To the Flamespire!

by Vivid Syntax

3: Thundercrash

Starlight's tail wagged like a puppy's as the Mare Stream sailed through the sky. "This is SO much easier than flying myself!"

Zipp cocked an eyebrow. "You can fly?"

"Sort of. Here, watch." Her horn glowed, and she deftly levitated herself into the air. Of course, at that exact moment, they hit turbulence, and Starlight flew into the ceiling with a "Gah!" before slamming back to the floor.

Zipp chuckled. "Oooooh yeah, the Mare Stream is a lot easier than that. You okay?"

"I'm fine," Starlight groaned as she got up on her hooves. "Not the first time I've made an embarrassing mistake." She cast a glance at Zipp, and her voice took on the slightest edge. "Happens to all of us, right?"

Zipp flushed. "Uh, yeah! Totally." She stared straight ahead and frowned as she piloted their craft.

Starlight paused. When nothing else came, she looked out the window. "These clouds are getting darker. I think we're heading into a storm."

"That's no storm. Opaline knows about the Mare Stream, and we think she's using her magic to keep us away."

Starlight's eyes widened. "She's got a perpetual weather control spell?" She nibbled her lip in thought. "Wow, that would take a lot of focus. Maybe she's using a magic circle or two, but still, the sheer number of gems needed for the spell matrices would be huge, and that's only for the moisture in the air, which…" She caught sight of Zipp, who looked dumbfounded. "Basically, she's really powerful."

"That's what I've been saying! She’s wah!” The Mare Stream shook again as a peal of thunder roared right on top of them, and a white light flashed as lighting struck the Mare Stream.

Starlight gasped. “What was that?”

Zipp snorted. “You know how to fly, but you don’t know what lightning is!?”

“No! I mean, I do, but there’s something else. Look again!”

Zipp turned forward again. “I don’t see anything. It’s getting darker!” All of a sudden, the Mare Stream tossed in the sky as lightning struck it again. Zipp winced at the intensely bright light.

“There!” Starlight shouted, barely able to keep on her hooves. “The afterimage!”

Zipp shook her head and winced in pain, but she focused and closed her eyes. As she looked deeply at the darkness, something did stand out to her. Instead of a uniform wash of color from her over-exposed eyes, she saw a twisted, skeletal shape, clear as day. “Is that… a pony?”

“Windigo!” Starlight screamed.

The Mare Stream shook and threw the ponies to the wall as three more lightning strikes connected with them, each more powerful than the last. Zipp scrambled to her hooves as the Mare Stream plummeted. “What are those things?”

“Spirits! They feed on negative energy! I don’t know why they’re here, but we need to find someplace safe.”

With one flap, Zipp dashed to the steering wheel and grunted hard as she pulled up, desperately trying to right the Mare Stream. “It’s not leveling out!” Wind tore at the sides of the ship, lightning streaked all around them.

Starlight crouched down and focused. “I’ll help! “ She focused her magic, and the Mare Stream became enveloped in her magic glow. It pulled up just a little further, out of its nose dive but still heading towards the dense forest below. “It’s not enough!”

Zipp’s hooves shook on the steering wheel. “W-what do I do!?”

“Your call, Zipp!”

Zipp froze.

“Zipp?”

Zipp didn’t move. Her jaw hung open, and her eyes were wide. Her grip on the steering wheel loosened, and her forelegs hung slack at her sides. She stopped breathing. The only thing she could see were flashes of memories in her mind’s eye. The halls of the castle in Zephyr Heights. Broken glass. Sunny, gone. Dark fire everywhere. She could still hear Hitch’s last words. ‘Your call, Zipp!’

“Zipp!” Zipp stumbled as Starlight shoved her aside and grabbed onto the steering wheel. Alarms blared and red lights flashed on every display. Starlight leaned back with all her weight, trying to pull the Mare Stream up, all while her magical aura flickered and failed on the Mare Stream.

Zipp sat on the ground, shaking, with her hooves to her temples. “No. No. Not again. Not again. Not again!”

Sweat poured from Starlight’s forehead as her magical spell broke, and a bolt of lighting flew across the sky above them. The trees below grew closer and closer. “Hold on!” Starlight shouted as the steering wheel broke free of her grip.

Zipp remained stuck in place. Her joints felt like they were made of welded metal.

Starlight gasped and tossed her head around as detritus flew all around the Mare Stream. “Think, Starlight, think!” The alarms grew louder, and the ship lurched forward, launching the snacks from the back towards the front compartment.

Just as the first nose of the Mare Stream brushed against the leaves of the tall trees, Starlight gasped, “Marshmallow fluff!” as her horn flared with new intensity.

The last thing Zipp saw was an exploding jar and a rapidly growing mass of white goo.

Comments

[Flamewarrior02]

……Zipp, is there something you’re not telling us?

[Xp45]

I know these chapters are short but this is some genuinely engaging writing, and you have me hooked for the intricacies of what could have been an incredibly simple rescue mission. I eagerly anticipate the next release

[Vivid Syntax]

11658364
Thanks! I'm new to writing short chapters, so that's great to hear!