Rarity’s Relaxing Vacation

by Lime Contraption

9 The Chase

The four ponies galloped through the jungle with Rook in the lead, guiding them between the patches of Venomous Vines.

Rarity and Indigo glanced at Sapper as the teenager's burns seemed more raw and vivid than ever. The left side of her face was the worst, but patches of acid touched fur and flesh were splattered across the front of her body. They couldn't imagine that charging through the jungle and crashing through leaves and branches was doing her any good, but they didn't feel it was their place to tell the younger pony to stop. Not when that would mean leaving her behind.

They just had to hope whatever concoction the chemist had made for herself was helping her heal and numbing the pain.

"We just took out half the bandits," Rook called back to the others, "but we've no idea how many are left in the camp and how many took off on the airship. So stick together."

"Right," Rarity nodded, turning her attention ahead as they emerged from the jungle to see the bandit stronghold ahead of them.

No guards stood at the gates or patrolling the crude, wooden wall and there was no sign of movement as they entered the camp. Cautious of an ambush, they moved slowly toward the piles of junk where the smaller airship gondola was waiting.

With no sign of bandits, the camp felt different to Indigo. Without eyes constantly watching her and the threat of death lingering over her head, she felt like her heart had suddenly cooled after hours of burning. The thought of chasing down a warship and knocking it out of the air seemed like a relatively minor danger compared to what she'd already been through.

"I'll need a little time to prepare the ship," the tinkerer said, examining the gondola and the sleek balloon above it.

"We shall keep watch while you do whatever it is you need to do with the power crystal," Rarity said, giving Indigo an encouraging smile.

"I need to grab some of my stuff," Sapper’s voice was slow as she forced her half-numbed mouth to move, "We'll need my grenades to take down that battleship."

"I'll go with her," Rook's cape shimmered before she turned to follow the teenager toward a cluster of tents.

"Can we really stop an armoured, pre-equestrian airship with those bombs of hers?" Rarity whispered to Indigo.

"Our repairs weren't perfect, there are holes in its armour," the tinkerer explained, not looking up from where she was forcing the ancient, military-grade crystal to work with a cheap, modern flying machine engine. "The biggest challenge will be getting close enough to hit those holes without being blasted out of the sky."

"Wonderful, darling," Rarity groaned. "I was rather hoping that rescuing you would be the end of the matter."

"I imagine it would be difficult to predict bandits with a functional flying battleship intending to start a global conflict," Indigo nodded. "Almost as difficult to predict as the tourist looking for me to repair a pocket watch risking her life to rescue me."

"I do strive to be bold, avant-garde and unpredictable," Rarity nodded before pouting, "But I'm surprised so many ponies find it hard to believe that I'd try to help when somepony is in trouble."

"I guess because most ponies don't?" Indigo suggested with another shrug, "The community I grew up in wouldn't. And the ponies of Green Lake wouldn't."

"Rook said the same thing," Rarity nodded, glancing toward the tents where the thief was either helping or watching Sapper, "I thought Equestrians prided themselves on being morally good, but I never realised how... reluctant to help some of us can be."

"Well, danger is off-putting," The tinkerer said, standing up and patting the engine at the back of the gondola. "This thing is ready to fly. You sure you want to do this? I'm responsible for these monsters having a war machine. Not you. You don't have to take this risk."

"You are not responsible for what those kidnappers made you do, darling," Rarity replied firmly, turning to look Indigo in the eyes. Or in the tinted goggles at least. "The bandits made this happen. They're the ones to blame for any consequences."

"That is something easy to say and difficult to feel," Indigo said, climbing onto the pilot's platform above the engine and activating the miniature-airship's power. "But, either way, I'm going to stop that warship, no matter the risk."

"Likewise. And in all honesty, I'd rather risk my life with you than trot all the way back through that filthy jungle on hoof!" Rarity hissed, trying not to think about her appearance as she climbed into the gondola, taking a position near the back, close to where the tinkerer was standing. Looking around at the empty bandit camp, she saw no sign of Rook or Sapper, "Excuse me, Rook, darling?" Rarity called, "We are in a hurry."

"We're coming," the thief replied, reappearing from one of the tents with Sapper close behind her.

Both ponies had donned saddlebags so stuffed with various items that they were at risk of overflowing.

"I see you've packed everything in the camp," Rarity observed before feeling a twinge of guilt when she remembered her own tendency to overpack.

"You never know what you'll need," Sapper shrugged.

"And I've swiped anything that wasn't nailed down," Rook added, leaping into the gondola and unbuckling her saddlebags.

"I should pilot," Sapper said, approaching Indigo, "Speed is off the essence and I'm the fastest flyer here."

