Metal Mare Solid: The Peace Roarker
Steam billowed across the rusted edges of the goblin battleship. Below, an arid landscape stretched under a pale morning glow. Beads of moisture clung to the stained metal surfaces, eventually evaporating with assistance of the artificial wind being kicked up by the roaring propeller blades.
Slowly, a glossy black helmet rose up into view from beyond the outer railing's edge. Its polished surfaces reflected imp bodies scurrying around on imp legs. The air was ripe with angry barks and venomous curse words as the creatures fussed and struggled with an array of leaking steam pipes.
One metal hoof at a time, Roarke snaked her way up onto the port side of the chugging vessel. Wispy clouds broke upon the distant bow, disentegrating into ethereal ribbons that licked at the goblins' wobbling ears.
“No no no! You turn the wrench clockwise to tighten pipes, ya moron!”
“Since when?!”
“Since Haman said so, that's when!”
“Dammit! It's leaking again!”
“It's all leaking! Be specific!”
“Rrrgh... glob-sucking Hell! We really weren't ready to cast this friggin' thing off!”
“So what?! Anything disagrees with us, we can blow it out of the sky!”
“Even the Jury?!”
“Tchh... Screw the jury! They ain't nothing to goblin flak!”
“I'm telling you... this thing is falling apart!”
“Shut up and stabilize it already!” One goblin snapped at another. Both closely working imps were oblivious to the Searonese stowaway sneaking closely behind... and past them. “So long as we make it to the rendezvous point, it's all frostbeams!”
“Without the lizard's skystone, this is just a hunk'o'junk!”
“Yeah, well, this hunk'o'junk is going to go down in history as the Cartel's penultimate bread winner! Now shut your yap! I'm trying to concentrate!”
Just past the goblin pair, Roarke found a grimy set of stairs leading down into the dark, seedy belly of the craft. She scurried down in a instant like a living shadow.
Noiseless.
Kera stood up on her hindquarters, peaking through the wagon's jostling window.
Through the sun-lit slit, she spotted glowing antlers, along with glowing eyes. The Soul Sentries' vacant faces stared straight ahead as they trotted vigilantly alongside the Duchess' wagon. At the slightest hint of a pedestrian trotting too near to the wagons, the antlers shimmered with emerald embers. A mutual gasp rolled through the cloud, and the gawking onlookers of Val Roa shrunk back to the curved sidewalks.
“Something strike you as curious, Your Majesty?” Nilla remarked with a smile.
Kera squatted back down with a ruffle of her skirts. “Erm...” She chewed on her lip. “Eh... S'lanna... uhm... Xerox melatonin calcucorn...”
Nilla blinked at her, then turned to look at Ebon.
Ebon glanced up, ears twitching.
Nilla stared at him. Arcanista, Rainbow Dash, and the two servants stared at him.
“Oh! Uhm...” The changeling fidgeted, keeping his head straight so that his “horn” wouldn't fall off. “Her Majesty, Princess Kera Tin Mehjj Xon-Nagu'n, is... intrigued by the manner in which you're presently securing the safe passage of her entourage.”
“Well, if she's concerned, she needn't be.” The gazelle smiled. “Soul Sentries are certainly a jarring sight to anypony not native to Val Roa proper. But, rest assured, they're the absolute most trustworthy form of protection she can have on her side.”
Rainbow Dash glanced across the wagon.
“It's simply that they seem so...” Ebon cleared his throat. “...detached.”
“A necessary sacrifice for the duty they have sworn to uphold,” Nilla said. “Their hearts and minds are focused completely on channeling mana to the Val Roan cause.”
“So... they're essentially tools?” Ebon asked. “Living weapons?”
“That's a rather gross analogy, but there is truth to it,” Nilla said. She smiled. “Don't be afraid. So long as they are under the close command of Val Roan officers, they will not cause any undue harm.”
“And what if those officers ask the Soul Sentries to attack the public?” Rainbow Dash's voice cracked.
Nilla gave her a double-take.
Ebon's eyes shifted about, as did Kera's.
Nilla's jaw hung open. “That...” She blinked. “...would be impossible, ma'am.”
Arcanista cleared her throat. “Some creatures are more adept than others at knowing their place.” With that, she glared Rainbow's way.
