Morning came early after the near-sleepless night of celebration and it took everything the more responsible mares had to wake themselves up; even more so to wake a grouchy Vinyl. Each ate a quick breakfast and took a pseudo-bath in the spring before they left the caves.
They made their way south toward Port Sarim in high spirits, Lyra and her new fiance walking closer than ever. Octavia paced herself behind them, happy for the two for taking such a grand step in their relationship, but also feeling a tinge of jealousy as well. She had long considered the possibility that Vinyl might be the one for her, though parts of her brain harshly disagreed. She sighed and decided to focus on the task at hoof rather than wrack her mind over it for the moment.
Vinyl walked beside her, though her thoughts were far away from romantic. She knew that with every step she came closer and closer to having to travel the open seas on a rocking piece of wood. She had come up with at least a dozen different excuses as to why she wouldn’t be able to board the ship when the time came, but knew that her efforts would be fruitless. If she was going to save the world, she would have to conquer her fears before they made it to town. ‘Buck.’
Redheart led the group, occasionally checking the map for any signs that they may be getting close. She focused on how they were going to afford getting passage on anything that floats with the small amount of coin they had. They would sell the extra blades that they picked up from the bandits, but it wouldn’t even come close to paying ship-fare for five.
Each continued the journey in their own little world, save for Lyra and Bon Bon who were sharing one, all the way to their first rest stop. Redheart distributed bowls to each of them while Vinyl used her magic to heat up the curry, albeit with a disdainful look.
“Ugh,” she audibly sighed to further demonstrate her unhappiness. “Curry again? I know we brought more than just that to eat. Why can’t we change it up a little?” She crossed her hooves and began pouting as Octavia shoved a bowl in front of her with a sharp glare.
“Stop the whining this instant or so help me,” she threatened. “If we don’t finish off the curry soon it will go bad, and then it will have to be tossed out.”
“Not to mention we don’t have very much money to buy more right now,” Redheart added, and what little we do have will be going towards getting a ride to Rigor Island.”
“And it’s pretty tasty, too,” said Lyra. “I may have to get Bon Bon to make some of this for me when we get back home.” She took a big bite of the spicy soup with a happy grin.
“Jeez, why don’t you all just gang up on me then,” Vinyl said as she forced herself to eat.
“I swear, Vinyl, it’s like I’m dealing with a foal,” Octavia angrily replied. “Just eat your curry and let’s go.” She closed her eyes and focused on her own meal to avoid stressing out any more over the issue. Vinyl continued to eat hers, although the recent conflict had all but spoiled her appetite.
They finished their meal in awkward silence and moved on. They kept a steady pace and remained quiet to give themselves a chance to cool off their tempers, though the midday heat’s added stress made cooling off of any kind near impossible. Lyra and Bon Bon glanced between the two feuding ponies several times, concerned for their friends and feeling a bit guilty at how happy they were.
Redheart peered over the next large hill before stopping suddenly and facing the group. “Hold up, guys. There’s something…” she started to say before being interrupted by Lyra.
“She’s right. This can’t go on if we’re going to be a team. Besides, you guys make a great couple and you really shouldn’t be fighting.”
“That’s not what…” Redheart tried again, but was cut off by Bon Bon this time.
“They’re right, you know. I know this has been stressful for us all, but we’re better than this. Can we at least try to talk it out?”
Vinyl and Octavia looked each other in the eyes for a moment. Octavia closed her eyes and sighed. “Fine, I’m sorry, okay? I’ve just been under…”
“Be quiet, you two!” Redheart yelled in a hushed voice. “What I’ve been trying to tell you is that we’re here.”
She motioned for the group to quietly join her behind the hill and take a look. Port Sarim stood close to a mile ahead of them, a decently sized town sitting right on the edge of a vast ocean. A slight breeze carried a salty scent through the air along with a refreshing coolness. There was little movement anywhere to be seen, other than small groups of large creatures patrolling both inside and outside its walls. Two large ships were docked at the moderately-sized port, each being loaded with various boxes and crates by more of the large creatures.
