Anonymous in Nu-Questria

“Well, it sounds like he certainly worked up quite the long rap sheet, I can say that much.” Hitch says to the royal Zephyr Heights guardsmare.

You are sitting on the curb in the misty, empty streets of downtown Zephyr Heights. Spinning blue lights from the squad car light up the brick and iron skyline. The streetlights are burning with dim yellowed pools along the road to the warehouse district.

You are holding a paper cup filled with warm dirty chai coffee. They wanted to put the trauma blanket on you, but you chose to just sit and let your bandages breathe a bit.

You sip your coffee. The bandage on your cheek stings a bit as you move your mouth.

Sunny has had a worried expression on her face since they found you in that small room at the back of some random warehouse.

The warehouse was mostly empty, save for a large collection of stolen gems, gold, paintings, and, of course... a large crystalline component fitted with brass tubing. The Magic Amplification and Resonance Emitter (M.A.R.E.). The heart of the airship.

Sunny should be elated, and she was at first. But ever since then she’s been staring with a very forlorn, concerned expression on her face.

She is laying on the blanket next to you. Zipp, Pipp and Izzy are watching a unicorn stallion in a nearly full-body cast being loaded onto a stretcher for a pegasus-pulled ambulance carriage.

You hear Hitch talking in his self-assured, authoritative tone.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it. Thank you so much, ma’am. I appreciate the opportunity for our two districts to work together.”

He gives a confident nod. The other three ponies turn and follow along with Hitch as he walks over to you. The pegasus ambulance soars above the streets of the district, sirens blaring. The squad car follows behind a moment after.

The ponies all stand around and look at you.

“How... did you all even find me?” You ask.

“Well...” Hitch says.

“It all... kind of happened really quick.” Zipp says.

“So! There I was, minding my own bizzness. Just your average mare on the street.” Izzy says, launching into the role of a detective noir protagonist.

“We heard you cut off your earpiece.” Zipp says.

“Everypony was in place. Sunny and Hitch were on on the dance floor. I was in the upstairs lounge, looking into the hallway.”

“And I was in the alley!” Izzy says.

“Yeah, right.” You say.

“Then... BOOM! We heard a big bang.” She says. “Then KA-BLAMMO!” She raises up her hooves.

“The whole darn side of the wall came off!” Izzy says.

“What?” You ask.

“It came off!” Izzy repeats.

“Well, it also crushed the carriage. Izzy was lucky to get out of the way in time...” Sunny says.

“So then what?” You ask.

“Well, there was dust everywhere, everypony was really confused and screaming! I saw a glow as your body was hovering in the air, and then poof! You and Patrice disappeared!” Izzy says.

You rub your hands on the coffee cup. “Uh... huh.”

“Oh. That’s his name, by the way. Patrice Tracker. Age 19. Local resident of Bridlewood, and soon to be its first transfer prisoner.” Hitch says proudly.

“We believe he used a teleportation spell. Short-range. I tried to follow him, but he blinked away so quickly.” Zipp says.

“But!” Izzy says, lowering her gaze and squinting at you. “Izzy knows that he left behind clues...”

“Clues?” You say.

“Yeah... sparkle. I saw the color of his sparkle when he burst through.” Izzy says.

“It was like staring right into the darkest parts of his soul. Spooky, right?” Izzy’s eyes widen.

“Right...” You say.

“So!” Izzy says. “I followed my horn!” Izzy says.

You quirk an eyebrow.

“She lead us into the warehouse district and we found a hole that had been dug into the ground. It was hidden under a dumpster.” Zipp explains.

“We rushed in through the hole, and we followed it! As we went deeper inside, we realized that this was leading somewhere. A whole network of tunnels all around the area.” Sunny says.

“Wow.” You say.

“We eventually figured out they all lead to one place. This warehouse. We heard commotion coming from the door inside, and then we heard your voice! Izzy and Hitch broke it down, and well...”

“Then you... saved me.” You say.

“Anon, I’d say you’re probably the luckiest guy I’ve ever seen. A few seconds too late, and well... let’s just say that you might have been Equestria’s first ex-human. I’m glad it didn’t come to that.” Hitch says.

You feel sore. Your neck is definitely bruised. You’ll probably have a scar on your face and arm now. Yet at the same time you feel very relieved.

“Thank you for saving me.” You say.

“No. Thank you for all your help, Anon. You’re alright in my book.” Hitch says. He nods and turns, walking down towards an intersection in the street.

“Wait, Hitch.” You say.

You turn to look at him. He cranes his neck backwards.

“Was he... actually related to me?” You ask.

“Anon...” Hitch says. “You know our records don’t go back that far. I’ve seen the unicorn’s record room at their town hall... it’s a mess.”

Hitch shakes his head.

“If you want my opinion, he was just a sad, lonely colt that got mixed up in the wrong kind of thing... he let his obsession get to his head, and he lost track of what was important in the world.” He says.

You look down. He’s probably right.

“They say that life is what you make of it. I suppose he wanted to make his life about being great and powerful, no matter what it took.” Hitch says and shrugs.

Hitch turns again. “Any way, I’ll meet you back there, everypony! Got lots of paperwork to fill out. New code by-laws to draft.” Hitch says as he walks along the cold dark sidewalk.

“Thanks Hitch!” Sunny and the rest say.

You sigh.

“Hey, Anon.” Sunny says, smiling at you.

You turn and look at Sunny. Zipp, Izzy and Pipp are all looking at you with happy, relieved looks on their faces.

“Let’s go home.” She says.

It doesn’t take long for the wounds to heal, and the construction on the airship to progress.

You looked out from your cot near the large bay windows of the control room as the ponies busied themselves. Izzy struggled a lot to fit an entire airship’s worth of material over the gigantic frame, but somehow she got it all sorted out.

Spanner hooted and hollered from the engine room when she got the magic amplifier finally installed. The ponies all gathered around as they gave it the first test start.

You watched the flash of bright blue from a spell zipping inside the amplifier. The engines of the ship hummed with a small glow for a minute before fizzling out. Lights around the top deck of the ship winked on and off, and the ballonets seemed to fluff up in appearance.

They all cheered and celebrated. You smiled.

They collected you from your bed and lead you down the stairs for the real deal.

All seven of you, Sunny, Hitch, Izzy, Zipp, Pipp and Spanner all sat in the main engine room. The ponies aligned the three crystals gifted to the races by the alicorns of old, and a shimmering iridescent light flowed forth from them. The crystals began to spin and glow in the air.

You all gazed in hope and wonder as magic started to flow like a rainbow-hued wisp of smoke through the air into the pipes and tubes of the M.A.R.E. It coalesced in the center of the device, refracting brilliant colors inside the large, spherical gem at the center.

The three pony crystals hovered back to the ground gracefully as the spell ended. The ship started to hum and whir to life, the overhead lights kicking on and engines revving to a thriving purr.

They did it.

The little ones pulled it off.

You all celebrated and hugged and had a joyous night of it.

Then Sunny decided that the next day would be the maiden voyage.

“We need to show everypony what our friendship and teamwork have accomplished. We need to inspire hope across all pony lands! Tomorrow, we sail to Maretime Bay, and after that - into the heart of Equestria!”

Sunny proudly declared it from the bow of the ship. The ponies shouted and squealed with delight. You couldn’t help but crack a grin yourself.

Glory to Nu-Questria.

Maybe it won’t turn out so bad this time.