Doing His Duty

by Dick McKickEm

Chapter the Twelfth: A Ballad for a Blushing Bride

“...INSIDE THE CARGO HOLD OF THIS AIRBOAT ARE SIX PONIES OF GREAT IMPORTANCE TO YOUR MOTHER COUNTRY IN A LEAD CRATE. THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY THEMSELVES. AS YOU MAY KNOW, THESE KINDS OF FREIGHT SHIPS HAVE CARGO BAY DOORS THAT OPEN FROM THE BOTTOM. SHOULD I WISH TO DO SO, I CAN OPEN THEM WITH BUT A WORD TO MY CREW, RELEASING THEM TO THE MERCY OF GRAVITY.”

On and on the Moyra went, barking out the same mantra over and over like a broken record. Had the ponies of Spire City not been preoccupied with the hostage aspect of the situation, they would’ve become quite annoyed after the first five or so times.

The repetition was broke by another voice, both louder and more pissed off.

“MOYRA.”

The gryphon winced a bit as the new voice’s owner swooped into view. Out of seemingly nowhere, Princess Celestia swooped down in all of her alabaster glory, followed closely by her darker- and angrier -sister. Under different circumstances, the gryphon princess would have been genuinely honored to have earned a visit from both of the original diarchs at the same time.

Of course, she will likely never have a chance like that ever again.

“RELEASE THEM.” Wow. Moyra wasn’t even one hundred percent sure Celestia could even use the royal Canterlot voice until then.

The two rulers hovered a healthy distance from her ship, not making a move or a show of force, they simply flapped their wings and glared at the griffon. It was surreal seeing the leaders of Equestria as anything but composed and in control. To witness this break in their composure felt...oddly gratifying.

Moyra leisurely unhooked the clasp on her necklace and gestured for a guard to come and take it.

“So, that’s your opening demands, “release them”? Please, Your Majesties, it’s as if you don’t know how hostage negotiations work. I mean, it wouldn’t be much of a negotiation if I just gave up because you asked. You didn’t even ask nicely, either.”

Like Moyra had flipped a switch, the princess of the night went beserk. Her eyes lit up with a white-hot glow like someone had thrown a flammable night sky on a barbecue. She darted straight for the griffon princess with all the righteous fury an alicorn could muster. “WE DO NOT NEGOTIATE WITH-”

Luna was cut off when her advances were halted by Celestia telekinetically grabbing hold of her tail. The princess’s hooves stopped only a few feet from planting them in Moyra’s face.

“Let us not resort so quickly to violence.” The sun scolded the moon like a mother giving her foal a time-out.

“Soo…” Moyra gestured back and forth between the princesses with a claw. “Is this like a good cop-bad cop thing? Coz, I’ve seen it before. What else you got?”

“Moyra!”

Another gryphoness with a more mature body and feathers a similar shade of jungle green to the princess glided into view just as the alicorn duo did.

“Hello, Mother.” Moyra said with a grim tone.

“High Feather Tianna,” Princess Celestia greeted, softening her voice “I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced yet.”

“Save it for someone who cares, Your Grace.” the spiritual leader of the gryphon tribes squaked. “I’ve come here to speak with my spawn.”

“Like mother like daughter.” Luna muttered under her breath.

In a rush of feathers and wings, Tianna landed on the deck of the ship and seriously invaded her daughter’s personal space. “What in the twisting tunnels of Tartarus do you think you’re doing, girl?!”

Moyra didn’t give any ground to her mother. She stood up a little straighter and taller than Tianna and spoke in a louder tone, trying to force the older gryphon back. “What needs to be done! I don’t expect you or father to understand, so stay out of my way and we can speak of this after my business has concluded.”

Tianna didn’t back off either, their foreheads were nearly touching. “I should have married you off to a pig farmer the moment you became of age. Perhaps then you would have learned not to be be a spoiled treasonous little shit like your siblings.”

The alicorn sisters hadn’t even seen drunken stallions put on such a display of testosterone.

“A pig farmer would have suited me better than a royally worthless lump of cannabis and failure! And do not speak of my brothers and sisters! They have no part in this! Besides, you have no say in this matter either, mother.” Celestia could have sworn she heard the growling of a lion. “The prince will be delivered to me and then we can go on with the wedding just as planned.”

“Ha!” The mature gryphon laughed in her face. Literally. “Do you actually believe that anybody in this country or ours will allow a wedding to proceed after what you’ve done? You judgement is clouded and your heart is filled with blind hate, you’ve lost all of your ability to reason. You’re finally showing your true colors, Moyra. I can see it in your aura.”

“Should we intervene?” Princess Luna muttered to her sister.

“No way, this is getting good.” Celestia whispered back.

“Who doesn’t love a family drama?”

“I am perfectly reasonable!” the princess howled, taking a step back and gesturing fervently toward the horizon. “My enemy is out there somewhere, within my grasp. I have dreamed about this day for years and it’s more than I ever could have imagined. What honorable gryphon would refuse such an opportunity?”

“This is madness!”

“Is it!?” Moyra was hysteric by now, her feathers ruffled up and her eyes several shades of crazy. “It’s no different than your incessant ramblings of gods and nature spirits and auras! If wanting justice is madness, then I’m positively batshit! ”

“You mistake justice for vengeance, my dear.”

“And you mistake vengeance for...For-!” The girl’s rage faltered for a moment as she searched for words. “Aaaggh! This doesn’t matter!”

The High Feather of the gryphon tribes was too absorbed in the argument to notice Moyra’s claw come up from below. A set of talons was already halfway across her face before she could react. Tianna recoiled with a shout, bounding back a few paces and clutching her new wounds.
 
She retracted her talons, starring in an almost confused daze at the crimson liquid that flowed from her face.

All signs of emotion left her voice. “If this is your choice, then so be it. Allow your aura to be corrupted and your claim to the throne forfeited. May the gods see fit not to devour your soul.”

Tianna turned toward the princesses. “I leave you to pass judgement on her.”

And with that, she flew off.

Less than a mile away, an unusually ornate Yacht-class vessel about the size of a Ponyville cottage crawled toward the center of Spire City’s attention. Sitting in the enclosed cabin behind the comically large ship’s wheel was Duke- or as he prefered to be named on his ship -Captain Horacio. The Captain stood on two hind legs, supporting his weight on the rim on the nautical-style wheel as he stared ahead with a stony gaze.

