Hollowed Out and Crumbling
A chunk of the Steel Wing's bow exploded, sending waves of debris flying into the faces of most on board. Several ponies fell, clutching their bleeding limbs as screams filled the air. Grimacing, Evans spun from the devasation and shouted into the heated winds.
"It's just too much, Prime Enforcer!" The younger stallion winced as another salvo of the Lightning Bearer's cannons went off in the background. "This is a battle of attrition that they're going to win!"
"They cannot kill that which is righteous." Shell trotted forward, patted Belle's quivering shoulder along the way, and leaned his hoof against one of the surviving masts. "How close are we to the northern mountain range?"
"About to pass over, sir!" Evans shouted as another burst of debris lit up the starboard side. "If we use the peaks for cover, we just might be able to make our escape northwest with the geography shielding us from their long range bombardment—"
"No!" Shell snarled. "No retreating!" As his eyes twitched, a spark emanated from the tip of Imre's dangling horn. Evans was about to say something, but Shell had gripped his shoulders. "Take the wheel and follow everything I say!"
"But sir—"
"I will deliver us to glory just as surely as I will deliver our enemies to their graves!" Shell shoved Evans towards the controls and shouted towards the survivors on deck. "This is it! This is the moment we've all been preparing for! Let them taste the dark meat of oblivion and rot for eternity!"
Mixed shouts and screams filled the air. Belle clung to a series of wooden crates, watching with pensive fear.
Arcshod coughed and hissed, waving burning fumes from his face. The Lightning Bearer was battered in three dozen places, and the crew compliment had been reduced to a limping skeleton of what it once was. Nevertheless, the captured vessel maintained a fierce pursuit of Shell's ship, barreling after it as the airship scaled the southern face of a jutting mountain range.
"Ledomulien nessa thulien hasta kraan, Arcshod Xon-Nagu'n!" a pony shouted as he stood besides the one surviving gun turret towards the port bow. The rest of the tattooed equines limped to their stations, loading about seven barely-intact cannons. "Menuul jaatso rekku threen!"
Arcshod sneered, wiping slimy blood off his muzzle. He flinched suddenly, his eyes gleaming from the bright flashes beyond. He raised his trembling hoof and looked at the viscous fluid running down his tattooed limb—
"Draak! Heranna melulien threen!"
Arcshod glanced up, startled out of his distraction.
The pony besides the turret pointed up high. "Ledomulien nessa! Kaleena siulen maan!"
Every Xonan was muttering, gawking. The Steel Wing was climbing sharply, angling slightly off of the mountain's edge.
Arcshod's lips pursed as he squinted in confusion.
"Steady... steady..." Shell stood tall behind Evans' hunched body. He rested one hoof on the younger officer's shoulder as he grinned maniacally at the mountainside. "Pull us to forty-five... then graduate it to sixty..."
"Sir, we're going to teeter over at this rate—"
"Do as I say, Evans!" Shell snarled.
Shivering, Evans pulled back at several levers and used his telekinesis to keep the wheel steady.
Belle had to readjust her grip to the crates as gravity took over, pulling her body towards the ship's slanted stern. "Nnngh... Shell, what are—?!" She winced. "I mean, father! What is the meaning of this, father—"
"Have faith, my beloved!" Shell's teeth could cut glass. "For they are about to have all my wrath!"
Several crew members stammered in fear as the Steel Wing slanted even more. The bulkheads groaned and several loose chunks of debris rolled violently down towards the stern.
Evans gulped. Sweating, he looked through his peripheral vision at the hysterical captain. "Sir—?!"
"And..." Shell hoisted a hoof over a pair of levers himself. "Cut the engines!"
"Wait, are we going to—?!"
"On my command, steer us hard to starboard and prepare to reengage the enemy!" Shell shouted as the entire ship lurched down.
Arcshod's jaw dropped.
Before him and every Xonan on board, the Steel Wing had stalled and was currently plummeting towards the base of the mountain.
