Lighting bounced rapidly from obelisk to obelisk as Stratopolis broke up completely, dissolving into chunks of granite and prehistoric metals. The city that once was the Sentinel of Urohringr turned to dust, crumbling and surging in every direction. Bright flashes of otherworldly mana spelled its last cohesive gasp, and finally the entire place was consumed by skystone.
Roarke's copper lenses retracted as she gazed off the bow of the speeding Lounge vessel. She leaned against the rifle in her grasp, her muzzle hanging agape. She watched as the central structure of Stratopolis bent sideways, then shattered in a million different places. From a distance, hundreds of pegasi bodies lifted briefly against the spreading flame, then melted in a conflagration of friction and energy. Fields of red and amber skystone flew sky high with resounding explosions, until at last the energy that filled the desposits mushroomed upwards in bright and brighter bursts.
A vaporous shockwave flew towards the rushing vessel. Roarke's grip slipped from the controls. As the mancraft rocked to a stop, she and the three naga struggled to keep upright. She immediately rushed back towards the controls.
"Stop!" one reptile hissed, pointing a gloved hand. "The skystone will not let us go any further!"
She hissed above the noise of erupting energy. "Challenge me one more time, and I'll throw you overboard in pieces!"
"Take us any further north, and the energy fields will do the same favor to us all! You included!"
Roarke seethed and seethed, her hooves locked to the controls as she glared north.
"It was Master Razzar's plan to use the city to mine from the fields," another reptile said. "If it is now destroyed, then there's no hope for anyone venturing there."
With a rapid exhale, Roarke plopped down to her haunches. Her ears folded back on either side of her braided mane. Her lenses twitched and rotated as she focused on the fiery aftermath of the city's ill-fated plunge. Just then, a skystone engine roared from behind. She glanced sideways in time to see the Noble Jury arriving on a crimson stream of skystone energy. It hovered to a stop right beside the Lounge's ship, and its cockpit door slid open.
Bellesmith was the first to gallop out, followed by Josho, Eagle Eye, and Zaid.
"Roarke!" Belle scampered to the edge of the top deck. She peered over the edge, her chestnut eyes reflecting the grand plumes of fire settling from the massive city's impact. "Why... wh-why have you stopped?! Did you find them?!" She stared at the Lounge's vessel, breathless. "Are th-they here?! I don't see them!"
The air was cold, bone-chilling, gusting with an undulating chill.
"Roarke, did they..." Belle gulped. "Did they make it out of there in time?"
The metal mare gazed off towards the burning horizon. "I had everything in order," she murmured.
"Wh-what?!" Josho exclaimed, frowning. "Speak up, rust muzzle!"
"I thought I had prepared everything..." She tilted her head up, her face flexed in pain. "To restore what I had t-taken away." Roarke gulped. "But now..."
Eagle Eye and Ebon Mane exchanged nervous glances.
Belle, teary-eyed, ran to the edge of the Noble Jury's deck and slapped her hooves against the side. "Roarke, talk to me! What's going on?! Is Rainbow Dash alright? Is... is m-my beloved..."
"I'm sorry," Roarke said in a shuddering tone. She tilted her head up with a clenched jaw. "The ponies you love have proven their courage and bravery." She took a deep breath. "I thought I had anticipated at what cost. But now..." She couldn't finish her words.
Belle leaned back, lips quivering. "Roarke? What... wh-what are you saying...?"
Roarke hung her head. She took a deep breath and prepared to speak—
"Hey..." Eagle Eye slurred. "Hey!" He galloped towards the ship's edge alongside Belle.
"What is it?" Ebon asked.
"Over there!" the ex-mercenary pointed towards the skystone fields. "See?!"
Zaid held a hoof over his squinting eyes.
"I don't see a damned thing, kiddo," Josho muttered.
But Eagle Eye was smiling... and smiling more and more and more and—"Floydien!" He spun towards the open cockpit. "Mr. Floydien!"
"That is Floydien's name! Don't spit it loosely!"
"Bring us closer to the glowing fields!"
"Has boomerette lost their mind?! Nancy will be ripped apart—"
"Just four hundred meters! Tops! Trust me!"
"I'd listen to him if I were you, space elk!" Zaid exclaimed. "Unless you want me grabbing the controls from you and giving the heave-ho!"
"Nnnng—Fine!" The ship groaned and buckled as it turned around, cruising past the Lounge ship and towards the turbulent air between them and the skystone. "But if too much glimmer breaks Nancy's bones, I'm tossing you first to the shark shark!"
"Come on..." Eagle Eye bounced up and down, slapping the edge of the deck. "Come onnnnn..."
