“All done, to attack us now would be suicide!”
Morning Sparkle watched on as the Captain rubbed the new machine he had just finished building, a large rectangle block the size of a small house with a large sphere resting inside. Along the top of the block multiple rows of what the Captain had called ‘antennas’ rested, the long wires and dishes poking out of the armoured shell that protected the building. All of it was a solid grey with blue strips occasionally along it, the human calling the new building his ‘Command Nexus’.
“So what does this do?” Morning questioned as she pointed a hoof at the large device. Nigel walked up to a glowing panel on the side and slid his arm into a slot. A soft blue light emitted from the slot as well as a low droning beep.
“This is an Artificial Intelligence Command Nexus, a command and control node that co-ordinates all of the defences so I don’t have to.” As he said this Chalmers swept his hand towards the town, laser turrets all alternating the directions they were facing. Also of note was the second type of turret that the Captain had made, a tall, boxy pillar with a square turret on the top. Sticking out of the turret were four ‘rapid-fire railguns’ as the Captain had named them along with an array of ‘sensors’ that looked like the dishes on top of the nexus. All four barrels of the turrets were pointed to the sky.
“Right…” Morning could have guessed that once again she would be completely lost. Chalmers must have noticed her confusion for once. That was a rare thing, for an apparent intellegence operative he often was oblivious to the feelings of those around him.
“What I mean is that it chooses targets without me having to tell it too,” the Captain explained much to Morning Sparkle’s relief. The mare watched as the Captain looked into the sky, the sun almost below the horizon. Both beings were surprised at how fast time had passed. The last thing the Captain did was place a ‘Do not touch’ sign on each wall of the building, Morning doubtful that it would be needed. Apart from curious children the townsfolk avoided interfering with the new alien structures, from their point of view the new ruler seemed to not be focused on harming them so they let him do what he pleased.
The Captain removed his helmet and attached it to his waist, walking over towards Morning as she got up from her seat on the ground.
“Well, I’m going to grab something to eat then head back to the ship, you want to come along?” Sparkle was surprised at the human’s offer, he had been acting more friendly towards her since the bar incident the night before. She guessed that the biped was merely attempting to be less threatening around those in his command circle, first it was Chrysalis and now her. Morning nodded as the Captain stopped and waited for an answer, having your boss on good terms with you was never a bad thing.
“That sounds good,” Morning confirmed as her stomach backed up her statement by emitting a low growl. “I’ve forgotten to eat anything since this morning,” she continued as the two began to walk towards a nearby stand that appeared to be selling fried and baked goods. The Earth pony vendor, a middle-aged grey-coated stallion with a coal mane watched the two pirates approach warily. The Captain making a show of chomping his teeth together didn't really help the stallion's apprehension.
“Same goes for me,” the Captain contributed, “I don’t need to eat anything solid thanks to this suit but real food just feels so much more satisfying.” The First Mate and Captain reached the stall, Chalmers looking through the menu displayed on the sign above as he tried to choose something without hay in it. Luckily for him there was something that caught his fancy. “I’ll take two of the toasted tomato and cheese sandwiches please,” he requested as the stall keeper rushed to get the order underway.
“One for me as well thank you,” Morning added, the stallion behind the stall nodding quickly as he made their order. Chalmers looked down at his First Mate with an amused smile on his face. Obviously he had noticed something that he found funny.
“You seem more cheery today,” he remarked, Morning looking at him inquisitively.
“Really?” she asked as the smell of toasting bread filled the air.
“Yeah,” Nigel replied, “your voice seems to be a little happier and a little less monotone.” Morning knew that she wasn’t the warmest of ponies; her general lack of emotion had been commented on many times. Why she sounded happier she didn’t know, it could possibly be because she was gaining riches and getting closer to her goal of becoming a noble. Or maybe it was the fact that she might have gained a friend for the first time in her life, the human certainly treated her like one. Once again, that was not a bad thing in her opinion.
“Today’s just been more interesting I suppose,” Morning answered before three sandwiches were placed on the stand in front of them.
“Three toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches,” the stall owner stated fearfully. Chalmers fished around in a compartment in his suit and withdrew a coin purse, the bag fat and full. He placed it down on the stall and retrieved the sandwiches, passing one to Morning who grabbed it with her golden magic with a nod of thanks. The two started to walk away from the stall before the owner yelled out after them.
“Wait, your change!” the Stallion called out, Nigel finishing a bite of his sandwich before responding over his shoulder.
“Keep it,” he answered, leaving the stall owner with ten times the amount needed. As the two travelled towards the docks Morning looked at the Captain curiously between bites of her dinner.
“Why did you give him so much?” the unicorn asked, Nigel finishing a sandwich then starting on the second.
“I can create entire bases out of nothing,” he responded through a mouthful, “I don’t have much use for the wealth that I’ve amassed as my share so I may as well spread it out amongst my new subjects. That stallion seemed afraid of us, no doubt because of the fact that we’re pirates and I’m an alien to you ponies so hopefully now that I’ve shown that I’m generous he’ll be a bit more relaxed around me,” Chalmers took another bite of his sandwich. “Plus these sandwiches are excellent, well worth the money in my opinion.”
Morning had to agree with him there, the food was delicious. The mare finished hers off, licking her lips as the paper bag that had held the morsel was deposited into a waste bin. The ship was in sight now and as the two approached a wail could be heard followed by faint crying coming from the aft of the ship where the cabins were.
“What is it now,” Nigel sighed as he finished off his food. “I better go see what the problem is,” he said as he turned to Morning, “I’ll see you in the morning then, I hope to get started on some land-based accommodations and you’ll be getting your own space so I’ll need you to pick what you want.”
“That won’t be needed,” Morning replied, Chalmers shaking his head in response at her answer.
“Nonsense, it’s going to happen,” he replied as he started up the gangplank, “you go and get a good night’s sleep okay? I’ve got to go and sort the crying out.” Moring sighed in defeat and nodded at the Captain.
“You’re the Captain,” she conceded, “sleep well sir.”
“I doubt I will somehow. Good Night Sparkle,” Chalmers snorted as he disappeared from view. Morning glanced back behind her at the sound of approaching hooves, the majority of the rest of the crew stumbling back to the ship in varying states of intoxication. Morning had been surprised at how well behaved the normally troublesome crew had been since Chalmers had taken over, evidently no one wanted to risk getting him angry.
Moving with the rest of the crew, Morning boarded the ship and headed to her own private cabin, the unicorn ready for her hammock after the day spent watching the Captain’s magic.
“There there, come on, stop crying.”
Chrysalis was unsuccessful in her attempts to halt Reflection’s wails, the nymph vocalising her distress with much volume. Chrysalis was holding onto the nymph however it was doing nothing to calm her down, the changeling wondering what just had sparked the bawling. All the nymphs except Reflection had spent the day playing in the cabin, Reflection however had been sullen and withdrawn ever since the morning. All the other nymphs gathered around and watched as their fellow cried in their carer’s grasp, the distressed child refusing to calm down.
Chrysalis was almost at the end of her rope, nothing she was doing was having any effect on the nymph’s situation. Relief came however, in the form of a knock on the cabin door. Chrysalis turned to look at it as it swung open and Chalmers entered the room with his helmet off.
“What’s with all the crying?” he asked, Reflection stopping her sobbing at the sound of the Captain’s voice causing Chrysalis to look down at the nymph in surprise.
“How did you do that?” she asked incredulously as Reflection started to giggle happily and reach her hooves for the Captain. Nigel approached, crouched down and faced the nymph as he rubbed his chin.
“I have no clue,” he replied as his armour withdrew from his right hand, “maybe she’s just happy to see me?” Saying this he began to rub the child on her head, Reflection chirping with contentment as Chrysalis tried to make sense of the situation. She didn’t know how to feel at the revelation that the Captain was able to so effortlessly calm the nymph where she had failed. Positive emotion flowed from Chalmers to all in the cabin, Chrysalis also receiving a share or the positive energy. The rest of the nymphs all gathered around the Captain as they fed, the energy shared between all of them.
