Silver held his tongue as Venquis spoke. The Ryborian obviously thought himself superior to the Pony races. Eventually, he would find out just what a Lunar Pegasus was capable of. For now, Silver was content to just relax and enjoy the wine. After finishing his glass, he thanked Venquis and headed back up on deck. He looked into the night sky, and sighed. The moon and stars were all in their proper places, but something wasn't right. The stars weren't as bright as they should have been. Ever since Luna had stopped raising the moon, the night sky had lost much of it's beauty.
"You are worried about the night, yes? Wrong princess is being disrespectful of its beauty." Obsidian walked up to Silver and looked at the sky. "Much has happen. I wish the night were as nice as once was."
After finishing his drink, Venquis spent the rest of the night downstairs praying to Sihana before going to sleep for the first time in more than four days. When the sun came back up when the rest of his companions, they seen the Ryborian awake training hoof to hoof with some copy's of himself. The decoy spell was an old spell which can allow the individural to train with another copy of him/herself with equal skill. There could be several copy's that can be used and helps to greatly benefit with any martial or weaponry training. Most ponies fight against one for an equal advantage, Venquis was fighting three copies of himself. Venquis went hoof to hoof with the copies, coming out on top. When he noticed his companions awake, the copies disapeared and went back inside of him. He then decided a half hour break before continuing with training. He was going to take on five next and purposely put himself at a disadvantage for maximum benefit.
Shortly after Parson excused himself to go to sleep, Star Shimmer excused herself and went below deck. She followed the unicorn some distance before he turned into one of the cabins. She was half tempted to follow him, as she wished to teach him more of her magic, but the memory of what Silver had said creeped into her mind. With a disappointed sigh, she continued down the hall and found a cabin of her own. It was small and sparsely decorated, not exactly passenger caliber. It looked more like the kind of place a soldier would sleep. She would've put every last bit that she had down on the fact that this was how the other members of her party preferred it. She leaned her lance against the wall and opened her journal. She then took her graphite rod in her mouth and began logging the day's events, from her offer to assist the Savior Sister Luna, to comforting Venquis, and everything that had happened up to this point in time. Before she was about to write about be dolphins, she fell asleep. ------ She found herself in the usual place, the Crystal Empire's Library. And even though she knew what was coming next, her heart was pounding. She knew it was only a matter of time before she heard that all-too-familiar voice... "Ah...my Slave. Come to me..." She froze in place. She tried to run, but she couldn't will herself to move. Her breath quickened, and her heart was nearly pounding out of her chest. The sound of her heart, however could not drown of he sound of hoof steps coming toward her. She tried to speak, to yell, to scream, anything, but no sound came out. "Very well. Then I'll just have to..." Finally, she managed a whisper. "No..." "Take..." "Please..." "What's..." "Stop..." "MINE!" The image of the Dreaded King Sombra appeared before her, a specter of flaming shadow and dark power. ------ Star awoke with a scream, as she had for nights on end. For a long time, she sat in her bed, eyes wide open, trying to catch her breath. When she finally calmed down enough to realize that it was all just a dream, she crawled out of her bed and slowly made her way to the deck. She hoped the the Savior Sisters that nopony had heard her.
Yclept almost fell asleep, but was stopped by star's scream, then he ran over to her without his cloak on,"star, are you alright, what happened?", he asked as he got up to her, then looked to her quarters, half expecting to see something such as a specter
The sound of hoofbeats rushing toward her on a darkened vessel were hardly comforting, and she just about bolted when she saw that it was a unicorn coming toward her. But she noticed right away that the unicorn was far too small to be Sombra and calmed down a bit. In fact, se was quite relieved to see that it was Parson who had come to her aid. She almost thought it was downright heroic. She whispered at him, not wanting to wake anypony else. "I'm fine. Thanks."
"Are you sure? You screamed... Really loud...", Yclept whispered back, walking close to her so she could easily hear his words
The crystal pony shook her head. "No, no, I'm okay. Really..." She hung her head and shuffled a bit. "I'm sorry I woke you..."
Cobraheart sat on the stairs leading up to the steering wheel. He simply just sat there; eating a breakfast of a few biscuits. As he got up he chatted to the captain for about an hour therefore creating a harmonious and jolly bond.
Yclept put a hoof on her shoulder, and smiled,"it's alright star, I hadn't fallen to sleep yet, & besides, it's nothing you should be sad about..."
Silver called down from the bridge. "We're entering Equestrian territorial waters! Keep your eyes peeled for enemy vessels!" The odds of encountering an Equestrian Royal Navy ship this far north were slim, but it was not impossible.
Venquis got back up and went to the deck. He closed his eyes and bent his knees to feel movements in the water and the surrounding area. He placed his hoof on the wooden deck as he felt movements from hundreds of miles away. "There is a fleet, located 125 miles away within sight distance of the mainland to our south east. They consist of a enormous flagship and several other boats this size." Venquis took his head up again for a moment and tried to locate the fleet again. "They consist of roughly twenty thousand, and we appear to have made quite a stur in the mainland." "It's a strange ability i was born with. I can only use it once a day, and it put's strain on my body when i use it." Venquis said, looking embarrassed. "I hope that helped."
