North Woods NightMares

by Starfighter

Chapter 32: Big Mare, Big Water

Polaris Wind kept a close eye on his altitude. Upon reaching 20,000 feet, with the air a bit chilly now (much better than the humid, enclosed capsule they boarded), he yanked the entrance hatch shut and turned the compressor valve, which made a chuffing sound similar to a steam locomotive. He held his hoof up to the vent to check they were receiving fresh air. While doing so he found a steam heat radiator line that hadn’t been mentioned. Which meant as it got cold they could continue keeping warm. Though once sealed the sun kept warming the craft throughout the afternoon.

Around 37,000 feet the craft stopped climbing, despite full damper. They had hit their flight ceiling. Frost was visible on the window by Frosty. Polaris looked up and saw they were above all the cloud layers, and the sky had deepened from cerulean to an ultramarine color.

PW sat for a moment and thought to himself about how he had managed to go from a rejected technician to an elite Night-Mare field tactical support assistant.

‘Here I am in the middle of the ocean with her. It’s MY job to fly her across. Her wellbeing is entrusted to me!’ He excitedly thought to himself. Being a pegasus, PW had gotten around more than most other ponies but he had never crossed the Celestial Sea before.

Pondering the level of his responsibility to safely deliver the Night-Mare to her mission safely for over an hour, it was the golden light streaming in via that late afternoon sun that got his attention. Checking the vital system health indicators first, PW cracked open a few cans of beans as well as put a pot of oatmeal on the boiler. In addition to hot water in the boiler, there was a cold potable water tank near the ceiling.

PW anticipated Frosty would wake given the smell of food, but she didn’t. “That’s funny. She usually snores when she sleeps…” He muttered.

A flash of concern came over him. He looked over at Frosty to see her large belly rising up and down, like it always did.

“I’ll have to wake her up for once.” PW sighed, walking over to her bunk. “Frosty. Frosty, I got you some dinner!”

“Ooo-ooooh!” Moaned the large mare, stretching and going limp again.

“C’mon Frosty! Aren’t you hungry?” He asked

“No.” The simple reply.

“But you gotta eat to keep your huge, bulky muscular body!” PW declared, describing her as he knew her.

“Mmmm!” She groaned.

He switched tactics. “How are you going to fight when we land?”

“Not being at 30,000 feet!” She complained.

“The cabin is sealed at 20,000 feet, Frosty.” He said matter-of-factly.

“Fun shit.” She gruffed.

“C’mon, there’s still two-thirds as much air as at sea level! Can’t your lean, efficient, muscular body respirate with that?” He smirked.

“Yes.”

“Then, why are you acting so sluggish?”

“I’m an EARTH-pony, with no EARTH!”

“You have earth just 20,000 feet below you.” He shrugged.

“No, we’re over the ocean.”

PW looked down at the greenish brown water, noting its color. “Okay 20,100 feet. We’re still over the continental shelf.”

She glared at him.

“Frosty!” PW whined, yanking her large, hanging foreleg with most of his strength.

She didn’t budge.

“Well, Tiny Hooves, I guess I’ll just have to eat it all!” Mocked PW, turning around.

Suddenly the entire hull swung, with the sloshing water in the boiler making a puffing sound. PW turned around as metal clanked behind him. Frosty was doing her best to stand, plugging up the entire accessway between the machinery above and to their sides. She wasn’t looking too happy.

With a huff she began advancing towards the offending stallion, on a compactor run. That was until he seated himself at the fold down table, which was neatly set with food, napkins and cutlery. It even had a flower in a vase (something that wouldn’t have been supplied by the Royal Guard). She studied the table, and then looked down at Polaris who was innocently looking up at her like a puppy dog, grinning in hopefulness and slumping back into a submissive position against the golden sunlight streaming in through the window.

“Well-well-well… I guess it’s time to eat.” She relented from her initial tirade.

With that, she sat and started spooning the oatmeal into her mouth. “I know you like it on the gritty side. Hopefully I did it right.”

“Mm~!” Moaned the mare, her eyes flying open. “I am hungry now!” She shouted.

PW moved back as the enormous mare gorged herself.

A few minutes later, with a great burp, Frosty had finished her meal. “You make it the way I like it. Good job little guy.” She complimented him.

PW began cleaning up as the last rays of sun were disappearing behind the horizon. Frosty began yawning again.

“Hiss suuun is makiiing meee diiired!” She yawned.

“Oh that reminds me, I need a sextant sighting!” Called PW, digging the bubble sextant out of the box.

The stallion set the solar filters in place and held the device to the sun, twisting the knob back and forth to keep the bubble positioned in the sun. He continued doing this for a few minutes, before a ‘ding’ was heard. “That’s sunset!” He exclaimed, setting the device down and writing down the time from his pocket watch.

