Rainbow’s eyes fluttered open. She tried inhaling, but gravity had turned her lungs to mush in her upper chest. She saw hazy splotches of dark metal looming high above, growing more and more distant. Gray Smoke was sailing away, and the pegasus was cognitive enough to know that soon she’d be plunging out of reach of the city altogether.
“H-help…” She pleaded, though she didn’t know to whom. There was a glint of red light off in her peripheral vision, followed by the dull roll of rockets, but she was already twirling over, wheezing helplessly into her own dizziness. “Please, h-help them…” A lavender glow pulsed to the upper west, and it made her want to vomit towards the billowing clouds below. “My friends… Khao… The Herald…” She squeaked. “They’re gonna hurt… going to h-hurt my...”
Up above, Roarke dove as swiftly as she could. Moisture condensed across her visor, turning into a fine frost along the edges. She seethed as she saw a heavy black shape looming in the path of Rainbow’s descent. “For Goddess’ sake…” She murmured against the whipping winds. “Help me, Searo…”
A large freight zeppelin was puttering along a lower air current, with a skeleton crew that was minding its own business. Unbeknownst to the ponies on board, a blue pegasus was about to be impaled on their ship’s front propellor blades.
“Dammit, Searo!” Roarke hissed as she fired her rocket thrusters to the melting point. “You owe me, bitch!”
Just as she said that, a while yell hollered from two zeppelin spaces away. Roarke jerked, glancing out the side of her helmet.
A blonde figure was swinging along a length of reinforced chain suspended from a small steam-powered dinghy. She flew in the direction of Rainbow Dash and swooped the winged pony up within the crook of her forelimb. “Hooo-haaaa! Guess who earned her biscuits tonight!”
Roarke hovered to a stop, relaxing her thrusters as she panted into the confines of her suit. “I don’t friggin’ believe it…” She switched on the sound stones in her helmet and shouted, “Props! Is that you?!”
“I sure hope so!” Props swung about and landed nimbly atop the bobbing aircraft, laying Rainbow Dash in the rear seat of the swaying vehicle. “Because if I’m dreaming, it’s missing at least four muscular stallions and five buckets full of whipped cream! Heeheehee!”
Roarke landed heavily on the craft, unwittingly throwing its weight off. Rainbow nearly fell off, but Props--flailing--threw herself forward and swiftly caught her.
“Whoah there, girlfriend!” Props gigglesnorted. “You gotta wait until after we’ve eaten before you try to make me toss my cookies! Otherwise you’ll forfeit the game! Heehee!”
“How on earth did you know we were in trouble?!” Roarke asked.
Props’ blue eyes blinked. “You were in trouble?” She raised her goggles and tapped her chin. “Huh. I thought you were just playing steam tag with explosions.”
“Props…” Roarke grumbled.
“The b-book…” Rainbow Dash hissed, her face covered with sweat as her petite body recoiled from the source of the lavender glow. “It’s… out of its cage. I c-can feel it…”
“You’re sure of this?!” Roarke opened her helmet to shout. “Is this what’s causing you to collapse?”
“What else c-could it friggin’ b-be?” Rainbow grunted through a pained frown.
Props gasped long and hard. “No way!” She stomped her hooves, causing the dinghy to rock some more. “Who would dare soil Nancy Jane’s womb?!”
“Props…” Roarke turned to the mare. “Fly up to the western industrial district. Scan for a manasphere. Once you’ve found Pilate, bring him and Rainbow to safety.”
“Aren’t we already in safety?”
“Not even in the damned slightest.” Roarke closed her helmet, perched on the edge of the airship, and leapt off. “And if you see any strangers in cloaks, shoot to kill!”
“You mean like ‘bang bang lie down you’re dead’ kill or the ‘Frolicker’s Maremorial Home for colonial wasters of life and limb’ kill?”
“Just draw blood first! Damn!” Roarke hissed as she roared off in an angry plume.
“Hmmph…” Props folded her forelimbs. “I don’t care how gruff she is. I can smell the whitewash from a mile!”
Rainbow Dash threw her head over the side with a wet, hurling noise.
Props gasped at her. “Rainbow! You cheated!”
