XXIV. Northern Exposure
“So it really was you?” Twilight Sparkle marveled. “I’ve heard of telepathy spells before, but never over such a long distance. That’s absolutely amazing, Rarity.”
The two unicorn mares sat on their haunches, resting on a thin straw mat in the forward cabin of the airship Refresh. As with the Alicorn, unnecessary furnishings, equipment, and supplies had been left behind for the sake of speed, leaving the space barren. Only the sunlight streaming through circular portholes, and the bulkheads painted in cheerful citrus tones, prevented the airship’s empty interior from feeling sterile. Sitting with a friend, sipping water and nibbling sweet marecadamia nut biscuits from Gallopoli, Rarity could almost forget the danger that waited ahead.
At the moment, she and Twilight had the forward cabin all to themselves. Blueblood and Elbow Grease were engrossed in tinkering with the airship’s engine and mechanical systems, trying desperately to coax what extra speed they could out of the ungainly racer. Abovedecks, the others had all found something useful to do. Rarity was not one for tinkering, and she still felt a bit weak, so it had not taken much encouraging to convince her to enjoy a brief respite. That, however, did not mean she wanted to be alone. She had been glad when Twilight offered to join her.
“Yes, it really was me!” she responded enthusiastically. “At the time, at least at first, I thought it was a dream, or perhaps a hallucination of some kind. But everything was so real; I could see all of you, hear Sweetie Belle crying, and touch objects in the house. Slowly, I came to realize that what I was experiencing was actually happening back in Ponyville, and that some part of me was present with you in my parents’ home. I decided that I had to make you understand that I was still alive, and needed help, so I reached out to you with my magic. After that, I woke up back in the jungle. I never knew whether you had received the message until I saw you there in Gallopoli.
“I did feel your presence,” Twilight stated. “Even though I couldn’t hear you, it was like these thoughts - thoughts that weren’t my own - suddenly popped up in my mind, and I knew it was you. It’s just - wow, Rarity! I’ve never even read about a spell like that. Then again, I haven’t read many first-hoof accounts of the Heavenstone. I just wish I understood how that kind of magic worked.” Twilight frowned momentarily, but then her expression changed into a broad smile. “This should be worth at least a week of research when I get back to the library! Maybe two! I can’t wait!”
“If anypony can uncover and decipher the Heavenstone’s secrets, you can, darling,” Rarity declared, then sighed. “I just wish we did not have to wait. If I truly am going to have to confront Windlass, then I would like to know, at the very least, why the Heavenstone has formed this strange connection to me. I certainly did not try to project my consciousness to Ponyville - the stone brought me to you. If the thing were here now, right here in front of us, I would have no idea how to use it. It’s as though, this entire time, I have been beholden to its whims and fancies."
Rarity paused. “I know that is impossible, rationally speaking. A gemstone, no matter how ancient, mystical, and what-have-you, does not have a mind of its own. As batty as it sounds, though, I am convinced that this one does. I am certain that the Heavenstone wants something from me. If only I knew why.”
“Hm,” Twilight Sparkle mused. Her violet eyes were closed, and she appeared deep in thought. “You said something about that before, about the Heavenstone wanting you for something, but I kind of glossed over it in all the excitement. Can you tell me more about that?”
“Well,” Rarity began, “whenever I have gotten close to it, my gem-finding spell has activated unconsciously, as if the Heavenstone is shouting ‘look at me!’ ‘Here I am!’ I also experience the worst pain in my horn, as though something had taken hold of it and is trying to pull it right out of my skull. This, I now know, is the Heavenstone’s means of drawing me to it. On one occasion, after Windlass attacked me, the stone somehow allowed me to create a magical shield and save myself. I have no idea how to cast that spell on purpose, but I think the Heavenstone may have intervened to protect me. Finally, when Windlass recalled the Heavenstone, you saw what happened. It was like my entire sense of being slipped away and all that was left was utter agony. I believe that feeling was coming from the Heavenstone, as if it was crying out in protest. It was too much to bear, and I passed out.”
“Very interesting.”
“I am certain it is, Twilight, but what does it all mean?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Twilight Sparkle replied simply, shrugging her shoulders.
Rarity sighed again, and her cast her gaze down at the cabin floor. “I was afraid you would say that.”
“Well, I don’t know for certain,” the other mare went on, “but I do have a suspicion. In fact, it might explain both how you were able to contact me, and how the Heavenstone seems to have a mind of its own. And if I’m right, this could change everything.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean everything,” Twilight replied, her eyes opening wide. “If my suspicions are correct, it would shatter the basic foundations of accepted pony history, and challenge what we believe about the very origins of ponykind.”
“Come again?” Rarity asked. Twilight was no stranger to hyperbole, and she hoped that this was just another example. After all, what could the Heavenstone's connection to her have to do with the origins of ponykind?
“I’ve been conducting some research on a related subject lately,” Twilight began, speaking rapidly and excitedly. “Do you remember, after Princess Celestia first called us to Canterlot when Discord broke free from his imprisoning spell, why she claimed she she needed us to stop him? Why she and Princess Luna could do nothing?”
“As I recall, Princess Celestia stated that she and her sister could no longer wield the power of the Elements of Harmony. If she went into greater detail, I cannot remember it." Rarity frowned. "I must say, Twilight, it is not immediately obvious to me how that is a related subject at all.”
“Trust me, it is, and you remember correctly. The Princess didn't explain further. All Princess Celestia said was that the imprisoning spell was broken because she and Princess Luna were no longer connected to the Elements. I didn’t have time to ask what that meant while the fate of Equestria was at stake, but after Discord was defeated, I finally had time to think about it. What did it mean to be connected to the Elements of Harmony, and why were the Princesses not connected any longer?”
