There's a Better Home Awaiting
Rainbow Dash flew against the blinding sheets of rain. Gnashing her teeth, she veered a little bit to her left, attempting to skirt around the jetting gale. In so doing, she nearly propelled herself into a hovering black obelisk.
Gasping, she twirled sideways just in time to avoid the structure. Its tall marble face blocked the wind, forming a tiny patch of still air. Rainbow Dash chose to hover there, breathing with relief. She stared at the structure, marveling at how it wasn't being swayed at all by the heavy winds. In fact, it seemed altogether impervious.
Staring from the base to the top of the slender structure, Rainbow saw thin lines glowing with otherworldly sparks of mysterious energy. Upon closer inspection, the obelisk's exterior appeared smoother than the marble surfaces of the temples and buildings levitating in every direction. Rainbow Dash ran a hoof along the black shell, her jaw agape in wonder.
"So pristine," she murmured. "Almost like... the machine world..."
Shivering slightly, she turned and looked over her shoulder. Through the swirling mists of the hurricane force winds, she spotted several more obelisks identical to this one, all hovering at equidistant points. The buildings of pegasus architecture floated in relatively close clusters to these curious towers, and Rainbow wondered if perhaps there was a connection of some sort.
Tilting about, Rainbow looked towards the center of the storm, forward and above her. About eight hundred meters skyward at a forty-five degree angle, the largest building of all loomed. It as built like a giant, stout cylinder, with the makings of a dome that flattened out towards the top. The entire circumference was lined with typical marble arches, but Rainbow couldn't make out any of the interior from the deep shadows that the pillars made.
Holding her breath, Rainbow Dash tightened her goggles, planted her hooves against the obelisk behind her, and kicked off. She shot like a blue bullet into the rain, knifing her way through the currents in order to approach the large building at maximum speed.
"You can go inside, you know," Elma Boreal said as she shuffled over to Bellesmith's side. "You and the filly don't have to be out here."
Belle sat on the bottommost corner of the leaning hangar doors to the Noble Jury. A gray haze of light cascaded over her features as she lay Kera by her side, gently stroking the sleeping foal's mane. "Kera's not a fan of pitch black darkness," Belle muttered. "I always keep a lantern lit dimly to soothe her. So, while Props and her uncle struggle to get the power to Floydien's ship back on, I think she'll enjoy being out here more."
Elma blinked. She gazed out at the rain-swept temple, dribbling with moisture, and then the swirling clouds beyond. She glanced back. "No offense, but... h-how can you tell?"
Belle merely bit her lip.
"I-I'm sorry..." Elma winced, squatting down beside the mare. "That wasn't a fair thing to say. But still, I must say I'm rather concerned. Did... did something happen to the filly to... to cause her to be like this?"
"Yes, you could most definitely say that," Belle said through a frown. She closed her eyes, shuddered, and straightened her bangs. "Forgive me. Things... j-just haven't been the same since a few weeks ago."
Elma smiled awkwardly behind her beak. "I couldn't help but notice. I've been on several airships in my time, seen several different crews. The ponies of the Noble Jury seem... decidedly on edge."
"Yes, well, we have good reason to be," Belle said. "There are dangers in this world that you simply can't walk away from without limping. There was a terrible tragedy in a town called Lerris where Kera, Pilate, and I attempted to settle. Kera was... f-forced to witness a lot of horrible things. She used to be talkative, playful, sassy... and h-happy... but now?" Belle sighed, stroking the filly's mane. "A foal her age shouldn't have to be subjected to such a nightmare. The last thing I ever want to do is leave her side."
"I do believe I can see that," Elma said, nodding. "Has she gotten any better since... er... the incident?"
Belle was silent.
The turtle shuffled where she sat. "Ms. Bellesmith, I am... well acquainted with the horrors of this world."
"Are you?" Belle flashed her a frown.
Elma looked back. Nevertheless, she smiled—gently. "Indeed. Just because I'm a talking turtle doesn't mean I haven't lived as extraordinarily long as tortoises that don't."
Belle blinked at that. Eventually, with folded ears, she gazed down at the metal plank of the Noble Jury. "How... h-how many years...?"
"I lost count at one hundred and twenty," Elma said. "Life has its joyous occasions, Bellesmith, but when you throw that many decades into the mix, it's inescapable to see loved ones die... and twice as many float away into the darkness unsung." Her reptilian eyes gazed towards the swirling mists beyond the temple's edge. "There's a saying amongst the turtles of Alafreo: 'Let shadows collect only beneath a crowd.' It means that while our many, many years go by, our only means of battling the darkness is to usurp it with the warmth and intimacy of each other."
