Ocean of Shadows

Chapters

The Hidden Prisoners
The Ghost Ship
The Clockwork Part I
The Clockwork Part II
Adrift and Stranded
1 Year Anniversary
A Leader Rises
Reunion and Division
Epilogue

The Hidden Prisoners

The Black Sea

(The Hero's point of view)

I chuckled as I sat back with my friends. 3 days have passed since the attack by the Brotherhood of Shadows. A few ponies have died, but most of them survived. I met a couple more prisoners, one of whom was from Canterlot. She was named Dawn and was from some royal family that was imprisoned for treason. I always thought it to be odd that all the prisoners were mere foals. Why were we banished or exiled while our parents were imprisoned or executed? When I voiced my concerns to my friends, they didnt think much of it. Then, we heard some weird knocks below deck. After some investigating, we went to the bottom floor and the knocks grew louder.

"What the hell is that noise? Bilge rats?" asked Greyson

Frost leaned forward and knocked. His knock was repeated. He knocked five times in a pattern. Whatever or whoever was below deck responded in kind in the same way. "More ponies I bet..." I then proceeded to snoop around. There didn't seem to be a way down. "Hey Frost? Can I borrow your hammer?"

"Sure." he said as he tossed it to me. I grabbed it and knocked around more. It echoed a bunch around a wall. I checked the floor there. The floorboards were unusually loose....

Hawke pushed me out of the way and wedged a lance part in there. "Hup-two-three-four!'" he shouted as he jumped up and pushed down on the lance. The lance broke, but the floorboards popped up. "Who's first?" he asked. Glade rushed past us and dove in. "Whoa! It's so dark down here!"

Frost's horn lit up and he poked his head in and looked around. "A hidden room...Can someone get me some rope or a ladder? It's a long way down..."

I left for the upper deck to get some. I ran into Scorch on the way up. "Hmm? What're you doing." he grunted

"Um, I'm just getting a ladder or something..." I said nonchalantly. Upon hearing my "request" he threw a ladder at me which knocked me down and sent me tumbling down the stairs. He then cackled and walked away. I groaned as I hit the bottom, my back was very stiff from my accident last week so it was a bit hard to walk so it took me a while.

"What's down there, Glade?" asked Frost.

"Can't tell! Too dark..."

"Agh, where the hell is ___!?" raged Frost until he saw me stumbling down the pathway.

"Hey guys" I groaned as a I dropped the ladder down there and attached it to the floor. Sierra nailed it down to make sure it wouldn't fall. Frost climbed down first. We heard him whistle. "Come down here guys. Check this stuff out..." We slowly followed him downward.

When I got to the floor last, I was stunned. Inside was what resembled a large prison. We walked on through. Several of the prisons were empty, but the more recent ones up ahead had ponies in there. They were sickly looking and very skinny and tired. They looked like they haven't left this place in over a month.

Sierra looked to be in shock. She was stunned, what was happening down here was sickening to her. She tried opening the cells, but they wouldn't budge. Hawke pulled her aside and began working on the locks.

"What was happening down here..." whispered Sierra. I looked from her back to the room. It was medium sized, and fairly long. No torches or lamps were down here excluding the one Greyson set. It was weary and reminded me of Canterlot's dungeon

"Additional prison. Probably used around six months ago, then the prisoners were forgotten about." replied Frost. His voice pulled me out my zoning.

"Huh? What?" I said, obviously distracted.

Frost sighed, but said nothing. Hawke finally cracked open the cell and helped the foals out. "Don't worry, we've got ya. You'll be fine..."

The older one coughed some blood on the floor. It was all blobby and dark. "Thank you..." she rasped. Her voice was dry and painful to listen to. Sierra put the older one near the lantern and called Frost over. "Shine some light in her eyes please." she said. Frost obliged. Misty examined the mare.

"Eyes are very red and crusty. Pupils are fine. Some hair loss, mane is dry and flaky. She looks very dehydrated. She probably hasn't ate or drank in two months..." she murmured softly. "We need to help them. Now." Sky, Glade, and Hawke then helped ferry out any of the survivors up top to feed them and give them water.

"Why were they down here and not up there?" I asked.

Sierra shook her head. "I don't want to even know..."

An hour later

We were talking with the survivors after helping them out. There were 9 mares, 6 Colts, and 4 foals. One didn't make it on the way up as his heart gave out, sadly enough. Most of them were sick enough were they couldn't talk, but the mare who Sierra checked first was good enough. Her name was Amber.

"So, Amber, what happened?" asked Sierra curiously. She had been helping Amber out for a while and Amber trusted Sierra more than anyone else here...Excluding her little sister

Amber sighed and sat on the floor. "It was four months ago I think. My sister and I were just resting. Sitting around at home when all of a sudden, some Canterlot guards in blue and black bashed our door in and began looking everywhere. It was all so weird...They were very thorough. Looking behind our cooler, behind the shelves, below the couch...Even after not finding anything, they just turned on us. They beat us down and kept questioning us. Asking "Where is it!?" we didn't know what they were talking about, so they just arrested us and shoved us in the dungeon. A few days later, they come back and drag us off to some ship and put us inside it. We stayed there for a long time and every so often, more ponies would come. It was terrible, the place was so dark and if we were lucky, some water would flood in so we could drink it. Then much later, the ship started moving and rocking back and forth. A lot of noises happened outside, but no one came for us..." she said sadly and began crying. Frost pat her on her shoulder. "Don't worry, it will be fine."

I watched and shook my head. 'What the hell is going on?' I questioned myself. I looked back to Sierra consoling Amber, and I was a bit hopeful in the fact that we managed to save someone. I fell forward though as the ship lurched and stopped. "What just happened?"

"We must have hit a reef or something..." muttered Frost.

Hawke pushed past us and opened the door. "That's no Reef. That's a Ship!"

The Ghost Ship

Chapter 2: The Ghost Ship

Hero, along with Scorch's help, pulled over a large board. "This should help us walk over." he said nervously. There was something so creepy about that ship up ahead. What was it doing out here in uncharted waters? It didn't bear any insignia or emblems or even a flag so it was impossible to tell where it came from, or to whom it belonged. Hero went first. He slowly got on the board and began walking over. The board was rather slim so it was difficult for him to keep his balance. Scorch grinned and rocked the board a bit.

"Stop! I'm having trouble hanging on as it is!" complained Hero. He slowly got up again and walked to the end. He noticed a fog coming in from up ahead. He estimated it would take it a few hours to get here, just enough to explore. Slowly, Frost and Hawke went too and were shortly joined by Sierra and Sky.

"Well, well, well, this ship is pretty old. Look at the wooden floorboards. They're petrified somehow." noted Frost.

"Well, how does that help us?" questioned Hawk as he checked the captain's deck. There was nothing inside except for a broken wheel and a pile of bones.

"It means it's been around here for over a hundred years supposedly." said Frost. "What kind of ship is it? Have you found anything that will help us?"

Sky walked back up. "Nope. Except all the doors down below are locked. Like, bolted locked or something."

Frost nodded. "That might be a problem." he noted as left to go examine something. He walked back into the ship's helm. He picked up a skull and examined it. It was white and picked clean. Nothing remaining on it. "Interesting..." he muttered. he checked the other bones. They were similar. "Hey Misty!? Come here and check this out!"

Meanwhile, Hero, Sky, and Hawke went to go check out the doors. Hawke then attempted to crack open one door. It wouldn't budge. "Well this is weird." he said out-loud before trying again.

"Gah, has this thing been dead-bolted or something?" He sat back and frowned. Sky walked up to him and looked at the door.

"Anything we can do to open it even a bit?" she asked

"Maybe. All I really need is a damn key." He tried picking open the door again and the lock finally gave way. "There!" he said with a smile as he kicked it opens. It swung open with a loud creak and they were hit with the smell of rotten food.

"Ugh, that is nasty..." muttered Sky as she walked in first. The hallway was dark and murky with signs of wood rot in several places. It was also curiously wet here unlike the outside of the boat. An lantern swayed from the ceiling with a creaky noise. Hero went up to it lit it using a match. Further inside the corridor, there was a large puddle of water. Hawke went to it and tasted it.

"Fresh water. But how did this get in here?"

Hero shrugged and checked the doors on the side. All of the ones on the right were open, and the ones on the left were locked. He entered a room on the right and looked around. It was small with a bunk bed on the left, a nightstand in the middle up front, and a table on the far right. He tried to open the nightstand, but it wouldn't give. He noticed something under the bed from the corner of his eye. He crawled under the bed and looked around. There was yet another skeleton. He dragged it out and stumbled back as he saw it more closely. It was picked to the bone with not a shred of flesh or bone marrow.

“What the hell!?” he yelped.

Sky and Hawke ran in and saw it too. “What?” murmured Hawke. “That’s just freaking creepy.”

“So why are there so many skeletons?” asked Hero. “And why are they so…Minty fresh…?”

Sky shrugged. “I’m not sure. But it’s obvious something went down here.

Misty shooked her head after the third skeleton. “Yes, like I said, they've all been magically cleaned. This boat has been here for at most 5 years. Whatever did all of this, well, it preserved it. Including the skeletons. I think this was a prisoner ship. Like ours.”

“What the hell could have done something like this?” questioned Frost who was growing uneasy here.

“I’m guessing either a magical artifact, or a large group. Did you find any food or water?”

He shook his head. “No. Nothing. Though I think we just haven’t dug deep enough. Most of the doors are locked.”

She seemed distracted by something she found. She tossed from a bone fragment. He barely caught it in his magic and checked it. “A burn mark? So?”

“A cleansing fire.” she said. “Anti-organic magical flame. I've heard of stuff like this before. It clings on and burns quickly. Not even water or other magic can put it out easily.”

Frost frowned. The idea seemed far-fetched to him, but he didn't complain. “So? What does that mean for us?”

“It means that all of this probably took place a week ago. Around the same time the Brotherhood attacked.” she said nervously. “And judging by how they left this...It was probably a trap.”

Frost shivered slightly. “We have to warn the others.”

“Agreed.” she said as she got up and began to go, but both of them were suddenly knocked back by a shape that appeared from the top of the booth they were in.

A loud ticking sound could be heard and the shape dropped onto the boat deck. It was about 2 feet tall and three feet long. 6 legs, a long tail with spiked end and an unusual head. The thing clattered as it moved and Frost saw that it appeared to be made of metal The internal clockwork parts of it clattered as it moved awkwardly.

“Looks like trouble found us” mumbled Frost as he rubbed the back of his head. “What the hell is that thing?”

“It looks to be made of metal…” whispered Sierra

The machine clattered some more and tripped a bit to the side. Two of its legs looked damaged.

Frost reached around for anything he could find and grabbed a cudgel. The construct paused then hurried and swung its tail at him. He smashed at the ending with the cudgel and the pike fell off and hung limp by a few metallic wires. The thing hissed and still tried to attack. He got up and bashed it. He continued bashing at it until it stopped moving. “What the hell was that?”

“Not sure, but now we have an idea of what those guys left behind for anyone idiotic enough to stay.”

Hawke unlocked a door and opened it. It swung open with a creak. Satisfied, he walked in. The room was strangely empty, but he had a chilling feeling at the nape of his neck. He heard more and more creaks around. He walked out of the room and looked out. More doors were opening on their own.

“What the hell?” he muttered as he walked out to look for Sierra and Hero. They were nowhere to be seen. “Guys? Where the hell are you!?” he shouted softly. Just loud enough for anyone around to hear. He started getting a big agitated and nervous as he walked down the hall. He looked in each room and they were all empty. Nothing inside could have caused them to open. He heard a clattering noise and turned around.

