The Detective Turned Smuggler

by Lamasioux

Chapter 16

April 2, 1010

Thirty minutes had passed and the Equestrian ships that had been racing towards the deer had banked in a 180 circle towards the starboard side of the Sammakko so they perfectly lined up with her from behind. The execution of the maneuver would have scored a perfect 10/10 in Equestria Games. They would have though but one destroyer decided to rush pass and get a mile lead on the Sammakko, ruining the perfect choreographed act.

The Equestrians had sent a message about how they would follow the now leading Destroyer into the port of Las Pegasus while the other three followed from behind before the execution of the dance.

Now that the trail of boats made their way further into the Pegasi Gulf, the one Equestrian heavy cruiser that trailed the whole convoy from behind launched a boat from her side with a dozen or so ponies on it. It would be able to rush past the convoy of boats due to the Sammakko keeping them all at a slower pace.

The crew of the Sammakko was paying close attention to what was happening during this time and already knew what was happening and had gotten a team prepared to bring in whatever important pony the Equestrians decided to send their way. The deer were ahead of the game though when the radio and morse code message came in asking them to prepare for the incoming boarding team.

Carroll was too busy relaying confirmation of those actions back to the three boats behind them, not being particular on who ended up receiving them as all three Eques boats were in view of his morse signal.

A team of deer were quickly making do with preparing the starboard side of the boat with a rope ladder for when the approaching boat could unload its pony friends. The rope for the rope ladder had been left behind in the event of any overboard passengers that were lucky enough to be rescued despite Queen Velvet’s escape.

The Equestrian boat finally neared the Sammakko, coming in from an angle towards the deployed rope ladder. A few more deer had made their way to the boarding area, including Lauri, who was readying himself to meet the Admiral that he had been told would be coming to board them, along with a few guards and other somewhat important Equestrian navy personnel. Queen Velvet and Torsti were absent from the meeting party as they were told to wait until ordered to come out, for security reasons. Torsti, as well as two other deer waited with Velvet, armed with hidden pistols, for safety.

A Lauri and a few deer watched over the edge of the ship, down the ladder at the ponies as they carefully maneuvered about as they followed along the side of the Sammakko. It was a lot messier than the maneuver done with the big ships due to how dangerous it was for the ponies to board, one wrong slip and they could potentially fall between their own boat and the Sammakko.

Well not for one pony that lifted themselves out of the boat before any of the other ponies were coming up and flew their way up to the meeting zone that had autonomously been decided and landed before the crew.

The lone pegasi looked a bit scared after putting themselves before the eying deer, but they presented themselves with a quick salute to the deer before them before saying in Equestrian accented Olenian, “Seaman Cynebald of the Equestrian Navy. I’ll be translating for y’all today.”

With that he put his hoof down and quickly looked over the edge of the Sammakko at his own crew, where he quickly realized, he would need to help one of the ponies that had already climbed up in the time he had been there. There were a few other ponies who were at the top, who were helped by the deer and after a quick few nods between the ponies and deer for the help and first time meeting.

Cynebald didn’t translate or say anything else as none of the ponies who had joined them at the top said anything directly towards him or the deer, nor did the deer to the ponies. It was a kind of awkward few seconds before one pony looked over the edge and shouted something down to the rest below.

After a second, another pegasi flew up and joined the rest of the ponies above, but this time, they also gave a salute to the deer before quickly turning to Cynebald and speaking to him.

During this moment, Carroll joined the group and was listening in to what was being said but he never got a chance to translate anything as Cynebald quickly spoke out once the other deer finished.

Cynebald pointed a hoof at the other pegasi and said, “This here is Admiral Hoover of the Los Pegasus Port Navy. They will directly be checking out your ship as well as meeting with Queen Velvet to confirm she is in fact here. If everything checks out, you will be allowed to continue into the Las Pegasus harbor where you will be met with Equestria military command upon docking.”

Admiral Hoover looked about the group of deer who were on the deck as Cynebald translated for him but quickly spoke to him again once he finished. Cynebald was quick to translate again.

“Admiral Hoover has asked if Queen Velvet is here. She seems to be missing from the group. Admiral Hoover says he knows what she looks like from photographs.”

Lauri quickly walked up to Admiral Hoover and gave him a salute before turning to Cynebald and saying, “Admiral Lauri of the Olenian Navy. I’m the one here in charge of this ship, the Sammakko, and don’t worry, yes, we have Queen Velvet.” Lauri paused and turned towards another deer on the deck and said to them, “Go get Velvet and have her come out. We are fine to meet on the deck.”

The deer Lauri spoke to nodded and quickly left to go fetch Velvet, who was waiting inside the ship not too far away. While that happened, Cynebald translated what Lauri had said to Admiral Hoover.

During that time, one more pony joined the group atop before the boat below pulled away and kept its distance from the Sammakko. There were now five ponies on the Sammakko.

