//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Desperate Measures // Story: Twilight's Dawn // by Dinkledash //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle’s Log, 17th day of Neighvember, in the year 11,546 AL I am making my first official log entry today due to recent events that must be recorded to ensure that history judges the ponies of Equestria fairly and accurately. I am commander of the Canterlot and Ponyville Ark and I am the last princess of Equestria. All actions of this ship and those under my authority are solely my responsibility. Our mission is to cross the Great Salt Sea and arrive at an undisclosed location for the purposes of settlement and establishment of a new pony nation, away from the curse that has befallen Equestria itself, until such time as we can return to reclaim our homeland. Our ship’s complement is two mares, those being myself, an alicorn, and Rainbow Dash, a pegasus, 125 fillies and 117 colts approximately evenly distributed between the three terrestrial pony tribes, ranging in age between several months to three years. Of those, the mares, 76 fillies and 72 colts are fit and old enough for work. 38 fillies and 29 colts are in nursery. 11 fillies and 16 colts are in sickbay, mainly for psychological issues relating to our traumatic experiences, but several due to misadventure while aboard. Five fillies and six colts are in a catatonic state of shock and it is not known whether they will ever recover. All attempts at magical healing have been futile, and all are suffering from dehydration and malnourishment; several of the older fillies and colts are working around the clock in the sickbay, but all they can provide for the catatonics is palliative care. There has been one death; a filly whose name is not known. She was buried at sea. We expect the others to die within the week unless some breakthrough in treatment is made. One colt and one filly (both three year olds) so far have gained their cutie marks. The Pegasus filly Scootaloo is being trained by Rainbow Dash in weather mastery and aerial combat acrobatics, and appears to be a natural. The earth pony colt named Plumb Bob is destined to be a master carpenter, but is being forced to learn his trade through books and trial and error due to the lack of instructors. It is a circumstance that we will likely all have to learn to live with, except for ponies born to cloud busting or wizardry. He is doing well enough and has proved himself invaluable while caulking and mending around the ship. We face daunting obstacles on the high seas, despite all our allies the sea ponies have been doing for us. We are not a seafaring race, and our ship is clumsy, prone to leaks, and slow. Our sole means of propulsion is to be towed by cables hauled by the sea ponies, and occasionally by a whale that appears to be friends with them, but must depart frequently to feed. We know when he’s pulling the Ark; there is a considerable bow wave and wake. The sea ponies also have some ability at guiding the currents, but progress is painfully slow. At one point in a storm last night, we would have capsized were it not for the sea ponies stabilizing the Ark with the cables. Our ship is not sufficiently ballasted, from what I have been able to read. We are also running low on fresh water, we are down to two weeks, and that is cutting it uncomfortably close. Clubalubala, the leader of this sea pony clan that is aiding us, has told me that we could make a diversion from our course to a small, rocky island within one day’s sailing that is known to have a freshwater spring. It is one of the reasons that this course was chosen by Princess Celestia. We can also pick up some stone for ballast, which may be useful as a building material when we ultimately make landfall. I have decided that the safest course of action is to make the diversion. When we are within one hundred furlongs, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo will conduct a scouting mission. *** Twilight Sparkle’s Log, 18th day of Neighvember, in the year 11,546 AL Our course change has brought us within sight of the small island, which I will designate Stone Island for lack of a better name. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo have departed for their scouting mission; I expect them to return in an hour. Supplemental: My scouts returned, and they brought with them an old acquaintance, Gilda the Griffon! We made our leave of each other under unhappy circumstances several years ago, when she had proven herself to be untrustworthy and cruel. I can only hope she has matured as Trixie had. Poor Trixie, I’ll miss her now. Gilda seemed quite surprised to see us, and was apparently dismayed when she found out about the doom that had befallen Equestria. She and almost a dozen other griffons have established themselves what is now known is called Gilda’s Rock, as she seems to be in charge of the band. I don’t quite know why she has quit the relative comforts of Tallon and Clawdor, and I am not inclined to trust her. Dashie seems to be trying to make it up to her, being very conciliatory, and do I understand that Gilda was once her best friend. There are few enough friends left in this world such that any of us could afford to spurn one. Gilda suggested returning to her Rock with Rainbow Dash and getting the other griffons ready to receive our visit. I am glad that she is going to be helpful here. I am not sure what I would have done if she had chosen to be otherwise inclined. I will be using an enchanted quill to record this log from my thoughts in real time. I have a limited number but I feel the circumstances demand an accurate