On the sixth day since setting out from Stratopolis, the Noble Jury had decelerated to a slow cruise. Since Props insisted that the crew rest the engines, Ebon suggested they pass the cooldown time by bringing the vessel low enough to cast fishing lines into the sea. If there was a chance of catching fresh meat, then they might be able to increase the volume of meals for an evening or two. Naturally, most ponies jumped upon this idea. Rainbow Dash gladly bowed out.
So it was that by noon, the ship hovered a few naked feet above seal level with its hangar doors yawning halfway open. Ebon, Zaid, Eagle Eye, and Josho sat inside the ship's rear, their legs dangling as they dragged fishing lures through the calm waters right beneath them. Ebon's hunch proved right, and between the four of them they had already made seven meaty catches.
"Way to go, sailboat," Josho said through a smirk. He had to talk above the sound of his rumbling stomach while he casted another line. "I'd kiss you if this damn hangar didn't stink so much."
"I told Floydien. I told him." Ebon frowned as he held his fishing pole. "We should have chiseled ice out of the icebergs before we headed south. That way we could have resupplied the freezer unit and done something to better preserve caught fish, much less stave off the smell."
"Well, at the rate at which we're crashing in on their parade, I'd say we'll be eating like kings soon," Zaid said. He turned to grin at the other stallions. "All in all, I'd say that things are going swimmingly." His eyes turned rounder above a maniacal grin. He took turns gawking at every stallion.
"You really, really suck," Josho grumbled.
"Yes." Eagle Eye muttered. "What the old stallion said."
"Awwwwwwwww..." Zaid pouted. "Not you too."
"Everything alright, EE?" Ebon asked.
Ebon fought a burning, burning frown. "This... smells... horribly."
"Grin and bear it, princess," Josho said while casting another line into the glossy sea. "Maybe you don't wanna get fat on your bones, but the rest of us do. So be a part of the team and ignore it."
"I can't..." Eagle shuddered, his lavender muzzle turning green. "I can feel it getting into my pores."
"Well, don't worry," Ebon said with a smile. "Just a few more catches, and then you can march inside to shower."
"Yeah..." Zaid chuckled. "We'll all get into a circle and spit on you."
"Ew!" Eagle blanched and nearly fell off the hangar door from writhing. "Ew ew ew ew! You guys are impossible!"
"You know, for once..." Josho's muzzle curved. "I kind of liked that one."
Zaid brightened. "You did?"
"Move aside." Metal-laced limbs trotted forcibly between the four stallions.
The ponies looked up, shuffling aside. "Excuse you, Roarke," Ebon griped.
"Hmmmm... breeders going to breed..." Roarke kept her copper-lensed eyes locked on a glowing yellow device in her grasp. "Such a shame to interrupt your festivities, but I think it's finally catching up with me."
"You don't say?" Josho droned without looking at her. "Because it was starting to smell good until you arrived."
"Too bad nature decided to trade your humor for fat."
"Works for me, lady."
"Wait wait wait..." Ebon waved his hoof at the others and squinted up at Roarke. "What do you mean? What is catching up with you?"
"It'll only matter to you in about a minute," Roarke said, operating a dial on the control. "Unless, of course, you want to be crushed to a pulp by reptilian metal. It makes very little difference to me."
"Oh jeez!" Eagle flinched, scrambling with his fishing pole to move aside. "Oh jeez oh jeez oh jeez!"
"Calm your crotch tits," Josho grunted, then turned to squint at the metal mare. "Isn't this being a bit optimistic? Especially for you?"
"Could you flatulate a little louder? I can't hear you."
"You supposedly left that thing floating on its own on the far west edge of the Stratopolitan cyclone." Josho's eyes narrowed. "What makes you think it even has the juice to respond to your signal?"
"It's highly-advanced Lounge tech."
"So?"
"I augmented it."
"Ah. So, I'm guessing it's swung by several merchant ships and murdered every respectful stallion on board."
Ebon chuckled.
"Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to program that into it," Roarke said. "Though, you're giving me plenty of reasons to do so now."
"Just what kind of a transport is it, anyways?" Eagle Eye asked.
"Ah..." Roarke lowered the control and pointed out the hangar's rear ship. "See for yourself."
