The Chaser: Secret of Golden Oak Library

by FaithRomeyer

Chapter 4: Aero

Gotta deal with crap in life sometimes kids. Kind of feel bad they have to hear this from me instead of their parents who are probably having a sick trip from them right now. Their minds are still too young to have any dreadful idea, they shouldn't be thinking about death or crime this age.

I take a brief look outside to enjoy the wondrous glance of the spying moon, still shining crystal clear and bright, bringing in my mind another tangling mess for this night.
Of all places, they pick this one to hide the herd. It wouldn't be only Pegasus if it landed, anyone could take a peak at this dump and blow it skyhigh. Combine with the fact that there's a boatload of cheeses in both cells I've visited, it doesn't add up for this ship to be raking in ransom cash.
I'm still having trouble trying to sort this buffalo crap in order. This airship, is it a temporary deposit tank for storing children or a hideout for cretin's cretins?
...
Something tells me the foals were set up for the captain to get his behind-bar ticket. They really want to be ratted out by the police that much?...Does this green barn even have the siren to put on anyway?
But if they do want to be found out, why the need to silent the kids and I? Sleeping drugs and ropes should be enough for a good reaction. Bloody hell!! Why am I being so worked up over a bunch of lemmings?

"Know anything about airship flying around, kids?" I join the conversation with them.

"Airship?" This time it is Lode who takes over Flurry's opening. "Are you talking about the normal one or the Aero?"
There is more type than one?

"The one with a baloon? No. I'm talking about this aircraft right here."

"Oh, you mean Aero...Wait, you don't know about it?"

"Not a clue. So what's the deal with this Aero?"

"Eh..." Everyone seems to be confused by my question somewhat, eventually he starts to speak. "Their commencement was everywhere because Princess Celestia made sure that nopony would miss it."

"...Hold on. Since when did that happen?"

"Like years ago." Loft says with Lode and continues from there. "I don't know what date it was though."

"Then how big was it?"

"Pretty big!!!" Oh my dear Winter, how have I missed you already. Flurries is one hell of a drug. "There were fire and star! Everypony got to eat cakes and party altogether. Even the Lord of Disharmony was there!"

"Discord?"

"He called himself so, he also said it was a special occasion and he just wanted to have fun." Letting out a smile, she says. "It was a very wonderful day for all the ponies in all Equestria!!"

"Interesting. So who built it?"

"Eh?"

"The engineers, kids." Not much recollecting to be done it seems. "Who are they?"

"Uhh...Anyone know?" Flurry's turn to ask her friends.

"No..."
"...I was eating cloud candy at the time."
"...Umm? Ms Hawk, I don't really know much but...can I speak?" Time for Storm, the bright young lady to crack the case.

"Sure, fire away." I nod.

"Princess Celestia said that, these ponies were ill at the time so they couldn't attend."

"...Then that could have been arranged for another day don't you think?" I fail to see the rush. "Can you tell me more about this matter?"

"Yes. The thing was, they caught the flu right after they'd finished the preparation so there was nothing they could do."

"Still don't see the problem to not save the entrance for later. Were the princesses the only ones who gave the bad news?"

"Umm...No. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia along with Mr Discord said that."

"Alright. Can you at least tell me the names of those who were responsible?"

"...There were 6 ponies and their names were..weird." Must have been pretty bad for her to throw that remark. Good thing my name fits their vocabulary. "I didn't remember much. Princess Celestia only mentioned their names once before the show continued."

"But didn't you find their names weird?" I ask, curious. "Like how weird are they?"

"...It's because, I couldn't pronounce them right."

"That hard-?"

"That's right!" Flurry cuts me off before I could even finish. "Those ponies were up to no good I know it! Being all mysterious and creepy..."

"Flurry?" Loft, her matchspeaker, does her role. "The Princess would never be with anypony like that."

"Oh...right. But then they wouldn't tie us up like that! And they nearly killed Lode for Celestia's sake!!"

"Flurry!! Enough about it already!"

"Really treadmilling conversation we're having here." Once again Flu, please just shut up when I'm talking. "What you've been meaning to tell me is that these Aero are legal, is that right?"

"Legal...? What is that?" Says who but her.

"It means to be accepted by authority to transport peop-ponies and goods, stuffs like that."

"That is...legal? Then yeah I guess." Despite saying that, she doesn't look like she understands much. I wouldn't too if I were her, never cared about it before.

