Chapter 16: Fight or Flight
A flash, followed by a boom, leaked from the window. The airship trembled, but Daring Do and Twilight Velvet didn’t take much notice. That thunderstorm from outside had been going on for hours—more than enough time for both of them to relegate it to the backs of their minds. Even after they’d relocated to another storage closet, it didn’t seem like much had changed.
“You’d think they’d be asking us to dinner after we just bent them over on their own ship!” Velvet threw her hooves upwards. “I thought we had something special! Whatever, at least now I got time to tinker."
Resting her head on her hooves, Daring rolled her eyes, then smirked as Velvet balanced herself on her hind legs. Her protegee patted strips of duct tape fastened to the cuffs of her hooded leather jacket, making sure they held the hooks she strapped onto them a few minutes ago. Yes, the jacket was small, but maybe it could be put to good use…after some adjustments, that is.
“Hey! Hey, Do Dare, check this out!” Velvet curled her foreleg in front of her face. Hanging from the hooks on her foreleg, a rough, greenish-brown fabric hid the lower half of her face under shadow. Velvet’s eyebrows curled downwards as she dropped her voice several octaves into a growl. “I’m Bat-Mare.”
Daring reached out for a broom and poked Velvet’s belly with the top part of the handle. “So much for ‘eclair-filled blubber,’ eh? But, uh, Nightmare Night’s not in another two months.”
“Oh, don’t think for a second this is about warmth.” Velvet fired back at Daring’s cheeky grin with one of her own, then spread her forelegs outward, showing more of the hanging fabric. “This is for flying. Celestia knows how good you are at that, so I made this wingsuit to make sure I’m not totally helpless if—I mean, when I fall overboard.”
Daring huffed. She sent another poke at Velvet’s direction, this time in the middle of her fabric wing. A small crunching sound emanated from the fluttering membrane made of mish-mashed material. “Look, Celestia knows you don’t look bad with wings, but you’d look worse with a few bullet holes after tripping over them.”
“Careful, somepony might think you actually care.” Velvet wiggled her eyebrows at Daring. “But to address your concern, I duct-taped some magnets along with the artifact inside my saddlebags. If I have to fold my wings, I can just…”
After sitting on the floor, Velvet dropped her forelegs to her hips and slid them up the sides of her torso. The loops on her wings unhooked themselves, and it wasn’t long before her forelegs were free once more.
“Pretty cool, huh?”
Daring pursed her lips.
“Aw, I know you’re smiling deep down there!” Velvet scooted over to Daring, brought her closer with a one-legged hug, and pointed at her chest. “Real impressive jerry-rigging, right? Worthy of the Dual Nature Prize? Tell me how you really feel.”
Daring let out a half-amused “heh” and motioned Velvet to maintain social distancing. “Whatever you say, Neighcarus.”
“Hey! I am not flying to the sun!”
“Nope, only into a thunderstorm above the Fillyppines.”
A loud crack shook the airship. The Daring Duo flinched.
“Case in point.”
The junk in Broom Closet HQ 2.0 flew into the air, and the single ceiling bulb flickered twice. After straightening her helmet, Daring scoped the room, mists forming from her ragged breaths.
“Damn, that was louder than last time!” said Velvet. “Did that lightning just hit us?”
Another flash, then another crack drew Velvet’s eyes out the window. As she scurried towards it, the sound of Daring’s rifle being cocked bounced around the room.
“Check-out time. We have—”
Daring’s radio hissed to life and cut her off. Velvet glanced behind her just as another flash-boom combo punched the airship. “Bridge to Sartorius-Two!” a mare’s voice yelled. “Gimme a sitrep!
Outside the window, two pegasi and a hippogriff flew from left to right. One of them turned his head at a radio of his own. “Hull breach at the aft starboard area, over!”
“Son of a broodmare…” muttered Bridge before raising her voice again. “Photon-One, why is it taking so long for you to clear this storm?!”
Both Bridge and Velvet awaited a response. Out the window, many yards away, two pegasi kicked a gray, flashing thunderhead four hundred times their combined size. Their manes flapped behind them, and their wings looked like they were going to snap from the wind. Two griffons soon joined in, but not even the combined weather magic of four flyers did anything other than chip off little puffs.
“Photon-One, come in!”
“Bridge, this is Temple-Five-Two!” a third mercenary joined in. “Photon-One and Three are KIA! We have X-Ray contact!” Interference interrupted him for a second. “…looks like a pony, but it’s made of—oh shit! Sartorius teams, it’s coming over to you!”
Lightning slammed the four flyers. Velvet shielded her eyes and spun away.
When she opened them again, Daring was standing in front of her. Filtered through more white noise than usual, a cacophony of gunfire, yells, and crackling hisses flooded out of Daring’s radio. After flicking the radio off, Daring extended a hoof at Velvet. “Just in case you didn’t know, ‘X-Ray’ is mil slang for ‘powerful magical enemy of unknown species.”
Velvet rubbed her eyes, the afterimage of the rainbow lightning bolt burned in her retina, then took Daring’s hoof. “Comforting. So does that mean…?
“I hope not. Let’s get out of here before the customs police come knocking on our door.” The slight tremble in Daring’s voice gave her unease away as both mares broke for the exit. Velvet looked back and straightened the collar of her jacket. It was mostly out of reflex, but the crashing and shouting coming from outside the hull—this time, not filtered through a radio—certainly contributed to that.
Daring touched the knob.
The police came knocking, but not at the door.
A black silence flooded Velvet’s sight and hearing. Dust and debris swirled over her ears. Cold rain entered from a new hole in the hull and settled on Velvet’s legs, causing her fur to stand. The silence gave way to tinnitus as Velvet plucked her face out of the wall. Daring’s cries powered through the ringing, however faint they were.
“Twilight? Twilight!” A flying green and gold blob with rosy eyes lifted Velvet by the shoulders. “You okay?”
Velvet hissed, her hoof wiping the grime off her eyes and snout. “‘Okay?’ Psh, Okay is so out of fashion!” she said, removing her hoof from her nose and finding a bright red stain.
Light surged into the room again, this time punctuated by a hellish, crackling bellow. Velvet’s and Daring’s ears folded back, and they turned their heads to the source of the brain-frying noise. Velvet’s legs twitched, screaming at her body to jump up and hug Daring for comfort, but the sight of the X-Ray stunned every muscle into immobility.
It was her—The Demented Sculptor from the Cave.
Temple-Five-Two was only half right. Everything chest-up looked pony-like, and the X-Ray was pony-sized. But where were her…his…their…its hind legs? Where were the mane, the tail, and her face? The Lightning Mare’s body seemed to end at a bright mass of thunderclouds. An aura of mists and ever-pulsating sparks shone brighter than any welding job Velvet had performed. How this thing hadn’t blinded her permanently, Velvet couldn’t say. She was just glad it was facing something else towards the rear end of the ship—at least, if Velvet could make out her face at all.
The Lightning Mare turned her head. Multi-colored arcs flickered on her eyes. Velvet’s pale gray face turned even paler, and she looked away in reflex.
“Out, now!” Daring swung the door open and zipped into the halls. Velvet looked away and followed suit, her eyes grateful for a brief rest from light.
