Honour Bound

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Nothing in Honour Bound’s life had been as terrifying as this.

Not the gruelling days of horseshoe camp, being yelled at by knife-hoofing drill instructors at all hours of the day and night.

Not the first day on the job in the VIP service, when she was still naive about what that meant, and sweating cannonballs at the mere thought of messing up in front of some bigwig dignitary.

Not even during the war, when she had single-hoofedly set up barricades in the palace guest quarters and fought off three changelings who tried to force their way in.

And from the look of Specialist Glamerspear, even though she had a front-row seat to the Invasion, she felt the same way Honour did; neither of them had understood the true depths of terror before now.

Honour’s unicorn squadmate was sitting, almost indecently, spread-eagle on the opposite bench, with her hind hooves hooked under the bottom of the seat and her forehooves groping for any kind of purchase on the seat-back. Facing towards the rear of the carriage, she was puffing her cheeks out with every breath like she was experiencing contractions as she alternated between shutting her eyes for sheer terror and forcing them open to avoid nausea.

Honour was in much the same boat -- or carriage, rather.

Out the forward window, just behind Glamerspear's head, the team of six pegasi up front suddenly dipped downward out of sight, probably due to some kind of air pressure thing that Honour was sure Sparkshower knew all about, and she instinctively clenched. And as sure as rain in the spring, the carriage lurched downwards after them, its metal sub-frame groaning and its wooden body creaking as it flexed awkwardly to follow. The small glowing crystal chandelier swung back and forth, too, casting a dizzying array of shifting shadows against the walls. Honour saw the carriage-pullers swing back up across the window frame, and the same, horrifying thing happened again in reverse.

How in the Nine Hells of Tartarus did Princess Celestia ride one of these things and yet emerge still able to stand on her own four hooves? Or while looking so happy and gay, for that matter?

Did her VIP just get the bad apple of the garage, or something?

As the carriage mercifully leveled out and Honour was granted the reprieve of a (regrettably brief) period of steady flight, she supposed she knew the answer to the second question: It's because Her Majesty has wings. Whereas the three ponies -- well, two ponies and a Very Important Pony who isn't a pony -- using it now were completely without ability to maneuver in the air.

Although, weren't unicorns supposed to have something for that?

"Hey, Glamerspear."

Honour’s subordinate was entirely too preoccupied with being utterly horrified and thoroughly nauseated to hear her first, feeble attempt to get the specialist’s attention. Not to mention the frigid wind rushing in through the side windows, which made it nearly impossible to hear almost anything. She’d already tried shutting them though, and everypony agreed that it just made the nausea worse. Cold and windy had been found preferable to stuffy and barfy.

"HEY, GLAMERSPEAR!"

Still hanging on for dear life, she opened her eyes and looked at the corporal.

"WHAT?"

Seeing that the Pegasi were still flying straight and level, though Honour would never have known it from the way the carriage was bucking and swaying from the wind, she took a chance and leaned forward so as to not have to shout quite so much.

"If something goes wrong, you can levitate, right?"

Panting almost to the point of hyperventilation, she nodded her head. "Yeah, sure; I can float all three of us."

She quickly plucked one of her hooves out from where it was holding on to the back of the seat and gestured at the top of her head.

"... Just not while I have this crap on my horn."

‘Oh, right.’

The spellbinders, and the mana-cone. How had Honour forgotten those?

Forty-five minutes of shake-rattle-and-roll will do that to a brain. It was a miracle she could still put two words together.

Honour spotted the carriage pulling pegasi as they swung right, and she leaned back and tightened her grip.

"HOLD ON!"

The carriage lurched sideways, rolling over slightly to one side, and Glamerspear closed her eyes. Honour was tempted to do the same, but at least while she was sitting on the forward-facing seat, keeping her eyes open let her see the movement before it came. There was almost enough space on Honour's bench for Glamerspear to come over there and join her, but the carriage wouldn’t stay still enough for her to risk it.

Maybe for the trip back.

The corporal looked up and to her left at her VIP. He had his legs stretched out and braced against the opposite floor-frame, and his knuckles were white from gripping the seat bottom so tightly. Somehow, he didn’t look as sick or as scared as Honour felt, but his brow underneath his top hat was covered with sweat, and every now and again he risked letting go with one hand to dab it with his handkerchief.

Said handkerchief was now absolutely soaked.

"ARE YOU ALL RIGHT, SIR?"

Anonymous nodded his head quickly, then leaned over to the left to brace himself against the sidewall as the team of Pegasi swung right. The force of the turn almost threw Honour out of her seat and into his lap, but she managed to splay out a forehoof on the bench to keep herself from tumbling. As the carriage rolled over sideways, everypony inside got a horrifying look at just how far of a fall it would be if any single part of the rickety contraption let go. Glamerspear in particular took one glance and then scrambled up to the opposite wall.

