My ears rang. The world was nothing but searing, bright, white. My eyes burned. My head hurt. I felt nauseous. I couldn’t tell which way was up, or down, or which way was even a direction at all.

“Dissero!”

A faint call reached through the ringing. The white began to fade. The world was visible once more. The wind rustled my mane as I stared blindly at the entirety of New, stretching beneath me. With a stab of vertigo, I realized that my head was hanging off the pier.

“Ahh!” I pushed myself away from the ledge and rolled onto my back as quickly as I could, breathing hard.

A pair of silver eyes looked down into mine. I smiled weakly.

“Hello, Silver.”

He was grinning wider than the day he got banned from the Academy. “Dissy! You’re alive!” He pulled me off the floor and into a tight embrace. “I’m so glad you’re alive!”

I pushed him away. “Silver, I’m glad to see you too, but this isn’t the time. Is the crew in the ship?”

He frowned. “Diss, why are you covered in blood?”

“We need to get out of this city.” Ignoring his question, I glanced to the Baron’s tower. None of the ships had moved yet. “Come on.”

I began to stumble into the ship, but he didn’t follow. I turned back. He was still outside.

“Dissy,” he nodded his head at Exe. “What’s up with the bear?”

“Don’t worry about him, he’s with me.” We don’t have time for this!

Silver shrugged and stepped into the ship. “Sorry for almost shooting you with lightning,” he said. “I didn’t recognize you with all the blood.” Exe poked his head inside ponderously before entering the airship.

Shutting the hatch with my magic, I began to lead the way up the stairwell. “Yeah, no problem. Wait, lightning- no, I’ll ask later. Get up to the cockpit, we gotta get out of here.”

I stepped into the engine room as Silver rushed past. Stormslider was there, standing before the large glass tube full of swirling thunderclouds that powered the ship. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of me.

“Dissero?” She rubbed her eyes with a hoof. “Is that really you?”

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s me. How’s the engine?”

She cocked her head curiously. “Well, it’s running. How did you survive the fall?” She frowned. “You’re covered in blood... why is there a bear behind you?”

Is everyone going to bring that up? “Don’t worry about the bear. Or the blood. Get the engine revved up, we’re gonna need it.”

I left her without another word, ascending the stairs two at a time. Reaching the lounge floor landing, I galloped out of the stairway and crashed into Phoenix Down.

“Oh! Dissy! Silver told me you were alive and- “ She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes passing over my blood-soaked coat. They focused on something behind me. The beginnings of a shriek took form in her throat.

I covered her mouth with a hoof. “The bear is with me!” I hissed. She flinched, and I did my best to soften my voice. “Nice to see you again! Can’t talk now! Gotta go!”

Picking myself up, I stepped over her and into the lounge. Ember was there, waiting patiently. She locked eyes with me, stepping forwards aggressively.

“What do you think you’re doing barging in here and talking about leaving this city? You’re not the captain anymore, don’t you understand? You can’t just- “ She flinched, eyeing something behind me nervously.

Oh my sweet fucking Celestia. “The bear is with me!” I roared. “Please, we do not have time for this shit!”

Ashfall had realized several moments ago that he was coming in too fast. Landing on a small target like the deck of his airship required precision and patience, but he wasn’t about to slow down; he was on a schedule. And he was running late.

He slammed into the deck, digging in with the claws strapped to his hooves. Still, he skidded and bounced across the entire length of the ship. If not for the claws, he would’ve fallen clean off the opposite side.

He shook himself, glaring at the prototype ship the slaves had stolen. Take my ship, will you? A crewpony opened the hatch that led down into the ship and was promptly rewarded by a kick to the face. Ashfall jumped down the hatch, ignoring the earth pony moaning next to the deck ladder. He had no time for such courtesies. The pony had been in his way.

“Battlestations! To your battlestations!” he barked, the ping, ping, ping of his claws echoing down the halls. The Alpha Wolf was at least twice as big as the stolen prototype, and was outfitted with ship-to-ship cannons, redundant vital systems, and barracks capable of holding a full platoon of the Baron’s soldiers. As such, it took him five minutes longer than he would have liked to storm all the way to the command room.

