What Destiny Takes
Prime Enforcer Shell stepped closer. He stood before Belle, staring the mare down. His eye traveled over her shaved mane, across her midnight satchel, and finally on the sight of the hyperventilating little foal beside her.
"You certainly are taking up interesting company," he said in a dull tone. "What became of the coward from Franzington? Did the managlider crash end him?"
Belle stood stock still, saying nothing.
Shell exhaled quietly before saying, "No matter. We will find him eventually. Even if it's just a corpse, all traitors belong to me." He turned towards two of his heavily armored soldiers. "Signal the search team. We finally found our target."
"Aye, sir." The nearest officer pivoted to speak into a sound-stone located in his shoulderpad. "Tertiary Target has been found. Repeat. Tertiary Target has been found. Groups Beta and Ceti rendezvous in the northwest warehousing district."
"Confirmed. Heading towards your location."
"How..." Belle tried backtrotting, only to bump into a strong stallion's chest. "H-how did you—?"
"My good Doctor, please..." Shell sighed as he turned to glare at her. "How many times do I have to prove to you that, when the safety of Ledomare is at stake, I always get what is requested of me? The only reason we're both here is because of the manic, suicidal actions of a single stallion whose strength I had sorely underestimated in a moment of pure triumph. I shall not make that mistake again. You will be escorted to the Steel Wing, just south of Blue Nova, where you will join the experimental pony in incarceration."
"You..." Belle's chestnut eyes twitched. "You... c-captured Rainbow Dash?"
"She was on her way north, presumably to perform some foolish raid on the Northern Facility." Shell's features passed through the sun's glare as he paced icily around her. "The Steel Wing intercepted her just hours ago. According to Captain Filta, she put up quite a fight. I almost wish I was there to see her wings torn off by cannonfire." His hooves scuffed to a stop. "Alas, we can't be everywhere at once. Duty comes before celebration, after all. But I wouldn't expect you to understand that. You know nothing beyond your own selfish cowardice, Dr. Bellesmith, and look at what it's cost you. First a beloved... and now a friend..."
Belle's features paled. With her mouth agape, she hung her head towards the dank floor of the alleyway. She sensed Shell leaning in close enough to feel his breath on her cheek.
"Why did you come here, Doctor? What brought you to this city?"
The mare bit her lip. She began to shake uncontrollably.
"Why didn't you flee west? Or east?" With a cold hoof, Shell yanked Belle's gasping face to stare into his scowl. "I want to know what brought you to this place in particular." His eye traveled down to her satchel, then back up to her face. "Was it a secret that the experimental pony imparted you? She hasn't talked since she was reeled on board the Steel Wing, battered and broken like the shredded meat I'm going to make of you if you keep up this infernal charade any longer."
Belle gritted her teeth; she was powerless to stop the tear or two from trickling out of her eyes.
Shell brought his hoof down. He leaned back, exhaled, and looked aside at Kera. His eye darted back to Belle. "I can see that this is going to be difficult, as always." He motioned to a nearby guard, then pointed at the little filly. "You should have thought of that before you brought a child into the mix."
Belle stammered. "Wh-what?"
"Nopony in her right mind would care for a common street urchin," Shell said while a meaty soldier stomped over towards the tattooed foal. "The screams of this country's starving filth continue undaunted every evening. Tonight, I suspect, will be no different."
"Belle, I-I'm scared..." Kera backtrotted in the shadow of the guard.
"You wouldn't d-dare!" Belle exclaimed.
"For Queen Ledo, without hesitation," Shell practically snarled. His eye became a knifepoint. "The question is, would you?"
"Belle!" Kera gasped, then shrieked in pain as the guard bent her forelimb at a rough angle.
"No!" Belle shouted. She jerked forward, only to be restrained in the hooves of two heavy guards behind her. "For Spark's sake, don't do this!"
"You have the power to do that which needs to be done, Doctor!" Shell's voice resonated like a brass cymbal across the crooked alleyway. Drops of water and stabs of light christened the crowded niche as his shadow sliced across the mare's wretching face. "You always have! Tell me what secrets the winged pony exposed you to! Without them, I won't be able to continue the experiment!"
