There was an ache in Fragrant’s left wing. It pulled her from what she was sure had been a rather nice dream, if only she could remember what it had been. She tugged at her limb but it seemed to be trapped in an awkward position. With a grunt of annoyance she opened her eyes and blinked a few times, the sun hadn’t risen yet but there was just about enough pre-dawn light to make out the shapes around her. Max was cuddled up against her left hoof side in a way that would be blissful if only her wing hadn’t managed to get caught underneath him somehow. Not wanting to wake him she gently tried to wiggle it, maybe she could burrow it into the cloud of the bed beneath her coltfriend? It was no good, the spell on his new anklet was too strong for that.
Her wing was really starting to hurt now, the joint cramping up. However had she gotten it under him in the first place? She gently rested her hooves against his barrel and tried to push with as little force as possible, maybe she could roll him off of her. It was no good, it felt like she was trying to move a tree trunk. How much had Max eaten yesterday? Gritting her teeth, she increased her force. Then suddenly, to her surprise, Max seemed to get the message and giving a mumble he started to roll away under his own power, his hooves slowly flailing out apparently trying to reach her.
Unfortunately, she didn’t realise just how close to the edge of the bed they both were. She had just sighed in relief as she found herself able to flex her wing again when Max suddenly dropped out of sight and hit the cloud below with a soft *pfump* sound. “Huh! Wha!” he mumbled at his rude awakening.
“Are you alright?” she called.
“What?” Max’s head bobbed up flicking from side to side like some sort of giant meerkat. Fragrant couldn’t help but giggle at the sight.
“You fell,” she explained, preferring to keep her part in his accident secret.
“Oh, right, no damage done,” he said getting a little unsteadily to his hooves and climbing back into bed. “What time is it?”
“Almost dawn, we have a bit more time but I have to get up earlier today,” she said folding her wing back against her back.
“Why? Aren't you still on holiday?”
“Not today, this is Servant's day,” she winced a little, her wing was still rather stiff and sore.
“Are you alright?” asked Max.
“I slept on my wing, I’ll be fine,” she grimaced as she began to stretch the joint out a little.
With a grin Max leant forwards and gently took the limb in his hooves and kissed her wingtip. “Better?” he asked.
“Much,” she said with a blush.
“So, what is this Servant’s Day?” he asked as he carefully unfurrowed her wing and ran a light touch over it pressing at her joints with slightly more force, causing her to sigh.
“It’s the *mumm* day after Hearthswarming, when the *ah* the original tribal leaders were supposed to have unfrozen. *huh* When they realised that they had been wrong all along they, a little harder please, they agreed to serve the founders instead of *ahhh!* ruling over them.” She let out a deep groan as Max folded her now limp wing against her back and started on the other one. “Many nobles celebrate it by giving their servants, *muh* the day off or, or, again!, or serving them for the day. Here *gurrr* in the Posey household we make dinner, just there!, for the house staff!” Giving a deep sigh she slumped back into the bed as Max finished working on her wings. She knew she should get up soon but as her eyelids started to slip closed again she didn’t think she could move an inch.
“Fragrant,” came Max’s voice from somewhere behind her. “That Servant Day thing sounds like a good idea. It didn’t seem fair that all your staff had to work yesterday. Can I help?”
With a struggle Fragrant opened her eyes again and blinked away the sunlight, had she fallen asleep? “There is no need Max, you are my guest I can’t have you work!” Arching her back she stretched before hopping off the bed. “You can sleep in if you want.”
“Your staff have been working for me, it’s only fair that I do something for them,” argued Max following her onto the floor.
There really was no way to discourage him. “Very well,” she sighed, “We better get ready.”
“Good morning!” called Edelweiss as Max and Fragrant entered the kitchen. It was the first time that Max had been in this part of the mansion, and it was huge. Great long tables of cloud or wood stretched the length of the room. The walls were covered in cupboards and shelves containing lines of jars and boxes of ingredients. A crackling sound came from a block of cloud in one corner. Max leaned down and saw a crackle of lightning spark through it throwing out a burst of heat. That explained how they heated the food up here. He had wondered. It was clearly a room for a large number of ponies to work in, it seemed almost deserted with only himself and Fragrant’s family present.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” said Fragrant. She had done her mane up in a practical bob and covered it with a bonnet. The rest of her body was covered in a plain black dress with a white apron. It was a shame she’d felt the need to dress today but he supposed the outfit made sense given what she was going to do. “I overslept.”
