City of Muted Colors
Steam vents sighed on either side of Roarke, condensing moisture along the surface of her red and black helmet as she trotted through the shadowed underbelly of Gray Smoke. Here, the walls and floors were made of the same miscellany as the ceiling: haphazard planks of inordinately proportioned metal, and most of it decrepit from age, poverty, and neglect. Every other step was answered with the creaking of aluminum and the groaning of loose iron slabs. Barrel fires illuminated the junctions of these foul-smelling sky tunnels, reflecting off of Roarke’s metal-reinforced joints as she trotted past the squinting gaze of curious vagabonds huddled in errant clusters.
At one point, Roarke sense a haze of blue light. She was confused at first, her helmet tilting left and right. Suddenly, there was a crunching noise, and the metal mare lurched forward. Her hoofs scuffled sideways, catching her balance. Her helmeted head gazed down a loose hole in the floor, through which she saw sunlight and the blue-green haze of a lake-riddled plain lying hundreds upon hundreds of feet below the body of Gray Smoke.
She hummed a single tone, stealthily stepping back and shuffling around the unkempt hole that led to a fatal fall. After two more bends around the tunnels, she found a one-story warehouse sandwiched between the rattling floor and the rusted ceiling above. A quartet of kerosene-lit torches billowed at the entrance, along with dangling signs that spun on metal cords, advertising various items and utilities with each gravity-induced spin.
Trotting through a curtain of metal mesh and beads, Roarke entered a hazy shop, colored amber by a pair of heat lamps flanking the sales counter. From behind a rack of supplies and machine parts, a mule looked up and tossed away a five-year-old magazine.
“Welcome to Municipal Engines!” The mule smirked, a tooth or two missing from his tobacco stained jaws. “I’m Clipper, and you’ve just stepped into the best store of airship console parts in the whole Rust District!”
“A curious name for a shop that’s located in the sky’s infected plothole,” Roarke muttered through her helmet. “Exactly what is it that you sell?”
“Everything from sound stones to top tier mana conduits!” Clipper leaned against the counter with a smirk. “You see, we’re all about providing the best ship parts to all travelers who wander through this wonderful station in the sky! As you can see, we are all about promoting the commerce in this city! So, what would you happen to need? I bet you I can find it at a more-than-affordable price.”
“Hmmmm…” Roarke leaned casually against the counter. “I’m in need of some… parts…”
“Heh. Well, that much is obvious, ma’am.”
“But I don’t need parts that will connect mana conductors or steam vents,” Roarke ran a metal hoof along the counter, admiring its wooden finish. “I need parts that will… well… heat up a good part of the sky once they’re removed from their place of housing.”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say that you were describing an incendiary weapon,” the mule said.
“And who said donkeys were stupid?”
He blew through wet lips and leaned back, forelimbs crossed. “I don’t know what you take me for, Madame Mystery! You must be blind and deaf behind that helmet of yours! Otherwise, you’d plainly notice that I’m as honest as they come!”
Roarke’s helmet leaned forward. “Oh really…”
She slapped her hoof across the counter. Somewhere beneath the wooden surface, a spring activated. Three rows of shelves revolved, exposing miniature missiles and bullets and rifle pieces.
The mule bit his lip, sweating.
“‘Clipper,’ was it?” Roarke murmured.
He cleared his throat and squinted at her. “Uh… yeah?”
“Would that happen to be ‘Clipper the Crafty,’ the eastern weapon smuggler single-handedly responsible for equipping no less than six different air pirate factions along the northern fringes of the warfront?” She pretended to examine the end of her horseshoe. “Last time I checked, there was a mighty big price on your head. Sadly, none of the factions have been able to send any of their hitstallions or hitmares through the outer blockade. This is a ‘neutral’ city, after all.”
“So you have a gift of hearing ill-founded rumors,” Clipper snorted. “What’s it to you, lady?”
With a flick of the neck, her helmet retracted, and her Searonese lenses glistened in the light of the heat lamps.
The mule’s ears drooped even further as he rocked back, eyes wide. “Oh… me muffins…”
Josho pushed his way through a pair of swinging wooden doors. The smell of cigar smoke and cheap booze lit the air. He took one heavy inhale, his nostrils wincing slightly at the tell-tale scents of urine and vomit.
