A few days later.

Gene Kerman, director of Kerbal Mission Control, raised an eyebrow. His tall green face was topped with a blonde-gray hair, and he wore a white vest marking the mission his Kerbals were undertaking right then. “You need me to get you across the entire Amino world in less than a day? Sorry, but Jebediah’s on the Mun, and Valentina’s recovering from a near-fatal crash. Bill and Bob aren’t qualified to fly a craft. So that leaves you with nobody to get you there, not to mention finding the craft you’ll need. The ship you need to reach the other Amino cities would have to be stocked with supplies, and that means large.”

“So, what you’re saying is…” Rose asked.

“Sure,” Gene said. “We’re Kerbals. What could go wrong?”

“This is what you can let us have? It’s a dirigible.” Strong Heart was skeptical, which was unusual for her.

“Yeah,” Gene replied. “It’s a dirigible with a dual-island flight deck on top, plenty of cargo space, and enough fuel to get you across the world. Jeb built it in his spare time.”

Rose raised an eyebrow. “You sure it’s safe?”

“Come on, Rose,” Crimson said. “They’re Kerbals. Of course it’s fine. Thank you, Gene. I owe you one.”

Gene: “No problem.”

The boarding ramp was down and the door open, revealing a spacious living area and science lab. The main cockpit had glass windows allowing for a 180-degree view of the land in front of them.

Gene was describing the dirigible’s capabilities and features as they explored the massive vessel. “The whole thing has a capacity of twenty-to-thirty-ish Kerbals and loads of snack storage. We call her It’s An Airship!, and she’s a beauty, isn’t she? There’s even space for a couple small rovers in the cargo bay section of the envelope behind the gondola and an elevator to lift aircraft from down there up to the flight deck. She’s capable of at least two hundred meters per second with her four propeller engines, which we have four facing backwards for reverse capability and a faster braking. She has a radar that’s mainly for detecting ore, but it can be reconfigured to what you need it to find. Her forward drills allow for ore extraction in any land location conceivable, and, couple with her Convert-O-Tron, she can turn that raw ore into fuel and keep on going. But I must warn you, refueling is a slow process. It can take a very long time.”

“We’ll be fine, Gene. Thanks for letting us use her.” Crimson cut him off before he could continue much more.

“Take care of her, Crimson. She’s currently the only craft in the Kerbal Airship Program.”

“I’ll do my best.”

It’s An Airship! lifted off easily after Crimson, Strong Heart, and Rose had boarded and stowed their supplies and Gene had disembarked. Her massive envelope held the helium and ballast needed to fly, and her gondola held the three-pony crew. Below them, standing on the runway, Gene Kerman watched the dirigible fly and waved as he saw Crimson through the cockpit glass.

“Good luck to you, my little ponies,” he said. “Be safe.”

Crimson waved back at Gene and received a magical whack from Rose. “Concentrate on flying, Crimson. I know this thing is ridiculously easy to fly, and that it comes with an instruction booklet, but I’d like to make it across the world alive.”

“Yes, Mom,” Crimson smiled. He pushed a button that set off a proximity alarm even though they were a hundred meters over the blue ocean. Rose scowled and turned it off.

“Cut it out, Crimson.”

“Yes, Mom.”

Strong Heart hurried into the cockpit from the passenger cabin. “Are we about to crash?!”

“No, Strong Heart. Crimson here’s just being a pain. Like his younger days,” Rose replied, glaring at her husband. He simply returned a goofy smile a mile wide. Rose whacked him playfully again to get his attention back on flying.

It’s An Airship! coasted over the blue-green waves at relatively high speed and low altitude. Below the dirigible, dolphins from some other Amino dove and zipped just under the surface. A mermaid waved at Strong Heart, who cheerfully returned the gesture.

“I didn’t realize how much world there was beyond our borders,” she said to herself in wonder.

“Yeah,” Rose replied. She was munching on some food from the conveniently labeled snack cabinet. It looked like a sandwich. “Crimson and I explored a lot back in the day. But after a while, we settled down and stayed home. Our daughter Andromeda grew up and is now happily in her own home next to ours. It was really quite the adventure. We met Gene and Jebediah, the Space Engineer, some ‘Trekkies,’ clones, droids, pilots, all sorts of people and ponies living in harmony here in the Amino world.”

“And Equestria is just a small chunk of it. Those originals could be anywhere.”

Rose nodded. “We’ll get them back. It’s why we’re in this together, doing what we do best.”

“Crimson’s piloting skills say otherwise.”

“He’s just a goof sometimes. Deep down, Crimson is caring and loving, but don’t tell him I said that.”

It was Strong Heart’s turn to grin. “I won’t” She looked ahead of them, remembering that Crimson flew the airship from directly above them. Sighing, she took a sandwich out of the cabinet and sat down. They had a long trip ahead of them.

Author's Note

It's An Airship! is a legit craft I built using the Heisenberg Airship Parts mod. So, yes, it exists. Or it did. Some kind of mishap about part loading made it die with all 19 of its Kerbals MIA. And no pic because it's 1.94 MBs. Darn.

Feedback appreciated!