Innavedr

by Imploding Colon


Like the Wind

"My word..." Clark stammered, sweating from where he stood in the far end of the steaming engine room. "A glowing book!"

"Are we in a library now?!" Props stammered from where she hung upside down from cracked pipes amidst a dangling assortment of tools. "If so, can I stop banging my head against Nancy Jane's womb as if our lives depend on it?"

"It's depending on something else now," Pilate said, trotting forward as Crimson and Eagle Eye led him to the metal ring fastened to the ship's central engine core. "Unless I'm wrong about this, I think I might have given Floydien's ship the key to evading this bombardment."

"Speaking of which..." Eagle Eye gulped as he eyed the rooftop and bulwarks of the place. In the room beyond, several Xonans peered in, chattering nervously. "You feel that? It's stopped!"

"Not about to count our blessings yet," Crimson grunted. "Pilate?"

"Wait a second..." Clark trotted up, gasping at the glowing tome in the zebra's grasp. "Is that... enchanted by what I think it's enchanted with?"

"Indeed," Pilate said with a nod. "I know it sounds strange, but I believe this book was built for a purpose."

"The runes..." Clark gawked at the pages as Pilate flipped them before the metal ring. "It... it has all of them! All the ones Nightshade was trying to find!"

"Oooh! Oooh!" Props flailed from the manaconduits she was clinging to. "Hook the thingy into the thingy so that the runies can do their thingies too!"

"No way..." Eagle Eye made a face. "It couldn't possibly be that simple!"

"I do believe we're about to find out," Pilate said. "Mr. Clark?"

"I'll lend a hoof." Clark leaned in, helping the zebra guide the book towards the center of the ring. "Miss Props! Get ready to stabilize those cables! We don't want the engine to overload!"

"Yepperoonies!" Props banged away at a junction box with her wrench. "Just deposit the book in the slot! Heehee!"

"This is crazy..." Eagle Eye stammered. "So very crazy..."

Crimson smirked as he patted the petite stallion's shoulder. "Don't you mean 'stupid?'"

Eagle looked at him with sparkling eyes. "So you mean it'll work?"

"Annnnnnd..." Clark licked his lips, but was greeted with silence. "Nothing's happening."

"Wait for it..." Pilate said through gritted teeth. Just then, the O.A.S.I.S. sphere flickered brightly. The rune on his head steamed and he fell back into Crimson's grip.

In the meantime, the book lit up even brighter. The ring beneath it glowed a shimmering lavender, and a translucent field came to life, forming hard lines in the shape of a metallic dais. The book "rested" on this podium, its pages splayed open with sparkling runes. Lavender light coursed through the manawires and billowed into the body of the engine.

"Propsy—!" Clark yelped.

"Got it!" Props grinned wide, adjusting diodes and levers at a blurrying rate. Under her supervision, energy was briskly distributed throughout every component of the vessel's core. "We're a go-go, do-dos! Heehee!"

Up above on the deck, Ebon Mane was gawking at the sky. "The shelling? How... wh-why did it stop?"

"Uhhh... Never mind that," Josho muttered, pointing directly above.

"Hmmmmm... pretty shinies," Tweak slurred, his eyes reflecting a pulse of lavender.

The entire skystone above the Noble Jury fluctuated, undergoing a deep battle of crimson and violet bands.

"Bellesmith," Phoenix breathed aloud, staring up at the phenomenon with a dropped jaw. "You have to see this."

"What? Did the shelling stop?"

"It's... it's something more..."

Belle put Kera down and patted the sniffling foal's head. She trotted limply out and stood beside Phoenix, staring at the pulsating light with a mesmerized expression. As the crimson glow was chased away in favor of a lavender aura, Belle looked towards Rainbow Dash.

The pegasus curled up into a fetal position, groaning as waves of energy washed over her. The pendant around her neck fluctuated, resonating in sequence with the skystone above.

Wincing, Bellesmith galloped over to her side. "Rainbow! Rainbow, can you hear me?"

"I... I-I can..." Rainbow slurred.

"This... This was a bad idea!" Belle whimpered. "We need to get you off this ship! It isn't safe for you..."

"No, it's..." Rainbow's lips curved as she leaned over to nuzzle Belle lightly. "It's... it's clearing up. Just... so tired..." A tear trickled down her cheek. "I'll water the orchards later, AJ. Gotta... h-help Pinkie and Fluttershy set up Spike's paty..." She clung to one of Belle's forelimbs as exhaustion and weariness set in. "Won't... won't leave anypony hanging..."

Belle quietly stroked the pony's mane. She bit her lip, her face stretched between concern and confusion. Her ears twitched to take in the eerie silence, and suddenly she gasped. She looked up at Roarke. "That pony who was here with us..." She narrowed her eyes. "The medic. Where is she?"

Roarke didn't look back at her. Her shoulders slumped as she merely sighed.

Belle blinked. She gazed up at the dormant Steel Wing. "I... I don't understand..."

Just then, the entire Noble Jury jostled.

"Ungh!" Belle flinched.

With a stupified bark, Simon jolted awake. His tesla coils flickered, and then the rodent scurried randomly across the deck as the ship evened out.

Inside the cockpit, Floydien's face was awash with confusion. "What in the spittest circle of crud?!"

"Did you do that?" Phoenix asked.

"Snnnkkt! Hey-ya, handsome! Mr. Stripes just deus'd your machina! You should totally be able to give your beloved a whirl-a-twirl now!"

"Floydien doesn't understand!" the elk growled, staring disdainfully at the fresh aura wafting over his controls. "Floydien detests the color pink!"

"It's lavender, tree branch head!"

"Same spit is same!"

"Oh, will you just get us out of here already?! You feel it moving, don't ya?"

Phoenix leaned in past the echoing sound stone. "What does she mean? Why are we afloat?"

"If Floydien understood Nancy Jane these days then Floydien would sleep more..."

In the meantime, Kera had slithered in through the group and placed her hoof upon a particularly bright throttle. "Uhm... hey..." She sniffled one last time as her tattooed brow furrowed. "What does this thingy do?"

As soon as she gave the lever a push, the skytone above the Noble Jury fluctated even more. A high pitch whine tore through the craft, and the vessel accelerated forward at a maddening rate. It only only exited the range of the Steel Wing, it cleared the entire plateau in less than thirty seconds. The bulkheads and hull rivets rattled to the breaking point, causing Phoenix to grab ahold of Kera while Josho and Ebon struggled to keep Tweak—and themselves—from flying overboard.

The one sole sound was Floydien's prolonged scream, until he caught ahold of the lever and pulled it down, decelerating to the vessel to a manageable—but still alarmingly fast velocity. "Spit spit spit... Nancy Jane!" His face paled. "What did b-beloved eat?!"

All the while, Belle clung to Rainbow Dash's unconscious form. She panted, gazing back at the Steel Wing—now a hazy speck against the western horizon. She was too frazzled to be relieved, and she gazed over at the metal mare as the ship cruised at a steady pace, breaking the clouds.

"Uhm... Miss Roarke?"

The metal mare said nothing.

"I don't understand. How... wh-what just happened?"

Roarke finally looked at her, and the edges of her lenses contained a hint of moisture. With strategic timing, she closed her helmet and muttered in a cold, metallic voice:

"She went back home."

And the bounty hunter lonesomely trotted towards the far end of the deck while Rainbow Dash slept in Belle's embrace.