"Equestria has lost enough of its heroes already, Avalon." Luna's voice was firm, and her expression would brook no argument. Not that anyone tried. Chance could tell with her supernatural senses that the spell was completely undone. She had no idea how Luna had come to be here, though she had less confusion concerning how she had managed to dispatch the demon so quickly. Luna was positively ruthless when it came to outsiders. "Unfortunately, I cannot stay. Chance will explain." She tilted her head toward Chance. "I say only that it is imperative to assist her in whatever way she asks. Her efforts and those of her friends may be the only chance Equestria has. You'll like her, I think. She's been introducing human technology here since she arrived. Rather like you in that respect."
She spared only enough time to give Chance a confident smile, long enough to express her trust and love. Then she was gone, without light or sound. Alicorn teleportation was impressive magic.
Avalon leaned forward into a more alert sitting position. Nothing about his appearance had changed, yet he seemed a completely different person. His eyes seemed so much more awake and alive, and though he did not get any younger, he didn't seem on the verge of death anymore. The shadow had passed from him. He extended an arm, and one of the guards had put a cane in his hand before five seconds were up. With it, he rose to his feet, not shaking anymore. "That was closer to how I imagined meeting a princess would be," he said, the edges of his lips turned in a faint smile. "The rest of it, though." He moved past her, gesturing about wildly with the cane. "Wrong, all wrong. A little human genetic code and you wouldn't have seen a single trap."
He was surprisingly quick for an old man with such a new prosthetic. Chance was still dazed from being thrown, but she managed to follow him out into the hall.
He stopped so abruptly Chance nearly collided with his legs, spinning smoothly on his feet and looking down at her. "You came here for a purpose. What did you say earlier, Equestria was at war?"
It was hard for her to believe she was even talking to the same person. "The war is going badly enough that I can't ask you all the questions I would like to." Chance sat back on her haunches, trying to seem as dignified as possible. Of course, it was hardly logical of her to be worried about this human thinking less of her because she was a pony. He'd grown up with them his whole life; no doubt he had suffered through enough of the reverse. "How did you get here? Where I came from, the Avalon colony was kinda a big deal. It was the beginning of the end for peace on Earth. Why just you?" She gestured all around them. "Where's the city proper? I thought all of Avalon might be down here, but it isn't nearly big enough. This is just one ship, isn't it? The..." She took a moment to think, then continued, "Gwyn ap Nydd, science vessel. No bodies, either."
Avalon nodded. "If I knew those answers, I would be wise." A little of the energy seemed to go out of him, and he leaned more heavily on the cane. "The ship here was buried long ago, encased in non-reactive gasses and stone. Diamond dogs broke the seal, found me... the only occupied stasis cell. Ripped it right out of the wall. The automated systems let them do it, though they revived me thank God. Not that I have any memories of any of it..." He shrugged. "Security computer caught all of it. Watched the video when I found this place." He gestured vaguely around him with the cane. "It is a sad and empty story. Perhaps one day I will even tell it. When that day comes, I hope to hear how you came to be in Equestria and in my home. But not today. Today you are going to tell me why you came to me, and I will see you get it."
It really was quite a rapid process once Avalon woke up all the automated systems. Hundreds of sleeping robots rose and set to work. The team of Equestrian shipwrights had been skilled craftsponies all, but they couldn't compare with Avalon's machines. Machines that located the devices they needed, brought them to the ship, and installed them with perfect skill.
***
Chance stood at the far end of the room, her hooves secured firmly within magnetic grieves. Of course that wasn't the only thing she wore; each of the ship's passengers was now wearing a full pressurized suit, helmets and all. There hadn't been enough time to produce five dedicated spacesuits when they had left Ponyville in such an awful hurry. They did have their old high-altitude skydiving gear, and a few simple modifications would be enough to keep them alive in the event of a structural failure so long as they stayed inside the ship.
"Pre-flight checks complete, captain Scootaloo. Ready to engage at your command." The holographic projectors abruptly glowed to life. Truth's pony form took shape from the light, his cutie mark glowing along with the rest of him. All their eyes went wide, though Pip was the only one to gasp and step back, almost frightened. "Isn't it wonderful? I made some alterations to the program Avalon's robots were using and made sure there were long-range projectors in every room. Pretty cool, right? Now even when we take on non-enhanced ponies I can be a proper member of the crew!"
