The vibration of the machine beneath their hooves.
The noise of the engines powering up.
The smell of smoke and coal.
The cold metal of the levers and the wood of the steering wheel.
And then…
Lift off.
With a massive lunge forward, the Harmony left the ground. The main engines unleashed their full power, propelling it out of the courtyard and above Ponyville, clearing for a few seconds the sky of the smoke and steam. A chorus of cheers from below bid farewell to the ship, as the flashes of photographers immortalized the departure. Rainbow Dash pulled the speed lever further back as she let out a wordless, joyous scream.
When she let go and allowed the ship to slow down to cruising speed, they had already passed Ponyville and were steadily flying into the sunset.
Rainbow yelled out again, then pulled back her goggles and looked down at the rest of the crew on the deck. Rarity was in the process of fixing her hair while she looked around excitedly. Twilight and Pinkie were chasing Pinkie’s hat, which was rolling around on the deck and had miraculously not yet fallen overboard. Twilight finally grasped it with her telekinetic force and threw it to Pinkie, who caught it on her head with a jump. Applejack was looking down from the railing, no doubt giving a last look to her Sweet Apple Acres. The rest of the crew was nowhere to be seen.
“Everybody doing okay down there?” asked Rainbow Dash. Rarity, Pinkie and Twilight nodded, and the three of them walked up to the command station. Applejack turned around, and the other ponies caught a glimpse of a greenish shade on her distressed face.
“First time on an airship, eh?” yelled Rainbow Dash with a chuckle “You’ll get used to it.”
Applejack turned back with a groan.
“What a perfect soldier the Princess has sent us,” whispered Rarity. “A rookie with no fighting experience and who gets sick after three minutes of flight.”
Twilight looked nervously at the white unicorn. “I’m certain the Princess had her reasons to choose her.”
“Then you should ask her what her reasons are with your next report.”
Rainbow ignored the two bickering unicorns and focused on the airship. She pulled the altitude lever, driving the Harmony upwards in the cold evening air. Pinkie observed her handling the commands as the airship stabilized itself once again.
“You know, we can go faster if you use the secondary and main power at the same time.”
“Huh?”
“The third lever on the right. That’s the overdrive. I noticed you weren’t using it when we started…”
“Oh. Well, thanks. I’m still getting used to this beast…”
“I know! Isn’t this exciting? There’s so much to discover! We haven’t even tasted half of the functions!”
“That’s cool… I guess… as long as none of these is the self-destruct lever, right?”
“Self-destruct, you say?” Pinkie started mumbling as she scratched her chin. “Maybe… if we add a bit of… hum… and if instead… hum….”
Rainbow Dash decided not to intervene and instead turned to the interphone.
“Hey, Derpy! Can you hear me down there?”
The noise of something collapsing was the only response. Rainbow decided to interpret it as a yes.
“Are we on the right course?”
“We have to turn thirty degrees north!”
“And what exactly were you waiting for to tell me?!”
“…”
“Yeah, whatever.” Rainbow adjusted the course according to Derpy’s instruction. “So… what is our mission exactly?” she asked, turning to Twilight and Rarity “I mean… we didn’t exactly get a full briefing. All you said was that we had to reach this mine as soon as possible. Is this an emergency? Is it a rescue mission?!” Rainbow said excitedly.
“Probably,” answered Twilight “We don’t know for sure. All we received was an SOS, immediately before the line was interrupted.”
“Aside from that,” added Rarity, “We need to visit the mine to gather some supplies.”
“Supplies? Like fuel? Didn’t know you owned coal mines, boss.”
“It’s not a coal mine. We need a few Raritanium plates to reinforce the balloon. And incidentally, you’re supposed to refer to me as My Lady. Or Lady Rarity. Or if you prefer… ”
“Yeah, yeah, got it. But really, a Raritanium mine was attacked?! I heard those mines were like fortresses…”
“They are indeed well defended... but their main defense is the secrecy of their location.”
“This means,” intervened Twilight, “That there is probably someone inside the organization who is working for the enemy.”
“You mean a spy?!”
“Exactly. “
“Soooo…”
“So, we’ll make sure to watch you closely,” Rarity leaned in to look at Rainbow closely in the eyes, “In case you feel like stepping out of line.”
“Yeah, sure,” Rainbow pushed the unicorn out of the way. “Don’t you worry; we’ll be there safe and sound.”
“And if possible, let’s try to be there soon.”
“All you need to do is ask.” Rainbow pulled the overdrive lever and pushed the Harmony forward into the night sky.
“…And the miners?”
“Them’s all locked up tight.”
“Perfect. I trust no one of them has been harmed?”
“No sir,” The diamond dog growled at the two gray-coated ponies standing before him “All safe and sound.”
“Then proceed. Load the ore on our vessel. We need to be done before dawn breaks.”
“First you pay us!”
“Yesss! Pay usss!” the other dogs started yelling.
“You have already discussed your payment with our superiors. You are expected to complete your assignment.”
“What?! NO! We did all the work! If you don’t pay, then how about we take all of it for ourselves?!”
“I wouldn’t do that,” answered one of the ponies, spreading his bat-like wings and lowering his head menacingly.
“WHAT?! You little bat-donkey think you can take me!?” The dog jumped forward, rising his robotic left hand for a punch. Before he could connect, he felt an unseen force grabbing his torso and pulling him back.
The other gray pony waved his horn. The dog’s metallic arm slowly started to separate from the body, while sparks started flying out from it together with the screeching of the metal.
“Maybe you should remember that we are the ones that gave you those beautiful gifts,” said the unicorn. “It would be a shame if we had to take them away.”
“NO! NO! NO!” the dog tried his best to keep the arm attached while sparks started coming out of his mechanized eye. The lens came undone and fell off into the dirt.
“I trust you will be complying with the agreed conditions from now on.”
“Yes! Yes! Of course boss!” The other dogs backed off, growling. The telekinetic force dissipated and the dog fell to the ground. He picked up the lens and backed off, walking on his hind legs holding his injured arm.
“We’re going to work, but you’d better pay what you owe us.”
“Of course. We honour our deals. Truthfulness is a virtue, after all.”
The dogs walked off towards the mine. The pegasus shook his head as soon as they were out of sight.
“How can we trust these creatures? We can’t be sure they won’t double-cross us.”
“On the contrary,” answered the unicorn “We can be sure they will double-cross us. But as long as they have anything to gain, they’ll keep obeying.”
“And what about the ponies? If a message has been sent, we can expect them to be here…”
“If these brutes manage to do their job, we’ll be gone before they’re even in the region. Now signal the cargo ship to land; we have a long night ahead of us.
“Agent C3, reporting.”
“What have you seen?”
“Most of them are arguing on the deck. Pinkie Pie is tinkering with the command panel. The cartographer is locked in her room. Spike is in the boiler room talking to the doctor.”
“Have you been spotted?”
“No. The mission proceeds as planned.”