Next Time On the View
With a grunt, two First-Borns pried open the wooden latch to the dark space beneath Central D's foundation.
"Thanks," Rainbow Dash said, standing in the morning light besides Pilate. "We'll try our best not to get into anypony's way."
"I doubt that will be an issue," Fawful said. "The elders have collectively agreed to grant you access once again."
Rainbow winced slightly. "Sounds like it wasn't an easy decision."
"It wasn't. But don't dwell on it," Fawful said. "We're all seeking the truth, are we not?"
"Yeah... yeah, totally," Rainbow Dash said with a nervous smile. A gulp, and she glanced behind her tail.
Unlike the day before, a fairly thick crowd of Durandanans had gathered. They murmured with each other, gazing at the two outsiders from afar. Sivrem and Jerrio flew down, gently urging the group to stand back.
"How... uh..." Rainbow murmured aside. "How many ponies know about what went down yesterday?"
"You can't keep a secret for too long in the crater," Fawful said. "Word travels with the wind in a place such as Durandana."
"Yeah, I get it," Rainbow said with a nod. "But... that's a lot of ponies? What's to blame, pillow talk?"
"Too many pegasi and not enough beds," Pilate murmured.
"Stripesy!" Rainbow hissed.
"What was that?" Fawful asked.
"Er... nothing!" Rainbow chuckled nervously before giving the stallion a swat with his tail. "Hah hah! Silly zebra!"
Fawful stared, squinted, and ultimately smirked. "How about you go first...?"
"My friggin' pleasure." Rainbow turned to Pilate. "Careful, buddy. It's dark down there."
"... ... ..."
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Dammit. Whatever. Look, the stairs are steep. Lemme just carry you."
"Don't you get tired of doing that?"
"You kidding?" She smirked and grasped Pilate from behind. "Your brohawk scratches the itch on my chin."
He held his breath as he dangled in her grasp. "Well, s-so long as we're both comfortable..."
Rainbow and Pilate drifted down, followed by Fawful and a few other elders.
"Alright, everypony..." Sivrem smirked as he nudged the crowd back some. "Don't be a bunch of loitering gulls, now. Gust! Gust!"
As the crowd dissipated, one pony stood alone. Jerrio stared dully at the wooden latch as the guards slowly shut it. After a few seconds, he sighed and looked off with folded ears.
"Say, you need any help down in the robo-womb, blondie?" Zaid asked across the mess hall.
"Mmmmff...?" Props gulped down some celery and shook her head. "I don't have any metal parts! I promise!"
"No, I meant the engine room."
"Oh! Ohhhhhhhh... hee hee hee..." She smiled with rosy cheeks. "Sure thing! If you've got nothing better to do!"
"Well, it's been a good long week since Josho last backed up the lavatory, so—"
"Grab a wrench and come on down!"
"Heh! Will do!"
Bellesmith sat on a couch in the lounge, sipping from tea. She glanced up as Zaid and Props trotted by. A slight smirk crossed her muzzle.
"Everytime I see them lately, they act as though they are breeding."
"Gaaaie!" Belle nearly fell out of her seat. She spun around, breathless.
Roarke gazed down, her eye-lenses rotating to a stop.
Belle panted, panted, and exhaled, "Oh Roarke. You gave me quite a scare!" She fanned herself. "I didn't even realize you were there."
"I was attempting the casual conversation," Roarke droned.
Belle stared at Roarke.
Roarke stared at Belle.
With a gulp, Belle smiled awkwardly. "Small talk! But of course!"
Roarke's nostrils flared. "Which of the two do you think will attempt to initiate coitus first—?"
"Roarke, just—" Belle raised a hoof, clenched her eyes shut, and sighed. "...if you want to engage in small talk, you might want to ch-choose a slightly less icky topic."
Roarke was silent. Eventually, she nodded. "I understand." A fidgeting. "I suppose I have more weapons to test." She made for the kitchen door at the far end of the room.
"No. Roarke, wait!" Belle held a hoof up. She smiled gently. "Roarke, please forgive me. I can tell that you're trying very hard. But... just don't stress it! We're friends, aren't we?"
Roarke stood sideways several feet away. "I suppose..."
Belle giggled. "Well, you certainly have saved our skins on several occasions."
"And have jeopardized it."
"Yeah, well..." Belle took another sip, placed the cup down on the table before her, and chuckled. "Nopony's perfect." She gestured. "Have a seat! You can sit, can't you?"