“It’s only her though, the others have been very well behaved today,” Chrysalis mentioned as she glanced outside a window, night had fallen and the day had been tiring. Placing Reflection on the ground Chrysalis got up from her spot and moved over to the bed. She looked at the Captain surrounded by nymphs as she climbed into her bed, the changeling ready for sleep. “Well, it’s getting late so…”
“Yeah, I’ll be off,” Nigel responded as he gave Reflection one final pat before he stood up and walked to the door. The nymph however had other ideas, the young creature running after the human before blocking the doorway as she chattered pleadingly at him. Chalmers chuckled as Chrysalis and the other nymphs watched on with curiosity at the scene. “Looks like someone doesn’t want me to go,” the Captain observed as he bent down and picked the troublesome child up.
“I guess she’s grown attached to you for some reason,” Chrysalis imputed, the Captain shrugging as he moved Reflection up and down in the air much to the enjoyment of the nymph.
“It’s probably because I provide food,” he replied, Chrysalis humming in thought.
“Maybe,” the changeling supplied, “but have you considered that she may enjoy your company?” Chalmers scoffed at this, pausing his actions to stare at the nymph he was holding receiving a happy gaze in reply.
“I highly doubt many enjoy my company,” the Captain replied. “considering my own crew walks on eggshells around me apart from you and Morning, my reputation is not one of the likable guy.”
Chrysalis decided to not mention that his crew demeanour may stem from the fact that the Captain’s kill count was already in the hundreds with the biped being on the planet for a few days. However after observing his behaviour around the nymphs she wasn’t sure just how the human was supposed to behave, he seemed to alternate from evil megalomaniac to caring creature in a heartbeat.
“I enjoy your company,” Chrysalis found herself saying softly, the changeling surprising herself with what she had said. The Captain looked at her with a smile on his face, Reflection still in his hands.
“Thanks Chrissy,” he acknowledged as he looked around the room and found where the nymphs’ bedding was piled in the back corner. He started to walk over to the spot, “I know I can be a bit of a handful sometimes but I do sometimes try to be nice. Unfortunately nice doesn’t often cut it in life so there you go.” The human stopped at the corner and turned towards the changeling that was resting on the bed. “Look, I hate to impose but it seems like I’m not going to be allowed out,” he glanced at Reflection as he said this, the nymph attempting to touch his face with her hooves, “do you think I can bunk against the wall here?”
“Are you sure you want to sleep against the wall?” Chrysalis asked, it felt wrong having the Captain of the ship just sleeping with nothing. The human however took this as an affirmative and slid down against the wood to sit upon the floor as he waved a hand.
“I’ve said this before, I’ll be fine,” with this he picked up a white pillow and placed it in his lap, the nymph in his grip being lowered onto the cushion. Reflection had other ideas however, the child leaving the pillow and instead curling up on one of Nigel’s legs as she pressed her head against his armour with a content sigh. The other young changelings moved to the assorted bedding and all settled in for the night.
‘Well,’ Chalmers thought, ‘if there’s one thing great about these children it’s that they all know when to go to bed without complaint.’
Chrysalis was watching the spectacle with a slight smile; it was good that the Captain was proving to be good around the nymphs as it certainly made her job easier.
“Goodnight Nigel,” Chrysalis said as she laid her head back into the pillows.
“’Night Chrissy,” Chalmers replied as he leaned his head back against the wall.
Soon the only sounds in the cabin was faint breathing with the occasional sleepy chirp or buzz, the noise of the turrets traversing on their mounts in-audible as all the inhabitants of the town awaited the morning.
Knight of the Realm Radiant Sunflare marched down the road towards Quayble at the head of the column of troops assigned to her, the many Earth pony militia armed with spears attached to them via harness and crude swords or axes held in their jaws. Their officer, Lieutenant Hard Blow was an exception, the mare armoured in light mail with a large crossbow carried on her back with a quiver of bolts attached to her side. Sunflare preferred her longsword over any ranged weaponry, the cut and thrust of close combat was where she excelled.
The troops were only a few hours away from the port town, having marched out from the capitol after they had all been organized. Sunflare had been given command and had decided that a dawn attack would take the pirates by surprise, the knight theorising that such low-lives would be intoxicated out of their minds. She did not care for such petty criminals however; the creature that led them was her goal.
There had been little conversation between herself and Hard Blow, the Knight merely giving the lieutenant orders when needed to keep the regular troops in line. The lime unicorn had at first been adamant that she should be in command; however a longsword swing that took off a portion of her yellow mane soon convinced the uppity unicorn of Sunflare’s authority. After that the group had travelled in silence for the most part, the occasional whisper between the Earth pony soldiers tolerated by the two leaders as long as the mud-dwellers kept moving.
The group travelled for hours until the view of the town they had come to liberate was visible on the horizon.
“Halt!” Sunflare commanded, Hard Blow repeating the command further down the line. The lines of troops halted, the peasants in their crude leather armour going quiet as they waited for the next order. Sunflare decided that it would be best to wait a few hours to allow the troops to rest; a dawn attack would catch the pirates unaware and unprepared. She turned around to face the commoners, the ponies shrinking back as the intimidating knight faced them with her red eyes glaring at them.
“We will attack at dawn, take this time to prepare for battle against the forces that have taken the town.” The single sentence was all Sunflare uttered, the commoners and the unicorn officer moving to the side of the road and beginning to make camp. Sunflare moved to the top of the hill they were sheltering behind and gazed out at the town, the unicorn knight able to make out the shapes of buildings and some lights in a few of the larger ones. Sighing, the knight moved back to the base of the hill away from her subordinates and sat down. Removing her sword from its scabbard with her magic she went to work on polishing the metal, the unicorn ensuring that the large weapon was a sharp as always so that taking the monster’s head would be simple.
What all of the Equestrian troops had missed however were the small dots of red lights belonging to the laser defence turrets, the structures maintaining their tireless vigil as the ponies prepared to attack.
Nigel jolted awake at a beeping sound coming from his waist, the human looking down to see a flashing light inside his helmet. The nymphs around him began to stir, the one sitting on his lap letting out a little yawn as the Captain placed his helmet on his head. What the alarm was about caused Nigel to wake up immediately, the perimeter defences indicating that one-hundred-and-two lifeforms where approaching the town from the north. Nymphs were woken as the biped scrambled up from his seat in a rush, Chrysalis waking up as the human shook her on the shoulder.
“What’s the matter Nigel?” the changeling sleepily asked, the human letting her go when he saw that she was awake.
“Looks like someone doesn’t like the fact that this port is now ours,” Chalmers commented as her pulled an L-shaped object from his waist, the human popping out a rectangle with a blue strip down the middle from the handle of the object. The Captain checked it and slammed the rectangle back into his device before placing it back on his waist. Chrysalis woke up as soon as she heard the news.
“We’re under attack!?” she questioned loudly as she sat up. Chalmers placed an armoured hand on her shoulder, the changeling taking deep breaths as the nymphs gathered around the bed confused at the noise the two adults were making.
“Calm down,” Nigel reassured, “the defences should hold anything at bay, never-the-less I want you to stay here with the nymphs. I’m sure that everything will turn out well, I just think that it’s best that you stay here safe in case something does happen to me and Morning Sparkle so that you can take command.” Chalmers paused and removed his hand as a nymph, Reflection, started to gallop towards the door.
It was almost as if the youngster had understood what Chalmers had said and was attempting to stop him from leaving. Nigel foiled her plan however, catching lifting the nymph up as Reflection struggled in his grasp. He moved her face towards his helmet, the nymph ceasing her thrashing as she was faced with a black reflective visor.
“Now as for you young lady,” Nigel lectured, “I want you to stay here with Chrysalis and behave, no crying.” With that Chalmers passed the child to Chrysalis, Reflection not struggling as the adult changeling held her with her hooves. The Captain moved to the cabin door and opened it, none of the nymphs moving from the bed to follow him. “I’ll be back soon okay, take care,” and with those words Chalmers left the room and shut the door behind him.
