Ebon Mane’s hooves carried him softly through the middle level of the Noble Jury. He hummed lightly to himself, his voice muffled quietly by a scroll of paper clamped between his teeth. He glanced left and right, eying the solid metal doors to the small crew quarters. The light sounds of snoring breaths could be heard through the bulkheads.
The stallion smiled to himself, trotting until he came upon a door that hung open along the port side. He shuffled through the frame, entering his cramped bunkroom. Quietly—so as not to wake the ponies next to him—he closed the door with barely a sound.
He was cast into darkness for a while, at least until a hoof reached up and twisted a knob along the upper wall. A single bulb of manalight flickered to life, casting a dim amber glow over his features and the bunkbeads lining the wall perpendicular to the door. Exhaling heavily, he dropped the scroll onto the lower bunk’s pillow and reached towards a metal locker pressed tightly to the opposite wall. Pulling two drawers out, he produced an inkwell and a pen.
After cracking the kinks in his neck, Ebon sighed, then climbed onto the lower bed. He folded his limbs beneath him, squirming slightly as his weight settled into the weight of the mattress. With a contented smile, he then stretched the scroll out across the mattress, dipped the pen into the inkwell, and began scribbling across the top of the paper with his mouth.
Dearest Mother,
I talked to a Princess today. According to Rainbow Dash, her name is Princess Luna, and she controls the very stars above us from a magical land named Equestria. Can you believe that? After so much war and craziness, there’s still plenty of surprises that this world has yet to share with me. The nifty thing is, I’m not anxious about it. Not in the least. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I feel safe.
Yes, I feel very… safe with the Noble Jury. It’s almost as if I have friends again. And I don’t mean just Propsy, but such wonderful and interesting characters as Bellesmith and Floydien and Eagle Eye. Nopony’s perfect, of course. Many of us are biting at each other’s muzzles from time to time. But hey, dysfunction is the way of life, at least for most of the world. It almost feels like… a family…
In the morning dawnlight, the Noble Jury coasted over a final line of emerald trees before hovering above a spacious valley that stretched alongside a riverbank. Rainbow Dash flew eagerly along the starboard edge of the ship. She gasped wide at the rolling hills and waved dramatically towards the cockpit from where she flew with a bright grin.
Floydien signaled back with a waving hoof. Bellesmith and Eagle Eye smiled at each other as the ship lowered down to a grassy hill besides a bend in the river. With a flare of rockets, Roarke leapt off the stern of the ship and drifted down until she stood just beneath the vessel’s lowering hood. She gestured with two forelimbs and shouted commands, guiding the ship to a safe stop against the earth. Just seconds after it landed, the hangar in the back slid open, its metal door slats rattling loudly in the morning air.
One by one, ponies stepped out: Josho, Props, Kera, and Ebon Mane. They flexed their legs, enjoying the feel of the soft earth. With a giggling squeal, Kera began running in circles, her horn slicing through the dewy air.
We each have our own individual parts to play on board this remarkable vessel. It’s almost too good to be true. But, with what I keep hearing from the likes of Bellesmith, Pilate, and Rainbow Dash—the originators of this epic pilgrimage—luck is just part of the whole grand adventure. And I certainly am feeling very lucky.
Floydien runs this ship flawlessly and he knows the vessel from the inside out… almost a little too well. Eagle Eye is great at spotting distant things on the horizon, so as to help us hide from Ledomaritan patrols or Xonan raid parties. Propsy, of course, is a natural in the ship’s engine room—or the “womb” as she likes to call it. Roarke is a great thinker and warrior. Can you imagine that? Pilate is a genius; his skills in navigation and history is impeccable. Belle gives us all moral support and Kera knows how to make everypony laugh. Even Josho, for all of his slovenly habits and raunchy attitude, is priceless for his knowledge of the warfront and what areas we’d best avoid in our flight east.
