On a Whim

Chapter V

En Route

“Colts can’t cook”

Twilight wiped the sweat off of her brow for the third time in a matter of minutes. Her breaths came in short bursts and her arms where shaking, not that there was anything she could do about it of course. It was understandable for what she was doing. Glancing up, she saw the stallion was still looking at her. He hadn’t taken his gaze off of her the entire time. He was just staring at her, expectantly. How can he be so calm about this? Twilight thought in panic. He knows what I’m going to say, that’s why. She unconsciously wiped her forehead again. If I do this, my entire standing on this ship will change. I don’t want to look like this, I’ve never had a reputation like this before, nowhere, I don’t want to be this kind of mare, I don’t, I won’t! She swallowed hard, glancing back down at her hooves. But I don’t have a choice, now do I? Taking another shaky breath, Twilight closed her eyes. Guess I’m doing this. She slowly lifted a hoof and picked up the item before her. “King to A5.” She already regretted it.

Without hesitation, Sparky lifted his own piece and moved it beside Twilights. “Checkmate.” He crossed his fore hoofs and leaned back, failing at any attempt to hide his smug expression. With a groan, Twilight slid off the crate she had been sitting on and fell onto her back, much to Sparky’s amusement.

It was daybreak on the fifth day on the Volans voyage. The air around the ship was steadily getting colder as they flew closer to their destination high in the Crystal Mountains. The land beneath the airship slowly rolled by, getting more and more desolate as the snow built up. Their route took them over nothing but barren, icy wasteland and sheer cliffs. Since the new bearing had been set, the ship had not slowed, let alone stopped. West and Misty had been persistent in this, saying that it was important that they get to the ruins in good time. This led the Ponyville mares to get accustom to the crew, even befriend them, having shared so much time on the small boat together.

Sparky stood up and offered Twilight his hoof. “Not often somepony gives me a run for my bits like that in chess, good show Miss Sparkle.”

Twilight simply lay on her back, looking at the balloon above in shock. “I haven’t lost a game of chess in years… I won the Canterlot chess competition’s junior category five years running…” Turning her head, Twilight looked at Sparky as if he had grown wings and a horn. “Where did you learn to play?”

Sparky abandoned his offer up and began to clean the board off of the crate they had been playing on. “My pop taught me on his ship when I was a colt. He was a champion where he came from, real prodigy. Or so I’m told, at least.”

Twilight got to her hooves to help clean up. “Your father flew airships as well?”

Sparky smiled and shook his head. “No, no he sailed the trading routs between Trottingham and the griffin kingdom. This used to be his ship, in fact. When I got it, it was called NAVIGANDI CAPAX. Awful name, if I say so myself. Has no ring to it. Anyway, flying was a dream of mine my whole life; my pop told me I was a pegasus stuck in a wingless body for that.” Sparky smiled at the fond memory before continuing. “I inherited the ship when he passed and turned it into the Volans as you see it. Monumental effort, that. But it was worth it. Every drop of sweat, every bit spent, every cut, and every late night. Perfectly worth it.” Having finished packing the board, Sparky placed the box on his back and began to trot back towards the stairs with Twilight close behind. The unicorn looked around the deck of the airship with a new respect for the vessel, knowing it had in fact stared in the ocean.

They walked across the deck in silence until they reached the stairs, where Twilight spoke up. “Your accent has been bothering me by the way, is-“

“Surely it’s not that bad…” Sparky interrupted, chuckling to himself.

Twilight giggled. “No, not like that. It’s been bothering me because I can’t place it. Is your family from Manechester?”

Sparky turned around to face her, looking genuinely offended. “No, do I look like I’m from Manechester?”

“Uhh… No? I mean, maybe? I thought that…” Twilight stumbled over her words, unsure of what to say. She was saved, however, when Misty approached them from staircase.

