Schwissssssssh-Schlunk! Basso slid the door to the Tarkington's port side closed, shutting out the frost and blizzardy snow. As the ship ascended, he spun and smiled calmly at the rest of the ponies and deer on board.
“Well, I'd say we did that rather swimmingly.”
“The pilot!” Queen Azira stammered, craning her neck to see across the single cramped corridor of the cigar-shaped vessel. “Is he okay? Please tell me you can help him recover!”
“He'll live,” Lucky Strike said, kneeling with Tweak beside the reclining earth pony. The crystal brothers' glossy limbs glowed with inner magic as they tended to his wounds, bandaging his head before resting it against a crumpled pillow of cargo netting. “Which is a shame. He'll have to experience how pungent it gets in here, stuck with ten stallions with very little room to breathe.”
“Plus one mare.” Tweak smirked. “It's a scientific fact that when Zetta farts, it smells of flowers.”
“Hardy har har,” Zetta muttered, swiveling in her chair to face the console opposite of the weapon controls. She winced slightly from a pulse of mana flickering across her face. “Okay... Prowsy? I think I've mapped us a way out of here! It'll take us due south until we run parallel to the Val Roan perimeter.”
“Bloody well done, lassie!” the pilot hollered back from the cockpit. “I knew I made you diet Propsicle for a reason!”
Zetta rolled her eyes, then smirked aside at Basso. “I swear, I wouldn't be tagging along if the stallion didn't remind me of my father.”
“I'm scared to m-meet him someday,” the large pony said, shuddering.
“This rescue was swift and professional.” King Lunarius took a deep breath. “I cannot thank you ponies enough.”
“Hrmmmff...” Arcshod cracked the joints in his neck, marching across the cramped corridor on heavy hooves. “Ruhm drennden thriul, Valrulien krekke.”
Queen Azira blinked. “Uhm... what did he say?”
“Forgive my buddy back there,” Seclorum said, trotting up with a weathered smile. “He might be in the business of rescuing loyalty, but he'll only bow to a monarch if she's got a long-ass mane and a billion hoofmaidens.” The old soldier bowed. “I am former Prime Enforcer Seclorum. It's an honor to meet you.”
“Do you even know who we are?” Lunarius asked.
“Not quite,” Seclorum replied. “But if Josho is sticking his nose this deep into a shithole to save you two, then that means you've gotta be super high on the Val Roan ladder for the Noble Jury to care.”
“Pffft! Balls to you, ya graying turd,” Josho grumbled. “We've risked our coats for dozens of villages between the pegasus crater and here!”
“Heh... so much for your early retirement, eh?” Seclorum stepped back as he felt a lavender figure brushed past him.
Eagle Eye strolled forward, eyes glistening. “Crimson...?”
Crimson glanced past Phoenix from where he holstered his hammer against a bulkhead. He smiled warmly. “Hey there, EE.” He pivoted about on a whirring mechanical leg. “Wow, is it just me... or have you gotten more ripped since the last time I saw you?”
Eagle chewed on his lip, his ears folding back.
“Heh... it's okay, soldier,” Crimson said with a wink. “I know you're still soft on the inside.”
Eagle lunged forward, hugging Crimson fiercely. The larger stallion raised his good leg, holding Eagle close as the petite unicorn sobbed happily.
“I th-thought I'd never see you again! But you're here!” Eagle squealed, eyes tearing. “Oh, Spark, it's been so long!”
“Heh...” Phoenix sat back on his haunches with a smirk. “Same ol' princess.”
Eagle sniffled, leaning back to rub his cheek dry. He smiled up at Crimson, trembling. “Please... tell me... how's the family?”
“Sitting pretty in Aurum and living the good life,” Crimson said.
“Only mine's sitting prettier,” Tweak spoke from where he knelt, tending to Booster Spice. “Have you even seen Crimson's wife, kid? Whew! Makes Stasia look like a goddamn beauty queen.”
“Hah!” Lucky Strike chuckled. “I'm telling her you said that.”
“Do that and Zetta will be firing you out of the cannon, next.”
“Honestly, I'd be flattered.”
“Just stick to your doctoring, boys,” Zetta droned.
“Awwww...” Lucky Strike gazed at her, making a kissy face. “You're saying you don't want to handle me like a cannonball?”
“Your cannonballs could use a bit of adjusting ever since the Searonese nearly burned them to a crisp in their Hold.”
“Er... right. Ahem. Shutting up now.”
“So...” Eagle blinked at Crimson and Phoenix. “You've moved into Aurum just fine?”
“That we have.” Phoenix nodded. “Crimson's family. My folks.” He grinned. “What's more, a bunch of other Franzington clans headed east across the ravine as well. There's about two pilgrimages across the ruins of Foxtaur every month. Shoot, we're thinking about making a new name for the community!”
“Like Hell we will!” Tweak grumbled. “The name of 'Aurum' is the one thing standing between them and those Spark-forsaken Killas!”
“We can handle them, Tweak,” Crimson said in a droning tone. “If those dogs haven't already figured out who the land belongs to, then they're stupider than the Luxomaritan archives maintain!”
Eagle Eye perked up. “How... h-how is that going, by the way?”
