The story of the first voyage of the ASA-127 'Spero' Zeppelin, as it's inventor tries to bring the machine back to it's former glory
The Zeppelin was the source of inspiration for many ponies of the past, but after the Equestrian government decided to abruptly ban them after an accident, their inventor Altarya Skarya is willing to make a voyage around the globe to prove once and for all the safety and reliability of the zeppelin.
But it seems like some would rather not have that happen...
When something doesn’t work, what do you usually do?
Give up?
Try again?
Few have the perseverance and patience required for the last option, fortunately I am one such pony.
My name is Altarya Skarya, and this is my story.
oooOOOooo
I stared into the massive doors of the royal throne room, waiting for a word from the Princesses. Despite how friendly they were, only a few ponies had the luxury of being seen by either one of them nowadays.
The massive white doors stood, presenting the terrific art of when the city of Canterlot was originally built; the art detailed the two royal princesses watching over the kingdom as they’ve always done, and probably always will.
“Relax Altarya,” said my twin sister, Etrys, “the worst that can happen is they don’t accept and we have to seek out private funding.” She wrapped one of her leathery wings around my neck before adding, “Maybe do some re-branding.”
Unfortunately, her wing brushed against one of my ‘scars’.
I let out a hiss of pain as I pulled away. “Ah! Etrys, the neck… it still hurts.” I turned to look at Etrys. “It’s the fifth time I have to tell you since they discharged me from the hospital yesterday,” I said, giving her a patient smile.
She frowned, but nodded, her jet black mane falling on her face and covering one of her bright orange eyes.
The door rumbled and began to open, and I looked towards the room, trying to take on a serious expression. No matter how much Etrys tried to comfort me with talks of private funding, truth was that after the ASA-126 Novum went down in a flaming inferno; no one was willing to trust Skarya Airship Co. or zeppelins in general. The Equestrian government’s ban of Xeriun-based lighter-than-air vehicles didn’t help either.
The doors opened, revealing the throne room within, straight ahead was a wide silk red carpet, leading to the Celestial Throne, the furniture was raised by a golden stage.
The room stood several meters tall, sustained by magnificent columns. In between them were several stained glass windows depicting the sun, the moon and the stars. Atop the throne itself were several tapestries of similar iconography.
Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria and the one responsible for each sunrise, stood regally on the throne; her white pristine flank was covered in many golden jewels, her multicolored mane and tail waved in an invisible eternal breeze, her purple eyes looked down upon myself and my sister, she had a calm expression and a soft smile, but one could see that hidden behind her expression was the unnerving tiredness of a thousand years worth of ruling.
Next to her stood her younger sister, princess Luna, the princess of the Night, her dark blue flank was covered with marine blue jewels, her mane and tail filled with stars also seemed to wave in the same invisible breeze as Celesta's. Unlike her sister though, Luna’s expression was far more serious, her blue eyes gazed upon us with an air of authority and assertiveness.
“Please enter, make yourselves comfortable.” said Celestia in a calm tone.
We lightly trotted towards the royal figures. Then we bowed as we reached the throne.
“It is wonderful to see you again, Ms. Skarya, how has your recovery been going?” She asked. I stood up, and looked at the smiling princess “Well, magical fire gives permanent wounds, but nothing that will tie me to a bed anytime soon”.
She nodded. “What is it you wish to discuss with me my little pony?”
I opened my suitcase and grabbed a blueprint, the alicorn levitated the paper and opened it, revealing the schematics for the Novum’s sister zeppelin, the ASA-127 Spero. Her expression changed to concern as she levitated a table to put the schematics upon. Luna simply raised an eyebrow.
I cleared my throat, “So, after the ASA-126 Novum and it’s disaster, our investors have backed away, claiming we should direct focus towards passenger aircraft or traditional airships rather than our trademark zeppelin-class, however…” From my suitcase I grabbed another paper with my mouth, containing a picture of a zeppelin surrounded by a cheering crowd, behind it a sign read ‘Aerial Revolution!’, I placed the photograph on the table, “But we simply cannot abandon our most prized invention, we were the first to fly in between the continents, and the first to make passenger aerial flights!” I paused to catch my breath “the public view of our invention is certainly stained right now, but with public funding and the ban on zeppelins lifted, I'm certain we can bring back support from the masses” I said assertively.
She considered me for a moment, then simply shook her head.
“I’m sorry Ms. Skarya, but we simply can’t, your airships may have revolutionized air travel, but look at yourself, you’re covered in eternal wounds, your wings are damaged to the point where you’ll never fly again…” She closed her eyes and levitated the blueprint back into my suitcase “You’re an inventor Ms. Skarya, you have done a lot to the modernization of Equestria without your airships, I'm glad you can look upon such an invention with passion but I simply cannot put public funding in a machine that has become associated with a such a horrific event, I may be able to lift the ban or at least make it less strict but funding these machines is simply not possible” she paused sighed and then continued “Not everything you invent needs to be a complete revolution Ms. Skarya”.
“But Princess… we cannot abandon something because of one bump in the road, the Novum was but one zeppelin, there were one hundred and twenty five others before it that didn’t end up with the same fate, and most of those airships are collecting dust within \the few hangars we have or are being slowly destroyed by weathering, I assure you whatever caused the Novum to explode won’t happen again, ever” I said raising my right hoof.
“Think about it, we can use them to integrate the world, use them as a symbol of unity among cultures, my previous voyages proved that the public sees them as such!”
She opened her eyes and gave me a patient smile “Sorry, but there are more important sectors in need of funding, Ms. Skarya, and the public’s view of them right now is that of an unsafe, expensive way of travel. I cannot promise lifting the ban entirely, but perhaps I can make it less restrictive”.
I opened my mouth to make another argument, but the princess was already giving me a slight hint of impatience, so instead I simply nodded.
“We understand your highness…” Etrys said while I grabbed the photograph with my mouth and closed my suitcase, we gave the princess one last bow before turning around and-
“Wait!” Luna said and I immediately turned to face the alicorns again.
