20 Young Moon 1008

The cabin that Ludvig had arranged for them was small, but comfortable and had all the necessities provided. It definitely wasn’t some first-class luxury liner, but that didn’t matter, at least not to Emerald. She put Flurry on the floor after waking her up as she laid the suitcases on the floor as well.

‘’I’ll do Flurry’s bed,’’ Star offered, and Emerald looked up to see his magic turn the couch into the second bed it doubled as.

‘’Thanks,’’ she said, before looking at Flurry. ‘’What do you want to do?’’

‘’Can I get this coat off?’’ Flurry asked with a small pout.

Emerald shook her head. ‘’Yes, sweetheart, but you’ll need to wear something whenever you’re going out of the cabin. Otherwise bad ponies might see your wings.’’

Flurry’s pout intensified, but she nodded anyway. ‘’Okay, Emerald. I’ll do that.’’

Emerald smiled reassuringly at the foal. ‘’I’m proud of you for listening so well to us.’’ And she really was. Flurry had been a surprisingly calm foal, for all that had happened in the past week or so. She had listened well to whatever Star or Emerald had asked from her, and hadn’t complained even once about her new situation.

‘’Thanks, Emerald,’’ Flurry chirped. ‘’I’m hungry. Can we go eat?’’

‘’Sure,’’ Star jumped in, and Emerald saw he had fixed the beds and unpacked some of the suitcases’ contents already. ‘’If you don’t want to put a coat on, there are some other clothes for you.’’

‘’I have a nice sweater for you,’’ Emerald offered as she pulled out the sweater in question. It was a thick, dark purple thing that would cover Flurry's entire upper body and half of her legs. Emerald had knitted it for her in the past days.

Flurry reached out with a hoof and touched the sweater. ‘’It’s soft,’’ she remarked, before looking up at Emerald. ‘’Can you put it on me?’’

‘’Sure,’’ Emerald agreed. She got Flurry out of her coat, and then slipped the sweater onto her body. Flurry wiggled back and forth to get it on fully, before smiling.

‘’It’s so warm,’’ she said wistfully. ‘’I like it.’’

‘’That’s the point, I think,’’ Star commented. ‘’Shall we go to the mess now? And then we can look around the ship.’’

Emerald nodded. ‘’Sounds like a plan.’’ She’d have preferred the filly stay inside, but that was just cruel.

‘’Emerald, can I sit on your back again?’’ Flurry asked.

‘’Sure thing, sweetheart,’’ Emerald answered. As she kneeled so Flurry could get on her back, she reflected that she never expected to be this close to the young alicorn. After all, Emerald was only a hoofmaiden. At best, she could have been a faux-aunt-like figure. Now though, she was steadily turning into something more. For how long would that last?

Once Flurry was securely on her back, Emerald stood back up. Star was already standing at the door, watching them with a careful eye. He held open the door for them, and then closed it once they were out.

‘’Which way is the mess?’’ Emerald asked no-one in particular.

‘’That way.’’ Star pointed down the hallway, and then walked forward.

After finding the mess and having a quick lunch - the ship’s kitchen was nothing luxurious, but it wasn’t terrible either - which summarized the ship, if Emerald was being honest with herself - they made their way to the front of the ship. The shore was steadily fading away from sight, and the sun was at its highest point now.

‘’This is the sea, Flurry,’’ Star explained to the foal, who was staring at the waves with wide eyes. ‘’Think of it as a very big lake, filled with salt water.’’

‘’How big is it?’’ Flurry asked Star.

‘’This is the Eagleheart Sea, which is a part of the Celestial Sea, which separates Equus from Griffonia and Zebrica. It takes a ship roughly a week or two to sail from here to Manehattan. You know where Manehattan is, right?’’

‘’No?’’ Flurry hesitantly admitted.

Star gave her a reassuring smile. ‘’No problem. I have a map in my suitcases, we can look at it sometime.’’

‘’Yay!’’ Flurry softly cheered.

