The Sky Is a Lady and She Is Gay: A RariTwi Exquisite Corpse

by SigmasonicX

8. Approaching the Fan at Alarming Speeds (trAce)

“I want to help,” Twilight insisted.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt, darling.”

“I want to help. Even if that puts me in danger.”

Rarity sighed as she crossed her arms in front of her. “You know, I am quite capable of being sneaky in my own right. I doubt whatever token group they left as guards would notice a thing.”

“An invisibility spell would let you move quicker and you would know for a fact that you weren’t seen,” Twilight countered.

Rarity stopped, causing Twilight and Fluttershy to bump into her. “This looks far enough away to not be seen.” She pointed ahead of them at the doors of the ruined castle. She then raised her finger up until it was pointing at five airships anchored to the upper walls and spires of the castle. “If you could fly up and get a quick estimate of how many pirates we’re looking at, that would be much appreciated, Fluttershy.”

“Oh, goodness. If you’re sure they won’t see me.” With a few hesitant flaps of her wings, Fluttershy lifted herself into the air and slowly rose past the tops of the trees.

“So I guess I’m staying here while you go in, huh?” Twilight didn’t bother hiding her disappointment.

“Dear, you are an adult. If you truly want to risk being hunted by sky pirates, then who am I to stop you?” Rarity stepped closer and brushed dust from Twilight’s shoulder, despite Twilight being absolutely sure her clothing was already spotless. “I wasn’t lying earlier. I don’t want you to get hurt and I am able to do this myself. Whatever action you decide to take with that information, I will support it.”

“It would be pretty hypocritical if you didn’t.” Twilight giggled.

Rarity opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by Fluttershy’s return.

“I only saw six pirates. They were all on the middle ship and walking back and forth along the wall.”

“You didn’t see anyone at all on the other four ships?” Rarity raised an eyebrow when Fluttershy shook her head. “I wonder what that could mean. Fluttershy, be a dear and keep a lookout here. If anything strange happens, I’ll want to hear it when we get back.”

¤¤¤¤¤

Thankfully the castle itself was empty, though many a ruined tapestry or rug had to be mourned. It didn’t take long for the two unicorns to reach their destination.

An invisible Rarity led an invisible Twilight along the edge of the castle wall until they reached the bridge to the closest airship. Twilight let herself be pulled across the deck to a door, beyond which laid a staircase that descended into the hull. She stepped in and followed her companion down a few steps when the hand guiding her stopped.

“It’s dark.”

“Uh, yeah?” Twilight was well aware of the lack of lights at the bottom of the stairway. She was unsure why this was significant.

“Even when the overhead lights are off, there are usually strip lights along the floor so you know where you are,” her companion explained. “The only reason they would be off is if the engine isn’t running. The only reason a ship would be missing its power and its crew would be– ”

“If it’s undergoing repairs,” Twilight finished. Understanding the problem now, Twilight dropped her invisibility spell and cast a simple light spell. “Maybe I should lead?”

“By all means, darling.” Rarity shifted to the side to let Twilight pass her. Twilight wasn’t exactly sure where they should be going, but there was something she was interested in.

Further into the ship they went, turning left and right down hallways and even going down a second flight of steps. Twilight kept a close eye on the metal plates next to each door they passed. Some plainly listed the rooms they lead to, while others displayed only symbols. She finally stopped when she came upon a door marked with a rectangle overlaid with two circles and a bolt of lightning.

“I think this is the engine room,” Twilight explained as the two entered.

Twilight extended the radius of her light spell to reveal a room with many shelves and paper covering the walls. The back wall was taken up by a complex-looking array of crystals and metal with smaller devices attached at varying locations. Thin tubing extended from the top of the machine into the ceiling.

“Fascinating.” Twilight left Rarity in the dark as she went to examine the contraption. “This must be what they needed all the crystals for. Instead of using already-charged crystals for power like most crystal engines, it looks like they’re essentially creating a massive battery out of a whole lot of smaller ones, then using smaller fuel engines hooked into converters to charge the stationary crystals with regular fuel.” She pointed at each relevant part of the setup as she talked. “It certainly is cheaper in the long-term, since charged crystals can get pricy from region to region. It’ll likely require a lot more maintenance, but that depends on what kind of metal is being used.”

She backed away from the engine and put her hands on her hips. After a period of contemplation, she stated, “This is a horribly inefficient engine, even if it is a unique design.”

“Dear, I admire the speed with which you can make that observation, but we have more important things to be doing right now.” Rarity looked around the room for anything that could help them bring the ship down. Barrels of what were almost certainly fuel were enticing, but she did not see a way to set them off without being caught in the blast.

“Do you know how to engrave crystals?”

“I am familiar with the spell used to do so, but I am not particularly experienced with it. Why do you ask?”

“I have an idea, but we’re going to have to work fast once we start.” Twilight spun around to face Rarity and shot the confused thief a devilish smile. “Let’s do some engineering.”

¤¤¤¤¤

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie followed Twilight Velvet in silence, the former because she didn’t want to get shot and the latter because she was still pretending to be an airship.

“We’ll be there soon,” Velvet said suddenly. She did not turn around to check on her companions, which might have emboldened Rainbow to try to sneak away, except for the fact that this was Twilight’s mom she was dealing with.

Somebody once told her that mothers grew a set of eyes on the back of their heads. Rainbow was pretty sure that was a lie, but also decided now was really not the time to test it.

“Sooo… we meet up with Twilight and Ra– the Sequinned Specter and then what? You’re not actually gonna, like, shoot anyone, right?”

