With a metallic screech, a rumble, and a sudden wave of heat, the fire sparked into existence.

Energized thunderclouds sprung forth from the crack in their pressurized container, sending powerful arcs of lightning streaking across the engine room. Dials spun out of control as the lightning struck them, tracing its way over the thick glass designed to hold the clouds, the metal plating which made up the walls of the cavernous room, and the maze of pipes and tubing that ran across the floor.

The flames fed hungrily upon the energy contained within the thunderclouds, the weather magic giving them a soft rainbow tint. Smoke and thundercloud alike mixed together against the ceiling as the fires danced beneath, rain pouring both from the clouds themselves, and from the freshly made hole in the roof which had started it all.

The hazardous cloud-smoke mixture was already beginning to make its way out into the hall when a unicorn stallion arrived on the scene, poking his head into the engine room, his brown eyes widening in alarm. He stepped completely into the room, narrowing his eyes as the noxious air stung at them, flinching back as a sudden burst of flame at his side singed his dull brown coat and mane.

His name was Dissero, and looking back on the scene after the heat had subsided, he took the time to express his feelings.

“Fuck!” he shouted. There was a live fire in the engine room of the airship he was on. In his experience that was very rarely a good thing.

Another pony rushed in from the hall, a lanky pegasus mare with a far more colorful deep blue coat and a small red pendant hanging around her neck by a simple string. She surveyed the scene calmly with her cool blue eyes, screwing up her nose at the acrid scent of the burning engine. An iron seam popped apart with an ear-splitting crack, spewing forth yet another rush of pressurized thundercloud, and the mare frowned thoughtfully as her red-striped blue mane flapped in the gust of wind.

Her name was Stormslider, and she had a bachelor’s degree in cloud manipulation with a focus in thundercloud combustibles. The cloud reactor was on fire, and she would have to fix that.

“This isn’t good,” Storm said, raising her voice to be heard over the inferno. “We need to contain this fire before the reactor dies completely.” One of the six energized coils in the center of the room flickered and died, and the two ponies nearly fell over as the airship lurched to one side.

“I’ll go get Ember, you stay here!” Dissero said, not even waiting for Storm to respond with “Yes, Captain,” before he galloped out of the room. He raced down the halls of the airship, taking the stairs two steps at a time to the navigation floor, nearly killing himself as the ship rumbled violently, and skidded to a stop in the cockpit.

Through the spherical glass at the front of the cockpit was a storm unlike any other in Equestria. Inky black clouds swirled furiously around each other, periodically illuminated by thick bolts of lightning arcing between them. A tornado spun into view, and the ship jerked to one side to avoid it, sending all but one of the room’s inhabitants tumbling to the hard metal floor.

The pegasus pilot was the only sure-hooved pony in the room, his legs moving with practiced ease and experienced certainty as he guided the ship through the storm. His dark orange coat seemed almost yellow amongst the flashes of lightning, his long silver mane and tail turning stark white with each bolt. Even from behind it was easy to see the wild grin on his face as he danced about the cockpit, his wings out for balance as he pulled at chains and flipped switches. A pair of old but well-maintained goggles rested over his eyes, glowing white with every flash. His name was Silver Feather, and the ship’s engines were losing power. That was making things very difficult for him.

“Dissy!” Silver exclaimed, momentarily looking away from the controls to look over his shoulder. “Where did that lightning bolt hit?”

“The reactor!” Dissero yelled back, barely able to hear himself over a particularly monstrous roll of thunder. “It’s on fire!”

A pair of hooves grabbed Dissero, spinning him around violently. He found himself face to face with a wild-eyed unicorn mare with a pale white coat and a red-orange inferno of a mane. Her name was Ember, and she held great care for any ship under her watch.

At the moment the ship under her watch was being buffeted by gale force winds, struck by lightning, and apparently was now on fire. She found that to be extremely distressing.

“The reactor’s on fire?” she hissed. “Did you leave Stormslider down there? Fuck, she’ll fuck everything up!” Not even waiting for a response, Ember shoved Dissero out of the way and sprinted out of the cockpit, leaving him sprawled on the floor.

“Hopefully those two can sort out their differences for once!” Silver shouted. He let out an audible grunt as he lunged for a lever across the room, and the airship suddenly dropped several meters to avoid a bolt of lightning.

Dissero tumbled across the room, clenching his teeth as his head slammed into something hard. Stars flooded his vision, and for a brief moment the rumbling peals of thunder were replaced with a high-pitched ringing. When his vision cleared there was a gigantic white stallion standing over him, a bottle of vodka in one hoof and unrelenting calm reflected in his pale yellow eyes. He offered his free hoof to help Dissero up, his short blonde mane framing his head like an angelic halo.

His name was Cleaver, and he was a cook. The ship he was on was in the most dangerous storm known to ponykind, the reactor was on fire, and the engines were failing.

This did not bother him in the slightest.

Dissero accepted the hoof, letting the big earth stallion pull him up like a foal’s plaything. “Thanks, Cleav.”

“You should be more careful, Kaptain,” Cleaver said in his thick Stalliongrad accent. He took a long pull from his bottle of vodka. “You could hurt yourself.”

Dissero rubbed the back of his head with a hoof as Cleaver calmly stepped into a corner, sat back on his haunches, and began to hum a terribly sad and mournful sounding tune.

“Dissy! Look!” Silver exclaimed.

Dissero’s head snapped around, following the pilot’s pointing wingtip. There ahead of the ship, for the briefest of moments, was barely visible a golden ray of sunlight. And there it was again, visible for only a moment before the thunderclouds swallowed it back up and plunged the ship back into the lightning-riddled darkness. Despite himself, Dissero felt a small wave of relief at the sight.

They were almost there.

They were almost beyond the Known World.

Author's Notes:

Title drop!