“I can't exactly carry these things,” Rainbow Dash sputtered, trying not to vomit. “I'm like—chaos-intolerant—or some crap.”
“Then how will get get these strips to that place you were talking about?!” Gold Petals exclaimed, watching as Windthrow citizens fled from sweeping swarms of monstrous bat creatures. “I don't think this place is gonna last another minute! I can't even see Mom or Dad—”
Silver strips fell into the young mare’s hooves.
She glanced down at the glowing artifacts. “Uhm...”
“I may not be able to carry these stupid things,” Rainbow Dash said. “But I definitely can carry you.”
“Carry m-me?” Gold Petals blinked, then gasped as she was hoisted off her hooves and carried towards the mountain face. “Daaaah!” With trembling forelimbs, she clutched the strips to her chest.
“You just got drafted, girlfriend!” Rainbow sped the two of them towards the mines. “Hey! Fart-faces!” She shouted behind her flapping wings with daredevilish vigor. “This way to freedom, you winged pieces of demon luggage!”
The leathery abominations of chaos spiraled about and chased after the two ponies with ear-splitting banshee screams.
Rainbow Dash gripped her ears, writhing. “Nnnngh… so loud… can still… can still hear them…” After a few agonized seconds, Rainbow felt a hoof on her shoulder. Her teary eyes flew open.
Kera bit her lip. At the sight of Rainbow regaining consciousness, she smiled somewhat. “Hey. You’re in one piece!”
Rainbow Dash blinked. Her limbs flexed, and she tried to propel herself forward, but her whole body collapsed in a heavy flop. “Unnngh… Where… the book… where…?”
“Somewhere close by,” Kera said, stepping back to reveal a cramped, brightly-lit prison cell.
Instead of jail bars, a force field of highly charged manacrystals barred the three ponies--Rainbow, Kera, and Zaid--from the rest of the brig. From a distance, intimidating guards stood at their stations, speaking with one another while keeping their eyes trained on the captured equiens.
Rainbow’s breaths were thin and ragged. Fighting nausea, she slumped against a wall and rubbed her head.
Kera fidgeted. “You’ve been asleep for a long… long time…”
Rainbow gulped. “How long?”
Kera avoided her gaze. “Two days.”
Rainbow’s eyes bugged. “Two… days…?”
“I gave you some water, but you might wanna eat.” Kera pointed towards a dish full of gray mush. “It looks like crud, but it tastes better than crud.”
“Yeah.” Zaid smirked. “Especially when you sprinkle the cell’s fleas over it.”
Rainbow took a deep breath and glared at the stallion.
Zaid winced and shuffled tighter into the corner. “Right. I’ll… uh… just be sitting here. Quietly.” He gulped. “Trying not to fart.”
“I’m so glad you’re awake again,” Kera said. “At least now I have somepony else to talk to.”
“What’s it matter?” Rainbow Dash muttered. “All I seem to be as of late is useless--” Her eyes widened. And she flung two hooves to her neck. She sighed with relief to feel the pendant still in place.
“They… uh… they took your satchel and stuff,” Kera said.
“What matters is this,” Rainbow muttered, feeling the weight of the ruby lightning bolt. “This and nothing else. I just… I just don’t get why…?”
“I think Nightshade talked them into leaving it on you,” Kera said. “I can’t guess half the stuff that stuck-up freakette knows, but it’s apparently enough to keep you safe… for whatever reason.”
“It’s not my safety I’m worried about,” Rainbow Dash said, nervously eying the other two ponies inside the tight cell with her. She shuddered. “Celestia, I got us in deep this time…”
“You… uh…” Kera squinted worriedly. “You were having a really bad dream when you came to. Heck, you were kind of fitful and squirming about the entire time you ‘slept.’”
Rainbow Dash sighed heavily. She tried standing up again, but only collapsed even harder. Kera jerked to rush over and help her, but Rainbow Dash let loose a deep grunt. The filly stood her ground as Rainbow slumped back onto her flank.
