The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

Sky District

Gerardo Guillaume stood tensely on an escalator platform, waiting impatiently as it carried him closer to the skyport terminal. It felt half the speed it had been before, and while the rational side of his brain told him it was just his nerves, that didn't prevent his wings from ruffling, itching to take flight.

He stayed groundbound, however, the memory of no ponies soaring overhead during their earlier pass despite the high traffic volumes hinting that such an act was forbidden. Since more trouble was the last thing he wanted to incur, he waited, talons digging into the grate of the nigh-empty platform beneath him. Empty, that was, save for Howe.

"This place sure is emptier at night," the pegasus observed, resorting to stating the obvious to keep conversation going. "The moment the sun sets... boom! It's like a light bulb of ponies!"

The sun hadn't even finished setting. A few golden rays still shone out across the western mountaintops, though Gerardo wasn't looking their way. His gaze was fixed to the east, where a distant metal spire shone... Skyfreeze, if he had been correctly informed. The seat of government in Ironridge, and where he would hopefully find Chancellor Dior. That was based on a whole host of assumptions, of course, not least of which that the stallion would still be in for the day.

His plan for getting there as well was hazy at best. In fact, it was less of a plan and more of 'ask every pony you see until one of them proves helpful or throws you out,' and that was only one step up from hoping for the best and running in blind. But Arambai had said it would be possible, hadn't he? And perhaps Howe would make himself something other than a liability for a change. The odds weren't good, but they were what he had, and he would have to make do. Slowly, the platform slipped into its station, and he prepared to disembark.

"So? What's the plan, brother bird?" Howe asked, sticking to Gerardo's side and just out of his line of sight as they entered the atrium. "We're in the Sky District! Time for phase B..." He rubbed his hooves together eagerly, cackling under his breath. "What's phase B, again?"

"For you to be quiet," Gerardo instructed, "and not speak under any circumstances. Please."

Howe shrugged. "Whatever you say, bro. But don't complain when it makes me less helpful!"

"I have little worry of that," Gerardo whispered, scanning the atrium for an ideal first target. Like the ride in, it was much emptier than the previous afternoon, with very few ponies actively involved in going places. Those who were there stood idly, some yawning, others leaning against walls or laying on benches, trying to sleep. A lone passage on the far side of their level emitted a decent flow of ponies, likely passengers disembarking a single late arrival. And to the left, an information kiosk stood, lit with attractive blue lighting and sporting no line whatsoever. Gerardo blinked and stepped closer.

In the first stroke of good luck since the encounter with Selma and his guards, a perky pink hoof waved at them from behind the counter, and a pegasus quickly hopped out and strolled across to meet them. "Hey, Gerardo!" Slipstream greeted cheerily. "Didn't think you'd be here this late! What happened to your traveling companions?"

"They have been..." Gerardo flinched slightly. "Detained, I fear. If at all possible, I need to speak with Chancellor Dior, whom you told me about. Is there anything you can do to help me reach him?"

Slipstream's expression went from cheery to grave in a heartbeat, and her wings flitted outward in shock. "Wait, what happened!? I mean... you need to see the Chancellor?"

"I do," Gerardo answered with a nod. "I was referred to him by a friend for times of great need. If I can get his ear, he can help me, I am sure. Please, if there is anything you can do..."

Biting her lip, Slipstream glanced around the mostly-empty atrium, the sky above just beginning to show stars. "The Chancellor lives in Skyfreeze. His work is his home, and he almost never leaves, so you'd need to get over there. Umm..." She scrunched her eyes shut. "The transport between the terminals goes all the way to the tower, but to ride it that far, you need an employee's clearance. Everyone has one because it's where they payroll office is, but mine is only valid on payday and that's not for two more days..."

Howe mimed saying something, but no sounds escaped his mouth. To Gerardo's relief, he was taking his commandment seriously, if being unnecessarily dramatic about it.

"So we would need to find someone with a security clearance that is always valid," Gerardo mused, finding himself with a more immediate goal to work toward. His mind flickered through the list of ponies he had met so far in Ironridge, scanning. Slipstream had said she didn't have one. Howe, he didn't even have to ask. Anyone affiliated with the Defense Force was out of the question, as well. The Sosans... The Sosans. Particularly Shinespark. They didn't like the Defense Force, and he had been given a free invitation to return. He would likely get his sword back, and would have a high guarantee of help... and if anyone could get the required clearance, it was a factory chief, or someone who had their statue in a nearby museum. Unfortunately, Sosa was all the way on the other side of the city.

"That's just for the transit, though," Slipstream interrupted. "Once you're inside, it's fairly open. You know, because security is ugly? Skyfreeze is a show of wealth for the ponies who work there. So you could walk or fly, and maybe get in. Or course, it is night..."

