Equestria no Kitsune [REDUX]

Before Redheart could react, her legs moved on their own before she clumsily co-operated with her "driver's" wishes as she broke into a sprint in the opposite direction she’d been going. Her hooves clacked against the alabaster paving as she ran faster than she’d thought herself capable. Wh-Where are we going?! she demanded, hurriedly sealing her bag as she ran, the faint, wispy beginnings of a white contrail gradually manifesting behind her as she picked up even more speed.

The world began to blur as it flashed past, the orange sky stretching beyond what would be allowed and the outlines of blocks in the stonework merging into an unbroken blur, and the sensation of the wind began to only gently buffett against her clothes, mane and tail as the field of view deepened, the road ahead of her stretching out rather disorientatingly. But somehow, she felt fine with this -- it was the way it was meant to look, she thought.

I’ll explain in a second! I.. I'm doing all I can to help your body cope with the speed!

He was right. Redheart felt incredibly aware of her surroundings as she deftly weaved in and out of crowds, which were but more coloured blurs, with only a second or two to hear sounds of shock and alarm as a white, wispy stream of distortion shot past them. The sound of her hooves striking the stones had faded into a constant low hum as her legs moved faster than she could clearly see them. It was as if she'd had the speed her entire life, with her mind and body fully used to moving at such velocities, her body ignorant to air friction and inertia as she cornered instantly, not losing any momentum at all. This is incredible! How... how fast am I going? she asked, oddly surprised to be quite enjoying the experience, let alone hear herself think over the constant noise of speeding air.

About as fast as I can run, came the fox's reply, equally as clear. Let's get up on the rooftops -- it'll be quicker that way! he suggested as the worrying electric thrum began to fill Redheart's hearing. Even at the speed they were moving at, they still had the problem of being pursued to address.

Redheart glanced to her left at the passing alleyways between the white-blur buildings. You're saying we can run up walls?! she gasped before cornering instantly once again, the white and pinkish blur zipping in between the gaps in the otherwise unbroken alabaster brick blockade. The wind generated from her speed blasted air down the alleys, sending loose paper and refuse flying in little whirls as air trapped itself in the narrow passages.

L-Let me handle it from here! Ryuzaki's voice, now brimming an odd enthusiasm came as Redheart felt the control leave her body, handed over to the more experienced speedster. She was vaguely aware of her speed further increasing as her vision was flipped by ninety degrees, the velocity holding her onto the wall as she was sped along. In what seemed like a fraction of a second, they were suddenly on a flat surface again -- this time, much higher up.

The white and pinkish-red distortion now seemed to bound across from rooftop to rooftop, high above the streets and effortlessly speeding over any gap, any alley. A feeling of exhilaration filled the two of them as the amber sun, now visible just above the horizon, shone down, the wispy, plasma-like contrail hanging in the air and glowing with the last hour or so of sunlight. From below, all an observer would have seen was a flash of a pale blur, generating a glowing, white-and-pink, wisp-like trail of what looked like gas, hanging in the air behind the blur like trapped, electrified neon. And even then, most ponies in the street below passed it off as a trick of the light, if they took any notice.

Listen, Redheart-san came Ryuzaki's voice once again, I can't keep this up forever. We need to--

A low, electric roar began to make itself known, relatively far off in the distance but undeniably there. As Redheart sped past the source of the noise, time stopped where it was -- even for her, with the sheer amount of speed, time was slowed to a crawl as she ran in slow motion, the rest of the world paused. The sound stopped, the soundwaves moving too slowly to reach one's ears.

Ok, I-I know, this really isn't the time, but I really want to look at that thing

Confused, Redheart looked to her left, and her eyes widened in shock. An airship she hadn't seen yet had descended and was only a few metres above the two of them. The looming, massive hull of the craft, frozen in time, hung above like a dark, angular, plated cloud of midnight-blue metal. At a length of fifteen metres end-to-end, the source of the low, charged resonation became clear -- instead of conventional propeller blades or jet engines, the craft was held in the air by what looked like immense, grooved, segmented discs, with two on each side, spinning at incredible speed against guard plating. In each groove, white and yellow magic shone intensely, the light seemingly leaving streaks of light, with what looked like jets of light emanating from the bottom of each disc as it grinded against the guard plates, like afterburners. But with time slowed for the moment, the streaks of light appeared to pile on top of one another, making the discs too blindingly bright to look at for long.

The front of the craft tapered a short distance to a flat, slanted point, and behind the cabin was a smaller yet equally bright disc, presumably mirrored on the other side and tilted at an angle as if to act as a stabiliser, its metal guard facing outwards, propelling the magic directly outwards as opposed to only one direction.

On the sleek hull of the craft were raised panels where the exit ports would go, with an insignia emblazoned on the side -- a white, angular sun as a circle, with angular 'rays' coming off what would be its corona. The shape of a black crescent was in the centre of the sun symbol, nearly touching the inner edge of the circle.

Amazing. They have nothing quite like this back home.

You guys don't have airships?

Eh, well, we have similar flying machines. I never thought of machines using magic to actually facilitate levitation, though. I really must examine--

But his voice cut off with a quiet yelp. Redheart. Wh... where is the ground? came his voice again, with a nervous flatness.