Sneering, the lead Xonan galloped towards the front of the Steel Wing, shouting at the top of his lungs. "Rekranna sendraak! Drenna drendar! Bleeken!"
The ponies at the bow fired the last surviving turret. Several mana shells soared at the Steel Wing, but Shell's massive ship was dropping too swiftly. The explosive ordinance flew clear over the enemy dirigible, instead impacting the surface of the gritty, gray mountain. The air lit up with thunder as several chunks of debris flew outward from the blasts... and enveloped the Lighting Bearer's top deck like an impermeable blizzard.
Arcshod and several of his fellow Xonans hissed and coughed, blinded by the dust field. Everytime he opened his mouth to shout a command, he got a mouth full of mountain. So, wheezing, he trampled his way to the controls and halted the ship's forward movement himself.
This took the course of forty-five floundering seconds, during which the Steel Wing had swung right, angled out, and flown directly beneath the Lightning Bearer, unseen. At last, it pulled up, banking left so that its port side was facing the Lightning Bearer once it ascended to an even level. Shell's voice shouted like a penultimate death knell, and then everything between the two vessels became lightning.
Craters formed in the metal surface of the Lightning Bearer's top deck. Bodies flew in opposite directions, their meaty halves being sliced to thinner ribbons by the resulting shrapnels sprays. Arcshod fell beneath a smattering of steel beams. He crawled into a patch of air and howled the command for return fire.
The cheers of Shell's crew were short lived. Just as they finished their pass, the starboard cannons of the Lightning Bearer fired. Half of the enemy guns hurled their ordinance into the valley, but two managed to clip the wooden ship's stern. Splinters and metal reinforcement beams flew wildly, clipping off the heads and torsos of more than one pony. One of the masts tore loose and rolled across the deck like a runaway piece of lumber.
Evans and Shell gasped, diving their separate ways. The control panel had been smashed to sparkling chunks, and a sea of debris rained upon the scattered corpses of the tortured, rogue crew.
"Ooommf!" Shell rolled onto his side, wincing, bleeding in several places. The Steel Wing was stuck in a slow spin, leaning limply towards its port side as smoke and flames billowed out of the stern. Grunting, the Prime Enforcer tried standing up, only to slump on his chest painfully. Imre's horn rolled along the length of the stallion's necklace. A spark or two flew out.
From afar, Belle saw this. Bruised and shaken, she pursed her lips in thought. That was when a crackling noise rattled the air between her and the Prime Enforcer.
"Crkkk! Belle? Bellesmith, beloved?!"
The mare gasped.
Shell's eye flew open, twitching. Slowly, like a wretched blooming flower, he sat up, his expression distant and dazed while his ears flicked to the voice.
"Belle, darling, please say something! We're coming to get you, honey."
Wincing, Belle reached back to her tail hairs, clasped the stone, nearly dropped it, then clutched it tighter. "Pilate! Now's not a very good—"
"That voice..." Shell murmured. Blood trickled down his face as he jerked his head aside, cracking ancient joints in his weary neck. "Like ripples in black water." He grimaced. "Blue... Shelf..."
"Belle, we can't wait anymore! If you stay there, you'll die!""
The mare hugged the sound stone to her chest, her panicked eyes locked on the Prime Enforcer while Pilate's ghostly voice wafted through the smoldering air.
"Look towards the sky! Floydien's bringing us closer! We'll take you to safety!"
Shell's brow furrowed. He tilted his scarred expression until he was staring squarely at the pony. His mouth hung open, as if to vomit some indescribable phrase.
"Father... Father, please..." Belle whimpered, already shivering. "You've almost vanquished our enemies. Just..." She glanced skyward with a jolt, then looked back at him. "Just a little longer, father..."
"You... do not have your mother's eyes..." Shell slurred. He shuffled forward and reached a hoof out, stopping within inches of caressing Belle's face. "And yet you did." He gulped. "Spheres within spheres. Like venom, poetry..."
Belle bit her lip, her shivers reaching a boiling point.
