Welcome to the floating city of Blackwater, were the rum flows like the blood, and the young grow up by spilling it. For young Star Charter, becoming a pirate was the only path in her life to take, but unlike with war, that changed.
After the inevitable end of the war, Equestria fell into a deep slumber. It's government crumbled, and it's military hid away. The ponies of Equestria know of the army who hid underground and became the Steal Rangers, and of the air force who sealed the sky and became the Grand Pegasus Enclave. But little is know of the navy, what they did, and what they became. A lost and distraught alicorn is about to find out, and change one filly's life forever. What path will young Star Charter now take, one ruled by blood and worship, or the new path into the vast unknown.
We didn't want to remember, We didn't deserve to remember. Our connection to Unity was gone, no mother to give use directions, or to protect us from ourselves. In her place were memory's we wanted to throw away, we only wanted unity.
Memory forced to the surface as we flew as far as we could. A name, once we were called Prism Paint, and had a cutie mark of a rainbow on canvas. We had never saw a real rainbow, only read it in books, painted it on wall, sang about it to our son. The son we let die. Paintings of rainbows were worthless to the wasteland, but our body was worth enough to feed him. We sould have don better, been a better pony. Memory's of his batter body in our hooves, trying to protect us, good boy, foolish boy. It was all our fault, we let him die, and without him life was not worth living.
The goddess called out to us, understood our pain, promised to take it all away. We embraced her, and in return she took all the pain away, giving us a new body, a new existence. But with our mother gone, Prism Paint would returned. All the pain mother saved us from would returned. We had no wish to be Prism Paint again, we wanted to die as part of unity, not as that sad useless mare.
Our wings were cold and sore from flying for so many days on end. flying so far over equestrian that the clouds and land had gave way to water and clear sky. It expanded as far as our eyes could see, becoming nothing but blue below and above. The day became painfully hot as the golden ball radiated heat down on us, the nights became bitter cold with the silver ball providing light. When clouds did come, they brought warm rain down onto us. It had become clear that we were lost, the perfect place for us to die. Alone and forgotten.
Flying passed the rain, we saw it for the fist time. A rainbow stretched across the sky, far more beautiful then what we had seen in books. It felt like it was calling us, like mother was there telling us to hold on. We had to get closer, we had to touch it with our hooves. Simply looking at it melted away all the pain, made us forget all the bad things. The rainbow became all that mattered...
*Crack*
We screamed, as the pain ripped through our body. We had been shot, we were in the middle of nowhere, and we had been shot. By instinct alone we turned invisible and flew down, saving us from a second shot that would have ended us. We had just seen a real rainbow, we could not die just yet until we had touched it.
Below us was a ship, all alone in the water. So we descended to get closer and see who it was that shot us. The ship grew larger, so very large, and its structure strange. It was not until we were nearly on top of it when we had realized what this ship was, a city. On the highest point was a large flag, depicting the image of a green circle of thorns with a red teardrop in the middle. Hanging just below the flag was a dead pony, a hook through it's back legs was the only thing holding it as it dangled in the wind.
The clean air of the sky was replaced by that of the smell of rotting blood, and rust. The sound of singing and fighting filled our ears, and slow rocking filled up with unease, making us feel sick, so very sick. If we had anything in our stomach, it would not have stayed there long.
"I know that every pony is scared, confused, and angry, but this is not the time for that. Later yeas, but right now all of you need to be brave. Times were bad before, worse even now, but if we work together we can get through this, all I ask for you to do is follow me. Under my protection you will be safe, be it from zebras, from monsters, or from the worst of all, traitors. We will seek out all threats, and destroy them, this is a promise I seek to keep.
Equestria my be lost, but there is still a bright future ahead of us, you may not see it now, but trust me it's out there. Until then, I will be that light in the dark for you, guiding and protecting you. So I ask, will you follow me.
-Roseland's Speech to the survivors fleet. Year one of the new area.
The morning woke me up with it's bright grace. Though I lived under welded steel, the waters below reflected the sun's rays right into my face. I stirred, kicking my legs out to stretch. A leg hit something, and that something responded by kicking me. Stumbling forwarded, almost falling off the deck and into the cold water below.
"Fuckin' aye Salty, ya tryin' t' kill me ya bloody git!" I got all four hooves properly under me. "I got half minded t' tie a rope between us in hops you go in t' water with me."
Salty Biscuit was an older mare, around fifteen, and she had been with me for the last few years. Lately her sleeping habits have been less then I like. but I could understand why. She was going to be sixteen soon, and still has not taken a stallion, so the poor mare must have been having nightmares. At sixteen a pony had to serve the fleet, but mare's got to wait a year if they got pregnant. Salty was not much of a work pony, or a fighter, so she had it in her mind that she could get a stallion to spend a few nights with her. To bad the competition had been viscous.
"Then stop thrashin' about! And if ya do tie us together like that, don't be surprised if I take t' rope and kick ya in t' water for wastin' good materials." she got up and glared at me. "Star Charter, you're eleven now, and no pony goin' t' pretend you don't know no better anymore. So stop tryin' t' start a fight and git! T' chapel should be startin' soon, so if ya don't move, we don't get t' eat!"
I quickly gathered the few things I own, and put them on. My snug white and blue striped shirt, and ripped blue vest were already on. It made getting ready easy, and harder for any thieves to talk it. Using a some string to tie my main back into two little tails, I put on an old red bandana on my head to help keep my bangs back, and topped it of with a tinted goggle I used as an eye patch. I didn't need an eye patch, but it looked cool, and helped keep the sun out of one of my eyes, so it was awesome for me. And that was it, I couldn't afford anything else, and if I could, it just get stolen.
Jumping over a few ponies who were just sitting around, I ran out from under the ship and into the morning sunlight. The floor beneath my hooves were not much more then old wood and rested metal all head together with rope, but I knew my way around it like every pony else. Though every now and then a pony would fall off to their death, but even I got use to ignoring it when it happened. It was a bit dangerous down here in hull town, but none of the captains pony's came down here, so we didn't have to worry about disappearing in the night. Just falling off the ship.
It didn't take me long to get to the first rope ladder up, but had to wait a bit. I was still to small to just push others out of my way, and last time I tried, I was nearly thrown into the ocean. Salty caught me in time. Finding a gap I jumped for it, and climbed. each floor of haul town looked mostly the same, but with each level up with more room. Which meant it was was less likely a pony would simply fall off, sadly I lived at the bottom of Haul town, with a lot of the other foals. We were small enough that the bottom was big enough for us, be every now an then an adult pony would come down and look for a fight.
Once this mare try to drag Black Spot off, a colt, but I was there to shank her. As she bled out, we took her stuff, and dropped her in the water. This got me a lot a respect among the other foals, so they don't mess with me. Well accept the ones who have done the same, but we find it easier to work together then kill each other. Little ponies like us have got to stick together.
At the top I bounced out and ran to chapel. With solid ground under my hooves I could concentrate on running as fast as I could, jumping over, and sliding under any pony in the way. It was always fun to run along the deck of the ship, though more ponies here were willing to thump you for the sake of thumping you. I think they were tiring to teach me to respect them, but all it made me want to do was get stronger so I could thump them back, but harder.
Their were a few other ponies I knew to never mess with, one was the captains ponies. They collect the tax, and keep the order on the ship. By keeping order, I mean if they don't get thrown overboard, they will drive a hook through your back legs and hang you out to dry on the flagpole for. A lot of the ponies here saw it as entertaining, but for me, once you saw one hanging, you seen them all.
Another group was any pony from the other ships that stop by, the sailors. They always have good stuff on them, but I seen a few ponies get gutted for just looking at them wrong. Also they would draft any pony they thought they needed on the ship. One older pony I knew got drafted, saw her a year later, just as mean as the rest. They were all realy cool.
The ponies nopony ever torched were the Followers of Thorn. They got a different kind of nasty to them, and even the captain cant tell them what to do. I've heard some bad story's about them, mostly to never be in a room alone with one if your a foal. But they are also the ones who give out free food, so fuck it, if was between me and Black Spot, I'm tipping Black Spot and running.
I slid to a stop at the chapel door, it wide open, and with a robed pony in the way. It was a mare in thick clothing, all wight and black, with only her face showing. "Ahh child, your hear just in time for t' song. Come in and find a seat." The mare was a real bitch. Sister Rust Rivet was her name, and If I ever said no, she would just drag me in. If I resisted, She would ether brake my leg, or nail it to the floor. Like I said, the Followers of Thorn were a different kind of nasty.
__________________________
Inside there was a tall mirror, one of the few on the ship. I quickly used it to check myself. My Sea Blue coat looked like it was recovering nicely after I had to get all the moss cut off of me. My mane was nicely under the rag, and the two tails keeped it from jumping out. My tale was the worst off, it was a dark sea green, and looked like seaweed. A lot of ponies here had that problem with their mane and tales, but most of them get around it by braiding.
Finding a seat was easy, as Black Spot saved one for me. He was a unicorn colt around the same age as me, mostly all wight other then one big black spot on his face. His parents were not the most creative name's. He had been realy close to me ever since his older sister jumped off the ship. The mare wanted to be closer to Celestia so he killed herself to she her. She was also super affectionate with Black Spot, and thought him to be an excellent kisser and cuddlier. Salty said that his sister was crazy, and has been keeping Black Spot away form me for over a month now. Cunt.
Speaking of Salty Biscuit, she got in right before the doors were closed and locked. She took the time to walk to a seat, to flutter her eyes at a stallion further in front. Her attempt to flirt where blocked by two mares, who quickly drew his attention away from Salty.
It was how thing worked here, With most colts being taken to serve the fleet early one, and the mares fighting over any left. Many of us form gangs to keep what we have, and to take what we want. I joined one after I got ambushed one day, hut me real bad, but the gang hut them worse. It was the Corps Brigade, lead by Miss Victoria Rosary. She was strong, smart, and seem to scare half the ship when she was around, the kind of pony I want to be when I turn fifteen. She was also the one who sent Salty to look after me, but Black Spot had to stay with the gang.
Looking around, I did spot Vitoria at the back of the chapel, taking a nice high spot. She had a blush gray coat, a super light yellow mane and tale, and realy bright green eyes. I swear they would glow sometimes, but so did the others in the gang, it was realy cool. She spotted me, and gave me a little wave. It made me feel all warm inside, so I gave her a big wave back.
"Everypony settle down." Another robed sister stood up on a podium at the front of the chapel. She was soft spoken, but loud enough that everyone could hear. The room quieted down, and everyone looked hat her. "It be good t' see a lot o' familiar faces today, Celestia and Luna would be very proud o' you. Your loyalty and devotion will be what brin's you t' them in t' heavens after. You must remember this, or run t' risk o' fallin' to t' cold hells below, were Celestia's Light cannot warm you, and were Luna's glow cannot guide you."
The sister opened up a book, and we all took the same book from the pew. their was enough of the books the we didn't need to share, and there were even spare books. Every so often, the sister and brothers of the chapel would hand them out for free, and offer to teach us how to read them. I had my own, but gave it to Black Spot when his fell into the water, so I was a little exited to see that there were spare books.
"Praise Celestia, for her light warms us body and soul. In her light our feeble crops can grow, t' fog withers, and t' frost melts. Praise Luna, for her glow guids us in t' dark night, and without her glow we would be lost in t' dark. She who protects our dreams from thous who would invade, and wish t' stray us from t' one true path. Praise Saint Thorn Roseland, for she protected us in our time o' need, and even now her fleet protects us. may our enemy's be cursed, and traitors of t' path be hanged till death takes them."
She turned to another page, and we all followed. Though some of us waited, like me, so to know which page to turn to.
"Now we will sin' t' hymn of t' fleet."
Saint Roseland saw comeing of ponies fall
Her might saveing us from the end of all
Her wisdom to guide us through the end of days
Those that survived the end sang Saint Roselands praise
With cannons raised they would never fall
From all the lands the heathens they would cull
With Saint Roseland and our mighty fleet
With our end we shall not meet
Saint Roseland saw comeing of ponies fall
Her might saveing us from the end of all
Her wisdom to guide us through the end of days
Those that survived the end sang Saint Roselands praise
With cannons raised they would never fall
From all the lands the heathens they would cull
With Saint Roseland and our mighty fleet
With our end we shall not meet
The sermon went on a bit longer, mainly about how we must do the goddesses good work, and how we must never let the light faid from our souls and be lead astray. The idea of something different was well... it was stupid, there were nothing else then the goddess and their path.
When the sister was done, we all lined up to get our food. Dried fruit, a gift from the goddess themselves, and the best tasting thing we could ever hoped to get in the city. Every pony ate the dried fruit as soon as they were walking away, so to lot let any pony take it from them. I saved a peace and waited by the door.
Victoria was the last pony to get her fruit, and as she made her by to the door, other filly's like myself handed her a peace of fruit. She protected a lot more ponies then me, and this was one of the few ways we had to pay her back. I would give her more, but she had told me that one peace was enough, and I sould build my strength.
"You have a beautiful voice Victoria, I could hear you over all t' others. You must be blessed by t' goddesses." I handed over the fruit peace, and she gently took it.
"Always too kind, and I even think I could hear your voice as well, you must be feeling much better to be that loud." she patted me on the head.
I smiled, and "aye! I can even run at full speed with out hurtin' now."
Pulling me in with her hoof, Victoria looked me in the eye. "That's actually good to hear. I have need for a strong little foal who can run something for me. I though of you, but was still worried about you injury's. So if you are feeling better maybe you ca..."
"Aye!" I nearly jumped in her hold. "I can do it!... what be it?"
She chuckled. "Just come with me, we can't be discussing it the open. Corps Brigade activity has to stay in the shadows."
"YES MAM!" I saluted, and quietly followed her.
__________________________
Now that I was not running through all the ponies, I took the time to look around. We were still at the front of the city, the hole place was a mess of houses all welded together. I was once told that the houses were once storage containers, and that's way they were all boxy. It all was a confining mess to walk through, with one twist becoming a turn or a dead end. Normally I avoid this place, it was too easy to get turned around, and to vanish.
But I was trotting behind Victoria, and now I felt like I was getting respect like I never got before. Ponies would get out of our way, none of them would look us in the eyes, and not one pony made even one comment about thumping us. Victoria must be the biggest, coolest, most awesomest pony in the city, and every pony knows it. And the ponies that didn't know it, who would say bad thing, I didn't see them after a night.
Down a flight a flight of stairs we passed the workshop, a rusty place full of nose. It was busy with ponies making tool, weapons and armor. A lot of it was what I'd see the sailors use. This was deep in the captains territory, but even here ponies made way for Victoria. Further down were more workshops, were ponies broke down junk to be used in making more useful stuff.
Down here, they don't threaten to thump you, they crack your skull outright. But I was with Victoria, so no pony would touch me. She was just that cool.
After some more time walking, we came to a room near the bottom. Victoria tapped on one a few times and it opened. Inside was a damp and poorly lit room. Following Victoria in, the door slammed shut.
"Darlin', could you not strut down here, t' captains be as twitchy as she can be right now. I'd hate t' see anythin' happen t' you." The room lit up, revealing a tan unicorn mare with a dark gray mane and tale. She was wearing as much cloths as a pony from the upper class decks, a ruff but gorgeous looking black and wight dress. Her hair shined in the light, and curled. Her eyes looked a lot like Victoria's.
"I say let em. Last time they tried, they were cleanin' t' blood off t' walls for days." A cream colored pegasus mare ruffled her wings. She had on a tan coat covered in buckles, the sleeves over her front legs were too long, cover her hooves. Her light brown hair was much more a mess, covering much of her face. Like with the other mare, her eyes were like Victoria's.
Victoria tapped her hoof on the ground, and the two other mares gave her their full attention. "Now if you two are so concerned over frivolous things, then it is safe to amuse that everything has been taken care of?" The two mare nodded their heads. "Good, because I have our new recruit here. Now this is Star Charter, the newest filly to join or family, and I was thinking to have her prove her worth to the gang."
The unicorn glanced over at me. "I see, I see. Brilliant as always darlin'."
Victoria pointed at the unicorn with her hoof. "This is Puppet Strings" she pointed over at the pegasus "And this is Carving Doll. they are my second in the gang. Their job is to keep the captain from dismantling the gang, and throwing us all into the water. Is that right."
Carving Doll flapped her wings for a second and laughed "Right. T' big cunt has it in for t' boss real bad. It's good thin' that sniper be not as good as he boasts."
Puppet Strings waved off Carving Doll. "So very true, but that's not why you bought this adorable filly down here be it. she's deliverin' t' last package, be I right?" Puppet Strings took a closer look at me, her eyes were a bit, unnerving with how they seem to glow. "Aye, Aye, I see it. It just take a moment, and I'll have her ready." The mare tugged at me with her magic to follow her to another room.
I looked back at Victoria and she nodded slowly at me. That was all I needed, and I followed Puppet Strings to the next room.
The other room was filled with cloth scraps all over, along with knives, scissors, and a few bullets. A length of string started wrapping around neck, stretched across from my tail to my head, even fem my back to my hooves.
"Aye, aye, this will work, just sit thar for a moment." I did as she said, and was warped in a patchwork of cloth. It had all gone dark with the cloth over my face, but I could hear scissors cut, and needles and thread weave thru fabric. What ever was on me slowly got heavier as it shifted and balanced. "a little hear, and a bit thar... and done!" The cloth flew off may head and Puppet Strings was holding a small mirror.
In the little mirror I could see what was on me. It was a dark blue patchwork cloak, and that was it. Which was strange, because it felt a little heavy. "It's... lovely?"
She puffed her breath. "Oh darlin', you need t' work on your flattery better. And no, it be lot lovely, it's about as shitty as every thin' here is. What matters be what's inside t' cloak, such wonderful thin's inside. Now go, we've dallied here long enough, and time be short."
"What's inside it?"
"Oh, that not for me t' tell." with her magic I was pushed out of the room.
Victoria was waiting for me in the first room, waving off Puppet Strings after I had walked up to her. Carving Doll was off in a corner, sorting through knives and other stuff.
"Um, miss Victoria Whats..." she had raid her hoof to my mouth.
"Don't worry Star Charter, all you will be doing is delivering this cloak to a friend of ours. It has fireworks sown into it so that you don't draw any suspicion when you deliver it."
"OH! before you go, I got a gift!" Carving Doll trotted over, holding a little handle in her mouth. Tossing it over, I caught it in my mouth, and a blade pope out. "Keep it on you. You never know when a pony needs t' be stabbed." I grinned, folding the blade, and putting it in a pocket on the inside of my vest.
"So who be I takin' this to?"
Victoria chuckled. "Eager, I like that a lot. There's a pony in the back orchard, they will have on a blue cloak themselves. To get in, just tell the guard that your there delivering a letter on the behalf of the Followers of Thorn. The guard will escort you in, you hand over the cloak, and come back here to join the gang."
That didn't sound hard, and I thought I was going to have to kill some pony. "I can do that!" I looked around, and the three mares simply looked back at me. "Umm... I'll do it now!"
I rushed out of the room, the door slowly closing behind me after I was in the hallway. On my way back to the stare well a few ponies gave me dirty looks, but no of them stopped me, or yelled at me for being down here.
Back up top, it was more of the same. Passing through with Victoria must have put same respect for me into them. Not every day a pony gets to walk with an awesome pony. Along my way to the back of the ship, I did feel a few hooves pass along my side, but I learned long ago to not keep any pouches on me, of it will get stolen.
