• Published 12th Mar 2013
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Semper Pie - deathtap



Meet Pinkie's long lost (more like forgotten) brother: Semper Pie.

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Mission 2, Part 13: The Desperate Escape

Wish glared at the maps in front of her. She could make out the red dots that marked other griffin airships in the distance. While the battle for the Heldenhaft was drawing to a close, her captain had enough sense to forsake his griffin pride and managed to send fire out the distress beacon in the final moments of the conflict before the bridge was taken. The ball of condensed magic seared into the night sky and a exploded in a bright red light over the airship. It might have been ignored if it weren't for two things: the anomaly in the chaotic clouds, which made it very, very visible, and the fact that the numerous conflicts that had already taken place on the Eleonora's deck had most probably attracted the attention of every living being that could see her. She had Blood to thank for that. His orders of turning on the massive searchlights would have given away their position.

But she had the Guard to thank for when it came to the overall damage done to the ship. The Eleonora could take a lot of punishment, even a gaping hole in the lowest decks. A testament to the builders who created such a sturdy vessel and its wondrous design.

As soon as the distress signal's light faded, every griffin airship maneuvered towards their bearing. They knew that they stood a chance against the hurt Eleonora. The damage on the deck could be seen for miles away and if they could get to her before she slipped into the chaos then the ship would get away. No sane airship captain would willfully navigate through those clouds. Flying over it was an option, but the winds made that a dangerous venture as well. There were sporadic patrols on both the equestrian and griffin sides of the border, but both sides knew that should an attack come, it would never be through here. History had told of an attempt many centuries before, only a few ships made it through. Not enough to cause a threat and the entire event became a footnote in Equestrian history. However, griffin propaganda told a different tale of how an Equestrian witch had wiped out the entire force, or some such nonsense, with her evil pony army.

"What's the status of that airship!" Wish shouted again making the pirate captain flinch.

"Almost ready, sir. The reactor is ours and the prisoners are being transferred there as we speak," came the response along the custom made communication tube from the newly captured Heldenhaft. It was laid along one of the ropes that now fastened the Heldenhaft to the front of the Eleonora, the airship hovering at a slightly higher altitude than the Lipizzan, who was now floating downwards with its cargo of capture prisoners.

Wish did not recognized the voice, but the deep threatening manner of his discourse betrayed the fact that this particular pony was a Watu. The Watu were masters of taking prisoner and before they were told to, they had organized and made a place in one of the cells to accommodate the newcomers. The Eleonora had never been attacked before, but that was of no concern to her. They had more than enough space and the Eleonora could probably accommodate every single being of the entire griffin fleet that was now most probably heading towards them at full speed.

"What's the status of the lower hull?" Wish asked.

This time the voice that replied came from one of the tubes against the wall.

"Damages are closed for the most part. The dogs are helping us with the bilge pumps to get the water out, and the rest we've formed a bucket-line to the nearest port window. It's going to take time! We need more hooves!" The lack of decorum and the words used made it evident that the voice was from a pony that was part of the pirate captain's crew. "Or we need more time!"

"Well, you've got a few hours at the most before they start firing at us. Any pony, wolf or other creature that is able is to head down to the lower decks and assist in this endeavor. If they want to get out of this alive, they're going to have to pull their own weight!" Wish exclaimed. She then muttered to herself. Where was her bosun, and why wasn't she down in the lower holds overseeing this? She made a mental note to confront Nautical about this later. "Is there anything else we can do?"

"There is," came a voice from behind.

At once everything stopped. All commotion froze and turned to the speaker of the voice.

It was the Guard and he stood there in his full armor with the Watu commander to his left and the Alpha of Alphas on the his right. How could enemies like that stand so close to each other so soon without threatening to rip one another apart? Mere hours before they were tearing one another apart, how had they put that behind them? Sure the excuse that the Watu were following orders was valid, but a lot of dogs died at their hooves. Could the dogs really forgive and forget so quickly? She glanced at a dog who was bent in half licking himself without shame. It looked up, seemed to remember where he was, and stood at attention as if nothing happened. That seemed to satisfy her question quite nicely.

"And that is?" Wish prompted when the silence was not broken.