“What, Luxomare?” Seclorum paced through the interior. “There's a brand new peace accord every week! The Council of Ledo is absolute history. Lately, the government's been representing the populous with a vengeance. Not only are we making friendly with the Xonans, but we've started work on... uhh... I guess you could call them 'exchange programs.'”
“Ah...” Josho nodded in the direction of Arcshod and his two fellow warriors. “I'm guessing that's how you got the Marked Brothers over there.”
“What, Arcy? Pffft.” Seclorum leaned over to nudge Arcshod in the side. “Queen Lasairfion personally gave them her royal blessing to assist me and Prowse in this... uh... mission of intense ambassadorial deliverance, if you catch my drift.” The old stallion smirked up at the towering Xonan. “Isn't that right, bud?”
“Dreit.” Arcshod nodded. He leaned forward, concentrating hard as he spoke into Josho's face: “It arrives to help... the fat of bastard...”
Josho gulped. “Well... uh... this fast of bastard is tickled of pink.”
“Then this is a royal mission?” King Lunarius asked. “You've been sent from foreign lands to aid Val Roa in our time of need?”
“Nothing of the sort, laddie.” With a limping gait, Prowse trotted in from the cockpit. The ship coasted south on autopilot as he leaned on his boomstick and bore a red-bearded smile. “We've been summoned by Rainbow Dash, the wee lass of colors who captains my niece's ship, the Noble Jury.” His eyes narrowed atop his thin skull. “Her friend, Bellesmith, summoned us to the blistery north to rescue your hides—royal or not. You see, we're in the business of savin' harmony and slayin' monsters, not necessarily in that order.”
Lunarius nodded, eyes firm. “And my kingdom is under attack by the most vile monster of all.”
“Not for bloody long, it isn't!” Prowse spat. “The Tarkington may be an uglier, cruddier leg of the Noble Jury, but if I know anythin' about hoppin' back from a bad injury, it makes you ten times more pissed off. We're gonna save yer kingdom of prancin' deerfolk if we have to headbutt our way through a mountain of changelings to do it!”
“Uhm...” Eagle Eye fidgeted. “It's only one changeling this time. Chrysalis and... uh... a bunch of mind-controlled deer at her command.”
“What bloomin' difference does it make, ya talkin' pile of knickers?!” Prowse bellowed. “I done gathered up all your wee friends from here to Freshmanton—”
“Franzington.”
“—to end what got started in Stratopolis!” Prowse's eyes narrowed. “And I'll be damned to soot-suckin' for all eternity if I dun do somethin' to honor the price Aatxe paid to make this little vacation possible! Ach!” He spun towards Zetta. “Diet Propsicle! Do the thang and make the skystone burn hotter!”
“Hmmm...” The mare smirked, yanking at a series of levers. “Aye, Cap'n, my Cap'n.”
“And do somethin' about this sod!” Prowse trotted over Booster Spice as he made his way back to the cockpit. “He's leakin' all over me pretty ship!”
Booster shuddered, breathing easier in the bandages being applied. “I... I don't get it...” He gulped. “Are these friends of you guys?”
Josho and Eagle Eye exchanged faces.
At last, Eagle smiled. He looked back at Booster. “More like family.”
Diet Propsicle.
That's awesome.
Prowse.
Also awesome, especially with his accent coming in when he's angry.
These last two chapters have made me feel very happy. Its nice to know what everyone has been up to since we left them.
Part of me is still expecting, like, Gold Petals and Cold Canter to hop out of the wood work, or something.
Also, I hope Crimson showing up doesn't get Eagle all confused. Not that I think he would cheat on Ebon, but he almost had little anime sparkles around him when he was talking to Crimson.
5422379
Father figure, yo.
5422393
I thought that's what Josho was for. Wasn't Crimson the dude he was crushing on back in Eljunbyro?
5422403
You're conflating the two. IIRC, Crimson served more of a father figure role to EE, kind of a surrogate. Josho filled that role after EE's original party of 4 (Crimson, Phoenix, Zenith, and EE) split up. Josho and EE started as an odd couple that moved into the more fatherly role as the result of their escapades escaping and didn't really become prominent until that whole arc was done with and Crimson stayed behind.
It's been a while, but if EE was crushing on Crimson at all, it was because of his own confusion and self-doubt. Moreover, EE's whole back story is about losing his original family and getting himself adopted, figuratively, into ad hoc ones.
Okay, no bullshit, ):(, Blue, Author, whatever. This is so amazing. I know the hammer is gonna drop sometime soon, but for right now I am smiling so hard right now. Pitch perfect fan service.
No pushups since it's still Christmas Eve. Enjoy the family time, and eat All the food you want. We're gonna work it off in the new year.
Gotta love family.
5422417
Yeah, I get the whole thing with Eagle and his desire to reconstruct a family for himself (i.e. his relationship with Josho). I just don't remember that being his prevailing sentiment towards Crimson. I could've sworn that he had a crush on Crimson, unless I simply misconstrued his behavior (which I seem to recall including blushing, stammering, etc.; something he's never shown toward Josho). As I understood it: He had feelings for Crimson, but those feelings were unrequited; his eventual acceptance of such factored into his deciding to accompany the Jury rather than settle in Aurum or wherever, only to find a stallion who could return his feelings in Ebon.
