> Sky Pirate Pip and the Dreaded Dreadnaught Die Großartige und Mächtige Trixieburg
>  by alt-tap
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: An eye for an eye, a life for the hay of it.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Sky Pirate Pip and the Dreaded Dreadnought


Die Großartige und Mächtige Trixieburg



Chapter 1: An eye for an eye, a life for the hay of it.



What a lovely day. The clouds were low and fluffy in the cool morning air of late winter, making for excellent concealment. The snow on the mountaintops reflected the morning sunlight, drawing stark contrast to the teeming jungle below.

"Captain, I found something."

The eastern everfree, between Equestria and Greif, had only gone everfree a few decades ago. The weather was usually a bit less chaotic than it was over the everfree forest that bordered Equestria to the west. The mountains and spring esque cloud cover made stealth vastly easier for prowling pirates.

"Captain?"

A small wedge of geese flew far below the C.M.C. Regenbogen Flitzen. The soft, blissful song of long range scanning drifted aimlessly around the bridge. It was a perfect day to just sit back and rel-

“Captain!" The high pitched shout shattered his blissful revery like a buck to the gut.

“What?” the captain replied, a bit more harshly than he intended, straightening up out of his lazy slouch into a more proper sitting position.

"I found something," his slender, marshmallowy first mate reiterated.

"Where is it?" he asked, straightening his white visor cap.

“It's at... fifteen degrees to port...” his first mate said distractedly, amplifying the magic around her horn and gesturing with a hoof in the general direction of what she had found. “About two leagues out, eighty fathoms down... medium sized... can't tell the make yet.” She opened her eyes and looked to her pinto captain. “Your orders, sir?”

Hmm, a mid sized airship of unknown make over the everfree mountains... “Can you get a trajectory, Sweetie?” It could be a freighter, or it could be a cruiser. The last thought put him a bit on edge but an opportunity is an opportunity.

“Yes, Sir. Bearing... west by northwest, about seven knots.” She paused, shifting the resonance of her magic. “It has a strangely low mass... and I'm detecting a latent magic signature. It feels like an environmental control spell, maybe a weak force field too.”

Low mass, magical environmental control... a pleasure yacht? “Apple Bloom,” he called into the arcane echo relay connecting him to the rest of the ship, “bring us ten degrees to port, all ahead three quarters.” This demanded investigation, even if their only fighter pilot was still on an ammo run. If it was some poor sod out on a cruise this could be quite profitable.

“Aye, Capm,” came the drawling response, “ten to port and three quarter speed.” Before she had even finished talking, the C.M.C. Regenbogen Flitzen lurched forward and began to turn, moving through a cloud bank.

As the ship broke through the clouds the other ship came into view. It was a sky whale class yacht. Its envelope was designed to resemble an actual whale with the gondola, resembling a seafaring yacht, suspended below. Such open designs were not a common sight in any region of everfree. “Sweetie Belle, do you recognize the markings?”

“Yes, Captain,” Sweetie sneered, “it's the H.M.A.S. Glänzend Schicksal,” the hate in her voice was palpable. “Blue Blood.” This was the same aristocrat who Sweetie claimed ruined her elder sisters fashion career. She had been on a warpath for two months after he escaped their last encounter, and she would rather eat meat then let him get away again.

Pip walked over to Sweetie Belle and put a hoof on her shoulder. “We can't do anything until Scootaloo gets back,” he said, trying to reign in her spite a bit. “We just don’t have the firepower to compete with him on fair terms.”

It was true, that unassuming little yacht had the firepower of a frigate and the range of a dreadnaught. Its only major weaknesses were light armor and the fact that guns that heavy simply can't track fast enough for an ace pilot, like Scootaloo, to care.

“Capm Pip, Scoots' back,” came a crackling squawk from the malfunctioning hangar relay. The clanking of the catcher gantry announced the fighter’s arrival.

“Excellent timing. Get her refueled and ready to fly,” Pip commanded. “We’ve got a busy morning ahead of us.”


*****


“Your scotch, Sir.” You can never sound like too much of a snob on the Glänzend Schicksal, not for Blue Blood.

“Took you long enough, Henry,” Blue Blood said condescendingly, snatching the drink out of the air with his magic.

“Very good, Sir.” One day, Blue Blood, one day you won't be paying somepony enough and they’re going to stab you in the face. Maybe today. And my name is not. Flipping. HENRY! Cosmic Odyssey thought to himself, feeling degraded and insulted again.

He walked off, nose in the air, and silently wished death on Blue Blood while pouring himself a glass of absinthe which he sipped in as poncy a manner as he could manage without sickening himself.

He noticed somepony obfuscated by some sort of invisibility spell sneaking by with a disappointing lack of snobbery. “Good luck,” he whispered to the phantasm. May your blade strike true and your nerves never faultier... and please don’t stab me.

“Henry! Where's that whore we bought?” Blue Blood was always a bit crass for an aristocrat.

Preparing to assassinate you, Sir. “Below decks, Sir. I'll go fetch her for you,” and I'll be taking your emergency escape pod for a spin.


*******


Perched on a cloud overlooking the Glänzend Schicksal, a gray pegasus adjusted her polarized goggles nervously.

“Are you ready, Muffin?” she asked her daughter, a little lavender unicorn. “We only get one chance. I don’t want Ruby to get hurt.”

“Ready, Mommy,” Dinky replied, magically cocking her custom built, belt fed, hoof held, anti aircraft machine gun which she wielded as if it was a service rifle.

She settled herself into the tail gunner's saddle, also custom made, that was strapped to her mother’s withers, in front of her wings. With a spark of magic she activated the saddle's localized gravity and inertial damping glyphs. Without that magic her weapon's recoil would easily knock them out of the sky.

Out of the corner of her eye Dinky caught a glimpse of something behind another cloud bank. “Mom, wait; what's that?” she called, halting their takeoff before it could even begin.

Ditzy looked back again as a cloud gave way to another airship. This one was more traditional in design, having the gondola integrated into the bottom of the envelope. Relatively small and painted sky blue, it would have been difficult to spot if it had a height advantage.

What? Why can't anything ever be simple? “Send them a narrow beam echo,” she said urgently. “Say 'you are entering a battle zone. Please turn back. You are in danger'.”

“Okay, Mommy.” Dinky concentrated, her horn projecting an invisible thread of magic to the bridge of the new arrival. She silently mouthed the message and waited for a response before turning back. “They said there gonna help us.”


*******


“Captain, we have a rogue agent,” Sweetie Belle said with urgency. “Somepony else is launching an attack on Blue Blood as we speak.” Hesitation filled the bridge for a long moment. “It felt like Dinky.”

It took a moment for that to sink in. Then Pip had a plan. “Scootaloo, we have allies in the field. Use discretion. Apple Bloom, take us up and over and get us a good vantage. Sweetie Belle, tell Dinky the C.M.C. Regenbogen Flitzen will be providing one fighter to act as cover while you execute your plan.”

“Alright!” Scootaloo shouted as she released the docking clamp and dropped out of the hangar. She flexed her wings in the control armatures to steal some of gravity's power for her own forward momentum. “Lets bring. The. RAIN!”

“Captain, Dinky says they have an assassin on board,” Sweetie Belle communicated.

“Scootaloo, we have a friendly on deck, I repeat, friendly on deck. Hold rockets, I say again, hold rockets.” Well, there goes the dang plan.

“You got it, boss!” Scoot replied, aligning herself for the first run.

If they have somepony in there then we'll have to get Ditzy in so she can get them out before we can drop the ship, Pip thought over folded hooves. If memory serves the Glänzend Schicksal has a directional force field. I can work with that.

“Sweetie, tell them our fighter is away,” Pip commanded. “Have them approach from the stern while Scoot diverts the force field.”

“Scootaloo,” he called into the echo relay. “begin your run amid ship and forward. We need to divert their attention.”

“Gotcha!” Scootaloo acknowledged, somewhat confused.

Be careful out there, Scoots.


*******


Checking her surroundings, Scootaloo noticed a tiny gray speck approaching her target. That must be the ally Pip mentioned, she mused, pushing her goggles up so she could see better. How is one free flying pegasus supposed to help... Assassin extraction! Okay that makes sense; I'm supposed to be diverting the force field so she can get in, and again to get her out.

Satisfied with her new understanding of Pip's incredibly vague orders, Scoot pulled her goggles back into place and adjusted her secondaries, raising the lower wings of her biplane and drifting a bit to the side for a better angle.

Ditzy came in low and aft of the Glänzend Schicksal. Keeping one eye forward and one on the approaching fighter, literally. Since when did he have a force field? She silently grumbled to herself. If her timing was off by more than a second she would slam right into the field, and that would ruin her whole day. I'm glad they came by when they did.

The fighter was unusual to say the least. Painted in a garish red, it stood out in the sky like a sore hoof. Its four fully articulated wings, set near the rear, gave it a distinct silhouette. The lack of any vertical stabilizers, like a tail fin, gave it a sleek, birdlike profile.

Its oversized, rear mounted engine made it incredibly vulnerable if you could get behind it, but if the stories were to be believed (which is a hotly debated topic among R.A.N. trainees.) getting behind the Baron von Awesome was almost as dangerous as being in front of her.

Before the crew of the Glänzend Schicksal had time to realize something was awry Scootaloo opened fire, the sextet of nose mounted machineguns peppered the force field, making it shimmer bright blue and, more importantly, divert energy toward her and away from Ditzy.

The moment Ditzy passed through the fields standoff distance Scoot pulled up into a totally unnecessary roll, skimming the zeppelin’s envelop close enough to see her reflection on the force field's surface.

Down on the deck of the Glänzend Schicksal Ruby Pinch was startled almost enough by the sudden barrage to make her drop her obfuscation spell. She watched briefly as some unknown fighter, presumably an ally, assailed the ship and Ditzy popped up over the stern. Evidently the plan was moving forward faster than projected. Dang it, dang it, dang it! I need to move faster!

She dropped her stealth and sprinted through the shocked and confused crowd of ponies on the deck propelled by pops and snaps of kinetic magic.

Leaping off of a table for extra attitude she finally caught a glimpse of her mark, Blue Blood. With a kinetic snap she launched herself over several intervening ponies and a railing, only to be intercepted by a guard pegasus. Another pop sent him careening into the bottom of the envelope and Ruby shot back toward the deck. She wrapped herself in an antifriction shell, glanced off a hapless bystander, and slid past another guard. One last snap and she vaulted over her final obstacle.

Blue Blood looked up at Ruby with the most classic 'oh horse apples' expression conceivable: one foreleg raised in a futile and somewhat girly attempt at defense, mouth hanging open, and wide, slightly misaligned eyes. Ruby twisted through the air to face her target and cast her final spell, Flash-bang.

A wall of blinding light flooded the front half of the Glänzend Schicksal and a thunderous boom shook the air. Some of the ponies unlucky enough to be near the edge stumbled blindly over the railing and a couple pegasi careened into the deck and force field. Those within a small radius of Ruby, however, fell to the deck; crippling brain seizures rendering them completely immobile.

Scootaloo rolled into a split-s, flipping upside down and pulling up (down) into another run, peppering the shield once again. Barely a second into the run a bright flash erupted from the prow of her target, temporarily blinding her and forcing her to veer off to avoid colliding with the ship.

Ditzy folded her ears back and cupped them with her hooves to protect them from the bang, which mostly worked, and her eyes were saved by her polarized goggles. That, at least, had gone according to plan.

She snatched Ruby out of the air with her forelegs and banked into a wide circle around Blue Blood, giving Dinky a good three seconds of concentrated machine gun fire, nearly drilling a hole through the ship. After the deed was thoroughly done Dinky raked the inside of the field, diverting it to make their escape.

When her eyes finally cleared, Scootaloo found herself plummeting toward the ground. Spinning and pulling up she managed to turn the dive into a spiral, then a circle, and finally a wide, arcing climb.

From her new vantage Scootaloo could see Ditzy flying down and under the Glänzend Schicksal, trying to make her escape through its blind spot. She could also see that two fighters had launched and were now turning to engage her and that the hulking guns of the zeppelin had begun to move. Aw crud.

She twisted her wings back in the control armatures, sweeping the fighter's wings back, and hit her favorite button. It was a little red button with a rainbow lightning bolt painted next to it, the turbo button.

With a metallic bang and a thunderous roar Scoot's fighter surged forward, closing the distance between her and the other fighters in moments. She managed to catch one of them by surprise, cutting the tail off with a stream of machinegun fire before she overshot it.

As she passed, she finally got her first good look at her mysterious ally. Ditzy, of all ponies, was carrying Ruby in her legs and had Dinky sitting on her back wielding a huge gun. Now that she looked, the other fighter had some scattered bullet holes in it, presumably from Dinky who seemed to be having a bit more trouble aiming now that the enemy was in front of them.

Scootaloo wrenched her wings forward, giving the fighter's wings a strong forward sweep, and leaned her body back, tilting the canards up and snapping the fighter around to face down again, achieving a moment of weightlessness before she began to dive.

Unfortunately, the other aviator was now aware of her and wouldn’t prove nearly as easy as his wingpony. Fortunately, that was just how Scootaloo liked it.

Her target had turned away from the zeppelin, flying in a lazy arc towards the optimal range of its heavy guns. Too bad for him Scootaloo had no intention of falling for such an obvious trap.

She banked away from the zeppelin then back in, getting an easy shot at the gondola. She fired a feedback rocket at the mid deck, turned and fired another at the fore deck.

The rockets hit their marks, hazy purple clouds of magic spreading out from the glyph covered spikes embedded in the ship. Any unicorns unfortunate enough to be using magic in the clouds caught bolts of dark magic to their horns and fell to to their knees, screaming from the magical overload of returned spells. More importantly, all the magitech was similarly assailed, catching fire or simply exploding from the rapid charging and discharging.

The escort fighter seemed to notice that his plan had failed when he heard the thunderous detonation of the force field generator. Looking out the side of the cockpit he was treated to an unobstructed view of the Glänzend Schicksal's gondola being split in half by the full force of the magical battery overloading with the magical re-feed from the fully charged mane guns. For the love of Celestia's naughty lingerie! How can pirates afford feedback nails!?

Scootaloo banked away from the blast, bringing herself back around to face her opponent. Her target seemed to notice this and accelerated, flexing his plane's more rigid mono wings slightly up and forward in a vain attempt to make up the disparagement in maneuverability.

They both opened fire at the same time, and both dodged every bullet. They passed at blinding speed, the silver fuselage of the escort reminded Scootaloo of a big fish.

Predicting an Immelmann turn, Scootaloo banked hard right. She was almost right, rather than pulling straight up he had pitched up and left, putting the less maneuverable interceptor on the outside of their double loops and high enough to stay out of her field of fire.

Scoot rolled over, banking hard left. The interceptor continued his arc, decelerating and tightening his turn, bringing him into a close pursuit.

Scootaloo rolled back to a right turn, descending slightly to gain speed. Knowing he couldn’t outmaneuver her, the interceptor pulled up and right into a high yo-yo, just like Scoot wanted.

She subtly tilted her primaries and secondaries in opposite directions, twisting the leading edges of her plane's wing towards each other just enough to make a bit more drag, slowing her almost imperceptibly, but enough to put her behind her adversary as he finished his turn.

Suddenly aware of just how thoroughly outmatched he was the interceptor broke off into a series of defensive zigzags heading back towards the Glänzend Schicksal at full speed. Scoot turned to pursue but she had a lot of air to cover of she wanted to catch her much faster opponent.

The interceptor flew around behind the zeppelin, using it as cover. Scoot knew his game, he was faking an escape attempt but was really using the obstacle to limit her maneuverability.

Not today, Scoot thought with a grin. The shield was down and she had an incendiary rocket just begging to be put into the envelope. She was a good bit closer than was generally recommended but she still had plenty of space with how maneuverable her plane was.

The rocket pierced the side of the envelope and delivered its payload: hundreds of tiny, burning shards of magnesium. When detonated inside a zeppelins envelope this model of rocket would almost always take it down. What Scootaloo hadn't counted on was the wall of ghostly, blue fire and burning zeppelin that slammed into her with huge explosive force, very nearly knocking her out of the sky.

“Scootaloo!” it was Pip's voice “Scootaloo, are you okay!?” Scoot tried to wipe the ash off of her goggles, managing enough to watch as the wind extinguished the fire from her hoof. “Scootaloo, please respond!”

She found the echo button after some searching. “I'm-” she was cut off by a short coughing fit, “I'm here,” she wheezed. “Where are you? Everything’s all blurry.”

“What the hay just happened?” Apple Bloom's voice assaulted Pip from the echo.

“Get us down there!” Pip commanded. “Scoot's in trouble!”


*******


“General hail. This is the C.M.C. Regenbogen Flitzen. We require immediate medical assistance. Any medical vessels please respond... General hail. This is the C.M.C. Regenbogen Flitzen. We require immediate medical assistance. Any medical vessels please respond... General hail...” Sweetie Belle droned on, as she had for the past... however long it had been. Time seemed vague when shock set in.

Pulling the fighter into the hangar's suspended gantry had been relatively easy with three unicorns, but getting Scootaloo out of it was far more difficult; the fuselage was extremely hot and the copper control armatures clamped to Scootaloo's wings were actually glowing.

Ditzy had had to lift Sweetie Belle over the fighter so she could telekinetically detach the buckles and straps and lift Scoot out of the smoking cockpit.

Now Scootaloo lay on a blanket at the base of the Gravity lift, no longer smoking, but unconscious.

“...This is the C.M.C. Regenbogen Flitzen. We require immediate medical assistan-” Sweetie Belle was cut off by a crackling from the echo.

“Attention C.M.C. Regenbogen Flitzen,” a stern voice began. “This is Captain Red Heart of the Equestrian Royal Air Navy vessel Flattern Schüchtern. We have received your distress call and are willing to help.”

This could get uncomfortable fast, the R.A.N. isn't exactly fond of privateers, but we're out of options. “Attention Flattern Schüchtern, this is Captain Pipsqueak of the  C.M.C. Regenbogen Flitzen. We have a burn victim who is in need of urgent care. We are prepared for docking.”

The ship came into view, slowly rounding a nearby mountain. A massive yellow zeppelin floating in a cloud of what must have been thousands of birds. A big red cross was painted on the side behind a trifecta of pink butterflies. Windows dotted the lower third, and the upper portion seemed to glow from within. It was like a vision from Dream Valley, the great plane in the sky.

“Captain Pipsqueak, we have your vessel flagged as suspect.” Red Heart announced. “Will you submit to an inspection?”

“Ma'am, we need help fast. Do as you will.” The huge ship closed in, looming over Pip's much smaller vessel and eclipsing the sun, casting everything in its yellow luminance.

“Acknowledged, we are sending the doctor ahead to collect the patient.” A team of four pegasi emerged from the bottom of the colossus, flying quickly to recover the patient.

Luna, let it be Fluttershy, Pip prayed, Oh Luna, please let them be friendly.

Almost as an answer to his silent plea the legendary pegasus flew up through the hangar bay door. She looked like a buttery angel wrapped in sunlight. Though that could have just been Pips relief.

“Oh my goodness, what happened?” she asked rhetorically as she set down beside the now long unconscious Scootaloo. “Oh dear. Sunny Days, Rain dancer, get the stretcher ready, we need to get her to intensive care. Mister Hammerhead, these are personal friends of mine, the inspection won't be necessary.” The nurse pegasi already had Scootaloo on the stretcher and halfway out by the time Fluttershy finished speaking.

“Thank you, Fluttershy. Thank you so much,” Pip said emphatically, desperately trying to hold back his tears. “I can't express my gratitude enough.”

“Mister Pipsqueak, you can thank me when she can breathe again.” And with that she was gone, and Pip was crying, hooves over his eyes.


*******


“How could this happen? How could I let this happen!?” Pip yelled at the walls of the hangar. “I'm the captain, the bucking captain! It's my job to-”

“Pip, it's not your fault.” Sweetie Belle cut him off, putting a hoof on his withers. “There was no possible way you could have known that would happen. It was just bad luck.”

“Yeah, ya' can't blame yourself for the explosion,” Apple Bloom chimed in waveringly. “If ya wanna blame anypony, blame Blue Blood for being too cheap to buy helium.” The stress was clear in her voice but she stood strong.

“I appreciate what you're trying to do girls, I really do, but I can't just say it was luck. Do you see this wheel on my hip?” Pip said, pointing to the helmsman’s wheel that formed his cutie mark. “This means that everything that happens on this ship, my ship, or to my crew, is my responsibility, no matter who’s 'fault' it is. I can't just walk away, ever.”

“Well there’s nothing we can do now but wait,” Sweetie Belle said in the most soothing voice she could muster while worrying that one of her best friends might be dying today. “Apple Bloom, why don’t you get us docked with the Flattern Schüchtern. I'm gonna go run a bath for Pip.”

“Thank you Sweetie, I think you can be captain for today,” Pip said, feeling completely defeated, and followed Sweetie Belle to his quarters.


*******


Apple Bloom brought the ship in alongside the aft quarter of the massive zeppelin, connecting with one of the civilian docks as directed by the Flattern Schüchtern's flight control officer, and trotted out of the bridge, back to engineering.

Entering her workshop she glanced up at the scale model of Scootaloo's fighter which hung from the ceiling. It was a bit redundant with the real thing hanging from the gantry in the adjacent hangar, but the real thing wasn’t always there. After a moment's revery she trotted onward.

The door at the back of the shop gave way to the boiler room, the first part of Apple Bloom's personal wonderland. A jungle of pipes, cables, crawlspaces and catwalks entwined and suspended the vital systems of the Regenbogen Flitzen, making it difficult to tell which direction one was facing. One could even lose track of up and down at times.

Apple Bloom walked between the gravity lift's thaumaturgical stabilizer coupling and the oversized main battery, ducking under the cable cluster connecting them. Passing the pipes leading from the main water tank to the steam boilers she paused again to look at a small bunny ear headband on one of the pips. She and her friends used to wear them while singing to the water during zap apple season back home, but this one was special.

Rounding a corner she had to squeeze between some water pipes and the the ammo boxes for one of the side guns to get to the starboard engineering annex. A persistent come to life spell marked the guns as the only elements of unicorn engineering on the ship.

She climbed up the ladder to the mid deck and walked down the corridor toward the valve room, pausing one last time. A tiny blue jacket with red trim hung from a seldom used valve, she never did manage to find the hat that went with that costume.

Finally she arrived at her destination: the valve room. A bank of monitors and gauges displayed pressure readouts as well as power and water levels from around the ship. What was once an open area for conferences amongst the engineering staff, intended to be at least six ponies, was now filled with a mountain of pillows as tall as a pony and twice as wide. The door that once lead from this room to the cargo bay had been welded shut long ago.

Nopony had seen Apple Bloom cry since her Granny Smith passed away, natural causes of course, but that didn't mean she never did. And in the loud, dark confines of engineering nopony could see her, nopony could hear her, nopony else existed. It was just Apple Bloom and a framed photo of Scootaloo in the cockpit of her SJ-21 Firestorm, smiling at the camera with her goggles up and rainbow scarf hanging from her shoulders.

She had never mustered up the courage to tell anypony how she felt, Scoots least of all. That day was the closest she ever got, the day she gave Scootaloo a 3,073,000 bit, top of the line, heavily customized SJ-21 for her birthday. She had actually been building it, piece by piece, in secret, for the better part of two years, tooling everything to be absolutely perfect, and on the dawn of Scootaloo's 17th birthday, while she was on her way to the party, a bright red steel falcon darted across the sky, landing on the road to Sweet Apple Acres. Scootaloo was so stunned she didn't even move until Apple Bloom had climbed out, walked over and bumped rumps asking. “So, d' ya' like it?”

“Ah'm gonna tell her,” Apple Bloom declared, out loud, to the tiny room. “If that filly wakes up, the first thing shes gonna see is mah face saying 'Ah love you Scootaloo!'” She kissed the hoof sized picture before hanging it back on the wall, beyond which was Scootaloo's room, and trotted purposefully to the gangplank leading from the hangar to the Flattern Schüchtern.


*******


“Is the temperature okay, Captain?” Sweetie Belle asked as Pipsqueak settled into the bath.

“Ya, ya it's good,” Pip replied quietly, the stress of the day diffusing into the hot, faintly lavender scented water, “and you're the captain today. I'm just Pip.”

“Well then, Pip,” Sweetie said with a mock air of authority, “as acting captain I'm issuing you a shoulder massage.”

Pip closed his eyes and smiled as Sweetie reared up and began to rub his neck and withers with her wonderfully smooth hooves. “Thanks, sweetie, I think I needed this. I think I've needed this for years now and just never realized it.”

“Your welcome, Pip,” Sweetie replied, leaning in to whisper in his ear. “I think I did too.”

“Sweetie, could you sing me a song, that one you sing when you're doing the long range scans?” Pip mumbled, his ears drooping as he sank into the hot water. “I love that song.”

“Of course, Pip.

Hush now, quiet now,
it's time to lay your sleepy head.
Hush now, quiet now,
It's time to go to bed.

Drifting off to sleep,
the exciting day behind you
Drifting off to sleep,
let the joy of dreamland find you...”

> Chapter 2: The nowhere express.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 2: The nowhere express.



"Doctor Fluttershy,” a chestnut earth mare whispered into the operating room, “the C.M.C. Regenbogen Flitzen has successfully docked with civilian bay two.”

“Oh, thank you,” Fluttershy responded, not taking any more attention away from her patient then absolutely necessary. “Um, give them a room to stay in. If they want one I mean.”

“Yes, ma'am.” As the mare turned she came face to chest with a burly palomino redhead with a big pink bow in her hair, and nearly fell on her rump.

“How's the operation' goin?” Apple Bloom asked, wide eyed with barely contained panic.

“Uh, I'm not sure,” the flustered secretary replied before recomposing herself, “but if she can be saved, Doctor Fluttershy can save her,” she finished with confidence. “And, please, keep your voice down.”

“Oh sorry, um, well, if ya don't mind, coulj'ya tell me the moment ah can see her? Uh, please?” Apple Bloom asked, looking around and rubbing her hind legs together nervously.

“Oh, of course, of course, and your name is..?” the comparatively meek pony queried.

“Oh, uh, sorry. Ah'm Apple Bloom. Ah'm one of the crew of the ship that there filly serves on,” Apple Bloom answered a bit nervously, glancing at the operating room door. “Um, is there someplace close by ah can stay at? Like if there’s an emergency or something.”

“Yes, of course, right this way.” The secretary led Apple Bloom to the nearest waiting room and gestured to a padded bench. “You can wait here for as long as you like, Miss Bloom. Doctor Fluttershy has asked me to offer you a room as well, if you would like one, but if you prefer to sleep on your own ship I completely understand.”

“Thank ya kindly, ma'am. Ah'll happily take the room,” Apple Bloom replied, sitting down on the bench. “But for now I'm gonna stay here. There’s something I have to tell that filly when she comes round.”


*******


Ugh, why do I feel so heavy... and, wet? Pip opened his eyes but all he could see was swirls of lavender and pink. Oh, well, I guess that explains that.

Pip was still in the bath, embracing his first mate and favorite marshmallow, Sweetie Belle. Judging by the temperature of the water they had been there for about two hours. Well, I guess that was a good enough use of two hours, given the circumstances.

With a kick he dislodged the plug allowing the now rather cool, lavender tinted water to drain out of the tub. “Sweetie?” Pip whispered, gently jostling the unicorn lying on top of him. “Sweetie wake up.”

“Hmm?” Sweetie mumbled groggily. “Mm. Morning hot shot.” She said with sleepy eyes.

Pip yawned. “I think we're docked.”

Sweetie giggled.

“...With the Flattern Schüchtern,” Pip clarified flatly.

A moment of bewildered staring latter and her eyes widened. “Oh right!” she said and hopped out of the bath. “I remember why we're here. Come on Pip, we need to go find Fluttershy!”

“That we do,” Pip confirmed, stumbling out after her. “Can you get... what?”

Sweetie blushed. “Um, you should probably put your coat on, Captain.”

Pip blushed. “Oh, uh, thanks... I'll just, go... do that.”

With a flash of pink and a whiff of lavender they were dry, thanks to the 'instant fabulousity' spell Sweetie had learned from her sister.

Pip trotted out of his private quarters, pulled a split-s in the gravity lift and continued into the bridge with a spring in his step. He snatched his captain's coat off of his chair with his teeth, reared up and swung it around from one foreleg to the other in a precise maneuver he had perfected over his few months in captain school, rather than studying. Flipping his visor cap onto his head and buttoning his coat he completed the ensemble and proceeded back down the hall to the hangar exit and the waiting Sweetie Belle.

“Shall we go see the doctor now, Captain Pipsqueak?” Sweetie said playfully, seaming to imply something Pip completely missed.

“Wait, where's Apple Bloom?” Pip said stopping to look back into the hangar.

“Oh, I don’t know, Pip. Maybe she already left?” Sweetie suggested with a curious look around said hangar.

Pip turned back. “Well, we're going in. I'll leave a note for her in case she comes back.”

Sweetie giggled again.


*******


“Miss Bloom,” the chestnut secretary called, “the doctor would like to speak with you.”

Apple Bloom sat up groggily. Apparently she had nodded off. “Ohhaaahh,” she yawned, stretching out on the bench like a cat. “Ah' guess ah'm a mite tired. What was that, miss?”

“The doctor will see you now.” the secretary repeated with a smile.

“Oh! thank ya', ma'am,” Apple Bloom chirped, hopping off the bench. “Should ah follow you, or just go right in?”

“You may go yourself if you remember the way, Miss Bloom.” The secretary gestured down the hall.

“'Preciate it, ma'am.” Apple Bloom was at the door in seconds, seaming almost to sidestep half of the space between her and the emergency room. “Fluttershy,” she whispered threw the door, “you wanted to see me?”

“Yes, yes,” Fluttershy replied from the other side of the door, “please, come in.” She opened the door with a hoof and Apple Bloom cautiously stepped in.

Scootaloo was on her back on the operating table, a tube and a number of intravenous lines leading to various parts of her body. The steady beep of a heart monitor kept time and Scootaloo's chest rose and fell with her breathing.

Her face was pink, all raw flesh, save for an orange band where her goggles had blocked the flames, and she shimmered with a sterility spell being maintained by a nearby unicorn. Her body was covered with burns and bandages extending all the way to her croup. She still had her tail and some fur on her rump and hind legs, but little else.

A tear came to Apple Bloom's eye and it took all she had to stop herself from leaping across the room and embracing the unconscious filly. “Is she gonna be okay?” Apple Bloom choked out.

“Yes,” Fluttershy confirmed with an intense look, “but I want to know what happened.” It wasn't the legendary 'stare' but it was still a very persuasive look.

“Well,” Apple Bloom began waveringly, “we were floating round the mountains and we stumbled on Blue Blood's ship...” She retold the story as best she could. It was difficult considering she had been in engineering at the time and was currently in mild shock, but she managed.

“So, Blue Blood and his entire crew are... dead?” Fluttershy asked with a grimace, pained by the thought of so many dead.

“Eyup,” Apple Bloom replied, hanging her head apologetically. “Sorry, Fluttershy. That's just how it happened.”

“I see. Well I guess nothi-” Fluttershy was cut off by a groan from the table.

“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom was at her side before Fluttershy even turned around, forehooves on the bed. “Oh ma gosh, ah'm so glad to see ya movin'”

“A-Apple Bloom?” Scootaloo said weakly, her voice raspy and dry, reaching a hoof up at the indistinct figure. “S'at you?”

“Ah'm here, sugar. Don't you worry,” Apple Bloom answered, taking Scootaloo's hoof in both of hers.

“Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo mumbled, pulling the blur a bit closer, “why am I on my back? Are we in the Valley?”

“Do you remember the fight with Blue Blood, Darlin?” Apple Bloom asked, fearing a concussion.

“Uh, kinda. Did we win?” Scootaloo asked, trying to focus her eyes.

“We sure did sugar, we sure did. But he had hydrogen instead of helium so your rocket did a bit more than we wanted.” Apple Bloom wanted so badly to do more then just hold Scootaloo's hoof but she knew, better than she would have liked, how burns worked.

“Cool.” Scootaloo relaxed a bit, resting her head back on the pillow and closing her eyes. “Hey, Apple Bloom?”

“Ya, Sugar?” Apple Bloom leaned in closer to be sure she could hear clearly.

“Can I tell you something?” Scootaloo asked.

“Hmm?” If Apple Bloom was hooked up to the heart monitor it probably would have exploded.

“Even if I don’t make it, I'm glad you were the first thing I saw when I woke up.”

Apple bloom looked over at the heart monitor, slow and steady, like waves on a beach.

“Scoots,” Apple Bloom began hesitantly, “if ya' like, ah'd be happy to be the first thing ya' see every time ya' wake up from now on.”

There was a pause. The heart monitor sped up slightly. “Really? You mean it?”

Apple Bloom choked back a wave of tears and embarrassment. It didn’t matter that they weren’t alone, some things just need saying. “Scootaloo, ah love you.” The heart monitor sped up more. “Ah always have an ah always will. You're the only pony for me. Just stay with me, please.”

Another pause, long and painful, until the response came. A blissful smile and a happy sigh. The heart monitor returned to normal. Scootaloo had fallen asleep.

“That was beautiful, Apple Bloom,” Fluttershy began as Scootaloo drifted off to sleep. “I hope you two live long, happy lives together.”

“Thank you, Fluttershy. Ah hope so too,” Apple Bloom said wistfully, carefully putting Scootaloo's hoof down on the bed. “So, how long till she's all healed up do ya reckon?”

“Well, at least a month for all her burns to be healed,” Fluttershy replied hesitantly. “I'm not sure how long it will take for her eyes to return to normal but they should be fine; I'm glad she was wearing goggles. I'm most worried about her wings; they suffered severe nerve damage from the flight armatures. I'm so sorry, Apple Bloom.”

There was a shuffling in the hallway. “Right this way sir,” came the muffled voice of the secretary, “and please keep your voices down.”

“I appreciate it, Miss Oak n' hammer,” Pip replied courteously, “and thank you for the room.”

“Oh its no problem, Captain Pipsqueak, and please, just call me Thistle,” the secretary countered flirtatiously.

Pip stepped into the room, a look of mixed hope and terror on his face. “Hi, Apple Bloom. I thought I might find you here,” he said, trying to think more about the fact that Scootaloo had a pulse and less about the fact that she looked absolutely terrible. “How is she, doc?”

“Well, we were just about to move her to the mid term care ward,” Fluttershy explained with practiced care. “She should stay here for at least two weeks to be safe. Otherwise her wounds could still get infected.  Though she won't be fully healed for at least a month.”

“Thank you, Doctor Fluttershy. I can't tell you what this means to me,” Pip said, grateful and relieved just to see his friend breathing.

Sweetie Belle said nothing. Her friend was on a table in an operating room, smiling but silent. All she could do was be ready if somepony needed her. Until then she would silently pray to Celestia and Luna, over and over, until Scootaloo was up and walking and making friendly jabs about her cooking again.


*******


“Are you sure its okay to be carrying that around, Muffin?” Ditzy whispered nervously to her daughter as they walked down a potted plant and park bench lined hallway in the residential block of the R.A.N. Flattern Schüchtern. “I mean, this is a medical facility.”

“I'm just taking it to our room, Mom; I need to clean it,” Dinky replied, hefting her comically oversized gun over one shoulder as she strode along on her hind legs, “and if they don’t like it, wouldn’t they just say so?”

Ditzy and Dinky made a peculiar scene no matter where they went. An older, friendly looking pegasus mare and a short, stocky unicorn filly, (measuring in at just under nine hooves at the head when standing on all fours) walking on two legs, carrying a gun nearly as long as she was and sporting a shower of bullet casings cascading from the point of her hip all the way to her gaskin as a cutie mark.

