Star barely heard Obsidian as he approached, and didn't notice him until he started speaking to her. Her mind had been on other things, but the sound of the buck's voice brought her back to the present. She forced a smile and replied, "It's my pleasure, really..." Then she sighed. "It was...nothing important. Just...the past. It's fine." She glanced down at the dolphin as it breeched the water. She then turned her gaze toward Obsidian and took notice at how bright his expression seemed, which in turn cheered her up a bit. Sombra was gone. He wasn't coming back. Ever. She smiled at the buck. "They really are wonderful. I've read about them. Dolphins..."
"I don't want to know about the science. What I observe of how they act. Interact with each other. That is what fascinate me. Travel in groups. Like us. Evil princess is shark. She chase, we outsmart." He smiled again and looked far out in the water.
"A shark? That's an interesting way to look at it." She glanced back toward the unicorn. "Oh, Parson. I thought you were going to- Never mind." She swept her hoof over the dolphin. "Obsidian and I were just talking about these dolphins. They're mammals that live underwater. Some say that they are the smartest creatures in the sea." "Obsidian was saying about how much we're like them."
"Hmm, I'm not the best at sea life, never really went out to sea much... And this is my first time seeing one...", Yclept said, looking at the dolphins in awe
Silver watched the dolphins for awhile. "I've always admired sharks, myself. If they stop swimming, they drown. They spend their entire lives constantly moving forward, never stopping to look back. It is an admirable trait." Silver had spent a great deal of time thinking about his own past. He wished that he could move on as easily.
"Thank you for the potion." Venquis began. "I never liked boats, my physiology just could not stand being on a rocking ship constantly. It was one of the reasons why i lived as far away from the ocean as possible." Venquis began to drink as the rest of the group started to talk about marine animals. The names of some of the animals that came up were some that he never had heard of. He knew what a shark was, but the thought of a dolphin made him confused. "You ponies are lucky. I never had the luxury of living near the ocean, so i don't know about many of these animals. My nation was more of a tundra based environment with some occasional desert to the south east and Equestria to the west. We were land-locked, which means no navy due to us having no oceans. The only thing i know about boats, your marine animals and the ocean itself is that my ancestors in Windaria came to your continent after our homeland was destroyed in a environmental disaster over 48,000 years ago. Windaria is being terraformed by magic and some environmental spring cleaning as we speak, so i seek to visit the homeland someday." The Ryborian said, he began to drink the potion and thanked Silver again. "And i just have to ask. What is a dolphin, are they venomous?"
"Dolphins are a playful race of ocean dwellers. They are just as intelligent as a pony, but their language is very difficult to learn, and most refuse to speak with land creatures. If we could communicate with them, they could be a powerful ally." Silver sighed. "However, I do not speak Dolphin."
Cobra who was at the back of the ship helping the captain with sailing and navigating approached them "If only Fluttershy was here. we could og used her animal skills". He said jokingly before leaning over the edge with a bottle of Rum. which was given to him by the captain due to the help he did. he looked out into the oceans horizon before speaking again. "I used to be such a militant city-ist, but more and more I've seen forests and nature and oceans, and I don't know any more if that is the best way to live".
(My novel is officially started. And Just for you, im going to reveal a major plotline for Venquis. He is the last surviving Ryborian royalty in the Razoran line.) "That's a shame. Im able to speak over 11 different languages fluently, but none of them involve Dolphin. I never even knew such a creature existed until today." Venquis said. He looked at the ocean as the sun was beginning to set, it would be another two days before they arrive in Equestria. The sunset that began to come down onto the obsidian sky began to raise the moon. With Luna abdicating, Celestia had taken over raising the moon again. Ven thought about the princesses relationship, their happy and sad times, their moments of anger at each other, feelings that they had for another and what it was now. Venquis also thought about his parents relationship with him before their deaths during his childhood. Even through he was about 86(In human years, about 17 years old.) when the war was declared, he remembered everything about his mother and father's reaction to the news. When he was 91 (Five years into a twenty year war), he watched his parents get slaughtered when Equestria attacked Neromia (Ryborian capital) alongside his brothers and sisters. He was saved by the Ryborian Elders which would become the Forever Five. The rest was history as he was transformed from a kind young boy to possibly the strongest Ryborian in existence. He wanted the others to understand the scale of what was to come, and his life from his perspective. "I'm going downstairs to the crew quarters. Anypony is free to come, im going to be telling stories and possibly writing my own. I just need something to take my mind of this chaos." Venquis said as he went through the door and softly closed it behind him.
