The Jury Journeys On
The Noble Jury flew east.
Past rolling hills and jagged peaks…
Over dusty-leafed forests and dry grass plains…
East of the battlefront, the scars of war dwindled, giving way to huge swaths of unblemished land stretching north and south. The mountains gave way, exposing wide and expansive fields of fertile soil. The air was mistier here, and the clouds darker. Everypony on board the Jury felt the temperature dropping with each passing day, so that Floydien had to pass out the key to a linen closet located within the auxiliary compartment located directly below the cockpit. At first, it was an awkward situation, with several ponies fumbling about in elk-sized coats, but it was nothing Eagle Eye and Bellesmith couldn’t fix with a good alteration and re-stitching.
Roarke recovered from her injuries, though it didn’t happen overnight. She would very easily have mended faster, if only she had endured the bedrest that was strongly urged upon her. Ebon Mane tried his best to keep watch on her, which was like asking a moth to guard over a cave full of bats. At every opportunity that presented itself, the once-metal mare limped out of the infirmary--usually during the night--in a vain attempt to scrounge the lengths of the Noble Jury for salvageable armor bits. She would typically be found inside the rearmost hangar at morning, hunched over the crate of weapons and explosives that she had pilfered at Gray Smoke, moaning over how all of the highly advanced tools were useless without a Searonese hydraulic suit to properly operate them all. This consumed most of her hours, very few of which were committed to eating, which drove Ebon to the depths of insanity. Her copper-lensed glares kept him from protesting too much, of course.
Kera kept her mane straight and long--and she hated it, or at least she claimed to. Everytime she fussed with it, Belle was not too far away to stroke the emerald strands back to lengthy brilliance. In spite of Kera’s urge to protest, she was very seldom away from Belle for too long. The two ate together, walked the deck together, fixed Floydien’s coats together, and even fell asleep together. By the third night, Pilate had picked up the habit of spending several late hours in the navigation room, distracting his tired mind with pile after pile of complicated cartography.
Floydien’s library contained many maps of the remaining continent, but the lack of information regarding what lay east of Xona troubled the zebra greatly. He found himself relying more and more heavily on old dusty books in the elk’s library concerning regional anthropology. Still, he was at a loss to come up with relevant data.
“It’s like nopony even bothers with the landscape beyond Xonan territory!” Pilate exclaimed, tossing his hooves into the air, blindly.
“Whelp...” Josho shrugged, leaning against the doorframe to the vertical crawlspace towards the bow. “It’s not like the tattooed mongrels gave a crap about anything more than worshipping snake gods and etching lines into their newborn foals!”
“Really, dude?” Zaid cackled from a lush sofa where he twirled a book in his hooves. “Aren’t we past by now? I mean, if the Xonans were still such a big deal, wouldn’t they have blasted us out of the sky by now? I mean, we’ve only been prancing about in their airspace for days.”
“First off, who said you were allowed to contribute to big pony talk?” Josho grumbled.
“Oh, I dunno.” Zaid turned the book over again. “I figured it was my goddess-given right as an equine being and all that jazz.” One page rolled out thrice, and his eyes widened. “OoOoOo… crotchboobs.”
“And second, the only reason we’re not shellshocked cannon fodder is because Floydien’s been sticking to the plan.” Josho levitated an apple to his mouth, took a hearty bite, and spoke through a mouth-ful. “Mmmff… Between that and--mmmf--Rainbow Dash playing point mare…”
“We owe a great deal to her scouting, yes,” Pilate said with a nod as he flipped through another book. “But I can’t help but feel as though Mr. Zaid is onto something. This journey as of late has been too…”
“What?” Josho gulped a wad of apple mush down. “Boring? Simple?”
“Succulent and round…?” Zaid drooled into the book.
“I was going to say fortuitous, but I see you two are infinitely more poetic than I am,” Pilate grumbled.
“So, like, what’s east of here anyways?” Josho asked before taking another bite of the fruit. “Mmmmf--I mean… mmmfffmmff… as far as you can tell.”
“There’s a large body of water…” Pilate droned, thinking aloud as O.A.S.I.S. scanned leaflet after leaflet across the desk before him. “And most of the continental landscape drags north. If we follow the terrain--like we have been--it’ll undoubtedly take us closer towards the frigid zone.”
“Explains the dayum chill, that’s for sure.”