Chrysalis sat on the bed with worry; if the human died then she didn’t see things working out well for her or the nymphs. Nigel had seemed fairly confident in his chances of winning however so hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. The changeling sat on the bed and began to stroke Reflection on the head with a hoof, the other nymphs all anxiously sitting and lying down on the wooden floor as they awaited the return of the human. In the confusion none had noticed that the hairs in Chrysalis’s tails were now mostly teal.
Sunflare threw herself behind a small knoll as a red beam shot just over the heads of the attacking troops. The soldiers all scattered out of the way, the commoners all trying to take cover as more beams flew through the sky towards them. No-one was hit, the beams high enough to scare but not to kill. Sunflare peaked out to spot roughly ten strange tower structures all pointing towards them, the source of the beams proven as one of the towers fired. The crimson beam hit just behind the remaining commoners who had no-where else to go, the ponies hugging the ground beneath them. A great furrow was rent in the earth and the surrounding grass was scorched black from the extreme heat.
The approach to the town had been going well; they had begun to sneak towards the town under the cover of dusk down the road. The attack had barely begun however before the first red beam had flown over, scattering them and halting the advance. Sunflare was cursing herself for not sending a scout out in the night. The entrance to the town was right in front of them, only a few hundred metres away but the gap was guarded by four of the dangerous structures. Sunflare considered her options, glancing towards Hard Blow she spotted the unicorn huddling behind a tree stump with four of the lieutenant’s personal guard.
“Lieutenant!” Sunflare shouted out, receiving the unicorn’s attention, “send those four soldiers behind that boulder there!” The knight gestured towards a large rock twenty metres ahead and to the left of the tree stump. The lieutenant seemed to hesitate for a second before she barked the command to her guards. The four stallions shared uneasy looks as they adjusted their spear-harnesses and swords before they darted out to the rock, drawing the towers’ fire.
Sunflare herself galloped for a boulder that was one-hundred metres before the town entrance, as she was running she prayed to the Creator for her safety. As she ran she heard the ‘zap’ sound of a beam firing followed by a scream that was cut off by a fizzle. A second beam fired not even a second later and another scream sounded. Sunflare looked up as she ran and noticed that one of the towers was aiming at her.
And that the weapon at the top of it was glowing.
Sunflare pushed her body to its limit and dived towards the sanctuary that the boulder offered as the sound of a beam tower firing filled her ears.
The Knight smashed to the ground behind the bolder as a red beam of death impacted the ground right where she had been, intense heat burning her rear even through her armour. As she recovered she noticed that her yellow-and-orange tail was on fire, the unicorn mare hastily beating the flames out with her metal-clad hooves as more beams flew over the top of the boulder she was hiding behind. The flames on her tail extinguished, the knight looked towards the rock that she had sent the four guards to.
The stoic knight winced as she noticed the remains of two of the stallions, their leather armour doing nothing to stop the crimson beams that had sliced the ponies apart, the rest of the remains crackling with flames as the smell of burnt flesh make itself own. The knight was incredibly lucky, that could be her lying lifeless on the ground as her flesh cooked. Sunflare was now regretting that she hadn’t learnt any shielding spells, instead having focused on her sword work.
Deciding that she needed another distraction to draw the towers’ fire again she turned back towards where Hard Blow was hiding, the Earth pony troops were expendable after all.
“Lieutenant! Send out another group of commoners!” Sunflare commanded as beams continued to fall around the forces. It seemed like the weapons could be extremely accurate when needed but for some reason appeared to be focused on keeping the soldiers pinned down unless they tried to move closer. What the lieutenant responded with however dashed Sunflare’s hopes of making her goal.
“No, it’s suicide!” the lieutenant yelled back, evidently the unicorn was softer than Sunflare had been lead to believe.
“I am a Knight and I command that you send those troops out now!” Sunflare shouted back, receiving a head shake from the lime unicorn. “I’ll have your head you traitorous Bitch!” Her words were hollow, with the towers firing there was nothing Sunflare could do, that was something that pissed her off immensely.
Suddenly the barrage of beams stopped, Sunflare peeking out from the boulder to spot the towers all pointing at the ponies however they were not shooting. A black biped, the monster she had been sent to kill, was standing in the middle of the street with a throng of ponies dressed like pirates. The monster seemed to cough into its claw before some metal-grills on its skin were exposed when the black covering slid off.
“Attention hostile forces!” an electronic male voice boomed out, drawing the attention of the remaining troops. “As you are no doubt aware, you are completely fucked!” Sunflare had to admit that the Monster did get straight to the point on that one. “You have three options!” the biped continued.
“Option one: you can attempt to move up and then die. Option two: you can stay hidden and then die of thirst and hunger. Option three: you surrender and you get to live. Personally I’d take option one as it would be the unexpected choice but at least I would get to make a Highlander reference before I died. You however do not know what Highlander is so I would recommend that you take option three.”
Sunflare narrowed her eyes at the monster, unsure if the creature was mocking them. The knight was about to tell the creature to shove his options up his rear-end but Hard Blow beat her as the unicorn lieutenant yelled out from behind her stump.
“Please! We surrender! Don’t shoot!”
Sunflare was furious with the unicorn’s cowardice, the Knight moving out from her boulder after giving the lieutenant a hateful stare. She moved towards the Monster and his pirate lackeys, the towers not firing on her as she noticed the monster look in her direction. As she reached the entrance to the town Sunflare realized just how tall the towers were, they rivalled the buildings around them in height. She noticed that one of the deadly turrets was aimed right at her, the rest remained fixed on the Equestrians out in the field.
Sunflare advanced through jeers from the pirates past the towers, most of the stallions and mares showing signs of intoxication as they waved cutlasses gripped in their mouths or in magic fields of the few unicorns present. The pirates were all lined up on the sides of the street as they spat insults at her, the monster standing in the middle of the road with a golden coloured unicorn mare armed with a cutlass beside him. Sunflare halted and drew her longsword with her crimson magic, pointing the blade at the pirate leader as numerous pirates moved forward to attempt to cut her down.
“Stand down!” the monster bellowed as he raised a claw, the pirates stopping and returning to their previous positions. The Monster seemed to stare at Sunflare, his featureless face made it hard for the knight to pick out any emotion. “The last time I had a sword pointed at me it was because the owner was not too pleased that I had slept with his daughter. I don’t recall any of that on this world so would you care to explain why you risked death after I offered you a chance to live? I don’t believe that the wanted liberation of this town would drive someone to do such a stupid thing so may I ask what exactly is driving you to threaten my person?”
The creature’s questions confused Sunflare greatly, from his mention of ‘this world’ to the relative calmness and civility that he spoke with. It was very un-expected from a supposed demon from the underworld.
“I am Knight of the Realm Radiant Sunflare,” the unicorn started as she raised her sword so that it pointed at where she assumed the creature’s heart was, “and I have sworn an oath to take your head or die trying!” At her words the creature clapped its talons together, Sunflare noticing that the pirates except for the unicorn next to the monster were slowly backing away.
“Oh, I’ve got a bounty against me, how quaint!” the creature remarked merrily, “very well, if it’s a duel you want then I shall happily comply.” Sunflare doubled her magical grip on her sword as the creature’s right arm glowed blue, a sword as long as hers materialising slowly out of the arm with a blue glow.
The weapon became solid, the Monster gripping its plain grey hilt with a talon as the silver blade shone with a razor sharp edge. A clear area was formed in the road, all the onlookers backing away to give the two combatants space. “I am Nigel M Chalmers,” the Monster spoke, “ISA Commander and current Captain and ruler of this town, now on to the duel.” Sunflare raised an eyebrow under her helm at the Monster’s titles; she got the feeling that he was more than a simple demon.
“Here are the conditions,” the Monster continued as he twirled his new blade around in a metal claw, “if you win you can take my head and this port city back. My surviving crew will leave and will never come back. All of my constructed buildings will crumble and fall allowing you to claim this place.” The Monster looked around at his crew, all of the ponies nodding in agreement as some fixed Sunflare with venomous glares.
