//------------------------------// // 3 The Not-So-Great Escape // Story: The Twilight Enigma // by iisaw //------------------------------// Chapter Three The Not-So-Great Escape In which Rarity flirts outrageously with a Prince, Rainbow Dash speaks what appears to be nonsense, and Fluttershy saves, if not the day, at least the moment. May 3rd, 1014, Noonish On the roof of the Grand Arcade and onboard Nebula, on course for the Dragon's Teeth mountains, Marezambique An arrow missed Applejack by a hair's-breadth and shattered on the roof tiles next to her hoof. She shied away with a surprised snort and looked up. The archers couldn't see us, but they knew approximately where we were and had begun lofting their shots over the burning statue room at the top of the temple. Rarity used her blades to cut a few more shafts out of the air before I got a shield up. I used a flat disk shape because it took the least amount of energy to cast. That also meant it was fairly weak, but I kept it at an acute angle to the flight of the arrows, and it was enough to deflect them. I glanced back over my shoulder and saw that Nebula was closer, but the pursuing ships were gaining on her quickly. Nebula was built to be speedy but she was still a cargo vessel and the attackers were military craft, overpowered and deadly. If Fluttershy came to a stop to pick us up, they'd be on us and we'd have to fight our way out—if we made it out at all, given their numbers. An arrow cracked into the tiles near my front hooves and I thought for a second that it had somehow gotten through my shield. But it was blackened and smoking, and had come in at a low angle. The roiling energy of the magical traps had begun to gutter out and I looked back through the hole we'd broken in the wall of the statue room, past the blackened shoulder of the hyena god, and saw that two archers stood at the top of the stairs, along with the captain of the Elite Guard. The archer who had fired through the flames was putting another arrow to his bowstring. "You cannot escape, Blackmane!" the zebra captain called out. "Surrender and you will be treated fairly." Ah yes, Captain Blackmane, scourge of the Eastern Skies. I felt more like a hunted rabbit than a dread pirate at that moment. I didn't deign to answer, and it wasn't just because I couldn't think of a snappy comeback. I was summoning up the energy to turn my little disk shield into a hemisphere when Rarity stepped forward. "Your wound must sting quite a bit," she said, motioning to the line of red she had cut beneath the captain's eye. "Wouldn't you like a chance at revenge?" The zebra stiffened. "I assure you that I will treat you with respect. Despite what you might have heard of my father, I do not ill-use prisoners. You have my word on that." Rarity and I exchanged a glance. That was interesting. "What about a duel to settle this—misunderstanding? You and I." Rarity slid all but one of her blades back into their sheathes. "Your reputation would certainly be in no danger. If you win, you would be the one who had beaten the notorious Silver Mask, and if you lose— you'll be in very good company, at least." She was playing for time, of course. I really didn't expect the captain to go for it, but his head rose and he stared at her through narrowed eyes as the archers to either side of him exchanged nervous glances. "I win," Rarity continued, "and you let us leave with the gem." "And if I win?" "We surrender peaceably and..." she struck a pose; one which she knew showed off her figure very well indeed, "...I will personally reward such a gallant warrior." The zebra's nostrils flared. He was actually considering it, the fool. "Your Highness—" began one of the archers hesitantly. "Hot Frog Tongue!" yelled Rainbow Dash. The zebras were understandably confused, but we all knew what it meant and there were groans all around. Except for Pinkie Pie, who grinned and made a happy little oohooh! sound. I staggered a bit as I turned to look at the approaching Nebula. Sure enough, she had flown the H, F, and T signal flags from a weighted line: Fluttershy wasn't planning on slowing down. I did a quick estimate of the ship's course and velocity. If we remained where we were, there would be a good chance we'd be slammed into what remained of the temple wall at high speed. "This way!" I shouted and stumbled along the roof top to put us in a better position. "Oh dear," Rarity called over her shoulder. "We shall have to postpone our affair of honor until some other time, Your Highness." "Wait!" he called after her. "I agree to your terms! Wait!" I got us all into a tight group near the roof edge