• Published 31st Aug 2013
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Odrsjot - Imploding Colon



Rainbow Dash and her companions fly east.

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Enforcers In the Mist

A loud buzzing sound echoed through the brig.

Rainbow Dash looked up with a jerk, followed by Zaid and Kera.

Zetta and Basso trotted into the room. Between them, their expressions were practically apologetic.

“Ahem.” Zetta cleared her throat. “The Commanding Officer would like to have a few words with you.”

“Wuh oh.” Zaid gave a crooked smile. “It was nice knowing ya, Har-Har.”

“Rainbow Dash…” Kera stammered nervously, eying the enforces beyond the prison cell’s force field.

“I’m sure Khao would have wanted me to say a few words to honor the passing of the colorful flying horse of destiny, but I don’t give good eulogies on an empty stomach.”

Ignoring the former cultist’s words, Zetta turned towards the guards stationed at a crystalline console. “Lower the force field.”

“Yeah! I bet you’d love to do that!” Rainbow Dash snarled, grinding her hooves. “You wanna go round two?! Well come and get me! We’ll go…” Her eyelids fluttered as a fresh wave of dizziness ran through her body. “...round t-two…” With a groan, she flopped to the ground, lying sideways. Her ruby eyes blinked at her prone forelimbs, and she frowned up at the two soldiers without moving. “There! Now you run as fast as you can into my hooves! I dare you!”

With another buzz, the force field lowered. Basso trotted inside, followed by Zetta.

“You leave her alone!” Kera charged forward, snarling and zapping wave after wave of mana at the two with her horn. “Don’t you touch Rainbow Dash!”

Basso blinked as the filly’s tiny beams bounced off his thick fetlocks. “Sorry, lil’ miss, but orders are orders. The Prime Enforcer only wants to talk to her.”

“My flank, he does!” Kera hopped high, grabbed onto Basso’s tail, and began gnawing on it. “Grrrrrr-rrrrgghhh!” She spat a few hairs and growled from where she dangled. “You just wanna skin her alive and sell her insides to the Council!”

Zetta trotted over and lifted Kera off of Basso with delicate telekinesis. “You’re getting our Prime Enforcers mixed up. Fortis is concerned about the front, not about some bounty issued by the Council of Ledo.”

“You’re all in league with each other!” Kera hissed and thrashed from where she floated upside down. She kept her angry eyes locked on Rainbow Dash while she was being draped over Basso’s backside. The stallion carried her away and out of view. “Once you’ve seen one beret, you’ve seen them all!” She was placed down and instantly hopped on her hooves, scampering towards the cell door. “Bring her b-back!” her voice cracked.

It was too late. The door buzzed, and the force field flickered back to life. Kera received a shock and fell back. Zaid caught her before she could land on the floor. Wincing, she watched with a helpless expression as Rainbow was carted off on the back of the mountainous pony.

“Hey, I wouldn’t freak out too much if I were you,” Zaid said. “Maybe they just want the secret to how she does her hair.”

“Nnngh…” Pouting, Kera wriggled out of Zaid’s grip and stomped over towards the far corner of the cell. “Her hair is natural, doofus.”

“No way!” Zaid gasped. “And I’m Trot Hanks!”


Grunting, Roarke climbed her way up along the port side of the Lightning-Bearer’s massive hull. She pulled herself without any aid of her suit’s thrusters, using sheer strength and the metal grip of her horseshoes alone. Avoiding the portholes and cannon chambers, she finally reached the ship’s edge and peered over the side of it.

The air rumbled--briefly distracting the metal mare. She glanced towards her left, observing a bulbous cluster of fog collecting far off the ship’s bow. At the sound of heavy hoofsteps, however, she pulled herself tight against the hull once more and stared onto the deck.

Climbing out of a stairwell, Basso marched with Rainbow Dash’s limp body lying on his back. Zetta and several other guards surrounded the scene.

Roarke’s eye-lenses pistoned in and out, studying the scene with a thin layer of condensation dripping off the metal frames. She shuffled towards the bow--one fetlock at a time--in an attempt to keep up with Rainbow’s body.