“Hmmmmm… It’s good to be alive.”
He gazed across the rustic interior.
Under lamplight, several equine shapes lurched about. At least a dozen gray bodies were hunched over tables, drowning in their sorrows. An inebriated stallion and a colorfully painted mare were dancing in the corner, their waltz interrupted by an imbalanced shuffle and raucous laughter. Towards the far end, three stallions sat at a table, playing cards beneath a flickering lamp.
Josho stared at the last group in particular. He gave his rump a scratch before stumbling his way towards the bar.
A bartender trotted up, gazing at the obese stallion’s hairy neck and face. “Hey there, Sooter,” he said. “What’ll it be?”
“It ain’t soot,” Josho grumbled. “It’s just gray hairs.”
“Hey, whatever floats your zeppelin.”
“And as for me…” Josho licked his lips, rubbed his hooves together, and gazed longingly at the wall of bottles. “I’ll have a nice, tall…” His mouth hung open. He gazed towards the edge of the room, then the opposite corner. A heavy sigh ran through his body, and he muttered through an exhausted smirk. “Root beer. With ice, assuming it hasn’t melted on the way here.”
“Root beer…” The bartender slowly, slowly backed away from the bar counter. “Coming right up, buddy.”
“And no eye-rolling!” Josho grumbled. “I get enough of that on the airship I ride on!” He sighed as he turned around to lean against the line of stools. “Friggin’ fruit parade in the sky, I swear to the Spark…”
He took the time to look at the table again. The stallions were chuckling with one another, managing a smirk or two amidst all the smoke and misery. An empty chair rested beside them.
“Here ya go, pal,” the bartender slid a foamy glass of soda across the counter.
Josho levitated a pair of bits and let them rattle to a stop besides the glass. He took a long sip, feeling the suds as they cascaded across the inner lining of his mouth. He swallowed and sighed long and hard. “Sorry it ain’t the same thing, liver, but it’s gonna have to do.”
He finished the rest of his beverage in silence. Wiping his mouth with a forelimb, he strided firmly over towards the table. The stallions heard his approach and looked up with mixed expressions.
“Got room for another hoof?” Josho asked with a smirk.
The stallions looked him over, then exchanged amused glances. One of them cleared his throat and said, “It’s a military game…”
“‘Wheat and Whinny.’” Josho nodded towards the card. “I played quite a bit of it in my day. But hey…” He juggled half-a-dozen bits with a magical glow. “If you don’t want to increase the odds of winning…”
“Pfft. What do you take us for?” Another stallion smirked. “A bunch of old cowards.” He slid the chair over with a weathered horn. “Sit your whitewashed flank down.”
“Please, you compliment my ass far too much,” Josho said as he sat beside them.
The table chuckled, and the dealer slid over a hoofful of randomly shuffled cards. Josho folded them in the air before him.
“Uhhh…” He sighed. “Lemme see how good my card face is now that it’s got fuzz all over it.”
“Don’t speak ahead of yourself,” a stallion said.
“I prefer that he didn’t speak at all,” another grumbled. He gazed at him through a scarred eye. “What are you? A One-Runner?”
“Oh please…” Josho’s lips curved. “I became a yellow-bellied coward after years and years of service, not just one battle.”
“Likely story…”
“I doubt you wanna hear it.”
A stallion leaned forward, beating his chest with a stub of a hoof. “Blue Peaks! Both before and after the outer breach!”
Josho whistled. “That was a wonderful battle. Too bad the city being defended was crap.”
After a few chuckles, another stallion spoke over his cards, “I’ve seen both sides of the Opal River before I was discharged. Just what makes you so high and mighty?”
“Yeah… dish it out, whitewasher.”
“Hmmmm…” Josho scooted more tightly into his chair. “Northern Blue Fields. Ledo’s Run.”
The stallions merely chuckled at him.
Josho’s eyes darted towards him as he quietly added, “Sapphirico.”
The old soldiers went dead quiet. One of them mutely mouthed a prayer to the spark.
At last, one of them muttered of his cards, “Is it true what they said about the graves?” He gulped. “That both sides used the same ditch?”
“Just let him deal his hoof,” another muttered.
“Oh no, it’s quite fine,” Josho droned as he shuffled through his cards. “The fact is, there wasn’t really a ditch. But there were graves. You couldn’t tell once we advanced over the Xonan line. It was very wet those four months, after all, and between the mud and the bodies piled in… well… I don’t think anypony ever got to marking them.”
