The mess hall of the Lightning Bearer had been converted into a large interior prison-yard. All of the tables had been shoved to the side, and in every corner there was a Xonan situated with mana-brimming scimitars. They eyed the Ledomaritan masses in the center of the chamber with evident disgust.
At the turn of the hour, a side door slid open. A pair of former-enforcers trotted in, pulling wagons filled with trays of gray porridge. Several Xonans accompanied them, ushering them along at sword point. The tattooed stallions shouted, and the soldiers of Ledo acted as unwitting servants, passing the thick slop along to the unenthusiastic passengers.
At one point during the food serving, a wave of turbulence rattled through the chamber. A Ledomaritan dropped three trays at once, splattering the floor all over with the viscous stuff.
Immediately, a Xonan grunt trotted up, shouting and barking at him. The Ledomaritan frantically squatted down to clean the mess—only to receive a savage buck to the ribs. Instead of stopping their comrade, several other Xonans rushed in, kicking and striking with their armored hooves. This savage act soon turned into a game, with several of the stallions chuckling at the bloody body twitching them in a pile of oatmeal.
"Hey! He's had enough!" one brave ex-enforcer shouted. "Let him go already!"
The first Xonan to have inflicted the beating turned around. He smirked at his comrades, then spun about with a savage hoof to the speaker's cheek.
The stallion fell to the floor, hissing in pain. His associates ran to his side, only to be urged back by a bright glow of energy. The stallion looked up in time to greet the oncoming fangs of a translucent serpent.
The Xonan reined the monster in at the last second, allowing its jaws to snap and spit just inches away from the Ledomaritan's muzzle. "Haak bleen kru mest thriul Ledomulien deek!"
Several other Xonans laughed uproariously.
The Ledomaritan stood his ground, shivering slightly.
The Xonan looked over his shoulder. Then, with the flickering mana of his summoned beast playing a lightshow against his cold blue eyes, he leaned forward and hissed, "It must eat a lot, even if it must eat its own teeth, Ledomulien." He snickered as the tattoos shimmered along his upper shoulders and neck. "It is no longer in the country of Queen, dreit?" He spat into the ex-enforcer's face, as if disgusted with the forced twisting of his tongue "Pray to Nagu'n, it must! Her glory awaits it!"
That said, the Xonan trotted off, marched over the groaning stallion's body, and resumed his watch over the food distribution.
High above, peering through a loose metal panel in the ceiling, a pair of copper lenses glinted—trained on the Xonan with blue eyes. Seconds passed, and a mare's shadow slinked away, sliding the panel shut in place.
"You need me for what-now?" Zetta asked.
Dalen took a deep breath from where he stood on the other side of the force field. "You've been picking up a strange sound emanating from the east up until the Lightning Bearer switched hooves, dreit—?" He took a deep breath, cleared his throat, and re-uttered: "Correct?"
"Uhhh... yeah?" Zetta slowly nodded. "If there's still any of 'Straker' left in ya, buddy, then you know that I made a rapid report on the matter every shift!"
"The past reports of your listening station are not of importance," Dalen said. "If you attempted to, would you be able to pick up that undulating sound again?"
"In a heartbeat!" Zetta narrowed her eyes. "But what the heck brought this up?"
Kera stuck her head out from behind Dalen's body. She waved her hoof and smiled wide.
"The only thing that you are at liberty to know is that we are requiring your assistance in relocating and then making an assessment of that sound."
"You don't say?" Zetta glanced at Basso, then folded her forelimbs as she glared out the jail cell. "And what if I refuse?"
Dalen glared. "Do not pretend that you are in the position to bargain—"
"Bullcrap!" Rainbow Dash spoke in, surprising Zetta as she leaned dizzily towards the force field. "You obviously wouldn't have come here if you didn't need anything!"
"Believe me..." Dalen glanced at Kera out the corners of his eyes. "It was not my decision."
"Even still, you're here and you obviously need help!" Rainbow Dash frowned. "How about a little bit of tit for tat, sour tits?"
"Hey!" Zaid chirped. "Can I steal that?"
Dalen sighed. "What do you have in mind?"
"She agrees to help you, and you let some of us go!"
Dalen sneered. "Out of the question!"
"How about she agrees to help you—" Kera trotted around to face Dalen. "—and you move them into a better location!"
"Out of the question!" Dalen shoved Kera aside.
"Don't push her around like that!" Nightshade grunted.