Chance rolled her eyes, though she was also smiling. "Whatever, Truth. You said you wanted to brief us on something before we went up?"
The transparent projection nodded emphatically, pacing past them all. "Just a word of caution; you ponies can't leave the ship once we're out there. No spacewalks, and if we dock with the Aegis you'll have to take guests aboard, because you can't leave."
Chance rolled her eyes. "You're not trying the machine takeover thing, are you?" She mocked fear. "Please save us from our machine overlords! Oh no, what have we done? We've created a monster, aaahhhhhhh..."
Apple Bloom giggled, though Sweetie Belle and Pipsqueak seemed halfway to taking her seriously.
"You'll rue the day, Chance." Truth grinned, and did his best impression of maniacal laughter. It wasn't very convincing. Then, like flipping a switch, his expression became serious again. "When I say you can't, I mean biologically."
"Now that don't make no sense!" Apple Bloom protested. "We've seen all kinda' pictures an' videos an' that of humans in suits and stuff, or driving around on the moon, and they sure as heck weren't stuck in their ship. What makes us any different?"
Truth rolled his eyes. Chance felt her chest seize as she realized what he was about to say. They had been so excited about going into space that they hadn't connected this important fact until just now. "Why are we going into orbit to open a rift, my little ponies?"
"Because there ain't no magi-" Apple Bloom froze, swallowing deeply and looking nervous. "O-oh."
Sweetie Belle darted to Truth's side. "But then we can't go! You'll have to go up without us! Everypony knows life needs magic to survive."
"That is the understanding of Pony medical science, yes. I don't know how long it will take you to feel the effects of separation from Equestria's magic." Truth didn't mirror their suddenly worried expressions, though he did seem a tad smug. "The new machines, the ones that open the doorway, I worked out a way to keep them running on minimal power all the time. They produce an ambient magic of their own. It's not the same as the stabilizing effect Equus has; your abilities won't work at all. No endurance, no flight, and no magic from you two, not even levitation. It will keep you alive so long as you stay aboard."
Chance shook her head. "I don't like this, Truth. We might only be opening up a door and coming right back, but we were gonna build the first interstellar ship one day, remember? Ponies can't be explorers if we're crippled away from our homeworld! Can we do something about it?"
"Potentially. I'll investigate with spare processing cycles from now on. If the usual pattern of our time together holds Chance, that should mean I'll figure this out before we reach orbit."
Chance kicked him. Of course her hoof passed through empty air without effect, though Truth moved as though he had been struck, stumbling backward in an exaggerated impression of shock. Chance ignored it. "Truth; if we have to get outside of Equus's magic... the levitation crystal is going to get weaker and weaker the higher we get, right? Can we reach escape velocity with just the ionization engines?"
Truth nodded. "We'll have to travel almost vertically at maximum acceleration for two hours. I imagine it will be extremely unpleasant for all of you."
"What about re-entry? The levitation crystal should kick back in, but will we burn up in the atmosphere before that happens?"
"The thaumic shield will have enough energy to disperse the thermal energy before it gets too hot in the engine room." He smiled, and walked back over to Scootaloo, giving her an exaggerated salute. "As I said, we're ready for launch."
Scootaloo didn't seem to realize Truth was mocking her. Either that, or she didn't care. "Very well. Signal Avalon to open the bay doors." No sooner had she said the words than machinery began to whir and spin overhead, the red light of sunset streaming down on them. The Fury lifted off the concrete with the sound of scraping wood and humming motors. With the sunlight all around them, Truth's projection was a pale ghost, only visible if you already knew where to look.
"Incoming transmission," Truth said as the ionization engines began to engage, and they started moving forward. Avalon's face appeared abruptly in the holospace that was the helm, considerably brighter than the projectors Truth was using. His voice came in over the speakers, panicked and urgent.
"Listen... I want to think this is nothing, but I don't see how it could be." The image of his head shrunk away until it was crammed in one corner, replaced with a map of the surrounding jungle taken from above. Chance wasn't sure how he was getting the image, since so far as she knew the only satellites in orbit were Truth's. It wasn't the image from a camera she saw there, at least not in any of the wavelengths humans or ponies could see. Their own ship was bright red against the lighter blues of the jungle, particularly around the engines. The jungle for perhaps half a kilometer in all directions was empty of signatures as large, as they might expect. Yet as the view expanded, they saw a dozen shapes that Chance found instantly familiar.
