The Sunset Trilogy

by ocalhoun

Book 3 - Chapter LV

Book 3: Equestria Abides
Chapter 21

“Hold tight on that windlass!” Apollo shouted out, “Don't let it slip again, we're getting it this time!” He turned towards Twilight. “How's the inflation going?”

“Almost there... all we need now is... that!” She said, pointing to the group of three ponies flying in. They were pushing along enough light 'floater' clouds to finish filling the 'sails' of their airship. They would really do it this time! They were really going to get one airborne! The first three attempts had failed, only one of those failures leaving enough of the airship intact to make a second try with it... Thankfully, the things were very popular in Las Pegasus, so crashing a few didn't really impact them much.

Twilight was glad they had saved this one for last, gunmetal grey with gold filigree decorations, and a good one third larger than most, it was one of the best they had found so far. Supposedly, the idea was to use it to move cargo, enabling them to scavenge further afield... which was important, since Las Pegasus had pretty much been totally picked through by now. Soon they would have to start scavenging from further away, grow their own food, or start trading their excess stuff for things they really needed. The real purpose of it though, Twilight suspected, was mainly for the novelty of it. The big airships were all just there after all, just hanging, moored to the docks and just waiting for somepony to come bring them back to life... it was amazing that they had resisted the temptation for this long, honestly.

“There, that should do it,” Sunny Daze said, swooping low over Twilight's head, closely followed by Trigger and then Albatross as the three ponies began breaking chunks of the light cloud off and shoving them into the big balloon-like enclosure that would tether them to keep the airship aloft. Sunny Daze had taken a while to get used to her wings – and her magic for that matter – but she had now pretty well mastered both. She didn't have Twilight's mastery of magic yet, despite her ample raw power, of course. That took decades of study.She didn't have quite the flying ability of a native pegasus yet either... but those would come in time; as an alicorn, she would have all the time in the world to practice, after all. Still, it was wonderful to see her grown and flying along with her old friend. The two had actually learned to really fly together, Trigger dragging Sunny along for the first part: at first, she hadn't wanted to fly at all... but soon enough, Sunny began to surpass him, making it a competition between the two.

Privately, Twilight suspected there might be more than just friendship and rivalry between those two, but she kept quiet about it... perhaps more to keep her occasional thoughts about a certain other pegasus from becoming public either.

Apollo flew by underneath, checking on Shimmer Spell. “Any trouble with the ropes?” Twilight couldn't hear her answer, but apparently she was still keeping the lift ropes nicely untangled, since Apollo popped back up soon with no commotion. She was glad he was able to be here today; all too often lately he tended to get caught up in running what had become a little town of sorts. Already the fortress was nearly full of ponies, some already beginning to choose to live outside it in the surrounding area instead. Their little group tended to pick up stragglers now and then. Whenever a down-and-out pony wandered by, they often ended up staying with their little community. Was it how well-prepared they had become? Was it the sense of real community and rebuilding what was lost? Was it simply the fact that they had the new alicorn of the sun with them? Who knew... but over the years, all those stragglers and lone wanderers added up... their population was probably a little bigger than Ponyville's used to be by now.

“There, all finished!” Sunny said, landing next to her with something not entirely unlike grace. She was already growing into her full stature, already nearly a full head taller than Twilight herself, and even higher over Trigger, who was about the same age. Was it something about the magic in an alicorn that caused them to grow taller? She would hesitate to admit it, even to herself, but Twilight loved getting a chance to study the development of an alicorn. All three races of ponies had magic, of course, though the magic that helped a pegasus fly and touch clouds, and especially the magic that helped an earth pony endure and grow things... those weren't as well known or as obvious as unicorn magic... but an alicorn... they had all three forms... so was that what caused them to grow bigger? The need for more room for all that magical energy?

“So, whatcha think, Twilight?” Sunny's question caught her off-guard. She had been a little lost in thought, and hadn't even noticed her talking.

“About...” She attempted to recall what it had been...

