Harmony Among Thieves

Chapter 8: Flying Iron

Unusual was the word to be sure, that would describe the appearance of Spike riding on top of a balloon-aloft Big Macintosh, propelled by Rainbow Dash pushing him by the strings that hung from above his body, alongside Fluttershy doing likewise to Rarity and Pinkie Pie in her veritable mixture of balloons and string. But travel they did, slowly but surely intercepting the path of the Aurora. As they approached, the description of 'behemoth' definitely fit the bill, and then became inadequate as they fell beneath its shadow, while the airship turned slowly. It was as enormous as the sun was bright, gleaming a wondrous faded beige white, bearing its name proudly on an expansively painted title just above a long series of windows built into the side of the gasbag.

They flew closer and closer, the sound of the four engines on the facing side soon becoming tremendous with its harsh rumbling.

Rainbow Dash continued to fly towards where she had exchanged with the stewardess earlier on the main entrance door, and there she saw a Pegasus wearing a completely yellowy-green high-visibility suit stand out, close the door behind him and jump clear of the airship. He hovered and was motioning widely with two glowing cones in his hooves, directing them lower and to the side, and Dash and Fluttershy followed his movements. Eventually they found themselves centred directly below a large metal door underneath the gasbag behind the gondola, which began to open with two large retracting slats. The Pegasus in the suit gestured to ascend slowly and keep position, the Group doing so. As they travelled slowly upwards, Rainbow and Fluttershy found it easier and easier to keep their 'cargo's at the same relative speed as the airship, and soon found themselves hovering inside a floor-accessed hangar bay inside the Aurora.

The door retracted, becoming a floor to stand on as the plates locked in place with a surprisingly loud KA-KLACK. Hoof-rails around the perimeter of the door retracted and a couple other pegasi wearing bright vests travelled over, untangling Pinkie Pie and standing near Macintosh. Spike blew a flame and severed the trunk of strings of the group of balloons while one of the ships' crew held it, and the vested Pegasus found himself slowly drifting away once it was cut. Macintosh looked back at the massive belt of strings still tied around his barrel. As soon as Pinkie was freed from her mess by four of the crew meddling with a pair of bolt cutters, she dove towards the red stallion.

"I got it!"

In a flurry of movement of her hooves, Pinkie had properly untied the dozens and dozens of strings that had transported Big Mac.

"Thank you, Pinkie." said Rarity. "Good thinking with the balloons."

"That was th'best thing ever. Ever." said Macintosh, his eyes still very wide and mane entirely ruffled from the fast-moving air just recently.

"Aw it was nothin'. Just gotta loosen up every once and a while!"

"Who are you ponies anyways?" said a taller one of the crew.

"We're late passengers. Who do we talk to about that?" Rainbow Dash explained. The pony gave a recognizing nod and spoke into a brass horn-shaped device mounted on the wall, waited for a response, talked a bit more and then pressed a button on it.

"Come with me please."

Rarity and Fluttershy began to take in the space. It looked sort of utilitarian and mechanical like the warehouse back in Tinkie Tie's factory, but also looked much cleaner, and every surface seemed to be either much thinner or had circular holes cut into them, including a large blue gantry crane mounted on the ceiling. Several of the crew members eyed them curiously as they exited through a hatch-door, into a rather bland-looking hall, past some crew lounge space and then just before two fancy polished-metal doors.

"Wait here. Another crew member should be along to see you all in a little bit. Welcome aboard, passengers." The Pegasus in the crew jacket said, and returned the way they came.

"I already sort of like it, you know." said Rarity, taking in the cleanliness and modern design of the lounge. "Even if this is the crew quarters, it seems simply fabulous."

"Ah can't believe we're actually flyin' right now." said Macintosh. Two other crew members wearing ivory aprons and small hats walked past and through the door, and it occurred to Dash and Fluttershy that it was likely most if not all of the crew were probably pegasi. A different crew member poked his head through the door.

"Are you the late passengers?"

"Yup!" said Rainbow Dash, several other heads nodding.

"Out here, please."

He motioned them to standing in front of the door and they realized they were in a large restaurant-like lounge with windows mounted on the floor here and there with hoof-rails around them. In front of them stood a short but stout gray pegasus wearing a white peaked cap standing beside a tall griffon with reddish-tipped feathers, and a unicorn with a faintly blue white appearance and small glasses.

"Captain, these are them." said the steward. The gray Pegasus eyed them carefully, examining each from head to hoof and also looking them in the eye. The peaked-cap pony pointed out at Spike, speaking with a dominant but effeminate tone.

"What is this?"

"He's Spike, he's a baby dragon." explained Fluttershy. "He's not dangerous; he's a friend of ours."

"Nice place you got here!" complimented Spike. The Captain seemed to ignore his appraisal and continued the visual inspection, lingering on Pinkie Pie's head. No doubt she had noticed the key-shaped lapel pin.

"Where are you from and where are you going?"

"Ponyville." Rarity said. The bespectacled pony raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"We're looking for MBE." continued Rainbow. The pony with glasses instantly looked to the Captain to see her reaction, which held perfectly still in a perfect poker face. She calmly and coolly looked up at the griffon, who then was examining the arrivals as closely as the Captain had.

