The smoke and sulfur high on the breeze stung her eyes, but still she took a deep breath of the thick air, if only to let out a sigh. Her Royal Highness Princess Luna leaned heavily on the gunwale of her flagship, Sky’s Reach, surveying the wreckage all around. The Equestrian Navy had clashed with the Griffon Empire in the night; her fleet had performed admirably, she thought, though with absence of daylight it was difficult to tell how the battle proceeded by naught but the flashes of magic and fire.
Luna stood, having felt a presence beside her, but didn’t bother turning to look. She knew exactly who it was. “Admiral.”
Admiral Sky Light pushed her hat up past her horn, “Milady...” Sky Light was old enough to remember her princess’s return and the reestablishment of the Royal Navy. Several years of working with Luna had taught her that patience and silence were the best way to keep the night princess levelheaded, and best to prevent spontaneous demotion or worse.
Minutes passed as the activity of the ship subsided, fires were extinguished and wounded healed. Reports were magicked in to Sky Light, in lieu of dragonfire, and she passed the pressing news on to her mistress without a word. And the reports Luna read were grim, at best; Sky Light was thankful there were no crewponies about to see her worry. By her reckoning there were still some two hours until dawn, when Celestia’s light would reveal the rest of the fleet. So far only half her tonnage had reported in. She hoped the rest were scattered, and not resting on the seabed.
Luna had called upon Sky Light’s fleet to intervene in the Eastern Sea, where Saddle Arabia had called upon Equestria’s aid against an uncharacteristically large wave of Griffon pillaging and looting. She had mustered the fleet at Manehattan, setting out for the East. After weeks at sea, her scouts had sighted the Arabian coastline. A chance for resupply, information, and shore leave lay at the port of Dhipony and at the sight of the coastline Luna seemed to allow herself to relax. As the fleet neared the port, the fleet’s pegasi brought more concerning news: Dhipony had been sacked and burned to the ground, with not a soul in sight.
To her Admiral’s objections, Luna had insisted on taking a skiff to see for herself, and had walked the ruins. Amongst collapsed masonry and ashes, each pony couldn’t shake a terrible feeling. Though soldiers sworn to service, some of the greener crewponies had yet to see the results of the violence of war. Finally, it dawned on them that there was no trash, no waste apart from the corpses. The city hadn’t been sacked, it had been stripped completely clean. Of anything potentially useful. Any survivors that had fled would have starved to death, or died of exposure. A truly meticulous assault, indeed.
Cruel, even for griffons.
With her majesty's permission, Sky Light elected to send the Marines inland to track down the survivors. Goddesses know they’d not survive long without aid, and they were likely the best source of information they were likely to procure. Saddled with as much supply as they could bare, and enough wagons to carry additional supply as well as any wounded, she left Commander Wind Rider orders to march south to the Point of Caden, where they would rendezvous with the Fleet for pickup. Any intel and survivors were priority one. With the crisp salute of the Marines, the fleet and ground forces parted ways. Sky Light had liked the marines she had met, even in the abscence of long tradition they lay highest on the list of ponies that stood on discipline and ceremony. Even when saluting an officer ordering you to do something absurd, like march into the desert looking for strays.
Six days of high seas and unfavorable winds brought the fleet to their next port of call, Mecclop. A holy city to the Camels of Saddle Arabia, it would be a rest and resupply point, as well as the seat of the Arabian government that had called for aid. With trade and tourism their primary income, the raiding must have hit them hardest of all. While no religion held a candle to the cults of their Princesses, Sky Light would not deny that their devotions and philosophy were at least meritorious and pious. And their lands had been fairly peaceful for centuries, ever since the fervor of their first crusades had quelled. With luck, the fleet might get a few days of rest and shore-leave.
Or so Sky Light hoped.
The scout fliers reported sighting the city, but at such range it was not clear if the ravages of war had reached this far south. Lacking the appropriate information, all the Admiral could do was order the fleet to close the distance. Giving word to Her Majesty, she gave orders to send out the fastest fliers to announce their imminent arrival, only to be halted by Luna's interjection. "We will go to herald Our arrival. For We have long acquaintance with the Saddle Arabians." Strategically, this was a terrible idea. In chess, one does not move their king, or Princess, to attack. Though, ask Sky Light’s long acquaintance had taught her, her Princess was hardly a King.
Sky Light acquiesced, "At the least, Majesty, take an honor guard, for appearances."
"As you wish Admiral."
Minutes later the flight took off in escort of their Princess, leaving Sky Light to organize the disembarkation of Her fleet.
