Room for Briefing
Imre's hooves ran slowly over the polished finish of the pistol in her grasp. She took a deep breath, her eyelids fluttering in the high winds across the Noble Jury's top deck. Night had fallen, and it gave her eyes a twinkle that betrayed her jaded demeanor.
"Gettin' used to the feeling of it, aren't ya?"
Blinking, Imre glanced up. "Hmmm?"
Tweak squatted next to her with their backs to the frame of the ship's cockpit. "A gun's a mighty nasty thing, and yet it's often all that stands between you and losing your skull. At one second, you might detest the thought of carrying it something fierce, but then you suddenly find yourself turning around and appreciating it simply for being around, like that one pleasant weight that always sticks with you."
Imre's nostrils exhaled. "I know a thing or two about having a weight that sticks with me." She gave the pistol a disdainful look. "And for the life of me, I can't count how many times I've had to patch up metal mares who got wounded over something as stupid as this."
"Yeah, well..." Tweak gestured. "You did good back there, y'know?"
"Pffft..." Imre grumbled. "I nearly blanked out on you. When you needed me the most, I was—at best—a whining, slobbering infant."
"Ain't your fault to be fretting about," Tweak said. "I reckon there's a big difference between seeing guts from another fight and then seeing guts that you yourself spilled out. Once a doctor, always a doctor, huh?" He gulped and uttered, "I'm sorry for not realizing that sooner. If I had my head in the right place instead of being so gung-ho about kicking flank, maybe I could have been a better shoulder to lean on."
Imre gazed aside at him. She fidgeted, then ultimately mumbled, "Thank you... f-for saying that. It means a lot..."
"Something tells me you're not used to ponies apologizing to you."
"I'm not used to a lot of things," Imre mumbled. She heard a sound and glanced up to her right.
Eagle Eye stood along the starboard side of the ship, fidgeting with the tight bandages wrapped around his chest. "I'm glad Imre patched me up and everything, but I swear, I'm going to suffocate at this rate!"
"Just breathe calmly," Crimson insisted. He leaned on his prosthetic limb while gesturing towards the dainty stallion. "Remember what I told you on those days in the battlefield. Take steady breaths and keep your eyes forward."
"What's to keep my eyes on?! Everything's flown apart! We've ticked off an entire city and an armada full of angry Ledomaritans! How are we gonna find Bellesmith at this rate?!"
"Through teamwork and careful planning! It's not the time to give up hope!"
"Who's giving up hope, Crimson?! Hope is all I've had to go by for days now!"
"Eagle Eye..."
"That and the unwitting assistance of a fat unicorn who wouldn't know what sobriety meant if it galloped up and bit him in his big fat blubbery flank!"
"Eagle..." Crimson placed a hoof gently on the stallion's shoulder. "You've been through a lot, seen a lot, and done a lot. Most soldiers would have cracked by now, but you're still on four solid hooves."
"I'm lucky—that's what I am! It's Belle who... wh-who..."
"Eagle Eye," Crimson said with a calm smile. "Just be yourself."
Eagle stomped his hoof. "But I am myself, darn it! I'm trying to stay... tr-trying to stay f-focused on what's right here and... and..." He twitched a few times. At last, his face contorted as tears sprang from his eyes. He covered his face, only to have the warm embrace of Crimson enfold around him. He surrendered into the hug, sobbing quietly into the stallion's chest.
"At ease, soldier," Crimson said, patting the petite pony's back. "You've grown beyond the talents that I've taught you. You're alive now because you're strong and resourceful, and I couldn't be more proud of you than I am right now."
Eagle fought back a snob. "You h-have no idea h-how glad I am to hear you s-say that, sir..."
"Shhhh... I am your friend, Eagle Eye, and I'm glad you made it through all this safely."
"Just... j-just so glad that y-you're alive..." Eagle Eye sniffled. "It was so hard. I was s-so devastated..."
"It's okay, Eagle. One way or another, everything is going to end up okay..." Crimson calmly gazed over the quivering stallion's shoulder.
Closer towards the stern, Josho slouched against the railing. He had been quietly gazing at the whole scene. Upon Crimson's stare, he cleared his throat, shrugged his shoulders, and pivoted towards the opposite end of the ship.
Crimson's gaze lingered on the ex-enforcer as he continue to solace the small mercenary in his grasp.
With a shuddering breath, Imre wrenched her eyes from the scene and passed the silver object on to Tweak.
Tweak glanced over. "Hmmm?"
"I do believe this belongs to you," Imre droned. "Family heirloom and all that."
Tweak looked at it, at her, then towards the ship's stern. "Hmmmm..." As the sound of loudly chattering voices rose up, he shoved the mare's hoof back, returning the weapon to her grasp. "I'd hold onto it a little longer if I was you."
Imre raised an eyebrow. "What for?"
"Something tells me we ain't quite out of the woods yet," the crystal pony muttered as he stood up. Josho shuffled about and Crimson and Eagle Eye looked over as Rainbow Dash marched angrily up the steps, followed by Clark, Props, and Ebon Mane.
"I'm telling you, we've got to get the engine working at full speed and pronto!" Rainbow's voice cracked as her armor rattled in the starlight. "The longer we hover around here in the night's sky, the greater a chance we risk of losing track of Belle!"
"I do terribly hate to be rude, but this sudden vision of yours completely boggles my mind!" Clark exclaimed. "How can you be so certain that your mare friend is still around, much less in the direction pointed out by this... 'lavender vision' of yours?!"
"Okay, for one, she's not just my mare friend..." Rainbow Dash spun and snarled in the pony's mustached face. "She's Pilate's beloved! Y'know... the zebra with the stripes and the guts that rescued your sorry flanks from Nightshade's fortress within a fortress?!"
"In n-no way are w-we attempting to come across as ungrateful!" Clark stammered. He gulped and gestured towards the other members of the think tank. "It's simply that this vessel doesn't have a great deal of power left to it, and if we don't conserve the energy correctly, we might stay adrift permanently!"