Celestia turned to her sister with a raised eyebrow.
“Sister, what she says has value and funding for her company doesn’t need to be permanent. The stars have told of a great incoming disaster, if we can somehow unite the world with one symbol, harmony may prevail.” Luna said evenly.
“Oh Luna, there you go with your stars again, there won’t be a disaster here in Equus, like there hasn’t been for a thousand years. Furthermore, you have yet to fully grasp what it means to administer a modern nation, even I am having troubles with that.” She shook her head, “Go back to managing your batponies”
Luna gave her a scowl, then turned to face me “Clearly pride has completely blinded you, sister, since you haven’t noticed that I am doing just that at this very instant!”
“Luna, please there is no need to-
“Princess! Please I beg of you!” I screamed as I bowed “We already have the Spero built, we only require funding to keep it aloft, please give me a chance… In one year, maintain the Spero in the air for one year and I will helm it around all the nations of this world and prove the value of my machine once and for all!” I snapped at her… and immediately regretted that decision. She was right, there were more important sectors that needed funding, and who knows Etrys might actually find a way to get the company privately funded again, she was a businesspony after all. Always keeping the company afloat… perhaps we could re-brand and try a new design… one that wasn’t prone to magical fires.
Celestia gave me a severe glare, then faced her sister who returned the expression, she turned to face me one more time “Fine”.
Wuzuwutwhaaat? That actually worked?!
“If you can, in one year, and with only one airship, create a common symbol to all races to look upon for unity, if you really manage to visit all nations, then Ms. Skarya your company will receive as much funding as it will ever need and the ban will be lifted completely!” She said while opening both of her wings, her voice actually seemed to push me back, like a small gust of wind “However I will not commit to spending even a single bit after your airship leaves equestrian soil. You will have to obtain all fuel and supplies yourself, you are also NOT an equestrian ambassador and you do not carry with you the will of the equestrian government, also should you fail or become trapped within a foreign nation I do not hold responsibility and I will not commit an expeditionary force, am I clear?”
I backed away a bit, but then stood and nodded. “We shall depart in three days then, thank you, your majesty, this chance will not be wasted.”
“Luna will oversee this operation, since she seems so… devoted to her people, right sister?” I had never seen the princess with such… ruthlessness before, ruling really was taking a toll on the old goddess. “I’m granting you a dragon companion with the spell necessary for you to maintain contact with the equestrian mainland, your letters will be delivered to Luna and only to her, I do not wish to be bothered with this matter again.”
Luna, sighed and nodded.
“Well then, this session is dismissed!” She said while hitting the ground with one of her hooves.
Well… that could’ve gone better…
oooOOOooo
“That could’ve gone worse, you could’ve ended up banished, or in a dungeon, or in a dungeon in the place you’re banished to, with how quickly the princess lost her temper…” Etrys said, then she gave a concerned smile and tipped her right wing on my neck…
I hissed again and sighed.
“Ouch, the neck Sis…” I said, she removed her wing and looked around trying to find another conversation topic.
We were inside another thing I helped invent, its engine at least, namely a car. We sat on top of leather seats, the car was large enough to fit two rows of seats one in front of the other, I believe they named it a ‘limousine’. We decided to sit across from each other.
The interior was entirely black, on the left side we had a mini-fridge, which I opened to grab a bottle of wine It was around the middle of the afternoon, the streets of Canterlot were busy and the traffic was slow enough that I could safely pour wine into the glass without spilling it all over my suit and what’s left of my once white furry flank.
Sis gave me a worried frown “Erm, I don’t think you should be drinking so soon, you left the hospital just yesterday.”
I took a sip “If I don’t get a drink I think I'm going to have an aneurysm…” I said while taking another sip.
“But why? Celestia is giving us the funding you asked… while you’re in the mainland at least. And as long as you just make a trip around the globe and… make everyone love each other and zeppelins… Heh…” She smiled nervously. “Get me a glass of that please… you got me to also be about to have an aneurysm.” I grabbed another glass and poured wine to it, then handed it to her, she took a sip.
“So… Where are you heading first, world explorer? The Changelings? Crystal Empire? Nova Griffonia?… Pingland?” She asked while taking another sip of the glass.
“Stalliongrad” I said matter-of-factly.
“You’re going to the commies? Why?” She asked as she gestured… assassination, I think? By slitting her own throat with one of her hooves.
“Well, last time I checked they were building zeppelin-wannabes themselves, plus re-establishing connections with them might strengthen my case enough for me to not need to literally travel the ENTIRE WORLD!” I put the glass away and then proceeded to drink the entire bottle.
My vision started to blur a bit…
“Why… why did I suggest that… tell me sis? Why…” I fell against the back of the seat, staring into the car’s open sunroof, the sunroof was opened, letting a warm breeze through.
“Look, there might still be time left for you to call it quits, and you definitely should try talking to Luna, she might be able to work something out without you having to go on this massive trip”.
I should be worried and while I just questioned my decision… the truth was that I loved the idea. It had always been a dream of mine to sail around the world and this was basically the same thing, but with a flying ship… So why did I have a terrible feeling about it?
For a split second I thought I saw a winged figure flying above the car, but just as it appeared it vanished. I rubbed my eyes, and nothing but the blue sky there, must be the alcohol…
“Sis, you alright?” I turned to face Etrys, she looked very concerned.
“Yeah… I'll do that” I said, or at least I think I did…
I had to do this… not for airships’ sake, not for my own sake, but because the princess said she foresaw something coming… something terrible, and the truth of the matter was, without Luna the batpony race is just an outcast race. She was the one that took us in, made us guards, gave us a place in the equestrian society… which is why I must trust her judgment in sensing a great disaster… one that I had to prevent… I guess… somehow.
I sighed while closing my eyes… ‘In Luna we trust’, is what our parents told us, and they were told that by their parents, and so on. Even when she turned into that monster we still had to support her judgment…
That’s it right? That’s the reason? Everything else, like self satisfaction and meeting a whole bunch of undocumented cultures is just a bonus… and the good outweighs the dangers of: unpredictable weather, sky pirates and evil overlords right I guess?