The pegasus winced, tucking her green-dyed threads deeper beneath her hood. “Yes, Madame. I'm sorry, Madame.” She glanced aside at Mamunia and Jet.
The two servants weren't looking at her.
Exhaling through her nostrils, Rainbow gazed beyond the flanks of Jake and Floydien outside. In the distance, like a fluttering lantern bug, the Yaefaerda symbol danced. She bit her lip.
Steam rose through the grates between rusted bulkheads. Like a lion prowling through the mists, Roarke emerged from the shadows, piercing her way into the foggy haze of the battleship's engine room. To her left and right, gigantic and unsafe pistons undulated within their chassis. Giant levers sliced at the air, and parts of the wall beneath their lumbering metal branches were permanently stained with goblin blood.
Roarke strolled past all of this. She hid once or twice beneath tool benches to avoid a disgruntled group of imps rushing from one station to another in the steamy belly of the hovering beast. Gradually, she made her way to the far end of the engine room. A series of steep steps led up to what turned out to be the navigation room.
Climbing her way into where it was less steamy, Roarke approached a series of tables. She raised a hoof to her helmet, opening the front so that her naked muzzle and eyes were exposed. Squinting, she spotted a series of blueprints. Without much delay, Roarke's expert gaze detected a pattern. The centermost design matched the ship she was on to a T. However, two other blueprints showed radically different models altogether. Every illustrated craft had large crystalline chassis, resembling skystone.
“So there are three of them...”
She clenched her jaw.
“If I'm on one of them... then where are the other two?”
Foosteps... followed by cussing breaths.
Roarke held her breath, ducked back into the steam, and made herself scarce.
Along the top row of the majestic steps leading into the heart of the High Council Building, Chancellor Fishberry stood, adjusting the top of her blouse with fidgeting hooves. Below her, various groups of well-dressed deer and elk strolled up the steps. Some were in pairs, chatting closely. Others lingered in loose clusters, glaring at the others with wrinkled, distrustring expressions. All the while, armored reindeer with dimly glowing antlers stood along the fringes, ever vigilant.
A secretary stood beside Fishberry on the top step before the spacious marble archways that separated the inner Council Building from the sun-glinting vistas of the Val Roan courtyards. She scribbled onto a clipboard while muttering out the side of her muzzle, “Not a very lively crowd this morning, Chancellor.”
“Yes, well, that's what happens when the Council is brought to session two hours earlier than normal.” She sighed. “There hasn't been a foreign dignitary visiting Val Roa's capital in nearly three years. Why now?”
“Perhaps they want a first seat to the coronation.”
“They'll have the first seat on the wagon out of here, if I can have anything to do with it.”
“Rumor is, it's the Princess of a warrior race.” The secretary smiled. “Unicorns with tattoos and a serpent god.”
Fishberry sighed long and hard. “I'll remember to thank Nilla for being 'tight-lipped.'” She grumbled. “As usual...”
“Oooh!” The secretary pointed. “Here they come!”
“Hmmm...” Fishberry bit her lip, frowning. “Looks like the Duchess of Sehlp brought her trusted moose meat.”
“Who's that handsome fellow beside him?”
“Funny...” Fishberry narrowed her orange eyes. “That shade of brown to his coat. Seems awfully familiar...”
“Heh... who ever heard of a buck without antlers. No wonder he's stuck doing something so lowly as wagon duty, eh, Chancellor?”
Fishberry took a deep breath. “That's enough talking. For now...” Her fuzzy features curved into a sickeningly sweet grin as she stood tall. “...nothing but smiles.”
WHAM! A goblin swung his wrench against another imp's skull. As the victim twitched and bled against the bulkheads, the one with the bludgeon leered above him. “I said tighten the rivets on Floor B! Not C! How the Hell else do you think we're gonna get to the meeting in one piece?!”
The throttled imp could only gurgle on his own blood and teeth.
“Nnnngh!” The goblin kicked him in the side, unaware of a dark figure slinking behind him in the steam. “I'm sick and tired of having to draft this worthless peasant scum!” He spat on the bleeding imp's face. “Haman better pull this through, or I swear to God, I'm joining the Lounge!”
Far away, Roarke cleared the stairwell leading to the top deck. There, she lingered, catching a breath of fresh air while her suit vented all of the collected steam.
