Into the Storm: The Flight of Firefly

by Firesight


The War Begins: 7 - A Star to Sail By

Once more I must pause this tale to gather myself. But before I complete it, I wish it known, Ambassador, that your tactics to take down Fort Spur and all within it were superb.

‘Tis certain that no matter what plans I or anypony else came up with, ‘twould have been for naught had it not been for Windshear’s sacrifice and the surprise appearance of the retired Guardspony veterans, who suffered terribly that day but proved the old Armored Guard adage—’once a Guardspony, always a Guardspony’.

—Wind Whistler

You flatter me and honor them, esteemed friend, but as I reread the previous chapter, I do feel compelled to correct you on one point:

‘Tis not true that I selected Centurion Pylea for her ability to counter Windshear. She was in fact not the original choice to lead that raid; she was forced into the role as Centurion Hylias, the Talaeus I had personally selected to lead the attacks, was unavailable due to the early outbreak of war. He was in fact the one I chose to fight the Sergeant Major for the very simple reason that he fought the same way with the same strengths, and thus, if he could defeat your best on his own terms and in his own style of fighting, the victory would be all the more momentous for it.

Would the outcome have been any different had Hylias been present? ‘Tis no way to know, but I do note that he survived the entire war and later succeeded me in command of the Gryphon Kingdom’s armed forces; a post he holds to this day.

—Layan Kaval

I stand corrected, Ambassador. I will finish this tale now, and know again that your forces fought superbly and were in many ways only undone by happenstance.

—Wind Whistler

I cannot but disagree, worthy foe. Fortune favors the brave and the bold, and ‘twas that which you and all ponies present showed in great quantities that day. ‘Twas a triumph worthy of remembrance and song, and you should not disparage your own role in it. For as you yourself stated... had you not come up with the plan and tactics you did, we would have won the day and Windshear’s sacrifice would have been in vain.

—Layan Kaval


Meeting Engagement

Deprived of their mages, the battle for Fort Spur was now fought on far more even terms.

But even terms did not guarantee our victory, even with finally having the magical advantage. Gold-hued Knight armor was enchanted, same as Guardspony armor, rendering their wearers resistant if not immune to unicorn spellcasting. The senior NCOs amongst them most of all; more than once I saw a magical beam deflect off a chestplate and its originator take a crossbow bolt for their trouble.

For all we already accomplished, the most we could say was that the battle hung in the balance and we were in a meeting engagement at best. For despite having lost their commander, their mages, and by then over a third of their assault force, the gryphons were still fighting and fighting hard; still trying to win the day and complete the destruction of our base along with its contingent of Guardspony trainers and recruits.

The First Spear led her decimated force well in Pylea’s absence, the Knights were still our equals, and the Ravens were bloodying us badly with their hit-and-fly attacks, appearing and then disappearing with a dead recruit or two in their wake. And I might have been one of them as I took my squad of eight recruits into action, engaging an isolated group of Knights as they flew in a group of three over the Fort Spur battlefield looking for grounded targets of opportunity; isolated earth ponies and unicorns they could pick off.

When we challenged them instead, they retreated before us in what I first thought was recognition of our superior numbers and speed, flying low over Ironsides’ headquarters bunker, which had already been captured by the Ravens. I noted that fact idly as we pursued them, closing the distance quickly, but did not take it to the conclusion I should have as a group of four grey-dyed gryphon assassins suddenly burst out of the building beneath us as we passed, two targeting me as the squad leader.

My heart stopped at that moment. I had just enough time to see them, recognize the threat, realize my own foalish mistake and that the Knights had led us into a Raven ambush… and that as quickly as they could strike, I could not possibly stop or evade them. I was as good as dead at that moment; methinks they had me and at least half the squad in their sights…

Agent of Shadow

Until suddenly there was a blinding burst of light as a flash gem went off followed by a scream. My squad took evasive action and by the time our eyes cleared the two lead ravens were staggered in the air by a pair of black-hilted throwing blades that had penetrated their leather armor and impaled their chests, sending them back to the ground. The rear two were then engaged by my savior, a pegasus mare wearing a black bodysuit and mask with equally black wingblade harness and a series of stilettoes belted to her chest.

A one-on-two blade fight against Ravens was normally a losing and very lethal proposition, but she was easily their equal; though not immediately able to best them she held them both at bay until we could circle back, at which point the Ravens recognized the worsening odds and quickly retreated back into the building through the skylight whence they had come. The newcomer tossed in an explosive gem after them which blew out the windows of the room and would have left the Ravens dazed and deafened even if they survived.

