DIRE LAB-1032 Scan Report, File 1792:
- Air temp: 99°C
- Air density: 0.9486 kg/m³
- Current lift: 723.5 kg
“What a crazy looking contraption.” Nighttide walked around the mighty purple balloon of Ponyville, scanning its various parts.
Twilight was going over her check-list nearby when she noticed her pacing around, staring up inside at the burner. “I thought you said you had balloons from your land?”
“We do, but… they don’t look anything like this. They’re enclosed setups and are way bigger than—”
“You mean blimps, right? You were describing something like them on the train back from Canterlot. We have those as well.”
Nighttide blinked back at her. “So I guess you guys do have more than I thought.”
Twilight gave her a cheeky smile. “I’m just gonna have to fill you in on all sorts of things, won’t I?”
“Guess so.” Nighttide watched Applejack and Rarity climb into the balloon’s basket. Pinkie Pie stood off to the side talking with Mr. and Mrs. Cake from Sugarcube Corner. They had been gracious enough to close shop early to help with releasing the balloon for flight. Rainbow Dash stood a short distance away, making dramatic gestures with her hooves and wings to a clearly nervous Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash had managed to call off work early, cashing in one of her many earned ‘hero’ days. Everyone wore saddlebags filled with first-aid kits and warm clothing, and Pinkie Pie made sure to pack a snack for everypony as well.
“I don’t believe we’ve packed this much stuff since we asked that dragon to leave,” Twilight thought aloud. “And you said your ponies would do this every time they set off on a mission?”
“Oh ho,” Nighttide scoffed, glaring at Twilight, “you have no idea the stuff they expect us to take along. During basic training, they have most ponies carry these weighted saddle-packs filled with sand, just so ponies become strong enough to carry the equipment they’d have to take in a real operation.”
Twilight furrowed her brow. “I know they put the Royal Guard through some rigorous training, too. Shining Armor’s told me stories kind of similar to that.” She then looked to the ground. “But I guess your ponies have to prepare for more, where you come from.”
“It is what it is.” Nighttide wrapped a metal foreleg gently around Twilight’s withers. “Thankfully, your ponies don’t. Not now at least. And if we have anything to say about it, we’ll make sure ol’ Riptide doesn’t change that.” Twilight returned a soft smile, though Nighttide could see she was still uneasy. “Hey, c’mon.. It does you no good to keep worrying about it.” She gave the alicorn a knowing look.
Twilight tilted her head away. “I’m sorry. It’s just… hearing about Equestria’s history? I’ve been through a lot these past years, and I’ve always considered Princess Celestia to be someone I could trust, no matter what.” Twilight paused for a moment as she looked in the direction of Canterlot. “And I still feel that way. For all I know, Riptide really could have just been making it up.”
“Maybe.” Nighttide wasn’t going to push the point any further. “We’ll figure it all out in the end. Just keep your head up until then, alright Princess?”
“Please,” Twilight said, lifting a hoof and turning away, “don’t call me that. Not right now at least.”
Nighttide nodded softly and stepped aside as Twilight trotted forward to gather the others together.
__________
“So, uh… where exactly are we headed?” Rainbow Dash flew in closer to the balloon as Fluttershy glided beside her. They were just beginning to fly over Sweet Apple Acres.
“To the Appaloosan mountains.” Twilight pointed in the direction of a few snow-capped mountains in the distance. “That’s the direction Riptide was last headed.”
“Gotcha. Ready, Fluttershy?”
The timid pegasus gave her a quick nod and a smile, about as ready as she would ever be.
“Alright then. I’m gonna fly on ahead of everypony. Fluttershy, when you get to the mountains, just… swoop around or something, look for clues. I’ll find you when you get there and see how you’re doing.” Rainbow Dash was in a particularly good mood, ready for an adventure that would make use of her flying skills. And thanks to her excitement, she was more than happy to cater to Fluttershy’s nervousness this time.
But, to everypony’s surprise, Fluttershy seemed to be relatively collected. “Alright, you go on ahead then. I’ll see you soon.”
“’Kay.” Rainbow Dash took off at full speed for the mountain range, contorting a few clouds as she passed alongside them.
As Fluttershy pushed slowly ahead, Pinkie Pie leaned over the side of the balloon’s basket. “Good luck, you two!” She waved the two pegasi off while Applejack and Rarity took in the view. Over in another corner, Twilight and Nighttide sat talking together.