Kera finally opened her mouth to say something--
“She was a mare who was very special to me,” Rainbow Dash said.
Kera blinked curiously.
Rainbow looked halfway towards her. “I know what you were gonna ask.” She shuddered. “Let’s just leave it at that, ‘kay?”
Kera slowly nodded. After a few seconds, she asked, “Are… are the others okay?”
“Others…?” Rainbow Dash clutched her aching head. She winced from the pulse of lavender light glowing through the walls to her vision. “Nnnngh… the others…”
“Belle!” Kera’s mouth hung open in earnest. She leaned forward. “And Pilate! Eagle Eye! Propsy! That fat stallion who burps a lot?!”
“They’re fine. At least, I hope so.”
“Rainbow Dash…?”
“They were in one piece when I left to find you, okay?! That’s all I know! Will you chillax?!”
Kera clamped her mouth shut, digging at the floor with her hooves.
Rainbow sighed. She rubbed the pain away in her head momentarily and leaned forward. “Look, kid, I’m sorry. I… I-I don’t take losing well. Especially when ponies I care about have their lives on the line. I came all this way to save you, and look how it ended up!” She rubbed her head again. “Unnngh… Everything was… was so fine! We had freedom! We had the Jury! Just give it a few weeks, and we would have had a strong tailwind out of this stinkin’ continent!”
“I shouldn’t have jumped out of the ship and tried to get the book back,” Kera said. “That’s why all of this happened.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.” Rainbow Dash said.
Kera hung her face.
“But…” Rainbow hissed in pain as she nevertheless crawled over and scooped Kera into a weak side-hug. “I’ve done loads of stupider things myself, and what makes me able to still boast about the crud today is how I’ve gone about fixing crazy situations while still in free-fall. Somehow, I always end up landing on my hooves.” She smiled dazedly. “For all the tumbles you’ve taken, I’d say you’ve made it this far in really good shape.”
Kera blinked up at her with worried green eyes. “How are we gonna fix this situation?”
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. With a sudden sneer, she turned and growled towards Zaid, “Dude, what gives?!” She raised a hoof and pointed at her forelimb. “I thought you said this hooflet would--” She paused, realizing she was gesturing towards a barren fetlock. “Ungh!” She pointed wildly beyond the force field. “I thought yous aid the Odrsjot rune would keep the book from knocking me over the skull with its glowiness!”
“And it was supposed to!” Zaid exclaimed, waving his forelimbs. “That’s what Khao said, at least! That’s why she had all of us wear it!”
“Yeah, well, maybe she gave you all a bunch of phonies!” Rainbow frowned. “Did you ever think of that? I mean, the mare’s a cult leader. I’m pretty sure she has it out to deceive you suckers!”
“Hey, for a place to sleep, a place to exercise, a place to call home that isn’t the underside of a bridge?!” Zaid shrugged. “It seemed pretty swell at the time! Things didn’t go super stupid until Nightshade stole Khao’s bones and decided to cash in on the Herald’s real estate! Sheesh, can’t a lady make her own church of steam and explosions?!”
“Maybe you guys just weren’t using the rune thingy right?” Kera asked.
“Pfft!” Zaid pointed. “She’s the goddess-damn sky horse of destiny and sparkles! Who else is supposed to use the rune?”
Rainbow Dash swiveled about, clutching her aching skull with two hooves. “Nnnngh… what was it… what was the meaning…?”
“Rainbow…?” Kera gazed at her.
“I’m trying to remember what Belle told me about the stuff she learned while bumping skulls with the twelve kids Nightshade had held captive.” The pegasus hugged herself and rocked back and forth in a futile attempt to stave off the dizziness. “She had learned words… Xonan words… or at least the Xonans understood them enough to make heads or tails out of the stuff.” She flung a glance towards the filly. “You have any clue what ‘Odrsjot’ means?”
“Hey, I only know how to pronounce the stuff!” Kera retorted. “You’re the one who should remember a simple conversation with her best friend from weeks ago!”
Rainbow blushed slightly. “I guess I-I was too busy enjoying Ebon’s cooking at the time.”
