Getting Away From It All
“Are you excited? I'm excited! We're taking a trip! A trip on an airship!” Pinkie Pie hopped in place, grinning like a loon.
“Yes, dear, we all noticed.”
Rarity watched with concern as her trunks were loaded into the cargo hold of the vast vessel. The shadow of the mantle blotted out the sun and shaded the single file of ponies waiting to disembark. A keeled gondola resembling a large yacht hung beneath the oblong purple-and-gold structure filled with lifting-gas. Bags of sand hung from the gunwales of the gondola, and instead of a figurehead, a glassed-in cupola graced the bow. Towards the middle of the rigid mantle superstructure, a nacelle bearing a vast pusher propeller jutted out on flattened struts. Its twin on the starboard side was obscured by the gigantic lifting body of the airship. She scowled at the compass-rose symbol adorning the nacelle casing – this was one of Prince Blueblood's fleet. The same symbol was emblazoned on the huge tail and elevators. Two ponies struggled to push Rarity's second-to-last trunk up the broad gangplank leading to the cargo hatch.
“We're gonna have a luau, that's like a party, but Ponynesian! It'll be a whole be a whole new kind of party! There'll be palm trees and coconuts and flower necklaces –”
“They're called leis, Pinkie. I've been reading up on the Ponynesians – they are a fascinating and diverse culture who settled most of the inhabitable islands of the Southern Sea. Early explorers called them 'Sea Ponies' because of their skill at navigating vast distances in simple canoes. I hope we get a chance to talk to some of them!”
“Miss?” A unicorn with a well-practiced blank expression approached Rainbow Dash. “You may not take that aboard. It needs to go in the cargo hold.”
“No way! My surfboard stays with me!”
“Please, Dash, don't make a fuss,” Fluttershy whispered. “I'm sure the crew will take good care of it.”
“Well,” growled Dash as she scowled at the unicorn, “if I can't hang four 'cause my board's all busted up, I'm gonna hold you personally responsible.”
“Who says ya'll gonna be 'hanging four'? Surfin's harder than you think.”
Applejack's stomach was already tying itself into knots, and they weren't even on board the airship yet.
“Oh yeah? I'll show you!”
Applejack's retort was cut short by the boarding announcement. The cordon opened, and the waiting ponies made their way up the narrow gangplank to the gondola.
The interior of the gondola was smaller than it looked from outside, but luxuriously appointed, with marble floors, velvet curtains, a crystal chandelier, and innumerable small decorative details to catch the eye. Carpeted hallways and staircases lead to the dozen staterooms. The main hall, three decks tall, featured large portholes to let in sunlight and give the passengers a chance to enjoy the view.
The entire vessel vibrated slightly from the idling magical flywheels in the engines. Twilight met Pinkie just before the entrance to the cockpit. The pilot seemed to be relieved that the purple unicorn came to join her hyperactive pink friend.
“Is it OK if we watch the takeoff?”
“No problem, ma'am,” replied the pilot tersely, and returned to her checklist.
Twilight turned to Pinkie. “I didn't know you were interested in aeronautics, Pinkie.”
“Oh, of course! I love flying stuff, like balloons and whirligigs and paper planes –”
“Shh, Pinkie! The crew needs to concentrate.” Twilight noticed that her admonishment was unnecessary. Pinkie stared into the cockpit with rapt attention.
Twilight recognized some of the numerous levers, gauges, and dials that filled the cockpit. On the pilot’s side, the control yoke jutted out before a panel with readouts – left and right flywheel and propeller speed, an airspeed indicator, an artificial horizon, position indicators for the airship’s control surfaces. On the panel between pilot and co-pilot, a compass and a chronometer displayed bearing and time of day.
“Pre-flight checks completed.” The pilot’s tone of voice was slightly mechanical, like a ritual invocation.
An apparatus next to the co-pilot flashed a message in Horse Code. Twilight recognized it as an ansible, a communications device that used a pair of perfectly-matched gems that were linked by an enchantment to blink almost simultaneously. The ansible gem sat on a hollow tube that fed into a photographic recording device. The co-pilot pulled out a length of tape and reviewed the message.
“We have clearance.”
“Prepare for takeoff.” The copilot tapped the coding key of the ansible to signal acknowledgement, and then flicked a switch to relay flight data back to the gem’s twin in the control tower. The ansible gem pulsed arrhythmically.
The pilot and co-pilot began the litany of take-off.
“Secure gang-planks.” The pilot, a tough-looking silver-gray pegasus mare, glanced over to her co-pilot. The co-pilot was a young-looking pale green unicorn stallion with a short, bristly blond mane. His horn glowed as he carried out his superior officer's order.