Roarke stood, squirmed, and stood some more. With a slight trilling sound, she eventually swiveled about and marched across the room. She squatted down on a couch across from Belle. Her metal braces and thick horseshoes made the entire gesture more than residually uncomfortable. The hard lines in her face showed it.
Belle chose to ignore them. "So... uhm... this is relaxing."
"I suppose it is."
"Yes..."
"... ... ..."
Silence.
Belle cleared her throat. With a tranquil smile, she fluffed her own mane while straing at Roarke's. "You know, I've never had the opportunity to say it before, but I've always secretly loved what you do with your hair."
"What do you mean?" Roarke asked in a neutral tone.
Belle blinked. "Well..." She shifted where she sat. "I mean... the braids! And the little metal ringlets at the end!" She suppressed a giggle. "It's really quite beautiful, in its own, intricate, exotic way."
"Each twisted strand represents a different enemy of Searo whom I've slain in the name of the Goddess," Roarke said. "I used to dip my mane in their blood upon ritualistically dragging the ringlet down the length of the braid."
Belle stared, slack-jawed. Eventually she murmured, "So... uhhhh... th-then it's not your natural color or...?"
"This was a bad idea." Roarke stood up and marched towards the hallway. "I should be elsewhere."
"Roarke, wait!" Belle reached a hoof out. She sighed, smiling tiredly. "Fine. Small talk is out. No biggie. Can we just have a heart to heart, then?"
"Hrmmmf..." Roarke clenched her jaw, not looking at the mare. "You can certainly try."
Belle rested her hooves together daintily as she said, "What you did with Kera yesterday... thank you."
Roarke's lenses retracted. She slid about and stared at Belle with a furrowed brow. "I don't believe I've told you anything about what Kera and I did yesterday."
"I know. And, Roarke, I trust you... okay?" Belle smiled. "Pilate and I... we trust you. Otherwise we wouldn't have let you take Kera out to begin with."
Roarke's head tilted down.
Belle continued. "And... whatever it was that you did together, it made Kera so... so wonderfully happy." She smiled. "Almost as if a weight is off her shoulders. I haven't seen her that giddy and cheerful in a long while. I m-mean... I know she's still recovering from Lerris. We all are. But somehow you were able to help her... loosen up a lot more. That means so much to us."
"She is a strong filly."
"Which is what makes it so very hard for Pilate and I to find a way to level with her," Belle said. "She can be very unpredictable. We don't want to ignore her feelings—and yet, at the same time, we don't wish to coddle her."
Roarke looked at Belle sideways.
"Yes. Heehee... I know." Belle rolled her eyes. "I certainly can't help myself at times. But it's just that I wish the best for Kera, and I feel helpless when I can't always provide that."
Roarke's hooves grinded against the floor. She trudged back and plopped down on the seat across from Belle. Silence... until: "...Kera is a powerful mare."
"Hmmm?" Belle raised her eyebrow.
"She has magical powers unlike any other unicorn her age," Roarke droned. "I've battled many unicorns in my day. I've killed criminals and warriors who couldn't even compare to her."
"Well... h-here's hoping that you don't have to battle Kera, ever."
"That is not what I meant." Roarke glanced up. "Where I come from, untapped power is an insult to the laws of nature. Kera is capable of so much, and I fear that she's allowed the pain of Lerris to hold her back."
"No offense, Roarke... but..." Belle squirmed slightly. "I-I don't think Pilate and I want Kera becoming a bounty hunter when she grows up."
"That is not what I meant either," Roarke said. Eventually she sighed. "It is hard to explain. When I first joined the Noble Jury, and there was this child on board the craft, I wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. But now... as the months have gone by... I find that my mind... dwells on her often."
"And is it just Kera?" Belle said with a coy smirk.
"... ... ..."
"Ahem." Belle played with her hooves as she spoke on, "Roarke, I think it's only natural to wish the best for a little filly like her. Spark knows it consumes my mind all the time."
"I don't see the point," Roarke said. "There's no profit in it. I've never had much care for distractions."
"Have you ever thought, Roarke, that with Searo behind you, maybe your priorities have shifted?"
"I don't see what you mean."
"Not to insult your culture or anything, but it seems to me that you've carried a lot of unnecessary weight for a long time," Belle said. "You say you've never cared much for 'distractions,' but what is distractions is all you've known?"
"Impossible."
"Is it?" Belle cocked her head aside. "Is it really so impossible to think that beneath all of the armor, all of the cybernetic implants, all of the warpaint and scars of misery, there's a soul that knows what it means to be a pony that loves life?" Belle smiled. "And a mare that longs to be a mother?"