"What the McFuzz are you talking about?!" Rainbow Dash scoffed. She gestured towards the dimly glowing chunk of red crystal affixed overhead. "I thought this thing was running off of magical skyfarts or somecrap!"
"It's a Crimson Endothermic Mana-Conductive Skystone—" Props merrily began.
"Right! Skyfarts! So what's up with us suddenly at risk of going 'adrift?'"
"Ahem..." Ebon Mane stuck his muzzle in. "Before Propsy slathers your ears with her cute attempt at an explanation or Clark uses too many polysyllabic words to convey the same thing, allow me to put it in laymare's terms." He pointed down at the deck. "You saw that big ring of metal attached to the engine core, right?"
"Chtyeaaah..." Rainbow Dash nodded.
"Well, that wasn't originally there," Ebon said. "Overseer Fatch and the other mana-dabbling sociopaths back at Nightshade's place had forced us to construct it. Well, when I say 'us,' I really mean Clark and Propsy here—"
Rainbow Dash stomped her metal horseshoes. "Darn it, I thought you were gonna keep this simple!"
"Right..." Ebon gulped and continued, "The plan was to build a series of runes that would contain an energy source. This... erhm... auxiliary energy node would then be wired into the main engine."
Props bounced and said, "But because there was nothing placed there by the time we shipnabbed Nancy Jane, the engine is re-routed to tap into nothingness! And Nancy Jane has been tweaked too much to know the difference between an energy source that's there and one that isn't there!"
"Stop... calling it that pathetically fictitious name," Clark muttered aside.
"Why?! It suits it!"
"It's a title of misguided affection, coined by an elk with more sparkles than brains."
"Hey!" Props frowned. "There's nothing wrong with sparkles!"
"Fine, then!" Rainbow Dash growled, shaking the Think Tank out of their conversation. "Then let's find an energy source to pop into that rune-ring thingy and power us up to go and save Belle!"
"I'm afraid it's not quite that simple, my little pony," Clark said. "We never quite got around to finishing the design. As marvelous as this ship is, it can't fully operate off of the skystone because it's been programmed to think that it needs another energy source."
"Just what kind of friggin' energy are we talking about here?!" Rainbow remarked.
"Ruby flame, Rainbow," Pilate's calm voice said. She and the other ponies turned to see him and Floydien trotting out of the cockpit. A gray squirel with a sparkling skull perched on the elk's antlers as Pilate stepped into the center of the conversation. "Not just any ruby flame, but the same energy of the machine world, the energy that you're so familiar with."
"That's crazy! How could it even have gotten to Blue Nova to begin with?!" Frowning, Rainbow Dash pivoted her head towards Floydien. "And you! Aren't you supposed to be piloting this hunk-o-junk?"
"Nancy Jane is a proper lady who flies herself." Floydien's red eyes stopped twitching in time to narrow menacingly. "And paint bucket boomer would do well to not insult her fume fumes as she does so, yes?"
"Rainbow Dash, I don't know exactly how Nightshade and her cronies got ahold of the red flame, but it's the only thing that would make sense, given the nature of the apparatus that Clark and Props were charged with constructing," Pilate said. The runes on his skull plate flickered as he waved a hoof towards the mare. "Your arrival and our escape prevented the complete construction of this energy core that you're hearing about. But, even if it was completely finished, none of it would matter until the energy was supplied."
"The red flame, don'tcha mean?"
"Precisely. Until we either find that flame or something like it, or else deconstruct the energy port, then this ship of Floydien's—as marvelous as it may be—will inevitably run itself dry."
"And Nancy Jane cannot afford to allow herself to fall within the dirty glimmer of the stabby stabby!" Floydien said, his muzzle tight and frowning. "Floydien doesn't know about the feelings of paint bucketry, but would be best not to fall into their machine gears and spit tears yet again, especially after so much fire and screams and burning fur. Yes yes yes?"
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to retort, but was at a loss for words. She shook, quivered, then sighed. Relaxing as best as she could, she turned towards Pilate with a sympathetic expression. "Pilate, I know that the cards are stacked up against us, but... but this is Belle that we're talking about here!"
Pilate sighed long and hard. "Yes, Rainbow. I... I am aware of that..."
"We all know that she was somewhere north or west of Blue Nova..." Rainbow looked across the way. "R-right?"
Eagle Eye bit his lip and glanced over at Josho.
"Erhm..." Josho fidgeted on his fat fetlocks. "Captain Filta had made it clear that the zebra's sweetheart had landed somewhere west of Blue Nova, south of Pale Shelf. Apparently she was in total kickass mode, cuz three whole managliders full of enforcers had crashed and burned. And, though their charred bodies were found, nothing was discovered of the mare..." Josho's brow furrowed. "Or the sniveling coward of a soldier who was shackled with her, for that matter."
Eagle Eye gasped, his violet eyes wide. "Phoenix...?"
Crimson took a deep breath and said nothing.
"So, right..." Rainbow Dash swiveled about. "So she escaped capture! She had to have ended up in the wilderness west of Blue Nova! That was—like—days ago! She could totally have made it into Blue Nova in that time!"
"To do what?" Tweak asked.
"To... To... I dunno!" Rainbow Dash shrugged wildly. "To have found the ruby flame that Pilate's talking about and... uh... 'switched it on' or something!"
"You do hear yourself, right?" Tweak grumbled. "Perhaps you'll realize how crazy stupid that sounds."
Rainbow Dash skidded over and snarled in his face, "About as crazy stupid as a pony made of crystal upchucking his lunch from a gut punch!"
"Ungh, girl, please..."
"Whoah, hey..." Imre stood up between Rainbow and Tweak. "Let's not jump at each other's jugulars. Remember, I'm just one medic. I can only patch up one idiot at a time."
