The salty sea air blew through Ray’s hair, the brown locks having grown past his shoulders in the past four months. He stared out across hundreds of solid blue waves, watching the foam form and dissipate against the hull of the barge. Licking his lips, he pulled his waterskin to his mouth and took a deep swig of the water within, eyes still on the distant blue horizon. Somewhere out there was his quarry, and if he wasn’t mistaken, it was approximately fifty miles more in that direction, just beyond his sight.
Several groups of brave seaponies had gone scouting out the distant landmass, which in total was exactly three hundred and fifty three miles west of the Equestrian plain. It was almost a week’s travel by boat, but the reason it hadn’t ever been surpassed came from how surprisingly stormy the center of the sea was, almost always being rocked by one typhoon or another. The seaponies had barely managed to cross over the rough patch before another storm had caught them, but it had left them stranded on the other side of the world for several days. Luckily the vast majority of the coastline that wasn’t encased in ice was a long, sheer cliff wall as if someone had cut part of the land away and sunk it into the sea.
The only piece of land that could be used as the basis of a coastal attack was a twelve mile stretch of coastline that proved uninhabited so far. All of the searching had concluded three months ago to the date, which was exactly why they were out here now, two months before the actual invasion, a mock preparation and drill that had required the entire army to perform as necessary. The majority of these past four days out in the open ocean had been spent with various technical drills and caution checks, but up to this point, the only flaw they had run into was a strange groove in the side of one of the barges that required physical labor to keep the ship straight.
Overall, this was another success and major step forward, allowing the entire army to earn their sea legs before the actual event and give the captains of the invasion time to iron out their sailing techniques with hundreds of passengers. Ray and the other Fallen captains who were in charge of vessels had earned their sea legs only about a month prior during drills and practice sailing trips with hippogriffs to learn the way of sailing and the sea. It had been the first time since his arrival that he had been sick, which was an equally strange and frightening process that had left him reminded that there was the possibility of illness for him and the Fallen.
For the most part, however, the Fallen had become immune to the diseases that proved most troublesome for armies after hundreds of years dealing with the sicknesses, and Ray couldn’t be infected by the pony viruses, so save seasickness, there wasn’t much worry for an outbreak. In fact, after that first sailing trip, he had come to enjoy his time on the sea more than on land, the sharp salt of the sea and the smell of water spraying the hull of the ship. It was refreshing, perfectly matching what the hippogriffs said about the salt sea air healing. Perhaps because his time on the water was fleeting or perhaps because it was the perfect calm before the disastrous storm, he wished he could spend his days out on the sea like many of those hippogriff navigators.
“Whatcha thinking about, sir,” Adant asked, her hoofsteps on the wooden planks hollow.
“Oh, not much really,” Ray admitted, looking out over the sea. “Mostly just appreciating the cool of the ocean mist.”
“Aye, I hear that,” Adant nodded in agreement, the mare holding up a hoof to block out the bright, burning sun. “How hot is it today, again?”
“Kraven estimated between thirty seven and forty one degrees,” Ray told her, feeling the outrageous heat on his tan skin. The burning of the sun in these parts of the ocean was like that of the hottest summer days ever recorded in Equestria, but it was fall, and come summer in this region, the moisture would cause typhoons the likes that had never touched Equestrian soil. “Apparently it’s colder today than yesterday. It was forty three at noon.”
“Yeah, I didn’t even bother to come out on the deck yesterday,” she admitted, nodding subtly. “Besides, my division decided to try their hoof at that whacky board game Skalos came up with to challenge us commanders. Everypony went to bed with a headache.”
“Ha, he forced me to learn that while still on some of Zecora’s medicine and with a swollen shoulder,” Ray reminded her. The mare laughed at that, likely remembering her first time learning the complex “game”. “Speaking of which, I think Skalos and Zecora have retired for the evening for some relatively private time, so don’t bother them. They haven’t seen each other for over a month with all the craziness that’s been going on in the mainland.”