“Ah, crap.” Nighttide had just remembered something important. “Twilight, you may want to tell your Princess that tracking signal I mentioned may not help after all.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…” Nighttide glanced over the side of the basket. “When that ship has its cloak engaged, it seems to conceal the signal. My sensors literally bounced right off of it, so it acts as a kind of containment field as well.”
“You know, you never really did explain to me what you found out about the ship. And I still need to look again at that image of Riptide’s magic device.”
“Right.” Nighttide did her best to fill Twilight in on what she knew during the slow flight forward. Trying to keep it concise, she eventually got to the part where they escaped. “When we flew off the deck, did you notice how the ship vanished shortly after we were airborne?”
“Sorry, no. I was too busy carrying somepony.” Twilight smirked.
“Yeah, fair enough.” Nighttide grinned sheepishly. “Well, it did disappear, and more than likely because we passed through the cloak field. We were traveling so fast in the air, I couldn’t tell when or if we passed through it, but I noticed my report said the tracking signal was detected whenever we were on or near the ship, and that it was lost when we weren’t.”
Twilight sighed as she stood up to look over the basket’s rim. “Well, that’s okay. Hopefully the Royal Guard or Rainbow Dash can find something.”
“Or Fluttershy!” Nighttide chirped.
Twilight laughed. “Yes, or Fluttershy… I sure hope she’ll be alright out there.” The two sat together in silence for a moment, watching as they slowly inched closer to the mountain range in the horizon.
__________
About an hour had passed. They were now flying several hundred meters over the leading edge of a snowstorm and were probably still a few kilometers from contact with the mountains. Nighttide was sitting on the floor of the basket listening to Pinkie Pie tell the story of how she got her cutie mark, when suddenly, a blip appeared on her sensors.
Nighttide sat up and looked over at Twilight. “I think I found it.”
“You mean Riptide?”
Nighttide stood up and looked over the basket. “I’m trying to fine-tune the signal now… give me a second.”
Nighttide closed her eyes to get a better view of her retinal display, which showed a fairly defined blip tucked inside a crevice between two nearby mountain peaks. As she zoomed in on the image, she could see there was a flat section of land just big enough to land something the size of Riptide’s ship.
Nighttide looked over at Spike. “Contact the Princess. The tracking signal is between those two mountains in a small clearing.” She pointed over the side to a large peak directly in front of them and a smaller one beside it. Everyone stood up to see where she was suggesting.
“Um…” Spike looked up at Twilight. “What do you want me to say?”
“I’ll trust you with it, Spike. I need to fly ahead and let the others know.”
“Oh, uh, sure! I can do that!” Spike had only ever been able to write personal letters to the Princess in the past when he and the others had been assigned to report on lessons in friendship. Both nervous and excited to be tasked with writing an important letter like this on his own, he pulled out a scroll and quill as Twilight jumped over the side of the basket, spreading her wings to glide forward.
“Twilight!” Nighttide shouted down. “Radar’s picking up one fast and one slow moving contact just around that smaller peak in front of us. Betcha it’s Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.”
“Got it!” Twilight awkwardly flapped her wings, trying to gain some speed and stability as she worked her way toward the mountain. Spike had just finished writing the letter to the Princess, and with a puff, the letter was on its way.
“Hey Pinkie.” Nighttide walked over to the corner where she was now standing with Applejack and Rarity. “Is there any way for us to steer this thing?”
“You bet!” Pinkie reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a small white tube, which she shook with her mouth until it opened up into a huge, brightly colored paper fan. The others looked at her, but only one was shocked at the sight.
“Seriously?” Nighttide blinked as Pinkie proceeded to start flapping the fan over the side of the basket. Indeed, it was changing their course, but not quite as fast as Nighttide wanted.
“Here, I’ve got a better idea.” Nighttide stepped over to one corner of the basket and asked the others to gather around her. “I’m gonna try using my working engine to propel us forward, but I’m gonna need you all to hang onto me so I don’t end up flying over the side.”
“Not a problem,” Applejack replied as she, Rarity, Pinkie, and Spike braced themselves in front of the mare. Nighttide released her right engine, and with a little sputter, the engine slowly came to life.
It was a good thing there were the four of them to hold her in place, for even at its lowest throttle, the little engine pushed the basket so far forward that it began to tilt upward. The four of them shuffled a little in place as they tried to hold their grip while Nighttide continued examining the tracking coordinates, making sure they were on the right path.