“I don’t think sleep vas involved from the soundz I heard vhen I came to get you,” said Edelweiss with a grin. “Although you may have to vork on your dirty talking, old family traditions are not normally considered turn on’z.”
“Max was,” began Fragrant with a blush, “Max was giving me a wing massage, I had a cramp!” she protested.
“I really don’t need to know anything about that,” complained Thunderous emptying a bowl into a saucepan. “Can you give me a hoof over here?”
“Sure,” said Max joining his fellow stallion. There were several bowls full of peeled potatoes lined up on the side and Thunderous was busy transferring them onto the heat. “How many are we cooking for?” he asked.
“About thirty this year,” grunted the larger stallion.
“Thirty!” exclaimed Max, he had no idea the Posey’s had so many servants! Although thinking back he could probably remember at least a dozen faces here and there around the house. He was a little ashamed to say they sort of blended into the background.
“The estate has well over a hundred servants,” said Fragrant, “Many of them prefer to spend their time off with their families rather than come to our dinner.”
“So many!”
“There are some houses with many more,” said Fragrant a little defensively. “The gardens take a lot of work.”
“Never mind that!” said Thunderous, “The potatoes!”
“Sorry,” said Max, “You did a good job at peeling all of these.”
“Peeling?” asked Thunderous in surprise, “Don’t they come like that?”
Max blinked in surprise. “No, they normally have skins on them,” he said slowly.
“The servants actually prepare much of food for us,” explained Forming as she flew up to a high shelf and levered off a large block of salt.
“They leave instructions as well,” added Dangerous, pointing to a large pad on a table in the centre of the room. Max trotted over and began to leaf through it, it was very detailed, very detailed indeed. Max certainly hadn’t considered himself much of a cook but he could make a few simple dishes, at least enough to fend for himself if need be. Compared to most of the Posey family it seemed like he was a model of self-sufficiency. He flipped through the menu, it seemed a bit plain really, tomato soup, potatoes, carrots, hay, a flower salad, vegetable pie, a pre-made fruit cake. Not all that bad he supposed, but maybe they could spice it up a bit? “It’s a bit sad really isn’t it,” said the young stallion shaking Max from his thoughts. “We’re supposed to be the great and good of the land and we have to get the foals guide to cooking.”
“We have our own things to do,” argued Thunderous, “cooking and the like is why we have servants in the first place, we pay them to do these things for us so we have the time to run Equestria.”
“Yeah and what do we do to thank them? They have to do most of the work for the party we’re supposed to be putting on for them!”
“Well do you have any ideas what we could do differently?” asked Max before Thunderous could reply.
“Maybe,” Dangerous trotted over to a nearby door and pulled it open letting a cold breeze into the room. “There should be yesterday's leftovers in here, mix them up and fry them and you get something called Bubble and Squeak, it’s not much but it’s tasty. There's some hay bacon as well, we can wrap it around the carrots and roast them.”
“Vhere did you learn to cook?” asked Edelweiss.
“It’s not like I have a servant with me when I’m out in the wilderness climbing, or swimming or weather riding.”
“Ve did suggest you take a hoofmare with you...”
“Not the point mum! I have to take care of myself, and I picked up a few things here and there, necessity is the mother of invention and all that,” he looked a little embarrassed. “I’m not great but I can cook a few things.”
“Ok,” said Thunderous with a rather proud grin, “anything else you think we can do?”
“Maybe...”
“I think I might be able to put together a cake,” said Max sticking his head into a cupboard searching for ingredients. “I’ve made one or two.” Mostly with Mrs G’s help but he thought he had her recipe down.
“Maybe we shouldn’t take things too far,” said Fragrant, “We have enough trouble making dinner most years as it is.”
“Come on auntie,” said Dangerous pouting, “live a little!”
“Yeah, come on Fragrant, we can do this,” said Max adding his own puppy dog eyes to the mix.
“Very well,” said Fragrant with a sigh, “maybe we can make this year really memorable.”
This wasn’t as easy as it looked, thought Max as he struggled to stir the mixture in front of him. Mrs G made this look simple when she did it but it certainly wasn’t easy when you were making enough for thirty guests. The bowl rattled again as his stirring almost overturned it, and he desperately reached out a hoof to steady it. He glanced around the kitchen, it looked like most of the rest of the family were doing about as well as he was.
