//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: First Pony 
// Story: Misty Morals 
// by Dragonfire2lm 
//------------------------------//

That's a lot of people Mist mused as the entire airship division stood in the field. Mist stood on one of ships railed walkways to Reginald's left. The Right Hand Man stood beside the chief, holding Mist's top hat.

Reginald stepped forward as a microphone extended from his hats and addressed the crowd. "I know these past few weeks have been quite an adjustment for everyone, we've lost our reputation, separated from our fellow clan members, our friends and families. However, despite this we still have our honor, our dignity, and a new opportunity!" he waited for the cheers to subside before he continued. " The ship is repaired, a world full of riches awaits us, and it's all thanks to Mist Veil's cooperation that we have recovered as quickly as we did."

Mist stepped forwadr as Reginald took the hat from Right.

"It is with honor that I, as the leader of The Toppat Clan, welcome Mist Veil to the clan with the title of First Pony!"

Mist lowered her head respectfully, felt her hat be placed on her head and she could hear the polite applause of the crew below. The ceremony quickly wrapped up after that, the crew finishing preparations for takeoff, and Reginald heading back to the bridge. Mist wandered back inside, still somewhat stunned by the ceremony.  

Right ambled up to her. "How're you feelin' gitl?"

She blinked. "Uuuuh, I dunno yet..."

Right nodded. "S'bit much I know, but you did right by the clan, only fair the Boss goes all out."

She supposed that made sense. "I guess."

"Might want to keep an eye out for the next few days, hazing is a long standin' tradition in the clan," Right warned her. "You outrank everyone save me an' Reg so, most of the crew will leave you alone. Jus'... Don' take anything personally. The crew's harmless enough, a few pranks here an' there."

"Okay." she replied.





The next morning, Mist woke up with a post-it note stuck to her face. She removed it, the message on it read Welcome Aboard! 

It was written in Ponish.

The only sound she could hear was the rumble of the ship's engine. Looking around, she saw nothing in her room was missing or disturbed. Her mane, long enough to reach halfway down her forelegs, draped around her face as she got out of bed and grabbed her glasses from its spot on the shelf, placing the note on the same shelf.

Fishing her mane and fur brushes out from the inside of her coat, she made herself look somewhat presentable, tied her mane back into a low ponytail, and put on her uniform. Pushing her glasses up when they slid down her nose, Mist put on her hat on her way out the door.

Right met her in the hallway, the two of them quietly greeting each other, and headed to the cafeteria. The first sign that her day would be... interesting was the fact that her breakfast was missing from the fridge.

She frowned. "I could've sworn I put my food in here last night..." she shrugged and pulled a piece of carrot cake out of the freezer. 

She heard Right sigh beside her. "Jus' how much sugar is in that?"

"... Don't tell me..." Mist groaned. "Welp, someone's going to be very sick."

Later that day, word spread around the ship that Jaque LeTouche had fallen ill with a nasty stomach bug and Reginald made an announcement later that evening.

"Please refrain from eating any Equestrian dishes without Mist Veil's permission as some are not fit for human consumption. They may contain dangerous amounts of sugar and traces of plant matter we can't digest, such as hay or flowers."





The post-it notes continued for about a week, all written in Ponish with various positive and encouraging messages, and the occasional doodle. When they stopped appearing, she enacted her plan, heading to the kitchen late at night.

Most of the crew had retired for the night, the ship was on autopilot, and the only ones still up besides herself was Cuppa Joe in the surveillance room and Right Hand Man wandering about the ship. With the kitchen all to herself, Mist pulled out a cookbook from her coat pocket.

International Recipes For Your Non-Pony Friends!





Right walked into the cafeteria and heard someone moving around in the kitchen. He frowned, the ship had a strict policy against late night snacking to save resources. He walked over and stared at the assortment of cakes, pastries and baked goods sitting on cooling racks on the counter, and The First Pony in the middle of adding icing to a carrot cake.

"Mist, what are you doing?" Right drawled.

"Oh, hi," Mist chirped. "Making food for the crew, several Equestrian recipes have international variants that have less sugar, I looked up the human equivalents yesterday in the archives and they match perfectly!"

"Why?"

Mist blinked, confused for a moment. "... Ponies regularly give food as gifts. Certain foods carry certain meanings, baked goods mean friendliness and goodwill, chocolates and flowers as a romantic gesture, and a pony's favorite foods or a staple of their diet signifies trust and respect."

Right raised a brow. "Like your crackers?"

