//------------------------------// // The Voyage // Story: The Red Thing in the Sky // by TitanicIsBestShip //------------------------------// Chapter Five: The Voyage Cloudbolt woke up the next morning at 0740 hours, but to him it felt like four in the morning. He yawned, rubbed his eyes, got up, and walked out the door down to the kitchen. Cloudbolt took some coffee out of one of cupboards and began boiling some water. After he had finished making his cup ‘o joe, Cloudbolt headed updeck. Barzano was already up and at the helm, looking at a map. He looked up from his console. “Morning Cloud,” Barzano said. “Morning, hope you don’t mind, I helped myself to some coffee,” Cloud said. “That’s fine, I don’t drink coffee” “That explains why you’re so tired and stressed all the time,” Cloudbolt said lightly. “If you noticed, I woke up before you” “That’s true, hey, where’s Flarania?” Cloud had to look for a second before he spotted the tan mare sprawled out at the bow. “Wow, she blends in with the deck.” “Mmmhmm, hey, you wanna take over?” Bar asked him. “Fly the ship? Wait, are we-” Cloud looked off the stern, and to his surprise, saw only clouds. “How did I not notice that? Anyways, you want me to fly the ship?” “You’re the pilot aren’t you?” “I thought you were too…” “I am, but I’d rather not. I hate this ship’s handling” “Well, ok,” Cloudbolt traded places with Barzano, who walked over to the sleeping Flarania and sat down. Cloudbolt chuckled. “You’re funny. Flarania is like, the polar opposite of you in personality. I don’t know how you two are together.” “What? We aren-” “Oh, don’t give me that Bar,” Cloudbolt said “I know how this stuff works.” Barzano just looked at him for a few minutes before speaking. “So what’s been happening on the frontier?” “A lot actually, we’ve been clearing a section of jungle for a sky harbor, and we started setting up a southern perimeter to keep bad stuff out” “Fun. You fly much these days?” “Yeah, pretty often. I got issued a nice skyrider, gotta admit though, yours is a ton better” “Mmm, well thanks,” Barzano looked at Flara, who was beginning to stir. She stretched and yawned before blinking open her eyes. “Wuh? Oh, hi Bar,” Flara said wearily. “Good morning! Sleep well?” “Yeah, pretty well, what time are we leaving port?” She asked. Cloudbolt started laughing. “What?” Flara scowled at him. “Oh,” She said, taking a look around her. “What time is it?” “It’s 0810,” Barzano said. Flarania facehoofed. “Really? You were up longer than I was! How did I sleep that late?” She questioned herself. Cloudbolt laughed again. “Flarania, you ALWAYS sleep that late!” He said. Flara shot Cloud a glare. As Cloud was finishing his laughs, Michael and DerpTime emerged from below decks. “Ah, hello Michael? How’s my ship?” Barzano asked him. “What? Oh. She seems in good working order,” Michael responded. “Good to know. Well, we have a long while to go, so let me tell you all what your jobs are. Flarania, you’re my spotter, make sure Cloudbolt sees everything within 300 yards of the boat. Cloudbolt, you’re the helmsman, Michael, make sure nothing blows up, and lastly, DerpTime, you’re my navigator. Write down and draw landmarks you see so we aren’t way off course on the return trip,” Barzano explained. The ponies, excluding Barzano, went to their specific tasks, while Bar went backdeck to examine his device. He stared at the mess of parts that was to be the solution to all this, and the only thing standing between a normal Equestria, and total annihilation. Barzano sighed. He hated only having one shot at something, but there was no way to test this device. As he stood there, his thoughts seemed to wander off, and Barzano stood behind the device. He did not hear the approaching hoofsteps or the sound of the door opening. “Barzano?” a familiar voice called out. “Wuh, huh?” Barzano lifted his head to see Flarania in front of him. “Oh, hey there.” He smiled. “Hey...I was wondering if I could talk to you for a bit, would that be ok?” “Um, sure. What do you want to talk about?” “Uh, can we do it on the top deck? I don’t want to neglect my duties,” Flarania said. “Oh, that’s fine,” Barzano said. The two ponies walked up the stairs to the lower deck. As they passed the helm, Cloudbolt stopped Barzano. “Wait, Bar,” Cloud said. “Cloudbolt?” Flarania looked at him. “You keep going Flara, I need to talk to Bar real quick,” Cloudbolt smiled. “Oh, ok….” she started walking up the stairs. “Alright Cloud, what’s this about?” Barzano asked him. “Hey, listen to me. Flara’s scared. You notice how she’s been real down lately? Well, she’s NEVER this sad! Ever! She needs you man, you gotta be there for her” “Uh...w-well...um” “You love her don’t you?” “W-well, yeah” “Then show her some affection! Don’t let her drown in misery!” “Alright, that all?” “Yeah, you’re lucky to have her, so make her happy, alright Bar?” “Ok,” Barzano headed up the stairs. During all this, DerpTime was sitting in his room, with nothing to do. He didn’t have to write anything down until they reached the ocean, as he knew Western Equestria well. “Mmmeh…” He sighed. “I think I need a sandwich.” DerpTime rose and began walking down the hallway. As he passed Michael’s room, he heard some strange sounds. They sounded like panting and snorting. “Mmm?” DerpTime cocked his head and stood there for a second. He decided to open the door, and when he did, DerpTime found what looked like a battlefield hospital. Towels and tissues