then I'll get Wildcard to help me. We'll be in Darkreach in no time. You don't have to worry about that."

Rainbow took a shuddering breath. She nodded again. "Okay... ... ..."

Ariel squinted sideways at her. She flapped her wings and flew backwards, facing Rainbow with concern. "Is... everything alright?"

Rainbow gulped. "Yeah..."

"Do... your friends sense the bridge ahead of us?" Ariel cocked her head to the side. "'Cuz that would be super cool... n-not that I want to put the pressure on you or anything... eheheh... I'm sure once we get to Darkreach we'll find our own way to get inside and—"

Rainbow flew to a stop, hovering in place.

Ariel levitated in front of her. "Rainbow...?" Her voice grew softer. "Rainbow, what's wrong?"

"I... uh..." Rainbow avoided her gaze, fidgeting with her fetlocks. "I really w-wish you didn't have to be juggling so much all because of me..."

"Hey..." Ariel smiled. "It's what the Herald's all about!"

"Even still, I'm usually... awesomer," Rainbow's voice cracked. "You shouldn't have to look after me so hard."

"Pffffft... please..." Ariel rolled her eyes. "...should I even try to list all the times you've saved the Herald's neck? My neck? Yowsers... if my mother knew how much of a damsel in distress I've turned out to be on occasion..."

"Ariel, you... you don't get it..." Rainbow shook her head and sighed. "I'm the Austraeoh. I should be tougher than this. I have been tougher than this. And last night..." She grimaced. At last, her sad eyes lifted to meet the other mare's. "... ... ...last night you didn't exactly see me at my coolest. And... and I'm sorry for that." She gulped. "I'm sorry if I totally ruined my 'courageousness' for you and Wildcard and the rest. I suspect I'm probably lame forever now..."

Ariel merely smiled. She drifted in and gave Rainbow a soft hug. "I'll never be sorry for having known you."

Rainbow bit her lip. A slight rosiness crossed her cheeks.

Ariel gave her a nuzzle. "Let us take care of the Austraeoh for a while." She leaned back with a smile. "You just focus on giving us a sign if that asshole Discord shows up again. Promise?"

Rainbow opened her muzzle. Her breath hung off a squeak however...

...for she saw a length of gray scales and goat fur reflecting off of Ariel's ocean blue eyes. In the distance, there was a cackling noise.

Rainbow shivered once... swallowed... and gave a nod. "Promise."

Don't Drop the Ball

Twilight Sparkle's eyes twitched. "Rainbow."

Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder. She and Ariel were gliding along the outer edge of the promontory overlooking the ravine. "What's up?"

"Magic.' Twilight gulped. "I sense... magic."

"Well, of course you do, silly!" Pinkie Pie pointed at the sphere puttering up ahead, climbing the final ascent. "That thing's been shimmer-glimmering away for the last hour!"

"No... no..." Twilight rubbed her horn, grimacing slightly. "This is a different magic. A deeper one."

"'Deeper' how, darling?" Rarity asked.

"I-I'm not sensing any living thing out here," Fluttershy said. "Wherever this magic is... it's just magic."

"Still..." Rainbow took a breath, looking forward. "Sensing magic where—all this time—there's been a whole lot of nothing... is something."

Ariel threw Rainbow a double-take. "What? Are the girls sensing Darkreach?"

Rainbow narrowed her eyes. All ahead of them was impenetrable darkness. "I'm not sure..."

"Can you... pinpoint the location, Rainbow?" Twilight asked.

Twilight raised a hoof... pointed it... pivoted slightly... and pointed again. "In that direction. Slightly... down a bit."

"You mean back into the ravine?" Applejack asked.

"No." Rarity shook her head. "I do believe that Twilight is pointing into the heart of the mesa across the way."

"Sounds like the ticket!" Pinkie exclaimed.

Rainbow cleared her throat. She turned around to shout at the other herald. "Guys! I think Twilight's found—!"

"Harrk!" Kepler's voice cracked in a panic. He gestured with a shaky claw. "The sphere!"

"Huh?" Ariel looked.

"Aw sh-shit!" Flynn gnashed his teeth—nearly tripping over himself while drawing the sled of supplies. "It's heading for the edge!"

Sure enough, the Cylindrimanian object in question was swiftly barreling for the edge of the promontory... and into plummeting darkness.

"Quick!" Kepler sputtered through his tusks. "Someone catch it!"

"Awww Hell..." Logan grunted from afar.

"I got it!" Ariel began a swift dive. Her ears folded back in mid-plummet. "Crud! It's too far—"

The sphere fell over the edge like a crimson flare.

"...!!!" Wildcard briskly unhitched himself from the sled, abandoned Flynn's side, and rocketed towards the cliff's edge in a black streak. Swooooooosh! He shot beneath Ariel, vanished... and rose back up with the fluctuating sphere tucked under his good arm.

"Whew..." Logan exhaled. He slumped to a stop, then frowned at the griffin tethered behind him. "You shut up."

Seraphimus' eyes narrowed. "I did not say a thing."

"You were thinkin' it!"

Ariel, Rainbow Dash, and Kepler joined up with Wildcard at the cliff's edge.

"So... what the buck?" Ariel stammered, still catching her breath.

"Why did it up and toss itself over the edge like that?" Rainbow asked. "Can ancient machines get existentially depressed?"

"It is simply a matterr of prrogrraming," Kepler remarked. "Let us not be drrawn into errroneously assigning this machine a perrsonality!"

"Well, Kepler, if you ask me it looks like the thing's having a temper tantrum!" Ariel remarked, pointing at the thing.

The device shook and gyrated and whirred in Wildcard's grasp. The three-limbed griffin struggled to keep the thing from flying off into the darkness again.

"Herre..." Kepler reached in and shut the device off. "Allow me..."

The glowing red sphere went dormant. Wildcard lifted his goggles and looked curiously at the others.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Wildcard," Rainbow said. She looked towards the darkness, scratching her head. "Rarity? Twilight? Any idea on where the thing was headed?"

"Straight for the mesa, darling," Rarity said.

"That's exactly where the magic I'm sensing is located," Twilight added. "Rainbow—I'm quite certain the sphere was only trying to return to Darkreach."

"But why take the plunge?" Rainbow slurred. "Was this sphere supposed to fly?"

"Did the old spheres in Danksteen fly when you first saw them on the Light Side?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"'Darkstine', and that was modern day tech, Pinkie. Who knows if the Cylindrimanians could build stuff that advanced centuries ago."

"Hrmmmmm..." Pinkie looked into the shadows. "Maybe it was expecting a piggyback."

"Ain't no pigs on this side of the plane, darlin'," Applejack said.

"Not that kind of a 'piggyback,' Applejack," Rainbow said, trotting up to the very edge.

"Rainbow?" Ariel hovered close. "What are your friends saying?"

"The little space marble thingy was definitely heading towards the mesa situated on the other side..." Rainbow murmured, squinting.

"But... how? Why?" Ariel gestured. "This isn't where one of the two bridges is located."

"Not now, it isn't..." Rainbow tilted her neck down. She stared at the dark stone edge of the promontory... at the obsidian crags lining the edges of the ravine below. It was hard to make out in the dim twilight, but she thought she saw some peppery bits of paler stone... like shattered concrete. "... ... ...Rare-Rare?"

The ghostly fashionista hovered closer. "You raaaaaaaang?"

"Anything... uh... weird about the rocks below us?"

"Not a single thing whatsoever!" Rarity exclaimed.

Rainbow sighed. "Okay."

"Wait..." Rarity struck a melodramatic pose, her horn glowing with intense scrutiny.

Twilight and Applejack rolled their eyes.

"... ... ...now that I think of it..." Rarity fluffed her mane, scanning the heavens with her eyes while her horn strobed. "Yes... yes! I do sense something different about this part of the ravine!" She pointed suddenly towards the cliff's edge. "Look! Examine that portion of the rock, if you would!"

Rainbow flapped her wings and hovered ahead. Ariel nervously followed her.

Soon both pegasi were levitating right above the precipice. Following Rarity's directions, Rainbow approached a swath of rock that stood out from the rest of the stone material. It was pale, smooth in multiple places, and fused tightly to the preexisting cliffside.

"A foundation..." Ariel murmured.

"Your adorable fuzzy friend is right!" Rarity beamed. "That is very... very unnatural stone! Mixed and poured several lifetimes ago!"

"So... that means..." Rainbow pivoted about.

"The bridge fell ages ago," Twilight remarked. "The metal sphere wasn't programmed to take that into acount."

"Darkreach must be on the other side!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Is... is it safe for us to cross?" Fluttershy stammered.

Rainbow inhaled. "Only one way for us to find out." She turned to look at the rest of the Herald. "We found our place of entrance, guys."

"Entrance?" Logan craned his thick neck. "I don't see a damn thing!"

"Because the bridge fell out years ago, dumbass," Flynn said. "That's what she's trying to say!"

"Oh. Great. Perfect." Logan shrugged his shoulders, causing the sled behind him to shake. "How are we gonna get this shit over?"

"One thing at a time..." Rainbow paced through the group. "We need to scout ahead."

Ariel and Wildcard immediately shot a hand up.

Rainbow smirked slightly. "Yeah. I could have predicted that." She stood up straight. "But I'm going with you dudes."

"But... Rrainbow One..." Kepler adjusted his spectacles. "What if the entrrance to Darrkrreach holds unknown perrils?"

"I'll be safe so long as I'm with you guys," Rainbow Dash said. "Besides..." She slapped a hoof over Kepler's hairy shoulder. "You're coming with?"

Kepler blinked. "I am?"

"Yup!" Rainbow gripped him and kicked off the cliff's edge. "Come on, everypony! Be there or be square!"

"Guhhhhhhhh!" Kepler writhed in her grasp, unaccustomed to flying at the pegasus' speed. Wildcard and Ariel swiftly followed behind.

"We'll... uh... we'll be in touch!" Ariel called back to the two stallions guarding the bound Seraphimus. "Just stick around for a bit!"

"Wait! Can't you just—" Flynn reached a hoof out.

Too late. The four figures disappeared into shadow and twilight.

Flynn leaned back, nostrils flaring. "Mrmfff... this sucks."

Seraphimus nodded. "I am inclined to agree."

"Shut up!" both Stallions grunted.

The Gates of Darkreach

It wasn't long before the group met a wall of stone on the other side. It was more elevated than they expected, but all it took was a steady flap of their wings and they easily ascended high enough for a soft landing.

Rainbow touched down first. She placed a shivering Kepler onto the stone earth beside her.

"Whelp... that wasn't so bad." She looked behind them as Ariel and Wildcard flew in. "Not exactly the longest bridge in the world."

"Trrue..." Kepler shivered. "I-I doubt that they could afforrd much building materrial outside of constrructing Darrkrreach."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, looking at the wyvern. "Are you okay, buddy? I didn't mean to shake you up."

"Oh... nothing to worrry about, good frriend."

"Then what's the deal?"

"I'm an avid gliderr..." He straightened his glasses with a nervous smile. "Not quite so excelled at speedy flight."

"We'd better work on that, buddy."

"I shudderr to imagine what forr."

"Shhhh. Don't pretend to be that stupid." Rainbow Dash paced over to where Wildcard and Ariel stood. "Well?"

"I can't believe it..." Ariel looked down at her squirming hooves. "Are we actually standing on Darkreach?"

"That remains to be seen." Rainbow pivoted about, squinting into the darkness. "Rarity?"

"It's... hollow beneath us," Rarity said.

"You sure of that?" Pinkie asked.

"Oh... absolutely!" Rarity's eyes blinked wide. "I'm not certain why I couldn't feel it so clearly before, but there is most definitely a hollow construct beneath where we are currently situated."

"Land's sakes..." Applejack tilted her head back. She gaped at Rainbow. "Does she mean to say that them Emeraldinians carved out an entire home from the heart of a mountain?"

"Or maybe Onyxxus did..." Rainbow paced about. She reached a hoof up and touched her pendant. A ruby glow emanated from the Loyalty Element, and it shone a crimson spotlight through the darkness ahead. "Okay... okay..."

Wildcard cocked his head to the side.

"What are you looking for, Rainbow?" Ariel asked.

"Prresumably an entrrance," Kepler said. "Darrkrreach—it would seem—is beneath us."

Ariel gulped. "Must be d-dark down there."

"It's quite heavily shadowed up herre."

"Thanks for proving m-my point."

Rainbow looked left... then right. All she saw was flat stone. Even her pendant illuminated nothing but sterile, smooth rock.

"Rarity...?"

"I'm searching!" Rarity's voice cracked as she floated as far as the lavender force field could allow her. "I'm looking for the entrance! Honest, I am!"

"Maybe if we ask Twilight to hone in on her magic senses?" Applejack suggested.

"Well... what I'm sensing is below us," Twilight said. "And... and scattered in multiple places."

Fluttershy looked worriedly at her. "Scattered?"

"There are much more than one source now," Twilight said. "If you ask me, the same technology as the sphere that brought us here is incorporated throughout the base."

"Just... how deep and big is this thing?" Rainbow asked.

"Difficult to tell," Rarity murmured. "But—for the time being..." She gulped. "...it's akin to an inside-out Bleak's Plummet."

"Golly..." Applejack bit her lip. "That's either welcome news or it's a tad bit too forboding."

"If Darkreach is so big..." Fluttershy blinked innocently at the others. "...then how do we find the entrance?"

Pinkie's head popped up through the stone. "It's easy, silly!"

"Eeeeeeek!" Fluttershy flew into Applejack's arms.

"Pinkie...!" Rarity frowned.

Pinkie giggle-snorted. "What?"

"What are you doing?" Twilight asked.

The party mare stuck her tongue out. "Looking for the entrance, silly!"

"Uhhhhh..."

"Heeheehee... oh brave new world with such walls in it." Pinkie "backstroked" through the stone, phasing in and out as she sang: "Stop being a boring and buoyant and sink into it! Are we gonna help Dashie or not!" She took a deep breath for melodramatic flare and backflipped... sinking deep into the rock.

"Huh..." Twilight rubbed her head. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Seriously?" Rainbow droned, smirking slightly. "Are we actually going to have that conversation?"

Twilight sighed... then sank purposefully into the rock below with a lavender splash.

"Hey!" Rarity "galloped" after her and Pinkie and sank as well. "Wait for me!"

"Uhhhhh..." Fluttershy shivered slightly, then hovered close to the farm mare's side. "I-I'll just float up here and stay with Applejack."

"Ain't nothin' down there that could hurt ya, sugarcube."

Fluttershy merely squeaked and clung to her.

Applejack sighed... then wrapped a forelimb around Fluttershy with a motherly smile. "Dun ya fret. They'll be surfacin' in a jiff."

"Sooooooooooo..." Ariel trotted towards Rainbow Dash, stroking her smoky bangs back. "What's going on now?"

Rainbow stood in place. Blinking.

Beneath her, she spotted Twilight's and Rarity's ghostly unicorn horns breaking the stone surface and skittering around like lavender and white dorsal fins.

"Y'know..." Rainbow exhaled. "...there are times when I really... really wished you guys could see what I see."

Ariel smirked. "Must be heartwarming."

"Sure." Rainbow burped. "Right now, though, it's really... really stupid."

"Still... heartwarming."

Rainbow nodded. "Not gonna fight it."

"Dashie!"

Rainbow tilted her head up.

Pinkie surfaced like a fuchsia volcano. Her muzzle formed a pearly-white grin. "I found it! I found it! I found it! I found it! I found it! I found it! I found it!"

"Ahem..." Rarity surfaced beside her. "Pinkie Pie found it."

Rainbow whistled to the others and glided over. Kepler and Wildcard followed closely behind.

"What, ho!" Kepler craned his neck. "An entrrance?"

"The entrance," Rainbow said, then looked as Twilight surfaced. "Well?"

"There's... a mechanism beneath where Pinkie's hovering," Twilight explained. "It's fused to some sort of crystal."

"Is it one of the magical things you've been sensing?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes. But the leylines are weak. Fleeting."

"What's up?" Ariel asked. "Or... in this case, down?"

"Pinkie found the entrance," Rainbow explained. "But—as Twilight says—it's fused to some crystal trigger that's lost most of its juice."

"Hrrrmmmm..." Kepler squatted low and rubbed his claws over the dead stone surface of the mesa. "No doubt the Emerraldinians constrructed this place so that it would be impossible to open frrom the surrface."

"Then how do we open it?" Ariel asked.

"Therre's one thing the ponies of Emerraldine and Cylindrrimane werre guarranteed to have," Kepler declared.

Ariel blinked. Then her eyes widened. "Unicorns!"

Kepler looked at the last Desperado. "You kow what to do."

Wildcard nodded, saluted, then flew back towards the cliff's edge in a blur. Fwoooosh!

Rainbow turned towards Twilight. "Could Flynn open the door from the outside, you think?"

Twilight nodded. "I don't know. I'm positively certain I can't."

"Maybe if you concentrate really really hard!" Pinkie squeaked.

"Right..." Twilight sighed, glaring off along the mesa's surface. "Help us, Flynn. You're our only hope."

"Good to know we've got an ace in the hole," Ariel said.

FWOOOOOSH! The Desperado blurred back, depositing a yelping stallion.

"Gaaaaaaaah—!" Flynn fell flat on his chest. "Oomf!"

Wildcard winced and reached an apologetic talon out.

"Eugh..." Flynn stood up with the griffin's help. "Now I-I know what an eagle-struck rabbit feels like..."

"Ha-hah!" Kepler grinned. "Suddenly I'm not quite so alone!"

"So... uhhhh..." Flynn squinted his one good eye at the others. "What exactly did you bring my butt over here for?"

"Flynn, we need your butt to open a door," Ariel said.

"Buh?"

Rainbow pointed ahead. "Pinkie found an entrance. Twilight found a crystalline trigger that's holding it shut."

"Hrmmmm..." Flynn rubbed his chin as his mechanical eye pistoned in and out. "Not sensing any mana-residue in the air... what kind of a crystal is it?"

"Probably best if he felt it for himself," Applejack said.

"Rainbow Dash..." Twilight motioned with her fetlock. "Bring Flynn closer."

"Over here, dude..." Rainbow glided a few feet and touched down so that she was phasing through the lavender unicorn in question. "Twilight?"

She and Rarity pointed through the stone below.

Rainbow gestured, matching their pointing hooves. "Should be around there-ish..."

"Cool," Flynn muttered, trotting towards the spot. "I happen to be quite skilled at working with 'there-ish.'"

"Less sass and more mage class," Ariel said.

"Shhhh!" Kepler insisted, standing beside Wildcard. "Let ourr brrotherr worrk!"

Flynn stood in place. He tilted his horn to the left... then to the right. A pulse of light ran down the narrow extension, then spun its way back up. Holding his breath, he bent over until his brow grazed the stone floor. He closed his good eye, concentrating.

Rainbow, Ariel, and Rainbow's ghostly friends watched in tense silence.

"... ... ... ... ... ..." Flynn's eye reopened. "I got it." Another breath. "Stand back." He licked his lip, tilted his horn ever so slightly upwards, and channeled a bright pale glow through it.

Flash!

Silence.

Ariel looked left and right. "Soooooo..." Her brow furrowed. "What exacly did that—"

RUMMMMMBLE!

"Fart nuggets!" Ariel leaped into the air, hovering with folded limbs. Beneath her, a solid line of glowing red light materialized.

The line turned out to be the lip of a wide, rectangular door. The mouth opened upwards as misty air ventilated into the dim twilight. There was a metallic grinding sound, and soon the door opened in its entirety.

Crkkkk-Hisssssssssss.

A crimson crystal was pulsating from within—the source of the red light. Soon, it faded like a candle... and all was pitch black inside. Rainbow and Wildcard could make out the hint of pale steps—immaculately carved—leading down into the deathly shadows. An eerie roar of untethered echoes wafted up from the questionable depths of the exposed mesa.

Flynn gulped. "You're welcome, I think."

"My starrs and garrterrs..." Kepler grinned through his tusks. "A rrelic of the past! And we arre undoubtedly the firrst to venturre in for an epoch!"

"Not exactly joyful news," Ariel muttered. She turned to look at Rainbow. "What next? Do we draw lots or—?"

Clak-clakka! Wildcard extended Bard's staff, crouched low... and bravely descended into the dark depths to scout it out.

"Hey!" Flynn reached a hoof out. "Dammit, dude. Stop being cool!" He illuminated his horn and made to go after the Desperado—

"No." Rainbow blocked him. "You, Ariel, and the others find a way to get Logan and Seraphimus over here."

"Rainbow!" Ariel shook her head. "But we can't just—"

"I want us all on the mesa," Rainbow said. "The Emeraldinians obviously thought this was a safe, easily-defended spot. So let's take advantage of that as quickly as we can!" She pivoted around and peered down the shadowed flight of stone stairs. "Don't worry about me. I'll be with Wildcard."

As she descended, her ghostly friends helplessly floated after her—tethered.

"Weeeeeee!" Pinkie Pie pumped a hoof in the air. "Blind field trip! Woohooo!"

"Ohhhhhhhhh..." Fluttershy shivered, clinging to Applejack. "Somehow I knew we'd be doing this sooner than later!"

"Dun you worry, sugarcube," Applejack said, holding onto her hat. "Rainbow knows what she's doin'... I think."

Soon, Rainbow was gone, and Flynn stood alone with Kepler and Ariel.

"Well... this is going to be very, very painful," Flynn muttered.

"Have a little faith," Ariel said, frowning. "Rainbow and Wildcard can take care of themselves."

"It's not Darkreach I'm worried about." Flynn turned around with a huff and marched carefully to the mesa's edge. "It's Big Show's fat ass."

A Sanctum of Shadow

"Wildcard...?" Rainbow Dash crept forward, easing down the stairs. The chiseled stone steps were smooth—but also slippery. There was a curious prevalence of moisture inside the hollow chambers of Darkreach, and her hooves slipped more than once. So—with a tense breath—she flapped her wings and proceeded to hover her way down the steep incline. Her ruby pendant shone a lightning-bolt shaped spotlight against dull black walls and metal reinforcement beams. "Wildcard... for realsies. Are you ever going to tell me what freaky-deaky stuff happened to your eyes? Because if you can see your own beak in front of your face while wearing goggles inside a place like this... well... you'll definitely be earning yourself a 'cool-guy' award."

Silence.

Rainbow's eyes darted left and right at the dead stone as she descended. "Wildcard? Yoohooo. Tall, dark, and feathery? Give me a whistle or something, Desperado."

The ruby spotlight shone through a bright yellow face looming directly in front of Rainbow. "He's two stories beneath us already, Rainbow—" Fluttershy said.

"Gaah!" Rainbow jerked back.

Fluttershy winced. "S-sorry...!"

"Guh... stop being such a ghost, Flutters."

"I... I-I can't help it."

"I know I know..." Rainbow squinted as she saw the steps ending at a flat stairwell facing a solid wall. The path then branched left and right, turning around and forming two parallel sets of steps that descended even further into the heart of the mesa. Rainbow slowly spun about and followed the shadowed inclined. Her voice echoed against the looming walls. "If this leads all the way back to Emeraldine through the body of the plane, I'm seriously going to quit everything."

"Heehee!" A pink ghost streaked past Rainbow's peripheral vision as they floated down. "Sounds like a good backup plan to me!"

"Wouldn't we hit the machine layer first?" Fluttershy suggested.

"It doesn't go that deep," Rarity corrected in a serious tone. "Not even remotely." She gestured to Rainbow Dash. "A few more flights down, and then there's a large chamber, Rainbow."

"This can't be the only entrance," Twilight Sparkle said.

Fluttershy looked at her. "What makes you say that?"

Twilight gestured up at the height of the stairwell behind Rainbow Dash. "Can you imagine hauling all of the equipment and supplies from the Light Side down these steps?"

"Perhaps the Emeraldinians were made of strong stuff!" Pinkie suggested.

Twilight shook her head. "I think we just found a side entrance. There must be an even bigger door elsewhere."

"You mean like a freight elevator or something?" Rarity suggested.

"I don't know..." Twilight exhaled, her eyes dancing across the light Rainbow's Element was casting. "I really don't think they could afford to craft something as complex as an elevator in this place."

"Uhhhhhhhhhh..." Pinkie gestured at the spacious stairwell. "Isn't this 'spacious' enough?"

"The walls here are perfectly... impossibly smooth!" Rarity said. "No sign of normal quarry dredging. It must be the work of alicorns."

"Well, alicorns can make elevators!" Pinkie Pie smiled. "Remember the Gondolaaaaaa! That was built at the End of the World!"

"I really don't know how much time Onyxxus actually spent here," Twilight murmured.

"Come to think of it..." Applejack rubbed her scalp beneath her hat. "I really wouldn't mind seein' the Machine World sometime!"

"You saw it past Bleak's Plummet when Rainbow touched the 'Utaan' symbol, darling," Rarity said.

"Ehhhh..." Applejack waved a hoof. "That wasn't the same thang. I wanna take a gander at the deep underground doohickey's y'all saw." She bore a freckled smile. "Reckon it's mighty fancy."

"I don't care how fancy that Urohringr crud is," Rainbow grunted. She reached the bottom of the stairwell and peered into dead darkness. "I just wanna find my friend. Wildcard?!?"

As her voice stopped echoing, Fluttershy streaked into view, pointing past the shadows. "Shine your light over there, Rainbow Dash..."

Rainbow did as she was instructed. At last, she caught something—the glint of Bard's staff... then a set of claws. Dark, glinting feathers framed Wildcard's figure. The Desperado flicked a lion's tail in a lazy attempt to "wave" back at Rainbow... then proceeded to pace across the large space before them, observing every little detail that broke through the shadow.

"Seriously, dude?" Rainbow crept up behind him. "How can you see—?"

Wildcard held the staff out, blocking her. He then pointed at the floor in front of them.

Rainbow and her ghostly friends craned their necks.

Directly in front of the petite pegasus was an array of fallen swords, blades, and polearms. A weapon rack had fallen over from where it once was situated against the nearest wall. If Rainbow had taken another step, she might have cut her fetlock on an exposed blade.

"Okay... I won't question it then." Rainbow gulped. "I'll just be thankful."

Wildcard's goggled gaze quietly scanned the room.

Rainbow had to shine her pendant about to see nearly as well.

In a ruby swath, she exposed more junk that had fallen or been scattered across the floor. Supply crates... lengths of rope... tool boxes and machine parts. At last, she caught a glistening assortment of smooth crystals.

"Hey! Twilight, look!" Pinkie pointed. "Is that the stuff you were sensing?"

"No." Twilight shook her head. "Somewhere in this place there are crystals that are still energized."

"After all this time?" Applejack whistled. "Amazin'..."

"Still... those crystals look like they could still be enchanted." Twilight managed a slight smile. "That's incredibly useful."

"It's... it's such a mess in here!" Rarity squeaked. "Look at everything strewn about so!"

"No bodies," Fluttershy said.

The others looked at her.

She looked back. "Unless... th-there are equine remains much deeper."

Twilight and Pinkie shuddered.

"Let's just..." Rainbow paced forward, shining her light further. "...focus on one detail at a time."

Wildcard wandered over to a wooden table positioned against the wall. There was an assortment of metal slabs—imperfect chunks of ore with obsidian black surfaces. Lying on the table's edge was a set of chisels... along with dark black sediment strewn onto the stone floor. The griffin held one chisel in his claws and glanced back at Rainbow.

Rainbow nodded at her reflection in his goggles. "Guess we know where Kepler's beloved map came from..."

"All things considered..." Twilight gazed at the random junk lying on the floor. "...the place is in amazing condition."

Rarity stared thickly at her. "Really, darling?"

"I mean—yes. It was left in a mess. But there's almost no dust! No cobwebs!"

"I smell mildew," Applejack muttered. "It's far from perfect in here."

"Precisely." Rarity nodded. "There's a lot of moisture in here."

"But... why?" Fluttershy gulped. "It's almost perfectly dry on the outer surface."

"Maybe..." Applejack shrugged. "...there's some spring deep within this mesa?"

"It could explain why they built this place in here!" Pinkie remarked. "I'd like to have my whistle wet if I was guarding the Dark Side!"

"So... the moisture carried up from a well deep inside... and now it's condensing against the walls of this place," Twilight remarked. She nodded. "It's possible, I suppose."

"The tunnels here do run deep," Rarity said, gazing down with a glowing horn. "I shudder to think how far they go..."

"Twilight..." Rainbow spoke out loud, gazing about. "The mana sources you've been sensing. Is there one nearby?"

"Mmmmmmmmm..." Twilight's eyes narrowed. Her horn strobed, and at last she responded: "Yes."

"Where at?"

She pointed a lavender hoof. "At the far wall."

"You mean in this room?" Rainbow remarked.

Wildcard looked over, headcrest arched.

"She's right, Rainbow Dash," Rarity said with a twinge of nervousness. "I'm sensing... a lever of some kind."

"... ... ..." Rainbow pivoted about. She faced the direction Twilight had pointed. With Wildcard following close behind, she skirted the wall... then finally came to a metal panel of alicorn gold welded to the stone surface. Indeed, there was a thick platinum knob with a hoof-shaped indentation. "Hmmmm... earth-pony friendly."

"Them Emeraldinians were considerate!" Applejack stated.

"Hey look!" Pinkie Pie pointed at a circular etching in the gold metal. It illustrated starry spots orbiting a galactic swirl. "What's that mean?"

"A... symbol...?" Rarity blinked. "I doubt it's meant to be artistic."

"Almost looks like a cutie mark..." Twilight remarked.

"Probably Onyxxus'," Rainbow suggested.

Twilight nodded. "That would make sense."

"Uhm..." Fluttershy huddled in close. "A-are you going to pull the lever?"

"Hmmm..." Rainbow Dash firmly gripped the lever. "That would be a good idea."

"Now Rainbow, before you yank that—" Twilight spoke.

"Zoop." Rainbow jerked the bar hard.

Ch-Chtunnng! A loud reverberation rolled through the chamber. Golden lights flickered... strobed... and went black.

Twilight froze in place, grimacing. Her eyes darted around the compartment.

Wildcard looked around in mute curiosity.

Rainbow stood in place, gripping the lever. She looked across the shadows.

"... ... ...you see?" Twilight wheezed. "You never know what your brash actions might—"

"Zoop!" Rainbow jerked the lever again.

CTHUNGGG!

Bzzzzzt-ttt-ttt!

Sparks flew from the flickering light sources... but swiftly died. All was pitch black yet again, although a low hum emanated from the depths of the underground compound below.

Twilight sighed. "Well, there you have it."

"I... don't think there's enough juice," Rainbow muttered.

"But something definitely happened!" Rarity exclaimed. "I sensed something moving just now!"

Pinkie squinted at her. "Moving?"

"It... it couldn't have been something alive," Fluttrshy said with remarkable calmness. "Or else I would have sensed it."

"I... I think it's something mechanical," Rarity said. "Below us... about three stories deep." She looked at the others. "It directly responded to the lever Rainbow was pulling."

"Hmmmmmm..." Applejack tapped her chin. "Reckon it's some sort of generator thingy?"

"Yes. Yes, I believe it is!" Twilight nodded, a smile forming. "I'm sensing residual mana energy flickering from down below! There must be an engine room to Darkreach... some sort of central distribution center for leylines!"

"We've got a batch of crystals in this room," Rainbow said. "Maybe there's still a way to light this place back up."

"If we're to fully explore this place—much less get situated—then that would seem most essential," Rarity said.

"Woohoo!" Pinkie Pie pumped a hoof. "Let's get the Dark Side Slumber Party going!"

"Easy, Pinks." Rainbow turned towards Wildcard. "Hey, dude. We've got some deep magic crud to do. Better hop up and grab Flynn."

Wildcard fidgeted in place, reticent to leave.

"Hey... it's okay..." Rainbow smiled assertively. She rubbed her pendant to intensify the waning, harmonic glow. "I've got the girls with me. I'll be totally safe."

Wildcard still hesitated.

"Look, will you friggin' go and bring our bald wizard down here already?" Rainbow huffed. "Y'know, Bard was big on protecting me too... but even he knew when to keep from being clingy."

Wildcard exhaled. The Desperado managed a brief smirk beneath his beak. He waved with the staff in his grasp, turned tail, and glided back up the stairwell in a murking shadow.

Rainbow stood alone with her ghostly friends orbiting.

"You... uh... reckon it'll be a while before he comes back with Flynn in tow?" Applejack said.

"Hrmmmff... probably," Rainbow said with a nod.

"The wise course of action would be to wait right here until they return," Twilight said.

"Yup!" Rainbow turned around with a devilish smirk and pressed on. "Let's explore some more ruins!"

Pinkie giggled.

Twilight face-hoofed.

Cat Bird's the Word

THUD! Logan landed hard on his front hooves and plummeted flat on his chest. "Ooomf!"

"Guh!" Ariel, Kepler, and Flynn collapsed all at once—with the latter's horn positively shorting out from overspent energy. "Whew...!"

"Cheese and crackers, Big Show..." Ariel hissed, struggling to catch her breath. "...did you eat most of the Gondola since we left the edge?"

"Oh hush!" Logan stumbled to his thick hooves, brushing the dust and sediment off his body. "You didn't wuss out this bad when you took the sleds over!"

"Dude..." Flynn gnashed his teeth. "We carried the sleds over first so we could practice for you!"

Ariel fell onto her backside. Fwoomp! "Why don't we just have Big Show gallop all the way to the Midnight Armory?" She panted, sweating. "That at least would flatten this piece of Urohringr out!"

"Oh hush..." Big Show marched over to where Seraphimus was restrained. "Yakkity-yak all you want. You're gonna beg for my girth when you need it."

Ariel fought the urge to vomit. "There's one thing I didn't need to live to hear."

"I meant for stomping the hell out of our enemies!" Logan gnashed his teeth. "Goddess on a bike, mare, were you foaled in the gutter?"

"I'd take a sewer over this anyday..."

"Frriends... Do not despairr overr the occasional..." Kepler sat up with his glasses hanging crookedly off his sweaty muzzle. "...bout of extrreme exerrtion. Ha-Haaaaaaa..." He winced breathily, rubbing his left wing. "Hrrrrmf... if nothing else, such frrivolous strruggle builds charracterr! Makes us... mrmmmfff... strrongerr..."

"The only thing strong in me is the knot in my neck," Flynn droned. He waved a limp hoof. "Fellow Heraldites... we finished transporting our fat asses across the ravine." His horn fizzled out as he closed his one good eye with a smile. "Until Rainbow Dash needs me... I'm calling it a night."

Fwooooosh! Wildcard landed and hoisted Flynn briskly up to his hooves.

Flynn's muzzle locked into a pained expression. "Oh buck me sideways..."

"Lemme guess..." Ariel smiled at Wildcard. "Rainbow needs him."

Wildcard nodded. He lazily attempted a gesture or two with one talon, then hoisted Flynn—carrying the smaller Heraldite over to where the hatched entrance to Darkreach lay in wait.

"What did he say...?!" Flynn stammered, his mechanical eye whirring. "I wasn't looking!"

"Errrr..." Kepler craned his neck to shout after him: "Something to do with... rrelieving a widowed elephant, I do believe!"

"The buck—?!" Flynn's voice cracked, and he was yanked like a windsock down into the depths of Darkreach.

"Keps...?" Ariel blinked at the wyvern.

"Ach...!" Kepler tossed his claws. "I am a loss to keep trrack anymorre! We must get him an operrational left limb once again!"

"Heh..." Logan fished around the sled Seraphimus was on. "...guess Flynn's gonna be super useful for the time being. Bet he feels like a lucky bastard."

Seraphimus' charcoal eyes narrowed on Logan's motions. "What—pray tell—are you searching for?"

"Wise turkey," Logan slurred, still rummaging. "I'm checking to see if anything's missing."

"Why... ... ...?"

"So I'll know if you confiscated anything while my friends were carrying my fat keister across the canyon."

"Do you honestly believe I am in any position to steal from you?" the griffin droned. "You're more foolish than I thought."

"And you're more of a bitch than I thought. But who's counting? Certainly not Keps. Lucky bastard was born in a sanctuary without females."

"I heard that!" Ariel's voice cracked from afar.

Logan winked at Seraphimus. "She heard that. Not that it matters. Ariel's only Diet Female at best."

"I heard that too!"

Seraphimus grumbled. "The only reason I'd steal anything from your pathetic supplies would be to slit my own throat." She spat. "But—sadly—you don't hold anything that sharp or useful on this wagon."

"See... you're doing it wrong," Logan droned, standing up to check the other sled nearby. "We're in a land of darkness, chaos, and even grimmer-darkness. If you try being that much of an edgelord, you'll just come across as 'average.'"

"Your pathetic attempts at levity are misguided."

"Pffft! Buck you, lady! I'm trying to keep myself sane! We sorta need the bald unicorn, so I can't just kick Flynn's skull in for my own amusement." Logan smirked over his shoulder. "I guess pissing the Hell out of you on a regular basis will have to do."

"The only Show you're Big at is displaying your banal trivialities before an uncaring audience."

"Hah! Nice attempt! See... you'll become tolerable yet." Logan gestured, then turned to face her directly. "However..." He glared with sudden menace. "...you so much as fall back into Miss Murder McShitpants and make a threat to Rainbow Dash... and I promise you... 'suicide' won't be too far away. I'll give it to you gladly at the end of my axe."

Seraphimus raised an eyebrow. "Is that an invitation?"

"A challenge." Logan said. "To see if you wanna last long enough to meet an end you could be proud of... or die at the hooves of a 'pathetic attempt at levity.' Choice is yours..." Logan marched casually back to their supplies. "Soon... we're going to go downstairs for a stay at Camp Darkreach. I want you on your best behavior... or you won't have your best spine. Are we on the same page?"

Seraphimus merely snorted. She glared off past the edge of the mesa. "A book with such a page deserves burning."

"Cute. But you gotta work on your delivery."

"Infidel..."

"Mrmmmf... See what I mean?"

Worth a Thousand Words

Fluttershy turned around from staring up through the ceiling of the large room. "Wildcard's coming back with Flynn," she said. "They'll be here in a few minutes."

"Well then!" Twilight beamed. "Maybe we'll finally turn the lights back on in this place!"

"I know this is rather redundant... but..." Rarity coughed delicately, shivering slightly as she gazed at the detritus exposed under Rainbow's ruby spotlight. "Do we really wish to?"

"We do if we want a lick of sense about what happened in this place!" Applejack declared.

"I'm getting a clear enough picture as it is..." Rainbow Dash said, trotting through the debris-strewn environment.

"No offense, Rainbow..." Twilight gazed lethargically at her. "But how can you logically come to any conclusion in the dark?"

"Just... the little details, egghead," Rainbow droned, shuffling along. The lightning bolt under her chin illuminated tool boxes, empty trays, and a smattering of loose armor plates. "Unless you forget, this isn't the first time I've stumbled upon an abandoned hole in the wall."

"Well?" Pinkie floated closer, batting her eyelashes. "What do your learned senses tell you, oh wise sage Dashie?"

"Seems to me that the ponies who once stood their post here left in a pretty big hurry," Rainbow said.

"Or..." Fluttershy gulped. "...they were attacked?"

"Fluttershy's right." Applejack motioned at the nearby table covered in scattered materials. "This place has 'ransacked' written all over it."

"And yet..." Rainbow shone her pendant around. "No bloodstains. No bodies."

"It could have been centuries, Rainbow," Twilight said. "Plenty of time for scavenging."

Rainbow turned to look at the unicorn. "... ... ...no skeletons?"

Twilight fidgeted in midair.

"Perhaps... they were buried?" Rarity suggested. "The bodies, I mean... before the survivors fled."

"If there were survivors," Pinkie said in a surprisingly grim tone.

"No..." Fluttershy shook her head. "I'm just not sensing enough organic material." She then squinted at Rarity. "Curious, Rarity... you think the Emeraldinians fled this place?"

"Well, take a look around!" Rarity's voice squeaked as she shivered again. "I certainly would!"

"Yuh huh..." Applejack stared at her with bored eyebrows. "Where to, pray tell?"

"Well, back to the Gondola, obviously." Rarity fluffed her mane to punctuate the obvious truth. "It's the fastest way to the Light Side."

"But Rarity..." Fluttershy chewed her bottom lip. "...they'd have to contend with sarosians and mean Rohbreddenites."

"Yeah!" Pinkie nodded. "And don't forget! Mortuana was stuck in Wyvern Point for the past few hundred years! That means the next alicorn to help them—Queen Whitemane—would have been a gazillion miles away!"

"... ... ..." Rarity blinked. "Well... bother. This is quite the contemplative predicament, isn't it?"

"Rainbow..." Twilight looked at their anchor. "In the past—when you came across places like this—how did you know for sure that the location had been utterly abandoned?"

"They weren't," Rainbow said. "And this place is waaaaaaaay different. That's why I'm making that guess."

"Well..." Pinkie rubbed her head. "What are you comparing it to?"

"In the middle of the Grand Choke... right when the ocean began..." Rainbow breathed slowly. "I stumbled upon a Val Roan encampment. An entire expedition died there. I knew because I saw the bodies buried... and the bones..." She shuddered noticeably. "... ... ...and the note from the last survivor begging forgiveness for resorting to cannibalism."

"Okie dokie lokie!" Sweating, Pinkie Pie gazed towards the opposite end of the room. "Why doesn't anypony shut me up anymore?"

"Oh my..." Fluttershy grimaced. "If that's how bad it can get on the Light Side, then how awful can the Dark Side g-get???"

"Oh come now, darling..." Rarity smiled nervously. "It's not all terrible! I mean... this is an Emeraldinian encampment! That's like a little slice of neighborly harmony!"

Fluttershy sighed. "Then what forced the ponies to leave this place?"

Rarity hung her head. After a few seconds of silence, she pricked an ear up. She raised her head with a glowing horn. "Rainbow Dash..."

"Yeah, Rares?"

"Up ahead. Towards the right. In the middle of the wall."

"Yeah...?" Rainbow lifted her neck, shining the ruby spotlight dead ahead. She trudged over loose bric-a-brac and unspent crystals. "What are you sensing, girl?"

"There's... an assortment of stones along the wall," Rarity explained. "Everything else about this room is chiseled to geometric perfection."

"The result of alicorn magic," Twilight said.

"Indeed. But somepony's placed something on the wall."

"Like what?" Rainbow asked, feeling around as she trotted further. "Some sort of symbol?"

"Far more intricate than that, darling." Rarity managed a smile. "If I trust my artistic muse—I daresay it's—"

"A mural!" Applejack gasped.

Sure enough, Rainbow's ruby light was glinting off a multi-colored assortment of hundreds upon thousands of tiny stones delicately arranged along the wall at the end of the room.

Rarity pouted. "Must you steal my thunder, as t'were?"

"Sorry..." Applejack winced. Tilting the brim of her hat, she nodded ahead. "Give it a shine, Rainbow. Let's see what we're lookin' at..."

Rainbow was already rubbing her hoof across the lightning bolt of her pendant. The harmonic energy intensified, brightening until the entire wall was illuminated.

"OooOoooOooOooh...!" Pinkie Pie cooed.

"Oh how pretty..." Fluttershy smiled, her shiny eyes reflecting a brown shape situated in the middle of a verdant green plain with mountains in the distance. "... ... ...what is it?"

"Uhm..." Twilight rubbed her chin. "A structure? A mountain? A city?"

"It's Trixie Lulamoon's hat!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

Twilight gave Pinkie a double-take. "Who?"

"Y'know..." Pinkie winked. "Trixie? Remember? From way back when? The Ursa Minor stomped through town and you showed her who was boss?!"

"... ... ... ... ... ..." Twilight blinked hard. "Egads..." She rubbed her horn, wincing. "Yeah, sure, I remember. Just... come on, Pinkie... talk about another time and place—"

"Well, it does resemble a wizard's hat, I suppose," Rarity murmured, squinting at the conical shaped structure. "But that's being quite vague at best. I think Twilight's right. The mosaic is depicting a mountain of some sort... or a city..."

"It's both," Rainbow said in a calm tone. "It's Verdestone."

Applejack's eyes twitched. "That's Verdestone?"

"Eeeyup." Rainbow nodded.

"Oh wow..." Twilight smiled wide, hovering up to the mosaic. "I've read about the faraway capital of Emeraldine in many of the royal history books—but never have I seen an illustration this... this..." She giggled inwardly. "Isn't this amazing?! It's so intricate! And it's ancient too! This... this is like a time capsule to a long lost age!" She gestured. "This is a mental snapshot of what the city looked like when the expedition first arrived here in Darkreach! I wonder what it looks like now..."

"The city surrounding its foundation is a lot bigger," Rainbow Dash said. "And there are a bunch of roads and trade routes connecting to it like a huge web."

"Wowie zowie..." Pinkie looked at her. "You say that like you've seen it in person!"

"That's because I did," Rainbow said with a nod. "It's where I met Whitemane."

"Land's sakes..."

"That must have been an incredible experience," Fluttershy said.

Rainbow shrugged. "I wasn't there too crazy long."

"But you were there, right?" Pinkie leaned forward. "Huh huh huh?"

"Totally. The city's built in levels... rising from the bottom to the top." Rainbow gestured midway up the ginormous cylinder. "That's where I went to shop for an outfit that would hide my wings." She pointed even higher. "There's the gates to the Council where I first met Steelteeth... or was it Steeltooth? Goddess... I hate myself sometimes..."