"Just where would this ruby flame be anyways?" Eagle Eye spoke aloud. "I mean... b-before it would have been 'activated' or whatever."
Pilate stirred as he said, "I trust that Nightshade would have kept it locked away someplace secure."
"Her headquarters," Clark said.
Rainbow Dash turned towards him. "And where is that at?"
"West of where we were located," the mustached stallion replied. "Nightshade's headquarters is located far away from the industrial district... or at least it was."
"What do you mean...?"
"Well, there's no telling exactly what damage the Battle of Blue Nova did to that skyscraper, much less the rest of the city as a whole..."
"Who cares about the friggin' city?!" Rainbow Dash frowned. "Could Belle have gotten to this ruby flame?"
"Why are you so insistent that it was Belle who got ahold of it?" Crimson said, his eyes darting between Pilate and the pegasus. "I thought only you were the one capable of doing anything with the stuff found in the machine world. After all, you're the... 'Austranium,' right?"
"Austraeoh." Pilate corrected, staring into nothingness while O.A.S.I.S. flickered. "And, if we're to take stock in the prophetic materials we've pilfered from petrified pegasus remains and ancient hieroglyphs—"
"Pilate and Belle are 'Eljunbyro,'" Rainbow Dash said. "They're—like—the source of what brought me back from the dead. Literally. Never mind the chaos metal coffin or the horribad experiments that Ledomare did on me underneath Blue Shelf..." The pegasus paused to shudder, then continued, "It's all because of Pilate and Belle that I got a second wind. They were—uhh—the 'rebirth of my endurance' or somecrap."
Pilate's ears twitched as his head perked up. "Remarkable. I didn't even think you were capable of remembering that."
"Remembering what?"
"Unngh..." Tweak rubbed his head. "Look, I don't take too much stock in all of this hocus pocus 'destiny' talk. Somepony, please, answer me this question: can or can't Pilate's beloved do anything with this fancy schmancy ruby flame stuff?"
Pilate took a deep breath and said, "As Eljunbyro, Belle and I assured that Rainbow Dash—Austraeoh—would continue her journey to the opposite end of the world, where the Midnight Armory waits."
"Uhhhhh..."
"Hypothetically, because of Bellesmith's deep involvement with Rainbow Dash and her memories, then it's possible that she might be granted some of the... erm... 'powers' of Austraeoh, but..."
"Well, here's a question," Imre said. "Is there any other pony who would possess the ability to do something to the red flame like Rainbow Dash here? Or Bellesmith for that matter?"
The Noble Jury was silent.
"Hmmph... the stabby stabs brought the otherwordly glimmer to the Nova most Blue to begin with." Floydien made a face. "Beyond the fancy spit have they shown their powers, yes yes?"
"When Nightshade captured us, we were tasked specifically with utilizing a certain set of runes in making the ship's auxiliary energy core," Clark said. "It stands within reason to say that Nightshade may have utilized those same runes to transport this flame."
"And I overheard stallions within the company talking about a horrible battle in the east where the energy was discovered," Ebon said. "For all its pizazz, the Nightshade Security isn't quite so tight-lipped. As a prisoner and a cook, I heard lots of stuff being spewed back and forth." He smiled awkwardly. "It's kind of pathetic when you think how badly the Madame depended on Clark and Propsy here for stuff she didn't entirely understand."
"The machine world is a very ancient, very sturdy realm," Pilate said, thinking aloud. "Still, it is not impossible to imagine it bursting open from enough duress. Possibly, just possibly, the flame was exposed from an exchange of weapons between Ledomaritans and Xonans."
"They could have scooped the flame up with the crud found inside the machine world and brought it to Blue Nova," Rainbow Dash added, her ruby eyes darting left and right. "And then Belle could have stumbled upon it..."
"But how?" Tweak's face was awash with confusion. "If it was held in one of Nightshade's big'n'tall buildings, then what would have possessed her to take a gander inside? Wouldn't that be the last place a self-respectin' fugitive would want to trot?"
"Look, I dunno!" Rainbow Dash barked. "Maybe somepony talked! You heard Ebon Hawk just now!"
"Mane."
"Whatever! Nightshade's company is loose-lipped, so maybe Belle found out that way and took the next step!"
"Is this mare even that brave?" Josho belched.
Rainbow Dash glared daggers at him. "Don't. Just don't." Her brow suddenly furrowed. "Look, I don't even know who the frig you are! What are you even doing here, rotundo?!"
Josho shrugged. "I'm just hanging out until drinks are served." A horseshoe ricocheted teleknetically off his head. "Ow!" Frowning, the stallion looked over.
Eagle Eye lowered his hoof and turned towards Rainbow Dash. "Maybe somepony told Belle where the flame was?"
"Or something," Pilate murmured.
Rainbow Dash did a double-take. "Huh?"
Pilate rubbed his chin. "I'm just thinking... Would Shell and his fellow soldiers have stripped Belle of her possessions while attempting to escort her north to Pale Shelf?"
"Not if they thought she was incapable of resisting her imprisonment," Imre blurted. Everypony looked at her, and her ears instantly folded back. "Uhm..." She looked nervously at Rainbow Dash, gulped, and said, "I mean... that's from what I-I've heard of Ledomaritan capture..."
Josho grumbled, "I didn't her nothin' from Filta about any of the lady's belongings being found around the gliders' crash site, burned or unburnt."
"Why?" Tweak asked. "Just what would Pilate's beloved have on her?"
Rainbow Dash blinked, blinked again, then gasped. "Princess Luna's saddlebag! I forgot!" She gawked at the others. "She totally had my stuff with her at the time that... that..."
"...Zenith betrayed us all," Crimson finished. He leaned on his metal limb as he spoke solidly, "You had all discovered something shortly before running into us at Foxtaur, didn't you?"
"Yeah yeah yeah... that... uhh..." Rainbow clopped her hoof against the deck several times, thinking hard. "That book, r-right? The ancient book full of symbols n'stuff?"
