“No! No!” Props winced as a burst of steam blew over her head, ruffling her blonde bangs. “The outerspanner! Not the innerspanner! You silly anti-filly, you almost blew us to kingdom cogs!”
“Well excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me, Propsy!” Zaid stammered as he fought to twist back a pipe that he had inadvertently rotated loose. The engine room filled with steam, forcing him to sweat profusely from the heat. “When I said I wanted to help, I didn’t actually say that I had a background in rocket science!”
“It’s not rocket science! You just gotta connect the pneumatic actuator to the bilateral compression node!”
“Uhhh… okay, who named them that and which one looks like a chicken bone doused in vinegar?”
“Ohhhhh…” Props turned red-faced as she brushed him aside and dug her hooves up into the web of metalworks. “Let me fix it back to being fixed!” She gritted her teeth as a sheen of sweat formed on her coat. “You worked on a skystone ship before! Why is this so flank over elbow for you?”
“Khao didn’t trust me to touch things that might explode.”
“I never had a pneumatic actuator go kersplodey on me before--” She inadvertently twisted the pipe looser and yelped from a gust of steam shooting into her ear. “Metal mulch! That sings!”
“Whoah!” Zaid reached up and examined her earlobe. “You okay there, girl?”
“Yeah, just a little steamed.”
“Would it help if I blew on it?”
“Rest this one out!” she blurted, sliding her goggles over a flustered face as she practically lemur-climbed her way into the mess of pipework. “Never ask a former cultist to do a former physical therapist’s job!”
Zaid did a double-take. “You were a physical therapist?”
“Rivet guns couldn’t work on flanks!” Props chirped. “Now let me blow off some steam… errr… everypony knows what I mean!”
Zaid stepped back, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “Heh… y’know…” He turned aside, smirking. “She’s hot.” A beat. “Er… cuz of all the steam blowing on her and all.” The stallion gulped. “You know what I mean, right?”
“Heh…” Ebon chuckled, nodding from where he sat casually at a workbench with a pen and paper. “Sure thing, Z.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be cooking us some lima beans or some crap?”
“I think I’d have better luck steaming them down here.”
“Pffft. Fine. Have your secrets.” Zaid paced to the far side of the engine room.
Ebon smirked. With a calm breath, he bent over and continued writing by the lavender light of the floating tome.
Dearest mother
We have spent four days in Lerris as I write this. It is a town that has welcomed us in open arms, much like in Archer Point. However, unlike the previous village, we are not here by total happenstance. This is the home to one of our crew members--the youngest one, as a matter of fact.
As I commune with the ponies of this town and as I get used to the tranquil feel of this place, I begin to understand why Pilate and Belle felt it was necessary to bring Kera back to her place of origin. It is utterly peaceful here. At times, it even feels like paradise. Ponies live here as they have to, without feeling pressured to gallop by the beat of some industry’s mad drum. The war is over now, it would seem. Even when it was in full swing, the bombs were falling far away from this place.
I have no doubt that Pilate and Belle care very deeply for Kera. They want what’s best for her, even if that means giving her up so that she’ll be safe. And, to be frank, it really isn’t very safe on board the Noble Jury, not with all the craziness we’ve dealt with previously and all the things we’re bound to run into before we’ve cleared the surrounding lands and the mysterious geography beyond.
My only hope is that Pilate and Belle won’t pressure Kera into choosing either way. I have the itching feeling that no matter what happens, this is a decision Kera is making for them, and not for herself. Her foster parents simply want her to be safe, and yet they want to stay with her as long as they can. It’s a very confounding dilemma, and far too much to put on the shoulders of a young filly, if youa sk me…
“You can’t catch meeeee!” a colt shouted as he galloped over a windswept field.
Kera and two fillies blurred after him, muscles sweaty in the gray overcast shimer as they tried to catch the runner.
“You ain’t nothing!” Kera shouted, grinning wildly. “I’ve outrun enforcers, managliders, and ghost serpents!” The fillies at her side giggled.
Belle and Pilate jumped aside as the kids blurred past them. They stood in place, then turned back to face Golden Happenstance as the old stallion caught up with them.