One hoof at a time, Kera crawled out of the Nancy Jane’s cockpit, shaking the heavy layer of soot off her body. She saw several zealots milling about, picking up their fallen or injured comrades and shuffling towards the bow of the ship. Kera felt a cruel wave of heat, and she squinted towards her side.
Beyond the ship’s port side, the hangar was on fire. Smoke ran like an upside down river rapid across the ceiling, spilling out into the afternoon sky--turned dull and brown from the intense blaze. An obese shadow hung before the mess, stirring with a deep-throated tone.
“Josho!” Kera gasped. She looked towards the recovering Heraldites, then back at Josho. Biting her lip, she abandoned the unconscious bodies of Floydien and Simon, dashing over to the ex-enforcer’s side. “Come on, fat pony! Get up! There are bad guys around! Can’t you kick their butts a little more?”
“Can’t…” Josho hissed, his eyes tearing as a fine layer of grit lined his nose, lips, and muzzle. “C-can’t breathe. Friggin’ steam sucking cloud cowards… unngh…”
“Big guy, come on!” Kera shoved and nudged and shoved him again. It was like a dove trying to shove a mountain cross-continent. “I mean it! You gotta get into action mode again!” She panted, glancing over his figure at a glinting object. “Here!” She hopped over him. “I’ll grab your gun!” But as soon as the filly picked it up, she winced, for the barrels had blown apart like an inside out, smoking umbrella. “Ewwww… that’s kind of crudtastical.”
At that moment, she heard a loud vibration enter the air of the hangar.
Suppressing the urge to cough from the smoke, she hid behind Josho, peering over his round belly.
A large managlider glided through the open doors of the hangar. Piloted by other members of the attacking party, the zealots brought the vessel to a calm hover beside where the Noble Jury was moored. Several ponies on room cleared room in the center of the deck and latched a wooden ramp down, connecting the small airship to Floydien’s larger one.
In the meantime, several shadows rose up out of the stairwell near the bow of the Noble Jury. Kera watched with bright eyes as the cloaked ponies carried a large cage containing the floating, shimmering sight of the runic tome.
“No way…” She coughed quietly, wheezed, and spoke through tearing eyes. “They took it…”
Shouting directions at each other, the two groups came together, lifting and sliding the cage onto the smaller craft. With bursts of steam, they flew off the deck of the Noble Jury, collected their injured, and took their seats in the escape vehicle.
Kera blinked, and in that moment, something inside her snapped. She spat up grimy saliva and snarled. “No… it’s not theirs…” She stood up on quivering limbs. “It’s not theirs!” She grinded her hooves, bounded over Josho, and galloped straight towards the starboard side of the vessel. “That belongs to Rainbow Dash!”
“Unnngh…” Josho stirred, his pained eyes squinting open just in time to spot the darting image of the filly. “K-kid…?”
The bridge between the two ships unlatched. The zealots veered off, turning the managlider around so that its stern faced the hangar’s entrance. The caged book flickered with each swaying motion the ship took as it made a hasty exit.
“No!” Kera shouted, this time in full gallop. “Give it back, ya ugly clowns!” She met the starboard edge of the Noble Jury.
One pony saw her. Spinning about, he aimed a dart gun and fired.
But the filly did something he didn’t expect: she jumped clear off the ship, utterly dodging the projectiles by a mile. Her body went airborne like a green-haired hoofball, and she slammed into one stallion, horn-first.
“Ooof!” He fell back, his skull colliding painfully with the cage.
Two ponies stood up to grab her.
“Munch on some mana!” her voice cracked as she aimed her horn at the two equines.
They fell back, blown to their haunches by the shocking display of telekinetic force.
“Nnngh!” Kera tilted her head neck and right, shoving each pony back as hard as she could while the ship puttered its way towards the exit.
When half of the zealots were lying on their haunches, Kera took the moment to dart ahead, grasping the cage with two hooves.
“Hnnnnnnngh!” She grunted, squealed, struggling to yank the container off the deck of the ship. “Come on, ya stupid bird cage! Budge!”
A heavy-set stallion took the opportunity to stomp over and pull her up by her tangled tail-hairs.