And then, at the head of the entire group, is Simon the Squirrel. No, I’m just kidding, Mother. It’s Rainbow Dash. And she’s a fabulous specimen of a pony, to say the least. Never mind the otherworldly wings she’s sporting or the magical amulet that she carries around her neck or her seemingly ethereal connection to a prehistoric plane of existence—the mare is simply the best there ever was. And she carries it with her wherever she goes, proudly, unabashedly, loudly. I wish I could possess even a fraction of that confidence, much less inspire it so easily in others.
Just what is it that I do, you wonder? Why, I’m the ship’s cook, or at least I am until we reach our elusive destination, Gray Smoke. This has made me both the center of attention as well as the center of contempt on board this ship. The latter can be blamed on a severe lack of resources, but all of that is about to change. Yes, I do believe things are about to get a lot more wholesome around here.
Kera telekinetically carried a basket of thickly bundled edibles: flowers, dandelions, daisies, daffodils, and marigolds. She smiled proudly in the air as Bellesmith trotted after her, chuckling at the filly’s enthusiasm as she herself trucked three thick baskets full of four times as many flowers. Trotting in the opposite direction, Josho and Eagle Eye carried fishing gear as they made for a lake beyond a thick line of trees. With a gust of air, Rainbow Dash floated down from a towering fruit tree and held out three different types of fruit before Ebon Mane’s grasp.
Ebon Mane turned around from a basket full of pears and squinted curiously at the various samples and their respective colors. He rubbed his chin in thought. Unfolding a knife from his saddlebag, he unpeeled a part of one fruit and gave it a tiny lick with his tongue. He tilted his head skyward as he studied the taste. With raised eyebrows, he did the same with the second sample, unpeeling the fruit slightly and touching it with his tongue. He immediately spat into the ground with a wincing expression.
Rainbow Dash smiled bashfully. Her ruby lightning bolt reflected his burgundy hoof as he grasped the last fruit and gave it a test as well. After a few seconds, he smiled, then raised the first and third fruits before Rainbow Dash.
The pegasus nodded with a bright grin and rocketed back into the trees to collect more of the selected fruit. As she did so, a loud roaring sound rolled across the valley. Ebon Mane turned to look, as did several other ponies.
Josho and Eagle Eye came galloping out of the line of trees, tossing their fishing gear and screaming at the top of their lungs. On thundering paws, an enraged manticore chased after them, its mane flaring as it sped angrily towards the Noble Jury.
Pilate threw himself before Bellesmith’s and Kera’s trembling figures. He gritted his teeth, facing the direction of the intense vibrations. With bloodlust, the manticore rushed towards the hapless equines.
With a flash of metal, Roarke shot down and landed in front of the beast. Her helmet flickered a menacing red.
The manticore paused briefly, then reared its claws as it flew angrily at the Searonese mare.
All Roarke had to do was twitch her neck, and a manarifle popped out of her shoulder armor. One single shot echoed across the valley.
Everything just fits together so well. We really click well as a group. Oddly enough, though, I find that this happens the best whenever Rainbow Dash is around. Even though she’s a stranger to this part of the world, and even though there’s a lot of things she doesn’t indulge in as much as we do, I can’t help but feel as though she’s the backbone of this entire group. For all of her talk and bravado, all she really needs to do is be around, and everything is just… harmonious.
How odd for a creature who is so obsessed, so guilt-ridden, and so vexxed over the part she has to play in “chaos”...
The next evening, as the Noble Jury floated through the dark clouds, Ebon Mane finished sliding the last plate of smoked meat onto the table inside the mess hall. Josho grinned ravenously before giving the stallion a nod of gratitude. With graceful telekinesis, he levitated a fork and knife and dug into the meal.
Ebon Mane smiled proudly, sitting at the head of the table beside the door to the steaming hot kitchen. He chatted pleasantly with Props and Pilate and others as they enjoyed their portions. In the meantime, Bellesmith trotted out of the kitchen with a tray balanced across her back. She paused to give Pilate a gentle nuzzle, and the zebra paused in his meal to reciprocate. The mare exited the mess hall, trotted down the crew quarters, and climbed up the crawlspace to the top deck of the ship.