Silver decided to follow Venquis. The opportunity to speak to another centuries-old warrior was not one something that Silver could ignore. As he walked away, he spoke to Cobra. "If I knew how to find Fluttershy, we wouldn't need the Dolphins. Lord Discord refuses to lift a finger, anymore. He has never recovered from losing his best friend."
Cobra walked alongside Silver walking down the stairs below deck. "Sad times indeed, I have a secret to tell you. I am not the age you think I am. You see when nightmare night was banished so were the Order of the nightingale blades. the order I am in. I was one of them and we corrupted along with her becoming the Dark Duelists. We worshiped nightmare moon, Followed her, Served her and yet sometimes I feel if that was really a bad time or if it was the best time. Sometimes we felt ourselves slipping back to the dark and I think Luna might too".
Venquis went downstairs and got out a small table underneath a cabinet in the bedrooms. He sat cross-legged as he pulled out a cup and some ingredients from a bag to create a special Ryborian drink. The drink itself was very simple to make and tasted fantastic, but would be considered as a different type of Wine in some of the other races point of view. Just as he was setting up a drink, Silver walked in with Holly. “Hello you two. Do you need assistance with anything, maybe some Gilangia perhaps?”
Silver accepted the drink gladly. "The last time I had Gilangia was at Princess Twilight's coronation party. I never did find out what was in it." He studied the Ryborian carefully. "I've been meaning to ask you something. You said that you knew Celestia before the Night Princess returned. You are obviously much older than you look. In all of your years, have you ever seen magic that could so thoroughly corrupt an Alicorn as powerful as Celestia?"
"I knew her." Venquis began, taking a sip of the Ryborian wine. "I actually saved her life after Eclipse died. She became very ill at one point before the monster that was Eclipse took power. You see, she caught a strange illness and was then forced into a long coma. Then he took power, turned your nation into something else and almost wiped out my kind. Once she was restored to full health, i went to found the tavern you found me at. She also helped me kill another trator and in return, proved support to cure the Seventhritium." Venquis then looked sad as he took another sip. "And i have only seen one living being that has been corrupted by such a power. He was my captain in the Spell-Swords, Dovian Frenzia. He betrayed my people and helped Equestria in the war. You dont have to worry about him, he died years ago. If Celestia has undergone a corruption such as Dovian's...." Venquis thought to himself. "Then what is about to happen will be catastrophic"
"I have a seen a few things that can cause such a dramatic shift in a pony. Chaos Magic, the power used by Lord Discord, can be used to alter personalities. The magic that transforms the Night Princess into Nightmare Moon is even more dangerous. If the mind is not totally focused, it can easily corrupt the wielder. I also know of an amulet..." Silver stopped himself. The Alicorn Amulet was hidden. Only Zecora knew it's location, and she was long dead.
"I was taught by Dovian, and the group of Ryborian heroes that would be known as the Forever Five. I spent 15 years of the coastline of my nation in isolation with them training, wanting vengeance on the ones who killed my family and Eclipse himself for his genocidal war. They were the best of the best, the strongest of my kind and practically immortal due to extensive magic modification. They all died at the Battle of Shattered Hoof as heroes, five of them against a million of you Equestrians. Everypony slaughtered to the last mare and stallion." Venquis said, telling Silver about how he learnt magic. He then poured more Gilangia into his glass. "I never used any forbidden magic, it's simply too dangerous. Ryborians are taught magic in a similar manner, but much more extensive. One of the spells you've seen me do is covering my hooves in fire, and my void spell. Even the weakest child is stronger than an Equestrian battle mage. But even after two million years of civilization, it came to nothing in the end.” Venquis put his hoof on his forehead and looked down in shame. “Even when you were practically raised to fight, teach and protect the other races weaker than us, it meant nothing during the war. It was everypony for themself then.” Venquis then looked up at Silver. “It was the worst war in history. If I never killed Eclipse, I would not be standing here today alongside the rest of your kind. I just wish that it would not have to escalate to that level ever again.” Venquis said sadly.
"Alright, I should get some sleep... Haven't slept for 3 days strait...", Yclept says, chuckles, then smiles at star & walks back down below to find a place to sleep