Nothing was there except for the light on the lanterns they set up earlier. A faint tick-tock-tick-tock noise echoed from the ceiling. He shivered as he backed up, keeping an eye on the ceiling despite the poor lighting. He saw a shape skitter past. He turned around and saw a big shape and a hammering pain in his head. He lost consciousness from the blow.

The shape grabbed his body and dragged it into a room where two more were waiting.

The hunt has begun.

Author's Note

This chapter was written a bit differently from the others because I wanted to provide multiple points of view. As for the current antagonists, more will be learned about them later on in the story.

Please leave a comment as feedback to I can improve on chapter 3, and thanks you for reading :twilightsmile:

-Black_Ashes

The Clockwork Part I

Tick-
Tock.

The annoying sound buzzed through Frost’s head, though he was mostly unconscious, he could still hear that atrocious noise.

Tick-
Tock.

Gah, he just wanted to desperately throw a wrench or something heavy at the damn thing. Why wouldn’t it shut up!? He felt the ticking noise grow absurdly close. The chitter-chatter of the rotating mouth saws and little pincers and other knick-knacks pierced his ear and drew him from his temporary slumber. He groggily woke up and barely muffled a scream at the horrendous shape on him. Whatever the hell it was, it seemed to be made of metal that was intricately bent and twisted to interconnect with other parts. Small valves and tubes and other gears rotated, puffed and bubbled inside the clockwork abomination. It swerved its head at him and chittered a bit. A glowing red eye examined him. Drops of a sticky white liquid dripped from its mouth. It angled itself and spat a blob of the stuff which covered his mouth and obscured the bottom of his sight. It crawled off of from and jumped upward. He suspected they were hanging upside down...But where?

Around the same time that Frost awoke, so did Sierra. She handled the situation a bit better, by keeping her eyes nearly closed and her mouth hanging open uncomfortably, but her deception proved fruitful as the clockwork beasties pass over and around her. They seemed to be slightly intelligent somehow, a theory that was confirmed as she saw some of them probe her friends. They poked in every nook and cranny and even took clipping of mane hair or feathers from their wings. It was quite unsettling. She moved a bit forward so she could sway and hopefully see more of the creatures. She ignored the spider-like construct that spat the web on Frost’s face. She examined the ones close to her. They seemed to be arachnid-like in appearance. Some resembled scorpions while others were more spider-like. The smallest ones, she noted, were barely a foot high and seemed to operate solely on clockwork machinery. The medium sized ones, about 3 feet tall, were more complex as they had gears in their torsos that helped them moved and tubes throughout their bodies that pumped in some kind of liquid she supposed. Perhaps oil? The large ones were bigger than a pony, about 4 ½ feet tall. They had a spider torso that was run by gears, cogs, and small machines that let loose puffs of steam sometimes and their upper torso was straightened up and seemed to be formed of a body case run by some complex machinery. They had long hands made of gold with long sharp appendages at the end. Some had scissors and some had axes. She shuddered as she saw some blood stains on one of the weapons. It was disturbing to think of who had been the victim to the deadly guillotine. She turned her head a bit to look at the others. Hawke, Frost, Glade and Scorch were in the same room as her...But where were the others, she wondered. She shook her head and tried to remember what happened earlier. She last recalled Frost bashing in one of these clockwork creatures. They went off to search for the others. One by one, their group started to get picked off. It was turning into a nightmare. They went into some chamber and…

“The leader…” she muttered as the memory slowly flowed back to her. Below the ship there was a chamber with a massive clockwork monster with a huge eye in its back. They tried to escape from it, but they got captured and tied up by the little ones. She recalled the massive construct seemingly assembling the little ones out of parts it scavenged. As to where it found so many parts, it was tough to say. One of the scorpion constructs paused chattered a bit. It turned to her. She shut her eyes tight and hoped it didn’t notice her. Unfortunately, she wasn’t that lucky…

Several Hours Earlier

Frost repeatedly smashed the construct corpse over and over. He did not like getting spooked, snuck up on, or getting hit.

“I think it’s dead.” mumbled Sierra. She wasn’t entirely sure if these machine thingies could be dead or killed, but since it wasn’t moving and the noise was silenced, she assumed it was dead so to speak. It had been barely a minute after they got attacked following their investigation of the stranded ship. At first, everything seemed fine, but then they found unusually cleaned skeletons and a weird ticking noise above them. Shortly afterwards they were attacked. Frost bravely fended off the thing and commenced beating it to pieces. It took a while for him to be finished.

“You done yet?” she drawled. He grunted and smashed the corpse once more before tossing aside the ruined cudgel. “Yeah, keep your bow one, I’m finished.” he retorted. He kicked the scraps one last time and walked away. “So, what’s the plan, blue?” he questioned.

“First off, don’t call me blue. Second off, we have to get the others and get away from here. I don’t think we’re the only ones who got attacked.” she warned.

Frost grunted and sifted through some parts. He paused as a cold feeling went through him. He raised his hoof and looked at it. Blood covered it, the crimson shimmering under the early moon. “What in the name of Tartarus…?” he hoarsely whispered.

Sierra didn’t hear him as she looked around the area. The ship was hauntingly silent. Something was obviously off and she didn’t like that. She didn’t hear Scorch’s rowdy voice or his loud hooftsteps. She couldn’t hear Hawke’s quips and Southern drawl. Neither did she hear Glade’s infectious cheerfulness or Hero’s solemn, stoic, grim and all-in-all dark demeanor. Damn that colt is cute she thought, but quickly dashed the idea before it got stuck in her head and she started doing stupid stuff.

Frost wandered back, looking a tad bit shook up from a suspicious he desperately hoped wasn’t true. Sierra gave him a curious look, but decided not to prod. Frost was a tinkerer, a surgeon, and a bit of a mad scientist. If anything was enough to spook him, she REALLY didn’t want to know what it was then. “Are you okay?” she asked him.

Frost shrugged her question off. “Of course I am!” he snapped. ‘Now let’s get moving.” He trotted off with a determined look. He was hellbent on learning what it is he found and how it was connected to the skeletons he and Sierra found. His deepest fear was that somehow the machines were collecting ponies and using them as parts for the machines, but he highly doubted it. Possibly out of fear or out of sorrow that ponies would be subjected to such atrocities. He shivered, not only from the thought, but from the chilly winds. The ocean wasn’t exactly the warmest place in the universe at dusk. “Hmm...Dusk...That certainly rolls off the tongue nicely.” he mused. It would be a fun name to share with that nameless colt who practically saved their flanks again and again.

Sierra rolled her eyes as Frost descended into one of his deep thought comas. She set out on her own. It would take him a while to realize the world around him...Or until he got attacked. She hoped it would be the former. They already had enough trouble in the past hour. She followed some small scratches in the ship. It would be pretty hard to claw the petrified wood, but something did nonetheless. Or, it could have before the ship became petrified. Either way.

She listened closely for any unusual sounds. None occurred yet, but she still had her suspicions she was being watched. It was difficult to ward off feelings such as that. She followed the tracks to the front of the ship. She could just barely make out the lines of a square-shaped floorboard that could be opened. Possibly leading to some secret place or a stash or something! She tried prying it open, but it wouldn’t budge. She’d need something like a crowbar or a paddle. She looked around for any tools she could use. Nothing was around except pieces of wood. Possibly from hoes or shovels. “Why did they take the metal parts?” she wondered as she grabbed a few and began using them to pry open the little door. It refused to budge and she grew slightly annoyed. She angrily tried a few more times until the plank was flipped out violently, smacking her hard in the face as it shot back. She groaned and held her broken nose. That would sting like a hydra…

She shook her head, causing small droplets of blood to fly and splatter across the floorboards, and she went and peeking into the dark opened. She reached around inside and pulled out a lantern. She checked it. It was one of those with the little rocks that lit up when exposed to magic. She tapped magically-infused flintstone against it causing the rock to flitter and light up. She put it back into the lantern and shut the little door. She slowly peeked inside the little room and dropped to the floor. More skeletons were here. She yelped a bit from the crunching noise they made as she stepped on them. She examined them. Like the skeletons from earlier, these were picked clean as well. She carefully stepped over them and made her way to the doorway. She opened it and it creaked from age. She peeked in and had to suppress a very loud gasp or a cry of horror.

Hanging from the ceilings were dozens of cocoons. Some had living ponies, trapped in hibernation with eyes, skin or flesh missing from their faces while some others were stripped down to the bone. More of the little constructs ran about, carrying metal parts or flesh pieces. The machines all Ticked simultaneously and Tocked equally. The hollow noise rang out through the galley in a haunting way. It did not help to abide the ominous atmosphere. Sierra realized that a single mistake would alert them to her presence and possibly lead to the loss of her life. Or worse. she thought as she stared at the cocoons, her stomach doing backflips. She was ready to lose her lunch if not for the gripping fear. She took a deep breath and readied herself to act if she was discovered. She hid behind a crate on a stairwell near the door. She sucked in her breath to slow down her heartbeat and she peeked out. The machines were hard at work gathering “parts” for whatever purpose. They seemed to go down chutes on the far left side of the room. She analyzed the distance and the crates near it. Assuming the ones on the cocoons didn’t find her, she would be fine. Though with luck like hers…

She slipped down the staircase as stealthily as possible though she looked more like a very lanky cat as she flowed down the steps. She gagged slightly at the sight of a tiny clockwork spider that was using its front blades to carve out a ponies eyes until they slipped out with a *shlick*. Both blood and some eye fluid dripped near her. She sucked in her breath and walked over it to the next crate. Her rear left hoof unfortunately stepped in the good and she gagged again. For once, she was slightly happy her nose was broken as she could barely smell the horrid stench of rot and other bodily fluids that permeated through the air. She hurried over to the last crate and stared down the chute. She didn’t see any constructs make their way out yet so for all she knew they gathered down there en masse. “Well, Allons-y I suppose” she muttered as she recalled a phrase than an unusual stallion used in her old home town. She leapt down the chute. It was cold and dark and with more than several painful bumps that sent her upward into the ceiling with a painful bump. She continued tumbling down the dark claustrophobic chute for a while until she was spat out onto a wall which she was painfully sprawled out on before she fell into a big pile of metal. “OUCH!” she yelped. More than several of the metal pieces were either oddly shaped or sharp. Needless to say, it hurt. A lot, but at the moment, that was the least of her problems.

When Sierra opened her eyes, she saw a gargantuan metal tarantula on the ceiling. A huge orange eye glared at her from the middle of the construct. It dropped down and landed on its legs with a mighty crash. She hastily back up against a wall, shuddering in fear of what it would do to her. The arachnid picked up several pieces of metal and held them up. The eye shot an orange beam that began fusing the parts together. Very small and slim arms came from the legs and formed the more delicate parts on the miniature construct. The arachnid tossed the ball into the air and it erupted into 5 tiny clockwork spiders that charged Sierra. She ran off in fear. The little machines chased her eagerly. She finally let loose a scream as larger machines followed her. She saw more...Organic parts inside it. Blood was poured into a wheel in one of the constructs as it very slowly followed her. It had a rail-gun-thingy on an arm which shot projectiles at her. One flew past her head and imbedded in the wall. It was a bloodied tooth. She screamed even more as she tried to find any form of exit. She desperately clawed at a wall until a net shot out and wrapped around her. She struggled as she tried to get away and the last thing she saw was a large metallic leg slamming down on her face before she blacked out.