I dunno. Maybe my memory is failing me again. And like I said, I don't expect anything untoward to come of this (like Eagle having doubts about his relationship with Ebon). I merely thought, within the context of my perception of things, that his behavior was curious.
Reading this has made me extremely paranoid. IC why do this to meee?
The happiness can only lead to a cliff... And more hope I have in the contrary, the high possibility it will happen.
so much yay
5422508
hmm, perhaps it's more that, with Ebon, Crimson has moved from the first crush to brother/role-model status?
and EE was crushing on Crimson, but as you said, the feelings were one-sided. Crimson still means a lot to EE though, what with the whole foxtaur thingy
So much badass in such a small space. Our glorious author spoils us during this time of gift giving.
Zhu Li! Do the thing!
5422508
Pretty much. He had a crush on Crimson, but it was laid to rest when they left Aurum. He still cares about Crimson, since Crimson is still the stallion that taught him, trained him, and more or less made him into the pony that he is today, but it's not romantic anymore. I think the last line sums it all up rather nicely: Crimson is family.
This just makes me so happy. Now we just need some BassoZetta... not that returning to the story myself wouldn't be the best thing ever, of course.
5422508
EE did have a crush on Crimson, and they both knew it, and they both knew it would never happen. They had a bit of a heart-to-heart about it at the end of Innavedr. Aside from that, though, he was also an otherwise important figure to Eagle, being the guy who led the ex-merceneries and the one treated him with the most respect.
Now the big question is how the hell will the Tarkington, et al, get through that barrier? It's unlikely the border guards will just let them through. Especially if mind controlled.
Hmm... I wonder how Prowse will react upon finding out Ebon is a Changeling.
Well, since nearly the whole gang is here, we can only guess who's going to die next, and hope that IC does not pull off Deathly Hallows in the end.
You know, with all your favourite characters dying and all...
Its all coming down to Last Dance At Midnight?
It might be Totally coincidental, but its Christmas time, and so its time for the Morcambe and Wise special.
Sorry for the leaking Prowse, ran out of ducttape.
I missed those knuckle-heads
Holy crap. Way to go belle. Blasts from the past galore in the Tarkington.
Why can I only upvote this once?
Knighty pls fix
Aww this chapter was soo cute~
Freaking awesome and hilarious.
First off merry Christmas jurists!
I suspect we meet the old gang again on relatively happy terms for a single reason. Deaths are coming. Lots of deaths
Wow.
Everybody's back.
Killer.
Hot damn.
more like a mission of IED amirite
5423125 Knighty's too busy putting an end to Jinglemas.
i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/282/817/2ee.jpg
I'M FREEDOMING ALL OVER MYSELF RIGHT NOW
I'm entertaining myself with how Props is gonna react to Prowse naming Zetta Diet Propsicle.
On a more serious note, I wonder if crystal pony luminescence affects changeling magic? And when is Rainbow gonna get to confront Chrysalis? And why can't I stop asking questions?
5423706
I mean Zaid is Diet Handsome so it stands to reason some heroes like their heroics mild
5422379
Whatever happened to that Csquared guy? I hope he still reads.
5424875
...not entirely sure where White Supremacy comes into play, but I guess I'll go with it.
Really, there aren't that many characters that were really card-carrying villains. Zaap Nator was trying to usher in a new era of progress for Darkstine, Shell was haunted by the ghosts of those he's slain, Nightshade was doing it for her brother, etc.
Seems we now have a case of a motley-crew-that-grew-too-big like in Innavedr, I love these crew interactions.
Zetta's going to become the new Imre/Roarke with all the attitude and remarks. But she had to survive on a ship with all these stallions.
I'm sharing this because the author seems to like squirrels.
[youtube= http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rFB-4gK1Joc]
5426180
added an extra thingy (whatever ] is called) behind youtube
5422393 It'll just confuse him about Josho.
so many lulz
Well, Driet that's convenient, they are pretty much an army now.
Aw man, I knew Prowse was coming, but he really brought the party back!
Never split the party doesn't count when you have a big enough group to form an army.
... I also really want Tweak to meet Jake. It'll be the shootiest slobberfest that there ever was
And this truly is a great reunion. So much so that I can't even figure out what to say about it.
-Spirit
Family. That seems right. I like how that sounds.
well, if the Jury splits like it seems to be pointing to in the near future, at least we have closure that they'll be with the newer Jurists. who are, family.
I wanna cry...
But it'll be out of happiness this time.
Family
of course they are family. Every single one of them, whether it was a day or a month or a year in the Jury's company, That's what you are. the kind of Love and loyalty that can't be bought, Cheated or Forced, Only earned The love of a FAMILY.
Family is far more than just blood.
I didn't recall the Tarkington being skystone powered...or skystone armed, but I'll go with it.
Zaid: diet handsome. Zetta: diet propsicle.
I guess they decided Luxmare didn't flow off the tongue.
6539957
One word dude, retrofits.
07/16/2017
21:25 UTC
Big big badass family it is!