‘’What do you want to do now, Flurry?’’ Emerald asked the foal. ‘’Do you want to watch the sea, or do you want to go back to the cabin?’’

‘’I’d like to go to the cabin, Emerald. I’m sleepy.’’

‘’As you wish, sweetie.’’ Emerald smiled as she turned and began to walk towards the cabins, Star trailing behind her.

In the corner of her eye, Emerald caught something moving. She turned her head around, just in time to catch the claw headed for her face. In a burst of speed, she dodged.

Emerald took a few steps back, quickly glancing behind her to check if Flurry was alright. The foal was wide-eyed, but silent. Looking back, she saw her assailant was a black griffon.

He was also being held against the ground by Star’s golden aura. The griffon couldn’t even struggle; the only thing he could do was glare hatefully.

‘’Isn’t this interesting?’’ Star asked rhetorically as he stepped closer to the griffon. ‘’Now who in Tartarus are you?’’

‘’Gå till Maar, din jävel,’’ the griffon replied harshly. Emerald didn’t know what that meant, but she could guess based on the reactions of the other passengers.

‘’Thank you, but no,’’ Star pressed on, unfazed by the insult. ‘’Though you might be meeting him soon, if you don’t care to tell me what I want to know.’’

The griffon remained silent, and no one else dared to speak. Emerald could feel Flurry huddling into her coat, the foal’s feathers touching Emerald’s sides.

‘’Guess not,’’ Star said flippantly. ‘’This is on you.’’ He briefly lifted his head and looked around the crowd. ‘’Foals and easily-scared creatures should stop watching,’’ he advised, before looking back down. And the telekinetic aura began to… crackle.

The griffon’s face contorted into silent pain as he began to writhe on the floor. A few people gasped, horrified, and Emerald made sure that Flurry’s face was away from the scene. She watched herself, in morbid fascination.

Emerald was no expert on magic, but to her, it appeared as if Star was - somehow - electrocuting the griffon through his telekinesis. She had never seen someone be electrocuted before, but it looked painful. Very painful.

‘’Stop it!’’ a griffon cried suddenly. ‘’He doesn’t deserve such a torture!’’

Star looked at the griffon, one eyebrow raised. ‘’He tried to hit my friend. And seeing as I have every reason to be very suspicious of anyone that tries to harm me or mine, I am fully within my rights.’’

‘’Besides,’’ he pointed out, ‘’he could have just answered.’’

‘’ENOUGH!’’ the assailant shouted. ‘’Please! I’ll tell you!’’

The crackle vanished as Star loomed over the griffon. ‘’Well?’’ he asked after a moment.

‘’I was sent-’’ the griffon took a deep, pained breath, ‘’by P-Prince Ondska… to capture the filly.’’

Amore damm it.

‘’Hmm…’’ Star hmm-ed, ignoring the gasps of shock from the others. ‘’Since I already know what he’s after then, I don’t need to have you repeat it.’’ And he sent a bolt of golden energy from his horn at the griffon’s head. He collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

Of course, the crew chose that moment to arrive. ‘’What’s going on here?’’ A bulky sailor asked as he pushed through the crowd.

Emerald watched in interest as Star engaged in rapid conversation in Vedinian with the sailors. Star kept his face serenely calm, while the sailor went through anger, disbelief and rage in a minute.

Two more sailors arrived, and with a few words they took the unconscious griffon away to… somewhere. Some other sailors dispersed the crowd that had formed around them. A minute later, Star apparently finished his conversation with the sailor, as he turned back to Emerald and smiled.

‘’Everything’s been cleared up,’’ he said cheerily. ‘’The griffon will be locked in an empty cabin and released into local authorities' custody in the next port, that being Grifftonia.’’

‘’And us?’’ Emerald inquired, keeping her tone light.

‘’We’re free to enjoy the rest of our stay until we reach our destination,’’ was Star’s answer.

Translation: Everything’s fine.

Emerald let out a sigh, sagging her shoulders. ‘’That’s good.’’

