//------------------------------// // Ponies in a Box // Story: Odrsjot // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// “Yo! Hey! I just thought of something!” Zaid’s eyes narrowed as he leaned across the air of the cramped prison cell. “What if they had someone on their side hidden inside this ship all this time?!” Several of the ponies inside the cell with him groaned. “They did have somepony spying on us!” Zetta grumbled. “Straker was a traitor in sheep’s clothing the whole time!” Zaid’s jaw dropped. “No way…” He hissed angrily. “What did lambs ever do to these guys?!” Zetta face hoofed, turning to gaze lethargically at Basso. “Why couldn’t we be imprisoned with a rabid manticore instead?” “Maybe he’s yet to foam at the mouth?” Basso said. “As much as that would relieve us all, I doubt we need an excuse to put him out of his misery,” Nightshade muttered from the corner. “Hey! I resent that!” Zaid spun about, frowning. “I happen to like dogs!” Nightshade ignored him. “The imbecile is part of the reason why we are all in this situation.” The other Ledomaritans mumbled curiously. “How do you figure that?” Zetta asked. Nightshade replied, “It was his insistence that Rainbow Dash attempt a bold rescue of the Xonan child. He lured her into a false sense of security, and now her brash actions have helped instigate the full-on attack our enemy.” “Well, excuuuuuuuuuse me, your prick-ness, but if you ask me this ship didn’t need any of my help getting into dreep bat guano!” Zaid frowned and folded his forelimbs. “Whatever these punks thought they were getting accomplished on this side of the continent, they were obviously playing into the tattooed guy’s hooves!” “Prime Enforcer Fortis would never have willfully flown us all into harm’s way!” Zetta exclaimed. “Well, he certainly did a lousy job of keeping his promise, didn’t he?” Zaid swung a hoof towards the walls. “Why don’t you go ask him how come he screwed things up so much! Oh! Wait! That’s right! You can’t ask him! You can only wear him! I sure hope the Xonans have sewn those sleeves up nicely so you can sip tea inside his coat without leaking blood onto the saucer!” Zetta’s face scrunched up. Tears welled in her eyes as she gazed into the floor. Basso leaned over to give her a hug, all the while frowning at Zaid. “You know, there’s being just plain inappropriate, and then there’s you.” “Hey, so what if the Xonans set the bar low?” Zaid shrugged. “I’m good at playing limbo, maaaaaan. That’s how I’ve lived so long as a roadie and not a victim of road rash! Heck, you all could learn a lesson from me!” “In what way, pray tell?” Nightshade asked. “Well, the Xonans haven’t chopped our heads off yet, have they?” Zaid said, “They must want us for something. So long as we play it cool and neutral, I suspect we’ll have plenty of days left to live… and maybe even friggin’ escape!” “I doubt we’re the only ones th-they’ve spared,” Zetta managed to say. Nightshade glanced over. “How do you mean?” “This is a large ship,” Zetta said, eying the guards positioned at the far end of the brig. “Though not every room below deck is an elaborate security cell like this one, there are still plenty of key locations to imprison our fellow crew members.” “They certainly have the firepower to do it,” Basso said. He then gulped. “Or ‘snake-power.’” “Yeah, what’s up with all that junk?” Zaid’s face twisted in confusion. “I’ve seen some weird crap in my day, but since when did ponies command weird leathery reptile creatures with fart gas powers to do what they want?” “It’s not the that the Xonans have mastered anything,” Rainbow’s voice muttered. “It’s the metal that they’re wearing.” The Ledomaritans inside the room jolted in surprise. “Whoah, she talks!” Basso exclaimed as the pegasus sat up wearily in the midst of the group. “I didn’t think she was capable of anything but yelling angrily!” “Believe me, I wouldn’t want it any different with half the melon fudges in this room,” Rainbow’s voice cracked as she shook the cobwebs loose from her skull. “But, as it turns out, there’re bigger fish to fry… only they’ve done a really super job of frying us instead.” “Making gross analogies isn’t going to help us any,” Nightshade said. “Yeah? And neither is opening your Celestia-darn mouth, Madame Crapshade!!” Rainbow Dash snarled. “But you might have noticed that, in spite of every friggin’ reason in the world to do so, I haven’t slammed your skull into tiny bits against these bars!” Zaid smirked. “Have I mention that you’re angry when you’re sexy?” He blinked, then went cross-eyed. “Er, wait…” “You two know each other?” Zetta asked. “Unfortunately…” Nightshade leaned back with a long sigh. “You guys had better only believe half the crap she says,” Rainbow Dash said. “And then prepare to crush that stuff to a pulp with the other half. This snake-in-the-grass is worst than Lieutenant Traitor McMarbleMouth, or whoever the stallion was who took Kera away.” She reeled dizzily, rubbing her head as she glared at the lavender tome in the corner of