//------------------------------// // Chapter X // Story: Journey to the center of Equestria // by Rarity Belle //------------------------------// The two anthronies thanked the cadets in the barrack before they left and were once again delivered on the mercy of the blistering heat. The second that they both got out of the barrack was the nice and cool environment traded in for the heat of the sun. Neither of the two were particularly happy about the facts as they were but neither of them decided to speak a word about the matter as it was. It was a thing that was most likely for the better. They needed to find that one mare they were after. The mare with the flaming hair that couldn’t be missed by any kind of eyes. Problem just happened to be that those two always managed to get themselves into the biggest of troubles for just about nothing. They knew they were after a mare with flaming hair, but what specific kind of flaming hair? Just the coloring represented flaming, or actual flaming hair? It was something that most would have taken as something that was said in the figural sense of the way, but both Applejack and Twilight were rather safe than sorry. “They said she would be out on the runway, grand marshal. You know how the outfit looks?” Twilight asked to Applejack with a genuine wonder in her tone. But the admiral herself calmly shook her head before the words were left in that same manner. “Ah’m afraid Ah don’t know what it looks like, Twilight. Can be anything really. Do Ah look like a flyer to ya to begin with?” "What? No, of, of course not. I just thought that maybe…” “Maybe Ah would know it? Well Ah don’t.” “Fine then, captain Grumpy,” replied Twilight in an inaudible tone before the two of them continued their path along the runway with hopes of finding the grand field marshal. But with all of the pegasi still out there during the hottest part of the day, that was truly easier said than done. It annoyed both of the anthronies a big bit. Yet they never dared to show it to either one present. Their tensions didn’t needed to be cut at all if they wanted to get out of the city in one piece. Applejack almost had to remind herself at a constant rate upon the fact that it was thanks to Twilight’s magic that she could walk upon the clouds that the city was built upon. So she better not anger the soothsayer too much if she didn’t wanted something bad to happen to her. It wasn’t a thing where she was looking forward too at all but it was a lot better than falling to her doom somewhere, someplace. That was another thing of the moving city, they knew that the horizon almost constantly changed as it drifted in the wind. What they didn’t knew was where exactly they were drifting. They could be heading to the Frozen North and be somewhere over the desert for all they knew. It was difficult to pinpoint their exact location as the smell of ocean water wasn’t to be found anywhere. Which meant that they had gone further into the main land. Which on its own turn made Applejack even more cautious about pretty much everything. Whether the admiral liked it or not, she would have to play the game by the rules of Twilight Sparkle, whatever the rules then would be. Yet that same Twilight Sparkle showed signs that were unseen by the admiral before. Her hand released a small magical charge every now and again. Not to mention that it also spazed together into a fist for only the fraction of a second. It were only minor things but if the soothsayer was brooding something. A thing that would almost destroy the relationship that Equestria had with Cloudsdale. Then it could be simply said that the tremors were becoming the least of their worries. Applejack stood still while Twilight continued to walk. Only to get the hand of the admiral placed upon her shoulder a mere second later. A gentle ‘wha’ was being released by the soothsayer before she was forcefully turned towards the orange skinned earth anthrony. An anthrony who looked her deep in the eyes while she took a deep inhale. “What are ya planning with that magic of yars?” she bluntly asked in a snarling whisper. It was loud enough for Twilight to hear it, but silent enough for those around them. The looks in those green rimmed eyes was dead serious as Twilight didn’t knew where she was talking about. “P-Planning? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not planning anything, why would I plan anything that involves magic?!” Twilight hissed back to her in a whisper. While it could be seen within her eyes that Twilight didn’t told her a lie, Applejack still didn’t know it for sure. A lie was easily told for a unicorn, that much she knew. Yet something about the very tone in which Twilight caused her to be send down a wild goose chase. So the only thing that Applejack could do was to actually cut right down to the chase of the matter and confront the unicorn there and then. “Magic’s flowing through yar hands. Explain what you planned on doing,” she hissed up in return while her teeth were gritted against one another. The hold upon Twilight’s shoulders got even stronger as the admiral wanted to know the finer details. It was through the words of the admiral that the eyes of the mare sprung open wide. That was just before she realized what was going on. Something that caused her to almost hit herself right in the face. She couldn’t do it as another little spaz happened. “I know what you’re referring to,” said Twilight then. She had admitted that magic was indeed flowing through her hand. “So, what were ya planning to do?” Applejack continued to ask. Though Twilight placed her hands around Applejack’s upper arms. The tingles of the arcane power suddenly surged through the other mare as well and her body had a bit of a difficulty accepting it before it returned back to Twilight. “What did ya do?” “I, did nothing,” the soothsayer replied as she looked the admiral dead in the eyes. “I don’t control this bit of power! Nor do I have a clue what can cause it.” “Is it going to be dangerous, for us all?” Applejack then asked through as she wanted, if not needed, to be knowing the whole truth behind the matter. A matter that was actually a lot easier said than done. Twilight calmly removed the hands of the admiral off of her shoulders before she released a deep sigh through her nostrils. Only then it became known to Applejack that her horn also had troubles trying not to be ignited by any sort of kind. “Ya be needing to release some steam, for the looks of it,” she then spoke up towards Twilight when she remembered the signs. Even though a unicorn’s body worked out a lot differently, the signals were actually the same in both cases. “Ain’t there something ya can do ‘bout it, to vent yar magic?” The question itself wasn’t something that Twilight had actually expected to come from the admiral, but she was glad that she said it. Even though she didn’t wanted to believe it at first instance that she needed to vent her powers, the reality came through to her like a massive shock. One massive spaz was shot through her entire body before she knew what needed to be done. The solution itself wasn’t something that she particularly enjoyed doing as she had never trained herself upon the matter. Yet something told her deep inside of her that it was the best thing that she could be doing for the time being. “There, there is a little something. But it’s going to render me almost completely blind,” admitted Twilight. She gained a confused look from the admiral. “Say what now?” Applejack couldn’t believe the words that were said to her as she took Twilight once more, but that time by the shoulders. “Look, we’re runnin’ outta time here, tell me what ya need to be doing and Ah’ll make sure nothing happens to you.” Twilight nodded to the words spoken against her before she took a deep exhale. An exhale that also caused a raspberry fog to leave her body and flow upwards, into the skies. “Ah didn’t saw that one coming,” the admiral said quickly. Moments later had she lost track of the fog and returned her attention back on Twilight. “Go, go and do what ya need to be doing.” The soothsayer gave one last nod before she closed her eyes and took a deep exhale before she took a deep swig of air. Both of her hands slowly began to charge themselves with the magic she possessed as the darkness behind her eyelids gently managed to get some color behind it. She began to see the world once more. The same world but in different colors and shapes. Right in front of her stood the outline of Applejack with nothing else but a green line that kept on irradiating in a worried manner. “I’m fine, Applejack,” she then spoke in a calm tone. Her head turned in other directions to see what was going on. “Yeah, I’m fine.” All around her she noticed how the colored outline of an anthrony reflected most likely a part of their personality as well as looking at the waves of light they irradiated in what kind of mood they would have been. “What did ya do?” the curious admiral asked of her. She did still hold Twilight by her arms, but released the sheer amount of tension she carried in her hands. "I opened my eyes for the aura world. It takes a lot of magic to do and allows me to watch the world with literally a set of different eyes. However, I can’t physically open my eyes right now. Even if I try my best, they just won’t. So, I’m afraid that you have to guide me over to this grand field marshal,” explained Twilight to the admiral. She released a very silly squee sound from her body afterwards. A sound that first caused Applejack to tilt her head before she shrugged it off and nodded to the words. She understood them and knew what needed to happen. “’Right then, so we’re gonna play it like that. Should be easy to guide ya over the runway. As long as there ain’t coming something out way from the skies.” Even though it was said as something like a joke, both of