Silverstream gets kidnapped
Gallus landed in front of the School of Friendship in a hurry, seeing his friends already there. Silverstream was swimming in the lake next to the building, while Ocellus, Sandbar, Yona and Smolder were talking by the water, visibly excited. Seeing him, they waved, and he waved in return. It was good to be back.
“As always last to arrive at school, Gallus.” Sandbar welcomed him with a smile that took the bite out of his words. “You know, there is this thing called ‘being punctual’. I can introduce you to Time Turner, he’s really good at it.”
“Ha ha. Very funny, Sandstone.”
“Hey!” Sandbar protested, as others chuckled at the nickname.
“Anyway, you won’t believe what happened to me this summer, everyone!” Gallus almost started his story, when he noticed incredulous looks his friends were giving him. Even Silverstream approached to get a closer look. “What? Jealous I had an amazing adventure?”
“Not… exactly.” Ocellus said, as usual shy to say what exactly was on her mind. “More like…”
“Look, I’m sure it’s that stupid Tree again. That’s the only explanation.” Smolder interrupted her. “No way it happened to all of us at the same time!”
“Yona agrees!” The yak jumped up and down, as she tended to do, causing a miniature earthquake under her muscular legs. “Yona thinks the shiny tree is doing things again!”
“Wait, what?” This time it was Gallus’s turn to look at his friends with surprise. “What do you mean?”
“We all had amazing adventures this summer!” Silverstream said with her usual enthusiasm, jumping up from the water and transforming mid-air. “I was kidnapped by very bad ponies who wanted to summon an evil goddess!”
“… What. You are playing a prank on me, aren’t you?” Everyone else shook their heads in universal ‘no’ gesture. Only then Gallus realized what he just heard. “You were kidnapped?! Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine! It was an amazing adventure, and I found some new friends, but it was really scary. I missed you a lot!” Silverstream jumped forward and gave them all a big hug, to a half-hearted protests from Smolder and Gallus.
“But, but you were kidnapped! What do you mean they wanted to summon an evil goddess!” Gallus couldn't get the questions out of his head, even in the midst of a hug.
“Friend Gallus thinks too much! Don’t worry, Yona can fix!”
“Nonono!”
“Yona SQUEEZE!”
There was a sound of overly enthusiastic Yak hug, alongside the sounds of choked breathing from all others – even from Ocellus, who could easily transform out of it, but enjoyed it way too much.
They finally separated when Gallus started feeling dizzy from lack of air, everyone but Yona falling on the ground and breathing heavily, although most of them laughed despite it.
After few moments to catch his breath, Gallus continued. “And here I thought me meeting the Emperor of Gryphus was a big thing.”
“Woah, you met Grover VI?” Ocellus asked, intrigued.
“Somehow, I’m not surprised the nerd is the one who remembers the name of whoever that is.” Smolder said, hiding her own surprise. “But you seriously met the big griffon what-his-name?”
“That sounds amazing!” Silverstream said happily. “I only got to meet some old pony who tried to convince me slavery is good, Emperor of Gruphus sounds so much nicer then that!”
“What.” Now Gallus was back to worried. “Wait. You were kidnapped… by slavers?! Who?! Let me know, and I will… I don’t know, do something bad to them! Ask the Emperor if he’s in mood for invasion after all!”
“Easy there, big hero. She needs no help with that.” Sandbar said with a smile. “What, you thought she needed some knight in shining armor to avenge her, like some Arcturian knight?”
“First, how do you even know about Arcturian legends? And second, it’s not like that!”
“Sure it isn’t.” Sandbar’s smile only widened.” "But since it appears Gallus is more intrigued by your story than our incredible tales, how about you start, Silverstream?”
“Of course!” The hippogriff was almost bouncing in place with energy. “It all happened on my way back home...”
Silverstream was, as always, bouncing with energy. She was coming home! She loved the School of Friendship, and her friends, but she really missed her home sometimes. Her parents, her aunt, everyone. And Mount Aris! It was so big, you could really see it from afar! She strained her eyes, attempting to spot it on the horizon. Of course, she failed – they were still too far. But soon, she could see it, and then she would be home!
The ship she was on, “Wave Rider”, was an Equestrian vessel. It was quite small, and mostly ferried letters between Equestria and Mount Aris, with occasional couriers and other important passengers.
