Loyalty Doesn't Come Cheap
Oporst was a jittery specimen of a stallion, and when Josho’s hooves so much as brushed over the floor beside him, he jumped against his table. He somehow managed to sneer and stutter at once, “Ain’t got nothing, man.” He pointed at his bubbly glass. “Th-this was on my t-tab.”
“Relax, handsome.” Josho slid a chair over and sat beside him. “I’m not here to yank any bits out of you.” He raised an eyebrow. “Besides, even if I was, you’re young enough to beat the crap out of me.”
“I… I…” Oporst quivered, staring sideways at the obese stallion as he rattled in his chair. “I hurt ponies. A lot of ponies. At least… used to… used to, I-I did…”
“Funny,” Josho muttered. “They give you a weapon, a rank, and a number. But they don’t give you something to cloud over your conscience.” His nostrils flared. “It’s no secret that you’ve seen a lot of the bad stuff, kiddo. The stallions over there at the table say that you were in the Blue Spear campaign.”
Oporst jerked a glance to the table, then back at Josho. “Th-they sent you to c-come here and dig old wounds?” A mouth with broken teeth snarled, “I’ve given th-them half of th-their scars, ya know!”
“For some reason, I don’t believe ya.”
Oporst shot up, standing solidly for once as he barked, “You calling me a coward?!” His voice caused every occupant of the tavern to glance over.
Josho kept his cool. He leaned back in his chair and shook his head. “No. But you are scared. And from what you’ve been through, nopony has the right to blame you.”
Oporst fumed… fumed… then finally sat down. A heavy sigh escaped his lips. “What is it that you want from m-me,” he droned.
Josho swallowed and said, “I wanna know what it is that you saw.”
“Heh…” Oporst’s grin was demonic. His eyes burned into the hazy shadows of the place. “You don’t want to know what I saw. You don’t want any part of it.”
“Oh, I believe I do.”
Oporst flashed him an angry glare. “Why, you have a death wish?”
“Quite the opposite.” Josho leaned forward. “I’m going to be flying over the front soon, and I want to know what I’m in for.” He took a deep breath. “And what my friends are in for…”
Oporst started jittering more. He stared at Josho’s aged muscles, then at his grizzled face. “You… you’ve seen action…”
“Some, yes.”
“It’s slathered all over you,” Oporst muttered. “You almost look like a Sooter.”
“Hey, if it helps me blend in…”
“And yet you somehow have friends left?” the stallion asked.
Josho merely nodded.
Oporst gulped. “Lucky…” He hissed, “If you want to lose all of them, then go ahead.” He spat. “Fly east.”
“We’re back! We’re back! We’re back!” Eagle Eye sing-songed as he, Pilate, Ebon, Belle, and Rainbow returned to the dimly-lit docking port. The ex mercenary waved a bag full of things. “And we bear gifts!”
“Oooh! Oooh!” Kera galloped up to the edge of the Noble Jury, leaning against it with Simon perched on her flanks. “You got stuff?! I like stuff! Lemme see some of the stuff!”
“You’re just in luck, girl!” Eagle Eye winked as he telekinetically reached into his bag and pulled out a levitating brush. “I got you just the thing for your hair! You can kick those emerald tangles goodbye forever!”
“Erm…” Kera bit her lip, leaning away from the utensil. “That’s… so very… sweet of you, EE. I… uh…”
“Kera, there you are!” Pilate smiled as he fumble briefly, then trotted evenly onto the Noble Jury’s top deck. With the aid of O.A.S.I.S., he lifted something out of his own bag. “I got you a slingshot.”
“Ooooooh! Cool!” Kera beamed as she floated the thing with her magic and pranced happily around the ship. “This is so awesome! Pilate is best zebra!”
“Heheh…” Pilate smiled. “I try.”
“I gotta test this on something!”
Almost immediately, Simon let out a shrill bark and scampered to the furthest part of the ship.
“Hey! Come back! You can totally help me aim it!” Kera galloped after the sparkling rodent. “Simonnnnn! Don’t run awayyyyy!”
Eagle Eye stood still, blinking at the filly running off. He sighed, then smirked dryly at the brush. “Oh well…” He rolled his eyes with a flippant smile. “Guess I just have to have a second brush for my tail.”
“Yes yes, Eagle Eye, that’s nice…” Belle trotted blindly onto the deck of the Noble Jury, hobbling as she held a book ahead of her in one forelimb and trotted with the other three. “Oh my goodness…” Her eyes watered as they scanned the pages. “Marelowe’s trip up through the Africanter jungles is just… just… so beautifully written…”
“Yes, if you don’t mind the purple mosquitoes,” Pilate muttered from the distance as he made his way down the stairwell.