“And if you win?” Sunflare inquired as she too spun her blade in her magical grip, this creature wasn’t the only one with fancy moves here. The Monster paused his actions as he raised the point of his sword towards her.
“I kill you, failing that I can do whatever I want with you if you somehow live.” Sunflare considered the terms; she didn’t really have a choice. If she failed then she would either end up dead, a servant to the monster or worse, something which she would rather not think about. Add to that if she didn’t bring back his head to the Princess then she would be an outcast stripped of her titles and wealth as well as being banished from Equestria, if she won however then Platinum would most likely reward her well.
“I accept those terms,” Sunflare answered after a pause, the mare’s sword still pointed towards the Monster’s chest.
“Very well then, I wish you good luck m’lady,” the biped mimed tipping a hat; however he paused and stood back up. “Not too much luck though; it is my pretty head on the line after all.” The Monster shrugged and held his sword at a forty-five degree angle to the ground, indicating to Sunflare that the creature obviously had some knowledge of sword fighting. The Monster raised a free talon and made a gesture with his digits towards the knight.
“Bring it on and prepare yourself to feel the wrath of my Charmjitsu technique.”
Sunflare complied, rushing forward with her sword aiming to deliver a brutal trust through the Monster’s heart. As she closed however the Monster parried the blow with his sword which he held with one claw, sparks flying from the metal as the two weapons clanged together. Sunflare was slightly surprised that the Monster was able to hold such a weapon with one claw; an Earth pony would have extreme difficulty even with their supposed extra strength. The knight swung her sword again in an attempt to get the pirate leader in the side; however that too was parried with skill.
“So,” the creature spoke up over the clash of metal as Sunflare kept on assaulting him, the Monster himself not making any aggressive moves, “do you have any hobbies apart from duelling monsters such as myself?” Sunflare was a little off-put at the query, the biped punishing her by lashing out with a quick strike, the Knight managing to block it in time. Sunflare made a promise to herself to not engage the Monster in conversation, something that seemed to drive the biped on further.
“I’ll take that as a no,” he commented as he blocked another trust aimed for a leg joint. “Fine, I’ll move on,” another swing was parried, “do you have a special someone waiting back home for you? Or are you one of those knights which go all out for their job?”
Once again Sunflare did not grace him with a response, instead focusing all of her energy on the fight. She cursed at herself, her dash in full armour to that boulder earlier had worn her out a little and she could feel her rump still burning from the energy beam that had set fire to her tail. The knight fought on however, she was literally fighting for her life and right to return home.
“Jeez, you’re a real talker aren’t you,” the Monster commented as he continued to block the knight’s every attack. His utter disregard for the duel and his ability to block every single attack was really starting to get in Sunflare’s nerves.
“I would respond if you had anything interesting to say!” she snarled, the creature raising his sword in the air as he put his other arm out to the side like he was offended. Sunflare saw a chance to strike.
“Now that was uncalled fo-“
The Monster’s complaint was cut off as Sunflare’s sword bypassed his defences and trust deep into his evil chest, impaling him through the heart.
Or, it would have if the sword didn’t slide off the creature’s armour plating leaving only a single scratch in the metal as the blade went between the Monster’s side and between his right arm. The pirate leader slammed his arm holding his sword down and trapped Sunflare’s blade as the mare struggled to pull it free. She had to free her sword otherwise she was finished, although if the monster’s armour was unable to be pierced…
“Hey, I was talking to you!” the creature stated before he dashed forward and swung his left fist at her, time slowing for Sunflare as she tried in vain to free her weapon. The fist connected with her side, the force of the blow incredibly strong as Sunflare lost her grip on her sword as she had the air knocked out of her.
The Monster was not done however, the creature dropping his sword and picking the unicorn up with both hands. Sunflare barely had anytime to struggle before, with a heave from the creature, she found herself flying through the air until her journey was interrupted by the wall of a house, the mare crashing through the strong barrier into the building within.
‘Huh, maybe I over did it a little,’ Nigel thought to himself as he stared at the large hole torn in the side of the house, the knight having disappeared indie of the building. His crew were frozen after having witnessed their Captain just throw the armoured unicorn like she was nothing. Soon however a great cheer rose up as they saluted their leader’s victory.
These cheers died down however when an armoured form stumbled out of the house wheezing and panting.
The sight wasn’t a pretty one; the impact that the knight had suffered had damaged and destroyed pieces of her armour, her helm missing its plume of feathers and blood trickling from some joints on her legs. All watched on as the battered combatant drew closer to the Captain, the mare stopping before him as she tried to catch her breath. Chalmers stared at the stubborn unicorn before picking up her dropped sword and throwing it at the ground before her armoured hooves.
No words were spoken as the unicorn tried three times to pick up the weapon with her magic, getting it on the last try as she shakily held it out in front of her. Nigel dropped his own weapon on the ground and put up his fists.
“Let’s make this interesting,” he stated as the unicorn charged at him once more. The knight seemed to put all of her energy into her attacks, Chalmers using his armoured wrists and forearms to deflect the blows. He was unsure if he considered the unicorn brave or stupid as she continued to attack him despite his armour proving to be stronger than her sword. As the mare let out a final swing he concluded that there was only one way for this to end, the human letting out a vicious side kick into the unicorn’s chest.
His armour-powered blow lifted the pony off the ground slightly before the mare’s body was propelled into an empty wagon which splintered as the wagon received an armoured knight at full force.
The wagon crashed down, some pieces of wood covering the prone body as blood began to pool. Everyone held their breath as the pile of debris moved, the knight rising from the wreckage once more.
The mare’s condition made even the hardest pirate wince, the unicorn’s armour stained with her own blood and wounds could be seen where the metal armour had buckled inwards and pierced the skin. The knight was hacking and coughing, a broken rib had pierced a lung with the force of the Captain’s kick and her chest armour was bent and broken. One of her front forelegs was twisted at an unnatural angle, the bone clearly broken. This wasn’t the most serious injury however.
The knight’s helm had been torn off her head, and what could be seen caused a few of the unicorns to expel their stomach contents.
Radiant Sunflare, Knight of the Realm was now hornless, the extra appendage torn of leaving a small jagged stump of horn that spurted blood and magical energy. Blood coated the mare’s yellow and orange striped mane and her crimson eyes burned with rage and pain.
Chalmers watched on with pity as the unicorn attempted to lift her sword with her magic, only for her horn to emit a weak burst of sparks causing the knight to cry out in pain. Her injured leg buckled beneath her, the unicorn falling face-first into the dirt with a groan of pain.
Reaching her good front hoof out the mare crawled to her sword, no one else moving as the unicorn awkwardly picked the sword up with her mouth. Still no-one moved, the knight dragging herself over to Chalmers leaving a trail of blood on the ground. The Captain didn’t react; he merely stared down at the mare as she tried to hit his leg with the sword, failing to achieve anything. The knight’s blows weakened as her tears increased, eventually the sword dropped from her mouth and landed in the dirt as Sunflare lay down her head at Chalmers’s boots, cried, and then waited for her death.
The crew waited for their Captain to finish his opponent, the human staring down at the broken body of his foe. What he did next however shocked them all.
Chalmers slowly reached up to his head and removed his helmet, the head piece dropping to the ground as it slipped out of his hands. The Captain’s face was devoid of expression as the human crouched down in front of the unicorn he had beaten. The armour protecting his hands retracted with the black metal sliding back into the wrist gauntlets.
Gently he placed his hands on the sides of Sunflare’s face, cradling the unicorn’s head and bringing her to eye level. His cold blue eyes stared into the tear-filled crimson irises that were hers, the unicorn unable to speak so all she did was wheeze. Chalmers looked at her for a few moments before he spoke.
“You know, you should have quit after the first house,” he mentioned softly as he moved one hand to Sunflare’s mane, beginning to stroke her bloodstained mane to comfort the mare. The crew watched on, un-willing to even say anything to the pair as they watched their feared Captain provide companionship to an enemy that had been adamant on killing him.
