The Fumble

I’m ready to kill...

Eye Lash grinned to himself as he stood on the deck of the Iris, watching the Tomcat maneuver around in a slow left turn, cannons firing in a barrage at the enemy ship. The three combat vessels had drawn closer together by this point, revealing the enemy ship to the entire crew.

A monolithic ship covered in guns, massive enough to hold a thousand ponies, riding under a massive gasbag large enough to blot out the sun, casting a shadow over the crew. “By the Goddess, that ship is beautiful...” Eye shuddered through the blasts of cannon fire, looking over the jet black metal of the ship’s three hundred meter long hull, the thick steel cabling holding it to the gasbag a good fifty meters up above the ship, the rows upon rows of heavy cannons making up its broadside firepower.

The stallion felt himself quake at the sight of it, salivating. He'd heard about ships like this. Only a few in the world existed, carrying a nation's absolute best in technology and firepower, covered in cannons from bow to stern. The floating natural disasters that made up the centers of air fleets across Equestria and lands beyond. The one vessel that, on its own, could level cities.

The Dragon-class battleship. I must... nay, I need that ship.

Another wave of cannonballs ripped through the sky as the enemy ship let loose its fire, the side of its hull covered in fire and smoke from the hundred cannons all firing at once. The hail of death tore past Eye as he looked on, the crew all around him screaming in horror.

“Captain, the mast’s been hit!”

“It’s teetering!”

“Fire on the stern!”

“Goddess, help us!”

The words barely reached the stallion as he stepped up to the railing, giggling to himself. “A ship truly fitting an emperor.”

“UNIT-EYE, IT IS LOGICAL TO DUCK DURING AN ENEMY’S BARRAGE ON OUR POSITION.” The sudden booming voice from Velvet snapped Eye out of his concentration, and he turned, spotting numerous crew members performing hasty repairs on the ship. Periscope ran alongside two members towards the bow, a raging fire starting to spread from one of the shells hitting them, while Binoculars and five others hurried to repair the mast, a squealing pegasus hanging on for dear life in the crow’s nest, rifle hanging from his neck.

“Pah, it is merely cannon fire, my dear. Their accuracy at this range is abysmal.” Eye shrugged, looking past the mare at his side towards the mast. A great hole had been blown through it, metal plates being patched onto it and hurriedly hammered into place through railway spikes. “Then again, that is quite a bit of damage.”

“What are you two lollygagging around for!?” Spyglass shouted before swatting Eye in the back of the head with his wing, glaring at the two. “Get to the bow and support the marksponies!”

“Ow!” Eye winced from the smack of Spyglass’ wing, leering back at him. “What was that for!?”

“For staring into space while a battleship lynches us, now get moving!” A swift shove from the captain set Eye tumbling, hitting Velvet and rolling over her, flopping onto the deck after a quick flip. “Velvet, get over there!”

“ACKNOWLEDGED, UNIT-SPYGLASS. COME, UNIT-EYE.” Velvet turned and grabbed Eye under her foreleg, flipping him up onto her back before rushing off to the bow.

“Barrage incoming!!” Telescope shouted from the crow’s nest, before his voice was cut off by the swift series of booms from the enemy’s cannons.

“Hit the deck!” Spyglass screamed before ducking, feeling the wind be ripped to shreds by the wall of explosive lead and metal racing past his ship, deafening in its force. Fire consumed the sky as the shells made it past the ship, exploding with incredible force and knocking the ship towards the Dragon, numerous crewmembers taking flight to avoid being thrown overboard. “Why are they exploding when they haven’t hit anything!?”

“I don’t know, sir, but the ship’s getting close! They’re turning towards us!” Periscope rushed over to Spyglass’ side, pulling him back onto his hooves and carrying him towards the mast. “Telescope’s up in the crow’s nest, but we can’t get a good shot at this range!” He took a quick look back, the massive black monster turning towards the Iris as the Tomcat returned fire, numerous explosions lighting up all over the Dragon’s bow.

Spyglass panted as he looked back at the ship, gritting his teeth through the sweat pouring down his face. “Alright, get the crew together below deck, load all cannons and fire at the cables supporting the ship! We’ll cut its lifeline!”

“Don’t sink it!” Eye shouted from the bow, Velvet sat next to him with a rifle in her hooves, taking aim at the ship. “We’re taking it!”

“Bullshit, Lash, that thing is going to kill us! All crew, maintain position in front of the battleship! It doesn’t have any guns there!” Spyglass shouted, the crew all managing a strained ‘Aye aye!’ while huddling behind cover, the marksponies at the front of the ship taking what shots they could at the monstrosity racing towards them. The captain gulped as he stared at the ship, leaving his gun at his side as the shadow of the enemy’s gasbag fell over them. “Oh bollocks, they’re going to ram us...”

“A ship that big is going to do a lot more than just break us in half if it hits, sir... what do we do?” Periscope looked to his captain, body trembling with fear. “Its got cannons all over it, and we aren’t close enough to...”

“No, we are. We need to fly Eye and Velvet over.” Spyglass furrowed his brow, looking back to his first mate. “Get Patch and go to the bow. You’re flying them over to the deck.”

“Sir? But, the distance is massive!” Periscope quickly looked towards the monolith of a ship, a massive rain cloud being torn in half by its hull.

“It won’t be in a minute, now go get him!” Spyglass shoved Periscope towards the back of the ship, before spreading his wings. “I need to have a word with our lookout.” Without waiting for an answer, he launched himself up from the deck, racing up towards the crow’s nest. He grabbed onto the railing of the crow’s nest and threw himself into it, his first shout at the quivering pegasus in front of him drowned out by the cannon fire of the Iris and Tomcat.

His second wasn’t hindered, though. “Telescope, you blithering pile of cowardice, what are you doing!?”

“Ahhh!” Telescope screamed, clutching his rifle to his body and staring wide-eyed at his captain, shivering up a storm as his wings quickly wrap around him. “C-Captain! I-I—

“Save it, Telescope, we need you here!” Spyglass marched over to the stallion and grabbed the back of his head, pulling him up to the captain’s eyes. “You’re here to guard the crew, and you know exactly why you were put up here as our lookout! You’ve the best eyes we have, and here you are, wasting them!”

Telescope squealed, trembling under Spyglass’ grip. “B-But, we can’t kill them, sir!”

“Bollocks! You have a gun, and they all can bleed! Apply a bullet to their cranium and they die!” The captain picked Telescope up, spun him around and slammed him back down onto the floor of the crow’s nest. “Raise your rifle!”

“But—”

“Raise it!!”

Telescope screamed under the shout, fumbling his rifle before raising it, breathing harshly as he laid it on the railing, aiming at the enemy ship. His rifle jittered against the railing as Telescope panted, a raspy gulp racing down his throat as the battleship flew towards them, the screaming of its four gigantic engines finally reaching everyone’s ears. The bolt holding the chamber closed even shook a little itself, tapping against the cartridge already loaded.

“Alright. Listen to me, Telescope.” Spyglass kept his voice level, his glare burning a hole into the back of Telescope’s head. “Everyone below you, and in the other ship, are all fighting for their lives.”

“I-I know...”