“Hmmph! You rant too much about purple!” Belle muttered as she trotted across the deck. “Besides, aren’t you beyond color metaphors?” She stepped over the edge of the ship’s railing, stretching a hoof out.
Rainbow Dash flew down just in time to stop her and point her towards the stern’s stairwell. “Thattaway, bookworm. Nice and easy.”
“The pages smell so good,” Belle cooed, trying to hold her tears in.
Rainbow Dash folded her forelimbs, shaking her head with a smirk. Her ears pricked to hear Ebon and Eagle Eye talking over by the side.
“Looks Propsy and Simon did a lot today,” Ebon said.
“Is their work done?” Eagle asked, still fumbling with his bag of things “Simon’s here, but where’s Props?”
“I think I saw her on a higher platform, chatting it up with the dock workers. They’ll probably want to get more help for fixing this place tomorrow and beyond.” Ebon smirked and trotted away. “I’ll go check up on her and give you a quick update!”
“Ebon, you sure?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I mean… you’re home, aren’t you?” Eagle Eye remarked. “It’s not like you’re indebted to us or anything.”
“Heheh… Please…” Ebon chuckled, waving a hoof. “I’m in no hurry to gallop off anyplace. I’m back where I belong, and th-that’s what matters.” He smiled thinly. “I wouldn’t sit right with myself if I ditched you guys without at least helping you float right.”
“Well, it sure is nice of you. I’m not sure where we’d be without you guiding us around the upper districts,” Eagle Eye said with a bright grin. “You’re the very definition of selflessness. You know that?”
“You bet I do.” Ebon slapped his own chest. “I’m a cook who isn’t fat. What are the odds?”
Eagle Eye giggled.
Ebon saluted and trotted off. “I’ll catch up with you later. Go… brush your hair or something.”
Eagle gave a mock gasp. “You’re a mind reader!”
Ebon chuckled and was gone.
Rainbow Dash stared at him as he ascended a series of steep metal stairs, climbing up to join Propsy and a bunch of dock workers in a conference overhead. As a gust of wind came in from the bright, blue world outside, the pegasus became aware of a lavender shade to her side.
“Something the matter, Rainbow Dash?”
“Nah…” Rainbow stared at Ebon.
“You’re certain of that?”
“Yeah…” She squinted as he drew into the distance.
Silence, then: “You’d like to sample some vanilla scented body wash?”
“Yeah…” Rainbow went cross-eyed. “I mean, no! I mean…” She finally ripped her gaze from Ebon and looked down at Eagle. “What is it that you want, EE?!”
“Whoah whoah whoah!” Eagle waved a forelimb. “This isn’t an interrogation, girl!” He leaned forward with a concerned expression. “You seem… distant, is all.”
“Yeah, well…”
“Is it because of how you earned our bits today?” Eagle Eye smirked. “It’s okay. I always get a bad taste in my mouth after I show off before a crowd myself. At the Franzington Grade School Spelling Bee, I won second place. The day I got it, I didn’t mind all the applause and cheers that I got. But afterwards, everytime I looked at the ribbon, I felt this weird itch that I could scratch…” He sighed. “Or it could also be because my dad spilled gin on it and blamed it on me…”
“Uh huh…” Rainbow Dash murmured, staring at Ebon again.
Eagle Eye blinked. “You know that if something’s troubling you, Rainbow, you could totally tell us, right?”
“Right…”
“Because… because we’re all in this together, and you’re the most important member of this group.”
“I… uh… huh?”
“Face it, Rainbow. It’s totally true.”
Rainbow shook her head. “Eagle, look, it’s nothing! Seriously!”
“Then why are you so close to freaking out?”
“I am so not freaking out!” Rainbow Dash freaked out.
Eagle Eye bit his lip.
She hovered in place, panting. Then, with a groan, she ran a hoof over her face. Hovering limply, she gazed back and forth. The deck was clear, the stairwell was empty, and Floydien was minding his business inside the Noble Jury’s cockpit. At last, the mare floated closer to Eagle Eye and murmured, “Could you do me a favor, EE?”
“Anything, Rainbow.”
“You’ve got good peepers.”
He smirked. “I would hope so.”
“Would you… uhm…” She fidgeted in midair. “Perhaps you could keep an eye on Ebon Mane or something?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Ebon?”