the room beyond the bars. “I swear, if this dayum ship was full of diamond dogs and hydras, I’d still feel like I could trust everyone around me more than how it really is…” “There’s something special about you,” Basso said, his eyes narrow. “Something unique. Magical, even…” “Nice try, handsome,” Rainbow grumbled. “But not only are you barking up the wrong tree, a hurricane has torn it out by its friggin’ roots and the dog-catcher has you in his cross-hairs.” “What he means is that something strange happened above deck,” Zetta said. “The monsters had no effect on you! When they came within close proximity, they all disappeared!” “That pendant of yours…” Basso pointed. “It was glowing!” “Maybe your pendant could save us all still!” “Nope.” Rainbow shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way.” “Then how does it work?” Rainbow sighed. “Dude, I barely know.” “Hey, she’s right.” Zaid pointed at her with a smirk. “She’s the most heroic idiot you’ll ever meet.” A blue hoof ricocheted off the back of his skull. “Ow!” Rainbow sat back on her haunches, wearily. “I’ve run into these kinds of monsters before, believe it or not. Look, I’ve been to many places, mostly ‘cuz I’ve flown here from a place far, far away. Not like it would have mattered to you guys before everything here went to Tartarus.” She frowned. “You only had me locked up like some horrible beast.” “Well, you attacked us like a horrible beast!” Zetta exclaimed. “Did she?” Basso blinked, then stared at Rainbow fixedly. “Oh! Right! Right, she did!” He chuckled. “Heheheh--” “Look, shut up!” Rainbow hissed, the blue hairs on her coat rising up. “The long and short of it: you had a good friend of mine captured against her will!” She spun and pointed at Nightshade. “And this sniveling melon fudge right here is the one to blame!” “Once again, your metaphors are brutish and inaccurate.” “Quiet, before I carve your skin off and feed you to bats!” “Enough!” Zetta shouted, standing between the two mares. She sighed, brushed her mane aside, and looked at Rainbow Dash. “So, you said you’ve run into these kinds of monsters before?” Rainbow Dash fought another dizzy spell, nodded, then said, “Those silver things around the Xonans’ necks? They’re called ‘chaos strips.’ Don’t ask me why, but the metal is especially enchanted with chaos energies.” “Chaos… energies…” Basso muttered aloud. Rainbow gestured as she spoke, “This world--as we may or may not know it--is floating in a big cloud of chaos. It’s been that way for a super long time, or so I’ve learned. Because our world is--like--a really big deal in the physical plane, this pisses off whatever spirits are living in that murky cloud stuff. At least that’s the way I understand it. Anyways, the spirits are looking for whatever excuse they can get to enter our dimension and tear ponies to shreds. At some point or another, someone or something created a type of metal that would act as a funnel for these freaky bad things to pass through. Apparently the Xonans have discovered a whole buttload of it, and that’s how they’ve tamed all these nasty-nasties to attack your ship.” “Wow…” Zetta blinked. “You seem to know a lot about this ‘chaos’ stuff.” Rainbow Dash sighed, rubbing her neck right above the ruby pendant. “It’s not like it’s a gift or something.” She gulped. “Let’s just say I… have gotten to know a major chaotician really personally.” “I would take her words with a grain of salt if I were you,” Nightshade said. “Her extensive travels have given her a false sense of entitlement.” Rainbow spun to frown at her. “My ‘extensive travels’ have given others a false sense about me, which is half the reason for why I’m alive here and now! And the same goes for you guys!” “What does she mean by that?” Basso asked. “Well, she is kind of a big deal,” Zaid said. “Destined Harbinger of the End Times, Deliverer of Harmony, Missing Link to the Age of Angels. Blah blah blah.” He crossed his legs and pointed towards the corner of the cell. “Say, is anyone else using the coffee can at the moment?” “Evidently, moronic equines are inclined to believe that there is more to Rainbow Dash than meets the eye,” Nightshade said. “I suspect that the Xonans are no different.” “Well, after their ‘chaos monsters’ splashed into nothingness after attacking her, I can kind of imagine why!” Zetta exclaimed. “What was that word I kept hearing them say around you?” Basso asked the Pegasus. “Ostrich Hose?” “‘Austraeoh,’” Rainbow Dash muttered. “It’s a long story not worth getting into, unless you’re really, really bored.” Her hooves squirmed. “Or masochistic.” Zetta shrugged. “Doesn’t seem like we’re going anywhere.” “Only we are,” Rainbow Dash said. “I heard the Xonans drop the name ‘Lasairfion’ more than once.” “Whozzat?” Basso blinked. “Wait, I’ve heard that name before too,” Zetta murmured. “While listening in for enemy signals, the pronunciation would appear every now and then through the white noise.” “It’s the name of a super important princess of the Xonans or something,” Rainbow Dash