"Hmmm?" Zaid and the others stood up to look. Everypony squinted—save for Eagle Eye who merely blinked at the northwest horizon.
"Hey... uhm..." The unicorn trotted backwards on jittery hooves. "Is it supposed to be coming in that fast?"
"Mmmm... probably not." Deadpan, Roarke reached a hoof out and yanked at a lever.
Whurrrrrr—CLAK! The hangar doors opened wider. With a shriek, Ebon nearly slipped down into the blurring waters below. Josho heaved him up while Zaid and Eagle Eye scrambled for a hoofhold. Many of them turned to glare at Roarke, but had very little chance when a spherical black body sailed in from outside.
WHOOOSH! A tiny scale replica of the Lounge Ship came to a stop just inches from Roarke's muzzle. She stood her ground, exhaling calmly, her breath forming a foggy splotch of condensation against the thing's pearlescent black hull.
"Well, a little tardy, but quite responsive." As she backtrotted, she pulled a knob on her control, forcing the thing to levitate forward on glowing amber engines until it settled to a stop, completely swallowed up by the hangar's interior with room to spare. Roarke turned a dial, and six spokes came out of the bottom of the ship, balancing itself neatly against the floor of the hangar.
The orb was small—for sure—but it looked to have enough room to fit two adult ponies, maybe three. As Roarke turned a tiny lever on her control, this became obvious, for the opposite sides of the ship slid up and out like onion layers, revealing a dimly-lit interior with blinking consoles and a highly-advanced mana-powered forward display.
"Reptiles built this thing?" Ebon remarked. "I didn't realize it could be so... erm... comfy-looking inside."
"It was only ever meant to be piloted by one naga at a time," Roarke droned as she leaned in to inspect the interior. "Seeing as on their lonesome they're at peace with Quezaat, they can afford themselves some luxury."
"Well, lucky you," Ebon said.
Eagle Eye glanced inside. "Ooooh... I like the red velvet interior."
"It's not red," Roarke said. "I had to acquire this ship from Vaughan from force."
"Meaning...?"
"I blew the lizard's brains out."
"Oh, ick!" Eagle jumped back from the ship and grimaced. "That's it..." He marched furiously towards the stairwell. "I'm taking my shower!"
"So, what's it name?" Zaid asked.
"It does not have a name," Roarke said.
"Pfft! Get out of town!" Zaid smirked. "It's gotta have a name!"
"All this vessel provides is utility," Roarke said. "When the situation calls for more than two members of the Jury to split up and explore a region, we can once again rely on more than just Rainbow Dash to fly."
"The cultist has a point," Josho droned. "It's bad buckin' luck to pilot something without a name."
"Forgive me if I don't share your superstitious sentiment."
"I know!" Zaid grinned wide. "Whizzball!"
Roarke turned with folded ears, practically hissing at the stallion. "It... shall not... be called... Whizzball."
"Don't be so silly! I mean look at it!" Zaid pointed. "It's a ball! And it whizzes!"
"And you're a stallion and you leak. What's the point?"
"I'd be insulting the grand history of aviation if I called it anything else!" Zaid smiled.
"I'll be right back," Josho said, trotting off with a smirk. "Blondie and Dr. Bellesmith are going to want to see Whizzball now that it's in Floydien's hangar."
"It is not Whizzball!" Roarke actually hollered.
"Nancy Jane and Whizzball!" Zaid chanted, pumping a hoof in the air. "Together at last!"
"Nnnnngh..." Roarke leaned into the cockpit seat, looking around. "Where's the self destruct mechanism...?"
Two chapters in a night?
How you spoil us, ):(.
4553546
After midnight.
Nice little boys club they have going; it's nice to see the camaraderie come out in less dire circumstances.
I can so picture this in my head.
4553556
SENPAI NOTICED ME
Well, I for one think that this was quite amusing, little pal.
Hah! "Whizzball"!
4553556
That's a technicality, but I guess I can accept it.
Yayyy!!! They get to bring along Whizzball!!
These three, I swear.
I, for one, welcome the name Whizzball.
Ooh! Whizzball will make an excellent addition to their little armada.
Well, two of them will, if nothing else.