Dalen pointed angrily. "I'm warning you—"
"Look, I'll do it!" Zetta's voice cracked.
"Zetta..." Basso began.
Zetta shoved his head back and stood up straight. "I'll do it. I'll help you with whatever it is you want me to study. But you gotta promise me one thing!" She pointed at the dozen ponies inside the cell with her. "You keep these ponies safe! If I screw up, don't take it out on them! Got it?"
Dalen opened his mouth, lingered, then slowly nodded. "That sounds like an honorable agreement." His eyes glared in Rainbow's direction. "Provided they don't do anything to provoke the wrath of Nagu'n."
"Prick me," Rainbow said, "Do I not kick your ass?!"
"Settle down, sunshine," Nightshade muttered, glaring into the floor. "This is delicate enough as it is."
"And could you give them decent food for once?" Zetta pointed. "Is that too much to ask?"
"Fine," Dalen said. "It is an agreement."
"So..." Zetta took a deep breath. "When do you need my help?"
Dalen gestured towards two of the guards by the lavender book. They operated the controls and the force fields fell. "Right now."
Zetta blinked. "Oh."
"Is that... a problem?"
"Not at all. Let's... uh..." Zetta trotted nervously towards the opening in the cell. "Let's do this."
"Zetta, think this through!" Basso insisted. He stood up, nearly bumping his bulky head on the ceiling. "There's no telling what they want!"
"It's okay, Basso!" Zetta smiled back as guards trotted closer to her. "You're all going to be safe! I promise!"
"It's you I'm worried about!" Basso murmured with a sad face. "If you screw up, what's gonna become of you?"
To that, Zetta only bit her lip. She yelped slightly as she was hoisted viciously away and into the hallway outside. The guards switched the force field back on with a dull hum. In the meantime, Kera trotted over to Dalen's side.
"Say, uhm, since I'm here and all, do you mind if I catch up with old friends?"
Dalen sighed. "I do believe we've talked about this, young one."
"Look, even if them, me, and some magical moose in the flower fields are all heretics, I still owe them my life ten times over. I mean—whew!—you won't believe how many times they've saved my etched keister from total death and explosions and stuff!"
"I do not need you entertaining any of their brash thoughts—"
"But I told you I owe them!" Kera bit her lip with a foalish pout. "Isn't it the honorable thing for me to do?"
Dalen's lined brow furrowed. "Alright. Ten minutes." With a breath, he shuffled out of the room. "You are learning the ways of your flesh and blood swiftly. I only wish it were different ways." He paused beside the guards. "Hass greim seit thruun thien trentte Xon-Nagu'n." And then he was gone.
As the guards watched on, Kera swished from side to side, hiding her smile from them as she slithered towards the cell. "Heeeeeeey, guys!" she murmured beneath her breath. "How's it hanging?"
Rainbow Dash's jaw was dropped. As soon as Zaid reached over to her chin, she batted the stallion's hoof away and leaned forward. "Kid! Are you hurt?"
Nightshade was by her side. "Did they damage you in anyway?"
"Did they feed you weird crap?"
"Are they looking after your health?"
Rainbow growled aside at the mare. "Hey! I'm the one worried sick for her!"
"By Spark's Flame, you are."
"Shove off!" Rainbow bumped her in the flank—reeling slightly from the exertion. "Nnngh! I mean it! Get your own foal!"
"I had twelve. Your friend robbed them from me!"
"How the buck do you have a receipt for twelve kidnapped foals?!"
"Guys!" Kera snarled, then flashed a look at the guards behind her. Speaking in a lower tone, she murmured aside, "I'm hoping this thing with Zetta will buy us some time."
"For what, pray tell?" Nightshade murmured back.
"Nothing you're going to do, pincushion head!" Kera grumbled. "But isn't this the sort of time when you... y'know..." Kera gestured towards Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow blinked wearily. "Do what?"
Zaid leaned in. "I'm thinking of a joke involving Mick Foaly and the Buck Show's right front hoof."
"Huh?" Rainbow gave him a double-take, then sneered, "No! That's not gonna work out for anypony! Not right now!"
"Why not, Rainbowwww?" Kera whined breathily. She flicked her head back towards the glowing runes. "Is it 'cuz of the book?"
"No, more like because of the evil serpent monster things surrounding us in a giant tin can floating over Xonan territory!" Rainbow hissed. "Face it, I'm glad that you're on the outside, kiddo, but right now we're going to have to wait on another helpful pony altogether!"
