My Little Dynamite: Book Two

by Fuzzyfurvert

Adolescent Fantasies

Princess Luna took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The ponies and diamond dogs that made the Corona’s navigational team collectively held their own breathing at the same time. Their charts and maps littered the tight area near the wheel, opposite of the tactical station, showed the surrounding mountains, tiny colored flags pinpointing minotaur settlements and installations.

Green for civilian. Red for military.

If their telemetry was accurate, the Corona was hovering above a civilian village called Goatheim. There were three grey colored pins stuck to the nearby peaks, places Equestrian intel thought might be secret military bases. Given the Minotauran airship closing in on them, that intel might be more accurate than they’d assumed.

’Equestrian intel,’ pfft...more likely what our dear adoptive niece or my sister’s bug have passed our way. Luna frowned, her thoughts swirling up memories of a younger, more innocent Cadance. I pray you are still in good hooves, Cadance. Celestia and I well know the sometimes monstrous strength of your guardian...but I fear Twilight’s lack of practical experience. It is not just your aunts that have gone soft from a long peace.

Luna opened her senses to the remaining magic that tied her to the ruins of the Gibbous Shield. The ghostly pull was stronger now, the ragged edges of what was once a nigh perfect work of weaved arcanic matrices sharper and more acute. She tilted her head, pointing with her horn toward the pull.

“That way.” Luna kept her eyes closed, savoring the sensation of her ancient spellwork on her horn ridges. She heard the navigation staff break their trance around her, maps and measuring tools shifting around on the limited tablespace.

“How far, Your Highness?”

“Hard to say...perhaps a day’s flight? Maybe a half? I do not know how fast this vessel can move.” Luna sighed, opening her eyes again and shrugging. “I would not call it ‘far,’ personally, but that is me.” She turned toward the navigation crew and was about to speak again when the Corona rocked noticeable to one side, spilling unbraced crew and everything on the table tops to the deck. A second later klaxons started to wail.

Voices, speaking fast and loud, competed with the sirens for volume in the command room, forcing Luna to press her ears tight against her skull. Her harness was on its side, twisting her uncomfortably and dragging her halfway to the floor. Luna kept her forehooves planted solidly, however, and fired up her horn to start righting those around her. “What was that? Where is Shining Armor? SOMEONE REPORT!”

“Th-th Shieldmaidens were on the upper deck checking defensive hardpoints!”

“Oh sweet Sisters I hope no one was thrown overboard!”

“We’ve got airponies…”

“Did something explode?”

“Did we hit…”

“Is the envelope stable!?”

Luna groaned, her telekinetic aura grabbing her own harness and setting it back on its wheels. Then she slapped a thick film over the warring klaxons, muting them down to a level that would not need to be shouted over. “Everyone, becalm thyselves! Are you not my sister’s hoof-picked elite? Get me information!”

“Yes ma’am!”

Luna turned toward the windows looking out over the stern of the airship, squinting at the closing minotauren ship. It was still quite distant, but there was a large smoky haze in the air between them, pierced by a streak of vibrant rainbow. The Princess squinted harder, tilting her head as she tried to figure out what she was looking at. Before her mind could make sense of it however, thunder rolled over the ship, accompanied by several bright flashes that lit the Corona from below.

“What is going on out there?” Luna shook her head again. “Are we being attacked?”

“Princess!”

Luna whipped her head around at the sound of the Shieldmaidens’ captain. Shining Armor galloped forward from the command hatch, skidding to a halt and saluting in a single motion. His armor rattled as he shook himself off. “Princess, I have some news.”

“Well don’t keep me in suspense.” Luna grimaced, one ear angling back toward the window as the thunder echoed off the mountainsides around them. “Report!”

“Ma’am! I was leading your Shieldmaidens across the deck to familiarize ourselves with the ship’s defenses when we saw the minotauran ship open fire with several missiles.”

One of the helms crew diamond dogs perked up at that, his eyes going wide. “Missiles? At this range? Unless those are some special munitions, there’s no way that they could have hit us.”

“Message below decks for a damage report.” Luna hissed tersely. “I don’t think that lurch we experienced was from a missile impact.”

“It’s wasn’t.” Shining Armor doffed his helmet, holding it to his chest. “After the missiles launched, ma’am, your sister pushed off the rear deck semaphore, as did one of the air pony crew. That’s what rocked the boat.”

Princess Luna stared flatly at Shining Armor, the command cabin going silent around them. Shining was just starting to fidget with the blace lace part of his shieldmaiden plate armor skirt when she finally drew a calming breath. “My sister did what?”

She growled low in her chest and whirled around without waiting for her captain to repeat himself. Luna’s horn flared to life with her signature blue-white aura, until it was almost blindingly bright. Arcane energies surrounded her for a second before reaching out to the windows that lined the wall and yanked them out of their frames whole. She layered them in front of herself, her magic twisting the rigid glass until it obeyed her will and magnified the image on the other side and brought the distant valley floor into sharp focus.

