Mission 2, Part 14: Broken
The captain spun the Lipizzan's wheel around as hard as he could bringing the ship into a sharp turn trying to get the ship to squeeze through a gap in the clouds. He knew his ship; knew just how to turn her to fit even in the tightest places, knew just how much clearing he had below her and above the balloon. Years of experience had taught him and the lives of every pony aboard were under his care. Granted, he wasn't the best. No, that title was Sunny's and Sunny's alone. She could move the Lipizzan as if the ship were a part of her.
A flash of yellow streaked across the sky and he saw Sunny lying lifeless in his arms, her body kept falling in front of him as he closed his eyes, the bolts ending her life as they embedded themselves deep into her. He watched and remembered the life ebbing from her eyes realizing that although he did not love her the way he used, he still loved her dearly. Where once they had been lovers, he looked to her more like a sister towards the end. And, considering their age, she was the mother of the crew. Her loss was much too heavy.
As the light from the lightning faded, he clenched his lower jaw and wheeled the Lipizzan in the opposite direction. The gap was too narrow there. The shadows were being deceptive, but he knew he shouldn't complain. This was not the time to reminisce; he was right in the middle of perhaps the worst situation possible. They were in a pocket of space in a prison of those violent clouds.
Another strike of lightning licked across the underside of the clouds that had formed a ceiling above him bathing the entire night sky in a white-yellow ghostly ambiance. He noticed something stretching out in front of the ship, a part of the muddled sky that was not gleaming with the flash of light and narrowed his eyes against the practically unseen obstacle. Like a tendril of death, it seemed to be reaching out towards the ship.
Without any pause, he released the wheel and snapped towards the ropes nearest to him and pulled with all his might. Whatever was left of the sails unfurled themselves and filled with the wind causing the Lipizzan to suddenly lurch upwards as the ship suddenly accelerated faster than the balloon above. The ship ‘hopped’ over the cloud, like a hurdler over its obstacle, the very base of the ship grinding against the cloud like it would against a reef. The ropes holding the balloon creaked and groaned in protest as the ship leveled out as it fell back to its original position as it took mere moments for the ship to catch up with the balloon to catch up with the sudden slack, but the gamble had paid off. The Lipizzan managed to lift herself over the tentacle of doom, but the bit of the hull that scraped against the cloud had torn a hole in the ship’s side. The captain could feel it pulling against the rudder. This wasn’t the first time this had happened, so the captain naturally compensated for the sudden increase of drag on the port side.
As if feeling his ship's pain, the captain pushed the wheel forward making her descend sharply. Again, the momentum helped lift the ship a precious few feet and the hull cleared what remained of the cloud, but one of the ropes snapped bringing his attention to the bow of the ship, the balloon turning upwards slightly in that spot. The captain leaned himself back onto his hind legs. into the upturning portion of the ship to avoid falling forwards. His expression was a mixture of determination and acceptance. Fear was there, but he had no time to be scared. One wrong move and it would all be over.
Another flash and another tree of lightning stretched across the heavens and the captain spotted another gap between two large clouds. He knew that above him had formed an impenetrable ceiling. None could pass through that, not even the manna airships of the griffins. He had seen three griffin airships enter the clouds around him, each one exiting the cloud in ruins. In the brief moment before the ships descended below the clouds below him, he could make out the significant damages they had taken. One barely was recognizable as a ship, such was the destruction wrought upon it.
A loud thud hit something near him and he peered briefly to see a stray bolt had hit not far from where he stood. Seconds later a griffin and a Watu fell hard onto the Lipizzan’s deck. The griffin struggled to stand, but seemed to give up and lay back down. The Watu stood up, spread its wings and tried to fly, but he only managed to flap his wings once before the pegasus slumped down and moved no more. Whether dead or not, the captain could not tell.
Suddenly he felt himself leave the deck and snap to the far left. He moaned in pain as the rope that attached him to the wheel snapped taught. The ship was in a hard turn. He barely had time to pull the ropes to close the sails and get the ship back under his control before he blacked out from the sudden increase of speed and gravity. Still, the ship was descending and he knew that he had no time to waste to get it back under control. With an effort he thought he no longer had, he pulled himself with one hoof towards the deck and with the other pulled the wheel towards the stern. The ship leveled out and the captain turned it as hard as he could to the right sending the ship port-side.