“Do tell,” Rarity prompted.
“According to the old texts, Princess Celestia lost her connection to the Elements after she was forced to seal her sister in the moon. The act of using the Elements to banish Night Mare Moon, who was really Princess Luna and herself an Element Bearer, prevented Princess Celestia from embodying harmony any longer. Afterward, the Elements would no longer respond to her, and the imprisoning spell grew weaker with each passing century, until Discord finally broke free. Presumably, Princess Luna had lost her own connection even earlier, when she fell to darkness more than a thousand years ago. How, I wondered, did the Elements, inanimate objects, know that the Princesses were no longer embodiments of harmony?”
Rarity thought she finally sensed the common thread with which Twilight was attempting to weave her story. “Something inside the Elements determined that the Princesses were no longer worthy to bear them, just as the Heavenstone has decided that it wants me,” she guessed.
"Yes, that’s it! There must be some form of rudimentary intelligence within the Elements, to decide who can and cannot use their power. Don’t forget, the Elements instantly recognized who among us represented Generosity, Loyalty, Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, and Magic. The gems even took the form of our cutie marks when they manifested. They also refused to work when I tried replacing Rainbow Dash with Spike, the first time we faced Discord. The Elements have some form of decision-making capacity, and I believe the Heavenstone may have a similar form of intelligence.”
“Then, perhaps the Heavenstone and the Elements are related,” Rarity guessed. “Perhaps they even share a common origin.”
“Exactly!” Twilight exclaimed. “But nopony has ever even conjectured that that might be the case before, unsurprisingly. The Heavenstone was in possession of the unicorn royal family since before recorded history, but the Elements were discovered much, much later. Not only that, I’ve never read about the Heavenstone displaying any selectivity in its master before. It always responded to whomever sat on the unicorn throne. There was no reason to suspect that it could be connected to the Elements of Harmony in any way.
Now that I think about it, though, they share so many features in common: the seeming intelligence, the magical connections and summoning ability, and the fact that the Elements and the Heavenstone both manifest in the form of gemstones. I suspect the Heavenstone was able to transmit your essence to Ponyville because you are connected to both the Heavenstone and to the Elements of Harmony, and all of the other Element Bearers were gathered there, in your parents’ house. That may have even been another instance of the Heavenstone attempting to help you.”
“I follow so far,” Rarity said, “but the one thing I fail to see is how the Heavenstone and the Elements being related threatens the foundations of pony knowledge, or whatever it was you said.”
“It means that what every foal learns in Elementary Pony History is wrong!” Twilight exclaimed breathlessly. “You see, the scholarly consensus holds that the Elements were created a few thousand years ago by some powerful unicorn mage. Maybe it was Walnut the Wise, or perhaps one of the great, forgotten wizards of Ancient Ponyland. When I first surmised that the Elements had some kind of built-in intelligence, I supposed that the pony who had created them had used an incredibly complex memory spell to insert a bit of her own mind, just enough to make decisions about who was worthy to wield them. That kind of magical intelligence cannot be a natural property, after all. Now that we know that the Heavenstone has the same kind of intelligence …” Twilight paused to take a few deep draws of oxygen.
“The Heavenstone, according to academia, is merely an exceptionally powerful focusing gem, discovered by prehistoric unicorns. That isn't true. It dates from ancient times, yes, but that was millennia before magical theory allowed for spells as complex as permanent memory enchantments. Unicorns were barely telekinetically rubbing two sticks together back then. If the Elements and the Heavenstone share a common origin, then that means two things. First, the Elements are much older than anypony ever guessed. Second - and I can barely believe I am saying this - it means they were both created, not by ponies, but by somepony, or someone, else. Someone older! Who, Rarity? And why? These questions challenge our basic assumptions about where we come from, and how we got here.”
“But what does that …”
“Of course I’ll give you credit when I present my findings to the Royal Academy of Magic,” Twilight continued unabated. “Oh my gosh, Rarity, do you think they’ll give me my own shelf at the Canterlot Library of Magic? I hope it’s next to the Star Swirl the Bearded shelf!” She giggled, and clapped her forehooves together. “Maybe I’ll get my own collection room, or even my own wing!”
“Twilight!” Rarity shouted.
“Yes, Rarity?” Twilight blinked, and folded her forelegs neatly in front of her.
“I find your enthusiasm for magic and ancient history infectious and thoroughly charming, darling, really I do. And as much as I hate to take anything from you and make this about me, well, right now this really is about me. Whoever created the Heavenstone, the fact is that it seems to want me. That is what I need I need to know about. Why, Twilight? Why me, and what do I do now?”
“I’m sorry, Rarity,” Twilight began, chagrined, “I guess I got a little carried away.”
“It’s fine. I certainly did not mean to snap at you just now. I am just so frustrated at being swept up in this mess and not having the foggiest idea why I should have anything to do with it. I am no descendent of the old royal family. I have no designs on moving the sun and moon. For Celestia’s sake, Twilight, I am nothing more than a country mare who dreamed a silly dream of marrying a prince when she was a filly, who became enamored of making dresses for her dolls and got the crazy notion she could make a career out of it, and who taught herself to fake a Canterlot accent so she could imagine herself special. But I take it all back, Twilight. I don’t want want to be special anymore.” Rarity fell silent and quickly looked away, before her friend could see her fall apart. She shuddered involuntarily as Twilight leaned forward and draped her forelegs over her shoulders.