“Gang-planks secured and stowed.”
“Cast off mooring line.”
“Mooring line cast off.”
“Release ballast.”
“Ballast released.”
The airship rose slightly.
“Engaging drive wheels.” The mare pushed the throttle forward, the pitch of the vibration that shook the ship increased, and the airship moved forwards with a lurch.
“Drive wheels engaged, we are underway.”
“Bearing 260 degrees.”
The airship turned slowly, heading out to sea.
The pilot engaged the public address system.
“Fillies and gentlecolts, we are underway on Flight 4711, bound to Solofalunemotu. Estimated time of arrival is four days, thirteen hours. Please assemble in the mess hall as our crew demonstrates emergency procedures in the unlikely event of a mishap. Thank you for your attention.”
“Wow.” Pinkie Pie was at a loss for words. Her pale blue eyes stared at the horizon, sky-blue on ocean-blue, and she smiled broadly.
Twilight caught herself before congratulating the crew on the take-off. She didn't want to seem patronizing; it was obvious they had done this many times before.
“Thank you for letting us watch.”
“My pleasure, Miss –”
“Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle.” She gestured to her rapt pink friend. “And this is Pinkie Pie.”
The pilot and co-pilot both smiled at them. The pilot gestured towards herself. “Pleased to meet you. I'm Silver Wings.”
The co-pilot grinned awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with Twilight. “I'm... uh... Pole Star.”
There was an uncertain moment of silence. The pilot nodded curtly.
“Well, we'd appreciate it if you two joined the other passengers in the dining room. The safety briefing will start in a few minutes.”
Twilight turned and saw Pinkie bouncing back to the main hall.
After the presentation on the safety harnesses, crash belts, life preservers, and evacuation procedures, the next hours were filled with moving luggage out of the cargo hold and unpacking in the staterooms. Other than the crew, Pinkie, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were the only passengers on board; half of the dozen staterooms were empty. The ship’s mess chef joined them, a taciturn portly blue earth pony who looked like he wanted to be left alone.
The staterooms were cramped. A single porthole let in some light. The beds folded out of the wall and locked into position, taking up most of what little floor space was available.
Twilight was relieved to find a small night table and reading lamp next to her bed.
Pinkie hung balloons off the tap of the wall-mounted sink.
Rarity frowned at the drably utilitarian crash belts mounted over the beds, and found them not even a little suggestive.
Applejack washed in the sink. When she looked in the small mirror, her face had a green cast. The bass buzz of the ship's engines shook her to the bone.
Rainbow Dash wished the porthole were larger. The flight conditions looked favorable, and she planned on stretching her wings.
Fluttershy curled up in her bunk and tried to take a little nap. The announcement over the public address system startled her.
Lunch would be ready in one hour in the main hall.
They sat at a surprisingly solid folding table, decked with a simple white tablecloth, porcelain dishes, and crystal goblets. The cook rolled in a tray of sandwiches on a cart.
The pilot and co-pilot joined the passengers for the meal, and they talked a little.
“...but I've never been a strong flyer. That's one of the reasons I became a pilot.”
Fluttershy nodded.
Applejack stared at her half-eaten sandwich. She had hoped eating something might make her stomach settle, but it had only made things worse.
Rarity whispered to her, “Are you all right?”
She didn't mean to glare back. “Ah'll be fine.” It was more a statement of intent than anything else.
“We'll be opening the upper deck shortly,” the co-pilot offered. “Then you can get some fresh air.”
The upper deck was just large enough for a shuffleboard court. Aft was an open space with folding chairs. Twilight struggled with one, which stubbornly refused to latch closed. She tried a slightly different arrangement of legs and frame, and found that it locked into place, but the chair hung upside-down in her magical grip.
Rarity stood amidships, her mane flapping in the breeze. Somehow she had imagined this being more romantic. A shuffleboard puck bounced off her hoof, startling her.
“Oopsie! Wanna play a game with me?” Pinkie grinned at her guilelessly. Rarity nodded and picked up a tang.
Rainbow Dash scoped out the deck. It was... boring. Approaching the gunwales, she looked out to the horizon, and then down to the ocean. Applejack followed her, feeling queasy.
“Hey, Dash, watcha –”
Rainbow Dash hopped over the side and began circling the airship, whooping with delight. Applejack's stomach turned a somersault as well. She rushed to the gunwale, stuck her head over the side, and saw open ocean a thousand feet below. A gust of wind blew away her hat, and she watched it spiral down to the choppy water.
