Th-Thap! Props slapped a half-empty glass of water onto the mess hall table and slumped into a chair. The mare heaved and wheezed, a frazzled, sweaty mess. "Okay. I give up. Nancy Jane's womb wins."
Booster Spice slumped into the chair next to her. "Yeah..." He adjusted his green goggles. "What she said."
"Surely there must be something you're missing," Pilate said from across the table where he sat with Bellesmith. "You've been able to raise the ship before."
"I had handsome to lend me a cloven hoof before!" Props sputtered, fanning herself with a hoof. "Nnngh... whose blood do I have to drink for some magical air conditioning?"
Zaid slid up in a stool, smirking. "Do you accept volunteers?"
"Mehhhhhhhhhh."
Zaid sighed. "Sorry I'm not the elk, blondie. I wish I knew what doo's to hickey inside the cockpit to help you."
"Not your fault, Zaidy Waidy," Props murmured. "This ship was simply built to cater to one soul's antlers and theirs alone."
"They know we're grounded the longer they keep that reindeer, right?" Josho rasped.
"Who are 'they,' Josho?" Belle asked.
"That Duchess chick and her house of silk-threaded bucks, that's who-they."
"Josho, Floydien has flown thousand of miles to reunite with his family," Belle said. "Even if this wasn't an astronomically amazing coincidence, we still owe Floydien some time to catch up with himself!"
"Doesn't seem to me like he wants to find himself."
"I would venture to say that finding out about his true past is certainly worth the risk!"
"Oh yeah?" Josho frowned. "And what about the risk to us?! Or to Val Roa?! Or any other place being touched by Queen Chrysalis' tentacles?!"
Ebon strolled in from the kitchen with little white bowls. "Mother doesn't have tentacles," he said, placing one dish in front of Josho.
"For Ledo's sake!" Josho grumbled. "Stop calling her that!"
Ebon winced slightly. "I... I-I can't help it."
Josho blinked at the dish. "Now, what the hell's this?"
"Canned peach slices..." Ebon sighed. "Sorry, but with the power dead, it's the best I can muster up."
"Well then..." Josho sighed while he nevertheless levitated a slice to his lips. "Hope the deer of Sehlp need more fertilizer..."
"Floydien has put up with a lot throughout this journey, Josho," Pilate said. "He endured several attacks to his ship. The Jury has had to go through repairs on multiple occasions. The elk lost Simon..."
"Yeah?" Josho gulped a fruity morsel down. "And your point?"
"If there's a chance that he can get the cobwebs untangled from his mind, then I think we owe him this visit in order to assist him with it!"
"So, in other words, we're having another extended stay in Craptown, Nowhere. Is that right?"
"Erm... well..."
"Great!" Josho spat. "That's just perfect! First Abinadi! Then Durandana! Now our little Call of Jury Duty Buck Ops all over this friggin' continent. But noooooo! Let's delay our climactic headbutt with Chrysalis even more!"
"Josho..." Belle sighed.
"Oooh! I know! Next, let's stop by Zebramalia and let Pilate reunite with his extended family!" He slapped a table. "An entire culture of cyborg zebras, bumping blindly into each other—except for three times a day when they all have to bow towards a giant light bulb in the east!"
"Ladies and gentlecolts." Zaid yawned, pointing in Josho's direction. "The pupil has become the master!"
"Nopony's giving up on Val Roa, Mister Josho!" Booster Spice exclaimed.
"Well it sure as Hell seems like it!" Josho frowned. "I mean, why did we come to this 'House of Sehlp' manor to begin with?! To pick out curtains?!"
"Floydien just needs—"
"Let Floydien figure Floydien out on Floydien's own time, Ledo spit it!" Josho went cross-eyed. "Ugh! Listen to me! I'm starting to talk like him!" He frowned at Ebon. "What'd you put into these things?"
Ebon grinned plastically at him. "All of my tender love and devotion."
"Crud. It's poison. I knew it."
Props giggled tiredly, her breath muffled against the table top. "I wonder what Uncky Propsy would do at a time like this..."
"Hopefully shave," Zaid muttered.
Fwooosh! Rainbow Dash flew into the room. "Hey guys?"
Everyone looked over.
"Is it good news?" Booster asked. "Cuz we don't have anything."
"Has Floydien delivered a boy or a girl?" Zaid droned.
"We need to meet up," Rainbow said. "Real quick."
"Well, we are here, aren't we?" Belle asked. "Most of us, at least."
"I don't mean here," Rainbow said. She pointed out the nearest porthole. "In the manor. Arcanista wants to see us."
"Truly?" Pilate leaned his head aside. "What's come up?"
"Well, she wants to discuss Val Roa and the West Gate n'stuff."
"Friggin' finally!" Josho scarfed up the rest of his bowl's worth of fruit, gulped it down, and stood up. "Point and click! I'll gallop there in a blink!"
"What's going on, Dashie?" Props asked. "Is it about Floydien?"
