Madame Nightshade let loose a groggy breath, her aching head teetering back and forth against the wall. Bellesmith squatted in front of her, using the last shredded length of sequencing manawire to tie the bruised mare's hooves to the metal crossbeams running along the sides of that room. Once she was fairly secured, along with the unconscious stallions on either side of her, Belle stood up and exhaled heavily.
“Alright. She's out of the picture. Now, we just have to get out of here.”
“We can't just waltz out of here like it's nopony's business!” Kera exclaimed, waving a hoof about dramatically for emphasis. “The place is crawling with goons! Smelly goons! And those are the worse kind of goons!”
“Kera, between you and me, we have what it takes to make our way out of here.”
“Pffft! No duh!” Kera bit her lip, flashed the foals a look, and leaned in towards Belle. “But do you really expect us to kick butt, make an escape, and somehow haul these dirtbags out of here?”
Belle frowned. “They're not dirtbags! They're young foals, displaced from their way of life. Just like you!”
“They're weirdoes, Belle! They don't even have their horns intact!”
“Am I a weirdo then too?” Belle smirked wryly. “Am I not worth rescuing out of this place?”
Kera squirmed where she stood, avoiding the mare's gaze. “No, but...”
“If circumstances were different, even by the slightest, you'd be in the same condition as us. Would that make you any less special?”
Kera frowned. “Heck, no! Cuz I wouldn't have been stupid enough to let anypony chop off my horn!”
“Kera...”
“I only got carried out of Lerris cuz my foster parents were too cowardly to raise a hoof!”
“Kera, look at me.” Belle knelt down before the foal until they were at eye level. “I know you've had to be tough to survive on the streets. But that's not all there is to you.”
“Sure it is—”
“You're a smart pony. A gifted pony. And I believe, under all of that rough exterior, you are also a kind pony. Why else would you have taken the time and energy to help me when I most needed it?”
“Mmmm...” Kera kicked her hooves against the ground, staring off into a distant shadow of the place.
Belle cocked her head to the side. “Well?”
“Cuz you're too weak to make it on your own!” Kera barked at Belle. “You need me, you dainty piece of hayseed!”
Belle giggled, She placed a gentle hoof on Kera's shoulder. “That's good enough, Kera. I'm sure I can read between the lines.”
Kera glared at her. “You're not going to hug me again, are you?”
“Nope. Not right now.” Belle stood back up. “There's no time. We have to get out of here.”
“And how do you expect to do that—?”
“I'm getting you and the foals out, and then I'm going to save Phoenix.”
Kera did a double-take, her green eyes widening to the bursting point. “What?!”
“They still have him in Nightshade's tower,” Belle said, marching across the room and entering the brightly-lid alcove where the foals had been sequenced. She placed her hoof on the door's valve handle and prepared to twist it. “I need to get him out.”
“But Belle!” Kera waddled frantically after her, making all the foals shift nervously. “Why?!”
“Because if he stays there too much longer, he might die.”
“No, what I mean is... is...” Kera squeezed her way in and stood between Belle and the door. “What do you owe the guy?! Didn't he, like, do something really bad to you and stuff?”
Belle took a deep breath. “It doesn't matter—”
“Of course it does, you melon fudge!” Kera squawked. “You don't owe the stallion anything!” She pointed into the other sequencing room. “You don't owe these kids anything! They're pretty must strangers to us!”
“You and I were strangers to each other too.”
“You know what I mean...”
“Kera, you're still young—”
“Ugh!” Kera rolled her green eyes. “I friggin' hate the 'I'm older than you' routine!”
“Kera...”
“My parents used it all the time.”
“Please...” Belle leaned down. “I can't even begin to explain to you the power of loyalty. Even still, I think a part of you understands it. You just don't know it quite yet.”
“Pffft. Yeah, whatever.”
“Now, would you kindly mind stepping out of the way? I need to get a good look of what's outside.”
“You may wish to put on something warm,” said one of the foals innocently.
Belle glanced behind her shoulder. “Uhm... what for?”