“Yeah, I figured,” Adant replied with a slight glance at the quarter deck. Garish stood there, controlling the boat expertly as the wheel headed the turn back around, back towards Equestria. Seeing his wife look back to him, he smiled and waved enthusiastically with one hoof, still holding the wheel with the other. The archer mare smiled softly, blushing ever so slightly, as she turned back to Ray as she said, “I can understand the desire.”
“Well, control yourselves for a few more days while you’re needed, and go crazy back in the Harkening,” Ray instructed softly, looking back out over the waves as they slowly began to crash into the side of the boat and not the bow. Muttering under his breath, he added, “The less we mess up here, the less we lose on our real attack.”
“Yessir,” Adant snapped sharply with a salute. “Now, why did you call me on deck?”
“I need you to take one of the life rafts and two of your archers and make your rounds to Pelios’ and Rohan’s boats and have them send off inquiries to the other four boats and so on. I want a tally on the recordings of everyone inside as practiced. I doubt we’ve had anybody go overboard, but it’s best to be in practice for more complicated situations.”
“Like after a battle,” Adant presumed, earning a nod from Ray. “Of course, lordling. Would you like Kraven to cross check the numbers?”
“Yes, I believe that would hasten up the procedure,” he agreed, turning fully to the ocean, clasping his hands behind his back, staring at the distant blue that led home. “And once your done, you can retire for the night. Oh, and have Charin replace Garish at sunset. He’s been working very hard and deserves a good few hours of rest.”
The order caused Adant to slip up, a small laugh escaping her as she mumbled, “He won’t get much rest with me.”
Ray glanced over his shoulder, arching an eyebrow at the comment, causing the mare to officially snap back into a salute, her hoof knocking against her head as she cried, “As ordered, sir!”
The lordling shook his head as the mare rushed off officiously to follow the command, pausing for a moment to note the fifty plus Fallen shuffling about the deck of the barge, all working on a variety of tasks delegated to them by Garish. Some of them were manning the two ballistas mounted facing either side of the ship, some were helping keep the several masts and instruments in top shape, and others were managing the variety of supplies stored in the ship. Even as he watched, three of them on duty to help lower the life rafts snapped a salute to Adant and assisted her and her two archers already present in case of an order requiring them into their small vessel and carefully lower it into the choppy water. Two other Fallen on deck joined them and served as the rowers, helping escort the messengers.
Ray followed their short trip only a hundred or so feet back towards the next large ship, Pelios’, then continued looking up back to the entire armada, dozens of ships holding hundreds of Fallen each, all working together in this large machine working to cross the great blue sea. He was proud of it, staring out and catching glimpses of different glowing Fallen carrying out different tasks on different ships, all with the same goal. And here he was, standing at the head of the ship leading the fleet.
Smiling, he turned and looked out over the blue ocean, the boats now facing away from the sunset and back east, towards the mainland. He squinted, knowing it was useless to try and see the landmass more than three hundred miles away, but he still liked to imagine the coastline he had left, the well kept docks and hundreds of ponies and hippogriffs who had waved them off. On the actual day of departure not too long from now Twilight had warned him that possibly all of Equestria would be present to watch them go. Either to bid them farewell for the war or forever, nobody could be sure.
But that was why he was here, standing one foot on the bowsprit, to ensure that there was no chance of failure. And now he was certain there wasn’t. It had taken time, but his army had become something the likes he had never heard of before, a cohesive unit of destruction organized and led in such a manner that everything flowed, even in the heat of battle, exactly how he wanted. His own training had been completed with Skalos, the Fallen deciding there was nothing more to teach Ray in spite of the time they still had until the invasion. His last lesson was how the strategy of sailing, and that in itself hadn’t been taught by Skalos, but by the admiral of the hippogriff and seapony navy.
Mock battles had been fought across the entirety of the Harkening, from the open plains to the city itself, everyone practicing the attacks and defenses of the various geographical areas within their home. Though not truly accurate to the course of battle, it was intense practice with somewhat realistic consequences decided by the winners, such as where defendants had to protect next, the amount of soldiers lost, and most humorously, who was charged publicity from among the ranks of losers.