Roarke watched from a distance as the Noble Jury soared towards the distant inferno. She leaned forward, her copper-lenses adjusting to the sight. With a blank expression, she re-gripped the reptiles' ship's controls and slowly drifted after the skystone vessel.
The winds grew more and more chaotic as the Noble Jury approached the skystone fields. Below, the waters roared and crashed against dull crystalline shoals. The arctic air heated up, tossing a melted mist of sleet in every direction that coated the slick metal surfaces of the ship.
Defying the elemental forces punishing the vessel from all angles, the Noble Jury nevertheless cruised towards its destination. Eagle Eye galloped briskly from one side of the deck to the other and back, his vision constantly locked on one singular location. At last, he gasped, pointing down low. "There! See?!"
"See what, princess?!" Josho squinted.
"Look for a streak of amber light!" Eagle sputtered, slicking his mane back in the frigid precipitation. "Just above the waves!"
"H-hey!" Ebon gasped. "I-I see it!" He turned and shouted towards the cockpit. "Down low!"
"Beloved Nancy, Floydien hopes this invigorates you..." Gritting his teeth, Floydien yanked at the controls, pushing the ship into a swift dive.
Belle and the rest of the jurists clung to whatever they could to keep from flying off the top deck. Spinning about, Belle's chestnut eyes caught sight of a lone source of flickering light, bobbing over the turblent waves, just moments from collapsing into the frigid brine. As they came closer and closer, she gasped—for she saw three bodies aloft, with one grasping the other two in a courageous grip.
"Beloved...?"
"Ledo's spatula!" Josho hissed, and rushed to the ship's edge. "We gotta grab 'em! Come on, girlie!"
"Way ahead of you!" Eagle Eye licked his lips and pointed a glowing horn forward.
Josho's field merged once more with Eagle Eye's. Before them, a web of translucent telekinesis materialized, floating alonside the edge of the ship. Floydien brought the Noble Jury around in a sharp, banking curve, just in time to swing by the targets.
Seconds before plunging into the tempestuous sea below, Pilate swung about, his helm rattling in the direction of the Noble Jury. He had two things strapped to his back: the Sword of Solstice, and a yellow-glowing jetpack made out of Lounge-tech. Two bodies dangled under each hoof: Rainbow Dash and a thoroughly battered reptile. The zebra spun about, aimed himself for the unicorns' energy web, and cut his engines. His body plunged—along with Rainbow's and Razzar's. All three landed on the telekinetic field, sprung off it like a trampoline, and fell—sprawling—across the rain soaked deck of the Jury.
Floydien immediately pulled the vessel up, coasting above the violently splashing waves of the arctic ocean below. The Jury came about, soaring swiftly south before the rampaging energy of the bright skystone fields could cripple it from afar. Not long after, it cruised to a hovering stop. Roarke brought the Lounge's ship alongside it. The metal mare left the controls and trotted to the edge of the platform, gawking at the scene.
Josho, Eagle Eye, Zaid, and Bellesmith crowded around the three figures, chattering a million different things at once. Their voices were shocked, exuberant, and breathless. Hooves shook Rainbow's figure, and the pained pegasus stirred awake, her eyes blinking thinly—and confusedly—at all the jurists crowding around her. She gasped as Eagle Eye slid in, hugging her tight and nuzzling her cheek raw. With a sputtering breath, she looked across the way at Pilate.
Groaning, the stallion stood up on wobbly legs. He stripped himself of the Sword of Solstice and the nearly-spent jet pack. Suddenly, he was being tackled, but he stood his ground, weathering the weight of Belle's intense hug.
"Oh, thank the Spark! You're alive! You're alive!" She kissed and kissed his neck and chin—anywhere that the stripes afforded her beneath his metal helm. "Pilate! Beloved! I... I d-don't know what to say!" She stared at him, eyes misty above a quivering grin. "Did you just... did you just save Rainbow Dash and the rest of us single-hoofedly!"
He leaned in to nuzzle her back. "There there, love. It is okay. It is all okay now." Pilate patted her shoulder as he stepped back. "However, you must pardon me. There is something I must still deal with..."
"What...?" Belle blinked, looking at him with melancholic confusion. "Deal with what?"
He gently brushed everypony aside, picked up Razzar's quivering body, and spun towards the edge of the deck. "Rrrrrrrrghhh!" Teeth gnashing, the zebra flung the naga onto the levitating deck of the Lounge's ship. "Raaaaugh!"
Th-Th-Thrump! Razzar rolled to a stop, hissing in pain. "Nnnnngh!"
