With Rarity Brittenburg back at the helm of the Vengeful Belle, all of the bat anthronies did realize what was going to happen. The ship that belonged to the griffon emperor of Sharpbeak Razorclaw the Second laid almost directly in front of their own vessel. Even though the two vessels were still miles apart from each other, they both began to turn away from one another. It almost seemed as if they both feared that a massive crash could happen between the two of them.
Rarity’s eyes never would have taken themselves away from the ship while she grinned like the devil once more. Only her mouth was truly seen beneath her hat yet the eyes still saw everything that needed to be seen. She was just so fed up with the griffons that the plan had become one that was simplicity itself.
The griffons had been chasing the company of mares ever since they had gotten off of the mountain. They managed to enter a massive fight with them when they got at the summit of it. The emperor himself had lost his mind before their very eyes. Only one thing could have been done in the eyes of the pirate captain to make the madness stop once and for all.
Her eyes glanced over the near endless ocean and Rarity took a deep inhale. Her decision had been made and the boatswain was aware of the things that would happen. The unicorn would engage herself in a battle with the imperial ship of the griffons. The very suspicion that Applejack had about Rarity willing to sacrifice herself, was perhaps more justified than that even she had thought.
Though the actions wouldn’t have been done just because of the mares on the other little vessel. No, they mostly would have been done to fill the bloodlust of Brittenburg herself. The unicorn wanted to see the water turn red with the blood of the griffons. The creatures had managed to get the blood from beneath her own nails for a couple of very good reasons.
She was just so tired of them all, that she wanted to see them all rather gone then coming. So she would be sending her kindest of regards in the only way that she knew how, by a salvo and rain of cannon fire.
Both the Vengeful Belle and the imperial ship of the griffons understood what the plan was going to be. The pirate ship didn’t just sail away to prevent a collision happening, but it seemed to be going in a full circle around the other vessel. The griffons became naturally scared because nopony had ever even dared to do such a thing to them nor their ship.
One of the griffons rushed over to the cabin of Sharpbeak and spoke the sights he had seen. The emperor himself sat upon the throne and took a deep inhale through his nostrils. “So,” he began when it became clear that his more sane side seemed in control. “The little witch decides to play, hm? Very well. We shall take the bait. How hard can it be to exterminate the vermin of the seas?”
The griffon that had brought him the news didn’t wanted to answer upon the question as he quietly left the cabin again. Sharpbeak himself stood up from his throne and walked down the steps in a gentle pace in his lion paws. If he was going to let the ship of the pirate captain sink, he would have been there himself when it happened. To see her drown in the vastness of the ocean.
No matter what would happen, he would remain standing on deck. Though just before he got out of his cabin was there a flash of lighting that was caught in his eyes. The emperor turned himself around to face the windows and could hear the rumbles entering his ears. “The storm has arrived,” he whispered to himself before he left the cabin.
Soon enough could the griffon emperor have found himself standing next to the helm of his vessel while the rain continued to just clatter down upon the wooden deck. More and more intense had it become when time went by. The entire crew had to look for shelter but the emperor remained standing still. Even in that same, regal looking position. His sharp eyes glanced over to the Vengeful Belle before they went over to the other little vessel.
The one that got away was the one he had set his eyes on the most. Yet he was fully aware of the Equestrian laws. But as long as he managed to get at least one of the mares in the company, he would have been just so happy.
“Tell the men to prepare the cannons on both star and port side. Circle around our lovely girlfriend until we’re in range,” said Sharpbeak in a calm tone, “then you know what to do.” He appeared to have been a little bit too certain about the fact that he would have been able to destroy her. It almost seemed as if he didn’t knew the reputation of the mare, or didn’t wanted to be reminded upon it.
Back on the Vengeful Belle had Rarity given the same command as Sharpbeak. Most of the sails that had been used for speed were hoisted again before more than half of the crew disappeared below the decks. The hatches were opened at both sides of the hull before the barrels of the cannons could be witnessed coming out. The unicorn wouldn’t be taking any chances with Sharpbeak when the two vessels entered a massive circle.
