//------------------------------// // Chapter 31: Caliginous // Story: The Last Migration // by Starscribe //------------------------------// Gina didn’t have a chance to struggle. As little as she thought of the fierceness of ponies, she wasn’t going to test them in combat. It wasn’t really fair to take the victory of the best warriors in Accipio against a crew of unprepared sailors as proof that no pony anywhere could be a danger to her. These bats in particular were unlike the ponies she had seen before. Every bat she’d ever seen had been in some kind of military position or another. Escorting Princess Luna, pulling her chariot. Now here aboard an unnamed pony airship with unknown capabilities. “We’re not going to resist,” Isabel said, as they were dragged through metal passages aboard the ship. “You don’t need to restrain Gina. Look at her wings. She needs a doctor.” “We’ll be the judge of that,” said a rough voice above them. “You can inform the captain of your need. What she does with that information is her decision.” “It’s okay, Isabel,” Gina whispered, though of course they were surrounded by enemies and every word would be overheard. “They’ll see how important our mission is. They’ll help.” They didn’t make it much further before whoever was tugging on the ropes around Gina’s hooves stopped tugging. “You stand before Captain Caliginous,” said a voice from somewhere behind her. “Give her proper respect.” Her? Strange commander for a warship. But Gina lowered her head politely. “Captain Caliginous. As you can see our situation is desperate. As desperate as the rest of Equestria and Accipio both if we don’t act quickly.” “Remove their blindfolds,” instructed a voice from across the room. Deep, mature, but with the same squeaking quality as the other ponies here. “Let me see them clearly.” Something brushed against her head, untying the blindfold in a few quick strokes. These were clearly the captain’s quarters—they stood in an expensive stateroom, with gold inlay set into the solid wooden furniture. There was a wealth of books in the shelf behind the captain, and another shelf filled with tiny models of ships. The captain herself was an older pony, with streaks of gray running through her otherwise purplish mane. She was indeed a bat like the other crewmen, though she wore her coat with the same distinction as any naval captain. She also wore a sword on her belt, instead of a gun. I wonder if that’s for show. A female who knows how to fight? “Do you know why I’m here?” The captain was settled into a comfortable chair across the table. From behind them, several soldiers shoved Gina and Isabel into similar chairs. Light despite their apparent sturdiness. “Answer the captain’s question,” barked a voice from behind them. The male who’d escorted them up here. Captain Caliginous waved one wing in his direction. “Give them a break, Silver Moon. They look like they’ve been walking for days.” “To escape the scene of the crime,” Silver Moon muttered, but he stepped back all the same. All eyes were on Gina now. The ponies seemed to be watching Isabel, but they both knew she wasn’t going to explain. “It’s…” She hesitated another few moments. She hadn’t actually expected to have to do this so soon. And to the enemy. Even if she told these ponies nothing but the truth, they might not believe her. Or they might decide not to let them return to Accipio to inform the emperor of how dire the situation was. They would want their own leadership to know, for certain. Gina reached down, to her neck, watching as the ponies all around her tensed. But in vain, because a moment later she lifted her claw with her Imperial Seal, sliding it across the table to the captain. “My name is Gina of house Virtue. I served as imperator of the Accipian ship Lapwing, sent to retrieve some birds of house Vengeance that were overstaying their welcome up in Griffonstone.” The captain inspected the seal closely. Then she rose, removing a volume from the bookshelf behind her, and opening it. She skimmed through its pages as she brought it back to the table, before settling on the one she wanted. Gina couldn’t really read it from that far away, but she could see at a glance that it was indeed filled with sketches and political information. She nodded. “Well, this is authentic. So either you are an imperator, or you killed one. Finding you broken and bloody in the wilderness and not on your ship doesn’t help your case.” “Or finding the corpse of the Wayfarer,” added Silver Moon from behind her, a little anger seeping into his words. “Which you obviously destroyed. Burned that way with your illegal cannons.” “The Lapwing did not have cannons,” Gina said. “But it is responsible for the death of the Wayfarer.” “Huh?” There was genuine surprise in his voice. Gina glanced over her shoulder, and saw his jaw hanging open. “You’re actually… admitting to an act of war?” He straightened. “Captain, I think we’ve heard enough. I’ll measure a rope for the—” “You will do no such thing.” She extended another wing towards him, glowering at him. “There is some information missing. There were the corpses of two ships. That leaves two unaccounted for. The Flash Magnus, and the Sister of Balance if I’m not mistaken. Along with a large number of pony crew and presumably the rest of the griffons as well.” Her eyes settled on Gina again. “I expect you to tell me everything. If you think your status or your office will make you immune to the consequences of your actions—” Gina nodded. “It wasn’t something we did. That’s why my—” She stopped herself, nodding slightly towards the pony beside her. “That’s why we’re walking instead of riding that ship.” And across the moment of no return she went. “There was a mutiny.” She described what had happened in detail—the docking, the inspection. The way Captain Skysword