“I know you know. But you aren’t doing anything to help protect them.” Spyglass moved up beside Telescope, looking on as the Iris fired another broadside barrage, several wires snapping on the battleship, swiftly caught up by the enemy crew flying around above the ship. “I know this is hard. You rarely partake in these battles, but I know you know how to use a gun. I need you, like every other markspony under my command, to use that rifle of yours, and keep us alive.”

Telescope sniffled, blinking through the tears as he fought to keep his rifle steady. His wings flitted uselessly under his raised forelegs, just wrapped around him in a defensive position. His heart pounded in his ears even louder than the cannons down below, the sound of gunfire hitting his ears as the marksponies all took their shots, ducking down behind cover before return fire could rip them to pieces. Blood splattered across the deck as another crewmate was hit, Periscope shouting out for a medic.

This is worse than anything we’ve gone through... h-how can I help? I’m, I-I just...

“Telescope.”

Telescope flinched at the sudden call, his eyes slowly turning to Spyglass. “S-Sir...?”

“...You’ve been our lookout for a long time now, and I honor and respect you for that. But you’ve always stayed behind us during a fight, never firing a shot.” Spyglass looked over to Telescope, a cold fire held within as his brow gently furrowed. “I’ve found myself wondering if you really should be on this ship.”

“But...”

“No buts. When a fight starts, you’re the first to run. First to find something to hide behind. And you stay there until you stop hearing gunfire.” The captain’s brow furrowed further, the beginnings of a glare showing in his eyes. “Show me you deserve to be here. Take up your rifle, and show the whole crew that you can defend them when they’re in trouble. Every pony I’ve ever seen has the capacity for strength and bravery, and in war, it is demanded of every soldier participating. This isn’t war between nations, but lives are at stake all the same.”

“I... I-I just can’t, Captain... I can’t take them all...”

“Then take as many as you’re able. You aren’t the only shooter here.” Spyglass sat down beside the stallion, spreading his wings lightly and laying one across Telescope’s back. “Focus on my voice... I’ll direct your fire. Block out every other sound. When I say aim, pick a target. When I say fire, shoot.”

“S-Sir...” Telescope looked back at the wing across his back, then up to his captain, his resolute eye focused on the enemy ship. Even as explosions rang out, and the screams of his crew reached his ears, he never flinched, never winced, never even cried out in surprise. Quiet, powerful, steady.

The lookout took a deep breath and looked back to the enemy ship, taking proper hold of his rifle. His brow furrowed, and he controlled his shivering, bringing it down to something more manageable.

“Aim.”

Telescope pointed his rifle at one of the moving shadows on the battleship. Below his vision, Patch and Periscope flew across the distance between the Iris and the enemy ship, carrying a pair of ponies with them. Before his mind could change its focus, however, Spyglass’ command reached his ears.

“Fire.”

“Oh, this is exhilarating!” Eye shouted, laughing as bullets whizzed past him, firing a trio of shots at the gryphon near the bow of the battleship, putting him down in a hail of his own blood. “I’ve never been flown across cannon and gunfire before!”

“UNIT-EYE, IT WOULD BE GOOD TO FOCUS MORE ON KILLING HOSTILES AND LESS ON EXPLAINING YOUR—” Velvet stopped speaking to take a potshot with her rifle, Patch yelping as the recoil set him back a bit on his flight path. The gryphon targeted went down, clutching at his chest and firing a wild pistol shot at Patch, the bullet missing by a mile. “EXUBERANCE IN COMBAT.”

“Apologies, my queen!” Eye grinned, reaching up and patting Periscope on the shoulder. “And thank you, love, for carrying me across. Your sacrifice shan’t be forgotten.”

“As if I plan on dying here, Mr. Lash. Just do what you and Velvet did on the Tomcat, and we’ll be fine. Here comes the railing... Patch, ready?” Periscope huffed as he dove down towards the underside of the battleship’s railing, next to the extended keel.

“Ready!” Patch smirked, moving alongside him, though he struggled to handle the android’s weight.

“Go!” Periscope grunted as he pulled back, and threw Eye up to the railing, the stallion snagging the wood with his forehooves. Patch grunted, throwing Velvet up about half the height required, and she quickly dropped back down, landing on his head.

“Oof!” The stallion flailed under Velvet’s rump, his face firmly lodged in it. “Mmmmph!!”

“APOLOGIES, UNIT-PATCH.” Velvet’s horn lit up, before she vanished in a blast of light, appearing on the deck. Eye soon hauled himself up and flopped to the deck beside her, quickly jumping back to his hooves.

The sight before him was incredible.

All over the three hundred meter long deck, gryphons flew as they tried to snag the snapped cables to the gasbag and repair them, others firing across the quickly closing space between the ships from the deck itself. All eyes turned to the two interlopers, though, and soon, all guns were trained on them.

“Greetings, gentlebirds!” Eye grinned as his magic caught a gryphon, dragging him over in front of him as a shield, all six of his pistols lining up in an outline of the bird in his grasp. Velvet brought her own two pistols out, aiming to her sides to cover Eye’s flank. “Apologies for the sudden intrusion! Might I suggest evacuating the ship and saving all your sorry hides?”

“Run from two little ponies? Ha!” One of the gryphons shouted, inciting some laughter amongst his crew as several riflebirds took aim at the Iris. “We’re just gonna break your ship in half anyways. Think you can take all of us?”

“Well, certainly! I’m the one with a shield, after all. So, who’s up for—”

A gryphon’s head suddenly splattered across the deck, Eye stopping as he saw this.

“Er... as I was saying, who’s up fo—”

Another gryphon was shot, this one through the heart, the bullet ripping through his leather armor and scattering blood across the floor, sending him to the ground. Eye furrowed his brow, taking in a breath. He put out only a word before another shot rang out, shredding the claw of a gryphon marksbird, though he only managed a short shriek before his brains were blown across the railing of the ship.

“Really? You’re all just—”

Another shot, another dead gryphon. The crew started to scatter, Eye groaning as he took up his aim and rose his voice.

“Going to—”

Bang.

“Okay, stop—”

Bang.

“Whoever’s—”

Bang.

Eye roared in frustration and looked back at the mare behind him. “Velvet, stop shooting them!”

“THIS UNIT HAS NOT YET FIRED A SHOT.”

“Then who the hell is killing all of them!?”

During that little exchange, six more gryphons were blasted, their blood painting the dark brown of the wooden deck.

“Who’s sniping us!?” One of the officers shouted, the gryphons all diving for cover as two more bullets ricocheted off the deck, shooting up through the chins of two birds and sending them down to the deck in a shriek of pain. “Return fire! And kill those two while you’re at it!”

“Seriously? Not even going to let me monologue!?” Eye shouted, rolling his eyes. “Fine! Get ready to—”

Bang, and the officer was down in his own pool of blood, back of his head blown open from the high-velocity round.

“Stop—”

Bang.

“Interrupting—”

Bang.

“Me!”

Bang.

“Oh screw it, shoot them!”

Three more shots rang out as Eye went for his triggers, and he popped off the full array of bullets he had in his guns, blindly fired into the rapidly shrinking crowd of living gryphons. He blinked a few times as no more screams reached his ears, his shots not even ripping a response out of whatever he shot. He leaned over slightly, just as a sniper bullet splattered the brains of his bird shield across the deck.

