“Any luck on your end?” Rainbow Dash asked above the sound of the beating wind. “As soon as we fetch everypony’s favorite scamp, it’s gonna be just as long a journey back. It might be really, really cool if we could meet you guys somewhere halfway.”
”Scrkkk! Props is searching all over the Bronze District for one of her Uncle’s hidden warehouses,” Pilate’s voice said through the pegasus’ glimmering sound stone. ”According to her, he kept a stash of steamworks lying around for emergency use. It could be just what the Noble Jury needs to earn itself some temporary propulsion until we can afford to get the book back.”
“Yeah, if we get the book back,” Rainbow Dash muttered as she and Roarke pierced the morning sky over a sandy valley. They flew in a southwest direction, their bodies being pushed eastward by a swift wind. “The jury’s still out on that one. Uhm… no pun intended.”
”I, for one, intend to remain optimistic. So is Props; she’s hardly had any sleep, the poor pony. When she isn’t looking for Prowse’s abandoned supplies, she’s performing menial tasks around the Bronze District with Simon for bits. We still have a backup plan to buy ourselves better transportation if we have to, but it’s not easy with the economy of this floating city.”
“If anypony can deal with finances, Pilate, it’s you, buddy,” Rainbow Dash muttered, her eyes squinting against the wind. “Heck, while you’re at it, maybe Ebon could deliver pizza for a few extra bits.”
“Funny you should say that. Ebon has offered his services to a few culinary places around here. He hasn’t been able to bring us much, but every little bit helps.”
Rainbow Dash blinked. “Huh. Well… that’s pretty nifty.”
”I know it may not feel like it, Rainbow Dash, but we are all in on this together. You’re doing your part, and we’re doing ours. Even Josho.”
Rainbow winced. “What in Celestia’s name is he doing for money, as if I really want to know…?”
”Well, he’s not killing anypony, for one.”
“Heheheh… Yeah, okay.” Rainbow Dash smiled. After a few breaths, she bit her lip, then stammered, “Pilate?”
”Yes, Rainbow?”
“How… h-how is Belle holding up?”
The zebra’s voice sighed heavily on the other end. ”She keeps herself busy. Since Ebon hasn’t been around, she and Eagle Eye have been working on daily meals in the mess hall. She’s also kept Floydien company, since the elk hasn’t been in that good of a mood following the pilfering of his--erm--Nancy Jane.”
“But, like… is she in good spirits? At all?” Rainbow gulped. “Is she smiling?”
”Not a day goes by that I don’t wish that I could see her beautiful, smiling face, Rainbow.”
Rainbow Dash grimaced. “Yeesh. Sorry, Pilate. Slipped my mind.”
”It’s perfectly fine, Rainbow. She is doing much better than she was two days ago. She has faith in you, as do I. But remember, Rainbow…”
“Yeah…?”
”Do what you can to save Kera, to salvage the book, whatever. But come back to us in one piece, okay? And Roarke as well. The last thing we need is for more of our beloved companions to fall into the hole that this wretched Herald has made.”
“We’re coming back with Kera or we’re not coming back at all, Stripsey.”
”Rainbow. You’re heading in a direction that is unnatural to you. We both know that.”
Rainbow bit her lip.
”Just be careful. We miss Kera terribly, but we miss you as well. This world wouldn’t be worth exploring with your colors gone.”
Rainbow smiled painfully. “Coming from a blind stallion, that’s a pretty adorable compliment.”
”Wrong A-word, good friend. Signing out. Scrkkk!”
Rainbow Dash sighed and slid the sound stone back into Luna’s saddlebags.
“Well, he sounded chipper,” Roarke muttered from a few blurring feet away. “For a breeder who’s having to console his hysterical mare.”
“Jee. How sympathetic of you,” Rainbow Dash droned. “I liked it better when you were quiet.”
“The target is still southwest of us?”
“It’s… kind of bending almost directly south now,” Rainbow said, squinting towards the horizon in question. “And what’s more, it’s somewhat lower.”
“Lower?”
“Yeah. Like somepony’s carrying the book on hoof.” Rainbow’s jaw clenched. “I bet they landed somewhere. Or maybe they’re in a cave.” She sighed heavily, her eyes dull and lethargic. “Goddess above, they’d better not be in a friggin’ cave…”
Roarke’s helmet glinted as she looked straight down. “Or perhaps they plummeted into the ground.”
“Don’t you think the book would have been torn to bits if that happened?”
“I do believe we are about to find out.” Roarke pointed down.
“Hmm?” Rainbow glanced at her, then at a patch of sand below. Her jaw dropped, and her ruby irises turned to pinpricks. “Oh no. Oh no no no no no no--!” She dove down like a blue anvil.
