The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds

by Kamahido

Chapter 7 - Inspection Tour

Arc, Ember, and Frank head toward the Main Hatch as the ship gently touches the water. Ember is the first to speak.

“So… what exactly do you expect to find out here, Arc?”

“First of all, I want to see if there were any survivors.”

Frank nods. “We could use some answers, yes.”

“That and I’m sure they’d need medical attention. We really are in the middle of nowhere right now.”

Ember frowns. “A perfect place for an ambush.”

Frank turns to Arc. “For their ship, or a second attack?”

“Either really.”

Reaching the hatch, Arc touches his earring.

“Lemon Hearts, are there any other ships in the vicinity?”

“No, sir. Moon Dancer indicates that the scanners are clear.”

“Good. Have her keep watch. Captain, maintain the ship’s high alert status until further notice.”

Tight Ship nods. “Aye, sir.”

“Keep on your toes, everyone. Arc out.”

He severs the connection and opens the main hatch. The trio steps out onto the deck and over to the guardrail to survey the wrecked vessel. Ember sighs.

“There isn’t much left of the hull.”

Frank nods. “It looks as if it hit a mountain.”

Arc sighs. “All things considered, it kinda did.”

They walk around the deck a few moments to look at the ruined ship from different angles. Ember turns to walk away.

“Nothing else to see here.”

Arc frowns. “Maybe not. But I’d like to go aboard.”

Frank raises an eyebrow. “Arc?”

He points to the small cabin. “There must’ve been a pilot.”

Ember grits her teeth. “Probably just a body at this point.”

“That may be. But it won’t take me but a few minutes to find out.”

Ember rolls her eyes. “That ship could fall apart at any moment!”

Frank nods. “Agreed. There isn’t much holding it together at this point.”

“You’re both right, I suppose. I wonder…”

He touches his earring.

“Moon Dancer, can The Equinox support the additional weight of this ship if I bring it aboard?”

“Yes sir, easily.”

Wrangler shakes her head. “But we don’t have a crane, or any other way to extract the ship from the water.”

“Leave that to me. Arc out.”

He touches his earring, severing the connection as he turns to Ember and Frank.

“Think we can do this?”

Ember shrugs. “Probably not. But what do we have to lose?”

Frank chuckles. “Nothing really.”

Arc grins. “Let’s give it a go then.”

They each reach out to the ship and together cast a Telekinesis Spell. Ember grunts.

“Woah, that’s heavy!”

Frank turns to her. “It’s probably full of water.”

Arc nods. “Right. Lift it slowly and it’ll drain.”

Bit by bit the ship rises as water gushes out from numerous holes in the hull. Eventually the ship hovers a short distance over the water. Arc and company turn and pull it over to The Equinox’s deck as they carefully set it down. Frank grimaces.

“That was… quite the bit of mental exercise.”

Ember nods, breathing hard. “Yeah.”

Arc grins. “Well, we did it. Let’s get onboard.”

Arc and his friends grab onto the ship and hoist themselves up onto it’s much smaller deck. Arc points to the cabin.

“Let’s see who our pilot is.”

Frank sighs. “Or was, as I suppose the case may be.”

Ember nods as they head for the cabin. “Yeah, if they’re lucky.”

Reaching the door Arc grips the handle. Touching it the wooden door falls off its hinges. Shrugging, he enters first. Looking around the ruins of the ship’s Bridge Ember calls out.

“Over there!”

She points to a pile of debris near what’s left of the wheel. The tip of a cloak sticks out from underneath. Running over they quickly dig the pilot out. Arc puts a hand to the griffon’s throat, searching for a pulse.

“He’s alive!”

Frank gasps. “What?! How?!”

Ember pulls back a corner of the rebel’s cloak and points to a large chunk of wood sticking out of his chest.

“Not for long he isn’t.”

Arc touches his earring. “Medical emergency! Send Redheart to the deck!”

“Yes sir.”

Pulling the guardanium knife from his ring Arc hurriedly slices the robe, removes it, and starts cutting it into pieces.

“Press these against the wound! We have to slow the bleeding!”

Ember and Frank do as they are told as the griffon opens one eye. He looks up at Arc weakly.

“Who… are you?”

“Lord Arc of Equestria. Don’t try to talk.”

The griffon coughs up a beakful of blood and struggles to breathe.

“I’m… s-sorry.”

Ember glares at him. “Save your strength, scum. It’s more than your worth, but Lord Arc has a medic coming.”

With a shaky talon the griffon points to a corner. He looks into Arc’s eyes, pleadingly.

“L…lug.”

Frank frowns. “A what?”

The griffon gasps and passes out as the sound of hoofbeats running across the deck can be heard. Redheart and Wrangler hurry onto the Bridge with a stretcher. She quickly pulls out a stethoscope and listens for a moment before sighing and stepping back.

“He’s dead, sir.”

Ember gasps. “What?! But… but he was just talking to us!”