“Yeah…”
“Why?”
“Because you’re a lot better than me at noticing small details. We both know that.”
“No, I mean, why Ebon?” Eagle Eye’s face stretched with concern. “Is he sick? Is he coming down with something?”
“What? No! I mean…” Rainbow Dash ran a nervous hoof through her mane. “I don’t think so…”
“Then what?”
“It’s just…” Rainbow groaned inwardly. She pivoted and stared evenly with the young stallion. “Promise not to tell anypony.”
He blinked once. “Okaaaaay…”
“But… uhm… last time I talked with Princess Luna…” Rainbow bit her lip and rubbed the ends of her hooves together. “She told me something…”
“Told you what, exactly?”
“That there was something about Ebon… something off...”
“Off?” Ebon’s face wrenched. “In what way?”
“Basically, she told me she had reason to believe that he was hiding something.”
“Hiding something?”
“Yeah…”
“How?”
“Huh?”
“How does Luna know he’s hiding something?” Eagle Eye tilted his head curiously aside. “She’s thousands of miles away.”
“Yeah…”
“I thought she was the goddess of the stars and moon. What, is she the goddess of lie detection now?”
“Yeah! I-I mean no! I mean… nnngh…” Rainbow pointed. “Look. She’s tens of thousands of years old. She’s--like--super wise.”
“Does wisdom make somepony psychic, now?”
“I dunno.”
“Well, what do you know?” Eagle Eye frowned. “Cuz it looks like you’re making a guess based on a royal guess that is sketchy at best!”
“You gotta admit, a pony that old and magical has gotta have more intuition than mortals like you and me.”
“Well, sure, but come on Rainbow!” Eagle Eye stamped a hoof down. “Hasn’t it occurred to you to simply ask Ebon yourself?”
“Huh?”
“Bring this up to him!” Eagle Eye pointed towards where the stallion had ascended the platforms. “Talk to him face to face! Look him in the eye!”
“I’m not gonna grill him for no reason!”
“Oh, but you’re gonna ask me to spy on him.”
“I wasn’t asking you to spy!” Rainbow frowned her forelimbs folded. “Erm… not really.”
“Rainbow Dash, you’re the most loyal pony that I know,” Eagle Eye said with a sigh. He looked at her with a sad face. “But, don’t you know? Loyalty takes a great deal of trust, and I’m not seeing much of that right now.”
“But Luna said--”
“And I know you care for Luna! She’s an amazing pony and she’s done a great deal for you! But though she may be loyal to you, she only knows your friends by association.” Eagle pointed up at the platforms once more. “Ebon is your friend, isn’t he?”
“Well, yeah--”
“So treat him like one! Go to him and bring the issue to heart!” Eagle Eye gulped. “And, to be honest, you’re not the only one feeling a bit worried about him.”
Rainbow turned and squinted at the stallion. “Oh really?”
He sighed, digging at the wooden deck of the ship with his hoof. “He’s… just so cheerful, and so carefree. Not in Props sort of way, though. Ebon has no excuse to be with us anymore. We’re at Gray Smoke, aren’t we? So why isn’t he heading on home? Why is he still here?”
“You see?” Rainbow Dash pointed. “He totally is hiding something!”
“So, let’s bring it to him!” Eagle Eye said with a frown. “What’s wrong with that?” He gulped and gazed sadly towards the distant reaches of the hangar. “If I could roll back time and just… bring both Phoenix and Zenith aside and ask what was really bothering them before it was too late, then maybe they’d both be still alive right now. Maybe… a whole lot of bad things wouldn’t h-have happened.”
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth, but had nothing to say. She hovered limply there, cooled by the mute flaps of her wings.
“Look, I’ll do what you ask,” Eagle Eye said. “I’ll keep an eye on him and see if he does something suspicious. But… you’re better than this, Rainbow Dash.”
She looked up. “Huh?”
He gazed at her with a gentle smile. “You’re dependable… strong… and overall awesome. Please… don’t let your sincere devotion turn into foalish paranoia. The moment you have to divide your trust among your friends will be a sad day indeed.”
“Yeah…” Rainbow Dash gulped and gazed at the deck below them. “I guess… I-I’m just really freaked out about losing ponies I care about for stupid reasons.”
Eagle Eye bit his lip, but not forever. “You realize that Imre left because she chose to, not because of anything you did?” he blurted.
Rainbow Dash’s jaw went tight.