It was also the fastest ship she could take, so Princess Twilight personally made sure she got to it on time. This way, from the moment she said goodbye to her friends as they all separated for the summer break to return to her homes, she would be in Mount Aris in less than two weeks!
Princess Twilight is so nice, she thought to herself, looking at the horizon. In case of a normal passenger, the crew might have been worried that she could fall overboard, but Silverstream could swim as fast as their ship could sail without problem, so they just continued their routine work. The sky was clear, and weather was warm but not yet as hot as it would get in the coming months.
“Enjoying the view, miss?” Silverstream heard, and turned around with a smile.
“Yes, Captain Stronghammer! It is really nice to be back at sea.” She answered truthfully as the stallion stood next to her.
Capitain Iron Stronghammer was, in fact, brother of the highest-ranking and very influential Equestrian admiral, Madoor Stronghammer. Older brother, as he always said when anypony would mention it. However, unlike him, Iron was a captain of a civilian ship, while his brother was doing his best to reform the pony naval force.
Not that he had much to reform. Equestria was a peaceful nation, and Celestia refused to establish a powerful, heavily-armed navy under his command, allowing only for some increased patrol ships to make sure another invasion, like one that happened not long ago when Storm King arrived, would never again catch them unaware.
Madoor was reportedly still unhappy about it, after envisioning himself at the head of a powerful fleet.
“Homesick?” Captain guessed.
“A little. I miss my home. No offense to Equestria, it’s amazing!” She said honestly. She truly loved it. “But sometimes I can’t stop thinking about home. I’m so happy I will get to visit it again!” She bounced a little on her feet happily.
Captain chuckled, seeing his guess once again showing her unending energy and happiness. His crew, and he himself, were little hesitant when they heard they would be ferrying someone who’s basically royalty, but by the time they reached Les Meridiennes few days later, she proved to be a great passenger. Her presence on his ship made morale skyrocket, and he had to admit, even the old sea wolf like himself found her to be a nice change of pace from transporting bags of mail and occasional stone-faced diplomatic courier.
“Oh, I see another ship, captain! So exciting! Think it’s from Mount Aris?” Silverstream suddenly asked. He looked ahead, his eyes still as good as ever, and also spotted a small black dot.
“Hard to say, miss. Especially at that distance.”
“I hope we’ll get to see them!” Her enthusiasm was infectious, as always. He found even himself wondering for a moment what ship was that. Could be a merchant vessel, there were some traveling here since Mount Aris stopped their self-imposed hiding in exile underwater.
He would find out soon enough, as it turned out. The ship was going in their direction and so they met around halfway through. He could easily recognize the shape of the bigger vessel, pony shipyards having one of the best designs in the world; it was an Equestrian merchant ship, one of the older models, but that was not what instantly got Stronghammer’s attention.
The ship did not have an Equestrian flag on its mast. It was a white flag, with a red ‘X’ symbol. The ship was in trouble and required assistance.
Stronghammer took only moments to spring into action, ordering his crew. The ship turned slightly, moving in the direction of a vessel in need. Hearing the commotion, Silverstream, who went below the deck not long ago, got back up and he turned to her. “Miss, you may want to stay down there. No idea what we’re dealing with, but it may not be pretty.”
To her credit, she did not hesitate at all. “No! I am a student at a School of Friendship, I can’t leave these ponies without help! Besides, my aunt always said it’s important to help others.”
“Ha, that’s the spirit. But there may be wounded there. Hope you don’t collapse on a sight of little blood, miss.” He tested her. She hesitated, but then her determination grew even stronger. “Very well. Just keep yourself safe, I’d hate to tell Princess her student got wounded on my ship.”
The bigger vessel reached them soon. As they came closer, a stallion with a bandage around his head looked over the ship's railing. He had bat wings; a thestral, captain noted, although more focused on whatever emergency they may have. “Ahoy! We saw your flag, what is the emergency?”
“Thank the Princess you are here!” The thestral shouted back. “We had an accident, many are wounded! I only have few healthy stallions left, do you have any medical supplies?”
“We can spare most of what we have, we’re close to Mount Aris anyway.” Stronghammer gestured at one of the sailors. “You, bring it here!”
As the sailor hurried inside the ship, the two vessels were finally sailing next to one another, making transfer of supplies easier. The wounded thestral was visibly relieved. “Thank you! Here, some of the fine stallions here also want to thank you. Guys?”
