//------------------------------// // Dash You Like A Hurricane // Story: Urohringr // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// "Do you see any movement, Eagle Eye?" The petite stallion kept his expert gaze trained on a distant temple hovering through Stratopolis below. He levitated a sword and shield on one side of his body and a sound stone on the other. Wiping the rainwater off his muzzle, he took a step back beside the Noble Jury and spoke into the enchanted shard. "Not a thing. If I didn't know better, I'd say they all bought it." "We can't know that for sure, kid." "I know..." Eagle Eye sighed. "But here's hoping." He turned and glanced at the large round building hovering in front of the Noble Jury's temple. "That room you're in has control of the obelisks floating these buildings around, right?" "Yeahhhhh..." Josho said from where he paced with the levitating shotgun and sound stone. "What you getting at?" "Well, maybe you could give the lever controlling the Lounge's crash site a good shake. It could toss their ship loose, y'know?" "Or send them all running, scurrying, or flying towards us," Josho said. "As much as I don't like those creepy-masked dudes, I'd rather keep them at leg's distance." "Right," Rainbow Dash said from where she floated over the heads of the group. Her voice echoed across the domed chamber. "Besides, from the look of the rods here, the obelisk connected to their crash site is at its furthest distance from the heart of Stratopolis. I don't wanna bring them any closer to where we are or—more importantly—where the Noble Jury is." "That works for me." "Keep an eye out, fruit basket," Josho said. "If you see any weirdness, give us a shout, and we'll come running." "Will do. You try not to get yourself hurt too badly, old stallion." "Yeah, yeah." Josho dimmed the soundstone and shuffled back towards the center of the room. "Yeesh, that prima donna worries too much about me." "I think it's a charming trait," Pilate said. "Go soak your head in charm for all I care, braymeister." Josho rested the shotgun over his flank as he nodded towards the array of rods. "What's going on here?" "Apparently, a whole lot ay bludy naethin'," Prowse said. He squinted at his neice. "Propsicle?" "Mmmnnnghhh..." Props licked her lips and tensed her forehead as she stroked and rubbed her hooves around one of the many black-spiked staves. "No luck! It won't budge!" She turned to gaze up at Rainbow Dash. "It won't even glow!" "How about you give it a go once more, Miss Dash?" Elma said. "Uh huh." Rainbow Dash flew down and lightly tapped the edge of one shard. With a loud grinding noise, it shifted ahead, causing two slabs of granite to slide along with it. Rainbow Dash stopped moving the staff before a dim glow could shimmer across the room. "Yeesh!" Props slumped back on her haunches, her ears folded. "It does it for you almost right away!" "Well, I think the reason is rather obvious," Elma said. "And what's that, Tankette?" "It must respond to winged ponies," the snapping turtle explained. She turned to blink at the others. "This is a city built and run by Rainbow's kind, is it not?" "That remains to be determined," Pilate said, leaning against the reptile. "From what Rainbow's discovered, her ancient native ancestors occupied this place, but it doesn't seem likely that they built it." "What about the 'Angelic Host' crap?" Josho stated. "The What Crap?" Prowse squinted. "Pilate," Josho said. "Tell 'em about all the Herald junk we ran into." "What my colleague is referring to is a group of modern day zealots who are of the firm belief that an ancient race of pegasi acted as the founders of the known world," Pilate explained. "Or, at least, this part of the world..." "This... part...?" Prowse blinked awkwardly. "There's a big ol' machine dwelling beneath all of us, Unky Prowsy!" Props giggled. "Smexical, isn't it?" "From the evidence that Rainbow has gathered throughout her travels, and from visions my beloved has shared with the knowledge gained by Nightshade Industries, it would seem there's plenty of data to support this fact," Pilate said. "Don't forget the book I got from that skeleton in the... erm... giant centipede hole..." Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin. "Or was it a millipede?" A sigh. "Meh, whatever. I kicked its thorax either way, I'm sure." "Ye mean techt 'at glowin' lift book 'at ye hae caged up in th' heart ay th' elk's skystain ship?" "Yup yup up!" Props proudly chirped. "Weel i'll be bloon tae blaze's bathroom!" Prowse smiled wide. "Zabubadabu gits snazzier by th' minute!" "Yes, a regular vacation spot," Josho droned. "Perhaps this city floated over Rainbow's homeland in the past," Elma Boreal thought out loud. "And her ancestors—being pegasi—piloted it far away so it wouldn't rick the local populace." "You're saying Commander Hurricane and Company sacrificed themselves to escort Stratopolis out of Equestrian airspace?" Rainbow remarked. "That makes some squeaky sense!" Props said. "I wish there was a way to test that hypothesis..." Elma spoke aloud. "There may in fact be a way," Pilate said, pacing in a tight circle. "Rainbow Dash. You said that there are several pegasus skeletons in here? Scattered abroad?" "Er... yeah...?" "Being the only pegasus in the room, might you take offense to us... erm... borrowing a bone or two?" Rainbow Dash blinked, then shrugged. "Knock yourselves out. I'm pretty sure after so many dang centuries, the spooky scary pony ghosts are too flippin' bored to be disturbed." "So what do we need, Pilate?" Josho asked. "I suspect a single legbone will do." Prowse was already trotting over towards a decayed body lying beside a barricade. With a shuddering breath, he converted his metal left leg into a thin blade. "Nopony e'er