Eagle Eye shuddered. “Right. I’ll… uh… I’ll go put my things away.” He trotted quietly down the stairwell. “See ya at supper? We’ve got some fresh celery now. If Ebon’s leaving soon, we all gotta learn to cook in his absence.”
“Right…” Rainbow Dash nodded without looking at him. She muttered, “I’ll join you soon.”
As he left, another pony approached the airship. Rainbow pivoted about in time to see a mare drawing a doubly-stacked wagon full of bulky items beneath a black tarp.
“Uhhhh…” Rainbow’s face twisted. “Did you… enjoy shopping?”
“I just had to collect a few necessities,” Roarke said, all the while disentangling herself from the wagon. “I take it you found a way to earn bits?”
“Yeah. Kinda.”
“Good.” Roarke began shifting through her things with metal hooves. “Maybe you could buy yourself some polish for that necklace of yours.”
“Yeah. That’s not happening.” Rainbow squinted. “How the heck did you afford all of that junk yourself?”
“Oh…” Roarke shrugged as she briefly uncovered one of many miniature missile racks. “I found them on discount.”
Rainbow Dash bit her lip. “Jeez, Roarke! I sure hope that they were cl-clearing house!”
“Oh, they were…” Roarke reached to her forelimb, opened a metal panel, and slapped a hoof over a glowing red button. “They just didn’t know it yet.”
“You don’t understand!” Clipper spat at two other mules as he stood several feet outside his ship in the fire-lit Rusted District. “The Searonese know where I am! I gotta grab my stuff and get the heck out of Gray Smoke while I can still breathe! They’re all gonna be after me!”
“Whoah… whoah… settle down, fella,” another grimy equine remarked.
“Yeah…” The third mule nodded, his chin flaps waving. “Besides, didn’t ya hear?”
“Hear what?” Clipper remarked, blinking.
“The Searonese? They’re over and done with, dude.”
“Huh?!”
“Yeah, word is that their big mountain hold in the sky went kablooey from the inside out. Some sort of rebellion, or whatcrap.”
Clipper blinked. “Why… that flaming sky fart!” He hissed, spinning around to frown at the ramshackle entrance to Municipal Engines. “She totally lied to me! I have a good mind to--” His eyes bulged.
Three explosives were rigged to the metal wall of the building, just beyond the firelight where they couldn’t be seen--until now. They flickered with bright red lights in a timely fashion.
With a cacophonous blast, a wave of fire and debris flew out everywhere. The entire shop crumbled as dozens of ponies gasped in shock. Clipper and his companions were tossed onto their rumps. He sat up, wincing heavily.
“Ohhhhhhhh me muffins…”
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So, Roarke spared him... but destroyed his business.
I am liking her more and more.
Fifty four-count side-straddle hops, ):(. Knock 'em out!
Y u blow stuff up so much Roarke?
Not as long as there are three more Baking Bad books left in the series.
From Roarke with love.
Ebon is totally a changeling.
~bass
I have no idea what's going on.
I'm okay with that.
I like the overall feelings of these new chapters. Half of it calm and stoic, rest of them energetic. It's completely cool.
when you get to that level you might as well be
Roarke most rare, Municipal Engines well-done.
Oh, Rainbow Dash, you're so silly.
In any case, is nice to see that thingd remain calm, thus exponentially rising the magnitude of the coming disaster.
3219623
No reason not to believe that, IC has already include crystal ponies into the story. 
Hey, we're already one tenth into the story.
Yay!
3219607 to be fair she probably expected him to be inside when she blew it up.
Never question Luna...
Yeah, talking to Ebon might be smart. For all we know, his big secret might be that he sneezed in the stew the night Luna talked to them. But either way, all this distrust can't be good for the whole harmony thing.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/3/30/283106__safe_applejack_animated_shocked_twitch_horrified.gif
Tonight, on a very special episode of SS Gender Confusion.
EDIT: Aww, he fixed it...
Eagle Eye knows the right 'A' word, at least.
Huh. From what we've heard things definitely seem to be getting less harmonious the further from Equestria we get. I can't wait to see how many ways the story tops itself in darkness.
Still, it's not a bad thing to continue our little breather. Although the way these chapter titles are going, I'll be disappointed if at some point in the future there aren't some temporal shenanigans going on to fit "Time is a Crime".
3219607 How can you not have liked her from the start?
'Tis canon.
I really do hope whatever Ebon is hiding isn't something bad...I get the idea that he has no family in Gray Smoke anymore. The letter to his mother sounds like she isn't alive anymore and that he's hiding a great amount of sadness about it.