The sun was high as the fleet pulled into port, though Sky Light could hardly call it such. It was a veritable ruin, though not the desolation they had seen at Dhipony. Even now makeshift docks were being floated into the bay, no doubt in anticipation of their arrival.
A truly bloody battle had been fought here. And recently.
Sky Light ordered the Sky's Reach in to port, with the rest of the fleet on standby. With a shudder the flagship touched the makeshift jetty, and, to the horror of her XO, she immediately leapt the gunwale, landing heavily on the uneven surface but immediately picking herself up to gallop towards her Mistress. Not a hundred hurried paces saw her in front of her Princess.
To say Her Majesty, Princess of the Night, and Grand Admiral of the Navy was not happy would be an understatement. She seethed beneath a poorly maintained facade of calm. Rumor of Nightmare Moon resurfacing were driven by such moods. Sky Light snapped a crisper-than-usual salute, and fell in beside her, to await a moment of composure to get a status report.
They marched to the docks in brooding silence.
Looking around, she saw not only Saddle Arabian officers, but a half dozen of Her Majesty's own marines! Spying her Commander Wind Rider in the congregation, she gave him a quizzical look. The dun pegasus shook his head slowly. He gestured to his wing, bandaged and bound at his side...
The marines! They had fought here! But how? Why? She would have her answers soon enough.
Inside the Lunar Stateroom, aboard the flagship, five senior officers and again as many Saddle Arabians sat around Her Majesty's table, uneasy silence holding firm.
The Princess of the Night finally spoke, but as it happened, she eased none of the tension. "Genocide." A word, the worst word. A hell of a word to start off a meeting. "That is what the Griffons are trying here. To extinguish Our allies. Likely in preparation for an invasion of Equestria proper." Luna stood, and paced back and forth for an uneasy moment. "Our marines had only just arrived, at nightfall, when the Griffons struck. We have few details, but this is what We know. A single ship arrived, under flag of truce, its envoys requesting an audience with the Caliph and his council. Not to be taken as fools, he did arrive. At the head of his entire Guard." The scowl on Luna’s face was unhidden, Equestria’s military had not fallen as complacent as those of her allies.
"It is at this point that speculation must be accepted. Word has it that the entire standing griffon delegation committed ritual suicide. With some emphasis on Ritual. A dark rift was opened, and something spilled through. A hundred ponies tall, if reports are to be believed, of ebon void. It, in a moment, obliterated those at the docks, and as far as it could reach inland; it laid waste to the city. Eventually, with its rage spent, it sank back into the seas, and the remaining griffons flooded into the city. Providence, it seems, was on our side, as they had no knowledge of the arrival of Our forces. The raid was repelled, at least for now."
"The most telling feature is the meticulous scavenging. They’re either short on supply, or, more likely, looking to supplement the griffon war effort. Were they truly this desperate for materiel, it would imply an altogether absurd level of military buildup."
The briefest of silences was broken by everypony clamoring to speak at once.
It was clear that it would be a long meeting.
For two hours each pony voiced successively more improbable idea and speculation. A Griffo-minutaurian conspiracy. The Nightmare returning through a different host (this was immediately shot down by Her Highness as impossible). And some ideas far more preposterous but unsettlingly based in the current facts. In the end, it was eventually decided that the griffons would inevitably try again. Without the ability to repel another such attack, the survivors would have to be evacuated to the largest port of Caden. There, with the best defenses on the peninsula, they would be safest.
Supply would be tight, but at the very least the griffons hadn't been able to loot the city. Supply ships were retrofitted with bunks for the refugees- most of their stocks moved into the ships of the line, some, if not all, sitting awkwardly low in the water.
The cumbersome fleet departed; most of the refugees were distraught, some wept at the loss of their city, some swore oaths of vengeance, and all the while marines tried hard to keep order. They were not always successful, and the convoy felt like it was carrying prisoners of war and not civilians. But, the restive emigres aside, everyone was fed, and most had a place to sleep. And it was only a few days to Caden.
And for those few days, it looked like the worst was over.
Two days' sail from Caden, the farthest pegasus scouts sighted them. The griffon raiding fleet, thirty vessels, mostly heavier, cumbersome transports for their troops and loot. Some heavy cannon was sighted, but not nearly the weight of firepower Her Majesty was carrying. Their defenses were thin, at best.
Sky Light gave the order: warships full sail, and the refugees would make for Caden at their sluggish pace while the fleet detoured to engage. The faster warships would engage the griffons before they could reach another innocent port. Ballast, cannon, anything that could be spared was loosed and tossed overboard to ride just that much higher in the water. With any luck the trailing vessels could snatch up any lost supply.