"I... didn't realize that reptilian creatures were... uhm... capable of such—"
"Sincerity?" Elma chuckled. "Ms. Bellesmith, I am cold-blooded... not cold." She took a deep breath and said, "What's happened to Kera is most terrible, and I am very sorry to hear about it. But perhaps it would be a good thing for you both to mingle someplace that's warmer, rosier, even happier."
"I'm giving her everything, Miss Boreal," Belle said through a quivering lip. "Warmth, companionship, love... she's receiving all that I've got to give."
Elma's eyes narrowed. "And was Kera the... only pony who was damaged by the trauma of what happened in this 'Lerris' place?"
Belle stared blankly past her.
Elma slowly nodded. She reached over and patted Belle's shoulder. "Your loyalty to Kera is noble. But I do think the filly needs more than that. But, more importantly, so do you."
Belle gulped and murmured through a trembling muzzle. "Loyalty... is all th-that I've known as of late..."
"All that you know or all that you've chosen to know?"
The mare winced, shivering slightly.
Elma glanced at the few ponies gathered about the temple, then back into the hangar of the Noble Jury. "This place just... feels so unnecessarily empty." She smirked. "And from someone with a shell, that's saying something. If I were you, Miss Bellesmith, I'd take advantage of something that I personally haven't had in nearly thirty years." She stood up.
Belle glanced up at her. "And what's that?"
Elma paused, then turned back to wink at her. "A husband." And she shuffled off.
On her way to the super structure, Rainbow Dash found it hard to breathe. The constant jets of rain meant opening her nostrils—much less her muzzle—for a single second risked legitimate drowning. The fact that she was still airborne could be chalked up to her sheer strength and experience as a versatile flier. Nevertheless, the wear and tear of the inclement weather was having its toll on her, and she feared she couldn't made it to the building at this rate.
Luckily, something loomed towards her right. She shot a glance over, seeing a large wall of granite roaming in her general direction. Rainbow wasn't startled; instead she banked right, twirled, and glided towards the lower platform of the wandering temple.
Her hooves touched down on the granite balcony with a splash. She shuffled forward until she was shaded by two stories of polished rock and marble. Shaking the copious amount of raindrops off her body and saddlebag, she took a long, wheezing breath and relaxed her muscles. With a slight shiver, she turned about, tilted her neck, and gazed out over the edge of the temple.
She could see obelisks moving through the hazy precipitation, while the pegasus temples and buildings moved faster. This confused Rainbow Dash for a moment, until—after wincing from a flash of lightning—she surmised that the obelisks were, in fact, staying still. It was the temple she was on that was moving, along with the other pegasus structures themselves. The fact that the obelisks looked like they were floating about was simply an illusion brought upon by her perception. This contributed to her growing assumption that the obelisks were somehow responsible for animating the entire city.
Turning around, Rainbow Dash trotted into the dark depths of the small building she was in. Rubbing a hoof over her pendant, she summoned a ruby glow that cast a dull crimson glint off of every wet surface. She saw no signs of furniture, draperies, tools, or any sort of small movable items whatsoever. She guessed that untold years of being suspended in the belly of a hurricane had stripped the interiors of these buildings to their bare essentials.
Still, the eeriness of the whole situation was not lost to Rainbow Dash. Aside from the black marble and the barren decor, it undoubtedly felt like she was navigating the inside of a typical pegasus dwelling in Cloudsdale. The building was built without enclosed walls, so that air could breathe easily through the marble columns and cornerstones of the place. Even the steps—which stretched up in a pair of zig-zagging stairs in the center of the structure—were drawn apart with vertical spaces for the rain water to dart through.
Rainbow Dash reached the top floor with quiet hoofsteps. As thunder rolled in the distance, she stared out onto the bright gray sprawl of floating buildings. She could see the large cylindrical structure looming a little bit above her. She could tell at this point that the round building was undoubtedly the center of the storm, even though she couldn't spot any obelisks located around it.
Looking down, Rainbow spotted the temple where the Noble Jury had landed at a distance. From far away, it appeared so tiny and fragile, and its movement through the wind gusts looked decidedly weak and unpredictable.
Wincing, she forced herself to look away from where her friends were. Gazing up, she spread her wings and darted towards the building, holding her breath this time so that she could make the distance in one succinct glide.
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You know, it hadn't occurred to me at all that Elma might be long-lived.
Really loving the scenery here and how the architecture is being described.