Roarke's lips opened. She winced slightly. After a half-minute, she eventually murmured, "I will never... ever have that."
Belle's ears folded upon hearing that. With a sweet smile, she leaned forward. "Roarke..."
Roarke looked up.
Belle whispered, "I used to think that about myself too."
Roarke's nostrils flared. "We are hardly alike."
"Hmmm-hehe..." Belle tossed her mane and leaned back. "Then let's fix that, shall we?"
"How?"
"We're here. Sitting. Talking?" Belle shrugged. "Tell me about yourself."
Roarke's lenses pistoned outward. She frowned. "Myself."
Belle nodded. "Yes."
Roarke clenched her jaw tighter. "You do not wish to hear about myself."
"Sure I do!"
"Hmrnnngh..." Roarke tilted her head aside. "Breakfast..."
"Huh?"
"Did you eat anything this morning?"
"Uhhh..." Belle slowly shook her head. "I... haven't gotten around to it, actually, no."
"Hrmmmf... Very well then." Roarke cracked the joints in her neck and leaned forward. "I was foaled in the frozen mountains southwest of what you would call Franzington. There was a terrible blizzard, and my mother was miles away from her ship and a heating source. According to Terra, she had to slay a llama and carve out its still-bleeding abdomen to form an insulated sleeping niche. We had little provisions, so we shared the meat of the placenta between us and..."
"See anything, yet?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Pilate sighed in the midst of scanning a wall full of carved symbols. "It is ever an endless cycle, isn't it?"
"Fine." Rainbow rolled her eyes and trotted down the leaning temple hallway. "Have you sensed anything yet?"
"You were right about what you said," Pilate remarked while O.A.S.I.S. flashed its laser-light across the chamber. "We've run across several of these symbols before. Many of them hail back to the structure we camped at inside Foxtaur."
Rainbow did a double-take. "You remember that far back?"
"Rainbow, I remember the first word I ever said."
"'Boogers?'"
"Actually, 'Ultimo.'"
"I was close."
"Hmmph..." Pilate tilted his runic plate, chewing his lip in thought. "Interesting..."
"What?"
"Do you notice anything different about the walls of this place compared to Stratopolis?"
"Jee, mystical zebra, I thought that's what I brought you down here to figure out."
"Humor me, if you will."
"Uhhhh..." Rainbow squinted at the etchings along the lantern-lit corridors of the place. "Yeah, to be honest? The carvings appear a lot sharper."
"You mean the indentations are deeper?"
"Right! What's that supposed to mean?"
"I didn't have a chance to use O.A.S.I.S. on the walls of Stratopolis." Pilate turned his head towards Rainbow. "But I'm willing to bet that their etchings all appeared collectively worn down."
"And yet the ones here aren't?" Rainbow rubbed her head. "What's the reason for that, you think? Cuz Stratopolis was exposed to storm and rain and stuff for so long?"
"Did the weather reach into every interior of the buildings?"
"Erm... well... n-no..."
Pilate cocked his head aside. "But something else did pollute the halls of that floating city. Something horrendously corrosive and dangerous."
Rainbow blinked. Her eyes widened. "The zombie slime!"
Pilate nodded. "And we both well know that we and the Lounge weren't the first ones to battle that horrendous substance inside Stratopolis."
"Right, Commander Hurricane and her forces did. Wait." Rainbow turned and glanced down the hallway. "...are you suggesting that this structure got separated from the rest of Stratopolis before Hurricane accidentally accessed the 'dark heart of Stratopolis?'"
"It could be possible," Pilate thought out loud. He began trotting down the hallway. "It stands to reason that Hurricane wouldn't have felt the urgency of guarding that flying city until she discovered the ooze. Maybe she and her troops had found a way to commandeer one of the buildings—"
"—and sent it out like a scout ship?"
"Precisely," Pilate said, nodding. "Seems as though your ancient relative had invented a 'Whizzball' long before we did."
"Stop calling her my 'ancient relative.'"
"Why not? It's pretty much a given at this point, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I know... but..." Rainbow winced, glancing behind her a distant cluster of elders. "I just don't think it's a very smart thing to do right now."
"You shouldn't be afraid of exposing reality, Rainbow," Pilate said. "None of us should."
"Belle seems to think otherwise."
"Well, my beloved and I don't necessarily agreen on everythi—" Pilate tripped.
"Whoah!" Rainbow caught him. "Careful, buddy! Didja forget you were in Stallion Wonder mode?"
"Cute," Stallion wheezed. "What did I just trip on?"
