//------------------------------// // Ditching the Marsh Lands // Story: Odrsjot // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// “Mmmmf…” Kera stirred. “Nnnngh…” Kera’s eyelids clenched tighter. “But I don’t want to sleep alone tonight. C-can I just stay here with you?” She clenched her jaws, shivering as she curled into the folds of her robe. “I’m… I-I’m not scared. Just… just cold…” Her teeth clattered. “Just so c-cold…” At last, the foal’s eyes fluttered open. A strong draft was blowing into the dank building, and the light of dawn rolled in after it. “B-Belle?!” She sat up, panting. Slowly, her breaths slowed. Her ears drooped, and she frowned at her immediate surroundings. A few seconds passed, during which she familiarized herself with the sound of loons and buzzing insects just beyond the hideout’s doors--a pair of doors that were currently wide open. “Mmmmf… h-huh…?” She shaded her tattooed face with a forelimb, squinting towards the entrance. Groaning slightly, the foal got up and stumbled her way towards the gaping doorframe. Her shuffling hooves echoed with scuffing sounds. Soon, she stood in the face of the cold air rushing in, her eyes squinting out upon the glittering ponds and marshlands. After a few seconds, she realized that she wasn’t supposed to be alone. She spun about, looking every which way. There was no sign of the mare who had brought her here. Even the communications station within the shelter was abandoned. “Where… how…?” Kera murmured. Just then, the hairs of her ears twitched, though she wasn’t entirely sure why. The insects buzzing to her left and right sped up and hid into nearby bushes. The leaves of that very shrubbery began shifting and swaying. Beyond that, Kera noticed, the pond water rippled with a sudden disturbance. She opened her mouth to say something, only to discover that the air around her was being stolen by a new kind of thunder. The atmosphere roared, suddenly, as if a meteor was sailing down at high speed. She instinctively squatted down low, squeaking in fear. Glancing up, her green eyes reflected a large hulking shape blotting the sky. Suspended on two dirigibles, the largest battleship Kera had ever seen in her young life throttled in from the northeast. The trees of the marshland swung and danced from the manathrusters, even at several hundred feet’s distance. As the massive vessel came to a hovering stop, it practically blew water out from the nearby reservoirs. Kera shivered. She turned to gallop back into the shelter, only Nightshade was standing in her way. “She’s magnificent, isn’t she?” the mare said, causing Kera to fall back on her haunches in surprise. She calmly tilted her head up towards the noisy behemoth above, speaking in a placid tone. “The Lightning Bearer. I designed her. Well.. most of her. I couldn’t get the weight distribution and outer hull dimensions right, but the engine and the propulsion? Those came about from long, long hours of late nightly battles with blueprints.” “You… you…” Kera gulped. “That’s what you c-called?” The filly glanced up in time to see two hovercraft exiting the port side of the ship and coasting down towards them. “With the communications array?” “I think it’s rather fitting that a weapon that the Council of Ledo thought was completely and utterly bred for war would in fact be an ark for this continent’s destined salvation.” Nightshade looked down at Kera. “The place it will take us, Kera, is undoubtedly fraught with peril. But it is also the road to peace. You have helped made that possible, and I promise you--when all is said and done--I will give you the home and the family that you deserve.” “What… what do you mean?” Kera glanced up at the incoming aircraft, grimacing at the sight of their Ledomaritan colors. “You… y-you know what?” She gulped and backtrotted across the marshes. “I-I’ve changed my mind! I think I’ll take my chances with the marshes! You can have your enforcer luxury cruise! I’m not getting on board that ship!” “Dear child…” Nightshade gazed at her with eerie warmth. “Your ‘choice’ has been an illusion since before you and I reunited.” Kera blinked. Sneering, she turned to gallop away--only to have a hovercraft land loudly several feet in front of her. She gasped and skidded to a stop, just in time for several enforcers to hop out, their uniforms flashing brightly in the light of dawn. Another ship touched down behind Nightshade. A well-dressed stallion trotted out, lowered his beret, and stood before Nightshade with a pleasant expression. “Prime Enforcer Fortis…” Nightshade curtsey’d. “I didn’t think you cared enough to pay me the personal courtesy.” “You’ve been loyal to Seclorum and myself all these years. I don’t care what the rumors from Blue Nova say; your heart is bound to the service of Ledomaritan Victory in this war.” “Indeed,” Nightshade coolly said before him and his fellow soldiers. “If it weren’t for the traitorous actions of Prime Enforcer Shell, I would have helped the warfront sooner.” Kera watched intently as the conversation went on. “So it was that chaotic rogue who had abducted you?” Fortis frowned. “Bah! The Council has put a ransom for his head and horn. Judging from the unaccounted for personnel, it would seem that he’s appropriate his own personal army. It’s the last thing we need in these trying times.” “It was no small miracle that I escaped. You can thank my surrogate over there.” Nightshade turned and pointed at Kera. “She holds the promise to victory that I’ve been promising Seclorum all this time.” “You mean…” Fortis leaned forward, his aged face stretched with surprise. “You managed to smuggle it out of the maretropolis?” “What are you guys talking about?” Kera stammered. “I’m not her daughter! And I certainly don’t have any--” “The book is in her possession,” Nightshade said, casting the foal a glinting glance over her shoulder. “She thinks that I haven’t noticed it, but it’s there--hidden beneath her cloak.” Kera gasped, her eyes twitching as she clutched the weight under her “diguise.” “She’s done a very good service to the Confederacy,” Nightshade said. “I suggest we make east with it before Seclorum’s ongoing sacrifice becomes a case of futile martyrdom.” “At last…” Fortis took a deep breath. “A light to the wasteland of the Sea of Shards. My only regret for this war ending soon is that I’ll have a state-of-the-art battleship with nothing to do with.” “Well, today you have something.” “Indeed.” Fortis nodded towards the enforcers all around them. “Escort these ladies to the Lightning Bearer. And have somepony send a message to Prime Enforcer Seclorum! Today, we make for the Eastern Front!” “Yes, sir!” “Aye, sir.” “No!” Kera shrieked. She spun and barreled her way towards the distant marshes. “I’m not going! I’m not!” “It would be wise to catch her…” Nightshade muttered. “Soldiers--!” Fortis shouted. Two enforcers stood in Kera’s way. The foal boldly shot a beam of magic forward, knocking both stallions off their legs. She ran towards an open space between swamp grass, only to have a pair of retaliating soldiers effortlessly yank her body up with telekinesis. Kera fought, struggled, and kicked at the air, but she was ultimately hoisted onto one of the hovercraft while simultaneously stripped of her robes and book. The glowing tome levitated over to Madame Nightshade. As she and Fortis trotted by Kera’s ship to go to their own, the mare spoke to the foal: “Don’t fight what’s good for you, child. This is the second time in two days that I’ve saved your life.” Kera sneered at her, then trembled as the ship she was in lifted off, flying with the other craft towards the hulking body of the Lightning Bearer above.