I recognized her by her fluid movements and favorite combinations instantly, having sparred with her a hundred times in the past during my pre-basic training, and the realization brought tears to my eyes.

“M… mother?” I called to her. “Mother???” I asked again as my squadmates stared stunned, befuddled by their close call and my reaction.

“Sloppy, my daughter…” she admonished me without any hint of emotion, all business as she removed her black mask to reveal… the blue-furred and red-maned face of my mother, Silent Night, a retired member of Equestria’s own warriors of shadow, the Black Lances. In hindsight, ‘twas impossible that she not be present that day, given our home was just outside the base; the same home she had raised me in and where I still lived before basic had begun.

“Reunions can wait! Take me to your commander, now!” she ordered me not as mother to daughter but as Sergeant to subordinate, and as badly as I wanted to hug her and collapse crying in her arms, I recognized ‘twas not the time and obeyed, escorting her back to Ironsides. He was behind a cordon of Guardsponies and unicorn shields, trying to coordinate the counterattack with several trainers and recently arrived Guardspony veterans.

“Sir!” I saluted, noting his eyes go wide as he recognized my mother’s uniform. “This is my mother! She led the outside attack!” I belatedly remembered seeing her at the front of the formation as they charged in, kicking myself for not making the connection before.

He looked her over from head to toe. “And you are...?”

In response, she removed a patch on her shoulders showing the subdued seven stripes of her Aerial Corps rank, three upright Vs topped with four ‘rockers’. “Sky Sergeant Silent Night, former commander of Lance Team Two, at your service, First Lieutenant,” she said with a salute. “Sorry we couldn’t get here to help sooner, but we had to arm ourselves and organize first.”

He stared at her in some wonder as he returned the salute. “Methinks you saved us, Sky Sergeant. But ‘tis certain we’re still in a fight here! We’re starting to drive back the Knights, but the Ravens are killing us!” His words were punctuated by a sudden boom of thunder as pegasi tried to bring lightning back into play; such tactics were usually good for only one or two kills before accurate crossbow fire or marauding Ravens either slew the improvised storm teams or forced them to flee their clouds. “Since I assume you’re more familiar with them, perchance you can help...?”

“‘Twould be my pleasure, sir…” She bared her teeth and grinned. “Methinks the Ravens are old friends of mine, but not even I can take them alone. I will need some help and somepony familiar with room clearing tactics to take the lead with me…” she said, leaving me with some new appreciation for her and perchance where I had gotten some my own tactical acumen from.

Orders were exchanged, my suggestion for who best to accompany her was accepted, and a unicorn trainer then teleported away, to return with… a familiar earth pony mare whose mouth-wielded short sword was bloodied. Her pale gold eyes instantly locked onto Mother’s black uniform, and she immediately came to attention and saluted in something I hadn’t seen from her before—genuine respect.

My mother returned the gesture and looked her over. “PSD?” she guessed.

“Emerald Edge,” the earth pony mare replied in visible pride, tossing her sword up in the air with a flick of her head and then shifting herself slightly so it landed neatly in its side-mounted scabbard. The Emerald Edge was a very advanced knife fighting and threat detection course the PSD gave to select members, enabling them to conduct hostage rescues as well as spot and slay assassins like the Ravens quickly; ‘twas given its name from the award for passing it, which was an emerald-hilted blade.

“Truly? Show me!” Mother directed, tossing the other mare a stiletto off her chest belt, putting spin on it to make it difficult to catch.

Despite that, Tulip Vale plucked it in midair, spun it with dizzying speed around her hoof first in one direction, then the other. Whilst she did so, mother suddenly drew one of her own blades and lunged with it at her repeatedly, but the former PSD agent neatly parried each thrust. Their duel lasted less than ten seconds before the earth pony mare made a sudden strike that knocked mother's blade into the air, disarming her to the surprise of all present. She then caught it and threw it with uncanny accuracy, impaling a nearby gryphon corpse in an eye. “Satisfied, Sky Sergeant?” she asked, and for the first time, I saw her crack a grin; methinks she was actually enjoying herself.

“Very,” Mother answered with a nod, wearing a sly grin of her own. “The two of us will take point as we clear the buildings of them. So here is what we will do…” she began to outline a plan for dealing with the Ravens, one that even I would never have come up with, leaving me in awe of her anew.

“Wow, Wind Whistler…” one of my recruit squadmates told me in an aside; ‘tis worth noting that he was one of the stallions that had been tormenting me at the start of training. “I wish I had a mother like that…”


Turn of the Tide

But two minutes later, my squad was in the air again, covered from above by the remaining recruits and trainers and below by unicorns and earth ponies advancing in platoon formation, longbows and crossbows keeping the Knights at bay.