"Very good, see them aboard, see that they have accommodation. Ladies, gentlecolt." Without another word, she turned and walked out of the lounge. The griffon seemed to eye Rainbow with an angry stare as he left through the door they came through. Only the blue unicorn remained, slowly turning and then following after the Captain, with a curious smile on his face while he seemed to gaze at Rarity. Rarity didn't know if she should feel somehow flattered by an admiration or insulted by the stare. Rarity non-indicatively assumed the former.

The group began to move outwards to the various things in the relatively empty lounge. Spike, Big Macintosh and Pinkie Pie looked down through the floor-light windows, seeing the hundreds of feet downwards to the disappearing edge of Fillydelphia and the fields beyond.

Their quiet and happy reverie was interrupted by the gruff voice of the griffon from before, followed by two of the hangar crew pegasi through the metal doors.

"You guys askin' about MBE?"

They all looked at each other, before Rainbow stepped up.

"Who wants to know?"

"MBE," he replied in a thoroughly tough voice. Rainbow looked back and saw her friends looking at the situation, which might become a conflict.

"If you want to know somethin', come with us," he said, coldly. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy walked up to Dash's side. Macintosh, Spike and Rarity stood in position for a moment until the gray one said directly to them. "What about you three?"

"Uh-" Macintosh mustered, before one of the crew beside the griffon whispered in his ear, making him ignore the red stallion.

"Whatever. If you're not comin', fine," he said, brutishly. He exited through the door, the other three following. Macintosh and Rarity looked at each other, and she spoke.

"Shouldn't we follow?"

"Or maybe it's better if we stay here, spread out and see what we can learn, like at the parlour," Spike suggested.

"Good idea, Spike." she was silently thinking up an agenda to see what there was to see aboard the airship.

"Eeyup," replied Macintosh. Although it was hard to tell, the stallion was tickled pink and giddy as a filly at the prospect of being on board something as fancy and luxurious as an airship like the Aurora.

The three of them turned and exited through the door the Captain and the blue bespectacled one had, bringing them to a different promenade room. It was decorated with a variety of interesting furniture and fabrics all with circles or dots in a common theme, and on one side of the room was a barista and chef preparing small dishes and giving them to the wide variety of other ponies present, some in fine formal wear.

Although it occurred to him, Macintosh elected not to care that his yoke was entirely improper. Rarity's smile beamed at seeing the space and gasped so mightily it was surprising she continued to breathe. She started to roam around the room in delight at all the décor and luxury of the place. Spike had his eyes set on the counter of food, having not eaten since breakfast.

"I'm starved!" he said, running over. Macintosh slowly drifted away from the door, not paying much attention to any particular detail, nor knowing how to fully appreciate the lavish expense, but kept one eye on Spike.

***

The griffon led the three back down the hall into the hangar again, which seemed strangely empty compared to only a few moments ago when they had arrived. Only one crew member could be seen, on a catwalk above, pulling down some of the stray balloons and tying them to the railing.

"The mutts bark and the camel's pass." said the griffon aloud, in no general direction. Suddenly, a great many of the vested crew members seemed to pour into the space, gathering into a largish circle around Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, the latter of whom made a small squeak at the arrivals, who all looked quite menacing with their stares.

"Why d'you want to know about MBE?" said the griffon.

"Our friends were kidnapped on a train yesterday; we're trying to find who took them. The train was owned by MBE, and that's lead us here," said Rainbow Dash with a strong voice. The griffon looked to one behind him, murmured something and then looked back with a swing in the turn.

"Well maybe I know somethin' about that, maybe I don't," he said, confidently. "'Don't think you really know what you're talkin' about when you bring up MBE like that, 'specially in front of the Cap'm. The only way we're gonna tell you anything is if you can prove yourself."

"Bring it on!" exclaimed Dash.

A similarly sized Pegasus as Rainbow Dash stepped forwards, shedding his vest and letting his burgundy coat show, offset by his very short red mane.

"I challenge yew to an Iron Pony Competition," he said, with a small accent that somewhat resembled Applejack's. "If we win, yew and yur pretty friends spend the trip in the cargo hold, and we dump yew guys wh'never we're nice and low."

"And if we win, you tell us all we want to know about MBE." replied Dash. The red-headed Pegasus spat into his hoof, Dash did likewise and they slapped their hooves together in the contract. Dash's smirk was audacious and capable, but the red colt was just as bold of a grin.

Lights shot on, illuminating the space over the hangar doors on the floor like a television studio, all the crew members stood back, and large panels of windows opened up above them on the walls, showing cheering crowds in small grandstands overlooking the hangar space. A little bit of confetti sprayed out from some location in the rafters, and a rich, amiable and well-practiced clarity of a voice rang out, coming from speakers mounted in front of one of the windows, directly in front of a brown stallion with a microphone.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlecolts and Welcome to the 38th Official Aurora Airborne Iron Pony Competition!" Cheers came from the crowd. At the surprise, Pinkie Pie bounced and laughed, and Fluttershy squealed again, curling up beside her. "Returning Champion Hot Head Haste will be facing today's challenger, the lovely..." a white stallion cantered up to a bewildered Rainbow Dash, still standing and looking in awe at the sudden change of the atmosphere. The stallion was wearing a white and black striped jacket with a whistle.

