Chapter 35: Departure Protocol
“This is a bad idea,” Nightbreeze spoke from behind her, her voice distant and annoyed. “I guess we’ve had lots of bad ideas lately.”
Hayden did her best to ignore the bat, focusing all her attention on what she was watching below. Hovering like this took a little more concentration than simple flying, which meant riding the balance between deciding what to do and relying on her instincts. Well, relying on Luna’s instincts, since Hayden didn’t know the first thing about this.
The world below them was cast in blue, though it was far more visible than it would’ve been a few weeks ago. But now that winter was over, even the Icefalls flowed with water again. It took a little magic to keep the roof frozen over them.
“It might be,” Hayden eventually answered, drooping in the air a little as she spoke. “But it’s necessary. It helps make the case for the rest of Equestria. Even if the nobles want to kill us, stories like this will keep the common ponies from agreeing.”
“That won’t happen if the nobility levies their land,” Nightbreeze muttered. “If a pony army attacks…” she shook her head. “Ponies fighting ponies… what sense does that make? The whole world is going insane.”
Hayden winced, even if that was where Nightbreeze stopped. “It’s alright. You can blame me for it. You wouldn’t be the only one.”
But Nightbreeze didn’t blame her. Or say anything else, for that matter. “You’ve been making good choices so far,” Nightbreeze muttered. “That thing with the assassins… I wish I could be a breezie in the leaves during that meeting. I hope whoever was scribing it took some good notes of everypony’s faces.”
Far below them, the last of the cannons was being rolled into place. Their strongest earth ponies dragged them up the loading ramp and onto the Excellus. Everything else was already aboard. Three hundred soldiers, including every one of her elites. A third of the canon crews, and more powder than they really had to spare.
“That seamstress is going to be ready in time to launch, right?”
Nightbreeze rolled her eyes. “I don’t see why that would matter to you, Evening Star. We’re going into occupied territory—we might even have to fight our own kind. Do we really want a flag proclaiming where we’re from?”
“Yes,” Hayden said, not even thinking. “I may not know war the way Lodestone does, but I know some things. War is really about psychology. It’s about breaking our enemy’s desire to fight, not killing all their soldiers. We’ve already done some great things—we destroyed Polestar with an avalanche… mostly accidentally, but they won’t know that. We stopped their first attack so completely that none of their ships even returned.” As she spoke, it got a little easier to hold herself in the air, suspended above the Excellus. “When Stonebeaks talk about Icefalls, I want them to do it in terrified whispers. If they have to come against us, I want them to be fighting to be last in the battle line. When they hear our cannons, I want them to shit themselves.”
Nightbreeze shoved her hard with one hoof. “That is not proper talk for a lady, Evening Star. Nor is it proper talk for a general. Even if I appreciate the point you’re making…” She turned away again, lowering her voice back to what it was. “I’m still unhappy about this. You worked so hard to make Icefalls defensible, and now you’re taking so much of that away. Those crews are some of our best, most experienced… and your Blackwings—”
The nickname everypony had given to the elites. She had tried to just call them ‘special operations,’ but the ponies hadn’t liked that name. So Blackwings would be their name.
“We’ll come back,” she said, for perhaps the hundredth time. “The griffons don’t have anything that can bring down the Excellus, I told you that already. And if they try to board, we have the elites to shove them off again. We fought huge numbers at Polestar, we can do it again. I expect we’ll mostly be harassing while they fight the bulk of the pony army.”
Which they would have to make very sure not to hit accidentally, or else their mission of support might destroy all the bridges they wanted to preemptively rebuild.
They landed near the loading ramp, though far enough away from the line of waiting ponies pushing supplies that they wouldn’t get in the way. A few looked respectfully in her direction, shuffling about as though they didn’t know what to do. She just smiled, hopefully encouragement enough that they didn’t have to salute.
“Forgive me if I don’t trust your predictions, Evening Star,” Nightbreeze whispered. So quiet that Hayden might not have heard her, if it wasn’t for her sensitive ears. “Remember when you seduced me? This feels like that.”
Hayden couldn’t just embrace her—a city lord and a general might not be far apart in station, but that was less dignity than either office deserved. And besides, she hadn’t dared try to return to that relationship. Hayden feared that bridge might be burned for good.
“I’ll be back,” she said again. “Princess Luna should be back soon too. There can’t be very many bats left to save. You probably don’t need any of the canons with her to fight for us. She can take the sword back, even if I have it.” Hayden wasn’t wearing Achelois, though by now she didn’t need to. If she needed the sword, it would find its way there. Poor temple ponies probably had a little heart attack each time they came in and found it missing.
Then again, powerful magic swords meant to end all suffering were not exactly the safest things to steal.
“They’re not that powerful,” Nightbreeze said, her voice even lower. Hayden had to strain her ears to make out her words now. “Raising the sun and moon… it isn’t as hard as ponies think it is. Princess Luna… told me about it once. There’s a… an existing magical infrastructure in place. All the power they use is just enough to… trigger it each time. They can’t just burn whole armies away. Otherwise, nopony would’ve invaded Equestria in the first place.”
“I figured it had to be something,” Hayden said, though she didn’t feel any less ignorant about the way Luna and Celestia managed their respective responsibilities. Nor did it really matter. Hayden was not an Alicorn—no matter how badly this went, she wasn’t going to be raising the moon. Princess Luna had kept fulfilling that role even while locked tightly away in her tower. “But I saw what she did to that one ship. Power like that on the enemy’s side has got to be bad for morale too. Just as bad as having cannons blast your ships apart.”