"And Aero is the brand name for this aircraft. Nothing else?"

"I think so."

"Not a really hot topic for you huh?" I go onto the next part. "Besides from being the cargo load, does Aero have anymore purpose lined up to it?"

"Uhh...I don't know." Finished her answer, she looks to the other ponies. "Do you?"

"Some ponies sometimes hold a party here." Lode says, waving his right front hoof up and down before me while looking sideway at the rooftop like he was trying to remember something. "...Umm, I was eating Spring Roll with my parents when we were getting home from Hoofington when a group of ponies came to the largest table in the restaurant. Apparently Aero is sort of like a party house."

"..." I wait for him to finish collecting his thoughts.

"Oh right! There was also a dance floor and there were a band and a stage singer performed late that night." Stage singer? Well, that's new to me. "My mom said it got everything for everyponies. Even the hairdresser was there too."

"Too many for a 5-star B&B.." Dammit! Me and my stupid mouth again. "It's like a cruise, right?"

"Cruise...? What is that, miss?"

"...Never mind. So, except for Lode is there anyone else who ever rode this ship?"

"No."
"No, clouds are a lot more comfier."
"No."

"I...see." Sighing, I begin to end the topic with the colt. "Does Aero appeal to others like Griffin or Minotaur, Lode?"

"Sorry...I don't know."

"...Okay, just out of curiosity. Has there been any incident with Aero before? You know.. like fire, kidnapping or thing like that?"

"I, I don't know either." ...Great.

"Earlier you mention airship having multiple type, what about it?"

"...T-that's it miss. One runs on baloon and one on steam."

---

Scrubing my messy hair, I see no need to confuse them anymore than they already have. Although I picked the wrong audience to ask, I got the picture. Aero is no stranger to voyage trip except it's in the air and can land anywhere it wanted to, guess ponies got higher standard in class than men. Wonder if there is any pirate looting their loot around? This cruise may turn out to be one of them. So far it's leaving me a bad taste and once I get out of this hell hole I'm gonna make sure to bring this pile of junk along whether they want it or not.
And before doing that...There is still one thing I need to make sure of.

"Tell me, chit." I ask Loft, Flurry and Storm...mostly Flurry or Loft, or just Flurry. "Is there any pegasus or guard patrolling at night?"

"Of course there are! You don't know about that?"

"No wings last time I checked. So do they have their own Aero or what?"

"..! Er..about that. I don't know." Her face when I ask, clueless and daunting.

"So far you've only seen them flying bareback, huh?"

"Yeah...Sometimes. They're always ignoring everypony..." Going on patrol naked and late this night with that attitude will guarantee their nuts frozen solid. I'll go on and assume they have one. Pegasus or not, it's freezing out there.

"Well. Figure they'll see us by now if they don't suck so bad at their job, don't you think?"

"Hey!! Don't say..." She pauses then turns to look at the windows. "...that."

"Just teasing you, don't worry about it." I shouldn't have said that indeed. "Bad luck happens all the time and this ship is legit to be flying. Wouldn't surprise me if I heard they were having a drink right here."

"..."
Real comedian you are, Hawk.

"What's about Princess Luna's guards? And is she supposed to be watching over the night or something?"

"Miss! Now you're just being rude!" I think I can nail down Loft's favorite topic to talk about now. "Princess Luna, she-!...She always watches over us!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to come out that way. Just want to double-check."

"I-I'm sorry."

"..." I try to come up with something stupid to cover up for my ignorance. "Why don't you tell me how you see Princess Luna, squirt? "

"About... her?"

"I'm not much a fan of the night and I've never asked about her before. So?"

"She..." Brows turn further in deep thought, she clings her hoof dearly to her chest as she begins. "She is the Goddess of the moon. She...She always comes and talks to me when I was down."

"...Meaning?"

"When I had a bad night, she was the only one who understand me and play with me. Princess Luna, she is the kindest, the best."

"Any chance of you telling me what's your bad night about? Or is it your dream I'm getting at?"

"Yes!" Saying, she turns her head to look at me. "She was the one who kick the scary ghost away."

"A GHOST??!!!" Keep your volume down Flurry.

"T-the...It was in my dream." Flush quickly rushes into her cheeks as she's speaking, looks like she wasn't really open with her friends about that issue. "But it's just keep coming back every night now and then. I don't know why!"