“Rainbow!” Roarke exclaimed, then groaned as she pivoted her thrusters and glided after her.
Rainbow was panting, hyperventilating. Her body whistled through the air, and it was only when she was less than ten feet from splattering into a bloody pulp that she pulled up, landing on four weighted hooves as her mouth hung agape. She took a few uncertain steps forward, her lips quivering. The shattered stalk of a skystone pylon reflected off her eyes.
Roarke landed on the edge of the wreckage. She opened her helmet, gazing at the remains of the Heraldites’ ship with pistoning eye lenses. The silence of the moment was like a wintry holocaust, and she melted it when her voice droned, “The hull is charred in several places. Looks like a fire caused by cannonfire.”
Rainbow Dash said nothing. She stood dead-still, her eyes moist.
Roarke paced around the strewn pile of debris. “I do believe this ship was shot down. However it came down, it obviously fell from a great height--”
“Look! Shut up! Will you just shut up for a second?!” Rainbow Dash galloped frantically about the craft, her breath coming out in rapid little squeaks. “K-Kera?!” She circled and circled the mess, her ears twitching involuntarily against the wind. “Kera! Kera, do you hear us?!”
“Rainbow…”
“We’ve come to rescue you, Kera!” Rainbow Dash picked up an errant plank of metal and lifted with all her might. “Nnnngh! Just g-give us a shout! Where are ya, girl?!”
Roarke slapped a hoof over Rainbow’s forelimb. “If she was in a crash this horrible, she wouldn’t have the throat left to answer you with.” Her brow furrowed. “Much less a spine.”
“Grrghh!” Rainbow Dash shoved her back. “What do you know?!” she spat, fuming. “You’re an expert on killing ponies! Not saving them!”
Roarke stared at her, frowning. “And was what I did with Imre murder? Or with you? Or with all the breeders you call friends?”
Rainbow Dash seethed… seethed… then spun away, gripping her forelimb. “Nnnngh-Graaaaugh!” She slumped to her belly, shutting her eyes tight as hot breaths slithered in and out of her clenched teeth. “Mmmmf… Celestia… Celestia, please.”
Roarke turned from her. With a rattle of her mane’s braided ringlets, she trotted slowly, calmly about the craft.
“I know I keep asking for help… but help me…” Rainbow gulped. “Help Kera. Please.” She gritted her teeth. “I’m so sick and t-tired of losing friends…”
“Keep praying to your pretty princess sky god,” Roarke muttered. “But do it quietly. I’m attempting to concentrate.”
“On what?!” Rainbow snapped.
“Hmmmm.” Roarke’s lenses pistoned out while she pressed a hoof to a crystal diode on her left armored sleeve. “What indeed.” A red beam shot out of her suit and scanned a patch of sand just south of a chunk of wreckage that was still intact.
“Come on!” Rainbow Dash jumped up, still breathless. “If you know something! Spill it! I’m coming apart at the seams here!”
“That much is obvious,” Roarke droned. “And it’s not so much that I know something, but that am coming close to an educated hypothesis.”
“For the love of oats, girl! Less eggheading and more metalheading!”
Roarke’s nostrils flared. Nevertheless, she pointed at the debris. “This part of the wreckage didn’t suffer as much damage. It’s possible that ponies located in this area of the ship weren’t killed upon impact.”
“And how would you know?”
“Because…” Roarke stepped aside so that Rainbow Dash could see blatant tracks in the soft sand. “Hoofprints. Somepony walked away from this.”
Rainbow’s breath left her. She blinked her eyes dry. “No way…”
“And that’s not all.” Roarke pointed at a pair of lines following the hoof tracks. “They were dragging something. Perhaps a makeshift sled.”
“Carrying salvaged stuff?”
“Or maybe fellow survivors.” Roarke pivoted to face the pegasus. “Whatever the case, somepony lived through this mess. And they might know what caused the Herald’s ship to meet its less-than-glorious fate.”
“Or what happened to Kera…” Rainbow Dash murmured.
“The tracks lead due west,” Roarke said. “Are you still seeing the lavender book south of here?”
Rainbow Dash flung the horizon in question a glance and spun back. “Uh huh.”
“Curious…” Roarke exhaled. “If somepony had carried the book away from this wreck, I would have found their tracks with my scanner. This place doesn’t look like it’s seen much precipitation in over a week, and this wreck could only be four days old, tops. I think whoever attacked them may have taken the book.”
“So, like, it could be in the hooves of air pirates or Xonans…” Rainbow Dash paused to wince. “Or Ledomare.”
“Rainbow, if we wish to power up the Noble Jury, we have to get that book back at all costs,” Roarke said. “Without it, our ship can’t even hope to pass through Xonan territory in one piece.”