Broom Closet HQ 2.0—and part of the hall behind them—disappeared.
Velvet galloped down the hall, her mentor flying by her side. The Lightning Mare’s encroaching bolts ate away the airship’s hull. Metal ground against metal. Shredded, flaming aviation canvas fluttered in the air.
"What kind of lightning is this?!" Velvet licked her lips and panted. "It shouldn’t be able to rip crap apart like that!"
Exposed wires, both on the floor and the ceiling, sparked various colors. Velvet’s eyes traced the arcs as they snaked in cables unseen and erupted from the light fixtures.
She snapped her head in front of her. Daring’s helmet brushed against a ceiling lamp.
“Down!”
A telekinetic jerk yanked Daring to a lower cruising altitude. She scowled at Velvet, who pointed at arcs erupting from the hole where the lamp used to be. “You’re welcome!”
An outlet at Daring’s left sputtered. Velvet turned her head away from the sparks and to the chaos at her right.
The Lightning Mare gazed into her eyes.
Velvet’s eyelids and pupils hardened. Her eyelashes began to crust and crystalize. Oh fuck! Not again!
A snap echoed ahead of her, followed by a sting around her horn. Daring yanked her whipping leash, and with it, her pet’s head. Velvet blinked several times and shook her head, hoping the injury wasn’t permanent.
“Now we’re even!” yelled Daring. “Next time, don’t look at her eyes! Don’t you remember what the bison said?!”
“What, ‘Gentle but cursed?’” Velvet puffed out. She flinched sideways, dodging a destroyed door. “If this is gentle, I’d hate to see what she’s like in heat!”
“Shut up!” Daring pointed to a series of cream-white stairs at the end of the corridor. “We’re almost there! Save your breath for the final stretch!”
Velvet growled through her teeth. She revved her cylinders, kicking herself to high gear.
Ahead, in front of Velvet’s headlights, a third pony popped out a door. He jerked his head right and jumped back. “What the—two tangos spotted!” The reflex sight on his shotgun glinted in Velvet’s vision.
A burst of rifle rounds—two torso shots and a head finisher—silenced him. “I’ve got bigger problems!” Daring yelled at his falling corpse.
Speak of windigos, and they shall come.
A brilliant blue bolt carved the ceiling. Both ponies slammed on the brakes. They dove to the floor and curled into fetal positions. Shards of glass and wood bounced off their hides before Velvet opened one eye. What happened to their goal?
Nothing—the ceiling was gone, but the stairs themselves seemed fine. Why’d they stop?
The floor jolted downward. Velvet staggered. Her head darted around as metal groaned around her. “Shit! Daring, this whole hallway’s gonna fall!”
Nopony replied. “D-Daring?”
She was already at the foot of the stairs. “I’ll catch you; move your custard-filled ass!”
This was it: the sprint finish. Velvet slammed the gas as her leg muscles heated. The only thing missing was the smell of burning rubber.
Her hooves left the floor. The floor left her and took her stomach with it.
And the world ground to a halt. Shattered wood, metal, and flailing sparks whipped around in a hurricane. Velvet’s mane sizzled with electricity as her hooves reached forward, pseudo-wings flapping out around her. Daring’s mouth was moving in slow motion, probably pronouncing Velvet’s absolute coolness…
…or maybe not.
Then somepony hit the play button.
“Ack!”
She scored.
Coiling her hooves around Daring’s own, Velvet reflexively wiggled her hind legs and looked down. Wreckage plummeted and punctured the clouds below. They could’ve made for a cushion, if they weren’t pulsing with lightning. A pant condensed into mist, and Velvet turned to the source of all their weather anomalies.
The Lightning Mare wasn’t staring into anypony’s eyes. She didn’t need to. Several hailstones levitated in the air, surrounded by a blazing blue aura. “Pull me up! Pull me up! Pull me up!” Velvet’s voice cracked. “Miss ‘Gentle’ here wants to go skeet shooting with me!”
“Stop thrashing!” Daring flapped her wings, pulling her protegee up steadily. The business end of Velvet’s hooks came much too close and Daring winced. “If I wanted to get cut up, I’d just approach my nearest friendly neighborhood mercenary!”
Fast breaths gave way to deep breaths, and Velvet relaxed her hind legs. That said, she couldn’t help but paw at the step mere inches from her face. The frigid air behind her swirled. Velvet glanced behind. More hailstones surrounded the Lightning Mare. She twitched in her spread eagle posture, and Velvet could’ve sworn her cupped hooves were trembling.
Daring swept her wings forwards, pushing the rest of her body back. Velvet’s rear hooves made contact with the steps. Both mares crumpled into the stairs, Velvet taking a few steps up before looking back.
The hail blocked the sky behind the Lightning Mare. Facing downward, her twitching, arcing body floated towards the Daring Duo as they backed up the stairs. Then her neck craned upwards.
Her aura flickered, then dimmed. Arcs of electricity stopped sprouting from her eyes. The Lightning Mare threw her head backwards, then beat her head with her hooves. A high-pitched cry rocked the sky, stretching Velvet’s eardrums to her limit. This was a different species of cry, however: it lacked the hissing, static undertone. Something about it seemed less angry and more…anguished.
That, or maybe it was the fact that the Lightning Mare hadn’t stopped using her head as a bass drum.
Velvet blinked. “What is she doing?!”
“I dunno, the latest fad cure for migraines?!” Daring said as she cantered up the stairs. “I just don’t want to stick around and become a lawn ornament!”
Velvet took one step backward, one look at Daring, then another look back at the Lightning Mare. Her hooves grew cold, both from the temperature and from the sweat evaporating from her fur.
“Engaging X-Ray!” Velvet’s ears twitched at a distant stallion’s voice.
One loud thunk rang out, followed by a small explosion enveloping the Lightning Mare. The boom silenced her cry, but the fireball failed to snuff out her aura. Velvet’s breath quickened again as she took two more steps backward. The Lightning Mare’s electric aura was rekindling.
“X-Ray is not down! Repeat, X-Ray is not down! Cyclone Sword, cover me—”
The Lightning Mare spun around. The dust cloud dissipated. Her hailstones had found themselves a new target.
“Equestria to Twilight!” Daring snapped, and Velvet in turn snapped her eyes to Daring’s direction. “Do you want to get out of here, or do you want to be a clay pigeon?”
As Velvet followed Daring up the stairs, screams—both from the Lightning Mare and from her victims—echoed from outside and into her ears.
Two flights of stairs later, the Daring Duo found themselves in front of a hatch. While Daring lifted the hatch ajar and peered out through the space, Twilight Velvet’s ears folded. Rumbles, gunfire, and shouts seeped from outside and bounced around the halls, and a crack at the wall a few yards away flashed every so often. “Never thought I’d say this—” Velvet wiped cold sweat from her brow “—but I hope the mercs win this one. ‘Gentle,’ my ass.”
“I don’t want to hear about your ass. I wouldn’t discount the buffalo’s words just yet.” Daring took her helmet off and scratched her frazzled mane. She then propped the hatch open with the brim of her helmet before turning to Velvet. “The Lightning Mare did stop attacking us for a few seconds.”