Suddenly, multiple thestrals emerged alongside the bigger ship’s railing. All armed with weapons, and the looks on their faces that made everyone shudder. The ‘wounded’ thestral ripped the ‘bandage’ off, showing his pristine skin.
“What?!” Silverstream said in confusion and surprise. The captain and his sailors tensed in fear.
“Surrender!” The lead thestral said in a hostile voice. “We will only take your vassel and capture you if you do so. Fight back, and you will all die here.”
The crewmare sent for the medical supplies emerged from under the deck, only to witness the unfolding situation. She stood there in shock, dropping what she was carrying on the deck, loud enough to gather everyone's attention for a moment.
Stronghammer wasted no time to make use of the sudden noise, and whispered to Silverstream, trying to not move his mouth: “Jump overboard, miss. We will give you time, fight them, but you must escape! Don’t let them take you.”
“What? No, if you do that you will die!” Silverstream protested.
“Miss, these are Chiropterrans.” Captain said grimly. "I don't want a young girl like you to fall into the hoofs."
“But they are just a legend!” Silverstream protested loudly in shock.
“I can assure you, hippogriff, we are no mere legend.” The voice from above said. The lead thestral smiled, although there was no happiness in his smile. “We are very much real and have very good hearing. Last chance. Any tricks, and you will all die here.”
“Please surrender.” Silverstream whispered to captain. “I’m not leaving you to die. Please.”
Stronghammer sighed. “Princess Twilight will have my hide for this. And then Queen Novo will have the rest. Fine, miss. I really hope you know what you’re doing.” He turned to the armed ponies. “We surrender.”
“A wise choice.” Thestral said, gesturing for his crew to go down and take over the smaller vessel. “You will live to see the glory of our Goddess.”
Silverstream looked at the wooden wall in front of her, still not understanding how this all could happen so fast. She was going back home, with captain and his crew, and was so close to home! And now, they were all in chains, in the bowels of the ‘mechant’ ship, on mercy of those… thugs!
In the few hours since they were captured, not much happened. They were put in chains – Silverstream was very surprised and unhappy to see there were some specifically designed for hippogriffs – and put below deck on the bigger ship. Outside from that, not much as happened.
“I told she will bring us bad luck, haven’t I?” One of the sailors suddenly said. “We never should have gotten her on board.”
What? Silverstream, hurt, looked at the sailor in question. He had a doubt on his face, but continued. “We never had trouble with pirates, and now this? Chiropterrans? They will drink our blood and eat us alive, everypony!”
Panic started setting in, but then one of the crewmares spoke. “You really think it makes a difference if we have her on board or not? They would get us anyway! Remember how many ships disappeared here before seaponies started sending patrols out there? We wouldn’t be the first, and probably not the last.”
“She is right. Silverstream sacrificed her freedom so we could live, rather then using us as a distraction to escape. You all should be thankful.” Stronghamer said, instantly bringing back the order. “Besides, she is a personal student of Princess Twilight, and a royal of Hippogriffia! If anything, her being here means both Equestria and Mount Aris will spare no expanses finding her.”
“How are they going to find us? No one even believes Chriopterrans exist!” The first crewstallion protested.
“Kid, are you seriously doubting the combined power of entire United Pony Alliance? And, buck that, do you seriously doubt the Elements of Harmony? Let alone the other students like her? Remember how they got Cozy Glow?” Captain relaxed as much as the chains allowed him to. “I don’t. You’ll see, we’ll be free soon, and all thanks to Silverstream. Be thankful she didn’t decide to abandon us to die, instead!”
The discussion ended just in time. Moments later, a thestral stepped down from the deck, two others flanking him. He pointed at Silverstream. “You. You’re coming with us. Rest of you stay here, and if I hear you talking again, I will make sure none of you will ever talk again.”
Silverstream gulped as her captors unlocked her chains. She gave one last look to her newfound sailor friends, before she went up to the main deck with the thestrals.
The weather was still beautiful, as if to spite her. Normally she would enjoy it, spend all the day on deck, or even swim alongside the ship to relax. But instead, she was thinking about her predicament. What will happen to her now?
