July 6th, 2013
Floating on an underground lake
Everfree Forest, Equestria
As Daring arrived and saw what Marion was talking about, she grabbed onto the hippogriff and danced through the air towards the floating airship. They headed towards the airship's stern and gasped as they made out the slumped form of a body gripping the wheel. Daring and Marion exchanged glances, then cautiously flew forwards. Across the airship's stern was the name Half-Blood's Lament.
Marion was speechless and stared wide-eyed at the airship's name as Daring patted her on the back. Marion finally turned and beamed at Daring. "I can't believe my eyes. All this time, it was here, under Everfree Forest.... No wonder nopony was able to find her..."
"Slipstream is going to love you for this," Daring proudly said as she hugged Marion.
"I'm going to love her too if the harp is still on-board," Marion said.
"This thing looks to be in really great condition, which ought to mean the harp is too," Daring said.
Daring and Marion circled the airship and recoiled at the sight of more bodies splayed across the deck and caught in the railings. The dust-covered Lament was amazingly in very good condition and almost looked ready for action - the ballista even had a shot loaded. Besides the damage from the pirate attack centuries ago, they could see it had suffered some structural damage to the rudders and fins on the gas bag's rigid structure, no doubt caused by its flight through the cave system, and several chunks of crystal were embedded into the hull.
Daring and Marion cautiously boarded the Lament and checked on the body at the helm. Like the airship, Captain Blackjack was covered in a thick layer of dust. His chainmail armor had become rusty, but otherwise he appeared exactly as he had when the Lament crashed in 1476. His death grip on the airship's wheel had prevented his body from moving much over the years, unlike the others. Marion cautiously reached out and touched him and shrunk back in alarm. Their faces paled as they discovered that the hippogriff was still alive, slumbering in a magical stasis.
"I... I don't understand. How can this be?" Marion nervously asked.
Daring furrowed her brow as she looked down at the other bodies on the deck. "Can't say I've seen anything like this before. Remember where we are though: Everfree. My guess is it's some kind of magical coma."
Marion leaned down and blew at the dust on Blackjack's flank, exposing his cutie mark of a royal flush in the suit of clubs. "I recognize this! This is the Half-Blood's Lament's captain, Blackjack! Do... do you think we could wake him up?"
Daring shrugged and pulled out a canteen, unscrewed the cap and poured some out onto Blackjack's face as Marion eagerly looked on. Blackjack didn't stir, and Marion sniffled as tears began to flow down her cheeks. Daring put her leg around Marion's shoulders. "Hey, if magic did this, magic can probably fix it. We can take him to Canterlot. I'm sure Princess Celestia would be more than capable of finding a way to awaken him."
"I'm sorry," Marion said as she wiped at her tears. "It's just... Oh, I don't know!" She sighed and forced herself to look away from Blackjack's body.
Daring held Marion's chin up and gave her a reassuring smile. "Remember the music that led you here? I think we both know what that must have been. Something guided you here. Come on, let's go find your harp."
Daring thrust out her leg to Marion and helped her up, then led her down towards a hatch leading into the hold. Daring leaned down into the hatch and Marion tried to focus on the harp, and then the pegasus' rear, but her mind kept wandering to the slumbering hippogriffs that littered the deck. She reached out and tapped Daring's rear with her wingtip. "Um, Daring. I can't just leave these hippogriffs like this," Marion said as she gestured around her. "We need to help them first, it's not right."
Daring flipped back up onto the deck. "Alright, let's move them into the captain's quarters?"
Marion nodded. "Sounds good."
Daring and Marion hauled ten dusty hippogriffs from the main deck into the captain's cabin, and then gently pried Blackjack from the helm and laid him out on his bed. At Marion's suggestion, the two of them washed the dust off the hippogriff's faces. Content that the slumbering hippogriffs were taken care of, Marion somberly gazed at her 15th century countrymen as they backed out of the cabin and headed towards the hatch.
Below decks, Daring blew the dust off a lantern and was pleased to see it still ignited. Many crates were stacked up in the hold and Daring and Marion eagerly opened each one. Even if the harp wasn't here, they had found a mother lode of relics that would make their expedition worthwhile. The Lament had been transporting supplies for Queen Thunderstruck's concert in addition to her magical harp. These supplies included decorations, jewelry, and clothing, all of which was at least hundreds of years old, if not more, and were in pristine condition. Daring estimated the cargo's value at several million bits, and they were only half-way through the crates.