the mares knew that they must have been seen by somepony else. That gave the both of them a feeling of insecurity as they really didn’t wanted to stand out from the crowd. Though with the things they had already done, that was perhaps a task that was a lot harder than it originally seemed. Time wasn’t their friend anymore or at all as they needed to find that one cursed mare out of a sea of nearly a hundred. The both of them walked over the runway while Applejack kept an eye out for a mare with the flaming hair. Twilight focused herself upon the aura’s of the other anthronies. Perhaps that was the thing they meant, that the one they needed had a flaming aura. It was a farfetched idea for certain but an idea nonetheless. “Ya be seeing something with those eyes of ya yet?” Applejack asked when she slowly walked over the runway itself. A little fact that she didn’t realize was that she was getting too close to the middle, the very place where most of the pegasi would be landing. It would only have been a matter of time before they asked about accidents. “Not seeing anything really. I can’t believe that this Spitfire is that hard to track down!” Twilight muttered in response. She had an actual struggle to see further than a couple dozen hooves in front of her. The anthrony flung her head backwards as she released a deep growl from the bottom of her soul. She was through it all, she really just wanted to go home and be done with it. But if things would have been only that easy. “What’s that..?” the soothsayer then said. She tilted her head to one side in order to await. Yet the whisper only came as a faintly spoken word to Applejack. The admiral wanted to know what was being said. Though instead of turning around and question it, she just continued to walk onwards as if nothing had happened. Fractions of a second went by while Twilight finally puzzled the pieces together within her mind. The aura that she saw right above the two of them was heading straight towards them. The magical flow was cancelled instantly and the mind of the mare went into a sudden overdrive. It began to work so fast, that time almost crawled down to a standstill. Twilight’s eyes were finally opened again. The soothsayer looked straight up and into a pair of aviation goggles from the pegasus that was coming down. The reflection of her own eyes within those same goggles only made even more certain that time to get out was there. Without much thinking did the muscles of the unicorn move themselves forward before she tackled Applejack towards the ground. The admiral didn’t even knew what was going on when her face smacked down on the black tarmac of the runway. She wanted to hit Twilight with the question of what was going on before a shadow blocked the sunlight for just a moment. All of the sudden was there the sun again shining down upon their faces. Both of the anthronies looked as to what had happened. Whatever could have caused their fall down on the runway. The both of them were treated with the same kind of scenery. And it was one they perhaps weren’t all too happy about. Within their eyes they both caught a pegasus taking off again into the skies. A pegasus that was white of skin, poured into the skintight suit of the C.A.F.’s most special forces before disappearing within the clouds again. If it was a crash, it didn’t seem like it. If it was a landing, why didn’t the pegasus land further away. No, what happened to them almost seemed like it was staged. That, or they were both at the wrong place and the wrong time. Not that it all mattered too much really. When the mind of Twilight returned back to its normal state of going around and about, the sounds also returned to her ears. “Hey Twi, thanks,” brought Applejack forth in an honest and humble tone. She had realized that they had escaped a three-person crash in the middle of the runway. Without much trouble did the admiral got back upon her hooves before she offered Twilight a hand once more. Who took it once more before she got pulled up to her feet again. “Heh, perhaps we both be needing to watch one another’s back,” said the admiral with a well-meant chuckle. The soothsayer herself couldn’t do much else than to laugh at the matter as well because otherwise the scare of her life would be shocking through her. Which was about the last thing she wanted to have on that very day. “You’re welcome, Applejack and, well, let’s not discuss that right now shall we? We are having bigger issues at hand.” “True that indeed,” replied Applejack. She then asked the most important question there was. “Hey, ya alright? Ya seem a little shocked ‘bout it all.” The mare then placed a hand on the cheek of Twilight as she looked the soothsayer deeply in the eyes to make sure there wasn’t something else going on. “Yeah, yes, I’m fine. Just, just a little bit shocked that’s all,” answered Twilight. She tried to avoid the looks given to her by Applejack. She pushed the arm