Chapter Twenty Four - Uncertain Times

While I was saying my goodbyes to Captain Quicksilver and the Javelins, we were interrupted by a guttural roar as our yeti prisoner smashed out of the fo'c'sle hatchway with a huge iron pry bar in one fist. His broken legs, swaddled in plaster, didn't seem to hamper his movements much, as he used his huge arms to propel himself toward the crew on the forward hatch.

He raised his iron bar to take a deck-clearing swing, and Lucky Charm hit him square in the face with both hind hooves. He went over backwards and fetched up against the starboard rail with Lucky standing on his chest and pointing her cutlass at his throat. She let go of the stays'l halyard she had used to swing down from the mainmast and growled around the hilt of her sword, "Don't move."

His eyes darted back and forth. If the sharp edge near his jugular wasn't enough to get him to surrender, the forest of blades that had suddenly appeared in the grasp of every Nebula on deck did the trick. He opened his fist and the pry bar clattered to the deck.

"Half!" Applejack yelled. "Grab that coil o' line an' tie him up tight. Zeph, go below and fetch those shackles! Ms. Ao, can you see if'n you can figure out how he got loose?"

Right about then, Ensign Sherbet flew up over the larboard rail.

"Captain!," she called out urgently. "Grubber's gone overboard!"

"The varmint fell?"

"No ma'am, or I would have called for the doctor first. He let down a rappelling line and slid down. We were concentrating on packing up the pump and then we heard the commotion on deck or we would have seen him quicker. He ran off toward the woodlands and—"

"The cussed little critter must o' let the big one loose as a distraction!"

Tempest stepped forward. "I'll go after him. I know how he thinks, so I've got the best chance of finding him."

I sheathed my blades and crossed over to her. "Tempest, it could take all night and we don't have time to wait. The tanks are full, and we've got to leave."

"I've got to go after him."

"You'd really leave the ship and maybe never make it back to Equestria? Give up…" I gestured downward toward the secret compartment under the guest cabin.

She stared out over the rail in the direction of the dark woods. "The little idiot will never make it home. He won't even survive that desert, and I can't let him die like that."

I stared at her for a moment, a silly grin spreading across my muzzle, and then I said, "Ket! My emergency power crystal in the—"

She was already moving. "I know it! Back in a breath!"

Tempest frowned at me. "Don't try and talk me out of it, Twilight. I know he's annoying and—"

"Here y'are, Captain!" Ket was back, holding up the lovely little ruby for me.

I touched the gem and yelled, "'Ware! 'Port onboard!"

An object-specific teleport is rarely reliable when trying to grab a specific pony, but the little dwarf yeti was a unique specimen. Grubber appeared on the aft hatch cover still running, his fur tangled with sap-covered juniper twigs. He managed to stop before he hit the mainmast. Then he threw up on my deck.

Tempest walked over and stood above him, scowling fiercely. He looked up and gave her a sheepish grin. "Uh… Can't blame a guy for tryin'... Right?"

Her scowl dissolved into a little half-smile and she slowly shook her head. "Grubber, you idiot."

The party didn't stop just because we needed to get under way and had two prisoners to secure. Because we were going north under power, there was no need to keep the deck uncluttered for line work. Once the pump and hose were onboard, I had given the Javelins a proper farewell, and Grubber and his overgrown friend were properly shackled, I used one of my last gems to pull up our ground anchors myself to skip the usual back-and-forth.[1] Fluttershy spun up the engines and got us under way as the crew hauled in the mooring cables.

[1] Ground anchors, or mooring stakes can be pulled out fairly easily when an airship is directly above them, so it's usual to maneuver over to one (the position is called "short peak"), pull it up, and then move to short peak above the other and do the same, repeating that if more than two anchors are used. An airship can anchor with only one stake, but a shift of wind can easily swing the ship and cause that stake to lose purchase, so it's not as common a practice as it is with sailing ships.

I walked a turn around the main deck and chatted with the crew a bit, making sure to give Lucky Charm a hearty, "Well done!" before retiring to my sleeping cabin. It was still fairly early, but I was completely wrung out and was hoping that I might meet up with Luna in the Dreamlands.

= = =

Unfortunately, I awoke in the late morning with no memory of having dreamed.

I checked the time and our course on the overhead instruments and then whistled for the quarterdeck. Clove Hitch answered. "All's well, Captain. I will send Mr. Lance down with your messages and coffee."