All the gryphons on the deck had been shot, a single hole in each corpse either through the forehead, an eye, the throat, or the heart, piercing armor and cover alike, while four corpses in particular had a myriad of other holes shot randomly into them, close enough to Eye for them to be his bullet holes. Eye just frowned, tossing his shield to the side and going through the process of reloading his pistols, eyes narrowing slightly. Velvet stepped up to his side, neck clicking as she looked over to him.

“IS UNIT-EYE DISTURBED BY THIS?”

“...No, no. Not... not disturbed.” Eye blinked, looking back at the Iris, seeing two more shots be fired from the crow’s nest of the ship, then the sound of glass shattering as the rounds found purchase on the command tower of the battleship. “Just disappointed.”

“THERE IS LIKELY TO BE MORE HOSTILES WITHIN THE HULL ITSELF.”

The stallion’s eyes lit up at that, a grin soon crossing his face as he charged off across the deck, skidding a bit on the numerous pools of blood from the corpses as he shouted back to Velvet. “V-Very true! Woah... let’s be off! We should hit the bridge first!”

“WHY THE BRIDGE?” Velvet shouted, before she heard the cacophonous screeching of wood and metal as two ships collided, the bow of the battleship slamming right into the starboard-stern of the Iris.

“I think that sound should answer your question, now let’s go!” Eye grit his teeth as he spun around and kicked open the door to the control tower, rushing inside and bringing all his guns to bare, including his scattergun. “I am not going to let one of our shooters take all my kills.” Velvet ran up beside him, and the two rushed inside, gunfire lighting up within the metal confines of the tower as the gryphons tried to stop their advance on the bridge.

“Holy mother of Celestia...” Spyglass brought himself back up from the railing of the crow’s nest, rubbing his nose after pulling it out of the small dent he’d made in the wood. He looked over to Telescope, the stallion’s mane drifting in the wind as he raised his rifle slightly, smoke pouring from the end. He simply pulled the bolt back on the rifle, popping the empty cartridge out, and slipped a new one in from the undone belt at his side.

“W-Well, uh... g-guess you were right, Captain... hehe.” The lookout grinned sheepishly, looking out over the carnage as the windows of the enemy bridge lit up with the pops of gunshots. “I, um... got as many as I could...”

“T-Telescope, where in Tartarus did you learn this? That rifle doesn’t even have a scope, both ships were moving, all those gryphons were running around... even when they surrounded Mr. Lash and Ms. Velvet, that was...” Spyglass stammered, eye twitching slightly. He looked down at the spent casings next to Telescope, each one still a little hot from their use, and he looked over to the battleship, the screech of its engines coming down as the ship slowed to a crawl. “Thirty shots...”

“And thirty dead gryphons,” Telescope finished, smiling to himself. “G-Guess my old master taught me a lot more about guns than I thought.”

“Right, him... Flintlock was his name, wasn’t it?” Spyglass got back to his hooves, grunting as he looked back to the ship. “You certainly picked up a lot.”

“Hard not to... you spend every day caring for all those weapons like they’re your children, you have to learn how to use them. From the humble muzzle-loaded pistol, to the mighty bolt-action rifle and six-shot revolver.” Telescope looked down to his rifle, frowning lightly as he stared at the silver barrel leading back to the bolstered receiver, a fat box of polished metal on a bed of waxed redwood, and the shiny trigger located under it, no guard around it to make sure his hoof could pull it. “All the practice spent during his hunts, too...”

“...I’m going to go check on the crew, get the injured below deck. Keep an eye on the battleship while we come around.” Spyglass spread his wings and hopped up onto the railing of the crow’s nest, looking back at Telescope with a grim expression. “You know what to do if you see trouble.”

“Yes sir...” Telescope nods, taking in a deep breath and turning back to the battleship, now stopped fully behind the Iris, and took aim with his rifle. “I can do this...”

“You certainly can, Telescope.” The captain offered him a smile before hopping off the crow’s nest, and gliding down to the deck. And likely far better than any other sniper I’ve ever seen...

Eye pulled the trigger on his four-barreled pistol, shooting another gryphon in the face, the bird flopping backwards onto the new pile of dead bodies that had blocked off yet another hallway the two ponies had been walking down. He frowned and scratched his temple with the hammer of his fired pistol, humming as he looked over the area he and Velvet were in. “This place is a maze, isn’t it?”

“THE SHIP’S INNARDS ARE INDEED BUILT TO A DIFFERENT DESIGN THAN MOST, THIS UNIT AGREES.”

The two ponies looked over the green metal walls of the hall, the design being exactly the same as when they entered the belly of the ship from the command tower’s blast doors. Instead of an open floor design, where everything could either be seen from the stairs, or only have a set of rooms along a single hall, the battleship had been built into multiple halls connected to rooms featuring a number of doors. The sign hanging over Eye, though featuring a few bullet holes, still displayed ‘MESS HALL’ proudly.

“A sign that doesn’t actually point anywhere. Hmph.” Eye frowned, deadpanning at it.

“PERHAPS THIS UNIT AND UNIT-EYE MERELY BLOCKED THE PATH TO THE MESS HALL WITH THESE CORPSES?” Velvet looked over to her partner, finishing the reload on her guns.

“Nonsense! A pair of soon-to-be-royals would never make such a mistake.” Eye scoffed at the suggestion and turned to the left, walking on down another hallway. “Come, my queen, we’ve a ship to clear out.”

“OF COURSE, UNIT-EYE. COMING.” Velvet trotted on down the hallway, thankfully moving much more smoothly nowadays, rather than the clunky twitching she did before Vex had joined the crew. She stumbled now and again as her right foreleg failed to keep up with some steps, however.

Eye slipped up to the corner at the end of the hall, peeking out to the right before pulling right back, the snap of a gunshot firing a bullet right past him. “Well, I think we found the rest of them.”

“WHAT IS THE SITUATION, UNIT-EYE?” Another two shots ricocheted off the metal walls of the hall as Velvet shouted, Eye looking at the hall to his right as he leaned on the wall, then back to his queen.

“About a seven on the Danger Scale?” He raised his brow, bringing up his guns. “Shockingly enough, if we go out there, we would get promptly ripped to pieces. They’re set up in the mess hall, flipped a whole load of tables up. Looks like a gangster stand off in a noire novel.” He sidled along the wall to the corner again, keeping his weapons out of sight as he perked an ear. “Any ideas, my queen?”

“WHAT ARE THEIR FORTIFICATIONS LIKE?” Velvet slipped up beside him, putting her pistols away and tilting her head to the side, the servos in her leg groaning as she forced it to keep up with her trot.

“Tables, chairs, a whole lot of bodies and guns. Mostly to blind us, rather than protect them... those flimsy things wouldn’t even stop Jam on a bad night.” Eye scoffed, rolling his eyes before peeking out again, quickly moving back to avoid another gunshot. “Well?”