"Mmmmhmmm. Steel Jaws. Yes. Got it." Rarity drifted forward with a dumb grin. "And where did you run into Her Royal Fabulousness? Hmmm?"

"Whitemane?"

"Do tell!"

Rainbow pointed at the summit. "Right there. The utmost summit. There was a palace built there for the Royal Family—Onyxxus and Whitemane and Mortuana and the like." Rainbow smirked slightly. "From the looks of it... that place must have been super old. It was there when these dudes created this mosaic. Huh... cool."

"How long were you in the palace?"

"Eh... overnight. Slept on a bed. It was nice, I guess."

"You..." Rarity fought the urge to squeaked inwardly. Turning rosy, she chose the softest thing within reach to hug—which turned out to be Fluttershy. "You actually had a princess slumber party during your journey eastward? Squeee!"

"Oh... uh... how dreamly!" Fluttershy stammered. "Rarity, my withers..."

"Yeah. I suppose you could say that."

"Ohhhhhhh it must have been heavenly!" Rarity sighed.

"Dressed in silk? Standing on the cool, windblown balcony?" Rainbow gazed at the mosaic. "Staring out at a countryside dotted with lights... like stars?"

"Reckon it does sound a mite bit relaxin'," Applejack said with a grin. "You deserved no less, sugarcube."

Rainbow exhaled. "I... didn't really care for it."

"Heeheeheee!" Pinkie giggled.

"Why not, darling?" Rarity pouted, sad-faced. "You were experiencing a slice of unmitigated luxury and elgance!"

"I... didn't really enjoy a lot of downtime back in those days," Rainbow said. "Every moment I got a chance to think, it just... r-reminded me of the fact that you gals were gone..." She rubbed one fetlock against the other, pensively.

"Oh Rainbow Dash..." Fluttershy turned misty-eyed.

"I'm so sorry," Twilight said in a sincere tone. "I'm sorry that our being gone kept you from enjoying pleasantries..."

"Eh... nothin' for you to be sorry for. I experienced a lot of stuff... I've been to a lot of killer-cool places. I'm proud of it all. Really, I am. But... y'know..." Rainbow turned her back to the mosaic. "...I much rather be here... on the Dark Side... surrounded by confusion and grim shadows..." She finished with a wink. "If it means having you guys with me again."

The ghostly quintet merely smiled at that.

"We're glad to be with you as well, Rainbow Dash," Twilight spoke warmly. "And we're going to help you get back in one piece. Who knows? Hehehe... maybe you can revisit those places again?"

"With a real smile on your face this time!" Pinkie hoof-pumped. "Weeee!"

"Yeah... just maybe," Rainbow said. A beat. She lifted her gaze a few degrees more.

She became aware of Flynn and Wildcard standing just outside the penumbra of her pendant's glow. They were silent until she made eye contact with them.

"You... uh... you done reminiscing with your friends?" Flynn asked.

"Er... yeah..." Rainbow cleared her throat. "Sorry, dudes."

Wildcard shook his head.

"Don't be sorry." Flynn smirked, trotting over to examine an overturned crate of crystals. "If you have the downtime to catch up with them—be our guest. We haven't the heart to stop you."

"To be perfectly honest..." Rainbow fidgeted in place. "...I... didn't really think I was gonna have all this downtime since crossing the edge."

"Yes, well... that's bound to change sooner than later," Flynn muttered, levitating multiple magical reagents off the floor. "What say we get this place lit up so we can properly prepare for the inevitable?"

Wildcard looked at Rainbow.

Rainbow nodded.

Wildcard nodded back.

"You get that crud energized, Flynn," Rainbow said, trotting briskly across the room. "The girls and I will look for a generator room or something."

Pinkie waved a hoof. "Just be on the look out for clever girls!"

"For what?" Rainbow looked back. She ran into a doorframe. Bonk! "Augh! Dang it, Pinkie!"

Dark Corridors are Sexy

"Just a short flight of stairs, Rainbow Dash," Rarity said, floating ahead of the glow of Rainbow's pendant. She phased through a low-hanging ceiling and a series of metallic pipes. "There's a long corridor waiting here."

"Watch your stepsies!" Pinkie Pie insisted.

"I got it. I got it," Rainbow droned, shuffling down the steps and leaping down onto the floor of the stone hallway. "I'm not entirely blind, you know."

"Hmmmf!" Rarity upturned her nose. "I swear—by the time we're all done with this journey—you'll sorely miss having us to guide you around so magically!"

"I'm rather fond of the give-and-take," Rainbow muttered. "I mean... I love ya girls but it would be nice to go to bed and use the bathroom by myself for a change."

"I've never looked!" Pinkie said in a chipper tone.

The other ghostly mares looked at her.

"Honestly!" Pinkie grinned. "I haven't!"

"We... never would have suggested that you did," Fluttershy murmured.

"Good!" Pinkie grinned, twitching. "Because I super totally haven't!"

"Mrmmmfff..." Applejack clenched her jaw muscles. "Just how far are ya fixin' to go, Rainbow? I ain't too fond of you leavin' the rest of our company."

To that, Rainbow lifted her head and shouted over her shoulder. "Yo! Flynn! Wildcard! You still there?!"

A pause.

A male voice echoed back.

"We're here, Rainbow Dash! I think I've just about got these light fixtures adjusted!"

"I think that was Flynn just now," Pinkie said.

Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Cool! I'm just going to search this corridor!" Rainbow hollered back. "There are a lot of doorways! Maybe one of them leads to the central power source?!"

"Awesome! But—so you know—once I get one of these crystals to work, there'll be a slight mana-feedback!"

"Is that a bad thing in this case?!"

"Shouldn't be! This is very old tech! But it's sturdy! Alicorn stuff! Worst case scenario is the best case! You should see a flicker of light running down the leyline conduits! If my prediction is true, it'll lead you straight to the room where they house the central power unit!"

"Cool! I'll keep an eye out!"

"Don't wander too far! Wildcard's feathers are molting with concern!"

"Just chillax! I'll stay within yelling distance!" Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and shuffled forward along the corridor. "Whew... y'know..." She smirked to herself while chatting with the girls. "I've given my vocal chords quite the work out these past few years."

Twilight nodded. "I bet you have."

"But it's all good. I've had many reasons to yell during that timespan."

"Well..." Rarity smiled pleasantly. "Now that we're all back, you can practice being polite and soft-spoken again." She looked aside. "Isn't that right, Fluttershy?"

"Hmmm? What?" Fluttershy blinked. "Sorry, I wasn't listening."

"You look pooped, Flutters!" Pinkie exclaimed.

Fluttershy stifled a yawn. "I... I'm so sorry, girls..." Her ears folded. "I guess I didn't get as much rest as I wanted to."

"Well, technically speaking, none of us did," Twilight said. "Especially considering that... that... well..."

Rainbow gulped, gazing aside at the lingering doorframes. "I'm sorry, girls..."

"Don't be sorry, darling!" Rarity said.

"But I am. You guys need your rest, and... and for all I know..." Rainbow shuddered. "...I could just be making a mountain of a mole hill."

"No you ain't." Applejack squinted her eyes at her. "I know you, Rainbow Dash. You wouldn't just make up any ol' hogwash concernin' Discord."

Rainbow smiled pathetically. "You're talking to the mare who once painted an entire field of your apples with polkadots."

"Yes! Yes we did!" Pinkie giggled and toppled over in midair.

"That ain't the same mare who's trottin' through a scary, dark corridor in front of us right now." Applejack smiled. "You've changed... more for the better than you like to think, I bet."

A sigh escaped Rainbow's lips. "Yeah... maybe..."

"And the way we've figured it... he won't be showin' up so long as we're around to keep Rainbow protected all harmonic-like." Applejack looked at Twilight. "Ain't that right, Twilight?"

"Well, in theory, yes." Twilight nodded. "We are the Elements of Harmony, after all. And there are way more of us than him."

"Sooooooo... what's stoppin' us from takin' turns already?" Applejack smiled at Fluttershy. "You go ahead and mosey on into the Vanilla Zone, sugarcube. Get some shuteye while we watch over Rainbow."

"Thank you, Applejack... Twilight..." Fluttershy rubbed her eye but nevertheless smiled. "But—if it's all the same to you—I would much rather wait until the Herald have fully settled here in Darkreach."

Applejack shrugged. "Suit yerself, darling."

"Awwwwwwwww... that's too bad..." A voice rasped from the shadows.

"...!!" Rainbow Dash jolted in place and looked around.

"...I think I would have greatly enjoyed watching her sleep."

At last, Rainbow shone her pendant's light into a small room.

Light glinted off a series of steel bars and reflective metal slabs. Rainbow saw the hint of reflected goat fur vanishing as soon as her light hit it.

"Like yellow slush with the voice of a foppish librarian. Heheheh..."

Rainbow Dash grimaced. Her eyes darted around.

Twilight Sparkle hovered closer. "Is something wrong, Rainbow Dash?"

Their anchor didn't say anything, but she was noticeably paler than a few seconds ago.

Twilight's brow furrowed. "He's here, isn't he?"

Rainbow gulped. "Yes..." She gulped again. "And n-no..."

"Huh?" Pinkie blinked.

"It's... it's like he's here and yet... he isn't here..." Rainbow shivered slightly. "Like... I heard his voice and everything. But when I shine the light around..." She fidgeted in place. Shrunken pupils twitching, she turned to look at the girls. "You guys seriously don't hear him?"

They mutually shook their head.

"Wish we could say we did, darling." Rarity gulped. "Despite how detestable the thought of him is—we would greatly desire to subdue him for you."

"But, long and short of it, he can't touch you, Rainbow!" Applejack said. "And he can't hurt us."

"Not again." Twilight shook her head. "We're here to stay. Not him."

"Then..." Rainbow stared down the dark corridor once again. "...why can't I seem to get rid of him?"

The girls had no response to that.

BZZZZT!

Rainbow Dash hopped clear off the floor with a gasp.

Over her head, a series of metal cables lit up with bright blue brilliance. A beam of mana-powered energy buzzed its way down the corridor, hooked a right, and descended another stairwell.

"Whoops!" Flynn's voice could be heard echoing down the hallway from above. "Feedback was a bit bigger than I expected! Eheh! Are you following it, Rainbow?"

Rainbow's teeth chattered.

"... ... ...Rainbow?"

"Yes! Right! Totally!" Rainbow scampered towards the far end of the dark chamber. "Following!"

Hold Onto Your Flanks

Rainbow Dash scampered down a stairwell and took a right turn. Ahead of her, the manacables and metal fasteners flickered along the length of the corridor's low ceiling.

"There, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight Sparkle pointed as Rainbow's friends phased ahead of her. "Forwards and towards the left!"

"I see it!" Rainbow growled, flapping her wings to give herself a little boost. "I know I'm fast, but outrunning pure magic is a tall order!"

"The air's shiftin'," Applejack said. "Do you feel that?"

"We're about to enter an enormous room!" Rarity said. "Slow down, Rainbow! There are lots of randomly jutting objects!"

Rainbow Dash only half-heeded her warning. She galloped through a doorframe and into a great black void. Her ruby pendant caught the edges of numerous metal spokes and gears and manacoils. Grimacing, she scuffled to a stop before she could slice herself on any of the dormant instruments.

"Oh goodness...!" Fluttershy glanced all around. "Did we enter the Machine Layer?"

"Nah..." Rainbow shook her head. "Too deep."

"Besides, the machinery in this room was built by mortal hooves," Rarity said, her ghostly horn glowing. "I've sensed the real thing up on the Light Side. There's a clear difference."

"But..." Pinkie looked at Twilight and Rarity. "Didn't alicorns carve this place up?"

"Reckon they hollowed the mesa out for sure," Applejack said, peering up at the looming metal contraptions. "But everythang else musta been filled in by the folks from Emeraldine." She whistled, her green eyes tracing the lengths of metal levers and pulleys. "Good golly... it's like a convoluted cider makin' machine in this place!"

"I really don't think the Emeraldinians came to Darkreach to produce cider, AJ," Rainbow Dash droned.

Applejack smirked at her. "Bet you wish that they did."

Rainbow Dash sighed long and hard. "Yeah... ... ..."

From the corridors above and behind Rainbow, echoing hoofsteps and voices could be heard.

"Rainbow?! Rainbow Dash?!? Did you find the source?!?"

"Incoming Flynn!" Pinkie chortled.

"And Wildcard's not far behind," Fluttershy said.

Rainbow turned around and hollered through the generator room's entrance. "I'm down here guys! Don't charge in! It's pretty cramped and bulky in here!"

Not long later, a balding unicorn and goggled griffon stumbled to a stop in the doorframe.

"Ah jeez...!" Flynn leaned against a wall, panting for breath. Sweat glistened from the illumination of his horn. "I was worried for a second there, Rainbow..."

"Dudes..." Rainbow smiled crookedly. "It's alright. I've got the girls with me."

Flynn gulped. "Guess I-I keep forgetting that part..."

"Awwwwww..." Rarity smiled at the others. "It's so deliciously sweet how much he cares."

"Give it a sec," Applejack droned. "He'll be droolin' over the ancient machinery soon enough."

"Oh wow..." Stars filled Flynn's good eye as his muzzle dropped and his limp limbs carried him forward. He gazed up, up, up at the towering machinery... his ears drooping in awe. "...so this is the generator room. Look at all that ancient Emeraldinian tech..."

"Cylindrimanian," Rainbow Dash corrected. "Don't forget that, buddy. I've seen this sort of grimy gears'n'tesla coil cereal before." She huffed, pivoting about to gaze lethargically at the dormant metalwork. "It's got New Ring City written all over it."

"Yes, but that was all in present day," Flynn stammered. "Still, must have been no less of a wonder to behold..."

"I dunno. I was too bummed out by the dead foals at the time."

Flynn glanced over. "Dead foals?"

Rainbow Dash heard a pained squeak emanate from Pinkie and Fluttershy.

"Uhhhhhhhh—but enough of that!" Rainbow grinned awkwardly. "What can we do to get the juice running in this place again?"

"Goddess help me..." Flynn rubbed his scalp. "I-I don't even know where to start!"

In the meantime, Wildcard silently shuffled past them. The griffin's tail flicked contemplatively as he peered up into the forest of metal parts... dangling chains... dead-still axels...

Rainbow looked at Flynn. She lightly smacked the stallion upside the head. "Give him light, ya melon fudge!"

"O-oh! Right!" Flynn licked his lips, shone his horn brighter, and stepped right up to Wildcard. "Any sign of a crystalline buffer assembly?"

Wildcard peered and peered across the glaring spotlight. His goggles rattled, and he pointed his one claw up through the mess of machinery.

"What?" Twilight squinted. "What is Wildcard pointing at?"

"I... don't see it..." Flynn squinted. "You sure you've spotted it? Should be full of spent, dormant crytals."

"Rainbow..." Rarity leaned in. "...above the centrifuge, five feet left of the perpendicular gears."

"Uhhhhhhh..." Rainbow spoke into Flynn's ears. "Rarity says 'above the centrifuge, five feet left of the porcupine gears.'"

"I said 'perpendicular', darling—"

"I see it!" Flynn gasped, spotting a giant porous sphere of metal looming beyond the angle of Wildcard's pointed claw. "Wow! It's bigger than I expected!"

"That's what she said!" Pinkie said, then floated backwards as she giggle-snorted.

"Wow." Applejack droned. "Reckon that's a first."

"And it won't be the laaaaaaast!" Pinkie winked.

"Soooooooooo..." Rainbow glanced between Flynn and Wildcard then back up at the suspended sphere. Half of its holes were full of dead, dull crystals. "Is that thingy really the core of the entire generator?"

"I suspect as much. Genius engineering." Flynn smiled. "From the looks of it, the machine is designed to hold ten times as many crystals as is required—most likely to conserve mana while establishing a spherical leyline web of renewable harmonic energies."

"Sooooooooo..." Rainbow glanced at Wildcard who was likewise dumbstruck. "...that means what exactly?"

Flynn sighed, rolling his one good eye. "We stick a few crystal shards into it one at a time like a pincushion until we have enough juice to boot up the generator for a test run."

"Oh..." Rainbow and Wildcard nodded vigorously. "Why didn't you say so?"

"Meh..."

Rainbow gulped. "So... uh... how do we begin?"

"Just two more!" Flynn hollered from below, shining his magic spotlight up through the metalworks.

Rainbow Dash and Wildcard levitated beside the central core's sphere. Rainbow cradled a mess of crystals in her fetlocks while the Desperado reached in with his one talon and slid the final two shards into their respective holes.

"You sure that's enough?!" Rainbow called down. "This thing looks like a porcupine that's been through chemo!"

"Honestly, Rainbow..." Rarity sighed. "What is your obsession with porcupines lately—?"

"No! It's perfect!" Flynn hollered from below. "We don't want to overload the manacircuits! Especially if this thing hasn't been booted up in Goddess-knows-how long!"

Wildcard and Rainbow exchanged glances.

"Sooooo... uh... what now?"

"You'll wanna fly down from there!" Flynn said, casually trotting over to a series of levers and dials embedded in a cylindrical dais. "Assuming this whole place gets moving again, we wouldn't want you both being decapitated by the swinging machinery!"

"!!!" Wildcard dove in a blink.

Rainbow Dash swiftly followed them.

"Okaaaaaaay..." Flynn cracked his neck and flexed his forelimbs. "...moment of truth."

"If you're gonna yank a lever... just yank a lever," Rainbow droned.

"Shhhhhh!" Flynn squinted aside at her with a smug smile. "Please, Rainbow... this is a stuation that calls for professional lever yankage."

Wildcard snorted.

"Oh hush." Flynn stared into the instrument panel. Licking his lips, he aimed his horn at a crystal diode. Flash He illuminated the first one... then another diode two spaces over... and finally he charged mana into a miniature tesla coil.

Whurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

The air hummed with dull electricity.

"Alright..." A shuddering breath, and the Heraldite rubbed his hooves together. "Here goes..." He reached for a lever.

Rainbow and her ghostly friends watched intently.

"Rnnngh!" Flynn yanked.

Grkkkk—vrmmmmmmmmmmm... The chamber around them shook, rattled, and died.

Wildcard raised an eyecrest.

"It's okay." Flynn re-gripped the lever, tightening his muscles. "That's to be expected. Just got... to crank it!" He yanked again.

Grkkk-kkk-kkkk—vrmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

"Oh jeez... oh jeez..." Pinkie hopped and hopped and hopped in midair. "The tensionnn!"

Fluttershy covered her eyes. "Tell me when it's over!" Applejack patted her shoulder.

"Ohhhhhhhh..." Twilight practically drooled through an anticipatory grin. "I can't wait! This is so exciting!"

"Heh heh heh heh heh..." That last voice didn't come from any of the girls.

"... ... ...?" Rainbow Dash stared into the crytals she was cradling.

A hairy muzzle smiled. A sharp fang glinted. "Aaaaaaaaaand boom goes the Dark Side."

Rainbow paled. Her blood ran cold as she looked up at Flynn and Wildcard. With a jolt, she blurted: "No! Wait—"

"Rnnngh!" Flynn cranked one last time.

Rainbow flinched hard, dropping all of the crystals loudly to the floor.

But in the meantime—

VROMMMMMMMMMMM! The entire room lit up with a flash... the settled to a cool blue glow. And as for the machinery above them...

Clkkkk—Clkkkk—Clkkk—Clkk—Clk-Clk-Clk-Clk! THUMMMMMM!

The ancient machinery twirled, spun, and rolled to life. Soon the entire room was purring like a giant metal kitten underground. The core of crystals shimmered elegantly while the grimy gears and axels spun into a smooth blur.

"Ha ha ha!" Flynn hopped up and down. "Now we're talking! Wooo! Looks like we're in business, folks!"

Wildcard, in the meantime, was staring confusedly at Rainbow. He glanced at all of the crystals she had dropped, and then his goggles reflected her breathless face.

Rainbow panted and panted. She looked at the shiny shards—but the chaotic reflection was gone.

"You alright, sugarcube?" Applejack asked. "Things are up and runnin', it seems. Ain't that a good thang?"

"Yeah..." Rainbow Dash shuddered. "Sure it is..."

Speak "Fuzzy" and Enter

"Purring like a kitten..." Flynn dusted his fetlocks off with a smile. He turned from an instrument panel and smiled up at the loftily-placed spherical core fitted with sporadic, glowing crystals. "I estimate it's... running on only twenty-percent normal juice at the moment. Which is good. This thing's likely been inert for a super crazy long time. Best that we 'wake it up' slowly, y'know? The more bouts of manafeedback that we avoid, the better."

Wildcard only nodded.

"Once the entire thing stabilizes, we'll see about shoving more manacrystals in. I mean... sure, it looks like we've got loads to spend through... but it's probably best that we don't count our blessings before they've... they've..." He shrugged. "Well... there's no evidence of birds on the Dark Side. So I'm gonna avoid making an egg analogy."

Wildcard sighed.

"Anywho, what's the next order of business, Rainbow Dash?" Flynn asked. "I'm guessing it's to let the other Heraldites inside and inspect what's left of the facility."

Silence.

Flynn turned around, arching an eyebrow. "Rainbow Dash?"

She stood in place, staring at the reflective surfaces of the generator room.

Wildcard shuffled over and tapped her shoulder with a claw.

"!!!" She jumped in place, hissing through her teeth. "Good! Cool! Fine! Whatever!"

Flynn squinted his natural eye. "Is... everything cool?"

"Yeah. Sure." Rainbow took a shuddering breath. "Just... visions."

Flynn and Wildcard exchanged glances. "Discord?"

Rainbow trotted limply past the two. "Only glimpses. The girls are still here. They're... uh... they're keeping him shielded. Or me shielded. I dunno."

"Should..." Flynn squirmed. "...should we be freaked out?"

Wildcard facepalmed.

"I'll be sure to update you on when it's time to utterly panic," Rainbow Dash said, stepping up to an etched panel in the wall fitted with glowing specks of light. The heart of the mesa hummed loudly around them, echoing further from deep within. "As for now... I wanna count this as our first victory of the Dark Side."

"Damn straight!" Flynn grinned.

Rainbow gulped. "Hopefully it won't be our last..."

Wildcard breathed in and out. His goggles reflected moving machinery and flickering manalights.

"Well..." Flynn slicked back a mane that was hardly there. "There are lots of rooms in this wonderfully carved 'colony.' If we do a thorough search, then maybe we can scrounge up some super useful tools for—"

"Check this out," Rainbow droned, interrupting the stallion. She pointed at the diorama etched into the partially-pit panel in front of her. "This thing right here."

Wildcard and Flynn shuffled up.

"Huh..." Flynn's mechanical eye rotated in and out. "If I didn't know better, I'd say this was—"

"A map," Rainbow Dash said. "A layout of Darkreach."

Wildcard nodded.

"Are... are we sure?" Flynn asked, trying to study the shape of the geometric layout. "It's a bit simpler than I expected—"

"Rarity's confirming for me right now," Rainbow Dash said. She pointed at the rigid lines surrounding the lights. "This is the overall shape of the top floor."

"But just the top?"

"I... think it's simply attempting to outline the power grid," Rainbow said. "But it's definitely the shape of the topmost layer of Darkreach."

Wildcard pointed at a few dark spots along the etched rectangles.

"Some places are unlit," Rainbow added, observing Wildcard's talon.

"Then... if this thing is working correctly..." Flynn leaned his head to the side. "That means some places aren't fully receiving power."

"Do ya..." Rainbow's ears flicked. "Uhhhh... do ya have to shove more crystals in?"

Flynn was alredy shaking his head. "Not a good idea. There's no telling how screwed we'll be if the central manacore overloads. I mean..." Flynn looked at her. "The central engine to this place isn't alicorn tech, but do you really think we can build a new one?"

Rainbow shook her mane. "Cylindrimane is a long... long distance from here. And their cultural society's changed at least once."

"However..." Flynn turned about and scanned the interconnecting manacables with his mechanical eye. "...if I could figure out precisely how the manapower is distributed in this place..."

Wildcard glanced at him curiously.

"Simple, Double-Yoo." Flynn gestured with a hoof. "We can redirect the juice from less important systems and get the top level illuminated completely... well... almost completely."

"Hold up," Rainbow said.

The other two looked over at her.

Rainbow was staring into abject nothingness. "Twilight's giving me a science lecture."

"Buh?"

Rainbow stared... squinted... then nodded. "Cool. Thanks, egghead." She turned to look at the other two Heraldites. "She says there's an instrument panel right..." She pivoted, scanned, then pointed at a series of dials positioned perpendicular to the lit panel. "...there!"

"Hell yeah!" Flynn galloped over, scuffled to a stop, then blinked. "Errr..." He glanced over at Rainbow. "What's it function?"

"Pffffft!" Rainbow rolled her eyes. "You tell me, brainiac! Twilight doesn't know its purpose—only that the manajuice is being funneled through it."

"Ah. Okay..."

"You're the stallion who graduated from Manapunk Academy."

"I am self-taught."

Rainbow face-hoofed. "Oh. Great."

"No, it's a sexy 'self-taught'," Flynn insisted, studying the dials up close. "Hmmmmm... hold up. I think I'm seeing a pattern here." His lensed eye focused on a series of symbols etched above each dial... then up at the lit panel where the corresponding emblems were situated alongside each illustrated compartment. "So... I think each of these funnel power into the various compartments of Darkrreach."

"Can they power up the top room?"

"It's... a bit more convoluted than that," Flynn murmured. "Unless there's another compartment, I think these dials will control the power levels of Darkreach in entire sections."

"You mean multiple floors?"

"Something like that. My guess is that each symbol represents a prearranged section of vertically arranged chambers. If we had more crystals lit, it'd be possible to power up the entire place. As it is, however, we can only provide juice to one portion of the colony at a time."

"And we don't want to overload any of that schnazz right this second."

"Exactly."

Rainbow sighed, taking a step back. "Well... then... uhm..." She shrugged. "Time for a Darkreach spelunking adventure?"

"Lighting up one chamber at a time?"

"That's the idea, yeah."

"Not without the rest of the Herald," Flynn remarked, shaking his head. "I wouldn't suggest it."

"Right." Rainbow nodded, then turned to make a lethargic exit. "I'll go round 'em up, I guess."

Wildcard whistled. The other two looked at him.

The Desperado approached the instrument panel. His goggles reflected a wide rectangle with two dull diodes. He gestured at it.

"Yeah, we just went through that room," Flynn said. "The one with the mosaic... mural... thingy..."

"No..." Rainbow squinted and shook her head. "That's not the room with the Verdestone mosaic."

"It's not?"

"It's not shaped the same way," Rainbow said. "And Rarity concurs." She pointed. "This is a different large room... one we haven't been through."

"How could we miss it?"

"Dude, it was darker than Luna poop when we first entered this place. I'm sure there are lots of crud on the first floor that we've missed."

Wildcard shook his head. He pointed again at the large rectangular on the panel.

Rainbow cocked her head to the side, squinting.

The topmost horizontal line of the rectangle was fainter than the rest. "Huh... there are two empty diodes. I'm guessing they could be lit up?"

"Most likely," Flynn said. "And corresponding to manacircuitry."

"So... basically... that large room is not lit up right now?"

"Correct."

"But two diodes—one must represent manalights. But what's the other for?"

"I..." Flynn looked at Wildcard, then back at Rainbow Dash. "I don't know."

Rainbow's ear flicked. She glanced at the ear beside her. "For realsies, Rares?"

"What does your friend sense?"

Rainbow smirked. "Cool beans." She looked at Flynn. "I know how to get the rest of the Herald inside."

"You mean we're not using the stairwell?"

"Pfft. Stairs are for noobs." Rainbow pointed at the unlit rectangle. "Juice that baby up. I'll be there in a jiff." SWOOOSH!

"Big Show!" Ariel shouted, pouting. "Cut it out!"

"I'm just saying...!" Logan leaned back against the supply shed with a casual smirk. "...she's got lots of muscle on her! All we need is a big enough oven and then we can easily feed two Herald per drumstick!"

"Eughhhh..." Ariel shook her head, tail flicking. "...I can't believe this place is corrupting us already."

Seraphimus droned: "I welcome any death... including something as pathetic as cannibalism."

"See?!" Logan gestured. "She's into it!"

"I no longer know which of you two is worse," Ariel droned.

"Granted..." Logan scratched his chin as he glanced over at the bound griffin. "...lack of fear will make the meat juices less succulent."

"Mrrmmmfff..." Kepler adjusted his spectacles. "This is not what I wanted to put in my memoirrs."

Logan glanced at him. "You're writing memoirs???"

Before the wyvern could respond...

CRKKKKK!

The mesa beneath them shook.

"Ackies!" Ariel took off, flying and trembling in midair. "Earthquake!"

"No!" Logan pointed. "Look!"

"My starrs!"

A solid line of glowing red light materialized. Then—with mechanical grace—a ginormous "lid" tilted up, lifting and opening. It was easily ten times the size of the first hatch in the roof of the mesa that had been accessed to reveal the stairwell. Peering down, the group saw a shallow ramp leading to a large "hangar" of sorts built into the upper crust of the mesa. There was a smattering of loose crates and age-old abandoned junk. But—hovering in the center—was a lively, blue sight. Rainbow Dash flew up and into the open air of twilight.

"Hi, welcome to Darkreach." She smiled at the group. "We don't have sandwiches here, but we can pretend." A wink. "Right?"

Get That "Exploration" Achievement

Logan, Ariel, and Kepler finished dragging the two sleds down into the upper hangar of Darkreach. The faint twilight of the outer world was swiftly drowned out by a bright array of buzzing red lights filling the spacious chamber below. Metal equipment, Cylindrimanian tech, and random other pieces of junk lined the otherwise vacant compartment.

"Well... I must admit..." Kepler finished dragging Seraphimus' sled in with Ariel's help. He stood up and dusted his claws and wings off with a tusked smile. "This makes a grreat deal morre sense! I suspect you have unveiled the main entrrance to this domain, Rrainbow One!"

"Not by myself, I didn't," Rainbow shook her head as she finished dragging the equipment sled in with Logan. "Flynn gets most of the credit, although we'd be nowhere without Wildcard's senses and the girls'."

"Does this mean everything's lit up in this place?" Ariel asked. A slight shudder. "I wouldn't want to be stuck in a darker-than-dark place in the middle of nowhere."

"Flynn says we should boot up the manasystems slowly," Rainbow said. "Or else we could overload the central power core or some crud." She pointed at the massive gears locked in place and holding the large hatch above the ramp open. "Right now, about seventy percent of the juice is being used to open this baby."

"So... we gotta redirect the energy right after closing up?" Logan asked.

Rainbow nodded. "Something like that."

Logan exhaled. "I can dig it."

"Prrobably forr the best that we close this hatch at all times that we do not need it," Kepler said, observing the continuous hum of manacircuitry illuminating the place in a crimson glow. "This is a larrge, well-arrmorred doorr. No doubt the Emerraldinians felt it necessarry to shield themselves frrom something."

"Like what?" Ariel asked.

"Hrrmfff..." Seraphimus muttered, low on sleep and functioning vocal chords. "It's your own damned fault that the wendigoes are out and about."

"Hah!" Logan grinned. "Are you for real? Even after all this time?! The Edge of the World?! The day-less trek through Cragville?!" He stood before the bound griffin, gesturing wildly. "And now this nosedive into the throat of a lone mesa drowning in twilight?! Still you deny where we all are, toots?"

Seraphimus glared at him. "Do not call me 'toots.'"

"Heh..." Logan leaned back. "Poor turkey. I think you've drained all your brain matter into a lonely throbbing bitch gland."

"Don't get too close to her, Big Show," Flynn said, trotting into the hangar from a side entrance. "She's liable to bite off your only remaining inch of pride."

"What if I'm into that, Baldy?"

"Eugh... Goddess help us all."

Ariel waved. "Hi, Flynn!" She waved again. "Hiya, Wildcard! How are you holding up?"

Wildcard—distracted—bumped into a random support beam. THWUMP! His goggles rattled, and—with a hissing sound—the griffon spun about and punched his one talon repeatedly into the column. A few seething seconds later... he calmed... then waved his claws from side to side.

Wincing, Ariel turned to look at the others. "Okaaaaaaaay... guess we found shelter right in the nick of time."

"I can't sleep," Rainbow said. "Not yet. Not until we've mapped this place out more."

"I whole-hearrtedly concurr!" Kepler said. "We must make a surrvey of Darrkrreach as soon as possible! Ascerrtain the tools we can salvage frrom this sanctuarry's hallowed halls!"

"Don't get on your knees and worship this place yet, Keps," Flynn muttered. "The lower floors are pretty ransacked. Whoever left this place may have taken everything with them."

"So..." Ariel squinted. "...it is completely abandoned?"

Wildcard nodded.

"Looks like it," Rainbow said. "Plus, Fluttershy's not sensing anything... or anyone."

"Still..." Kepler cleared his throat. "We have an entirre plane of chaos ahead of us... and I suspect this is the one and only place that will be even rremotely hospitable."

"Four eyes is right," Logan said. "I say we start gutting immediately." He gestured behind him. "How about getting this tin can shut?"

"Will do!" Flynn said, looking at Rainbow. "And then—if you want—I can go about powering up the whole of Darkreach in sections. We can explore each of them in quadrants."

Rainbow nodded. "Until we're able to power up the entire place?"

"Precisely."

"Well then..." Rainbow cracked her neck muscles and flew forward. "Let's get to work."

Bodies huddled in a dark room.

Flynn's voice echoed from a distant corridor far below.

"Central quadrant...!"

"Just crank it, Baldy!" Logan shouted.

Cht-Chtunnnnnng!

The dim red lights flanking the room flickered from crimson to bright gold.

Seraphimus squinted. Released from the sled, the exhausted, bruised griffin was heavily chained to a series of pipes in the far... far corner of the large room.

The rest of the Herald flinched as the chamber lit up like noonday. They saw benches... strewn equipment... and a grand mosaic of Verdestone on the far wall.

"Ooooooh!" Ariel cooed, smiling. "Pretty!"

"My starrs and garrterrs!" Kepler beamed. "Is that... Verdestone?"

"Uh huh." Rainbow Dash flew down the length of the room. "But now's not the time. Focus, everypony. We only have a small window of time to scour this room before Flynn's gotta juice up another compartment."

"Right! On it!" Ariel dove towards a pile of debris and began shifting through it. "Still... this room's so highly decorated. What do you think it was for?"

"Meeting? Rrecrreation?" Kepler suggested, examining random bric-a-brac along a table. "Perrhaps a commissarry?"

"Ohhhhhhhh lawd..." Logan sighed, turning over a large crate. Thud! "I wonder if this place still has a kitchen intact."

"Maybe—but anything we find in there has got to be over centuries old." Ariel grimaced from afar. "You really wanna munch on something that old?"

Logan smirked. "Can't be any worse than stuff I've eaten before."

Seraphimus groaned. "Verlaxion... finish me now..."

"I said focus, ponies!"

With a loud rattle, Wildcard yanked a slender metal object from a pile of dusty junk. He held the thing up victoriously, glancing at the others.

"Whoah..." Logan squinted from a distance. "...the Hell is that thing?"

"It looks manapowerred," Kepler said, adjusting his glasses. "Cylindrrimanian technology, no doubt."

"Yeah... but what's it for?" Rainbow asked.

"Hey..." Ariel pointed in Wildcard's direction. "Is that a trigger?"

"... ... ...?" Wildcard turned the object around. Indeed, he saw a glinting metal nozzle. He balanced the neck of the thing on his left stub and dug a right claw into the instrument. Whurrrrrrr—THUNTT!

The cylinder jolted like a potato cannon, and a grappling hook was violently launched across the chamber. CLANKKK! It embedded into the pipework just inches above Seraphimus' feathery skull.

Wildcard and Rainbow Dash winced. "Okaaaaaaay..." Rainbow cleared her throat. "New rule... no more touching weird things without thinking."

"Got it," Ariel said with a nod.

Seraphimus sighed. "Infidels..." She slinked away from where the metal hook was embedded. "...now they're just teasing me."

"I fearr that therre isn't much to find in herre, Rrainbow One," Kepler said.

"I agree." Rainbow flew off towards an adjacent corridor. "I'm telling Flynn to juice up the next section."

"Lateral quadrant...!" Flynn's voice shouted.

Bzzzzz-bzzzzzt!

A long, narrow corridor flickered to life with bright, gold light.

Rainbow Dash and Ariel stood side by side, staring down at an array of narrow doorways yawning open with concrete frames. Dust and grime materialized under the harmonic illumination.

"How quaint," Ariel muttered.

"Quickly..." Rainbow started trotting down the long thin hall, glancing into every room. "...let's do a quick scan."

"What do you see?" Ariel asked, catching up and craning her neck.

"I think..." Rainbow's ruby eyes reflected bunk beds, cabinets, and loose garments. "...this is the living quarters."

"No kidding?" Ariel glanced into each claustrophobic compartment, observing household items like brushes and horseshoes strewn about. "Kinda looks like a college dorm."

"Really? So you've been to Kihutaja?"

"Huh? You mean the Colonial Islands?"

Rainbow sighed, shaking her head. "Never mind—" She suddenly jolted in place, staring into one particular compartment. "Whoah boyoooooo..."

"What is it?" Ariel peered in with her. "Guh!" She grimaced. "Talk about cruddy..."

"Yeah!" Rainbow smirked, gesturing into a compartment the same size as all the previous living quarters—only this one possessed a single bed floating atop a glorious pile of metal junk and inside-out mechanisms. "But it's nifty crud!"

"Is it?" Ariel looked disdainfully at oil-stained gears and manacrystal casings. "Is it really?" A sigh. "Maybe we should bring Flynn or Keps in here to take a gander."

"Curious..." Rainbow gingerly shoved a few rattling tools aside, uncovering even more gearworks. "...all of the other rooms are filled with bunkbeds. But here? We've got one cot and what looks like an unkempt garage. What's the deal? What makes this room so special that it stands out from the others?"

"Whyyyyyyyyy so many questions?"

"Honestly, girl..." Rainbow gazed at her with a sly smirk. "...is this your first visit to a derelict abandoned station?"

"In Rohbredden I... uh... stumbled upon many a... ... ... ... ... snow hut."

"Riiiiiight."

"Pffft. At least pay attention to what you're rummaging through." Ariel pointed at the only part of the wall not covered with hanging tools. "For instance, what's that?"

"Hmmm?" Rainbow blinked at a crookedly-framed illustration of an industrial landscape.

"These Emeraldinians sure were homesick," Ariel remarked. "Still..." A shudder. "...I like the mural of Verdestone in the other room waaaaaaaay better."

"Mosaic."

"Huh?"

Rainbow ignored her for a brief moment, her ruby eyes trailing the circular shapes of large "holes" dotting the heart of the painted cityscape. "...New Ring City. No..." She smirked. "Old Ring City."

"Isn't that the name of—"

"—a place in Darkstine. Right." Rainbow trotted in a circle, taking the entirety of the junk-filled room in. "I believe these quarters belonged to a Cylindrimanian."

"You sure?"

"Pretty sure—" Rainbow stubbed her fetlock on something. Thunk! "Augh! Luna's Nipple!" She hopped in place, hissing. A few seconds later: "... ... ...yeah yeah, I'm sorry, Twilight."

"What did you run into?"

"I dunno." Rainbow hopped and hopped. "Something stupid."

"Here..." Ariel squatted low and picked up the item in question. "...let's take a closer look."

The rectangular object immediately flickered with dull red light, causing Ariel to drop it with a slight shriek.

"Shhh!" Rainbow finished flinching. "Calm down."

"It... it's mana-powered!" Ariel gulped. "Whatever it is."

"Huh..." Rainbow reached down to pick up the large, rectangular object. Again, it glowed with a faint red light upon her grasping it. "Must be some pretty wicked tech to still have some juice after all this time." She pivoted it to the side. A series of cables dangled loosely from an open compartment. "Weird... is it some kind of battery?"

Ariel eyed a slender handle along the top of the thing. "... ... ...looks like a briefcase to me."

"A briefcase?" Rainbow turned the thing over, causing the cables to pivot and sway. "Pffft... no lid. Nothing to open it up with." She pivoted it some more, exposing a small hole. "Hey—looks like a crystal housing chamber."

"Look..." Ariel pointed at the side of the device. "Are those... letters?"

Rainbow squinted. "'C'... ... ... 'A'... ... ...'I'... ... ...'" she began reading.

"Hey! Gals!" Logan's voice hollered from somewhere beyond the hallway outside. "Double-Yoo found something super important looking! Come and have a look!"

"Ahem..." Rainbow craned her neck and shouted back: "Is Flynn ready to switch power again?"

"Do I care?"

Ariel rolled her eyes. She smiled at Rainbow Dash. "Do we wanna poke around here a bit more?"

Rainbow looked at her, at the "briefcase," then at her again. "Nah." She tucked the thing under her left wing and trotted out... cables dragging behind her. "Let's get to the meaty bits later."

"Okay, Flynn," Rainbow Dash muttered. She stared across yet another spacious chamber. "Hit it."

This time, the bald stallion was within earshot. He stood beside the entrance to the room and cranked a lever. Cht-Chtunnng!

Gold light flickered to life, illuminating a room filled with instrument panels and crystalline stations. In the center there stood a massive table with a dull black surface comprised of countless rusted metal pins.

"Okay..." Logan was the first to huff. "... ... ...what the buck?"

"Just as I thought..." Flynn smirked, trotting away from the lever as he gaped at all the blinking, flickering lights. "...that explains why I was able to power this place up from here."

"Care to fill us in, baldy?"

Flynn gestured with a hoof. "This must be the master control room... the operational hub of Darkreach."

"Hey! Cool!" Ariel smiled proudly. "Score."

Rainbow Dash was shaking the rectangular object she pilfered from the sleeping quarters. After hearing a slight rattle, she shrugged, then casually tossed the piece of junk to the ground behind her. Cl-Clunk! "Soooooo..." Dusting off her hooves, Rainbow stared at the table before them. "The heck is this thing? A tetanus baptismal pool?"

"Surrely therre is a deeperr purrpose to it," Kepler said.

"That's what I'm intending to find out. Aaaaaand..." Flynn approached a series of dials and swiftly turned them. "...if I am correct."

Vrmmmmmmmmmm!

A loud hum emanated from the metallic table in the center of the control room, causing Ariel and Wildcard to guard themselves. The air crackled with electrical energy, and the group watched as hundreds upon hundreds of metal needles lifted up from the base of the table. They rose at different heights... forming a pattern... then ultimately a geographical silhoutte. It didn't take long for the Herald to realize they were staring at a three-dimensional model of the mesa and the surrounding ravine—comprised entirely out of magnetically raised pins.

"Ta-daaaaaaa...!" Flynn folded his forelimbs and smiled proudly at the group. "Fillies and gentlecolts, I present you a map."

Wildcard whistled.

"Whoahhhhh..." Ariel blinked.

"That's nice and all," Rainbow said. She turned to smile at Flynn. "But will it blend?"

Logan snickered.

Flynn rolled his good eye and droned, "I think this is pretty significant. It's giving us a pretty accurate picture of the surrounding landscape."

"No kidding." Rainbow rubbed the back of her head. "Maaaaaaaaaaaaybeeeeeeee... it can show us further long to where we need to go?"

"That's what I'm hoping."

"But..." Ariel squinted at the others. "...just how far did the Emeraldinians of Darkreach go? And did they actually map out any of that stuff?"

"Only one way to find out."

"Guess you'll need this place juiced up for quite a while, huh?" Rainbow asked.

Flynn said, "This looks to be the central planning and management area of the entire facility. I'm hoping that any secrets about the whereabouts of the colonists can be figured out here."

"Then you must obserrve the inforrmation storred herre with grreat scrrutiny, brrotherr," Kepler said.

"And I would love to have your help with that, Keps," Flynn said. "Above all else... we must be careful and delicate with all of the instruments here." He shrugged. "Who knows how faulty some of this tech can be?"

"Hey..." Logan lumbered forward, reaching his hoof towards a faintly glowing diode. "What's this thingy do?"

Flynn winced hard. "Dude! Hold up—!"

Too late. Logan pressed the thing.

But then...

FL-FLASH!!! Six separate beams of light shot inward from previously-concealed emitters. The entire table glowed... and an image danced and flickered in the center of the room. Layer by layer, the skull of a pony materialized in three dimensions above the metallic map of the mesa. The cranium acquired an ink black coat and a midnight mane. Deep, wise eyes pooled into being and a muzzle full of immaculate teeth opened in sync with a deep bass voice crackling forth from unseen speakers:

"—scrkkkkkk—forth with the blessings of Harmony, foals of Emeraldine. Our weary eyes rest upon the—scrkkkkkkkk—" The sagely stallion's face rippled with static, rematerialized, and repeated the fragmented message. "—scrkkkkkk—forth with the blessings of Harmony, foals of Emeraldine. Our weary eyes rest upon the—scrkkkkkkkk—"

As the face rippled again, Ariel hovered closer to it... muzzle agape. "A... a hologram...?"

Flynn nodded, dumbstruck. "Apparently..."

"But..." Rainbow Dash squinted. "...who is it?"

"Beats me," Logan exhaled. "Look at his teeth!"

"Big Show..."

"With chompers like that, he's gotta be royalty!"

"Onyxxus..."