The cargo container homes gave way to a small open area, that was over looked by much taller buildings. There were three levels of the building, with the one in the front being the shortest, and the one in the back towering above the rest of the city itself. On the highest point of the city was were they hanged the flag of the fleet, it was a black flag with a green circle of thorns and a red teardrop in the middle on it. on the same flagpole as the body of a pony left to rot, hanging by the ponies back to legs. It was a warning to never cross the captain.
I could see that a lot of the guard ponies here were looking down at me, so I keeped my eyes down and walked to the orchard. The three big buildings was were all the important ponies lives, along with the guard ponies. The first shorter building was were the guards lived and worked. if any pony wanted to get at any important pony, they would have to get through the guards first. The second, from what I was told, was were they had all the fun stuff. Moving pictures, booze other then cheep rum, and fuck ponies who would not give you a rash. the last one was were all the super important ponies lived, including the captain. It's were he also controls the city, and talks to all the other ships in the fleet.
To get to the orchard, every pony has to go through the middle of the city, passing under the three buildings. The guard's standing in the way looked displeesed that I hade trotted over.
"Scram Kid!"
I stopped. "I umm, I'm here to..."
"Get t' fuckin' wax out o' your ears kid, Scram!"
"The Follower of Thorn sent me."
One guard laughed. "And why sould we believe you. bet cha a little thief who wants t' steel a few fresh apples!"
"I... I'm just here t' deliver a letter, no trouble."
A guard eyed me. "ehh, we can just take t' letter for you."
I shook my head. "Got to deliver it myself."
"now that's a problem... unless you agree t' make a deal, then we can let you in. You can't just get in for free." the guard had a grin on their face.
I looked at the group of guards, and each one was making me feel uneasy. But I had to do this, Victoria was expeting me to do the job, and becoming part of the Corps Brigade would guarantee that I'd get respect in the city. "ah, aye I'll pay... but I don't have anythin' t' pay with."
They laughed. "Oh you have somethin', after you deliver this letter, you will... pay me. But if you turn out t' be a lier, then you eill have t' pay us all... deal"
I didn't like this deal, but I had to do this job. "Deal"
__________________________
I had only been in the orchard once before, and that's was when the Followers of Thorn wanted to show us the bounty that Thorn had made for us. It was the same as I remember it, the hole back of the city was covered in apple trees. Red apples glisten in the sun as pony's picked some, and put them in baskets. It was like a different world, were we were not on a gigantic ship, but some place... different.
"So whar be this pony you be here for kid." The guards voice was dripping with contempt.
Quickly looking around, It was not hard to spot a pony in a big blue cloak. "There!"
I bound off to the pony, but was stopped as something held onto my tale. Looking back I could see that the guard had their hoof down on it. "So your sayin' thar be no pony, you know that means you were lyin' before."
Shit, fuck this asshole. "T' Followers o' Thorn will fuck you up if you don't let me go!"
A hoof came down on my side. It hurt a lot. "Sorry, what was that? All I hear be a filthy little ship rat squeakin'."
If there was a good time to stab a pony, this was it. "Then get closer so you can hear me!" I slowly pulled at the switch blade, getting it ready to use before the guard new what I was doing.
"OY! WHAT ALL THIS HERE YA LAZY FUCKER!" It was the pony in the blue cloak. Under the cloak I could see that it was a unicorn stallion with a dark gray coat, and a powder green mane. One of his leg was missing, and had been replace with a fake one.
The guard immediately backed off and saluted. "First mate Scurvy Cure sir, I didn't know!"
"No, you didn't, and that's why you will always be a dog o' a pony. Now, fuck off will you."
"Aye, aye sir!" The guard quickly made his exit, tail between his legs.
I quickly pushed the switchblade back in before the fist mate turned his attention to me. "So little filly, you said you have a letter for me."
I took the cloak off and hoofed it to Scurvy Cure. "This is it sir."
He lifted it up in his magic, shaking it a little. "Always subtle when they want t' be, that what I like about those lasss." placin' under his own cloak, I was waved off. "Go back t' were you were sent from, you did your job."
"I don't think she will." A bunch of the guard came into the orchard, buns drawn. "Can't say I'm surprised, you were never all that loyal Scurvy. But I am impressed how well this plan all worked." An old mare stepped into view, she had a blue coat, and read mane. She had on a fancy red jacket, and a big red hat covered in ordination. It was the captain... I was so fucked.
Scurvy stepped up to her. "T' fuck be you talkin' about Blackpowder Blast? how many times do I have t' prove me loyalty until you stop playin' these damn games!"
She smiled, and motioned to the guards. "When you stop bein' a back stabbin' traitor." The guard ponies tore off his cloak, taking the smaller one I gave him. "rip it open!"
The small cloak was ripped to peaces, and out came many small sticks, and a few electronic parts.
"If I didn't know better I'd say you were pannin' t' set off fire works. That, or your makin' a bomb. Guards, take them t' t' roof, let them meet t' others."
A gun poked the back of my head, and I walked.
__________________________
Never been in the tower before. It was clean, lacking the rust and rot of the rest of the ship. But that was not what impressed me the most, it was that I could see the hole city from a window. I was told that Blackwater was made from two massive ships fused together but from here I could see it. Sadly I could never take a look for long, as the guards would hit me every time I slowed down.
It didn't take long after that to get to the roof, Salty Biscuit was there, along with two other foals. "Salty what be you doin' here" She turnd her head, not looking me in the eye. "What's goin' on?" I think I knew what was going on, I just didn't want to believe it.
"Get out their you soddin' traitor!" Scurvy Cure stumbled out onto the roof, and a guard pushed him in.
Following was the Capetian Blackpowder Blast, strutting with each step. Her hat used a ribbon to stay on her head, as the wind blew stronger up here on the roof.
"ca.. captain mam, can I get me side o' t' deal?" the fucking traitor stepped forward, but the guards pointed their guns at her, pushing her back to were she was before. "If it's not t' much trouble mam."
Scurvy Cure face hoofed. "ypical, I'm undone because o' a little mare who doesn't know she's been played."
Salty quickly looked between Scurvy and Blackpowder. Her face looked more panicked with each twist of her head. She stopped and pointed her hoof at Scurvy Cure. "Why sould I lessen t' yo, your t' one in trouble!"
He ignored Salty, turning his gaze to the captain. "You've already lost Blackpowder, can't you can feel it. It's now a question o' how much blood will be spilled before your forced t' accept it."
*Bang*
A bullet flew through Scurvy's good leg, and he hit the floor "Oh now look at what you did, I now have blood on me deck... No matter, I can simply get a more worthy pony t' clean it up." Blackpowder's left eye was twitching. The gun held in the red glow of her magic shook just like how her eye twitched.
Slowly I backed up, hoping they would not see me until I got to the roofs edge. I could hear the sobbing form the other to foals, and the nervous tapping of Salty's hoof. Taking a quick look, I saw the captain put her hoof to her chest as she took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled the hoof as she exhaled.
Our fates were sealed with a hymn from Blackpowder's lips.
Saint Roseland protect me
Hold your Rifle for all to see
*Bang* a guard silenced the sobbing of one foal. I made my way to the edge, but there was only a strait drop below. And a wooden plank the extended out further.
Thundering loudly through Luna's night
Keep me safe till Celestia's light
*Bang* another foal was silenced. Looking back, I could see Salty cowering on the ground, and Scurvy standing up with he eyes closed
In noble battle did she fall
Protecting us from evil's thrall
*Bang* Salty was forced to sit up right before she was shot. I had no place to go but the plank, maybe I could find something to save me below.
Now she leads us all
keeping us from sinful fall
*Bang* I didn't need to look to know Scurvy was dead. The plank felt unstable, and I could see nothing but the ocean below.
"I applauded your bravery, choosin' t' plank over t' bullet." Turning around I as that Blackpowder had stepped onto the plank. ""Say, if you do somethin' t' entertain me, I might let you live, if a bit longer."
I glanced over at the fag pole, the body of a pony hanging from it was much more frightening up close. I had a feeling that might be what she meant by live a little longer.
Blackpowder stomped on the plank, making me loos my balance and my back hooves slid off the plank. "You know what, It's been a long day, and I be overdo with a meetin' with a bottle, So I'll just cut this short." As I struggle to get back up, she drew her cutlass.
It reminded me that I still had my switchblade, they didn't find it when I was patted down. "I have information, On Victoria. I know where her hideaway is." As I got up, I did my best to slowly pull out the knife.
Blackpowder got closer. "You be mistaken that I care. I just have t' go room by room and flush out t' ship rats."
I just needed her to get a little closer "But you don't know about the" I quietly mumble the words "Fuck you"
"Little filly." She got eye to eye with me. "Whatever you know be worth shit to me."
It was my opportunity, and with my eyes closed, I bit onto the switchblade with my teeth and swung it. I made contact, and felt a sharp pain in my chest.
Blackpowder screamed, and I felt her hoof strike my face.
I opened my eyes to see myself falling, with Blackpowder's cutlass stuck inside of me.
"Be proud, you all have done good work in keeping this fleet together. It's been a long five years, but were are all still alive, and our ships are still afloat. In the years to come, there will be more storms, more enemy's, and more traitors, But stay strong, for we will make it through this."
"Now I have heard rumors on the wind about my methods being far to harsh, and fears about a loss of all freedom. But like with the message from the Enclave, it's all lies. Let me tell you the truth, my methods are what is necessary to keep this fleet going, and any freedoms you think you have lost... you must ask yourself, were you even free to begin with. To be free you must be strong, strong enough to survives on your own, strong enough to throw off any chain. So I as you, are you stronger then you were five years ago, and this loss of freedome you feel, is it simply you coming to the realization that you were never truly free before. Freedom starts with strength, and you are all becoming strong."
-Roseland's Speech to the survivors fleet. Year five of the new area.
The cold air caressed my body, and I could feel a sharp pain from were I was pierced through. It was strange, I knew I fell and hit the water. Yet it was like I was still moving through the air, but not falling. One other thing was that I was on something, on some pony. Opening my eyes slowly.
OH FUCK! I WAS FLYING! "Celestia above what's goin' on" I was moving through the air, but I had no wings to do so, and In my panic I wrapped my hooves around the pony under me... the pony that was not there.
Be still young one, we do not wish you harm.
A voice came from inside my own head. None of this made any sense, was my faith being tested? "Saint Roseland saw coming of ponies fall" I held on tighter. "Her might saving us from the end of all"
Little one pleas calm down. A form shimmered beneath me, and the for of a large blue pony appeared in the moonlight. Two massive wings gently flapped in the air. The mane was unreal, like it was not made of hair, but of magic, with a mix of light and dark blue wavered like water. Poking out of the main was... was... was a horn! "Young one, you must be careful or you might open up your wounds." Her voice sounded like, like nothing I had heard before. It was beautiful, like Victoria, but not like Victoria at all.
"Goddess..." I burred my face into her mane. "Goddess Luna, you have returned!" This was to good to be true, but here she was, and I was riding on her back.
"Young filly, what is your name?"
"Star Charter, Goddess, your loyal servant."
The winds shifted, and I could feel her turning to a new direction. "I'm sorry little Star Charter, we are not Luna, we are... was Prism Paint. The princesses have long ago died... just like... I'm sorry."
"But thar be no alicorns other then t' goddesses... and what princesses, my goddess?"
Luna shook her head. "The princesses are Celestia and Luna. You know their name, then you must know their story?"
I didn't like this, but this was Luna, she must be testing me about how well I payed attention in the sermons. "Aye, Celestia and Luna created t' land o' equestia for t' faithful, and drove out all t' heathens. Celestia controlled t' sun, and Luna controlled t' moon. After Equestia fell, you and Celestia wait for us from t' heavens after. T' reward out faith and devotion with your love and light."
"That's not right, some of it, but it's also wrong."
I loosened my grip. How could I be wrong, what I said is the truth. "But I lessen to all the sermons, I can sing you the hymns by heart Luna!" The goddess of the night was here, and telling me I was wrong.
"We are not Luna, we are but a wretch who is lost, lost without mother." She suddenly dipped, and I held onto her tighter. I could see Blackwater ahead, all a glow in lights, and looking so small from here. "Little one, we shale return you to your home. We as sorry for confusing you." everything shimmered, and now we were both invisible.
Up here I could see were the chapel was, where I had been kicked into the water, and the apple orchard. The city looked dirty, something hard to see when on it, but the entire ship looked rusted, and sick. My home, was it always so ugly? Looking up at the night sky, the moon and an uncountable amount of stares shined brightly. "If your not Luna, who be you? Where did you come from?"
"Our name, call us Prism Paint. We came from Equestia, far beyond these waters, in the warmth of unity." The city grew larger as we flew in. "We are also curious. This place, has it existed for since the times of the bombs?"
How could she not know... unless she speaks true, and is not Luna. "Aye, we built Blackwater for everyponly t' live on, it be protected by t' fleet, and in turn we serve t' fleet."
Serve the fleet, how so? Her voice was back in my head.
"When we come o' age, we be taken aboard a ship in t' fleet. If we be weak t' fleet make us strong. If we be cowardly t' fleet makes us brave. And if our faith wavers, t' fleet returns us to t' true path."
And of those who do not become strong, brave and true?
"They are sent to t' heavens above before their hearts can become sinful."
Is that what happened to you?
I shook my head. "No, t' captains just a cunt. She's out t' get Victoria... Ah, I got t' get back to her, Victoria's waitin' for me."
Be still young one, we will soon be there. We picked up speed, and the city came closer. It was strange, I've never seen it like this before, it must be like how a pegasus sees the city. The orchard looked quiet, and peaceful. From the tower I could see another body hanging from the flag pole. Over the cargo box town, I could hear the sound of music and ponies at play. We passed Hull town, with ponies quietly asleep, huddling next to the ships hull so not to risk rolling over into the water. Were sould I land?
"Chapel, we sould land thar." I tryed to point it out, but I couldn't even see my own hoof. "It's t' buildin' with t' pointy top, and t' clearin' in front"
Prism Paint made another pass over Cargo Town, landing in front of the chapel. hopping off, I became visible again, and nearly fell over from the sharp pain in my chest. Little one, I was only able to bandage you up, if you are not careful, you could open up your wounds. Looking myself over, my white and blue striped shirt was ripped at the bottom, and my belly was wrapped in bloody bandages. You had a sword stuck in you, we don't have the training for healing, but we did our best.
My favorite and only shirt was ruined. Checking the rest of my cloths, my vest and goggle were still on me, but my red bandana was gone. So I'd need to get a new shirt, and bandana. That sucked. "You said that t' cutlets was stuck in me. Do you still have it?"
The sword floated out of thin air. We did not know what to do with it, so we held onto it.
"Give me It!" I reached out my hooves. "It's mine, it was in me!"
The sword floated to me, It still had some of my dried blood still on it. A little one such as you sould be careful with that. You could poke an eye out with it.
I cocked an eyebrow, was she serous. "An eye. I can kill a pony with this." I could hear her take a step back. "If I give it t' Victoria, she will be so happy that she will take me in as her sister." Then no pony will ever mess with me... Other then the captain, but I'll be with Victoria the most awesome mare in Blackwater. Placing the cutlass on my back, between my vest and shirt. I smiled at Prism Paint, well I smiled at were I thought she was.
The sound of a door opening came form the chapel. "It's passed curfew, if thar be any pony thar, I'll show you t' wrath o' t' goddesses me self." It was one of the sisters armed with a club in her gray magic.
Slowly I walked up to the sister. "Umm, I uhh, I need t' see Victoria, do you know were she is?" She was going to thump me, they always do, but she might tell me where to find Victoria after, so it will be worth it.
"If your lookin' for a whore, you be in t' wrong place filly." She walked up to me, club raised high. I braced myself for what was coming. "Little foals sould know better then t' be passed curfew." The club came down and... and nothing hit me.
The club was warped in a vibrant blue magic, and the sisters face had the shear look of shock on her face. Prism Paint had reveled herself, wings stretched out wide. "YOU DARE STRIKE A FOAL FOR SIMPLY BEING OUT LATE! WE SHOULD CRUSH YOU NOW FOR THIS. ANSWER HER QUESTION AND WE MAY SPARE YOUR LIFE!" my ears were ringing, damn Prism Paint was loud.
The sister had not only fell back on her flank, but I could smell piss coming from her. "she's, she's at t' medics place. I swear I do!"
I felt magic lift me up and I became invisible. Let's go Star Charter, before we do something we regret. I could feel her back when her magic let me go. I clutched on her tightly, and we lifted off.
"Why did you do that?"
She was going to attack you. We simply did not want to see you come to harm. once more we were above the city.
"And you saved me before as well, when I fell into t' water. Why?"
For a moment there was silence, with only the wind rushing passed my ear to fill the void. We do not understand ourselves. We saw you fall, and we pulled you out of the water. The two of us came to a stop on one of the cargo homes on the other side of the city. Why would this place hurt so many young ones, should it not protect them, protect you?
"If were protected, then we grow weak. That's how thin's are." I slid off of Prism Paint. "If were not strong, then we only endanger t' fleet." It was strange standing around all invisible
"You realy do think that's how you sould live, don't you?"
The air shifted a little, and I could hear shouting from the other side of the ship. "Is thar any other way t' live?"
I became visible, and the sound of wings beating the air. I only know of unity, the warmth of mothers embrace, and the closeness of my sisters. But before that, before Unity I was... weak, terribly weak.
"And Unity made you strong?"
Yeas, strong and happy.
"Just like serving the fleet!"
No. Yes. Maybe. It is, it's not the same, not at all.
"So unity didn't make you strong?"
Unity gave us a new form, made us into a newer, stronger pony. But without mother, we don't know anymore.
"What happened t' your mother?"
A vile villein killed her. She was going to save the wasteland, and she was killed for it.
"Oh... That sucks. Well you you want t' know how t' live without a mother, I can show you. I'm strong, and a survivor!" I put my hoof over my heart as I spoke, to ya'know, show her I knew what I was talking about.
Like how you were thrown into the water... Sorry, but no. You must be on your way, you did say that this Victoria is waiting for you.
"Hay, that's a low blow. But you should come with me, I know Victoria would love t' see you."
We think that would not be a good idea. We are sorry, but if you go see her, you must do so without us.
I sighed, I'd try to get the not Luna to come with me, but Prism Paint was bigger then any pony I had ever seen. So I doubt that she would even fit inside the ship. Not without hitting her head on, well everything. "Aye."
Looking around, I was sure that I could get to the brewery from here. I'd just have to sneak passed a few ponies. "Thanks Prism Paint. I owe you, I owe you a lot."
I could hear the sound of wings flapping. Just stay safe Star Charter. I had a feeling she was gone, though with her being invisible, she could just be hovering around. It made me feel a little paranoid. Safe too, but still paranoid.
__________________________
The city at night was a little less active then it was in the day, with far less ponies out and about. Most of the activity was around the bar's and brothels. Without another ship from the fleet nearby, things were far less rowdy then I had seen it be before.
For me, this meant it was much easier to sneak passed all the adult ponies. I just had to jump from shadow to shadow on my way to the closest stairwell, and into the ship. It got a little dicey at one turn when I had to sneak under two drunk ponies. It was strange, the two stallions seem to be so drunk that they had only made it half way to the brothel, before giving up and just started fucking each other. They probably didn't have the coin for a whore too. If I didn't have a place to be, I would have stayed to watch the show. But I did allowing myself to have a parting thought of Black Spot, and if he would be interested in doing the same with another colt.
The medics was a little deeper inside the ship, passed manufacturing, but before storage. I never been there myself, it was a place for worker ponies, not foals. So I had to be extra careful to not be seen on my way there. Fortunately, it was the busy time for the workshop, so most ponies didn't even look up. The ponies that did look around now and then ether didn't see me, or didn't care.