Ever since Twilight’s announcement to the world of Ray and the Fallen, the future of Equestria, and everything in between, eyes had been on them, and while they had been able to avoid too much direct attention for the most part, a demand for answers and perspectives had to be met in the face of such publicity. It was a strange task, as many of the interviewers would rather have the Fallen than Ray himself, which was a relief to him, but a much different experience for those brought in for the questioning. At first, they had been sated with interviews with Skalos and Halberd, the stiff and strict manner the Fallen commanders used to uphold maximum secrecy were tasteless to the crowds.
While it was against the armies’ nature to give in to the demands for “juicier” articles, Twilight pointed out they would face such distractions in the future if not addressed now. Pelios, Garish, and eventually some of the normal foot soldiers were given to the public to have their stories eaten up and spat back out. As Twilight had promised, the others that were much more open had proved to be enough for most ponies, but some tabloids and late coming news outlets still had to be met with, which was where the losers came in. The inquisitive and naive nature of the audience and questionnaires they received made the interviews almost intolerable as the answers to the questions were often either misunderstood or too graphic for the audiences. More than once the question of how the war might end had come up, and every single answer was the same.
With either the slaughter of ponies or the slaughter of minotaurs.
It was that absolution that ponies couldn’t handle, that nobody other than those who would carry out the decision could handle. The grim future was decided though, the lines had been drawn, and even without the enemy truly present to prepare for anything, they had future insight on their side. There was a spirit of hope over the entirety of the Fallen because of it, their training and preparation dissipating the air of concern and dourness that had flooded the Harkening. Now, they were the ones with a bright future in mind, the first to be thinking only of victory even as the rest of the world had succumbed to fear. It was strange how quickly the roles had reversed, but that was the Equestrian's way of living fast paced and listening to how they felt in the moment.
Ray and the Fallen, however, had come to accept the death and destruction they would bring about, the losses they would make and take, and that was their present, to live like they had and were. It allowed them to hope for the future, to look forward to not living this day but a day many years from today. Even Discord and Twilight, who would surely live longer than any of them, held the same views of the other Equestrians, fearing the future and wanting to enjoy the present. It wasn’t so long that Ray himself had followed that philosophy. Times had changed, and his time had come. It was better to focus on fighting for hope than blindly enjoying what he had until it was torn away.
Ray squinted, his thoughts breaking as he realized that he was no longer staring at the open ocean with rolling waves. Instead, the blue had dimmed to black, shining stars reflecting off calm, almost motionless water that gave the appearance of infinity. He smiled as he stared at the sparkling dots in the water, the empty blackness in between them. He hadn’t usually been out at sunset, or actually paid attention when he had, so this was a first for him. Being on the ocean had almost gotten normal, the way the boat rocked, the waves crashed, and air smelled, but this was something fresh.
Just below the surface, he caught sight of something moving, but it was moving away from the ships swiftly, off to the south. He frowned, not sure what he was staring at until it had gone a bit further, the ripples it caused revealing the thing he was staring at wasn’t a singular creature, but many. It seemed to have been some sort of school of fish, disturbed in their passive movement across the waves. He watched them go, darting away into the eastern horizon, their forms vanishing beneath the black waves. It was strange to see fish this far out from the coast, but a small sea shelf was in the area according to their maps.
Looking up, he couldn’t tell whether he was staring at the same sky as in Equestria, the stars seemingly more present and brighter, glowing white sparks in the sky everywhere he looked. It was like nothing he’d seen before, and much like everything else in Equestria, was simply a beautiful detail in the world. Licking his lips, he glanced behind him, the sun gone behind the waves in its trajectory. With a frown he realized he was now standing alone, most of the Fallen either below deck or on the quarter deck a few dozen feet back. He took a step off the bowsprit and onto the deck, but in an instant pain shot through his head.