accounting. There is no knowing what will happen. Supplemental via AutoQuill: Damn Gilda and her griffons to Tartarus! They’ve captured Rainbow Dash and demand that we turn over all of our wealth to them for her release and to be allowed to fill our water barrels. Now I know why they aren’t inside the Griffon Empire; they are criminals who have been banished! Gilda came to me on deck with a smile on her nasty little beak and specifically demanded the Elements, as well as any bits we carried and any other jewelry. She and her pirates would search the ship and when they were satisfied, they would return Dashie and allow us to resupply. Then she told me to thank her for her generosity, as they could just as easily pound the Ark to pieces with stones from high above. I thanked her. What else could I do? I had 242 children to care for. She said “Thank you for being sensible, your highness,” made a mocking curtsy and flew off to the rock. I then called Scootaloo and Plumb Bob to me and we went below decks. Plumb Bob had outfitted a carpentry shop in the ship's orlop. There I cast a somewhat dangerous spell upon him; I never would have risked harming the young colt’s heart except in circumstances such as these, but I needed him to work extremely quickly, and a haste spell was the only way. He is strong and young and will recover. Then I handed him a book of some rather unusual and antiquated designs and showed him the pages of the items I wanted him to work on. He was practically vibrating, a dark purple blur as he rapidly nodded at each one I pointed out. There was a whooshing sound as he sped around the orlop, gathering tools and timber. He was already framing something by the time I turned to Scootaloo. Her job was to be somewhat more dangerous. In the past few months, Princess Celestia had taught me a great deal about glamours. These are spells that deceive the senses, such as invisibility. I had mastered the third level of glamours, and I knew how to cast that great fifth level invisibility spell that Celestia taught me to use to hide the Ark. However, even the best invisibility spell will not work on a moving, living being. I took the feather that I had telekinetically removed from Gilda’s tail as she was mocking me, and applying the laws of similarity, I placed a persistent multi-sense glamour of disguise on Scootaloo. Suddenly, Gilda was standing in front of me. “Say something,” I instructed, and Scootaloo said, “Something, your highness," sounding just like Gilda. That spell will keep for an entire day, though violence or even loud noises could disrupt it. It is a strong spell, but brittle; not the highest level of glamours, but it would have to do. Then the dryness spell, and of course, water breathing. This would have to be done quickly. I kissed her on the forehead and shimmied her up the ladder to the companionway. Once Scootaloo was dispatched to the care of the sea ponies, I returned to the carpentry shop. Plumb Bob had already completed two of the devices. He looked at me for a brief instant and returned to work. I know that to him, that was a questioning gaze. We continued our preparations. Not much time had passed when I heard a cry from above. Plumb Bob ran around the holds installing the objects with hinges and wires with comical rapidity as I walked up the companionway with grace and dignity. Gilda was coming in for a landing with three of her cronies, a dirty scabrous lot they were too. She at least had maintained decent hygiene. Above us circled six more, laden with heavy stones. We needed some more time. “So Gilda, introduce me to your friends.” I had to give her a chance to show off in front of them. “Well your highness,” she said with exaggerated emphasis, “may I present to you the magnificent Gerard Griffon,” one of the vile smelling rogues bowed with a sneer, “the exquisite Griselda Griffon,” a tattered and dirty wretch who more closely resembled vulture than eagle curtsied and nearly fell, “and finally the inestimable Gregor Griffin.” That last big brute just stared at me with piggy eyes in heavily set sockets, without an ounce of humor of pity. He finally barked out, “Where’s the rest? All I see is kids.” A cruel smile twisted his thick beak as he came to his conclusion. “We have other ships following up. We were merely the first to leave. We expect the rest of the fleet to catch up with us and rendezvous here tomorrow. Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider your actions?” They laughed, obviously not believing me, but that wasn't the point. Gilda swaggered. “We haven’t seen any other ships. There aren't any. You’re the last ponies in the world, aren't you? You and Dash and a bunch of babies. And we have Dash. She may have been my friend once, but that’s all over. She made her choice. We could beat you with one wing tied behind our backs right now, so you better stop lying and playing games or maybe we won’t be so nice to you after we take your stuff. How do you like THAT, princess?” I was going to keep stalling, but then I saw the whale spout. That was the signal; Scootaloo was on the island. “Very well, Gilda. You have me between a rock and a hard place.” Gerard guffawed while Gilda looked somewhat annoyed. Griselda plainly didn’t understand what Gerard thought was funny and Gregor didn't think anything was funny, ever, except probably hurting folks. “Go on below, the treasury is in the hold.” I looked resigned and sad. “Now you’re making sense, your highness.” Gilda gestured with her head to the goons and they went down the gangway. “There’s no point in anyone getting hurt; it’s bad for business. Now maybe we can bribe some officials and get pardons and