Finally at medic, I quickly jumped in, and looked around. The place had a small of rot about it, as well as a bunch of other smells I didn't recognize. A dead stallion laid on the table, his white jacket covered in blood that dripped off the table and pooled on the floor. On a closer look, syringe of Med-X had been pushed deep into his eye-socket. At least his death was a numbing experience.
The sound of glass braking from the next room startled me, and drew my attention.
"Boss, just hold still, we can't fix you up if you keep thrashin' about" It was the voice of Carving Doll
"I know we're no doctor, but just stay calm darlin" Puppet Strings voice quivered.
If those two were here, then So must be Victoria. Hopping over the pool of blood I looked into the back room.
"If one more, one more pony tells me to calm down, there's going to be two ponies with Med-X applied strait to their brain!" Victoria was being held down by Carving Doll as Puppet Strings was applying a bandage to her neck. Victoria herself looked frightening, blood stained her coat, the whites of her eyes were now red, and blood came from her eyes like tears.
In the corner of the room was another dead pony, this one covered on many metal shards that punctured the mare all over.
I stepped in. "Victoria... I'm back."
The three froze, which only lasted for a short few seconds before Victoria thru the other two off of her, and leaped at me. Surprised, I stumbled back and fell, my head hitting the handle of the cutlass. "Now you look tasty hmm... Wait, do I know... Ah yes, little Stare Charter!" Looking into Victoria's eyes, the green on red was striking, and oddly, I could see a little green flame in her eye. Our stare was broken when a tear drop of blood fell from her eye, and into my own. "So your alive, that's good... how" She got off from on top of me, and pulled the cutlass from my back. "Interesting"
"I umm..." Wait, can I tell her about the not Luna, what would happen if I did.
"From the beginning!" Her voice was stern and cold.
"I delivered t' cloak like you told me to, but Blackpowder Blast was waitin' for it, and me and Scurvy Cure were taken to t' top of t' tower. Salty Biscuit and two others around my age were up thar as well. You see, Salty had turn traitor on us, but Blackpowder Blast had her executed like t' rest o' us. I didn't get shot because I had backed up to t' plank, so t' captain wanted t' throw me into t' water. She got real close, I mean so close I got to hit her with the knife I was given. But she ran me threw with her cutlass and I... I fell.."
Victoria was looking at the sword, reflecting the light off of it. "So then, how are you here?"
"I umm... I don't know... some pony must have saved me."
She dropped the sword in front of me. "That's a lie. If the captain threw you into the water, no pony would go in to save you." Victoria smiled. "But you are hear, and your no rat are you?"
"No, never!"
"And you have that cunt's sword, not something she would let any pony touch." She eyed me. "Not unless they were the ones being touched by it, with the sharp end." Victoria turned back to the other two. Puppet Strings and Carving Doll looked nervous, still holding medical supply's. "Let's go, we got a new sister to bring into the gang. Sp let's get moving, and don't forget take want you can. I have a feeling we will need it."
The two relaxed, letting out a long sigh. Before making their way out, they grabbed what they could, shoving the medical contents into their bags. I steeped out of their way, both of them eying with a strange look.
Me and Victoria were next to leave the room, she placing the cutlass back onto my back. "Victoria?"
She glanced at me. "Speak."
"What happened, why did you need t' see t' doctor?"
"Ahh, that." she took a deep breath. "It was that damn sniper the captain got hunting for her. Grazed my neck with a shot, a real close call. The doctor tried to finished the job, nearly cut my throat open, but he was too slow."
It was a bit unreal to me, that some pony could harm Victoria. But she was strong, the strongest, so I didn't worry. Following her, we went deeper into the city's inside.
__________________________
Two hundred years is a very long time,
Ho, yes, ho!
Two hundred years is a very long time,
Two hundred years ago.
They used to think that we could control the sun,
Ho, yes, ho!
I don't believe it, no, not I.
Two hundred years ago.
They thought he moon was a prison for mares,
Ho, yes, ho!
You can believe it if you please.
Two hundred years ago.
They thought the stars were a sign of dread,
Ho, yes, ho!
By some foolish zebras every clear night,
Two hundred years ago.
They hung a mare for baking cupcakes,
Ho, yes, ho!
Her special ingredients no pony ate.
Two hundred years ago.
Two hundred years is a very long time,
Ho, yes, ho!
Two hundred years is a very long time,
Two hundred years ago.
__________________________
The deeper parts of the city were a labyrinth of damp rusted metal, pipes that snaked there way all over, and large magical powered machines that keeped the city afloat. Once I was told about this place, and how the machines were made to produce purified water, but it turned out that the proses also made a byproduct that has helped keep the city from sinking for two hundred years.
The deeper we when the colder it got. Frost years old coated the side of the walls, and I could see my every breath. Victoria had taken me to a room in the deepest part of the ship, saying only few words along our way. The room was lit by only one light, and other then anything made of metal, everything was rotten.
"Puppet Strings, you have the formula?" Victoria was upbeat, that made me feel comfortable.
Pulling out a box with her magic, it having three butterfly's on it, Puppet strings walked up to us with a smile. "Right were you left it Darling." The box opened up, and it was filled with small syringes. The were all a rainbow of glowing green, and striped away that comfortable feeling I had.
"What are those for?" My voice quivered.
"Don't worry Star Charter, it's just for your initiation." Victoria rotated her hoof. "You have to be strong to be part of my crew, Just like how you have to be strong to be part of the fleet. This here is just to test how strong you are, all you have to do is survive to pass. easy no."
"I.. I don't think I'm re..!" Carving Doll fell onto me from above, hooking her hooves around me.
Victoria stoked my mane. "Did I ever say how adorable you look, I love your main, eyes too. I always had a fondness for the color green, emerald to be exact. So it's best to just sit tight, and let us do our work. Hate to mess up one of your pretty little eyes." Her eyes locked with my own, and I felt numb. Locking her hooves around my head, I was completely immobile.
Puppet Strings slowly walked up, a syringe in her magic. The needle slowly hovering to my face, to my left eye. It just hung there, I wanted to get it away, but somehow I could not find the strength to struggle. I wanted to ask them to stop, but I could not find the strength to speak up. I couldn't even blink.
The syringe went right into my eye, and everything melted away.
__________________________
Footnote:
New Item: Blackwater Cutlass. - A finely crafted sword made from scrap metal and malice, It's black finished made for intimidation. When the sword is visible on you, you get +1 to charisma.
Quest Perk: Evil Eye. - Some joke about how a stare can have powers, you don't. Your left eye is now an evil eye, you now get unique dialogue options, and the ability to cast terrify, but when not covered up, you get a -1 to charisma and -5 to barter and speech.
"Fear in natural. Just as any other emotion is. But to be ruled by it is an act of futility. That's why we all must push our fears aside, and work to a better future. This is what this new ship represents, taking all of our fears and casting it out to the waters. Blackwater will be a places were you all can live free from fear, and truly start life anew. Now on this new ship you can find work, you can find love, and you can start a family. We still have many enemy's, thous who wish to see all the good we do thrown to the fire, but from your good work here, the fleet will become stronger, and our emery's will fall. So with a pride, I here by officially announce our first city ship, The Blackwater."
Thorn Roseland's christening of the City Ship Blackwater. Year ten of the new area.
My eyes opened, slowly adjusting to the light... Well eye. My left eye was covered up, feeling sore, and would throb now and then.
Trying to get up, my body refused to even put in the effort. I was warm, conformable, and ached all over. But my stomach rumbled with hunger, and I realy needed to pee, so I had to get up. That's when I felt something on me, a warm something that pressed down on my stomach.
After my eye could final focus on the world around me, I took a look down to find Black Spot using my belly as a pillow. Taking the time to looking about, the room I was in was small, and full of boxes. We happened to be on some old cushions, which were very comfortable. The rest of the room was a dull gray, with one light above us that flickered now and then.
Needing to get up, I slowly scooted myself out from under him. This did not end as well as I hoped, as he started to cuddle me around the flank. "I don't have time for cuddles Black Spot, I got to pee!"
"Sis don't go." he mumbled
Fuck, this is how we miss chapel. He want's to sleep cuddle, I let him, and we both go hungry for the day. "If you don't let go, I'm just going to have to pee on you!" and he's now holding on tighter. "Come on, we got to go to chapel, or we don't get to eat!"
"This is so adorable I could puke!" Looking in the direction of the voice, I could see Carving Doll looking down at us. Reaching down, she bit onto the back of my vest, and puled me up. Black Spot held onto me a little longer before I slid out of his hold. Placing me back down, Carving Doll walked out of the room. "Come, Victoria wants to see you."
After stretching, I trotted off after Carving Doll. "Can I go pee on or way? I need to go realy bad!"
______________________
I had arrived at the fermenting room after what felt like an hour. The pain in my eye had gone away, but I manage to bump or trip into half the junk in the hallway. The fermenting was were the rotting food was taken to make alcohol, most of it when into the water to make grog for every pony to drink. And True to it's name, it smelt like rot and alcohol.
Victoria stood on a Box, surrounded by a lot of other ponies. Seeing me, Victoria smiled. "Good, now that every pony is here, we can get down to business." She loudly tapped on the box, getting the attention of a few distracted ponies. "Fist off, Most of our runners are gone. A fucking rat sold them out, and the cunt Blackpowder Blast has seen to it that they are all dead. Well except for one of them." I could see a few of the other ponies give me a glance before refocusing on Victoria. "With the runners gone, we loos our contacts, and in turn the ability to bribe for our continued safety. So that brings us to the reason I have gathered you all here like this. Were changing out tactics."
The crowed began to murmur and shift about. It was an uneasy atmosphere, so much so I could feel it, but that could also be the alcohol.
"As things are, we can no longer appeal to the ponies under Blackpowder to keep from hunting us down. So I say it's time... Time we kill Blackpowder Blast!"
The crowed steeled down for a moment before one pony gave out a cheer, which was followed by the rest. "Let's put her head on a pike!" "Hang the cunt!" "Cut her up and feed her to her own loyalists." They wanted blood, and I had to admit, so did I. The cunt stabbed me and threw me into the water, and I was still upset about that.
"Lucky for us, I've been preparing for something like this. So from me to all of you, I give gifts. Happy Hearts Warming Eve every pony." On Victoria command, Puppet Strings rolled out a large box into the crowd of ponies.
Pulled out from the box was what looked like the uniforms of the sailor ponies that were made in manufacturing. But more heavy on the green, then the red. The armor on the uniforms also looked lighter, and under the flag of the fleet was another flag that depicted a red and green eye, just like how Victoria's was in medical.
Puppet Strings pulled out another box, and inside were pistols, and combat knives. There was enough for all of the ponies here, of which they all gleefully armed themselves.
"Now every pony, Don't just go running off thinking you can just fight your way to the captain, or I will just have to end you right here. I have a plan of attack for all of you to follow, and this plan will not work unless every pony plays their part." Victoria looked over at me. "On that note. Come here Star Charter, you have an important role to play."
A lot of eyes were on me, all of them with the same kind of eyes as Victoria, an unnerving green in ether their left, or right eye. This also meant that many of then had mismatched eye colors.
Taking a deep breath, I walked over to Victoria, but Puppet Strings stopped me along the way. "Deary, let me take that off o' you first, Let Victoria see your pretty eaye." With her magic, Puppet removed the bloody bandages from my head. Pulling out a small mirror shard, I got a good look at why my eye was cover. It was, well greener, and on a closer look It seemed to shift in green hue. My eyelid was covered in dried blood that flaked off after rubbing my eye a few times.
Victoria chuckled, "Welcome to the Corps Bragaid Star Charter. Now first off, let's get you geared up."
They had a uniform ready for me, it's smaller size meant that the armor plates covers me far better then of the others. I didn't get the same weapons as the others, in place of the pistol I got three pipebombs. As for the combat knife, I was instead given Blackpowders cutlass, Puppet Strings renaming it to the Blackwater Cutlass. I even got a cool sheath to put the cutlass in.
Victoria rubbed me on the head "When we head out, I want you to stick with me. Blackpowder failed to kill you, so you will be perfect for sending the message that I'm coming for her. I'll explain the rest later." With that she trotted back to the box, stopped on it to get every ponies attention. "Every pony, we will be splitting up into three teams for this. I will be leading red team, Puppet Strings will be in charge of blue team, And Carving Doll will lead yellow team. Now take a look on your armor, each one sould have a bandana on the right leg signifying the team you will be on." I had a read bandana, yay! "Now follow then, the longer it takes for us to start this fight, the harder it is going to get to win. We hit them fast, hard, and show mo mercy."
Every pony Cheered, including me.
__________________________
When up the shrouds the sailor goes
And ventures on the yard
The landspony who no better know
Believe his lot is hard
Bold Jack with smiles each danger meets
Weighs anchor heaves the log
Trims all the sails belays his sheets
And drinks his can of grog
If to engage they give the word
To quarters he'll repair
Now winding in the dismal flood
Now quivering in the air
When waves 'gainst rocks to rend and roar
You'll n'er hear him repine
Though he's on Frozen North's icy shore
Or burning beneath the line
When sailing orders to arrive
Bold Jack he takes his leave
My dear sweetest Pol he cries
I pray now do not grieve
Thy Jack will take his daily can
Of grog and drink to thee
In hopes that thou will n'er forget
Thy sailor who's at sea
But should thou false or fickle prove
To Jack who loves thee dear
No more upon my native shore
Can I with joy appear
But restless as the briny main
Must heartless heave the log
Shall trim the sails and try to drown
My sorrow in cans of grog
__________________________
Along our way to were we wold begin the attack, Victoria explained to me why we had the eye, and what it did. As it turned out, it was part pf some sort of magical ritual from before the end of the grate war. It was meant to give a pony a power called "The Stair" A power that could even make a full grown dragon quiver in fear. But the ritual often killed the ponies it was used on, so they stopped doing it. But Victoria found it, and found out that it only killed off the weak. The power of the stair was only for the strong, and like her, I was strong enough to have it.
Our waiting place was at the edge of Cargo town, with a strait path to the security tower. I could see the guards paroling all about, though most were in their tower.
"Star Charter." I turned to Victoria, who had a serous look on her face. "It's time for you to play your role. We need you to lure the guards from their tower. If we only stir up trouble here in Cargo town, they will just take sniping positions. The only way to get them to come out, and out in force is to hit them, and hit them hard." She tapped one of the pipe bombs. "We need you to get into the security tower, and set the bombs in placed were they gather. After that run to Hull Town, Carving Doll will be waiting for you there."
I nodded. How was I to do this I didn't now, But Victoria had this look about her, like she knew I could do it. "How do I get in?"
She smiled, "I still have a few contacts. One of them is a guard, who will be waiting at the east side of the tower. She'll let you inside. After that, just place the bombs where ever it will hurt, and get out of there." She pulled out a trigger from a pocket. "I'll detonate it from here."
Sounded simple enough. I get in, plant bombs, get out, and run to Hulltown. As long as I'm careful, nothing sould go wrong.
__________________________
I was provided with another cloak, this one was a normal cloak made to simply keep my uniform and weapons hidden. So it was nice and light.
Like Victoria had said, there was a mare guard standing in front of the east entrance to the security tower. She looked nervous, shifting her head side to side, more often then was normal. When her eyes locked onto me she sighed, a without a word, opened the door wide enough for me to quickly run into.
The inside was far cleaner the I had seen in the rest of the city, but still not as nice as the main tower. So as I sneaked from one room to the next, it became apparent that the security ponies lived far better lives that the rest of the city, yet still acted like the most miserable assholes. It only motivated me more to blow them the fuck up.
I felt that I was getting closer to a good spot, but as I rounded a corner I ran right into another pony. "Fuckin' kid... Oh look it here, t' little fibbers be finally here t' pay up." It was the guard from the orchard! Before I could run away, he had already thrown his weight onto me, and held me down. "Don't think t' second mate be goin' t' interfere this time. Oh no, he's swin'in' in t' wind starboard now." He slammed me agent the wall, and everything when fuzzy for a moment. "I wonder what t' captain will give me for turnin' in a little spy? But first, I want me payment."
I cried out in pain when the guard grabbed me by my main, dragged me down the hall. The armor only protected me from every bump and scraped from the floor, but not my head as it began to pound with pain. And almost as soon as it had begun, I was thrown into a room, hitting another wall with a heavy thud.
"You know what, I think I sould collect on t' interest as well." Using what strength I had, I looked up at the guard, and saw him undo his armor. I was immediately reminded of the two stallions from last night, except there was only one stallion, and his thing was pointed at me. "Don't worry, I'll make you a proper mare, not like thous cunt who run this city. A good proper whore."
He slowly walked up to me. I tried to pull my cutlass, but the cloak was in the way. I could try to run for the door, but when I tried to get up, I got dizzy. So I used that stair thing!
The guard stopped, but didn't looked like he was fazed by my glare, just confused. "What t' fuck be wrong with your eye... No matter, Now be you goin' t' take off that stupid outfit or will I just have to... URK!"
The guard choked, and then slowly lifted up into the air, his back bending backwards as spasmed. With a sickening crack, the guard's spine broke, and he was slammed to the ground. Bile and blood shot out of his mouth from the force, his face locked in a look of terror. From the other side of the body, Prism Paint came into view, her own face was that of rage.
"You... you saved me... again?"
Her glare turned onto me. You stupid filly, why, why would you come here! After what they tried to do to you! You sould know better to not to be here!
"I.. I." I think I know how that sister felt.
Prism Paint lifted me up in her magic, Let's leave this place, If they let such vile ponies work here, then.. then you sould leave this place.
Crossing my hooves, I rasbaried at her. "Go were? Hull town? If the captain knows I'm alive, then I'm a dead mare trotting."
I was dropped onto her back, she was a warm and a little bit fluffy. Then we leave this ship, I'm sure Equestria has plenty of safe places for you to live.
"Wait, wait, what!?" Was she serous? If I left now, Victoria's plan will fall apart, and I could not do that to her.
Jumping off of Prism Paint back, I looked at her in the eyes. "I can't go, not until I finish my job here!" I threw off the cloak. "The gang is taking over the city, and I'm important to the plan."
Why can't this Victoria do this herself, or send another pony, any pony but a foal?
Where we having this conversation, right now, next to a dead body! Between how I hurt all over, and the hunger pain in my stomach, Prism Paint had moved from wondrous, to realy aggravating. "It's because I'm important! That's all t' it."
You are so important that this Victoria sends you off to get raped! And you think this is a good thing!? Prisms wings twitched. Are you no better then a raider?
I laughed. "Show what you know, only t' week would complain about such thin's. But I'm strong, so get out t' way, and let me blow thees fuckers t' water below.
I suddenly found myself being lifted by Prism Paint's magic. You will do no such thing young lady. It's obvious that this Victoria is a bad influence on you, and If I don't remove you from this environment, shes going to get you killed.
Waving my front legs, I found it a wast of energy as I was held in Prism's magic "Let me go, I have to help Victoria kill the captain! Prove to every pony I am strong!"
Your a foal, you have nothing to prove!
"I have, I have... I HAVE EVERYTHING TO PROVE!"
I dropped to the floor as Prism gasped, and everything from my left eye was red. Checking the eye with my hoof, I saw that I was bleeding from it. The pain from being thrown around had faded significantly, but was replaced with a more intense hunger. My stomach almost screening for me to feed.
