//------------------------------//
// Taming of the Jury 
// Story: Odrsjot 
// by Imploding Colon 
//------------------------------//

	When Josho and Pilate reached the cockpit, they were greeted by a world of noise.  Between Floydien's grunts, Kera's nervous cries, and Ebon's and Bellesmith's murmurs, it was difficult to make anything out.  Josho stood upon the bulkheads first, and he used his telekinesis to yank Pilate up onto solid flooring beside him.

"Did we just enter the coocoo convention or what?!" Josho grumbled.  "Somepony with a lick of sense mind explaining what's going on here?"

"The glimmer gripes have caught up with Nancy Jane!" Floydien spat towards the windshield.

Josho glared with knifing eyes.  "How could you think I possibly meant you?"

"They c-came out of nowhere!" Bellesmith exclaimed, holding Kera's figure close to her side.  Her short-short bangs flounced as she said, "It's as if they were lying in wait for us!"

"Bellllle..."  Kera wheezed.  "Stop hugging me so tight!  I'm not scared!"

"Well, you should be, kid!" Ebon stammered.  "We all should be!"

"Mr. Mane, quit it," Belle grumbled.

"All of you quit it."  Roarke hissed as she suddenly stumbled in from the stern's side of the deck.  She had a metal brace tied to her right forelimb with lengths of twine and she leaned the bulk of her trembling, bruised body on it.  "If we keep our wits about ourselves, we can still salvage this situation.  Now, how long ago did we spot the bogies?"

"Uhm..."  Eagle Eye shifted from one leg to another.  "About ten minutes ago."

"And they're approaching us or going away?"

"Best that you ask the pony who actually spotted them."

On cue, Rainbow Dash touched down onto the deck directly behind the Noble Jury's cockpit.  Breathlessly, she stuck her tousled mane in and exclaimed, "Five battleships in total!  All of them are heading our way!"

"Thunder turds!" Floydien grumbled.  "Direct us to a cloud bank, then, paint bucket!"

"No can do—deer barrel!"  Rainbow hissed with a frown.  "There's not a darn cloud in sight!"

"Th-there isn't?!" Ebon Mane trembled.

"Nope.  I tried scooping some moisture through the air with my wings, but my pegasus body couldn't make any.  The sky's as clear as a town square on Hearth's Warming Morning!"

"Wh-what's Hearth's Warming?!" Ebon squeaked.  "Does that involve airships being blown up?"

"Perhaps if we were to engage the skystone drive," Pilate said.

"Spoken like a true boomer of the stars!"  Floydien slapped a cloven hoof over the intercom system.  As the sound stone came to life, he growled through a scrunched muzzle.  "Blonde Boomerette!  We could use some major lavender flash flash right about now!"

"Scrkkkt—Say whaaaaaat?!" Props' voice crackled through.  "What have I told you about crossing your antlers, handsome?!"

"Floydien has never been full of more serious spit in his life, boomer!"

"And you think I'm not?!  I'm leg-deep in manaconduits, attempting to fuse together this steam-and-glowy-flame hybrid that we all voted on two nights ago!  Not like my raised hoof made a difference!  I still think the steam pipes should have been scrapped and reconstituted into a killer attack pony golem—"

Ebon Mane leaned into the intercom.  "Propsy, we've got twenty seconds before we're blown out of the sky by Xonan cannons!  Can't you make this thing go faster?!"

"Ratballing radiator stains!  I thought Dashie was steering us clear of those baddies!"

Josho looked up, droning, "She thought Rainbow Dash was steering us clear of those baddies—"

"I know!"  Rainbow Dash snarled.  "And I made a mistake, okay?!  I thought they were blue cloudbanks from a distance, and—"  She did a double-take towards the deck.  "Where did Roarke go?"

"Blue cloudbanks?!"  Josho made a face.  "Do pegasi use floating port-a-potties where you come from?!"

"The heck is that supposed to mean?!"

"Well, do you or don't you?"

"For your information, most of us used to just go wherever we flew."

"Oh, ick!" Eagle Eye batted at the air and flinched against a bulkhead.