of the mare away. “I said I’m fine, alright?” “No ya ain’t. Ya never acted like that before, what’s wrong?” There was no more denying the facts as they were, who would she fool by telling that she was alright? Nopony would be falling for it, especially a mare like Applejack who had seen just over a thousand and one cases of pretty much everything. So with a deep sigh did Twilight told her what was actually wrong with her. “Look, I’m not used to putting my life on the line in a physical manner. I rather just make the two way trip up and down to them than anything else. That’s what’s wrong with me. I don’t belong here.” Twilight had finally come clean with the admiral. “Hmpf, ya don’t belong here? Then why are we here?” Applejack countered with a huff. It was something that Twilight didn’t saw coming for the admiral and both of her eyebrows rose themselves up. She truly didn’t have the slightest of clues on just what was going on or what she had to say about it. “I, I don’t know, alright! I’m just all foggy right now. It’s not every day I almost get hit in the head like that!” “Calm down partner, it’s nothing to be getting stressed ‘bout. Stressing ya can do when ya’re old enough. But not now,” said Applejack to her. She once again placed her hands upon the shoulders of Twilight. But for the first time since the whole fiasco did she also look over the shoulders of the mare and further down the runway. Only to see a sight that she really didn’t wanted to see coming towards the both of them. “Uhm, Twilight, Ah think we’ve found who we came looking for.” ~~~~                       Applejack couldn’t have been more right. Because on the three mile long runway there was a storm heading exactly their way. Using the powerful, light brilliant, feathered wings, it came closer like a ball of fire. Twilight then slowly turned herself around in order to witness just what was going on and couldn’t believe it with her eyes. The ball of fire that was mixture of yellowish gold, orange and amber that came rushing towards them at the speed not even the fastest earth anthronies could run, something told Twilight that they indeed had found the right mare. Though from the looks that were given to the pair of them, they couldn’t expect a friendly conversation. “’Member what Ah said, talk ‘bout their pride. Should be doing the trick,” managed Applejack to whisper in Twilight’s ear before the fire ball colored pegasus finally slowed down in front of them. I pray to the goddesses that you are right, otherwise it’s your head they’ll be having, Twilight said to herself in her thoughts. She could only pray for the best of things to be happening. Whether or not it actually was going to be the way that Twilight had opened for remained to be seen. The pegasus pulled its body up which caused it to finally go vertical before a gust of wind traveled past both of the other anthronies. What was revealed in the eyes of Twilight and Applejack was indeed the anthrony with the flaming hair. The patterns that were going into it indeed resembled an ongoing fire. Neither of the two dared to speak to the pegasus as it landed and the wings were tucked together nicely behind the back. Which then revealed a mare to the two of them, a mare that wore the attire of a drill sergeant that didn’t look all too happily out of her eyes. A deep huff was released through her nostrils as she walked closer to the two of them. “And just what are you two thinking, to come onto the runway the way you did? Thanks to you two, one my cadets almost died if didn’t you duck and he pull up again. No excuses, I need to know the truth,” the mare spoke up as she placed her hands in her sides and began to wait for the words to come from either Applejack or Twilight. Of course had the pegasus seen that Applejack was from the Equestrian navy and the feelings of both horror and disgust already were flowing through her body. But it was Twilight who dared to speak up first, remembering the words of the admiral. “Look, we aren’t here to cause any trouble, especially not to end somepony’s life here, but we simply must speak to grand marshal Spitfire. It’s of the utmost importance. We have been trying to find him for all the time now, without much luck I’m afraid.” Only after the words had been spoken did Twilight realize how stupid the words actually sounded. Especially with Applejack’s own words echoing once more through her mind. All of the sudden did the pegasus erupt out in a deep laughter before she shook her head. What was so funny on the matter couldn’t be soon discovered by the other two mares. All they could hope for was that it actually calmed the rage that was going through her. Yet then there was once more the silence as only the sounds of their surroundings could be heard. A silence that was eventually broken by the pegasus herself as she spoke in a nearly seducing tone towards them. “Did the cadets tell you those stories? Hmh, seems like they