“Ah, I understand now!” scoffed Velvet. “Dear Princess Celestia, Today I learned that if I shoot ponies, I can still be kind as long as I give them water breaks!”
The teacher smacked her student.
“Hush now.” Daring’s hoof pointed at the darkness outside the hatch as her grumble transformed into a whisper. Velvet opened her mouth, but stopped herself when the sound of hoofsteps drifted into her ears. “Besides, that wasn’t what I meant. I— never mind. We’ll talk about it later.”
Daring scooted over and gestured Velvet to join her in peeping. Bracing both front hooves at the hatch’s frame, Velvet complied. It was odd, transitioning from blazing light to near darkness, but thanks to the red strobing emergency lights, it didn’t take long for her eyes to adjust. There wasn’t much to say about what was on the right: just a railing overlooking a maze of girders and trusses. It was what was ahead of them, on another platform, that provided the real intel.
Four emergency seaplanes stood in a row from left the right, their noses pointing towards a blank wall of canvas. Closer inspection revealed tracks that the canvas could retract on, likely a mechanized panel. Several mercs buzzed about, servicing the planes or keeping watch. A diamond dog walked away from the Daring Duo’s direction, crossing a bridge connecting their platform to the mercs’. Snaking along his path was a bundle of four wires. They originated from a console just to the left of Velvet’s vantage point, bolted to a metal column where a giant spool of heavy-duty cable sat. From there, they branched out to four floodlights highlighting the asses of each plane. Velvet stroked her chin and grinned. Tech…finally she was in her element.
The silhouette of an earth pony mare turned to the diamond dog. “Damage report?”
“Everything’s in order,” the diamond dog called out, “the console’s fine. That last lightning strike didn’t short it out.”
“Good.” The earth pony looked left and cupped one hoof to her mouth. “You heard him, Kettle! Get Nightingale Five warmed up!” She then sat down and lit a cigarette, hanging her head down.
The diamond dog circled the commander and put a paw on her shoulder. “The flyers will get the situation outside sorted out.”
“Ha!” The commander waved him off. “I don’t know whether to salute them for volunteering to go out there or slap them upside the head. This shit is worse than an Everfree Forest squall. The most they can do is cover our escape…” She took a drag before blowing the smoke out slowly, rubbing the side of her head. “…and hopefully Sleet’s.”
A more masculine voice chimed in from the other side of the platform. “Yeah, don’t think she’s joining us anytime soon. Last I heard, she’s staying behind to get the ship to port.”
“Yet we don’t join in on the fun. Wish I got assigned to her skeleton crew.”
Velvet’s eyes widened at the new voice, and she muffled a light gasp. That mare’s flat contralto tone was unmistakable.
Another stallion butted in with an unamused chortle. “You want to stay behind and get turned to stone, Nightshade? You’re crazier than I thought.”
Daring studied Velvet’s expression, her eyebrow raising a tad. “Friend of yours?”
Velvet nodded as her forelegs tensed. “We can take her and her posse on, though.” Her eyes narrowed at a plane just behind the first stallion. “How’s that for our ticket outta here?”
Daring shook her head. “Seaplanes all shot to hell don’t fly too good.”
Velvet gave her shoulder a condescending pat. “Then shoot more carefully.”
Daring growled and recoiled from Velvet’s offending hoof.
Their conversation was interrupted by a whirring propeller. Flinching, they peered back through the hatch.
“Nightingale Five ready for launch!” the masculine voice from the other side of the platform called out.
The earth pony mare stood up and gestured towards the stallion’s direction. “First batch, get inside!”
Several mercs barked out orders at one of the planes. Velvet and Daring flinched. The propeller disappeared into a blur as part of the airship’s reinforced canvas swung open. In almost no time at all, the plane launched off the platform and disappeared into the thunderstorm. “If that last plane takes off,” Velvet hissed, “that doesn’t leave me with anything more than a flapping Bat-Mare cape knock-off!”
Daring shook her head. “Best to head to the crew loading area. There’s bound to be planes there.”
“For all we know they’ve got nothing left but fueling hoses! What if there’s no planes left?” Velvet tried to keep the rising panic out of her voice. Velvet pointed to their three remaining avenues of escape. “This is a sure thing! Why waste our chance?”
Daring gritted her teeth and made no reply.
Gunshots interrupted her.
Bullets bounced off the hatch’s heavy-duty metal. Red-hot shrapnel spattered at Velvet’s foreleg. She yanked her hoof back with a yelp while Daring drew her rifle. “Eyes on operation targets!” a third mare’s voice echoed from afar.
“Crap! Vel, tell me where she is!”
Facing the launching platform and holding the hatch ajar, Velvet sent a small spark from her horn to the metal grating. A tracer ricocheted from right to left, eliminating the decoy.
“Three…four o’clock?!” Velvet shrugged. “Sorry, can’t tell from here!”
Daring plucked her helmet, braced one hoof under the hatch, and growled. “That’s all the info I need.”
The hatch swung open.
Daring sprang up. Two quick bursts from her rifle silenced the spotter.
The pegasus merc tumbled over the catwalk from above and slammed into several beams before her body punctured the airship’s fabric, falling into the tempest below. Clangs resounded through the airship, echoing through the empty chamber.
One merc’s gunfire was replaced by twenty breaking the silence. Velvet and Daring took cover. Lead snapped through the air over their heads as Daring started back down the stairs. “Nope. Nope! Like I was saying—”
Brilliant orange, then a boom, blinded and deafened the Daring Duo. A couple of seconds later, Velvet shook her head as her senses returned. Her hooves reflexively wiped her face. Why was she sweating? Why was there still a yellow-orange glow at the bottom of the stairs?
The flames and wreckage at the landing answered these questions.
Daring scampered back, covering her snout with her hoof and suppressing a cough. Smoke billowed towards her and her protegee. At least the mercs had stopped firing. Chatter about whether the X-Ray had finished the job for them emanated from Daring’s radio. Daring hugged her rifle. “Fuck me, we’re trapped between a red-hot anvil and an overcompensating hammer!”
Velvet brushed some detritus from her coat, coughing before grimacing at her tail. It was rather singed…again. “Well, at least you’re talking to one hot mare!”
“Well, does the hot mare have any ideas, or is she just a bunch of hot air?!”
Struggling to stifle another cough, Velvet looked around before glancing upwards. The flickering green lights of the electronics console from earlier glinted off of Velvet’s eyes.
“Maybe.” She pushed Daring’s rifle against her chest. “You make use of this. I’ll draw their fire.”
Daring’s brows furrowed. “You’ll what?! Have you been snorting exhaust?!”
Rearing up behind the hatch, Velvet looked over her shoulder. “Find a good vantage point and cover me so I can work my magic.” She pointed a hoof overhead. “Get in those crisscrossing trusses or something!”
Velvet drew in a deep breath as she eyed the console. It was her turn to pop out and face the bullets.
Shit, I hate this plan already! Ugh, here goes!
Velvet sprang out the hatch. Bullets traced her trajectory. Diving beneath the cover of the giant spool, she failed to break her speed soon enough and collided with the column, her breath bursting out.