The group looked over at Kepler.

Kepler took a deep breath. "The late patrriarrch of ourr beloved Mountain Matrron..." The wyvern bowed with quiet reverance. "...I feel it in my hearrt. This is Morrtuana's fatherr..."

Wildcard stared thoughtfully at Kepler, then at the infinitely repeating hologram.

"Huh..." Rainbow slicked her short bangs back, gazing at the hologram. "...neato."

Dashie, Our Only Hope

—forth with the blessings of Harmony, foals of Emeraldine. Our weary eyes rest upon the—scrkkkkkkkk—forth with the blessings of Harmony, foals of Emeraldine. Our weary eyes rest upon the—scrkkkkkkkk—"

"So..." Pinkie Pie's eyes narrowed. "That's Onyxxus, huh?"

Twilight Sparkle hovered next to her and Rainbow Dash. "That would seem to be the case."

"Seems to have a goldfish memory, doesn't he?"

Twilight glared aside. "It's the recording, Pinkie. The message is obviously stuck."

"Oh. I knew that. Heehee."

"Isn't it incredible?" Fluttershy cooed. "An actual honest-to-goddess alicorn..."

Applejack squinted aside. "Didn't y'all get a chance to see Mortuana while she was still alive?"

"I know. But it doesn't make this any less amazing," Fluttershy said. She cocked her head aside, staring at the hologram from a different angle. "Once upon a time, we only knew about two alicorns: Celestia and Luna. But bearing witness to others? I don't know about you, but I find it to be an amazing experience."

"Look at his mane!" Rarity stammered. "I know it's just a holographic projection, but observe how it shimmers in the light despite being such a dark color!" She sighed dreamily. "Must have been so silky and smoothe... quite remarkable for a stallion!"

"That's right!" Fluttershy breathed. "He is a stallion! This is the first alicorn stallion we've ever seen!"

Applejack spoke, "Y'all do realize that this feller-a-corn you've been fawnin' over has been dead for untold centuries...?"

"Applejack, darling, don't be so quick to rebuke." Rarity upturned her nose. "We are allowed to acknowledge beauty in all its forms. No doubt the regal gentlecolt was the paragon of virtue and inspiration while he was still alive."

"If you ask me, he's kinda edgy-looking," Pinkie Pie droned.

Rarity sighed. "Goddess help me... I wonder if I will be regarded so bluntly long after I've perished."

"Who knows... with somepony like Pinkie Pie still around..." Applejack smirked.

Clearing her throat, Ariel floated closer to Rainbow Dash. "Do you... uh... do you have an assessment yet or are you waiting on your friends to finish deliberating?"

"You know me too well," Rainbow muttered. "They're busy being ponies."

"Hey!" Pinkie pouted. "I resemble that remark!" A blink. "Wait..."

"Yo! Herald!" Rainbow spoke across the Emeraldinian Command Room. "Any thoughts?"

Logan, Kepler, Wildcard, and Flynn pondered while the translucent alicorn portrait continued to repeat itself: "—scrkkkkkk—forth with the blessings of Harmony, foals of Emeraldine. Our weary eyes rest upon the—scrkkkkkkkk—forth with the blessings of Harmony, foals of Emeraldine. Our weary eyes rest upon the—scrkkkkkkkk—"

"Well, he... uh..." Logan shifted where he stood. "...he sounds like a monarch, alright."

Flynn face-hoofed. "You could at least comment on his intent, lardo."

"Well let's hear you come up with something smart, baldy!"

"If you ask me..." Flynn rubbed his chin in thought. "He's addressing the colonists of the Darkreach Expedition."

"Obviously," Logan said.

Flynn rolled his eyes and continued: "But it sounds like he's saying something commemorative. It's... not something I would expect to be stored within Darkreach's crystalline memory banks."

"How do you mean?" Ariel asked.

"Think about it." Flynn looked at the others while the portrait kept speaking, distorting, and re-speaking. "Onyxxus still had duties to attend to back in Emeraldine. It's likely that he produced this message from the heights of Verdestone."

"Not prrecisely," Kepler said.

Flynn looked over. "Hmmm?"

The wyvern slapped his claws against the nearest wall. "It's rratherr obvious that alicorrn magic carrved Darrkrreach frrom the hearrt of this mesa. I suspect Onyxxus paid at least one visit to this domain. He could verry well have given this speech as a farrewell addrress..."

"Beforrrrrrrrrrrre making his way back to the Light Side," Ariel droned.

"Exactly."

"So he's wishing the poor bastards here 'good luck,'" Logan remarked. "Cool. Got it. What now?"

"Not so fast..." Flynn waved a hoof. "I still don't get why this is the first thing we uncover as soon as we boot this system up."

"Well, this message was stored in the 'crystalline database' thingy housed here in Darkreach, right?" Rainbow remarked.

"Yeah..."

"Well, it's been offline for Celestia-knows how long." Rainbow blinked. "Maybe—in throwing the switch—we've inadvertently brought the system back to square one?" She looked at the others. "There could be more messages. There could be more to this message. We just don't know because we're only scraping the surface."

Ariel's eyes squinted. "Is there a way to find out more?" She waved at the hologram. "First off—to figure out everything that Onyxxus said?"

"I... suspect that providing more power to the main core could help out," Flynn said. "I had been hoping to do that gradually—for fear of overloading the system."

"Make it your main priority," Rainbow Dash said. "Because if these dudes actually left messages for us to uncover then I sure as heck want to access the full bulk of them." She waved a hoof at the map of the mesa made out of magnetically-raised pins. "Gathering as much information about the Dark Side would be super... super awesome."

Flynn took a deep breath. "I'll need to hop back down to the generator room... slide more crystals into the core. However, I'm going to have to do it slowly... one at a time... or else I might inadvertently cause a blackout—which would lead to permanent data loss."

"I shall happily assist you, brrotherr," Kepler said. "Jourrney orr no jourrney, I would love to hearr morre frrom the wise muzzle of Morrtuana's patrriarrch."

"You guys do that," Rainbow said. "I'm assuming that—in powering up the rest of the core—you'll be restoring lighting to the rest of the settlement?"

"Presumably."

"Good. Ariel, Big Show and I can continue searching the compound." Rainbow Dash turned tail and marched out of the room. "Let's get every square inch of this place covered, dudes! I wanna know all that there is to know!"

"Wowie, Dashie!" Pinkie grinned wide as she and the other ghostly mares accompanied her. "You really take disembodied holographic heads in stride!"

"Wouldn't be my first time," Rainbow droned, navigating a concrete hallway. "I encountered something similar with Commander Hurricane back in Stratopolis."

"Stratopolis?" Rarity pronounced.

"Yeah. One of the two Sentinels said to accompany this piece of Urohringr," Rainbow Dash said. "Funny how a single message from the past can shed so much light on a crazy-flank situation in the present."

Pinkie Pie droned: "Only a precise hit will set off a chain reaction."

"... ... ... ... ...huh?"

"Heehee! Let's go spelunking!"

Rainbow sighed, shaking her head in mid-trot. "Never a dull moment."

Mobile Awesome Spectral Horse

"—forth with the blessings of Harmony, foals of Emeraldine. Our weary eyes rest upon the—scrkkkkkkkk—forth with the blessings of Harmony, foals of Emeraldine. Our weary eyes rest upon the—scrkkkkkkkk—forth with the blessings of Harmony, foals of Emeraldine. Our weary eyes rest upon the—scrkkkkkkkk—"

"You know..." Twilight Sparkle scratched her chin, squinting at the translucent face of Onyxxus being broadcasted against a wall between adjacent doorframes. "...I'm a bit surprised he doesn't have an accent."

Pinkie and Rarity looked over Rainbow's body while their anchor rummaged through a pile of debris. "An accent?" Above them, manalights flickered to life one after another as Flynn continued powering up the entirety of Darkreach.

"Yes!" Twilight nodded. "Or a different language entirely!" She gestured at the alicorn image. "This was recorded... what... countless centuries ago. Even Old Equestrian Basic had several different modifiers, spellings, and verbage in the days of the Neo Classical Era."

"But these fellers were Emeraldinians," Applejack said.

"I don't see how that makes it any different, Applejack," Twilight said with a slight frown. "Language is language... a highly evolving and naturally malleable thing. It... it just doesn't make sense for a culture to speak in the same way for the better portion of a thousand years!"

"Maybe the history books are wrong!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

"Pfffffft!" Twilight nearly spat her tongue out. "The Royal Archives of Canterlot are anything but wrong."

"Live and learn, egghead." Rainbow Dash sat up with an object in her hooves. It was metal, slender, and housed a narrow central chamber. "By the time we're done with the Dark Side, I'm betting you'll find that almost all of the 'history books' are wrong to some degree."

"What did you find there, Dashie?" Pinkie asked.

"Mmmmm..." Rainbow pivoted away from the repeating hologram so her response could be better heard. "I've been through enough warring countries to recognize a crossbow when I see one."

"Even one that's so glossy and streamlined?" Applejack smirked and tilted her hat back. "Reckon you found yerself a space crossbow!"

Pinkie Pie giggled.

"Thing is..." Rainbow looked at the concrete corridor she was in. "...this doesn't look like the armory. I wonder if it was just left here by accident and... there could be more elsewhere in this place."

"Could be a mite bit useful, sugarcube."

"I... I-I'm not sensing an armory," Rarity said.

"Could you try and 'feel around' for a room that has more of this thing?" Rainbow asked her.

Rarity whimpered slightly. "I don't know... but I will certainly try, darling." She pressed two hooves to her pale forehead and clenched her eyelids shut. "Crossbow... powers... a-activate!"

"Maybe this is a discovery to bring to the others," Twilight said.

"Right." Rainbow balanced the weapon on her back and briskly trotted up the nearby stairs. More lights came to life as she ascended. "Hopefully they found more useful things than I did."

Wildcard whistled.

Ariel and Logan spun about from where they stood before the grand Verdestone mosaic of the common room. The flickering face of Onyxxus loomed above them, speaking on repeat.

"What is it, boy?" Logan grinned at the three limb'd griffin. "What did you find?" Ariel's hoof swatted his big forehead, but he didn't stop grinning like an idiot.

Exhaling, Wildcard crossed the distance between them, dragging a large metal crate with his tail. With a breathy grunt, the Desperado swung the container so that it slid to a stop between the other two Heraldites.

"Nuts," Logan droned. "Metal nuts."

"Whoah! Wildcard!" Hovering, Ariel reached down and dragged her hooves through a mess of metal bits, levers, bolts, and rods. "It's like a metal junkie's wet dream!" She looked at him. "Was this the only one that you found?"

Wildcard shook his head. He held all five talons out, then clenched and unclenched his fist four times.

"Wow! Talk about the motherload!" Ariel grinned from ear to ear. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Wildcard smirked. He looked towards Logan. With his one talon, he smothed his headcrest back and mimicked a horn coming out of his forehead.

"You really think Flynn can make you something out of this?" Logan raised an eyebrow. "We're already overworking the bugger as it is."

"Pffft... Big Show..." Ariel swatted the stallion with her tail. "For Wildcard, Flynn would do anything... even turn a box of nuts and bolts into a new prosthetic."

"Hrmmmf... wish he loved me nearly half as much," Big Show muttered, polishing off a golden sphere he had found. "I sure could use a refrigerator."

"Harrk!" Kepler shuffled briskly into the room, grasping a slender golden object in his claws. "Look, brrotherrs! Sisterr! Gaze upon that which I have acquirred!"

"Keps, Big Show already found a spear," Ariel remarked.

"Oh ye of little ingenuity!" Kepler gestured. "Obserrve!" He then twirled the object in his grasp and proceeded to scrap the small of his hairy backside. "Mmmmmmmmm... ha-hah! Most heavenly indeed!"

Wildcard gave a thumb's up.

"Heh..." Ariel rolled her eyes. "We're all glad for you, Keps."

"Dude... a backscratcher?" Logan grinned at the wyvern. "Why not just use your scorpion tail? You were born with a natural one!"

Kepler gave him a shocked expression, his spectacles nearly falling off. "You darre suggest that I would stoop to being so barrbarric?!" He gestured. "How about you prrocurre the harrdened mucus frrom yourr nostrrils with yourr prrehensile limb!"

Logan and Ariel chuckled. Wildcard smirked.

Then... from the far end of the room:

"What... am I even looking at?"

The Heraldites looked over.

Seraphimus sat with a dumbstruck expression. Handcuffed to pipework, she kept her twitching hawkeyes glued to the holographic image of Onyxxus on repeat.

"Silly bird," Ariel hummed. "They don't have stuff like that back in Rohbredden, do they?" She placed metal bits back in Wildcard's box and yawned. "Oh well. Just have to chalk it off to 'infidels' and 'Blight' and whatever."

"There... are no ponies like that in any of the prefectures..." Seraphimus' charcoal brown eyes fixated on the horned stallion's coiled wings—occasionally showing beneath his neck and shoulders. "Nor in the Seven Seas." She squinted at the Herald. "Precisely what is this place?"

Logan rolled his eyes. "Weeping chickens of the world, unite..."

"Now you want to know the truth?" Ariel stammered. "Even after we told you so many friggin' times?"

"Now now, frriends..." Kepler shuffled between them. "That is no way to trreat good and prroperr curriosity. Adverrsarries orr not, we arre still in this togetherr, yes?" He cleared his throat and faced Seraphimus. "You see, King Onyxxus of Emerraldine was one of severral extrraterrrestrrial equines who descended frrom the heavens long ago beforre—"

Logan let loose a loud whistle. "Yo, Keps." He yanked the small wyvern back by his scorpion tail. "Save it."

"But I was merrely wishing to educate—"

"You can't teach a frog how to hop if it's already proven itself to be stupid!" Logan frowned at Seraphimus. "Ignore this momemtary lapse of raisin baskets. She's still as murderous as an owl with rabies. You think she's going to want to kill us any less once she knows the truth" He shook his head. "Wait until the turkey really really wants it."

"Yeah..." Ariel threw Seraphimus a cold-hearted glare. "What he said."

Kepler squinted at them both. "Arre we not wishing to illuminate this poorr soul? Do not forrget what the Rrainbow One wishes—"

"Rainbow wants to keep her alive," Logan grunted. "If she wants to play ball on our team, then she has to prove it." He glanced aside. "Right, Double-Yoo?"

Wildcard stared at the Verdestone mosaic. He merely sighed.

Seraphimus clenched her beak angrily. "It's a wonder that you misguided cretins eluded Chandler for so long."

"Some shit in life is easier than you think, toots." Logan pointed. "And as defeating for your screwball of a 'Defense Minister,' we have one selfless badass to thank for that! And unfortunately, you self-righteos bucktard, he's no longer with—"

Thwap! A sharp talon clenched Logan's shoulder, instantly silencing him.

Logan blinked over at Wildcard. "... ... ...what? Too close to home?"

Ariel face-hoofed. "Dammit, Big Show..."

"What? Somepony's gotta read her the riot act! Bard would have gotten a hoot out of it! Don't you deny it!"

It was precisely then that Rainbow Dash bounded up an adjacent set of steps with the crossbow in tow. "Okay guys, I found something we might be able to use. Right now, I've got Rarity 'scanning' for others in the compound and—" She froze in place.

Everyone stood, shifting about awkwardly. Frowing faces and downcast eyes avoided each other. Onyxxus' voice continued repeating eerily in the background, piercing the tense silence.

Rainbow arched an eyebrow. "... ... ...well if this place isn't a warm fuzzy bucket of kittens."

"Everypony seems..." Pinkie grimaced. "...pony poop'd."

"AJ?" Rainbow tilted her head aside. "Your honest thoughts?"

"Ahem." Applejack adjusted her hat and gestured at Seraphimus. "Reckon it stems from her... but not entirely."

Seraphimus looked at Rainbow Dash. Her beaked expression was strangely neutral.

Rainbow blinked at that. A sigh, and she looked lethargically at the Heraldites. "Look... can we work on one thing at a time? Right now, we should be scouring Darkreach for useful tools. Let's save group therapy for another occasion... preferably when Flynn or Kepler could figure out how to conjure peanut butter snacks from the ether."

"Look..." Logan gestured at Seraphimus. "She started pretending to be interested in—"

"Another. Time." Rainbow glared daggers at him. "If you can't be useful here in Darkreach, then trot outside and make us a bridge across the ravine with your butt."

Logan crossed his forelimbs and pouted in silence.

"Whew-wee, Dashie!" Pinkie grinned. "You can really be like Lime Pie when you wanna—"

"Shhhh!" Rainbow hissed at the ghostly mare. "You too. I'll say when it's time to chillax and gargle nonsense."

"Hrmmmf." It was Pinkie's turn to fold her forelimbs. "All of those sunrises have burnt your jollies!"

"Uh huh." Rainbow looked at the Herald. "What did you guys find?"

"Uhhhhhhhhhhh..." Ariel squirmed in midair. "Uhhhh... eh heh..."

Kepler gulped and held his tiny pole up. "Behold! A scrratcherr of the back!

Wildcard face-claw'd.

"And... erm..." Ariel pointed at the crate. "The makings of a new prosthetic for Wildcard." She gulped. "We hope."

Rainbow exhaled. "Well, cool beans." She gave her flank a shake, caught the crossbow in midair, and brandished it. "The girls and I found this. I'm not one hundred percent certain... but I think it might be manapowered. Like... you fit it with a manacrystal and it fires energy pulses." She turned the thing over. "I say this because it kinda resembles the rifles that I saw back in Ledomare—"

The glossy surface of the crossbow's stock reflected a pair of red-on-yellow eyes. "Do you really intend on dragging their useless fannies all the way to your destination?"

Rainbow Dash froze in mid-speech. Her muzzle hung open.

A fang glinted as a smile formed above a tuft of goat hair. "Lock and load this thing up. You can off them in their sleep. I'm certain the big one can feed you for a year at least."

"Uhhhhhhhhhh..." Rainbow paled.

Ariel squinted. "Rainbow? Is something the matter?"

Chaotic chuckles. The voice rang off the crossbow's metal structure. "I bet you'd want to gobble her up first."

"Guh!" Rainbow tossed the crossbow out of her hooves.

"Rainbow?!" Twilight gasped.

"Whoah!" Pinkie's gaze followed the thrown weapon. "From downtown—!"

Swoooosh! Wildcard glided towards the ceiling and—Snatch!—caught the weapon in a single talon. He descended with softly flapping wings. His goggled eyes looked at the weapon, then worriedly at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow shivered in place. She caught Seraphimus' curious gaze in her peripheral vision. "I... uh... I was th-thinking that if we found more l-like that thing... uhm... we could stock ourselves for the j-journey to come..."

"Buck the journey," Logan muttered, squinting at her. "What the heck's the matter with you."

"She's mad," Seraphimus droned. "I've told you all this."

"Rrrrrngh..." Logan stomped a hoof and leaned angrily in her direction. "How would you like to have every feather plucked off of you with tweezers?"

"It would be less torturous than listening to you defend her fractured, flimsy mindset."

"Don't push it, death eagle."

"Guys, can we not—"

The overhead manalights flickered brightly. Flynn's voice hollered down from a descending staircase.

"I think I've got it!"

Onyxxus' image shook and rippled. "Bzzzzzzzzt—Rrkk-Rrkk-Rrkk-Rrkk-My-My-My-My-My little poniessssssss—" The hologram inverted, flickered, then re-manifested itself as a stately alicorn with a powerful stare. "My little ponies, brothers and sisters of the Verdestone Council... all of us are gathered here in honor to send you forth with the blessings of Harmony, foals of Emeraldine. Our weary eyes rest upon the final dawn's precipice where the golden bridge has been built to sustain you, the lifeblood of Darkreach, our most ambitious venture of hope for this age and the ones to come..."

"Well..." Fluttershy shuddered. "...the timing couldn't be better."

"Ooh! A movie!" Pinkie beamed. "Did anypony bring ghost popcorn?"

"Pinkie..." Rarity sighed.

"Heehee! It's okay! I forgot to bring ghost butter!"

Don't Feed the Dragonequus

"The world as we know it is dying," Onyxxus' recorded image spoke. The deep booming voice echoed through the halls of Darkreach. "Ages ago, we set out to plant a garden of harmony and peace—but that garden is starting to wither away. There are very few of my kind left who first cultivated this living, growing world. The tools that we used may yet be restored. The key to this is accessing the Harmonic Prism located within Midnight Armory, situated on the Dark Side. But we cannot venture there as we are right now. There are far too many hazards and unknown dangers acting as impenetrable blockades. To confront this, we have established Darkreach... our first bastion of harmony on the Dark Side. With the combined efforts of mortal and immortal kind, we may just yet mount up a crusade to acquire the relic of life-giving harmony and restore this world to what it was originally blessed to be..."

"Hrmmmff..." Logan folded his forelimbs. "Poor ideological god-sap. Shit didn't work the way he expected it to, did it?"

"Shhhh!" Ariel frowned, glaring aside. "Have some respect!"

"Hey—his heart was in the right place! But take a look around us!" Logan exhaled. "I'm just saying... Mortuana had a waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better track record! And even that was sketchy as buck."

Kepler sighed. "Therre is grrave trruth to ourr brrotherr's rrambling, sadly."

"Onyxxus' bloodline was dying," Ariel muttered, staring at the speaking hologram. "Darkreach was the best thing he could manage, given the circumstances."

"Yeah, well..." Logan's nostrils flared. "Maybe he should have given it the ol' college try a lot sooner... instead of heaping it onto the shoulders of so many unlucky mortals."

Wildcard gestured something with his right talon.

"The prrevailing patterrn of things as of late," Kepler translated.

"Uh huh..."

Scampering hoofsteps. Flynn bounded up into the room, panting. "We're at over eighty percent juice! How's it looking!"

"We're being talked to by a long dead Emeraldinian god-king," Ariel said. "You did good."

"Whew! Awesome!" Flynn grinned. "You know, sometimes I even amaze myself—"

"Shut up and take notes, Baldy," Logan grunted.

Flynn jumped in place. Floundering, he levitated a pad of paper and began scribbling on it with black ink. "It's... it's a repeatable message, Big Show. All I gotta do is just switch a lever now and he'll give his lecture all over again."

"I know. I just don't want to hear your self-righteous ego-stroking. Now take notes."

"Mrmmmmm..." Flynn did just that, begrudgingly.

While the rest of the Herald paid attention to the message, Rainbow Dash shuffled numbly into a corner of the common room and sat down.

"... ... ...?" Rarity and the others looked over. "Weak in the knees, darling?"

"It's not stadium seating in here, Dashie!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "Stand up if you wanna see the climax!"

Rainbow was hardly in the mood. She trembled as she glanced up at the turned heads of the Herald. "You've heard one rambling alicorn, you've heard them all."

"Indeed." Rarity rubbed her dainty chin. "They do appear to be quite prone to... self-indulgent monologues."

"What's botherin' you, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

Rainbow swallowed a lump down her throat. "What m-makes you think that something's bothering me?"

"Because I'm me and you're you." Applejack frowned. "Now spill it."

Rainbow bit her lip.

Twilight Sparkle floated closer. "It's... it's Discord again, isn't it?"

Rainbow hung her head with a sigh.

"Rainbow..." Applejack sighed. "We ain't gonna get anywhere if you dun level with us. Haven't you learned—?"

"He was trying to talk me into shooting up all my friends," Rainbow Dash said.

Applejack blinked. "... ... ...whelp."

Rainbow grimaced. "Yeah... ... ..."

"Was..." Twilight Sparkle squirmed. "...he serious?"

Rainbow frowned. "No, Twilight, he just likes to spit out suggestions of spontaneous homicide for kicks!"

"Well, Rainbow, he is Discord," Rarity said glibly.

Rainbow raised a hoof... faltered... then relented with a sigh. "True enough."

"If you ask me, he's just tryin' to get under yer skin," Applejack said.

"Well he's doing a dang good job of it," Rainbow grunted.

"I'm sorry, Rainbow," Twilight said. "The girls and I—we aren't doing a good enough job of shielding you from him. Maybe if... if we all concentrated or meditated or—"

"He does whatever he wants whenever he wants, Twi," Rainbow droned. "I can't expect you guys to keep tabs on him twenty-four-hours a day..." She rolled her eyes. "Heh... as if 'days' matter here on the Dark Side."

"We get it, Dashie," Pinkie Pie said, her ears folded. "It's just tough when we can't sense or hear him like you can."

"Why would he want you to off yer buddies and pals?" Applejack remarked.

Rainbow frowned. "Does it matter?"

"I think it does." Applejack tilted her head back. "From what little we knew of Discord... it seemed obvious that he enjoyed tormentin' ponies."

"Or just trolling them!" Pinkie said.

Twilight squinted at her. "'Trolling...'?"

Pinkie bore a smug grin. "You really should have spent more time on the World Wide Whinny."

"Pinkie, there is no such thing."

"Well maybe there should be!"

"From the sound of it, I think not."

"Point is..." Applejack cleared her throat. "Discord seems to have the most fun with everypony bein' alive for him to rule over all chaotic-like." She squinted at Rainbow. "So why would he want all yer friends dead?"

"It's... it's just the notion that chills me to the bone," Rainbow muttered. "I'm getting the impression that Discord has... more or less witnessed most of the stuff I've been through... that we've been through." She clenched her teeth. "I think his sense of humor has darkened from all that."

"He's simply trying to harass you!" Rarity upturned her nose. "Nothing more! Nothing less!"

"That's just it, Rarity," Rainbow Dash muttered. She gazed at Seraphimus—her charcoal brown eyes reflecting Onyxxus' translucent glowing figure. "I can't afford to settle for more or less. I need to know what I'm dealing with. Concretely and exactly."

Silence—save for the regal tone of the deceased alicorn.

Twilight looked over at the fairest of the ghostly mares. "Fluttershy? You've been silent for a while. What are your thoughts on the matter?"

"Wuh oh..." Pinkie Pie flinched. "It's never a good thing when Flutters has been quiet for a while."

"Don't be silly, darling!" Rarity waved a hoof. "Our beloved Fluttershy is just being her usual meek self!" She looked over. "Isn't that right, Fluttershy—oh goodness!"

Fluttershy's pupils had shrunken to pinpricks. She shivered all over and her wings drooped. "Uhm... girls...?"

Rainbow stared at her, heart skipping. "What's the matter, Fluttershy?"

"I... I think I'm sensing something all of a sudden..."

"What?" Pinkie leaned forward. "A flock of midnighters?"

"Chaos varmints stampedin' our way?" Applejack asked.

Rainbow gulped. "Is... is it Discord?"

Fluttershy shook her head, trembling some more. "I... I'm not sure what it is. But... but this is now lit up and so bright and active..." She grimaced, glancing at Rainbow. "... ... ...something hidden deep in Darkreach has awoken."

Something in the Basement

"Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnnnn!"

Rainbow, Rarity, and Twilight winced hard.

Pinkie Pie hovered in place, her hooves still cupped around her muzzle. A blink or two after the massive outburst, she shrugged and said, "What?! Somepony had to do it—Whoah!"

Applejack shoved her out of the way and floated in Fluttershy's face. "What in tarnation do ya mean 'somethin' deep in Darkreach has awoken?'"

"You didn't sense anything before, darling!" Rarity exclaimed. "Why are you suddenly sensing it now?!"

"I... I-I don't know..." Fluttershy trembled, receding from the group.

"Fluttershy..." Applejack rested a gentle hoof on her ghostly shoulder. "We ain't mad at you. We're... well... we're just tryin' to understand..."

"Did something climb up from underneath us?" Twilight remarked, eyes wide. "Perhaps... a hidden tunnel system? Lying beneath the Darkreach that the Emeraldinians carved?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "This life that I'm sensing has always been here. And it's somewhere beneath us. It always has been. Unless..." She cast a worried look towards Rarity. "...there's another way into the colony than through the top of the mesa?"

Rarity shook her head, muzzle agape.

"Just how far away is it?" Applejack asked.

"Mrmmmm..." Fluttershy's ears folded. "About six stories? Nearly seven?" She looked at Rainbow. "It's at the very bottom chambers of the facility."

Wildcard had noticed Rainbow's pale reaction to the news. He craned his neck with intense concern.

"Rainbow...?" Ariel stammered. "Is everything alright over there?"

Rainbow held a hoof up without looking. "I'll get back to you in a sec!"

"Huh???" Ariel blinked.

"The Hell is going on?" Logan asked.

"Fluttershy..." Rainbow's brow furrowed. "Are you sure it's not Discord?"

"Is what Discord?" Logan burped. Flynn lightly smacked him to be quiet.

"If he's anchored to you, Rainbow, then he wouldn't be able to go that far of a distance," Fluttershy said. "None of us can."

"Well, he's the lord of chaos!" Applejack spoke with a shrug. "Who knows what he'd be capable of doing!"

"For that matter, Applejack..." Twilight drifted closer. "Who knows what anything on this side of the Plane can be capable of doing." She looked at Fluttershy. "Maybe Fluttershy can't sense any living thing on the Dark Side unless it gets within a certain proximity?"

"I... I don't think it's that," Fluttershy said, shaking her head. "I'm telling you, it's... it's as if something has woken up." She gulped. "And it's moving... very very slowly..."

"How big is it?" Pinkie asked.

"I don't know."

"Is it alone?"

"I... I think so..."

"Is it bad? Is it a meanie head?"

Fluttershy bit her lip.

"I don't think that's Fluttershy's department," Twilight said. She looked at Applejack. "AJ?"

"I... I'm plum flabbergasted, Twilight. Reckon I dun feel a thang." She looked back at the ghostly unicorn. "How about you?"

Twilight sighed. "I'm not sensing anything new on the magical scale."

"What if we got closer to whatever it is?" Pinkie suggested.

"Eeeugh!" Rarity shivered all over. "Heaven forbid! Whatever's sleeping down there—best to let it lie!"

"Rarity..." Twilight made a face. "It's closed off. The only way for it to go out is through us."

"Sooner or later, we're gonna have to bump uglies!" Pinkie said. A beat. "Heads! Ugly heads is wh-what I meant!" She smiled, blushing.

"Whatever it is... it's not very strong," Fluttershy said. "I don't know if we should be that concerned—"

"Fluttershy, until just a few seconds ago, you couldn't even sense the thing's existence," Twilight said. "If it's a creature born on the Dark Side, it's quite possible that chaos has been masking it from you. Who knows just how strong it could possibly be?"

Fluttershy gulped.

"Flutters..." Rainbow clenched her teeth. "Are we sure...?"

Fluttershy nodded her head. "You're the best Discord-detector we have, Rainbow. Not me."

Silence.

"Rrainbow One?" Kepler craned his neck. "Some clarrification would be parramount."

Rainbow took a deep breath. She spun to face the Herald. "Fluttershy senses something beneath us... inside Darkreach."

Ariel's voice cracked. "What?!"

"Like what kind of 'something?'" Logan raised an eyebrow. "An animal? A monster? Soap scum? What?"

"She isn't certain," Rainbow said. "She only knows that it's... 'woken up' just now and it's slowly wandering about the corridors about seven stories beneath us."

Ariel jerked away from the ground. With squirming hooves, she flapped her wings and hovered in the center of the common room.

"This place has been closed up forr untold yearrs," Kepler murmured. "If something's down therre... still alive... then it must have a most peculiarr metabolism."

"Could..." Ariel turned to look at the others. "...could it be one of the surviving Emeraldinians?"

"Pffft. I doubt it. But perhaps..." Flynn's eye-lense rotated as he said, "...whatever is responsible for the colonists having disappeared?"

A cold shudder ran through the group. The manalights flickered as Onyxxus kept speaking to the walls.

"Do you truly... honestly believe this mare...?"

The group turned towards the cold voice.

Seraphimus sat with as much dignity as she could muster while manacled to the pipework at the far end of the chamber. "She speaks to shadows and empty air. Her mind is a fractured mess that she shares with unseen phantoms." Her hawkeyes narrowed. "And you put your trust in her wild delusions?"

"You shut up," Logan said, pointing. "If Rainbow says there's something down below us, lurking about—"

"—you will be consumed," Seraphimus hissed. "And not by her."

"You don't know anything," Ariel grumbled.

"I know that each and every one of us is dead," Seraphimus calmly replied. She glared. "And following her lead will only quicken such doom."

"And I'd bet you'd sign up for that, huh?!" Ariel frowned, planting her hooves on her hips. "You think you're so smart—how about we toss you down seven stories and see if whatever's down there thinks you're such a deliciously funny chicken!"

"Ariel, shut up," Rainbow said.

"Yes, Dash," Ariel squeaked, hugging herself.

Rainbow marched firmly through the group. "Whatever's down there, it's something we gotta deal with. I'm not about to play it off. Let's root it out now. Get it over with." She looked across the way. "Flynn?"

"Yo."

"You spent all of eternity getting the manabatteries of this place to sing again. Stay here and look after the leylines. Go no deeper than the generator room one floor below. We're going to need the lights on if we're gonna flush this hobbling crudsicle out."

"Uhhhhhhhh—sure!" Flynn gulped and nodded. "Sure thing!"

Rainbow swiveled about. "Kepler."

"Sisterr?"

"Stay here with Flynn. But—more importantly—I want you guarding her." Rainbow turned to point at Seraphimus. "Can't afford to keep our eyes on the true prize."

"Arre you cerrtain you do not wish me to venturre downstairrs?" Kepler gestured with his wings. "I've got claws!"

"Yeah, but your brain bone's sharper. Stay here with Flynn and the chicken."

"Ach! Rright you arre."

"Now for the rest of us..." Rainbow turned to face the remainder. "Let's form up. Mmmmmmm... two pairs."

With a scraaaaaaaaaaaping sound, Wildcard siftly strafed until he stood resolutely at Rainbow's side.

"... ... ..." Rainbow blinked. "Whelp. That's decided."

Chiiiiiiing! Logan was already brandishing his axe as he stood next to Ariel. "Didn't you say that there were at least three sets of descending stairwells?"

"True. We'll take the opposite ones." Rainbow looked at Flynn. "Can you and Keps keep an eye on the center path?"

"Totally."

"Good. We could descend in three groups, but I sure as heck aren't about to split us up individually."

Logan shrugged. "Might be the only way track this bugger down."

"Not unless we absolutely have to." Rainbow pointed at Ariel and Logan. "Stay. Together." She looked over her shoulder. "Double-yoo?"

Wildcard nodded. Cl-Clakkka! With Bard's staff extended, he made swiftly for the furthest stairwell.

"How... uh..." Ariel called out as Rainbow and the Desperado scampered off. "...how will we communicate?"

"Very very stupidly!" Rainbow hollered back. "Or not at all!"

Ariel nodded back. "Okay. Okay, good!" She grimaced as she looked to Logan. "Sooooooooooo... 'we made it alive as far as Darkreach,' huh?"

"Girl, if you're keeping tabs of this shit, you won't last another second."

"Jee, thanks for the confidence, partner."

"Anytime." Logan marched down the nearby steps. "Now keep your girly butt behind me."

Ping(!) Ping(!) Ping(!) Ping(!)

With scuffling hooves, Rainbow Dash slid onto the top platform of a steep, winding stairwell. She pressed a hoof to her pendant and shone a ruby spotlight diagonally donward. Within half-a-second, Wildcard posed beside her, brandishing the staff.

The crimson light illuminated empty space... pale steps and dead gray walls. An ambiant hush echoed up the vertical chamber, and desolate fuzziness ate at the black edges of the spotlight's penumbra.

Wildcard stared and stared. He cocked his gaze slightly to the side as his goggles devoured all the hidden details from the sparsely-lit environment. Then—when the Desperado felt it was "safe"—he motioned forward with his staff. Talons scraping, he descended the stairs before Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow held her breath. With flapping wings, she slowly followed the griffin's tail. Together, the two descended the winding stairwell and took their time turning around the ninety-degree corners.

Grunting.

Sweating and straining.

At long last, Logan shoved a rusted metal door all the way open. He used the blunt portion of his axe to push the lid deeply into its frame. As he took the moment to exhale, Ariel threaded through the lower corridor entrance. She held a magically-charged crystal that had essentially been tied to the end of a rusted stick. Wielding the makeshift torch, she waved it around until the light outlined a narrow hallway flanked by randomly open doors.

Half of the dozen-or-so lights were flickering. The voice of Onyxxus was a dull bass hum emanating from the floor above. The power wasn't completely reaching this place, and it kept the environment mostly dim.

Ariel got as good a survey of the landscape as she could manage. Exchanging glances with Logan, she then gestured down the corridor.

Logan heaved his axe and took point. He marched down the hallway... stopping at each door to collect his breath and then dash in front of the frame, his axe held high.

There was no sign of life—even as Ariel caught up and shone the light in. They tried chamber after chamber, prying open doors to small utility closets. The enchanted crystal illuminated metal tools, piles of junk, magical reagents, and partially disassembled weapons—but nothing alive and breathing.

So—with cautious breaths—Logan and Ariel shuffled along their way... eventually following a set of stairs leading down into the next underground story of the facility.

Wildcard and Rainbow Dash entered a large chamber. As they did so, Rainbow had to squint. The manacircuitry here was undamaged, and the leylines delivered full illumination to the ceiling lamps suspended above. As the subterranean world came back into focus, she and Wildcard found themselves shuffling down a wide-spaced storage compartment full of lockers, cages, and partially-damaged glass cases.

There was more than one dais projecting the hologram of Onyxxus here. The alicorn patriarch continued his recorded monologue, sincerely entreating generations of dead or lost souls. His voice echoed against dead walls as Wildcard and Rainbow Dash crept along.

Twilight Sparkle and the others stared at every piece of equipment. The room was full of storage devices in various states of disrepair. Applejack floated past a metal locker overflowing with a colony of mushrooms. Rarity gawked at a dull pile of strange red crystals. Pinkie Pie cocked her head at the sight of a glass cage filled with thick, white, fibrous strands—like ancient silk.

Rainbow Dash blinked. She approached a cage in the center of the room. It contained the cartileginous skeleton of a large creature. Judging from the triangular wingflaps and elongated tail, it resembled a stingray... but it also possessed a skull with gaping fangs and multiple eyeholes.

The next cage was stranger. Even Wildcard was possessed with the urge of staring at it: a large spiraling conkle shell resting on a dusty pile of organic refuse.

All of the ghostly mares looked at Fluttershy.

She stared straight back, her face full of mixed surprised and guilt. She could only shrug and tremble.

Applejack patted her shoulder while Pinkie Pie floated close to nuzzle the pegasus.

Composing herself, Fluttershy took a deep breath and gestured towards the next stairwell.

Rainbow Dash signaled Wildcard, and the two approached the distant chamber... passing under the translucent gaze of an extinct alicorn.

A distorted projection of Onyxxus shone sideways, flickering in and out of existence from where its dais had fallen over to the side along with an assorted pile of scattered junk. Logan and Ariel trotted straight through the image... and they emerged to find a dimly-lit room full of desks, cabinets, and mold-strewn tomes.

The two Heraldites froze in place. Ariel shone her light around while Logan's gaze danced across multiple exits on the far side.

At last, it was Ariel who took the initiative. She slowly flew forward, checking every corner and obstruction. When she determined the coast was clear, she made her way to a round-shaped desk situated towards the distant corner of the room. She saw dozens upon dozens of scattered notes. Most of the papers had withered to pulp over time... but a few of the documents were still intact. What's more, she discovered etched slabs of metal evidently used to preserve information for future use.

Logan shuffled up and watched over the pegasus. His presence gave her license to peruse some of the material.

Ariel's fetlocks ran through sheets of paper. She held up what appeared to be a map of Darkreach, the mesa, and the environment surrounding. One side of the map was marked by the "Alpha" signal and another labeled with "Omega." Towards the "Omega" side, she saw a broad area outlined with a circle. There were words—neatly written in archaic font—but they clearly read: "Once a forest. Now gone."

Her brow furrowed. There was a rustling sound. She and Logan jolted in place—only to realize it was a glitch in the holographic projection. Onyxxus would occasionally flicker and re-orient himself to continue the recorded message throughout the colony.

Catching her breath, Ariel rummaged through a few more papers. She found another map—wider this time—and towards the "Omega" side there was the illustration of a crescent moon. This symbol was accompanied by a frantically written word in all capital letters: "BLOODWINGS."

Chewing on her lip, Ariel flipped to another sheet. It was an illustration—of what, she couldn't initially determined. Logan looked over his shoulder. With a breathy whistle, he reached in and re-oriented the paper in Ariel's hooves until it became clear. They were looking at a skyline. Tall spires, jagged steeples, and spacious balconies formed a pale silhouette against black charcoal scrapings. Then—beneath the illustration—there was the alpha symbol along with a calmly-etched word: "Spindlers."

Logan and Ariel could have searched more, but now wasn't the time. With dutiful breaths, they abandoned the archives... then made for the far end of the chamber. After much deliberating, they chose one of the multiple stairwells... and descended to the next lower floor.

Minutes passed.

Rainbow and Wildcard didn't know it, but they were making faster time than the other group. It also helped that the deeper they went, the smaller and sparser the rooms and corridors of Darkreach were.

Until they got to the very bottom floor. Here... they encountered the largest chamber of the colony yet. The lights were miniscule here—spread out in such a way that their pale glow scarcely illuminated the black industrial mechanisms that loomed everywhere. Rainbow knew it wasn't the generator room, and yet there was a bevy of moving parts, dangling chains, and rotating fans. The place had a neverending bass hum to it that drowned out the now-indiscernible words of Onyxxus' projection.

"I think I'm starting to understand," Twilight Sparkle blurted out, startling the other girls. "Why aren't we suffocating or dying of heatstroke right now?"

"Twilight, darlin'?" Applejack tilted her hat back as she gazed nervously at the looming bulwarks of the chamber. "Reckon this ain't a good time for riddles."

Twilight shook her head and smiled at the rest. "This is the ventilation system. See those pipes?" She pointed up at a series of metal tubes and elongated vents that stretched across the ceiling. "I'm willing to bet that they run through the mesa and open to spots along the lateral sides of the outer mesa. This whole room at the base of Darkreach is for filtering air throughout the facility and cooling its inhabitants!"

"Yes, Twilight, I do concur," Rarity muttered. "But Applejack has a point."

"We checked all the other rooms!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "What we're looking for has got to be in here!"

Rainbow Dash merely looked at Fluttershy. Unlike Rainbow's friends, the petite pegasus didn't have the luxury of vocalizing.

Fluttershy looked back. "It's... it's definitely in here... somewhere..."

"Can ya pinpoint it, sugarcube?"

Fluttershy gulped. "I'm sorry..." Her eyes teared up slightly. "No more than I could pinpoint the organic fossils we found a few stories above us. I d-don't know what's wrong with me on the Dark Side! It's... it's like I'm so useless—"

"Shhhhhh..." Applejack comforted her. "You ain't useless, Fluttershy."

"You just have a new set of challenges!" Twilight said hoarsely. "We all do!"

"Yeah!" Pinkie nodded. "I haven't had an explosion of Pinkie sense since we left the Light Side!" Right as she said that, her tail curled up—as did her ears. "Whoaaaaaaaah..."

"!!!" Rainbow Dash tensed up. This startled Wildcard, who held Bard's staff up high and overshadowed her, protectively.

"Pinkie...?" Twilight exhaled as she and the mares gaped at her.

"I... I-I've never felt that one before!" Pinkie blinked back at Twilight. "Although... somehow it seems like I was supposed to..."

"Can you describe the sensation?"

"It's... it's like I'm looking at a shattered mirror... and a thousand pinkie eyes are all looking back. But—like—none of them are meeting my gaze exactly..."

Fluttershy merely shivered.

"Twilight?" Rarity looked over. "Are you sensing anything?"

"If Fluttershy can't and Pinkie Pie can't, then—"

"Just concentrate, darling. There must be more to this for you as well as for them!"

Twilight Sparkle clenched her eyes shut. Her horn shimmered as she focused... focused...

Wildcard looked anxiously in Rainbow's direction. The mare held a gentle hoof up for him to "be patient."

"Mmmmmm..." Twilight's eyes darted and rotated under her ghostly lenses. "Mmmmmm... a candle... beneath a veil..." Her ears folded back. "... ... ...smoke descending... going backwards into a blaze..."

"Ooooooh..." Pinkie grinned from ear to ear. "Spoopy!"

"Twilight..." Applejack floated closer. "T'ain't like you to speak like a soothsayer. Is what we're dealin' with magical or not?"

Twilight reopened her eyes. "Definitely... definitely so..." She looked at Rainbow. "Just like Pinkie, I feel like I'm familiar with it too."

Rainbow was silent.

"Mmmm... the Vanilla Zone?" Fluttershy spoke up.

The other mares looked at her.

She looked back. "Maybe we've sensed this before... but from the Vanilla Zone?"

Applejack scratched her head. She looked at Rainbow.

Rainbow sighed. She lowered her head—as well as her voice—and spoke barely above a whisper: "Can all of you... with your muddied senses combined... give me a general direction for finding this thing...?"

The mares huddled close together.

"We can certainly try," Twilight said. She looked over. "Pinkie? Fluttershy?"

"I think it'sssssssss..." Pinkie's tail uncurled as she nodded with her head. "Thattaways!"

"I... I'm not so sure..." Fluttershy murmured. "I think Pinkie's off..."

"How about..." Twilight held her hoof up. "...we all point to where each of us sense it?"

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie reluctantly nodded. Then—with nervous motions—they pointed their fetlocks out.

