//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Light of Night, Dark of Day // Story: High Tide, Low Company // by MacDragon //------------------------------// The gentle thumping woke Pip first. He breathed in deeply; the fresh night air was not cold, but cool and crisp in his lungs. Pip rolled over to look through the slatted windows, instead his eyes roamed across the smooth curves of the mare next to him. Her soft purple coat shined in the light of the moon, a pulse of warmth drifted through his heart. Pip could imagine no better mare to have by his side than Dinky. He leaned over her carefully, so as not to wake her, nuzzling her shoulder gently. There was another series of dull thumps. Pip, now more awake than before heard them clearer. What he had assumed was the night crew walking above was actually much farther off in the distance. There was a rap at the cabin door. “Captain.” Came the request from one of the Zebra twins. Pip could feel Dinky stir beside him. He looked over to her once more, she was slightly awake, heavy lidded but coherent. Her golden eyes reflected the low light, “What is it?” she mumbled. “Nothing, it’s ok. Go back to sleep love.” Pip whispered to her. He grabbed the blanket and covered her against the chill night air. He tossed his hat onto his head with practiced ease and strapped his sword to his side. Pip glanced over at the sleeping Dinky once more to be sure of her, the gentle rise and fall of her sides told him she was once again asleep. Pip opened the door to his cabin and trotted out onto the deck, closing the door behind him. The first thing he noticed was the fact it was not dawn, but rather it was still full dark. Pip made his way to the helm of the ship where the zebra Danza now stood. “What is it?” he asked. “I know not. Zanza made the spot.” Said the zebra; pointing in the direction of his brother. “Thanks.” Pip said and made his way to the other zebra that stood on the side of the ship. “What is it?” Pip asked once again. “Out there, flashes in the night. Something out there causes fright. Quickly now, that which you can see is near out of sight.” Zanza said. He proffered the spotting scope, to which Pip stepped up to and scanned the horizon. A minute passed before the Captain spotted anything. There was a series of bright flashes far in the distance. A few seconds later the series of thumps sounded again. “Cannons.” Pip whispered under his breath. “Should we raise anchor and make way? I’m sure we could make it by first light of day.” Danza said from above. Pip mulled it over for a moment. Choices were hard when lives depended on it. But even given that Pip knew full well that even if they left now, the wind would not be enough to get them halfway there by daylight. Anyway, Stormwing had stated the day before during dinner that she felt the next day would bring strong winds, good for sailing. Pip knew that if they waited for daylight they would catch the winds as they picked up, they would cover twice the distance in half the time. Either way they would show up after whatever was happening was long gone. “No, leave anchor for the night. We wait till daybreak for more favorable winds. Waking the crew now would do us no good anyway. They need to sleep off the grog from dinner anyway. And whatever is going on will be gone either way when we arrive.” Pip replied in a measured but light tone. “Very well, we will wait till first light. You know best Captain, now return to sleep this night.” Zanza said. Pip withdrew once more to his cabin. Things changed fast at sea, he never ceased to be amazed. Pip once again hung his sword and hat on the bedpost by his pillow. He then rolled lightly back onto the bed, doing his best not to wake Dinky. He looked over and was a bit surprised to see her eyes already wide open. “I guess I’m not as quite as I thought.” He said. “No, no you’re not. At least when it comes to me that is.” Dinky replied. Pip laughed a small laugh of resignation. “I suppose you want to know what that was about.” He guessed. “I assume it had to do with the cannon fire.” she replied. Pip looked at his mare, always amazed at her ability to deduct a sound guess at events. “Yes, it was cannon fire, in the distance.” He replied. “So, are we going to set sail soon?” She asked. “No. No, were going to wait for day. Stormwing is certain that the wind will be favorable and strong tomorrow. Either way, we will arrive after whatever happened is over. Were staying put for the night.” Dinky smiled at this and nuzzled him affectionately under his chin. Pip lay back down; Dinky, following suite, cuddling close to him and promptly falling asleep. The Captain was soon to follow. ҉ The morning was full of action. The crew was busy making sail to catch the rapidly growing wind. The ship was soon bedecked from prow to stern in dark red sail, each bit