Crew of the Marblehead

by M48 Patton

Chapter 11

“Are you sure of this, your highness?”

“Admiral Iron Keel speaks highly of you.”

“That's. . . surprising to hear. The last time the admiral and I met, we parted on somewhat rough terms.”

Princess Celestia coughed politely. “That was also mentioned in our conversation. However the admiral is not so callous as to let a few harsh words cloud his judgment, and for that reason I am contacting you.”

The mare on the other side of the shimmering mirror let a slight hue fade onto her cheeks before she cleared her throat and stood a little straighter.

“I understand!” The mare said, saluting in her crisp navy uniform. “You can count on me!”

Celestia smiled and nodded before the aura surrounding her horn winked out and so did the energies surrounding the mirror. Her smiled faded as quickly as the magic, and her eyes soon clouded with worry.

The rapping of a hoof on her door caught her attention and she magically unsealed the locks with an audible click before announcing to her guest to enter. A stallion dressed in a butler's uniform slowly stepped in pushing a cart.

“Tea, your highness?” The stallion asked.

Celestia gave a small grin and took the cart from the stallion with her magic.

“Thank you, you may go.” She said, motioning to dismiss him.

“There is a missive from Bugganville, your highness.” He said before leaving. “A member of the EIS dropped it off mere minutes ago. They said it was urgent.”

As the stallion had said, there was a letter on the cart with the official EIS stamp sealing it shut. A stark reminder of how despite her best efforts, Celestia was still a ruler of more than just Equestria.

“Oh for the love of me!” She huffed, throwing open the door to her balcony and stepping out into the sun. Canterlot spread out below her in a jumbled mess of golden trim and marble.

She levitating the tea set to a small table on the balcony before sitting down and making herself comfortable, settling down with a relieved sigh. The teapot was engulfed in a golden aura before rising into the air and tipping towards a small tea cup, its contents spilling over in a waterfall. Steam rose from the tea as it landed in the cup, its aroma caused Celestia to take a deep breath and savor the moment.

The alabaster Alicorn blew on her tea before taking a small sip of it and enjoying the flavor. A slight breeze rustled the letter in front of her, drawing her attention to it. Sighing, Celestia picked up the document in her magic and tore open the seal that held it.

Her frown only deepened as she read its contents.

“My, my Sunbutt.” A mouth with a single fang protruding from it popped into existence above her. “I haven't seen your face like that since Tirek showed up.”

Celestia groaned. “What is it this time, Discord?”

Discord slithered out of thin air with a hurt expression on his face. “What? Is that what you think of me, that I cannot simply make a social call on my most favorite alicorn of the moon?”

Celestia ignored attempt to goad her into an argument and returned her focus to the letter held in her magic. Discord's face of innocence became a frown of annoyance and he snapped his claw. The letter promptly screamed in Celestia's face, startling her and causing her to choke on the tea she was drinking.

She coughed a few times before her magic vaporized the liquid and she took a deep breath.

“Discord! I don't have time for your games.” Celestia said angrily, casting a quick disenchantment spell on the area, nullifying Discord's antics for the moment.

“Oh phooie.” Discord said dejectedly, idling snapping his lion paw, promptly overpowering Celestia's spell and causing a distant castle tower to shoot off into the sky like a firework. Several confused castle staff ponies and guards floated down on parachutes made of giant pigeons. “You know, you and your sister were much more fun to play with back in the old days.”

Celestia sighed in frustration before perking up slightly, her mouth revealing the hint of a smile. “Very well, Discord. Let's play a game.”

The draconequus raised an eyebrow, but his smile promptly split his head in half. “Oh goody! It's been so long since we've had a good game together! What shall we play? Rescue the pony? Tic-tac-tip the castle?”

“Chess.” Celestia said while summoning a chessboard on the table in front of her.

Discord's smile was not reduced in the slightest. “Ah, a classic! Tell, dear sunbutt, shall we raise the stakes this time? Perhaps the loser must get turned into stone for a thousand years?”

Celestia chuckled and shook her head. “Not this time, but perhaps, if I win, you might be able to shed some advice on a recent matter that has come to my attention.”

“Ooh!” Discord settled down to the table. “Tell me dear, what dastardly scheming villain driven you to seek my help?”

“Well, I wouldn't say I am actively seeking your help, not with what happen last time.” Celestia explained.

To his credit, Discord looked genuinely embarrassed and ran a talon through his beard nervously. “Don't suppose I'll be living that one down anytime soon.”

“No you won't.” The alicorn answered with a sly grin. “However, I find that it does help to receive an outside opinion when faced with a puzzle, even if that opinion is yours.”

“Very well!” Discord snapped his talon and the tea set morphed into a chessboard, the pieces climbing out from beneath the tiles to their proper places before settling down into inanimate objects for the time being.

Celestia noted with no surprise that Discord had made her pieces into the typical white ponies that were usual of common chess while his were a random assortment of creatures, although he at least had the decency to make it obvious what each piece was.

A pawn moved forwards and the game began.

“The Equestrian Navy discovers a strange ship, it's crew and origins a mystery even I cannot unravel.” Celestia began.

Discord made his move in silence, so Celestia continued.

“Accordingly, I tried my best to deal with the situation using what resources I had available. However, it became obvious that this ship was not to be trifled with, and so I sent the Elements of Harmony. A mistake, I now realize, but thanks to the efforts of a few brave creatures, ultimate disaster was averted.”

“Oh how boring, you would think at least one of your superb blunders would end up with a bit more. . . entertaining. Perhaps next time you can blow up your own castle. Or better yet, blow up Twilight's eyesore, will you?” Discord said, his knight jumping into action, and in turn, on top of Celestia's forward most pawn, crushing the unfortunate piece with a comical scream.