“Mah hat...”
She watched it disappear under the waves. Gorge rose in her throat, and she stretched her neck over the side to throw up her half sandwich.
The co-pilot appeared on deck, and twisted and turned as he tried to follow Rainbow Dash's course, yelling over the bass rumble of the engines.
“Miss! Miss!”
Rainbow Dash flew backwards alongside the gondola of the airship, fore-hooves folded behind her head, her wings flapping casually to keep up with the vessel's leisurely pace.
“Yeah, what's up?”
“Miss! You can't just hop overboard! We're over open ocean!”
“Aw, come on! I can easily keep up with you!”
“Please, come on board. I'll talk to the captain.”
Reluctantly, Rainbow Dash returned to the deck. A shuffleboard puck bounced against her back hoof.
“Hey!” A frustrated Dash kicked the puck back to Pinkie Pie.
“Sorry about that! I'll go again!”
“Whatever, dear:”
Twilight looked up from her book, and a gust of wind ruffled the pages. She scowled; the gust made her lose her place.
Dinner was tense. Dash and Silver Wings argued.
“What happens on this ship is my responsibility – ”
“You can't seriously expect me to stay cooped up in here, especially with the sweet flying weather!”
“We're already well out of Weather Patrol airspace and over open ocean. I can't allow it!”
Twilight Sparkle's brow furrowed. “Wait, what are we going to do if there's a storm?”
Pinkie elbowed her in the ribs. “Oh, like that's going to happen!”
The argument continued. Twilight eventually spoke up, and pointed out that Rainbow Dash was a fully qualified weather pony, and that it would be better for all if the captain would let her make scheduled patrols.
Silver Wings glared at Twilight, but it was hard to argue with an orderly check-list prescribing a pertinent procedure to palliate a potential problem. Rainbow Dash was content with her flight schedule, and Pole Star was finally able to convince his commanding officer to consent to the arrangement.
Applejack left early. She walked all the way astern to the ship's mess.
“Anything I can get you, Miss Applejack?”
“Ah... ah'm not feelin' so well. D'ya have a bucket?”
The blue earth pony fetched a pail from the ship's stores.
“Thanks kindly. Ah didn't catch your name?”
“Umm... Blue Balls... just call me 'the Cook', OK?”
“OK, then... well, um... good night, and thanks again.”
“Don't mention it.”
None of them slept well the first night. Fluttershy tried her hardest to get used to sleeping in the crash belts, to no avail. Twilight brooded about the weather; it hadn't occurred to her that nopony would be taking care of it. Pinkie Pie tried to think of some way she could make the trip more fun for her friends, and was frustrated that the best idea she could come up with involved more shuffleboard. Applejack was able to sleep, but her rest was interrupted with occasional bouts of dry heaves. Rarity struggled to find a comfortable position to sleep that didn't make her molars rattle from the engine vibrations. Rainbow Dash lay on her back, wings spread, and anticipated her first morning patrol.
The morning sun cast pools of bright sunlight on the fore wall of the mess hall as breakfast was served.
Five bleary-eyed ponies munched on toast and jelly. Rainbow Dash had left early for her first patrol as an honorary crew-member, and joined them a little later. Pinkie Pie excitedly related her plan for a shuffleboard championship. Twilight resigned herself to helping Pinkie organize the contest. Pinkie seemed entirely too excited to hear that there were 15 distinct pairs possible among the six of them, and was close to planning 15 separate tournaments beginning with each of the pairs in turn. "It's even an odd number! We can figure out the champion of winning all the possible tournaments!"
Twilight nodded, resigned to a thrilling day of shuffleboard. Fortunately, the first tournament ended around lunch time, and even Pinkie had lost interest by then. Rainbow Dash expressed a surprising interest in Ponynesian languages, and arranged to meet Twilight after lunch.
Fluttershy sat quietly on the deck, stretching her wings into the wind, as Dash returned from her mid-day patrol. After entering her findings into the log book, she came to Twilight on the aft upper deck.
Her linguistic talents were modest.
"Shoo-bee-doo?" Rainbow Dash struggled with the foreign word.
Twilight smiled patiently. "Ponynesian phonology doesn't include the 'sh' sound. The correct pronunciation is closer to 'si-hoo-bee-do', with stress on the second syllable.”
“Then why do they write it like that?”
“The representation of glottal stops wasn't standardized until recently.”
“Of what?”
Twilight felt bad about frustrating her friend like that, but Rarity offered to take her mind off her troubles. They spent a few hours until dinner began repairing the damage the wind on the top deck had done to their hair-dos.