“If you’d had enough time to complete your instruction, you’d know about these things.” Nightbreeze stopped whispering, and she went back to glaring good-naturedly. “It’s a good thing we have Lodestone.” Though as she said it, her voice trailed into doubt. General Lodestone would be staying back to protect the city. His military training would not be necessary when Hayden had only one unit to command.
“It’s a good thing we have Avalon,” Hayden responded. “I’m sure he’ll have the cure ready for us soon. We have an awful lot of bats waiting for it up here.”
Nightbreeze shivered. “I wish Star Swirl had been willing to take ponies to that ‘lab’ for us. It would’ve been nice to get… whatever that thing is… out. I can sometimes hear it. When Glow was here… like an itch. Lodestone wasn’t the only one who wanted to kill him.”
“Oh, that’s normal.” Hayden didn’t even bother trying to keep her voice down. “He was an asshole. That’s just instinct. Everybody gets it.”
Nightbreeze didn’t laugh. “I’ll make sure the team is ready outside. You think you’ll be launching at midnight?”
“As scheduled,” Hayden said. “Make sure they don’t cover it over until we get back. We’ll still need the Excellus if the defense of Icefalls is… unsuccessful.”
“We’ll have the dock ready for you,” Nightbreeze promised, before taking off. She shot back up to where they’d been hovering, then through the opening in the ice above. Hayden watched her go, trying and failing not to notice just how good she looked when she moved. Acquiring all kinds of expensive clothes certainly didn’t make that easy for her.
Only when Nightbreeze was gone did she finally make her way up the ramp—past the sleepy-looking ponies as they filled it with supplies. So many empty rooms, all of which had been converted either to storage or bunkrooms. She’d never intended it to hold soldiers—but the supplies she had packed away for other purposes could just as easily keep the Excellus fed while they pitched in repelling an invasion.
Captain Skylark was already waiting on the bridge, along with half a dozen other sailors who looked completely baffled by everything they saw. The Excellus wasn’t the sort of vessel that took a large crew. Really, she didn’t need any of them here. “Officer on the bridge!” called Sideswipe of the elites, who happened to be standing watch. She kept at least one of them in every critical section of the ship, which obviously meant this one.
Everypony rose, saluting, and she returned the gesture as crisply as she could. There was no reason for anypony not to be proud of a mission like this. “I’m sorry we couldn’t do this at a more reasonable hour,” Hayden muttered, once the pleasantries were out of the way. “But we’ll be launching at midnight. That means we need to get a few of you competent enough to drive this thing in case something happens to me.”
“To you?” Captain Skylark repeated, disbelief in his voice. “That doesn’t seem likely, General. I remember the last time you went muzzle to beak with a griffon.”
She shrugged off the compliment. Skylark was one of her favorites—though it wasn’t just for his competence, either with his magic or as a commander. He also wasn’t a bat, which made him one of the few besides herself who wasn’t infected. Infected with a disease we know nothing about that might have unknown side effects at any moment. I wonder if it had anything to do with Lodestone killing Glow.
“We only have a few hours, but I think you all can learn quickly. Captain Skylark, you’re my second in command on this mission. I want you to come to the front of the line. The holocontrols are over here, if you just…”
It took almost until launch time. The Excellus had a simulation mode, the same one that Avalon had used to teach her. These were not true windows, but screens that could be projected to show anything she wanted. Fake images of the outside were just as possible as real ones, albeit without the movement of the ship to make the whole thing feel genuine.
When they were finally done, Hayden sent one last scout out through the opening to give the go-ahead to the crew of weatherponies outside. Pegasi were never happy about doing their magic in the dark, but at least it was a big target.
The massive roof of ice above them shattered into thousands of little pieces, all at once. Had there still been anyone below, they probably would’ve been crushed. As it was, Hayden and her bridge-crew watched the chunks crash down around them. Hayden waited for the flash that signified the weather team was out of the way, then took the ship up in a dramatic rush.
Her hoof moved slowly through the control field, piloting the Excellus carefully around the edges of the natural drydock. Even through the ship’s armored body, she could make out the sound of ponies cheering from below. Icefalls knew where they were going—after the success of their last flight, the city probably felt invincible.
Hayden gave them a show, flying low and slow over the city. “I need a heading!” she called back to her bridge-crew, who were armed with Equestrian maps and compass.
“220 degrees, southwest to Seaddle!” called Skylark, another moment later. He was the only one of the bridge crew who wasn’t awed by the sight of the city blasting by in the windows. And they were still headed up—above where pegasus ponies could fly, or airships. Above where there was any danger of being intercepted. So high that only the pressurized hull would keep them breathing.
“Next stop, Seaddle,” Hayden muttered. “Let’s see how the princess convinces Equestria we’re traitors after this.”
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I wonder what will cause Luna to become Nightmare Moon...
good chapter though. Is Nightbreeze on her way to (tvtropes alert) Sarcastic Devotee?
media.giphy.com/media/BvBm716X0ldV6/giphy.gif
I'm too hyped to wait a week!
Top kek.
Don't do it Hayden, don't go into the light! There are no cute lesbian mares there!!
Let's hope Celestia doesn't try to assassinate Hayden in her intervention. It wouldn't bode well to the future of equestria.
I'm expecting things to go extremely wrong now. At this rate, the princess won't even need to convince Equestria. They'll be lining up to take a shot at you.
Unsurprisingly, I am pleased to see this development.
This is exactly what Celestia wants... according to Celestia Hayden will have: abandoned his post, allowing a devastating invasion. Murdered the most powerful noble. Then flown in to pick up the pieces of a griffin sacked city to claim as his own.
... Yeah, there's no way this is going to go as planned. Now it's question of just how pear-shaped the situation will get.
Slipstream
They will be plucked and stuffed by the next dawn.