As they neared the opposite side of the hold, they could see some crates had been moved to form a makeshift barrier. Daring got a twinkle in her eyes and grabbed Marion as she dashed forwards and moved one of the crates aside. On the other side of the barricade they could see a large crate with the armored body of a muscular hippogriff sitting against it.
"The harp must be in there!" Marion cried with delight.
Daring and Marion cleared out the rest of the crates and gingerly moved the hippogriff off of the crate. Marion cleaned off his flank and grinned at the winged shield, the cutie mark of Steelwing, leader of the royal guards assigned to escort the harp.
"This is Steelwing, one of the royal guards," Marion said as she eagerly rubbed her hands together. "There's only one item that he would have been guarding..."
Daring smiled broadly and curtseyed as she backed away from the crate. "This honor is all yours, princess."
Marion opened the crate as painstakingly as possible, knowing she would never forgive herself if she damaged the harp. The object inside was swaddled in cloth. Marion held her breath as she slowly peeled back layer after layer, and sighed contentedly as her ancestor's harp lay exposed before her. The harp shimmered softly and was made of gold and adorned with a variety of gems. Each gem was cut into a weather-related shape - clouds, raindrops, snow flakes, gusts of wind, lightning bolts, hail stones... The harp was inscribed with a phrase written in a combination of ancient griffon and unicorn scripts.
Marion ran her hand over the inscription and blinked as tears began to flow down her cheeks. Daring hovered over Marion's shoulder and inspected the words, then asked her, "What does the writing say?"
"Love conquers all," Marion softly said. "The motto of the hippogriff kingdom."
Daring nodded appreciatively. "It's a beautiful piece. I'm glad I got to be here when you found it."
Marion squeezed Daring's shoulder. "I doubt I would have found it without you. I, and my people, are in your debt, Daring Do."
Daring blushed. "You're welcome. Almost makes you want to pluck a few strings, doesn't it?"
Marion laughed. "Oh, dear, no. I am feeling pretty lucky right now, but I wouldn't want to cause a hurricane or anything like that."
Marion began to yawn and placed her hand over her mouth. "Oof, I'm getting tired. We're spending the night on the Lament, I hope?"
Daring nodded.
"Good, I'll head up to the forecastle and see how the beds are in that cabin," Marion said as she headed towards the hatch. She paused. "I almost want to bring it with me. Keep an eye on the harp for me, please!"
"Sure thing," Daring replied. "I'll be up to help you in a few, I'm going to open the rest of these crates and catalogue the items."
Marion climbed up through the hatch to the main deck and immediately knew something was wrong as she saw wet hoof-prints on the deck. She turned towards the captain's cabin and shrieked as a shadowy figure lunged out of the darkness towards her. Fear overwhelmed her as the Earth pony came into the light, exposing a vicious scar across his muzzle, a malicious sneer, and a baleful glint in his eyes. Her moment's hesitation was all he needed, he swiftly tackled her hard to the deck and put her into a choke hold.
Marion dug her talons into the Earth pony's leg that was across her throat. He howled in pain and slackened his grip. Marion took a deep breath and screamed, "Help!"
Daring had already been on her way when she first heard Marion's shriek. She flew towards up towards the hatch and then pain shot through her skull and her world went dark.The Earth pony mare had forcefully slammed the heavy wooden hatch onto Daring, knocking her unconscious.
Marion, fighting to retain consciousness, glared daggers as the mare casually sauntered over to her. The mare smirked and roughly tapped Marion's beak with her hoof. "Ease up on her, Crow's Toes. She is technically a princess."
The scarred Earth pony, Crow's Toes, angrily pointed towards his wounds. "Princess? Look what the damn mutt did to me, Nightshade!"
Nightshade, the turquoise-haired mare, laughed. "You could have taken her out in one blow if you hadn't failed that ambush."
Nightshade walked towards the railing and said, "Yo, Mesquite, I need you up here."
The bearded Earth pony, Mesquite, climbed up from their inflatable boat. Nightshade pointed towards the hatch. "The pegasus is down there. Help me get her up here before she regains consciousness."