They strode down the park like halls chatting idly about how acceptable a giant gun was on a medical vessel as the ammo belt clattered against the housing. All the while their guide, a white pegasus stallion wearing the patches of a royal guard candidate, was sweating rather more metaphorical bullets.

“Um, here's your room,” their escort said with an incredibly forced smile, his voice cracking slightly as he gestured towards the door. “I-Is there anything else you need?” He put on the best smile he could muster while staring at Dinky's abnormally intimidating weapon.

“That's fine, sir,” Ditzy assured him with a smile. “Thank you for the room.”

“Ya, thanks, mister guard candidate,” Dinky said with a grin. Nervous colts are so cute. She used the slight height advantage of her bipedal stance to plant a kiss on the top of his muzzle. “Don't faint on your way back to your post,” she mocked as she closed the door.

“Dinky, why do you like scaring colts so much?” Ditzy inquired with an edge of motherly scolding.

“Its funny,” Dinky answered simply. “Beside,” she continued, setting her gun down on a desk with a thunk, “I like to show them that fillies can be tough, too.”

“I understand, Muffin,” Ditzy said as she took a spot on the couch, “but it's still not very nice.”

“Ya, you're right,” Dinky relented, jumping onto the bed and splaying her legs out like a wagon wheel, “sorry, mommy.”


*******


A few minutes later the door opened and Sweetie Belle stepped in. “Oh... hi Ditzy, hi Dinky. Sorry, I sorta forgot you were with us.”

“Oh, it's fine, Sweetie,” Ditzy replied, “you’ve had a really bad day.”

“Ya, I really have,” Sweetie agreed breathlessly. “At least Scootaloo is gonna be ok.”

“Oh?” Ditzy inquired, tilting her head, “what did Fluttershy have to say?”

“A month at least, but she'll make a full recovery if she takes it easy and eats well,” Sweetie Belle explained, hope in her voice. “Um, Ditzy, do you mind if I ask you an unusual question?”

“Ask away,” Ditzy invited, sitting up to look more approachable.

“Why do pegasi need to eat so much?” Sweetie asked, telekinetically taking a cushion from the closet to sit on.

“Well,” Ditzy began with a tone only mothers and teachers can pull off, “you know how unicorn ponies get magic from love and friendship?”

“Ya,” Sweetie replied, becoming quite interested.

“And how earth ponies get their magic from plants and from the ground?”

“Wait, what?” Sweetie Belle had never gone to an academy so she often felt undereducated.

“Oh, well, an earth pony can draw magic from living things and invisible magical rivers in the ground called ley lines,” Ditzy began, going into full teacher mode. “That’s why they're so good at farming and metallurgy and other such earth related things. Some earth ponies can even tap into these energies directly, like my friend Pinkie Pie. You know Pinkie, right?”

“Is that why she has so much energy all the time?” Sweetie inquired, absolutely fascinated by a corner of magic she knew so little about.

“Yes, Pinkie is what some ponies call a thaumaturge, and an exceptionally good one at that. She can manipulate the lay energies at will to accomplish things that many ponies don’t even understand.” Ditzy continued, excited to get a chance to flex her 'teacher muscles', as she liked to call it.

“I've heard of thaumaturgy but I never really understood what that was,” Sweetie commented. “So its like earth pony magic? Is that how Apple Bloom can move around the lower decks so fast?” she asked, encouraging Ditzy to continue.

“Yes,” Ditzy confirmed, “that's called 'chasing the lay' or 'line hopping'. They partially convert themselves into lay energy allowing themselves to move at the speed of thought along the ley lines, but only to places they know or can see.”

“Wow. I wish I could do that,” Sweetie half joked.

“He he, me too,” Ditzy agreed.

“Wait, why haven’t I ever heard about this?” Sweetie inquired, puzzled.

“Well, nopony teaches these things in schools,” Ditzy explained with a twinge of disappointment. “It's taught by a pony's parents, or discovered for themselves. Very few ponies know enough to teach it, so most have to learn on their own, and more often than not they don’t even realize what they're doing.”

“So where did you learn about all this, Ditzy?”

“Well, when I was attending university in Canterlot, I did my thesis on ambient magic theory,” Ditzy explained proudly. “While I was doing my research it occurred to me that my wings, and in fact all pegasus pony's wings, are too small to actually provide the lift we need to fly. I learned that in physics. I asked around and others had noticed it as well but evidently no magic researchers did. So I did the research myself, and when I showed my findings to my professor she decided to give me a grant to investigate it further. After that I spent a few years flying around Equestria asking questions. Once I had enough information I presented my theory on shared magical radiance to the assembled Arcane Science Committee.”

“Wow, that's amazing, Ditzy!” Sweetie marveled. “Wait, why did you use to carry the mail if you're so smart?”

“Oh, that's my sister, Derpy,” Ditzy corrected. “We're twins. I don’t really have a job.”

“Why not? You're brilliant, you could probably have any job you wanted!” Sweetie Belle complemented excitedly.

“Well,” Ditzy began, blushing and bringing a hoof to her face, “after I presented my theory to the Arcane Science Committee, Princess Celestia gave me the Silver Bell Award for Scientific Excellence and a royal stipend, so I never really needed one.”

It was then that they noticed Pip standing in the doorway, mouth agape. “W-Why is it you have a royal stipend?” he stuttered.

“Well, um, like I said, I received the Silver Belle for my research.” Ditzy never did too well with the idea of fame or prestige. She just liked to have fun, and just happened to have an unusual definition of exactly what 'fun' was.

“So let me get this straight. You're filthy rich, and a genius, but you prefer to flit around the everfree mountains and assassinate poncey unicorns because... why?” Pip asked, genuinely flabbergasted.

“Oh, I'm not that rich,” Ditzy said abashedly, “and Blue Blood wasn't just some random meany aristocrat. He, um... he did a lot of bad things... to me and my friends,” Ditzy finished, clearly hurt by the memories Blue Blood's name brought up.

“Sorry Ditzy,” Pip apologized, concern in his eyes, “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Its okay Pip, I'm having a rough day too,” Ditzy said as she lay back down on the couch.

Sweetie Belle never got the answer she was looking for, but she learned a lot and she could use this knowledge. One last thing remained. “Captain, if I may?”

“Yes, Sweetie?” Pip acknowledged as he closed the door and flopped onto the floor.

“Where's Apple Bloom?” Sweetie turned to face him.

“Back in Scootaloo's room.” Pip replied wearily. “She said she'd volunteer for knight watch. We're gonna need a temp until Scoot gets better, it seems.”

“Night watch?” Dinky inquired from the bed. “You mean, like, just watching her all night?”

“Knight watch,” Pip enunciated. “Back before the founding of Equestria there were elite soldiers called knights. They often took on assistants, called squires. When a knight was wounded in battle their squire would stay by their side until they were healed, or dead.” Pip shuddered slightly. “So, basically, Apple Bloom is staying with Scootaloo until she's healed.”

“Wow...” Dinky replied, a bit stunned. “They must be really good friends.”

“You could say that, Dinky. You could say that.”

> Chapter 3: It's who you know.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 3: It's who you know.



It feels so nice to sleep in a real bed for a change. Soft sheets, soft pillow, soft marshmallow... hard... un-marshmallow? Pip opened his eyes and hit the ceiling, or at least he would have hit the ceiling if he hadn’t been playing teddy bear for Horsecules the midget unicorn. “Um, Dinky, hon... muffin, can you let go please?” Pip pleaded, trying to dislodge Dinky from her death grip on his midsection. Dinky just burbled.

There was a soft knocking at the door. “Pipsqueak, Sweetie Belle?” Fluttershy's quiet voice was somehow audible through the door. “I know it’s early but, are you awake yet?”

“Grm. Just a sec. Nerrf.” Pip managed to free his, now numb, foreleg and scoot Dinky onto his back before hobbling to the door and opening it a crack. “Yes, Fluttershy? Is something wrong?”

“Oh, um, yes. Something is wrong,” Fluttershy said to the increasingly distressed Pipsqueak. “You see, Twilight will be patrolling through this pass on the Zwielicht Funkeln soon and, well, if she sees you or your ship it could be very, um, unfriendly.”

Pip's command voice came out like a wrathful wendigo. “Sweetie Belle, Ditzy Doo, we need to get back to the ship posthaste! Ditzy, if you could get Dinky off me please.”

“Uh, ya sure.” Ditzy complied, rubbing the sleep from her eyes before flying over and somehow dislodging Dinky with nearly no effort.

Sweetie Belle was already at attention. “Should I get Apple Bloom, Captain?”

“No, we'll have to make do. I won't pull her off knight watch.” Pip spun on his hooves. “Fluttershy, thank you for your hospitality and hospitalization. We'll return in one week. Where will you be?”

Fluttershy instinctively shrank away from the imposing visage, but contained herself. “Um, well, we'll be in this area for five more days. If you can be back by then-”

“I'll see you in five days, miss Fluttershy. Good wind and be safe.” And with that they were off.


*******


“Pip, all the cargo is stowed and ready to go!” Dinky called from the cargo bay down the hall.

“Sir, all systems are green. We are ready for lunch,” Sweetie announced. Pip completely missed the joke, as usual.

“PIP! WAIT!” came a bellow from the other side of the retracted gangplank.

Apple Bloom? She was on knight watch, Pip thought. “Ditzy, can you find out what she needs, please?”

“Yes, Captain.” Ditzy flew out from the hangar. Pip watched them through the bridge window. They chatted for a moment then Ditzy picked Apple Bloom up and flew back.

“Apple Bloom, I thought you were on knight watch?” Pip called through the echo.

“Ya, well, when Fluttershy told us what was up Scoots said ah otto go. Y'all need me so, here ah am,” Apple Bloom explained from the hangar's echo.

“Well there’s no turning back now,” Pip said, shifting back to 'captain mode'. “Control, this is the C.M.C. Regenbogen Flitzen, we are go for launch.”

“Acknowledged, C.M.C. Regenbogen Flitzen, releasing clamp in 3, 2, 1, release.” The ship shuddered as the docking clamp disengaged, setting them adrift for a moment, before the engines took control.

“Thank you, control, C.M.C. Regenbogen Flitzen is away.” The birds parted, forming an impromptu departure tunnel, as the ship drifted away from the dock. “Apple Bloom, give us speed.”

“Aye, capm'.” And off they went, sailing into the everfree, with no escort.

No escort... Pip thought, resting his chin on his hooves, huge gun. “Ditzy,” he asked into the echo, “can you and Dinky handle the role of an escort fighter?”

“Ya, we can do that,” Ditzy responded with a satisfying degree of confidence.

“Good,” Pip acknowledged, “hopefully, we won't need it.”


*******


“Captain, where are we headed, if I may ask?” Sweetie Belle asked from today’s chair.

The bridge had nine stations, including the captain's chair, and Sweetie did every job on the bridge, other than captaining of course, and would often sit in a different seat each day just for fun.

“Salvage,” Pip replied semi-cryptically

“Come again?” Sweetie looked up with a quizzical expression.

“Originally, the reason I was looking for the Glänzend Schicksal was to steal one of its guns,” Pip explained in a 'story time' sort of tone. “I later discovered that Blue Blood had on his yacht a stolen prototype, of some sort, from the Canterlot Earth Science Foundation. I want that prototype.”

“Um, Captain, is this confidential information?” Sweetie Belle inquired with that 'I have the best crazy plan' sort of expression that Pip so enjoyed the usual results of.

“Not as such, Sweetie. If you think you have a lead, follow it, but I don’t want to lose that prototype...” Pip trailed off and his eyes started to glass over.

“Captain, I'll keep an eye out,” Sweetie said with her rarely used authoritative voice. “You need breakfast.”

A smirk grew across Pip's face and he stood from his seat. “Yes, ma'am,” he said with a brisk salute followed by an about face march sending him down the hallway towards the gravity lift.


*******


Apple Bloom was already done with Pip's dandelion sandwich and was starting on Sweetie's spinach salad when Pip arrived. “Got your sandwich right here, Capm.”

“Thanks, Apple Bloom,” Pip said as he carried the sandwich to the dining table and took a seat on the finely upholstered aftermarket bench.

“Ah'm gonna take Sweetie her breakfast, be right back,” Apple Bloom announced, balancing the half filled breakfast tray on her back and walking out the door.

“Captain Pipsqueak?” a section of bench said in an ominously friendly voice a short while later.

“GAHAHAAA!!!” Pip replied aptly, falling onto the floor and launching his sandwich across the room.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Are you ok?” A crimson haze apologized as it materialized from thin air and hopped off the bench, coalescing into the image of Ruby Pinch. “I didn't mean to startle you. I... sorta forgot I was invisible.”

“Wah, Ruby?” Pip sputtered, lying on his back and staring up at his new guest. “When did you get on my ship?”

“Oh,” Ruby replied shyly, “I've been here since the fight with Blue Blood. Sorry, I kinda forgot to tell you.”

“Wait, you've been on my ship since yesterday morning and never said anything?” Pip asked, clearly annoyed. “And it never struck you as strange that nopony noticed you?”

“Well...” Ruby began, bowing her head and laying her ears flat in embarrassment, “I was afraid I'd be in the way so I just, you know, made myself scarce.”

You hid on my ship for a day and a half, without saying a word to anypony, because you didn't want to be in the way? Really? Your older then I am, act like it. Pip realized he was getting a bit worked up and took a breath to calm himself down. “Ok, Ruby, I really need something to eat,” he said as he righted himself and began to stand. “Have whatever you like from the kitchen. I'm gonna finish... I'm gonna make another sandwich, then we can talk.”

“Capm', what happened t' yer san...” Apple Bloom trailed off as she stepped through the door, seeing food scattered across the floor, and an unfamiliar unicorn staring awkwardly at the ground. “Howdy, ma'am. If ah may ask, who are ya' and what are ya' doin' in my galley?”


*******


“Thanks, Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle said, levitating her breakfast from Apple Bloom's back to a nearby console. “Did Pip make it to the galley?” she asked jokingly, taking a bite of her salad.

“He he, ya he made it,” Apple Bloom confirmed with a smile. “Anyway, ah’m gonna go make something for myself,” She said as she turned back towards the hallway. “Oh, ah'm gonna hafta make something for Dinky ‘n Ditzy too.”

Sweetie chewed her breakfast slowly, watching clouds and birds drifting and flying by. What a lovely morning. From the captain's chair she could see everything on the bridge and had a commanding view through the extra large main window. Now let's find that salvage.

A gentle haze of swirling pink and lavender spread through the room enveloping everything in Sweetie Belle's line of sight. Two and three ahead one quarter. The ship decelerated to a more normal cruising speed. Twenty degrees to starboard. The ship turned towards the sight of yesterday's battle. Decrease buoyancy three percent. The ship began to descend. “And that's the art of the bridge~” Knobs, switches and buttons all moved in perfect rhythm, an orchestra of efficiency.

Sweetie Belle could operate every station on the bridge from here. On a good day she could control the entire ship. Today she could almost feel the wind on her hull and the steam in her engines. Today was an exceptional day.


*******


“Ok, I think that'll just about do it,” Ditzy said as she set a box on top of a stack in the cargo bay and strapped it down.

“Thanks, Mommy,” Dinky replied from a room just down the hall.

They had set about rearranging some ammo and food supplies to make themselves feel useful and discovered a disused armory. Dinky insisted they clean it out so she could work on her gun, so they did. All the munitions were now in the same place, sorted by caliber, and the food was more organized now as well, though Ditzy made a mental note to ask Apple Bloom if she wanted things to be any particular way.

“Hey, Mom?” Dinky said just cautiously enough to put her mother on edge.

“Yes, Muffin?” Ditzy replied as she flew into the room and landed on a couch they had found behind some spare parts.

“Are we gonna stay on this ship for a while? Or are we just passing through again?” Dinky asked, looking more like a normal teenager then she had in a long time.

As much as they both enjoyed it, the years of restless wandering had taken a toll on Dinky, and now she wanted to slow down and make some long term friends. Fortunately, Ditzy had finally found a way she could do that and still continue investigating her harmonious resonance theory.

“We can stay as long as you like, Muffin,” Ditzy said with a smile. “I think it's time you made some lasting friendships.”

“Thanks, Mommy. I like this ship,” Dinky said, smiling at the ceiling. “I think it likes me to.”


*******


Early afternoon in the everfree mountains. It was warmer than yesterday. The clouds hung lower as well, because that's just how the everfree worked that day evidently. There were more birds too, though they may have followed them from the Flattern Schüchtern. All in all it was a good day for ground operations.

Way down on a distant hillside, a thin plume of smoke rose from the smoldering wreckage of the Glänzend Schicksal. Sweetie Belle adjusted her heading towards the wreck. “Captain,” a slightly ethereal voice called through the echo, “our destination is in sight.”

“Roger that, Sweetie. I'll be right there,” Pip replied before quickly finishing an impromptu inventory of the cargo bay and hoofing his clipboard to Apple Bloom for further analysis.

As Pip approached the bridge he could hear soft singing and caught the faint smell of lavender drifting in the air. He snuck through the ever open door to the bridge and just watched for a moment. He loved to see Sweetie Belle at her best, and this was a rare treat. She was levitating about half a hoof off the captain's chair, humming a familiar tune. Her eyes and her bell cutie mark glowed soft silver, like the full moon. Her mane and tail drifted in the magical currents. Every panel in the bridge was alive with swirling magic, rippling with Sweetie's commands. Pip felt like he was inside somepony's head watching their brain in action.

“Sweetie, you're amazing,” Pip complimented softly.

Her trance broken, Sweetie Belle slowly drifted down and her eyes cleared. “Oh, ahem, hello, Pip,” she said, blushing and stepping down from the captain's position.

Pip took up his position, donning his hat and draping his coat over his withers. “Let's go get some new toys.”


*******


The Regenbogen Flitzen came in low over the smoldering wreck and slowed to a stop.

“Altitude is ten fathoms. Cloud cover satisfactory. Firing anchor,” Sweetie Belle provided with practiced professionalism.

There was a muffled bang as the forward cannon fired. The anchor spike found easy purchase in the rocky mountain side, securing them against the wind.

“Excellent. Thank you, Sweetie,” Pip replied with satisfaction. “Ruby,” He called into the echo, “can I assign you to defend the ship while we collect salvage?”

“No problem, Captain Pipsqueak,” Ruby replied, materializing uncomfortably close to Pip. “You can count on me,” she finished with an adorably sloppy salute.

Pipsqueak and Apple Bloom descended from the ship on the gravity lift. Ditzy flew and Dinky just jumped, landing in a pulse of magic that looked like a miniature sun. She looked both proud of herself and a bit surprised for some reason.

“Alright,” Pip said with a smirk, starting towards the wreck, “let's go see what we find.”

The debris was scattered over a wide area. Most of the bodies were gone, taken by the fire or the creatures of the everfree. Salvaging it would take time but it should be relatively safe, and cleaner than expected.

“Ok, lets get started!” Pip bellowed in his field operations voice. “If you see anything of value bring it to the lift! Dinky, you're on guns! Apple Bloom, see if you can find any usable engine parts! Ditzy, check the cargo hold; see if you can find anything potentially valuable!”

They spread over the wreckage looking for anything sufficiently undamaged to be called salvage instead of slag. There wasn’t much.

Dinky made for a section of the prow which had rolled down the slope from the rest of the crash, machine gun in tow. About half of the Glänzend Schicksal's cannons were forward mounted so the best chance for salvaging one was there.

As expected, it was a mess. The once immaculately polished wooden deck was now burnt black and splintered, still partly aflame, and the steel hull was bent and broken from the fall.

Telekinesis was the only way to go when clearing potentially dangerous debris fields, and Dinky's high force, low control magick made speedy work of quenching the flames and flattening everything out for inspection.

Seven canons lay amongst the wreckage. Three were completely blasted apart, the feedback rockets had done a spectacular job of ruining the magitech, but the rest were mostly intact.

Dinky lifted the remaining four into the air and began pulling them apart. These two barrels look fine, she observed, taking a seat on the ground and setting her gun beside her. Three of the heatsinks are fixable. Those lenses don’t look to safe though. She floated the cracked lens arrays in front of her to get a better look. Neat! These must be Bell and Diamond force cannons. No wonder Pip wants one, these things are hot. 

After all was said and done Dinky figured she could rebuild two of the cannons, plus a few spare parts. She would need new lenses and magick capacitors, but those were not even close to the most expensive components.

“Hay, Pip!” she hollered across the hill side. “I think I can rebuild two of them, but we'll need new lenses and capacitors!”

“Excellent!” Pip called back excitedly. “Get them on the ship!” He turned towards the body of the wreck, “Apple Bloom, any luck yet?”

Apple Bloom's job had been a great deal simpler than Dinky's. The main battery had liquified most of the inner workings of the ship when it exploded. She managed to find some valves and piping but everything she found could fit in her saddle bags.

“Na, the battery wrecked everything!” she called back.

“Alright,” Pip called, “let's get packed up!”

He had turned back to follow Dinky up the lift when Ditzy flew over. “Hey, Pip!” she called cheerfully, “look what I found!” She was carrying a large, ornate looking box. she set it down with a proud look on her face and landed next to it.

The box measured twelve hooves long by nine wide and two and a half tall. It was made of steel with intricate gold and silver inlays. Clearly whatever was inside it was important.

“Well done, Ditzy,” Pip complimented. Then he noticed the lock. “Horse apples,” Pip cursed, “it's magically sealed, even after the feedback.” This must be it; I should have expected a lock.

Ditzy deflated slightly.

“Well, we'll take it anyway,” Pip decided. “Could still be worth something.” And maybe I can find a locksmith.

“Movement!” Dinky shouted, dropping out of the gravity lift and galloping to a patch of open ground with her weapon in tow.

She reared up and telekinetically strapped her gun's leather bracers around her forecanons. Her whole body glowed with the bright gold of her magical aura. A small switch on her gun went from 'SAFE' to 'AUTO' as she swung it around to aim up the mountainside.

For a moment, nothing happened. The four ponies just stared, waiting. Tension filled the air. Apple Bloom and Pip took defensive postures, digging their hooves into the gravel and slate. Suddenly a grassy knoll beyond the wreck erupted. Large, bipedal creatures clad in crude armor and wielding a variety of improvised weapons burst from the ground like a tide of metal and fur, barking loudly as they charged down the slope.

“Dogs!” Dinky screamed, opening fire. All around her, small rocks and bits of debris lifted off the ground, released from the bindings of gravity by the force of her magic. A plume of dust kicked up behind her from the redirected recoil and her eyes began to glow.

Her weapon spoke like the wrath of Celestia. Bullets wrapped in golden magic cut burning trails through the air and shattered into showers of metal and sparks as they met their targets.

“Everypony get on the ship!” Pip commanded, shoving the fancy box towards the gravity lift.

The Regenbogen Flitzen joined in with its forward cannon, firing alchemical incendiary rounds to form a wall of liquid fire in front of the dogs. The side guns closed off the flanks,  helping to keep them at bay.

Then, from around the side if the mountain came the dog's ships. Hulking masses of rusty, salvaged plating suspended under patchwork envelops. Their snub nosed cannons aimed forward, just waiting to get in range.

Dinky shifted her fire up across the closest of the ships. She shifted the magic around the bullets, giving them an ablative coating of magic to help them punch through her target's armored shell. After several seconds of fire it lost its grip on the sky and began to fall.

“AAAHAHAHAHA, CRY SOME MOOORE!!!” Dinky roared in a fantastic rendition of Royal Canterlot Voice as it fell from the sky, and shifted fire to the next ship.

Unfortunately, while they were distracted, the dogs had dug under the fire and were now bursting forth from loose patches of rock all around them.

Apple Bloom braced herself. Ghostly, white tendrils of lay energy rose from her body as she prepared to fight.

The first dog came into range and she bucked it with both hind legs, sending it skittering across the ground and knocking several others over. Snapping her legs back under her she charged forwarder, trampling one dog and headbutting another to the ground.

Now amongst a half dozen or more, she reared up to her full height, pulling all the ley she could into her forehooves. She slammed them into the ground, sending dust and gravel high into the air. The rocky mountain side around her buckled and split under the assault and levered inwards in sheets, sending several dogs soaring over Apple Bloom's head and others tumbling to her hooves, ready for a trampling.

Dinky caught sight of Apple Bloom's airborne adversaries and brought them down with a short burst from her gun. Another hole opened in the nearby ground and she refocused fire on it, preventing any dogs from climbing out, and quickly collapsing the entrance.

Before she could celebrate her small victory another dog rushed her from behind. She spun, jamming the barrel of her gun into its belly and fired. Another came at her from the side and took her weapon's reinforced barrel to the face, falling unconscious.

She brought her focus back to the second ship, but before it fell, her ammo ran out. So much for winning, she thought, releasing her, now useless, firearm focused spells in favor of a shield.

Pip raised his head in prayer. “Luna, if you're seeing this, we could really use some help.”

At that very moment, the sky split open. A withering barrage of capital ship ordinance and precision sniper fire from some unseen benefactor rained down on the battlefield. Glowing hot shells whistled through the air like angry phoenixes. The earth shook and the only sounds anypony could hear were screaming magic and falling rubble. The dogs on the ground flew into the air, not just from explosive force, but from randomly realigned gravity. The ships flipped, spun and twisted apart, shattering in the magical haze of butchered physics from the Tom class gravity cannons.

Pip looked up at the sky as Sweetie Belle descended on the gravity lift and bolted to his side. There was a barely visible distortion in some of the clouds. Then the distortion sharpened and gained color, shifting into the unmistakable, sleek, purple and gold image of the Seltenheit, or 'The Resplendent Barque of the Phantom Sea' as its captain, the legendary Pirate Queen Rarity, sometimes called it.

It had no envelope, floating instead on an ethereal sea of raw magic projected by some unknown mechanism deep in the never seen heart of the ship. It was regarded as the third most beautiful thing in the sky, after the sun and the moon, and was without a doubt the most technologically advanced ship in the known world.

“Well hello, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity cooed from her perch on a no longer invisible, hanging palanquin suspended under three armored pegasi. “It's been too long. Are you still enjoying riding around in that little bathtub?”

Sweetie Belle blushed and nopony else knew why. “Thank you for the rescue, Rarity. It's so good to see you again,” She replied, “I've missed you. What brings you to this little corner of the world?”

“Well,” Rarity responded as the palanquin touched down, “I was on my way to go visit Fluttershy when who should appear but Twilight Sparkle herself! I do so miss dear Twilight, but her duties to the country seem to be more important to her then old friendships. It makes me so sad, Sweetie, it really does,” she said.

Rarity was, as usual, dressed to the nines. A large, gem encrusted, silver crown was perched on her head at a jaunty angle and a luxurious purple cloak lined with white fur was draped over her withers and down her back, covering the seat of the throne she was reclining in. Earrings, hoofrings and all manner of other jewelry and accessories accentuated every part of her body. She was truly a sight worthy of the ship she commanded.

“I guess I'll just have to wait until she moves on,” Rarity finished mournfully. “By the way, what are you doing here, if I may ask?” she queried, completely shifting gears.

Dinky was having a tremendously difficult time not giving Rarity stink eye as she walked over to Pip and the rest with her mother. Stupid, rich mule. Why does she have to insult our ship. It's a good ship.

“Well, yesterday we were passing through this area on our way to get some supplies,” Sweetie began as the self designated speaker. This was her sister after all, “when we found Blue Blood. As you can see, we won. But Scootaloo was injured. She is in Fluttershy's care now.”

“Really?” Rarity said with surprised joy, “do you happen to know what became of Blue Blood himself?”

“Paralyzed, riddled with bullets, filled with shrapnel and burned to a crisp,” Dinky said with an arrogant smirk and a predatory glint in her eye, hefting the large gun still strapped to her hooves for emphasis.

Ditzy cringed at the description. Battle always seemed to put Dinky in the creepiest moods.

“Well,” Rarity began, taken aback by the little unicorn's force of personality, “I guess I owe you for that little favor. Have you a request of the illustrious Queen Rarity, little one?” she finished, unconsciously sticking her muzzle in the air.

Dinky thought for a long moment before a grin came to her face. “Yes. Four days escort. We need to stop by the Everparty. Then to your appointment with miss Fluttershy.”

“Just you, or will we be bringing your ship as well?” Rarity inquired, glancing up at the little, blue zeppelin.

“Well, I can't exactly go floating around the everfree with no escort,” Pip said, trying not to grumble too much. And, on a lighter note, it will be nice for Sweetie to have some sister time.

> Chapter 4: Catching up to history.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 4: Catching up to history.



With a flash and a snap the serene halls of the Flattern Schüchtern were set abuzz with arcs of electricity and magic at the arrival of the Grand Admiral of the Equestrian Royal Air Navy, Twilight Sparkle. The gilded phoenix over sun of the R.A.N. adorned the right shoulder of her royal blue dress uniform. Opposing it on the left was a polished silver ring, the crest of the Lunar Inquisition. Her visor cap proudly displayed a silver star encircled by an olive wreath, signifying peacetime and Equestrian unity.

“Eee!” Fluttershy squeaked, diving behind a nearby potted plant before realizing what had just happened. “Oh, hello, Twilight!” she exclaimed, less quietly than usual, emerging from behind the plant and trotting over to greet her old friend, “how have you been?”

“Hi, Fluttershy,” Twilight Sparkle replied with a hug as the magic haze of teleportation faded from the air, “I've been well, how are you?”

“Oh you know, busy,” Fluttershy said as they began to walk down the hall towards the observation deck. “Our resupply should be arriving soon, so we’ve been doing a full inventory. Its hard work but it's worth it, for the patients.”

Through the window, the Zwielicht Funkeln, flagship of the R.A.N., sat in the air. Two purple, dreadnought sized envelopes, emblazoned with Twilight's starburst cutie mark, held a floating fortress between them. Bristling with guns and topped with a flight deck the size of a small town. It was an awe inspiring sight.

“Ya, I know what you mean,” Twilight agreed, rolling her head in mock exasperation. “Back when Spike was learning to control his size we couldn’t let him inside the ship, so I had to organize the library by myself. It took days.”

Fluttershy giggled at Twilight's display. After all the unfortunate things she saw as a doctor it was wonderful to talk to somepony who was happy and just have a good time. Though she wished so badly she could find a way to bring all five of her best friends back together again, even if only for a day.

They continued to walk through the halls chatting idly until they came to the uppermost portion of the ship, the atrium. The artificial sun blazed in its suspended armature, ever so slowly traversing the distant ceiling above on a pair of guide rails. The sound of birds and wildlife filtered out from the forest that filled the aft third of the indoor park.

A phoenix flew out of the trees, landed on a bench near the conversing ponies and chirped.

“Hi, Pewee,” Twilight responded excitedly. “Spike is out on the ship, you should go see him. He misses you.”

Pewee chirped joyfully and gave Twilight a quick nuzzle before flying off to see his surrogate father.

“Um, Twilight,” Fluttershy began cautiously.

“Yes, Fluttershy?” Twilight encouraged, giving her friend a concerned look.

“Have you, um, heard from R-Rarity recently?” Fluttershy was keenly aware of Twilight and Rarity's falling out, but to her the only thing more painful than losing a loved one was being on bad terms with one. She couldn't just stand by and watch anymore.

“Fluttershy, I...” Twilight stuttered, choking on bitter memories. Tiny arcs of energy rippled across her body, a portion of her aura escaping her grip. “You know how things are, I just... I-I have to...”

“I know Twilight, I know. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. I'm so sorry.” Fluttershy pulled Twilight into a hug, not even flinching at the static permeating the air as she stroked her mane. “Everything will workout someday, I know it will.”

Twilight sank into the embrace and wept. “What am I supposed to do, Fluttershy?” she whispered, holding her friend close. “What can I do?” She sniffed and buried her face under a yellow wing.

Fluttershy didn't reply at first. She just silently cradled her friend, blocking out Twilight's world with her wing and brushing her mane with a hoof.

At last, she spoke. “I can't tell you what you should do, Twilight,” she whispered, “but if it were me, I would go find Rarity and tell her that I still love her, and say I'm sorry. I know she will forgive you. All you have to do is try.”

Many of the animals in the forest stopped to watch the scene unfolding before them. Some approached the ponies, hoping to somehow be of help.

Among the onlookers, an elderly, wrinkled, white rabbit, far beyond what should have been his time, watched closely. Years untold echoed in his eyes and he smiled. She always knows just what to say, doesn't she.


*******


“So, Sweetie Belle, how has that Captain Pipsqueak been treating you?” Rarity asked her sister between sips of tea as they lounged in her ludicrously opulent private quarters. “He hasn't tried anything too... forward has he?” She raised a playful eyebrow.

“Ha ha, no. He's a perfect gentlecolt,” Sweetie ably dodged, shifting her weight on the large couch, likely acquired in some foreign country that Apple Bloom would never be able to pronounce the name of, and taking a sip of her own tea. “Mm, this tea is lovely. It reminds me a bit of Zecora's,” she commented, taking a moment to inhale the steam rising from her cup. “I had it at Twilight's during magick class a few times.” A smile came to her face at the precious moment she was sharing with her beloved older sister.

“Ah, I do so miss those days,” Rarity cooed, relaxing into her favorite chaise longue. A faint, metallic click went ignored. “Why, I remember when we first met that mysterious zebra. Did I ever tell you that story, Sweetie?”

“Only about a hundred times, sis,” Sweetie joked, levitating a tea cookie to her mouth and shifting her forelegs.

“By the way,” she continued, taking a bite of cookie. “Would you mind helping me with something? Just, like, some advice.”

“Oh?” Rarity's eyes almost glowed with interest as she sipped her tea. “Has somepony caught my dear sister's eye?”

“Yes,” Sweetie replied hesitantly.

“It's Mister Pipsqueak, isn't it?” Rarity said, more as a statement then a question.

Sweetie tried, and failed, to hide her blush behind her teacup and shrunk into the couch a bit. “Ya... You don’t get to steal this one Rarity. I really like him.”

“Very well, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said, feigning disappointment with a dramatic toss of her mane. “So, what sort of advice were you seeking?”

“That rhymed,” Sweetie giggled from behind her teacup.

“What?” Rarity said, aborting a sip of tea.

“Never mind,” Sweetie continued, returning to a more upright position and shifting her forelegs again. “I want to move my relationship with Pip forward, but I'm not really sure what would be the best way to go about it.”

“Ah, well.” Rarity put hoof to chin in thought. “I suppose the first things I need to know are: how far do you want your relationship to to go and what kind of stallion is he?” she questioned, looking at Sweetie Belle curiously. “What sorts of things does he like?”


*******


Ditzy's mother senses had been tingling for nearly twenty minutes now. The confusing, three dimensional labyrinth of the Regenbogen Flitzen's engineering bay had been leading her in circles for most of that time, but somepony was down there who needed a mother, and by Celestia's semi-redundant desk lamp they were going to get one.

Rounding a corner between some pipes and a big boxy thing the source of her worry became apparent. Apple Bloom lay, mostly buried, in a large pile of pillows, holding a hoof-stitched, orange pegasus doll close to her chest with a foreleg. Quiet sobbing crept out between cushions.

“Apple Bloom? Honey, are you alright?” A lifetime of practice comforting young ponies echoed in her words.

“Ah'm okay, Ditzy. Don't worry bout me. Ah'll be okay.” The pain in her voice could have cut glass.

“I won't tell anypony, I promise.” Ditzy walked over to the pillow pile and put a hoof around where she guessed Apple Bloom's shoulder should be. “Tell momma Ditzy what's wrong.”

For a moment, Apple Bloom could almost imagine it was her big sister standing there, giving those comforting words. “Ah'm scared, Ditzy Doo,” she finally managed, her head emerging from the pillows. Her eyes were bloodshot and the fur around them was matted with tears. The poor lighting didn't help matters, casting shadows that played off of every slight thing, making her look weathered far beyond her age.