She felt Flurry shift on her back. ‘’Is it over, Emerald?’’

‘’It is,’’ Star affirmed. ‘’Come on, let’s go to our rooms.’’

|-x-X-x-|

22 Young Moon 1008

‘’Attention everycreature, we have a pirate ship approaching from the west. Please return to your cabins.’’

Stars-fucking-damnit, he really couldn’t have a moment of rest.

As soon as the announcement ended, Star turned to Emerald. ‘’Stay in here, don’t go outside, keep Flurry safe,’’ he ordered as he slipped his cloak on and grabbed his sword from the table.

‘’What are you going to do?” Emerald asked.

As if that isn’t obvious.

‘’I’m going to make sure those pirates aren’t going to bother us,’’ Star replied, before opening the door and leaving the room.

He calmly strode through the corridors, even as everyone else ran towards their cabins in panic. He stepped onto the deck, and for a moment enjoyed the wind blowing through his mane and cloak.

Fucking pirates. Honestly, Star should have convinced Celestia to invade Haukland. He probably could have, all things considered. It would have solved a lot of problems.

‘’Sir!’’ he turned to see a flustered griffon ensign. ‘’You have to go cabin! Not safe!’’ His Equish was laced with a heavy Vedinian accent.

‘’Not to worry,’’ Star replied in perfect Vedinian, silently thankful to Ludvig for teaching him the language. ‘’I’m going to take care of these pirates for you.’’

The ensign shook his head, but was too stunned to react as Star swept past him. The unicorn’s horn lit up as he looked over the seas, casting a projection spell. The image of a large destroyer appeared in gold.

Of course, it couldn’t be just any ship. It had to be one that Star recognized, because fuck him, honestly. Star sighed, and drew on his magic. Fireball, voice-projection spell, and that should be enough.

If not… Well, taking out a destroyer on his lonesome was not as hard as obliterating a tank column.

Even if he detested the smell of burning griffon.

|-x-X-x-|

22 Young Moon 1008

The pirate crew of the ‘requisitioned’ Feathisian destroyer Adelaar was in high spirits. There was an unarmed transport at twelve o’clock, and from the looks of it it was filled with moderately wealthy griffons. That meant profit.

They were not counting on a unicorn that was far too powerful for them to handle.

The pirates, collectively, stared in shock as a giant fire-ball soared through the air and punched a hole straight through the hull, mere centimetres above the water level.

‘’Message Meyer,’’ a stallion said, his voice perfectly hearable despite the distance. ‘’And tell that this ship is under the protection of Shining Sea.’’

Up on the bridge, the captain's eyes widened in recognition. ‘’As you wish, Shining,’’ he said.

The unicorn chuckled. Had he heard the captain? ‘’Hello to you too, Schultz. Good to know I’m remembered. Now scram, because the next fire-ball will be straight through the engines.’’

‘’Do as he says!’’ the captain hissed at his crew. ‘’I do not want to fuck with that guy. He’ll blow up this ship and then turn around to cuddle with his sister.’’

The crew, wisely, decided to trust their captain’s judgment and turned the ship around at a rapid pace.

Unbeknownst to them, the unicorn watched them leave with a smirk, and then strode back to the cabin he had booked.

Author's Note

‘’Gå till Maar, din jävel,’’ is Swedish (I used a translator since I do not speak the languague, please correct me if I wrote it wrong) and is supposed to mean ''Go to Maar, you son of a bitch.''
Maar is the griffon's god of death, war, pestilence and all other bad things in the world. Vedinian is supposed to be Swedish. It won't feature a lot in this story though.

Also, I have decided that I will upload a new chapter every Tuesday, maybe two if one is particularly short or if I feel like it. I have the next three chapters fully worked out and am working on the ones following those, so stay tuned!

Also also, thanks to everyone who read, liked or reviewed this fic! It means a lot to me, and I have a lot of content already written out and planned, and without giving anything away I can promise you that this story will be a long one.

Cheers!

(Edited on 27-8-2021)