Twilight cleared her throat and did the same.

Rainbow watched her three friends' hooves. Indeed, each was pointing in a different direction... but she could ascertain a vague angle to take the next step. She patted Wildcard on the shoulder. When the Desperado looked her way, she gestured... then trotted slowly ahead.

Wildcard followed suit... silent as a shadow.

Together, the pair passed by rows and rows of humming metal machinery. The rotating shadows of large rusted fans broke the dim lights above. Moisture dripped from multiple suspended pipes, and the recently reactivated manacircuitry heated up a few portions of the ventilation system... so that steam vented in random spots, making portions of the chamber more obscured than the rest.

Rainbow didn't bother looking at the industrial nonsense in front and above her. She didn't have to. Her eyes remained locked on her friends... and she studied the changing angles of Twilight's, Fluttershy's, and Pinkie's forelimbs.

Before long, the fetlocks of all three mares converged into one specific direction.

Rainbow Dash stopped in place—as did Wildcard. Both looked straight ahead.

That spot of the chamber was divided by rows of massive rusted shelves—storing countless metal crates full of supplies and tools for maintaining the ventilation system and equipment in the floors above. It was like gazing into a pitch black metal forest.

"Twilight... Pinkie..." Rainbow gulped, leaning aside as she whispered: "Fluttershy, is it there...?"

"Yes, Rainbow," Fluttershy coldly murmured.

Rainbow's eyes darted to her.

She looked back. "This time I am sure of it."

"There's... some magical phenomenon situated in fr-front of us," Twilight managed. "I wish I could explain it."

"Never mind explaining!" Pinkie's teeth chattered as her tail and ears curled again. "Let's go and squash this thingy already!"

"Or—maybe—not squash?" Applejack said with a frown. She looked at Rainbow. "Darlin', I'm not sure what I'm sensin' myself... but whatever's lurkin' there sure as hay ain't malicious."

"How can we be sure of that?" Twilight hissed.

Silence.

Wildcard looked at Rainbow, then back into the shadows.

"Rarity..." Rainbow whispered aside. "Is... is it cornered?"

"No, Rainbow," Rarity said, shaking her head. "I was about to say—there's an out." She pointed. "The shelves end about four meters from the furthest wall."

"Maybe... uhm..." Fluttershy stroked her bangs aside. "...if you and Wildcard surround it—"

"Right." Rainbow nodded. She gave a breathy whistle and gestured Wildcard closer. "Dude..." She murmured, pointing down the aisle. "It's right in front of us. Between these two shelves. If one of us goes around and comes up the backside..."

Wildcard was already nodding. He shouldered Bard's staff, held his breath...

...and darted off into the shadows without a sound.

Rainbow Dash blinked.

"Whelp!" Pinkie shrugged. "So much for picking straws!"

"He's going around to the opposite side!" Fluttershy squeaked. "Rainbow, it's now or never."

"Be careful, Rainbow...!" Twilight insisted.

"Uh huh..." Rainbow took a deep breath. One hoof after another, she approached the dark throat of the metal aisle in front of her. Tall, looming shelves full of discarded equipment lingered on every side. The air was dense, misty, and filled with a pungent odor that grew even thicker as Rainbow drew herself forward. "Psssst! Hey!"

Her marefriends winced.

Nevertheless, Rainbow bravely continued: "Whoever you are..." Rainbow approached the darkness. She spoke louder to be heard above the hum of rotating fans high above. "...we know you're there. We're..." She gulped. "...we're not going to hurt you."

Silence.

Darkness.

Odor.

Rainbow slowed her trot, shuffling forward on three limbs as she raised a fourth to her pendant. "Show yourself..." The ruby glow in front of her intensified, piercing the steam. "...you're not helping anything by hiding. I dunno how long you've been in this place, but if you need somepony to talk to—"

The crimson light glinted off a pair of mechanical lenses.

"...!" Rainbow Dash jerked to a stop. She ceased moving... breathing...

"Dashie?" Pinkie asked.

"Guh...!" Twilight grimaced. "A surge!"

"Rainbow..."

Rarity and Applejack gasped upon hearing a deep, female voice emanating from the shadows.

"Rainbow Dash..."

Shuffling hooves.

Rattling metal ringlets.

Rainbow Dash stood dead still... even as her ears tickled with the approaching hoofsteps.

The first thing to materialize was a swath of crimson braids... followed by a series of metal plugs... glinting like birthed stars. "Rainbow Dash... I waited so... so long for you since you left..." The mechanical lenses pistoned inward as the mare's ears drooped. Her muzzle formed a bittersweet smile as a mechanical tail twisted and curled behind her. "At last... nothing can ever hold us apart..."

A whimper escpaed Rainbow's lips, sincere and vulnerable: "Roarke...?"

Familiar Change of Pace

"Please... don't be sad..." The metal mare murmured, lingering in the aisle. She tried to stand up straight, but a strange tick rippled through her features. Her scarlet braids danced as she teetered to the left... then to the right. "Even though we both know... you secretly enjoy the release..." A tender smile. Her eye-lenses whurred. "...I would give anything... anything just to hear you laugh again."

"Uhhhhhhhhh..." Applejack squinted.

"Who in blazes is this?" Rarity stammered.

"Did she say 'Roarke?'" Twilight remarked.

Rainbow said nothing. She remained locked in place, her heart thudding within her petite chest.

The mare came closer—growing in both size and proximity. "Did you find what you were looking for beyond the Grand Choke?" She murmured. She wheezed. "Belle... Kera... Pilate... they are all waiting to see you..."

"'Roarke?'" Pinkie raised an eyebrow. "Who's 'Roarke'...?"

"If..." The metal mare extended a trembling hoof. "...you would just come with me..." Roarke's smile grew wider. More tender. The ringlets of her mane added heavenly percussion to her gentle voice: "...we can just... lie together... and share our thoughts and fears... in the hammock. Like we used to..."

Fluttershy knowingly glanced towards her anchor. "Rainbow Dash..."

But Rainbow was already shivering. With a frown. "You... you are not Roarke..."

"What's goin' on?" Applejack stammered. "I'm... I'm so confused—"

"Rainbow, she's getting closerrrrr," Twilight droned.

Rainbow's eyes fell. Beyond the metal mare's legs, she saw residue lining the metal floor... a viscous, slimy material that spread up the rusted shelf looming above them. Like a web.

"I... know I never cared much for the breeders and their faith in the 'Spark,'" the mare said. She teetered again. Her head ducked into shadows, and when it came back the metal lenses were gone... replaced by ice-blue eyes brimming with tears. "But I would give anything, Rainbow, to be called your 'beloved.' Just once..."

"Stop it..." Rainbow snarled.

"Just once, Rainbow, please..." She stumbled closer, nearly sobbing. "Please."

"I said..." Rainbow leaned back, clenching her teeth. "Back off! You are not who you say you are—!"

"Y'know, does it really matter?"

Deep chuckles.

Goat hair.

Breathless, Rainbow glanced to her right.

A shiny pile of brass pipes reflected dragon skin and eagle claws.

"This is likely your last chance at happiness, Sparky. So why not give in?"

Rainbow's blood ran cold as the world around her went silent—all but his voice.

A pair of red-on-yellow eyes peered back at her from the reflection. "And just what are you going to tell the freckled goddess now, hmmmm? Heh heh heh..."

His chuckles dissipated, replaced by the frantic shrieks of her friends.

"Dashie! Move!"

"Look out, sugarcube!"

"!!!" Rainbow Dash jerked her head forward to see the metal mare outright charging her. She flinched—too late to dodge.

Thwoooosh! A metal bo-staff caught the figure beneath Roarke's chin. She gasped for breath... being jerked back in the vice-grip of a griffin from behind. Wildcard held the metal mare at bay, throwing his weight against her flank.

"Wildcard!" Rainbow stumbled, catching her breath. She pointed with her hoof. "Wait—"

"Mrmmmff..." The mare in the Desperado's grip looked over her shoulder. "Dubya?"

Wildcard's goggles rattled in surprise.

A blink. Roarke's voice deepened. "You dun goofed, mofo." In a green flash, Bard materialized backwards with a savage uppercut to the griffin's beak. WHAM!

Wildcard flew back—only to be jerked in place by the stallion's grip of the other end of the staff.

"Dayum chatterbox," Bard spat. He stomped his hoof down over his end of the staff, knocking it out of Wildcard's grip. "Takes two hooves to hold it." WHUD! He slammed the opposite end between Wildcard's legs. "And two of somethin' else to use it!"

Wildcard fell over in a meaty slump.

Bard loomed over him, twirling the staff with his forelimbs and wings. "You enjoyin' the grind without me?!" He hissed, frothing with anger. "Lemme learn ya the proper thang to do now you've cast off the dead weight!" Growling, he raised the staff to slam down over Wildcard's midsection—

WHUMP! Rainbow barrel into him. "Mrmmmf!"

"Guh!" Bard dropped the staff altogether as he rolled across the floor. Hard crusted slime and the remnants of a hollow egg shattered to bits as Rainbow's spotlight revealed the rest of the aisle. "Grnnngh..." Bard pushed himself up off the floor, his limbs bending at unnatural angles. "Dammit... rrrrnkkg—Rainbow..." He shrank to an orange shadow, hissing. Sobbing. "Always thinking with your skull!" Scootaloo shrieked, then enlarged once again into a Searonese phantom. "Never with your heart!" Roarke charged her at full force.

"Rainbow, get away from it—!" Rarity shouted.

"No!" Rainbow charged Roarke head-on. "Don't you—"

Fwooooosh! Feathered wings spread. Gilda glided clearly over Rainbow Dash's reach. She landed on yellow hooves. With a breath, Bellesmith galloped swiftly into the shadows of Darkreach.

"Dang it!" Rainbow hissed. "Dang it dang it dang it!"

"Rainbow, I don't understand!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Who in the hay was that pony?!" Applejack stammered.

"That's no pony!" Rainbow rushed over to Wildcard and helped him up to his talons. "Mrmmff... it's a changeling!"

Twilight did a double-take. "That's a changeling!"

"Uh... duh," Pinkie Pie belched.

"Why is it running away from us?" Fluttershy stammered.

"Because it just gathered strength, and now it's drawn to its mother!" Rainbow gnashed her teeth. "Tchern!" She forced Wildcard to move with her, picking up Bard's staff along the way. "And if it gets close enough to her, the entire Hive will know that we're here! In Darkreach!"

"Ohhhhhhhhhh poop," Pinkie squeaked.

"Come on!" Rainbow and Wildcard picked up speed, galloping into the shadows. "We gotta catch that bug!"

Who Doesn't Like Change?

Ariel scuffled to a stop. She turned around, shining her torch on Logan and the dimly-lit storage room behind him.

"Did you hear that?" she stammered.

"Hear what?"

"It..." Ariel's brow furrowed. "It sounded like somepony's voice..."

Logan gestured at the flickering, static image of Onyxxus in the corner of the room. "You sure it wasn't this exhilarating motherbucker?"

"Hmmmmmmfff..." Ariel's nostrils flared. "I dunno. This one sounded more desperate... high pitched..." She pivoted once again, waving her torch towards the opposite end of the room. "...more adorable—"

"Ariel!"" Rainbow Dash hollered in her face.

"Gaaaaaaaa-beeeee-cheeeeee!" Ariel flailed wildly, dropping the torch. Before she could recover, a pair of blue forelimbs wrapped tighter around her.

"H-help me, Ariel!" Rainbow Dash sobbed, clinging to the mare. She buried her face in Ariel's fuzzy chest and stammered: "It's loose! It's after me!"

"Whoah...!" Logan flinched with his grip of the axe. "The Hell did you come from, Rainbow?" He craned his neck to look across the dimly-lit chamber. "Where's Double-Yoo?"

"Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh..." Rainbow Dash whimpered, hugging Ariel tighter. "I'm so scared. So friggin' scared. Ariel... Ariel y-you gotta save me..."

"It's... it's..." Ariel was short on breath. She reached a shaky hoof out and patted Rainbow's back. "It's going to be okay! I promise! What's the matter?" Despite her trembles, she narrowed her eyes and spoke firmly. "Is it Discord? Have your friends vanished again?"

"We have to get out of here." Rainbow gulped, grasping Ariel's shoulders as she gazed deeply into her eyes. "Just you and me."

"Wh-what?"

"Rainbow..." Logan squinted at her. "...the Hell is going on—?"

"Shut up! Just sh-shut up!" Rainbow hissed, tail flicking. She brought her muzzle so close to Ariel's face that they were practically nuzzling. "You love me, don't you?!"

Ariel's ears instantly folded as her eyes went wide. "I... I-I-I..."

"Then you'll do this for me! Please! Forget the others!"

"Okay..." Logan marched towards the pair. "Now I know that something's—"

"Get away from her!" a voice cracked from the distance.

Ariel and Logan instantly looked over.

Standing limply in the entrance to a stairwell were two figures. A thoroughly bruised Wildcard... and Rainbow Dash. The Desperado brandished Bard's staff while Rainbow pointed at Ariel and the doppelganger.

"It's a changeling! One of Tchern's! I... I-I think it just freshly hatched!"

Logan's face distorted into a grimace. "'Hatched?'"

"Hrshhhhhhhhhh..." Fangs protruded from the doppelganger's muzzle. She lifted a blue forelimb and—within seconds—it morphed into a bulbous husk of black chitin. Bright green flame billowed from within as she aimed the body part at Logan and—

POW!

—launched it at the stallion with a burst of emerald gas.

THOKKK! "Aaaugh!" Logan fell one way and his axe rattled in another.

"Big Show!" Ariel shrieked. At that very moment, the lopped-off limb of the creature narrowed into a tentacle that surrounded her neck three times. "Grkkkk!"

"No—!" Rainbow shouted from afar, wings flexing.

The doppelganger spun and morphed until she was positioned directly behind Ariel. With a tentacle wrapped around the mare's neck, the rest of her turned into an athletic old mare with a gray-streaked red mane. "Back off, creeps!" she spoke in a booming voice, dragging Ariel backwards. "You cannot have her!"

Ariel sputtered her breath. The pegasus' eyes teared up as she managed a mewling breath: "M-Mom...?"

"Dammit, Ariel..." Logan hissed. He struggled to get up as his body steamed in multiple places from the gaseous impact. "That freaky thing ain't your mom!"

Schiiing! Wildcard made to charge the creature from afar.

"Wait!" Rainbow anchored him in place by his tail. Swallowing, she slowly approached the metamorph from afar. "Don't do this, please..." She trotted underneath flickering lights and past the translucent mess that was Onyxxus' hologram. "I know what you are." She took a calm breath. "You're tired. You're hungry. You need emotions to sustain you—"

"You've put my daughter in danger," the mare seethed, her eyes changing color each time she glanced at a different Heraldite. Dragging Ariel with her, the creature made its way for a stairwell leading up the neck of Darkreach. "I'm taking her someplace where we'll be safe. Where we will be warm and secure!"

"Just minutes ago, you wanted to take me back to the hammock to cuddle forever."

The mare trembled at that. Her mane turned fully red for a moment, metal ringlets forming and dissolving.

Ariel glanced at the phenomenon through the corners of her twitching eyes. "Oh Goddess. What's happening—?"

"Stay calm, girl..." Rainbow looked at the metamorph's face again. "It's not me this is about... or your 'daughter.'" She shuffled to a stop, gesturing. "This is about your Mother, isn't it?"

The mare's muzzle grew black fangs for a fraction of a second. "Mother..."

"She left you here, didn't she?" Rainbow stared firmly at the creature. "Abandoned you. Planted commands in your head. Left you starving in a strange and unfamiliar place." She shook her head. "It wouldn't be the first time. It's... okay to be scared. But you don't have to be doing what you're doing right now."

"I... I must get my daughter somewhere safe..." The creature's face became an old mare's again. It leaned in to nuzzle Ariel's shoulder. "Mortuana should never have touched her. I never agreed to this..."

Ariel almost wretched.

"She... is not... your daughter..." Rainbow growled.

"Rnnnnngh..." Metal lenses flickered into place, pistoning savagely towards Rainbow as Roarke hissed, "And what do you know about family?! You could have died in peace! Loved and cared for! But you abandoned me!"

"Stop... grnnngh..." Logan hobbled onto all fours. "Trying to reason with the little crud!"

Rainbow's eyes darted from Logan back to Roarke. She frowned. "You...? You're going to lecture me on abandonment?" Rainbow gnashed her teeth as her voice took on a melodramatic tone: "Just like you talked Bellesmith into abandoning Kera at Lerris?!"

There was a masculine gasp. Stripes formed along Roarke's face, followed by a mohawk and skull plate. "Kera..." Milk-white eyes twitched as Pilate stammered, "Beloved, I-I never meant to..."

"Now, Wildcard!" Rainbow hollered. "It's blind—!"

With a breathy grunt, Wildcard flung his staff like a javelin.

Thwifffffffffft—!

Bard's weapon sang through the air, missed Ariel's skull by millimeters, and skewered Pilate's face straight through his jaw.

"Grkkkk!" The changeling flew back into the wall behind it, pinned to a mana-console by the staff. The leyline array was completely shattered by the impact.

"Ooomf!" Ariel fell to the ground, trembling all over.

In the meantime, Onyxxus' hologram completely vanished as multiple light fixtures sparked and ruptured.

Lights shorted out across the common room of Darkreach.

Kepler and Flynn spun about, eyeing the sudden energy shortage.

"Harrk!" Kepler gasped through his tusks. "What is trranspirring?!"

Sparks fell from mana consoles, littering the Verdestone mosaic and surrounding floorspace.

Seraphimus flinched from where she was chained to the pipework.

"Manafeedback!" Flynn stammered. "I think a leyline junction was damaged somewhere in the colony!"

"Does that mean a powerr rrupturre?!"

"Not if I can stop it!" Flynn galloped out of the flickering room. "I gotta get to the generator room!"

"I'll help you—!" Kepler rushed after him.

"No!" Flynn paused just long enough to point at Seraphimus. "Stay here! Guard her!"

"But—"

"Let me handle this! We can't leave her alone!"

As Flynn left, the wyvern shuffled nervously by himself in the center of the room.

Seraphimus' eyes narrowed as the environment around her grew dimmer and dimmer.

"Ariel!" Rainbow rushed to the pegasus' side. "Are you okay?"

"I... I..." Ariel grasped for her. She trembled in Rainbow's protective grip. Tears poured from her twitching eyes. "I feel..."

Rainbow squeezed her shoulders. "It was feeding on you. Don't worry. You're safe now—"

"Look!" Logan shouted.

Everyone spun to see...

...the changling's head splitting in two obsidian-colored lumps of chitin. With liquid grace, it slithered away from where the staff had impaled its skull to the mana array.

"That's..." Ariel's muzzle hung open, twisted. "...way goopier than I remembered."

"Mgrnnnghlllghhh..." The changeling rippled upwards, took on a quadruped form, and materialized just long enough to hiss at Rainbow with Gold Petals' face. "Hresssssssssh!"

"Oh buck you..." Rainbow sneered.

But instead of charging Rainbow, the creature morphed so that it was facing the opposite direction. In a blonde blur, Gold Petals galloped towards the nearest stairwell.

"Dammit!" Logan charged after the thing, dragging his axe.

"Big Show, wait!" Rainbow reached after him in vain. "Let's at least keep it alive so we can—"

Before she could finish that speech, the exiting changeling flung off its tail. The limb fell on the ground in the shape of a black husk and—PFFFFFFFT!—expelled noxious fumes throughout the room.

"Guh!" Logan scampered to a stop then frantically backtrotted. "Holy shit!"

"Poison g-gas!" Ariel stammered, clinging to Rainbow.

"Everypony..." Rainbow Dash dragged the two of them away. "Find an exit—!"

A shrill whistle.

Everyone looked over.

Wildcard was picking up Bard's staff beside the sparkling console. He pointed the weapon at the stairwell beside him. Just then, there was a bright red flash of overloading mana. With a mechanical groan, the door to the stairwell slid swiftly shut.

"Hurry!" Logan charged meatedly towards the closing exit. He slammed into Rainbow and Ariel, shoving them towards the door.

Wildcard ducked under. With the space available, he reached the staff out.

Rainbow dove forward. She gripped Ariel with one forelimb and reached for the staff with the other.

Wildcard yanked the two mares safely into the stairwell. However...

"Big Show!" Ariel's voice could be heard shrieking, then—THUDDD!

The door shut completely, locking the stallion inside the room with the spreading green gas.

"Rrrrrgh!" Logan kicked and punched and bucked at the door, but it wouldn't budge. He heard the two mares shouting his name from the other side. Gritting his teeth, he turned to look at the rest of the room.

Sparks flew as the other doors slammed shut. The noxious gas spread, making the chamber even dimmer... darker.

"Grnnngh... kaffff..." Logan coughed and sputtered. His angry eyes teared. "Oh yeah... kofff... this is hella sexy..."

Where's a Good Vacuum?

"Oh gosh! Oh gosh!" Ariel danced in place, her panicked muzzle illuminated by the glare of Rainbow's Element of Loyalty. "Big Show!" She bucked and kicked at the door. "Logan! Can you hear us?!"

"That room's filled with a poisonous fume," Rainbow stammered. She panted as she shone her light on the sealed edges of the doorframe. "The mana console shorting out must have triggered something in the wiring."

"Rainbow, darling, all of the doors on the other side are sealed!" Rarity exclaimed. "He truly is trapped in there!"

"H-he's still alive, though," Fluttershy exclaimed. "The gas hasn't gotten to him yet."

"But he is a mite bit panicky," Applejack added.

"There's got to be a way to get him out!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Think..." Rainbow gnashed her teeth, looking at the walls of the corridor, the doorframe, the walls again. "I just have to think..."

"Big Show! Wait up!" Pinkie Pie hollered, sticking her head through the doorframe. "Rainbow is thinking! We're gonna get you out of there!"

"He can't hear you, Pinkie!" Twilight growled.

"Well, it's the thought that counts!"

"Not unless your thoughts can outrun the poison trying to get into his lungs!"

Clankkk! Wildcard pressed the edge of Bard's staff to the bottom right corner of the door. Hissing under his beak, he strained and struggled to pry the thing open. Ariel frantically clutched a length of the metal bar and tried to assist the Desperado.

"Hmmmmm... uhmmmmm..." Rainbow's eyes twitched. "Rarity!"

"Gah!" The fashionista flinched in mid-air. "What?!"

"The ventilation system!" Rainbow gestured with a hoof. "Does it connect to that room?"

"Why... yes! At least three chutes' worth—"

"Okay. Okay! Idea time!" Rainbow sputtered.

"Talk to us, Rainbow!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Just a sec!" Rainbow twirled to face Wildcard and yanked the staff away. "Cut it out! That's not going to help!"

Wildcard merely gawked at Rainbow, goggles rattling.

"Wildcard, go after that changeling."

"What?!?" Ariel's voice cracked.

Rainbow ignored her. "I want you to fly up there and cut the shape-shifter off before it can reach Flynn, Kepler or—even worse—an exit." She punched the wall for emphasis. "We cannot let that thing get strong enough to fly back to its nest or this whole journey's flushed straight down Tchern's toilet!"

"But... but..." Ariel squirmed visibly. "What about Big Show—?"

"We're gonna help him out!" Rainbow kicked off the ground, spread her wings, and glided down the stairs of the descending corridor. "Follow me, girl! Wildcard—you've got your orders!"

Ariel and Wildcard exchanged glances.

"But... but..." Ariel spun and flew after the prismatic mare. "Rainbow—!"

"No butts!" Rainbow spat back. "Unless you intend to move it! Now follow me! Wildcard—!"

Swoooosh! The griffin was already ascending the stairwell in the opposite direction of the two ponies.

"Kaff! Koff! Grnnngh..."

Eyes tearing...

Teeth gnashing...

Logan fumbled his way towards the end of the chamber opposite of the source of the spreading fumes. Lights flickered overhead as he grabbed a metal shelf in his meaty fetlock and yanked the hulking thing over.

"Grnnnnnghhh!"

Th-Thud!

Boxes of equipment and tools scattered loudly across the floor.

Logan leaned over and rummaged through the mess of random materials. He had to squint to see through the surmounting green smoke.

"Grffff... unnngh..." He hissed and wheezed. "Goddess help me... kaff-kaff... get me through this and I'll never fart again..."

At last, he found something close to what he was looking for. At the bottom of a rusted container was a length of rags.

He yanked them off the floor, sliced them smaller with the edge of his axe, then fitted what was left over his muzzle. Tying the fabric behind his head, he fabricated a makeshift mask. Then—with slow and controlled breaths—he marched further away from the spreading fumes and approached a door.

Schiiiing!

He lifted his axe up high, held his breath, and—

CLANG!

Struck the door.

CLANG!

Again.

CL-CLAKKK!

And again.

Sparks flew and hot slivers of flint littered the floor.

The door refused to budge.

As the smoke around him grew denser and more pungent, Logan persisted in punishing the seal to his way out.

CLANG! THWACK! WHAM!

Ariel flapped her wings with greater and greater intensity to catch up with Rainbow Dash. Together, the two zipped in and around bulkheads and barreled down stairwells.

At last, they entered the largest room Ariel had seen in Darkreach.

"Whoah..." Ariel's eyes darted around. "Where are we?"

"The lowest room in Darkreach!" Rainbow exclaimed above the hum of twirling fans. "And the source of Darkreach's ventilation system!"

Ariel gasped. "Are you thinking we might be able to blow the poison out of the room he's in?"

"Yeah. Or suck. Whichever gives the gods of fate their jollies first." Rainbow hovered in place, staring at the widespread industrial mess. "Rarity! Can you sense the where the central power core of the ventilation system is?"

"Uhhhh..." Rarity gestured wildly at the grime and grease, barking: "Do any of these look like ballgowns to you?!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Twilight!" She spun to face the ghostly mare in question. "Help me out here!"

"Rainbow, I..." Twilight grimaced. "I-I've never seen Darkstinian tech before... much less ancient Cylindrimanian tech! I wouldn't even know where to begin—"

"Yeah you do!" Rainbow floated closer to her. "You're our resident egghead! So hatch up something! I know you can come up with something! You've got... like... brain smarts!"

"Seems to be the best strategy we've got, sugarcube," Applejack said, also floating closer.

Twilight took a deep, deep breath. "... .... ...okay. Help me look for a singular spot where all of the ventilation pipes funnel to."

"I can do that!" Rarity said, her horn glowing.

"Meanwhile, I'll sense where the leylines are most densely interconnected..."

"Rainbow...?" Ariel mewled.

"Just hold up, girl!" Rainbow exclaimed. "The girls are doing their work!"

"I-I'm not sure Logan can hold up," Ariel said.

Rainbow bit her lip. Above her, the lights flickered...

Poison Party in Darkreach

Sw-Sw-Swoosh!

Wildcard flew up every ascending stairwell he could find. It was far from a straightforward journey. For a colony carved by alicorns, the interior of Darkreach was far from simple in design. There was no single stairwell leading up the entire depth of the facility. Wildcard found himself having to make lateral detours across storage compartments and living quarters in order to find the next shaft that would take him further upwards.

It occurred to him that he could be checking every room he sped through for the changeling. However, Rainbow Dash had given him one specific task. If he had any hope of blocking the changeling's exit, he had to reach the exit first. Speed was more important than scrutiny, and the Desperado sliced through the wind like it was butter.

The entire time, the lights of the colony were flickering. Wildcard's lenses reflected a dimmer and dimmer environment as the power grid of the place suffered rippling bands of manafeedback. Clenching his beak, he crossed another threshhold and ascended the next stairwell within sight.

"Rrrrngh... come on..."

Flynn scampered back and forth across the generator room far above Logan, Ariel, and Rainbow Dash. He was levitating fresh crystals and inserting them one after another into the power core looming above. However—for every shard that he slid in—a previously placed one burnt out as the leylines continued overloading throughout the facility.

"Buck me sideway!" Flynn hissed. His glowing horn glinted off the metal surfaces of the place as he snatched yet another half-dozen shards from their containment. "Like playing tic-tac-toe with melting ice!" He shoved the crystal array up into the core and delicately rotated them in a desperate attempt to redirect the sparkling manabursts. "Why couldn't we come to the Dark Side to salvage a refrigerator full of cold ones?! Goddess..."

Around that moment, Flynn's ear twitched to the sound of a loud buzzing sound emanating from a nearby console. He looked over to see the lower portion of a crude map of Darkreach flashing bright red.

"... ... ...what the Hell is going on down in ventilation?"

"Rainbow!" Twilight hissed. "For the last time! Stop yanking random levers!"

"Grnngh!" Rainbow yanked a random lever. The pipework and fans above her rattled and groaned. "I-I figured that if we both worked at the same time, then our brain bones could meet in the center—!"

"You're not helping things!" Twilight's voice cracked as she frowned. "I'm trying to concentrate on where the central power station is and you're not—"

"Over there!" Rarity exclaimed, pointing a dainty hoof.

Rainbow spun. Her and her friends' eyes fell on a circular arrangement of metal podiums lingering beneath a giant brass knot of conjoined pipes.

"That's it!" Rarity said. "I'm sure of it!"

"Well, Twilight?" Applejack asked. "Do them leyline thingamajiggers coincide with that hot metal mess?"

Twilight's eyes narrowed. Her horn glowed brighter... and at last she blurted: "Yes! That must be it!"

"Wowie..." Pinkie blinked at the six podiums forming a circle. "Kinda obvious when you look at it, huh?"

"Whatever!" Rainbow zipped over to the consoles in a blue blur. "Step one complete!"

"Huh?" Ariel rushed to join her. "Did they find it?"

"I hope so. This makes for a lousy vomitorium." Rainbow hovered in place while grasping a console. "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." She blinked at no less than thirty buttons and levers on her podium alone. "... ... ... ..." She looked at Twilight. "Help?"

"Okay okay..." Twilight rubbed her two hooves nervously together. "I'm thinking..."

"Well think faster!" Rainbow barked. "Logan's been in there long enough!"

"Speaking of which..." Applejack woefully glanced at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy gulped. "He's not doing well..."

"RRRRRRRRGH!" Logan slammed the door with his axe.

CLANNNNNG!!!

"Hrrnnnghhhh!" He spat into his mask-rag and swung again.

THUDDDDD!!!

The door was scratched, marred, and thoroughly dinted. But it wouldn't budge from its frame.

"Come onnnnn!"

WHAMMMMMM!

"Damn... stupid—koff—door!"

CL-CLANNNG!

"Who's your daddy?!?"

THUDDD!

"Kaff-Kaff... Monkey wants the star banana of happiness!"

WHUDDD!

Poisonous green mists rose around him... collecting over his skull as he swung and swung his axe—

"Rainbow...!" Ariel waved her hoof from the podium opposite the mare.

"Not right now!" Rainbow hunched under flickering lights, her eyes scrambling over the array of instruments beneath her. "Which buttons control the ventilation speed... the fans... anything?!"

"But Rainbow—"

"Just gimme a sec!"

"Ungh..." Ariel pointed at an orange button lit-up on the corner of her podium. "This thing looks important!"

"I-I don't think just one button is going to help us vent the gas in Logan's room—"

"No, I swear I saw these in all the other stories above us!" Ariel slapped her hoof over the instrument in question. A crackling noise lit up the air around them.

Rainbow flinched. "... ... ...the buck did you do?"

"SCRKKKKK—the buck did you do?"

Flynn did a double-take. Sweating, he paused in levitating manacrystals and looked over his shoulder.

A small orange button was flashing on a console in the far corner of the generator room. A porous black panel was vibrating, generating speech: "Rainbow, if I could bet my bits on it, I'd say this was an intercom system of sorts—"

Flynn rushed over, floating the crystals along with him. He practically dove, slapping his hoof over the orange button. "It is! It is! This is Flynn! What in Goddess' name is going on down there, you two?!"

"Scrkkk—The leylines of Darkreach are going haywire!"

Ariel and Rainbow mutually gasped, sharing shocked expressions.

"... ... ...I could kiss you," Rainbow droned.

Ariel's ears twitched. "Could you really—?"

Fwooosh! Rainbow shot over and levitated right beside Ariel, lowering her muzzle to the console where Ariel's hoof was still pressed to the lit orange button. "Flynn! Logan's in trouble! We need to vent the room he's in! How do I power the ventilation system!"

"Wait... Big Show's what?! Did you find the creature down there—?"

"Yes! We found the changeling! It's heading upstairs! I sent Wildcard after it—"

"Scrkkk! Huh?! Changeling?!?"

"Dang it, Flynn! I need your help!" Rainbow frowned. "We need to juice up the fans down here! Pronto!"

"Okay... okay... uhm..."

"Do you have any idea whatsoever how we can churn up the air flow—?"

"Red and yellow levers!"

"Huh?!"

"Red and yellow levers! They're all over the place here in the generator room. Yanking them one after another seems to activate power flow!"

Rainbow and Ariel looked at the six metal podiums situated in a circle. Indeed, there were matching levers glinting in the sporadic manalight from above.

"But I've been having a Hell of a time trying to get the entire place from losing power! There's some manafeedback going on and I'm afraid—"

"Just keep the juice going long enough for us to crank up the air!"

"But that might overload the core entirely! We'll go dark!"

"For Logan's sake, it's a risk we're going to have to take! Now walk us through it!"

"Hurry up, Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy exclaimed, wringing her fetlocks. "He hasn't much time left!"

"What about the changeling?" Pinkie Pie asked, glancing at everypony else. "Am I the only crazy mare wondering where it went off to?!"

Counter Clockwise or Bust

Wildcard stopped flying.

He hadn't reached the topmost floor of Darkreach yet. Far from it; he still had about two stairwell flights left to go.

However...

Upon reaching a long, narrow corridor full of doorways...

...he detected a continuous thumping sound coming from the far end. It turned out that the passage leading to the next set of stairs had been blocked off when the manafeedback rippled through the compound. A door had slammed shut, and a figure shifted in the shadows, habitually banging and slamming against the unexpected barricade.

Th-thunk! Thump! Thud!

Wildcard took a long, cool breath.

Holding the staff under his right wing, he slithered forward on three limbs—careful not to hobble and accidentally make the unmistakable sound of footfall.

Meanwhile, the shadow kept stirring. The noise of banging metal intensified.

At last, Wildcard was within two leaps' distance.

The movement up ahead ceased altogether.

"... ... ..." The Desperado froze in place.

Silence.

Flickering ambiance.

Then...

"You're smarter than this, Jordan..."

Wildcard's headcrest flattened. He reached under his wing with his good talon and gripped the staff.

Meanwhile, a silver figure slid out of the shadows. A pair of magenta eyes narrowed on Wildcard.

"Journeying as you are, the odds are against you," Keris said. "These fools don't know anything about what lies ahead. But me?" He steadied his shivering breaths and continued: "I can get us back to where we need to be. I feel it. I'm stronger now... and you can be strong too."

Wildcard said nothing. He tightened his limbs, aiming the staff at the creature.

Keris exhaled, "Join me, Jordan. Let me take you somewhere that will be s-safe." He swallowed, the shivers increasing. "She... she will be merciful to you. Like she is m-merciful to all of us. I promise you..."

Wildcard didn't budge. He barely even breathed.

"I see..." Keris' hawkeyes flickered a vicious green. "Holding to your principals, I take it? So hollow... hypocritical, even. Have you told your 'friends' the real reason you refuse to speak?"

With a hiss, Wildcard dove forward. He slammed Bard's staff down to crush the creature's skull. WHAM!

But the changeling had split in two. Wildcard's goggles reflected a pair of multi-legged invertebrates. They scuttled around the griffin at breathtaking speed, shimmied up the walls, leapt towards each other, then rejoined in mid-air as a drop-kicking stallion. "HYAAAA!" Bard shouted.

THWACK! Wildcard took the impact to his flank. He slammed into a wall, then blindly blocked with his staff held up behind his skull.

CLANK! He deflected Bard's lunging hoof, then jerked the staff at an angle, throwing off the changeling's balance.

Th-Th-Thwish! Wildcard twirled the staff and faced the doppelganger evenly.

Bard twirled to face him. Taking a seething breath, he reached a hoof out and—schiiiiiing!—etended a full length bo-staff that matched his opponent's. He gripped the metallic extension of himself in both limbs... and in the next second he turned into a dark-feathered griffin with ink-black goggles.

Wildcard's beak opened, mouthing a four-letter word.

SWOOOOOSH! His duplicate charged him, possessing an extra limb in advantage. The two same Desperadoes met in the center of the hallway with a shower of sparks. CLANG! CLACK! CL-CLANG!!!

"Okay... this is what you're going to have to do..." Flynn's voice crackled over the intercom.

"We're listening!" Rainbow's voice cracked as she and Ariel hovered anxiously above the circle of metal podiums.

"For a power surge this intense, you need to clear open the leylines! This means yanking the manual control levers for all six consoles! There are two levers per console! One yellow and one red. For each station, the yellow lever needs to be yanked first... then the red. Finally—once all the levers have been pumped—you must hit the top left green button on all six consoles!"

"Yellow lever then red lever then green button!" Rainbow Dash nodded. "Got it!"

"No, you don't understand. They have to all be done within the span of five seconds! Any longer and the power cycle will cancel itself out and you'll need to wait for about thirty seconds of cooldown!"

Ariel gulped. "Thirty seconds that we don't have."

"So you girls have to be super crazy quick! Once the power cycle's been done, I'll know! We'll all know! Darkreach will go... dark! For legit! Then it'll be up to me to reboot from here!"

"Okay! We read you!" Rainbow turned to face Ariel. "We gotta do it quick and simple, girl."

Ariel nodded. "Somehow, I expected no less from you."

"Remind me to kick your flank after we save Logan's lungs."

"I look forward to it."

Rainbow slapped the intercom again. "We're gonna do it now, Flynn!"

"Hurry! I prefer Big Show alive! He's easier to piss off that way!"

"Alright..." Rainbow Dash flapped her wings. "Counter-clockwise."

Ariel squinted. "What's counter-clockwise?"

"We're gonna fly around all six consoles. You slap the yellow levers. I slap the red. Then we each slap the first three green buttons we come to."

"Is that how we're doing it?"

"You got a better plan?"

"No." Ariel smiled sheepishly. "I just wanted to have the record concrete in my head for my future conscience's sake."

"Okay. On the count of three."

"Right—" Ariel turned to face away from Rainbow—

"COUNTER CLOCKWISE!" Rainbow snarled.

"Right!" Ariel squeaked, turning to face her. "SorrySorrySorrySorry!"

"Okay... after me... on 'go.'" Rainbow took a breath. "One. Two. Three—GO!"

FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH! The pair of pegasi made a virtual blue-and-gray circle. To any outside observer, the yellow levers flipped up in a blur, followed by the red, and then—

Thap! Thap! Thap! Thap! Thap! Thap! The green buttons were pressed, which immediately produced a resounding buzz.

"Woohooo!" Ariel spun to a stop, pumping her hoof and grinning. "What was that?! Three seconds! I think we saved Logan and a half!"

"Shhhhhhh!" Rainbow insisted. She locked in place, eyes darting every which way.

The core of the ventilation system continued buzzing.

"Uhhhhh..." Ariel's ears flattened. "...or did we not—?"

VRMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Console lights flashed.

Brass pipes shook.

And the fans above them spun faster and faster and faster-and-faster-and-fasternadfasterandfasterfasterfasterfasterfasterfaster!

Thw-Thw-Thw-Thw-Thw-Thw-Thwoooooooosh! A cyclonic air current roared through the chambers of Darkreach.

"Guhhh!" Ariel—a total lightweight—had to grip onto one of the levers to keep from being flung off, feathers and all. Rainbow similarly clung to a nearby metal panel while the air around them reached near hurricane status. "Whewwww!" Ariel gnashed her teeth into the artificial gale. "This'll blow a few papers around!"

"Let's just hope it's enough to suck the poison out of there!"

Ariel looked up, eyes twitching. "You mean that poison?"

In the flickering lights, the two mares saw a stream of green mist whipping upwards into a translucent funnel of rotating air.

"Crud!" Rainbow flattened herself against the metal floor. "Get down! Hold your breath—"

But just as she said this...

...the emerald mists were sucked into a series of vents high above. Not long after, sparks flew from the violently rotating fans. Flickering lights strobed through the chambers above and surrounding.

And then—

P-POWWW!

Two of the nearby consoles randomly exploded, followed by a dull bass whine.

—Vmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmhhhh

All of the lights went out. Soon, the air settled... and all was eerily dark and silent.

The only sound was the panting of breath coming from Ariel and Rainbow Dash.

"You... you okay?" Rainbow asked, illuminating the darkness around them with a rub of her pendant.

"Y-yeah..." Ariel sweated in the crimson spotlight. She looked around at the halo of inky nothingess surrounding the two. "And just like that... it got hot in here."

"Maybe if now the juice is all gone, whatever locking the doors in place will have loosened." Rainbow gestured as she began scampering towards the nearest stairwell. "Come on! Let's go check on Big Show! Hopefully Flynn will get the air and everything else up and running by the time we—"

Fluttershy floated directly in front of Rainbow. "He's not there anymore, Rainbow."

Rainbow skidded to a stop. Her heart pounded. "Not there anymore?!"

"Wh-what?!" Ariel's voice cracked.

"Fluttershy..." Rainbow grimaced. Hard. "Is he—?"

"No." Fluttershy nervously smiled. "He's alive. He's just... well..."

Rarity floated into focus, droning, "He's bashed something open. Presumably with his head."

Rainbow's eyelids went flat. "What."

"Grnnngh!"

THUNK!

Logan's axe embedded into a metal surface.

He had finally smashed open the door beneath him, exposing a tall vertical shaft. It was lined with a thin and weak metal... presumably to house a lift of some sort. The shaft was scarcely wide enough for him to fit, but he used it to his advantage. Pressing his sweaty flank to one end, he hammered his axe into the other and then pulled himself up by the grip. By repeating this while sliding his lower hooves up, he was able to gradually shimmy his obese figure in an awkward, ascending motion.

He'd reach the next floor in minutes at that rate.

"Hrnnngh!"

CLANK!

A shower of sparks illuminated his stubbled muzzle in the darkness. He spotted the next doorframe up ahead in the brief, dim flash.

"Well... looks like the gas is gone..."

He panted, writhed, and sweated.

"... ... ...who am I kidding, everything behind me is twice as gaseous now."

The chute echoed to support his claim, and soon he resumed his exercise, ascending the narrow shaft.

CLANK! THUNK! CLUNK!

Flickering Eyes Like Smaragdines

Clang!!! CL-CLAKK!

Sparks showered in the center of a dark hallway, revealing a pair of identical, sweat-stained beaks. Not-so-identical limbs slashed and swung and parried with a pair of like-metallic staves. Some of the sparks fell on a collection of rags spilling out of an abandoned storage compartment. The dry material erupted in flames immediately, bathing the nearby bulkheads in amber firelight.

Wildcard's goggles glinted with the miniature blaze. Taking short and swift breaths, he backstepped, propping his staff horizontally over the stub of his left limb. Cuts and scrapes along his body glowed faintly in the chaotic dimness. Wildcard's headcrest lowered as he tightened his muscles in anticipation of his doppelganger's next attack.

Seething, the mimic Desperado approached. His lion's tail twitched, belying his next movement.

Wildcard readied himself. He lifted his staff at the last second, knocked the enemy's weapon down, then slammed his feline limbs down across the length of the metallic extension with all his weight.

The air rang with a sickening CRACK! Green blood poured out of the hollow of the fake bo-staff.

"Aaaaaaaaugh!" a pegasus mare's head erupted out of the fake griffin's neck. In a blood-curdling second, the changeling switched to Ariel, cradling her bleeding forelimb as her pained body banged against one wall, the next, and back again.

Panting, Wildcard leaned against Bard's staff, watching his crazed opponent with somber patience.

"Mmmmm—Mommmmma!" Ariel shrieked, then shook her head to the other side, forming tusks, hair, and spectacles. "Brrotherrssss!!!" Eyes flickered green, then turned magenta. "Celestia..." Rainbow Dash whimpered. "Why does it h-hurt so much?!"

Wildcard gulped. He steadied himself in the penumbra of the flames' warmth.

Seething, the creature looked up, glaring through the rising smoke. "Bloodwings."

Wildcard raised an eyecrest.

"You must be... hrkkkk..." The changeling's eyes flickered green once again. "A horrible name for horrible creatures... snkkkkt... she wrote them... mother etched them..." She choked on a sob. "...black scratches against the bone white surface of my dr-dreams..." Green bile dribbled out of the creature's muzzle. "I will... tell find her... tell her where you are..." She seethed as her eyes narrowed to hawkish slits. "...kill... every... one..."

It was then that the Desperado finally chose to charge his opponent. But just as he reached her, staff swinging—

"Raaaaaaaaaaaaugh!!!" With an explosion of wings and feathers, a bleeding Seraphimus leapt straight into his charge.

"!!!!!" Wildcard could scarcely raise the staff in time to defend himself. The doppelganger pounced him, swinging merciless talons and stabbing with the Talon Commander's beak.

The flames flickered brighter as a streak of glowing blood littered the bulkhead beside the blaze.

"Rainbow..." Fluttershy squirmed with sudden fright. "Rainbow, we have to go up to the top floors! Now!"