“Ah know Scoot's gonna be okay, ah can feel it, but ah just can't stop worryin about it.” The emphatic outpouring came like a tidal wave, surging out through her tears and her words, and ending in Ditzy's waiting forelegs.

“Shh, it's gonna be okay,” Ditzy whispered, stroking Apple Bloom's raggedy mane. “Everything's gonna be okay, you'll see.”


*******


“Okay, is that everything...” The bridge was quiet and dark. Pip walked from console to console, cross checking the docking data. It felt a bit strange, not having Sweetie Belle around for the first time in over half a year, but he knew she was safe so he could still feel mostly at ease.

The Regenbogen Flitzen was safely hidden in the Seltenheit's internal dry dock. Status indicators that normally shone soft lavender and pink slowly shifted to a sparkling ice blue as the magic flowed from the other ship through the power umbilical. “Docking clamps are good... Power is flowing fine... I don’t have to worry about security in here... Okay! Let's go have that talk with Dinky.”

Pip set off down the hallway, glad to have something going fairly well for once, save for Dinky's little transgression.

The ship was quiet, unusually quiet, peaceful even. The loudest sound was his hoofsteps. For most ponies that would have been relaxing, but Pip had spent so much of his life on airships that, to him, quiet usually meant something was broken.

He stepped off the platform leading into the gravity lift and just hung there for a bit. He almost never got the opportunity to fully enjoy the miracles of magitech. He needed to blow off some steam before talking to Dinky anyway.

Up. He drifted to the ceiling and flipped himself over to stand upside down. Down aft... Fore... Up port. He flew around like a clumsy, wingless pegasus, a goofy grin bisecting his face. He use to play tag like this with his father on yachts between voyages and it was his favorite way to calm down.

On one particularly daring dive Pip noticed an unusual glow emanating from a room across from the main cargo hold. Isn’t that the armory Dinky found? Well that simplifies things. He floated out of the gravity field and trotted down the hall.

As Pip opened the door he was met with a magic field that looked like a pool of molten gold. Numerous tools and pieces of machinery drifted aimlessly in the liquid sunshine. It reminded Pip of dust in a sun beam. Lounging on a couch Pip had never seen before was Dinky, lying on her back holding a piece of machinery in her mouth and a screwdriver in the crook of her pastern.

“Jush a shec Fif,” Dinky mumbled, putting in the last few turns, firmly binding the parts together. “Okay, what's up?” She sat up, gathering the tools and parts on the steel work table, and releasing her magic.

“I was just wondering what that light was.” Pip walked in and took a seat on the couch. “Mind if I watch for a bit?”

“He he, sure. I'm not very good though, so watch out,” she warned, reigniting her horn and lifting a few parts off the table.

“Not very good?” Pip chuckled, scrutinizing the modest, mauve midget. “Do you even remember the fight with those dogs? I've never seen anything like that!”

“Ya, I've never done anything like that.” She paused, the machinery floating in a golden haze. “There was so much magick, more than I've ever had before.” She sounded almost worried. “I even used a gravity charm, with no glyph. That's supposed to be earth pony stuff.”

“So... are you worried that you might lose control or something?” Worry crept into Pip's mind. An out of control unicorn that can manipulate gravity could be incredibly dangerous.

“Oh no no, nothing that bad. I'm just... a little confused. I wanna know why so much magick hit me all at once, and why I can, as a unicorn, use gravity charms. It could be the everfree or something I guess.” The assembly floated back into reach and she grabbed it out of the air and resumed her work. “I'm gonna talk to my mom about it later, see if she has any ideas.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, why are you using your hooves instead of magick?” Pip asked, watching Dinky work.

“Oh, its kind of embarrassing.” Dinky blushed, pausing her work again. “You see, my magick is really strong, but I don’t have much control. I could probably pick up Scootaloo's fighter if I tried really hard but I can't use a screwdriver.”

“Really?” Pip cocked an eyebrow. “Isn't using firearms all about precession? I thought that was why you needed telekinesis to fire a gun?”

“Well ya, that’s why I  built a new kind of trigger,” Dinky explained, lifting some unidentifiable device up off the table and displayed it for Pip. “I call it a 'charge trigger'. All I have to do is charge this with the right spell and BANG!” She threw her forelegs up, miming an explosion, and accidentally flung the screwdriver at the ceiling. “He he, oops,” she giggled. “Hey, thanks for the talk Pip. I mean, talking to my mom is fun and all, but I don’t get to talk to other ponies much. It was nice,” she finished with a smile before recovering the wayward screwdriver and returning to her work.

“Well, you're welcome,” Pip replied, amused by Dinky's childish antics.

“By the way, how do you deal with the recoil?” he inquired. “Or even lift it? That thing is huge.”

“Magick, duh,” Dinky replied playfully. “I have a spell that turns most of the recoil’s energy into light.” She returned the screwdriver to the table and retrieved a wire brush and another part of her weapon. “I also use telekinesis, and I'm really strong. My special talent is the magic of firearms, so I guess it's just easier for me then it is for other ponies.”

“That's pretty impressive,” Pip complimented. “So, what is this 'magic of firearms' you mentioned?”

“Oh, well that's just what I call the way I fight,” Dinky explained. “I have that recoil spell. I have a spell that wraps the bullets in magick,” she twirled one forehoof around the other in pantomime of warping the spell around the bullets, “to make them explode when they hit or act kinda like a super heated copper jacket; that's why they glow. Um...” she paused for a moment, tapping her muzzle in thought. “Oh, I know a spell that makes it so anypony who wants to hurt me looks all shiny and sparkly to me so I don’t accidentally shoot good guys.”

“That's quite the arsenal you have in that little head,” Pip commented.

“He he, thanks,” Dinky giggled, resuming her work again. “Anything else you wanna talk about?”

“Actually, yes, there is,” Pip replied with a more serious tone.

“Oh, what's up?” Dinky stopped her work and gave Pip her full attention, just like when her mother had to give her a 'talk'.

“First of all, do you plan on joining my crew?” Pip began. “Or are you just using my ship as a hotel? Either is fine but I need to know how I should approach this issue.”

“Well...” Dinky began, hope building in her eyes. “Since you said it's fine just now, I'd really like to join your crew.” Her ears flopped back and she hit him with puppy dog eyes that could probably kill anypony with diabetes or a weak heart. “Pweease.”

Pip averted his eyes for a moment. “Okay, being adorable at your captain in order to get your way is generally viewed as bad form.”

“Okay, sorry.” She returned to her attentive posture, slightly embarrassed.

“So, if you're going to join my crew there are a few things you need to know.” Pip put on his serious face as best he could after Dinky's avalanche of adorability. “First of all, this crew is like a family to me. If you're joining my crew, then you're joining my herd, and that means we look out for each other.”

“Okay, that makes sense.” Dinky nodded. I knew this was a good idea, he he he.

“There is also the chain of command. I'm in charge, Sweetie Belle is under me, Apple Bloom is after her and then Scootaloo.” Pip was used to giving talks like this by now, but Dinky seemed to be getting happier and more excited as he went on, rather than becoming disillusioned and disappointed like most of his previous applicants. “That means you will be at the bottom of the stack unless you prove yourself to be a better leader than the other members of the crew.”

“Okay, I understand.” Dinky would finally have a big family again and her excitement was making her vibrate slightly.

“Now to the matter at hoof,” Pip said, taking on a much more authoritarian tone. “Back at the wreck you made a decision that affected the crew and the ship without consulting me first. You are the only escort we have at the moment so I had no choice but to go with you. To stay would have put the crew, and the ship, at risk.” Dinky was beginning to shrink away a bit more than Pip was intending so he brought the pressure down a notch. “I'm not about to punish you for something you didn't know was wrong. However, from now on I expect you to consider the needs of the entire crew with everything you do, and to defer to me for all significant decisions, okay?”

“Okay.” Dinky's ears flopped down and her eyes started to moisten ever so slightly. “I'm really sorry Pip. I didn't mean to cause any trouble.” It was finally starting to dawn on her exactly what kind of position she had put Pip in and she felt absolutely horrible about it. “I, um, I think I understand why you're so mad now.” She sniffed and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye before putting on a brave face. “Next time I'll make sure to ask you before I do anything like that.”

Pip put a hoof on her shoulder. “It's okay, I'm not that mad. It actually worked out in our favor this time.” He sat back in a more casual slouch. “So tell me about this 'Everparty' you mentioned.”

“Um, Mister Captain?” said a box in the corner.

“GAHA!” Pip replied, recoiling from the aberration. “Ruby! Seriously, stop doing that!”

“PFAAHHAHAHA!!!” Dinky contributed from her new spot on the floor, rolling around in thunderous guffaws.

“Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!” Ruby materialized and hopped down from the box in a strangely familiar fashion.

“It's okay, Ruby. Dinky, shut up,” Pip said with such a deadpan it sounded almost sarcastic. “What do you want, Ruby?”

“Well, um. Is it okay if I join your crew too?” Ruby inquired in partial, somehow adorable, translucency.

“Did you hear the whole talk I just gave Dinky?” Pip asked in full, unadorable, opacity.

“Yes,” Ruby confirmed with a nod.

“Okay then, welcome aboard, both of you,” Pip said with a smile. “Oh and Ruby, please stop sneaking up on me. If you want to talk, become visible first.”

“Yessir, Mister Captain Pipsqueak, sir,” Ruby said with a salute so bad Pip couldn't help but smile.

“Riiight,” Pip said, his efforts to avoid excessive smiling, and possibly early onset diabetes, rapidly failing. “So, there’s a lot you girls are gonna have to learn if your want to be effective on this, or any, professional crew. Let's start with vocabulary. Call me 'captain' not 'mister captain'. Captain isn't my name.”

“Oh!” Ruby interrupted. “Then why does everypony call you that?”

“How old are you?” Pip asked rhetorically. This is going to take a really long time.


*******


Hours later, a smooth and professional stallion’s voice rang out through the shining halls of the Seltenheit. “Attention. We will be arriving at our destination in approximately one hour and forty minutes. All relevant personnel please report to the main cargo lift. All relevant personnel please report to the main cargo lift.”

Sweetie Belle hummed to herself as she walked down the hall. It had been a long time since she had been able to talk to her sister face to face, so she was in a particularly good mood. That and she was looking forward to using all the great advice her sister had given her on Pip.

Rounding the corner into the main cargo bay she took a moment to marvel at the grandiosity of her sister's vessel. Large crates were stacked on metal pallets, some were suspended from cranes which were arranging them for unloading. High above, in the rafters, the Regenbogen Flitzen hung from the gantry that formed the dry dock, looking somewhat like a toy in the massive room.

Sweetie walked along the wall so as not to get in the way of the cargo ponies as they worked. She stepped into the clockwork elevator set into the wall, pulled the safety fence down and pushed the slider up. As the elevator ascended Sweetie watched the ponies working below. They looked like dancers, all moving to some unheard orchestra. She subconsciously began to hum along with their rhythm. 

As the elevator reached the dry dock the safety fence slid up on its springs. Sweetie stepped out onto the catwalk and trotted across to the ship, opening the door by pushing a small button on the ship's distant bridge with her telekinesis.

“Pip, are you aboard?” Sweetie called from the hangar's echo.

A few moments passed before the response came. “Ya, I'm in the galley. Ow, Ruby, cut it out.” Pip answered over the rampant giggling in the background.

“Now, what is he up to?” Sweetie wondered aloud, starting toward the gravity lift at a trot.

When she reached the top of the lift she could hear more giggling. It was accompanied by, of all things, formation drill commands.

“What are you ponies up to in here?” Sweetie asked as she walked into the galley.

Pip was standing on the table with a saucepan on his head which obscured most of his face, shouting commands to Dinky and Ruby who were standing in the middle of the room, almost at attention and not quite side by side. The former was wielding a broom like a rifle and the latter was wearing an apron like a cape and balancing a plate on her head.

“Good timing, Sweetie Belle!” Pip said entirely too loudly. “You can help me drill our new recruits!”

Sweetie stifled a giggle. “Um, you might wanna rephrase that, Pip.”

Pip just stared at her from the table, confused.

Ruby turned to Dinky for clarification. “Did he say something bad?” she whispered.

“I don't know,” Dinky replied. “Sweetie Belle, did Pip say something wrong?”

“No, never mind.” Sweetie replied, embarrassed. “Pip, can I talk to you in private please.”

Pip hopped down from the table and shook the pan off of his head, letting it clatter on the floor. “Is something wrong, Sweetie?”

“Oh, no, I just want to talk to you about the box Ditzy found.” Sweetie replied as she walked in and took a seat on the bench. “Oh, and Dinky, I'll need to talk to your mother at some point as well.”

“Okay. I'll let her know, ma'am,” Dinky said as she trotted out of the galley with Ruby, both giggling and recapping the little game they had just finished to each other.

“So, about that box,” Sweetie prompted once the others had left.

“Yes, I believe it contains the prototype I was talking about.” Pip began in a conspiratorial tone, walking back towards the table. “The only question now is how we go about opening it safely. I'm willing to guess it has passive feedback and, more than likely, anti-tamper words.”

“I thought as much,” Sweetie agreed over folded hooves. “That's why I want to speak with Ditzy. She has a history with Canterlot's science community so I thought she might know about any missing prototypes.”

“Quite,” Pip agreed. “Also, considering her apparent history with Blue Blood, she may know what sort of things he may have been aiming for. I don’t want to open that box if it's some sort of anti-everfree Genesis Device.”

“I think we should save the rest of this discussion for when Ditzy arrives,” Sweetie said, shifting to a more comfortable position. “Speculation isn't going to get us anywhere until we have some idea of what the possibilities actually are.”

“I agree.” Pip turned and walked over to the stove. “I'll put on some tea while we wait.”

“Tea sounds nice,” Sweetie said cheerfully, a smirk beginning to pull at the corner of her mouth. “I'll have mint, Honey.”

Pip stopped in his tracks, dropping the kettle on the stove with a clang. “Uh, did you mean mint with honey?” he said a bit nervously.

Sweetie grinned. “Hm, that actually sounds nice. Yes, I'll have mint tea with honey... Honey.”

Pip spun around to face Sweetie Belle and was met with a full on cheshire grin. “You deliberately called me Honey just now, didn't you!” Pip said, pointing an accusatory hoof at the menace.

“What's wrong with that?” Sweetie countered playfully, waving a hoof at him. “You call me Sweetie all the time and I don't complain.”

“But that's your name!” Pip complained, gesticulating with bolt forelegs at once. What in the hey is going on?

“No excuses!” Sweetie declared, thumping the table with a hoof. “Like it or not, we are a couple now, and you're just going to have to learn to deal with that.”

Pip sat down and began massaging his forehead with the frog of his hoof. “Your sister is gonna kill me.”

“Oh hush now, she likes you,” Sweetie admonished, telekinetically repositioning the tea kettle and turning on the stove. “Besides, if she thought you weren’t good enough for me she’d just seduce you into working on her ship, like all the others.” She gathered the tea and teacups on a tray by the stove. “Actually, she might try that anyway, she really likes messing with colts,” she joked, gathering some tea cookies and other snacks onto the tray. “Just do the whole 'thanks but I like her more' thing and you'll be fine.”

“I hope you right.” Pip stood and turned back to the counter, only to find everything already ready. “To be honest, she scares the buckjesus out of me.”

“You two are so cute,” Ditzy giggled as she glided through the door and over to the bench opposite Sweetie, landing with impressive precision in a relaxed position. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“It's about that box you found,” Sweetie began, then paused. “Actually, Pip, you should start. You know more about it than I do.”

“Before we get into that,” Pip began. “Ditzy, your daughter has expressed an interest in joining my crew. I feel that, as her mother, you would want to have some input on the subject.”

“Well, I think it would be very good for her,” Ditzy said with a motherly smile, one eye trained on each of them. “Though, if you do let her join, I'll have to insist that you let me join as well.”

“I understand and agree,” Pip replied, moving closer to Sweetie Belle in an attempt to make Ditzy's eyes less creepy. “Welcome aboard, Ditzy Doo. Now, do you have any special skills that you think I should be aware of? Other than your, um... eye... thing.”

Ditzy smiled. “I think that's the reason I was called up here isn't it? The box I found?”

“Yes,” Pip confirmed. “I believe it's a prototype from one of the earth science facilities in Canterlot. I heard a report that one disappeared around a month ago, and the time lined up quite well with Blue Blood being denied access and leaving Canterlot in a huff. I do not, however, have any information as to what it might be.”

“And you were hoping I would?” Ditzy supplied. “I'm afraid I don’t. If we could open the box I could probably tell you roughly how it works, maybe even which facility it's from, but I'm not as 'in the loop' as you seem to think.”

“Dang. Well, thanks for your time at least,” Pip said, trying not to sound too disappointed.

“Sorry, Pip.” Ditzy refocused her eyes on him. “By the way, since we're crew now, is there a place my daughter and I can put our things?”

“Right, of course,” Pip replied. “For the moment you can use Scootaloo's room, its the aft-most room on the mid deck, just behind the armory, by cargo. I'll see about getting another bunk. We have a couple of rooms we don’t use."

“Actually, Pip,” Sweetie interjected, that dreaded smirk returning to her face, “I can just move into your room. They can have mine after I've finished moving my stuff; we are a couple now. Besides, they have three ponies, don’t forget about Ruby, and I have the second biggest usable room, after you, so it only makes sense.”

Pip blushed so hard he became light headed. “Wah, um, I, it's... I-I mean, uh.”

“Pip.” Sweetie hopped off of the bench and trotted towards the door, head and tail held high in triumph. “Unless I hear a 'no' in there, were officially engaged, as of now.” And with that she trotted down the hall and out of sight.

“Pip, I know I'm not your mother,” Ditzy said softly, “but do you mind if I give you some motherly advice?”

Pip fell to his haunches again, staring at the door. “Sure,” he said waveringly, “what advice would you give to somepony who has been in love with his best friend for his whole life and just realized it yesterday and is now going to be sleeping in the same bed with her for the rest of his life?”

Ditzy grinned and whispered in Pip's ear. “The advice I would give to him would be, 'don't look a gift pony in the mouth'.”

The kettle chose that moment to start whistling.

“Roger, that. Care for some tea?”

> Chapter 5: Dancing on thin ice.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 5: Dancing on thin ice.



“Oh, bucker!” Cosmic Odyssey complained, jumping to his hooves and finding a bush to hide in. He had been conscious for less than a minute and already the everfree was up to its usual shenanigans.

A huge storm cloud hung unnaturally low in the sky. Lightning crackled around it like a swarm of angry bees. Then, just as defiantly as it had rolled in, against the prevailing wind, it began to dissipate, revealing a colossal, electric blue zeppelin.

Most ponies would have believed this to be some new R.A.N. warship, and rightly so. Only a few shipyards in Equestria were large enough to build a dreadnaught of this size, and they were all under the R.A.N.'s jurisdiction, but Cosmo knew better. He'd had encounters with this particular vessel several times during his current assignment.

“What is taking so long!” a light blue unicorn mare yelled from the fanciful suspended gondola, holding her pointy wizard hat on her head with a hoof while her star studded cape fluttered in the wind.

“Well, this is definitely the right ship, but what's left of the cargo hold has already been looted. I don’t see it anywhere!” a portly, turquoise stallion called back. “You got anything Snails?” he called to his orange counterpart.

“They said that part of the sun fell off and took the box into a big, shiny, cloud, thing,” the skinny unicorn called back.

“Rats,” the mare cursed. “Do your little friends remember what color it was? The cloud I mean.”

The orange stallion turned back to his assembled bugs and such for a moment before responding. “They said it disappeared.”

“Disappeared? That's not a color.” The blue unicorn scratched her chin in thought. “It must have been the Seltenheit,” she said in annoyance, “Rarity. That still doesn’t explain the 'part of the sun' thing but at least I have some kind of lead.”

“Does that mean I get to be first mate now?” the skinny unicorn asked dumbly.

"Trixie thought she already explained this,” The Great and Powerful Trixie said, glaring at him impatiently and tapping a great and powerful hoof on the deck. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is so much greater and more powerful than any one pony that The Great and Powerful Trixie must be the captain and the first mate of Die Großartige und Mächtige Trixieburg. That is why you and Snips are the second mates," The Great and Powerful Trixie explained snootily. "Hm." The Great and Powerful Trixie turned up The Great and Powerful Trixie's great and powerful muzzle.

“Oh ya, sorry, Trixie.” Snails lowered his head in defeat.

“If you didn't have such a useful talent, Trixie would never have ever hired you in the first place,” The Great and Powerful Trixie said condescendingly.

“Thanks for the sit rep, Trix,” Cosmo muttered to himself, scooting out of the bush and into the forest before dropping his disguise. “The boss is gonna be happy about this.” The shadows of the everfree swallowed his black exoskeleton like water in a pond as he flew west on translucent, blue wings. “Rowan and iron, I'm hungry.”


*******


Rarity strode gracefully through the Seltenheit, though with a small, uncharacteristic catch in one hind leg's action. “Uhg, curse this hip,” she grumbled, rotating the offending limb to loosen the joint while levitating her 'modest' cape out of the way. “What I wouldn't give to have my old legs back.”

“Shall I summon your specialist, ma'am?” the voice of the ship asked with care.

“Thank you, Tom,” Rarity replied, applying weight to the offending leg to test it. “but we shall arrive at our destination soon enough, and I plan to make an appointment with Silver at the first opportunity.”

“Very good, ma'am. Will you be requiring article nine for you trip?” Tom inquired.

“Yes,” Rarity confirmed, resuming her walk, “but I would prefer if it remained a bit of a secret for the moment.”

“Of course, ma'am. It will be in your study.”

Rarity followed the same path her sister had taken not to long ago. Through the cargo bay and up the elevator to the Regenbogen Flitzen, suspended in dry dock.

“Captain Pipsqueak,” she called into the external echo by the door, “may I come aboard?”

“O-of course, ma'am,” Pip replied almost instantaneously, “be right there.”

A very short time later the door opened. Pip stood to one side, breathing heavily and looking incredibly nervous. Rarity stepped through the door, getting her first look inside the ship her sister now crewed on. Simple, but much cleaner than I expected.

“Welcome aboard, ma'am,” Pip said very stiffly.

“Thank you,” Rarity replied, continuing on with grace and poise. “You know, Pip, since you will be marrying my sister, you should really start calling me Rarity instead of ma'am. I suppose you could call me Sister, or Sis as well, but I really would prefer Rarity, at least until after the wedding that is.”

“Oh, um, yes ma'am, um, sis, um, Rarity, uh... yes, of course,” Pip stammered helplessly, trying to suppress his panic.

“Oh, calm down, darling; I won't bite,” much, Rarity laughed. “Sweetie Belle thinks the world of you and, to be honest, I agree with her choice. I dare say you’re the finest suitor she's had yet!” She ventured deeper into the ship, casting him a sly glance.

Pip was stunned. Did he just get complimented by, according to many accounts, the pickiest pony in the world? “Why, thank you, um, Rarity,” he carefully articulated.

“Ooh, is this the fighter of the infamous Baron von Awesome?” Rarity inquired playfully, looking up at Scootaloo's damaged fighter.

“Shore is, Rarity,” Apple Bloom interjected from the other side of the hangar, emerging from her work room to see the new guest. “Ah'm sorry you had to see her in such a state, though. Ah just haven't got round to fixing her up since, well, since she got damaged.”

“Apple Bloom!” Rarity exclaimed in greeting, lifting a foreleg for ladylike emphasis, “it's so nice to see you again. How have you been, Darling?”

“Best and worst time of mah life. You'll forgive me if ah don't' go into details,” Apple Bloom said cryptically. “Hay, Pip, you okay? You look a might nervous,” she teased.

Rarity turned and gave Pip a playful, one might even say flirtatious, glance. “Oh, he is simply worried that I might be unhappy with him being my dear sister's latest suitor.”

“Well don’t that just be it all,” Apple Bloom chuckled. “Hay, Pip, why doncha give your new sister a tour of the ship, eh?” she suggested with a smirk. “Ah reckon it'll be a right good bondin experience.”

Pip twitched.

“Why, that sounds like a fabulous idea, Apple Bloom,” Rarity agreed enthusiastically.

“Wha, but, I.” Pip paused for a moment and took a few breaths to collect himself. “Ahem, sorry. That actually does sound like a good idea. Let's start with the obvious. This is the hangar, obviously. That door over there leads to Apple Bloom's work room, threw there is engineering. If you want a tour of that, ask Apple Bloom; I've gotten lost every time I've ever gone in there.”

Pip led the way up to the mid deck, where the map room, the unused crew quarters, cargo, armory, and bridge were located.

Rarity stopped as they exited the gravity lift. “Why do you have so much unused space, Pip?” she asked, looking into the empty crew quarters.

“Oh, this ship is designed for a crew of twenty four earth ponies,” Pip explained. “But Apple Bloom can manage engineering and cargo by herself, and Sweetie Belle manages the bridge, detection and communication. After that, all we need is navigation and administration, that's me, and an escort, Scootaloo.”

“Quite impressive,” Rarity commented.

“Thank you,” Pip replied, resuming the tour.

They wandered through the mid deck, idly chatting, until they came to the back of cargo hold.

“Where does that door lead?” Rarity asked, pointing to a reinforced door in a back ]]corner by some scattered machine parts.

“Honestly, I don’t know. It's welded shut. There's another one in that corner.” Pip indicated the opposite corner of the bay where most if the cargo was arranged. “Behind the boxes is another door, also welded shut. The best explanation I can come up with is that they lead to some forgotten corner of the supplementary engineering corridors. I've asked Apple Bloom about it but she says everything is in order.”

“Well, isn't that interesting,” Rarity commented, raising an eyebrow. “I wonder if sweet, little Apple Bloom is hiding something back there?”

“Everypony has something to hide,” Pip said, resuming the tour in the direction of the bridge. “I trust her to tell me if she thinks it's important to the ship.”

As they turned back down the hall they saw Sweetie Belle levitating a large cloud of her personal belongings into the gravity lift. Pip blushed brightly and tucked his ears.

Rarity seemed emboldened by Pip's timidness. “Why, wherever are you going with all of that, Sweetie Belle?” she asked in a playful tone.

“Up to Pip's room,” Sweetie replied with similar inflection. “Thanks for the advice by the way,” she added, hopping into the gravity field, “it worked perfectly, just like you said.”

Pip looked at Rarity with epiphany in his eyes. “That's why she was acting so strangely...”

Rarity replied with a grin. “So you do like a more assertive mare I see,” she cooed back at him. “Congratulations, Captain Pipsqueak.”

Pip just stood there, staring forward. The filly of my dreams just appeared out of nowhere and decided were engaged. She just happens to be the little sister of one of the most powerful ponies in the world, who gave me her blessing to marry said sister. I got the prototype I've been hunting, and one of my newest crew members says she will most likely be able to use it. Can life get any better?

Pip's train of thought was derailed by Sweetie Belle yelling from the upper deck. “Hey, Sis, do you have any extra beds?” she called across the gravity lift. “All we have are military bunks!”

“Of course, darling. How many do you need?” Rarity replied, trotting into the gravity lift and leaving pip to try and collect his thoughts, again.

“Well,” Sweetie said once her sister was at a more conversationally conducive distance, “there's me and Pip, that's one. Ditzy will need one. Dinky seems to like the couch she found, but we should ask her if she wants one anyway.” She continued to talk as she resumed moving things from her old room to Pip's. “Apple Bloom sleeps somewhere in engineering, I think she has a pillow collection or something, so she should be fine. Scootaloo sleeps in a hammock but I'd like to ask anyway once we get back to the Flattern Schüchtern. Oh, and there's also Ruby.”

“Sweetie, darling,” Rarity said, stopping her sister, “I've noticed a distinct lack of accessories among you effects. Does Pip not buy you gifts and such on your journeys?” she inquired with concern.

“Oh, we've only been, ahem, 'together' since yesterday,” Sweetie replied with a blush.

Rarity gave her sister a smile. “I'll give you some extra jewelry and makeup as well as the beds. I can't have my dear sister going around looking common can I?” She paused and took a look around Pip's rather spartan living quarters. A small bed, a desk covered in papers and a large bath tub were the only things of note in the unnecessarily large room. “Idea~,” she sang with a worrying glint in her eyes.

She produced a small box from under her cape and a swarm of measuring devices assailed Sweetie Belle. To her credit, Sweetie took it quite well, flinching just a bit. Rarity scribbled down her measurements and hopped into the gravity lift, returning to Pip, who took the assault quite a bit less gracefully. He screamed and flailed for the first few seconds, possibly believing this to be Rarity's belated wrath, then squirmed after Rarity levitated him off the ground.

“Okay!” Rarity chirped, “I'll have your beds and such ready tomorrow afternoon. No, make that tomorrow evening. In the meantime I suggest you prepare for a shopping excursion of your own. We'll be arriving shortly.” She hopped back into the gravity lift and floated down towards the hangar. “I have some things to get in order. I shall  meet you on the cargo lift once we arrive. One of my subordinates will show you the way, you've only to ask. Ta ta.”


*******


Down on the cargo bay floor, the crew of the Seltenheit had just finished rotating the crates marked with pink tags to the front and moving the rest aft. They were currently sorting and arraigning them forward of a black and yellow caution strip which ran threw the bay, demarcating one quarter of its length.

Captain Pipsqueak and the crew of the C.M.C. Regenbogen Flitzen trotted across the catwalk, saddlebags slung across their backs, and squeezed into the elevator.

A gruff stallion’s voice echoed from the loudspeakers. “All guests, please assemble at the base of the elevator. Your guide will meet you shortly.”

When they reached the cargo bay floor and exited the elevator they were met by a sprightly, brown, unicorn mare. “Hi, I'm Pretty Officer Quick Fix, and I'll be your guide through the Seltenheit today,” she chirped with an 'I've always wanted to say that' sort of tone.

“Is that really a rank?” Dinky asked, giving Pip an amused look.

Quick Fix giggled and blushed. “Yes, well. On a normal vessel I would be Petty Officer Quick Fix, but Miss Rarity decided that, since I'm so pretty, I should be Pretty Officer Quick Fix instead. Though my pay grade has gone up a couple times since then.”

“Ha ha ha, that's fantastic!” Dinky laughed, almost losing her balance.

“He he, that's my Rarity.” Sweetie Belle's comment was lost under Dinky's uproar.

“Aaanyways,” Quick fix said, turning and trotting toward the cargo bay proper. “Let's get this tour under way.”

She led them out across the bay, pointing out random things and chattering away. “If you look up to your right, you will see the foreman's roost. He's the one you heard earlier informing you where to meet me.” She waved at him; He ignored her. “He is in charge of the cataloging, organization and distribution of all of the cargo on the Seltenheit.”

“Just to the left of that you will see a large wheal. That is one of the four pulleys that raise and lower the cargo lift.” They continued through the middle of the cargo bay. Somehow managing to avoid getting in the way of any of her coworkers. “They each measure one hundred twenty one hooves two inches in diameter and weigh in at just under two hundred thousand pounds, making them the heaviest single components of the Seltenheit.”

When they came to the the yellow and black striped line that marked the edge of the forequarter of the bay Quick Fix stopped. “This line marks the edge of the cargo lift,” she said, gesturing from one side to the other with a sweep of her hoof. “When the red lights come on, make sure to stand clear. That means the floor is about to start moving.”

As if on cue, an orange earth pony trotted over to them carrying a set of saddlebags on his back and another in his mouth. A pair of reinforced goggles hung around his neck and he had thick chaps around his forelegs, both of which were covered in scorch marks and dark stains.

“Howdy, boss,” he slurred around the strap in his mouth.

“Hay, Sprocket,” Quick fix excitedly replied, waving to the new arrival. “This is Sprocket,” she informed her guests. “He's my assistant.”

“Ah got all uh your field tools in the left bag and Cookie's in the right, wound n' ready,” he informed her while he strapped her saddle bags on. “Rarity has me carryin' some special cargo so I'll meet y'all on the lift.” After he finished adjusting Quick Fix's bags he turned to Pip and his crew. “Sorry, I gotta trot. Nice meetn y'all,” he said before hustling off toward the front of the bay.

“Well he seemed awfully nice,” Apple Bloom observed.

Quick Fix blushed a bit and watched him trot off. “Ya, he's a great assistant. Gets a bit stuck in his work sometimes though.”

“Maybe you should build him a giant, heart shaped chocolate dispenser,” Ditzy suggested teasingly.

“Ha ha, maybe I will,” Quick Fix chuckled. “Anyway, back to the tour. Do you have any questions so far?”

“Actually, ah have one,” Apple Bloom replied. “Ah've noticed a lot of mechanical devices round here but not many thaumaturgical. Why's that.”

“I'm glad you asked!” Quick Fix chirped, overflowing with enthusiasm. “While thaumaturgy offers a wide variety of advantages, clockwork and steam powered machinery are much cheaper and, in many cases, stronger,” she continued, ecstatic that her audience was actually interested in her work. “It's also important that anything you have has somepony to maintain it. Mechanics are fairly easy to come by, though any you'll find on this crew are head and withers above the rest. Thaumaturges, on the other hoof, are quite rare. If you can manage to even find one they usually charge a small fortune for their services. We're very fortunate to have no less than two on staff, though I've never had the chance to meet them in pony myself.”

“Quite impressive,” Apple Bloom complimented, then she smirked. “Our crew only has one.”

“You have a thaumaturge on crew?” Quick Fix squealed, completely forgetting about the tour. “Can I meet her?”

“You just did, Miss,” Apple Bloom informed her, puffing up her chest a bit.

“Oh, my, gosh,” Quick Fix said, staring at Apple Bloom with wide eyes. “Can you show me some earth magic? I've never actually seen any before. I mean I've seen glyphs and magitech and stuff, but I've never actually seen a thaumaturge doing it themselves.”

“He he, sure.” Apple Bloom blushed slightly. “Once were on the ground Ah'll show ya somethin.” she gestured in the direction they had been moving. “You were telling us about the lift Ah b'lieve?”

“Oh, yes, of course.” Quick Fix continued the tour, hardly missing a step. “Each of those pulleys supports a cable which attaches to a corner of the lift platform. They’re fourteen inches wide and long enough to lower the lift as far as twenty five fathoms. Each is alchemically reinforced to resist wear and tear, and to make them even stronger. Theoretically we could lift the entire Seltenheit with just six of them, but we've never tested that.”

When they arrived at the middle of the forequarter Quick Fix announced, “This is where ponies assemble while the lift is in motion.” She stopped at the center and turned to face her charges. “Some ponies will be elsewhere making sure nothing falls over, or off, but most of us stay in the middle for safety.”

At that exact moment a number of spinning, red lights came to life and the foreman’s voice boomed from the speakers. “All personnel departing the Seltenheit, assemble on the lift. Ten minutes to decent.”

“That's the foreman,” Quick fix reiterated with her trademark baseless enthusiasm.

Ponies began to filter in from every direction. Pegasus ponies flew in from above, earth and unicorn ponies filtered in between the crates, and a number of unicorns hopped from crate to crate using their magick to finely reposition things and tighten straps for safety before joining the rest.

Rarity chose that moment to appear, dressed in her not so modest finery. She wore a pink cape with sky blue embroidery around the edges and a white feathered collar. She had chosen mostly silver jewelry with sapphires to compliment the cape. She wore no crown this time, allowing her main to bounce freely.

“Good evening, Miss Rarity,” Quick fix said with a bow, prompting everypony else to do the same, except for Sweetie and Pip. “You're supposed to-” She was cut off before she could finish.

“Good evening, everypony,” Rarity called as she approached, prompting the crew to stand. “For those of you who haven't met her yet, I would like to introduce you to my sister.” She gestured with a hoof, “Sweetie Belle.” She moved her hoof to Pip. “And my future brother-in-law, Pipsqueak.”