Rainbow Dash glanced south, then at the tracks leading west. She winced, shuddered, then stomped her hooves down. “No! We gotta find out if Kera’s still alive! We owe it to her! We owe it to Belle and Pilate.”
Roarke sighed long and hard. “How did I know that you were gonna say that…?”
“Come on, girl!” Rainbow Dash took off without a second’s hesitation. “You’re the resident bounty hunter extraordinaire! Let’s find this crazy cultist as quickly as possible!”
“Theoretically, it shouldn’t take long.” Roarke thrusted after her, echoing the noise of burning engines into the air. “Considering that they’re on hoof and we’re tracing them from the air.”
“Not everypony can move at the speed of awesome.”
“Almighty Searo,” Roarke said in a dull tone. “I stand corrected on that one…”
What she said. Such a beautiful sentence.
Ah well, no more poking fun at Zaid for me. Will have to fine another hobby now. Perhaps I'll start up painting sheep in my spare time.
One step forward and two steps back. The crash survivors are probably only going to tell them to check the Steel Wing.
...That's not going to end well.
Considering how that word is usually used in this story, I'd say this is a great indicator towards their True Companionship.
Fuck yes.
Ugh, I hate these "just missed them" confusion things. YOURE GOING THE WRONG WAY!!
Fifty four-count flutter kicks, ):(. Knock 'em out!
Again? Kera's fine damn it. Just follow the dang book. Twilight knows what she's doing,
3327815
I... I may still...
Maybe when the...
...
Theeeerre's Rainbow and Roarke at each other's throats. I knew it was only a matter of time.
So some of the cultists made it, huh? Didn't see that coming. I imagine it's that Zaid pony. Too big a deal was made out of him, what with his show of equinity to Kera, for him to have died so dismissively. I just hope this detour is relatively painless. Ha! I made a funny.
Gigglesnorts were had.
3328033 No, nonono, that's not what I meant at all! Your survival is now as good as confirmed and that means I can no longer tell people you're dead. Now, now, stop crying, I just... You see...
Now I feel like an asshole.
I like to imagine that he's actually making the "scrkkk!" noises himself.
And darn it Rainbow, follow the freaky lavender stuff! When has the freaky lavender stuff ever failed you?
3328072
Ok, I'm fine now.
Let's see if IC still has use for me in the story.
3328085 Huh...
Now, what are the chances of Roarke and Rainbow running into the Steel Wing?
Prowse always keeps a stash of steamworks around in case of steamwork emergency.
Now I'm pretty much convinced Zaid is Innavedr.
~bass
Side note: I saw this chapter right before I left the university, so I read it while walking home. I also wrote this comment while walking.
Roarke most snarky.
3328135 Please don't get hit by a car.
3328282 There's not much traffic around here. It's a rather peaceful city, even though it's one of the largest in the country.
...in a country with a total population of less than that of the city of London, that doesn't really say much.
3328328 Huh. Where do you live? Sounds nice.
Also today is the third anniversary of the premiere of the series.
Let's celebrate!
3328341 ...you didn't notice my horned helmet? My axe? The dragon's head adorning my ship? My epic beard?
~bassofthevikings
3328380 Canada?
3328530 *facepalm*
3328550
I did have an intelligent point, but I have completely forgot it upon the observation of these Scandiwegian scourges above me.
Everybody knows the Vikings embarked from the proud country of Romania.
But regardless, just insert a comment about zombie Zaid or something here, while I beat myself to death with an Atlas.
Hes a lumberjack and hes ok, he sleeps all night and raids and pillages the countryside each day.
Or did he just stop at Greenland? Talk about advertising..
Oh well, Looks like the soggy football did work for crash landing. Yay
What is the minimum range Dash has from that unshielded book before she goes pancake? And what range is needed before she goes, what armored battle airship? Oh, that pile of shredded half eaten wreakage on the ground.
Time for a little detour, in which Kera and Nightshade will be having so much fun. And by fun, I mean running from Shell, who's now convinced Kera's Imre. And considering how utterly nuts he was when they left, he's going to dog Kera even more than Rainbow Dash.
Now when all three of these groups meet in the same place, who's gonna bite it? There's no way everybody's getting out of this one alive.
24
Somepony survived! It better be Zaid...
I forgot Rainbow could track the book.
That makes this a lot easier.
3328033 Don't worry man, some of us die. It's just the way of things... Although I went out in style, screw you Shell! *BOOM* Headshot!
3329422 If I truly have passed away, I hope Kera still has a good memory of me.
Certainly not the fact that I hoffed her over to the Ledomaritans.
...
Damn it.
HAHA! I'm betting Zaid lived! Good, he seemed to be the only likable one there. Hope he's not too injured...hope RD and Rorke don't injure him if he's not...
