//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 
// Story: The Forgotten Enterprise 
// by Paddle Steamer 
//------------------------------//




17 April, 1003 Celestia’s Reign
Location: Unknown, P.S. Equestria
4:25pm


Octavia and Rose were still shaken up from the storm, both mares were trying to calm down and enjoy their tea. Octavia looked around her room; there was shattered glass around her nightstand and red wine staining her bed, but she didn't care, she and Rose had survived the most violent storm they had ever encountered with only a few bruises. They both listened intently to the sound of the crew working on the deck above them, clearing debris and trying to unfurl the foremast's sails. Shortly after they left the storm a member of the crew had asked if everything was okay, and with a quick explanation he was on his way to check on the other passengers.

Octavia finished her tea and looked up to Rose. "Hey. I'm going to go up on deck and see if I can help with anything, do you care to join me?" She said as gently as she could.

Rose stared blankly into her cup before matching Octavia's gaze. "Yeah, I think we should do everything we can." She smiled. "I feel like doing something other than moping around in your cabin, something helpful."

Octavia smiled back. "Well, in that case, I think we should start helping. Come on, we may not be in top physical shape, but I'm sure they can give us something." With that said Octavia turned and headed out of the door, followed by Rose.

Upon reaching the deck the two mares took pause to notice the chaos around them. The crew were all actively engaged in clearing the debris and salvage anything they could; Octavia noticed a pony with a clipboard who seemed to be overseeing the rest of the crew. She trotted up to him and asked if she and Rose could be of any help, he closed his eyes and opened his mouth to speak when a lookout above them started to speak. "Possible ship spotted bearing one-five-seven relative!" He shouted towards where the Captain was standing.

Octavia, Rose, and the rest of the crew turned to look in the direction the lookout had stated, but without a telescope they couldn't see anything. If one were to look closely the only thing they may see would be a vague shape on the horizon. "Do you think it's an Equestrian ship?" Rose asked Octavia, her voice filled with mild curiosity.

"It is possible, Equestria has a large ship building industry and nearly controls the sea based trade with other nations." Octavia replied with little curiosity, but maybe a small touch of relief.

"Well it would certainly be of great help and luck that they were nearby; Celestia knows we need luck about now." Rose said with a small smile.





The ship had gotten considerably closer now and Octavia was able to make out more detail. It was fairly small, only maybe 200 hooves in length, it had a single square sail and about two dozen oars on each side. Also mounted on the sides were circular shields with polished iron spikes in the centre, and the most unnerving thing she had ever seen; skulls. There were skulls of creatures she had never seen on the tops of the shields, and she would get a chill every time she looked at them. Octavia had to steel herself from losing her lunch at the ghastly sight, she was watching the ship closely and the creatures on board it made her shudder. They were a greenish grey with rows of razor sharp teeth; they had thick muscular tails and sharp clawed feet. The feet reminded her of that of a hawk, and combined with the equally sharp claws on their hands the creatures absolutely terrified her.

The creatures looked like they had no intention of help at all, in fact, they looked more like they wanted to eat and rip apart anything that was on the Equestria. Shortly after they got close enough to see the monsters the Captain had the ship steam into the wind at full speed. Even without the help of their sail the ship was able to keep up with the Equestria using their oars. Octavia had contemplated the strength it would require to keep up with the steamer at 10 knots and was impressed, although she then thought about what that strength may do to a pony should they gain access to the ship. It was not a pleasant picture and she had to force down another shudder.

The whole time they had been running from the ship Rose sat quietly with wide eyes, fixated on the vessel chasing them. She would occasionally whisper a prayer to Celestia that they would leave them alone, with no such luck. She would watch when the vile creatures would pull out a piece of raw meat and rip it apart; exposing white bone and waving the disgusting thing tauntingly at them. She couldn't take it anymore and closed her eyes, starting to shake. Octavia saw this and walked over to Rose, taking her in a tight embrace to calm her down. Rose buried her face in Octavia's neck, using all her will power to keep the tears from welling up.

