//------------------------------//
// The Armageddon War, Part 4 
// Story: The Legacy Of Darkness 
// by Darkness 1 
//------------------------------//

As Darkness and the other heroes, got back on their ship, they steered away, from Fluchuette's ship, and began to make its way towards Arrovak's fort, as the rest of Darkness's fleet followed closely behind. Fluchuette then gave an order to her crew, to get the ship back up to speed, and after a few moments later, the ship began to make its way as well, towards Arrovak's fort. Fluchuette spoke to everypony, and said, "Keep your eyes out for the enemy, there's no telling when we will run into them."
Snowshy said, "No sign of anything, but our allied forces out there."
Fluchuette said, "It's kind of weird, isn't it? But if Arrovak really did save his best soldiers for out here, we need to stay alert, and on our hooves, at all times. The last thing we need, is to all be taken down, by an ambush, because we let our guards down."
Nothing else was said, as everypony kept their eyes open, for any sign of the enemy, and as the minutes passed, there was not a single thing in sight, as Fluchuette's ship, and the allied fleets, make their way ever closer to Arrovak's fort.
Fluchuette then said, "I think our first targets, should be to take out Arrovak's sources of power, and destroy the three small islands, that have his power-draining crystals on them, and blow them sky high."
Snowshy said, "I couldn't agree more. It would be pointless to take on Arrovak, while he is still drawing power from the crystals. We take them out, and we might just have a chance, that we might be able to take him down. Of course, even without his crystals, he revels in conflict, so he will still gain some kind of power from that, so at any rate, the fight against him, will not be easy."
Fluchuette nodded, and said, "That may be, but  with you and your friends together, you all have something Arrovak doesn't: friendship, and self-confidence. Arrovak is just over-confident, and that will be a weakness, that could be exploited, and he has no friendships, or bonds with his army. They are just simple minions to him."
As Fluchuette finished speaking, the time rifts continued to get worse, as more opened, and began distorting  and destroying anything that got sucked into them.
Snowshy said, "We have to take care of these crystals, the longer it takes us, the worse things are going to get."
Fluchuette said, "Agreed."
All of a sudden, and what seemed to come out of nowhere, a cannon shot, whizzed right past Snowshy, and Fluchuette yelled out, "Take cover! Enemy fire! All hands! Bring us around,  and wait on my command to fire!"
As everypony kept their bodies low, while the crew at the same time, were adjusting the sails, in order for the ship to turn around, while Fluchuette kept her head low, as she began to steer the ship around.
As they got turned around, continued barrages of cannon fire, seemed to come from all directions, as everypony could now see the enemy fleet, and it was massive: 1000 ships total, and all of them, carrying at least 80 cannons on them, and reinforcement soldiers on all of them, and they were coming in Fluchuette's and the rest of the allied fleet's direction.
One of Fluchuette's crew yelled out, as he pointed to their right side, "Enemy fleet! 100 ships total! Coming in to flank us!"
Fluchuette said, "Get the ship out of here! They plan to take us down, without a fight! We need some space between us and them! Also signal to the other fleets to get back as well. We don't need to lose this fight, before it even begins!"
The crew acknowledged her orders, as some starting signaling the other ships, and adjusting the sails, for more speed. Fluchuette and the rest of the allied fleets began to turn around, and getting away from the enemy fleet, as fast as they could, as the enemy fleet got closer and closer, as both enemy fleets opened fire. Some of the allied fleet ships couldn't get out the way fast enough, and were hit by the cannon fire, and some ships, were sunk. Fluchuette said, "Damn it! Those bastards! They will pay for that! We walked right into their trap! Everypony! Take cover! Incoming fire!"
As the enemy continued to open fire, cannon shots whizzed by Fluchuette's ship, as she did her best, to steer the ship away from the incoming fire. A few moments of this passed by, and the allied fleets had managed to make enough space between them, and the enemy, as every allied fleet began to signal, that they all go into separate directions, to try and break up the numbers of the enemy fleet.
Snowshy said, "That's actually a good idea, the enemy has prepared for an all-out frontal assault."
Fluchuette said, "So we need to divide them up, and take down the enemy, is much more manageable numbers! Of course!"