It was then that she noticed something in the clouds immediately surrounding them. A slight green sheen reflected off the bottoms of the wispy beds.
Daringly, Roarke trotted out onto the open deck, peering over the starboard railing completely.
Down below, she saw a line of dotted figures, each glowing with emerald energy. The crest of the Val Roan mountains were guarded closely by a solid row of encampments, each stationed by a reindeer with vibrant emerald antlers. Within seconds, the goblin battleship would be flying over the Sentries' skulls.
Roarke gritted her teeth, clutching the rusted bar closest to her.
Seconds passed. A minute. Two minutes. Soon enough, it was clear to Roarke that the battleship had passed over the dim green line. Not a single pulse of mana was thrown their way. The battleship flew on, unimpeded.
“Hmmm...” Roarke raised a hoof to her helmet and slapped it shut. Clakka-Clak! “Fascinating...”
And she drifted back into the shadows.
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Of course we're right back to the precipice of carnage. At least there's some subterfuge and character dynamic to season the stew this time around.
I think there may be, what, twenty or so chapters before things really start to go south?
Floydien has got it going on.
...The Noble Jury flew above, they get attacked. Imp thrashy-flying machine flies above, nothing happens? Hm... Hmmmmmmmm........
Prowse's little armada is going to wipe the floor with that putrid ship
YESSSSS.
Roarke can be discrete when she wants to.
and only when she wants to.
It's at times like these that I wonder whether IC engineered this entire scenario, just for the title.
Red Wedding in 3
Go Metal Gear Solid.
5265014 Of course. Props was saying so since the beginning.
Now it's time for politics!
5265221
5265014
5265160
Red coronation in 20.
Uncle Prowse to the rescue in 22.
Still haven't figured out what's happening to the soul sentries. Chrysalis having direct control over them doesn't really make sense, though I guess she might just be waiting so there's an enemy to blame, and starts a war with the Cartel.
I'm going to guess that Chrysalis's control over the soul sentries is more subtle, or indirect.
Also, I have to wonder who that foreign dignitary was from 3 years ago.
Sneaky sneaky Roarke.
Man, it's been a while since I've heard that term.
...Well...seems like the Lounge are helping out the cartel a bit.
Yeeee...
Geez, Rainbow. I mean, they already know everyone's here. No need to blow the cover even further...
Props: "It's Handsome, silly! Who else?"
Uhhhh...she slightly recognizes him...
Well there you have it. Someone is definitely messing with the Val Roan defenses from behind.
5265014
Sounds about right. Give or take a difference of one or two chapters.
5264519
It's possible. I personally think Chryssy's power is still too diminished to hold control over that many sentries at once, though. I think either a) those sentries have to have that collective mind linked together over to someone/something, and she's gotten control over that, or b) she's got enough power to grab small squads at a time.
5265279
Eh, I think it'll be more than two chapters of hell before Prowse shows up. Depends on how far south things are going.
5264596
1) Glad to see I wasn't the only one with that song stuck in my head.
2) It's "Oh yesterday came suddenly" after "There's a shadow hanging over me".
3) ...Damnit...my feels...
Just curious, but did we ever hear when and how Eines parents were killed? I was wondering if it was Chrysalis who engineered their deaths, because if she did, how hard would it be to kill the entire family and then replace Eine while being properly crowned king....I know that sounds ridiculous, but it would be the thing I expect the least and that's usually how IC operates.
If the ship(s) really are that poorly put together, maybe Roarke could try her hoof at giving it some... ahem... maintenance?
stream1.gifsoup.com/view/164818/buster-keaton-o.gif
Wait, the penultimate breadwinner? What's the last? Do I even want to know?
Tactical Espneighage Action.
Also, penultimate? What's the final breadwinner. Oooh I know! I'm betting the 3 airships all combine Voltron-style (Coltron?)
Ok so this is just conformation that someone is screwing with the Sentries to help the goblins. I wonder what is up with the other two ships, maybe the Jury could steal one of them to help with the coming battle? As I think its obvious that they will need more then just the Jury to help with this.
I feel like I should make Metal Gear Solid joke here. But I havent' played the games...
5265455
Or you know, they just sell to the highest bidder.
5265211
Her bangs are clearly wet and they were dyed too.
No, it's not the end of the world. A simple line from the Dutchess stating the need to touch up the dye would be all that's necessary.