Wincing, he pressed his hand against his temple as he glanced around him looking for the source of the sudden pain. Grimacing, his muscles suddenly began to ache, his legs beginning to shake as he struggled to keep his eyes open through the pain. Squeezing his eyes shut, he forced himself to stand up, stiffening his arms and legs against the onslaught. Biting the inside of his cheek, he felt a shock run through him like some sort of snake slithering through his veins, an icy chill following it.
“Come on now lordling,” a dripping voice drawled within his head. The words weren’t spoken, but rather put right into his ears, and as soon as he heard them, he knew he was alone. “Care for a spot of destruction in you?”
Forcing his eyes open, he saw he was still on the boat, but something was really off. He looked around, and saw nothing on the boat, not even the most abstract detail. It was completely desolate, the deck devoid of life and the wood of the ship not really wood. He glanced down at his feet, his brow furrowing as he found that he was no longer on describable, wooden material. Instead, it looked like the mist created by Discord for the figures he practiced against, but this was corrupt, not the soft purple but some sort of dark blue, so dark it was to the point of blackness. He looked up, his head swiveling around as he looked past the nondescript boat, to what should have been the ocean.
There was nothing liquid about the stuff that surrounded him, however, simply the same material that made up the boat. It formed a completely flat plain, and he had no doubt that if he were to jump onto it, it would act as such, but considering the situation he had found himself in, Ray decided against it. He glared at the empty sky, still glancing around warily for the voice that had called to him.
“What is this place, what happened to the others,” Ray demanded to the empty surroundings, looking around for anything other than the oblique world. “Who are you?”
“So curious,” the voice drawled once again, its words rippling through the air. This time he could tell where the noise was coming from, but that gave him less comfort than not knowing. Looking down into what should have been the ocean once again, he found himself staring at a wide set of slitted eyes that spanned the entire horizon. The pair glowed a bright blue, illuminating his face and the boat around him, but other than the color, there was once again no other detail. There were no pupils, eyelids, lashes, or anything that formed the eye of a creature. Perhaps that explained why he still didn’t understand what he was staring at.
“That trait will help you greatly,” the voice without a mouth said, the eyes narrowing slightly.
“What are you,” Ray asked, feeling the confidence draining from his voice. He knew he was no longer in Equestria, in spite of the impossibility of it all. Steeling himself he shouted, “Where am I?”
“Human, calm yourself,” the voice spoke testily. The eyes, no, the entire ocean of cryptic material began to rise from its flat form, slowly becoming a large figure. In the blink of an eye the form sharpened, clarifying itself into that of something half phantom, half figure. Its head was an upside down triangular, but not perfectly, one sharp corner at the top looking as if it was constantly crumbling away, while more of its head was fading away from behind. Its eyes were set into its face, which slowly formed a T-shaped slit that served as its mouth as it said, “You know not who you raise your voice to.”
“That’s because you still haven’t told me who you are,” Ray replied stoically, watching it carefully. Its body formed a flowing dress-like structure, ripples of its prosaic material drifting down its hundreds of feet tall body. The eyes narrowed at his remark, a limb appearing from behind it, a sharp crescent of the material a mile long suddenly slashed at him. He leapt forward and grabbed onto the bowsprit as the limb slashed through the boat he had been standing on, the material soundlessly sliced into oblivion.
“Your attitude isn’t appreciated though,” the voice rumbled, its eyes dangerously slim for their size. “You would be wise to listen and learn rather than rebel.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll play along,” Ray agreed, grunting as he pulled himself up back onto the bowsprit as the ship mended itself.
“Very well, then,” the thing replied, its large, empty face leaning down towards him, tilting slightly. “A game it is, human.”
Suddenly another appendage appeared from somewhere within the folds of its body, the limb acting like a leg as it reached out and stepped onto the boat, instantly shrunk to fit the miniscule vessel. The body and head followed, all suddenly standing in front of him, looming over him by only a few inches now. Ray glared up at the strange thing, pursing his lips, unsure about anything that was going on at the moment, other than that he was, in fact, in danger.