"What's your name, kid?" he hissed.

"...Rainbow Dash."

"Rainbow Dash! Facing one of our fiercest competitors, with 14 wins to his name! Let the games begin!" A bell rang, and the gantry crane from above, deploying a series of pylons in a zig-zag pattern that followed somewhat like a large U shape. Hot Head was stepping back and forth in a preparation motion.

"Ready t'be taken down, Rainbow Crash?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes at the taunt.

The Referee pointed a hoof at Hot Head and then Dash.

"I want a nice clean game. No cheatin', wings only if they're allowed." Rainbow Dash nodded in assent.

"Yeah, yeah," replied Hot Head, turning away dismissively. The announcer spoke into the quieting din of the crowd.

"The First Challenge is the Slalom! Competitors must run on the outside of the cones, fastest time to the finish line wins," said the brown stallion's speakers. The referee set Hot Head at the starting position and trotted over to the finish line, holding up a silver sport watch.

"Go!"

The burgundy Pegasus shot around the cones at an amazing pace, leaving behind a mist-like fiery trail in his wake, avoiding every cone.

"22 seconds!" The crowd cheered in response. Rainbow Dash recalled her last try at this sort of thing, and knew she'd be able to win, no-sweat.

"Go!" Dash cruised around the obstacles with her trademark rainbow just behind. She zoomed through the course and past the finish line with a smile on her face, which contrasted Hot Head's condescending grin.

"20 seconds!" Hot Head's grin devolved into a bitter frown. The crowd erupted in jubilation at the first awarded point, shown on a big marker board.

"Rainbow Dash wins the Slalom!" declared the announcer.

"I've done faster," said Dash, eyes closed with pride. Hot Head gave her an abrupt nudge to the shoulder as he walked past.

"Still nineteen more points to go, yew haven't won yet," he said coolly.

***

"Do you have any gemstones?" said Spike, hopefully.

"We have a few, what did you have in mind?" said the barista behind the counter, busy with a small crêpe. Spike's smile grew enormously.

"Sapphire! Emerald! No- ruby! Wait!-"

"Whoa whoa, one at a time, sir." the barista replied, placing the finished desert on the counter, which was promptly whisked away by a different pony with a fancy suit. "Do you want those in a mélange or just cut served separate?" he replied, pulling out a bowl, gleaming and sparkling from sunlight cast from the window. It was full of green berry-sized jewels which the little dragon detected emanating a most delectable smell.

Spike was suddenly having the best day of his life.

Rarity was admiring a large floor-to-ceiling painting of the zeppelin in front of a great aquamarine and electric-blue wash, ethereal in form, both hovering over an iceberg in front of a starry black sky.

"Das Aurore Borealis," said a rather friendly Germane accent behind Rarity. She paused for a moment, trying not to remember the gaudiness of Photo Finish but this present voice seemed much kinder and completely polite. Rarity turned to see the blue unicorn from before, adjusting his glasses and looking again rather curiously at her, and welcoming.

"Can I help you?" she said with generous query.

"You look very familiar," he said, extending a hoof to shake, which Rarity accepted. "Allow me to introduze myself, my name is Ludvig Luftzug, I am the industrial designer of das Aurora." Ludwig seemed to stumble at the A in the ship's name.

"Oh, wonderful!" replied Rarity. "I'm a designer as well, I do fashion design."

"Yes, I couldn't help but notice that you seemed to greatly enjoy some of my designs I had done in this space."

"I liked what you did with this piece here." She motioned to a metal beam that went from floor to ceiling, patterned regularly with round holes in it, which matched the painted dots on the wall behind. "Most interesting modern art piece- assuming it is your work?"

"Ah, zhis is an excellent example of my work you zee; industrial design is all about making a practical design look good. You say that der circles are good-looking, yes?"

"They compliment the motif in the rest of the room."

"This is actually part of the airship's frame," he rubbed his hoof part way up the length of it, indicating towards the ceiling. "It had to be exposed because of dimension constraints within this room. The holes are actually weight-saving- the whole airship's frame looks like this, and because of that, der frame weighs about 40 tonnes less- forty more tons of luxury to be carried," explained Ludwig. Rarity raised a delighted eyebrow at the information. "Since passengers inevitably would be seeing the exposed frame, I decided to make it an element of the interior design."

"How clever!"

"Yes, I love design like this," he said, turning towards a window. Rarity noticed his cutie mark, bearing a drafters compass and a paintbrush seemed very fitting.

"Maybe you might be able then appreciate my favourite thing on zhis zeppelin," he said, motioning nearer to the large promenade's window, which showed rolling hills and valleys as far as the eye could see, coasting slowly along.

"What is the difference between a blimp and a zeppelin?" asked Rarity, suddenly remembering Rainbow Dash's pedantry from earlier.

"A zeppelin has a rigid frame to support its gas cells. A blimp does not." said Ludwig. He then pointed out the window, at the engine car and its broad, forceful propeller whirling a blur against the sky. "My 'official' favourite aspect according to my company is zhe engine, der Alder 3, revolutionary in the world of aeronautic engine design." Ludwig began speaking faster with an eager excitement. "The camshaft system is entirely revherked to have fewer parts, and the aerodynamic profile of de... er, propellers…" he hesitating, taking notice of Rarity's unimpressed expression. "…has been reduced for less noise… per rotary... er... torque…. Yes, you're right, nonsense, blah blah blah," he interrupted himself, waving his hoof and stepping to the right. "My real favourite favourite are, des curtains!"