The ponies present provided proper, if rather over enthusiastic, greetings. Sweetie blushed a bit and shied away from the attention. Pip stepped in to take some of the focus off of her.

Quick Fix's eyes were positively sparkling with surprise and delight. “Best, day, ever,” she squealed under her breath.

“It's a pleasure to meet you all,” Pip announced. “You may call me Pipsqueak or just Pip, I answer to both. In case you were wondering, that is my ship.” He pointed to the Regenbogen Flitzen suspended over the aft portion of the cargo bay.

“And this is my crew.” He gestured to each as he named them. “You've already been introduced to Sweetie Belle, she is my first mate.” There were some muffled whispers and giggles. Pip made a mental note to see if 'first mate' meant something else once he had a some time.

“This is Apple Bloom, chief engineer and chef.” Apple Bloom gave an uncharacteristically girly curtsy.

“Ditzy Doo, our moral officer.” Ditzy gave a polite smile and nod.

“That's Dinky Doo, weapons specialist, point defense system and master marine.” Dinky tried to mimic Apple Bloom's curtsy, and managed to only stumble a little.

“And Ruby...” Ruby was, as usual, nowhere to be seen. “Well, Ruby Pinch is somewhere around here. She handles security, boarding and counter-boarding.”

“Excuse me Pip, but shouldn't we wait for Ruby?” Quick Fix interjected with a concerned look.

Pip grinned mischievously. “You know, you're right. Ruby, can you come over here please?” Pip said in no particular direction.

“I'm right here, Captain,” Ruby whispered, close beside him.

“Okay, she's here,” Pip announced, inciting giggles from his crew and confusion from Rarity's.

“Pipsqueak, I hate to be rude,” Rarity said, ending his fun, “but would you please stop foaling around, we really must be going.”

“Of course,” Pip complied with a snicker. “Ruby, would you reveal yourself please?” he said, addressing the empty space. “I would actually like to get something done today.”

“Okay,” Ruby relented, reluctantly releasing her spell.

The crowd of ponies emitted several gasps and a couple of them took a step back as a shimmering red cloud materialized between Pip and Apple Bloom, coalescing into a slender, reddish purple unicorn.

“I don't know any of these ponies,” Ruby whispered to Pip. “Can I please just stay invisible?”

“Miss Rarity is doing us a huge favor,” Pip quietly reminder her, imposing himself between Ruby and the majority of the Seltenheit's crew. “You don’t want to rude to such a kind and generous pony now do you?”

Ruby was saved from having to respond by the foreman's voice booming over the loudspeakers. “Final check.” The pegasi around the perimeter of the arranged cargo stretched and folded their wings in semaphore, indicating everything was ready and secure. “All cargo secure, decent in thirty seconds.”

Quick Fix diverted Pips attention with a wave of her hoof. “While the lift is moving stand like this,” she instructed, taking a slightly exaggerated 'hooves out, knees bent' stance. “The wind can get kinda strong around here and the lift might start to sway just a bit, so it's best to start low, just in case.”

“Decent in five, four, three, two, one, mark.”

Pip watched closely as the unicorns on the outside of the group lit up their horns, arranging a rainbow of barriers around the rest of the crew. When the lift cleared the hull the magick that held the ship aloft flooded across the platform. It smelled of deep earth and metal, and had the texture of fine sand. Some of the earth ponies made faces and Pips bones began to feel heavy. Apple Bloom's eyes went wide as she began to glow bright orange. Dinky's legs began to shed flecks of gold light, in which both her and Ditzy took great interest.

Finally they passed through the thick magical field and were immediately struck by a strong crosswind. “Sorry about that!” Quick Fix shouted over the howling winds. “I forgot to warn you about the field! No idea what it is, but earth ponies don't seem to like it much!”

“Don't worry about it!” Pip replied. “It wasn't to bad!”

The sun hung low over the western horizon of dusty rolling hills. The border of the eastern everfree was barely visible in the distance. A large, rocky mountain rose beside them, blocking the view of the south. Pip began to notice a distinct rhythm on the wind, which grew as they descended, becoming the sound of drums and metal percussion, then shouts and the ruckus of hundreds of hooves all stomping together, then finally he could hear the unmistakable rumbling murmur of a market bazaar.

The platform hit the ground with a heavy whump. Dust scattered in every direction but was quickly carried away by the wind, flowing over the wall of magick around them. Tents and market stalls sprawled out before him like a city of canvas, extending into a huge cave in the nearby mountain. Music shook the air and ground alike and Pip couldn’t suppress his grin.

“So this is the Everparty,” he muttered, staring toward edge of the platform. “This could be fun.”



Expand to full tour of ship


> Chapter 6: The calm before...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 6: The calm before...



Twilight Sparkle lay on her belly, dangling her elbow boot clad forehooves off the front of the Zwielicht Funkeln's flight deck, watching the horizon with a thoughtful expression. A heavy woolen overcoat covered her body, withers to rump, shielding her from the wind that whistled through her navy blue mane. Her cap sat beside her, glowing softly with a shield spell to prevent it from blowing away. Arcs of power crackled across her body, her aura unbound; there was nopony around it could harm, so there was no reason to hold it in.

Spike watched the light of the setting sun illuminate her face, hard as stone yet warm as summer. This was not the bright eyed filly who hatched him, nor was it the studious and energetic young mare who raised him in a small farm town to be the calm, collected, entirely undragonlike dragon he was today. This was the strong and confident leader of the Royal Air Navy of Equestria. A pony with a reputation nearly as impressive as Celestia and Luna, and the magical prowess to back it up. There wasn't a mare in the world he would be more proud to call his mother, adopted though he was.

“Something on your mind?” he asked, his low, rumbling voice overcoming the wind without need for excessive volume.

Twilight looked up at Spike, her assistant, her son, her friend. He was the one creature in this world she didn’t need to put on a show for. Her one confidant in a herd of followers and he wasn’t even a pony. He was about the size of a large pony, walked on all fours most of the time too, but he was shaped more like an armored wolf, or some sort of long lagged monitor lizard, then a pony. His emerald eyes carried a luminous intensity born of the dragon fire that faintly glowed from between his amethyst scales. Nearly imperceptible green fire flickered around his head forming ghostly mystic runes, a testament to the power in his blood. Yet he was one of the most humble individuals she knew.

“Rarity,” she replied softly, returning her gaze to the unchanged horizon. Spike couldn't hear her voice at all, but he didn't need to.

“Peewee said she misses you too,” Spike informed her, lying down and putting his arm across her withers. “She's been getting 'Flutter Therapy' as well, it seems.” 

Twilight took a deep breath and sighed heavily, flattening her ears and resting her head against Spikes warm shoulder. “I don’t know what to do, Spike,” she complained. “I want to make things better, but I can't ignore what she does. She's a pirate, and not just any pirate, but the most infamous pirate in Equestria! How can I, as the grand admiral of the R.A.N., play friendly with such a high profile outlaw?”

“You already know my opinion, Twilight,” Spike replied, gently combing Twilight's mane with a claw while her crackling arcs of energy mingled with his ghostly soul fire, tracing runes across his scales. “I love her, with all my heart, and I know there's more to the story then we can see from this tower we've built. I just wish I knew a way to find the earth so we could see the world the layponies see.”

“Admiral!” a stallion shouted over the howling wind. They turned to see one of Twilight's page pegasi touch down a respectful distance away and bow to deliver his message. “Your presence is requested on the bridge, ma'am!”

Twilight broke from Spike’s embrace and stood. “Thank you, Airman,” she replied before vanishing in a flash of magic. A moment later her cap vanished as well.


*******


On the complex, multi-tiered bridge of the Zwielicht Funkeln much was ahoof: Gauges and spectrographs were cross referenced, ponies hustled too and fro and the air was thick with paper and magic. Amid all this, a flash and a snap announced the admiral's arrival, followed shortly by her cap.

“Officer on deck!” Everypony who wasn’t immediately occupied turned to the officer's overlook at the aft of the room and saluted before continuing on.

“Admiral, we've detected substantial magical auras around what we believe to be the wreckage of the Glänzend Schicksal,” one of Twilight's subordinates reported, approaching from behind. “There are at least two major signatures, and I mean major.”

Twilight turned to address the assistant, a purple crystal mare. “Show me,” she instructed, stepping back from the polished, white marble disk rimmed with orichalcum which was located at the point of the platform.

The crystal pony stepped onto the marble disk, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath to center herself before turning to Twilight. When she opened her eyes the orichalcum and marble began to glow and her body crystallized, channeling the light into a map of the local magical fields, projected around her in a cloud of light.

The map clearly showed the mountain and forest below in gray and green, the air currents swirled through the sky in shimmering silver, and a red haze marked the battles that had ravaged the astral landscape over the past two days.

“As you can see, Admiral,” the pony turned projector said, “this area has been host to at least one small conflict. The mageography shows several vessels engaging in battle over two days, though I believe it was an aerial battle on the first day, as depicted here,” she explained, refocusing the light to highlight the massive golden star in the sky and dim the rest. “I believe this was the main battery of the Glänzend Schicksal detonating. If you look closely you can see what appears to be the after image of magitechnological feedback munitions, which explains the detonation of the battery.” The image magnified to show two small, onyx rifts in the the magic. “If this is the case we are likely dealing with a foreign government.”

Twilight grimaced inwardly and shifted her weight. “And the second engagement?”

The image shifted to highlight the magic closer to the ground. “The second event is a bit more complicated. It looks to me like somepony was looting the wreckage and was ambushed by the local Iron Dogs pack, which makes sense, but look at this spot here.” she refocused on a spot of blazing gold on the ground. “This looks like unicorn magic but the intensity is abnormally high and it has the flow of gravity magic.”

“Strange,” Twilight commented. “Not unprecedented, but quite interesting.”

“Here's the kicker.” The map widened and refocused. “See all these light blue spots? They feel technological so I did a spectroanalysis and managed to trace them to a source, back here.” The image shifted up and north. “Look at this haze, it looks like something scrubbed the anomalies from the sky. There’s, literally, nothing here, which, for a battlefield, just screams suspicious.”

Twilight examined the image before her. Magical guns firing from the most baseline point in the sky; that's classic Rarity, but where did she go? There was something else there, though. “Is that a storm cloud or a ship?” she asked, pointing out a crackling haze low to the ground.

The purple pony focused for a few second, picking out the magical threads from the background. “I had assumed it was a cloud. Do you see something I don’t?”

“Show me the path,” Twilight instructed, “as far as you can trace it.”

“Yes, ma'am.” The map shifted out, displaying the surrounding few dozen miles. The cloud traced a long, straight path from the Griffin border, through the mountains to this spot and simply dissipated.

“Well, isn't that something,” Twilight muttered, squinting and holding a hoof to her chin.


*******


“Alright, girls,” Pip said, addressing his crew arrayed before him in a semicircle. “I know it's a big party and there's lots of shopping to be done, but first we have business to attend to.”

“If I may, Pip.” Ditzy interrupted, raising her hoof . “Both Dinky and myself have been here a few times so we can act as guides if you want to split up into two groups.”

“Excellent!” Pip exclaimed, briefly considering his options. “How about... Dinky, you and Apple bloom go get some supplies and spare parts. Get what you need to fix that gun, Dinky.”

“Okay, Pip,” Dinky happily replied.

“Apple Bloom, you get some parts to fix up Scootaloo's fighter. I want it better than new when she gets back, and give it a fully enclosed canopy; I don’t care what she thinks, she needs the protection.”

Apple bloom nodded in agreement. “Absolutely, Cap'm.”

“Dismissed.” Pip declared.

Dinky and Apple Bloom excitedly trotted off to do their jobs, or just have fun and shop.

Pip turned his attention to his remaining crew members. “The rest of us are going to-”

He was cut off by a poke in his side. “Rarity is coming this way,” Ruby whispered into Pip's ear.

“Oh, Pi~p, may I have a word with you, darling?” Rarity called as she approached.

“Sure, Ma- uh, Rarity,” Pip replied, turning and giving her a very forced smile. “What do you need?”

“I have a request, of sorts.” Rarity said, magically straightening Pip's jacket. “I would like you to accompany me on my errands tonight,” she continued, straightening his mane and repositioning his hat. “I have much I wish to discuss with my sister's chosen company, and there are a number of thing you are going to have to know if you want to be a part of our family.” By the time she was finished talking Pip looked a great deal more 'captainly'. Not one iota of scruffy pirate remained.

“Oh, o-of course,” Pip stuttered nervously, shuffling his hooves. “Sweetie, Ditzy, you two see if you can get somepony to, uh, help with that box.”

“Okay,” Ditzy said with a smile.

“Anything else, Pip?” Sweetie asked.

Pip leaned in to whisper in Sweetie’s ear, “Ya, if I never come back, you get the ship.” he said quickly before chasing after Rarity, who had already started toward the front of the lift.

For a while Pip just followed in silence as Rarity made her rounds insuring that everything was in order and on time. At one point they encountered Sprocket, who Rarity instructed to take a package to the alchemist's.

After nearly fifteen minutes of following Rarity around, Pip could no longer stand the awkward silence and decided to start the conversation himself. “So what's all this you're offloading, Rarity?” He asked, pausing to look back at the stacks of cargo being moved towards a small group of warehouses built into the embankment of a large hill.

“A care package,” Rarity answered simply, stepping off the platform onto dirt packed so hard it sounded like cobblestone under her hooves. “We'll be stopping by Inky's office briefly, then to our real business,” she said, leading the way toward a small building situated between the sky dock and the market. It looked more like a farmhouse then an office. “Oh, by the way, this is sovereign territory, we're not technically in Equestria.”

“Not technically in Equestria?” Pip echoed, trotting to her side again, “Like an independent nation-state, or more of a noble house thing?”

“This is the House of Laughter,” Rarity explained, stopping on the porch of the building. “As you may know, each of the elements of harmony, myself included, was granted a noble house and a generous sum of land after saving Equestria, and the world, so many times.”

“Ya, I heard about that,” Pip replied, wondering if the 'noble house' thing extended to the whole family, which he was well on his way to joining. That explains the 'office' though; if Pinky's half as crazy as she was when I was a foal I'm surprised it's not made of candy or something.

Rarity tapped a hoof and shifted her weight impatiently. Pip watched nervously for several seconds, trying to identify the source of her apparent agitation. Could she be expecting me to say more? Maybe I was supposed to do something... Door! He leaped into action, darting over to the door to the office and opening it with his mouth. Rarity, much to Pip's relief, didn't seem too terribly offended by his lapse of decorum.

“Sorry about that, Rarity,” Pip said softly as she walked by. “I haven’t spent much time among high society.”

“Quite alright,” Rarity replied over her shoulder. “One is not born refined.”

Pip entered the homestead turned office and closed the door. The inside of the building was very cozy and welcoming: the waiting room seemed to have been (and possibly still was) a living room; the walls were lined with scenic paintings and tall book shelves. A number of comfy looking chairs and a long couch were arranged around a coffee table and a large window allowed the setting sun to shine in. On the other side of the room there was a long desk, and behind that several filing cabinets. A slate gray mare with a straight, black mane sat at the desk.

“Good evening, Rarity,” the mare at the desk said joyfully.

“And to you as well, Inky,” Rarity replied. “It's always a pleasure.” She retrieved a large, manilla envelope from under her cape and floated it onto the desk. “We should do tea. I'll be here for two or three days; it would be a shame to miss such an opportunity to catch up.”

“Certainly,” Inky replied, sliding the envelope off to one side. “I'll tell the girls. When I figure out some convenient times I’ll-”

She was cut off by the rapid fluttering of tiny wings and a rush of wind. A shock white filly with a poofy, lemon yellow mane and tail, wearing a familiar, carmine cape, came zipping into the room, stopping in a buzzing hover over the desk. “Aunty Inky, aunty Inky, mommy said I can have a cookie but I have to find one cause she didn't have one so I was gonna ask aunty Blinky cause she's always the one that hides them so mommy doesn’t eat them all even though mommy always finds them anyways but she's busy exploding stuff so I came to find you and I found you and I still want a cookie so can I have a cookie please, aunty?” the hyperactive little pegasus said in a squeaky, bubbly voice at record breaking speed.

“Well hello, Surprise,” Rarity said to the hovering youth, unconsciously using a higher pitch and exaggerated enunciation.

“Hi, Miss Rarity!” Surprise replied enthusiastically, bobbing around as she turned to face the guests. “Who's that?” she asked, pointing at Pip.

“This is Captain Pipsqueak,” Rarity said with a nod of her head. “He's a new friend I made recently. Pip,” She nodded to Surprise in turn, “this is Surprise, Pinky Pie's daughter. Isn't she just darling?”

Before Pip could even formulate a sentence Surprise spoke again. “Wow, you have a two colors coat?” she squeaked, hovering closer to him to get a better look while her cape fluttered in the wind of her little wings. “I've seen ponies with two colors manes before, or even more colors mains, but I didn't know not-zebras could have two colors coats before!”

“Surprise,” Inky cut in from behind the desk, waiting for the filly to turn to face her. “Don't pester the guests, dear.”

“They're not guests,” Surprise said matter of factly, tilting her head to the side in confusion, “they're friends. Rarity is a friend, and she said Pippy is her friend, so he's our friend too, right?”

Inky smiled. “Well aren’t you just a little miss clever pants today. Yes, they are friends, but they're also guests in our house, so you should be polite.”

“Yes, aunty.” Surprise grumbled, looking as disappointed as she possibly could.

“Its fine,” Pip said with a smile. “So, Surprise was it?” he addressed the hovering filly, who immediately perked up. “I'm from a place called Trottingham. It's a city to the west. The original pony tribes that lived in that area were mostly brown and black, but the pegasus tribe that lived in the mountains were all white, I guess to blend in with the snow. After the founding of Equestria united the tribes, more ponies came to the area...” Pip realized he was talking to open air and stopped. “Okay then, I won't tell you.”

“Don't mind her,” Inky said, dismissively waving a hoof. “She takes after her mother; attention span of a crow in a mirror room.”

“Quite,” Rarity agreed. “In any case, my schedule has been a touch modified, as you may have guessed from my early arrival. But I managed to find almost everything you requested.” She gestured to envelope on the desk. “The exceptions are in red at the end. Um, I believe that's everything.”

“Thank you again, Rarity,” Inky replied, beginning to look over the papers. “When we have a time for tea I'll let you know.”

“I look forward to it,” Rarity replied, leaving through the hall to the back door. “See you then.”

“Nice meeting you, ma'am,” Pip said before turning to follow Rarity through the house.

“Likewise,” Inky replied with a smile.

As they walked through the house Pip couldn’t help but compare it to the Apple family house in Ponyville. Family photos lined the weathered wooden walls and the floorboards creaked with nearly every step. As they passed the stairs to the second floor he saw the head of a little gray filly dart out of sight, shortly followed by hushed voices and tiny giggles. Something about the house felt terribly nostalgic, but what exactly he couldn't put his hoof on.

All too soon the feeling passed, and they found themselves walking into the biggest party in Equestria.


*******


“WHAT WAS 'AT?” Apple Bloom hollered over the din of the nearby band. For reasons unknowable Dinky had led her through, rather than around, a throng of revelers surrounding a stage full of ponies beating on steel barrels, brass piping, garbage can lids and all manner of other seemingly random objects like an arrangement of improvised drums.

“I said we're heading for the cave!” the little unicorn replied. She stopped and stood on her hind hooves, poking her head over the crowd to reorient herself. “Oh, there it is!” she hollered excitedly, looking back at Apple Bloom and pointing towards the mountain with a hoof.

Apple Bloom quietly chuckled at her aptly named friend's antics. Ah wonder how many ponies think she's still a little filly when they first meet her. For her part, Apple Bloom had no trouble seeing over the herd around her. She took after her father almost as much as her brother did, standing over most ponies by a good hoof or two. Dinky's ears barely came over her withers.

The pint sized gunmare turned tour guide dropped back to all fours and began worming her way slowly through the crowd again. Just as before, she ended up moving parallel to the mountain, as if some force was drawing her south.

Apple Bloom couldn’t help an amused smirk growing across her face. Girl may be a unicorn but she can sure as hay feel the earth. She scooped Dinky up with her head and tossed the meandering midget onto her broad back like a sack of flour. “Can ya' see better from up here?” she joked, bumping dinky with her nose.

“Ya!” Dinky clambered up into a sitting position and pointed one hoof dramatically towards the mountain, holding onto Apple Bloom's neck with the other. “To the cave!” she shouted in a theatrical voice.

“Ha ha, y’all just get comfortable n' point the way.” Apple Bloom said, carefully picking her way through the crowd like a train plowing through a snow drift.


*******


Sweetie Bell watched as Pip chased after her sister, a small smirk forming on her lips. “You know,” she said to nopony in particular, “I really didn't think this was gonna be so easy.”

Ditzy gave her a quizzical look. “What do you mean?”

In response Sweetie trotted towards a group of the Seltenheit's crew. “Hay, Quicky, do you have a minute?” she hollered, gaining their attention.

Quick Fix trotted out of the group with a spring in her step. “What's up, Sweets?” she replied with a smile.

“Did Rarity give you a job, or are you free for a while?” Sweetie asked as they drew nearer.

They met in the middle and exchanged a quick hug. “Na, I only get assignments when something breaks,” the brown unicorn said as they disengaged. “Benefits of being a mechanic.”

“Well, if you're up for it, I have a challenge for you.” Sweetie Bell offered with a smirk.

“Ha! You know me; I'm always up for a challenge,” Quick Fix replied, glad for something potentially interesting to do.

“Alright, follow me,” Sweetie Bell took a step and stopped. There were no elevators nor gravity lifts up to Seltenheit, which floated high above on its magical sea. “Uh, how do we get up there?”

Ditzy watched the two unicorns puzzling over there little quandary and smiled. “Ruby,” she said softly to a warm space next to her, “why don’t you go see your mother; I'm sure she misses you and it looks like we already have the solution we need.” She walked over the the two unicorns, who seemed to be mulling over the idea of using levitation to get back to the ship. “You know, I could just carry you up,” she reminded them.

They both stared at her dumbly for a moment. “Oh, right!” they said in unison before falling into giggles.

“I feel so silly,” Sweetie giggled, “that should have been the first thing I thought of. Do you mind?” she added out of courtesy.

“Not at all,” Ditzy confirmed, crouching down. “Hop on.”

Sweetie hopped on the pegasus's back and wrapped her forehooves around her neck. Quick Fix took several halted steps while trying to figure out how she was meant to fit until ditzy took wing and picked her up by the barrel.

“Everypony hang on tight!” Ditzy announced cheerfully. “Next stop, uh, up I guess.” And up they went, spiraling through the wind towards the royal purple hull of the Seltenheit.

Once they had passed through the Seltenheit's field and entered the deserted cargo bay Quick fix spoke again. “So are you gonna tell me what this little challenge of yours is, Sweets, or do I have to guess?” she said as Ditzy set her down on the deck.

“It's a lock,” Sweetie replied, hopping off of her friend's back. “A locked box specifically. Its up on the Flitzen.”

“I thought that was what this was about,” Ditzy interjected. “Do you think she can do it?”

“Hey, I didn't get to be chief engineer on the most advanced ship in the sky for my stunning looks and sultry voice, you know,” Quick Fix joked, dramatically tossing her messy, flaxien mane.

“You kinda did,” Sweetie shot as she started towards the lift to the dry dock.

“Shut it, you,” Quick fix giggled, following her friend to the lift.

Ditzy followed, quietly smiling as the two chattered on all the way up the lift and to the ship.

When they got to the Regenbogen Flitzen's gravity lift Sweetie changed topics. “So, the box is in the safe on the top deck,” she said as she stepped into the field and began to ascend.

Quick Fix took in everything she could while they passed through the little zeppelin. The most infamous fighter in recent history hung peacefully in a suspension rig. Scorch marks scared the distinctive red paint and the wings were bent in strange patterns, having never been reset after docking. A second gantry was limbered on the sealing, ready for another plain to hold. A burnt blanket lay discarded in the corner. On the mid deck she could see short hallways lined with doors leading forward to the bridge and aftward to the cargo bay. She was struck by the smallness of the ship, sure it looked small from below but it really was a little thing. On the last of the three decks they arrived, essentially, in the showers to the aft, with a hall leading forward, one door was on each side and one more at the end.

“Its right through here,” Sweetie said, drifting out of the gravity field and leading the group through the port side door.

The room was centered around a large conference table surrounded on three sides by a polished wooden bench. About two dozen cushions were stacked along the far wall. The walls and high sealing were also wood, giving a much more relaxing feel then the tight, steel corridors which comprised the rest of the ship. A simple, brass chandelier hung over the table giving Quick Fix the feeling of being in an old galleon of the sea. She could almost smell the salt and feel the sea breeze on her face. It was a strange feeling, considering she had never been on, or even seen, a tall ship, but for whatever reason she could already see the frame of just such a ship forming in her minds eye, ready to be built.

“Over here, Quicky,” Sweetie Bell said, shaking her from her pseudo nostalgia.

Sweetie Bell was standing at the aftward wall and Quick fix quickly made her way over. “I'm guessing that’s a false wall, then?”

“Yup.” Sweetie turned and empowered her horn. It looked like simple levitation, but after a moment of squinting and grunting the wall slid to the side, revealing a heavy steel door set in a matching wall. Another series of funny faces and noises later and that, too, opened, swinging outward with a dramatic slowness stereotypical of comics and Daring Do novels. Inside the room she saw a large, ornate box.

“That's it,” Sweetie said, confirming her suspicions. “The challenge is to open it.”

“It must be one heck of a lock if you think you need me,” Quick fix observed, approaching the box.

“It survived two feedback nails and the detonation of the Glänzend Schicksal's main battery without any visible damage,” Sweetie Bell explained before starting towards the door with Ditzy. “The galley is across the hall, head is behind the showers. Have fun!”

“Oh I will,” Quick Fix said to herself, draping her saddlebags over the bench and moving the box to the conference table in her steel blue magic. “I most certainly will.”

> Chapter 7: These legs were made for walking.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 7: These legs were made for walking.





                Dear Princess Celestia,

I have found signs suggesting the passage of Project Sturmgeist in the everfree mountains, near the Equestria/Greif trade line. Evidence suggests it is fully powered and that whoever is in possession of it may have been responsible for the death of Prince Blueblood. I have reassigned patrols to the Hammerzeit so I can focus on the search. I will keep you informed of any developments.

Your eternal friend, Twilight Sparkle.




*******


“And those are all your responsibilities to the house,” Rarity concluded her long, and frequently interrupted, explanation of Pip's place in the family if he did eventually marry Sweetie Belle. “Questions?” she asked with a smile. Pip jerked his head back when Rarity looked at him, avoiding an awkward muzzle collision. They were walking uncomfortably close to each other due to the small size of the acoustic privacy bubble the august and confidant element of generosity was projecting. It could have been bigger, but the thick crowds that inundated the Everparty made the smallness necessary to prevent eavesdropping, accidental or otherwise.

“No, that covered pretty much everything, I think,” Pip replied, glancing at the subterranean market they were passing through to hide his blush. The conversation had been going for the better part of half an hour, with topics ranging from percentage of 'profits' owed to the house and rules for accessing the house’s resources, to the existence of family safe havens and informants, thought the locations would not be forthcoming until Pip had fully committed.

Rarity brought her attention back to the front as the cavern began to descend deeper into the earth yet again. “Well then, I guess that brings us to you,” she said, drifting close enough for Pip to feel the movement of her legs through her cape. Her foreleg felt marshmallow soft, not unlike Sweetie Belle's, but he could swear he felt armor on her hind leg. “Are you truly interested in my sister, or are you chasing fame and title by proxy?” she looked at him again, this time with a sugar sweet smile and half lidded eyes. “I can give you the latter, and even a place on the Seltenheit, if that is what you seek.”

Pip took a long, slow breath to clear his mind (of Rarity's obnoxiously seductive voice) before he spoke. “Back when I first became a pirate, it was because I was looking for something. I didn't know what at the time, but I knew I needed to find it. I sailed the skies of Equestria for years just trying to figure out what it was. I had four crews before the Crusaders joined, and when they did, something felt different. It felt like I was finally getting close to the thing that had been dragging me back and forth across the endless blue, down into ancient ruins and through the untamed wilds, just to pull me away again when I didn’t find that thing.”

The market stalls were becoming fewer and farther between. Where once there were shoppers and merrymakers, now we're working ponies: miners emerged from the deep, stone specialists sifted through cartloads of ore and gems to find there charges for the night to come, and others rested and socialized over lunch boxes between shifts. Pip was so engrossed by his story that he didn't notice a few tall, decidedly non-pony shaped shadows making there way down into the dark.

“Then, just before you found us, I found what I thought to be the thing I was seeking: a treasure said to have been made by the old empire, made with techniques and technologies that were lost during the war for the throne more than a millennium ago, that Blue Blood was rumored to have taken from Canterlot, for reasons I'm sure only made sense to him.” He heaved a heavy sigh and turned his eyes the ground.

“It was supposed to be a quick smash and grab, few to no casualties, just make some noise and take the loot. But then everything went eggs up, Scoot had to drop feedback to kill Bluie's new guns and apparently hydrogen is in vogue now. Next thing I know the cargo is slag and, as far as I could tell, one of my best foalhood friends gets incinerated. Course Scoot's made of tougher stuff than your average pegasus and she came out the other side, sputtering and coughing, but alive. Like a blinkn' phoenix she is.”

“Anyway, Fluttershy takes Scoot, Apple Bloom disappears into engineering, or wherever she goes when she's losing her head, and Sweetie drags me up to my cabin, draws me a bath and sings me to sleep. That’s when it hit me,” he looked up at Rarity with a look of determination, only partially aware they had stopped and were standing by a door. “The thing I was looking for, for more than half my life, had been with me since I moved to Ponyville with my mother when I was a foal. It was my friends,” he laughed quietly before continuing. “I'd been hunting adventure and ancient artifacts for years, when all I had to do was look across the bridge, or down the hall, to find the most precious things in the whole world.” He took another calming breath and smiled. “So I guess the answer to your question is yes; I love Sweetie Belle, and I don’t care one bit for fame or fortune, as long as I can be with her. The same goes for all my friends, but doubly so for her.”

There was a long pause while Rarity considered the rather long winded answer Pip had just finished. “It would seem I have underestimated you, Mister Pipsqueak,” she said at last. With a pulse of magic she opened the door and entered.

Pip waited several seconds for Rarity to finish with 'but I still don’t approve' or something to that effect before realizing he was being left behind and scurrying after her.

Beyond the door was a farrier's shop: Display racks of horseshoes dominated most of the wall space. Most were sturdy, practical iron and steel, hung on pegs and stacked on shelves. A finely hewn wood and glass case displayed an arrangement of classy silver and brass shoes as well as a few gaudy gem encrusted numbers that made Pip's eyes hurt a little. Tapestries and a small forge occupied the space between displays, giving the room a more friendly appearances. In one corner, hardly even on display, was a small rack of what must have been clockwork artificial limbs. Built with cut steel and hammered brass, they were made to do a job and nothing else. Pip was amazed to see them at all; as far as he knew the science of clockwork applied to prosthetics was still in its infancy, hardly ever leaving the laboratories in Canterlot, and most ponies were quite leery of it on principal.

“Rarity,” a friendly voice pulled Pip's attention away from the display, “and, guest?” The owner of the voice was a light gray earth mare with a two tone white and silver mane pulled back in a braid that hung to one side of her neck. A pair of stylish goggles hung from her neck on a blue silk strap and a pair of matching glasses rested on her forehead, leaving her rich lilac eyes unobstructed.

“This is Pipsqueak,” Rarity provided in introduction. “You may remember him from you school days in Ponyville.”

“I try not to think about that much,” she replied, looking somewhat embarrassed, and extended a hoof to Pip. “Silver Spoon,” she said with a smile as Pip gently bumped her hoof. “Sorry if I bullied you or your friends when we were kids, I was kind of a brat back then.” She self-consciously brushed an imaginary lock of mane behind her ear after the hoof bump.

“Nice to meet you,” Pip said amiably. “I think I was a year or two behind you. You were friends with that crown filly right?”

“Yup, bad old Diamond Tiara, terror of the school yard,” she said with an awkward laugh. “I should write to see how she's doing; it's been a long time.”

“I hate to cut the reminiscence short,” Rarity interjected, “but I would like to get started sooner rather than latter.”

“Oh, of course,” Silver Spoon replied.

Pip elected to take a seat on a couch by the door. Silver Spoon trotted briskly to one of the tapestries and pulled out a finely upholstered farrier's bench, bringing it to the middle of the room. It was designed like a massage table, but thinner, allowing one's legs to hang off the sides for greater comfort when applying shoes.

“Amadi wouldn't happen to have stopped by would she?” Rarity said, climbing onto the bench and lofting her jewelery onto a tray on a worktable by the forge.

“No,” Silver replied distractedly while she gathered some tools into a pocketed apron and slung it around her neck. “Should we be expecting her?”

“Yes, soon I should think. Pip,” she said as she enveloped her thin, pink cape in shimmering, blue magic, ready to be lifted, “I would imagine most ponies would be a bit put out by this, and it is rather embarrassing, so do keep it a secret, would you?” It didn't sound much like a request, but didn't sound like a threat either.

“Of course, Rarity,” Pip said, a bit confused. Ponies go around naked all the time, what could be so...

When she released her cape's clasp a spell popped, static crackling around her hind legs. The illusion of her alabaster coat dissolved into the air, revealing metal. Her hind legs were entirely clockwork. The front half of her hip was covered by a polished steel fairing, inlaid with faintly glowing silver filigree arranged to silhouette her former cutie mark with curls and flourishes. The faring ended in an artful curve. Polished brass gears turned on copper armatures as she shifted to get comfortable. Steel coil-springs and silver conduits that shone with crystalline magic were packed close with the gears behind a loose lattice of filigreed steel strips that formed an elegant cage following what had once been the curve of her rump. A series of machined joints, hinging on glowing sapphire rods, and connected by durable yet elegant steel struts made up her legs. All together it looked like an artistic savant's impression of the perfect locomotive machine.

“It's impolite to stare, Mister Pipsqueak.” Rarity's voice snapped him back to reality. His eyes went wide when he realized he must have been ogling Rarity's butt for more than a minute, possibly two. Silver Spoon had a foreleg clamped securely over her muzzle in a desperate, yet futile, attempt to suppress the laughter that was bringing her to tears. Rarity was wearing an inappropriately large smirk.

“Sorry,” he managed, struggling to pull his gaze away from the artificial limbs. “That, eh, wasn't quite what I was expecting.”

Rarity giggled lightly. “I should imagine not,” she replied with amusement, then an almost forlorn expression overtook her face. “I hope you're not too terribly unsettled by this.” Hope and fear hid behind a thin mask of false confidence, silently pleading for him to say it wasn't as ugly as she thought it was.

Pip was thoroughly flummoxed. She thinks those are unsettling? I’ve seen uglier things in the Cloudsdale Museum of Fine Art! “No!” he exclaimed, leaping off of the couch. “Rarity, they’re gorgeous!” he persisted, trotting to her side and unconsciously putting a hoof on the offending machinery. The metal was smooth, and warm to the touch, as if it was trying to be real skin but didn't quite know how. “These are works of art, Rarity, and I see no shame in wearing art, nor need to hide it.” He paused for a moment, realizing exactly where his hoof was, before blushing and hastily returning his hoof to it's rightful place on the floor.

“There's no need for flattery,” Rarity tried, averting her gaze and covering her heavy blush with a foreleg. She intended to say more, but the look in Pipsqueak's eyes silenced her. He looked just like Rainbow Dash would when she was trying to say something she felt was gravely important, just like the last time she said goodbye. Oh Rainbow, would that I could see you again. I would have so, so much to apologize for.