There, squatting on her haunches in the open wind, Rainbow Dash squatted with her face in her hooves. She felt a gentle tap of a golden hoof on her shoulder. She looked over just in time to see a wooden bowl full of sliced fruit placed beside her. Rainbow smiled gently.
Belle smiled back, then squatted beside the pony with an identical bowl. Together, the dear friends dug into their fruit slices, talking and laughing over mutual stories as the stars bled through the heavens.
I know that I will be parting with this group soon. So will Propsy, and though I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunities to associate with her in the future, I feel as though a great part of me won’t ever be this happy or secure again.
There’s something special about this group of ponies. I can feel it in their laughter, in their gazes, even in their scowls and their sighs. These are genuine souls, Mother. They care for each other, and—furthermore—they know that they can count on each other if push was to come to shove.
No, I truly don’t think I’ve ever been with a group which had such a firm grasp on… loyalty.
Rainbow Dash sat at the far end of the observation room, her body silhouetted by the stars beyond the bubble-shaped windows. The mare was busy with dramatically waving her forelimbs while her mouth moved a mile per minute. Her expression morphed with every word as she flung her story between dramatic highs and suspenseful lows.
Several Noble Jurors watched and listened intently. Props leaned forward so much she felt on her chest repeatedly. Kera and Eagle Eye were already lying side by side on their bellies, their faces plastered with identical, foalish grins. Bellesmith and Pilate sat in the corner, nuzzling as they smiled at the scene.
Rainbow charaded giant butterfly wings, then made a sound as they “went up in flames.” The whole observation room gasped as a certain pony plunged to her death, only for Rainbow Dash to plunge heroically after her.
Roarke sat in the doorframe, polishing her helmet. Her lenses pistoned outward upon hearing the latest leg of the tail, and she let loose a grunt of indifference.
Ebon Mane rolled his eyes at her and lay back on a hammock, engulfing himself with the story, almost falling asleep to the drift of the ship between the punctuations of Rainbow’s words.
Good things never last forever. I, of all ponies, definitely know this. But I’ve adapted to troubles in the past and I should know how to get by in the hard times to come. For the meantime, I’m quite pleased to enjoy the moment while it lasts. I really don’t think the world would frown on me for doing so. I sincerely hope you wouldn’t either.
Someday, I will see you again, Mother. While I hope to make you proud, I hope to also make you feel—as I have come to feel—for there are things left in this world that aren’t quite so hopeless. They’re worth living for… and dying for. I think, right here and right now, I would settle for either.
I suppose that’s the nature of “peace.”
Goodnight, Mother.
Sincerely,
-Ebon Mane
The stallion finished writing. Ebon planted the pen back into the inkwell and gave the scroll a glance over. With a satisfied smile, he placed both the parchment and the writing tool away.
Twisting the the mana-powered knob so that it dimmed to a low glimmer, he pulled the covers over himself and rested his cheek against the pillow. He fell asleep with a contented sigh, his breaths rising and falling with the drifts of the airship.
Awww...
This was a very nice chapter, and a welcome rest, considering how heavy these past few chapters were.
I love to see how dynamic things are aboard the Noble Jury, and how well everyone compliments each others traits.
And it's also full of nice little charachter moments, Josho and EE's shenanigans, Roarke being badass...
Not to mention the subtle metaphors Ebon uses in his letter about RD being the one that brings the harmony in the group.
Beautiful.
And then this:
We all do, Ebon, we all do.
This was a really nice chapter. A routine-establishing chapter, as I've always called them. Like that one chapter of End of Ponies (which is structurally very similar to this, actually). I have to wonder what the deal is with Ebon's mom. I mean, they don't exactly have good access to a postal system out here. Maybe it's just a cathartic exercise, like an epistolary journal. Also, I approve of Rainbow Bard.
This is so Norman Rockwell.
This means that some seriously bad shite is going down very soon.
Forty four-count flutter kicks, ):(. The foreshadowing is too damn thick. Knock 'em out!