“PLEASE WAIT, PROCESSING.” Velvet closed her eyes, and a quiet whirring started up in her head. Her body vibrated as numerous clicks and clangs echoed out from her body, ears twitching and hooves scuffing along the floor. Eye raised his eyebrow at the display, moving another gun out and firing again as he picked up the sound of shuffling claws on the ground, a bird yelping as he dove for cover.

The mess hall beyond was a large room covered in tipped tables and chairs, all set up so their tops faced the single doorway into the room. And inside, at least twenty gryphons stood, all armed to the teeth and behind cover, weapons trained on the door. The only other door was at the back, leading off to some unknown part of the ship, but even for the future emperor, there was no way to punch through all that with the lead at his command.

Eventually, though, the solution came in a ‘ding’ from Velvet’s head, and she opened her eyes, nodding. “PROCESSING COMPLETE. THIS UNIT WILL HANDLE THEM.”

“Wait, on your own? You’re not even going to let me in on the fun?” Eye creased his brow, frowning in sadness.

“HOLD POSITION,” Velvet commanded, moving up in front of Eye. She peeked around the corner, quickly taking in the scene before her before moving back behind cover, several gunshots bouncing off the walls.

“Gah, curse these stupid guns!” One of the gryphons shouted, reloading his woefully inaccurate pistol. “Can’t hit anything with these...”

“EXAMINATION COMPLETE. TWENTY UNIQUE PIECES OF COVER, THIRTY TWO IDENTIFIED HOSTILES, THREE UNICORNS INCLUDED. ARMING WEAPONS.” A myriad of clicks sounded off from Velvet’s sides and hips, and she narrowed her eyes, scuffing the ground with her hoof. “...HASTA LA VISTA.”

Eye opened his mouth to question that, though he barely got a breath out before Velvet leaped forward, slamming into the wall with her hooves and bouncing off it. The guns in the mess hall all lit up, Velvet bouncing off the other wall and sprinting into a serpentine, rushing down the short distance towards the mess hall. She kicked out into a slide under the few remaining shots before the gryphons were forced to reload, all of them moving away from the mare as she rolled onto her belly and kicked up into the air with her forehooves.

She flew into a flip as her side opened up, a small weapon unfolding from inside and reaching around to her back, turning as she spun through the air. Just before an order could be shouted from the rear, a thick gout of flame suddenly launched from the weapon, spiralling outwards and setting the front of the mess hall on fire.

Velvet landed on her hooves and spun, ducking under the spinning flamethrower on her back, the cafeteria quickly descending into a blinding inferno as the gryphons all quickly retreated, the unlucky ones being swallowed by the flames. “Get someone to the radio room, contact the admiral! Go!”

“Well, that’s not good...” Eye mumbled, peeking back out. He smirked lightly, moving out into the hall and sliding his guns back into their holsters on his body. A breath came into his lungs, muscles tensing, before he launched off into a sprint, smirk growing into a grin. Well, can’t let my queen have all the fun! What’s a little fire, anyways? Not like it can stop me.

With a deft leap, he hit the wall at the end of the hallway, and jumped forward, launching over the wall of fire blocking the doorway. He landed on the edge of a table, quickly jumping off that to one that had been tipped back up by a retreating gryphon, then another, quickly dodging over the floor like it was made of lava. At that point, with all the fire, it really was, and the flames were quickly spreading.

“I’m going after the cowards, Velvet! Take care of things here!” Eye shouted, jumping from island to island, drawing two of his pistols as two gryphons spun around near the end of the mess hall, going for their own guns. He pulled the triggers, planting two shots in their arms, and hopped forward again, clearing both of them, kicking his hind legs back at the last moment to push them both further into the chaos. “‘Scuze me, I’ll be back soon!”

Without another word, he took off into the hall, drawing all his weapons and letting loose a wall of lead into the retreating birds, laughing like a madstallion as they fell, one by one. With his ammo spent, he holstered them all and started grabbing the remaining birds, yanking them back by the tails and throwing them towards the mess hall, some landing in the flames while others crashed into their once-useful cover, shattering tables and chairs. Still, three made it away from him, one unicorn in the trio, quickly moving into a room on the left, alarmed shouting coming from inside.

“Go, get on the radio, get the admiral! We need backup! Talon, you and I’ll cover the door! Amber, get on the radio!” The voice was female, causing Eye to sigh and frown as he calmly walked towards the door, reloading his guns.

“R-Right, yes ma’am!” Amber responded, quickly hopping into the chair near the large radio. With the machine as big as it was, it didn’t help that the room was claustrophobicly tight, filled with bookcases and numerous code books. The purple mare gulped as she quickly went to work with her magic, twisting dials and connecting crystals together. With a lively spark and an energetic hum, she started shouting into the microphone in front of her, which didn’t amount to much more than a small cloud surrounded by steel wool on a ruby stand. “Admiral, come in! Please, come in! This is The Commander!”

“Damn, such pretty voices... regrettable. I’d love to add a gryphon and another unicorn to my harem.” Eye shrugged and huffed, spinning two of his guns in his magic before aiming them forward, sidling up to the wall. “Alright...” Just have to jump in the doorway, take the guards out, then hit the bird on this ‘radio’ thing. Whatever it is, if it can reach anybody called ‘Admiral’, it’s not good for me right now.

He snuck up towards the door, the hall glowing with a hellish orange light from the mess hall, a shadow stood amongst the flames as some of her coat burned off in the heat. Part of her clockwork was revealed as her cover was torched, and she frowned, wiping away the burned skin and hair. “THIS UNIT DID NOT FULLY THINK THIS PLAN THROUGH.”

Velvet scuffed her hoof on the ground, not taking a moment to examine the burning corpses and tables all around her, and she sprinted forward, bursting through the fire into the hall, and towards Eye.

Meanwhile, Eye slid up to the door, softly pulling back the hammers on his two loaded guns. He took in a breath and hopped forward, running into the room and sliding down on his belly, firing both his guns to the sides. The female gryphon shrieked as she got hit in the shoulder, though her partner was less lucky, taking a shot right through the beak. A strained ‘squawk’ is all he got out before falling to the floor, Eye quickly picking himself up and swinging hard with his empty pistol, smashing the female bird in the back of the head. He winced as she slumped to the ground, unconscious and bleeding, a small red mark left on her pink-feathered crown. “Ouch...”

“Admiral, we need support! We found the mechanical impo—”

“Oh no you don’t!” Eye quickly spun back around, grunting as he slammed the butt of his gun into the radiomare’s head, her muzzle slamming into the desk before she slumped right off the chair. The radio crackled lightly, before a female voice came back over it.

“Commander, this is Castle, respond.” The voice sounded rather young, but commanding all the same. Eye furrowed his brow slightly at the accent as well, Canterlotian in tone. He stepped up towards the desk in the room, leaning in towards the cloud and clearing his throat.

“Hello, Eye Lash’s office. Might I take a message?” Eye grinned, his voice sickeningly sweet as he went about reloading his weapons, Velvet running up towards the radio room.

“Office? Who is this?” The voice responded.

“Eye Lash, future emperor, resident sex god, and the new captain of this fine ship. Who might you be?”

“...Your inevitable defeat.” The radio then stopped crackling, going dead completely. Eye frowned, sighing a bit as he sat back down.