Meanwhile, Frost decided to do some investigating of his own. He did not manage to get as deep into the hive as Sierra did, but he did find some traces of what happened to the remaining ponies. He opened up the empty book and looked at the scattered pages within. Most of them referred to something as living ponies fused with metal. They were all hunted down. One of the more crazily written notes. One of the notes had the word “THE TICKING WON’T STOP! MAKE IT STOP!” written all over. Another note described the first fifty ponies who were captured. It mentioned cocoons deep below. Parts being salvaged to form the Archmecha. Flesh being turned to metal along with bone. It was quite chilling what he read. Determined to prove it wrong, Frost wandered ‘round the ship until he found stairs that would lead him to the lower deck. “Place was probably populated by crazy cannibals who made that robot thingy.” he muttered. There was no way that flesh and bone could be made to steel. Let alone living machines making traps and harvesting ponies. It was all just phooey in his opinion. He opened a room and his jaw dropped. Inside, Scorch was wrapped up tightly by a trio of the little clockworks. They chattered loudly as they saw him. He growled and levitated a bench and bashed them off. He paused. “...Why is the place so warm suddenly.” he heard a loud whistle. He slowly turned and had a powerful bar smack his across the face, sending him flying into a wall. “Owwwww…” he groaned and tried to get up. The steam-powered clockwork construct charged him and smashed him against the wall a few more times. He moaned from the pain. He tried to get up again and was met with an axe to the side. He howled from the searing agony and collapsed yet again. Little spider clockworks moved to him and wrapped him up and took him off to a room.

The present

Sierra still had her eyes shut, praying she wouldn’t get found, but she was nonetheless picked to be next. The constructs muffled and blinded her with web and took her off. She began to sweat from nervousness. Wherever she was going, it wasn’t good. She heard her friend’s voice.

“Hey, let go! Dammit, I said let go!” yelled Hero.

She felt a slight rush of satisfaction that he was alive, but it was fleeting. She took in deep breaths through her bloodied nose, and waited for whatever to come. She was convinced her friends would save her. But judging by their current situation, she was reluctant to admit it was probably hopeless.

Aurora preserve us… she prayed. Her blood ran cold and her hopes were dashed as she was dropped on the ground. She was next. And no one was coming to save her...

Author's Note

I'll be releasing part 2 later this week.

The Clockwork Part II

You probably don't know me. Indeed, nearly no one knew my name. I just gave everyone a fake name. I don't know why I did it. I just had a need to remain unknown. Forgotten. Erased. But that's besides the point. Currently, I'm hanging from the ceiling, wrapped up in webbing. You may wonder how I ended up here. Well, it's quite a long story that can be explained quite easily. Yesterday, my fellow crew-mates and I found a ship stranded in the middle of the ocean. Just washed up on some rocks. No life, no sounds...Nothing. We decided to investigate and straight from the start something came off as suspicious. All the doors were locked, there was nothing on-board, not even tools or food, and the closest thing we found to the remaining ponies were their bones. Cleansed to the white with not a scrap of flesh nor marrow remaining. Needless to say, it was rather disturbing. As we scattered in an attempt to learn more, we were ambushed by these weird clock bugs. I put up a bit of a fight, but they didn't stop until they swarmed me and suffocated me. Then, when alas I finally awoke, I was being carried somewhere. Wrapped up tight web. Plenty of webbing around my arms and legs prevented me from breaking out. I was a prisoner and hell knows what would happen to me now.

They tossed me on to a bench and I landed with a groan. It kind of hurt. I tested the webbing. It was laid on a bit thick and strong enough to prevent me from moving, but not from rolling…

When the little buggers finally passed by, I rolled off of the bench and out the door. It was tough avoiding notice, but they seemed busy. At least for now. I saw Sierra up ahead being transported to some chutes. It deeply unsettled me for what they were actually planning to do with her, but I couldn’t lose her. No, I owed her and it would simply be a horrid mistake for me to just let her die like this or whatever is going to happen. My eyes rapidly scoped the area for anything that could be used. Unfortunately, this place had all the weapons and equipment salvaged.

I sweared under my breath. Time was running out. I felt a rush of steam hit the back of my mane. “...Crap.” I said simply.

A large axe came down on me as I rolled to the side. it cleaved my side, but cut open the web. I struggled slightly and ripped it open; just in time to dodge another attack. I leapt on the arm and hung on as it lifted me along with its weapon and tried to shake me off. I focused on the bolts and parts in the arm and unattached it. I picked up the axe and drove it into the head of the clockwork machine, the blade of the weapon jammed up its gears and cut some tubes causing it to violently twitch before exploding in the center. I caught a glimpse of a semi-beating heart as I was sent inelegantly flying through the air. I managed to keep my grip on the axe as I barely hurled it. It sailed through the air and slammed into one of the constructs carrying Sierra with great force causing the stupid thing to split in half, cogs and bolts flying all around it.Sierra was dropped thankfully and rolled off slightly to the back of the deck. I landed on the second construct back first and crushed it against the floor.It squirmed underneath me so I rolled to the side and smacked it with the axe I grabbed. “Damn that thing is heavy” I groaned.

Sierra squirmed next to me. her eyes were blindfolded and she was almost entirely wrapped in that webbing, silk, string stuff. I gently led the axe across the cocoon on her body, its sharp edge slicing it open. I then ripped off the webbing on her mouth. She spat and gagged some of the non-dried up silk. It was all wet and gooey. “Eww…” I said as I wiped it off. She slightly glared at me.

“Took you long enough” she scowled. I rolled my eyes. She was sometimes like this when ponies helped her out.

“You’re welcome blue. But I had to get untied, kill two clocks, and get my side cut off...Oh yeah…” I said in minor worry. I glanced at my side. It was skinned and bleeding. The exposed flesh glistened crimson from the bloody mess that had coated it. I chewed my cheek a bit. “...Oh dear.”. Sierra stared at it for a bit.

“We have GOT to get you patched up!” she said nervously.

For the first time since we ended up in this exact position, we recalled our friends were still in danger and that we were, currently, surrounded by clockwork constructs bent on either killing us or sacrificing us to their weird boss. “Crap” we said at the same time.

I looked around. They were slowly converging in on us. There probably wasn’t a way to escape these monstrosities, but I had to figure out a way with the most dangerous and unreliable solution in the known universe: I had to use my BRAIN to THINK.

“Alright, one heavy axe, 14 constructs, 6 small, 4 medium, and 4 large…” My eyes slowly turned to the side of the ship which was possibly still submerged underwater. That could come in handy later. I picked up the axe and tied a rope to it which was connected to some sort of reel. I hurled the axe which impacted itself into a small construct. I smacked the reel and it dragged the axe back, along with two small constructs. The others slowly closed in on us. “Not fast enough…” I scowled. They were getting in slow…

“Hey ___? Do you have any good ideas yet?” she snarked.

“Yeah. Two.” I said as I grabbed the axe and ran around the constructs. I slashed and blocked whenever I could as I wrapped the rope around them. Once it was sufficiently wrapped around enough, I hurled the axe at a big one. The axe got stuck. I signaled at Sierra to smack the reel. She did and the reel was tightened and continued tightening. The axe was let loose and it slashed and hacked up most of the constructs as it was pulled around. I grabbed a wooden pole and smashed the remaining constructs with it until they were all scrap and corpse metal.

“There we go you fat sack of freaks!” I yelled at the chunks. I was still angry after what they did to my friends...Speaking of which. I waved for Sierra to follow and I ran to my room with the cocoons. I grabbed a small sharp shard of metal and hastily cut open the cocoons. Most of my friends and crewmates survived...Most. A few I didn’t get to know and a few from the Ghost Ship were already harvested for parts regrettably. It made me nauseous enough to vomit on a bench as I saw a pony with her gut sliced open and her organs, what remained of the them, spilling out.

Skye slowly got up on her feet. They were still wobbly. She looked ready to pass out, but thankfully didn’t. I walked over to her and stood by her side so she had someone to lean on to prevent herself from falling over. She shuddered a bit against me.

“Oh Goddess, the things they did…” she said in horror. “Those...Things...Crawling all over them. Nitpicking at their skin, slicing it open, harvesting the insides…” she wretched a few times, but merely succeeded in gagging a lot. She looked as if she was going to keel over and curl up in a ball. I held her close.

“Alright, Skye, calm down. It’s going to get better. I promise you. Sierra and I took care of most of the constructs. It’s safe out there. Okay?” I told her softly.

She weakly nodded with tears in her eyes. “Okay…” she whispered. She buried her face in my mane as she sobbed softly. She was probably one of the unlucky ones who was awake to witness the entire ordeal. Despite what I personally thought, I couldn’t help, but feel a twinge of compassion and sorrow for her. No one should have to watch all of that. No one.

Frost and Grey weakly stumbled over to me. They were both fairly battered. Bleeding as well. “___, you alright?” asked Grey.

I nodded. “Yeah. How about you guys?” I asked.

“I feel like battered pigeons and I have a concussion” spat Frost. Literally. He apparently had a dislodged tooth. It rolled around on the deck.

“Pretty bruised up, but I’ll live. I think they jacked my kidney while I was on ice…” said Grey as he checked his side. He indeed was missing one, but was sloppily stitched up. “Damn northerners…”

I chuckled lightly at his statement, but Sierra pulled me off to the side. She looked very worried. “___, look...They weren’t making more constructs. Something else was. A huge a arachnid-construct-clockwork thingy. It’s underneath us in a big chamber and making more of these things as we speak. We have to get rid of it. Now. Before it escapes and causes more trouble.” she said urgently. I nodded. PLAN C would work perfectly for that, but we needed at least 20 minutes to prepare as well as a martyr to go down there…

“Alright guys, I have a plan, but I’ll need a bit of time to set it up. Apparently, there is a motherbucking big construct right beneath our hooves. It’s why this ship hasn’t sunk or floated off yet. We’re going to have to take care of her. One way, or another. Now, this part of the ship is submerged so if we shatter the walls it will flood in the tunnels, rooms, and the deck. Unfortunately, whoever is left behind is probably done for so...I’m going to be doing it. I was the one who got curious about this ship and wasn’t careful enough so I got some of us killed. I’m staying behind. I owe you all that much.” I said somberly while trying to hide the emotion in my voice. I honestly didn’t want to die, but...I had to. To save everyone and whoever follows in our trails.

Rose, Grey, Skye, Sierra, Glade, Hawke, Frost, and some skinny mare all stared at me in shock. They didn’t expect me to say that. Not at all they did.

Rose gave me a curious glance. “Why? Why would you do that for us? To you, we’re practically strangers or obscure friends at most. You saved us more than once and risked your life plenty of times. “ she said in a dubious tone.

Skye bit her lip. She looked like she desperately wanted to tell me something, but didn’t have the strength to.

One of the newer ponies I haven’t talked to before spoke up. “Maybe he should go. After all, he volunteered. Why should we give our lives in vain in exchange for someone who seems so hellbent on dying for us.” she said. Rose gave her a nasty glare. “Shut up Dawn” she hissed

I raised an eyebrow at Dawn. Granted she was a very beautiful mare, but I didn’t like her too much. “Okay, get ready guys. I’ll also need some of that phos stuff that you have Frost.”

Frost nodded somberly. “Alright...And ___? Thank you. For everything.” he said quietly. I nodded back. “You too Frosty”.

A while passed as I set up for the big game, my plan slowly setting into motion. Frost and I had mixed together some of that phos-phor-us stuff on the walls before also lacing it with fire-reactive explosives he concocted using ingredients from the clockwork bodies and stuff from back in his lab. I was quite surprised to learn he was actually allowed to have a variety of dangerous chemicals and stuff when he imprisoned on the ship, but he apparently had some sort of family treaty that enabled him to, no matter what. Once that was done, we connected some oil soaked ropes to the walls and held in place with putty and I got ready. Before I set out, I had the delight of meeting a few extra ponies who were on my side. Brick Break, Cloud Chaser, and a cute mare named Raven. She was the oldest in our group, but I liked her for some reason. She was cool.

