“I've already got her prepped and ready to go!” Booster Spice said with a grin, trotting around the glossy shell of Whizzball inside the Noble Jury's hangar. “Ironically, I was running a diagnostic on this thing right after we dropped off the zebras here in Bountiful! So it's guaranteed to be in tip-top shape!” He smiled proudly. “And I've gotten rather expert at piloting the naga technology, if I do say so myself. That means, for the next twenty-four hours or so, we should be flying smoothely! Heck... the two of you can even sleep during most of the trip!”
“Twenty-four hours trapped inside a cramped ship with two nerds,” Josho muttered, slugging his gun and ammo.
“Hey!” Eagle Eye frowned as he caught up with him. “How am I a nerd?”
“...is that a three-hundred page catalogue on Val Roan dress fashion that I see in your bag?”
The tips to Eagle Eye's ears turned pink. “M-maybe...”
“I rest my big fat round case.”
Booster Spice chewed his lip. “At leat I'm a h-helpful nerd, r-right?”
“It sounds like a most arduous journey,” Bellesmith said, standing in the doorway to the lower stairwell along with Pilate. “Are we certain we can't send the Noble Jury up there instead?”
“You heard Team Blonde,” Josho remarked. “If the Noble Jury does something now to lose the burn in its engines, then we're all screwed, and so is the rest of the Val Roa.”
“You need to wait for Rainbow Dash's call,” Booster Spice remarked. “The moment she needs help, the Noble Jury needs to be nearby to help her, Floydien, and the rest out.”
“Presuming they succeed in punching a hole through the Soul Sentry shield, of course,” Belle remarked.
“All in due time, beloved.” Pilate smiled. “And I'm sure these three stallions can handle the trip. They've been through worse.”
Eagle threw his bag into the side of the sphere. “You ever been prisoners to talking foxes?”
Booster gulped. “Er... no?”
“Be glad you're you.”
Josho chuckled. “Ohhhhhh I'm going to have something to write home about over this.”
“A twenty-four hour ride stuck inside a cramped ball with the old stallion?” Eagle Eye remarked. “Booster, I hope none of the consoles are sparking or anything, because the three of us are liable to get roasted alive.”
“I'm more concerned about what waits for us at these coordinates,” Booster remarked. “If it's something some changeling conspiracy arranged, then it certainly cannot be pretty.”
“You have your sound stones, yes?” Belle asked.
“Yes, Belle.” Eagle nodded, tapping the shard on his forelimb. “They're all keyed in to the Lounge sphere's communications system. If you just have Props ping Whizzball with that fancy array of hers, then we should be able to talk to you guys at all times.”
“Listen to you,” Josho belched. “The Princess of Gizmos.”
“Wouldn't that be on my tiara?” Booster said with a smile.
“Ugh...” Josho rolled his eyes as he slipped into his seat. “Worst threesome ever.”
“You'd better go now before night falls.” Belle sighed, her ears drooping. “Please take care of yourselves. The Jury feels empty enough as it is.”
Eagle Eye bit his lip. In three bounding strides, he rushed over and gave the mare a deep hug.
Belle nuzzled the side of his head. “Ebon will be alright,” she whispered in his ear. “At the end of all of this, we'll be together,” she said. “In Val Roa.”
“I could be inside a raggedy thrift store for all I care,” Ebon whimpered. “So long as Ebon and you guys are there.”
“One step at a time, EE,” Belle said, leaning back to smile at him. “Be brave, like Rainbow Dash.”
Eagle Eye smiled at that.
“She really means 'be stupid,'” Josho's voice rang from a distance.
Eagle Eye frowned. Rolling his eyes, he trudged back towards Whizzball. “Booster, you'd better sit between the old stallion and I. That way we don't try to murder each other.”
“Erm... I-I figured I would do that because I'll be in the pilot's seat.”
“That too.”
Booster gulped and waved at the couple. “Happy trails!”
“Likewise.” Belle glanced aside. “Pilate, would you do the honor?”
“Gladly.” The zebra reached aside and yanked a lever. “Until next time!”
Wree! Wree! Wree! Wree! The warning alarm bellowed.
Belle muttered. “Wrong lever, beloved.”
“Erm...” Pilate winced, thrusting the lever back. The alarm silenced instantly. He felt around, grabbed the next lever, and yanked it.
Whurrrrrr-Chtunggg! The hangar doors opened.
“If you don't hear from us in twenty four hours!” Eagle Eye shouted through the noise of the closing side panels. “That means we crashed and Josho was forced to eat us!”
“Hah!” the obese unicorn cackled. “More like ten hours—!”