“Dammit!” One of the mercs cried from somewhere above her. “First the X-Ray and now this bitch?!”
Her back hugging against the cable, Velvet ducked under the console. More bursts of bullets pinged around her.
“Cutter! Take Tungsten with you and flank her!” said the earth pony mare.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Daring brought her rifle out. Her eyes following the unmistakable tracers, the golden angel of death took flight.
Daring’s rifle barked from its owner’s hip as it spat out casings, spilling into the black void below. Daring came to a hover behind the wide, metal column, holding her position several yards above Velvet while her protegee gaped up at her. “Eyes on your work, screwhead!” she yelled in response.
Right, right! Magic!
A cerise cloud tore the circuit breakers off the console. Before the lights could fade, Velvet sustained them with electricity of her own, narrowing her eyes and tapping her chin.
Uh…um…I haven’t thought this far ahead. What kind of magic?
Two bullets pelted the column above her. Velvet jumped backwards, then dove back under cover when a few more bullets nearly found their mark. Night Light wouldn’t want to see any part of her luscious flanks perforated.
Daring’s rifle clapped. Velvet’s tail curled near her body before a fallen griffon could crush it. As the metal grate floor rattled, Velvet’s eyes darted to the griffon, then back to the panel.
“Shit! Shit! Overload! Let’s do the simple overload!” Velvet grunted and grit her teeth. One of the blue, sparking streams surged and crackled. “They’re just lights! No need to overcomplicate it!”
A wire snapped. It flung itself off the console. After shielding her eyes from the sparks, Velvet traced a pulsing blue light snaking inside the wire. Her angry little electric friend skittered towards the fiends. They were none the wiser; most of them were too distracted by the greater threat in front of them.
“Vel, what the hell are you doing?!” Daring shouted from above, her own little angry friend making short work of a unicorn near a plane. An Earth pony dove to the floor and straightened out the bipod of his machine gun. Daring whipped back behind the column, the air to her left filling with lead. “Was this your brilliant plan: single-player dodgeball to sudden death while you—”
Consummating its approach, Velvet’s angry friend disappeared inside a floodlight. Velvet slammed her eyes shut and flinched, but a white blob lingered in her vision. An explosion, followed by the sounds of shattering glass and cries of pain, saturated the air.
Daring watched the machine gunner roll to his side, grabbing at his thigh. “Agh, dammit! Pull back, pull back! Anypony who’s wounded, get to Nightingale Four! Everypony else, regroup on me!”
Daring glanced at the mercs, then at Velvet, who crossed her hooves and smirked.
“You were saying?”
Daring only gave a small smile before nodding. She took potshots at the scrambling mercs while Velvet went on.
”What was that? ‘Brilliant plan?’ Why thank you, it was rather brilliant if I do say so myself. I was actually on top of the situation the whol-ly crap! Behind you!”
Two pegasi popped out from behind a girder. Daring glanced behind as Velvet charged her horn. One bit a bullet from Daring’s rifle; the other bit several hundred milliamps of bio-aetheric electricity.
There was a third flyer.
Phasing out of the shadows, a griffon grappled Daring’s stunned form from behind. One talon hooked Daring’s cheek; the other reached her neck. Daring’s left hoof trembled, the griffon’s talons close to her carotid. Daring’s right foreleg, trapped by the griffon’s elbow, pawed for her trowel. A flash of lightning revealed a thin trickle of blood from Daring’s lip. Velvet pranced in place. Her forelegs dripped with sweat. This wasn't like the train. It was dark, and the whole room was shaking. A sure shot was far less likely.
Daring’s hoof touched the trowel. An agonized hack sputtered from her mouth as she whipped it out. Three stabs to the ribs and a full-on hind hoof blast later, the griffon rebounded off of a column. Daring gasped and coughed, then spun around.
Velvet’s bolt beat her to it…and more.
The electric spell raced up the metal column and across a nearby catwalk. The light show cascaded into four mercs taking aim from the shadows. One of their convulsing bodies joined the griffon’s, tearing holes at the airship’s bottom hull.
Daring scratched at her mane, the soft smile on her face again.
“What can I say”—Velvet beamed and puffed her chest—“I am the Lightning Mare too!”
Bullets spat at Daring from the plane platform. “Well, Lightning Mare 2.0, you’ve got some catching up to even the score with your prototype!” Daring flinched, returning to the column. “Let 'er rip!”
“You got it!”
Velvet twirled back to the console.
That would be the last time she would see it.
Brilliant coruscating blue flooded her vision from behind. Velvet ducked and covered her head with her hooves. A deafening boom rattled her core. A new sound, that of screeching, grinding metal, made her wonder why she ever left the ground in the first place.
The whole airship shook, trusses and girders popping free and spiraling loose. A section of catwalk smashed the railing that had once separated Velvet from Daring. As for the mercs, nopony had the luxury of aiming their weapons; they were too busy running and dodging the falling debris.
Daring swerved left. A cable came loose and whipped the air beside her wing. “Sounds like somepony didn’t take kindly to getting their thunder stolen!” Daring said, her primary feathers ruffling.
“Oh, hah hah!” Velvet complained, cantering towards Daring’s position, but then hit the brakes.
Another cable slashed down. Velvet jumped back. A crunch echoed to Velvet’s left. As the cable sank to the abyss, so did Velvet’s heart.
The cable bisected the bridge—and the wires crossing it. Velvet’s toys were trashed.
Daring spoke up. “What do you think I’m gonna—At your six!”
Velvet looked back. Daring’s quick trigger hoof took down a merc descending on a nearby staircase. As his body tumbled to the foot of the stairs, a cylindrical grenade rolled out his hoof, coming to rest in the splash of a strobing emergency light.
The label read “K-1 THUNDERHEAD” on the side. Velvet stepped back. Her legs twitched.
A snap echoed over the groaning metal. Something stung Velvet’s hind leg.
“I gotcha, Vel!”
Velvet yelped as Daring yanked her pet’s leash. Velvet’s legs left the platform, and her world went spinning. The thunderhead grenade detonated. A gray cloud filled with raging magenta sparks surged all over the metal floor. It would’ve made for a cool new magi-tech toy to tinker with.
Velvet’s appreciation was cut short by all of the blood rushing to her head.
“Fuuuuuuck!” the fancy Canterlot pendulum weight put eloquently. “Put me down!”
Daring grunted. The whip jerked in the direction Velvet requested.
“Not here!”
“S-sorry!” grunted Daring. Velvet could feel Daring’s pegasus magic channel down her whip and squeeze her leg. The wind whipped through Velvet’s ears as centrifugal force drifted her body outward. “Can’t…hold it…longer!”
At Daring’s last word, the whip unfurled. Tossed counterclockwise, Velvet waved her hooves in the air, screaming all the way until she landed on a platform. Her eyelid crooked open. There was a propeller in front of her. To her left, its owner, a crumpled seaplane with a beam mounting it, hid Velvet from the scrambling mercs at the other side.
"I’m at the launch platform! Now I can—"
Lightning shot down her plane of thought.
“Some fucking restraint, please!” Velvet raged against the heavens and curled to a ball.