“Breakfast is on in two minutes. Wash up.” The pegasus turned away without another word. Though she had been far less hostile to Twilight since she came on board, Misty was by no means friendly towards her. Once Twilight had given the crew their bearings, Misty simply ignored her presence. Twilight didn’t particularly mind, however. Having made fast friends with Sparky, she wasn’t without company while Rainbow slept most of the day away. Not having to wake up to clear the skies above Ponyville had made the cyan pegasus even lazier, and she now slept until 2:00 a.m. routinely.

Thankful for the distraction, Twilight trotted hurriedly towards the stairs. “I’m going to get washed up, meet you there!” Before Sparky could say anything more, she was gone. Making her way down to the second deck, Twilight found the bathrooms and retrieved a towel to wash her hooves. Being suspended hundreds of feet in the air, water was a valuable commodity on board, so all bathing was done with soap and a damp cloth. Once clean, Twilight trotted towards the dining room. She stopped dead her tracks, however, when she reached the doorway. “…Rainbow Dash?”

The pegasus looked up and waved at her friend from her seat at the table. “Morning Twi!”

Twilight simply stared at her in disbelief. “…You’re awake? Before sunrise?”

Dash let out an audible sigh. “Yeah, fell out of my bunk a little while ago. Couldn’t get back to sleep, figured I’d sit down with you guys.”

Twilight made her way towards the table and sat down across form Rainbow, still shaking her head. “I’ve never seen you up this early before. Ever.”

Rainbow yawned loudly before dropping her chin to the table. “Tell me about it.”

Sparky was the next one in, taking a seat next to Twilight. Soon after, Misty and West entered carrying plates and silverware. West paused a moment in the doorway upon seeing the cyan pegasus awake, but recovered quickly as he began set the table. “Morning everypony,” he addressed the group in his usual gruff tone. “What are we having this morning?”

“Usual,” Misty answered curtly as she took her seat in the corner.

Sparky answered next after some thought. “Two eggs scrambled, pepper mixed in. Cheers.” The stallion nodded his thanks before leaning back in his chair.

“I’ll have a bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon, please,” Twilight said with a nod.

“Hold up a second” Rainbow said, raising her hooves to draw attention. She turned to West and gave him a strange look. “You’re the cook?”

West rose an eyebrow. “Well, I cook, if that’s the question. It’s not my-“ He was interrupted as Rainbow fell backwards in her chair, laughing hysterically. “Something funny?” the burly stallion asked.

Rainbow opened her mouth to speak, but quickly slipped back into laughter before any words found their way out. After another fit, the pegasus composed herself enough to speak. “But You’re a colt!” she said with enormous effort.

The ponies at the table exchanged glances before returning to the mare on the ground. West looked down at her evenly. “And?”

Rainbow seized her laughing and stood up, wiping tears from her eyes. “Colts can’t cook, especially one like you! It’s girly!” All eyes turned to the orange stallion, waiting for a reaction.

West stared at Rainbow Dash for a second longer before speaking. “What would you like for breakfast Miss. Dash?” This resulted in a poorly suppressed snicker from the pegasus.

“Make me five eggs over easy, a plate of hash browns, sliced bagel with butter and a glass of chocolate milk.” Rainbow commanded. Without a word, West turned and walked to the kitchen. "And don't forget the parsley!" Rainbow returned to her seat, still giggling. Everypony continued to stare at her in silence. The mare stopped snickering and looked around in confusion. “What?” Nopony answered.

Mere minutes later, West retuned with a large silver platter on his back. Walking around the table, he deposited two delicious plates of eggs, three plates of potatoes, two massive bowls of oatmeal, and dishes of fresh fruit. As he neared Rainbow Dash, she sat up straighter, licking her lips hungrily. With an undignified clatter, West dropped a single bowl on her placemat. Rainbow stared at it in confusion before looking back up at the stallion.

West shrugged and returned to his seat. “Colts can’t cook.”

