Innavedr

by Imploding Colon


Price of Loyalty

Bellesmith had no more tears left to shed. She stood like a statue, hollow and emotionless, as the manacraft carried her up to a large Ledomaritan zepplin hovering south of the heights of Blue Nova. The midday sun glinted off the sleek craft as it levitated to a stop and then floated up against the zeppelin's loading dock. Crew ponies from either ship whistled and gestured to one another, tossing rops and affixing wooden fasteners. At last, a gate between the two vessels opened, and the guards standing tall on either side of Belle urged her forward.

She obeyed, numbly, trotting in a liquid lurch. Several crew ponies paused in their work as their eyes remained locked on the mane-less mare. No words were said, not even a bitter taunt. Once or twice, somepony may have coughed, but it was otherwise silent as the pony was led towards a cabin below the deck of the zeppelin's swaying gondola.

Belle was led into a dark room, lit dimly by a pair of lanterns hanging in the opposite ends of the storage space. The smell of dust and aged wood tickled her nose. She was led to a chair and forced to sit down with her back against the wall. From there, she watched as Shell eventually entered, his every hoofstep a prolonged, creaking thing. All the while, he kept his one eye trained on her, even as he side-stepped over towards a table and layed down Princess Luna's midnight satchel.

After a minute, Shell stopped. He broke his sight of Belle to turn and nod towards his subordinates. The guards saluted and marched out of the room, closing the door creakily behind them.

Shell and Bellesmith were alone.

With a shuffle of his four natural limbs, Shell trotted over to the table. In almost gentle fashion, he unlatched the satchel and started lifting the contents out: a brush, a pair of goggles, shredded remnants of a blanket, a green book.

He paused on the green book. He glanced at Belle.

Belle's gaze fell towards the floor. She stared into nothingness, sitting absolutely still.

Shell flipped the book open. In the flicker of the distant lanterns, he turned one page after another. His jaw clenched and unclenched; otherwise he had very little reaction to the multiple photos of Ledomare's target and her past friends.

Slowly, with slightly less grace, he dropped the book to the table with a thud. He reached into the satchel again with his telekinesis and pulled out the old tome with the ancient symbols on it. He raised it up, slowly twirled it around, then looked at Belle again.

Belle's head kept hanging.

Shell trotted over, opened the book wide, and slapped it down below the mare. "Eljunbyro," he said.

Finally, Belle's body twitched. Slowly, with quivers, her face tilted back up.

Shell leaned forward. "That's what you're supposedly called, is it not?"

The mare said nothing, though her lips pursed in awe.

"Hmmm... Don't look so confused. Not all ponies who serve the Queen are idiots." He paced around until he stood behind her. "Burning down Foxtaur claimed the fortress, but it didn't claim the ruins. We found the remains of that delapidated keep where you and the turncoats cowardly hid from the Steel Wing. We saw the abundance of symbols. Believe it or not, we had scholars to assist us in some much-needed research. 'Eljunbyro: endurance reborn.' Curious that an esteemed professor of physics and mananeurological integration would be so enamored with ancient religious prophecy and nonsense."

Belle bit her lip.

Shell leaned in. "Or was that the beloved's parting gift to you? A wild theory that you clung to with more hope than sense?"

Silence.

Shell's brow furrowed. He stifled a groan of frustration as he trotted to the far end of the room. Belle watched as he opened a closet, pulling out a metal dais. He levitated it over to the table beside Bellesmith and placed it down. Then, after sharing a firm glance, he retrieved a glowing sound stone from his pocket, placed it above the dais, and activated the pedestal. The crystal shard glowed, then spun around as a recorded sound crackled to life across the shadowed space of the cabin.

"Nnnngh... aaugh... ghhh—please! Please, I d-don't friggin' know anything!" The voice sputtered, as if gargling something more than spit and her tongue. Belle shuddered; it was Rainbow Dash's voice. "I j-just wanted to save my friend! I don't know anything about th-this stupid m-machine world! Nnnngh—Gaah! C-Celestia! Stop cutting me! St-stop cutting me, pl-please!"

Belle could barely hear from the sound of the sob running up her throat. She covered her mouth with a pair of hooves as the screams grew louder and more sopping wet.

At last, Shell snatched the sound stone in the crook of his hoof, silencing the recording altogether. He leaned in and hoarsely uttered, "She's still alive, though that isn't saying much. Wings or no wings, she was in far worse condition when I first found her, lying tattered in a wooden hut at Aridstone. Do you know what it is that brought her back? It wasn't you. It wasn't that zebra. It certainly wasn't ancient prophecy or religion. It was me. I provided the metals that nourished her back to health. She owed her life to me, for she became Ledomaritan property. And she can owe her life to me again. Spark knows, she owes her life to you."

Belle sniffled, tilting her face to look at Shell directly.

He glared at her as he said, "Tell me what brought you to Blue Nova. Tell me what you were looking for in Nightshade's city. Work with me... be compliant... and I will see that her suffering on board the Steel Wing ends."

Belle started panting in cold breaths. She gazed with twitching eyes at the sound stone in Shell's grip.

The stallion paced around her. As the silence persisted, her grumbled, "Why do you do this, Doctor Bellesmith? Is there even a goal in mind? Do you even have a future? The ponies that you meet most certainly don't. Your beloved... a company full of Franzington mercenaries... and now a little filly..."

Belle clenched her eyes shut, gnashing her teeth.

Shell stood behind her, placing a pair of firm hooves on her shoulders. He leaned in and whispered into her ear, "Do you see now the price of loyalty? All I want to do is to set your priorities straight. Believe me; it will be the best for you as well as it will be the best for Ledomare."

Seething, Belle finally opened her eyes. She snarled, "Do you want to know the price of loyalty?"

Shell's grip of her shoulders lessened as he awaited an answer.

She gave it. "Let me show you." With a snarl, she hopped off the chair and bucked it straight into the stallion's gut.

Shell fell back like a sack of potatoes. He struggled to get up.

Belle flew forward, brushing past the table. She paused, reached into Luna's satchel, and pulled out the hatchet. Spinning around, she launched it with a grunt at the stallion.

Shell stood up, but swiftly ducked the bladed weapon. It spun towards the corner of the cabin, knocking a lantern loose and catching half of the room on fire. Shell cursed under his breath and launched a blast of telekinesis to put out hte flames. When he turned to look over his shoulder...

Belle was gone.