"Helen Horse?" Zaid asked.
"Guess again."
"What?! I loved her in 'Mane About You!'"
"Unnnngh..."
The Xonan's mouth hung open. Threads of mane hair swayed on either side of him.
"Mmmmnngh... ughhh..."
Slowly, his blue eyes fluttered open. He squinted, then tilted his head up... only to realize that he was tilting his head down.
Ashen valleys and jagged mountain peaks loomed belove. Cold winds blew between the buzzing turbines of red-hot mana engines on either side of his dangling body.
"Aaaah! Aaaaaa-haaaaaugh!" He flailed and writhed in panic. He tossed a sweaty glance at his flanks. His body was tied to a support strut along the underbelly of the Lightning Bearer, and an empty tranquilizer dart remained embedded in his flank.
Just then, with a roar of thruster engines, a helmet-less Roarke levitated in front of him.
"Huh, well that confirms a long-standing assumption." Her eye-lenses thrusted in and out. "Your tattoos turn just as pale as the rest of you."
"Haat threen mraak suln bruut!" He stammered, dangling helplessly. "Nnnngh! Freek jaat thien raas, Searen trentte!"
"Uh uh uh..." Roarke leaned in, hissing against his quivering muzzle. "Be a good breeder and talk to my ears, not your bogus serpent god's."
"Nnnngh..." He merely growled at her. "Heen traas thien raak—"
She slammed him across the cheek. "Bad idea." Before he could breath, she punched him again—savagely this time. Then a third time. He was a sputtering mess when she leaned in to growl back, "I'll have you know that I can and will hit you until the marbles in your mouth become paste, so let's spit it out!"
He twitched, glaring at her behind a swolen face. "It cannot force anything from it, Searen horse!" His eyes narrowed on her. "Nagu'n guides its path with Her Song! Rekk sien muul trent Xon-Nagu'n!"
"Hmmm..." Roarke nodded. "Those are some fancy tongues you like using." She produced a blade out of her forelimb's armor. Chiiing! "Let's see which one you choose to scream with." That said, she sliced the cord fastening him to the hull with one swipe.
"Aaaaaaa-aaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaah!" The stallion fell to an agonizing death.
Thwwp! Roarke shot a metal cable out of her suit and tethered his grasping body at the last second.
"As far as anypony on board knows, you fell into a power manifold and died! Your fate is mine and mine alone to control! One drop of this cable, and all you'll ever be is a stain, blessed by Nagu'n!"
"What... Wh-What...?!" The stallion struggled to look up at her, his blue eyes filled with terror. "What does it w-want to know?!"
Roarke growled, "Where... are... we... going?!"
I have no idea what "belove" means. >.>
anyway, Roarke is scary. :3
I like that the jerk Xonan gets threatened so forcefully after his brutality. Very satisfying.
Item #28478 of lines that wouldn't make any sense outside of Odrsjot's context.
This is most satisfying to me, I especially enjoy Roarke's interrogation methods.
Roarke most Torturous.
~Basso
I wonder if Kera's going to try anything stupid like breaking out her friends. That's a one-way ticket to getting all of them killed; I don't think the Xonans will hold back a second time on everybody except Rainbow.
24
This is some top-notch Roarking right here. Hopefully she'll have some sort of badassery to get our heroes (and Zaid) out of the lockup.
Yay! Roarke being badass and Kera being loyal.
Here's hoping for some delicious, nutritious info.
31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljed4fYGpH1qa8ir9o1_r1_500.gif
Im still wondering if theres a way that the book can be used to shield not only itself, but block, stop, or otherwise make the chaos metal at least unresponsive, dead, or even a liability. Would be so intresting to see mr Xonan Knight loose his snake socks, and Rainbow to get a reinjection instead.
Or just no snakes, and Basso let loose to chew gum and kick ass. Oh, wait. No gum.
Nice! I don't blame Roarke for being extra tough on these guys. As much as they talk about "honor" there is no honor in beating down an enemy that is already defeated.
I wonder if RD will ever get conscious control over her chaos soon. That would be freakin' sweet.
Or OP. But it leads to more explosions, so crossing my fingers.
Roarke is best interrogator.
Messing with Roarke is bad for everypony who is not Roarke. When will they learn that?
Somewhere, somehow, Floydien just sneezed.