“I’m going to have rebels put down immediately when I become emperor. I don’t like having enemies.” Eye scoffed, rubbing the barrel of one of his pistols. “Worry not, Natasha, she will not harm anyone.”

“UNIT-EYE, IS EVERYTHING OKAY?” Velvet shouted from the doorway, Eye turning around with a smile.

“Ah, Velvet! Everything is— Good Goddess, what the fuck happened to you!?” Eye froze up as he stared at his queen.

Velvet had certainly seen better days. Said better days not involving fire. A lot of her coat had been singed and covered in burns, some burns even going so deep as to reveal the intricate clockwork keeping her running. Her face had burned quite badly, revealing the metal shell of her skull, her metallic eye glowing red. “FIRE HAPPENED. ALL HOSTILES HAVE BEEN TAKEN CARE OF, THOUGH THE FIRE HAS NOT YET BEEN PUT OUT.”

“Er... w-well, excellent work on the enemy. Now, if you would go put out the fire and find Vex to fix your face... and, everything else.” Eye gulped, stalling his breathing as Velvet tilted her head, that red eye staring straight through him. Moments passed until her suffocating leer let up, Velvet giving Eye a nod before racing off towards the mess hall.

The stallion let out his trapped breath in a sigh, bringing his scatter gun around and hugging it close to his chest. “Marie-Louise, I have seen into the eyes of my queen, and... did not enjoy what I saw.” His hoof stroked along the side of the lovingly-polished shotgun, and he gave it a kiss on the barrel. “No no, I’m quite fine, my dear. Calm yourself... I’ll just wait here for Velvet to put out the fire, then go to rejoin the crew.”

I suspect it’s going to be a long wait...

Hours had passed since the battle, the Tomcat, Iris, and Commander all drifting alone in the darkening evening sky as Jam, Spyglass, Eye Lash and Patch debriefed on the bridge of the battleship. Spyglass looked over the bridge, mostly cleaned after Velvet’s and Eye’s little massacre there, though some of the instruments were still coated in a thin sheen of blood.

“Well, at least the place is a little cleaner than it was before.” Spyglass looked back at Eye, furrowing his brow. “Would it kill you to clean up after your slaughters, Mr. Lash?”

“Possibly.” Eye shrugged, looking around the room as he trotted towards the captain’s chair. He hopped up onto it and sat down, crossing his hindlegs and smiling as he lounged. “And dying would mean I wouldn’t be able to command this ship!”

“You aren’t going to command the ship,” Spyglass put simply, deadpanning as he swept away some blood from the floor, and sat down, wings flitting. “Space Jam is.”

Once I figure out how to run the ship... Jam hummed to himself, looking over the control panels at the front of the ship. Metal boxes with flat tops, all lined up in a row with six chairs sitting in front of them. Dials and levers covered the myriad of panels, though no labels were placed to show what the controls all did. How in the world did they train the crew to run all this? This is far more advanced than a regular ship...

“Having some trouble, Mr. Jam?” Patch raised his eyebrow, Jam flinching and looking back at the stallion, quickly shaking his head.

“No, no, it’s all fine! It’s all under control.” Jam offered a great big grin to appease the vampire, though the increasing leer from the stallion set his knees shaking.

“Are you certain?” Patch lowered his voice, eyes narrowing as he stared at Jam.

“Very!” Jam quickly nodded a few times, still grinning as widely as he could. His ears splayed back as he could feel the ice coming from Patch’s leer, and he slowly turned back to the panel, grin fading as a shadow fell over his face. Not.

Spyglass soon walked over to the panels as well, scratching the back of his head with a hoof as he searched over the dials and levers. “...Mr. Lash, did you and Velvet kill every single crew member of this ship?”

“Every single one. Except two, because they are to join my harem. I left them with Velvet for orientation.” Eye looked over his hoof in passive interest, his other foreleg resting on the arm of the captain’s chair.

“Would those two happen to be pilots for this ship?”

“Not sure, never bothered to ask.” Eye looked over to Spyglass, raising his brow. “Why?”

“None of these controls are labeled, and I’d prefer not to have us floating in dead air all night.” Spyglass turned and trotted back towards the door. “Mr. Patch, remain here and watch these two. I’m going to go retrieve someone.”

“And who would that be, sir?” Patch looked over to his captain, raising an eyebrow.

“Quite possibly the only filly who could figure this ship out in a fortnight... and the only resource we have left, considering what Miss Velvet likely did with the other two.” Spyglass sighed, heading on towards the door leading to the stairwell of the command tower. “Have a look around and gather what information you can from Mr. Lash and Mr. Jam.”

“Will do, sir.” Patch nodded, looking over to Eye as Spyglass opened the door, headed out, and closed it behind him. And promptly let out a powerful groan at what he could only predict would be a very long, rough night. “So, Mr. Lash. Find anything peculiar onboard the ship?”

“Well for once, the mess hall is in absolute shambles. Regrettable, since I’ve always fantasized about taking Velvet in a kitchen...” He hummed, rubbing his chin in thought as he leaned back, the captain’s chair reclining out into a nice, flat bed. “There is this one room that I came across, during my little tour of the ship with Velvet. Strange lock on it, but it didn’t have any movable parts, far as I could tell. Also strong enough to resist a point-blank shotgun blast.”

“You shot the lock?” Patch deadpanned at Eye, grimacing. “You know that may have ended up locking you out permanently, right?”

“Nonsense! Marie-Louise is the ultimate lockpicker, the master key to all doors.” Eye scoffed, folding his forelegs and staring up at the ceiling.

“Apparently not this one. Where is the door?”

“Down below the tower here.” Eye shrugged, sitting up and rolling onto his side, supporting his head with a hoof. “Why the rush, though? I thought the Captain wanted you to gather whatever information you could from me and Jam.”

“I know that look, Mr. Lash, and no, I’m not going to gather it like that.” Patch quickly got to his hooves and stepped to the side, away from the lounging Eye Lash. “Did you find anything else on the ship?”

“Well, besides a fully stocked armory, a radio room that was used to communicate with someone named ‘Admiral’, and that strange door, not really.” Eye shrugged and rolled over onto his back, stretching out and groaning. “So much fighting really tuckers you out... Jam, mind giving me a massage?”

“Er... I-I need to study all this first, though!” Jam looked over to Eye Lash, a gentle blush playing on his cheeks as he tried to avoid those amazing hindlegs of his.

Eye waved the complaint off, rolling over onto his belly and flicking his tail to the side. “Ohh, give the work a break for now. Wait until Spyglass comes back.” He gestures for Jam to come over to his side, Patch rolling his eyes as the lovesick stallion started to make his way over. Eye glanced over to the vampire, smiling brightly as he waggled his brow. “You can have one as well if you like, Patch.”

“The day I get touched by a stallion is during my autopsy,” Patch deadpanned as he spoke, shaking his head and walking towards the door. “I’ll be back with Spyglass. Try not to break everything, you two...”

“Of course, Mr. Patch. Jam, to me. I need your magic hooves...” Eye stretched out as Jam nodded, moving up to his side and getting to work on his emperor’s shoulders as Patch made a tactical retreat to the stairs.