"You're also the most... um... blind-in-one-eye flyer here," Indigo said, her artificial voice tinted with sympathy.

"I'm fine," Sapper insisted, "Just... one of you warn me if we're about to crash into something on my left. Besides, can you actually pilot?"

"I... know the theory," Indigo admitted before reluctantly hopping down from the pilot's platform, "The controls are yours."

Rook snorted with laughter before turning to Rarity, "And you thought our last plan was reckless!"

Sapper ignored the thief as she pulled the ignition lever and the engine roared to life. The whole gondola rumbled and the balloon above them vibrated as magical power surged through the gravity distortion devices throughout the hull and canopy.

"What in Equestria?" Rarity yelped, motionless as she was torn between leaping out of the trembling vehicle or gripping the sides until her hooves dug into the wood.

"Its fine," indigo reassured her, leaning around the back of the ship to examine the engine, "I crammed an ancient, military grade power crystal into this tiny airship, so a little rumbling is to be expected."

"And its safe?" Rarity snapped.

"Well... We're going to fly like a lightning dragon… fast and erratic, assuming the whole thing doesn't shake itself apart... which it might."

"Enough talking!" Sapper declared, grabbing the main controls and guiding the trembling airship up over the junk and tents before turning toward the retreating warship. "Let's go!"

Rarity yelped and desperately clung to the gondola as they accelerated with a burst of speed.

Wind whipped at them, trees rushed below and the whole airship juddered and trembled like it was being shaken apart by an angry god.

"By Celestia!" Rarity shrieked as the side of the gondola she was clinging to snapped in half with splinters of wood falling away, "We're going to fall apart long before we catch up with those bandits!"

"I agree with your assessment," Indigo nodded, prodding a section of the ship with her forehoof as her goggles twisted to zoom closer to the crude fastenings.

"We can't afford to stop," Sapper called from the pilot's platform, her gaze focused on the distant ship ahead of them.

"I'll reinforce as best I can," Indigo grabbed some scraps of metal from her bags and started welding them into place with her magic.

"You're a unicorn?" Rarity frowned, forgetting their situation for a moment before another shudder and crack snapped her back to reality. "Rook, do you have any rope?"

"Yes, love," the thief nodded, retrieving a coil of rope from inside her cloak. "What're you planning?" she asked as the designer snatched the coil with her own magical field.

"I'm going to hold this airship together with a rope net!"

"Do you know how to make a rope net?" Rook asked as Rarity's blue magic guided the first strand around the outside of the gondola.

"I will figure it out!” Rarity insisted, half biting her tongue in concentration as she looped the first knot.

Pieces of wood and metal broke apart around them, falling away as they soared through the air with the engines roaring. Rarity tried to brace herself against the most solid sections of the gondola as she looped and wove the rope around them while Indigo darted around the tiny space, reenforcing the metal sections as best she could.

Moving to the centre of the gondola, Rook wrapped her right foreleg around Rarity's waist while hooking the other forehoof in the tinkerer's belt, trying to prevent both mares from going overboard as they worked.

Rarity shrieked as she saw the jungle rushing past them through a hole in the floor. Tying off the last section of rope, she realised that there were more holes than floor now, the gondola was being held together by her netting and Indigo's repairs. She shuddered to think how much longer it would last before the whole thing crumbled and they dropped out of the sky.

Dragging her attention away from the ground, the designer looked ahead to find the bandit warship still some distance away. The heavily armed craft was a dot on the horizon. A larger dot than it had been when Sapper had first started accelerating toward it, but still a dot.

"How long before we catch them?" Rarity called over the roar of the engine and the rattle of their barely held together gondola.

"Well-" Indigo's response was interrupted by a burst of flame in the distance.

All four ponies in the airship fell silent as they watched the explosion before the burst of sound washed over them.

“They've reached the trade roads," Rook groaned, her jaw tight as she pull the hood over her head, hiding her face in shadows.

"Not... not to sound callous," Sapper called from the pilot's platform, "But we're gaining on them while they're busy raiding that caravan."

"How could you work with these monsters?" Rarity asked, her voice cracking.

"I didn't know," Sapper insisted, "The only robbery I witnessed was non-violent. They stopped the train, shouted some threats and trotted off with their stollen goods. I didn't think they ever followed through on the threats."

"Why in Equestria would you-" Rarity's hissed question was interrupted by Indigo's hoof on her shoulder.

"She's just a kid," The tinkerer whispered.

