These Are The Voyages
"You've got it, Beardo!" Props lifted her goggles and beamed across the hum of the Noble Jury's engine room. "Just a few more heaves and hoes!"
"Nnnngh!" Josho grunted, his fatty muscles sweating as he thrusted his upper body forward. His horn glowed brighter as he telekinetically lifted a black metal cage over the runic dais where the lavender tome floated. "I'm used to the latter more than the former in my life..."
"You can make funny after you make metal!" Props slid down, her blonde tresses flouncing as she motioned towards the lowering cylinder. "Easy... easy does it... just a feather's sneeze..."
"Grrrghh!" Josho finally cut the mana off in his horn, slapping the cage over the dais with a firm thud. "Jeez... what the hell is that crap made out of?" He wiped his brow and leaned back against an instrument panel. "Elephantturdenite?"
"Heehee! Good guess!" Props wrangled a wrench out of her tool belt and began ratcheting the cage in place, rivet after rivet. "Remember that big, dusty quarry we stopped at three weeks ago before we sent Rainbow Dash on her merry way?"
"I... guess...?"
"Whelp, it certainly wasn't gophers that we dug up!" Props licked her lips as she scurried around the cage, fastening it tighter. "This is pure, Grade-A arcanium, buckerooni! I'm surprised that the Ledomaritans left so much of it behind!"
"Oh, I heard of that stuff..." Josho squinted at the material. "They use it to harness manashields around military bases. Even manticores can't belch their way through the junk."
"And, it will hopeful-dutily-do the trick of staving off the aura from this book!" Props hopped back onto her haunches and wiped the grease from her cheek. "That way, Rainbow Dash can fly back to us and we can be a slightly happier family of starved fugitives again!"
"Instead of..."
"Being bored out of our skulls! Or antlers!" Props winked and pivoted towards the far end of the engine room. "Isn't that right, handsome?"
"Hmmph..." Hornless, Floydien stood within a doorframe that led towards the bow of the ship. "Glimmer is glimmer. All Floydien cares to know is if this will secure the womb of Nancy Jane."
"The energy source is snug as a bug now!" Props banged the cage with her wrench, smiling wider. "Think of it this way! The bun in her oven is toasted now!" She giggle-snorted.
"You know, every time you equate this engine room with a mare's womb, I wanna kill myself a little bit more."
"Follow your spit before lunch, or else it'll make all the boomers gag," Floydien grunted. "Just make sure Sailboat doesn't know."
The door on the opposite end of the engine room swung open.
"Hey!" Props brightened even more, if that was possible. "Speak of the devil!" She waved wildly. "Hiya, Ebony!"
"You!" Ebon snarled, pointing an angry burgundy hoof across the compartment, focusing on a particular elk in the headlights. "I've been looking all over for you! How does a creature your size hide in this friggin' ship?"
"Right..." Floydien spun about and immediately galloped down the corridor. "Floydien's got skies to split like stale bread. Yes yes yes..."
"Oh no you don't!" Ebon stumbled after him. "You wanna talk stale bread?! I barely have enough of that to feed an anthill, much less nine ponies and a Frankensquirrel—Gaah!" He tripped over a mass of wires and cables. "Darn it, Propsy! Didn't we have this talk about cleaning the floorspace?"
"Hey..." Props shrugged with a smile. "It's Nancy Jane's womb! Not mine! So what if she didn't have the talk about cleaning her own—"
"Don't you friggin' begin..." Josho said in a steely breath.
Meanwhile, Ebon floundered to dash out of the engine room after Floydien. "Hey! Cosmic elf! I wanna talk with you, darn it—"
"Close the chamber to beloved's chamber!" Floydien stopped to snarl back at the earth pony. "Or by the sky's spit, I'll throttle Sailboat boomer's chamber! Do we want lavender lace to spill through the bulkheads? No no!"
"Nnngh..." Ebon politely shut the engine door behind him and trotted across the lush navigation room where a zebra sat diligently at a drawing bench. "Now that I got your attention, finally, we need to have a talk about the ship's rations."
"Floydien merely guides Nancy Jane along Nancy Jane's path. What concern should Floydien have for what boomers want to stuff down their spit-holes?"
