//------------------------------//
// Seeking Help From The Powdersmith Ponies, Part 1 
// Story: The Legacy Of Darkness 
// by Darkness 1 
//------------------------------//

As the ship got far out into the ocean, everypony decided to stay on the deck of this ship this time, and some went to look out over the ocean, while others either sat down somewhere, or were trying to help out the crew members. It was a quiet ride so far, until Pinkie Pie shouted out, and pointed high above her, and to her right, and said, "Everypony! Are you all seeing this?"
Everypony went over to where Pinkie Pie was, and looked to where she was pointing, and what they saw troubled them: there was lightning flashing all over the sky, and some of the flashes appeared in some areas, in a circular fashion.
Applejack then said, "Is that what I think it is?"
Snowshy said, "It is, and it also means, my brother's hold to keep the time rifts together, has almost faded, and it won't be long, before the rifts get out of control."
Rarity said, "Which also means, we need to get this over with quickly, and get back to Canterlot Castle."
Silver Sky said, "You said it!"
Twilight said, "Alright then, I'll go ask the captain, and see if we can't get to the Powdersmith Ponies, any faster."
Everypony nodded, and waited for Twilight to talk to the captain. Twilight went up the stairs, and walked near to the wheel, where the captain was steering it, and asked the captain, "Hi, um, I have something to ask you."
The captain said, "What is it?"
Twilight pointed to the sky, and said, "Do you see that? Do you know what that is?"
The captain said, "Yeah, and I would say we are getting a storm soon, but we'll be fine, don't you worry, this ship is equipped for every situation possible."
Twilight put her hoof down, and replied with, "How about out-of-control time rifts?"
The captain said, "Time rifts? Ha! How ridiculous! Sounds like something made up!"
Just then, the  time rift began to form, with a violent shockwave, and lightning flashed all around it, but then, collapsed and the captain said, "What the? What the heck is that?"
Twilight said, "That's a time rift, now, the real question I wanted to ask, is can you get us to the Powdersmith Ponies any faster? We must finish this up, as fast as we can, because as you just saw for yourself, things are about to out of hoof."
The captain said, "Well.....there is a way, but I won't have much control for steering it though, and it's only ever been used once, to escape a massive fight, that might've scratched the paint....and well...I'm not too sure I want to use that again..."
He was interrupted, as Twilight shouted at him and said, "It doesn't matter anymore! There is too much at stake! Just do it!"
The captain nodded, and said, "Alright, alright, I can clearly see you are determined. Very well, but you and your friends might want to hold tightly onto something."
Twilight nodded, went back down the stairs, and told the others, as everypony, held on very tightly to the rails of the ship, as the captain bellowed out the order, "All hands! Activate 'the last resort'! I repeat, activate 'the last resort'!"
One of the crew members asked, "Are you nuts?"
The captain yelled out even louder, "Just do it, damn it! This is no longer about just us anymore! The world's future hangs by a thread! Move it! Do it! Do it now!"
The crew member nodded, and got the other crew members together, and they went below deck for a minute, and then a loud bang sounded, and eight large doors opened in the back of the ship, each one had, what looked like massive cannons coming out of them, and then their fuses were lit, and the crew members, quickly got back up on deck, and one them yelled out, "Hold on!"
Applejack, who was closest to the end of the ship, looked down, and saw the massive cannons, and said, "Oh, no..."
Just then, the cannons, fired, a the ship took off, spraying water everywhere, as the ship sliced through the water, as everypony held on with all they had.
Twilight, who was closest to the captain, yelled out, "How long will this last?"
The captain, who was holding on the steering wheel, said, "It is long burst shot! Which means, it will last quite a long time! If I'm correct, the shot should last just long enough to get you all where you need to go, and like I said! No point in steering! This ship wasn't made for such speed! Although, we might lose a few parts of this ship! But the damage should be minimal at best!"
