The Lost World

The Lost World

Chapter 6

By: Bairiko

The next morning Twilight stood on the rear deck, enjoying the sunrise behind the Zephyr. A soft glow was coming from the window of the cabin directly below her, normally the captains quarters but serving as Princess Celestia's room for the journey. Twilight stood there, enjoying the morning as the early morning mists rose up from the ocean below, glistening in the new light as the clouds, sparse as they were, floated gently by as they mixed with the smoke from the airships boilers.

The language lessons last night went about as well as she could have expected. Though one thing was certainly surprising. Of all the ponies present, Rarity was the one to pick up the language the fastest, only needing to go over a sentence or phrase a few times with the Princess before figuring out how it worked. Behind her was Twilight herself, then Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie.

"Oh!" A startled squeak came from behind her. Twilight turned and saw Fluttershy slowly walking up behind her. "I'm sorry Twilight, I didn't know you would be up here," Fluttershy said.

"Good morning Fluttershy," Twilight said as she stepped aside, letting the timid pegasus move in beside her.

The two mares stayed like that for a number of minutes, just enjoying the sunrise with a friend.

"So Twilight," Fluttershy started, "Do you have..." She ended with a mumble and a blush.

"I'm sorry?" Twilight leaned a bit closer.

"Um, I was wondering if you were looking for a special..." Fluttershy was blushing hard.

"Didn't quite catch that Fluttershy."

"Um, I'm sorry, never mind." Came a squeak from the almost scarlet Fluttershy as she quickly tried to scurry away.

"Fluttershy," Twilight started, "You know you can tell me anything or ask me anything."

"I-I know Twilight, b-but I-I'll try again later." Fluttershy squeaked once more before fluttering back down below decks.

"Okay?" Twilight said, dragging it out before turning back to the sunrise. "Well, that was weird. I wonder what she meant by if I have a 'special' something?" Twilight asked aloud.

A few minutes passed before Twilight noticed something strange. She leaned over a bit and took a closer look at one of the Zephyr's smoke clouds.

It was brown.

"What a very strange way to start the day." Twilight mumbled.

And the day didn't get better from there.

"Pinkie Pie! What're ya doin'?!" Applejack shouted.

"What? I'm trying to make hot chocolate." Pinkie said innocently. She was coated head to hoof with cocoa powder and coal dust.

"With an engine boiler?" Twilight asked incredulity. The three mares were standing in the engine compartment of the airship, watching as the pink party pony threw another lump of charcoal into the burner of the back up steam engine.

"Ha! You just said it!" Pinkie exclaimed with a little dance, "It's a boiler so I can boil water all I want! You want some hot chocolate?"

"Pinkie, how are ya planning to boil water in somethin' meant to turn it to steam?" Applejack asked.

"Well duh! By not letting it get hot enough to boil it all away silly." Pinkie reached her head into the boiler, earning gasps from the other two mares, and pulled out a dainty looking white kettle. "Yeah, you want some."

"Uh..." Before either mare could fully say anything, Pinkie had shoved a mug full of scalding hot chocolate into each of their hooves.

"Drink up! Just don't tell Rarity I used her kettle please." Pinkie then downed her entire mug in one go, steam escaping to the air when she next opened her mouth. "Hmm...Tastes kinda funny."

One cup of odd tasting hot chocolate later, Twilight was standing outside of one of the cabins on board, Aurora the pegasus greeter stood beside her.

"They still in there?" Twilight asked.

"Yup."

"Still going at it?"

"Yup."

"How long have they been in there?"

"Since last night."

"Think they'll stop anytime soon?"

"Nope."

"Uh huh. Well, have fun with this." Twilight turned around, walking away from the door to the cabin, the sounds of a muted but very heated exchange still noticeable even after she changed decks. "When they do finish, tell them breakfast will be ready shortly." She called over her shoulder.