3440806
Honor is a veil behind which the most vile of people have hidden their actions.
Roarke Most Metal strikes again.
Forty-five four-count flutter kicks, ):(. Knock 'emk out!
3442155 Agreed. I know these Ledomaritans probably deserve it for what they've done and they certainly HAVE done a lot to the defenseless but they weren't spouting about honor either, just duty, which can sometimes be a very similar veil as honor.
3442182
I think the point is that there IS no "good side" in this war. This has to be further proof of Harmony dyi\ng and the machine needing to be restarted. If not, eventually this will spread to Equestria.
Roarke is a mare after my own heart. Sarcasm, Violence, and lots and lots of metal. Oh yes.
The real question is, what is it Zetta is truly hearing, because something tells me it's NOT what the Xonans expect. (It's gotta be space whales. With bowls of petunias for hats.)
3442406 War is never one-sided in its atrocities. This makes me wonder, however, if the original Hearth's Warming founders actually came from lands like this, and brought their conflicts with them -- and if it truly means Equestrians are a breed apart and what sets it so. We've seen this strife and lack of Harmony from the borders of Equestria on out.
3440483
If y'all would fix that link, then maybe I'd have a hint'r two.
But anyway, I'd like to know what that is.
3442698 Point well made. Neither the gryphon nor the minotaurs are in particular harmony, and the founders came to Equestria purely because their disharmony snow-stormed their entire country (and nearly did again).
I would care to suppose that Harmony is a choice, and one that is facilitated by the Princesses: hence why the further one leaves from their presence, the less harmony we see.
3440727 Considering recent activity, and the main ingredient of traditional chewing gum; I'm pretty sure some could be made.
3442406 The beloveds living in the cities are only 'bad' in the sense that they as a country are allowing their leaders to perpetuate the evil that is taking place (although I'm sure a lot of it isn't known by the general populace). Likewise, the Xonan parents of the kidnapped foals that were stuck at Nightshade's old facility were likewise just ordinary ponies caught up in something beyond them. Similarly they too cannot entirely be absolved from allowing their government to perpetuate this war; but that doesn't make them inherently 'bad' ponies.
I'm pretty sure that both sides would blame each other for their having to resort to increased torturous forms of experimentation to stay ahead in an arms race. The Xonans pretty much just said as much: they had to use the chaos strips to stop themselves being wiped out by the Ledomaritans who had better technology. Furthermore I'm pretty sure that the Nightshade research was done purely to counter the chaos monsters. And thus it spirals continually further until both sides have no claim on moral rights at all.
With this amount of crap going on, I doubt we're leaving this Ledo/Xona arc until at least the next book.
So, with that in mind, lets hope that Roarke can get something done, because this lack of progression, with everyone helpless and incapacitated... I get the feeling it is likely to get a bit stale quite quickly.
3442905 The case that an immortal's particular brand of philosophy influences the regions around them heavily seems to be the story that is getting told here - certainly in Equestria, with Celestia and Luna's espousal of Harmony as a divine and holy right to which all are entitled and should live by as a way of life. We see something of the same with Queen Goldmane, in her ivory tower - while her land did hold more strife from neighbors, still it was much more a bastion of harmony than others.
Then you see the likes of Axan, whom had her world surrounded in conflict and heat and death. This, from what we've seen of her, seems to match her own particular views. Now we have Xonans, whom by all accounts could be said to be heavily influenced by Discord in the form of chaos -- Na'gun most certainly smacks of his hubris. And there were the others that have been mentioned, but not yet encountered.
The true question here is this - originally, the pegasi (and presumably, other ponies) along with however many remain of the dozen participants of the original ring lived in some form of harmony. They had to have, to build and create the Machine World. Presumably, this was also before the ages of the Immortals as are found now. This implies harmony on a broad scale can exist without immortal influence or interference. That leaves lie to a few questions.
1) Was it a failure of harmony that shattered the ring machine world in the first place or something else?
2) Is Dash a prophet of the harmony espoused by Celestia and Luna, or is she a prophet of the original harmony of the ring world?
3) Are Luna and Celestia espousers of the original harmony of the machine world, of which their knowledge is limited, and if not, is their brand of harmony compatible with what may be required to restore it?
These questions, I fear, may not be answered for a very long time.
Serving the Spark with cruelty. The Harmony's silent today.