"Because with Rainbow Dash gone, Pilate busy mapping our course, and Roarke being a skulking no-show, you're the closest thing we have to a captain on board this metal bottle!" Ebon barked, his voice reverberating against the bulkheads and bookshelves. "I'm working off of crumbs in the kitchen upstairs! Seriously, I'm down to daffodils and parsley! I'm surprised the crew hasn't mutinied by now on account of the sheer boredom of what's sliding down their gullets!"
"I don't suppose you can take this quarrel elsewhere?" Pilate muttered from where he drew a line across a map. "I'm having a difficult time making us a path to Gray Smoke." His brow furrowed beneath the metal plate. "And remember, it was only two days ago that somepony was kind enough to inform me that the city itself moves through the clouds."
Ebon winced. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that, Pilate. It's just that I've had so much on my mind..." He frowned and growled at Floydien. "And so little in my cupboard!"
"What does Sailboat expect Floydien to do about it?"
"Let's just stop somewhere and forage for more foodstuffs!" Ebon grunted as he followed the elk into the observation room near the bow of the ship. Sunlight drifted in through the domed window beneath which a little foal played with a chirping squirrel next to an array of drifting hammocks. "There's no sign of Ledomaritan Enforcers or Xonan patrols in the area. Rainbow Dash certainly isn't going to ditch us. Plus, with Propsy's work being finished, she's bound to intercept us at any hour now."
Floydien climbed up the vertical crawlspace towards the cockpit located a floor and a half above. "All the reason to speed our way out of glimmer-glimmer land!"
"What's your blasted hurry?!" Ebon called up the chamber. "Didn't you just hear me?! We're safe! We've been safe for a while now! I know that you're shaken up from the Deep Ridge stuff, but htat was three weeks ago! Why so paranoid?!"
"Why so burgundy!"
"Unnngh..." Ebon facehoofed. "It's like talking to a child..."
"Hey! Sailboat!" Kera called from a swaying hammock. "Check this out!" She gripped Simon like a taser and yanked at his tail. "Fire one! Fire two!"
With frenzied barks, the rodent shot miniature bolts of lightning from his tesla-coils. The energy beams ricocheted off the bulkheads of the observation room before fizzling out.
"Heehee!" Kera grinned wide. "Ain't that cool?! We'll use it on the first battlecruiser that tries to shoot us out of the sky! Won't they be scared?"
"Don't... call me... 'Sailboat.'" Ebon grunted with each rung of the crawlspace's ladder he climbed.
"Meh. Go dunk your head in a cloud."
Ebon scaled the middle floor, passing crew quarters and auxiliary controls. He finally reached the cockpit where Floydien presently sat in the pilot's seat, his antlers reattached and brimming with energy.
"Mr. Floydien, just hear me out..." Ebon squatted on the floor and swiveled to face him. He smiled tiredly. "A supplied kitchen means a good meal. A good meal means a happy crew. A happy crew means a functioning Noble Jane... I-I mean Nancy Jury... I mean... darn it!"
"Floydien thinks Sailboat should sail on and let Floydien do the legwork."
"It's not all about you, y'know!" Ebon frowned. "Maybe this thing was easy to operate when it was just you and Simon, but you had to know that it'd be housing a lot more hooves on deck at some point! I mean, why else would there be so many rooms and such a large mess hall in this place?"
"Floydien made plenty of messes in his day. All the better to keep it away from beloved's womb."
"Ungh! Fine! That's it!" Ebon tossed his hooves and trotted out onto the open deck, into the wind. "I give up!"
He passed by Bellesmith and Eagle Eye who were just trotting up.
"Give what up?" Eagle Eye asked.
"I hope you enjoy being so darn skinny, my little ponies!" Ebon growled as he tossed a hoof backwards at the cockpit. "It's the Floydien Diet! Plenty of exercise and two bowls of misery between sunrise and sunset!"
"Oh dear..." Belle sighed and turned towards the cockpit. A thin mat of delicate brown fuzz had collected along her scalp and the back of her neck. "Mr. Floydien, must you?"
"Spit it out before you spit it out," the elk grunted.
"Ebon's got his hooves full of providing what he can for the lot of us." Belle smiled as she trotted forward and rested a forelimb on the pilot's shoulder. "I know that this is your ship and your livelihood, but he's just as important to this journey as you, me, Pilate and the rest of us."
