The arctic wastes were the very definition of calm. A full day into the eastward trek, and the crew of the Noble Jury no longer had any reason to doubt that Stratopolis was the thing responsible for the alleged "Strip of Flurries" to begin with. At all times, the ponies on board Floydien's ship needed only to glance down, and they would see an immaculate reflection of their skystone vessel gliding across the glass-like frozen waters. The icebergs grew less and less frequent, and the smallest of sounds resonated across the frigid seascape. Even the northern edge—a distant dim glow at this point—still issued thunder across the thin air from afar.
Rainbow Dash's job of scout lasted barely a day and a half. As it grew more and more obvious that there was next to nothing for her to observe before the bow of the Jury, she ultimately relented, retreating to her post on board the ship and allowing her wings a chance to relax, as well as her wounds of battle to heal. For the most part, however, she remained on board the top deck of the Jury, eyeing the horizon with an instinctual wariness. By the beginning of the third morning, she had given up worrying, and started trotting downstairs to join the rest of the crew in their regular meals.
The mood on board the ship was calm. The crew conversed with a general degree of liveliness, be it in small groups or as a whole over dinner. Roarke, as always, kept her distance from the rest of the jurists, excusing herself more often than naught to examine the readings of her Lounge tech, checking up on the conditions and whereabouts of her alleged transport. Elma didn't touch a single morsel of food. Pilate and Belle weren't ignorant of this, and they kept their mealtimes short—choosing instead to congregate around the changeling and remain in her company as often as possible. It took much coaxing—not to mention a regal amount of redundant conversation topics—but they eventually succeeded in making the shape-shifter smile from time to time. A renewed glow of green energy flowed through her eyes; the changeling's health was satiated for a little while longer.
At the start of the third day, Rainbow Dash, Pilate, and Floydien had a frank discussion concerning the ship's bearings. Taking into account the memories Elma had to share about Alafreo's whereabouts, the crew decided to bend the ship's trajectory ever so slightly south. The vessel's skystone carried them swiftly, scaling the parallels south of the extreme arctic regions. Props worked hard to keep the engine running in best shape, and soon the Jury was operating at the best efficiency since they first ever stationed themselves in Gray Smoke.
By the fifth day, Rainbow Dash noticed a slight spike in temperature. The icebergs had completely vanished. The waters below were considerably warmer. Rainbow tested herself, gliding lonesomely above the lapping waves and dipping her hooves through the current. Soon enough, the crew could walk the topmost deck without needing thick wintry gear. Everypony welcomed the sensation, and many came up for fresh air for the first time in days.
All the while, there was still no sign of land. Although Elma assured them that the western edge of the continent was ever-looming, several members of the crew started to get antsy. Most of all was Ebon, who fretted that the food supply might not last the remainder of the journey. Hesitantly, the crew decided to conserve their rations, which cut down the volume of their daily meals by nearly two-thirds. This left Josho in a less-than-pleasant mood, to put it lightly.
To keep their minds off the lethargy and hunger of the trip, several ponies collaborated in constructing a make-shift hull to cover the damage done to the ship's forward observation room. This involved utilizing much of the metal scrap confiscated from the Lounge's vessel. Seeing as how even Roarke lent a hoof to the operation, this proved to be no real issue. While the crew were able to seal off the observation room from the outside, it was still deemed too dangerous for occupation. This meant Rainbow Dash had to find another place to sleep. Begrudgingly, she chose the sofa inside the bottom deck's navigation compartment right across from the observation room. The pegasus got very little sleep those evenings.
To stave off the insomnia, Rainbow Dash resorted to pacing about the ship. She even did this while most of the equines were asleep. No matter how far she trotted or in how many circles, she always returned to the same spot—or rather the same thing. The Sword of Solstice was being housed in the engine room. It was Props who hypothesized that—perhaps just like the lavender tome—the enchanted blade might have some sort of a positive impact on the Noble Jury's skystone engine. This, however, proved fruitless, and the engine room simply became a place to house the ancient artifact. So, as a consequence, Rainbow Dash often found herself standing there, eyeing her reflection in the blade, pondering over the number of beasts it had slain in its time...
And if Commander Hurricane ever purposed for another pegasus to pick the blade up.
AKA Time passes. Basically Josho gets fatter.
And I will guess that Hurricane did not anticipate for anyone else to wield the sword.
Roughly, if you are at sea level, your horizon is just over 20 miles, If you are a thousand feet up, your horizon is just over 50 miles, so any mountains standing up can be seen that much further away. Even so, if you are coming into a continent and hit a gap a couple hundred miles wide, or hazy weather, you can miss it completely. Look at crossing the Amazon by ferry, and thats just a river.
If ponies eat grass, and grass is short and easy growing, how hard would it be to have walls, floor and cieling, with piped light, coered with grass, and how much space would be needed for food per crew?
This feels nice.