Mesquite and Nightshade warily opened the hatch and were pleased to see Daring's prone body lying at the bottom. They climbed down and manhandled her back up to the main deck. Nightshade nodded towards the mast. "Tie her up to the mast."
"Yes, ma'am," Mesquite said, then he began to expertly bind Daring's legs around the mast.
"Wh-who are you p-ponies?" Marion gasped, still fighting for breath.
"We are proud members of Earth First, an organization dedicated to the advancement of Earth ponies," Nightshade replied.
"D-Daring said you w-were soldiers," Marion said.
"We were, once. We were part of the elite Special Activities Division of the Royal Guard, but retired after growing weary of unicorns and pegasi receiving preferential treatment and assignments due to their tribe's innate abilities," Nightshade explained, a hint of sorrow in her voice. "My teammates and I were in a cider hall one day when the triad council members of Earth First approached us and offered us high-ranking positions. In addition to sharing our beliefs, they offered triple the pay we earned while on the Royal Guard, and other special goodies like our stealth copter. We couldn't turn them down."
"What do you want from us?" Marion hesitatingly asked.
"The harp, of course, my little mutt," Nightshade said. "Earth First was founded by an old-money Earth pony named Olive. Her family owned hundreds of acres of farmland in the old country, pre-Equestria. When the windigos struck thanks to those blackmailing unicorns and pegasi, Olive's family lost all of their land, and, most importantly, their crops. The Earths of that time were the only tribe capable of growing food, and thus their stores were well stocked, but as the months wore on and the blizzards continued, their supplies dwindled and soon the Earths themselves began to starve. Olive swore she would find a way to prevent that scenario from ever happening again - by gathering artifacts that would allow Earths to duplicate the abilities of the other tribes and prevent any future blackmail attempts."
Marion shook her head as if she was listening to the ravings of a madmare. "But that situation will never happen again! Everypony lives in harmony now that we have Equestria."
Nightshade shrugged. "Orders are orders. You are likely correct, but one never knows what may happen. We all thought Discord was dead, yet he came back. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a harp to go claim."
Crow's Toes reapplied pressure to Marion's throat, and she stared helplessly at Nightshade's retreating form as darkness began to dim her vision. Marion passed out and Crow's Toes began to drag her towards the mast.
***
Captain Blackjack grinned as he flew through the azure skies over Heart Saddle Bay, the busiest port on Talonberra, the island kingdom of the hippogriffs. He weaved in and out between a fleet of airships that hung in the sky, then dove towards the beautiful waters off the isle. He skimmed along the surface and dipped his wingtips in the warm, pristine water. He spotted a school of brightly colored fish, and dove into the water and snatched one with his talons. He burst back up out of the water and soared into the sky, popping his delicious catch into his mouth. He licked his lips and turned towards a great palace barely visible on the horizon - Castle Convocation, located in the kingdom's capital city of Foalhaven Aerie.
Somewhere, deep down, Blackjack knew this was but a dream, but he didn't care. He and the other survivors had lived through millions of dreams over the hundreds of years they had slumbered. It might as well have been real to them, however, as they had slept so long it was almost impossible to separate dreams from reality. At first, they would all experience lucid dreams (a dream where one is aware they are dreaming), and would desperately try to awaken themselves, but as the years went on the lucid dreams happened less and less often, and their real lives had been nearly forgotten, replaced by spectacular fantasy lives the dream world provided.
Miles passed within milliseconds as Blackjack flew towards Castle Convocation. The sun instantly set as he arrived at Foalhaven Aerie, and heart-shaped fireworks soon lit up the twilight sky. He buzzed past thousands of revelers that flooded the streets then pulled up and headed for the castle. A long, purple, silk scarf fluttered out of one of the windows and drew his attention. Blackjack quickly dashed over to the window and grinned as a beautiful hippogriff maiden leaned out and flirtatiously waved a kerchief at him.
"Good evening, miss!" Blackjack merrily said as he bowed before the maiden.
The maiden motioned him closer, a look of fear on her face.
"What's wrong, miss?" Blackjack asked as he darted towards the maiden. She gingerly ran her talons along his chest, then grabbed a handful of feathers and pulled him closer.
"Wake up," the maiden whispered.