His eyes gave the milky white prince and his guard sitting off to the side a brief glance before returning to the towers ahead.

“So you’re sure you’re what she wants? There’s no possibility the catbird could want money or land or something a bit more valuable? No offense.”

“There is not a doubt in our minds.” Blueblood said, sharing a look with Xander.

“Then why come with me? It’d be safer to stay at the mansion with a regiment of guards rather than into the heart of the storm.”

“Honestly,” Blueblood got up and tentatively trotted up beside the Duke “I’ve half a mind to give myself up.”

Xander put a hoof on the prince’s shoulder and forcibly spun him around to look upon the zony’s absolutely horrified expression.

“I know I know!” he said a bit louder than he intended to “But take a look at what I’ve gotten this whole city into! Never has my past put so many ponies into so much danger. I- I don’t think I could live with myself if this whole ordeal turns sour…”

Blueblood was pacing now. Back and forth back and forth between the walls of the cabin. “It’s my fault. And I need to own up to my mistakes. Giving myself up would be the safest course of action for everypony.”

“Except you.” the captain added.

“Is my singular life equal the several lives being held hostage?”

Horacio hesitated.

“Not from a mathematical standpoint.”

“Then I’m an acceptable casualty. I surrender to her, she releases the elements and my…”

Blueblood’s head felt as light as a feather and his gut as heavy as a brick.

“...my friends too.”

”It’s your funeral, kiddo.” The captain snorted. “I woke up in a good mood this morning, you know. My son was about to be married to somepony respectable, my country was about to enter an era of peace, and a boatload of rich Equestrian tourists were throwing around bits like dirt. Now the bride’s a certified psycho, my son’s going to either end up dead or single, and I’m responsible for allowing eight Equestrian citizens to be captured and ransomed.”

Blueblood gave a barely perceptible nod. “I don’t think anypony could get a shorter stick.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Xander hummed.

“LET ME OUTTA HEE-EEE-EEE-EER!

Rainbow Dash shouted at the top of her lungs as she thrashed in her bindings, causing the chair to dance back and forth from one pair of legs to another.

Flash wanted to rub his temples in hopes of dislodging the invisible pike that had split his skull in half.

“I’M SO SICK OF THIS PLACE I COULD DIE.”

Rainbow crashed, falling face first into the prison’s unswept floor.

She struggled a bit, then managed to roll over onto her back. “I haven’t flown in hours. I think I’m losing my mind.Guys, if I go crazy and try to axe-murder you all like that one egghead writer pony from The Shineighing, it’d be okay if you beat me to death.”

“Nopony’s killing is killing anypony.” Cotton Swab interjected. “It hasn’t even been a whole day yet. At least I think so. Hard to tell when you can’t see the sun.”

“I-If anypony goes crazy, at least I’ll be safe in here.” Spike’s voice echoed from within his pewter barrel. “That’s not going to happen, r-right?”

“Of course not, you silly little dragon.” Rarity  assured, speaking up so her voice carried through his stone cage. “It’s just Dash being Dash, no need to worry.”

“Okay, Rarity. Whatever you say.”

Wait a second.

“Um, Twilight?” Cotton said cautiously, eyeing the barrel. “Spike can breath fire, right?”

“Of course I can!” Nopony saw Spike proudly puff up his chest. “Wanna see?”

Woosh. Before anypony could answer him, a neon red jet of magical fire erupted from the bunghole of the barrel, the flames licked at Flash Sentry’s hind legs, causing the unlucky guard to cry out in pain and flail his hooves to and fro.

“Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!” He beat his hanging hooves together, putting out the small patches of fire that left the fur blackened and smouldering. The acrid scent of burnt hair filled the room, forcing everypony to crinkle their noses.

“My, what a stench.”

“Why me?!”

“S-sorry!”

“Barely a first degree.” Cotton said. “Don’t be such a baby. But this is perfect, though. Rainbow Dash!”

“Nuh?”

“Can you scoot over and maneuver your bindings so that they face the bunghole?”

The pegasus snickered. “Bunghole…”

“This is serious, filly!”

“Okay, fine, I can try.”

With a series of over exaggerated grunts and the mare shifting her body weight every which way, Rainbow managed to hop her way over to Flash’s hooves with the back end of the chair facing the dragon’s barrel like a fish out of water.

“Hi Dash!” Spike said.

“Heya, twerp. Can you get that for me?”

“No problem!”

“You may want to move your hooves this time, Flash.” Cotton said with a manure-eating smirk.

Woosh - take two. A second, albeit less intense jet of dragonfire emanated from the opening like a blowtorch, licking the very edge of Rainbow Dash’s rope bindings.

Snap. In a cloud of rope fibers, the pegasus was free. Rainbow’s hooves reached for the sky and her wings flared. She gave a mighty groan of satisfaction and stretched out the stiffness in her joints.

“Oooooaaaahhhh yeaaaahh… I needed that.”

The pegasus rolled her shoulders and neck, creating several sick popping sounds.

AJ was getting impatient. “So are ya gonna untie us or what, Dash?”

“Oh, right.”

“Can somepony get this chunk of lead off of my head now? My neck is starting to hurt.” Twilight asked, waving her metal-encased horn and nearly poking somepony’s eye out. It was getting a bit crowded in that little room since everypony was up and about.

“Dexterous claws to the rescue!” Spike, who didn’t at all look like what Flash expected a baby dragon to look like, hopped up on Princess Twilight’s back and crawled on her like a monkey. He stood tiptoed on the back of her neck to unlatch a small steel clasp. After that was undone, the anti-magic device split in half and fell to the floor with a thud. He repeated this both with Cotton and Rarity.

“Weeelll aallllrighty then!” Cotton’s horn lit up to its signature crimson red, illuminating the otherwise dim room room with an eerie glow. “Time to get out sorry flanks out of hee-yah. Fillies and children first!”

“Um, Cotton, I don’t think that’s a good-”

Too late.

An orb of solid arcane energy materialized at the end of Cotton Swab’s horn and was released with a flick of her neck.

Instead of punching a pony-sized hole through their prison like the medic thought it would, the sphere rebounded off of the wall like a golf ball and hit the opposite wall, which it bounced off of in the same way, then again and again over and over as fast as a bolt of lightning. Bounce bounce bounce bounce. Off the wall, off the floor, off of Flash, off everything in there until Cotton finally willed it to dissipate.