“Oh yeah?” Zaid asked. “What was it?”
Rainbow limply shrugged. “Grilled cheese and--”
“Son of a carpenter!” Zaid angrily bucked the closest thing to him. Zap! “Ow ow ow ow!” He raised his forelimb to his muzzle and blew at the fresh scorch mark that the force field had made. “Nnnngh. Darn it! Seriously! Is the whole universe out to sack-tap me?! Totally unswell!”
“I wanna help you, Rainbow Dash,” Kera said. “Really, I do. But I’m just about as helpless as you are.” She sighed.
“Kid, don’t. Please… just don’t…” Rainbow gestured weakly at her. “You’re… y’know… you’re young enough to pull back into the race. Just because I screwed things up royally doesn’t mean all is lost… for you, at least. I’ll figure us out a way out of here, and when I do, I’ll make sure you never see another beret again. You’ll live to kick a thousand flanks and eat a million grasshoppers by the time you’re my… my…” Rainbow’s ruby eyes crossed. “Shucks, Luna, how old am I by now anyways…?”
“Rainbow…”
“Just gimme a bit of time to think!” Rainbow tried yet again to stand up, reeling instead into the wall. “Mmmf! I just… I just gotta get my senses together. This stupid ‘book energy’ isn’t enough to take me out. Just you see! I’m strong! Stronger than… than…” She blinked. “Say, where’s Roarke?”
Kera immediately paled. She hung her bushy head.
“Kera…” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “It ain’t cool to leave a fellow mare hangin’. Where is she? Are they interrogating the poor rusted sap?”
“Wow, you were really swimming in vomitland for a long time, weren’t ya?” Zaid asked.
“The heck is that supposed to mean?” Rainbow frowned.
“You don’t remember, do ya?” Zaid shrugged. “She kicked the bucket, duuuude. Burst into flames from beret bombs.”
Rainbow blinked. Her lips pursed as--sickeningly--her memories came floating back to her.
“Sickest way to go down, though!” Zaid chuckled. “Y’know, we could all see that she was made out of metal. But in the end?” He stuck his tongue out and raised two hooves. “She was really… really metal!”
Rainbow Dash ran a shivering hoof through her mane. As a lump formed in her throat, she sensed a dark shape to her right. She glanced aside with a start.
Straker stood on the other end of the force field. His eyes narrowed on her, studying her colored mane and blue feathers. Just as the joint stare was starting to turn uncomfortable, the Ledomaritan Lieutenant swiveled around and marched icily out of the brig.
Rainbow sat on her haunches, clutching the pendant around her neck as a cold shudder ran through her body. A flicker of yellow light splashed briefly across her eyes, and when she closed them she saw blonde bangs, the blur of lanternlight against mine tunnels, and the bristled coat of minotaurs.
Straker trotted into a long hallway of the Lightning Bringer.
His hooves shuffled to a stop.
He stood in place, glancing over his shoulder towards the entrance to brig.
Almost subconsciously, his hoof wandered up and felt a shape pressed between his chest and the inside of his uniform. After a moment, his nostrils flared, and he trotted down the hallway with finality.
Before he rounded the corner, he had reached into a side pocket of his suit and telekinetically lifted a glittering sound stone...
"Son of a carpenter," huh? Oh so barely not-meta.
This session of disbelief is in order.
The Lightning... Bringer?
Ooh, so Straker's up to something, eh? Is he a double-double agent?
Also, as much as I once used to fervently predict Roarke's early demise, she's gotta be alive here... right?
Roarke Most Metal is not dead. Metal never dies.
Fifty four-count side-straddle hops, ):(. Knock 'em out!
Of course.
With all this talk about RainbowxRoarke, IC had to remind us of the OTP.
I shall never doubt again, sir.
Also, two days?
Damn it, Roarke, I know you like dramatic entrances, but you shouldn't make them wait that long.
...you're still alive, right?
The only reson Roarke would allow herself to die would be so she could rocket into Sero's loving embrace and promptly beat the ceaseless crud out her.