Goddesses this wine is strong…
I decided to rest a bit.
oooOOOooo
I guess that before I tell you about the voyage I should talk a bit about zeppelins.
Airships have existed for a very long time, they are composed of a gondola (usually a boat) which carries the passengers and cargo, and a gas bag (usually a simple balloon), where the gas used to give the airship its lift is stored.
These machines are powered by magical propulsion engines or fluttering magical wings, neither of which give the machine much speed and the gas they use, called Helion, while inert, does not generate enough lift to allow for airships larger than a few dozen meters.
So how are zeppelins different? Well, while the word is thrown around casually to refer to those flying boats, the term zeppelin actually refers to a much different machine. Yes, it has the same idea of being a flying machine lifted by gas, but zeppelins are far different.
For one thing zeppelins have a rigid structure inside their gas bags, this structure prevents the gas bag from simply deflating if punctured. Zeps also use another of my inventions, combustion engines, as their main source of movement. These engines are powered by a gas mixture called “blowgas” which is as light as air and generates enough ponypower to outrun the fastest of the classical boat airships.
Speaking of which, zeppelins are actually made with aerodynamics in mind, so they’re shaped in a way that allows them to move even faster and this is what gives them their unique appearance.
The interior of zeppelins is also much more complex than your standard airship, filled with personal quarters for each passenger, a restaurant, etc…
Though the ASA-127 Spero is not the largest one, it isn’t by any means small, spanning 500m in length and powered by thirteen blowgas engines, the Spero is only half the size of its sister, the Novum, but unlike it, the Spero is carrying within it some computer prototypes, turret protection and a plane hangar, as it was designed to be an exploration airship rather than a cruise one. It was a work of art, a big, flying, silver blob of art.
But the fatal flaw of the zeppelin is it’s lifting gas, Xeriun, a gas found primarily in the badlands, extremely toxic and also very sensitive to magical sparks, the gas bags are very protected and nopony has direct access to them, but even a unicorn casting a light spell could cause the gas to ignite in magical fire, which can’t be put out by water and if it burns you, it’s a permanent wound that will always hurt when touched.
I thought the chances of that happening were slim, but if the Novum proved anything, it’s that no amount of caution is enough caution.
oooOOOooo
The days after my meeting with Luna were mostly spent preparing the voyage. The Spero could carry up to a thousand passengers, but the less we carried the longer the supplies would last and the less strain on the zeppelin’s engines thus using less fuel, we had the minimum crew possible, around a hundred ponies and myself.
I was in front of the helm of the zep, around me the windows showed the city of Canterlot as the airship had been moored on one of the castle’s spires. Around me a crowd watched, and using the binoculars I could see the princess giving a speech in front of the palace. I was waiting for a signal to be given to me from the tower so I could disengage the magnets holding the airship into its makeshift mast.
Next to the princess was Etrys, smiling nervously while looking over the crowd.
Luna was nowhere to be seen, however …
Celestia seemed to finish her speech as the crowd roared.
From one of the castle towers I saw a pony moving an orange sign telling me to disengage the mast.
With a loud clank the mast was disengaged and the zeppelin was pushed by the winds, I turned the helm upwards and started the engines, behind me the loud boom of the six blowgas engines roared and then the propellers began to spin.
And just like that the zeppelin was moving, the crowd below looked upwards and pointed hooves, with the binoculars I could catch a few frowning faces. It would take a lot to get the public to love the zeppelin again.
Guided by the astrolabe I finally steered the zep towards Stalliongrad.
The rain splattered against the windows of the Spero as I watched the city of Canterlot fade away in the blur of the horizon. We were flying for nearly three hours now; I have a rough estimate that we will reach the city of Stalliongrad by tomorrow.
“Should we raise the ship above the clouds?” Said the masculine voice of Storm Raiser, my second in command. I turned to face him.
The white pegasus stood in the duralumin-framed doorway to my quarters, his blue mane was kept in a military cut. The floor had a brown carpet, on my desk there was a typewriter and a glass screen; said glass screen was actually something nearly priceless: a computer. The desk itself was the maneframe, this marvelous machine replaced the need for a lot of things, in it I had a calculator, I could turn on the internal radio and override the ship’s controls, among other things. Although I kept it mostly turned off, as it was prone to overheating and fixing transducer valves is not exactly fun… well actually it is just a bit of fun.
Around my walls I kept photographs of Etrys, myself and most of my voyages and inventions; the room had just a few pieces of furniture though and only two bookshelves; one filled to the brim with books and records and the other empty, so I could fill it with things from the countries I’d visit. I had one simple bed and a phonograph.
“No it’s fine, I don’t think this rain is going to become too bad before we’re out it’s range, besides, while raising the airship isn’t a problem, lowering it is quite taxing on the engines.” I said to him.
He nodded, “Your call ma’am”, I turned to face my desk and coughed badly so bad that I had to cover my mouth with my hoof.
“Ma’am? You need me to call the doc?” I turned to face him, letting out one last wet cough.
“No… this is normal, I just need to take my medicine and it’ll stop.” I gave him a weak smile before coughing again.
“You sure ma’am?” He looked slightly disturbed as I stopped and lowered the hoof I had used to cover my mouth, blood had been splattered around it and his light gray eyes were fixated on the bloodstain.
“Yes… it’s fine.” I opened one of the drawers of my desk and grabbed a small blue bottle, I opened it and took a sip. Immediately my lungs stopped burning and I felt a relieve. “See, I'm alright now”.
He muttered something to himself and left.
Unfortunately for him, batponies had terrific hearing, he had muttered: ‘Mares and their inability to accept help’, “heh…” I laughed.
He returned, looking concerned again. I gave him a faint smile.
“What?” He asked, his expression revealed his ‘cluelessness’.
I just shook my head, stallions and their inability to perceive the obvious.
“Oh nothing…” I said as I trotted out.
He frowned and trotted away on the metallic white walkway, this time without muttering anything to himself.