Flash Sentry wanted to complain, but honestly he was too tired to do something so exhausting, so he settled for a wordless groan.

“This room is lined with lead, you dimwit!” Twilight growled. Her hooves came up instantly to cover her mouth the moment what she had just said registered in her mind. “S-sorry!”

“I, uh. Yeah, that was my poor judgement.”

“Why the heck did you think it was cool to just fire some kind of spell in a tiny room?!” Dash brazenly demanded.

“I didn’t know it was made of lead, okay?”

“What does that have anything to do with anything?!”

“Lead is the only known metal known to repel magic, dear.” Rarity pushed through the crowd and put a reassuring hoof on the back of Dash’s neck.

“It’s kind of like two magnets with the positive or negative ends facing each other!” Twilight added.

Rainbow Dash only grunted. “In Equestrian, not egghead.”

Applejack rolled her eyes.

The farmer pointed to the black wall of the room “Rubber.”

Then she pointed to Rarity’s horn. “Glue.”

“Makes sense I guess.”

“So… we’re still stuck here.” Twilight sighed. “It was a good idea anyway, Cotton. At least we can move.”

“Agh!” The princess stomped her hooves on the floor like a foal in time-out. “I can’t stand this! If we had a piece of paper and a pen we could contact Celestia with Spike’s dragon magic.  Does she know we’re even gone? Is she looking for us? I need to know!”

“Dragon magic, Your Highness?” Flash echoed. “Like, what kind?”

“Moving-over-distance.” Twilight answered.

“Like teleportation?”

“No, normal teleportation is based on phasing through subspace, and most of the pathways are blocked by lead. Spike knows a special dragon spell that can break down things into tiny dust-sized particles and move them over vast distances so long as there isn’t an airtight wall between him and the recipient.” She recited the information like it was from a textbook. “Whatever is being sent can slip through the tiniest of cracks. Seeing as how we aren’t suffocating yet, there must be ample space to get something through.

“It’s the only dragon spell I know.” Spike added. “Wish I knew more, but hey, I’m just a kid.”

“Like… how big can the things you send be?” Flash eyed the baby dragon ponderously, who quickly tensed up a bit and unconsciously twiddled his claws with a fake smile in response to the sudden attention.

“I dunno. Twilight once told me to send a Princess Celestia a statue of herself as a prank when we were younger. It was pretty big, and I was so drained of my magic I couldn’t send anything for like a week after that.”

“And they appear exactly as they left?”

“Down to the smallest of scribbles.” Twilight interjected. “What are you getting at?”

“Could he send a pony?”

The princess eyes went as big as the flat of her hoof. “You’re not seriously considering-? I mean, uh, yeah it has worked in the past according to some studies I’ve read, but it could be dangerous. At least two of the mages I’ve read about have died from this.”

Flash nodded, ignoring the twinge of pain in his head. “Then either Lieutenant Cotton or I will try to get word to the princess. Everypony else is much too important to take such a risk.”

The princess of friendship was taken aback. “You guys would do it just like that? Not even taking time to think about it? Because there is a significant chance that you’d spend the rest of your life as dust on the wind.”

“We’re willing to take the risk.”

“We? Woah, woah don’t look at me!” Cotton interjected. “I’m not a thousand twenty-something years old. Age before beauty, sister.”

Flash tried not to visibly cringe in front of the princess. “Then I’ll be the one do it. After all, It’s my job to protect you and the elements.”

“Are you sure?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know.” Flash sighed. “Just allow me to do it, please, Your Grace.”

The princess furrowed her brow and cast her eyes toward the floor. “I suppose, I can’t force you. Well, I can but I won’t.”

“Spike.” Twilight murmured softly to her little friend, nudging him toward Flash. “Do your best and he’ll turn out fine.”

The baby dragon gulped. “O-okay.”

Everypony cleared away from Flash like he was a bomb ready to blow.

Flash Sentry took a breath in through his nostrils, then let it all out slowly, temporarily soothing his nagging headache.

“Do it.”

After a moment's hesitation, Spike spread his feet, clenched his fists, tilted his head back, and took a long, deep breath.

“Next stop, Princess Celestia.”

Flash was engulfed in a rush of green fire.

The way he went up kind of reminded the ponies of a really dry peice of paper. Once second he was smoking like a chimney, the next he was lit up like a christmas tree. The guard just disintegrated into a thick cloud of ash that quickly dissipated into nothingness. The only evidence that a pony stood there a split second ago was a faint scorch mark in the shape of a pegasus.

Princess Luna gritted her teeth as she witnessed Moyra’s own mother leave.

“Now may we use violence?”

“No!” Celestia’s voice was uncharacteristically hard.

She fluttered within earshot of her sister leaning in so that only they would hear. Moyra idly picked at her teeth and watched the two exchange whispers with a pleased expression on her face. ”We are going to resolve this, and nopony is going to get hurt.”

“It is clear that Moyra is beyond reason. She would not listen to her own mother, what makes you think two strangers would fair any better? We could take her right now and nopony will judge us for it.”

“Then we risk losing the Elements!” Celestia tried to stomp her foot, but only hit thin air. “I will not gamble with their lives.”

“Moyra!”

Luna rolled her eyes. “Now what?”

The princesses broke their huddle and turned their necks to see Duke Horacio’s personal skyship creeping toward the scene. At the bow of the ship stood Prince Blueblood, a megaphone in one hoof and the other clinging to the railing.

“There is no need to hold anypony prisoner any longer!” he yelled into the device.

The prince paused to think a moment, then added “Besides me.”

Now, due to the facts that gryphon’s have beaks, they lack any facial expressions that would involve lips. Despite this, the princesses would be damned if that girl wasn't grinning like a foal before her Hearth’s Warming presents.

“Well now who am I gonna give a fortune in bits to?” The gryphon produced a shiny silk drawstring pouch, sagging and jingling with the weight of golden coins.

She casually let the purse slip from her claws and overboard, plunging deep into the forest below.

“I’ve got like twenty more of those in the captain's quarters.”

“Very funny.” Blueblood said, now within less than twenty yards of the ship. He  turned back to make a gesture at the pilot’s cabin. “Now prepare to be boarded.”