will be needing another lesson. Because first of all, it’s grand field marshal. Secondly, Spitfire isn’t a he. But a she,” the pegasus said to them. Then she pointed to herself. “I am Spitfire.” It was the biggest shock that both Applejack and Twilight had received all day. Both of their eyes went as wide as they were allowed to go. The both of them also gulped deeply before Spitfire focused her attention upon the admiral. “So do tell me, what are the pair of you doing in my playground, hm? I mean, an admiral of the navy that’s walking into the skies. Not to mention with a leg like that, tsk, tsk, tsk.” If Applejack didn’t know any better, it almost seemed like the pegasus was either mocking or taunting her. Either way, she didn’t like it for one bit and just wanted to literally smash her head in with something. Though Twilight placed a hand upon her shoulder before she quickly shook her head. The rage that was to be found inside of Applejack needed to be contained or released in another way. Unfit to talk was the word left over to Twilight. “Funny that you start about that, the whole ‘why we happen to be here’ part, really. We’re looking for a pegasus in fact. Nothing wrong, but we are on a mission to find the best of the best. As words have it, the best of Cloudsdale stand under your watchful eye, right?” Twilight tried to give some affection to Spitfire by playing the harp of pride. At first instance it indeed seemed to be working. Spitfire stroked her chin while a couple of interesting sounds were being given off by her. “That indeed is the truth, yes. A lot of great pegasi are indeed under my eye. But I still wonder, why would I give you one of my recruit just like that?” The question was rightfully asked. Not to mention that it was one that drove Twilight straight back in her corner. She needed help from Applejack more than ever and the admiral knew it. If it meant that she would shatter her own pride in order not to see her home becoming one giant mess of lava, so it be. “We be needing a pegasi for a variety of things, matter of fact. Everything from recon to precision airstrikes. The seas are rough these days with ‘em pirates lingering ‘bout. Best to be going over prepared then realize ya running short in the heat of things.” It was a tale that Spitfire could understand completely. Pirates had been a massive menace and threat both in the air and at sea. Especially those that hailed from the griffon empire. Those really didn’t have any kind of mercy left within their bodies. “Alright, I see your point here admiral,” said Spitfire. She took a step closer towards the pair of them. “I think I know just whom will be perfect for the spot. Promise me to bring her back, alive and well.” “Promised,” spoke Applejack and Twilight in choir. The pegasus gained a smirk upon her lips. “Alright then, listen up and follow me,” added Spitfire to her words. She would have turned herself around and flapped her wings once before they almost majestically tucked behind her back. Both Applejack and Twilight each joined a side of her as they kept their focus upon the grand field marshal. “The pegasus that you are looking for is at this runway on the very moment. Though I warn you, she’s a bit of a trigger happy girl. So you might encounter her with her weapons drawn at you. Something you shouldn’t be worried about, admiral.” It were far from the words that Twilight and Applejack had hoped for, but they at least gave the two of them something about the personality of the mare they would be meeting soon enough. “Anything else that we need to know about this pegasus?” Twilight then asked. The soothsayer wanted to know more before they would be heading into the place. Spitfire came to a standstill and she turned around to face Twilight as a whole. The expression upon her face turned almost into a motherly one. The eyes were looking straight into the violet rims. Applejack knew that trouble laid almost around the corner when stuff like that would happen and simply rolled her own eyes as she stared at the yellowish golden wings. “Know that if you treat her with the respect and care that you want to be taken care of, she will be the most loyal of anthrony pegasi you will ever encounter in your life. Nopony in all of my years of training has more commitment to a cause then that she has. Nopony, you hear me,” said Spitfire to her. Then her expression softened up by a whole lot. “I have trained her since she first came here, Wonderbolt extraordinaire without a doubt. Still rough around the edges after all this time, but I like it that way. A bit of paranoia can’t hurt anyone, right?” "Ya really don’t wanna start about paranoia in the hearing distance of a soothsayer, grand field marshal,” warned Applejack to Spitfire. Iit was her turn to gain a massive grin across her lips. The words were heard by the pegasus, but she never turned herself around to face the other mare. Instead the eyes of the