After a few more greetings between Lauri and Hoover, Lauri waved off the extra deer so they were out of the way just in time for Velvet to arrive.

Torsti and the other two deer with her stayed close by but let Velvet meet with the ponies.

Velvet gave a smile to all the ponies, giving them all a simple greeting in Equestrian, she only knew the basics of the basics for now and would still require a translator.

Despite Velvet giving her greetings and having a minute or so pass now for the ponies meeting her, they were still visibly shocked that she was in fact Queen Velvet.

Velvet then spoke in Olenian to the ponies, speaking for longer than she should have with a translator being the barrier of communication.

“I am Velvet, Queen of Olenia, and I thank you for giving us the chance to become refugees within Equestria. As you know, we as Olenians would have nowhere else to run to for asylum due to our country being overrun by Changeling forces, that is if you knew that had happened. Due to my country wanting to preserve Olenia itself, they have sent me with this crew to you in hopes that you take us in. We know the risk you take in doing this, but we wish that only the best outcome happens from this, letting my secret escape into Equestria stay secret and for the well being of your nation because of it. But no matter the outcome, I thank you for giving us the chance once again.”

Cynebald translated to the best of his abilities for the other ponies and Admiral Hoover. Even though he wasn’t a daily speaker of Olenian, he was able to convey Velvet's emotions through words better than he thought.

Hoover quickly responded to Cynebald and after speaking, Cynebald translated his message.

“Despite the setting, it is more than a simple gift to meet you, Queen Velvet. I have sent word to my command and they will allow you into Equestria to meet with Celestial, that at least being a confirmed deal of order once we make sure you are Olenians.” Cynebald stopped for a second but Hoover spoke once again, letting Cynebald translate once again.

“We’ll need to inspect the whole ship before we get to Las Pegasus though, you’ll also all have to be inspected with magic once you’re brought into port by our security to make sure no one is a changeling. We’ll also have more crew come aboard to watch over any ship weapons to ensure they aren’t used. This is all required as we still need to uphold national security.”

Velvet quickly spoke out once the opportunity came about.

“National security or not, just you giving us this opportunity is more than you should have to even do.”

Lauri took the opportunity after Velvet’s message was translated and said, “I won’t hinder you from inspecting the ship then Admiral. She is quite damaged though so you’ll need to avoid any deer working on her during your inspection. We’re not at port yet, but once we are, I give you full authority to inspect every crew member, me and Velvet for the chance of being Changelings”

All was translated well and Admiral Hoover spoke to a few of the other ponies before one turned and waved out at the boat they were brought on. There still remained a few more ponies on it. The boat began to make its way back closer to the Sammakko, where it unloaded a few more ponies onto the rope ladder where the ponies above helped them up once they reached the top.

Admiral Hoover was translated again, “Well, I don’t want to keep Velvet out on the deck. You seem to be protective of her, with her wearing a lifejacket, so we’ll get on with the inspection. We do ask that you come with us Admiral Lauri, that way we can get into every part of the ship.”

Velvet and her guards gave their goodbyes and thanks again to the ponies before going back into the ship, leaving Lauri and a few other deer with the group. They didn’t waste any time though as Lauri sent off the remaining deer besides Carroll, who he kept with him as a extra translator and started following Admiral Hoover around as he did the inspection. Lauri also provided answers to any questions that might of been brought up or shown them whatever they needed.

The inspection took a bit of time as they toured the entirety of the Sammakko, even running into Queen Velvet again where there was a moment of conversation between the Admirals and Velvet before the tour continued.

The tour would eventually come to a end, where Admiral Hoover stood with Lauri near the bridge where Hoover explained what would happen through the translators.

“Me and Cynebald will be leaving, but the rest of my crew here will be staying to ensure your ship's weaponry isn't used. You have your radio operator and Carroll to translate if you or they need. We will continue to message you as we get closer to Las Pegasus through radio and morse code. At the current speed, we should expect to arrive at Las Pegasus’ Port by 04:00, two days from now, on the 4th. Besides that, I along with my Fleet welcome you to Equestria.”

The greetings between them would finally end and Cynebald and Admiral Hoover would leave behind the non-pegasi pony as they took off and flew over to the boat that brought them, where they landed. After a few seconds, the boat turned around and headed back down the column of boats towards the heavy cruiser it came from.

Lauri then took the ponies they had left to the two remaining weapons, the single AA gun and 105mm turret. After all was settled with them, Lauri would take a moment's break in one of the hallways where he emptied his lungs to relieve himself of stress, before finally breaking out in laughter before finishing off with a big smile on his face as he looked at Carroll, who was still with him.

“We fucking did it.”

Comments

[Lamasioux]

i need to complete this story cuz i want to work on another one
no clue how fast that'll be with completing this one but my plan if i do it, is to write this other story in it's entiretly and then release it, but that's enough for false promises that i'm not even guaranteeing will happen

[shining paladin]

awesome chapter mate keep it up cant wait for the next chapter