The table was silent even longer, until one finally spoke, “There are few who walk these smoldering planks who know how terrible it’s really gotten. Even with all the ones who’ve come here to die.”
“I rather prefer the number to remain small.” He dealt a card and looked up, smiling. “But I’d rather not pick old wounds. I’m curious what calm and collected bunch of heroes might happen to know about the front as of late.”
“Why? You wanting to get back into the fray?”
“You kidding?” Josho smirked. “I’m fixing to leap the hell over it.” He leaned forward. “So, what have you fine fellows have to share?”
“Oh… my… gosh…” Eagle Eye whimpered, his eyes turning to wet mirrors reflecting nothing but sparks. He raised a vial of golden liquid in his telekinetic grasp as he nearly fell back in the tiny vendor stand. “Nowhere in all of Franzington do they sell even a drop of this…”
“Eagle Eye, darling…” Bellesmith nudged his shoulder with a delicate hoof. “We just won ourselves a bunch of gold. Now’s an opportune time for us to buy necessities, nothing else.”
“But… but…” He gazed at her and nuzzled the body wash. “Honey jasminnnne…”
Belle rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Okay. But we really have to conserve how much we allow ourselves to spend on frivolous things--”
“What’s this bottle full of?” Eagle Eye’s face scrunched up as he shoved an ugly brown tome out of the way. “I can’t see it--”
Belle practically shrieked. She caught the book before it could fall to the metal floor beneath the bazaar. “Blessed Spark Below! It… It can’t be!”
“What?! Wh-what?!” Eagle Eye jumped.
Belle’s lips quivered; she struggled to keep the book balanced in her golden hooves. “‘Hay of Darkness’ by Jockey Coltrad!”
“Ewwww…” Eagle Eye’s ears folded back. “How’d that get here?”
“I don’t know! But this is amazing!”
“Really? Everypony’s read that old, stuffy thing.”
“Yes, but don’t you see?! Right here on the binding?!” Belle practically sang as she spun the floating book around. “It’s a first edition print! Oh goodness! Oh goodness, this is so magical!” She nuzzled the book like a fragrant pillow, her cheeks smiling. “I have to buyyyy ittttt.”
“Heh…” Eagle Eye chuckled. “Frivolous stuff, remember?”
“Oh… go drink some perfume and pee out butterflies!” Belle reached into her satchel full of gold bits. “Just this once. Just this once.”
“I’m telling Pilate.”
“You do and your stomach will smell like honey jasmine! I swear!”
“You know, you’re really cute when you try to threaten ponies.”
“Oh jeez! I don’t have enough room in my satchel to carry this!” Belle panicked, her hooves dancing in place as she looked all around. At last, she tilted her head up and gasped, “Rainbow! Rainbow, would you please… please be so kind as to carry this back to the Noble Jury in Luna’s saddlebag!”
The pegasus in question was hovering above the vendor, staring over her shoulder towards the opposite side of the marketplace where Ebon and Pilate were negotiating prices for a freshly bundled survival kit.
“Rainbow? Hello?!”
“Uh, yeah… perfurmed books. Sure thing, Ding Dong.”
“Ding Dong?” Eagle Eye uttered, making a face.
“Rainbow, is everything okay?”
“Unngh…” Rainbow turned around. “Just… got my mind on stuff.”
“You should buy something for yourself, Rainbow!” Eagle Eye said with a happy smile. “You could deserve a luxury or two.”
“Ehhhhh…” Rainbow hovered down and landed beside the two. “I dunno…”
“How about a fresh hammock?” Belle asked. “You seem to have taken a liking to sleeping in that observation room!”
“Yeah!” Eagle Eye beamed. “You can buy one that isn’t already tainted with Mr. Floydien’s dreadful elk musk!”
Belle lightly thwapped Eagle on the shoulder.
“Owie!” He rubbed his shoulder and frowned at her. “Well, I sure as heck am not using the honey jasmine on it!”
“I’m not really into… getting stuff,” Rainbow Dash muttered. “All the things I’ve ever wanted in life were things I felt like I could win, y’know?”
“Oh, like medals and trophies and such?” Eagle asked.