"Stingray fighters," she said, without hesitation. "Long-range atmospheric interceptor craft; two pilots in each one. Those things were discontinued after the war ended, bet they got them out of a junkyard or something-" she stopped abruptly as the image switched into the visual spectrum, and the elegantly fluted Stingray fighters disappeared. "Truth, these aircraft have infected pilots, don't they?"
He nodded gravely, though as usual showed a complete lack of understanding of the proper emotional context of the situation. "Most military escorts don’t come completely unannounced and surround you under active camouflage."
"Thank you, Avalon." Scootaloo ended the transmission, then looked seriously at Chance. "How maneuverable are these guys?"
Chance shook her head sadly. "They're about a third our size. They can move so quickly pilots have to be enhanced with a particular strain of Nanophage to let their reflexes even control the ships."
Scootaloo swore under her breath, even as she slowed the ship's acceleration to a stop. Whatever the invisible ships were planning, they didn't seem to be in a hurry to do it. Could they just be here to observe?
"Their rockets are all computer-guided, right?" Chance turned to truth, her mind already spinning. "You can keep those away from us." It wasn't a question.
"Quite easily. Even if there's another OMICRON Core on the other end, transmission time means our proximity will beat them every time. There's no hacking bullets or plasma weapons though, Chance. Good news is now that I know what we're looking for I've updated the sensors to pick up the visual distortions from the cloaking devices. I'm getting some other readings, though. Disturbing readings." He paused, as though taking a deep dramatic breath. "Weak, I'm guessing lead shielding... But either every single one of these fighters has dangerously faulty microfusion reactors, or-"
"Shit!" Chance slammed one of her hooves down on the deck, with every bit of anger and frustration her little body could hold. "Celestia said no nukes! There shouldn't have been any in Equestria! Alexi wouldn't have let the Federation break their word!"
"They haven't done anything yet!" Apple Bloom offered, smiling weakly. "Maybe they won't do nothin'!"
"You have a plan, Truth?" Sweetie Belle asked, her tone more nervous than hopeful. "Something brilliant?"
The projected stallion shook his head, barely visible in the orange light. "Not this time, Sweetie Belle. I'm running every possibility, and the numbers aren't good. When they attack, I give us forty-five seconds. Fifteen if those warheads aren't computer-guided." He was still smiling, but there was something grim to it. "You organics are all about unconventional thinking, right? If you want to live through this, it's time to crank up the gearing on that wetware."
"Okay." Chance shrugged, releasing the clasps on her helmet and tossing it violently to the deck at her feet. The respirator was still fitted to her muzzle, but that hardly mattered. It was her horn she meant to expose. "Sweetie Belle, I need your help." She looked seriously at the projection. "You better have been right about the forty-five seconds thing." She lifted her fallen helmet in her magic. "Buy us that long!"
Sweetie Belle followed Chance without objection, removing her own helmet and carrying it with her as they moved below the deck. "What're we doing, Chance? If there's some system to reconfigure, we both know Apple Bloom's better for that!"
"I'm interested to hear myself," came Truth's voice over the internal speakers. He wasn't wasting processor time on another projection for the hallway, at least. "Since I've already run projections on all of your known capabilities in every possible combination and every possible error the enemy might make. Failing those Stingrays all having paraplegic pilots or suffering spontaneous reactor failures-"
"You helped refine the world gating spell with Twilight, didn't you Truth?" That had been years and years ago, before Chance's understanding of magic had been sufficient to understand such high-level theoretical work. Even now she only vaguely grasped the theory, and only because she understood the human technological analogue.
"Of-" He was silent a moment.
Scootaloo, however, was not. "Everypony hit your grieves!" The ship dropped like a stone. Far faster than a stone, actually, since Scootaloo hadn't just cut the levitation crystal. This time, she had pushed it into full reverse. The Fury accelerated far faster than 9.8 m/s ^2, making forward progress impossible.
"They're moving!" Truth called, even as a series of small explosions shook the air above and around them. Tree trunks shattered with the force of the impact, leaves catching instantly alight. "Multiple projectiles, active denial engaged!" The ship began to shake violently, and the light from the windows shifted in strange patterns as the shields intercepted force and projectiles both.
