Eagle Eye was really neither asleep nor awake. He stared perpetually into a dank corner of his cell as the body of the Steel Wing tilted and swayed around him. He flared his nostrils against the dark recesses, fighting back another hour of relentless tears.
At last, a thumping sound echoed from across the brig. He gave a lethargic glance, his dull face framed by a frazzled mane. He squinted as a flicker of light spread across his cell and then spread even wider as it was accompanied by the rattling sound of the brig's gate opening.
As Eagle's vision came into focus, he saw two crew members standing, their horned heads silhouetted against the light of the day wafting in from the deck above.
"On your hooves, mercenary," one stallion grunted. "You're needed for official business."
"Nnngh..." Eagle Eye stirred, his limbs weak and raw from lying against the hardwood floor. "Official... b-business...?" he nervously stammered.
"We said get up!" One stallion yanked him out of the cell with a burst of telekinesis. Eagle Eye stifled a whimper, almost tripping on the chains around his limbs. He tried walking, only to stumble in a third stallion's thick chest. The pony steadied him with strong arms. Eagle Eye looked up, blinked, then blinked once more... this time with a gasp. "J-Josho...?"
"Hmmph..." Josho grunted, his brow furrowed. "That's Prime Enforcer Josho to you, traitor." Fiercely, the obese stallion spun Eagle Around and shoved him towards the stairs leading onto the main deck. "Trot evenly, and do not talk. Rights are not granted to deserters."
Eagle Eye winced, his face stretching with pain and confusion. Limply, he trotted up the stairs, being urged on every few seconds by Josho's brutish shoves. Two other stallions accompanied the procession as they emerged upon the top deck, beset with wind and the chill of high altitude.
Among the many crew ponies milling about, one officer stood at the edge of the deck, near a loading platform where a large managlider rested, equipped with a mounted turret. He scribbled a few things onto a clipboard and swiveled about to face the group approaching him across the Steel Wing.
"Can I help you, Enforcer?"
"Yes," Josho said with a nod, firmly holding Eagle in place. "I've been ordered by Prime Enforcer Shell to take this prisoner west to the military base located at the north of Green Slope."
"Hmmm... is that so...?" The crew pony glanced over his files. "I didn't receive a vehicle requisition form."
Josho sighed. "Look, it's not my fault if Captain Filta is behind on his duties. He's your superior, soldier. If you like, go and run the requisition by him personally."
"I am not to leave my post, sir."
"And I am not supposed to cave your friggin' head in with a cannonball!" Josho snarled. "This ship's been blown to crap and pieced back together by the corn kernels! We're flying by the varnish of our saddles, trying to track down a menace to the Confederacy, and you've got the gall to preach to me about protocol?!"
"Uh... I-I'm sorry, sir. I'm only doing my duty—"
"And I'm not?!" Josho pointed at the far end of the Steel Wing where Captain Filta stood, talking to a pair of subordinates. "Go and talk to the Captain and get the friggin' form so I can take this fruity yahoo where Prime Enforcer Scarface wants me to! Or would you like to be the one to explain to Shell personally why you had to piss him off?!"
"Right. No. I mean yes. I mean..." The officer fumbled, dropped his clipboat, picked it up again, and shuffled off swiftly. "Sir, yes, sir! Right away, sir!"
Eagle Eye gawked at the sight of the stallion as he floundered away. He yelped as he felt a heavy shove from behind.
"We ain't got time to waste," Josho grumbled, all but tossing Eagle Eye's frail body into the rear seat of the manacraft, within the gun turret. "Might as well get situated so we can get our job done faster for Shell once that penpusher comes back."
"Uhm... sir?" One of the two guards besides Josho reached forward. "What are you doing?"
"At ease, gentlecolts," Josho grumbled, stumbling onto the piloting seat of the vehicle and straddling it. "And I do emphasize the 'gentle' part."
"Enforcer Josho?" The other reached telekinetically for his manarifle. "We can't let you do that."
"Do what?"
"Whatever... it is that you're doing."
"What are you doing?"
"Uhm... J-Josho?" Eagle Eye meekly stammered. He winced as he saw Filta angrily marching across the deck alongside the frazzled clerk.