Big Dumb Whizzball. I can get used to that.
I just find it amusing that the thing that gets Roarke flustered is the name of a manaship.
Yes! Whizzball is best utility ship!
The second line should have been Eagle Eye, I think.
Also, WELCOME TO THE CREW, WHIZZBALL!
Please don't kill me, Roarke...
if only Dash were there,she would have dubbed it Orbsome.
Gosh. Can I say I forgot how much I liked flustered Eagle Eye? He's so adorable.
At least clean out the lizard brain before using Whizzball.
In before whizzball1 freaks out in the comments. Welcome to becoming a namesake!
Whizzball. Heh.
Poor Roake, she can never catch a break.
Zaid is the one enemy Roarke cannot possibly defeat. It's already Whizzball, she just doesn't know it yet.
4553593 That's because your cheese-deprived brain has developed a negative sense of humour.
Nice to see he casual banter making a return. Everything was so... serious for a while.
I missed Zaid being a loveable goof, Roarke being angry and Josho being fat.
Dash needs to loosen up with the whole vegetarian thing. Pescaterians are cool too.
Wizzball?
Yup, Zaid has definitely got cheese on the brain.
Cheezewizz.
Now, wheres the feed on this squirt can?
I'm a ship. Piloted by Roarke.
But seriously I'm freaking out right now.
-Spirit
EDIT: I just realised that the title is pretty correct in this, I have never seen anybody else on the internet ever named Whizzball.
Except for, of course, the game that I named myself off of 7 years ago. That's probably filled with Whizzballs.
Congratulations, whizzball1! Funny how this happens in the first double update since the two of us caught up.
4553593
It was. It may have been a stupid pun, but that doesn't stop it from being a good one.
Woo Whizzball! Let us pray to Sero our new friend lives through many chaotic adventures.
4554945 True, even Rarity eats fish! Are S4 details still canon here?
4555134 Wait, when does she eat any fish?
Also, congratulations 4555021 for becoming a new part of the Jury!
I've missed the times like this where there was banter and funnies.
Congratulations whizzball!
Woo Wizzball! I like that name.
4556271 4555086 4554998
Just about everywhere I go, there is someone who simply cannot spell my name.
4556351
Dont worry, Im as bad with names as I am with style. Lets just say that compared to my planet destroyer, a Vogon Destructor ship is stylish. Well, if I designed a planet destroyer. Its a strange fact that due to their differences in construction, stars are vastly easier to destroy than even fairly small planets.
4556351 Uhh sorry. I totally know what it's like when people don't know how to spell your name right. I hate it too.
4555405 Inspiration Manifestation. She turns the kid's party buffet into a fancy hors d'oeuvres tray complete with shrimp and what looked like smoked salmon, among other morsels.
4556351 Oh please, you don't even know how that really feels.
4556601 With what name do you have that problem?
4554945 And it's mostly pegasi who eat fish in the fanfics.
4556617 After two hundred chapters of Jurors going for Nevalmas, Nevalamas, Nevalasm, Nevelas, Nevelmas and variations thereof, I don't quite know it myself anymore.
4556870 Nevlamas is easy. Unless people somehow forget such a clear pronunciation.
4556888
4556870
Let's see...
Phonetically,
Nevllamas
Wizball
Actually, I prefer never llamas, and piss ball.
Auto complete likes those.
Also, it's been awhile since our last Luna chat.
4554352
I wonder if IC will write me in as a serial number at some point.
*please let there be robots*
jokes
they are funny
Let's remember who's piloting this ship. Whizzball will be the herald of death for whatever new baddies we'll be facing on Alafreo and beyond.
4555021 congrats friend on your naming! and as an epic ship too! of course, you've got lizard brain on you, but what ever
and you're being used by roarke........
eat your heart out you lucky bastard you
4557148 That's it.
4558305 4558521
So today I found out about Twilight's Kingdom.
Then I found out that this story is not in Twilight's Kingdom.
So I recommended (not submitted though) this story (Austraeoh, not Urohringr) to be in Twilight's Kingdom.
Let's cross our hooves and hope they like it!
-Spirit
Whizzball x Nancy Jane forever. Best ship
I definitely have a new OTP now. NobleBall