"Ignore it!" Chance shouted to Sweetie Belle. A few seconds later, they slowed to a stop vertically as the engines flung them forward. Even with hooves stationary on the deck Chance found herself slammed painfully to the deck by the force, her helmet falling from her grip and rolling away. Sweetie Belle fell beside her, crumpled with a whimper of pain. "We've got to... get to Truth... He's going to use us to open the gateway!"
The Fury shook violently, as though it had suddenly decided to vibrate itself to pieces. They were already on the ground, but Chance's body was slammed painfully against the nearby wall. She saw angry stars.
Sweetie Belle got to her hooves before Chance could, using her magic to help her friend. The magnets had let-up a bit, and they could move again, slowly. "I thought we couldn't use the bridge machine this close to the planet!"
Chance forced her hooves to drag her toward where Truth would be waiting for them. "We can't!" Chance shouted over the sound of machine-guns and distant explosions. Not as distant as she would've liked. "But we don't need to get the Aegis, we just need to get ourselves out! Unicorns have been opening up the gateway every day since humans got here!"
"That last rocket was nuclear!" Truth's voice came in hazy, indistinct. Chance could barely hear it. "We need more distance! Your reactions are too slow, Scootaloo! Control override engaged! Brace yourselves, everypony!" There was no time to move, but Chance didn't have to in order to solidify the air around her and Sweetie Belle, immobilizing them almost completely. There was no danger of suffocating, since both of them wore their own air supply.
The engines slammed into full acceleration with enough force to tear objects from the walls. Absolutely everything that wasn't firmly attached went bouncing around; though Chance's spell protected her and Sweetie Belle this time. She could only pray her friends on the upper deck were kept secure by their grieves. The ship shook and rattled constantly now as the engines pushed them far faster than any Equestrian airship had ever moved. If it weren't for the combination of suit and Nanophage in each of them, it was quite likely that all the organics would have lost consciousness.
Chance didn't though, and neither did Sweetie Belle. Chance met her friend's eyes in the screaming and the chaos, focused and intent. Chance concentrated, and the solidified air began pushing them forward, bodies frozen in exactly the same position. She couldn't keep it up and get them through the door, but by then they had stopped accelerating and were moving at enough of a constant rate for the grieves to let them move again. Both kept themselves crouched low to the ground, taking small steps. Small tools and tiny framed photos went flying whenever the ship moved, and Chance kept up a constant shield spell to deflect them as they dragged themselves along towards Truth.
"I won't be able to misdirect the rockets if they never launch!" Truth's voice seemed distant, like the constant roar of machine guns or the ionization engines as they screamed. "If they're puppets, it's only a matter of time before their controller decides they're worth sacrificing. I've got no idea how big those warheads are, Chance!"
The room was filling with smoke. Sirens screamed, and there was no telling what condition their friends on the deck were in. Truth sat unmoving on the far end of the room, surface glowing with internal radiance. He was ten meters away, then five. "We need... to touch him... You ready, Truth?"
"Sooner the better!" Truth's surface flashed briefly, urging them on. "Spell's ready! Can't promise your brains won't explode when you try, though!" There was only a meter, then less. Truth's surface radiated an internal heat borne of so many rapid calculations. It might burn them just to touch him. It wasn't as though there were any alternatives available just then.
From behind them, there was a flash of light, and a shockwave that turned trees to powder and animals to dust. The fighters were consumed along with their pilots as a roaring cloud of white and orange rose into the sky.
The air in front of the Fury split as though the space itself had been ripped asunder. The opening was exactly the size of the ship, and at the fantastic speed they were traveling, its entirety had passed inside milliseconds before the explosion reached it and the delicate spellwork collapsed under the deluge of nuclear fire.
The Prismatic Fury was gone without a trace.
* * *
Some time earlier...
Escaping the building proved to be easier than even her most optimistic predictions. Alexi carried the basket in her mouth, and with it she was able to silence any objections they might've faced leaving the building so soon. Nobody stopped them in any of the halls, no bullets fired, and no cameras tracked their movements. The hardest part was keeping Alexi from falling over as she walked, which seemed only just within the realm of things she could actually do.
"The manipulator was helping me," she hissed angrily, when Amber pointed this out. "I'd like to see you do as well on two legs as I'm doing on four."