The words struck Blackjack like an anvil and he started to become lucid. He watched in wonder as the dream world began to shift before him. He was no longer in Talonberra, but instead found himself looking down upon an airship. His airship, he recalled. He thought, Where's my crew? as he descended towards the empty craft.
He yelled for his first mate, the helmsman, anypony, and received no answer. He started towards his cabin, then heard a weak cough behind him. He turned and raised his eyebrow as he saw a young hippogriff mare lashed to the main mast. He rushed to her side and ran his talons through the ropes that bound her. Unable to stand on her own she collapsed into his arms. He didn't recognize her, and glanced down at her flank and gasped as he saw the cutie mark of a royal hippogriff. She reached up and gently caressed his cheek, then yelled, "Help!"
The word rebounded around his mind and the dream world began to collapse. After hundreds of years, Blackjack awoke with a start. Is this another dream? He looked around and by the light of the lanterns and torches on the main deck pouring through the open doorway, he could make out the familiar surroundings of his cabin on the Half-Blood's Lament. Memories, real memories, began to flow. He remembered the aerial battle against the pirates and being wounded. He remembered their airship going down over a forest, straight into a gaping chasm, and the chaotic flight that came afterwards as he struggled to not only stay conscious, but to keep his ship from being shattered on the rocks as well.
He also remembered the princess. He knew that had been a dream, but something about it told him it was more than that. He silently crept towards the doorway, puzzled by the many hippogriffs laid out on his floor. To his amazement he saw there really was a hippogriff, and a pegasus, tied to the mast. He also saw two Earth ponies wearing strange clothing, talking to each other in low whispers near the port rail.
He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned as the rest of the hippogriffs began to wake up. He crawled to the side of his first mate and motioned for silence. She whispered, "Oh, Blackjack... I just had the strangest dreams..."
"I think we all did," Blackjack whispered. "We need to stay quiet. I don't know what's happening, but there's a princess and a pegasus in danger."
"You had the dream about the princess too, cap'n?" a groggy sailor asked.
"Aye," Blackjack replied. The rest of the hippogriffs confirmed they had seen the princess in various situations as well before waking up.
A hippogriff squinted his eyes as he looked out at Marion, then whispered, "I've never seen that princess before, besides the dream just now. Who is she?"
Blackjack shrugged. "I don't know, but it doesn't matter. There are mares in trouble, royal or not."
Blackjack reached for his cutlass and gently pulled on it, finding it melded to the scabbard with rust. He asked the other hippogriffs about their weaponry's status. They only had two cutlasses available; the rest had either been destroyed by exposure to the elements or had fallen overboard. Blackjack held up his talons, "Alright lads, we'll have to use the weapons nature gave us."
They heard Nightshade's hooves on the wooden ladder out of the hold. Blackjack whispered, "Everyone down and stay still!"
As Nightshade climbed onto the deck the cook snarled. "She has the harp!"
"Get ready to charge," Blackjack whispered. He held his hand up and was about to clench it into a fist to signal the assault, when two brawny legs lanced out of the hatch and onto Nightshade's tail and she screamed as Steelwing forcibly pulled her back below.
Blackjack smiled. Steelwing!
Mesquite and Crow's Toes began to double time it towards the hatch while yelling, "Nightshade?"
Blackjack clenched his fist and he and the other hippogriffs charged out of the captain's cabin with a terrifying screech. the force of their wings kicked up a huge dust storm. The Earth ponies' jaws dropped at the sight of the 'zombie' hippogriffs emerging from the dust cloud, but they swiftly recovered and stood back to back, ready to do battle. Two hippogriffs flew down the hatch to assist Steelwing and secure the harp, and two more flanked around the Earth ponies to get to the mast. The remaining hippogriffs swiftly flew in a circle around the besieged Earth ponies, randomly lashing out with their razor-sharp talons.
Mesquite began to weigh the odds in his head and he knew they were in a pickle. Nightshade was his friend, so he immediately nixed any plan that would not include her rescue. He could think of only a few scenarios to resolve their predicament, and even then they all likely wouldn't turn out so well.
They could fight their way to the harp and use it as a bargaining chip, but it was below decks somewhere, meaning they would be charging into an unknown, close-quarters environment with a swarm of hippogriffs on their tail. In addition, it was a long way back to the surface and they would have to scale many walls, leaving them vulnerable to the vengeful hippogriffs.
