Vito’s house was completely, and utterly destroyed. The ship had popped out of the mountain, through Vito’s house and had reduced it to a pile of collapsing ruble.What was left of the house was sinking into the hole the Safeena came from. We stared at the once beautiful home in awe, while Vito was staring at it like a grave.
“My home...,” he said sadly.
Kitty came up behind him and nearly crushed his neck with a hug. “Thats enough Kitty!” he gargled.
Kitty let go of his neck and smiled. “It's okay Mr.Vito. We’ll find a new home. Oh! How about we ask Ms. Idilah to stay on the ship!” she shouted.
Vito stared at her skeptically. “I certainly hope so, considering she just destroyed my home to get it,” he said, looking at me.
It was my turn to stare at him skeptically, crossing my arms. “Oh, so its my fault you decided to build a mansion on top of a big ass warship?” I asked, annoyed.
Vito waved his claw nonchalantly. “Details, details. Anyway, you're going to need me,” he said confidently.
I raised my eyebrow in curiosity. “Am I?” I asked coyly.
Vito gave me a cocky smile. “You definitely are. I know you must be hunting the lost city of Omar and you're not going to find it unless you find the Relics. And aside from Jill, no one knows where they are,” he said proudly.
I sighed, exasperated. “Man, I don't even want to know what the hell you're talking about.”
At that point, Vito lost his thunder and looked completely confused. “You mean...You're not looking the treasure of Omar?”
I waved my hand dismissively. “The only thing I’m looking for is my brother. And as much fun as an ancient treasure most likely filled with traps is, reviving my former womb-mate is more important,” I replied flatly.
Vito shook his head in disbelief. “so you're going to tell me,” he said. “That you aren't going to look for the biggest treasure trove in history, just because you're trying to bring someone back to life?” he asked, confused.
“Yep,” I replied using the same tone.
Vito bursted out laughing, falling on his back and hugging his bandage. Crow ran into the wide doorway, panting. “Idilah! You have to see this!” he shouted.
I sighed. “Yes Crow, the kitchen is amazing. Now if you don't mind, I’m in the middle of-”
Crow shook his head. “Not that! I’m talking about the top deck, come on!” yelled before running back down the hall. I groaned and walked out the door, Kitty and Vito following me.
After realizing that we were on the Safeena, everyone had spit up to explore the ship. After a couple of hours, we had discovered that the ship was huge. The ship consisted of four decks, excluding the bridge, all connected by three separate white polls of magic that took you to whatever deck you asked for.
Deck one was the combat deck, which consisted of two rooms; the main deck, which was filled with a dozen mounted ballistae on each side of the deck pointing outside and two more in front of the deck, next to a long map table. The other room looked more of a closet than anything, considering it was to the side of the stairwells. But what it lacked in size, it made up for in usefulness.
The other room was basically a mini armory. The walls held rows of ancient scimitars that almost covered the room. There were also a bunch of ponyquins covered in leather armor. Along with all of that was the main attraction; the blacksmith’s forge. It was as you’d expect it to be, a cold pit of coals and a chute to influence the heat of them. As cool as the room was, I couldn't help but feel like I had stepped into the Tardis, because the room looked twice as big as it looked from the outside. In fact, the same could be said about the rest of the ship.
Deck two was the crew quarters/ mess hall/ med bay. This deck consisted of 5 rooms, all separated by the huge mess hall and kitchen. Three large rooms filled wall to wall with wooden bunk beds were to the left of the mess, while the med bay was to the right.
The mess hall was a long room that was filled with long rows of tables and chairs, much like a cafeteria at a school. A wide array of stoves, fridges, and sinks were lined up behind a counter running along the far wall allowing meals to be stored and cooked on board. How the hell ancient ponies knew about fridges is a mystery. The med-bay was a single room close to the stairs, containing 5 beds and enough space and cabinets to store a pharmacy.
A single room that was at the back of the deck was small compared to the other rooms but had probably one of the largest beds I’ve ever seen. The sheets were black and looked like pure silk. What made it even better was the wide window that gave a view to the world and it was right behind the bed. Yup, thats mine.
Deck three was the engine room. What exactly powers a giant ancient warship and keeps it in the air? A giant ball of freaking heat of course. Seriously, there was only one room in the deck and and it was mostly taken by a ball of red hot heat the size of a boulder. The ball took up most of the floor but didn't radiate heat from the observation platform at the entrance of the room. Yeah don't know how that works and I’m not going to ask.
Deck four was the cargo bay. Which, because of the fact that this ship hasn’t been used in over 2000 years, was empty. What was amazing though was the doors on the floor of the bay, which was opened by a steam powered hydraulics system that lowers two giant doors on the bottom of the ship. Again, not even going to ask.
Crow led us to the bridge, which I had yet to see. The bridge or top deck, was almost half the size of Dustown and the mast was twice the size of Nightheart’s mother. Despite the fact that we're on a floating airship, it was directed by a sail. Like the combat deck, it had a dozen cannons on each side. Crow was leading us to the helm of the ship and I finally got to see the figurehead.
Considering the ship’s name was, The Lion Tamer’s Ship (horrible name by the way), the fact that the figurehead was a giant lion head was not surprising. What was surprising, was the fact that it was rubbernecking its head around, talking to Gh0st and Nightheart. What. The. Fuck.
My mouth hung open loosely.
“Ah. Finally come to see me Jann,” the lion head said, annoyed. The head was made of pure gold but somehow, its long hair swayed with the wind. Its eyes were blood red and it had a slightly feminine voice.
Everybody on the deck was speechless and didn't move. Nightheart was the first to move, walking closer to the figure head. “What are you?” he asked lamely.
