Beloved Household
"I was studying about Xonan linguistic history," Pilate said as he shuffled across the cottage's kitchen. He felt forward, made contact with the counter, and slid his way to the left by hoof. After four paces, he stopped beneath the cabinets, reached up, and pulled out two bowls. "If the old texts are to believed, it would appear that Xona had one singular language before they became a militaristic monarchy." He reached into a tray to his left, felt through a bag, and pulled free a head of cabbage. With expert hooves, he grasped a knife and began cutting the green leaves into slices to make a salad. "It was the decision of Burrowhoof, the first king of Xona, to assign language to each class of ponies. The laboring class kept the common language. The language of neighboring kingdoms' aristocracy was used to command the Xonan army. Finally, a dead language from an arcande religion was used for diplomacy and regal ceremony. By creating a pyramid hierarchy of languages, the king was able to exert his command over the seperate sects of living. It might explain why Xona today remains so formidably powerful. They've been following a rigid system for nearly twice as long as the Maretriarchal Confederacy."
"Mmmmhmmm," Belle remarked, sitting at a table and leaning a smiling chin on her hoof.
"As a matter of fact, back in the age of Wessamare, several military tribunals had to learn the middle tier Xonan language of our neighbors in order to barter weapons technology. Granted, that was one hundred years before the Eastern Incursion that started this long-standing mess to begin with." Pilate chuckled, a slight zebra braying noise escaping his lips. He slid over to a sink and clapped his hoof over a faucet handle. With a glow of bright mana, a crystal-mounted dispenser sprayed water over the bowl of leaves, washing them. "I know it may seem as trivial information, but I'm quite happy Dalton lent us this book a month ago. It's nice to know a little bit about... our country's enemy..." He paused in speech, his ears twitching. "Belle?"
She sat up straight in her seat. "Hmm?"
"Are... you okay? You've been quite ever since—"
"I just love listening to you think out loud," she said with a soft smile. "It's positively riveting."
"Heh. If you say so."
"I mean it!" she exclaimed, briefly frowning. "You won't believe how many hours a day I spend listening to protocol or Garnet spewing out nationalist dogma—"
"Shhhh... Beloved, be careful," he murmured. "They fixed the faulty sentry by roadside while you were gone last."
She winced, biting her lip and glancing out the window towards where an obelisk lingered beyond a few pine trees. Her breath escaped her heavily. "I swear, sometimes it feels safer inside those concrete hallways..."
"I do not envy you, Belle."
"I just wish I could take you with me sometimes," she said, her voice choking slightly. She lowered her head, her eyes closed. "Between sequencing, there is nothing but sitting and feeling anxious for hours—even days at a time."
"Belle..." He turned around and paced evenly towards her. Feeling the table, Pilate crept his way over to the mare and nuzzled her gently. "I wish more than anything that I could join you too. But we both know our places here in Blue Shelf. It's a lucky thing that we're allowed in this community to begin with. I die everytime they take you away, but I can't help but think how worse off we'd be back in Mountain Fall."
"I know," she said, shuddering. "I just feel so bad for you..."
"For me?"
"I never wanted it to be this way, Pilate," she murmured, opening her moist eyes. She caressed his muzzle. "Especially after all you've been through..."
"Hey..." He felt her lips, smiling. "No sad faces. Hmm? How long did Garnet say you were here for again?"
"Mmmm... Seven days."
"Then let us make the best of them!" He said, grinning brightly. "You'll never guess what the poststallion dropped by here while you were gone!"
"Is it a new horn?" she mutterd with a bitter smile.
"Oh Belle. We'd have sooner won the war. Ahem." Pilate leaned back. "O.A.S.I.S."
The plate attached to Pilate's brow flickered with glowing runes. At the same exact time, the blue sphere on his choker brightened, detached, and hovered between the couple with a magical hum.
"Fetch." He commanded vocally. "Brass container."
The sphere flitted off into the bedroom on the other end of the tiny cottage.