But she wouldn't let herself pass so easily, especially if she didn't get to kill Zaid first. Roarke's gotta be alive somewhere, somehow.
Gold Petals... I just realized something, with Rainbow's early loner life-style and never admitting to AJ her love, Gold Petals was almost definitely her first kiss. Hm... and then Searo happened.
Someone once made the comment in reference to Zaid, saying that, unless there's a body, they're not dead.
I don't see no Roarke corpse. She ain't dead.
...please. :'(
I feel bad for Dash now. I really hope Roarke is still alive.
~Basso
Straker is either calling Shell or Khao, and considering the boat they're on, I doubt it's Khao.
I hope Roarke is licking her wounds down in the marshes somewhere, and not getting grilled like a lobster on the half shell.
3398738
I think I said that, and its a rule to the series in general, and has worked so far. Unless we see a corpse, it ain't dead. Shell fell down at least 3 shafts, starting from Eljunbryo, and because RD never bothered to look at his landing point and double tap, he never dies.
The mercs (heck, the entire group) see each other fall down somewhere or disappear. But, since there's no corpse, so we can easily assume they're still alive when we enter Innavder. Phoenix was teken by Nightshade's guards, but since we were never shown the corpse, he turned out not dead.
Roarke was buried under a pile of rubble or had fallen off the ship. Until someone comes up holding her head (and helmet doesn't count, she could've easily removed it) she ain't dead.
3398908
I dunno, their armor is a big part of who they are... physically. Open it sure, remove it? Never, especially not around breeders
Roarke's not dead. Straker's probably going to do something fun like contact Shell on the Steel Wing and have him come over. Although that'd be a stupid idea on his part, because as I understand it the crew already knows Shell's a traitor and the Lightning Bearer's got more than enough firepower to blow the already damaged and low-morale-d Steel Wing out of the sky. At least the chaos would come paired with a convenient power outage to allow Rainbow and company to escape.
24
When Roarke says Down The Hatch, for some reason the image that immediately springs to mind, is Colonel ONiel from SG1, inside a Gaould spaceship, looking down at the engine, and dropping a grenade.
Ah, Gold Petals. Good times.
And speaking of good times, these sure ain't. It's been a while since Rainbow's been in such a sucky situation and down on herself. Not enough awesome, Dash.
Also, Roarke is totally alive. I guaran-damn-tee it.
i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/006/026/futuramafry.jpg
I do wonder how easy it is to pop off that armour. Still, it's not the first character to die, so it could go either way.
Funny how Rainbow has been unable to admit her feelings for hundreds of thousands of words, and yet opens up to a young filly.
Yay, Gold Petals! Haven't seen her in a while.
Straker... What are you up to?
Communicator? Taping device? Grilled cheese?
No head-splosion, no death.
Zaid has to get on the Noble Jury now, just so he can get a grilled cheese.
Shell ETA: 7 chapters.
Nah, Roarke ain't dead...she's just biding her time after being knocked for a loop.
Straker is definitely spying on them, but for whom?
Whoops.
3398993 Mmmm...smells like chaos and clusterfuck.
After all that Roarke has survived through, I'll be surprised if something as mundane as a collapsing stairwell could do her in.
Straker's got something shifty going on; what exactly that may be, I do not know..
I am quite surprised to see that Gold Petals has been mentioned in the story again. I wonder what this means for Dash, to be thinking about what happened in Austraeoh.
Last chapter I was thinking that this might be the end of Roarke, but of course she wouldn't go that easily. She did seem to be losing it though.
I'm pretty sure Roarke isn't dead. In my opinion the stairwell should have only been enough to trap her, not kill her. It also doesn't match what Zaid said about bombs; he's probably misremembering, or didn't get a good look at things in the first place.
...Roarke. Hm. Being broken by a brick... concussion 1. Smashed by a reverse missile Iinto a wall... concussion 2, maybe broken armor. Crunched under staircase... concussion 3, busted helmet.