He was blind and couldn't see. He felt something graze his face and at once knew that he had miscalculated and turned the ship again. The Lipizzan burst out of the cloud, freeing itself from what could have been certain death. He had been lucky. Too lucky. The double-bowline knot that bound him to the wheel had held, the cloud that he had entered was thin and did not have enough magical power to crush him nor the ship.
A snap echoed through the darkness and the captain bit his lip. Another one of the ropes that held the balloon had been severed due to the strain. Granted, he had paid for and inspected every inch of rope that he had aboard the Lipizzan, but no rope, no matter how strong or well-made, was created to withstand this type of weather. The winds seemed to have a life of their own and despised all those that dared traverse through it.
"Bones!" the captain shouted as loud as he could.
"On it!" came the voice from somewhere in front.
Another flash of lightning spread across the sky and a ball of fire burst through the darkness. A griffin airship had taken a direct hit from one of those lightning bolts casting a seemingly blinding light across the looming darkness. Its decks were on fire, and in the flickering illumination of the raging fires, the captain could make out shadows in the empty skies near it. Pegasi and griffins were clashing against one another in deadly aerial combat. It seemed like such a waste from where he stood.
Two flashes from the lower decks made the captain's blood run cold. "l don't believe it," he whispered. "Incoming!"
It was pointless to shout, but he couldn't shake the habit. Nobody was on that ship, they had all got out to attack the griffin manna-powered airships as per their orders. All, save for him, Bones and the Guard.
The Guard. What was he doing? Had he fallen off? Had he been killed?
His thoughts were cut short when one shell exploded not far from the ship making her lurch to the side while the other exploded behind them sending the ship forward making the Lipizzan twist so that the hull was perpendicular to the balloon. That was a bad sign. If the ship could do that, then there were only a few ropes holding the balloon and the vessel together. In any other circumstance, this would have been a reason to abandon ship. Right now, this was the least of their concerns. That was how dire a position they were in. The captain turned the wheel to match the balloon and lessen the burden on the ropes when he saw two more pops of light.
"Incoming!" The captain yelled as a cold shudder traveled up his spine. Something in his gut felt heavy. Final.
Then he heard an explosion from below. That did not seem right. Even with the wind, that was way too fast. The projectile could not have hit them so quickly.
A moment after that thought has past a blinding flash exploded igniting the night sky dangerously close to the balloon. The captain's eyes widened in surprise then even more as he quickly realized what had happened. Someone had fired a cannon from below. Someone had purposely done that and had actually hit the incoming shell in mid-air. It was impossible. The chances of that happening were... astronomical. The other shot had missed, exploding somewhere behind them.
"Unfurl the sails!" came a shout in a voice that cut through the wind like a hot knife through butter.
The captain did not need to be told twice. "Aye, aye!"
Grabbing the mainsheet, the captain uncleated the ropes allowing the ropes to extend to their fullest as what was left of them were filled up with the violent winds almost instantaneously. The Lipizzan was pushed along, the wind’s ferocity seemingly redoubled it was pushed towards the griffin ship. The captain did all he could to maintain control in the wind's influence, but the sails had been shredded too badly. The best he could do was guide the ship roughly. As they drew closer to the griffin ship it seemed that they were on their own. They had lost contact with all the pegasi, save the one that had crashed on the deck.
They were alone.
And it had all started so smoothly too. After leaving the Eleonora, they floated straight up into the night’s clear sky, high above the griffin ships through the anomaly in the chaotic clouds. From what they had learnt, that was where the griffin’s guns and Wallarmbrusts were weakest: above. They approached quickly, and the pegasi all attacked at once, raining down on two griffin airships in two large teams. One had been boarded successfully, the pegasi fighting for the reactor, saving the unicorns inside. All this before an accident had allowed the griffins to retake the bridge and they released the reactor making the ship fall from the sky. The second airsip, seeing that the first had been caught by surprise, tried in vain to fight off the pegasi rush. Although the ship was sunk, the boarding party was unable to save the unicorns within the reactor core and they had watched as the airship plunged into the water exploding into pieces from the impact. If any had survived the impact, the waters would have claimed them.