catching the wind fully. The Bonnie Lass was cutting through the water at an incredible rate. The Captain was well pleased with their current speed and heading, before the sun reached its zenith they would reach their destination. They had acquired their heading in the early hours of first daylight; it was a simple deduction for once. They were sailing straight towards the massive column of black smoke that had been rising into the sky all morning. Pip stood beside the helm, looking over the charts and checking it against their current bearing. The first thing he noticed was that they were not heading towards the shore of Equestria, but rather away from it. Pip knew of no settlements past Canterbury, at least not in their easterly direction. The only land past there was a few uninhabited islands at the edge of Bridle Shores. None of which he thought could have been settlements. Never-the-less, that’s where the smoke was billowing out from, that, was there they were headed. Radko was making his rounds about the deck; ensuring everypony was doing as they were expected. Some of them still had a bit of the grog about them from the previous nights partying. Being prone to listlessness, Radko had taken his duty up and did so well, soon the ones in question had become quite energized and now buzzed about the ship from one chore to the next. The deck of Bonnie Lass soon shined in the early sunlight. Captain Pip looked out across the open sea ahead. The smoke column was growing larger quickly. Whatever was burning was either very big, or there were lots of them. What they were sailing towards he had no idea. Time quickly passed, they drew closer the far off destination. Everypony could smell the acrid smoke now. “Land ho!” came a shout from above. Pip looked up, it was Stormwing. The crew on deck trotted to the railings, eager to get a glimpse of what lie ahead. The Captain was no exception; he climbed nimbly half way up the rigging to get a better view. The wind was stronger up high and he had to be sure he had good hoofing before he looked outward. Indeed, he could make out land ahead and a massive black cloud as well. He climbed down and gave the order to pull in some sail, effectively slowing them down to a more maneuverable speed. A few moments later they could see the full extent of the scene in front of them. There were two white keeled Canterlot Naval Cruisers anchored in the deep water nearby, the Royal Guard was quick to respond it would seem. Looking past them was a grim scene. The water all around them was littered with debris, lots of small flotsam, but a few hulking chunks of what looked like buildings floated past as well. The beach was a chaotic mess of ponies of all kinds. Many white coated medics ran to and fro like a snowstorm. There were so many wounded so many dead. Pip had never seen such a thing. And as if to punctuate it all, in the background a raging inferno burned, barely controlled by the unicorn fire response squads attempting to maintain it, angry flames roiled in all directions. Black smoke choking anything that dared to fly. Suddenly from what Pip assumed was the command post there were three flashes of blue light. A friend or foe challenge. Before he could give the command the green flash response was given by Dinky, she was quick. He noticed a yellow coated pegasai in shinning mail jet from the shore and head in their direction. “Prepare the longboat!” He shouted. The crew rushed to it and quickly had it ready and over the side for launch just as the pegasus touched down on their deck. “Captain, name is Windchaser. Command sent me to ask of your assistance. Anything you could offer would be much help, were short on hooves out here. Medical assistance, food, shelter, anything would be greatly appreciated.” Pip nodded in quick answer and started giving commands as the pegasus raced back to the beach. “Radko, Quix, Nixx, Your with me! Grab bandages, any food we can spare and some of our extra sailcloth, load it up, and move!” He raced up to the helm where Dinky stood watching the blaze. “You have the ship while I’m gone, It’ll be ok. If you need anything just flash the signal, Nixx or Quix will respond.” She nodded and went about giving commands to drop anchor and assist the launch team. Shortly they were underway. They all, even Pip, rowed with all their might. They hit shore in just a few moments. There they were met by a Royal Guardspony, “Captain Pip I presume?” He said in a gravelly voice. “Yes, where am I needed?” he asked. The Guardspony looked around somewhat pointedly but somewhat unsure before replying. “Best you follow me back to command.” He said in uncertain tones. “Very well. Quix, do what you can to help with the wounded. Radko, help with the shelters and Nixx, do whatever you can to help get that blaze under control.” He gave out orders quickly