"Grnnnn-brbrbrbrbrbrrrrr..." Josho seethed through clenched teeth. Vapors wafted out of his muzzle as he paced back and forth across the top deck. All the while, the Jury swiftly ascended at a sharp incline to clear the Sky Stabs passing gradually beneath it. "I swear, if I have to go for another full week of these Spark-forsaken temperatures, I'm gonna piss out pine cones!" The stallion paused every now and then to shrug his shoulders in his leathery coat and clap his hooves together. "Why couldn't the turtles be assed to strap big burning brazers to this part of the continent, huh?"
"If you don't like it, then why not take your complaints downstairs?" Rainbow Dash muttered from where she stood along the ship's bow. "It's a lot warmer there, courtesy of Props' steam pipes."
"Ugh. You been down below lately?" Josho frowned with chattering teeth. "It's loud as all get-out! You can't swing a dead cat without running into a laughing youngster or a frolicking fruit basket!"
"It's called happiness," Rainbow Dash said with a smirk. "I'm sorry that you can't get used to it."
"I can get used to things fine," Josho grumbled, plopping against the railing right beside Rainbow Dash. He rubbed his muzzle—made rosy by the cold—and squinted at the rock formations passing underneath them. "Ehhh... who am I kidding? Old soldier's gonna old."
"If you ask me, I'd say you were adjusting perfectly fine."
"So you're the expert on Ledomaritan veteran psychology, eh?"
"Pffft. Better than you are."
"True. True." Josho nodded towards the cockpit. Even Floydien refused to open the door more than a crack. Delicious steam wafted out through the slit in the elk's compartment. "I can't help but feel like we should be preparing for something."
"It's only natural, I guess."
"What'd they say exactly at that town back down there?" Josho's brow furrowed as he stared at Rainbow. "That ponies see beams of light shooting up out of the crater?"
"Something like that."
"And it doesn't freak you out at all that we may very well be floating into the mother of all traps?"
"I think the ponies who live in the shadow of the Sky Stabs have gotten comfortable with their superstition," Rainbow Dash said. "I mean, this place doesn't exactly strike me as a war-torn continent. I suppose the residents here have to choose something to be anxious over."
"My, if you aren't a confident spitfire."
Rainbow twitched upon hearing that word. "Hah!" Rainbow clenched her eyes shut and giggled helplessly.
Josho raised his eyebrow. "What?"
Rainbow cleared her throat and waved a hoof. "Eh... it's nothing. Just..." She sighed. "Ancient history. Really... really... ancient stuff."
Josho concentrated, sent a glow through his horn, and used it to warm the immediate area.
"Mmmm..." Rainbow shamelessly drifted over and hovered close to him. "Thanks..."
"Don't mention it," Josho muttered, rubbing his forelimbs together in the coat's sleeves. "Figured while I'm here..."
"Being sober has done loads of good for ya, Josho."
"Mmmf. Now you're starting to sound like that little lavender bed stain I'm saddled with."
Rainbow smirked. "Don't tell me you're not proud of Eagle Eye."
"'Proud' may not be the word for it," Josho said, staring at the deck beyond his own hooves. "'Content' is more appropriate, I guess."
"Seems like the dude's more than content," Rainbow said. "Looks to me like very day is his best day ever now."
"Yeah. A little burgundy goes a long way."
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "You don't approve?"
"Pffft! I ain't his dad!"
"Aren't you?"
Josho clammed up.
"Y'know, I barely knew my parents," Rainbow Dash said. Her eyes took on a brief, bitter twinge. "And as for my dad, I wish I knew him even less." Clearing her throat, she nevertheless continued. "I used to tell myself that the day would come that I'd get everything squared away in my life." She gestured with her hoof while speaking. "A career with the Wonderbolts... a bunch of kickflank trophies... a big house... a fortune to live off of..."
"A wife," Josho droned.
Rainbow blinked savagely at him. "...is it that obvious?"
"Do pigeons shit earthward?"
"Heh... touche."
"Please, do go on."
Rainbow did. "And I told myself that once I had everything together, I'd go back home and make everything square with my relatives, old acquaintances, the school teachers whose lives I made a living nightmare. All that sort of fluff."
"What happened?"
"Jee..." Rainbow smirked bitterly, adjusting the pendant around her neck. "What do you think?"
"Hmmm..."
"Long story short, I've had no choice but to accept my life for what it is... or—more realistically—what it isn't." She gulped. "Words such as 'orphan' and 'outcast' and 'homeless' don't really have that much of a punch to my heart. Because it's not like it can be helped, y'know? At least not in my case. So, I might as well make the best of it all, and seize the things around me that I really, really love." She smiled at the stallion. "The Noble Jury is my family. This ship of Floydien's is pretty much my home. And—"
"You getting to a point somewhere or do I gotta shove you towards the finishing line?" Josho muttered.
"Yeah, there's a point." Rainbow nodded, staring at him. "The point is that Eagle Eye's kind of in the same boat as me, but thanks to you, he's not sinking. And it's funny, cuz I envy him."
"You what-now?" Josho glanced over.
Rainbow gulped. Her voice wavered, "I would kill to have a dad like you." A few seconds passed, and she smiled calmly beneath a pair of glossy eyes. "Anypony would, really. Just..." She gulped. "Pure inspiration, ya feel me?"
Josho's nostrils flared. He glanced off the starboard side. "I don't take much stock in feeling."
"At least you admit you can," Rainbow said. "I think that's the real reason Eagle's happy these days."
"Mrmmmf... maybe..."
Silence.
"You can head on down, now," Rainbow said, ruffling her wingfeathers. "I'm out here to keep watch, is all."
"Eh..." Josho shrugged. "I'll stick around with ya."
Rainbow smirked at his glowing horn. "I was born in Cloudsdale. I can deal with the temperature."
"Who said anything about the temperature?"
Rainbow opened her mouth... but paused. With a blink, she smiled.
Both ponies stared out at the passing mountainside.
"... ... ...so what do you think is really waiting for us in that crater?" Josho grumbled.
"Eh... some ancient horror that'll probably wanna fry us all to a crisp."
"Great. Wonder what Sailboat's cooking tonight."
"I dunno. Something crunchy, I hope."
"Oh, girl, I'd castrate myself for 'crunchy.'"
"Heeheehee..."