They knew something was up, but also knew better than to challenge our improvised phalanx without a massed force they no longer had, the appearance of veterans from outside the base forcing them to fight many small battles all over the far-flung fort. They were grinding down the veterans steadily but taking casualties of their own; methinks they had lost over forty percent of their two-and-a-half-century force by then… and likely inflicted half again that number on us. Soldier for soldier, they were our equals, but the initial advantages of shock and surprise had gone a long way towards whittling us down and we were still outnumbered.

The reason we required cover was our cargo. Tulip Vale and several other earth ponies were being carried by my squad, greatly limiting our aerial mobility and leaving us vulnerable to blades and crossbow bolts. A fact the Ravens entrenched in the Headquarters building tried to take advantage of by opening up with a hail of lethal projectiles. Most were deflected by shields, but they had some anti-aura bolts as well, and at least two pegasi were knocked from the sky to be immediately tended by Bone Deep, who proved his worth as both a healer and warrior that day.

As we neared the bunker, the unicorns opened up with their spellcasting, firing flares and arrows in through windows to blind the Ravens and force them back. ‘Twas not our intent, however, to go in through obvious openings but only to draw attention to them.

When we were overhead, we released the earth ponies from ten yards above the roof, Tulip Vale in front. ‘Twas a fall that would injure all but earth ponies, and ‘twas in turn the reason they’d been selected for the strike. As I watched, Tulip Vale tucked her head, rolled and crashed at an angle right through the roof shoulder-first along with her comrades, their heavy armored bodies, height of the fall and speed with which we’d released them providing the weight and momentum needed to break through and surprise the Ravens within. Mother promptly tucked her wings and dove in after them, familiar with room-clearing tactics as she was, and took the lead beside the former PSD agent.

I only caught bits and pieces of the battle through the windows and skylights, but what I saw was exceptional enough. Whirling knives, clashing blades, thrown stilettos and even some thrown furniture were intermixed with the occasional flash, explosive or shock gem tossed by both sides. A burst of wind from Silent Night sent one shock gem back into the possession of its owner who was swiftly slain, and the tag-team of Tulip Vale and mother proved very efficient at clearing the Ravens as the earth ponies behind them covered the pair of mares with crossbows and sheer strength, one stallion charging right through a wall to take out the Raven eagless behind it and another bucking a heavy desk right into the head of a Raven tiercel hiding there, crushing his skull.

The improvised tactics worked brilliantly; they drove the Ravens before them and slew a dozen between them, and within minutes the remaining six were fleeing the building to be cut down in the open air as Mother and Tulip Vale emerged out the exit they’d left. The former was untouched, but the latter...

“Are you hurt, recruit?” Mother asked the earth pony mare, whose face was singed from a flash gem. She had also taken a sword slash right through the side of her training armor and a kunai to the foreleg, bleeding profusely from both. And yet, methinks she looked almost… happy.

“I’m hurt, but I don’t care!” Tulip Vale confirmed, her eyes glittering, waving off Bone Deep. “Ten years I’ve waited for this day! Ten years I’ve waited to finally fight! I’m wounded and yet… methinks I’ve never felt so alive!” she told mother, plucking a discarded Raven long knife and experimentally spinning it, finding its balance good and then resheathing it to clip to her armor. “As long as there’s more to fight, I’m not stopping, ma’am!”

“So be it,” Mother said in genuine respect, passing her more stilettos as well. “Then let us continue…” she said as we headed for the staff barracks next to clear it in turn.


In hindsight, methinks ‘twas the retaking of Ironsides’ Headquarters that marked the final turning point of the battle.

Our forces now fully organized and tactics now clear, we started driving them back on the skies and on the ground, forcing their remaining Ravens to ground with massed fire or numbers and then sending in armored earth ponies led by Tulip Vale to clear them. The same strategy worked for the sky gryphon Wind Knights as well; we used wind and lighting to force them down where they became far easier prey for earth ponies, whose strength and stamina told. Even Ironsides got into the act; he slew several Knights personally with spears and his sword, taking multiple wounds but never faltering.

In the end, the one major gap in the gryphon strategy was that they had no earth gryphons either amongst the Knights or Ravens. In fairness, ‘twas by necessity as earth gryphons had not the flying range that sky gryphons did, so they could not join the attack. Nevertheless, ‘twas to our adversaries loss, as their strength and heavy weapons might have been given our earth ponies far more trouble in ground combat. As it stood, once we drove them to ground, the advantage was ours. Still, the fight lasted for nearly another hour and was not decided until a reinforced battalion from the Aerial Corps 2nd Division, hastily dispatched from Outpost Tau in Coltumbia, descended on the base.