"Well, more or less," Rainbow said. She took a deep breath, rubbing her forelimbs together. "You see, by bringing Floydien here, we've flipped the Duchess' life upside down... but—like—in a good way." She gulped and smiled faintly. "Now, I think she's ready to do us a favor in return."
"You mean..." Booster Spice sat up, blinking wide. "She's going to help us find a way into Val Roa?"
"She won't be helping us anywhere if we're a sweaty, nasty mess." She spun around. "So freshen up! Shower up! Throw up! Whatever it takes! I want us all at the meeting and I want it to go awesomely!"
Belle immediately stood up. "I'll go fetch Kera."
"Roarke's already summoning her and Eagle Eye."
"Yes, but can Roarke give Kera a bath?"
"... ... ...go fetch Kera."
"Thanks, Rainbow."
"The rest of you, put on your game faces." Rainbow pointed at her fuzzy muzzle as she grinned. "Because this is what we've been waiting for..."
Alone in strange bedquarters, the elk sat on his haunches before a sun-lit desk. Floydien's eyes squinted as he clasped another letter in his hooves, unfolded the contents from its envelope, and scanned over the words:
"The dusty plains south of the bulwarks received its first rainfall in years. There was a risk of mudslides, so we evacuated the families along the labor quarter. Their houses aren't as sturdy as the apartments of the Val Roan noble districts in the heart of the city, but we think that they'll hold against the ensuing deluge. Still, it doesn't hurt to be careful. This relocation is merely a precautionary measure more than anything. As much as I treasure the ability to save these equine souls, I still feel the pang in my gut that this is a novice task that could just as easily be carried out by lower-ranking officers. I love my father, but I feel as though he is deliberately relegating me to menial duties when—with my talent and skill—I could be very easily be making a difference along the Southern Front, holding the savage and heartless Cartel at Bay. I have always sympathized with the loss of your forbearers, my love, but there are times when I envy the independence and authority you have as a Duke. One would think that all of these years at the military academy would have afforded me just as much control, but—alas—we both know that is not how the Val Roan system chooses to wor—"
Gritting his teeth, Floydien crumpled the paper up and shuffled to the next. His red eyes darted down the sheet.
"...on nights like these, I think of the time we've spent together, and the future we can still have. You're always so thoughtful, so courageous, and yet there's a sadness about you. It's a mystery to someone like me. I'm used to beating disagreeable things in with a mace or a spear, but with you—I've discovered a delicate balance that I'm terribly afraid of shattering. There are times when I wish you would just share more about yourself, but it feels selfish to ask—"
Seething, Floydien fumbled his way to the next sheet.
"...the other day with General Saikano. I do not understand why he is taking sides with the Chancellor of the High Council. So many politics have polluted the military defense system. It's pathetic. What will happen if we are invaded by the Cartel? Or the Lounge? Will we throw quill and ink at them?! And what of the sandstorms from the Grand Choke—"
"Nnnngh..." Floydien snarled, shuffling through sheets, sheets, sheets. "Floydien doesn't know you..."
"...nightmares of my mother's face from inside the house fire. I remember what you told me that evening in the gardens around the Council Chambers. You were always so understanding of my—"
"Floydien... d-doesn't know you!" He shoved all of the papers onto the floor, knocking over a table in the process. Seething, he clutched at his face while bolts of electricity danced between his antlers. "What... d-does Floydien miss...?" He clenched his eyes shut. "...the sp-spit... or the shimmer...?" He shook his head. "The stabby-stabs took everything... but Nancy Jane... Nancy Jane..."
With an iron-wrought frown, he spun around and marched across the room.
"Floydien doesn't know this Midnite Bastion! H-how can he?!" He snarled loudly, bursting through the door. "Who is this boomer who stabs Floydien so—?!" He froze, blinking.
The parlor room was full of Jurists. Kera sat on a plush stool with freshly braided hair. She grinned, waving ecstatically from beside Pilate and Belle. Rainbow Dash hovered in the corner while Roarke and Josho stood beneath a window. Eagle and Ebon smiled at Floydien's entrance. They sat in a pair of chairs next to a tapestry that overshadowed Booster Spice and Zaid. Props leapt up from Zaid's side, bounced across the room, and practically tackled Floydien with a hug.
"Handsommmme!" She sang. "Heeeeeeee-Heeheehee!" She nuzzled his chest with her silky blonde hair, pausing to smile up at him. "How's it hoofin', big guy?!"
Floydien bit his lip.
Props blinked. Her ears drooped with concern.
The Jurists all stared at the elk.
"Erm..." Floydien's nostrils flared as his antlers dimmed. "Boomers are... smelling fresh fresh today."
"I would certainly hope so," Bellesmith exhaled. Pilate chuckled.
"There's a reason for that, big guy," Rainbow said from where she levitated. "We're having a meeting."
"A circle of spit?"
"So to speak, brother."
Floydien looked across the room.
Duchess Arcanista sat daintily on the edge of a regal sofa, wearing elegant silks. A quartet of guards stood around her as she smiled across the way at her sibling. "Come, join me and your friends." Her eyes narrowed. "We are discussing Val Roa."
Floydien gulped. "Yes yes yes..."