"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.
Kera the badass.
Dangit, Belle! The gang was just about to get back together!
I'm a bit confused about this ancient pegasus society. Does this imply that just any pegasus is able to access the machine world? I always assumed that it was just something that Austreoh and maybe the alicorns could do. What makes these pegasi so special?
What if this pegasus society predates the alicorns, when the world was still unlit and in chaos?
Urgh, and now we have to play fuck-fuck games of, "Oh, you just missed them!"
Goddammit, ):(, fifty flutter-kicks for being cliche! Knock 'em out!
GO KERA!
well another great chapter cant wait for the next one
Um, Belle, Rainbow Dash is, like, the other direction. On the plus side, Rainbow appears to have a bit of Belle radar now, so they should be able to track her down.
Kera: Interrupting boring monologues since chapter 100 or something.
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I'm of the opinion that these pegasi were a special lot. I like to pretend they're monks who happen to have wings, not monks because they have wings.
3068416 the secret cabal of Zadubadabu. Not just any pony can be a member of Zadubadabu. The secret cabal of Zadubadabu was obviously founded by these Pegasi back before the countries of the world were established and Zadubadabu reigned supreme.
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We should say the word Zadubadabu more often.Maybe in a stroke of irony, Rainbow finds out that there really was a group called Zadabudabu that worked with the machine world, and plus it would be hilarious if Zadabudabu was actually used, for a title or a chapter. All hail the work of the Zadabudabu.
Gotta love that adorable, foal-filled cavalry.
3068988 yes, Zadubadabu is a great name for a secret group of Pegasi. The Pegasi of Zadubadabu will definitely meet RD by the time this series ends because Zadubadabu shall make sure of it. I believe fully that Zadubadabu is the way to go with this. All hail Zadubadabu.
Pegasus secret society, eh? I like it. I like it a lot.
Also, can they just reunite please? I have a bad feeling this installment is going to end with, "And now, we look for Belle!"
Finally, it seems that Kera is...foal of surprises.
...I'll let myself out.
Kera, words cannot express how much I love you. I hope that if I ever have a child someday, they wind up like you. And if they do, may the heavens have mercy on my soul, because my body and mind won't get any.
Does this mean they wont meet up with Rainbow? Too early to say, but kinda hoping they would.
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Well, the part about the pegasi was to be expected. What I didn't expect was the book to have been found in the hands of its original owner after all, nor the immense significance it really had. A container to protect the flame of the machine world? Used before the breaking? What reason would there be to create safehouses for the flames when the machine was perfectly fine?
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For Ledomare, comrade!
And I won't tolerate you talking about Phoenix like that, young lady!
3068072 The pegasus society predates even the breaking of the machine. Remember Belle's sequencing with the Xonan foals? The pegasi were amongst the original races who inhabited the machines. They did not only knew about it but knew how to control it and possessed a culture focused around it. They were amongst its original keepers, maybe even its creators. I do not believe that an alicorn could access the machine, as they and their harmonious magic are utterly alien to the world, but it is indeed an enormously interesting question whether it is her pegasus blood or her role as the Austraeoh that enables Rainbow to do so. Given the fact that the keys to the machine world all display the Austraeoh symbol, however, I daresay that the latter is the case.
With the caste of machine dwellers first mentioned in this chapter, that would make even more sense: perhaps the force of the Austraeoh was originally split amongst that entire caste, as it seems like even back then not every pegasus was able to access the machine. Perhaps the Austraeoh was even an artifical force created by the machines makers and/or keepers?
The last paragraph is speculation, however. Still, I cannot help but feel that the Spark cannot be harmonious, and that feeling grows stronger and stronger the more I think about it.
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I like to tape my fingers together and pretend I'm a dinosaur. :)
More with the grasshoppers! I bet Kera's insides are like, a parasite condo. You aren't supposed to eat those things raw.
Can we call ancient-pegasus-skeleton-guy 'the Keeper of the Flame'? 'The Keeper of the Flame' would be such a cool name.
Where would our beloved protagonists be without explosions? They're always so convenient.
3070982
I agree with you. Kera's got a somewhat unhealthy obsession with grasshoppers.
3067466Good luck.I'm starting another Marathon tonight, so...yeah.
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I think she just really likes grasshoppers.
But I think she'd like them even MORE if they were cooked first!
I mean... raw grasshoppers. Blerg!
Error! Error!
Party deconverging! Immediate injection of Dash In Machina recommended!
I feel like at this point Belle should realize that the most likely thing to cause so much chaos in the city is Rainbow. I mean I get that she's stressed and exhausted, but still.
3070764THAT BIRD... HONEYTIGER WAS ALMOST TOO HYPNOTIZED BY IT TO COMMENT...
IIIIIt's Dashie's First Get-Backing Adventure!
Huh...I still think that I'm right about the runes, but I didn't expect the book to have this much significance. Can any old pegasus enter the Machine? I assumed that only Austraeoh could...ehh. I hope that Austraeoh still remains unique in that regard. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. Alright, that's it for today. I'll definitely finish tomorrow, I promise. Tune in then for act four!
Pinkie would be quite pleased with Belle's priorities.
On another note - Kera, why you so awesome? I don't think I'd trust her with cannons - or any heavy weaponry - on a regular basis, but damn if that wasn't a perfect entrance.
And what's an epic adventure story without a mysterious glowing artifact?
Well, gotta catch up before the finale - Onward!
Welp, Belle's plan ruins the whole reunion thing. One of those frustrating times where the reader knows more than the character. Damnit!
Why, Belle? Why you ruin plan?
-Spirit
Once again, facehoof.
SO CLOSE. WHY BELLE!??
Kera, I fucking love you.
"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..."
Kera you funny little douche
I guess that Imre and Shell worked together in Deep Ridge and that she killed the foal's parents
And just like that, fucking Kera out of nowhere
Yes you did, but that's okay. we love you anyway.
South! To deep ridge we go. Rainbow Dash can still find them later due to the book... if there is a later..
Belle, Book and Candle would have been a great title as well.
Edit: Or Belle, Book & Candle, since apparently the chapter titles have a set word count.
Did that just work because soul of that other Austraeoh pegasus from the cave previously went into the book, because, being Austraeoh, that pegasus was also connected to the six elements and chaos, so the pony's essence wasn't destroyed? Then, shouldn't Dash have merged soul of that pony from the book into herself at some point?
I'm so happy that everything is working out again.
Poor Ordo, you'll get your peace eventually...but for now just sit back and watch the anarchy! That's what I'm doing~
And also away from Rainbow Dash et al.