I set up and put my gear on. It mostly consisted of plate armor, a knife, and a long, lanky pole. That didn’t exactly help boost my confidence. I went to the chutes and watched my friends set off. The clock was ticking. I had to hold off that huge clockwork monster for at least 3 minutes before the explosives went off and sunk the ship...My odds weren’t that great and this is hoping that the phos-stuff will ignite. I jumped down the chutes.

A while passed until I realized that I stopped moving for a bit. I pushed myself down and finally got moving, but I lost my pole which got jammed in the chute. “Sonofa-” I groaned before I shot out into a wall face-first. “....I hate this day” I groaned as I slid down to the cold metallic floor. Around 20 incomplete clockwork constructs were wandering around. They were missing arms, legs, eyes, weapons, and some were just torsos with paddles for arms! I paused. “Wait...If these are just the new ones, then who’s making them?” I wondered. I looked up at the ceiling and saw a dark shape spanning around a ⅙ of the ceiling. “...Whoa.” I barely managed to utter. The room was rather huge, but barren. It appeared to be made of bronze or something. The massive construct-tarantula dropped down and fired a beam at me from one of its thingies on its shoulder. I rolled to the side and avoided the scorching orange beam and ran off. Being chased by a huge metal spider with lasers is very good for motivation I noticed. I ran behind a pile of junk and hid. The spider construct walked around slowly, watching for any signs of pony movements. I crawled on the pile very slowly and ducked into it when the Construct turned to look. It prepared to walk off so I got to the top more quickly and jumped on its back. “SURPRISE MOTHERBUCKER!” I yelled and stabbed the huge eyeball repeatedly. Orange blood gushed as the construct screeched in fury.I repeatedly carved the eyeball as the construct tried to shake me off by climbing the wall. I barely managed to hold on as I smashed my hoof into the open wound. “DIE, DIE, DIE!” I shouted at the nauseating crippled eyeball. The construct lost its grip on the ceiling and fell with me along with it. As if on cue, around the same time the phosphorus ignited and caused the explosives to detonate. The walls on the upper deck shattered in an orgy of splinter, wood, and water. All of it came rushing down in a fury as it smashed into the bronze walls and slowly began breaking them. I was only a few feet away from the water’s surface with the construct above me. I closed my eyes and hit the water in a mighty splash, the construct in tow. Then, a bright flare of agony all over and everything faded to black.

Frost watched the ship sink in the distance. He had to stifle a single tear from falling. There, because of ___’s bravery, they all managed to survive. The idiot took a step further and decided to take the whole place down with him simply to stop the Construct Queen and prevent this from ever happening again. It made Frost wonder, what kind of a pony would you have to be so that you would be willing to sacrifice everything to save everyone? He didn’t have an answer for it. Not yet.

“Rest in peace. We won’t forget you.” he said somberly as he trotted to the helm of the ship. The captain was gone. Dead. But their destination remained the same. The only difference was, it would be a much more lonely journey now. The looming horizon crackled in the distance with the coming signs of a storm. It was obvious that soon the ride would get rough, but they would brave it. Just as they braved everything before.

Adrift and Stranded

The ocean currents are battering me. It hurts. My lungs are burning up. I can’t breathe. I’m slowly falling unconscious. I can barely see. I barely manage to swim to the surface and take a deep breath before I’m submerged again. I probably have another half minute before I have to avoid the wreckage and take a breath again, but in the meantime, I might as well think on how I ended up here.

A few minutes back, I was on the ship. Fighting for my life and the lives of others, taking down a massive construct made of gears, flesh, and machine. The bombs went off as I was on it. We both fell into the water. I was crushed, but alive as we sunk. The agonizing pain echoed through my body, but I struggled against the powerful currents to take some air in from the surface. I barely had enough time before I was dragged down by the ruined construct. I kicked and fought back, but it was was useless as the machine overpowered me. Dragging me down across the ocean floor. The icy water nipped at my exposed and torn flesh and I barely stopped myself from screaming. The two of us crashed against a ridge and the machine finally fell. I bashed the bastard over and over until the eye burst in a pop of blood and fluids. Both of them flowed around me and were matted into my mane. I was more than slightly grossed out, but the heavy body of the construct forced a piece of the ridge to break off, causing me to fly off again into the ocean. The ocean was disturbingly violent today as I was tossed and thrashed and hurled every which way. My poor battered body was barely standing up against the onslaught. I felt like I was going to pass out soon and that’s where I am now.

Time passed. Somehow, I managed to stay alive. I reached out and barely caught a hold of a rock and hauled myself on to the shore. I hobbled over to a large rock and leaned on it. Happy to finally be able to catch my breath and rest. I was horribly injured and lucky to be alive as I checked my body. Excluding the nausea, bruises, cuts, skinned flesh, gouges, lacerations, and broken or shattered bones, I was fine. Actually, let me rephrase that. I was ALIVE. That was better than the alternatives though not as good as it could be. I held my bleeding leg. It was difficult to say in which direction I had been blown off in though judging by the midnight stars, I went South. Far, far south. As if to make matters worse, the weather was turning for the worse. So to speak, the shit was really going to hit the fans soon and I was right at the center of it. I scowled. I would have to find cover soon. I turned to the left and began crawling, using my right foreleg to help. It was a bit tough considering the rocky terrain, but I managed to get along. I groaned in severe pain as gravel, dirt and some thorns got in my wounds. I’d have to nitpick all of it out later. I got to the cave and settled into a small rocky little hole. It would be a chilly night when the storm came. And I still didn’t know if there were any ponies or wild animals around here. For all I knew, I could just be a sitting lunch out here. I picked off a small berry branch from my side. I sniffed the berries and took a bite. It wasn’t much, but would suffice for not eating for two days. I rested and took big, careful breaths. It was going to a be a long night.

A few hours have passed since I awoke. I used the time to patch up my wounds using wet leaves and grass. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, but I had to live with it. As long as it helped me, I would be fine. I took out a leaf and lathered it in some plant juice from another leaf. The juice hurt really bad when pressed on my wounds, but it helped me enough to prevent the wound from developing those yellow gross sores. I relaxed and drank some water from my my leaf. I relaxed and took a breath to see how cold it was outside. I could see my breath so it was probably fairly cold this morning. I was too sore to felt it fortunately. I tightened all my makeshift bandages and left the cove. I stumbled across the sand as I walked. I imagine I looked horrendous. Torn up, mangled body. Red, bloodshot eyes. Patches of my mane and hair and tail missing. I was probably zombeish. I turned my head and spat out a globule of blood. “Gross.” I muttered. I hated the taste despite getting nearly used to it. I stumbled across the rocky beach. The tide was going up quite high. It was bashing against my hooves. It was almost peaceful if it still wasn’t for the light rainfall which kept battering into my ears. I twitched my ears again. I walked further on to the land. The ground had some plants and grass. A bit...Lively. I smiled faintly at that. It was a good sign. I continued on my journey, passed through some old arches, and walked over the ruins of ancient buildings. This place was possibly populated at some point. I wandered up a hill and crouched at the top of it as I slinked forward and watched out. To my astonishment and surprise, I saw ponies down there. Working, living, adventuring in their little town...It reminded me of home. I considered going down there, but was hesitant. Who knows how they could react to me. A stranger. But, then again, risks were to be taken. I went on down.

Much to my surprise, they didn’t seem surprised by me. Rather, they accepted me. I asked around a bit and steadily learned more about them. Everyone here was at some point Exiled. The oldest had been here for 8 years, two of them out of the original 18, and the youngest had been here for 2 months only. They were the same people from the construct boat. They were the lucky few who had escaped. I asked them what happened and they told me. The trip was supposedly peaceful at first, but then they hit a reef. Got stranded there for two days. On the night of the second day, one of them was outside taking in some fresh air when she saw a small boat dock next to theirs. She saw three armored ponies go underwater and do something there. They resurfaced an hour later. She didn’t tell anyone this. Over the next three days, ponies began disappearing one by one. At first it was seemingly random, but as it continued they began growing suspicions that something was picking them off. On the 6th day, the Constructs attacked. They were primitive and weak back then, but their numbers were big enough to take down most of the ponies on the ship. The remaining 20 that survived the initial attack had a choice. Run or stay and fight. At first, several made the choice to stay. One of the ponies was a former blacksmith and he made a weapon from the clockwork parts. It was a bit like a crossbow, but it shot round metal balls at high speeds. At first the weapons were useful, but then the bigger constructs came. They were too tough and strong enough now to resist the weapons. The remaining 14 decided to run with the limited weapons that they managed to salvage. The mare who told me the story handed me a clockwork weapon. The ponies called it a “revolver” because the revolving cylinder mechanism. 3 iron balls, high recoil, good power. Very useful for hunting, but they had to conserve them as the weapons wore out with time or they ran out of ammo. I chat with her a bit afterwards. Her name was Starlight. Quite the bright pony and very cute in my opinion. She gladly lent me a journal so I could write down what has been happening so far though the ink was a bit hard to get as the squid was very stubborn. I’m currently writing with a quill, it is a bit difficult to handle, but I can do it. I look at the sundial. It’s getting closer to the 3/4th mark. I realize it must have been very early when I went to this settlement. So, I decided to put down my journal and go exploring.

After a bit of persuading, the leader sent me to the forest with Starlight and a stallion named Colt, the blacksmith. Cold gave the two of us a gun. I got a single shot revolver, Starlight got the double-barrel, and Colt got a 6-cylinder revolver. I stared at his revolver for a bit. He noticed my look and chuckled lightly. “I call it the Colt .44, a very powerful gun and probably the best one I ever made.” he said with a smile. He took out a bullet and showed it to me. It was made of a shinier metal and more cone shaped than spherical like most of the bullets. “I based it on a steam gun that one of the early constructs had.”

I nodded in surprise. I didn’t know that the constructs even had these kind of weapons. The closest thing I saw to a ranged weapon was a crossbow. I turned toward the forest and walked on. The island was slowly warming up with the faint sun. It was more pleasant than harsh rain and cold from the cloud cover as I was accustomed to on the boat. I craned my head up to the sky. “Sun’s coming up. Gettin’ warmer.” I noted.

Colt nodded. “Yep. Judging by that tone, I bet you haven’t seen the sun in a while kiddo.”

I shook my head. “Not that often. There was usually a storm or just a very cold sun. It wasn’t great.” I said. I suddenly realized that in a few days, it would be precisely 1 months since I left Equestria. I was saddened by that fact. It was kind of tough knowing that I left everyone behind.

Starshine noticed my sad look and gently put a hoof around my shoulder. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. Everything will be just fine.” she said reassuringly. It helped me a bit.

Colt looked out to the shore and gave a low whistle. “Holy Tartarus…” he muttered as he motioned for us to follow and we went to the right. I felt my blood run cold as I saw the remains of the Clockwork Queen. Colt examined the wreck. “It’d dead…” he murmured. He checked the metal. “Interesting. It looks like bronze, but it’s stronger. Magically enchanted.” he said in a low tone. “If I could convert this to a gun or ammo….” his face deadpanned. “Those plans could work…” he said. “Alright, you two go hunting. I’ll stay here and salvage this armor. Starlight nodded and set out towards the woods. I followed here after a moment of hesitation. We soon reached the woods and kept moving. Starlight grabbed some berries and grass. “It gets hard to survive on this stuff sometimes so we have to eat meat.” she said. “You fine with that?” she asked.

I gulped and nodded. “What kind of meat?” I asked weakly.

“Deer, fish, bird, even rats when stuff gets rough.” she replied. “Though it usually only comes to that during the harsh winters.” she said. “We expect for that to happen this year in a few weeks.”

