“That’s it!” Props shouted, her voice reverberating off the frosty crags of mountain rock around her. “Give it more juice!” She kicked off her front hooves and stood on her rear legs, gyrating wildly. “A little more! A little more!”
”A ‘little more’ will be a lot more, Spit Mistress!” Floydien’s voice shouted from the top deck of the Noble Jury looming before her. “Does Floydien invoke the glimmer or doesn’t he?”
“Give it all you got, handsome!”
”There’s a good boomer!” The air filled with hissing steam. Metal-reinforced thruster ports spouted out hot air from the lower hull of the battered vessel. As the last rays of daylight glinted off the fresh patches of steel and aluminum covering the shattered pieces of the ship, the Noble Jury successfully lifted off, gaining altitude in a low hover. ”Burning mane monkeys! You’re aloft, Nancy!”
“Yes! Yes she is!” Props grinned from ear to ear. She hopped repeatedly in place with rattling goggles. “Yes she is yes she is yes she is yes she is!” She grabbed the nearest victim she could--who happened to be Ebon--and spun several times in a giggling embrace. “Heee-heee-heee-Yeahhh! I told you all the spirit of Prowse would win over!”
Ebon wheezed as he anchored the two in place. “Well, certainly n-nopony ever doubted you, Propsy.”
“Wait ‘til we get her really moving!” Props chirped, wiping her sweaty brow. “We’ll all have to dress as monks to stave off the sexiness! Woohoo!”
Eagle Eye chuckled, shaking his head. He wrenched his sparkling eyes off the sight of the hovering vessel above and looked to his right. “Looks like we’re back in business, eh Pilate?” He blinked, and his muzzle straightened with concern. “Pilate?”
“Nnnngh…” The zebra was teetering slightly, rubbing the metal plate along his skull.
Eagle Eye leaned in, pressing a hoof into his shoulder. “Is everything alright?”
“I… I don’t know…” He muttered. “I feel a strange sensation…” His teeth showed as he winced. “As if there’s a flutter at the end of my skull, but everytime I try to feel it with O.A.S.I.S., it’s like I’m slamming my head into a brick wall.”
Eagle Eye gulped and murmured, “You think it’s Josho?”
“Don’t know. I still feel him, but… it’s faint now. My head is so… dizzy.” He shuddered. “It all started at some point thirty-six hours ago. Everything was clear and loose… and suddenly…” He winced again. “It’s like I’m suffering half a migraine. It’s hard to explain.”
Eagle stirred nervously, but made no show of it. “You’ve certainly had a lot on your head lately.” He smiled. “Both literally and figuratively.”
“Haven’t we all, Eagle Eye?”
“Yes, well…” Eagle Eye dug at a patch of pebble-strewn earth. He bit his lip, then nervously stammered, “Have… have you heard at all from her?”
With a sigh, Pilate slowly shook his head. “It’s still silence on Belle’s end. I’m afraid to message her because… well…”
Eagle Eye’s jaw clenched tightly. “We’ll find her, Pilate. We’ll find her and get her somewhere safe. Just you see.”
“I… I-I’m not sure there’re any safe places left, Eagle.”
The ex-mercenary fidgeted for an answer.
Just then, a voice crackled over their heads.
”Hello? Hello?! Scrkkk--Noble Jury, please come in!”
Ebon Mane spun from Props, gasping. “Is that her? Is that Belle?”
“No,” Pilate all too quickly replied, fumbling at his choker with two hooves. “Wrong stone.” He finally pulled the enchanted shard in question out and spoke into it. “Kera? Kera, is that you, honey?”
”Pilate! It’s so good hearing your voice!”
All of the ponies huddled tightly around.
“Give us an update, Kera,” Pilate said in a firm tone. “Is there still time for us to rendezvous behind Seclorum’s line--?”
”Listen! A lot of crap has gone down! The Sacred Hold has exploded n’stuff!”
Everypony gasped in shock, wide-eyes a’plenty.
Pilate nearly choked on his own tongue. “Exploded? K-Kera, is everypony alright--?!”
”Rainbow Dash’s fine! Roarke’s fine! I am fine! Well… Roarke lost all her armor and got the flank-whooping of her life--”
Eagle Eye did a double-take. “She what?!”
”Snkkkt-I did not--”
Kera’s voice took over once again. ”Nightshade and a bunch of former Ledomaritan soldiers are with us! But it’s okay! We’ve got the book and we’re headed to the Eastern Battlefront by manaship!”
Pilate’s metal brow furrowed. “It… what… th-the book?! You have it?!” Pilate’s teeth clenched as he hissed in confusion. “But, I don’t get it! Rainbow Dash! Where’s--?”
”She’s fine! The book isn’t affecting her anymore! Me and the Odrsjot band made sure of that!”
“Huh?” Ebon Mane’s jaw dropped.
Props’ nose scrunched up. “What’s an ‘odor snot?’”
“No,” Ebon shook his head. “I thinks he said ‘ogre sh--’”
”Everypony!” Pilate growled. “Please!” He raised the sound stone to his muzzle. “ Where’s Rainbow Dash right now, Kera?”