They dove out of the sun on the gryphons, and though they were not as good as the Knights as they took nearly double the casualties they inflicted, their numbers told and within ten minutes, the First Spear gave the order to retreat. The few dozen gryphon warriors who remained then fled for the coast... and the Battle of Fort Spur was over.

Still Standing

If ‘twas a victory, methinks it did not feel like it at the time. When all was said and done, I finally did collapse in my mother’s forelegs, wailing like a foal, all the fears and emotions I’d kept under tight seal that entire time finally bursting free. The others were little better as we mourned our losses and began to pick up the pieces, many of my fellow recruits openly sobbing over the bodies of their trainers and new comrades.

Ironsides let us have our moment of grief and reunion, but finally directed us to set defense and start cleaning up, the base soon garrisoned by an Aerial Corps and Army battalion. The Gryphons would not take us by surprise again, but their one attack had done plenty of damage.

We had won, but in truth, there was little for us to celebrate. Sergeant Major Windshear was dead along with the majority of our trainers, most of the base lay in ruins, and over half of our recruit class were casualties, our mettle tested in a way basic training could not. And yet, in the end... we had not only survived the onslaught, we had nearly annihilated the two hundred fifty-strong attacking force, and Fort Spur still stood. Our losses were heavy, but we had just fought the first solo action of the Armored Guard in half a century and were still standing at the end.

For now, that would have to be victory enough.


I thank you for relating this tale, my sister, and I grieve for what you witnessed and not being there to help. But I am gratified you were able to relate this in full over the previous chapters. You’ve earned a reprieve from remembering those early hours, though I will call on you again soon for a scene I’m sure you can guess. For now, though, I will turn the quill over to another pony near and dear to both of us; one without whom, I would not be your sister…

One without whom I might well not be here to write this.

—Firefly

Methinks you exaggerate my importance, my daughter… but I’ll accept the praise nonetheless.

To those who read this, know that it took much cajoling on Firefly’s part for me to pick up the quill even though she had offered it to me before. ‘Tis no exaggeration that I dislike remembering those early days of war, given the horrors we saw. However, my daughter has reminded me that her story is incomplete without the perspective of others. That my role, and indeed that of the much-maligned Royal Navy, was integral to the war effort. So, with reluctance, I now take the quill in her stead.

I am Admiral Tailwind, and at the break of war, I was a Commander in the Royal Navy, serving as first officer of the EAS Loyalty, one of our most advanced naval airships of the time. We were not present for the initial strike as the three-ship battle group I belonged to was on maneuvers at Stalliongrad when the first blows of the war were exchanged. Fortunately, we were not targeted by any gryphon groups when the war started, twelve hundred miles away and off the beaten battle path for the time being. On the other hoof, this meant we were rather unaware of what was going on for a time, as we were out of contact with Naval headquarters in Canterlot. ‘Twas certain that would change quickly, though.…

—Admiral Tailwind
Commander, Royal Navy
Royal Navy Base Polaris
Canterlot


Royal Navy Base Capricorn
Stalliongrad
September 1st, 1139 AC
1550 hours

September 1st dawned a normal and uneventful day for Royal Navy Battle Group Four.

Nearly twelve hundred miles from the pony/gryphon border as we were, there was no sign of anything wrong at first, nor any communications from Canterlot, though I do remember hearing from somepony in the communications center that we missed the normal morning message from them.

Though unusual, we thought little of it at the time. As mid-afternoon was reached, several bridge officers, myself included, chatted up a storm as we entered the bridge of the Loyalty for the first time in several days, the ship taking on supplies as we prepared for an exercise. Whilst I had oft advocated the replenishment of the Navy’s forces, the reputation Luna’s former service had for ‘cushiness’ had also led to rather lax standards for decorum and discipline, much to my chagrin, and too oft these rare drills only went to show how far we had fallen since the days of the Celestial War.

As we took our positions on the bridge (aside from Captain Shady, who had gone to her cabin to deal with paperwork), Ensign Kusema studied the communications console with a small frown, holding one hoof to the gem on her left earring. A very rare Zebra citizen of Equestria, her ear gem was tied to her console, allowing her to hear incoming messages privately and relay information.