Don’t give up, ever! She could almost imagine hearing Pinkie Pie say it. If you find yourself in a really bad situation, focus on what’s good and remember, all that is bad will pass sooner or later, and many situations are not as dark as they look!
But what could be not as dark as it seems in this situation, she wondered as she was taken to the captain’s cabin. The guards opened it and stood before it, ordering her inside before closing the door after her.
She found herself in a a lavishly decorated room. There was an expensive-looking desk, made of some type of black wood, with cushioned chairs on each side of it. The sea navigation instruments looked luxurious, with golden paint on some parts. The walls were adorned with ornaments, with strong preference for moon emblems and some kind of heavily-armored pony defeating and crushing her enemies. She shuddered; it did not look nice at all. Not her kind of art, she preferred happy stories and especially happy endings, thank you very much!
On the opposite side of the desk, on one of those cushioned chairs, was a thestral. He was sitting down, looking at her with a stony face, without a word.
“Hello?” Silverstream asked, trying to not show her fear and worries. Since the cabin looked quite higher-class, she decided she was probably dealing with someone of higher birth… or rich. But that meant that etiquette could be important. “For what purpose was I ordered here?”
After few more moments, the thestral sighed. “Sit, young lady.” As she did so, he continued. “I wanted to see you myself before I drop you off at Firstport. My name is Thunder Strike, and I am the captain of ”Veiled Dagger””.
“It is… a unique name for a ship.” Silverstream noted, the conversation flowing slowly and allowing her to relax a little. She was a member of the royal family and a student a Twlight's school, after all, this wasn’t the first time she was in a difficult position… although it was definitely her top three. If not less.
“Different then pony and seapony ship names, that’s for sure. Or at least, how they are now. This ship’s name has over a thousand years of tradition.” He looked over his cabin with pride. “And, Goddess willing, she will be the remembered even when another thousand years come to pass.”
“A… thousand years? This ship must have been truly legendary, if its name still lives.” That long? How come? Chiropterra was a legend, or at least everyone in Hippogriffia thought so.
“Ah, I see what you meant, young lady. Yes, its name truly is over a thousand years old. Like the country she hail from, Chiropterra.” As much as she tried, she couldn’t hide a wince. “I take it you heard of us?”
“Only legends.” Silverstream admitted. Her parents, like many others, used Chiropterrans as monsters hiding in the dark, kidnapping badly-behaving children.
Wait. She wasn’t kidnapped because she was behaving badly as a kid, right? She shook this absurd notion away, or at least attempted to.
“I see. You must be convinced we are primitive barbarians, hiding in impenetrable jungle, and also cannibals, am I right?”
“There are many tales and legends.” She answered, trying to act diplomatically. “I learned not to trust them all.”
“Oh, but some need to be trusted. The Ancient Centaur, for example. Or Nightmare Moon.” He smiled slightly, seeing her grow more and more nervous. “Alas, you should know that we, in fact, do not practice cannibalism. No drinking blood or eating meat; it is strictly forbidden, not that anyone in their right mind would try.”
Silverstream felt like a huge burden disappeared from her shoulders. “Oh thank you! I was so worried, about these nice sailors, and myself, but obviously not all legends are true, and in fact many are harmful stereotypes, and I am rambling aren’t I?”
“Yes, you are.” He smiled a little more, and she returned the smile. The atmosphere in the cabin grew much lighter. “You remind me of my nephew. He is an endless, bouncy ball of energy sometimes.”
“Just like me!”
“Yes…” His eyes grew darker for a moment, but it quickly passed. “You are Silverstream, member of the royal family, student in the School of Friendship, aren’t you?”
“Yes?” She considered lying, but captain Stronghammer was right. Her being a royal was the greatest chance for these poor ponies. “Look, I know you’re probably worries since you kidnapped me, but my aunt isn’t vengeful or anything. And Princess Twilight even less so! I’m sure they’ll forgive you if you return me and these ponies and explain yourself. I’m sure you’re not some kind of unsavory pirate, mister Strike.” She said passionately.
He actually looked a little surprised. “What makes you say that?”
“Um, I know them both? Quite well, even, and…”
“No, that part about me not being unsavory.” He interrupted her.
“Well… you just don’t act it? You didn’t hurt anypony until now, and you don’t look like someone who will do all those horrible things I heard about. And, I think I can feel it in my heart.” She put her hoof on a place where her heart was. In fact, she wasn’t half as sure as she may seem, but her bubbly personality came out – as it always did when she was nervous – and helped to mask it.