"Dude!  That was—like—back in Commander Hurricane's reign!  Ancient times!"

"Ahem..."  Pilate's ears folded.  "Anypony terribly mind if return to the situation at hoof?"

"You mean the part where we all die horribly from tattooed gunships?!" Ebon cried.

"Just stay calm!" Belle exclaimed.  "These aren't Ledomaritans!  Maybe they'll... I don't know... have a code of honor or some such!"

"Since when?!" Ebon grimaced.  "They certainly threw Rainbow, Roarke, and Kera for a loop, didn't they?"

"Those Xonans were different!" Belle frowned.  "They were following Lasairfion!"

"Don't you mean fake Lasairfion?" Josho grumbled.

"Same difference!"  Belle shook her hoof towards the dashboard.  "I say we slow down, stay calm, and try opening up communication with the ships!"

"What's that gonna do?" Ebon asked.

"We just might be able to negotiate safe passage, silly!"

"Lemme talk to them, Belle!" Kera exclaimed, hopping.  "If they see me on board, they'll know we mean no harm!"

"Or they'll just remove her from the ship and blow the rest of us to smithereens," Ebon muttered.

"I hate to admit it, but I'm on sailboat's side on this one," Josho exclaimed.  "Any chance we can about-face and—like—duck behind a mountain or something?"

"We've been gliding over an open valley for over a day, old stallion," Eagle said.

"And so long as the Jury's operating on this steam crap, they'll overtake us in an instant!" Rainbow exclaimed.

Zaid suddenly stuck his head up from the crawlspace.  "Hey, uhm, not a big emergency or anything, but do you guys know where I can find a paper towel roll somewhere or—?"  A cloven hoof smacked him in the forehead.  "Oooof!"  He slid back down into the belly of the ship.

Floydien was already leaning into the intercom system again.  "Boomerette, some speedy speed would really enchant this moment of horror horror."

"Scrkkkt—I'm tryiiiiing!"  The sound of rummaging, clattering metal parts.  "I'm tinkering as fast as I can!  I'm also tinkling as fast as I can, ever since you guys mentioned the Xonan cannons!"

"Try not to burn a hole in Nancy's womb in the process!"

"It's okay!  I got a bucket for that!"

Floydien groaned.  "Not that!  Nnnghhh... a barn full of darns!  Why couldn't Nancy run on pigeons instead?!"

"Uhm, guys...?"  Eagle Eye pointed at six glossy shapes looming large on the horizon.  "They're coming at us."  He gulped.  "Fast."

"Right..."  Rainbow Dash flapped her wings.  "I'm going in."

"Hold up!"  Belle gazed at her with bright, panicked eyes.  "Going in to do what?!"

"What I'm good at!" Rainbow snarled, although it was interrupted by a nervous gulp.  "Flying fast!  Kicking tail!  Taking names!"

"Of all the reasons to get yourself killed, Rainbow, this is the absolute stupidest!"

"You got a better idea, Ding-dong?!"  Rainbow frowned.  "I'm pretty sure they want only one thing from us!"

Clank!  Roarke slapped a metal black cylinder against the port side deck's edge.  "I can tell you one thing they're not gonna expect."

Rainbow jolted in mid-air, her pendant rattling.  "What in the flea-ridden McFuzz is that?!"

"I promise, it's too tiny to launch you."  Roarke then proceeded to slide one of several mortar shells down the throat of the cannon.  "Rainbow, you distract them, and I'll aim at one of the foremost vessel's lateral manastabilizers."

"Oh, Roarke, no."  Eagle Eye's ears folded.  "Come on."

"Come on what, breeder?!"  Roarke's eye-lenses rotated at him.  "We'll disable the first ship, and just maybe the others will flock to its distressed plunge, giving us an easy exit, so long as Rainbow provides a big enough distraction."

"For the last time!"  Eagle Eye dragged his hooves while Ebon hold his fuming figure back.  "I am not a breeder—!"

Ebon turned to glance over his shoulder.  "He's got a point, though.  Wouldn't firing bombs at them just exacerbate the situation?"

