"Trouble?" An earth pony shrugged, resting casually against the railing of his wooden tree platform. "Can't say I've heard of any trouble from Val Roa! That place is as peaceful as peaceful can get!"
Bellesmith, Pilate, and Rainbow Dash leaned over the Noble Jury's side. A bright afternoon sky loomed above where the skystone ship gently hovered.
"So, you do hear from the heart of the kingdom often?" Pilate asked.
"Heh... you kidding?" The earth pony glanced back, smiling down at the quaint village resting in the shadow of the alpine forest. "This place wouldn't exist without the Val Roan trade routes!" He turned back. "We exchange metals and spices every week!"
"When was the last time you heard from them?" Belle asked.
"By 'them,' who do you mean exactly?" the villager asked.
"Uhm... anypony, I guess," Rainbow said. "The government... the monarchy..."
The villager laughed, slapping his knee. "Whew boy! You ponies really aren't from around here, are ya?"
"Uhhh..." Rainbow glanced at Pilate's metal plate, Belle's broken horn, then stretched her wings with a smirk. "You think?"
The stallion blinked. "Holy smokes, that's fancy..."
"We were... uhm... hoping to seek audience with the Val Roan Monarchy," Belle said. "Is... that even possible?"
"Ma'am, I've never been so much as within a stone's throw of the glittering capitol!" The stallion said. "I don't think I could even afford to sneeze east of the mountains! But, who knows? You ponies probably could, judging from the shine of that skystone!"
Two of the three glanced up at the ship's crimson propulsion.
"Why?" Rainbow asked. "Is that a good thing?"
"You have to be really rich to afford a flying machine around here."
"You mean you don't have an abundance of zeppelins in these parts?" Pilate remarked.
"Hey. I'm doing jumping jacks inside this handsome shell, pal." The stallion chuckled. "I've been on forest watch for over twenty years! Last time I saw an air vehicle was back when I was just a little colt! And that was because some important Duke was visiting the therapeutic springs north of here!"
"Oh... uhm..." Belle smiled awkwardly. "I do hope we haven't alarmed anypony."
"Pffft. Don't worry about it," the stallion said with a wave. "Besides, you seem like an awfully nice bunch. Just what are you looking to do in Val Roa?"
"Call us ambassadors," Pilate explained. "We have reason to believe that some nefarious force wishes to encroach upon the monarchy's fortunes."
"Heh... 'some nefarious force?' Like who?"
"That's what we were hoping you would tell us."
"Yes, well... hmmmm..." The stallion rubbed his chin in thought. "There are some dirty mean reptiles who live on some islands to the far south."
"The Lounge?" Rainbow blurted.
The villager did a double-take. "You know them?"
"All too well," Rainbow droned with a frown. "What have they been up to lately?"
"Oh. The Lounge are just fine!"
Belle blinked. "They are?"
"Heh... it's just a few lizards who broke off from them that give the race a bad name. Isn't it terrible?" He shook his head with a smirk. "They've got it good down south. Warm waters. Abundant fruit. Great shipping routes."
"You seem to have it quite good here," Belle said.
"Hah. Not when winter hits, believe me. I think I'd rather be in the Grand Choke when that happens."
"Do any lizard groups venture far east?"
"Heck if I know. I doubt it. 'Cuz then they'd be dealing with goblins."
Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "Goblins."
"Yup. Nasty little buggers. Not all of them—though, just the ones that cause the biggest explosions."
"Uhhh..."
"What, you've never met goblins before?"
Rainbow slowly shook her head. "Not outside of old mares' tales."
"They love to build guns, bombs, and crazy contraptions. They're big on mining, and they supply lots of the metals to places as far as Alafreo. Ambitious little leather-necks, and some of them can be downright dirty."
"Some of them?" Rainbow asked. "Or enough of them to be a threat to Val Roa?"
"Hah! Not likely. Val Roa squashed them centuries ago."
"Is that so?" Pilate asked.
