The Incandescence, Blueblood's ambassador airship. Hued in whites and shining gold. A testament to the exquisite and striking. There was, at least to my knowledge, no other airship in Equestria as recognizable or as swift. However, being quicker than a massive military transport zeppelin was hardly worth praise. In any different situation, it would be pompous and pointless to claim anything of that metric. This was none of those situations. We had little time and a desperate need for extraneous transportation.
Blueblood was barking orders at this crew. A ship of the Incandescence size only needed a hoof full to operate, but a hoofful still meant preparations required to be taken. The rest of us had found a place on deck and out of the way. All but Sabre, who was pacing up the starboard. He had taken my arrival well enough if we guage the glower he'd worn since we'd arrived.
On a positive note, as one would expect, Tempest had taken to the ship like a fish to water. Bright and I watched as she outpaced most of the crew in preparations. So much so, Blueblood's orders were complete before he could issue them. That, combined with the captain, a veteran from the royal guard pre-Nightmare Moon, Rolling Breeze, had relinquished any need to participate and had made his way to the bridge. We were minutes out, and the thought made my stomach churn.
"Pathetic to think even now Luna and my rancid sister would send children to clean up this mess. Worse still, I am expected to fend off this mindless ape's attempts to conquer MY kingdom. Ridiculous."
Nightmare Moon hadn't stopped ranting since we boarded. I had done my best to ignore her, but in terms of volume, she'd not been this cacophonous since I woke up the day after her defeat. I'd thought my heart would burst when her voice started projecting in my head.
"Please stop. You're complaining isn't going to solve anything." I said. I found it was far easier to collect my thoughts, all irony aside, out loud.
"The parasite is lamenting her fate, I assume?"
I hopped, turning to an amused Sombra. I offered an apologetic smile. He shook his head and scowled over at Sabre. The King of the North's face was, far more than not, a mask of perfect ambivalence. This was different than those times.
"Such selfish interests. He has grown worse as of late."
I nodded. "To what ends, though?" I asked.
"All aboard," a deckhoof yelled.
"Make ready for cast off," a second stallion responded.
"This is going to be so fun. This is my first time flying. I mean on an airship. Oh, and finding another missing kingdom. We're getting pretty good at this, huh?" Bright Pitch said. A giddy flex of his wings and a sudden foreleg around both Sombra's and my neck. Spread his enthusiasm whether we wanted it or not. I offered an agreeable pat on the shoulder.
"Let's hope so," Sombra answered.
"Well, if she hadn't already given her allegiance to our little Star, I'd be begging her to join my crew."
Blueblood had made his way over to the corner of the deck our group had made our own. He smiled as he gazed past us to the open sky. I followed his gaze to the empty clear blue sun-filled horizon.
"Yeah, sorry about that. It seems I'm a magnet for outcasts, rebels, and scoundrels. It's my curse to bear; oh woe is me," I said as I waved a hoof over my face and leaned back into the railing, hoing and hawing in mock despair.
"So it would seem," Blue agreed. "Oh, what a daunting life to lead."
"Moreso, that you qualify as all three," Spade said from Sombra's other side. I muffled a laugh. Bright did not; he happily giggled, hopped forward, and wrapped Blueblood in a friendly hug.
"It's okay, Blue; we can all be weirdos together."
Blueblood rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, all together it is."
The engines roared to life, and within minutes, we were airborne. It was a certain feeling being someone who can fly and fly by means, not your own. It left one antsy. A tingle that ran up your hooves and to the tips of your wings. Yet, we were sailing through the winds all the same. Canterlot, in all its worn but unyielding glory. Sabre had finished his prelude of displaced anger and was now simply staring down at the land below.
"Oh, poor simpering traitor. He doesn't get his way and is incapable of expressing what he truly thinks. Not even to himself. It would be heartbreaking if it weren't so pathetic."
My left eye twitched. I managed a suppressed snarl. I close my eyes, and I can see her. In my mind's eye, Nightmare Moon in all her twisted glory. All of that darkness hosts to an emphatic shark-toothed grin. I could feel myself shake, both in and out of the mindscape.
"Stop," I said. My voice was even, shaking notwithstanding. I stared at her, and she at me. We were lost in the ethereal plane that made up the deeper parts of my mind. The prison I constructed just for her.
"Oh, you dain to order me?" Nightmare asked. She gently placed an unarmored hoof on her chest. Her smile never wavered.
"Almost a year. A year of you buzzing in my ear. Do you even understand where you are, what you've become?" I asked. I took a step closer, and Nightmare lowered her hoof.
"I spent millennia imprisoned. Do you really believe your feeble lifetime means anything to me? Poor, naive, shortsighted child. You are nothing to me."
"I don't fear you."
I took another step forward. Nightmare gently shook her head.
"You don't have to fear me. It does not change the inevitable. But that is not why you are here. I can feel it, you know?"
My eyebrow rises. "Feel what?"
"Your fear, anger, hate. I may not be one of those wretched bugs, but here in your mind. I feel everything."
I took a single deep breath and rejoined the waking world. The flight was in full swing, and my friends wandered off to do as they saw fit. My hooves were shaking. I could feel the sweat drip down my neck. "Later," I whispered.
"I take it. She isn't playing nice?"
Sabre stood, hunched over the rail beside me. He'd angered himself out; I wasn't sure how long he'd been standing there or for how long I'd been out of it. Time was funny when it came to the world in my head. Sometimes it was almost instantaneous; sometimes, it flew by. I'd been spending too much time there as of late. Only sometimes due to Nightmare.
