Spike couldn’t help but gape at the engine room when they reached it. “They… they’re using lava?!”
Indeed, they were. Angry red molten magma oozed overhead, pumped along by a row of yellow turbines the size of grain silos. The turbines churned and hummed, pulling the lava from a large pool of the volcano juice below. Pressure gauges hissed and computer terminals beeped all along the opposite end of the wall.
A single yeti was hunched over one of the consoles, but he was so involved in his work, he didn’t notice Night until she rammed his head into the console, knocking him out cold.
The rest of the group filed in. Storm, Sky Star, Jackknife and the pink hippogriff (Silver Stream, she had introduced herself as) were dripping with sweat in seconds.
“I-I don’t get it,” Storm mumbled. “How are they able to use lava? I thought the ship was made of wood.”
“It must be some form of magic,” Diamondback offered, checking the other consoles with a pair of what looked like reading glasses. “Perhaps a containment field to keep the lava from burning through the metal.”
“Could also be made of dragon scales,” Blaze offered, peering at the pipes that the lava was oozing through. “We can swim in that stuff just fine.”
“But I’m betting the others can’t,” Jackknife noted with a grin. “We deactivate whatever magic’s at work here, and the ship should burn itself up.”
Diamondback hummed with uncertainty. “It’s possible, but I’m not seeing any indications of magic.”
Spike chuckled as he walked up to one of the consoles. “Where’s Twilight when you need her, right?” he sighed. “She’d probably know what magic was working here in a snap.”
“Don’t give up,” Wing insisted, trying to work the console the yeti had been typing on, only to grimace as she realized the screen was shattered. She shattered it further with another punch and moved onto the next console. “Spike and I can try to figure this out, but I’m also thinking that if two of our number can dive into that lava and see about chipping away at the bottom floor… it might not be a bad backup plan.”
“I can do that,” Phoenix replied, vaulting over the side and cannonballing into the lava. Briefly popping back up to give the group a thumbs up, the scarred dragon dove back down.
Diamondback groaned as she reluctantly pulled off her purple robe. “That lava’s going to ruin my diamonds,” she bemoaned. Nevertheless, she took a breath, and swan dove down into the lava as well.
As Spike and Night turned back to the consoles, Jack, Swift, Storm, Sky and Silver all exchanged glances.
“So,” Silver asked. “Can we… do anything to help?”
Before Spike could reply, they heard the pounding of feet on metal steps; so many creatures coming down the stairwell, they could hear them over the engines.
Not a good sign.
Jackknife, however, grinned and flexed his muscles. “We can handle our hosts.” He pointed at Spike and Night. “Keep working on that, guys. We’ll buy you as much time as you need.”
“But, Jack…” Swift stammered.
But Jackknife was already racing towards the noise. Groaning, Swift glanced at the other residents of Sequestria.
“Try not to get yourselves hurt,” he recommended. “If the Storm King knows you're here…”
“If Jackknife didn’t break,” Storm said firmly, “Neither will we.”
“Normally, I’m more about friendship than violence,” Sky Star admitted. “But in this case… I think I can make an exception.”
“Yay for teamwork!” Silver cheered.
Together, they ran after Jackknife. And before long, the sounds of combat emanated from above.
Spike couldn’t focus on what Jack and the others were up to. He had to figure out how to shut off the machinery.
“C’mon, Spike, think,” he thought desperately. “What kind of machines did Twilight use in the past?”
He recalled the lab that they had underneath her treehouse library. The strange brain reading device that she had tried to use on Pinkie when figuring out her Pinkie Sense. That had to be similar to these machines, right? But how had it worked?
Spike heard a burst of flames, and turned. Night had shifted her right talon back to an alicorn hoof, and was touching the machine with a concentrated glare.
“Anything?” he asked, hoping that her secret pony heritage might prove useful.
She grimaced. “I’m not getting any magic from here,” she admitted. “If anything, it feels more like this stuff repels magic.” She gave him a worried look, though she tried to cover it with a nervous grin. “I don’t think spells are going to work on this one, buddy.”
Spike, however, turned back to the console with a grimace. “Well, at least we have a plan B,” he noted, glaring up at the pipes. “Let’s see what we can do to start making these things leak.”
Grinning, Night spread her wings and launched up to the pipes. Spike similarly ran back to look for some sort of tool or weapon he could start breaking pipes with.
No sooner had he started looking, however, before Silver Stream raced up to him. Her eyes were wild and panicked, and she was hauling a disoriented looking Sky Star alongside her.
“Are you guys any closer to bringing this ship down?” she asked.
