The Road to Ornithia

by The FraudulentBrit

The Glorious Admiral Ecks/Shipwreck

Clang. Kling. Clang. The sound of swords clashing each other rang throughout the Hawkins’s hull. Silver and Nelson had taken the opportunity to brush up on their swordsmanship. “You’re gettin’ slow Admiral.” Silver cheekily remarked as Nelson started to step backwards. “You do know what they say about a cornered rat, right?” The former admiral playfully asked, trying to catch his “opponent” off guard.

At that moment, the door opened to the particular cabin opened and a familiar mare’s voice asked, “What’s going on in here?” Silver was distracted for a brief moment as he turned to see Angel Wings enter, and couldn’t help but marvel at her beauty. Of course, a brief moment was all Nelson needed to quickly disarm Silver and point his officer’s sword at his captain’s throat. Angel Wings immediately shouted, “Look Out!” and charged forward, pushing Silver to the deck.

“Bloody ‘ell, what happened?” Silver stammered as he realized what had just happened. Angel Wings then turned to Nelson and angrily shouted, “Why in the name of Celestia were you pointing a sword at Silver’s THROAT?” Nelson immediately replied, “We were just sparring Miss Wings.” Silver then rose to his hooves and added, “Aye. We were just practicin’.” “Oh.” Angel Wings meekly replied as she realized that she had overreacted. Silver reassured his mare-friend, “It’s alright.” At that moment, he turned to Nelson and said, “Then again, you cheated.” “Remember Silver…” Nelson reminded his captain. “The enemy won’t play fair. He’ll play to win.”

Angel Wings then asked, “By enemy, do you mean that Eps guy Celaeno warned about?” Silver and Nelson paused for a moment before Silver continued, “His name is Ecks, and yes.” Nelson then asked, “If I may, you’ve never wielded a sword before, am I right?” “Well, I’ve seen, or rather read…” Angel Wings began as she walked over to a barrel filled with blades, only to lift one and find herself amazed by how weighty the weapon was. “No. No I have not.” She finished as she found herself somewhat embarrassed. Silver then reassured her, “It’s alright. Even I was new to swords at one point.”

Nelson then began to grow a mischievous smile as he said, “You know, why don’t you give Miss Wings a brief fencing lesson? You two could use the practice.” Before Silver could react, Angel Wings pressed herself up to him and practically begged, “Really? Please Please Please!” Silver found himself somewhat nervous, even more so when Nelson took the opportunity to vacate the room. “Oh, alright.” Silver replied with “resignation,” only to find himself on the receiving end of a bone crushing hug. “Oh, thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!” Angel Wings thanked Silver before she realized that she was crushing him. “Oh, sorry.” She apologized as she released him.

Once Angel Wings released Silver from the bone crushing embrace, Silver switched to instructor mode. “Alright, first thing I need you to do is to firmly grasp the blade.” As Angel Wings took hold of the saber again, this time much more firmly, Silver thought to himself, ‘With enthusiasm like this, you’d better keep your distance Ecks.’

Dark, cloudy skies as far as the eye could see, a light shower pouring down upon the deck, and a steady wind blowing from behind, moving his fleet forward. These were all things put a wicked smile on Admiral Ecks’s face. Standing on the bridge of his massive Mare-o-War, Ecks began to marvel the fleet, no, armada that sailed around him.

Once upon a time, Ecks, a lanky satyr with green eyes, had been the Storm King’s most capable commander. The memory of his past glories, most notably how he, with only a handful of frigates, brought Ornithia to its knees and bringing it to his master’s empire, filled his heart with wicked glee. “Ah, those were the days.” He said to his helmsman. “I remember sir.” The helmsman replied. “I remember the Storm King personally congratulated you.”

Straightening himself, Ecks continued, “I think he was jealous he wasn’t there to bask in my glory.” Of course, this brought a sour memory back to his memory. “If only those foolish little ponies hadn’t gotten my way, I could have probably been there to protect our master.” He grumbled to himself. The helmsman gulped nervously.

Ecks may have been the Storm King’s greatest and most competent commander, but he had suffered one minor setback. About a decade earlier, he had failed to stop a small trade ship, and that very vessel had managed to escape back to Equestria. The Storm King was forced to delay his planned invasion of Equestria, and he pinned the blame on Ecks. For this, Ecks was removed from his command and “promoted” to governor of Ornithia, a task everyone knew was only created to keep him as far from the Storm King as possible. To make things worse, the Storm King decided to invade Equestria personally, only to meet his end when, as far as Ecks knew, one of his other commanders betrayed him.