Why would Octavia suggest bringing Vinyl if all they're going to do is argue and fight? Twilight thought.

Breakfast was a simple affair, apple-cinnamon porridge and toast with tea. The mess room of the Zephyr was awash in conversations as the new adventurers, Royal Guards and crew members all enjoyed their morning meals.

Octavia and Vinyl arrived last, ruffled and red-faced with Octavia's bow untied and Vinyls sunglasses upside down, just in time to dish up the last of the porridge. They then sat across from each other with pointed glances between them.

Daring Do, Spitfire and Shining Armour were chatting in the back. Daring was telling a tale of how she managed to find the ruins of some ancient fort down in the Minotaur Islands a few years ago that didn't follow any known design scheme. Spitfire was talking about some of the more memorable occurrences in her time as Wonderbolts captain, and Shining Armour was talking about the Equestrian Games that recently took place in the Crystal Empire, and the pride of the Crystal ponies when their teams took home their first gold medal.

Pinkie Pie was sitting on the opposite end of the table from Rarity, who was gossiping with Lyra. Applejack was nursing a cup of coffee in the corner of the room, watching everypony. And a still flustered looking Fluttershy was talking with Rainbow Dash, who looked slightly disappointed.

Twilight was walking over to join her friends when Captain Zephyr and Princess Celestia came in, having eaten their breakfast in the Princesses quarters. All conversations ceased.

"Alright everypony," The captain started, "Figured I'd tell you now. We've got our route all mapped out and we should be arriving at our destination in only a few days time!"

"Uh, Cap?" One crew member asked. "Where exactly are we going?"

"That is a good question Chef," Zephyr stated, "Well, time to drop the bomb, we're on our way to Terra!"

Silence.

"'Course you'd all know it better as the Lost Continent." The captain said, eyes twinkling with mischief.

More silence.

Twilight, who had joined her friends by now, looked back and forth among her friends before looking out over everypony else present.

A hoof full of guards and crew members looked confused, but the majority of them looked scared. "Uh, so we're going to the Lost World right?" One guardscolt asked.

"Yup." Zephyr stated.

"The land that has a habit of killing anything that goes there right?" A different guard asked.

"Yup."

"So, where are we actually going then? Saddle Arabia?" The first guard asked with a laugh.

"Nope, we're going to the Lost World."

"Uh huh, well I'm done here then," One crew member said, "I don't feel like gettin' killed just yet."

"My little ponies," Celestia stepped in, "We are on our way to the Lost Continent yes, and yes it does have a less than stellar reputation. But that is one reason we're going there."

"But your Majesty, you said it yourself that there's nothing there!" Another guard shouted, before realising he had shouted at the one pony who controls the sun. He bowed down so fast and deep his golden armour clanked against the wooden floorboards.

Celestia smiled. "Yes, I know I said that, but times have changed my loyal guardscolt."

Twilight and her friends watched as the Princess had to reassure her guards that no, this was in fact not a suicide mission, but a political one, though it was obvious nopony really believed her.

It took some time to get the guards and crew to come around to the idea, and only after the Princess promised their safety. There was still some grumbling, but what could go wrong when you have a Wonderbolt, a full section of Royal Guards plus famous guard captain, a famous explorer, the Elements of Harmony and the princess of the sun on your side?

Eventually breakfast finished, almost everypony filing away back to their duties. The girls stayed behind for a bit and chatted amongst themselves.

"I said I was sorry Rarity," Pinkie pouted from across the table.

"Yes Pinkie, I heard you," Rarity said, "But saying you're sorry doesn't instantly fix a problem dear."

"Well it should! I didn't mean to forget about your kettle," Pinkie said as she cast a glance towards the blackened, misshapen mass of porcelain on the table between them.

"The fact still remains that you did," Rarity stated, "And that you didn't even ask if you could use it in the first place."

The fashionista then turned back to speaking with Applejack, "As I was saying, Lyra and Bon-Bon are wondering..." She stopped talking when she noticed a stallion approaching.