They had made it through another day. Only two more remained before they would reach their destination.
Rainbow Dash looked at the sunrise. An angry red stripe accompanied the sun, and the air was muggy. She decided to take a look at the barometer before heading out. The pressure had fallen quite a bit. She logged it and turned the needle to the current air pressure. The humidity was also pretty high, which explained why preening had taken so long this morning. It looked like stormy weather was coming.
She headed west to the deep blue of the early morning sky, flying against the cool wind.
The first bank of leaden clouds appeared on the horizon as she returned. Her friends had just finished breakfast and were awaiting the all clear for the top deck. “Just a minute, I gotta talk to the captain...”
Twilight Sparkle frowned, and ambled over to the porthole.
“Captain, I think we have a problem.” Rainbow Dash showed Silver Wings the pressure log. “There's a storm front coming, a big one. Even if I had a whole team to help me, I don't think we could break it up.”
“How long do we have?”
“I'd say about three hours.”
Silver Wings gave Dash a hard look, “I'll discuss this with my colleague. In the mean time, keep quiet about it.”
“But – ”
“This time of year, big rainstorms are normal. I don't want you spooking your fellow passengers, do you understand?” Silver Wings narrowed her eyes. “Tell them the top deck is closed until further notice. We'll make the call whether we try to fly around it or through it. Understood?”
“Yes, ma'am.” Rainbow Dash frowned, turned around, and returned to her friends. Twilight glanced over her shoulder at her, and her mind raced.
“Dash? I think I see thunderclouds on the horizon.”
“The captain says big storms are normal this time of year.”
“What do you think?”
“I don't know. You're right – those are thunder clouds. The captain told me that the upper deck is closed for now.”
Twilight looked out the window. “All right. I suppose they have more experience with this than we do.”
Fluttershy and Rarity approached them. Twilight said, “I think it might be a good idea to make sure there's nothing lying around in our rooms. We might be in for nasty weather.”
Rarity smiled broadly. “That means no shuffleboard today!”
The six were busy stowing away their personal belongings when the announcement came. “We are approaching a storm system. While strong storms are not unusual this time of year over the open ocean, we'd advise all passengers to secure any loose items in your rooms and buckle up. Thank you for your attention.”
One and a half hours later, huge raindrops splattered against the portholes in the passengers' quarters. The rain began suddenly, and the wind roared. The airship turned into the wind.
The sky became darker. Flashes of lightning blazed blue through the portholes. The airship creaked as wind buffeted it from side to side.
Applejack was grateful her bucket was close to her bed.
The first updraft took them all by surprise. Twilight shrieked. The airship groaned as the fore end of the floor suddenly bucked upwards.
A tortured groan came from the rear end of the mantle as the vessel righted itself. The crystal drops of the chandelier in the main hall tinkled as the vessel swung level.
Rain pounded against the sides of the gondola, and lightning flashed through the portholes. The sound of the wind-driven rain was loud enough to sound like hail. It was early afternoon, and the sky was almost black with leaden clouds.
The co-pilot headed aft, seemingly panicked by the violence of the storm. Loud yelling came from the cockpit.
A second updraft came. Pole Star kept his footing, but was unable to continue aft to the staterooms.
A loud crack echoed from the back of the mantle, and the slope of the floor suddenly became a precipice. As Pole Star slipped down the marble floor, the much-abused chandelier lost its grip on the ceiling, and fell down with a shattering crash.
An unconscious and bleeding Pole Star slumped into the hallway leading to the staterooms, followed by loose drops and bits of shattered glass.
The public address system struggled to make itself heard over the chaos.
“Fillies and gentlecolts, this is your captain speaking. We will be making an emergency water landing. I repeat, we will be making an emergency water landing. Please ensure that all personal belongings are stowed and your crash belts are secure.”
A loud pop followed by a hiss came from above. The deck of the airship slowly righted itself as it began a slow but inexorable descent to the boiling ocean below.
The earlier symphony of storm was now joined by the aleatory accompaniment of structural failure, a terrible stream of tearing, hissing, and cracking as the mantle struggled to discharge its cargo of lifting-gas while the wind attempted to stave it in.
The wind-driven waves came closer. The public address system gave a desperate warning.
“Prepare for landing.”
There was a final terrific jerk, and then a splash.
The gondola was seaworthy, but the condition of the ocean would have been a challenge to a far larger vessel. The tilting of the floor became more violently frequent if less intense.