What happened to you? That magic, it... it's wrong. She walked up to me, wings stretched out, but I didn't look at her. The dead guard felt more interesting, and made my stomach cried out for food to eat. Star Charter, look at me I didn't. "Star, look at me and tell me what's wrong."
I felt Prism's magic grab hold of me again, this time forcing me to look at her. My teeth were chattering, and I could not stop shaking "I.." drool sloshed out of my mouth. "I'm hungry" I could not keep my eyes from drifting to the guard. I don't know why, but looking at him only made me feel hungrier. "Very hungry."
She quickly looked at the body, and back at me. Her face had lost all the rage from before, and didn't have the shock and fear she had just a moment before. Her face looked scared, no worried. And I didn't know why, but it made me feel sad. "Oh my poor girl, what did they do to you." I was placed back onto her back. "Just hold on, I'll get you something to eat."
Placing e back onto her back, we both became invisible, and Prism Paint ran off down the hall. The only thing that seemed louder then her hoof steps, was my stomach.
__________________________
Footnote:
Quest perk added: Corrupt Regeneration - Whenever heavily wounded, your body will began regenerating. The energy from regeneration is taken from your hunger, and you will suffers doubles the effect of starvation. If starvation hit's critical, a frenzied state will be reached until your hunger is reduced.
Can you not see what she is doing, what she has done. Everything she has touched twists into corrupted form of itself, every word she speaks is woven with lies, and her love of the fleet, that does not exist for she loves nothing! Not even herself! Pleases here my words, do not let her damn us any further. don't let her pervert the memory of the princesses more then she has. If you let her make us forget who we realy are, she will remake us into her own twisted image. She is no saint, only a monster, can you not see!
- (Redacted) Last words, crime treason and blasphemy, year seventeen of the new area.
I didn't know why I didn't think about it before, it was obliviously the best way two to do all this. Also the reward, the filling my stomach up reward. Prism Paint's ability to turn herself, and me invisible, was exactly what I needed to get in and out. But before I could plant the bombs, I needed to eat, and so Prism had taken me to the cafeteria. My stomach would have protested otherwise.
These assholes had everything and more. More food then I could eat in a year. At fist I just shoved what I could find into my mouth, not even tasting anything I ate. But after a wave of releaf came over me, I finally slowed down to even look at what I was throwing into me. I expected the apples, dry fruit, seaweed, and fish. But their was a bunch I didn't recognize at all.
A bunch of yellow stick like stuff levitated in Prism's magic. "so they even have hay out here... it even looks like it's fresh, not hundreds of years old." she lifted some red squishy thing. "never seen this before." taking a bight out of it, it squirted out, hitting me in the face. taking a lick from the stuff, it was not bad. swallowing the weird red fruit, Prism smiled. "I like it."
Looking around, I found my own jackpot, Coconut water, and pineapples! If I could get this stuff out to cargo town, I would be fucking rich. But I was still realy hungry, so I Used my sword to slice and pineapple, and eat it. The coconut water helped push everything down. "Hay Prism, let's take a bunch of this stuff with us."
She nodded and levitated a nearby saddlebags. It was nothing much, an old and re-patched bag, but it also looked strong. Into the saddlebags she put a bunch of bottles of coconut water, the dried fruit, and a few of the fresh fruit.
My stomach grumbled again, though I had eaten all that fruit, it was not enough. Biting into a raw fish, I don't know why I, but I was already chewing before I realized I was easting a fish head. It was not that bad, crunchy, but I had worse to eat, so I ate the rest, spitting out scales and bones. Looking for more, I fond a box with the fish parts already cut up. So I dug in.
"What are you doing?" Prism's voice came from behind me. Looking back at her I smiled, some of the fish parts were sticking to me. She looked shocked again, but this time it made me want to giggle. "Stay still, your face is covers in blood." She levitated a rag, and used it to cover my face, pushing it agent me. "Now if your feeling better enough to be fooling around, then we both must go."
"Okay, but let's plant the bombs first!"
She raised any eyebrow at me. "A young mare sould not be playing with bombs."
I huffed. "oh, you get to brake a pony in half, but I can't blow them up." Cunt.
"That's was different, we was protecting you!"
Right, this shit again, dose she have some sort of save the fillies complex. I heard of a mare like that once, turned out she just wanted to sleep with them, and touch them. Crossing my hooves, it was a long shot but if I used her save ponies agents her, I think I can get Prism to work with me, so I smirked. "And I'm protecting the ponies of this city."
"How so? Buy committing murder.
"You think that one guard is the only pony who likes little foals. For them, were all free game, and every pony looks the other way out of fear." This was of coarse a lie, well more of a half truth. No pony wanted to mess with the security, but I had her tales of guards getting gutted for trying to extort money from some of the ponies of Cargo Town. As for Hull Town, the guards know to never go down there, even in groups. But now to sell Prism on the truth. "Victoria has a plan, and the respect of the ponies of this city. If I do this, I'm helping her make the city better."
Prism Paint scrunched her face a little, but quickly regained her composer. "Fine, but if she ask you to do any more dangerous things, I... I'll not let that happen." She levitated the explosives over to me.
Arming each of them, I placed them in the back of the cabinets that were along the floor. I didn't know how powerful the pipe-bombs were, but I knew it sould be big enough to wreck the kitchen. If there was one place that we could hit and get the guards running out for vengeance, it would be blowing up their food.
I grabbed a strand of seaweed right as we turned invisible, slurping it down before stepping out of the kitchen.
__________________________
This hole invisibility thing was awesome, allowing me to simply walk passed rooms filled with guards without being seen. There was just one problem, Victoria needed to see me leave the security tower. So standing at the door to the outside, and once open, it would be a strait run to Cargo Town. I new what my next move had to be.
"Prism Paint?"
Yes Star Charter.
"We need to split up from here. Victoria needs to see me leave her so she will knows to set the bombs off. After that, I need to run to Hull Town. We can meet up there."
I don't like this.
"This is the easy part, all I have to do is run away, that's all."
I heard Prism sigh. Fine, but I'll keep an eye on you.
Creepy much. "Okay. But can you go first, knock over any guard out there for me."
Certainly With a wave of magic, the heavy metal door flew open, and I saw a guard on the other side be knocked off his hooves by an invisible force. Now run, and stay safe.
Becoming visible, I readied myself to run, getting low to the ground, and goal in sight. With a burst of speed, I galloped out of the tower, only jumping so to get over the guard pony on the ground, using his face as a spring board to get more momentum. Cargo Town was not far away, but I was going over a large open space with no cover. If the guard ponies at the top of the tower just decided to...
*Bang-Ping*
Fucking shit, they are already firing at me. Typical assholes.
*Bang-Ping*
That shot nearly got my head. The sound of the speaking bullet passing right by my ear.
The sound of a low pop, and a rumbling came from behind me. But no more gunshots. My best guess was that Victoria had set off the explosives, and the guards were confused to what had just happened. This was good for me, as it gave me the time to get to Cargo Town.
*Bang-Crack*
I slid into Cargo Town with a scream. One of them had gotten me in the back right leg. Getting myself back up, I limped into the cover of Cargo Town. The Cloth covering my not protect ageist bullets, but it did keep the tower ponies from observing everything ponies did in Cargo Town. So it was not much, but at least they would not be able to snipe at me here, but they would come after me.
Quickly I used my bandana to wrap around the bullet hole to stop the beading, it going from a light red, to a deep dark red. The pain was bad, but in truth, not much worse then being beaten, stabbed, or dropped into icy cold water. So I sucked it up, and began walking to Hull Town. Sadly the pain in my leg was to much for me to use it, so it was more of a slow limping away, leaving a trail of blood behind me.
The ponies of Cargo Town had all gotten out of the streets, and were now just watching me from the safety of their cargo homes. It was so quiet I could hear them whispering to themselves, locking doors, and readying weapons. Mostly the ponies were making bet's on how I was going to be executed, their voices just loud enough for me to hear. Assholes.
A siren went off from behind me, loud enough that it echoed threw Cargo Town. The siren meant that the security was going in for a raid, which meant I realy pissed them off, and they were coming to kill me, and have fun doing it.
Pushing myself further, I could see the edge of Cargo town just in sight. Each step hurt as I did my best to hold up my back right leg, but even the act of keeping it off the ground was painful.
*Bang-Ping*
A bullet ricocheted next to my hooves. Turning around, I saw a pony in power armor, flanked by five, no, ten guard ponies. "Go no further ship rat."
I didn't know much about the power armor, but I could see that it had an intimidating visage to it; the armor color had a dull gray and rust color to it, cables and tubes connected from one peace of the armor to the next, poking out on the pony's shoulders and hips were large light bulbs that small bolts of lighting jumped from inside, and from one light bulb to the next. The helmet covered the pony's head completely, giving the pony an almost dragon like face, and it even had a horn for were a unicorns horn would go in. A small bolt of lighting jumped from the light bulbs and to the horn, then back again.
The ten guards quickly surrounded me, cutting of any exit that I could run to. Not that I could run away even is I wanted to, so it was an unnecessary action for them to do. The power armored pony walked up to me, each step thudding on the ground. "Tell me were Victoria Rosary is! And don't play dumb, that stun you pulled has relation all over it. Now tell me were that half dead mare is hiding. Or sould I put a bullet through your neck Like I did to her." The power armored pony lifted a large rifle in his magic, and rested the end of the barrel on my neck. "Give me an excuses to kill you ship rat."
This asshole thinks Victoria's in hiding, and that the bombs were just payback. I couldn't help but laugh at that. The power armor pony answered my laughter by pistol wiping me with a 10mm pistol, knocking me to the ground. This time, the rife didn't rest on my neck, he using it to hold me down by the neck.
"Thank you." I heard a switch be pulled on the rifle. I closed my eyes.
*Bang-Ping*
my ears rang louder then they ever had before, but I was alive. Did Prism Paint save me again. No that be bad, taking out one guard maybe, but there was ten of them, and a pony in power armor!
"SHOW NO MERCY AND KILL EM ALL!"
Opening my eyes I saw Carving Doll hovering above the power armored pony, who had been knocked to his side. Gunfire erupted all around me as Corps Brigade rushed out from their hiding spots guns blazing. Blood started flying almost as soon as the first gunshot had gone off, and three of the guards were dead withing the fist few seconds, the rest of them ducked for cover. The Corps Brigade had taken higher positions, shooting led down at the guards every time they tried to counter attack.
Carving Doll swooped over to me, and carried me to cover. In cover, she produced a healing potion, and I greedily drank it down. "I did good right?"
She smiled. "Kid, I want you to be my little sister."
"But I want to be Victoria's little sister!"
She ruffled my main. "Let's just settle that were one big family." I giggled.
*Bang-Ping*
I stopped giggling. The fucking power armor pony was walking through the rain of gunfire like it was simple water drops. His gun pointed at us as he reloaded it. A Corps Brigade Granger jumped him, but he quickly pulled out His 10mm, and added a new hole in the pony's head. "Not bad. But not good enough to take me down."
*Bang-Ping*
I had ducked just in time for the bullet to miss me. "I have already call for reinforcements. Your little temper tantrum has only sealed all of your fate. A good day for hunting indeed."
Carving Doll waved for me to back up to a new position. Falling back, she shot back at the power armored pony, the small rounds only bouncing off his armor. In the new position, we had joined another pony, who was holding a trigger in her magic. Her left eye was bleeding as she nervously shivered.
"Fate is wale shit, and you know it! Were going to carve our own future, and your just going to be shark shit!"
*Bang-Ping*
Carving Dolls face was cut by the bullet, it going up her right cheek, and made a hole through her right ear. "I was thinking of ending you quickly. But now I feel like I want to be a surgeon, and my rifle, well it's the best scalpel a surgeon could have."
More rifle fire erupted further in Cargo Town, the reinforcements had arrived. Gunshots and screaming was all I could hear outside of Carving Doll and the asshole in power armor.
Laughing, Carving Doll pulled out an odd looking grenade. "You know shit about cutting a pony up. Why don't you come over here and I'll teach you a thing or two." She smirked, leaned into me, and whispered. "This is how you kill an asshole in power armor."
*Bang-Ping*
That shot got to close, bending a peace of metal right next to my head. "So be it, I'll enjoy messing around with your insides. Maybe see how long you can live without a ribcage. Last one didn't last a minute, but you might." He continued to close in, unfazed by any stray shot that hit him.
"NOW!" Carving Doll yelled, and the other mare pressed the trigger she was holding, giggling when she did.
With a loud pop, A cargo home came crashing down onto the armored pony. The sound of it was deafening, and dust clouded all around us. I had to used Carving Doll's Jacket to cover my mouth so to not breath in the dust.
When the dust had cleared, the cargo container was floating in mid air. The power armored pony had caught it in his magic, the light bulbs on his armor now with a solid ark of lighting crackling between each of them. "The Goddesses have blessed me with true strength, and with it I will crush you, with it I will desecrate your copses." he laughed with a deep bellowing mechanical laugh.
Carving Doll threw the grenade, it bounced to the power armored pony's hooves, and the power armored pony became silent.
*Boomfizzz*
The cargo home fell onto the power armor pony with a thud. Crushed underneath, his head was the only thing sticking out.
Walked up to him, Carving Doll took the lead, and the unicorn mare held a dagger out in her magic. "Your true strength is looking quite pathetic right now. Not that I care, you were just a nuisance that needed to be taken care of." the unicorn placed the daggers tip under the helmet, and pushed it upward into the pony's head. Pulling the dagger out let free a stream of blood that quickly pooled on the floor.
Taking a quick look behind the cargo home, the battle was still going on fiercely. But the guard ponies had not made any ground from were they were, most of them now were dead. If their enforcements were coming, they were coming too late.
Carving Doll was laughing as she sat on top of the the power armored ponies head. Calling over the unicorn mare, who was now chewing on her own leg, the whites of Carving Dolls own eyes had turned bloodshot red. "Signal for the others to stop playing around, and mop up the stragglers. Were joining Puppet Strings on the next battleground."
Getting up, she walked over to were I was, and looked around the cargo home. "Wonderful isn't it." I saw one of the guard ponies get tackled by a pegasus Corps Brigade, and a Unicorn ran in to gut the Guard. A few other Corps Brigade ponies were shaking of a few bullet wounds, and gathering the rifles of the guard ponies. "Victoria promised war." Carving Doll looked at me, blood coming from her eyes like tears. "And we have war!"
__________________________
Over the dead speakers that littered the ship, white noise erupted loudly. I had thought they had all broken down and crumbled to uselessness, but like all the other ponies that had told me they no longer work, I was proven wrong.
"Good day everypony!" It was Victoria, her cheerful voice echoed throughout the city. "As you can without a doubt see and hear, violence has broken out in are dear city on the water. I assure you that this will pass, and you will all be able to return to your daily lives. All we seek is Blackpowder Blast's death, and the slaughter of all those loyal to her. If you are loyal to her and wish not to die, you can prove yourself worthy of living by killing another loyalist. The more you kill the more likely we will spare your life, and possibly the life of your family. So remember there is always a way out, with the exception of Blackpowder Blast. Have a nice day.
The speakers returned to wight noise for a few seconds before the voice of a mare came one, it was the voice of a one of the sister from the chapel. "This mutiny is approved by the Followers of Thorn, for the weak must be purged so that the fleet can remain strong."
A melody replaced the sister voice, along with humming. The Followers of Thorn were playing a song that they had Victoria sing over a year back. It was a rare treat when I heard it, and now it was like a gift for a job well done.
I am not a pirate, but I long to be, Sailing by the stars across the seven seas, Living with no earthly cares, my mates and me— The envy of all worldly ponies, who are not free.
A song to sing for beggars, a song to sing for saints, A song to sing for wealthy ponies all wrapped and bound in chains! Our treasure's not in gold, or in our piety. Our wealth is in an answered call, the longing of the sea!
Stormy oceans carry us to lands we've never known, To mysteries and buried secrets from the tales of old. So hoist the sail and raise the flag, we do not stop for night. We'll ride the wild winds and waves until the morning's light!
In smuggler's caves and tavern halls, we live by no pony's rules. We fly the colors of the living, free and proud and true! We set out on the ocean blue to escape tyranny. We'll keep our merry hearts alive so long we roam the sea.
A pony once walked along the shore, and called he out to me, "I see you are a fishermare, a lover of the sea. I know this world's a wretched place, but if you'll follow me I'll take all of your burdens... and pirates we shall be!"
Do I fear death? Is there life beyond death? Is there a point to life in itself? All questions that I have heard asked time and time again. To put your worries at ease I have an answer to these questions. It is yes. Yes we all fear death, for death is the end of all things. Yes there is life beyond death, for it is where the Goddesses wait for us. And yes, there is a point to life. It is to prove ourselves worthy of the Goddesses.
So I ask you all, do you feel worthy to meet with the Goddesses. For if you are truly worthy then you have no fear of death, for the next life is a life full of rewards under the love of our Goddesses.
This is why I head out into battle with my head held high. The only fear of death I have is the fear that there is still more worth to prove. So hear my words, and be strong. For only in weakness can we fail both ourselves and the Goddesses.
- Thorn Roseland's last speech to the survivor fleet. Year twenty four of the new era.
A .308 rolled into my hoof, taking a small line of blood to me. The guards may have had a bigger numbers and more powerful guns, but we had outmaneuvered them, catching them off guard. The Corps Brigade had only suffered minor casualty's, where the guards near Hull Town had been completely wiped out. There bodies were quickly dragged into the walkways and used as bullet shields while we advanced onto the second team of guards.
One guard, a mare, looked down at me with lifeless eyes as her tongue flopped around from a face missing it's jaw. She made me feel uneasy to use her as cover, but when a few bullets flew my way, I got over it.
"OVER HERE KID!" another Corps Brigadier waved out to me. My role in this fight was to run supply's to those fighting, mainly bullets. Waiting for the gunfire to move away from me, I bolted to the pony. A shot did land near my hooves, but I was under new cover in a short few seconds. The Corps Brigadiers holding down the position took what ammo and explosives was on me. One tried to take my sword, but I bit her leg for even trying.
A pegasus guard tried to attack from above, but the confines of Cargo Town forced him to stick close to the fight, and was driven off before he could hit any pony. Another attack came in the form of a rush, but a well placed grenade killed one of them, and drove the others back.
The worst was when a loyalist got a lucky shot off at us, peppering us with her with her Rust Gun. However, luck was on our side, because she was to drunk to aim straight, and her firing it full auto made all the bullets fly wide. Two of the Brigadiers still got hit, but not anywhere important. For the rest of us, the bullets either missed or harmlessly grazed our armor. The counterattack was quick, and our shots sent most of her skull back onto the wall in her home.
I ran into the cunt's home to recover the gun and ammo, taking only a few seconds to climb up to it. Inside was as ratty as any other place in backwater, though it did have a few things that didn't look over a hundred years old. She must have done a few favors for the captain's ponies to get some of this junk. The rust gun she’d used rested next to her mutilated corpse, along with a bunch of magazines. Jackpot!
The rust gun was one of the few guns made right here in Blackwater, and I was told it got it's name because they used reforged rusted scrap metal for the gun. The guns tend to keep some of the red rust on it, and so the name. Strapping the gun to my back, and stuffing the magazines in my pockets, I quickly scavenged around for anything else useful. Luck was on my side, as I found the source of what made this mare stupid drunk, a bottle of Blackwater rum. I handled it with care, as this shit was flammable as all fuck.
Coming out of the home, the others told me to give them the stuff, but I just stuck my tongue out at them. "You got your own guns, this be all mine! I'm takin' it t' Carvin' Doll." In response, a can was kicked at me, but I dodged it and ran under cover.