before galloping after the Guardspony. He arrived at the Forward Command Station within a couple moments. He was ushered inside quickly. Once inside the makeshift tent-building he was tossed into the thick of it, there were ponies going to and fro hastily from table to table, there were charts, figures, pictures, and so many voices. There was a pony in the back operating a telegraph and another next to him sealing letters and loading them into a satchel to be delivered elsewhere. In the midst of it all stood a large brown pony. Bedecked in battle attire of plate and mail polished to a shine; he was going over a chart on the table in front of him, conversing with a group of Guardsponies. If not for all the commotion Pip would have been able to hear what he was telling them, but that was not an option in this case, the entire chaotic hubbub prevented that. But he didn’t need to, with a final clack of his hoof on the table the other ponies saluted and dismissed themselves from the tent to go about whatever it was he’d sent them to do. The Commander, Pip could now see his rank on the shoulder of his hauberk, turned to him and greeted him with a manner less militant than he’d expected. “You must be Captain Pip of the Bonnie Lass. Correct me if I’m wrong.” Pip responded, “Nothing seems to escape you…” He trailed off in lack of a name. “Commander Thundergun. You can call me Thunder though. I’m in charge of the ships anchored outside. We have 3 more on the other side of the island.” He replied to the questioning tone. “So Commodore?” Pip inquired. “Yes, if you wish to call me that instead.” Thunder replied. Pip chuckled. “So, what happened here? What do you need of my crew and I?” He asked. “Hm, a Captain that’s quick to the chase. Well I can see you will be right for the job then. What you see here is the wreck of one of our smaller lifting gas mines. The blaze you see raging is there from the flammable gasses that were ignited in last night’s attack. Normally it is a very stable gas, you could light a match in a room filled with it and have no ill effects, but something the attackers fired into the mineshafts was either reactive with it or burned hot enough to cause it to catch. What it is we do not know, all we know is the resulting blast leveled the village. We, as I’m sure you’ve seen, have many wounded civilians and a shortage of medics to tend to the more minor injuries.” He explained. “I’ve brought my own surgeon to shore, he is proficient in medicine in a manner I’ve seldom ever witnessed, and I put him to work out there with your own field surgeons. I’m sure it’ll help. I’ve also set my technician off to see if there is anything he can do to help contain the blaze and my Master-at-Arms is assisting with more shelters for the wounded.” Pip informed the commander. “I’m impressed. You waste no time Captain. You’re proving to live up to my every expectation. To be honest I did not expect there to be any other ships out here. Least of all you and your rag tag crew, no offense meant. I’m gladly proven wrong. The help is much appreciated. We will see to it that your resupplied with anything of your own that you use to help us, in the very least. But soon I will have a much more pressing matter for you to assist me with.” He said cryptically. Pip looked him in the eye, “What would that be?” He replied in an even tone. The stallion paused for a moment, looking Pip in the eyes. After a second of study he walked over to a box and pulled something out of it. Commander Thunder trotted back to the table and tossed a strange medallion onto it, sliding it over to pip. Pip studied the medallion. It was tarnished; there was some sort of figure etched into its surface, what it was though he could not be sure. The leather strap was broken and crusted over with dry rot and salt. “What does flotsam have to do with any of this?” He asked, sure it was a joke of some sort. “That, my friend, is not flotsam or some long forgotten trinket. That is our one and only lead. One of the guards stationed here pulled that off one of the attackers. He gave it to me just before he passed of his injuries.” Thunder replied in all seriousness. “My apologies, I meant no offense. So what is it? Do we have any details on the attackers? What they looked like? What kind of ship it was? Where they went after the attack?” Pip questioned. “No, not much, that medallion and the simple description of the ship from survivors; we know it was large. Bigger than most of our ships, black, they claim it was not steam powered either, no signs of the technology, smoke or anything. It happened fast. They were here for something but we have not found what it was yet.” Thunder responded. Pip looked to the medallion again. He wondered if Nixx would be able to glean anything from its ruined surface. The tech had a way with broken things. “May I take