He began slowly massaging some soft beige curtains on the edge of the window. Rarity suddenly became intrigued, walking closer to inspect the fabric.

"It took several months of research at a textiles firm in Trottingham to develop de material. It had to be strong, breazhable, lightweight, and able to change for a variety of styles."

"This stitching is interesting… it looks somewhat familiar," said Rarity, examining the curtain in her own hoof.

"Yes, we had to 'reinvent the wheel' for some parts of its design, it took a lot of iterations. Some of it vas heavily inspired by a unicorn... from… …Ponyville," he replied, slowing down and his eyes equally slowly moving from the fabric up to Rarity's attentive, lovely eyes. He dropped the curtain.

"…You… can't… possibly… be… THE… Miss Rarity?" he said, his smile growing wider and wider, eyes sparkling with delight.

"Yes, actually-" uttered Rarity, returning the smile. Ludwig exclaimed slightly louder than what was proper, and faster than what was easily understood.

"Ausgezeichnet! Dies ist zu schön um wahr zu sein,what a wonderful day!" he grabbed her hoof and shook it, ecstatic. "Miss Rarity, I am such a great fan of your work! Hw..? Wy..?! What brings you onto des windy old bag?" he said, releasing his grip and gesturing at no place in particular, indicating the room and airship it sat inside, with his eyes still locked on hers.

"I don't know if this gentlepony is part of MBE! And it would be so impolite to ask now… What shall I say? -Oh, I know."

"Just doing a bit of travelling, and I heard airships are lovely this time of year." Rarity deftly dodged specifics of the nature of her venture. Ludwig's interest only grew.

"Ve must talk! You know, if it were not for the allure of airborne mechanics, I would have gone into Fashion Design myself. I recall your work being shown at der Zeigfried Follies not all that long ago," he continued, exuberant.

"Really?" They began walking down the length of the promenade, talking at length.

***

"Challenge Four: Rope-Work!" declared the announcer.

"Uh oh," thought Rainbow Dash, recalling her last attempt at anything involving rope from the last Iron Pony she was in. She looked up at the score-board.

HHaste: 2

RDash: 2

"First competitor to tie the rope off with a proper knot wins." The referee waved his hoof over two three-pointed fixtures on opposite sides of the hangar door edge. He gave a rope to Hot Head, and one to Dash. She gulped.

"Go!"

In one inexplicable movement, Haste had tied all three points off with some kind of interleaved figure-eight like pattern. In one inexplicable movement, all Rainbow Dash managed to accomplish was entrap both her hooves.

"Stupid rope."

"Hot Head wins again, putting him in the lead! Looks like his working as a hangar shiphoof has helped him once again!" the crowd seemed to be enjoying just about anything that happened on the floor with their voices. The referee used a small tool used for removing packaging to cut Dash free from the tangle on her hooves and she stood up, seeing Hot Head accept his praise. He turned and blew a raspberry at Dash. Rainbow's eyes narrowed.

"Challenge Five, The Speed Sprint!" the announcement was followed by more cheers, as the gantry brought down a large shiny metal donut-shaped object with a hatch and control panel on one side. "Although we have a very spacious rear cargo bay, we can't do a distance run within the limited space of the aft of our humble Aurora. Fortunately, the challenge can continue since both of our competitors are Pegasi! The Challenge will then be done in our on-board wind tunnel: competitors must produce as much Airspeed as possible within the time limit!" A large clearly labelled clock descended from the rafters, showing a countdown of thirty seconds.

"First place will be the first to enter. In you go, Hot Head. Whenever you're ready." said the announcer. The reddish colt stepped through the metal hatch and it shut with a clank. He seemed to strap himself onto some hoof holds that were countersunk into the base of the inside of the wind tunnel's torus. With a loud beep, he began beating his wings against what appeared to be quickly and suddenly increasing wind pushing against him. A meter on the side indicated out how fast the air moved past a sensor inside the donut-shaped wind tunnel. The referee read it aloud, as the announcer said the time.

"Fifteen… Forty… Sixty…"

"Twenty seconds…"

"One hundred… Hundred-fifty… Two-hundred… Two-hundred-ten…"

"Looks like he's levelling off, folks. Count with me, ten, nine, eight…" the crowd rejoined the announcer as the time shrank, the referee not responding anymore.

"Three, two, one!" "Time!"

"217 meters per second.*" The audience extolled the result.

"Go, Rainbow Dash!" yelled Pinkie Pie exuberantly.

"You rock!" said the Shy voice beside her. Rainbow Dash entered into the vent-like machine, and strapped her rear hooves in.

"I can beat that. Just gotta show 'em a little Dash," she thought. A small rap from the viewing window mounted in the door showed the referee pointing to one of the hoof imprints in the floor. Dash looked down and saw a green button and a red button mounted in each space separate. She strapped only one hoof in and pressed the green button.