Rainbow Dash dug a hoof against the floor, paused, and glanced up with slightly red cheeks. “More like friends, I guess…”
Eagle Eye blinked.
Belle smiled rosily. “Well, you’re anything but a loser in our presence, Rainbow.” She winked. “And I for one think you deserve to indulge in something that won’t explode in your face for once.”
Rainbow Dash fidgeted. “You really think so?”
“Hey!” Eagle Eye patted the heavy, bulging bit bag. “You earned us all this money, didn’t you?”
Rainbow Dash looked around. “I… uh…” She gazed at vendor after vendor selling glittery knick-knacks. “I want… uh…” She gazed past fruit and vegetable stands. “Uhhhh…” Her eyes danced across a luxurious two-story building with red banners where lacily-clad mares stood, batting their eyes at wandering, lonely pilots.
“You want what, Rainbow Dash--?”
“Soda!” Rainbow spun to face them with a twitching grin. “I-I want nice… c-cold… icy soda!”
“Uhhhh…”
“Comeonlet’sgofindasodafountainokay?!” She shot ahead of the pair in a blue blur. They scratched their heads, shrugged, and paid for their things before galloping briskly after her. Only once the group was gone did one… two… three cloaked figures in the background begin to move.
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Three! Three cloaked figures, ah-ah-ah.
More mysterious watchers. Gray Smoke seems like an interesting place.
~bass
3210600
I think she meant literally, as in indulge in something that isn't a big fight. Though the other meanings are quite humorous.
Roarke is restocking her badass weapons caché.
Josho is engaging in card-games and war stories shenanigans that will probably end in a drunk brawl.
The girls are at the market.
And the shady cloaked figures are standing around being ominous.
Nice chapter in all.
3210589 That's okay, I didn't need my lungs anymore anyway. I'm sure that iced tea stains will wash right off fresh white linens.
I CANT STOP THIS FEELING ANYMORE!
So nice to see the girls being girls.
And Dashie being... Dashie. Or, at least, ):('s version of Dashie...
Forty four-count flutter kicks. Knock 'em out!
3210690
I'VE FORGOTTEN WHAT I'VE STARTED FIGHTING FOR~
...what? o.0
Josho has really started to grow on me. The damn jerk. I'm also intrigued to hear the story "Hay of Darkness" as that sounds like a terrible horror movie (I know it's a ponification of Heart of Darkness, but "hay", really?).
Uhoh multiple chapters and they are in the background -- the trope thickens.
So we're all split up again, huh? At least it's all in the same city.
Oooh...multiple stories going on at once. Personally, out of what's going on in this chapter, I'm most interested in what's going on between Roarke and that mule.
Yes, Dashie...icy cold sodas to cool you off...
typo
I wonder what the chances are of these mysterious figures being part of some pegasine secret society. Probably not great, but when has that ever stopped me from crazy conspiracy theories?
derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/8/30/414768__safe_twilight+sparkle_solo_animated_reaction+image_unamused_boast+busters.gif
Just watch the movie. Can't go wrong with Marlon Brandoats.
You know, it might be best for everyone involved if she just got it out of her system.
3208635I...don't think she did, but don't quote me on that.
Hah! Brothel!
Well, crap. They're multiplying.
I loved all three parts of this chapter. Belle and EE shopping was pretty adorable, as was Dash's erm...choice of purchase. And Josho is using his soldierly "charm" to great advantage, it seems. I was surprised he actually went with the Root Beer in the face of such temptation - he's a good character that keeps getting better, to keep his wits about him like that. He and Dash are starting a trend: when in doubt, turn to soda.
Also, silly mule, trying to trick a Searonese Bounty Hunter. He didn't think the suit was just for looks, did he?
As always, quite looking forward to the next chapter - until tomorrow!
3209212
Shell, Nightshade's cronies, and filta all operated under "by any means necessary".
So here's an intersting question.
Do we have an official drawing of Roarke?
I tend it imagine her in a pony version of Fallout 3 Enclave Armor.
3210589
you forgot the thunder and lightning! I want my money back.
so does dash need a girlfriend or something? I love this running gag she has going on with attractive mares.
Mystery cloaked figures!
static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Observer/Pix/pictures/2012/3/14/1331726916392/Journey-games-007.jpg
...a man can dream. Fuck you, I'm a dragon.
