“Mmmmf…” Kera stirred. “Nnnngh…” Kera’s eyelids clenched tighter. “But I don’t want to sleep alone tonight. C-can I just stay here with you?” She clenched her jaws, shivering as she curled into the folds of her robe. “I’m… I-I’m not scared. Just… just cold…” Her teeth clattered. “Just so c-cold…”
At last, the foal’s eyes fluttered open. A strong draft was blowing into the dank building, and the light of dawn rolled in after it.
“B-Belle?!” She sat up, panting. Slowly, her breaths slowed. Her ears drooped, and she frowned at her immediate surroundings.
A few seconds passed, during which she familiarized herself with the sound of loons and buzzing insects just beyond the hideout’s doors--a pair of doors that were currently wide open.
“Mmmmf… h-huh…?” She shaded her tattooed face with a forelimb, squinting towards the entrance. Groaning slightly, the foal got up and stumbled her way towards the gaping doorframe. Her shuffling hooves echoed with scuffing sounds. Soon, she stood in the face of the cold air rushing in, her eyes squinting out upon the glittering ponds and marshlands.
After a few seconds, she realized that she wasn’t supposed to be alone. She spun about, looking every which way. There was no sign of the mare who had brought her here. Even the communications station within the shelter was abandoned.
“Where… how…?” Kera murmured. Just then, the hairs of her ears twitched, though she wasn’t entirely sure why. The insects buzzing to her left and right sped up and hid into nearby bushes. The leaves of that very shrubbery began shifting and swaying. Beyond that, Kera noticed, the pond water rippled with a sudden disturbance.
She opened her mouth to say something, only to discover that the air around her was being stolen by a new kind of thunder. The atmosphere roared, suddenly, as if a meteor was sailing down at high speed. She instinctively squatted down low, squeaking in fear. Glancing up, her green eyes reflected a large hulking shape blotting the sky.
Suspended on two dirigibles, the largest battleship Kera had ever seen in her young life throttled in from the northeast. The trees of the marshland swung and danced from the manathrusters, even at several hundred feet’s distance. As the massive vessel came to a hovering stop, it practically blew water out from the nearby reservoirs.
Kera shivered. She turned to gallop back into the shelter, only Nightshade was standing in her way.
“She’s magnificent, isn’t she?” the mare said, causing Kera to fall back on her haunches in surprise. She calmly tilted her head up towards the noisy behemoth above, speaking in a placid tone. “The Lightning Bearer. I designed her. Well.. most of her. I couldn’t get the weight distribution and outer hull dimensions right, but the engine and the propulsion? Those came about from long, long hours of late nightly battles with blueprints.”
“You… you…” Kera gulped. “That’s what you c-called?” The filly glanced up in time to see two hovercraft exiting the port side of the ship and coasting down towards them. “With the communications array?”
“I think it’s rather fitting that a weapon that the Council of Ledo thought was completely and utterly bred for war would in fact be an ark for this continent’s destined salvation.” Nightshade looked down at Kera. “The place it will take us, Kera, is undoubtedly fraught with peril. But it is also the road to peace. You have helped made that possible, and I promise you--when all is said and done--I will give you the home and the family that you deserve.”
“What… what do you mean?” Kera glanced up at the incoming aircraft, grimacing at the sight of their Ledomaritan colors. “You… y-you know what?” She gulped and backtrotted across the marshes. “I-I’ve changed my mind! I think I’ll take my chances with the marshes! You can have your enforcer luxury cruise! I’m not getting on board that ship!”
“Dear child…” Nightshade gazed at her with eerie warmth. “Your ‘choice’ has been an illusion since before you and I reunited.”
Kera blinked. Sneering, she turned to gallop away--only to have a hovercraft land loudly several feet in front of her. She gasped and skidded to a stop, just in time for several enforcers to hop out, their uniforms flashing brightly in the light of dawn.
Another ship touched down behind Nightshade. A well-dressed stallion trotted out, lowered his beret, and stood before Nightshade with a pleasant expression.
“Prime Enforcer Fortis…” Nightshade curtsey’d. “I didn’t think you cared enough to pay me the personal courtesy.”
“You’ve been loyal to Seclorum and myself all these years. I don’t care what the rumors from Blue Nova say; your heart is bound to the service of Ledomaritan Victory in this war.”
“Indeed,” Nightshade coolly said before him and his fellow soldiers. “If it weren’t for the traitorous actions of Prime Enforcer Shell, I would have helped the warfront sooner.”
Kera watched intently as the conversation went on.
“So it was that chaotic rogue who had abducted you?” Fortis frowned. “Bah! The Council has put a ransom for his head and horn. Judging from the unaccounted for personnel, it would seem that he’s appropriate his own personal army. It’s the last thing we need in these trying times.”
“It was no small miracle that I escaped. You can thank my surrogate over there.” Nightshade turned and pointed at Kera. “She holds the promise to victory that I’ve been promising Seclorum all this time.”
“You mean…” Fortis leaned forward, his aged face stretched with surprise. “You managed to smuggle it out of the maretropolis?”