It was when their forces rallied for an attack against the next griffin ship that everything changed. The anomaly that they had taken for granted suddenly closed, the sudden shift in temperature and winds created a huge void that pulled the Lipizzan down below the cloud line. Perhaps if the captain had his crew aboard, they could have escaped. Alas, the Lipizzan was sucked down and the clouds reformed that impenetrable ceiling above them.
Then, as if to make up for the time it had lost, the clouds began to strike out with vicious bolts of lightning that seemed alive, aiming for the ships it could. This was followed by a curtain of heavy rain that made it practically impossible to see. Yet the clouds did not flood the area where they were in just yet. That allowed them to get away, but the area below was dangerous because of the lightning strikes. They needed to remain in that pocket of air, but it was quite clear this somewhat safety bubble was shrinking.
In the minutes that came after, two more airships had dropped, but as to whether they were from the pegasi boarding parties or from the lightning, it was impossible to tell. All he knew was that he had to keep his ship from being decimated.
And what of the pegasi? Did they retreat to the Eleonora? Did the elements claim their lives? He could not even begin to guess. He did not even know where the Eleonora was. All their plans had been confounded.
Suddenly, as if snapping him out of his reverie, the wind shifted and the ship pulled to starboard. They would come too close, much too close, to the griffin airship. They would be easy picking for the cannons. There was nothing he could do.
Suddenly the guard was on deck and he rushed towards the deck cannon and slipped something inside the muzzle. Then he rushed towards bow and seemed to be doing something to the anchor. He could not tell. Then he rushed back towards the cannon, seemed to pause -- perhaps taking aim, and fired. Something whizzed in the air and the captain instantly understood. It was the grappling hook. He had fired it towards the griffin ship.
"Fool! You'll kill us all!" the captain shouted, but it was too late.
Then the sounds of a chain being thrown overboard cut through the dark. It took a moment, but the captain realized that the anchor and the grappling hook had been sent overboard. What was the guard thinking?
Wish gritted her teeth as the Eleonora shuddered once again from another strike. None could have foreseen it, but they should have expected it. The anomaly that had cleared the sky over them had closed almost as suddenly as it had appeared, and with renewed fury. This endless storm, it seemed, did not take kindly to being altered.
"We're fine, sir," Nautical stated seeing Wish shudder again. “The Eleonora was built to withstand-”
“I am fully aware of this ship’s abilities and how much she can take,” Wish cut in. “But she has suffered a lot from the past several hours and we’re still taking on a lot of water. What of the Lipizzan?”
Nautical had to compose himself for a moment. He had not expected her to switch topics so rapidly, but he understood that as the captain she had a lot of things going on in her mind.
“There is no word from the Lipizzan even though most of our pegasi have returned. We also have four new unicorns that they had rescued from the griffin airships. One ship had gone down with all aboard.”
Wish stood up and stared at the maps in front of her. A part of her was unsure of what to do next. She had given herself entirely to the Eleonora, but she was merely a captain of a ship. She had orders by which she had to obey, mostly from the greedy dragon. What was she supposed to do now?
Should she obey the orders of a Guard she had no idea was still alive? Should she entrust her entire crew and those aboard with returning to the slave capital on the continent?
Deep down she had already known her answer, but she did not understand why she was so intent on following it. Following through that Guard’s order. What was it about him that drove others to follow. Like a beacon, he drew others to him. And like a rock, he was the foundation they all broke against.
“We have our orders. We make for our homeport.” Wish looked at Nautical.
“Captain, the ship… she is yours. You don’t have to obey that Guard-”
Wish looked at Nautical through the corner of her eye. There was a long, uncomfortable silence in the Flag Bridge before Wish spoke. “I am not a pirate. I follow orders. That is the only way I can function. If you don’t like it, you can take the helm. Over my dead body.”
Nautical took a step back and did not hide his surprise and disapproval. Even after all this time her honor and nobility remained unhinged. He smiled inwardly and scolded himself. This was why he chose to follow her. This was why he would follow her to the bitter end.
“I meant no disrespect, sir. Helm, set course for homeport.”
“Aye, sir!” came the response, and the Eleonora slowly creaked and groaned as the rudder moved slowly, but surely, in the intended direction.