“Commander,” she addressed me in fluent unaccented Equish, a product of having lived in Equestria all her life, not indulging in the rhyming speak her fellow Zebras were oft said to. In truth, I admired her as I knew full well the casual disdain and occasional outright bigotry non-ponies tended to garner, or even those just not coming from proper birth or breeding. I am ashamed to say ‘twas one of the reasons it took me so long to accept Firefly, orphaned spitfire that she was, believing her beneath my daughter when the truth was… she was above all of us, needing only our daughter’s friendship to flourish. “There seems to have been a good deal of activity on the crystal communications all of a sudden. I’m having trouble making sense of it all, there’s so much ‘chatter’.”

I knew that ‘chatter’ was used to refer to an excess of activity on the military communications gems. The term was used almost exclusively by Navy communications officers. “Print out a readable version, Ensign,” I said patiently. “It will be less cluttered that way.”

Hitting a few buttons on her console, Kusema began doing so, the nearby telegraph beginning to churn out a length of parchment with dots and dashes on it. Our Neighponese helm officer, Lieutenant Junior Grade Sora chuckled. “For all the complaints the other services give us, I have to admit, the Navy has some very nice toys,” he remarked in his surprisingly deep voice.

“Aye,” Kusema said with a nod. “’Tis far more than I expected when I signed up for the service.”

“There is a reason for that,” I broke in, watching the parchment grow with a frown, a long series of dots and dashes ‘twould fall to me to translate before presenting it to Captain Shady. “Because the Navy is severely depleted when compared to the other branches of service, the Equestrian Intelligence Service’s Office of Magical Research uses us to test experimental equipment and magic before putting it to use for all branches. Our communications gems, our weapons, a good deal of this airship set the military standard after its successful testing.”

“Huh,” Sora mused. “I suppose that makes some sense. Test new things with a few expendable and useless ponies first before presenting it to the real soldiers, eh?” he chuckled and shook his head. “‘Tis nice to know where we stand in the general scheme of things.”

“At least we’re useful somehow…” I sighed as I took the long roll of parchment when ‘twas apparent there was no more forthcoming. Using my knowledge of Marse Code, I scanned over it, taking in the highlights… then paused, went back, and began reading more thoroughly. As I did, my alarm and trepidation grew. It must have been visible on my face as well, because the other bridge crew were getting nervous.

“Commander…?” Kusema asked, wary of the look on my face. “Your face just fell. Is all not well?”

I wasn’t sure if she meant that to rhyme, since unlike the stereotypes of her kind she normally didn’t, but such questions would have to wait. Rather than reply, I tucked the parchment under my good wing and bolted for the bridge door, heading at a brisk trot for the captain’s cabin.


Master and Commander

Before continuing, ‘tis worth noting that although I am a pegasus, I cannot fly. Or more precisely, I lost my ability to fly after an accident that severely wounded my right wing, leaving naught but a useless limb. ‘Tis a burden I have long since come to terms with, though I admit to this day I still miss the rush of the wind and the feel of the skies.

‘Twas times like this I missed it even more, just for the additional time it took me to get to a destination by walking and the minute it took to reach the cabin felt like a small eternity. Still, I took a moment to make myself presentable before knocking, smoothing out my deep blue uniform and straightening my rank insignia. “Come in,” came the voice from the other side.

I opened the door, nodding in deference to the pink unicorn inside. “Captain,” I said, stepping inside and then coming to attention. “Urgent message from Canterlot.”

Shady, despite her name, was rather brightly colored. A pink coat and yellow chartreuse mane framed her bright green eyes, which frowned at me. “Tailwind?” She looked at the very long parchment under my wing as I closed the door. “I wasn’t expecting any communications.”

“None of us expected this,” I muttered, as I put it on her desk and unfurled it fully. “You might want to start from the beginning.”

It took a few minutes before Shady was done reviewing it; when she was, she looked ashen-faced under her pink coat, sitting back heavily and visibly shaking. “By Celestia, how could this have happened?” she echoed my own thoughts. “After what the princess did to them, I thought the gryphons had been chased off for good!”

I gave her a gimlet eye at that. “Even faced with Celestia’s wrath, didst you truly believe the Empire would leave us alone?”

In answer, she could only give a resigned sigh. “No, methinks not. I was just being optimistic… for once.”

I sighed myself at that. Having gotten to know her better during my time serving with and under her, I knew that Shady had gained the reputation of being a ‘jinx’ prior to joining the Navy. Bad luck had followed in her wake until she joined the service… or perchance, I should say it forced her into the service, as the Equestrian Army rejected her and despite her obvious intelligence she couldn’t seem to hold onto any other job for more than a few months.

