- >By the time the sun's rays began shining over the horizon, you and mom were already done packing.
- >She said only bring the essentials, you didn't own much anyways.
- >An old, reliable compass with a built in altimeter,
- >A tiny gemstone she brought back from somewhere when you were a foal,
- >That's about it.
- >You were now in town, it was more or less abandoned at this hour.
- >Mom has barely said a word since you left your home.
- >just standing in the town center felt awkward, but you know she knows what she's doing.
- Hey, mom...
- >she turns her head towards you in acknowledgement.
- what exactly are we going after?
- >she sighs and smiles at you,
- >''I'll explain once we're airborne.''
- >Airborne?
- >come to think of it, you've never seen your mother off past the front door.
- >Before long, a red pegasus showed up.
- >Your mom and him shared a few words in silence, then he led her away,
- >She motioned to follow.
- >Before long you all enter the thick forest on the edge of town,
- >No words were spoken, you just walked.
- >Compared to our mother, you felt like a drunken diamond dog
- >Every movement of hers was precise and calculated,
- >So graceful...
- >Every step you took seemed to resound throughout the forest.
- >You eventually found your way to a massive clearing,
- >''Here it is!''
- >That red pegasus blurted out before you could eve see what he was talking about,
- >Some kind of modified Hot air baloon sitting in the clearing...
- >It was alot bigger than it looked.
- >''Fortune's Chariot Mark.... mark...''
- >He stumbled over the last word, turning to your mom with an inquisitive face.
- >''Which one are we at?'' He asks with a raised eyebrow,
- >''I think the last one was the Mark 7.'' She responded blankly
- >He gave her a worried look, then spoke one last time,
- >''Well, you know the drill. Don't kill anyone, and when you crash it, write down the coordinates or something.''
- >Then it was just you and your mom again.
- >As the two of you flew onto the deck of the air baloon-thing, you couldn't help but ask;
- Mom, are you alright to fly this thing?
- >She turned and eyed you with glazed over eyes and a smile,
- >''Don't worry about me. I'll get this tub in the air and then I'll get some sleep.''
- Alright, you know best...
- Don't forget you have me now.
- --------------------------------------
- >You sat off to the side as mom flew the ship higher,
- >The sun was hovering well above the horizon now, sending brilliant golden rays over the whole deck, dousing you both.
- >She told you to go belowdeck and sleep, but no way you were leaving her alone in her sleep deprived state.
- >The wind up here was sporatic, amplified now by the fact that you weren't flying.
- >Your mother looks beautiful in this light, bathed in the morning rays, her mane and tail whipping back and forth in the wind.
- >You have to look away, or you're going to start spacing out.
- >Might as well turn to look at the horizon,
- >You've never been this far away from home before,
- >This is all so new.
- >So amazing.
- >You're ready to be just like Daring Do,
- >Just like your mom.
- >A little bit of bile wells up in your throat,
- >First you're going to have to deal with airship-sickness...
- >Never really noticed before, but being in the air but not actually flying makes you a bit queasy.
- >The world has started to spin a bit...
- Wait a minute, my head feels fine!
- >Your head whips around to see mom, passed out at the helm.
- >Her head is leaning against the avionics dash, and some brown crank was spinning frantically next to her.
- >Oh, and the ship was tilting upwards faster than pony-titanic.
- >With a squeak of saliva, her face slides off the dash and her limp body plunges towards the back of the ship
- >You lunge for her, flying more than running,
- >your bodies slam together and tumble into the border at the aft end of the helm deck, pushing the breath out of your lungs.
- MOM!
- >you yell at her, but you're already at the helm trying to figure out what to do,
- >The ship is now at more than 45° pitch, and you're forced to fly to stay at the helm
- >You can hear cargo clank around belowdeck, and the whole ship groans under the stress
- >''Turn the brown crank anti-clockwise!''
- >You do just that, but you feel no immediate change.
- >''Keep at it!''
- >She's now flying next to you, rummaging through some overhead cabinet
- The crank wont go any further!
- >''Engage the red cam!''
- >Your hooves are shaky as hell, but somehow you manage to engage the locking mechanism.
- >eventually she finds some kind of pull chord, which she promptly yanks, to no avail.
- >One last try, this time she folds her wings and lets gravity do the work.
- >some inner mechanism clanks, and you hear some fabric tearing.
- >The ship stops tilting upwards, and you relax a bit.
- >You flash a smile at your mother,
- >She looks... terrified?
- What's th-
- >A chord audibly snaps somewhere, and before you had time to wonder what it was, the whole ship flung itself horizontally,
- >Both you and mom were thrown like ragdolls to the ceiling,
- >Honestly, it felt more like the ceiling came down to meet you.
- >Once the ship righted itself, everything was calm.
- >You were both in a pile on the floor,
- >You gripped the back of your head, and stars were swirling in your immediate vision.
- >As the stars cleared, you realized you were lying on your back,
- >mom was laying across your belly,
- >She was rubbing her flank tenderly with a hoof, the other one was trying to lift her up.
- >The whispering of the wind was calm, and neither of you wanted to break the silence,
- >eventually you spoke up,
- That was cool,
- >One eye still closed in pain, she smiles and turns to look at you
- >You're half smiling, half wincing in pain,
- >''That's definitely my son.''
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