"Please do. I will be on deck before the end of the watch."

I rolled out of my bunk, grabbed my greatcoat and went into the captain's cabin. I was methodically emptying the pockets of my coat and setting out the various items by type on the table when Spike knocked at the door and entered.

I took the mug out of his claws and floated it directly to my muzzle for a big gulp.

"How are you doing, TwI?" he asked. "You look kinda—rough."

I sighed. "The last couple of days were… Yes, rough is a good description. I'll be fine with a day or two of rest."

He reached up and put his hand on my shoulder. "Anything I can do to help out?"

I took another big mouthful of coffee and considered. "Can you work out a duty schedule for the unicorn crew to recharge these gems? I'll sort them in order of importance and put them on a tray here."

"Sure thing! Ao and the changelings can charge gems, right? What about Lucky?"

"It's dead simple. If she doesn't know how to do it, I can show her in fifteen minutes or so. Same for the Ensign; I don't know if she's ever done it before."

Spike put the stack of messages he had tucked under one arm down on the table and then got out his little notebook and started scribbling away.

I flipped through the messages. One from Cadance, which I put aside for when I'd finished a second mug of coffee, one from Luna, and a very thick one from Celestia. For a wonder, none of them were marked "urgent," so I opened Luna's first.

My Dearest Twilight,

Though I had no doubts that you would triumph against the Storm King, I rejoice in your news of his well-deserved death. I eagerly anticipate hearing the full story from your own sweet lips when circumstances allow. I am determined to commission a monumental statue to commemorate the event, and will not hear of "Quarterly Budget Deficits," and other such witless prattle from the Secretary of the Royal Treasury.

Young Cadenza has insisted that her visions will be the best guide for dealing with the Storm King's Eastern Fleet and Sister agrees, though having had no visions of her own. This vexes me greatly, as I detest inaction in times of crisis.

Though we mayn't send the Air Service northward, yet we have skulkers and scouts to spy out the situation. Sister has prepared a summary of what we have learned so far, which I am certain you will make good use of.

I await your arrival with unseemly anticipation.

Hugs and Kisses, & Other Intemperate Acts Best Left Unwritten,

Your Luna.

I put my forelegs up on the table and rested my chin on them. I stared at the letter for a while, admiring Luna's calligraphy, and feeling a sort of haze of peacefulness settle onto me.

"How's this, Twi?" Spike said, breaking my revelry. He was holding out his notebook where he'd drawn a couple of tables.

I drained the last of my coffee and took a look at them. "These are good," I told him. "I like that you've put in alternative options here."

"Well, I thought that you might want to prioritize recharging your gems over keeping the engine crystals topped up."

I nodded. "Good thinking. Even if we run without recharging, we should still have about three-quarters engine power left. Cadance says we can't go after them with airships, anyway." I glanced at her unopened letter.

"Do you think she's right about that?"

I sighed. "Spike, I wouldn't be so upset about the whole thing if I thought she was wrong. Whatever deep magic is behind all this seems determined to put our fate on rails, and I absolutely hate that idea. If it's the sun-forsaken king come back again through some black magic, I'll kill him again and keep killing him until he gets the message. If it's one of his commanders thinking he can pick up where his moron leader left off, I'll kill that one, and every last yeti with ideas about conquest if I have to sink their whole cursed island..." I broke off, realizing I was panting and shaking. "I'm sorry, Spike. I didn't mean that. I didn't..." But I had meant it.

Spike shuffled his feet on the deck and his claws clacked together as he twiddled his fingers nervously. "Well… I guess…" His gaze fell on my empty mug. "Do you want a refill?"

I forced a smile. No sense in letting my frustration make my little brother feel uneasy. "I'd love one, thanks!"

He paused for a moment and the corner of his mouth twitched. "Decaf?"

I barked out a long laugh that drained most of the tension out of me. "Mutiny! My own dear, snarky, reptilian brother now plots against me!"

"That's a 'no,' then?" Spike picked up the mug, openly smiling at his captain in violation of every aeronautical notion of ship's discipline. Since Nebula's command structure had completely fallen apart, I pulled him into a brief, tight hug.

He trotted off to the galley, still smiling, and I opened Celestia's thick package. Her own letter was fairly short.

Well done, Twilight. Thank you.