“I know that you don’t mean that,” the lavender unicorn said. “You never imagined yourself to be special, for one thing; you knew you were special. Your confidence is what I’ve always admired most about you, Rarity. I’ve always been desperate for praise and approval, and even Rainbow Dash, for all her bravado, can be insecure. But you - you’ve always believed in yourself, your abilities, and your good taste. Ponies love your work because it is amazing and beautiful, but also because they see your poise and confidence, and they want that for themselves.”
Rarity sniffed and looked into the other mare’s eyes. “Thank you for such kind words, darling, but I must disagree in part. I may have confidence in my designs, but confidence in being able to stop a maniac mare with a magical diamond is something else entirely. I have no idea what I am doing here!”
“We’ll be there for you,” Twilight Sparkle said with earnest certainty. “Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and I. Connections to magical artifacts may be powerful, but not compared to the special magical connection we all share as friends. If there is one thing I’ve learned since moving to Ponyville, it’s that no magic is stronger than the magic of friendship.”
Rarity spent a long moment just basking in her friend’s sincerity. Twilight, she knew, believed every word she spoke, and nopony understood magic better than Twilight Sparkle. Surely, with all of her friends together, Rarity had nothing to worry about. Still, she did not feel completely reassured.
“I am so fortunate to have you as a friend, Twilight dear,” Rarity said, offering a wan smile. “I do believe in our friendship, and in all of you girls. As it is, though, I fear that there will be a trial ahead that I must face by myself, one for which I am woefully ill-equipped. It is a shame that we do not have time to retrieve the Elements before Windlass acts.”
"There is no way to get to them anyway with Princess Celestia away from Canterlot. Not even Princess Luna can bypass the wards the Princess put in place to safeguard the Elements," Twilight replied. "But there is still the possibility of avoiding a confrontation entirely. We could divert to Ponyville, and have Spike instantly send a letter to the Princess warning her of the attack. I’m sure she could stop the conspirators, even if they have the Heavenstone.” Twilight’s thin smile suggested that she was anything but sure of that.
“No,” Rarity replied, “we cannot risk it, as much as I would dearly love to see my sweet little Spikey-wikey and let my sister and parents know that I am alive. If Windlass is already planning to stage an attack with Princess Celestia in attendance, and I am absolutely certain that she is, she must be confident that she can prevent the Princess from thwarting her. I am afraid that if Windlass feels threatened, she will simply set her plans in motion at once, long before we arrive. We must continue straight to Stratusburg, and hope to retain the advantage of surprise.”
Twilight nodded. “When we get there, we’ll stop the conspirators, all of us together.” She leaned forward again, forelegs outstretched, and Rarity happily returned the hug.
A few seconds later, the sound of approaching hoofbeats and a quiet cough interrupted the embrace. Blueblood loomed over the two mares.
“Please excuse my interruption,” Blueblood said. “Miss Sparkle, Mister Elbow Grease is asking for your insight as to whether a bit of applied magic might be able to eke a few more leagues per hour from this ship's engine and paddlewheels. Would you mind terribly visiting him in the engine room?”
Twilight jumped to her hooves immediately. “Ooh, he wants my insight? On how to make the airship more efficient?”
“Indeed,” Blueblood replied. “He asked for your expertise most emphatically.”
“Oh my gosh, Rarity, new discoveries about historical equinology, and now a chance to contribute to the field of magical mechanics in the same day! How could this get any better?”
“I can think of a few ways,” Rarity grumbled under her breath.
“This is exciting!” Twilight continued. “I mean, I’m no aeronautical engineer, but I know a few things about physics, after all, and combustion too, and ooh, I have been practicing my come-to-life spells recently. And, well, I do love efficiency! I’d be happy to help!”
“Wonderful. The engine compartment hatch is at the aft of the mess.” When Twilight merely stared at Blueblood, he continued. “Just head toward the back of the ship.”
“Right! I’ll just go and see what I can do, then. That is, if you don’t mind, Rarity.”
“Oh, not at all, darling,” Rarity replied, a bit more weary-sounding than she intended. She waved a permissive hoof. “Please go on, and we can talk more later.”
“Thanks!”
With that, Twilight Sparkle trotted merrily away. Rarity waited until she was certain the other mare was out of earshot before springing to her hooves and facing Blueblood. There was only one reason he would seek to speak with her alone.
“So,” she began, “you intend for us to have this certain-to-be unmitigatingly awkward conversation now, despite the fact that this is entirely the wrong time to have it. You would go so far as to deceive my friend to get me alone.”
“What ever do you mean?” Blueblood asked innocently, avoiding eye contact.
“Really?” Rarity asked incredulously. “Elbow Grease and you, a skilled engineer and an aeronautical architect, need Twilight’s consultation? She is the most intelligent and talented pony I know, but that does not change the fact that she is no engineer, and your pretense for getting her to leave was obvious.” She sighed. “You may as well get out what you have to say.”
“You never know, your friend may find a solution we overlooked.” Blueblood cringed under Rarity's withering glare. “Alright, yes, I've seen how enthusiastic she is about science and magic and I needed to speak with you alone, about what I … let slip.”
“A slip of the tongue, was it?” Rarity inquired. “Then there is all the explanation that is necessary. It was a mistake. What more needs to be said?”
“Is that truly where you want to leave things?”
Rarity considered the question. Blueblood had, in the heat of the moment, confessed his romantic feelings for her. She had already begun to suspect, of course, but words were so much more tangible and permanent than hints and suppositions. They could not be unsaid, and would linger forever, waiting for her to acknowledge them. She had hoped she and Blueblood could be something akin to friends, but not now, not with those weighty words occupying the space between them.
