Pilate's ears twitched just seconds before the underground chamber shook. He looked up from the old tome with wide eyes.
Bellesmith shot up with a gasp. She clung to Pilate, her blinking, chestnut eyes aimed at the sliver of daylight above.
"Was... Was that an explosion?!"
"I doubt there are many volcanoes in Foxtaur," Pilate murmured.
"It must be the shelling again!" Belle exclaimed, immediately shivering. "The Ledomaritans must have found us!" She gasped with a high-pitched breath. "Oh, Pilate! The others!" She scampered up to her hooves and rushed up the steps. "Eagle Eye! Crimson!"
"Shhh!" Pilate hissed, standing up and waving a striped forelimb. "Beloved! Keep it down!"
"But the others might be hurt by the shelling—"
"I don't think it is shelling," the zebra said. He trotted steadily towards Belle's side. "There's something different about it. I can hear it in the air."
"A mana grenade, then?"
"Something like that." Pilate gulped and pushed Belle gently aside as he scaled the stairs.
"Darling, what are you doing?"
"Taking a little peak..."
"Don't you dare go out there!"
He smirked slightly. "I wouldn't be able to do much even if I wanted to." He murmured into the choker around his neck. In response, the manasphere floated up the steps and towards the gaping entrance to the upper, sunlit ruins above. "Seems to be awfully smokey up there. Maybe O.A.S.I.S. can give us a better idea."
"I still think we should call for the others."
"And we just might do that still." He furrowed his brow as the runes on his head flickered in concentration. "One thing at a time, beloved. If I can just get a scan..."
Belle watched, biting her lip.
The manasphere flew higher and higher, its surface glinting from the sunlight. A bright laser strobed into the forested area, spinning a miniature circle.
Belle gulped. "Well? What do you... uhm... see?"
Pilate's ears drooped. "There's something out there. A metallic substance. Like armor."
"Armor?"
"Wait a second..." Pilate exhaled. "It's moving. Moving fast—"
A loop of black metal flew in and wrapped four times around his face.
"Mmmmmfff!" In a monochromatic blur, Pilate was yanked up through the ceiling of the chamber.
"Pilate!" Belle shrieked, instantly leeping forward. Her forelimbs clamored to catch his hooves. For half-a-second, she managed to latch on, but then a severe yank from the other side drew Pilate out of there in a blink. She fell forward onto the steps, breathless and mortified. Looking up, she watched with quivering eyes as the sphere of O.A.S.I.S.—now dull as a rock—fell inertly like a bowling ball down the cold, granite steps.
Another!
AND STILL THESE CLIFFHANGERS. NO COOKIE FOR YOU.
Okay, so about that last comment...
Oh dear, what have we done....
Barring a Rainbow Dash rescue, we're dealing with a Class VII "They're Fucked" situation here.
I bet that next Bell will be kidnapped and knocked unconscious. Then they'll wake up in the ship to find that RD somehow befriended Roarke but didn't know about the kidnapping. Then everything will be cleared up and Roarke will give them a ride to Xonan for some reason...... hopefully
I'd like to pretend it's all just a very strange rescue, but sticking those bombs on the shield was just not nice. Also, now Pilate is really blind.
2122916
No cookies, but I'll give him some damn push-ups!
Thirty-five for the damn cliffhangers, ):(! Knock 'em out!
YOUR WORLD JUST GOT ROARKED!!
And no matter whether Rainbow Dash launches a rescue, it seems like its still brown trousers time. I don't expect a super-badass merc to just leave them tied in wire. Either they're dead, unconscious or there's something else at work here.
Bah! The writing is always surrounded by ubiquitous mystery, ambiguouity and wank! Which only makes it more frustrating because of the tiny baby chapters! Which means we are constantly battered by cliffs! It's worse than an Italian ferry!
In other words, your writing style is rather good.
^ This is how imagine this fight. . . only more efficient.
OhnoezPilate...
And then there was one...
Also, there seems to be a few typos here. "a little peak" and "leeping" are the most noticeable.
*peek
A peak is the top of a mountain. A peek is a sneaked glance.
2122170
Funny you say that because this whole thing about the machine and Austraeoh and the prophecy goes BEYOND Equestria, beyond the elements themself. Good try though.
2123039 All of my yes. One of the best scenes in that season.
2122996
You're awfully optimistic about this.
Be careful for what you wish for.
2123185
That's what I would do if I were writting this story. I think I might have somethings right but IC is a better writter and probably has a few tricks up the sleeve, like EE is really Roarke, Belle, and RD.
2123265
That's so crazy....and awesome at the same time.
2121121Can't really confirm if you're right since I already know...
2121150Indeed. As for if they're being held captive...well...yes and no.
2121446Well, these one's just seemed to be more stone cold and devoid of emotion than usual.
2121493Yes.
Okay.
That is all.
2121555CLEARLY POINTLESS LOVE IS RELEVANT.
Just kidding. But seriously, all of the shipping fics have the same freaking description with different names inserted like Mad Libs...
2121609AH HA!!
2121735That's what I do!It was like that during the "nature" chapters of Austraeoh...nothing to evaluate but beautiful description as far as the eye can see.
2122041Bed bugs are terrifying to me.Why are you still sleeping there?! I would just move.
And yeah, I did recover quickly. Thanks for asking!
2122135It's really weird. I never started getting sick on an almost regular basis until I started evaluating.
Oh, and...um...let's never say "feeling the Dash" ever again...
2122139Glitchy iPod is glitchy.
2122211I have taught you well, padawan.Go forth, now, and theorize!
2122223I never said anything about Pilate dying.
I was correct.
Samus!Pone is WHIP-IT good.
pinkie.ponychan.net/chan/files/src/135951307292.png
Uhm, I'm just going to go ahead and apologize for any damage my namesake may cause. She doean't seem to give a flying feather about her prisoners' comfort during the capture. Not that I would expect her to, but boy does she make it look easy.
Evil tentacles! Protect your anus!
the hentapus strikes again.
Aww yeah. Finally caught up again. What's up, Noble Jury? Also, Roarke is best pony bounty hunter.
The question is.. where is she putting them all. She can't possibly carry that sort of weight and move that fast.
Also: Dashie needs a tin-opener. Does this universe allow for the razor-sharp feathers trick?
2123713 No offence, but if you hit reply, then copy/paste the link into your earlier edited reply it saves on that massive list of you doing one-liners.
Yup, it's Laughing Octupus.
I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Well jeez..this Roarke...she's really, really strong. She could even win in a fight against Shell, I think. Imploding is building her up to be really scary and mysterious, so we'll see how that plays into the plot. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. Oh...my...God. I've almost caught up...
And another one's gone and another one's gone, another one's gone to Roarke!
Not good though, seriously. Wake up Dash!
Onwards!
Damn, girl's been eating her spinach. Uh, fabricated metal spinach. Not only can she kick everyone's ass, she can also kidnap them and keep them out of commission simultaneously.
Run Belle, run! Into the ruins - there's only an 88 percent chance that you'll be discovered by something worse than Roarke and devoured. Onward, to the next chapter!
Our zebra!
grace and peace,
-Psyco Josho
Flippin' ninjas, I swear...
2123030 That pun was bad and you should feel bad.
No! There goes Pilate. Next comes the others... This is bad.
God damn!
fuck me...
ahem. this made me think of this vector:
th06.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2012/252/1/a/rainbow_dash_vector___assault_by_anxet-d5e38ut.png
that's all i wanted to say
onward
[THE HAPPENING intensifies]
She can see your manasphere... and you. Nowhere is safe.