Redheart's brow furrowed in confusion. She looked down, and understood why the fox sounded so scared. Despite time being slowed to a crawl, she was still running, and hadn't seen that gap in front of her between the buildings, stretching down into an alleyway, many metres below. And her right leg was slowly inching down towards the gap, going at a slow crawl as her hoof slowly sank beneath the edge of the building she was on, failing to find purchase on the air.

Oh crap oh crap oh crap-- Redheart's mind blared, her eyes screwed shut and her teeth clenched as she was powerless to change course, or even do anything to stop herself.

Okay, okay, this-- this isn't actually that bad a situation, I'll return time to normal, j-just calm down Ryuzaki's voice came as Redheart began to tip over in slow motion, disappearing further below the edge.

Time gradually began to speed up once again, and just as Redheart was in the middle of falling over the edge, the control left her body once again, her hoof striking the wall as she flipped entirely, now facing towards the stone paving far below as her momentum was completely diverted downwards.

Like a rubber band snapping back into shape, time shot back up to normal speed, and Redheart became a white and pale pink blur that shot down the wall, loose fragments of glass flying downwards as the blur flew past a window or two. Just as the stone paving below rushed worryingly close as she sped downwards, Redheart screwed her eyes shut, bracing for the inevitable impact against the paving. And as she began to wonder if this would be the end of the line, a blindingly bright flash erupted in front of her outstretched arms--

*SLAM*

The stones beneath cracked, a crater punched into the pale brick as an immense cloud of obscuring white dust sprung forth.

As the dust settled, Redheart slowly opened her eyes. She just lay there for a few seconds, unable to believe she was still alive, let alone conscious. Shakily, she lifted an arm, her hand twitching as she began to gingerly, yet slowly steady herself in an attempt to get back up. Fine brick dust began to drift downwards, like off-white volcanic ash, with some floating away on the light breeze, and Redheart had to squint to stop any of it getting in her eyes. Even through the ringing in her ears, the electrical thrum of the airship above them grew fainter as it presumably flew away, much to Redheart's relief. Being caught up in this was the last thing she needed, after all.

Noting her lack of injuries, or at least ones she could feel, Redheart paused for a moment as the ashy brick dust cleared, giving way to the same setting sun, filling her with something of a sense of--

"Ughhh..." came a quiet, pitiful groan from beneath.

She looked downwards, her attention drawn by that noise, before quickly getting to her feet and scrambling to the side as an embarrassed hue occupied her muzzle. Pressed into the white paving, seemingly stuck fast and with cracks running through the surrounding stones, was Ryuzaki. It seemed as if he'd taken much of the impact, given the sheer damage to the paving. He lay there on his front, face-down, spread-eagled, and undeniably embedded in the stone paving itself, the sheer force he'd shielded Redheart from proving more than enough to compress that much rock. And she'd just been lying on him.

"Um.. Ryuzaki? A-are you okay?" she asked hesitantly, her eyes quickly scanning for any telltale signs of injury. She was fine, of course, but oddly, even while allowing for the species difference, Ryuzaki didn't seem to have broken anything, save for the surface he'd landed on.

Her eyes were drawn to the slow, shaky and tentative movement of his right arm as it strained upwards once or twice, then freed itself from the stony grip, slowly rising upwards before his hand began to shake and curl into a fist -- just before giving up and flopping limply back down onto the stone again.

Just as the question of how the fox would breathe with his face buried in the stone crossed Redheart's mind, he shot a bemused, yet desperate glance at her, and gestured, seemingly exasperated, towards his firmly stuck head, his neck strained with the effort to try and pull it back out. Unsure of how to go about it, Redheart quickly leaned over, tentatively grasped each side of the fox's head with both hands and pulled, her arms straining with the effort, even with the admittedly little help he could provide.

"Ugh! You really.. really are stuck--!" Redheart grunted with effort as she pulled upwards with all the strength she could muster. Even with the combined effort, only a few centimetres of muzzle slowly rose up from the paving, bringing with it little particulates of white dust and tiny bits of crushed mortar, as well as now audible muffled sounds of complaint.

"Mmph-hm-mmph," came Ryuzaki's suggestion as he tried to push himself up with his freed arm, but to no avail, as the rest of him was still embedded firmly in the stone.

Redheart just looked at him, mildly confused. "I'm sorry, what? You're all muffled."

Before either of them could do anything else, the noise of several pairs of hoofsteps, coupled with the din of clanking and shifting equipment growing louder, the sounds echoing around the alley the two had landed in. "They went this way!"

"Oh, that's... not good," Redheart meekly whispered, slowly letting go of the fox's head. He shot her a more annoyed, bemused stare before wriggling his head from side-to-side, getting absolutely nowhere, despite his best efforts. "Listen, just do as they tell you and we'll.. be alright, I suppose?" she nervously laughed, a chill running down her spine as she just knelt there and waited -- much to Ryuzaki's silent protest and muffled complaining, coupled with more efforts to pull out of the paving.

Their impending arrest grew closer by the second, the sound of many metal-clad hooves striking stone quickly growing louder as the source approached the alley.