“The wind has that effect on some ponies,” another said.
Belle blinked. She exchanged glances with Kera. Then, with silent resolve, she twisted and twisted the valve until the door open with a creak. Instantly, a burst of air was sucked out of the room. Then, everything settled as Belle squinted against the bright light and pushed the door panel opened. She was immediately greated with rolling mountains and wispy white clouds stretching before her. A blue sky bent and buckled beyond the metal railing of a iron-wrought deck.
“Her zeppelin...” Belle gulped. “We're on Nightshade Industries' airship.”
“Now, do you wanna go all suicidal?”
Belle was silent, then smiled down at Kera. “It will be alright, Kera.”
“But we're flank-knows-where and there're guards all around and there's no guessing where Blue Nova's—”
“Kera...” Belle smiled. “It will be alright.”
The foal trembled, though her fear was very brief, very subtle, very real. It passed between the words that Belle had to give her.
“Just trust me...” Belle said, her face warm and tranquil. “Everything is going to work out.”
Kera's eyes thinned. “You're either stupidly insane or stupidly fearless.”
“Let's settle for 'awesome,' shall we?” Belle stuck her head out again, took a deep breath, and bolted forward. “Okay! Stay behind me! Come on!”
In a swift train, all fourteen bodies galloped out and into the windy world outside.
Wait a minute. I thought they were in a building...
Unless the airship is the building, then I don't remember how they got there.
2925415
They are/were in a cabin/interior of Nightshade's airship, as revealed by this chapter. They are now running across the deck. Presumably they ended up on board sometime after Belle escaped the tower, and after getting caught in the alley.
Foal Train.
2925415
While she was under, i presume. I'm not actually sure when that started, though. Kera seems to have reverted almost entirely back to the way she was when she first joined up with Belle.
Jeez, this is getting a bit confusing.
Urgh, you make my brain hurt, ):(. Plank for one minute. Knock 'em out!
Doubt the airship went far, Nightshade would have wanted to stay close to home.
2925415 I'm pretty sure it was deliberately made to be vague how they got there. Hell, I can't even tell when in the story that Belle started dreaming everything up.
2925456 Still waiting for IC to use that phrase as a chapter title.
Any day now...
Everything is better with an airship.
I wonder if Belle will react the same way as RD does when anypony uses other 'A' words besides awesome.
2925421 I think what happened was while Belle was sequencing, they broke into the room, captured them, and moved Belle and Madam Nightshade to her personal zeppelin while Belle was unconscious and continued there out of reach of Shell's men....errr, ponies...forces, you know what I mean lol. That's my guess anyway.
This is awesome, I'm loving the almost fully realized Belle.
Yeah, I like "awesome". Awesome works out.
Yay! Belle is getting more badass points! Go Belle.
Hmm. Is it coincidence that Belle is the root for Bellesmith, SS&E's favorite princess?
Something feels off.
It feels good to not be confused anymore.
Yes. Good, good. Belle is coming along nicely.
I wonder where the heck they are. I suppose it would be too easy for them to be in the general trajectory of a certain pegasus-laden manaship.
HEY FLOYDIEN, SORRY FOR RIDING YOUR BELOVED FOR ALL SHE'S WORTH
And yeeeeeah! Someone knows what the right word is!
2925479
For all we know, Belle may be closer to where Dash is headed than where Pilate is...
LOL! Great chapter
2926144
I dunno. both belle and kera seem to remember jumping of the tower...
2927457 Lol, I might have read it wrong then. It seemed that it would make the most sense but I can't figure out where Belle would have been captured otherwise, lol.
Where would Nightshade be taking them? Her base of power rests firmly in Blue Nova. It makes no sense for her to move from there, where she is virtually untouchable. Is she going somewhere? Or is she running from something?
2927565
maybe she is running from Shell? I would, were I in her place.
2927558
I might be reading too much into it, but that bit when Belle and Kera exchange glances after the foals talk about the cold and such seems to be them going "What, this again?"