The Guard walked towards the front of the flag bridge where several maps had been hung pinpointing the Eleonora's position on the seas and other things of note. A crude drawing of the anomaly that surrounded them was on one of the maps while others showed air currents and positions of various pegasi hidden in the calmer areas of the clouds. He then walked over to the main Command Table where three unicorns were using their magic to power the manna generator that created a three-dimensional map of the area. It used a combination of light and mirrors that reflected, refracted around the table giving a pretty detailed picture of the situation around them. Of course, all the inputs were given by word of mouth and the positions were mere approximations of their actual location, but it was the closest thing they had to a visual representation of what was outside.

"Do the main cannons work?"

"Y-yes, they are," Wish replied, the sudden question catching her off guard. "The rear cannons are working. The ones at the front have damages to the turning mechanism from..." Wish trailed off. It was from his fight with Blood when they had apparently hurled cannonballs against one another. How had two ponies caused so much damage was beyond her? The fact that this stallion also was rumored have single-hoovedly killed a dragon was also screaming at her from the back of her mind. Was it true?

"Can we repair the front guns?"

"No. We need to replace some of the machine parts. It would take too long to fabricate them on the ship. That is if we get enough iron or metal to do so... and then there's the mold. We don't have one."

The guard kept looking at the Command Table and seemed to gaze hard at the griffin ships closing in on them.

"They'll be within range of our cannons in less than an hour. With their elevation, they'll be within range at the same time about. They are forming a firing line. With that many ships... I don't know if the Eleonora can sustain more than a couple salvos. They've already calculated the most optimal height to cause significant damage without destroying the lower hulls. They mean to take the ship. They're going to try and cripple her before boarding."

"That will not happen," the Guard stated. "They know they cannot take this ship. They will sink her."

Wish narrowed her eyes. "How can you be so sure?"

"That's what I would do."

"Just because you would do it doesn't mean that they will." Wish's reply was through gritted teeth. "How can you be so sure? You could be right, but what stops them from crippling us for my reasoning? This ship is worth its weight in gold. Was taking the Heldenhaft worthless too? Were those lives wasted? We could've used every single one of those Watu sent up there to repel these boarders! They have the ships and crew to do so."

Deep inside, Wish regretted speaking out like that. She also knew that she wasn't making sense. There were too many holes in her logic. The Heldenhaft had to be taken. It was firing on the Eleonora and would have continued its relentless bombardment if they hadn't taken her. The extra damage to the Eleonora might have been much worse, not to mention the potential loss of more lives in the process. That would have only prolonged an inevitable defeat as they would eventually have been overwhelmed. In retrospect, the griffin airship attacking them was a blessing in disguise. She looked at the Guard and wondered if she had spoken out of place. He was the leader, captain, general of the Eleonora now. Not a single being on that ship would argue against a pony that killed Blood, let alone a dragon. He managed to cause enough chaos and confusion to take out the owner and the strongest Watu on the ship within a span of a few hours. Perhaps what he said was true. Would the griffins really be able to take this ship from him?

Of course they could. What was she thinking? There was no way the Guard could have fought against numerous waves on his own. Could he?

Again she looked at the figure and felt a cold shudder run down her spine. Deep inside her heart she knew that, despite common sense, despite all that was logical, despite all that she knew, something told her quite earnestly that it would take a lot more than a few waves of griffins to take on the Guard with a strong contingent of blind, unquestioning Watu and vicious canines at his complete disposal. She felt safe and in constant danger around him.

"They will sink her."

And with that the matter was closed. The Eleonora was now in danger of being sunk by the griffins.

"Then what will we do? We fire at them?" Wish asked.

"If you do that, you'll be killing innocent unicorns!" a voice shouted through the communication tube from the Heldenhaft. "They are using them like batteries, ma'am-" there was a minor commotion and some whispering before the speaker's voice returned. "Sorry, sir."

Wish felt her lips twitch into a small smile, but the mention of unicorns bothered her. "Explain."

After a few minutes, Wish felt something in her gut grow tight. She had fired on griffin ships before. She had never known.

"Well," a voice suddenly stated in the silence. All eyes fell upon the pirate captain. "Looks like we're in a bit of a bind. Looks like I've got to go do what I've got to go do."

Wish looked at him. "What do you have to go do?"

The pirate captain grinned. "Until the ship is ready to move, the griffins need somebody to play with. Right, Guard?"

"Correct."

"And I'm the best and only captain capable of pulling off such a stunt, right? Especially now that the Heldenhaft is kinda busy doing other things, right?"

"Correct."

The pirate captain laughed. "Well, look at me! Here I've found the mare of my dreams, and I have to leave her so soon to do a favor for a Guard whom, for some reason, I feel I owe everything to! Well, I can't let those griffins sink the Eleonora. I can't risk losing you."