I nodded. I wasn’t looking forward to that, but if we had to…

She salvaged some more plants and berries and we head home. It was seemingly going to be a nice day.

“So, I don’t think you told me your name” she said carefully.

I shrugged. My name didn’t matter anymore as I learned with time. My name was just a part of my old identity. A young colt from the slums who loved reading. But things changed. I became different. I killed to survive, I was near death more than a few times, and I was no longer afraid. Once again, I decided to lie. To make a new name for myself. “Dusk.” I said quietly. Just like the time of the day when i was born, and the time when I always was able to seemingly take charge.

She nodded. “It seems fitting for you.” she said. “Dusk and Starlight...We sure as hell make a good team” she joked.

I laughed. It did seem like a coincidence, but a fun one. “Agreed. So, I’m curious. Do you see any Clockworks around here judging by the guns you made?”

She nodded grimly. “Yeah, one or two ragged ones come by every month. We usually manage to take them out, but sometimes they take down a guard or a villager.” I shuddered at that. It was creepy to think they still survived out there. Maybe this Queen wasn’t the only one…

Starlight led us back to the village. I was a bit weak from hunger. I hadn’t eaten very well in two days. Starlight noticed this and gave me some wheat we harvested. I ate it ravenously. “Oh Aurora, that is tasty!” I exclaimed.

She chuckled at that. “Alright, let’s get back and put this in storage. We’ll need every little bit before the crops are ready to be harvested.”

I nodded and looked out to the west side of the village. I saw several small gardens growing with a variety of fruit and food. It looked very tasty. Mouth-watering tasty.

We soon reached the village. Colt was at work with his new armor while attempting to break it down so he could smelt it. Shinedown, the eldest, was writing in a book. Most of the foals were around playing. I smiled faintly at the sight. It was quite nice. “Hey Starlight? I think I’m going to go to my hut to rest.”

She nodded. “Alright, I’ll see when you wake up.”

I wearily trotted, and half stumbled, my way to the hut and collapsed on my hay bed. It was only 10/12 full on the sundial in the morning, but I was very tired. I yawned and went to sleep.

When I finally awoke, it was dark outside. I walked outside slowly and sat by the small ridge by the end of the beach. A mare known as Minty Fresh was there. She watched out toward the ocean. “Pretty view huh?”

I looked out there. It was stormy, the ocean was rumbly, and I saw a huge fish eat a bigger one. “...Ummm...Yeeeaaahhhhh...Suuuureee…” I said slowly. Starlight joined us and sat by my right side.

She giggled lightly. “Yeah, Minty can be a bit odd, but she’s very nice.” she whispered. I smiled faintly and nodded.

“So I’ve got a question, how far away are we from the crashed ship?” I asked

She thought for a bit. “Quite a bit. The rapids on the other side of the ship are wicked. We’re about 3 days away”

My eyes popped out in surprise. “Say whaaaaaa-!? But...But...How!? I barely floated away!” I said in an incredulous tone.

She shrugged. “I wouldn’t ask. These oceans are mysterious and lots of weird things occur. It all depends on what route you take. But don’t fret, your friends will eventually get here” she said reassuringly in a kind tone.

I nodded with a smile. “Thanks Starlight. I guess I might as well enjoy myself huh?”

She looked out and started a song. Minty Fresh joined in and so did I.

Author's Note

The last chapter for this year apart from the special I will be publishing on the 18th. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it.

Notes: This chapter further progresses how far behind Equestria is in terms of industrial advancement and how the civilizations of the far South have already created partially-sentient Clockwork machines and have managed to even create primitive clockwork guns! These details will play a larger part much later on. For clarification, Aurora is the name of Celestia and Luna's mother and despite her madness, is still revered as a Goddess and Queen.

1 Year Anniversary

“Well, it’s been one month since we set sail” said Frost happily, though a bit drunkenly. To their great fortune, they stumbled upon a alcohol cache on a deserted island while searching for their lost comrade. Granted, only a day passed before they all decided to take a break and party a bit. Brick Break, a pony they saved, moved out all the kegs and laid them in the middle and on the sides of the boat. Everyone had a fun time. Frost chuckled as he watched one of the more fun ponies on the ship start dancing. She sure had the talent for it. “Woo! Go shake it Crimson!” he yelled with a laugh as he slipped off the ridge and fell to his side on the deck. He laughed even more. and rolled into Sierra

Sierra smiled at Frost. It was rare to see him enjoy himself. Then again, it was rare to see anyone having fun on this ship. Especially since their friend left. Though she wouldn’t admit it out loud, she actually missed Dusk. At times it was a little depressing watching his conversion from a young colt afraid of dying or something happening to the people around him to a brave colt willing to sacrifice his life to save others. She took a sip of her watered down whiskey. It was a bit strong for her tastes, but enjoyed it at times. She tossed the bottle away and it bounced off the deck and boinged into Skyfall’s nose.

Skye giggled madly as she watched her friends make fools of themselves. It was nice to let go. She hadn’t had a moment to relax since last week. She stretched her wings and tried to float up a bit. She didn’t have that much success as she flew down in a spiral way that would be repeated by two pegasi in the distant future. She accidentally talked Hawke who happily caught his buddy.

“Whoo! Hang on there Blu-Wing!” he laughed as he rolled over and over until he flew off of the deck. He barely hung on to her as he flew back to the ship and dropped her off. He fluttered for a few more seconds before he landed and rolled forward. “Like a badass.” he said in a cool way. No one noticed him. “...You guys suck.” he complained. He turned to look at his sister.

Glade yawned sleepily. She had two whole bottles of wine and was ready to go take a lengthy nap. She smacked her lips a few times and relaxed. She saw a pair of Pegasi kick a ball at each other while flying. It was a pretty cool sight.

The rest of the ship was engaged in all sorts of fun and debauchery. Sports, drinking, a few going at it even was happening all over. It was a time for celebration and a time to be happy that they were alive. The journey was long, troublesome, and harrowing, but many were simply happy they were still here. Just ahead from now, they had a long journey ahead of them, but for now, they could simply enjoy themselves.

And around this time, Dusk was on Plastic Beach singing Plastic Beach. When he wondered why it was called that, it was because the whole beach had everything wash up on it...Especially a barrage of bottles from a certain ship~

Author's Note

A short little fun chapter I did for the 1 Year Anniversary of the Exile Trilogy. I might add a part two to this chapter later this week as a review of the events up to this point.

A Leader Rises

It's been nearly two months since I arrived on the island. My friends are nowhere to be seen.But alas, progress on this island has been kind to us. What once stood as a small village was now practically a town. We had explored far and about. Strange pictures on the walls, designs, and damaged clockworks were everywhere. We had become so much more than we had been before. But unfortunately, our happiness was not to last. The Brotherhood besieged us from time to time. We were ready though and dozens of them were ridden with holes and shrapnel, forming piles high of bloodless corpses. We were not without casualties sadly enough. Several of the women or the young foals were killed. Those who had been washed up on the beach shore fared no better as they were ruthlessly gunned down or cut open by those disgusting soldiers of the Brotherhood. As we learned from the enemies’ bodies...Armor to be more accurate, they were not even close to ponies anymore. Just withered ancient flesh and bones. Only alive from the wretched cursed energy flowing through their armor.

I shivered as I recalled the disturbing revelation as we had worked on the enemy armor. The metal was surprisingly strong and required large caliber bullets to pierce it or at least magically enhanced rounds. We were lucky that they attack in force. Yet. I didn’t fool myself with thinking we were safe. The enemy was too persistent. Too...Strong. Who knew how many of them existed out there. Or where they came from. I looked back. These people were my responsibility now. I have led the enemy to their doorstep and no manner of work could heal the wounds that will be inflicted. But I shall try my best and defend them. That I promise.

“Dusk...Are you okay?” asked a soft voice from the stairway beside me. I smiled at that voice and turned to look at Starlight. She was a close friend of mine; though I had my suspicions that she was interested in me in ways other than simply friendship.

“Yes. I’m just...Considering the circumstances and what we shall do.” I lied. I was reluctant to admit that I was afraid of what would happen. I wasn’t ready for what might happen. I was no leader. More of a follower really, but I made up for it with a lot of hope and perseverance.

“So you say.” she said carefully. I could feel her piercing dark blue eyes affixed to the side of my face. I shifted nervously. It made me uncomfortable when ponies watched me. I was more of a loner. I enjoyed staying back, hiding in the dark and surveying the world. “Dusk, you know that I can tell when you’re lying. You start to get a bit flushed and you shift.” she said with faint amusement in her voice.

“Heh, I’m that easy huh?” I said with equal amusement. “I’ve been thinking. All of these Brotherhood soldiers. They seem like scouts really. Equipped with magical lances, cannons, and weak armor. If they decide to attack in force with the big guys...We won’t last.”
Starlight paused as she considered what I had said. “You make a good point, but...I think we can make it through. After all, it was only because of your help that we survived!” she said with a smile. She was right...In a way. I had recalled the high walls around Canterlot and how the Earth Ponies were stationed on the walls near large rocks. They would kick them at any flying enemies. Though not always with great accuracy, they were lethal nonetheless. Using those ideas, I had suggested we build tall walls around the town and station large clockwork rotary guns on the corners, line around eight smaller guns alongside the edges and place rock cannons near openings at the bottom to ward off any enemies that got close. As the Brotherhood began flying in, we developed steel spikes to be shot from four steam cannons placed around the center of the town. It was startlingly effective and soon the Brotherhood was nearly completely warded off.

“Yes, I suppose I did.” said I. “But did I just make us a tougher, bigger target? Or merely prolong our suffering?”

Starlight frowned. She hated it when I doubted myself and began questioning my choices. As if to confirm my thoughts, she smacked my head. “Don’t say that. You protected us and lead us to have a life at least a little bit closer to the one we had before. You might not like it Dusk, or even want it, but you’re the closest thing we have to a leader.”

I was a bit stunned by that statement. “Leader?” I echoed. I was no leader. Ha, the mere thought made me want to laugh and to sob simultaneously. I was no more than the son of a poor family, a squatter, an exile, and a survivor. But leader? Ridiculous. The only thing that I could lead, was to lead others to ruin as Dawn had reminded me aboard the ship.

She nodded. “Yes. A leader. What else could you be?” she questioned. I faltered a bit as I turned and looked at her straightforward. I tried to speak, but no words came out, but a lonesome choke. She began to speak again, but the blaring siren rang out across the town. By the sound of it, another tidal wave was coming in. And soon.

I rushed down the flight of stairs leading up to the defense wall and rushed into a home with Starlight. We tumbled through the door and she landed upon me. Not a moment too soon, we could heard the tidal wave crash against the wall and flood over it. If not for the rugged foundations of the buildings or the armored and stabilized weapons, a lot of our products would’ve been swept away. We could hear the water flowing past the door. The room was dark and judging by her deep breathing, we were the only two in the room. I felt a flush go through my face as I realized she laying upon me. I felt the warmth coming off of her, her chest rising and falling as she breathed nervously; hoping for the water to not burst in. Her beautiful purple eyes could just barely be seen through the darkness. I slowly raised my foreleg and placed it around her backside. It was a comforting motion and she gradually grew a bit less tense. We lay there in the cold dark, close enough to be pressed up against each other as the raging waters gurgled past the door.

She looked at me and slightly nuzzled my face. “Thanks for taking care of me.”

I blushed even more and muttered incoherent words underneath my breath. I was, to be honest, quite nervous. My experience with mares was limited to my friends. And romantically? Forget it. I was horrid in such matters and the beating sound of my already bad heart only made it worse.