Whizzball sealed itself up. The glossy surface rippled as it spun around, then hovered out the rear hangar. For a few seconds, it puttered slowly over the rooftops of Bountiful and the many zebra tents. Then, with a burst of amber skystone, it rocketed north, disappearing into the soft red clouds above.
Bellesmith sighed, leaning over and resting her head against Pilate's shoulder. “Why do I feel as if this is a preview...”
“Hmm? A preview to what, Belle?”
She bit her lip. “Every one of us... splitting apart... one by one...” Her nostrils flared. “Even if we do succeed in Val Roa, how much of us will actually stay together?”
Pilate shrugged. “Eagle Eye's been searching for a home to call his own. Now he has a beloved of his own to share such a future with. Josho seems keen to live just about anywhere. The same could be said with Zaid, unless his attachment to Props proves permanent.”
“Wouldn't Props wish to join Prowse on the Tarkington?” Belle remarked. “And I imagine Booster would be going back to Amulek and Roarke would—” Her words trailed off.
Pilate tilted his head towards her.
Belle sighed. “It would be very nice if we all could stay in contact somehow.” She gulped. “At the very least.” Silence. “But... but dwelling on it is only keeping my mind off the fact that you and I... that you and I and Kera will have to be saying goodbye to one pony in particular...”
Pilate slowly nodded.
Bellle looked at him, eyes misty. “Do... do you think Roarke would try going with her? I mean... even if Rainbow Dash attempted talking her out of it, Roarke doesn't exactly have a heavy sense of self-preservation. Besides, the two of them are just so... so...”
“That is something for them to work out together. But Roarke is no fool, beloved. She knows just as well as you and I do that there's only one pony who can make the kind of trip that Rainbow Dash is on and survive.”
Belle bit her lip.
“But, enough of that for the time being. How about something else for your mind to dwell on?”
“Oh y-yeah...?” Belle sniffled, rubbing her eyes dry. “Like what?”
“Well, with our Searonese veteran infiltrating the Cartel and our best combat experts heading north... on top of our team leader and head pilot being stuck in Val Roa Proper, it seems as if we've gotten a shortage of alpha members.”
“Meaning...?”
“Somepony new has to take charge,” Pilate said. He yanked the lever again, pulling the Noble Jury's hangar doors shut. “Especially now that 'Operation Zebra Salvation' has culminated.”
“Well, I can think of some candidates.” Belle smiled. “After all, we still have our chief engineer and a backup pilot and...” She leaned in to nuzzle him. “A very very handsome navigator.”
“Yes, but that leaves us all predisposed with our multifaceted tasks. I do believe we need a pony of great intelligence and tenacity to manage the group in the event that we need to answer Rainbow's call.”
Belle blinked at him.
“You, beloved.”
“Me?”
“You're the best you you could ever be, you.”
“Pilate, to be perfectly honest, I've felt like a fifth wheel ever since I whisked Kera and Phoenix out of Blue Nova.”
“Well, it seems to me as though this is the perfect opportunity that's been waiting for you,” Pilate said with a smirk. “So, what's our orders, Captain, my captain?”
Belle smirked bitterly. “I think a crew vote is in order.”
“Done and done.” Pilate smiled back. “They all agree with me.”
“Y-you mean you went behind my back and spoke with them before about—”
“Indeed.”
Belle took a deep breath, trotting up the stairs. “Spark alive, Pilate! You've certainly found your way amidst the shadows of this ship.”
He chuckled as he trotted after her. “Just the blind leading the blunt.”
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed mare is king.
Wow, they are all together!
Well done Pilate, well done. Also the more we hear about them having to split up and what not, the more I think its likely that something is going to happen to keep most (if not all of them) together.
A prologue indeed...I really hope Roarke Most Rare ends up with Dash on the other side.
Roll credits!
Fifty side-straddle hops, ):(.Knock 'em out!
Captain Belle? Should be interesting.
First thought: In Val Roaaaaaa (To this tune for some rerason)
And off the Whizzball goes on another crazy adventure, with a crazy group .
Did I mention how excited I am to see just those three interacting together? I think I did.
Heh. To be fair, I'd classify Booster as definitely being the nerdiest. Engineer and all that.
Also, "least".
Pfft.
Heh, whoops.
Laaaaaampshading.
Hopefully it does not end up being the case. Good pep talk there, Pilate. Well said.
I just realized how amazing this trip is going to be.
You just had to go there, didn't you?
Road Trip!
I now have this wonderful image of a ninja Pilate floating through my head.
Hopefully Belle will be Picard to Rainbow's Kirk.