“She’s… uhm…” Belle smiled, blushing. “She’s making that up.” A gulp. “About outrunning enforcers, managliders, and ghost serpents.”
“Yes.” Pilate nodded with a smirk. “Mostly it was our ship outflying all three with Kera on board.”
Belle nudged him. “Oh, beloved…” She chuckled.
He sighed. “Yes, okay, so maybe it was all of those things chasing after Rainbow Dash, and we happened to be caught up in the chase.”
“I see…” Golden Happenstance nodded as the three of them slowly trotted along, watching the kids play on the outskirts of Lerris. “I hope you would forgive me. I’m rather confused.”
“In what way?”
“Well, you and your companions strike me as kind, peaceful, well-to-do ponies. And yet you openly admit to being fugitives of the state.”
“It’s like we told you, Hap,” Pilate said. “The Ledomaritan Confederacy is corrupt to the core. My beloved and I were swept away from our normal lives and forced into a work camp at Blue Shelf. Belle here got the worst of it.” He shuddered. “The experiments they would make her do…”
“The long and short of it is that we decided to break away from such an imprisoning lifestyle,” Belle said. “And the Council of Ledo doesn’t take kindly to ponies breaking the rules.”
“I know what you mean,” Hap said with a slight nod. “I lived there for a good chunk of my life. I think I almost preferred to have ponies threatening to skin me alive for not adapting to their caste system.” He chuckled dryly.
“Yes, well…” Belle blushed slightly. “I have been sorely tempted to ask about the markings on your muzzle.”
Pilate blanched. “He has markings on his muzzle?” O.A.S.I.S. flickered once, and the zebra’s ears drooped. “Blessed spark, I am losing my concentration these days…”
“It’s quite alright, Mr. Pilate. It certainly isn’t much to feast one’s eyes on, working or not.” Hap smiled calmly. “If you must know, I elected to receive the tattoo myself.”
“Were you trying to blend in with Xonan society?”
“No. It’s my way of showing respect to the goddess Nagu’n.”
Pilate and Belle stumbled a bit in their trot.
“It’s quite alright…” Hap said calmly. “You’re Ledomaritans. I’d be shocked if you weren’t uncomfortable around a follower of the eastern creed.”
“It’s… more complicated than that, I assure you,” Belle said, fidgeting slightly. “Kera, Rainbow Dash, and our friend Roarke--”
“Don’t forget Zaid,” Pilate remarked.
“As I said, our three friends were ruthlessly imprisoned by a sect of Xonans who were following Princess Lasairfion… or at least some creature that was impersonating her.” Belle cleared her throat. “Pilate and I admittedly know very little about Nagu’n or the worship of her, but these… separatists had adopted a corrupt dragon beast as the manifestation of their long-honored goddess.”
“Yes, I heard rumors of the death of Lasairfion,” Hap said, his jaw growing tight for a brief moment. “It’s sad how so many despots on both sides of the war have used the conflict to exercise their twisted ideas. No religion--I am convinced--is founded on the concept of curtailing life. I worship Nagu’n because she brings me contentment in my day-to-day existence. I exalt her work in nature because it brings me joy, and it allows me to thrive in everything I do. I really can’t imagine a way in which someone could mechanize that into a weapon. I find they very concept sickening.”
“I imagine that there’s an awful lot we don’t know about the ponies of the east,” Belle said.
“And yet it’s your openness of mind that’s won my respect,” Hap said with a smile. “It’s nice to know that Ledo’s regimental dogma has not had an ill-effect on you.”
“Do most ponies in Lerris worship Nagu’n?” Pilate asked.
“A good many of them. Some also cherish the Spark. But, quite frankly, most are happy just to have a good supply of rice and a good catch of fish each month.” Hap smiled knowingly. “The more important question, I suspect, is ’were Kera’s adoptive parents followers of one or the other?’”
Belle and Pilate fumbled for words.
“It’s quite alright.” Hap chuckled, waving a hoof. “If you must know, they were followers of the Spark. And yet, they never pressured their belief on Kera. She wasn’t the first orphan of war they helped raise, after all.”
“That’s wonderful to hear,” Belle said with a soft breath. “The more I hear about them, the more I admire them in every way.”