“I mean it, Rarity,” Pip, insisted, shaking Rarity from her distraction. “If they weren't attached to you I'd put them in a museum.”

“Flirting again, I see?” a playful voice with a slight foreign accent broke the tension and drew everypony's attention to the door. “Shame on you, Miss Rarity.” Through the door trotted a zebra, or at least Pip assumed she was a zebra. She was striped pink and burgundy across her head, neck, legs and belly, but had a 'saddle' of solid red across her back. Her radiant, turquoise eyes shone with mischief and mirth. Gold Zebrambwean rings adorned her neck and ears, and a woven saddlebag was slung across her back. “Greetings, stranger,” she said to Pip, inclining her head politely, “I am Amadi; master alchemist of the Everparty.”

“Pipsqueak; nice to meet you,” Pip said with a mile.

“Pipsqueak?” the 'zebra' echoed, sounding slightly surprised. “Of you, my mother tells many a tale. I especially enjoy the one of Cloudsdale.”

It took a moment for Pip to process that one. As far as he knew, nopony but himself, his dad and, unfortunately, a certain Zebrambwean witchdoctor he had to barter a cloud-walk potion from, actually knew 'the Cloudsdale story'. “And your mother is... who exactly?” he asked nervously. How can she know about that? I never even told Luna what really happened there.

“My mother is Zecora,” the red zebra replied proudly, putting a hoof to her chest and raising her head with an air that bordered on smugness. “The Ponyville zebra.”

“Ah, and she told you about... Cloudsdale,” Pip concluded with resignation.

“Worry not,” Amadi said, approaching Pip and putting a striped leg across his withers. “The tale is known by only a few, and nopony knows that the hero was you.”

Rarity cleared her throat loudly. “If we could please get this underway,” she said, suppressing great deal of annoyance. “I am quite eager to be without pain for once.”

Silver Spoon started at Rarity's scorn. “Yes, of course,” she said hastily, grabbing a screwdriver from her apron and beginning to detach the fairing from Rarity's mechanical leg. “Sorry.”

Rarity winced slightly as the screwdriver touched metal. “Gently please, darling. Amadi, I trust you had enough time to finish everything?”

“It didn't take long at all to complete,” Amadi replied, disengaging from Pipsqueak and fishing through her saddlebags with her face. “I'd already purified enough mercury.” She produced a small box and set it on the couch, unlatching it with her tongue and nosing it open.

Inside the box were two small crystal vials, perhaps three or four ounces each, which contained substance that looked to Pip like bottled sunlight. He'd seen references to a substance called 'Liquid Sunshine' in ancient pre-usurpation temples, but he had always assumed it was symbolic of something, not literally a substance that resembled sunlight.

“There are two for you to drink,” Amadi, who Pip had decided must be a zebra-pony hybrid, said. “Take one now, and one in a week.”

“What exactly is in that?” Pip asked, watching Rarity magic a vial over and examine it skeptically.

“How it is made, I can not say,” the mostly red... (zebrony? Ponebra?) mare replied, not quite apologetically. “It's a secret Mapungu recipe.”

“It's mostly mercury and orichalcum,” Rarity provided. “You said I'm to drink it, Amadi?” She turned to face the young alchemist. “Are you sure it's safe?”

“Hold still!” Silver scolded, immobilizing Rarity's leg with a hoof. “Some of your gears are out of place.”

“Oh, sorry, dear,” Rarity said, settling back into a relaxed position.

“Safe it is, indeed, my dear,” Amadi assured her with a smirk. “The taste is what inspires fear.”

“Ah.” Rarity returned her gaze to the tincture with redoubled unease. “And I must drink it, specifically. Are there no other options?”

“Indeed, you must, my skeptical friend,” Amadi confirmed, a mischievous smirk growing across her face. “Though, I suppose you could try the other end.”

Rarity downed the glowing solution in one quick swig, trying to ignore Amadi's lewd suggestion. The liquid shown through her throat as she drank before diffusing into her body, leaving her coat with a faint glow for several seconds. “Oh- oh dear,” Rarity said, squirming uncomfortably. “This feels- Ah!- quite strange.”

After a moment a crystal blue light, the same color as Rarity's magic, began to emanate from the prosthetic limbs, twisting and coiling through the tortuous machinery. Misaligned gears shifted back into place, screws and springs tightened, and the silver conduits began to hum with magic. Every muscle in Rarity's body tensed. She scrunched up her face, taking short, sharp breaths through her nose. Wispy tendrils of light reached out from the naked machine. They almost seemed to be searching for something.

“Oh!” Silver Spoon exclaimed, looking around for a short moment before grabbing the few gears she had removed and the fairing and clumsily shoving them into the light. They, too, were enveloped and shifted into place, but something was still missing, as the light continued to reach out through the empty screw holes. Silver gathered the screws up and simply tossed them. As expected, the light caught them and returned them to their places.

Pip watched in awe as Rarity's legs reassembled themselves, but even after they were complete and the magic began to fade, Rarity continued to squirm and squeal. “Are you okay, Rarity?” he asked with no small measure of concern, placing a hoof on her back. Upon contact Rarity released a quick, sharp breath, somewhere between a cough and a gasp. Her breath carried with it a cloud of golden dust that shimmered for a moment before fading into the air. Her body finally relaxed and she slumped onto the bench in a most unladylike fashion.

Only a moment after she had relaxed, magic again erupted from her hind legs. Over the silver filigree on her hip three points of blinding light sparked to life, slowly spreading and dimming into the shape of three blue diamonds flecked with gold. Rarity's cutie mark, like a trifecta of fallen stars, suspended just over her steel hip and framed by an intricate lattice of silver conduits glowing with magic, had returned.

For a while Rarity simply lay there, breathing heavily. “Well!” she said at last, raising her head to get a look at her newly enhanced legs. “That was something! Was that supposed to happen, Amadi?”

The zebra apparent approached Rarity, opposite Pip, and raised a hoof to inspect the leg. “The enchantment potion was never meant for the living. This was ver-” she was cut off by a loud gasp from Rarity.

“Ah! oh my, that is remarkably sensitive,” Rarity remarked, wiggling a bit as Amadi continued to 'examine' her leg. Slowly, she slid herself off the back of the bench. Her hooves made contact with the floor, producing a soft click of machinery, and immediately Rarity lost her balance and fell.

Ever the quick thinker, Pip darted behind her, catching her in his forelegs before she hit the ground.

“Thank you, Pip,” Rarity said, carefully returning to her hooves with Pip's assistance. “It seems I'll be learning to walk for a third time.”

“Are you alright, Rarity?” Silver Spoon asked with concern, raising a hoof reflexively to help with some undefined thing.

Rarity laughed softly and shifted some of her her weight to her front hooves. “no, actually,” she replied, “but this feels somewhat similar to the afterglow of an overly demanding spell, so it should fade in time.”

She drew a deep, calming breath, let it out slowly, and took a cautious step forward, then another, and another. She made her way slowly across the room, making small squeaks and whimpers with each motion of her glowing artificial legs. Eventually she reached the wall. “Phew, that took far more effort then, hahh, then my first jaunt with these,” she said breathlessly, “but I, I don’t think it will take as long to get accustomed.” She looked at the wall for a moment, considering her options then looked over her shoulder at the other occupants of the room. A blush growing on her face. “Um, would one of you mind helping me turn around, please?” she asked with a sheepish smile.

For the next several minutes they took turns steadying Rarity while she tottered around the shop. Occasionally a customer would stop by and Rarity would take the opportunity to rest while Silver Spoon tended to their needs. Distant rumbling could be heard, more than likely from the last few mining explosives of the day. Before too long she managed to stop making obscene noises every few seconds, and soon managed to get up to a normal walking pace.

Breathing heavily, but with a large smile on her face, Rarity stood from her most recent break. “It's been a pleasure, ladies, but we really must be going,” she said as she levitated her jewelry back on. “Pip, let's be off.”

She turned to the door but was stopped by Silver. “You forgot your cape.”

"You know, Silver dear.” Rarity said, smiling. “You've been so good to me, helping me get used to these legs and keeping them in such good repair.” She levitated her cape over to Silver Spoon and draped it over her back, fastening the clasp around her neck. “You keep it, a small token of my thanks for all the things you do."

“Oh my gosh, really, Rarity?” Silver gushed, admiring the silver clasp and top quality silk. “Thank you.”

Rarity looked critically at her for a moment, considering how the pink and blue looked on the silver mare. “Ah, I know,” she said suddenly. With a small pulse of magic the pink shifted to lilac to match her eyes and the trim shifted to an ice blue. “There, perfect. Now,”

Suddenly the door flew open. The unmistakable figure of a diamond dog slouched in the open portal. It wore a hammered steel cuirass with a chain skirt and a light helmet, all clearly of pony design and emblazoned with the three balloons and laurel wreath crest of the house of laughter. A long sword hung at it’s side and an apparatus half the size of Pip’s leg and comprised of a collection of cylinders was strapped to it’s leg. “I take ponies to shelters, we under attack!” He said urgently in a gravelly baritone, and turned to leave. “Hurry, hurry!”

I guess dogs are friendly today, Pip thought, starting to follow. Good to know.

“Baxter, wait!” Rarity called, halting the dog in his tracks. “I need to get to my ship.”

Scratch that. Dogs are 'friends', Pip amended.

The dog looked back and this time actually took a moment to identify who he was dealing with. “Rarity pony!” he exclaimed. “Yes, I take to ship. Amadi pony, you take other ponies.” Again he turned, and again he was stopped.

“Baxter, I can't run. I need you to carry me, please,” Rarity said pleadingly. The dog stood for a moment, apparently deep in thought, and scooped Rarity up with one gorilla like arm, cradling her like a foal, or perhaps a puppy. “Pip!” Rarity called commandingly, wrapping her forelegs around the dog's neck. “Don't fall behind!”

> Chapter 8: Phantasmagoria of waking dreams.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 8: Phantasmagoria of waking dreams.



A cool evening breeze carried the soft serenade of strings and the sweet scent of tea across the highest patio of Canterlot Castle. Golden light rippled along Celestia's horn, matching the last rays of the sun as it dipped below the horizon.

“A breathtaking display as always, Celestia,” the Griffin King, who occupied the only chair at a large table in the center of the balcony, commented idly. “The two of you are true marvels of creation.” Free of the weight his royal regalia and responsibilities, the King could smile easily as Celestia found her seat and Luna replaced her in the moving of the heavens.

“You flatter us, Guilvarren,” the similarly unfettered goddess of light replied, settling on her cushion and retrieving a cup of tea.

The old gryphon chuckled and took a swig from his stein of mead. “Not unduly, my girl,” he insisted flirtatiously. “You are both fine creatures.”

The moon, in all it's magick and mystery, peeked timidly over the mountain spires to the east, beyond which lay the nation-state of Greif and the outlying gryphon clans, and stars aplenty came to life across the dark expanse of the sky.

“Careful, your highness,” the cellist, a gray earth pony with a long, onyx mane, cautioned playfully. “I've heard the royal sisters can be quite hazardous in times of passion.”

The king laughed raucously, thumping the table with his stein. “I like this one, she is beautiful and funny!” 

“Our sister Is remarkably good at finding interesting ponies,” Luna interjected, having taken her seat unnoticed. “It is good to meet you at last, good king. Celestia has told us much of you and your deeds.”

“Indeed,” Celestia agreed after a dainty sip of tea. “I had quite looked forward to introducing the two of you. I lament it has taken so long.”

Luna snorted in amusement. “You make it sound like a... now what was the term?,” The immortal goddess of dreams and magick tapped her chin with a scone in thought. “A, date was it? Yes that is what Serendipity called it. She told us she had a date with the cabin colt and described it as a 'casual romantic rendezvous' of sorts when I queried her about it.”

Celestia smiled impishly. “Well, that wasn't exactly my plan for tonight, but…”

“Ha! My wife would have my head if I started moonlighting with the moon.”

Luna was trying to tread lightly with the conversation, remembering some unfavorable interactions with other nobles in the past, but the joke was too tempting to pass up, and this gryphon seemed good humored. “At least we would get to keep the important parts,” she ventured, covering her nervousness with nibbles of crackers and cheese.

For a moment there was silence. Luna feared she had, again, made a foal of herself and mentally braced for the inevitable reproach.

“Ha!” the gryphon king exclaimed at last. “You remind me of my son; ‘take what you want and give the rest to the people’ he would say. Then.” He leaned forward menacingly. “He would take a fist full of money and toss the sack on the floor.” He mimed the actions with great exaggeration, accidentally tossing his stein on the floor.

Laughter was shared all around. Guilvarren was, as usual, the loudest, drowning out Celestia's refined titter. Luna breathed a sigh of relief at having not offending such a good friend of her sister's, though she didn't quite understand how he made the leap from her innuendo to his greedy son.

“So how has your family been of late?” Celestia inquired, grazing on a small flock of grapes she held in a magical cloud.

The gryphon’s laughter quieted to a chuckle. “Not much has changed, honestly,” he said. Celestia gave a slight nod, urging him to continue. After a swig of mead he obliged. “Well, Taganda has taken up the harp. Tagaren is the same brat he's always been, except now he thinks he owns the whole world as well as the castle-roost.” He paused in thought. “Oh, one of my guards found a small nest of harpy chicks, orphaned by a rogue dragon his unit had chased off. He took them in and has been raising them in the north tower. Adorable little things they are.”

Celestia frowned ever so slightly. “And Guilda?”

Guilvarren sighed audibly. “She's disappeared again.” He took another swig and brought his stein down hard on the table. “She still refuses to believe Rainbow Dash is gone; keeps insisting she sees her in her dreams.” The king groaned and rested his head in his talon. He noticed a plate of crackers topped with an unusually colorful jam and took one in his free talon for examination. “I was there when Rainbow died, I saw it with my own eyes, but she won't listen. She was supposed to be queen, you know. Königin Guilda. I was even willing to allow her to marry that pony, despite the controversy it would raise. But I fear she may be going mad with grief. What am I supposed to do?” He implored, bringing his gaze to the elder ponies.

Much to Celestia's surprise, it was Luna who answered first. “Tell her that The Princess of Dreams says not to give up hope.” Luna smiled warmly at her new friend's dumbfounded expression.

They were startled out of their conversation by one of Luna’s bat winged guards landing heavily on the balcony in a clatter of armor. “Your majesties,” he said breathlessly, giving the minimum acceptable attention to the assembled hierarchs. “Luna, Cosmic Odyssey has returned; The Grace is in the wyld.”

Luna stood sharply, bumping the table hard enough to spill Celestia’s tea. “HA HA! The hunt is on!” she shouted as she stood, startling all but the Night Guard, who had a steadily growing grin plastered across his face, with her volume and exuberance. “Recall the Shadowbolts and ready the crew! We sail at midnight!” With a whoop that shook the castle windows in their marble frames, she leaped off the balcony with the messenger close behind.

Guilvarren turned to Celestia, eyes wide in surprised disbelief. “Did she just say Shadowbolts?”

Celestia closed her eyes took a deep breath before looking her old friend dead in the eyes. “There is no such thing as a Shadowbolt,” she said, calm as ice.

Guilvarren swallowed and clutched his stein tightly. “My mistake.”

“Quite.” Celestia looked out at the night sky, watching the stars for a moment. “You know.” She was cut off by a flash of green fire conjuring a scroll before her. Plucking it out of the air with her magick, she unrolled it and read it quickly before turning back to Guilvarren. “As I recall, you said in your letters that the Sturmgeist's storm engine wasn't operational when it was stolen.”

“Indeed, Celestia,” he confirmed, worry creeping into his tone. “We had yet to develop an adequate and acceptable power source.”

Celestia turned back to the letter, a grave expression on her face. “It seems I may require your presence here for a bit longer then we had planned.”


*******


The Moon rose like quicksilver bones over the radiant magiscape of the Everparty. A silvery ribbon of magick pointed the way to Canterlot. 

Ruby Pinch paused on a rooftop, raising her forelegs in silent greeting, as she did most nights. The party below shone brightly with glowbug lamps and firelight, but no light found Ruby through her spell, so she saw none of it. Under the shimmering starlight, everypony was aglow with the magick of life. Everything always felt more vivid at night.

Smiling one last greeting to Mister Moon, Ruby resumed her mission of the night. She ran silently along the crest of the roof and leaped to the next building. Below she took note of a lone earth pony, bright green motes of life dimmed around her. The grass at her hooves grew tall, seeking to give comfort, but to no avail. Ruby watched for several long seconds before she saw the silvery-pink thread that lead to a phantasmagoria of colorful magicks. Vibrant, dark blue arcs swirled around a young pegasus stallion at the threads terminus. A love lost? Or perhaps not returned? With a decisive cutting motion she brought her hoof down to point at the thread. Has he ever even seen you? Drawing her hoof back she pulled the thread taut, then released. It hummed like the string of a grand harp and both ends sparked with greater life. At once the green one stood and looked along the thread to see the blue take wing, intrigued by the sudden strumming of his heart strings. Smiling for a job well done, Ruby scampered off, heard by none and seen by fewer.

Across the rooftops she ran and between them she leaped. Below, ponies celebrated this or that and reveled in the buzzing life around them. Soon Ruby came to a large clearing, filled to bursting with ponies all dancing to a raucous band of pipes and drums. The ponies danced as one, joined by the music and a common love of life, and their magicks meshed together into a grand dome that rivaled even the dreamlands with its vivid rainbows of light. Ruby galloped towards the magick bubble as fast as she could, jumping high into the air with a muffled kinetic pop. She met the cloud of joy and revelry with her hooves and leaped again, skipping across the magick like a stone across water. Round and round she danced, the sparkling haze of her magick melding with the rest, lost in the joy of the moment atop the sea of emotion. When the song drew to an end the audience rose in cheers and shouts for more. The bubble of life surged outward, launching Ruby into the starlit sky. She closed her eyes and let the wind carry her where it would, soaring blissfully through the air.

She opened her eyes again when she felt gravity gently pulling her back to the earth. She cast a cascade of tiny explosions out to slow her fall and extend her flight. At last she landed, rolling to absorb some of the impact. Finding herself just outside the boundaries of the town, Ruby smiled and made her way around to the southeast side of the mountain where her real goal lay. The path was always a calming trip, sometimes needed after the excitement of the unending party behind her. The grass and wildflowers grew lush and vivid out here. Rivulets of magick, all reds and browns and greens, crisscrossed the land, feeding the earth and plants with the energy from the party while whites and blues and silvers danced in the sky.

Skipping quickly through the wonderland of formless color, Ruby soon found her destination: the world renown Berry and Pie Vineyards. Great rivers of burgundy and violet inundated the fields, the oft overlooked magick of earth ponies hard at work. 

Sneaking oh so stealthily, Ruby made her way through the fields, slipping through rows and hopping between trellasses. Being that it was after sundown, nopony was actually in the fields, but that didn’t stop Ruby from having some fun on the way to her goal. 

When the house came into view, so too did the auras of the vignerons. They were all sitting around a fire, idly chatting the night away between sips of wine made with grapes from the very fields she had just traversed. Ruby was occasionally sad that she wasn’t a vigneron, or at least somehow associated with winemaking, but her life of adventure and excitement suited her far better than anypony would ever believe, and she was proud of her cutie mark, even if nopony would ever see it. Creeping silently up behind a very specific wine-red aura, she hopped onto the owner's back and wrapped her forelegs around the mare’s neck while Ruby’s invisibility spell faded and light again found her eyes. 

The mare squeaked and grasped at the legs that had unexpectedly materialized around her neck as gasps rose up around the fire, but she paused when she realized how closely the color matched… “Ruby?!” she cried in astonishment, turning her head to confirm her suspicions.

Ruby nuzzled her mother’s cheek and hummed softly. “Hi, momma,” she whispered. “I brought you a present.”

“Oh, my Pinchy,” Berry Punch cooed, Pulling Ruby off her back and into a hug. “Just seeing you is gift enough.”

“Love you too, mom,” Ruby said softly, breathing in the sweet smells of wine and familly. 

Mother and daughter held each other for a moment longer before parting. “I bought some crystal berries from up north, and some of those magical moon grapes that grow down by Camarein,” She said as she levitated her saddlebags off and displayed the berries and grapes.

At last the other ponies around the fire couldn't hold their tongues any longer. “It’s good to see you again, Ruby.”

“Good to see you too, Medley.”

“Lovely to see you, kid.”

“Hay, Toasty.”

“You found moon grapes? I thought those only grew in everfree lands?”

“Plants grow wherever you put them if you treat them right.”

“Wow, from Camarein to the Crystal Empire? Being an agricultural consultant sure takes you to a lot of places.”

“Ya, agriculture, heh.”

“Medley, pour a glass for Ruby would you?” Berry cut in. “So, Ruby, tell me about your adventures these past months.”

“Um,” Ruby hummed, taking the proffered glass of wine from Medley’s magick to her own. “First there was this rose garden under Cloudsdale…”

“Three hundred upfront, five more when it's done,” the nameless pegasus said, sitting on a cloud above the small forest meadow.

“I'll need a cloud-walk charm, complimentary,” Ruby stated,  admiring the majestic cloud-city above them.

The contractor nodded. “Fair enough. Her name is Nidia, she's a gryphon…”

“They wanted to know if the rainbow runoff posed any risk to the flowers,” Ruby explained, taking a minuscule sip of her wine. "It was a fairly new garden, you see.”

The gryphon took cover behind a cloud wall, only to have it blasted apart by the unseen assailant. Half a heartbeat later the world went white. All she saw after her vision returned was the rainbowfall that formed the tail of the Rainbow Dash memorial statue in the square. “I’m sorry,” the voice that had been hounding her for the past half hour said quietly as an invisible hoof gently caressed her head. “But you should be careful who you mess with in this city.”

“Of course I assumed the rainbow wound kill the flowers, but we discovered that, with enough attention, they actually grew faster and would float on clouds.” She took another sip of wine. “I thought that was pretty neat.”

Feeling was returning to the gryphon's limbs at a terrifyingly slow rate. “They're smuggling zeppelin parts to the Iron Dogs in the eastern mountains, someone's gotta stop them,” she managed around her half numb tongue.

Toasty looked thoughtfully at his wine, swirling it in the glass. “I wonder what rainbow wound do to grapes?”

“Ya, I wondered about that too. Never had a chance to test it though.”

“Well then it's a good thing I can't fly.”

“Where did you go next?” Berry asked, snuggling close to her nomadic daughter.

“Rockshire, actually,” Ruby replied softly, returning her mother's affection. 

The scouting fob was little more than an abandoned homestead a mile outside of a tiny mining town. “I know it doesn't look like much,” her former mark said, setting Ruby down just outside and landing beside her. “Think of it as camouflage.”

“I met a gryphon from there in Cloudsdale whose parents were trying to adapt starfruit to grow in the shail flats.”

“Find yourself another ‘attractive distraction’, Nidia?” a large gryphon snarked with a gravely voice, smirking at Ruby from the dim lamplight in the rundown shack. Five gryphons sat around a table covered by a large map and scattered papers.

“No,” Nidia said dismissively, leading Ruby to a seat at the table. “I brought the assassin they hired to kill me in Cloudsdale.” A mixture of shock and confusion washed over the assembled gryphons. “Honestly, I never stood a chance.” Sass practically dripped from Nidia’s beak as she spoke.

“I didn’t think you could grow anything in shale,” Toasty inquired. “That’s why you only see rock farms out there.”

Ruby took another sip of wine and sighed in contentment before answering. “Starfruit lives mostly on starlight, so they thought they could get it to live out there. They wanted to save on food import costs is why.”

“I’ve seen a lot of activity around here, that may be one of their strongholds,” one of the gryphons said, pointing at a small town on the map.

“Here, too,” another added, pointing to another point. “Though not enough to draw any real conclusions.”

Huddled around the map, the gryphons seemed to forget Ruby was even there, until she spoke. “Their central hub is here, underground” she interjected, illuminating the forest southeast of Cloudsdale with her crimson magic. 

Ruby took a larger, nearly normal sized, sip of her wine and let it sit in her mouth while she arranged the next leg of her tail. "I'll admit, I don't know all that much about starfruit, so we went to see a dear tribe in a nearby forest for some advice.”

“We will help you, little pony.” The Stag-chief, so ancient he could be mistaken for a gnarled tree, decided after long deliberation. “Your heart is strong, and your spirit wise for one so young.”

“They didn't think it would work out, but they told us about a breed of desert honeysuckle that we might be able to use.”

Throughout the forest an unnaturally thick fog muffled cries of terror and death mixed with the thunder of gunfire and the ringing of steel cutting flesh. The howling of timberwolves and hissing of strangle vines finished the acoustic nightmare like dark sprinkles on an evil cookie.

“The deer were really friendly.” Ruby stared into the crackling fire for a moment while Toasty added another piece of wood. “They taught me a lot about tea.”

A young buck approached Ruby and set a large bag in front of her. “I’m sorry for the loss of your gryphon friends.” His voice was high, like a child, but there was steel in his eyes to rival a royal guard. “Chief says these will be of use to you.” He nudged the bag with his nose. “If you are ever through these woods in the future, you are welcome to stay with our tribe.” And with that he vanished, fading into the forest like a blade of grass in a meadow. A faint tinge of blush hid under Ruby's red coat.

A faint tinge of blush hid under Ruby's red coat. “You meet a deer you like?” Her mother teased, smiling in that way that mothers do.

Ruby smiled back. “Ya. I'm kinda afraid to go back, but I will some day.”

In the bag was an assortment of things: bits, blades, maps... letters.

...more equipment and workers to mine the...

...gryphons are too clever, send...

...worried about Princess Cadence. We may need to shut her up if...

“I had a good bit of money after all that, so I decided to visit the Crystal Empire for a while,” Ruby said, magically fiddling with the fire.

“Wait, hold on,” Medley cut in, leaning forward with an excited grin. “I wanna hear more about this cutie you met in the woods.”

Ruby blushed nearly enough to show through her fur. “I don't even know his name, Medley. I only saw him for, like, five minutes.”

“Fine, fine,” Medley conceded dramatically. “Hide your love life from me.”

Ruby giggled along with the others before continuing her story. “So, anyways. I took an airship from Cloudsdale to Canterlot that night, then got on the first train north.”

“Next,” the secretary said in a cheery tone.

Ruby trotted briskly through the doors to the royal audience chamber, trying hard to stay visible in the uncomfortably large space. “My name is Ruby Pinch,” she announced.

“We welcome thee, little pony.” The undying sovereign of the night said warmly. “What is it you wish to discuss tonight?”

“uh, u-um,” Ruby stammered, entirely unprepared to speak with such an imposing figure.

Luna smiled. This was a nearly universal reaction the first time a pony met her, and it had become something of a routine. “Be at ease, my little pony. Take your time.” She lowered herself to her belly and ruffled her wings, looking a little above her guest to lessen the weight of her gaze.

Ruby turned her eyes to the stained glass windows that encircled the room, the memories of Equestria’s champions, old and new. One caught her attention over the others, a young pegasus filling the empty heart of an old hag with joy long forgotten below a bust of none other than Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. 

“We like that one,” Luna said, startling Ruby back to the present.

“Princess Cadence is in danger!” Ruby shouted before shyness could silence her again.

Luna was standing in front of her before Ruby saw her leave the throne. “And what has shown you this?” she asked, all gentleness and mirth gone in an instant.

Ruby squeezed her eyes shut and spilled the bag’s contents across the floor. The princess slowly examined the items strewn before her, carefully reading each letter and map with exacting detail. 

After several minutes Luna turned back to Ruby. “We thank you for this warning, fair Ruby, but how did you come upon these artifacts?” 

Ruby struggled to find her words, and to stop the sudden shivering terror that filled her heart at the thought of Luna learning of her past and profession. The god-pony cut her stuttering off, gently placing a hoof over Ruby’s lips. “We will find what we need in the Dream Time,” she said softly. “Now, Sleep.”

Ruby took another sip of wine and shivered almost imperceptibly. Berry wrapped a foreleg around her shoulders. “You okay, Honey?”

“Ya, I’m fine,” Ruby assured her mother, snuggling closer. “I was just remembering how cold the Crystal Empire was. I mean, I know it’s in the arctic, but it’s seriously, like, the coldest place ever.”

Ruby awoke to howling wind and biting cold. A faint echo bounced around in her head, just out of reach. When she opened her eyes she was met by the moon, shining bright amongst an endless field of stars. Snow covered the land, reflecting so much light it nearly turned the night to day. Far down at the base of the mountain she found herself on was Gem, capital of the Crystal Empire. With a hop, and a bit of antifriction magick, she sent herself skittering down the mountainside as fast as gravity could take her.

“For some reason they put the train station almost a quarter of a league out of town,” Ruby recalled. “The path was pretty well trodden, though, so it was easy enough to find my way.”

Toasty chuckled. “why would they do that?” He wondered aloud. “The Empire reappeared over a decade ago; it's not like they haven't had the time.”

Ruby giggled in agreement. “I know, right? It sure makes you appreciate being inside though.”

The palace was dark, very dark. Fortunately, Ruby didn't need light to see at night. The crystal halls glowed brightly with the magick of the slumbering goddess and the adoration of her subjects. The princess herself was beautiful, three layers of mellow pastels wrapped in a blanket of shimmering blue, courtesy of her husband, Prince Shining Armor.

Ruby sat silently in a quiet corner of the most secure room in the Crystal Empire while it's rulers slept peacefully, obliviously. Three days hunting, three nights watching, Ruby stalked her prey. She had come to know every one of the crystal guards by name and habit. Six changelings, three unicorns and a pegasus served in addition to the numerous crystal ponies. A commander of the empire's royal army, one Spectral Flux, was visiting and slept in a smaller chamber just down the hall. ‘Beauty matched only by her mastery of siege’ the guards liked to say.

A shimmering drew Ruby's attention. Yellow magick, wild and free, slunk stealthily through the window. A faint scent of roan barriers and sea salt whispered hints of potions. The sweet smells of almond and hemlock told of poison.

Under the full moon thunder shook the city and the whole of the crystal palace blazed with light.

Finishing the last of her wine ruby set the glass aside. “I actually met Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor.”

“Really!?” her audience chorused.

“Ya,” Ruby replied with quiet exuberance. “They even invited me to have lunch with them at a local café.”

“No way,” Medley gasped in disbelief. “Ooh, I’m so jealous!”

“I can't believe this,” Cadence complained. “Why would somepony try to assassinate me!”

“Money,” Ruby answered, earning a glare from Shining Armor.

“Don't think we trust you just because you stopped the other assassin,” the guard captain turned prince snapped. “For all we know you were just trying to take the contract for yourself.” Eleven guards dead, five still unaccounted for, and two assassins found in the royal chambers was a bit too much for Shining Armor to handle at two in the morning.

“Your highness,” the royal cryptologist interrupted, distracting the prince from his anger. “We believe this paper is from Neigeria, and the ink is undoubtedly Saddle Arabian.”

A sudden explosion blasted the door off of the impromptu interrogation chamber where the other captive was being ‘talked to’.

Ruby couldn’t help but giggle again. It was always so uplifting to spend time with her family. “Thats where I got the berries; they gave me some crystal berry wine and I mentioned that I was from a family of vignerons so she gave me some berries for making wine.”

“Wow, I just can't believe you actually had lunch with royalty.”

“And so casually!”

“Five hundred a head.”

“What?” Shining Armor was so caught out he didn't even try to sound defensive.

Ruby grinned at getting the prince off center. “Five hundred bits a head,” Ruby elaborated. “Plus another three if it has wings or five if it uses sorcery. Zebras are twelve, cause they don't always die when you kill them.”

Cadence stepped in, cutting her husband off before he could really lose his cool. “Are you trying to sell a contract on the pony who hired you to kill me?”

Ruby laughed softly, she had Cadence right where she wanted her. “I was ‘hired’ to protect you, and I wouldn't go after Princess Luna no matter what you payed me.”

“I had only been there for, like, three days, when a zebra came through town,” Ruby said, accepting a second glass of wine.

“Really?” Toasty asked in surprise. “A zebra in the Crystal Empire?”

A vast sea of green spread out from the strange platow Ruby found herself on. The cacophony of dawn in a teeming jungle filled the crisp, high altitude air. “Stop teleporting me across the world without warning!” she screamed generally northward. Turning back to the endless expanse of trees she frowned. “Now what am I supposed to do?”

A minute's contemplation later a flash followed by a fillyish squeak drew Ruby's attention. Beside her she found a flustered and disoriented crystal pony. “Ugh, I hate teleportation,” she said, blinking to clear her vision. She looked up and noticed Ruby staring at her. “Hi, I'm here to keep an eye on you and-” Ruby vanished instantly. “Dang it!”

“The locals were pretty leery of her,” Ruby recalled, sipping at her second glass of wine and watching the crackling fire. “I guess they'd probably never seen a crystal pony before.”

“I'd think not,” Toasty agreed. “That's about as far from the Crystal Empire as you can get and still be in charted lands.”

The village, like so many others, looked deserted, but Spectral Flux's keen eyes could see zebras hiding in nearly every building. “Hello?” she called “Why are you all afraid of me? I mean you no harm!”

A small group of zebras approached warily, spears at the ready. Strangely, none of them had their spears trained on her. “We don want you here, Blood Diamond.”

Flux ignored their rude demeanor. “A zebra tried to assassinate the Princess of Love,” she said calmly. “I'm here to find who sent her.”

The leader of the group took a step forward. “We got nothin to say to you, Blood Diamond. Death follows behind you like a bloody shadow. Go back where you come from.”

Flux opened her mouth to press the issue, but stopped when a red haze materialized beside her. “We need to find whoever made this,” Ruby said as she materialised, holding up her cloud-walk charm.

The zebras recoiled from Ruby's arrival, terror clear in their grimacing faces. The apparent leader, however, hardly flinched. “You be hunt’n demons, Blood Diamond. Day gonna eat you up like you was never there.”

Flux stood tall and narrowed her eyes. “The perfect prey for me.”

“You got lost in Neigeria?” Medley grasped, covering her mouth with a hoof.

“Ya,” Ruby replied shyly. “That's how we got to Camarein though.”

“Remember,” Spectral Flux cautioned, giving Ruby the crystal cylinder she had been fiddling with for the last few minutes, “you never saw this, you never planted it in the middle of that cloud city, and you definitely never pushed that button and ran like your tail was on fire to get out afterwards, got it?”

“Got it,” Ruby replied, hefting the surprisingly heavy device in her magick. “Definitely not planting a Crystal Empire bomb in an allied city.”

“It's not a bomb,” Flux corrected, “it's a beacon. The bombs are up there.” She pointed up to the midnight moon, high upon its throne of stars. “Oh, and this area was always everfree; the bombs, that definitely didn't come from the moon, had absolutely nothing to do with it.”

Ruby was startled from her memories by the thud of a landing pegasus. All eyes turned to see a young house guard. The scroll and pigeon crest on his extra-light flight cuirass identified him as a Joy Bringer, a messenger from the House of Laughter.

Silence reigned for a moment while the messenger caught his breath. “Get to the storm shelters, quickly,” he said at last, wings raised and quivering, ready to take flight at a moment’s notice. “We're under attack.”

All at once the stillness shattered. The fire was quenched and the wine corked. Halfway to the house Berry Punch stopped, realising her daughter wasn’t among the retreating ponies. “Ruby, common!” she cried, confusion and panic welling in her heart.

“I need to help fight.” Ruby replied with a calm that only served to further confuse her mother.

“Fight?” Berry exclaimed. “You're a gardener! What are you gonna do, criticize their trowel use?”

Ruby scrunched up her face. “I-” she stammered, tears welling up in her eyes. “I can't-”

Berry ran back and gave Ruby a tight hug. “Ruby, honey, I’m your mother,” she said softly, nuzzling Ruby’s cheek. “You can tell me anything.”