"Rose, Rose you need to calm down. Everything will be okay, do you understand me? They can't get us and they'll tire and give up, understand?" Octavia said soothingly; Rose nodded and her shaking became less violent. "I know they are vile, wretched beasts, but we are safe here and to let them get to you will serve only to drive them on. Just... try not to think about what they're doing, what they're eating and how they're doing it." She finished, tightening her embrace for a second before letting Rose go and looking into her eyes.

Octavia could see that she was much calmer now, but she was still scared. Her friend didn't seem to be able to control her emotions as well as she could; during the storm Octavia could see that Rose was having a hard time containing her fear but she managed. Now however, Rose was on the verge of tears and Octavia needed to be strong and act as an emotional crutch to keep her friend from breaking down. Octavia could understand why she was upset and scared; they had just survived a massive storm and now they were being chased by creatures from Tartarus itself. Even she had to admit that she was afraid and would like nothing more than to go home, where she was safe. Rose looked back at the ship before turning to speak to Octavia.

"Why us, why are they chasing us? The Princesses would've told us about such creatures, wouldn't they?" Rose asked, she was calming down but her voice was still laced with fear.

"I don't know why they're chasing us; the only thing I can think of is that they are truly evil and would like nothing more than to kill. While the Princesses know a great deal, I do not believe they know everything, or they chose to withhold some things do to the impact it could have on Equestria. Think back Rose, she never told us about Nightmare Moon and she didn't know who the Changelings were until it was too late." Octavia replied with a thoughtful tone; 'what else may the Princesses be hiding from Equestrians?' She thought to herself; 'or maybe they had no idea about these creatures or even where they come from.'

Octavia was interrupted from her thoughts when the lookout had started to yell to the Captain again. "Sir, another ship, bearing oh-two-five, closing fast!" The lookout cried in alarm.

Octavia turned to see another ship approaching at a speed she wouldn't have thought possible. Due to the crew paying almost full attention to the first ship this vessel was quite close by the time it was spotted. It was quite clearly different even from this distance; it was large, larger than the Equestria and it was a steamer, a dedicated steamer. It had tubes mounted in large box-like housings, they almost looked like cannons, but of the likes Octavia had never seen, or even heard of.

The ship continued its rapid approach and more details came into view. The one that interested Octavia the most was the crew; they appeared bipedal like the reptiles but they were clearly a different species. They wore dark blue uniforms and had very little fur from what she could see, they appeared to be mammal. Unlike the reptiles chasing them, these creatures didn't strike fear into her at sight alone, but they did possess an intimidation factor that demanded respect. Octavia watched as the vessel took a sharp swing to port and stopped, revealing its broadside. Shortly a thunderous roar rang out from one of the tubes impacted near the front of the reptilian ship. 'So they are cannons, and that was clearly a warning shot, maybe they intend to scare off the other creatures through intimidation.' As she thought this however, the reptilian ship turned towards the other ship, the creatures banging their swords against their shields. Octavia could only watch in shock at what transpired next.





Captain Seas watched with interest as this new ship had annihilated the ship chasing them and now steamed parallel with them. He could see their crew staring with open curiosity, much as his crew was doing; but he could see what he assumed was their Captain staring at him in particular. It was clear to Seas that he was sizing him up, and Seas was doing the same to him. He watched the creature extend his foreleg and wave to him; he returned the gesture and watched the creature smile. He smiled back, his curiosity getting the better of him; after all, how often does one get to discover a whole new species and culture?

He looked over the ship; it was large, being more than three times the length of his own and, if the small rust streaks were a sign, iron hulled. He took note of the cost of such a ship, how well armed it was, and the dreary colours of dim yellow, grey, and blue, and came to the conclusion that it was a ship of war. He wondered what race would need a warship of that size and power, but for now he was just happy that they seemed friendly to the Equestria. He took note of their uniforms, dark blue with a white undershirt and gold buttons. He saw the gold lace around the cuffs on some and the red designs on their shoulders; 'rank and position' he thought to himself. What took him the most however was their lack of colours and distinction like ponies had, they appeared to have mostly the same skin colour and their mane colour only seemed to vary a little.

He yawned, and turned to head to his quarters; today's stress had finally overcome him and he needed a rest. His many questions could wait until morning when he was well rested and prepared. He took one last look at the ship before heading down into the Equestria and his bed.