Shell looked at her, then leaned back. He gulped hard, and his face morphed into a steely frown. "Doctor Bellesmith, I presume," he croaked in a deep tone.
Belle's hairs stood on end. "Pilate!" she shrieked into the enchanted shard and scrambled onto all fours. "Pilate, come get me! Come get me now—"
"Rrrrrrr-Raaaaaugh!" Shell lunged at her. His hooves grabbed her tail.
She shrieked, fell, and bucked back at his horn. "Pilate! I'm in trouble! Please, hurry—" Belle gasped as the sound stone floated out of her grip.
Sneering, Shell telekinetically smashed the fragile shard against a crumpled mast. He leapt forward and grabbed one of Belle's thrashing legs.
She wriggled, twirled around, and found a loose plank of wood lying by her panting face. Grasping it in two hooves, she swung the thing like a club and smashed it over Shell's skull. "Nnnngh!"
"Hckkt!" Shell spat blood from the impact. He rolled back, letting go of the mare.
Hyperventilating, Bellesmith got up on all fours and galloped across the careening deck of the Steel Wing. She bounded over bodies, beams, and smoldering bits of rubble. An errant shell exploded off the starboard side, throwing her off balance. As she caught her bearings, she saw a glow of magic through the edge of her vision. Belle looked up to see a wall of debris floating towards her.
The obstruction flew hard into her side, scooping her across the Steel Wing's deck and into Shell's menacing forelimbs.
"Yaaaugh!" With a glowing horn, Shell tackled her, slamming Belle hard onto the ground. He pressed his weight down on the mare, sneering into her face. "You deceived me. You took everything from me!"
"Get off! Get off—!"
Shell snarled, eyes aflame. "My daughter! Where is she?! What have you done with my Imre, you demon?!"
Belle slipped a hoof free and punched him savagely across the face. "You murdered her you damned monster!"
Growling, Shell silenced her with a vicious headbutt. He gripped her quivering jaw in two hooves and spat, "Robber of graves! Defiler of decency!" With a psychotic snicker, the stallion plucked the pale horn loose from his necklace and telekinetically floated it between them. "You will bring Imre to me..."
"Snkkkt—What... wh-what...?!" Belle's wide eyes zeroed in on the floating piece of alicornia.
"You will give me Imre, Doctor..." Shell hissed as he floated the horn to the stub on Belle's forehead, rotating it in place. "Whatever it takes."
"Shell... your daughter's h-horn!" The mare sputtered, her eyes reflecting the tiny bolts of mana shooting off of it. "The s-sequencing must have enchanted it!" Her whole body winced as tiny forks of electricity danced between the shard and her leylines. "Nnnngh!" Her body tensed in excrutiating pain. "Shell, stop—"
"Whatever it takes!" Shell hollered, his horn glowing brighter. "Do you hear me?! Whatever it takes!"
More sparks jumped between the horn and Belle's skull. She squealed in pain, her eyes rolling back as a scratchy sound rose from the base of her throat. "Nnnngh... f-father..." Her voice warbled in and out. "Father, don't do this..." She sobbed. "Shell—you'll kill us both!"
Right then, a beam of golden lightning roared down from the heavens and slammed into Shell's body. The Prime Enforcer flew sideways with a grunt, slamming into a stack of wooden debris. Imre's horn rolled towards the edge of the deck. Free of it, Belle slumped back with an exhausted breath.
Wincing, Shell stood up, glaring skyward—
Another stream of golden lightning slammed into his chest, knocking him clear off his hooves.
Belle's eyes darted up.
With a hiss of steam thrusters, the Noble Jury lowered into sight, and Floydien stood at the very edge, his antlers glowing with unbridled wrath. "Get the stabby-stabby hooves off striped boomer's beloved, you glimmering puddle of skunk spunk!"
"Rrrrrrghh!" Shell jumped onto his hooves, levitating a mess of projectiles to toss back at them—
Floydien zapped him again, this time down low.
Shell howled and fell to his side as smoke billowed out from between his legs.