Belle looked after it. "It seems to be a bit slower than normal." She turned and spoke in Pilate's direction. "Has it been losing its charge faster?"
"I recalibrated it a few times myself," Pilate said. "I think it just needs some pure energy to give it a new boost."
"Ugh... It's so frustrating!" Belle grumbled. "I built the darn thing. I should at least be able to charge it up."
Pilate gently caressed her stub of a horn. "You think I married you because your magic could lift me off my hooves any more than the sound of your voice?"
"I think you married me because I needed a zebra to make me salad really bad," Belle said.
"Hahah! Well at least Garnet doesn't need you for your culinary skills."
"Brrrr..." Belle shivered. "I shudder to think."
The sphere hovered back, levitating a brass cylinder in a blue field of light.
"Ah. Here we go." Pilate lifted his forelimbs up towards the humming noise. He clasped the cylinder and slid it open as the sphere rejoined the choker on his neck. "I think you'll find something in here that will lift your spirits." He pulled out a scroll of paper and passed it to Belle.
Belle took it. She leaned over, her eyes squinting. She gasped halfway through reading the parchment. "The University got a new extension to its science wing! They received enough funds to expand on the biomagica curriculum!"
"Heheheh..." Pilate nodded. "I think your colleagues are worshipping your name just as we speak."
"Oh wow!" Belle's voice reached a high pitch as she brought a hoof to her blushing face. "It says here that the student occupancy has increased by twenty-five percent!"
"I'm guessing that puts Mountain Fall on the map for Ledomaritan learning."
"Oh Pilate, that makes this whole thing almost worth it!"
"The Council of Ledo may be an intimidating bunch," Pilate said, "But they certainly know how to keep a promise."
"I feel... I feel..."
"What, beloved?"
"We should do something!" Belle glanced at him, smiling. "We should celebrate!"
"Erm..." He fidgeted, chuckling nervously. "There really isn't all that much here to do. And I'd rather not singe my mane on one of the mana fences like last time..."
"Come on! I've been cooped up in the belly of the earth for days and... and..." Belle sighed long. "Oh, how I wish I could take you places. The places I've seen..."
"Places you've seen?" Pilate asked. "Wait..." His metal brow furrowed. "Did... Did you succeed with the sequencing?"
She sat there, biting her lip.
His gray eyes gazed past her. "You... You've synchronized successfully with the subject?"
"It's... It's a very detailed account..."
"Belle! That's... That's remarkable! Nopony else has passed the first initial tests! No wonder they haven't shipped us out of here!" He gasped, "If you're merging this intensely with the subject, then that must mean we're that much closer to making progress with the experiment!"
"Yeah..." She gulped and ran a hoof through her mane. "Progress..."
He cocked his striped head to the side. "You don't sound all that excited."
"Well, Pilate, the thing is—"
Just then, there was a knock on the door and two antler'd faces peered in. "Hello!" chimed a bright-eyed, female antelope. "Anypony home!"
"Is that who we think it is?!" exclaimed her smirking husband. "Bellesmith! Since when did they dig you out of that giant sarcophagus of Ledo's?!"
Belle winced. She leaned in and whispered into Pilate's ear. "I'll tell you all about it later." Turning around and clearing her throat, she burst into a neighborly smile. "Kenna! Baxter! How good it is to see you!"
"Forgive us for being nosy," the female anteloupe exclaimed. "But we heard something about celebrating."
"Would you like to join us for some rest and relaxation around the fire?! We heard news of you coming back and thought it would be a swell welcome."
"Heh..." Belle dug at the kitchen floor and chuckled. "Swell? Why, it'd be awesome!"
The couple giggled and smirked at the unicorn. "Well, I don't know about 'awesome,' unless of course Dalton lent you some magic flame potion along the way here."
"Heh. If only." Belle gestured towards the sink. "Just give us an hour or so to have dinner together and we'll join you. Right, Pilate?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, sure, honey."
"Great! Just don't be too late!" Kenna exclaimed, trotting away.