this with me?” He queried. “Yes, that is why I gave it to you. That’s what I need your help with. The Royal Navy is still held up in port getting their steam engines installed. The ships you see out and around this island are the only ones we have been able to keep stable.” Pip was a bit surprised at hearing this bit of intel. “You are one of the only people in all of Equestria who know this information it’d be wise to keep it that way. Were in a potentially vulnerable position here, which is why we must keep our working ships close at hand.” “Very well, I understand. So what is it you need from my ship and crew?” Pip Asked. The commander was quiet, thinking carefully of how to phrase his next words. “Put simply, I’ve been told to request you and your crew find the ship or ships responsible for this attack. Hunt them down and gather as much intel as you can on them. Who they are, where they make berth, anything and everything you can. We’ll supply you with food and fresh water before you leave here. While I was going to request your crew do what they can to help the situation here, I can see that you already started that.” He pointed to the beach where Quix could be seen directing the other doctors and nurses. Nixx had devised some sort of water cannon and was currently duplicating them along the shore, already they were helping contain the blaze a little better than before. Radko could be seen with another group of stallions raising a larger shelter tent, already there were at least four new shelters up. “Your crew seems to be quite effective at working under pressure. My men could learn something from that. Feel free to stay through the night here. You have all learned it.” Captain Pip was glad his crew was proving helpful. However, he much preferred to get under way as quickly as possible. “I thank you for the offer sir but I feel we’ll make better time if we get underway as quick as we can.” He replied to Thunders offer. “Well, I can certainly respect that as a fellow Captain. However, seeing as though we have no lead, your crew will be quite exhausted from today’s action, and the fact that we have yet to get you resupplied I must question what exactly it is you wish to achieve.” He said in a concerned but stern tone. Pip thought about that for a moment. It was sound logic, no point in pushing his crew harder when they had been undergoing grueling work already. “Very well, we shall stay this night. But I wish to leave as soon as we can tomorrow.” He countered. “How does first light sound, we can get you supplied this evening and then give your crew some time to rest. Perhaps even some time to do some digging on what you can find here.” Thunder said. “That will do nicely. I’ll be quick to spread the word and will find something I and the rest of my crew can help with.” He said, satisfied. “Then be on your way. And thank you for your timely assistance Master Pip.” Thunder replied in a dismissive, kind, tone. With that Pip made his way to the exit, stashing the weathered medallion into his pack with care not to bring more harm to it. He worked his way down to where they had beached the longboat; two of his crew was with it to make sure it didn’t get lifted by anypony in need of a ride. “Take the boat; tell the crew we rest here for tonight, anypony not needed on deck is to report immediately to shore to help wherever they are needed. We leave at first light tomorrow.” He said. They nodded understanding and moved hastily to the longboat and from there to the ship. Shortly there were three longboats making their way to shore where they deposited their crews. Three ponies stayed behind to guard the craft. Shortly he could see his crew mingled in with all the other ponies on the beach, providing what help they could where they were needed, some of them even got conscripted by the Navy to assist with search and rescue efforts both at sea and on land. The blaze had abated somewhat, it was no longer threatening the makeshift tent housing. Never-the-less though it was still a raging inferno, flames towering into the sky, billowing black smoke blotting out the noonday sunlight. It was still a chaotic, noisome mess all about the island, debris was strewed everywhere, and everypony was assisting when they could in clearing it, both from land and sea. The Navy had requisitioned the one remaining barge and had rigged it with a crane; they used it to pluck the largest debris from the water. Pip set off, trying to ignore the quickly growing number of body bags spread along the stretch of shore where the infirmary was located. It was a harrowing sight, so many ponies, even griffins and a number of other creatures that had worked at the station. Never before had he seen such meaningless mayhem. Sure he’d been in his share of naval combat, even sunk a few ships that refused to surrender. He’d lost good