"Brother..." The naga on board flinched and tilted their masks away, avoiding the sight of him. "In Quezaat's name! Your flesh is exposed—"
"Quezaat's name?!" Razzar pushed himself up with three good limbs. "Gnnngh... Quezaat has been dealt an infuriating disservice today!" He turned around, jaws dripping with drool and blood as he pointed an angry claw at the zebra on board the Noble Jury. "All because of that insufferable horse!" He sneered, "You robbed the Lounge of our one and only chance to protect these lands! Do you know... do you have any idea what a calamitous fate you've brought upon the world?!"
"I'm not a fan of breeder fights," Roarke droned. "But it looks to me that the 'insufferable horse' has made you shed your skin early."
"Choke on your own tongue, pony meat!" Razzar briefly glared at her. "You're the one who masqueraded as Vaughan, aren't you?!" Growling, he hobbled up into a standing position, leaning his weight away from his shattered leg. "Grnnngh! I swear... with every ounce of honorable blood left in me..." He glared at Pilate and Rainbow Dash in particular. "I will hunt you to the ends of the earth and feed you your own entrails! Every town and province—equine or reptilian—will know of your insidious treachery and foolishness! And when I finally sink my teeth into that same flesh, I will enjoy the succulent taste of—"
Taking a deep breath, Pilate suddenly pointed and hollered, "Weakness!"
Razzar flinched. The other naga glanced over, their silver masks glinting in the crimson light of the Jury.
"B-beloved...?" Belle stammered.
But Pilate marched towards the edge of the deck, continuing to shout: "Your so-called leader is weak!" His helm rattled as he spat, "He's nothing but a weak and foolish coward! He's always been!" His augmented gaze switched from one reptile to another. "Why else would he have sent you on a fool's errand? Attempting to dominate an uncontrollable ancient city that he couldn't even open up himself! He needed Rainbow Dash—the Austraeoh—to do it! And even when he had the heart of Stratopolis at his claws, he tainted it with his own impulsive measures, then forced everyone around him to suffer from the infection that he unleashed!" Pilate scowled, his teeth showing as he grunted, "How many of your brethren did this weak 'leader' sacrifice—unnecessarily—for a futile goal, when instead he could have been bolstering your balance of power over the Wastes? And just how many more brethren will fall if he carries you onward to another vain crusade?!"
The naga glanced coldly at one another, their bodies stock still in the misty rain.
"I've had about all I can take of ponies..." Razzar hobbled towards the ship's edge. "Brothers, ready your rifles." He sneered. "Send them to the abyss, along with Stratopolis—"
A gloved hand grabbed his shoulder and threw him to the floor of the deck.
"Ooof!" He fell on his back, writhing. "What—?!" He spat up at his comrades. "Traitorous fools! I gave you a command! Obey me!"
"The horse speaks true, brother," one naga said, standing over him.
"Your weakness is a sin," another murmured, crouching low. "A frailty that the Lounge can no longer allow."
"And you very well know..." The third crowded in with the rest. "...the cost of weakness."
"Wh-what...?!" Razzar's slitted eyes twitched. He started to hyperventilate. "Brothers! You don't understand! I was almost v-victorious! We were almost victorious! I had the pegasus and the zebra right where I wanted them! I c-could have saved the city!" He curled up and hugged himself under the converging shadows of the three. "Stop! I b-beg of you! I... I..." In a cowardly squeak, he held both hands straight out. "D-do not look! I am shamefully exposed b-before Quezaat!"
"Do not worry, brother." One by one, the naga removed their masks. With puffs of steam, drool-slick jaws of razor sharp teeth emerged from their hoods. "We shall hide your shame from Quezaat... in our bellies."
"No... No, brothers! I beg of you! Don't! Please! Don't—NO!"
"HRESSSSHAAAAA!" The Lounge all lunged forward, their jaws digging into the squirming flesh of the once-Razzar. His blood curdling screams got lost in their teeth and claws as they thoroughly dismantled him from the outside-in.
A pool of blood spread outward from their crouching bodies, lapping up against Roarke's horseshoes. Slowly, the metal-mare glanced up, staring past the scarfing and chomping reptiles. Slowly, with a glint to her lenses, she smiled.
On board the Jury, Eagle Eye vividly flinched, turning about to bury his face in Ebon's shoulder. Ebon gawked at the violent scene with wide eyes, but nevertheless reached over to pat Eagle Eye's shoulder.
Out of nowhere, Zaid drifted over, rubbing his chin as he squinted at the debacle. "So, then..." He murmured aside to the ship's cook. "...getting ideas for a casserole?"
"Eeeeunngh..." Ebon ran—green-faced—to the opposite deck. Gasping, Eagle Eye worriedly galloped after him.