Find Spyglass, bring him back here before Eye and Jam destroy the bridge with... with, er... Goddess, I can’t even apply a word to it. The vampire sighed as he made his way down, frowning. The sound of hoofsteps brought some hope back, however, and he picked up the pace, gliding down the wide, spiralling steps built into the walls of the tower. Spyglass and Vex made it up only a few steps before Patch landed gracefully on the railing, standing on it with his wings spread wide. “Ah, Captain!”

“Mr. Patch? Why aren’t you on the bridge?” Spyglass raised his eyebrow at the vampire, a firm, red mark covering his entire face.

“A better question is what happened to you, sir...” Patch raised his brow at the clear injury, tilting his head a bit.

Vex nodded, taking a step up towards Patch. “Allow me to explain...”

“Vex, are you in?” Spyglass knocked on the door to Vex’s quarters on the Iris, the filly hiding off to the side of the door. In her hooves was a block of wood, and her head bore a hastily crafted helmet to protect the critical grey matter held within her cranium. “I need you for the battleship.”

She stayed quiet, narrowing her good eye as she watched the door, gripping her weapon more tightly. A rope ran past her on the floor, tied to the door, only the latch keeping it from opening already. Strung up on the ceiling was a filing cabinet, the bottom of it tied to the ceiling by the very same rope tied to the door. Must have been captured... it’s been quite a while since anybody came back to the ship. Oh well... this is why I set all this up.

She took in a breath and spoke, tensing up as she prepared for a fight. “Alright, come in!”

“Ah, you are in... alright!” Spyglass turned the lever of the door and gave it a push. The rope tugged on it as the filing cabinet’s weight took over, the door swinging wide open as it came down. Vex closed her eye as Spyglass screamed, before being slammed in the face by a flying filing cabinet.

Taking her chance, she hopped around the door and cut another rope, a drawn-back rubber cord flinging forward, launching a bunch of drawers into the hall, Vex quickly following out as the metal projectiles hit the wall. She landed on Spyglass’ belly, horn lit and ready to fire, her makeshift weapon pulled back for a swing.

Only to find the hall was completely empty besides the bleeding, dazed Spyglass on the floor, filing cabinet on the floor beside him. “Oh, ye Goddess... the hell just hit me...?”

“Oh.” Vex frowned, lowering the wood as she looked back to Spyglass. “...Apologies, Captain. I thought you’d been captured.”

“Wh-Why would I be captured by gryphons? They don’t take prisoners...” The captain groaned, holding his nose. “Oh Goddess, am I bleeding?”

“Uhhhh...” Vex stared at him for a moment, coughing into a hoof lightly. “Perhaps visiting a medic would be the logical option...”

“Damn it...” Spyglass held his head, sitting back up. Vex slid down his belly and hopped off his lap, landing on the floor in front of him and turning to examine his face. “Why’d you set all this up?”

“For exactly the proposed scenario I informed you of. Your capture. In another scenario, it would be an enemy incursion of the ship, and them coming to my room.” She shuddered, shaking her head at the thought of being captured by a bunch of feathery rebels. “Not going back to that life...”

“We’ll visit the kitchen, get myself some ice... c’mon, we need you on the other ship. And no, before you ask, we aren’t being boarded.” Spyglass got to his hooves, tipping his head up to keep his nose from bleeding more. He promptly walked into a wall, bumping off it with a grunt. “Ah... mind telling me where we’re going? I can’t see very well like this...”

“Very well.” Vex nodded and moved to his side, bumping his foreleg with her cheek before proceeding on ahead. “Walk ahead twenty three meters, you’ll reach the stairs leading up towards the second level.”

Spyglass groaned at the directions, but proceeded on alongside Vex.

Patch launched into a laughing fit, flipping onto his back and clutching his chest as he coughed out his chortles. “A filing cabinet? Seriously? Oh Goddess!”

“Yes... it was a hilarious moment, I’m sure.” Spyglass deadpanned at Patch before moving up the steps. He made it up a few before Patch hopped in front of him, coming down from his giggles.

“Hahaha... h-hang on, w-we shouldn’t go... go to the bridge yet!” Patch shivered from the last few laughs, before taking a deep breath and composing himself. “Ah, currently, Mr. Lash is receiving a massage from Mr. Jam.”

“And you left them in the bridge alone?” Spyglass went wide-eyed at that, gritting his teeth before spreading his wings. “They’re just going to make a mess of the place!” He hopped forward onto the steps, Patch jumping back and blocking his path.

“Which I will have them clean afterwards, but, there is something we should examine first!” Patch spoke quickly, pointing off down the stairs. “Apparently there’s a door with a strange lock that Eye Lash couldn’t open, even with a shotgun. It could be a special room holding this ship’s treasure.”

“Treasure?” Spyglass raised his eyebrow at Patch, folding his wings up at his sides. “Well, that would be good to secure first.”

“Especially since, if Eye Lash finds a way to open it, you can be certain all of it will disappear into his ‘Emperor’s Piggy Bank’ fund...”

The two stallions narrowed their eyes at that, Spyglass nodding soon after. “Well, it’s worth checking out. But first, we should check in with Jam... hopefully before they’ve gotten into some kind of compromising position. Vex, if you would come along with us?”

“You say that as if I have a choice.” Vex scoffed quietly, heading on up the stairs.

And if I’m lucky, Vex will help us figure out the controls so Jam can pilot the ship. Goddess forbid I can give it to anybody else, and Patch is the only way I stay sane with Eye and his group... Spyglass’ eye twitched at the thought of being forced to work alone on the Iris, Eye making a mess of everything in sight, Velvet shouting up a storm, Jam stumbling over himself and Vex being a nuisance.

Still, the walk up to the bridge went without issue. Mostly because the issues immediately began as Spyglass pushed open the door. He looked in, grabbed the door lever, and swiftly slammed it shut, backpedalling with a thick blush on his face.

“Is someone there?” Eye called out, Jam letting out a yelp, followed by a husky groan. “Sorry, room’s in use!”

“For the love of the Goddess, Mr. Lash, the bridge is not for such brazen acts!” Spyglass rubbed his eyes as his wings fluttered. “At least tell me the blinds are closed!”

“The b-bridge has blinds!?” Jam squeaked. “Eye, you never told me that!”

“Whoops, slipped my mind.” Eye brushed it off vocally, before hoofsteps came from the bridge. The door creaked open a bit after the lever was twisted, and Eye peeked out through it, raising his brow. His mane was a mess, and his body was covered in something sticky. “Hello there!”

Patch just narrowed his eyes at the sight, face scrunching at the smell coming off the stallion in front of him. “Mr. Lash, if you and Mr. Jam would kindly stop whatever unholy thing you’re doing with each other, we need the bridge.”

“You’re not actually going to make me go in there, are you?” Vex blinked, looking over to Spyglass in horror.

“We must all make sacrifices, Miss Vex... some greater than others.” Spyglass frowned, bowing his head slightly as Eye sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Oh, fine.” Eye moved back into the room, closing the door behind him and raising his voice. “Jam, collect the oils and, er... just, go over into the corner! And yes, you can walk, don’t worry! No, don’t you give me that nonsense about your legs being numb!”