The two remained there for a while, Nigel continuing to hold onto the downed knight as he continued to stroke her head, his hand becoming saturated in blood from the still-bleeding horn stump. His hand passed over a certain point, the vein throbbing with blood. Chalmers smiled softly at the unicorn looking up at him lifelessly, the mare beyond rational thought as the pain from her injuries caused her to drift in-and-out of consciousness.
“I know you probably can’t understand what I’m saying right now,” Nigel spoke as a needle extended from his left wrist, “but before we duelled I said that if I won then I could do anything I want with you.” The unicorn seemed to hear this, her eyes glancing towards the needle hovering near her neck.
“I want to let you live.”
With this Nigel plunged the needle into the vein on Sunflare’s neck, injecting the contents into the unicorn. Sunflare closed her eyes and her muscles relaxed as the pain left her and she found herself falling into unconsciousness as the liquid went to work. The Captain checked the mare’s pulse, finding it weak but still there as he ensured that the unicorn was completely out. Carefully he picked the bloodied knight of off the ground with his armour allowing him to lift the armoured body out of the dirt.
With the unicorn in his arms Chalmers began to walk back to the ship, his crew parting without a word as he approached. The human paused when he reached Morning Sparkle however, the human turning to face the First Mate.
“Morning Sparkle,” he said evenly, “Please secure the prisoners out in the field, treat them well but keep them somewhere secure under guard. After that could you please bring my helmet back to the ship.” Without waiting for a reply Chalmers continued on, blood dripping in drops from the limp bundle in his arms.
Morning Sparkle trotted towards the discarded helmet lying next to the blood pool; picking it up with her magic she placed it upon her back. Turning around she saw the crew staring after the retreating form of the Captain, the First Mate coughing to grab their attention.
“You heard the Captain,” she ordered, “get a move on!”
Nigel kicked open the door to the ship’s medical bay, closing the barrier behind him as he placed the knight’s body upon the operating table. He took a moment to stare down at the mare which he had broken; this was the second time in a matter of days that he had found himself preparing to operate on an equine. He soon commenced his actions, reaching down he began to remove the unicorn’s armour plates starting with the most damaged first.
Under the metal that had collapsed he found many wounds, some caused by the armour bending in and cutting the flesh where others, such as the large bruises on the mare’s chest and sides were caused by his blows directly. The previously clean table quickly became soaked in blood as all of the armour was eventually removed from the mare, Nigel placing the pieces in the corner of the room.
He started to work upon the many wounds, lasering bleeding cuts closed, resetting broken bones and patching up the unicorn’s punctured lung. With great regret he heated the mare’s horn stub closed, the broken horn the main source of blood loss. He didn’t know much about unicorns but he doubted that the pony would be able to regrow her horn. The knight began to mutter in her drugged sleep, Nigel pausing to stroke his patient on the head until the murmurs died down.
It was at this time that Morning Sparkle entered the surgery with the Captain’s helmet on her back, the First Mate closing the door behind her as she quietly moved to observe the human’s work. Chalmers gave her an acknowledging nod before going back to placing a cast around the unicorn’s leg, his suit providing the needed supplies.
It took half-an-hour of constant attention but soon all of the life-threatening wounds had been dealt with, Nigel finishing the procedure by spraying some synthetic skin on the mare’s rump from where the burnt skin had been pulled away with the knight’s armour.
As he finished and his tools returned into his armour he rubbed his bloody hands on a provided rag, much blood having collected on the table and below it. His First Mate gazed at the injured unicorn on the table with sadness and sympathy before she turned to face her Captain.
“Captain sir, the prisoners have been disarmed and locked up in a warehouse with guards, they appear to be very co-operative.” As she said this she picked up the Captain’s helmet off her back and floated it over towards him. Chalmers plucked it out of the air and placed it on his head hiding his tired eyes behind his black visor.
“Thank you Morning,” Chalmers replied, prompting the mare to look at the sleeping unicorn on the table.
“If you don’t mind me asking Captain, what’s going to happen to her?” Chalmers picked the knight up and wiped the blood off of her with one of the medical bay’s towels, the white fabric turning a deep red. He then discarded the towel into a nearby wooden bucket and moved towards the door with the unicorn, Morning Sparkle trailing behind.
“I’m going to do what I said and make sure that she gets better,” Chalmers replied, Morning deciding to not remind him that a unicorn’s horn will not grow back if broken. Instead she followed her Captain out of the medical bay and onto the main deck of the ship.
Chalmers strode into the warehouse containing the ninety-nine Equestrian prisoners that had been captured earlier. The ponies had all been disarmed and escorted from the ravaged field by the pirate crew, the warehouse they were now in constructed to form a make-shift prison.
The windows and all the doors except one had been boarded up, Nigel having constructed a single turret inside the centre of the ceiling to keep the prisoners in line. This one was smaller than the external defences and instead of one large barrel it instead possessed two rapid-fire laser-pulse rifles in its housing to provide a high rate of anti-personnel fire if the Equestrians tried to escape.
All of the prisoners had been stripped of their armour and the ponies all ambled around the main area shooting nervous glances towards the ever-vigilant turret up above as the red targeting-sight swept over the gathered prisoners.
The only exception to this was the unicorn Lieutenant Hard Blow, the Captain having ordered the pony restrained with chains and guarded by four pirates at all times. The dejected mare was tied to a pillar at the left side wall; Chalmers had seen that unicorns were capable of firing energy bolts and telekinesis so he wasn’t taking any chances until a more permanent solution was found.
Chalmers walked out onto a metal catwalk suspended above the large space, the ponies below all halting their activities to gaze up at the biped above them as he leaned over the edge of the catwalk.
“Well, it’s good to see that you all made the smart decision,” the human congratulated as the prisoners flinched at his voice, his helmet causing it to sound unnatural. “As you have no doubt witnessed, escape is not recommended,” with these words and a mental command from Nigel the turret above him rotated on its axis and strafed a menacing red targeting laser across the prisoners.
“However,” Chalmers continued after the turret returned to its normal position, “if you behave and co-operate, following every one of my commands then you will be treated well and maybe even rewarded, do you understand this?” A chorus of hesitant affirmatives was emitted from the crowd, all of them nodding at the terms.
“Great!” the Captain enthusiastically replied, “For security reasons you will be kept in here for now, if we have no major incidents then I see no problem in increasing your privileges in the future.” This sparked hopeful murmurs among the soldiers held captive, most of them had been reluctant to fight in the first place so the fact that this creature seemed willing to release them later improved their spirits. One of them however had other concerns.
“What about the Knight?” Everyone turned to look at the lieutenant tied to the pillar as her guards watched her warily, “What happened to her?” Chalmers was silent for a few moments as the prisoners looked up at him with curiosity.
“She challenged me to a duel,” he responded curtly, “she lost and is recovering from her injuries. Let that be a lesson to you all.” Chalmers left out that he was actually incredibly impressed with the knight’s drive to finish her mission, that being one of the reasons that he had decided to spare her and not just put her out of her misery then and there. His words had the intended effect however, his advanced audio sensors picking up hushed whispers from the troops regarding how the knight was their best fighter and if she lost then defeating the human seemed impossible.
Seeing that his objectives had been met, Chalmers turned to the two crew beside him, informing the pirates to continue to watch the prisoners while providing them with standard rations as well as stressing that the captives were not to be harmed. With the two nodding and hurrying off to fulfil their orders the Captain made his way outside the warehouse.
He had to go check up on someone.
Sunflare groggily awoke the mare unable to feel anything at all. She could hear however, the sounds of buzzing wings and insectoid noises able to be heard. The unicorn attempted to wove her legs, finding that her rear limbs were able to twitch but not do too much more. The same went for her left fore-leg, however her right refused to move completely.