"I... I..."
"Augh!" Kera shrieked again, doubling over in agony as the soldier applied pressure on her fragile little shoulder.
Belle gnashed her teeth. A wave of pain washed through her head, and she clenched her aching eyes shut. In her dizziness, she envisioned an unmarked grave the size of hers and Kera's bodies combined. The world spun into the ether without them, neither a slice nor a circle, and it was powered darkly by a mutated pegasus cocooned in Ledomaritan silver. She tried to breathe, to squeak, to scream, but nothing came out. She remained still, tearful, mute. Loyal.
Just then, Kera made a new sound—an angry grunt. "Nnngh!"
"Gaaah!" the stallion breathed in shock.
Belle's moist eyes flew open. In the first blink, she saw Kera miraculously slipping free from the heavy-set guard. Snarling, the filly spun and flared her Xonan horn at the stallion.
With a blast of bright blue mana, the soldier was knocked back so that he collided with one of the two holding Belle from behind.
Kera broke into a brisk gallop, making for the far end of the corridor.
"Kera!" Belle shrieked. "Don't—"
"End the runner," Shell droned.
Belle heard a manarifle cocking beside her left ear. Gritting her teeth, she bucked her rear limbs blindly.
"Ooof!" The guard fell back, firing awkwardly skyward.
The hovercraft above veered away in time to dodge the blast. A chunk of granite was blown out of the building's wall, and it rained a thick stream of pebbles down onto the scene.
Belle galloped forward, knocked aside the first stallion trying to get up, and ran around the bend right as the rain of stones fell between her and the tight group of enforcers. Several manablasts ripped through the air behind her, but missed by a hair on either side of her kicking limbs. Shell shouted something, but the mare was beyond earshot, hearing nothing but the rush of blood through her skull.
The world bobbed and weaved. Twenty paces ahead of her, like a flicker of pale candlelight, Kera could be seen rounding a corner.
"Kera!" Belle shouted, galloping faster. She felt the echo of angry soldiers' hooves vibrating through her bones and teeth. "Kera, it's me! Wait for me!"
"I-I don't want to g-go back!" Kera's voice was a distant rattle of fractured bells. "I won't let them!"
"Kera, please!" Belle rounded corner after corner. Panting. Aching. The world rumbled behind her, laced with manashots and hovercraft jets. An entire continent of murderous militants caved in all over her. "Slow d-down a little! Don't leave me! Please!"
"Belle! I... I found a way!" Kera's voice was cold, muffled. Belle rounded one last bend, and there she saw the filly at the far end of a straightaway, facing a concrete wall with glowing blue seams. She pressed her tiny self up to the structure and tilted her shimmering horn forward. "There's a passage here! Like the others! I-I can open it!"
"Kera..." Belle looked behind her in mid-gallop. The long, looming shadows of their pursuers slithered around the edge of the dead end. "Kera, please! Hurry!"
"Just a second! I'll get us through!"
"Kera, there's no time—" Belle tripped over a mound of garbage. "Aaaugh!" She fell flat on her chest, sliding through a splashing puddle. "Mmmnngh... Unngh..." Dizzy, she struggled on bruised limbs to get up. A glass bottle in front of her rotated to a stop, and as it did so, it reflected the pale image of a one-eyed enforcer.
"It's okay!" Kera shouted as the door before her slid open. Blue light and cold air blew on the foal's figure like a heavenly kiss. "We're free!"
The reflection in the bottle held a hoof out. Another soldier passed Shell a manarifle. He squatted. He aimed. A flash of blue.
Belle sputtered, "Kera! Get down—" Her voice was swallowed by a stream of burning magic streaking past her ear.
The filly didn't answer. At first, she didn't even move. Finally, after the crackling in the air had dissolved, she shuffled around. The expression on her tattooed face was almost apologetic, until the shock wore out. Kera gargled up blood, as red and rich as the fountain springing forth from her little belly. She joined the puddles in a doll-like flop, lying stiller than stones.