A few deep grunts and groans later, and Eye called out from within the bridge. “Alright, you can come in!”

Please, Princess, don’t let us be scarred by what we see... Spyglass took in a deep breath, looking to his compatriots before moving up to the door, twisting the lever, and opening it slowly, worried for what he was about to behold. Within, he found the most dire, horrific of sights.

Nothing.

The bridge was spotless.

“...This... raises questions that I don’t think I want answered...” Spyglass mumbled, before taking a few steps into the bridge. Then promptly slipping on the floor, crashing down onto his rump and sliding forward, the liquid under him feeling rather warm. “Aaaand those questions just got answered!”

“Er... Vex, hop onto my back, I’ll fly us in.” Patch moved up towards the door, Vex grabbing his tail and climbing up it, mounting his back. The filly slid forward and grabbed onto his neck, speaking firmly and simply to him.

“Drop me and I blow us all up.”

“It would likely be an honorable exit for the poor captain at this point,” Patch mumbled, moving into the room and taking to the air, a few cautious flaps of his wings lifting him up near the door, before he started his way over to the consoles.

“J-Just have her examine the controls, and— oh my word, that’s sticky! What is all this?!” Spyglass shouted, glaring over at Jam and Eye, curled up in the corner together.

“Something magical that only Jam can make with me.” Eye smiled, winking to the captain, which only made the bile in his throat rise higher.

I’m going to have nightmares...

As Spyglass contemplated this new Tartarus he’d slipped into, Patch floated near the consoles, Vex leaning over and examining them closely.

“Thrust controls, yaw and pitch, gasbag pump...” Vex hummed quietly, before nodding. “These are typical controls you’d find in a more recent airship.”

“How can you tell?” Patch raised his eyebrow, ignoring Spyglass slipping around and crying in the muck.

“Simply put, these consoles are all connected to systems across the ship via crystal dust wiring. It’s a central control circuit, instead of everything being connected via wood axles and such. Only a matter of experimentation at this point, but I should have it down in a little while. I’ll begin once the floor is less slippery and covered in Spyglass tears...”

The two ponies looked back to the whimpering captain, flapping his wings so he could make it back to the door as Eye had a massive laugh over the display, howling with his pet stallion sat quietly beside him, ears splayed back in a worrisome look.

“I’ll get them to clean up...” Patch mumbled, sighing as he set about that task.

“You what?”

“I said, I want control of the ship, which will now be known as the Complete Vexation.”

Vex frowned as she sat in the thankfully cleaned up captain’s chair of the battleship, looking down on Spyglass sitting before her. Patch was busy with Jam, looking over the controls at the front of the ship, while Eye sat in the corner, polishing his guns.

“I refuse! The one who’s going to be piloting this ship is Mr. Jam!” Spyglass furrowed his brow, folding his forelegs as he resolutely pushed out his chest.

“Really? And why do you want him to control this ship so badly?” Vex raised her eyebrow, lying down on the cushion under her. The captain’s chair was comfortably set up to handle a full-sized gryphon, the cushion being a good three times larger than the filly it was supporting. “Especially considering what would happen in that case...”

“Oh no, you aren’t threatening me out of this, Miss Vex.” Spyglass narrowed his eyes, leaning in towards her. “Listen. Amongst the crew, Mr. Jam is the best to have serving here. I need Mr. Patch and Mr. Periscope back on the ship, and the only other senior members of my crew are a pothead, a sadist, a cowardly lookout who admittedly is an incredible shot, and a whole lot of other pirates who just can’t run a ship. Mr. Jam is the best choice.”

“And I assume you know that someone else would come along with him, to help run the ship, yes?” Vex raised her brow slightly, staring at Spyglass as she shifted her mane over her bad eye with a hoof.

“You, yes.”

“No. I mean the little stallion in the corner.” Vex nodded towards Eye slightly, glancing over to him. “You really think he wouldn’t take the chance to have fun on a massive, advanced battleship, as well as order Mr. Jam around...?”

Spyglass blinked at that, looking over to Eye. The stallion looked up, smiling and waving to the captain before going back to polishing his guns, just as Spyglass’ good eye twitched, his pupil shrinking. Oh Goddess...

The images scrolling through his mind were too graphic for description.

“See my point?” Vex looked back to Spyglass, the stallion quietly nodding.

“F-Fine.” He sighed quietly, looking back to the filly. “But I want you to teach Jam the ropes anyways. I’d rather not just leave it in your ‘capable’ hooves either.”

“Don’t trust me?” Vex deadpanned at the captain, frowning. “I’m the most brilliant member of your crew, and you don’t trust me with a ship I’m fully capable of running?”

“A ship that nobody else knows a lick about is more my point. Look, I trust you all, but considering how many new members have been added to my crew over the last pair of weeks, I haven’t had the time necessary to get to know all of you.” Spyglass’ look softened slightly, and he lowered his forehooves to the floor as he looked into Vex’s eye. “This ship, just like the Iris, is going to serve a great purpose for all of us, and the last thing I need is to worry about a powerful battleship not being under my full command. What I need is for you, and him, to follow orders.”

“Alright, then allow me to dissuade your worries.” Vex frowned gently, letting out a quiet sigh as she folded her forelegs on the cushion. “I am a part of your crew. I was, ever since I’d joined it, and I do support your cause. I do not have an agenda towards your destruction, so long as no one gets in the way of my studies. I do not have any plans about splintering away from your crew, taking this ship, or anything else. But, this remains so only as long as you do not stop me.” Vex furrowed her brow, leaning in close to the captain. “I will run this ship. So long as I have that, I will follow your orders... but try to replace me as its officer, and not only will you no longer have a usable ship, but other issues as well.”

“...Is that a threat?” Spyglass hissed, glaring at the filly.

“It is a promise.” Vex leered back at him, eye narrowed in a glare of her own. “Trust is a rare thing to have in this world. But I assure you this: your orders will be followed, so long as I can have this ship without someone looking over my shoulder. I will allow Space Jam to be on this ship, if only because he is the one stallion who assisted me back in Tradewinds. Is this acceptable?”

Spyglass fell silent, ears drooping slightly as he considered his options. He bit his lip lightly, groaning as his brain worked hard on finding an alternative, trying to think of someone else who could run the ship, any other possible option that didn’t put an untrustworthy filly in command of a city-ending warship.

But nothing came.

“...It is agreed.” Spyglass frowned, nodding to Vex. “The ship is yours... so long as it operates under the flag of the Farsight Pirates, and that you follow my orders.”

“I shall.” Vex smiled lightly, nodding back to Spyglass. “I will not betray you, Captain, filly’s honor.”

We’ll see how far that ‘honor’ goes... Spyglass nodded, managing a small smile himself, before he finally stood up. “Very well, with that handled... shall we go take care of our other problem?”

“Agreed. Mr. Patch, Captain. Let’s go have a look at this oh-so-impossible ‘lock’ you mentioned earlier...” I’ll pay myself five bits it’s just a really strong padlock.

“Righto.” Patch nodded and moved away from the consoles, patting Jam on the shoulder as he went before trotting on towards the door, proceeding through the open pathway with Vex and Spyglass behind him. He lead the two ponies along down the stairs, and through a trap door in the floor of the command tower, going down another two floors, according to Eye’s directions.

