Air Report
With a grinding of his metal cast, Shell swiveled about. His eye narrowed from the glint of the rising dawn. Against the high winds, he uttered, "A centipede?"
Six stallions, bruised and frazzled, sat—slumped—on the deck of the Steel Wing after having been salvaged from the grassy plains below.
"An arthropod, Prime Enforcer, sir," one of the shivering pilots stammered. "One of gargantuan size. It came up out of the earth, summoned by the subject herself!"
"How do you mean..." Shell paced towards them as several crew ponies leaned in from their stations to listen. "...'summoned?'"
"She flew out of a deep cave precisely when we had engaged her two allies. No sooner had we noticed her, but this gigantic beast of a creature attacked us and tore our gliders to ribbons!"
"We were lucky to escape with our lives," another pilot managed. "The last we checked, the mammoth centipede was making its way into Foxtaur."
"Where the subject and her two pony companions had retreated?" Shell asked.
"Affirmative, sir," one pilot said, nodding.
Another exclaimed in fright, "It must be the chaos inside of her! If she can command creatures of the underworld at her leisure, then there's no telling how many armies it will take to—"
"Let me be the stallion to strategically assess the situation," Shell said. "For all we know, this was simply a case of extreme coincidence."
"She's not of this world, Prime Enforcer," one pilot said with a trembling sensation. "I'm telling you, we need an entire armada to take her out!"
"We'd have better luck defeating the Xonans than her!" another said.
Shell exhaled slowly, his face stuck in an iron scowl. He glanced over at Captain Filta.
Filta glanced back. He blinked, then suddenly woke up to the stupidly huge number of crew members who were frozen in place. "I'm sorry, did the Queen grant us shore leave?! Back to your posts, you lazy cloud kickers!"
The ponies jolted, galloping back to their stations, resuming the tiresome task of hauling up the shredded remains of the crashed gliders.
Sighing, Filta turned and spoke in a low voice to Shell. "I assure you, Prime Enforcer, that my stallions are not prone to exagerration. We've fought creatures across the countryside of the Confederacy before, but this tale? I'm not sure what to make of it. What if there is some truth to the account? What if this flying pony is capable of calling on powers that are beyond us?"
"Simple," Shell droned. "We become more powerful."
"I fear that my crew and the stallions of the other two ships do not have the firepower to combat an army of giant centipedes."
"Then it is a good thing that I am currently taking responsibility for them and not you." Shell paced over to the edge of the ship, squinting towards the east side. "What situation calls for is clear-headed thinking. Even if the subject was to become ten times more powerful overnight, we still have the resources, the lay of the land, and the firepower to make her escape from Ledomare an improbable scenario."
"If she's made it into Foxtaur, then we have problem," Filta said. "That forest is denser than anything this side of the warfront. The Council has only granted us three warships. That's not enough to cover all avenues of exit from the thick woods."
"Then we use every edge that we can," Shell said. "We already have one." He pivoted on his metal cast and spoke down towards the lower deck beyond a steep set of steps. "Enforcer Josho. Is there anything that your... present skills can lend us?"
"Unnngh..." The rotund stallion leaned against a set of barrels, rubbing his strobing horn. "Potatoes and bread. Mild spices. Could sure use a campfire and a kettle..."
Shell took a deep breath to calm himself. "Locations, Josho. I need any visions of landmarks you may be getting."
"Clusters... of Southern Oak," Josho mumbled. He stared blearily at the two officers. "Brown vines... almost rust red. West Xonan moss..." His eyes widened. "Most of the trees around them are dead or dying. It's like they're in nature's latrine."
Filta spoke up to Shell, "There's a line of petrified oak reported two leagues north of the nearest edge to Foxtaur. That could be a place to start."
Shell nodded. "Send the Steel Wing to fly over that spot, and have our two accompanying vessels fly fifteen leagues north and south. Once we've prepped the other gliders, we'll run recon between the three warships. I want a visual from an eye in the sky before we drop any troops down in those spark-forsaken woods."
"Aye, sir."
"Also, Captain." Shell stole Filta's gaze with a hardened stare. "I am no stranger to the exagerrated tales that air crew stallions are prone to making. The less said about this... arthropod incident, the better."
"I understand."
Shell's nostrils flared as he gazed off towards the glowing east horizon. "The last thing we need is for the common Ledomaritan public to get wild ideas about our mission out here."
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Don't underestimate the Dash, Shell.
Also:
i.imgur.com/fETiA.png
Ah, Rainbow continues to build her mythos, intentionally or not. This mana/ley line link is getting rather bothersome, however.
Ah, the rumor mill strikes again. Nothing kills morale faster than a bad rumor. I see this possibly being used to Dashie's advantage. Psychological warfare, PSYOPS, is a mother...
No push-ups, ):(. Though if Josho don't get a serious case of ass-whupped-itis, you may want to stretch out.
Just something.
1986616 I don't think you're in the military if you don't give out push-ups, it's just some good positive reinforcement.
1986616
Why Josho? He's nowhere near as much of a dick as Shell is. Josho's just a drunkard.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR EXCELLENT GUIDANCE AND LEADERSHIP, SIR. WE'LL GET RIGHT ON THAT.
