The Red Thing in the Sky

by TitanicIsBestShip

And many other miscellaneous things about nothing in particular

Chapter One: And many other miscellaneous things about nothing in particular…..

Scientists say that there are more anomalies and disturbances than normal space in the universe. Barzano wasn’t sure if it was true, but still, it gave him something to think about. Weekends were always awkward for him. During the week, he worked, but on the weekends, was he just supposed to stop? Well, there wasn’t much to do BUT work at the observatory. Like many previous weekends, Barzano sat in a chair, staring at the floor, wondering what to do. Suddenly he remembered something. He still needed to finish reading the remarkably strange book he’d been given a few weeks ago. Barzano picked up his copy of Daylight Starmapping - A guide to Deep Space Radio Telemetry.

“Maybe I should consider building one of these,” Barzano said to himself. “Radio telescopes are they? Sounds extraordinarily useful.” After about another 30 minutes of deliberating what to do, Barzano decided he’d take a trip to Canterlot to see where he might acquire the materials. “It’ll take the weekend just to get there and back,” Barzano chuckled to himself. Without a skyship, Barzano would have to walk to Baltimare and board a train for Canterlot from there. Mount Silver wasn’t very far from Baltimare, relatively speaking, but it would still be half a day’s walk there. “Better get a move on,” Barzano reminded himself. He packed some supplies in saddlebags, and headed down the mountain. Thank Celestia it was summer, he’d never of even considered walking down Mount Silver during the winter. Many ponies had died that way on mountains, simply getting lost, or even falling, when visibility dropped to 4 feet, was a real possibility.

Barzano’s walk went without a hitch, and he arrived in Baltimare at 14:00 hours, nine hours after he had left the mountain. Several ponies greeted him in passing, but most didn’t recognize him, even with his frequent trips to the city. “Hey Maxi, When’s the next train to Canterlot?” Barzano asked the station chief as he approached.

“Oh hey Bar! Haven’t see you in a while. The next train leaves at 17:20 hours. You’ve got a while.” 17:20? Wow, maybe I should have just walked to Canterlot. Barzano smiled at his thoughts. He sat down on one of the seats in the waiting area, wondering what to do next. Soon, his thoughts drifted to other matters, as they often did, but out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a blue pony with a light-orange mane pacing back and forth, constantly looking up. I wonder what he’s doing, Barzano thought to himself. He got up and walked over to the pony.

“Hey, why the pacing?” He asked. The other pony wheeled around.

“Waah! Oh, sorry, you scared me. Can I help you?”

“Why are you pacing?”

“Oh, I’m trying to get a better perspective of the rooftops.”

“What for?”

“Somepony requested a direct fuel line into his home, for whatever reason, And I need to make sure when it goes in, it dodges as many structures as possible.”

“Fuel? You have a job with the fuel companies?”

“Oh yeah, I inspect pipelines”

“Huh, that’s interesting. I order fuel a lot, and I’ve never seen you before. What’s your name?” Barzano smiled.

“Um, I’m Michael, you?”

“Barzano, nice to meet you!”

“Mmmm, what do you need fuel for? Or rather, what kind of fuel do you use?”

“Well, I won’t need any until I get a new skyship, my old one kind of, exploded”

“Oh yeah! I think I heard about that. Well, you just let me know when you need the stuff,” Michael said as he handed Barzano a card.

“Alright! I will,” Barzano responded as he turned to leave. Well that’s nice, but it reminds me. I need a new airship. He sighed. One thing at a time.

Author's Note:

Characters used:
TitanicIsBestShip - Barzano, Flarania
DerpTime - DerpTime
Cloudbolt - Cloudbolt
Chefderpy - Michael

Special Thanks:
Chefderpy - Because every so often, I need to take a break and play league, and for letting me use his OC
DerpTime - For giving me a voice to hear, and for letting me use his OC
Cloudbolt - For his never-ending support, and for letting me use his OC
DJSquirrel - For putting up with me on TreeTime

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ “An Astronomer’s Light” PLEASE GO READ IT FIRST AT:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/126418/an-astronomers-light

References:
Sailing Terms:

Windward: The side of an object the wind hits first
(Upwind)
Leeward: The side of an object the wind hits last
(Downwind)
Trim (sails): pull the sails in
Ease (sails): let the sails out
Let Fly! (Sailing): Completely release all sails
Let Fly! (Under Power): Halt the engines and let the ship drift/glide
Tacking: Crossing the wind across your bow (Going upwind)
Jibing (gybing): Crossing wind across your stern (Going downwind)
Come About: same as tacking
Hard to Lee!: throw the tiller to leeward (used when tacking)
Helms to Weather!: throw the tiller to windward (used when jibing)
Point up: Swing your bow closer to the wind
Fall off: Swing your bow away from the wind

Bow: Front of the ship
Stern: Back of the ship
Bilge: Very bottom of the ship
Fore: Towards the Bow
Aft: Towards the Stern
Upship: To pull something on board
Outship: To get something off the ship
Updeck: To rise up in a ship
Backdeck: To go down in a ship
Transom: The flat part of the stern (When facing the ship from behind)
Halyard: line used on the mast to raise and lower sails and flags
Sheet: line used to control sail trim
Amidships: Towards the middle
Beam of the ship: The width of the ship at its widest point
Abeam: At right angles from the middle of the vessel
Points of Sail:
http://knotalotsailing.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/points-of-sail-diagram.gif
Special Terms (Fic Related):
Brassball: a type of cannon shot, lightweight and cheap, but not very powerfull
Ironguns: cannons that fire iron shells
Thunderclapers: large cannons that fire lead encased with steel
GH-11 Repeaters: Civil War style gatling guns (fed from the top, operated on hand crank)
Rattlesnakes: Revolving cannons that fire anti-personnel darts which fling flechettes out of them as they fly