Reach for the Skies

by The Blue EM2

Danger Zone

The figure appeared to move about on two limbs, unlike most beings in Equestria who walked about on four. They were dressed from top to bottom (as I cannot authoritatively state whether they were dressed from head to toe or not, not knowing whether they had a head, shoulders, knees or toes, knees or toes) in black, and seemed to be trying to move as if to make sure nopony noticed them (which was failing horribly) as they went into an equally dark alleyway.

I pointed with my hoof, drawing attention to their mysterious nature. "See that?"

Vapour nodded. "They look like trouble."

"I suggest we follow them," I said, nodding my head slowly in the hope that Vapour would agree. "They look like trouble, as you said, and I think that we need to find out what they're up to."

"They look oddly familiar somehow," Vapour replied, her eyes turning to worry from concern. "Could they somehow be connected to what has been happening?"

"Given all that has been going on," I answered, "I wouldn't put it past such a theory. Let's go. Trail them from the air, and I'll follow on the ground."

---

With such an arrangement, trailing this being proved to be easy, as they moved slowly and sat mainly in the shadows, shadows that proved futile in conceiling them as Vapour could clearly see them from the air, and I could hear their footsteps with my hearing (this was getting somewhat annoying, as my hearing was picking up every single sound for miles around me). At long last, they went into a building, and Vapour touched down next to the door.

"Are you ready?" she asked, nervously. She seemed to be quite nervous, anyways, and truth be told so was I. "We have no idea what we'll find in there, or how to get out!"

"I'll admit to being worried about this too," I replied. "But we have to find the truth, no matter how bad it may be." We reached out our hooves together, and pushed down on the door handle, which, to our surprise, opened with no difficulty. We went in through the threshold of that door, and into the inky blackness beyond. Our eyes couldn't penetrate it, and we could not see where we were going as we advanced into the chamber.

As we continued onwards through the corridors, lights flickered on and off as if we were trotting through the set of a bad horror movie. From what we could see, this place was an old industrial facility that had lain abandoned for years until being put back into use recently for nefarious purposes. "This is like a set from the Saw films," I commented. "I sure hope we don't come across any traps." My sour joke was an attempt to ease the mood, but it did little to ease the tension.

"I would prefer if you didn't bring those up," Vapour replied, her voice quivering as it did so.

"Very well," I replied. "Why not talk about how these wall patterns are all identical?"

"It's weird," she quivered. "I don't like this at all."

Just then, another door opened in front of us, and the chamber opened, a vast expanse of machines and strange mechanisms. Standing at the centre of it all was a woman with white hair and gaunt features, dressed in a black robe with red highlights. She smiled as we trotted in, looking around in shock.

"Sky Stinger, Vapour Trail," she said, her features betraying a smile. "How nice it was of you to join me. Or should I say- Tom Haddington and Jimmy Hook?"

"What do you want?" I demanded loudly.

"Always the one in the weaker position demanding to know things he had no entitlement to," she replied. "I'll save your intelligence the bother of introducing myself, but I am devoted to spreading the wonder and beauty of Equestria- and getting as many humans there as I can in the process. You really are so easy to find. But this is the wrong way around, and does rather expose a flaw in my modus operandi."

"The wrong way round?" Vapour asked. "What do you mean?"

"You were meant to be Sky Stinger, and Tom was meant to be Vapour Trail. Just to mix things up a little. Goes to show I'll need to be more careful with the boxes in the future. Oh well. You've discovered my plan, and I need to remove the glitch in the system. Goodbye, you two. I'd say it was nice knowing you, but it really hasn't."

Moments later, strange objects in the wall began to open fire upon us. I jumped and rolled to one side, as Vapour rolled the other way. I flexed my wings, and took to the air, roaring into the skies, and zooming around the small chamber, which really did limit my possibilities for flight.

"Vapour!" I called. She was now airbone as well, flying on my 6.

"Yeah?" she called in return.

"I need you to propel me into a flipping loop!" I called back. "That will allow me to accelerate fast enough to pull off a sonic boom!"

"That's too dangerous!" Vapour called back. This whole calling back business was getting tiring to describe. "It could kill you!"

"We have to stop the Merchant from doing this to anypony else!" I shouted. "I'll be careful, I promise."

Vapour nodded, and flapped her wings. I looped immediately, next to the ceiling so close I nearly bumped my mane into it, and dived toward the ground as fast as I could, the world around me turning into a blur as I closed toward the ground, everything getting closer and closer as I dived. The fabric of reality seemed to come apart as I completed my dive, and there was a massive boom, and shards of metal and glass flew everywhere as the mess did its work. I looped upwards and clear of the messy smoke, trying to find a place to land.

Author's Note:

Phew, that was intense! Join us for the final chapter tomorrow!

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[The Blue EM2]

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I see.