“About finally getting a weather control team together again, duh!” Trigger said.

Oh, that. They had been talking about it before now as well... hm, moving that cloud must have brought it up again. “You think you have enough pegasi now?”

“Well, for some reason we're kinda short on ones who are actually healthy enough, but we're sure we have enough to at least control it a little, and enough to get total control for special occasions and stuff!” Sunny Daze had been pretty keen on it, after all. She seemed to enjoy messing around with clouds almost as much as moving the sun... which, admittedly, must have gotten pretty routine by now.

“Well, sure then, just run it by Apollo first.” Twilight gave her stamp of approval. Though some ponies, especially some of the newcomers, expected Sunny Daze to be the leader, being an alicorn and all... she had even heard a few whispers of 'princess' sometimes... Sunny had repeatedly made it clear she did not want to be in charge, so Apollo remained the titular leader of their little community. Twilight had noticed that her opinion was asked on just about everything though... she'd worked up quite the reputation as a learned pony, so even if she didn't have any actual authority, ponies – especially Apollo – often asked her for advice on what to do.

“Everypony ready?” Apollo called out, hovering above the dock. A chorus of affirmatives met him in return, including Twilight's own, confirming that the airship's 'sails' were full and ready to provide lift. “Okay, release the tethers on the count of three... one... two... and... Three!”

The straps holding the sails open and low for loading all came untied in quick succession, mostly by Twilight and Shimmer's magic, though all the ponies on deck helped out. Quickly, the balloon began to rise, pulling its lift ropes up and over the deck until they snapped taunt with a pop and a low pitched hum as the cables vibrated after snapping into place.

Carefully navigating around the ropes, Apollo landed on the deck in front of Twilight, carrying Shimmer from underneath and setting her down gently to the deck. “Okay, everyone on station?” He looked around. “Okay, Albie, you've got the helm? ... Good... ... Hey, who's supposed to be on lookout?”

“Oh,” Trigger said, startled. He apparently had been focusing a little too much attention on Sunny and not enough on what he was supposed to be doing. “On it!” He called back, quickly shooting up to the top of the balloon, to the lookout's post on top. Though he was capable of much more now, he still did excel at short bursts of wing speed.

“All right everypony!” Apollo called out again, “Winds are favorable, the ship's ready... Cast Off!”

With a burst of Shimmer's magic, the ropes holding them to the dock untied themselves, coiling themselves neatly in their places on the deck... and with that, the ship began to rise away. Twilight could barely contain her excitement... she wasn't immune to the novelty of it either, truth be told. Sure, she had flown in her hot air balloon before... but this... Taking the grand hulk of an abandoned airship and finally lifting off with it, it just left her breathless... not to mention the view! To the bow, there was the grand city of Las Pegasus, its many towers seeming to form a solid wall in front of them, from the ground straight up into the permanent layer of clouds above. It was showing its age though... clouds didn't tend to stay in their positions long without pegasus ponies to maintain them, even ones intended to be permanent. Even now, parts of the overhead cloud had broken open, allowing direct sunlight into city streets that hadn't seen it in centuries... and the buildings themselves were becoming unsafe, especially on the upper levels where they were mostly cloud.

...And to the stern, there was the vast expanse of the Great Western Sea, just beginning to get a tinge of gold to it from Sunny's oncoming sunset... They would be doing well to get the airship back to the fortress's roof and moored before dark. Twilight was tempted to ask the alicorn for a little extra time in the sunlight... if it hadn't been Twilight herself who had drilled her on the importance of keeping a perfectly regular schedule. Still, she found herself enjoying the view; the sparkling waves below growing slowly more distant, the birds offshore growing slowly closer...

She looked more closely at those birds... there was something odd about them... the shape a little off... and something about how they moved... Wait... they were huge! “Apollo!” She called, “I think there's–”

Her announcement was cut off by Trigger performing his job as lookout from above, shouting loudly, “Griffons on our six!”

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Comments

[DreadedCandiru2]

Oh, boy. Cliffness of hangerage.