Sparks rained on the platform. Screeching metal drowned out the merc’s cries to “hit the deck.” A girder came loose. Velvet turned away as the whole platform shook, the crash rattling her facial bones.
“Nightingale Three is down!” a mercenary’s voice cracked. “There’s only one plane left!”
"Oh come on! What next!" Velvet pounded her hoof on the floor, wiped her face, and rolled on her back. Judging by the two pairs of wings opening and closing from behind a column, her superior wasn’t taking messages at the moment. “Much more of this, I’m gonna inject cheese into my veins.”
Just as Velvet stood up, a familiar face jumped out from behind the train.
Familiar, but not friendly.
Velvet snorted, then cracked her neck. Both unicorns adopted quadrupedal stances and glared into each other’s eyes. “Ready for a rematch, Nightshade?”
The charcoal-gray unicorn merely replied with a glare, pawing the floor with a hoof.
Three brilliant blue bolts of electricity shot out from Velvet’s horn. If it worked last time, it’d work this time, right?
Nightshade conjured three swirling disks of a blackish void. Velvet’s electric bolts passed through without a trace.
Velvet blinked. Where did—
Another three disks spiraled into existence at Velvet’s sides. Her projectiles came back.
Shadow portals?! One of her own energy bolts sailed past as Velvet staggered to the side. The bolt almost grazed her wingsuit. She then leapt in a twisting jump. The second and third bolts as they crackled beneath her, crisscrossing just under her barrel. After demonstrating the finesse of a flying sponge cake, Velvet came to a landing, nearly turning a hoof.
She’s been practicing! Her eyes met her opponent’s haughty stare. Velvet’s horn rushed to surge power. “What kind of black magic bull did you—”
A solid shadow wall blasted Velvet off her hooves. All the air escaped her lungs. A larger puff followed suit when her back collided with something large behind her.
Something large and furry.
Two brindle-coated arms tightened around Velvet's chest and forelegs. If that didn't clue her in on her next partner in this tango, the growl next to her ear did.
Velvet thrashed, but her only reward was a tighter hug. Nightshade’s expression hadn’t changed, though she was changing weapons. The mercenary’s gray submachine gun and its wielder jabbed at Velvet with their combined cold gaze.
“You lose.”
Two shots rang out.
Somepony’s body slumped to the ground.
Velvet’s eyes slammed shut.
Then one eye creaked open. Nightshade writhed on the floor, clutching her stomach. Velvet’s mentor had saved her custard once again.
As Daring returned to shooting mercs at the other side of the wrecked plane, Velvet gave the diamond dog a crooked smile. Her horn glowed purple and sparked blue. The diamond dog yelped. His victim slipped out of his grasp as he clutched his headset. A tinge of white noise rang in Velvet’s ears, but that was nothing compared to the auditory assault her assailant experienced. "How's that feel?!"
Once Velvet’s four hooves met the deck, she scurried several yards forward. Two mercs climbed the last plane, guns in their hooves, but Daring put them down with two bursts. She lined her AK at the last target—Velvet’s former aggressor.
Click.
Velvet and the diamond dog jerked their heads in Daring’s direction. The rifle hanging from its strap, Daring drew her whip and flew closer to the diamond dog. Two cracks echoed as Velvet gritted her teeth, faced the diamond dog, and grunted.
Nothing came out of her horn.
She grunted again. But her horn gave little more than a sputter.
Shit, I spent too much magic! Why’d I think that overload was a good idea?
Velvet pranced in place, darting her head around. “Gotta…hmm…” Her eyes chanced upon Nightshade’s submachine gun. First time for everything, right?
She grunted before freeing it from under its former owner’s body. Her hind legs trembled a bit as she reared up and tried to assume the stance she’d so often seen Daring take, leaning forward and inching her hind hooves apart. “Right, uh…”
A gunshot rang out. Daring’s whip had ceased snapping. Velvet spun around.
Hissing through the cuts on his arms, the diamond dog barked, baring his teeth. One paw snagged the business end of Daring’s whip. The other paw lowered his magnum, still breathing out smoke. Daring’s right wing flapped awkwardly, blood streaming from its edge. "Whoa!" Velvet fumbled around her own gun. Time to rehearse, for Celestia’s sake!
The diamond dog cocked back the hammer of his magnum and smirked.
After a pause, the pitter-patter of pistol rounds perforated the puppy.
It was over in only three seconds, but Velvet felt like she held the trigger for three hours. Metallic smoke, not unlike one from magic solder, entered her nostrils. As the diamond dog collapsed and Daring Do retrieved her whip, deep breaths escaped her open mouth. Several seconds passed before Velvet’s front hooves stopped trembling.
Her guardian landed next to the diamond dog’s corpse. Assuming a bipedal stance, she lowered Velvet’s gun with a front hoof. “You ought to bend your hocks a little bit more—” her eyes drifted down to Velvet’s hind legs “—but…you did good, kid..”
Velvet’s chest still hadn’t relaxed, but her breathing started to slow
“For now, though…” Daring reached out gently tugging the weapon free of Velvet’s hooves. “…I think I’ll handle the majority of the shooting.”
Without the submachine gun to keep her front hooves occupied, Velvet dropped to four legs. “You’ll still give me a proper lesson on this, r-right?” Velvet forced a smile as best she could.
Looping the submachine gun’s strap around her own chest, Daring walked to Velvet’s side, cutting off her view of the fallen diamond dog. She gave Velvet a bracing smile. “Maybe once we get back to Equestria. Once you’re better acclimated, I’ll take you to Derringer’s range. It’ll be like…a big sister taking her little sister out for ice cream.”
A groan from behind caused Velvet’s ears to twitch.
Daring drew her gun.
A shadow portal swirled beneath Nightshade, swallowing her whole. Before the Daring Duo could even so much as peer into where it led, the portal spiraled into oblivion. Velvet’s mouth hung open. “Where did she—”
From the far end of the platform, an engine buzzed to life. Daring and Velvet galloped around the wrecked plane. They arrived in time to catch the backwash of Nightingale Four’s prop as the plane slipped off the edge of the platform. Wind tousling her mane, Velvet slammed a hoof into the deck. There were four mercs in the passenger cabin, one of whom clutched her stomach. The charcoal-gray unicorn turned and made an obscene gesture, promising to somehow meet later and even the score.
The plane disappeared into the storm.
“So!” Daring rubbed her forehooves together with a half-frustrated-half-sardonic grin. “Shall we retire to the crew loading area?”
“Don’t rub it in, you bastard.” Velvet elbowed Daring. “My plan would’ve worked perfectly if it weren’t for Miss Gentle.”
A cascade of thunderbolts and lightning danced at the stern. Velvet sucked in a breath.
“Just stop!” Velvet’s voice cracked. “What’s your problem?!”
“Um. Resistance is futile?”
Velvet gaped at her mentor. “Was… that an electricity pun?”
Daring turned and trotted forward.
“Admit it!” Velvet hissed. “That was an... atrocious electricity pun! That’s my job!”
Another clap of thunder caused Velvet to follow Daring to the catwalk. It’d be best not to loiter.
After the door slammed behind the Daring Duo, the muffled, now-too-familiar sounds of crashing thunder and metal lingered, diffusing through the walls. Daring Do braced the door with her hooves, while Velvet leaned on a crate taller than she was, catching her breath and moaning from the adrenaline.
