Night fell.
The sun rose to a bright morning.
A misty day blistered by.
The sun set to a cool evening, and rose again hours later.
Over the course of two days, the Noble Jury cruised over the remaining cluster of jagged spires that made up the bulk of northwestern Alafreo. The slender mesas blended together, forming a craggy plateau that sloped upwards, evening out and collecting soil and sediment. Soon, the landscape below had turned into a thick alpine forest, with expansive canopies covered in moisture and dewy frost.
"I think we've just crossed the Churning Line," Rainbow Dash said as she trotted into the cockpit after touching down from a scouting flight. "There's no more bluffs or watery ravines below. Feels like we've reached the main contintental shelf."
"Spit all you want, it's still a strange land," Floydien mumbled. He zapped the consoles, accelerating the ship slightly now that Rainbow was on board. "Did paint bucket see any new boomervilles?"
Rainbow shook her head. "Not in the last twelve hours. We haven't passed a settlement since that mesa full of platforms about a hundred miles back. I think the turtles choose to live where the water is."
"Then who are we gonna find in all these fir firs?"
"Beats me." Rainbow smirked. "But I wouldn't mind some close contact of the hoofed kind again."
"Meh."
"Come on, Floydien. Wouldn't you be thrilled to see some other elks for once?"
"Floydien has Nancy Jane and a basket of glimmer boomers. It's all it needs to be."
"Sure thing then." Rainbow scurried over to the crawlspace. While shimmying down the ladder, she paused, glanced up at the pilot, and smiled. "Though, oddly enough, I remember a time when you only cared for Nancy."
Floydien's ears twitched. He clenched his jaw and said nothing.
"Heh... fine. Be that way." She slid down. "Zoop!"
"How about now, beloved?"
Pilate gritted his teeth, his metal brow furrowing as the runes across it flickered and flickered. "I am... s-sensing shapes," he said, hissing slightly. "It's fading in and out, as if in a faint dream."
"I could increase the manaflow," Belle said from where she stood in the cramped infirmary next to him. Using precise movements, she connected one of several wires between the O.A.S.I.S. sphere on his choker and the Ocular Array. "But I'm concerned about overloading your synapses."
"If you're somehow frightened about repeating the debacle that happened at Lerris, I wouldn't be too concerned. That was out of your control."
"What?! No!" Belle frowned. "I simply do not wish to—"
"Belle..." Pilate smiled and raised a hoof to her shoulder. "I'm used to the unpleasant side effects of this technology. When Roarke first attached the Ocular Array to my skull, it was hardly a walk in the park. What I'm simply attempting to convey is that a little bit of discomfort could go a long way in making this synchronization work."
"I... I just don't want to hurt you, Pilate."
"And I'm glad for that." He nuzzled her hoof and smiled in her general direction. "And I hope you realize that—like you—I too can be brave."
She exhaled, smiling weakly. "Right... right..." Clearing her throat, she bundled three wires and attached them at once. "Well, then, how about now?"
"Gnkkk!" Pilate winced, sweated slightly, and exhaled. "Whew! Blessed Spark! I... I-I do believe it's working..."
"It is?!" Belle grinned wide. "What do you see, Pilate? Describe it!"
"I see... I see..." Pilate's gray eyes twitched as his choker flickered. Suddenly, he blushed, his ears folding. "Uhm... oh dear... h-how do I say this...?"
"Huh?" Belle blinked. She looked over her shoulder and realized where the ocular array was pointing. Her cheeks turned blood red. Clearing her throat, the mare lowered her tail and side-stepped across the cramped room. "Sorry. There. Better?"
Pilate smirked mishievously. "Depends on one's definition of 'better.'"
"Pilate—"
Outside in the main corridor, Kera scampered by. "Mrmmmmf!" She giggled into a pair of goggles dangling from her mouth. "You'll never catch me! Not in a million years!"
"Give those back, you adorable little fuzz scamp!" Props' voice cracked as she galloped after her. "I can't fix Nancy's womb without them!"
"You should have thought of that before you called me a 'cute bag of giggle kittens!"'
"But th-that was a compliment! Honest! Ohhhhhh—Zaidy Waidy! Help me!"
"Operation filly tackle is a go!" Zaid galloped after the other two. "She's on the thirty... the forty... the fifty!"
"Hey!" Bellesmith barked, making to dash out into the corridor. "Knock it off! Kera, give those back this instan—"
"Belle..." Pilate rested a hoof on her shoulder.
"But Pilate, they're both four times her size and—"
"Let them be."
"But—!"
He smiled. "It's okay. She's okay." He chuckled. "We have to learn to let go..."
Belle winced, grimaced, then sighed. She slumped down to her haunches, hung her head, then turned to smile weakly at him. "Will I ever stop being so overprotective?"
"I doubt it. It's in your blood."
"Mmmf... don't I know it?"