“What are those things,” Octavia asked in disgust as she squinted to try and make out their features. They stood about twice the height of a pony and on two legs like Lyra. Brown fur was covered nearly head to toe by metal or leather armor and they carried a variety of deadly weapons.
“Hobgoblins,” Redheart replied, trying to guesstimate their numbers in her head. “They’re a step up from kobolds and much more vicious than your average pirate. Not to mention they greatly outnumber us and are guarding our one chance at escape.”
“What happened to the ponies?” Bon Bon asked, worry evident on her face.
“They’re probably keeping some of them as hostages, am I right?” Vinyl tried assuring her. “Especially the captain and sailors!” she blurted out as realization struck. “They would need a crew and captain to make any use of the ships, so they must be keeping them somewhere down there!”
“Then that just leaves finding them and getting to the ship without being spotted.” Redheart spent several moments looking for any openings into the city and formulating backup plans if anything were to go wrong.
“What if I fly around the city?” Bon Bon asked. “I can get a much clearer view of the cities layout from up there.” She started to take off but was stopped by Redheart.
“That’s a good idea, but if you’re spotted the whole town will be put on high alert. We could wait until nightfall, but none of us are particularly good at seeing in the dark either. And seeing as we have no idea where we’re going or what we’re looking for…”Redheart trailed off as she continued going over ideas in her head.
“We just need to look for the most heavily guarded building,” Vinyls answered. “That’s where they’ll be keeping the important hostages, right? At least that’s how it goes in the movies.”
Octavia was the first to admit that it sounded like a strong possibility. The group nodded and were able to make out a large building near the harbor that fit the bill perfectly. A dozen large guards were posted outside, a few patrolling the sides and back as well.
“So how do we get them away from the building without alerting them or getting into a battle we can’t win?” Lyra asked.
“We’ll need a distraction,” was Redheart’s reply. Something big enough that all of them will leave their post to take care of without thinking about it.
“Ooh, ooh, I know what we can do.” Lyra began channeling some of her magic into a spell and suddenly Luna appeared amongst the group. Everypony fell silent at the image and then looked to Lyra for an explanation, who simply waved her arm through the princess. The image faded in and out as her arm touched it, wavering ever so slightly. “It’s a low level illusion spell! It will have to be put somewhere where they can’t touch it, but it should grab their undivided attention for a few minutes.
“That’s genius, dear,” Bon Bon kissed her cheek.
Lyra flushed and rubbed her cheek bashfully. “Aw, thanks hun. I’ll need Vinyl’s help to give it some life and keep it going long enough to be convincing. That leaves you three to sneak in there and get them to the ship.”
“We’ll use the Luna illusion to break into the city and lead the guards to a dead end, then once more to lead those guarding the building away from it and the ship.” Red added.
“It’s as good a plan as any,” Octavia concluded, putting her hoof in and motioning the others to do the same. Each did and they nodded to each other.
Four hobgoblin guards stood at the entrance to the city, each looking utterly bored and unamused by the heat beating down on them. This didn’t last long as Luna herself flew in from seemingly nowhere and landed gracefully in front of them. Her eyes began glowing white and massive amounts of energy flowed freely from her horn. The four dropped their weapons and ran screaming and shouting for reinforcements into the city.
The group moved in and immediately split up, ‘Luna’ leading the way straight for the large building for Lyra’s group with the two mares staying back far enough to stay out of sight. The other three worked their way around another part of the city, stopping and hiding as several guards poured out of buildings and went straight for the other two. The plan was working beautifully so far. The Luna image ran right past the large building, several guards on her tail; Vinyl and Lyra now on top of a building to better control her and stay out of the way at the same time.
As she passed the large building, all of the guards surrounding it took the bait and charged straight for her. As soon as the coast was clear, the other three entered the building and had their suspicions confirmed. At the back of the building several ponies sat in a locked cage, each of them staring at the group with shock and terror in their eyes. Or at least they thought it was them they were staring at, as the door behind them suddenly slammed shut and a metal bar locked the door from any possibility of opening. The three turned to see it had been a familiar face who had locked them in.
“Ironhoof,” Octavia growled through clenched teeth.