were strewn everywhere, and the whole room was covered in blood. DerpTime stared at Michael, who looked up, blood streaming from his nostrils. “H-hey! Could you help me clean this up please?” Michael asked. DerpTime abruptly slammed the door and walked updeck. “Cloud, I think somepony downstairs needs your help,” he said in complete monotone. “Uh, ok? What happened?” Cloud asked, confused. “Leakage,” DerpTime stared at him. Cloudbolt’s eyes went wide. “WHAT?” he yelled. “Just, go downstairs,” DerpTime said. Cloudbolt paused for a moment as he considered whether or not the problem below decks was urgent enough for a pilot to be necessary. Since he didn’t know the details of the situation, and DerpTime was right there, he decided it couldn’t hurt. “Can you fly an airship?” Cloudbolt asked. “I can keep it from crashing…” “Alright, do that,” Cloudbolt said as he trotted backdeck. “This better not be what I think it is,” he muttered. Cloud poked his head in Michael’s room. “Everyt- Oh, Sweet Celestia….” he said. “Oh, hi there. Can you lend a hoof?” Michael asked. “Sure,” Cloudbolt chuckled as he helped Michael clean up the mess. Barzano walked on to the top deck. “Flara? Oh, there you are.” Flarania turn her head to look at him. She was sitting by the rail, looking forward at the horizon. Barzano went over and sat next to her, putting a hoof over her shoulders. “Hey there, you alright?” He asked. Flarania stared at the deck. “Ye-....no...I’m not….” “You can tell me,” Barzano smiled. “I just...I dunno!” Flarania yelped as she buried her face in her hooves. Barzano patted her on the shoulder and brought her in a little closer. “Hey, I’m here for you,” he told her. Flara wrapped a wing around him and put her head on his shoulder, tears welling up in her eyes. “We’ll make it, don’t worry,” Barzano said. He looked across the sky. It was a beautiful sight, the countryside from the air, but not quite as beautiful as the mare now sleeping next to him. * * * Cloudbolt had been at the helm for several hours, and his stomach was starting to get to him. He looked at the clock behind him. “12:32” it said. “Oops, time for lunch,” Cloudbolt said to himself. He locked the wheel and raised the code flag “November” over the code flag “Papa” signalling “No Pilot.” Cloudbolt went backdeck to the kitchen. He started opening cupboards, taking a look at what was available. “Hmmmm…” Cloudbolt mused. “I think I’ll make soup. Soup is easy,” he said to himself. He started pulling out bowls and ingredients for tomato soup. Cloudbolt began cooking for the five of them. He was finished at 13:17, a little less than an hour after he’d started. “Lunch everypony!” Cloudbolt called. He stood in the doorway waiting, but nopony showed up. “Urrrgh…” Cloud sighed, “I’ll have to go fetch them all.” He walked updeck, and found DerpTime sitting at the bow drawing, or holding something in his hooves. Cloudbolt couldn’t tell exactly what he was doing. There seemed to be a peculiar element about DerpTime. He seemed totally calm, like he was in control, but apathetic at the same time. Cloudbolt puzzled at how he’d joined the crew with a seeming complete disregard that his own life might be lost. Cloud shook his head, clearing his thoughts. “Hey, DerpTime, lunch is ready.” “What’d you make?” DerpTime asked, still focused on what was in his hooves. “Tomato soup” “Oh….ok…” DerpTime got up and went backdeck to the kitchen. “One down,” Cloudbolt sighed and continued updeck. He poked his head up out of the staircase, and saw Barzano and Flarania sleeping on each other. Cloudbolt laughed softly, then walked backdeck to the kitchen, where he found Michael and DerpTime already eating. “Gerrd serrp!” Michael slurped between spoonfuls. DerpTime didn’t pick his head up at all. “Riiiight……. you’re welcome,” Cloudbolt muttered as he grabbed two bowls of soup and walked up to the top deck. Both ponies were still sleeping, so Cloudbolt left the two bowls and walked backdeck. His legs were starting to kill him. When Cloud arrived back at the kitchen, all that was left was a royal mess and a cold bowl of soup. He sighed. “Maybe I help other ponies too much…” Barzano had awoken shortly after Cloudbolt had left his bowl of soup. It was still warm when Barzano started eating it. After he finished, he walked back over to Flarania, who was now awake, and offered her a bowl, which she gladly accepted. They sat in silence why she was eating, and then proceeded backdeck. As Barzano popped his head around the corner where the conn was located, he saw Cloud, Michael, and DerpTime all crowded at the bow, staring directly ahead. “Look at that!” Michael exclaimed. “That’s really something!” Barzano looked at Flarania, who shrugged. The pair walked over to see what was up. “What is everypony looking at?” Barzano asked the group. “See for yourself!” Michael responded and waved his hoof at the horizon. A vast array of vessels could be seen by the five ponies. As they neared the ocean, all sorts of skyships appeared. Type one steamers, type four landables, even some Achranoplans. It appeared as though Brismania had flung everything she had into the sky. And it was all heading towards them. “Those aren’t R.E.A.N. vessels..” Cloudbolt said. “They’re civilian. All of them.” “R.E.A.N.?” Michael looked at Cloudbolt. “Royal Equestrian Air Navy,” Cloud and Barzano responded in unison. “Oh sweet Celestia, they’re running!” Flarania gasped. “We’re getting close,” Barzano said.