//------------------------------// // Cold of Jury: Mustering Warmare // Story: Urohringr // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// “Lit me jist grab mah tools an' aam guid!” Prowse dove towards his supplies, only to be tugged backwards by his scruffy read tail. “Pffft!” Rainbow spat, “You stay here and you’re meat! Move it!” Crkkkkkk! The entire compartment collapsed in a wave of imploding debris towards the quartet. With invasive jets of freezing water, the mouth of the frost wyrm lunged closer and closer, filling the ship’s interior with sparkling light from its crimson lantern. “Ohpoopohpoopohpoop!” Props squeaked as she fidgeted at the pool’s edge. “How’d I do this the first time?!” “It's loch i've aye said, lassie! Less thinkin' an' mair spelunkin'!” Prowse bucked her savagely in the flank. “Noo oan yer trolley!” Whap! “Eeeep!” Props plunged into the rippling waters. Sploosh! “Make loch tatties an' mash, Tankette!” Prowse dove after his niece. Splash! Rainbow waved a hoof while barreling across the rocky floor. “Come on, Miss Boreal! We gotta get out before this whole place does an eggshell impression!” She stopped at the waters and spun around. “Elma--Oh for Pete’s sake!” “Nnnghhh…” Elma winced, oozing her scaled limbs forward while the gobbling maw of the frost wyrm tore through the metal behind her. “Not… so g-good… on land!” “Friggin’ A!” Rainbow darted over, positioning herself at the snapping turtle’s stubby tail. She pushed with two forelimbs, slipping on the slick floor. So she spun around, putting her back into it as she shoved against the creature’s shell with all her might. “Gnnnngh!” Craakkkk! A layer of serrated teeth slammed into the floor just centimeters from Rainbow’s hooves. The breathless pegasus slumped backwards over Elma’s shell. “Duahhhhhhh…!” The turtle glanced back. “Is it close?” “You can pull your legs in, right?” “Y-yeah! Every turtle can since hatching--” Rainbow spun around and gripped opposite sides of her shell. “Do it! Do it now!” “Oh gosharooni!” Elma’s limbs retreated into her body. “Nnnnnnnnngh!” Rainbow’s facial muscles contorted as she carried the weight of herself and the giant reptile on her wings alone. She fluttered forward just seconds before the giant wyrm’s jaws slashed through the floor where they were situated. With agonizingly slow grace, the pegasus threw the two of them into the morbidly freezing pool. Once submerged, the collapsing ship sounded off with echoing salvos against Rainbow’s twitching ears. She held Elma’s body for buoyancy and paddled her hooves behind the two of them, propelling both through the murky depths. The faint light of unicorn magic shone ahead, and Rainbow propelled the pair upwards as bubbles erupted all around them. Four bodies jolted backwards, wide-eyed. “Spppkkkkkt… guhhh!” Rainbow hissed, shoving Elma’s shell onto dry metal, shivering. “Like f-foaling… sn-snowponies… I swear! Mmmnnffngh!” “Rainbow! What happened?!” Eagle Eye leaned forward with her coat. “Who’s this stallion? Did you find Prowse!” Rainbow batted his hoof away and jumped up on jittery hooves. “It’s r-right behind us!” “What is?” Eagle asked. Hcrkkkk! The partially-caved-in ceiling finally collapsed entirely, revealing the moist throat and lashing teeth of the arctic eel. “Ackies!” Eagle stumbled backwards, tripping on Rainbow’s coat. “It’s gonna gobble us like gob-gobs!” Props shrieked into Prowse’s shoulder. “Hook hooves wi' me, bonnie lassie!” Prowse extended his left forelimb into a glowing cannon. Clakka-clak! “An' i'll feed thes jobby taker some flak!” Kapow! Pow! The frost wyrm groaned as the high calibre shots took chunks of its teeth and gums away. The water turned red as it churned closer. “Stop it!” Rainbow wheezed from where she slid across the trembling floor with Elma’s shell. “No sense in making it more ticked off than it already is--” ”Raaaaaaaaaaaaugh!” Josho stormed forward, unloading several blasts of his shotgun into the monster’s mouth. The creature’s muscles quivered with each violent impact. Once enough of its flesh had been torn away, it shook, shimmied, and slinked away from the crumpled hull. Josho gritted his teeth, grinning into the smoke from his levitating gun. “Nnnnngh--Buck yeah!” He spun with a wicked smirk tossed Prowse’s way. “Friggin’ finally! A pony who likes to party my way!” “Ach, brae, sonny jim!” “Uhhhhh…” Eagle’s glowing horn illuminated the dust and flakes of metal falling from