“But I still haven’t gotten an idea where any of the major Xonan cities are.”
“Do you want to?”
“Well, it would be good to avoid them. If only Floydien’s maps made more sense than his usual banter--” Suddenly, Pilate gasped. His floating manasphere focused on the center of a large valley in the map he was holding before him. “Great Spark! I had almost forgotten!”
“Mmmf--What?” Josho gulped another bite down and leaned forward. “Some place you recognize?”
Pilate bit her lip. “Oh Belle… you’re probably not going to like this…”
“What, is it a zebra brothel or somethin’?”
Pilate growled low. “Josho…”
Just then, the thick door to the engine room squeaked open and a burst of steam wafted into the Navigation Room, followed by a disgruntled mare with tousled blonde threads and super-thick goggles. “Will you yucksters please stop yucking it up?! I’m trying to fuse the book back with its round metal book space of sparkles and it’s reallllly hard to do with all the yucks!”
“How in Ledo’s chocolate-filled uterus could you possibly hear us through all that metal and insulation?!” Josho snarled.
“My Uncle Prowse taught me how to hear the tiniest squeak through twelve layers of steal!” Props tossed her mane and flailed her hooves about her ears. “I’m like the goggled princess of sprockets up in this womb! So bucking stop with the yucking slop!” She turned and smiled like an angel Zaid’s way. “Not you. You keep staying silly.”
“Hah! ‘Silly!’” Zaid smirked and laid back, staring straight up at the unfolded contents. “Now there’s an adjective.”
“Phweeeeeeeeeeeeee--” Slam! And Props disappeared back into the engine room, along with the trailing steam.
“Any chance we could stop and pick up an engineer who isn’t mental?” Josho asked.
“What?” Pilate’s lip curved slightly. “And risk exposing ourselves to more ‘tattooed cretins?’”
“See? It just loses its friggin’ luster when you say it, brainstripes.”
“Heh heh heh…”
Just then, the entire ship wobbled. Pilate, Zaid, and Josho felt their bodies shifting towards the bow, then jerking back into place.
Josho blinked, dropping the apple. “Uhmmmm…”
“Yes, I just felt it too,” Pilate stammered. “It’s as if we slowed down suddenly.”
“I don’t remember any scheduled pit stops, do you?!” Josho frowned. “Friggin’ Ebon Maniac needs more mushrooms for his vomit-flavored soup, I bet.”
“Hey, I like mushrooms,” Pilate slurred.
“Yeah. I bet you would.”
Just then, a rapid series of metal clanks issued from the crawlspace towards the bow. Josho looked and Pilate tilted his head forward. Eagle Eye climbed down to the bottom floor, breathless.
“Guys, it isn’t good!” the unicorn stammered.
“Easy there, girl,” Josho grunted. “You’re looking extra lavender. What’s the deal?”
Eagle Eye gulped. “Xonans. Battleships. Big ones, too.” His violet pupils shrank. “I-I think they’ve spotted us.”
Josho and Pilate froze in place. Five seconds later, they galloped towards the crawlspace, furiously climbing their way up the top deck after Eagle.
Zaid, however, remained frozen on the sofa, humming to himself. “Hmmmmm…” He licked his lips, flipped a page, and chuckled. “Holy cheese monkeys! Somepony could lose an eye from one of those things! Heh…”
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MUCH YES!
>and even fell asleep together
Oh my~
>OoOoOo… crotchboobs.
>twelve layers of steal
Steel, perhaps?
I thought the Ten-chapters-in-two-days was because he was going to take a break or something. If that isn't the case, then why?
Yeah, I had a feeling it wasn't quite over yet.
Crotchboobslel
Geeze Zaid get a room...alternatively pass me a book.
3810013
3810011
Zaid really is one of the best characters of the series if only for his constant comedic relief.
3809993
There are no breaks.
Typical, Zaid takes time off to relax, and what does he find? Not only Eye Candy, but probably Milky Way herself, or maybe even Curley Wurley
Even if Props manages to get the book fully integrated without boom on boom, will the Jury be fast enough to get past the Xonans capital city whichis bang in the middle of the giant valley they are flying through?
Roarke Most Reminiscing
Just what does Floyd keep in his library? Techniques on how to rut a ship?
One day, the crew sees a tiny Noble jury floating beside them, sporting a pair of small antlers
Everyone wisely decides not to comment.