Of course there was no real opportunity to talk, not until the human buildings began to grow distant and they reached the comforting wooden walls of the guard outpost. "I sent somepony to bring Princess Twilight here," Amber explained. "Hopefully she's already inside, and she can teleport you to safety."
"Not you?" Alexi fumbled with the door, until she realized she was supposed to use her mouth. She held it open a little longer than she had to so the invisible Amber could follow. "This place isn't going to be safe when that message goes off. It's gonna be hell."
"Maybe so." Amber glanced around them to be sure none of the guards were waiting inside, then dropped the illusion that kept her invisible. Another brief wave of magic and she was back in her pegasus body, the one she thought of as more herself than the black and green insect beneath. "But I'm responsible for these ponies. I'm not somepony big and important like you; my getting out now won't mean victory later. It would just mean running away from the ponies who depend on me."
Dispelling the color-changing spells took a little more effort, but Amber made a point to do it before they went any further into the barracks. Getting Alexi evacuated would be easier if they didn't have to waste any time for Amber to explain who she was and why she wasn't actually an evil changeling. Twilight Sparkle might be understanding or she might not, but there was far too much emotional baggage for Amber to just trust her. Trust didn't come to changelings easy.
It wasn't Princess Twilight Sparkle waiting in the largest room of the barracks, though the mare clearly wasn't one of the guard. Amber knew each of them at a glance and by name, as well as the usual flavor of their emotions. That didn't mean Amber didn't know her, though. Her coat white and pristine, her mane purple and elegantly styled. Her cutie mark of blue diamonds. Amber's inherited memories described Rarity in detail. After all, she had been the first pony she met after Twilight herself, and she was the elder sister of the filly who would become one of her closest friends.
"Rarity." She lowered her head respectfully, though not nearly so low as she would have for one of the princesses. Of course Rarity had met her too, though she doubted very much Rarity knew this pegasus was actually the same pony. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but we need a long-range teleport, and isn't that more Princess Twilight's thing?"
The mare scowled, though the expression was so delicate and subtle Amber probably wouldn't have noticed her displeasure without being able to feel the emotions directly. "Twilight is unavailable at the moment, unfortunately. Fluttershy and I are sitting in for her." She rose to her hooves, expression smug. "While I may not be the expert Twilight is, I can mange complex magic in a pinch. Just how far do I need to take you?"
"Just her." Amber removed the device from her foreleg with her mouth, and helped Alexi secure it. "At least as far as the castle. I've heard Twilight's spells make it one of the most well-defended places in Equestria."
Rarity nodded. "I think I can manage that. At least a trip most of the way, short gallop afterwards. You don't mind running, do you dear?"
Alexi shook her head, even as Amber offered her the hat and settled it on her head with some difficulty. There was something absurd about the black and white fabric on her yellow mane, yet somehow she managed to get it to stay without much of a fight. "I'm a little new at this." She held up one of her hooves, shaking it for emphasis. "Trying's better than being dead."
Rarity winced, "I suppose so." She looked briefly away, then back up. "I do so love the hat, dear. The gold filigree is quite beautiful. Now, if you could just stand close to me... Yes, that's good. Now, close your eyes, and be ready to exhale. I don't mean to worry you, but the pressure difference might cause some serious internal injuries otherwise.
Alexi nodded, turning briefly to Amber. "Thanks for the rescue, Amber Sands." There was a ghost of a smile in her expression, and an emotion Amber couldn't identify. She hadn't ever felt anything quite like it before. "Kimberly told me about you. You do good work."
Another voice spoke, the muted electronic one from her wrist. "Four minutes forty-seven seconds, Amber Sands." There was a flash of light, a surge of Rarity's magic like the striking of metal on crystal. She was alone.
There was no time to wait, no time to hesitate. Amber darted back to the supply room and pulled her armor on with her magic; there was nopony around to notice she was levitating things without a horn. With at least three of her minutes left she galloped from the room and took to the air with a training whistle in her mouth, the one they used to call a general meeting. There were no drills scheduled for today, but that didn't matter. She couldn't prevent whatever was about to happen, but maybe she could get the guard on their way back into Ponyville before it started.
* * *
Charles had early memories of subsonic aircraft flights across the ocean, in tube-like planes with old-fashioned jet engines on their wings. He remembered the flights going on forever, with nothing but endless blue below them and occasional wisps of white cloud. He had looked always for islands or ships in the ocean far below with tiny hands pressed to the windows, but never found them. Those old engines only traveled 600 miles per hour or so relative to the ground, but it had still seemed like transoceanic flights had taken forever.
