Pilate gnashed his teeth. "Come on... come on..." Raindrops ricocheted off his metal helm as he concentrated on the skystone shard in front of him. The glow of the crystal intensified, and the zebra could feel the winds all around him whipping in one uniform direction: against him and away from the north pedestal. "Blessed Spark, it's working. It's working!"
"Hrssshhh!" Razzar knocked Rainbow Dash back with a savage punch. Lightning flashed in his peripheral. Instead of immediately leaping on the pony, the naga lurched in place, panting. He tilted his head aside and blinked his slitted eyes. "No..." He saw the clouds vanishing, their last dissipating mists brimming with electrical energy. All around the descended platform they stood on, the buildings of Stratopolis could be seen surging northward, their granite bodies and dark obelisks reflected in the waves of an increasingly visible ocean below. Chunks of ice and splatches of frost shimmered in the moonlight. "NO!"
"Hnnngh!" Rainbow Dash pounced on his backside. She swung the Sword of Solstice over and clamped it around Razzar's neck like a vice. The naga struggled against her weight while sheets of rain evaporated upon contact with the blade. "What's the matter, Razzar?!" she sputtered in his ear. "All this time, you've wanted nothing but more skystone!" Along the northern horizon, a thin line of red energy continually pulsed. The city of Stratopolis hurled towards it. "Well, now you're gonna get it! Full force!"
Razzar's jaws bled from how hard he gritted his serrated teeth. "Rrrrrr—" He slammed his skull back into the pegasus' chin. "RAUGH!" Rainbow sputtered, her grip of the sword slipping. Without a second's hesitation, Razzar kicked against the floor with his talons. The two of them went stumbling backwards, tripped over Razzar's rocket pack, and plunged into the dribbling column of purple muck from the structure above.
Pilate gasped, throwing a shocked glance over his shoulder.
Even with the helm, the bodies beyond the ooze were obscured. After several heart-thudding seconds, an equine shape was the first to emerge. Wheezing in pain, Rainbow Dash slumped to her knees, covered all over in lavender slime. Her eyes pulsed red-on-yellow as she used all her strength to raise the Sword of Solstice in front of her.
The stallion watched in mute suspense.
Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth shut. Her eyes lowered as she leaned towards the burning energy of the sword. Inch by inch, the purple muck evaporated from her body. Within seconds, she was fully cleansed of the taint, but the ordeal had sapped her of her strength. She slumped forward, leaning on Commander Hurricane's weapon with labored breathing. She looked up at Pilate—then flinched. Spinning around, Rainbow Dash—
"Hresssh!" WHAM!–took a vicious right hook from an enraged reptile.
Pilate winced.
"Mmmf!" Rainbow Dash crumpled hard to the rainswept floor. Her legs lay limp while the Sword of Solstice clattered to a stop. Clank! A purple-stained talon clamped over the hilt. Razzar leaned over, picked the blade up, and stood tall with the artifact in his grip. The purple slime creeping down his body dissipated in puffs of steam as he seethed and glared through his pain. At last his eyes fell upon Pilate's figure.
"Bad zebra..." he hissed.
The stallion gulped.
"Hrnnnnnngh!" Razzar charged at full force, dragging the Sword of Solstice along in preparation for the mother of all upswings.
Pilate nervously glanced around. He found the staff Roarke had given it and picked it up.
"Hresssssh!" Razzar sliced through the rain with Rainbow's blade.
Pilate raised the staff in a feeble attempt to block. CRACK! The thing shattered instantly in half, forcing the stallion to stumble back.
Razzar twirled from his swing and round-house kicked the zebra in his muzzle.
"Ooof!" Pilate fell back against the skystone pedestal, wincing.
"Aaaaaugh!" Razzar swung the blade down.
Stifling a yelp, Pilate rolled to the side. CLANK! The golden blade ricocheted off the pedestal behind him, showering the floor with burning embers. "Nnngh!" He stabbed the sparkling end of his broken staff hard into Razzar's side.
"Graa-aaa-aaaugh!" Razzar gargled on his own blood as his body jolted with electricity. Dropping the sword, he fell down on all fours, writhing.