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, it’s still shining orange!” Frosty corrected.

“Yes but it’s below the horizon now.” He explained.

She squinted “... Bullshit. I still see it.”

“The ideal horizon, Frosty.” PW clarified as he started referencing tables to subtract out refraction and look up Celestia’s scheduled position of the sun. He frantically scribbled a column of numbers into a worksheet, before arriving at his final answer. “50 degrees 21 minutes east!” He announced.

“What does that mean?” She asked flatly.

“That’s our longitude!”

“What about latitude?”

“I don’t know. I only shot the sun. I’ll have to wait until the north star is up.” He looked to the roof.

“So, where are we then?” She raised a brow, crossed her forehooves and looked at PW with disappointment.

“We’re maintaining a course of 125 degrees and now plot 240 miles off the coast. When I draw that out on the map I get this!” PW sketched, then held up the map with an X in the North Celestial Sea.

“Hm. Good job, smartypants. I’m going to bed now.” She declared, lying down.

“Already?”

“Food coma… oxygen coma… tight spaces… zzz…” She began snoring on the spot.

‘How on Equus does that mare do that…?’ PW wondered.

It was fully dark by the time PW had managed to put everything away and get himself ready for bed. He looked out towards the west, seeing bright, isolated red lights on the distant horizon from brand new radio towers peacefully blinking on and off, the last he would see of the mainland. He checked the altitude and the boiler level, then went to bed.

The beds were arranged opposite each other, so that if a creature faced the large stern window, a large bunk to the right side of the aisleway was for the Night-Mare and a small bunk on the left side for a small stallion. Only a small adult would fit there, as the bed was barely long enough for PW. No doubt they sized it for him. All surrounding the bed was various equipment. The gear stowage, potable water tank, head, tools, food, and more.

It wasn’t long before PW woke up freezing cold and shivering. With the sun gone, the freezing temperatures at altitude crept into the capsule. He turned the steam heat flow valve on before returning to sleep. The next time the stallion awoke it was brilliantly bright outside. A deep blue light shined in from the west and a piercing yellow sunlight entered from the eastern side's smaller window, lighting the inside of the craft up white. He looked over at his large companion, who was still motionless, and un-popping his earplugs found she wasn’t snoring.

“Frosty?” He whispered.

“…”

“You okay?” He asked, a little louder.

“…”

“Okay then.” He responded upon realizing she was not going to wake up anytime soon.

He checked his pocket watch and found it was a quarter past ten in the morning. With lots of peace and quiet, PW planned a 10:00AM sun-shot. With no distractions, his navigation could be very accurate, and when his work was complete he found they were now 1,400 miles out.

PW looked down at the water, which was now a brilliant shade of dark blue, a far cry from the greenish-brown murky water back home. He watched from eight miles up as individual wave caps appeared and disappeared, shimmering in the sunlight. Other than a few small, puffy cumulus clouds on the horizon it was a completely empty ocean.

Next, PW powered on the radio and attempted to make contact with the mainland. “Norfilly Control, Windy reporting.” He called.

The radio was static for the next few seconds.

“Er-u-u-i-e-u.” Was all he heard in response. He turned the radio’s squelch knob down as far as it would go.

“Norfilly Control, Windy reporting. Sound check?” He asked.

“Hear yo-u fi’ve b-y th-ee” The crackly response came.

“I’m reading you, five-by-two.” PW replied slowly.

“Any Th-ng u- repor?” The radio cackled.

“Negative contact. Empty.” Replied PW slowly.

“’-oger. –Or pos-ion?”

“My position is north 5 degrees 37 minutes, east 5-0 degrees 4-5 minutes!”

“Wow! You're -ll most acr-oss!” Called the voice. PW checked his map.

“About two thirds!”

“Good. Kee’p loo-ing or th’ ship.”

“Wilco.” PW called, hanging the radio up.

That’s when he saw it. Out the western window, he noticed an oddly dark object in the otherwise lapis lazuli colored water.

Comments

[ProgAltRocker]

Eyes in the skies. Aerial intel and recon is the best.

[Idle_Mind]

Ominous

[bkam]

Here we go.

[Starfighter]

11976208
Indeed, as long as it doesn't give the mission away!

[Starfighter]

11976615
Thanks for the feedback and for reading my story!

[Rubberduck]

“Well, Tiny Hooves, I guess I’ll just have to eat it all!” Mocked PW, turning around.

Bad idea...

Suddenly the entire hull swung, with the sloshing water in the boiler making a puffing sound. PW turned around as metal clanked behind him. Frosty was doing her best to stand, plugging up the entire accessway between the machinery above and to their sides. She wasn’t looking too happy.

Suddendly i have a Song in mind...

dum ways to die...