The room was silent as Rainbow stared at the bowl of dry cereal in front of her.

“You need some ointment for that burn?” Misty said from across the room, breaking into a fit of giggles. Sparky and Twilight soon joined in, leaving West smirking to himself as he began eating his own breakfast. Rainbow Dash mumbled something about stallions before taking a spoonful of cereal.

<<<<<>>>>>

The only sound in the waiting room was the steady thumping of Applejack’s head hitting the wall behind her. The four remaining Elements of Harmony sat by the “royal appointment desk” waiting to be seen. Applejack had thought the room sounded made up, but here they were, awaiting an audience with royalty. As per the usual, each one of them had found different ways to entertain themselves in this time. Pinkie had spent the hours trying to teach Rarity an absurdly convoluted card game involving three seashells and a marching baton to no effect. Fluttershy slept soundly on the couch, having stayed up all night on the train ride in. Applejack opted to kill every brain cell she had one by one, her eyes not wavering from the office door. A soft click drew the everypony’s attention as said door opened. A young colt stepped into the room starting intently at a clipboard. The Ponyville mares leaned forward in their seats expectantly.

The colt pushed his glasses up to the brim of his nose before speaking. “Mrs. Showers, the princess will see you now.” The mares deflated and returned to their activities, Applejack hitting her head slightly harder, enough to create a small crack in the drywall. A blue mare stood up from her seat and made her way towards the open door, where the colt turned to follow her. Before closing the door, he glanced over his shoulder. “Oh, and is there a Miss. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkemina, and Fluttershy here?” The mares shot out of their seats and nodded enthusiastically. The colt looked back to his clipboard. “Excellent. Your meeting with Princess Celestia has been put through, and you have an appointment set at this time in two days.”

The mares stared at him, varying amounts of anger and disbelief spread across their faces.  Applejack eyed the colt angrily. “We spent nearly a week just gettin’ here and now we have to wait two days just to see ‘er? Does she know who we are? Did you tell her our names?”

The young colt nodded halfheartedly and tuned away. “Afraid so, your appointment is in two days at sunset. Have a nice day.” With that, he left the Elements alone in the waiting room.

<<<<<>>>>>

“So what, does she fancy him or something?” Sparky asked over his shoulder.

Twilight giggled and rolled onto her back beside him, smearing grease into her mane as she did so. “I asked, she said he’s ‘too stiff’ for her liking.”

Sparky shook his head and looked back to the objects above his head. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Twilight shrugged. “I have no idea.” She pointed into the maze of tubing mere inches above their snouts to a large mechanism with a single gauge on it. “Is that a steam valve?”

Sparky followed her gaze and grinned. “Important piece that little thing, good eye. Bought it as such, but now I use it to pipe the gasses from the tanks below into the hoses. Those lead to the ballast above, inflating air bladders to raise and lower the ship. That valve is strong, has an airtight valve, and can withstand high pressure, so I figured it would work well for this. Most of the pieces you see here are bits an’ bobs off of scrap ships I scavenged. They work well enough, and it makes ‘em easy to replace should I need to.” Sparky grabbed hold of a rusty iron bar and pulled himself out of the duct they had been laying in. “Only downside to building a ship out of scrap metal in my mind is that it ends in a mess of mismatched pieces, so it won’t be winning any beauty contests.” He bent down and offered Twilight his hoof, helping her back out onto the metal grating of the walkway.

They were on the lowest deck of the ship, continuing Sparky’s promised ‘grand tour’. The engineering deck was far larger than the others, taking up nearly half the ship’s length. The ceiling was low, and the ponies had to duck under many of the pipes and braces crossing the walkway. It was dimly lit and grimy, with copper tubes, gold valves, and clanging machines in every direction. This made for an awe inspiring atmosphere for the small town librarian. Twilight couldn’t help but marvel at the machinery around her, and found herself constantly diving into maintenance hatches and crawling amongst the pipes to get a better look at the machinery. Sparky felt like he was following the unicorn around rather than guiding her through his ship. She had poured herself into the Volans since the moment she set foot on it, testing his knowledge on every detail of it's construction. Had he not built it himself, it might have been intimidating.