At last, the pegasus was carried up a small flight of steps and onto an even platform where Fortis, Nightshade, Straker, and several other officers stood. Fortis turned around in time to greet Basso. Straker nodded at the massive stallion, and Rainbow Dash was lightly placed down before the Prime Enforcer.

“Unnngh…” Rainbow Dash reeled, her eyes thin and sickly. Gritting her teeth, she tilted her head up to stab Nightshade with a perpetual glare.

The mare said nothing. Soon, Fortis had trotted quietly between the two. He stood right in front of Rainbow Dash, his gray bangs blowing from the wind where they jutted out just in front of his beret.

“I am Prime Enforcer Fortis, and you are on board my ship, the Lightning Bearer.” The aged stallion’s hooves shuffled beneath him. “So, it’s true. You are a pony with wings.”

“Wow…” Rainbow Dash spoke out the side of her muzzle. “Who’d a thunk it? A stallion begging to get his teeth bucked out… gaaah!” She slumped back on her haunches like an infant foal, shuddering from head to toe.

“Ironic that a pony so important to the Council would end up being so infirmed.” Fortis paced before her. “The rumors are still circulating, but it would seem as if Prime Enforcer Shell has given up everything precious in his career to get ahold of you. And in spite of all the maniac’s desperate actions, here you show up on my vessel, completely incapable of making use of those feathered appendages of yours.”

“I don’t s-see you using your teeth either, bucko…”

“What a quaint attitude.” Fortis smirked slightly. “I’m beginning to see why you drove my fellow Prime Enforcer mad with his pursuits.”

“Guess it takes more than a few dozen needless lives to try and bottle awesomeness,” Rainbow spat, still reeling. “Tell me, Enforcer Fart-Cheese, do you feel safe for your stallions on board this ship knowing that I’m here?”

Zetta and Basso exchanged nervous glances.

Fortis took a deep breath and said, “I know that you hold a great deal of power, and that most of it is--how should I say it--corked in?” He reached forward and firmly tapped the pendant around her neck. “It’s almost as if you carry a seal in a way. But for what?”

“Gnnghhh!” Rainbow hissed, her eyes flickering from ruby to yellow to ruby again. She slumped forward on quivering forelimbs, breathless.

Fortis blinked calmly. “Fascinating…”

“What…” Rainbow Dash gulped and murmured, “What do you w-want from me?”

“Seriously?” Fortis even chuckled a bit at that. “After all this time, after weeks of playing cat and mouse with the most powerful ponies on this continent, you still don’t know what kind of a value you possess?” Fortis smirked. He resumed his pacing as he said, “Truth is, I’m rather in the dark about it myself. Isn’t that horrible? So many Enforcers report to the same Council, and yet the Council treats us all on a need-to-know basis. With communication that stilted, it’s no wonder we’re struggling to get an edge over the enemy in this war.”

“If you think that I-I’m some sort of secret weapon or s-some crap…”

“If you are, you’re not a very good one.” Fortis pivoted and gestured towards Nightshade. “The secret weapon is in her possession, as a matter of fact. Your connections to the flame from the metal realm are innocuous at best. You see, the blindness that the Council has erected works both ways, and several high ranking ponies who see an opportunity to save this beleaguered Confederacy have taken it upon themselves to bring a stop to this bloody melee once and for all. That’s where the book comes in, and the lovely Madame Nightshade who has ever-so-faithfully guarded it.”

Fortis trotted over and bent low to stare Rainbow in the face. “But your connections? I must admit that I am curious, but my intrigue is not at the heart of the matter. I brought you up here to find out what your other connections are.”

“Other… connections?”

Fortis nodded. “I simply cannot imagine that Shell would have given up everything to pursue a perfect stranger with no ties to the equines of this land, simply because she wore a pendant and bore wings. Tell me, my dear…” He leaned his head to the side. “Just what is your story?”