"There's curfew up on here on the surface, remember?" Baxter added as he departed.
"I hope you don't mind, right, beloved?" Belle asked.
Pilate was gazing off into space, his lips pronouncing a two syllable word over and over again with a puzzled expression on his face.
"Pilate?"
"Hmm? Oh, not at all."
"You seem to have something on your mind."
He smirked and tapped the metal plate on his skull. "And who do you think I owe that to?"
The two chuckled together, nuzzled one more time, and finished preparing a humble dinner in the setting sunlight.
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Awesome
1500115 Since when are you a zebra?
He's blind.
And Bellesmith, apparently, used to be a unicorn.
On the surface, it must seem like such a peaceful little community. Humble, even. But I think we know better now.
1500119
Since around the same time I became a "Beloved," I suppose. Existential introspection isn't something I ever really pondered outside which exceptions for extreme self-doubt; the construct of my being isn't something I ever spent too much time on, it just is.
In any case, the LOST vibes are strong up here on the surface, so is the mana.
1499833
Guess what, it worked !
I shouldn't be reading 1984 while in the middle of this story, just too much dystopia going on. But i'll keep reading both anyways
Ledomare sure seems a lot more diverse than other nations like Equestria, which is surprising considering the militant nature of their society. I would've figured racial tensions would be high in a nation such as this.
Title gained :beloved
Meet pilate
Hellmaster-
Pilate noticed that she used the word 'awesome'.
We can only hope that her connection to Dash becomes so strong that Belle decides to rescue her.
So, any clues what that two syllable word is?
I have decided i like this.
1469455 Your profile pic.... your comment... I did barrel rolls.
1501137 Awsome.
1500488 I totally blushed when I saw that
Oh god this is great.
I am really enjoying this.
A maretriachal confedaracy, eh?
That would support what people were saying about the nation being named after it's leader. I wonder when we'll meet Ledo?
What I found most interesting about this chapter is how dissimilar the setting is to the structure of the society and the underlying themes. The greenery, the wildlife, it all creates an idyllic landscape which is juxtapposed to the strong dystopian vibes (sentries, military prescence, the "removal" of those foals to what is probably a military camp or a work-site). It's really interesting, and I hope it gets explored even further, especially why it is like that.
1500259
Hey, Pilate, real quick: How do you pronounce your name? For some reason, every time I read it, I hear Pih-law-tee.
(Also congrats on getting into the story.
)
I GET IT! I FINALLY GETT IIT!!!
Ledosmaretainia is Airstrip One from 1984! Except, rather than FULLY control the people, they actually LET YOU HAVE your own BELOVED! You arent stuck with whatever lame wife you got, but you ARE limited in how often you can see your beloved! Its brilliant! The automated sentries in the woods, the militarism, the monitoring of everything and anything you ever say or do, its all out of 1984. Except they give you your true love. Occasionally.
I GET IT!
I got it, right? right?
...guys?
1501493
Pilot.
1501720
There are too many influences to even count, but 1984 does seem to play a role.
1501720
Nailed it
1501123 And that she doesn't lose herself to the brute force of Rainbow's personality.
Also I'm really loving the world building that we're seeing here! And I can't help but speculate as to where on the Machine this confederacy is. The scenery brings to mind somewhere like Northwestern United States.
Anteloups! So, this is a collection of equine-like species, then. I kind of thought so while I read last chapter.
Still curious as to exactly where and when this setting is, as opposed to Austareoh.
I'm loving the way small details are hinted at, rather than explicitly stated in this story - i.e. Pilate's blindness
1502688
Thanks, you studly zebra, you.
Well, this looks like a moderately totalitarian society.
If I ever get referenced, I hope that I'm an insane math & computer nerd.
So... Bellesmth and Pilate are from a now-conquered country? And they took Belle's horn... well, they must have removed all the unicorns' horns. Geez.
1503589
I know, right?
1503606
It has been described in pretty immaculate detail thus far, I'm inclined to agree, there is some level of "artificial" happening here beyond "the world is a machine."