Why not reciprocate, one part of her asked. Why not simply fall into his forelegs, nestle in against his strong chest, and try to forget the misery he had caused her in the past? Why not accept what had been offered and take what she had wanted since she was a little filly, when all she knew was that there was a handsome young prince who lived in a castle, and all she dreamed was that both would be hers someday? He had changed, hadn’t he? He was a better stallion. The feelings he had admitted were surely genuine.
But even if he was honest in that single moment, how long would he remain so? How long could he truly care for her before reverting into a pony who cared for no one but himself. The callous, selfish, whiny Prince Blueblood of the Grand Galloping Gala lived within this new stallion, and always would. What if he reemerged? She would have to live with him. She could not do that to herself. She could not even risk it.
“Yes,” Rarity replied. “It is.”
“Well, it is not where I wish to leave things,” Blueblood retorted quickly, glancing downwards and stamping a forehoof in frustration. “I want to know how you feel. I want to know where to go from here.”
Rarity sighed. “This is really not the right time.”
“No other time would be better.”
“Please, Blueblood, at least wait until this unpleasant episode is truly over. Who can say what will transpire in Stratusburg?”
“So, that is it then,” Blueblood groused. “You have not forgiven me, even after everything we have been through together. My conduct on one lone night was too reprehensible for you ever to overlook it.”
“Do not attempt to cast yourself as the victim and rewrite the past!”
“I am simply asking you to see beyond who I was, and see who I am now!”
Rarity looked into Blueblood’s shining azure eyes for a long, silent moment.
“I can’t,” she said at last. “Unfortunately, my memory of that night is indelible, and the humiliation I endured is something I refuse to experience again. This, however, is not about punishing you for that night.”
“Then what is it about?”
She stepped forward, and gently rested a foreleg atop Blueblood’s shoulder. “Can you please let this go, at least for now?”
“I need to hear it. I need to know how I can convince you to give me a second chance. Please tell me how.”
“Please, another time,” Rarity pleaded.
“Just tell me how I can become the pony you want me to be,” Blueblood asked.
“Not now!”
“Please!”
“You can’t!” Rarity finally shouted, withdrawing her foreleg. “Here is the ugly truth you seem to want: you will never convince me that you are different, as much as I want to be convinced. I cannot be one hundred percent certain that the stallion from the gala will never rear his ugly head again, and I cannot be certain that the selfish, foalish, egomaniac with a persecution complex that I knew you to be until just one week ago is really gone, and I will not, cannot risk opening my heart to that stallion again.”
Rarity gulped in a deep breath, and she realized that her chest was heaving and her whole body was trembling.
Blueblood seemed to shrink before her, and he lost all semblance of the regal poise with which he normally carried himself. “I swear,” he slowly spoke, “that I would step on the throat of that horrible stallion you speak of, and cast him from the highest tower of Canterlot Castle. I would do that, were he not me. But he is me, or at least he was me, and I cannot change that fact, no matter what kind of life I lead from now on.”
“No,” Rarity whispered, blinking back tears. “You cannot. I am sorry. I’m so sorry.”
They stood in silence for a full minute before Blueblood finally spoke. “I believe I shall see if I can assist in the engine room, then,” he said. “If I might suggest it, perhaps you could use some fresh air. The upper deck is as far away from me as you can possibly be on this ship.” He turned and walked away without looking back.
Fresh air. Rarity felt as though a weight were pressing on her chest, leaving her lungs constricted and tight. She had to get out of there. She had to breathe. She raced up the narrow staircase in front of her.
Emerging into the warm afternoon sunshine, Rarity inhaled deeply, desperately, then breathed out slowly, imagining she was expelling all of the awful, unwanted feelings that were weighing on her. She would simply keep her distance from Blueblood. That was all she could do, until this was over and she returned home. For now, there were plenty of other ponies with whom she could hold a conversation. That was the ticket: keeping herself occupied.
Zips stood near the antiquated steering controls of the airship, intently examining the dials on the rudimentary automated navigational equipment that purported to be guiding them in the direction of Stratusburg. Zinzi stood toward the bow, leaning over the starboard rail and silently watching the earth pass beneath. Buckaroo and Applejack faced each other near the opposite rail, engrossed in conversation. Applejack burst out laughing as Buckaroo pantomimed a kick with a foreleg, no doubt reenacting a scene from some past adventure. The big stallion’s broken hind leg had been bandaged and splinted. Their intimacy made Rarity suddenly uncomfortable, and she walked in the other direction to talk to Zinzi. Stilted rhymes were preferable to becoming a third wheel.
Rarity offered a friendly hello as she moved to stand beside the zebra mare, and she followed Zinzi’s gaze down to a seemingly endless expanse of rolling hills carpeted in deep green woods. “What lovely, verdant country this is. Have you any idea where we are?”
“Lovely indeed, enough to stop and stare,” Zinzi replied as she turned to face Rarity. “I believe we are well southwest of Baltimare. I visited these hills long years before, but the ponies here rarely see travelers anymore. What few are left struggle merely to exist, farming grasses and fruit, just enough to subsist.”
“What a shame, amidst such beauty. I suppose with the railways being completed, and airships flying direct between the core cities and the southern reaches, the hoof traffic that must have traversed these hills has all but disappeared."
Zinzi nodded. “Progress never comes without a cost. While some places prosper, others become lost.”