Her reputation had badly affected her self-esteem, and ‘twas something of a project of mine to keep her out of the depression she’d been in when I first met her. ‘Twas in part due to my efforts that she’d risen to Captain in the first place; though she was my junior in terms of age, she had a sort of spirit and drive to her that others in the Navy lacked. ‘Twas that spirit, even in the face of the constant misfortune she seemed to suffer, that I hoped would rekindle the Navy’s flame of glory.

“Shady, whatever you may be thinking, this is not your fault,” I said emphatically, stomping my hoof on her desk. “The gryphons are back, and they have brought not just war but an entire clan of dragons with them. Celestia is trapped and our border forces are being overrun. We need to act!”

“You say that as if it’s easy. But methinks not. Just what wouldst you propose we do, Tailwind?” she asked. “Ignoring the fact we have no orders, we are far from ready for combat. We lack nearly half our maximum allotment of weapons and personnel. At least a third of the ballistae don’t function, and our pegasus air wing is at best half-trained. We cannot stop a gryphon legion, let alone a dragon clan, on our own, not even with the Duty and the Vigil supporting us.” She referred to the other two ships in our group, a pair of ancient fast-attack gunboats refitted with modern equipment. However, as they possessed no pegasus squadrons of their own, they were primarily meant to launch hit-and-run raids or challenge larger airships by ramming them with their reinforced prow.

“No, we cannot,” I agreed. “But as Commodore Catamaran is absent, command of the group falls to you. And I propose we can aid our fellow armed forces in another way.” I pointed out one segment of the scroll in particular. “The Aerial Corps’ Outpost Epsilon has repulsed a Talon attack. More strikes are expected, and ‘tis certain they will consist of Knights and potentially Ravens. Epsilon will not survive, unless we get them out of there quickly.”

She gave me a gimlet eye of her own at that. “And the fact that your adopted daughter is in command of said outpost has nothing to do with this recommendation?” she asked dryly.

“Mayhap it does,” I admitted, “but there are other reasons. Outpost Gamma is under heavy siege at the moment, and more troops arrive to reinforce that siege by the hour; trying to rescue anypony there would be suicide. The other border outposts are likewise under heavy attack or have fallen. Epsilon, Omega and Gamma are the only ones left standing, but Epsilon is not under attack at the moment, is closest and has fewer numbers of gryphon troops to fight through. Methinks we can reach and evacuate them far easier than we could Gamma.”

Shady steepled her hooves and looked at me sternly. “Let me summarize what you are suggesting. You are asking me to, on my own authority, take half-ready ships crewed by combat green forces over twelve hundred miles into a war zone. You are asking me to risk their lives and that of the entire battle group without orders, potentially losing three badly needed airships in the process. And you are asking me to do this… for the sake of potentially rescuing one pony. Do not deny that your daughter is your primary motivation here, Tailwind,” she challenged me, to which I could only bow my head.

“I do not deny it, Captain. ‘Twould be the basest of lies to say otherwise. But it does not change the fact that Epsilon is in range whilst the other surviving border bases are not. It does not change the fact that they and they alone can be saved by us. That if we leave now, we might be able to get there in enough time for it to matter,” I countered. “I am asking you to do this not just for my daughter, but to rescue a battalion of badly needed soldiers. If we succeed, we not only save them but in the process strike a blow for not just the Royal Navy, but for all Equestria. And even if I do have a somewhat selfish motivation for suggesting this…” I raised my eyes to her, letting her see the pain and fear in them. “Wouldst you do any less, were it your daughter in danger?”

She leaned back in her chair, eyes closed, as she blew out a long breath. She considered my words carefully for several interminable seconds, perchance even half a minute. And then her eyes opened.

A Captain’s Decision

Her horn glowed, as her closet opened and her uniform floated out of it, pulled to her. She slipped on the white coat, buttoning up all the way to the top. Next came the cap, which she set on her head firmly behind her horn. Then her naval saber, which she strapped to her side. Finally came her signature item, though twasn’t uniform standard; a pair of shaded spectacles that she slipped over her eyes, matching the ones that made up her cutie mark. I had never asked what her mark meant, as it had never seemed relevant. The spectacles were the one thing of her past life she’d fought tooth and hoof to bring with her into her new life in the Navy; a memento of happier times, she’d said, even if she’d never related the tale behind them.

Grabbing the message scrolls in her magic, she stepped over to the door and opened it. I followed her to the bridge, where the other officers quickly came to attention. “Captain on the Bridge!” they said in unison, surprised by her appearance; ‘twas no lie to say that seeing anypony in formal uniform on a Navy ship was a rare occurrence in this day and age.

Walking to her captain’s chair, Shady sat down, and tapped a blue crystal on it. “Bridge to Engineering,” she said. “Get our engines warmed up and propellers up to speed. We need to be ready to leave by dusk.”