Fragrant had somehow managed to get herself covered in flour and Edelweiss was struggling to carry several large saucepans around the hob. Forming was still resting one of her legs on a block of ice from the cold room after she’d managed to burn herself taking the pie from the oven. At least Thunderous seemed to be enjoying himself with the frying pan although its contents probably weren’t enjoying the situation much given how long he’d been burning them. Only Dangerous actually seemed to be in his element, literally juggling a number of knives as he chopped up the last of the salad and placed it in a serving dish. With a grin he grabbed a mouthful of food out of the air as he tossed it around.
Max examined his work again, it was probably as smooth as it was going to get and he’d have to get it into the oven now if he had any hope of it being ready in time. As it was he’d probably have to add the chocolate icing while the main course was being served.
“They’re probably already gathering up there,” noted Dangerous. “How’s the leg sis?”
“I think it’ll be fine now,” she said taking the limb off the ice block and poking at the wounded area.
“Ok, why don’t you go and lay the table in the main dining room. Max you can serve drinks, that should buy us half an hour or so. I’ll keep an eye on the cake.”
Max nodded.
“Try not to give away my entire drinks cabinet,” grumbled Thunderous.
“If he does empty it, then you get to go shopping to fill it up again,” noted Edelweiss.
“I suppose that’s true,” said Thunderous positively.
Smiling to himself Max headed upstairs. The servants were all gathered in the mansion's ballroom. Despite their numbers they still only filled a small portion of the available space. Seeing the scale of it Max could understand how the house could require a small army of staff, it was easily twice as big as the one in Fragrant's estate. The servants were standing around chatting and laughing with each other. Some Max recognised, one of Fragrant’s chauffeurs was leaning against a table waving his hooves expansively as he chatted with a younger mare. Others he didn’t, several botanical cutie marks indicated their owners probably worked in the gardens. There was even an earth pony amongst them, an anklet similar to the one Max wore on her leg. He was surprised how young many of them were, many were little more than foals.
Max cleared his throat and the murmuring died down. There was a slight feeling of tension as every eye turned towards him. “Um, I’m sorry but dinner will be a little delayed. In the meantime, would anypony like a drink?”
There was a moment's silence as those present thought over his words and extracted the important factor. “Well if you’re offering my lord,” said a rather rotund mare with a saucepan as a cutie mark. “I wouldn’t mind a glass of port, it is Hearthswarming after all.”
“Me too!” piped up a younger mare.
“I happen to know his lordship has a rather good rainbow brandy in the cabinet,” said an older stallion, “the third row back, not the one at the front. To drink his lordship’s health of course.” He grinned.
Suddenly everypony seemed to be shouting their order and Max wished he brought a pad to write them down on.
“I think that should keep them happy for the moment,” noted Max as he and Forming made their way back to the kitchen. After he had finished serving the drinks he had found her in the dining room. It was a rather larger version of the one he’d eaten in yesterday, with a table that could easily accommodate the whole staff. Despite her injured leg Forming had made a good go of laying out plates and cutlery.
“Good! I think we’re almost done,” said Dangerous. “Dad, if you could start draining those saucepans, I’ll get the bacon carrots out. Mum can you put the pie on the tray?” Edelweiss nodded and carefully put pads on her hooves to lift the hot pan.
“Dangerous is rather impressive isn’t he,” said Max sidling up to Fragrant. “He’s certainly stepped up.”
“He and his father might not always get along, but I think it’s because they’re too similar,” she replied with a smile. “I’m sure he’ll make a fine manager of Posey Weather in a few years, if he wants to. Unless he blows the place up of course. Maybe he’ll find somepony like Edelweiss to take the wind out of his sails occasionally.”
“Hey, you two,” called Dangerous, “hurry up!”
“Sorry!” said Max gathering up several bowls and loading them into the dumbwaiter. It really was amazing that all these things could be constructed out of cloud, he thought as he started to pull the rope to transport them up to the dining room.