The villager nodded. "It was a pretty nasty war—if you could call it one. The goblins were no match for the Val Roans from the beginning, even though the little imps started it. They began attacking many of the southern villages that belonged to the northern kingdom. The Val Roans drove them back and then defended their cities without contest for over two decades. Finally, when the monarchy switched hooves, the newly appointed king realized he was sick of the goblins' crap and invaded the southern reaches. Hah! The half-pints gave up within three days! Since then, the goblins have been strictly policed. They're mostly harmless—save of course for the Green Bandits."
"Green Bandits?"
"Pfft. Bunch of thugs and would-be pirates. They attack villages like ours at least once a year. The imps would probably get somewhere if their explosives didn't blow up in their wrinkled faces half of the time. Last summer, we felt so bad for them we just gave them half of what was in our storehouse. We've started trading amicably with the gang ever since."
"That's... uhm... very interesting," Rainbow Dash said.
"Heh, sorry to disappoint you!" The villager said with a smirk. "Unless a bunch of reptiles and Green Bandits have joined together to make some devilish army of darkness—heheh—I'd say you're in for some smooth sailing!"
Rainbow glanced aside at Belle. "Why's this continent so squeaky clean?"
"Getting homesick?" Belle smirked.
"Please..." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "We just finished that arc."
"Heeheehee..."
"Is that all you dropped by for? Just to ask a bunch of questions?" The villager pouted slightly. "For a minute there, you all got my hopes up."
"I do apologize," Pilate said. "But we were simply passing through."
"Perhaps..." Belle tapped her chin and smiled. "We could trade something!"
"Now you're talkin'!" The pony leaned up against the railing. "What have you got in mind?"
"That depends." Rainbow smiled nervously. "Any of you guys in the mood for cheese?" She gulped. "Lots and lots of cheese?"
Hours later, as the afternoon bled into a rosy sunset, the Noble Jury found itself cruising slowly over densely forested hills.
"Just what the heck is this?" Josho asked, turning a sliver of reflective silver around.
"Apparently it's called a strip," Belle said from where she sat with Kera and Pilate on the other side of the Jury's top deck. "It's the centerpiece of the Val Roan currency."
"Are these ponies idiots or what?" Josho frowned.
"Josho..."
"No, seriously! If you don't use round coins, then you stand to risk cheapscapes shaving the metal in ways that are harder to catch!" He glanced up. "Shave enough metal off, and you can smelt your own counterfeit!"
"I didn't know you were an economy major, old stallion," Eagle Eye said.
"Don't push it, dainty tush," Josho grumbled. "It was either be an accountant or kill Xonans. I ended up choosing the profession that got me more exercise."
"Pffft. If you say so."
Ebon giggled from where he sat beside Eagle.
"I gotta admit..." Rainbow murmured as she paced in circles above the group. "...I'm a little bit freaked out."
"I'm sure gold bits is the standard back in Equestria as well," Pilate said.
"No, it's not that." Rainbow glanced at the treetops slowly drifting by them. "Things around here are... a little t-too good to be true."
"I'd say bask in it," Ebon said. "We've got enough as it is to worry about."
"But I just don't know what I should be worrying about," Rainbow groaned. "Not until we get into Val Roa!"
"And once we do, I don't think we'll be able to find out overnight," Pilate said. "Seems as though the monarchy is tightly reserved."
"As well as they should be," Belle said. "From the history of things, they've encountered there fair share of nasties from the south."
"Really, though!" Kera squeaked. "Why is it that all the bad guys tend to come from the south?"
"Heh..." Rainbow smirked. "She makes a good point."
"The Lounge! Diamond dogs! Foxes! The Searonese..."
"Now now, Kera..." Belle patted the filly's head. "Not all Searonese are evil."
"Hrmmmmmmm..." Rainbow folded her forelimbs, frowning.
Belle squinted upat her. "Right, Rainbow Dash...?"
"Right..." Rainbow paced and paced. "They're just damn annoying."
Kera giggled.
