The Master Alchemist

Twilight Sparkle kept her eyes closed as the flow of magic energy left her. Its faint hum boomed through her ears. The ship swayed under her and the wizards' magic curtain of invisibility. The gentle rocking soothed her, stopping the burning pain in her horn from pervading her body. However, the exhaustion was still taking its toll. The thirty unicorns (spaced evenly across the fleet) were pouring every ounce of strength they had to stop the shield from faltering.

The lavender unicorn once more considered her mentor's parting words. Sometimes, Twilight, you need firepower. And when you need firepower, you need a lot of it. True, perhaps, but Twilight still wondered whether or not they really needed an entire fleet of twenty of Equestria's best steam vessels on the line. After all, this was a peace summit. Well, more like a ransom. Held on the relatively neutral ground of Yorlug, an island controlled by griffins between the zebras and ponies.

A nudge shook her from her quiet meditations. "Hey, I'm here," a male voice called. She felt a surge of power entering her field, and left the replacement mage to his work. The stallion was a warped blue-on-white color, the pattern reversed on his mane and tail. His magenta robe covered most of his body, but Twilight still picked out some details. The stallion quickly covered his head with the enchanted hood, visibly growing the stream of energy.

Twilight had been the longest of the five unicorns on the flagship without a break. Not because she was capable in her endurance, but rather because somepony else might have done her job wrong. The starting incantation had to be spot on or the entire effect might have been ruined.

Picking a comfortable spot on the steel deck of the Midnight Watch, Twilight sat herself down and waited. The ships were almost at their destination now, a little behind the princess' chariots. Yorlug island was visible about a mile out through the one-way mirror effect of the shield. A shiver ran through her body. Twilight did not want a war, of course, because from her studies they tended to be morally gray areas and generally ended with many innocent deaths; yet, she still found the whole concept rather... exciting. She'd fought before, of course, during the Shadow War--when the changelings had attacked Canterlot. After which she had immediately studied and practiced the martial arts developed by ponykind throughout the centuries. In that case, her books were her mentor. Theory and some application was good enough for her.

After a short sprint, the ships settled into the natural harbor on Yorlug's east side. The cannons of the fleet focused on the island, loaded with enchanted shells of never-ending fire. That was when Twilight's excitement started to dim; close combat was vigourous and intense, but as she began to imagine being shelled more and more, the thought of a war slowly became less and less enticing. Unsurprisingly, the thought of being cooked alive was not a plus to the unicorn.

The predawn gray began to fade away as Luna raised the sun in place of her sister. It was beautiful, the way the colors mixed in a blend of wonder.

Then the sirens went off.

******************

Princess Celestia's horn glowed a bright yellow with power. Her guards lined up their weapons, sharp edges, rounded barrels, and flaming arrows all pointed in different directions. The zebras were in a similar formation, and the griffins were prepared for a fight. One lone lion-bird listened to a magical communications device. He was in the middle, the line of fire in the standoff. The young griffin spoke with one of his airborne bretheren, who was surveying the scene, as alarm klaxons wailed for attention. He was harried and out of breath.

"Can you see them? Why not? How many? Dead or injured? Both. Okay. Don't panic, send everyone to their positions and prepare. There might be more of them. Echo, Delta, and Omega will be sent out to find the intruders. It's not overkill, they took out a whole patrol! Find them and apprehend them. If not, lethal force is authorized." He turned to his commander, Colonel Strongwing. "Sir, we have a patrol and overwatch Alpha down. Casevac is there and we have multiple squads searching. A few are being sent out to scout for landing craft."

Strongwing put a wing on his comrade's shoulder. "Good job, son. Get to overwatch with Cromley." The younger griffin nodded and saluted with a wing, then took off to the blue skies. Strongwing turned to the assembled. "Sorry, everyone. Intruders were spotted, but we don't know who they are. I ask that you all return to your vessels while we sort this out."

Celestia was not going to let this slide. "If you'd wait for just a moment, Strongwing," she hissed through her teeth, neglecting the griffin's formal title. She disappeared in a yellow haze of mist.

The princess cast a detection spell and found the perpetrators in moments. Her ethereal form snapped to their location in a cave. The hazy gas gathered again and she was solid once more. A floating magical light came into being in front of her. As she saw the two ponies in front of her, she realized how deep they were in... well...

Shit. Though the Princess was loathe to swear out loud, her thoughts were sometimes  uncivilized. Voraloxle and Applebloom, two ponies she knew. The former of which she was less than pleasant with. How they had come together she had only a slight inkling of, but what she did know was that Applebloom was unconscious and Voraloxle was a pirate. Bad combo.