Aside from that, imagine Rainbow visting that brothel, Josho doing the same and the latter dragging Eagle Eye along while we're at it. I'd pay to see that meeting.
Annnd, the news is circulating about a legendary being with obvious fantastical abilities and decorations, in a place where the Imperium has an intrest, informers and enforcers, where everything and everyone can be bought and sold.
Anyone else remember that when they bought the hyperdrive manifold and installed it, there was a fault, which had to be repaired under fire?
Naaah.. cant be. 8}
Who wants Ffloydian to be faced with a brand new Big Button on the controls. not Red.. Plaid. 8)
This so makes me want to head back town and hang out on the market again. I miss the guy seling ex military parts. Such as the torpedo launch control panel.
Um.. lets see, airships, given I cant use my fixed wing in this area. Ah.. there we go, using a mana field reinforced molecular skin, I can get a 100 ton lift capacity rigid hull blimp to fold up into storage the size of a hoof. I wonder if I should sell it under my two decade old monika, General Products.
I hope that the rest of the story is at least planned out, chapter titles, people, locations, and most importantly, how its all going to end. The announcement of the video attempt on EQD brought me here, now Im definitely along for the ride.
Dont mind me, Im just one of those reality challanged mad scientist engineer uncles that seem to infest these sorts of places. One with expertise in machine inteligence, L space, and chaos mechanics.
Go on Dash. French Golden, Delicious.
I wonder what the ol elk is doing.
A gunrunner? I like those. They tend to have lots of guns. And this Clipper fella seems to be the best there is, if he's got the kind of reputation Roarke pays attention to. He might be useful to the party. Useful indeed.
Damn, Dash. You really need to get that ouf of your system. We all know she's been ogling Props since they met, and she's running out of reasons to keep Roarke around.
And seriously, who gave Belle and EE the money? They are going to have all manner of girly beauty products, awful novels, useless trinkets and empty soda bottles from which Rainbow has ingested in her beleaguered state of depravity by the time they get back.
The only thing that annoys me in the story, is that I don't get all the references. Actually, I don't get most of references. Crap.
Still, really cool chapter.
That building full of mares will surely contain at least a green-eyed one.
3213633
Said gunrunners are also quite adept when it comes to the art of running. With the guns, one presumes.
Dashie wanna get laid. ^-^
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
The more I see of Gray Smoke, the more intrigued I am. This place is layers upon layers of a bustling metropolis. The style of this chapter in particular was cool, showing the wandering a of each character. See? Even switching perspectives can be cool in healthy amounts. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. I think that last night was the first time I honestly meant to evaluate but literally sat down and fell asleep on the way to doing it. Huh. Silver Dust was right, I am weak. Sorry...
I'm really liking the last few chapters in Grey Smoke. This kind of place is one of my favorite settings for a story.
3210589 can someone explain this to me?
I like Josho. I hope we actually get some info on what the war is like soon. This war has been going on faaarrrr too long it sounds like.
Josho... Actually refused something alcoholic.
I wonder if we'll be told about the war...
More mysterious figures!
-Spirit
These figures . . . I wonder who they work for.
4435413 Wait, I thought your username was whizzball1.
4066161 He/She's talking about the Count from Sesame Street.
Many thoughts and questions...
Josho seemed right at home with those old warhorses
Who are those 3 figures? >.>
Whats with the fucking perfume?! D:< lol
fahhh
ONWARDS!------------>
What are the odds that those three cloaked figures are merely part of a Paintbucket Appreciation Secret Society?
You're such a tease
Well, Josho can't reveal his power level yet, but I'm sure he's gonna have a merry old time with some war cronies
I'd say I prefer "Apocalypse Now", but since the apocalypse is so close for them...
Roarke is restocking armaments, Josho's gathering intel, and Rainbow is being stalked. On the whole not bad for a filler.
And then there were three...
6246097 Cutie Mark Crusader Rainbow Dash stalkers!
6568060 Hahaha that would be fantastic!
6568060
I think they already tried getting a Cutie Mark in that. And all they got out of it was a rainbow wig.
mlpforums.com/uploads/post_images/img-3740403-1-Scootaloo_...taking_S2E8.png
What are hands?
If you call that living...
She's not so cute when she's taking charge like Commander Hurricane on some Jet and F5