“Whoah! Let go! Let me go--” A hoof stretched over her mouth as another pony rushed in, wielding a taser.
“She’s gonna fire more magic!” the stallion shouted. “Try to cut off the leylines!”
“I-I’m trying!” a mare’s voice stammered from beneath her hood. It took several jostling attempts, but she finally zapped Kera’s horn with the taser.
“Aaaaaugh!” Kera hissed in pain. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she went limp in the stallion’s grip. “Unnnngh…”
“How in the Host’s name is a child that powerful in m-magic?” shouted the driver.
“The Harbinger must be inspiring company.”
“Speaking of which…” Another pony pointed.
Several of the equines on board turned to look.
Bellesmith, Ebon Mane, and Eagle Eye were galloping down the stairs from the Bronze District. They braved the smoke and flames, descending until they were at even level with the docks. While Belle and Ebon stumbled through the smog, it was Eagle who froze in his tracks, gasping.
“Oh blessed Spark,” he murmured.
Belle turned to gawk at him. “What is it?!”
“Th-they got the book.” Eagle gulped. “And Kera…”
Belle’s jaw dropped. She spun about with a numb expression.
“Hey!” Ebon shouted, snarling as he raced towards the edge of the Noble Jury. “You creeps! Give her back!”
“If the Harbinger sees us attacking any more of them…” one stallion on the ship murmured.
“Khao’s waiting for us!” Another slapped the cloaked shoulder of the pilot. “Fly!”
“But we can’t just--”
“We’ve lost too many of our brothers and sisters to waste another second! Now fly!”
Gritting his teeth, the pilot put the vessel into a higher throttle. The ship sped forward.
“No…” Belle shrieked, galloping limply towards the edge of the Noble Jury. ”No! Kera!”
Josho wheezed. He clenched his teeth and stood up, galloping past a helpless Ebon Mane. He took a deep breath--ignoring the caustic taste of smoke along his throat--and plummeted clear off the ship. His horn sparkled like the burning head of a flare. “Raaaaugh!”
The group of zealots were nearly one hundred meters away from the edge of Gray Smoke when a heavy sack of living meat materialized above them.
“Heads up!” a stallion shouted as he aimed a dart gun up high.
But then, Josho landed, his heavy body tipping the managlider viciously towards its port side.
The assailants on board shrieked. The thug with the dart gun was flung forward, receiving a savage hoof to the face, courtesy of Josho.
Without a wasted breath, Josho bashed another zealot with his skull, bucked a third, and reached a hoof forward, grasping desperately for Kera. His hoof brushed against her mane, then clutched at her slumbering face.
“Hnngh!” A stallion kicked him square in the face.
Josho spat blood. He reeled back, then sparked more mana through his horn.
The stallion threw his whole body into it this time, forcing the entire vessel to reel as he kick two hooves into Josho’s chest.
“Guh!” Josh fell.
The glider regained balanced, fired its steamthrusters, and rocketed skyward towards a red-tinted speedship bursting out of the clouds right then and there.
“Call ahead!” the pilot shouted. “We got the Relic! Now to meet Khao at the rendezvous point!”
Josho barely heard this, probably from the violent gusts of air ripping past his aching ears. He fell like a lead boulder, yelling with each spin of his flailing body. With very little grace, he plummeted into a criss-crossing line of traffic, and his body came into contact with the bulbous read balloon of a market dirigible.
“Ooof!” The inflatable surface bent with his impact, and he slid down until his body got caught up in the roped webbing surrounding the structure. “Mmmmf… unnngh… friggin’ flankswipes!” He panted, coughing up smoke and blood. His ear twitched at the sound of rocket thrusters. The ex-enforcer looked out the corner of his eyes.
Roarke was ascending from the shadowed underbelly of Gray Smoke. Upon first glance of Josho, her helmet jerked aside.
“Don’t stop for nothin’, lady!” He howled as she soared by. He flung a fat hoof towards the red vessel above. “They’ve got Belle and Pilate’s little scamp!”