3182028 I thought of that too. Either he's waiting to drop off the letter once they arrive at Grey Smoke or he's just writing to ease his mind.
And I just realised this:
Holy spontaneous sex change, IC!
I like big, flashy signs.
Also, I want to hug all of them.
Feels good, man.
So, Ebon writes a letter to his mother, with no telling as to whether or not she will ever read it. Also, a beautiful slice-of-life-aboard-Nancy Jane chapter, which feels very much like the calm before the storm.
~bass
I don't know why but it felt like Firefly in this chapter. (Ragtag team with an awesome loyal leader eh ehh?)
I'm glad that everything is going smoothly for them for now.
And I'm starting to really like Ebon
This is a different style that we haven't seen from IC. Of course, executed perfectly. I hate to say it, but the last few chapters have been giving Austraeho a run fir its money.
AND THEN EVERYTHING FUCKING EXPLODED
There's still more to him than there seems. Has to be. XD
Still it's a nice chapter and I'm glad we got all this breathing space before something brown hits the fan again.
I can't wait until they get to Gray Smoke, where everything is happy sunshine rainbows, and everyone lives happily ever after, and absolutely nothing even remotely unpleasant happens there or on the way there.
Mmm Manticore meat...
Very pleasant. Very peaceful. A great break from Innavedr's marathon of fight scenes.
I personally wouldn't fret if this continued for at least another chapter or two.
I can't help but feel there is something malicious about, in this chapter. It might not be Ebon himself, but the title strikes me as odd. Maybe I'm wrong.
I wonder who his mother is.
Hear that ringing noise through all the fluff?
That's the sound of the timebomb that's about to send everything to hell.
Yes Roarke. Let the awesome flow through you.
Also, damn, we got a lot of Magitek here, Roarke seems to run off of it. Can she recharge using the book, or is it a different energy source all together.
3182156
YOU BEAT ME TO IT. DAMN YOU.
I was fully expecting Ebon to get shot or killed in some other way at the end of this. I'm glad that didn't happen. Unfortunately, there are 188 chapters left in this story for bad things to happen to him and 1788 left overall.
I liked the style of this chapter, the letter intermixed with snapshots of life. It seemed very cinematic to me.
This chapter gave me the warm fuzzies. c:
3182946
Random death? Nah.
Maybe by spontaneous sex change, though.
"There are no brakes".
Perhaps Ebon and Propsy will be on this journey for much longer than they expect.
3183134
I was waiting for someone to call out the chapter title. Taken just in the context of the chapter, it makes no sense, but if you consider it to be foreshadowing, it says to me that they may not be stopping in Gray Smoke after all...
3183212
Well, considering that we have four word titles, and there's a rather common eight word phrase starting like this...
Well, On the rape train doesn't sound like a pleasant chapter, at least. Hopefully my future sight isn't that good.
Dear Ebon Mane,
you need not leave them. You need not go back to what you consider your boundaries. Your old life is waiting to be transcended. Transcended beyond the conventions you have formed for yourself and assumed to be your will. You have purpose in loyalty beyond a tiny city. Your life extends far beyond the limitations of Grey Smoke. Your destiny is not to rest, but to sail. The Jury needs you as you need them. And I'm going to kill you if you don't hook up with Eagle Eye.
has to be the most Freudian slip in the history of writing. What do you guys mean, sex change? She's the same she ever was.
3183334 One would also hope that the Jury is not in fact the rape train. Or if it is, one would hope to be on the right side of it.
Wonderful chapter.
I'm rather glad for these days of peace, for I know it will not last.
That was a really beuatiful chapter, however...
I dunno why, but I sense something really wrong with it. Like all the hearthwarming part was the last barrier before something terrible will happen. Shell? Please no. The motive of "letter" is also quite similar to the "last note before something happened". That's really not a good sign.
Summarizing, I have a bad feeling about this...
