Book 2: Equestria Abides
Chapter 2
Sunny Daze groggily shook her head as she woke up... and immediately regretted it as a headache swelled up. She blinked away the darkness... or at least tried to, but wherever she was, it remained stubbornly pitch black. She stood up, and at least that worked okay. She tried to think back, to figure out where she was... but the last thing she remembered was running through the fog with Hair Trigger.
“Trigs!” She called out, “Trigger, where are you?”
A soft “Ngh” came from beside her. “Ow, what happened?” He asked.
“I dunno.”
“Well, where are we?” he asked, moving toward her, and finally bumping into her.
“Um, somewhere dark?” She really didn't know that either.
A pair of green glowing eyes appeared in the darkness, followed by the sound of a door closing. “Ponies keep quiet and stay put.” Something said in a strange choral voice.
“Hey,” Sunny replied, “There's ponies out there who are going to miss us! You'll be sorry!”
“Oh no, they not miss you,” the voice said with a giggle and the sound of insectoid wings fluttering, “we make sure!” With that, the green eyes disappeared accompanied by the sound of a door closing again and a lock latching.
“Sunny, what was that?” Trigger asked.
Once again, all Sunny could say was, “I dunno.”
The two huddled together, with no idea what was happening, no idea where they were, and precious little hope.
* * *
Apollo stopped struggling with a sigh. “Yeah, I guess I'm done.” His assistant sometimes did seem to know him better than he knew himself. “Think you could help me out of this, Albie?”
“What are number one assistants for?” The white pegasus replied, coming in closer through the fog. “Wow, you've really got yourself in a bind this time, huh?”
The two pegasi shared a momentary laugh. “Yeah, I guess so,” Apollo said. “You think ponies could be a little more careful where they park their airships?”
“You think a pegasus could be a little more careful where he flies in the fog?” Albatross came back, coming in close to pull a rope off of Apollo's leg.
“Heh, yeah... maybe I kinda lost it back there,” Apollo said dropping down a short way, “Whoa! Careful there, maybe get my wings out first, okay?”
“Sure thing,” Albatross replied, moving over to free up Apollo's wings.
Apollo flexed his wings a little. It was so nice to have them free again. Even that short captivity had been a trial. He leaned over, now using his free leg to help Albatross work. The crashed airship loomed above him, the jumbled frame blocking out his view of the sky. Most of its lift-providing cloud had escaped when the frame broke, but some of it was still in there. The ropes that would have supported the deck below were hanging freely now, some of them still wrapped around him, a few others wrapped around a walkway on the nearby building, keeping the wreck from drifting away. Perhaps the fog added to the effect, but he felt a little like some poor unsuspecting sea creature caught by a jellyfish... the resemblance was uncanny.
With that thought in his mind, he was even more ecstatic when Albatross finally managed to free him. He shouted with joy as the last rope came free, but was interrupted...
“Apollo! Fly!” The cry came from above.
It wasn't entirely necessary though. The feeling of the wind rushing past triggered a long-ingrained instinct and Apollo's wings snapped open, catching the air and bringing him back into blissful free flight.
His assistant came gliding down from above. “You really need to get a grip, you're going to get yourself killed if you keep acting like this... Now let's get back to the others, okay?”
“But I still haven't found Trigger and Sunny yet!” Apollo protested, “I've got to keep looking!”
“And you think they're up here?” Albatross asked doubtfully. “Whoa, look out!”
Apollo also saw the bridge looming in the fog ahead just in time, dodging above the obstacle this time. “Well, they could be.”
“An earth pony filly and a pegasus colt who can barely fly?” Albatross laughed, “All the way up here?”
“Well, they could,” Apollo insisted.
Albatross shook his head as the two broke apart for a moment, dodging to either side of a cable hanging down from who knows where. “We should get back.”
“And just give up looking for them?” Apollo asked, “I'm not leaving them behind!”
“Look, maybe they already found the rest of the crew back down there,” Albatross said with a sigh. “At least go back down and check before you get both of us killed up here, okay?”
The worry and guilt kept assailing Apollo's conscience, but he couldn't argue with that. Twilight had been laying down a magic trail, and the ponies back on the ground were looking too. There was a good chance they had already found the missing foals, and he shouldn't risk being up in this dangerous maze any longer than he had to, not if it might be entirely unneeded. “Fine,” he said. “Let's go...” He flew in a tight, slow circle, looking around. “Um... do you remember which way they went?”
* * *
Twilight was now getting very worried, as evidenced by her wide eyes and frazzled hair. Sunny had just disappeared, vanished without a trace... her Sunny! Her final chance to redeem herself and finally manage to protect somepony she loved, and she was gone! And to make matters worse now Apollo was gone, too! He had been gone far too long, up in that dangerous forest of abandoned skyscrapers. The crew and her were already almost out of Las Pegasus, the fog lifting a little as they drew close to the last few skyscrapers.
She laid down another blinking magical marker. How could she let her friends just run off like that? She was sure she would never see them again. What would she do? Could she keep the rest of Apollo's crew together on her own? She was the newcomer, they wouldn't accept her! They would kick her out, and she would be all alone again. What would she do then, where would she go?
“He'll be back.”
Twilight snapped out of her thoughts, as a blinking blue marker appeared in front of her. “Huh?”
Shimmer Spell smiled at her. “He always comes back, and always gets what he went to find, that's what he does.”
“But, it's dangerous up there, and–”
“And this time he left to find Trigger and Sunny. Just another dangerous mission for him, an ordinary day, so don't worry.” Shimmer laid down another marker with a snicker. “And you should pay more attention instead to laying the trail.”
Twilight looked back, the last five blinking markers weren't her deep violet, but were instead a light blue... Shimmer's magic, not hers. “I... I'm sorry, I just...”
“It's okay, Shimmer understands.” She laid a hoof on Twilight's back. “Shimmer used to worry about Apollo and Albie too.”
Twilight looked back again, “I wish I knew where they were, I hate the idea of leaving them here.” She looked wistfully along the trail of blinking markers hoping to see... and she did! Apollo was coming, trotting along the line of markers, with Albatross, Trigger and her precious little Sunny all coming along behind. She almost fainted with relief. Running back towards them, she scooped Sunny up into a fierce hug, pulling Apollo into it as well. Shimmer Spell wasn't far behind, jumping up into an embrace with Albatross even though he still couldn't stand on all four feet. Trigger met the rest of the crew halfway, jumping up to hug them all. Twilight looked into Sunny's light blue eyes, so glad to see her again... and she suddenly felt weak, drained... but she didn't stop: Sunny seemed to be eating it up.
* * *