"I found many of those same symbols along a wall inside the temple ruins of Foxtaur," Pilate said. "Granted, I didn't have enough time nor sanity to study them all, but I instantly recognized the same runes and symbols in the blueprints that Clark and Company were working on."
"Seems as though Nightshade stumbled upon the same information that you and your beloved did, more or less," Clark remarked. "Tell me, could Bellesmith have employed this knowledge somehow in acquiring the flame?"
"I... I cannot say for sure..." Pilate tilted his head up, an ounce of warmth showing along the black-and-white edges of his face. "But, if any mare was resourceful enough to come upon a solution..." He smiled tenderly. "M-my beloved most certainly would qualify..."
"Look, here's all I know about the machine world stuff. Like, for legit..." Rainbow Dash gestured for everypony's attention as she spoke from the center of the top deck. "When I get close to one of these—uhh—flame beacon thingies, I can sense it. It's like, no matter how much earth and crud is in the way, I can see the light of the fire from afar. It takes on this..." She shuddered slightly. "Th-this bright lavender shade. It's really freaky, and I can't explain it much, but I'm—like—compelled to find the stuff and make contact. And everytime I do, good stuff happens. Well, maybe not so much good stuff, but definitely important stuff. At least, that's what she made it sound like."
"Huh?" Eagle Eye blinked. "Who's 'she?'"
"Er... Whitemane."
"Who?"
Rainbow Dash sighed. "Long story. But, basically it's like this. Before, when I've traced the source of these lavender lights, it's done several things. It's helped me save a mountain full of ponies from a bunch of chaos monsters. It's helped me light up a city full of head-butting, crazy-talking unicorns so that they'd stop butchering foals plus each other. And it also totally leveled Blue Shelf to the ground. Good riddance, amiright?"
"Erm..." Pilate was at a loss for words.
"Anyways, I've never ignored it when this beacon thingy went off, and on every occasion it's only done me and the ponies around me good... or else dealt the bad ponies some super righteous judgment, ya dig?" Rainbow Dash produced a devilish smirk. "Well, guess what?! It's happening again. And right now, the only thing that needs to be done is finding Belle. I can't explain it, and I won't even try. But all that matters right now is getting to that light..."
She then swiveled around, snarling viciously at a certain elk.
"But that isn't happening unless we swing this flying sepository around and friggin' track that lavender light down!"
"Nothing to the spit!" Floydien grunted back. Simon clung for dear life as the elk's horns shook with each exclamation. "Floydien went through the glimmerest of glimmers to rescue Nancy Jane from stabby stabs! Now the sky vomit with wings wishes to undermine all that has been overmined?! Paint bucket pony can sleep with her spit and call it 'mistress,' but Floydien and Floydien's beloved are done with not being done with things!"
"But this is Bellesmith's life we're talking about here!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"Assuming she is legitimately to the southwest of us, then the venture alone will sap this ship dry," Clark nervously uttered.
Props shrugged with a sad expression. "Not even a mountain of skystone will be enough to give us bounce once the rerouted manaconduits have been run dry!"
"Does it look like I give a crap?!" Rainbow Dash roared. "Don't forget whose bright idea it was that saved all our hides when we needed to spring loose from that hangar!"
"Oh, terrific..." Imre rolled her eyes. "Because laying on the guilt trip always works in situations like this..."
"And don't you friggin' start!" Rainbow Dash stuck a hoof into the mare's chest. "Of all the times to get stupidly pessimistic, this is the absolute worse! I swear, if none of you guys are gonna help me, then I'll fly west and save the skin of Pilate's beloved myself!"
"How do you expect to do that?!" Imre retorted. "Rainbow Dash, look at you! That suit I gave you is completely busted! The thrusters no longer work!"
"You can fix it, right?"
"I could fix it! Maybe if I had the tools back at Searo's Hold! But you and Tweak blew that place up, remember?!"
"Oh, like it wasn't asking for it for just being called 'Searo's Hold,' much less for all the cruddy psychopaths estrogenning it up in the place!"
"Rainbow Dash, not to knock the air out from underneath your wings—" Crimson began.
"But what?!" Rainbow's frown swiveled to face him.
For all his might and muscle, the stallion quivered. "This... isn't all about just you... or just Belle for that matter."
"Huh?"
"Well, look at us, Rainbow!" Crimson gestured towards the whole group. "Look at everypony! I want to save Belle as much as you or Pilate—"
"Don't even pretend to joke about—"
"But it's bigger than just the three of you now! It was bigger than just the three of you in Foxtaur!" Crimson sighed and waved his hoof as he said, "Does Belle need to be found? Absolutely. Whether it involves this flame or not, that remains to be seen. But before we do anything brash, let's not completely dash this group of ponies to the side. We all went through Hell to get to where we are now, and it'd be a shame to put all of that at risk."
"Oh come on! You're a soldier!" Rainbow Dash pointed at him and Eagle Eye. "Do I even need to tell you to grow a spine?!"
Crimson frowned. "No. You don't. And I'll have you know that I've lost many dear companions—most of the time unecessarily—because I was too focused on one thing when instead I could have been doing all I could to save the entire group."
"Then we can do both!" Rainbow Dash squeaked. "We can save Belle and our own skin!"
"How?!" Tweak shrugged. "I can only carry so many guns!"
"Or metal," Crimson droned, rubbing a hoof over his limb.
Silence.
"It would help to use ones brains too, y'know," a voice drained above.
Everypony blinked, then glanced up.
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash hummed.
Roarke sighed from where she was perched the whole time across a support strut of the crimson skystone. "Oh, it's just me... still manashipless..."