But Admiral Ecks was not the kind of satyr to simply sulk in the corner. Many of the Storm King’s followers still dreamed of conquest, and others flocked to Ecks as the logical choice for the Storm King’s successor. Soon, Ecks found himself in command of hundreds of ships, the very ships that surrounded his flagship. And now, he had his sights set on…..

Crash. A loud crash rocked the Mare-o-War. “What was that?” the helmsman asked. Ecks had a feeling he knew what happened. “I will go and deal with the problem.” Once again, the helmsman gulped, this time his fear was far more apparent. Ecks began to descend down the stairwell and towards the source of the interruption; the storeroom.

The moment Ecks entered the storeroom, the other crewmembers, mostly other satyrs and yeti soldiers, froze in fear. “Do tell me….” Ecks began. “What happened in here?” one of the other satyrs, the quartermaster, began to explain, “Admiral! This sorry excuse of a sailor here crashed into my supplies!” the quartermaster pointed to one of the other satyrs, who was not only covered in flour from a spilled bag, but also now cowering in fear. As Ecks slowly walked over to his fearful subordinate, he began to speak. “You know, I was on the bridge, recollecting my past glories when YOU caused this tiny little accident, snapping me back to reality.” The satyr sailor started to tear up in fear as the others held their breaths, all too nervous to interfere. “Tell me…” Ecks continued. “Do you know what happens when someone upsets me?”

“They get hurt?” The quartermaster explained. Ecks turned to him, his pupils shrinking and toothy grin widening as he replied, “Exactly.” He then took a bar from the broken shelf and, to everyone’s horror, proceeded to pummel the quartermaster. As he continued to strike him, Ecks lost all composure as he increased the speed of his strikes. The poor quartermaster tried to resist, but as he continued to receive blows, he slowly lost his strength. Eventually, he ceased moving all together, though Ecks either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

As Ecks straightened himself, bar in his hand and red stained all over him, he turned to the flour covered satyr and, to his shock, calmly stated, “Congradulations on your promotion quartermaster. I expect you will not disappoint me.” “Th-th-th-ank you s-s-s-ir.” The new quartermaster replied, a combination of surprise and true fear running through his mind. Ecks then departed the storeroom, but not before turning to one of the yeti soldiers and ordered, “Do be a lamb and dispose of this trash. It’s starting to stink.” He then pointed to the now departed former quartermaster. The yeti soldier made his way to the deceased satyr and left to give him a proper burial.

“Reports, reports, reports.” Ecks sighed as he went over more and more documents while eating supper. On top of the formalities regarding his quartermaster’s “dismissal”, he also had to organize which ships in his armada would be the next to receive shore leave, where any “volunteers” would be assigned, and more boring mumbo jumbo. “Honestly, one I should just hire a secretary.” Ecks moaned as he took a bite of his roasted lamb. If there was anything that could wear him out, it was disciplinary sessions with his subordinates. Luckily, he had a very skilled chef who was always prepared to cook one of his favorite meals, and he always had an empty stomach after such sessions.

There was a knock at the door to his cabin. “Come in.” Ecks ordered. Another satyr, this one with a slightly pudgy one with the standard blue eyes entered and made an X shape over his chest with his arms. “Hail Admiral Ecks.” The satyr greeted. “Ah, Captain Kruger.” The Admiral replied. “What does my favorite subordinate have to report?” Kruger answered, “More ships are flocking to our cause sir.” He then paused for a moment, a pause that Ecks noticed. “I take it they want to know where my first target is?” Captain Kruger nodded and replied, “Yes sir. Some of them have suggested Yakyakistan.”

“Yakyakistan?” Ecks asked, shocked by such a ridiculous idea. “Me, unleashing the largest armada the world has ever seen, on a pathetic little fortress inhabited by brutish and stupid vanilla farmers?” As he rose from his chair, he continued, “No my dear captain. I want the world to know that I am a force to be reckoned with. And we shall do so in the same place I first made my name.” “Ornithia?” Captain Kruger gleefully asked. Ecks then poked his subordinate’s nose as he replied, “Exactly.” He then turned around and proceeded to strut back to his seat. As he did so, he explained, “Ornithia may not be as strong as Equestria, but they have spared no expense to rebuild their pitiful little kingdom after I was evicted from that pathetic little state.”