A few seconds later, the floor leveled out, and the ground was thankfully out of sight once more.

Seeing the Pegasi flying straight and true, Anonymous pushed away from the wall and sat upright again, taking the opportunity to wipe his brow of sweat.

"I used to love roller coasters back on my world..."

Holding the handkerchief out in front of him, he wrung it out onto the painted wooden floor. It was a bit improper to soil Her Majesty's carriage in that way, but frankly, she counted herself lucky that nopony had thrown up inside of it yet. If anypony did, and Honour’s money would be on Glamerspear to start it, she’d probably follow them right along after. A little bit of sweat, by comparison, was no big deal.

"... I liked rock climbing... Went bungee-jumping once or twice while on holiday..."

Giving the handkerchief a final shake, he wiped off the rest of his face.

"...I even did a tandem hang glide and tandem parachute jump at events with coworkers..."

Breathing heavily, he folded it away in his pocket.

"... And I certainly never had any trouble on commercial flights."

Honour shot a confused glance at Glamerspear. Did she just hear that? Was the ride getting to him more than it was to her?

But the unicorn was frozen solid and paying no attention.

Honour looked up at her VIP. "Commercial flights, sir? I didn't think your people had wings?"

Anonymous nodded. "We built flying machines, Corporal. Hollow cylinders framed in wood or aluminium, with fixed wings and engines that push air backwards. Once we get to decent internal combustion engines here, I'll build one. They can be very safe."

Stretching out his arm along the backrest, he adopted a new bracing strategy, probably more from being stiff and sore with the last one than anything else.

"But on my world they were heavily regulated and constantly inspected. Same with the roller coasters and other thrill rides."

Teeth clenched, he looked around the elegantly-decorated carriage interior.

Plush seats.

Fine wallpaper.

Magical chandelier.

Decorated glass windows.

Doors padded in sewn velvet.

"As elegant as it is, I get the feeling this carriage may not have been built to quite the same standards -- if not safety-wise, then at least in terms of its suspension and ride quality."

Honour nodded. "It does seem to have been built for ponies who aren't concerned about falling out of the sky, sir."

There was a fluttering, bronze, creamy thing at the right window.

"Hey sir, we're almost there! I've shown the team leader where to land!"

It was Sparkshower, clutching her spear and looking chipper as ever against the late-afternoon sky.

Out the left window, Honour spotted Ebonshield closing in as well. Hmm, this was the first time she’d actually seen her -- or any batpony at all -- in flight. She had her cloak rolled up on her back like a bedroll, but was wearing every piece of her armor, and she appeared to be armed as well. It was more than she wore when she was on regular duty with Anonymous.

Glancing back and forth between Sparkshower and Ebonshield, Honour could tell that the batpony didn’t move like a pegasus did -- the sergeant’s wings were shorter, and she used them in brief, quick flutters rather than Sparkshowers' broad strokes. Both of them coasted as much as they could, of course, but the difference was still noticeable every time they went to flap.

There were more important things at hoof right now, though.

"Sparkshower -- if anything happens, remember that the VIP is your priority, okay?"

She furrowed her brow. "What do you mean, if anything happens?"

Hooking one foreleg out the window, Honour leaned over and stuck her muzzle a little bit outside so as not to have to shout. "Nopony in here can fly, remember? If anything goes wrong, save Anonymous."

Sparkshower’s eyes went wide, as if she just realized that they were all in the carriage purely because they couldn't fly, and not because they had chosen not to. It was probably a natural assumption for a pegasus, that the only things up in the sky were things that could make it up there themselves.

"I don't think I could carry him... But I could grab him and slow his descent, at least."

"That'll do. He says he's parachuted before."

Sparkshower nodded and backed away again to give the carriage team more room to maneuver.

Honour pulled herself back inside.

Why didn't she think to give her that order before the flight? Safety procedures like that ought to be restated for everypony's benefit before the carriage even takes off. For that matter, some damn seat belts would be sorely appreciated. Or at least something to hold on to! But who was going to think about safety procedures in a carriage where the typical occupants were immortal flying sorcerers?

Up ahead, Honour saw the team of Pegasi slowly drift down towards the bottom of the window-frame. The carriage followed along, this time with a gentler, sweeping motion. But it still made Honour feel like she was about to go flying out of her seat.

And there was a head rush, too. The window-panes rattled, and her ears popped.

Thank Celestia!

She’d had that ear-ache for half an hour.

Anonymous braced his legs higher up on the opposite bench, pressing his shoes into the plush seating, and slouching down so that he could bend his knees.

The lead carriage-pulling pegasus, harnessed at the front-left, turned back and hollered at the rest of the team.

"DEPLOY AIR BRAKES!"