Rainbow Dash winced. "Yeah, uh... about that—"
"One thing at a time, I know." Roarke's eye-lenses pistoned out as she glared down at the group. "Our problem is that the Noble Jury's engine is screwed by no-good Nightshade dabbling. No matter how much skystone there is to suck reserves from, the manaconduits aren't going to do crap until we get it the energy source that the auxiliary channel was built for. Now, it so happens that Rainbow's homing pigeon brain is wired to pick up where that particular energy source is located."
"Yeah, and?" Ebon Mane leaned forward.
"Unnngh..." Roarke face-hoofed. "I swear to Searo, I'm surrounded by bitches and breeders." She rolled over, fired her thrusters, and hovered slowly to the deck in the middle of the group. "Look, fillies and colts, it's simple. We follow Rainbow's lavender light. If nothing else, it's gotta be ruby flame. We take some of that sweet nectar, shove it into the... ahem... 'womb' of Nancy Jane here. Boom. Voila. We have ourselves the energy we need to keep this metal monstrosity afloat."
"But what about Belle—?" Rainbow began, only to have a metal hoof shoved against her lips.
"One track minds aside..." Roarke turned and gazed at the rest. "We can worry about that later. Because even if we spend the rest of eternity moping around here through the clouds, the ship's gonna run out of juice. That much is assured. The only solution is what Rainbow is unwittingly helping us all find."
"B-but—!" Rainbow tried to interject.
"So..." Roarke paced across the group. "We friggin' get that sweet stuff and reboot the engine. Then, once we're riding the high of such a... hrmmm... wicked plunder, we can work on getting this spectacularly priceless mare who for some reason decided to hook herself up with Frankenzebra's monster."
"Your speech is... oddly fitting, Ms. Roarke," Pilate muttered out the side of his mouth.
"If I wanted to be graded, I would have done a backflip." Roarke shrugged. "And... I dunno, maybe kicked that load of blubber over there off the side while I was at it."
"Aaaaand we come full circle," Josho said with a groan.
"It certainly sounds like a viable plan to me," Clark said, nodding. He glanced aside at Props. "What do you think?"
"She has cool, shiny lenses! Heeheehee!"
"Propsy..." Ebon groaned.
"Oh! Uhm... Right!" Props tossed her blonde-blonde bangs back and smiled. "If we can get the ruby flame, then I can do the rest! The ship would be flying at its full potential!"
"Which means...?" Rainbow Dash leaned forward.
"Nancy Jane can outrun any and all manner of sky glimmer," Floydien muttered, then stomped his hooves. "But it's out of the question, Floydien says!"
Rainbow's ears drooped. "What do you mean by that?!"
"This may be the only way we can get this ship to function, ya crazy moose!" Imre grunted. "And don't you give a crap about Rainbow's friend?"
"Yeah!" Eagle Eye leaned forward. "It sounds like a win-win scenario! So what's the problem?!"
"Problems seep out of every corner like bulleted rain balloon!" Floydien frowned viciously. "Nnnngh... Enough of this spitting and spit-drinking! Floydien and Nancy Jane need freedom more than flight! With the time allotted us, we should pay back time by throwing it behind us! And the rest of this continent as well! That means east, not southwest, you prattling wastes of boomer boom!"
"You're one to talk about repayment..." Rainbow Dash growled.
"Rainbow..." Pilate tried to place a hoof on her shoulder.
She shrugged it off, angrily marching towards the elk. "You were sprung out of jail. You got your ship back. All of it thanks to ponies like me, Pilate, and Roarke. And what do you do?! You wanna run away like a coward?!"
"Flying and running are two different shades of glimmer," Floydien said. "Besides, paint bucket boomer is no stranger to flying east, yes yes yes?"
"Only when it suits me! And right now, it totally friggin' doesn't!"
"Pffft. Spare Floydien the inside out spitside out—"
"Maybe ages ago, it was all about flying away from crap! But it's a bit too late for that now, huh?!" Rainbow gestured. "It's like what Crimson said! Things are way, way biggger now! If I wanted to fly away from this... like really wanted to fly away from all this crap, I would have done so days ago! Heck, weeks ago! I wouldn't have bothered with a bigflank city or a mountain full of angry mares or a bunch of turncoats in a burning forest or—heck—Eljunbyro to begin with! So I was woken from my sleep, turned inside out by experiments, and two ponies really needed my help. So what?! I didn't know Belle or Pilate at the time! I didn't know a single dang thing about enforcers or sequencing or the Council of Ledo! What did I possibly owe them?! I'd been fleeing east for months and the one time I stopped to give more than I was capable of earning back, I had my body torn to bits by the mother of all dragons! Literally! So what was stopping me from kissing Ledomare and all this garbage goodbye and flying off on my lonesome like I had always done?!"
"Perhaps sky vomit boomer was bored..."
"Or perhaps I realized that there was no point in flying if I didn't have some good wind beneath my wings!" Rainbow Dash's voice cracked. She hyperventilated between outburts, "You can run forever from something, but eventually that pain and panic runs dry! It turns into ice in the veins and becomes useless! And y'know what?! I'm totally running dry, flying blind, so long as the only thing that fuels me on is all the crap I left behind to begin with! But that's all different now! I've got... I-I've got this new wind, y'know?! And there simply isn't any other way to fly right! If I tried something different, I'd fool myself!"
"Hmmph..." Floydien leaned down and hissed into her face. "Or perhaps boomer is fool to think that wind will last forever—"
Whether or not he meant to finish that sentence, it no longer mattered, for both of Rainbow's forelimbs had swung viciously across his muzzle. The elk fell back in a clumsy mess of limbs and antlers. Simon fell—sprawled out across the ground—chattering in shock as Rainbow Dash ran over him, preparing to strike Floydien again.
"If there's anything I can't stand, it's somepony with a bunch of power and absolutely zero nerve to use it in the right place!" Rainbow spat. Crimson and Tweak rushed in and restrained her before she could get a second hit in, but it didn't stop her from thrashing angrily in their hold. "Nnnngh! You wanna try livin' off that cowardice of yours, big guy?! Just try! You'll run out of juice faster than your precious 'Nancy Jane!' Honest to Celestia truth, ya lousy waste of fur!"