5300706
Your comment, combined with that song, made me think of Kera and Eine. Again.
On a unrelated topic, does anyone remember what Prince Eine's full name was?
5301181 No. But I feel like it ought to be the House of Zwei
5301285
It might end up being a House of Zwei. (ifyouknowwhatImean)
*punishes self for corny crack-shipping joke*
dunno if this chapter/segment thing will end with them separated, cuz its such a long way to go...
Im sure IC will find a way
Folks, it'z crazy Fishberry theory time.
Perhaps the corruption in Val Roa was already pervasive long before Crysalis' s arrival, and desiring misery with which to gorge her brood, she just kind of... helped it along. But when RD lovesmacked the changelings, it affected Chryssi, and now she desires the power from love above all else.
perhaps Chrysalis will become their greatest temporary ally in fighting the corruption of Val Roa, however, in the end, they'll have to challenge her still, because she still aims to use love for power instead of harmony.
The Noble Jury. All evidence points to it falling apart at the end of this. But... No. It won't. It can't.
Right?
There is a saying that truth is stranger than fiction. Which means that Booster wont be able to pull a Pinkie in combat manouvers, and get Wizball through a gap that is quite definitely too small for it, like I once did in a pile up on a go cart track. And on R Type, oh, and going through an 18 inch gap in the wall with 2 foot wide handlebars on the bike. Think of i like that trick where its possible to push a larger cube through a smaller cubes hole.
Bellesmith being voted by everyone else without her knowing about it, to be the leader? Sounds legit for Gaming groups. We did that for teh leader of the computer club while he was utelising the facilities.
As for Josho, EE and Booster in Wizzball, I seem to remember its only a 3 person occupancy vehicle, and EE doesnt want to use his changling capacity, so its currently running at a 5 seater?
Thats a lota gas.
Im worried about that 24 hour trip though. Propeller driven craft can hit Mach 0.6, and Id have thought skystone plasma thrusters would be at least as capable. As in, 300 mph is 7500 miles, which is rather a long way. 500 mph is 10000 miles plus. Which is approaching halfway round a planet such as Earth. If the Lounge had drive powered aircon or even lifesupport, presurisation etc, then its more possible to throw Wizball into a ballistic flight, reaching far higher speeds in thin upper atmosphere, unless the chaos interfaceis held in check by machine world fields there, meaning it would be similar to flying in the skystone fields, Very turbulent?
That, and theres space sickness to deal with, in a cramped compartment. Etc.
Wonde what the in flight entertainment is like in this rustbucket.
Rainbow isn't going home, is she? She will never see Gold Pettles again, never talk to white mane, never see the blessings she has bistowed upon the land, Roarke will never get to keep her Rainbow. It's a bit sad, knowing that there probebly isn't going to be a happy end for the main character, but it would seem like a cop-out if it all worked out in the end. On top of that, what I anticipate is Luna forcing dash as far away as possible to preserve the light side of the world from what she could become. Darker and more cynical, but fitting for a ruler who has few options.
5301681 See, you say that, but...
ephemera-inc.com/wholesale/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/265x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/1/4/1491.jpg_2.jpg
Now the fun thing is that we have the foreboding of separation and the current threat / boss villain permanently overlapping. It will get continuously funnier as we approach the showdown if it will remain this way.
5300677
Has any one else noticed that everypony is saying "we've been threw worse befor" seams like shit is about to hit the fan
Stop talking about the Jury splitting up. No no no no no.
-Spirit
I love it when a plan comes together. There are so many things going on at once right now, and scary movie logic dictates that splitting up is the worst thing ever.
. . .
I need to stop being a downer. XD I hope for rainbows all day long!
Eagle eye confirmed as chrysalis, She accidentally shifted to ebon From missing him too much.
It's a trap. Calling it now.
6080862
And nopony noticed ... that right there is awesome skills.
Not what I was expecting Pilate to suggest now that they finally had time alone
Why do we even have that lever?
7919405 For alarm-blaring emergencies, of course!
8:06 p.m. MST 6/26/2017
8258719
I believe it is a reference to this:
07/10/2017
03:17 UTC
Wait, wot?
Pilate, you sly genius. Well, that's all for today
8287486
*gasp!*
The fifth wheel for a journey that always stood to wear down much more than just its engine. Askew metaphors aside, she did so much for the emotional well-being of half the crew and Changeling!Lerris, I think she is doing more than her part. She could groom Kera a bit less!
Don't give people ideas Josho.
I like it.
9672686
Pull the Level Pilate.
WRONG LEVEEEEER!!!!