One of Fluchuette's crew members came up to Fluchuette, and said, "The black fleet, and the rest of our allies are asking which way they need to go now, and they have also voted Snowshy, to be the leader in this decision as well."
Snowshy said, "Me? Why?"
Fluchuette said, "I agree with the their decision as well, I vote Snowshy for leader of battle tactical plans." She then looked over to Snowshy and said, "What would you have us do?"
Snowshy said, "Hold on a second, why me?"
Fluchuette said, "I think I speak for all of us, but you are the one responsible, for bringing some many different races of ponies together, and while you may not have done it all by yourself, you were the one, that convinced my kind, and the Griffons I know for sure. You have brought us all together, and you have helped us, cast aside old grudges, for the sake of this world, for the universe. You have helped reforge friendships, that once existed between all of our races, so long ago, and you helped us bring that back, into the modern age. There are so many reasons why, so we all think, there is nopony better for this honor than yourself."
Snowshy didn't know what to say for a while, and then she said, "I am truly humbled and honored. I'll do it!"
Fluchuette said, "That's the spirit! Now, what would you have us all do? Don't take too long, it looks like the enemy, has began pursuit, to try and close the gap between us all and them."
Snowshy nodded, and said, "I think our fleet, the Black Fleet, and Twilight's fleet, should take on a frontal assault, while Princess Cadence's fleet, go right, while Princess Celestia's fleet, go left, and Princess Luna's fleet, split in half, and take on the left and the right. The Griffons should stay in the sky, and use whatever they have, to bombard the enemy, unless, enemy air fighters, come into the fight."
Fluchuette nodded, and agreed, and said, "Sounds pretty good to me!" She then said to her crew,  "Very well, you heard the lady, signal to the others, the plan, and then prepare for battle!"
The crew members that heard, nodded, and took off, to the ones that were handling the signaling, and gave them the orders, of the plan, and they began to signal to the other fleets. Moments later, all allied fleets accepted the plan, and began to move into position, and after a couple of minutes later, The Black Fleet, Fluchuette's fleet, and Twilight's fleet, were in the middle of the ocean, while Princess Cadence's fleet, was on the right side of the ocean, as Princess Celestia's fleet was on the left side of the ocean, and Princess Luna's fleet, had split into two, and were on the left and right side of the ocean.
One of Fluchuette's crew members saw the other allied fleets signaling, wrote down what they were saying, and came up to Snowshy and said, "The other fleets are waiting for the order to attack, milady."
Snowshy nodded, and looked out over the deck, and out to where the enemy was, and she saw that they had stopped, and she said to herself, "Wait for it...."
A few more moments passed, and she told the crew member, "Tell all fleets to move now, and attack!"
The crew member nodded, and took off to the crew members that were handling the signaling, and after a few minutes, Fluchuette's fleet, and the rest of the allied fleets, began to move forward, and prepared to attack the enemy.
Fluchuette said to Snowshy, "Well, done, you handled that pretty well."
Snowshy said, "Thank you."
The enemy fleets must have saw this, because they too, split in three fleets, and some went left, some went right, and the rest, continued to move forward.
As the enemy and the allies got closer to each other, they turned to their sides, and began to fight at each other, as Fluchuette said, "And so it begins..."
It wasn't too long after, that all allies, and the enemy, were all close enough to each other, to open fire, and some began to ram one another.
Meanwhile, on Darkness's main warship, Cerberus, Darkness saw an opening through the enemy, and told the his crew, "Make for the first island, we need to take down those crystals! Also, tell the rest of the fleet, to follow if they can, and if not, keep the enemy off of us!"
Back on Fluchuette's ship, Fluchuette saw Darkness's ship, beginning to make a beeline run through enemy ship lines, and she said, "What in the hay, is he doing?"
Snowshy chuckled, and said, "He's making his way to the first island, to take it down."
Fluchuette said, "You brother is crazy! The enemy is going to see him, and take his ship down!"
Snowshy said, "That may be, but that's not stopping him, now is it? With so much at stake, every single risk, is worthwhile, if we win, and that's a risk, my brother is willing to take!"
Fluchuette said, "He is truly deserving of his honor, and we should do that same. Very well then." She then addressed her crew and said, "All hands! Set course for the second island! And tell the rest of our fleet, to keep the enemy off of us!"
The crew said in unison, "Yes ma'am!"