Almost like a duel that would happen between two knights did the vessels circled around, against and with the wind. The rain never ceased coming down and the thunder was caught in all of their ears. The storm had been hitting them and it only would have gotten worse unless the battle was fought quick.
The boatswain constantly looked through a sextant and informed the unicorn about their distance. “We’re still far out of range of their ship, but do you think it is going to be that easy?” he asked her in a concerned tone. Doubting the captain was always a bad idea to begin with, yet his worries were rightfully placed.
The unicorn turned her attention away from the sea for a moment and she focused upon the boatswain. “I have been on that ship before, back when it was floating in the air. I’m one hundred percent positive that it is the same vessel. And I took my time to look at the structure. From what I could have gather, it was only protected by just the wood. Unlike us,” told Rarity to him in a stern tone. She was serious about her words and he felt it when they cleaved through the tense air.
Though the boatswain could only shrug to the words because she was probably right with them anyway. He didn’t question her authority whatsoever, he just was curious to see whether or not they would stand a chance against it. “You know their armaments?” he continued to ask.
“Cannons, shaman’s, griffon soldiers, all that lovely stuff, my dear,” the mare replied before she turned her attention back to the ocean. “Which means we only get one shot. One good salvo against the side of their ship could create big enough holes. The storm, will do the rest of it all. Their fates have been sealed yet they don’t know it.”
The plan was cruel, but she happened to be a lawless mare. The boatswain nodded to the words as he placed his eye on the sextant again. The dices were cast and still rolling on the tables. Whatever the outcome of the battle would be, was written in the ever changing future.
With the distance between the two ships still too massive to have the engagement with one another, it had helped to make a decision for Rarity. One that possibly was either stupid or genius, but it was her signature move in every sense of the word. It was a little something that she always did no matter what kind of battle they would be entering.
The unicorn took a deep inhale just before her horn allowed itself to be coated within the sapphire blue aura. The boatswain removed his eye from the sextant and looked over his captain. He instantly knew what she was preparing and assumed an almost more regal posture. The time to salute their enemies and reveal themselves who they truly were was given off. There wouldn’t have been any stopping from that moment onward. The only way to make her stop, was if she was killed in action.
The words of Rarity left her mouth in a singing tone. One that was filled with an ominousness tone to it. Almost as if she tried to haunt the spines of her own men. “Ami, entends-tu le vol noir des corbeaux sur nos plains?” she sung loud enough so that her crew could be hearing it clear. The magic would only have acted like an amplifier for the words that would eventually be sung.
“Ami, etends-tu les cris sourd du pays qu’on enchaîne?” the boatswain than sung with her. The tones of the tunes echoed over the entire ship without much of a problem.
The bat anthronies on the deck realized what was happening and entered the song as well. “Ohé, partisans, ouvriers et paysans c’est l’alarme,” they sung before the beings beneath the deck also caught scent of it.
“Ce soir l’ennemi connaîtra le prix du sang te des larmes…”
For that moment on would the voice of Rarity alone be heard over the ocean itself. The sounds of her voice resonated over the waters like she was singing during a play of some kind. Though the rest of her crew continued to sing along as well.
With a powerful turn at the helm did she continued to sing the song of her heart further. “C’est nous qui brisons les barreaux des prisons pour nos frères! La haine à nos trousses et la fai qui nous pousse, la misère.”
The helm was adjusted once more and Rarity looked over to the ship of the griffons. Her song was concentrated just towards them and they seemed to realize the fact. “Il y a des pays où les gens au creux des lits font des rêves, ici, nous, vois-tu on marche et nous on tue, nous on crève… Oui, on crève…”
All of the sudden did her tone took a turn towards the darkness. It became even more haunting and ominous than before. Almost as if there was a ghost aboard the ship and it had taken a possession of Rarity herself. The crew of the Vengeful Belle didn’t look up too strange to the matter. The griffons on the other end, were terrified to the soul.