"Yup!"  Roarke slapped the cannon shut and primed it.  "Rainbow, ready when you are."

"I echo Eagle's and Ebon's sentiment," Pilate said.  "The last thing we wanna do is go in, guns blazing—"

His voice was canceled by the sound of Josho cocking his crystal-loaded shotgun.  "Alrighty.  Which ship to I port to first?"

"Josho?!" Belle stammered.

"Well, we can't all depend on air-crapper here to provide all the distractions!"

"Darn it!  I told you..."  Rainbow hissed.  "That was centuries ago!"

"Once a bird brain, always a bird brain.  Say, why don't you eat a bucket of oats and fly over their hulls?  That'll distract them."

"Hrmmm..."  Roarke's muzzle curved ever so slightly.  "That was actually rather decent."

"Love you too, rust-lips."

"Th-they're coming!" Kera squeaked, her glossy emerald eyes reflecting the incoming battleships.

"Floydien does not like the idea of Nancy Jane having a fireworks show!" Floydien cackled.  "Come up with a different strategy with less glimmerstab!"

"Please!  Can we all just calm down?!" Belle exclaimed.  "I know we're used to using violence to solve a desperate situation, but can't we hold back for once?"

"It might be our only opportunity," Roarke droned.  "As well as our last."

"I think it's a risk worth taking!" Belle said.

"I concur," Pilate said with a nod.

"Count me in."  Eagle raised his hoof.  "Not like we can outfly their cannons if we tick them off anyway."

"Rainbow?" Josho glanced up from his levitating shotgun.  "Hate to say it, but you're the compass of this whole road trip in the sky.  What do you think?"

"I... I..."  Rainbow Dash bit her lip.  She glanced from the Jury to the battleships and back again.

Everypony's faces were obscured by the first of several heavy shadows.

Rainbow gasped.  She looked up.  The dreadnaughts were upon them.  She could see each scale of the serpents emblazoned across their hulls.  The air rumbled from their combined mana engines and rotating propellers.

"Weapons down," she suddenly murmured.

"Hrmmmmmmmm."  The hair's on the back of Roarke's neck raised like a cat's.

"Do it!" Rainbow barked.

Roarke lowered her cannon reluctantly.  Josho dropped his gun towards the floor.  By then, the entire deck was rattling from the proximity of the six vessels of war.  Rainbow Dash flew limply at even level with the Jury.  Eagle Eye and Ebon stared through the windshield with nervous eyes.  Belle leaned in and held a hoof around Pilate's neck.  The zebra gazed blindly into the bulkheads, breathing deeply with only a slight tremble.

At last, the Noble Jury passed through the line of vessels like a zeppelin threading a canyon... and nothing happened.

Roarke's lips pursed in shock.  Josho raised an eyebrow.  Rainbow, flying a bit higher, squinted her ruby eyes.

She saw Xonans trotting back and forth across the deck.  Several warriors were gazing over the railing, their eyes locked exclusively on the body of the Jury.  And then she spotted cannons sliding into position.

Rainbow jerked in midair.

However, nothing happened.  The first ship passed by.  Then the second.  Then the third and fourth.  All the while, the Xonans stared at the ship quietly, not saying a thing, much less a shouted command to fire.

"They... they're not attacking us!" Eagle Eye murmured.

"They're not even slowing down," Josho muttered.  "If they wanted to inspect the vessel, they'd have asked us to pull up broadside by now."

"They saw you, Roarke, and Rainbow, though, right?" Belle spoke in a whispery tone.  "They must obviously know we're not Xonans."

"I've no clue what they know, Ms. Smith," Josho grumbled.

Every Jurist watched as the last of the six ships roared by.  The armada made its way west, undaunted, until they were glistening sapphire shapes along the crystalline horizon.

"Whew..."  Ebon exhaled.  "I knew we'd make it through that."  He smiled.

"Sure you did," Eagle Eye retorted with a chuckle.  A beat.  He glanced at the stallion, realizing that the two of them had been hugging fiercely through the whole ordeal.  He jumped aside, nervously straightening his mane.