"..'Kay, not gonna comment on that." I save her from grilling herself up with embarrassment. "Basically whenever she appears she is always the heroine. Is that what you're saying?"

"Um!" Still on the hot zone, she nods.

So this Alicorn got a good fanbase going, if not the same to brony. Screwing others with their guards down, that should earn her a wanted poster in my place but Loft's jolly-as-sandgirl grin tells me otherwise. She seems okay and harmless enough, probably a sweet talker chewing good gums too. Wonder how many night blogger got that cat's mumbo jumbo on a daily basis? Sound fun.
...
How are James and Dan doing back home? Have my parents called for my search? They must be worrying sick about me right now.

"Anything more about her you want to tell me?"

"...What're you suggesting, Ms Hawk? You don't think.."

"What?"

"That Princess Luna's Royal Guards should be helping us by now, right??"

"Yeah, she told you?"

"Uh...no. But I thought you knew!"

"I don't know. But they exist to do society a favor, to keep you foals off the daisies."

"B-but where are they now?"

"No idea. But keep your hope up, squirt. We're might gonna need their help to get out of here."

---

Time for the scary part, I need to wrap things up and play my card right.

- Aero is legit, ponies welcome it with open heart.
- The two princesses are weirdos.

Despite the names of the engineers never be mentioned more than once, everyone was happy and willing to ride on this new type of transportation a few years back and til now it's still being put in good use.

- There are guards patrolling at night.
- Both cells are quite hard to miss.
- It's pass midnight, the moon's bright.

If they're flying outside, they should have spotted me and the kids long before we even woke up. I doubt there is no one else trapped in this rat hole aside from us, they must have at least caught sight of one or two...Hell, they got the whole day to do their crappy job and they picked stargazing to be their priority. Is that it or am I missing something here?

- Luna erased the kids' memories and led them to her sister's land.
- There are guards patrolling at night.
- Aero is legit, ponies welcome it with open heart.
- The two princesses are weirdos.
...
- The kids are safe n sound back home, saved for CJ.

Doubting everything is not going to get me anywhere. Light's flickering and it's fading slowly away from this pony dumpster but I still need to cling onto it if I want to get out of here. Not the brightest bulb to get this story go to my way all the time, gotta have to trust my guts on this one.

- Aero is legit, ponies welcome it with open heart.
- This thing carries sweet cheese.
- Lode said this aircraft could be a star cruise.
- No one heard me when I dropped the bass, as I can't hear anything besides machine grunting.

VIP always goes to the top so I must be at the bottom where the sun doesn't shine, never heard of one carrying dairy sack on their head...except my favorite out of the six, Pinkie Pie, I remember she wore it once.
Hnn! Can't believe thinking of her cheers me right up. Maybe I should stop being a sinister asshole and joke around a lot more, it takes all kinds to see a pony in real life, I'm sure they want to share a few laughes with a human too.

- Lode nearly died.
- Both cells are quite hard to miss.
- No one heard me when I dropped the bass, as I can't hear anything besides machine grunting.

Are they really that pigheaded they left their post? If they had been sawing logs the whole time then man...Guess they were so stupid that they sprayed my poison onto themselves. Am I dealing with small-timer or who?

---

Questions after questions, can't take a stroll without them knocking once and not one bell have I yet rang.

"Ms Hawk?...You are being like that agggain." Christ, who is that floating blue filly who's always pecking my rear? "Can we just get off this stupid ship already? If you're going to think of a plan, I'd say we grab you and Lode out of...there!"

She points to the windows where everyone turns to look at like it was a miracle. Tough crap, kid. I'd be diving 6 feet under to eat mud if you haul me around, no thanks. I'll stick to the cheese.

Author's Note:

You guys got any brilliant escape plan for me? Cuz I feel like I have gotten kind of offtrack from what I originally intended.

Comments

[Amethyst Blade]

Well...Since you seem to be bashing on the beloved LuLu...the red bar is gaining territories...
no escape for you if you keep getting side tracked...

[FaithRomeyer]

6673855 That would suck alright. I'm more of a trash talk type of guy, bashing sounds too heavy for me. Don't plan to anyway, one hell of a hassle to find the right awfulness. Does my writing strike you as such?

[Amethyst Blade]

6674165 I'm not awake enough right now to comment on that...still sleepy...