“I’ve heard.” Captain Kruger replied. “Griffon merchants, Saddle Arabian artisans, Minotaur warriors, and especially Equestrian scholars and engineers.” He then stepped towards his ruthless master and continued, “Which brings me to the other good news.” Ecks looked up from his supper and asked, “Which is?” Captain Kruger continued, “Sources from Equestria say that the Ornithian Prime Minister personally ordered weather machines from Cloudsdale. They also say that those machines are being transported by a little ship called the Hawkins.”

The Hawkins. That mere mention of that name caught Admiral Ecks’s attention. “You mean to tell me that the ship that ruined my career and damned our glorious leader will be in my grasp?” He asked, the wheels in his mind turning with increasing speed. Captain Kruger replied, “Exactly. Even better, her captain is said to have…. Metal wings.” There was only one being in the entire world, pony or otherwise, that could be on that ship and have metal wings. “Old Silver.” Ecks said with terrifying glee as he took a sip from his glass of wine.

Captain Kruger then rose and asked, “Shall I have part of the fleet deployed to catch them?” “No.” Ecks replied. “That sort of mentality allowed them to escape the first time. I want to deal with him personally.” He put a lot of emphasis on the word “personally.” Kruger then asked, “In that case, anything else you require sir?” Ecks paused for a moment before he replied, “No. That will be all captain.” Kruger then made the X salute again and began to depart.

Before he left though, he asked, “Forgive me sir, but don’t you think it was a bit of an overreaction to deal with the quartermaster the way you did?” Ecks took another sip of his wine and answered, “I expect a certain level of professionalism from my crew. If he couldn’t stop the boy from tripping, he doesn’t deserve his post. That and I don’t like tattletales.” Kruger gulped and quickly departed his Admiral’s quarters.

Admiral Ecks took a deep breath and went over the news he’d received in his head. Old Silver was so close to him, and revenge was at the tip of his clawed fingers. So what if he had over reacted with his quartermaster? He could always, and did, find a replacement. All in all, it had been a very good day.

And many more were just over the horizon.

Angel Wings found herself out of breath, sweat present on her brow, her mane scruffy and down, and her wing held down by the weight of her saber. Silver wasn’t doing too much better, for he too was exhausted from a few intense hours of sword training. “Well, that should do for day one.” Silver playfully quipped as he stretched his metal wings. “I have to say you certainly are a fast learner.” “Well, I do have a wonderful teacher.” Angel Wings said as she made her way up to Silver and nuzzled his head.

Much like everything else thrown her way, Angel Wings had taken to swordsmanship with great enthusiasm, and though hardly the most skilled fighter, Silver felt she could at least keep herself alive in a fight. “That’s enough for one day.” He said as he popped his neck. Angel Wings then asked, “So, same time tomorrow?” “Sadly no.” Silver replied. “Mr. Perry will be a bit short-hooved tomorrow. I’ll need you to give him some help tomorrow.” “Aye aye Cap’n.” Angel Wings replied as she gave him a salute. Silver then continued, “Piece of advice, Perry has a habit of callin’ anyone workin’ the gun deck a powder monkey. It’s just an old term from his days in the navy, so it don’t mean he’s insultin’ you.”

Angel Wings replied, “I’ve heard him use the term “powder monkeys” before, and I give Mr. Perry more credit than that.” Silver was impressed by how mature Angel Wings was regarding the subject of nicknames. “Besides,” she continued. “You guys are much more upfront about things like that than Spitfire was.” Silver couldn’t help but smile at her maturity and replied, “Reminds me of somethin’ Black Watch used to say.” He then deepened his voice and adopted an even thicker highland accent as he said, “I don’ne expect you to be the best of friends, but I at least expect you will be professional with each other.” Angel Wings couldn’t help but start to giggle at Silver’s impression of his former captain as she replied, “I’d say that’s pretty good advice.”

At that moment, Ishmael entered the cabin and said, “Cap’n, we got a problem. We need you on the top deck now.” Silver realized his tone left no room for misinterpreting how serious he was being. “Alright, I’m on my way.” He replied. Angel Wings realized that something big was going on and replied, “I’m coming to.”