"Yeah, I get it, Flutters," Rainbow said, already gliding along with Ariel for the nearest stairwell. She illuminated the path ahead of them with her ruby pendant. "If we hurry, we might just meet up with Logan and check—"

"Logan's fine!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "It's Wildcard!"

Rainbow did a double-take in midflight. "Wildcard?"

"Wildcard?!" Ariel stammered.

"I... I'm afraid he's hurt!" Fluttershy's voice cracked. "He must be in battle with the changeling."

"And what?" Applejack craned her neck. "The changeling's winnin'?"

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Pinkie Pie winced as her body vibrated in two alternating places. "Fluttershy's right. We should hurry."

"What does that twitch mean, Pinkie?" Rarity asked.

"Well, back home, it usually meant that I was burning brownies in the oven!"

"There's... no bakery for thousands of miles!"

Rainbow clenched her teeth. "A fire..."

"Rainbow...?" Ariel murmured.

"Move your wings!" Rainbow Dash flapped harder as she shot her body up the stairwell. "The situated just shifted from 'holy crud' to 'holy mega super crud!'"

"Cr-crud!" Ariel wheezed, struggling to keep up.

"Thattagirl!" Rainbow sped vertically through the heart of Darkreach. "Keep it brief!"

For the fifth time in a row, Kepler struck a match.

He slowly waved the meager light about, squinting through his glasses to make out any possible detail in the pitch-black common room. All he caught was the glint of firelight against the tile of the Verdestone Mosaic.

Somewhere in the distance, growing faint and fainter, a series of metallic impacts echoed.

"Could... it be the powerr going back on?" Kepler stammered.

"Don't be so foolish, wyvern," droned a cold voice from the shadows. Kepler turned around, and the matchlight illuminated Seraphimus pale feathers. "There's combat going on deep in these halls," Seraphimus said, her voice tense. Cautious. "The longer we wait here, the more we delay the inevitable."

Kepler took a deep breath. "My frriends have things underr contrrol."

"Only a Blighted fool could believe that," Seraphimus muttered. "But if you believe in what the Rainbow Rogue says, then that's not a grand surprise."

"Shhhh!" Kepler waved her off while craning his hairy neck towards the distant echoes. "I must ascerrtain what is going on!"

"What's to figure out?" Seraphimus glared. "Judging from the ferocity of that noise, it can only belong to one griffin." Her crest feathers raised on end. "Let me go."

"Bite yourr tongue!" Kepler snapped. "You know verry well I cannot do that!"

"You can and you should!" Seraphimus snarled. "Jordan is in trouble! And if you're too weak to help him—"

"I have my station, just as he has his."

"Wyvern..." Seraphimus stared solidly at him. "I do not care for the Rainbow Rogue or your foolish brothers-in-arms... but if there's any scrap of respectful spirit left in Jordan's beleaugered body, then I would be remiss to let him perish at the hands of whatever goddess-forsaken monstrosity dwells here."

Kepler turned to smirk at her. "Currious... that cerrtainly does not like the thoughtless crretin who attacked us on the Gondola..."

Seraphimus clenched her beak shut. She sat silent where she was handcuffed to the pipework.

"Arre you rready to embrrace exactly wherre you arre?"

Silence.

Eerie silence.

"Shhhhhh...!" Kepler craned his neck. "Do you hearr that? The sounds of combat have stopped."

Seraphimus fumed. "I swear... if he's dead, wyvern, you will have to own up for—"

"Silence! Please, fickle one!" Kepler insisted. As his match went out, he lit another one and hobbled towards the nearest hallway. "Wildcarrd?"

There was no response.

"Brrotherr...?"

Sill dead silence.

Seraphimus and Kepler held their breaths.

Then... a light... flickering.

Bzzzzzt!

The manalights lining the ceiling of the common room lit up with a pale glow.

"Ha-hah!" Kepler beamed through his tusks as the room traded pitch black for a comfortable dimness. "Flynn, you brrilliant crreaturre!"

Worst Time to Thaw

Flynn exhaled heavily.

"Sweet raisins!"

He smiled at his hoofwork. Instrument panels around him lit up while the suspended power core up above glimmered across its array of crystal shards. The electrified hum of power echoed through the halls and corridors of Darkreach once again.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" He swiped his bald brow and relaxed his muscles. "Now if only I could reinvent hair."

A satisfied sigh. He swiveled about and reached for the intercom button.

A beaked face stared him down.

"Gah!" Flynn hopped back, pupils shrinking. His horn glowed in surprise, and he eventually slumped with a ragged breath. "Unnngh... Wildcard... cheese and crackers..." His tail flicked as he gestured at the humming generator room surrounding them. "Gotta work on your entrances, buddy."

"... ... ..." Wildcard merely stared at him.

"Anyways, I got things up and running again," Flynn said, brushing aside crystals and a few tools from the nearby counter. "You don't have to thank me. However, you might wanna go back downstairs and check up on Rainbow and... Ariel... ... ..." Flynn's good eye blinked. "Wait a minute..." He pivoted about, his mechanical lense zeroing in on Wildcard's lower body. "... ... ...how the hell did you grow back your left arm—?"

WHAM! The limb in question uppercutted Flynn across the chin.

Flynn stumbled backwards. Before he could react, a lion's tail wrapped around his neck and—swoooosh—WHAM—slammed his skull into a sparkling instrument panel.

"Grnnfhfhggh..." Flynn's eye rolled back and he collapsed like a pile of meat. Thwump.

Fuming, the griffin loomed above Flynn. He flicked his talon to the side, morphing it into a razor sharp organic scythe. He raised the blade above Flynn's skull, preparing to decapitate him in one fatal swing—

"Aaaaaugh!" the creature spontaneously shrieked, instantly shrinking into a chitinous quadruped under a sickly plume of green light. FLASH! Gangly, malnourished, and bleeding from a dozen spots, the metamorph clutched its skull with porous fetlocks and stumbled backwards. Th-Thump! It collapsed over a tool bench, shivering and weeping. "Mrmmmff... Momma..." Tears bled from its compound eye sockets, evaporating as soon as they came into contact with the scalding wounds seeping through the creature's ruptured exoskeleton.

The air was pierced by an infantile squeal.

The creature shook, writhed, and thrashed about. The work bench was knocked over and tools scattered all around Flynn's unconscious body.

The changeling fell to its knees, clutching its head and fighting the urge to weep. Hissing breaths of pain fountained in and out of its fanged muzzle. Quivering, the metamorph slowly looked up... staring out into the adjacent hallways of Darkreach.

Webbed ears perked up.

As a dull light pulsed beneath the surface of its eyes, the creature licked its mandibles... and slowly got up. Wings buzzed... then relaxed limply as it shuffled a slow, zig-zagged lurch towards the exit... leaking green blood in random puddles the entire way.

"... ... ..." Kepler's eyes narrowed. He looked towards one exit of the common room... then the next. "... ... ...something is amiss."

"Did they teach you to meditate on the obvious in Wyvern Point?" Seraphimus asked.

"Shhhhhh!" He held a claw up while gazing across the chamber. Light flickered, glinting off the tile mosaic of Verdestone. "... ... ...we should have hearrd worrd frrom the otherrs by now." He swallowed. "Flynn, at the verry least."

Seraphimus opened her beak to say something else in protest... but chose to be silent instead. Soon, she too was craning her neck and listening intently from where she had been chained. The feathers of her headcrest were still ruffling to a stop from the gust of artificial wind that had been forced through the nearby ducts. Now all was eerily still, with only the buzz of flickering manalights interrupting the deadness.

Kepler's scorpion tail curled up defensively. He clenched his jaw shut beneath his tusks as he turned about, gazing.

Seraphimus' hawkeyes narrowed. She held her breath, craning her neck left... right... left again...

A rustling sound.

"???" Seraphimus jerked her head to the left. Her gaze fell on a dark stairwell in the distance. A shadow shifted amidst the darkness. "... ... ...wyvern..."

"I hearrd it too," Kepler said. On nimble claws, the Heraldite crept towards the corridor. His hairs bristled on end as he squatted low. His tail uncurled as he summoned a courageous breath: "Flynn? Rrainbow One?" A beat. "Wildcarrd? Is that you, brrotherr?"

A voice came from the shadows, stately and feminine: "Come to me, Kepler."

He froze in place, every limb locked.

"There is no reason for alarm, good servant," the voice practically purred. "Let us meditate like old times, child."

"You..." Kepler's claws tightened against the floor. His voice took on a hissing, beastly tone. "You arre not the Mountain Matrron..."

"Please... child..." Shadows. Shifting. A near-weeping. "I've been so lonely without my faithful Herald. I... mrmmmfff... h-hunger..."

"Therre is no hungerr forr herr in the Harrmonic Plains." Schiiiing! Kepler picked up an ancient lance from the floor and aimed it towards the stairwell. "You arre something else. Now show yourrself—"

Th-THWPPP! A narrow black tentacle flew out of the darkness and wrapped three times around Kepler's neck.

"Grkkkk!" He jerked in place, breathless.

With a solid yank, the prehensile limb flung Kepler off his feet. Swoooosh! WHAM! His body was slammed against the doorframe. He tumbled in one way while his spectacles slid in the other. The wyvern lay silent, twitching.

Seraphimus clenched her beak. Her talons worked on the chains, attempting in futility to yank the manacles free. "Mrmfff... damnation..." Hissing, she fought and struggled to get loose.

While the former Talon Leader fussed with her restraints, a piece of the shadow slithered out... crouching low to the floor as it examined Kepler closely. The blackness summoned strength, growing larger... more distinct. A pair of flickering green eyes loomed over Kepler, and fangs glistened in the dim manalight.

Then it froze...

"... ... ..." Seraphimus locked her limbs, remaining still as stone.

Silence.

The green eyes lifted, peering across the common room at the griffin.

Seraphimus held her breath.

"... ... ...mmmm..." The green eyes vanished into the blackness. The onyx shape crawled slowly... sickly towards Seraphimus. "Mmmmm-mmmm..." The inkness rolled back, revealing pale feathers... a tan hide... talons and paws and a playfully twirling lion's tail. "...mmmmm-mommy...?"

Seraphimus' slitted pupils shrank. Her beak hung open. "... ... ...Verlaxion."

"Mommy?" A pair of eyes flickered to life. Hazel and glossy and beautiful. "Is that you?"

"Verlaxion, take me..." Seraphimus yanked and yanked at the manacles.

"Mommy, it's been so long..."

"Verlaxion—!" Seraphimus shook and fought. Her wrists bled raw.

With a mewling sound, the griffin child crossed the distance between them. "What's wrong, Mommy?"

"Get away..." Seraphimus was hyperventilating now. She seethed with a final bastion of contempt. "Blighted Demon! You're not... you are not—!"

"Please, Mommy..." It crawled up her legs. "...don't be mad..." Cold paw pads on her chest. A vaporous breath. Iced tears. "Don't you see?" A smiling face. Claws running through neck feathers.

"No!" Seraphimus shouted. She sobbed. "Get away—!"

"We're together again..." It closed its eyes and nuzzled the former Talon Commander. "I love you, Mommy—"

"Get aw—Get away from me!" Seraphimus' voice cracked as she struggled and thrashed in vain to throw the toddler off. "Get away from me!!!" She bellowed.

"I love you—" The child cooed, its eyes flickering green as it opened its beak wide, hissing—

Swoooooosh! A prismatic blur sliced through the room. Rainbow's hoof caught the infant under its neck.

"Nrkkk!" The creature flailed in surprise. "Mommy—!"

"Rrrrrgh!" Rainbow Dash spun around, violently slamming the little body through a nearby table.

SMASH!

The changeling enlarged to its chitinous nude self.

Chunks of wood and loose junk rattled across the room, sliding to a stop before the stairwell where Ariel stood with a bleeding, wincing Wildcard leaning against her figure.

Fighting tears, Seraphimus squinted one eye open to witness the event.

"Rnnngh—hresssssssh!" The changeling rippled into a gilatinous pile of black glue then rose back up in a quadrupedal shape.

"Party's over!" Rainbow shouted, staring the metamorph down. "Give it up while you still have the strength!" She faced off against the creature, limbs locked and muscles tightening. "We don't have to do this the hard way!"

"The... srnkkkt... harrrrd way..." The creature shook its head, then snarled at Rainbow Dash with a freckled muzzle. "But yer always doin' thangs the hard way, sugarcube!" Applejack hissed.

"Awwwwwwwwwww Luna Poop." Rainbow's ears folded. "This is gonna suck."

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!" the farm mare galloped straight for her in a death charge.

Rainbow closed her eyes tight as she delivered the beast a savage right hook. WHUD!!!

End With a Bang

"Ooomf!" The changeling fell back against a stack of tools. The common room echoed from clattering metal as it snarled, tossed its blonde mane, and came running straight back for Rainbow with a blood-curdling drawl: "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!"

"Look out, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack phased through the nearby wall as she hovered above her anchor. "I'm comin' in for another charge—I mean... the changeling's comin' in—"

"I got it, AJ!" Rainbow Dash jumped high, flapped her wings, and flew over the creature's charge—or so she thought.

"Hressssh!" The farm mare's eyes turned compound in a green flash as its hat disappeares. Milliseconds later, its shoulder sprouted a tentacle that grabbed Rainbow by the lower fetlock. THWPPP!

"Rainbow!" Rarity exclaimed, floating close. "That spare limb is very brittle—!"

"Right." Rainbow simply spun about and swung her hoof through the appendage, instantly snapping it.

Green blood splattered across the stone floor of Darkreach.

"Mrnnghhhh!" The changeling backtrotted, its body rippling through orange, white, lavender, and pink coats. It finally settled for Fluttershy—or at least a Fluttershy with scorpion tails emerging from its shoulders. "Hresssssh!" It soared into Rainbow Dash, slashing and stabbing with its stingers.

Rainbow flew backwards, wrestling with the creature and dodging its tail-stabs with deft movements of her neck.

"Oh goodness!" The real Fluttershy covered her ghostly eyes. "Oh goodness it's too much!"

"Quick, Dashie!" Pinkie hollered. "Find a giant napkin to squash it!"

"It's a lot weaker than it looks!" Rainbow snarled back, being pressed against a table.

"Rainbow!" Ariel flinched, moving to lean Wildcard against a table. "Hold on! I'll help—!"

"No!" Rainbow sneered, dodging more stinger attacks. "Stay put!"

"But I can kick its butt! Honest—!"

"I know!" Rainbow spat, struggling. "But the moment you stop guarding Wildcard, he'll rush in on his lonesome and get hurt even more! And I'm not having that!"

With a frown, the last Desperado moved forward...

...only to be yanked back in place by Ariel. "You heard the mare." Ariel nevertheless gulped, staring wide-eyed at the fight. "She's got this."

"Rrrrrrrrrr—" Rainbow Dash pressed her rear hooves against the table behind her and shoved the metamorph backwards with her forelimbs. "Haaaaaaaugh—!" She then kicked against the furniture and performed a backwards bicycle kick, knocking the creature flat on its back.

WHUD!

Within a blink, Rainbow had finished her midair cartwheel and dove at the creature. Swoooooosh! She flew into it with beating wings, shoving the beast across the room.

Seraphimus' tear-stained eyes reflected the two bodies surging by.

WHAM! At last, Rainbow shoved the changeling into the wall on the opposite side. She pressed her weight against the squirming, bleeding thing and gnashed her teeth. "Give up!" she hollered. "You can't win against all of us! You're starving. You're weak. And you're confused! That's okay! We can friggin' help you!"

"Mrnnngh... Bloodwings..." The creature shrieked in Twilight's voice, and then in Bellesmith's. "Bloodwings!" As it hyperventilated, its pupils rotated through multiple ponies' colors. "Must... k-kill you all..." A whimper, and then Roarke's cold tone: "She will find you. I will show her."

"Don't trust her. Do you hear me?!" Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "You think she loves you. But Tchern left you here to be nothing more than a weapon. Well, you deserve more! Please, stop fighting! Let us show you there's another way!" Rainbow gulped. "This doesn't have to end in bloodshed!"

"Bloodshed...?" At long last, the panting changeling looked straight at her opponent. It swallowed, and an eerily smug voice rolled out its mandibles. "But Sparky..." Red on yellow eyes. Goat hair solidified beneath asymmetrical horns. "...if you did not like bloodshed, how would you have even made it this far?" A fanged smile.

Rainbow froze in place.

From across the room, Seraphimus sneered: "Fool!" She rattled in her chains. "It's baiting you—!"

It was far too late, the dragonequus skull headbutted Rainbow Dash savagely while she was transfixed.

"Ooomf!" Rainbow rolled backwards through a puddle of green changeling blood.

"Rainbow!" Ariel yelped and flew to her side.

"Mrmmmf... Mommy..." The creature shook, shivered, then bounded up the nearest stairwell. "Must... f-find..." Claws and chitin and buzzing wings. It was gone in a green blur. "Reveal..."

Goggles rattling, Wildcard hobbled after it.

"Mrmmfff..." Rainbow struggled to get up, bleeding from the head. "Wildcard... friggin'..."

Cold laughter.

"...?" Rainbow squinted at the nearby puddle of green liquid.

There was a flash of scales, and then a fanged grin formed against the surface of the changeling's fluid. "You know, the little bugger makes a good point..."

Before Rainbow could respond, she felt Ariel's hooves lifting her up. "Rainbow—!" She stammered. "Wildcard's giving chase! Want me to stop him—?"

"Never mind Wildcard, stop the changeling!" Rainbow shook Ariel off and stumbled after the Desperado. "It's heading upstairs! That can only mean one thing!"

"Hurry, Rainbow!" Fluttershy insisted.

"It's headed towards the loading area!" Rarity added.

"If Flynn got this place buzzing again..." Pinkie began.

"Everypony!" Rainbow hollered, her voice echoing through the colony as Kepler stirred to his feet way behind them. "Don't... let it... escape...!"

Panting...

Bleeding... ...

Stumbling... ... ...

The changeling changed bodies ten times per minute. It never once lost its pace as it galloped desperately for the upstairs loading area.

At last, it approached the concrete ramp leading towards the flat metal door.

Its head flickered—possessing Flynn's scalp for a brief moment. Wisened eyes wandered to the left, where it found a dimly-lit instrument panel. The changeling reached over, slapping a button with Seraphimus' palm.

Whurrrrrrrrrrrr!

The ramp opened up to hazy twilight and stars.

The top of the mesa was exposed in a silver line.

"Oh mother..." The changeling whimpered. A smiling muzzle... beak... tusks. It rose on leather and feather wings, flying limply up the ramp, empowered by tears. "Oh mother, I'm coming. We'll be together once again."

It rose higher and higher, almost clearing the door, gaining speed.

"We'll be—"

Thw-Thw-Thw-Thw-THW-THWOOOSH!

A heavy axe flew up the ramp and—

CHTUNKK!!!

—embedded itself deep in the metamorph's thorax, almost cleaving the ceature in two.

"Grkkkkk!" The changeling spat a fountain of green slime out its mandibles. It lurched in midair, its wings buzzing in agonized desperation.

Far behind, down the ramp, a side door had slid open to reveal a vertical crawlspace. There Logan stood, covered in sweat and soot. He panted while squinting at his mortal blow from a distance.

"Mrmmmffg... grnnnghhhlll..." The creature let out a whimper, then slumped down hard on the concrete. It slid down the ramp, quickened by the pool of its own blood. Eventually, the friction caused by the axe impaling it caused the body to grind to a halt.

Taking deep breaths, Logan bore a somber expression as he marched towards the thing.

Meanwhile, Wildcard, Ariel, and Rainbow Dash emerged from the stairwell below. They scuffled to a stop, gawking at the bloody scene.

"Whoah...!" Ariel grimaced. "Big Show..."

Rainbow's ears drooped. "Awwwwww for frig's sake..." A heavy exhale. "Was that really necessary?"

"Jeez, you're welcome," Logan grunted as he retrieved his axe with a wet sound. "Better it than us... or the entire journey for that matter—"

"D-Daddy...?"

Logan's pupils instantly shrank. He peered beyond the dripping lengths of his axe.

The changeling had rolled over onto its back. Chitinous skin unfurled above the wound, turning into a soft, rose-peach color. An earth pony foal with a gold mane and blue eyes looked up at him, eyes tearing.

"Daddy... it hurts, Daddy..."

Ariel and Rainbow blinked in confusion.

Wildcard's headcrest lifted.

Logan, meanwhile, was struggling to catch his breath again. "...come on, you bastard freak..." He gulped. "Don't friggin' do this..."

"You said that it wouldn't hurt," the foalish half of the changeling sobbed as its eyes burned green. "You s-said it would be like going to sleep..."

Ariel stammered. "Big Show...?"

"Shut up..." Logan hissed. He clenched his eyes shut as his ears flattened. "Everypony... just shut up—"

"Logan..." The foal's bleeding gums took on a vicious frown. "Logan, you no-good son of a bitch..." The creature heaved forward, its skull enlarging into that of an adult mare, red-coated and howling: "I should have murdered you before I even foaled her!" Her eyes were literally smoking and her body hissed like a steam kettle. Fumes rose from every bleeding orifice of the changeling as the air filled with a pungent odor.

Rainbow coughed, her ears tearing. "Twilight—Kaff! Koff!—what is that?!"

"A chemical reaction!" Twilight gasped. "Oh Celestia—!"

"Quii-ii-iick!" Pinkie quivered all over. "Jump for cover—!"

Rainbow grabbed Ariel and dove aside. "Wildcard!"

Wildcard threw himself forward by his wings. He caught Logan by the shoulders and flung their combined weight backwards just as—

POWWWWW! The changeling's corpse erupted in an acidic bubble of flames that branched outward in every direction, filling the entire chamber with flesh-searing plasma.

When the Smoke Clears

As soon as they had erupted, the flames cleared up. The air of the upper storage chamber returned to a dim twilight, tinged with smoke.

Rainbow Dash and Ariel crawled out from behind a pile of junk that had shielded them from the changeling's self-destruction. Breathless, they gazed across the room.

They saw Wildcard with a few of his wingfeathers burning like candles. He twisted and shook and writhed in a desperate attempt to put them out. Suddenly, a large figure loomed over him.

"Let me, Double-Yoo. I've got it—" Logan gnashed his teeth and slapped the sparks out with his heavy hoof. "I've got it!"

"Holy shit..." Ariel exhaled, trembling all over. "I mean... j-just..." She ran a hoof through her frazzled mane. "Holy shit."

"Okay, everypony remain calm," Rainbow insisted, gesturing with both hooves. "Are we all in one piece?"

Wildcard grimaced, examining his glowing wounds. With a jolt, he frantically looked all over... then was relieved to find Bard's staff lying un-damaged on the ground beside him. He picked it up and collapsed the thing with a contented sigh.

Rainbow gulped. "Fluttershy," she spoke aside. "Tell me. Is everypony in one piece?"

"Yes, Rainbow," the ghostly pegasus said with a nod. "They might be slightly bruised up, but I assure you... Flynn, Kepler, and Seraphimus are fine as well."

Applejack cleared her throat. "Ya might wanna think twice about Seraphimus." She looked at Rainbow. "Reckon you should go visit her, sugarcube."

Rainbow was about to reply to that—

"Dashie!" Pinkie Pie pointed. "Look!"

Rainbow and her ghostly friends turned around. Along the crest of the concrete ramp leading out to the exterior of the mesa, there was an unmistakable burn mark. Green blood boiled to a stand still and a few chitinous pieces of flesh lingered along the edges of the point of explosion. However, that wasn't precisely what Rainbow and her companions were staring at. Lifting up from the singed epicenter was a misty cloud of ruby light. It lingered in spot, harboring far too much purpose for any normal, mindless patch of fog.

Twilight's muzzle hung agape. "It's happening again, Rainbow..."

"Then..." Rainbow gulped. "...that must mean—"

Just as they spoke, the ruby aura moved. At first, it looked like it was shifting directly out of the entrance to Darkrreach. But as the ponies witnessed, it sank as well... descending through the ramp and—presumably—through the mesa altogether.

"Where's it headed?" Pinkie asked.

"Judging from the way the entrance is facing..." Twilight swallowed. "...the same direction Axan's... erm..."

Rainbow merely bit her lip. She heard the scraping of metal and looked over to Logan.

The large stallion was picking his axe up in tense silence. Smoke and slimy green blood clung to the blade's edges. He sighed with a shrug of his shoulders.

Rainbow trotted limply towards him. "Logan..."

"Look, Rainbow..." He grumbled. "The lil' bug-eyed shit was tearing us all a new asshole, and—like you said—it was just a bee's harvest away from warning the whole hive about us. Take it or leave it, but we just can't afford to make friends with every dayum thing that moves on this side of the plane!"

Rainbow grimaced. "I-I wasn't even going to go on about that." She cleared her throat. "I... I was only wondering—"

"What the Hell was that just now?!" Ariel stammered.

Rainbow sighed. "Ariel..."

"Who were those ponies, Big Show?" Ariel exclaimed. "I know that bugger was only trying to mess with our heads, but... but..." She shuddered. "Shit... that last one was so friggin' mad at you. Is there something you're not telling us—?"

"And what if there was?!"" Logan spun to snarl at Ariel, startling her. "I don't remember a rule about volunteering information when we all signed up for the God Squad!"

Ariel jumped back, shivering. "I-I'm only concerned about you, Big Show—"

"Well, stuff it!" he spat, shouldering his dirtied axe. "I'm the same big idiot you've always known, just a bit more pissed off! So back off!" His nostrils flared as he turned towards Rainbow. "Are Keps and that bald bastard okay downstairs?!"

"Logan, we're your friends. You can tell us—"

"Ask your spooky friends!"" Logan stomped a hoof. "Are they okay or not?!"

Rainbow nodded nervously. "Fluttershy says they're fine!"

"Good. I'm going to go check on them." Fuming, Logan marched towards the nearest stairwell. "Somepony remember to close the goddess-damn door, okay?!" And he was gone.

"Logan, wait—!" Ariel darted after him, only to have Bard's staff block her way.

Wildcard stood in somber silence, looking after the stallion's exit. Despite his fresh wounds and bruises, he remained the calmest of the three.

"Friggin'..." Flynn sat at an overturned bench in the common room, holding a rag to his bleeding gums. "...damn freak took me by surprise. Who'd think we'd run into a changeling this soon?"

"Ach...!" Kepler sat beside him, bandaging the stallion's right forelimb. The thin materialy barely contained the lively glow as the wounds were patched up. "It wouldn't be called the 'Darrk Side' if it wasn't full of unpleasant surrprrises, brrotherr..."

"I was so busy trying to get Darkrreach operational." Flynn spat on the concrete floor and frowned. "Feel like a damned fool."

"You arre not alone, forr what it is worrth..." Kepler sighed, adjusting crooked bifocals. The frame had been bent when he took a fall, and they needed to be repaired. "But—live and learrn! It'll be that much harrderr forr the childrren of Tcherrn to drrop the prroverrbial anvil on us! Ha-Hah!"

"Heh..." Flynn rolled his one good eye. "'Kerrrrsplat.'"

"Well put, frriend."

Heavy hoofsteps.

They both looked up amidst the flicker of manalights.

Logan gave them one glance. His body was covered in soot and slime.

"... ... ... ... ....had a bad date?" Flynn suggested.

Logan merely snorted. He trotted clear across the room.

Kepler and Flynn watched him pass by. "Okay then," muttered the latter.

But before Logan exited completely, he glanced towards the far end of the chamber. His eyes fell on the griffin tied to the pipework.

Seraphimus shook and trembled. Tears ran down her face as she stared into the corner of the room. For a brief moment, her gaze lifted and she looked at Logan.

Logan looked back.

Amidst the tense silence, their vision was severred... and Logan made his way into the adjacent corridor.

And Seraphimus...

Seraphimus went nowhere.

Earn Some Down Time

"Blast it, brrotherr!" With a grunt, Kepler used his meager strength to shove Wildcard back down onto a cot along the edge of the common room. "Forr Goddess' sake! Stay put!" He huffed and continued applying bandages to the stubborn Desperado's arm. "As much as you wish to, you simply cannot be everrywherre at once!"

Wildcard sighed heavily, frowning beneath his beak. He laid on the cot in protest, holding his right arm out for the wyvern to mend. His goggles reflected a prismatic shape trotting into focus.

"Listen to Keps, dude," Rainbow Dash said. "You're on mandatory R&R for the next foreseeable future."

The griffin's tail flicked in protest.

"I mean it!" Rainbow pointed with a frown. "You've taken the bullet for the Herald enough as it is! Heck, you're still recovering from the freakin' slobberknocker back in the Gondola! If you wanna make yourself—and Bard—proud, then take five... or more like five thousand." She huffed. "You'll be of waaaaay more use to me and the rest alive, don't you agree?" She cocked her head to the side. "So—barring the appearance of more random bug-ponies—you're out of the fight until Flynn fixes you a new arm or something. No arguing."

Wildcard sighed again... but eventually nodded.

"Good," Rainbow grumbled. "Lie down. Eat some bleakweed. Sleep and... erm... dream of sexy cat birds... or something."

The Desperado chuckled breathily, his tail flicking with a soft curl this time.

"Now that is one way to lay down the hammerr!" Kepler remarked. "Ha-hah!"

"Yeah..." Rainbow slumped against an overturned bench and rubbed her forehead. "Now if only I could do something about the hammer laid down on my skull."

"You took a solid thrrashing as well, I suspect," Kepler said.

"We all did," Rainbow said. "I feel like it's my fault somehow."

"You did all you could, Rainbow," Ariel said, flying over to the scene.

"Yeah..." Flynn arrived next, rubbing his bruised body and nodding with a wince. "The creatures on this edge of the plane aren't anything like the Light Side." He shrugged. "It's no big surprise that your ghost-buds couldn't sense it."

"Well, to be honest, it's the first time they've been consciously 'with me' during a changeling encounter period," Rainbow muttered. "For all I know—they would have had trouble with the ones back in Val Roa and Stratopolis."

"Soooooooo..." Ariel fidgeted in mid-hover. "Were all the shapeshifters you met back west so... uhhh..."

"Broken?" Flynn spat.

"For your information, no," Rainbow said with a slight glow. "I'm not kidding, guys. This..." She shook her head with a weary breath. "This was something new." A gulp. "Even for me."

"What were the changelings you encountered before like?" Ariel asked. "I mean... assuming they ever dropped their diguise—"

"Oh, they did," Rainbow said. "And they... they had a lot of tricks of their sleeves for sure." She cleared her throat, gazing across the dimly-lit room. "They could imitate almost any quadruped. Just like their Queen, they were all mind-readers... which means they could dig into your head and drum up faces from past memories... and emotions." A shuddering sigh. "It's how they feed, y'know."

"So that's why..." Ariel grimaced. "...I-I heard my mother's voice..."

"It's more complicated than that," Rainbow said. "For all intents and purposes, the changeling who grappled was your mother. By that, I mean your mother as put together by your collective memories and feelings." She shrugged. "Heck, it might even go deeper than that. Something spiritual, perhaps... like detecting the 'soul'-residue of past ponies on your spirit or some crap. I dunno. The changeling queens were once alicorns themselves, so the sky's the limit."

"Yes, but..." Flynn squinted his one good eye. "Could any of the changelings you met split into two or mimic elements—?"

"Or friggin' explode?!" Ariel's voice cracked.

Wildcard sat up, gazing at Rainbow curiously.

Rainbow gulped. "Not any of the ones I met," she explained. "Once, a whole bunch of changelings in Stratopolis formed together like a nest and morphed into a giant fascimile of Queen Chrysalis' face in order to help her communicate with me from... like... an entire continent away."

Kepler whistled. "That's quite the imprressive feat."

"Yes. But none of the changelings could do any of that crazy stuff on their own," Rainbow said. "Oh! In Val Roa!" She sat up straight, gesturing. "There were three high-ranking leaders of the government: Sharp Quill, Fishberry, and... and... erm..." Her eyes crossed and she shook her head. "Ugh! I forget. Too many fight scenes ago. Anyways." She looked at the Heraldites again. "Basically, the Noble Jury and I found out that all three of them were split portions of the same Changeling Queen—Chrysalis—split into separate doppelgangers, each subconsciously following her will in self-contained fugue states."

"Whoah..." Ariel blinked.

"That is... alarrming," Kepler said. Wildcard nodded.

"It took a crazy-coordinated effort on our part to... like... gather the three doppelgangers and throw 'em together in order for Chrysalis to be made manifest," Rainbow said. "But when it happened, she had nowhere left to run. She was sapped of power and at the end of her rope. So she gave up and Val Roa was saved."

"Way to go, Rainbow," Flynn said.

"Heh... yeah..." Rainbow smiled lazily. "If only all of my adventures went that well."

"When you faced the drreaded Queen Chrrysalis in herr final forrm, she didn't put up a grreaterr fight?" Kepler asked.

"Like I said, Keps, she couldn't," Rainbow said. "She was divvying up her power to mind-control an entire army of defenders that she intended to turn on the Val Roan populous. It was her last ditch gambit to take over the continent of Alafreo." She shook her head. "Didn't work. The Noble Jury made sure of that—with a lot of help, of course. Couldn't have done it without Arcanista or Seclorum."

"Wow..." Ariel smiled. "You've met a ton of ponies!"

Rainbow sighed. "Yeah..."

"It appearrs as though the changelings of the Light Side rrelegated all of theirr powerr to theirr brrood motherr," Kepler said. "Perrhaps the crreaturre we stumbled upon herre was one of Tcherrn's morre loyal guarrds."

"No." Rainbow shook her head. "I don't think so." She gestured. "This thing was like an infant. A baby. Ariel and I found where it had hatched in here."

"Yeah..." Ariel squinted. "About that. How did it even get inside Darkreach?"

"Maybe it's rresponsible for the expulsion of the Emerraldinians?" Kepler suggested.

"Or... ... ..." Flynn stroked his stubbled chin. He glanced at the others. "...the vents."

"You mean the ones attached to the air system in here?" Rainbow asked, ears twitching. "What about them?"

"Well, the changeling we ran into has a lot of tricks up its sleeves," Flynn said. "Maybe whoever... uh... 'laid' it found a way to shift into a pure gaseous element and breach the vents built into the side of the mesa."

Ariel raised an eyebrow. "Tchern?"

"Beats the Hell out of me," Flynn said. "I'm just saying—now that we've got a taste of what these creatures are capable of, then maybe it explains how they were able to get into Darkreach with it sealed off to normal ponies like us."

"I was just thinking of something," Rainbow muttered.

"Wanna fill us in?" Ariel asked.

"Chrysalis returned to the Light Side because she felt that her and her sister were getting their thoraxes kicked in the Trinary War," Rainbow muttered. "The sheer effort it must have taken to cross over—avoiding Verlax in Rohbredden and eventually finding her way into Xona—probably involved centuries of struggle and planning."

"In other words..." Flynn cocked his head to the side. "Chrysalis was distracted."

"Right. But Tchern wasn't." Rainbow's brow furrowed. "She's had hundreds of years of putting her mandibles to the grindstone of the Trinary War to hone her talents... and—by proxy—the talents of her hatchlings."

"Yeesh!" Ariel grimaced. "Are you saying that every single changeling on this side of the plane can split into halves, turn into elements, and explode?!"

"Just think back to what we've witnessed," Rainbow said in a tired tone. "Even without all of its faculties together, this single bug-horse could take us all on." She looked at the wounded griffin beside them. "Sure, Wildcard wore it down some... but it still wasn't enough."

Wildcard gestured with his good talon.

Flynn looked at him. "Well, yeah. It's a good thing it's blood isn't made of acid."

"Hrrrrm..." Kepler rubbed his hairy chin.

Ariel looked over. "What are you 'Hrrrrm-ing' about, Kepler?"

"I am currious..." He adjusted his spectacles as he asked, "Did any of you obserrve this crreaturre's blood glowing?"

The room fell into silence.

"Not even in the least?" he added.

Ariel, Flynn, and Rainbow shook their heads.

"And yet..." Kepler pointed at Wildcard's bandages that still had faint luminescence. "Ourrs burrn like gold underr a spotlight."

"That's... really fascinating," Flynn murmured. He looked at Rainbow. "Got any theories?"

"Changelings'... farts glow?"

Ariel shook her head. "Never change, Rainbow."

"Dudes... I've got no clue," Rainbow said with a shrug. "But... y'know... that poor thing was hatched here on the Dark Side."

"Could that be the difference, then?" Ariel asked. "Those who were born under the blessing of Harmony and those that weren't?"

"It would make forr keen study," Kepler said. "Given the cirrcumstances wherre we could afforrd such."

"And we can't." Rainbow stood up and began pacing. "Right now, we've cleared Darkreach of all its crazy explodey spiders."

"Here's hoping—" Ariel began.

Rainbow held a hoof in her face. "And..." She looked at the others. "I think it's time for a rest." She pointed about. "Get this place powered up. Patch up our wounds. Make Wildcard a new friggin' arm. Catch our bearings."

"We should keep things at half-power for a while to rest the leylines from the ventilation overload earlier," Flynn said. "But we'll be able to juice the place to full capacity later when the time's right."

"Flynn and I shall worrk swiftly on fashioning a new prrosthetic forr ourr most gifted fighterr."

"Right."

"Oh!" Ariel brightened. "Downstairs, Big Show and I found a bunch of leftover files and manuscripts from the Emeraldinian expedition! It might shed some light on what the ponies here discovered before they cleared out!"

"Yeah... Wildcard and I found some stuff too that needs explaining." Rainbow blinked. "... ... ...where is Logan, anyways?"

"He went to the HQ," Flynn said. "The upstairs room with the map. I think he... needed to cool off."

"That's fine," Rainbow said. She then squinted at the group. "You guys have been with him through thick and thin. Have any clue what the heck happened right before the changeling went kablooey? Like—just who were those ponies who appeared before him?"

"I... I-I haven't gotten a clue," Ariel said.

Both Wildcard and Flynn shook their heads.

"I'm afrraid he's neverr taken the opporrtunity to explain to me his past life," Kepler said. "He cerrtainly had many a converrsation with the Mountain Mattron. Alas..." A soft sigh, and he smiled limply through his tusks. "Morrtuana took countless secrrets with herr to the Harrmonic Plains."

"I get it," Rainbow said with a nod. "Still... I sure hope there's no unwritten rule of the Job Squad that says you've gotta keep secrets from each other—" She jolted slightly, looking perturbed. "What is it, Applejack?" She looked to her right, blinking for a few seconds. "Huh?" Another few seconds passed, and Rainbow looked sharply in Flynn's direction.

Flynn avoided her gaze, looking deadpan towards the floor of the room.

Rainbow looked at him for a prolonged period, even squinting. Eventually, she sighed. "Whatever. Break time. Let's all get some rest. Get some food. Get some..." She looked into the far end of the room.

Seraphimus lay limply on the floor, handcuffed to the pipework.

"... ... ...some sanity," Rainbow muttered, then trotted off on her lonesome.

Lost Talon of Verlaxion

Hoofsteps.

A dimly glowing horn.

Flynn marched up the steps leading to the HQ of Darkreach. When he entered the lofty room in the heart of the mesa, his hornlight glinted off the metal surface of the map-table and surrounding instrument panels. The "briefcase" that Rainbow had brought up from the lower living quarters lay limply on the floor. Not thinking—or caring—Flynn gave the metal thing a meager kick and entered the room proper.

He jolted to a stop upon seeing a thick figure standing beside the table with several strips of edible bleakweed laid out.

Flynn blinked. "... ... ...recovering with a full stomach."

"Stuff it, Baldy," Logan muttered, laying out equal portions of the food. "Been a while since the group ate. Figured I'd prepare rations now that all of the habitual ass-kicking is done."

"Uh huh..." Flynn licked the inside of his mouth. "... ... ...why by yourself?"

"Because I want to feel useful."

"But you are useful, dude. Hell... you're stallion of the hour! If you hadn't caught that freak before it flew away—"

"Did I ask you to bring your annoying ass up here?" Logan grumbled.

Flynn rolled his good eye and sighed. "No, you didn't. But... since I'm here... and since kicking my face in would jeopardize this mission's one and only technology expert..." He leaned against the center table and focused his metal lens on the obese earth pony. "...the least we can do is talk."

"Hrmmmf..." Logan wrapped each portion of bleakweed into linen mats. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Nothing my shiny dome!" Flynn smirked with effort. "Ya hear that? I'm doing the bald jokes for you."

Logan was silent.

"What next? Do I have to sit on my own horn and rotate? Will that put us on the level with each other?"

Logan was even more silent.

Flynn gulped. When he spoke next, it was in a soft tone. Warm and endearing. "You did the right thing, Logan. Back in Storm Prefecture."

Logan froze in place. He gazed blankly beyond the stack of rations he had prepared.

"She's living a good life now, thanks to you," Flynn said. "Hell... they both are." His ears drooped. "Even... even with the Wendigoes roaming about... I just know they're safe. Plenty of holds that the communities can hide in. And—besides—Theanim and Keris and the rest will make sure that the Prefectures are unified as one in harmony, even if it takes decades..."

"Told you never to talk about that shit, Flynn," Logan said in a cold tone.

"Well, I wasn't the one who brought it up, was I?"

Silence.

"You know it was only messing with you, right?" Flynn remarked. "The changeling, I mean. It was using what was in your head and then twisting their voices to try and make you feel bad."

"Yeah? Well..." Logan scooped up the rations in one fetlock and marched towards the exit. "It did a damn good job."

"Well, nice of you to admit that," Flynn said, pivoting to face him the entire way. "Now be a smart stallion and ignore it."

"I already am."

"I mean recognize it for the mind games that it is, don't simply brush the real memories off—"

"Remind me, baldy. Are you an expert in mana-electrical engineering or psychiatry?"

"Uhhhhhhhhh—"

Logan's brown eyes stabbed in Flynn's direction. "So stop buckin' around with a shit science you know nothing about."

"Logan..." Flynn frowned. "...at one point or another, Rainbow is going to ask questions."

"And at one point or another, she's going to have to drop a stinkin' load. What's your point?"

Flynn sighed, face-hoofing. "Can we finally lose the 'Job Squad' pride, Logan? I mean... Hell... Bard's gone. Wildcard's falling apart. How many more lives and limbs do we gotta lose before we level with each other? Rainbow's depending on us and—"

"And she's got us. Look at me!" Logan gestured at the rations. "I'm doing the job of nourishing the whole circus!" He turned to face the stairwell again and exited, nostrils flaring. "Even those of us who don't deserve it."

Thwap!

A linen-wrapped stack of bleakweed landed on the floor of the common room.

Seraphimus' charcoal brown eyes opened. She tiredly looked at the food, then up at the shadow looming over her.

"Eat." Logan glared.

"... ... ..." Seraphimus' muscles stirred. Tiredly—melancholically—she slowly shifted away from the rations.

"You will eat," Logan grunted, tail flicking. Kepler and Wildcard dined in the dim background. "That's not a request." He exhaled angrily. "I'll be doing the rounds... helping Rainbow and Ariel explore the rest of this alicorn-forsaken colony. And when I get back... and if I find you haven't eaten..." He gestured. "You'll be eating my axe instead, got it?"

"Your crazed leader wouldn't approve of such barbarism," Seraphimus hoarsely managed.

"Rainbow Dash is finishing her damned quest whether you live or not!" Logan spat, pointing an angry hoof. "Hell—I've a good mind to fashion your bones into a crude cannon and launch her to the Midnight Armory from here! Don't matter how she gets there so long as she gets there—over your dead body, even!"

"Then what are you waiting for?" Seraphimus wheezed. Her face was still crusty from tears. "What in Verlaxion's name anypony still waiting for?"

"Save the philosophy for somepony who cares," Logan grumbled, turning around. "Hell, Goddess knows I don't." He marched off. "Shoulda chopped your head off in the damn Gondola."

As he walked away, Seraphimus spoke—and it had a sharp edge to it: "You're not nearly as tough as you pretend, mercenary," she said. "I heard the others talking in your absence. The shapeshifting demon... it mimicked someone you used to know... ... ...undoubtedly some unfortunate soul you betrayed."

"You think you're the only soul on the Light Side who lost something?!" Logan spun about, hissing through his teeth. "You think that just because your family croaked and your continent imploded that it somehow makes you special? Friggin' grow up."

"I'm the Right Talon of Verlaxion," Seraphimus said, glaring. "The one entrusted to—"

"You're a punk. And a coward," Logan said. "Always have been and always will be. Don't matter how many friggin' throats you've slashed or crooks you've tossed over cliffsides. All these years you spent hiding behind the name of a Goddess you could have instead spent time trying to improve the lives of those around you... and the so-called life you yourself lived." He shook his head. "I don't care how many medals that the Council of Verlaxion hung on your name. It ain't worth shit." He pointed. "Take what you've got and learn to live with what you haven't. It's what I've always aimed to do. And—you know what? I'm pretty damned proud of it. What do you have left to be proud of?"

Seraphimus said nothing.

"Eat the bleakweed," Logan muttered, trotting off. "It's a lot tastier than your own bullshit."

But... before he exited the common room entirely.

"Y'know... I've been listening around myself..." He looked over his shoulder. "...the changeling came to you too... and the freak could have appeared as any of the souls in your life that loved and respected you. And yet... it didn't choose to be Verlaxion, did it?"

Seraphimus glanced up at him.

"Maybe... just maybe... it friggin' couldn't." With that said, he walked away.

