Like a bronze and red cloud, the Noble Jury coasted over the glittery waves of the Frozen Sea. Its reflection danced like a waving flag across the waters below. Dull gray clouds hung over the east, shadowing the skystone vessel as it proceeded through the drifting curtains of frost.
Far ahead, Rainbow Dash flew point, her leather coat hugging her body warmly. Her goggled eyes scanned the east horizon as midday approached.
There were no birds, no errant shapes along the horizon. It had been several days since any member of the crew had seen another zeppelin. The air of this place felt stagnant, thin, untouched. It was a sensation Rainbow Dash hadn't felt in a long time. She had to glance over her shoulder every now and then to remind herself she wasn't alone. The mare sighed often.
At some point, something caught Rainbow Dash's peripheral vision. She glanced down, and she could have sworn she saw a dark mass swimming eastward beneath the currents, situated somewhere between herself and the Noble Jury. Squinting, Rainbow Dash adjusted her goggles lenses. She thought for a moment that she spotted a flicker of red light.
She exhaled, and for the millionth time cold vapors emanated from her muzzle. Glancing towards her left, she took a few minutes to squint at the northern horizon. A thin dark layer of clouds constantly hovered just beyond the vanishing point of her vision. She saw tiny flashes of light—even in the daytime. There was no doubt that they were within screaming distance of vast skystone deposits. And beyond that... an unapproachable convergence of atmosphere, energy, and firmaments.
Rainbow's lungs quivered. She looked straight ahead, clenching the jaws of her muzzle beneath her hood.
There were times when she wished that some edges of the world were just as easy to scale as others.
She flew ahead with a strong tail-wind, leading the Jury across the shifting, frozen wastes.
Hours later, the group skirted what appeared to be a breakaway chunk of an ice cap. A sudden armada of icebergs surged suddenly beneath the Jury. Rainbow Dash ascended towards the clouds, and Floydien's ship slowly followed suit. Rainbow was careful not to lead the ship to too high of an altitude; it was freezing enough as it was at this spot along the plane.
After about two hours of passing over the shattered arctic shelf, Rainbow Dash signaled to the Jury and dipped down to inspect the icebergs closer. The ship maintained its altitude while she descended, flying adjacent now to the sharp peaks of the bobbing islands.
Her goggled eyes examined each chunk of petrified ice as she passed by. Their surfaces looked like polished sapphires, with thin bridges that the orange glow of the setting sun could pierce through. Occasionally, she would dip beneath a promontory or two, even going so far as to thread her way through a hole in one massive iceberg.
At one point, she passed over a significantly large platform. She couldn't help but slow her eastward movement a bit, admiring the hundreds of feet of rock-hard ice that had been floating in the same current for centuries. If she squinted hard enough, she could make out pockets of translucent blue residing deep within the heart of the shelf. A part of her wondered if she would able to bore her way into the iceberg and breathe the same air that the alicorns did.
The ice bergs thinned a bit, denoting a current of warmer water drifting up from the south. The air grew windier, and the snow was starting to pelt Rainbow's wing feathers. Undaunted, she pulled her jacket's hood tighter and ascended, putting her tail once again to the setting sun.
Night fell, though it was hard to tell. For the second evening in a row, a neon green lightshow played overhead, cascading north where it melted into chaotic red streamers against the converging firmaments. It felt like a Hearth's Warming pageant against the cosmos, and Rainbow Dash couldn't help but breathe warmer for a space in time.
It didn't last long.
Her wings were starting to grow stiff. Rainbow wasn't certain if she could blame the cold or her reliance on the Noble Jury as of late. Regardless, the mare kenw better than to push herself beyond her limits. She flew back, gave Floydien a nod through the cockpit's dashboard, and touched down on the top deck.
Standing there, she lowered her hood and tossed her mane loose. Breathing evenly, she coiled her wings by her side and stood there for a while. Her gaze tilted north, once again watching in mute wonder as the aurora of green bands ribboned out into red geysers, then disappeared into a pinpoint black void.
For a moment there, it looked as if her lips were going to curve upwards.
Suddenly, a pale glow overcame her. She actually gasped, flinching slightly. She glanced down at her pendant. The Element of Loyalty was resonating with sparkling energy. The pegasus was confused at first, until she glanced up to see a full moon piercing the emerald light show.
The pegasus' ears twitched... twitched again... then gradually folded over her heads. Her lips quivered, and she clenched her eyes shut, taking a long and labored breath. She trembled a bit; she only wished it was because of the snow.
Eagle Eye yawned. With softly padding steps, he scaled the Noble Jury's stern stairwell, tightening the bands of his felt hoodie. Coming out onto the top deck for a breather, he caught sight of Rainbow Dash—what's more, he caught sight of her in the spotlight of the lunar glow.
Blinking, he tilted his violet eyes up. As soon as he saw full moon, he gasped for joy. Beaming, he galloped out onto the middle of the deck and froze in place, grinning at the pale glow illuminating Rainbow Dash. Fidgeting, he swallowed hard and inhaled deeply to pronounce her name...
But instead he lingered, blinking awkwardly.
Rainbow Dash had just thrown her coat's hood back over her head. As soon as the moon's glow was cut off from her pendant, the pale aura faded away, along with all the twinkling traces of enchanted light. With sagging shoulders, Rainbow Dash marched coldly—limply—into the cockpit, where she slinked her quiet way down the passageway and into the dull heart of the airship.
Eagle Eye's mouth hung open. With sad, drooping ears, he glanced back up at the full moon, then at the space of the deck where Rainbow's body had previously occupied. In a cold shudder, he plopped back on his haunches, numb to the core.