"Grnnnnngh!" Roarke gritted her teeth, struggling to file a metal bar in half. "Come on... come on...!" She hunched tightly over a metal crate inside the hangar where she was attempting to craft the frame to a new piece of armor. "Come off... Searo damn you... come off!"
SNAP! The end broke loose, but it cracked the rest of the bar down the middle.
Roarke's lenses retracted. She hissed and kicked the crate altogether. "Hnnngh!"
The bar ricocheted off and smacked her fetlock.
"Augggh! Ass!" Roarke hopped up and down in one place. "Ass! Ass! Ass!" She leaned against a wall and suckled her hoof for a few seconds. Suddenly, she froze. She glanced at the black manasphere. The glossy surface of the Lounge's hovercraft reflected Roarke in the middle of her curiously foalish gesture.
Wincing heavily, Raorke stood straight... or at least she tried to. Gulping, she glanced down at her hooves, noticing how intensely her legs were shivering.
The mare began pacing... then pacing even faster. Her breaths came in quick spurts. She fought it, but where there had once been a growl—there was instead a nervous squeaking, a pitiable murmur. She slumped to her haunches, pulling at her braids.
"Rrrrrrrrgh... can't st-stand it... I hate this... I loathe this!"
She hugged herself, panting. She glanced over her shoulder. The door to the stairwell lingered, cracked open. From a distance, she could make out the giggling breaths of Props and Zaid. Maybe other voices. Each one of them shook her to the core.
"Gnnnnngh!" She clutched her head, seethed, and looked up with a heavy frown. In a blur, she dashed to the far corners of the hangar, snatching up whatever weapon, axe, or spear she could find. Then, without ceremony, she tossed them inside the hovercraft, leapt in, and closed the doors with a hiss.
"...and so the moral of the story," Ebon said. "...is never to serve venison to live deer." He raised his eyebrows.
"... ... ... ..." Belle, Pilate, Eagle, and Josho stared dully at the stallion.
At last, from the cockpit: "Floydien gets it!"
"Ha HA!" Ebon pointed towards the bow with a bright grin. "How about that! Heheheh..." He glanced down at his fidgeting hooves. "Whewwwwwwwwwwwwww—I'm so glad I got out of that restaurant in Gray Smoke alive."
"Yeah, well, so's my stomach," Josho said.
Rainbow rolled her eyes. Just then, the entire Jury lunged.
Everypony blinked.
"What the spit?!" The elk in the cockpit twirled about, his antlers flashing. "Did Nancy give birth?!"
"We do feel a lot lighter," Pilate said.
Eagle squinted at him. "How do you know?"
"A mystical zebra never shares his secrets."
"You picked a bad time to be cheeky."
"Would you rather go back to the venison story?"
"Everypony... quiet!" Rainbow hissed, raising her hooves. "Ya hear that?"
"Sounds like manaengines," Josho said.
"Rainbow! Look!" Kera chirped, pointing over the ship's port side. The group twirled about and watched in awe as a small black sphere shot over the forested landscape, coasting northeast.
"Roarke?!" Rainbow stammered. "What in the buck is she doing?"
"Something awesome, I bet!" Kera grinned.
Rainbow frowned. "I'll be the friggin' judge of that."
"Rainbow?" Belle blinked worriedly. "What are you doing—?"
"What else?" Rainbow flapped her wings. "I'm going after her!"
"But—"
"No, this stupid charade ends now! Either she's gonna tell me what's got her saddle in a twist or I'm not coming back at all!" Rainbow took a sharp right and breezed by the cockpit's dashboard. "Floydien, bring her to a stop! This shouldn't take long."
"Yes yes yes, paint bucket."
"Oh great..." Josho lumbered about, groaning. "Another delay. Val Roa's going to be a cemetery by the time we get there."
"Rest easy, Josho," Pilate said in a calm tone. "Something tells me this is the most important thing to happen today..."
Eagle Eye and Ebon watched nervously as Rainbow blurred after the black sphere in the distance.