"I..." Eagle Eye fidgeted, glancing down at his slender legs. "I'm not that skinny, am I?"
"EE, please, you've been hanging around Josho far too much."
"No way! I smell too?!"
Belle rolled her eyes, then smiled. "Maybe you should go try to cheer Ebon Mane up."
"I dunno. He's probably in the kitchen by now."
"Well, that goes without saying. What's the problem?"
"Well..." Eagle Eye gulped. "The kitchen is right next to the hangar."
"So?"
"So... that's right where Roarke's been hanging out!" The petite stallion shivered in place. "Brooding in the darkness, like a vampire bat... m-made of metal."
"She's fine, Eagle Eye. She was out and about yesterday."
"Yeah, shooting missiles into mountains and yelling at the top of her lungs."
"Who are we to dictate how Searonese should or shouldn't deal with stress?"
"What stress?! It's been the utter definition of boring for the past three weeks!"
"You saying you liked it when we were being shot at and shelled by the enemy?"
"Ugh! No! It's just..." Eagle Eye shrugged. "I really wish Roarke wouldn't treat the rest of us as strangers. She could be doing something productive instead. Especially while Rainbow Dash is gone."
"She's been through a lot, Eagle Eye."
"And we haven't?!"
Belle frowned slightly. "We're all different. Pilate has his studies. Floydien has the ship. Props has the engine."
"Tattooed boomer torments Simon," Floydien grunted.
"Again?!" Belle groaned. "I talked to Kera about that!"
"She's definitely a hoofful, isn't she?" Eagle Eye smirked mischievously. "Momma Belle?"
"At least I didn't ask for a son in addition to a daughter."
"Hahaha!" Eagle laughed in a foalish tone. "That's funny! You sai—" He blinked, cross-eyed. "Ew, wait. Huh?"
"And as for Roarke, she just... needs her space, that's all," Belle said with a shrug. "If you ask me, I think she deserves it, especially after all she's done to protect us time and time again."
"I only wish she wasn't so... freaky about how she needs her space."
Belle nodded. "She can come across as a bit gruff from time to time."
Eagle Eye glared at her with dull eyes. "The last time I bumped into her, she threatened to pull my colon up through my nostrils... with a fish hook."
Belle winced. "Yes, well... uhm... I-I guess I'll have to have a talk with her about that." She turned towards Floydien. "And in the meantime, Mr. Floydien, I agree with Ebon."
"Of course boomer does," he grunted.
"I'd say, in general, a pause in our journey would do us some good. Not all of us have antlers that can communicate directly with the ship." She smiled. "It would do us some good to feel some grass and flowers beneath our hooves."
"Speak for yourself," a voice cracked as it touched down along with a quartet of blue limbs. "Grass and flowers are overrated." Rainbow Dash sniffed, sniffed again. "Ungh... it smells like a perfume shop in here." She glanced to her side and smirked. "Oh, right. Eagle Eye. It's nice to be home."
"Rainbow!" Belle smiled wide, her eyes lighting up. "You're here! And you're not dizzy!"
"Heh..." Rainbow grinned devilishly and trotted towards her. "The jury's out on that last part, no pun intend—Gaaah!" She fell back under a lavender weight.
"Heeeeee!" Eagle Eye nuzzled her dearly with a tender embrace. "You're back! You're back! By the Spark, it's been so boring without you!"
"Snkkkt... Y-you don't say..." Rainbow disentangled herself from him and smiled awkwardly. "Nice to see that nopony tried to blow you guys up out of the sky."
"Impossible," Floydien grumbled. "Paintbucket was gone the whole time."
"Good to see you too, Floydien."
"Pilate will be so thrilled to know that you're back," Belle said, trotting over to nuzzle her lightly. "And we could certainly use a pony to chat with Roarke."
"With Roarke, eh?" Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. "Well, there's only one thing to do."
"What's that?" Belle asked, then jolted as the pegasus rubbed her fuzzy scalp furiously. "Buh?"
"For luck," Rainbow grunted.
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We've got you, Rainbow. We don't need luck.
Poor Simon!
So, we finally get to see the group dynamic, and get to know how long has passed since Invader Dash. I'm loving the interplay at this point. Only thing is, things can never be this good fro long. What do you have up your sleeve, ):(...
Thirty wide-arm pushups. Knock 'em out!