Please let Shell be the victim of a mutiny. I can't see the Ledomaritan troops taking many more beatings and continuing to follow Shell's command. I'd love to see him thrown overboard from his stupid little dirigible.
1986907
Because Shell has an excuse: he's a career soldier who has done nothing in life but serve his country. He HAS nothing but the military and his country. He's basically brainwashed himself. He doesn't see what he does as evil, just a nessecary to defeat the enemy. Josho, on the other hand, is a fat, dishonorable drunk who laughs at others pain simply because he enjoys it.
1986861
How very true. Now beat your fucking face until the stupid dies!
...When are they going to get to my city? I like having a city in my name.
(I love exploiting coincidences!)
1986980 But that will hurt..
Methinks Shell is starting to lose his marbles.
Headlong Flight - Rush
Then we better tell them all as soon as possible!
1986908
We all saw how horribly the Joker got overthrown, right? I'd love it if Shell got muntiny'd, but I get the feeling that's not gonna happen...
1986908
Wow, that was the funniest thing I've read all day
The Josho-Pilate link is beginning to bug me a bit. Wouldn't running OASIS flat and then recharging it effectively break the link? Furthermore, the link has already been exploited a fair bit to keep the plot moving. If it keeps being ridden like SS&E's thesaurus, then the story is gonna become a bit flat during this chase arc :L
I do so love Enforcer Shell.
This story man, just so friggin good!
My only regret about this story is that it was a giant centipede and not a giant millipede
1986992
When a DI tells you to do push-ups, you don't whine about it. You do your fucking push-ups until he tells you to stop. Judging by his reaction, that may be a while. Just be thankful you aren't under Shell's command.
1986908
lol you made my day~!
*cue immediate cut to overexaggerated newsreel tape, followed by citizens in a mass panic*
1986908
DAMN AF THAT WAS GREAT. I ALSO LOVE YOU FOR USING THE WORD DIRIGIBLE
Darn, I was hoping their giant war balloon wouldn't be able to track them properly in the dense forest, but that stupid connection thing is keeping Shell informed.
Pilate is a Horcrux! Or his magical headgear is, anyway.
1986604
Boil 'em, mash 'em stick 'em in a stew...
1987393. Only just now starting to lose his marbles? Assuming he wasn't crazy when he first met him, the scenes down in the machine probably drove him absolutely insane.
She's the goddamn Austraeoh.
Ughh. I'm going to have so much reading to do once I pick this story back up.
IC why you update so fast? I want to read end of ponys
1986980
Last time I checked, soldiers fight better when they don't have a bashed up face.
Also, there's a missing Eagle, Globe, and Anchor on your cap. Might wanna get that fixed bro.
1989692
"Beat your face" means do push-ups. Also known as "grab some real estate," "kiss the ground," and "make out with Mother Earth."
Also, I thought about joining the Marine Corps, but since I have the ability to count to twenty-one without getting arrested for indecent exposure, I was overqualified and had to join the Army instead.
1990017
Whoa. WHOA. Them's fightin' words. 1989692 may not speak drill sergeant, but at least he knows who does the man's job in our little gun club.
1990221
Right, right. If ever I need something killed, punched, smashed, or broken, I know where to go.
This story has messed with my headcanon so much, as soon as Discord showed up in the new episode I hated him, way more then a grown man should hate a cartoon character...
1990221
Oorah!
1991682
I know right? I watched Return to Harmony with a friend a couple days ago and I almost cried when the spell started to fail.
I love being a battleship.
Meanwhile on the bad guy zeppelin
WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE'RE OUT OF POTATO.
Oh if only that Pegasus didn't stole all those potatoes...
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
So Shell is still hot on Dash's tail. That's never good. Also, that thing about the centipede causing a panic may contain some foreshadowing...and that O.A.S.I.S. link Josho has is really bringing Dash down. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
Weelllllll that was a handy coincidence there Dash, ;now everyone is even more frightened of you. Bravo.
Onwards!
It's not coincidence, I'm tellin' ya! She's protected!
It is bewildering to see that Shell would still pray to the Spark, all the while hunting her down for imprisonment and abuse...
Yay for coincidence!
Dash is totally this uber powerful creature of chaos that will defeat you forever. 
Run, Dash, run! We all know your terrible secret... 
Rainbow is the avatar of KAOS clearly
Man, if I could summon massive centipedes . . .
Shit, Dashie
you screw and save yourself without even knowing it
you oblivious god damn angel
So, naturally, everyone is going to know an even more exaggerated version of what happened by the end of the day.
4751029 even if you could, would you really want to?
"'Simple,' Shell droned. 'We become more powerful.'"
If only it was that simple.
6469138
There would be no war with Xona if they could 'just' become stronger
6508567
Too bad all of the Lardomarians are to lame to have Guy Sensei in their army. Then that would be possible ... or Rainbow Danger Dash
.
"Hey!"
Well. I'm hungry now. Lunch break boiz! Gotta energize for the marathon!
I just absolutely love the detail written in this paragraph. It really makes Shell sound awesome.