Zaid smirked in Josho's direction, and the obese stallion merely rolled his eyes.
Pilate stood stock-still, breathing solidly through an unwavering muzzle. With a slight limp, Rainbow Dash got up and trotted over to his side. "Uhhh... y'know, Stripesy..." She glanced at him with squinting eyes. "You could totally have just crushed his skull or something when you beat him within an inch of his life up on the platform."
Pilate sighed long and hard. "Rainbow Dash..." He turned and gave her an exhausted smile. "After all you've been through, before and after you met us, I'm surprised that you haven't learned to savor the finer taste of irony."
Rainbow Dash smirked devilishly.
Pialte smirked devilishly back.
Rainbow raised her hoof and gave his shoulder a fine swat. "Welcome to Club Awesome, buddy. How's it feel?"
"Very..." Pilate paused, fidgeted. "...fuzzy."
"Heh. If you say so."
He chuckled back. Then slowly turned to gaze at Belle.
Belle stared at him lovingly, her cheeks rosy beneath sparkling chesnut eyes.
He pivoted towards her, smiling under his metal helm. He moved his muzzle to speak—
"Daddy...?"
Pilate's jaw hung agape. His features went slack as a pale sheen wafted across his stripes. Slowly, he trotted around, gazing towards the open cockpit.
Floydien stood beside Elma. The elk and changeling exchanged glances, then slowly shuffled apart, revealing a shivering little foal staring out onto the top deck with wide green eyes.
Silent words escaped Pilate's lips. His brow furrowed under the helm, and he shuffled forward—one stiff fetlock after another. Rainbow gazed after him, and she was no less shocked at the sight of the filly. Her wings drooped at her side as she struggled to say something. A warm hoof grazed her shoulder. She glanced aside at Belle, shivering in confusion. Belle merely smiled, then held both hooves over a sniffling muzzle as she gazed at the scene in anticipation.
Pilate shuffled through the rainpuddles, then stood before the tiny child. He knelt down with a splatter, then reached up to his helm. Wincing slightly, he pulled the Ocular Array off his head. A pair of clear eyes twitched blindly in the misty air. Exhaling, he dropped his gear, then slumped against his haunches. One limb after another, he reached forward—feeling around—until at last his hooves made contact with Kera's tiny horn. He stroked down her face, grazing one tattoo after another, then felt her tiny, quivering chin. Her muzzle moved against him as she quietly murmured.
"Pilate..." A whimpering smile. "...you came back..."
Pilate's face contorted, halfway between a sob and a laugh. "So did you, precious..." He almost instantly grimace, his blind eyes welling with tears. "Kera... Kera, darling." A gulp. "I'm sorry... I'm so very sorry... for everything..."
She sniffled, then slid forward, nuzzling her cheek along the length of his limb until she was embracing his chest. "Don't. Don't be sorry." She hugged him, tears flowing. "Be here."
The zebra exhaled heavily. He wrapped his limbs around her and held her close. "I am... forever and ever. I promise you." He choked on a sob and nuzzled her mane. "I promise."
The two rocked together within the doorframe to the Noble Jury.
Rainbow Dash sat back with a look of mixed confusion and joy. She glanced down at the Sword of Solstice, its metal reflecting pure starlight from above. Then she looked up at Belle.
Belle stood in place, quietly crying as she watched the scene from afar.
Suddenly, Pilate's ears twitched, pivoting towards Belle's figure. Without saying a word, he reached a hoof out, beckoning.
Belle squeaked through a melting smile and galloped forward. She slid across the wet deck and collapsed into the other two. The three chuckled briefly before enshrouding each other in a joint, familial embrace. Belle and Pilate nuzzled each other while Kera sat nestled between them, no longer cold and shivering. The couple's necks rested over an opposite shoulder while their hooves remained locked as one.
Zaid leaned back against a skystone-supporting mast, folding his forelimbs as he smirked with pride.
Josho trotted over to Ebon and Eagle Eye. The old stallion tapped the ex-mercenary's shoulder. Eagle then shook Ebon out of his nausea so that the two could turn about and properly ingest the warm scene. Not longer after, the throttling of manaship engines shook them out of their tranquility.
Pilate, Belle, and Kera looked up to see the Tarkington roaring to a loud hover besides the Noble Jury. It pivoted about broadly, and not long after its port side door opened with a cold hiss. Props and Seclorum were already there, bracing themselves against the frame.
"Well, will you look at that," Seclorum managed through a breathless smirk. "Guess not all was lost after all..."
"Is... Is that Kera?!" Props stammered, raising her goggles so she could stare with wide eyes.
