"So… what do you do for a living?" asked High Winds, looking at the stallion in front of her. Camo moved away his eyes from the window, and looked to the mare. Dahlia didn't move, still glued at the window and looking at the land far below them.
"Well… I'm a carpenter. You know, Canterlot is a good place for us. All those fancy ponies always have some work for us. Always want some sort of fancy carved cabinets, doors, and stuff." Stated the stallion, while relaxing on his seat. "And you?" he asked, smiling slightly. The warm air, the calm rocking of the ship and the far sounds of the airship's engines were making him relax.
"Meh, I work in Cloudsdale's weather factory. Quite boring sometimes, but well, it's a good place." stated calmly the mare, waving a hoof. "I managed to take a week off for this vacation I won. I must admit, it was good news, I was getting a little tired of meshing clouds."
"So, you won the vacation too?" asked a sweet voice at the entrance of their compartment: a thin blue unicorn mare with a long, dark blue mane striped with white was standing there, smiling softly at them. A scarlet scarf was tied around her neck, firmly knotted. Behind the mare, another unicorn mare with a dark red coat and a short spiky mane recalling a bunch of flames in color, keeped togheter by a blue ribbon in ashort ponytail that was falling in front of one of her eyes, was motionless in the corridor, looking at one of the other compartments.
"Sorry for the intrusion." Stated sweetly the blue mare, giving a quick glance behind her. "But we had to leave our cabin. One of the passangers was becoming quite unbearable, and I was afraid my sister was going to burn his mane." She said, pointing at the other unicorn, then returned her eyes over the other ponies. "So I decided to see who else was on this ship." She smiled and took a couple of steps inside. "My name is Winter Lily. And she's my sister, Fire Flower."
"Sup?" stated the mare outside, looking disinterested.
"Hi! I'm Dahlia!" cried out the little filly, waving her hoof. "This is my big bro Camo Fall, and our friend High Winds." she chirped. The sleeping pony groaned, straightening and yawning.
"And that was a pony that was trying to sleep." Hissed Camo, tapping the little filly's nape. The gray stallion stretched and examined the rest of the ponies through his shades. "Say sorry for waking him up Dahlia." Ordered the green stallion, glaring at his sister. The other stallion moved his hoof in a dismissive manner, yawning again.
"I was going to wake up anyway, there is no problem." He stated calmly. "Wow, this place is crowded. With a bunch of lovey mares, I'll add." He said, probably smiling under his scarf. The ship rocked a little.
"Sorry 'bout that, mister. My sister is a little excited." Stated Camo, still looking at the gray earth pony, who just chuckled.
"No 'mister', just call me Solaris. And I can understand her. I mean, we are all going to a premium vacation, right?" he asked, looking at all the others. "At least, that was what I was told." The ship rocked again, the wooden planks screeching a little.
"Well yes. And you know, the fun fact is that we didn't remember entering any lottery or anything like that." intervened Winter Lily. "The same goes for a friend of ours."
"That we left with the annoying unicorn." Added Fire Flower, with a smirk. "Hope he doesn't tear him apart."
"Look how cloudy it is!" stated surprised Dahlia, looking outside the window. Camo gave a quick glance, noticing that indeed they were surrounded by stormy clouds, and a thik cover of mist hid whatever was under them. The ship rocked again, this time making the ponies jump in their seats, as the saddlebags in the racks rolled on the ground and the two unicorn mares lost their balance.
"What the hay?"
A loud sound of cracking was heard as the ship bounced again, staring to rock strongly. There was a loud snapping sound, and a torn rope flew in front of their window as the ship tilted suddenly back, sending the two sisters to the floor, as well as Solaris. Dahlia screamed, holding onto her seat, as Camo and High Winds jumped on their hooves. There was another loud noise, they watched, terrified, as a piece of wood flew in front of their windows, heading towards the ground.
"What's that stupid pegasus doing?!" screamed Camo, before darting away from the cabin, galloping towards the stairs to the upper area, taking a quick glance at two unicorn stallions walking out of another lit cabin, before running up the stairs and stepping on the deck: part of the wooden banister was gone, torn away by the tempest that was hitting the air ship. Lightnings were striking in the sky, while the rain was so thick that it was a hard work to see a few inches ahead of his hooves. He had just the vision of the half torn deck, and the ripped ropes flying around, moved by the wind.
"What the…? It wasn't like this from inside…" thought the stallion, before running towards the stairs to the helm, trying to stay balanced on the wet surface. Around him, the wind was blowing furiously, sending chips of wood against his muzzle. As he had predicted, the ship was falling apart: the old wood was being smashed by the force of the elements, and the consumed ropes holding the baloon were snapping, one after another, letting the ship fall more and more loose.
"Caronte! What the hay!" cried out the stallion, finally reaching the upper deck, where the silhouette of the black pegasus was holding the helm. "Why the hay are you driving in a an unprotected route!" screamed Camo Fall.
"It's not safe for the passenger to be on deck during a storm." Stated coldly the pegasus, turning the wheel.
"Are you crazy?! Are you trying to kill us?!" screamed hysterically the earth pony, running towards the pegasus.
"Not this time! This time we are going to do it! We are going to do it! It's just a storm! This ship can take it! This ship can hold!" screamed the pegasus, flapping his wings.
