Twilight stepped aboard Walker with a completed rifle in her hand and backpack slung over her shoulder, tired but satisfied. It had taken much longer than she’d initially predicted to fully assemble the entirely hard-magic weapon, and she’d spent practically the entire night in deep concentration.
She saluted a distracted, hasty side party and the flag as she gained a footing on the slightly moving deck and smiled. “Good morning, San…” Her voice trailed. Sandra Tucker and Courtney Bradford glanced over at her from a circle of destroyermen. On the other side, Matt’s tall figure stood out over the crowd. She approached the group.
“What’s going on?” she asked, quieter.
Sandra said nothing, but she gestured through the ring. Two ‘Cats--Aryaalan ‘Cats--sat hostled on the deck, menaced by Mr. Silva’s pistol and Mr. Lanier’s fishing pole. Captain Reddy paced the deck, his anger boiling as he stopped to run his hand along the blackened rail. With a small spell, Twilight could see tendrils of painful, angry red magic radiating from his heart.
“Captain,” Larry Dowden said carefully, “Radioman Clancy says the radio’s been rewired. Lieutenant Mallory requests permission to fly around and search for Revenge.”
Matt said nothing for several long seconds. Eventually, he nodded slightly. “Very well.”
“Aye, sir. You said you wanted to begin work on the screw this morning?”
Matt glanced around, seemingly surprised. He saw the crew, Sandra, and Courtney gathered around.
“Right. I guess we’re all a little distracted. Have Spanky and the Bosun light a fire under those repairs. They have their own duties to attend.” He noticed Twilight with her dark violet rifle and concern in her eyes, meeting her gaze and holding it for a few moments. “I’ll take care of this one.”
“What’re we doin’ with these two, Skipper?” Silva asked.
“We don’t even need to try them. They’ve admitted they’re enemy saboteurs under orders of their king. But they’re without uniforms or even the courtesy of a declaration of war.” A fire burned in his eyes. “Hang them.”
With their captain’s orders given, most of the crew began to disperse. Silva volunteered to “take care” of the two prisoners with Lanier and those from the gunnery crews who weren’t already busy. Sandra sighed, and Courtney wrote some notes in his notebook. It was only once they were alone when Twilight finally worked up the courage to talk to him.
“Captain Reddy,” she began cautiously, “I think I’ve figured out hard-magic small arms.”
Some of his anger dissipated, but he still simmered. “Then we’ll give them a field test against anyone who wants to defend that little son of a bitch calling himself king.”
“Captain, Equestria is not in conflict with Aryaal.”
“But you work with us, do you not?”
Twilight paused. She had to tread carefully. “I do. But going forward like this could be a dealbreaker to Princess Celestia. To me. You need to calm down before you make a mistake!”
“This is a mistake? Princess, do you even know what happened? Those two and their friends tried to blow up my ship with a cannon they’d stuffed to the brim and surrounded with gunpowder. Harvey Donaghey died trying to get it as far away as possible. They attacked us suddenly and deliberately without a declaration of war just like the Japs at Pearl!” With each word, Matt’s voice grew in intensity until it practically dwarfed her resolve.
Donaghey? No… Her stance changed. “Captain, there’s a storm coming. A big storm. It’s going to hit us tomorrow morning. If you think you can do this before nightfall, go ahead. Otherwise, we need to wait until it passes.”
“And if we wait?”
“As you know, I’ve been scrying the sea surrounding the island for threats, but I can’t get much farther northwest than the coast of Borneo. Something’s blocking me, and it’s getting closer by the day. If we wait until the storm passes, it could be on top of us by the time we recover.”
“You’re saying that we’re out of time?”
“Yes. If you’re going to take Aryaal, you have to do it before nightfall, or King Alcas is going to be the least of your concerns.”
“I’ll take that into consideration, Princess. Anything else?”
“Not unless you want the Royals.”
“They’re yours. I won’t use them without you.”
Twilight’s skin darkened, and she tapped her new rifle on the deck. “Then I’ll see you at the gates.”
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Dear Princess Celestia,
I know that most of my messages are questions about magic and how it might work outside Equestria, and this one is no different. Earlier this morning, I watched as Captain Reddy stood over two prisoners captured during an attempted sabotage of Walker. He was…radiating magic, likely fueled by some kind of emotional turmoil. I could clearly see the anger and pain in his heart, but I couldn’t tell from where it came.
Is there precedence for this? I’ve never heard of someone having magic in this way. Even my friends at CHS had some connection to magic before I met them, through their counterparts in Equestria, and just didn’t know it. But Captain Reddy has no connection to magic whatsoever. What could be causing this? I’ve used this spell previously and never saw it until now.
Also, I’ve been using your scrying spell for some time, and I think I’ve run into a roadblock of sorts. Something is preventing me from seeing beyond a certain range in a particular direction, and only that direction. Are there counterspells I’m unaware of?
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
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Dear Twilight Sparkle,
No, I have not heard of such events. You are the first pony in history to witness this kind of magic. From your letters, I presume that Captain Reddy is unaware of this development, and I urge you to research its effects before revealing it to him. Perhaps it is a sort of descent into madness (although I certainly hope that this is not the case). More likely, it is a result of interacting with you and Equestria magic. Watch it closely. I do not know what will happen.
And yes, there are counters to my scrying spell, but only a Unicorn of sufficient power and skill can accomplish this. I leave these counterspells open to the public because they act as a warning, since blocking my view of an area will alert me to potential threats there.
Whatever is blocking your spell there, it is dangerous. Take care, my student.
Princess Celestia