"Uh, miss Rainbow Dash?" He asked when he arrived. Rainbow raised her hoof for the stallion. "The captain wants to see you on deck please."

"Uh, okay? What for?" Rainbow asked as she stood up.

"Something to do with the clouds ma'am," He turned around and beckoned her with a wing, "Follow me please."

Rainbow glanced around the table at her friends as she stood there, shrugged, and set off after the crew member.

Afternoon came, and with it the first real complication of the trip.

"The storms getting worse Captain!" The pilot yelled. The sparse cloud cover of the morning had thickened up considerably throughout the day despite the efforts of some of the crew, Rainbow Dash, and even a few of the guards. The clouds were uncannily resistant to the pegasi's attempts at moving them as they piled up around the airship. Eventually a storm had started up and pelted the Zephyr with chilling rain and less than ideal winds.

That was fine, the crew could handle a bit of unruly weather. And so the Zephyr sailed on. By mid afternoon however the storm had gotten far worse, with harsh cross winds shoving the airship about and rough patches of turbulence shaking her like a foal does their favourite toy. Only a hoof full of ponies remained on deck and all of them lashed to something sturdy and preferably nailed down, Captain Zephyr and the pilot being two of them.

"Raise altitude, try and get above the storm," The Captain shouted over the roaring gales, his blue wings slick with rain where they stuck out from beneath his yellow slicker as he was illuminated by lightning flashes, "And watch out for thunderheads, the last thing we need is a lightning strike!"

"Aye Captain!" The ship creaked and groaned as the engines kicked in to high gear, struggling to push the ship up through the clouds surrounding it as one of the few non pegasus crew members used his magic to adjust the buoyancy of the balloon.

Below decks everypony had been in for the ride, groans of discomfort coming from almost every cabin.

"Ergh, how much longer till the ride's over,"

"Stupid balloon, stupid storm, stupid porridge,"

"This is even worse than those roller coasters on Poney Island,"

One cabin however at least had a conversation going on in it. The Element bearers had gotten back together to practice their Terran after Rainbows return, but the storm put a stop to that rather fast. Instead a collection of six almost sea-sick mares sat around a table in varying states of misery as the floor shifted slightly and the sensation of rising came over them.

"Twilight, can't you just -like- magic the storm away or something?" Rainbow inquired from where she hovered, trying to avoid being tossed around by the rolling cabin floor.

"As much as I want to Rainbow, I don't think I can," Admitted a slightly green-faced Twilight. "Even if the floor wasn't bobbing...rolling... Hurp!" Twilight was suddenly a lot more green in the face, though thankfully she managed to recover before anything bad happened. "Ugh, hey wait, I think I know a spell for sea-sickness," Twilight lit up her horn as she tried to remember the spell.

"Uh, how much longer is this storm gonna last?" Applejacks muffled voice asked from where she had her head resting on the table.

"Now I know how migrating birds feel," Fluttershy muttered.

"Shouldn't be more than a few hours Fluttershy dear," Rarity said as she rested her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder.

The moment her hoof made contact however everypony was suddenly thrown hard to the side, sending Rainbow crashing into the table and everypony else to the floor with a flash of light.

And with their ascension came the second complication.

A sharp left crosswind hit the front half of the balloon at almost the same instance a powerful right wind hit the front of the ship itself, throwing everypony to the deck hard. The Zephyr groaned as she listed dangerously, almost rolling over, crates, ropes and an unlucky unicorn pony fell from her side before she managed to right herself. Luckily the rope tying the pony to the deck held firm and he managed to pull himself back on board.

"Argh! Celestia damned wind!" Zephyr shouted after picking himself back up. "Status?"

"Can't really tell so far Captain, and we won't be able to until the weather stops being so crappy!" the pilot shouted as she stood back up as well.