With a grunt, Pilate leapt at the naga's shoulders—WHAM!—only to be savagely uppercutted by Razzar's wayward fist. Whap! The naga's claws clamped around Pilate's neck. The zebra sputtered for breath, swung from Razzar's grip, and bucked both of his legs hard into the reptile's chest. As Razzar leaned forward, Pilate slipped from his grasp, rolled around to his backside, and gripped his skull. He then slammed Razzar's brow repeatedly into the edge of the pedestal. "Rnngh!" Wham! "Gnngh!" Thud! "Haah!" Whack!
Groaning, Razzar swung both hands forward, gripped the edge of the pedestal, and stopped Pilate before he could impact his skull a fourth time. He swung a talon out at the zebra, slicing across the stallion's right rear fetlock. Sliiink!
"Aaaaugh!" Pilate stumbled away from the glowing skystone.
Standing up, Razzar clasped both hands together and slammed them down into Pilate's spine.
Pilate sprawled out on the floor, wheezing for breath.
Razzar grabbed the zebra by his tail and flung him mercilessly across the platform like a ragdoll.
Pilate slipped across the rain-slick granite, rolled over Rainbow's body, and came to a jolting stop, lying face-up and wheezing. Just as he struggled to get up, he heard the thud-thud-thuds of Razzar's charge. Clank! The reptile's talon kicked the manasphere out from Pilate's choker. Bzzzzt! In an instant, the zebra's helm shorted out and he lost all sight.
"Gaah!" Pilate gasped, his ears twitching. He heard the rattling of the manasphere as it bounced off somewhere in the pitch-black darkness. Desperate, he swung his aching limbs around and scrambled blindly for it. He had barely moved a foot before Razzar found him again, lifted him off the ground, and tossed him clear across the windy platform.
Pilated wheezed for breath. All was confusion and thunder. Around him, he sensed Stratopolis soaring faster and faster towards oblivion.
"Where in Spark's name is it going?!" Eagle Eye shouted into the chilly air.
"North," Roarke said from the Lounge's ship. "At a constantly accelerating speed."
"You know where it's headed?!" Ebon exclaimed.
"It had to be done," Roarke droned, nevertheless staring towards the horizon in a pensive manner. "Rainbow Dash and Pilate knew it as well..."
"I don't get it..." Ebon glanced nervously at the other ponies. "What's the point?! Why make Stratopolis take off like that?!"
"The skystone deposits," Bellesmith murmured. Kera looked worriedly at her as she said, "It can't be that far from here. Approaching the glowing fields at full speed, not even a Sentinel like this would survive." She gazed at the others. "It would be the one and only way to eliminate the evil that Stratopolis had left locked away."
"Eagle," Josho spoke. "Do you see anymore pegasi swarms?"
Eagle Eye shook his head. "They were coming out of Stratopolis, but it's gone..."
"Not quite gone," Zaid said, squinting north at the rapidly retreating structure. "Still looks like a meteor's loogey from here..."
"Rainbow's gonna fly out of that crazy place with Pilate, though, r-right?" Ebon stammered. He turned and blinked at the others. "Right?"
Floydien hung his head. Elma nervously clung to the cockpit's doorframe.
Suddenly, the air roared with skystone engines.
"Roarke...?!" Josho remarked.
Roarke didn't reply. She kept her rifle trained on the remaining three naga as she brought the vessel around, aiming it north. "Get ready for cover fire! Shoot any pegasus that isn't rainbow colored along the way!" The thrusters flared bright and yellow. "Cross me, and I'll turn each of you into naked hood ornaments!" Thwoooosh! The vessel soared towards the northern horizon.
"Roarke!" Josho gnashed his teeth. "Dammit!" He turned, glancing breathlessly at the others. "Folks, if she's that scared..."
Zaid stomped his hooves. "The hell are we waiting for?!" He galloped dowards the cockpit. "Reindude?!"
"The cockpit's mine, clown-clown!" Floydien beat him to it, shoving his way past Bellesmith and Elma. "Belt it up, boomers! Nancy has a death city to catch!"