I headed towards the restaurant.
oooOOOooo
The restaurant was by far the best part of any zeppelin, the massive chamber was filled with tables and chairs, all of which were permanently fixed to the ground, on the left side was a bar stocked with many different flavors of wine, whiskey and other drinks, while opposite to it was the entrance to the kitchen.
But by far the most impressive was the stage on the far wall. It was large enough to fit a full chamber orchestra, on the left side of the stage was a duralumin double manual harpsichord, opposite to it was a duralumin grand piano; but those were just the sideshow, the main attraction stood between them, which was a fully functional three manual pipe organ with its decorative golden pipes rising around the wall, it was decorated with symbols of the Moon, the stars and logos of the Skarya Airship Co.
The Spero was built primarily as an exploration ship, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t cram one of these masterpieces into it. No matter how heavy the burden, some things are worth carrying.
Nopony played at the moment, probably because there were no musicians, apart from myself that is, aboard… none that I knew of at least.
I trotted towards the bar, sat and then ordered a wine. The bartender gave me a nod as she reached for the freezer and took the bottle I requested. She levitated it and a wineglass and served the drink.
I took a sip. With the corner of my eye I saw a black scaled dragon wearing a silver necklace in the shape of a crescent moon entering the restaurant. Everypony that was around looked slightly suspicious, but the dragon didn’t seem to care.
Celestia had assigned her to be my main source of communication with princess Luna and the mainland, I had yet to even trade names with her. In fact she only showed up the day we were leaving and stayed mainly in her quarters.
I waved my hoof at her and signaled for her to come to where I had sat. She appeared to sigh but ended up coming anyways.
The dragon sat next to me, her green eyes staring right into mine. I have to be honest, she was quite… creepy.
“Wine?” I said as I looked away. Her glare was giving me chills.
“No, dragons don’t drink pony stuff.” She said, her voice was deep and rasp.
“Oh, what do they drink then?” I asked.
“Pony blood.” I glared at her alarmed, she smiled, then laughed. “Just kidding, we have our own drinks made from gems, but they’re toxic to you ponies.” Well, glad to see she at least seemed to have a sense of humor, although seeing her speak revealed her teeth that put my fangs to shame and my fangs were considered exceptionally long by batpony standards.
“I don’t think I can offer you anything then… So, Luna assigned you to myself but she never actually gave me your name.” Or any information about anything from you.
“Emerald” She said simply, she began playing around with her necklace using her claws.
“Right, I am-”
“Altarya Skarya, yes I was informed.”
Rude…
“Alright then.”
There was an awkward pause as neither of us seemed to have anything to add.
“Erm, so um… you have a spell that can send letters to Princess Luna?” I asked with a sheepish smile.
“No, of course not, I'm just here as decoration.” Goddesses… sassy much? “’Course I do, weren’t you supposed to be a genius inventor of aviation or something?” Her face was going from creepy to very kickable at an alarming speed.
“Okay… how does it work?” I swear if she gave me another ironic commentary… on second thought I probably wouldn’t do anything, she was still a dragon and I was a batpony who couldn’t even use a hoofgun.
“Your write shit, I burn it and it shows up on Luna’s desk,” she answered matter-of-factly.
“You burn it?”
“Yeah, dragons breathe fire you know?” Of course I knew that, I just don’t understand how burning a letter sends it somewhere, stupid unicorn magic and its nonsensical triggers. At least shadow magic was very self-explanatory, if you wanted to shadow walk, you had to walk, you didn’t have to get a dragon to burn you.
“Yes, yes I know”
“And you, you invent stuff?” She grinned.
“Well, yeah…”
“So you just sit around doing math? Sounds boring” She snorted.
“No… not actually, I hate math” Gotcha.
“How can you hate math and make you know.” She waved her claws around “This thing.”
“My engineers do the hard math, I just come up with the design, pitch it to them and they turn that into numbers. You know, math isn’t the only basis to create things, you just have to know about stuff, you have to know that Xeriun is lighter than air so it lifts stuff, you have to know that if you spin a specific shape it’ll push stuff around using air.” I took another sip. “You just have to know how stuff works and you get to know by trying it, numbers just help you get an idea of what’s going on, but that doesn’t mean I have to like them.” I finished my glass and the bartender immediately poured more.
She frowned. “Well that’s very philosophical, I could’ve sworn you’d be some crazy number cruncher.” I smiled and she, amazingly, returned the gesture.
Well, she seemed friendly enough, apart from the ironic commentaries.
“You hungry?” I asked her, she considered me for a bit then nodded.
“Though pony food isn’t all that useful for me, got any meat?” the word ‘meat’ made everypony discreetly look at the dragon with a scowl.
“Sure, hey Cup, fetch us some chicken please.” Cup Star, the bartender unicorn mare, frowned in disgust but turned towards the kitchen, muttering to herself:
‘Damn carnivores and their disgusting food.’ I sighed, if I had a bit every time I heard a pony mutter that whenever I ask for some tasty meat I'd have enough for a fleet of Speros.
“Wait, fetch us? As in you and me?” Emerald asked, I nodded.
“But you’re a pony!” She said pointing at me.
“I’m a batpony, we can eat regular pony food and meat and honestly, meat is just tastier.” I said to her, then I grinned, highlighting my fangs even more. “These are not just for show you know.”
The dragon looked more horrified than most ponies did when I told them that little detail.
When our chicken arrived, Emerald and most of the crewponies kept looking at me like I was some demonic incarnation or something and to be fair with how damaged my face was I probably looked like one.
After a few minutes of pure silence and glares I started to feel a bit uncomfortable.
“Don’t you all have anything better to do, than looking at a poor mare eating her food? We’ve got a zeppelin to run! Get back to work!” I shouted, immediately the crewponies started to resume their jobs, a lot of them muttered all sorts of commentaries, ranging from shock, to curiosity, to calling the act ‘degenerative’, to flat out calling me names. One mare even questioned how I had enough intelligence to speak, said mare would be getting her salary cut if I ever discovered who it was.