yellowish gold pegasus continued to be looking over Twilight. Both the twitches of insanity could almost be seen clearly traveling over her body. “Hmpf, a soothsayer you say? What are they doing so far out of the castle these days? You got lost along the way home?” “Bad move,” whispered Applejack without a sound. She took the marshal firm by one of her wings and forced her down to the ground. Before Spitfire could react to what happened, had Applejack’s mechanical leg been forced upon the chest. The action left the pegasus immobile on the ground. The admiral then leaned a bit forward with a dead serious face of her own. “Never, insult her when Ah’m near. Am Ah clear to ya?” Spitfire didn’t even try to struggle her way out of the hold as she looked into the eyes of Applejack with a disgusted expression. “As crystal,” she brought forth. Moments later was the leg removed with a nod from the admiral herself. She then wanted to help the pegasus back up on her feet, but the offer was declined as got up using her wings. The mare then simply took off into the air before she growled her last words against the two of them. “Be glad I’m not going to make any official business out of this. For she will be also giving you enough troubles to worry about.” ~~~~                       A couple minutes of silence had already been going through both Applejack and Twilight before it was the admiral who finally dared to speak as up they were going to the other end of the runway. “Well, as far as first impression go, ah reckon that went pretty well,” she chuckled up to herself. Then she noticed that Twilight didn’t really laugh about it. “Hey, it was supposed to be funny.” A sigh was being released through the nostrils of the soothsayer before she focused her attention to Applejack and spoke her words in a mixed tone. A tone that showed that she wasn’t sure what was actually right and wrong. “Yeah, I suppose, but threatening her like that, doesn’t that go a bit far? Even by your standards?” “Puh, Ah reckon she does it with all of her cadets. Ain’t no harm in returning what has been done, right? Ah mean, what goes around comes around, right?” said Applejack in an attempt to make the situation better in her eyes. And much to her own luck had Twilight to agree upon the facts as they were presented. A thing that caused her to silently sigh in relief. “I guess you’re right,” said Twilight before a smile finally went across her lips. "Hey, there we go. There’s the smile Ah wanted to see from the beginning.” Applejack spoke up in a gentle chuckle before she nodded to the calmly to herself. Her eyes then turned themselves forwards towards the end of the runway. “Well, Ah reckon that’s her over there.” She then pointed to a lonely pegasus who was training unlike anyone they had ever seen before. The sharp angles that were taken when she was in the air, the precision dives that were being made. Just the sheer physical strength and the agility of the pegasus made Twilight stand perplex. “That, is some highly skilled flying, credit where credit’s due,” she spoke as Applejack could only nod to the words. Yet they still had a rather long way to go before they would be reaching her. When the two of them finally reached the mysterious mare, they both could see that she sat down on the tarmac of the runway. Her cyan colored skin was almost invisible against her outfit and her rainbow colored hair. Applejack had a difficult time not to make a joke about it before she placed the final step. A step which also released a puff of steam. A puff of steam which was rather loud in noise and caused the pegasus to immediately turn herself around with a pair of spread wings. Twilight and Applejack had not a clue of what was going on as the smoke was being used against the pair of them. Yet when it finally cleared, they were each looking down the barrel of a flintlock. Twilight released a deep gulp while Applejack didn’t even seem to be reacting. “So,” the pegasus said when she cocked both of her weapons. “What do have here? Who are you and what do you want from me?” “L-Look, can we, can we discuss this a-all in private?” Twilight stuttered up. She constantly shifted her eyes from the gun to the mare and back again. “It’s, it’s rather important business that we have to d-discuss a-and not allowed f-for all ears.” “Yeah, well what if I don’t want to?” the mare replied to the two of them. She took a step closer to them. Her threats weren’t hollow, that much could Applejack already tell. So perhaps the best way to deal with her was to play the game her way. The green rimmed eyes of the admiral looked deeply into the moderate cerise eyes. “Why don’t ya start, by telling yar name, partner?” she then asked to her. It was a question that did stop the mare in her tracks. Her wings tucked themselves again behind her back. An inhale was taken by the pegasus while she still kept the pair of them under shot. “My name, is major Rainbow Dash.”