//------------------------------// // Because We've Laughed Them All // Story: Urohringr // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// The dark interior of the Noble Jury shifted with the weight of the vessel's deceleration. A pair of chestnut brown eyes fluttered open to dim lantern light. Bellesmith sat up, her face blank. After a few seconds, she blinked. A sigh escaped her lips as she gazed down. Kera laid on her side amidst the blankets of the small cabin's cot. Her eyelids were shut, just as still as the rest of her. The tattooed filly's lungs rose and fell with tiny breaths. Belle bit her lip. Leaning down, she nuzzled the child gently, careful not to disturb her slumber. She remained their, her cheek resting against the back of the filly's mane. Just as the mare's eyes began watering, she shuffled off the bed and stood on wobbling legs. Her head turned towards a grimy mirror. In the dim light, a lethargic reflection stared back. A neck-length mane hung in tattered strings. Belle brought her hoof up, running it through the frazzled mess. A brush lay on the end-table, and for a brief moment she reached her forelimb towards it. She froze, however, and stood limply in place. Seconds later, Belle shuffled towards the door to the cabin. She rotated the valve and pushed the metal thing open. Lingering in the doorframe, she paused, turned around, and gazed at Kera. With a lasting breath, she limped out of the cabin altogether and shut the door just a crack behind her. With softly clanking hooves, Belle descended the ladder of the forward vertical crawlspace. She came to a stop on the bottom deck, turning towards the bow. She blinked. A canvas curtain hung across the entrance to the observation room, blotting out all light coming from Rainbow Dash's chosen sleeping quarters. Belle fidgeted, adjusting her weight from one pair of legs to the other. At last, she reached a hoof up to knock on the doorframe. She froze just inches from making a noise. She hissed through clenched teeth, shuddering from head to tail. With slumped shoulders, she lowered her hoof and backtrotted from the curtain. Eyes downcast, she turned around, looking at nothing in particular. That's how the mare discovered the door to the navigation room hanging ajar. With an eyebrow raised, Belle tilted her head to peer inside. She reached forward, sliding the door open all the way with a slight creak. Stepping inside, she was greeted with a dark, dark room. Without hesitation, she illuminated a lantern to her right. A moving set of stripes squatted before a bookcase on the far end of the room. Belle blinked. Her eyes ran down the zebra's figure, fixating on the bandages still clinging to his forelimbs. Not long after, her gaze fell to the floor, and she swiftly made for the door. Inadvertently, her flank brushed against the side of a globe, producing a rattling noise. Pilate froze. His head tilted up, ears twitching. Belle clenched her jaw shut. After several seconds, the stallion quietly said, "You have the quietest breaths of everypony on board, beloved." He gulped. "Especially lately." Belle said nothing. Pilate moved again, his hooves placing several books back onto an empty shelf. "There's a tarp... or a blanket of some sort acting as a barrier to the observation room." He took a deep breath. "Any idea why?" Belle fidgeted. She stared into the shadows next to him as she finally said, "Rainbow put it up. If you want to know a reason why, you should ask her." "I haven't had a chance to run into her," Pilate said. "I barely hear from anypony. I just figured... uhm... that maybe the two of you—" "We haven't." "Ah... okay." Silence. Belle's brow furrowed. "What... are you doing?" Pilate shuffled through more books, feeling across the floor to find ones that had scattered from the rest. "Mr. Floydien didn't make this library ver speed-proof, it woulod seem. Books and folders have been falling all over the place down here for days—what with all of the skystone tests that the crew's evidently been doing." "There's no telling what order they were in to begin with, Pilate," Belle said. "You don't need to bother yourself with—" "Yes, well, I'm the only pony on board with nothing to do. I figure everyone will be fine with these books arranged by weight and size." "Pilate, there's no telling when I'll actually be able to make a new O.A.S.I.S. for you—" "I didn't ask you for a time frame, now did I?" he grunted. Belle frowned. Exhaling heavily, she glared into the shadows. The limping seconds pulled the hard lines loose from her brow, and she lost herself in a depressed glare. At last, Pilate asked with a shuddering tone, "Has she... gotten any better?" "No. Kera hasn't." The zebra winced. "But... she... uhm..." Belle ran a shaking hoof through her tousled mane. "She hasn't exactly gotten any worse either. I mean, it's not as though she refuses to eat or drink. She does basic functions when prompted. She's even... uhm... managed to walk when prompted. But..." Belle grimaced. Pilate tilted his head towards her from across the dark room. "She's not talking, Pilate," Belle murmured. "I don't know if... if it's something that can be nurtured... or if she's going to be this way for the rest of her life, or if she has to be re-taught..." The mare gulped. "But the Kera we both knew is gone. The things she was forced to see... and hear and t-taste..." Her voice trailed off. Pilate spoke up. "Maybe if I had a chance to speak with her?" Belle shivered. "I don't know..." "I mean, if the two of us brought her topside, showed her some sunlight..." "Pilate..." "It might bring something back, you know? Instead of day in and day out of... of d-darkness..." "She's fine, Pilate." "Fine? Belle, beloved, you just said that—" "Kera doesn't need any more favors!" Belle snapped. A blink, and her ears folded. "I mean... that..." She shook her head. "That's not what..." A gulp. "I didn't mean for it to sound like... that..." Pilate sighed into the books. "Then what was it that you meant?" There was no answer to that. "Some things may be irreversible," Pilate murmured. "But not irrecoverable. I think Kera could use some sunlight, Belle. Even companionship. That's all." "I've not left her side for a single moment." "I know." Belle squinted at that. With a cold breath, she spun towards the vertical chamber. "Knock on the engine room when you're ready to come back up to the infirmary. Best that Props or another pony be there to help you up the ladder." "I'll keep that in mind, Belle," Pilate began, but lingered. Belle's hoofsteps became faint as they ascended up the passageway beyond. The zebra's nostrils flared. "...thank you."