//------------------------------//
// Escapade 
// Story: The Night of the Trotters 
// by Strongbolt Stonewing 
//------------------------------//

	The shed was surrounded, a storm had begun and rain poured down on the hundreds of zombies attempting to reach the survivors above them. Dice swatted them away as they launched themselves up against the walls.
"We're not really getting anywhere!" He yelled, kicking a unicorn back. "We need ideas!"
Laura sat in the middle of the roof and watched the catastrophe occur around her, she put her head on her hoof, she was in deep thought. She occasionally opened her mouth, as though about to speak, but then closed it and shook her head.
"Well?" Dice asked, smacking a Pegasus in the chest and pushing it over the edge.
Laura shrugged her shoulders. "I am afraid I am out of ideas."
"Pink." Derpy muttered.
"Damn it!" Dice yelled, thrusting two ponies backwards with his wings. "We can't stay here forever!"
"Pink." Derpy repeated.
"I am deeply sorry." Laura apologised. "But, I am not too sure what to do at this moment."
"Pink."
"I mean," Laura continued, "we could try running, but I doubt we would make it very far. You two could try flying, however, in this wind you would not be able to control yourselves and probably crash."
"Pink."
"Can't you use some spell to get us out of here?" Dice slammed his head into a tower of zombies, causing them to tumble.
"Pink."
"If you mean teleporting, then no, I am not powerful enough to move us all, and even if I did, we would not get far."
"Pink."
"Derpy what are you..." Dice turned to Derpy, and a huge pink balloon smashed into the shed.
"Pink!" Derpy screamed with delight, she hopped into the basket.
"Good work, Derpy." Laura remarked as she joined her in the balloon.
"I'm not even going to ask." Dice sighed whilst he climbed aboard.
"Hang on." Laura rubbed her horn with her hooves like she was trying to start a fire. A ray of concentrated light shot out and lit the flame underneath the main balloon. They flew up into the air, the zombies and the shed shrunk.
"Whew." Dice wiped his forehead. "I was getting a little worried then."
"This fire," Laura pointed to the flame, "it will not last for long. We need to land somewhere safe."
"Won't the wind carry us?" Dice asked.
"This wind is pulling us back into Ponyville, if we fly left it will only take us a few minutes to reach the outskirts of the 		town."
"How long do we have?"
"A few minutes."
"Then how do you suggest we..."
"Woo!" Derpy interrupted. She jumped out of the side of the balloon, in her mouth she held a rope.
"I think Derpy has the right idea." Laura admitted.
"I thought you said the wind was too strong."
"For one pony. But with the combined force of two, and perhaps a bit of magic..."
"Alright, whatever." Dice grabbed a rope and launched out into the sky. 
For a slow pony, Derpy was quite a fast flyer. Dice found great difficulty when he tried to catch up with her. I've never been good with flying, Dice thought, maybe it's just me?
"How are things out there?" Laura called.
"We're having a whale of a time!" Dice replied sarcastically.
"Give me a moment." Laura called again.
She engulfed the balloon in a veil of magic, it gradually began moving faster. They flew over the dark, damp and dreary streets of Ponyville. Most of the power in the town had gone, only a few streetlights flickered. Although it was dark, under the light of the moon Dice could make out the buildings below him. Most were houses, some were shops, he spotted the bakery, where he and Laura had first met. He would have to ask her more about that incident later on. Then he saw the giant tree library and Carousel Boutique, a thought came to him: What about the Elements of Harmony? Or at least the ponies linked to them? Where they alive? The town was desolate and silent, too silent, dead silent. There are no ponies here, he realised, surely it can't just be us three left? As if answering his question, the wind suddenly changed direction and dragged them forward, revealing a large building, too big for a house or shop, it was the hospital. On the roof, Dice could make out two figures, their coats were not pale and they seemed to be conversing.
"Laura! I think we've got survivors!" He yelled happily.
Laura looked over the edge and her eyes settled on the hospital. She nodded and signalled him to fly lower, he obliged, and Derpy followed him. Dice soon realized that this was the area the balloon had come from originally, it must have belonged to the two figures. As they came closer, Dice's vision became clearer, he could make out both ponies. One was a colt, with dark brown hair and a lighter coat, the other was a pony with translucent butterfly wings. She had a cream coat, like Laura, however, she had darker, shorter red hair, in comparison to Laura's which was long, green and smoother.
They came into range of the two new ponies, neither of them noticed the balloon. "Ahem," Dice said, "did somepony lose a balloon?"
The colt turned to the sound of voice, he looked up and smiled. "I was wondering where that had gone." His voice was calm and somewhat soothing.
The mare laughed nervously. "I guess I'm not leaving you here after all." Her voice was tense, not nearly as firm as the colt's, but it was young, innocent and undoubtably scared.
Derpy and Dice flew down and picked up the colt. The mare examined her odd wings like it was the first time she had seen them, she began flapping them lightly and slowly lifted off of the ground, at first she seemed to be having trouble, but eventually she picked up speed.
Derpy and Dice dropped the colt in the basket. "Thank you for saving us. I am the Doctor, you can call me Whooves."
"Hooves!" Derpy yelled contently.
"That's W H O O V E S. Like who and hooves mixed together." He double took when looked at Derpy, he studied her unbalanced eyes.
The mare flew alongside them. "I'm Roseluck. R O S E L U C K." She said awkwardly.