the ceiling. “Rainbowwwww?” “We need to get out of here!” Rainbow shouted. “The Jury should be right outside!” Props squeaked. “Skelp my baheid!” Prowse glanced at her. “Ye hae an airship?!” “I’d think so!” Props nodded, blonde bangs flouncing. “I’ve been in her womb all month!” “If Ah kent ye hud it in ye tae be a fanny filly Ah woods hae hoofed ye a brush insteid ay wrench!” Prowse heaved the gasping mare onto his back and broke into a sprint. “Let's jit! Lest a body it can kiss mah mother's erse!” “I’m with oatmeal mouth!” Eagle Eye yelped as he scampered after the two. “Everypony remember the way in which we came!” Rainbow shouted, then looked at the remaining stallion. “Josho?” “Wha--?” Rainbow flung the shell into his telekinetic field. “You’re on turtle duty!” She picked up her coat, flapped her wings, and shot after the group. “Move it move it move it!” “Huh?!” Josho turned the shell over. A wrinkly reptilian face slid out, her beak to his muzzle. “Hello!” “Augh!” Josho flinched, nearly dropping her. “Anus!” ”Joshoooo!” “Coming!” Josho grimaced as he floated Elma along his galloping figure. “I swear to Ledo, when it shits, it pours.” “You’re a horse with a horn in its head! Neato!” Elma wheezed in mid twirl. “And I thought wings were pushing it…” “I didn’t ask for a soundtrack!” Josho grumbled as he navigated collapsing bulkheads and falling walls. “Arrrrrgh!” He leapt through an imploding doorframe while water and ice shards splashed madly behind him. “Come on!” Rainbow grabbed his hoof and hoisted the two stragglers along as they threaded through a claustrophobic interior growing thinner and thinner by the second. Rivets and bolts popped on either side of them while torturous jets of arctic cold water sprinkled their skin. “Just a little further along! I can already see daylight!” Up ahead, Props gasped from atop Prowse’s back. “Holey moley the holey!” Prowse’s blue eyes reflected the collapsing exit at the end of the hallway. “We cannae make it! it's tay damn thin!” “Hold up!” Eagle hurled himself past the two of them. He slid to a stop, planting his hooves against the bottom edges of the bowing door’s frame. Cl-Clank! He telekinetically planted his sword and shield between the buckling planks of metal, forcing a thin gape to remain intact. “Nnnnnghhh… okay… g-go through!” The ex-mercenary hissed. “Barry job, bonnie loon.” Prowse slinked on past him with Props in tow. Slivers of metal and copper plating collapsed around Eagle’s trembling body. Breathless, he looked down into the ship’s dark interior and hissed, “Rainbow…?!” “We’re right behind ya!” Rainbow and Josho reached the doorframe… but only then woke up to just how obese the former enforcer was. “Awwwww crapazoid. How the heck are we gonna do this?” “Like so.” Josho lowered Elma to the floor. “Uhhh…” The turtle glanced up. What are you doing-- Plonk! The stallion kicked her so that she slid out between Eagle Eye’s legs. “Gaaaaaaaaiiie!” Elma slid to a stop along the iceberg beside Prowse and Props. “Now for the main event…” Josho hooked a forelimb around both Rainbow and Eagle. “No moist ideas. Hnnngh!” With a telekinetic boost, he shoved the three of them forward. The doorframe exploded around them, giving them the berth they needed for an emergency exit. Milliseconds later, the hull of the ship sunk behind them, collapsing into the frosty body of the iceberg. “Guhhh!” Rainbow winced as she, Eagle Eye, and Josho went sprawling across the sheet of ice. The wind picked up, and Rainbow looked up to see the Noble Jury looming directly above. Zaid and Ebon Mane stood on the door plank to the open hangar. “Hey! Awesome!” Zaid said, pointing. “An excuse for Mr. Sailboat to make more soup!” “Rainbow! What’s going on?!” “Lower and grab us!” Rainbow shouted. “Quick!” Ebon hollered into a sound stone, his voice cracking above the arctic wind. “Floydien! Bring us down more! Rainbow found survivors, but they all need to get on board! ASAP!” “You heard the stallion!” Zaid leaned down, hoof outstretched. “Aching Saddle Ass Pronto!” With a dull hum, the Noble Jury lowered towards the tip of the iceberg. Prowse was halfway through hoisting Props on board with a massive roll of thunder lit the air. Rainbow Dash and Josho looked back to see the chunk of ice cracking in two and the collapsed ship falling into the frothing depths below. “Thaaaaaat’s a big crack!” Eagle stammered. “I’ve worn bigger.” Josho twirled and threw Eagle sky-high