Kera is like a mini Pinkie ^-^
First fight scene incoming, estimated casualty count: 50%+
So true.
Three weeks, huh? Damn...
Well, it's great seeing the gang. If the snark and bickering of this chapter are any indication, I think I'll enjoy our merry band of misfits' journey east. Though, it's a little troubling to see a ship whose navigator is blind. I mean, I know he has O.A.S.I.S., but it's still ironic. And it makes me soooo happy that they have some way of offsetting the mana junk that messes Rainbow up.
And it occurs to me. There are, by my count, ten ponies on board (if you include Floydien). I wonder what the chances are of them picking up two more.
and the story continues....
Kera is playing with fire.
And now we jump back into the dialogue set up. Earlier I would of said that I liked it, but preferred the narration mode. Now, and mainly due to the final chapters of Innavedre, I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite mode of story telling.
Oh man, as nice as it was to go back to scenery-porn roots for a bit, these character interactions never cease to be entertaining.
We now have confirmation that Grey Smoke is indeed Cloud City. I bet some interesting Greek and Roman designs along with the modern day Mana punk style will result from a previous Pegasus cloud city possibly named Stratopolis and it's inhabitants of the Zadubadabu Pegasi. Along with Ledomaritan influence of course.
3152269
I agree with the irony, and I like the chances of two new party members being picked up along the way. Wouldn't it be great if one of those was Shell who gets beat up and develops a severe case of "who am I" syndrome. The other one can be Evans I suppose, but someone like old Gold Petals would be better.
3152484
I think Evans is more likely than Shell. I mean, if Shell could do that and redeem himself, then great! But if he was ever going to have that kind of moment, you'd think he already would have. If Imre's death wasn't enough to snap him out of his stupid, I don't know what would be.
D'awww...ain't they just one big happy family on that ship?
Anyways,
1) Props driving Josho nuts with the "womb talk" has got to be one of the most friggin' hilarious things I've read all day.
2) Squirrel taser.
3) So the next destination is a cloud city? Oooh...interesting...
4) Poor Roarke...still suffering after what happened to Imre...
Oh jeeze, Kera and Simon are turning into Lilo and Stitch
Still though I'm glad to see that they figured out some shielding for the book so Dash can be aboard ship. I can see that Floydian is still worried about pursuit though...smart thinking there. I don't think foraging is the only solution. They may need to find an outpost to barter with for supplies..OH! Maybe take on an odd job for bits! That way they can stock up on actual supplies like four and sugar and spices and things!
Three weeks of slowly fraying tempers. Yikes. While Roarke might be taking a less appreciated route, at least she has been letting off some steam. I wouldn't blame Simon if he took a potshot or two at Kera, but that probably wouldn't help the situation at all or dissuade her. Here's to hoping that now that the paint bucket is back that everyone starts to see less red and more soothing blue.
3152484 Steelteeth would be great company for Roarke
NOOGIENOOGIENOOGIE
Guys.
Guys, yo.
Seriously, guys.
I think the chapter title might be a Star Trek reference.
Just maybe. Not sure though.
When is eagle eye going to make a move on propsy? *cheesy 70's porno music*
fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/226/2/6/rainbow_dash___vector_by_sapphirebeam-d5b16e6.png
3152448
I think it's more likely to be a mana-powered city, much like the upper regions of Blue Nova.
Unless the Ledomaritans or neighbors had discovered a way to both stand on and manipulate the clouds. Without being tethered in any form, it's very possible for it to still drift about and not be made of clouds. Dirigibles / balloons perhaps, if not mana.
So,Grey Smoke flys around in the sky?Sounds a lot like a well-known cloud city and could definitely bring a good bit of nostalgia to Rainbow.
I need this.
Sailboat?
3153216
What do you ....ooooo.
These are the voyages
Of the Starship
I just realized that Twilight would be very interested on how a ship is being powered by books.
Gray Smoke might not be very nice at all. It might be a series of grimy, sooty, tethered dirigibles. Visitors might be required to rent respirators.
Is 'smogpunk' a thing?
3152715 Roarke doesn't know what exactly happened to Imre, She doesn't know yet the Imre committed suicide to try to put Shell into regret that he didn't care for his daughter enough, or that he started this whole mess.