“Ici chacun sait ce qu’il fait quand il passe, ami, sit u tombes, un ami sort de l’ombre à te place. Demain du sang noir séchera au grand soleil sur les routes, chantez, compagnons, dan la nuit la liberté nous écoute.”
The eyes were narrowed just before she gained almost a sickening to her face. The unicorn had gathered all the courage that she needed in order to fight them. But the song, still wasn’t over. “Chantez… Allez, chantez… Chantez, compagnons!” she shouted over the ocean before the deadly silence returned.
All of the sounds returned to normal and the griffons were both spooked and terrified about it all. They had expected her to become a difficulty but they had never expected what they just received. “Are they, singing?!” Sharpbeak asked the crew of his ship during the song itself. He couldn’t believe it but the tone that echoed through his ears were those of a true lady.
Or better said: a femme fatale who wanted to shove a knife right up his back. Even though he didn’t understood a single word from what was being said, he still knew that it meant trouble for him. The crew of the imperial ship could only nod to the question. While the crew of the opposing ship was indeed singing.
"They are just mad,” replied Sharpbeak to them after he had walked over to the railing and placed both of his hands upon it. His eyes looked over to the Vengeful Belle and couldn’t help but to raise an eyebrow towards him. “Haunting us forever more with the sweet tones of your voice, tsk, tsk, tsk, you have some guts, my dearest adversary.” His tone was calm on the surface, but beneath it all he had to admit that he was a little bit scared.
He didn’t knew what the other unicorn had planned for him and that just terrified the living daylight out of him. His eyes were narrowed to see what else there would have been coming from the ship. That was until he asked the question of questions. “How much closer, before we are in range of them?” he asked to the griffon at the helm.
"Not much, my emperor,” the griffon replied. Those words made the emperor only smirk more. But it also seemed to be changing him more and more. For the veins inside of his eyes only seemed to have gotten wider with each passing second. His mad side tried to reveal itself again. It tried to take him over once more and possibly help him straight into the dooming of his own life.
The emperor tried his best to not spread his wings and the talons buried themselves only deeper into the wood of the railing. Heavy breaths were released by the griffon before he closed his eyes for a second or two. He had to calm down, he had to keep his reign over of his mind. It was all, or nothing.
~~~~
The voice of Rarity didn’t just reached all the way over to the imperial ship of the griffons, it also could be heard aboard of the smaller ship that the other mares were on. They all listened to the song with a great care in their ears. But not even they could understand what was being sung. Even the master scholar Twilight Sparkle seemed to be having a rather great difficulty with identifying the language in what was sung. It wasn’t any kind of normal Equestrian, that much was certain. “An older tongue perhaps? But I have never heard such words before,” she said to herself. Though all of them had their eyes focused upon the circling ships.
The way they both broke through the waves created by the wind had something mesmerizing for them all. They were captivated by the sheer beauty of the elegance that both ships showed to them. One of them was clunky and massive but lacked some elegance. That was the best description of the imperial ship in Applejack’s eyes. The vessel of Rarity on the other end glided through the waters as if it was nothing.
It was clear to see who had the most experience upon the waters of the world. “That song shall forever haunt your minds,” the old stallion spoke before a deep exhale came from his nostrils. Even though he had promised them all to get them to Canterlot, he couldn’t let them await the fate of a friend by some newspaper report.
It must have been a tough enough decision to be made by him before he narrowed his eyes for a moment. The old stallion had to crack the gears in his mind a little bit more before the final word of the matter even could have been spoken. He couldn’t just leave the five of them hanging like that, he couldn’t let them just become lost to the fate of the unicorn pirate.
So with a gentle exhale that was released from his nostrils had the decision fallen. He closed his eyes for the moment as the words left his mouth. “Raise the sails, lower the anchor.”
