The Free Skies

“We’ll be taking this one,” Twilight said to a pegasus with a clipboard, watching as a ship slowly moved closer to the dock in front of her and Pinkie. The pegasus nodded and handed the clipboard to Pinkie before flying off.

“Looks like we have Ocean Line this time,” Pinkie said as she looked over the paperwork. “His has been the lowest the past few deliveries.”

“Then we’ll just have to ask why that is.” Once the ship was close enough Twilight used her magic and extended the clamps to hold the ship in place, a ramp extending to the door that was just opening.

The pony that came down the ramp was a dark blue with a black mane. “Oh, this must be a special occasion if you’re here yourself, Pinkie,” Ocean Line said.

“There’s a Race going on right now, yeah. But that doesn’t have anything to do with this,” Pinkie said as she looked up from the clipboard.

Ocean’s expression turned to confusion. “What do you mean?”

Twilight spoke up then, giving Ocean a frown, “What she means is that we’re going to go over every piece of your ship and if there’s even an ounce not accounted for, you’ll be jailed for stealing.”

Ocean held out his own clipboard, rolling his eyes. “Please, everything is in order. There’s no need to threaten me like that.”

Twilight took the clipboard in her magic and quickly looked it over, double checking with the one Pinkie was holding. “Where’s the signed retraction of goods for these ten tons that aren’t accounted for on your paperwork?”

“S-signed retraction of goods...? I haven’t heard of anything like that before.” Ocean’s expression turned nervous.

Pinkie looks to a guard standing nearby and nods, the guard moving up into the ship. “Those ten tons better be in there still.”

“Now hold on just a moment, what are you talking about?”

Twilight takes a step forward saying, “For a shipment from Canterlot to be changed enroute, there must be a hoof-delivered retraction of goods signed by the head bosun. Without that, you can be charged with piracy.”

Ocean Line frowned and took a step forward. “And just who are you to say that?”

Twilight held her hoof out and gave him a humorless smile. “I am Twilight Sparkle.” Her smile drops as she pauses for a moment. “Head bosun of the Canterlot flotilla.”

The stallion stuttered for a moment as Twilight and Pinkie walked past him to check his vessel.

A little while later Twilight was sitting at the bar in a tavernship, eating a late dinner as she listened to Zephyr tell her about the race and what happened after.

“I thought we got that sorted out?” Twilight asked Zephyr. The two of them were sitting at a table in a tavernship, Zephyr having found her there trying to get a ship back to Canterlot.

“I thought so as well, but that brother of yours said that the Admiral wanted them anyways,” Zephyr said between breaths.

Twilight bit her lip as she thought out loud. “Shining won’t want to stay any longer than he has to. That means he might skip gathering supplies since we’re still so close to Canterlot. There’s a chance he’ll have the guards look for me to take me back under orders, so we could possibly use that against him.”

Zephyr paused for a moment before his eyes narrowed and he leaned on the table. “What are you thinking?”

Twilight rolled her eyes and looked at Zephyr. “What else? They’re gonna be taken back and punished for something they didn’t do. I don’t want that to happen.”

Zephyr’s conspiratorial lean shifts a little as he leans forwards even more, his voice going into a whisper as he smirks, “You’re gonna break them out? Right in the middle of the flotilla?”

“We’ll have to ask for a favor and secure a ship out, but it is possible.”

Zephyr leaned back in his seat, “I’m in”

Twilight frowned, “Wait, just like that?”

He rubbed a hoof against his chest, “It’s like you said, they’re gonna get punished for something they didn’t do.”

“Well…” Twilight tilted her head, “But why do you care?”

Zephyr made a face Twilight couldn’t read before tossing a hoof, “That’s not important, what is important is where you think we’re going to find somepony who will do us a favor that huge.”

Ignoring her previous question, Twilight lit her horn and teleported a piece of paper and something to write with to herself, and subsequently scribbled away a quick note. “Hopefully a friend I made earlier. Someone who has family in the right place.”

Zephyr sat back down as he thought. “You... went to see Pinks, and-” His eyes widened and his lips curled a bit into a small smile. “I think I see what your plan is, and I know just the ship we can commandeer.”

“Good. You’re going to get the ship ready and pick us up at the right time.” Finishing her writing Twilight teleported the note away.

“How will I know when that is?” Zephyr paused for a moment before lightly knocking a hoof against his head. “Dumb question. This isn’t gonna be a stealthy and slow approach.”

Twilight giggled and nodded as she stood up. “I’d rather plan this all out, but we need to strike before his ship leaves.” She paused for a moment before looking Zephyr over. “You know... that was a really fast flip there.”

Zephyr chuckles and puffs his chest out. “I’ll be swooping in to save the three of you from getting caught again. The points I’ll get with Rainbow for this are worth the time I’ll pay for being part of a prison break.”

Twilight shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Just make sure you’re actually there when we need you and not off fantasizing.”

“Relax, everything’ll go smoothly on my end ‘cause the ship’s owner is locked up in the brig right now.” Zephyr stood up and headed for the door.

A few minutes later Twilight would be standing in front of the head bosun’s office and knock on the door.

“Come in,” Pinkie said from the other side of the door.

Stepping in Twilight cringed at remembering how cluttered the office was. “Did you get my note earlier?”