"I think the big lug got the point there, champ," Tweak grunted.
"Let's not make this situation any crazier than it already is," Crimson breathily insisted.
"The only thing crazy is Floydien for thinking there was an ounce of respectable boomer in the paint bucket!" Floydien blurted, his muzzle bleeding as he sat up with a frown. "If she thinks the glimmer flame is so important, then let her make love to it like a good spit-sucker—" Floydien fell silent as a shadow fell over him.
Pilate tilted his head down, "staring" at the elk as best as he could. "Dear friend, is finding Nancy Jane safe and sound the only good thing that's happened to you all this time?"
Floydien took several deep breaths, his lips hanging open.
Pilate squatted down so that he was at an even level with the elk. His lips curved slightly. "The Floydien who found me... whose rodent friend inadvertently caught me after I was tossed from the Steel Wing... now that was an elk who would have torn Rainbow Dash apart within seconds after striking you. Where is that violent wretch now? Where is that brash and unpredictable science experiment who tore apart a tower full of enforcers and launched hellfire on the industrial district of Blue Nova?"
Floydien blinked. "Does... d-does striped boomer desire Floydien to unleash the glimmer glimmer...?"
"Mr. Floydien..." Pilate reached forward, fumbling a bit before finally resting a hoof on Floydien's shoulder. "You've found Nancy Jane. You are a free creature. What is it that would truly give you fulfillment?"
"But the ful of the filling of ments has already transpired..."
"If that was the case, then you would have no need for us 'boomers,' now would you?" Pilate cocked his head to the side. "Then just why haven't you tossed us from your majestic ship already?"
Floydien fumbled for words. His muzzle took on a strange, vulnerable shape. A dimness washed over his red eyes as he gazed towards the deck. "Floydien is used to boomers. Floydien is... not used to friends."
Simon barked.
Floydien winced. "Friends plus Simon..."
The squirrel nuzzled Floydien's bruised face, his tail relaxing.
"Do you know why I went through all the trouble to get you out of Nightshade's brig, Mr. Floydien?" Pilate asked.
"To... to get help from Nancy Jane? A path through the clouds?"
"We had hundreds of zeppelins at our disposal, Mr. Floydien. As marvelous as the Noble Jury is, I have no doubt that Rainbow Dash and the rest of us would have made our exit in some fashion or another." Pilate slowly shook his head. "No... the truth is, you had done so much to spare my life and to help me out when you had so much wrath and anger pent up from the things the ponies of this land had done to you. You know what that told me? That as much of you is full of 'glimmer' and 'spit,' there's a piece of you that still understands what it means to cherish somepony... to value a friend. That was the piece of you, Mr. Floydien, that I believed in... that made me want to save you when, sad as it is to admit, many of my companions—both new and old—were too dubious to support my cause without at least some minor reservations."
"Or major," Clark muttered aside to Props while Ebon winced.
Props giggled. "I love bears!"
"I wanted to preserve the part of you that was growing, that was blossoming, as I had once witnessed in another friend of mine," Pilate said, smiling tenderly. "Rainbow Dash."
The pegasus blinked awkwardly as Tweak and Crimson calmly let go of her panting form.
"She too was a confused and—let's face it—misguided pony when my beloved and I found her," Pilate said. "Vexxed by both pain and anger, she was an uncontrollable, borderline-psychopathic weapon who was not to be trifled with. But we gave her the benefit of a doubt, and in time, Austraeoh paid us back. We are alive now—for better or for worse—due to her earnest bravery. She had her own issues, her own resolved and unresolved goals, and yet she went out of her way to help two lowly Ledomaritans find security and happiness. This was not because we had tricked her into becoming our ally. Nor did we coerce her in any way."
"Floydien doesn't..." The elk winced, his features soft and twitching. "Floydien doesn't know if he h-has the power to help striped boomer..." He gulped. "Or striped boomer's beloved..."
"You think Rainbow Dash did?" Pilate chuckled, then sighed. "I'm a learned zebra who values knowledge and intelligence over anything else." He tilted his head in Roarke's direction. "And I'm sure there are other ponies who can relate to this... but..." He smiled. "Sometimes you gotta toss reason to the wind and let loyalty do the rest. Destiny and prophecy aside, it works best when it's natural, almost like gravity..."
Roarke said nothing. Imre leaned in, noticing the degree to which the metal mare was avoiding Rainbow's gaze.
Floydien broke the moment with a groaning sound. "Buckets of spit... absolute buckets..." Sighing, he stood up on wobbling hooves. "Nancy Jane would do well to avoid a glimmer-less grave amidst the mountains, yes yes?"
Pilate's clear eyes moistened as he spoke into the winds, "And Belle would want no less herself, I'm sure..."
"Hmmph... then shrink the mountains between us, we must..." Floydien stomped towards the cockpit. "But in the womb of Nancy Jane there are ways to make the glimmer be full of more glimmer and longer."
"Wait..." Rainbow Dash smacked her head a few times and spat, "Does this mean you're gonna help us or not?! Celestia, I'm so confused..."
"Then remain full of spit!" Floydien barked back. "You say Belle of Smith is southwest of us, yes yes?"
"Uhm... double yes back at ya..."
"There is only one place worthy of flame or boomers who would seek to stabby stabby the flame there..." Floydien's jaw went tight. "The Deepest of Ridges."
Simon let out a wavering chirp as he hugged his own tail with a shudder.
Imre gulped, then turned towards the others. "I've... never heard of such a place."
"Probably because it isn't something enforcers know about either," Roarke said. She turned towards the cockpit where the elk opened a hatch towards the lower decks. "I take it you've been to this place before."
"Can we expect a lot of resistance?" Crimson asked.
"Much time and spit has gone by. It remains to be seen," Floydien mumbled. "Only for Floydien's friends does Floydien do this."
