//------------------------------//
// How Many Licks It Takes 
// Story: Urohringr 
// by Imploding Colon 
//------------------------------//

	Rainbow Dash stood on a metal balcony beneath the twin spires and their burning brazier.  Using her wings to stabilize herself, she motioned at the object floating down from the Noble Jury.  The black sphere followed Rainbow's directions, descended slowly, and landed on the balcony's edge.  Then, with a hiss, its sides slid open, revealing three ponies inside.  Bellesmith and Eagle Eye trotted out, followed by Roarke who climbed out of the pilot's seat.

"Roarke," Rainbow grunted.  "Leave the manapistol inside."

The metal mare froze with the weapon in her grasp.  "Certainly you can't expect me to—"

"No, I am ordering you to ditch it."  Rainbow frowned.  "These guys are friendlier than fuzzy kittens on Nuzzle Day.  Also, they're pretty dang intent on making us their guests.  I won't allow you to aim a boomstick at their beaks.  Got it?"

Roarke's metal lenses pistoned in and out.  "Hrrrrrmmmf..."  She tossed the pistol back into the tiny Lounge transport with nonchlance.

"Good."  Rainbow nodded.  "Now, let's—"

With a metal snap, Roarke detached another pistol from her hip and threw it inside.  Then, with the others watching and blinking, she pulled a rifle out from behind her shoulder, retracted it, and dropped it into the ship.  She then unsheathed two concealed daggers, a trio of grenades, and a ring of shuriken.  At last, she stood before the group, relatively "naked" with just her metal leg-braces and brass plugs.

Bellesmith stammered, "Is... is th-that it?"

"Technically, I still have a taser on me," Roarke said.  "But..."  She glanced at the row of reptile onlookers.  "...removing that from where it's currently hidden may... come across as 'lewd' at the time being."

"Uh huh..."  Eagle turned to Rainbow.  "Please tell me you found the Boreal family."

"Almost.  I want you guys here for this.  Come on..."  Rainbow gestured and then trotted forward.

"What do you need us for?" Eagle asked.

"Moral support."

"And as for Roarke?" Bellesmith remarked.

"She's basically just walking metal porn," Rainbow muttered with a slight smirk.  "I mean, look at this place.  These Alafreons admire all things to do with metal work.  To them, Roarke is probably a goddess."

"How delightful," the Searonese mare droned.  "I'd ask for a harem, but I'm sure the scales would chafe."

"Shhhh!"  Rainbow led them into a dark tunnel at the base of a domed building.  "Okay, dudes, the guy's leader is named 'Boxer.'  He's super old but he's also super cool.  Just... let me take the lead, alright?"

"Sure thing, Rainbow," Eagle whispered back, then peered upwards with glistening eyes.  He watched as they passed underneath hanging banners, rippling torches, and dangling braziers brimming with incense.  The interior of the building had a mystical, hazy atmosphere to it, and the rusted black walls were chiseled with elaborate designs and words and texts that depicted a glorious history.

Soon, everypony's direction was centered on a series of cushions in the center of the room, flanked by incense and candles.  A turtle with an enormous shell sat in the center, his old thick legs draped in every direction.  At the sound of the ponies hoofsteps, he raised a wrinkly head.  A pair of gray eyes blinked through a filmy layer of mucus.

"Hmmmm... so you've brought four more."  The grand old turtle gave a wrinkled smile.  "It's been at least a half century since I've had hooves sounding off the plates of this chamber.  How I do delight in the complexities of horse culture.  Ambitious, handsome, and unpredictable."

"Boxer, I've returned."  Rainbow bowed her head and gestured.  "These three are my friends.  Bellesmith, Eagle Eye, and Roarke Most Rare.  They're all members of the Noble Jury."

"Splendid..."  Boxer nodded his frail head.  "Splendid indeed."

"You asked to meet more of my kind, and here they are."  Rainbow took a deep breath.  "Now, perhaps, you would be willing to help me?"

"Hmmm... first thing's first."  The aged turtle's head pivoted to face Bellesmith from afar.  "You, my darling."  Boxer's nostrils flared, then flared again.  His scaled lips curved.  "A proud mother, I take it?"

"Actually, sir..."  Bellesmith fidgeted.  "I-I've never foaled.  But that is certainly kind of you."

"Well, I do beg your pardon," Boxer said.  "But you most certainly carry a maternal air about you.  Your lungs quiver anxiously for something precious.  I am pleased to meet you, but do not worry, dear.  You will soon be able to return to whatever you cherish back aboard your vessel."

Belle smiled, her eyes glistening.  "Thank you, sir.  You're most kind."

Boxer's head turned until it faced Eagle Eye.  "Hmmm..."  He sniffed the air.  "Something so beautiful needn't be so afraid."

Eagle blinked nervously, on the virge of sweating.  "Uhm..."  He gulped.  "I-I don't know what you're talking about, sir..."