A loud sound that resembled a groan sounded from the figurehead. “Why, oh why would you awaken me without knowing my name?” it asked, clearly annoyed. “But the griffon and Jann know. Oh yes, the Jann knows everything,” she continued sarcastically.
I shook my head and looked at Vito. He looked just as confused as me, but we knew the answer to at least one thing. I stepped up to the figurehead tentatively. “Your name is Safeena, right?” Vito asked.
The entire ship rumbled with laughter, almost knocking us off our feet. “Oh how I hate that name. Burijas might be a god of war, but he does retain a sense of humor. No, my name is not that ridiculous pet title. No, a name is what you are, your existence put into simple letters. And I am not some circus ship. I am Sheytan! The Sheytan,” she said proudly.
My head started throbbing and I clutched my it in pain. Everyone gathered around me and I had to almost fight the urge to fall to my knees. Random images that I couldn't make out started appearing in my head. I remembered working on a religion project for foreign studies back in highschool and got assigned Saudi Arabia. I spent almost three days learning about the various djinns of the Quron. Janns, sheytans, afrits. All a part of the djinn hierarchy and all considered chaotic in different ways. Sheytans were a djinn high up in the food chain. Very powerful. Which really doesn't explain how the hell one was the figurehead to a warship.
I lowered my hands and looked around to see everyone's worried faces. I smiled and looked at Sheytan, who was still waiting on my answer. “Your a Sheytan. A djinn high up in Burijas’s legion. A spirit of destruction capable of destroying whole cities without even thinking about it. A good question is, why are you a head of a ship?” I asked.
Sheytan chuckled. “That is something I ask myself many times while being stuck in that infernal mountain. Burijas put me is that prison because I disobeyed him and ruined his favorite town,” she replied.
Nightheart shook his head in disbelief. “And this somehow justified turning you into a ship and putting you in a mountain?” he asked.
“They had the best curry in this dimension,” she said flatly.
It was my turn to shake my head in disbelief. A Sheytan spirit. Bound to a warship...In Equestria...
I rubbed my temples in frustration. Oh, I can just tell nothings’ going to get normal around me anytime soon, I thought. Well, we now have two veterans, a stitched up cat and a talking ship. What to do next...
“Uh, guys...I think you need to come see this. Like, now!” yelled Gh0st from the port side of the ship. I ran over to him to see what he was looking at and saw a billow of smoke coming from Dustown’s direction.
“Um, Vito...Where exactly did you tell Jill to go when she was looking for the ship?” I asked, not taking my eyes off the pillar of smoke.
“Oh shit.” he replied in a low voice. “I may be said to look in a dragon’s den not far from here,” he said in one breath. Nightheart glared at him. “Not your den! Another den! One, with a very angry dragon that I hoped would kill her,” he said nervously.
I facepalmed and turned to Sheytan. “We need to go to the smoke, are you willing to get us there?” I asked the figurehead.
Sheytan started to make a purring sound that vibrates the whole deck. “But of course Jann.Whatever you need Jann. Please let something kill me so I may get a chance to negotiate with Burijas about my punishment,” she said dejectedly before leaning her head to the right, along with the entire ship. We all grabbed onto the railing and held on as Sheytan took us to the burning Dustown.
* * *
Let me be blunt, everything was on fire. The whole town was engulfed in flames, griffons, ponies, and D-dogs running in random directions in a panic and I couldn't see any signs of what was left of the kings forces. Most of the airships that were once docked were gone, all except a single small ship. It looked like a wooden house boat but was tricked out with metal bits that sort of looked like thrusters. A roar beckoned me to looked towards the center of town and the biggest dragon I’ve ever seen. The dragon was black, had eyes redder than the sun and its body was as wide as Sheytan. It stood on all fours, smashing buildings and burning anyone dumb enough come into his vision.
Sheytan parked herself next to the port and we all stood on port-side, staring at the destruction and mostly at the huge dragon causing it. I stared at the dragon with a smile on my face thinking, I’m going to name you Steven.
“Okay, heres the plan,” I started. “Gh0st and Crow, you're on crowd control. Get anyone in the city out. If they’re anywhere near the ship-,” Sheytan groaned, interrupting me. “I’m sorry. Anywhere near Sheytan, grab them and get them on board,” I ordered.
I turned to Mastodon, Vito, Kitty and Nightheart. Vito and Mastodon looked horrified. Mastodon kept muttering under his breath, while Vito and Kitty couldn't take their eyes off the fire. I couldn't even begin to know what they're going through. From how much protection was put into just the marketplace, I could tell that they cared for this town.
Nightheart on the other hand looked so excited, he was almost bouncing with a wide smile on his face. I ignored his eagerness and continued to give out orders. “Nightheart, Vito, you two are with me, along with Kitty. Mastodon, go with the boys and find Herpy. I know we’re going to need him,” I ordered.
Mastodon looked almost relieved. “Herpy probably still hasn't left the house yet. He’s been itching to test the fireproofing agent he’s been working on,” he said, still staring at the burning town.
I turned my head to the Sheytan, who was staring at the fires with curiosity. Considering the fact that she’s been underground for X amount of years, I’d think she consider grass interesting. “She, you feel up to the fight?” I asked.
Sheytan chuckled. “I am a warship made to fight other ships. What makes you think I can or want to fight?” she asked.
“Because you are a sheytan; a force of nature, a creature more chaotic than the air itself. A demon so high up in the eternal legion, Burijas personally imprisoned you for another purpose. I know he wouldn't leave you without something that could help. Thats not what generals do,” I replied, giving her a clever smirk.
She chuckled again, this time flexing her jaw. “I think I may have something, but I need time.”
I smiled and turned back to the group. “Alright boys, and cat. Objective is to kill that dragon and evac civilians! LET’S MOVE!”