As a country road swung menacingly close into sight, all three pairs of ponies stretched out their wings, ceasing their flapping, and Honour found herself being thrown forward from momentum. Thankfully, everypony managed to stay in their seat, though the struggle was real. The carriage seemed to drop out from underneath her as well, from the sudden lack of forward propulsion.

"PREPARE FOR LANDING! WHEELERS, ENGAGE LANDING GEAR!"

As the four leader ponies began to mock-gallop to match their hooves to the ground, the two rear ponies -- the wheelers -- stiffened their legs, then reached over and set special braces mounted to their enormous, oversized sabots.

Brake shoes.

Honour glanced around the cabin. Glamerspear had her eyes closed and appeared to be muttering a prayer. Anonymous' gaze was fixed ahead forward at the muddy road, adjusting himself so as to maximize the padding underneath him and his ability to use his own knees to cushion the shock.

Honour sure hoped it wasn't going to be that rough of a landing. Celestia never seemed to get jerked around when she landed at Royal engagements -- did she? She was having difficulty recalling the details.

Just then, the enormous oversized carriage wheels caught some of the earth, flinging it against the window, and the carriage ricocheted back up.

"GET 'ER DOWN ON THE DECK, NOW!"

The Pegasi all leaned back and forced their wings against the wind, and their ride came slamming down onto its wheels again. This time, the springs bore most of the impact, and, beyond everypony's head jerking forward and down, accompanied by a sense that Honour had just had her spine compressed, the carriage stayed on the ground and nopony was worse for wear.

The two wheeler Pegasi jammed their armored plow-hooves into the dirt path and kicked up a huge plume of mud and dust in the process.

Straight into the carriage behind them, of course. The spatter was so bad that the forward window was almost instantly covered.

'They must have to completely hose these things down after every single flight!'

Before Honour could contemplate that further, she and Anonymous both lurched forwards as the braking force caught up with them. Once again, they both somehow managed to stay in their seats. Honour would have literally killed somepony for some reins to hold onto, though.

With the two wheelers digging in, and the four leads doing their best to stay airborne while coming to a stop, the carriage soon came screeching to a halt. As the four leads touched down with it, Honour felt able to catch her breath for the first time in the whole forty-five minute nightmare.

And how enthusiastically it had all begun!

'Oh, we'll take a Royal Flying Carriage, it'll be quick and stylish and fun!'

It was quick, all right.

Nopony’d said anything about 'safe.'

Anonymous lowered his legs and placed his hands on his knees. "Good God, that was harrowing." Bending forward, he pulled off his top hat and rubbed his cheeks with his hands.

Glamerspear was still glued to the opposite bench, still terrified that the carriage was about to take flight again.

There was a fluttering noise, and Honour found Sergeant Ebonshield was up against the window.

"Are you all right, Great Lord? Is everypony all right?"

Anonymous sat back up and nodded, sighing.

Even Glamerspear lowered a shivering hoof down to the floor. "Is it over? Are we on the ground again?"

Honour got to her hooves -- slowly and hesitantly at first. It was almost surprising to find her knees hadn’t turned completely to jelly, and that she could still stand upright. "We're on the ground, Glamerspear. You can get up, now."

"Oh, sweet Celestia of Equestria, hallowed be thy name, thank you."

As Anonymous got to his feet as well, Ebonshield, still fluttering in the air, twisted the handle and pulled open the carriage door. He replaced his top hat and then, holding on to the window-frame, climbed out. After checking that Glamerspear was managing to get herself upright as well, Honour followed him.

There was a trail of utter destruction to her left, where the wheeler ponies' heavy brake-sabots had completely plowed-over the muddy road. Not that it was much to speak of before that, but now it looked like somepony was about to sow it with seeds.

Looking the other way, Honour nearly jumped out of her sabots. Their Pegasus team had landed the carriage almost directly in front of a large, one-and-a-half story building. And from the smell of smoke, it was the blacksmith.

‘Huh.’

Despite the rough landing, the team clearly knew what it was doing.

Anonymous dusted himself off and tipped his hat to the flight leader. "Thank you for the trip, Captain. We shouldn't be terribly long inside."

The pegasus nodded. "Take your time, sir. We can use the breather to tidy up and prepare for the return flight."

Shaking their shoulders and flapping their wings, the six Pegasi unhooked themselves from their harnesses and started to stretch, one of them heading to the luggage-box to grab a large bottle of water as well.

Finally, Honour heard hoofsteps from behind her, and Glamerspear emerged from the carriage, looking a little worse for wear, but still professional and resolute. Ebonshield and Sparkshower touched down soon after as well.

The quaternion was assembled, and Anonymous took a first step towards the smithy.

"Stoy gde stoish, kriminalynoe otrodye!"

‘Now what the hell!?’

Next Chapter: Chapter 52 Estimated time remaining: 27 Hours, 58 Minutes