A thorough victory, and one completely disassociated from Equestria, is all that I hoped for. We have agreed that Luna will join you and continue north to face the threat that Cadance feels is so dire.

I have attached some material which might be useful. Also a few clippings from the Times that I think you'll find amusing. I wish I could accompany you both, but as there are still foreign nobles and diplomats in Canterlot that must be presented with an air of languid invincibility, it's high tea, croquet, garden parties, and vapid chatter until I go completely mad.

Pity me,

Celestia

I have to admit, she got a chuckle out of me.

Most of the sheets of paper were from the Royal Archivist containing a summary of what she could glean from old records about what sort of magical artifacts might be associated with Mt. Everhoof and environs. Most of it was vague legend and folklore from pre-unification days. I flipped through them, skimming, and then set them aside. Still almost two days out from the Empire, I'd have time to go over them in detail later.

"Here you go, Twi!" Spike put my refilled mug down on the table, well away from the paperwork.

"Thank you, Spike." I floated the mug over and took a big sip as I pulled the newspaper clipping out of the pile and unfolded it.

The op-ed piece was by somepony named Twitchy Withers, which I hoped was a pseudonym, but fit in pretty well with the tone of the piece. It called for the total abolishment of magic in Equestria. It argued that the best way to protect ourselves from monsters wanting our magic, would be to get rid of the thing that attracted them in the first place. It got a derisive chuckle out of me. Yes, it was the perfect and obvious solution with one tiny little side effect: the collapse of Equestrian civilization.

I made a mental note to forward it to the editor of the Twilight Town Tribune. She had a special column on the Letters to the Editor page with the heading Of Special Interest. It was very popular, and when she hadn't received enough crank letters to fill the space, she usually wrote something herself under a nom de plume.

The other articles were mostly brief stories about cultural misunderstandings involving the foreign visitors. They were amusing, but also hopeful in that they invariably ended with good-humored chagrin, rather than hurt feelings.

Cadance's letter was a surprise.

Dear Twilight,

I want to thank you for everything you've done for us. Knowing that there is one less monster in the world because of you is great comfort. Was my last dream a mere echo of my anxiety? I don't know, but whatever may happen in the coming days, I have the utmost trust in you. Please hurry north.

When this is all over (this time), I hope you and your crew will be our guests in the Empire for a while to rest and recuperate. Flurry has been asking when Auntie Twi-wi will come for a visit, and I know that Shiny would like to spend some quality catching-up time with you.

Sultan Xajir has been informed of the current situation and arrived on his yacht this morning. He is a very sweet stallion and he and your brother are getting along very well.

I still can't get the image out of my mind of that horrible beast smashing the Empire's shield dome to fragments with his enormous curling horns, but I know you are coming, and that makes all the difference.

All My Love,

Cady

I actually got a little teary-eyed by the end of the letter. Must have been the magical exhaustion.

I still couldn't figure out how the dead and desiccated Storm Drain could possibly…

Then it hit me. "Oh blistering wind!"

"Huh?" Spike looked up from the tray where he was setting out my power gems. "Am I doing it wrong?"

"What? No! It's this." I smacked Cadance's letter with a hoof. "The monster she saw in her dreams wasn't the Storm King at all!"

I stood up and stomped the deck in anger and frustration. "'Big shaggy beast,' she said! 'Horns!' But the Storm King had those jagged antler-like things, not curling horns. She never saw the banner! She didn't know what the King looked like! Oh Sacred Stars, Spike! We've been chasing the wrong monster!"

= = =

I had Spike send off several hurried notes and then went up to the quarterdeck.

Ao had the watch and Fluttershy was on the wheel even though it wasn't her watch. Hawser was standing by the larboard rail, content to let Ms. Summer Breeze have more time with her beloved Nebula.

"Hawser! Pass the word for Ms. Ket, Ms. Clove Hitch, Captain Calvados, and Mr. Ralf, sharply!"

"Aye-aye ma'am!" Operations aboard Nebula are usually fairly casual, but the snap in my voice had him bracing and saluting before leaving the quarterdeck.

"Trouble, Majesty?" Ao asked in a low voice.

"There's another Big Bad out there. One capable of breaking my big brother's strongest shield."

"Unfortunate," she said. She has a gift for understatement.