get back home. And be rich!” She crowed triumphantly. Thuds and squawking erupted from below. Whatever curses griffons say when they are surprised, uncomfortable and trapped in wooden cages, they were saying. Loudly. Gilda’s eyes widened. “You tricked me! Well I’ll show you!” She prepared to leap from the deck when a rainbow contrail zoomed around the side of the nearest mountain, followed closely by a smaller, flaming one. “What?! How?!” Dash and Scoots zoomed onto the scene and it quickly went from six griffons with rocks poised to hurl destruction on the Ark to four griffons dropping their rocks into the sea to be able to maneuver against the much more agile pegasi, while two stunned griffons tumbled into the sea to be captured by the sea ponies. Gilda’s wings beat heavily as she attempted to rise, but a purple coil of magic had ensnared her talons. She was fast to the deck. She snarled at me as I shrugged and launched. Now it was three on four, and one of the three was an alicorn. We had them all down in short order. A little later, the Ark was in the small harbor, and sea ponies were ferrying fresh water casks as the young pegasi filled them from the spring. Earth colts and fillies gathered rocks as the unicorns surrounded our prisoners, glaring at them. Forty six unicorns, even children, can command quite a bit of effective magic when well coordinated. The griffons would be going nowhere. Rainbow Dash was regaling me with the details of Scootaloo’s rescue of her. “She walked on in and said she was here to interrogate the prisoner, and those two just let her into the cell. As soon as the door was open she winked at me and said ‘Let’s blow this joint, Dash!’ and then she flew straight into one of the guards and suddenly it was Scootaloo sitting on this griffon with the wind knocked out of him! And of course then I took out the other guard. He had turned his back on me. You just don’t do that!” We walked into the circle of unicorns. The griffons looked miserable, with magic binding their wings, talons and beaks. Gilda looked up at me, fear in her eyes. Good. Dashie looked at me, obviously wondering what my plan was. “We can’t just let them go. They could get more rocks and sink us before we went a furlong.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Gilda. “I guess we have to do something with them.” “We could let the sea ponies handle it, your highness.” Sun Glimmer, a golden hued unicorn with a silver mane and tail who should have been playing hooky or sneaking a note across Cherilee’s classroom, was contemplating the proper disposal of pirates caught in the act on the high seas. “No, I’ll take care of it myself, Sun Glimmer.” Gregor just stared at me, same as he did on deck. There was just nothing there that resembled a soul. It had been taken from him when he was a chick and he would never, could never understand that other beings were as real as him. “I’ll take care of it right now.” Gilda shook with fear and Griselda cried. I spread my wings and rose into the air. Purple magic raged all around me, as I reached deep into myself. This was a tough spell on its own, and I was casting a dozen in parallel. I am, however, an alicorn, and magic is what we do. The nimbus settled on the griffons and they all started to wail, even Gregor. The unicorn children looked on impassively. Bright lights flashed and a purple glow illuminated the surrounding faces. When the age spell was complete, a dozen surprised griffon chicks looked at the unicorns, then at me, and then at each other. They proceeded to run around, cry for food, poop, and whatever else it is that a one month old griffon chick is able to do. Their ability to make serious trouble was, however, considerably diminished. Some of the fillies rushed in to claim them as pets, but I told them they were not pets, they were babies, and would be raised by them, properly this time around. We would need to get them some fish from the sea ponies as they are carnivores, but that shouldn't be a problem. Dash held Gilda. The chick looked very sleepy, and buried her head into Dash’s mane by her shoulder. My friend gently brushed her golden down. She looked at me. “Twilight, does she remember?” I shook my head. “None of them will remember anything, unless I reverse the spell. And I am never going to do that.” Dash nodded. “She was my best friend.” Then she looked over at Scootaloo, who smiled broadly back at her. Dash looked back to me and spoke in a low voice, “You know, I didn't see any other way than, well, you know.” She looked down. “I sort of assumed that you were going to do something a little messy.” I looked my Element of Loyalty in the eye. “I would have, if that was the only choice. I absolutely would have. But I never would if there were any other way.” She smiled at that and nodded. Then she went back to comforting the now innocent and helpless Gilda. I excused myself and returned below decks to the carpentry shop in the orlop. Plumb Bob lay on his cot, which was a little too small for him now, utterly exhausted. All that hard work under the haste spell had caused him to fill out considerably. He had aged roughly a year in that hour. He looked lean and strong, his frame starting to stretch out into the lankiness of adolescence. I could return that year to him with another age spell, could I not? But no, I need him big and strong, and he had learned as much in that one hour of mad labor as he may have in three months of steady work. I could not deprive us of that strength and experience. We would rely heavily on him to help build our new nation. So I’ll take that year from him and keep it, without asking him. Damn me to Tartarus.