The floor tilted once again, starboard to port, and a loud crash came from the front of the gondola. A moment later, Silver Wings, soaked with sea-water and covered in broken glass, struggled down the stairway. Carefully flapping her wings, she flew gingerly over the marble surface covered with shards of broken crystal.
At the end of the hallway, she saw Pole Star's body. “Stupid kid... oh no... you stupid kid...”
She huddled next to him, tried to protect him by covering him with her wings. “Poor stupid kid...”
The storm broke, and the worst was over. Silver Wings, her face streaked with tears, knocked on the doors of each of the staterooms. They weren't dead... yet.
The situation was grim. They had one badly injured crewman who would die without medical attention. The cockpit had been shattered by a breaking wave. They were half-way to the Southern Sea in the middle of the Great Ocean.
Twilight Sparkle scanned the horizon with her telescope. The waters were calm now, and the sun burned down with tropical heat through the strands of puffy clouds left in the wake of the storm. Silver Wings was still captain, but Twilight had effectively taken charge.
Her lower lip trembled. Seeing the captain struggle to save the life of her colleague and co-pilot filled Twilight with feelings of guilt and self-reproach. She had screamed like a little filly during the crash and huddled helplessly in her harness. She should have done something, anything to help.
Fluttershy tried to convince the captain to let her examine the co-pilot. He was unconscious, his pulse was thready but present and he was still breathing. There wasn't much more Fluttershy could say. Pole Star needed a real doctor.
Pinkie was oblivious, or at least seemed to be. She dedicated her efforts to making friends with the cook, who finally broke down and whispered his name in her ear. "There's nothing wrong with a colorful name! Pleased meet you, Blue!"
This made him smile for some reason, but he later explained that he'd rather be called the Cook. He was friendly, but stoic to a fault. He would help if asked, but otherwise just sat and watched events unfold around him passively. Twilight wondered if he had already given up hope and was just along for the ride.
She could understand the feeling. The ansible was broken. Tapping the gem produced no response, and it was safe to assume also no response in its distant twin, either. Twilight couldn't see what the problem was, but Rarity pointed out a tiny chip on one facet. Once the situation calmed down, Twilight was planning on reviewing the ansible tape and the co-pilot's notes, but simple arithmetic told her that they were a little more than half-way to their goal, and common sense told her that their boat was in no condition to turn around and return to the mainland, especially if strong storms were likely, not to mention that they only had a few days' more provisions in the ship's stores.
Rainbow Dash returned with good news. She had found an island.
Twilight was currently the most effective engine the boat had. She pushed it over the glassy sea with her magic, sweating and struggling to follow Dash's frustratingly approximate bearings. The sun was hot, and she was terribly thirsty.
Despite Dash's assertion that the island “has trees and everything” it looked disturbingly dry and scrubby, a battered tip of a long-extinct submerged volcano that had weathered and crumbled and been intermittently colonized by the desperate flora and fauna, a natural equivalent to a roadside restroom for migratory sea-birds, or a sleazy hotel for amorous seals.
The sun was beginning to set as the boat ran aground on the curved, sandy beach of the island. They stayed on board for the time being, waiting until daybreak to disembark.
Twilight Sparkle couldn't sleep. She had the waterlogged maps, compass, and chronometer salvaged from the cockpit and the tape from the ansible. She had her telescope, and her ephemeris, and a small atlas. She had all night, and she had to think of something.
Her first thought was, “Call Celestia.” She could, in fact, summon a benevolent goddess from the rafters of heaven. The Princess could come and whisk them away, back home where it was safe and the weather always ran on time.
Silver Wings knocked on her door, and opened it before Twilight could welcome her.
“We need to get a few things straight, kid.”
Twilight looked at the older mare with a measured expression, and remained silent. Silver Wings continued.
“This ship and everypony aboard is my responsibility. I'm the one in charge here. If we plan something, it's on my authority – ”
Twilight saw that Silver Wing's face was streaked with tears and taut with worry and fear.
A long time ago, Twilight Sparkle was taught that each and every pony was a manifestation of something aching to be, that each and every pony was an experiment to find new ways to live. It was an easy enough concept to accept intellectually, but the full implications only started to unfold to her when she went to Ponyville.
Twilight's voice was level and calm as she looked Silver Wings in the eye.
“Am I being mutinous? Be honest, we're far away from anywhere where having an official scapegoat to take the blame does us any good, and if you think for one second that your authority means anything else, you're fooling yourself. Right now we need everypony to do what they do best if we want to survive.”
“Young filly, you are not the one in charge here – ”
Twilight struggled to understand Silver Wings. She... she needed this. She needed to feel like it was all her fault.