Yclept kept his smile,"I should get some sleep, but if you need me, wake me, it'll be fine if you do...", & with that said Yclept went back to his quarters & hopped in bed
As Yclept walked away, Star mouthed the words, "Thank you." She had known that he was exhausted and was only trying to spare her feelings about waking him. Knowing that she wouldn't be going back to sleep, she made her way to the deck, just in time to witness Venquis' divination spell. She walked toward him and looked out over the sea. "How are we going to get by? We can't face all of them...can we?" As she asked, she ran through a mental checklist of her best spells, knowing that if her allies chose to attack, she would need time to prepare any one of her spells.
"We have no choice. They are obviously waiting for us. At our current speed, we will make contact in a little over two hours. We need a plan. I'm open to suggestions." Silver pulled out his map and marked the locations of the Equestrian forces. "We should deal with the fleet first. This ship has weapons, but they won't be enough. We'll need every advantage we can get." He turned to the Night Princess. "EVERY advantage, Princess." Luna was shocked. Silver had never before asked her to take part in a battle. She was far from helpless, and had sparred with Silver and the Night Guards on many occasions. Still, Silver usually tried to keep her away from actual combat. If he was asking her for help, the situation must be desperate.
"Damn it. I really wished that i would not need such a spell to take them down, but it seems that we are becoming desperate." Venquis said. "If i were to use it, then i would be out of the battle due to magical fatigue. Worst case scenario, i fall into a coma." He had thought of using his most powerful spell, which was the signature move which the Forever Five used before they sacrificed themselves. There was a reason why the Battle of Shattered Hoof became very infamous, and the spell was the reason why. It was responsible for the deaths of over a million.
"That will not be necessary, Venquis. The fleet is a small matter. Save your strength for the army. Princess, if you are ready, we should attack now." Silver Crescent picked up Holly and soared into the sky, followed closely by Princess Luna. Flying at top speed, they found the enemy ships within minutes. Three attack vessels, similar in size to the Dishonored, were surrounding a massive battleship. Luna flew towards the first of the attack ships. She hovered in the air just above the deck, and attacked Her eyes glowed as a powerful bolt of destructive energy shot from her horn, obliterating the bridge. As the sailors on deck realized what was happening, they began firing the ship's cannons at the princess. Enraged, Luna levitated the entire ship high into the air, and slammed it down into the ocean, pushing it far under the surface. As the ship sank, a massive whirlpool formed, and the few sailors lucky enough to have been thrown overboard by the initial attack were pulled below. Flying low to avoid cannon fire, Silver dropped Holly onto the deck of the second ship. The Timber-Wolf's teeth and claws quickly tore through everything in her path as she rushed towards the bridge. As Holly smashed through the window of the bridge onto the command deck, the captain of the ship, a Unicorn, swung his sword and smashed her into pieces. Certain that he had won, the Unicorn turned his back on the already re-forming Holly. It was the last mistake that he would ever make. As it fell, the captain's body struck the ship's wheel, causing it to spin wildly. The attack ship swung into the path of the battleship, and was cut in half as it was struck by the much larger vessel. As the ship began to sink, Holly jumped overboard. Dodging cannon fire, Silver landed on the deck of the final attack ship. His twin swords quickly overwhelmed the crew of the main deck gun, which he then used to destroy the rest of the ships cannons. Silver fired several shots into the bridge, and picked up as many of the explosive shells as he could carry. He flew towards the ship's smokestack, and dropped the shells down. As he flew away, the ship exploded. As Silver prepared to attack the battleship, he saw Princess Luna begin to fall. The use of such powerful magic had exhausted her. He caught the princess and then retrieved Holly. As he flew away, the battleship's massive cannons began firing. He was nearly hit as he escaped. When he made it back to the Dishonored, he walked past his companions and quickly got the Princess to bed. It had been a mistake to let her fight, and Silver was furious at himself for even suggesting it.
As Venquis seen Silver and Princess Luna return to the Dishonored, he had noticed that the Princess looked absolutely exhausted from what appeared to be magic fatigue. As he watched Silver take the Princess to bed, he believed that Silver had failed at protecting her. "Perhaps i should avoid him for today,he has to make sure that the Princess is alright. He's an honorable pony, his accomplishments so far should not go unnoticed. " he thought. As he turned around, he seen the instantly recognizable appearance of smoke. Even though it was hundreds of miles away, the smoke poisoned the blue sky around on the horizon. It was then when he realized that Luna and Silver caused this amount of damage. Did they cause all that? If so, their power might have rivaled what Dovian had or what Celestia's is currently. They are both a very powerful ally and an enemy i wish never to make. Perhaps to kill some time and to remember this already unforgettable experience, he should keep a journal like Star. Perhaps it better if she were the one telling the story from her perspective, because Venquis would rather write down his life when he reaches the last stages of his life, it would make the book more special. Deep down, he was beginning to reject some of his Ryborian pride and was starting to think of himself as an Equestrian in Ryborian clothing. He was a very proud pony since his birth, but does not like to think of his race being more superior than others. He was of course immensely proud of his Ryborian heritage and royal upbringing, but was now for the first time in centuries becoming best friends with the kind which almost wiped out the Ryborians, which did not bother him in the slightest. After this war was over, he is considering settling down in Equestria with his new friends. Hopefully spend the rest of his days there as a protector of the nation.
Silver stepped out of Luna's room and quietly closed the door. The Princess desperately needed a doctor. The battle had put far more strain on her than Silver could have ever imagined. He looked at the clock, and spoke to nopony in particular. "One hour. One hour, and that battleship will be within firing range. This will not be an easy fight."