This blade corrupts and twists the minds of mortal mares.
Feature box! Time to read the two chapters I have to catch up on.
4552597
With the rationing, he's not gonna get much fatter any longer.
4552703
"I should really stop all this breathing. It goes straight to my belly."
This seems to be written in a very passive and dreary voice.
I miss the d'awws and action and explosions now.
Still wish they could've brought along Vaughn's craft.
Fatty.
[screaming intensifies]
4552661
I just want to know if Belle is gonna make Pilate a new OASIS...
4552723 You didn't just call poor ol' Zaid a "thing", did you?
FOR FUCKS SAKE THERES ANOTHER ONE?!! Im only half way though Ord.
The Sword of Solstice will be important involving lore.
...
As if we didn't already know that.
-Spirit
4552736 I imagined an old British guy narrating this chapter.
4552774 And they'll keep coming.
Austraeoh is the saga that keeps on giving.
4552740
Well it seems Roarke can all upon her ship at any time. It's probably just following the Noble Jury at a fair distance away.
4552750 Meh
Good to see a sort of status quo has been returned to the Jury.
Next stop: Alafreo.
(Feature box!)
4552817 atlest it keeps getting better unlike some things....
4552774
The ride never ends on
Mr. BonesSkirt's wild rideNice calm explanatory timeskippy chapter.
4552741
I would imagine so.
Well they finally addressed the whole in the side of the ship. I thought they had forgot about it or something.
4552736 I took this as indicative of Rainbow's restless and meandering mental state. It seems as if the sword is... addictive? Ooooh, evil twist, the zombies weren't the ancient evil housed in Stratopolis... the sword was! All the zombies were previous Austraeohs who wielded the sword and fell victim to its allure...
I didn't know that a chapter like this would come as a relief until I read it. For a story that relies so much on incident, this kind of expository style is unusual, but somehow it works. It almost feels like a breather.
4552817
This chapter is now officially narrated by David Attenborough.
Not much action in this chapter, which means, as history tells us, we'll have a short lull before
ShellChrysalis arrives to ruin the day in a big way.4552774 Yeah, you're in for the long haul here.
So, the Sword of Solstice and Smooze-Slaying is certainly some sort of special... MacGuffin. (Dammit, ran out of S-words.)
4553121
AW FUK
Ah such a nice and short little breather chapter. Love this.
4552633
I recall Rainbow once on the verge of starving back in Austraeoh when surrounded by fields of grass, only to be saved by finding a few select flowers further into her voyage. Botany becomes much less efficient when you must fully raise a flower in place of simply trimming the grass.
4552894
Who is this Skirts you speak of. It's all IC here.
It's wonderful. And calm. Which reminds me, we never did find out how or why the city was causing those storms. That might've proven to be fruitful - perhaps too fruitful?
4552868 Meh. The first part is always the best. Always. (Because the reader's perspective shifts too far away from curiosity, wonder and excitement after it's gotten old and well-known. It's all the reader's fault. )
4553121 Naaaaah...
4552750
Nothing to complain about here. Only thing worth noting is that it's pretty different then previous nondialouge chapters. I like it, I think its tone really helps usher in the feeling of serenity the journey has taken on. I'm looking forward to the RainBoarke on the horizon. Call me crazy but I think Alfredo is going to be a more tranquil mini arc then Silvadel or even Windthrow. More like Emeraldine really.
Edit: wow, autocorrect made me get my own name wrong. Thanks for that.
"Of scouting", or "as a scout" would probably make more sense.
Transition. Yup yup yup.
4552774
You must be new here.
12 books in this series
4553814
Not sure if joking...
Anyway, I'd highly recommend reading IC's author page. It's very informative.
do changelings eat real food?
wooo! calm! YEA!
4554848 christ that's horrific
and yet i listened to it all the way through..........
yes, yes it is. bad reader, bad
4553087 heh, yea, same here
4553197 i just reread this in his voice..........
4557695 that is a thing to ponder, isn't it? i imagine they don't need to, but can. after all, it would be weird for a hidden one to not eat.
Glad to see that their journey has been fairly uneventful. Rainbow, instead of pacing, you could practice with that sword some. Might be useful in the future.
I have a feeling that one day Rainbow will lose this awesome sword, but I hope that is a day that is far, far away.
Mice little filler chapter. Insomnia is the worst, and I feel sorry for anyone that has it. Sleep happens to be one of those things that I personally find sacred, and not getting to wajw up in the morning feeling refreshed is the worst.
4552817
It goes on forever...
Glad to see a happy jury again.
A little intermission before the real work begins.
Finished Towering Above The Rest Disk 15.
It is not as pleasant as it could be, but it is basically home, and everyone is fine.
06/04/2017 19:13 UTC
Thank God, they all finally get a break.
6021762
There an end goal. It just REALLY REALLY far away.
Like the One Piece.