They could hold their position and try to disable as many hippogriffs as they could before they were overwhelmed, in the hopes that the remainder would lose faith and falter. Mesquite figured they would only be able to take down a few before the rest jumped them.
That left only one option - blitz towards Marion and take her hostage, then see where negotiations would take them from there.
Mesquite turned his head back towards Crow's Toes and snarled, "Get Marion."
"Roger that," Crow's Toes replied.
The Earth ponies wasted no time in making their move. Mesquite jumped towards a hippogriff and sent them crashing hard to the deck with a powerful kick. He followed up and kneed another hippogriff in the chest, knocking the wind out of them. Crow's Toes tackled a hippogriff to the ground then rolled off his stricken foe, only to be immediately knocked to the ground by another hippogriff.
Mesquite barreled towards Marion with Blackjack and two other hippogriffs on his tial. The hippogriffs that had freed Marion and Daring quickly stepped in Mesquite's path to protect the princess. One of the hippogriffs lashed out with a vicious right hook, Mesquite ducked to the side and countered with a quick jab to the hippogriff's beak, which sent him reeling back in pain. The other hippogriff came in low with a sweeping kick. Mesquite clasped the hippogriff's leg between his hooves and pulled, knocking the hippogriff off-balance, then delivered a roundhouse kick that connected with the hippogriff's jaw.
Mesquite grinned menacingly as he lurched towards Marion, then cursed vehemently as Blackjack tackled him from behind. Mesquite wasn't going to let it end like that, and began kicking and trying to bite Blackjack and the other hippogriff's as they tried to control him. A shadow passed over his face and he looked up to see Daring Do scowling down at him. "Sorry, hon," Daring said, "looks like it's Earth Last this time."
Mesquite snarled and turned his head to look towards the aft. Crow's Toes was incapacitated, and Steelwing and his hippogriff helpers were on deck. Mesquite sighed and stopped struggling. "I yield!" Blackjack delivered a powerful headbutt and Mesquite joined his accomplices in the bliss of unconsciousness.
Blackjack stood and smirked at Mesquite, then knelt before Marion. The other hippogriffs followed suit and likewise knelt before Marion. Steelwing proudly placed the magical harp in her talons, "Your royal highness, if only I had known you were on board I would have swiftly flown to your side! Thank the gods you are okay! Here is your harp, ma'am."
Marion was overwhelmed and tears began to cloud her eyes. These people, her people, didn't know her from Adam's Apple, yet they had risked their lives to protect her, solely because she was royalty. Marion felt guilt for her years of un-princessly behavior. For the sorrow in her father's eyes each time she made the tabloids. For all the times she ignored her mother's pleas to straighten up. For the shame her siblings felt when another scandal hit the papers.
Marion could feel a warm sensation begin to emanate from within her heart, a feeling of enlightenment. She knew from this day forwards, gone were the party mare days of her past. She was a princess, and she was going to act like one. She knew she owed it, not only to her ancestors, but to her fellow hippogriffs as well. She smiled and thought, All these years, I thought it was the harp that I wanted... I know now that the harp was just the means to an end, this... glorious sensation I can feel coursing within me, is what I truly yearned for!
After a few more moments of contemplation, Marion collected herself and addressed the hippogriffs. "Please, stand. Thank you all so much for saving us! I am Princess Marion Thunderstruck, and my pegasus companion is an adventurer named Daring Do. Daring and I came here today to find the harp of our people, but it would appear we have found so much more! I know not what magic has protected you all over the centuries, but I think we all know why it did."
"Centuries you say?" asked Steelwing. "Just how were we asleep?"
"Over five-hundred and thirty seven years." Marion replied.
The hippogriffs murmured in amazement.
"We've been trying to find you, but nopony knew where you went. We recovered a pirate ship you destroyed-" Marion paused as the hippogriffs cheered, "but the Half-Blood's Lament remained a mystery. I personally have been searching for years, but it was only until I enlisted the help of Daring Do that your whereabouts were finally discovered. A mysterious melody, which my companion was unable to hear, led us to you, here in a cave system below Everfree Forest."
"And thank the gods for that!" a hippogriff shouted. A chorus of "Hear, hear!" echoed his sentiments.