Rarity frowned, but remained silent as she turned her gaze to the muscular Earth Pony mare. Her attention was drawn to the burns decorating the side of Sapper's face and the swollen shut left eye. But looking away from the injuries, she saw a smoothness and shine to the former bandit's fur that suggested she was younger than she looked. Maybe just a few years older than Sweetie Belle.

Shaking her head, the designer focused on the warship ahead of them. The pre-Equestrian craft was still a long way ahead of them, but she could see more details as the ship grew larger. The armoured balloon above the ship was misshapen and there was blue, sparkling smoke coming from some of the propulsion and gravity-distorting devices. Rarity was no engineer, beyond the maintenance and repair needed for sewing machines, but it looked like the bandit airship was struggling.

"Any chance that thing will just fall out of the sky on its own?" Rarity asked, still straining to keep the ropes tight around the gondola.

"Maybe," Indigo replied, "Running the engine without the main power cell hasn't helped them. But now they've got more crystals, they'll probably recover."

"I didn't think we would get that lucky," the designer sighed.

Rook watched in silence as the airship ahead lowered to the ground. She couldn't see what was happening as it disappeared behind the trees, but she could imagine bandits rushing out to haul as many industrial gemstones out of the attacked caravan as possible.

The thief tried not to think about the driver and guards that had probably been traveling with the crystals. She hoped they'd fled and got to a safe distance when they saw a heavily armed warship approaching. But there was every chance they'd stood their ground to try and protect the cargo.

"I didn't know," Rook muttered, glancing back at the pre-Equestrian power crystal she'd so recently stolen from the bandits, "I didn't know."

They were still some distance from the bandit airship when it lifted into the air and accelerated away from them. By the time the four pursuers were approaching the road it was clear that they were still slowly gaining on the bandits, but nowhere near as quickly as they'd like.

Rook looked down, her eyes scanning the road as they passed over the remains of a cargo caravan. Her heart pounded and she felt tears down her cheeks as she spotted three ponies trotting out of the jungle to examine the wreckage. It looked like the caravan crew had taken cover when the bandits attacked.

"Thank Celestia," The thief sighed, turning to stare at the caravan as the pursuit continued.

"Have they changed course?" Rarity asked, her talent for design telling her that their line had slowly drifted a few degrees.

"Yeah, they're heading straight for Green Lake," Rook confirmed, her superior night vision picking out landmarks that the others struggled to see.

"Why would they be heading there?" Sapper frowned as much as her injured face would allow, "The Equestrian border is on the other side of the mountains, this is a detour."

"If I had to guess," Rarity groaned, "They're going to attack the town you came from, Indigo.”

"But. I'm not from Green Lake,” the engineer shook her head, “And even if I was, why would they destroy the place when heading straight for the boarder is the most sensible option?"

"They're doing it out of spite," Rarity said, looking over to Indigo then Rook, "You escaped the gang and you stole the power crystal. You made Red look like a fool and now he's lashing out."

"Even if going straight for the boarder is the better option, Zap and the other bandits will want to show off their new toy," Sapper said through gritted teeth, "They were all obsessed with the airship. Not because of how much it was worth or what an incredible piece of technology it was, but because it could cause so much damage. I see that now. There's no way they'll hand the warship over to an army without getting to use it first."

"Well, there's good news and bad news," Indigo said. "The good news is that I've rigged the airship's weapons to overheat and explode after repeated use."

"Wait! You were going to kill us all?" Sapper gasped.

"The explosion and crash wasn't guaranteed to kill everypony," Indigo tilted her head to the side as she thought, "Although it was a possibility. I needed to minimise the damage Red and his bandits could do and I had very limited options."

"I guess they were going to kill you first," Sapper said with a dark laugh.

"Well, I wasn't expecting Red to hand the airship over to an enemy army who would likely discover the sabotage in their attempts to recreate my work" Indigo explained, "If they attack Green Lake first then there's a good chance the bandits will destroy their own warship before they get a chance to deliver it. But whether they survive or not, the town is going to be burned to the ground."

"I'm not fond of Green Lake," Rook shrugged, "But I don't think they deserve to be buried under a wave of magical fire."

"The townsponies have never been particularly kind to me," The tinkerer nodded, "But I can't just leave them to die."

"So, we need to catch the warship before it kills an entire town and before it destroys itself?" Sapper asked and when Indigo nodded again the former bandit sighed, "Well, hold on tight, I'm going to push our engine to it's limits!"

"I thought you already were!" Rarity gasped, tightening her grip on the rope.

"I've been holding back," Sapper shook her head, "let's see what this thing can really do!"

"And hope we're not the ones who explode!" Rook yelped as the gondola lurched forward with a sudden burst of speed.