But Emerald still glared at me. “Look, your chicken is going to become cold if you don’t eat it.” I said to her gesturing to her plate.
She shook her head and said “You’re the weirdest pony I've ever met.” Then she finally went to actually eating her food.
“I’ll take that as compliment, thank you.” I said with a smile and we both laughed as we enjoyed our ‘degenerate’ meal.
oooOOOooo
The city of Stalliongrad was appearing on the horizon, through the binoculars I could spot some of the larger buildings, like the construction site of what I assumed to be the Soviet Palace. The massive skyscraper stood taller than anything else in the city.
I hope that Luna received the letter I sent her earlier via dragon-burning-mail, if she didn’t then our voyage would be pretty short judging by the size of the AA guns I spotted around the city.
“We’re in reach of partial radio contact ma’am.” Storm said, the pegasus was handling the ship for now, his hooves quickly moved in between the helm and the various controls of the ship, despite the relatively bad weather the ship’s gauges showed no issues with the integrity of the ship.
“Initiate the radio then, try and see if we can contact their airbase.” The pegasus nodded and pressed a switch above the helm and behind me I heard the sound of a secondary dynamo kicking in to help power the radio.
I grabbed the headset and put it on my ears. Silence, which meant they hadn’t spotted us.
The radio consisted of the headset that I was wearing and a massive console with two lights. One that indicated if the system was active and the other flashed alongside transmissions, a gauge that showed at which frequency we were transmitting and one button for sending messages, unfortunately at long ranges we could only transmit in Morse code.
I began broadcasting the message: “Greetings Stalliongrad this is the ASA-127 Spero a civilian equestrian zeppelin-class airship requesting permission to land.”
After I finished transmitting, I signaled for Storm to release a flare. The stallion pushed a switch and a small hatch opened in the envelope, on the nose of the ship right in front of us, from it a small light flare was launched forward. The small flaming projectile launched forward, giving our location, with the binoculars I could see a few floodlights being turned on, searching for the ship.
‘We were informed of your arrival ASA-127 Spero please direct yourself to the air base and await clearance’.
So Luna did her part and informed them of our arrival beforehand, I felt a sensation of relief.
“They’re telling us to head towards their airbase and await clearance.” Storm began turning the ship towards the source of the floodlights.
As we approached and the lights began pointing at us, I pressed a button next to the telegraph which enabled the ship’s speakers.
“Fillies and Gentlecolts of Stalliongrad, this is Altarya Skarya, pioneer of aircraft development and inventor of the zeppelin-class airship, you are witnessing the ASA-127 Spero as it comes to visit your country, as part of my mission to integrate the world with air travel!” I said, my voice being blasted from the ship’s speakers into the city below. Since it was early morning I imagine I may have angered a few ponies that might’ve been asleep. I spotted a crowd starting to gather around the streets with ponies of all races and colors looking up at the Spero with expressions ranging from concern to wonder.
From the construction site of the Soviet Palace I could spot some workers standing on the steel beams waving hoofs.
Then the light of the radio began flashing another message:
I stepped out of the shower, a luxury in airships due to how heavy water is, to my right a gramophone played a record of a harpsichord and strings piece I knew all too well: ‘Concerto 1065’ by Wallbach, the fast paced and rich sound of the four harpsichords and two viols filled the room with grandeur and wonder. Oh, how I love this piece.
I looked at the mirror-
Whoah, did I look this bad when I had my meeting with the Princesses?
I had a massive reddish scar running along one side of my face, with dots of red on the other, my black mane had a few brown spots on some ends and it was also much shorter than what I usually liked to keep it. I moved my one charred semi-functional wing; it wiggled a bit, the other wing was simply a black stump.
I started to brush my mane, the brown spots were just permanent sections where the brush couldn’t separate. Same deal on my tail, it also had become far shorter than what I'd like, and I doubt it would ever grow to the same size ever again, if it even grew back at all.
I went to my wardrobe and grabbed my attire: socks for all four legs, a suit to cover the front, a cloth to cover my back; which unfortunately also covered my four bladed propeller cutie mark and a large gray bow which covered the back of my head. I wrapped a fancy handkerchief around my neck and finally finished with a purple heart earring which I've had since childhood.
I took a deep breath and immediately let out a wet cough.
“Attention all personnel, please strap yourselves to your security seats, landing procedures will commence in one minute.” Landing an airship involved almost making the ship’s nose point to the ground, so when Storm said strap yourself in, he meant it.
oooOOOooo
Docking the Spero was a lot easier than I anticipated, it turns out that while Equestria had been busy banning zeppelins, Stalliongrad took the concept and ran with it, making quite a large fleet. Their zeppelins were far smaller though, as they used Hellion which doesn’t provide as much lift, but this at least meant that they had a lot of experience handling the machines.
We had docked on the city’s main airbase, the cabin doors hissed with the pneumatic actuators and opened revealing quite the crowd of ponies. I began waving my hoof as hats were thrown and cheers were given, the crowd was kept from getting too close to the ship by the police. I noticed that the crowd seemed to wear extremely similar clothing, a large thick cloth that covered their entire body except for the face and hooves, the crowd also appeared… thin, not in the amount of ponies but the ponies themselves appearing to be underweight.
The crowd then began to spread as soldiers pushed to make way for a car. The vehicle looked very similar to the cars we had back in Equestria, with its round headlamps, white tires and front radiator.
The car stopped in front of us with its doors facing us, said doors opened and from it stepped out two pegasus mares, one had a red flank, mane and tail and wore a military attire decorated in medals; the other mare was far younger, she had a softer pinkish flank with a bright red mane, she kept her mane at a shorter cut as well and from the goggles hanging around her neck I could tell she’s with the air force.
“Greetings Ms. Skarya, I am Colonel Natasha Bolt, I'm here on behalf of secretary Pantsushenko, Stalliongrad is happy to welcome you.” She glared at Emerald who was at my side before continuing, I noticed she had an odd accent that I was completely unfamiliar with. “And this is Lightning Strike, one of our ace pilots and an aspiring airship commander”.