"Oh for fu- thank you," Zephyr groaned, "Try and get us above the clouds a little faster please!"

Sunlight shimmered along the expanse of clouds, sparking golden rivers to form along the surfaces and casting shadows deep where one cloud met another as silver sparks flashed through in the late afternoon sun. the calmness of the upper atmosphere completely oblivious to the storm raging below, the sounds of muffled thunder and lightning emanated from under the cloud cover as the sun began its slow descent to make way for the night.

A bulge formed nearby, stretching the clouds and draining their rivers of the golden light that flowed in them. Wispy tears in the surface let the sounds of the storm break through as the Zephyr forced its way above the cloud layer, rain water cascading off her sides as her hull and balloon gleamed in the new-found sunlight.

"Alright first things first!" Captain Zephyr shouted, "Set her down softly, then somepony check for any damages to the hull, supports, balloon and passengers!"

The Zephyr landed on the clouds surrounding it with a soft 'puff' as pegasus crew members started emerging from the bowels of the ship. With practiced efficiency they scoured the hull and balloon, finding all the damages one could expect from a storm. Anything that had been on deck that wasn't nailed down was either missing, broken, or no where near where it had been left, one of the guiding fins was bent and a minor tear in the balloon that was easily fixed and of no concern.

But what was concerning was the massive crack running from the rear of the front support beam almost halfway through, a nasty looking gash in the metal that spelt trouble.

"Uh, Captain! We got a problem!"

"Ugh, did somepony get the number of that cloud?" Rainbow Dash groaned. When she got her hooves back under her she tried to stand back up, but a squeak from under her caused her to look back down. A pair of aquamarine eyes stared back up at her.

"Oh, hehe, sorry 'Shy," Rainbow stood back up and helped Fluttershy to her hooves as she looked around the room. Whatever happened topside sent all the mares flying, so Rainbow flew over and checked up on each of them. Though the table Rainbow crashed into was a write off, thankfully nopony was hurt...

"Ow, Spike did somepony see which way the bunny who clocked me one ran?" Twilight was laying against the cabin wall with a nice sized bruise on her head and eyes slightly off-kilter when Rainbow helped her to her hooves. "Hehe thanks Rainbow!" She giggled as she threw both arms around Rainbow Dash's neck and hugged her tight.

"Uh, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked, "You okay there?"

"Never better!" Twilight took two steps away from a blushing Rainbow Dash and fell to her side, "Ow... Okay, I've been better."

"Alright then," Applejack continued, "Rainbow, help Twilight to the clinic-thingy, Ah'll sort things out 'round here."

Rainbow stood there for a minute before she managed to fight the blush off her face and help Twilight to her hooves once more, the giggly mare leaning on her as she started walking towards the sickbay. A slight shudder ran through the vessel, making Twilight giggle more and babble nonsensically while snuggling into Rainbows side, making the blue pegasus blush harder.

Eventually the pair reached the sickbay, joining a line of other ponies. Octavia was standing outside the door with a bruise on her leg, Lyra had a black eye, and one unicorn stallion had a nasty looking rope burn and bruising around his middle. Ouch, wonder how he got that? Rainbow thought.

"Alright," Another unicorn stallion with a thinning mane said as he stepped out, "Everypony please state the nature of your medical emergencies." He looked around as everypony listed off what was wrong.

When everypony had finished he beckoned towards Dash and Twilight. "Alright, Miss Dash and Miss Twilight, Nurse Airheart will see you two," He beckoned the stallion forward, "And I'll handle you."

Rainbow Dash and Twilight were sitting in one of the small examination rooms, Rainbow looking over all the posters and Twilight poking at something while giggling, when a creme coloured mare peaked her head in. "Oh, hello," She said, stepping in fully to reveal a pair of creme wings and a cutie mark of a red cross with feathers in the corners, "I'm Nurse Airheart, the second medical officer on board, now what seems to be the problem?" She asked with a smile.