His eyes fastened themselves on Wish and the mare felt her heart jump. A medley of feelings coursed through her veins, but for the first time in ages she felt selfish and took a step forward and said, "I don't want you to go."

That stunned herself as much as it did the crew and the Watu. Only the pirate captain and those of his crew who happened to be there seemed unfazed by her outburst. The captain walked over to her and touched her cheek gently with his hoof. "You worried about lil' ol' me?"

She couldn't respond and felt her cheeks burn, but she didn't want to push his hoof away. She didn't want him to go. She looked back at him only to find his lips on hers. She didn't push back, she let it happen. She didn't care, because deep down she understood. Understood the sad, sick truth.

A balloon airship going out there to fight manna airships, which were at least twice the Lipizzan's size and had three times the firepower or more meant only one thing. Suicide. And Wish knew that no matter what she said, this rogue would go. He would go, not because of his own personal gain, nor his allegiance to the Guard, he would go because of her. He was going for her, and she felt a mixture of pride and nausea because of it.

"Do... do you really have to go?"

He smiled. "Yes. I lost you once, I won't do it again."

Her heart sank. She knew that as soon as he left the flag bridge, as soon as he boarded that airship, he would be gone. Forever. She did not know why she felt the way she did. She couldn't make any sense of it, but all she could think of was how she could not let him go. It was as if in all of Equestria, in all the world, he was made to be her perfect match. She couldn't explain it and it hurt her heart and brain trying to puzzle it out.

"Captain," The Guard stated still gazing at the Command Table.

"Y-yes?" Wish replied forcing her body to look away from the stallion who was walking out the door.

"You're to get the ship moving towards the nearest part of the anomaly. The wind and rains will provide us with cover and give us a chance to hide. You will use the Heldenhaft to tow her. That will buy us some time for repairs." The Guard walked past her. "When the ship is ready, you will make for our destination. Understood?"

Wish saluted, mostly out of reflex. Such was the overwhelming authority of the Guard, she didn't notice until he had left the bridge with the pirate captain. It was after that when she felt an overwhelming sense of loss, the empty feeling gnawing at her insides. She closed her eyes and swallowed the feeling down. She had a mission to do, and orders to follow. She closed her eyes, took a breath, and when she opened them again she, her eyes were fixed on the charts in front of her.

She wasn't going to let her captain's death be in vain.

Funnily enough, she never got his name. She knew it at one point, cursed it, loathed it, hated it, but now that she had forgotten, she wished that it would come back to her. In a way, she was glad. Glad she didn't remember.


The Lipizzan had been resting on the Eleonora's deck and was now floating upwards. The large custom sail that had once held the airship was now securely fastened to the Heldenhaft. The manna airship had moved to the south and tilted itself to face a east by southeasterly direction, catching a good gust that helped pull the massive ship along. Despite all the sheets of cloth filling with air, the monolithic vessel moved with an excruciatingly slow speed. That was to be expected. Even at maximum speed, the large vessel would never be able to outrun the airships.

The pirate captain paced the the upper deck and watched those who had joined his crew. He was surprised by the number that volunteered. True, some of his own crew did not make it to the initial attack, nor the subsequent conflicts in between, but many of the same ponies and other creatures that had fought viciously against him were now eagerly aboard his ship ready to serve as if they were going on some recreational voyage around a cape. He had already told what was left of his normal crew that happened to join him to teach the others the ropes as best they could, but he had his orders.

Orders. The word made him shake his head. Since when had he ever taken orders?

It was strange, the way that the Guard spoke to him was almost as if he knew him. The Guard understood that he loathed seeing ponies kill one another for any reason, only taking life when he had to. But the prisoners on the griffin airships, the unicorns trapped inside those reactor rooms, bothered him. He knew what was expected of him, for the Guard had assigned all the pegasi that were still able to fly to him. So many of them, perhaps the entire remainder of their forces, hidden in the gun deck.

A smiled spread across his lips.

"What's so funny, cap'n?" asked Bones.

"Nothing. Just get ready. This is going to be tricky."

"Aye, aye, sir!" the pony grinned. "Turns out that a lot of them Watu really look up to me."

"What's that gotta do with anything, Bones?" The captain replied distractedly as he peered at the closest griffin airship with his spyglass.

"Well, I dunno. Feels real good to be appreciated, y'know sir."

"Uh-huh."