"I imagine the possibility of getting the Noble Jury all fueled up is a plus too," Ebon said with a knowing smirk.
"Go eat your sail boat, spry boomer."
"Wait..." Rainbow Dash leaned forward. "I'm glad that you're suddenly on board and all, but... uhm..."
"What?!"
"How are you going to go downstairs with... uhm... y'know..." Rainbow charaded a pair of horns out the edges of her head.
"Feh. Same way Floydien always does." That said, the elk unabashedly reached up with his cloven hooves and plucked the antlers off with a flash of sparks. His eyes dulled to a normal brown as he "hooked" the things into place above the cockpit like a mantlepiece. Streams of energy continued bouncing between the horns and the diodes of the crystal panel. "Nancy Jane flies herself, but with an ounce of encouragement, yes yes? Mmmph... maybe two ounces." At last, he slid down the crawlspace with remarkable speed. "Zoop!"
Clark blinked. "Well, I most certainly wasn't expecting that."
"Did you graduate from the University of Obviousness?" Ebon droned, then motioned at the blonde beside him. "Come on, Propsy. Let's cook ourselves a super-womb."
"Oh. My. Gosh!" Props squealed as she scurried downstairs after the stallion. "Does he ever get any more handsome?!"
"You've got more room now to ask him, if that's any consolation."
"Oh, I'll nibble on plenty of consolation! Heehee!"
As the engineering crew disappeared down below, Rainbow Dash pivoted about to look at the rest. She smiled nervously and dug at the wooden deck. "Whelp, I can't believe I'd ever hear myself say this, but... I'm super jazzed about heading west!"
"I know, right!" Eagle Eye squealed and spontaneously hugged Crimson. "We're gonna totally save Belle!"
"One miracle at a time," Tweak said, then glanced aside at Pilate. "All things considered."
"Duly noted." Pilate took a deep breath. "Rainbow, I... I don't know if I'll ever run out of reasons to thank you—"
"Save it," the pegasus muttered. "You totally earned your stripes this time. I knew there was no way I'd talk that elk into—"
"You do realize that once this is all said and done, we'll have an entire continent to cross," Pilate interrupted. "I'm thankful to you for many things, Rainbow Dash. But I meant everything I siad to Floydien as well. I owe him too. And I would very much like to see to his journey as much as yours."
Rainbow Dash squinted. "What do you mean?"
Pilate fidgeted, then said, "Well, I think it's beyond obvious by this point that you, myself, and Belle aren't the only ones needing safe passage from this unforgiving landscape."
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to respond, but paused. She turned around, her gaze washing across the faces of Eagle Eye, Roarke, Crimson, Imre, Tweak, and eventually Josho.
"Don't look at me," the fat stallion said with a shrug. "I've been doing all I can to keep my farts in the whole time."
Rainbow Dash winced, then turned back to Pilate. "We have a lot of stuff to talk about." She cleared her throat. "After we find Belle."
"Uhm... agreed."
Stats
Page generated in 0.132 seconds
Total duration
965 users online
148,433 hits today, 2,314,256 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Holy Crap, 8000. Time for some sweet reading. Will say more after.
And here we go!
Goggles up, ppl. We're goin' Belle hunting!
Wow...long one today. But this one was rich in character interaction. So joyously rich. I've been waiting to see how the majority group would interact once they had a moment of calm. Now we just need Belle, Phoenix, Kira, and the foals.
Also, you go, Pilate!
Wow. The soul of wit is dead, yeah?
One hundred pushups, ):(, spread into as many sets as you need. Knock 'em out!
Hmm. I think I'm sorta starting to see Floydien's speech patterns. I wonder if I can incorporate "Buckets of Spit", which seem to be some sort of curse word like full of shit, into my vocabulary.
Paint Bucket is an awesome nickname
Removable antlers was somewhat surprising to me, though still hilarious. Didn't Floydien enter the same cockpit when they were breaking out?
Holy crap, longest chapter yet! It was delicious.
Also found a few errors:
From chaos comes harmony.
Loyalty, the common theme among them.
Screw it, She did insult me....
Floydien deserved that punch.
No pony/elk/moose or anything else turns tail and runs with a debt unpaid.
Floydien owes Dash for her help in saving the Noble Jury.
Much the same she owed him that punch because he attacked her in the hangar.
Wow. Sudden ginormous info-dump chapter is sudden. But welcome. And very delicious.
Tons of gold this chapter. Rainbow slapping the bejeesus out of Floydien. Random detachable antlers. Eavesdropping Roarke. Continued use of "belch" as a unit of speech. Wonderful, all. And your ability to write complex conversations among large groups continues to impress.
I wasn't expecting there to be time to swing by Deep Ridge. And, honestly, I don't expect them to do so without losing at least one of two among them. The question I keep asking myself is, who's gonna stay behind, and who will go with Rainbow?
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
This glorious chapter, I believe, is long overdue. For me, this chapter details how Austraeoh has changed since its inception. It's very cool to see Dash admit that she cannot just keep flying east on her own - she needs her friends. For me, this is the major turning point in the series. For me, this is the true shift from Austraeoh to Innavedr. For me, this chronicles a new beginnings, new challenges, and new adventures on the horizon.
I'm too exhausted to type any more. Give me a break, I just did about 20 chapters in four days. I should be on break right now, but I'm not. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
Somehow I get the feeling that Pilate's unconsciously trying to channel Twilight Sparkle talking about her friends to Nightmare Moon in the pilot. Sorry, but I'm not buying it.
"You were a psychopath, but it's all different now, because now you're a psychopath with friends!"
Best fic.
Avengers assemble!
3096588
And best movie if I can figure out how.
Nancy Jane will be a much better means of transport.
I fucking love Josho's banter. I cannot get enough of it! Also, I foresee them using Nancy Jane to fly over the edge of the world in the next fic (assuming there is one, which I'm almost convinced there will be).