"Well, I'm fine," Rainbow began, "But my friend took quite a hit to the head during the storm and she hasn't stopped giggling or trying to hug me since." She finished with a slight blush.

"Hmm," The nurse walked over to Twilight and glanced at her head, noting the large bruise on the side. Twilight noticed the mare staring at her and slid closer to Rainbow. "Well, I can safely say she has a small concussion, but was she trying to cast a spell at the time of the incident?"

"Uh," Rainbow scratched her head, "Yeah, I think she said something about a sea-sickness spell or something."

"Alright good, the doctor can easily fix her concussion," The nurse said, "But the reason behind her strange behavior is that when she bumped her head she must have messed up the spell," She saw Rainbow giving her a look, "Now when somepony messes up a spell that is supposed to have a minor medical effect on them, it can backfire in an effect known as Magical Intoxication and have the same symptoms as alcohol. Again, the doc can fix that easily enough, but Miss Twilight is going to have a headache for a little bit from the concussion and all the regular symptoms of a hangover."

"Alright then, no loud noises, lots of water and darkness, got it!" Rainbow smirked.

"Yeah, I guess that works too, now please excuse me for a minute while I fetch the doctor," The nurse said as she stepped out, leaving the prismatic pegasus with the drunken, giggly unicorn.

"I am afraid I don't see the problem here Captain," Celestia said as she observed the front support of the ship as a small team of ponies worked. They tried in vain to weld the crack shut before resorting to welding on scrap bits of metal in an effort to take some stress off the fracture.

"It's a problem Your Majesty because if that support breaks, the Zephyr will only be able to move in one direction," The Captain made a gesture with his wings, "Straight down. So unless you can guarantee that Terra has a dock that can fix this I'm afraid this trip's over."

"I am more than confident the Terrans can accommodate your ship Captain," Celestia said, "But I want to know if we will be able to make it there."

With a sign, Zephyr stated, "Yeah, we can make it so long as the weather is good and the repairs hold,"

"Then that is what we shall do Captain," The Princess stated.

The dark blue pegasus sighed. "Fine, but you owe me one your Majesty," He turned back to the work party, "Hear that boys? Make sure everything's good to go!"

"Aye, aye sir!"

When night time came the Zephyr was once more in the air and continuing its westward journey.

"Hey Twi, you okay in there?" Rainbow whispered from the door to Twilight's cabin into the darkness.

"Ergh, yeah I'm fine, thanks Rainbow," Came Twilight's weak and muffled response. The doctor had managed to cure the bruising and all the main effects of the concussion, but Twilight was unprepared for the headache to follow.

"Need a cup of water or anything?" Rainbow asked.

"Sure," the cerulean pegasus gave her a cup and a straw, letting Twilight drain the cup in one go before refilling it and putting it in sight on the mares nightstand, "Thanks Rainbow."

"Not a problem Twi," Dash grinned, "And if you need anything else, just let me know," The pegasus turned around and was about to leave when she was stopped by Twilight's voice.

"Hey Rainbow?" Rainbow looked behind her and saw Twilight looking at her, "Sorry if I did or said anything weird earlier," the lavender unicorn grinned sheepishly.

"It's fine Twi, you were just a bit more giggly and," Rainbow blushed a bit, "Hugged me a lot, is all,"

"Oh," Was that a blush on her face? "Well, thanks Rainbow, good night,"

"G'night Twi,"

Rainbow gently shut the door to the cabin behind her and trotted off, but she didn't go to her own room just yet. Climbing the stairs to the open air Rainbow spread her wings and leaped from the ship.

The moonlight shone bright as the Zephyr sailed through an ocean of silver clouds, golden points of light flickering on the bow, stern and all along the sides as candles burned in cabins and in lanterns. With the stars twinkling far above Rainbow was left to glide in peace with her thoughts. She thought of the trip, she thought of her friends and family, but most of all she thought of Twilight.