His wings hadn't come with a speedometer, but he doubted very much he ever broke sixty for more than a few seconds. And he easily outstripped the others for endurance; Rainbow Dash was injured and Lonely Dawn's wing muscles were barely strong enough to keep her airborne. That meant that practically every cloud was another respite for somepony.
Everything would have been well and good, except that between them they only had the food they could carry. Humans on a long journey could have dried nutrition-rich meats, since water was never in short supply. But ponies were grazers, designed to take in large volumes of low-nutrition plants. They might be able to drink the water from the clouds, but there didn't seem to be any magical winged grass growing up here for them to graze on.
When the visions and the tears were over, the goblins had given them everything they had asked for. Charles had asked for all the food they could carry, vegetarian and not requiring any time to prepare. Unsurprisingly these goblins hadn't yet invented high-calorie survival supplements. Instead they had offered up ceramic jars full of a thick paste evidently made from beans and wheat berries. It was nutritious enough that their entire party could survive on a jar's worth each day meted out in little spoonfuls along with the apples they had collected.
Charles estimated at their present speed, it would take them about three weeks to cross the Atlantic. Unfortunately, they didn't have anywhere near 21 jars. Charles estimated that unless something changed soon, they would be flying the second half of the trip without food. Humans could survive for weeks without food, but couldn't spend those weeks in vigorous exercise. Cruel irony it would be to escape the land of dragons and goblins only to starve to death on the flight back.
Charles kept trying to point that out to Rainbow Dash, and every time he did she would immediately change the subject. His latest attempt was no exception. "You know Charles, I've been thinking," was her immediate response. "About the name thing. Charles Gray? I mean... that's great and all for an alien, but I'm just not feeling it for a good respectable pony. It doesn't mean anything! A good name has to say what you are, and yours doesn't say anything!"
"I tried registering 'Dapper Pilot Genius,' but the judge threw it out." Charles couldn't keep the bitter sarcasm from his voice. "Maybe I should try something a little more modest. How about 'Unappreciated Hero'?"
"I appreciate you!" He barely registered Dawn's small voice from behind him as he glared at Rainbow Dash. Not that he wasn't grateful that at least someone had nice things to say about him, but when nice things about him were basically the only things she said-
"No, I'm serious!" Rainbow stomped her hoof on the cloud, which had no effect at all except sending a little spray of fine mist around it. Not nearly as imposing as when a horse did that on solid ground. "You've got a cutie mark now! You can't pretend to be something else anymore; you're a proper pony!"
Of course Rainbow had to bring up his so-called "cutie mark," that strange symbol that had appeared on his flanks while he was wrapped up in concentration solving the riddle that the goblins gave him. No, not the goblins. The riddle their ancient human ancestors, the children of Avalon, had given him. It was a chain of seven links, the center link frozen as it shattered, as though an invisible hammer had just struck it and was showering his side with bright sparks.
He had barely even noticed at the time, he had been so overwhelmed with the surge of euphoria at having discovered the truth. He hadn't known anything had changed until Rainbow Dash had pointed it out to him during the beginning of their flight to safety.
"I was thinking 'Gray Vigil.'" Charles might've been sarcastic, but there wasn't a trace of mocking or sarcasm in her tone. "Saving me during the mission, helping save Dawn, giving up your body so we could get away, getting the goblins not to fight..." She trailed off, looking away from him so he couldn't see her face.
Charles wanted to make fun of her suggestion, he really did. Rainbow Dash was acting so strangely serious that he couldn't even bring himself to laugh. "I like the name I already have." He glanced once at Dawn, and didn't say the other half of what he had been thinking. I liked my old body too, and I'm going to get it back as soon as I can. Why should I pretend I'm something I'm not? But he didn't say that; couldn't bring himself even though it was all completely true.
It was true, wasn't it?
"Fine. I'll... think about it. No promises."
There was silence then, broken only by the rushing of the wind. A deep wind that seemed to be echoing from down below them, getting louder as the seconds passed. What kind of wind did that? Charles rose to his hooves and moved to the edge of the cloud, looking down. His heart sank as he imagined what he would find there. Perhaps the massive swarm had been tracking them better than they thought, and it was finally catching up with them.