Rainbow Dash was the first of them all to turn herself around with a confused gaze. She had thought that they would be sailing straight for Canterlot, but all of the sudden he wanted to stop just like that. “What? Why?! I thought we would go directly, through the storm, it’s not like it’s going to be any better if we wait!”
“And what if you never get to know the fate of your friend? Wouldn’t you wish that you were there, when it happened? So that you could say you saw it happening with your own eyes?” the old stallion countered to her. What followed next was a huff that came from the deepest part of his very soul. He was certain upon the fact of not venturing further anymore. Not with the danger that could be sensed between both of the vessels.
He wanted to show them all what would happen to the unicorn and her ship, as well as the griffons and their vessel. The major of the air force could only nod to the words. Even though she was highly against them, she still understood the direction from which the stallion came. The words did ache her heart though, for she just wanted to have gotten back to Cloudsdale as fast as possible.
All of the mares shared the same thought. They were in fact happy to be able to see what the battle at sea would have ended up. Most likely it would have ended up in a sight that all of them didn’t wanted to see, or hear for the matter. But they at least could be giving the matter of Rarity herself to rest. Whether or not she would survive the battle didn’t matter to them, they would have known her fate. And that gave all of them faith.
The commands of the stallion were done almost in the blink of an eye and the little vessel came to a standstill right in the middle of the ocean. The nearest shore was miles and miles away from them. Which meant that if something would have happened to them, they all would be in deep trouble and had to swim for hours.
Normally that wouldn’t have been much of a problem, except that that time the storm was creating a swell that couldn’t be swum in against. Not to forget the currents that laid almost directly beneath the water surface. The ocean was a dangerous place, filled with all kinds of danger and monsters. Monsters that could emerge from the depths themselves and swallow a ship whole.
Twilight had walked over to the old stallion as he leaned against the side railing, his eyes were focused upon the two vessels locked in their endless circling. “Sir, if, if I may ask you something?” she asked to him.
The attention of the captain was torn away from the scene and given to Twilight with a smile. “Outside of the question you just asked? Go right ahead. What’s troubling your mind?” he said to her after he had taken his pipe out of his mouth again.
The unicorn was relieved that she could have say something else to him. The burning question of her mind was released in almost a humble tone. “Do you happen to know the language in which she sung? It’s none that I am actually aware of so, I thought, you know…” Much further she didn’t care as she didn’t wanted to insult the stallion.
“So you wanted to know if I know what kind of spoken language she sung in, am I correct?” the captain said just before a small chuckle was released by his throat. Twilight could only have nodded to the words and that was a clear indication to him. “Alas, I’m afraid I can’t help you with that question, lass. It’s a language that even surpasses my age, sadly enough.”
It didn’t help the mind of the mare much, but at least she knew that there was still hope. Perhaps the library of Canterlot could be holding the answers that she was looking for? It was a slight chance, but it was better than being left out in the dark by an unknown language.
The mares aboard the smallest vessel couldn’t take their eyes away from the scene that was going on. Both the ship of the griffons as well as that of Rarity were still circling around one another. The hunter and the prey scene could be forgotten, for they had turned into two knights in full armor who were more than ready to literally at one another’s throat.
Nopony knew what would actually happen between them. Only speculations could have gone through them all as they kept their firm on the scene that played out maybe less than a nautical mile away from them. All of the anthronies had naturally set their hopes upon Rarity herself that she would have gotten out as the victor.
The disadvantage was that her ship was a lot smaller than that of the griffons and didn’t seemed to be having that much cannons either. What they didn’t knew was what size the cannons of Rarity happened to be. If they a much bigger caliber than those of the griffons, take that into account and she could be the one that dealt out the most damage.
All six of them aboard the vessel could only have guessed to what would happen next. They hoped for the best but in silence all prepared for the worst. As they had been doing since the beginning of their journey. Silence was maintained by them all as the only sounds that caught their ears were those of the waves crashing, the rain falling against the deck, the wind howling and the thunder rumbling.