ponies and seen many more die in combat or from its results, but this was truly a terrible scene to witness. He made himself useful clearing debris to make room for more shelters on the other side of the beach. It was tough, grueling work, but he would not be where he was now if tough work scared him off. Soon they had a mess hall, and sleeping quarters set up for all the ponies that needed it, which were many. The sun was dipping down behind the clouds when things started to calm down. The body count had dropped; fewer and fewer new bodies came in every hour. It seemed that they were doing well with the remaining patients. Radko and his workgroup had made at least eighteen shelter buildings. The stallion was beat. They all were. All around the beach one could see the fatigue setting in rapidly. The water cannon crews were the only ones who seemed unaffected by the strain of the work. He wondered if it didn’t have something to do with the still blazing inferno or if perhaps they had some supply of wakewort, or some other stimulant provided to them. All he knew is that the fire was still present, the black billowing smoke still pouring fourth into the evening sky effectively hiding the stars. Night fell on the shore. The fire was still going but it was not spreading any longer. It provided an eerie glow on the shore around them, and orange glow to the dark night. His crew was given a shelter of their own near their boats, most of them already slept within. A few however still helped with the few tasks still being carried out. Such as Radko, who’d returned to the ship to oversee the resupply; it was in its finishing stages now. There was a crunch behind him, he turned to see Nixx approaching. The tech smelled of smoke and was covered in grime. “You look well worn. How goes the fight?” Pip asked in a curious tone. “I’ve done all I can. Their own techs will be able to duplicate my craft now that I’ve taught them. It’s simple work. They will have the fire out by dawn if they work as hard as they have been today. What of you? Did the commander have anything to say? Do they know who it was?” He returned. Pip rummaged into the pouch on his side, pulling forth the medallion. He set it on a log next to him so Nixx could see it. “Have you ever seen anything like this?” He asked. The tech stepped up to the log and inspected the medallion in the light that played of its tarnished surface from the fire. Nixx gave it a good once over with some sand and then a rag, very little was taken from its surface. Still he looked closer at it before tossing it back to Pip. “Nope, never, do you know?” He asked. “Not a clue. However, it’s our only lead currently. That and hearsay of a black ship, a large black ship. That’s all. Whoever is responsible for this is good at covering their tracks…” Pip said. Nixx nodded in understanding. He then trotted into the shelter and promptly fell asleep. This left Pip on the shore watching the slow bustle of evening activity between ships and crew. Something about all this set his mind on edge. In all his years of employment to the crown he’d never encountered something like this. There were too many uncertainties, not enough information. But even with that he was eager to get under way. An enemy like this was exactly what he was ready for. He just wondered if the rest of the crew would be up to the challenge and danger. Pip sat on the beach for a good while, pondering all of what would be needed and demanded of his crew and his ship in the time to come. A pony of lesser constitution would probably shy away from a challenge like this. Not Pip though. Even with the uncertainties he was eager for a new challenge. But he was still nervous, placing the lives of everypony on board always made him nervous, even knowing that they would lay their lives on the line to defend Equestria, their ship and their crewmates. His mind was racing in a million directions. Something caught his eye in the mist of all these thoughts. A gleam, something floating in the night sky, what it was though he could not tell; he watched carefully, trying to catch a glimpse of it again. The gentle night breeze drifted past him, moving the clouds and smoke enough that the moon was now visible. He lost track of whatever it was for a moment. He was startled when he noticed it again, this time it was balanced on the tip of his nose. Causing him to almost go cross eyed. It instantly calmed him though. The bubble reflected the moonlight off its shinny surface. It didn’t pop when he moved to look around, instead it drifted off, it was only then he noticed the little cloud of bubbles that floated around him. It would seem he wasn’t the only one still awake, The bubbles drifted back out to sea, leading his gaze to his ship, he could just make out the purple unicorn standing at the helm where the bubbles now floated.