Luckily for them, his officers were already on station by the time he burst in and took his position on the raised dais in the middle of the room.

“Cut the moorings! Prepare the cannons! The slaves have been alerted to our presence!” he shouted.

“Yes, sir!” The three officers before him immediately began to distribute his orders throughout the ship, speaking into the brass tubes before them. The pound of well-trained hooves leaked through the walls as his crew scrambled to follow his orders.

Ashfall pulled a slip of paper out of his barding. He scanned it briefly, reviewing its contents. “Messenger!”

A lightweight pegasus appeared before him, trembling. Ashfall waved the paper before his muzzle, careful not to cut anything open with the claws. “Take this to the Eagle’s Shadow. Now.” The messenger saluted, grabbing the message in his mouth, and flew out of the bridge.

The ship gave a sudden lurch as it pulled away from the pier. Ashfall wasted no time. “Fire upon the prototype!”

His officers paused in their order giving. One of them turned to him, eyes wary. “But sir, the Baron said-”

“I don’t care what he said!” His claws clicked upon the floor impatiently. “Those slaves stole my ship! Shoot them!”

“But the prototype, sir, the shields-”

“They’re slaves!” he roared. “They don’t know the slightest thing about that ship! Now shoot them or I swear I will gut you right here and now!”

The officer was sweating. He gave Ashfall a sloppy salute before turning back to his station.

The grey pegasus sat down, claws scraping against each other as he brooded. He had a schedule. And he was running late.

I practically jumped up onto the navigation floor, propelled by a mixture of self-preservation and annoyance. Cleaver was there, leaning against the wall just outside the cockpit with a bottle in hoof. He raised it in greetings.

“Hello, Kaptain.”

I waited. Exe’s heavy steps announced his arrival on the navigation floor. My teeth ground with the built-up annoyance attainable only during times of crisis. I looked to Cleaver, mentally daring him to-

“Hello, Kaptain’s bear-friend.” He waved nonchalantly and took a swig of vodka.

A great sense of relief came over me. I almost smiled. I could have kissed the cook just then, if it wasn’t for the pressing need for time. And for my sexual alignment.

“Hey, Cleaver. Get Ember’s help and untie the moorings,” I said. He nodded. Trotting past him into the cockpit, I found Silver grunting as he pulled on a chain near the back of the room.

“Now what’s this you’re saying about leaving?” he asked.

I glanced towards the Baron’s tower. “We need to get away from here. The Baron’s sent ponies after us and-”

Oh, shit. One of the new ships hovering around the Baron’s tower was moving. Pulling away from the pier, turning, presenting its side to us...

Silver waved a hoof in front of me. “Oy, Dissy, you there?”

A series of distant bangs sounded out. I grabbed Silver and shoved my face into his. “The Baron’s ponies are here and we need to leave now!”

“Did you hear that?”

Ember scanned the five towers of New as she held the hatch open for Cleaver. She could’ve sworn she had heard something.

Cleaver shook his head. Ember shrugged and joined him in the task of untying the heavy chains that moored the Omega to the skydock. There should have been dock workers here to help, but for some reason there wasn’t a single one to be seen.

And then, with an ear-splitting screech, a cannonball ricocheted off the pier, right next her hooves.

“Ahh, what the fuck!” She practically jumped off the pier in her surprise. Two more cannonballs smacked into the side of the pier, bursting into flame upon impact.

“Cleaver, hurry!” Ember called. A dozen more of the deadly iron lumps soared past the ship, trailing fire and purple magic. Metallic pings rang through the air as she and Cleaver scrambled to release the moorings. She looked around frantically. A wolf was cowering in the shadow of one of the ships next to them.

“You!” Ember roared. “Get over here and help us!”

The wolf slinked away, whining, and was promptly turned into a red streak by a passing cannonball. Ember cursed. Fuck this shit!

She ran back to the hatch. “Cleaver, c’mon!”

The cook put down the chain he had been frantically pulling upon to protest. “We have not unmoored the ship yet!”

She was halfway inside now. “Just get the fuck in here! I’ll blow the chains off!”