Blackjack stepped forwards. "I could have never imagined that this would be the outcome of our voyage, but I think every one among us here would gladly volunteer again in a heartbeat. Your tale of our discovery is most interesting, your highness, and perhaps of equal intrigue is the story of how we awakened. We had all been dreaming, as we have for hundreds of years. Each one of us saw you in our final dream. and woke upon hearing your cry for help. The strangest part is that before that, a different hippogriff maiden told me to 'wake up.'"
Marion ran her hand along the harp's frame. "The music, a mysterious maiden, why, your very presence here... I think, no, I know in my heart that it was the spirit of the first hippogriff that watched over you all and guided me to you."
The hippogriffs nodded in agreement. The cook broke the silence, "Personally, I think five-hundred and thirty..seven was it? years in this damned cave is long enough! How are we gettin' outta here?"
"The princess and I flew in here ourselves, if you're all well enough to go, we can get out of here and be back to civilization in a few hours, tops," Daring said.
"What about Everfree at night?" Marion asked.
Daring glanced over the hippogriffs and grinned. "Well, we were originally planning on sleeping here for the night..."
"Nuts to that!" a hippogriff exclaimed. "Last time we fell asleep here we woke up centuries later!"
Daring laughed and looked down at Mesquite. "So, staying here is out of the question it would appear. I'm not sure what to do about these Earth ponies though. Don't imagine you folks would like to haul them out, nor would anypony like to stay behind to watch them until we send some ponies to help."
Blackjack waved his hand. "We don't need to worry about that, we can fly them out of here on the Half-Blood's Lament."
"You think she's still airworthy, captain?" the first mate asked.
"If the spirit of our foremother protected us, why not our ship as well? She had the harp onboard her," Blackjack replied.
The hippogriffs began to pour over the Lament, giving the airship a thorough inspection. The Lament would face some maneuverability issues due to the damage rudders, but the hippogriffs could counter that by using their own wing power to forcefully guide the ship. The hippogriffs worked to repair as much as they could while Daring bound the troublesome Earth ponies. Once Blackjack was satisfied that his ship wasn't going to crash, again, the Half-Blood's Lament roared to life and was airborne once more.
Daring and the hippogriffs guided the airship back through the same caverns that she had flown through centuries prior. The same crystals she had smashed through before had grown, and needed to be hewn down. Marion watched the hippogriffs work and had an idea. She collected the fragments of the crystals, planning to commission medals for the Lament's crew. The eerie red glow of the mushroom field was a welcoming site, and after some hectic maneuvering to navigate through the mushrooms, the Lament was soon rapidly ascending towards the surface.
There were many cheers, claps, and stomping of hooves as the Lament flew up into the clearing and over the treetops of Everfree Forest. Blackjack slapped his sides. "Haha! I knew my old girl still had it in her! Where to, my ladies?"
Daring pointed towards an empty area on one of Blackjack's maps. "The closest settlement, Ponyville, is there."
Blackjack frowned, "Really? It's not on my maps."
Daring laughed. "I would hope it wasn't. Ponyville was founded fairly recently."
"I see. It appears I will have much to learn if I am to continue flying," Blackjack said as he set their course. He paused. "They do still have airships in your time, don't they?"
Daring grinned. "Yes, sir, but I'd bet you and the others will be very hot items once your story gets out. Book deals, movies, interviews, speeches..."
Blackjack absentmindedly nodded, his gaze fixed up on the moon. "I hope we weren't better off in the cave, I see Nightmare Moon is no longer imprisoned. Does she rule this land?"
Daring looked up and smiled. "No. She did come back and try to finish what she started, though, just as the prophecies foretold. Twilight Sparkle, one of Princess Celestia's students, and some of Twilight Sparkle's friends reclaimed the Elements of Harmony from these very woods and defeated Nightmare Moon."
"That is good to hear," Blackjack said as he scanned the heavens above. "You know, as sailors we looked upon the night sky and saw it merely as a tool to help us navigate. I've forgotten just how beautiful it truly is."
Daring nodded in agreement, then reached into her pack and withdrew the last of the Caramel Creams she had brought. She distributed them to the hippogriffs. She smiled merrily at the joyful expressions on their faces as they savored the treat.
"Welcome to the future, folks," Daring said as she unwrapped her own sweet and popped it into her mouth.