Once they were out of earshot, Jam glanced at Eye. “Are you ever going to tell them it was just hot oil?”

Eye looked over to him with a grin, chuckling. “Of course not, did you see the looks on their faces? Now come on, we should get back to my quarters so the real fun can begin.”

Vex, Spyglass, and Patch soon arrived a solitary room with four doors leading to different halls, much like the floor above. Green metal walls, steel flooring, and the doors were built of thick iron to resist assault, but amongst them was a fifth door.

This door was built of a strange blue metal, lined with a glowing red, a large disk located at its center. The disk was broken up into four segments, numerous, incomplete pictures seen on the segments. Vex, Spyglass and Patch walked over to the disk, the damage caused by the shotgun immediately apparent in the burn marks and pock marks that resulted from its use.

“Well, this is interesting.” Spyglass furrowed his brow, stepping up to the door. He scanned over the lock for a bit before placing his hoof on it, tilting his head to the side. “Must be booby trapped, if it’s protecting anything valuable... though the lock isn’t a simple horn-key lock, or any kind of padlock I’ve seen before.”

Patch moved up to the captain’s side as he removed his hoof from the center of the lock, checking it over alongside Spyglass. “I guess nobody really accesses this place much, huh?”

“Not entirely, but it’s definitely something to protect if they don’t use something conventional. Here, let me see.” Vex moved up beside Spyglass, hopping up onto his back and moving up onto his head, leaning down and examining the images closely. “Hmm... can the disks be moved?”

Spyglass sat down and placed his hooves on the first disk closest to the center, and gave it a twist. The disk moved freely, rotating until it hit a quarter turn, where it clicked back down and went still. “Seems so.”

“Alright then, let’s see here...” Vex rubbed her chin as she laid down on Spyglass’ mane, humming quietly. “Try moving the outermost disk.”

Spyglass followed the order, placing his hooves on the outside and giving it a push. The disk refused to move, however. “...Won’t budge.”

“Then that is what we must follow. Move the disks to line up with the outermost image.” Vex reached forward and tapped the side of the outer disk. “Use this for a reference. Looks like part of a sun.”

“Very well.” Spyglass placed his hooves on the first disk in from the outside, Patch sitting down by his side as he set to work.

Twist, click. Turn, click. Each disk clicked firmly into place, Spyglass following the reference Vex pointed out, the picture becoming more clear as each disk clicked, then locked into place. Finally, the pictures became clear.

The sun and moon, next to each other at the bottom, on a blue background. They both moved up to a sunset and half-moon at the sides, the sun to the left and the moon to the right, the blue losing some of its color. And finally, they both overlapped each other at the top, the background shifting to a dull, dead grey.

Vex narrowed her eyes at it, mumbling to herself. “...That’s a solar eclipse...”

“A solar eclipse? Interesting design for a lock.” Spyglass raised his brow, reaching forward with his hoof and pushing the center of the disk in. A loud ‘clank’ was heard, and the door shifted, turning inwards. “Perhaps whatever’s inside can tell us just what inspired such a lock...”

With the doorway open, the three ponies proceeded on into the ship’s supposed ‘treasure room’.

“Well, this is... wow.” Spyglass blinked at the very clear darkness of the room, looking around. “Anyone see a lantern?”

“I see one... give me a moment.” Patch spread his wings and took off into the darkness, his eyes quickly adjusting for night vision. He swooped up to the ceiling and moved to the chandelier in the center, examining the lanterns placed on it. “Hm, that’s interesting... all closed in the boxes. Maybe... what’s this knob here?” He looked down at the bottom of a lantern, seeing a brown knob sticking out from the side of it. He took hold with his hoof and gave it a pull, a push, even a jerk up and down, but it refused to budge.

“Maybe if I twist it?” He mumbled, turning the knob. He heard a click, and a spark lit inside the lantern, before a flame burst to life inside. “Ah, jackpot!” He chuckled to himself and went around the chandelier, repeating the process for the eleven other lanterns on its arms. Each one lit the room up a little more, before finally, the contents of the area were revealed.

Along the walls sat fat, brown wood chests, lids tilted open slightly to reveal the myriad of gold bits inside them. Spyglass’ jaw hit the floor as he saw all the accumulated treasure, the glittering gold bringing a tear to his eye. “Oh my word, it’s... i-it’s gorgeous...”

“Do you need a moment, captain?” Vex raised her eyebrow, hopping off his head and down onto his back, then down to the floor before moving on towards the center of the room. It was quite long, with the fifteen chests up against the walls under bookcases carved right into the walls, books all along the shelves. And, at the back of the room, a large portrait hung on the back wall, torn in places, over a desk with a single note on it. I think I might need quite a few for all these books.

“This is quite a bit more than a treasure room, isn’t it?” Patch landed down on the floor next to Vex, going over to one of the chests and opening it up. “Just what kinds of raids did these pirates go on? These chests are filled to the brim with bits.” He picked one of the coins up, and did the classic ‘bite test’ on it, wincing as the hard metal refused to budge. “Real, too.”

Vex hopped up onto one of the chests, checking a few book spines and reading the names. “And, from what I can see, these books are on magic and history.” Her eye turned towards the desk at the end of the room, under the portrait. She trotted over to it, looking up at the painting, though her brow furrowed at its current state. “That’s... of the Princess, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Princess Celestia to be exact,” Patch said as he stepped up beside Vex, looking over the portrait. “But why is it torn so badly? It’s such a beautiful painting, too...”

The portrait was of the radiant Princess of the Sun standing in a field, wings spread wide with the brilliant yellow sun positioned over her crown, between her wings. But, the painting was torn along the wings, and one of her brilliant pink eyes was missing entirely. Even the sun didn’t avoid whatever happened to the painting, covered in cuts and tears.

Spyglass shook his head and sighed. “Such a waste of art...” He looked down to the desk, the surface completely bare of anything except the single note. There wasn’t even a speck of dust. “What’s this then?” He moved forward, leaning in towards the note, though all the characters on the page were jumbled into an illegible mess.

WKB XVDPIZB HTRJX ILO QEH PXQ. FGZWO LRU JZGBPMJA KL IBZFITCVWLB.

“What nonsense is this?” Patch slipped in by Spyglass, raising his eyebrow.

“This is a coded message...” Spyglass mumbled, placing a hoof on the desk and looking over the characters closely. “It’s all arranged in a line.”

“Looks simple enough.” Vex sat on Spyglass’ mane, nodding lightly. “I could have that decoded, when I’ve got time. Leave it here with me, and when it’s done, I’ll let you know what it says.”

Spyglass nodded, looking up to Vex. “Thank you, Miss Vex. Though I will be checking in regularly for your progress.”

“That is acceptable. I do have other things to work on, but I will pay it suitable attention when the focus becomes available.” Vex looked back to the note, raising an eyebrow slightly and rubbing her chin. Now, what does it say, I wonder? And why is it in this treasure room?

With a minor shrug, she waved it off. Oh well. I’ll handle it later. Can’t be more important than Velvet.