“Ma’am.” Lightning said as she gave me a salute which allowed me to see her face entirely. I noticed her eyes were different colors, the left was green while the other was yellow.
“Greetings to both of you, I am here on a diplomatic mission to re-establish diplomatic relations between our two nations, but I am not here in the name of the equestrian princesses.” I said, I tried but I couldn’t stop looking at the eyes of Lightning Strike, they were so… different.
“Secretary Pantsushenko has arranged a meeting for you tomorrow morning, meanwhile we’ll be your guides to the city.” Colonel Bolt said.
“Very well, I'm eager for the tour.” I entered the car.
“But I'm afraid your dragon friend will have to stay within your airship.” The Colonel said.
I frowned “But why?”.
“Protocol reasons, I cannot fully disclose them.” She said, with a tone of concern.
I sighed. “Very well, sorry Emerald, you’ll have to stay”.
“Ugh fine, it’s not like I care for some pony country…” The dragon said, but I could tell that that bit of news had just killed her mood.
“There’s plenty of chicken in the fridge, you’ll know what to do.” I said to dragon as the pegasus mares embarked on the car.
She grumbled and entered the zeppelin, closing the doors behind her.
The car began moving and the crowd continued to cheer. We began making our way towards the city.
“So, what can you tell me about your airship over there? I’m amazed at its size.” Lightning asked me, her voice sounded young, she sat next to me while the colonel took the front the seat and an earth pony buck piloted the vehicle. “Thanks, it’s called the Spero, it’s the sister ship of the… now infamous… Novum.” I said with a sigh.
“Spero? Novum? Your own name? What’s with the strange naming choices?” She asked.
“The zeppelin names are zebraish, and my name is batponish.” I said with a small smile.
She frowned. “And what do they mean exactly?”
“Novum means new, as at the time we thought it was going to be our new beginning by connecting Equestria to Zebrica in a short two days trip, but well… it wasn’t…” I looked away, a small tear slipped my left eye, the only eye that had working lacrimal channels. “Spero means hope, as it is the final hope for the zeppelin-class and my name means… she who reaches the sky”.
“Hmm, well, I'd still prefer something more straightforward.” She said simply, she looked at my non-charred wing and asked. “Why do batponies even have a different language?”
“Well… isolation I think.” I said as I looked through the window, we were just about to enter the city.
“Why, aren’t you just pegasi with leather wings?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Not exactly… we have some… special characteristics.” I said as I looked away, hopefully hiding my fangs in the process.
“Like?” She moved herself closer, I blushed a bit.
“Um… Shadow Magic.” I said distancing myself… honestly I expected military personnel to be a bit less… intrusive.
“Pardon my curiosity ma’am, it’s just that you’re the first one I've met, your kind doesn’t come to these parts often.” She gave me my personal space back, for which I am grateful.
“It’s alright, I'm used to it.” I gave her a faint smile… followed by a wet cough, she gave me a frown and kept her distance, good.
The car passed over an archway with fluttering flags of horseshoe & sickle and entered the city.
“Ms. Skarya, I formally welcome you to Stalliongrad, capital of the revolution.” Colonel Bolt announced proudly.
oooOOOooo
The mares took me around town, we visited a factory with no boss, a theater where everypony could enter, among other things.
Though the biggest show was the military parade, Stalliongrad may be small, but their army was certainly way beyond Equestria’s, they had tanks, artillery, magical infantry and scariest of all they had ponies willing to fight. The parade seemed to idolize a couple figures, an old bearded buck with a round hat; whom I presumed would be Steel Stallion, the one who started it all, a mare with different colored eyes and a dark mane; Altidya, and a buck with a golden yellow mane and glasses; Vasilly Pantsushenko, the current general secretary.
Those activities had taken up the entirety of the day and now the car moved through the woods returning to the airbase. Since the country was communist, most hotels were now used as public housing and thus we would have to spent the night at the Spero.
After a full day of stalliongradian sightseeing I could use some rest. The temperature had dropped drastically, so much so that I had to be given some thicker clothing. While I was pretty tired the pegasus mares looked like they were barely awake.
Tomorrow I would have a meeting with this stallion figurehead I saw on banners so much, and then we’d move on, hopefully things would remain going as smooth as-
And then I heard a loud explosion-like sound, unmistakably… a gunshot.
The car started waggling and then we overturned and the ceiling of car was bent on its front, my head smacked against the back making my vision somewhat blurry, the effect of the spinning car was enough to rupture Lightning Strike’s safety belt sending her flying outside onto the tundra.
Then the car burned.
This wasn’t magical fire, or else it’d be hurting a lot more, I presumed something within the engine sparked and caused this, but no time to speculate on the details; I started fighting to free myself from the ongoing armageddon, I managed to untie my safety belt before the fire caught on my flank and then I started banging on the door as strongly as I could.
The smoke made breathing hard and my head and body were aching with pain, my magical burns glistering and making me feel as if I was inside the fiery engine, I started to lose consciousness.
Déjà vu…
When, suddenly, the door opened, oh sweet Luna the door opened.
Lightning Strike held her hoof to mine, her glasses had cracked, blood fell from a cut in her head and she had various bruises around her body, but she seemed to be doing better than me, I held on and she pushed me out of the flaming car with her wings and when we were clear of smoke I started coughing badly, with some blood splatters appearing after them. My head was throbbing with pain and I felt some blood slipping along my neck, fortunately it appeared that I hadn’t broken anything.
Behind us, the car burned with a bright flame, illuminating our surroundings with an orangey glow, we were several meters from the road and whatever had shot us was possibly still out there, I looked back the car, the front rows were completely ablaze, there was no hope for saving the Colonel or the driver.
“You alright?” I asked Lighting, she had torn some pieces of her uniform and had them wrapped around some of her cuts, “Well I'm alive at least, here, let me help you with those cuts.” She said as she tore apart my suit and bow and used them to wrap around my wounds.
I let out a hiss of pain as she touched some of my burns, “Sorry, but if I don’t do this you’ll bleed out.” I held my breath and nodded.