Ruby released the hug, holding her mother's hooves in her own. “Mom, I'm sorry; I've been lying to you, about a lot of things.”

Berry Punch frowned. “Like what?”

Ruby took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I'm not an agricultural consultant,” she said with conviction.

“I figured that out awhile ago.”

“I'm an assassin, Mom.”

Berry's breath caught in her throat. “An... assassin?”

Ruby took a step back and turned. Her flank shimmered with dissolving magick, and as the modified camouflage spell broke, the cutie mark of Ruby Pinch was seen for the first time by any. A masquerade mask, half blue half yellow, with it’s eyes closed to the world, adorned her hip.

Berry sighed heavily. “I have something to to give you before you leave,” she said. “Come inside, quickly.” She ran to the house, Ruby following close behind.

They quickly found their way to the sitting room. The full moon shone brightly through the large bay window that doubled as a sofa. Paintings of family and distant lands hung over shelves of books and knickknacks collected over the years. 

“Ruby, here,” Berry said, calling Ruby’s attention back to the present, and her grandfather’s favorite cloak clasp: a flat, silvery oval, one hoof wide by two long. A mid-sized ruby, grown to a matching oval, was held in a hole in the middle by four tiny golden struts.

Ruby took the heirloom in her magick, holding it close. “What do I need Grampy’s cape clasp-”

“Anima,” Berry corrected, placing a hoof on her daughter’s shoulder. “That’s your grandfather’s anima.”

“His... Anima?” Ruby repeated quietly. “As in, ancient Unicornian soulknife anima? As in, hasn’t been used since the Discordian War anima?”

“Yes,” Berry confirmed. “He told you all of his stories; if it still works, I’m sure you can figure out how to use it.” She gave her daughter one last kiss on the forehead before pushing her towards the door. “Now go win the fight for me. Go!”

Ruby grinned and made for the exit. “I’ll make grandfather proud!” she called over shoulder before vanishing into the air.

“I know you will, darling,” berry said softly, a small smile holding resolutely to her mouth. “It’s in your blood.”


*******


The world sped by in a blur of formless color. Anti-friction shields let Ruby’s hooves skim over the ground and a cascade of unfocused magical force pushed her across the mountainside like a red rocket. 

She held the gleaming anima close at her side, recounting her grandfather’s tales of adventure and excitement while trees and boulders zipped by at lightning speed. 

“Grampy Magpie, tell me about the time you fought the giant crab!” little Ruby insisted, jumping up and down on the couch she was supposed to be napping on.

“I'll do one better,” her grandfather replied with a grin. “How about the time your ancestor, Lord Polaris, fought against the forces of Discord.”

Ruby stopped bouncing to stare at her grandpa. “Am I really related to Lord Polaris?”

The battle was beginning to come into view. Roiling clouds of crimson rage rose high into the air, mixing with an immense, turquoise field of pegasus magick the likes of which Ruby had never seen. Bolts of hot, black lightning cracked the sky like blades of screaming agony cutting through a sea of fear.

“Remember, my little gem,” Grandfather would often say, “no matter where you are, the power of your friends flows through your horn. That's how you lift your toys, and that's how Celestia raises the sun.”

The thunder of cannon fire drowned the cries of battle, but were themselves dwarfed by peals of thunder. Below, the blinding star of Dinky Do scorched the field.

Grandpa Magpie stood with one hoof on the coffee table, gesturing with a grand sweep to an imaginary field as he reenacted the scene. “He raised his head definitely against the twisted horrors that were once his fellows and declared with all his might…”

The anima hummed as Ruby recalled the story. Careening recklessly down the mountainside, she spoke the next line aloud. “I stand tall upon the hill, a unicorn alone!” As she spoke a second voice joined with Ruby's, full of thunder and pride. “They do weep, who visit on me wrath, for I am the tower, and they the grass!” The ruby at the heart of the anima blazed with light. Bright magick fields from both anima and unicorn merged into one. A surge of power rose up in Ruby’s heart and poured out through her horn. 

The battle lines below met with fury and thunder. Cannons and grenades lent their voices to the ship guns that shook the sky under the unnatural maelstrom above, and from the mountain came a magick not seen in a millennium: the magick of war.

> Chapter 9: And the horse I rode in on.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 9: And the horse I rode in on. 


Scootaloo slept restlessly in her medicated cloudbed. Even under the regenerative magics, or possibly because of them, her entire body itched like mad. She woke again and glanced groggily out the steel framed window at the blazing orange sunset. Wisps of cloud glowed pinkish purple as they drifted across the sky.

A familiar, silky voice drew Scootaloo’s attention to the other side of the bed. “I still can’t get your eye color right.” 

A pegasus stood beside her in the darkened room. A midnight purple flight suit clung to her sinuous body. Her strong, skyblue wings fluttered restlessly at her sides with post flight jitters. Her windswept rainbow mane rustled softly as she peeled the black hood from her head.

“Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo mumbled sleepily, briefly rubbing her eye with a bandaged hoof in an attempt to clear her still blurry vision.

“It’s been too long, kid,” Rainbow replied, giving Scootaloo a gentle nuzzle on the unburned patch where her goggles had covered the bridge of her snout. “It’s good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you too, Dash,” Scootaloo replied, her voice still raspy and weak from the smoke and fire she inhaled just yesterday. 

Rainbow Dash walked around the bed to the window. “I wish I could say I was just here to visit,” she said quietly, gazed out at the sunset. “Moon Butt and Big Sexy have me flying errands from The Rookery all the way up to Fjord-vill and back; price of being the best, I guess.”

“So,” Scootaloo began hesitantly, “If you’re not just visiting…”

Rainbow turned away from the window and held up a long hexagonal locket. “Her Royal Moonienes told me to give this to you,” she said, placing the locket on the bedside table and giving Scoot a smile. “I don’t know what it is, but she said you’ll figure it out.” 

Scootaloo chuckled softly. “I’ll never get over how sexy your voice is now.”

Rainbow blushed slightly, but laughed along. “Ya, well, that's just part of growing up, I guess.” She turned and opened the window. “Anyway, I gotta fly. I’ll come visit again when I get the chance.”

Scootaloo awoke to the sound of careful hoof steps. “Is she sleeping?” she heard her attending nurse whisper.

“No, I’m awake,” Scoot replied, poking her head out from under a layer of cloud. The nurse was standing in the doorway with a dinner tray resting on her back. Her white coat reflected the warm pinks and soft reds of the sunset.

“Where did this come from?” Scootaloo turned to see her mother holding a long hexagonal locket in her scarlet hoof. Her flaxen mane fluttered in the chilly breeze coming through the open window.

Scootaloo smiled. “It’s a gift Rainbow gave me once.”


*******


“Are you sure leaving Quick Fix up there all by herself was a good idea?” Ditzy Doo asked Sweetie Belle as they approached the Pie family house.

“What do you mean?” Sweetie replied innocently, distracted by the stark contrast between the ultramodern airshipyard behind her, the quaint and rustic homestead in front of her and the massive bazaar of canvas tents and wooden wagons beyond. 

“Well, Pip just seems a bit protective of his ship,” Ditzy explained, “our ship I guess, and it seems to me that he might not take finding her sitting next to the ship’s vault, tinkering with the thing that was in the vault, terribly well.”

Sweetie took a moment to consider that while she climbed the few steps to the porch. “You do have a point,” she relented, magically opening the door to the farmhouse, “but, it was entirely within my authority as first officer, and in following Pip’s orders.”

Ditzy followed her in, closing the door with a wing. “You should at least leave a note or something so he doesn’t freak out if he gets back first.”

“G’day.” A husky, yet distinctly female, voice called their attention to a long desk, behind which stood a thinly built, amber coated diamond dog wearing a carmine silk vest. “Welcome to the Everparty.”

Sweetie Belle was stunned into silence. All of her experience with Equestria’s dog people had been in conflicts of one form or another, which ended in blood far more often then she would like to admit. To be so casually, even politely, greeted by one was so unexpected that she was at a loss for even a reaction, let alone a reply.

Ditzy, on the other hoof, was not so affected. “Good evening,” she said with a smile. “We’re just here for some shopping and relaxation. Are any of the sisters around?”

“Oh, sorry, love,” the dog replied, leaning on the desk in a relaxed slouch. “Inky just stepped out. If you wanna to wait a bit, Blinkie and Maud should be here- oh, right now apparently,” she amended, gesturing to the hall that led towards the back of the house, and a dark gray mare making her way towards them. 

The mare gave the slightest smile and nod. “Hay,” she said placidly.  "Blinky felt something weird in the flint field; she’ll probably be out there for a while.”

“Ditzy,” Sweetie Belle whispered through clenched teeth “am I hallucinating, or is that a friendly chien-garou behind the desk.”

Ditzy couldn’t help but laugh a little; she was so used to the diamond dogs of the Everparty that she often forgot how most of Equestria viewed their kind. “One of many,” she said softly into Sweetie Belle’s ear, “Pinkie Has a smile for every face, as they say.” 

Leaving Sweetie to gather her thoughts, Ditzy trotted over to bump hooves with Maud. “Long time no see,” she said with a smile. “How are things on the farm?”

“Nice,” Maud replied, slipping behind the counter. “Things are comparatively mellow at the moment. It’s... nice.” Having said her part, the enigmatic mare busied herself with some papers.

Ditzy returned to Sweetie Belle and ushered her towards the exit with a wing. “Let’s leave these nice ladies to their work,” she said, eager to begin their night of fun.


*******


Trixie stood motionless, expressionless. Her mind spun sickeningly. Where am I? In the distance she saw a familiar mountain, the same one she once worked by during her time on the rock farm oh so long ago. The land was nearly barren then, but now a vast spectacle of light sprawled out from the mountain’s face. So much light, so much joy.

The ephemeral threads of reality slowly rewove themselves around her. She was standing on a ship, an airship. Surrounding it were more ships, dozens more, all loaded to bear for battle, all headed for the mountain.

Somewhere in the background somepony screamed. The voice was full of pain and terror… and rage. 

“This is wrong,” she whispered. The nightmares of the past weeks suddenly became horrifyingly real, every life needlessly taken and every atrocity committed now stained her hooved and her mind. Tears welled up in her eyes. “What have I done?” 

They all deserved it. A cloying shadow in the back of her mind slithered through her thoughts. Somewhere behind her a haunting melody drifted across the deck, full of oily, inequine words that Trixie couldn’t entirely hear. The world can be yours. Just follow the music. Just as quickly as clarity came, it vanished, replaced by timeless echoes of some unknowable language, binding her mind like icy shackles.

Help me!


*******


“Wow this place is big,” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, mostly to herself. The party was reaching its daily peak as the sun set. Vendor’s tents and wagons stretched as far as the eye could see, selling everything from crystalline honeysuckle to homemade furniture to specialty colored and scented clouds. Music came from nearly every direction, voices rose and fell in rhythm and every face she saw had a smile.

“You should see it during the Moonlight Masquerade they hold in the winter,” Ditzy shouted over the din of joviality, nudging Sweetie with a wing. “It’s as big a party as you’ll ever see. Oh, and the costumes.”

“Well what are we waiting for?” Sweetie said, rearing in excitement. “Let’s go!” And into the crowd she ran.

Ditzy took to the air and made chace. It took little effort to catch up, and less still to find her alabaster quarry in the multicolor mob, already haggling with a young Mareabian colt over a cashmere scarf. Landing, however, was not as simple in the crowded market.

Sweetie Belle didn’t miss a beat as Ditzy landed on her back. “Forty bits just doesn’t sound reasonable; the tassels alone could be a liability in our line of work.”

The sandy colored colt stood on a table of scarves. On the tent’s walls behind him were hung an assortment of woven goods, ranging from saddles and saddlebags to an arrangement of unusual hats and other accessories, all made with the distinctive style and quality that made Saddle Mareabia one of the biggest trading hubs in the known world.

“Surely, madam, you see the value of this material,” the colt replied, only momentarily distracted by the pegasus landing on his client. “It is sure to be the most comfortable scarf you ever perches, and you said it matched your husbands cutiemark. Is a gift for your lover not worth at least thirty five bits?” This colt clearly had a good mentor.

“It is nice fabric,” Sweetie admitted, making a show off examining the scarf, “and the craftsmareship is also quite good, but I’ve seen my sister, Rarity, sell similar pieces for twenty bits set rate.” And there was the celebrity discount. 

The colt glanced up at the Seltenheit, looming overhead, and back to Sweetie Belle. “Let us make it Forty-five bits and I will give saddlebag of your choice for no charge. That is fair and generous, yes?”

Sweetie smiled and presented a hoof. “I think so, yes.”

The colt returned her smile, though with less sincerity, and bumped the offered hoof with his own. “Now,” he said abruptly and jumped to a table covered with silk sashes above which hung the saddlebags, “which of these lovely saddlebags would you most like?”

Sweetie hemmed and hawed for a bit out of principle, but her decision had been made at the first mention of bags. “I think I’ll have the white one with the amaryllis pattern, please.”

“Ah! An excellent choice, madam,” the colt said enthusiastically, skillfully flicking the bag from it’s hook to the counter with a stick. 

“Thank you,” Sweetie Belle said politely, Bits already stacked neatly on the counter.

“You are quite welcome,” the colt replied, fake smile clinging tenuously to his face while Sweetie gathered her prizes into her bag. 

They made their way through the market with relative ease. Ditzy managed to land before too long and fell in step beside Sweetie. 

“Your turn,” Sweetie said as Ditzy came up beside her. “Where to next?”

“No way to tell,” Ditzy replied. “The vendors change all the time, but that’s part of the fun!”

“Okay, keep your eyes open for a book seller or anypony who might have a table orrery.”

“Hay!” A gryphon called through the market noise, his long, slender legs allowing him to step over much of the crowd. “Did you say you were looking for an orrery?” He stood intentionally low, bringing his head closer to pony height. His white head feathers formed a crown-like crest on the back of his head and his yellow-orange eye-rings matched his spotted coat and lent a primal intensity to his otherwise friendly gaze. His pronounced Greiflander accent didn’t match his savanna look at all. 

Though she had read about them, this was Sweetie’s first time seeing a Zebrabwean gryphon. At least, she assumed he was Zebrabwean. “Ya,” she answered, somewhat later than she would have preferred. “Do you know a good seller?”

“My sister,” he replied. “She deals in all manner of clockwork mechanisms, including orreries. Follow, she is this way.” He led them a short ways to a quieter part of the market and a line of vendors, mostly selling airship paraphernalia and navigation equipment. They stopped at a gypsy wagon which displayed a variety of wall clocks and standing orreries under its awning. “Allow me to introduce my sister, Rana,” he said with a grandiose gesture, enhanced further by his lengthy limbs, “meister of gears and keeper of time.”

“Shut up, Dinar.” The gryphon sitting by the wagon was similarly built and colored, and wore green tribal face paint. Sweetie recognized the pattern as being from one of the independent clans that refused to join the empire of Greif, but couldn’t place which one. “Welcome to Ragnar’s Clocks and Clockwork. Ignore Dinar, he’s the dumb one.”

Ditzy and Sweetie giggled as Dinar began to puff up. “Hey!” the unpainted gryphon exclaimed, flaring his impressively large wings and rising to his full height. “I just brought you customers! Plus I’m, like, ninety percent of your advertisement!”

“As only a party foul can be.” Rana smiled as her brother puffed his cheeks and stomped away in frustration, but paid him no further mind. “So how can I help you lovely ladies tonight?”

“I’m looking for a table orrery, something I can use for magick, but which won’t get in the way on a small airship.”

The gryphon pointed to a large wooden cabinet attached to the side of the wagon. “These are all we have ready at the moment, but we are happy to make custom pieces too. I don’t know much about unicorn magick, unfortunately, so I can’t really tell you what would be best suited for you.”

Through the cabinet’s ornate glass doors Sweetie could see a wide range of orreries, astrolabes, sextants and other celestial tracking apparati. She wasn’t quite sure what to look for either, but she figured she would know it when she found it. 

“May I see this one on a table please?” Sweetie said, indicating one of the more robust looking orreries with a hoof. 

“My pleasure,” the shopkeeper replied, opening the cabinet. “This design is based on the ones used by the Equestrian army’s unicorn artillery corps.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Sweetie Belle said. “Where are you from?”

Rana placed the orrery on the table with unnecessary care and sighed. “Silly me, thinking I could get through a whole day without that question.”

“Sorry,” Sweetie said quickly. “I didn’t mean to impose.”

“It’s fine,” Rana said, fidgeting aimlessly with the orrery. “Me and my brother were hatched by Vati Ragnar in Wachteltal. That’s about two days flight north from Greif, and a bit east.”

“That’s in one of the freeholds, right?” Ditzy interjected.

“Clan Jade Falcon, ya,” the gryphon confirmed. “Anyway, I don’t want to go into the details, but Vati found us as eggs and raised us. All we have from our real parents is our mother’s journal, which we can’t read because it’s not in Greifen or Equestrian.”

“You know,” Sweetie said, “there’s a pretty good chance I have a book, friend or connection that could translate that for you. Do you know what language it is?”

“A zebra I met a while ago said it looked like an offshoot of Okapia, but she wasn’t sure.” The gryphon turned and gave her customers a half-hearted smile. “Anyway, orreries?”

“Right,” Sweetie said, taking another look at the item on the table. “I’ll take this one. I think I want a pocket astrolabe too.”

“Hey, Sweetie Belle,” Ditzy called, “have a look at this.”

Sweetie found her looking at a display of unusual and novelty items. “Find something interesting, Ditzy?”

“Absolutely,” Ditzy replied enthusiastically, pointing to a hoof sized metal box. “Look at this. Each of these rings on the face are written in a different language. The text on the inner one is ancient Unicornian. I only recognize two of the symbols, pony and dragon, but it’s definitely Unicornian. The middle and outer ones, I think, are in thaumaturgical runes and pre-tribal pegasus leaf writing.”

While Ditzy chattered away like a university filly at her first dig, Sweetie examined the object. It was a curious contraption to be sure: three inscribed rings dominated the face of a hoof sized metal box, like a clock that tracked years instead of minutes. On the reverse it had several dials and a solitary inscription across the bottom. “An-ti-ky-ther-a.” She muttered, carefully shaping each sound.

Ditzy suddenly stopped her chattering. “You can read it?”

“Only this part,” Sweetie said, highlighting the inscription on the bottom with her magic. “It reads ‘Antikythera’ in Draconian. I think.”

Rana appeared beside Sweetie in a flutter and caught her in a piercing, orange rimmed, gaze. “Where did you learn to read this?”

Sweetie recoiled, the primal part of her brain recognized the gaze of a predator and begged her to run. “From... Twilight Sparkle?” It wasn’t meant as a question, but she didn’t care. 

Rana took to the air with a quick flap. “Dinar, get over here!” she roared over the crowd before dropping back to the ground. 

“They found that under the mountain with a bunch of other stuff, including a book,” Rana said excitedly. “We didn’t even know what language it was so we planted the stuff we found around the market hoping someone would recognize the writing. I guess it worked.”

Dinar hit the ground like a lightning bolt, wings raised and ready for a fight. “What? What happened?”

“She can read it, Dinar,” Rana said, her wings fluttering in excitement. “The thing from the vault. The unicorn can read it.”

Dinar’s posture changed from aggressive to excited in the blink of an eye. “The text on the back?”

“Yes,” Rana said, taking the device from the table and tossing it to her brother. “Eureka has the book this week. Take them to see if they can read that too.” 

Denar grabbed a satchel from behind one of the wagon’s wheels and slung it around his neck. “Is she still under the arch?” he asked, placing the device in the bag.

“No, she moved west of stage four yesterday,” Rana replied, flicking a switch on the orrery which caused it to collapse in on itself. 

“Got it,” Dinar acknowledged with a nod. “My dear ladies, this way please.”

Rana turned to Sweetie, offering her the collapsed orrery. “You can pay me later. I wanna know if you’re for real.”

The pace was quick, thanks to Denar’s long legs,  and the path was relatively easy. They found their goal quickly: a large, blue pavilion tent the size of a small house. It was set up in a sparse portion of the market, somewhat distanced from the ruckus of crowds and music. An A-frame sign out front showed an image of a dark blue bird and an open book. 

“This is it, ladies. Stellar Scriptures,” Denar announced, ducking through the entrance.

Inside the tent drifting fairy motes unevenly illuminated dozens of bookshelves, arranged in a Solar Radiance pattern; shelves radiating out from a central sitting area much farther than the size of the tent would suggest. 

Reclining on a cushion in the middle of the lounge was a candy mained periwinkle unicorn, reading two books at once and taking notes on a pad of paper. She glanced up from her reading as they entered. “Dinar,” she said with a smile. “How lovely to see you.” She noted the page numbers before putting her books down and standing to greet her guests. 

Dinar pulled the device from his bag and tossed it to her, grinning. “Eureka, they can read it.”

The unicorn caught it in her magick and scowled at Dinar. “How many times must I tell you not to throw...” She blinked. “Did you say they can read it?”

The gryphon nodded. “The inscription on the back. The one we couldn’t identify.”

Eureka quickly rearranged the cushions in the sitting area into four seats facing a conspicuously large pile. “I’ll be right back with the book.” She said before scampering away through the shelves and out of sight. 

Dinar gestured to the cushions and smiled. “ladies?”

“Thank you,” Ditzy said, claiming one of the outer seats for herself. “You know, your sister should really give you more credit. You’re a consummate gentle sir at the very least.”

“And you, madam, are one of the brightest minds of your generation, if I’m not mistaken?” Dinar smirked, to what little degree one can smirk with a beak, and took the cushion beside her. 

Sweetie could barely contain her giggling as Ditzy blushed and hid her face under a wing. 

Dinar lifted her chin with a finger. “And, I might add, an inspiration to many a wandering bard, such as myself.”

“I swear to Twilight, Dinar. If I catch you flirting with any more of my customers I’m gonna start charging you admission.” All eyes turned to Eureka, then to the dog who followed behind her, and the enormous book he carried. 

Ditzy and Sweetie were at a loss for words. The book was massive, as tall as an average mare, if not taller, but still proportioned like any normal sized dictionary. The reddish brown cover had a pattern reminiscent of reptilian scales but was otherwise featureless. There was no title to be seen.

Dinar leaped to his feet to help the dog move his burden to the mound of pillows the seats were facing. “You’re just jealous,” he quipped.

Eureka bristled. “Thank you Dinar, please put the book over there. Gently.” she took a seat by Ditzy and offered her a sympathetic smile. “If you need me to smack some sense into him just let me know.” 

“Oh its fine,” Ditzy said, waving a wing dismissively. “So, giant book?” 

Sweetie walked up to the book as Dinar helped the dog prop it up on the mound of pillows and ran her hoof across the cover. “Ditzy,” she said, “do you know of any historical groups who bound books in dragon skin?”

All eyes turned to her. “I thought dragon skin was supposed to be super hard,” Dinar said. 

“It’s very tough,” Sweetie agreed, opening the book to the first page. “But if it’s properly cared for it’s still pretty soft... What?” She looked around at the disbelieving faces of what had become her audience. “I used to date one, okay? I know what it feels like.” Looking back to the book she examined the page in her hooves. It was a light beige, and not quite even in tone. “Dinar,” she said, “does this feel like parchment to you?”

Dinar ran the page between his fingers and hummed to himself. “Ya,” he said at length. “It’s not sheep, nor goat.” He looked at Sweetie for a moment, clearly thinking, then ran his fingers across her shoulder. “I think its... pony,” he said cautiously.

The ponies in the room squirmed and made a variety of displeased noises. The Diamond Dog seemed the least affected. “What’s at say?” he asked, pointing to an inscription on the second page.

The letters were, as expected, huge. Written to scale with the massive book. “Leiber Draconum,” Sweetie read slowly, her pronunciation caifull, “per Antikythera.” She looked back at the others with a wide grin. “The Book of Dragons by Antikythera. Antikythera is the name of the dragon who wrote this and, presumably, made that device. That’s why it didn’t look anything like any of the words I do know.”

“Turn the page please, Harvy,” Eureka said. “Let’s see what this dragon had to say.”

Sweetie Belle and Dinar took their seats and Sweetie began to read. “Prohoemium,” she read. “Well this is off to a rocky start, I’m not too sure about that one… Oh! Eureka do you have a copy of Auspex Encephalon?”

“Never heard of it,” she replied. “Who’s the author?”

“D’ür Rägnifa,” Sweetie answered.

“That’s a strange name.” A pulse of midnight blue magic spread from Eureka’s horn across the book shelves, leaving a brief sparkle on each book before dissipating. “I don’t have it here,” she said with no small amount of disappointment. She stood and made for the door. “I’ll see if anypony around the market has one.”

“Thanks,” Sweetie called before turning back to the book. “Let’s see what we can decipher in the meantime.” 



*******


“Welcome, fair Apple Bloom,” Dinky said dramatically from her perch on Apple Bloom’s back with a theatrical wave across the assembly of wooden buildings before them, “to The Grand Bazaar.” 

The Grand Bazaar was, indeed, grand. The arching cave mouth was big in that vertigo inducing way that defied measurement, and the floor was wall to wall with buildings. The entire upper third was carved in an intricate mural, nearly a fathom deep in some places,  that looked like the product of a rock warper’s fever dream. 

The carvings at the cave’s mouth depicted ponies emerging from hills, clouds and stars and rushing into the sea, or maybe at it. Further in, ponies clad in armor were depicted doing battle against twisted, nightmarish horrors. 

“Land sakes,” Apple Bloom muttered. 

“Pretty cool, huh.” Dinky rested her chin on Apple Bloom’s head. “Nopony knows who made it; it just kinda appeared one night. I’ve heard some ponies think it’s some kind of prophecy.” 

“Ah sure hope not,”Apple Bloom mused. “That’s an awful lot of violence.” 

“Apple Bloom, you’re a pirate,” Dinky remarked, swatting playfully at Apple Bloom’s bow. 

“That was Sweetie Belle’s idea,” Apple Bloom said defensively. “She’s a sweetheart, to be sure, but she can be a real firecracker too.”

“Dinky!” a young voice pulled their attention away from the ceiling. A green colt, blank flanked and red caped, came barreling around a market stall and nearly ran headlong into Apple Bloom’s leg. “Aunty Dinky, Dad’s been waiting for you!” the colt said, bouncing in place. “He got some stuff from National Fabrications and he wants you to help test it out! Common!” He didn’t even wait for a reply before darting off through the stalls.

Dinky jumped off Apple Bloom’s back and ran after the colt. “Move your hooves!” she called over her shoulder. The moment she rounded the corner, however, she was jumped by three colts who easily drove her to the ground in a ball of dust, capes and tickling. 

Apple Bloom smiled as she approached. The scene played out in much the same way it had when she was a filly bugging the grownups back home with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. They even had the same capes.

“Enough!” Dinky laughed. “Let me up!” With a pulse of golden magick the colts floated into the air.

“Hay, no fair!” One of the kids, a blue unicorn, pouted. The green one just giggled as he bumped into a nearby stall. The red one, a pegasus, buzzed the little wings that had been hiding under his cape, using Dinky’s levitation field to fly around in a happy little circle.

Dink regained her hooves and dusted herself off a bit. “Apple Bloom, I’d like to introduce Lock,” the unicorn smiled brightly, then returned to pouting at Dinky, “Stock,” the earth pony waved and pointed at his face, “and Barrel.” The pegasus struck a heroic pose and performed an erratic little loop, “The Action Brothers.”

Apple Bloom laughed. “Pleasure to make your acquaintances.”

Dinky released her magick and they dropped to the ground with a collective yelp, Barrel only slightly slower than his brothers. “Alright, boys. Let’s go see your dad.”

Following the shorty parade through the market made Apple Bloom feel like a mamma hen herding her chicks. A feeling she found she actually fancied a bit more than she thought she would.

Now that she was passed the initial awe of the magnificent carving across the top of the cavern, Apple Bloom was able to get a better look at the market. The stalls were mostly wood, giving more of a feeling of permanence than the canvas metropolis that dominated the land outside the cave. 

The sounds of a forge and foundry drifted up from the depths with a distinctive rhythm reminiscent of the garbage band that was playing outside. The smell of molten metal and pulverized stone wafted through the air. 

The hustle and bustle was still present, but to a lesser degree. Clothing, mostly protective working gear and styles from Detrot and Manehatten, was quite prominent, lending to the impression of a worker’s market. Broun vested pegasi with flat caps crisscrossed above, all with carts or bags of some sort.

“Hay, Dinky,” Apple Bloom said. “All them pegasi work for the mines?”

“Couriers for hire,” Dinky replied.

“Like if you buy more stuff than you can carry,” Lock quickly interjected.

“Oh, that reminds me,” Apple Bloom said. She stopped and fished a list out of her saddlebag. “Ah got a bunch of supplies I gotta get for the ship.”

Barrel flutter-scrambled up onto Apple Bloom's back and looked over her shoulder at the list. “You can get most of that stuff from Antimony’s place,” he said. “But you’ll wanna get the gears and stuff from Ragnar’s. Dad has the ammo though.”

“Lemme see,” Stock said, propping himself up against Apple Bloom’s free leg to get a better look at the list. After a moment’s consideration he called his other brother over. “Lock you get the stuff from Ragnar; I’m not allowed there anymore. I’ll go to Annie’s. I’m gonna need... about four hundred bits, and Lock needs, like eighty or ninety I think.”

“You've got a pretty good head on you, haven’t you?” Apple Bloom commented. 

Stock stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry at the ground. “Dad makes me do all the accounting.”

Apple Bloom laughed and tore her list into three neat pieces. “Sounds like a good’n, your pa.” She nosed her saddlebag open and fished out an inkpen to fixed the lists with the help of the colts, sending them on there way after a recount of the prices plus a few bits for the couriers. 

“What about you, Barrel?” Dinky asked. “What are you gonna help us with?”

“Ammo,” Barrel replied with a grin.

Dinky lead the way through the market, an eagerness to reach her destination evident in her quick steps. There were loads of interesting shops and stalls along the way, but they passed by each one without slowing. Quite a few ponies (and several others) greeted Dinky by name as they passed, some asking about her mother, more about her gun.

Eventually, rather quickly in fact, they reached their destination: a small stand built into the front of a house sized building. On closer examination it may have actually been a house with a working porch.

“Dinky! You got my letter!” The stallion at the stall was an earthy brown with a short, cinnamon swirl mane. If not for the excitedly fluttering wings on his back Apple Bloom would have thought he was an earth pony. 

“Of course I did,” Dinky said, giving him a quick hug over the counter. “Nopony can escape the Equestrian mail service.”

She gestured to Apple Bloom. “Doubble, this is Apple Bloom.” Then to the brown stallion. “Apple Bloom, Double Action.”

So that’s why they’re called the Action Brothers. “Pleasure to meet ya.”

“Likewise,” Double replied with a smile. “Barrel, down.”

“But, dad, she’s super comfy,” the little pegasus complained, hiding in Apple Bloom’s mane.

Apple Bloom chuckled. “That’s gotta be the first time Ah been called comfy.”

Double Action glared at his son for a few seconds before giving up and turning back to Dinky. “Anyways, here it is,” he said, producing a brass and wood object a bit larger than saddle and placing it gently on the counter “The National Fabrications Earth Pony Canister Rifle prototype, revision nine zero. It’s the first all Equestrian made small arm and the first firearm built specifically for earth ponies.”

“Spiffy,” Dinky said with a smirk, propping herself up on the counter. 

“Let’s start with the big stuff,” Double Action said, guiding dinky through the operation of the weapon. “You have to be on your back two to use it. The back goes against your shoulder for support; remember, its designed for earth ponies so no magick. One hoof goes in this hook in the front and the other goes in the loop behind it. That paddle is the trigger, it’s literally just an enlargement of a gryphon style trigger.”

Dinky did as instructed, leaning against the stall for support so she could focus on the weapon. “This is surprisingly comfortable,” she commented, examining the weapon in her hooves. “Where’s the ammo supply? I don’t see any kind of cylinder or belt feed.”

“A belt can only be so long before it’s too heavy to be practical and cylinders are... challenging with mouth and tongue, so they developed a detachable magazine system. With the lack of dexterity, compared to unicorns or gryphons, it was the best solution.”

“Oh, and that goes in this cutout on top, right?”

“Ya. It’s actually really clever. The magazine lays flat on top, completing the rectangular profile and staying out of the way. The ammunition is held sideways in the magazine, but rotates ninety degrees as it gets fed into the chamber.”

“Uh, Ah’m just gonna go try and figure out what you and Scoots said you wanted.” Apple Bloom said as she shuffled awkwardly towards the ammo counter. 

“Me too!” Barrel called from her back. 

“Alright, let’s see if Ah can figure this out,” Apple Bloom muttered, looking between her list and the shelves of ammunition. 

“What can’tcha figure out?” Barrel asked, looking around Apple Bloom’s neck at the paper on her hoof. 

“What? Oh, Ah just don’t know too much ‘bout guns n’ stuff,” Apple Bloom said, glancing over at Dinky. “Ah mean, Ah know what eight point eight horn fligger flakker whatever looks like.”

“Flugzeugabwehrkanone?” Barrel provided.

“Uh, ya, that. But Ah can’t remember what seven point nine two mil machn’ skewer-”

“Maschinengewehr.”

“Ya. You’re pretty good with that squawk talk ain’tcha?” Apple Bloom said, Turning her attention to her latest passenger.

Barel puffed up proudly. “Can’t sell guns if you can’t speak Greifn,” he said, buzzing over to the counter in a controlled crash. “Plus I loaded, like, half of these.”

Apple Bloom laughed. “Ah feel like a zebra in the Crystal Empire. Why don’t you do my shoppin’ for me so Ah don’t mess it up.”


*******


“Come on, Annie! It’s not a pirate hat if it’s not stolen!” The green crusader wined.

“And it’s not stealing if you pay for it and ask permission before hoof,” the lanky grey proprietress of Antimony’s Metalworks explained. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you.”

“Fine,” Stock grumbled, adding the black, woolen tricorner hat to his cart.

“Why do you need an oversized ‘pirate hat’ anyway?” Antimony asked, totaling up the cost of her little friend’s unusual shopping spree.

“Dinky Doo Has a new friend who’s a giant and a pirate,” Stock answered excitedly. “She might even be half horse!”

Antimony chuckled. “Sure.”


*******


“Simmering Sun Butt, this thing kicks hard,” Dinky remarked, rubbing the shoulder she had been bracing the canister rifle against. 

“Ya, thats what no magick shooting feels like, Dinks,” Double said. “Finish out that magazine and I’ll show you how to reload.”

Dinky brought the weapon back to her shoulder and fired at the steel plate on the sand pile again. “How many rounds does it hold?”

“Seventeen.”

Dinky fired again. “Tell me about the ammo. You said they’re testing several different loads?”

“Not much to say about it.” Double action paused when Dinky took another shot. “Brass can, pouder on the bottom, projectiles wrapped in paper, wax on top to seal it in.” Another shot. “You’re using the flechette rounds right now. The other things they sent me are solid slugs, which kick even harder by the way,” another, “round shot, which is basically useless if you ask me,” two more in rapid succession, which caused another jam, “incendiary, Which is exactly what it sounds like. They only sent me fifty of those and I shot them already.”

Dinky fiddled with the weapon, trying to clear the chamber without using magick. Gotta be authentic right? “Donkeys on unicycles this thing jams a lot,” she grumbled. Eventually she managed to clear the jam. It was the last in the magazine. “Now how do I reload?”

“Donkeys on unicycles,” Double Action snickered. “Uh, use your teeth to push the tabs on either side of the magazine back, then bite the mag and pull it up,” he instructed, pointing out the small levers on the sides of the weapon. “Good. Easy isn't it? Best place I’ve found for the extra mags is your off shoulder. Here I’ll hold it for you." Double held a full magazine against Dinky’s shoulder with his wing and Dinky grabbed it with her mouth. "Now put the end under that tab and give the top a thump.”