Once they had enough momentum, Nighttide disengaged her engine, and Pinkie Pie walked over to adjust the balloon’s burner. A few minutes later, they could see a colorful blur off in the distance flying toward them, a faint yellow dot trailing slowly behind.
“Hey guys!” Rainbow Dash clambered into the basket. “So, you found the bad guy?”
“Yeah, I think so,” Nighttide said. “But, where’s Twilight?”
“What d’ya mean?”
Nighttide suggested to the horizon where Fluttershy was laboring to make her way back to the balloon. There was no sign of Twilight.
“Oh yeah… heheh.” Rainbow nervously rubbed the back of her mane. “Well, she was a little slow, y’know? What with those new wings and everything? So I just decided—“
“To leave her behind?” Applejack interjected with a frown.
“Hey, I didn’t leave her behind! She flew past me to grab Fluttershy.”
Soon afterward, Fluttershy climbed into the basket with a frantic expression. “Girls, something strange just happened.”
Everyone turned to Fluttershy. “What’s wrong?” Rarity asked. “Where’s Twilight?”
“That’s just it. Right after Twilight found me, we saw this flash between those two mountains.” She pointed in the general direction of the tracking signal. “It was down in a clearing, just past the storm. We only saw it for a second – after that, all we could see was snow.”
“Alright, fine,” Rainbow replied impatiently, “but where’s Twilight?”
“She told me to fly back here while she checked it out. But when I looked back a few minutes later, I saw her flying toward the clouds below!”
Everyone looked over the side of the basket. After a few seconds of scanning around, Nighttide picked up a slow-moving blip on her radar. Just barely noticeable in the distance flew the alicorn, circling around the mountain toward the snowstorm.
“What’s she doing down there?” Nighttide shouted as she pointed down at the purple dot in the distance. “Doesn’t she know that’s a storm?”
“I dunno,” Applejack said as she spotted Twilight herself, “but if she keeps goin’ like that, she could get hurt!”
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Rainbow confidently remarked as she dove off the side, racing toward Twilight.
Several seconds passed as they watched Rainbow Dash speed toward their friend, but before she could reach her, Twilight was enveloped in the clouds. Rainbow Dash skimmed above where she disappeared, trying to find a good approach angle. But then she slowed to a hover.
“Something’s wrong,” Rarity commented. “Pinkie, is there any way we can get down there?”
“Leave it to me!” Pinkie Pie jumped up and turned the balloon’s burner off completely, allowing them to descend a little faster.
Nighttide looked over at Spike as a peculiar thought crossed her mind. “Hey kid, you got anything back from the Princess?”
“Not yet.” Spike found it a little odd that Princess Celestia was taking so long to reply. In the past, she had almost always promptly responded to any letters meriting a reply. “Maybe she’s busy with something else.”
As the balloon continued to descend faster, Nighttide followed Twilight’s pattern with her radar. She was now buried within the storm, her path remaining fairly straight and steady, heading toward the tracking signal. It would have been one thing if Twilight just happened to be flying in its general direction, but for several minutes now, Nighttide noticed she had maintained her course, a near perfect straight line for the signal just a couple’ kilometers ahead of them.
Rainbow Dash flew back to the balloon, a look of panic on her face. “Guys, I lost her! What the hay is she doing anyway?!”
“I don’t know,” Nighttide said, “but something’s odd about the direction she’s headed.” She filled everyone in on what she had noticed.
As Rainbow Dash took a moment to preen her feathers in the basket, Spike thought of something else odd. “Hey guys.” He turned to both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. “Did you run into any of the Royal Guard while you were out there?”
“No,” Rainbow Dash answered. “It was just us until Twilight showed up. How about you, Fluttershy?”
“Sorry, no. When I got to the mountains, I didn’t see anypony until you found me.”
Applejack sighed. “We never should’ve let Twilight go out there on her own.”
“Well, how else could we let Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy know to meet back here?” Pinkie suggested. The other ponies nodded in agreement, but it didn’t change the desperate nature of the situation.
With a flap of her wings, Rainbow Dash flew off the side of the basket again and turned to the others. “I don’t know about you ponies, but I’m not one to sit around and wait for something to happen. I’m going in after her!”
