The uneasy standoff stops all traffic on the elevated bridge between the airship docks and the rest of Klugetown, carts stacked high with cages stalling on both sides. Those capable of taking alternate routes or disappearing altogether do so, slipping down stairs built into the tall spires.

The six armored Storm Guard grunts nervously twist hands on spears, glinting tips raised to the hazy sky. Tempest Shadow stands imperiously in front of them, daring the motley collection opposite them to make a move with a razor-sharp smirk. Grubber sags at her side, ruining the image by eating a pink-frosted cupcake with a look of pure ecstacy.

On the other side, three bulky fish monsters - as large as the Storm Guards but nowhere near as muscular - keep shifting backward, their claw-like hands on their belt sheathes. A turtle brandishes some sort of crowbar, yet stays as close to hunkered in his shell as he can without actually slipping inside. Eight short rats - technically naked mole rats, except each one wears patched-up suits of varying quality - round out the edges and front of the crew. They brandish claws, light and angry hisses through prominent buck teeth.

The best dressed mole rat steps forward, wearing an aged but still sharp suit. “Back off, you’s,” he threatens, four-clawed hand motioning as if to sweep them off the side. “This ain’t none-a you’s business.”

“You impudent mouse,” Tempest Shadow snarls back, eliciting a sharp squeak of outrage. Her horn sparks, a growl building in the back of her throat. Her malicious grin only widens as the fish monsters glance around for exits, yet the mole rats hold fast with vicious glares. “You think we take orders from you?”

She stops, or at least stalls her fury, as Grubber steps forward. “Now,” he says, polishing off the cupcake with a delectable gulp. “Not everycreature might know. Those two sure didn’t.” He points at the Storm Guards, two of the otherwise indistinguishable grunts tightening their grip on their spears. Grubber turns the motion into holding his claws out, Pinkie Pie only too happy to supply him another cupcake, this one blue and green. He eyes it as only a connoisseur might, searching for any imperfection and finding none. “But when they saw her run off with Capper?” He flicks his head at the Abyssinian standing by Doug and Chrysalis. “We know he works for Verko.”

“Now, look, friends,” Capper says, as cool as a cat. He walks forward with a placating spread of his paws. Behind him Doug whispers to Chrysalis, and she nods, concealed but eager. “We don’t need to resort to violence! I’m sure we can come to some sort of arrangement.”

“Yeah?” the front mole rat spits out, still trying to intimidate the unicorn with a knife-like glare. It doesn’t work, her restraint showing as she growls again. “Well, we ain’t gonna let you haul her off in chains. Not when Verko wants her, and Verko gets what he wants.”

“Yeah?” Grubber echoes. “Well, you might want to back off if you don’t want to get dropped. The Storm King doesn’t want anything happening to her.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie bounds forward, offering each creature a cupcake she pulls from her mane. “Cupcake? Cupcake?” She frowns when the first two refuse. “They’re delicious~!” She smiles as they try them, then beams when they find them as advertised. “So... what kind of business does this Verko have that needs twelve of you?”

“Us?” The lead mole rat takes a cupcake with a frown. “We’re just here to make sure she don’t get cold hooves.”

“As if the twelve of you could…” Tempest Shadow gawks at the blank space next to the parrots where Chrysalis was standing. “Wait, where did she go?!” She dashes to the edge of the bridge, her horn sparking as she fruitlessly scans.

“Hey!” Chrysalis says as she pulls out of her dive behind one of the spires, wings straining to keep the two aloft. “This isn’t mounting and taking me for a ride!”

“I’m sorry,” Doug deadpans. He jams himself between her wings and withers, arms hugging her neck as tightly as he can. He grimaces at the buildings rushing by, barely able to answer her as fear grips his chest. “What else did you think I was talking about?”

“Well, excuse me for correctly interpreting the way you were staring at that parrot’s mammaries.” Chrysalis’ indignant flip of the mane is somewhat ruined by the rushing wind. “Or the way your face flushed. A blind pony could see that you wanted under her tail feathers.”

“I… Okay, fine. I was curious.” Doug huffs. “But I thought birds laid eggs. Why would she need breasts?”

“You thought…” Chrysalis trails off, turning to stare at Doug.

He yelps as they continue straight for a building, yanking at her mane like a pair of reins. She pulls up just in time, then continues going straight up until they crest into the thin clouds above, making wide circles over the city hidden in the haze.

“You thought parrots are birds?” Chrysalis repeats, astonished. “And laid eggs? What planet did you come from?”

“Not this one,” Doug grunts out, mildly amuses him that he can answer that question honestly. As well, his terror at slipping off is lessened by the fact that he never took his parachute off, the light backpack useful for storing bags of bits and whatnot. He slowly gets his breathing under control, body complaining about the impromptu ride. “You know, I never thought I would say this. I’m not a living monster manual, despite playing a lot of O and O, and I don’t have the Codicil Creature Compendium memorized.”

“Indeed,” Chrysalis says with a hint of a sneer, but her wry smile slips as the tight grip around her neck fails to loosen. She chuckles as she realizes why, amusedly asking, “Is this your first time flying on somepony?”

Doug gulps, wishing he had something better to grab on to. “I-it’s mostly been airships. And one time Rainbow Dash saved me from falling.”

“So,” Chrysalis says with a wide grin, tongue licking at her fangs, “this is your virgin flight? Oh-ho-ho, Rainbow Dash will be furious I took this from her. But she had her chance, and it’s too late now. Isn’t it? ” She chuckles to herself, a deep rumble that turns predatory. “Now, I believe we were talking about you mounting me.”