Carving Doll was in the center of Cargo Town, were Puppet Strings group had brought up more supply's that they’d taken from deeper inside the city. This also meant that we were now fighting guards from all around, including above and below. Just restocking ammunition was dangerous, and I still had to get to all to the other Corps Brigadiers.
Running off, I could not help but think of Prism Paint, and how mad she must be right now. She would do better helping us kill all these cunt's.
__________________________
The center of Cargo Town was covered in the blood of guards and Corps Brigadiers alike. But unlike the guards, we had an advantage. We can heal without healing potions, so there were a lot more body's of them than there were of us. But, it also meant I saw what the hunger could reduce me to if I was not careful.
I ran inside the base, which was just a few cargo homes that were close together. One room had a stack of body's and one Corps Brigadier. The fellow Brigadier was fresh from healing, and was currently stripping the flesh from a dead guards leg. When I first saw it, I thought it made my stomach churn, but I quickly revised that it was hunger that I felt. I didn't like the idea, but Carving Doll told me as long as I kept myself fed, and avoided getting hurt to badly, then I shouldn't worry about the hunger taking me over. But life on this ship, unless we win, it would be impossible to avoid losing myself to the hunger. I had to pull myself away from the sight, just the sound of tearing flesh was making my mouth water.
In the next cargo home was Puppet Strings. She was on the radio giving out commands to each of the small groups spread out all over Cargo Town. She was also sharpening a metal shard on the desk the radio sat on, making a high pitched squeaking sound each time the metal was rubbed across the surface.
"Drummer, take your team t' t' main pathway, t' loyalist be preparin' for a push. Barb's team will be waitin' for you thar." She looked over the metal shard, and had a satisfied look on her face before placing it under her dress.
"I finished with t' resupply." Puppet looked my way. "And I found some good stuff." Shuffling my body, the blackwater rum sloshed from within it's bottle.
With her magic, Puppet Strings lifted the rust gun, it's ammo, and the bottle of rum. "This it very good, and exactly what you need for your next mission. Stay right thar, and I'll get you ready." A saddle bag was levitated over to me and placed onto my back. It's straps were fastened on tight, securing the bag on my left. To my surprise and glee, Puppet did the same with the rust gun on my left. Fuck ya, I just got a battle saddle. Placing the trigger bit in my mouth, everything was tight, yet not uncomfortable. "Looks like it all fits. Can you press t' trigger?"
Using my tongue to press a button, a wire that went from the bit to the gun tightened ever so slightly.
Puppet Strings nodded her head. "Good, good. Now t' load you up and send you out on your next mission." The magazine were levitated into the bag, with one going into the gun. I was also given three more pipe bombs, two in the bag, and one on the outside of the bag. "Due t' your small size, we’ll need you t' get passed t' loyalist line and blow a hole in their barricade on t' main pathway. If you can disorganize them long enough, we can make a push to t' towers. Victoria be already in t' main tower, and will need backup soon." She pushed the one magazine further into the SMG, but didn't chamber a bullet. "You understand?"
"Aye. sneak passed t' guards, throw t' bombs in t' barricade, and run for Victoria."
"Close. After usin' t' bombs, use t' rust gun t' take out any guards you find. Got it?"
"Aye, kill em all!"
Puppet strings chambered the rust gun, I was good to go, and I ran out of the Cargo Home. Carving Doll was outside, giving orders more directly. The mare looked at me and nodded, probably already knowing about the mission I was given.
__________________________
We had a huge advantage fighting in Cargo Town, with all the twists and turns forcing most of the fighting to stay restricted to just small arms and melee weapons. Victoria had also manage to disrupted the guards radio signal, making it so that only we were able to organize that way. It was forcing the guards to take up defensive positions, and slowly push out so we could retake the town, which left them even more open for traps.
For me, my advantage was that I could use all the hidden routes that me and the other foals would use to sneak passed the adults. mostly it was little openings that we could get through, but the older ponies could not. Though with the gear I had on, I just barely fit through most of the holes. I was just glad that Puppet Strings made sure it was tight enough that none of the gear made noises when I moved around.
A fight allowed me to sprint across a walkway unseen, but one bullet did ricochet dangerously close to me. I got lucky at another turn, as three guards were too distracted brutalizing a captive to see me run by. Among the three, a mare guard had chosen rape as her form of brutality, I could not tell who it was they were attacking, or even if it was a combatant, but they must have already given up struggling, unless the guard was simply fucking a corpse.
My luck ran thin near my goal, as I was forced to hide under a box. It took only a split second, but if I had taken any longer, I would have been spotted by two guards who had just walked into the alleyway. The worst part was that they had taken a holding position, and were now waiting for a Corps Brigadier like myself to run into the alley. They didn't know I was here, but I couldn't move from my spot without them filling me with bullets.
"For t' last time, If I knew when, I would tell you! So stop your blubberin'." A pony with a deep voices spoke up.
"Easy for you t' say, I can smell t' smokes on you. This migraine be drivin' me insane." another pony with a raspy voice joined in.
"Maybe you will get lucky and one o' these asshole sprogs will have a stick on them. Then you can stop bein' such a scurvey dog all t' time." Deep retorted.
"Fuck waitin' for one o' them t' have a smoke, I'm ready t' bust down a door and find one that way." Raspy wined
"Unless you want some shot to t' face, just stick t' killin' t' brats." Deep nickerd
"Ya, fuck you too." Raspy groaned
This sucked. If I was a unicorn, I could have at least thrown something to get them to look another direction and backed out of the alleyway to find another way to the barricade. Unfortunately,I wasn't one, and they were not going to move any time soon. Thankfully, they still didn't know I was here, or that I was a Corps Brigadier, so I had a stupidly crazy plan.
"If you need smokes, I got smokes t' trade!" It was a fucking stupid as hell plan, but if I could get them close, I could kill them before they could kill me. "Come over here, I got a few sticks t' trade."
"T' fuck, I smell a ship rat." ahhh fuck, Deep was onto me.
"Wait a moment mate, let me check it out." YES! Raspy was an idiot.
I could hear the hoof steps come closer, from both ponies. "Wise pony you are, I got three sticks, not cheap."
"Okay, I'll bite. What do you want for em." Looking through a hole in the box, I could see just Raspy. She had bloodshot eyes, and a twitch. The pony needed more than a smoke.
"Bullets, five per stick, fifteen bullets for three sticks." I just needed to know if the other pony was close enough, then I could use the rust gun to kill em both.
"Fuck that." The Deep spoke up, sounding close. "Just kill t' filly, and take em."
"But what if t' smokes get damaged, or she has them stored somewhere safe?" Wow, this dumb ass was smart. Lucky for me that the dumb ass was also wrong.
I had one more gambit to make, so I hoped that this time the stare would work. "Look me in t' eyes, you can see that this be a good deal."
"Are you seriously buyin' into this?" I could still not see the other pony, but raspy did look me in the left eye.
As she stared, I focuses on getting the stare to work. I forced myself to remember being beaten down, stabbed, shot, drowning, and also the feeling of intense and sudden hunger. My left eye tingled, and the guard seemed to have froze in place, our eyes locked.
"That's it, enough o' this." The box flew up and away, revealing who I was too Deep. "Fuck it's one of th..."
Klack-Klack-Klack
I had moved like it was an instinct, and fired into the smarter pony's face with the rust gun. Up close I didn't have to worry about the bullets going wide, and each one hit their mark. The other pony was still frozen, but was slowly recovering. Quickly I pulled out my cutlass, biting onto the side handle so that I could thrust the sword. As the pony came to realize what had happened, I plunged the sword into their throat. Blood spurted out when I twisted my head, covering my face with the pony's blood.
The blood had the taste of iron to it. Though I didn't know if it was the ponies blood that got into my mouth, or if it was the blood that seeped from my own eye.
__________________________
The barricade was mostly a collection of doors collected from Cargo Homes, and had been propped up in a way so that the guards could slowly push foreword. Battle rifles poked out from the gapes in the barricade, and fired off whenever a Corps Brigadier poked their head out from cover. On top of this, it was also being used for a resupply point, and for field medic treatment. They were also periodically throwing out magical balls of light to Illuminate most of the shadow spots as they pushed forward. Due to my size, I was able to get into a spot that still remained just out of sight.
I had one shot at this and three bombs to do it. The barricade could take a hit from the front, but if I could get the bombs behind it, it would knock the doors flat on the ground, and probably kill some of the guards. The problem was that the barricade had some super vigilant guard, whose head seemingly darted around everywhere. I'd be seen as soon as I got in a position to throw even one pipe bomb. Unicorns had it easy.
Pulling out the two other pipe bombs, I had to think of a plan. Just throwing one at a time would get me killed, but throwing all three had a strong risk of me failing the mission. Sneaking up onto the barricade was just stupid to even think about doing, as well as leaving a trap. I could shoot into them before throwing the bombs, but I would probably get shot before getting the bomb flying. Doing what I did to get rid of the two guards was completely out of the question.
Think, think!
The best Idea I could think up was to throw one bomb to distract them, and the other two to knock over the barricade. Using my bandana to tie two of the pipe bombs together, I placed them on the ground where I could easily kick them up and pull the fuses. Taking the first pipe bomb in my mouth, I quickly picked my target.
Pulling the fuse with my teeth, I then chucked the bomb at the medic pony. It became apparent to me that I can’t kick up the pipe bomb if both my front hooves were in the air. So with as little fumbling I could manage, I scooped up the two bombs in my hooves, and did my best to get both fuses into my mouth.
Ka-BOOM
I could feel the pressure wave pushed back my mane as I pulled the fuses of the remaining two bombs, and chucked them at the barricade. The two bombs hit the ground, and slid just short of the target, but luck was on my side as a confused pony accidentally kicked the bomb right under the barricade. But that was were my luck ended as gunfire now came aimed at me, putting a hole through my right hoof as I fell back under cover.
Ka-BOOOM
That blast felt stronger, shaking the hiding hole I was in, and deafening.
My ears were ringing like my head was used to ring the chapel bell, and my hoof was in incredible pain. Looking at it, the hole on the bottom was small, but I could see the other side... "Fuck!" a whole chunk of my leg was missing, and I could see the shattered bone. Looking up. I could see pieces of my leg splattered above me. "GU... GU...GU HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"THE FUCKING SHIP RAT STILL ALIVE, FINISH IT OFF NOW!"
Fucking shit! I had to move, but every time moved my hoof the pain made me collapse. Using my back hooves to push myself, I could still get away, I just had to be quick abou…
The feeling of magic grabbed my mane, dragging me foreword out of the hiding hole. "You're not t' only ship rat t' use these, brin's me back t' when I was a foal." It was a unicorn, with a big bloody cut on it's face. "That was a nasty move you did thar, two o' me patents went t' Pony Jones' locker involuntarily with that bomb." I was lifted up with the unicorns magic, and slammed down hard onto the ground. My mutilated hoof hit the ground fist, making the pain even worse. I tried to scream, but the hit knocked the breath out of me. "Oh, I think I heard a crack thar, as a medical pony, I can honestly say that can't be good... well not for you anyway. Let's try it again!" I was flung into a wall, and slammed onto the floor again. the pain was just too much, and all I could do was cry as everything got darker. "Had enough already? No I don't think you have."
Suddenly my eyes shot open, and I could feel my heart beating heavily in my chest. Everything was clearer than I had ever seen it, more vibrant than it should be, and I could feel, feel everything.
"GUHA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
The damn Unicorn was laughing as I curled up onto the ground. "I'll engrave this pain onto your soul, make it sour enough that you carry that pain straight into the afterlife."
It was strange, I was still in pain, so much pain, but it was quickly becoming a dull pain. The worst of the pain was coming from... from hunger. Shaking still, the unicorn loomed over me to gloat more. I wouldn't be surprised if the asshole started masturbating over me.
"Good, that fear in your eyes, that's how it should be. T' know your place, and die in..."
I lunged! Sinking my teeth into his throat. The unicorn stumbled back, and tried to pull me of with his magic and hooves. It was a fruitless effort, that only resulted in the flesh tearing from his neck. He switched from pulling to attacking, striking at me with his hooves. Yet, each strike became weaker and weaker until the unicorn collapsed. I didn't let go, the sickening taste of iron filling my mouth. I didn't care what it was anymore, I needed to eat something.
Everything went hazy.
__________________________
"Think she looks cute, don't you?"
"I think she looks like Victoria at t' end o' a bad day."
Opening my eyes, I saw Carving Doll and Puppet Strings standing over me.
Puppet Strings pulled out a white rag. "Oh good, you're awake. I was worried that were were goin' t' leave you behind." She pressed the rag to my face, and rubbed at me with it. Pulling it back, the rag was now a brownish red. "Now, let's go. Victoria may be able t' kill t' captain on her own, but she was adamant that she wanted witnesses."
I got up, almost stumbling to cradle my hoof. But there was no pain, and it was back in one peace again. The only difference was that it was covered in blood, as was my other hoof, mane, and tail. Looking back, I saw the Unicorn, it's neck was nearly just bone, and the belly split open with gut's everywhere.
"T' liver be t' first thin' you should eat." Carving Doll smiled. She was about as cover in blood as I was. Two rippers were attached to her front legs, held on with leg braces. "It's full o' all that good stuff that keeps us healthy. Well, when it's healthy. If it's all black and oily, just throw it out."
"Carvin', let's give out tips after we take t' city." Puppet Strings quickly trotted off.
Looking down at me, Carving Doll still had a smile on her face. "You did real good Star, real good. Now let's go finish this, then we can have some real good food, like pineapples." she shivered. "I miss pineapples."
Carving Doll trotted off, and I closely followed her. I didn't know what to say, or was there simply nothing to say? All I knew was that the taste of blood and flesh was still on my tongue, and my hunger was finally satiated.
To celebrate another year of faith, I dedicate this sermon to our prophet, Lady Thorn Roseland of the Leviathan. May Celestia and Luna look down on us and smile.
We are all born with a darkness within us, we are born dirty. But it was through Celestia and Luna that we became clean, free from evils grasp. But evil is like dirt, unless we live a life dedicated to the goddesses, it will find a way back to us, back into our hearts. So we must be vigilant, we must keep ourselves clean of evil, and most of all we must never be tricked by false prophets.
Before death of Equestria, and before Thorn, there were such false prophets who had lead us astray. The six whores of the Ministry's were the false prophets, and it was they who slew our goddesses. Each one divided our holy kingdom, and made with the peaces their own kingdom. Each one drew the worship away from the goddesses and to themselves. They spread lies, fomented faithlessness, and created abominations. And in the end, they rewarded Equestria with fire and death. But don't think it's over, don't think their followers perished along with Equestria. For out there in our vast world our enemy's gather, for out there they work to have our goddesses die a second death.
So we must remember the words of our prophet Lady Thorn Roseland. We must be strong, we must be willing to fight. We must never lose faith. And most of all, we must bring the heathens to their end, because if we don't, they will end us.
-Red Ink Scripture of the Followers of Thorn. Year Hundred of the New Era.
The guards position had been over run, and we were prone to take on the tower. After the second bomb, the rest of the Corps Brigade rushed the guards position before they could recover, which explained why only one guard had come after me. By the time I had rejoined the group, all the bodies had been scavenged for anything they had, so other than the one guard I had killed, I had missed out on getting some more good stuff. Lucky Puppet Strings scavenged the stuff from the medic guard I had... killed, and gave me his medical supply's. I now had two healing potions, a med-X, and something called booster which I guessed was what the guard used on me.
Puppet String stood in front of us all, there was at least over twenty of us here, many with bullet holes in their uniforms. "Remember what our strength is, and why we be winnin'. We do not have the superior gear, nor do we have t' numbers, and forget bein' t' best trained. In turn we hit hard, we hit smartly, and we don't let them hit back! Our strength came from us bein' underestimated, and unpredictable. But we lose that strength once we push for t' towers, but they have also lost t' strength thar numbers. So when we go in thar, don't hold back, rush them, shoot them, and fill them with terror!""
Carving Doll and two other pegasi had strapped themselves with pipe bombs and rust guns. The two pegasi had even a copped Carving Doll by attaching blades to the end of their hooves. The rest of the group had a mixed assortment of weapons, and had repaired their armor with parts from the guards they had scavenged. Spikes seemed to have become the trend for armor modification, but the green over red stayed as the color of our group. It gave a chaotic order feel to us.
At Puppet Strings command, Smoke and flash bombs were thrown out, and after a few seconds we rushed at the tower with the guards above unable to pinpoint us. Bullets rained down on us as we sprinted, I felt at least one bullet come close, with luck I didn't get hit. But I did hit the wall on the other side with a thud. Using that wall as my guide, I was able to find the tunnel to the apple orchard, rejoining with the rest of the group as we moved onto our target.
Looking back as the smoke cleared, five of us didn't make it, there mangled corpses pooled blood around them. One of them was still alive, something that didn't last long as a bullet popped the pony's skull. The rest of us were mostly unscratched, and the ones who were hurt, they will be fine.
Fresh apples were the best, juicy and sweet, with a hint of salt to it. We didn't stop to eat them, but I did grab one as it fell, eating it on the go. Most of the Corps Brigade had the same idea.
Once more we split up into two groups, taking two different entrances in hoping to keep the guards from just boxing us in. I went with Puppet Strings, the mare leading a smaller and more well armed group. My role with Puppet Strings was to assist the flank of the group, and to pick up anything useful for the group.
__________________________
The guards had not in time set up a defensive barricade for the third tower, so when we rushed in a few of them died when bullets passed through their cover, and into them. The rest fell back to defend the stairwell. This meant we had taken the first floor in one move, but also that we had to fight an enemy who would always have the highground.
As the other fought the guards up to the next floor, I helped two other Brigaders set up traps. It was mostly explosives, but the two were really good at making traps out of random junk.
Spring Box had tools for turning the most random stuff into something that can kill you, and had a sense of humor about it. She had opened a plush pony doll, put a small board with nails sticking out, and set the doll on a spring launcher. Placing the trap on a couch surrounded by pillows, she placed an empty magazine on the dolls lap, and left a note the said. “Don’t Hug Me!”
“I wish I could see t' look on their faces when that takes an eye out.” Spring Box bosted.
“That’s good an all, but were tryin' t' kill em here. Missin' an ain't goin' t' stop em from shootin' at us.” Trip Boom had just finished setting up his fifth gun trap. He had been given the extra guns we had picked up, and had turned them into traps for the guards. “What about you Star Charter, got a nasty surprise for t' loyalists?”
I pulled out a lunch box I had found. inside was another pipe bomb I was given, and some random scrap metal. “Is this good?”
Spring Box smiled. “Not bad, but it’s missin' t' best part. Pass it here.” I hoofed the lunch box over, and she pulled out a talisman she had on her. “Been savin' this for somethin' fun, sensor talismans be hard t' sneak out of, but this be worth it.” Attaching the talisman to the triggering mechanism and tweaking a few parts, she hoofed the lunch box back over to me. “Now it will go off if any pony gets close t' it. Cool don’t you think?”
I nodded my head. “You have any more sensor talismans?”
“Kid if I didn’t, then I would not waste them on you.” she pulled out a few more with a smile. “Just find me more lunch boxes, and ill install them for you.”
Trip Boom chucked. “And how many times did you fuck t' foreman t' get your hooves on all o' those?”
She shook her flank at Trip Boom. “Don’t act jealous now, you did pay t' fuck me a month ago. T' forman just so happens t' be one o' me more loyal clients, and pays in parts” She wrapped her hooves around me. “You want t' be me apprentice Star? I can show you how t' make a real explosion in more ways than one.” she winked at Trip Boom.