"She's ready, Go!" said the announcer. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings as hard and fast as she could, and suddenly realized how quickly her speed compounded against the pressure on her front and face. With the wind speed, she heard nothing of what was said outside.

"Two hundred… fifty! Ninety!" announced the referee.

"This is incredible ladies and gentlecolts, what a phenomenal power this young mare has!"

A yellow warning light above the Airspeed indicator turned on marked 'Overspeed'.

Rainbow beat her wings into the pressing air, the shear pulling at her eyes and drawing tears out as she grit her teeth, thrusting her free hoof forward. A conic wave began to appear in front of her, and the torus began to tremble.

"Three-hundred!"

A different light began flashing above the airspeed indicator, reading in a forbidding font "VELOCITY WARN. NEVER EXCEED" as the needle of the indicator pushed past the orange area and into the red. A bright red light turned on inside the tunnel, warning Rainbow as she beat her wings into the pressing air. She ignored it and continued to push her wings harder.

"Three-twenty-five!" said the referee, sounding far less impressed than he sounded concerned.

"Time! Ladies and gentlecolts, what an amazing speed!"

"Spoilers, stop the flow." commanded the referee. Two crew members pulled levers attached to the control panel. Directly in front of Dash, four large air brake panels extended and instantly flapping her wings became a thousand times more arduous than it had been the moment before, and she stopped with a gasp. A ring-shaped cloud puffed around her and seemed to pass around her like she was jumping through a hula-hoop in slow motion. They opened the hatch and she walked out, partially dazed from the exertion and sudden change in air pressure.

"338 meters per second!" said the referee, gobsmacked.

"Absolutely unforgettably unbelievable, folks!" said the announcer. "Rainbow Dash wins the winds by a hurricane!" the crowd erupted with glee. The Marker board changed once again, Dash and Hot Head tied. The red colt stared at Dash, infuriated and bewildered. Rainbow simply stuck out her tongue, laughing in her mind.

"What strong competitors we have this time, folks! But things are just getting started…"

***

Big Macintosh had ventured into a different part of the luxurious interior of the Aurora. It looked like a posh ballroom filled with round tables, all set with fancy dinner sets but very few patrons seated at them. A smooth, soft piece came from a far corner of the room, a piano softly tittering away the afternoon. Macintosh continued to browse, even as the song ended.

"Thank you ladies and gentlecolts; that was my good friend George Gershwinny with his lovely little number 'Prelude number 2'." said a whitish-maned vivid pink stallion standing on a small elevated platform in the corner with a fairly notable city-smart accent. He was motioning to another stallion, sitting at a piano, which sat in front of a drum kit. "I'm Jazz Apple and we'll be right back with some more, after a little break. Enjoy the flight."

Macintosh's ears perked up. "Did I hear him right, Jazz Apple?" he trotted over casually, standing closer to the stand.

"What's up, bud?" offered Jazz, noticing the large red stallion before him.

"Yer name's Jazz Apple?"

"That it is, friend. And what's yours?" he said heartily, extending a hoof.

"Macintosh Apple. Mah friends call me 'Big Macintosh." he replied the greeting with a strong shake.

"Right on, another Apple in the mix! Hey Marello, check it- 'told you I had family everywhere."

"Right on." replied the unicorn in the drum kit, twiddling some drumsticks with a spell. She smiled her recognition of Macintosh.

"What relation? Got a member we know maybe?" asked Jazz.

"Hmm… does Braeburn sound familiar?" suggested Macintosh.

"That he does, that he does. Brother In-law," said Jazz in a very suave manner. "What brings you up in the air like this?"

"Ahm after mah sister Applejack. She was kidnapped."

"No way," Jazz said, somewhere between disbelief and a calm that was too collected to lose its cool.

"Me ahn' mah friends have been followin' a clue trail. Heard of anythin' called 'MBE'?"

"'Fraid not, cousin. I've just been playin' the band up here and I can't overhear much from the tables. If I had, I'd help a fellow Apple out anytime. Sorry."

"Well, can you keep an ear out?" replied Macintosh.

"Two, if I can spare 'em."

"Thanks, cousin."

***

Spike had managed to get his fill of the free buffet offered, slowly toddled away from the promenade deck back to where he last saw Rarity, and realized she wasn't there. His movement was hampered by how full he felt.

"Rarity? Where are you?" Spike burped, which still tasted like topaz. Ponies shifted and moved through the space, but the white unicorn was nowhere to be found. "Rarity?" Spike began walking faster, trying to seek her out, slowly but surely losing his calm.

"Rarity!"

Spike scrambled his way this way and that, eventually coming into the posh ballroom where Macintosh still stood, conversing with his new-found relation. The little dragon all-too-easily recognized his out-of-place yoke, and how the red stallion's stature so easily remained well over a head and a half above anypony else.

"..An' so Ah said "You ain' right in the head if you ain't usin' barley." quipped Macintosh. Jazz laughed harmoniously.

"Big Mac!"

"Spike?"

"Where's Rarity?" Macintosh suddenly realized the indication and looked around with some urgency. "I just went to get a snack and she disappeared!" Macintosh's concern faded, as he looked at all the décor of the room.

"Let's not worry 'bout it, Spike. Ahm sure Rarity's fine, she loves all this froufrou stuff." said Macintosh, turning back to Jazz.