Roarke you sly, awsome, sexy, kickass, fine, metal hearted assasin. You rock.
That Blue Spear front is looking to be a very nasty trip.
Darn, I was hoping to see Belle and EE chase Kera around the ship, trying to prettify her.
Poor Simon never gets a break.
Ebon appears to be stuttering more and more...
Mmmm...delicious missile racks...
3219623
Rhubarb, is that you? o.0
3219608 You say that like it's a bad thing.
EE, you're so trusting. You believe that if Ebon is hiding something, asking him about it will get him to tell you what it is. Too bad you won't just go with Dash's idea, because it's probably the best one.
3219623
Ah called it first, muthafucka!
3220297
team-minami.img.jugem.jp/20120229_2462043.jpg
I said this before in an earlier comment but I really do think that belle is the element of magic now< and yes I do know her horn is shattered but seriously
1) has had a magical connection with one element of harmony i.e. sequencing
2) is a general book worm (cough twilight cough)
3) is destined to be with this element of harmony on their journey (austeroh and eljubryo)
4) generally has twilights personality just older
if theres anymore im missing then please by all means add to this if you agree
3221927
She is the spark that brings their friendship together after all.
Rainbow is totally magic though.
Belle is Loyalty.
25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwzb5aO58r1r3k1m8o1_500.png
There was so much silly nonsense in this chapter that I don't even know what to point out. I think I'll just leave it at my personal favourite:
I mean, has he gone mad? Why doesn't he get her a nuke while he's at it?
But at least Eagle Eye's and Ebon's relationship is now ready to be taken to the next level. Any moment now... any moment now...
3220333 Sit down and let me give you a lesson about my hatred.
Well damn.
Intresting how everyone cleared out of the store by accident just before it was closed down, permanently. Very efficient Rourke. How much for your stock? How about your bounty. 8)
I think for the various members of the crew, think of them like one of those mix and match books. Their colour, behaviour, relationship etc, but possibly also, only partially slide them. Belle only isnt purely the element of Magic, but part of that, and part of the others. Same with everyone else.
As for Props. She is a crazed happy go lucky super genius engineer who is pink. Shes the pony equivalent of Gadget Hackwrench from Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers. Josho might then be Montery Jack. Would that then make Rainbow Dash, Zipper?
Coming up in the next episode. arrival of the Imperial Forces?
That ending. Roarke is best metal-mare. I wonder how Rainbow feels about her blowing up part of the Rust District.
3222932
Alright, I know this is being spoilerish of FoE; Project Horizons, but
Blackjack is best metal mare. *hmmph*
So that's not ominous at all. No sirree. Not a bit.
Also, EE gives really good pep talks. Listen to him, Rainbow! And yay, EE and Ebon interaction! And Belle was adorable with her book. And Kera with her slingshot. And Simon's reaction to it. And Roarke always having to have the last "word." Basically I loved everything.
That is all.
Onward!
Some nice foundations laid for further plot development in this chapter. The war will apparently take its toll on our adventurers as they head east, but it appears that they will have something with which to combat it. That is if Kera with a slingshot doesn't do them all in first. I'm also glad to see EE being levelheaded and adorkable as usual. I hope nothing bad happens to change this.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Huh...I didn't even think of what EE said. He makes a good point. I wonder what Dash's next move will be...These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
Gotta love roarke, so awsome and hot as hell
3254880 OH ME MUFFINS!
Things are going to happen in Blue Spear.
Also, typical Roarke 
I wonder what Rainbow will do with Ebon...
-Spirit
Now the Noble Jury will have some actual defense
4066204 What chapter is that from?
If Ebon is a changeling I'm going to eat my hat. All of my hats. Every hat.
Holy shit, that subtle "TAKE THAT" to your detractors, skirts
5863948 Why do you keep calling the author skirts?
Wait, what if the cloaked ponies following them are changelings too, like Ebon? Oh wow...
Rainbow, hiding things is not a crime, nor can guilt be inferred because of it.
Ebon...a "selfless mind reader"
Changeling.
at Roarke getting it on "discount."
Also
Though I'll have to disagree about her intentionally not killing Clipper. It was his choice to be outside the shop, and she probably had no way of knowing where he was when she set off the bombs.
5887765 because this is a story written by ShortSkirtsandExplosions. Just on a different account.
" 'The pages smell so good,' Belle cooed, trying to hold her tears in."
Belle nails what my reaction would be if these stories were released in print.
6185136
Picard reference is picardy