The alicorn merely rolled her eyes at the display, choosing instead to maneuver a bishop up the board.

“As I was saying, disaster was averted by the aid of strangers who rescued the Elements of Harmony from a nefarious pirate.” Celestia continued. “And on the surface of things, peace was restored.”

Discord idly waved his paw. “I'm sensing there's a 'but' in there. Maybe behind you.”

“But that still left one large problem running loose.” The alicorn explained. “The ship we were dealing with is not normal. I might even hazard a guess that it is not of this world.”

Celestia's knights entered the battle, but her movements were still conservative and defensive while Discord pressed the advantage.

“Hmph.” Discord stroked his beard idly. “An intriguing prospect, but what make you so sure?”

The alicorn took a sip of her tea before answering. “At first I thought it was simply cold iron, and enough magic would simply overpower it. However, even after using most of my magic in what should have been an devastating blow to the ship, I was less than successful in stopping it.”

Discord snorted. “Not surprising, given your record as of late.”

Celestia coughed slightly and took another sip of tea. “As I was saying, the ship proved to be invulnerable to any and all magic attacks. Later on, after receiving a small piece of the ship in the form of a crossbow bolt, I found that the material wasn't just resistant to magic, it was completely dead to magic.”

“A ship from another world that is completely immune to any and all magic.” Discord said thoughtfully. “Eh, five out of ten for originality. The characters would have to make the story more interesting.”

As Discord's rook brought out a comically sized mallet and proceeded to smash Celestia's bishop into pieces, Celestia calmly moved her other bishop into a position of power.

“Check.” She noted. “Discord, I am fairly certain your perception of the ship is as warped as your own reality. I'm not talking about some random little boat that might be able to perform a few tricks. I am talking about a warship that, in the wrong hooves, could potentially tip the balance of power in the world to whoever controls it.”

Discord's king popped up behind his knight and he stroked his beard.

“I am afraid I might have misheard you, Celly, you make it sound as if this ship is a real threat.”

Celestia sighed in exasperation and made her move.

“Discord, the ship known as the Marblehead isn't just a warship anymore, it's a symbol of power! Think about it, having a fortress the likes of which even I cannot defeat. Had I that ship in Manehattan harbor, I could easily defeat any villain who attacked, even you. Even if you turned the sea into cotton candy and the skies to milk, I would be perfectly safe within that ship, free to strike out at you whenever I pleased.

“Tirek would be powerless if he fought that ship, a few well placed shots from the ship's cannons and the centaur we fear would simply fall, never to rise again. And right now, that ship is in danger of being taken by forces beyond my control.”

Discord idly cleaned out an ear. “Well, it sounds as though you are in a bit of a pickle. But tell me Celestia, why are you here and not out there trying to stop this Marblehead?”

“The situation is more complicated than just a powerful ship on the loose.” The alicorn explained. “Griffonia has a new weapon that even I do not know what it does, but they are threatening the Zebrican nation with it. Prance and Germanenia are at each other's throats, but they want a trump card before declaring war. Every nation out there has some sort of gamble riding on catching the Marblehead. Right now, it's more important than ever that the Marblehead stays neutral, even Equestria cannot be seen to posses her.”

Discord observed the chessboard with a critical eye. He knew Celestia had easily outplayed his aggressive strategy, but he was keen to find out where she was leading him. His rook moved to place pressure on Celestia's own king.

“So you cannot take the ship for your own for fear of starting a war,” Discord observed. “but you're not going to let it fall into the claws of another. So what is it you intend to do about this. . . conundrum?”

“Well, I did say that the Marblehead is attracting a lot of attention.” Celestia said, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. “A lot can happen. Prance might lose a few trade deals because their navy is being too aggressive. Germanenia might not have the resources required to start a war if some of their equipment somehow ends up at the bottom of the ocean. Griffonia's new weapon, well, let's just say a little bird told me that they are planning on deploying their new toy against the Marblehead.”

Discord chuckled as his rook continued to pulverize another of Celestia's pieces.

“Perhaps I underestimated your little game, Celestia. It is the work of a true master.”

Celestia smiled, and although it was a simple movement of her jaw Discord could see a predator hiding beneath the seemingly innocent expression. With a small flourish, Celestia's queen moved past Discord's poor defensive line and pinned his king to the corner.

The alicorn took a brief sip of tea and with a flash of magic, turned the chessboard back into a tea set. “Griffonia's new weapon will be rendered inert by various means, two countries poised on the edge of a war will be forced to reconcile with each other in order to avoid bankruptcy, and Equestrian foreign policies will exert greater power than ever before. The Marblehead will take the blame while being able to continue to bring new threats to my attention.”

“A delightfully cunning and bold plan.” Discord remarked before leaning in closer. “But that is not why you are worried, now is it? There's something else, something that has put you on edge.”

Celestia grimaced and brought the letter up from the table where it had been resting. “There has been a complication, an entity which I had not expected to rise again. Any other creature I would wager the Marblehead would be easily rid of, however. . . I made a deal with this creature for him to live out his life in peace because even I was hesitant to battle him and his armada. Now he has apparently set his sights on the Marblehead, and for once I think that the crew of that ship may be outmatched.”

Discord's grin vanished and he snapped the letter from Celestia's magic into his own claw.

“Some sort of pirate lord? What's so dangerous about him?”

“It's not him I am worried about.” Celestia explained with a worried frown. “His daughter, she will be the one who decides the fate of the seas. In the next letter, I will find who she has chosen to follow. Her captain, or her father."

Author's Note:

So, it's been a little while.

New chapter. This one was a bit of filler before I get back into the main story. Hopefully I don't take a year to write another one.

I want to finish this story at least, maybe even the trilogy I had planned. Feedback is always appreciated.

Comments

[GamePlayer64]

Happy that your back 😊