3097785
There's 9 more planned, actually~
Wow, I think this is more than twice as long as the previous longest chapter. Hooray for 8000+!
There is so much to be said about this chapter that I don't even know where to start.
Ah! That's it. Antlers.
24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_macqhnFJ6y1qi1iteo1_500.gif
I will be searching for that one conversation the Jury had a while ago where the idea of exactly this was brought up and I of course called it impossible. I mean, seriously! Detachable antlers! How nuts must a person be to come up with crap like that, no way that's ever going to happen! Elks shed their antlers in nature, but this cannot possibly implemented in the story when they are his permanent and stable source of magic! No way, haha! I think I'll try denying that Pilate is actually an alicorn in disguise next and see what happens...
I believe that talk with Floydien was the first situation where I would've gotten violent before Rainbow did. The escalating argument was another brilliant piece of writing. Everyone insulting everyone may be a bit of a cliché, but it is so for a reason after all. The line "Rainbow Dash, not to knock the air out from underneath your wings—" is actually downright cruel when one considers the symbolic context of the situation - I wouldn't usually assumed that this polyvalence was done on purpose, but with you one never knows.
Pilate's monologue is of course another lesson on harmony coming from one who is reasonable above all. I still find it hard to actually comment on it because quite frankly it stands in line with all the other similar monologues we had on that subject, so why the message is important, it isn't necessarily new.
And I am thoroughly horrified by Props' tasteless statements about Floyds being even more handsome than before. Just look at this: stgeorgeutah.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/antlerless-elk-599x272.jpg
This isn't handsome, it's just sad.
Everytime an author makes a pop culture reference, an innocent filly dies.
Record breaking 8000 words!
That took longer than I thought it would. I guess having shorter chapters has that effect on you.
Zoop!
I keep thinking it strange that Rainbow's Wings haven't healed yet... and then I realize that the whole Searo's Hold debacle took place a matter of days ago.
Dat long chapter.
Many deep words were Said here. Also Props loves bears.
Welp, my internet craps out for a few days and I come back to an 8000 word chapter? Awesome!
Nice to have a break from all the action we've had for the last 585 chapters.
I'm really looking forward to the “lot of stuff to talk about” referenced at the end, that discussion will be the setup for the next fic-and-a-half at least.
I wonder what the repercussions of using the flame as a fuel source will be, it doesn't seem like the sort of thing that could be good for the world.
Didn't look at the word count before reading, and didn't realize until about halfway that the chapter was suspiciously long. I think that's a compliment, because I was so enthralled that I didn't even notice that the usual fifteen hundred word mark had come and gone.
This was a chapter containing some much needed interaction, I think. With so many characters, its hard to get them all acquainted with each other, and sort out the myriad of dynamics between them, but I think you did a pretty bang up job. I'm glad they all agreed to go after Belle, even if most of them are planning on using her as a gas station. Also, I'm wondering when Roarke's little crush will be addressed, seeing as its been hinted at repeatedly. Oh, and what the plan is for Tweak and Crimson regarding their families. Most of Dash's little group don't seem to have outside attachments, but those two do, and with a fully powered ship it shouldn't be too hard to drop them off at home. Then again, they probably have a sense of duty towards Rainbow's mission, so its hard to say what they'll end up doing.
3095947
Just got the joke after rereading it in your comment.
And so Rainbow Dash flies west.
REMOVABLE ANTLERS? Honeytiger was not expecting that!
3097873
What makes you say there's 9 more? I thought there was only going to be 2 more, you know the o and the u
Josho is the hero we needed. All of his lines are absolutely golden.
Also, attachable antlers? Nifty stuff.
Yay! The first of the two long chapters!
I REALLY want to ship Floydian and Props. But then I shutter when I imagine what their dirty talk would sound like.
... I have nothing to say to this chapter.
-Spirit
4055731
Imagine Gollum, Yoda, and . . . I guess Pinkie having a threesome.
One hell of a chapter filled with great stuff.
Im glad these resolute chapters are extra long. Itd be...Pain in the ass? Rude? Bizzare? i dont think theres an exactly right word for it. some wierd mix of those 3.
either way, its good that they are so. Its proper
oh shit. thats it. itd be IMPROPER if this resolute talk was cut up like that.
Also
floydien taking his antlers off.....durrrrrrrr?
Oh dang, Floydian, you come in all shades of surprising.
some dank character interaction, and with the final 14, we go off to save Belle!
This is an awesome chapter. Floydien was really annoying me for awhile there, but I think Rainbow's slight beating and Pilate's lecture justified it for me. All in all, I love all of the character's interactions, and it makes me look forward to when Belle, Kera, and Phoenix finally join in as well.
This...this...this is awesome, I think it's the best chapter in the whole series so far.
5984644 also enormous compared to anything else he's wrote. Over 8k words. Surprised me but I loved it.
Now to plan for the next step.
Some of these faces will go, but more will stay. The party is nearly formed.. .
Clark blinked. "Well, I most certainly wasn't expecting that."
That was my reaction to the length and weight of this chapter.
i honestly think i love josho the most, were both drunks. and roark because power is sexy
Is he powered by squirrels?..
Holy 8000-word chapter, Batman. Also:
Honestly, I've mentally read his name the KOTOR way several times, so I approve.
God, that was a long chapter. But it sure was worth it!
3096583
you could argueably say that about twilight, pinkie, iron will, etc.
When Eljunbyro got underway, I was excited that Rainbow might get two permanent traveling companions. And now it looks like... quite a few more than that.
I think the count stands at... Belle, Pilate, Roarke, Josho, Eagle Eye, Floydien, Imre, Kera. Crimson and Tweak have families of course, and I don't know about Phoenix. (Or Props, Jasper and Ebon for that matter.)
And that's assuming they resettle the survivors of Deep Ridge and their foals without picking any of them up as permanent passengers on the NJ.