Beginning a spell, Celestia dropped into a strong stance and poured energy into her horn. Within a few seconds, both of the ponies in front of her and Celestia herself were nothing more then a glowing, disembodied shape. A teleport found all three of them back in the meeting room at the top of the mountain base.

"I have them, Strongwing. No need to get your feathers in a jumble," she said, remaining as serious as she could. A little bit of reverse psychology couldn't hurt.

To his credit, the Colonel kept a straight face. His men, however, were practically in awe. She had negated their entire system inside thirty seconds. Inside, she giggled. They'd forgotten who they were dealing with. Celestia's humble side grumbled at her growing arrogance, but allowed it for the time being.

Strongwing motioned one of his men forward. "Alright then, we'll take them into custody so the meet can continue."

Celestia pulled Applebloom back like a mother with a child. "Not so fast," she replied, "but you can have him."

By this point, Voraloxle had woken from the stupor inflicted by the ethera spell and bounced back between the now lowered weapons of the ponies and zebras, drawing his revolvers, which promptly brought blade and sight to him.

"Your Highness," he said with mock grace, "I believe you might have had a tad much hard cider. I don't think you know what you're doing." he put on a face of mock concern.

Celestia gave her best I-am-not-amused look, one honed over millenia of negotiations, and said, "Don't get coy with me, pirate. I have all the cards here." Her glare would have pierced the souls of regular ponies.

Voraloxle smirked under his hat and clinked his boots. "Not quite. You forgot the joker." With that, his cloak whipped, and his revolver was replaced with a book. "You should remember next time that I am a very good pickpocket."

A gasp ran through the assembled. Celestia remained calm, while the zebra councilor and Strongwings' eyes grew wide. "The Book of Velnishar," she said blankly. "How ever did you come across it?"

"Oh, it was just lying around behind a few guards. Snagged it on my way to that cave. Too easy." Voraloxle flipped open the chamber of his remaining revolver and pushed rounds in from his bandolier. "Pathetic, considering it basically contains the fate of the entire world and how to make it all happen."

Celestia growled. At this time, all the weapons were focused on the pony. He looked at his fetlock as if checking a watch. "Oops, it appears that I am running late." With that, he disappeared in a flash of smoke. Celestia cast her life-detect spell, but among the commotion, nothing stood out.

The soldiers of all three factions bore up arms. The siren wailed again.

"He's working for you!" the zebra councilor said, pointing a hoof at her, though for her life Celestia could not remember his name. "Zebras, arrest them!"

That was too far. In any other circumstances she might have been more lenient, but Celestia was done playing around. First, they threatened her with Velnishar's book himself. Then they decided that they'd try to lure her here. She wasn't sure where the griffins stood on the issue, but for now she'd leave them out unless they shot at her. But the zebras? They wanted to fight a queen.

But they'd get a goddess.

A primal roar of anger escaped her jaw and Celestia sent a tumbling wave of magical energy rippling through the air that sent the zebras flying back, a few hitting the support spars of the platform, and one or two tumbling over the edge entirely and down the middle peak of Yorlug island. The rest crashed to the ground, stopping short of the cliff.

"Stop this madness!" Strongwing said as the zebras recovered and started to fire their weapons at the ponies. A magical shield was more than enough to stop them from hitting her troops. In fact, the bullets were turned around, and bounced back, even as the zebras levered their carbines. The veritable storm of metal ripped through them, tearing flesh and sending Celestia's attackers pirouetting to the ground. A few remained, and though not a single shot had been fired from the ponies' side, the zebras cowered in fear.

Colonel Strongwing stepped in front of the fuming Celestia and her guards. "Your Highness, please. More violence is not going to help here," he said, trying to placate her.

She held the shield for a few more seconds, then, with a weary sigh, dropped it. "Lower your weapons, ponies." Celestia returned to her normal, calm and regal state. She'd practically lost it there. Part of her mind berated her even as she heard the deep, bass thump of artillery in the distance.

****************

Twilight and the unicorns had long since abandoned the invisibility shields, and those who were not exhausted ran with her to the edge of the battleship. Crewponies dodged out of the way and continued to load shells onto the smaller external  guns. The massive 107 millimeter cannons pumped fire at the zebra fleet. As Twilight neared the edge, she put more speed into her stride. With a leap, all six unicorns flew overboard, and subsequently disappeared into purple smoke.

With a puff of light, the long-range teleport spat the ponies a few feet off the platform's edge. Their forward momentum threw them over and they skidded across the metallic floor, some more elegantly than others. Twilight, who was used to the teleport, rolled to her hooves. The others were slightly... less composed. Vomit ejected from their throats as they reeled.

