Rigged with lateen sails and built to be as nimble as possible, the Equestrian exploration vessels were, by far, the fastest and most maneuverable ships to have ever sailed the seas. The direction in which the wind blew didn't matter; they would cut the winds and waves and sail forth.
Of course, such a boon came with a severe cost. The one downside about those ships was their lack of ability to return fire.
Twilight couldn't say for sure when the turmoil had started on deck. The first yells had roused her from her sleep. The ship's gentle rocking had worsened to the point where she could not stand, causing her bags to spill their contents across the floor. Clothes, books and paperwork were scattered at her feet. Reluctantly tossing away the cape that had provided her warmth, she tried to collect her belongings, a task made extremely difficult by the swaying of the floor under her feet.
She completely lost her balance when the first shot was fired above her head. Although her immediate reaction was to take hold of her staff, unsheathe it and prepare to run upstairs, the pistol she had discarded continued to beg for her attention. She hesitated between running over and running away from it.
"They're still on our tail, cap'n!!" someone cried before another shot reverberated throughout the hold, startling Spike awake.
"What's going on?!" he groggily called from the pile of bags and boxes.
Gravity shifted violently as if to answer the dragon. Both him and Twilight were thrown against the hold's walls, effectively crushing a few of the boxes with their weight. The ship's wooden shell creaked in complaint, but stood firm; it knew it still had a mission to accomplish.
Twilight pushed the debris off of her body and held on to the nearest pillar for support. She could feel the woodwork vibrate between her hands as the prow cut through the waves. If she didn't know any better, she would say they were fleeing.
She shakily strode towards the stairs, step by step. The staff's bag, slung over her shoulder, bumped against her back every time the ship swayed too much. Her face was sprayed with droplets of seawater just as her head poked out of the deck's floor.
The crew members were restlessly adjusting the sails to their most favorable position. She had serious doubts about whether or not they were still on-course, as the sunny skies had long since been left behind. A strong wind blew, and the sea undulated more vigorously than ever. A thick haze was beginning to take shape around them.
"What is going on?!" she yelled to anyone who bothered to listen.
"What are ya, deaf or somethin'?! An airship's been tailin' us ever since we left Equestrian waters!" a sailor by the main mast shouted. In his hands was a rope, which he struggled to keep from flying off. "Opened fire 'soon as we were far enough from shore! Oh, but we shot too, we did!"
"An airship? This far out?"
"Aye! Me thinks the boys at the Cloudsdale district've been nappin' and let a Gryphon ship come through!" the sailor spat. "Bloody bastards can't even keep an eye on who crosses the border!"
"Why would a Gryphon ship come all the way here to get us? I thought Princess Celestia had already signed the treaty on hunting territory!"
"Dun' care; th'moment they opened fire was th'moment me trust in'em drowned! Now ya go'n hide yerself 'fore ya get hurt!"
"But--"
Twilight would have continued if the roar of a horn hadn't interrupted her. Even the wind seemed to have died just to listen in. All eyes aboard the ship were fixated on the sky. The murmur of a motor resonated in their ears. They held their breath. The mist was both an advantage and a disadvantage, for in the same way they could hide, so could their predator.
Just when they were about to breathe again, the cry of a sailor echoed:
"Enemy airship overhead!!"
"What?! They found us already?!" the other sailor twitched towards Twilight to push her back, but his duty kept her out of his reach. "Git to the hold, lass!"
"They're firin'!! TAKE COVER!!"
No sooner did those words reach deck than a flurry of bullets rained down upon the ship. Twilight's heart raced as she let go of the staircase and fell back to the hold. The landing on her knees had been less than ideal, but the sound of the cartridges scraping on wood allowed her to forget the aching sting and just roll to safety. The young woman shivered uncontrollably each time the pellets ricocheted off the mast's metallic rings. A hole was all that remained from a bullet's entry point on the ceiling. Twilight backed away from the place where it had landed.