“You don’t know me, or anything concerning me,” the thing spoke Ray’s thoughts factually, beginning to circle him slowly, each step ringing throughout the world. Those glowing blue slits remained trained on him deductively, even as it continued, “I wouldn’t expect you to know anything, though. You are a fragile creature, a foreign creature. Comprehension was never yours to grasp. However, I could be your compensation for that lack of foreclosure.”
“What are you even talking about,” Ray questioned, his eyes as narrow as the blue slits that burned into him.
“You fear absolution, yes,” the voice asked. Ray paused for a moment, that cold chill returning.
“No, I don’t fear death,” Ray answered.
“But you fear absolution,” the thing pressed, turning to face him directly, its final footstep booming. “You hate it with your very heart, and if you could, you would destroy it yourself. Absolution is beyond death. Death is a weak thing, a bendable thing. I could destroy it for you.”
“But why would you,” Ray inquired. For some reason, the question seemed to be unanticipated, the thing pausing itself, almost considering the question.
Suddenly, its limbs spread wide, hands with crude angles and gangly fingers stretched to the horizons. “This land, this realm of the worlds, it is my dominion. I am these seas, this ship,” the thing declared. The figure paused, stepping closer, the boom of its movement blowing Ray’s hair back. The face leaned in and whispered sharply, “I am you.”
Ray felt himself shudder at the words, but quickly came over himself, gaining the courage to reach out and push the figure away, his hands contacting what felt like hard clay as he did so. “Yeah, don’t get ahead of yourself,” Ray warned. “I don’t even know what you are.”
In an instant, the bowsprit behind him was upright, and he was pinned against it, the crescent shaped limb pressed against his neck as the figure’s head overshadowed everything else. Instinct kicked in, his arm knocking the blade upwards, narrowly avoiding severing his own nose. He used his other arm to shove the thing away, then proceeded to attempt to kick it further back. His foot, however, sunk into the figure instead of contacting the solid he had thought made up the thing.
“Be that way, then,” the voice growled, venom dripping from its words. The being suddenly lurched forward, its crescent becoming a lance before Ray could even comprehend what was happening. The appendage plunged into his right shoulder, pain like he had only felt once before spiking through his body as he was driven back into the bowsprit. He let out a cry of pain as the other limb slammed bluntly into his chest, knocking the wind out of him. "I am power."
Ray felt tears well in his eyes at the pain, but he mustered the strength to ignore it long enough to glare into the empty blue slits. The slits narrowed slightly at the defiant action, the pressure in his pain increasing ever so slightly. “I couldn’t expect you to begin to understand the intricacies of this universe, but I expected you would be more righteous than the ingrate mortals you tread with, that you would care more for eternal incandescence than the qualms of the living. Your likeness is that of the grime of mortality… but I can change that. All you need to do is let me in…”
“Hell no, maniac,” Ray replied through his teeth, his hand clasping on the knife in his belt, whipping it out, he rammed it into the thing’s side.
The figure looked down to where the knife was jammed into it, Ray holding on tightly to the knife as his pain increased once again, earning a groan. The figure looked back up into Ray’s eyes, long and hard before saying, “Yes, there is a reason I chose you.” The creature paused momentarily, a thoughtful look coming over its nondescript face. “You can call me the Spectre.”
The lance retracted from his shoulder, as did the other arm, as the Spectre took a step backwards, letting Ray fall from the bowsprit. Suddenly, he was no longer falling sideways, but down, his body weightless momentarily until he suddenly landed hard against something, and then sank. Cold wetness spread across him, causing him to realize he had fallen not into the solid sea, but the actual water of the Equestrian seas. Salt rushed through his mouth as he pulled himself up from below the water and into the chill night air, gasping for breath as he thrashed on the surface.