Cleaver hesitated, nodded, and galloped for the hatch. As he leapt inside, another volley of cannonballs zoomed past. Several of them hit the pier they were tied to, spilling magic fire over the skydock. A loud metal groan filled the air as the structure started to sag.

Ember poked her head outside, eyes narrowed against the heat. Her horn glowed, and the seven chains attaching them to the pier burst into flame. She ducked back inside as a cannonball ricocheted off the edge of the hatch.

“Fuckin’- Cleaver! Tell Silver that we’re having some trouble here!”

“Go! Why aren’t we going?”

The Omega rumbled as more cannonballs slammed into the hull. I gritted my teeth. We’re a sitting duck here!

Silver stomped a hoof in frustration. “They haven’t unmoored us yet! I can’t leave while we’re still tied to the pier!”

Cleaver poked his head into the cockpit, panting. “The moorings are tough. We are having trouble getting them off with all the shooting.”

Silver cursed. I turned to Cleaver. “Well have you made any progress?”

He shrugged. “Mechanic has set them on fire.”

A dark orange hoof pulled me back. “Go tell Storm I’m gonna need some juice,” Silver said. “I’ve got a plan.”

Cleaver nodded and ran out of the cockpit. My heart went out to him. “We really need to get a better communication system,” I said.

Silver was at the front of the cockpit, hoof waiting intently on a slider labeled ‘Throttle’. He was staring at a gauge next to it, not even flinching as another volley of cannonfire sounded.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

He fixed me with a dangerous look. In the background, the sound of the engine roared louder. He flicked his goggles down over his eyes.

“This is my plan,” he said.

He pushed the slider all the way forwards.

Fucking Silver!

Ember held on for dear life as the ship began to shake madly. Her fire had only burnt through one of the moorings so far, melting the chain at its midpoint, but the other six didn’t look like they were in any hurry to follow suit.

And now she was hanging out the hatch of the ship, having been tossed out by a sudden jolt.

“Cleaver!” she screamed. She lunged forwards and pulled herself in a little bit. She heard one of the chains snap. Is that fool trying to leave with the moorings still attached? She shrieked as a hoof slipped.

A deafening metal groan filled the air, coming from somewhere behind her. She heard the engines roaring, crying out, begging for rest. The ship lurched. It was still for one brief instant.

With an ear-splitting crack!, the skydock itself leaned to one side.

Another volley of cannon fire soared past. Some of them hit the tower, coating it in fire.

Ember’s ears hurt. The metal was being stretched to its limit. She could barely stand the noise. The constant, high-pitched screech of breaking steel, going on and on and on. The sound built up to a crescendo of pain, layered on top of the crackling of the flames.

Silence. Ember’s stomach lurched as the airship burst into movement. Her hooves slipped. She opened her mouth to scream.

A clawed paw tightened around her hoof. She looked up, still screaming. The claws dug into her coat, piercing her skin as they hauled her up, back into the ship.

She collapsed onto the comforting cold metal floor of the Omega, shaking. She shut her eyes tight, cradling her injured hoof, and resisted the urge to vomit. The quiet click of claws approached her.

“Are you well, unicorn?”

Ember opened her eyes and looked up. At the bear who had saved her. “Y-yeah... Thanks.”

He nodded, closing the hatch, and began up the stairwell. Ember picked herself up, still shaking, and tried to pull herself together.

“Fucking Silver...”

“Yeehaw!” Silver’s hoof pumped the air ecstatically as the Omega finally broke free of the skydock.

I stumbled. The balance of the airship felt off, as it was leaning to one side. “Silver, what did you just do?”

“Not sure,” he said, keeping his focus on flying the ship. “I was trying to break the chains mooring us, but I think I may have just broken the pier we were moored to.”

The ship turned, and the Jackal’s skydock came into view. The top part was wreathed in flames, leaning dangerously to one side. Several airships were struggling to break free of the wreck and escape from the inferno, causing it to teeter even more. Some were dangling beneath it, balloons popped. A raging inferno had taken root near the base of the dock, where one of the airships had fallen and crashed into the city.

“Well, shit.” I looked back to Silver, who was gazing open-mouthed at the destruction. “Get us out of here, Silver!”