"Macintosh!" protested Spike, but the red stallion was already consumed in conversation with his relation again. Spike stormed off, continuing to look for Rarity.

"Maybe they got her. What if they got Rainbow Dash too?" Spike's rapid walk became a run. He headed out of the ballroom and down a hall with many doors in it on both sides. He looked into one and saw a maid cleaning the stateroom-like space. He slammed the door and continued running, up stairs and down lift it seemed to him that he inspected every corner of the interior of the ship. In an art-deco styled room some ponies stood overlooking the vast rippling mountains below and there for a brief moment he saw a tip of the tell-tale tail of Rarity, disappear behind a door.

"Rarity!"

He ran to catch up to the door and dove through it, showing a small fuse room, and two doors, hatched with large latches like the ones that accessed the hanger bay.

"D'oh, why does this always happen?" he posited in annoyance. He swung open the door on the left and ran down a plated gateway, walled by some kind of gray silky material on all sides, and more frame parts below.

***

"C'mon, Dash, you can do it!"

"97… 98… 99… 100!"

Rainbow Dash collapsed from the effort. There had been no previous time that she actually had accomplished one hundred push-ups, but this time she made it. Against all the odds, she had done it. She looked to the right and saw Hot Head, out of breath and just as deflated as she.

"Rainbow Dash is the winner!" said the announcer, and as what seemed to be common, the crowd cheered on.

"What?!" asked Rainbow Dash, misunderstanding and panting out of breath.

"The count is done by whoever can do them fastest." said the referee. "He just collapsed at 95, you were a little faster."

"Sweet!"

"That brings up Rainbow's score once again to a tie at 9-9! Our second-last Challenge, The Hoof-Wrestle!" Rainbow Dash smiled in confidence- she knew she'd have this in the bag for sure, as one of the crew pulled up a metal box for the two of them to have their leg-based fight on. Hot Head, steel-faced determination in his face and anger in his eyes stepped up to the box. Dash approached from the other side, and their hooves interlocked. The referee held his over both of theirs to prevent them from moving.

"Ready… set, Go!"

With a hardy heave, neither of their hooves seemed to move. Rainbow could feel that Hot Head was stronger than she was, but also was more tired.

"I can outlast him. Just a little bit more, Dash."

A tiny pain started welling up in her pastern. She pressed, and pressed, holding position and their hooves began to shake. Just as his hoof began to relax and bend to his side, the pain shot into overwhelming and Dash leapt backwards with a yelp before her leg became bent in an awkward way. It began to swell ever-so-slightly, and she inhaled sharply at the striking pain.

"Ladies and gentlecolts it appears we have a Cease-match. Rainbow Dash looks like she's been injured."

The referee carefully began examining Rainbow's leg, and he verified it was sprained.

"So who wins?" demanded Hot Head.

"This round is negated. Dash can no longer compete and she'll need a replacement." said the referee. That moment, a squeaking and bonking noise was heard. Hot Head, Dash and the referee all looked up, and a purple thing bounced and fell down from the rafters. Spike crashed onto the floor with a thud in-between Dash and Hot Head.

"What the-?"

"Spike!"

"Rainbow Dash!"

"And suddenly we have a new contender!" said the sporting voice.

"What are you doing here?" they both said simultaneously.

"I was looking for Rarity. What's going on?"

"We're having an Iron Pony Competition. If I win, they'll tell us what we need about MBE. But I need a replacement." Spike took-in the space and saw Fluttershy looking somehow conflicted between her meekness and the situational excitement, and Pinkie Pie still being Pinkie Pie with some giant foam "#1 DASH!" hooves that she had somehow conjured.

"What's going on here, is he your replacement?" interrupted the referee.

"No, he's my messenger to get my replacement," said Rainbow Dash, directed at Spike. "Spike, go get Big Mac."

"Well then, hop to it." said the referee impatiently. Spike raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you need a replacement?"

"I just hurt my hoof; the Ref said I can't compete. Go, hurry!"

"Right!" Spike ran off through the main doors, having better stock of the airship. "Great, now I gotta find Big Macintosh. I hope he hasn't gone anywhere."

***

Macintosh sat listening attentively at a table near the bandstand, tapping a hoof to the beat of some fun ensemble that Jazz and his friends were playing. The song slowed and came to an end, prompting some enjoyed hoof-clopping from some of the other dinner guests. Spike burst through the main door of the hall, sprinting in-between the legs of a stallion carrying a cake, who managed to retain his poise while he walked.

"Big Macintosh!" Macintosh slowly turned to face him. "You gotta help, Rainbow Dash needs a replacement!"

"What?" he replied, his mind still partially lost in appreciating the music from before.

"Can't you be a replacement, little bud?" said Jazz. Spike shook his head.

"No, it's an Iron Pony Competition! Dash's hurt! If she loses we'll never catch MBE!" Macintosh's expression immediately changed from his idle happiness to a significant worry, almost angry.

"Sorry Jazz, Ah gotta go."

"Go, go. Celestia bless ya, cousin."