2927584 Possibly, but I had thought of the easiest way for them to get to Belle and Kera and Phoenix would be right when that door opened...unless that zeppelin she landed on after jumping WAS this same zeppelin they are on now. Could be that they got her inside and the sequencing made her forget what happened immediately after. OR that they had made it to the ground and Madame Nightshades forces found her later...maybe while Belle was passed out? She could have exhausted herself so badly she didn't wake up when they caught her. It's hard to tell since her memories were being screwed with so hard.
What's this, a whole chapter of Kera bitching and being a tryhard tough filly?
*sigh* That's alright. But something covering more than a three minute timespan would be nice
Anyways, let's hope Belle can fly a zeppelin.
I'm pretty sure Floydien won't be too happy at Belle and a load of foals being deep inside his beloved.
I am also hoping Belle knows how to fly a zeppelin, or he's going to be really pissed when she crashes it.
I feel bad for Phoenix. He's now crippled like Belle. Oh well, at least he's (probably) alive.
Colliding with Roarke's airship in 3. Everybody seems to have an airshipe nowadays, too.
2926399 Her full name totally isn't Bellesmith, either.
I sense a dog fight.
Nightshade/belle: battle-cruiser
Roarke: Corvette
Pilate/Props: experimental recon ship
Josho/EE: Fighter
Dash: Close range fighter
VS.
Shell: ??? (bound to pull something out of thin air)
Filta: Steel Wing; Battleship
Queen Ledo: Her capital ship (come on, she has to make an appearance.)
Place your bets ladies and gents, Either way it is going to be one epic battle.
2925804 She did in the fake escape.
Why am I having Bioshock Infinate flashbacks?
Qnd then Belle woke up again.
I think you will find ponies as shattered and driven as the good Madame Nightshade will prove reluctant to be forgotten quite so easily.
And here's the thing about discord...
It spreads.
Yup. Awesome is a nice middle ground between insane and fearless.
This feels too cheery and cheesy...
...or maybe I'm just paranoid after the past few chapters.
A Message from MASH-
Long drive back...and besides, doesn't this bring the gap back up to ten chapters? I can do another Marathon soon!
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Oooh, now they're on a zeppelin. Nice twist. Could they possibly get away on an escape pod or something? Or maybe Roarke's ship will intercept them and come to the rescue. I would very much like to see that...These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
Well that's rather proactive of her. Also, they're on an airship? Huh. Nightshade certainly doesn't waste any time, at least when she's not giving villainous "my world will be a better place" speeches. Just when I think I've got a feel for the setting again, bam! Have an airship and a nice day. Onward to exposition!
I am back. For real.
... Uh oh. They're on a Zeppelin now. What a twist!
-Spirit
You know, Belle is best mom. Kera is best daughter. Dash is best aunt. Pilate would probably be best dad.
2925456
oh, that's brutal
granted it
s a 2 year old comment, but still
Okay, so... while she was out, they moved everyone to the airship, or... the airship was dock in the building, and Phoenix, Kera, and Belle all ended up in it when they went through the re-education room.
It's more than just "Channeling her inner rainbow dash" She has truly become a part of that which has inspired her so much, and vice versa. Rainbow dash is the Spark, But it is in the hearts of others that she Starts the Flame.
5812660 I suspect, more realistically, That the Zeppelin just has a copy of the server room on it. After all nightshade did say she used Information from Phoenix in order to locate bell after belle escaped. So I'm assuming that the Escape happened, she just passed out and was recaptured.
Looks like Belle has forgiven Phoenix. Good for her.
Take control of the airship, then we'll have an armada.
She is probably both
05/16/2017 14:49 UTC
7413815
When she was asleep. It was heavily implied plus that's the only way that explains how Belle thought Pheonix was dead.
Nightshade said she learned of Kera's hiding place from doing a mind dive on Pheonix.
8441262
Ohhhh, that explains why she was so groggy and disoriented when she "woke up" , why the guards were always on her tail but could not catch her, and why Shell was such a pushover.