Rarity watched as the airship ahead of them grew closer and closer. Beyond the bandits, she spotted the lights of the town in the distance and the lake beyond it, reflecting moonlight and the first hints of sunrise. The journey that had taken her an entire day on hoof was almost over in a matter of minutes. She didn't want to think about how fast they were traveling, how bad it would be if they crashed or how the entire gondola was being held together by rope and improvised welding.

The hole-filled floor beneath them juddered and the engine screamed, but everything seemed to be holding together as they raced through the air with cold night wind whipping at their manes.

"Are the grenades ready?" Sapper called over the straining engine.

"I've got six that should take the airship down, assuming we can find a gap in the armour," Indigo nodded, looking away from her current repair job to grab the saddlebag and attach something to her right forehoof. "And I've rigged up a crossbow to launch them, it should give us enough range."

"When did you build that?" Rook asked. frowning at the weapon held up by Indigo.

"While we were flying," The tinkerer shrugged, "From junk I grabbed before we left.”

Rarity blinked.

"Alright, get ready for the first shot," Sapper called as they drew closer to the airship, "We may have six shots, but we'll only have one before the bandits realised we're after them."

"I can see the gaps in their armour," Indigo said as she adjusted her goggles and the crossbow, "But this isn't the best angle to attack."

"I can get alongside them, but they'll notice us before we can fire. Red was always strict about having lookouts," Sapper replied. "Is it worth the risk?"

"How quickly will they be able to return fire?" Rarity called, her glowing horn straining as she tried to keep the gondola together.

"The weapons take a few seconds to warm up," Indigo said as she slotted the first grenade into place, "And in theory they'll struggle to hit a moving target in the air. But I don't know how much of an advantage that'll give us in practice."

Rook and Rarity exchanged a look, the designer matching the thief's worried yet determined expression. They both turned to look ahead at the fast approaching lights of the town.

"Then we try to get alongside and make the first shot count," Rarity answered for both of them, "We're running out of time and they'll kill everypony if they get the chance."

Rook and Rarity tried to brace themselves on either side of Indigo, holding the tinkerer steady as she released her grip to focus on aiming. Sapper held them as steady as the overworked engine would allow as they crept up alongside the warship, trying to keep a dozen body-lengths away so they wouldn't been too easy for the bandits to hit.

They were almost in position when a pair of eyes looking out through a targeting window spotted them. The pursuers had a moment of pleasure, seeing the shock and surprise in the bandit's eyes before they recovered and turned to shout a warning to their comrades.

"Firing!" Indigo announced, releasing the crossbow and sending a red grenade at the larger airship.

The sphere struck a hoof-width away from a gap in the armour. Fiery smoke exploded across the hull, most of it curling away from the ship with only faint wisps getting inside.

As Indigo was loading another shot, two of the warship cannons moved toward the smaller gondola. Rarity's blue eyes focused on the weapons with all other thought wiped from her mind as she watched the barrels starting to glow with magical energy.

It was clear the bandits were struggling to manoeuvre their weapons while the airship was moving at full speed. The cannons juddered and tried to pull away from the hooves guiding them.

"Firing!" Indigo shouted as she released the second grenade.

The sphere hit armour again, missing the narrow gap that the bandits were aiming through as it burst in a cloud of familiar green smoke. The cloud twisted in the air as the ship rushed through it, but Rarity noted more wisps getting into the weapon room through holes in the armour. Probably not enough to knock out their attackers, but the designer knew how quickly even small amounts of the gas could affect concentration.

Rarity, Rook and Indigo yelped as the gondola lurched to the side at the same moment the two cannons fired. Balls of flaming, magical energy shot toward them, missing by a couple of body lengths before exploding in mid-air behind them. Heat and sparks of magic washed over the smaller airship as the three ponies in front ducked down and Sapper gritted her teeth, her already injured features becoming red raw again.

"We're falling apart!" Sapper shouted.

Rarity smelt the burning wood and fabric before she saw the singed ropes barely holding them together. The small airship weaved from side to side as Sapper struggled to control it with half the manoeuvring mechanisms broken.

Looking ahead, she saw the lights of the town were almost upon them, if they didn't stop the warship soon it'd either bomb the settlement or crash into it.

"Hold us steady!" Indigo called as she readied her foreleg-mounted crossbow.

Rarity's horn sparked, the blue-white glow flickering as she struggled to keep hold of the ropes around them. With one forehoof gripping the smouldering edge of the gondola, she wrapped the other around Indigo's shoulder, trying to prevent the tinkerer from being jolted out by their erratic movements.

"Firing!"