In the Days Long Before I Grew a Bunch of Scruffy Hair Around My Face and Gave Up On Superhero Stories Altogether...
4171593 Same, actually. The way she referred to Prowse as "Professor" really gave off the air that she was youthful, like a lab assistant recognizing his seniority.
*spittake*
You are now and forever will be my favorite turtle, Mrs. Boreal.
Yes, Belle. For the love of all that is good and holy, listen to the turtle and talk to your husband. Sunbutt broke the ice, but it'll take more than that...
Also, thank you, IC, for preserving the April Fool's Day chapter for posterity. I need to go check and see if last year's was saved, too.
Yay! Elma is old!
Uh....Yeah.
I like Elma. She has a story that needs to be told.
4171816 May I ask if it was? I did not notice it on the way through.
So either the city was built by proto-pegasi after all or was moved to its current position by a force involved with the world machine - and is probably floating across another open fissure in the machine's hull, too, or all of those options.
"Go and take advantage of your husband" doesn't sound all that nice actually.
dat April fools tho
That April fools chapter... Was just fantastic
At first Elma seemed almost childish (being scared of everything), but she's quite experienced and mature. Just what the Jury needs.
4171816
Maybe he saved it because he saw me download it. Can authors do that?
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i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/000/158/329/9189283.jpg
IC is dropping hints for the real ending of Austraeoh
Gasp! We have actually gotten... an AUTHOR'S NOTE!
I don't like what Elma just said.
Why? Because I've read an epic PKMN fic where a Dratini had also lived for how many years. She was wise and gentle, and gave a lot of good advices to the main character, a Glaceon.
...and she died, horribly...
New favorite turtle acquired. You had damn well better listen to Miss Boreal, Belle. You really could use Pilate's perspective, and he could really use your company.
Heh, the April Fool's joke was basically the UFO ending from Silent Hill 2. With a bit of the dog ending mixed in.
4177451 But we already know Alicorns are aliens. Queen Whitemane stated it plainly way back in book 1.
I hope elma knocks some sense into Belle. I want the resilient Belle of Innavedre back!
This scenery description is beautiful as always.
Also what April Fools' chapter why
-Spirit
When April fools chapter was posted as it's own thing, i'd thought ICC had stopped writing this series and decided to end it, and thought this for half the chapter. Scared me.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
It seems that there is a wise old tortoise hidden underneath the cowardly shell of Elma.
Eh? Eh?
OHCAUSESHE'SATURTLEWITHASHELLWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW
Anywas, really like this chapter. I like the idea that meek little Elma has been able to tell from afar that the Noble Jury has been...not exactly right. I also like what she says to Belle. We still need Belle to snap out of her stupor...at the same time, this chapter illustrates a cool motif for this arc - the Noble Jury, limping away from Lerris, is at a very low chapter in its history. Now it must fight its way through an unfamiliar pegasus landscape.
Or something to that effect. I'm still really excited! These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. Also, the April Fools chapter happened, too. Yeah, that was a thing.
"And she shuffled off."
I like the original version better here. I don't get the joke in the April Fools chapter.
lol. that april fools chapter tho
Dat April fools tho
Personally I am not a big fan of the april fools chapters (I find them a bit confusing), but to each their own.
Deeper into the storm.
Oh fug, I'd forgotten about that.
I'm glad Belle has gotten another nudge. She means well, she really does, but she's stubborn. Hopefully this will be the final push that's needed to send her into the arms of love and rescue her from all that's happening.
April fools chapter was great; although, I would have liked to see Belle waking up from sequencing and nullifying a couple hundred chapters.
The real chapter reminded me that the only thing with a physical shell on the Noble Jury is trying to get rid of any remaining traces of Shell lingering in the other characters' emotional shells.
TurtlesShells all the waydownaround.*eyebrows raise through roof*
Elma's grown on me now that it's clear turtles belong in this world and aren't just the first name drawn from a hat of non-ponies. I'm consistently impressed by the depth of quality of this series' worldbuilding, and I wish more stories were written like it.
Wise turtle is wise.
Those Background Pony feels, though.
The april fools chapter is just...
What the fuck is going on
Elma spilling the tea to Belle. She knows Belle hasn't recovered either and is hiding behind Kera so she doesn't have to think about the shit she went through. I can't blame her for that, but Kera needs healing and fast.
That April Fool's chapter. Dear lord.
I like Elma's wisdom, though. Way to give Belle the extra nudge she needs.
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Look!! We all ready did that fake out! Don't need to do it again.