"You say that like there is a road?" Gerardo asked, tilting his head.

"Well..." Slipstream hummed to herself, crossing her forelegs and looking away, embarrassed. "You could call it that... Follow me and see for yourself, though!"

---

"This is..." Gerardo swallowed, searching for words. "Certainly a way forward..."

Howe mimed something, which he paid no attention to.

Slipstream shrugged, hugging herself with her wings and shivering. "I'm sorry, but it's the fastest way!" Her mane moved slightly in the cold breeze, and she stepped back so that she wasn't taking the full brunt of it. "You asked for options..."

The 'way' she had led them to was an out-of-the-way waiting room nobody seemed to be using. One of the glass wall panels had, with some force from her, been propped open. The purpose of designing windows in such an environment to be opened was nebulous at best, but there it was, an exit to the world below preceeding a lengthy drop to a night-covered snowscape. Gerardo shivered. Howe mimed. Slipstream stood well out of the way, blowing on her wings to keep warm.

"Well, I suppose I have no choice," Gerardo admitted. "Flying in such conditions will be dubious at best, but I shall manage. Howe?" He looked sternly at the pegasus. "If you follow me and succumb to the weather, I am not carrying you. Understood?"

Howe nodded resolutely. Slipstream gulped. "Isn't that a little bit cold?"

"An amusing choice of words," Gerardo deadpanned. "However, this pegasus is largely responsible for getting my friends in the trouble they are in, and I have almost no sympathy for him at present. He and I have already discussed this, and there is nothing more to be said."

Slipstream stared again at Howe, taking a step away... but before she could respond, there was a gentle swish, and Gerardo's tailfeathers disappeared out the window.

---

Whump!

With a griffony impact, Gerardo hit the snow. His wings flexed mechanically, hitching several times as if rusted and in need of oil. Fortunately, it was somewhat dry and easy to brush off, but when he sank up to his chest merely trying to stand, there was little point to that. He puffed his coat, trying to keep the stuff as far away from his body heat as possible. Less worrying was the immediate coldness, and more the prospect that it could melt, soaking into his feathers. Finally wading to the top of a crest and getting a decent percentage of himself above the drift, he spread his wings fully, giving a few more experimental flaps in preparation for takeoff.

Whuddd! A dark shape hit the snow beside him, and he turned to see Howe. "Gah! C-Cold!" the pegasus exclaimed, before recoiling as if he had swallowed a lemon. "Er, shutting up again!"

Gerardo sighed, nearly acclimated to the cold enough to fly. Would he wait for Howe? It didn't feel right to strand the pegasus, even if he deserved it... but the night chill would only increase, and the lights of Skyfreeze shown in the distance in vertical golden strips, beckoning him closer.

Before he could make up his mind, there was a disturbance in the mountain breeze, and a third body hovered to a stop above him just before impacting the snow. His eyes widened. "Slipstream?"

"Brrbrrbrr..." The pink pegasus shivered, forelimbs tucked beneath her flimsy kiosk shirt and tail wrapped around her hind legs. "I hope I don't regret this. Let's go!"

"You're coming too...?" Gerardo asked, eyes widening as far as they dared in the chill air.

"You need a guide," she pointed out, pulling her head down against her body. "And I've never done something like this before! Maybe it will be interesting! But can we hurry?"

Hesitating slightly longer, Gerardo commanded, "Howe, let's go!" and took flight himself. His large, powerful griffon wings cut through the cold air with much greater ease than the two pegasi, and it only took a slow, steady rhythm of pumping them to stay airborn. In a way, he was disappointed, because it meant less work and thus less warmth... but they were hardly in the place to complain. Only slightly wondering how he was somehow indebting himself to most of the ponies he passed and when Slipstream would want something in return, he knifed eastward, making a beeline for the distant outline of Skyfreeze.

Comments

[alamais]

"You need a guide," she pointed out, pulling her head down against her body. "And I've never done something like this before! Maybe it will be interesting! But can we hurry?"

when Slipstream would want something in return

Oh she want sumthin' alright...

[ZanyZapper]

With Howe's miming I can't help but think he probably DOES have the clearance. Would serve Gerardo right.

[Hap]

8439656
ha! That might be true.

[avidreader07]

The 'way' she had led them to was an out-of-the-way waiting room nobody seemed to be using. One of the glass wall panels had, with some force from her, been propped open. The purpose of designing windows in such an environment to be opened was nebulous at best, but there it was, an exit to the world below preceeding a lengthy drop to a night-covered snowscape. Gerardo shivered. Howe mimed. Slipstream stood well out of the way, blowing on her wings to keep warm.

Emergency escape for those with wings? Or friends with wings?