"No it can't!" screamed Camo, trying to reach the helm, but the wooden planks under his hooves wrenched, and the stallion fell with a scream in the ship, smashing through another wooden floor and falling into the corridor under deck, a little far from the cabins.
" You alright, pal?" asked a gray unicorn with a short black mane in front of his eyes, galloping towards him. Camo gulped and panted, trying to catch his breath. He jumped on his hooves as a final screeching sound was heard, and the wooden surface under his hooves began to tremble under them, just a second before the ship began to roll on one of its side.
"Dahlia!" cried out the stallion, running inside the cabin, where the little filly was being held by the pegasus mare. Camo had the vision of a misty woods coming nearer and nearer to the ship, as it continue to roll slowly in the air.
"Unicorns, do something to slow down the fall!" screamed another unicorn that Camo hadn't noticed. A light green unicorn with a long mane with a single white stripe, and a peculiar mark on his flank: a scale overburdened with gold and food, encrusted with a large emerald and made of gold. His horn began to glow with green magic. After a second, the other three unicorns raised their horns, evoking their magic.
"Camo, I'm scared!" screamed the little filly, running out of the pegasus' grip and into her brother's legs. The stallion held her and closed his eyes, as the ship continued its fall towards the ground.
-oOo-
The first thing that Camo noticed when he opened his eyes, was the mist. An enormous, endless sheet of mist was surrounding him. Still, he could see where he was: in a swamp. Trees drowned in the mist were visible a short distance away, but the wreck of the ship were all stabbed in the mud floor under his hooves. Half of the prow of the ship was sunken partly into the swamp, while the rest of the cabins were a few feet away, scattered all around. The stallion grunted and relaxed, as he felt the little ball of fur that was his sister trembling under his hoof.
"Hey, is everypony ok?!" called out the voice of Winter Lily, as the unicorn staggered into the stallion's field of view. Her legs were scratched, and a big bruise was visible on her flank.
"For Celestia's sake my wing!" cried out the voice of High Wings, followed by a series of groans from other ponies. Camo raised on his hooves, flinching a little when a cut on his neck made him aware of its presence.
"You ok Deh?" he asked quietly, looking as his sister stood on her trembeling legs, her candid fur stained with mud. She nodded, a little confused.
"Buck me!" groaned the voice of Solaris, as the stallion walked out from under a pile of wooden wreck, followed by the gray unicorn. His glasses were cracked, but were still placed over his muzzle.
"Bucking vacation my horseshoes!" croaked Fire Flower in the mist. "Winter, need a hoof here, this girl is in trouble." She called, causing Winter to trot over her. Camo grabbed his sister and placed her on his back, before joining the others: more or less, they had managed to receive only few cuts and bruises. Apparently, the unicorns had managed to slow down the ship's fall. The green unicorn that had proposed that was a little further away from the others, examining a series of cuts from wood chips on his muzzle. Camo just gave him a quick glance, before actually examining the scene: High Winds was trapped under a big piece of wood, that was one of her wings pinned. The gray unicorn, following Winter Lily's instructions, raised and moved away the wood, letting the mare examine the wing.
"You are lucky lady, it's not broken, just dislocated." She stated after a few moments. The pegasus whimpered and slowly raised on her hooves, looking worriedly at her wing. "Don't worry. With a little bit of help, I can fix it."
"Come on sis, you are a medic, can't you just use some spell?" asked Flame Flower, receiving a glare in response.
"I'm still studying. I won't risk uselessly worsening her situation." She stated. "While falling I saw what looked like the town not too far away from here. We should just move on and find a path to it. It's the middle of the day, after all, the hospital will be open. Or at least, a doctor."
"It's hard to tell, with all this mist." Commented the gray stallion. Camo noted only in that moment that his cutie mark was a hammer and an anvil. "Well, let's just be happy abouth the light that we have."
"Well said, Metal Hooves. Let's just get away from this swamp. Are you ok there, Crow?" asked Fire Flower, while joining her sister. The green unicorn puffed his chest out, huffing.
" To you it's Lord Crow, peasant. And anyway, yes. I had two chests of cothes, but I'm sure I'll have them retrieved." Stated the stallion, before following the others up a little hill. Solaris looked at them, before trotting to their side.
"Where do you think the driver went?" he asked, looking around.
"He probably just flew away. Little bitch, I'll break his bones next time I see him." grunted Camo. "We could have ended up dead if it wasn't for the unicorns."
"You can clean my horseshoes later." Stated mockingly the 'Lord Crow' character, chuckling. The other stallion didn't react, as they continued to walk through the mist, finally reaching a street.
"Let's move. I want to get over with this quickly."
Oo-oOHeading into town, heading into town, yay…. Fuck.So yes, things are already looking bad. And, of course, they're going to be even worse. For the new Ocs, thanks to:
Nami takata for Flame Flower & Winter Lily
The Nurgling for Lord Crow
Chronic Writer's Block for Metal Hooves.
So, I'm a little insecure if leading them straight to town, or let them visit something else, before actually entering the city. Oh, I'll see… but let me know what would you prefer.
Still accepting oc, but for now on, just ponies already trapped in the city.
