Venquis turned around to see Silver looking worried. The Ryborian still guessed that it would still be a bad time to see what the situation was with Luna and himself, but him and Silver knew that they need suggestions or else they might all end up dead. "This is very bad." he spoke to the whole group and watched the time on the clock count down. "The Princess is suffering a magic fatigue withdrawl, we are outgunned and we need to get to The Crystal Empire immediately or else we see what is possibly the end of a free world resulting in our deaths." Venquis never mentioned that the group was outnumbered, their skill and strength alone made up for their small size. "I just hate situations like these, but we need to make choices here. Anypony up for suggestions, there is no wrong answer. What do we do?"
"We find a way to win. It's what we MUST do. The Princess... has been ill for some time. I was a foal not to see it before. She needs help, and soon." Silver began running around the deck, checking the cannons. "This ship is fast and maneuverable. If we can avoid a direct hit, we may have chance. We'll all have to work together, but I believe that we can sink that battleship."
Cobraheart gathered the ships crew on deck; beggining a small speech. "Alright men, Silver and The true princess have taken care of most of the fleet but there's still the battleship left. I want three quarter of you down in the cannons while the rest of you are up deck fending off boarders and manning the riggings. Rune started running the ship with defense and strengthening runes. Use the ropes to scale the sides, The Cap will be going half speed so you can get this done. Finally Revoloution you're joining me to bring the fight onboard". He took a breath before continuing on still serious and in the zone. "There may be more than us but we shall fight till the last breath is drawn be it our's or their's. Let your anger out of the roar of the cannons and the clash of the blades. NEVER Surrender and never give up, the future of Ellion rests on our shoulders. FOR ELLION, FOR LUNA... FOR HARMONY!". The last bit of his speech could be heard on the entire ship with cheers following swiftly afterwards and then a quarter of them running up stairs their productivity and speed doubled from his speech motivation running through their veins. Cobraheart then emerged with Revolution by his side.
(Wow. This ship got crowded all of a sudden.) Silver looked around, confused. The ship had somehow gained a crew while he was away. He grabbed one of the new crew members to take a closer look, and instantly recognized her as one of the Night Guards under his command. "Nightshade?! What are you doing here?!" Nightshade, a Pegasus, pulled free of Silver's grasp. "Silver Crescent, why in Equestria do you think I'm here?! To help protect Luna, of course! After you left, I took a small force of Night Guards and Nightingales and went after you. I knew that you'd need help, and it looks like we made it just in time. We arrived just before you and Luna returned."
Yclept was having much trouble trying to sleep because all the ship's commotion, & he murmured,"ugh... Just... Let... Me... Sleep...", & pulled a pillow over his head
As the crew rushed to prepare the ship for battle, Silver headed for the bridge. He would take the helm until the battle was over. "Twenty minutes to contact! Load the cannons and prepare for battle!"
Venquis quickly ran down the stairs and prepared the cannons. He aimed them precisely at the enemy ship for the others, so that all they can do is simply reload and fire away without the need for aiming. Venquis role in the battle would be facing off against any boarders that try and take the ship. If the cannoneers could do their job and try and hit the lower part of the ship, causing it to sink then Venquis did not have much to worry about. He noticed that Silver and Robin had some new arrivals coming onto the ship, all of them were either under command or a friend. Venquis was all alone on this situation however, but knew that the rest of the Ryborians were on the homeland were safe. This did not bother him much, but focused on the task at hoof. "Prepare yourself, we make contact in five!" he yelled out across the ship. "Cannons are aimed directly at strategic weak points, you just need to reload and fire."
"Pegasi inbound! Venquis, take them out! Battleship in range! All cannons, fire! Cobra, get the boarding party ready, I'm taking us in close!" Silver pushed the Dishonored to full steam, and it shot forward towards the giant battleship.
Star Shimmer wiped her brow, having finally completed her task. When the rest of the crew had been preparing for battle, she had been, as well. She looked down at the last star she'd drawn on the deck. She steadied herself on her hooves and cast her gaze on the ships that were ahead. Then, she spoke the words of eldritch power: "Kpenpaj Wtntobn Bawtntete Monte Rpnjatern Oapabybaat Wteta Ha Henpnjaternte..." Then, as she spoke the last few syllables, her eyes glowed green as waves of dark energy surrounded them. "Ra rn Ygne Cnte!" In a few moments, the water around the Dishonored churned and created a mini vortex before a bubble of dark energy surrounded the vessel. After a few moments, the darkness faded away and only shimmering sparkles remained. The ship continued speeding forward to its objective, and was no harder to manuever than before the shield had been cast. Star's eyes still glowed with Dread magic, and her voice had deepened and had a reverborative tone to it. "The shield should protect us from any magical attacks they might throw at us. It will reflect their spells back at them, but I need complete concentration. Do not bother me!" She screwed her eyes shut and lowered her head, trying her best to maintain the spell.
Silver swung the Dishonored hard to port, and began rapidly circling the battleship. It was easily ten times the sized of the Dishonored, and heavily armored. It's deck was lined with massive guns, each powerful enough to destroy the smaller ship with a single shot. Silver knew that they were difficult to aim and slow to fire. As long as he kept the ship moving, it would be almost impossible to hit the Dishonored at such close range. "Keep firing! Their armor can't last forever! Boarding party! Go!"