Mist explained nonchalantly. "There's so few things I can eat and turning down a gift like that is really rude, so I'm not exactly well liked in, any community I've been in over the last year or so. I wanted to feel normal for a bit, I guess," she looked around at her creations. "Hey, what do you think the boss would like?"

Right shrugged. "He'd appreciate anythin' you give him..."

"But it's important!" Mist stressed as she finished icing the cake. "He's my boss, I want to give him something to show my gratitude for letting me join the clan."

Right looked around. "... Are those scones?"

"Pumpkin scones, my Mum's recipe.... I wanted to see if I could still make them." Mist admitted, looking a little out of breath and tired.

"Girl, 'ave you been overexerting yourself again?" Right asked pointedly.

"I'll be fine, pain is temporary." the mare replied easily.

Right crossed his arms over his chest. "Mist, get some rest, I'll sort all of this out."

"I'm almost done, I can clean up." she replied.

"... Fine, but ask me or the boss before doing this next time..."

Mist looked at him seriously. "Sir, I am a grown-arse mare, I can do this myself."

Right sighed, grumbling. "Jus' don' like seeing you hurt yourself is all..."

"I've been through worse, and there are ways to, cure me, so to speak. But they're not pretty." she replied as she began moving her creations into plastic containers.

Right leaned against a counter, skeptical. "Can't hurt to look into them can it?"

"They're illegal as all hay, Lycanthropy, Vampirism, Lichdom, Glennology." Mist listed off and went into more detail when she noticed he was interested. "Wolf Ponies and Vampires have been hunted and killed by Equestrians for thousands of years. Liches are feared and hated across the globe. And, anyone who even studies the Fae Folk gets branded a dark mage... I'd also be trading one set of limitations for another, there's no guarantee it wouldn't affect my mental state either." 

"I've thought about it," she continued. "and boy it it tempting, but the recovery time? The biological and dietary changes? I'd have to rely on others and I do that enough already. Who knows how long it would take for me to adjust, to get back to work? I'd be even more of an inconvenience."

Right asked a single, simple question. "Would it be worth it?"

"In the long run? Absolutely, I'd be able to work again, to live free of pain, but again, one set of limitations for another. Not something I'm keen on doing unless, I dunno, I almost die or something." Mist replied casually.





Mist stood beside her boss in the engine room. Reginald was staring intently at the engine, muttering as he did. He had expressed frustration at the ship flying at a quarter of its full speed, and given that she could outfly the airship with minimal effort, she could understand Reginald's dilemma.

"Sir, it's most likely the density of magic in the air slowing the ship down," she spoke up over the rumbling of the engine. "Purely mechanical devices like this don't have anything to filter out or use mana particles. Magic is literally in everywhere in nature."

Reginald nodded. "So we need to upgrade the engine?"

"Technically, you'd have to upgrade the engine and the propellers. Since we're already headed to Manehatten, we can find what we need when get there. A filter added onto the engine and a coat of magic resistant paint should do the trick." Mist said.

"And we should speed up once we pass this forest?" Reginald asked as he walked over to the ladder.

"The Everfree Forest has a dangerous level of mana density, it's a pegasus' worst nightmare, but we're fine due to the ship's size. You should see a noticeable difference once we leave the area." she explained.      

Their conversation was halted as they heard Right bark an order down at them. "Mist, I need you to see this!"

The two of them shared a grim look and Mist flew up to the floor above. Right looked serious as he led her to a window.

A dragon, a large green dragon was flying straight for them. Mist grit her teeth as she darted to the nearest exit and flew out of the ship, activating her earpiece.

"Sir, whatever you do, keep the ship moving. I'll draw the dragon's attention."

On the other end, Reginald sounded surprised. "Excuse me? A dragon?"

She felt nauseous, every flap of her wings felt weaker than the last, being in the airspace above the Everfree felt wrong, as if she wasn't welcome.

"Mist?"

She pushed past it, focused on staying in the air. "Yes, a dragon. It-"

The dragon unleashed a fireball.

It hit the side of the ship and Mist took action, zooming towards the reptile. "It's definitely here for the ruby!"

She saw the dragon preparing a second attack, and as it fired a second blast of fire, Mist intercepted it. The flames impacted her with enough force to send her into a tailspin. Momentarily stunned by the pain, wind rushed past as she struggled to right herself. Her wings yanked up painfully as she pulled out of her tumble and flew back up. Now in the dragon's face, she shifted her magic, light reflected back in the dragon's eyes, and it roared at the unexpected assualt on it's senses.

Mist aggressively flitted around, following  the creature's motions as it tried to fly around her.

Go away, go away, go away! she silently pleaded.