Luckily, the platform was open to the outdoors and Twilight had had a visual sightline to target. Before her, the Princess was turned, eyes agleam with a sudden fear as she saw the shells bombard the zebra fleet. As soon as she saw Sparkle, however, her face became the same calm and welcoming glance that Twilight had seen the first time she'd met the Princess.

"Your Highness! Are you all right?" Twilight blurted. "We came as soon as we saw the muzzle flashes but we weren't fast enough and the zebras and our ships are fighting and--"

Celestia cut her off. "Deep breaths, my faithful student. We must stop this conflict before any more undue damage is done." She turned to her vessels. "Twilight Sparkle? Get me to my ship." She picked Applebloom up in between her teeth by the scruff of her neck.

Twilight realized she had been shivering. From exhaustion or whatever else, she did not know. The mare forcibly controlled herself and focused once more. Shimmering light engulfed the entire party. She'd never done this many extra-teleports at once, but she knew that she could at least try.

With a zip and a flash, they were gone.

*******************

Zecora had given Gannon a temporary strength enhancement via a potion, but she wasn't sure if that was enough. After this, she swore to herself that she'd have to give him something besides that sight drink recipe.

"You owe me big time, Zecora," Gannon said through clenched teeth as her basket swayed below his pumping wings. His hooves pushed away the clouds around them, and not a single shock travelled through his body.

"Do not worry so early, my friend," she rhymed, "for you will be paid very well in the end! Though for now, we have other matters to attend."

"I really hope that wasn't an innuendo." he replied, once more straining against the makeshift basket harness. He couldn't fly below the clouds for fear of lightning and stronger winds, so he flew through them. And when he didn't need to see, above them, though they both found that air harder to breathe.

Zecora could feel his pain and see it too. Gannon would falter, then just as quickly rebuff the hurt and surge onward. This cycle continued for what seemed like forever--thankfully, since they were flying, they moved much faster than any ship.

The duo dropped suddenly below the clouds.

"Arcade? Is your strength beginning to fade?" Zecora asked, trying to hide the hint of anxiety in her voice.

"Uh, yeah, kinda--URGH!" He grunted and they fell again towards the water. "Iamgoingtodieiamgoingtodie--RR!" Gannon clenched his teeth and struggled to keep them in the air. They passed into the cloud again, but this time, a sharp zap rang through Zecora's ears.

Oh no.

"AHHH!" Arcade convulsed, twisting the harness . The rope threatened to snap, but he fought back the fit and became content with chattering his teeth. They plunged downward at a frightening pace.

Zecora was immediately plunged into a state of anxiety and panic. They were falling, fast, and climbing up wasn't going to help them; neither would smashing into the cold waters below.

"Stay calm, my friend, and see us through to the end!" Zecora said to the stallion abover her, forcing herself to breathe deeply and practice what she preached to her flyer. He flapped his wings, stabilizing the pair mentally and physically. They continued to descend, but the angle was far less steep.

Zecora looked down to the blue waters, watching as they turned green with plant life. A--she did a double take--reef? Quickly, she glanced eastward and, squinting, found a growing mote of dry land on the horizon. She inhaled sharply, and could not help feeling just slightly elated on the inside. Okay, maybe a little more than slightly. Getting there, after all, would end all most of the business she had here, and she could return home.

"Look, my friend! The journey's end!" she cried to Arcade.

He lazily swung his head up and, in a daze of exhaustion. Groggy eyelids cracked open to the sight of Yorlug. Immediately, Zecora noticed a change in his posture. His wings straightened, his muscles tightened, and a new vigor seemed to enter him. Pumping more furiously with each beat, the feathery appendages on Gannon's sides buffetted Zecora with wind. Gannon sailed into the rising sun, focused on the landmass straight in front of him.

Zecora's warning barely reached him in time.

A mass of metal and cloth appeared before him, and he snapped his wings closed and plunged down to avoid what he realized was an airship. Zecora was held in, upside down, to the small carriage by the sheer speed of the drop and the tension in the rope between harness and basket. That didn't do a whole lot to stop her vomit, which dropped out behind them as they continued down.

Gannon picked up again on the other side of the craft. That was bad--if they had seen Zecora, she'd lost all hope of a secretive entry. For a moment, she thought Gannon had been killed when she heard the loud, staccato thump of a shipborne cannon. Her suspicion doubled when Gannon tumbled down, his momentum too slow to keep them flying. A sharp crack split the air, and where Zecora thought she would inhale water, she saw wood.

A blood-stained feather was the last sight she saw before she lost consciousness on the deck of the vessel.