He shook his head in disbelief. “Damn, this ship is even more awesome than I thought.”

The ship rocked as a volley of cannonfire hit us. “Silver!” I shouted.

“Alright, alright!” The Omega picked up speed, heading east. “Guess I’m not paying my tab here, then.”

Ember burst into the cockpit, eyes wild, practically foaming at the mouth with rage. “You bastard!” She lunged, grabbing Silver and pinning him to the floor.

“Hey, get off!” His hooves and wing flapped about uselessly as she screamed at him.

“You could’ve fucking killed me, you cocky bastard! I was still trying to get those fucking chains off and you go off and start trying to fucking rip them out? What the fuck! What the actual fu-”

I shoved her off of him. “Ember! Calm down!”

She glared at me, breathing hard. I glared at her, mouth set in a firm line. “Silver, get us out of here,” I said.

The pilot complied quickly, leaping to his hooves. I locked eyes with Ember, silent, as the airship rocked into motion. Gradually, her breathing slowed. She pushed past me and stomped away.

“What the fuck!” Ashfall exclaimed.

His officers jumped in surprise. “Sir, the prototype has broken free of-”

“Yes, yes! I know!” he interrupted. “What are you waiting for? After them! And you!” He trained his hoof on the officer in charge of the weapons. “What are you doing, pussyhoofing around with the smallest cannons we have?”

The officer looked like he was about ready to have a heart attack. “Sir, the Baron said not to harm the-”

“I, already, fucking, told you! I don’t care about that!” With each word, his claws slammed into the ground. “Fire everything!”

Ember stormed through the Omega, into her quarters, and slammed the door shut. A small part of her whispered that this was not the time to throw temper tantrums. The rest of her told it to shut up.

“Fucking, Silver! And Dissero! Fucking, fuck fuck fuck!” I don’t get any respect in this damn ship! She swept a hoof over her worktable, knocking a few mechanical knicknacks onto the floor. I’m the one that kept them alive! And now he’s back and he’s brought the Baron upon us and they all go right back to him! “Fuck!”

She paused. That had sounded like more cannons, but different. It was louder. A decidedly stronger blast.

The wall burst inwards and deposited a ball of roughly hewn iron onto her bed. She glared at it with the burning hatred of a thousand suns. The intricate white runes drawn onto its surface began to glow purple.

In an instant she had knocked over her worktable and crouched behind it. With a loud pop!, the ball shattered. She flinched as dozens of sharp pieces of shrapnel peppered the walls of her room and slammed against her makeshift cover.

Her ears twitched at the sound of the engine straining. The hull screeching as it was pounded with cannonfire. The ripping of the metal as the rune-enchanted weaponry shattered into deadly shards. She felt its pain. Her ship needed her. And she was going to need some help.

She grabbed her toolbelt and magboots, galloping out into the lounge. Cleaver was there, looking out a window. The bear was there too, calmly staring straight-ahead.

“Cleaver!” she barked. “Come on, we need to keep the ship together!”

“This isn’t working!” Ashfall exclaimed. “Send a landing party!”

One of his officers looked up. “The Baron’s troops, sir?”

Ashfall scoffed. “They aren’t needed here, no. Send the mercs instead. I’m sure even those degenerates can handle it.”

“Yes, sir.”

I cringed as a pony-sized ball of iron glanced off the cockpit glass, cracking it.. Silver grinned. “This is why I wear goggles!” he informed me.

“Just be quiet and fly!” I hissed. He shrugged, turning back to his controls.

A collection of slams sounded above me, on the deck. I frowned. They didn’t sound like cannonballs...

Poking my head up onto the deck, I was rewarded with the sight of ten black-caped griffons, folding their wings. They snapped their heads around, eager eyes focused on me. I gulped.

“Exe!” I climbed rest of the way onto the deck and drew my swords. I can’t let them get to Silver.

A trio of crossbows trained themselves on me.

“Oh.”

I leapt back into the cockpit as quickly as I could, narrowly avoiding the volley of barbed bolts. “Silver, we have a problem.”

“What is it?” he asked. The crack in the cockpit glass was growing wider.

“There’s griffons on the deck. To kill us.” I glanced up nervously. One of them peeked inside, and I rewarded him with a jab to the face. He flinched back.