had provoked the crew. All the way through to the moment Gideon turned the ship into a fireball and Isabel saved her life. “Then we landed,” she finished, lamely. “And we’ve been making for Accipio ever since.” “So you can claim the ponies attacked you,” Silver Moon said from behind her, voice as hard-edged as it had been when he first spoke. “So you can blame Equestria for your act of war.” “You’re really stupid,” Isabel said, glaring at him with contempt on her face. “If we were going to lie to the Emperor, why wouldn’t we have lied to you too? Gina had no reason to tell you all that, except that she’s a bird of honor and we need your help.” “To do the exact opposite,” Gina added. “Gideon only would’ve killed me to prevent me from telling the truth. That means he probably is going to lie, tell the Emperor that the ship was attacked and destroyed, that they had no choice but to defend themselves. He’s trying to provoke a war.” “He did that,” the captain said. But there was no anger in her voice. Only pain. Like someone who could look up at the landslide coming down on her, but couldn’t fly away in time. She saw what had sucked the desire to keep fighting out of Gina. The inevitable war. “Yes,” Gina agreed. “But maybe it doesn’t have to be with all of Accipio. Gideon and his crew were following the orders of Clan Lord Santiago of Vengeance. They’re probably the ones who have been preparing for war all this time. Maybe if we make it back to the emperor before anything we can’t reverse happens… maybe that war could be Equestria and Accipio against the ones who actually want to hurt you.” It would be the first time in history anything like it had ever happened. Dividing the units of an enemy nation were common tactics, but Accipio had never involved foreign armies in their own internal wars before. But Gideon made sure it wouldn’t be an internal war when he destroyed that Equestrian ship. First the slaves, then the guns, now this. It might very well be time for the death of another great house. And it was at least partially Gina’s fault. “I need to consult with the admiralty,” Caliginous said. “Report what you just told us. It’s possible they’ll allow me to help you. I wouldn’t want to get your hopes up, though. The Heart's Shadow is one of our newest, most advanced airships. Taking the chance that she might fall into enemy hooves right before the beginning of a war… I don’t know if they’ll listen.” Gina nodded gravely. “As long as I’m aboard, my seal and I will protect your ship. I swear on my life to see you permitted out of Accipian territory again unmolested.” For birds that would’ve been good enough. But she could see the captain’s expression hadn’t really changed. She didn’t think that would be enough to convince her superiors. Or maybe it wasn’t enough to convince her. “And tell them something else,” Gina went on. She was going above her authority now. But considering how badly things had already gone, she couldn’t exactly be punished more. What was the point of retaining her position if all of Accipio burned for it? “Tell them if they help us, I’ll tell you what we discovered in the Griffonstone monastery. I think they’d be interested to know what house Vengeance was doing with the place.” “You’ll tell us right now,” said Silver Moon from behind her, drawing his sword an inch or so from its scabbard. Gina laughed in his face. “Yes, because I believe for two seconds you’re going to torture or kill one of the emperor’s imperators in cold blood. Probably the only bird in the whole world who has a chance of preventing total war between Equestria and Accipio.” She spun around in her chair. “Go ahead, Silver Moon. Make my day.” “That’s enough.” Caliginous thumped one hoof on the table. “Silver Moon, you will treat our guests with the respect of foreign diplomats… for the moment. I’m going to radio naval intelligence and ask for orders.” “Radio?” Isabel asked, repeating the word with obvious curiosity. They got only silence in response. The captain and several soldiers hurried out, leaving Silver Moon and another guard. This one was a unicorn, levitating a rifle at the ready. Though not actually pointed at them. She seemed relieved that she hadn’t needed to use it. “I don’t like any of this,” Silver Moon announced, though Gina wasn’t sure exactly who he was saying it to. “Lost the ship right out from under you? Need our newest warship to escort you into Accipio on her first deployment? Something stinks about this plan.” Gina shrugged. “I had friends aboard the Lapwing, Silver Moon. I’d known Captain Hookbeak since I was young. Gideon almost certainly murdered him. And Hogarth, one of my sla—a member of my household. He was a witness too. I’m sorry if you lost someone aboard one of those ships. But if you don’t help us, a lot of ponies and griffons are going to lose many more people. Even if… even if you think this is a war you can win easily. If we can’t stop the bloodshed completely, understand that I can minimize it. That’s why the emperor sent me out here in the first place.” Silver Moon stared at her a long time. She could see the tension in his body, legs prepared to spring. Maybe he’d been preparing to attack her, or just to do something unbecoming while the captain wasn’t here to stop him. But he grumbled under his breath, turning away from her. “No reason for the two of you to be waiting in here. Even if Command approves us to help you, it will be hours into New Scythia. Medical is up one level, come with me.” He gestured at the door the captain had left through. A few hours later, and she stood atop the deck of the Equestrian warship, wind blasting all around them so fast she felt like she might be swept off into the sky if she even twitched wrong. But they were headed south. Maybe they could stave off the end of the world a little longer.