3443398
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I think that Harmony is the natural ordered state of the universe. However I also believe that pockets of chaotic power are allowed to exist, since a state of perfect order would never allow any real choices to be made.
These choices are needed to allow ponies a chance to grow and learn; with a goal (reachable only by a few in their lives) to ascend to a higher state, where they can avail themselves of a balanced use of all the powers of the 3 races (i.e. Alicorns). Thus any pony who reaches a state of understanding of their talent, or in other words an order or equilibrium within themselves, can become an Alicorn. They can then influence others to an extent that will improve their lives; these ponies improve the whole country around them.
There is little canon history to say when the two sisters took over and why. All we know is that the first Equestrians discovered that Friendship overcame the negative emotions that drove the power of the Windigoes. The Elements of Harmony seem to be a later thing, although they too revolve around a central power of Friendship.
Thus I personally do not think that Celestia or Luna have much to do with the original universal harmony. Rather, I think that they espoused certain virtues (like the current bearers of the Elements) and realising a need for harmony to keep the Equestrians united and to promulgate a better future for the ponies under their care, they used the Elements to do so. Where these Elements came from we don't know; and I don't think that they were specifically created by Celestia or Luna, merely discovered and utilised in response to a threat such as Discord.
On an aside, I did hear a rather intriguing theory that linear time is broken in Equestria. This is why you see inconsistencies like Granny Smith founding Ponyville, and still being alive 200+ years later. My own thoughts, following this theory being told to me, were that time is based on planetary revolutions.
If linear time is indeed completely broken: then perhaps so too are the natural revolutions of the planets: for which reason Celestia and Luna were created/brought about/stepped up to undertake the management of the motions of the Sun, Moon and Stars to save those who lived in this world. Thus they live in a broken system kept running only by the care of those with power to stop the system breaking completely.
Back to the problem at hand: I see Dash as an emissary of Celestia, certainly: espousing an harmonic principle of Loyalty; and with the other Elements gone, to some extent representing their values too. I think that she was sent on this journey for one reason by the sisters, but that her mission has expanded as we learn that others aside from Celestia or Luna seem to have her as an important piece in their long-term goals. How Dash fits in with the ring, the pegasi ancients, or with the machine world is yet to be seen.
I don't always agree with Roarke's methods... but her interrogation style certainly is effective.
3442791 Does this work?
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Alright, so it wasn't Pilate. At least Zetta's buying them some time, though. We still don't know why they want Austraeoh yet...And DAMN. Roarke can be scary when she wants to be. How lucky that thE first guard she caught could speak English? Or...do they even have that as an established language...For that matter, she might've had to go through a few Xonans first before this guy. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
When Zaid is asking to steal your jokes, you know you've hit rock bottom.
3443398
What if the ancient pegasi (and possibly other ponies) fled the ring world when it broke up? They went back to whatever world they originally came from, or some other planet that could harbor life, with a cultural consciousness of the need for harmony. During their time away, they pursued harmony, and so evolved and ascended, while knowledge of the ring world was lost. They turned to space exploration to spread harmony, and re-discovered a chunk of the ring as a "new" planet shrouded in chaos.
I can't think of any other way to explain how the pegasi pre-existed the alicorns, and the similarity of all the pony races.
Say what you want about her, but you cannot deny...Roarke's got style.
Hopefully this plan of Kera's doesn't go belly-up before our team of misfits is ready to blow the proverbial popsicle stand.
Onward!
Roarke.
-SPirit
'atta GIRL roarke!!!!!
show that xonan fuck that you mean buisness!!!
Roarke is as persuasive as always . . . and still just as terrifying.
You know, I can't help but to think all of your errors that you never correct are intentional... perhaps a secret story is to be gleaned from them.
Pfft, yeah right. Still, you WOULD be batshit enough for that...
Day 1 of Ordsjot done...I think.... i'm losin track, this is either day 1 or 2...pretty sure it's one though....
The night beckons!
edit:turns out this is day 2....any ways...
Merchant of Venice? Somepony's a closet egghead. And possibly Jewish.
So...not contacting Pilate then. No surprise. I wonder just what this Nagu'un is?.
Also, Roarke pulling a batman here.
6252307 Haha yep, I instantly thought of Batman dangling the guy over the ledge.
6252307
Well it looks in similar spelling to Naga ,,, and all of her chaos spawn are snakes. So probably some kind of Naga-Pony. Or a snake demon of some sort.