“They were the best this town had to offer. We all miss them terribly,” Hap said in a low tone. “Beau, most of all. They were like an aunt and uncle to them.”
“I’m guessing Beau chose his creed as he grew up?” Belle remarked.
“That he did,” Hap said with a nod. “He had markings when he was discovered as a little foal, but he agreed to pursue the Xonan lifestyle, along with the worship of Nagu’n. As a result, he opted to… fill in the lines as he grew older, if you catch my drift.”
“That must be difficult this far from the Xonan heartland.”
“Heh…” Hap smirked. “You forgot how long I’ve lived in Xona myself.”
“Does he feel happy here?” Belle asked, gazing off at the children. “In a town that’s so removed from the rest of the world?”
Hap scuffled to a stop, forcing the two ponies to look at him. “I can speak all I’d like for Beau, and he is definitely a good example of this village’s citizenry. He cannot, however, serve as a preview of Kera’s future if she decides to stay here. While this town is most certifiably safe and she would be surrounded by ponies who care for her, there is no telling if she chooses to follow Nagu’n, the Spark, or some destiny not drawn by any creed or culture. What I can assure you is that her neighbors here would tolerate her, whatever the case.”
“That is most certainly good to hear, Hap,” Pilate said. “And… I really hate if we’ve been putting your hopes up… but…”
Belle finished. “More than anything, we want Kera to experience closure from her visit here. We’d fear that we’d be robbing her if we didn’t give her the opportunity to visit this town in peacetime.”
Hap’s blue eyes darted between the two. “And what of your closure, I wonder?”
The couple stood, gawking at him.
“What… do you mean by that?”
“I have no doubt that you care very much for the filly. But have you yet considered the gravity of what it would mean to give her up?”
Pilate opened his mouth, but hesitated.
Hap blinked. He shuffled where he stood and said, “Let me ask you something. This friend of yours. This… Rainbow Dash.” He smiled. “A stalwart, courageous, loyal pony, no doubt. And yet, barely a few months ago, she was a complete stranger to you.”
“Indeed…”
“And yet, you have given up your lives, your livelihood, and your very security in your own nation of birth to follow this winged equine on her journey to parts unknown.”
“Yes,” Belle said. “She’s done so much to help us, and we would very much like to look after her well-being.”
Hap took a deep breath. “Well, if you don’t mind me asking, have you considered the gravity of giving her up?”
Belle bit her lip.
“Because a good friend she may be. But I don’t think there’s any reason to doubt her fortitude. From the way I see it, she has the ability to look after herself in the time to come… at least more so than Kera.”
“What are you attempting to say, Happenstance?” Pilate asked.
“You two know Ledomare inside and out,” Hap said with a smile. “And it’s been a long time since we had ponies as learned as the two of you. Why, I get shivers thinking of what kind of an impact you could have on our fortuitous trades with Archer Point and places beyond--”
“Are you…” Belle leaned forward. “...suggesting that we stay here?”
“Think about it,” Hap said, gesturing. “You get to be with the foal you love, in a place that is blessed with neutrality. You’ll be too far away from Ledomare for them to punish you for whatever trivial reason. And you’ll be out of reach of the Xonan caste system. Here, you can live, love, and learn in peace, and watch the remarkable life that you’ve saved grow up into something even more special than she already was.”
The beloveds said nothing, gazing down the windswept hillside.
“Or…” Hap fidgeted slightly. “Is that not possible?”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about Rainbow Dash, Hap,” Pilate said. “Her journey is more than a personal trek through the hemispheres. She carries more on her wings than the weight of her thoughts. And about her being stalwart and courageous--”
“She’s dying, Hap,” Belle blurted. Her eyes glistened in the gray light of the valley. “And a pony like that doesn’t deserve to go to where she’s going alone…”
Hap nodded slowly. “I do not envy you two.”
“How so?”
“To have to choose from two selfless decisions…” He smiled helplessly. “Almost makes me wish that a pony would choose for you.” He trotted up, rested a hoof on each equine’s shoulder, and said quietly. “I just hope that you don’t make that pony Kera.” He calmly trotted towards the village.
Belle and Pilate gazed after him, their manes kicked by the wind as their ears were serenaded by the giggles of foals.