Just as he was in the adjacent corridor, he heard a subtle rustling sound. He stopped briefly, craning his ear.

It was the unmistakable sound of a linen-wrapped bundle of bleakweed slowly... reluctantly being unwrapped...

...and eaten.

Logan said nothing... and shuffled off into the shadowed depths of Darkreach.

Exit, Stage Vanilla Zone

"I am certain, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said, fighting the urge to yawn. "There are no more changelings hidden inside Darkreach." A tired blink. "At least, I think I'm sure of it."

"Well are you or aren't you?" Pinkie asked.

"I... uhm... I-I believe that I got a feel for the creature about halfway through hunting it down," Fluttershy said. "Now that I know..."

"We get it, Fluttershy," Twilight said, rubbing her eyes. "You'll be able to sense them from now on."

"I... wouldn't count on that so quickly," Applejack said. She waved a hoof at Fluttershy, smiling. "No offense, sugarcube. But them creatures are hatched for the sole purpose of outsmartin' other ponyfolk. I wouldn't be surprised if there's more to them that we have yet to witness."

"Good heavens!" Rarity dramatically remarked. "Something more to them than taking on the entire Herald single-hoofedly and then exploding?! I shudder to think!"

"Don't freak out, Rarity," Rainbow Dash said. She sat in a stairwell beneath a flickering light. The mare was alone with her phantom friends. "The last thing I want to do is take us and the Herald purposefully into any lands or nests owned by Tchern." She fiddled with her saddlebag, eventually disrobing the regal violet material. Some of the straps were starting to fray. She made a mental note of getting Kepler's assistance in stitching the trusty old pack whole again. "The key to this journey is getting to the Midnight Armory in one piece. That won't be doable if we pick fights with creatures we can't handle. Trust me... we're already better prepared now thanks to what we went through."

"A run-in with Tchern is inevitable, Rainbow," Twilight said. "Don't you think? I mean... after all... we're far from the only group of ponies trying to get into the Midnight Armory."

"What gets me is that after all this time..." Pinkie Pie gazed about, her muzzle scrunched. "...how come nopony's gotten inside and grabbed the Harmonic Prism already?"

"Because they're all fighting for it, Pinkie," Twilight said. "The three factions of the Trinary War, remember?"

"Soooooooooooo literally not a single one of those big bad armies have been able to control the point where the Armory's located?" Pinkie remarked. "I've had pillow fights before but—no matter how many slumber party ponies are involved—there's always a queen of the hill!"

"That..." Twilight blinked, teetering blearily. "I have no explanation for that."

"Maybe an army has control of the Armory, but they haven't been able to get inside?" Fluttershy said. "You remember Celestia's and Luna's warning about the 'trial' left by the alicorns to even lay eyes on the Harmonic Prism within."

"In any case, it's still the one and only target we need to be concerned with," Rainbow said. "And one thing's for certain..." She narrowed her eyes. "You guys need to get some rest."

"But Rainbow..." Twilight fumbled through a yawn. "...Discord..."

"It's okay so long as one of you girls sticks with me—"

"ME!" Pinkie Pie jumped up, hovering in place with a grin and a hoof raised. "I'll be on Dashie Watch first!"

"Whelp..." Applejack smiled. "Reckon you've got yer first volunteer."

"Way to bring your A-Game, Pinkie." Rainbow shuddered. "I can't promise it'll be very exciting. I'll likely be spending the next few hours—"

"Resting?" Rarity asked.

"... ... ...scavenging through Darkreach for clues about the Emeraldinians and then resting," Rainbow Dash said. "I owe the Herald that much after all they've gone through."

"Darling, you owe the Herald a centeredness of being," Rarity said. "Get some rest. Let Pinkie watch over you. By the time we're all done in the Vanilla Zone, Pinkie can take her turn and sooner than we know it—we'll all be fully recharged and synched with each other."

"Heeheeeeee!" Pinkie twirled in midair. "'Synch' rhymes with 'pink!'"

"Uh huh..." Fluttershy blinked... blinked again... then gazed at Rainbow with a liquid smile. "You're certain you will be okay with only one of us guarding you?"

"I can definitely count on Pinkie," Rainbow said, winking back. "You get some rest."

"I just... can't get over how sad that poor changeling's final moments were," Fluttershy said. "In fact, its whole life in general! Abandoned by its own mother—the Queen—to thirst for love and then commit nothing but atrocities."

"The faster you go to sleep the more you'll be able to forget about it," Rainbow said.

"That might work for you, Rainbow, but not for me." Fluttershy winced instantly. "Oh... I-I'm sorry..." She rubbed her eyes. "That wasn't a nice thing to say."

"It's okay, Fluttershy," Rainbow said. "If it helps you to know, there were tons of changeling sob stories just like this one's back on the Light Side... but I was ultimately able to help out most of them. Chrysalis too."

"Do you think there's such a hope for Tchern and her hive?"

Rainbow had no response.

"Come on, darlin'..." Applejack gave Fluttershy a gentle push. "Time to count sheep hoppin' over the edge of the world."

"Mmmmmmm... sheep..." Fluttershy happily drifted into a ruby portal and vanished. "Nini..."

"I would love to say something sweet, charismatic, and inspiring, but..." Rarity yawned. "I haven't any."

"Jee, thanks Rarity," Rainbow droned with a smug grin.

"You're welcome, darling." And she vanished. Twilight hovered after her.

"If you find anything out about Darkreach while we're away, you'll tell us first thing we wake..." The lavender unicorn raised an eyebrow. "Right?"

"You betcha, egghead. Now don't get cracked."

"Hmmm... I won't." Twilight drifted backwards into ruby oblivion. "Take care, Rainbow... Pinkie..."

Applejack drifted after her. "Funny..."

"Hmmm?" Rainbow craned her neck.

"... ... ...that the changeling would choose to attack you as me at one point."

Rainbow froze in place. Her muzzle paled slightly.

Applejack tilted her hat back. "Reckon them bug-horses have many different ways of messin' with ya."

"Yeah." Rainbow gulped. "They do."

"Heh... yer somethin' else, Rainbow." Applejack tipped her hat one last time and vanished. "Keep up the good work."

"You bet, AJ." Rainbow exhaled with relief. "So..." Her ears perked as she looked at Pinkie. "Just you and me for a while, Pinks. Like old times."

"Soooooooooo who's Miss Clunk-a-Junk?" Pinkie asked, eyebrows wagging.

"Buh?"

"Y'knowwwwwwwww..." Pinkie giggle-snorted. "The pony with the metal eyes and red braids that the changeling turned into?"

Rainbow's ears drooped. "Buh."

Twinkle Like Much Stars

"Was she your maid? Mailmare? Bodyguard?" Pinkie Pie bounced on invisible ghost platforms as she kept alongside Rainbow Dash. "Godmare? Buckball partner?"

"Pinkie! Shhh!" Rainbow finished gliding into an office room filled with a jumble of discarded junk and paperwork. "Okay, Ariel. What have you got for me?"

The mare in question turned around, holding a manacrystal lantern. "Rainbow!" She placed the light source down and proudly held out a stack of ancient, yellowed manuscripts. "Take a look for yourself!"

Rainbow trotted closer while Pinkie Pie hovered just behind her. "Are these the maps you were talking about?"

"Yup yup yup!" Ariel pointed at one sheet in particular. "See? There's the mesa that houses Darkreach. Over here—scribbled with wavy lines—is the remains of a forest that was once destroyed. Then beyond that—"

"'Alpha' and 'Omega'..." Rainbow Dash squinted at the symbols. "I wonder what those mean?"

"Well... uh... they're letters, Rainbow."

"But what do they stand for?"

"I know I'm no Kepler, but..." Ariel pointed. "This side is the edge of the world, and it's perpendicular to both sides labeled by the letters, right?"

"Sure..."

"Well, I think the Emeraldinians made up their own 'north' and 'south'," Ariel said. "Or perhaps East and West. I dunno."

"So..." Rainbow Dash gestured with one hoof while she held the paper up in the other. "If we had our backs to the Edge of the World and were facing the curve..."

"'Alpha' would be on the left side," Ariel said.

"And 'Omega' would be on the right," Rainbow muttered. "Our predecessors made practical names for the lengthy edges of the plane."

"Coolies!" Pinkie Pie beamed. "Must have made pizza-delivery a whole lot easier!" She grinned at Rainbow and let her tongue hang out. "Was Roarke a pizza-delivery pony?"

"Pinkie, hush." Rainbow pointed at the map. "Who or what are 'Bloodwings?'"

"I dunno," Ariel said. "Only they're located closer towards the 'Omega' side and they're past the area where a forest was cut down."

"I wonder if we can see the ruins of that forest," Rainbow thought out loud."

"It was hundreds of years ago, Rainbow. I doubt anything's left."

"Still, it would be good to get a survey of the landscape before we attempted to go further in our journey."

"Wassssssssssssssssss..." Pinkie rubbed her nose and brightened. "...she a forest ranger?"

Rainbow ignored her, pointing at another word on the page. "'Spindlers'... name of a mountain range, perhaps?"

"That looks like a sketch of a city to me."

Rainbow did a double-take. "A city? On the Dark side?"

Ariel shrugged. "A lot of time has passed on this side of the plane as well. Who knows what those living here could be capable of?"

"Well, sure, but..." Rainbow fidgeted. "...I didn't expect any faction of the Trinary War to be capable of making an entire friggin' city."

"Maybe she was a mayor!" Pinkie exclaimed. "'Mayor Roarke or Roarketown!'"

"What makes you think there are only three factions living on the Dark Side?" Ariel remarked.

Rainbow stared at her blankly.

"I dunno..." Ariel shrugged. "It's just a thought that occurred to me. This used to be a piece of Urohringr, right? You think only ponies and griffins lived on that thing?"

"Yeah, but to survive eons and eons without the sun and moon..."

"The Divines are as old as this plane, and they've lived nearly as long."

"True." Rainbow nodded. "But all of them but Endrax have dwelled on the Light Side."

"Dragon Tamer!" Pinkie grinned wide. "Maybe Roarke was a dragon tamer!" A sly grin. "So that was your secret for kicking Nevlamas' teeth in."

Rainbow grunted, turning around. "Dang it, Pinkie—" She froze in place, blinking.

"What?" Pinkie shrugged. "Is there something in my ghost teeth?"

Rainbow marched straight through the phantom mare. She approached a cabinet where a framed sketch lay crooked against the wall. She rubbed her pendant so she could cast ruby light directly on the illustration.

"What do you see?" Ariel trotted slowly behind her. "Looks... almost like a monkey?"

Rainbow's eyes traced the edges of a gangly bipedal figure wearing a loin cloth and possessing leafy, pointy ears. Fanged teeth protruded from an noticeable overbite. The skin was rough and leathery.

"It's a goblin," Rainbow exhaled.

"A what?"

"Bunch of freaky two-legged imps who hail from Alafreo," Rainbow said. "At least... I thought they did." Her ears drooped slightly. "Not a very pleasant bunch, those guys. And that was just the Light Side."

"Well, there you have it!" Ariel gestured with a smile. "Maybe they came from this place!"

"That's... a long distance for them to have traveled," Rainbow muttered. "And despite their love of technology, they're not always... consistent with the quality of what they build." A cold shudder. "The naga, on the other hoof..."

"What are those things next to it?"

"Huh?" Rainbow asked.

"Here..." Ariel reached over with her feathertips and leaned another framed picture into view. "See?"

Rainbow squinted at a sketch made obviously by the same artist as the first. This time, however, the illustration showed two other bipedal creatures that were significantly different than the first. One was hunched over and pale with long claws and pronounced vertebrae. The other one stood upright at a scale nearly ten times the size of the "goblin," only it was heavy-set with a pudgy belly and a single round eye in the center of its skull.

Rainbow gulped. "I don't think I wanna know..."

"All Hail Roarke the Beast Mistress!" Pinkie Pie bellowed.

"Rnnnngh!" Rainbow gnashed her teeth. "Pinkie, for crying out loud—"

Just then, the intercom system crackled, frightening both pegasi.

"Hey! Ariel! Is Rainbow Dash down there with you?"

"Guhhh..." Ariel rubbed one of her ears, wincing. "Yes she is, Flynn. You don't have yell."

"Whoops! Sorry!" A whining hiss, followed by: "I still haven't gotten the volume settings quite calibrated—"

"Just get to the point!" Rainbow's voice cracked.

"Why don't you hop up here to the HQ, Rainbow? Kepler's made a significant discovery."

"Uhhhhhhhhh... what's the 'HQ?' again?"

"... ... ...the cramped, super-important room with the snazzy map made out of metal pins."

"Oh! Right! Got it!" Rainbow turned to nod at Ariel. "Sorry to cut this short."

"I feel like we've only just begun to scrape the surface of this place," Ariel said.

"Well, you keep on scraping," Rainbow said, flapping her wings. "I've got a wyvern to humor."

"Dashiiiiiiiiiiiiie." Pinkie Pie pouted. "You're ignoring meeeeeee."

"I'm not ignoring you, Pinkie," Rainbow said, swiftly and smoothely gliding up the corridors and stairwells of Darkreach.

"Then why won't you tell me more about this 'Roarke' pony?"

"Mrmmmfff... it's all in the past."

"Yeah? So? It's your past!" Pinkie grinned. "That makes it super duper special!"

"Not as important as the future," Rainbow said. Her brow furrowed as she continued ascending the interior of the mesa. "The future of Equestria... Urohringr... you and the girls—"

"None of which would be made possible if it weren't for all of your awesome adventuring!"

"Meh."

"Dashieeeeee?" Pinkie pouted some more. "What's with you? You weren't always so glum in the tum-tum!"

"I've got a lot on my shoulders, Pinkie."

"Well, they're on our shoulders too!"

"No. They're not."

"Pffft!" Pinkie stuck her tongue out. "They are too!"

"Not like they are on mine!" Rainbow growled. She felt the echo her tone of voice made, and she slowed her ascent. With a defeated sigh, she landed on all fours and resumed her pace at a lethargic trot. "I'm sorry, Pinkie. I wish I could be like the Rainbow Dash you used to know, but—"

"You left it behind...?" Pinkie blinked—bright blue innocent eyes. "In Ponyville?"

Rainbow clenched her jaw.

Pinkie glanced at the walls... at the ceiling... then straight at Rainbow. "You left it with Roarke."

"Mrmmmm..." Rainbow's ears folded. "....yyyyyyyyyyyyeahhhhhh..."

Pinkie smiled. "She must have been very important to you."

"The importantest."

"Heeheehee..." Pinkie bore a warm grin. "Did you love her?"

Rainbow Dash scuffled to a stop.

Pinkie simply stared. And waited.

"There was a time when I lived in the moment," Rainbow Dash muttered. "Because the moment was all I had. You... Twilight... Fluttershy... you all were gone. I made do with those around me... and I found a family." Rainbow's tail flicked happily at the thought. "I thought I had lost my opportunity to be happy. But then I found it again. And for a while there... happiness was something I could fold around me like a blanket." A heavy exhale. "Then I had to leave it all... I had to leave her."

Pinkie floated around to face her. "You can still live in the moment, Dashie."

"No..." Rainbow shook her head. "I can't." A gulp. "The moment you girls came back from the dead, it all changed. Now I have a future to save. I have harmony to restore. Before, I didn't even think I'd make it to the Edge of the World—much less the Midnight Armory. Now that I've come so far and there's so much to lose, I just can't afford to be silly about it anymore. And..." She clenched her teeth, shivering. "...now that there's Discord—"

"But you're awesome, Dashie!" Pinkie said. "I know you can do both at once! Be adventurous and be happy!"

Rainbow blinked moisture out of her eyes. "... ... ...I'm not sure I remember how, Pinkie."

"Hmmmm..." Pinkie floated within a hug's reach. "You've got us, now. We can help remind you."

"I... I don't know..."

"Heehee... it's okay... baby steps!" Pinkie stuck her tongue out. "Like what Fluttershy said!"

"Uh huh..."

"Maybe the first baby step is talking to all of us about Roarke!" Pinkie giggle-snorted. "Heck, the whole Noble Jury!"

Rainbow sighed slowly. "Maybe." She trotted up the stairwell again. "Once I get things done here first."

"Awwwwwwww, Dashieeeeeeeee..."

"Can't have fought the changeling for nothing, Pinkie."

"But you can't keep telling yourself that!" Pinkie hovered briskly after her. "You never know when you'll run out of time to put off!"

Rainbow had nothing to respond with other than a cold, exhausted: "Yeah..."

You Princes of Cylindrimane

"Hey!" Pinkie Pie chimed, floating alongside Rainbow Dash with a smile. "Wanna bet that the moment we get up there, Flynn will be shocking himself and cussing?"

"Huh?" Rainbow glanced aside at her.

Just then, she entered the lofty compartment that made up Darkreach's HQ.

Bzzzzt! "Gaah!" Flynn jolted backwards from an instrument panel he and Kepler were working on. "Goddess damn ass nuggets!"

"Heeheehee!" Pinkie giggle-snorted. "Soooooooo predictable!"

Rainbow shook her head. "Why can't you... like... hone in on that sense and make it more practical?"

"Make what morre prractical, Rrainbow One?" Kepler asked.

"Never mind." Rainbow cleared her throat and approached the two stallions. "Just talking to Pinkie Pie."

"Ah!" Kepler nodded, adjusting his spectacles. "That's the lavender one, yes?"

Rainbow glared at Kepler.

"Ahem!" Flynn butted into the conversation, suckling on the edge of his burnt fetlock. "Mmmfff..." He spat his limb out and stood beside the wyvern. "So nice of you to join us, Rainbow."

"Uh huh." Rainbow arched an eyebrow. "Am I too early for the funeral?"

"I wasn't trying to kill myself, honest!" Flynn frowned at the instrument panel where several frayed wires had been pulled out. "It's just this damnable old leyline array that's pissing me off to no end!"

"Say, guys..." Rainbow pointed at the loose wiring. "I thought the whole idea was to settle here in Darkreach for a bit... not pull it apart by the seams."

"I assurre you, ourr good brrotherr Flynn has no interrest in dismantling this wonderrful base," Kepler said.

"Then why is he dismantling this wonderful base?"

"I needed extra juice to power up the device you discovered yesterday."

"Device?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "What device?"

"What yesterday?" Pinkie chirped.

"I do believe he is rreferring to this!" Kepler raised a metal slab with several wires connected to it.

"Oh!" Rainbow smirked. "The briefcase! I remember that thing!"

"Uh huh..." Flynn's good eye narrowed accusatorily. "Probably because you kicked it halfway across Darkreach like a piece of junk."

"Because it is a piece of junk!" Rainbow roughly slapped the side of the metal slab. Clang! A blink. "... ... ...isn't it?"

Flynn sighed.

"Not... entirrely, Rrainbow One," Kepler said. "You see, it began a few hourrs ago when Flynn and I kept coming acrross these peculiarrly shaped crrystals that refused to channel enerrgy into the colony's centrral corre."

"Okay..."

Flynn continued for Kepler, "The material of these crystals were designed for permanent mana imprints. Within the inner structure are layers and layers of finely etched fissures—like microscopic runes—that either impede or allow the flow of magical energy."

"Yeesh..." Rainbow's ears folded. "That sounds complicated..."

"And cool!" Pinkie said.

Rainbow waved her off. "So... what... are these crystals meant to be some sort of... storage device?"

"Prrecisely what we thought!" Kepler said. He held one crystal up and displayed its triangular shape. "And so we starrted looking forr a housing unit that might storre these sharrds and allow forr mana-data trransferrence!"

"And one of us tripped over your damn briefcase thingy and that's when we noticed a perfectly-fitting chamber," Flynn said. "So... we stuck one of the crystals in and tried powering the thing up."

"Turrns out that it's enerrgy corre is badly corrroded."

"So we're using the mana-node here in the HQ as an external power supply. I was just now tweaking the powerflow so as not to overload this thing—"

"Wait wait wait wait..." Rainbow waved her hooves. "... ... ...so exactly what is this thing?"

"We... uh..." Flynn looked at Kepler, then back at Rainbow. "We believe that it might be a recorder of some sort."

"Recorder of what?" Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "... ... ...journals of the Emeraldinians?"

"That is what we're hoping."

"Okay, well..." Rainbow took a breath. "What are we waiting for?"

"You! Ha-hah!" Kepler smiled. He smiled some more.

"... ... ...soooooo." Rainbow fidgeted.

"Ahem..." Kepler cleared his throat. "A thousand apologies."

"Just needed to get it out of his system!" Pinkie said, giggling.

"Now, then..." Kepler fished around through a pile of crystals and found one. "Let us see..."

"Does it matter what order you put them in?" Rainbow asked, pointing.

"Forr a simple demo, I highly doubt it!" Kepler nodded aside. "Brrotherr Flynn! Prrovide a stable enerrgy flow!"

"On it!" Flynn cranked a lever attached to the open instrument panel. The walls of the HQ hummed as the lights above flickered.

Kepler placed a triangular crystal into the heart of the "briefcase." He then pressed two buttons with his claws and turned a dial.

Bzzzzt! Sparks flew from a nearby console.

"Whoah—!" Rainbow flinched.

"It's alright!" Flynn exclaimed, reaching in with a electrode of sorts to fix the power surge. "Bound to happen!"

"Well, could you make it bound less?!"

"There's nothing to be concerned about—"

"Shhhhh!" Kepler hissed. "Please, frriends!" He leaned forward, staring into the dim shadows of the room. "I am getting audio!"

Everypony froze in place, including Pinkie Pie.

A whining sound came from the slab propped against Kepler's figure. The triangular crystal strobed and fluctuated.

"Uhm..." Rainbow bit her bottom lip. "Should I put some tinfoil on my skull and do ballet?"

Pinkie giggle.

"I do believe..." Kepler pricked his hairy earlobes towards the ceiling. "...I am getting some inforrmation..."

"It sounds... like singing," Flynn murmured.

"It's the playback," Rainbow remarked. "It's at too fast a speed!"

"A noble obserrvation, Rrainbow One!" Kepler adjusted his glasses and studied the dials and buttons on the metal slab in his grasp. "Let's see, now... ... ...something to adjust tempo..."

"I see what looks like a slider," Rainbow said.

"Good catch," Flynn said, smiling. "You certainly know your way around advanced technology!"

"Forever and a day in Ledomare will do that," Rainbow droned. "I can't count how many managliders I struggled to outfly."

"Mana... gliders...?" Flynn rolled his good eye. "Pffft. Sounds stupid." Bzzzt! "Ow! Dammit!"

"I have something!" Kepler triumphantly boomed.

"Bbbbbbbbbbb-crkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk-ttttttttttttt—" the speakers of the slab crackled.

"Can you get it to... unbuck itself?" Rainbow muttered.

"Adjusting..." Kepler licked at his tusks.

At last, the "briefcase" made a far more discernible sound: "Pppppppppppp-p-p-p-p-please-please-please-please input requiredddddddd command into that which woulddddddddd be the Crystalline Auditoryyyyyyyyyyy Informational Neural Emitterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr—"

"Crystalline... Auditory..." Rainbow grimaced. "...what-now?"

"Holy crud..." Flynn nearly danced in place. "I live for this shit!" He swatted Kepler with his tail. "Quick, Keps! Adjust that lateral knob!"

"What forr?"

"Just do it!"

"Ach!" Kepler's claws went to work. "Discoverry is a brrothel and you arre the most impatient virrgin!"

"Damn proud, too."

Meanwhile, the briefcase: "Bbbbbbbbbbbbbb-bringing more supplies frommmmmmmmmm Heaven's Landinggggggg—" Static. "Cccccccccccc-coming backkkkkkk from Omega with the expeditionnnnnnnnn of he who wouldddddddddddddd be Lieutenant Warholllllllllll—" Static. "Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-required to avoiddddddddd the lunar sights of the Bloodwinggggggggggggggggg colonyyyyyyyyyyy—"

"Uh... guys?" Rainbow fidgeted.

"I cannot seem to find a stationarry point in the inforrmational feed!" Kepler said. "The leylines have no focus!"

"Could it be interference from the rest of Darkreach?" Flynn asked.

"Unlikely," Kepler muttered, still fiddling with the device. "It was built inside this place, yes?"

"Well, as far as we know."

"I think that the innerr worrkings arre jostled."

"So... unjostle them!" Rainbow said.

Kepler gulped. "I do not know how."

"It's simple!" Rainbow looked at Flynn. "Just smack it around like I did in the first place!"

"Yes—" Flynn flinched. "No—!"

"Zoop!" Rainbow gave the device one heavy swat of her fetlock. WHAP!

Bzzzzt! The crystal stopped fluctuating. It took on a steady glow as the speakers smoothely poured forth: "Achievement unlocked: successful startup of the Crystalline Auditory Informational Neural Emitter. Imperative introduction: this is the voice of he who would be Chief Engineer Ranort of that which would be Cylindrimane. You, who would be the listening audience, shall bear witness to the audio log of the Verdestonian Expedition that would be called Darkreach."

Flynn and Kepler listened, dumbstruck.

"Woo! Achievements!" Pinkie pumped a hoof. "What kind of trophies do we get?!"

They Who Would Be

"Achievement unlocked: interior supplementation of core engineering units. We who would be the Cylindrimanian division of they who would be the Verdestonian Expedition have completed the addition of mechanical enhancements to the spaces afforded by alicorn excavation. Optimistic metaphor: the heart of Darkreach beats soundly, ready to support those who would sustain harmony on the Dark Side."

"Mmmmmmkay..." Flynn tongued the inside of his muzzle. He leaned back, gazing at the talking "briefacse." A breath, and he hummed: "Sooooooooo... should I be the one to ask first or will it be Keps?"

Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. "Right. So... the Darkstinians—"

"Cylindrrimanians?" Kepler suggested.

Rainbow rolled on through: "Same difference. They have this... uh... psychological need to detach themselves from their own egos—at least for show—in order to profess their undying love for technological progression or some such..."

"Wowie, Dashie!" Pinkie grinned. "You really made a smartie!"

"Eh... not really," Rainbow said, waving.

"Not really, what?" Flynn asked.

Rainbow stared at him. "Invisible friends, remember?"

"Oh, right, my bad."

"How verry fascinating," Kepler exhaled. "It is almost as if they have a rreligious impetus forr theirr scientific purrsuits!"

"It makes for really stiff dinner conversation," Rainbow said. "Not that... I-I've eaten much with Darkstinians."

"Still, it must have sustained theirr culturre quite well to have rresulted in a trraditional prractice that spanned hundrreds of yearrs!" Kepler said, adjusting his spectacles. "It would appearr that the Darrkstinians of the prresent and the Cylindrrimanians of the past have a grreat deal in common!"

"I wouldn't book too much on that," Rainbow said. "At least, I hope I wouldn't have to. The Darkstinians of today have been known to stoop to foal-murder."

"Yeesh..." Flynn grimaced slightly. He pointed at the ancient recorder. "Glad we're dealing with a completely different pony here."

"Sounds like a stallion," Rainbow Dash said. "What did he say his name was, again?"

"Chief Engineer Ranort!" Pinkie Pie said. She then stuck her tongue out. "Oop! My badsies! Ah-Ahem... 'He who would be Chief Engineer Ranort!' Heeheehee!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes with a small smile. "Thanks for listening, Pinks."

"You're welcome, Dinks!"

"Hmmmm... 'Chief Engineer,'" Kepler remarked. "Would it be safe to assume this Cylindrrimanian stallion is rresponsible for building the powerr corre and ventilation system of facility?"

"Seems like it," Rainbow said. "Also seems she was smart enough to write a journal about it. Erm... record a journal about it."

"Lucky us," Flynn droned.

"How glorriously exciting!" Kepler said, beaming. "I suspect we can only benefit frrom listening to these entrries in theirr entirrety!"

"Yeah, uh..." Rainbow looked at the dozens and dozens of triangular crystals lying around. "Just how long would that take?"

"Well, with all due respect," Flynn said. "If we want to get anywhere in one piece, we're probably going to have to stick around here for a while."

"Yeah, about that..." Rainbow paced about, breathing firmly. "I figure that we all gotta be on the same page about what's next on the menu."

"What did you have in mind?" Flynn asked.

"A pep talk," Rainbow said. "Or... maybe... a lecture." She glanced at Pinkie Pie. "I should probably wait until the egghead wakes up."

"Don't forget to tell them about the need to find food!" Twilight Sparkle said.

"Uh huh." Rainbow Dash nodded.

"Oh!" Twilight hovered closer, almost phasing through the pegasus. "And updating the maps of the mesa and its surrounding areas! That's important too—"

"I've got it, Twilight," Rainbow said, facing the lengths of the common room, filled with Heraldites.

"Oops! Eheh..." Twilight drifted back, hovering alongside the rest of the ghostly mares. "Go ahead, Rainbow!"

"Ahem." Rainbow stood before the group. "So, believe it or not, we're making progress."

Ariel, Flynn, and Kepler stood front and center. Wildcard sat up on his cot, watching with steady goggles.

"Ariel's uncovered a whole bunch of useful notes and documents," Rainbow Dash said. "And Keps and Flynn unlocked this sexy talking briefcase that's bound to give us some insight on the inner workings of ye olde Darkreache." She smiled slightly. "Believe it or not, the old settlers of this facility have done most of the gruntwork for us. Now it's our turn to capitalize on it all."

Logan stood in the corner, absent-mindedly sharpening his axe. He craned his neck to listen when he needed to. Across the way, Seraphimus sat—slumped—beside the pipework. A roll of mats had been positioned beneath her, and—curiously enough—she didn't refuse the meager comfort. The former Talon Commander listened in on the briefing in brooding silence.

"Here's what we know so far..." Rainbow Dash stretched one wing out and "counted off" feathertips. "There was a ruined forest 'North' of Darkreach—a direction that the Emeraldinians called 'Omega.' Somewhere vaguely in that same area are... or were a 'colony' of things called 'Bloodwings.'"

"Who may have been in possession of lunarr rrocks," Kepler added. "So I think we all know what that means—"

"Let her do the boss thing, Keps," Flynn droned.

"Ahem..." Kepler smiled bashfully. "A thousand parrdons."

Rainbow merely smiled at him and continued: "Somewhere towards the curved end of the Plane is what was once illustrated to be a... city of sorts."

Logan looked up. Seraphimus narrowed her eyes.

"But that's taking the discovered documents purely at face-value," Rainbow said. "There's also another name floating around... something called 'Spindlers.'" She took a breath. "I would very much like to know more about this stuff before we set out from Darkreach for good. So..."

She paced before the Herald while her ghostly friends look on.

"...I think the best thing to do is scouting expeditions," Rainbow said. "I'm talking short, day-long or half-day flights into the Dark—both Alpha and Omega directions—to catch our bearings and see if any of the stuff sketched about are still there."

"Whoah..." Logan stood up straight. "Who are we talking about?"

"Well..." Rainbow gestured at the bandaged Desperado. "Wildcard's out of the game for now. Plus, he needs his arm." He looked at the wyvern. "Kepler, I love ya, but you're more a glider than a sky-piercer."

"Ha-hah!" Kepler smiled through his tusks. "No offense taken, Rrainbow One. The only thing I desirre to pierrce is books."

"Mmmm..." Twilight bit her lip, cheeks rosy.

Rarity and Fluttershy exchanged glances.

"Hmmmm..." Pinkie Pie tapped her fuzzy chin. "'Twikeps... Keplight...'" A brown stetson smacked the back of her ghostly skull. "Fappo!"

"Ahem..." Applejack placed her hat back on and looked at Rainbow. "Go ahead, sugarcube."

"The choice is simple," Rainbow said. "Ariel and I are the fastest souls here. So... it'll be up to us to survey the landscape." She looked over at the pegasus. "I'm thinking six hour flights at first... then maybe scale up to twelve once we begin to discover things... if we discover things."

"Hell..." Ariel shrugged with a smile. "I'm game!"

Flynn muttered aside to Kepler. "She's game-and-a-half."

"Ach!"

"Just hold on a second," Logan grunted, raising a hoof. "Rainbow, you're the most valuable piece of this entire friggin' mission."

"Jee, thanks, Big Show," Ariel exhaled.

"Shush, pixie. This is important." Logan's eyes narrowed. "Where's the damn logic in sending you out into the great dark unknown?"

"Listen, I'm not some priceless golden egg that the Job Squad has to keep on a lone, hidden pedestal!" Rainbow Dash said. "I've got weight to throw around too, y'know! Besides..." She folded her forelimbs. "If I'm headed to the Midnight Armory—the very frickin' heart of the Trinary War—then I can't afford to go soft, ya dig?"

"She has a point, Logan," Flynn said. "You wanna file it down to a dull edge?"

Logan's nostrils flared. "I still think it's hella stupid. But..." He slumped back with a sigh. "Guess there's no point in arguing with her."

"You think I'm gonna do stupid stuff while on these scouting missions?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes."

Rainbow raised a hoof and opened her muzzle. Nothing came out. She leaned back, caught her breath, and finally said: "Well... we'll be okay. These are only fact-finding flights. Let's not forget, I've been doing this adventure stuff for a long time, now. Plus... I'll have Ariel with me."

"Uh huh..." Logan nodded, returning to sharpening his axe. "Guess the wasteland surrounding the mesa won't remain dry for long."

Ariel gulped.

"In the meantime," Rainbow began—

"In the meantime..." Logan looked up, brow furrowed. "I'll be salvaging all I can from this dump to make a mobile arsenal." He glanced at the others. "If that one single changeling is any indication, we're gonna need some real good skull-crackers on this journey."

"Coolie crispies, Big Show," Rainbow said with a nod. "You get on that." She looked at Flynn. "Flynn? You've already got this place purring like an electromana kitten. Think you can throw your back into getting Wildcard a new arm?"

"Absolutely!"

"Good. And while Wildcard recovers..." She looked at Kepler. "You've got some homework to do."

"Indeed I do!" Kepler stood up straight, smirking. "Endeavorring to unlock all of the knowledge from the Crystalline Auditory Informational Neural Emitter!"

"Gawd..." Logan grimaced. "Did the Emeraldinians really name shit like that?"

"Not the Emerraldinians," Kepler said. "They who would be ancient Cylindrrimanians, my frriend."

"Buh?"

"I'll explain later, dude," Rainbow said.

"Hehehe..." Pinkie smiled at the other girls. "The bigger they are, the harder their muzzles scrunch!"

"And what of the metamorphic threat?" a calm, cold voice said.

Rainbow and the Herald turned about, blinking.

"... ... ..." Seraphimus stared back at them.

Rainbow glanced at Ariel, then back at the former Talon Commander. "We... uh..." She cleared her throat. "...we take turns holding sentry posts at the large storage entrance to Darrkeach. Keep our eyes to the sky and search for incoming intruders."

Seraphimus' eyes narrowed. "Has the beast not proven to avoid ordinary mortal senses?" Her bound talons twisted in their manacles. "This facility possesses the technology to send out mana-poweres spheres that act as sentries. Undoubtedly they can be employed to patrol the perimeter and alert the HQ about encroaching threats—regardless of form or element."

Silence.

"Is..." Rainbow slowly turned about to look at Flynn. "...is that—like—a thing?"

"I... could definitely look into commandeering the Cylindrimanian tech," Flynn said, rubbing his bald head. "I can't promise it'll work... but it wouldn't hurt to try."

Seraphimus nodded, exhaled, and rested against the pipework once again.

More silence.

"Great!" Rainbow smiled awkwardly. "Uhhh..." A wave of the hoof. "What she said!"

"Uhm..." Fluttershy leaned into Rarity. "What's happening here?"

"I don't know," Rarity said, shaking her head. "But I suspect it can only be a good thing."

"Alright, my little partners!" Rainbow saluted, then briskly trotted off with purpose. "Let's get to work!"

"Woohoo!" Pinkie pumped a hoof. "Montage time!"

Twilight blinked at her. "Huh?"

"Heehee! Just watch!"

Darkreach Chronicles, Part One

Whurrrrrrrrrrrr! Chtung!

The hatch to the top of the mesa slid open, revealing stars and twilight.

Kepler calmly shuffled towards the entrance. He dragged a chair with him in one talon while balancing the briefcase atop his curled scorpion tail.

The wyvern hummed calmly to himself as he sat down, facing the starlight. He balanced the briefcase on his lap, stuck a triangular crystal in, and cranked the recorder to life.

Bzzzzt!

Fluctuating lights.

Managlow.

Then...

"Brzzzzzzzttt—Achievement unlocked: access to expedition logs. This is the voice of he who would be Chief Engineer Ranort."

"Hmmmmmm..." Kepler took a calm sip from his canteen and smiled into the twilight as he listened. "Speak to me, ancient brrotherr."

"Expository statistic: It has been thirty blanketed solar rotations since we who would be the Verdestonian Expedition first settled here in the caves carved by he who would be Onyxxus. While alicorn magic has run out, the spiritual cogworks of Ring City have made themselves manifest to fill in the industrial gap. Emotional aside: I who would be called Ranort am satisfied so far with the work of my fellow brethren. Whether or not it will be enough to sustain us remains to be seen, for a candle must burn at full fuel to make even smallest spark in this forsaken wasteland."

Wildcard sat on the edge of his cot in the common room. He held his left limb out—or at least what remained of it.

Flynn, in the meantime, sat on an overturned bucket facing the griffin. With careful magical ministrations of his telekinesis, he attached numerous experimental metal bits and rings to the end of the Desperado's stub. The unicorn licked his lips, concentrating hard on his work as he sized up one structural piece after another. His mechanical lense went into overtime, rotating in and out as he attempted to concoct a mental blueprint of the new prosthetic-to-be.

Meanwhile, Logan marched up a nearby stairwell, hauling a metal crate full of rusted axes, spears, and hammers. He slapped the box down onto a table and pulled up a chair. With use of multiple sharpening stones, he inspected each weapon—one after another—and prepared to salvage what he could from the allotment. His deadpan gaze scoured the rest of the room until finally falling on the pipework opposite of the Verdestone mosaic.

Seraphimus sat calmly, munching on bleakweed as she looked at a series of parchments that had been laid on the floor before her mat. With her talons bound, she had to use her lion's tail like a prehensile limb, turning maps and ancient documents over so she could better ascertain the contents written therein.

Logan huffed and returned to his work with somber dedication.

"Labored observations: those who would be our scouts have found nothing remaining of the abandoned lunar colonies on Omega Side. It has been seven blanketed solar rotations since the last encounter with those who would be called Bloodwings.

"Prevailing theory: something of dire importance has made it more beneficial for those who would be called Bloodwings to relocate themselves elsewhere rather than perform counter-reconnaissance on that which would be the Verdestonian Expedition. Those who would be scouts believe the evidence discovered at abandoned sites suggest a swift migration Far Side.

"Personal observation: Nevertheless, she who would be Commander Gwen has taken it upon herself to issue her next few commands with more than a modicum of caution.

"Declarative statement: The latest briefing indicates that she who would be Commander Gwen has decided to send he who would be Lieutenant Warhol towards the Alpha Side to seek out more information on they who would be called the Spindlers."

Rainbow rubbed her pendant.

A ruby glow illuminated the old, rustling sheet of paper in Ariel's grasp.

Both mares hovered in place, studying the yellow'd map between them. They rotated it until the 'Omega' symbol was positioned in front of them.

Then, with calm breaths, they peered up from the parchment.

Below them stretched a sloping valley bathed in starlight. The cold earth was peppered with organic material: hundreds of thousands of overturned structures.

Rainbow looked to her side.

Fluttershy and the rest of the ghostly mares levitated nearby. The dainty pegasus looked back at Rainbow and gave a gentle nod.

Rainbow whistled, gestured to Ariel, and dove swiftly towards the ruined landscape. Ariel flew closely behind.

Soon, the two were within spitting distance of the earth. What they saw took their breaths away. The landscape was littered with the husks of tree trunks. The inner dense wood had been carved away with miraculous precision. All that remained was the bark, some of them still preserved in cylindrical fashion. Most of the husks had collapsed with time and age... and a thick sea of wood chips and mulch covered the stone floor beneath the ancient ruined forest.

Rainbow took a look at Twilight.

Twilight nodded back, confirming the sign of magical intervention from a time far-gone. Fluttershy—in the meantime—kept peering about for a hint of life that was still living.

Rarity gasped and gestured at Rainbow.

Rainbow jerked to look at her. Following the unicorn's motions, Rainbow flew over a mound of crumpled tree trunks... until she came upon the hints of a wooden shack.

Ariel's muzzle dropped. She looked on with intense fascination.

Rainbow was far calmer. With cautious steps, she approached the crooked one-story structure. Her pendant illuminated a doorframe bent under the weight of time. Peering in, she caught crates full of charred black stones. It didn't take long for Rainbow to figure out that they were ancient lunar rocks—their runes spent countless ages ago.

She pivoted about, her light illuminating a tattered velvet banner hanging from a wall above a set of rusted tools. She raised a hoof, lifting a torn length of the tapestry. Her pendant revealed the crest of Nightmare Moon, faded with time.

It was around this point that Fluttershy squeaked in a sound that was more curious than alarmed. Rainbow turned around, and her ruby eyes reflected something cold, blue, and glowing. Intrigued, she held a hoof directly over the lightning bolt of her pendant, blocking out the ruby light.

Indeed, there was a cluster of luminescent material situated in the very corner of the shack. While Rainbow looked on, Ariel crept closer. The pegasus reached a hoof out and tapped the bio-luminescent structures... which turned out to be nothing less than mushrooms. Toadstools. Concentration of fungae. The material dotting the mushrooms was alarmingly bright, and Ariel could see the sheen of her own mane in the glow. She turned to smile victoriously at Rainbow.

Rainbow exhaled warmly.

The first sign of life on the Dark Side.

It wasn't long before Ariel opened her saddlebag and began stuffing samples of the fungus into the pockets.

Darkreach Chronicles, Part Two

"Research observations: Samples taken from the wooden wreckage presumably left behind by they who would be Bloodwings would suggest that the leather-winged ponies were attempting to construct crude vehicles for transportation. He who would be Lieutenant Warhold believes they might be weapons: perhaps some form of catapults.

"Personal hypothesis: I who would be Chief Engineer Ranort suspect that they who would be Bloodwings were in fact building airships. This is based on the light-weight paneling of the discovered wreckage and the aerodynamic shape of the materials found mostly intact.

"Scientific conjecture: It remains to be seen precisely what form of fuel propulsion they who would be Bloodwings would find for use in the implementation of zeppelins. Until more discoveries are made by the patrols of he who would be Lieutenant Warhol, the hypothesis remains fellacious and unsubstantiated."

"Methane," Kepler said.

"Pfffft..." Flynn looked over from where he squatted beside Wildcard in the common room, piecing together more and more metal digits to construct a prosthetic. "Are you for real?"

Kepler nodded. "While listening to the Crrystalline Auditorry Inforrmational Neurral Emitterr, I've been glancing thrrough the Emerraldinians' sketchworrk." He held up a sheet in question. "Therre arre apparrently larrge beasts that fly overr the mountains and plains of the Darrk Side. They resemble strrange, alien manta rrays." He pointed down through the floor. "I do believe Rrainbow discoverred the fossil of such a crreaturre in one of the rresearrch chamberrs below. Although I do suspect it was an infant."

"If these things are supposed to be flying around..." Flynn narrowed his good eye. "How come we haven't seen any flocks of them?"

Wildcard mutually nodded.

"Well, accorrding to Chief Engineerr Ranorrt's logs, therre's rreason to suspect that equine crreaturres known as 'Bloodwings' werre hunting and clearring down forrests towarrds the Omega side frrom here when Darrkrreach was firrst settled."

"Bloodwings, huh?" Flynn cocked his head aside. "The Dark Vigil?"

"Indeed. They cerrtainly fit the descrription of sarrosians," Kepler said. "Anyhow, I suspect that they found the forrest and wiped it clean forr all of its wood. Then—judging from Ranorrt's hypothesis—they fashioned airr ships from the materrial. I'm talking dozens of them. Now..." He gestured with his claw. "If they herrded togetherr enough of these crreaturres, I could imagine they milked and harrvested them of whateverr naturral propulsion they possessed."

"And you think they sucked methane out of these creatures in order to propel these unseen zeppelins?" Flynn sighed. "Gotta hand it to you, Keps. Either the lack of sunlight is making you crazier or the universe stopped giving a damn countless days ago."

"Ha-hah!" Kepler grinned. "Have we not seen enough strrange things to imagine even crrazier feats?"

"Do you have any idea how concentrated those methane samples have to be in order to propel wooden skycraft?" Flynn grimaced. "I'm surprised—hundreds of years later—we all didn't blow up from lighting a torch."

"It boggles the mind, my frriend," Kepler said. "Perrhaps the Bloodw—er... sarrosians used the compound in conjunction with lunarr magic?"

"So the Trinary War was literally waged via moon farts?"

"Prrecisely."

"Now I'm really scared."

Wingflaps.

Rushing bodies.

Kepler, Wildcard, and Flynn looked over to see two mares arriving.

"Hey, guys," Ariel said, sweating under the weight of a bulging backpack. "We come bearing gifts... or curse."

Kepler's nostrils flared. "My starrs and garrterrs... what a currious smell."

"I hope you didn't bring back any packaged farts," Flynn muttered.

"Even better." Rainbow Dash opened Ariel's saddlebag, and the dim room was flooded with pale blue light.