“Well, okay. I have a plan for that.”

My eyes widened in fear. Sweet Celestia.

Ember grunted as she pulled a hoof up from the surface of the ship, moved it forwards, and put it down. It stuck to the metal hull with a magical hiss. She narrowed her eyes against the wind rushing into her face, examining the hole in the hull.

“Cleaver!” she called. “Nails!”

A white hoof poked out of the hole and supplied her with a collection of nails. She levitated them to her side.

“Patch!”

The hoof retracted back into the ship. A large square of metal was pushed out in its place. Eyes narrowed with concentration, she carefully aligned it over the hole.

“Hold it there!”

A strong gust of wind blew over her, and she crouched closer to the ship. She pointedly kept herself from looking to her left. If she looked to her left, she knew she would see just how high up she really was.

With a burst of magic, she pounded the nails into the newly patched hull. She scanned the ship before her, identified another hole, and began to make her way to it. It was slow going, walking along the hull of an airship as gravity tried to pull you off. Her boots stuck to the hull with a powerful magical charge, and wrenching each one free over and over required more than a little endurance.

Suddenly, the ship began to roll. To the left. She pushed herself closer to the ship as the blood rushed to her head. Fuck! The boots weren’t strong enough to hold her upside down! She pounded on the fresh metal patch, cursing.

“Cleaver, kick the fucking patch out! I need to get in!”

No response. She turned around. He was at the next hole already, looking out at her expectantly.

She gestured towards the patch as much as she could without lifting any of her hooves. “The patch!” she screamed. “Kick out the fucking patch!”

The wind must have carried her words away. He shrugged and went back inside, no doubt planning on coming back out once the rolling was stopped.

“Fuuuuuck! Fucking Silv- Eeeeuuugh!” She ripped the patch off with a burst of panic-fueled magic and climbed in. She was starting to get very, very, pissed.

“Sweet Celestia, I love this ship!”

“Just hurry up and right us again!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m on it.”

I flinched as a cannonball slammed through the roof, which was now on my left, shattered the table, which was now upside down against the starboard wall, which was now the floor, and exited out the floor, which was now on my right.

Things were starting to get very confusing.

Two of my hooves were on the roof. Two were on the starboard wall. Silver, somehow, was still piloting the airship, despite most of the controls being out of reach high up on the floor-turned-ceiling. From what I gathered, the ship was almost completely upside down, gently rolling to the left.

My ears twitched at the sound of the landing party sliding off the roof. Hopefully we could outrun them in the open air once they were off.

And then something flashed into the room, through the fresh hole in the roof.

One of the Baron’s mercs.

Shit! I leapt forwards, swords out. He raised his crossbow, blocking my attack and pushing me back. The uneven surface of the rotating airship took me by surprise, and I stumbled, rolling down into the corner between two sides of the room. I pushed off with a hoof, barely avoiding the bolt that bounced off the hull where I’d fallen.

The ship was completely upside down now. I rushed to take advantage of the level ground, jumping to my hooves and stabbing up with one of my swords. Predictably, my opponent pushed it away with his crossbow. My second sword came up from the opposite side, slipping through his exposed guard and penetrating his armor. It sheathed itself hilt-deep into his body, hitting the armor on the other side of his body with a sharp clang.

“Don’t worry, Silver, I got ‘em!” I said. The corpse fell from its hovering position in the center of the room, slid, and fell out the hole in the roof-turned-floor. With my sword.

Ah, fuck. I looked to my last sword and frowned. This is no good.

Nine more griffons flew in the hole, arranging themselves on the far side of the navigation floor, and leveled their crossbows.

“Ah, fuck!” I twisted on my hooves, sprinting for the cockpit. My eyes widened. Silver was there, facing me, and he had his own gun out.

“Duck!” he yelled. I threw myself down, scraping my legs, and pushed my hooves into my ears. He twitched a feather.

Boom!

Lightning arced across the navigation floor. My vision went white. My ears rang.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

I couldn’t see. My head pounded as the ringing grew worse. Gradually, the light and noise faded as my senses recovered from their trauma.