“Good…good cardio, eh?” panted out Daring.
“Maybe for you! My muscles are screaming!” Velvet coughed, trying to catch her breath. She turned herself to the side, drawing in her belly. “Much more of this and Night Light’s not gonna have any pillow to sleep on.”
The thunderous cacophony behind them died down, replaced by the cracking of distant gunfire. The sounds of mercenaries ordering flanking maneuvers around the Lightning Mare crackled from Daring’s radio. Velvet’s line of sight drifted out the window to her right. A flash at the upper edge made Velvet shrink away from the window. When the X-Ray’s yellow glow faded from Velvet’s vision, she sat on the floor, straightening the back of her mane. The stress escaped from her hooves and dissipated into the atmosphere. Meanwhile, not caring about her mane, Daring got off the door and scoped the room they were in.
The previous shockwaves did a number on the crew loading area. To Velvet’s left were more crates, much smaller than the one Velvet had rested on. Everything that wasn’t bolted down lay scattered across the floor—in this case, everything except a nearby table and a post with mooring rope loosely coiled around it.
“What did you mean when you said that the bison were right because the Lightning Mare gave us breaks?”
“Remember when her aura almost went out and she was beating her head with her hooves?” Daring mimed the Lightning Mare’s previous action while Velvet fixed a stray lock of mane with her magic. “Something tells me there’s a part of her that doesn’t like zapping ponies from the sky.”
“Huh.” Velvet crossed her forelegs. “In that case, why would the mercs want the Spectrum? Who wants to end up as a bipolar wreck with the mentality of an electric eel?”
“I dunno. Maybe they’re drunk on power? Maybe they haven’t connected the dots? Maybe they have some kind of weird magic failsafe to keep their sanity?” Daring then shook her head and then extended a hoof at Velvet. “Right, let’s focus on the task at hoof. Up and at ‘em, Cream Puff, before the Lightning Mare decides she likes her airships less al dente and more well-done.”
After Velvet took Daring’s hoof, she followed her to the center of the room. Before Velvet could comment on what had been hidden from her view moments prior, Daring elbowed her in the ribs.
“See? Told you there’d be at least one plane here.”
On the other side of a plexiglass window, the seaplane teetered on a metal grating platform. The ropes holding it in place flapped in the tempest outside. Velvet could recognize any aetheric booster, even if it was hidden inside a conical cap at the tail, but a bonafide pilot, she was not. The only planes Velvet knew how to actually fly were entirely made of paper.
“Ah, an AS-18n Nautilus! Flying that’s gonna be foal’s play!” Velvet forced a toothy grin. “Compared to Evy, this is a tricycle!”
Daring only gave her a blank look.
“Well, I’ll admit: the planes are new.” Velvet hoped her forehead wasn’t showing any extra perspiration. “They weren’t in the prototype version of the airship—aka, the one I wrote an article about. That one used drop capsules.” Avoiding her friend’s scrutinizing glare, Velvet turned and gazed back out the window at the plane. “But the way I heard it, Fetlock Maretin did try to simplify the whole flying process. Any Flight School dropout could take the wheel.”
“...The way you heard it?” Daring blew a tuft of her mane off her face. “I’m brimming with reassurance. Let’s hope you’re certified for that wingsuit—or any wingsuit.”
Velvet’s silence was as deafening as the thunder.
“Don’t tell me…”.
“It’s a proto-hobby, okay?” Velvet expostulated. “I’ve done hours of reading, some wind tunnel practice, and one test flight. Does that count?”
Daring bit her lip. “That’s it, I’m driving.”
Velvet folded her ears as her hoof came to rest on a doorknob. “Oh, that reminds me. I have to get—”
Daring spun around. Her quick trigger hoof interrupted Velvet and the mercenary aiming from behind.
“Cover!” Daring barked, rushing behind a crate. Velvet dove to follow. Daring raised up to peek, only to bury her face back into her body as bullets brushed against her helmet. “Flank him! Just don’t get too close—this earth pony is more earth than pony! I’ll distract them!”
“‘More earth than—’ what does that even mean?!”
“Just go!”
Velvet gave a rapid nod and crouched. As soon as Daring and her opponent started exchanging fire, Velvet shadowed from one box to another. The second, larger crate gave her a better angle of attack box. Her horn snapped and sputtered. Alright, who’s the next lucky bitch to make a shocking discovery?
A heavyset, grayish-brown figure crossed Velvet’s vision. Daring’s opponent flew through the air. A new combatant made a grand entrance with her headbutt.
"River Rapids?!" Velvet blinked. Her spell fizzled into the aether.
The earth pony sat up, growling as he rolled behind cover.
“Fuze, just stop and think!” a familiar voice said. “Forget these two—we’re about to go down in a ball of fire. Let’s just get to the plane!”
“We still have a mission!” Fuze snarled. “You know the oaths you took!” A click reached Velvet’s ears as Rapids leaned back, raising her forelegs over her head.
“I’ve been with Volt ever since she toppled Slam Fire and in all this time, I’ve never seen a sister turn on us.” Fuze seethed. “But you…I figured you were a loose cannon ever since day one.”
Daring and Velvet stood up and stared at each other. Maybe they could circle round and take Fuze down?
The UK-2642’s structural integrity had other ideas.
A static-filled shout shook everypony’s eardrums, much closer than before. Blue lightning burst through the airship under them. The floor warped, buckled, and then broke. Metallic groans and roars underlined a sudden drop, as Velvet and Rapids were both thrown to the side. The box in front of Velvet’s eyes shifted to the left.
The wall became the floor. The crew loading area snapped in half.
Four thumps reverberated across the broken floor and up Velvet’s ears. Wood creaked and splintered underneath. As Velvet and Rapids struggled to right themselves, the former clutched her sore shoulder and stared upwards. Gravity had relieved Fuze’s weapons, and the earth pony was left clinging to the table bolted to the floor. A gap, exposing steel and wire, bisected the ceiling, while only a few twisted beams kept one half of the room from jettisoning itself. Their groans of pain, however, told Velvet they were losing their battle.
Metallic twangs and snaps reached Velvet’s ears. She stood up, avoiding a growing hairline crack on what was now the floor before looking at the direction of the noises. Above her, the seaplane’s tail swung upwards. Through the undertone of the tempest, the faint rumbling of the plane’s wheels caused Velvet’s jaw to drop.
“Wait! No no no no— Celestia damn it!”
The escape plane escaped from its would-be passengers. It taunted Velvet with a front flip and a shimmy before disappearing into a cloud.
Daring swooped down from the half of the room that wasn’t about to snap off, one end of the mooring rope on her hoof. “Come on!” Her voice nearly cracked. “Let’s get this tied around you before it's too late!”
A devilish crackling filled the heavens. The ambient power rumbled from Velvet’s horn and down to her facial bones. Blinding light cast scintillating shadows through the downpour streaming in from the shattered windows. Surging upwards on an updraft, the Lightning Mare glared at the occupants of the wrecked room. Velvet had only touched the rope with the tip of her hoof when arcs sputtered from the Lightning Mare’s eyes.