Sigh -- I was hoping they could avoid Xona... It was looking sooo good for a while there -- the first several paragraphs could be summed up as "time passes."
3809993 This IS a break
Hrm. New prediction on what the climax is: Party v. Lasairfion, Queen of Changelings.
They just had to jinx it, didn't they?
Am I the only one who finds the return to scenic description and leisurely banter refreshing? Don't get me wrong, I like chases and explosions and war crimes as much as the next fella, but still. Of course, I say that on the precipice of new rolling waves of impending drama, but c'est la vie.
And of course, it takes mere moments for Zaid to stumble across Floydien's porn stash. Can't blame the poor elk, though. Nancy Jane is a mighty fine vessel, but I can't imagine she does much to glimmer his boomer, if you know what I mean. Did I really just write that?
3810057
3810082
Who says that the Xonans have to be hostile?
They may even aid in a fight against changelings
3810184
Zaid. He is like Floydien in that he's loved by Props, and Similar to Josho in that he was unliked by most the jury despite being a funny guy character.
3809993 Welcome aboard the Noble Jury where there are no breaks on the emotional roller coaster.
Zaid wutr u doin
And it was all going so well....
Ya just had to jinx it, didn't ya, Pilate
Zaid's got it figured out: stay true to your principles!
3810081 It's like Donkey and the dragon all over again. Thank you so much for putting that image in my head.
So much for relaxing...
Nothing ever is quite so simple.
3809993
There are no breaks on the Zaid Train...
What? Why is everybody looking at me like that? I've been busy, but I'm back now, so fifty push-ups, ):(. Did you miss me?
Knock 'em out!
3811383
No "brakes" on the train... No "breaks" on the train would be a lot different.
3811456
Well, does he ever stop being adorably silly? No. Therefore, he takes no breaks.
Hopefully,these battleships will be friendly. If not,Zaid's book should sate them.
3811949 That book will never leave my possesion.
Zaid's like that one guy in the office. Everybody else is working hard, reading deep into obscure maps in an attempt to navigate, and Zaid's just there, reading porn, and nobody notices.
3812029 All of the sudden, the mystical tome carrying the flame of a world beneath inside its pages is only the second most sought-after piece of literature out there...
3810081
Floydien is Floydien.
Ooh, is the Grand Choke near at last?
3810274 yes you did.
3809993 My theory? IC is ahead of us. Far ahead of us. He writes ahead so he doesn't ever have to worry about falling behind his posting schedule. But occasionally he'll be so far ahead that, when it comes to really heavy sections with a lot of action/reveals, he'll spit out several chapters at once just because he can. I'm honestly thinking he's anywhere from 10 to 50 chapters ahead at any given moment. I imagine that much of a lead would give him enough time to retcon anything he doesn't like before it gets posted (assuming he writes gardener style).
alternatively, it's entirely possible that he's barely keeping up with the schedule and just posts the same day that he writes; that day he just so happened to write a LOT because he wanted to get it all out of his head.
Who knows? Our friendly neighborhood Imploding Colon works in mysterious ways...
fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/020/7/6/easting_by_bassofthe-d72y150.png
3812175 They notice. Its just a silent mutual agreement to never speak of it and hope he stops xD
Poor Roark. She doesn't have over a hundred pounds of steel to carry around anymore.
Belle and Kera: Dawww
Zaid: Just don't let Kera find that, or you may have to give her "The Talk". Now that I'm thinking of that, however, It'd probably be a pretty hilarious conversation.
A Message from MASH -
Yawn...I can't...I just can't anymore...
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Huh...I like that little epilogue-esque thing at the beginning, I guess. The interactions later on are spot on, like always. And oh, Zaid...no ice cream for you today. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
3811086 ah, scruffy
a very good comparison, really
I think that's supposed to say "geography"...
Oh, come on.
I liked the break!
-SPirit
OmaigawdZaidwai~
I made the mistake of googling this..
My eyes..
Someone always has to jinx it. Always!
Zaid my brotha
keep it in your pants
I think that was supposed to be Zaid...
Zaid, you bloody likable idiot.
I am going to have to use this one someday.
05/29/2017 00:36 UTC
So is Ebon not a changeling then?
Faust dammit, Zaid!
If any of the mares catch you with that, they're gonna turn you into a coat!