at the lower end of the building just as the "frog tongue" dropped over Nebula's side. It was a long piece of sturdy netting that would be easy for any pony to cling to... in ordinary circumstances. But the "hot" part of the signal meant that it wouldn't be ordinary at all. Nebula wouldn't be slowing down to make the rescue maneuver, but would drag the netting over us at speed. It was something I had planned for extreme emergencies, but had never thought would actually be used. "Rainbow, if any of us fall, you'll have to be the catcher. Are you up for it?" "Of course I am!" She grimaced. "But what if two of you fall?" "Pick yer favorite, sugarcube," Applejack drawled. Then Nebula was upon us. Exhausted as I was, I abandoned any attempt at grace or precision and just tried to jam all six of my limbs through the netting, hoping that at least one of them would stick. There was a confused welter of shouting and the clatter of roof tiles, and then I was yanked painfully skyward by my left wing. I scrabbled desperately with my forehooves until I got a decent grip and could take my weight off my wing. I ignored the agony in my shoulder and quickly scanned the rest of the net. We were all firmly, if not gracefully, clinging to the "tongue," with Dash soaring nearby. A couple of arrows zipped past from below, but then we were over the palace walls and out of range. All we had to worry about then, were the attack ships full of angry warriors coming up quickly from behind. Their archers tried a couple of shots, but at the speed we we traveling, their arrows were practically blown back onto their own hull. We were hauled aboard Nebula without any further injuries. "Ket!" I called out for my Third Mate. The changeling was by my side a few seconds later. "Captain?" "We got the Eye. It's in AJ's saddlebag. Get it stowed somewhere secure and well padded. We may be in for a rough time." "Aye aye, sir," she said. "Shall I send the doctor up to look at your wing?" Was it that obvious? "No time. Just get the gem secured." She scurried off with the eye and I plodded my way up to the quarterdeck, trying to shift my wing to a position that didn't hurt. "Good thinking, Fluttershy," I said to the wide-eyed mare who had a death-grip on the wheel. Her jaw muscles were bunched up in hard knots, and she just gave a warbling wheeze through her nose by way of reply. "Steady and precise," I said to her in a soothing voice, "just like you always are, and we'll get out of this just fine." She gave another little squeak, which I interpreted in as positive a manner as I could. "Twilight!" Rainbow Dash called out to me from where she stood, tugging at the locked door of the arms locker. "Give me a couple cutlasses and I can go to work on those guys' gasbags!" "Just a second, Dash." I lifted a spyglass out of the binnacle and studied our pursuers. "No, they've got pegasus mercenaries on board, waiting to close range. If you go out there, they'll swarm you." "We can't just do nothing! They're gonna catch up with us pretty soon, anyways!" I was well aware of that. I needed to slow them down somehow. I brought up my magic... and the world went dark. I staggered and dropped to the deck. The spyglass rolled into the scuppers. "Twilight! Are you okay?" "'M fine, Dash, I'm fine," I gasped, struggling back to my hooves. "No, you're not," Pinkie Pie chirped, pointing in turn at my injured wing and horn. "Your flapper's dragging and your zapper's flagging. You've got nothing left but your big ol' brain, and it's too mushy to hurt anypony if you hit them with it!" Years ago, I'd given up asking "why" about anything having to do with Pinkie; she had her own special brand of logic that most ponies accepted as indecipherable. But I'd come to appreciate her unique way of interpreting the world around her. It still took me a couple of seconds to get the message, though. "Right, right," I muttered, looking around the deck. There! "Rainbow, get that grappling hook and line and get to the top of the envelope. Go up forward where the zebras will be less likely to see you. Where's AJ?" "Down here, Twi!" I looked over the quarterdeck rail and saw Applejack raising her dripping muzzle from a water barrel. "Have you got enough energy left to haul a ground anchor up topside?" I asked. She eyed one of the huge iron hooks with a sour expression, but rolled and flexed the big muscles in her shoulders. "Ain't much more than a half-dozen hay bales would weigh, I reckon. Should be a cinch." I was asking a lot of her, I knew, but there weren't many options left to us. "Take it up through the accessway and meet Rainbow Dash at the top. Fix