“Nephew!” Luna cried as she put herself right in the duke’s ship’s path, forcing its pilot to halt. “I refuse to let you turn yourself into the clutches of a mad princess!”

“Luna is right, Blueblood.” Celestia agreed, following suit. “We can negotiate this without everypony walking away without chains on their hooves.”

“You know how these mares are.” The prince said, with a calmness that nopony would expect, seeing as how he was most certainly walking into either death or a fate much worse. “They cannot be persuaded, bribed, or reasoned with. I’m so sorry. To all of you.”

Blueblood’s posture slumped and his shoulder sagged. “I didn’t mean to drag anyone into such a mess. I thought I could coast on by without getting anypony else hurt, but this… I caused this. Me. All of it. That’s why I want to fix it. It’s the only way I can avoid hurting somepony else.”

“I won’t allow it!” The prince could have sworn that two jets of smoke blast from Luna’s nostrils like a broken steam pipe.

“I’m not asking your permission.” The prince turned around and nodded at Xander.

Xander cocked an eyebrow at his friend.

“Do it.”

Frowning, the zony and the prince locked forelegs, and Xander balanced as best he could on three legs. Round and round they spun, like a top on steroids. They spun until the wind whipped in their ears.

“It’s been a pleasure, Xan!” the prince yelled.

Woosh. Xander released the prince’s leg and off he went, flying like an eagle off of the deck of the ship, over the dumfounded princess, and onto the deck of Moyra’s ship with a crash that could break limbs.

He looked up into the face of a very please gryphon. “Let’s get this over w-”

“No!”

Before the prince could pick himself up  and dust himself off, Princess Luna swooped in and snatched the prince with magic, plucking him from the catbird, and flying off with wingpower that could blow over a tree.

“Luna!” Celestia called after her. If Luna had heard, she did not respond. The princess kept the floating prince close and raced off into the canopy of the jungle, being swallowed up by the dense foliage.

Pop.

The next thing that Flash Sentry knew, he was falling.

End-over-end the pegasus spun like a top, uselessly failing every limb and extremity as the wind whipped in his ears and ruffles his feathers. If his concussion before the spell was being hit with a hammer, then after the spell was like being hit by a train.

He was screaming all the way, of course.

The world around him spun like he was in a planet-sized washing machine. Through his watering eyes, all the guard could see was a blur of sky blue, jungle green, and cloud grey blended together into a kaleidoscope of earthly colors.

Then the pegasus realized that he was a pegasus and spread his wings out, trying to slow his descent and maybe fight his way to a much safer glide down. Unfortunately a few hours of being tightly bound to his sides left Flash’s wings slightly better than useless with how numb they were.

Oh, by the Sisters. This was a lot messier way to kick the bucket than by dragonfire. At least he would already be cremated and had his ashes spread had he died from the spell, but now he would have to be a burden on some poor sap who would have had to scrape him off the floor of the forest or from the branch of a tree. The funeral would definitely have to be closed-casket.

“This is gonna hurt.” was Flash’s final thought before he hit the ground.

Well, at least he thought he had hit the ground for a moment. Without warning, the guard reversed course with such force that his neck would have snapped had he been a non-pegasus.

It took Flash longer to realize it than he would have ever admitted, but apparently some other pegasus had saw his falling flank and scooped him right out of the air. Somepony had saved his life. Or a large winged beast of prey like a roc or a dragon was about to indulge in an easy meal. Flash hoped it would be the former.

Whatever had caught him was warm, in a way. It felt like the sun peaking out from behind the clouds on a dry autumn day, or a woolen jacket that had just come out of a drying machine. And soft too, like a plush toy.

And then all motion stopped like a runaway wagon hitting the face of a cliff. Flash was thrown from his warm and cozy savior and onto the itchy, wet grass. He elected to lay there for a while with his eyes shut, reveling in the sweet, sweet moment of rest.

“Your name is Flash Sentry, if I recall correctly.” Came a voice. By the silvery moon, it was a nice voice.

“Yeah.” he managed to gurgle weakly, his eyes finally fluttering open.

There she was standing over him, his savior. An alicorn princess radiantly growing like a pure white ray of sun, her neapolitan hair flowing on a wind that Flash could not feel.

“Princess Celestia. Forgive me if I do not bow, Your Royalness.”

“It’s quite all right.” Her pleasant tone did more to soothe his head than any medicine ever could. “You’re hurt.”

“Only a lot.” Flash rolled over onto his side and tried to push himself out of the dirt and onto his hooves again. He got about halfway and decided that he’d break every bone in his body if he didn’t give up. “That spell really took the spit out of me. Apologies for my language.”

“Allow me.”

The princesses’s horn lit up with an aura as radiant as polished gold reflecting the sun, letting her magic wash over Flash and encase him in a cocoon of warm light. At once all the misery and pain that Flash had endured through the day was lifted. He actually felt… normal again. His head was clear, he didn’t want to throw up, and he felt like he could have run a marathon. Even the burns on his fur were gone, replaced by newly grown fur.

The pegasus got up of his own power, reveling in his mere ability to do so.

Then what happened, nopony expected, not even Flash. The guard rushed in and threw his forelegs around Princess Celestia’s neck, burying his forehead in her golden chest piece. She gave him a warm smile and lightly rested a hood on his back.

“Thank you.” he whispered, before realizing just what he had done and breaking the hug to bow down to the princess as was royal code. “Your Majesty.”

“Please, Flash, we don’t have time for such formalities.” Flash broke the bow and gave her a crisp salute.

“The situation with the gryphon is deteriorating quickly. I need to know everything that you do.”

“Yes princess. The Elements of Harmony, the princess's dragon, and a guard like myself are being held in a crate made entirely of lead. There is no way in out out aside from opening the door and some kind of dragon magic they used to transport me here. According to Princess Twilight, Spike only had enough power to send one pony, so evacuating them that way will be impossible. The princess has been bullying her husband into giving her authority over the guards, but I believe he can be persuaded to side with us. Now, If I may ask, where is Prince Blueblood? I must return to my post as soon as possible.”

“Uhmm…” The princess’s looked away, her ears cocked back in embarrassment. “He attempted to give himself up to Moyra.”

Flash’s heart stopped.

He swallowed a dry lump in his threat that quickly made itself known.

“Oh...kay.”