The Lipizzan was beyond saving. There was nothing they could do about that. She had done the best she could, but she was going down. The Guard had saved them. The grappling hook and the anchor he had fired at the griffin vessel secured the airship to the griffin’s ship. The Lipizzan was barely hanging on by a couple of ropes that kept her barely afloat. The balloon was leaking quickly and sagged lower and lower towards the water far beneath them.
“Get your flank out here!” The captain yelled.
Only a single soul stirred.
“Cap’n!” Bones ran up. “Cap’n, she’s not going to hold. I’ve done all I’ve could, but she’s gonna drop. We gotta get out of here now!”
“Go.”
“Cap’n… you’re coming too, right?” Bones asked once, looking at him in the eye.
The captain turned and looked at his ship. The ship that had been his home for years. The ship where he had learnt the hardships of life and managed to make the most of what he had. This was a floating bundle of memories, and he had to let it go.
It was the hardest thing he had ever done.
“Yeah, Bones. I’m coming,” the captain said quietly. “There’s nothing left for me here. Not anymore.”
But his words fell on deaf ears. Bones was already scrambling up the ropes.
The captain looked up in confusion. Bones never let up an opportunity to put in a snide remark whenever he could. Not unless…
A bolt sung past him. No. Not a bolt. A quarrel. It exploded sending the captain towards the far end of the deck.
Dazed, he heard a loud ‘whoosh’ and glanced upwards. The balloon exploded in a furious light and fire rained down towards him. Without a second thought, he grabbed a rope and sliced below his hoof and ran alongside the now tilting ship trying to get away from the fireball. The ropes on the port side all snapped, or were burnt away. He had to get out of there.
Gripping the end of the rope tightly, he sprinted to the bow of the ship and leapt forwards. He felt the rope get taught and he looked up to see if he had inadvertently grabbed the wrong rope. A sinking feeling worked its way through his gut as he realized that the rope he held on was attached to one of the side sail lines.
He was going to die. He was going to fall.
In panic, the captain looked around and released the rope in his hoof out of reflex.
Then something burned in his right hoof as a bolt pierced it. He yelped in pain and felt it yank himself upwards slightly and he instinctively held on. He felt his blood dribble along his hoof and down his foreleg and he squinted up into the darkness. High above him he could see the griffin ship, but there was something in between.
Lightning lit up the clouds, and the object dangling in the ether.
It was the Guard. He was holding a rope that dangled down towards him from a crossbow.
“Climb!”
The captain did not need to be told twice and he tried with all his might.
“Faster!” The Guard demanded.
He tried. He really did. But the blood was making it difficult and he kept feeling himself slip. A few moments later he felt himself being pulled upwards. The Guard was climbing up on his own despite himself. He was carrying the both of them upwards.
But where was Bones? Where was he? Shouldn’t he be with the Guard on that rope? Shouldn’t he be helping lift him up?
Something in his gut felt off. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.
And he had learnt a long time ago to always go with your gut. He hoped that this once he was wrong.
“Bones!” The captain rushed over to his crewman’s side and gripped his hoof in his. “Bones... “
The stallion slowly opened his eyes. Rain hissed around him as thick curtains washed over the deck. Somewhere he heard the sounds of steel clashing against steel, cried of fighting and pain, but none of that mattered. Nothing but the stallion in front of him mattered.
“H-hey, cap’n. You’re okay.”
“I’m fine, Bones. I’m always fine.”
Bones laughed weakly. “What’d you do with ol’ Bones to cover your flank, cap’n? What’d you do?”
“I don’t know, Bones. I… I don’t know.”
Bones smiled gently. “You’ll be fine without me, cap’n. You got her now. ‘Sides, you never really needed us. In the end, it was us who needed you. You were… always there for us no matter what. You took us in when nobody else would. You gave us a home.”
“Shut up, Bones. Just wait.” The captain looked up. “Medic!”
“Ain’t gonna be a medic that can fix me up, cap’n,” Bones replied. “Better call Wood Work to patch me up. Got more holes than the Lipizzan herself.”
Wood Work. The ship’s carpenter. Used to patch holes in the hull. At least she was save back on the Eleonora.
The captain looked around. “M-medic!” he shouted weakly. They were alone. Just them.