“As the head of the family,” announced Fragrant glancing at the servants gathered around the table, “I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the hard work you have done for us over the last year. As is traditional me and my family... plus our guest,” Max nodded to the table, “have cooked a meal for you. However, unlike previous years we have decided to take our own initiative on some of the dishes. I hope you enjoy it.” The duchess gave a quick curtsy before the family started around the table delivering the steaming bowls of soup that Edelweiss had just served up from a tureen.
The staff were seated and served in strict order of seniority from the butler, housekeeper and cook at the head of the table down to the maids at the other. Fragrant had to admit she didn’t actually know many of them. Although the estate was in her name, due to her duties at court, she spent at best three months a year in the house and she had her own staff at her town house. She often felt more like a guest than the owner of the estate. Really the place belonged more to Edelweiss and Thunderous than herself, although she did feel a certain proprietariness for the grounds themselves, she had at least a hoof in many of the gardens.
Despite their different duties and ages the staff were all looking at the soup with something like gentle horror. Fragrant’s eyes narrowed slightly at that, she and Forming had put quite a bit of work into getting it to stay at the right temperature and not boil as the instructions had said. The least the staff could do would be to appreciate it. “Eat up,” she encouraged, what could be wrong?
There was a general bumping of elbows moving down the table from the head to the foot as each servant seemed to suggest that the next should try the soup first. Finally the youngest maid, all eyes upon her, bowed down and lapped at the soup. She swallowed, then licked her lips. “It’s good!” she announced. Suddenly there was an explosion of clattering as all of the staff started on the meal as one.
“Is that garlic?” asked one of the gardeners.
“Actually, that was my idea,” said Forming with a grin.
“I always did think that Cook made it a bit plain,” said Hot Rolls the chauffeur, which earned him a glare from the mare in question.
“Subtle flavouring is the key, not to drown everything out,” she said, “not to say this is bad my lady,” she quickly added glancing over to Forming.
The first course was over quickly and Max and Edelweiss cleared the table while Thunderous and Dangerous started to lay out the various dishes which made up the main course. This time the staff were much keener to dig into the offerings although the charred remains of the Bubble and Squeak which Thunderous had spent most of the morning incinerating was largely ignored.
“You know if we’d known his lord and ladyship could cook so well I’m sure more of the others would have come,” said the head gardener as he tucked into the salad.
“What do you mean?” asked Fragrant a little sharply. “I thought the other staff decided to stay with their families?”
“Oh,” he swallowed painfully, “Well you see, many do, um, most probably but others well you see,” he started to sweat.
“I am afraid my lady,” said the butler offering her companion some respite, “that some may avoid these meals because, well, you’re not all that good at cooking. It’s not your fault, it’s not like you were trained for it.”
“These roast potatoes, for example,” said the cook poking one of them, “overdone, should have been out half an hour earlier.”
“Why didn’t anypony tell me?” asked Fragrant.
“Well you see, your ladyship you’re well, you’re you,” said the Butler, “you’re our employer, and a generous and kind one you are, but there are certain unwritten rules between those above and those below.”
“I see,” muttered Fragrant, it was a little shocking to think that the staff didn’t trust her enough to talk to her about this sort of thing. “Well I thank you for your honesty at this time. I will of course not hold this, breach of those unwritten rules against any of you. I did ask you to speak.”
“Thank you, your ladyship.”
Fragrant nodded, maybe she should pay a little more attention to the staff. Shrugging, she picked up a bottle from the cooler and began to serve the wine. She had chosen it herself from the cellars and she was glad to see that it went down well with the staff although they did not savour the taste quite as much as they were supposed to.
The main course was over quickly and Max and Dangerous cleared the table, transporting the plates and leftovers back to the kitchen. The staff seemed a little less tense than earlier and were chatting and laughing with each other. Fragrant thought that the wine might be partially responsible for that.
The family made a small progression as they brought in the desert. First Forming placed bowls in front of each of the servants, then Thunderous gently lowered the rich fruit pudding onto the table while Edelweiss placed a jug of cream next to it. Then came Max with his freshly iced chocolate cake balanced on his back, still warm from the oven. He seemed so proud of his creation, Fragrant really didn’t have the heart to point out that it was rather asymmetric and that she thought it had been cooked a little too long, still it was the thought that counted. Finally Forming entered and discarding the measuring spoon he’d brought splashed a generous measure of his father's brandy over the pudding. He used his wings to generate a slight updraft over the desert before producing a tiny cloud from somewhere and tapping it, it gave a zap of static and the air above the cake burst into flames causing several of the servants to edge back.