“What are you guys talking about?” Kera stammered. “I’m not her daughter! And I certainly don’t have any--”
“The book is in her possession,” Nightshade said, casting the foal a glinting glance over her shoulder. “She thinks that I haven’t noticed it, but it’s there--hidden beneath her cloak.”
Kera gasped, her eyes twitching as she clutched the weight under her “diguise.”
“She’s done a very good service to the Confederacy,” Nightshade said. “I suggest we make east with it before Seclorum’s ongoing sacrifice becomes a case of futile martyrdom.”
“At last…” Fortis took a deep breath. “A light to the wasteland of the Sea of Shards. My only regret for this war ending soon is that I’ll have a state-of-the-art battleship with nothing to do with.”
“Well, today you have something.”
“Indeed.” Fortis nodded towards the enforcers all around them. “Escort these ladies to the Lightning Bearer. And have somepony send a message to Prime Enforcer Seclorum! Today, we make for the Eastern Front!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Aye, sir.”
“No!” Kera shrieked. She spun and barreled her way towards the distant marshes. “I’m not going! I’m not!”
“It would be wise to catch her…” Nightshade muttered.
“Soldiers--!” Fortis shouted.
Two enforcers stood in Kera’s way. The foal boldly shot a beam of magic forward, knocking both stallions off their legs. She ran towards an open space between swamp grass, only to have a pair of retaliating soldiers effortlessly yank her body up with telekinesis. Kera fought, struggled, and kicked at the air, but she was ultimately hoisted onto one of the hovercraft while simultaneously stripped of her robes and book.
The glowing tome levitated over to Madame Nightshade. As she and Fortis trotted by Kera’s ship to go to their own, the mare spoke to the foal: “Don’t fight what’s good for you, child. This is the second time in two days that I’ve saved your life.”
Kera sneered at her, then trembled as the ship she was in lifted off, flying with the other craft towards the hulking body of the Lightning Bearer above.
Ok, nightshade, you've used up all your sympathy points a while ago. You gotta go
...Nightshade, you actually had a chance at redemption, and you blew it. Good job.
And now we have some context for the new battleship. I didn't foresee it being Nightshade's outright. This ought to be an interesting situation: A kidnapped foreign filly, on a state of the art battleship owned by a delusional industrial maven, followed by a pegasus of prophecy, followed by both a religious cult and a mutinous battleship captained by a rogue nutcase, all set to a soundtrack of mysterious whale song.
Oh crêpe. Now Rainboarke will have to fight Seclorum's battleship to get Kera and the book.
~Basso Fthe
not good
Hoboy.
Wasn't that where shell was heading?
Stealth update, I think I'm the first one of the Jury to get here
Rainbow Dash is gonna be pissed...
Kera really needs to take this all to court. She's been manhandled and foalnapped so many times now, if she ever sued Nightshade she'd be rich.
"You could have easily killed me in my sleep if you wanted", eh? That's Nightshade for you: mistress of the situation, even when she's not.
4.bp.blogspot.com/-PFCVN_xOQHQ/UVSgfMNZisI/AAAAAAAALIE/ZQnP7qjBmzY/s1600/guy-with-a-plan.gif
3367955 Isn't Lightning a Juror?
That should be 'appropriated'.
Well now, Nightshade, you are not going to be happy with how this turns out.
Nothing good will come of this.
I suspect all parties involved will collide at the same time, and Rainbow, Belle, Roarke, Pilate and Kera (maybe Props) will escape by the skin of their teeth and the hooves on their legs, winding up stranded in Xona as everyone else battles overhead to distract Shell, Nightshade, and the Ledomaritan enforcer unit.
What I would do in Kera's place is use that gleaned information that Shell is wanted, tell Rainbow and Roarke, and then have Roarke turn him in for the billions of bits for their journey onward.
But that's me.
No, it's ok.
I have tears to spare.
Whelp, so much for that excursion.
Looking forward to this, though. Two massive battleships from opposing factions, both on an eastbound course, with our heroes caught in the middle of it all?
Oh yes, there will be explosions.
Clusterfuck in three, two... Oh who am I kidding, it will take us a hundred chapters to get there. But the pieces are in motion, and it's going to be, well, a clusterfuck.
Also, dude, Nightshade. I'm going to call it now, she dies a Disney death.
So much for the whole redemption thing, I guess.
3367814 Don't forget the Ohms. amazon.com/Theres-No-Place-Like-Ohm/dp/B00025ZXF0
3368801 At some point, one runs out of choices and redemption is no longer possible. Poor Nightshade - she believes so much that she is the one with all the choices, when in fact, she has none at all.
Nightshade.....you never learn, do ya? And RD is gonna be in for a surprise when she see's a super battlecruiser instead of ol Shelly.
Question: If Austraeoh ~ Spark (aka ), Eljunbryo is the rebirth of endurance or whatever, Innavedr is....knowledge? the flame/book? fuel? Spirits of the Dead? That entanglement thing Zetta 2.0 found?
Then would Ordsjot be the armor to allow the Innavder to be used properly?
