//------------------------------// // XV - As the Opposition Mocks // Story: Empty Horizons: Sea of Stars // by Insipidious //------------------------------// “So, you could eat me, right?” Tirek glanced at Sparkler. “Easily.” “Hmm…” She approached the centaur, poking his chin with her hair. “What else can you do?” “Cut that mane clean off in an instant.” Sparkler recoiled. “Oi! Rude!” “You’re the one poking me. Were I a less civilized beast I would have tore at it with my bare teeth.” “I bet you wish you did…” Tirek lit his horns, creating a ball of magic between the bony protrusions. “Ah-ah-ah-!” Sparkler sang. “You want to be on the Admiral’s good side, don’t you? Hmmmmmm?” Tirek’s magic dissipated. “Certainly. Though why she keeps a fool like you around I’ll never know.” “Fool?” Sparkler put a hoof to her face and gasped in mock offense. “Me!? That’s ridiculous! I’m not half baked in the head at all!” She giggled. Like a lightswitch, her smile dropped. “And yet I still see you, Tirek. Plotting. Scheming.” “I’m in a difficult situation, I’m sure you understand.” “I understand quite well.” She started tracing spirals in the walls of the storage container. “Do you know where I’m from? Ambrosia? Of course you don’t; the place didn’t exist in Old Equestria.” “Enlighten me how this home of yours has anything similar to my predicam—” Sparkler formed her mane into a blade and held it to Tirek’s neck, letting her accent drip out in its fullest. “It’s where Ah learned t’ do this. Ya think it’s all fists’n’tangles here, but when yer th’ only Gift’d on th’ island, ya make do. Every pony out for blood. The moon loves blood, ya know? Runnin’ down th’ ground t’ the pits of Tartarus. Did ya get any o’ mine down there, demon?” “A foolish superstition based on legend,” Tirek said, unfazed by the hair at his neck.  “Right true, that, an’ we were killin’ each other fer nuttin’ then. But, oi m’ life was better wit’ that than what came next. The sands ran with blood, an’ then th’ ‘great flyin’ monstrosities’ appeared. Airships wit’ metal, and other nonsense. They took over in a week, packing us into cages like animals and teaching us to speak ‘proper-like’ with good diction and, above all else, an air of ‘civilisation’.” She pressed her hair in a little closer. “The great warlord-mage Spark-Skull, champion of the bloody sands of Ambrosia, put in a box and told everything she’d ever been was wrong. I think I have a pretty good idea what you were going though, centaur, and I know what it takes to get out.” Tirek used his magic to push her hair-blade back. “Enlighten me.” “Lies.”  Sparkler pointed at her eyes with her hair and then at Tirek. She backed out of the room, a smile growing ever-larger on her face.  Tirek stared at where she had been for several minutes before doing anything. Lighting his horns, he sent a message to Rook. That hairy friend of yours isn’t as trusting as you’d lead me to believe. You just suck at being trustworthy, Rook messaged back.  Suck it, Cozy added.  He cut the connection with a grunt. How could she stand having a voice in her head at all times? It was maddening enough to maintain a connection for a minute.  ~~~ The Admiral sat in her chair on the bridge, staring at the radio with a grimace.  Any minute now… “Maybe she’s out exploring?” Sparkler suggested.  “We don’t have that kind of luck,” the Admiral sighed.  “I don’t know, there’s a chance we c—” “HELLOOOO-O-O my boisterous batty buddy!” Hailing Fog called over the radio. “Looks like you’re back from your little trek into nowheresville! How’s it hangin’?” With a grimace, the Admiral nodded to Orange, instructing him to open a channel. They had to respond this time.  “This is the Admiral of the Algol’s Shadow. We request permission to dock at Baltimare’s primary sea-mine.”  Fog gasped. “You responded? You really are my bestest friends!”  Sparkler opened her mouth. The Captain quickly slapped a piece of duct tape over her muzzle.  “I repeat: we request permission to dock,” the Admiral said, voice level.  “Oh fine, I’ll have to see which one’s open. Spades! Get on the junker, find an opening! ...I’m sure he’ll get one with a nice undersea cavern for you to hang in, don’t fret!” She practically sang the last word, driving her shrill voice even deeper into the ears of the crew. “But that’ll take a few minutes, until then we can chat!” “I really should return to my crew…” “Nonsense, they can handle themselves! Unless…” There was an overly long pause. “Something happened out there that needs your attention? Did you find something?” “No. Got attacked by a big fish. Suffered heavy damage.” “Sparkler! How badly did you screw up?” Sparkler tore the duct tape off her face, growling through the pain. “It weren’t that kind o’ deepfish, t’was funky!” The Admiral silently facehooved.  “T’was funky? My my, what interesting language. I do so wonder where it’s from…” Sparkler twitched. “None of your business.”  “Naaaaw, really?” She giggled. “I assure you, I’ll make it well worth your while. You know I can.” “Irrelevant,” Orange interrupted. “We are damaged and seek repairs. We will pay. That is the only reason we were here.” “Ah. You. The new thinker, right? I wasn’t aware Sanctaphrax had finished their artificial pony project yet! ...Oh wait.” Orange gave no response, but the insult had gotten everyone else riled up. Which was probably the entire point, if the Admiral was being honest. It was basically Fog’s pastime.  “Oh, look at that! Spades just told me Dock Seven is open! We’re in Dock Six! I’ll be able to come over and say hi!” “That won’t be necessary,” the Admiral said. “You’re doing just fine as you are.” “Nonsense! It wouldn’t be polite to ignore you! This is basic pony etiquette!” “We would like to return to Sanctaphrax as soon as possible.” “You have my promise that I won’t delay you at all! As soon as you’re patched up I’m off your fancy boat. See ya there!”  “Fog wai—” The Admiral stopped herself. “...She’s not listening anymore.” “It seems unlikely,” Orange admitted. “Right. Figure out how to hide Tirek. We can’t have her seeing him or… anything Sparkler got from the temple. Got it?” “Yes, Admiral.” ~~~ Rook drifted around a fair distance below the Algol’s Shadow—literally in its shadow, since they were close to the surface at the moment. The area around Baltimare was rather shallow compared to the rest of the ocean, which is why the mining bases worked so well. The distant light they emitted was fighting with the sunlight for Rook’s attention, which was rare for undersea constructions.  We can’t go to Baltimare, Cozy said. Aww, why not? Rook pouted. We went to Sanctaphrax! We were protected in Sanctaphrax by our usefulness. We will not, here. I’ll just work the magic on them too… Rook rubbed her hooves together mischievously.  The situation is more complicated.  Tirek. Yeah, he really does put a cramp in our style, doesn’t he? You’d think that now he’s free he’d be useful, but he’s just locked up in another box. He will show those ponies what can really be done with power.  Yeah. Yeah… Rook scowled.  Reservations? Really? Reservations? That’s ridiculous. I’m afraid Vespid’s going to cut him up and this will all have been pointless. He knows too much. He is too valuable. Which is both the reason we are safe in Sanctaphrax and not safe here. Sanctaphrax is currently in possession of Tirek and, to some extent, us—as much as I hate to think of being owned by anything. If Baltimare knew of our existence, they would want it.  ...Golly, do you think we could start a war? Possibly. That sounds fun. And deadly to us. We could run. Then we wouldn’t get to see it though…  Could we run? The ocean is huge, we often went decades without running into anything.  That’s what I said! But no YOU were like— Rook let out a pained groan. Bringing that up now? Really? Come ON, we’re so over that. No, you were over it, I’ve been seething for three hundred years. We were just arguing about time not being sensible! There are no time warps in the ocean.  Golly, you’ve really been festering over this.  You’re backpedaling into ‘golly-ness’. Maybe I’ve decided I like it.  You’re Rook now! Then YOU start saying ‘golly.’  ...Never.  Then there’s nothing to talk about.  I regrettably agree.  Rook looked at the seafloor. ...You were saying we could run. The ocean does have a lot of places to hide. They wouldn’t be able to find us.  The ruins of Tauryl sound far enough away.  Why are we even still here? We’ve done all we need for Tirek. We’ve earned our magic.  We could leave. I doubt we should, though.  Why not? After an unnaturally long pause, Cozy responded. ...We wouldn’t get to see what brings these ponies to their knees.  ...Yeah. Yeah, that’s a good reason. It’ll be quite a show!  And maybe we’ll start a war in the process.  They’ve got a giant magic harpoon, Tirek could definitely make it bigger!  We should brainstorm some ideas and give him the list. Yes! More prongs. Pointed backward. Oooh, and poison barbs! I’m thinking a more insidious curse that kills over years while feeding off nightmares… Too complicated, be more creative.  Complicated is c— She stopped. Rook saw it too—a large searchlight was focused on the Algol.  I believe it is time for us to make ourselves scarce.  Agreed.