“Rapids, don’t look at—”
Rainbow lightning engulfed the room, centering towards Fuze. Splinters and sparks tossed in the air. The bolted table came loose. The table’s wooden sheen dulled to a flat gray before it and Fuze’s frozen fulgurite forms fell only a few inches, landing on a pile of crates.
But the wall and room could take no more.
A loud crash heralded Velvet’s first foray into involuntary skydiving.
Velvet screamed with all of her might, but the gales of the storm proved much louder. Raindrops pelted her all around. The Lightning Mare disappeared behind the shrinking airship, her trail of sparks leaving an afterimage on Velvet’s retinas. Two dots in the distance—Fuze’s statue and Rapids’ thrashing body—disappeared inside a swirling vortex. Gravity and wind collaborated to toss Velvet’s head and body in every direction. Blood rushed in and out of her brain; her vision darkened at the edges.
"Crap crap crap! Why can’t I…ugh…uh…stabilize my...my…"
“Gotcha!”
Daring’s voice punctuated her firm grasp on Velvet’s hoof. Color flooded back to Velvet’s world. Velvet jerked her neck upwards to catch a watering eye on her savior. Daring’s hooves reddened—the left one, from holding Velvet; the right one, from the rope burn.
Velvet traced the mooring rope from Daring’s hoof to the airship. From the holes on its hull, she could see flashes of light and arcs of electricity snake through the clouds. As the inevitable thunder rolled in, Velvet folded her ears and looked down.
Lights…city lights! Maybe they could make it after all. Velvet’s other hoof reached for the rope.
An orange lightning bolt cut across her view—and two of the airship’s engines. The air around its hull breaches warped. Flames licked up the top surface, and raging red and magenta sparks slithered across the fabric.
“Fucking hell!”
Warm colors painted the sky. Flames, debris, and even flaming debris catapulted away from the explosion.
Daring gritted her teeth. “HANG ON!”
The shockwave traveled down the rope, whipping Velvet from Daring’s grasp. Both mares reached for each other, their faces contorted. An updraft snatched the golden angel and tossed her thrashing body into a cloud.
Tears streamed from Velvet’s eyes and joined her in free fall.
She shook her head, blinked, and twisted her body to face the ground. She wasn’t done just yet.
“I’ve got to stop this spin before I lose my ball bearings again!”
Velvet slid her hooves down her torso. The hooks on her jacket’s sleeves clicked. She stretched out her forelegs and arched her back. It took a while—the lightning and rain were already behind her—but eventually, her spin was on its way to leveling out.
Mostly.
She kept on having to drop her right hoof while pulling her flank to the left, just to maintain a mostly direct line. Velvet’s ears picked up the sound of straining fabric, and she risked a glance to the side to investigate where the hooks met the canvas. It was only a prototype, after all. Not for general use.
“Dammit, that’s not gonna hold forever.”
Velvet cast a cloudwalking spell on her artificial wings. She felt her fall begin to slow, but overall, it was a band-aid over a second-degree burn. She was still falling too fast. I’ll need to find a parachute before I end up like Neighcarus and prove Daring right!
Celestia must’ve been listening. A white T-shaped object spiraled to her right. Various crates and other obstacles tumbled in the distance, but Velvet only had eyes for the seaplane. She angled her forelegs backward and straightened herself. She was probably breaking some cardinal rule of skydiving: hurtling towards falling debris. But when was she ever known for playing things by the book? Exhibit A: her wingsuit.
The seaplane had seen better days. Paint was stripped off, and bits of the skeleton poked out of the aluminum skin. It seemed to be falling slower than it should be. Some kind of derived passive pegasus power? If only she knew how to extract that.
This plane would make for a great article…if she could live long enough to write it. It didn’t seem airworthy anymore, though. The tail fin looked like it had fallen victim to a hungry roc.
There could be something in the boxes surrounding it, though!
The speeding pony snagged a box with her telekinesis. After swerving away from a falling piece of rebar, Velvet licked her lips. Her magic made short work of the latches.
“Nothing. Of course!”
Angling her left foreleg downward, she spiraled to another box. Once again, the latches were no match for her magic. “Another box. Oh, thank you Celestia!”
Celestia was a playful mistress.
“Cola?! Wha… Buh… Oh, screw you, Celestia!”
She swatted the box away, resisting the urge to cross her forelegs. “For fuck's sake, what do you want from me?!”
A crashing sound caused her to jerk her head—and wings—right. Flaming wreckage crushed the plane, the debris adding to Velvet’s ever growing list of Random Falling Shit. She struggled to regain her bearings as she tucked her head into her wings. Successfully veering away from a scorching hot something, she managed to bank left. A seat spun away, crossing her vision. Velvet’s eyes tracked it, then widened.
Wait, there’s a parachute on its back!
Velvet drew her hooves close to her body. The wind howled louder, and tears escaped her eyes. The seat drew close, but so did the ground. An imaginary timer in the back of her mind showed the second hand creeping ever closer to the red zone.
Her horn lit. She spread her arms. The parachute slipped off the seat.
Velvet twisted her body to put on the chute. It clung to her jacket and wingsuit, and she had to squint through her mane just to make sure the hooks on her suit didn’t catch the parachute straps. The thunderclouds were far above her—merely flashes in the thick cloud.
She didn’t mind the wind anymore. That honor went to the sudden stop at the end.
And there! Parachute’s on! Now I have to—
The trees were beginning to wave hello.
“Damn it! I’m too low! Uh…any place to pull the chute?”
The trees lined the edge of a cliff. Velvet rolled the dice. If she could pull up, just enough to clear the treeline, she’d have ample spacing to deploy her chute and drop into the valley beyond.
That is, if the valley was deep enough to allow it and she wasn’t just prolonging the inevitable.
Adrenaline—and the sight of the trees below—yelled at Velvet to tense her muscles.
Fighting her instincts, Velvet allowed her forelegs to spread wide. She sucked in a long breath, wind howling in her ears. The fabric fluttered, and her vector changed.
“Almost got it... almost!”
Leafy branches waited to flay the flesh from her bones. A lancing pain shot up her back hoof, no thanks to a nearby twig. But Velvet’s line finally flattened enough to gain a few feet of altitude. She angled her wings up and climbed. The wind’s howls faded as airspeed bled out.
The treeline was behind her. She was at the top of the climb now.
Velvet jerked her chest backward. Her hoof reached across her shoulder and gripped the cord handle.
Fabric whistled from behind.
As the parachute billowed, her hooves snatched the handles. A puff of air escaped her mouth as Velvet’s legs dangled over the forest canopy. The chute deployment gave Velvet a few more feet of elevation, but her descent would offset that soon enough.
Now she could give the adrenaline full reign.
“YEEAAAAAAGHHHH!”
Velvet’s battle cry produced a pressing chest pain, but it hardly registered in her mind. A primal mixture of laughing, crying, and blubbering then escaped from her mouth. Tears streamed down her aching face. Exhilarating didn’t even begin to cover it.
“That was… I can’t even begin to say! How many y’all ‘low pull’ broodmares can say you jumped out of an exploding aircraft without a parachute, and then made a near-pass wingsuit stunt at the same time?!”