"Yes..." Belle nodded from where she huddled with Pilate and the filly in question. "Yes, it is..."
"Are..." Props leaned forward so far that Arcshod had to rush forward and grab her by her tail. "Are you sure...?"
Kera poked her head out, blinking. "Props?" Her muzzle scrunched. "Why are you inside a big flying turd?"
Props grinned from ear to ear. "Eeeeeeee!"
Pilate chuckled and ruffled the filly's mane. "Does that answer your question?"
"Yaaaaaaay!" Props hopped up and down, much to Arcshod's exasperation. "The Jury's back in session! The Jury's back in sessionnnnn! Wooooohoooo!"
"What's with all the bloomin' noise?!" Prowse trotted over and poked his head out. He instantly smirked. "Well, if that's not a beaut, I don't know what is." Several ponies from within the Tarkington clapped their hooves and cheered. Others murmured in relief.
Rainbow Dash breathed nervously, her eyes darting back and forth from the airships to the burning plume in the distance. "I... uh... I don't think we should stay here for too long..."
Zaid glanced over. "Why not?"
"I mean..." Rainbow winced, adjusting the pendant around her neck. "Maybe n-not all of the pegasi died in the fall of Stratopolis? They could be swarming us any second..."
Zaid calmly smiled. "Rainbow, we're fine."
"But you'll never know if maybe some of the ooze survived in the ocean and could be bubbling beneath us this very moment and—"
"We're fine." Zaid reached over and touched her shoulder. "Calm down and look around you." He grinned. "We saved the day..."
"But... b-but..."
"We saved the day..." Zaid winked and leaned back against the mast. "We saved the day."
Rainbow panted and panted. She gulped. "We saved the day."
He nodded. "We saved the day."
"Yeah..." Her wings relaxed around her as she smiled weakly. "Yeah, okay..." She nodded and gazed about. "Okay..." Her eyes fell upon Roarke.
Roarke stared back, her copper lenses cooly reflecting the mirth on board the Noble Jury.
Rainbow Dash's smiled some more.
Roarke's lips twitched, almost curving.
Rainbow Dash trotted towards her—but suddenly jerked to a stop. She sensed a shadow outside her peripheral vision. Spinning, she turned towards the ship's stern.
An equine shape was perched just above the hangar doors.
Curious, Rainbow Dash trotted towards the end of the ship. She then galloped and skid to a stop, breathless.
A changeling was perched on the hull. It gazed down at Rainbow Dash, its expression neutral at first. Then, as Rainbow stood in its shadow, the shapeshifter's muzzle flickered green... then relaxed in a freckled orange smile.
Rainbow gulped, then sat down calmly. "You..." She fidgeted. "...you're fr-free?"
Applejack slowly, slowly nodded. "For the first time, darlin'..."
Rainbow's eyes darted sideways for a moment. "How... uh... does it feel?"
"You tell me."
Rainbow's gaze jerked back to her. At last, she murmured, "Frightening. Like a calm before a storm."
"And what if the storm's behind y'all?"
Rainbow winced, then said. "I find that hard to wrap my head around."
"You and me both, darlin'." Applejack smiled.
Rainbow smiled back. Eventually, she asked, "Chrysalis. Is she...?"
"Gone." Applejack's eyes glittered with starlight. "Or... maybe... we're the ones who are gone. And she's the one who's lost..."
Rainbow took a deep breath, her jaw tight. "In Val Roa..."
Applejack slowly, slowly nodded.
Rainbow glanced back at her friends. Cheers echoed between the Noble Jury and the Tarkington. After a deep breath, she looked back. "Where will you go now?"
"Nowhere..." Applejack shrugged. "Everywhere." She then smiled again. "The funny thang about home... I reckon it's anywhere you are, so long as you have love."
Rainbow's ears folded across her head. "I... I fear I've forgotten what that feels like."
Applejack giggled. "No ya haven't..."
Rainbow's jaw dropped. A tear ran down her face as she smiled. "Thanks... uhm..." She rubbed her face dry with a trembling forelimb. "For—y'know—everything."
"Thank yerself, darlin'. And reward yerself." Applejack's hoof reached forward. "While ya still have time..."
A shudder ran through Rainbow's body. She closed her eyes and leaned forward... forward. Seconds oozed by, and all she felt was a cascade of warmth. Gasping, her eyes fluttered open.
Applejack was gone. A black figure flitted off into the distance on dragonfly wings. It joined a hovering swarm of onyx dots that blanketed the stars. Then, as one, the swarm of changelings flew off, disappearing into the frosted horizon.
Rainbow Dash exhaled, clasping two hooves over her pendant as she bore a tender smile.
"...I will."