Trip Boom rolled his eyebrows. “Don’t buy into her venom kid, she just like em young. What do you think she’s been doin' with that Black Spot colt.”
Spring Box gave a little gasp. “I would never, well I mean other then that one time, but never. But you should be t' one t' talk, I see how your eyin' little Star Charter.” She held onto me tighter. “Now remember Star, he’s a bad bad stallion, so don’t ever be in a room alone with him, you got that.” Trip Boom face hoofed.
I looked up at her, and then over at Trip Boom. “I think we eat ponies, so were all bad... right?”
They both looked at each other and laughed.
The sound of an alarm followed by a pop ended the friendly banter, as it meant the guards were coming in to flank us. Running off to rejoin with the rest of the group, I armed my bomb, and dropped along the way.
After having blown up a bunch of things, Spring Box’es offer did sound fun, though I rather stick to just explosives.
__________________________
Turns out that there is other ways into the main tower other than the way we came in, making our run to regroup more exciting than we thought it was going to be. A quick throw of a grenade gave us the time to get back to the group, but not before we had to dance around a few bullets from the guards.
A satisfying Ka-Boom came from downstairs, If my mine didn’t kill any of the guards, it had to have scared the shit out of them. Sadly I hadn’t seen any more lunch boxes, but I was hopeful that I’d soon find another thing to turn into a trap mine.
When we did rejoin the group, the fighting was still in full swing. We had lost one of our own, but we were still gaining ground, pushing the guards up another floor. Spring Box and Trip Boom had quickly began setting up new traps to help cover our flank, so I took point in defending them. Puppet String’s didn’t say much at the matter, simply throwing us some more explosives to use.
Klack-Klack-Klack-Klack-Klack
One guard that had rushed in, jumped for cover as one of my bullets dug into his armor. The longer I fired the rust gun the harder it was to aim it, and though the battle saddle did help keep it straight, it still managed to bounce around when being fired. If I remembered correctly about what the others told me about using the rust gun, I should just burst fire it, around three shots each to keep control. I was also talk that the rust gun overheated a lot, so not firing full auto should help avoid the gun jamming, or leaving a burn on my side.
I shot at the guard every time they tried to poke their head out, keeping the asshole pinned down. It was something I could do only as long as no other guards came in, so it was an easy enough thing to do for now.
Klack-Klack-Klack... Klack-Klack-Klack
Puppet Strings gave us the sight to move on, so we rushed off before the one guard could counterattack. What did happen was the sound of a gunshot, and the guard screaming. I may not have gotten the guard, but I did by enough time for Trip Boom’s trap to get the fucker. So that made me feel good about myself.
“Every pony keep sharp, we should be gettin' close t' where Victoria is, and where t' captain keeps her best ponies.” We could hear gunfire from another part of the building, the other group sounded like they were being hit harder than we were. Puppet Strings gave us a confirming nod and motion for us to keep moving. “They can handle themselves, so don’t slow down.”
As we moved on, the guards were just falling back without as much fighting as we expected. The reason why quickly became apparent as we came across the corps of one of the ponies that were with Victoria. The pony had been ripped to shreds with bullets, but no other bodies could be seen.
Levitating her gun out, Puppet Strings took a defensive position. “It’s an ambush!” we all followed Puppet’s action just in time.
Guards bust from the rooms, guns drawn, and firing. We fired back at the same time, spraying bullets all over. My rust gun fired seven more shots before the magazine was empty, after that I just put my hooves over my face and waited for the firing to end.
No pony got out of this without a bullet hole. My legs on my right side were all mangled up, the pain bring me back to the barricade, so I quickly injected myself with the Med-X, and guzzled down the healing potions…
Shit I felt good, better than good, I could probably kill a pony with my hooves… I’m going to find a pony to kill, Like right now!
I found myself going nowhere as I walked off. I was being held in place by my tail, Puppet Strings holding it firmly with her magic. “You use all t' med-X you had dammit!” Her dress was wet with blood, turning it from black and white, to black and red. “That was enough for a full grown stallion!”
“Really.” I don’t know why, but I felt sad now. So I turned around and hugged her. “Did I do bad? I did bad didn’t I!”
“Great, now t' filly be trippin' out.” She sighed, hugging me back. “Just stick with me, were headin' t' Victoria now.” She put me on her back, it felt nice. Like when I was with Prism Pant, but smelling more of blood. “T' rest o' you, stay here, heal up, and hold off any Loyalist that come this way.”
About half of us got up and took defensive positions, the others, they just went to sleep. Lazy fuckers. But fuck them, I get to see Victoria again, their loss for being lazy. The guards on the other hoof all stayed down, as they should. Stupid guards doing nothing but being assholes.
Puppet Strings pulled out the empty magazine from my rust gun, and placed another one in. If I needed to, I now could shoot the world, the stupid, stupid world.
__________________________
The fighting hadn’t stopped, but with the other holding up there flank… hehe flank. ahh, well you know, the mean guards weren’t coming at our flanks anymore… is it bad that I think Puppet Strings has a nice flank.
“Pup.. Puppet, you have a nice flank! Why do you hide it under that dress?”
She sighed. Using her magic to lift the dress, so I had to back up to give it room. Was she coming onto me? “Most ponies find it… Uncomfortable, t' be around a pony who’s cutie-mark be o' a live pony with strin's sewn into them. They start t' think I will be doin' that t' them.”
The cutie-mark had a pony who was suspended by strings, connected to a handle, the image of the pony looked like it was in pain. “So do you do that.”
“I did plunge a needle into your eye with absolute precision... so aye, on a good day.” She put her dress back down, it making a slight wet sound from being drenched in blood.
“Cool.”
A slight creek caught our attention as a door to our right slowly opened up, and a barrel of a rifle slowly poked out. “Let me show you my special talent.” Her horn lit up with a faint pale green glow, and her dress rustled. Out they flew, sharp shards of metal, all fling into the crack of the door, and the only sound we could here was the gurgling of a pony in pain.
With her magic, she opened the door, and dragged the pony out. It was a stallion, still alive, and with the look of terror on his face. The pony opened his mouth to speak, but Puppet Strings quickly grabbed hold of it with her magic, and sliced out his tongue before forcing his mouth closed. Levitating out a needle and thread, she began sowing the pony’s mouth shut, the pony himself moaning in terror as he struggled, but any resistance was cut away with a metal shards to the back of the neck. Next was his eye, not only were they sewn shut, but crude makeshift buttons were sewn over his eyes. She then propped the pony sitting in front of his door, blood oozing from the closed mouth.
“It’s never quite right when I rushed it.” the stallion twitched and fell over. “I’m not from Blackwater you see. me family were fishers, and me father had t' bright idea o' takin' his family deep out into t' water. I remember I was happy about it, mister smarty pants wanted t' see t' real big fish. but found t' fleet, and me smarty pants was curly cast into t' water. I spent years after that as a slave, spent most o' t' time in t' sailors bed. In that dark place be where I met Carvin' Doll, and were Victoria found us..” Puppet Strings glanced at me, blood oozing from her eyes, and a smile on her face. “I still missed me smarty pants, so Victoria suggested I just make a new one. So I did. But not just one o' them, I made a hole big family o' them. They danced, they had tea, they even took a dive into t' water… never could get them back on t' ship.”
A thumping came down from the hall, and from around the corner was a heavily armored pony. It was nothing like the power armored pony from before, this one was simply warped in metal and cloth and nothing more. The only thing visible were the pony's eyes that peered out through a horizontal slit. Aiming my gun, Puppet Strings stopped me, and pushed me into the room that sewn up stallion had come from. Puppet Strings just barely managed to into the room before the wave of gunfire came from the armored pony's minigun. Though safe for now, it wouldn't take long for that pony to get to the room.
The room itself was nice, bigger, more nice junk, and a window overlooking the city. Sadly there was nothing here that could help us kill the armored pony. but there was food!
Taking a bite from an apple, I watched as Puppet Strings had closed the door we came from, and trotted over to the window, opening it. Pulling out some cloth, she attached it to the open window, and threw it outside. "GET UNDER COVER!"
I was already in the kitchen, so I duck behind the metal counter, along with some dried seaweed. Puppet Strings found a nice metal desk that she flipped over for cover. I rolled an apple over to her, she smiled and ate it.
With a creek I could hear the door open...
PSH-BOOM, PSH-BOOM, PSH-BOOM.
The sound was deafening, and I could here the presser from each explosion. The asshole armored pony had a grenade launcher, lucky bastard. Though my ears were ringing loudly, I could still hear the distinct sound of a mini-gun motor revving up. "No bodies... If I was ever so lucky that they would kill themselves. Come out little ponies, I will make your death quick and painless."
Puppet Strings monition for me to stay down. "Cute, but darlin' I prefer it slow and painful, so you can sit on your gun and spin." The room filled with the deafening sound of the mini-gun. Rolling her eyes, Puppet held her ground, the desk not even budging from the relentless gunfire. I motioned at her if I sould help, but she shook her head and motioned that I should wait, and keep my eyes open.
The gunfire stopped. "Still alive?" Puppet did respond, she simply looked at the window, and bobbed her head as though she was singing a song to herself. "Better not take the chance." Looking from just behind the kitchen, I saw the armored pony positioning his grenade launcher to hit Puppet Strings. I could also hear the sound of another motor running, two actually, and they were coming from the window.
It was Carving Doll, with rippers attached to her front hooves. Quickly she flew inside, and kicked off the floor, jumping at the armored pony at high speed. Before the armored pony had time to react, Carving Doll had jammed a ripper into the eye slit. The only sound I could here was the sound of metal ripping through flesh as a stream of blood shot out of the ripper. The body of the armored pony when limp, but Carving Doll held the ripper in the pony's face until the blood stopped.
Turning off the rippers, Carving Doll pushed them back up her hooves, allowing her to stand normally. "Victoria's on t' next floor. Shes got t' captain boxed in, but t' scurvey dog be not givin' up." I passed Carving Doll the last apple in the room, and she quickly ate it. "I've sent me other fliers down t' let t' others know what they need t' do. But she wasn't you with her for this last push." She looked over to me. "You two, but for more poetic reasons."
I silently prayed, thanking Celestia and Luna for giving us the strength to get this far, and asking them to give us the strength to finish this fight. Nodding, I followed Carving Doll out of the room, and to the stares. Our next Stop, Victoria.
Update report on the movements of the raider fleet.
As of this year, It has been observed that the group of ships, dubbed the raider fleet, has been encroaching on Enclave airspace, resulting in small clashes between our soldiers and the raiders. Though we have not suffered any serious losses, the cost for armor repair, and weapon ammo has reached an all time high.
The current main threat the raider fleet poses to the Enclave is their pegasus and griffin fighters, along with anti-air guns aboard their ship. Though we still posses air superiority, this advantage is only useful in long range engagements. The closer we move near the raider fleet, the more we would lose our advantage.
On further observation, the raider fleet lacks a centralized command, and are often observe disorganized. If we are to eliminate this menace, I suggest a large organized strike. The raider fleet lacks the ability to to quickly organize, and fend off such an attack.
Side note, It was both amazing to see so many different races working together, but also depressing to see them all fall into savagery. If this raider fleet can bring so many different races together, then it should be possible for the Enclave to do the same. If we can civilize the savages, unifying them under the banner of the Enclave would be a simple step after that.
It was apparent that most of the fighting Victoria had taken part in was on the same floor as the captain. Bodies littered the floor all over, guards and brigadier alike, ripped apart by bullet and blade. It also explain why the captain never stepped out to properly lead the guards, she was pinned down from the start.
Victoria had taken over a small office room, sitting comfy behind an oversized desk. it also happens to be the only room I had seen not splattered with blood. bloody hoofprints notwithstanding.
“I see you had success with thinning out the loyalists.” She shifted herself to take a more professional position. “Good, we can’t have too many of them around after the transition of power. The logistics alone is going to take months of work, and even one loyalist can set us back.”
I looked to Carving Doll, and Puppet Strings for an explanation, but they just shrugged.
Sighing Victoria pushed herself away from the desk. “Never mind, let’s just focus of the task at hoof.” She trotted around the desk, and up to me. Victoria had the same armor as the rest of the Corps Brigade, though it was significantly more torn up and dented. With a smile she ruffled up my main.”I’ve heard you’ve done good work, really proving your metal out there. You’ve got a bright future with us, and I can see you becoming very important very soon. but right now you should just stick with me, and If you're a good filly, I might even let you have some revenge on our dear captain.”
I couldn’t help but smile, Victoria was praising me, ME! This day couldn't get any better.
Victoria Turned her attention to the other two, waving her hoof to direct them to flank her. I stepped out of the way, and followed them from behind. “Puppet, I need you to flush the enemy out. They have heavy weapons aiming down the halls, and if we can’t get them to move from their position, the battle becomes a waiting game. Carving, because the captain has bolted down the roof, I want you to get through the side, and drop a few of our fighters in.”
Carving Doll saluted and bolted off. Puppet Strings on the other hand pulled out the bottle of Blackwater Run I had found earlier. “Darlin', if we have more o' this, then I have a good plan for them.”
I could see a grin form on Victorias face. “There’s a closet just down the hall from here, we stashed all the rum we found there. Use what you need.” Puppet Strings, put the bottle back into her saddlebag and trotted off. I could hear her humming to herself, not a tune I knew, and it had a haunting feel to it.
Following Victoria, we came to the beginning of a long hallway, the walls scared with the lines of bullet marks, and floor stained a brownish read from the blood of ponies turned to nothing more then scattered mush. On our side two brigaders sat on both sides of the wall armed with heavily modified rust guns. I attempted to take a peek down the hall, but Victoria stopped me.
"Unless you want to lose your head, it's best to not give Blackpowder's sharpshooter a shot at you." Pulling me in closer, i could feel her breath. "I need you intact, so just stay behind me." I nodded, too embarrassed to say anything as my face felt like it was burning. "Now come with me, We need to fit ourselves into more proper attire for the Negotiations."
"Negotiations? Aren't we goin' t' kill t' captain, not... not.." what was the word, I know I have heard about negotiations before, but there was another word with it.
Victoria stopped at an old looking dresser. "Make Love? Oh no, nothing like that. This will be about terms of surrender. I want to know how much she is willing to give up to save her own life. But who knows, after we are in charge, there are going to be a few captains looks to marry their sons off to a strong mare, so you might find yourself quite popular." Now I felt real embarrassed. A ship rat like me getting a husband of my own, that was something for only the real important ponies. "But if were going to do anything like that, you first have to get washed up. I may like the color of blood rust brown, but it's not going to be appropriate for talking with the dear captain." She tapped her hooves on a nearby wall, and out came a pony dragging a tub of water. "Now let's get washed."
Another pony helped me out of my armor, placing my sword and gun to the side, along with my saddle bag. It felt like I was light as a feather with everything off, but a bit exposed without a shirt on. Looking into the tub, my reflection looked back at me. I saw a little filly whose blue coat had turned a reddish brown, and wavy green main had become a dark matted mess. Stepping in, the water rippled and lost it's purity as the blood washed off of my leg.
The ship was never short on water, but it was always salty, and made me see weird stuff if I ever drank it. But this water I was pure, cleaner then I had ever seen water, and I was bathing in it? I wanted to ask if I could drink some of it, but I didn't know if that was a stupid question or not. Instead I just watched Victoria step in after me, and let the one pony that dragged it in start scrubbing my main with a brush. Bubbles covered my head the more she scrubbed. At this point I was just too confused to even move, were bubbles natural, and why was I sitting in clean water... well water that use to be clean. The only thing I knew for certain was that baths were odd.
The pony that was scrubbing me and later Victoria, worked quickly at her job, not afraid to get rough on a few dirty spots. Victoria Stretched out one of her back legs. "So Star Charter, tell me, how did your mission into the guard tower go?"
I smiled. "Oh it went smoothly, even got t' eat some food when I was thar. Though it got rough at first. I ran into a guard soon after I got it, had me pinned to. I was lucky that..." Crap! if I tell her about Prism, Victoria will know I was too weak to have done the job on my own.
"Lucky that?"
This is bad, I have to tell her something, something that she would believe, and like me more for. "That... That I had t' knife Carvin' Doll gave me." she did give me it for dire moments, too bad I lost it. "Cut right into that guard I did. Blood was everywhere."
Victoria nodded and smiled. "I do remember that she gave you it, good to know you put it to good use. After that you must have learned to be extra careful, the best lessons are often the hardest."
The wash pony was finished scrubbing, leaving us a soapy mess. Rinsing us with a bucket of water each, I could see Victoria's colors return to is more vibrant look. Stepping out of the tub, the wash pony quickly rubbed my fur with some cloth, getting the water out of my coat, mane, and tail. As Victoria got out of the tub, I notice that the water had turned a brownish light red, even the bubbles had a slight red hue to it.
Dried off, I watched as the dresser was flung open, and the wash pony was now sorting through the cloths. dresses suits, and a few hats were inside. Most of them were old and patched up, but all still remarkably beautiful. I was a little depressed when the wash pony pulled out a white suit and levitated it to me. It was a plain white color, with a line of blue on the ends, and a symbol of an anchor on the neck, It also came with a little hat.
I gently pushed the suit to the side. "Can't I have a dress?"
Victoria chuckled. "Don't be silly, this will look wonderful on you." Victoria herself was given a lovely pale pink dress with dark green leaf pattern along the edge. It felt a unfair that she got to wear that, and I was stuck with some stupid little suit that makes me look like a toy. "Oh don't pout my little pony, trust me, you looks fine." The wash pony strapped my sword onto my back, which made me feel a little better. Just not having a dress better.
__________________________
Listen here, ye fellow slaves to the bar and drink.
A story to tell, a tale be told, to take ye to the brink
Of death and glory; please heed my story - I beg not for helping hands,
For I am not a captain, you see. I barely am a mare.
I know not where my soul is headed, but I still know what's right;
I never meant to guide free mares into uncharted night,
Yet we board again, dock unknown, and sail by pale moonlight.
Leader of a band of criminals on the high seas,
We seek the fortune rumored still across the great divide.
Send them home, I cannot do, for then they'll turn on me,
Yet we find not what we're searching for, instead only lies.
A coward's passing, a deathly lashing, quarrels not for me:
I leave with the contents of my ship and set sail on a warmer breeze.
We awake to find we are without lead,
Our captain gone, our lives forlorn,
We know now what we seek.
__________________________
A brigadier held up a bullhorn for Victoria to talk into, allowing her voice to carry loudly, and clearly. "Blackpowder Blast, we are here to conduct negotiations on your surrender."
Blackpowder Blast's voice came back with the same loud clarity. "You take me for a fool. Why don't you come over here so that I can relieve that head from your neck."
"Your loyalist have been decimated, you and what ponies that are with you are all that's left. Face it Blackpowder. it's over, you've lost. All that's left is for you to lose with some dignity intact, so let me trough, and we can talk about your terms of surrender."
Blackpowder laughed. "You think I care, once t' fleet it here, you be off t' Pony Jones' locker. We don't take traitors like you lightly."
Victoria sighed. "Dead ponies tell no tales Blackpowder. If I have to kill you, I'll have ten good tales to tell about how you turned traitor, and with the backing of the Followers of Thorn, it shouldn't be hard to get the fleet to believe it."
There was a long silences, Victoria patently waiting for Blackpowder to respond. "Fine, I'll bite. But don't go believin' you can make me dance for you, I'm more then willin' t' drag you down t' Pony Jones locker with me." Victoria smiled, waving at the other brigaders to move out of the way.