In a kick-like motion Spike was rendered on-top of Macintosh and they sped off back towards the hanger in a very brisk walk, avoiding other passengers. Upon going through the plated door of the hangar bay, his arrival was met with gasps. Hot Head's sneer at Rainbow Dash's limping to the side away from the centre of the room went agape. Macintosh tried not to let how everypony's reactions to his size get to him.

"Th-they can' do that, that's bait-n-switch!"

"Cool it, Haste, you know the rules. Ms. Dash, he'll substitute for the last entry?"

Rainbow Dash gave a confident look at Macintosh. He said nothing, but Dash gave a small wink before she looked back at the referee.

"Eeyup." she said. "This here is Big Macintosh, my replacement."

"What a turn of events, folks! Rainbow Dash's injury means she'll be replaced, but what a stallion has replaced her!" The crowd murmured in response. "With the previous round ceased, we go to the Final Event, the Tug of War! This is the game-point!"

Macintosh offered his hoof to Hot Head, but the smaller red pony of the two just gave a slighted look and walked off to his end. The referee tied Macintosh's yoke with a thick burly rope, and a black yoke was affixed to Hot Head, and tied off as well. They were positioned equally over a big yellow line on the floor, facing away from each other. Haste looked back with a bitter sneer at Macintosh, who turned his head with a neutral expression.

"They can't just switch it up like this. I can't lose. I can't!" Haste muttered to himself.

"Ready, set, Go!"

Hot Head pulled hard into the rope and it went taught, pressing with all his might against the yoke. Big Macintosh seemed to only have a single minor jerk in what otherwise appeared to be a perfectly idle and still standing position, as if nothing was happening. Hot Head laboured at his yoke like he was trying to uproot a tree. His hooves started to scrape against the metal floor.

Above it all, Rarity and Luftzug wandered on a catwalk overlooking the hangar bay.

"Und zhat's how lighter-than-air travel works. As you said, it's much like knitting."

"Fascinating." smiled Rarity. The crowd began cheering both at Haste and at Macintosh, chanting their names. "Macintosh?" Rarity looked down to see the two ponies in their efforts.

"Miss Rarity?"

"My friends are down there! We must go see them at once." Ludwig recognized Rarity's imperativeness.

"This way." he led them down a set of stairs into the audience room overlooking, near the announcer, and from there down a small stairs to a door near beside Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Spike.

Hot Head realized as he strained that Macintosh hadn't even moved.

"C'mon yew big old cow!" Pull!" said Hot Head in frustration. Macintosh's response was calm with a broad stroke of experience.

"What ya gotta do is get yer feet in position, then let yer weight do the work."

"Shut up an' pull!" the colt barked, his anger boiling.

"Whatever you say." Macintosh shrugged, and very slowly began to lean forwards. The rope as taught as it was began to give towards his direction, and the burgundy Pegasus started drifting back, sliding. The stallion took a single step forwards, and Hot Head slipped his footing. His chin made an audible thwack against the metal floor. The crowd gasped.

"Hot Head slipped! If Macintosh was pulling, he would have lost!" declared the announcer. Macintosh stopped. Haste threw off his yoke and walked wide around the middle line of the competition, Macintosh turned to face him.

"Where d'ya get off , huh buddy?!" Hot Head took a swing at Macintosh's face with his hoof.

"Whoa, hey now." Macintosh managed to say before another swing struck him.

*PHEEEEEET!* the referee blew his whistle and ran up along with another crewcolt.

"Unsporting conduct!"

"No!" shouted Haste. The crew member pulled him away as he struggled. As he and the crewmember neared the edge of the contending area, a large purple stallion stepped out, shedding his vest. He looked down at Haste, who heeded his glare.

"Hot Head Haste has been disqualified for hitting his opponent!" Appalled sounds came from the audience. "Looks like his replacement will have to take the mantle; quite an end for an incredible competition, ladies and gentlecolts," called the announcer.

"Hot Head, you let me down. And it's not because you were gonna lose," said the purple stallion. Haste instantly looked very defeated and stopped resisting as he left, looking down. The purple stallion walked up to the referee, and it became clear to Macintosh that he was visibly his equal in size.

"Hot Head Haste's replacement: Heavy Henry!" said the announcer. Henry walked up to the middle line, and Macintosh did likewise.

"Sorry about my friend. He still has a few things to learn." said Henry.

"Not a problem." returned Macintosh.

"Let's end this little thing here." Henry offered his hoof, which Macintosh took and gave a firm but brief shake. "May the best pony win."

"Sorry, but for me it's a mite more important than that."

Their yokes connected and standing in position, the final round began.

"Go!"

Both stallions heaved mightily into their yokes, and both of them seemed to freeze in-position, leaning hard into the force, quietly and adamantly battling the other. The rope groaned under the pull from both ends. Henry grunted.

"Yer' pretty strong!" Macintosh managed to say.

"So're you!" replied Henry, between hard breaths. The audience went quite quiet as the tension built both visually and physically, the rope unmoving as a stone. Macintosh adjusted his hooves carefully, trying to get a wider stance that would allow him to take an easier step forward, but the rope did not move in either direction. It creaked with a twiney stretching noise. Macintosh made a guttural gasp, inhaling and exhaling with dedicated effort as with every fibre in his body tried, tiring. Both of the stallions seemed to bulge with their musculature tense and exerted.