But if it was the edge of the swarm, why couldn't he see it?
Rainbow Dash noticed it first, practically bouncing on her hooves as she gestured. "That's an airship!" He followed the gesture, and saw that she was exactly right. It was flying only about half as high as they were, a massive vessel like the old spanish Galleons. Only instead of sails, there were half a dozen gigantic propellers spaced out along the craft. The source of the sound had to be whatever was powering them.
"That's an Equestrian flag hanging from the mast, its a friendly!" She reached out and tugged on Dawn. "Come on! Let's catch 'em!" She leaned forward off the cloud and quickly fell into a dive.
Charles took a deep breath, then followed her, plunging into the blue as though he were jumping into a swimming pool. Of course he couldn't hope to equal Rainbow's grace in spite of her prosthetic, or her speed. At least she wasn't leaving him so far behind he could barely see her anymore. Lonely Dawn fell into sync beside him, unable to keep up with Rainbow Dash for more than a few seconds as she dove. Dawn had none of Rainbow's grace or speed, but she was still better at this than Charles. It wasn't a race with either of them. Once it seemed to Charles that he had reached a speed that would let them intercept the airship, he was content with that and didn't fight to end up first.
Of course that meant that by the time they had caught up with her she was already in animated conversation with the ponies on the deck.
Charles could see at least a dozen of them at a glance, scrubbing the decks and maintaining the engines and working the helm of the ship. There were no uniforms, which meant to Charles that this was a civilian vessel of some kind. Half of the crew seemed an approximately equal mixture of the pony races Charles already knew. The others seemed strange and unfamiliar to him at his first glance, though as he came in for a landing beside Rainbow Dash he recognized them for what they were; zebras! They all looked like earth ponies, except for the distinctive pattern of fur and the lack of color in their cutie marks.
"No ship; we've been flying from dragon country," Rainbow Dash was saying.
"Escaped slaves?" The other speaker, a towering zebra wearing a hat woven of grasses, eyed Dawn. "Masters come for you?"
Rainbow shook her head emphatically. "I'm a Captain of the Solar Guard, sent here on a covert mission. Gray Vigil here is an ambassador from a far-away kingdom who came to help me. Lonely Dawn was a slave, but she was freed. Nopony is going to come looking for her." She puffed out her chest, obviously trying to look as imposing and powerful as she could.
"I'm not sure." The Zebra looked over his shoulder to a gathered crowd of his crew. "Still sounds like trouble."
"Listen!" Rainbow's expression grew more intense, perhaps more intense than Charles had ever seen her. "What part of ‘mission from the princesses’ don't you understand? You know what that means, right? If you don't help us, that means you're hurting Celestia and Luna. If you do help, you can bet they're gonna reward you. You'll be a hero, and I'm sure you'll get more bits than the value of everything in your hold."
There was a long silence, as the zebra met Rainbow's expression with an expression of unflinching sternness. Then, very slowly, he nodded. "We're not carrying much, to be honest. Mostly just traveling back to Equestria as quick as possible. Refugees." He turned away from them, heading along the deck. "We give you passage, you work. Nothing else."
He led them two levels belowdecks, to a single large cabin. There was no bed as such, though a single large mattress against the wall looked large enough for several. "This yours. You wait here for crew chief, he explain everything. I get back to deck." And he was gone, sooner than they could thank him, sooner even than a proper introduction.
"Just one room." Charles stepped inside, looking dubiously at the bed and the single tiny porthole. "Just one bed."
Rainbow grinned. "I know, isn't it awesome! They didn't put us with the rest of the crew! Guess that bit about you being an ambassador and me being an officer got to 'em?"
Dawn looked like she could hardly believe her eyes, far too shocked to say anything coherent.
Charles just sighed. "Not... exactly what I meant." He slung the satchel off his shoulders and sat down against the wall. The room was barely large enough for the bed, a trunk, and a slab of wood functioning as a desk, but it sure beat flying from morning until night every day. Although... he was already starting to feel a little claustrophobic. Could these walls be any closer? "How long will it take to get back now? On a proper ship. Miracle we ran into them. I don't want to think about the odds..."
Rainbow shrugged and plopped down into the bed. "Faster than we would've, not stopping to sleep." She rolled onto her side. "Wake me when it's time to work."
She was asleep in seconds.