“My sister made off with him before he could make any decisions that would be permanent. Flash Sentry, your services are required in Equestria’s hour of need, therefore I royally decree that you are to be my personal bodyguard on a temporary basis.”

“I’m honored, Your Grace.”

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHGH!” the voice of the gryphon was perfectly audible even on the forest floor.

“And that’s our cue.”

“Open the door! I believe we have one prisoner too many.” Moyra screeched at the elderly guard standing at the lead crate.

“Yes, your-” Grey Garrison started to say.

“NOW.”

Without daring to so much as open his mouth, the guard twisted the vault wheel on the prison and cracked it open, causing the sealed chamber to hiss as fresh air rushed into the cell.

He swung the door open and the princess rushed across the threshold.

And head first into a wicked bolt of pink lightning.

“I have wanted to do that all day!” Cotton cheered.

Like kicking a hornet's nest, a mob of ponies rushed through the open door into the cargo bay, readying wing, horn, and hoof to fight the two guards that stood in between them and freedom.

“To Tartarus with this.” The younger one declared, dropping his spear. “I’m not attacking Equestrians for some entitled catbird.”

After a moment’s pondering, the older one did the same. “I was going to mutiny anyway.”

“Good.” Twilight nodded. “Will you do Equestria a favor and give Princess Moyra a taste of her own medicine.”

“Will do, Your Majesty.” Garrison saluted the ponies, before grabbing the princess by the arm and dragging her into the lead crate.

“Well ain’t that the picture of irony.” Applejack commented. “A bird in a cage.”

With a series of satisfied cheers and hugs all around, the captives made their way to the ship’s deck.

And at long last, Flash could rest.

The reunion aboard Moyra’s ship was like a party. All these ponies getting together and celebrating their freedom and safety. It turned out that the ship’s original cargo was Maretonian wine bound for the far east. Imagine that. Before he knew it the Element of Laughter was popping corks and passing around glasses and everypony was toasting to a crisis well-averted. Flash didn’t consider himself a drinker, but he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to partake in the merriment.

Everything just came together like a jigsaw puzzle. The High Feather and the Duke were arranging a marriage between Gabriel another one of Tianna’s daughters, the princesses had finished formally commending the Blueblood Corps for bravery, he had a shiny medal to hang on his wall when he was issued a home, the prince was safe surrounded by Alicorns and highly-trained Maretonian guards, and everything was right with the world again

Unfortunately, he didn’t see himself as much a party person. He shared one glass of wine with the Equestrian royalty and kind of shied off the the edge of the deck. He folded his forelegs across the railing and stared out at the grand wooden City of Spires.

If he never saw it again it’s be too soon.

Down below in a much darker and familiar place, a gryphon wept in the corner.

Then her sobs turned to primal rage and curse words so foul it could make a sailor blush.

Then she went back to sobbing, clutching herself in the fetal position, and muttering unintelligibly.

Moyra had been pushed over the edge,  fished back to solid ground, and pushed again. Nothing made sense anymore. He was within her grasp. She should have slit his throat right then and there! No! She should have locked him up and made to wait on her as a servant. No! She should have married him instead, and united the tribes with Equestria.

But what use is it? He’s gone forever. She would never see him again. The very thought of it made Moyra wail like a newborn chick.

Oh how she hated him.

Or was it loved him?

She couldn’t even remember what the difference was.

“LET ME OUT!” The gryphon nearly popped her lungs like a balloon with how loud she was screaming and banging her fists on the metal walls. Tears rolled frelly down her face, soaking into her feathers.

She didn’t think that anyone heard.

But she was wrong.

“Hey, kid.”

Moyra wasn’t sure whether on not she actually heard what she heard. She almost passed it off as a hallucination.

“Yeah, kid. Psst. Listen.”

“WHO ARE YOOUUU?!” She managed to screech in between sobs. “JUST LEAVE ME ALONE.”

“You wanna make a transaction?”

Moyra wiped away the tears. “I don’t have any money, just…” She clutched her head, trying to dull the splitting migraine that the voice was giving her. “...just go away. Leave me to rot in peace.”

“Hey now!” the voice without a mouth said. It’s voice was feminine, but kind of nasal and had an accent like it was from Manehattan or something. “Trust me, I ain’t got no need for no material wealth. That currency ain’t got much use where I’m from, ya dig?”

“What do you want?”

“I’m here to offer you a once-in-a-lifetime deal that only a few people on this plane of existence have ever been interesting enough to get. Girl, I can get you the one thing you want most.”

“Blueblood.” Moyra spat, suppressing the urge to beat her fist upon the wall again.

“Nah, way more than that. I’m talking about revenge served so cold, you could freeze the horn off of an alicorn with it.”

“I’ll try anything at this point.”

“Great! Now…”

An icy gale ruffled Moyra’s fur, blowing toward the south corner of the room. Before she could react, a great howling tore through her head, causing the princess to cover her ear-holes and thrash as her brain was being liquified. Then without warning a great ball of glowing purple light materialized from thin air, with the howl only going stronger as it appeared.

Then, like nothing happened, everything was still and quiet.

“Sorry about the noise, babe. Lead is a bitch to get around, know what I’m sayin’?”

“What was that for?!” Moyra demanded.

“Look on the ground, stoobid.”

And, lo and behold, lying where the light had been was a sword. It wasn’t a particularly nice-looking sword. It looked crude and it wasn’t as ornate as modern cutlery, its design was outdated by a few hundred years. Beside it was a dagger that looked like something from a novelty shop with its overly intricate design and blade engravings that compromised the integrity.

“Okay, listen up. Here’s the deal. You get those two pieces for not a single coin, but the catch is you gotta kill that Blueblood mook with the little one looks like I stole it from to an emo teenager. You do that, I get his soul, and you get your revenge.”

She didn’t even pause to consider it. “Deal.”

“Awwrighty then. You can use the big one there to get outta this mess, just whatever ya do, keep your mitts away from the goddamn blade. You could end up seven miles away for just touchin’ it. And remember, kill the prince with the dagger, or else I zap him back to life and take your soul. Either way I win. Catch’a on the flipside, girlie.”

Moyra knelt to examine the blade’s hilt. It was battered and rough, not really meant to fit a gryphon’s claw well, wrapped in leather that had been dried and cracked with age. The blade looked like it hadn’t been sharpened in centuries, but there was no signs of rust to be found.