When we were all semi patched up, it was time to keep moving, but another car stopped just by the road, from it emerged several earth ponies and unicorns, all of them with their faces wrapped in black cloth and holding guns.
“Don’t move!” One of them shouted as she pointed her rifle at us.
“Who… What is this?!” Lighting shouted.
“We are the counter-revolution, we will free Stalliongrad from communist hands and bring it back to its rightful ruler.” The rifle mare said, more weapons were pointed at us, “Now drop your weapon and put your hoofs where I can see them”.
Lightning took out a pistol from the sheath and placed it on the ground, the armed ponies moved closer and locked her hooves with cuffs. The pegasus mare started shouting something about heresy and fighting for the wrong side before they also gagged her, she fought strongly but ultimately she was put down by a handkerchief with some kind of fluid that immediately made her go unconscious.
Then the rifle mare stood in front of me as the henchponies cuffed me.
“And you, airship lady, are our ticket for doing so…” She said with a grin.
Oh this is bad…
“I-I’m j-just a civilian *cough* I-I'm n-not a di-di-diplomat.” I started to shake, I had no idea how to operate a gun, I was severely crippled which prevented me from running and, now that I was cuffed I couldn’t shadow walk, nor could I use my other ability, because of how much smoke I had inhaled.
I struggled… as much as my current condition allowed before that same handkerchief was on my nose, my vision blurred and sounds became but distant murmurs, the world slowly swirled away…
oooOOOooo
I woke up with my burns aching, the taste of smoke was still within my mouth. I was tied to a chair within a dark room, a small incandescent bulb illuminated the room with a gloomy yellow light, the room had barely any furniture apart from gun cabinets and a radio which had the rifle mare from the last event at it’s controls, the walls were torn and falling apart and the windows were closed with blackout curtains.
“Ah you’re finally awake.” The mare stood and trotted towards me.
I tried to speak but I was still gagged, so all that came out was a muffled “mrmermemrm”.
“Now, let’s see here, we have contacts back at Canterlot who have hooked us up with a direct radio channel to the palace itself, here’s what you’re going to do, you’ll tell them that the counter-revolution forces captured your airship and that we’re keeping you hostage at gunpoint, then you’ll demand that Equestria intervenes directly in favor of our cause to re-integrate Stalliongrad back into Equestria.” She levitated the radio headset and placed it on my head, this was just desperation, they really thought me this valuable? “And if you don’t, then well you’re dead... comrade”.
I gulped as she removed the gag and pointed a pistol at my head, in my ear the headset started to buzz and then a deep male voice spoke. “This is captain Lionheart of the lunar guard, this channel is private, please identify yourself.”
“Captain Lionheart, this is Altarya Skarya of the Spero expedition, I’ve been captured by a militia that calls themselves the Counter Revolution, they demand in exchange for my life that Equestria supports their movement to re-integrate Stalliongrad into the mainland.” I said, then I started to inhale.
“Ms. Skarya, I do recall this name, but I believe it was stated that Equestria would not commit military intervention should you be in the state you are.” The Captain said, as I expected, this made rifle mare drop her guard… good.
“Yes, and my perpetrators seem to have forgotten one specific detail about myself.” I inhaled more air.
“Oh, what would that be?” He asked, but from his tone and the fact I heard the click of the radio being turned off, he knew what I was about to do.
“That I’m a batpony.” I said as I contracted my vocal chords to propel my voice up to astronomically high frequencies and then I focused on the shadow spell to accompany the effect.
Of the Sonic screech.
“REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE” and immediately the rifle mare’s ears began to bleed and she fumbled with her hooves to cover them, dropping her telepathic stance. I bit the ropes holding me and with my razor sharp fangs I ripped right through them, freeing my hooves. I shadow walked to the, now probably deaf, mare, grabbing her pistol with my mouth and pointing it at her head. Hopefully, I looked semi-convincing as I had no idea how to use it.
The doors of the room busted open as ponies armed with rifles entered and pointed their weapons at us.
“Don’t shoot!” the mare now wrapped on my hooves shouted, they kept their weapons pointed at me.
“Rehease meth andth the pegashush thath wash with meth!” I shouted, hopefully they understood it.
But their stance didn’t drop.
“Alright mare, release the captain slowly, we outnumber you ten to one.” One of the henchponies said.
I spat the gun and let out another “REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE” immediately the bucks dropped to ground clenching their ears, I shadow walked behind them, reeeing into another group that was walking up the stairs, I then latched myself onto one of the dropped enemies.
“The pegasus, where is she?!” I shouted at him, hopefully he still had some hearing left.
He pointed his hoof to a door next to me, I reeed him again until he passed out, and then I trotted towards the door, I could hear hoofsteps outside the cabin, which meant my little effort had probably mobilized their task force.
I tried to open the door, but it was locked. I looked through the keyhole and I could see Lightning strapped around a chair. I grabbed one of the rifles from the fainted henchponies and looked through the keyhole again, then I shadow walked into the room.
Lightning looked at me completely dazzled by my feat, I dropped the weapon and removed her gag. “What did you do?!” She asked me with pure shock.
“Shadow magic.” I answered with a smile and then I proceeded to bite her ropes off.
She stood on her hooves and grabbed the rifle I had dropped and managed it with extreme ease.
“Can you take both of us?” She asked as she reloaded the weapon.
“Unfortunately no, we’ll have to bust the window” I said as I pointed my hoof to one of the windows.
She frowned, “Oh cyka…” She trotted to the windows and opened the blackout, it was still night, outside there were no other buildings, only the forest surrounded us, a car was stationed just next to the cabin, I spotted no ponies outside.
Then we heard shouts, followed by banging on the door, thankfully they didn’t have the keys it seemed.
Lighting bashed the window. “Teleport yourself to the car if you can, I'll see you there.” She said and jumped, gliding towards the vehicle.
The door was busted and I immediately shadow walked, landing right next next to the vehicle, the surprised pilot had barely enough time to look at me before I reeed him into unconsciousness. Lighting landed right beside me, from the cabin the henchponies that hadn’t been reeed stepped out, firing their weapons.