To the crew, the projectiles appeared as nothing more than deadly streaks of light from which no mist or sail could protect them. They hid behind what they could find, be it barrels, boxes or piles of rope, cloth and fishing nets. Try though they might, a blood curdling cry of pain always pierced their ears. When the barrage of bullets finally subsided, the sun on the clear white fabric had been peppered with holes.
"Damage report!" someone yelled immediately, causing the deck to spring to life. A multitude of voices filled the air, each from its own corner of the ship.
The vessel's violent shuddering had decreased, allowing Twilight to stand on her two feet again. She spotted Spike cowering under the hold's merchandise, and decided to leave him be; it was already dangerous enough on her own.
She threw the cape she'd been offered over her back and readied the staff. Its head acquired a weak, pale lavender luminescence, the same hue that the tendrils of light that escaped between each of the object's knots had. As Celestia's prized student, she was proud of her skills. Better yet than her knowledge on magic were her brother's lessons on combat magic, something she'd only used to play-fight against him. She was suddenly grateful for knowing this.
Those same lessons were being hastily reviewed in her mind. Among the spells she'd been taught was an extremely useful shielding spell. If memory served, then she was certain that it would keep the ship safe from future barrages. With a confident smile splattered across her face, she climbed back up the stairs, which was now missing steps here and there.
The first thing her naked hand touched upon reaching the deck's floor level was a pool of blood, from which she recoiled instantly. It was a small puddle, likely the result of a stray bullet that had struck a sailor who had been lucky enough to survive the shot. Steeling herself with a gulp, she fully emerged from the hold.
Putting the cape on had proven to be a good choice. The wind was stronger than ever, and the mist that surrounded them had caused the temperature to drop dramatically. She could barely even see the very edges of the ship. It should have been very difficult for the airship to find them, and near impossible to launch such a precise strike.
There had been no sailor to welcome her this time, which allowed her to put her plan to action right away. They would stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of the haze, but if the airship already had its aim on them, being seen was the least of their concerns.
"Miss Sparkle! I do believe you had your orders!" the captain's shrill voice spoke out as soon as she raised the staff. Sure enough, the man walked out of the shade of the tarp on the ship's rear, carrying a small telescope in his right hand. "You must remain in the hold until we reach New Moon Island!"
"If I don't do this, we might not even make it!"
"And just what do you think you're doing?!"
"Cap'n! They're losin' altitude mighty fast!"
"They want to board us!" the captain snarled, reaching for the gun on his belt. "Prepare to engage the enemy!"
"Wait!" Twilight stilled his arm with a hand. The man didn't take the gesture kindly, having answered with a guttural groan. She released the arm and stepped back so that he could see the staff. "I can keep them away!"
"With all due respect, Miss Sparkle," he growled, readjusting the sleeve she had gripped. His voice continued to overflow with scorn as he spoke, "how will you match a swarm of griffin?"
"I don't need to! I'll just keep them from getting here!"
"Griffin at one o'clock!"
Twilight didn't get so much as an opportunity to hold the man back this time. The flintlock flew out of its holster by his hand, its elegantly sawed muzzle already pointed upwards. There was an orchestra of clicks throughout the ship as all of the other sailors followed their captain and cocked their weapons.
The sound of the first shot came from the crow's nest. All eyes were directed to the clouds, through which a body appeared to be free-falling. The captain waited just long enough for it to be close to give the command: "Open fire!"
As winged creatures and able hunters, griffin were likely capable of avoiding or at least enduring quite the amount of bullets to their body. Human contraptions had seldom produced optimal results against them in the past. Staff alight, Twilight prepared to cast her spell, so that the crew could at least have one more shot before the griffin weapons got them.
That opportunity never came. Her grip on the staff weakened.