Dinky slid the magazine into place and thumped it with her nose, producing an audible click from the magazine retention latch. “Still a little awkward, but you’re right about it being easier than the alternatives,” she said before returning to her persecution of the innocent steel plate.

Back by the stall two pegasi, one yellow and one dusty black, wearing tweed vests and flat caps descended with flatbed trolleys in tow. “I’ve got a delivery for-”

Lock leaped from one of the carts, brimming with enthusiasm. “Hey, Apple... uh... Name.” He blushed at his error but pressed on. "We got all that stuff you needed." 

“Why thank you kindly, Action Name,” Apple Bloom replied.

Stock leaped from the other cart and vaulted off of the head of the pony pulling it. “Pirate hat!” he shouted, slapping a black woolen tricorner hat on Apple Bloom’s head before bouncing off her chest and landing on his back. 

Apple Bloom laughed and helped him to his hooves. “You okay there, partner?”

“Ya, I’m good,” Stock said, coughing a little as air refilled his lungs.

 “Sorry for the wait, fellas. I’ll be with Y’all in a sec,” Apple Bloom said to the porters.

“No worries, ma’am. We’re used to waiting for the kids.”

She turned back to the counter. “Hay, Barrel, you got everything on that list?”

“Ya, you want it in a cart?” Barrel said, popping out from behind some shelving. He snickered. “Nice hat.”

“Thank ya kindly.” Apple Bloom gave a polite nod. “If y’all could get my stuff up to the, uh, up to Rarity’s ship, I’ll get you some ice cream or some such after. How’s that sound?”

“Awesome!” The tree colts cried in unison. They got to organizing the ammunition and loading it into the carts with gusto, and an appropriate degree of caution for the ammo.

“Wow,” one of the porters said with a chuckle, “I haven’t seen them this enthusiastic about work since the last time sompony offered them icecream.”

“Speak of Discord,” his partner cut in, bumping him with a wing. “Hey, Pinkie!” he hollered, waving a hoof.

The pink party paragon pronked towards them, her everlasting smile shining as brightly as ever. “Hiya, Lowrider, Coal Train. Oh my gosh, Apple Bloom! I haven’t seen you in ages! Hi!” She landed in a hug, nuzzling Apple Bloom affectionately.

Apple Bloom leaned into the hug and hummed contently. “Like a little slice of home,” she said, returning the hug and nuzzles eagerly. Eventually the greeting ended. “I can’t tell you how much I needed that.”

“Don't worry, Apple Bloom. She’ll be fine.”

Apple Bloom closed her eyes and sighed. “Ah know, but thanks.”

When she opened her eyes again another pony had appeared. A rather familiar pony. “Oh, uh, hey Applejack.” She tried to smile but it was obviously forced. 

The sisters hadn’t seen eye to eye for years. Applejack hadn’t approved of Apple Bloom using her talent to build a stunt plane for Scootaloo instead of using that time to work on the farm. She hadn’t approved at all when Apple Bloom took a job building, and then working at, the Ponyville airfield. In fact, the last ‘conversation’ they’d had was a shouting match just before she left with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo on the Riggin-boat Flizer, or whatever it’s called.

Applejack looked as uneasy as Apple Bloom felt. “Howdy,” she said at last. 

“how’ve you been?.”

“Fine.”

Apple Bloom shuffled her hooves awkwardly. “How are things on the farm?”

“Fine.”

The Action brothers quietly sent the porters on their way and hid behind the counter as Pinkie’s smile started to get a ‘you’re gonna be friends or I’ll lock you in a closet together’ kind of quality. 

“How... are the kids?” The awkward smiles were starting to strain Apple Bloom’s cheeks. 

“They’re doing fine.” Applejack’s mouth twitched into a ghost of a smile at the mention of her foals. “Had two more since we last, uh, talked.”

“Congratulations!” Apple Bloom’s smile became a little easier to maintain, she was starting to get through to her sister. “That’d make five, right? What’re their names?”

“Thank ya. Soarin named the first one Apple Jamboree and Ah named the other Candy Apple.” Applejack’s small smile stayed a little longer this time, familial pride lightening the weight of the sour memories. “Both earth ponies this time.”

Apple Bloom glanced around nervously, trying to think of something more to say. After a long, awkward silence her brain finally threw her a bone. “By my reckoning there should be a reunion coming up this summer, right?”

“Yup.” Applejack confirmed mechanically.

Apple Bloom dug at the ground. Back to square one. “And... Ah’m invited, right?” She asked hesitantly. She didn't want to offend her sister, but she wasn’t sure if Applejack was still sore at her about leaving the farm. 

Applejack’s eyes widened and she opened and closed her mouth, trying to form words that just wouldn’t come. “Of course ya are, Apple Bloom!” she said at last, grabbing Apple Bloom in a tight hug. “Of course ya are. You're my one and only little sister in the whole wide world. What in Equestria would make you think you weren’t invited?”

Apple Bloom returned the hug and smiled. “You know how Ah worry, Sis. Ah jus wanted to be sure after... what happened.”

Applejack released the hug and held Apple Bloom’s shoulders. She had tears in her eyes. “You done some darn fool things, to be sure, but there ain’t nothin gonna make you any less an Apple, ya hear? We’re Apples to the core, and don’t you forget it.”

“Thanks, Applejack.” Apple Bloom hugged her sister again, years of fear and worry finally began to fade. “You’re the best sister a pony could ever-” She broke from the hug suddenly. Something felt deeply wrong in the earth. 

“You feel that too?” Applejack asked, looking towards the cave mouth. 

Dinky’s voice stole their attention. "A fow comes calling!" she shouted, grinning. A field of golden magick spread from her horn, abducting several horngrenades, a couple swords and four large tubes that Apple Bloom couldn’t identify. “Guh, I need to stop reading so much poetry.”

“Dinky, put this on!” Double Action said, throwing an army green harness to Dinky before pulling a crate of canister rifle magazines from behind the counter and hauling it to the ammo counter.

Lock and Stock rushed to Dinky’s side and helped her into the harness, guiding it over her horn and adjusting the straps to get the fit just right. Barrel, meanwhile, was busy speed loading the magazines his dad had given him. 

“What’s coming?” Lock asked nervously, straping one of the swards to Dinky’s hind leg. 

“Something old and something angry,” Dinky answered, strapping ammo pouches to the harness and filing them with the magazines Barrel had loaded.

Double action flapped over to Dinky and strapped the canister rifle to the harness. “If you assist the bolt and the magazine with your magick you should be able to prevent most of the jams. How much ammo do you think you can carry?”

“Load me up," Apple Bloom cut in. "Ah’ll carry all the ammo you got.”

“Roger that,” Doubble said with a grin. “Boys, get the sixteen can harness!”

The brothers fetched the larger harness, also drab green, from behind the ammunition counter and strapped Apple bloom in. The two hundred fifty round ammo cans locked securely into the metal clamps arranged two by four along her sides and there was still enough space for Dinky’s legs in front of them when she jumped onto Apple Bloom’s back.

“Dinky,” Double action said, hovering beside them, “you can keep one in the chamber when you reload so you don't have to charge it again. It's made for earth pony shock troops and cataphracts, so don't be afraid to bash some heads.”

“Apple Bloom,” Applejack said, giving her sister a brief hug, “You’re not invited to the reunion if you’re dead, ya hear?”

“Don’t worry, Sis,” Apple Bloom said, pulling her new tricorn to sit more aggressively on her head. “Ah’m a pirate.”

From Apple Bloom’s back Dinky cocked the experimental weapon, fire building in her eyes. “Let’s ride!” And they were of like a shot, leaving broken earth and a cloud of dust in their wake.


*******


Icy wind ruffled sandy feathers. The Zwielicht Funkeln drifted south. Twilight stood on the flight deck, staring at the starlit horizon.

“Do you really think it was the Sturmgeist?” Twilight Sparkle’s royal consort, Flash Sentry, pulled his Sokolsky rogatywka tighter to keep it from being blown off his head. 

“I don’t know, Flash, but we’re going to find out.” Twilight took a few steps toward the ramp leading down into the ship but abruptly stopped. 

Help me!

“Did you hear that?” Twilight asked, searching the eastern horizon. 

“Hear what?” Flash followed her gaze, but saw nothing of note. They stood in silence for a long time, staring at the starlit horizon, until a tiny flash caught his attention. “Twi! Signal flare!” he said, grabbing Twilight with a wing and guided her eyes with an outstretched foreleg. 

“A flair? Oh, I see it! Isn’t that Pinkie’s place?” The flair was soon joined by two more, just above it. The pattern was an urgent request for military aid, and it was over one of the largest, most well equipped militias in Equestria. “Flash, range!” 

“Three leagues and change!” he replied, bracing for the inevitable teleportation.

> Chapter 10.1: ...The Storm.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 10.1: ...The Storm.


Ditzy stood outside the bookseller’s tent and ruffled her wings in discomfort. The foreboding storm she and the others were watching felt wrong on a level she just couldn't describe to somepony without feathers. It was like the everfree wrapped in barbedwire. And the barbs were on fire.

“How much do you want for the book?” Sweetie Belle asked Eureka, not taking her eyes from the storm.

The periwinkle bookseller had returned, empty hooved, from her search for a copy of Auspex Encephalon nearly an hour ago. It took her a while to respond. “I was hoping for a thousand,” she said distractedly. “It’s pretty unique, but it’s pretty creepy too... Aren't you concerned about that storm?”

Sweetie finally pulled her gaze away from the approaching tempest. “It’s worth at least three,” she said, fishing a treasury note from her saddlebag and magicing it to Eureka. “This is a note of exchange from the House of Generosity,” she said. “Denar, if you can get the Leiber Draconum to the Seltenheit before that storm hits the flat I’ll pay you half that amount.”

Denar hefted the titanic book and hugged it to his chest, spreading his impressive wings. “In the hope that you translate it, I do this for free.” 

Sweetie Belle retrieved the orrery from her saddlebag and stuffed it into Denar’s satchel. The book weighed him down a bit, but not enough to weaken his bravado. “I will see you upon your glorious victory, good ponies!” he shouted as his wings grasped the sky.

Without warning a bolt of orange light shot past them, tearing a path of fractured earth towards the storm. A sudden tremor in the ground caused the two unicorns to stumble and fall. Ditzy spread her wings to keep her balance.

“Dinky!” Ditzy exclaimed, recognizing her daughter’s distinct candescence in the blazing light. “Sweetie Belle, we need to warn the militia! Something’s coming!” An air raid siren blared its haunting tone somewhere amongst the tents, calling The Party Enjoyment Assurance Brigade to action. “Never mind, we need to help the militia!”

Sweetie pulled the kashmir Mareabian saddlebag out of her rugged Equestrian saddlebag and strapped it on sideways, putting one pocket on her back and the other on her belly. “Eureka, where are the mining explosives kept?”

Eureka took a step back in surprise. “What? Uh, I don’t know. Would military explosives work?”

Sweetie grinned. “Even better.”


*******


Bright golden magick sparkled over Dinky's golden eyes, filling the dark, foreboding clouds with scores of aggressive red spots. She could feel Apple Bloom's muscular shoulders flexing beneath her, driving powerful, earth pony hooves into the ground, pulverizing stones and sending fissures through the earth as she ran. Thunderous hooffalls roared like war drums in Dinky's ears and the rattling of four thousand rounds of ammunition brought that profound focus she had only ever achieved in battle. It was an intoxicating feeling.

Buildings, tents and ponies zipped by in a blur. The wind pulled at Apple Bloom’s hat and bow. Earthen power gathered in her legs, pushing her ever faster. The ley rose up from the ground and soaked her in the magic of mother earth. It pulled her forward with the force of her intention and she dove through the psychedelic fractal patterns of the world beneath the world. In a flash she and Dinky were on the front line.

They emerged by a group ponies and Diamondogs riding in heavily armored, two pony chariots sorting pintle mounted Machineguns. Billhooks and disposable, explosive tipped pikes sat in racks behind the charioteers. They, together with groups of support infantry, escorted teams of four and six pony war-wagons mounting recoilless rifles, mortars and other heavy guns. All together it made for a slightly awkward blend of pony, gryphon and garou arms and technology. 

One of the battle chariots closed with the duo. The gunner kept his eyes and arms trained on the rapidly closing storm, and the ramshackle zeppelins that were beginning to emerge from it. The loader-lancer, a Diomondog wearing top quality Equestrian plate armor, turned to them and pushed his visor up to speak. “Dinky pony!” Even shouting as loud as he could his voice was barely audible over the cascading thunder and howling wind. “Those is Irondogs! Lots of armor!” The report of a cannon interrupted him and moments later the shell landed between them, showering them with dirt, but failed to explode. “Use sharp rounds!” he finished, hitting his armored chest with his fist as the charioteers returned to to their group.

Dinky nodded and gave a quick salute, not bothering to try and out yell the storm. How the hey do I magick up a whole flechette shell at once?


*******


The sound of explosions grew louder as Rarity, a’la dog, and Pipsqueak sprinted towards the mouth of the cave. Flights of minutemares rose up in large flocks and raced towards the intimidating sound.

“That sounds like cannon fire!” Pip shouted, coming up closer to the gorilla like Diamondog.

“Short barrel, much powder,” Baxter said over his shoulder, ears pointed and alert. “Is mortars. Big ship mortars for siege.”

“Who would dare attack this place?” Rarity asked, watching a group of militia ponies getting ready to join the fight in front of an armorer’s stall as they ran by. “It’s well known that Pinky keeps a strong defencive force.”

The cave gave way to a dark and stormy sky. Unnatural turquoise lightning crisscrossed the ominous clouds and howling winds carried the smell of black powder and ozone. Something about the storm felt profoundly wrong to Pip, like a nail in his spine. “Run faster!” he hollered over the howling gale, driving his hooves into the ground with redoubled desperation. 

“Pip!” Rarity called, lifting her head up over the dog’s shoulder. “Do you know what’s going on?”

“No!” Pip replied, fear showing in his voice. “But we can’t fight it with guns!”

Rarity’s horn illuminated, ice blue sparkles tracing a line to the Seltenheit. “I’ve called a retrieval team!” she said, barely audible over the din of battle. “They should be here in-” she was cut off by a shower of shrapnel as a mortar shell struck a nearby building. 

Pip braced for impact, but none came. He glanced up only to see a violet forcefield holding the broken building at bay. A supremely well built unicorn clad in cataphract plate armor, pushed the wreckage back with his magick. “You kids alright?” he said in a rumbling baritone.

“I take captain to ship!” Baxter said, pointing to Rarity then to the Seltenheit.

“Go it! Stay behind me!” the armored pony shouted. He charged ahead, shaping his shield into a dome and plow that cleared rubble, tents, and everything else, out of their way. Pip was astonished that such a heavily armored pony could move so fast through the rubble, even passing through small buildings without so much as flinching. Pip felt like he was chasing a freight train that didn’t need tracks.

The Seltenheit loomed over the seemingly distant shipyard. Silver flashes rippled across the prow as the port side gravity cannons lent their voice to the cacophony of battle. A flash of light drew Pip’s attention above the ship, a barely visible black object sailed across the black sky, illuminated by the lightning rolling through the clouds.

Pip flinched as a shell impacted their escort’s shield, deflecting off in a shower of sparks and magick fragments. The armored unicorn shouted in pain and stumbled, but quickly shook it off and recast his shield. Pip couldn’t ignore the clearly diminished force of the barrier. 

More shell exploded all around. Most were shot down by beams of unicorn magick, but some made it to the ground with terrible effect. Pip didn’t know how a recovery team was supposed to be able to find them running through this chaos, but he couldn’t think of a better plan either.

Time seemed to slow as Pip saw a unicorn wearing a light helmet and chain armor appear beside him, tackling him to the ground and firing a ray into the sky. A blinding flash of light and a bone rattling explosion knocked Pip senseless and the world faded to black.


*******


Ditzy soared over the battle below, saddlebags heavy with grenades and satchel charges. “You ready, Sweetie Belle?” she asked her passenger, who was herself carrying twice as many explosives. 

The enemy's ground troops had emerged from the fog less than a minute ago, clad in hogpog armor and wielding improvised and salvaged weapons. Ditzy figured the light explosives they were carrying probably wouldn’t be able to do enough to the armored zeppelins, so the infantry was their target.

“Let's get em!” Sweetie replied, a dozen assorted explosives suspended in her telekinesis.

They darted between the zeppelins and over the enemy troops in erratic zigzags, peppering them with explosives and avoiding what little enemy fire was directed towards them among all the other pegasus bombardiers.

Sweetie held on tight as they climbed in preparation for another dive. They flew close beside one of the ramshackle airships and Sweetie tossed a satchel into an open gun port, and watched it fall through the hull. Surprised, she tried to grab part of it with her magick, but caught nothing. “Its fake!” she shouted into Ditzy’s ear. 

“What?” Ditzy hollered back.

“This ship is an illusion!”

They were already above the ship so Ditzy looped around and came in for a landing on top of the envelope, only to pass right through. Only now did they realize that it was slightly transparent. They could just make out the flashes of firearms and explosives below. “We need to tell the triple A crews!” Ditzy said, turning in hover to face the mountain. “Maybe they can figure out a way to tell which ones are real!”

“Ya, lets-” 

A black object the size of a carriage shot by close enough to take off a few strands of Sweetie Belle’s mane. Following its flight path they saw it smash into the gondola of a neighboring ship. On impact eight long, spider like legs snapped out, clinging to the hull and allowing the object to climb up the side. As it climbed it unfolded more and sloughed off several large plates. It looked more like a spider by the second. Long metal legs tipped with sharp claws grasped at seams and plates, pulling it over the edge and onto the deck. In place of fangs, twin machineguns emerged from armored compartments and opened fire at the deck crew. All it lacked from the arachnoid form was a bulbous abdomen. 

“Go!” Sweetie screamed. Ditzy didn’t need anymore encouragement, and dove, pumping her wings to gain as much speed as possible before leveling out into an areal sprint towards the mountain. Within moments they were over the bazaar again, zipping over tents and under exploding mortar shells.

When they arrived at the main partillery battery the first salvo had just been fired and the second was being loaded. Ditzy landed hard and sweetie tumbled off her back into the dirt.

An earth pony with red crosses on his white saddlebags and helmet rushed over and kneeled beside Ditzy. “Are you injured?” he asked, crouching low to inspect the fallen pegasus.

“I’m fine,” Ditzy said, slowly getting back to her hooves. “Just exhausted.”

The medic produced a small vial from his pack, filled with a luminous pink solution. “Here, try this.”

Sweetie was already up and cantering towards the nearby command tent. “Hey!” she shouted, just it time to be drowned out by the cannons. “Hay!” she tried again.

One of the commanding ponies, a white unicorn wearing an olive green jacket, turned to face her, clearly annoyed by the interruption. “What?” she shouted gruffly.

“They have illusory ships!” Sweetie shouted, continuing towards the tent. “I think it’s a derivative of Fantasy’s Fantastic Fantasm!”

The command pony turned shouted at another pony in the tent. “Lieutenant, get me a manganese and quicksilver optic! Now!”

The lieutenant rummaged through a box for a moment before producing a brass spyglass. The commanding pony grabbed it in her magick and trained it on the battle, shifting the magick around the lens. “Sergeant!” she shouted at one of the ponies near the guns, just before they fired another volley. “I want blue manganese and quicksilver on every gun!”

“Ma’am!” a pegasus by the guns shouted, saluted and flew over to a supply tent closer to the mountain. All in the space of a second.

“Runner!” the commanding pony yelled in the opposite direction.

A blazing red pegasus appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and hovered by the commander.

“Message for the front: Blue magick illusions! Go!”

“Ma’am!” The pegasus was gone so fast the reply seemed to come from thin air.

The potion the medic gave Ditzy tasted like raw sugar and oil. She gagged but it wouldn't come back up. After only a few seconds she could feel a surge of energy rush through her body accompanied by a hot prickling sensation. It was her first experience with military grade stimulants, and she sincerely hoped it would be her last. 

She stared at the curiously slow moving world in a daze for a moment before crashing back to earth. Cannons fired, thunder boomed and a distant buzzing pulled Ditzy’s attention to a flight of escort fighters heading towards the battle.

“Captain Starbright?” she said quietly towards the white unicorn that was barking orders in every direction. Her brain finally caught up with her ears. “Captain!”

After a moment's delay the captain shouted over shoulder. “Not the time, Mis Doo!”

Ditzy flitted quickly over the the captain. “The storm is being generated!” That got the captain’s attention in a heartbeat. “It’s coming from a single point above and behind the enemy zeppelins.”

“Aromancy?”

“Ya.”

The captain growled in frustration. “We can’t pinpoint a pegasus group in a storm. We need a zap scout.” 

“If you can get me a two seater we can do it,” Ditzy offered, gesturing to a confused Sweetie Belle. “I had a stint as a pilot when I was younger and Sweetie can cast locator spells.”

Captain Starbright considered that for a second, thumping a hoof on the ground, before turning to shout at her subordinates again. “May!”

A perle white pegasus flitted over and landed beside the captain. “Ma’am.”

“Get these ponies a two seat stunt plane, asap.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Officer Mayfly will get you a plane,” the captain said hurriedly. “Unicorn, can you cast Longshot’s Lingering Locater?”

“No, but I do know Bright Sky’s Burning Beacon, will that work?”

Commander Starbright flung a scroll at Sweetie, hitting her in the face before Sweetie’s magick caught it. “Learn quick. Our guns will auto-target as soon as its cast. Muzzle velocity is eight thousand seventy hooves per second, do the math and get out of the way. I’d rather not hit you, but these guns only wait for Luna.”

Sweetie noded and hopped onto Ditzy’s back. “You gonna be okay, Ditzy?” she asked, almost as an afterthought.

“Nope!” Ditzy shouted happily as they took off after Officer Mayfly.


*******


Apple Bloom juked hard, narrowly avoiding the falling wreckage of an armored zeppelin as she dashed back and forth across the battle lines, occasionally trampling an inattentive enemy combatant. Flak dotted the sky like dying stars. The junkyard zeppelins never seemed to fall in number no matter how many were shot down. The ground forces had been halted, but the air assault hadn’t even slowed. The buzz of airplanes had given her hope at first, but now she had to dodge falling wreckage almost as often as directed attacks.

She felt something hit her shoulder and she dodged again, narrowly avoiding an Irondog autogiro that slammed into the ground with a dramatic, and annoying, explosion. A golden shield blocked most of the shrapnel, but she still felt something nick her in the honch. “Razi fragin air support! Push ‘em back already!” she shouted at the sky.

Something thumped her in the back of the head. “Eyes front!” She snapped back to reality in time to vault over a pile of fallen metal something something.

Dinky landed on Apple Bloom’s back a moment latter, grappling the ammo harness with all four hooves to keep from bouncing off. Her moment of flight had given her a good view over the next hill. A big metal thing shaped like a slug, or an overturned boat, was plodding slowly along the other side, no doubt pushed by a team of Irondogs hiding inside. Two forward facing machineguns fired constantly. Each side had another gun to pick off flankers. 

Dinky left her rifle to the sling and magicked one of the disposable anti-armor rocket launcher from her back, extending the tube and opening the front and back dust covers at the same time. She clambered up into a kneeling position, grasping Apple Bloom’s honch between gaskin and cannon and laying the other leg flat along her back with her hoof on Apple Bloom’s withers. It was about the steadiest position she could hope to get if she wanted to fire the rocket over Apple Bloom's head, rather than through it.

She barely managed to get her weapon ready before they came over the hill. She had no idea how thick the machine’s armor was, or what the rocket could penetrate for that matter, but the side gun was already taking aim so she hastily took aim right back, wrapped the rocket in magic and fired. The shot passed cleanly through the viewport just above the gun and through the other side, inflicting superficial damage at best. Got the gunner though.

Dinky spat a curse and dropped the spent launch tube on the ground, recovering her canister rifle. Before she could fire, or even aim, a massive, black spidery thing fell from the sky and slammed into the primitive armored vehicle. Apple Bloom made a sharp turn and bolted, sending Dinky flying onto the ground. Dinky tumbled to a halt entirely too close to the frey and put up a shield just in time to watch the spider flip the slug over and fill it with machinegun fire, pelting itself and Dinky’s shield with scores of ricochets. 

Watching the titans battle made Dinky feel even smaller than she usually did and she sat stunned. After ‘killing the slug’ the spider rampaged through the Irondog’s lines, spearing dogs with its legs and mowing them down with its guns. Dinky spotted a dog leveling an anti armor rifle at the spider and broke from her daze in an instant. She brought her rifle to her shoulder and fired three shots before the over designed prototype jammed again. She got him though.

She cleared the jam with a now familiar combination of hoof and magic and scanned her surroundings. One of the ammo cans lay in the dirt not far away and more dogs were emerging from the fog by the dozens. Grabbing the ammo can in her magic she dashed to the flipped vehicle, jumping in for cover. She immediately regretted her decision.

Trying desperately to ignore what she was sitting in, she refilled a couple magazines and ripped the side gun from its damaged mount. The precision work and multitasking was starting to give her a hornache, but the result was worth it: she had three fresh mags and this machine gun didn’t have a trigger guard, plus the belt was almost full. Bonus!

She locked up the ammo, stowed the mags and got two more rockets ready before peeking over the edge of her improvised bunker. A wave of infantry had passed her already and another two dozen or so were fast approaching. She took a moment give her horn a rest while they closed the distance, then recast her foe finder spell. A zeppelin accompanied the infantry, flying low to provide fire support as they approached. She had figured out that some of the zeppelins were fake a while ago when they didn’t show up as hostile, but this one was real. 

She fired her rockets at the hull just below the forward support cables on the near side of the hanging gondola. One cable snapped off immediately, and the added stress caused the weakened one to take off a chunk of hull as it tore free. the hull groaned loudly and the remaining cables began to fray. 

The infantry stopped in line with her cover, startled by the rockets, and Dinky stood, aiming the machinegun with unsteady telekinesis, and opened fire. Bracing the weapon with a hoof on the handle and depressing the trigger with the other made it horrendously inaccurate, but at less than two fathoms range against unaware targets she still managed to get more than half of them before the belt ran out. She dropped the gun and took cover, tossing her last two horngrenades to kick up some dust.

When she heard the exploasions she leaped from her cover, hopping towards the remaining dogs on her hind hooves, canister rifle at the ready. The grenades had done their job and all she could see was dust and glowing red blotches where dogs huddled together. She fired into the group two shots at a time, wrapping each clump of flechette in an unstable magic shell, turning them into improvised shrapnel bombs.

A series of snaps and metallic groans drew her attention to the listing zeppelin that was now almost directly above her. Reaching out with her magic she grabbed the gondola and pulled with all her might. Slowly it began to drift sideways and the hull on the far, now upper, side began to tear away. A half dozen crew dogs abandoned ship as the golden aura intensified. With a scream and a final, crackling surge she pulled the gondola free and it crashed into the ground, sending dust and debris billowing outward. her victory was short lived, however, as another group of dogs, supported by another of the sluglike vehicles, came over the rise just before the dust obscured her vision. They opened fire immediately.

Dinky bolted to the burning, crumbling wreckage of the zeppelin, half full ammo can in tow. Spotting an opening, probably a former porthole, she dove in, praying the battle would shift before her cover became a death trap.
> Chapter 10.2: STURMGEIST!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 10.2: STURMGEIST!


Officer Mayfly landed in a sprint, Ditzy close behind. Sweetie jumped off Ditzy’s back, hitting the ground at nearly the same time. They ran down the hard packed dirt runway, past empty, aluminium hangers towards the maintenance shed. Some of the workers were already looking their way. Curiosity, and more than a little confusion clear in their expressions.

“Requisition!” Mayfly shouted as the three ponies approached. 

A greasy brown earth pony shouted something inaudible into the workshop and several more ponies came out. “What d’ya need ma’am?” The apparent leader asked.

“A quick flap-n-zap,” Mayfly said, coming to a skittering stop in front of the mechanicks. “Needs to turn tight and accelerate fast.”

The earth pony noded, turning to a blue-gray pegasus. “Yo-Yo, how’s your number three?”

“Frame's solid as a rock,” He said, looking to one of the few occupied hangars near the back. “She needs a new engine and some touch ups, but she’ll convert nicely.” 

“Get ‘er,” The brown one instructed. Two earth ponies ran to the hangar with a harness and the boss turned to the rest of the group. “Refit! Unicorns, get yer horns ready! I want a Piaffe and Whinny Double Wasp and folding landers. Magick ‘er up so the wasp don’t break ‘er. Hot swap the tanks and give er some light armor. Get ready!” By the time he finished an array of new tools and parts were arranged on a neat line of work tables and a large radial engine was being pulled from the shop on a dolly. 

The biplane they brought over was slightly on the large side, but it had enough wing area to more than make up for it. The two seats were arranged for a pilot, under the wings, and a tail gunner behind and slightly elevated, sporting a gun ring, but no gun. Ditzy took particular note of the zeppelin landing lugs. Maybe she could find a way to keep it after the battle, Pip did have an empty fighter bay after all.

The ponies pulled the plane alongside the workshop and the unicorns immediately unhooked the tow harnesses and circled the plane, lifting it into the air. Multicolored magick fields peeled the skin away from the bottom and pulled off the fixed landing gear while the new engine flew into the nose. Earth ponies clambered around inside the exposed skeleton and pegasi hovered on the outside, fitting the engine into place and preparing the wings for the new folding landing gear. 

A pegasus approached Ditzy with an adjustable wing-control assembly. Without a word, she attached it to Ditzy’s wings and wrote down her wing measurements. It was, without a doubt, the fastest wing sizing she had ever had.

The fuel tanks came out of the plane and were tossed aside. Light armor plates were inserted around the seats and vital components and welded into place, followed by new, armored, fuel tanks. A pegasus got into the pilot seat and hooked herself up, moving the flaps and flexing the wings while other ponies adjusted the tension to her instructions. As the skin was reattached several paint sprayers floated over and began painting a green and brown, ground support, camouflage pattern onto most of the plane. The bottom was painted in pastel blue, for countershading. 

The whole operation was done in minutes, but Officer Mayfly wasn't ready to relax just yet. “You got that spell memorised yet?”

“I think so,” Sweetie replied, rereading the page again. 

“Good,” Mayfly noded and turned to the mechanic crew. “Hay! That thing ready yet?”

The last few rivets were fired into place as the plane slowly lowered to the ground. “Just about,” the boss replied, ushering Sweetie and Ditzy to the plane as Mayfly flew off. “Hop in ladies. The tanks are running light, but you should have more than enough for the run plus a bit. Dont go near any anti-magic stuff, the engine mounts are enchanted so that monster we stuffed in ‘er don’t shake ‘er apart.”

Ditzy lifted Sweetie into the tail gunner's seat and settled into the pilot's. The wing control armatures were obviously adjusted in a hurry, but they were still comfortable enough to not be distracting. While she strapped on a flight cap with a tether to the fighter’s echo she had found in the seat she looked to the boss mechanic.  “No guns?”

“We ain't got any. CLEAR!” he shouted, prompting his crew to clear the immediate area. 

Ditzy hit the ignition and the engine roared to life. It was very modern and immensely powerful, purring like a thousand pound kitten. As the plane rolled up to the runway Ditzy marveled at the fact that she was getting more vibration from the taxiway than from the engine. That was some strong magick.

They accelerated startlingly fast, pressing the ponies hard into their seats. The wind took their wings hard and Ditzy had to fight to keep control of the plane. Once Ditzy was flying smoothly she began testing the plane’s handling, though she was a bit leary of testing the engine too much. The wings had tremendous range of motion, as fitting of a stunt plane. The armor was definitely noticeable, but didn’t pose any real problem. A few aileron turns into a barrel roll gave her a good feel for the inertia the craft would carry, and by that point they were already at the fight, so further tuning wasn’t terribly feasible anyway.

Beams of echo spells flashed between the ground and Everparty fighters as they wove through the enemy zeppelins, battling swarms of auto-gyros and running interference for the ground forces. Smoke from flak shells dotted every inch of air that wasn’t too near the front line and anti-aircraft fire from both sides crisscrossed the sky. 

Ditzy came in low, using her cammo to mask her approach. After crossing the lines of battle, and dropping most of her remaining grenades, she pulled up, grazing the sides of several zeppelins that were supporting the ground. As she ascended the dogs took notice and she had to hug their zeppelins as much as possible to avoid getting shot down.

The evasive maneuvering slowed their progress towards their goal, but they were definitely getting closer. Ditzy could feel it in her wings.

The source of the disturbance was high, up in the storm, not a place one should fly, but they didn’t really have a choice in the matter. “Sweetie Belle! Can you cast a shield?” Ditzy asked through the fighter’s echo system.

“No!” Sweetie said. “I’m no good with force magick!”

Ditzy clicked her tongue and rounded the last zeppelin. It was still a ways to the cloud cover, and probable death by lightning, of the storm. She pushed the throttle forward and the engine began to sing. Not the rough growl she was used to, but a smooth, refined roar. An engineer's battle cry.

Before they could blink they were in the storm and the wind more than doubled. Again Ditzy had to fight to stay aloft. The winds twisted in every direction, but Ditzy’s sensitive wings gave her enough warning to keep the plane together. The real problem was the lightning. Other than being an unusual color, it seemed like it was alive, and targeting them. 

Ditzy juked and twirled in as chaotic and unpredictable a manner as she could, but the lightning was never more than a couple steps behind.

“Up! I see it!” Sweetie’s voice startled Ditzy slightly, and she looked up. 

A massive, blue zeppelin sat easily in the storm, glowing with magick and entirely unaffected by the gale force winds that swirled around it. “That’s it!” she said, adjusting her evasion in roughly the zeppelin’s direction, narrowly avoiding another volley of lightning. “How close do you need to be?”

Sweetie ducked into the plane, narrowly avoiding a bolt lightning that scorched the skin of the fuselage. “Closer than I wanna be!”

With a frustrated grunt Ditzy locked the wings of the plane and uncoupled her wings from the control armatures. “Get ready!” she yelled, slamming the throttle to full. 

Ditzy rose her now free wings out of the fuselage and pulled at the magick in the air. A funnel of wind formed in front of the plane, cutting through the cross winds and pulling them forward. Lightning struck the plane, grounding into an ionized field around tale.

Sweetie fired the tracking spell as fast as she could as they passed below the luminous dreadnaught, finally striking it with two castings. “Got it! Get us out of here!” she screamed. For only an instant she caught sight of a blue unicorn wearing a hat and cape standing on the deck of the ship, her face twisted in concentration, her horn flickering reluctantly.

Ditzy dropped back into her seat and locked her wings into the controls. The electricity around the tale discharged, flipping the plane onto it’s nose, and they plummeted. 

It only took about three seconds for the flak to start exploding around the zeppelin, but they were already leaving the cloud bank. The battle below raged on, oblivious to the shift that was no doubt coming, but for now Ditzy was content to retreat and, hopefully, stop her heart from exploding.


*******


Ruby Pinch careened down the mountainside on her antifriction shields. Ahead she saw a familiar grey mare wearing a blue-grey dress and a pickelhaube. She was ripping huge chunks of rock from the mountain and hurling them at the Irondog’s zeppelins and infantry. Barely ten seconds passed between throws.

“Maud!” Ruby shouted, skidding to a stop. “Maud, throw me!”

Maud kicked the ground, splitting off the chunk of mountain Ruby was standing on. Ruby struggled to stay standing as Maud lifted the boulder into the air, and she was flattened against the face as it suddenly accelerated.