with a burst of mana. While the shrieking unicorn flew in, Josho jumped, grabbed onto the hangar plank’s edge, and required Zaid, Props, and Ebon to be pulled on board. Meanwhile Prowse hopped in while Rainbow shoved on board Elma. Not long after, a blood-curdling growl emanated from the waters. Rainbow’s ears twitched, and immediately she stopped what she was doing to yell, “Up! Up! Go up!” Sploooosh! With a high-pitched shriek, the bloodied frost wyrm lunged out of the waters, its teeth clamping onto the stern of the Noble Jury. “Bloody Hell!” Prowse found himself thrown against the hangar wall. He tried to aim an arm cannon but fell victim to the throes of inertia. “What what what what what--?!” Ebon pointed, wide-eyed and trembling. Zaid leaned over the ship’s cook to shout, “Rainbow! Do something about your pet, will ya?! She reeks!” “Grggggh!” Rainbow gripped the plank with her forelimbs while slamming her lower legs viciously into the monster’s gills. The eyes of the creature flinched, rolled back, then disappeared under mucus lids. With a vomit of saliva, the thing released its bite on the Jury and slunk back into the waves. Almost instantly, the Noble Jury rose like a bottle rocket, putting yards upon yards of distance between its quivering hull and the sinking iceberg below. “Mmmmf!” Rainbow slumped on board the hangar, panting. Her breathless wheezes were shared by the rest of the crew as they all stood on the stern entrance’s edge, peering into the tempestuous brine. The pale figure of the massive frost wyrm shook and writhed violently. “Yeesh…” Zaid stammered, smiling wearily at the others. “I suppose that one dude in the robe was right… y’know… about there always being a bigger fish?” Josho shook his head. “Gimme a closer shave than that and I’ll be all bone.” “You okay?” Ebon shook Eagle’s dazed body. “You’re not bitten or frozen or anything, are you?” “I… don’t think so…?” The unicorn felt his bangs with a wincing expression. “Oh Spark, how’s my mane look?” A beat. He blinked and glanced aside at the stallion nuzzling him. “Uhhh… Ebon? I said I’m fine.” “So what now?” Elma stammered, glancing up at the others. “Thank you for saving us. But we’re still out in the middle of nowhere. What brought you out this far anyways?” Rainbow Dash was silent. She stood up, glaring suddenly into the waters far below. “Uhm…” Elma’s beak clammed up as her head drew deeper into her shell. “Was it something I said?” Suddenly, Rainbow stripped of her saddlebag, reached inside, pulled her trusty hatchet out in her teeth, then threw the satchel into Zaid’s grasp. Then, without warning, she spread her limbs and swan dove clear off the plank of the Noble Jury. “Jeebuses!” Props squeaked, eyes wide. “Rainbow!” Eagle Eye scampered up to the side, only to be stopped by Josho at the last second. Ebon and Prowse also looked over in shock. “What’s she doing?!” “Shhhh!” Josho grunted, eyes squinting. Rainbow Dash had already splashed into the waters below. Her body disappeared amidst the cold, freezing waves. Not long after, the tumultuous sea calmed entirely. The pale figure of the frost wyrm also dove into the depths, so that all that was visible was the bubbling froth from the sinking ship beside the fractured ice berg. Seconds past… an entire minute… And then, a pool of deep red murk wafted up to the water’s surface. Eagle Eye gasped while Ebon Mane grimaced. Props held a hoof over her mouth and leaned against her uncle, squeaking internally. But, not long after… Splassssh! A blurring body soared out of the water. It ascended rapidly towards the Noble Jury on flapping blue wing. Then, without hesitation, Rainbow Dash landed back on the plank. Clank! She dropped a bloody hatchet on side of the room. Thud! A sopping red, twitching luminescent lantern gland landed on the other side. “There…” Rainbow Dash muttered, shaking the frigid droplets off her. “Think that’ll… be enough to… warm us and our new guests… for a while, girl?” Props blinked back. She then smiled. “Okay whillikers!” She flung the bloody organ over her backside and trotted gaily towards the engine room beyond the stairwell. “This’ll only take a sec! Thankies, Dashie!” The hangar hung in silence for a bit. And then… “Burn mah beard!” Prowse grinned from pale ear to pale ear. “Ah loch thes ship!” Zaid smirked while Ebon and Eagle exchanged glances. “Mrmmmf…” Josho rolled his eyes and lurched out of the room. “Don’t hold your breath…”