Oo. It appears that Innavedr (probably related to the book) exacerbates RD's condition, and that Ordsjot rune supposedly protects one from it, maybe it will allow RD to be a super wizard, allowing the "Chaos" magic poisoning her to stabilize better, and give her magic powers.
Idk, Wild mass guessing here.
It would be really awesome if the Lightning Bearer didn't end up just another thing in RD's way. Think how unstoppable the Noble Jury would be with the biggest battleship in the Ledomaritan military as an escort.
Of course, that counts on Nightshade actually wanting to help, Fortis deciding to leave the war, and the Jury accepting their help in the first place. Seems like a long shot.
Intresting problem in military design, the trade off between having weaponry capable of taking out the enemy, and taking out freindly forces, and the defenses against reducing or preventing freindly losses.
Shell shoots first, so he doesnt have to ask questions after.
I still have this itching powder. Would someone like to grab Nightshade's tail?
As for those of you gullible enough to still feel even a shred of sympathy for Nightshade, know this. She most likely intends to chop off Kera's horn. Nightshade's lackeys are more than likely aware of this as well, and more, and are all too happy to simply turn their flanks and ignore it.
...bitch.
Maybe the Light Bringer will blow the Steel Wing and Shell both out of the sky permanently. Here's hoping the HEROIC and devilishly handsome Lieutenant Straker will save the day and end all of this single-hoofedly andohlet'sfaceit he's gonna be toast XD
3372058
I think she could do with a little bell around her neck, or better yet, a tiny piece of that book, so that when she gets foalnapped, Rainbow Dash can play hero and soar to her rescue. It would be nice to see her get rescued within a single arc.
Maybe Seclorum will be more reasonable than nightshade? Just a thought.
You hear that sound? That's the sound of me seeing my hope for Nightshade's redemption be thrown out of a window...on a highway...at very high speeds. *sigh*
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Okay, so Nightshade's got a history with Fortis. That makes more sense. And I bet that, deep down, she doesn't truly care for Kera. She's just feeding her this crap about peace in a weak attempt to gain her trust or something. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
Gah! Just when I thought I could've been swayed to not think she was a total douchenugget! Although, it does make more sense this way. Nighty's basically given up everything her entire life seeking her twisted perception of peace, so her just giving up to live a quiet life of charity wouldn't be very in character, as much as it would've helped Kera.
Well, Dash won't be getting her back without a fight, anyway. We all knew it had to come to this, eventually.
Orphaned by war.
Foster parents murdered in front of her by a cliche evil corporation (which is part of the cliche military industrial complex).
Kidnapped by said evil corporation for sinister experimentation.
Escapes, only to live in the streets eating bugs and garbage.
Rescued and recaptured and rescued again, to be adopted by a loving couple (yay!).
Then kidnapped by an evil cult.
Re-kidnapped by the evil military.
Became surrogate daughter to an insane murderous single-minded revenge machine.
Escaped again, but with the mastermind of the evil corporation that murdered her last parents and tried to experiment on her.
Kidnapped again, by the evil military that is working with the evil corporation.
At this point, screw Rainbow Dash, I'm rooting for Kera to get a stable life with Belle and Pilate.
What a jerk!
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3845034
I really hope all of the Jurists manage to get happy endings, preferrably together. Maybe after all this is over, Dash could bring them to live in Ponyville?
-Spirit
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fi0.kym-cdn.com%2Fphotos%2Fimages%2Fmasonry%2F000%2F698%2F489%2F2f7.png&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fknowyourmeme.com%2Fmemes%2Ffacepalm%2Fphotos&h=156&w=200&tbnid=-8MuzrdfXT4-bM%3A&zoom=1&docid=mCdz4CeCuTt0fM&ei=TCGbVPmhLeTdsATe7YIg&tbm=isch&ved=0CEIQMygUMBQ&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=297&page=2&start=18&ndsp=21
TRIPLEFACEPALM
This does not bode well. Rainbow Dash and Roarke may be awesome, but they will need more than awesomeness to take down that beast.
Nightshade's descent into delusions isn't quite s harsh as Shell's; she's merely skating the thin ice, as it were.
Be careful, it's cold in there...
5873533 Ugh, friggin Nightshade. every time I think She's got her act together she pulls the SAME SHIT as shell.
I'll give that Our writer has done an excellent job of Making her persuasive. I mean, yeah I didn't trust her, but I almost believe she was turning over a new leaf until the "Your friends have abandoned you" speech
Nightshade and Shell, two sides of the same worthless coin
Welp, I called it. But at least it's not Shell.
6028306
Honestly there is some difference between Shell in Nightshade.
Shell will just kill you, and possibly if he has the time, murder all your family, friends, and loved ones before he does.
Nightshade won't kill you, she'll just mind screw you seven ways to sunday. Then throw you in a Lotus Eater Machine to mind screw you even more deeper than when she was just using words to get into your head.
But yeah I never trusted her.
Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal.
A ransom is what they'd pay for his safe return; this would be a bounty. Hmmm... I wonder if Roarke could collect on that one without getting most of Ledomare on her tail.
...
8077005
Talk about the hunted becoming the hunter