“Eat up everypony!” encouraged the youngest Posey with a wide, slightly manic, grin.
And eat up they did. Max’s cake proved to be surprisingly popular with its audience, as if chocolate was a rare treat. Which maybe it was, now Fragrant thought of it, she was aware that it was actually quite expensive for most ponies. Maybe she should keep track of that sort of thing more, she ruled over tens of thousands of ponies, maybe she should make more of an effort to understand what life was like to them. The idea of one of her decisions affecting, say the cost of carrots didn’t mean much to her, she could still eat whatever she wanted when she wanted, but it would affect the lower orders much more. Did she consider them as much as she should? It was something she would have to ruminate on later.
Despite several of the staff, particularly the younger ones having seconds the meal was eventually completed. Fragrant quickly headed down to the kitchen to get the coffee which had been boiling during the last course and carefully loaded it into the dumbwaiter along with a box of mints. She had discovered them near the back of a cupboard earlier while she had been searching for another ingredient. They would be her own personal addition to the meal.
Returning to the dining room she saw that Forming had already poured the drinks and many of the ponies present were sipping the dark brew from their cups either pure or lightened with milk or cream. A gentle hum of conversation spread around the table. For a moment Fragrant considered joining in but she had to admit to herself that there was a certain line between the classes that it did not seem right to cross. Although she might show her appreciation for the mares and stallions who served her she wasn’t one of them, and it would be presumptuous of her to think she could just impose herself on their social lives.
“Why don’t you try the mint?” she asked the head gardener, that seemed a safe enough topic.
“Oh,” said the stallion unwrapping the treat and examining it. He frowned slightly before glancing over at Fragrant and back again. He put the mint in his mouth and bit down. There was a rather painful sounding crunch and he slowly chewed. “Not bad,” he said quickly reaching for his drink, “maybe a little hard,” he admitted.
The cook glanced over at the box containing the mind. “Oh, dear me. Where did you find these?” she asked.
“There were near the back of the cupboard with the mugs in it,” said Fragrant feeling awkward.
“These have been there for years! Didn’t I tell you to clear that cupboard out Dishcloth?”
“I thought I did ma'am!” squeaked one of the younger maids.
“Well it doesn’t look like you did! You could have caused somepony a mischief!”
“Please, no fighting,” said Fragrant her cheeks glowing, “It was my mistake,” she admitted. “I should have checked."
“Don’t worry,” said Max with a grin as he sidled up to her. “We all make mistakes.” Fragrant couldn’t help but scowl a bit at that. It wasn’t like her mix up was on the same scale as some of his.
“Well, I think that went well,” said Max taking the final bite from the leftovers he and the Posey family had been feasting on since the servant’s meal had finished.
“I forget how hard that is,” said Forming slumping into her chair.
“It is only once a year,” chided her brother. “The servants have to do that every day.”
“Well they don't usually need to cook for as many as that,” she protested.
“True, except when we have parties or balls.”
“No need to fight, I think ve did rather well,” said Edelweiss.
“Yep, I think we should be proud,” said Max earning a smile from Fragrant. “Now all we need to do is the washing up.”
“The what?” asked Thunderous.
“Cleaning the dishes? Packing everything away again? Tidying up the kitchen?”
“We don’t normally...” began Thunderous then he sighed recognising this probably wasn’t going to be a fight he was going to win.
“So what do ve have to do?” asked Edelweiss.
“Tell you what, you can wash and I’ll dry,” explained Max.
“My hooves are all pruny!” complained Edelweiss. “I vas beautiful once! I vas a model, thousands of ponies came to see me! And now... pruny hooves!” she exclaimed dramatically flailing around the aforementioned organs.
“I think we’re about done now,” said Max rolling his eyes at his fellow washer upper’s antics.
“I still think you’re beautiful,” said Thunderous swooping down on his wife and pulling her into a deep kiss. “Pruny hooves and all.”
Fragrant smiled at her brother and sister in law as she put away the last of the dishes. It was amazing how much there was to do after a simple meal. She’d thought they’d never be finished. Still there was a certain feeling of contentment now it was all done. Maybe they could try it all again, next year, she might even look to learning some cooking skills.
