Survival Begins at Home

Shining and the other guards rushed to the battlements and to their ships. The Aeolus was firing on the city while also attacking other ships in the area, and it had caught everypony off guard. As the Equestrian navy scrambled to free their vessels from the docks, the land-based members of the coast guard cleared the docks and streets, funneling everypony they could into solid, stable buildings for their own protection.

Shining stepped up onto the trebuchet platform, which had just finished realigning itself to aim at the Aeolus. "Grapeshot and chainshot only!" he shouted. "There are Equestrian citizens aboard that vessel!"

"Aye!" came the response of the soldiers as they loaded the sling with flak. As the latch was released, the counterweight came down, flinging the shrapnel out of the basket and right at the Aeolus, ripping through her sails. Several other trebuchets launched shortly after, though not all of them had been given the order not to sink her, nor had the ships. Thankfully, a smaller ironclad had made its way in close and was ready to board. Two smaller ships, both brigantines, pulled up along the front and back of the Aeolus, blocking her movement, but taking heavy damages from the Aeolus' strange weapons. They would both be needing significant repairs, but they had her becalmed.

From both the port and starboard sides, the Aeolus was boarded. Had this been done at the dock, rather than in the bay, this would have been a standard inspection with no need for deadly force. Having fired on the city, the crew of the Aeolus had given the Equestrian forces reason to employ their weapons to their full capabilities. As the zebras rushed forward, throwing their stolen armour aside, archers from the Equestrian ships rained arrows down upon them. With no tower shields, the zebras were quick to fall.

The boarding party then cleared every room in the boat, killing off any zebra that failed to surrender. In total, they managed to capture seventeen prisoners. Some of the zebras were unarmed, as they were down in the cargo hold, handling the female sailors that had been captured. They had been stripped down and hung by their wrists from the ceiling. Great care was taken in cutting them down, as they had spent days without standing while their bodies had been abused. Among them, half dead and covered in her own blood, was the first mate.

The Aeolus was towed back to the docks and moored, and all bodies were unloaded, both living and dead. Shining had rushed to the scene to make sure that the Equestrian soldiers knew about the mares in the cargo hold, but when he saw them being carried off covered in cheap cloth to preserve their dignity, he breathed a sigh of relief. He made a mental note to talk to them as soon as they had recovered, then began to assist in escorting the new prisoners to their cells. He wanted to know more about these new weapons the zebras had created, and that meant it was time for another interrogation.

Just as he was arriving at the prison, a soldier ran up to him. "Prince Shining Armor! The zebras are here!"

"I am aware of that," answered Shining, gesturing to his prisoners.

"No, I mean by land!" gasped the soldier. "They're approaching the barricade! We need your guidance!"

"Take me there," Shining ordered, handing off the prisoners to a Junior Grade Lieutenant and following the soldier to the other side of the city. On the way, he had plenty of time to look at the uniform, informing him that the soldier escorting him was a specialist. The scuffing and grease stains on his coat made it seem as if he was a mechanic. I was likely that he worked on military vehicles. He certainly had the build for it.

Lieutenant Commander Stone was already at the scene, as was Major Pyre. "Glad you made it, Shining," announced Stone as Shining climbed up into the tower. "I'm sorry I missed your speech, I was called away to deal with this." He gestured out onto the plains where tens of thousands of Zebras were marching around the city, just outside of the range of the Equestrian archers. "Did I miss anything good?"

"Big naval battle," said Shining, looking out over the encroaching army. "Nearly sank a boatload of hostages, interrogated an enemy soldier, lots of death... So no, nothing too exciting."

"Nothing exciting, indeed," chuckled Stone.

"How long do you suppose this is going to take?" asked Pyre. "We've been here since noon, and all they've done is march with their shields pointed at us."

"You'd rather they rushed our border?" asked Shining. "I'd rather we not have to fight them at all, honestly."

"Really?"

"If they surrender and go back home, I'd be fine with that, too," agreed Stone.

"Yeah, that would be great," answered Pyre. "But I'd still like them to come close enough for us to kick their arses. They started this war, and it's high time we ended it with a decisive victory."

Shining shook his head and turned his attention to the army that was slowly surrounding the city. They had not turned their attention to the roads, nor had they approached. It was possible that they were supposed to line up and wait for the sound of the Aeolus' new weapon, which made a lot of noise, but if they never heard the call, they had no signal to move on.

"I think I need to go back to the prison," decided Shining. "We captured quite a few of their comrades, so odds are one of them might know the plan. One of them I have a small rapport with already."

"Making friends with the enemy, are we?" joked Stone. "Are you sure you don't need a babysitter to keep you from feeding him our secrets?"

"Ya caught me," smirked Shining. "I had so much fun rubbing my foot against his cock this morning that I just can't think of anything right now but tasting it. So long, boys. When next we meet, my arsehole will be super wide and dripping with zebra penis paste."