Once free of the cramped maintenance duct, Twilight popped back to her hooves and immediately started off in a new direction. “Where are the gasses kept? You said this was the lowest deck, but I don’t see any tanks.”

Sparky couldn’t suppress a smile at her enthusiasm. “No, I said this was the first floor. Floor zero is below us. Follow me, I’ll show you.” Sparky trotted aft of the engine block, which Twilight was hard pressed to walk past without stopping to examine. When they reached the wall marking the end of the hall, Sparky leaned forward and bit down on a rope jutting awkwardly out of the floor panels. Heaving backwards, he lifted the metal grate up to uncover a steep staircase into yet another duct. Sparky hopped in first before helping Twilight in.

Like the area above, this room was small and incredibly cramped. Metal tanks flanked a small wooden walkway, and seemed to be pressed right up against the ship’s hull skeleton. The walkway was just barely wide enough to allow somepony to turn around. Wooden struts as wide as small trees curved upwards through the ceiling into floor above, giving a strange sense of scale despite the low ceiling. Twilight approached the nearest tank and tapped in gingerly. There was a soft clunking sound that reverberated up a series of copper pipes and hoses that lead into the ceiling, presumably towards the maze they had just been through. Quickly counting them, Twilight guessed there were over half a dozen miss-matched metal barrels down here, most being barely larger than she was. Two, however, jutted well out of sight down the hull. These shone a dull shade of silver in the ambient light, and had only two pipes running out of them. Twilight trotted over to them and read one of the gauges on their sides.

“Are these the Helium tanks?” Twilight asked as she propped herself up against the side to get a better look at the valve links.

“That they are, the only thing we need an abundance of for long journeys.” Sparky walked up beside the mare and leaned casually against the great aluminum surface.

Twilight lifted up onto her hind legs and began to vet the tank. "Why do you need extra helium? The books I read said that you change an airship's altitude by condensing the same helium you already have."

Sparky once again found himself grinning at her knowledge. "This is true, most altitude changes are done by pumping air in or out of the bladder above, not helium. The canvas isn't entirely airtight, however, so for long trips these are required to keep them full. I also made a few... tweeks to the standard airship design." A curious look from Twilight prompted him on. "Should I ever need to ascend or descend quicker than normal, I can evacuate gas from the air bladders by forcing some of the reserve helium in instead." The earth pony turned back toward the tank and patted the side like a loving father. "It's a waste in the long run, of course, but it sure helps when you need to get off the ground quickly. It's saved my flank on more then a few occasions." Turning around, Sparky saw Twilight had already wandered off again, this time examining the various other tanks in the room. Walking up beside her, he continued his explanations. "The other large copper vat on the end there is the water tank for the faucets and such. These little tanks just hold the other gasses and liquids needed to run the stuff on the engine deck above. Oil, lubricant, diesel, things like that.”

Twilight spun around, grinning excitedly. “Diesel? Does that mean that was an internal combustion engine?” Sparky nodded. “Can I see it?!” Twilight bounced up and down like a filly asking her mother for ice cream.

Sparky stood up straight and motioned toward the ladder. “Ladies first.” With an audible squee, Twilight took off towards the staircase, a chuckling Sparky followed her up.

<<<<<>>>>>

Three levels higher on the deck of the Volans, Rainbow Dash and Misty stood with the edges of their hooves hanging off the bow. Freezing wind billowed up from below, whipping the mares’ hair around violently. The sun sat high in the sky, illuminating the flat, barren landscape so far below. Irregular clouds dotted the horizon, obscuring chunks of the sky.

“Ready?” Rainbow asked without looking to the mare beside her. Her usual cocky attitude was amplified today, as it wasn’t everyday she was challenged to a race.