I tried to let out another reee, but my magical reserves were too strained, so instead I entered the car. Lighting and the henchponies traded some shots before she entered onto the back of the car, I started the ignition and floored the throttle, the engine roared and the car accelerated into the woods, the windows were busted with gunshots as Lighting still shot back, fortunately they didn’t bust our tires.
Before long we were driving along a dirt road surrounded by trees.
“Got any healing magic?” Lightning asked, I looked through the mirrors and saw that somepony had gotten a lucky shot on her flank.
“Unfortunately no.” She cursed something about a cyka and a blyeat and then jumped into the front seat.
“Any idea where we are?” I asked.
She considered me for a moment then said. “Based of the fact that it’s night, I’d say not far from the road, if we do reach it, head south towards the airbase, you need to get to safety aboard your airship, I'll radio command about this incident, sorry to say but you probably won’t be allowed to leave the airbase.”
“Huh? Why? I’m not the one who kidnapped you.” What kind of logic was that?
“No, but the event got Colonel Bolt killed, so we can’t have another task force committed to the safety of a foreigner, you can speak with the secretary via radio, if he’s still willing to do that.” She held her hoof on her gunshot wound, wrapping a piece of fabric from the car’s seat.
This voyage is up to a great start…
oooOOOooo
Turns out we were near the road, Lighting had directed me to drive towards the airbase and we were now just entering it.
“Halt!” The guards on posts located on the roadside besides the entrance shouted as they pointed their turrets towards us, I stopped and Lightning stepped out.
“This is Lightning Strike, stand down!” She shouted “I’ve been wounded and need medical attention.”
No mention of my condition… I mean I was fine, but still.
oooOOOooo
After they politely denied to give me aid, claiming that their services were for military personnel only, I had to return to the zeppelin and seek the medical crew onboard, fortunately their healing magic was more than enough to cure my wounds.
Aboard, Storm informed me that there was a malfunction in the blowgas storage and nearly two thirds of our fuel was lost, which meant that in order to continue I'd have to trade with the stalliongradians, communist or not they wouldn’t give valuable fuel for free.
Luckily in the morning we got a radio transmission saying that secretary Vasilly still wanted to speak with me using the airbase’s radio system, so I'd have a chance to request him the trade and finally after that I could write my report for Luna and leave to Crystal City.
I stood before the radio system, the communications room was filled with all sorts of electrical devices, with me were several workponies of the tower and Lightning Strike, who had bandages wrapped around one of her wings and torso.
I equipped the headset as the workpony tuned it to the correct frequency, then there was buzz and a young male voice with a heavy accent, and a very rolled ‘R’, said.
“… s Skarya, zis is General Secretary Vasilly Pantsushenko, do you read me?”
“Yes sir, this Altarya Skarya I read you.” I said while I looked through the windows of the base, I saw some airships with banners of the secretary and horseshoes & sickles being brought out for flight.
“Ms. Skarya, sorry for circumstances, I’d prefer face-to-face meeting but after recent attack, I'm afraid it’s too unsafe for you to leave airbase, ve simply do not know if zat vas entire militia or if more of zem are hiding somewhere” the secretary said “Ones zat attacked you hovever have been taken care off.”
“That’s understandable sir.”
“Please refrain from calling me sir, in Stalliongrad nopony is better zan other, just call me comrade, Da?” I frowned, alrighty.
“If you wish.”
“Anyvays, I trust zat officers I assigned you shoved entire city da?”
“Yes they did s… er comrade”
“Vell zen, I just vant to say zat it vas pleasure receiving you in our glorious nation and zat ve vish you safe travels.”
“Actually comrade Pantsushenko, I need to request one thing”
“Da?”
“There was a fuel accident within my airship and I know that you keep several of them in the air, how much are you willing to charge for the fuel?”
“Vell, fuel is not for sale, fuel is for stalliongradian airships, but…” As I expected…
“But?”
“I believe zat our glorious nation must spread it’s vay across globe, and so if you bring Lightning Strike aboard your zeppelin, ve vill give you fuel.” I frowned again.
I considered that for a moment, it was one more mouth to feed, but she was an ace pilot… Well, we still had plenty of quarters, plus she did save my life…
“Fine, I accept your terms comrade.”
“Good, safe travels comrade…” And the radio went silent.
I looked at the pegasus mare.
“So um, how do I put this…” She looked at me with a confused expression.
“What?” She asked.
“The Spero lost half of its fuel in a leak last night, and your country seems to use the same fuel for powering your airships.”
“Da?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Well, in exchange for the fuel, Vasilly asked that you come with us to… spread your ideology.” I gave her a sheepish smile.
She started blankly at me for a few moments, then finally said “Cyka Blyet...”
“Well you could just… deny and I'm sure the secretary will find somepony else…”
“Nyet, he wants me to do it for a reason, and I shall do as he says…” Lighting said, almost sounding as if she had sworn loyalty to a king or something.
“Well then, welcome aboard the Spero Ms. Lighting Strike of Stalliongrad”
oooOOOooo
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- January 7th, 1008
To Princess Luna,
Our visit to Stalliongrad, was quite strange, their new form of government, while in my opinion flawed, has done some good for the place, Stalliongrad no longer is the poor backwater town that nopony cares about and is shaping up to become a major power in the future.
I was assigned two officers who showed me around town and took me to a military parade, something the stalliongradians seem very fond of.
I was, however, taken hostage by a splinter group calling themselves the ‘Counter Revolution,’ as Lionheart has certainly informed you, but I alongside a stalliongradian pilot mare named Lighting Strike managed to escape mostly unharmed.
We also had an accident in which half of our fuel was lost, fortunately, the General Secretary was willing to trade the fuel, so long as I brought the pilot mare with me, he stated that she would ‘spread the ideology’ or something, but honestly I smell a bigger plan than that.
Speaking of which, I was unable to find any possible allies here your Majesty, perhaps the Crystal Empire will be more willing.