"I dunno. A rock, or something?"
"Is that what I hear rattling?"
"Huh?" Rainbow glanced down the corridor.
A tiny granite pebble slid down the floor.
"It seems to be going awfully far," Pilate murmured.
"Yeah, well, the floor's at a pretty steep lean."
The pebble took a sudden right turn around the corner on its own.
Rainbow blinked. "Whoah."
"Huh?" Pilate craned his neck. "What is it?"
"Hold on." Rainbow searched the floor. She found another pebble, then kicked it. Following it along with her eyes, she watched as it rolled down to an intersection of corridors, then suddenly and sharply bend to the right. "Uhmmm... Pilate?"
"Yes?"
"How's your geology skills?"
"Not too shabby. Why?"
She led the zebra forward. "I think it's time we test your metal..."
Sputtering. Wretching. Spitting.
Roarke sighed, her lenses staring up at the ceiling of the Noble Jury's lavatory. After a few seconds, she tilted her head down. "Do you still require me to hold your hair?"
"Just... snkkkt..." Belle hissed, squatting before a wide porcelain bowl. She spat a few more times and caught her breath. "... a little wh-while longer..."
"I told you this was a bad idea."
"I'm f-fine... just... just..." Belle winced, wiping her moist chin. "Guhhh... How c-could any poor soul stand to survive that long in the desert... and disembowled?!"
"If it helps to know, I had experienced far worse pain beforehand."
"You were a t-teenager, Roarke!"
"It's not as terrible as it sounds," Roarke said. "In fact, I was able to use the raw teeth of a sand wyrm to staple my intestines back into place—"
"Hraaaa-gghhullklttttt!"
Roarke winced. "P-perhaps it's best that I not... erm.. dw-dwell on the stories of my wilderness survival..."
"Grghhhhl... pfttt... buhhh... th-that would be nice..." Belle gulped. "At least for a while." She sat up, her eyes rolling back. "Unngh...Praise Spark Zaid was telling the truth about Josho earlier..."
"I beg your pardon?"
"H-how about a happy story, Roarke?" Belle brushed her bangs back and glanced sickly over her shoulder. She bore a weary smile. "How about—urp—the t-time you first met Imre?"
Roarke's brow furrowed. "You think that's a happy story?"
"I don't know." Belle gulped down bile and murmured, "Is it?"
Roarke took a deep breath. "I... don't really know. I haven't shared it with many ponies."
"Well, you can sh-share it with me!" Belle said gently. "I'm your friend."
"My... friend."
Belle simply stared at her.
Roarke's ears twitched. "Well... I suppose it is worth a shot."
"Everything is worth a shot, Roarke."
"Hmmm—I just remembered. The sand wyrm's epidermal layer kept me warm overnight—"
"Guhhhhhh—"
"Imre!" Roarke blurted. "Imre it is!"
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Roarke is so cute when she tries.
Also, at the curving rocks, I'm assuming strange gravitational fields or an illusion. You need to follow the rolling rock, not what your vision tells you.
---Rainbow is now male, swatting boys with his tail.
Haha. Gross.
They are the cutest couple.
Roarke asking all the right questions.
Bonding!
Excuse the tackiness, but after the last events, I'll take whatever makes me happy.
So we FINALLY get ourselves a llama, and it's the tauntaun of Urohringr? Poor llamas. Also
If you really want to know Bell, you can always check to see if the rug matches the curtains.......
4821777 If RD is now a guy, what else will he be doing with the boys? Besides them I mean.
4821831 I accidentally read that as bondage and I got overly excited there for a moment.
Gotta hope there isn't any Smooze hidden away in Durandana.
4821937 Well now you've Jinxed it!
Oh Roarke, why are you so adorable when you try so hard to fit in?
I love how shitty Roarke is at doing normal things.
Plus it's adorable.
That conversation with Roark made this the best chapter in all of your stories so far.
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....could beeeeeee...........
Roarke the shipping machine.
Roarke the cyborg pony Bear Grylls,except better.
Roarke the closely guarded heart.
Pilate seems to have become a bit of a smartflank to Dash lately.
Though it seems more like their way of being friendly is to engage in snark-to-snark combat.
Interesting observation Pilate made. I'm really stoked to get some answers about the whole Durandana situation.
Also, Roarke and Belle really have some delightful interactions.
Tauntauns and puns! Woo!
i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/8282548480/hCA051E00/
4821965
I was supposed to be the last casualty of smooze.
Rourke certainly has had an eventful and intresting life, Close calls with Death? shes ambushed him and stolen his horse how many times?