Besides, mister Strike really didn’t feel… evil. He seemed too dignified for it. Pirates were supposed to be dirty, disgusting, not clearly educated and looking like nobility, right?
He actually laughed. It was a short, clipped sound, but it was nice nevertheless. It made her smile widely. He managed to stop laughing after a moment, shaking his head. “If you knew half of what I did, you wouldn’t say that, young lady. I did many things you would consider to be very bad.”
“Do you, though?” Seeing his look, she explained. “Do you think you did bad things? Professor Starlight told me once that people who know that what they’re doing is wrong, and do it because they think its the lesser evil, can be reasoned with. Deep inside, they look for a better way, and if you can convince them there is one, they tend to take it.”
“… You really are something. Most ponies and hippogriffs I saw on this ship were crying, bartering for their lives, screaming, trying to convince me to convert to something. You instead compliment me and convince me I am already on a way to becoming a good person.” He shook his head. “They really pick their best for this School I heard about, don’t they?”
“Um, not sure if by ‘they’ you mean Twilight and Queen Novo, since they sent me there, but I’m not sure if I am the best in anything. I guess I am best at swimming in the school, but I have an advantage and I am rambling again. Sorry.”
He sighed. She heard him mutter something quietly before he looked back at her. “Why do you have to be so young and innocent? When I heard about you, I thought you will be an arrogant pony royal, not… this.”
“I am technically a hippogriff royalty, not pony, maybe that’s why?”
He sighed, clearly bothered by something. “Guards will take you back to the hold. Please do not try to stir any trouble.”
“I won’t.” She promised as she left, the guards leading her below the deck again. It’s not like she had anything she could do, right now. She was guarded and/or chained all the time, and she already decided not to leave the sailors to their fate, whatever that fate is.
When she came back, she was bombarded with quiet, whispered questions. She answered all of them as best as she could, trying to ease the sailor's fear, before they run out of questions. In the end, they all went to unsteady sleep.
On the next day, and for the next week in fact, she was taken before the captain every day on the same hours – or at least, with the sun in the same place, she had no other way of tracking time under the ship’s deck. Strike was a most amenable host, aside from the small issue of her and her friends still being imprisoned.
On the third day, he prepared quite a feast for them both – or rather, she guessed, had it prepared by the crew. Many dishes, most of them Zebrican but to her surprise some Equestrian, were put on the table alongside different drinks.
She refused to eat. When asked, she answered simply. “I could not eat that and think of those poor sailors below us living on dry bread and water.”
“Is it not a tradition that those of noble birth eat better than those below them?” He asked in return.
“If you do that, it means either your citizens are too poor to eat properly, or you are too rich to ever eat through all your gold, and should put it to a good use instead.” She quoted one of her teachers. Thank you, Rarity, she thought.
The captain seemed offended, and sent the food away. Their conversation was much shorter on that day, and he quickly sent her away, No food was brought to the sailors in the evening, as well, and she started to worry.
However, on the next day, sailors were given actual food – not lavish banquet, but better than what they ate before. She was brought before the captain again, and he asked her a question as she sat down and they greeted each other.
“Your decision hurt those ponies, in the end. You should have accepted my gratitude. You are lucky I felt generous enough to not punish them for the way you offended me yesterday.”
“I did not, really.” She had a lot of time to think about it. The night was long, after all, and she did felt sorry for them. “If you wanted to hurt them, nothing I said or did would help. You have all the power right now. You can use me as an excuse, but it would only be you making this decision.”
He sat there in silence for a moment, before answering. “I thought you care about them. I am disappointed, I thought you…”
“I do.” She interrupted him. The sheer incredulity of her just interrupting him silenced him for a moment, and she continued. “I spent the night worrying. But there wasn’t much I could do to help. I had to trust that you would make the right choice.”
“What… what is wrong with you?” He said, recovering from his shock. “I captured you, threatened to kill your ‘friends’, I almost took your food away because of a small insult to my honor as a host, and yet you still say that? What kind of a royal person are you?”
“Generous.” She answered without doubt. Seeing his lack of understanding, she continued. “Loyal. Kind. Honest.”
He groaned. “It seems you forgot ‘laughter’ and ‘friendship’, if I remember your stupid propaganda correctly.”