said archaeology was clean as a whistle..." Props gulped and stammered, "Sorry about this, Mr. Skeleton Buddy." Crackkk! With one fell swoop, Prowse lopped a legbone off. He passed it to Props who nervously trotted across the room and shuffled to a stop beside Pilate. "Now..." The zebra motioned in a vague direction with his head. "Have it make contact with one of the rods." Props did so, wincing slightly. Tap. The bone was resting against the black shard on the top of a rod. Silence ensued. "Nothing's happening," Props murmured. "Huh..." Elma squinted her reptilian eyes. "So maybe it doesn't work with all pegasi." "Or, more logically, it only works with living ones," Pilate said. "Or maybe it only worked with Commander Hurricane," Rainbow Dash said. Everyone turned around. "Huh?" Josho blinked. Rainbow pointed towards the granite slabs lying beneath the stone effigy of the battle-hardened mare. "Check this out. This is the tomb that I told you about." "And..." Props shuffled closer, eyes bright and blue. "You think your beloved Hurricane is sleeping here?" "In the only sleep she'll never wake up from," Rainbow said with a nod. "I mean, it totally matches the way tombs are set up in the old, old districts of Cloudsdale. You see, Pegasopolis no longer exists," she explained with a shrug. "Many of its temples were absorbed into the bodies of newer and younger cloud cities. The remnants of Commander Hurricane's military base are part of Cloudsdale today. But there's one thing that's not to be found there." "A sepulcher," Pilate said. "Right. Besides..." Rainbow Dash pivoted around, gesturing towards the corridors on the far ends of the room. "All of the pegasi here look like they were really, really desperate to defend this spot until they kicked the bucket." "That's rather honorable," Elma said. "To protect the remains of their leader far beyond her death." "Yeah, but for how long?" Props said. "They had a lot of pegasi guarding this place when things went down," Josho said. "And they were still in formation when they dropped. Whatever killed them, I think it was sudden. What's more, I'm pretty sure they had no friggin' expectation of it." "Loch a bludy gas barrage?!" Prowse remarked. "It could have been anything," Josho said. "Maybe they were here for weeks after she died. Maybe years. Maybe whole friggin' generations..." "Whoah..." Rainbow Dash rubbed her scalp, shuddering. "That's crazy." "Assuming that was the case," Elma said, "Why entomb Hurricane here? And in this room? I mean, it doesn't seem to make too much sense, unless—" "—both the room and Commander Hurricane were super important!" Props remarked, blinking. "Like, perhaps they were inseparable for some reason!" "Whit in th' cruddy boomsticks ur ye ramblin' abit, propsicle?" "Rainbow Dash...?" Rainbow spun about, realizing that Pilate had trotted halfway across the room on his lonesome. The zebra was feeling up the statue above the tomb, touching Hurricane's stone features with gentle hooves. He gazed into nothingness as he said, "This is the effigy in question, I presume." "Right on the money, Stripesy." "I can't help but notice..." Pilate rubbed his hooves together, then furrowed his brow. "...there seems to be a fine layer of sediment over this." "Well, yeah, Pilate." Rainbow fluttered over him. "I know you can't see it, but this place is old as all friggin' get-out." "I think this is important," Pilate said. He leaned forward, rubbing his hoof across the very front of the tomb just beneath the statue. "I sense that there's something beneath the surface... like fine impressions..." "You mean like engravings?" Josho said. "Perhaps. Do you see what I'm talking about?" "Uhhh..." Rainbow Dash squinted. "Barely." "There's too much dust on it," Elma said. "It's impossible to read." "Hauld oan, wee jimmies an' burds." Prowse stepped forward, cracking his living joints. Clak-clak-clak! His left limb turned into a metal cylinder. "Ah hink i've got jist th' solution we need. Propsicle? Coods ye support th' wee statue oan th' other side?" Props rushed up, gripping the muzzle and ear of Commander Hurricane's effigy. "Got it, Uncky Prowsy!" "Micht an aw dae yerself a favur an' cowre yer gob while yoo're at it." Prowse's eyes narrowed with concentration. His forelimb vibrated with a constant, steady hum. Props swiftly slid her goggles over her eyes and tilted her wincing expression away. Elma, Josho, and Rainbow Dash watched as the stallion's instrument shook the excess grime and sediment of time off the statue's surface. A fine cloud of dust rolled across the room in a invisible breeze. "You're doing it, Professor! It's working!" Elma exclaimed. "Yeesh..." Josho exhaled, his eyes narrow. "That's a lot of words." "There we go..." Prowse stepped back, converting his limb into a normal brace. "'At shoods be clear as day, noo." "Are the words legible to you, Rainbow?" Pilate asked. "Uhm..." Rainbow Dash hovered until she was barely an inch off the floor. She blinked at the engravings. "Believe it or not, yeah! This is some crazy-old form of Equestrian Basic! But the words totally make sense to me! Huh... imagine that—" "Uhmmm..." Props fidgeted. With an audible gulp, she trotted back, pointing at the effigy. "Dashie?" "Hmmm?" Rainbow glanced at her, then at the statue. "What—?" Her ears instantly drooped. With all the dust cleared off, the statue had exposed its true colors—complete with a faded paint job across Commander Hurricane's muzzle, eyes, and ears. The most noticeable detail was the granite mare's mane, more specifically its different hues—all seven of them. Elma's beak hung agape. She glanced at Josho, and then both of them stared at Rainbow Dash. Everypony but Pilate was staring at Rainbow Dash. "Huh..." The pegasus blinked. "...well that's groovy."