This doesn't have anything to do with the current chapter but...
What's Roarke's Cutie Mark? Or Bellesmith's? Or Props'? Or Zaid's?
I can't seem to remember if they ever came up when they were introduced. Am I crazy? Or do ponies outside Equestria just not have marks.
5264596 And so was written the perfect Yaerfaerda/Appledashery crossover.
5265279
fuck.
I'm still waiting for everything to come together in one big steaming shit sandwich!
Yee-hah!
So, seems like this Haman bloke has friends on the other side. Someone with access to the soul sentries.
Of course, we already know Sharp Quill is under some sort of mind control, but surely the sentries' duties would go to Saikano, the one guy who we have no real information on. And considering he's the kind of guy who readily allows folks to be brainwashed into living weapons, Chrysalis might fit pretty well into his head.
You're welcome, Fishberry!
Hmm, seems I was wrong.
...That's actually worse because that means whoever knows about the party's real agenda has control of the Soul Sentries.
5265520 Probably their skystone-powered masterstroke. This is an unfinished prototype.
5265823
Peace Walker HD is one of my favorite games. I have over 100 hours logged into it. Can't wait to play The Phantom Pain.
i.imgur.com/H97Opxq.png
Rourke is doing a Metal Gear, Master Chief crossover? Hmm, Is there enough advanced tech between Ledo and Val Roa in order to give her a Cortana bolt on? I could just see a remote activated suit going through a space too small for a body wearing that suit. Also, Rourke is slimbuild. I get this feeling of Kit Cloudkickers first words. Aww, You shouldnt have. Just as he makes off with the core gem of the skyship
I wonder what back door hack have been programmed into the Soul Sentries. An order, or ordour, or our deurve etc?
5264575
i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/347/356/cad.jpg
[youtube=youtube.com/watch?v=XI1VpElKWF8] METUL GHEERR
5265858
The only cutie marks that have ever been mentioned (to my knowledge) are:
Eagle - spyglass
Belle - book and quill
Ebon - sailboat
Imre - bonesaw
Props - two steam valves
And I guess Scootaloo's wrench and gears
We still have no idea what Zaid looks like, by the way
5265014
20 chapters ONLY IF most of them deal with dialogue, like talking between various dignitaries, nobles, and (false[well, kind of false])xonans.
I think it won't take many Roarke-centric chapters for things to go to hell for her.
5265951
...Are you thinking what I think you're thinking? Because if so, we might now be thinking the same thing...
5267760
Which in this case could be bad, m'kay...
5268231
Could be.
More like rather unpleasant, actually.
SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm getting a distinct Directive 66 feel from those Soul Sentries... I hope they wont turn on the Val Roans.
Rapidly switching persectives... unfortunate meetup imminent.
This workplace has been injury-free for seven minutes.
It's a new goblin workplace safety record!
This is worrisome. Usually there's an injury or death every two or three minutes, on a slow day. This indicates a serious lack of ambition and worker laziness. Time to crack that whip. Literally!
And now the Cartels play their next big hand...
I was hoping Roarke would do something to what the goblins said was breaking up. Then she could have messed them up.
-Spirit
Ahh, yes, that's fantastic. Roarke is on point with this one. Now it's time to clear the skies.
Uh-huh. Well, I'm going to need to see a prescription, ma'am.
Hmm... Chrysalis could be any one of the characters we met. Woah! What if... she's ROARKE!? She might have taken her over back when Roarke and Rainbow got down to business together so she could build Rainbow's feelings up and then destroy them and harvest her pain and all that stuff when the time came. Then again... she wouldn't be on a goblin warship (if you can even call this thing a ship) wondering what's going on if she was Chrysalis. Oh well. Speculation incorrect...
Definitely someone on the inside.
Well, this isn't boding well for the peaceful inhabitants of Val Roa or for the Noble Jury's quest. Some bad dude or dudette has a high seat in the place, and they're letting bad things happen. Also, Ebon is getting pretty damned good at figuring out what Kera is saying in her derp-tongue.
~SolidFire
Bet you it ain't.
I can't believe that I did not notice this was when the Goblins crossed the Soul Sentry Perimeter until now. I am really unobservant
07/08/2017
23:56 UTC
Counsil, get ready for the tongue twisting of your life! Courtesy of your princess of tongue twisters.