"Enforcer Josho!" Filta's frown could cut diamonds. A veritable legion of crew ponies clustered around him, forming a phalanx that faced the obese stallion in question. "What in the Queen's name do you think you're doing?!"
"Yeah, uhm, sit on it." Josho slapped the controls forward.
"Aaack!" Eagle shrieked as the mana vehicle suddenly plunged off the edge of the Steel Wing. He clung to the frame of his seat for dear life. "Sp-Spark alive...!"
"Whoops!" Josho wheezed, struggling with the controls. "Damn thing doesn't accelerate as much as I thought it would!" At last, he gained momentum, and the craft veered itself upright. "Ah, there we go. Easy as bean pie—Whoa damn!" He gasped as manashots from rifles streamed past them.
Up above, along the edge of the Steel Wing's deck, a line of ponies with rifles were taking aim, firing at the command of Filta's bombastic shouts.
Eagle Eye panted, ducking as blue streams surged past them. Eventually, Josho sped the managlider west, and the two-seated aircraft easily outflew the range of the rifle blasts. Sitting up straight, Eagle Eye ran a pair of cuffed hooves through his wind-swept mane, trying to calm himself.
"Heh..." Josho smirked as he gripped tight to the controls. "That was a bit easier than expected. Now just to deal with the whole fugitive-from-Queen-and-country-for-the-rest-of-my-life part."
"Are you crazy?!" Eagle Eye sputtered. He flung a glance behind as the Steel Wing swiveled broadly about until its port side faced the fleeing pair. "They'll still blow us out of the sky! They've got cannons!"
"You think I don't know that?" Josho grumbled.
Eagle Eye blinked. With a gaping expression, he squinted back at the Steel Wing.
There was synchronized flash from all of the massive zeppelin's cannons. Eagle Eye's heart skipped a beat. However, before the thunderous salvo could even reach them, a series of explosions rocked across the battleship's hull as each and every one of the cannons backfired. The large craft decelerated and hovered in place to assess the damage.
Josho grinned. "You think Captain Filta knows that?"
Eagle Eye started breathing easier. He gestured once more to smooth his windswept bangs, but all he could do was fumble with his bindings.
"Here..." The glider slowed as Josho put the thing on autopilot, then twisted about to bring a pair of keys to the hoofcuffs. "Lemme take care of that, kiddo."
The lavender unicorn relaxed as his hooves stretched free. Nevertheless, a slight shiver persisted as he leaned forward and spoke above the whipping winds. "Why... j-just why are you doing this?! Don't you know what this means to your career? To your well-being?"
"Hmmph... Like you're one to talk, ya friggin' model," Josho belched. "Face it." He gripped the controls and angled them sharper west, cutting through clouds and pockets of wind. "I'm too old to get any higher in rank and way too fat to woo the ladies over trivial bullcrap. If I'm gonna live out a miserable life, I might as well do it someplace where the ponies I'm working for aren't threatening to heave me off cliffsides. There's an awful lot of that going around these days. It doesn't make for a good retirement plan."
"Then that's what this is all about?" Eagle Eye exclaimed. "Giving up?"
"Look, they sure as Hell ain't giving me no second chance," Josho said in a deep tone. "I'm getting off this parade while I still can afford to. Might as well bring you along. After all..." Josho's nostrils flared as he stared straight ahead. "You're the only pony in history who's ever given me a second chance."
Eagle Eye stared at him. He took a deep breath. "Josho, I... I-I don't know what to say..."
"If you're gonna gush, save it for when I drop you off."
"Dr-drop me off?"
"First stop, Franzington. Second stop?" The stallion shrugged. "I dunno. Whiskeyton. It's a large world; there's gotta be a province named that somewhere."
"You're... you're going to take me back to my home country?" Eagle Eye's expression froze in a grimace. At last, after a few quivering shakes, he barked, "No! North! Take us north!"
"Buh?" Josho nearly slipped his grip of the controls.
"You heard what Filta said earlier!" Eagle Eye practically leaned out of his gunner's seat entirely. "Pilate's somewhere in Blue Nova and Shell's just inches away from nabbing him! What's more, Belle's somewhere up north, needing to be rescued! We can't just leave Rainbow Dash's friends in peril like that!"