With fitful, spastic breaths, Belle crawled towards her. She flopped and collapsed twice, but nonetheless continued her numb scurry through the refuse until she squatted by the tiny shell of a foal. She reached down, her hoof brushing through those bushy green bangs until she felt the warmth seeping away from the soft pale coat beneath. Kera's eyes gazed forever into the misery and detritus between them. There was no magic left to be found in all that gloss.
Someway, somehow, Belle must have seen where it vanished to, and it ripped the breath out of her in a choking sob. She curled over, wrapping her forelimbs around Kera's limp head and neck, cradling the foal to her golden body as her lungs expanded once more, only to launch wail after wail, ricocheting off the cold walls of the street like hollow bones. No matter how closely she cuddled the filly, the warmth would not return. It drifted away in her tears, like so much hope and color, until even the stripes receded as well, being flung overboard with everything that the mare had ever believed in.
And before she could sob the loss of that too, strong hooves yanked her back, fastening the mare's hooves in shackles. She shrieked and struggled, fitfully scraping at the dirtied floor as Shell and his enforcers dragged the mare away from the wall, where Kera's body lay like a rag of meat, one with the garbage of Blue Nova.
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well... I did NOT see that coming.
No...
Holy shit. Oh my god. What the hell IC, just what the hell.
NO!!!!!!! Why?!?!?!
Welp. I was going to make some silly remark about Kera's malnutrition, but I guess we're past caring about that.
[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-EuCUg2Mpg]
What a perfectly emotional chapter short on details except those of the utmost emotional importance.
Congratulations, Shell. You just gave her something to fight for, beyond her own quest for knowledge and desire to reunite with her friends and beloved.
Celestia have mercy on what passes for your soul.
You're breaking my heart!
Why are you putting Belle through so much?
Fuuuuu.....
I was afraid of this when I saw the chapter title....
Poor Kera....
Belle is almost certainly still sequencing or something.
...right?
What?
No.
Oh for god's sake please no.
I read the words but I can't believe in them.
This is just.
Damn.
No.
Kera keeps leading Belle, there are no details about the surroundings, everything is immediate, just like a dream. Belle can't keep it straight, all the threats are hyperbolic and imagined. There's a herd of enforcers, then there are only 5? Wasn't Shell chasing the others just a second ago? The headaches? This isn't reality.
Nightshade? Maybe. Residual effects of getting ripped from a sequence? Even more maybe. Could it actually be Shell using dream manipulation? Well, there was that chapter early on in italics where he was torturing a pony with "a coat like golden silk," i.e. some incarnation of Belle, so another maybe. It's all inconsequential right now, though, other than that Belle isn't in reality.
2858031
Kera was becoming one of the main characters in the story! You can't just go off the beaten path and kill a main character!
Lies! With Roarke's Ship they could have easily out-runned the steelwing and its mana-gliders!
Hopefully 
SHELL YOU F*CKER
I-I... Hate... Y-You... F-F-Forever
*sheds manly tears and angrily shuts off computer*
Jesus tapdancing Christ. Can we please see him die?
2862131
Well, see, I don't think Shell mentioned anything about the other ponies onboard, now did he?
He implies Dash was flying alone and without a ship.
We know Crimson is on Roarke's ship with Imre and Tweak et al. Dash was having a dizzy spell, why would she exit the manaship? I mean, she'd provide cover, but Shell would bring this up if he knew about it. His lie in that case would be that he took down the manaship with Dash and Crimson, doubling the emotional stress for Belle who would have lost them both a second time. No, Shell doesn't know where Dash is and he doesn't know where Crimson is, he's going off they both knew last, ergo, how could he have captured Dash?
This does not narrow down the possibilities of what's behind the unreliable narration/dream sequence/sequence, sadly. It could still be Belle under residual sequencing, Shell using some sort of tech (though I doubt it) or Nightshade. Phoenix knew about all of this, and Nightshade was sequencing with him in order to interrogate him. Nightshade using the same tech to find Belle in her residual state (maybe via Kera's leylines or some other bullshit, like residual mana imprint left because of the abrupt end of the sequence, or even some sort of beacon Nightshade left after giving Belle Novus' sphere/memory) is more likely.