“Dusk?! That’s just three hours away!” came the accented reply of our chief engineer, a Shetland stallion named Flash Fix. “We weren’t supposed to be ready for flight until tomorrow! Are ye daft, Captain?!” We all waited a moment, knowing what was coming. “But fer ye, Ah’ll have them ready in two,” he added cheekily.

“Good stallion,” Shady said with a small smile as she cut the connection. She turned next to our pegasus navigator. “Lieutenant Azimuth, plot us a course to Aerial Corps Outpost Epsilon on the Gryphon frontier, best possible speed for the entire group.”

Instead of immediately obeying, he blinked. “I’m sorry… Outpost Epsilon, ma’am?” he repeated. “But that’s…” his voice trailed off at the look Shady gave him.

“Must I repeat myself, Lieutenant?” She pinned him with a stare. “You have your orders.”

“Aye-aye, ma’am!” he replied, pulling out some charts with his wings to begin his calculations.

“Ensign Kusema,” Shady said next, “contact the Duty and the Vigil. Tell them to get prepared to leave by nightfall. Instruct them to load as many military supplies as possible and to ready as many of their weapons as they can.” She wrote out a quick note with her orders on it and signed her name to it, adding a magical seal to make it official.

“Yes, ma’am,” Kusema replied in some confusion, turning back to her own console.

“Thank you. And once you’re done with that, inform the crew that all leaves are cancelled effective immediately, and that all those currently on leave recalled. Send messages to all Stalliongrad communications offices to spread word that they are to report back at once, or they will be left behind,” she further instructed, the unusual orders only causing consternation among the bridge crew to grow further as she wrote out another missive and passed it to the communications station.

“Understood ma’am,” the Zebra mare replied warily as she accepted the second note.

“Very well. And one more thing, Ensign,” the Captain said.

“Ma’am?” Kusema asked uncertainly.

Shady sucked in a deep breath before letting it out. “Tell the Duty and Vigil… to beat to quarters.”

There was a sudden tension in the air, as all of the bridge crew looked at each other. “A-aye, ma’am,” Kusema said shakily, turning to the communications console and carrying out her orders.

I looked at Shady, and she nodded to me. Nodding back, I walked over to my own station, where I tapped several crystals in sequence with a hoof before firmly pressing a button down.

Beat to Quarters

Drums immediately sounded throughout the airship, pounding out a rhythm guaranteed to wake any sleeping pony. I could well imagine the bedlam that was erupting on the lower decks at the sound, as the crew struggled to understand what was going on. I could not blame them for their confusion; though we had been taught to recognize the rhythm, ‘twas not expected any of us would hear it outside of basic training or scheduled drills.

After all, the last time it had been sounded in war was during the Lunar Rebellion, when the Royal Navy had sided with Luna against Celestia… and had nearly been destroyed for it; ‘twas reduced to a mere ceremonial service in its aftermath, one the Princess only kept around out of respect for her fallen sister.

“Ma’am, the Duty and Vigil report they will be ready by the time requested,” Kusema reported. “But they do request an explanation as to why.”

“Very well,” Shady replied. “Tell them they’ll know shortly.”

“Course plotted, Captain,” Lieutenant Azimuth reported next. “We are simply waiting on the engines to be ready. Once they are, it should take us about ten hours to arrive at cruising speed.”

“Good,” repeated our unicorn Captain. “Though methinks I may modify our approach vector as we get closer...” she mused mostly to herself, leaving me wondering what she was thinking.

Kusema and Sora exchanged looks before the former spoke up. “Ma’am… if I may ask, what is going on?”

Shady flinched slightly at the question before sighing in some defeat. “Patch me through to the Duty and Vigil, as well as General Quarters,” she said. “I might as well tell everypony.”

Kusema nodded, tapping on her console. A slight chirping noise announced that the bridge was now broadcasting to all stations.

“Attention, all officers and crew of Royal Navy Battle Group Four,” Shady began. “This is Captain Shady speaking. I understand many of you are confused as to why I have sounded general quarters outside of scheduled drills and why all crew is being immediately recalled. Well, the reason is this: as of dawn this morning... Equestria is at war,” she stated simply, pausing to let the words sink in.

“The Gryphon Empire has decided that Our Princess’s terms for peace were not acceptable, and have allied with a dragon clan as a means to invade us. Even as we speak, Canterlot is besieged whilst an all-out attack on our frontier forces are underway, and our brethren in the Equestrian Army and Aerial Corps are being slain by their legions.