"Kid, I could leave you like a urine stain against the clouds if I wanted."
"You said I gave you a second chance?! What about their chance, huh?! They're good ponies stuck in the middle of a country that wants to see them dead and for all we know we're the only ones with the actual power to save them!" At the end of his outburst, Eagle Eye hissed and shoved on Josho's flank. "Now bring us north!" his voice cracked with urgency.
"Whoah—Jeez!" Josho struggled to keep the veering aircraft upright. He turned and glared back at Eagle Eye. "Don't you know better than to look a gift drunkard in the mouth?!"
"Ponies need us, Josho." Eagle frowned. "There's no going home for me. Not anymore. Not until I make one for myself and for these ponies too."
Josho's frown slowly melted with a lethargic sigh. "You ain't gonna clam up about this, are ya, ya fruit basket?"
Eagle Eye slowly shook his head. "Either take us north to Blue Nova or drop me off down below so I'll make the journey myself on hoof."
Josho clenched his jaw. Rolling his bleary eyes, he sighed and gently angled the craft to the right, heading towards misty mountains rolling in the distance. "Somehow, I'm gonna regret this..."
"Are you, Josho?" Eagle Eye relaxed in the backseat. "Are you really?"
"Hmmph... I suppose you are the expert on desertion. Maybe you can teach me a trick or two along the way to our inevitable deaths."
"No..." Eagle Eye smiled. "But I bet I've taught you something about friendship."
"Yeah, no more of that," Josho grumbled. "I'm pretty sure I smuggled out a stallion, not a turd of pretentious morality."
"Hmmmmm..." Eagle Eye leaned against the gunner's dashboard, smiling rosily. "You're a good stallion, Josho, even if it is hidden beneath all that fat and fuzz."
"I think it was a bad friggin' idea putting you in the seat directly behind me."
And Eagle Eye giggled into the winds.
JOSHO!
I saw it coming. He's just too attached to EE.
Sweeeet.
Prime Enforcer Josho has lost 6000 Reputation with Ledomare. They are now Hostile.
Title lost: Prime Enforcer
A song of staying,
Resisting,
Strength like a tower
And trust unbroken.
This story is full of strong characters, and Eagle Eye is one of them. Such a beautiful soul. Eat it, Kera.
Finally something that I actually saw coming!
Always classy. Isn't Josho just the Gimli of Austraeoh? Whenever things get all dramatic and sappy, he does something silly to lighten up the mood.
This chapter gave me warm fuzzies. Who knew Josho truly had it in him?
Godspeed, good stallion.
Lol, Josho is an awesome character.
Josho's badass when he's sober...
Ouch. Must have taken a page outta SS&E!Apple Bloom.
2806382
Title lost? I think it's title gained. If ever there was a Prime Directive, it's Love and Tolerance; Harmony and Friendship. I think he's finally discovered what he's supposed to be enforcing.
Josho will end up performing an heroic sacrifice, to save Crimson's life. He will say something like:
"Don't get ideas. I'm not doing this for you, tripod. I'm doing it for the little boy. I don't want to see his face if you die, just after he discovered you are alive."
Congratulations, this story has good enough grammar to be included in the Good Grammar Directory group on FimFiction!
2807364 Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You made me sad...
...wait...am I the only one who gets the feeling that Josho's going to buy the farm at some point? His seems like the classic redemption through sacrifice story, so...
2807689
If it helps, I don't really think that's what's going to happen. I'm just going out of my way to find parallels between this story and the sanctuary arc of Saint Seiya.
Dawww~ Nopony can resist EE.
Heh. Looks like they managed to escape again. Good job, Josho. Probably could have predicted that he would have done that, but good job nonetheless.
crew one [Belle]- Blue Nova
crew two [Pilate]- Blue Nova
crew three [RD]- About to head north
crew four [EE]- En route to 1 and 2.
The question is, how many explosions will occur when all four are in one place?
2808343
Awesome.