To Rarity it felt like everything happened simultaneously. The bandit cannons fired and the balls of magic barely missed them before exploding close by. Indigo fired and the grenade glanced off the underside of the warship before bursting harmlessly in the air. A wave of fire and lightning magic hit the smaller airship, shredding the balloon, tearing apart the gondola and sending Rarity plummeting over the side.

The designer was still overwhelmed by the pain in her shoulder from the magical impact and hadn't even registered the fact she was falling when a pair of forehooves wrapped around her torso from behind in mid-air.

"I got you," Rook called, her head pressed against Rarity's shoulder.

Looking up, the designer watched as Rook's cape extended and hardened, becoming like a glider as their decent slowed. The grip around her tightened as they both realised that they were still moving too fast, rushing toward the trees and solid ground below.

"I've never tried this with two ponies," Rook gasped, "it's not enough. I have to change. Please don't panic!"

"Too late for that, darling," Rarity called before a flash of bright green light forced her eyes shut.

Rarity felt their fall slowing again before she shook her head and opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed were the forelegs wrapped around her torso. A pair of jet black, chitin covered limbs, decorated with holes had replaced the purple-furred pony legs that'd been there moments earlier. Looking up, she found an insectoid face staring back at her and a pair of large, gossamer wings flapping desperately as they tried to stop their fall.

The designer shrieked. It wasn't a pleasant sound and it was an act she would regret for years to come. But instinct took over and being grabbed by a giant, insect-like creature provoked a response.

"I said don't panic, love!" Rook hissed, her voice edged with echoes and clicks as she struggled to keep hold of the designer, "I don't want to drop you."

Taking deep breaths, Rarity nodded slowly, forcing herself to look down as they approached the ground.

Rook's wings flapped and their fall finally turned into a glide moments before they reached the top of the trees. Weaving around the larger branches, they crashed through the rest before finally hitting the jungle floor and rolling to a stop.

Groaning, Rarity opened her eyes again to find herself on her side in the dirt, staring at Rook, curled up beside her. The other creature was smaller than she'd first appeared, her body a strange mix of pony and insect elements. But the grimace of pain she wore was instantly recognisable.

"Rook?" Rarity asked, reaching toward the unknown.

"The ship!" Rook gasped, her eyes snapping open, revealing shining, iridescent orbs that darted from side to side before looking upward.

The designer turned to follow the insect's gaze and spotted the remains of the smaller airship dropping from the sky. Most of the balloon was gone, the engine was on fire and Sapper clung to the pilot's platform with Indigo holding onto the former bandit.

Their fall was slowed by what little buoyancy remained in the balloon, allowing them to crash through the jungle and impact a short distance from Rook and Rarity.

"They made it!" The designer grinned, staggering to her feet and ignoring the pain and layer of dirt.

"Give me a moment," Rook groaned, curling tighter into a ball, wings wrapped around her.

As Rarity watched, the thief's outer shell glowed green before a flash of magical fire rushed over the surface. When the fire vanished, Rook had the appearance of a pony again and her wings had become the shimmering cloak that slowly settled around her as she got to her hooves.

"You're..." Rarity frowned, not knowing what she'd seen.

"We're called Changelings," Rook said, turning toward the crashed gondola, "I'll explain. I promise. But we don't have time now."

The designer hesitated before nodding. "Let's go," she said, gesturing for the thief to lead the way through the jungle.

They hadn't trotted far before they reached the flaming remains of the smaller airship. Indigo and Sapper were both on their hooves, hurriedly exploring the crash site in the light from the burning wreck. Fresh blood decorated the side of Sapper's face, but she ignored it, focusing on her search.

"Good, you made it!" Indigo said, her artificial voice cracking as she looked up to see Rook and Rarity enter the clearing. “We've lost the grenades and crossbow."

"And the warship is circling around to finish us off!" Sapper added, pointing up where the airship could be seen through the trees.

"I found a grenade," Rook said, heading over to a dark red sphere hidden in the shadows.

"And I've found the crossbow," Rarity added, trotting to the splintered remains of the weapon, "Or what's left of it at least."

Sapper's head darted from side to side, blood-matted mane swaying as she stared at the crossbow and then the approaching warship.

"What are we going to do?" the teenager asked.

"Even with the crossbow there's no way we could hit them from the ground," Indigo shook her head.

"Great," Sapper gasped, "The warship is circling around and we're sitting ducks for those cannons?"

"That sums it up," Indigo nodded, watching the airship heading toward them again, "So, does anypony have a plan?"

Comments

[Scyphi]

"Well... We're going to fly like a lightning dragon… fast and erratic, assuming the whole thing doesn't shake itself apart... which it might."

[Lime Contraption]

11248853
That appears to be the plan! Although 'plan' might be too grand a word.