This chapter felt a bit like a long Dear Princess Celestia letter which is not a bad thing at all. I enjoyed the change of both style and perspective for this chapter. Here's to the peace...that almost surely won't last.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time,
I'm really liking the unique style that sometimes pops up in Odrsjot chapters. Also, your mother won't hate you if you stay on board the Noble Jury. Don't go. Don't leave us, please...These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
Is his mom dead? I think I have a problem. Every time a character is mentioned in a vague way I feel like they don't exist as they appear to (ie, are either inanimate objects or don't exist at all anymore). Maybe I'm only thinking that because it would be easier for the group to stay together if Props's uncle is an engine and Ebon's mom has passed away (him writing as a purely cathartic experience). I mean, we haven't even gotten any EagleMane shipping yet, so they can't leave yet. Right? Although its inevitable that the group will have to split at some time, what with the Midnight Armoury of doom looming somewhere on the horizon. But we aren't at twelve members of the crew yet, are we? Unless Simon and Nancy Jane count. Floydien would say they do. Gah, so many questions.
On a non rambling note, the execution of this chapter was neat. It implies character development and interaction over the span of time without breaking the flow of the story. It also seems rather ominous that everything is going so well. Hopefully Ebon's next journal entry isn't along the lines of: "lalala, Eagle Eye's damn fine, lalala, holycrapenemyairshipsfireexplosions-asgsdhfgsdjf!"
I really liked this chapter a lot . The way it flowed was so easy to read, I could actually see it if you know what I mean.
I have a bad feeling ebon is going to die now because I really like his character now.
Also I think that his mom is dead
Gloriously written chapter, my friend. Absolutely stunning. The story telling, the scene with the manticore, Kera trotting proudly with the basket of flowers and Belle not far behind, all of it was so perfectly worded, to the point that it played out perfectly, vividly and colorfully in my mind while I read. Absolutely beautiful, IC. Top shelf, mate. Top shelf.
mfw Kera is so happy to pick flowers with Belle. I can't help but think of Fluttershy at the beginning of Swarm of The Century.
>and the bunkbeads lining the wall
du u meen "bunkbeds"??
wat
3182156
Awwww. I really hope Props and Ebon stay onboard even after Gray Smoke (and not just because I totally ship EbonEye ). Also, it's nice to see Dash telling the others about her old life and friends.
This was a beautiful chapter. The way the Jurors interact with each other, how much of friends they've become. IC, you are an amazing writer.
-Spirit
3700724
Best Young Flier Competition. Butterfly wings? Up in flames? White marshmallow pony about to die?
It's always call before the storm . . .
4799926 It's always storm before the call . . .
OK, seriously, do griffons and/or changelings not exist in this story? This is getting annoying.
4799926 It's "Calm" before the storm, silly doctor. lol
I love the way this chapter was structured. It was the same as the ending scene of a movie, where some guy is writing a letter home, and while various important scenes are playing out, you can hear his voice narrative in the background. Colon, you are a seriously skilled writer. I've never seen this type of a structuring in a story before. And i LOVE it. This just gets better and better.
Bit of a cheesy chapter. Almost too cheesy. Always thought Ebon has a lot of stuff going on in his past.
This chapter was especially well written, and for some reason it seems slightly bittersweet or perhaps contains a hint of nostalgia (I can't figure out why, the nostalgia that is)
Aw, Ebon! You softy you.
Makes me upset that we'll be seeing the end of him and Props as they head back home or are we?
Also, good to see Rainbow opening up about her friends just a little bit more.
4879470
Equestria is the endangered species reserve for the entire world, thanks to the reinforced harmony effect and high magic levels. Beyond Equestria natural selection has given rise to the rule of the unparalleled tool using ability of the unicorns with the earth ponies being dragged along for the ride. All other kingdoms and species have been made minorities or exiled themselves or genocided to extinction.
This is probably my favorite chapter of the series. (that I've read thus far)
Also, I was wondering whether Rainbow would ever tell all of them about the tragic events of Discord in Ponyville. If she does...that will be feels ridden even though we know already. It would simply be the reactions of the other crew members that would make or break it on that level.