1503782
Pilate's mana skull/necklace seem to be the result of said conflict, but I was still under the impression Belle's horn was the result of sequencing. I see what you mean, though, she's unable to use magic due to her "stub."
1503982
I thought it was too, especially after the "your horn looks shorter" thing! But then they said... about the..... aargh, now I'm all mxed up and contradicting myself. Oh well. I'll assume it's both until told otherwise.
Well, if anyone was STILL arguing about whether or not Eljunbyro was a sequel to Austraeoh, they're linked to each other in the story descriptions. Come on now, IC/SS&E clearly knows how to answer our questions without a single word.
1504027
Either way, the horn's status is a result of Ledomare and the conflict. Belle says she built (and maintained) Pilate's choker/skull combo and seems to have been pretty high up in a major learning institution. I'm guessing that after the conflict she cut a deal with Ledo (or was otherwise conscripted) that saved her institution, but at the expense of her freedom and horn.
I'm guessing either the horn is expended through sequencing, or that it was removed in order to work with the machinery.
1504070
You're right... she IS still a doctor, which means they didn't strip her of anything else (titles, etc.). But it must not have happened TOO recently, since she seems to have mostly come to terms with it, and doesn't seem traumatized.
1501720
I'm cool with being Big Brother.
I've been neglecting reading recently. Sorta glad I did because I get all these chapters at once
1502805
This is my thought as well. Rainbow is amazing in a number of ways, but I think perhaps her personality is her strongest asset.
Well, it's an asset against an enemy, anyway. We want Belle to be motivated to free Dash, not so overwhelmed by Dash's personality that we wind up with two of her.
So Pilate is blind and his magic metal majigger has something to do with Belle, Belle is magic-less, this place has lots of diversity (unlike every other setting so far, which mainly consisted of unicorns and/or earth ponies - still no sign of pegasi) and there are creeps watching you at all times. I think I'm following. And yay, Belle is spreading the awesome, literally. Now go save Rainbow Dash, already. Onward!
A light hearted chapter, must mean something big will happen very soon.
Hope keeping myself away from the story for 5 days will be worth it!
This chapter deserves a quite
Yay, police states!
Their love makes me ill. "I die whenever you leave"
Happy Birthday to me, and Comfortably Numb.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
So some random antelopes show up in this chapter. Umm...why not, I guess. Also, Belle says "awesome," so we know that she's picked up at least some of Dash's personality. Actually, after reading this chapter and seeing the antelopes, I developed a theory. A completely ludicrous theory, but a theory. But it's a bit flimsy, so until I get some more information on this Blue Shelf land, I'm going to abstain from sharing it with you guys yet. These are my thoughts do far.
-MASH
P.S.1706534
IIIIIt's Reggie's singing telegram, I hope he finds it well!
He's invited to a party! 'Cause we think he's really swell.
He is turning (insert age here) years old, we know he'll make the most!
Just remember that you won't beat him to the first post.
Too tired to do the rest.
This place is in the East. Might have made getting RD's body easier, but damn, that would be a big contrast to the earlier desert.
RD come back!
One day.....I'll catch up with you guys....one day
Why, it's a veritable menagerie in here.
1518468
Zebra husband and antelope wife... if Baxter's a pony, I wonder if this means that the Beloveds on the surface are all non-ponies? And in spite of any diversity elsewhere, power seems to rest solely in the hooves of the unicorn military complex.
Goddess I love the world building of this story.
>You've been quite ever since
Is that a typo, or did you forget a word?
So apparently they're trying to merge Bellesmith and Rainbow Dash or something of that sort
Also, what could this word be? 
Dash's awesome personality is rubbing off. The awesome will be doubled before long!
Well, being late to the party is an understatement. Throught the weeks I've been reading this series, I commend you dashie for your awesome analysis posts!
3683796
It's a typo, fool.
Hmm, Belle seems to be the short-horned equivalent of Twilight.