"I wouldn't love you any less."
"Sometimes I wonder if I should attempt to restore your sight... for fear of exposing you to your own sap."
"Heheheh..."
Roarke's lenses took on a dark shade as she crouched beside her spherical transport inside the Jury's hangar. She welded a loose plate back together, careful not to miss a single square inch of the hull. The door to the chamber flew open. The metal mare shut off her welding device and looked up. With a flick of her fetlock, she removed the tint from her lenses to see clearly.
"I mean it, scampsies!" Props craned her head around crates and boxes, sweating. "I can't see squat without those!"
Kera stuck her tongue out from where she crouched behind a container. "Then operate by fuzzspace! You know you want to!"
"Pleeeeeeease please please please give those back?" Props smiled nervously. "I'll let you juggle thermo-conductive-mana-filters."
"Not until you say 'Kera strikes fear into the heart of all things that pretend to sleep!'"
"Ewww!" Props shivered. "Why in the bubble-streaks would I ever say that?"
"And that is why you fail."
"Ah-HAAAA!" Zaid swooped in and snatched Kera from behind. "Sacked on the final yard line!"
"Hey! Let go! You can't—" Kera's green eyes bulged and she flew into a giggling fit. "Gaaaugh! No fair! You're cheating!"
Zaid smirked while tickling her. "Give up the Blonde specs and the torment will be over!"
"Stop it! Cut it out!" Kera writhed in hysterics. "I'll make you explode from the inside!" Her horn glowed.
"Holy chapstick!" Zaid sputtered as the two of them suddenly hovered upside down. "Blondie, help! She's using ESP! Especially Scary Ponytricks!"
"I dunno how, Zaidstains!" Props stifled a giggle. "Unless Josho and Eagle Eye are stallions of the cloth—"
Suddenly, with a metal pop, a grappling hook flew across the room, grasped the goggles in Kera's hooves, and yanked them out of her grip.
"Hey!" Kera pouted. Her horn immediately dimmed.
"Ooof!" Zaid wheezed, falling flank-first against the floor. He let go of Kera who trotted away safely. "Eughhh... who intercepted?"
Roarke retracted a hook into a metal band around her fetlock. She held the goggles out before Props. Her lenses retracted as she droned, "I... simply presumed you needed these."
Props smiled and took the item in question. "Oh, totally-dotally. But it's not like we were gonna crash and burn any second without 'em." She giggled.
Roarke cocked her head to the side. "I see..."
"This isn't over!" Kera scampered out into the stairwell. "The War of the Fuzzies has just begun!"
"You'd better sign the peace treaty!" Props hollered back. She giggle-snorted and shook her head. "How can something with legs that tiny run so fast?"
"I'm guessing she's tapped into the Sass Force," Zaid wheezed while standing up. He smiled across the way. "Hey Mickey. How's Whizzball doing? Squeaky in all the right places?"
"I've considered furnishing the interior with your pelt."
"Whoopsies!" He trotted eagerly away. "That's my cue to make like a tree and get lost in a Descoltian Conundrum!"
"Heeheehee..." Props winked at the metal mare. "He'd never have gotten the goggles back to me if it wasn't for you." She smiled warmly at her reflection in the thick lenses. "Though... he's a real sweetheart for trying."
"If you say so," Roarke said. She turned towards the transport, but stopped, fidgeting. "Erm... Props..."
"Huh?" The mare looked up, blinking her blue eyes. "Did you just say my name?"
Roarke nodded. "If... perhaps you are needing any assistance in monitoring the skystone engine or... improving the steampipe array..." She gulped and half-looked at the mare. "I am certain I can lend you help in any areas that you would like."
Props stared and stared at her.
"Or, if you don't, then that is fine," Roarke muttered. "But, as it stands, I too have thorough knowledge of engineering, and though it... mrmmm... m-may not compare to the excellence of yours, it would be a disservice to the ship and its crew if I did not offer what I have."
Props slowly smiled. "I think I would be really super-blessed to have your assistance, Roarke." She shrugged. "Or, y'know, if ever you just feel like chatting it up, girrrrrrl, then I'd be fine like wine!"
Roarke's brow furrowed. "That would not be necessary." She made to turn around again—but flinched. "Erm... unless you or the other ponies... feel like you need it?" She suddenly grimaced.
Props was hugging her from behind. "Heehee... it's okaaaaaay, Roarke. But we'll let you know."
Roarke shuddered, giving the mare's fetlock an ineffectual "pat." She said, "Right... uhm... you do that. I guess."
"I will! Heehee!" And Props bounded away. "Catch ya later, friendsies!"
Roarke stood in place for a minute or two. Then, with a calm breath, she knelt back down beside the transport and resumed welding. The bright flame of the tool canceled out any reflection of her own expression in the spherical vehicle's hull.
It gave her a chance to practice.