Does Shell even know about the crash? Phoenix does, certainly. More evidence that this is information gleamed form him. 2861847 posited elsewhere that this might be Phoenix's mind, and while that twist would be just the type for this author, I don't think the narrative has gone that far.
Here's the real zinger, why isn't Shell using Pilate as leverage? He's using Rainbow as something to hold over Belle to get her to answer questions, but telling her that PIlate is alive and that he's been captured (just the type of lie Shell would tell) is the ultimate piece of info to use, Imagine how Belle would react, the one-two punch of learning he's alive and then that he's captured. She would cooperate immediately. Meanwhile, this shell seems to only know what Belle, Phoenix and Kera do.
Further, the things happening here seem to just be manifestations of Belle's worst nightmares: getting captured by Shell, getting Kera killed, being reminded of ponies hurt along the way, so on and so on.
This isn't reality.
2862307 This is Austraeoh!
2862307
I'm going to believe this now because I can't believe IC would introduce a character in CH.1, forget about her for 60? odd chapters, then kill her. This is all a lie, dammit. LIES.
And plus, Shell doesn't know about the cannons exploding in Filta's face, so I doubt they could shoot anything even if they wanted to.
2862307
It's possible, although without precedent, that this chapter is a jump forward in the timeline. All the independent story arcs have been taking place simultaneously so far, but the odd inconsistencies could be explained. Belle and Kera have been on the run for some time, which is why Shell was able to get so close and why Kera's nerves were so frayed. Rainbow Dash could have left the manaship after she was certain Roarke, et al. were safe and ended up tangling with the Steel Wing, where she was captured. It's all a bit of a stretch, but I wouldn't put it beyond IC to suddenly shake things up like that.
God...damnit...no...
And were it me in that situation, I would turn around and bloodrage in Shell's direction, not giving a damn what he does. Vengeance must be enacted.
2862131
Oh, he's done it plenty of times before. Sadly, this seems to be no different.
SHELL, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!! THERE ISN'T A PLACE IN HELL DEEP ENOUGH FOR YOU TO HIDE IN!!!!! YOU WILL DIE, YOU WILL BURN, AND WE SHALL ALL WATCH AS YOU SUFFER AGONIZING DEFEAT AND PAIN!! WRITHE IN YOUR OWN FILTH YOU SWINE, FOR EVEN THAT SHALL NOT SAVE YOU FROM THE WRATH OF THOSE WHO STAND AGAINST YOU!!!!!
*sigh*
I will take great comfort in Shell's death, and I will be damned if I have to witness him take another innocent life.
2862701
I am curious, it's the one piece we that doesn't quite fit in. We know he never captured Dash, certainly, because we saw the Steel Wing literally backfire. That fact supports that Shell is lying, but is independent of the dreamscape. The wing-ripping imagery is important, though, because it's a symbol of the wind under Austraeoh. Shell ripping Dash's wings off, figuratively, would be Belle failing as Eljunbyro, and one of her greatest fears. Belle also feels protective of Kera, losing her would be another of Belle's greatest fears. So we've established that we're going through Belle's fears, and the zebra isn't mentioned once? That, to me, says dreamscape and limits the possibilities.
We've established Shell is a liar, and I think we've also established that this isn't reality. The first because we saw why it's impossible through Josho/EE's escape on top of failing to mention Crimson; the second because none of the local events are mentioned, Shell physically can't be there, and the descriptions are vague on setting but precise on emotional impact. Further, Kera and Shell are asking the same questions, and Kera is leading Belle into each scenario.
2862737
As AppleTank mentioned, the Steel Wing is backfiring at the moment. There's also no way Dash just leaves the manaship to attack the steel wing as a "distraction" or whatever, Roarke's ship would have to have been caught in a battle, first. Shell would mention this fact because it would drive the metaphorical screws into Belle, forcing anguish upon her by describing the downfall of her friends Rainbow and Crimson.
It can't be real... It can't be!!!!!
THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!!!!!!.
.....
Please?
*sniff*
pretty please?....
For some reason, I doubt this. Is it a dream, or is it reality? If it's reality, there's no way Shell's telling the truth. Roarke's got too many missiles on board for that. I'm having my doubts about the reality, but, then again, this wouldn't be the first time a potential major character gets killed rather brutally. CoughcoughSilvadelcoughcough.
But if this is a dream, what implications does that have? Well, it means that a good number of chapters are clearly false, first off. It means Phoenix might not be captured, and Kera might not be dead. But as for the content of the dream, that's another story entirely. The headaches might be a connection to Dash, just as Belle's transformation into a pegasus when she evaded Nightshade mi--
Oh.
That quite possibly might be where the dream starts.
Then, Belle might be comatose, and Nightshade using her body as a puppet. Oh my.
2862807
Oh yeah, another thing we forgot. Shell is currently running after Pilate, not Belle. I don't think Shell knows what's going on with Belle since it was Nightshade's personal guards or whatever after her. Maybe NS pulled out some of Belle's fears?
Wait. If this is a dreamscape, then did they never escape the lab in the first place? Kera did that thing with the lever, didn't she? Was Phoenix's sacrifice in vain?
Is this actually Phoenix's dreamscape, trying to break him down?
Nah, Inconsistencies with trying to ask Belle about things. Still an idea.
I call bullshit.
Things have felt off since Belle woke up in the alley (maybe earlier, too, but it's been more pronounced). And Pilate seems to be thinking the same thing, or something similar. Something is off. This feels like a dream, like some extension of sequencing. It seems awfully protracted to be a mere dream sequence or nightmare (some playing out of Belle's fears). And really, where the hell did Shell come from, anyway? Last I remember, he had been chasing Pilate (the zebra) & Co, down that hole and got blocked. Now, suddenly, he's showing up where Belle is. Did I miss something, or does that strike anyone else as strange? Not to mention that Kera had been acting funny. Her usual snarkiness had been suddenly and rather drastically replaced by fearfulness and inquisitiveness. I don't know, it smells fishy, and I'm not sure I believe it.
...of course, if I'm wrong...and it is real...and Kera's dead...then...
aminus3.s3.amazonaws.com/image/g0009/u00008791/i00672932/19c9719e96035bb6374674f040e0c8f0_large.jpg
2862981
I brought up the fact that Shell is chasing after the zebra in a few comments already, it was one of the original bases for my misgivings.
2862945
Are you thinking of this chapter? Belle saw herself as Dash, but no mention of wings, just falling off the building (with style, get the reference?).
The last time Belle is awake is here, right after getting ripped from the sequencing machine and feeling like she was Novus. I think she falls asleep at the end there, and that's the last bit of reality for Belle. Everything else actually happens, but when we return to Belle it is in a sequence or dream or whatever.
Keratin thinks it might be Phoenix we're looking at, but that's a little too much of a stretch, I think. He didn't know where Kera and Belle ended up.
If it's a dream or sequencing, then shouldn't it be, I dunno, italized?
But darn it Shell! I hate you so very much multiplied by a thousand burning suns!!!
Argh!!!
After reading all these comments on this chapter, I have three things to say.
1. Am I the only one who would rather this group of events was true?
2. We obviously know Shell is lying, and even if this was reality (which I'm starting to doubt) he has quite a lot to gain by lying.
3. If we're going to believe this is fake, I think we should realize that (a) nothing in this "dream sequence" tells anything to do with other groups. (b) Shell is asking for information on Rainbow Dash's importance, something he shouldn't care about, but Nightshade probably does quite a lot since Belle escaped her. And (c) Kera was asking the same questions involving RD that Shell apparently wants to know.
In all, I think Belle and Kera did in fact escape Nightshade a while back, and Pheonix was indeed captured and sequenced. I also think Belle never quite escaped her sequencing with Nightshade and was pulled back into it when she fell asleep in Kera's hideout. This has been Nightshade half sequencing with Belle and using it to interrogate her for information on RD since her Pegasus bone collection was destroyed by Kera. Therefore, Kera and Shell are both actually Nightshade trying to break and steal Belle's mind.