Celestia's power was undisputed. Why? Why didn't everypony blame her when misfortune struck?
It was because each and every pony saw her as one of them, and wished to hold her blameless and eternal.
Because of this, every pony did everything they could to be the master of their own destiny and overcome adversity on their own terms. Silver Wings struggled because what happened was her fault, and what she needed most was help.
“No, no I'm not. But I have resources you can't even begin to imagine, and I feel guilty that I haven't tried harder to help already. Do you understand? I can help, and I want to help. Please let me. Let my friends do what they can. We're all in the same boat here.”
Silver Wings struggled not to roll her eyes at the terrible joke.
“All right. You're my acting second in command. But I'm still the captain, and if I give an order, I want you to follow it. Understood?”
“Understood.”
“So – explain to your superior officer what the hay you think you're doing.”
The next morning, they began to build shelters. Applejack felt much better now that the ground wasn't bucking and buzzing. Now the only buzzing came from the tiny black flies that thirsted for her sweat.
Bucking the shallow-rooted palm trees down was surprisingly satisfying.
The tops of the trees yielded a harvest of palm fronds and coconuts. After only a few hours’ work, a few basic lean-tos with thatched roofs were ready. Fluttershy and Silver Wings moved Pole Star off the boat along with a barrel of fresh water.
The next three days passed surprisingly quickly. Twilight seemed to be avoiding her friends, and remained cooped up in the boat. Silver Wings spent most of her time taking care of Pole Star, who became feverish and still refused to wake up. Fluttershy took a break from helping Silver Wings to tour the island, and came back with a story about a local cell of dolphins and a nearby coral reef she was too embarrassed to finish, despite prodding from the others.
On one of the rare evenings Twilight joined her friends, the Cook talked about scuba diving. He had been planning to go diving in the reefs near Solofalunemotu. After the meal, Twilight took him off to the side and they had an animated discussion.
The fresh water was beginning to run out. The next day, Applejack set out to look for water.
The rain forest may have been lush, but it was also obviously young growth. The island they were trapped on was feast or famine as far as rainfall was concerned.
The groundwater was there, but it was brown with tannins and looked unpalatable. Applejack gathered a pitcher of it anyway and head back to the camp.
The hat Rarity wove from palm fronds was a poor substitute for her usual cowboy hat, but it protected her from the punishing tropical sun that burned on her neck and back. She was grateful to return to their camp. Say what you will about Rarity, at least their huddle of improvised shelters looked inviting.
Pinkie Pie was waiting for her with a coconut and a colorful straw salvaged from the ship’s mess. Applejack tried to pace herself and not drink it down all at once, but fatigue and sweat made her so terribly thirsty. “Thanks, Pinkie,” she croaked.
“Any luck? Did digging a well work any better than finding a spring?”
“’Fraid not, Sugarcube. The ground-water’s brown and looks nasty.”
Elsewhere close nearby, Rarity carefully examined the ansible gem. Her horn felt for the precious stone’s cleavage planes, and a flash of light knocked off the chipped facet. Twilight had warned her about the tolerances required for the ansible enchantment, and Rarity felt a little nervous as she twisted the gem in the air.
A second flash cleaved the gem into two halves. As jewelry, the gems would be a catastrophe, but both her horn and a simple balance confirmed that their weights were identical. She tucked the gems into her saddlebags and trotted back to the boat.
Twilight obviously hadn’t slept for several nights. The floor was strewn with notes, open books, and rolls of papyrus.
Rarity could recognize the look of creative chaos. Twilight looked up blearily yet expectantly at Rarity.
“I think it worked, darling.” Rarity floated the two stones from her saddlebags, and Twilight examined them.
“Yes, yes… good…”
Twilight took the gems from Rarity’s magical grip and set them down carefully on the floor. She then levitated a scroll over to Rarity.
“Take this to Rainbow Dash,” she mumbled. “Please. I’ll need her to sign it after she’s reviewed the wording.”
“What is it?”
“A last will and testament, in case this doesn’t work.”
Silver Wings gathered them together for the demonstration at the beach. Twilight paced, her ragged mane blowing in the wind.
Once all were assembled, Twilight turned to face the small crowd.
“Captain?” Twilight waited for Silver Wings to give her the word.
“Go on, Twilight. Tell them your plan.”
“All right. The short version – we’re going home tomorrow.”
There were a few quiet gasps of astonishment.