As she glanced at it she saw why, a white cast covering the leg from the shoulder down. In addition to this the knight also noticed the length of chain binding the leg to a metal pole attached to the bed she lay upon. A more in-depth investigation revealed that her other fore-leg was similarly restrained; her hind legs however were free. Clenching her teeth, Sunflare focused on using her magic in an attempt to break the chains.
A burst of pain rose up in her head near her horn, cutting through the haze of whatever was numbing the rest of her body. The unicorn grunted, wincing her eyes shut before the pain steadily died down to a dull throb. She started to breath heavily, she didn’t know why but it seemed like her magic was unable to be used at this time. She had a vague recollection of a head wound but everything was a little fuzzy. She lay back on the pillow as something approached her, the beat of hoofsteps echoing around the room she was trapped in.
“Are you okay?” a female voice inquired, Sunflare opening her eyes and turning her head to the left towards the voice.
What greeted her was unexpected; an insect-looking equine the size of a pony mare was gazing at her with solid blue eyes, the black-covered creature appearing to have an expression of concern. A chattering drew Sunflare’s attention to the floor, the mare spotting ten smaller creatures all ambling abound the room as they appeared to play. The unicorn tried to speak, however she found that her throat was dry and raw.
“Water…” was all she managed to croak out. The bug-creature disappeared from view, the sound of water being poured into a glass audible before the furless equine returned with a glass full of refreshing liquid. Carefully the strange creature brought the glass to the unicorn’s lips, Sunflare drinking the water greedily as the cool beverage eased her aching throat.
When the glass was empty it was taken away, Sunflare looking at the bug in thanks. She felt like she had heard about this creature before, her tired brain however was unable to produce anything useful. The unicorn laid her head down sideways once again as she faced the concerned creature.
“Where am I?” she asked wearily, the insect equine before her taking a few moments to reply.
“You’re in my cabin aboard a ship docked in the port, the Captain ordered that you be placed under constant care and I was the only one able to take care of you.” Sunflare coughed, the mare moving her head to absorb the sights of the cabin she was in, plain wooden walls and ceilings decorated with vibrant rugs of many colours. A bed was pushed into the back corner and a pile of loose linin and cushions was heaped in the other corner.
“Why am I here?” Sunflare inquired. The mention of a ‘Captain’ brought back feelings of rage and anguish, the unicorn only able to piece a few pieces together. The creature caring for her shifted nervously from hoof to hoof.
“How much do you remember?” asked the insect, Sunflare straining to pull the needed information from her memory.
“I… I’m a knight,” the unicorn began shakily, “I was supposed to… to kill a monster that had taken over a port town and bring its head back to the Princess. I remember some red beams that burnt and then flying through the air after fighting a… a tall black biped. The monster I was supposed to have kil-“
The knight stopped as all the pieces clicked into place, the mission briefing from the Princess, the march to the town and the resulting trip through the killing field all the way up to the duel with the Captain. The same creature which had thrown her through a building after her sword had failed to cut through his skin. She gazed at the equine creature in front of her, she now remembered that the Pirate leader was said to be accompanied by a creature that could steal the forms of ponies. Sunflare knew that she was likely in great danger; the monster had proven that he was callous and cruel during their fight.
She attempted to struggle but stopped quickly, even if she tried she was held down with chains that appeared to be brand new and solid; the same went for the poles attached to the bed that formed her make-shift prison. The injured knight could also remember the biped leaning down and holding her as she lay on the ground after the fight, just what were his plans for her?
Sunflare froze as a door behind her opened, the creature she had been talking to looking past the bed at the doorway. The unicorn began to shake in fear as boot steps drew closer and closer, the door shutting behind the new arrival. Sunflare had no doubt what had just entered, the slight sound of mechanical breathing slightly audible as the creature approached. Images and memories of herself lying in rubble bleeding in her armour ran through her head, her shaking increasing as her terror sky-rocketed and her eyes were clenched shut.
“How’s she doing Chrissy?” the voice of the Monster inquired, Sunflare able to make out the sounds of many small hooves rushing over to meet the biped. “Easy little ones, I’ll have time to play later,” the Monster continued as the chirping and chittering increased in volume and quantity.
“She’s just woken up Nigel,” ‘Chrissy’ responded, Sunflare recalling that the bipedal beast had introduced himself as Nigel. The boot falls moved to the side of the bed that she was facing, Sunflare refusing to open her eyes to look upon the being that had put her in this sorry state. She heard what she assumed was the Monster crouching down, a soft sigh that sounded almost apologetic issuing from the creature’s location.
“Radiant Sunflare,” the Monster called as he uttered the unicorn’s full name, “can I ask you to open your eyes?” Sunflare shook her head, gathering the mental strength needed to reply.
“No,” was all she said, the biped not responding to her immediately. The unicorn shuddered as she felt fleshy appendages touch her mane, the digits beginning to pat her on the head and neck. Despite the owner of the digits and her current circumstances the knight felt her body relax at the touch, the rhythmic actions soothing her fear and lowering her heartbeat down to normal levels. As the Monster’s fingers passed near her horn she gulped and asked the question that was at the front of her mind.
“What’s wrong with my horn, why can’t I use it?”
The stroking stopped at her question, the biped’s hand remaining still on the top of her head.
“During the fight I kicked you into a wagon,” the monster stated slowly, “your helmet came off and with it your horn was broken and destroyed, I’m sorry.”
Sunflare’s world froze, the unicorn replaying the news over and over again in her head. Her horn was gone; Sunflare knew that it wouldn’t grow back so she was now magic-less for the rest of her life. She was now a simple Earth pony, no longer a proud unicorn but a useless peasant doomed to live in the mud and soil while her former race inhabited castles and manors. Actually no, she didn’t even possess the Earth ponies’ enhanced strength or resistance to illness so she was in fact lower than they were. Fresh tears welled up at this revelation, without her horn she was nothing. Sunflare was vaguely aware of the stroking resuming as she wept, the unicorn sobbing over the loss of her horn and at the utter helplessness that she felt.
Her sorrow continued to flow for what seemed like hours, throughout the entire time the comforting motions from the being that had put her in this condition never ceasing. Slowly Sunflare began to run out of tears to shed, the broken knight falling back into slumber, this time without the aid of drugs as her head sunk into the pillows supporting it.
Chalmers and Chrysalis watched on as the unicorn slept, Nigel’s hand still moving for a few moments after the mare fell silent. He pulled his hand away and placed it on the floor beside him, the limb touching the front left hoof of the changeling sitting next to him. Chrysalis looked down in surprise as the hand gripped her leg strongly, the fingers wrapped around her hole-riddled limb tightly. She was shocked that she could feel a strong surge of emotion through the contact, a touch of sadness overlaid with massive amounts of guilt.
The changeling raised her leg and moved it so that the Captain’s hand rested in the crook of her hoof, Chrysalis placing the black hoof over the fingers as the two sat there and stared at the sleeping pony. Chrysalis could tell that Chalmers needed some help with dealing with the fact that he had maimed the unicorn for life, why the biped felt so upset over this particular incident she could not work out but it was her duty as a friend to provide him with support.
She wasn’t the only one who picked up on the human’s need for comfort, the nymphs who had been watching the drama unfold from their spot near the bed all moved towards the pair as they jostled for positions close to both adoptive parental figures. The small beings didn’t make a sound as they rested against the humans’ legs and Chrysalis’s body in a heap. All of the creatures remained there in silence for a few hours, nothing moving or speaking,
Chrysalis was broken from her trance as Nigel’s hand left her hoof, the human startling dozing nymphs as the human stood up and re-attached his helmet.
“I’ve got to go and continue working,” he whispered as he moved to the door with Reflection hurrying along by his heels. The Captain looked down at the young nymph who gazed up at him with concern, the human about to push her away so he could open the cabin door. Instead of doing this he stared back at the child as she lifted a leg towards him from her position on the ground.
“Chrissy,” Chalmers started softly without taking his eyes off Reflection, “is it okay with you if I take Reflection with me for a little bit?”