“Consoles are a no-go,” he replied, “We have to bust the pipes.” His heart skipped a beat as he heard Jackknife roar. “How are the others doing?”
Silver merely glanced over at Sky Star, who’s eyes were rolling dizzily.
“Mommy, I don’t wanna go to school in the morning…” she mumbled deliriously.
“Okay, that’s probably self-explanatory,” Spike admitted. “But what about Swift, Jack and Storm?”
Silver looked back as the trio were driven around the corner.
Spike’s heart sunk: Tempest was at the forefront of an army of yetis. She kicked, grappled and flipped, driving Jackknife, Swift and Storm slowly but surely backward. Every time one of the three almost had an advantage, one of the yetis would jab at them with spears, forcing them back.
Bringing up the rear was the Storm King himself, watching the whole fight like it was an entertaining game.
“Arrogant jerk…” Spike growled, before pointing Silver back to Night. “Get back to Night. See what you can do to bust open the pipes.”
Silver yelped. “But there’s lava in there!”
“You’ll have to be very careful,” he replied.
Silver glanced at Sky Star, before her eyes lit up.
“I got a better idea.” She spread her wings and took flight, flying past the lava container to the lowest part of the ship. “Tell Jack and Storm to come with!”
“Jack and Storm, but…” Spike turned. Jack was indeed the main one holding back the Storm King’s forces.
But then Spike remembered how they were just above the ocean. Above water.
Jack was a sea serpent.
It clicked in his mind, and he rushed forward, blasting at Tempest and her yetis with a barrage of flames.
“Jack,” he called as the yetis fell backward, patting out burning tufts of their fur. “Silver and Sky need you at the bottom of the ship."
Jack stared at him in shock. “I can’t leave you guys to fight this.”
“We can’t win this by just fighting. Please!”
Jackknife still looked conflicted. “I’m not…”
“You’re not Novo,” Spike promised, touching his shoulder. “You’re gonna win this for us. Just let me handle this.”
Jackknife gazed at him - almost for too long, as Tempest tried to kick them both, only getting stopped by Swift.
“Can you gentlemen save your heart to heart for later,” Swift pleaded as Tempest began to beat him.
Jackknife swore, but pat Spike on the shoulder. Grabbing a battered Storm, he dove over the side and after his hippogriff companions, while Spike took his place at the forefront, blasting at Tempest and forcing her away from Swift.
Swift scrambled to Spike’s side. “I-I don’t suppose I could join Jack down below, can I?” he asked.
“Can you control water?” Spike asked.
“I, uh… I don’t know,” he admitted.
The Storm King’s laugh drew their gaze.
“You could control confetti for all the good it’ll do you,” the Storm King mocked. He indicated the metal around the ship. “This metal is built to repel every kind of magic. Unicorn, pegasus, earth pony, even dragon and sea serpent.”
Spike glanced at the yetis still putting out their smoldering fur. “If it’s so great, your men should have covered up better.”
The Storm King grimaced. “Yeah well… you try wearing armor when you got fur on. I don’t suppose you can, giving the scales and everything, but it really heats up in there.”
Spike prepared another blast of flames. But just before he could try and come up with a cool one-liner before the fire…
“It’s about to get a lot hotter!” Night yelled.
Swift looked back and screamed, diving out of the way as Night wrenched a lava pipe open and blasted the molten magma like a fire hose.
Tempest dodged out of the way, but while the magic repelling armor managed to hold up against the lava, several of the yetis started wailing in terror as the lava began to disintegrate their fur, rapidly going for their actual bodies.
“No, you idiots!” The Storm King roared, before turning to Tempest. “Tempest, shut that off!”
Tempest rushed at Night, who tried to aim her lava hose down at her. But just before Tempest could reach the black dragoness… the lava flow cut off, and dripped uselessly down before her.
Night stared at the lava in shock. “Wait, what…?”
Tempest silenced her with a kick, knocking her away from the pipe.
“Night!” Spike yelled, before noticing the entire room start to flicker. Steam began to hiss up from below, as the light of the lava dimmed.
Everyone looked down: Diamondback and Phoenix had punched through the bottom of the lava container. And meanwhile, Jackknife, Storm, Sky and Silver had busted through the bottom of the ship, and managed to summon a massive torrent of water that was spreading upward into the lava container, rapidly cooling the lava and turning it from molten magma into obsidian.
As they did so, however, they felt the ship begin to drop and lose altitude.
“Idiots!” The Storm King yelled. “You take out this engine, we all go down!”
“That’s what you think,” Jackknife replied, before pushing Storm into the water spout they had summoned. “C’mon, guys! We’re getting out of here!”