The air around Roarke exploded in response. She accelerated her ship until pieces of the suit flew off. She winced from the heat seeping through and burning her flesh. And yet, just as she was within a missile’s toss from the two escape vessels…
The managlider docked with the speedship. The aircraft twirled about, extended three planks of glowing red crystal, and shot off like a crimson comet, burning due west.
“Rrrrrgh!” Roarke shouted into her cracking helmet as she fired a full salvo of missiles. The projectiles flew ineffectually into a cloudbank, exploding in the hot vapor trails left by the escaping vessel. She hovered to a stop, her suit cooling as her breaths grew hotter. “Skystone!” she growled. “Putrid mother filth!”
The thunder of the exiting ship dissipated, and Roarke found herself surrounded by clouds and chaos.
Her body slumped in mid-air. With a dull sigh, she twirled about and descended towards where Josho precariously hung.
“Bad news, fat loins…”
“Unngh…” Josho fought and struggled with the roped webbing as she hovered to his side. “You don’t friggin’ say?”
“Yeah…” Roarke grumbled. “I’ve suddenly run out of idiots to kill…”
Kera better be fine or by Pinkies ghost heads will roll.
YoubastardshurtKerahowdareyou...
All pissed off and no one to kill. Boy, if I had a dime...
Searo, I know I have never prayed to you before, for I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, or why we died. All that matters is that two stood against many. That's what's important! Valor pleases you, Searo... so grant me one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, then to HELL with you!
Forty Push-ups, ):(. Knock 'em out!
There's know way she could've run out... I love Josho, but let's not kid ourselves. He can be a bit slow at times...
Phew... I was thinking this was Josho's death scene with the fire.
Holy shit.
Apparently skystone isn't too rare.
I wonder if between Props and Pilate, they can discover some old new recursive mana manipulation runes that can mix up ley lines and mana and skystone in the Machine World way?
Its about time they started to discover old skool, so they can bring it back online.
It also means that because skystone resonates in a certain way, it can be tracked using another skystone crystal, and, if correctly manipulated, abused with a teleport pattern.
Alright, those fuckers need to die.
Shell can live. Let him wallow in despair or redemption, I don't care.
All my hatred is now focused on the Rainbow Dash Stalker Club. They're the ones who decided to hurt Kera.
Get bent, cultists. Seriously, what the hell? Rainbow Dash takes like a month off to help her friends find their own places to settle down and suddenly it's intervention time? Fuck these guys. I agree, Shell's allowed to have a redemption scenario, Spark knows he's a broken and tortured creature. These cultists are just blind, petty assholes. It all winds down to "We love you, Jesus! To better help you on your quest to spread the word, we're going to murder your friends!"
I know it's not the Equestrian thing to do, but I hope Dash butchers them all and wipes them from history.
I'm waiting for the next three way. The explosive kind.
Shell v Rainbow Cult v. Rainbow Team.
GO!
On a side note, they have the book and Kera (Innavder? I never really understood that) But RD is refusing to cooperate. So they will come back. Whether with the book or not, only the next chapter will tell.
3287337Oh, yeah. Derp. I must've forgotten.
So this affirms that at least some of them aren't fully delusional, but are rather aware of the implications of their actions.
Does that make the situation better, or worse?
They lost the engine of the noble jury -- they have no way to catch up.
I guess they are hoping RD goes it alone now under her own power but that is not going to happen.
3289027 Not the engine, just the power source. Without it they can fly for a while before the crystal runs dry. Might be smarter to buy a normal power supply while in the city that's full of that kind of thing though.
3288439
Can we have Shell and the Steel Wing fight the Heralds?
Tell them each other has Rainbow Dash captured and let them fight each other off.
"Heraldites" it is, then.
Man, I loathe these creeps more and more with each chapter. And now they have Kera. Forget Rainbow. Their asses now belong to Belle.
Maybe I'm just slow in the uptake, but I just noticed that Khao's name is quite similar to another word (no, not "cow", though that would be fitting, too).
West. That could become a problem. Didn't the Eljun Bureau want to help Austraeoh on her journey east?
~bass
It's blatant rape when you think about it. Dear heavens, if Floydien gets his antlers back...
3289772 Khaos is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
Mushy lungs don't sound too healthy.