Frank sighs. “Considering the blood loss, he was most likely running on spirit alone.”

Arc stands. “Take him to the Infirmary. We’ll transport his body to Griffonstone.”

Wrangler nods soberly. “Aye, sir.”

She and Redheart load the dead griffon onto the stretcher and leave. Ember turns to Arc.

“What about the ship?”

Frank looks out over the water. “Given the circumstances, it may be appropriate to bury it at sea.”

Arc shakes his head. “No, we’ll take it with us as well. The Griffon Kingdom’s authorities may want to look it over.”

Ember scoffs. “Not likely.”

Frank raises an eyebrow. “Ember?”

“You don’t know the griffon’s like Arc and I do! They don’t care about ANYTHING that isn’t staring them directly in the face!”

Arc sighs. “Sadly, I have to agree. But since this involves the rebels, they might actually want to search the ship.”

He turns back to the spot the griffon was taken from.

“Lug…”

Ember frowns. “He probably wanted us to pull that thing out of his chest. I can only imagine how much it hurt.”

Frank nods. “Agreed.”

Arc turns to the corner the griffon pointed to. He walks over to it and looks around. Ember watches him intently.

“Looking for something?”

Arc: He was pointing over here for some reason.

Frank puts a hand to his chin. “Something about a ‘lug’. Could he have meant some kind of nut and bolt? Like a wheel lug?”

Ember shrugs. “Or maybe he wanted us to ‘lug’ him over there.”

“Lug… lug…”

Arc begins digging through a pile of rubble.

“I got it!”

He holds up a loosely bound book. Frank appears confused.

“That’s a ‘lug’?”

Ember eyes the book. “Maybe that words means something different here.”

Arc shakes his head. “No. He didn’t say ‘lug’. He actually said ‘log’. This must be his ship’s logbook. Let’s see if there’s anything of use in here.”

Ember sighs. “I think it’s a waste of time, Arc. That griffon was nothing but a murderous rebel who wanted to take us out.”

Frank frowns. “If Arc believes otherwise we’d do well to listen to him.”

Arc opens the book quickly as he scans the pages.

“Not much of note here. This was a small cargo ship that transported goods from Griffon’s Gate to Griffonstone. Looks like he wasn’t doing too well from the scarcity of his contracts.”

Ember rolls her eyes. “So he thought attacking you would fix his problems?”

“Yes.”

Frank raises an eyebrow. “I beg your pardon.”

“This is the final entry…”

Arc clears his throat and begins to read.

“Work is scarce and my debts are great. I now have no choice but to take jobs from the rebels. While I am certain that if I’m found out I’ll be executed. However, no other options exist save for this. The Griffon Liberation Army paid my debts and freed me from my creditors. However, now I am a slave to them. A message came to me earlier with orders to overtake and destroy a ship from Equestria that will be coming soon from the west… by any means necessary. I was told that if I would do this, they would consider my debt repaid. My ship has no weapons or other armaments, so I have few options… save for one.

If anyone should find this, please see to it that these words as passed on to whomever will listen. The Griffon Liberation Army is nothing but opportunists whom prey on the most vulnerable and destitute among us. I only wish someone would free us from their tyranny. However no one exists with both the authority and desire to do so.

My last hope is that my sacrifice will be a fresh start for my family… whom may one day be better off than I.”

Arc closes the log and sighs.

“He… just wanted a better life. And we ended it.”

Ember clenches her fists, angrily. “We didn’t! The rebels did!”

Frank purses his lips as he turns to Arc. “Yes. You did nothing but protect your ship along with its crew, my friend.”

Arc looks down at the log. “All I can do now it pass this on to the authorities.”

His earring chirps as Lemon Hearts’ voice rings out.

“Sir, Moon Dancer just picked up another ship incoming.”

“Are they friend or foe?”

Moon Dancer frowns as she looks over her console. “It appears to be a military ship.”

Frank sighs as he looks at the ruined civilian craft. “This won’t look good.”

Ember turns to Arc. “We can throw the remains of this cargo ship overboard!”

Arc sighs. “True. But if they see us do it, we’ll look like the guilty party.”

“So what are we going to do then?!”

“Wait for them to come to us.”

Frank grits his teeth. “But we’re in the middle of nowhere. How do we know they won’t just destroy us to avenge their countryman?”

“Wrangler, do you believe our ship to be more powerful than theirs?”

“Yes sir. Even without the ORB system, our armor is thick enough to hold out against their cannons for an extended period of time.”

Tight Ship nods. “Your orders, sir?”

“Hold position here, but keep the ship on high alert in case this is a trap.”

“Yes sir. I’ll have everypony at their stations ready to take action.”

“Good. Arc out.”

He severs the connection and motions for the others to follow him. They leave the ruined ship and return to The Equinox’s deck with the log. Ember and Arc call forth their armor.

“You should probably head inside, Frank.”

Ember nods. “Yeah. This might get ugly fast.”

“Very well. I’ll head to the Infirmary and watch over the prisoner.”