her line to the anchor when you get there." "Oh, I get it," Dash said, grinning. "Where do you want me to put the hook?" "Top of their forward gas cell if you can manage it. Try to avoid any frames or ribs. And no heroics!" I didn't like the gleam in her eyes. She twirled the grappling hook in a tight circle. "Twilight, this is heroic!" She was gone before I could protest. "Fluttershy, that weight up top is going to change our balance. Can you deal with it?" Sweet little Fluttershy shot me an oh, please look. "As long as it doesn't need to be up there for more than fifteen minutes." "No, it'll be gone by... wait, why is that?" She pointed forward. "I'm going to try to lose them in there." I turned to see the jagged line of the Dragon's Teeth dead ahead. At our altitude, we were well below most of the mountain range's peaks. It was a good plan. Our attackers could climb above us and out of the danger of collision, but their ships were made to attack and board other aircraft from alongside, and they wanted to capture us and retrieve the Eye, not wreck us. "Good. Hold your course." Fluttershy's mouth had gone tight again, and she merely nodded in reply. The waiting was excruciating. Ket returned from below and reported that she'd stowed away the eye of the idol. Then she began improvising a sling for my injured wing. "That can wait, Ms. Khaatarrekket," I told her. "Begging the captain's pardon," she replied, not stopping her work, "but if this engagement gets down to hoof-to-hoof, as it looks like it might, you'll be better off not being hampered by a dragging wing." "I... thank you, Ket." She gave a last tug to tighten the sling and said, "My pleasure, captain. Now, I know as how you don't like the using of it, but I also brought up your cutlass. Best to be ready for anything." She settled the scabbard's strap over my shoulders. I nodded glumly and turned to my Second Mate, a stallion from Saddle Arabia. He'd been standing at his post by the lee rail, as calm and serene as if we had been out for an afternoon's pleasure cruise. "Mr. Taleb, prepare the crew to repel boarders." "Aye, aye, captain," he said, in a low, serene tone. He crossed to the arms locker and used the brass key that hung around his neck to open it, then called for the crew to line up to receive their weapons. As Master of Arms, he already wore his own sword, a long slender blade that curved slightly from hilt to tip. My voyages were unusual to say the least, and the crew that stayed with me came to fit that description as well. They were quite a mixed bunch, but all good at their jobs. My first voyage out, I'd hired merchant airponies from Canterlot and Baltimare, but I seemed to lose and acquire crew at every port we visited, until Nebula's complement was a sampling of most of the peoples of the eastern hemisphere. I turned my gaze over the stern rail and went back to waiting. Fortunately for my nerves, I didn't have to wait long. Rainbow Dash appeared over Nebula's tail fin, streaking upwards and trailing a long line. The leading pursuer made the mistake of only sending two pegasi to intercept her. Dash not only outflew them but also managed a bit of aerobatics that caused the two mercenaries to collide with each other. One was injured too badly to fly and his partner had to save him from dropping like a stone, taking them both out of the fight. Four more pegasi flung themselves out of the airship, but by then Dash had set the grapple and turned back toward Nebula. The pegasi were confused. Why would we grapple with them? And at such a long range, as well? The small barbed hook was stuck in the envelope high above the long blade mounted on her nose cone. It was a shallow puncture, something that would normally be considered trivial damage. That's when Applejack heaved the ground anchor over the side. The heavy iron weight snapped the line taut almost instantly, and the grapple began ripping through the fabric. The pegasi were slow on the uptake and by the time they got to the line and cut the anchor free, the ship's forward gas cell had a gash three pony lengths long. As the gas rushed out, the ship lost lift and began to nose down. Her engines were already at full ahead, so the only thing she could do to compensate was to crank her forward elevators to the full up position. Like many airships built purely for speed, she didn't do well in extreme circumstances. She slowed and yawed drunkenly through the sky as her helmspony tried to deal with a suddenly cranky craft. Soon we were gaining distance on her, and the other two pursuers swung wide to pass their crippled companion. "One down," I muttered. = = = =