She smiled faintly. “Sounds like you’re quite agitated. I wonder what’s wrong?” she said as she shifted a bit and I squeaked as she accidentally pressed up against a sensitive spot. “Ooch” I squeaked yet again. She paused and her eyes slightly widened as she moved. “Oh, I’m so sorry”. We stayed like that for a bit. Her by my side and myself holding her close by for comfort; both to myself and for hers.

The door creaked open and the weary, soot-coated face of Boltok was visible. He grunted at the sight of us. “Surprising you didn’t get it on yet.” he said in his dry tone. “Come on out. The flood ended and the water drained itself into the sewers.” Starlight and I were both red of the face as I had noticed and we went out. Though reluctant I may have been, I knew that this would either place a thorn in our relationship or boost it. My feelings regarding here were….Mixed to say in the least. I felt rather hollow inside. She was lovely, yes, but I...I had neither the confidence nor the heart to proceed. I was not ready yet, and I certainly did not wish to lose my friend. Lieutenant echoed through my mind. The word was foreign to me, yet its meaning seemed personal. Like a first assistant. I shook the phrase out of my mind along with any thoughts of Starlight and I went to the town square to survey the damage. It was not too severe, but the cannons and light guns had gotten washed away or wrecked. “Troublesome.” I simply said.

Meanwhile, quite some distance away and closing in…

Frost stood on the bow of the ship and leaned forth as he looked out into ocean out in front. Its dark blue, swirling, frothing colors were far from comforting. “Hawke? How much farther?” he yelled.

The flying forest green pegasus swooped down and landed near Frost. “Not too much farther. We are getting close. I can see land some distance ahead. I estimate it’ll take most of the day to reach it assuming the wind is on our side.” he said reassuringly. “The beasts that prowl these dark waters get me nervous though. What the hell do we do if they attack?”
“We fight.” said Frost firmly. “We survived worse. A few fishies aren’t going to stop us.”

Hawke raised an eyebrow as he looked outward. “You changed, Frost. Is it because of Dusk’s sacrifice? Or some other reason?” he asked.

Frost went silent as usual. “...It was due in part to his death. He was brave. A good colt. Just...He didn’t deserve that fate. Could’ve been someone else, but he was keen on avenging us and to stand up to save us all. With him gone...Someone needed to be there for the rest. A foundation to stand upon. Someone to rely upon to make the right decisions. Also a captain cause the old one got mauled.”

Hawke shuddered as he remembered the Captain’s shrieks as he was ripped apart by the clockwork monstrosities they had encountered. “That was fucked up to the extreme. I still don’t understand how those fuckers remained. I thought they were useless without that big-ass queen?”

“No, she was merely the builder and the organizer. Without her, they were scattered.”

A scattering of a few feathers fell as Hawke darted off. Frost rolled his eyes and resumed surveying the ocean for any threats.
Around this time, Skye was in her room and going through Dusk’s journal. Tears slowly dripped from her eyes as a faint smile broke through the sadness she was exhibiting. She hugged the diary as she laid on her bed. She missed her friend. Though they had not talked much, he had become akin to an older brother to her...Despite her actually being two years older. He was so brave, never wavering in danger and always keen to protect his friends. And that strange day that she had learned that he might have been born with wings that were sawn off...She felt pity for the poor colt. To never be able to experience flight? To feel the wind rushing through your mane, the world slowing down as you soar past it...It must’ve been terrible. Though she was confused by it at first, she felt something else within her on that day. A ping of pain and longing. She had pondered over it for quite some time, but eventually grew to suspect that she had grown caring of him; no matter how foreign the concept was. In the time they lived in, each type of pony stuck to its own type. To go outside of that tradition was practically pleading to be excommunicated from society. Obviously, Equestria was quite strict in those times. But still, she wondered if it were wrong? Certainly if the Queen could be wrong in her judgement, then perhaps the traditions could be too? She had just begun finishing that thought before the ship abruptly rocked roughly and went to a halt that sent all of its occupants flying into the wall or into the ocean if it were not for the mysterious green barrier that had been erected.

Frost groaned as he held his bloody nose. He straightened and saw a squadron of Brotherhood troops flying in. “TO ARMS!” he roared and the ponies aboard the ship, what few remained in the 30s, quickly charged outside. A disturbingly large Brotherhood soldier dropped on to the ship and caused a small shock wave that knocked its occupants off of their hooves. “Stand down you insolent pups” he grunted. His voice was raspy, deep and haunting. It was understandable why he was their leader.

“What the fuck do you want.” said Frost icily as he weakly got up. The hulking leader turned to him. His red eyes glowered down on the white and pale blue pony below him. “I came to chat. But if any of your men attack, they shall be killed.” he said sharply.

Frost grudgingly nodded and the other ponies reluctantly put down weapons. The Brotherhood did so too, as an act of good faith, but it was of no doubt that they were more than troublesome even when disarmed.

“Now then, we’re searching for the pipsqueak named Dusk. The little fucker has been wrecking us and is the cause of over a hundred dead.” he growled.

Frost was startled. Dusk was still alive somehow!? He decided to play it cool. Lest he’d let any emotion seep through and endanger them all. Though he didn’t quite know who this “Dusk” was, he had his suspicions that it was his friend. “Dusk? I do not believe I am aware of such a name.” he said coolly.

The Brotherhood soldier eyed him. “He was your companion. His name only recently spread through. Last I saw him, my men were storming your ship and he had fell.”

Frost’s eyes glinted in recognition. It was indeed their old friend. But why the name Dusk? Was it his real name or just a pseudonym? “Ahh, HIM. Yes, we thought he had passed away when we were stranded aboard a derelict ship and it crumbled along with him.”

The soldier grunted. “Unfortunately, the persistent bastard survived. To make matters worse, the surviving scouts report he is someplace very vital to us. So, I shall ask you. Give him up. NOW.”

Frost shook his head slowly. “He is not among us as I have told you. We thought he was dead.”

The soldier eyed him yet again. “...Sardok? We leave. Now.” he said bluntly and the Brotherhood squadron left the ship in a hurry. Glade yelled out. “Yeah, you better run you sap-sucking pigeo-OHSHIT!” she cried out as she barely dodged a lance that hit the place where she was standing.
Grey glanced at Frost. “So the kid survived huh? Good. He couldn’t have ended up too far in the past two months. But since they met us out here, he must be close by.”

Frost nodded in agreement. “Yes, and it looks like he’s alive and well. Kickin’ flank too.”

Grey looked out toward the ocean again. “We’d best hurry. I suspect they’ll find him soon and all hell shall break loose.”

“Full speed ahead. Tell them to mobilize the ship more. Fix up any damage and quickly.” ordered Frost. Hawke, Glade and Grey nodded and went their separate ways to do so.

Glade was scrubbing the engineering gears to prevent the ship from breaking down too early. She was quite giddy that her buddy was alive and well. Judging from the reaction of her older brother’s, he was happy too. Though they had little contact with the colt that they now knew as Dusk, they had grown to appreciate his presence immensely. He was quiet and lonely most of the time, but surprisingly fun to chat with when he finally opened up. He was funny, clever, and decent at giving advice at some times. Though, as Hawke had noticed, Dusk was completely inept at talking with girls directly. Whenever Glade started chatting with Dusk, he would stutter and say “Um” and “Uh” a lot. It was one of the reasons why he had encouraged his friend to write letters which he would carry to Glade. The exchange went fairly well and given enough time, the duo had become surprisingly close. He took a wrench in his mouth and tossed it to his sister who used it to tighten a bolt.

Dawn muttered under her breath as she heard the news that the annoying little pipsqueak was alive. Though she possessed a great deal of disdain for the commoner, mostly due to her upbringing, she found that she had garnered a level of respect for him. His methods, though brutish and not thought through, were effective and rarely left too many issues afterwards. He was always thirsty for knowledge and she had sometimes noticed the signs of a strange nub on his head. “Signs of a unicorn, a pegasus, and yet he is an Earth Pony…” she mumbled. “Is he an Alicorn? Or perhaps simply a mutant.” A question that she had asked herself many times was asked yet again. Though she oft feigned interest in the young colt, she wondered how things would be if she was not so uptight and had been from the middle-class? Would they be friends? Or would they still be distant as they always were? It was a question that, though she wanted answered, would have no way to answer without him and without an attempt to get to know him. She sipped the poor quality tea that she had made from crushed leaves. She frowned a bit and added some potato sugar, a secret for the upper class who learned how to extract a small amount of natural sweetener from potatoes. She sipped her tea again and was satisfied.

Rose put on her warm coat as she left the poor makeshift shower. It was better than nothing though. She laid upon her lofty bed and read her book. Though she had told no one, she was secretly into writing fiction. This had just been the first of her many novels. Many, might have been a weak word as she had in reality written close to about 37. All basically written upon manuscripts with quill pens and squid ink. Though they were no where near to the legendary books that had lines the shelves in her home, they still meant a lot to her. The one in particular she was reading was a joint-effort by Dusk and herself and truly one of her favorites. It was about the Underworld and the demon ponies who lived there; more specifically one in particular who was different from her family in manners of her compassion, kindness, and love for her servants. As opposed to most of her stories which always had a happy ending where the mare finally ends with the colt he liked or…*cough* the colt ended up with the colt, Dusk had added much more to it. Conflict, development, and tragedy. It seemed to him there was no such thing as a happy ending. Sadness and tragedy followed. The beginning of the series they were writing ended with the poor demon mare being sacrificed to a cult after her sisters and father betrayed her. A faint smiled spreaded across Rose’s face as her eyes welled up with tears. She had grown fond of Dusk and with him around, there was never a dull moment. She slowly closed the book and laid it on her nightstand. She put out the candle and slept.

Days had passed. The third month of Dusk being stranded on the island was ending. Everyone had gone to sleep and he alone sat on the beach as he tinkered with a new invention. A fire grenade. It was made from animal skin, metal fragments, and a strange fruit he found that exploded with a fiery blast when disturbed. He looked out to the ocean with a grim look. More and more scouts have been flying here and back. He suspected an imminent attack and he would be ready for that. The beach was littered with grapple mines, special clockwork devices that gripped to a pony’s leg when stepped on before exploding after the timer went off, several turrets were places near the wall and trenches were dug out near it. Barbed wire littered near the front of the trenches and shotgun traps were laid by to kill off any invaders. Though plenty called him paranoid, he knew better. He finished the grenade and went back home, careful to not step on any mines. Tomorrow would be a hellish day. For tomorrow would be The Invasion of the Plastic Beach and the enemy would rue the day that it pissed off Dusk and the survivors. He would make sure of that….

Day 1 of the invasion.

The day began with an uproar. The Brotherhood landed on the shore with their boats; hoping to take their prey by surprise, but it went in the opposite direction. Their screams drowned out the morning call of the birds as bear traps and mined rapidly picked them off, one by one. The guards of the exiles awoke and rushed to the turrets and opened fire as they rotated the levers on the guns. The enemy did not stand much of a chance as they were mowed down by the dual lines of deadly round bullets. Unlike most Brotherhood soldiers, these appeared to suspiciously be Equestrians, but with the mark of the Brotherhood and its weapons. More and more boats landed. The exiles still stood strong as they armed the 8 remaining mini-turrets and opened fire. The large Spike Cannons in the town Square ripped through any flyers as the Exiles in the trenches blasted apart any survivors. Dusk smiled in satisfaction as he watched. He had changed that morning. Gone was the unsure, nervous young colt and in his place stood a rugged leader willing to do what need to be done.