Before me lay the smoldering, smoking corpses of nine black-clad griffons. Afterimages of the four shots lingered over them, showing every scene of their death overlaid on top of the next. I shook my head and tried to ignore the scent of burnt flesh.

I failed, gagging. The airship tilted more, and gravity dragged the bodies down. One of them fell on top of me. I pushed it off and took a gasp of air, but it only led to more gagging as the burning smell hit me full force. My mane and tail flapped in the wind that slipped through the many wounds in the hull.

“Dissy! Dissy, get a hold of yourself!” Silver tapped my shoulder urgently. I pulled my bandanna up with a flick of magic and made eye contact with him. He was holding his gun out.

“Here, take this to Storm! Tell her I need more juice!”

The brown glow of my magic wrapped around his rifle. He nodded and ran back to the cockpit. I climbed to my hooves as the ship finally righted itself. Bodies littered the navigation floor, strewn amongst the wreckage of the table and broken hull. Two more cannonballs smashed through the wall. I flinched.

Doing my best to ignore the bodies, I stumbled down into the lounge. There were holes everywhere. A couch was on fire. Exe stood in the middle of the room, near the kitchen, wiping his axe with a cloth.

I beckoned him over, pointing upstairs. “Protect him from any attackers!” I called. He nodded, and ran for the stairwell. I galloped down the steps two at a time.

Fuck! I skidded to a stop. The stairs before me had collapsed, leaving a long gap from this landing to the next. Fire reached up from the floors below. I heard a methodical thumping behind me and turned around. Ember poked her head in through a hole in the hull, eyes squinted against the wind. She focused in on the gun floating by my side.

“What are you doing with that?” She yelled to be heard over the wind. “Are you taking that to Storm?”

Luna save me. I ignored her, turning back to the gap in the stairwell. With a short galloping start, I jumped. The heat singed my coat. My hooves slammed into the landing outside the engine room. My momentum carried me forwards, slamming me into a rickety, burning hot wall.

The engine room was in bad shape. Rays of sunlight shone in through the broken hull, and I saw metal patches on the glass cylinder that housed the thunder reactor, a blue glow leaking out around the edges. Something was on fire in the rear in the room. Magical blue sparks burst from a console to my side. The sound of thunder filled the room, bursting from the unsealed reactor.

Stormslider flew into view, covered in sweat, lugging a heavy black cube underneath her. She grunted as she dropped it in a rough pile with several others, all radiating intense heat.

“Storm! Silver sent this!” I wiggled the lightning gun in the air. She frowned at it and landed by my side.

“Did Silver send that?” she yelled.

I nodded. “Yes! He says he-”

“Needs more juice, yes.” She pulled it from my magic and began to fasten it to her wing. She nodded towards the reactor. “Pull off one of those patches!”

“What?”

“Pull off one of the patches!”

I obliged, gingerly stepping forwards and pulling at the closest patch with my magic. It popped off, propelled by a shaft of lightning. I flinched.

I looked to Storm. She had the lightning gun strapped on now, with all four hooves firmly planted on the floor. She wiped her forehead with a wing. “Do you know the first rule of thunder reactors, Dissero?” she shouted.

“What?”

“Never expose the reactor to exterior lightning!”

She cracked her lips into a strained grin, teeth clamped together. Blue light shone out of the unpatched reactor, joined every few seconds by a bolt of wild lightning.

Storm’s wing twitched.

Lightning arced out of the barrel of the gun, shooting through the hole and into the mass of rolling thunderclouds that powered the ship.

I squinted, raising a hoof to block the overpowering blue light that began to fill the room. It grew brighter and brighter, mimicked by the pounding of the thunder. I could barely see through the flashing blue. My mane stood on end as a bolt of lightning flew past me. The air buzzed with electric charge.

A blast of concussive force pushed me off my hooves. I felt myself sent flying back.

My head hit something hard, and all went dark.

Author's Notes:

This chapter is so totally packed to the literal explosive brim with action that when I uploaded it, a hoof flew out of my monitor and punched me in the face.

It hurt. It was so worth it.

Yay for the 1st new chapter of Omega after the rewrite! Now you guys can finally get off that one cliffhanger.