said. “Before I ended up here, I heard that she was located near to the front in order to oversee the tattooed horses’ war effort.” “What the heck would this ‘Lasairfion’ mare have to do with anything?” “I dunno, but something tells me that I’m gonna find out soon,” Rainbow said, glancing at the others. “And you guys are probably gonna discover too, because I believe they’re bringing everypony else along for the ride.” “But why?!” Zetta shrugged wildly. “What would the Xonans benefit from getting a close look at you?” “And why haven’t they killed the rest of us off by now?” Basso asked. “You mean you want to die, big fella?” Zaid cackled from the corner. “Whoops! Uh… hey, do we have a second coffee can by chance? Not like it’s an emergency or anything… heh heh…” Basso sighed with folded ears. “My question still stands.” “Look, I don’t have all the answers,” Rainbow Dash said. “If anything, I’m just as helpless as the rest of you dudes.” “Well, we could certainly do with more information,” Nightshade said. “Otherwise, we are in the dark, waiting for anything terrible to befall us.” Just then, Rainbow’s ears twitched. She blinked, then smiled thinly across the prison cell. “Maybe not…” “Huh?” Rainbow Dash grinned and raised a hoof. “Shhhh. Listen.” Everypony was dead silent. As many equines held their breaths, a distinct scratching sound could be heard through the walls of the cell. “What… what is that?” Zetta asked. “That…” Rainbow Dash smirked as she shuffled over to the wall. “Is another brand of awesomeness at work, not to mention a potential ticket to freedom.” She looked through the bars, studying the guards from afar. When the Xonans looked distracted, she leaned her muzzle up against the wall and whispered, “I knew you weren’t dead, ya big ol’ rust bucket of winning!” ”Rainbow, what have I said about the ‘R’ word?” “You’re going to have to kick my butt about it later. What’s the word out on the street, girl?” Roarke sighed, her body squeezed within the metal-reinforced crawlspace of the Lightning Bearer. She slithered past mana conduits and glowing wires to press her face closer towards the wall of the jail cell from the other side. “We’ve passed over several mountain ranges. I’m most certain that we’ve crossed the Eastern Front by now. One of the battleships has broken off to head north, presumably towards a location of conflict. If you asked me, I’d say the Xonans were confident that no Ledomaritan resistance will pop up its ugly head.” ”Are there other ponies being held against their will like us?’ “Only in every other room,” Roarke muttered. “I’ve done a fair amount of eavesdropping, but I must admit that my grasp of the language is somewhat limited.” ”There’s gotta be a Xonan guard around here who knows a thing or two about the Ledomaritan language.” “What are you suggesting, Rainbow Dash?” ”That depends, girl. What are you capable of?” “Oh, so is that the way it’s going to be?” Roarke frowned. After a few seconds, she sighed, then said, “I’ll see what I can do to learn more, but it’s not going to be easy to do. This place is crawling with tattooed warriors, and I’m doing all I can on an empty stomach to keep from being discovered.” ”If you show up within the next two hours, we might have something we can somehow pass through the wall to you. I swear, the Xonans feed us more than the Ledomaritan enforcers ever did.” Roarke’s brow furrowed. “They feed you more, you say…?” She gazed up the thin, thin crawlspace. “Fascinating…” ”Roarke, tell me, have you at least gotten any bearing on where Kera is?” The metal mare nodded. “She’s in the former Prime Enforcer’s quarters.” ”Lemme guess, under lock and key?” “No.” ”No…?” “I cannot explain it, Rainbow Dash, I can only observe it with the limited resources at my disposal, but I’ll do what I can to discover more…” Rainbow’s ears twitched as she continued leaning against the wall. ”In the meantime, you should preserve your strength,” Roarke’s muffled voice said. ”At the rate at which we’re approaching Xonan territory, there’s no telling when the warriors will scoop you all out of there and dump you someplace less than pleasant.” Rainbow’s face scrunched up. “Like where?” ”I’ve seen Xonan camps before, Rainbow Dash, when I once rescued Imre. These ponies may talk ‘pretty,’ but that’s as far as their eloquence goes.” “Pffft. Super.” ”I have to keep moving. Somepony might discover the loose panel I opened to enter this crawlspace. Wait for my signal, and then we’ll share more information.” “Hey… are you gonna tell Belle, Pilate, and the others about--” ”What do you take me for, Rainbow?” A shuffling sound: Roarke’s voice grew more distant. ”I am way ahead of you.” And the Searonese soul was gone. “Whew!” Zaid crawled back, smiling. “I’m telling you, gurl! If that’s not true love, then I don’t know what is!” Nightshade smacked him across the head. “Ow! Dang it! Why the horn?! Always?!” Rainbow sighed. “I never thought I’d hear myself say this, but…” She turned and smirked. “Thanks, Madame.” “Do not get used to it.”