“Are you?” Misty replied. The cyan pegasus simply smiled.

West, who stood behind them, cleared his throat to draw their attention. When both had turned around, he pointed up towards a series of unnaturally shaped clouds in the distance. Ponyville’s weather team captain had constructed the course in preparation for the event an hour earlier before the wind had blown it to a higher elevation than intended. The mares weren’t dissuaded, however.

“First turn is on the outside of the column you see at your 2 o’clock position.” West instructed, pointing towards the shape in the distance. “Second turn is the horizontal column at the ship’s 4 o’clock, and the last is the column at the ship’s 6 o’clock behind that cloud bank, which means you’ll have to catch up to the ship to finish.You must go through the loops after each turn or you will be disqualified, no exceptions. Any questions?”

Rainbow Dash rose a hoof. “Is contact allowed?” Misty shot her an angry look but said nothing.

“No contact, otherwise you’ll just shove each other out of the rings. Slipstreaming and slingshoting are obviously allowed, not that it would do you any good with this wind.” West rose a large red flag he had found in the cargo bay above his head. “Ready!”

The two pegasi spun in place and lowered their heads, eyes focused dead ahead.

“Get set!”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes in preparation, while Misty scrapped a hoof on the deck like a bull ready to charge.

“Go!”

In a blur of motion, the two pushed off the deck into open space. Both where instantly hammered backwards by the strong winds, but they kept their forward momentum up. Rainbow pulled ahead early on, beating her powerful wings to keep herself moving straight. With the winds at this altitude, just going through the rings ahead of her was a challenge, let alone at any respectable speed. Barely moving faster than the Volans, Rainbow passed through the second ring and dove through the third. Everything was downhill until the last turn, so speed leading up to it was important.

Every wing beat was throwing the mares’ around like kites in a storm, but Rainbow had a solution. Grinning devilishly, she napped her wings tight against her side, allowing her to cut through the air like a bullet. Soon enough, the massive shape of the Volans disappeared above her. The soft rings of cloud she had constructed shot by her, leaving moisture on her mane. The edges of her mouth were pulled back by the sheer g-forces against her as the second turn rocketed up to meet her. At the last possible moment, she snapped her wings open and stopped on a dime before rolling over into another dive towards the next turn. Sparing a glance up, Rainbow Dash was shocked to see the green mare not two feet behind her. Ok, so she’s fast. Not as fast as me, but she’s fast. Rainbow took a nervous gulp before looking forward again. The third turn was quickly approaching, and she knew the last clime would be agonizingly slow if she didn’t have enough speed built up. Her eyes widened in shock, however, when the final pillar came into view.

The wind had apparently picked up, for the entirety of the thirty foot cloud was lazily rotating on an axis, slowly spinning like an enormous propeller. Unwilling to risk touching it, Dash was forced to dive further to avoid the leading edge. She knew she would have to make up this distance somehow, and what better way then through brute force? Careful not to create excess drag, Rainbow began to pump her wings, adding to gravity’s pull toward the earth. With a graceful swooping motion, she ducked underneath the final turn and began furiously beating her wings for the final stretch. Looking back over her shoulder, Rainbow smiled as she saw open air. No green pegasus. This pride was short lived, however, as she looked down to see Misty not eight feet below her, smiling right at her. Not cool.

Rainbow pumped her wings harder still and began to pull ahead. From behind a cloud, the grey hulk of the Volans emerged once again. Cold sweat streaked across her face as she continued forward. Despite her best efforts, Dash was slowing down. The higher she got, the harder it was to keep climbing. Without daring to look backwards, Rainbow simply tried harder, and harder, and harder. Her wing beats became irregular as she came to the level with the Volans.  The muscles along her muscular wings began to burn furiously from over-exertion, but she ignored it. A particularly strong gust sent both the competitors reeling into a backwards spiral, taking valuable ground. With a grunt, she pushed forward again, but not as quickly as before. With fifty feet left to go, Rainbow was running out of gas. Directly below her, Misty’s wing beats where as strained as Rainbow Dash’s, but being unaffected by the previous gust, the green mare was pulling steadily forward. For the briefest of seconds, Rainbow and Misty locked gazes. The cyan mare’s eyes widened as Misty stuck her tongue out at her. Buck this, I’m winning this thing.