“Over the last two days, I have been studying a gateway spell, like a magic doorway between two locations. While many of you know that I have mastered a simple form of teleportation, this portal spell has several important advantages. Firstly, it works over potentially vast distances, far further than I can teleport. Secondly, it will allow us to safely transport Pole Star.”
Twilight paced as she talked, and stopped to face Rainbow Dash.
“Dash, would you please take this gem and fly it to the other side of the island? Tap the gem once you’ve found an open area.”
“You got it!” Dash streaked away.
“I’m now going to demonstrate the portal spell. It’s actually quite simple, but has fallen into obscurity over the years. Interestingly, it is closely related to the spell that links the two gems of an ansible –”
Rarity pointed with her fore-hoof. “Darling, your gem is blinking.”
“Excellent. Here goes.”
Twilight scrunched her face and concentrated. “I have Dash’s location. Now…”
Her horn became brighter. A semicircle of light appeared behind her, revealing Rainbow Dash sticking out her tongue.
One by one, the assembled ponies walked through the portal and back. As Dash tried to follow the others, Twilight reminded her that she had to bring the gem back.
“But what about you, dear? Can you?”
“Of course, Rarity, but the gate will collapse as soon as I go through.”
Rainbow Dash landed on the beach. “Dash! The gem, please.”
Twilight Sparkle fumed as Dash pretended to have lost the gem. Finally, she pulled it out. “Here ya go.”
“So, the difficult part is getting the other gem to the mainland. Dash… tell them.”
Rainbow Dash was neither an eloquent or particularly articulate public speaker, but her next few words moved her friends to tears.
“D’ya think y’all kin pull it off?”
“Heh.. yeah, sure.”
She wished her bravado didn’t sound so false.
None of them slept well that night.
The next morning, Rainbow Dash sweated in the wet-suit, and the oxygen tank bumped uncomfortably under her shins.
Twilight Sparkle was a mess. The nights she had spent researching the portal spell and making her plans had taken a toll on her, and she had a crazy, hungry look in her eyes. “Rainbow Dash, you don’t have to do this… I can make it to the mainland with just three horizon-to-horizon teleports, assuming I don’t pass out…”
“Forget it, bookworm. I’m ready.”
“All right. Put on the breathing mask and turn on the regulator.”
Rarity helped Dash place the diving mask over her muzzle.
Twilight frowned. “Here we go.” She turned, guided by the compass, and faced towards where they hoped the mainland was. “Ready?”
Dash nodded, and Rarity said, “She’s ready, darling.” Rarity whispered in Dash’s ear, “Celestia be with you.”
There was a flash of magenta light, and…
Rainbow Dash’s ears popped violently as she suddenly reappeared in the upper atmosphere. The sky above her was black, turning to blue as she looked at the curved horizon. The air was thin and horrifyingly cold, almost non-existent, but a pegasus flew more through cussedness and magic than aerodynamics.
She flapped, flapped like she had never flapped before. The thin air offered little resistance to the pegasus magic that drove her forwards. She looked down at the compass strapped to her wrist.
A tiny course correction later, and she picked up enough speed that she could feel the ethereal air blowing through her mane. The wet-suit didn’t help much against the bitter cold.
Her altitude and the thin atmosphere dulled her sense of speed. She wished she could have checked the pressure of the air tanks as the shock cone formed around her. She stretched both fore-hooves forward and redoubled her efforts. The freezing air bit against her wings.
The rainboom was muted in the thin air, dancing ethereally like an aurora.
She had forty-five minutes of air before she had to descend to an altitude where she could jettison the tank and breathe normally, forty-five minutes to cross as much ocean as she could.
She hardly felt as if she was moving, but the spectral wave of the sonic rainboom reminded her of her speed. Her muscles burned. The cold drilled through the thin material of the wet-suit.
The pace was too rapid for her to continue. The flapping of her wings slowed. The whistling of the thin air past her ears, numb with cold, was the only indication of the terrific speed at which she was flying.
Everything hurt. Her whole body ached, her ears rang.
She risked a look at the air pressure gauge. Her tank was almost empty.
There was no land in sight.
She needed to lose altitude quickly, get down to where she could breathe the air, ditch the tank.
Was that a glimmer of green on the horizon, or just a false hope?
The sky closed midnight blue above her, and the air became even colder.
As she sank deeper, the horizon narrowed. There was nothing but water beneath her, water and puffy clouds rising to meet her. The tops of the clouds were torn away, feathering towards her. It looked like another storm brewing, a big one.
She hadn't expected the blast of fore-wind that roared in her ears and sapped her speed. She had a choice – keep fighting against the powerful air current, or descend into the brewing storm.