Bones put his hoof on the captain’s foreleg. “I’m okay, cap’n. I knew I’d end up like this one way or another. Better here and now than later. You’re not going to continue this anyway. You think that a pirate like me got a life outside the ship?”
“Shut up, Bones.”
“No, cap’n. I died a long, long time ago. Before I even boarded. But you let me live on. You. I needed you, cap’n. I needed you because…” Bones coughed and wiped the bit of blood that oozed from the corner of his lips, “because you gave me something to do. It might seem petty to you, but it meant the world to me.”
The fighting had ceased. Silence reigned as he heard hooffalls come closer.
“Get away from me, Guard. Just get away from me. You’ve cost me everything! You-”
He turned around and looked in the Guard’s eyes. Instinctively he jerked his head back. The eyes pierced through him, staring deep into his soul.
“He asked me to save you. He sacrificed his life to save yours. Do not waste your breath on me. Fulfill your obligation as captain and bid farewell. We are still in mortal danger. I will heard what you have to say after.” With that, the Guard turned and walked away. He swung his sword once as hard as he could and sheathed it, a quick way to remove any excess blood from the blade.
“He’s right, cap’n. You were never the best at climbin’ ropes, y’know.” Bones laughed and coughed again. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the side of the ship where he was pinned with bolts.
The captain sat next to him and stared out across the deck. Another flash of lightning licked the skies showing the carnage left behind by the two ponies. “Bones, before you go, I need to know something.”
“Hm?”
“What’s your name?”
The stallion smiled, but his eyes were still closed. The captain waited.
“I always hated my name. Didn’t suit me.” Bones leaned back and his eyes stared upwards towards the skies. “I’ve always been Silly Bones the day you found me. If I could have an epitaph, that’s what I’d like it to say.”
The captain looked down at the deck in front of him.
“That hill where you saw me and asked me to join… it had one empty grave. One grave for me. One grave where I was going to rest. You remember the name on it?”
The captain smiled and wiped his eyes. “Yeah. I remember. I remember those names. All four of them. Your family.”
“My dad. My mom. My sister. And me.”
“Thank you, Bones. I guess I’ll be seeing you around.”
The blue stallion smiled up at the sky. “Just when you do, don’t tell my folks. Don’t think they’d like it too much if they knew I became a pirate.”
They both shared a quiet chuckle before nothing but the sound of rain could be heard.
After what seemed like an eternity, the captain turned his head to look his companion. Bones’ head was now facing down at the deck, his body perfectly still. He looked so… peaceful despite the wounds he sustained. That craziness that he was so used to seeing on that face, especially in the eyes, had all faded away and instead he saw another stallion. One that he wouldn’t have recognized. No. He knew remembered this stallion from years ago. A stallion from a village that had burned to the ground, before his mind broke.
The captain stood up and walked away. “I’ll see you later... Pip.”
He almost heard a voice shout behind him. He imagined it saying, “Don’t call me that.”
That made his lips form a small smile.
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I bet this is how some of you acted
5300148 I always finish what I start!
Pip? Related to a certain foal in Ponyville?
IT LIVES!!!
ITS GREAT! but wait.....where's semper how come some of the stories don't have semper if this is is one of his past mission where's the main character?
That ending with the music gave me quite the feels.. Poor captain is all alone now.
interesting way to 'nod' at the Fallout fictions.
5305668 is that what it is? It might not be.
Silly Bones! You were best pirate Silly Bones!
5300166 The fuck did I just watch.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS~!
...What? ...Whhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaa~?
Huh. There goes Silly Bones. Like I said before, I had expected him to play a more outsized role in the arc as a sort of thematic opposite to both Blood and Semper, but he didn't. Well, he made a good try out of it.
The Lipizzan may have been sunk, but his sacrifice ensures a ship of the other kind stays afloat
Semper Pie managing to shoot cannon fire out of mid-air doesn't seem ridiculous for him at this point anymore.
Honestly, I expect the conversation between Twilight and Shining to go more like this:
Twi: Who's Semper Pie?
Shining: Proof that the universe doesn't hand out wings and a horn to those who absolutely deserve it the most of all.
Twi: Wait, what?!
Shining: Nothing.