“Thanks. We’ll meet you there soon.”

Frank hobbles inside the ship and closes the hatch behind him. Ember turns to Arc.

“What now?”

Arc folds his arms over his chest. “We wait.”

A short time later the military ship lands on the shore. Several griffon soldier take flight and head straight for The Equinox. They land in front of the pair as their leader steps forward. He is much larger than his companions.

“Lord Arc, I presume?”

“You presume correctly… whomever you are.”

“Lieutenant Gaston.”

Arc nods soberly. “What brings you out here, lieutenant?”

“We’re responding to a distress call.”

He looks over to the cargo ship behind them.

“It would appear we were too late. But might I ask what you’re doing with this vessel?”

“We pulled it out of the water. After it crashed into us, that is.”

Gaston looks at the vessel, skeptically. “Is that why you’re ship is floating here?”

“No. The Equinox was undamaged. I ordered my crew to land so we could search for survivors.”

“Very… noble of you, sir. Did you find any?”

“The pilot died moments after we found him. His body has been transferred to my ship’s Infirmary.”

“Did he confess as to why he attacked you?”

Arc holds out the ship’s log. “No. But we found this in the wreckage. Read the last page.”

Lieutenant Gaston takes the book and reads the entry. Shaking his head he looks up to Arc.

“I suggest you put this matter out of your mind, sir. The pilot was clearly a traitor to the Griffon Kingdom.”

Ember frowns. “What?! But he said the rebels blackmailed him!”

Gaston rolls his eyes. “Obviously a ruse on his part.”

The griffon turns and throws the log overboard. Arc grabs it with his magic and pulls it back to himself.

“That may be. However I’m not so sure.”

“But sir, you’re holding his confession of working with known enemies of the state. What more proof do you need that he could not be trusted?”

Arc puts the log in his ring. “I will discuss that with your superior.”

Gaston walks over to Arc and folds his talons over his chest smugly.

“I am the highest ranking official here. If you’d like to say anything to me regarding this matter, you can speak up now.”

Arc nods. “A question. Are you the king of Griffonstone?”

Gaston appears confused. “Well… no. But what does that have to do with…?”

Without warning, Arc grabs the lieutenant by the front of his armor and pulls him to within inches of his face.

“THEN YOU HAVE A SUPERIOR, FOOL!”

He pushes the griffon back into his soldiers. They catch him and move to defensive positions as Gaston angrily clenches his talons.

“Very well! However we will be taking this cargo ship with us!”

“You will do no such thing!”

Gaston looks down his beak at Arc. “We are within the Griffon Kingdom’s borders! You WILL comply with my orders or have your entire ship seized along with your crew!”

“This ship is the property of Equestria, making it an extension of our land under the treaty your king signed! You are under MY jurisdiction!”

Arc pulls the guardanium knife from his ring and lights one of his Magic Blades as he takes up a battle-ready stance as he continues.

“Should you fail to follow MY orders, I am fully ready and able to defend MY ship!”

The griffons appear unnerved at the sight of Lord Gestal’s blade in Arc’s gauntlet. Gaston gasps.

“That blade has the insignia of the Gestal household! Where did you…?!”

“A gift from Lord Gestal in return for saving his daughter, Lady Ashe! Now then, either leave now or I’ll regrettably have to inform him of how you and your soldiers met your end before me!”

Gaston frowns as he weighs his options.

“We will leave. However I must insist that you proceed to The Aviary at once.”

Arc nods. “That was my destination.”

“Very well. I shall inform the Council of Lords of your imminent arrival.”

“Good.”

Arc turns to Ember.

“See? This one CAN be reasonable.”

Ember laughs. “With the proper motivation, Lord Arc.”

Gaston turns to his troops

“Return to the ship. We’re pulling out.”

He looks to Arc as his soldiers fly away.

“This is not over… Lord Arc!”

“I agree. Now begone.”

Gaston flaps his wings and departs. A few moments later they reach their own ship, take off, and fly away. Arc motions for Ember to follow him inside the ship. She turns to him as they enter.

“That went well.”

“I’d say so. No one was hurt, and we have an officer notifying the Council of Lords of our arrival.”

Ember appears confused. “Uh… isn’t that part bad?”

“Not really. I still didn’t know how to explain my initial visit.”

Ember rolls her eyes. “Right. You’re just lucky the treaty gave our ship immunity.”

Arc turns to her with a mischievous smile. “Does it?”

“Wait, what?”

Arc shrugs. “I honestly have no idea if it does or not.”

“You mean…?”

“Yup. I was blowing smoke.”

“But what if he HAD known what the treaty said?!”

“Gaston’s just a lieutenant. I doubt anyone other than the king and council actually know what’s in it.”

Arc touches his earring.

“Take off at once, captain. Set a course for The Aviary.”

“Yes sir.”

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Ah, Military Politics.

The left hand does not know what the right rump is doing.

[Ghost Alvasa]

Hmmm...