I'm pretty sure in 10-35 chapters from now, Roarke will really go apeshit from finding this out. Then she will single handingly kill shell for making her do it.
3153231
>Implying Eagle Eye isn't gayer than a pride parade. lol
3153698
True. But she does know (or at least have an inkling) that something bad's happened to her. And that's just enough to put her in a depressed mood.
I thought I remembered something about Rainbow not being able to be near that book. Now her solo flights in the beginning make sense.
And also so much good comedy in this chapter.
Best way to deal with stress ever! Blow stuff up! Who hasn't wanted to do this in real life a few times?
This line
I could not stop laughing.
3153231
Uhm, never; he's gayer than Neil Patrick Harris.
Plus, I think it's pretty clear that Propsy's already got a massive lady-boner for Nancy Jane.
3153496
Ebon Mane's cutie mark is a sail boat.
Don't ask me why.
3153578
Opening up them old wounds... it still hurts, man.
As much as I'd like to think I'm caught up to speed with these chapters alone, and that I have a pretty good idea of what is currently going on, I still have a nagging feeling that I'm missing a lot of things, which undoubtedly I am. The characters are all unique, that's for sure, and without a doubt as the story progresses I'll be seeing more of this unravel.
Wait. Am I actually considering reading this? Shit...
Well, my calander's free for the next few days. I recently read 122k in less than half a day. I could probably read all of this by the end of the week...
God dammit.
I blame Pilate.
3154019
Ohooo man. You've gotta read it from the beginning.
Austraeoh you MUST read, there's a shitload of stuff that goes on, and the whole thing is just plain phenomenal.
Eljunbyro you should also definitely read - more important stuff you can't miss, but a more centralized setting.
Innavedr... well, what can I say. Unless you want to know about every detail of each fight the gang gets into, just skim it, for the sake of catching up. The first two, though, I again would highly recommend you read all the way through.
It really is the perfect Final Fantasy setup. A few party members settling down in the engine room, a few in the cockpit, a few in the hangar...
'nuff said.
I take it back.
data.whicdn.com/images/34546461/funny-gif-man-jump-out-the-window_large.gif
3152229 Now wouldn't that be a boomer... eh, bummer.
Depresso Rainbow? Sounds like someone needs a rainboom.
I knew it!
The book glow still made RD dizzy so that's why she took of by herself.
I figured something that was blatantly obvious!
Hooray for me!
lovin that trek reference. love this chapter more though. wait..
Ten bucks that Gray Smoke is a Ledomaritan-occupied Stratopolis.
I doubt Props and Ebon will be out of the story very soon. Either something prevents them from staying in Gray Smoke, or the crew will stay there for a while.
I wonder what more Rainbow could say to Roarke that hasn't been said already. She had a long talk with her just before the finale of Innavedr, and if that didn't help, I don't know what will. Roarke's apparently taking out her anger on innocent mountains. Perhaps Rainbow could relate on the level of losing her home - Searo's Hold was destroyed by Roarke, Rainbow feels responsible for the events that made her leave Ponyville. Either way, it's always an interesting discussion between those two.
3154018
But is he? He called her the "pretty blonde mare" and got a double take from belle.
I don't know, maybe i'm just nuts
3155691 Eagle Eye has a thing for nice hair and Propsy has a thing for everyone.
3153272 By cloud city, I was thinking of the one in star wars crossed with a city like Cloudsdale (or in this case Stratopolis) I was thinking with mana and massive zeppelin platform things. Possibly a former pegasus city was found abandoned and used as a design for the city as well as the idea of a flying city to begin with.
Still, I am a bit suprised that the book-dizzy-thingy problem was solved so fast. I mean... well, definitely too fast. Huh. I wonder if the book will last for the next part of this series and what will be the future use of it.
3155991
Ah. My bad.
Bald pony's scalp for good luck
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Awesome! Dash is back! I will miss those nature chapters, though. But I think that they were a throwback more than anything, and they weren't really meant to last the whole story. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
And back to the crew. I suppose the food issue had to come up sooner or later, what with all the ponies on board and how long they've been on the thing. They could just get Rainbow to go forage for them if they wanted to avoid setting down, I guess, but with someone like Josho on board it might take her a while.
Loving all the interaction so far, and I'm interested to see how Roarke responds to her imminent "intervention." Onward!
>but htat was three weeks ago!
le typo