The remaining boats stayed some ways away from the shore. Dusk watched them through a telescope. “They’re afraid. Good. They should be.” he said icily. Boltok glanced at him. “You’re changing kid. Becoming more ruthless.” Dusk shook his head. “No. I’m just doing my duty to protect my friends and family. Though we may not be of the same blood, we are bonded through the sweat of our brows as he toil in the sun upon the buildings. We are bonded by our mutual strength as we stand together against the tyranny of Equestria.” he said proudly. “For we are the Exiles. We stand in the shadows and grow. Not because we are tyrannical conquerors, but because we are folk willing to love and tolerate each other as we work toward the common cause and grow as a new nation.” he folded his telescope and walked away. The villagers cheered.

Starlight couldn’t help, but smile a bit. Her friend finally grew up. He became what was needed most at the time like he did before. From a small town boy to a hero to a leader.

Day 2 of the Invasion.

The enemy had now grown more cautious. They carefully used magic to stealth themselves and pick off weapons and guards from afar. By the time the dawn had set in, the submerged soldiers of their had emerged and rushed for the city. Within the hour they managed to cross the trenches and had just reached the gates when a thundering cannon blast shredded them into bits. Dusk smirked as he began reloading the cannon. “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” he roared as he fired again and blasted another squad apart. He smirked and watched the enemy retreat again. Most of the day then went more roughly. The pegasi had flown high and resorted to bombing the cities fortifications. The Exiles’ weapons were not all too effective at high altitudes so they barely could defend themselves. By the end of the day, the two rear turrets were destroyed, several houses, and the front gate was bit wrecked. They would need help. And soon.

The Final Day

By now, I had realized that I had grown too cocky. The enemy was barely able to touch us, but those were merely grunts and cannon fodder. They sent their big Brotherhood soldiers against us now. Our weapons barely had any effect and the three behemoths were beating down our defenses with their lances even now as I write this. To make matters worse, a large ship loomed on the horizon and drew ever closer. I had ordered Starlight and Boltok to retreat with the people and to hide in the catacombs. I drew my ragged piece of metal and went to the roof of the town square to face the incoming menace. I narrowed my eyes at the incoming foes. Four shall stand, three shall fall. The only question remains, would I be one of the three? No. No I shall not let that happen. I have people to take care of. Though fall I may after the fight, I’ll take out these fuckers with me. They crashed through the gate and walked in. They were bipedal, about 16 feet tall each, and as far from pony-like as one could imagine. I yelled and leaped from the rooftop, my target was the face of these behemoths rampaging through my new home.

It’s payback time bitches.

Author's Note

Here we are! Nearly the end of the series. I promise to release two more chapters as soon as I can. They will be titled "Reunion and Division" as well as "Epilogue". Sorry for the long wait! I had a lot of work to do and never really got around to writing this.

Sidenotes: The invasion of the beach was written with the Invasion of Normandy in mind

Sidenote 2: In this timeline, ponies age faster than humans. Three times as fast to be accurate, but the year is about 326 days (For reasons to be revealed). One of the reasons for their accelerated aging is due to the bad conditions in the cities which reduced their lifespan significantly. Aging is also increased due to a mysterious magical presence in Equestria which shall also be revealed.

Sidenote 3: Some may wonder, how did Dusk arrive on the island so easily and fast, but his friends took three months and still couldn't find him? It's because of the ocean. It is a strange and unusual place. The island is always at the same spot, but the area in which the island is in changes from time to time. Ponies who get washed into the ocean sometimes end up on the island easily because the ocean drags them there quickly. Ships though can travel for months and not arrive at the spot because of the shifting currents, level of water, and changing locations of the islands in the Southern Isles.

Reunion and Division

I bare my teeth as I fall through the sky. The enemy is below me; a great behemoth of shadows and energy inside a hollow shell of armor. A ghost of its former self. A Brotherhood commander. A fierce foe that can wreck a city with a single arm. Yet I am not afraid. All fear has been replaced with strong, burning rage. The images of the ponies I protect and care for flash across my mind, their suffering and misery and fear are the fuel for my strength. I fall and slash my blade into the crystal eye of the being and he roars in pain. I start ramming the jagged metal again and again and again into the crystal. Tainted energy begins flowing out and passed by my side, but I pay it no mind. I smash it completely and dive into its helmet. It shatter the second one and the being stumbled forth. I am sent flying into his skull and grunt in pain. He crashed against my village and I barely dodge the flying shards of broken wood. One smashed through my side and I wince as excruciating pain burns there. My legs are propped up against the helmet and I struggle as I push. Hard. Hard. Harder. The helmet slowly begins to slide off with difficulty and the being roars as dark orbs fly through the holes of where his eyes were and explode around me. I ignored the blasts and kept pushing. Soon, the helmet fell off and a blast of energy erupted from behind me and sent me flying. I skidded across the ground, my skin was torn up quite a bit, and I crashed into a wall. With a glance, I saw that the Brotherhood soldier’s power had quickly evaporated and he diminished to normal size; his skull was open and tainted energy flowing through it and keeping it stable was fully visible. I took one of my handmade grenades and threw it at him. It touched his skull and exploded. The body and armor fell down and the tainted energy dissipated.

“One down, two to go.” I said.

Meanwhile on the approaching ship, Hawke stared in silence from afar as the towering armor collapsed and the energy that was piloting it was burned away. “Holy crap, someone actually killed one of those freaks!”

Frost called out. “What happened!?”

“You know that huge Brotherhood guy? Yeah, there’s three of them of them on that island! Some pony jumped and freakin’ killed one!”

Frost’s expression was one akin to being incredulous. “Are you serious!? How is that possible!?” he shouted back.

Hawke shook his head and landed on the bow. “No clue, but I saw its helmet fly off and then a blast. Next thing I know, green smoke is coming up and fading like whenever we killed them.”

Frost nodded slowly. “Sounds like they could use some help” he said, referring to Dusk, though he had not known that it was him at the time being. “Can we speed the ship up?”

“Barely. It’s in shitty condition as it is. But get some pegasi in the back, unicorns boosting it and Earth Ponies fixing it up and we can MAYBE triple our speed.”

“Do it.” said Frost firmly.

Hawke nodded and tapped the magical intercom. “AHOY EVERYONE! GET OFF OF YOUR FAT FLANKS AND GET TO WORK! POUR THE NITROUS IN, BOOST THE SAILS, FIX THE GEARS AND GET THE FLOATING DEUTCHMAN MOVING!” he yelled. Everyone began hurrying all over the ship and it creaked loudly as its speed was increased immensely.

Dawn rushed to the bow with an angry look and glared at Frost. “What the hell are you doing!?”

“Speeding up. We’re going to go help someone and save those ponies.”

“Are you crazy!? That island is surrounded with Brotherhood soldiers. We’re low on supplies, defenseless, and the ship is near breaking point! We won’t make it!” she yelled.

“Do you have another idea? Should we really let these survivors get killed because we’re afraid? Right now there is a single pony fighting three giants and winning. If he can do something like that, then we can do something like help him. Ready the cannons that we took from the wreckage of the sunken ships. Prepare to fire on the giants on my command.”

She grimaced, but reluctantly nodded and left. Frost then looked ahead and stared into the distance. “We’re coming. Just hang on.”

I breathed hard and readied my shard again. I was on the shoulder of the second giant and quite injured. Though I managed to make my way up there, the constant attacks and flying shrapnel tore me up pretty badly. With a glance, I could tell that my wounds were bad enough to possibly impede me soon. I reached for a torn piece of cloth and wrapped it around my side. I looked up at the large helmet and I felt the drowning realization that I barely stood a chance. I quickly dashed underneath the bottom edge of it as more floating shadow balls exploded where I formerly was. I once again began to pry that massive helmet off of the skull. It was difficult and my muscles screeched in pain as they burned from the strain. I ignored the pain and with a tackle, I knocked the helmet off and went flying with it. Both the helmet and I crashed into the earth. The air was knocked out of me along with some spurts of blood. The pain was excruciating. I panted hard and rolled to my side and slowly got up. My legs wobbled beneath me and coupled with the blinding headache mixed with the cracking noises of my bones, I was amazed that I was still conscious. But my amazement lasted only a short time before the flat side of a spear hit the bottom of the my head and sent me flying into a wall. That, so to speak, was the feather that broke my back. I screeched in agony and sobbed as the wretched pain permeated from my backside. The Brotherhood soldier drew ever so closer…

A shot rang out and a bullet struck him in the head. It crackled with red electricity and the skeleton in armor keeled over.

“No one fucks with us.” said Boltok icily as he reloaded his revolver with one of the very special enchanted bullets that he created. He walked over and helped me up. “Fuck kid, you look like battered shit. You’re going to need urgent medical attention. Surprising that your spine didn’t give out…”

“Oh yes because that’s EXACTLY what I want to hear” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. I jumped up a bit as a loud cannon blast echoed across the beach and the massive soldier was suddenly sent recoiling to its right. It roared at the ship and I saw that half of its mask was shattered; the venomous tainted magic seeped out of it.

“Yohoho motherfucker” yelled Hawke as he and two other Pegasi rammed into the soldier and knocked it into the earth. He flew down and landed near me. His eyes were wide open and his jaw dropped. “Holy shit you’re alive!”

I coughed again and spit out a molar. “Yeah, s’been too long Hawke.” I said stoically. He nodded at me and looked back to the soldier. “Hey sis! Get the others down here! Take care of that walking trash heap!” yelled Hawke loudly. I saw Glade nod at him and fly off.

“What the hell took you guys so long?” I rasped.

Hawke shrugged. “Bad weather, supply stops, we had to take several detours. The magical barrier near the region where the islands are really slowed us down. I have no idea how you passed through it without harm, but when we did, it wrecked out ship. Old one that is. We later found an old, wrecked ship called the Floating Deutchman. Probably best choice we ever made was using it and fixing it up. The ship had some more cooler stuff in it than the usual ones that Equestria had. To make it better, it had a ghost haunting it. The ghost had been quite helpful in letting us get here.”

My jaw dropped and my eye twitched. “What. The. Hell. Happened.”

“Lots of shit. But let’s save that for another chapter in your lil diary. Or you can just check out the Captai-er, I mean Frost’s logs.”

Another cannon blast echoed and the mask was completely shattered. The party aboard the ship rushed forth and killed the Brotherhood soldier. I stared in awe. My old companions walked over. They were dusty, battered and surprisingly minty smelling, but they just the same as before. Grey and Frost came up to me first.

Frost smiled faintly at me. “Hm. Good to see you’re alive ___.”

I nodded. “It’s Dusk now. And same goes for you. Both of you. All of you I mean.”

Grey chuckled and hugged me. “How’ve you been?”

“Good I suppose. Raised up these other exiles. We formed a village. Kept safe for months with my help.”
Both Frost and Grey looked a bit surprised. “Raised up? You mean like...Guided them? I never would’ve pegged you for the leading type” said Frost slowly.

“Yeah, well, I’m not. But the situation called for it and I couldn’t let them die. No...Not like what the queen did to us.” I said angrily.

Dawn walked over and looked miffed. “Who cares what the queen ordered!? We were guilty and got fair punishment! We could’ve been left to rot in the dungeon!” she retorted. Needless to say, I was not surprised that I was not even met with a greeting.

“We were tossed on a ship and left to sail the ocean until we either starved or dehydrated to death. Our families were executed just because of some book that I found. Everyone here, my friends, were thrown in with me because they met me. YOU EXPLAIN THAT SHIT YOU UPTIGHT, FLANK-KISSING BITCH!” I yelled.

She looked a bit startled at first, but her expression darkened. “Blasphemer. Our queen has kept Equestria alive for centuries. The needs of the few do not compare to the needs of the many. Hell, if it wasn’t for Her everlasting merciful and nurturing nature, you wouldn’t have been born and the scavenging packrats that live in Old Town would’ve been finally shoved in The Hole where they belong!”

