”Hey! Roarke! Did you get any of that?! We found Pilate at this huge door to zeppelinville and we're gonna try forcing it open so we can make an escape. How are you holding up?!”
Roarke snarled into her cockpit's sound stone. “I'll let you know once we're done buckling apart at the Searo-damn seams, Rainbow Dash!” She grunted as a bolt of mana struck close to the hull. “For the love of napalm...” She spun and yelled back at the cabin in mid-steer. “What are you breeders doing?! Close the door already?!”
“It's stuck open!” Crimson shouted above the whipping winds. He twisted and spun at the turret, causing a managlider to explode with a froth of flame that spat into the edges of the open manaship. “Gah! I'd gladly force it shut, but without me mining the turret, we might get a missile up our tailpipe in the process!”
“Hey! Is that the target's real name?!” Josho shouted while reloading a rifle with telekinesis. “Rainbow Dash?!”
“I'm afraid so...”
“Hah!” Josho aimed out the door, squinting. “And I thought Eagle Eye was a bucket of fruit!”
“I can still kick you out into the streets, y'know,” Crimson growled.
“What?! And cut the party short?! Buck that!” Josho fired, causing an explosion to go off in a managlider. The screaming aircraft veered off the ship's starboard side, exploding into an abandoned bazaar several stories below. “Woo baby! Is it hot in here or is just their corpses?!”
Just then, a wayward hovercraft shot dangerously close by. The entire ship wobbled, with Josho nearly falling straight out while Roarke fumbled for controls.
“What in the Hell was that?!” Roarke shouted.
“I'm sorry! I-I didn't see them!” Crimson exclaimed. He spun with the turret, squinting curiously. “Whoever it is, they're moving slow, away from us.”
“Lousy time for a Sunday drive!” Josho exclaimed while firing out the windy door.
“Just focus fire on the ones who are attacking us!” Roarke exclaimed, spinning the aircraft around as several bogies clung to its tail. “We're juggling enough without having to worry about every stupid citizen flying in our path! Hang tight!”
The manaship shot westward in a dramatic climb, roaring over skyscraper rooftops. A thick stream of Ledomaritan fighters flew after them in tight pursuit.
To the east, all on its own, the violet manacraft that nearly collided with them chugged along, cruising towards the scaling heights of Nightshade Industries Headquarters.
Inside the craft, Bellesmith released the controls, bringing the ship to a slow hover. “Whew! That was... something else. I have no clue what's gotten everypony so riled up in this town...”
“Maybe news of Nightshade's lameness got through to the enforcers?” Kera remarked.
“I couldn't pretend to guess, but that ship looked like a Searonese vessel.”
“You sure?”
“Pretty sure,” Belle said as she nodded and trotted away from the cockpit. “Maybe it was a bounty hunting mission gone wrong. I dunno, but it's the best red herring we could have asked for. The last thing we need is to draw attention.”
“Red... herring...?”
“Heh... I'll explain once I get back,” Belle said, reaching into a trunk full of Nightshade tools and weaponry. “For the time being, I've got a stallion to save...”
The Xonan children fidgeted, murmuring worriedly.
“Ms. Bellesmith, how long are you going to be gone?”
“Please, don't leave us!”
“We don't want Nightshade to find us again...”
“She won't...” Belle said, strapping one rifle, two rifles, three manarifles over her flank. She attached as many chunks of crystal ammo as she could to Luna's midnight saddlebag, pulling on the straps to make sure the satchel clung to her tight. “She won't touch a single hair of your manes ever again. I promise.”
“But Belle...” Kera trotted up to her, biting her own lip. “What if—”
“You're going to be safe,” Belle said with a smile, gently brushing the side of the filly's face. “You have my word...”
Kera gulped. She glanced back at the other foals, then leaned in towards Belle. “What about you?” she whispered. “What if you don't come back? What if I'm stuck with them.”
“It won't come to that, Kera. Phoenix and I...” Belle's words trailed off.
Kera's green eyes were soft and vulnerable.
With a deep breath, Belle said, “Okay, you saw how I flew us here the whole way, right?”
“Mmmhmmm.”
Belle gently guided Kera over to the controls. “Keep...” She motioned while explaining. “...the ship close to the building. Don't move it, no matter how close those managliders swing by.”
“But... they might fire on us and stuff!”
“Not if you stay here. It'll look like you're a normal Nightshade company ship, moored to the skyscraper.”
“What if they're after us and not that bounty hunter ship?”
“I seriously doubt that. Ledomaritans operate with a one-track mind. Now...” Belle opened a door to the window world beyond. The sun-glistening summit to Nightshade Industries loomed within view. “If for some Spark-forsaken reason somepony does give you trouble.” She patted a pair of red triggers fixed to the back end of the piloting instruments. “You give them trouble back, okay?”
Kera's tattooed brow furrowed. “Wh-what kind of trouble?”
“From what I can tell, it's two megacrystals affixed to a central arcane cannon. As airship's go, it should be good enough to blow off the wing of someone flying at you head on.”
“Coooool!” the filly gasped, lunging forward.
“Kera.” Bellesmith briefly frowned. “Only... if you're attacked first.”
Kera gazed up at her. “And what if you're not back in twenty minutes?”
Belle took a deep breath before leaning in to nuzzle the girl. Ultimately, she whispered into her ear, “Then you wait for the gliders to soar out of range, and you fly south of here, at regular speed. Once you're past city limit, speed off, and make for a place that I indicated on the map.”
Kera made a face as she attempted to read the hoofwriting. “Franzy... Ten...?”
“There are trustworthy ponies there. Heh... I know it's hard to believe... but they will take care of you...”
“But I don't want them to take care of me!” Kera stomped her hoof. “I... I-I want you t-to, Belle...”
Belle stared at her, blinked, and smiled. “Thanks for incentive.” She saluted with a daredevilish smirk and jumped out the door.
The fillies and colts gasped, ultimately peering out the ship to look. They breathed with relief as they saw the mare galloping across the rooftop of Nightshade Industries, approaching the small niche where a metal hatch lie in wait.
Belle struggled and strained to the get the door open. One ear was full of whistling wind while the other ached from the sound of the screaming air battle. At last, she leaned back, stifled a growl, and aimed a rifle point blank at the door lock. With a loud blast, she knocked the panel loose and swung the hatch open with her hoof.
“Whelp, they'd better be ready for a whole lotta friendship...” Belle hopped in, slid down the stair banisters, and landed on the floor beyond in a deep squat. The hatch slammed shut above her, filling the place with a bass, resonating echo as she glanced up, her hard brown eyes glinting against the darkness. Then, with the sleek shuffle of a phantom pegasus, she crept forward, manarifles in tow.