Pinkie paused in the graph she was making and looked up at Twilight. “It’s a big favor you’re asking for.”

“I know, but I can’t just sit by and let Rainbow and Tempest be punished for something they didn’t do.” Twilight stepped up to the desk. “Besides, I haven’t given you the whole plan so you can’t be implicated in it.”

“This’ll definitely cause ponies to lose faith in my dad. He’ll have to step down, take responsibility for this prison break.”

“Can you say that would be a bad thing?”

Pinkie looked down in thought, tapping a hoof for a few minutes before slowly shaking her head. “To be honest, I’ve thought he should step down anyways. I can’t say why I think that, it’s just....”

“It’s a feeling you can’t place or describe?” Twilight offered helpfully.

“Exactly, yeah. It’s time for him to step down and my sis to take his place.” Pinkie nodded and looked at Twilight. “Okay, I’ll set this up for you, but you owe me reeeeaaaally big.”

Chuckling, Twilight nodded her head. “I figured I would. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to keep this favor.”

“Well, that’s certainly a distraction,” Twilight said as she watched a cargo ship crash into several fighters on the deck of the Blue Manta. She shook her head and teleported onto a walkway under the ship, quickly heading up into the ship..

Twilight wasn’t familiar with the ship itself, but having been on almost every ship in the Canterlot Flotilla, she had the kind of experience and detail oriented mind to easily recognize one of the three layouts of architecture they used for this kind of model. It didn’t take long for Twilight to guide herself to the brig while avoiding the crew and the guards... mostly.

“Hey, what’re you doing down here?” A guard said from behind her.

Without saying anything Twilight whipped her head around and fired a sleep spell at the guard, hitting him between the eyes and making him clatter to the floor.

“Finally, you got my daisy sandwich and sunflower salad?” Rainbow’s voice said from a nearby cell after being alerted by the noise.

Twilight moved over to the cell, looking inside and seeing both Rainbow and Tempest. “No, but I do have a freedom burger.”

“Oh, hey Twilight.” Rainbow took a double take, “Wait- What’re you doing here?” Rainbow asked in confusion as Twilight stepped up to the door.

Without wasting a moment Twilight used her magic and unlocked the door to the cell. There was a purple flash from the lock, and the door swung open. “Getting you out of here.”

Rainbow paused for a moment and glanced around before saying, “You’re breaking us out? Why?”

“I don’t want you paying for something you didn’t do, so come on.”

“You realize this means you’ll get the same punishment as us, right?” Tempest said as she stood up, following Rainbow out of the cell. “Did you organize this all yourself?”

Twilight was already walking away when Tempest asked, there was only a slight head turn as she answered, “No. I had some help.” before she began stalking down a random hallway at the other end of the brig that didn’t lead anywhere. Rainbow and Tempest shared a look for a moment before tentatively following after Twilight.

“Who’s helping you with a prison break?” Rainbow asked as she caught up to where Twilight had stopped at the dead end.

“Zephyr Breeze.” She said, inspecting the wall, still not really listening.

“Oh, so that’s the crash we heard earlier,” Tempest said, shaking her head.

“No. That was a favor I asked Pinkie for. Zephyr procured our escape ship and is just waiting for the signal,” Twilight said as she stopped next to a window, her horn charging up with magic, bathing the dark hallway in ambient violet light

“What signal?” Tempest yelled over the sound of spellcasting filling the empty hallway.

Instead of answering Twilight turned to the wall and loosed a huge beam of magic that burned through the wall and shot upwards into the sky, harmlessly petering out after a few seconds.

“.... Yeah, I’d say that’s a good signal,” Rainbow said as she looked around through the hole in the wall. It took only a few seconds for a large ship to come down and line up its door with the hole, and less time for the door to open and the three of them to leap inside.

“You go and take over flying, Rainbow. You’re the best of us all so you should get us away,” Twilight said as she closed the door.

“Right, gotta have the best pilot flying a stolen ship.” Rainbow shook her head and headed for the front of the ship.

Tempest followed after Rainbow as she said, “We’ll need to get strapped in, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride out of here.”

Twilight followed after to the bridge of the ship, Rainbow having already taken Zephyr’s spot in the pilot’s chair. “Shouldn’t be, it looked like the distraction somehow managed to wreck all the fighters that Shining has, and with Pinkie on our side we don’t have to worry about Everfree pilots coming after us.”

Looking over the radar, Rainbow said, “Looks like Twi’s right. The only thing coming after us are missiles from the carrier. Tempest, you’re a good shot, take the weapons and shoot them down.”

Tempest nodded and moved over to an empty seat with a console in front of it, flipping a few switches. “Looks like all we got ourselves is missiles. I’ll be quick.” She pressed a few more buttons before the ship shook a little and faint explosions were heard behind them. “There, looks like we have a clear horizon now.”

Twilight nodded and moved over to sit down in front of the comms unit. “Feels nice to finally outsmart my brother.”

“Hey, we aren’t gonna keep you from gloating if that’s what you want,” Zephyr said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, besides, how else will he know who’s responsible?” Rainbow said, diving into the calm clouds and leveling off within the safe zone.

Twilight thought for a few seconds before nodding. “You’re right. I can’t just let him wonder.” Twilight turned on the comms unit but paused, there was already a transmission playing.

“Moon’s Shadow....”