And with that, Fluchuette's ship, began to make its way towards to the second island, while the rest of her fleet, stayed put, and keeping the enemy preoccupied.
On the mane six's main warship, The Strength Of Friendship, the mane six, saw Darkness's ship, making its way towards the first island, while they also saw Fluchuette's ship, make its way towards the second island.
Rainbow Dash said, "I see what there're doing! While the enemy is locked in battle with the rest of the allied fleet, they are going to take out Arrovak's sources of power!"
Applejack said, "Then we should head for the third island then."
Rarity said, "I hate to be a downer on things, but it seems some of the enemy has grown smart, to what those two are up to. How do you suppose we get to the third island, without being sunk in the process?"
Pinkie Pie said, "We don't."
Rarity said, "Great....that's reassuring..."
Twilight said, "Nopony ever said this was going to be easy. All we can do, is push through, and take out that third island."
Applejack said, "It's settled then, I'll go let the rest of the fleet know, we'll push through enemy ship lines together."
Meanwhile, back on the Cerberus, Darkness had made it to the first island, but also saw the enemy was unto them.
Darkness said, "Damn! Well then, we need to hurry, take out that island, before the enemy can get close enough to us, to fire. Get the ship into position, and open fire, as soon as the ship is position."
A couple minutes passed, and Darkness's ship, was in position, and began to open fire, on the first island.
Back on Fluchuette's ship, a crew member said, "Another fleet coming in! And some pegasi too!"
Fluchuette said, "Thank goodness, reinforcements! Can you tell, what the fleet's made up of?"
The crew member said, "My mistake! There are two new fleets coming in! One looks like there is nothing but Earth Ponies on them, and the other fleet, has got Unicorns on them!"
Snowshy said, "I wonder where they came from?"
Fluchuette said, "Does it matter? We just got more support, in the sea, and for the air!"
Snowshy said, "I suppose you're right."
A crew member called their attention, as he said, "The ship is in position! Permission to open fire on the second island?"
Fluchuette nodded, and said, "Fire."
Meanwhile, back on the mane six's ship, The Strength Of Friendship, their ship, and the rest of their fleet, were making their way towards the third island, while at the same time, battling any enemy ships, that got in their way to stop them. As enemy cannon shots whizzed by, everypony took cover, as some other enemy fire, actually hit ships in the mane six''s fleet, as the rest of enemy cannon fire, whizzed over everypony's heads on The Strength Of Friendship. When enemy fire stopped for a moment, Rainbow Dash said, "This is madness! The enemy is going to tear us apart! It's only a matter of time, before they actually hit us! Look! We've already lost 20 ships, just trying to get to the third island!"
Twilight said, "I know it's crazy! But we have to do something! If don't do this now, we won't get another chance!"
Twilight then got up, and began to run towards the wheel, while at the same time, the enemy began to fire again. Twilight dodged enemy cannon fire, as the ship was hit, on its right side, but not too badly, as wood splintered and shattered, as some ponies on board, didn't get out of the way fast enough, and were caught in enemy fire, as their bodies went flying overboard.
Finally, as Twilight got to the wheel of the ship, she took over, as the current pony that was steering the ship, had been hit, and wounded badly. She helped him, to a nearby post, where he sat down, while Twilight went back to the wheel, and began to steer the ship, away from enemy fire, as she said, "Anypony that can operate the cannons, on my mark, return fire!"
Anypony that was still able to, got to work, and prepared the cannons for firing, as they finished, they awaited Twilight's next order.
As Twilight turned the ship to its left side, she called out, "FIRE AT WILL!"
Those operating the cannons, aimed, and began to open fire on enemy ships, as some were sunk, while others were badly damaged, and some enemy ships, exploded, as enemy sailors and soldiers screamed in pain, and went flying overboard.
Applejack said, "Alright!"
Twilight then began to steer the ship towards the opening in enemy ship lines, towards the third island, and while she was doing this, she called to the pony that was standing near her, and she said, "What's the damage?"
The pony said, "Minimal Ma'am! The right side of the ship, only had its guards hit! The hull is still intact! But I wouldn't recommend we get hit on that side again! The reinforcements might give way, exposing us, for a third attack, that would probably sink us!"
Twilight said, "I'll keep that in mind then."