Swift dragged a battered Night into the water spout, while Diamondback and Phoenix lunged in after him.
Spike jumped off the balcony, bouncing rather painfully off the obsidian and diving towards the exit as Silver and Sky escaped.
Tempest leaped down to stop him, but Jackknife intercepted her with an uppercut.
“Jack!” Spike tried to yell, but he hit the water spout and was sucked down into what felt like the world’s largest water slide.
For a moment, it felt like he was in free fall. Through a haze of water, he saw the cliffs rise up before him, before he was deposited into the water near the shoreline they had been kicked out from Sequestria. The others were already at the shoreline, with Night jumping forward to pull Spike to safety.
Back on dry land, Spike saw Silver, Sky and Storm controlling the water spout, dragging the Storm King’s ship downward. For a tense moment, their gazes grew strained, and Spike feared they were going to send the Storm King’s ship crashing right down into the waters that held Sequestria.
But then Jackknife soared down the waterspout, briefly vanishing into the depths at speeds that convinced Spike he could hit Sequestria with enough force to cave a roof in. But just as quickly, Jackknife surged back up to the surface. And together, sea serpent and hippogriff alike forced the water spout up like a massive fist, flinging the Storm King’s ship up into the sky. It became a small, star-like dot - yet even then, Tempest and the Storm King’s screams were audible - then it dropped over the horizon, and out of sight.
The others paused to catch their breath: Diamondback and Blaze in particular looked exhausted, Diamondback bemoaning the charred state of her diamonds. Spike wandered over and pat their shoulders.
“Nice job, guys,” he said.
Phoenix grinned despite her exhaustion. “Tell that to Jackknife,” she said. “He got the bottom of the ship open enough to get the water in.”
Jackknife, however, looked to his companions from Sequestria. “Thank them,” he said. “Silver’s the one who came up with the idea… and there was no way I could ‘a done it alone.”
Sky and Silver beamed and hugged Jackknife. Storm looked like he wanted to hug, but decided against it.
Swift watched where the Storm King’s ship had gone warily. “He’ll come back,” he noted. “Won’t he?”
“Most likely,” Night admitted. “But, we know he’s out there, and we can tell the others to prepare.”
Sky nodded. “If he starts causing trouble,” she told Jackknife. “You let us know.” She offered her hoof. “It’ll be an honor to fight by your side again.”
Jackknife gazed at her and gave a rare grin. “Yer a lot better than yer ma,” he noted, shaking her hoof. “It’ll be good to work with you again as well.”
Sky blushed. “My mom has her way of doing things, and I have my own way.”
Silver gasped. “Speaking of which, we better get back before she realizes what we did.”
Sky winced. “Yeah.”
“Don’t worry,” Jack said, patting her shoulder. “I won’t be far. And if ya need me again, well…” he grinned at Storm. “I think we both know who’ll make an ideal messenger.”
Storm held himself high. The pride in his eyes shined so brightly, Spike wished he knew what Celestia had done to his fire to allow instant messaging.
“You’ll see us again,” Spike promised. “I want to show you how to do that instant message fire thing.”
Storm chuckled. “It might have to be instant message water or something like that, but… I’d like that.”
The dragons picked themselves up, and prepared to take flight. “Until next time, guys,” Night called.
“We look forward to it,” Silver said happily, before she, Sky and Storm dove back underwater, returning home.
Spike smiled happily as the group made their own way home, already planning his next friendship letter:
My friends Twilight and Celestia,
Time is often said to be like an ocean in a storm; unpredictable, uncontrollable, and filled with twists and turns that are sure to cause trouble.
It can turn the closest of friendships bitter and scornful, and make what used to be great memories somber reflections of mistakes made.
Jackknife discovered this when a chance encounter with an old friend from his past led us to have to fight a foe that proved to be a threat not just to Jackknife’s old home, but to Equus as a whole.
A foe called the Storm King, whom we should make preparations against in case he returns.
For while it is likely the Storm King escaped with his life, we are lucky to have escaped with ours. And during our battle, Jackknife proved that while time can make old friendships bitter and hateful, if regret is shown from the right people, pettiness and anger can be only fleeting things. And the memory of better times, combined with the honorable soul of a good person, can keep people from making mistakes that they would have made out of emotional anger or pettiness, and instead allow old friends to work together towards a common, more noble goal.
I’m very proud of Jackknife and the path he took on this adventure, and thanks to his efforts, I hope to aid Equestria in extending an olive branch to the sea serpents and their friends, so that we may all find a way to stand united against the darkness of the world.
Looking forward to seeing you again, and sharing more of my findings.
Your loyal friend,
Spike the Dragon