For what felt like hours, Sky Light had watched the horizon. When finally the masts of their quarry peeked over, the adrenaline came. It looked as if the griffons would make their stand here, for they were headed straight for their pursuers. A foalish gesture, but who was Sky Light to look a gift-horse in the mouth. With their superior firepower, it would be a brief battle. Aerial combat between pegasus and griffon had already started in the airspace between the fleets. Blood was already being shed.
Finally, with the enemy nearing engagement range, and with all the calm of a nervous Zap Apple addict, Sky Light screamed, "To stations! To stations! Sign the fleet!"
The flagship signaled the fleet by semaphore, FORM ON MOON, FOR LUNA
Wind whipped their coats, and slicing debris had them all bleeding into the driving rain. Flashes and thunder, from cannon and storm, left most of their sailors blind and deaf to the command signals. The fleet was in disarray- each ship either fleeing or salvoing upon the eldritch horror in their midst. Half a dozen were already foundering, cut nearly in twain by the fury of the monster they battled. Friendly fire abounded, but a even a cease fire order, while currently impossible, would be suicidally brave.
In a terrible repeat of their assault on Caden, the griffons had summoned their otherworldly behemoth, at point-blank range, right on top of the Fleet. And with it came this terrible gale. While it had cost the griffons their lives, it might yet cost the ponies all of theirs.
Admiral Sky Light barked her orders: her ponies were to continue firing on that monstrosity until they ran out of powder or munitions, which might be perilously soon. At last check, the rest of the fleet wasn't doing much better. They had two dozen ships, maybe more, of terrified, beleaguered ponies. They had a few weeks' rations, and, maybe, an hour's worth of ammunition. They would fight to the last if Her Highness commanded it, but once out of powder they'd be reduced to ludicrously assaulting the behemoth in skiffs and lifeboats.
Sky Light spared a glance towards her patron, who was actively smiling; not the pleasant, courteous smile of her sister but her own, rough, predatory grin.
"You're after our ponies? You've plumbed the depths of darkness?" the Princess' voice beginning to rise above the gale. She nearly screamed into the storm, dwarfing even the Royal Canterlot Voice.
"I have battled Celestia to a draw! I've cowed the Eldest of dragons! I battled the Nightmare in my own mind for A THOUSAND YEARS! And YOU. WILL. NEVER. REACH. EQUESTRIA!" At that Luna began channeling her magic, her horn seemingly draining what meager lights they had on the ship. The surroundings dimmed as the alicorn rose slowly into the air, wings splayed out and eyes aglow. As it grew nearly pitch black, the unicorns aboard with weaker constitutions began to heave the contents of their stomachs onto the deck. Elder magic resonates with power and intent, and Luna was in a vile mood. Murder was nearly vibrating in the air.
With mere moments until the abomination reached her ship, Luna released her spell, eyes ablaze with black fire. "BY STARS AND THE SKY I BANISH THEE!"
"What are you doing?!" Sky Light begged, just short of screaming. Luna fell to the deck, exhausted, as the ebony tendrils of her spell rose into the air above them. She smiled weakly.
"Gambling."
Blackness overcame them.
Sky Light awoke to the smell of sulfur, and to sunlight - the dawn! She leapt to her hooves only to stumble, and fall to her knees. To starboard, the huge beast was aflame, spewing noxious smoke, but gladly no tentacles. Looking up, she spotted Luna at the helm, humming a happy tune.
"My liege, what happened?" She groggily inquired.
"As I said, I gambled."
"Gambled, my liege?"
"Quite. My sister had heard nothing of this threat, and, being mistress of the sun, even an errant sunbeam would have told her had it destroyed any of these cities during the day. While We lack that level of surveillance, it was an appropriate guess.
"And this saved all our flanks and made this creature burst into flames because..."
"The titan was inimical to daylight! And so, I gave it the sun." Sky Light was appreciably speechless.
"Your next question is how did I go and raise the sun, especially after the fracas of 1000 years ago?"
"Umm, yes, my liege."
"Well, I cannot. So I did the next best thing- I teleported us to the dawn." Luna brightened at this admission, seeing bewilderment on her young admiral's face. She was smiling, the largest Sky Light had seen since their voyage began.
"But dawn was hours away! Where did you send us?"
"East! Go find commander Daetrin, and tell him we are off the edge of the map."
Author's Note
I'll probably figure out where this story is going, as of yet I've only really outlined the beginning.
I've gotta decide on the scope / length, and then there are a few high points I need to make sure we hit along the way.
Feedback, of course, is welcome.