Following behind Vitoria, we walked down the blooded hallway, our hooves picking up the sickie blood along the way. Luckily both our outfits didn't touch the ground, so both dress and suit stayed clean along the way.
Blackpowder's main room was large, and so clean that it almost looked like it sparkled. Two ponies with minigun on their battle saddles glared at us, and further to the side were three more injured ponies laying down, with one more treating them. there were a few other heavily armed ponies in the room, keeping an eye on the windows. Blackpowder herself stood at a doorway, waving for us to follow her inside. Victoria didn't waste any time looking around, walking straight to the room Blackpowder had just walked in.
The room turned out to be Blackpowder Blasts bedroom. It had the biggest bed I had ever seen, with many fluffy pillows, and blankets that look so inviting that I wanted to crawl into them right now. There was also a giant shiny brown dresser, big windows looking out into the city, and a model of the ship leviathan displayed in a glass case. Blackpowder herself was sitting at a lovely looking desk, next to her was a cabinet full of rum and other drinks. The desk and floor were littered with empty bottles, and broken glass. Taking a closer look, Blackpowder looks like a carefully balances of clean and proper, with disheveled and drunk. The captain also sported an eye-patch that she didn't have before.
Taking a pull from her bottle of rum, she turned to look at us, knocking over an empty bottle that shattered it on the ground. "Scurvy dogs, Scurvy dogs all o' you. So you want t' talk, then let's talk monster." She waved her bottle of rum at Victoria. "But don't think me a fool like t' others, I know venom hangs on every word you say."
Victoria chuckled. "Oh, and here I was hoping to have a friendly chat with you, before we get down to the heart of the matter, let it be like old times."
Blackpowder slammed her rum on her desk, the sudden and loud noise making me flinch. "Old time, like how you seduced me son, how you twisted him into somepony that I didn't even recognized. You had him march to his own death when he no longer entertained you. If I had known about what you truly are back then, I would have smothered you in your sleep like the bastard you are."
Dropping her pleasant smile, Victoria took on a more serious look. "Was it not you who killed Powderkeg, I remember that day clearly, and it was you who pulled the trigger, not I."
Taking another pull from the rum bottle, Blackpowder looked at me and grimaced. "And be that why you keep sendin' foals that look like him t' me." She threw the bottle at Victoria, but missed. "By me hoof or not, you were t' one who sent him to t' gallows. Because o' your poisoned words he needlessly marched t' his death."
"His actions were his own, as are yours. So how do you wish to end this captain, with your head on, or without?" A smile returned to Victoria's face.
Blackpowder Blast started to laugh, and with her magic, she pulled out a knife. It was the knife that Carving Doll had given me, it still had the her own blood on it from when I had used it on her. "Don't go thinkin' I can't kill you first!" knocking over her chair, the captain leaped at Victoria, and the two hit the floor.
The knife sung around, cutting into Victoria's coat, and making her ooze blood onto the gown. Vitoria countered with swift hoof kicks as she dodged a thrust from the knife. Shattering on the floor, Blackpowder dropped the broken knife in favor of an empty bottle. Swinging wide, the captain made contact with Victoria head just as Victoria kicked the captain in the jaw.
The door flew open, and one of the injured guard ran in holding a rust gun in his mouth. As the guard took aim at Victoria, I drew the sword and rushed at the unsuspecting guard, thrusting the cutlass into his neck. Surprised by the fatal blow, the guard shot upwards, peppering the ceiling with bullets, emptying the magazine before falling over.
Looking out the door, I could see the rest of the guards looking in my direction. The two with the miniguns revved up the engines, ready to fire on me. A suitcase flew out from the hallway, landing between the two minigun guards, and exploded. I fireball engulfed one of the guards, turning the poor pony into a walking torch. The other guard dogged just in time, her tail being the only thing caught in the fireball. Another guard rushed in to help put out the fire on the pony's tail.
At this point, all of them were armed, and were pissed. This might have spelt the end for me, but a knocking sound from the window had us all looked to our left. It was Carving Doll, and she had just attached a few pipe bombs to the window. I jumped back into the bedroom right before the explosion went off. Almost immediately after the explosion the sound of gunfire erupted from the other room.
Looking back, Blackpowder Blast, and Victoria Rosary were still at it. But Victoria was well bloodied, and was pinned down. "Why now? What be it you have that makes you think t' fleet will not come t' hang your gang? Even with t' approval o' t' Followers, you know that t' fleet will still send you t' Pony Jones' locker, so what changed?"
Victoria glanced at me before looking Blackpowder in the eye. "Everything."
With her magic, Blackpowder pulled one of her bedsheets, and wrapped it around Victoria's neck. Victoria gasped for air as the captain held her hooves to the floor.
Pulling the cutlass from the one guards neck, I rushed the captain. Blackpowder didn't even move to stop me as I jumped over Victorias head, and plunged the sword into Blackpowders chest. Falling back, The captain let go of her magic, and just let herself hit the floor.
Looking at me, Blackpowder had the look of confusion on her face. "I... I know you. I sent you t' Pony Jones' locker, like t' others. Took me eye and me cutlas with you when you fell into the... how be you here. If some... some pony went in after you, I would have known. So how? why?" She coughed up blood, and closed her eyes. "Doesn't matter now. I get t' be... be with me son. Cel... Celestia, Luna, please guide me t' him... t' me colt." with that, Blackpowder stopped moving. Even if she was still alive, she had embraced death, something I had seen a few times before.
Victoria threw off the bed sheet, taking a slow deep breath. "I could have taken her." She chuckled. "But thanks for the assist. You only prove your importance to us more and more Star." Walking up to Blackpowder’s body, Victoria pulled out the sword, and threw it to me. I caught the cutlass by the handle with my mouth, and quickly returning it to it's sheath. My sailor uniform was dotted with blood from the throw, giving it some much needed color.
Outside the bedroom the fighting died down, and stepping in was Carving Doll, and Puppet Strings. Puppet Strings was holding a bottle of rum in her magic, taking a little sip before talking. "Gotta love a good firebomb, put t' fear in them, right down to t' soul."
Sighing, Victoria trotted up to the two, and gave them a hug. Looking back at me, she smiled. "So who's up for a party, as much food as we can eat."
Carving Doll's wings twitched. "Ya, that sounds awesome. I'll send some o' t' brigade t' take it from t' guard tower. Not like their goin' t' need it in Pony Jones Locker."
Shit, maybe it was not the best idea to blow up all that food.
We discovered the ship Iron Chains adrift early in the morning. It is unknown what exactly had happened to it’s crew, but the only survivors, three fillies, claim that it was a plague. The only bodies that were found were all locked away in the brig, twisted in posses that told my crew that their deaths were painful and slow. Two of the fillies looked to be slaves, but neither of them have said a word despite them still having tongues. The third, a Victoria Rosary, claims to be the daughter of Captain Rosary. She is well spoken, and has a grace to her that is rare to see among the ponies of the fleet. I’ve taken her into my home for the time being, and maybe she will rub off on my son.
Captain Blackpowder Blast, of the city ship Blackwater.
With the captain and her guards dead, the rooms became a free for all for looting. Taking back my cutlass from Blackpowder’s chest, I used the bedsheets to clean off the blood, making the sheet the first thing I claimed. The nights can get cold, so it would help in keeping me warm. In truth, I wanted the whole bed, but as things were going, I'd have to share it.
"For such an uptight mare, Blackpowder did have an good scene o' accessories." Spring Box had jumped at the chance at getting first dibs on the captains bedroom, to bad a limp was slowing her down. Levitating a necklace over herself, it clashed with the bloody bandage that currently covered her. "What do you think Trip?"
Trip Boom was in much the same shape as Spring Box, though without the limp. "I think you should wash t' blood off o' you first." She stuck her tongue out at him, and he rolled his eyes. "Hay kid, I think I found somethin' you might like!"
I wrapped the bedsheets around me, making a crude dress. Trip Boom was at Blackpowders desk, rummaging through a bunch of paperwork. "What is it?" He opened a folded piece of paper, the being wider than the desk, and full of dots and lines.
"From it's label, it's calls a star chart. Seein' that's also your name, might as well say it's already yours." He rummaged through the drawer and pulled out a few more items. "Ehh, you might as well take whatever else be in here. Just don't go askin' me how t' use any o' it." Trip Boom stepped away from the desk, refocusing on the rum cabinet.
In the drawer was a few pieces of paper, a book that didn't look like scripture, and some sort of contraption. Picking up the book, I flipped through the pages, and inside was a hole lot of notes and sketches. From the first page, the book looked like it belonged to a navigator known as Dead Reckoning. The page after that was a sort instruction of how to read a star chart, and use a sextant. Looking at the metal contraption, I guessed that it was the Sextant. Taking a quick look at the other pieces of paper, they turned out to all be a maps. One of the maps had Equestria.
I remember Prism Paint said she was from Equestria, so if I gave her this map, it would help her find her way home.
"RAIDING TIMES OVER, TIME TO EAT!" Shouted a brigadier, too much cheer.
Trip Boom trotted by, dropping my saddlebag next to me. "Almost forgot t' give you this, and don't worry, no pony took anythin' from it." His stomach grumbled, and he trotted off out of the room.
Spring Box stopped before leaving the room. "Oh Star Charter, Ahoy!, if you want me t' teach you a few tricks, come see me tonight. Trust me, it be fun." She winked and stepped out of the room. That made me cheeks flush.
Looking at all the star charting gear, it all felt odd to me. Taking a deep breath, I shoved it all into my bag, and stepped out of the room. The gang was already clearing out, of the area, the bodies of the guards all stacked on top of each other, and anything that was not bolted down had been thrown in one of many piles. Waiting for a little longer, the area quickly emptied of all other ponies, and I walked to the hole in the wall.
"Prism Paint be you thar?" I waited there, the wind blowing through my mane.
We are not happy that you only got yourself in more danger. But we had to remind ourselves that that you're not... never mind, are you okay?
I smiled. "Better than okay! We did it, no more captain, or her guards. With Victoria in charge, life's goin' t' get better, I know it."
I felt Prism's magic wrap around me, and lift me up. That's good to hear, but can we talk elsewhere, there is more death here then we care for. I nodded, and I felt the softness of her back under me. Invisible, we flew away from the room, and up higher.
__________________________
Prism took me to the roof of the tower, were the only noise was that of the cold wind. After all the fighting and excitement, it felt strange for everything to be so peaceful. I couldn't help but feel nervous about it.
"Are you okay Star?" Prism's soft voice cut through the sound of the cold wind. She became visible once more, her large blue body still had that regale feel to it.
Jumping off of her, I took off my saddle bag. "I think so, I think I'm just feelin' sleepy." opening up the saddle bag, I located the maps. "I did a lot o' stuff today."
Nodding, Prism Paint stepped closer to me. "That you did. We were so very worried after we had separated. We tried to find you after that, but you never arrived in... Hull Town. After the fighting picked up, We guessed that you were with the main group."
"Aye!" pulling out one of the maps, but it caught the wind and blew out of my hooves. Luckily Prism Paint caught it with her magic. "You said that you came from Equestria, well I found some maps. One o' them had Equestria on it, so maybe you can use it t' find your way home. You did save me, twice, so I think this be t' least I can do."
She pulled out a few other maps, opening them, looking them over. Prism sighed. "Thank you, but..." she looked away. "But without knowing where we are, and which direction we are heading, we are still just as lost."
I dove back into my bag, pulling out Dead Reckonings book. "Maybe it's in here. Take a look!" Placing the maps back into my bag, Prism levitated the book up to herself. Flipped through the pages of the book, she looked intelligent and capable, but the odd thing was that she had the book upside down. "Umm... you have t' book upside down."
Prism sighed, and placed the book back into my hooves. "Sorry, but it's a bit embarrassing to say this... We don't know how to read. We've only ever had picture books, with rainbows on it."
"But everypony knows how t' read, we read t' good book every day. Don't you?"
Prism shook her head. "There's not many books left in Equestria, well ones not burnt and rotted." She flared her wings and smiled at me. "Say, maybe you can read for us. If you have time."I looked over at the edge of the tower. Every pony was probably digging into the food by now. My stomach grumbled at the thought. "If you’re hungry, we still have the food we took earlier." She levitated a pineapple from her bag. I thought about it for a moment, and decided that this will do. "Thanks, we'll cut this up for you."
The pineapple tasted better then I remembered. I think it was because she was feeding me small slices as I read out loud. Prism was also shielding me from the wind, and providing light for me. It felt nice.
Dead Reckoning's writing was a bit hard to read at first, but I quickly got use to it. It was not like that fluid scribbles I often saw unicorns do with their magic, it was more rough, like a pony writing with their mouth. This lead me to believe Dead Reckoning was an earth pony. Along with the writing Dead Reckoning had included, there were a lot of detailed sketches that helped me understand what I was reading.
All the notes about using the sextant was the most detailed thing I ever saw, but also easy to understand. Prism even helped me use the actual sextant that I had in my bag, which helped even more to understand how it worked.
The star chart was simply meant for locating where I was in the world, but was only useful at night when the stars were out. But more I read the book, the more I understood how complicated it can be, and how to use it with the sextant.
Last among the notes was about using the maps, and how they worked with the star chart. If I combine the three, I may not be able to locate exactly where I was, but I could get close. Truth be told, I actually wanted to try it out when the stars are out.
I found myself yawning near the end, "Did you get t' rest of..." Yawned again. "That Prism."
She giggled. "Sorry, but you actually stopped reading out loud some time ago."
"What! Why didn't you tell me? Now I'm goin' t' have t' read it t' you again!"
She diverted her gaze. "Well, you looked so engrossed in it, we didn't want to bother you."
Really, she was the one who needed to know how to get home. "That's stu..." Yawn "stupid."
She used her wing to pull me closer, which drew my attention to the sky. It was night now, I had read the book until day had turned to night. Using her magic, she took the book and placed it back into my bag. "Why don't you get some sleep, and you can finish in the morning."
I wanted to protest, but she was so warm, and I was just too damn tired. It didn't help that she started to sing.
Hush now, quiet now
It's time to lay your sleepy head
Hush now, quiet now
It's time to go to bed.
Drifting off to sleep
Leave the day behind you
Drifting off to sleep
Let the joy of dreamland find you.
__________________________
I awoke to the feeling of being dragged along the floor.
"LET US GO! LET US GO!" It was Prism Paint, shouting in a panic. Getting up, I saw her covered in a net, and three lassos around her neck. The lassos were being held by a pegasus each, one of which was Carving Doll. The net held her wings in place, and whenever she tried to flap, her wings only became more tangled. Prism even tried to turn invisible, but the net outlined her perfectly.
Looking behind me, I saw Puppet strings with my tail in her magic. "What's goin' on, Puppet?"
She ruffled my main. "Thanks t' you, we now have somethin' t' give t' t' fleet. By capturin' this false idol, we can become untouchable to t' fleet. Were no longer some rag tag gang, we've become holy crusaders!" Puppet Strings held a hoof over her mouth as she giggled.
I looked back to Prism Paint, my heart pounding. She was looking back at me, no longer fighting back. Don't blame yourself, we should have seen this coming. I looked around to see if any pony had heard her, but it looked like no pony did. Don't do anything rash Star, we wish to not see you get hurt anymore. I held myself back. I wanted to say something, do something, but more I looked around, the more Corps Brigade I saw. They had captured her... no, we had captured Prism Paint.
"Tie t' demon up every pony!" Called Carving Doll, her voice having humored tone to it. The three pegasi dove in, and began wrapping up Prism in the rope. Mostly to keep her wings down.
when they were done, everything was silent, even the wind had stopped. The only sound I could here was the sound of hooves on steel, which was coming up the stairs. Victoria came into view, and behind her was the members of the Followers of Thorn. "THAT'S THE DEMON! THAT'S THE ONE I SAW!" it was the sister that Prism had frightened so hard that she had pissed herself, and she had the biggest grin on her face.
"Now that we have captured the demon for you, can you guarantee the safety of my people?" Victoria was talking to one of the more important looking sisters, who's jaw looked like it was ready to unhinge, and hit the floor.
The important looking sister pushed her jaw back into her mouth. "Guarantee, aye, o' course." The sister slowly trotted closer to Prism, and reached out to touch her with a hoof. "A real livin' breathin' demon. Never did I think I would see one in me own lifetime." The sister took a step back. "EVERY PONY, LET'S MOVE THIS MONSTROSITY TO THE CHAPEL." The other follower took hold of the ropes, or held their guns at the ready, and lead Prism away.
Puppet Strings opened my bag, and pulled out some device with some sensor talismans attached to it. "It was good thin' we put this into your bag, or we might not have found out were t' demon had taken you. Can't have some monster flyin' off with our newest little sister, now can we." I looked at the devices, and looked back to Prism.
I sat there frozen as Prism was lead down into the tower, and out of sight. Dumbstruck, I felt Vitoria hug me. "I knew you could do it, I knew it. When that sister came looking for me, I knew we had our chance. Thanks to you, we now truly own this ship. No, why just this ship." She started laughing. "Our destiny is much grander than just one ship." She let go of me, and I could feel magic lifting me up to my feet. "Come now, I have the cooks making us the biggest breakfast. I hope you like pineapples." She walked of, and I followed.
We had everything we wanted, I had everything I wanted. But why did my chest hurt so much?
“Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions.” ― Dallin H. Oaks
__________________________
"Before we eat, let's pray." Victoria spoke up, and we all bowed our heads. "We thank Celestia and Luna for this bounty, and we thank the goddess for gifting us with the strength to take victory for ourselves. My you guide our fallen to the promised land, and continue to watch over us all. Amen" We all repeated "Amen" after Victoria, and dug into our food.
I looked down at the assorted plate of apples, pineapples, and a few other things that all looked good. Sadly I didn't feel like eating. Having taken a bite of the pineapple slice, it tasted the same, but felt different than before. Luckily, Black Spot had taken a seat next to me, and scooted in close, so I had him eat the rest.
What was left of the Corps Brigade were enjoying themselves at the table, eating, drinking, and messing with each other. I never got the time to count them before, but from the looks of it, there were less than half of us left from before the fighting started. There were some other ponies at the table, I could only guess that they were important, but definitely not part of the Brigade. Also we had ponies serving us the food and drinks, most of which seemed to be the what was left of the guards, all wearing the clothes that the whores used.
Victoria had gotten up onto a makeshift stage, and Puppet Strings held up a microphone for her. "You are all wonderful, you know that. Not only did we take this ship, but with the capture of the demon, we ensured our place among the fleet." Her voice boomed through the speakers, and a cheer came from the crowd. "Now for all the ponies worried about things changing for the worst. Do not fear, our first goal is to get everything up and running as soon as possible. Until then, rations of food and water will be handed out to all workers who are prevented from working. And to the ponies worried about crime, I ask you this, did Blackpowder ever care about that in the first place. We will seek to keep the order, and will begin recruiting more ponies into our family soon. So if you want our city to become even better, you know who to turn to, our door is always open."
Taking a long drink of water, Victoria looked over at me. "Now let's honor our heroes in this fight. First off is Puppet Strings, who disrupted the loyalist ability to communicate to each other over the com. And Carving Doll for leading the assault, as well as disposing of our power armored gusset. Last but not least, little Star Charter, who rang the first shot, struck the final blow, as well as lured in the demon for us to capture." I sipped on my cup of grog as all the others looked at me. I finally had the respect I always wanted, and it felt good, but yet I didn't feel happy about it. "Now a song by yours truly!"