The request was unusual; Chrysalis was unsure what to say. For starters the Captain was asking for her permission and secondly she didn’t know how the other nymphs would react to having one of their number taken away for a while. Glancing at them, the other nine children all crowding around her Chrysalis seemed to get the feeling that they wouldn’t mind Reflection leaving with Nigel for a bit. As she pondered to reason for the human’s request she realised just why he wanted to take a nymph with him.
He didn’t want to be alone.
Know that she thought about it she recalled that none of the crew except her and maybe Morning Sparkle treated the biped with anything other than fear and respect. The nymphs acted as if the human was what a father would be to a pony foal, so maybe the human wanted to bring along a nymph for some comfort. Going over this Chrysalis realised that there was only one possible answer she could give.
‘Go ahead,” she replied softly with a nod of her head, Nigel not answering as he bent down to pick up the waiting nymph. He stood back up as Reflection shifted in his arms so that she was resting against his chest, her little horn briefly touching the metal gouge in the armour from where Sunflare’s sword had struck. Without another word the Captain opened the cabin door and left, the heavy wooden door closing behind him.
Chrysalis sighed and laid down where she sat, the remaining nymphs all surrounding her as they plopped down next to their carer with light chatters and chirps. Small wings buzzed as they began to play and seemingly converse with each other, Chrysalis scratching the top of her head with a hoof as she watched the injured knight.
Her head had been itching lately, the changeling didn’t know what was happening to her, having discovered her teal tail earlier after the Captain had left in the morning but she hoped that it wasn’t something life-threatening. She rested her head on her crossed front legs and huffed, today had been trying for all involved.
“See that over there?” Nigel said as he pointed a finger towards the ship that he had just disembarked, the nymph in his other arm following the finger as she stared at the ship, “that’s our ship.”
The sight of the human Captain who barely a few hours before had beaten a fully armoured Equestrian knight to a pulp showing a small child multiple objects and teaching their names confused many of the townsfolk and crew who witnessed it. All of the ponies had become even more wary of the biped, most of the crew returning to the same states they had been when the Captain had first taken over. This was disregarded by the human as he continued to walk down the docks with the nymph chattering excitedly at every sight seen.
The strange pair continued on, Nigel stopping to explain shop carts, houses, wagons, the weapon turrets that dotted the town and every single pony that walked past at Reflection’s insistence. The human’s sour mood was forgotten as he immersed himself in teaching the young changeling about the port town. This continued for an hour, the sun in the sky burning bright in the middle. The educational session came to a climax as the First Mate approached her Captain with a worried look on her face.
“Captain Chalmers?” Morning Sparkle started as she watched the human pick up an apple from a fruit cart and hold it out to the changeling nestled in his arm for the young creature to examine, “are you feeling alright?”
“Of course I am feeling okay,” the Captain replied as the nymph giggled while she ran her hooves over the red apple. Chalmers withdrew a golden coin from his suit and passed it to the nervous stall owner as payment for the fruit. The human then passed the changeling the apple and, after making sure the child had a solid grip on it, removed his helmet which he attached at his waist. Morning watched as the human lifted the apple from the child in his arms and took a bite, chewing and emphasising the fruit’s taste with a smile and a hum.
The changeling, Morning able to see that her name was ‘Reflection’ judging from the golden name tag, was passed the apple once more. Emulating the Captain the creature took a large bite of the fruit, Morning able to see a row of sharp teeth with two small fangs at the front as the nymph bit into the fruit. The changeling’s eyes widened before it violently spat the apple bits out onto the ground while using a hoof to get rid of the taste on her tongue.
“Didn’t like it that much did you?” the human observed with a grin as the small creature looked up at him and shook her head. Both Nigel and Morning were surprised by the fact that the nymph seemed to understand what the Captain had said, both wondering just how fast the nymphs were learning. Chalmers ruffled Reflection’s mane in apology as he faced his First Mate. “To answer your question in more depth Morning, yes, I am okay. Do I feel unsettled at what I did? Yes I do, however dwelling on it is not going to get this base built so I’ve got to continue on.”
Morning didn’t reply with words, the unicorn merely nodded prompting Chalmers to continue walking down the street. The First Mate followed him to an area where a large space was in between two houses. The gap was wide enough to fit four average houses side-by-side and the unicorn wondered just what the human was planning to do.
This was answered when Chalmers put his helmet back on before lifting Reflection up and over his head. He sat the excited changeling down on his shoulders, the child’s hind legs on either side of Chalmers’s helmet as she held on by placing her fore-legs around the top of the metal helm. Reflection vocalised her enjoyment of being so high up with energetic chirps and chitters, sounds that increased when Nigel aimed his right arm at the blank spot in front of him and a fabricator emerged from the armour housing.
The unicorn sat down on the side of the road and townsfolk stopped to watch a blue outline form on the ground, about half as tall as the Captain’s armoured form. Blue lights on the human’s back lit up as four beams shot out from the fabricator and connected with the outline, the initial shape a six-legged machine with multiple arms on a hexagon-shaped turret mounted on the base.
The beams started from the bottom, the outline solidifying as air turned to grey metal and the construction began to take shape. All throughout this process Reflection was staring with wide blue eyes as the machine took form, in the space of a minute all the legs had been finished and the base was beginning to solidify.
Morning continued to observe as the human started to explain what he was doing in very simple terms to the nymph on top of his head, the changeling watching his actions with the utmost attention. After five minutes of talking to child Chalmers stopped as the beams cut off, the mechanical object fully completed.
Everyone watching gasped in amazement as the machine came to life, a triangular head with the tip horizontal lit was mounted in the centre on top of the turret and the face lit up with lights of all different colours while multiple lens that looked like the eyes of a spider adjusted their zooms by moving in and out with a whir. The multiple arms unfolded from the body, the eight limbs tipped with mechanical grasping pincers, tool of various usages and one even possessed a small pulse gun barrel. The largest arm, located at the front of the machine had a larger version of the fabricator that Nigel sported, the tool glowing blue with energy. The grey metal of the body was broken up by blue strips and a large symbol of a fist crushing a planet in white on both sides in the rear.
The machine to Morning Sparkle appeared to finish whatever checks it was preforming before its head aimed at Nigel. A blue beam from one of the lights on the machine swept over the human’s body from top to bottom before it cut out, the machine letting out a beep as it rotated its body to face its master.
“This should make things a lot easier,” Chalmers commented as he patted the top of the machine’s head with a hand. Morning Sparkle got up and approached the construction, stopping when the head snapped around to look at her. “Go on,” Nigel encouraged, “it won’t hurt you, I have it programmed to not attack anything at the moment.”
Morning continued to move towards the machine at the Captain’s reassurance, reaching out with a hoof as she got close and touching it on the metal body. The machine didn’t respond apart from one of the larger ‘eyes’ zooming in on her face, prompting the First Mate to ask the human a question.
“Is it alive?” she asked as she moved her hoof over the cold metal. The Captain began to enter some commands into his wrist display as he responded.
“No it’s not,” he replied, “It’s a simple ‘Scuttler’ type construction drone, its artificial intelligence is extremely limited so it relies on my commands as well as any commands from the AI nexus I showed you earlier.” The Captain gestured with a hand asking her to move her hoof away, as soon as the mare complied the drone beeped twice and moved over towards the space set aside for the new building. With a blue beam issuing from the largest arm it began to make something in the same way that Nigel built things, a light atop an antenna at the back pulsing with a blue glow.
“Amazing…” Morning breathed out as she watched the drone get to work, she had never guessed that she would ever witness such a sight in her life.
“Indeed,” Nigel agreed, “that frees up some time for me today, what I want won’t be built until tomorrow due to the attack that happened this morning,” the Captain frowned at the memory as he stared into space for a moment. Morning waited for him to continue, the human broken out of his trance when Reflection tapped on his helmet with her hooves and chattered in what sounded to Morning like a worried tone. The human reached up with his hands and grabbed the nymph’s forelegs, the armour covering his hands retracting. Reflection ceased her noise and Chalmers looked at his First Mate, “so Morning, do you want to do anything?”