“You know,” Rarity mused, “a dear friend of mine believes that Equestria must strive to progress faster than ever before. He believes that spreading the benefits of new technology to everypony will create a more level playing field for all, and help ponies who might otherwise be limited find their perfect places in the world. I fear, though, that such rapid change will make ponies anything but equal. Communities will vie for resources, and for access to the latest advances. Just as with the railroads, the winners will grow as rich and powerful, and the losers will be lost to the mists of history, like the ponies who lived in these hills. Or worse, inequality may lead to violence.”
“You speak with foresight,” Zinzi replied. “Swift change can even bring friends to fight. Khufu sought to moderate change’s pace, selling advances to both sides to avoid a deadly race.”
“Change itself is not a bad thing,” Rarity posited, “nor is it avoidable. But forcing it upon ponies who are not ready will create a society riven by strife and inequity. I am certain that Windlass knows this, though perhaps she believes that she could unite such a fractured nation under her rule. I, however, want no part of it. In fact, I believe I have an offer to decline when we return home. I dare say, when the pony who made me the offer discerns how his vision has been perverted by Windlass, he will think differently as well.”
“Factiousness in Equestria would engulf all soon, for it is ponies who bring the world the sun and moon. It is better for your pace to be slow and steady, rather than heedlessly embrace that for which you are not ready.”
“You are right, and I …” Rarity startled as a loud bang sounded, and she had to steady herself as the airship lurched forward and accelerated. “What was that?”
“I admit I do not know,” Zinzi replied, a look of concern playing across her features. “Let us check on your friends below.”
Zinzi and Rarity trotted toward the staircase that led below, accompanied by Applejack, Buckaroo, and Zips. Before they could get close, however, Twilight Sparkle, Blueblood, and Elbow Grease emerged onto the upper deck. The three ponies’ coats were smudged with coal dust, grease, and various shades of grime, but Twilight wore a look of satisfaction that assuaged Rarity’s fears.
“What in tarnation was that?” Applejack asked.
“Oh, nothing,” Twilight replied smugly. “I merely used a new spell that created a temporary relativistic distortion field around the ship’s engine so that we could fly faster than scientifically possible under normal conditions.”
As Rarity and the others looked on incredulously, Elbow Grease held a forehoof in front of his mouth and coughed loudly.
Twilight turned back toward the portly stallion with a bit of a pout. “What? I thought you said liberal exaggeration was the key to success as an airship engineer?”
“I said to stretch the truth, not claim youse went and changed the laws of physics!”
“Oh, fine.” Twilight pouted beneath the caked-on layers of grease obscuring her natural color. “There was a huge buildup of gunk in the exhaust system. We just cleaned out the pipes.”
Blueblood nodded. “It is not hard to see why the citrus conglomerates are struggling, if this airship represents their usual standard of care. It received little more than a few questionable engine modifications and a fresh coat of paint before being put into service as a ‘racing ship.’ Now that we have corrected those amateurish ‘upgrades’ and cleaned out the exhaust system, even if we continue to run the engine at maximum power, we should reach Stratusburg before anything bursts or breaks down.”
“But no promises,” Elbow Grease added.
“Will we reach the city before the summit begins? That is what matters,” Rarity pressed.
“No chance,” Elbow Grease stated. “We gotta be twenty hours out. Best we can do is hope they get a late start.”
“Then let’s hope Rainbow Dash doesn’t pick tomorrow to be the day she quits sleepin’ in,” Applejack declared.
“At this point, hope is all we have, I suppose,” Rarity said glumly.
“Nah,” Applejack replied, moving closer to Rarity and gently knocking her left forehoof against Rarity’s right. “We also got each other, and more importantly, we got a bushel of apples, a couple coconuts, a tub of sweetened taro paste, a basket full of cookies, plenty of water, and a pony keg full of pineapple wine, courtesy of the fine folks back in Gallopoli. We couldn’t refuse all their hospitality just to spare weight, after all. Now, how about we go down below and get some grub? What the hay, it ain’t cider, but I’ll even share some of that pineapple swill with you.”
Rarity had felt her stomach rumbling the moment Applejack began describing their stores, and it became immediately apparent to her that she was ravenous, not having had a decent meal of moderately fresh food since Blueblood’s feast back in Canterlot.
“Um, Rarity,” Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth and then mimed forcing it closed it with a hoof. Mortified, Rarity snapped her jaw shut, turned away from the others, and wiped the drool from her chin as demurely as possible.
“Supper sure sounds wonderful to me,” Buckaroo said, breaking the momentary awkwardness and earning Rarity's gratitude.
“Yeah, they even packed me up a pineapple and pickled kelp and onion hoagie,” Elbow Grease added. “Those beach ponies are alright.”
Rarity followed the others, refusing to acknowledge a look from Applejack that said the farmer would not forget Rarity's momentary lapse of decorum. Soon after, though, she was merrily eating and drinking too much, and feeling a great deal the better for it. The meal stretched on as the Refresh’s instruments guided the speeding ship toward Stratusburg, and soon the sun was setting.
When Rarity finally settled down to bed, tipsily collapsing on a colorful woolen blanket draped over a thin mat of woven straw, her contented mind was occupied by warm notions of friendship, family, and the safety of hearth and home. Pineapple wine was really not very good, she decided, as she drifted off to sleep. Still, it had worked wonders at chasing away the inevitability of the coming day. Perhaps she would order a case for herself.