With a single powerful beat, Rainbow rolled onto her back and launched into a dive, instantly rocketing past Misty at breakneck speed. A technicolor contrail followed the mare, perfectly tracing her arc as she plummeted. She slowly pulled backwards into a reverse loop, thrashing her wings harder than anytime she could remember. This time, she maintained her speed through the clime, lazily sliding back up to level with the Volans. Misty’s eyes widened as she realized what the other pegasus was doing, and she began franticly flapping towards the ship. With an almost comically slow speed, Rainbow Dash glided past Misty, blowing a raspberry as she did so. With a soft thud, she touched down on the wheel deck of the Volans.

West approached the victor and took her hoof, raising it into the air like a boxing announcer. “Rainbow wins!” It took Misty another minute to reach the railing of the ship, and even then she was nearly blown off the deck by a sudden gust of wind, only to be pulled back on by West.

Rolling onto her back in a fit of panting, she smiled at her childhood idol. “Good job Dash.”

“I know.” Rainbow chided before falling to the deck alongside her, exhausted.

<<<<<>>>>>

“I think I’m starting to see a theme here,” Rarity said from the corner of the room. She was lying casually on a small but plush mattress adorned with opulent purple sheets, sheets identical to the ones on the other five cots in the guest house. The Elements of Harmony, minus magic and loyalty of course, were scattered thought the room, once again having nothing better to do other than wait.

“Ah know, ah feel like we should be doin’ something, but as far as ah can tell, all there is to do is wait for the princess to see us. Ah don’t like that much. ” Applejack’s voice brimmed with impatience as she paced around the room in no particular pattern. “Ah don’t like that much at all.” She had never liked the pace of their ‘rescue’ operation; Applejack was a mare of action, not patience, after all.

“Perhaps we should just accept our fate and enjoy the town for a while,” volunteered the white unicorn, rolling over on her bed to face the others.  “I’m sure we’ll be summoned as soon as a development occurs, but that stallion said it would be two days. No sense in waiting here for that to happen, is there? We’ll drive ourselves mad.” Applejack opened her mouth to protest, but thought better of it and continued her pacing.

“What would we do? We don’t know anypony here, and we don’t have any money to go shopping or see any shows,” Fluttershy volunteered from her position on her respective bed.

Rarity shot her a smile. “You forget who you’re talking to, dear. I can get us into any party we happen across in Canterlot.”

Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably, squeezing her wings tigher against her body. “I don’t know, it doesn’t feel right to go out to a party while Rainbow Dash and Twilight might be in trouble…”

The fashionista’s smile faltered as she gave Fluttershy a sympathetic look. “I know what you mean, but I simply can’t think of anything else to do. We came all the way out here to see the princess, so I say we wait it out by doing something in the town. Maybe not necessarily a party, but at least something to occupy ourselves. Perhaps a show would be appropriate, I’m sure I could look up FancyPants and ask if we could accompany him…”

Nopony responded for a while, dropping the room into a comfortable silence. Applejack stopped her pacing at some point and looked around the room in boredom. At first she saw the room as it had been when they entered, but her eyes widened as she realized something was different. Walking over to the other two who were still pondering the thought of going out, Applejack addressed them with confusion.

“Anypony know where Pinkie went?”

Ello everypony, DaringDid here to thank you for sitting through another chapter. This one was a ton of fun to write, so I hope you enjoyed it. Be prepared, however, things are about to become a bit more serious in next week's chapter...