"Something like that," I said. I joined Sabre. I slumped over the rail and looked down at the greenery below.
"Star."
"Yep."
"I stand by what I said. This is a massive risk."
Sabre turned to look at me. I didn't move; my eyes trailed the thin snake-like path of a local river. Green and blue, a road here and a house there. It was quiet, pleasant. Soon enough, it wouldn't be. Even if it was indirectly, we were headed straight for a warzone.
"I know," I said.
"That said, I'm glad you're here."
I could help a smile. Thorax had been right, to begin with. I could still feel the twinge in the back of my head. The shadows dancing. The heat in my bones. But that is all it was, a feeling.
"Not like it mattered now, huh? Sorry Captain Sabre, you're stuck with me. So, deal with it."
I stood up and offered a pointed salute. Sabre shoved me, though he couldn't mask his smile fast enough for me to miss it.
"Whatever you say, sir."
I huffed. "Seriously?" I asked.
Sabre blinked and shrugged. "I have no idea what you mean, sir."
I leaned back a raked my forehooves down my face. Sabre whistled and turned back to the open skies. I let out a muffled groan and relinquished the battle for now. Another time, when there was less insanity going on.
"Do we have an ETA?" I asked.
"Not exactly."
I managed a doubletake and had a brain aneurysm all at the same time. That, combined with Nightmare cackling, was doing quite a number on my nerves. Sabre had noticed but chose to say nothing. It was a terrible coincidence then that Sabre was easier to read than the neon in Las Pegasus.
"Explain, please."
Sabre trailed his vision off across the rest of the deck. Tempest wasn't far off, eying Sabre back. I had to suppress a choked laugh. Bright was talking with a couple of deckhooves, and Blueblood was making his way over as we watched.
"Might want to let the ambassador," Sabre said, waving to Blueblood.
"Explain what, my friend?" Blue asked. The coy smile begot a challenge. The wink, to me, only proved my point.
"Our heading," I said.
Blueblood chewed on the question before scowling in disgust. "Yes, that. Unfortunately, we'll be taking…" Blueblood choked on his next words. "The scenic route. Or, more precisely, we have a direction. We know which way, thanks to your newest loyal minion, which direction the Hippogriffs went. To where they ended up, we will simply have to see."
"Okay, two things. One, I do not, nor have I ever had a minion. Two, You're just mad we don't have a map, aren't you? And three, are there any nearby cities or landmarks? I mean, an entire country doesn't just vanish off the map."
Blueblood had recoiled twice. Once to the first map remake and secondly to the second map pun. In short, it was two for Star, nill for Blueblood.
"Well, the earliest possible refuge in our course is a seedly little place known as Klugetown, though, after the oughts of Nightmare Moon. They are not too kind to Ponyfolk. Across the sea is Panthera, roguish but ultimately far more interested in keeping their economy moving. There is a chance, if not the location of the whole population at large. Perhaps one or two may have splintered off. Though, This far south, we are certainly at a disadvantage.
"Oh, well, gee Blue. You certainly are a good spring of optimism," I said, flapping my wings to add a bit of pep to my step as I spun about my cartographically addicted friend.
"No one claimed this would be easy," Blue said, holding a forehoof out just in time for me to run chest-first into it. Sabre snorted and patted my back.
"What if they didn't go to either of those places?" I asked as I rubbed my chest. Both Sabre and Blue shared a laugh at my expense.
"There is always the direct route."
Tempest had it seemed to take an interest in our little pow-wow and sidled up beside me, Grubber not far behind. The mouse man seemed adamant about staying well and away from anyone other than his partner in crime. If Tempest noticed or cared, it did not show.
"As in," Blueblood asked.
"If the goal is Hippogriffs, then the mines on Mount Aris are alive and well. Though, the Storm King has more than just Hippogriffs in those mines or in his employ. Tempest leaned in and whispered the last bit like a gossip might trade scandal in town.
"That sounds dangerous," I said.
"Too dangerous," Sabre added, pushing me back and leering at Tempest. The mare paid him no mind and was watching me, cooly.
"Dangerous, yes, effective; it beats jumping from town to town hoping someone has seen a hippogriff. It is also a waste of time, Something we don't have the luxury to squander."
"That is also a fair point. Blueblood, thoughts?"
Blue squirmed in place, stuck between Sabre and Tempest, neither of which seemed keen on giving Blue any recourse. I sucked in and stepped between the two soldiers and pushed them free of Blueblood's personal space.
"Okay, you two. Give the guy some space."
Blueblood coughed into a foreleg. "Yes, as entertaining as it is, standing in the most awkward triangle of intrigue I've ever seen. Star, I would have to agree on both accounts. We might be faster but not so swift as to dilly-dally. We may have a day, at most, ahead of our foes if we carve a straight path. We could afford a stop at Klugetown. Before needing to move on."
"Okay, then, we have sour barings. Also, why does it always boil down to me making these decisions? I'm the tag-along, for Faust's sake?" I asked.
I was met with silence. Both Bluenlood and Sabre seemed at a loss. Tempest's answer was obvious after how big a deal she made her vow to be. Grubber was out of his depth, and Nightmare was stuck pondering it herself. I sucked on my bottom lip for a moment before relenting.
"Nevermind."
That seemed to shatter whatever spell the others were entranced by and left us right where we began. I'd have said it was Discord messing with me if I didn't know better. Worse still, he wasn't and got a free gag without having to do any of the setups.
"Right then. I will let Captain Breeze know where we will make port.
"You're doomed." Nightmare whispered in my ear. "All doomed.”