Hours later, as the dawn bathed the world in light, it was apparent that the Refresh and its crew had reached the northlands. Rarity had awoken to darkness some time earlier, her mind filled with thoughts of the Heavenstone, and even more troubling, of Blueblood. Feeling restless and uncomfortably cold, she had magically rewoven her blanket into a thick poncho that covered her neck, back, and chest, before trotting upstairs to the open upper deck. There, she had offered to relieve a grateful Zips from his watch duty, and now she stood alone on the airship’s deck, chasing away the fog of too much pineapple wine and watching the ascending sun gradually reveal an impressive, imposing panorama ahead.
The Snowmane Mountains jutted from the earth like dragons’ wickedly sharp teeth, jagged lines of white-capped peaks that stretched east to west as far as Rarity could see. Each peak individually was higher and broader than Canterlot’s Mount Royal, and the effect of viewing the entire range at once was to make Rarity feel utterly microscopic. If the Snowmanes could recite the tale of their eons-long existence, the entire history of ponykind would be but a brief footnote to them. Princess Celestia would be a newborn foal. Rarity herself would be but an insignificant flicker, here for an instant and then gone just as quickly.
In these towering mountains, she knew, the griffons built their vertiginous eyries and made their roosts. Somewhere ahead, amidst the thick cloud banks gathered on the windward side of the mountains, the pegasus city of Stratusburg floated in the sky, marking the current northern border of Equestria. It was that invisible demarcation, so laughably ephemeral compared to mountains that would remain the same a hundred generations in the future, that served as convenient kindling for those who wished to spark the fires of war.
Rarity’s thoughts drifted to her sister in Ponyville, and all of the little ponies who would grow up in an unrecognizably scarred Equestria, living in fear of their enemies and of the future, should Windlass succeed in sabotaging the peace summit. Whatever the insane mare planned, and whatever powers she wielded courtesy of the Heavenstone, Rarity resolved to stop her. After that, she resolved, she would prance right into the Ponyville spa, lock the doors, and not come out for a month, or perhaps three.
“The Snowmanes are something else, am I right? We still got hours to go before we get to ‘em, and they’re already that big. Crazy.”
Rarity had somehow missed Elbow Grease appearing next to her. The portly engineer pony proceeded to busy himself with adjusting the steering controls and checking the instruments on the navigational panel. She noticed steam coming from his nostrils as he breathed, and she shivered as she remembered how cold it was, even under her warm poncho.
“Goodness, how do the Stratusburg ponies who live up here stand this wretched cold?” Rarity asked.
“Pegasi don’t really feel the cold like we land dwellers,” Elbow Grease replied. “I figure they turned out like that 'cos they needed some way of keeping from freezing up in the clouds, since they never really got the hang of making fires or weaving cloth to keep warm. I’m sure youse heard a million bad jokes about pegasi not exactly being big on innovation, but I always liked the one about how the three tribes reacted to discovering fire.”
“I believe I know this one,” Rarity began, “the practical earth ponies used the fire to feed their families and keep warm during the winter; the curious unicorns decided that they could use their magic to make the fire brighter and more beautiful, and ended up accidentally burning down the entire forest where they lived; and the pegasi simply procured a raincloud and put out the flame, not seeing the point of it.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard it told with a little less elegance, but you got it. I’m hoping that when we get to the city, they’ll have put in some extra effort to heat the place up for the rest of us. I don’t even know what they’ve rigged to allow non-fliers to attend this summit, but if they can manage that, then they must have been able to manage a few extra degrees of warmth.”
“Have you been to Stratusburg before?” Rarity asked, curious.
“Sure,” Elbow Grease replied. “I seen it from the air, at least. They’re all pegasi, Stratusburg being a cloud city and all, so they import their food, and I worked some of the big haulers that fly out that way. Couldn’t walk the streets of course, but even from the air it was an impressive place. Youse could tell the folks in charge were worth lots of bits. I heard the ponies who own the cloud mines are worth near as much as Fancypants, except their money’s split up among a whole family.”
“Yes, I recently learned that a dear friend of mine is one of the heirs to the Skyworks fortune, much to my surprise.”
Elbow Grease whistled. “Youse sure do travel in interesting circles, Miss Rarity.”
“Yes,” Rarity agreed. “I surely do.” She paused. “Speaking of which, I was surprised and gratified to see you back in Gallopoli. I certainly owe you a great debt of gratitude for joining my friends and flying to such a timely rescue.”
“Aw, I’m no hero,” Elbow Grease replied, shaking his head. “After what happened, Fancypants was really broken up. He practically ordered me to stay behind and help Tempest with the search and rescue.”
“That is good to hear about Fancypants. After Tempest and Windlass attacked me, I began to doubt whether I could trust anypony.”
“Yeah, I woulda never guessed those two were rotten, but I know for sure that old Fancy is on the up and up. Nopony can fake bein’ as heartbroken as he was. I figure he thinks you’re pretty special. He’ll be over the moon when he sees you’re alive.”
“I look forward to seeing him as well.”
Pretty special, Elbow Grease had said, but what did that mean? Fancypants certainly viewed Rarity as a valuable gamepiece, a pony in whom he could place his trust while he pursued his political ambitions, but she wondered how deep their friendship truly ran. After all, Fancypants had repaired to Canterlot after the disaster of the Alicorn’s Cup, leaving underlings behind instead of remaining to help.
Of course, at the time it had been all but certain that Rarity had perished, and he had likely anticipated the damage the incident would cause to the already-precarious relationship between ponies and griffons. He had responsibilities in the capital, and every reason to return home during such a trying time.