I growled and spit some blood in her face. The Hole was one of the worst punishments possible. It was a hundred feet deep and littered with horrid traps and no light. Ponies sent down there sometimes spent years there before they devolved into some...Weird mutants with wings. “Go fuck yourself Dawn. That’s my family...My community...My entire way of life that you’re forsaking. For all we know, that hash-brown eating tyrant did that!”

Frost and Hawke pulled me and Dawk away from each other before a fight could start. The ponies from my village began emerging from the cellars and catacombs. “Whoa there “Dusk” don’t go ramping up Dawn. She’s got a bit of a point. Queen Aurora has kept Equestria safe for a while, and sure she did some fucked up things when were imprisoned, but that doesn’t mean you have to be a douche about it.” said Grey nervously.

I shook my head vehemently. “No. I have the right to criticize her. You haven’t heard or seen what I have. These villagers...All of them were secretly imprisoned and exiled like we were. And for what? For eating a bit too much? For being too poor? For not paying those ridiculous taxes? Those aren’t good reasons. A good Queen takes care of her nation and her people. Queen Aurora did nothing like that. We’re going to settle this later. I have a plan to get us back to Equestria. I don’t know about you guys, but I want my home back.” I turned away from my close friends. I was happy we were reunited, but...I wanted revenge. Somewhere deep in my heart, all of that anger at the Queen had festered and grew. Seeing the atrocities she had committed and hearing of how the conditions in Equestria were worsening only further sickened me. Now my friends were back, we had a ship here, and we were not just Exiles, poor and ignorant. We were ponies united by a similar cause.

Note

Even to this day, I do not know why I turned my back on my former allies. I was at first so happy to see them despite the agonizing pain that rushed through me. I had even shed tears though I neglected to write that down purposefully. But as soon as Dawn came and starting spouting about the Queen of Equestria...All that suppressed anger within me had grown and exploded outward. I want you to understand my intentions from this point on. I never desired to cause a split. To divide us and to alienate my friends. No. That was not what I had wished to accomplish and I certainly did not wish to lose them. But what went on that evening would be a simple little meeting that would change the world. Forever.

Endnote

That evening, after a day of relaxation, merriment, and getting to know each other better, we the original Exiles and our companions had gathered in the City Hall and we stood aside a table. The room was dark, lit only by the burning sticks upon the pillars.

“I have a plan.” I began. “My people have gathered loads of weapons that we made ourselves. They’re far stronger that those that Equestria has to offer. We can use the Floating Deutchman and come back to Equestria, overthrow the Queen, and set to work on fixing our old home. It won’t be pretty and we’ll have to resort to more than questionable methods to accomplish our ends, but it’s for the good of everyone. Both as revenge, and as a way to get our home back.”

Dawn growled at me from across the table. “I have a counter-offer for everyone. We set out and explore. We form a NEW Equestria and we live in peace; worship the Benevolent Queen who saved us, and we make it into a Utopia under the Sun.”

Skye was silent and then she quietly spoke. “I say we simply return to Northern Equestria. Close by to the Crystal Empire and there we stay in peace. We’ll have our home back and no one has to get hurt. We’ll live out the rest of our lives happily.”

Both I and Dawn began yelling at Skye and saying what a stupid idea it was and that it was pointless. Skyfall, as ever, was silent. She was devout to her opinion and was going to stick with it.

We argued long and deep into the night. Eventually, we reached an impasse. Since none of us could agree with the other, we split into three factions. The Exiles, the Solarions, and the Cloudchasers. My group, the Exiles, was followed by Grey, Duster, Starlight, Boltok, and most surprisingly, Rose who was quite reluctant. The Solarions were followed by Sierra, Raindrop, Dawn of course, Frost who was quite reluctant, and plenty of villagers. The Cloudchasers composed of hawke, Skyfall, Glade, Snowflake, Storm Chaser and several other Pegasi. Soon, the Solarions left for the north. I gave them a boat and plenty of supplies. They were gone. The Cloudchasers stayed with us, but separately away from us. Our village was reconstructed and split into two. The North and the South. The Southern side was where I was the mayor and my villagers stayed. The North was populated by the Cloudchasers who lived in peace and got rid of the tech that remained.

And so, that’s what happened to us. The original Exiles. We were split apart, separated by beliefs and our desires and a wish to live in peace. Who am I to say who was right? Dawn and Skye, no matter how much I missed them, made a good point, yet I could not see them any more. That rend my heart quite a bit. I missed my friends. And Skye especially. Even as I am finishing up this final page in my journal, I can feel my tears falling upon it and staining the sheet. Reluctant I was to admit, but I had grown to care for her. Now that meant nothing. Our interests were opposing and now we no longer see each other. For the first few weeks, we’d meet at the wall during the night and talk. Gradually...The talks ceased. I lost her.

As I had lost all others.

But now is not the time for mourning.

Now is the time to prepare.

For a Revolution.

Epilogue

This is my final entry. I'm looking out of my lonesome house and watching the sun set.

Years have passed since the Brotherhood made a final attack and failed. We eventually traced them back to their main fortresses and defeated them permanently and lit their long-since-dead bodies on fire. We salvaged their fortresses and found an abundance of knowledge that made the great libraries of Equestria pale in comparison. Plans within plans lied within. Chronicles of their lives were recorded and how the Six Marshals had defeated them a decade ago. I had wandered into the main throne room and located the remnants of their great leader. Nothing was left except for his mask. Though I could sense the tainted energies emanating from the mask, I nonetheless took it upon myself. Even though the pulsing agony flowed through me and near drove me to insanity, I put it on and was changed. The dark knowledge drained itself into my mind and I knew so much, but my strength...My resolve was stalwart and unmoving so I was not corrupted as so many of the Brotherhood ponies were. I wandered into the side passage behind the mighty throne and went deep into the caverns into the lowest floor and found how they made the converts into those necrotic ponies. It was a silvery, shimmering pool. Immediately I had begun applying their knowledge and my own into a formula to control the mutation and hopefully remove the corruption from the mix. Though it took me a few years, two-to-three to be correct, I had finally completed it. Something to master the dark magics. I immersed myself with it and transformed anew. I emerged from the silvery liquid. I was taller, stronger, and so much different. My large black wings spread first. They were bat-like, yet harder. My horn shimmered and was long, thin, and spiraling, not just for magic, but also for combat. My irises were more serpentine and I could see perfectly in the dark and further. My ears were thinner and longer and twitched as I heard small sounds that was the dripping off water in one of the caverns. My coat was now a deep black with luminescent green lines through my mane and tail. I gave a chilling smile.

I began reacquainting myself with the mysterious scrawls on the walls and parchments and laughed gleefully. It made so much more sense now. They were now just random snippets of hieroglyphs, but surprisingly complex notes written in their own language and hidden behind interlocking veils of ancient magic. The language was one of Ancient Equestrian and was native to the Southern Isles. I had recalled the symbols from the book I had received and quickly deciphered them. Some were plans for mysterious weapons called Titans that could be controlled with the mind of a pony and his soul. Other plans were for interesting weapons that were fully-automatic guns that could be cooled using a strange liquid that would be pumped into the barrel. The bullets, rather than being round and blunt like the ones we had made, were sharp and elongated for lasting damage. Instead of a crank, they were designed with a large trigger that a pony could held in his arms and hold back while it fired. Other model used a saddle and motions to fire. The only unfortunate part was that they required technology and parts that we lacked currently. Other noted I located detailed powerful spells. Some allowed for a pony to implode organs with a magic twitch. Others allowed for large dark spirals to emerge from the ground and tear/slice a pony to bits. The grotesque images that were provided did not help at all.

Once I had jotted down what I needed, I left the ancient fortress and flew off. I sailed to my village and landed. With a spark of magic, I my body became shadows and I blended in with the darkness behind a building. Several ponies passed by and never realized I was there. With a second spark I tried reverting to my original appearance. I frowned. It didn't work. I tried a few more times with the same result. With great reluctance, I sneaked my way around the city and back into the central house where I lived. I walked in and was met with a gun barrel to the face.

"Hold it right there." said a familiar face. Boltok was standing there with a serious look. I suppose at this point I should finally explain who Boltok is. Not long after I had arrived, Colt was attacked by two Brotherhood scouts at his own home and was killed. His survivor was his estranged son, Boltok, who was a master weapon maker. We quickly became friends and he was both my adviser, guard, and leader gun forger. And now, he was standing by me, I who looked like his father's killers, with an enchanted revolver that was his father's lifework.

"Hey Boltok...S'been a couple hours, huh?" I said weakly.

His gaze did not waver and nor did his burning look. "Who the fuck are you."

"It's me. Dusk. Your buddy."

He jammed the gun harder into my temple. "That's the biggest load of minotaur-shit I've ever heard of."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! It's true man! Remember that time you got a hooficure and you said it changed your life forever. Especially when you received it from Talon Spelling. Speaking of which, why are you into blonde griffins again?"

Boltok paled slightly and withdrew the gun reluctantly. "No way in hell someone would know about that apart from Dusk. What the fuck happened to you man? You left half a day ago for that creepy-ass castle and didn't come back."

"I uncovered some notes, refined the formula, and took a bathe in a silver pool and came out like this. Oh, and I also put on a mask of the Brotherhood and found about a LOT of stuff.

He holstered his revolver and looked me up and down. "Damn, you look like a fucking Prince at a glowstick party that got slathered in black paint...Or in Levi blood anyways."

I had chuckled lightly and gave him a pat on the back. "Yeah, understandable. But I have an idea. I think I can do this to the other ponies. If they agree anyways."

Boltok glanced as me as he went to relax and get a sip of whisky to calm his nerves and get used to me. "Hard to say if they'll agree. They're still hurting o'er the Brotherhood and now you're suggesting we become like them?"

I shook my head. "No. Not like them. More. We'll embrace the dark to be strong. Not corrupted by it. But balanced. Princess Luna..." I winced a bit at that name as I remembered her. When I was very young, we used to play together and have fun until her mother took her away and I lost a friend. "She had a point. The Night is dark, but it's not evil. We'll be like that. Ponies of the night-"

"Like prostitutes?"

"...No. Like crusaders. Or something like that anyways. We'll use the knowledge that the Brotherhood left behind to further ourselves and to make a society better than Equestria. United. And not one that has leaders who control its citizens to prevent them from learning."

He swayed a bit. "That sounds...Like a good idea, surprisingly enough. Ya think we can do it?"

"I'll my best. But for now, let's just make sure everyone gets used to my changes. Have some of the engineers work on these plans." I said as I tossed him some blueprints. "And get the scribes to bring down the library. We're building a bigger, better, and bolder nation than the city we are."

I stayed true to my word. Within the first three years, we grew exponentially. Unfortunately, the Solar ponies moved away. Permanently. Frost, Glade, Hawke and Rose stayed with me though. They regained their hope. Sierra gradually rejoined me. The remainder of the Solar ponies had stolen lots of our knowledge that we had gathered and escaped. The Cloudchasers build a town on the clouds and lived there. They had formed an uneasy alliance with us, the Darklings as we had grown to be called after half of us became like me, and we now lived in peace. After a decade had flown by, we began preparing for war. The time was coming to come back to Equestria and take back our homeland from Queen Aurora. A term had gradually began floating around.

Revolution.

It was fitting. For here we were. Exiles. Preparing for war, readying our ships, and about to take back a land from a tyrant. Though I never once questioned my resolve or my reasons, I couldn't help but wonder. Why did the Queen become so? But I warded away such thoughts as I tended to matters at hand. The time to act was drawing near and I'd be the one to lead them. Revolution I pondered with a bemused look. "It certainly is fitting"

Author's Note

Just one of two supplementary chapters! I hope you enjoyed the story so far. I'll begin Revolution in the summer.