It took a second of tweaking and moving the glass panes turned enormous spyglass, but Luna honed in on her sister where Celestia was moving at incredible speed toward the distant village they had spotted at arrival. Even as she fined tuned the magnified view’s clarity, Celestia unleashed a burst of magic herself, the golden glow focused into a beam and pointed at an even smaller and just as fast target.

There was another flash and Celestia started to slow down. Luna changed her view to look at the minotaur village, gasping when she saw the sinking plume of smoke and fire that had been a missile seconds before. Thanks to her sister, it looked as though it detonated harmlessly enough just above the community’s thatch rooftops.

“Oh bother.”

Shining Armor swallowed a lump that had been forming in his throat, pearing over his Princess’ shoulder at the magnified image. “What is it?”

“My sister has been heroic, Shining. She’s saved innocents.” Luna rolled her eyes. “I’m going to be hearing her retell this story for the next thousand years.”

---

Back in the Present

The constant gusts of arctic wind whistled around the edges of the heavy parka Twilight wore. The clothing was made from fibers the caribou gathered from the boreal forests and treated somehow to make them as pliable as anything she could find on sale in a Canterlot boutique. It was fur lined and amazingly warm, but it was already starting to make her neck and horn itch. She could only imagine how it felt against Cadance’s wings.

Twilight spared the Princess a glance, peeking out between the layers that wrapped over her muzzle. The caribou even had a nifty trick for folding the parka in such a way that it funneled her own warm breath back along her face and down her body. It added just a little more comfort from the cold, but at the moment Twilight was thankful for every little thing that kept her from freezing to death. She could use her magic to put a barrier around them to keep off the wind, but making it anymore than big enough to fit herself alone was a quick way to expend all of her stamina.

Cadance walked steadily along in the ankle deep snow drifts, head held low as she leaned into the wind. With her long mane wrapped up and her wings covered, the Princess could pass for a particularly tall pony, but even like this, Twilight could see the stately grace of nobility in Cadance’s movements. She could see the determination to continue on in the face of this magical gale and the bone-chilling cold. That was the kind of Princess Twilight knew she would follow into the jaws of Tartarus and beyond.

Which, all things considered, I’d doing now. Twilight shook her head and looked ahead past their caribou guide to the hazy horizon. It was hard to tell a difference in the what and grey where the snow ended and the sky started. If the guide was right, they’d reach his tribe’s ancestral forest home before what passed as nightfall in the far northern tundra. Twilight just hoped the trees would bring some relief from the weather.

Next to Twilight, Cadance folded her ears back against her skull. The snow was bad enough, but the wind was enough to drive an equine insane if she allowed herself to listened to it. The supplies they had traded Spike’s gem snacks for was keeping the cold generally at bay, but it did nothing for the noise. Cadance sighed and looked back over her shoulder. Twilight was looking straight ahead, eyes on the goal like a true professional. For the millionth time, she thanked the stars above for her aunts’ wisdom in putting her in Twilight’s capable hooves.

Cadance smirked at that thought, wondering if they had done so to literally put her Twilight’s hooves. The Royal Sisters weren’t blind. They knew about hers and Twilight’s close foalhood friendship, their more than friendship year just before she was sent abroad. Aunt Tia certainly felt bad about breaking them up. She could tell, in no small part, thanks to Aunt Luna’s courses on reading other ponies.

Cadance sighed again. At this rate, she didn’t know if she’d ever get to really feel Twilight’s hooves working their magic on her. An arcane snowstorm was blowing from the caribou’s ‘forbidden lands’ and shapeshifting bug ponies were after her all across the continent. They needed to get back with the Sisters and find the source of all this mess or the dreams of Twilight that sustained her through all the harsh training would just be dreams.

Cadance looked back the way they’d come. Their trail was already starting to fade as fresh snow came down and whatever they kicked up was blown away. Spike and Zecora trailed behind them by a few more body lengths than the last time she looked. The dragon was fine, but the older zebra was really struggling.

If we don’t figure out something soon, it won’t just be my adolescent fantasies that get buried by this snow.

Comments

[Carapace]

A bit of a transitional chapter, but nothing wrong with that. It's set the table for something bigger in the near future.

[Nova Quill]

“My sister has been heroic, Shining. She’s saved innocents.” Luna rolled her eyes. “I’m going to be hearing her retell this story for the next thousand years.”

Heh, you sure will Luna.

Cadance looks back the way they’d come.

That 'Looks' should probably be 'looked,' but other than that, great chapter. Thank you very much for sharing Fuzzy!

[Fourpony]

Cadance smirked at that thought, wondering if they had done so to literally put her Twilight’s hooves.

"in"

I do hope all the things that were done to Crystal in the past are explained as well as what Crystal did to herself to become Chrysalis.

[AleaJactaEst]

W-what? I forget about this for nine weeks, and when I come back there's barely anything new? This is the worst! Possible! Thing!

[Fuzzyfurvert]

7760208
Sorry! I been busy. Next chapter needs an editing pass and will be out soon.

[AleaJactaEst]

7760298 Oh, no. No need to sorry, I was just joking Though, continuation is appreciated