"Piss sideways, canned turds!" Floydien frowned, then hollered at Bellesmith. "Swift swift!" He motioned towards the rapidly gliding body of the Jury. "Make with the freedom and clopping!"
Breathless, Belle winced past her bruises and galloped towards the battered edge of the Steel Wing.
"Handsome! Slow us down!" Props hollered, her head poking up from beyond the railing. "She won't make at this rate—"
"And we are boomer bait if we do!" Floydien hurled himself back into the cockpit. In his place, Props, Ebon, and Eagle Eye leaned over the edge, offering their hooves.
"Come on, Belle!" Ebon shouted.
"Just a little further!" Eagle added.
"Move your tail, girly-girl!" Props squeaked.
"Please... oh please..." Belle's eyes streamed with tears as she blurred towards the edge. The Noble Jury was soaring by. "I-I can't make it—"
"Yes you can!" Ebon shouted, leaning harder over as shells erupted nearby, rocking both ships. "You're almost there!"
"Grab her, Ebony!" Props's voice cracked, for she and Eagle Eye were too far away at this point.
At last, Belle reached the edge, and it was there that she discovered five meters between them. Nevertheless, her face tensed in desperation, she leapt clear off the Steel Wing's edge. "Nnnngh!" She flew forward, forelimbs outstretched.
Ebon's bright face loomed within Belle's sight... and flew upwards. "Hkkt!" He reached as low as he could... and missed. "No!"
Belle exhaled, plummeting—
"Got you!" A striped limb caught Belle's hoof at the last second. Pilate dangled precariously over the Noble Jury's railing. His body began to slip.
Ebon and Props rushed over, hoisting the zebra's body back as Pilate dragged Belle on board. At last, with a telekinetic push from Eagle's exhausted leylines, they all collapsed as one onto the middle of the Jury's deck.
Belle and Pilate slumped together, but it swiftly turned into the mother of all hugging sessions as Belle wrapped her limbs around Pilate and sobbed joyfully into his fuzzy chest. Pilate clenched his gray eyes shut and held her close, stroking her mane and neck.
"I'm so sorry... I-I'm so sorry..." Belle whimpered. "I had to do it. He was b-beyond saving. I had to use him..."
"Shhhh..." Pilate nuzzled her tearstained face. "There is nothing for you to be sorry for, beloved. You did well. Do you hear me? You did well... for all of us."
"He's such a m-monster, Pilate..." Belle quivered, gnashing her teeth as she murmured into his chest. "I didn't want to d-die on you that way. I love you so much. You know I'd never leave you..."
He smiled gently, holding back his sniffles as he cuddled her close. "You never did, darling, and you never will. I love you. It's okay now. You've been so very brave, and now we're going to get through this together."
Eagle's eyes watered as he sat in his fresh bandages, watching his two friends reunite. Beside him, Ebon stared with an exhausted smile. Props held two hooves before her muzzle as she clenched her mouth shut, trying to contain a monumental squee. She resorted to tackling Ebon over and hugging the stuffing out of him as he gasped.
In the cockpit, Floydien glanced back. Slowly, he smiled, then looked forward with a glint in his red eyes. "Yeah, spit like that." He jerked the controls and accelerated the Noble Jury towards a higher patch of air above the heated portions of the battle.
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YAY
3745322
Floydien has the best punchlines.
Floydien's speech is so eloquent.
I thought nothing could pull me out of the first-day-of-school funk ... and then Shell gets hit with a groin attack. Truly this is the best thing I've seen all day.
Shell does not have long for this world. After this, well...he's probably beyond even his delusions.
I'll be pretty sad to see him go...no, I'll be glad for him to find peace at last. But he's a freakin' awesome character. I want a freakin' heroic death.
This story is so different from when it first began...and I love it!
Beyond saving? I don't believe that for anyone. Sure, what they do may affect and devastate their lives and others' lives, but the person (pony) is never beyond saving, in my opinion.
Floydien is a serious boss.
Reunion special!
I'm kind of wondering whether or not Belle was faking it when Shell was just about to kill her.
