Beneath the Surface

"There is really no concentration." Sky says, slightly pushes a lever and the ship starts slowly ascending. "There, all work done for now."

"Oh." Quimia blinks. "Somehow the art of flying a large airborne frigate seemed somewhat more complex in my imagination."

"Other frigates and ships, yes." Sky begins. "This beauty, however.. fully automated, only needs a captain. The rest of the crew is replaced with machines, which can all be controlled from here. The only complex thing is maintenance of all the machines."

((Be back in a few hours .))

"Impressive." Quimia nods. "Quite the mechanical miracle."

((Welp, have to sleep soon anyways. Like in an hour or so. So... see you tomorrow, I guess.))

Storm just stays were he landed after the manoeuvre, in a heap on the floor. "That hurt." He groans holding on foreleg around his bruised ribs.

Eclipse wanders over to him. "Are you alright, Storm? I've got a healing potion, if you need one." He holds the bottle out to Storm.

"I'll be fine, thank you Eclipse." Storm says pushing himself up into a sitting position with his uninjured hoof, wincing as it made his ribs ache. Form there he stood up. "My ribs are just a little sore where they've been fixed up. Are you all right? I think I saw you 'land' when the ship pulled back up."

"Oh no, I'm a lot better..." He stumbles momentarily. "... now. Besides, I've had worse. I've been smacked in the face with a magic blast and electrocuted. I think I can handle a small crash landing."

"She is indeed." Sky says. "Many years of work went into this. It is almost flawless."

Quimia looks about, intrigued. "Actually, who was responsible for making this ship? Such a technological marvel surely could not have been borne of a mediocre engineer." She eyes Sky. "Was it you, perhaps?"

Sky smiles "Not me entirely. But I did help. It was my father who did most of the work. Did you know that Crystal Viper used to be a pirate ship? After defeating it, Princess Luna ordered my father to fix it up so it could become useful to the Royal Guard. I even as a filly loved to help my father with any mechanic-related things, and so we fixed this ship together. When I reached age of 20, and the ship was finally fully functional again, my father asked princess Luna if she can give the ship to me instead of Royal Guard. She agreed and put some enchantments on it along with it. And thus I got the Crystal Viper." Sky finishes.

"A... pirate ship. That you fixed up?" Quimia raps her hoof on the wooden floor. "But I thought most pirate ships are not layered with metal. Yours is. So by 'fix it up' you actually mean... you overhauled the ship?"

"We pretty much built it all over again." Sky proudly says. "It was barely even floating after being defeated by the royal guard."

"Intriguing." Quimia muses. "I have not even seen ships from the Royal Air Force as advanced as yours. Perhaps Princess Luna ought to have kept the schematics."

"If anyone did, it's my father. We re-built it alone. Only us two, noone else."

"The sheer imperviousness of it is astounding." Quimia gestures at the main controls. "If even the Princesses cannot overcome your security system, as you say, this ship is perhaps the most advanced in the world."

"I'm sure they're working on something much better somewhere... it's just a matter of time." Sky says, slightly frowning. "But until it comes out, Crystal Viper might as well stay the most advanced in the world." She finishes proudly.

Quimia shrugs. "I am no engineer, mind, so I cannot attest to that myself." She smiles. "But I will remember to check in on the engineering department when we return."

"Speaking of 'when we get back'..." Sky says as she points further ahead, at the small lights that are supposed to be Canterlot "...We should be there in next 15 minutes if nothing happens."

Quimia frowns. "'If nothing happens' is almost tempting fate. I would be wary if I were you."

"And since we're on the main land now..." Sky continues, flipping a switch, strong lights outside turning on. "Let's make sure Equestria knows we're back. Also, if anything happens, all of my cannons are still fully functional."

"Good to know." Quimia watches the darkened land speed by below them. "I can only hope that will be enough, if anything does indeed happen."

Divine lay on the bed, groaning. "That fall... was so bad... I need... hugs..."

"Don't worry." Ician shuts the door behind them and trots over to Divine, enveloping her in a tight embrace. "I'm here." He wrinkles his nose. "And don't stand out next to the edge of the ship without tethering yourself to the railing or something again. Honestly, if Sky does anything crazy like that again..."

"Well, I didn't think the ship was going to sudeenly drop out from underneath me, did I? Do you know how intensely frightening that is?"