“As I’ve already said, Dash, I will not go and shoot one of my daughter’s friends if it can be avoided. Of course, I don’t hold the same reservations for that criminal she’s with. Hopefully Twilight will come home without making a fuss and that will be it.” There was a pause and Rainbow saw Mrs. Velvet’s hands clench into fists. “If the Specter even thinks of trying to interfere, then Gods help her.”

Rainbow let the conversation drop. As she looked up through the gaps in the branches at the airships moored to the ancient castle, she hoped they were wrong about where the others had went. She really didn’t feel like watching her friend get killed today.

“Ooh, it’s Fluttershy!” Pinkie Pie pointed ahead at the pegasus where she was leaning against a tree. At the loud exclamation from Pinkie, Fluttershy looked up and waved at the trio.

The light smile that graced her face turned to fear as Velvet unholstered her pistol and began marching straight towards her.

¤¤¤¤¤

“Alright, the converters are fueled. How’s that last engraving going?”

Rarity didn’t respond. Assuming that she needed to focus, Twilight stepped closer to provide Rarity with more light and began to quietly run through her checklist for the fourth and final time.

“Weapons disconnected? Check. Propulsion disconnected? Check. Heating disconnected? Check. Lights disconnected?” Twilight watched for a few moments until the glow around Rarity’s horn subsided and she carefully extracted herself from the crystal matrix.

“Check, darling.”

“Perfect. I’ve been counting seconds in my head and if I didn’t mess up that count, then we still have about ten minutes until the first engine overloads.”

Rarity nodded as the two set to work. Just as they had three times before in the other unoccupied ships, the pair pulled any extra barrels of fuel close enough to touch the crystal matrix and pried the tops off. They then split and began to start the multiple energy converters connected to the device.

As the sound of machinery filled the space, both unicorns finished their task and quickly made their exit from the engine room. Twilight took the lead while she once again cast the invisibility spell. Grabbing Rarity by the hand, she lead the pair through the winding corridors until they stepped out into the waning light of the evening sky.

“I must say, Twilight, I very much like this daring side of yours.” Although there was no verbal response, Rarity felt the hand around hers tighten its grip.

Rarity was glad she was invisible. After all, the wide grin on her face was very unladylike.

¤¤¤¤¤

Both unicorns were still riding the high of their sabotage as they hurried out the doors of the ruined castle and down the path to where Fluttershy was standing watch.

It wasn’t until they heard a shout that they realized she was no longer alone.

“Hey, c’mon, leave Fluttershy alone!”

Fluttershy cowered behind her hair while a grey unicorn waved a gun in her direction. Rainbow Dash was desperately trying to mediate what was happening while Pinkie Pie stood to the side looking worried. When she noticed Twilight, however, she said something that caused the unicorn with the gun to turn around.

Twilight came to an abrupt stop upon seeing her mother, nearly causing herself to fall over. Rarity steeled her jaw and took Twilight by the arm, leading her over to the group.

Mrs. Velvet watched them approach with a hawk-like concentration. Once they had gotten close enough, she spoke.

“Get your hands off my daughter.” The words dripped with venom coming out of Twilight Velvet’s mouth.

Rarity did as she asked, letting go of Twilight whilst maintaining full eye contact with Velvet.

“Twilight, come over here. We’re going home.”

“I’d say Twilight is old enough to make decisions for herself, wouldn’t you?” Rarity interjected.

“Don’t tell me how to parent my own child! This is all your fault! You and that damned artifact!” Velvet spit back.

“Mother…”

“Apologies, I don’t mean to critique your parenting.” Rarity took a long pause, and for a while it seemed like that would be the end of it. “I’m critiquing your belief that a grown woman still needs parenting.”

“Do not talk back to me!” Velvet raised her gun and pointed it at the source of her anger. Rainbow jolted and moved to leap in front of Mrs. Velvet.

However, Twilight was faster.

“Don’t… you dare threaten her with that!” Twilight was shaking like a leaf in the wind, but the weight of her action wasn’t lost on anyone present. “I’ll go home. But if you hurt her, then… then… then I’ll go away for real! Somewhere far where you’ll never find me, like Abyssinia!”

“Why would you give a damn about a criminal like her?” Mrs. Velvet relaxed her stance, but only slightly. “Oh gods, she’s corrupted you, hasn’t she?”

“Wh-what?” Twilight’s face contorted in confusion as her mother once again locked eyes with Rarity in a show of intimidation from both parties.

An uneasy quiet fell over the group a second time. It didn’t take long for Rainbow to get fidgety.

“So… what’s going on? Why was Fluttershy out here instead of with you two?”

Twilight perked up at Rainbow’s question. “Oh my gosh, we really need to get out of here. Um, Rarity’s shop is out of the question. Fluttershy, how about your cottage?”

“She is not coming anywhere with us.” Velvet growled.

“Mother, we can continue this elsewhere. It really would be best if we were anywhere but here.”

“Twilight, you do not disobey your mother!”

“You do not talk to her like that!” Rarity shouted back.

“Um, I agree that we should go.” Unfortunately, no one heard Fluttershy.

“Woah! Hey! Calm down!” Rainbow leapt towards Mrs. Velvet and grabbed her arms, pulling her gun down so it wasn’t pointed at anyone.

“Why do you even own a gun?” Pinkie added.

“Everyone stop! We really need to get out of here because any moment now, those airships are going to start– ”

The sky lit up as a wall of heat and sound crashed over them.

Comments

[PresentPerfect]

Oh my god, we went full anthro. XD

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie followed Twilight Velvet in silence, the former because she didn’t want to get shot and the latter because she was still pretending to be an airship.

The amazing thing about this sentence is that it makes perfect sense.