Why would Twi blush like that? All she did was be a bit more huggy than normal. Rainbow thought, Maybe she's embarrassed to have hugged me so much? The pegasus scoffed, Yeah right, more likely it wasn't a blush. But, what if she actually was?

For over an hour the chromatic pegasus flew alongside the ship, occasionally swooping over or around the vessel in thought before alighting on top of the balloon. There she sat for a number of minutes, admiring the stars before a voice behind her caught her off guard.

"Oh, I didn't expect to see anypony else up here," Rainbow jumped and looked behind her. Standing not so far down the balloon stood Aurora, the greeter and helper. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," She waited a few seconds for a response, then noticed Rainbow staring at her. "I take it you haven't seen me in the moonlight before?"

"Whoa," Was all Rainbow Dash could say.

Rainbow wasn't expecting what she saw. When she had first met Aurora the mares mane looked like strands of gold in the sunlight while her coat were a dull grey, but now in the moonlight the situation was reversed. Her mane was now an unremarkable pale yellow while her coat looked like liquid silver had been brushed over her as it gleamed under the moon.

The other mare giggled, "Yeah, I get that a lot," She walked over and sat down at the edge of the balloon near Rainbow. "You know, if the Captain finds us up here we can get in a lot of trouble right?"

Rainbow laughed, "Yeah, I kinda figured. But what he doesn't know can't hurt him." She took another look at the almost glowing mare beside her, "I can see why your parents named you 'Aurora' now."

Aurora looked down at herself before looking at Dash's mane, "And I can see why you got named 'Rainbow'." She giggled.

The two mares sat in silence for a few minutes, one watching the stars and the other the moon, before Aurora spoke up again.

"So might I ask what you're doing out this late at night?" She asked without taking her eyes off the moon.

"Huh? Oh, just doing a bit of flying,"

"In other words you've got something on your mind and were just trying to think," Aurora said with a knowing smile.

"Well that too but- Hold on," She looked over to the silver mare, "How'd you know that?"

"Why do you think I'm up here?" She said as she looked back up towards the moon, "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to though, I'll respect your privacy if you respect mine,"

And with that silence returned to the night, the two mares sitting out under the stars until the cold and their own tiredness drove them back to their beds.

It was the afternoon of the fifth day and the Zephyr hadn't encountered any other problems on the way. The sun was glowing behind a thin curtain of overcast clouds, something every pegasus on board was watching like a hawk, just in case. Twilight had spent the last few days going over Starswirls journal with the rest of the girls to get acquainted with Human history and to get a bit further into their language. Progress had been unfortunately slow however, even with the Princesses help.

Rainbow Dash was just returning to her cabin after a chat with Daring Do, whom she still couldn't believe was both real and on board when she heard a fateful yell from above deck.

"Land, ho!" A crew member shouted. All conversation ceased as everypony present, Rainbow Dash included, galloped to the front of the ship.

There, on the horizon, grey bluffs extended far above the ocean. Waves were crashing against the cliffs and seagulls flew about as the airship approached Terra, land of the unknown and home of the Humans.

"I can't believe we're actually here," Rainbow looked behind her, seeing Twilight approaching the railing. "I just wish I had a telescope,"

The Zephyr continued on its approach as first Princess Celestia, then the rest of the expedition members made it on deck, everypony chatted excitedly, fearfully, or both.

A few minutes went by before Fluttershy noticed something disturbing, "Um, excuse me but I think I think something's wrong," Everypony kept talking. "Uh, p-please, I think it might be i-important," She looked around as everypony ignored her before noticing Captain Zephyr watching her. She gave him a pleading look from behind her mane.

"Quiet!" Zephyr yelled. The chatting all along the deck fell silent.

"Princess," Fluttershy whispered, "I think I hear something."

The silence all around the deck turned tense as everypony finally noticed a low rumbling noise. The cold grey cliffs of Terra suddenly became a lot more imposing.