Or, this all actually happened and we are all looking too far into it so we can deny Kera's death. Personally, I like the "this is reality" idea better, but as 2862598 said, "This is Austraeoh" is the more likely approach.
I finally made the connection in my mind. Shell is Capitán Vidal from Pan's Labyrinth.
And I have never hated anyone more in my life.
2863028
I was talking more about this chapter.
It might honestly be Phoenix. Nightshade might be torturing him with the knowledge that Belle and Kera are being chased -- and possibly killed. That seems like a pretty good explanation, actually.
2863028 I believe 2862945 may be referring to the chapter where Belle escapes from Nightshade's sequencing and escapes Nightshade by turning into a pegasus and flying to the light (leaving the sequence)
I also agree with you on pretty much everything you've said. From Belle sequencing still in her sleep after her unorthodox escape from sequencing in the ring and escape from Nightshade to Kera's hideout, to the part about proving shell to be an illusion by not chasing Pilate or even mentioning him. Plus he pulled out all search parties when Belle was found. If he was still looking for Pilate, he would have obviously kept his search parties out.
Regardless if this was reality or some dreamscape, I'm still hoping for a Chaos-fueled Belle to beat the crap out of ...something, uhh, someone,,, anything
Gah. So many layers. I'm just gonna pretend nothing happened until the next chapter rolls out. Every situation looks bad.
Maybe Belle and RD's link has progressed to the point where Belle gets affected when RD has a chaotic episode. This might just be a fever dream brought on by the link. There were several mentions of Belle having a headache in this chapter and the last, all while RD is riding her episode out on Roarke's ship
What the fuck.
I hope Shell is put into a sequencing machine and forced to live every horrible thing he has done as a victim by chapter 200. After all nothing is worse than being imprisoned in your mind, death would be an act of mercy.
But... but I was looking forward to Kera opening up about where she was from...
Monstrous.
2862062
In this thread: Pilot stops a riot of Austraeoh readers.
Well. Looks like I decided to announce that I like Kera just in time to prevent some of you from hating me forever.
Looks like the last chapter was written with the express purpose of making us more sympathetic to Kera so you could hit us with her death.
Dirty pool!
2863086
I still think of him as pony Quaritch. Vidal isn't that badass.
I hate Shell, but as much of a bastard as he is, he's still one mean badass mother.
2863865
Too boring. Put him in a mine or something for the rest of his life.
I want Shell's end to be long, painful and ironic. I want him to watch is queen, country and meaning slowly ripped from him. I want to see him squirm, I want to see him broken, I want to see him shunned, I want to see him spat on by death and then thrown off the ferryman's boat.
In short, I AM PISSED
......
Shell...you are already broken to the point where you would slaughter a young filly for no reason...
you bear no right to be called equine. you are a monster... and like all monsters you shall be put down.
You will be put down by the one you who has no need to fear becoming a monster in the process..for she already is one.
KERA. WILL. BE. AVENGED!
and you Shell...you will be silenced.
Pilate has me convinced as of now - although I agree only most reluctantly, as putting all this in a simple dream would - in my opinion - be a waste of both space and plot potential. Killing off Kera would be a bold, impactful move. Even its direct results would be remarkable, which brings me to my next point.
2863028 It is the two very last paragraphs that set me off. There is a certain style to dream narrations, a certain kind of subjectivity and perspective linked to the dreaming character. They put a focus on her that doesn't feel right, just as the appearance of Shell in all this doesn't feel right - albeit not nearly as strong. This is likely just our authorious lord and master who is actively trying not to make us see it's all a dream, of course.
2864158 Yep. Scars 'n everything.
2864373 Aside from the dying thing, he has been at all of these already.
Also, yes, of course, it goes without saying that should this be real after all for some reason, Shell would of course be lying. Trusting him would be like believing letters written by Ramsay Snow - and there's absolutely no reason ever to believe in letters written by Ramsay Snow. Right? Right?
2862062
Oh please let this be true...