These Herald blokes really are rather moronic, on top of having the kind of attitude that makes me want to drown in wet cement.
They say the prophecy is too complex for anybody to understand. And then act as though there is absolutely no chance their judgement is wrong.
They claim to understand the principles of the prophecy, the spark, of chaos and harmony, and then claim that the harbinger and her companions are completely worthless.
They attempt to persuade Rainbow to join them by talking of an ambush planned for them in the East, and then reveal they planned an ambush.
And now, in an attempt to demonstrate that they know better, they inadvertantly kidnap a foal who has been adopted by her two best friends. Even I can tell that was not a very intelligent decision.
And they actually believe to be completely righteous and superior in this... I can't help but pity them. Which is probably worse than hate, in many respects.
Seriously IC, well done. You've made characters I find painful to observe. I sincerely hope that they will gain depth later on.
One day a group of bitches is going to REALLY piss off RD. And when that day comes, she will take leave of her senses, fling off her Element, and tear anyone and everyone into little tiny pieces.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Ah, crap. I guess the action's died down now...dangit. Dash is going to have to regroup and then prepare for when the cult returns. And they will return. Mark my words...These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
Something tells me Kera's going to be the character the entire Jury will fight tooth and nail to protect due to the fact that, no matter how annoying she can be to the other crew members (Save Belle and Pilate), they love her like a daughter/sister. I also think Josho's gonna end up the "godfather" character to Kera and end up being among the first to throw themselves in the line of fire to protect her.
Shame he got knocked off the managlider, though. I'd've like to see him kick a bunch more ass before he was sent flailing. Still, good move with the divebomb technique.
She said this to Josho. Meaning that he's not an idiot, at least not one that she wants to kill. Meaning that Roarke almost complimented him! Friendship really is magic!
On a more depressing note, the bigoted brigade now has Kera and the book, and apparently a butt-ton of Skystone to fuel their retreat. If ever Ebon was to be revealed to have an amazing super secret talent to explain his cutie mark, (like, I dunno, crapping out Skystone to fuel skyships? that's kinda sailboat related) now would be a great time to reveal it.
No! Kera! You bastards will pay for this.
3288319
Either that or the cult has spent centuries if not millennia in preparation for this moment.
BLOOD FOR SEARO!
>“Guh!” Josh fell
Is that his new nickname?
>his body came into contact with the bulbous read balloon of a market dirigible
Red, perhaps?
Kera!
I don't care about Shell any more. He lost his own daughter anyway, whatever. That cult needs to die.
th06.deviantart.net/fs71/150/f/2011/309/0/9/angry_rarity_by_ilonis-d4f6qoo.png
-SPirit
Yeah, I'd be scared too. No scratch that, I'd be terrified. You do NOT want to piss Rainbow Dash off/**** with her.
Quite an unfortunate turnout. But Kera was pretty damn awesome.
Well, Paintbucket Society really dropped the ball on that operation.
Now that Kera has been foalnapped (even thought she put herself in that situation) the PAC will be targeted by a Transdimensional Rainboom Missile, a Roarke class gunship, and most deadly of all an Enraged Mother (yes, I know Kera is adopted but stepmother doesnt fit as well)
Yay, daddy josho time!
HaHA! I KNEW that was the reference it was meant to be!
Josho, whatever respect you were missing from me, you more than earned: a child should never have to be a casualty in war.
I wonder if they realize that by removing the book, they're actually hurting Rainbow.
6246931 it's not like they would care anyway.
You'll break Rainbow's heart, Props.
Props sense. Her tail went twitch-a-twitch.
And Kera unexpectedly ran out of bubblegum. Holy shit, that filly.
However, that is nothing to the divine wrath that is about to happen when Belle sees her in danger.
I realize that Josho is a lot more badass than he sometimes seems, but I'm surprised he seems to be the only one with any degree of teleportation.
Like, sure he can pull some especially crazy tricks with it that are beyond most unicorns, but you'd expect the other magic-users on board to have at least some passing skill. Yet you never see Eagle Eye teleport, for example.
They got away, for now. Time to plan the counterattack and go after them.
05/21/2017 01:53 UTC