"Captain," The Princesses tone was harder than average, the same she had used when speaking of Discord. " I want somepony to go below decks and bring the contents of the box marked 'Arrival' in my quarters here immediately." The Solar Princess said. "And bring us to a stop."

"You heard her!" The dark blue pegasus shouted. "Aurora! Go grab whatever is in that box. Pilot! All engines stop!"  The dull silver mare darted through the doorway, streaking past crew members and guards who were working their way above to see what all the commotion was about.

Celestia spoke once more, addressing everypony present. "All pegasi are to remain in close proximity to this vessel from now until further notice."

By now the low rumbling had grown louder, and was definitely coming from the clouds above the fabled continent.

"I'm going up there." Rainbow said. She leaped from the deck and spread her wings wide, but was stopped short by a lavender aura surrounding her.

"Rainbow Dash what are you doing?" Twilight warned. Her gaze was narrow but one of concern as well. "You heard the Princess, stay here."

"Twilight come on!" The cerulean mare grumbled. "If it's dangerous I wanna know about it."

Twilight set the mare on the deck, but kept the glow surrounding her there just in case. "If it is dangerous the worst place you can be is away from the ship Rainbow."

The Zephyr groaned, engines kicking into reverse to bring it to a stop faster. The ship came to the desired full stop a few seconds later as Aurora galloped back on deck with a folded piece of cloth. And just in time.

"I think I see something!" Somepony yelled, silencing Rainbows retort.

Two dark silhouettes were moving in the clouds overhead, visible only for a second or two at a time before fading away again. The rumbling was coming directly from them as they seemingly circled the Zephyr from on high.

"I want two pegasi to go stretch this out over the top of the balloon." Princess Celestia ordered, holding out the piece of fabric Aurora gave to her out. "Then I want them back on deck immediately afterwards."

Two of the Princesses guards took the fabric from her and unfurled it, revealing a large flag, a flag Twilight recognized but was slightly different once more. The bands of crimson and sapphire were the same, as was the star and shield crest, but that was it, no spear or anchor. Just the starred shield with crossed swords.

As soon as the stallions left the deck, a new sound accompanied the rumbling. A distant whine heralded a terrifying sight as the two silhouettes dove from their cloud cover and streaked towards the ship. The stallions scrambled to fulfill the Princesses order as they snapped the fluttering flag in place over the balloon, pulling it taut as the new craft approached.

Twilight and Rainbow stood there, spellbound, at the sight of the newcomers as they broke off from their dive and streaked down past the ship. Twilights actual spell faded, but neither of them noticed. Twilight was the first to comment on what they were seeing, saying, "It's ingenious."

The new aircraft were of a design she had never even heard of before. A propeller mounted at the front to pull it through the air and wide wings to provide the lift were visible as the undoubtedly metal skinned aircraft pulled up hard from its dive. Against the backdrop of the ocean far below the aircraft's strange elliptical shaped wings were in full view.

"Princess? What are they?" Applejacks nervous voice asked from somewhere on deck.

Celestia took a moment before answering, watching the second aircraft circle the Zephyr. "Those are airplanes Applejack, and they are one of the many reasons this continent remains unexplored."

The plane circling the ship was painted mottled dull grey and white on the bottom of the fuselage. The top was painted a darker grey motif, though the nose, just behind the spinning prop, was painted in the visage of a snarling manticore. Two large pipe like protrusions were jutting out of the wings near the body, but it was the bubble of glass set above and slightly behind the wings that drew Twilights attention.

The pilots compartment Twilight thought. Though the distance meant she couldn't see anything definitive, everypony present knew this was their first contact with a live human.

Twenty minutes of mutual observation passed, the Zephyr once again under way as the two new airplanes circled above, before the first problem occurred. A long, low groan came from above everyponies heads, causing everypony on deck to look up.

"Oh ponyfeathers."