//------------------------------// // Run Silent, Run Deep, Run Stupid // Story: Yaerfaerda // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// Steam vented from various pipes inside the Noble Jury's engine room. Zebra families who were using the compartment as shelter flinched and hugged one another. Booster Spice gritted his teeth, twirling a pair of valves and redirecting the pressure. “She's not handling the rapid descent too well!” Booster spat. “Tell Zaid to ease up!” “Zaidy Waidy!” Props slapped a hoof over an intercom while she glanced at the flickering tome in its iron cage. “Don't shove Nancy so hard! We'll be worth nothing if we plunge into the earth!” “Snkkkt! Gimme a break blondie! Do you want us—” “—hidden from bird's eye view or don't you?!” Zaid clenched his teeth as he tilted the ship down, descending into the narrow ravine. “Things would be a whole lot easier if I had a clue just how soon this thing is gonna be on top of us!” “Rest easy, chuckle nuts,” spoke Josho as he climbed up the crawlspace, followed by Bellesmith. He pulled the mare up into the cockpit with a helping hoof. “We've got your eyes on the sky right here.” “Go take a gander, funny girl!” Zaid stammered. Belle galloped out onto the top deck, bracing herself against the railing as she stared up at the starry sky. A black shape loomed along the southern horizon. “It's coming in slowly! I'm guessing it'll be over the ravine in a minute and a half!” “Y'hear that?!” Josho exclaimed, leaning against the back of the pilot's seat. “Take it slow and easy! Leave the panicking to Roarke!” “Roarke!” Belle shouted into a sound stone as the ship descended tightly into the ravine. “How are you and—” “—Eagle Eye doing up there?!” crackled the stone on the metal mare's armored fetlock. “We'll be doing it a lot better and faster without having to explain it,” the metal mare grumbled. She pivoted and motioned towards the thick cluster of wagons being shoved towards the trees. “Quickly! Quickly! Every strong mare and stallion should be the ones pushing! Anypony else, don't bother—just run to the trees!” “Get beneath the shade!” Eagle Eye exclaimed, horn glowing as he directed the nervous zebras beneath the petrified branches. “Squat down low! No talking for as long as it takes for the thing to pass over us!” “Are th-they going to find us?!” a young stallion stammered. “Will they gut us alive?!” “Not if I can help it,” Roarke growled through her helmet. “Hey! You!” She pointed at a stalled wagon at the rear. “What's taking you so long?!” “The wheel's busted!” a striped mare stammered. “She won't budge!” “Move! Go into the forest!” “But—” “Just move!” Roarke galloped over, pressed her shoulders into the wagon, and fired the thrusters in her rear limbs. “Grnnnnngh!” “Roarke, w-watch it!” Eagle flinched from the excess fumes. Fwoooooosh! Roarke successfully shoved the wagon—grinding—across the stone plateau and into the mess of wooden trees. A few branches were clipped, shattering to splinters along the arid floor. Within seconds, Roarke tugged a few zebras along with her and squatted low with Eagle Eye. “Spark alive,” Eagle muttered. “If I only knew that months later I'd be hiding out like in Foxtaur all over again—” “Shhhh!” Roarke hissed, then lifted her fetlock. “Zaid!” she whispered hoarsely. “Make your breeder ass invisible!” The air shook and thundered from propeller blades. “Now!” “Snkkkt! I'm ass-stealthing already!” “Trust me!” Zaid grumbled, then used both hooves to steer the Noble Jury down... down into the ravine. The sound of rattling rocks and crackling stones echoed on either side of the cockpit. “Easy...” Belle remarked, head darting left and right as she checked the shallow walls of the ravine across the port and starboard. “Eaaaasy...” “Like slipping on a condom inside a graveyard,” Josho grumbled. “Swear to Ledo—” “Shhhh!” Zaid sweated. “Don't be making lame jokes during the one occasion that I can't!” The air grew thin as everypony clenched their teeth, among other body parts. The Noble Jury drifted slightly to the right, and the skystone grazed a swath of stone, jostling the ship. Belle winced while Josho cursed under his breath. “IgotitIgotitIgotit,” Zaid said, ears folded back as he eased up on the controls. “Zaidy Waidy, I love you, but ease up on Nancy,” Props murmured. The door to the Navigation room opened and Pilate strolled in. “Word from above!” the blind zebra spoke in a hoarse voice. “We're in as deep as Zaid can take us!” “You hear that, Roarke?” Booster Spice spoke into his sound stone. “We should be hidden now!” “Snkkkt. Good. Now, for Searo's sake, shut the buck up.” “Ahem...” Booster nodded. “Everpony stay silent.” A dull hush fell over the engine room—the entire ship, for that matter. Zebras sat in tight groups, hugging each other, eyes locked on the bulkheads as their ears twitched to a tense beating noise. Up beyond the cliffside, huddled together, the families and villagers squatted as low as they could, hiding beneath obscured wagons and petrified branches. They glanced up at the starry sky, waiting in tense silence as the dull bass reverberations intensified. Eagle Eye clung to his shield, biting his lip. Roarke calmly reached a hoof up and tapped the side of her helmet, changing the field of vision within her visor. The stars' illumination brightened to her gaze, just in time to catch the outline of a dark shape crossing the heavens. The propellers were deaffening at this point, and Roarke counted no less than twelve blades—six per side. The ship was massive, about the size of four Noble Juries bunched up against each other. It didn't hold a candle to the many battleships that the group had encountered back in Ledomare, but it was startling sight for the airspace over Val Roa. As the thing throttled overhead, roaring along at an eerily slow pace, it filled the sky with thick fumes of smoldering steam. Slowly, Roarke stood up. This caused Eagle to wince. He stood up to protest, but she gestured for him to remain seated. Slithering forward, Roarke propped herself up against a tree to get a better look. As the thing passed on by, she got a glimpse of its stern, and she spotted multiple cannons looming. Tiny bipedal figures stood alongside the weapons, tweaking them and hammering away at the infernal construction even as it scoured the countryside. Beneath her helmet, the metal mare's blue eyes narrowed. Inside the engine room, the bulkheads rattled from the intense vibrations of the ship cruising overhead. The slow pace at which the vessel moved only magnified the tension inside the room. Booster Spice and Props fidgeted as the lights began to flicker. “M-Mamma...” a little colt stammered. “Shhh...” A zebra mare nuzzled him close, holding him tight. “Just stay quiet a little longer, precious...” Pilate gulped. “From the sound of things,” he murmured. “We'll be safe in two minutes. Maybe three.” He held a hoof up. “Just... no sudden movements or noises, and we should be fine—” “Scrkkkkkt!” Props' communications array squawked, whining against the bulkheads. “Hello?! Hello?! Bloody Hell, lass! Where are ye?! Do I have to set the whole hemisphere on fire to get your attention, Propsicle?!” The zebras blanched at one another. Booster Spice flinched so hard, his green goggles flew off. Props bit her lip with her front row of teeth. “Ffffffffffffffffffffffff—” Suddenly, the black ship hovered to a stop, lingering just above the canyon. Its weapons pivoted as the imps along the top row scampered left and right, shouting towards one another. “Uhhhhh...” Eagle shuffled over to Roarke's side. “That's... that's not a good thing...” He gulped. “Tell me that's not a good thing, Roarke.” Roarke droned, “That's not a good thing, Roarke.”