The turbulent winds between the rising columns of cloud buffeted her. She hoped she was still on course. In the distance, lightning discharged between the clouds.
A vertical wind shear forced her into a leaden column of cloud, where a relatively warm updraft caught her and lifted her up. Her mane and fur tingled, and the air was filled with tiny blue sparks.
She needed to get closer to the ground. The air was just barely thick enough to breathe, but not thick enough to keep her going long enough to recover her speed.
The clouds became puffier and friendlier as she came to the tail end of the storm front. Before her was only ocean, so close now.
She ditched the air tank. Getting rid of its dead weight helped a little, but she was in no condition to pull off another rainboom.
Her head swam. She checked the compass, and banked north a few degrees.
Flapping her wings just enough to slow her descent, she prayed that none of her burning muscles decided to cramp.
Breathing became a little easier. The air was merely cold instead of a numbing assault against her senses. Beneath her, the ocean stretched, blue and implacable.
She still could not see any land.
The water – there was a subtle shift in color. The waves were slightly higher.
She wished she had some energy to spare, some secret store of resolve and determination that would drive her forward in a burst of speed, finally confirm that her glimpse of green was not a hopeful delusion.
It was the best she could do to slow her fall and maintain some forward momentum. On the horizon, clouds rose.
She didn't want to drown. If she fell in the water, she wouldn't have the strength to stay afloat.
She was low now, at the friendlier altitudes where sensible pegasi fly. If she ran into another storm, she wouldn't be able to break through.
The puffy little clouds rose over a tantalizing strip of yellow-brown sand. Scrubby, wind-blown coastal trees grew on green-brown hills.
She was too low, she'd...
Her hooves hit the water, sliced through to the sandy beach floor. Pulling herself forward against the ebbing tide, she felt the cool water soak through her wet-suit, rinsing her sweat away.
Her legs gave way as she reached the beach. She could barely move her wings.
Delirious, she pulled the ansible stone from her saddlebags, and tapped it with her hoof.
She collapsed on the dry sand as its glow faded.
She didn't hear the whoosh of air as the portal opened.
“She made it! She made it!” Pinkie bounced through, and tried to nuzzle the unconscious Dash awake.
“Quickly... I don't know how long I can hold the gate open...”
Fluttershy and Silver Wings carried the stretcher with the wounded Pole Star through the gate, followed by Applejack, Rarity and the cook.
Fluttershy looked into Pinkie's pleading eyes. “Is... is she OK?”
“I dunno. She's not moving.”
Applejack called into the portal. “C'mon, Twilight. Hurry!”
Twilight Sparkle stepped carefully toward the gate, her mind occupied with the portal spell. She stood just before the threshold, swallowed hard, and leaped through.
A spark of magical feedback struck her horn, nearly knocking her unconscious as the portal closed behind her. Her head swam as she struggled to keep her footing. “Ow...”
“It's all right, Pinkie... she's still breathing. She must be exhausted...”
“Rarity... get the wet-suit off her. I'd help, but my horn hurts...”
Silver Wings stroked the fevered forehead of the unconscious Pole Star tenderly. “We need to get him to a hospital. He's not going to make it...” She fixed Twilight Sparkle with a reproachful glare.
Applejack turned to the frazzled-looking purple unicorn. “Listen up, Sugarcube... you're in a bad way. Y'all need to rest, too. Me and the girls will take care of a signal fire.”
Twilight nodded, and wobbled off to lie down next to Rainbow Dash.
She was asleep a moment later.
They were found six hours later by an airship operated by the Weather Patrol, and evacuated to the Medical Center in Canterlot.
Pole Star never completely recovered from his injuries. He received a disability leave from flying, and is currently being cared for by Silver Wings, who retired to take care of her colleague.
Rainbow Dash was admitted to the hospital severely exhausted and dehydrated, and suffering from frostbite and altitude sickness. Her flight was estimated to have covered over one thousand miles, breaking the distance record for pegasus flight by a factor of two. She recovered completely after three days’ convalescence. Although the circumstances of her feat precluded official recognition, she was invited to several debriefings by the Wonderbolts, where her experiences helped kick-start their high-altitude flight program.
Twilight Sparkle was treated for exhaustion and recovered after a brief hospital stay. Based on her experiences, she published several papers on long-distance teleportation and suggested several techniques to permit field repair of ansible gems.
Fluttershy was unavailable for comment.
Rarity briefly experimented with using palm fronds in her designs.
Pinkie Pie popularized shredded coconut.
Applejack swore off air travel for the foreseeable future.