The body in the sky was not nearly as bulky as a griffon's. It had no wings that it could flare, nor did it have the telltale shape of a lion. It wasn't until it fell in the water and she rushed to the side of the ship, nearly tripping over her own feet more than once due to the ground's unsteadiness, that she saw what it really was. Given how thick the haze had become, the faint outline of a human body was all that met her eyes. It was drifting away with the ocean current in a blotch of reddened water, and didn't stay in sight for very long. A wave crashed directly on it, sealing its fate permanently.
"Captain!"
"I will not repeat myself, Miss Sparkle! Hit the deck or I will personally make sure you do!"
"This is important!" Noticing the captain's complete lack of interest in her, Twilight raised her hand to grasp at his forearm again. The man was ready this time, though, as he pulled his arm back right before she could reach it. He was almost unable to hold back the urge to slap her across the face with the back of his hand. Her status ended up clearing that idea. "Captain, please! That's not a griffin airship!"
"That is irrelevant, miss Sparkle! If the big round sun on the sails didn't catch their eye, then they're either pirates or too stupid to own a ship!"
"But sir--"
"I will not hear any more words from you, Miss Sparkle!" Disregarding any and all precautions, he seized Twilight by the cape's collar, twisted it and pulled her until they were face-to-face. He was taller than her, much taller, she noticed. Her feet were no longer touching the ground. The air suddenly reeked of rotten fish carcasses. "There could be Diamonds Dogs up there, and I'd care just as much! They have opened fire on us, and we will fight back!"
He loosened his grip on the collar, as though her silence had made him self-conscious. Even his tone of speech softened, which caused his appearance to become much less intimidating than it really was. "If they are pirates, then they are likely after you. We are not about to let them have what they want."
"Cap'n!" the man in the crow's nest shouted. "New Moon Island is in sight!"
"Prepare to dock," the captain announced.
Free from his grip, Twilight silently stepped aside. A lavender radiance creeped up the staff's alicorn core, culminating in a small flash on its head. She would fulfill her plans regardless of what orders she had from the captain.
The chance to act presented itself to her the moment the captain turned his back, and she didn’t hesitate in seizing it. She steadied herself, legs slightly apart. Not one of the sailors saw her hoist the staff above her head and close her eyes to conjure the spell.
The top of the staff exploded with light. A flare shot skyward, its body crackling with purple sparks as it went higher and higher. The crew trained their eyes on it, observing the luminescent object with mixed feelings. The lookout on the main mast took cover when it zoomed past him and stopped just overhead. Twilight flicked the staff, and the man thought his time had come. Never had he imagined that such a tiny speck of light could generate enough power to usher the barrier of haze away nor to create a shimmering dome around the ship.
He noted with much apprehension that despite the absence of clouds to obstruct the sun's way, no light was shining down on the ship. The sound of a motor drummed in his ears like they were gunshots. It was impossibly loud, and after the man looked up, he realized it was just as immense. The crew itself was shocked still for witnessing how close they really were to their ambushers. Up there, at twice the vessel's height, hovered a massive zeppelin. The copper balloon that kept it afloat cast so big a shadow that it could envelop the ship underneath it whole.
And despite the deafening amount of noise its immense body made, there was one thing that bellowed louder than the aircraft. The captain's voice down below. "You blasted woman!! Do you realize what you've done?!"
Twilight lowered the staff and assumed a defensive position with it, as though the man that stormed her way was about to draw a sword and swing at her. The wooden beam proved to be useful in her advantage, for the captain slammed his chest against it in such a way that his face stopped just inches away from Twilight's. The putrid odor that accompanied all sailors returned to pester her nostrils, this time with much greater intensity.
Twilight wasn't intimidated this time. Holding the staff when it was just cooling down from a spell had served to encourage the young woman in times of difficulty - this was no exception. With a firm, confident gaze, she answered, "This is your chance to fire! Take the ship down!"
The captain didn't react, at least not immediately. He just bore into her eyes, as if to make sure she wasn't playing a joke on him. Reaching a conclusion, he breathed out leisurely and shook his head.
"Perhaps I was wrong about you, Miss Sparkle. Perhaps we should let them have you."