Cobra, revolution, Swift (another of the Nightingale's) and two nightgurds (Crater and Ebony) flew into the air before quickly slamming down blade first. He sent a smoke signal saying that the boarding was successful.
Just as the Dishonored was coming close to the enemy ship, Venquis jumped overboard into the ocean. He let his magic stop him just above the water and then proceded to run across the ocean at very quick speeds. By now, most of the fire against the enemy ship was being directed towards him, possibly because of his Ryborian kind. Not only did it give the Dishonored to attack the weak spots of the enemy ship, he distracted them in the process. When he finally reached the boat, he began to use his magic to run vertically up the boat. He then took out his sword and made it onto the bridge of the enemy ship, where he began to take down most of the ship's crew alongside the Nightingales. Venquis then asked that the Nightingales stayed on the bridge while he took down every other enemy in the deeper sections of the boat. When he came back up to the bridge again almost half an hour later, he was covered in blood. Two Equestrian soliders spotted him and began to swing at him, a costly mistake. Venquis countered them like they were nothing as they fell down. "1,147" he said as a solider dropped dead, and then proceeded to take down the other guard next to him. "1,148...."
Star Shimmer's spell was holding. The magic attacks that struck the shield were deflected away. As Venquis and Cobra battled their way through the battleship, fewer and fewer shots were coming towards the Dishonored. A large group had come aboard from the battleship, and were quickly stopped by Silver's companions. The lone pony that had made it onto the command deck lay mortally wounded at Holly's feet. The battleship's armor was beginning to fail. The Dishonored's cannons had done their job. It was only a matter of time before the massive ship went down.
Venquis then told Cobra and the Nightingales to return to the Dishonored before the enemy's massive ship went down into an eternal graveyard of water. Once the rest of them made it across, Venquis remained on the Equestrian battleship performing a spell of some sort by writing some symbols into the ship. Soon after, the Dishonored made it far away to allow the enemy battleship to sink. When he made it back onto the ship, Venquis suddenly stopped in front of the group and raised his right hoof into the air. The palm of his hoof began to glow as a tiny yet bright round ball of flame appeared on his hoof. He then looked at his companions and smiled. After a short moment when he closed it, the ball disappeared and the battleship exploded in an abyss of absolute hellfire. Anything close to Venquis's symbol was instantly vaporized and the remainder of the bridge was enveloped in flames. The explosion's shockwave could be felt from the Dishonored, which was tilted slightly due to the force of the fiery explosion. Shortly after the explosion, the battleship went down almost silently as it snapped in half and disappeared into the ocean, never to be seen again. (Point of post, cool guys don't look at explosions.)
"Well, that was... dramatic. Shall we move on?" Silver slowed the ship's engines to allow the overworked boilers to cool. "That went quite well. All that we have to do now is build an army. Next stop, the Dragons' lair! Of course, Celestia has an army of her own waiting for us... We should reach the Equestrian coast tomorrow morning. Try to get some sleep, everypony. We have a long day ahead of us."
"At least that will send some devastating news to Celestia. Restoring some hope and empowerment into Celestia's slave like citizens. Perhaps maybe even citing a surge in Equestrian revoloutionairies. Anyway I'll be in my room if you need me". As he lay down and slept memories of the past and visions of the future flooded his mind. It was like the forbidden magic that corrupted him was returning. He tossed and turned before awakening gasping deeply for air. He stumbled through the hall strafing and thumping into the walls of his fellow squads rooms. Finally he made it up noticing all the nightingales and princess Luna congregating on top; but something was different they all looked like they returned to there corrupted dread duelist forms and it was not Luna, it was... Nightmare Moon. He approached the Alicorn bowing. "Ahhhh, CobraHeart or should I say Venomous Soul It seems we have returned to our old selves yet still retaining our goodness balanced with corruption. The rest of the crew will be surprised when they wake up". After a long conversation a dark black and purple light occurred returning his mind back to normal. He collapsed on his side before drifting back off to sleep on the hard wooden floor.
Obsidian watched Cobra's sleepwalking silently and calmly. "Stress. With that battle that just happened... I understand." He jumped down and listened to Cobra's mumbles about Nightmare Moon. He sighed and walked below deck, not wanting to risk harming the sleepwalker. He slid into a room and sat down, starting to meditate. (he played defense on the ship during the battle. I broke my computer and can't type enough for big scenes like that >.<)
Silver was worried. Luna was burning up with a fever, and drifting in and of consciousness. She was delirious, and kept calling for her sister. As the night wore on, her condition worsened. The Night Princess was dying. In desperation, Silver searched through his saddlebag and found a battered old helmet. "Forgive me, Princess. I see no other way." Carefully, he placed the helm of Nightmare Moon on Princess Luna's head. "Nocte Aeterna. I call forth the power of the eternal night." A blast of dark energy flung him against the wall and knocked him out. When he came to, Nightmare Moon was standing above him, looking down angrily. "Why are you asleep, Siliver Crescent?! There is work to be done!" Silver quickly got to his hooves. "My apologies, Dark Princess! It will not happen again!"
Venquis stood on the bridge of the boat. He felt it surge with magical energy but dismissed it as Luna trying to recover from her condition, unknown to what was happening below. He stood there as dawn began to break, watching the sun rise as the mainland began to come into view. It was faint in the horizon, but it was there. It it wasn't for Cobra's awkward sleepwalking, it would have a picture perfect moment. When he turned around, Cobra fell to the ground almost comically and stopped mumbling in his sleep.