"Ahem..."  Ebon cleared his throat and glanced towards Rainbow Dash.  "Did you see their faces, at least?  Could you tell if they were angry or suspicious or something?"

"I couldn't see any of that," Rainbow Dash muttered.  "All I know is that none of my friends are fried at the moment, and that's all that matters."

"Maybe..."  Eagle Eye shifted where he stood.  "Maybe they'll double back?"

"I doubt that," Roarke exhaled, pulling her miniature cannon up and leaning against it like a giant staff.  "If anything, they saw that we weren't a threat and were likely conserving their ammo."

"For what?" Kera asked.

"It's more likely that they radioed some smaller, faster aircraft located deeper inland.  They could be upon us at any moment now."

"Gaaah!"  Ebon shook where he stood.  "You really think so?"

"Or..." Belle thought aloud.  "...they might not be wanting to attack us at all."

"What you spit?" Floydien snapped.

"Think about it," Pilate spoke up.  "Something remarkable went down at Seclorum's camp.  Both factions now know that there was a third party involved in the war.  Not only that, but Lasairfion's rise and fall will undoubtedly have had significant ramifications on the Xonan infrastructure.  From what Rainbow's group learned inside the Sacred Hold, I do believe there's enough evidence to suspect a coup that had undermined the monarchy's structure before the supposed 'civil war' began."

"So..."  Kera glanced up.  "Does that mean..."

"A cease fire..." Ebon Mane breathed.

Pilate nodded.  "Precisely."

"You mean they're not going to try to attack any strange ship flying through their airspace?" Rainbow Dash asked with a shrug from where she hovered.  "Can that even happen overnight?"

"Stranger things have happened on this continent," Pilate said.  "You and the rest of us are living witnesses of that."

Rainbow Dash rubbed her blue chin in thought.

"Guys..."  Eagle Eye spoke up from where he peered through the cockpit's windshield.  "I think I spot a village down below."

"A village?" Belle remarked.

"A small town, from the looks of it, but they have a zeppelin tower."  Eagle Eye turned to glance back at the rest of the Jury.  "Might be a trading post."

"Your point...?" Roarke grumbled.

"Well, we are a tiny bit starved of supplies," Eagle said.  "We've been through a lot since Gray Smoke.  Wouldn't hurt to restock."

"Might be a good way to test our theory, Pilate."  Belle glanced over.  "What do you think?"

"We'll find out swiftly one way or another."  The zebra's ears perked up.  "Rainbow?"

Everypony looked at the pegasus, including Floydien.

Rainbow took a deep breath, folding her forelimbs.  "I gotta level with you guys.  I'm not super-chillaxed with this whole 'Cap'n my Cap'n' silliness."

"You'd rather Zaid be in charge?" Josho grumbled.

"Right."  Rainbow took a deep breath.  "Let's go down and take a look, but only a few of us at a time."  Rainbow looked around.  "Belle?  Eagle Eye?"

"Let the prettiest go in first."  Ebon smirked.  "Got it."

"Uhhh... I'm going in too," Rainbow said.

"Meh."  Roarke trotted back towards the rear stairwell near the stern.  "I think I would have preferred blowing up from cannon fire."

"It's okay, Roarke!" Rainbow called after her.  "You can remain inside the hangar with all your metals!"  A beat.  "Friggin' shut-in, I swear..."

Kera tugged on Belle's tail.  "Can I visit the village?  Huh?"  She proudly flounced her straight mane.  "I'm pretty too, now, see?"

"Derrrrrrrrrrrrrr..."  Belle twitched.

"Scrkkkk!"  The intercom crackled.  "Hey guys!  Good news!  I got us some skystone juice!  But only five seconds worth!"

"Buh?" Floydien did a double-take.

"Make it count, handsome!"  The dashboard hummed, flickered, and then sparkled with mana.

Everypony shrieked, collapsing to the deck as the Noble Jury shot out from under Rainbow Dash, coming to an abrupt stop about one hundred and ninety meters ahead.  Rainbow hovered with slacked shoulders, wincing at the sound of pained groans and wheezes.