“We cannot help Canterlot for now, but there are other ways we can assist. According to the latest dispatch, almost all of the Army and Aerial Corps outposts on the Gryphon border have been overrun. As of the latest intelligence we have, naught but three for certain remain standing: Outpost Gamma, headquarters for the Corps’ 5th Division, Outpost Omega, far to the east of here... and Outpost Epsilon, the westernmost and closest. The reason for the hasty departure orders is that we will be making our way to the latter, to extract any forces that remain. ‘Tis certain that we will encounter the enemy along the way. And if so... we will do our duty and make all Equestria proud!”

Sensing the shock and doubt that greeted her words, she paused, then began again. “I have no intentions of lying to you; great danger lies ahead. Like you, I have never seen combat, nor did I expect to. Like so many of you, I joined the Navy because I had no other choice in life. I certainly never expected to make rank. And methinks none of us could have foreseen that this day would come; a day where we would truly have to take up arms. But that day has come. We are soldiers in service to Equestria. And we will answer our nation’s call.”

I noted she was very carefully not saying that we had no orders to go, for which I thanked her, as the knowledge that we were acting on our own accord might have caused even more consternation. “I know that many of you may doubt our chances. ‘Tis certain the other services look down on us; they think the Navy is ‘cushy’, and consider those who serve on our airships ‘soft’. And methinks there is a grain of truth to it. Compared to the other services, we are unpracticed, unhoned, and inexperienced when it comes to combat. There is no denying that.” She bowed her head briefly, before bringing it up again.

“But that does not mean we cannot fight! When we started serving together, we knew what we were getting into. And despite the Navy’s reputation, we have trained and drilled for this day. A captain could not ask for finer crews and ships, and I have absolute confidence in all of you that we will be up to the challenges ahead.

“Regardless of our reputation, we took an oath to serve Our Princess to the best of our ability. We took an oath to protect Equestria, to fight and die in Her service if need be! And I for one am not going to let some greedy dragons or overgrown chickenhawks have their way with us! We were once Luna’s service and Equestria’s sword! We were once the offensive arm of the Equestrian Military; our reach was long and our airships feared!” Her voice was getting more fervent as she spoke; even I began to feel my heart swell with pride.

“Methinks ‘tis high time the gryphons be reminded of that fact! We will show them that we will not go quietly into the night! That we will not surrender without a fight! We shall live on! We shall survive! Today, we fly for the field of battle! Today… the Royal Navy goes to war!”

As wracked with doubt as she could be, I was impressed at how well she could inspire as even through the various decks, I could hear the cheering of the crew. To be certain, there was some cheering on the bridge as well; Kusema and Sora both had determined grins on their faces, ones that matched my own, I was sure. “An excellent speech, ma’am,” I told her as she sat back down, and very much meant it.

“If we survive the coming day, I’ll let you give the next one,” she told me quietly. “In the meantime, you are to do your utmost to ensure as many of our ballistae and pegasus squadrons are ready for action. We should take our time in transit to hold a series of anti-boarding drills as well,” she instructed me.

“Aye, ma’am. I will see to it,” I told her, heading back below decks to check in with the Mare-at-Arms to make sure all our weapons lockers were fully stocked and easily accessible. I couldn’t fly thanks to my crippled wing, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t wield a wingblade on my working one, and I was also an excellent shot with a naval-issue crossbow.

“Captain!” came the voice of Flash Fix over the growing hum of our propulsion system, an ancient but still viable system of magic-spun propellers. “Engines are hot, and wind propellers turning! As soon as we’ve taken on sufficient supplies and recovered our crew, we’re ready to cast off and depart on your orders!”

“Acknowledged. Ensign Kusema, inform our groundside crew that if they’re not on board by 1700, they will be left behind,” I heard Captain Shady say as I departed the bridge, and at dusk, we did indeed cast off our mooring lines to a surprising sight—our ground crews cheering and waving their uniform flat hats in their hooves as they learned our intentions.

Even Shady smiled at that. “Mister Sora? Take us out!”

“Aye-aye, ma’am!” our unicorn helmspony replied, turning to the helm and spinning the wheel hard, causing the ship to bank to the right, heading out over the wide Canoe River that cut through the Maregolian prairie and soon passing over the fertile farms of Equestria’s breadbasket, the Unicorn Plains.

The cheering of the ground crew and our own was drowned out as our propellers roared. The Loyalty lifted into the air, the Duty and Vigil right behind her. We came about and gained speed and altitude as we sailed the skies northeastward toward Epsilon… and war.


I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast for I intend to go in harm’s way. —Captain John Paul Jones