Rarity sighed, and wondered how Fancypants would react when she informed him that she would not accept his offer. She hoped they would remain on friendly terms, if for no other reason than the fact that he was still the most important businesspony in Equestria. His disapproval could mean the end her aspirations in Canterlot.
The clip-clop of hooves on wooden planks drew Rarity’s attention away from her musings, and she turned to see everypony else groggily climbing up onto the deck.
“Mornin’,” Applejack said with a quick nod, and the others offered greetings as well. All except Blueblood, Rarity noted. The unicorn stallion marched purposefully ahead to take in the view of the looming mountains, then knelt on the deck and unfolded a large paper map.
“Stratusburg is ahead, on the other side of the first ridge of peaks,” Blueblood said. “We can skirt around the mountains, and I believe we should arrive no more than four hours from now.”
"Sounds about right, from what I remember," Elbow Grease said.
“Four hours!” Rarity exclaimed. “But the summit could begin any moment now! Surely we can do better, I mean, the mountains are right there in front of us. Can we not simply fly over, rather than all the way around?”
“No, we cannot,” Blueblood replied tersely, without looking up from the map. “Those mountains are more than a league tall. We cannot fly that high, and even if we could, the air at that altitude is too thin to breathe. I suppose you can get out and pull, if you want to fly faster.”
Rarity harrumphed, but did not rise to his bait. She supposed he was entitled to a bit of petulance after what she had said to him.
Applejack walked over to her and gave a reassuring smile. “It’ll be fine, Sugarcube. We’ll get there before you know it, you’ll see, and then we’ll put an end to this nonsense once and for all.”
Rarity hesitantly returned her friend’s smile, and pulled her poncho tighter around her shoulders. The airship flew on, and though she spent some time in the cabin below, she primarily occupied herself with standing at the deck rail, watching the mountains loom impossibly large as the Refresh drew nearer to them with each passing minute.
The view was breathtaking from the air, and she acquired new insight into why Rainbow Dash so loved to fly. Rarity could imagine a very young Rainbow sneaking out of her home in Stratusburg, flying to the top of the highest mountains, leaping from stratospheric precipices and diving down into the deep chasms between the peaks, zooming through narrow canyons and frolicking with the griffons who lived nearby. Out here on the frontier, among these giant peaks and under an endless sky, this must have been true freedom for a bold young pegasus, especially one whose family wanted for nothing. It was no wonder that Rainbow Dash had resented being taken away from this.
Suddenly, Rarity noticed something strange in the distance, an oddly colorful rectangular shape that appeared to be protruding from a small puffy white cloud. She walked over to Zips, standing nearby, and enlisted his sharp eyes to try to identify it.
“It’s a cloud buoy,” he said. “Sky harbors put them out to keep airships from flying into restricted areas.”
“It looks as though the sign atop the cloud has something written on it,” Rarity pointed out.
“Yeah, it says ‘caution,’ and then some other stuff.” Zips turned to back to Elbow Grease, who was steering the ship by hoof now that they were so close to the mountains, and pointed to the floating buoy. As the Refresh closed the distance, the caution sign’s text became visible:
Notice to all airships and fliers - Temporary Interdiction Zone. By order of Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia of Equestria, all airships and individual fliers are to report to a Customs Inspection Cloud for clearance before proceeding to Stratusburg. Violators may face civil and criminal penalties, and may have their vehicles and property subject to seizure.
“Looks like they’re taking security seriously,” Zips said.
“But we don’t have time to report for some kind of inspection!” Rarity complained. “What shall we do?”
“Really?” Zips scoffed. “You think we’ve never outrun the law before?”
The Refresh passed the caution buoy without slowing, and continued toward Stratusburg. Oddly, though they passed several more buoys, Rarity saw no signs of other airships plying the skies, nor any pegasi or griffons. Surely an interdiction zone required patrols to enforce, but no Royal Guard had appeared to challenge them either. She began to feel uneasy, and that sense of discomfort was magnified when the buoys finally led them to a large white cloud with numerous airship tiedown points, and signs proclaiming it as the Royal Equestrian Customs inspection site. The cloud was completely abandoned.
“That can’t be good,” Twilight Sparkle said, anxiety quickening her speech. “Where is everypony? Where are the inspectors, and the guards? Something must have happened to them! The Princess could already be in danger!”
“She’s flying as fast as she can fly,” Elbow Grease growled. “Just hold on. We’re almost there.”
Rarity said nothing, but inside, she was every bit as fearful as Twilight. If the conspirators had been so brazen as to attack the Guard, then surely their endgame was nigh, and they were done hiding, manipulating events from the shadows. Suddenly, she felt a twinge in her horn, and she recognized the sensation at once.
“The Heavenstone!” Rarity exclaimed. “It is here. I can feel it! We must be close!”
The Refresh flew past the abandoned inspection site, and began a sweeping turn around a particularly steep rock spire. As the ship cleared the obstruction, yet another ridge of peaks was revealed. These sloped steeply down into a narrow valley that seemed to extend well into the mountain range. There was a hint of a dirt road there, and Rarity realized that this must be the famed pass through the mountains that was presently the subject of dispute. That meant that Stratusburg should be somewhere ...
“There, just to the left of the next peak,” Zinzi declared, pointing with a foreleg, “I believe it is the place we seek.”
Rarity looked where the other mare was pointing, and blinked in amazement. Thick layers of dense clouds had formed against the side of a particularly tall mountain, and smaller puffy clouds were scattered above, below, and on every side of the huge cloudbank. A vast lattice of scaffolding bridged the gaps between many of the the smaller clouds, enclosing most of the cloudbank in a colossal skeletal framework. This was the Stratusburg cloud mine. Huge cranes and strange mining machines were everywhere, but none of the equipment was in use at the moment. Most likely, Rarity thought, all of the workers were on leave while the peace summit was taking place.
