Twelve Days of ChristMinty

by Twilyx360

Chapter 8

After a day of smooth sailing. Almost everypony was asleep that night.

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Minty woke to the main Zeppelin alarm. The whole Zeppelin was shaking like a freight train. She picked up a clock on her nightstand, it was three in the morning.

Rainbow broke into Minty’s cabin. “We need all hooves on deck Minty.” Said Rainbow as she rushed away.

Minty got off the bed and looked in the porthole window to see how violent the storm got.

===

Thistle was barely keeping a straight face as she explained the situation. “We’re losing altitude in this blizzard. The balloon and main deck of the Zeppelin is getting snowbound! We need to clear it off before the Zeppelin crashes completely! Minty! Pinkie! Derpy! Take those shovels and start getting the snow off the main deck.

Fluttershy and Rainbow are with me! We’re going to remove it from that balloon!” As she explained the plan, Minty noticed she looked exhausted. Flying the Zeppelin for three days without sleep was clearly not doing her wonders.

When they started dressing in jackets Minty couldn’t help but ask. “Um Thistle, when did you last get some sleep?” Asked Minty.

“That’s no matter, let's just get out there!” Thistle said in a wooden tone.

Something wasn’t right. No one was flying the zeppelin now. But surely Thistle had auto-pilot on, right?

She rushed out of the cockpit with Fluttershy and Rainbow flying to the top. She and Pinkie grabbed the tools and ran onto the main deck.

===

The cleaning was horrid. It was completely dark; the cold was absolutely frigid. And the snow seemed to quickly replace the one they cleaned up.

On the balloon things were progressing faster but the conditions were worse. Thistle and Fluttershy were having a hard time staying focused. And Rainbow was clearly losing momentum.

Danger struck when a large beam of light raced past the Zeppelin. The zeppelin was thrown into turbulence and started violently spinning around.

Pinkie, Derpy and Minty grabbed onto the balloon rope, while Thistle and Fluttershy got briefly disoriented before landing on the main deck and grabbed the sides.

Rainbow flew after them, to the main deck as the piles of snow flew off of the zeppelin. But then a second beam of light rushed past Rainbow causing even more turbulence.

And worse, Rainbow passed out and fell. She thankfully landed on the deck but was being thrown around and was about to fall over the edge.

Minty saw what was about to happen as her body approached the edge of the front deck.

“RAINBOW!” Shouted Minty.

Thistle looked over and saw her. Along with Derpy, Fluttershy and Pinkie.

Just as a third beam of light rushed past them, completely flipping the zeppelin before getting rightside up again.

Rainbow’s body was thrown into a rope pile that completely tangled itself around her body. When she came to, the zeppelin started spinning violently again. And she was thrown off the edge with her whole body tangled in ropes.

“HELLLLLLLP!” Screamed Rainbow.

There was no way she could fly like that. And there was no way anypony could save her in these high winds.

The other four ponies held onto the balloon ropes for dear life. Knowing what would happen if they let go. Pinkie was crying “DASHIEEE!...”

Thistle could barely hold on. Fluttershy and Derpy squeezed her eyes closed.

Minty however knew what she had to do. “I’m saving her!” Shouted Minty.

“No! You can’t!” Shouted Thistle.

“Thistle, I have to!” Shouted Minty.

For once. Thistle’s face finally changed to one of worry. “But Minty! You’ll fall off in seconds!” She screamed.

And Minty let go. And landed on the deck, she grabbed the sides but staying on was difficult.

When she finally reached the front, she grabbed the rope and started to pull Rainbow up.

With a little help from the wind, she was able to do it. She pulled Rainbow back onboard. “Minty!” Rainbow hugging her.

Rainbow untied the rope and held onto the edge and looked over it to see a sign of hope.

Lights were in the distance. “Minty look!” Rainbow shouted. “We can land it there!” Said Minty.

Minty and Rainbow held onto the sides and made it back to the cockpit. “There’s no time!” She said closing the door. She immediately took the wheel and let the anchor down. The zeppelin completely stopped spinning as it shot Derpy forward and off the zeppelin. She launched into the lit-up area and crashed into a hut thankfully unharmed.

The anchor reeled the zeppelin safe to the ground. Pinkie, Fluttershy and Thistle let go and landed on the main deck passing out. Rainbow and Minty did too.

When Derpy passed out in the hut. She saw what looked like… a yak?