I'm waiting for Ledo to suffer a communist revolt. Up with Red Nova!
3330754
ih0.redbubble.net/image.10406554.4981/sticker,375x360.png
Pink Guevara
3328380>>3328602 You raiders and murderers know nothing about true heritage! We scratched runes into the stone before your ancestors came crawling from the sea!
Actually we didn't, but that's wholly beside the point.
Going after the hoofprints was a tactically sound choice. They have a constant tracker on the book and can go back to looking for it at any time, regardless of where it is or when they go for it. The hoofprints though, those are very temporary. A week from now all traces of who made them might be gone and the possibility lost. Therefor, it is better to follow the hoofprints lead over the book lead because they can just go back to the book lead afterwards, whilst they couldn't do that with the hoofprints if they took the book.
Yeah, we can suppose Zaid is among the survivors. Characters don't get names and leave the story two chapters later. Just look at Aeterna.
3333259 So...
I only have death to look forward in the future?
Umm...
Where the hell are Scootaloo's goggles?
Last time I saw them was in the trick sequence in Innavedr...
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Well, well, well. I see that some have survived. Pretty sure that it's Brother Zaid and he'll get another appearance. I do hope that, whoever they are,they lead a Dash and Roarke to Nightshade and Kera. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. Last night I
- went to the Homecoming Dance from 7:30 to 10:30
- went out to Dairy Queen with my friends, only to discover that it was closed
- went out to McDonalds, which was in a similar state
- went to Stop 'n' Shop for 11:15
- dicked around
- saw Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and Pinkie Pie plushies
- had no money, entered fierce depression
- friend one bought three oranges
- friend two bought a cake, TMNT plates and cups, and plastic forks and knifes
- friend three bought a bottle of Coke and a pack of fudgesicles
- friend four bought a bottle of Mountain Dew
- friend five bought a six pack of Play-Doh
- shenanigans ensued in the back of friend two's parents' car
- got home at 12:00
- passed out
It was pretty intense. I'll just give you the above bulleted list for you to see that, for all of its intensity, it was rather tiring.
3376047
Sounds like a fun night.
I went camping,
Burnt my oatmeal
Pulled down 3 trees
Cut and split the 3 trees
And stacked all the cut wood(fire wood) in a covered area
All while doing all of that in the cold Alaskan rain
Then a 3 hour drive back home
Epic weekend that got me out of the city
Gah, Rainbow sometimes your selflessness can be really plot-disrupting.
Well, I guess this means that Kera and Nighty get some bonding time - that should go over splendidly. How surprised would everyone be if Zaid wasn't one of the survivors? Obviously he is (because who else do we really care about on-board that ship?) but still. Rainbow and Roarke catch up to their quarry...only to relaize its random stallion number 1 and background mare number 2 dragging a sled of rainbow prayer books behind them or something.
Onward to the next chappie!
I'm glad to see that everyone is keeping themselves busy. Indeed that is one of the best ways to distract oneself from worry. That said, I am frustrated at the ever detouring twists and turns of Rainbow's path. I do understand and agree with what's she's doing, but head East out of this Celestia forsaken country already.
That was both touching and amusing at the same time.
So Zaid is still alive. ?
-Spirit
”Rainbow. You’re heading in a direction that is unnatural to you. We both know that.”
unnatural to her, ergo unnatural to us all
And now, of course, they follow the wrong set of hoofprints leaving to that Zod, Zed, Zaheed? eh whatever, bloke from before. It's like Innavedr all over again.
Oh Rainbow, don't listen to the tracker. I think we've had enough of Shell in our lives.
Hold up
Rainbow can sense where the book is
which Kera still has on her
Although, I guess she doesn't know that Kera has it on her...
I foresee some Zaid time real soon!
Knowing where the book is is great and all, but if they could communicate using it, we'd avoid so much trouble.
I love how they all pray to their respective dieties/forces/whatever you want to call it. Consistently throughout the story Roarke is calling on (exasperatedly) to Searo, Belle to the spark, and Rainbow to Celestia. The later being the most significant because of all the anger and resent she held for Celestia in the beginning of the story.
In case of steamwork emergencies.
God, now he's doing it too.
Wait a second, how long have they been searching? From the narration I got, like, at most two days or so. But "four days tops" implies that the attack on the Jury was nearly a week ago.
And of course now they have two tracks to follow. The survivors from the Herald (Zaid?) and the book, which seem to be heading in opposite directions. Hopefully this doesn't distract them until Nightshade reaches her facility.
Roarke really should know that theory is near worthless unless backed by reality.
05/22/2017 17:43 UTC
Because she said that it would theoretically not take long, it will take longer.