Somewhere beyond the sea Somewhere waiting for me My lover stands on golden sands And watches the ships that go sailing
Somewhere beyond the sea He's there watching for me If I could fly like birds on high Then straight to his arms I'd go sailing
It's far beyond the stars It's near beyond the moon I know beyond a doubt My heart will lead me there soon
We'll meet beyond the shore We'll kiss just as before Happy we'll be beyond the sea And never again I'll go sailing
I know beyond a doubt My heart will lead me there soon We'll meet (I know we'll meet) beyond the shore We'll kiss just as before Happy we'll be beyond the sea And never again I'll go sailing
No more sailing So long sailing Bye, bye sailing...
We all finished our breakfast, I even managed to take another bite before letting Black Spot have the rest. Getting out of my seat, I trotted off to Cargo Town. With nothing else to do, I wanted to take a look around. Black spot quickly followed behind me.
__________________________
It was still too early for Cargo Town to be busy. Ponies were out and about but most were taking care of their personal business. Much of the aftermath of the fighting could be seen everywhere, with shells, and bullet snuffs littering the area. Some ponies had taken to cleaning up their little area, but most just ignored it like any other trash.
Even though the street was far from being full, the other ponies made sure to give us space as we passed by. If they had anything to say about us, they kept it to themselves. I caught a few dirty looks, but that was few and far between. No pony here was going to try to thump me, or call me ship rat, they were too scared to even try. I probably could just take something of theirs and not worry about them stopping me. I had finally gained the respect and fear I deserved.
"Hay Star, Hay!" Black Spot rubbed his shoulder against mine. "Is it true, did you rip out another ponies throat." He leaned in and whispered. "with your teeth?" I nodded, wondering why he was asking. "That's cool, I'm gonna do that to, show em all how strong I am. I bet if they let me in that fight, I'd be a one pony army" I chuckled, Black spot was a lot of things, but a fighter he was not. He had been hiding behind my flank ever since I saved his. "Don't laugh, I'll show you and everypony else. Captain Black Spot, t' most feared captain o' t' fleet!" He slowly waved a hoof across as though the title was right above his head.
I gave him a playful little shove. "By feared, you mean fearful." He puffed his cheeks and I laughed. "But a Captain o' your own ship, you think I can do it?"
He raised an eyebrow at me. "Didn't you kill t' captain o' this ship, and Victoria dotin' on you like her prized sister. It be stupid if you didn't get your own ship." He nuzzling me, catching me by surprise. "You make me jealous, you know that. Whatever you want, you go and get it, and no pony can stop you."
Wait what? "What was that last part"
He suddenly backed up "Sorry, I didn't mean jealous, I meant admire, ya! I admire you. Can we cuddle?" I facehoofed
"No, no. After that."
He stopped for a moment, taking a thinking posture. "You mean the part about you getting whatever you want?"
Is that true? I did want all of this, the respect, the fear, and the attention of Victoria. But why don't I feel happier? Before I met Prism Paint this was all I wanted... That's it, she must have done something to me. "Black Spot!" He froze in place. "Get me stuff, and meet me in fore o' t' chapel."
He tilted his head. "Why?"
I sighed. "I have a question t' ask a pony."
__________________________
It hadn't taken Black Spot long to bring me my saddle bag to me. It was all there; the rust gun and ammo, my cutlass, the battle saddle, the stuff taken from the captains bedroom, and even my tinted goggle eye-peace was in there.
"So what be you goin' t' do with that stuff... wait, be you goin' t' kill t' demon?" Black Spot had an understandably confused look on his face.
I shook my head. "No, I just need t' ask her a question."
"Then why do you need all your stuff?"
Putting on the saddle bag, I bopped him on the nose. "Can't go in unprepared, never know when you got t' shoot some pony." He took a step back as I grinned wide. "Now stay out here, This probably won't take long... probably." He nodded, and I walked to the door.
As the door slowly opened, I could hear a follower shouting. Her voice carried the tone of disgust and rage to it, but the normally preachy feel seemed more like simple shouting. "WHY HAVE YOU COME HERE DEMON? WHAT INTEREST DO YOU HAVE IN OUR CHILDREN!?"
Taking a peek I could see that Prism Paint had been strapped to the floor, and badly beaten. The Follower that was shouting held a whip in her magic. "We are but lost, we only wanted to help the child."
*Crack* the whip lashed out across Prism snout. "WHO ARE THIS WE!? WERE ARE THEY? ANSWER!" *Crack* another lash of the whip hit her side.
"We are alone, we became lost." Prism's voice quivered.
The sister sneered. "I don't believe you. Whatever your plannin', I will find out. By t' grace o' t' goddesses I will find out!"
I loudly cleared my throat, catching both their attention. The sister looked positively lived, were Prism looked shocked to see me. "Before you harm her any further, I have somethin' t' ask her."
*Crack* the sister snapped the whip in my direction. The sudden action failed to make me flinch. In truth I was half expecting her to flat out attack me, and was willing to take the first hit. "Now why would I let you do that?"
I cracked a smile and slowly trotted to other to them. “Because I asked nicely.”
She coiled her whip, and began staring me down. “For nicely, I didn’t hear a please, or any begging.”
She didn’t scare me, I remember the followers being scary, but her threats felt hollow without any follow up of violence. “No I didn’t.” I glanced over to Prism, who up close looked even worse, and back at the sister, looking her in the eyes. “Should I?”
The sister grimaced. “Foal, show some respect, or…”
“Or you will hit me? I thought you were goin' t' do that t' moment I spoke up.” They always do, but not now. “So why are you holding back?”
She raised her whip back with her magic, but it never came down. Our eyes were still locked, her face still scrunched up. It felt like a staring contest, one that only stopped when the sister had backed up into the altar, and she lost her hold of the whip. “Monster.” slipped out from under her breath.
Blinking, I looked around confused. The sister taking the opportunity to jump behind the altar. “Wait, what’s goin' on?” The sister pulled out a shotgun, the barrel shaking in her magic.
*BLAM* she missed, and I dived for cover.
“FUCKING SHIT YOU CUNT!” I shouted as I hid under the pews. Getting out of hoof was an understatement. Detaching my rust gun from my bag, I quickly rummaged for a magazine. I needed to start putting them somewhere easy for my hoof to get to.
“YOU’VE BEEN POSSESSED BY EVIL YOUNG ONE, LET ME FREE YOUR SOUL!”
*BLAM* The pews blocked the shot, sending pellets flying everywhere.
“YOU’RE A CRAZY CUNT YOU KNOW THAT” Pulling out the magazine, I quickly slid it into the rust gun.
She came into view, shotgun over her head. “BY THE GLORY OF THE GODDESSES, BE PURGED”
I rolled. *BLAM* she missed. Taking aim at her hooves I bit the trigger. *KLACK-KLACK-KLACK* I hit her in the hooves, causing her to fall over onto the ground. Our eyes met once more, and I could see the fear in her eyes. I bit the trigger.
Her head was gone, leaving nothing but a stump. Pulling out the empty magazine, and placing it back into my bag, I stepped out from under the pew. Taking a quick look around again, and seeing that no pony was around, I reattached my rust gun to my bag.
“Why did you do that?” Prism spoke up.
I sighed. “All I wanted t' do was ask a question, she shot first.” I trotted over to Prism, She was chained down excessively.
She took a deep breath. “And what question is that?”
Sitting down in front of her, I looked her in the eye. “What did you do t' me?”
“What do you mean?”
I waved a hoof. “I have everythin' I want now. T' respect, t' fear, Victorias attention! But why be I not happy about it?”
Prism tilted her head. “And you think we are the cause of of your unhappiness?”
I slammed my hoof on the floor. “STOP ANSWERING ME WITH QUESTIONS!” She stared at me silently. “SAY SOMETHING DAMMIT, GIVE ME AN ANSWER, STOP MAKING ME FEEL BAD! JUST STOP IT!”
“Do you feel better now that you shouted at us?”
I grit my teeth frustration. “How am I supposed to feel better. All I want is an answer!”
Prism took another deep breath. “If we give you an answer, do you think you will actually feel better.” I nodded. “Fine then. If we were to guess, we say that all the things you say you wanted, aren’t something you actually want.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “How can it not be what I want, It’s what every pony wants.”
She shook her head. “When we came to unity, we wanted to forget. But now that we remember, we know that we had been just lying to ourself. It’s why we came out here, lost and confused. All we really wanted was our son back, and without him, we didn’t want to live.” Prism attempted to stand, but the chains held her down. “Unity was an excuse, so was becoming lost. We wanted to die, but we couldn't kill ourself.”
“And how does that relate t' me?”
She smiled. “You reminded us of our son, so daring and full of life. So willing to fight for the things you wanted. He would talk about how he would become a hero, and we would live in a castle, but we think all he really wanted was to see us smile.”
“And?”
She rolled her eyes. “What you want is something more simple, everything else is just bluster.”
I stood up. “So what be it I want?”
“To be free. You looked at those maps like we looked at rainbows. Each page of the book you would linger on images of stars, and that sextant, you studied it like we studied paint.”
“That’s it, I can be free in…”
“The fleet. Do you think they actually let you be free. We've seen life on this ship. Nopony looks happy, much less free to be themselves. Tell us one point in time were you ever free in this place?”
“I.. I” I couldn’t think of one point. Even if I had respect, I’ll still have to serve the fleet in a few years. Would I still be with Victoria? “SHUT UP! WHAT DO YOU KNOW, YOU'RE THE ONE TIED DOWN, NOT ME, NOT ME!”
Prism sighed. “So then why are you upset?”
“I’M NOT UPSET!” I stomped my hoof to the ground again.
She looked me in the eyes. “If that true, then leave. Live your life, and let us die.”
“I DON’T WANT YOU TO DIE!” I winend.
Prism looked away. “We don’t want to see you die either. You see, our son didn’t want to see us cry, or be hurt. So one day he tried to defend us, and… and he died in our hooves for it. So please, just leave and live. Let us go.”
I spat at the ground. Was that it? Was that why I was feeling this way? I didn’t like it, I didn’t like it at all. Looking over at the headless sister, I quickly trotted over to her body and rummaged through her pockets.
Bingo, a key!
Running back to Prism, I dropped the key at her hooves. She stared down at the key, and then up at me. “What are you doing?”
“I.. I don’t want you t' die, so I’m helpin' you escape.”
She shook her head. “We can’t, you will be punished for this.”
I shrugged. “Ehh, I already killed t' sister, so I got somethin' comin' me way.”
She sighed once more, and lifted the key in her magic. Click by click, she unbound herself from the chains. Freed from her bindings, she got up and stepped over to me. “Two things.”
“What?”
She lifted me up with her magic and place me on her back. “First, we need a navigator if I’m going to get anywhere.”
Caught off guard, I quickly held onto her neck. “What’s the second?”
As walked over to a corner of the chapel, where her saddle bag was. “We need provisions for our trip.” She slung the bag onto her back, and slid it under me.
“Trip, what are you talking about?”
She smiled and we became invisible. “Were going to Equestria. Unless there is some other place you want to go.”
This felt odd, but my heart was pounding with excitement. “Well one o' t' maps had a chain o' islands called t' Marewaii Islands… but Equestria sounds better.”
“Equestria it is.” We turned to the door, and she trotted over to it. I glanced at the mirror to see that yes, we were invisible. The doors opened up, and she stepped out. A crowd of concerned looking ponies had formed, and seemed confused to how the doors had opened up by themselves.
Black Spot was nearby, keeping hidden behind another pony. I wanted to say goodbye, but I didn’t want to get Prism captured again.
With the sound of flapping wings, we lifted up off the ground, leaving the confused crowd down below us.
__________________________
We circled the city, it looking just as small as I remembered it from last time I was riding Prism like this. As we flew, I could see one lone figure at the top of the main tower. “Prism, can we make a quick stop?”
“Yes, but why?”
I was going to make a gesture, but remembered that we were invisible. “On t' top tower, thars a pony I need t' saygood bye to.”
Prism suddenly descended to the tower. I could see Victoria standing at the edge of the tower, and hanging from the flagpole was the body of Blackpowder.
Saint Roseland protect me Hold your Rifle for all to see Thundering loudly through Luna's night Keep me safe till Celestia's light
Victoria stopped her singing and look in our direction. “So that’s how you were buzzing around. No, don’t drop your invisibility, best to keep this between us.”
“How?” Prism asked.
Victoria giggled. “I have my ways. So is this the path you chose Star. It’s never too late to come back to my side.”
I took a deep breath. “Aye, I’m goin' t' go see Equestria with Prism Paint. I… I just wanted t' say Goodby.”
She smiled. “Goodbye, Nonsense! It’s not like we will never see each other again. Let’s just say… Until next time.”
I let out a breath. “Until next time.”
Victoria rose a hoof. “Oh, and Prism Paint was it. Would you kindly look after my little Star Charter. I do expect to see her again, and I’ll not be pleased to see her become a weakling.” Prism didn’t respond. “Good, now get going. If you two stick around, it’s only going to cause a panic.” She turned and walked away.
In noble battle did she fall Protecting us from evil's thrall Now she leads us all keeping us from sinful fall
__________________________
We headed in the direction of the rising sun, as Prism told me that she had come this way going the direction of the setting sun. It wasn’t until nightfall that we stopped, Prism picking a lone cloud to sit on.
Using the maps, the star chart, and the sextant, I looked to find out where exactly we were. What took the most effort was locating the right bunch of stars, but after some time, I found what we were looking for. After finding the star constellations, I got to work using the sextant, with some help from Prism. The moon shined in my eye as I lined it up with the horizon, and made a note of the numbers the sextant landed on.
Looking through Dead Reckonings notebook, I found the part about using the moon to navigate, and how it worked. Applying that with the constellations, I found which map we needed to use.
Equestria was not take far away. I didn’t know how long it would take us, but I could see it on the map, and I knew, just knew it was the right map. “Prism, we just need t' keep goin' east, Equestria be not far away now.”
“Star Charter, look?” I looked at her, and she was looking at me.
“What?” She lifted the sextant with her magic, and poked my flank with it… My cutie mark had appeared, and it was of a sextant over two crossed Cutlassas!? “Wow!”
“Your an amazing little filly you know that.”
“I have a badass cutie mark… my life is complete now.”
Prism laughed, and I laughed. We had a direction, I had a purpose, and Prism looked happy. I didn’t know what was waiting for me in the future, but I was going to enjoy it.
Our wings were ached and pained, and the wind was not gentle along my lashes. To make matters worse, the cargo on our back weighed us down. But It also filled us with new resolve.
The filly Star Charter was brave and strong, and her willingness to save us only inspired us to push through the pain. She reminded me so much of the son I had lost, and I would do all in our power to not let another foal die because of us.
On the horizon we could see it, land. Equestria. It will be a new life, a new beginning. We will not make the same mistakes as before, and Star Charter can be a normal filly, for what time she has left to be one. We could also see that something was out of place for Equestria, the clouds were gone. Some clouds were still around, but they were wide apart. Stretching between the clouds was what we wanted to see, a Rainbow.
Pushing our self harder, we zoomed into the sunrise, and at the rainbow. With hoof stretched out, we touched it ever so lightly. There was no shock, no wave of healing, we still hurt more then I have ever before, but we felt satisfied. We had touched a rainbow, and with it, we knew know that we can now move on. With clear skies over Equestria, we knew there will be many more rainbows to touch, but right now we had other responsibilities.
"Prism, what's going on?” With a yawn, Star Charter shifted on our back. “WOW! What's all that brown stuff, there's so much of it!"
Quickly descending, the strain our my wings were almost too much. We laughed. "We’re here, we made it to Equestria"
We did my best to land on the ground gently, but pain shot thru our legs as we hit.. We were at least was able to keep our self from crying out, not wanting to worry Star.
The filly jumped off my back as soon as I had stopped, and almost tripped after walking around. "Everything’s so still... I don't like it." we chuckled, but suddenly found our self kneeling on the ground, breathing heavily. "Prism, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
"We are fine." Everything hurt all over. From my hooves to my snout we hurt. "Don't worry about us."
"No, you’re not! Just say there, I'll get some help." We raised a hoof to stop her, but she had already ran off out of sight.
We couldn't bring our self to move, only lie down and be at peace with our pain. We had touched a rainbow, and saved a foal. We were at peace with our self. Star Charter knew how to survive, she will be just fine without me, we just new it.
"She's just this way, just around this rock!" It was Stars voice. The filly bound out from around a small boulder.
"Okay, but I'm not a doctor, so I can only so so much to help.... oh she's an alicorn, well that's different." The pony that rounded the corner was a glowing ghoul. "I think I know exactly how I can help your friend."
"Really?!" Star Charter jumped.
"Yep, just grab all your stuff, and wait over there. I'll see what I can do." The glowing ghoul smiled.
Star Charter dragged all of our supply's away from me and sat on top of them. "So mister, what are you going to do?"
The glowing ghoul walked up to me. "I'm just going to share some of my radiation with her, it will help her heal." The ghouls eyes lit up with a balefire green, and a wave of relief passed over me. "Just sit still miss, this will take a little time."
I smiled. "Thank you, we are... I am grateful for the help." Like how I saved her, she was now saving me.
__________________________ Eleven years later __________________________
*BANG!*
My head shot up at the sudden sound. Sleep, sleep was good, even if it was in the middle of the day. So understandably, I was not happy about whatever woke me up. Twitching my ears, I could hear the soft wine of an electrical charge, and... taste the electricity in the air. "Oh no not again."
Trotting through the ward, most of the ponies on the beds gave me a knowing nod. Working with the Followers of the Apocalypses had its perks, mostly that the majority of ponies were grateful that you were just around. But I liked them for the roof over my head, and work I was more than happy to do.
Stepping into the back room, I could see that Star Charter and the colt Roger Roger had tamped with the emergency broadcasting radio... again. Ever since Roger Roger got his two way radio cutie mark, Star had him tampering with our communication equipment every week. She even attempted to start her own radio broadcast, but only managed to pirate off of DJ Pon3 signal, which he was not happy about. A few of the other foals were on the other side of the room watching intently, probably waiting for another story about adventures on the high seas from Star Charter.
"What are you doing now Star? And please don't have it something that can get us kicked out of town."
Star Waved her hoof dismissively. At twenty two, she still acted too much like a Foal. "Chill Prism, we were just boosting the signal. No harm, no harm."
Looking at the emergency broadcasting radio, it had become a jumble of wires, gems, and a bunch of things I don't think goes into a broadcasting radio. "Boosting it to what, the moon!?"
Roger Roger looked at Star. "Oh! Can we try that next!?"
Star Charter scratched her chin. "I think we should, I've heard there's some ponies living up there."
I stopped my hoof down. "Oh no you don't, not unless you can make your own broadcasting radio, I'm not letting to break any more equipment! Now turn that off before some pony gets hurt."
"No pony is going to get hurt." Star retorted.
"You're going to get hurt!" I retorted back.
Star Charter huffed, but complied. Flipping switched until the broadcaster radio had powered down. "There, it's off. But nothing bad was going to...."
*CRASH*
"...Happen" Star slowly looked behind me to the ward, where the crash just came from. I looked too, but there was too much dust to see anything.
"Oy, looks like a pony just fell through the roof!" One of the patience called out. "Oh! It's a stable pony too, pipbuck and all!"
"Star, go get the doctor, I'll get that pony on a bed." Star nodded and quickly ran off, as I walked to where the fallen pony was. Looking at the strange situation, all I could think to myself was. Just another day in the Equestrian Wasteland.