It was a day that wouldn’t be forgotten by any of them. The levels of danger that were going through the weather only added up to the insanity. An insanity that was the actual fight between both Sharpbeak’s and Rarity’s ship.
~~~~
Closer and closer did the ships of the two enemies came to one another. Time and time again was the question asked whether or not they were in range already. But the answer always remained the same. In the down pouring rain did both Rarity and Sharpbeak look to one another. Their eyes were locked into those of the other as they didn’t knew what to do in the meantime.
Of course the griffons could have been sent out to attack her straight away, but that meant that she had all the reasons in the world to just blow the imperial ship sky high. Perhaps the mind of Sharpbeak thought smartly for a change? Perhaps there was a chance where he could reason with the unicorn? Even though the chances seemed to have been dangerously slim, it was worth a try.
Yet his insane side managed to take over for just a second or two and utterly crushed that thought. There wouldn’t have been any peace made between him and the pirate captain. It would all have ended up in a stone cold bloodbath. Either one of the ships would be resting at the bottom of the ocean by the end of the day. Sharpbeak hoped that it was him who survived, while Rarity almost seemed to be certain that it would have been her.
The griffon emperor was the first one to look away from the scene. Shortly afterwards he let go of the railing and placed his hands behind his back. The emperor himself walked past the griffon at the helm and went down the stairs to the deck. He had to discuss something with another griffon.
Gilda was called to him and the two of them entered a conversation which words couldn’t be heard by the being at the helm. But he could glance over the fact of what damage had been done to the railing. His eyes quickly glanced over the spot to where his emperor stood before. A gulp was given off as he saw the marks of the talons straight in the wood. “Oh this ain’t good,” he spoke to himself. The mood had already been dropped by him as he seemed to have been done with it all. He didn’t wanted to continue anymore. The thought lingered until he realized with whom he was sailing.
On board of the Vengeful Belle were Rarity and the boatswain been having a conversation about what happened during the trip. Of course there were a lot of details left out as her crew didn’t needed to know it. So didn’t they needed to know about the War that Never was, nor the dragon and the center of their world.
Lots of things were kept away from the crew. They were just stored away to only be seen in the mind of the unicorn. And that was just the way she wanted to have it. The less her crew knew about everything, the happier she would have seemed to be.
Time and time had passed while the boatswain kept staring through the sextant. The distance was crucial for the cannons to fire all at the target. Too soon and they wouldn’t have hit a thing. Too late and it could have been them that were brought to a sinking. Everything needed to be planned down to the millisecond. The very second that they were claimed to be into range of the imperial griffon ship, would Rarity have opened fire and gave everything that she got.
No mercy nor quarter would be given to the griffons because they never showed that either to their victims. Rarity had enough of the flying pests and wanted to see them brought down to the locker of the oceanic devil.
She took a couple of sniffs through her nose while the eyes looked around. She couldn’t believe that she was actually going to do it, right in the middle of a storm. The unicorn could only hope that the caliber of cannons aboard the griffon ship was smaller than hers. For she carried some of the biggest pounders that were around.
The ship that she had wasn’t even build for the knockback that they gave, that massive were they in size. But she had a couple of little adjustments made to her ship through the gears of time itself to handle them and everything else. Adjustments that certainly would have been able to give her the little edge that she needed in order to gain the upper hand at any given time of the day.
The tension was ready to but cut when the ships of both the griffons and Rarity fell in silence. They were getting closer and closer to one another, up to the point where they almost had been getting too close for comfort. But they still weren’t in range of one another. That very fact alone caused both the captain and the emperor to wonder.
Though they were still way ways away, they could see the other clearly standing upon the deck even with the down pouring rain. Huffs and exhales were given off by Rarity as she just wanted to blow the other vessel up. But the boatswain had never given the sign that she could be doing so. The circle had been broken and both of the vessels were hell-bent on making an end to the wait.