Stratusburg itself floated just beyond the mine. The city was built on a single broad and mostly flat layer of clouds, in contrast to the ancient pegasus city of Cloudsdale’s dense verticality. Modest cloud structures dominated the outer edge of the city, with the homes and buildings growing larger and more elaborate toward the city center. There, a cylindrical cloud tower rose from a wide base, soaring a hundred lengths or more into the sky. The tower was divided into terraced segments, growing narrower toward the top, and numerous waterfalls of pure rainbow poured over the sides of the cloud terraces. It was, Rarity decided at once, the only structure in the city large and grand enough to be hosting the peace summit.
Dozens of airships - perhaps more than a hundred - were anchored around the periphery of the city, and as the Refresh drew closer, it became apparent that the sky over Stratusburg was teeming hundreds of pegasi and griffons. They were not fighting, Rarity noted to her great relief, just flying to and fro, likely going about their business.
“Uh, I kinda figured there was gonna be some land, or at least a floatin’ platform or the like,” Buckaroo said. “How the hay are we gonna set hoof in a city made of clouds?”
“That’s how!” Applejack shouted, pointing to a rapidly approaching cloud buoy, this one also bearing a sign containing a lengthy message.
Twilight read it aloud. “Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia and Mayor Aurora Glow welcome you to Stratusburg, home of the First International Summit for Harmony. Please note that Stratusburg’s cloud structure has been enchanted to allow non-fliers free enjoyment of the city for the duration of the summit. If you are unable to fly, please mind all edges and gaps.”
“Enchanted clouds? I never heard of a magic spell for lettin’ an earth pony walk on clouds,” Buckaroo said with a dubious frown.
“Believe me, it can happen,” Applejack said. “Stick with us Ponyville ponies, Buck, and you’ll see all kinda things you’d swear couldn’t exist.”
“It’s true,” Twilight added with a smile.
“We must get to that tower at the center of town,” Rarity declared. “I am certain that is where the summit is taking place, and that is where my horn is telling me we shall find Windlass and the Heavenstone.”
“What is your grand plan this time?” Blueblood asked. “Are we to simply rush the doors, heedless of any traps? Do not forget that something has happened to the ponies who should have been patrolling the city's airspace.”
“In a word, yes," Rarity replied. "It is true that we do not know exactly what Windlass and her accomplices are scheming, nor whether she has already set her plan in motion, but we must act swiftly. That said, it makes sense to increase our chances, should any of us be stopped. We should split into groups.”
“Makes sense,” Applejack said, and beside her Buckaroo nodded.
“You know this mare better than any of us,” Twilight stated. “I’ll go along with whatever you think is best.”
Nopony seemed inclined to object, and Rarity continued. “Twilight, Applejack, Zinzi, and Blueblood should come with me. We shall take the straightforward approach and simply barge in through the main entrance to confront Windlass and Procyon. Zips and Buckaroo, you should watch the exterior of the building and try to find any alternate entrances or hidden places where Windlass may have unpleasant surprises waiting. You can rush in if anything goes wrong with the five of us. Mister Elbow Grease, it would be most helpful if you would serve as our eyes in the air, in case an attack is forthcoming from above.”
“Aye aye, skipper,” the engineer replied with a forehoof salute. “I'll blow the horn at the first sign of trouble. Say, I wonder if any of these pegasi flitting around would deliver me a sandwich while I wait?”
No guardsponies or local law enforcement appeared to challenge the Refresh as the airship crossed the threshold of Stratusburg, on course for the tall tower at the city’s center, and Rarity found the apparently lax security worrying. She did note, however, that the temperature was substantially warmer over the city itself, and she quickly shrugged off her poncho.
“That big building ahead is called the Rainbow Palace,” Elbow Grease said. “Not only is it the seat of government, but the upper levels are also the local headquarters for Skyworks. Pretty obvious this is a company town, eh?”
“I still can’t hardly believe that R.D.’s family built this place,” Applejack said. "Who woulda guessed?"
“Built it, and owns most of it, from the sound of things,” Twilight added.
Rarity shushed her friends, and swiveled her ears forward. “Girls, do you hear that?" she whispered. "That music?”
“Sounds like trumpets,” Zips piped up. “A fanfare.”
“Yes!” Rarity declared. “It is a royal fanfare, and that means the summit is likely just beginning! We still have a chance to stop Windlass before she hurts anypony else.”
“You have led us this far, and not yet astray,” Zinzi said, “you will have all of our support this day.”
“You sure as hay got mine,” Buckaroo added.
“There isn’t anything we can’t do, together,” affirmed Twilight, a foreleg draped over a nodding Applejack’s shoulders.
“Let’s you and I officially rejoin the land of the living, then, shall we?” Blueblood suggested to Rarity. “I have a fratricidal sibling I’d like to greet, and besides, the sooner this is over with, the sooner we won’t have to see each other any longer."
“True,” Rarity replied, glaring back at the stallion and ignoring the confused looks of her shipmates. She would explain to Twilight and Applejack later what had passed between her and Blueblood, or perhaps never.
Rarity turned to face the engineer currently guiding the ship. “Mister Elbow Grease," she began sweetly, "would you be so kind as to quickly set us down in the courtyard adjacent to the Rainbow Palace? Time is of the essence. Just this once, I would prefer not to be fashionably late.”