• Published 9th Mar 2013
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Innavedr - Imploding Colon



A broken party of friends struggles to reunite. Rainbow Dash continues to fly east.

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Belle's Book Club

"Belle!" Phoenix crawled across the metal room, wincing. "Bellesmith, speak to me!"

The mare winced, sitting up with the smoking tome in her grasp. "Yeowch..."

"Stop holding it!" Phoenix exclaimed, waving his forelimb about for emphasis. "It'll burn you!"

"Actually, uhm..." Belle stared down at the glowing book. "I can't even feel a thing."

"Oh jeez, d-did it paralyze you or something?"

"No, I mean, it's not hot at all..." Belle flipped the pages. Every rune within pulsed brightly, their fine lines like black cables aflame with rolling energy. "It's almost as if this book was written to house more than knowledge..."

"The hay do you mean?!"

"I... I think this was once a vessel, Phoenix," Belle thought aloud. "This must have been a container of sorts, used by ancient pegasi to protect the flame of the machine world. If that's true, then there was once... an organization... or a cabal that was entrusted with access to the subterranean chambers." Her lips pursed as the warmth of realization crossed her face. "That body that Rainbow Dash found in the cave must have been among them. Those skeletons that Nightshade had extracted—they must also belong to the group."

"I... I frankly don't understand it when you get into all of this ancient stuff, Belle..."

"That's quite fine, Phoenix," Belle said. She chuckled breathily before adding, "I don't think the knowledge was meant to be discovered easily. But it fell into the hooves of Rainbow Dash... Austraeoh... and now Eljunbyro..." She smiled. "You know what this means?"

"That... that you're d-destined to get it back to Rainbow?"

Belle's grin widened. "Exactly!"

Phoenix scratched his head beneath the stub of a horn. "But, if that means you're still destined to be Eljunbyro..." He furrowed his brow. "...shouldn't the other half of the equation still be involved?"

Belle's smile left. "Pilate..." A tear rolled down her golden cheek. "By the Spark, could he actually be—?"

The collapsed stairwell shifted from a telekinetic blow. Light shimmered as angry voices carved their way up onto the floor.

Phoenix gritted his teeth. "Belle..."

"Right..." Belle pocketed the glowing book within her satchel and hoisted Phoenix to his hooves. "The time for speculation is over. We got you, we got the location of Deep Ridge, and we got the flame." She spun around with him to face the ascending corridor and the exit beyond. "All we need to get now is—" Her pupils shrunk. "—fudge."

Sir Ordo and a line of angry guards stood before them, blocking their way with several manarifles raised.

"How..." Belle stammered, shuffling backwards. "How in Spark's name did they get up here...?"

Phoenix gulped, then leaned in towards her ear to whisper, "Remember that 'secret' path we first took to get in here to begin with?"

"Oh, yeah..." Belle winced with drooping ears. "Right..."

"You..." Ordo grumbled as he trotted icily towards the pair. "I should have expected no less..."

As he came closer, the stairwell to his side finally gave way. A second group of breathless Nightshade employees climbed up and formed a phalanx, training all of their weapons on the mare and the injured mercenary.

"This entire city is dissolving out from under us," Ordo grumbled. His eyes narrowed. "Enforcers are everywhere. Searonese are slipping in through the cracks. And now there's no word from Nightshade. Weren't you her captive?"

"I... I..." Belle bit her lip.

Suddenly, Ordo froze, and his eyes widened. "The... the flame!" His voice cracked as he pointed a trembling hoof at the empty metal dais. "Where did the flame go?! It's gone!"

"Uhm... sir?" A fellow guard motioned with his horn.

Ordo's twitching eyes followed the line of sight, and he noticed the glowing tome in Luna's midnight satchel. The ruby color of the light was undeniably familiar.

"How in Spark's name did you get that?!" Ordo stammered. His teeth grinded together as he stomped a hoof. "You stole the knowledge from Nightshade, didn't you?! She couldn't paralyze you the first time you fought in the sequencing spheres, and now you're here and she's not! What did you do to her?!"

"Nothing that she didn't bring upon herself," Belle said in a steely voice that even made Phoenix tremble.

"Just what are you?!" Ordo hollered. "A thief?! A renegade?! A spy sent from the Council of Ledo?!" He stomped his hooves again. "I don't care who you answer to! Do you have any idea what you've brought upon us today?! Upon this city?! Upon the whole Confederacy?!" Veins showed in the stallin's neck as he spat, "The Madame was going to bring about change! World peace! Technological and societal innovation! What good are you going to this world?! Huh?!"

"It's not her world," Belle droned. "It's not even yours or mine..."

"Well, you'd better get used to the world!" Ordo squealed. The guards on either side of him cocked their weapons as he pointed an angry hoof. "Because you're both about to spend eternity buried six feet under it! I hope you've made your peace with the Spark because today was the last day you drew breath—"

The wall behind the guards exploded. Bodies went flying—and shrieking—as fire and daylight poured into the black chamber.

Phoenix and Belle ducked for cover from the flying debris.

With a thunderous motor roar, a violet hovercraft flew closer to the fresh hole, pivoted about, and fired a second volley at the second phalanx of guards.

"Gaaaah!" The uniformed ponies dove wildly as chunks of metal and mortar fell on their groaning bodies.

As the dust cleared, Phoenix and Belle squinted into the light.

The door to the side of the hovercraft opened with a hiss. Kera stuck her little tattooed head out, her green eyes reflecting the fresh steam pouring off the vehicle's cannons. "Whew! Sorry, I got impatient. I bet I interrupted a really lame monologue, didn't I?"

"Kera!" Belle squeaked with the most jubilant of grins. "I could nuzzle you forever!"

Frowning, Kera slapped a console inside the ship. The red-hot cannons whirred as they pivoted towards the mare.

"Eeep! Okay, m-maybe a 'thank you' will do..."

"Just get the crap on board!" Kera motioned with her hoof as she drew the airship closer to the shattered wall. "These fillies and colts are about peeing themselves with worry over you!"

"Jee..." Belle smiled, helping Phoenix as the two limped over towards the open hovercraft. "We wouldn't want to worry them now would we?"

"Yeah, yeah. Move it or lose it. This city's giving me a headache." She gave Phoenix a telekinetic boost with her gifted horn. "Hey, Mr. Phoenix. You look like crap."

"Ungh..." Phoenix slumped down besides the wide-eyed children. "Nice to see you too, Kera." He waved limply at the foals. "Hello."

"H-hi."

"Good afternoon."

"Nice to meet you."

"So, didja find what you were looking for?" Kera asked.

"Nnngh!" Belle grunted as she swung the hovercraft door shut. "Yes." She dumped the satchel down at Kera's hooves. "And more."

Kera picked up the glowing book. Her eyes sparkled with the reflection of each rune. "Oooooooooh... I could totally hunt grasshoppers at night with this thing..."

"First thing's first..." Belle climbed her way into the cockpit. "We're going south to Deep Ridge."

Kera winced at that. "Ew. What the heck for?"

"Because that's where the foals' families are," the mare said, swinging the ship around until the sunset was to its starboard side. The rooftops and spires of Blue Nova burned and billowed smoke from several places. "And after that... freedom..."

"You sure about that?"

Belle glanced back at the foals, at Kera, and then at Phoenix. "Yeah..." She smiled devilishly and pushed the throttle forward. "Pretty sure."

With a steady putter of its modest engines, the violet hovercraft cruised its way south... and away from the battle-scarred maretropolis.

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