We waited until all the officers were together, and Applejack had formally transferred command back to me, before I explained the situation. "Princess Cadenza has strongly warned against engaging the thing with aircraft, but we will be transporting all our best weapons to the Empire. I've sent messages to Canterlot and Twilight Town requesting all the magical armament that they can spare. We can help set up scattered ground defenses and ambushes on all the approaches to the city, and figure out a more solid plan once we know more. Questions?"

Clove Hitch raised her hoof. "Will we be stopping in Canterlot as planned?"

"No. I've asked Princess Luna to load up her yacht and meet us in the Crystal Empire, though we may be running together if the timing works out." I turned to Ralf. "Which reminds me: how much can we safely push the engines?"

"If the Captain allows a rotating five minute shut-down every four hours, Ralf can probably spot any problems before Nebula loses an engine. Emergency Ahead should be safe enough, if so."

Ket raised a hoof. I nodded to her. "I estimate that should put us in the Empire in a day and a half. Around late tomorrow afternoon. After we've run for a watch, I can give you a more accurate estimate."

Ao spoke up next. "It is this one's thought that the earliest that Black Fang[2] can be loaded and reach our destination would be two days or more."

[2] The Equestrian Air Service would probably have rated Twilight Town's single exclusively military airship, HDMAS Black Fang, as a light frigate. I just thought of her as My Little Insurance Policy. She and her crew had never been tested in an actual battle, but the Twilight Town Air Militia got in a lot of practice and were crack shots—at least as long as their targets were floating barrels and old hot-air balloons.

I nodded in agreement, wishing prophecies came with any sort of convenient timetables.

"Alright then! Mr. Hawser, spread the word to the rest of the crew and have the galley set out extra rations. Mr. Ralf, start a rotating engine inspection now. Ms. Summer Breeze, as Mr. Ralf gives the okay, run up each engine to Emergency Ahead. Ms. Zashira, replot our course for a direct line to the Empire at the most efficient altitude. Duck or jump Cloudsdale if necessary. Any further questions?"

There were none, so we all went to our business.

Halter Hitch and Zepherine were in the captain's cabin charging crystals, so Ao and I went down to the guest cabin, picking up Tempest on the way. Planning for a ground defense against an enemy of unknown power with Ao gave me an oddly pleasant sense of nostalgia, and Tempest's very practical (and very nasty) suggestions gave the session a welcome feeling of freshness.

I was actually feeling confident and hopeful before the speaking tube broke my concentration with three shrill whistles.

There wasn't a tube in the guest cabin, but Ao's cabin was right next door and we had no trouble hearing the urgency behind those forceful shrieks. I dashed through the doorway and pulled the plug on the tube. "Captain here!"

"Cupola here," came the excited voice of Lucky Charm. "I… I think I spotted an enemy ship… Uh… Broad on the starboard bow?"

We were less than a day out of Canterlot. What would an enemy ship be doing in the Equestrian heartland?

"Captain?" Ao asked.

"Lucky thinks she's seen an enemy ship."

Ao raised an eloquent eyebrow and her barbels performed the equivalent of an eye-roll.

"I'll go check," I said. "Be right back." I popped up to the top of Nebula's envelope, just behind the cupola. "Ms. Charm?"

She had been leaning over the starboard lip of the cupola with a spyglass to her eye, and jumped a bit as I spoke. "Oh! Uh…" She pointed a hoof. "It was over there, just envelope up.[3] It was all jaggedy like the Storm King's ships. I don't see it now, but there's a lot of mist…"

[3] Because of the curvature of the planet, the first thing a pony sees of an approaching ship is the very top, and "envelope up" or "topsails up" are the phrases used to describe that sort of sighting. "Hull up" means the ship is entirely visible above the horizon.

She passed me the glass and I scanned the horizon. We were nearing Ghastly Gorge, and the thick mists on the horizon were typical for that time of year over the southern Everfree Forest. In that direction was…

"You may have seen Rambling Rock Ridge," I told Lucky. "It has a jagged profile a lot like the top armor of a Stormship."

Lucky bit her lip and shuffled her hooves uncertainly. "I… I don't think so, Captain. It really looked like a ship to me."

I only had to think about it for a second. "Continue to keep watch here, Ms. Charm. You'll be relieved in a minute or so; I'll want you on deck."

I popped down to the quarterdeck, took the bell rope firmly in the grip of my magic, and rang for battle stations.

= = =

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Author's Note