”Scrkkkk--She’s flying towards that dude Seclorum’s place! She’s in a big race against that nasty ship, the Lightning Bearer. The Xonans have taken it over. Even whatshername is on it! The evil princess pony!”
“Lasairfion?!” Eagle Eye exclaimed.
”Yeah! Her! Rainbow’s trying to cut them off at the quick!” A pause. ”Oh, and there’s also the giant flying two-mouthed apocalypse dragon of chaos…”
“The what?!” Ebon Mane leaned so far forward he fell on his muzzle. “Owch!”
“Apocalypse… dragon…?” Props whimpered like a scared foal.
“Nagu’n…” Pilate breathed out loud. He gulped. “So it’s true. A monster incarnate is aiding the Xonans…”
”And they’re totally gonna tear the Ledomaritans a new one! Starting with that exposed bit of the Machine World in Seclorum’s back yard!”
“More like starting and ending with it,” Eagle Eye said, his eyes squinting gravely at the others. “If something that evil taps into the place where Rainbow Dash gets her flame…”
“It will be very grave for everypony indeed,” Pilate said with a nod. “For this part of the world and everywhere abroad.” He held the stone up again. “So you’re trailing Rainbow Dash, Kera?”
”B-barely! She’s way faster than us, so she’s on her own! But she doesn’t have to be for long!”
Ebon Mane stood back up, rubbing his face. “Unngh… Wh-what does she want us to do?”
”You still got your noggin’ attached to Josho, Pilate?”
Pilate winced as he rubbed his skull. Nevertheless, he responded, “Yes…”
”Good! Head towards him! Odds are it’s bad news for everypony where he’s at! But you might get there just in time to help us all get the heck out of there if things go super bad!”
“Instead of just regular bad?” Ebon remarked. Props jabbed him in the side. “Wh-what?!” He winced, rubbing his shoulder with a frown.
“You can count on us, Kera,” Pilate said. “Keep us updated on the situation with the book. Pilate out.”
Eagle Eye leaned forward breathlessly. “If something’s heading so swiftly towards Seclorum’s that it’s requiring Rainbow Dash to go after them on her lonesome….”
Pilate was already nodding. “We have to make haste.” He tilted his head to the side. “Ms. Props?”
“Ya hear that, handsome?!” Props shouted towards the heavens as the Noble Jury swiveled about. She and the other ponies galloped towards the cargo doors of the stern as they hung wide open a few meters above the rocky plateau. “We’ve got a giant death dragon to headbutt in its ugly face!”
”Death dragon?!” Floydien’s projected voice bellowed as the skyship revved its steam engines. ”What you spitting about, boomer?!”
Kera lowered the sound stone, taking a deep breath as the wind of accelerated flight kicked at her long, emerald bangs.
“Whelp, either they’re gonna help save our flanks…” She gulped. “Or I just sent them to their deaths.”
“Don’t be silly,” Roarke muttered from where she sat--slumped against the railing. The bounty hunter picked at a single surviving plate of armor clinging to the hydraulic plugs of her left front leg. “Rainbow Dash sent them to their deaths, along with all of us.”
“For Spark’s sake…” Zetta glared over her shoulder from where she piloted the manaship towards the dark northwest horizon. “For a pony who’s known her for so long, you seem to have very little faith.”
“It’s not faith that I’m worried about with Rainbow Dash,” Roarke muttered.
“That much is obvious,” Basso said with a snort.
The Searonese mare’s pistoning lenses gave the stallion a death glare. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Oh… uhm… uhhhh…” the oafish pony fidgeted. Bearing a charming attempt at a smile, he leaned back against the ship’s outer railing. “J-just conversation!” Snap! A metal bar cracked loose from beneath his weight. “Darn it!”
“Basso, really…?” Zetta grunted.
“Not my fault the Xonans built everything out of cardboard!”
“I’m sure it’s just you, big fella,” Kera muttered.
“Heheh…” Zaid shook his head from where he sat beside Khao’s figure. “Cardboard.” He smirked. “Of all the things I’ve ever snorted.” He fidgeted with the mare’s braced leg. “Looks like the splint I made is doing a bitchin’ job at jobbin’ the bitch!” He slapped his knee. “Ha! Ha ha… I thought of that just now! You like it? Huh? No? Meh…” He sighed, swiveled around, and fumbled through a crate of first aid materials. “Still, you gotta hoof it to me, I did pretty good on the ‘Tourniquet 101’ material.” His face scrunched up. “Or did we even have such a lesson plan? Ah well. I guess being with the Herald makes both memories and time fly, on account of all the--”
While Zaid wasn’t looking, Khao rolled aside, held her breath, and tossed herself clear over the railing of the manaship.
Zaid’s head did a double-take. Blinking calmly, he peered his head over the side.
Khao’s figure could be seen in the blossoming starlight. The cult leader twirled with her one surviving wing-brace, slowly cruising towards the ground in a descending spiral. Before her body could slam into the blurring mountainscape below, a sleek craft brimming with bright red skystone swooped by. Her figure flew inside and disappeared. A second later, the Heraldite craft pivoted about and rocketed towards the northern sky, vanishing into the night.
“Huh…” Zaid blinked again, scratching his stubby muzzle. “I wonder if I should report this…”