Yaay, follow the small pebble road. Just as long as there aint a Crystal Skull at the end. Orichalcum is acceptable
Its like Roarke is more brutal than Warhammer 40k and Dethklok combined. No wonder she has issues.
Deströyer 666 - Lone Wolf Winter
Aww, everypony (and a toilet) is bonding! So nice.
4821882
Llamas! Buck yeah!
This is what family fun times devolves into around Roarke. Lots of retching and vomiting.
Must've been one hell of a story... maybe we'll get the uncensored chronicles some day.
Even Roarke ships Zaid and Props.
She's still as elegant as ever, I see.
Wait... "Ultimo"? As in "Ultimo Douglas Barbarian Forty Two"? DUN DUN DUUUUNNNN
Roarke is starting to act cute. It is sickeningly adorable.
Oh Roarke. You tell the best stories.
You mean "if"
I do love all the bonding, or attempts at bonding, going around here. It is awesome.
THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER IS SOLID GOLD.
I really appreciate that literally every aspect of Roarke's backstory is just "she's fucking hardcore."
This is super interesting. Please tell us more
Wait a sec. Roarke's mom had to basically pull a Han Solo in order to keep her and Roarke safe. Does this make Roarke Luke Skywalker?
Also, second mention of Roarke's mom. I'm 90% sure she'll show up at some point now.
4823509
Surprise boss fight.
Oh, cool!
Roarke is going to open up...
...
a carcass, to sleep in.
And now there's placenta-eating.
Also, I'm starting to get nervous about the "Belle is a changeling" theory somebody (Archer Collins?) came up with.
So we won't actually know for sure whether red is her natural mane color...
Brohawk
>she watched as it rolled down to an intersection of corridors, then suddenly and sharply bend to the right
*bent
static.allmystery.de/upics/ab56d0_full.gif
I knew it!
Nope, sorry, just one heart between the two of you.
Not cool.
4821777 Either that, or she beats people with their own tails.
4822533 What he said, guys!
...i'd like to hear more about her childhood...
I never thought that Roarke would become my favourite, but she's quickly become my favourite crew member.
magiccards.info/scans/en/fvl/5.jpg
.....................ROARKE?!
One could say that Belle opened a can of worms...
<crickets>
...no? not even a snicker?
4971847 i get the figurative half of the pun but not the literal half...not exactly anyways.
but the only puns i tend to not get are the clever ones. clever puns are rare so...
lolllolollololololollooooooololololooooooooool
Oh, Roarke.
Well, now we get to find out about how Roarke met Imre, and why the stone is rolling weirdly.
-Spirit
You know, I've never understood how people could throw up after hearing about something terrible. I suppose it is a mystery to me because I don't throw up. But let's hope Rainbow finds out how physics is being broken . . . again.
That's quite a backstory...
5847311 I'm in the same boat, I used to get carsick when I was like 4, but haven't in... almost 2 decades, aside from that the only time I have ever been sick was that time I decided to drink too much because I was depressed... Learned that lesson the hard way, never happened again. I don't get how gross stories or heck, even Gross sights makes people Sick.
Also
After reading this I am absolutely certain that IC is talking about an Eidetic memory, not mimetic. someone with an Eidetic Memory possesses Near perfect Recall and can remember Just about anything usually with extreme attention to detail. I can't even find a description of the term "Mimetic memory"
P.s. Wow, I've never typed/written that word out before, look at all those goddamned S's Frickin Possesses, doesn't even look like a word.
Roarke's small talk
Perhaps this was a bad idea, Bellesmith.
Roarke, the metal mare with the metal life.
I wish I could get into some small talk like that, hehe. Gotta love Roarke. Onward I go!
~SolidFire
Roarke is shaping up to be best pony ever. That... that worries me. IC is not known for being nice.
if
___________
6929421
Well he's only super cruel to good ponies that don't last an entire book. Other than than Kerra. That was a special case. But regardless, if they last longer than a book, no matter how cruel things get. They'll live ... and bounce back eventually. Even if it takes half of or two thirds a book to get to that good space.
You only need to worry about new ponies he introduces and is nice towards. A majority of the time.
Man, Roarke just has the most pleasant campfire stories now doesn't she?
I'm glad she's interacting more with everyone though. I love reading about her doing her best to open up and understand everyone, and I really like the interaction she's having with Belle who is pretty much trying to do the same thing with Roarke.
You never know, soon everyone on the Jury may have had a life-changing field trip with
ZukoRoarke!