The unicorn was taken aback at the question, not expecting the human to ask her if she wanted to do anything. Her stomach rumbled, once again she had skipped breakfast that day. She looked at her Captain sheepishly as the nymph on top of the human’s head laughed at the noise. “I guess some lunch would probably be a good idea,” she offered, Nigel nodding in agreement.
“Good call; you pick what to have this time.”
Morning thought about what to have when she remembered that there was a salad cafe on the main street of the town that was apparently really good. A café wasn’t usually the haunt of a pirate but Morning was trying to improve her image above that of a simple scallywag. She was chasing the status of a noble after all.
“I know just the place,” she replied as she led the human away from the drone, the machine continuing to work with no signs of stopping.
The two pirates and one nymph sat down in the shaded area of the café as the two adults munched on salads drizzled with assorted dressings. Morning Sparkle used her magic to levitate a wooden fork while Nigel just gripped his utensil in his hand, the other scratching Reflection behind the ears as the nymph sat on his leg. The small changeling was able to see over the table only because of Chalmers’s height, the human having to make a metal stool to sit on after he broke on of the wooden ones provided by the café. He had offered the newly-constructed furniture as payment but the two owners refused fearfully, the Captain however had none of it and informed them that it was ‘only fair’ that they receive compensation.
“I’ve got to say Morning,” Nigel spoke after swallowing a mouthful of lettuce and tomato covered in lemon dressing, “I’m not normally one for salads but this place isn’t too bad.” Morning hummed in agreement as she finished off some carrot slices.
“It certainly is a change from hard-tack and stew,” she commented as she levitated a napkin to wipe her mouth. She noticed that ponies, both crew and townsfolk were staring at her and the Captain with strange looks. She couldn’t narrow down what exactly was bothering her about the stares until she noticed a group of teenage mares giggle and blush while whispering as the three looked at her ad Nigel. The unicorn looked back towards the Captain who was in the middle of another forkful of salad and took note of the situation.
Eating lunch at a café with the Captain who was male, the stares and the whispers clicked into place as the First Mate’s eyes widened in revelation.
‘Oh no,’ she thought, ‘I’ve become Chrysalis, everyone thinks that Chalmers and i are…’
“Something the matter Sparkling?” Nigel questioned, Morning realising that she had been silent for a while. The mare hastily took a drink of water, her normally calm demeanour dropping as she forced herself to remain nonchalant.
“Nope, just a bit of carrot got caught in my throat,” she lied. The mare tried to ignore the stares as she got herself back in control. “What are you going to do for the rest of the day?” Morning questioned to change the subject, Nigel buying it as he crossed his cutlery on his empty plate and placed a bag of money on the table. He waited for his First Mate to finish her meal before he stood up, lifting Reflection up onto his shoulders once more.
“I’m going to go and take over for Chrissy this afternoon I think; she needs a break from the nymphs.” The Captain then walked off towards the ship, the nymph on his shoulders chattering merrily as waving at passing ponies who all made a path for the human.
Sparkling sighed and left the table, heading towards the tavern to grab a drink.
She guessed that babysitting wasn’t the Captain’s only motive for returning to the cabin.
Chrysalis rose to her hooves from the floor as Nigel walked into the cabin, the human removing Reflection from his shoulders and placing the nymph down after he had shut the door. The youngster bounded straight to her fellows chirping merrily, all ten of the nymphs appearing to conduct a vigorous conversation. The adult changeling walked over to the Captain while maintaining a watch on the children, Chalmers tapping his helmet which was at his waist.
“So… how’s Sunflare been doing?” he questioned evenly, Chrysalis glancing towards the sleeping unicorn before looking back at the Captain.
“She’s slept for the entire time,” the changeling answered softly, hoping that the Captain would not go back into his melancholy state. Luckily Chalmers appeared to have better control this time; instead of sadness he looked at the unicorn with a more inquisitive gaze.
“Guess that’s a good thing,” he replied before looking at Chrysalis, “back to my main reason for coming here, I think it would be good for you to spend some time outside. Go ahead and take the afternoon off, I’ll take over Nymph-Central. Chrysalis shook her head, the Captain’s strange term for the cabin not important next to the main problem. The truth was that Chrysalis didn’t feel comfortable wandering the town by herself, even if she was in disguise she was sure that some of the crew would be able to pick her out.
“No thanks Nigel, I think it’s best if I stay here,” she replied as she turned away to look at the nymphs who had all gathered in the back corner as Reflection trotted up and down chattering at her gathered watchers. Chrysalis had underestimated the Captain’s insistence however and with her back turned she presented the perfect target.
With a surprised squeal she found herself lifted off the ground, Chalmers using his suit’s strength to hold the struggling changeling’s back to his chest.
“Nigel!” Chrysalis yelled drawing the attention of the nymphs, “put me down, now!”
“No,” was all she got from the human before he opened the cabin door and deposited her gently outside. A fat coin purse was tossed at her hooves as she looked towards the Captain from her spot on the deck. “You need a break and as your Captain I order it, go and have some fun.” Without giving Chrysalis a chance to reply he shut the door and locked it, the changeling looking at the purse he had given her before she glared at the door.
‘Just what does he think he’s doing!?’
Inside the cabin Nigel walked over to the bed and sat down on the rugged floor before it after he latched the cabin door, the nymphs all running over in their haste to greet the Captain. As the small children clambered over him and made noises directed towards him Chalmers stared at the extra bed with two poles attached to the side.
It wasn’t the best prison but he figured he had done a good job, the chains attaching the mare to the bed were freshly made and even though he doubted that she would be able to walk let alone attack anyone it couldn’t hurt to make sure that she remained compliant. At this point however he wondered just who the restraints were protecting, everyone from the knight or the knight from herself.
His eyes glazed over the stump of a horn that was just visible from this angle, the sight of the appendage making Nigel feel uneasy. Judging from what he had observed with Morning and the Knight’s own reaction to the news about the loss of her horn unicorns valued their magical abilities greatly; he guessed that it would be like chopping the hands off a human.
He wondered if it would just be for the best if he took the sleeping mare out to the deck of the ship, shoot her then dump the body overboard. The unicorn herself seemed to have lost the will to live after finding out about her horn.
He shook his head to clear the thoughts, while that would be the easy option and the unicorn would most likely be thankful for it his mouth soured at the thought of a promising young life wasted like that. The pony was a skilled combatant and even if she had lost the ability that had made her great Nigel still considered it his duty to see to her recovery. He should have just cut Sunflare’s head off in the duel instead of flaunting, now that he had maimed the pony he realised just how badly he had messed up. Killing her would have been a blessing compared to what she would have to go through in the future.
He sighed as he leaned back against the bed, he had done what he did and he now would have to live with it. Add it to the long list of the many slip-ups and mistakes he had acquired in his lifetime.
A tugging on his left arm drew his attention away from his morbid thoughts, the human glancing down to see a nymph, Chatter according to the tag, pulling on the arm with both fore-legs as the child grinned at him.
“What do you want then?” Chalmers chuckled, the youngster responding with a burst of chirps as all the other nymphs halted their play to sit on the rug in front of the human. Nigel raised an eyebrow at Chatter and plucked the child off of his leg to set him down on the rug with the others. The human crossed his arms over his chest as he smiled at the ten creatures looking up at him waiting for the human to do something. The Captain had an idea enter his mind, the human adjusting his position as he prepared to enact his plan to occupy the nymphs.
“Well, I guess I have to entertain you all now,” he said as he waved a hand in the air, all of the nymphs watching it as it returned to the human’s side. “I can handle that I believe, right then,” Chalmers landed forward a little from his position as the nymphs also leaned in closer to hear what he had to say.
“It was many years ago, I was on a planet just like this one as part of an operation to destabilize a local planetary government. I was just a fresh-faced Spector trooper barely a year into the job when my squad and I got given our orders to infiltrate the planet. I should have known that the mission would be a bad one, the mess hall had run out of coffee and every soldier knows that running out of coffee pre-deployment is one of the worst omens that you can receive…”