Velvet looked back up at the clouds. The UK-2642’s aetheric fireball lingered in the air, the occasional bit of flaming debris raining onto the forest like a meteor shower. Multi-colored bolts streaked through a cloud near the fireball. In response to those, Velvet could only sigh.
“…a-actually, this bad filly just had her fill of excitement for one day.”
After several deep, cleansing breaths, Velvet studied the forest. It wouldn’t do to make that kind of daring escape, only to get hopelessly strung up in a tree.
A small fire at the right directed Velvet’s attention to a clearing on a hill. Seemed like a good place to land. Making small corrections in her glide path and after bleeding off the extra altitude, Velvet waved her hind hooves over the grass.
The landing wasn’t the slick roll she had in mind—more like a grimy wet rag falling before a larger, less wet rag. Once the parachute crumbled behind her, she allowed it to slide off her back and folded her wings back using her magnets. That done, she fell prostrate on the mud. “G-g-ground! Sweet, precious ground!” Velvet resisted the urge to kiss the soil.
Telekinesis dragged the parachute behind her. Her hooves, meanwhile, dragged the rest of her heavy, shivering body under the shelter of a nearby rock. Sprawling the parachute fabric, she crawled on her makeshift blanket and curled up under the rock. A nearby piece of burning wreckage-turned-campfire resisted the drizzle starting to form…even if the smell of fuel caused her nose to wrinkle.
Her negative-five-star suite offered quite the vista. The fireball from the airship’s explosion was almost gone; the Mare in the Moon would soon be the only major light source in the early evening sky. Orange and purple flames tailed almost all the falling wreckage, the air around them visibly warping even from the distance. Oddly enough, the soft rumbling of thunder helped eased Velvet out of the adrenaline high.
The city was still visible from the hill, so at least she wasn’t totally lost.
“So, let’s recap,” Velvet panted out. “First mercenaries, now friggin’ monsters are trying to kill me. I had to bail out of a disintegrating aircraft during a storm. Everypony I knew up there is missing, wants to kill me, or both.”
Her eyes scoped the landscape. The only discernible landmarks were a rice field in the distance and the city beyond it. Behind her was the cliffside that lined the valley she had fallen in. Larger mountains stood miles further in the distance, but other than that, it was mostly trees and forest.
“…and now I’m stuck in the middle of a third-world shithole without my m-mentor.”
Velvet’s ears drooped. She could still remember the urgency on Daring’s face. ‘Hang on!’ Echoes of that scream echoed in her mind. She’ll be back…right?
Seeking something to get her mind off of the last two minutes, Velvet used her magic to remove the saddlebags from her back. She engaged a flashlight spell and poked her hoof into the flap—and the duct tape—as her grumbling monologue continued. Part of her wanted to bury her face into her hooves. “Next thing I know, the artifact isn’t going to be here. It’s lost forever under the Luna Oceans. I wasted three to four days of my life, killed dozens of ponies, and jeopardized my relationship with Night Light for nothing.”
Something rough and hard brushed her hoof pad. Velvet’s eyes widened. Applying another spell to dissolve some of the duct tape’s adhesive, she plucked the hard and rough object from her bag.
Indra’s Bow was no longer glowing.
A crooked smile slid onto Velvet’s face. She felt her doubts start to short-circuit.
“At least something good came out of this piece of shit day.”
The nervous, strained laughs from Velvet’s adrenaline withdrawal echoed into the night, even after she stuffed Indra’s Bow back inside and hid the saddlebags under the parachute. It wasn’t until exhaustion took over that Velvet finally collapsed into her princess-sized bed of grass, rocks, and fabric.
Stats
Page generated in 0.026 seconds
Total duration
803 users online
1,230,054 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I laughed. Well, a fine return to form I say, and a massive improvement on an old scene. Basically, this chapter was one long action sequence. Bay would be proud.
great update!
10215398
Thanks…
I gotta be honest: I’m feeling a little down because this is the worst performing chapter so far. It was only in the feature box for two hours (compared to the eight last time), got only two new upvotes, and was viewed only 44 times compared to the >200 of the last chapter.
I don’t know if I just had bad luck or if I’m doing something wrong. I also don’t know if this is a fluke or the start of a downtrend…
10215536
eh it was probably because at the time (and even now) the list is being dominated by clop fics
10215667
I mean…
When is it not dominated by clopfics?
Also, when Spectrum fell from the feature box, there weren’t any clopfics in the “Recently updated stories that are well rated” section of the feature box.
Instead, there were two stories with >500 upvotes and one with >300 upvotes.
So maybe that’s the reason.
10215667
What do you think of this chapter?
I’m glad you and lots of other peeps are sticking around, though!
10215737
Velly and DD, were having a very BAD day LOL! I can just imagine spike on the edge of his seat as he reads about the fight/escape! I also can imagine Rainbow fangirling over Velvet if she ever found out about Velvet's adventure with Daring. I really love this story and whatcha have done with it
10215737
The quality of this chapter is top notch. You did a fantastic job of adding a sense of danger to the story that I felt it was missing.
Sucks you were only featured for so little but this is by far the best chapter in the story.
10215536
To be fair, it has been a long time since an update, and viewers subtract with any new chapter in any story really. It's not a unique problem.
10215667
Pro tip: in your settings, disable "view mature" to remove all the clop clutter. I leave it disabled by default.
Pretty solid chapter, and good timing, too: with summer on its way, I've been feeling a familiar pull towards all things pony, and stories like these are always a welcome addition to that pull.
On the note of chapter quality, I thought this was just a tad bit "jumpy" in terms of action, but something tells me that's purely up to taste. I really enjoyed this chapter! It just took me a bit to get to it because I'm currently combing through my backlog, but my day is always brightened whenever I see that this is updated.
I don't know why the views weren't reflective of it, but I love what we've seen thus far. Regardless, I think this was another great chapter :D
10215536
In my case, it took this long to read through.
"Dual Nature" as a name for pony Nobel is pretty fantastic. After all, it's a great description for a high explosive that's just as useful as weapon as it is a mining tool.
The Lightning Mare's not far off, just with lightning rather than snow.
Thrilling stuff from start to finish, and the present-day interlude raises some truly fascinating questions. Glad I finally caught up. Looking forward to more.
Reviewed!
Any chance of an update in the near future?
10550434
I just finished the latest chapter. Now to head to editing.
There’s like two reasons I’ve been inactive. The first is that I learned how to create 3D models in Blender and have been working on commissions for 3D pony OCs and art. I’ve been using that money to pay for the Spectrum chapter art in an effort to be more judicious about my disposable income, since it’ll be a long while before my medical education will start paying for itself.
The second reason is actually related to Spectrum itself…
I’m working to get it on Equestria Daily.
I got a reply many months back and their list of proposed changes is loooooooooong. Good news is that they pretty much said “your story is good enough to want us to submit it; just make these minor grammar changes.” So hopefully, the next time I submit it, I won’t have to wait a month again.
10559058
Awesome! Glad to hear you have some much good news!
Have a review!
It took me way too long to realize that "Fetlock Maretin" is a pun on Lockheed Martin. Well played, absolutely amazing pun there.