"Fear not," Boxer said.  "Whatever obstacle you think may or may not be in front of you, you have all that you could possibly care for.  I think you should simply learn to... relax, young one..."

Rainbow glanced curiously at Eagle Eye.

The petite stallion gulped.  "I'll... uh... try to, I-I guess."

"And you..."  Boxer turned towards Roarke.  His nostrils flared.  "Why so dreadfully cold and tense?"  He sniffed again, then all his muscles froze.  His blind eyes glanced Rainbow's way, and he turned his head once more to Roarke.  A slow, wrinkly smile formed.  "Mmmmm... yes.  Yes, but of course."

Roarke's brow furrowed.  "What?"

Boxer took a deep breath and leaned his head towards Rainbow Dash.  "Thank you for indulging me in my request, Miss Dash," the aged creature said.  "It is not so much that I doubted you.  Your words earlier were sincere enough, but I had to sense for myself what has driven you and your friends across such a long distance.  And now I feel it.  There is much love that binds you together.  But there is much fear as well.  I do hope we here in Abinadi can amend that."

"Yes, well, that sounds like a totally awesome thing, Boxer, but what we're here for is to—"

"You said that your ship was in disrepair.  Am I correct?"

"Well, uh, we've certainly got more than a few good dints in the Jury."

Boxer raised his head and cleared his throat.

Two tortoises shuffled over from the entrance to the domed room.

"See that our finest metal workers take a look at the Jury's hull," Boxer said.  "I do believe these travelers could use with a fixed ship."

Eagle Eye gawked at the leader.

"Are... are you truly serious?" Bellesmith exclaimed.

"We... uh..."  Rainbow Dash fidgeted in midair. "We don't exactly have the money to pay for the kind of repairs we need right now."

"From what you've already told me, it sounds like the Alafreons owe you for ridding the Wastes of the Flurries," Boxer said with a smile.

"Anypony can make that claim," Roarke droned.

Boxer's wrinkled neck turned towards her.  "And yet some know how to speak the truth, young one."

Roarke fell dead silent.

Boxer smiled again.  He tilted his head towards Rainbow Dash.  "It will please us to patch up the holes in your ship.  For, after all, I sense that you've come here to patch the holes in Abinadi."

Rainbow Dash nodded firmly.  "Elma Boreal, Boxer."  She gulped.  "She's been missing, yes?"

Boxer's head retracted a bit into his shell with a sigh.  "I do remember the day when she was hatched.  Her parents—the Boreals of the East Heights—brought her here along with her seven siblings to be blessed.  Her scent was the sweetest of all.  It matched her laughter.  Then, the day that she hatched her young and brought them here to me, I could sense that she had given the scent to her own children.  She divided her love equally among them, and every whiff and every soul was just as blissful and succulent as the other.  Quite the tragedy it was when—two years ago—her second eldest son perished in a boating accident along the Churning Line."

Bellesmith gasped into her hoof.  Her eyes instantly teared.  "That's... th-that's so horrible!"

"Mmmm..."  Boxer slowly nodded.  "All of Abinadi wept for the loss.  Well... all, save for one.  Elma did not return from her voyages, even after several letters had been sent concerning the tragic fate of her hatchling.  That is when we all knew—beyond the shadow of a doubt—that the Elma we all knew was gone."

Bellesmith lowered her head, crying quietly.  Eagle Eye trotted over and rubbed his hoof on her shoulder.  "But..."  He glanced up, swallowing a sore lump down his throat.  "All this time, what did you think happened to her?"

"She ventured into the west," Boxer said in a dark tone.  "Brushing paths with a culture that kills itself slowly over the centuries is an instant recipe for disaster.  Her heart followed the spirit of adventure and discovery, but everyone knew it was risking a great deal.  Still, she felt it was best, for she had hopes of mapping out the treacherous Wastes for travelers like her.  It was a selfless pursuit.  I know this, for everytime she left, the sorrow of missing her family was left in the blistering winds to haunt me."

"I have no doubt that she died doing what she believed in," Rainbow said.

"I believe you," Boxer said with a nod.  "And I also believe in the sincerity you have for what brought you here.  Although..."  He stretched his wrinkly neck out.  "If you do not bring Elma or the corpse of her with you, then I wonder—Rainbow Dash—what is it that actually bring back to Abinadi."

Roarke glanced anxiously at the pegasus.  Belle and Eagle leaned against one another.

In a firm breath, Rainbow flew forward and outstretched her hoof.  "See for yourself."

Boxer leaned forward, his aged nostrils inhaling the air all around the pegasus.

She said, "Elma may have died.  But the love she has for her family—for all of Alafreo—lives on.  It was just... passed on to someone else.  That someone... I have brought here."

Boxer leaned back.  His filmy gray eyes blinked, and in a ragged breath he said, "So that's the scent."  He tilted his head up and smiled wearily.  "I believe you..."