She tentatively took it by the grip. The sword was light, almost like the kind you’d give for a child to play with.

“How am I going to get out with a sword?” Moyra asked aloud.

The voice didn’t answer.

Well, there was only one thing a sword was meant to do.

With a grunt, the gryphon thrusted the old blade right at the black wall of her cage.

It impacted off of the wall with a shower of sparks.

“Pfft. Rip off.”

Then at once Moyra’s eyes burned with pain as the harsh sunlight filtering in from the ship’s portholes blinded her.

She was… out? No. She hadn’t even moved from that spot. Looking around, even without her eyes adjusting she could tell that the big black box was gone. Nowhere to be found. It had just disappeared.

“How the hell did you do that?” a guard from out of nowhere demanded.

“I don’t know.” she said, before bringing the sword down upon his neck. The blade stuck only metal, rebounding off of the stallion’s silver armor.

Quickly recovering, the guard had his spear thrusted inches before the princess’s face.

“Heh, looks you got a blunt-”

Then just like that he was gone.

“Having trouble mingling, my friend?”

Blueblood nudged Flash out of his laconic state.

He shook the cobwebs out of his head. “I can’t have trouble with something if I don’t try.”

“Too true.” The prince cleared his throat. “So… are you, you know,okay?”

“I could ask the same of you.”

“I nearly gave myself up to a violent criminal. I’m fine, we’re talking about you here.”

Flash thrust a hoof in BB’s face. “Hold that thought!”

He looked at Flash like he had just claimed to sleep with his mother. “I beg your-”

“No, look!”

Both stallions saw it, but neither of them believed it.

It was a great black cube, hundreds of yards off of the starboard side of the ship, just falling from the sky like a meteor. It tore through one of the city’s rope bridges, leaving it to the mercy of the wind like a broken spider web, before disappearing beyond the canopy.

“How in the-?”

The train of thought was derailed by a the cries of a mare.

“Let go of me, you Celestia-damned birdbrain! I’ll kick you into next month!”

There they were at the opposite end of the deck, Moyra herself and the Element of Loyalty caught in a grapple. Rainbow Dash was struggling against her grip, but went instantly still the moment she found a gleaming steel blade hovering over her throat.

“What, you think a cage could stop me?” Moyra asked.

Then she slit Rainbow Dash’s throat  and tossed her aside.

“Ack!” Rainbow clutched her neck. “Hey wait, why am I not dea-?”

Then, like a magic trick, she was out of sight.

“Rainbow!” Flash wasn’t sure who screamed that one. Maybe it was one of the princesses, maybe it was one of the Elements. At that point, he was a little preoccupied to notice anything other than what had just transpired.

Rainbow Dash was gone. Not dead, but gone. Poof. Like she had been teleported elsewhere.

“Get below deck!” Flash ordered the prince, unsheathing his-

-blade? Oh, right. He was naked. Damn.

“I was hoping for something a little more lethal,” the princess started to say, but paused to strike down a charging guard, making him disappear as well. “but this is all right I guess.”

Next thing he knew, Flash, a squad of guards including Cotton, a gryphon spiritual leader, the entire Diarchy, and most of the Elements of Harmony had formed a semicircle around the gryphon. She was outnumbered more than fifteen to one.

“Woah, you guys are pissed.” Moyra observed. “Maybe I should surrender.”

With a catlike leap and a flap of her wings, Moyra took to the air. “I should, but I won’t.”

Then all Tartarus broke loose.

The deck of the cargo ship had become like a flock of birds, with all of the winged ponies taking off after her. It was a ballet, all of the swerving and dodging and fancy featherwork. Moyra was much more agile than she let on, pulling off maneuvers that only a pony or gryphon trained in aerial combat could be familiar with. In fact, all she did was avoid and evade everything thrown her way, be it beams of arcane lasers of the unicorns, or blades and spears of the armed pegasi. She was just quick enough to dodge these things by a foot, like a housefly that you just couldn’t swat.

Of course, it was most difficult for Flash, who was unarmed. He just kind of skirted the battle, looking for an opening to rush into.

“I have been looking forward to this!” Luna shouted, before tucking in her wings and diving at the gryphon, her horn lit up with one of those laser-sword spells unicorns seemed to be fond of. She reminded Flash of those ballista bolts from the Intimidator the way she sailed straight and true.

Her needle-like horn was mere inches away from Moyra’s heart before she twisted away just in time to smack the princesses flank with the flat of her blade.

And like the last two, Luna vanished into thin air.

“Man, this thing is fun!” the princesses declared merrily.

“Luna!” Flash wish he hadn’t caught a glimpse of Princess Celestia’s face. It stuck him in the heart like an arrow to see the head ruler of Equestria in such pain.

“What did you do to her?!” Her voice split that arrow in his chest right down the midde. Never had he heard somepony so beautiful and regal let loose with such unfiltered aggression and desperation. Even Moyra seemed shaken.

She recovered quickly. “I have no idea!”

That was it. The straw that broke the alicorns back. No more miss nice princess. If violence wasn’t an option before, it sure as hell has just become one.

Celestia’s horn erupted with that glistening golden aura, and then at once flared up to twice the size like someone had thrown gasoline on a fire. Even from twenty feet away Flash could feel the radiating heat of her fire beam as it bursted forth from her forehead.

“Woah, shit.” Mora dove to the side, making way for a pillar of blazing power as thick as tree trunk screaming past her. She made it out alive, albeit with a few singed feathers, and the spell tore through everything else in its path, and that path happened to include the corner of the airship. A whole section of the wooden vessel was gone, replaced by an empty hole big enough for a pegasus to fly through, it’s edges smouldering with smoke and hot coals.

Snap.

Of course, this section housed one of the four supports that tethered the ship’s balloon to the deck itself. The whole ship lurched when the connection was severed, keeling over toward the severed corner. With three of the tethers still intact, the ship still floated, but unstowed goods were starting to slide toward the corner, making that end even heavier.  Anypony without a set of wings grabbed whatever they could reach and held on for dear life.

Celestia didn’t notice this at all. She continued to fire the beams at will, desperately trying to turn the catbird into a pile of dust and charred bones.

“Guys!” Cotton called out from below. “She’s gonna bring this whole ship down! We gotta get all the earthbound ponies off right the hell now!”