Rainbow Dash blinked. She glanced at Nightshade, then back at him. Her eyes rolled, and she took a deep breath before spouting: “I’ve flown thousands of miles from a magical kingdom named Equestria where ponies live in peace and harmony, their lives guided by the alicorn goddesses Princess Celestia and Princess Luna who are solely responsible for the revolutions of the Sun and Moon.”

Zetta and Basso squinted at one another.

Straker raised an eyebrow in Fortis’ direction.

The Prime Enforcer nodded. “Well, now I certainly see what kind of dementia infected the once-glorious Shell.”

“Look, I totally don’t belong here!” Rainbow Dash barked. “Not on your land, and certainly not on this ship! The first thing I wanna do is ditch this stinkin’ continent!” She sneered as she spoke above the sound of the billowing winds. “Just let me, the tattooed foal, and the loser with the surfer accent free, and I promise you that I will stay out of your mane! And everypony else’s for that matter!”

“You only want freedom for yourself and your companions?”

“Right!”

Fortis pointed at Nightshade. “The Madame says you want the book.”

“The Madame can go bobbing for corn kernels in an outhouse.”

“So you have no standing issue with Ledomaritan Confederacy whatsoever?”

“Exactly!” Rainbow Dash hissed through another wave of dizziness. “For the thousandth time, I just wanna fly east of here with my friends! I don’t even care about the book anymore!”

Fortis’ eyes narrowed icily. “Then what caused you to sneak on board my ship, attack my stallions, and even charge the Madame here?”

Rainbow Dash bit her lip.

“I see…” Fortis nodded, standing tall and righteous. “So even winged horses are far from angelic. Very well. If you wish to be a mystery, then that’s how you will remain. A mystery. You will remained locked away in the belly of the Lightning Bearer for the extent of this war, and all anypony will ever know about you is a mere rumor.”

“Dude! I’m totally on board with telling you stuff you need to know about me!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “I can already tell you’re a great deal cooler than Shell! Who cares if you’re in league with Madame Nutsack over there; I’m willing to play ball if it means getting my friends and I out of here!”

“I am sorry, dear,” Fortis said. “But you are simply too cryptic and dangerous for me to let loose to the winds anytime soon.” He blinked, then gazed suspiciously towards the sky. “Speaking of which, the gusts have increased quite significantly. Helmspony!” He shouted. “Are we approaching inclement weather?!”

A voice shouted back from below. “Negative, sir! Just a patch of gray fog far off the port bow!”

From where Roarke silently eavesdropped on the meaning, she craned her neck, her eye-lenses focusing on the ethereal mists once more. Before her sight, a glint of light shimmered, followed by a dark blue body emerging.

A whistle rang out, followed by a few bell noises. Shouts echoed from one patch of deck to the next, and a lowly soldier rushed up bearing a frenetic expression. “Sir, Prime Enforcer, Sir! Bogey sighted off the port bow! Estimated distance: two kilometers and closing!”

“Allow me…” Straker pivoted about, telekinetically lifting a spyglass to his face. He trotted up to the edge of the platform and studied the hazy clouds from afar.

“What do you see, Lieutenant?”

“Medium sized freight craft…” Straker’s mouth hung open as he relayed his findings out loud. “Weaponized. Low level cannon stock. Blue hull…” He lowered the spyglass, blinking. “Blue and gold colors. Serpent emblem.”

“Well, it was about time,” Fortis said, his muscles growing taut. “Sound the alert. Battlestations.”

An officer or two blew whistles while Straker leaned over the edge of the platform. “Everypony on deck! Battlestations! Xonan vessel sighted to the northeast, off the port bow!”

“You seem rather calm about this,” Nightshade said in a low tone as she and Fortis trotted past Rainbow Dash. “Is this a regular occurrence?”

“Terribly,” Fortis replied, though he managed a calm smile. “Unless you’re a fan of fireworks, dear, you might wish to travel down below for what is about to ensue. I know how terribly much you hate warfare.”

Nightshade fidgeted. She glanced down at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash blinked back.

“As long as she is up here…” Nightshade held the book tighter and glare at Fortis. “I stay here.”

“Very well.” Fortis nodded and trotted back to join Straker’s side. “You may wish to cover your ears soon, though…”

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