Something much bigger than a bullet scraped the ship's hull, effectively causing it to rock in the wrong direction. The sailors backpedalled away from point of impact, hoping to escape any future shots. They only realized how futile the attempt was when another struck the sun embroidered on the sails dead in the middle, leaving behind a circular patch of scorched fabric.
"Do you know what the difference between fighting a griffon and a human is?"
The sail had caught on fire. The embers, left behind by the initial strike, had steadily spread throughout the sun's figure. The crest of Celestia was burning brightly with deep blue flames. The sailors were surrounded by water, and no amount of it could save it now.
Following the examples set by their predecessors, many more blasts rained down upon the ship. They were more erratic this time around, but just as or even more effective than before. Twilight's barrier hadn't been a problem at all, given how the incandescent flares just penetrated the dome. It rippled wherever it made contact, but served no other use. The young woman could only watch her failure. The alarmed screams of the sailors fell on deaf ears.
Without something to hold them back, nothing wooden or textile on-board could stand the destructive power of the flames. It wasn't long until the ship turned into nothing more than a combusting, decadent version of its former self.
"Not one of the winged bastards can cast a spell."
A precise shot proved fatal to the main mast. The lookout let loose a blood-curdling scream as the pole shivered and tilted, dragging along a sail. The captain didn't move, not even when the falling mast just barely missed him. The stern was completely crushed instead, sending a cloud of wood splinters to the air.
There was a call for attention in the middle of all the commotion, and before Twilight could realize it, the staff had been snatched from her hands. She was unable to utter a complaint, however. She was focused solely on the meteor-like projectile that was flying her way.
The purple glow that was lost right when she let go of the staff was quickly replaced by a silvery one in the captain's hands. The man's mastery with the magical artifact would have come as a surprise to Twilight. Had she been watching, the spell he cast would have surprised her even more.
One twist of the staff, which stopped with the rod pointing in the shot's direction, and a couple of words muttered under his breath. That was all he needed to create a magical force field. It was smaller, much smaller. However, unlike Twilight's - which had disappeared with her signature aura on the staff, the captain's shield was an impassable obstacle.
"For someone who takes pride on their magical prowess, you still have much, much to learn," he hissed without turning away. Twilight didn't reply. At some point, she’d clung onto the man, arms wrapped around his chest. Her mind was trying to figure out what had gone wrong, even though the answer had been provided long ago.
Her eyes were glued on what remained of the ship, for it was no more. There was no crew anymore. Only flames, burning corpses and burning lumber. The intoxicating smell of charred wood was abundant, but not nearly as overpowering as that of burning flesh. If doing so didn’t imply letting go of the only thing between her and the sea’s fury, she would lurch over the edge and empty her stomach. Bearing that in mind, she made an extra effort to stand back.
The captain's spell had led the airship to divert all fire in their direction. Twilight could feel his body shiver with every single hit that the magical shield absorbed. The side of her that demanded progress in her abilities took notes from the man’s posture and qualities. It gave special detail to the way the captain stood firm and undeterred when the vessel, stripped of its sails, was swaying more than ever at the ocean’s mercy.
But he couldn't hold the shield up forever. Twilight could see the first signs of fatigue blemishing the man’s face. For the first time, she noticed he was struggling. She cursed her lack of foresight and held him tighter, knowing it would provide nothing more than the assurance that she was still alive.
“Whatever business you have to conduct in New Moon Island, Miss Sparkle,” he blearily uttered. His voice was so strained from exhaustion that Twilight felt a knot forming in her own throat. “For the love of all that is sacred, make sure you see it to an end.”
“What--”
“We have arrived to our destination.”
Her eyes met the captain’s for one very brief instant. When she thought she had discovered what secrets they hid, the ground beneath her feet shook more violently than ever. She never got to look back and study the way the ship coursed towards a barrier of rocks on its own. All she got to hear was the sound of a thousand cracks, and all she got to see was the way her world suddenly turned upside down.
Then... she blacked out.