“Got it!” Flash nodded. He glided over to hover beside Princess Twilight, who was stuck watching her former mentor unleash every last drop of rage onto the gryphon. “Your Grace!”

Twilight shook some unpleasant thoughts from her head. “Yes?”

“We need to get everyone to safety. How many ponies can you teleport at once?”

“Uh, five, not including me.”

“You and you,” Flash called out two of the pegasi guards “grab a pony and glide down to the surface. We need to get this thing clear of the city when it goes down. Who knows how to fly an airship?”

“Uh,” one of the guards rubbed the back of his head “the captain does but he got zapped by the catbird.”

“Fantastic.” Flash groaned.”Okay, just… get everyone the heck out of dodge and evacuate this section of the city. We’ll take this one step at a time.”

And with that, everypony broke away to save the rest of the ponies. Twilight gathered up her friends and teleported out of sight, and the guards took the rest of the ponies off of the ship and began their long glide back down to earth.

Soon, it was just Flash and Cotton Swab left onboard, with Celestia and Moyra off duking it out in the open skies where no further damage was being done for the moment.

Cotton was latched onto the railing like a pair of hoofcuffs. “Now what? I’m no expert on flying, but I don’t think we can turn this hunk-a-junk around on our own.”

“We need to repair the tether somehow. How strong is your telekinesis?”

“Pretty good, I guess.”

“Can you tie a knot or something in the broken ends?”

“I don’t think there’s a knot on this planet that can hold a ship together, Sentry!”

Creak.

“What was that?” Flash asked.

“That’s the sound of three ropes holding a load meant for four. I don’t know how long this thing will last. Just get me the hell off of here the guards will have everyone far away from this deathtrap and all it’ll kill is a few buildings.”

“No!” Flash snapped. “No taking chances. We’re going to do absolutely everything we can to save as many ponies as possible.”

“Perhaps I can help with that.”

“What is it with ponies creeping up from behind and surprising me?!” Flash said, whipping around to see just who in Tartarus is going to show up next.

It was Princess Luna of course, as big and blue as she ever was. Also, definitely not dead.

“Princess!” Cotton Swab shouted. “I don’t know what happened to you or how you got here but I don’t give a flying rat’s ass! What’cha got for us?”

The way Cotton spoke to the princess made Flash miss having a concussion.

“Your Grace,” Flash bowed his head for the umpteenth time that week “how may we be of service?”

“I believe I may have a solution to the problem my sister caused.” Luna cast a worried glance at the two combatants that were still locked in mortal combat. “I may be able to teleport it far enough outside the city so that it would do no harm to the citizens below.”

“Perfect!” Cotton said. “Let’s do this! Flash, grab my hoof and let’s leave this thing in the dust.”

“I’m afraid it isn’t that easy.”

“Luna damn it!” Cotton hissed. “Er, I mean, you damn it. Or not. How does this work again?”

Luna chose to ignore that bit with a smirk. “Since I am unable to combine power with my sister and Twilight, I require a focus, something to amplify my magical powers. Perhaps a staff or arcane orb of power?”

Cotton Swab visibly grimaced. “I don’t exactly have one on me, Princess. I don’t even know where we could get something like that in this freaking city.”

“Yes, that is a hurdle.”
Crack. The bindings holding the cloudcatcher in place didn’t sound too healthy.

“The Emergency Beer Cooler.” Flash muttered under his breath.

“The what?”

“That laser cannon thingy on The Intimidator. It’s made up of all sorts of magical doohickery. Do you think there could be something like that built into the inner workings?”

“That seems like a most viable suggestion, Flash Sentry!” Luna cheered. “It is the only option we currently have time to explore. Come closer, I shall teleport us there.”

Flash winced. “I hate teleporting.”

Flash.

Both Cotton and Princess Luna stood aboard the deck of the Intimidator while Flash Sentry gracefully planted his face straight into the floorboards.

“I just want to go home.” he mumbled, his voice muffled by the wooden floor.

“Pardon, what was it you said, Flash Sentry?”

Flash peeled himself from the dirty deck. “I said thank’s for the ride.”

“You are most welcome!” Luna gave him a genuinely friendly grin.

“Now, I assume this metal monstrosity-” Luna gestured at Princess Twilight’s experimental laser cannon “-is what you spoke of?”

“Can’t miss it.”

“Then let us begin dismantling it!”

“Hey, uh, Cloud.”

The pegasus captain nudged his napping brother in the side.

“Hnng, whah, my watch now?”

“Princess Luna and those guards of Blueblood’s are tearing apart the ice cannon.”

“Yeah, nice one. Now tell me a bedtime story.” Cloud pulled his tricorn back over his eyes and kicked up his hooves.

Lightning yanked the hat off of his head. “I’m serious!”

“Fine, fine…” the twin mumbled, entertaining his brother and casing a bleary look out the window of their quarters.

What he saw woke him up faster than a double-shot of espresso.

Without another word the captain threw his hat back on and marched out onto the deck with Lightning following just behind.

“Princess!” Cloud said.

“Good eve, Captains Cloud and Lightning!” the princess of the night greeted merrily.

“As much as we enjoy surprise visits-”

“-perhaps it would be best if you had explained why you are destroying our ship’s incredibly unstable and experimental magic weapon?”

It didn’t even faze her. “It is better to ask forgiveness than permission, my friends. I require a component that could be contained within this ghastly machine to save lives!”

The twins shared a glance.

“Well in that case-”

“-go ahead-”

“-I guess.”

“Ah-ha!” With a groaning of steel being twisted out of shape, Cotton Swab telekinetically ripped apart a ball of wires and plating to reveal what could be easily described as an eye contact for a giant cat. The ovular item had a pinkish red tint to it, and curved inwardly like a bowl. When Cotton held it directly in front of her face her mug distorted into something you’d see in a circus funhouse.

“What is it?” Flash asked.

“A hyperkinetic lens.” Cotton answered with an undertone of relief she didn’t even try to hide. “Kind of like a big magnifying glass for magic. Do you think this will work, Princess? It was originally meant for destruction spells, but that’s probably the most powerful component we’re going to find in this thing.”

Luna set her jaw, pondering the situation. “It will have to do. Come, let’s away. We have no time. Prepare to be teleported once more.”

Flash groaned.