“Laughter is important, but for the ruler it is more important in private then in public. Laughing during a public negotiation is in bad taste most of the time, if you’re not Pinkie Pie that is. But in private, a good ruler has to be able to laugh at herself and her mistakes. You can’t be serious your entire life.” She said without doubt.
“You can’t seriously believe it. What kind of protection you can give your citizen with honesty? How can you use kindness as a weapon? These are just words.” His voice grew more emotional. “Tell me, how are you going to protect these sailors you clearly care about with something as weak as ‘kindness’?”
“I already did.” He looked at her with disbelief. “I never lied to you. I treated you kindly, without harsh words, believing there is more to you then just capturing us. I remained loyal to them, and thanks to me not taking your offer of a feast, they all had a proper meal today. And I made you smile, when we talked for the first time.”
“And let me guess, your friendship with them allowed you to do that all?” He mocked her.
“Not only them. I hope you can be my friend, as well." Strike was visibly taken aback by this statement. "That’s why I never lied to you, and treated you kindly. Wouldn’t world be so much better place if we all did that?” She asked innocently.
And she could see him realizing, with visible disbelief, that was still fully honest with him. She truly believed this.
“This is all absurd. You cannot triumph over weapons, armies, countries with kindness and laughter!” He made a fist and hit the table, plates and cutlery clattering. “Equestria may have powerful magical artifacts, but without them, all these words mean nothing!”
“They didn’t have them when they defeated Storm King.” She pointed out. “Doesn’t that count for weapons, armies and countries?”
He had no argument after that. He summoned his guards and they took her below the deck.
She was still smiling gently.
She had no idea, but far away in Equestria, Pinkie Pie suddenly felt pride in her student. The Element of Laughter nodded her head wisely, speaking to herself. “Never doubted you for a moment, Silverstream!” before returning to serving her customers, who long ago got used to her erratic ways.
On the next day, Silverstream posed a question to Strike: “Can you set the sailors free? It’s not like they have anywhere to escape. We’re still far from land.” And, judging by what she saw, going south, to the Chiropterran jungles.
“Absolutely not. Can’t risk them trying to fight us, and winning or hurting you in the commotion.” Strike answered over his meal, frowning.
She grew visibly sad, her bubbly spirit leaving her. He sighed. “But, I can arrange it so they can be released for a short walk, one by one, so they can get some sun. But if any of them try to escape, you will be held responsible.”
“Thank you!” She was instantly back to her smiling self. Then, she furrowed her brows. “Wait, I just remembered something. I thought thestrals were nocturnal?”
“It is true. Most of the crew is, actually. Why? Planning a daring escape during the day? There are still enough sailors awake to stop you if you try.” He warned her.
“No, no, I was just thinking… do you want to move our meeting? I can go sleep later, or wake up earlier if you’d like.”
“… is this another example of your ‘generosity’ thing?” He asked, resigned.
“It’s just me being myself!” She answered happily. “Did you think I force myself to be happy all the time? It’s just me!”
“To answer your question, there is no point. I am awake already by the time we meet. But.” He hesitated for the slightest moment. “I do thank you for considering it. Not many would care about a thestral, let alone their captor.”
“No problem, friend!”
“I am not your friend! I am your captor, carrying you to your… I am not your friend!” He repeated instead of he wanted of say.
“You just decided to help my friends! That makes you my friend, like it or not!” She smiled, and he groaned.
On the next day, during their meal, he asked her something else. “Do you plan on being so happy even if you would ever become a Queen?”
“Well, I will do my best.” She answered honestly. “I know it’s hard leading a nation, but I will have my friends by my side. What about you? Would you remain true to yourself if you became a ruler? Or maybe you’ll grow happier?”
“Happiness holds no importance. What is important is the State. We must all work for it.” He answered without any visible doubt.
“Your country? So, you serve your country first and foremost?” She asked, remembering someone she met long time ago.
“That’s right. My country is my highest duty, as it is to any loyal thestral. We live to serve it, to further it, to make it stronger.”
She recalled words like these vividly. Crack Lightning and the hippogriffs of Aris Frist. They only grew stronger during their forced isolation, hiding from Storm King and preaching fear and hatred. Fear, to keep everyone in line, to give those evil hippogriffs what they wanted. Hatred, to give them goal, to show them who the enemy is, who is responsible for their fear and misery.