"Well, see, these boys here, well, they're not afraid to die. So, I kinda... relate to them and..."

"No Bones, you can't take part in the boarding party."

"But sir!" Bones whined. "They need me."

"I need you too, Bones. Right here, on this ship."

The captain stopped what he was doing and turned to see Bones looking at him with an expression he never knew he had. In all the years that they've been together, this was the first time he saw the psychotic pony so... normal.

"Nah, cap'n. You don't need me. You've got her now. The Lipizzan, she doesn't need you anymore. Let us take control of the her. We're pirates, sir. We live on the open seas. We're not here because of gold, or whatever. We're here because of you. We're all here because of you. And now that you've finally found whatever it was you're lookin' for... well, I feel just bad dragging you away from it."

"There's to be no more of that nonsense talk, Bones." The captain turned and looked at the Eleonora. "Besides, if we do this right, we're all going to be coming back."

"You mean... this isn't a one-way mission?"

The captain grinned a wide malicious grin. "No. Not at all."

Before Bones could say anything, a pony stepped out and stood next to him, his large plume waving in the breeze.

"Oh. Wow."


Zecora looked at Providence with tears in her eyes. Ever since she had been transferred into the infirmary, she had been screaming and flailing around, so much so that she was had to be strapped down. Two of the Elites had stayed overlooking her progress in silence. Every once in a while Providence would scream and struggle against her bonds before relaxing in what looked like to be a troubled sleep.

"It's starting," one of the Elites said at last. "We best make her comfortable."

"What is happening to her now? How can you sit there and do nothing! How?" Zecora shrieked.

The nearest Elite placed a hoof on the young zebra's shoulder. "The drug is lethal. In small doses we can survive it, but the hallucinations are... extreme."

"Realistic. Like a nightmare," the other Elite pointed out.

"No matter how strong her will is, the narcotic will break her mind and, with it, her sanity."

"B-but you two have faced this pain and have survived. You both are here now, you both lived and thrived."

The Elites looked at one another. "Our minds were exposed to the drug in small doses over months or years. Even then if we don't get our fix... we don't know what will happen to us. Right now most of us are surviving on our last dose, but soon it will go from our systems. I am unsure what will happen to us then. Most of my Elite brethren have gone with the Lipizzan for one last mission. We know that most won't be coming back. That's okay. We've lived outlived our purpose. Ponies like us should not exist."

"Why must you say that? You're living creatures, not a door mat!" Zecora all but shouted.

"We are killers. Our purpose was to make sure that those in charge stayed in charge, but now that they have gone and our connection to the narcotic is also gone, our bodies will be unable to cope with the withdrawal. We've been taking this substance for so long that it's actually come as a relief. We have come to accept our fate. It will kill us, of that we are very sure."

Zecora looked up at Providence and wiped away the sweat forming under her mane. "Then I will do all I can to support my friend. I will toil away and her mind I will mend."

"You better hurry. The drug is starting to do its work," The Elite stated pointing to Providence's Cutie Mark. "See, her mane is starting to fade."

Sure enough, her bright multi-toned mane was starting to fade away, the color slowly being sucked from it as the light faded from the tip down to the root. It was agonizingly slow, but noticeable.

"Her body will not survive the next part of the drug's side-effect."

"What will happen next? Tell me, even if it will leave me vexed."

The first Elite looked at the other and both nodded. "Her body will regress. This phase involves her body's muscles to rapidly regenerate. It is extremely painful. Most ponies die of a heart attack. My brother did. Or at least I think he was my brother, I can't remember anymore. I put him out of his misery as a favor. Best thing I've ever done for anyone."

"I cannot allow my friend to die. Will you help me save her, or at least try?"

There was a long silence. "Very well. Then you have to slow her metabolism. Slow her body's reaction to the drug until it works its way through her system. It could take months of even years, but that's the only way to save her. I know of concoctions that have been given before to those who wished to wean themselves off the narcotic, but that recipe was lost with Blood. None know of it. Or none that we know."

"If I find the formula to make this brew, will you drink of it too?" Zecora asked.

The Elites both smiled and nodded. "Of course. We will do anything to help you save us and your friend."

"Then during this impending doom, you must take me to Blood's room." Zecora stood up and put on a small satchel.

"Come with me. Omen will stay with your friend," one of the Elites stated. Then smiled when she saw Zecora's face. "Sorry, I don't know her real name, and neither does she. She can't speak either. But come, let's not delay!"


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