When Silver and Angel Wings made their way to the top deck, Ishmael pointed to their left and said, “There, off port side.” Silver turned his head to see what it was, and was horrified by what he was witnessing.

There, off the port side, was the smoking remains of another trade ship. “What happened?” Angel Wings asked. Ishmael answered, “Best situation, accident in the powder magazine. Worst situation…” From behind the small group, Wyvern interrupted. “Pirates. Or worse, Storm King remnants.” After a few more seconds of confusion at the sight before the group, Silver asked, “Have any search parties been sent over to look for survivors?” Ishmael answered, “Not yet sir. I wanted to make sure you knew…”

Silver immediately interrupted as he shouted, “Then what are standing around here for? I want a search party sent over to FIVE MINUTES AGO!” Wyvern immediately turned to several of the other survivors and barked, “Alright, you lads come with me!” As the small group departed for one of the longboats, Angel Wings tried to follow, but Silver stopped her. “Not you. Dead ship like that can be a death trap.” He then turned to Wyvern and ordered, “Same to you Mr. Wyvern. I’m not lettin’ you go into that inferno. I’ll go.” Ishmael then just sighed and said, “I’ll take the search party sir. Can’t lose the Cap’n in an accident over there.” Silver simply sighed and gave a confirming nod.

A few minutes later, Ishmael had taken a small group into a long boat and was now floating over to the burning vessel. Angel Wings turned to Silver, who was staring at the inferno and asked, “You really think there’s any-pony still alive in there?” Silver took a deep breath and answered, “We have to be certain. I don’ne want a preventable death on my conscience.” Angel Wings shuddered at the thought of someone actually dying. Still, Silver and the crew had proven themselves as the kind of ponies who wouldn’t turn away some-pony who needed help, and there were certainly a few ponies who needed their help right now.

At least, she hoped there were.

“They’re commin’ back!” The lookout shouted. Silver, Angel Wings, Wyvern and the others turned their attention back to the port side, only to see the long boat returning from the burning vessel. Though Angel Wings was happy to see that all the ponies who went over were clearly visible in the longboat, she couldn’t really see anyone else. “Somethin’s not right.” Silver said.

When the longboat was close enough, Ishmael shouted, “We have an injured one here!” Silver turned to the others and shouted, “You heard him! Let’s get them back up here now!” Everyone immediately began to report to their posts and began to prepare for the longboat’s docking. Sure enough, they began to pull up the longboat and help the others out of it. Angel Wings was helping one of the others, Copper Bottom if she remembered his name, when she saw Ishmael leading an unfamiliar mare wrapped in a blanket out of the boat. “There, it’s alright ma’am.” she heard him say. She was about to turn away and resume her duties When she heard Silver call out for her.

“Miss Wings!” Silver shouted. Angel Wings turned to Silver and asked, “What is it sir?” Silver answered, “Seems we have a guest.” He motioned to the mare and continued, “Make her feel comfortable, would you?” Angel Wings nodded and determinately replied, “Aye aye Cap’n!” she then made her way over to Ishmael and the mare and, a friendly smile on her face, said, “Cap’n says I’m to help with our new guest.”

Immediately, the mare stepped towards Angel Wings and, not saying a word, wrapped her hooves around her. Ishmael then said, “She doesn’t say much. Don’t even know her name.” Angel Wings noticed that this mare, a light blue Pegasus with a short black mane, hadn’t even made any sort of noise whatsoever. She then asked, “So, how about we get a drink?” The mare nodded yes, and Angel Wings took her down to the galley to get her a hot drink.

Once they were gone, Silver asked Ishmael, “Any others?” Ishmael sighed and answered, “None alive. A few were even…” He then shamefully looked away. Silver didn’t need three guesses as to what really happened to the wrecked ship. He then placed a wing on Ishmael’s shoulder and said, “It’s alright. Now, let’s get you boys a drink, and get some rest. It’s been a rough day.” Ishmael nodded and said to the others, “Stow the longboat away lads.”

Silver, though, realized that their situation had suddenly become far more dangerous. After all, if the other ship could be destroyed, then they could suffer the same fate. Yet, he had confidence that his crew and friends could stop anyone who tried to get in their way, and he figured that planning out the next step could wait until tomorrow morning.