“Hang on a sec,” Nighttide shouted as she activated her hologram. On the display was a map of Twilight’s trajectory, as well as the location of the tracking signal. “With where we’re positioned right now, if you fly toward this blip here,” she pointed to the highest dot above her, “you’ll be flying the same path as Twilight. Right now, I can’t get a lock on her elevation, but she’s down there in the storm somewhere. Just fly in that direction.” She pointed off the side of the basket.
Fluttershy walked up and looked at where she was pointing as well, then turned to Rainbow Dash. Without so much as hesitation in her voice, she said, “I’m coming with you.”
Rainbow Dash blinked at her friend. “F-Fluttershy, I don’t think—“
“Listen, Rainbow Dash,” she interjected firmly. “Twilight is in trouble. This isn’t like when I was trying to help gather rainwater for Cloudsdale.” She looked Rainbow Dash straight in the eyes and repeated, “I’m coming with you.”
Rainbow Dash had rarely seen Fluttershy so serious. She took a few seconds to examine the hologram, then looked again at Fluttershy.
“Are you sure?”
Fluttershy smiled. “I’m positive.”
Rainbow Dash gave a short nod, and after a second, she went into a nosedive, Fluttershy following behind her. Nighttide was impressed at the sight, but the feeling passed silently as she continued to monitor Twilight’s trajectory.
The balloon continued its descent for several minutes, slowly closing in on the clouds below them. Pinkie Pie reignited the burner to slow their fall as Nighttide worked to figure out a good landing spot, but then—
“Hey, does anypony see that?” Applejack pointed down at a distant clearing where a bright blue flash was beginning to grow. Nighttide picked it up as a solid object, much like the cloak from earlier. But something was different. It almost looked like a shockwave.
Everypony watched on, figuring in time, the flash would dissipate. But it continued to grow, heading straight for them. Their eyes widened.
“Brace for impact!”
Nighttide and the others dove to the floor of the basket as the shockwave slammed into the balloon, knocking everypony into each other and sending Spike off the side. He grabbed onto one of the leading ropes as the basket whipped wildly in the wind. “Help! Somepony help me!”
Rarity spotted Spike struggling to hang onto the rope and used her magic to pull him back inside, tucking him between herself and the corner of the basket. Applejack and Pinkie Pie had been tossed to the other side and were now holding onto each other, while Nighttide struggled to stand to her hooves.
Their trajectory had been skewed. The balloon was now dropping at a violent rate toward the clouds below. Nighttide carefully looked up, trying not to lose her balance, and noticed the burner had been knocked onto its side. The flame still shooting out the end was now scorching the frame that held it in place.
Nighttide met eyes with the other ponies. They all realized their predicament. As the balloon increased velocity, everypony’s heart sank into their stomachs.
Pinkie Pie clutched desperately to Applejack. “What are we going to do?!”
Nighttide carefully worked her way over to the edge of the basket, the ever decreasing gravity trying to knock her off balance. Off to the side, Rarity grabbed hold of Spike and held him close to her chest.
Once Nighttide crawled to the edge, she looked down and said, “No… at this rate…”
Without so much as a word, Rarity closed her eyes and brought her horn to light, the familiar whistle of magic penetrating the rushing wind around them. Slowly, the balloon was wrapped in a soft blue aura.
“Rarity,” Applejack called from the far corner, a stunned look on her and Pinkie Pie’s faces as they held onto each other. “Can you…?”
Just as the balloon was about to dive into the clouds, everyone was wrapped in the same glow. But Nighttide noticed something strange about the magic.
“Celestia, please let this work—” Rarity spoke through gritted teeth as she held on as tight as she could to Spike.
Then, a large flash encompassed everypony. The balloon, and all its passengers, vanished.
__________
“… mm… hm…”
Rarity slowly regained consciousness. She could feel a soft, cold substance surrounding her body, the only source of warmth residing between her and her saddlebags. Her head felt like it was spinning, and the only thing she could hear was the sound of a violent wind whipping around her. She flicked her ears in either direction, trying to see if she could hear anything or anypony else. But there was only the wind.
She tried opening her eyes, but found her fake lashes had tangled themselves in a matted substance on her cheek. She wiped her eye with a hoof and pulled it back.
“… wha… what is…?”
Rarity’s hoof was covered in a sticky red liquid. She blinked for a moment, not sure what to think. Then, slowly, she brought it up to her nose to smell.
It was blood.