And yes, ‘awesome’ is a number. Well, that's what Dash said, anyway. :3
Lovin' me some of that EE/Josho dynamic.
More of that, please.
Think this should say Blue Nova?
Yeah Josho! Yeah Redemption!
media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lsh42mMgGM1qzlys1.gif
Uhhh . . . a bit of a floydien slip there? I'm pretty sure Shell is nabbing Pilate, not Pilot nabbing Pilate. That would just be . . . interesting?
This chapter made my day.
"We set get up!"
*said
Noticed quite a few errors in this chapter, old boy.
I am quite sure you intended to say "said".
Also.
Now why would Eagle Eye think Pilate to be in Blue Shelf? It doesn't make any sense. The last time he saw Pilate was at the ravine near Foxtaur, and he doesn't know about Blue Nova as he says moments later Belle is "somewhere North".
So, this probably means that Eagle Eye and Josho will meet with either Kera and Belle, or Pilate and the Think Tank while Dash and co. meander off to Pale Shelf. Which means still no reunion.
Just as well, I suppose. They're never going to all fit in Roarke's ship.
2810186O-Oh...whoops.
2809430 It has been removed because of too many views.
Which is a serious call, by the way. Scolon, disaster is imminent!
Go Josho! I knew he'd engage badass mode and save EE's flank!
Time for Josho to see Roarke flying by sometime today, though I'm having a bit of trouble trying to figure out the time these four groups are in relation to each other.
Should be some other placename (Blue Nova? Pale Shelf? Not sure)
There seem to be lots of Shelves in Ledomare. Now we have a Green Shelf too.
Heh, he can pass a report to Celestia when they meet up with Rainbow.
2806793
Curious: which fic are you referring to?
2811306
The one where Rainbow Dash turns 30. She talks to Apple Bloom about family and suddenly
"Apple Bloom frowned so hard her brow could cut diamonds".
Man, this chapter feels like a dream. Way too sudden. Expecting Josho to wake up and say "what the crud", pretty much.
Aw yeah! Josho and EE have officially jumped ship. Or at least they've jumped the larger ship onto a smaller one - while snuggling. I'm completely fine with this.
And that ties up the last of the non-deserters. I think everyone's some kind of rebel, now. Except for Tweak the Army Guy, but he's a gun toting crystal farmer - them folks just kinda do what they want, anyway.
2808452How much is awesome? Is it anywhere near 117?
Well, I'm sure The good Captain knows now.
2808343
So many
Bloody hell, Eagle is too fruity for his own good.
All the warm fuzzies in this chapter are giving me indigestion. Cute, though.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
And they're off! I suppose it was only a matter of time until Josho broke himself off from the Confederacy completely. He really is a changed stallion...when we first met him, he wouldn't think twice about throwing EE out of the ship and into the ground. Now, he's even listening to the guy's requests. You gotta hand it to him - he's gone through some serious character development. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
2833365 117 of what?
2807546 Carts, it took you guys 126 chapters to realize this?
Yes! They escaped! Now why does EE think that they're in Blue Shelf? Maybe he meant to say Blue Nova, but the author forgot momentarily.
-Spirit
Josho, you are a man after EE's heart.
All right! The bond of friendship is too strong for some crappy military to shatter!
5800846 S'why He tossed away the bottle. this was one problem That drinking wasn't gonna make go away. And he's starting to realize that it never really made ANY of his problems go away, Just easier to ignore. and after everything they went through together... I don't think he could do that to EE.
Maybe at some points, but overall I think he will find it worth it.
Sabotage and escape, that's the way to do it!
Aaaand the final members of the party are on their merry way.
Yaaaay!
I knew he'd come through.
Very generous of Shell to give that order, even if he doesn't know he did.
They call this the Bavarian Fire Drill, as far as I know.
Awwwww. Though I somehow doubt Josho is going to write a letter to Celestia any time soon.
2806304
Ironically, he only realized that once he wasn't. Literally, that is.
And Shell's 'Rule via Fear' has come back to bite him. His underlings are all so terrified of Shell that they don't think for themselves when he is brought up. That is a weakness his enemies can exploit.
05/15/2017 21:53 UTC
8068064
"EE, take a letter"