"Go go go!" Eagle exclaimed, dragging Ebon along with him.
As Josho galloped by, Belle lingered on the chilly deck, staring north with a pair of glossy eyes.
"Belle...?" Kera murmured, tugging on the mare's tail. "Belle, we have to go now..." She gulped. "To help Daddy..."
Belle bit her lip. "Roarke... " She whispered, tears forming. "Roarke, please t-tell me this was all part of your plan..."
"Belle!" Josho shouted from inside. "Hop to it!"
Gritting her teeth, Belle scooped Kera up and dashed into the cockpit before the door could close. With throttling engines, the Noble Jury spun about and blasted its way north. The Tarkinton had no choice but to cruise after the vessel, puttering along at a far tamer speed as it too followed the loose path of Stratopolis.
Well, Roarke isn't exactly a mouse or a man, but even her best laid plans...
For a musical, this lacked a significant amount of music.
On a more serious note,
That is all I have to say today.
yay, late night upload! and five minutes later i show up!
and pilates blind again...... and possibly falling to his unlikely death
also, how are the naga going to feel facing razzar? will they turn on roarke, or are they more afraid of her?
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Are we really already halfway done with Urohringr? How time flies. I like it.
Into The (Skystone) Woods
Chapter 100 woohoo
Well time for the next half!
Belt it up Boomers, Nancy has a Death City to catch.
First Rourke, then Nancy Jane, then Tarkington, all trying to catch up with Dash and Pilate coming back.
Its XH607 all over again?
Maybe, Leave Razzar behind to remove the skystone, only to find out he cant affect it, or too late, so the city stalls on the edge of oblivion, the Maelstrom, then falls?
Aw, I was kinda hoping that we'd have a naga head hanging over the mantle in commemoration of the half-way point. S'all good, though. Race-against-time situations tend to be fun. We are so close to having the whole gang reunited.
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Well, there are enough naga left to make hood ornaments for all the flying vessels.
halfway there
Forwards, Noble Jurists! The second half awaits!
I preferred Zebra Versus Naga: The Animated Series myself, but they did pull off the musical pretty well.
We are now 3/8 of the way there. Just 1500 to go...
PS: I love how, when talking about this fic, you can say things like "Only 1500 chapters left".
Such loyalty.
Razzar, turning out to be a decent midway villain this time along. Wasn't sure about him til now.
Happy 100 chapters, everyone!
I'm catching up from... From 57 chapters ago...
Yeah, I'm that guy today.
I'll catch up and see you guys in a few days.
I'd so love to see that fight as a comic.
Greatly described fight scene, as always. Now let's see if the Jury can catch up to Dash and Pilate and get reunited before Stratopolis is destroyed!
-Spirit
EDIT: 100 chapters done! Only 1500 to go.
Hooray, time for Roarke to save her maiden in distress and make out with her!
...
Make up. I meant make up.
Ooh, do we get a villain monologue song? Those are always fun.
And I'd like to point out that at the halfway mark this is almost as long as Austraeoh was.
Still feels odd reading Kera's dialogue. Although I remember how the lil' street urchin used to speak, I got used to having a vegetable as a member of the crew instead. Guess they're gonna have to go buy some potted plants.
Leave Razzar on the city to go North, that'd be a good way to have him go.
4523483 no, that would mean an unconfirmed kill, we all remember what happened last time.
Curse this story's ability to wreck my sleep hygiene!
lol poor tarkington is using manacrystals instead of skystone..good luck keeping up you puttery rustbucket lol
4520591 we all know you meant. And agree
I think it's about time Razzar leaves. He's outstayed his welcome.
Driver, after that city!
Well shit, guess 100 didn't have our fall. Oh well, at lest Razzar got another nice round of beating. Hopefully he doesn't survive the crash...
So happy that Kera is back to normal
Funny. They just escaped and now they already want to go back
Man, Pilate had absorbed some awesomeness from Rainbow. No way would the Pilate we met back in story 2 gone good to claw with a Naga.
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*Vietnam flash back*