Twilight nodded and said, "Let's hope so! Or this could be the end of us! At this speed! Hitting the water, would.."
The captain finished her sentence, and said, "Crush us! Yeah, I Know!"
The ship continued to go faster and faster, and everypony was now only able to hold on with two hooves, as half their bodies, were in midair, some of the crew members lost grip, and either got killed as they came into contact with the ships parts, or as they went overboard, and got crushed by the force of the water.
The captain said, "Damn it!"
Twilight said, "Everypony! Hold on!"
Rarity, who could see what was ahead of them, said, "We're almost there!"
Rainbow Dash, who could also see ahead as well, said, "Just a little farther!"
Silver Sky said, "That's great! But we're not slowing down!"
The captain said, "Uh oh! I might've made a miscalculation!"
Everypony, including the crew, said, "WHAT??!!"
The captain said, "Too late now! Hold on!"
Those that could see ahead of them, saw the desert home of the Powdersmith Ponies, coming up very fast, and Twilight said, "BRACE FOR IMPACT!!!!"
Everypony, trying to hold on, braced themselves for the collision with the land, as it got closer and closer, until the ship and land violently collided with one another, as ship parts, sand, and crew members went flying everywhere. As the sand and dust settled, Twilight, who found herself, off the ship, and on the land, along with Rainbow Dash and Snowshy, got up, dusted themselves off, and helped the others up, dusted them off, and they thanked Twilight, Snowshy, and Rainbow Dash, as all of them, went to what was left of the ship, and began looking through the wreckage, for the others. As they were all eventually  found, they found the captain as well, at what used to be the front of the ship, but he layed face up, impaled in the chest by a large part of the mast. Everypony rushed to his aid, as they tried to get the mast out, and he said, "Don't! Don't bother, I'm finished...(cough}!!!"
The captain was coughing out blood, and everypony stopped, as they realized there was no point in trying, as they all kneeled beside him, as he said, "Don't worry about me.....Heh...it's funny....all my life....If I was to die, it would've been in glorious battle, but now that I think about it, this was even better than that......arghhhh!! Hey, all of you, do me a favor won't you? Find a rowboat that is still in tact, and tell my crew to go home.......with this message to Fluchuette: 'The rose may have withered, and I have as well, but many more will arise in its place.' Tell my crew that, alright? They will know the meaning of it. I've been a fool.....(cough, cough!) I've always never thought many decisions through, and I have so careless about the well-being of others, many times, just for self-gain, just so I could captain this ship, and for what? Look at it, The Royal Rose is destroyed! Ugh!!!.....So, if this is punishment for the wrongs I've done, then I gladly accept it....I Now, get going! My hopes and dreams, go with all of you now....and may the gods watch over you..........Fluchuette, I'm......sorry......"
As his breathing slowed, he died and remained still, as his eyes closed, and by this time, nopony noticed the crew had been behind and around them all, until some of them starting crying, for they had heard the whole conversation, as they emerged from the wreckage of the ship, before the captain spoke, but nopony had noticed them until now, as many of them were crying, and as they came over to their captain, they picked him up, as others had found two rowboats that were in still good condition, and put them on the edge of the water. The body of the captain was put in one, and the surviving crew members got in the other, as one of them looked back at Snowshy and said, "Don't let our captain down, alright? He put his in faith in all of you, so don't let his death be for nothing, and thanks for being there in his final moments, he could've spent them with us, but he choose all of you, and that means something. So, get going, and do not fail! We are counting on all of you as well! We'll see other again when the war breaks out." And as the crew member finished saying those words, two of the the crew members got out, tied some ropes between the boats, and pushed them both out two sea, and they jumped back in the boat with the others, as some of them waved to Snowshy and the others, and began rowing until they were out of sight.
Snowshy and others looked all around them, and all they saw, was sand, and endless dunes as far as the eye could see, and Applejack said, "How in the hay are we supposed to find these ponies? As far as I can see, there's nothing here."