A clawed hand batted her away as the dragon snarled. "Cease you nag! You cannot deter me!"

Mist was already starting to flag, she grimaced as lighting danced across her left wing and a charge began to build.

I can do this! 

Her fur stood on end as she called on more of magic.

I have to.

Her feathers tingled as the lighting spread to the rest of her body, sparks flying off her.She could feel it in her teeth as her magic was drawn out to dangerous levels. Her wings propelled her forwards, she could see the dragon's latest attack had left a dent in the metal plating. She slammed into the creature's back, her built up charge of lightning illuminating the sky in a bright flash of light.

And then, she was falling. Her wings wouldn't respond to her will, her magic a quiet, faint wisp of power just beyond her reach, and the airship getting further away. As she crashed through the canopy, Mist caught a glimpse of the dragon weakly flying away from the airship, its scaly form charred and trailing smoke. She collided with the forest floor with a thud, branches and leaves tumbling down around her. 

Mist pulled herself into a sitting position as she pressed a hoof against her earpiece.

"Hello?" she said weakly.

Reginald sounded alarmed. "Mist! Can you make it back to the ship?"

"No Sir," she grunted. "Lost too much magic, too weak to fly without it..."

"We're on our way."

Mist dragged herself over to lean back against a nearby tree. The magic that saturated the area made the air feel thick, the unsettling nature of it all felt less like a random combination of wild magics and natural forces, but akin to being an intruder on forbidden ground. Her thoughts were fuzzy, the nausea persisted, and there was a aching, hollow sensation in her wings.

And that's my magic going kaput. She idly noted. She felt like she should be more concerned, but she expected it to happen sooner or later. The oppressive nature of the Everfree weighed down on her as she tried to listen for signs of danger.

She couldn't focus. She was too uncomfortable, too worn out, and too focused on not making her torment worse by even the smallest of movements. The airship soon came into view, A small team descended down with a stretcher and carried her to the infirmary, it was all a bit of a blur for her as she found herself sitting in a bed with Right Hand Man checking her over, and Reginald pacing back and forth by her bedside.

"Can't find anythin' wrong with her physically..." Right concluded.

Her mind was fuzzy, exhaustion clung to her but she was still alert enough to follow the conversation. "Everfree Sickness, coupled with Mana Depletion. Debilitating," she smiled wryly. "I am going to be absolutely miserable for... awhile."

Reginald stopped pacing to look at her. "Will you be alright?"

She paused, a sort of dry humor to her words. "I doubt I'll fully recover from the mana depletion, can't replenish my magic as well as I used to, or at all some days, but once we leave the forest I'll be up and about again."

Reginald breathed a sigh of relief. "A silver lining then, you are to listen to Right Hand Man, he'll be overseeing your recovery. I need to see to the ship, excuse me." he nodded and walked off.





The next several days were a quiet, miserable haze for the pegasus, confined to the infirmary, and still feeling like she wasn't sure if she was going to throw up or not. Right Hand Man was accommodating, he fetched her what she needed and was content to leave her alone, keeping an eye on her from somewhere else in the room. The peace and quiet was a blessing. 

Reginald would visit in the evenings, Mist tried to hold to a conversation, despite her lack of energy, and after a while, her boss switched to recounting tales of the clan's past glories instead. From finding long lost buried treasure to stealing a museums worth of priceless art, the prior exploits of The Toppat Clan were like something out of a book.

She said as much and Reginald smirked. "Well who doesn't love a dashing gentleman thief?"

"You? Dashing? Sure Reg..." Right drawled.

Reginald waved him off lazily, seated in a chair by Mist's bedside. "Nevermind him, we should be clear of the forest soon, I do hope you start feeling better soon."

"I'll get there, eventually." Mist said.

"Have you thought about... finding a way to improve your overall condition?" Reginald asked curiously. "Dealing with all of this as well as what you've already gone through can't be easy. It would certainly put my mind at ease knowing you wouldn't be facing higher risks if we need you on a mission."

"What options I have aren't ideal," Mist explained wearily. "I'd just have a different set of limitations in exchange for being able to be somewhat normal again... I can look into one them at Manehatten if you want, see if there's been any advancements since I retired."

"Please do, if we can help you, if there is a way to heal you, then we shouldn't waste the opportunity." Reginald stated.

"Does it sound fair though, askin' her to jump though hoops like that?" Right pointed out.

The Toppat Chief pondered the question. "I suppose not..."

"Could always save it as a last resort?" Mist suggested.

Right was stoic. "Here's hopin' we don' reach that point then."