The wind tore at ruby’s fur and stretched the skin on her face. With a snap she split the rock in half and launched herself upward. One half passed through a false zeppelin and crushed several dogs on the ground. The other slammed into a real ship, splitting the envelope in half and sending it plummeting to the ground.

The flak barrage conveniently lifted as she approached, all guns turning skyward and sending hot metal into the clouds. Thats where the real magic was, hot turquoise and black, twisted in rage and confusion, but Ruby had no way of reaching it so she focused on the ground rushing towards her, and the waning golden star at the center of the fray.

Starfields sparkled in Ruby’s eyes as she slipped passed the light. Dinky’s star burned with a frenzied desperation that pulled at Ruby’s heart and horn, guiding her down like an ensorcelled dart. 

For a moment the battle stood still. A blinding light lit up the field and the clouds, burning away all the illusions for dozens of fathoms around its point of origin, and a deafening crack shook the ground, felling dogs and ponies alike and rupturing the envelopes of several zeppelins. The light was replaced by a profound darkness as everybody’s irises snapped tight to block the now absent light. Stories would spread far about the mysterious secret bomb of the Everparty.

Sharp golden magick radiated from the wrecked zeppelin on the nearby hill. Ruby dashed to it, slashing the hulk apart with invisible blades and sending the pieces soaring into the night with imparted inertia. She followed the destruction closely, ignoring the sharp edges, burning fuel and other hazards. 

At last she reached her goal. Dinky looked up with grateful eyes as the last bulkhead was shredded and flung skyward, her horn still blazing with excess aether. Ruby grabbed her by the harness and pulled her out of the wreckage into a hug. Dinky hugged back fiercely, her canister rifle dangling between them. It lasted only a moment but it was all the recharge Dinky needed. Her foe finder was back up in an instant, scanning for threats. 

A peal of thunder crashed in the distance, anticipating the resumption of the battle. Somewhere, a cannon fired, then another. Soon the battle was back on, but this time Dinky had Ruby at her back, so defeat was nothing but a dumb joke that could never be loud enough to hear.

A manic grin spread across Dink’s face and quickly migrated to Ruby’s. More dogs began to emerge from the gloom, though far more cautiously this time. Some of them were using an armored slug as cover. Dinky brought her weapon to her shoulder and fired as fast as the bolt would chamber the rounds. Her magic enshrouded the barrel, splitting apart to coat each shard of flechette in a blazing, golden shell. The swarms of nail like darts perforated the approaching vehicle’s armor effortlessly, sending the infantry it was supposed to be supporting into a panic. They ran into the fog and Dinky pursued, hopping after them like an excited crow. Nothing could touch her, Ruby would see to that, the battle was effectively over.

Her smile faltered when Ruby came sprinting out of the fog, clearly putting effort into being visible. “Tunnelers!” she shouted, pushing dinky back towards the Everparty with her magick. 

Dinky slung her weapon across her back and ran along with Ruby, only now realizing they were now behind the zeppelins. She looked down at the ground and focussed hard on her foe finder spell. Nothing, the rock was too thick. “Where?”

Ruby went all ghosty, her eyes glowing with a power Dinky didn't remember her having. “They’re almost under the front line!”

Dinky stopped and readied her last rocket. “Aim me!”

Ruby circled back behind Dinky, easily wrapping herself around the smaller mare. She took Dinky’s forelegs in her own and aimed the rocket at the frenzied energies beneath the ground. “Do you think you can get it that far?”

“I think I can start a cave in.” Dinky poured as much ablative casing as she could onto the rocket and fired. It didn’t get nearly far enough, but hopefully the unusual trembling was enough to alert some sensitive earth ponies that something was up down there.

Before the rocket tube even hit the ground the earth behind them exploded. Huge slabs of glassy flint ruptured and splintered outward, scattering across a crimson hemisphere projected around a small, silver oval. A blue grey pony with an ashen mane stood in the middle of the crater, breathing heavily. “You almost killed me, what are you doing!”

The shield vanished and Ruby looked on with confusion. 

“Blinky?” Dinky said in confusion, still standing on her hind hooves. “What were you doing underground?”

“Hiding!” Blinky shouted, waving her forelegs frantically. “But then you collapsed my hole! I could have been crushed!”

“We need to get back to the party!” Ruby interjected, reforming her shield into a concave plate. “I know you’re good with explosions, give us a kick.” She tossed Dinky onto the not quite toboggan before hopping on herself.

“What!?” Blinky shouted, stomping the ground for emphasis. “Are you insane?”

“Yes!” Ruby and Dinky shouted in unison, one grumpy one grinning.

“Give us all you’ve got!” Dinky added.

Blinky just stared for a moment before scowling and turning around. “You asked for it!” She curled her hind legs and bucked the ground under the back edge of the toboggan shield, pulling flecks of lead and heaps of nitrogen from the surrounding earth and arranging them in happy little birdy shapes. The resulting explosion launched the mad mares into through the air with great vigor. 

The ground zipped by at lightning speed uncomfortably close below them. Ruby finally managed to stop their tumbling and smoothed their landing with a cushion of small explosions that sent them skittering just off the ground around fallen zeppelins and fighter planes and over the scarred battlefield and smoking craters. 

The back of the Irondog assault was visible within seconds. Hastily erected earthworks provided cover from the Everparty’s guns, but groups of pony skirmishers darted through the trenches, preventing the dogs from gaining any long lasting footholds. Many of the Everpetry’s war chariots still rampaged across the battlefield, mostly out of ammo, but making good use of their polearms and blasting lances. But the Irondogs still had air superiority, even just by sheer numbers, and their remaining ground forces all wore heavy patchwork armor, some clearly scavenged during the battle, and wielded the best weapons they could find on their way to the front.

High over the Everparty a series of flares burned out.

With a final upthrust, ruby snapped the shield back into her anima, sending the two hurtling into the trenches. Ruby focussed her magick through the anima, projecting a pulse of kinetic force against the side of an armored slug, flipping it over.

Dinky smashed into a group of dogs hooves first, landing in a trench, and scattered them to the winds with a blast from her horn. She scrambled out of new pit and fired two explosive shots into the flipped slug. Ruby landed almost daintily next to her as the surrounding dogs turned their attention to the new opponents.

Without the slightest pause dinky fired on the group in front of her, piercing flechette managing to penetrate their armor nearly a third of the time. She ducked back into the trenches to avoid fire, only to pop up on the other side moments later and fire a few more shots.

Ruby shaped her magic into a long, hook covered chain. Using her anima as a handle she lashed at the nearest zeppelin, wrapping the conjured weapon around the envelope and tearing it open. The dogs fired, but she was already gone, and most of them forgot what they had been shooting at. Cold tethers stitched through the rage scared magiscape, binding the Irondogs like cobwebs of the mind. The crushing terror of the deep rippled through their minds, forcing them forward to their doom.

Dinky surged back across the trench, gun blazing. She shoulder checked a dog, knocking it to the ground, fired two shots into its chest, reloaded, bashed another in the head with the gun, fired three explosive shots into the crowd.

Suddenly the world lurched sideways, knocking Dinky into a trench. Everything flashed pink and a visible blast wave swatted the clouds and light aircraft from sky. The only thing Dinky could hear was ringing in her ears. Rubble, wreckage and armored dogs flew overhead. In the sky and approaching fast, was an unmistakable, sky eclipsing, purple leviathan: The Zwielicht Funkeln. It’s mere arrival had knocked a good fifth of the enemy fleet out of the sky and the ground forces were in chaos.

A primal scream shook the sky and a torrent of lightning lanced out from a now revealed blue dreadnaught and crashed against the Zwielicht Funkeln’s vast purple shield.

“Oh no.” It was Ruby’s voice. Dinky flopped her throbbing head to the side and saw Ruby struggling with a crystalline cylinder which pulsed with pearlescent light. “No, no. Turn off, turn off, turn off!” 

A loudish sploosh noise caught Dinky’s ear, and she struggled to her hooves. All across the battlefield she saw random magical eruptions, some turned everything they touched into soda, or butterflies or some other ‘material’. Some left their victims floating in the air or dancing uncontrollably. Still others just left the impact sight empty, seemingly removed from reality altogether.

“Get down!” Ruby screamed, tackling Dinky to the ground and casting a crimson shield over them.

Dinky watched as a disembodied smile rushed down at them, and opened wide.


*******


Apple Bloom’s struggled out from under a heap of dirt and rubble. An indistinct plain disappeared into a thick haze of dust. The only light in the oppressive darkness was diffuse flashes of lightning and spellfire somewhere deep in the haze. Rolling thunder and cannon fire raged in the far distance. Everything had been swept clean save the debris that had piled on top of her. “Hello!” she shouted into the haze. “Is anypony there!” Her cries were swallowed by the dust.

She took a step and faltered, her foreleg wasn’t moving. “Help!” She stumbled and fell, sending a dull pain through her body. She fought her stiff neck to turn her head as a flash illuminated her body, and quickly regretted her decision. She was covered with scratches and cuts, all choked with dirt. The metal racks on her empty ammo harness were twisted and mangled, a couple digging into her sides, some below the skin. She tried to get to the belt on her chest to release the harness, but her neck wouldn't cooperate and her mouth was quivering too much to grasp the buckle. 

It was hopeless, she was alone, she couldn't move, she was bleeding and she couldn't even get the blasted harness off. “Somepony help, please!” She began to cry, pounding the ground with her uninjured hoof and screaming at the empty sky.

A flash illuminated a large shape in the dust and apple bloom froze. Another faded flash illuminated it again, closer and clearer. It was the black spider beast. It’s spearlike legs made metalic tinks againsed the ground, sparking the flint as it advanced slowly in the gloom. It was getting closer. Apple Bloom lay as flat as she could, whimpering softly in the dark. Closer and closer. The nightmare thing was so close, right over her. 

A faint green glow grew from between its dual machineguns and quickly became a bright light. It had found her. She tried to squirm away, but a haze of green magick held her fast. Apple Bloom squeezed her eyes shut as two blood soaked legs came down on her with agonizing slowness and, cut the straps on her harness. 

With slow precision it cut away the straps and carefully removed the mangled racks. Apple Bloom opened her eyes and saw a smallish changeling standing under the belly of the mechanical monstrosity. She’d never been able to read changeling expressions, but it didn't seem hostile in the least. “Are you okay?” it, she? said with… concern? maybe?

“I, uh, thank you,” Apple bloom managed, still in a blur of adrenalin and endorphins.

“Are you okay?” the changeling repeated, stepping closer. “We have medical supplies.”

Slowly she calmed down and her mind began to clear, bringing with it whole worlds of pain. “Wah, n-no. Ah think my l-leg’s broke an, an Ah’m bleedn’ a lot.”

“I need the p-fac,” the changeling said to the spider, the buzz in her voice more pronounced than before. A small bag rolled off the front of the spider into the changeling’s magick, a silhouette of a pony and a red cross prominently displayed on the side. 

She retrieved a blunt ended syringe from the bag and slowly picked her way around Apple Bloom, pulling her worst wounds closed with careful hooves and applying a viscous fluid that stung something fierce. “This is liquid bandages,” she said, her voice less buzzy again. “I don't have enough for all your cuts, but it should cover the important ones.” The fluid hardened in seconds, cutting off the flow of blood just as the changeling said. “My names Poles by the way.”

“Ah’m mighty grateful to yuh, Poles,” Apple Bloom said, watching the changelight work. “Must admit, Ah thought your spider thing was some kinda demon or something. Glad Ah was wrong.”

“That’s kinda the point,” Poles said, finishing the last major cut and moving over to Apple Bloom’s broken leg. “Now what are we gonna do with this?” She rubbed her chin with a perforated hoof, staring at the leg. “Are you claustrophobic?”

The question caught Apple Bloom off guard and it took her a moment to respond. “No, why?”

Poles pointed to the spider with her knifelike horn. “If you come inside with us-” 

She was cut off by a cacophony of strange noises. Globes of color and light fell from the sky, impacting the ground with strange and unpredictable effects. Gummy bears, trains, fish and other things swarmed around them. 

Poles flew onto the spider’s back on insectile wings, levitating Apple Bloom after her. She dropped through a too thin slit in the armor, which widened to allow the much larger pony access. Apple Bloom expected a cramped compartment with maybe two changelings and lots of magical machinery. What she got was a pool of black ooze with swirls of white into which Poles melted like warm wax. Apple Bloom recoiled at the strange, warm goo she was lowered into, but the top armor snapped shut, locking her in and plunging her into darkness.

“It’s okay,” Poles’ voice whispered in her ear. “We’ll get you home.”

She heard a loud, cackling woosh and they were falling. Were they supposed to be falling?


*******


Thick webs of lightning assailed Twilight’s ship-shield relentlessly. Whatever the thief had found to power the Sturmgeist’s storm engine was beyond any technology known in Equestria. Or at least known to Twilight, and that’s basically the same thing.

The assault lifted briefly, a shield of turquoise plasma replacing the lightning. A volley of flak from the ground based artillery impacted the shield, detonating before it got into effective range. The moments pause was all Twilight needed. The shield dropped and the Zwielicht Funkeln opened fire. Scores of heavy guns, unicorn artillerists and crystal prism cannons raked the faltering blue shield, forcing the Sturmgeist onto the defencive. Dozens of fighters and light bombers took the opportunity to drop from the launch ports under the edges of the flight deck and freewing pegasi poured from portholes opposite the Sturmgeist.

Twilight magiced a half fathom long iron rod from a slot in the deck. Thaumaturgical runes slowly began to thrum to life, priming the feedback nail for deployment. The Zwielicht Funkeln suddenly shook, causing Twilight to miss her shot, and nearly fall. 

She spun in place and saw a whale full of potato chips where part of her flight deck should have been. Above she saw dozens more chaos shell on their way down. Nopony had managed to devise a shield that worked against distortion mortars, so Twilight had no choice but to swat them away individually with telekinesis. Following her lead, all the support unicorns on deck lit up their horns to help defend the ship, giving twilight enough time to fire a magic flare into the night sky. It flashed into a mile wide image of her cutiemark for a moment before becoming an equally huge sign reading ‘CEASE FIRE!!!’. Moments later the barrage stopped. 

She glanced at the moon. “This is a major problem.”


*******


Ditzy struggled to regain control of the plane for what seemed like the tenth time in as many minutes. The blast from the Zwielicht Funkeln teleporting in had kicked up a fierce wind that was only now dieing down. Chaotic devastation rained across a city sized area, only interrupted by an area under the newly arrived dreadnaught. 

The bombardment lasted for only a moment before a sigil flashed in the sky commanding the chaos to stop. The battlefield grew still, the only commotion coming from the two dreadnaughts exchanging fire  half a league away.

Sweetie Belle hooked her forelegs on the side of the fuselage and leaned over the side enough to see the pockmarked and transfigured battlefield below. “What just happened?”

Ditzy glanced over the side of the plane and shook her head. “For once I don’t wanna know.” 

She turned in a wide arc, trying to spot her daughter in the deathly still trenches blow. “Do you see Dinky anywhere?” 

Sweetie closed her eyes and began to hum a quiet song. Lavender light with faint swirls of pink and green rose from her horn and sent a pulse across the ground. “I don't think so, but there’s so much magic down there it’s hard to pick out details.”

“What do you think we should do?” Ditzy asked. “We’re running out of fuel.”

Sweetie cast another pulse, getting nothing but noise again, and sat back into her seat. “Get to the Seltenheit. We can use their antenna to amplify the spell.”


*******


The rhythm of galloping hooves pierced the darkness of Pip’s mind. Distant rumbling quickly grew into a chaotic frenzy. A scream like tearing metal punctured his delirium and his eyes snapped open. Rarity had him draped across her back and was galloping at full sprint towards the ever nearing Seltenheit. Her archano-mechanical hind legs left twin trails of glittering blue and struck the earth with thaumaturgical force. 

Another Nightmare cry snapped his attention to the sky. Two vast leviathans assailed each other with curtains of weapons fire and lightning. The half-real, blue dreadnaught fired withering waves of wrong colored lightning and serrated hail across the gap, but it was no match for the god powered warmachine it faced. Acres of empty, too real feedback clouds radiated from a score of rune spangled, coldiron rods embedded in the blue behemoth's side. 

With a third scream, this one unsettlingly equine, a great rift cut across reality. The sea is rising. Impossibly vast shapes danced across the gap chittering unknowable words. Pip knew stories of similar things, but what he saw burned with dark secrets, and his mind burned with fear. The sea is rising! He tried to close his eyes, to avert his gaze from the horrible wound in reality, but he couldn't. It was swallowing him whole just as it swallowed Die Großartige und Mächtige Trixieburg. The sea is rising! The rift closed, Die Großartige und Mächtige Trixieburg vanished, and Pip blacked out. 

> Chapter 11: Captains need not apply.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 11: Captains need not apply.




Grand Admiral Twilight Sparkle ripped a steel plate from the hull of her nearly crippled warship. With furiously hot beams of raw magick she cut a message into the warped metal. “SPIKE!!!” she roared, glaring at the dead whale that was slowly rolling towards the edge of the flight deck leaving a trail of potato chips in its wake.

Spike appeared in a flash and stumbled a half step from the sudden teleportation. “Ga! Okay! What?”

“Send it,” Twilight commanded, thrusting the abused deck plate into Spike’s face. 

Spike took the improvised letter in his claws, puckered up and wrapped it in green fire. Hopefully Celestia was where Twilight wanted it to go, cause it was already there.


*******


Guilvarren groaned into his long empty stein as the latest in a long line of annoyingly important ponies trotted out of the meeting hall and the next one took her place. His chair, no matter how finely it had or hadn't been crafted, was made for ponies, and was therefore a pain in his rump. Or so he’d convinced himself. It wouldn't do to be without a believable excuse when he inevitably got snippy with whoever was delaying his trip to the royal brewery this time. Canterlot castle did have a brewery right? Hunter’s mercy, please let the princesses have a brewery, or at least a decent rum cellar.

The latest liquor barrier was a mature looking whitish unicorn. Her black mane was done up in a bun and she had one of those perplexing cravat-collar things around her neck. “Evening, Majesty.” She spoke like a scholar. 

He braced himself for a lot of words he was probably far too sober to understand by jamming his elbow securely into the hoof rest of the chair and planting his head on his fist. “Speak.”

The liquor barrier turned out to be a liquor barror, and she levitated several dark bottles from a cart he had missed in the blur of sobriety. He immediately straightened up. “I thought you could use a brake,” the little spike-faced angel said. “I’ve brought you a selection of our finest spirits. You may have any or all, as suits your preference.”

The gryphon king swooped from his chair and lifted the mare off the ground in a fierce hug, snatching the bottles from the air with his wings. “I could make love to you where we stand.”

“No thank you,” she said, pushing his face away with a hoof while she wriggled out of his grasp and back to the floor. With a scowl on her face she trotted briskly towards the door, pulling the wagon with her magick. “The things I put up with for you, Celestia. I swear.”

Just as the rumberror, or whatever ponies called it, opened the door, Celestia burst in through an open window with a chunk of stressed metal in her golden grip. Curtains of water fell from her soden mane and tail and gathered in pools on the marble floor. He decided he rather fancied her without her usual peytral and greaves. “Raven,” she said to the mare by the door, “reschedule the rest of the day for Der König and I. Inform all petitioners that we are discussing matters of diplomacy and will be unavailable for the rest of the day.”

“Yes, your highness.” Raven noded and cantered quickly out of the room, slamming the doors behind her.

Guilvarren took a long swig from one of the bottles and grunted in satisfaction. Whisky, good whisky. “Is your favorite project sending you ponds now?”

Celestia, usually a good sport for such jokes, just lobbed the slab of metal at him and magiced a bottle of liquor out from his wing. “I was in the bath. Read that.” 

Guilvarren caught the object with a talon and began to read the letters that were cut clean through the tempered armor plate. He glanced up to see Celestia, the serene and unflappable princess of the sun, chugging hard liquor like a thirsty sailor and decided not to make any more jokes for a bit.



                -Celestia

Project Sturmgeist is fully operational and in the possession of an unknown antagonist. 
The storm generator is functioning at approximately 800% predicted output. 
When we engaged it in battle it cut a portal into the dreamlands and escaped.

Also, a distortion mortar was activated without authorization during a battle outside the House of Laughter and as a result my ship is in need of repairs

I will be operating independently for now and pursuing any leads I can find. 

__Twilight.



After he finished reading he looked at celestia with concern. “Should I be more afraid of what she says, or that Twilight Sparkle missed punctuation?” Celestia just glared at him. “Not a joke; she frightens me.” 


*******


The Seltenheit turned and quit the field with haste the moment it’s cargo bay door locked closed. The cargo bay itself was just recovering from the chaos. Several dozen damaged and destroyed autogiros were scattered across the massive room. Numerous ponies lay in post triage while teams of field medics and nurses scurried around tending to them and moving those in need to the medical bay.

“Medic!” Rarity shouted between labored breaths, levitating an unconscious, and thankfully lightweight, Pipsqueak off her back and collapsed onto her belly. 

A pair of pegasi darted over with a stretcher and Rarity gently lowered Pip onto it. “I suspect a concussion and possible thaumic trauma,” she said, shooing them away with a hoof. “I need water and a damage assessment!”

A stallion with a clipboard in hoof trotted to her side and bowed slightly. “Structural damage is superficial,” he said confidently. “The worst was several groups of-” Another pony silently darted in and deposited a large bowl of water in front of Rarity, who scooted forward to drink while her adjutant continued. “small assault craft. Casualties are more than I would like, mostly support crew, but the triage team says most, possibly all, should survive.”

Rarity lifted her head from the bowl and gasped, wiping water from her muzzle with a foreleg. “Very good, Ramblon. Dismissed,” she said, still breathing heavily. “Tom, take us to the Flattern Schüchtern, full speed!”

“Of course, ma’am,” the ship replied, it’s voice as mellow and soothing as ever. There was a moment of slight vertigo as the ship turned and gravity seemed to increase, then it ebed. “It will take some hours to reach her, even at best speed. I recommend you rest for the remainder of the trip.”

“I can't rest quite yet,” Rarity said, struggling to her hooves. “Send down lieutenant Sarissa and officers Quickfix and Clear Skies.” 

“Of course, ma’am. You should be informed that Silverfish, Polistis and Carnifex launched with their boarding spider, and no authorization, some time ago. I already dispatched an agent for containment and recovery. Pinky Pie has always been a sympathetic ally, so there should be little chance of them being compromised, but with Twilight Sparkle in the area we can't be sure.”

“Who did you send?”

“Four Leaves on the Wind. His unique talents should make containment far simpler if anypony saw them. Also, Quickfix is already aboard the Regenbogen Flitzen, at the request of your sister who arrived by plane not long ago.”

Rarity glanced at the little blue zeppelin and saw two tiny specks, one white and one grey, racing across the catwalk. “So I see.” She watched the specks rush to the elevator and slowly descend. “Ramblon,” she called, “intercept them. I wish to speak with my sister.”

The adjutant did as told, meeting his targets as the elevator reached the deck. It apparently took some convincing to redirect the two to Rarity, but they did come. 

Sweetie Belle arrived first, Ditzy appeared dangerously fatigued and lagged behind. “Sis, we need to use your antenna,” Sweetie said. “We’re missing several ponies.”

“I’m sorry, but we’re no longer in line of sight,” Rarity said. Ditzy collapsed to the deck and made a wheezing sound. “Are you going to be okay, Ditzy?”

Ditzy lifted her head from the deck laboriously. “Dinky is still back there,” she said, making no effort to conceal her dismay. 

“We don't know where Pip, Apple Bloom or Ruby are either,” Sweetie added.

“Pip is in medical,” Rarity said, helping Ditzy to her hooves. “I have agents in the field, I’ll send them a message to keep a lookout for the others. Are you going to be alright, Ditzy?”

“Miss Doo,” The voice of the ship intoned gently, “it should please you to know that we are set to rendezvous with the Flattern Schüchtern before dawn and that she is already on course to the Everparty, presumably to provide medical support.”

Ditzy struggled to think of anything else she could do, but her mind was too thick with fatigue.

“Ditzy,” Sweetie said, putting a gentle hoof on her shoulder, “go get some sleep. I promise I’ll come tell you the moment we find her.”

“Ditzy Doo.” A sudden wind and the fluttering of large wings from behind announced Dinar’s arrival. “Sweetie Belle. I heard you land, but could not find you on your ship. Are you unharmed?”

“Were fine, Dinar. I’m glad you’re okay,” Sweetie replied, a relieved smile spreading across her face. “Did the book make it with you?”

“Yes, yes indeed,” he replied, huffing from both excretion and fading adrenalin. “I left it with your tinker-tech in the vault.”

“Perfect. Can you do me one more favor?”

Dinar hesitated, his crest feathers ruffling in apprehension. “Is it safe?”

“Yes, Dinar. Just take Ditzy to her room and tuck her in,” Sweetie instructed. “It’s the first one behind the bridge, port side.”

“Of course,” Dinar said, delicately gathering the softly snoring pegasus in his talons. “Rest easy, my dear. We soar on stronger wings,” he whispered before taking flight towards the dry dock and it’s little blue occupant. 

“Gryphon!” Rarity called after him. “If you find a brown unicorn named Quickfix up there send her to me.” 

Dinar turned his head and noded in response, sparing not the slightest effort more than necessary from his task.

Rarity returned her attention to her sister. “I’m assigning you a crew. I gather that Pip thinks he can make due, but I disagree.”

“He’s mostly just terrible at recruitment,” Sweetie Belle clarified, “but he does have a bit of a trust issue.”

“Ah, well, if he tries to argue just remind him that I trust you with them,” Rarity said as a parchment yellow pegasus landed beside Sweetie Belle. “If that doesn't do it, just remind him of who assigned them. Fear often works half as well as trust.”

“You called, ma’am,” The new arrival said with a crisp salute. Her yellow-brown coat gave her an older look that was barely off set by her youthful voice. Her shiny black mane fell in a braid nearly to the floor and her tail matched its length. A steel grey officer's jacket and matching stockings drew a disproportionate amount of attention to her cutie mark, a partially drawn compass rose. No doubt Rarity’s doing. It was a rather nice cutie mark though.

“Yes. I’m assigning you to that,” Rarity said, pointing to the Regenbogen Flitzen. “I want you to assemble a crew. Quickfix will be handling the engineers and Sarissa will handle marines, the rest is your responsibility. You remember my sister Sweetie Belle?”

“I’ve heard stories, ma’am,” she replied, then turned to Sweetie. “Officer Clear Skies,” She said with a salute. Sweetie couldn’t help but wonder if the unconventional uniform was Rarity’s way of trying to get her to relax. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, I assume you’re the captain of my new assignment?”

Sweetie smiled. This pegasus would make for an amusing contrast to, well, the entire standing crew. “First mate, actually. You’ll be reporting to Captain Pipsqueak.”

“That’s her coltfriend,” Rarity ‘helpfully’ supplied with a playful wave of her hoof. Clear Skies’ face twisted into a mask of horror for an instant before she regained her composure, though she was still clearly uncomfortable. “I want a crew ready to go at least an hour before we reach the Flattern Schüchtern. This will be a permanent reassignment, so pack appropriately. Select your ponies for reliability and loyalty first. I will give final clearance for your choices. This is family business, clear?”

“Yes, ma’am.” With a final salute Clear Skies flew off. 

As she left another pony, a unicorn Sweetie hadn’t noticed earlier, stepped forward. The newcomer's Rich, golden coat was mostly hidden under a light flak jacket, which was itself mostly hidden by her heavy steel barding. Her carmine mane lay flat and disappeared beneath her criniere, which came nearly to her ears. Her chamfron hung from a strap on her croupiere. Numerous sheets of wool separated the plates, making her movements surprisingly quiet for such a heavily armored pony. “Hay, Sweetie Belle,” she said before addressing Rarity. “Marines?”

“Yes. One squad should be about right,” Rarity said. 

“We have two primary combatants on crew already,” Sweetie interjected. “Also, hi, Sarissa. How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been good,” Sarissa said. “Details?”

“Both unicorns. Dinky is a powerful force caster who specialises in heavy weapons and ground fighting. Ruby is an obfuscation caster who specializes in reconnaissance.”

Sarissa raised an eyebrow. “You don’t mean Ruby Pinch, do you?”

“Ya,” Sweetie confirmed. “Do you know her?”

“Uh… sure, ya, we’ll go with that. Anyway, You’re a clarity caster, right?” 

“Ya.”

“I think I have a unit in mind,” Sarissa said. “We’ll have a full artillery group plus one, between them and you, as well as a compliment of pegasi. Marines permanent too?”

“Yes.” Rarity paused when she noticed a little brown spec darting across the dry dock's scaffold. “Dismissed.”

Rarity tapped a hoof on the ground impatiently. Quickfix had just gotten to the elevator and was descending at an aggravatingly slow pace. Then a thought occurred to her. “Sweetie Belle, How would you like some extremely illegal technology to tote around for me?”

Sweetie laughed. “We don’t exactly operate above board, but isn't there a better place to hide your stuff?”

“It’s not just stuff, Sweetums,” Rarity clarified, shifting her stance to favor her tireless, clockwork hindlegs. “It’s an armed and armored combat vehicle, with crew. The best crew, in actual fact.”

“Okay, You’ve piqued my interest. What does it look like?”

“It’s a large, and by large I mean about 30 hooves tall, black spider with guns for fange and sharpened, sword like legs. If you find it it’s your’s. If you find the crew they’re your’s too.” 

So that’s what that was. “What makes it so terribly illegal?”

“The crew are all changelings.”

Ah. “So, why did you leave them behind?”

“They launched without clearance. I didn’t know they were gone until a few minutes ago, and we were already making our retreat.”

“Ah.” That completed the picture nicely. Something about exceptional combatants tended to make them disobedient at the most inconvenient times. “I’ll tell them it’s a punitive reassignment then.”

“Ha! Silverfish will love that!”

The sound of frantic hooves and heavy breathing drew their attention to Quickfix, who skidded to a stop just shy of colliding with Sweetie belle. “Sorry maha, haa. Wow, I’m, out of shape.” She huffed for a moment, catching her breath. “Sorry, I was distracted with- Wait, what  happened down here?” She looked around the cargo bay with wide eyes.

Rarity’s snout scrunched up and she growled quietly. “Did you really not notice that the ship was under attack? What, precisely, had you so distracted that gunfire and aircraft inside the ship wasn’t enough to draw your attention?”

Quickfix recoiled. “Um, do you really want to know or..?”

“Rarity,” Sweetie belle said, putting a hoof on her sister’s shoulder. “I had her on a personal project. It’s at least half my fault.”

Rarity glared for a moment longer, but she was too tired to keep it up for long. “Fine. Quickfix, you’re being reassigned to the Regenbogen Flitzen. Assemble a team of engineers and report back in no less than four hours.”

“Yes, ma’am.” 

Quickfix turned to leave, but Rarity stopped her. “This reassignment is not punitive, but it is permanent. Don't forget to say your goodbyes.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Hay, Rarity,” Sweetie said, watching her new assistant engineer sortof run but mostly walk towards the bay’s exit.

“Yes, Sweetie?”

“I think we’ll need more beads.”

“...How big is your ship?”


*******


“Rest easy, my brave little falcon,” Dinar whispered, carefully settling Ditzy into a hammock that hung in the corner of the mostly empty room, strung tightly between the lower of three sets of metal eyelets. “The Huntress knows your face. Her starry wings will guard your dreams, and strike the nightmares down.” 

The room was fairly large. Stacks of hammock anchors occupied each corner. The middle of the room was featureless. If Dinar had to guess he'd say it was a pegasus aviary, though the ceiling was no higher than any other room, so maybe not. A strangely designed saddle sat beneath the hammock and a stack of neatly folded dark green blankets sat beside. Beyond those, the room was bare. 

He retrieved a blanket and unfolded it for inspection. It was heavy, and woven of roughly spun wool which tickled his talons ever so slightly, and smelled freshly laundered. With great care and quiet susurrations he wrapped Ditzy in the blanket. She murmured in her sleep, half a smile pulling at her lips. He touched his beak to her forehead and whispered. “There is another whom I need attend, but I’ll return quite soon, I promise.” Quietly he left the room and followed the hall aft.


*******


“Alright, Cookie, we've almost got it.” Quickfix shifted her magic by the tiniest degree she could manage. She pressed her muzzle against the edge of the conference room's table, eyes mere inches from the box she was trying to open. Her little spider automaton followed the telekinetic command with slender, brass appendages, shifting the intricate clockwork of the box’s lock ever so slightly closer to open. 

A tiny flash lit up the inside on the lock and the clockwork spider collapsed with a crack and a hiss. Quickfix jerked her head back and looked at Cookie. “Really? Again? I thought we had it that time.” She magicked the remnants of a shattered rose quartz from a clasp the machines back and replaced it with another from the saddle bags that sat on the bench. “Dang, I’m running out of crystals. Stupid feedback runes. Who invented those anyway?”

“At least I have you to take the hit for me.” With a sigh she got back into position and fed her little metal companion a spark of magick. Cookie rattled, shook and finally stood, returning to the task of picking the lock. “Whatever's in here better be pretty cool. This is getting expensive.”

The lock was insanely complex, to the point where Quickfix couldn't understand how anything she would identify as a ‘key’ could possibly get all the pieces to the right places to disengage it. Cookie's tiny, multipart claws were just barely adequate, at least she thought they should be. She slowly moved the sprockets, springs and levers back to the state just before she hit the feedback. If only magick came in a smaller amount than a sparkle she could probably get it. Maybe if she could build something to step the force down by half a sparkle or so she could make it work.

Dinar cleared his throat in the doorway.

The lock flashed, the crystal exploded and Quickfix squeaked in surprise. She fixed him with a sour look.

“I am sorry for the interruption,” Dinar said quietly. “Rarity asked I send you to her. She seemed to not be in the best of moods.”

Quickfix yelped and darted from the room, A disembodied ‘Thank you’ drifting in her wake. 

Denar stood for a moment, taking in the room. Well worn saddlebags sat opened on one of three polished, high backed benches surrounding a large table. On the table rested a large, ornate box, shaped much like a rifle case. A postclassical Three Tribes aristocracy design if he identified the engravings properly. Beside it rested a cutting edge clockwork haemonculus of some sort. It somewhat resembled a spider or crab, but was clearly designed for utility, not style. Bits of shattered quartz littered the table, bench and floor, enough to fill his one talon and then some, and he had rather large talons. A rather nautical looking chandeliers cast a warm light over the room and made the crystal shards sparkle quite pleasantly. I suppose I should keep watch over this too. He sighed and made his way back down to Ditzy’s doom, stationing himself just outside the door so he could see anything using the gravity lift, but still keep an eye on Ditzy. I should probably have a talk with Sweetie about the state of security on her ship… Is she the captain? I would assume so, she seems sufficiently captaincy. I guess I’ll find out eventually.


*******


Dinky groaned and rubbed her face on the ground. She knew she had blacked out as some point, but didn’t remember the air smelling of moss and flowers. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up with a ghasp. She was in a forest, a deep and wild forest. Beyond a small circle of near normalcy in which she sat there was no sense of direction or orientation, not even up and down. Her mother had told her stories about places where distance and time were metaphorical, and a stable mind could be a liability. She had always assumed it was theatrical exaggeration, apparently not.

She closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath breath. Step one: assess your surroundings. She was in some kind of stable space, though she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was shrinking ever so slowly. She was still wearing the combat vest. To one side she saw her canister rifle, and just beyond it, Ruby. 

She dashed to Ruby’s side, snatching her weapon up in her magick. “Ruby.” she shook her friend vigorously, frantically. “Ruby, wake up!”

Ruby awoke with a start. “What happened?” She sat up and looked around at the uncertain landscape around them. “Where are we?”

Dinky reattached her weapon’s sling to her vest and checked the chamber. Still loaded. “Everfree.”