There was a knock at the kitchen door before it slowly opened. “Are you finished your ladyship?” asked the cook. “We’re ready to get started on the... oh.”
“We took care of the tidying,” said Fragrant, “It was Max’s idea.”
“This is, well this is unexpected,” she admitted as she and the kitchen maids entered the room. “Thank you.”
“It was no trouble at all,” said Fragrant glancing at Edelweiss who seemed to have recovered from her pruny hooves. “Consider it thanks for the hard work you put in all year round.” Out of the corner of her eye she noticed one of the maids open a cupboard and start to switch the plates from one shelf to another. Apparently they hadn’t been put back in the correct space.
“Baron Max,” came a voice from the door, it was one of her chauffeurs. “I’m afraid we will need to be leaving soon if we are to be in Canterlot by night.”
Already? thought Fragrant, her ears wilting. She had hoped she’d get to spend more time with Max. She knew he had a tight schedule if he wanted to visit his family for new year’s but surely they had a few more hours together? The whole holiday seemed to have just flown past.
“Ah, alright,” said Max seemingly just as upset, “why don’t you get the chariot ready, I’ve got a few things to pack.” The chauffeurs nodded and backed out of the room.
“I’ll give you a hoof,” offered Fragrant as the two of them headed to the room they’d shared for the last few days. She could get used to that living together, not waking up alone each morning, although separate bathrooms might be an idea.
In truth Max didn’t have all that much to pack and the two of them soon had his saddlebags full and ready to go. “Well, this was nice,” he said as he was strapping his bags onto himself.
“Yes, yes it was. I enjoyed the time we spent together, no matter how short.”
“It’ll only be a fortnight or so until we see each other again,” he said with a weak smile. It sounded like an eternity.
“I know,” she sighed.
“It was nice to meet your family, Edelweiss is fun and your brother, well, he’s a personality.”
“That he is, I’m glad you got along so well.”
“And Forming is a sweet mare, she’s very talented with the sculpturing and stuff.”
“Yes, well she finishes university next year so we should see more of her at court.”
“Yeah,” Max looked a bit uncomfortable, “Well I’m sure you can talk to her about that, work something out.” Fragrance's brow furrowed, what did he mean? “And Dangerous, well he’s unique, he might be a bit of a brat sometimes but I think his heart's in the right place.” Fragrant nodded, she had to admit that he wasn’t always the politest of colts, still he was family.
“Maybe next year Fluttering will be able to make it? And you can spend some time with her as well,” she suggested.
“I’m invited next year?” he asked.
“Of course you are Max, Hearthswarming is a time for families,” she said automatically before she realised the implications of that. Grinning, Max leant forwards and kissed her on the lips.
“I like the sound of that,” he mumbled.
“Or maybe I could visit your family,” she replied kissing him again.
“Maybe.”
She sighed, it really was time for him to leave now. Sadly she opened the door and the two of them headed through the house towards where her sky chariot was parked. She was a little surprised to see that the rest of her family were gathered around it.
“We decided we’d see you off,” said Thunderous. “I thought you could have this.” He passed Max a half full bottle of rainbow brandy. “Seeing as it’s open and all.”
“Thanks,” said Max with a grin.
“You should visit more often,” said Edelweiss reaching over to hug Max.
“I’ll try to,” replied Max hugging her back.
“Here’s your statue,” said Forming. “I finished it off this morning.” She held the present out to him. “I’ve set it so it should be good for a year or so, I can do some upkeep later if you want.” Max held out the model and turned it in his hooves.
“It’s really good,” he said, “I know just the place to keep it, and I can tell all my friends I’ve got a Posey original. They’ll be so jealous.” Forming blushed a little.
“We ought to go climbing some when,” said Dangerous shaking Max’s hoof. “Or maybe white water rafting, you’ve got rivers in your province, right?”
“A few,” said Max, “a really big waterfall as well.”
“That opens up a few possibilities,” mumbled Dangerous tapping a hoof on his chin, much to his mother's concern.
“Goodbye Max,” said Fragrant at last. “I hope you have a good trip and try not to fall off the chariot.” She couldn’t help but be a little concerned.
“Don’t worry,” said Max hugging her tightly. “I’ll be careful.”
He stepped back onto the chariot as she blinked away a few tears.
“Happy Hearthswarming everypony,” called Max as the chariot started to lift off into the air.