He could barely hear anything over the waves crashing against the side of the ship he was now swimming next to. Wait, the ship! With a grimace, he reached out and found the rope net strung along the sides of every ship in case of someone going overboard. Clinging to the rope, he pulled himself up and used his other hand to wipe away the salt in his eyes, squinting up at the pair of Fallen staring down at him in surprise.
Pointing his finger at the pair, he narrowed his eyes and commanded, “Not a word of this to Skalos.”
Another familiar head joined the pair, Adant’s purple glow giving him equal humiliation and hope for his situation. “Um, yeah, no. You went quiet for a good few minutes there and just… fell off. What in the hay was that?”
“I… don’t know,” Ray admitted, pulling himself up a few more levels of the rope net. “Whatever it was, I don’t think it should concern you guys.”
Ray grunted as he pulled himself over the railing of the ship, his feet thunking on the wood. He let out a deep breath, panting slightly from exertion from both the maneuver and whatever he had just dealt with with the Spectre.
“Our general just went unresponsive and then took a dip in the ocean fifty miles from the nearest land, which is controlled by our enemies, I’ll have you remember,” Adant pointed out sharply, jabbing a hoof into his kneecap. “I do believe that’s plenty of validation for our knowledge as to what in the moon just happened!”
Lowering his voice, he leaned in to right next to her translucent ear and whispered harshly, “When I said I don’t know, I earnestly do not have any clue as to what happened, and when I say it doesn’t concern you, I mean whatever this is, needs some alicorn assistance.” Ray paused as he saw her gaze divert to his shoulder, causing him to ask blandly, “What do you see?”
“Well, did you always have that tear in your shirt,” the archer questioned. Ray glanced at his right shoulder, to where he saw the cloth was torn on both sides of his shoulder. The skin there was slightly lighter as well, something he was now familiar with. “Is that scar new too?”
Grumbling slightly, he stood up and replied, “Yep, those are fresh. Part of the reason this is most definitely not a Fallen problem.” Looking at the three very confused Fallen, Ray sighed and rubbed his hand across his mouth, inquiring, “You got your reports done?”
“Yessir,” one of the other Fallen, an orangish one, replied with a snapped salute. “Kraven has the full report prepared and sent it with us.”
“I’ll take it and check it out, then,” Ray said, reaching out a hand expectantly for the report. He needed something to keep his mind preoccupied from whatever had just happened anyways, and checking numbers was monotone enough to put him to sleep. However, the Fallen sat down and used a hoof to rub the back of his head sheepishly.
“Well, since you weren’t responding at the bowsprit, we sent it to Skalos, so he’ll be dealing with that, actually,” the Fallen admitted.
“Oh boy,” Ray grumbled with a deep breath in. Letting it out with a sigh, he excused himself, “I’m going to go to my bunk then and call it a night.”
“Get some good rest then, lordling,” Adant wished him, frowning slightly. “You look like you need it.”
“Thanks,” he replied sarcastically, standing up and walking across the deck to the door that led to the lower levels of the ship. Just as he went to open it, a magical aura overtook the handle and turned it, pushing the door open. Skalos practically ran into his leg as Zecora bumped into him, the both of them turning in surprise to see him there.
“Going to bed already, lordling,” Skalos questioned. “It’s hardly that late.”
“‘S been a long day,” Ray said, rubbing his right shoulder to hide the torn shirt from his friend.
“Ah, I see, I got the reports,” Skalos replied kindly, eyeing his wet hair. “Everything is in order. Not a singular Fallen missing from the charts.”
“Well, I didn’t suspect anything,” Ray assured him with a nod to Zecora. The zebra smiled in turn, a slight nod of her head to compliment. “I’ll be off now.”
“Okay, good night, lordling,” the Fallen said as Ray slipped past the pair, and down the wooden steps. When he was at the bottom, Skalos called out one last time, “Um, Ray, where is your dagger?”
Reaching down to the empty sheath, he called back, “I went overboard for a bit. Must’ve slipped out then.”
“Well, that was careless of you.”
Licking his lips as he fingered the empty leather strap, he muttered, “Yes it was.”