Her horn flares, a bright green that lights up the haze around them. She starts slowly, tantalizingly pressing from the top of his light armor to the faulds along his legs. She snakes under, ignoring his flinch and gasp as she reaches the thin cloth underneath. Yet trying to go further leaves her stymied; she gets none of the feedback she would get from touching somepony. She prods again, stronger, yet feels nothing! Besides his hands slipping from her mane.

“P-please stop,” Doug whimpers from behind.

“Aww, what’s wrong?” Chrysalis teases, turning to wink at him. “Don’t you want to-”

She cuts off, pupils shrinking to pinpricks as she sees her bright green aura at his midsection. One leg is separated from her. The other, like his hands, uselessly struggles to find purchase against her sleek chitin. If she went any farther she would have pushed him off completely. Her aura shifts to his armor, that familiar feedback returns, and she drags him back on her.

“Thanks,” Doug ekes out. The quaking of his breath slows, but the pounding of his heart doesn’t.

“Mm,” Chrysalis says, inwardly appalled at herself. Here she is trying to thank him and she nearly sends him overboard! She can’t sense fear, but that means nothing coming from him. The only mollifying thing is that his innate nullness stills her shock, calming her down. The words feel foreign coming out of her mouth. “S-sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Y-yeah,” Doug stammers, but doesn’t loosen his tight grip. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

Chrysalis glances down. Perhaps it wasn’t just forcing him off? “Are you afraid of heights?”

“I like to think I have a rational appreciation of the danger.” Doug shifts to get a better handhold and because his crotch is killing him with every flap of her wings, seriously considering swapping to side-saddle. It only gets worse as the adrenaline leaves his body. He shudders as he continues, “But yes. It’s tough for me to look down a tall building. Canterlot sucks. Cloudsdale is even worse.”

“You were on the airship just fine,” Chrysalis states, but more curious than accusatory. “Not like Shining Armor.”

“It’s different being on flying transports,” Doug says. He looks up, trying to remember, anything to take his mind off the pain. “I used to have a picture. The text said something along the lines of, ‘Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect. And there was a picture of an airplane crashed into a tree, with one wing torn off and the cockpit ruined.”

Chrysalis nods knowingly. “Is that why you never took Rainbow Dash for a ride?”

“Partially.” Doug stalls, thinking back. “I wasn’t sure about the mechanics of it. I mean, I’m bigger than her. But I don’t think lift would be an issue, since she can go so fast. She complained about my weight when she caught me a year ago. But she also caught Rarity and two Wonderbolts. So... maybe we could have made it work. They have pegasi pull Princess Celestia around and she’s as big as you. But Dash was pregnant and didn’t want to risk anything, and then there was the accident where she lost her magic. After that, I dunno, I never really thought about her that way.”

He wistfully sighs at the years of missed experiences, knowing how much Rainbow Dash would have loved to share her flight with him instead of him just watching. “But I think it was initially that I thought it would be demeaning to ask. You give rides to kids, like Twilight does with Spike, not to other adults. I’ve never asked Applejack to give me a ride, even if she could handle me easily.”

“Yet you asked me,” Chrysalis says with a glare. “When I was Queen I punished such insolence quite severely.”

“Well,” Doug returns, gripping her tighter. He barely relaxes as she turns her glare to a wink, still looking pained. “That’s why I asked you. You could have said no.”

“I suppose, and we escaped their clutches.” Chrysalis pauses, a bit of intrigue entering her voice. “You said something about an airplane. Is that like an airship?”

“Sort of.” Doug winces as he shifts again. “It’s heavier than air, so no balloon. It uses propellers to generate forward thrust and Bernoulli’s Principle to generate lift with specially designed wings. I’ve done most of my flying in airplanes.”

“How do they compare to riding me?” Chrysalis grins as she looks back, but frowns at his agonized look. “You okay?”

“I-I’ll be okay,” Doug forces out, letting go with one hand to better support his rear. “The flapping takes a lot to get used to. But it’s not bad.”

“I’ll have Rarity make me a saddle for next time.” Chrysalis smirks at what the unicorn’s reaction would be like. She’d need to make sure it was a true riding saddle and not some flimsy ornamental piece those Canterlot snobs wore.

“Next time?” Doug retorts, pushing harder against her. He can barely keep his face straight with the pain shooting through him. “I think we need to make it through this time.”

Chrysalis glances down at his crotch and the way he awkwardly shifts back and forth. Or how he winces every time she flaps her wings. “Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t have to be a mare about it.”

“Like I said,” Doug starts.

“And it might be something serious.” Chrysalis somehow makes her ever-present malevolent glare look worried and caring. “Possibly testicular torsion.”

“And you know about this how?” Doug asks, afraid she might be right. It does hurt, right in that area.

“It’s an important part of a stallion, and one mares care about a great deal.” Chrysalis releases an impertinent snort. “Besides, I’ve had to impersonate a lot of doctors over the years.”

“Somehow,” Doug grunts, the agony only getting worse, “claiming you’ve played doctor doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“Please,” Chrysalis scoffs. “I put effort into my impersonations, and I knew more than all of them put together. One of the benefits of living so long. Now, hike up that armor and let’s take a look.”

Next Chapter: Ch. 24 - Spirited Response, Part Four* Estimated time remaining: 28 Hours, 28 Minutes