Thankfully, their ideology was completely shattered when everyone on Mount Aris got to meet their new pony neighbors from Equestria. Turns out that knowing your neighbours makes hating them much harder, unless they are truly evil.
“So… you live to make your country stronger. What does your country do for you, after it’s strong?” She asked.
“Safety. Knowledge that all wrongs will be avenged, that all dangers will be destroyed.” He answered without doubt.
She thought for a moment before answering. “So, if you all felt safe, they would be no need for it?”
“That could never happen. We have enemies, Silverstream.” He didn’t even noticed when he stopped calling her ‘young lady’. “We are not like Equestria, safe from dangers. And we have been wronged, thousand years ago. We have to right the wrong. Our ancestors count on it.”
“A thousand years. That is a long time. Do any of those who were wronged live today?”
“No, but we must avenge them. Their honor was tainted by this betrayal.”
“I see. So… you avenge your ancestor’s honor. You conquer… whatever you want to conquer. You defeat the enemy who hurt your ancestors thousand years ago. What then?”
“Justice is finally done, and build a new, thousand-years Empire under our Goddess.” He answered.
“I see.” She was silent for a moment. “How do you make sure those who wronged you don’t do the same? Wait for a thousand years to strike?”
“They are weak. They only won, because they betrayed us.” He defended his ideals.
“But now you are hiding, and attacking from hiding. Am I right?” He looked at her grimly. “So they can do that as well. And then you. And them. And so on, for thousands of years.”
“No. We are better, we will be ready. They grew weak, while we became strong!” He said aggressively.
“You probably did.” She surprised him by agreeing. “You seem to have a plan. An army, probably. You may triumph in a war. I have seen this before. But you will still be afraid.”
“We must be vigilant, we have many enemies!”
“You will hate. If you avenge all your wrongs, you will find new ones.”
“That is absurd! How can you criticize us, you don’t know our history, our culture, our suffering!”
“No. But I know fear, Strike. I know it well.” She looked at him, her bubbly personality still visible, but hidden under momentary sadness. “When we hid under the sea, there were those who said we should never come out. Storm King, they would say, is too dangerous. The outside world is dangerous. We have many enemies.” She took a deep breath. “And when he was gone… they kept repeating it. Only now it was everyone else, not just Storm King. Ponies, they said, would be jealous and try to steal our power. And when ponies proved to be allies, it was zebras and their ‘weird magic’. There is always an enemy. Tell me, doesn’t your nations also suspect others, not just those who wronged you a thousand years ago? Or are they truly the only ones you hate, the only ones who deserve to be punished, to be feared?”
Captain sat there for a moment. “The world is not safe. We must be vigilant.” It sounded much less fanatical then before.
“I know. Fear is truly powerful. I saw it myself. You know, before the Elements were a thing, there were Pillars of Equestria. One of them was the Pillar of Courage, because fear is a mind-killer. It makes you choose the wrong thing just to try and feel safe.” She smiled again, her sadness receding quickly. "But if you can just... not be scared, you may find out that things are better then they look!"
“… I thought you were bubbly, happy and carefree.” He said quietly. “But you really aren’t just that, are you? Is this how ponies win their wars? With words? It’s scary how persuasive you are.”
“Oh no, I’m totally bubbly and happy! My friends say that all the time! I just want others to be happy, you know, Lightning?” She asked him happily.
He didn’t correct her to ‘Strike’. He just waved at her, signaling their talk was over.
She left with a smile. She could already see doubt on the face of her newest friend.
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Will you be doing stories for the rest of the Young Six?
Yeah? Then name one that ultimately wasn't proven true by the end of FiM, Sil (I mean, there did seem to be a trend for that).
Speaking of not every stereotype being true...
Sil, you're not supposed to make radicals think too hard about their own radical thinking. Their brains can't handle it!
More seriously though, Strike doesn't seem to be beyond all reason, so maybe she can get through to him just enough to make a difference.
Heck, sometimes they do it in song!
11458686
Absolutely! Since the reception of this stories is very positive (and I'm still positively surprised by it), I decided to stick to my original plan - one story for each member of the Student Six, and then a final big story including all of them facing a bigger challenge together :).