So the maneuver that was going to be done, was that they would be going full broadside to the vessel of the griffons. Which seemed to have gotten the same idea as well.
For a couple of minutes they tried to align themselves up from the events to come and they were facing one another bow to bow. Almost like to knights that were going jousting did the ships appear. Fear took over the mares on the smallest vessel as they couldn’t watch to anything that was about to happen. They were literally too scared for it.
It would only have been a matter of seconds before they would be going broadside with the vessel of the griffons and Rarity knew that she only had one shot at it all. The upcoming seconds were the seconds that would have either made her, or broke her from the pedestal she stood on.
Even her breath was kept in while the two ships inched closer. The bows went past one another before the hauls followed suit. The first cannons were ready to be fired and the griffons were finally given a true eyes on the massive pounders that Rarity had installed.
Yet the command of firing still hadn’t been given. In silence did the two ships cross one another, the rain just ticked against both the sails and the wood. Neither crew did dare to speak a single word as they were in full broadside. All the cannons of the Vengeful Belle were aimed at parts of the griffon ship, but it also meant that it was actually vice versa. Rarity turned her head over to the boatswain and gave one simple but powerful nod.
He nodded back to her before he turned his attention over to the deck. “Fire!” he shouted over it. The word was repeated by the bat anthronies at the deck to those that stood below. The torches lit the fuses of the cannons and the crew members that had manned them stepped away. The pounding of the griffon ship had begun.
~~~~
The sounds of heavy cannons firing could be caught within the ears of the mares that were aboard of the smallest vessel. They saw how the white plumes of smoke went up before they disappeared into the clouds. They also saw how the massive amounts of wood were sent flying through the air as if it was nothing. Some of the pieces even managed to land near them, which was a feat in and of itself.
The mares could only have been guessing who fired first and who did have the heaviest cannons. Not even Applejack dared to make some sort of a predicament about it all. She knew how Rarity fought at sea, but if she was able to actually destroy the imperial ship of the griffons remained a question to be seen.
The firing sounds continued for a little bit longer before both of the ships had lost the broadside ability. Finally could the mares see who had gotten the most damage to their ship. Rainbow had remained her binoculars and she looked over to the ship of Rarity.
The glasses were adjusted until she could see sharp again and looked over the vessel. The entire hull seemed to have been riddled with holes of cannon fire, but her cannons were still smoking. Not to mention that there was also something that she saw. Something that wasn’t supposed to be there but actually baffled her. “You have got to be kidding me!” Rainbow exclaimed just before she took the binoculars away from her eyes.
She wanted to tell the rest of the mares what she had seen, but they all pointed to the bow of the griffon ship. It laid lower in the water than the rest of it, that could have meant one thing and one thing alone.
Somehow had Rarity managed to bring the ship of Sharpbeak Razorclaw the Second to the bottom of the ocean. Whether the unicorn was aware of the fact already remained to be seen, but the five mares aboard the smallest vessel couldn’t have believed their eyes. They were just taken by utter amazement but they didn’t knew what to do.
Rainbow had one last look over the hull of Rarity’s ship and saw the secret it carried. It was beneath the wood that made up the hull itself, there were heavy metal plates to be seen. That must have been her secret of why she couldn’t be brought to sinking.
The ship of the griffons began to make more and more water and the old stallion turned away. He focused himself upon the mares with almost a stern expression upon his face. “And that, is why she’s called: White Widow. That right there, is how she earned that nickname.”
The mares could understand where the nickname got from. All of them felt that not many of the griffons would have been able to survive the battle. She certainly didn’t seemed to be kind enough to pick any of them up in the moment at least.
Yet with the battle between her and Sharpbeak over. There could have been a possible second battle that could have erupted though. Because the smallest vessel was literally a sitting duck in the water. The captain realized it and held the vessel of Rarity in a firm eye. The last thing he wanted was that she would turn her eyes to him.