Enemy ships once again tried to block the mane six''s path, and Twilight steered the ship hard to the right, and said, "Fire Now!"
The ponies operating cannons on that side, aimed at the enemy ships in the way, and opened fire. Some shots missed, but most of them hit their mark, as the enemy ships were sunk, and Twilight continued to make her way towards the third island.
The pony that Twilight had called to her earlier said, as he looked behind them, "10 ships! Behind us! In hot pursuit!"
Twilight said to herself, "Damn!" She then said to the pony, "Tell the fleet, to cut them off, and open fire on them!"
The pony said, "Yes Ma'am!" And he took off, to signal to the fleet, what Twilight had told him.
The fleet acknowledged the request, and made a sharp turn to the left, and blocked the enemy ships path, and began to open fire.
Rarity said to Twilight, "I hope you know what you're doing! We are by ourselves now!"
Fluttershy said, "Please do be careful..."
Twilight said, "I know, don't worry guys. I'm not an expert at steering this thing, but once you get the hang of it, it's not too bad."
Rainbow Dash scoffed, and said, "That's reassuring."
Applejack said, "Relax, Rainbow Dash, Twilight's got this, she'e been doing really good so far."
Rainbow Dash didn't say anything, but the pony that Twilight had been talking to, had come back, and said, "We are at the island, Ma'am! And the enemy is breaking through our fleet's blockade! Permission to open fire?"
Twilight said, "Not yet, we only got one shot at this....wait a minute..."
Twilight steering the ship closer to the island, and and as the ship got closer and closer to the island, the pony asked, "Now?"
Twilight said, "Not yet......."
As Twilight turned the ship, to it's right side, she said, "NOW!!! OPEN FIRE!!! GIVE IT ALL YOU GOT!!! DON"T LET UP TILL THAT ISLAND IS GONE!!"
The pony smiled, saluted her, and said, "Yes Ma'am!" He then called down to those operating cannons on that side, and he said to them, "You heard the lady! Turn that island to dust! Leave not a speck of it behind!"
As they opened fire, enemy soldiers began to come out of the crystals, and were making their way to Twilight's ship.
Twilight ordered the pony she had giving orders to, "Keep the enemy away from us!"
Applejack said, "Wait! Leave them to us!"
The pony nodded, and said, "Very well, just be sure not to get hit by our incoming fire. We're counting on you!"
Rainbow Dash said with a smirk, "Heh, this will be easy."
Rainbow Dash and the others, then jumped overboard, and onto the island, as they began to fight enemy soldiers that were coming too close to the ship.
As Rainbow Dash and the others were holding their ground, and keeping the enemy away, the crystals were beginning to show signs of heavy damage, and were beginning to grow unstable.
Twilight then called out to Rainbow Dash and the others, "Get back on the ship! Hurry!"
Rainbow Dash said, "Damn, I was just beginning to have fun!"
Applejack said, "You'll have plenty more chances to deal with these guys! Just get back on the ship!"
Applejack and others began to make their way back to the ship, as it began to steer away from the island, and those on board let down ropes, as Applejack said, "Grab the ropes!"
As everypony ran to the ropes, and got to them, they all made a leap towards them, and grabbed them, and began climb their way back on board, as some enemy soldiers had also got on some of the ropes, as crew members on board, began to use their pistols, and fire at the enemy soldiers on the ropes.
The pony that was taking orders from Twilight said, "We need to get away from the island, quickly! Those crystals are growing more unstable!"
As Twilight steered the ship farther and farther away from the island, Applejack and the others, got back on board, and everypony cut the ropes off the ship, as the remaining enemy soldiers fell into the ocean, as Twilight had gotten the ship far away from the island. The crystal began to emit a bright purple light, and purple sparks of lightning began come out from around them, and they all exploded, and shattered into many pieces, while at the same time, tearing the entire island apart.
The blast was so strong, it picked up Twilight's ship, and any enemy ship in the area, and sent them flying backwards, at  an alarming pace.
Twilight said, "Everypony! Hold on!" As Twilight let go of the wheel, and held on to the post near her, as everypony held on to what they could as well, the ship was thrown high into the air, and made a massive splash back into the ocean, as everypony let go of they were holding onto, and got up, and looked around.
Applejack said, "It's a miracle, we didn't crash onto land or into the rocks."