11458694
Well... I want to name one legend or tale that wasn't real, but it seems to be kind of impossible. Yeah, Silverstream is just really trying to be diplomatic here.
And her stereotypes about pirates are definitely not fully true, as we can see. Wait until she starts to realize that there is quite a difference between 'high class, civilized, interested in culture' and 'not being evil'. Evil that masks itself as 'civilized' can be really good in hiding.
Making radicals and other people realize they may be hilariously mistaken is a staple of ponies, after all. Starlight being a prime example of someone like that. And now Silverstream is trying her best, coming from position of understanding fear quite well, and wanting to spare others this feeling.
Not gonna comment on Strike's
hippogriff-shaped headachepossible redemption though, you will need to wait for the next chapter ;).Eyup! I suck at song-writing sadly, so don't expect Silverstream to reform the
totally not Nazi referenceChiropterrans with a song and dance, sadly. She will have to do with her brain, her ability to relate to what is going on, and unending boundless enthusiasm.Good stories, keepit up!
11459030
Thank you! I am now writing the next chapter, maybe I will even finish it and publish today! The feedback and interest in these stories is amazing, it really gives me strength to write more.
Grover VI? Acturian Knights? is it just me or do I smell a fellow Equestria at War enjoyer?
11471054
Absolutely! It even says so in the story's description :). Over a 100 hours of playing EaW went into making this story, since I really wanted to feel the nations I describe before putting them on paper. I hope I did them justice.
11471310
Wow that's amazing! I think it really show. Good job ;)
11472732
Thank you! All the other parts are planned, I'm finishing Ocellus's story now, then we have the other two students, and then a big, 2-part finale.
Since you're also a fan of EaW, I'll give you a small hint for the next story in the series; it will involve someone who, if you go through all their story and finish their tree, succeeds at all their ambitions, including the crown, only to put it away because they do not feel they are worthy of it.
Don't spoil others here what country it is (unless you put it in the spoiler, then it's fine), but if you manage to guess it, you can probably also guess who goes there ;).
I'm sure Gallus would have come and rescue her they are so cute together ( yeah I ship them )
Oh dear Pirates
11477515
Shipping among Student Six is very popular, from what I've seen. I'm not going to confirm anything in this comment, but I'm also not denying anything, so feel free to ship them to your heart's content :). I absolutely do not mind.
And shipping aside, you bet Gallus would launch the rescue instantly. And the rest as well. They wouldn't even wait for armies and such, they would just go in.
Although Silverstream is also far from helpless, as we see in this story :).
11477520
If only they were just pirates... yeah, Silverstream is not lucky with where she ended up. Probably second most unlucky place to be in this series, just behind Ocellus.
“Oh, but some need to be trusted. The Ancient Centaur, for example. Or Nightmare Moon.” He smiled slightly, seeing her grow more and more nervous.
Yeah just like I said anything could happen here even if it's Legend doesn't mean it's true specially in Equestria
I really do like how the kids taking these lessons from the main six by heart that's pretty amazing
Basically she saying that this is another never-ending story of Revenge that will lead up to just pain and misery to everybody who got caught in the crossfire
Well I got to say this was a pretty interesting way to start out the story so gallus tell them what just happened to him during the summer vacation but it looks like the others also had a pretty interesting summer as well including silver stream getting kidnapped by Pirates so she told them about what happened on the way home everyday was just fine until there was another ship thinking that could be another one but instead it turns out to be a pirates called themselves Chiropterrans which apparently that's supposed to be urban legend but nope they are real and the captain told silver stream to run away but she couldn't because they will kill them so she Stay and it looks like the leader of the Chiropterrans name lightning strike basically talking with her and throughout her conversation with him he was pretty surprised how come she in this situation and he was even confused why because she thought without any fights or arguments she just wanted to help to understand the situation even showing a little kindness to him which he was pretty conflict about this whole situation I just hope she knows what she's doing
A bit late there, Gallus.
I think there is a part missing?
11485734
A little late, yeah. In his defense, he's a good friend, and it's a natural reaction when someone says "Something really bad happened to me" to ask "Are you alright?". For all he know, she can still be traumatized, wounded, or worse.
A typo and a part missing! Thank you for pointing them out. Fixed.
And of course thanks for the comment, it always warm my heart to see more people taking interest in this series :).
I know I'm late to the party. But, I just wanted to point out you misspelled her name here.