The gryphon princess nearly snapped the wooden bridge in two as she less-than-gracefully made an emergency landing. Moyra’s entire body ached, and what wasn’t aching was screaming with smouldering first-degree burns, the acrid scent of burning feathers assailing her sense of smell.

Moyra wanted to get back up, but her body refused to give in. She didn’t even have enough strength to grip the magic sword, which slipped out of her feeble clutch and fell off the bridge, disappearing into the forest canopy below.

Princess Celestia, once a pony that symbolized peace, understand, and love landed wordlessly on the bridge, her multicolored mane crackling with a ferocious yellow fire that writhed and flared around her whole body, yet producing no smoke and leaving no burns on whatever it touched.

Moyra weakly lifted her head and cast a defiant glare at the princess, a fighter to the end.

“Heh.” She coughed. Her throat was dry as a desert. “Thought I won when I tapped you with my magic stick, but no. You just popped behind me and went to town. Damn thing was useless. Wish I had a real sword.

Then Moyra remembered the dagger. She eyes the sheath housing it. With her last drops of strength, she reached for the blade on her hip.

Princess Celestia flicked it away with a spark of telekinesis, leaving the dagger to the same fate as the sword.

Despite herself, the catbird laughed. She laughed harder and longer than she could even remember doing. She nearly rolled around on the rope bridge like a buffoon, cackling as the grip of madness found its way across her throat. Her laughs turned into coughs that wracked her whole body, and continued until she didn’t have the will to do anything anymore.

“Hah-” Cough. “-you win. I give, send me to jail again.”

“Four walls and a roof over your head is too kind a punishment for you.” The princesses voice held no emotion. It was cold, serene, and calculated.

“Maybe. Fu-” Cough. “Oh man, I didn’t even get close to the prince, did I? Not with his defense brigade coming to greet me.

“So, can I have, like, a last request or last words or something?” Cough.

“I’m not going to kill you.”

“Great, when what are you going to do, Celly?”

The princess’s horn glowed one last time.

“Say hello to Tirek for me.”

Snap.

The mass of wood and steel creaked like a giant tree had been felled as one of the three remaining tethers could take the stress no more. The calamitous freighter swung like a wrecking ball from the remaining two lines, barreling straight into a stray tower. The canopy of splintering wood echoed throughout the city, sending a hail of shrapnel raining down and forcing the ponies of Maretonia to scramble for cover. The force of the impact was great enough to snap the building like a twig, sending a portion the size of a house crashing down on the ground below, creating a gaping wound in the forest’s canopy. The boat was hanging like a balloon now, the cloudcatcher and the deck of the ship were congruent to one another, the length of it nearly matching the tallest of the spires. Various pieces of cargo left unstowed were loosed from the ship like salt from a shaker, further pelting Spire City with a torrent of dangerous objects.

Time was running out.

The trio stood on the shingled roof of the tower nearest to the wreck, with Cotton grasping the flagpole for dear life.

“I may only have enough power to do this once, so our first attempt must be a successful attempt.” Luna looked at Flash with hard, yet regal eyes, commanding all of the guard’s attention. “Flash Sentry, take the lens and fly out between the ship and I. Present it with the convex side facing the ship, and by the sun and stars move as little as you possibly can.”

And after a moment, she added “I’ll try not to hit you.”

Flash gave her a rigid salute, then gingerly took the magic piece of glass and took off toward the ship, grasping it like a football.

“Don’t drop it, Sentry!” Cotton yelled after him.

With a glance to Luna, and another to the ship, Flash nodded to himself and presented the hyperkinetic lens out for all to see, its smooth crystalline surface projecting tiny rainbows on Flash’s fur as the warm light of the setting sun hit it.

As Luna’s horn sparked to life, he wanted to close his eyes, to hold his breath, but he just couldn’t. He had to focus on hovering as still as possible, and he was afraid that if he closed his eyes, he would blow their one chance at solving the problem once and for all. His heart raced, his throat filled with gravel, and his stomach felt like it wanted to empty its contents once again, but he stayed strong, and his resolve only strengthened.

Zap. A great beam of blazing purple light shot toward the guard and hit the lens dead center, amplifying its intensity tenfold as it screamed past him. The brightness of the spell assailed his vision, forcing him to squint as if staring right into the sun.

Behind Flash, the beam impacted on the hull of the ship and everything in a ten-foot sphere immediately degraded into glowing purple ash, dissipating into the cracks between space and time like a cosmic fire. The sphere widened, eating up more and more of the ship, slowly breaking more and more down until it looked like a great dragon had taken a bite out of it.

Luna’s head started to pound. She grit her teeth, forcing every last drop of alicorn magic out of her horn as she could muster. She felt like a wrung out sponge, getting drier by the moment. She was screaming with effort. She didn’t really notice it until the volume of her royal Canterlot voice shook some of the loose roofing shingles free. At some point, Cotton Swab had fired her own spell at Luna, allowing her magic to feed into the princess, giving her every last drop available.

The sphere’s expansion slowed as Luna’s power was reduced from a flowing stream to a kitchen faucet. She felt as if a blood vessel in her head may pop at any moment, it was like trying to squeeze water from a wet stone.

“I-” Luna said between moans of exhaustion “I- I cannot hold it…”

Princess Luna was going to make herself pass out, and Flash was helpless to do more than hover in the air and watch it unfold.

“Allow me to help with that, Luna!”

Flash. Enter Twilight. Within a blink of an eye the roof was starting to get crowded, with one extra alicorn balancing atop the tiles then there was a second before. She wasted no time in firing off her own spell that intersected Luna’s at the glass, returning the beam to its former glory. The sphere was expanding again, and at twice the speed it had before. Within seconds, what was once a proud freighter ship for the Maretonian people was reduced to a thin cloud of glowing wisps, that then dissipated into nothing like the embers of an old fire.

Princess Luna dropped her spell, then herself. She collapsed into the rough roofing tiles, Twilight had to envelop her in a levitation bubble to keep the princess from falling off of the roof.

Flash dropped the lens and raced back to the roof, landing just short of the princess.

“Is she okay?!” he demanded.

Twilight, who was knelt beside the princess waving her horn over her head looked up at Flash and smiled. “She’ll be just fine. Maybe a little weak.”

Flash collapsed next to the princess, breathing a long sigh of relief.

He looked back where he was just moments before.

The ship was gone.

All was quiet.

It was over.

It was all over.