Flynn's lense instantly retracted. "Great orgasming ostriches... the Hell is that?"

"Mushrooms," Rainbow Dash said. "About forty samples."

"You picked glowing fungae off the wasteland floor and carried it on your person?"

"No." Rainbow pouted. "I carried it on Ariel's person."

"Eh heh heh..." Ariel sweated some more.

"So... uhm..." Flynn craned his neck. "What's the big idea? Are they poisonous—?"

"I was hoping you'd tell us, smarty pants," Rainbow said. "Cuz if they are... we're in it big." She smirked. "There's an entire ravine filled with this stuff north of—er... I mean towards Omega." She looked at the others. "If we close off one of the chambers of Dark Reach, we might be able to cultivage some of our own."

"Difficult to do without rrecrreating the envirronment in which you found them, Rrainbow One."

"Well, they were mostly growing off the dead wood and mulch we discovered in the remains of the ancient forest." Rainbow patted a second saddlebag strapped to her flank. "So... I brought a bunch of samples of them too."

"Ha-hah!" Kepler grinned. "Good thinking!"

"Besides that..." Rainbow fidgeted. "There isn't much to write home about. We found a few shacks that might be remnants of an old, old lumber mill." She sighed. "But nothing's grown since the forests were cleared."

"Do you think we'll ever find out how the trees grew there to begin with?" Ariel remarked.

"Perrhaps if I can study Rrainbow's samples, I might be able to come up with a hypothesis," Kepler said.

"If you're able to, dude." Rainbow nodded. "I don't want to distract you too much from listening to the old Cylindrimanian reports."

"Harrdly a deterrrant! I am positively enrrapturred by those old jourrnals! I can scarrcely keep away!" Kepler gestured. "I simply needed to rrest my earrs and talk theorries with ourr good brrotherrs here."

"In the meantime, Flynn..." Rainbow gestured at the mushrooms. "Could you check out the shrooms here?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

"Flynn... ... ..."

"Hrmmm..." The stallion tapped his chin. "I hate to say this, Rainbow, but I don't know if I have the proper tools to give this a full alchemic test. By 'tools' I mean a frame of reference for specifically what kind of fungus we're dealing with here." He waved a fetlock. "After all, this species is completely unknown to us. It's been growing on its own in the abandoned nooks and crannies of the Dark Side for Goddess-knows-how-long. I'm not certain any pony—sarosian or otherwise—has had a chance to study it before. Finding out whether or not it's poisonous may legitimately be a crapshoot—"

A single talon reached out, snatched one mushroom, and stuffed it into a hungry beak.

Rainbow, Flynn, and Ariel sucked in their breaths—muscles tensing.

Wildcard munched, munched, munched, and swallowed. "... ... ... ... ..." After thirty seconds of staring into abject nothingness, he turned towards Rainbow and smiled with a thumb's up.

"Luna Poop..." Rainbow shook her head, voice hoarse. "Wildcard, if you weren't so suicidal, I'd kill you."

"Well... uh..." Ariel fidgeted. "Does that answer the question then?"

Flynn huffed. "It could several hours from now when our favorite griffon may or may not start hallucinating and experience a diarrheic episode."

Wildcard shrugged and laid back casually on his cot.

"Meh... whatever..." Flynn returned to fixing the metal arm. "If Bard was the one who survived, he would have poured gravy on the shroom first."

Kepler leaned in towards Wildcard. "If worrse comest to worrst, frriend, could I trrouble you forr a methane sample?" A lion's tail whapped him in the spectacles. "... ... ...alrrighty!"

Darkreach Chronicles, Part Three

"Repetitious overview: The function of that which would be the Verdestonian Expedition here in what would be called Darkreach—as fundamentally orchestrated by they who would be the Emeraldinian and Cylindrimanian Councils—is to endeavor to find a way to reach that which would be called the Midnight Armory and acquire that which would be called the Harmonic Prism.

"Current assessment: Chance of success in forging a path towards that which would be called the Midnight Armory is becoming increasingly difficult. While the missions conducted by he who would be Lieutenant Warhol have provided much information and reconaissance, the patrols are only proving more and more that there is severe peril and hardships to be had by those courageous—or suicidal—enough to venture further past an unmarked parallel of phenomenal importance."

Rainbow Dash and Ariel glided over arid plains and plateaus.

The landscape beneath them was the same slate gray and dull blue as the rest of the Dark Side behind them.

Nevertheless, the two persisted in their flight, piercing the curved horizon between Alpha and Omega.

At one point—after countless hours of flying—Rainbow Dash's brow furrowed. She squinted at the landscape ahead of them and slowed her wingflapping.

Ariel noticed the shift in momentum when she realized that she and Rainbow were descending. She opened her muzzle to say something.

Rainbow held a hoof up. She dove towards the ground in a prismatic blur.

Clenching her muzzle shut, Ariel flew after her. Soon the two were perched on a jagged precipice.

Both pegasi huddled under dull purple twilight. At last, Rainbow Dash crept forward and peered over the cliffside. Ariel shimmied up until she was lying down beside the mare. Her muzzle hung agape.

It turned out that the two ponies were teetering on the edge of a massive rift. A trench lay beneath them. Beyond that was a dense valley of... something. Stretching... yawning before the two mares was a massive plain dotted all over with organic structures. They didn't resemble trees and they didn't resemble fungae. The closest thing Rainbow could mentally compare them to was ocean kelp... only there was no water. The incalculably tall stalks drifted and swayed... only there was no wind.

Rainbow and Ariel exchanged glances. Eventually, Rainbow motioned towards Ariel's side with her head.

Ariel looked aside. She found a small rock. Grasping it in her fetlock, she awaited Rainbow's signal... then tossed the object down into the "forest."

The stone was barely ten meters above the "treetops" before—

Th-THWPPP! The tops of multiple stalks ejected featureless probiscuses that lashed and thrashed at the falling projectile. One lucky structure caught the offensive object, wrapping its prehensile stinger three times around the stone before violently sucking it back into its previously-unseen orifice. Once entering, the rock made an offensive lump that traveled slowly and grotesquely down the height of its stalk.

Ariel grimaced. Rainbow gulped.

The two backed away from the sight beneath them—with Rainbow hanging only slightly behind. She hovered a few meters above the cliff's edge to survey the area around her. She looked towards her right—towards Omega—and saw a solid cliff-face stretching as far as her mortal eyes could see. She made a similar glance to her left—towards Alpha. The same straight edge sliced towards a vanishing point. The plateau that brought Rainbow, Ariel, and the spirit of the Heraldites there ended at a savage hundred meter drop... and the alien forest stretched as far as the two pegasi could venture to guess.

"Casual observations: There are creatures and plants and insects here that are so bizarre, so alien, and so otherworldly that they defy classical scientific observation. The reason why they defy observation is that there is no conceivable way to get viable samples without risking life, limb, or—even worse—technology.

"Somber statement: He who would be Lieutenant Warhol has already lost nearly half a dozen of they who would be loyal soldiers under his watch. I who would be Chief Engineer Ranort do not blame he who would be Lieutenant Warhol for this unfortunate turn of events. Deaths were an inevitability in that which would be called the Verdestonian Expedition. Surely he who would be Onyxxus knew this which is why he forwarded such a project to they who would be the Twin City Councils with such a heavy heart.

"Personal assessment: I who would be Chief Engineer Ranort am troubled by my inability to sufficiently assist he who would be Lieutenant Warhol and she who would be Commander Gwen. It was long taught to me by the who would be technologically senior that science is the true path towards ascension.

"Honest refrain: What is transpiring here is something that simply cannot be contained by science—at least not to the extent to which I who would be Chief Engineer Ranort can understand it. For reasons that cannot properly be explained, the desolation of the Dark Side gives way to pure and unfettered alien wilderness that begins approximately five kilometers Curveward from the location of that which would be called Darkreach. At the same time, those who would be the unclassified denizens of this realm do not venture Edgeward past the inexplicable cliffface that separates all. While it is fortunate for that which would be called the Verdestonian Expedition that we are not consistently assaulted by these unpredictable hazards, it only makes the mission to that which would be called the Midnight Armory that much more difficult."

"To make it brrief..." Kepler sipped from a canteen and gazed across the metal map of the HQ room. "...Chief Engineerr Rranorrt was deeply trroubled by his findings."

"Well, he was pretty darn accurate," Rainbow muttered, standing beside Ariel and Logan. "The desolate landscape does—in fact—end at a sheer drop about five kilometers Curveward."

"What kind of a drop are we talking about?" Logan asked.

Ariel "dove" her hoof down and made a whistling noise... followed by. "Plunk!" She looked at the others with worried blue eyes. "Right into a bunch of hungry grass!"

"Hungry grass...?" Logan squinted. "Based on most coffee clubs I've been to, it works the other way around, girl."

"She's being literal, Big Show," Rainbow droned. "There's a big freakin' forest of... like... five-story-tall demon weed." She gulped. "And when we tossed a rock down into the whole mess, they slurped it up like a brussel sprout."

"Why not just say 'meatball?'" Ariel remarked.

"Do you forget who you're listening to?"

"Ah. Heh. My bad."

"Meh."

"A forest of rock-eating trees..." Logan was already grimacing. "And was there any clear path through this shit?"

Rainbow shook her head. "Not that we could see. We flew about a mile towards Alpha and then back the same distance towards Omega to check."

"But we didn't fly much further," Ariel said. "We had little resources and needed to come back, after all."

Logan sighed heavily. "I hate to say it, folks. But if we can't find a path through a pony-eating backyard... then I'm not sure we're gonna get all that friggin' far in this safari of ours."

Kepler spoke up: "I grreatly suspect that therre is a way thrrough the mess," Kepler said with a smile. "I've not had time to arrrange the crrystaline data crrystals at ourr disposal. So—I've been listening to ourr beloved Ranorrt's audio logs out of orrderr."

"Yeah? And?" Rainbow blinked. "Did any of Wormhole's expeditions make it through?"

"Warhol," Kepler corrected. "And to answer your question—yes. However, I've yet to learn how."

"Well, what did they find out there?" Logan asked.

Kepler fidgeted. "It... is difficult to explain."

"Keps..." Logan folded his forelimbs, huffing. "Do you have a job or don't you?"

"Please be patient with me, brrotherr. Evidently, the Cylindrrimanians werre nothing if not thorrough in the depths to which they made notes of things!" He smiled in spite of the situation. "I've no doubt that I will be able to piece an entirre picturre togetherr in due time!" He suffered a prolonged sigh. "I simply took a brreak because I feel terrribly forr our illustrrious engineerr of olde. Turrns out he was quite vexxed at the rreporrts that came in frrom Warrhol's crrew."

"I don't blame him," Rainbow said. "I'm pretty vexxed by what Ariel and I saw ourselves."

"Well, maybe it's not so bad," Ariel said. "We've got one thing Ranort didn't."

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow looked over. "What?"

"You." Ariel slapped a hoof over the edge of the desk. The pins lifted, fell, and lifted in fluid motion. Eventually the rusted metal landscape "shifted" from the mesa, gradually sloping upwards until it came to an abrupt end at a straight-edged neverending cliff. "This is what we have mapped five kilometers Curveside from Darkreach. And what's the distance anyone would venture to guess is between here and the Edge?"

Kepler's brow furrowed. "Why... I would say ten kilometerrs."

"Yeah." Logan nodded. "Twelve tops."

"Okay... so..." Ariel pointed. "About fifteen to seventeen kilometers from the plane's Edge is this big frickin' scar. And—look—from the shape of the gigantic stone plateau sloping upwards from place we left Axan's corpse... doesn't it look sorta like some severe cataclysm happened ages ago?"

"The Sundering..." Rainbow murmured.

Ariel looked at her. "What have you in your travels learned, Rainbow, that Ranort couldn't possibly have figured out on his own centuries ago, even with all the Cylindrimanian smarty-pants at his disposal?"

Rainbow took a deep breath. "That there are several planes. More than one of them." She gulped. "That this world came from an entire ring... from Urohringr."

"Maybe... just maybe..." Ariel gestured. "...something to do with the Sundering has made this whole land—this whole plateau—super duper inhospitable to all life trying to settle here." She looked aside. "Glowing mushrooms and forcibly planted forests aside."

"It would also suggest that the Sunderring was everry bit as severre as the verry name entails," Kepler remarked. "What's to say therre werren't a myrriad of harrmful elements at play... perrmanently scarring the landscape so close to this plane's edge when the porrtions of Urrohrringrr separrated?"

"If... that's true..." Rainbow blanched. "...then how come we didn't see any of that in Rohbredden?"

"Who says we didn't?" Logan remarked.

"Huh?"

Logan shrugged. "The alicorns blessed the Light Side, remember? There're oceans flowing and forests growing and squirrels having sex all over the place there." He raised an eyebrow. "The Sundering's scar has scabbed over."

"Lest we forrget..." Kepler waved a claw. "The Six Trribes werre in turrmoil... fighting overr a frrozen landscape. It took Verrlax's intervention—howeverr malevolent in the end—to turrn the sole continent at the Edge into something rremotely 'civilized.'"

"Okay... I'll buy that." Rainbow took a deep breath. "So... what does that mean for us?"

"Things get hella harder at the cliff's edge five kilometers from here," Logan said. He looked up. "And the next order of business is finding a path through it."

"Or how to clear our own path."

Logan's nostrils flared. "I think the former is a Hell of a lot easier than the latter." He flexed a muscle. "Unless you want me to grab my axe and start monster-weed-whacking."

"Ugh..." Rainbow rubbed her head.

"'Ugh' is right," Ariel remarked.

"Kepler, keep listening to Ranort's blargh."

"Aye, Rrainbow One."

"Logan, keep putting together an arsenal. Ariel?" Rainbow turned and trotted out of the room. "Get some rest."

"Rest?" Ariel winced. "What about you?"

"Gonna talk to Flynn about some stuff."

Darkreach Chronicles, Part Four

"Engineer's assessment: After multiple applications of mana leylines to the rocks retrieved from Curveside by the expedition of he who would be Lieutenant Warhold, I who would be Chief Engineer Ranort have determined that a triply-entwined leyline at maximum mana application is capable of recreating the hovering properties of the Darkside materials that have been scavenged.

"Modest proposal: Once a constant levitation has been achieved, affixing the stones to a wagon might allow for ease of transportation. With the permission of she who would be Commander Gwen, I who would be Chief Engineer Ranort shall set about on constructing such a vehicle as soon as possible."

"Wagon?" Flynn's muzzle scrunched as he followed Rainbow Dash up a stairwell. "I'm afraid I haven't seen such a thing."

Rainbow flew ahead of him. "You've spent all this time maintaining the colony's energy core—"

"And working on Wildcard's new arm," Flynn added. "Which is almost done, by the way."

"Right." Rainbow emerged onto the large loading chamber of Darkreach. The hatch to the mesa's top was still open, and programmed Darkstinian spheres flitted in and out, returning/embarking upon their automated patrols. "So, you haven't had time to explore every room of this place."

"I... uh... figured that was Ariel's and Big Show's job," Flynn said. He gulped. "Maybe yours too."

"Well, I need your help with this one particular thing."

Flynn came to a stop, shrugging. "What one particular thing?"

Rainbow rummaged about the room, squinting in the twilight pouring in from the great Dark outside. "According to Kepler, the latest log of Chief Engineer Ranort talks about a 'hovercraft' that they were working on."

"A hovercraft?" Flynn made a face, his metal lens retracting. "We're talking about stuff built hundreds of years ago!"

"Dude. The ancient Cylindrimanians built programmable robot spheres, talking briefcases, and a real kickin' a/c unit."

Flynn sighed, nodding. "You make a good point." He brushed back invisible bangs, looking across the chamber. "I guess I've found it all a bit overwhelming ever since we arrived on the Dark Side."

"Really?" Rainbow overturned metal crates and dusty toolboxes. "I figured you would be overjoyed."

"I'd be much happier if all this junk was still working perfectly."

"Seems working well enough to me." Rainbow threw him a brief smile. "Thanks to you."

"Right. All work. No observation."

"Well, I'm really sorry, Flynn," Rainbow said. "Maybe once we get a breather, I'll let you have a squat with the Crystalline Audio... uh... Internet Butler... thingy."

"Hmmmm..." Flynn smiled to himself. "I must admit, I've envied Kepler's calm journey of Cylindrimanian education as of late. Not that I don't mind tinkering on the Desperado's new limb, but still." A breath. "This 'Chief Engineer' Ranort fellow seems pretty dedicated to his craft. Still..." His good eye narrowed. "The Hell is this 'hovercraft' shit all about?"

"According to Kepler, he explained it without so much as snickering or hiccuping," Rainbow said, continuing to rummage. "So far, Ranort's logs have proven pretty straight-forward and to the point. I don't think a Darkstinian forefather would be capable of exagerrating."

"Did he give any sort of visual description at all?" Flynn asked, shrugging. "Anything that could help us in our search?"

"He just... described it as a simple pre-built vehicle. Y'know... like a normal wagon that the Emeraldinians would have taken with them to cart stuff from the edge to the mesa." She paused for a breath, peering around. "Something wide... flat... plain..." She scratched her chin—just above her Element. "Probably covered with a huge tarp."

"You mean... like this?"

"...???" Rainbow turned around.

Flynn gestured at a massive blue sheet covering what looked to be a table in the corner. With a savage tug of telekinesis, the stallion lifted the tarp off. In a flurry of dust, a wide metal wagon was revealed, resting on a series of metal crossbeams. Its wheels were replaced with clusters of dull blue rocks all bound together in rusted chains.

"Huh..." Rainbow blinked. "Looks like it hasn't got a lot of mileage lately."

"There's a problem, Rainbow," Flynn said.

"Yeah?"

"It... uh... doesn't have any wheels."

"Ohhhhhh..." Rainbow's eyes crossed. "...you don't say."

"What..." Flynn leaned down, peering closely at the chained rocks. "...are these stones?"

"That's another thing Kepler mentioned." Rainbow strolled closer. "Chief Engineer Ranort talks about some rocks 'scavenged from Curveside.'"

"Around the area you and Ariel visited the other day?"

"I'd venture to say further," Rainbow said. "Maybe those crazy killer kelp things weren't there hundreds of years ago." Rainbow gulped. "Anyways... these rocks that were found were apparently capable of 'levitating.'"

"Levitating rocks???" Flynn made a face.

Rainbow shrugged. "Dark Side, remember?"

"Yeah..." Flynn scratched his scuffy chin. "I guess." He gave the pebbly mass a meager zap of magic. Nothing happened. "Still... do you have any idea what it takes to rev up half-a-thousand-year-old floating rocks? Cuz I sure don't."

Rainbow's muzzle scrunched. "Kepler quoted Ranort as saying... 'triply-entwined leyline at maximum mana application.'"

"Oye."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Is that a good or a bad 'oye'?"

"Just a costly one," Flynn said. "The Cylindrimanians certainly didn't mind using a lot of juice."

"Do... we have the proper enchantment materials to do something like that?" Rainbow asked. "I don't want us to accidentally end up in the dark here... literally."

"Nah. We're overflowing," Flynn said. "I mean... it'd royally sucked if we had any intention of bunking here in Darkreach permanently. But we should be gone long before we've fully eaten into the mana reserves here."

"Well, good. You've got a new project, Flynn! Bet you're jazzed."

"And that is...?"

Rainbow pointed. "Do... uh... a 'rock analysis' on those... erm... rocks." She cleared her throat. "Then try and find more of them. There's gotta be a spare cluster somewhere in one of the chambers below."

"You want me to tune up this... floaty-wagon?"

"That's the idea."

"To what end?"

"We're going to need tools and resources for the journey ahead," Rainbow Dash said. "It'd be really nice if we had something to ease our passage. If the Emeraldinian Expedition discovered something... it'd be outright criminal for us to not utilize it."

"Right."

"Cool. Good to know we're on the same page."

"Oh, same page for sure!" Flynn bit his lip, staring at the dull rocks beneath the wagon. "Just a big-ass novel, is all."

"Lemme know if you need a bookmark." Rainbow Dash trotted back towards the stairwell. "I got more Dark Siding to do."

"Any idea where Ranort got these freaky-ass rocks?"

"That's something I'm hoping to learn myself."

"Theoretical statement: The levitating rocks are just a small product of an even greater phenomenon that is yet to be discovered. It is more than evident from the reports given by he who would be Lieutenant Warhol that magic operates differently on this edge of the plane. From an observational statement, one can take a survey of the rest of the Curve and note several anomalous occurrences at a distance. It is the hypothesis of I who would be Chief Engineer Ranort that there is an otherworldly form of seismic activity that bridges the ancient foundations of the earth with the chaotic elements of the realms beyond the firmaments. If this is even remotely close to the truth, then it will present an immeasurable challenge to that which would be called the Verdestonian Expedition once she who would be Commander Gwen finally issues the command to venture forth towards the Midnight Armory."

"So..." Ariel slapped a button on the map-table of the HQ room.

The pins rose and fell, illustrating a dense "forest" between the mesa and curveside.

"Right between us and the Midnight Armory is this big 'forest' of horribad tentacle thingies." Ariel weathered a shudder, sighed, and continued. "Towards Omega—where Rainbow and I have flown—are the abandoned lumberyards... presumably left by the Bloodwings before they retreated Curveside."

"That's also where you found the shrooms," Logan said, standing beside Rainbow.

"Right... and those are growing nicely downstairs, by the way!" Ariel said with a proud grin.

"And the Desperado hasn't keeled over yet," Logan added. "Soooo—"

Rainbow waved a hoof. "Let's stay on point, everypony."

"Right." Ariel tapped the button again. The pins on the table shifted to exposed a wide swath of undiscovered topography. "Alpha side. We've yet to explore that area."

"Considering where we left the Light Side," Logan remarked. "So far north... parallel to Rohbredden..."

"I see where you're going," Ariel said with a nod. "There should be waaaaay more Alpha than Omega to explore."

"And just how much of it are you going to explore?" Logan remarked. "If this killer grass flows all the way from horizon to horizon, we're pretty screwed."

"Well, we obviously don't have the time or resources to do a lateral scaling of the Plane and make it to and from the Midnight Armory," Ariel said. "But... I do suggest we fly a little further than normal." She exhaled, glancing at Rainbow. "Just to see if there's a break—any break—in the dense forest."

"And once you find a break..."

"...we find our path to Curveside, the Armory, and beyond."

Logan glanced over. "Guess you know what your next field trip's gonna be about, Rainbow."

Rainbow sighed. "Wish I brought some gum with me." A tail flick, and she casually exited the room. "Pack your saddlebags, Ariel. We're flying high for the weekend."

Darkreach Chronicles, Part Five

"Empathetic statement: There has been an awful lot of pressure placed on the shoulders of he who would be Lieutenant Warhol. While I who would be Chief Engineer Ranort have no doubt that he who would be Lieutenant Warhol posssesses the fortitude and courage to accomplish the tasks given by she who would be Commander Gwen, I fear that his strength will be sapped long before that which would be called the Verdestonian Expedition requires his services in traversing Curveside and the perils beyond.

"Pessimistic aside: I who would be Chief Engineer Ranort have no concerns about accomplishing the tasks that are before me. However, I do not believe that he who would be Lieutenant Warhol or any other potential leaders assigned by that which would be the Twin City Councils can feasibly establish a firm hoofhold beyond the mesa where that which would be called Darkreach has been situated.

"Practical assessment: The task ahead of us requires the utilization of complete armies. A mere expedition simply is not enough to carve a path through the chaos and alien wilderness. I do not believe that I who would be Chief Engineer Ranort is alone in this assessment. I can see it in the face of she who would be Commander Gwen. We who would be the Verdestonian Expedition is severely lacking the sheer numbers necessary to scale that which would be called the Dark Side. This is especially true since they who would be the potential nemeses of this landscape have no less than three armies at their disposal."

"You... uh... you seem distracted," Ariel remarked.

"... ... ..." Rainbow blinked. She gazed aside through Scootaloo's goggles. "Hmmm?" Another blink. "Oh. Sorry, girl."

The two mares flew side by side, following the line of waving, living stalks that dwelled just beyond the drop of the razor-sharp cliffside.

Ariel flew closer. "Wanna share?"

"Not much to share," Rainbow muttered. "For every bit of information Kepler relays to me about Ranort's log... the old engineer's entries just come across as... more and more obscure." He gulped. "The only good thing I gain from it all—if you could call it 'good'—is that the ancient Cylindrimanian tinkerer didn't have high hopes for reaching the Midnight Armory."

"Well, they never did, right?" Ariel smirked slightly. "That's not exactly a spoiler."

"Still. If the Darkside Expedition was such an abject failure, you'd think they would spot it from hundreds of miles away," Rainbow muttered as the two drifted up and down in the cold winds. Twilight and nebulaic colors glinted off their sweat-stained feathers. "I mean... they weren't exactly idiots."

"From what Kepler says, they were sorta underfunded," Ariel said.

"More like undersupplied," Rainbow corrected. "Seems that they all had a go-to guy named 'Lieutenant Warhol.' He was responsible for all of the patrols and mini-expeditions."

Ariel grinned. "Sorta like what we're doing right now!"

"Right. Only a lot more perilous. They had no clue what they were dealing with. Us? We're cheating, really."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We're running on all of my long-winded conversations with Luna, Whitemane, Chrysalis, and Mortuana." Rainbow gulped. "And now we've got Ranort to use as a foundation."

"Maybe he expected this?" Ariel remarked.

"Hmmm?"

"Maybe he knew failure was at hoof," Ariel clarified. "It might explain why he was so densely recording log entries while he was in Darkreach."

"That or he was in a super sappy mood."

"Huh?"

Rainbow shook her head. "Never mind."

"I'd love to see you in a sappy mood," Ariel said, winking.

"Heh. I bet you would."

"Still. No reason to be so glum. Not yet, at least."

"You think?" Rainbow gazed lethargically at the living forest to their right as they flew ever-Alpha. "Sure, we've got a few dozen advantages that the Darkside Expedition didn't. But..." Her brow furrowed. "Is the journey ahead any less impossible?"

"You've faced worse, Rainbow," Ariel said. "Don't you think?"

"Well, I'd like to think," Rainbow replied. "But someday that simplified sort of thinking is going to screw me over. Maybe things can be easy... but pretending it is all the time has messed up with my progress before." She clenched her teeth. "Sometime... I dunno when... but I learned to get serious about being serious."

"That's not entirely true," Ariel said. She stuck her tongue out. "'Zoop.'"

Rainbow rolled her eyes.

Ariel giggled.

A slight smirk crossed Rainbow's fuzzy muzzle. "Still... I keep looking and looking for the obstacle..."

"What obstacle?"

"The obstacle... the one that the Emeraldinians couldn't surpass..." Rainbow gulped. "The sort of obstacle that... that Verlax saw... that she supposedly put me to the test over."

Ariel squinted. "You certain you didn't face that on the way over here?"

"I don't think I have. And even if I did... it wasn't legit."

"How so?"

Rainbow gulped. "Bard and Axan bit it so I didn't have to. It's not the same."

"Oh Rainbow..."

"It's okay..." Rainbow shuddered in mid-flight. "I'm not trying to downplay the sacrifices they made. But... at some point or another... I'm gonna have to face a tough decision... and I can already feel Verlax snickering from beyond the grave."

"I thought you were past her."

"There are some things you are never past." Rainbow looked at a glossy stretch of polished stone beneath her. For a moment she saw—or thought she saw—a reflection of goat hair and grinning teeth. "No matter how far you fly."

"Well, do what you've always done," Ariel said. "Eyes front..."

"...and wings out." Rainbow nodded. "Believe me, girl, I try."

"And no matter how much you whine and moan in your own subtle way..." Ariel winked. "I know you're not a pessimist deep down."

"How do you figure?"

"Well, you've never kept a journal, have you?" Ariel suppressed a giggle. "You're a lonnnnng stone's throw from Ranort in that case."

Silence.

"Yeah..." Rainbow chuckled breathily. "I guess I am."

"Uhhhhhh... Rainbow?"

"Hmmm?" Rainbow looked behind her shoulder. "You're not gonna suggest I make Flynn build a trapper-keeper, are you?"

Ariel pointed a fetlock towards the right. "Look at that."

"Look at what?" Rainbow craned her neck. Far below them—just beyond the edge of the cliff—there was a section of the living forest that was empty. In the place of the living stalks was a stretch of what looked like impossibly huge plates of glass. They glinted immaculately in the starlight above. "Okay... what the buck...?"

Darkreach Chronicles, Part Six

"Alarming update: He who would be Lieutenant Warhol has spotted something.

"Fragmentary assessment: Those who would make up the expedition of he who would be Lieutenant Warhol discovered what appeared to have been a non-organic floating object towards Alpha. The construct was described as artificial in nature. It is not to be confused with wooden zeppelins theorized to have been constructed by they who would be Bloodwings, last evidenced towards Omega. It is also not to be confused with the levitating rocks observed towards Curveside. Instead—from the statements given by he who would be Lieutenant Warhol—the object resembled a geometrically perfect series of glass planes forming a rectangular solid that floated under its own unknown propulsion over the wasteland of the Dark Side. The planes possessed a singular glow, emitting a bright crimson light visible to all who would make up the expedition of he who would be Lieutenant Warhol.

"Personal reflection: I who would be Chief Engineer Ranort do believe that we are now dealing with an unknown faction of sapient entities in possession of remarkable magic. It is a shame that those who would be the expedition of he who would be Lieutenant Warhol were not capable of approaching the curious phenomenon any closer. No doubt the technology that empowers this object is a level of perfection that those who would be the divine purveyors of progress in that which would be Cylindrimane have only dreamt of in all their years of dedication to their craft.

"Concluding thought: We who would be the Verdestonian Expedition set out upon the Dark Side in expectation of chaos. I who would be Chief Engineer Ranort now believe that we have discovered a new definition of order. It is difficult to put into words the emotions that I am currently feeling. There has been so very little to hope for. And yet now—in the bleakness—a sense of wonder draws me Curveside. I who would be Chief Engineer Ranort can do nothing more in that which would be called Darkreach but waste away, and yet I must not share these unprofessional feelings with she who would be Commander Gwen."

Rainbow Dash descended.. hovered... but didn't quite touch down. She stared down at her own reflection... glinting off an immaculate plate of ruby-tinted glass. Stars and nebulae hung like a canvas behind her own image.

"Twilight...?" Rainbow gulped. "Rarity...?" Her eyes searched her own reflection and beyond. "Front and center."

Ariel nervously hovered behind her. The dimensions of the collapsed plate of glass afforded them a teensy bit of space where they could fly free of the living stalks on all sides. A solid path of open air swam up the mountain side from which they descended. It was quieter than a library upon the fringes of the living forest of flesh-eating kelp.

"You... uh... you going to touch the stuff or what?" Ariel asked.

"Just a sec," Rainbow muttered as familiar colors hovered parallel with her. "Consulting my friends."

"Whew-wee..." Ariel shook her head with a smile. "What I wouldn't give to have a cabal of handy mares to float tightly around me at a simple beck and call." She blushed slightly. "Erm... you know what I mean."

"Uh huh." Rainbow looked aside at Rarity. "What is it made of, Rares?"

"Hmmmmm..." Rarity tapped her pale muzzle, squinting hard at the reflective material. She remained silently contemplative like that for a while.

"Oooookay. I'll get back to you." Rainbow turned towards Twilight. "Is it gonna zap me if I touch it?"

"Not even remotely," Twilight said. "Whatever it is—it can most definitely channel mana-energy, but right now it's inert." She looked up, blinking. "It's been that way for a long time."

"Yeah? How long?"

Twilight shook her head. "Unclear."

"I wouldn't suggest we stay here too long, Rainbow," Fluttershy said, nervously eyeing the quivering stalks on all sides of the fallen plate. "I somehow feel that these things might be able to sense our proximity. It'd be awful if they snatched up you or even Ariel for dinner."

"Yeah, I'm with Fluttershy on that," Applejack said. "I've seen enough bad dreams to know where this is going."

"It's okay. We won't be long." Rainbow looked aside once again. "Rarity...?"

"It's... glass," the fashionista said.

Rainbow face-hoofed. "Jee. Thanks."

"But don't get me wrong!" Rarity looked up with bright eyes. "It's not the same as the kind of glass you'd get in a mirror! Or set upon a vanity! Or manufacture a window with!"

"So... what? It's super chaos glass?" Rainbow looked up the mountainside. "How the heck did it form? Not like there's something that would have spilled it out of the rock."

"Oh, it's definitely artificial," Rarity said. "At least... I-I think it is."

"Huh?"

"Just... t-touch it," Rarity insisted.

Rainbow looked at Twilight once more.

Twilight nodded.

Exhaling gently, Rainbow stopped flapping her wings. She landed nimbly in the middle of the ruby sheet.

Pl-Plonk!

"Oooh!" Pinkie smiled at the others. "Makes a nice sound effect!"

Ariel also touched down. Plonk! Breathing calmly, she and Rainbow exchanged looks.

"It feels..." Rainbow blinked. "...dull."

"And yet it's glossy," Rarity said. "Polished, even. No sign of dirt. Not even a speck of dust."

"Maybe it's built out of somethang that resists impurities?" Applejack suggested.

"It's... built out of something, alright..." Rarity sighed. "The... the closest I can come up with is... is..." She looked squarely at Rainbow. "... ... ...the shards we found in Darkreach."

Rainbow's brow furrowed. "You mean the stuff Flynn's using to power up the core?"

"I-I think what Rarity's trying to say..." Twilight's lips pursed as she thought aloud: "...is that it's less like glass and more like crystal?"

"Precisely!" Rarity gasped, phasing chest-deep through the polished floor so she could examine the material even closer. For as solid and unbreakable as it was, the material was no more than three or four inches thick. "It's almost as if the entire thing is made out of the same substance as that which powers up Darkreach! But... perhaps... a slightly different composition. More..." Her ears drooped as she searched for the word: "Concentrated."

"Imagine if you could attach leylines to this," Fluttershy said.

"You could power up Darkreach forever!" Applejack said with a smile.

"That's... not likely how it would work," Twilight remarked, shaking her head. "I think we're dealing with something we've never seen before."

"Maybe we haven't!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "But what about Dashie?"

The mares looked at her.

"I've... never seen anything like this," Rainbow said, shifting her weight across the panel. "I mean... well..."

"What?" Twilight asked.

"There's skystone," Rainbow said. "The Noble Jury was powered by a huge friggin' chunk of the stuff. But it was like a literal turd of glowing red crystal. Also, I've taken glimpses of the skystard fields to the north of where I've flown... not to mention the stuff that the Naga used to power their own airships." She shook her head. "I've never seen it carved up into a perfectly flat plate of glass."

"What marvelous engineer," Rarity cooed. "It couldn't have been the brutish Dark Vigil! Or could sarosians somehow have progressed far enough to carve something like this?"

"Can skystone form on the Dark Side?" Applejack said.

"I don't see why not," Rainbow said. "It just likes to form along the horizontal edges of the plane. I've always assumed it has something to do with how Urohringr was once connected... and then savagely broken off by the Sundering."

Twilight looked at Rarity. "Are you detecting more pieces of this kind of material nearby... or in the distance?"

"Funny you should ask, darling," Rarity said, rubbing her skull in concentration. "I'm already attempting to search for it."

Pinkie grinned. "Who wants to vote for Rare-Rare as ghost-pony-mvp?"

Fluttershy smiled. "She gets my vote."

"Silly Flutters. We might need you yet when something tries to eat us."

"Oh. Uhm..."

"Ahem..." Ariel trotted closer to Rainbow. "Sorry to interrupt, but..." She arched an eyebrow. "Any revelations?"

Rainbow glanced at her. "It's made out of crystal. Not glass."

"Crystal?" Ariel made a face. She gawked at the transparent material beneath them, spotting nothing but solid black grit and grime beyond the sheet. "Who the heck built it?"

"No clue," Rainbow said. "We're dealing with new, freaky stuff."

"Oh, joy."

"I've got it!" Rarity exclaimed triumphantly. "I sense... I-I sense other sheets!"

"You do?" Twilight grinned. "How many?"

"Five! At least... yes. Definitely five." She turned around, pointing at various spots along the Alpha, Omega, and Curveside "horizons." "There... there and there... and there and there." A shuddering breath. "They're... so randomly placed. It's a bit hard to judge, but one of them—Curveside—appears to be located in an 'epicenter' so to speak."

"Five plus one," Twilight said. "Six plates... six sides."

"Huh?" Rainbow turned to face her.

"I... I think we're dealing with some sort of cube," Twilight said. "Or a rectangular solid."

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow squinted. "Powered by what?"

Twilight merely stared at her. Ultimately, she shrugged.

"Uhm... if I might add something?" Fluttershy spoke up.

"Out with it, girl."

"I'm sensing five things too," Fluttershy said. "Or—more specifically—five absences of things."

"What?"

"Ahem..." Applejack floated closer. "I think she means wherever these other five plates landed, there's nothin' growin' on them or beneath them."

"It's just like with where we are right now, Rainbow," Fluttershy said. "Whatever happened with this sheet, it landed here a long time ago and crushed all the ground beneath it." She shook her head. "None of the stalks around us can grow beneath us."

"Well, lucky for us," Rainbow said. "I... uh..." She scratched her chin, gazing west to where the sheet ended before a wall of stalks. "...I don't suppose they can help us leapfrog our way across this gunky forest of willies."

"Perish the thought!" Rarity clenched her teeth, shivering. "There's simply too much perilous distance between the plates."

"Still..." Rainbow scratched her chin as she looked at the steep mountainside cascading down into the glass plate. It was almost a perfect slope—free of crags and shoals. "...we just might have the next best thing."

"What?" Ariel caught Rainbow's gaze. "What's the next best thing?"

"Wuh oh..." Pinkie Pie clutched her curling tail. "I detect something stupiddddd!"

"Heh. Maybe the king of all stupidz." Rainbow flapped her wings and flew safely away from the flanking stalks. "Time to finish our patrol. Come, Ariel."

"Heh..." The Heraldite gladly flew after her. "You know the magic word."

Darkreach Chronicles, Part Seven

"Journalistic update: She who would be Commander Gwen arranged a meeting between herself and they who would be the executive officials of that which would be called the Verdestonian Expedition. During said conference, she who would be Commander Gwen addressed the unexplained decline in supplies from the Light Side.

"Current imperative: Until we know more information concerning the cutoff of the supply line from the Edge, we who would be the Verdestonian Expedition must focus on the mission that has been given to us. To that end, she who would be Commander Gwen has taken it upon herself to accompany he who would be Commander Warhol on the latest trip Curveside. This will be the longest and furthest-reaching journey to date, and the intended result is to finally reveal a navigable path to the Harmonic Prism.

"Somber reflection: If some unforeseen circumstances have cut off our connection with they who would be the Council of Two Cities, then we who would be the Verdestonian Expedition must come to grips with our function here on the Dark Side. There is a goal to accomplish, and it may very well entail abandoning that which would be called the Colony of Darkreach."

"Now..." Flynn clasped a metal tray in his hooves. The bottom was bejeweled with tiny glowing pebbles that he further enchanted with a brief zap of telekinesis. "...observe."

That said, the stallion placed the tray flatly atop a long table in the common room and lightly shoved it towards the edge.

Rainbow Dash and Ariel's heads turned as they observed the metal panel gently drifting across the table. As it reached the far end, it coasted out into thin air. Its fall to the floor was lengthy and sluggish, like a feather with some divine purpose. Rainbow Dash mentally clocked the duration of five seconds before the enchanted metal tray finally made contact with the common room floor. It did so gracefully, and still it didn't lose its momentum... eventually coasting to a limp drift against the limbs of a disinterested Seraphimus shackled to the pipework.

"Fillies and gentlecolts..." Flynn stood up with a proud smile. "It would seem that the Darkreach Expedition achieved levitation."

"Uhhhhhh..." Ariel squinted. "Didn't the Cylindrimanians already achieve that with their weird floating sphere thingies?"

Flynn rolled his eye. "This is different, Ariel."

"Yeah, girl." Rainbow nodded. "I instructed Flynn to start working on this days ago." She nodded in the stallion's direction. "Give us the lecture, dude."

"So..." He paced over towards where the tray landed. "...I followed some notes that I found in one of the research chambers down below. Turns out the Emeraldinians... Cylindrimanians... whoever had a specific way for 'triply entwining leylines.' It took some practice, but I was able to copy their work... albeit on a small scale." He hesitantly approached Seraphimus and ultimately lifted the tray back up with his telekinesis. "Ahem..." Approaching the two mares, he randomly juggled the tray in one hoof—which floated and twirled a few extra seconds longer than it was naturally supposed to. "As you can see, I've managed to get this tray to defy gravity a bit... so to speak. It's not quite so reality-breaking as it looks. The leyline entanglement simply magnifies the levitation properties of the rock samples we've salvaged... which—in and of itself—is probably some crazy ass side effect of chaos energy. Anyways... back in their ancient hayday, the ponies of Darkreach applied the same mechanic to large-scale objects."

"Like big metal wagons," Rainbow droned."

"However." Flynn gestured. "I'm far from being able to mimic that." He tossed the tray across the room like a slowly whirling discus. "That will take me Goddess-knows how long to master. Weeks, maybe. I'm not sure we can even afford that time."

Seconds later, Rainbow smoothely caught the spinning tray in her wing. "It'll be worth it if it'll help us."

"Help us do what, Rainbow Dash?" Flynn shrugged. "No offense, but you haven't exactly been up front with me."

Ariel looked at Rainbow.

"Tell me, Flynn, dude..." Rainbow juggled the tray in her wing. "What are the chances that a wagon fitted with these rocks—just like this tray—will land upright?"

Flynn pointed. "Look for yourself."

Holding her breath, Rainbow tossed the tray wildly towards the ceiling. It pinballed off the walls twice... ... ... but landed miraculously with the bejeweled part facing down.

"Huh..." Rainbow blinked.

"I've tossed it around over two dozen times like you did and recorded my results," Flynn said. "There's about a ninety-percent chance of it landing upright. I could explain the math about how the leyline entanglement works in messing with the enchanted object's center of gravity... but... I know you'd just burp through it."

Rainbow lurched, holding a hoof over her bulging cheeks. She swallowed before wheezing: "Point taken."

"Something tells me..." A cool voice exhaled, accompanied by a cool set of manacled talons that picked up the tray once again bumping into her. Seraphimus gazed lethargically at the tray and its glowing pebbles. "...that your illustrious leader is planning to blow something grossly out of proportion."

"Pffft... get off it," Flynn said, frowning. "Rainbow knows better than to throw the entire party into jeopardy over some stupid stunt!"

Ariel coughed and fidgeted.

"... ... ...?" Flynn looked at Ariel, then at Rainbow Dash. His muzzle hung agape in abject confusion.

"Flynn... buddy..." Rainbow winced through a cheesy smile. "If we were to... oh, I dunno... magnify the scale of your little table tray experiment by a factor of ten and... let's say... push it violently down a mountainside so that it launches off a ramp down below made of pure crystal..." Her eyes narrowed. "...for how many miles do you think it and its entire supply of equipment could glide before touching the ground again?"

Dead silence.

Flynn's metal lenses retracted. "Are you high?"

"It's just a hypothetical question, Flynn—" Ariel began.

"Don't you start!" Flynn pointed at her with a frown. "I know you're always defending her but... buck me sideways!" He stomped a hoof. "Can't we just find a normal path over the wasteland like normal equine beings?!" He gawked. "... ... ...normal equine beings who want to live?!"

"Flynn, Ariel and I have been all over Alpha and Omega!" Rainbow groaned. "There's no way past this friggin' forest of death-weed! Now, Ariel and Wildcard and I and maybe Kepler could try gliding over that mess, but then we'd be leaving three others behind and we can't carry all of the equipment we'll sorely need on our own!"

"Well, can't we just burn the stupid stalks or slice through them with Logan's axe?!" Flynn scowled. "Or are you subscribing to the Equestrian School of 'defend all sentient weed-monsters' thought?"

"Dude—there's like... too much of them!" Rainbow shrugged wildly. "Ariel and I found something that—I believe—could actually work out!"

"Work out?! How?! Where?!" Flynn gestured wildly. "In a cartoon?!" The stallion flailed his forelimbs at the lengths of Darkreach around them. "Rainbow Dash—tell me—does this all look like a cartoon to you?!"

"At last, a lick of sense..." Seraphimus droned, turning the tray over her in her bound claws. "Somewhat belated, but still..."

"You shut up!" Rainbow frowned at her, then turned to Flynn once more. "Flynn... I had you work on this project for a reason. If there is a way... any way... that we can afford even an ounce of flight with all of the ponies and equipment and sound effects at our disposal, shouldn't we leap upon that?" She smiled genuinely. "You've got the resources! You've got the data! Just keep working on this idea and I know you'll come up with a solution! I have faith in you!"

"Rainbow Dash, this has nothing to do with 'faith,'" Flynn growled. "It's about ascertaining the gravity of the world around us and treating it with an ounce of realism! This is the Dark Side! It's nothing like you've ever stupidly brute-forced your way through before! You have to think progressively!"

"I'm just trying to provide us a solution here—"

"Dammit, Rainbow, you gotta stop trying to recreate the Noble Jury!"

"Flynn!" Ariel hissed.

Silence.

Seraphimus' charcoal eyes darted between the mare and the stallion.