If she is alive, she won't be very well.
It'd be just like
shortskirtsandexplosionsImplodingColon to kill off an important character in an incredibly mundane manner. But it's probably not that simple, I imagine.Also, am I the only one getting the feeling that it might be easier just throwing that goddamn book down a ravine and being done with it? Talk about a useless macguffin. All the heroes can use it for is rocket fuel, whereas the bad guys can just use it to cop Rainbow Dash out of a fair fight. Fuck that thing.
Yeah. Nope. Her head didn't explode, therefore she's not dead.
Only the dead can know peace from her fury after being shown up three times.
...get ready, you beret bearing boys and girls
GAH! What the hell...I'm apparently working with someone else, but whom? I sure hope that it means it's the good guys, lol.
I'm calling it right now.
Straker called Shell with rainbows location.
mysteries everywhere!! what's roarke most rare's true fate? who is straker contacting?!!
I wonder if Dash is about to run into some good luck or some bad. It never seems like she gets what is expected, it's always on the extremes.
I"hey, I only know how to pronounce the stuff!" Kera retorted.
Now I'm jealous of Kera...
Would anyone else like to read a spin-off story featuring Basso and... uh... that other one?
I think that would be swell.
I really hope Roarke is laying low somewhere and is not doing her very best impression of a broiled lobster. We shall see.
Basso is best damage sponge.
Gold Petals? Gold Petals. Much approval.
3398657
You can't kill the metal. The metal will live on.
I hope by the end of this Kera gets a chance to really shine. She's awsome.
First: ''It's like the whole universe is out to sack tap me!" laughed so hard at that
Second: the resurgence of GP? This has to mean something.. I'm glad to see RD hasn't forgotten everything that happened in the first story due to multiple head injuries. Even if she did, Belle could remind her.
Don't you try to get my hopes up - we all know it isn't true. The idea of her dying from being buried under scrap is just plain ridiculous. Well, she's useful for now anyway. Let's kill her later.
Well, not that predicting matters for shit when you're catching up, but wasn't Roake wearing a bunch of fuel canisters?
Just sayin'
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Alright, so this is interesting. The flashback in this chapter calls back to the Wintergate Arc - the one with the supposed "Loyalty" theme. And now Dash is making a promise to Kera and Roarke is gone...does this signify Dash's loyalty to Kera and, when Roarke returns, will it signify her loyalty to Dash? These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
So roarker's alive and well because if she did die, she would have gone out in a much more epic maner
Poor Zaid just can't catch a break... or a grilled cheese. If Roarke lives, she will either be even more unbearable due to her hate of Ledomaritans or hopefully humbled in some way. I'm putting my money down on the former.
It'll take more than a little explosion to bring Roarke down. Unless the body has literally disintegrated in front of the main character, there's still hope (and depending on the story, even disintegration might not mean anything).
Also, Gold Petals cameo! Little references to older stuff are always nice. It keeps the whole journey in perspective, you know?
Onward!
3398731
Good point... you forget, though, that she also gave Ember Speak a kiss before she flew off to confront Axan.
Just had to.
Also, Roarke can't be dead. She's too awesome for that.
I wonder who Straker is talking to...
-Spirit
3398657
THEY CAN'T STOP US! LET 'EM TRY!
FOR HEAVY METAL, WE WILL DIE!
SV_Cheats 1
"Cheats" Set to 1.
Noclip
What is he up to? The plot thickens.
Roarke's too badass to die offscreen. I don't believe it for a moment! Plus Zaid's an idiot, what does he know?
If Straker is calling Shell with that, I'm seriously gonna eat someone's pancreas. Guy's gone so rogue by now that only the dudes with their throats currently under his hoof have any excuse to take him seriously as an ally. But even then, I can totally see one of these guys being sociopathic enough to be his mole anyway.
Fuck Ledomare.
Roarke can't die. Not like that.
No way in hell Roarke is down from that. If so... I really want to see the scene. Back to work for me now that finals are over, so reading is going to be a bit slower.
~SolidFire