//------------------------------// // 22 Delays // Story: Trials of A Princess // by Rose Quill //------------------------------// The first signs that not everything was going to go smoothly occured within an hour of us leaving the Crystal Empire.  “Sail ho!” shouted the crewman from the crow’s nest. “What colors?” shouted Tempest into the speaking tube in reply. “No colors flying, Captain!” I hurried to the bow, straining my eyes to see the ship. It was barely within sight, but I could see its dark-hull, a galley with a glittering crystal keel as opposed to a gas envelope. As far as threats went, the Calico would have the advantage in size, though the galley may have a bit of an edge in maneuverability. “Who the devil is that?” Bernie asked as she hung off a bowline, trying to get a better view. “Maybe just a passing trader?” Twilight said. A fireball  sailed forth, providing us with our only piece of context. Bernie yelped and hauled herself back onto the deck and under the rail, a small bit of fur singed from the near passage of the flames. “Hell,” Tempest snarled. “Unship the ballistae and the forward catapult! Mages to the gunwales and bow! Look lively, now!” Ponies rushed about, fastening large crossbows to points along the upper rails of the ship and a small section of the forward deck was slid away to allow the raising of a small catapult, all gleaming with enchanted wood and metal. A basket of clay spheres about the size of buckballs sat next to it. I could feel the magic drifting from them even ten feet away. The galley continued towards us, turning broadside as several slots slid open, revealing dark wells that began glowing ominously.  “Shields!” shouted the captain, her own horn flaring to light, followed by the quintet of other Unicorns igniting theirs as well. A glimmering field of light blossomed into being a hundred feet beyond the tip of the bowsprit, taking the brunt of a volley of magic blasts. Twilight and I added our magic to the barrier as the deep-throated thrumming of the ballistae began to sound all around me. The large shafted bolts began to glow red as they cleared the weapon’s firing them. “Hard to port!” I heard as the bolts neared their target. As the ship tilted on her side, avoiding some of the blasts, I saw several of our bolts clip the keel of the hostile ship, making the galley lurch downwards suddenly. “Screamer!” yelled one of the ponies manning the catapult. I saw ponies duck down as the gunner slammed his hoof against the firing mechanism. Almost immediately, a harsh shrieking scream burst forth from the ammunition, making my ears pin back against the sound. It almost fell short, clipping the railing before bursting into a cloud of dust and a wail loud enough for me to wince at the sonic assault. The Calico eased out of its bank and made a run towards the galley, the ballistae already loaded and taking aim as the basket of the catapult was being hailed back quickly. Bernie made her way over to me, looking rather put out. “They haven’t tried once to fend off our attacks,” she said. “Not a single shield.” “I noticed,” I replied, watching as the galley drew closer at a frighteningly quick speed. “Not to mention they aren’t really maneuvering to avoid us, more to make sure they can bring more weapons to bear.” The rattling of chains pulled our gaze to amidship where several heavy grapnels on the end were being hauled out by several ponies.   “Boarding chains?” Bernie whispered. “That’s going to be hard,” I said. “They have weapons shoved through most of their ports.” “I doubt they’ll be under fire by the time we try,” one of the ballista operators chuckled. “We’ll be making a wee bit of a drop here in a moment, so you may want to hold onto your horseshoes, ladies.” “Drop?” I asked, echoed by Bernie. “Release!” shouted Tempest, and with a sharp lurch downward, the deck beneath us surged forward with surprising speed as the envelope overhead was released. I gripped a row of belaying pins out of fear and felt a set of hooves curl around my waist as a panicked bleating was heard. With the bulk of the envelope gone, the turns were sharper, and more vertical maneuvers could be performed. Our opponent was totally unprepared for having screamers and some sort of device called sparkers dropped from above. I saw one go off and several ponies near it drop to the deck, jerking in spasms as arcs of lightning burst free. As we dropped a bit closer to the altitude the galley was on, now with a noticeable list to the starboard. It wasn’t showing signs of life and it’s arcane guns had fallen silent. “Grapples!” came a command and the chains I saw earlier were hurled over and drawn up against the railings of the other ship, correcting some of its list. I saw a few ponies pulling short arms as the ship was drawn near. The galley thunked against our hull and several midshipponies hopped over, making a quick search of the exposed deck. “Clear!” came the call, and I stood as they rigged a bit of planking to make crossing easier. It’s not a good feeling spying several hundred feet under your hooves when you don’t have wings. I thought about a cloud walking charm, but it had been a remarkably clear day. Once on the other side, I looked at one of the ponies that had been shocked by the sparkers. Beyond the slight burns from the bomb, there were several darkened markings around the cutie mark, almost like the ash from a bit of burning plant material. I frowned as it began to blow away, leaving no trace. As I walked forward, I spied the same on almost all of the ponies. “It looks like some sort of charm was on them,” Twilight said as she joined me, rubbing a hoof against the ash and smelling it. “But it’s very old magic, based around a physical focus that burned away as the spell worked.” “That’s kind of risky,” I said. “If they hadn’t intercepted us before the charm wore off, what good would it have been?” “They weren’t made to take us on,” Bernie said, inspecting one of the weapons shoved in a port. “Even with as little as I know about our ship, these wouldn’t have burned more than paint from her hull even with a full broadside.” “Then…” I trailed off. "The timing is suspicious." Twilight set her jaw and shook her head. "The fact that they attacked after news of the Tree being under siege and the teleportation rings being down? It seems like they were trying to buy time, if nothing else.” The galley was outfitted with a small complement of sailors to bring it to dock and investigate as the Calico went and collected its lift envelope and began making haste towards the south. Luna ground her teeth as she pressed her back against the wall as the ghostly soldiers whipped through her forward line again. Nothing her retinue had tried seemed to even daunt these strange apparitions. And though her troops weren’t taking any damage, it was exhausting her contingent with the constant chilling wind and momentary weakness that accompanied their passage. They had tried dispelling charms, and they simply passed through. Weapons were equally fruitless doing little more than annoying them. But the real danger wasn’t the ghost-like fighters. It was the precarious footing they were on, the gaps and crags in the floor. As the contingent moved to avoid the strikes, they would trip over the jagged terrain and fall or snag a hoof and roll their ankles. Twenty had already been ferried to the rear and out of the fight. Luna snarled and reached down for the ley lines, adding its power to her own and thrusting a shield wall forth and blunting another of their unrelenting assaults. “Regroup!” she bellowed, feeling the strain of maintaining the shield and the heat of the ley line flowing through her. She turned her glare forward as phantasmic ponies slammed into her shield.  “Fall back!” she said as her shield began to shiver with the impacts. She slowly moved back slowly as her surviving soldiers slipped away. The phantoms followed for a short distance before fading away as suddenly as they had appeared. Luna let go of the line, panting as exhaustion flowed through her. A Unicorn with a pale ivory coat came forward. “Your Majesty,” she began with a bow. “There appears to have been a collapse of the tunnel at the mouth of the cave. As near as we can determine, several feet caved in, one of our rear guards is unaccounted for. We can clear it away, but -“ “Not before our quarry eludes us.” Luna nodded. “Detail a unit to work on the collapse and bring any experienced mages to council with me. We must plan for this unexpected roadblock.” She looked back to where the ground began to get rocky. Where was the Archmage? Who had enacted this horrid attack against one of the pillars of magic? As she pondered, the sound of a hoof step and the soft rasp of metal on leather went unheard behind her.