Again.
Is Imre still in there somewhere? Ghostly possession!
Yuss
This chapter was heart-felt goodness
.
Is this it?
Is he finally dead?
He is?
FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3746049
This story isn't over...
I jinxed it, didn't I?
Well, despite still being a complete asshole, one must give credit to Shell's flying abilities.
Right in the nick of time, guys!
Now to finish off Shell. Stubborn bastard is still standing.
Piss sideways, ya melon fudge.
For the moment, Belle and co are getting away from Shell and the Lightning Bearer. There is one more manouver Shell can carry out to ensure both battleships finish the fight, together.
So, Shell has been momentarily incapacitated, the Lightning Bearer has been extremely damaged due to Shell's cunning, and the Noble Jury has performed a last-second rescue.
Oh, and Shell got shocked in the man-parts. Can't forget that now, can we?
3746061 Yes. Yes you did.
3746049
Shell's dead body was not seen on this chapter.
100% that he's still alive. >.>
I'm still expecting the Steel Wing to ram the Lightning Bearer.
badass Floydien saves the day
Shell still isn't dead, we saw no 'splodey head or pulse checks
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Alright, the worst of ours worries has been resolved. Dash can take care of herself and hopefully get Josho too. And this chapter was pure, raw intensity from start to finish. So amazing. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
Damn, this chapter really had me on the edge of my seat. I think I literally whooped when Floydien swooped in. And dat magical crotch-shot! I really love that elk.
Looks like Shell is on his last legs. I still expect some final blaze of... I want to say "glory", but I think Shell forfeited that a long time ago. Maybe some kind of quasi-redemptive action, like evacuating the crew of the Steel Wing and pulling an Independence Day on the Lightning Bearer. Or maybe that's beyond the threshold of his sanity.
At the very least, Belle and Pilate are reunited.
3745555 The problem is, 'saving' him would make him aware of what he did - and he may not survive the mental and emotional trauma of those actions. If saving him kills him... is it really saving him? Is it a kindness?
Shell got shocked right in the toodles!
He might not be dead, but it's doubtful he can call himself Prime Enforcer of his own little soldiers any more!
The one thing that surprises me most is that Floyds didn't go berzerk when facing Shell. I do believe he's done teetering at the edge now, isn't he?
I guess Arc's ship could bear it, though.
tickld.com/cdn_image_postimage/4e52f56f3f88d674d67f87e639bf32a1.gif
You did that on purpose.
3745555 Let's be honest here: we've made so many jokes about that name. There is nothing there to be saved.
GOD this story needs a John Williams soundtrack!
I thought she'll was going to yank belle back with telekinesis when she tried to jump.
3748643 yes
otherwise he is living a lie; a bloody, insane lie
-SPirit
Dr Livingstone, I presume?
Dr Livingstone, I presume?
This was so damn happy. I'm so damn happy!
Hmm, skunk spunk. Epitome of creativity.
Ah, Floydiean gives me such a good roster of insults to use against my peers.
And Shell may be down, and he may be back to the way he was 30 chapters ago, but he's not out just yet. Reckon he'll still be alive for at least the rest of the story. and now, watch me eat my words
And that's the way the Jury rescues
No hugging just yet. There's still a war going on.
Well, he might be a murdering, single-minded bastard, but damn, is Shell a tactical genius or what!?
GODDAMMIT PILATE
I was actually hoping that might work for a second there - in the sense that it might give Belle some of Imre's memories and most importantly an intact horn to do magic with.
Although if it were that easy to graft a new horn onto a pony, you'd think someone would have done it before.
...
I am not usually a fan of groin attacks, but Shell I will give a pass, both for practical and moral reasons.
05/27/2017 20:28 UTC
Holy shit, they're about to drop bomb the Lightning Bearer from above!
For all his insanity, he really is an incredible captain.
Well he's not having anymore children
Oh I'm sure she's gonna be making with the clopping, but at a later date
Shell may be emotionally compromised (read: insane), but he still has his battle smarts.