Just as Pinkie Pie was about to shout into the silence, Henry spoke.

"Can't let you win, friend! I've never lost!"

"Ah can't lose either! I gotta save mah sister!" Macintosh yelled. The tension of the scene redoubled, as they ground their teeth and hoofs pressed the metal ground, nothing yielding anywhere. The rope creaked, the crack in Macintosh's wooden yoke began to grow a tiny margin, and it moaned with the stress. When the tension seemed it could not take any more, it didn't and with a violent RRRIIIP!! The rope shattered at the middle, both stallions falling forwards away from each other and sending a few fibrous splinters into the air. The thick rope collapsed between them.

The audience gasped with surprise.

"I don't believe it ladies and gentlecolts! The rope snapped! There must be over a hundred tons' drawbar force between these two stallions! I've never seen anything like it ever before!"

The referee ran between their sore and tired bodies, using a measuring tape to see if there had actually been any difference in their distance to the middle. A crew member helped Macintosh up, and he saw Henry, with an almost equal look of confusion. The referee waved both of them to come closer.

"Equal distance," he said simply, but Henry spoke over him.

"You really mean it; that if you win you'll save your sister? As in, if you lose, you can't?" Macintosh nodded solemnly. Henry stood, panting and thinking.

"I don't want to lose my record, but I don't think I could just take that kind of thing away from somepony. Tell you what- officially this'll go down as a tie, but we'll unofficially declare this fella here the winner," said Henry, placing a proud hoof over Mac's neck. "Never pulled that hard in my life," he complimented. The referee looked at Macintosh.

"Sound good to you?"

"Eeyup."

The referee spoke aloud to the crowd and announcer.

"Big Macintosh is the victor! Rainbow Dash wins the Iron-Pony!" the crowd bellowed triumphantly at the success, more confetti poured out of the rafters and the crew members standing around the hangar bay door's perimeter hoof-clopped their approval. Big Macintosh simply stood there, quietly accepting the praise as his friends joined him.

"Great work Macintosh!" said Rainbow Dash.

Before he could be praised further, the griffon seemed to silently sneak through the jubilation of the win, and gave a small upward nod to the Group, indicating them to follow. He led them to a door on the far wall of the hangar bay, the audience and all around seemingly too distracted by their festivity to notice the actual winners departing. The griffon, along with Heavy Henry showed them to a small room with no decorations and a shelf filled with containers of oil. He shut the door with a big clasp.

As soon as he considered it secure and private, the bitter face of the griffon disappeared, showing a gruff but warm sort of smile.

"Fine then, I'll hold up my end of the deal. Takes a bit of tough stuff to win my trust," he said, sitting down in one of the few chairs in the room. "'Name's Tove, I'm part of the executor staff for MBE. What'd you want?"

"Do you know anything about a kidnapping that happened in Ponyville yesterday morning?" said Rarity, her attention solid. Rainbow Dash was trying her hoof, still sore from the sprain.

"Yes I do, that was an order that came from the Top."

"The Top?"

"The head-honchos. The M and B in MBE, two diamond dogs. MBE is a crime syndicate, although it does very little crime. It mostly just covers up their tracks."

"So these diamond dogs are responsible for the kidnapping?" said Rarity.

"One of them actually. The first one of the two is some kind of fancy burglar that doesn't do much small-time crime - that I respected, he had this special standard about who he'd steal from and why." Tove procured a bottle and took a sip, and placed it beside his chair. "Not so much with the newer one - first one's accomplice or something - though, he's started to scrape lower and lower, hiring thugs and all sorts of criminals. I've had to take up being an' old salt just so I don't get pushed over by all these mercs' that I keep gettin' because of him."

"Do you know why they did the kidnapping?"

"I don't know any of his job's details. My job is only staffing him."

Rainbow Dash stood, visibly trying to ignore the pain in her hoof.

"'You know where we could find them?"

"Probably. They're head-quartered out of some mansion up past Montcroissant, it's not that far from where we next make a stop tomorrow morning."

"Can you point us in the right direction?"

"Well as long as you're not planning on putting me out of work somehow," he chortled. "Here's hopin' that whatever you go there to do, you'll set the new guy straight and enough with all the niddly-skiddley and underground types. Working with them stinks. We land at a fuelling depot airfield in Montcroissant tomorrow shortly after the breakfast buffet."

"Thanks Tove. We owe you," said Rainbow Dash gratefully.

"I never said I was rooting for you. I just want to see things set back to normal."

The Aurora carried on flying over mountaintop and bearing through clouds delicately, long into the evening.

**** **** ****

*Author's note:

The numbers for speeds in regards to the Iron Pony Competition only existed to facilitate my idea that the minimum threshold for the Sonic Rainboom is presumably equal to Mach 1. Assuming this is true; Rainbow Dash is canonically noted to be able to reach high sub-sonic speed with relative ease. If you are irked by the numbered details in this chapter, you are free to disregard them.

1 meter per second = 3.6 kilometres per hour (2.2 miles per hour) Conversion

217 m/s = 781 kph (485 mph) Hot Head Haste's speed

338 m/s = 1217 kph (756 mph) Rainbow Dash's speed

340 m/s = 1225 kph (761 mph) Mach 1 sound-barrier speed