Rainbow took a deep breath. "I know what I've left behind, Flynn. And as for my 'stupid brute force'... it's worked more times for me than anything has ever worked out for you and your amazing Job Squad. And—who knows—maybe the reason the Emeraldinians vanished is because they never thought to think outside the box themselves?"

"There's thinking outside the box..." Flynn gnashed his teeth. "And then there's bucking crazy—" He winced at the end of saying those words. As his ears drooped, his one good eye glanced in Seraphimus direction.

The former Talon Commander was quiet. Calm.

Before anypony else could say anything...

...Logan galloped into the room. "Hey. Guys." He motioned with his head. "Up to HQ. On the double. Keps has something important to show us."

Flynn and Rainbow hesitated for a moment, neither of them looking too proud of themselves. Awkwardly, they threw themselves into a trot, scaling the stairwell beyond as Ariel followed limply behind.

Logan blinked curiously at them. He then looked at Seraphimus, his eyes narrowing. "The Hell are you lookin' so smug about?"

Seraphimus shrugged without saying a word.

Sighing, Logan followed the others.

Alone, Seraphimus threw the tray into the air. She watched for several seconds, her eyes following the slowly-descending arc of the metal object. At last, it landed... and it did so gracefully with the top-up.

She didn't say a word... merely sat and stared in contemplation.

Chief Engineer Ranort's voice was already echoing across the table when Rainbow, Flynn, and Ariel arrived.

Wildcard looked up from where he sat next to Kepler. His left prosthetic was a metal branch with digits partially constructed. He nevertheless waved with a mute smile at the arriving group.

"Alright, Keps." Rainbow stood front and center. "What's the scoop?"

"Shhhh!" Kepler insisted.

The group craned their necks, listening in as the ancient words crackled from the "briefcase" resting between them.

"Initial assessment: these strange equines are likely non-aligned. Their allegiance seemingly belongs to no members of the three-fold war. Instead, they dwell within the nooks and crannies of the battlefield, shying away from the dominating armies. Favoring darkness for the sake of survival..."

Logan marched into the room. "So, did you tell them, Keps?"

"Tell us what?" Ariel asked.

"This is from a late entrry," Kepler explained, adjusting his spectackles. "Long afterr the rreturrn of a lengthy expedition led by Commanderr Gwen and Lieutenant Warrhol." His eyes narrowed as he spoke over Ranort's voice. "It would appearr that the Emerraldinians discoverred ponies..."

Rainbow's lips pursed. "What kind of ponies?"

"Rregularr ponies," Kepler clarified. "Unicorrn... earrth... pegasi..." He took a breath. "Frragmented and living in a neutrral civilization... lost herre on the Darrk Side..."

Darkreach Chronicles, Part Eight

"Anthropological reflection: The details concerrning they who would be the neutral denizens of the Dark Side as provided by he would be Lieutenant Warhol are quite astounding. It would appear that these lost equines have lived in the shadow of obscurity for multiple centuries. They predate they who would be Bloodwings and it is the suspicion of she who would be Commander Gwen that they might be as old if not older than they who would be armies of the three-sided war.

"Keen observations: 'Neutral' is indeed the best way to describe these ponies. Upon meeting they who would be the Verdestonian Expedition, the lost equines displayed nothing short of emotional indifference. It has been said that they refused to look at the agents of she who would be Commander Gwen in the eye, constantly speaking to the earth and the shadows around them—not even registering the presence of each other. According to he who would be Lieutenant Warhol, there is no member of the lost tribes over the age of thirty. Many of them are malnourished and they evidently endure an existence of much pain, struggle, and suffering. She who would be Commander Gwen graciously offered a portion of the expedition's supplies to the ill-fated equines, but they refused her gift. They didn't even acknowledge the gesture at all. When asked about their habitat or cultural proclivities, every answer given is taciturn and obscure. They excel at evading answers and appear to thrive on diminishing their own sense of identity or individualistic ego.

"Current hypothesis: It is the prevailing theory of she who would be Commander Gwen that these recently-discovered equines are the distant descendants of ponies who were taken over to the Dark Side against their will. In other words, these ponies originated on the Light Side just like they who would be the Verdestonian Expedition. The question—then—is who imprisoned them and brought them over in the first place? It is highly doubtful that the blame can be placed on they who would be Bloodwings, for the sarosian migration happened within the last few hundred years and these lost ponies and their total and complete disentigration of culture suggests a far longer imprisonment. It is thus the current hypothesis that one of the other two militant factions of the war here on the Dark Side is responsible for the mass exodus that brought these pitiable victims over.

"Personal reflection: I who would be Chief Engineer Ranort of that which would be called Darkreach deeply empathizes with these ponies. Their lack of identity makes it difficult to describe them, and I who would be Chief Engineer Ranort greatly suspects that they have been long bereft of any insight into the liberating spirit of technological progress. And yet they distance themselves from any sort of prevailing ego—a curious coincidence that makes me pine for the days of dwelling in that which would be called Ring City, communing with those who would be called Cylindrimanian neighbors. I who would be called Chief Engineer Ranort would very much like to leave the confines of that which would be called Darkreach and meet them in person, but—alas—my duty prevents me from doing so. It is with meager hope that I who would be Chief Engineer Ranort look forward to the command decisions of she who would be Commander Gwen and how they might involve future relations with these ponies—as least in regards to assisting that which would be the Verdestonian Expedition in making a heroic attempt to access the Midnight Armory."

"His next two entrries go on to descrribe morre details concerrning he who would be Lieute—" Kepler caught himself. He cleared his throat. "A thousand parrdons, frriends. Chief Ranorrt descrribes Lieutenant Warrhol's morre detailed obserrvations concerrning the indigenous equines. It would seem that everry pony local to the Darrk Side prractices a cerrtain sense of... emotional detachment. They exprress neutrral feelings and possess currious speech patterrns. For instance, they don't use prroperr nouns. None of them even adopts a name!"

Logan scratched his scruffy chin and looked across the HQ. "No wonder it was so damn difficult to determine where they lived."

"They arre always mobile, it would seem," Kepler added. "Warrhol and Gwen firrst rran into them while the locals werre galloping thrrough the wilderrness, hunting varrious sorrts of beastly, chaotic game. It would appearr as though they employed tools indicative of a prre-industrrial civlization: spearrs, slingshots, bows and arrrows..."

"True survivalists to the core." Ariel gulped. "Just how long have they been living like this?"

"An even better question," Flynn suggested. "Are they still around today?"

Kepler folded his forelimbs and sighed. "I'm afrraid I haven't gotten to any entrries that explain the fate of these equines." He raised an eyebrow. "Orr the fate of the Darrkreach colonists, forr that matterr."

"How much of the data crystals are left?" Ariel asked.

"Ach!" Kepler shrugged. "Farr morre than can be counted, my frriend!" He smiled calmly. "I am both dismayed and rrelieved! I desirre morre and morre knowledge, but I know that we cannot stay herre in Darrkrreach forrever."

"Well, if worse comes to worst, you can bring the talking briefcase and the crystals with us, right?" Rainbow Dash suggested.

"By all means! Although I would rregrret being so tied up durring the jourrney prroperr!"

"Don't fret, Kepler," Rainbow Dash said. "I'm sure we'll find the downtime for you to continue your research." She sighed, glancing around the room. "Somehow... there's always downtime."

"Does that mean we're pulling out soon?" Logan suggested. "Because I'm almost done setting up an arsenal."

"Not... quite yet," Rainbow Dash said. "I've got Flynn working on a couple of projects still..."

Flynn clenched his jaw shut. He avoided Rainbow's gaze.

"Aaaaaaaand..." Rainbow's eyes lingered on him. "...I want to reconsider some of the options we have at the moment." She looked in Wildcard's direction. "I also wanted him rested up and fixed up."

Wildcard signaled with his good talons to protest—

"I mean it!" Rainbow pointed, frowning. "I want you in one piece. When it's time to pack it up and take this crazy show on the road, we're going to need our ace in the hole. We may just never know what we're going to face and how badly we'll need to put our last Desperado into ass-kicking mode."

"Pffft..." Logan folded his forelimbs with a pout. "You want a fighting edge? I'm standing right here, y'know."

"Good point." Rainbow Dash nodded. She made for the nearest stairwell. "When the time comes, we'll toss your axe into Wildcard's hands."

Ariel laughed.

Flynn managed a slight grin.

"Keep it up, Keps... the rest of you guys." And Rainbow ducked out of the room entirely.

As she navigated the stairs of Darkreach alone, Twilight and Fluttershy hovered in her peripheral.

"An entire civilization of lost ponies?" Twilight stammered. "I... I can't believe I never even suspected it!"

"Still..." Rainbow's nostrils flared. "...they don't exactly sound very epic."

"They've been living on the Dark Side for centuries... surviving on the go..." Fluttershy sniffled. "Those poor... poor ponies. It's enough having to deal with the craziness of the Dark Side for a few weeks... much less countless lifetimes."

Rainbow stumbled to a stop, blinking. "Is that how long we've been here?" she muttered. "A 'few weeks?'"

Twilight ignored her. "Maybe Chief Engineer Ranort was wrong. Maybe the Dark Vigil did bring them here."

"Ya really reckon so?" Applejack hovered into view. "From what we've seen of the sarosians, them batfolk seem awfully zoophonic."

"It's xenophobic, darling," Rarity purred, floating closer. "And I happen to agree. Considering all that the Lunar Remnants have been through, it doesn't seem quite like them to take prisoners of the same Equestrian races who cast them out."

"There's certainly no record in the royal archives of the sarosians taking prisoners—before or after their exodus," Twilight Sparkle said. "At least not from what I've read."

"Then if the sarosians aren't responsible for the local equine populace, who is?" Fluttershy asked.

"The Night Shard?" Pinkie Pie suggested.

"Pinkie, we dun know a single dang thang about them Night Sharders," Applejack said.

"I know! But they already seem so mysterious and spooooky! Isn't abduction a total 'spook' thing?"

"The answer's obvious, guys," Rainbow said.

"It is?" Rarity looked over.

Rainbow nodded somberly. "It's the changelings. Tchern's and Chrysalis' hives."

Fluttershy grimaced. "Oh. Oh no..."

"Abducting ponies and taking their place...?" Rainbow gestured. "It's Changelingism 101. And considering the fact that Tchern and Chrysalis were both once ancient alicorns who mutated deep in the mountains of Equestria..."

"They would have needed 'fuel' for the exodus that they made," Twilight Sparkle thought aloud. "Both in terms of sustenance and... emotion." She gulped. "They must have abducted hundreds... thousands of ponies between Equestria and the plane's edge."

"It makes sense that they would have brought them over to the Dark Side," Rainbow said. "This place is a virtual wasteland of chaos. Until the hives found a way to settle, they would have needed 'food' to sustain them... like animals storing for a long winter."

"Goddess..." Fluttershy whimpered. "Then... then that means these ponies—"

"Are the remnants of those who escaped," Applejack said.

"Or worse," Rainbow said.

"How?" Pinkie grimaced. "How could it possibly be worse?"

Rainbow shrugged. "The changelings could have... let the poor motals go. Kept track of them at a distance. Allowed them to hide away, settle, repopulate..." She produced a shuddering sigh. "...then later 'harvested' them en masse when the opportunity served."

"Good heavens..." Rarity shook all over. "What kind of a Hell have we stumbled into?!"

"Remember, Dashie knows the changelings best." Pinkie's ears drooped sadly. "Poor, poor ponies. They could really use a party."

"They could really use a pick-me-up for sure!" Applejack stammered. "If Rainbow's idea is true and they were really brought over here like livestock, then no wonder this Ranort fella describes them as bein' unemotional."

"They've been preyed upon for generations by carniverous empaths," Twilight said. "That takes a certain degree of tenacity that... no civilization on the Light Side could conceivably compare to."

"Well, maybe there's hope then," Rainbow said.

"Hope?" Fluttershy blinked. "Hope for what?"

"They could still be alive," Rainbow stated. "Even after all these centuries... following Darkreach's abandonment and everything. And if they're alive... and if we can run into them..." She trotted the rest of the way down the stairwell. "...then maybe they can give us some much-needed answers."

Darkreach Chronicles, Part Nine

"Social observations: I who would be called Chief Engineer Ranort have found it difficult to gauge the emtions of they who would be the ponies of that which would be called the Verdestonian Expedition, but suffice it to say that the overall mood of that which would be called Darkreach has become anxious—even melancholic. This is not so suggest that those who would be the faithful servants to she who would be called Commander Gwen have lost faith in the mission or the wisdom of their superior. But—rather—the optimism has almost completely faded, especially now that we who would be the Verdestonian Expedition have come to grips with the immensity of the harrowing path to the Midnight Armory ahead of us.

"Personal assessment: He who would be Lieutenant Warhol continues to be a source of inspiration and unfaltering dedication. However, I who would be Chief Engineer Ranort cannot expect even he who would be Lieutenant Warhol to maintain such stamina and enthusiasm forever. The Dark Side consumes the light from us all, and when we who would be the Verdestonian Expedition witness the jaded and lifeless complexion of those who would be the indigenous equines of this realm, it spells an ill-fate for all mortals who attempt to venture into such chaotic emptiness.

"Statement of commitment: I who would be called Chief Engineer Ranort am determined to preserve every bit of this campaign as is possible. Even if it takes another hundred crystalline batteries to compose my thoughts, it must be done. This is because I who would be called Chief Engineer Ranort greatly suspect that this journey of that which would be called the Verdestonian Expedition will not be completed in a single equine timeline. Even she who would be called Commander Gwen must sense the reality of this, though a statement to the fact would never escape her lips.

"Conclusion: I who would be called Chief Engineer Ranort record this journal not for myself or for that which would be called the Verdestonian Expedition of present day. Rather, this journal exists for all future ponies who would be the supplements of the Twin City Council. If we who would be called the Verdestonian Expedition under the command of she who would be called Commander Gwen cannot find a way to the source of harmony that eludes us, then maybe somepony else can."

Logan's strong forelimbs cocked a crossbow and slapped it down onto a table beside several more.

"There." He exhaled, pointing at the arrangement of weapons inside a Darkreach storage room. "I found a total of forty of these things lying about in disarray."

"They don't look like normal crossbows to me," Rainbow Dash said. "At least... not like the ones I saw in Rohbredden."

"That's because they don't house arrows," Logan said. He pointed at a short, triangular housing chamber above the stock of the weapon. "Looks like a spot to shove in a manacrystal."

"Jeesh..." Rainbow's wings drooped. "Crystals. Crystals. Crystals."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, and?"

"I dunno. Just..." She grumbled breathily. "I feel like I missed the boat somewhere and I just don't care." She blew out the side of her muzzle. "Felt like I got enough of this sort of crud in Ledomare."

"Yeah, well, we could use all the 'crud' we can get," Logan said. "There are more enchanted reagents lying around this place than you can shake a dead cat at. With your permission, I'd like to test out some of the ammo above ground—atop the mesa." He shrugged. "Just a little target practice."

"Sounds fine to me." Rainbow squinted. "What about our boomsticks, though?"

"Hmmm?"

"Didn't we bring a few of Bleak's Plummet's finest armaments with us from the Light Side?" Rainbow remarked. "With lunar ammo to boot?"

"Yes we did," Logan said, nodding. "I'm almost wondering if we can somehow combine the runestones with the tech we've found here."

"Well, I don't think we can afford too much experimentation," Rainbow Dash muttered. "Just how much ammo do we have anyways?"

"Plenty," Logan said. "It's the biggest contributor to the weight we've hauled from the crashed Gondola."

"I did not know that."

"Wasn't your job to pay attention," the stallion said with a shrug. "Besides... I thought we would have spent all the ammo by now."

"Seems like most of the dangerous crud is Curveside from us," Rainbow said. "Random changeling hatchling aside..."

"Right."

"My chief concern, Big Show, is that each and every pony will be able to defend themselves." Rainbow took a deep breath. "According to Kepler, Ranort's and Gwen's crew didn't have a whole lot to hope about. They knew their future was grim."

"Has he finished listening to all that crap, by the way?"

"I'm afraid not." Rainbow clenched her jaw. "Seems like Ranort was anything but brief in describing ancient Darkreach."

"You really think we can stick around for him to finish listening to it all?"

"Nope." Rainbow shook her head. "So I'm suggesting he take the briefcase thingy with us. He can listen to more along the way."

"Awfully optimistic of you," Logan said. "Assuming we'll have free time beyond the stalks."

"A girl can dream, I guess," Rainbow said. "Now—about the chaotic wilderness ahead. It's one thing to have firepower. But what about basic defenses?"

"Glad you asked." Logan shuffled over to another table—this one covered with a tarp. "I've got that covered and a half."

"How do you mean?"

"See for yourself." And he whipped the tarp off, revealing multiple breastplates, fetlock guards, helmets, and shields.

Rainbow Dash whistled. As the dust settled, she noted the eerily pristine quality of the armor pieces. They had a copper-green tint to them, and there were artistically ornate insignias of tree branches and leaves woven into every outer surface. "These... are not Cylindrimanian."

"Emeraldine is primarily a bigass farming community, right?"

"From what I could tell, yeah."

"Well there you go." Logan waved with his hoof. "Verdestone's finest right here." He pointed at the polished round helmets. "Notice on the crown—it's the crest of Onyxxus on the front..."

"...and a silhouette of Verdestone on the back." Rainbow Dash nodded, her eyes darting about the green metals. "Seems like they had their priorities straight."

"They're built for ponies who are... slightly smaller than present company," Logan remarked. "My guess is that equines didn't grow to be as stocky as modern ponies today."

"Or they didn't live long enough..."

"Grim. Cute." Logan cleared his throat. "But... I think Flynn and I can augment them with a few added plates to fit our figures. Even mine." He looked over at Rainbow Dash. "Once Wildcard's got his new arm, he can help out as well. That Desperado knows a thing or two about armor."

"He used to be a member of the Talon, right?"

"Mmmmhmmm."

"Y'know..." Rainbow Dash fidgeted where she stood. "There's probably an even better qualified soul who can help us out with that."

Silence.

Rainbow arched an eyebrow. "You don't believe me?"

"Mrmmmfff..." Logan's nostrils flared. "It's probably just a trick."

"You believe she's faking her calmness at this point?"

"On one hoof, she could be bored as all get-out," Logan said. "Or—as history would suggest—she's just waiting for the opportune moment to spring." His eyes narrowed. "And rip your throat out from under your chin."

Rainbow shuddered. "I... I'd rather not get close enough to her to find out."

"I've noticed."

Rainbow bit her tongue.

"Anyways..." Logan turned to face the armor once again. "It'd be stupid not to wear any of this stuff for the duration."

"Uhhh..." Rainbow nodded. "Agreed."

"I suggest you and Ariel practice flying with some weighted shit in your saddlebags. Prepare for being heavier in the long haul."

"Not a bad idea." Rainbow managed a slight smile. "Thanks for setting all of this up, Logan. We haven't even gotten to the melee weapons you've found. I caught a few glimpses between flights. Looks like we'll be armed to the teeth."

"Yeah, maybe so. Even still..." Logan folded his forelimbs. "I'm not too thrilled by this discovery."

"Oh?"

"If nothing else, I'm kinda worried."

"About what?"

Logan huffed. "I mean... hell..." He gestured at the tables that comprised of his "armory." "Why? Y'know? Why did they leave all of this stuff behind? This could sustain a small army, much less the entire Herald."

Rainbow was silent in contemplation.

"Whatever cleared them out..." Logan's brow furrowed. "...for them to have friggin' ditched so many priceless weapons, ammo, manacrystals behind..." He slowly shook his head. "It couldn't have been a good thing." He looked squarely at Rainbow. "The soonest Kepler gets to the last recording by that 'Ranort' bastard, the better."

"Yeah..." Rainbow nodded limply. "I'm starting to agree with you."

"Good." Logan turned towards the table and threw the tarp back over it. "About time somepony did."

Rainbow blinked at him. She shifted on one set of legs... then the other. "Ahem..." She leaned pensively in Loga's direction. "Logan, I... I really do appreciate it."

"Uh huh."

"All of it. Everything. Everything that you've done," Rainbow said. "Even when you bite my head off and get angry. I know it's because you're concerned with what's best for me... and what's best for the journey."

"We ain't here to pick daisies. That's for damn sure."

"And... concern works both ways. We're nothing without you, Big Show. And... y'know..." She waved a hoof from side to side. "...if you want to share some of the stuff that's been bothering you, that would be perfectly okay—"

"Nothing bothers me," Logan grunted. "Not anymore."

Rainbow's brow furrowed. "Dude, I saw what the changeling became. What it said when you—"

Logan spun about, snarling. "That was just a chaotic freak with nothing better to do than mess with my head!"

Rainbow leaned back, wincing. "I'm just saying that—"

"Don't let it mess with your head either! I'm fine, Rainbow!" Logan grunted, then let loose a dull sigh. "I've been fine for years. What you see with me is what you get. Let's leave it at that."

"But... I can't leave it at that," Rainbow stammered. She gulped. "It's taken me some time to realize this, but you—the Herald: you're all my friends. It's high time I treated you like such."

"Hrmmmff..." Logan tossed his mane and trotted angrily past her. "Don't make your dumbest mistake yet, Rainbow."

"Logan—"

"I've got some materials to gather if I'm gonna be altering these armor pieces. Please... don't interrupt me as I do my job."

Rainbow was left alone in the chamber... alone with her sighs.

Five Weeks in Darkreach

The perfectly polished stone rippled with dim crimson light... occasionally flickering with brighter ruby strobes.

Rainbow Dash cradled the dragonstone in her petite hooves. She sat on the outer lip to the hatched entrance to Darkreach. The ramp behind and beneath her was still scorched from the ill-fated changeling untold weeks ago. Above and around the mare, the lengths of the mesa rested dull and sleepy beneath restless constellations and looming nebulae.

"It's all so very beautiful, actually," spoke Rarity, the only ghostly mare present at that moment. She hovered a few feet away from Rainbow, gazing up at the stars with sleepy eyes and an even sleepier smile. "So long as you forget where you are and what's transpired here and all of the perilous hazards that lie ahead of us."

"Heh..." Rainbow's ears twitched. She continued turning the dragonstone about lazily in her grasp.

"In all seriousness, this would have been a lovely place to get away. A perpetually twilight retreat, as t'were." Rarity stifled a yawn. "Just... throw a few tapestries here... a few garlands there... and carpeting. Oh, how the lower chambers would absolutely sing with a touch of royal velvet upholstery." A melodic sigh. "At least those bits of armor were quite fabulous-looking... from what Fluttershy described to me, at least. A shame that I was in the Vanilla Zone at the time."

"Speaking of which," Rainbow Dash muttered. "You should get some rest."

"Perish the thought!" Rarity frowned despite her drowsiness. "All the other girls are sleeping at the moment! I shan't leave you alone to the discordant wolves if I can help it!"

"You really should have let Applejack take your shift."

"What? You don't like my company, Rainbow Dash?"

"I didn't say that," Rainbow grumbled. She rested the dragonstone in her lap and sighed. "It's just that this is—like—your third volunteer shift in a row. You're being too generous."

"You're not the only one who gets to live up to your element, darling."

"Well, my element is telling me that you should get some sleep, Rarity. It's not just the health of the Herald that I'm worried about."

"Right now, it's your health that is paramount, Rainbow," Rarity argued. "If the Dark Side doesn't do something to try and claim you, far grimmer forces might." The fashionista gulped, fidgeting suddenly. "Have... have you seen h-him as of late?"

Rainbow Dash looked towards the ground to her right. Her saddlebag lay limp, its pouches open. Scootaloo's goggles were spilling out, and in one of the lenses Rainbow could see the faint hint of a fanged smile. A lion's paw and an eagle's talon twiddled each other's "thumbs."

"He's... keeping his distance," Rainbow muttered. She looked back at the dragonstone and began turning it over and over in her hooves once again, summoning the minute strobes. "I kinda think he's doing it on purpose."

"As a taunt?"

"Mrmffff... yeah."

"Does he ever speak to you?"

"You'd think marshmallows would be less predictable," a deep voice rolled. "But I suppose some ponies were just born limp and squishy."

Rainbow clenched her jaw tight. "Unfortunately..."

"Heh heh heh..."

"Oh darling..." Rarity cooed. "That must be so terribly taxing."

Rainbow shrugged. "I've lived for over two years with a huge portion of the punk inside of me. 'Terrible' is a word that operates on its own scale, I guess."

"Yes. Funny how we've managed to get along so fine on our road trip of brooding and explosions."

Rainbow sneered through her teeth. "So does the word 'lived.'"

Rarity pouted. "Well, we—your friends—shall not leave you alone with that blasted ruffian for even a millisecond!"

"Maybe..." Rainbow exhaled. "...maybe it won't be so bad."

Rarity blanched. "I beg your pardon?!?!"

"I mean, we've been here in Darkreach for Goddess-knows-how-long."

"Weeks... a month?"

"I'm no softy, Rarity. Maybe..." She shrugged. "I can handle him, y'know?"

"Oh, I'm certain we can handle each other just fine, Sparky."

"After all..." The dragonstone flickered again, reflecting redness off of Rainbow's yellow'd eyes. In the next blink, she was frowning. "...I've kicked his butt before."

"Ughhh... Rainbow, Rainbow, Rainbow... as much as we've become endeared to your brutish side, you know as well as we do that it's a poor decision to rely solely on that and not on the wisdom you've gained throughout your journey."

"... ... ...the buck is that supposed to mean?"

Rarity tossed her hooves. "Oh, if only Twilight were here to explain it better!"

A flash of lavender light. A limp unicorn floated into existence, yawning and stretching. "Eeeeyyyyyyuhhhhh..." Twilight's voice adorably squeaked. "Whew... that was refreshing."

"Speak of the devil!" Rarity turned to smile at her ghostly friend. "Twilight! Tell Rainbow Dash here how much she needs us here to protect her!"

"Uhhhhh... that's precisely why I woke up." Twilight squinted blearily. "I'm here to relieve you, Rarity."

"But... but..." Rarity teetered in place. "... Discord! And... and velvet upholstery and cat birds..."

"Nighty niiiiiight, Rarity," Rainbow droned.

"Heehee..." Twilight, waking up rapidly, placed her hooves gently on Rarity's shoulders and shoved her in a random direction. "You've done more than your fair share of keeping watch, Rarity. I'd suggest you collapse for the long haul. I'll get Pinkie to wake you up or something twenty-four hours from now."

"Mmmmmm..." Rarity curled up into a fuzzy white ball, her eyelids fluttering closed over a dainty smile. "Pink... slumber... phweeeeeeeeee..." She gradually vanished in a lavender cloud.

"Yum yum! Marshmallows floating in the black coco of oblivion! Should be all the rage at your local Tim Hortrot's!"

"Awwwwwww shuddup," Rainbow rasped.

Twilight did a double-take. "What?"

Rainbow sighed. "Not you."

Twilight Sparkle hovered over and "sat down" beside her anchor. "He still won't leave, huh?"

A lion's paw gave a thumb's up in Scootaloo's goggles.

Rainbow's ears flattened. "Like a cockroach doing stand-up."

"Well, let's keep your mind off him, then," Twilight Sparkle said. "It's been a while, I'm sure. What's the Herald up to?"

"You mean 'down to?'"

Twilight stuck her tongue out. "You know what I mean."

"I'unno." Rainbow shrugged, rotating the luminescent stone around in her hooves. "Logan's fitting the armor together that he found. Kepler's still taking forever to go through Ranort's audio journal. Ariel was... sleeping. Flynn's working on the hover-cart thingy. Wildcard's got a few metal fingers left before he's got a fully-functioning arm."

"Heh..." Twilight smiled goofily. "...I bet he can't wait to use his middle one!"

"... ... ... ... ..."

"Ahem..." Twilight coughed adorably into her fetlock. "That... uh... that was a joke."

"I know what it was trying to be," Rainbow's voice cracked. "Just a bit surprised that you of all ponies attempted to say it!"

Twilight shrugged. "It's been a long time in Darkreach. I'm... uh... branching out."

"Well, don't. Stick to the trees that you're used to."

"Can we all afford to do that anymore?"

Silence.

The air flickered with the occasional ruby strobes.

Twilight craned her neck and nodded towards the object in Rainbow's hooves. "That the dragonstone?"

"Eeeyup." Rainbow nodded. "Still as stupid and mystifying as it was when it first rolled out of Axan's gullet."

"How long have you been holding it?"

"Long enough to find a pattern."

"A pattern?" Twilight's voice lifted. She scooted closer to Rainbow, nearly phasing through her shoulder. "Show me!"

"Okay. Check it..." Rainbow Dash lifted the dragonstone high in the air. She swung it left, towards Alpha.

The stone flickered ruby once, then was a dull crimson again.

"And... slowly now..." Rainbow swung it back right, towards Omega.

As the stone passed the Curveside angle, it flickered. Then it was dull for the next few seconds... until it was aimed approximatetly thirty and twenty degrees off Omega. Then it flickered twice before becoming dull again. Rainbow slowly waved the dragonstone back towards Alpha, and the same three flickers happened in the exact same order.

"It's... flickering..." Twilight breathed. She blinked. "At three specific intervals."

"I think it's responding to something," Rainbow said.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. But... odds are..." Rainbow squinted at the curved horizon looming darkly above them, marked with sporadic dim patches of ethereal light. "...it's three things. Located farrrrrrr away from where we are now."

"One towards Curveside... and two more towards Omega."

Rainbow nodded. "Right."

"But..." Twilight fidgeted where she sat. "What could be responding to Axan's dragonstone?"

"I don't know. But..." Rainbow took a deep breath. "I don't think it's something that belongs to the Dark Side."

Twilight's ears twitched. "... ... ..Endrax?"

"Maybe."

"Why... would she be in three places at once?"

"Beats me." Rainbow looked up... up. Her eyes settled on the harmonic gold glow that belied the distant location of the Midnight Armory in the dead-center of the curved plane. "The words I've heard about 'pieces' have a more concrete meaning now."

"If you're implying what I think you're implying..." Twilight murmured. "...then something horrible must have happened to her."

"I wouldn't doubt it," Rainbow muttered.

"Poor unfortunate dragons." Goat hair rolled in Scootaloo's goggles. "They have the most rotten luck."

"If Axan had lived long enough, I wonder if she could have communicated with her sister," Twilight said.

"Death. Dictatorship. Insanity..."

"Of course, the fact that the dragonstone is here on this side of the plane and we haven't heard a word from anyone must mean something."

"...if you ask me, if dragons were made of sterner stuff—like ponies—then maybe they wouldn't have ended up as space charcoal."

Rainbow Dash sat dead still. Her gaze was locked on the golden speck that was the Midnight Armory.

Even Twilight noticed how transfixed she was. "Rainbow? What's—?"

"Hold up, egghead." Rainbow stuffed the dragonstone into her saddlebags. She reached out, picked up Scootaloo's goggles, and placed them over her head. "I wanna try something..."

"Huh?" Twilight squinted. "Rainbow, what are you—?"

SWOOOSH! Without another word, Rainbow Dash flew straight up, gaining as much altitude as she could.

Not a Clever Pony

"Rainbow...???" Twilight Sparkle gnashed her teeth as the lavender forcefield pulled her after Rainbow Dash's rapidly ascending figure. The mesa containing Dark Reach became a distant speck against the slate gray blankness below them. "Rainbow Dash?! What are you doing?!"

"I'm not doing," Rainbow grumbled. "I'm flying!"

"Okay! Why are you flying?!" Twilight squinted into the whipping winds and starlight. "Where are you flying to?!"

"Hold on!" Rainbow's wings blurred faster and faster. "I gotta pick up some speed!"

"What for?" Twilight strained, concentrated, and finally "glided" alongside her anchor. "Rainbow," she spoke firmer, and sterner, once she was adjacent to Rainbow's curved ears. "Rainbow, if you were planning on making a long-distance flight, you really really should have alerted the rest of the Herald."

"Uh huh."

"Don't 'uh huh' me! This is serious! They're all you've got! Besides the girls and me, of course... but... you know what I mean—!"

"I can sense where they are at any time," Rainbow said calmly amidst her speeding ascent. The air grew colder and colder as she gained more and more altitude, nonstop. "If I get lost..." A shrug. "...I'll just wait until Fluttershy wakes up and find my way back to them!"

"You call that a plan?!" Twilight grimaced. She fidgeted even more. "Rainbow, tell me! Where are you going?!"

"I'm just testing something."

"Testing what?"

"The fastest way to a destination is a straight line." Rainbow struggled to speak firmly against the beating winds. Fog formed against Scootaloo's goggles and she had to wipe them clean every once in a while with an agile fetlock so she could see. "We all might be slaves to the curve, but that doesn't mean we've gotta live by it."

"Huh?"

"In other words, buck the circle." Rainbow's body angled Curveside as she repositioned her beating wings. "If there's a way to avoid all of the struggle and crud that Gwen's company went through, then I'd best darn well find it."

Twilight blinked curiously. She looked at where Rainbow's body was now angled.

Rainbow Dash kept the faint golden glow of the Midnight Armory dead-center in her sights. And even though she was flying straight towards it now, the curved landscape bent and fell away. Dead ahead was a monumentally large space that filled the void of the bent plane. It was continents in size, and it cast just as thick a shadow.

"Rainbow..." Twilight gulped. "Rainbow, you can't do this."

"Why not?"

"Look, I don't have time to explain the physics to you!" Twilight frowned. "The world isn't the only thing that's bent. The atmosphere is too!"

"You don't know that," Rainbow said, flying straight into the void that separated her from her golden goal. "This is a realm of chaos!" Something flicked. The goggles glinted with brief red and yellow "So long as we don't know what makes it all work, then what's to stop us from working things out ourselves?!"

"Rainbow, don't be stupid!" Twilight sputtered. "As awesome as you are, there are some things you just can't do!"

"And where has believing in that gotten me, huh?!" Rainbow frowned as she pushed herself against the freezing altitudes. The air grew thinner and thinner; she had to wheeze to produce her words. "Verlax tried to strip me of all I'm good for. Well screw that. Maybe what I need to do here is take control!"

"Rainbow, Verlax tried to do exactly what you're doing right now!" Twilight exclaimed, flailing her forelimb. "And it drove her crazy!"

"Verlax was never crazy." Rainbow clenched her teeth. Frost was starting to form on her mane and eyelashes. She fought the urge to shiver. "Just pathetic."

"Rainbow, even if you can make it far enough to pierce the heavens—you'll still have countless tens of thousands of miles to fly alone in deep space! Don't you get it?! You'd starve to death before you were done!"

"I just need to know... th-that I can..." Rainbow's teeth was chattering. Her coat had turned two shades bluer. "...that... th-that I didn't push us all against the meat grinder d-down below for nothing..."

"Remember, Sparky... the foundations of home will crumble without you."

Rainbow's eyes twitched.

"Rainbow!"

"A right selection or a big mistake..."

"Rainbow!" Twilight's face flickered beyond the fog. "Don't listen to him!"

Rainbow gnashed her teeth. She swung a numb fetlock up and wiped the fog away.

Fangs. Antlers. A mischievous grin. "What a nuisance. How about tossing the Element off?" A glinting smile. "You'll never have to hear her nag you again."

"Grnnngh!" Rainbow Dash flipped a few times, "punching" and "bucking" the air. "Get away from me! Go! Leave!" She hyperventilated and shrieked. All the while the heavens spun, freezing and bone chilling. "I'm never going to... listen..." She coughed. "...to you... a-again..." She wheezed.

It was impossible to breathe.

"Rainbow—!" Twilight cried.

Rainbow's eyes rolled back in her head. Her body went limp, and so did her wings.

A great black crescent twirled beneath her...

...and soon she was plunging towards it. Cold... numb...

And unconscious.

Can't Hang Without Cliffs

Peanuts.

Honey roasted peanuts.

Rainbow Dash couldn't remember the last time she ate any of those. They were definitely tasty. Pegasi salesponies used to serve them out in the open atop a floating cloud vendor that orbited the lateral residential beds of Cloudsdale. The salty/sugary taste reminded Rainbow Dash of early days at Flight Camp. Hanging out by the bleachers and giggling the hours away with Gilda. In the afternoon, she'd spare a few of the peanuts and slip them secretly into Fluttershy's saddlebag when the dainty pegasus wasn't looking. She was always so thin and gangly; she always looked like she could use more food in her. Of course, Rainbow Dash wouldn't ever admit to that.

Perhaps she could go shopping for some honey roasted peanuts. Her taste buds could use the nostalgia trip. Also—there was no telling how the Noble Jury would react. Belle and Kera would appreciate it for certain. Josho, no doubt. Pilate and Roarke—that was anypony's guess. Ebon would want to make some new recipe out of it and Eagle Eye would undoubtedly humor him over how good it tasted.

Rainbow Dash wondered who would be able to help her procure some. She thought of Booster Spice—he knew the Alafreon countryside well enough. If nothing else, he might be able to procure some peanuts from the western fringes of Val Roa, presuming there weren't any naga or Cartel members encroaching upon the farmland.

Now as for the honey...

"... ... ..." Rainbow's brow furrowed.

A lot of time had passed between Flight Camp and Alafreo. Months? Years? Something about clouds and continents. Explosions. A big violet dragon and a bloodied wing.

"Rainbow Dash..."

Rainbow didn't have time to go searching for honey roasted peanuts. She had to take down Chrysalis... or was it Revan... or was it Verlax—

"Rainbow Dash!!!"

Her eyelids fluttered open. The air was wind and turbulence. A screaming unicorn fell beside her in a lavender streak.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight Sparkle shrieked. "Pull up!""

Ground.

Rainbow's ruby lightning bolt illuminated a shrinking spotlight across a patch of arid rock.

Definitely ground.

"Nuts!" Rainbow Dash shouted. She pivoted her wings, finally redirecting the dive of her limp body.

SWOOOOOOOOOSH! She pulled up at the very last second. Her fuzzy belly burned from the frictious contact it made with the platateu below. But—within the next breath—she had flapped her wings and thrown herself high enough to avoid a cleft of rocks.

Barely.

"Ooomf!"

She plowed through an erratic pocket of air, barreled sideways, and grinded to a dusty halt against the surface of the wasteland.

As her body came to a stop, she felt wet all over. Her mind went into overdrive, and she rationalized that it was frost from her high-altitude climb melting across her fuzzy features.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." She groaned, allowing her battered muscles to lay limp. "...ho ho ho ho ho hohhhhhhhhhhh-boyoooooo..." She coughed, sputtered, and rolled over. "Whelp... so much for the Rainbow Space Program."

Her head fell back...

...and an upside down lavender frown came into view.

Rainbow waved a limp hoof. "Hiya, toots," her voice cracked.

"Stay right where you are, Rainbow," Twilight Sparkle grumbled.

Rainbow blinked. "... ... ...consider it done."

"Rrrrngh!" Twilight dashed forward and began swinging her hooves violently. They phased through Rainbow's skull with constant lavender bursts of ghostly light.

Rainbow squinted into the unicorn barrage. "What are you doing?"

"Pretending to hit you!" Twilight snarled, not letting loose.

"Ah. Cool." Rainbow wheezed. "Could you pretend to go get me a grilled cheese sandwich while you're at it?!"

"Do you have a single serious bone in your body?!"

"Totally!" Rainbow rasped. "It just so happens that my body is hungry!"

"Rrrrgh... Rainbow..."

"I'm not kidding. I came to dreaming of honey roasted peanuts."

Twilight grunted and pretended to kick and buck Rainbow's spine.

Rainbow sighed, eyes rolling. "Twilight, you're an egghead. Not an eggbeater, will you knock it off?!"

"Well, will you stop doing stupid things and try to be serious about your well-being for once?!" Twilight yelped, nearly hyperventilating.

"Okay... hold the sound stone." Rainbow sat up with a glaring frown. "I found you guys again, and I was super friggin' serious. Then the Quade happened."

"Rainbow—"

"So I tried to let loose a bit! Then Verlax happened!" She waved one hoof. "I get half of my ghost friends telling me I need to relax." She waved the other hoof. "I get the others telling me I gotta put on my war face..."

"Being relaxed doesn't mean being stupid!"

"Stupid's gotten me to a lot of places!"

"That's not stupidity! That's luck!"

"Easy for you to say!" Rainbow Dash hobbled up to her hooves and shouted in the middle of the darkness. "I could have stayed in Val Roa and thrown allllllll of this behind me! But no! I did the stupid thing! And I didn't get through to the other side of the Choke to embrace your nerdiness again just through sheer luck! There's a purpose to all of this! To me! I'm the Austraeoh! Sometimes... I-I just gotta push, Twilight! Things come together when they need to come together!"

"Did Commander Hurricane think the same thing?!" Twilight frowned. "How far did she get?!"

Rainbow blinked at her. Another eye roll, and she slumped down onto her haunches with an adolescent pouch. "Just what does everypony friggin' want from me, anyways?"

"You've gotta find a middle ground, Rainbow!" Twilight said, her voice becoming slightly softer. She trotted around the mare and stared with eyes full of concern. "Every time you get too serious, you do something crazy. And every time you get too sure of yourself, you go full monster."

"Jee, thanks."

"Rainbow, what I'm trying to tell you is that you have to find a balance! Discover what works for you on the whole and not test the waters so wildly!"

"Twilight, what balance is there to find?!" Rainbow gestured wildly. "I was on my own for over a year before I discovered you and the other girls could come back. And now I'm on the Dark Side, accompanied by a group a badasses whom I didn't even know about months ago. Don't you see?! It's always changing! I just..." She hugged herself, staring off across the star-lit plains. "...I just want to be ahead of the curve for once." She gulped. "I'm sick and tired of regretting everything in hindsight."

"Well, you pick the dumbest ways to try and solve it."

"Yeah." Rainbow exhaled. "I do."

Twilight stared in silence.

Rainbow sat, unmoving.

"... ... ...you need a break," Twilight said.

"Hmrfff..." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Celestia knows I can't afford one—"

"You need a break," Twilight reinforced with a frown. "Take a few days to just rest and relax inside of Darkreach."

"Ha!"

"Do it!" Twilight frowned. "Relax. Stop stressing yourself over the fate of your journey or the fate of the Herald. Sit down and rest your mind and center yourself. Or—I swear to Luna—the girls and I are going to go on strike."

Rainbow gave her a curious squint. "You can actually do that?"

Twilight smiled devilishly. "It'll just be you, Discord, and the walls of Darkreach. Think you can manage on your own?"

"... ... ...that's unbelievably evil and cruel. Even for you."

"I can do stupid things too."

"No you can't." Wincing, Rainbow Dash stumbled up to her aching hooves and turned about. "Won't give you the satisfaction."

"Does that mean you'll take it easy for the next few days?"

"No. It just means that I won't give you the satisfaction."

"Rainbow..."

"Ah. There." Rainbow Dash pointed. "Found the mesa."

"That's not the mesa."

"Then help me find the mesa."

"Not until you promise never to do something stupid like that again."

"Twilight—"

"I mean it!"

Rainbow groaned. "Twilight Sparkle, I—Rainbow Danger Dash—promise never to fly so high into the sky that I almost pierce the heavens and lose consciousness and fall to my death ever again."

"Mrmmmmmm..."

"Good enough?"

"Will you say it again with the Herald present?"

"Oh you've gotta be—"

"Will you?!"

"Yes! I'll say it with them present!" Rainbow's tail flicked. "I'll confess my sins and let Logan sit me in the corner."

"Good. Now that's better."

"So... where's the mesa?"

"Uhm..." Twilight pointed nervously. "You're looking at it."

Rainbow groaned and began flying limply in the structure's direction. "I think I'd much prefer you beating my face to a pulp."

"Once we're back in Equestria, we can talk it over."

"Yeah, if I make it that far."

"That's the point."

Just a Little Ingenuity

Hoofsteps.

Ariel looked up from where she sat in the middle of the common room, polishing a Cylindrimanian reconaissance sphere.

Rainbow Dash trotted into view, her mane evidently wind-blown. She glanced at Ariel.

Ariel glanced back.

"... ... ...got the local surveys back from the ancient probes?" Rainbow asked.

Ariel nodded. "Yes."

"Logan almost finished with his arsenal?"

Ariel nodded. "Yes."

"Flynn fixing up the wagon with hover-rock-thingies?"

Ariel nodded. "Yes."

"Kepler uncovered more notes from Ranort?"

Ariel nodded. "Yes."

"Wildcard's nearly got his left arm back?"

Ariel nodded. "Yes."

"Seraphimus kill anyone while I was away?"

Ariel shook her head. "No."

Rainbow exhaled. She looked across the room to where the former Commander lay shackled to pipework. She glanced at Ariel again. "Awesome. I'm going to go." She trotted for the nearest stairwell.

Ariel craned her neck. "Go where?"

"Go chillax," Rainbow muttered. "I made a promise not to kill myself."

"Okay! Cool!" Ariel smiled. She fidgeted. "... ... ...can I join you?"

"How did you ultimately decide to compensate forr the grravitational centerr?" Kepler asked.

"Well, that's the thing." Flynn pointed across the storage compartment to where the wide, flat metal cart hovered—anchored to the corner of the place. Several chunks of ancient manacrystals glowed across its undercarriage. "The piece of shit was just flopping about real willy-nilly. Hours ago, if you so much as sneezed on the thing, it would flip over like a motherbucker."

"Ach..." Kepler shook his head. "Most drreadful indeed."