"My name is Laurocerasus, you can call me Laura."
"Laurocerasus..." Roseluck murmured. "Did you know that's a type of flower?"
"Yes, it is a berry. I am surprised that you knew." Laura remarked.
"I'm a florist, well, I was."
"Wonderful, we should get along excellently."
"Anyway," Dice coughed, "I'm Dice, and this is Derpy."
"Derpy?" The Doctor muttered. "I mean... um, this place probably isn't fit for introductions, we should get moving."
"He is right." Laura confirmed. "The fire will not last much longer, and the wind is picking up speed once more."
"Let's get moving then!" Dice exclaimed. "Um, Roseluck, could you lend us a hoof out here?"
Roselick tilted her head and stared at him like she did not understand, then she realized she still had her wings. 		"Oh, um, sure." She picked up another rope, tied it around herself and flew back out. 
"Be careful with those wings, Roseluck." Whooves warned. "They're made of gossamer and morning dew, and they're incredibly delicate." Roseluck nodded to show that she understood and joined Derpy and Dice. "Now then," Whooves continued, "there's no point in me standing around here uselessly." He pulled out a small object, it looked like a pen at first, until he shone it upwards upon the fabric of the balloon. They gained even more speed suddenly.
"I say! How did you do that?" Laura asked.
"Sonic technology." He replied, flipping the object in his hooves. "Artificial magic stored within a solid object and dispersed at the users will. Quite useful, and far more powerful than a regular horn, it takes a lot longer to recharge though."
"I have never seen anything like it. It is quite remarkable. Did you create it?"
"I... well, not entirely. You see I..." There was a flash, followed by a loud bang from above them. Lightning narrowly skimmed Dice. "I'll explain later, I think we have trouble!"
"Damn!" Dice yelled, dodging another bolt. Derpy seemed to be having problems with the lightning too, it shot past her wings and face.
Roseluck looked up with fear in her eyes, a bolt came down and intercepted her directly. "Ah!" She screamed, her wings burnt up and disintegrated and she fell loosely underneath the balloon, hanging on by the rope tied around her. 
"Roseluck!" Whooves yelled.
She was dazed and burnt, yet she was alive. They were approaching the end of town, but without a third pony pulling them they would not make it. They now seemed to drop lower slowly without the extra set of wings to keep them in the air.
"Damn it!" Dice shouted.
"You know, shouting 'Damn it' will not solve everything." Laura called.
"This isn't the time for snooty remarks! We have to help Roseluck!"
"I have an idea." Whooves said slowly. "But it's a bad one."
"What is it?" Dice sounded desperate.
"If I can accumulate enough energy, I can power the sonic screwdriver and teleport us to safety. The only problem is that there isn't a power source around here, except for..."
"The lightning." Laura said.
"Exactly."
"Wait, let me get this straight, you need to be struck by lightning?" Dice asked.
"Lightning travels towards the earth, which means that if it hits us it will pass straight through, unless we intercept it and convert the energy."
"But that would mean you need to be above the balloon." Laura gasped.
"I said it was a bad idea." Whooves said.
"It's the best hope we've got." Dice admitted. "But, if either me or Derpy stop flying forward, we'll plummet to the ground."
"I know." Whooves put the screwdriver in his mouth and grabbed onto the thin rope frame that kept the balloon in place. 
Underneath the basket, Roseluck began to regain her senses. "Huh? Wha...?" She grumbled.
"Can't you put up a force field or something?" Dice asked Laura.
"Force fields have to be perfectly spherical, it takes great skill to make them in any other shape. If I tried to stretch one around the balloon I would sever the rope that keeps Roseluck attached. Besides, I am not experienced enough to make a force field that big anyway."
Whooves was halfway up the balloon now, he was reaching for the rope above him when another lightning strike shot past him and startled him, he fell back and hung on with one hoof. A thunderclap reverberated through the area and shook the balloon, Whooves lost his grip and fell. He landed on a soft, spongey object: Laura was keeping him afloat using a sheet of solid magic. He grasped the rope again and Laura pushed him upwards, her eyes began watering.
"Hur...ry." She whispered.
Whooves finally arrived atop the balloon. He looked around him, the storm had grown, it coated most of the sky. The moon still shone through the clouds, allowing him to see. They were coming incredibly close to the ground, if he was not quick, Roseluck would hit a building and they would crash. The rain beat down on him, the wind blew against him and the thunder and lightning exploded. He raised his screwdriver to the sky, he shone it up in an attempt to attract the lightning.
Derpy pushed the balloon up from underneath, Dice continued pulling the rope. Roseluck had almost fully recovered, she clung onto the rope, her teeth were gritted and she looked up desperately. Laura was almost unconscious in the basket, but she watched the sky above with one sleepy eye 
"Come on!" Whooves cried. "Come on, already!" He pressed further and summoned every piece of power within him.
Dice watched, open mouthed, as Whooves shone the screwdriver towards the miserable storm. A bright, white light shone back down onto the balloon, illuminating it in the night. The ray of light was followed by a massive bolt of sheer, concentrated lightning which launched directly into Whooves and passed into his screwdriver.
"GAH!" He cried.
"Come on!" Dice yelled.
Whooves gritted his teeth and forced the screwdriver into the balloon, as the lightning travelled through the Doctor it became a light blue blast of magic and coated the whole vessel. There was an ear splitting bang and everything disappeared.